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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.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe words were still in the mouth of the scout, when the leader of the\nparty, whose approaching footsteps had caught the vigilant ear of the\nIndian, came openly into view.", "A beaten path, such as those made by the\nperiodical passage of the deer, wound through a little glen at no great\ndistance, and struck the river at the point where the white man and his\nred companions had posted themselves.", "Along this track the travellers,\nwho had produced a surprise so unusual in the depths of the forest,\nadvanced slowly towards the hunter, who was in front of his associates,\nin readiness to receive them.", "\"Who comes?\"", "demanded the scout, throwing his rifle carelessly across\nhis left arm, and keeping the forefinger of his right hand on the\ntrigger, though he avoided all appearance of menace in the act, \"Who\ncomes hither, among the beasts and dangers of the wilderness?\"", "\"Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the king,\"\nreturned he who rode foremost.", "\"Men who have journeyed since the rising\nsun, in the shades of this forest, without nourishment, and are sadly\ntired of their wayfaring.\"", "\"You are, then, lost,\" interrupted the hunter, \"and have found how\nhelpless 'tis not to know whether to take the right hand or the left?\"", "\"Even so; sucking babes are not more dependent on those who guide them\nthan we who are of larger growth, and who may now be said to possess the\nstature without the knowledge of men.", "Know you the distance to a post of\nthe crown called William Henry?\"", "\"Hoot!\"", "shouted the scout, who did not spare his open laughter, though,\ninstantly checking the dangerous sounds, he indulged his merriment at\nless risk of being overheard by any lurking enemies.", "\"You are as much\noff the scent as a hound would be, with Horican atwixt him and the deer!", "William Henry, man!", "if you are friends to the king, and have business\nwith the army, your better way would be to follow the river down to\nEdward, and lay the matter before Webb; who tarries there, instead of\npushing into the defiles, and driving this saucy Frenchman back across\nChamplain, into his den again.\"", "Before the stranger could make any reply to this unexpected proposition,\nanother horseman dashed the bushes aside, and leaped his charger into\nthe pathway, in front of his companion.", "\"What, then, may be our distance from Fort Edward?\"", "demanded a new\nspeaker; \"the place you advise us to seek we left this morning, and our\ndestination is the head of the lake.\"", "\"Then you must have lost your eyesight afore losing your way, for the\nroad across the portage is cut to a good two rods, and is as grand a\npath, I calculate, as any that runs into London, or even before the\npalace of the king himself.\"", "\"We will not dispute concerning the excellence of the passage,\" returned\nHeyward, smiling; for, as the reader has anticipated, it was he.", "\"It is\nenough, for the present, that we trusted to an Indian guide to take us\nby a nearer, though blinder path, and that we are deceived in his\nknowledge.", "In plain words, we know not where we are.\"", "\"An Indian lost in the woods!\"", "said the scout, shaking his head\ndoubtingly; \"when the sun is scorching the tree-tops, and the\nwater-courses are full; when the moss on every beech he sees, will tell\nhim in which quarter the north star will shine at night!", "The woods are\nfull of deer paths which run to the streams and licks, places well known\nto everybody; nor have the geese done their flight to the Canada waters\naltogether!", "'Tis strange that an Indian should be lost atwixt Horican\nand the bend in the river.", "Is he a Mohawk?\"", "\"Not by birth, though adopted in that tribe; I think his birthplace was\nfarther north, and he is one of those you call a Huron.\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed the two companions of the scout, who had continued,\nuntil this part of the dialogue, seated immovable, and apparently\nindifferent to what passed, but who now sprang to their feet with an\nactivity and interest that had evidently got the better of their\nreserve, by surprise.", "\"A Huron!\"", "repeated the sturdy scout, once more shaking his head in open\ndistrust; \"they are a thievish race, nor do I care by whom they are\nadopted; you can never make anything of them but skulks and vagabonds.", "Since you trusted yourself to the care of one of that nation, I only\nwonder that you have not fallen in with more.\"", "\"Of that there is little danger, since William Henry is so many miles in\nour front.", "You forget that I have told you our guide is now a Mohawk,\nand that he serves with our forces as a friend.\"", "\"And I tell you that he who is born a Mingo will die a Mingo,\" returned\nthe other, positively.", "\"A Mohawk!", "No, give me a Delaware or a Mohican\nfor honesty; and when they will fight, which they won't all do, having\nsuffered their cunning enemies, the Maquas, to make them women--but when\nthey will fight at all, look to a Delaware, or a Mohican, for a\nwarrior!\"", "\"Enough of this,\" said Heyward, impatiently; \"I wish not to inquire into\nthe character of a man that I know, and to whom you must be a stranger.", "You have not yet answered my question: what is our distance from the\nmain army at Edward?\"", "\"It seems that may depend on who is your guide.", "One would think such a\nhorse as that might get over a good deal of ground atwixt sun-up and\nsun-down.\"", "\"I wish no contention of idle words with you, friend,\" said Heyward,\ncurbing his dissatisfied manner, and speaking in a more gentle voice;\n\"if you will tell me the distance to Fort Edward, and conduct me\nthither, your labor shall not go without its reward.\"", "\"And in so doing, how know I that I don't guide an enemy, and a spy of\nMontcalm, to the works of the army?", "It is not every man who can speak\nthe English tongue that is an honest subject.\"", "\"If you serve with the troops, of whom I judge you to be a scout, you\nshould know of such a regiment of the king as the 60th.\"", "\"The 60th!", "you can tell me little of the Royal Americans that I don't\nknow, though I do wear a hunting-shirt instead of a scarlet jacket.\"", "\"Well, then, among the other things, you may know the name of its\nmajor?\"", "\"Its major!\"", "interrupted the hunter, elevating his body like one who was\nproud of his trust.", "\"If there is a man in the country who knows Major\nEffingham, he stands before you.\"", "\"It is a corps which has many majors; the gentleman you name is the\nsenior, but I speak of the junior of them all; he who commands the\ncompanies in garrison at William Henry.\"", "\"Yes, yes, I have heard that a young gentleman of vast riches, from one\nof the provinces far south, has got the place.", "He is over young, too, to\nhold such rank, and to be put above men whose heads are beginning to\nbleach; and yet they say he is a soldier in his knowledge, and a gallant\ngentleman!\"", "\"Whatever he may be, or however he may be qualified for his rank, he now\nspeaks to you, and of course can be no enemy to dread.\"", "The scout regarded Heyward in surprise, and then lifting his cap, he\nanswered, in a tone less confident than before, though still expressing\ndoubt,--\n\n\"I have heard a party was to leave the encampment this morning, for the\nlake shore.\"", "\"You have heard the truth; but I preferred a nearer route, trusting to\nthe knowledge of the Indian I mentioned.\"", "\"And he deceived you, and then deserted?\"", "\"Neither, as I believe; certainly not the latter, for he is to be found\nin the rear.\"", "\"I should like to look at the creatur'; if it is a true Iroquois I can\ntell him by his knavish look, and by his paint,\" said the scout,\nstepping past the charger of Heyward, and entering the path behind the\nmare of the singing-master, whose foal had taken advantage of the halt\nto exact the maternal contribution.", "After shoving aside the bushes, and\nproceeding a few paces, he encountered the females, who awaited the\nresult of the conference with anxiety, and not entirely without\napprehension.", "Behind these, the runner leaned against a tree, where he\nstood the close examination of the scout with an air unmoved, though\nwith a look so dark and savage, that it might in itself excite fear.", "Satisfied with his scrutiny, the hunter soon left him.", "As he repassed\nthe females, he paused a moment to gaze upon their beauty, answering to\nthe smile and nod of Alice with a look of open pleasure.", "Thence he went\nto the side of the motherly animal, and spending a minute in a fruitless\ninquiry into the character of her rider, he shook his head and returned\nto Heyward.", "\"A Mingo is a Mingo, and God having made him so, neither the Mohawks nor\nany other tribe can alter him,\" he said, when he had regained his former\nposition.", "\"If we were alone, and you would leave that noble horse at the\nmercy of the wolves to-night, I could show you the way to Edward,\nmyself, within an hour, for it lies only about an hour's journey hence;\nbut with such ladies in your company 'tis impossible!\"", "\"And why?", "they are fatigued, but they are quite equal to a ride of a few\nmore miles.\"", "\"'Tis a natural impossibility!\"", "repeated the scout; \"I wouldn't walk a\nmile in these woods after night gets into them, in company with that\nrunner, for the best rifle in the colonies.", "They are full of outlying\nIroquois, and your mongrel Mohawk knows where to find them too well, to\nbe my companion.\"", "\"Think you so?\"", "said Heyward, leaning forward in the saddle, and\ndropping his voice nearly to a whisper; \"I confess I have not been\nwithout my own suspicions, though I have endeavored to conceal them, and\naffected a confidence I have not always felt, on account of my\ncompanions.", "It was because I suspected him that I would follow no\nlonger; making him, as you see, follow me.\"", "\"I knew he was one of the cheats as soon as I laid eyes on him!\"", "returned the scout, placing a finger on his nose, in sign of caution.", "\"The thief is leaning against the foot of the sugar sapling, that you\ncan see over them bushes; his right leg is in a line with the bark of\nthe tree, and,\" tapping his rifle, \"I can take him from where I stand,\nbetween the ankle and the knee, with a single shot, putting an end to\nhis tramping through the woods, for at least a month to come.", "If I\nshould go back to him, the cunning varmint would suspect something, and\nbe dodging through the trees like a frightened deer.\"", "\"It will not do.", "He may be innocent, and I dislike the act.", "Though, if I\nfelt confident of his treachery--\"\n\n\"'Tis a safe thing to calculate on the knavery of an Iroquois,\" said the\nscout, throwing his rifle forward, by a sort of instinctive movement.", "\"Hold!\"", "interrupted Heyward, \"it will not do--we must think of some\nother scheme; and yet, I have much reason to believe the rascal has\ndeceived me.\"", "The hunter, who had already abandoned his intention of maiming the\nrunner, mused a moment, and then made a gesture, which instantly brought\nhis two red companions to his side.", "They spoke together earnestly in the\nDelaware language, though in an undertone; and by the gestures of the\nwhite man, which were frequently directed towards the top of the\nsapling, it was evident he pointed out the situation of their hidden\nenemy.", "His companions were not long in comprehending his wishes, and\nlaying aside their fire-arms, they parted, taking opposite sides of the\npath, and burying themselves in the thicket, with such cautious\nmovements, that their steps were inaudible.", "\"Now, go you back,\" said the hunter, speaking again to Heyward, \"and\nhold the imp in talk; these Mohicans here will take him without breaking\nhis paint.\"", "\"Nay,\" said Heyward, proudly, \"I will seize him myself.\"", "\"Hist!", "what could you do, mounted, against an Indian in the bushes?\"", "\"I will dismount.\"", "\"And, think you, when he saw one of your feet out of the stirrup, he\nwould wait for the other to be free?", "Whoever comes into the woods to\ndeal with the natives, must use Indian fashions, if he would wish to\nprosper in his undertakings.", "Go, then, talk openly to the miscreant, and\nseem to believe him the truest friend you have on 'arth.\"", "Heyward prepared to comply, though with strong disgust at the nature of\nthe office he was compelled to execute.", "Each moment, however, pressed\nupon him a conviction of the critical situation in which he had suffered\nhis invaluable trust to be involved through his own confidence.", "The sun\nhad already disappeared, and the woods, suddenly deprived of his\nlight,[9] were assuming a dusky hue, which keenly reminded him that the\nhour the savage usually chose for his most barbarous and remorseless\nacts of vengeance or hostility, was speedily drawing near.", "Stimulated by\napprehension, he left the scout, who immediately entered into a loud\nconversation with the stranger that had so unceremoniously enlisted\nhimself in the party of travellers that morning.", "In passing his gentler\ncompanions Heyward uttered a few words of encouragement, and was pleased\nto find that, though fatigued with the exercise of the day, they\nappeared to entertain no suspicion that their present embarrassment was\nother than the result of accident.", "Giving them reason to believe he was\nmerely employed in a consultation concerning the future route, he\nspurred his charger, and drew the reins again, when the animal had\ncarried him within a few yards of the place where the sullen runner\nstill stood, leaning against the tree.", "\"You may see, Magua,\" he said, endeavoring to assume an air of freedom\nand confidence, \"that the night is closing around us, and yet we are no\nnearer to William Henry than when we left the encampment of Webb with\nthe rising sun.", "You have missed the way, nor have I been more fortunate.", "But, happily we have fallen in with a hunter, he whom you hear talking\nto the singer, that is acquainted with the deer-paths and by-ways of the\nwoods, and who promises to lead us to a place where we may rest securely\ntill the morning.\"", "The Indian riveted his glowing eyes on Heyward as he asked, in his\nimperfect English, \"Is he alone?\"", "\"Alone!\"", "hesitatingly answered Heyward to whom deception was too new to\nbe assumed without embarrassment.", "\"O!", "not alone, surely, Magua, for you\nknow that we are with him.\"", "\"Then Le Renard Subtil will go,\" returned the runner, coolly raising his\nlittle wallet from the place where it had lain at his feet; \"and the\npale-faces will see none but their own color.\"", "\"Go!", "Whom call you Le Renard?\"", "\"'Tis the name his Canada fathers have given to Magua,\" returned the\nrunner, with an air that manifested his pride at the distinction.", "\"Night\nis the same as day to Le Subtil, when Munro waits for him.\"", "\"And what account will Le Renard give the chief of William Henry\nconcerning his daughters?", "Will he dare to tell the hot-blooded Scotsman\nthat his children are left without a guide, though Magua promised to be\none?\"", "\"Though the gray head has a loud voice, and a long arm, Le Renard will\nnot hear him, or feel him, in the woods.\"", "\"But what will the Mohawks say?", "They will make him petticoats, and bid\nhim stay in the wigwam with the women, for he is no longer to be trusted\nwith the business of a man.\"", "\"Le Subtil knows the path to the great lakes, and he can find the bones\nof his fathers,\" was the answer of the unmoved runner.", "\"Enough, Magua,\" said Heyward; \"are we not friends?", "Why should there be\nbitter words between us?", "Munro has promised you a gift for your services\nwhen performed, and I shall be your debtor for another.", "Rest your weary\nlimbs, then, and open your wallet to eat.", "We have a few moments to\nspare; let us not waste them in talk like wrangling women.", "When the\nladies are refreshed we will proceed.\"", "\"The pale-faces make themselves dogs to their women,\" muttered the\nIndian, in his native language, \"and when they want to eat, their\nwarriors must lay aside the tomahawk to feed their laziness.\"", "\"What say you, Renard?\"", "\"Le Subtil says it is good.\"", "The Indian then fastened his eyes keenly on the open countenance of\nHeyward, but meeting his glance, he turned them quickly away, and\nseating himself deliberately on the ground, he drew forth the remnant of\nsome former repast, and began to eat, though not without first bending\nhis looks slowly and cautiously around him.", "\"This is well,\" continued Heyward; \"and Le Renard will have strength and\nsight to find the path in the morning;\" he paused, for sounds like the\nsnapping of a dried stick, and the rustling of leaves, rose from the\nadjacent bushes, but recollecting himself instantly, he continued,--\"we\nmust be moving before the sun is seen, or Montcalm may lie in our path,\nand shut us out from the fortress.\"", "The hand of Magua dropped from his mouth to his side, and though his\neyes were fastened on the ground, his head was turned aside, his\nnostrils expanded, and his ears seemed even to stand more erect than\nusual, giving to him the appearance of a statue that was made to\nrepresent intense attention.", "Heyward, who watched his movements with a vigilant eye, carelessly\nextricated one of his feet from the stirrup, while he passed a hand\ntowards the bear-skin covering of his holsters.", "Every effort to detect\nthe point most regarded by the runner was completely frustrated by the\ntremulous glances of his organs, which seemed not to rest a single\ninstant on any particular object, and which, at the same time, could be\nhardly said to move.", "While he hesitated how to proceed, Le Subtil\ncautiously raised himself to his feet, though with a motion so slow and\nguarded, that not the slightest noise was produced by the change.", "Heyward felt it had now become incumbent on him to act.", "Throwing his leg\nover the saddle, he dismounted, with a determination to advance and\nseize his treacherous companion, trusting the result to his own manhood.", "In order, however, to prevent unnecessary alarm, he still preserved an\nair of calmness and friendship.", "\"Le Renard Subtil does not eat,\" he said, using the appellation he had\nfound most flattering to the vanity of the Indian.", "\"His corn is not well\nparched, and it seems dry.", "Let me examine; perhaps something may be\nfound among my own provisions that will help his appetite.\"", "Magua held out the wallet to the proffer of the other.", "He even suffered\ntheir hands to meet, without betraying the least emotion, or varying his\nriveted attitude of attention.", "But when he felt the fingers of Heyward\nmoving gently along his own naked arm, he struck up the limb of the\nyoung man, and uttering a piercing cry as he darted beneath it, plunged,\nat a single bound, into the opposite thicket.", "At the next instant the\nform of Chingachgook appeared from the bushes, looking like a spectre in\nits paint, and glided across the path in swift pursuit.", "Next followed\nthe shout of Uncas, when the woods were lighted by a sudden flash, that\nwas accompanied by the sharp report of the hunter's rifle." ]

[ "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe words were still in the mouth of the scout, when the leader of the\nparty, whose approaching footsteps had caught the vigilant ear of the\nIndian, came openly into view.", "\"An Indian lost in the woods!\"", "'Tis strange that an Indian should be lost atwixt Horican\nand the bend in the river.", "\"Enough of this,\" said Heyward, impatiently; \"I wish not to inquire into\nthe character of a man that I know, and to whom you must be a stranger.", "You have not yet answered my question: what is our distance from the\nmain army at Edward?\"", "He is over young, too, to\nhold such rank, and to be put above men whose heads are beginning to\nbleach; and yet they say he is a soldier in his knowledge, and a gallant\ngentleman!\"", "\"'Tis a natural impossibility!\"", "The hunter, who had already abandoned his intention of maiming the\nrunner, mused a moment, and then made a gesture, which instantly brought\nhis two red companions to his side.", "They spoke together earnestly in the\nDelaware language, though in an undertone; and by the gestures of the\nwhite man, which were frequently directed towards the top of the\nsapling, it was evident he pointed out the situation of their hidden\nenemy.", "hesitatingly answered Heyward to whom deception was too new to\nbe assumed without embarrassment." ]

[ "\"A Mingo is a Mingo, and God having made him so, neither the Mohawks nor\nany other tribe can alter him,\" he said, when he had regained his former\nposition.", "\"And I tell you that he who is born a Mingo will die a Mingo,\" returned\nthe other, positively.", "\"Now, go you back,\" said the hunter, speaking again to Heyward, \"and\nhold the imp in talk; these Mohicans here will take him without breaking\nhis paint.\"", "\"And he deceived you, and then deserted?\"", "Behind these, the runner leaned against a tree, where he\nstood the close examination of the scout with an air unmoved, though\nwith a look so dark and savage, that it might in itself excite fear.", "When the\nladies are refreshed we will proceed.\"", "Magua held out the wallet to the proffer of the other.", "\"Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the king,\"\nreturned he who rode foremost.", "\"It will not do.", "\"Even so; sucking babes are not more dependent on those who guide them\nthan we who are of larger growth, and who may now be said to possess the\nstature without the knowledge of men." ]

[ "\"And why?", "they are fatigued, but they are quite equal to a ride of a few\nmore miles.\"", "\"'Tis a natural impossibility!\"", "repeated the scout; \"I wouldn't walk a\nmile in these woods after night gets into them, in company with that\nrunner, for the best rifle in the colonies.", "They are full of outlying\nIroquois, and your mongrel Mohawk knows where to find them too well, to\nbe my companion.\"", "\"Think you so?\"", "said Heyward, leaning forward in the saddle, and\ndropping his voice nearly to a whisper; \"I confess I have not been\nwithout my own suspicions, though I have endeavored to conceal them, and\naffected a confidence I have not always felt, on account of my\ncompanions.", "It was because I suspected him that I would follow no\nlonger; making him, as you see, follow me.\"", "\"I knew he was one of the cheats as soon as I laid eyes on him!\"", "returned the scout, placing a finger on his nose, in sign of caution.", "\"The thief is leaning against the foot of the sugar sapling, that you\ncan see over them bushes; his right leg is in a line with the bark of\nthe tree, and,\" tapping his rifle, \"I can take him from where I stand,\nbetween the ankle and the knee, with a single shot, putting an end to\nhis tramping through the woods, for at least a month to come." ]

[ "\n \"Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove\n Till I torment thee for this injury.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe words were still in the mouth of the scout, when the leader of the\nparty, whose approaching footsteps had caught the vigilant ear of the\nIndian, came openly into view.", "A beaten path, such as those made by the\nperiodical passage of the deer, wound through a little glen at no great\ndistance, and struck the river at the point where the white man and his\nred companions had posted themselves.", "Along this track the travellers,\nwho had produced a surprise so unusual in the depths of the forest,\nadvanced slowly towards the hunter, who was in front of his associates,\nin readiness to receive them.", "\"Who comes?\"", "demanded the scout, throwing his rifle carelessly across\nhis left arm, and keeping the forefinger of his right hand on the\ntrigger, though he avoided all appearance of menace in the act, \"Who\ncomes hither, among the beasts and dangers of the wilderness?\"", "\"Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the king,\"\nreturned he who rode foremost.", "\"Men who have journeyed since the rising\nsun, in the shades of this forest, without nourishment, and are sadly\ntired of their wayfaring.\"", "\"You are, then, lost,\" interrupted the hunter, \"and have found how\nhelpless 'tis not to know whether to take the right hand or the left?\"", "\"Even so; sucking babes are not more dependent on those who guide them\nthan we who are of larger growth, and who may now be said to possess the\nstature without the knowledge of men.", "Throwing his leg\nover the saddle, he dismounted, with a determination to advance and\nseize his treacherous companion, trusting the result to his own manhood.", "In order, however, to prevent unnecessary alarm, he still preserved an\nair of calmness and friendship.", "\"Le Renard Subtil does not eat,\" he said, using the appellation he had\nfound most flattering to the vanity of the Indian.", "\"His corn is not well\nparched, and it seems dry.", "Let me examine; perhaps something may be\nfound among my own provisions that will help his appetite.\"", "Magua held out the wallet to the proffer of the other.", "He even suffered\ntheir hands to meet, without betraying the least emotion, or varying his\nriveted attitude of attention.", "But when he felt the fingers of Heyward\nmoving gently along his own naked arm, he struck up the limb of the\nyoung man, and uttering a piercing cry as he darted beneath it, plunged,\nat a single bound, into the opposite thicket.", "At the next instant the\nform of Chingachgook appeared from the bushes, looking like a spectre in\nits paint, and glided across the path in swift pursuit.", "Next followed\nthe shout of Uncas, when the woods were lighted by a sudden flash, that\nwas accompanied by the sharp report of the hunter's rifle." ]

[ "\n \"In such a night\n Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;\n And saw the lion's shadow ere himself.\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe suddenness of the flight of his guide, and the wild cries of the\npursuers, caused Heyward to remain fixed, for a few moments, in inactive\nsurprise.", "Then recollecting the importance of securing the fugitive, he\ndashed aside the surrounding bushes, and pressed eagerly forward to lend\nhis aid in the chase.", "Before he had, however, proceeded a hundred yards,\nhe met the three foresters already returning from their unsuccessful\npursuit.", "\"Why so soon disheartened!\"", "he exclaimed; \"the scoundrel must be\nconcealed behind some of these trees, and may yet be secured.", "We are not\nsafe while he goes at large.\"", "\"Would you set a cloud to chase the wind?\"", "returned the disappointed\nscout; \"I heard the imp, brushing over the dry leaves, like a black\nsnake, and blinking a glimpse of him, just over ag'in yon big pine, I\npulled as it might be on the scent; but 'twouldn't do!", "and yet for a\nreasoning aim, if anybody but myself had touched the trigger, I should\ncall it a quick sight; and I may be accounted to have experience in\nthese matters, and one who ought to know.", "Look at this sumach; its\nleaves are red, though everybody knows the fruit is in the yellow\nblossom, in the month of July!\"", "\"'Tis the blood of Le Subtil!", "he is hurt, and may yet fall!\"", "\"No, no,\" returned the scout, in decided disapprobation of this opinion,\n\"I rubbed the bark off a limb, perhaps, but the creature leaped the\nlonger for it.", "A rifle-bullet acts on a running animal, when it barks\nhim, much the same as one of your spurs on a horse; that is, it quickens\nmotion, and puts life into the flesh, instead of taking it away.", "But\nwhen it cuts the ragged hole, after a bound or two, there is, commonly,\na stagnation of further leaping, be it Indian or be it deer!\"", "\"We are four able bodies, to one wounded man!\"", "\"Is life grievous to you?\"", "interrupted the scout.", "\"Yonder red devils\nwould draw you within swing of the tomahawks of his comrades, before you\nwere heated in the chase.", "It was an unthoughtful act in a man who has so\noften slept with the war-whoop ringing in the air, to let off his piece\nwithin sound of an ambushment!", "But then it was a natural temptation!", "'twas very natural!", "Come, friends, let us move our station, and in such\na fashion, too, as will throw the cunning of a Mingo on a wrong scent,\nor our scalps will be drying in the wind in front of Montcalm's marquee,\nag'in this hour to-morrow.\"", "This appalling declaration, which the scout uttered with the cool\nassurance of a man who fully comprehended, while he did not fear to face\nthe danger, served to remind Heyward of the importance of the charge\nwith which he himself had been intrusted.", "Glancing his eyes around, with\na vain effort to pierce the gloom that was thickening beneath the leafy\narches of the forest, he felt as if, cut off from human aid, his\nunresisting companions would soon lie at the entire mercy of those\nbarbarous enemies, who, like beasts of prey, only waited till the\ngathering darkness might render their blows more fatally certain.", "His\nawakened imagination, deluded by the deceptive light, converted each\nwaving bush, or the fragment of some fallen tree, into human forms, and\ntwenty times he fancied he could distinguish the horrid visages of his\nlurking foes, peering from their hiding-places, in never-ceasing\nwatchfulness of the movements of his party.", "Looking upward, he found\nthat the thin fleecy clouds, which evening had painted on the blue sky,\nwere already losing their faintest tints of rose-color, while the\nimbedded stream, which glided past the spot where he stood, was to be\ntraced only by the dark boundary of its wooded banks.", "\"What is to be done?\"", "he said, feeling the utter helplessness of doubt\nin such a pressing strait; \"desert me not, for God's sake!", "remain to\ndefend those I escort, and freely name your own reward!\"", "His companions, who conversed apart in the language of their tribe,\nheeded not this sudden and earnest appeal.", "Though their dialogue was\nmaintained in low and cautious sounds, but little above a whisper,\nHeyward, who now approached, could easily distinguish the earnest tones\nof the younger warrior from the more deliberate speeches of his seniors.", "It was evident that they debated on the propriety of some measure that\nnearly concerned the welfare of the travellers.", "Yielding to his\npowerful interest in the subject, and impatient of a delay that seemed\nfraught with so much additional danger, Heyward drew still nigher to the\ndusky group, with an intention of making his offers of compensation more\ndefinite, when the white man, motioning, with his hand, as if he\nconceded the disputed point, turned away, saying in a sort of soliloquy,\nand in the English tongue,--\n\n\"Uncas is right!", "it would not be the act of men to leave such harmless\nthings to their fate, even though it breaks up the harboring place\nforever.", "If you would save these tender blossoms from the fangs of the\nworst of serpents, gentleman, you have neither time to lose nor\nresolution to throw away!\"", "\"How can such a wish be doubted!", "have I not already offered--\"\n\n\"Offer your prayers to Him who can give us wisdom to circumvent the\ncunning of the devils who fill these woods,\" calmly interrupted the\nscout, \"but spare your offers of money, which neither you may live to\nrealize, nor I to profit by.", "These Mohicans and I will do what man's\nthoughts can invent, to keep such flowers, which, though so sweet, were\nnever made for the wilderness, from harm, and that without hope of any\nother recompense but such as God always gives to upright dealings.", "First, you must promise two things, both in your own name and for your\nfriends, or without serving you, we shall only injure ourselves!\"", "\"Name them.\"", "\"The one is, to be still as these sleeping woods, let what will happen;\nand the other is, to keep the place where we shall take you, forever a\nsecret from all mortal men.\"", "\"I will do my utmost to see both these conditions fulfilled.\"", "\"Then follow, for we are losing moments that are as precious as the\nheart's blood to a stricken deer!\"", "Heyward could distinguish the impatient gesture of the scout, through\nthe increasing shadows of the evening, and he moved in his footsteps,\nswiftly, towards the place where he had left the remainder of his party.", "When they rejoined the expecting and anxious females, he briefly\nacquainted them with the conditions of their new guide, and with the\nnecessity that existed for their hushing every apprehension, in instant\nand serious exertions.", "Although his alarming communication was not\nreceived without much secret terror by the listeners, his earnest and\nimpressive manner, aided perhaps by the nature of the danger, succeeded\nin bracing their nerves to undergo some unlooked-for and unusual trial.", "Silently, and without a moment's delay, they permitted him to assist\nthem from their saddles, when they descended quickly to the water's\nedge, where the scout had collected the rest of the party, more by the\nagency of expressive gestures than by any use of words.", "\"What to do with these dumb creatures!\"", "muttered the white man, on whom\nthe sole control of their future movements appeared to devolve; \"it\nwould be time lost to cut their throats, and cast them into the river;\nand to leave them here, would be to tell the Mingos that they have not\nfar to seek to find their owners!\"", "\"Then give them their bridles, and let them range the woods,\" Heyward\nventured to suggest.", "\"No; it would be better to mislead the imps, and make them believe they\nmust equal a horse's speed to run down their chase.", "Ay, ay, that will\nblind their fire-balls of eyes!", "Chingach--Hist?", "what stirs the bush?\"", "\"The colt.\"", "\"That colt, at least, must die,\" muttered the scout, grasping the mane\nof the nimble beast, which easily eluded his hand; \"Uncas, your arrows!\"", "\"Hold!\"", "exclaimed the proprietor of the condemned animal, aloud, without\nregard to the whispering tones used by the others; \"spare the foal of\nMiriam!", "it is the comely offspring of a faithful dam, and would\nwillingly injure naught.\"", "\"When men struggle for the single life God has given them,\" said the\nscout sternly, \"even their own kind seem no more than the beasts of the\nwood.", "If you speak again, I shall leave you to the mercy of the Maquas!", "Draw to your arrow's head, Uncas; we have no time for second blows.\"", "The low, muttering sounds of his threatening voice were still audible,\nwhen the wounded foal, first rearing on its hinder legs, plunged forward\nto its knees.", "It was met by Chingachgook, whose knife passed across its\nthroat quicker than thought, and then precipitating the motions of the\nstruggling victim, he dashed it into the river, down whose stream it\nglided away, gasping audibly for breath with its ebbing life.", "This deed\nof apparent cruelty, but of real necessity, fell upon the spirits of the\ntravellers like a terrific warning of the peril in which they stood,\nheightened as it was by the calm though steady resolution of the actors\nin the scene.", "The sisters shuddered and clung closer to each other,\nwhile Heyward instinctively laid his hand on one of the pistols he had\njust drawn from their holsters, as he placed himself between his charge\nand those dense shadows that seemed to draw an impenetrable veil before\nthe bosom of the forest.", "The Indians, however, hesitated not a moment, but taking the bridles,\nthey led the frightened and reluctant horses into the bed of the river.", "At a short distance from the shore they turned, and were soon concealed\nby the projection of the bank, under the brow of which they moved, in a\ndirection opposite to the course of the waters.", "In the meantime, the\nscout drew a canoe of bark from its place of concealment beneath some\nlow bushes, whose branches were waving with the eddies of the current,\ninto which he silently motioned for the females to enter.", "They complied\nwithout hesitation, though many a fearful and anxious glance was thrown\nbehind them towards the thickening gloom which now lay like a dark\nbarrier along the margin of the stream.", "So soon as Cora and Alice were seated, the scout, without regarding the\nelement, directed Heyward to support one side of the frail vessel, and\nposting himself at the other, they bore it up against the stream,\nfollowed by the dejected owner of the dead foal.", "In this manner they\nproceeded, for many rods, in a silence that was only interrupted by the\nrippling of the water, as its eddies played around them, or the low dash\nmade by their own cautious footsteps.", "Heyward yielded the guidance of\nthe canoe implicitly to the scout, who approached or receded from the\nshore, to avoid the fragments of rocks, or deeper parts of the river,\nwith a readiness that showed his knowledge of the route they held.", "Occasionally he would stop; and in the midst of a breathing stillness,\nthat the dull but increasing roar of the waterfall only served to render\nmore impressive, he would listen with painful intenseness, to catch any\nsounds that might arise from the slumbering forest.", "When assured that\nall was still, and unable to detect, even by the aid of his practised\nsenses, any sign of his approaching foes, he would deliberately resume\nhis slow and unguarded progress.", "At length they reached a point in the\nriver, where the roving eye of Heyward became riveted on a cluster of\nblack objects, collected at a spot where the high bank threw a deeper\nshadow than usual on the dark waters.", "Hesitating to advance, he pointed\nout the place to the attention of his companion.", "\"Ay,\" returned the composed scout, \"the Indians have hid the beasts\nwith the judgment of natives!", "Water leaves no trail, and an owl's eyes\nwould be blinded by the darkness of such a hole.\"", "The whole party was soon reunited, and another consultation was held\nbetween the scout and his new comrades, during which, they whose fates\ndepended on the faith and ingenuity of these unknown foresters, had a\nlittle leisure to observe their situation more minutely.", "The river was confined between high and cragged rocks, one of which\nimpended above the spot where the canoe rested.", "As these, again, were\nsurmounted by tall trees, which appeared to totter on the brows of the\nprecipice, it gave the stream the appearance of running through a deep\nand narrow dell.", "All beneath the fantastic limbs and ragged tree-tops,\nwhich were, here and there, dimly painted against the starry zenith, lay\nalike in shadowed obscurity.", "Behind them, the curvature of the banks\nsoon bounded the view, by the same dark and wooded outline; but in\nfront, and apparently at no great distance, the water seemed piled\nagainst the heavens, whence it tumbled into caverns, out of which issued\nthose sullen sounds that had loaded the evening atmosphere.", "It seemed,\nin truth, to be a spot devoted to seclusion, and the sisters imbibed a\nsoothing impression of security, as they gazed upon its romantic, though\nnot unappalling beauties.", "A general movement among their conductors,\nhowever, soon recalled them from a contemplation of the wild charms that\nnight had assisted to lend the place, to a painful sense of their real\nperil.", "The horses had been secured to some scattered shrubs that grew in the\nfissures of the rocks, where, standing in the water, they were left to\npass the night.", "The scout directed Heyward and his disconsolate\nfellow-travellers to seat themselves in the forward end of the canoe,\nand took possession of the other himself, as erect and steady as if he\nfloated in a vessel of much firmer materials.", "The Indians warily\nretraced their steps towards the place they had left, when the scout,\nplacing his pole against a rock, by a powerful shove, sent his frail\nbark directly into the centre of the turbulent stream.", "For many minutes\nthe struggle between the light bubble in which they floated, and the\nswift current, was severe and doubtful.", "Forbidden to stir even a hand,\nand almost afraid to breathe, lest they should expose the frail fabric\nto the fury of the stream, the passengers watched the glancing waters in\nfeverish suspense.", "Twenty times they thought the whirling eddies were\nsweeping them to destruction, when the master-hand of their pilot would\nbring the bows of the canoe to stem the rapid.", "A long, a vigorous, and,\nas it appeared to the females, a desperate effort, closed the struggle.", "Just as Alice veiled her eyes in horror, under the impression that they\nwere about to be swept within the vortex at the foot of the cataract,\nthe canoe floated, stationary, at the side of a flat rock, that lay on a\nlevel with the water.", "\"Where are we?", "and what is next to be done?\"", "demanded Heyward,\nperceiving that the exertions of the scout had ceased.", "\"You are at the foot of Glenn's,\" returned the other, speaking aloud,\nwithout fear of consequences, within the roar of the cataract; \"and the\nnext thing is to make a steady landing, lest the canoe upset, and you\nshould go down again the hard road we have travelled, faster than you\ncame up; 'tis a hard rift to stem, when the river is a little swelled;\nand five is an unnatural number to keep dry, in the hurry-skurry, with a\nlittle birchen bark and gum.", "There, go you all on the rock, and I will\nbring up the Mohicans with the venison.", "A man had better sleep without\nhis scalp, than famish in the midst of plenty.\"", "His passengers gladly complied with these directions.", "As the last foot\ntouched the rock, the canoe whirled from its station, when the tall form\nof the scout was seen, for an instant, gliding above the waters, before\nit disappeared in the impenetrable darkness that rested on the bed of\nthe river.", "Left by their guide, the travellers remained a few minutes in\nhelpless ignorance, afraid even to move along the broken rocks, lest a\nfalse step should precipitate them down some one of the many deep and\nroaring caverns, into which the water seemed to tumble, on every side of\nthem.", "Their suspense, however, was soon relieved; for aided by the skill\nof the natives, the canoe shot back into the eddy, and floated again at\nthe side of the low rock before they thought the scout had even time to\nrejoin his companions.", "\"We are now fortified, garrisoned, and provisioned,\" cried Heyward,\ncheerfully, \"and may set Montcalm and his allies at defiance.", "How, now,\nmy vigilant sentinel, can you see anything of those you call the\nIroquois, on the mainland?\"", "\"I call them Iroquois, because to me every native, who speaks a foreign\ntongue, is accounted an enemy, though he may pretend to serve the king!", "If Webb wants faith and honesty in an Indian, let him bring out the\ntribes of the Delawares, and send these greedy and lying Mohawks and\nOneidas, with their six nations of varlets, where in nature they belong,\namong the French!\"", "\"We should then exchange a warlike for a useless friend!", "I have heard\nthat the Delawares have laid aside the hatchet, and are content to be\ncalled women!\"", "\"Ay, shame on the Hollanders[10] and Iroquois, who circumvented them by\ntheir deviltries, into such a treaty!", "But I have known them for twenty\nyears, and I call him liar, that says cowardly blood runs in the veins\nof a Delaware.", "You have driven their tribes from the sea-shore, and\nwould now believe what their enemies say, that you may sleep at night\nupon an easy pillow.", "No, no; to me, every Indian who speaks a foreign\ntongue is an Iroquois, whether the castle[11] of his tribe be in Canada,\nor be in New York.\"", "Heyward, perceiving that the stubborn adherence of the scout to the\ncause of his friends the Delawares or Mohicans, for they were branches\nof the same numerous people, was likely to prolong a useless discussion,\nchanged the subject.", "\"Treaty or no treaty, I know full well, that your two companions are\nbrave and cautious warriors!", "have they heard or seen anything of our\nenemies?\"", "\"An Indian is a mortal to be felt afore he is seen,\" returned the scout,\nascending the rock, and throwing the deer carelessly down.", "\"I trust to\nother signs than such as come in at the eye, when I am outlying on the\ntrail of the Mingos.\"", "\"Do your ears tell you that they have traced our retreat?\"", "\"I should be sorry to think they had, though this is a spot that stout\ncourage might hold for a smart skrimmage.", "I will not deny, however, but\nthe horses cowered when I passed them, as though they scented the\nwolves; and a wolf is a beast that is apt to hover about an Indian\nambushment, craving the offals of the deer the savages kill.\"", "\"You forget the buck at your feet!", "or, may we not owe their visit to the\ndead colt?", "Ha!", "what noise is that?\"", "\"Poor Miriam!\"", "murmured the stranger; \"thy foal was foreordained to\nbecome a prey to ravenous beasts!\"", "Then, suddenly lifting up his voice,\namid the eternal din of the waters, he sang aloud,--\n\n \"First born of Egypt, smite did He,\n Of mankind, and of beast also;\n O, Egypt!", "wonders sent 'midst thee,\n On Pharaoh and his servants too!\"", "\"The death of the colt sits heavy on the heart of its owner,\" said the\nscout; \"but it's a good sign to see a man account upon his dumb friends.", "He has the religion of the matter, in believing what is to happen will\nhappen; and with such a consolation, it won't be long afore he submits\nto the rationality of killing a four-footed beast, to save the lives of\nhuman men.", "It may be as you say,\" he continued, reverting to the purport\nof Heyward's last remark; \"and the greater the reason why we should cut\nour steaks, and let the carcase drive down the stream, or we shall have\nthe pack howling along the cliffs, begrudging every mouthful we swallow.", "Besides, though the Delaware tongue is the same as a book to the\nIroquois, the cunning varlets are quick enough at understanding the\nreason of a wolf's howl.\"", "The scout, whilst making his remarks, was busied in collecting certain\nnecessary implements; as he concluded, he moved silently by the group of\ntravellers, accompanied by the Mohicans, who seemed to comprehend his\nintentions with instinctive readiness, when the whole three disappeared\nin succession, seeming to vanish against the dark face of a\nperpendicular rock, that rose to the height of a few yards within as\nmany feet of the water's edge." ]

[ "\"'Tis the blood of Le Subtil!", "It was an unthoughtful act in a man who has so\noften slept with the war-whoop ringing in the air, to let off his piece\nwithin sound of an ambushment!", "This appalling declaration, which the scout uttered with the cool\nassurance of a man who fully comprehended, while he did not fear to face\nthe danger, served to remind Heyward of the importance of the charge\nwith which he himself had been intrusted.", "His companions, who conversed apart in the language of their tribe,\nheeded not this sudden and earnest appeal.", "The sisters shuddered and clung closer to each other,\nwhile Heyward instinctively laid his hand on one of the pistols he had\njust drawn from their holsters, as he placed himself between his charge\nand those dense shadows that seemed to draw an impenetrable veil before\nthe bosom of the forest.", "The horses had been secured to some scattered shrubs that grew in the\nfissures of the rocks, where, standing in the water, they were left to\npass the night.", "For many minutes\nthe struggle between the light bubble in which they floated, and the\nswift current, was severe and doubtful.", "\"Where are we?", "and what is next to be done?\"", "\"Treaty or no treaty, I know full well, that your two companions are\nbrave and cautious warriors!" ]

[ "'twas very natural!", "I have heard\nthat the Delawares have laid aside the hatchet, and are content to be\ncalled women!\"", "Water leaves no trail, and an owl's eyes\nwould be blinded by the darkness of such a hole.\"", "\"I should be sorry to think they had, though this is a spot that stout\ncourage might hold for a smart skrimmage.", "You have driven their tribes from the sea-shore, and\nwould now believe what their enemies say, that you may sleep at night\nupon an easy pillow.", "have I not already offered--\"\n\n\"Offer your prayers to Him who can give us wisdom to circumvent the\ncunning of the devils who fill these woods,\" calmly interrupted the\nscout, \"but spare your offers of money, which neither you may live to\nrealize, nor I to profit by.", "Ay, ay, that will\nblind their fire-balls of eyes!", "he exclaimed; \"the scoundrel must be\nconcealed behind some of these trees, and may yet be secured.", "\"Treaty or no treaty, I know full well, that your two companions are\nbrave and cautious warriors!", "In this manner they\nproceeded, for many rods, in a silence that was only interrupted by the\nrippling of the water, as its eddies played around them, or the low dash\nmade by their own cautious footsteps." ]

[ "Draw to your arrow's head, Uncas; we have no time for second blows.\"", "The low, muttering sounds of his threatening voice were still audible,\nwhen the wounded foal, first rearing on its hinder legs, plunged forward\nto its knees.", "It was met by Chingachgook, whose knife passed across its\nthroat quicker than thought, and then precipitating the motions of the\nstruggling victim, he dashed it into the river, down whose stream it\nglided away, gasping audibly for breath with its ebbing life.", "This deed\nof apparent cruelty, but of real necessity, fell upon the spirits of the\ntravellers like a terrific warning of the peril in which they stood,\nheightened as it was by the calm though steady resolution of the actors\nin the scene.", "The sisters shuddered and clung closer to each other,\nwhile Heyward instinctively laid his hand on one of the pistols he had\njust drawn from their holsters, as he placed himself between his charge\nand those dense shadows that seemed to draw an impenetrable veil before\nthe bosom of the forest.", "The Indians, however, hesitated not a moment, but taking the bridles,\nthey led the frightened and reluctant horses into the bed of the river.", "At a short distance from the shore they turned, and were soon concealed\nby the projection of the bank, under the brow of which they moved, in a\ndirection opposite to the course of the waters.", "In the meantime, the\nscout drew a canoe of bark from its place of concealment beneath some\nlow bushes, whose branches were waving with the eddies of the current,\ninto which he silently motioned for the females to enter.", "They complied\nwithout hesitation, though many a fearful and anxious glance was thrown\nbehind them towards the thickening gloom which now lay like a dark\nbarrier along the margin of the stream.", "So soon as Cora and Alice were seated, the scout, without regarding the\nelement, directed Heyward to support one side of the frail vessel, and\nposting himself at the other, they bore it up against the stream,\nfollowed by the dejected owner of the dead foal.", "In this manner they\nproceeded, for many rods, in a silence that was only interrupted by the\nrippling of the water, as its eddies played around them, or the low dash\nmade by their own cautious footsteps." ]

[ "\n \"In such a night\n Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;\n And saw the lion's shadow ere himself.\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe suddenness of the flight of his guide, and the wild cries of the\npursuers, caused Heyward to remain fixed, for a few moments, in inactive\nsurprise.", "Then recollecting the importance of securing the fugitive, he\ndashed aside the surrounding bushes, and pressed eagerly forward to lend\nhis aid in the chase.", "Before he had, however, proceeded a hundred yards,\nhe met the three foresters already returning from their unsuccessful\npursuit.", "\"Why so soon disheartened!\"", "he exclaimed; \"the scoundrel must be\nconcealed behind some of these trees, and may yet be secured.", "We are not\nsafe while he goes at large.\"", "\"Would you set a cloud to chase the wind?\"", "returned the disappointed\nscout; \"I heard the imp, brushing over the dry leaves, like a black\nsnake, and blinking a glimpse of him, just over ag'in yon big pine, I\npulled as it might be on the scent; but 'twouldn't do!", "and yet for a\nreasoning aim, if anybody but myself had touched the trigger, I should\ncall it a quick sight; and I may be accounted to have experience in\nthese matters, and one who ought to know.", "what noise is that?\"", "\"Poor Miriam!\"", "murmured the stranger; \"thy foal was foreordained to\nbecome a prey to ravenous beasts!\"", "Then, suddenly lifting up his voice,\namid the eternal din of the waters, he sang aloud,--\n\n \"First born of Egypt, smite did He,\n Of mankind, and of beast also;\n O, Egypt!", "wonders sent 'midst thee,\n On Pharaoh and his servants too!\"", "\"The death of the colt sits heavy on the heart of its owner,\" said the\nscout; \"but it's a good sign to see a man account upon his dumb friends.", "He has the religion of the matter, in believing what is to happen will\nhappen; and with such a consolation, it won't be long afore he submits\nto the rationality of killing a four-footed beast, to save the lives of\nhuman men.", "It may be as you say,\" he continued, reverting to the purport\nof Heyward's last remark; \"and the greater the reason why we should cut\nour steaks, and let the carcase drive down the stream, or we shall have\nthe pack howling along the cliffs, begrudging every mouthful we swallow.", "Besides, though the Delaware tongue is the same as a book to the\nIroquois, the cunning varlets are quick enough at understanding the\nreason of a wolf's howl.\"", "The scout, whilst making his remarks, was busied in collecting certain\nnecessary implements; as he concluded, he moved silently by the group of\ntravellers, accompanied by the Mohicans, who seemed to comprehend his\nintentions with instinctive readiness, when the whole three disappeared\nin succession, seeming to vanish against the dark face of a\nperpendicular rock, that rose to the height of a few yards within as\nmany feet of the water's edge." ]

[ "\n \"Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide;\n He wales a portion with judicious care;\n And 'Let us worship God,' he says, with solemn air.\"", "BURNS.", "Heyward, and his female companions, witnessed this mysterious movement\nwith secret uneasiness; for, though the conduct of the white man had\nhitherto been above reproach, his rude equipments, blunt address, and\nstrong antipathies, together with the character of his silent\nassociates, were all causes for exciting distrust in minds that had been\nso recently alarmed by Indian treachery.", "The stranger alone disregarded the passing incidents.", "He seated himself\non a projection of the rocks, whence he gave no other signs of\nconsciousness than by the struggles of his spirit, as manifested in\nfrequent and heavy sighs.", "Smothered voices were next heard, as though\nmen called to each other in the bowels of the earth, when a sudden light\nflashed upon those without, and laid bare the much-prized secret of the\nplace.", "At the farther extremity of a narrow, deep cavern in the rock, whose\nlength appeared much extended by the perspective and the nature of the\nlight by which it was seen, was seated the scout, holding a blazing knot\nof pine.", "The strong glare of the fire fell full upon his sturdy,\nweather-beaten countenance and forest attire, lending an air of romantic\nwildness to the aspect of an individual, who, seen by the sober light of\nday, would have exhibited the peculiarities of a man remarkable for the\nstrangeness of his dress, the iron-like inflexibility of his frame, and\nthe singular compound of quick, vigilant sagacity, and of exquisite\nsimplicity, that by turns usurped the possession of his muscular\nfeatures.", "At a little distance in advance stood Uncas, his whole person\nthrown powerfully into view.", "The travellers anxiously regarded the\nupright, flexible figure of the young Mohican, graceful and unrestrained\nin the attitudes and movements of nature.", "Though his person was more\nthan usually screened by a green and fringed hunting-shirt, like that of\nthe white man, there was no concealment to his dark, glancing, fearless\neye, alike terrible and calm; the bold outline of his high, haughty\nfeatures, pure in their native red; or to the dignified elevation of his\nreceding forehead, together with all the finest proportions of a noble\nhead, bared to the generous scalping tuft.", "It was the first opportunity\npossessed by Duncan and his companions, to view the marked lineaments of\neither of their Indian attendants, and each individual of the party felt\nrelieved from a burden of doubt, as the proud and determined, though\nwild expression of the features of the young warrior forced itself on\ntheir notice.", "They felt it might be a being partially benighted in the\nvale of ignorance, but it could not be one who would willingly devote\nhis rich natural gifts to the purposes of wanton treachery.", "The\ningenuous Alice gazed at his free air and proud carriage, as she would\nhave looked upon some precious relic of the Grecian chisel, to which\nlife had been imparted by the intervention of a miracle; while Heyward,\nthough accustomed to see the perfection of form which abounds among the\nuncorrupted natives, openly expressed his admiration at such an\nunblemished specimen of the noblest proportions of man.", "\"I could sleep in peace,\" whispered Alice, in reply, \"with such a\nfearless and generous looking youth for my sentinel.", "Surely, Duncan,\nthose cruel murders, those terrific scenes of torture, of which we read\nand hear so much, are never acted in the presence of such as he!\"", "\"This, certainly, is a rare and brilliant instance of those natural\nqualities, in which these peculiar people are said to excel,\" he\nanswered.", "\"I agree with you, Alice, in thinking that such a front and\neye were formed rather to intimidate than to deceive; but let us not\npractise a deception upon ourselves, by expecting any other exhibition\nof what we esteem virtue than according to the fashion of a savage.", "As\nbright examples of great qualities are but too uncommon among\nChristians, so are they singular and solitary with the Indians; though,\nfor the honor of our common nature, neither are incapable of producing\nthem.", "Let us then hope that this Mohican may not disappoint our wishes,\nbut prove, what his looks assert him to be, a brave and constant\nfriend.\"", "\"Now Major Heyward speaks as Major Heyward should,\" said Cora; \"who,\nthat looks at this creature of nature, remembers the shade of his skin!\"", "A short, and apparently an embarrassed silence succeeded this remark,\nwhich was interrupted by the scout calling to them, aloud, to enter.", "\"This fire begins to show too bright a flame,\" he continued, as they\ncomplied, \"and might light the Mingos to our undoing.", "Uncas, drop the\nblanket, and show the knaves its dark side.", "This is not such a supper as\na major of the Royal Americans has a right to expect, but I've known\nstout detachments of the corps glad to eat their venison raw, and\nwithout a relish too.", "[12] Here, you see, we have plenty of salt, and can\nmake a quick broil.", "There's fresh sassafras boughs for the ladies to sit\non, which may not be as proud as their my-hog-guinea chairs, but which\nsends up a sweeter flavor than the skin of any hog can do, be it of\nGuinea, or be it of any other land.", "Come, friend, don't be mournful for\nthe colt; 'twas an innocent thing, and had not seen much hardship.", "Its\ndeath will save the creature many a sore back and weary foot!\"", "Uncas did as the other had directed, and when the voice of Hawkeye\nceased, the roar of the cataract sounded like the rumbling of distant\nthunder.", "\"Are we quite safe in this cavern?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Is there no\ndanger of surprise?", "A single armed man, at its entrance, would hold us\nat his mercy.\"", "A spectral-looking figure stalked from out the darkness behind the\nscout, and seizing a blazing brand, held it towards the farther\nextremity of their place of retreat.", "Alice uttered a faint shriek, and\neven Cora rose to her feet, as this appalling object moved into the\nlight; but a single word from Heyward calmed them, with the assurance it\nwas only their attendant, Chingachgook, who, lifting another blanket,\ndiscovered that the cavern had two outlets.", "Then, holding the brand, he\ncrossed a deep, narrow chasm in the rocks, which ran at right angles\nwith the passage they were in, but which, unlike that, was open to the\nheavens, and entered another cave, answering to the description of the\nfirst, in every essential particular.", "\"Such old foxes as Chingachgook and myself are not often caught in a\nburrow with one hole,\" said Hawkeye, laughing; \"you can easily see the\ncunning of the place--the rock is black limestone, which everybody knows\nis soft; it makes no uncomfortable pillow, where brush and pine wood is\nscarce; well, the fall was once a few yards below us, and I dare to say\nwas, in its time, as regular and as handsome a sheet of water as any\nalong the Hudson.", "But old age is a great injury to good looks, as these\nsweet young ladies have yet to l'arn!", "The place is sadly changed!", "These\nrocks are full of cracks, and in some places they are softer than at\nothersome, and the water has worked out deep hollows for itself, until\nit has fallen back, ay, some hundred feet, breaking here and wearing\nthere, until the falls have neither shape nor consistency.\"", "\"In what part of them are we?\"", "asked Heyward.", "\"Why, we are nigh the spot that Providence first placed them at, but\nwhere, it seems, they were too rebellious to stay.", "The rock proved\nsofter on each side of us, and so they left the centre of the river bare\nand dry, first working out these two little holes for us to hide in.\"", "\"We are then on an island?\"", "\"Ay!", "there are the falls on two sides of us, and the river above and\nbelow.", "If you had daylight, it would be worth the trouble to step up on\nthe height of this rock, and look at the perversity of the water.", "It\nfalls by no rule at all; sometimes it leaps, sometimes it tumbles;\nthere, it skips; here, it shoots; in one place 'tis white as snow, and\nin another 'tis green as grass; hereabouts, it pitches into deep\nhollows, that rumble and quake the 'arth; and hereaway, it ripples and\nsings like a brook, fashioning whirlpools and gulleys in the old stone,\nas it 'twas no harder than trodden clay.", "The whole design of the river\nseems disconcerted.", "First it runs smoothly, as if meaning to go down the\ndescent as things were ordered; then it angles about and faces the\nshores; nor are there places wanting where it looks backward, as if\nunwilling to leave the wilderness, to mingle with the salt!", "Ay, lady,\nthe fine cobweb-looking cloth you wear at your throat, is coarse, and\nlike a fish-net, to little spots I can show you, where the river\nfabricates all sorts of images, as if, having broke loose from order, it\nwould try its hand at everything.", "And yet what does it amount to!", "After\nthe water has been suffered to have its will, for a time, like a\nheadstrong man, it is gathered together by the hand that made it, and a\nfew rods below you may see it all, flowing on steadily towards the sea,\nas was foreordained from the first foundation of the 'arth!\"", "While his auditors received a cheering assurance of the security of\ntheir place of concealment, from this untutored description of\nGlenn's,[13] they were much inclined to judge differently from Hawkeye,\nof its wild beauties.", "But they were not in a situation to suffer their\nthoughts to dwell on the charms of natural objects; and, as the scout\nhad not found it necessary to cease his culinary labors while he spoke,\nunless to point out, with a broken fork, the direction of some\nparticularly obnoxious point in the rebellious stream, they now suffered\ntheir attention to be drawn to the necessary, though more vulgar\nconsideration of their supper.", "The repast, which was greatly aided by the addition of a few delicacies\nthat Heyward had the precaution to bring with him when they left their\nhorses, was exceedingly refreshing to the wearied party.", "Uncas acted as\nattendant to the females, performing all the little offices within his\npower, with a mixture of dignity and anxious grace, that served to amuse\nHeyward, who well knew that it was an utter innovation on the Indian\ncustoms, which forbid their warriors to descend to any menial\nemployment, especially in favor of their women.", "As the rites of\nhospitality were, however, considered sacred among them, this little\ndeparture from the dignity of manhood excited no audible comment.", "Had\nthere been one there sufficiently disengaged to become a close observer,\nhe might have fancied that the services of the young chief were not\nentirely impartial.", "That while he tendered to Alice the gourd of sweet\nwater and the venison in a trencher, neatly carved from the knot of the\npepperidge, with sufficient courtesy, in performing the same offices to\nher sister, his dark eye lingered on her rich, speaking countenance.", "Once or twice he was compelled to speak, to command the attention of\nthose he served.", "In such cases, he made use of English, broken and\nimperfect, but sufficiently intelligible, and which he rendered so mild\nand musical, by his deep,[14] guttural voice, that it never failed to\ncause both ladies to look up in admiration and astonishment.", "In the\ncourse of these civilities, a few sentences were exchanged, that served\nto establish the appearance of an amicable intercourse between the\nparties.", "In the meanwhile, the gravity of Chingachgook remained immovable.", "He had\nseated himself more within the circle of light, where the frequent\nuneasy glances of his guests were better enabled to separate the natural\nexpression of his face from the artificial terrors of the war-paint.", "They found a strong resemblance between father and son, with the\ndifference that might be expected from age and hardships.", "The fierceness\nof his countenance now seemed to slumber, and in its place was to be\nseen the quiet, vacant composure, which distinguishes an Indian warrior,\nwhen his faculties are not required for any of the greater purposes of\nhis existence.", "It was, however, easy to be seen, by the occasional\ngleams that shot across his swarthy visage, that it was only necessary\nto arouse his passions, in order to give full effect to the terrific\ndevice which he had adopted to intimidate his enemies.", "On the other\nhand, the quick, roving eye of the scout seldom rested.", "He ate and drank\nwith an appetite that no sense of danger could disturb, but his\nvigilance seemed never to desert him.", "Twenty times the gourd or the\nvenison was suspended before his lips, while his head was turned aside,\nas though he listened to some distant and distrusted sounds--a movement\nthat never failed to recall his guests from regarding the novelties of\ntheir situation, to a recollection of the alarming reasons that had\ndriven them to seek it.", "As these frequent pauses were never followed by\nany remark, the momentary uneasiness they created quickly passed away,\nand for a time was forgotten.", "\"Come, friend,\" said Hawkeye, drawing out a keg from beneath a cover of\nleaves, towards the close of the repast, and addressing the stranger who\nsat at his elbow, doing great justice to his culinary skill, \"try a\nlittle spruce; 'twill wash away all thoughts of the colt, and quicken\nthe life in your bosom.", "I drink to our better friendship, hoping that a\nlittle horse-flesh may leave no heartburnings atween us.", "How do you name\nyourself?\"", "\"Gamut--David Gamut,\" returned the singing-master, preparing to wash\ndown his sorrows in a powerful draught of the woodman's high-flavored\nand well-laced compound.", "\"A very good name, and, I dare say, handed down from honest\nforefathers.", "I'm an admirator of names, though the Christian fashions\nfall far below savage customs in this particular.", "The biggest coward I\never knew was called Lyon; and his wife, Patience, would scold you out\nof hearing in less time than a hunted deer would run a rod.", "With an\nIndian 'tis a matter of conscience; what he calls himself, he generally\nis--not that Chingachgook, which signifies Big Sarpent, is really a\nsnake, big or little; but that he understands the windings and turnings\nof human natur', and is silent, and strikes his enemies when they least\nexpect him.", "What may be your calling?\"", "\"I am an unworthy instructor in the art of psalmody.\"", "\"Anan!\"", "\"I teach singing to the youths, of the Connecticut levy.\"", "\"You might be better employed.", "The young hounds go laughing and singing\ntoo much already through the woods, when they ought not to breathe\nlouder than a fox in his cover.", "Can you use the smooth bore, or handle\nthe rifle?\"", "\"Praised be God, I have never had occasion to meddle with murderous\nimplements!\"", "\"Perhaps you understand the compass, and lay down the water-courses and\nmountains of the wilderness on paper, in order that they who follow may\nfind places by their given names?\"", "\"I practise no such employment.\"", "\"You have a pair of legs that might make a long path seem short!", "you\njourney sometimes, I fancy, with tidings for the general.\"", "\"Never; I follow no other than my own high vocation, which is\ninstruction in sacred music!\"", "\"'Tis a strange calling!\"", "muttered Hawkeye, with an inward laugh, \"to go\nthrough life, like a catbird, mocking all the ups and downs that may\nhappen to come out of other men's throats.", "Well, friend, I suppose it is\nyour gift, and mustn't be denied any more than if 'twas shooting, or\nsome other better inclination.", "Let us hear what you can do in that way;\n'twill be a friendly manner of saying good-night, for 'tis time that\nthese ladies should be getting strength for a hard and a long push, in\nthe pride of the morning, afore the Maquas are stirring!\"", "\"With joyful pleasure do I consent,\" said David, adjusting his\niron-rimmed spectacles, and producing his beloved little volume, which\nhe immediately tendered to Alice.", "\"What can be more fitting and\nconsolatory, than to offer up evening praise, after a day of such\nexceeding jeopardy!\"", "Alice smiled; but regarding Heyward, she blushed and hesitated.", "\"Indulge yourself,\" he whispered: \"ought not the suggestion of the\nworthy namesake of the Psalmist to have its weight at such a moment?\"", "Encouraged by his opinion, Alice did what her pious inclinations and her\nkeen relish for gentle sounds, had before so strongly urged.", "The book\nwas open at a hymn not ill adapted to their situation, and in which the\npoet, no longer goaded by his desire to excel the inspired king of\nIsrael, had discovered some chastened and respectable powers.", "Cora\nbetrayed a disposition to support her sister, and the sacred song\nproceeded, after the indispensable preliminaries of the pitch-pipe and\nthe tune had been duly attended to by the methodical David.", "The air was solemn and slow.", "At times it rose to the fullest compass of\nthe rich voices of the females, who hung over their little book in holy\nexcitement, and again it sank so low, that the rushing of the waters ran\nthrough their melody, like a hollow accompaniment.", "The natural taste and\ntrue ear of David governed and modified the sounds to suit the confined\ncavern, every crevice, and cranny of which was filled with the thrilling\nnotes of their flexible voices.", "The Indians riveted their eyes on the\nrocks, and listened with an attention that seemed to turn them into\nstone.", "But the scout, who had placed his chin in his hand, with an\nexpression of cold indifference, gradually suffered his rigid features\nto relax, until, as verse succeeded verse, he felt his iron nature\nsubdued, while his recollection was carried back to boyhood, when his\nears had been accustomed to listen to similar sounds of praise, in the\nsettlements of the colony.", "His roving eyes began to moisten, and before\nthe hymn was ended, scalding tears rolled out of fountains that had long\nseemed dry, and followed each other down those cheeks, that had oftener\nfelt the storms of heaven than any testimonials of weakness.", "The singers\nwere dwelling on one of those low, dying chords, which the ear devours\nwith such greedy rapture, as if conscious that it is about to lose them,\nwhen a cry, that seemed neither human nor earthly, rose in the outward\nair, penetrating not only the recesses of the cavern, but to the inmost\nhearts of all who heard it.", "It was followed by a stillness apparently as\ndeep as if the waters had been checked in their furious progress, at\nsuch a horrid and unusual interruption.", "\"What is it?\"", "murmured Alice, after a few moments of terrible suspense.", "\"What is it?\"", "repeated Heyward aloud.", "Neither Hawkeye nor the Indians made any reply.", "They listened, as if\nexpecting the sound would be repeated, with a manner that expressed\ntheir own astonishment.", "At length they spoke together earnestly, in the\nDelaware language, when Uncas, passing by the inner and most concealed\naperture, cautiously left the cavern.", "When he had gone, the scout first\nspoke in English.", "\"What it is, or what it is not, none here can tell; though two of us\nhave ranged the woods for more than thirty years!", "I did believe there\nwas no cry that Indians or beast could make, that my ears had not heard;\nbut this has proved that I was only a vain and conceited mortal!\"", "\"Was it not, then, the shout the warriors make when they wish to\nintimidate their enemies?\"", "asked Cora, who stood drawing her veil about\nher person, with a calmness to which her agitated sister was a stranger.", "\"No, no; this was bad, and shocking, and had a sort of unhuman sound;\nbut when you once hear the war-whoop, you will never mistake it for\nanything else!", "Well, Uncas!\"", "speaking in Delaware to the young chief as\nhe re-entered, \"what see you?", "do our lights shine through the blankets?\"", "The answer was short, and apparently decided, being given in the same\ntongue.", "\"There is nothing to be seen without,\" continued Hawkeye, shaking his\nhead in discontent; \"and our hiding-place is still in darkness!", "Pass\ninto the other cave, you that need it, and seek for sleep; we must be\nafoot long before the sun, and make the most of our time to get to\nEdward, while the Mingos are taking their morning nap.\"", "Cora set the example of compliance, with a steadiness that taught the\nmore timid Alice the necessity of obedience.", "Before leaving the place,\nhowever, she whispered a request to Duncan that he would follow.", "Uncas\nraised the blanket for their passage, and as the sisters turned to thank\nhim for this act of attention, they saw the scout seated again before\nthe dying embers, with his face resting on his hands, in a manner which\nshowed how deeply he brooded on the unaccountable interruption which\nhad broken up their evening devotions.", "Heyward took with him a blazing knot, which threw a dim light through\nthe narrow vista of their new apartment.", "Placing it in a favorable\nposition, he joined the females, who now found themselves alone with him\nfor the first time since they had left the friendly ramparts of Fort\nEdward.", "\"Leave us not, Duncan,\" said Alice; \"we cannot sleep in such a place as\nthis, with that horrid cry still ringing in our ears!\"", "\"First let us examine into the security of your fortress,\" he answered,\n\"and then we will speak of rest.\"", "He approached the farther end of the cavern, to an outlet, which, like\nthe others, was concealed by blankets, and removing the thick screen,\nbreathed the fresh and reviving air from the cataract.", "One arm of the\nriver flowed through a deep, narrow ravine, which its current had worn\nin the soft rock, directly beneath his feet, forming an effectual\ndefence, as he believed, against any danger from that quarter; the\nwater, a few rods above them, plunging, glancing, and sweeping along, in\nits most violent and broken manner.", "\"Nature has made an impenetrable barrier on this side,\" he continued,\npointing down the perpendicular declivity into the dark current, before\nhe dropped the blanket; \"and as you know that good men and true are on\nguard in front, I see no reason why the advice of our honest host should\nbe disregarded.", "I am certain Cora will join me in saying that sleep is\nnecessary to you both.\"", "\"Cora may submit to the justice of your opinion, though she cannot put\nit in practise,\" returned the elder sister, who had placed herself by\nthe side of Alice, on a couch of sassafras; \"there would be other causes\nto chase away sleep, though we had been spared the shock of this\nmysterious noise.", "Ask yourself, Heyward, can daughters forget the\nanxiety a father must endure, whose children lodge, he knows not where\nor how, in such a wilderness, and in the midst of so many perils?\"", "\"He is a soldier, and knows how to estimate the chances of the woods.\"", "\"He is a father, and cannot deny his nature.\"", "\"How kind has he ever been to all my follies!", "how tender and indulgent\nto all my wishes!\"", "sobbed Alice.", "\"We have been selfish, sister, in\nurging our visit at such hazard!\"", "\"I may have been rash in pressing his consent in a moment of much\nembarrassment, but I would have proved to him, that however others might\nneglect him in his strait, his children at least were faithful!\"", "\"When he heard of your arrival at Edward,\" said Heyward, kindly, \"there\nwas a powerful struggle in his bosom between fear and love; though the\nlatter, heightened, if possible, by so long a separation, quickly\nprevailed.", "'It is the spirit of my noble-minded Cora that leads them,\nDuncan,' he said, 'and I will not balk it.", "Would to God, that he who\nholds the honor of our royal master in his guardianship, would show but\nhalf her firmness!'\"", "\"And did he not speak of me, Heyward?\"", "demanded Alice, with jealous\naffection.", "\"Surely, he forgot not altogether his little Elsie?\"", "\"That was impossible,\" returned the young man; \"he called you by a\nthousand endearing epithets, that I may not presume to use, but to the\njustice of which I can warmly testify.", "Once, indeed, he said--\"\n\nDuncan ceased speaking; for while his eyes were riveted on those of\nAlice, who had turned towards him with the eagerness of filial\naffection, to catch his words, the same strong horrid cry, as before,\nfilled the air, and rendered him mute.", "A long, breathless silence\nsucceeded, during which each looked at the others in fearful expectation\nof hearing the sound repeated.", "At length the blanket was slowly raised,\nand the scout stood in the aperture with a countenance whose firmness\nevidently began to give way, before a mystery that seemed to threaten\nsome danger, against which all his cunning and experience might prove of\nno avail." ]

[ "It was the first opportunity\npossessed by Duncan and his companions, to view the marked lineaments of\neither of their Indian attendants, and each individual of the party felt\nrelieved from a burden of doubt, as the proud and determined, though\nwild expression of the features of the young warrior forced itself on\ntheir notice.", "\"I agree with you, Alice, in thinking that such a front and\neye were formed rather to intimidate than to deceive; but let us not\npractise a deception upon ourselves, by expecting any other exhibition\nof what we esteem virtue than according to the fashion of a savage.", "It\nfalls by no rule at all; sometimes it leaps, sometimes it tumbles;\nthere, it skips; here, it shoots; in one place 'tis white as snow, and\nin another 'tis green as grass; hereabouts, it pitches into deep\nhollows, that rumble and quake the 'arth; and hereaway, it ripples and\nsings like a brook, fashioning whirlpools and gulleys in the old stone,\nas it 'twas no harder than trodden clay.", "Uncas acted as\nattendant to the females, performing all the little offices within his\npower, with a mixture of dignity and anxious grace, that served to amuse\nHeyward, who well knew that it was an utter innovation on the Indian\ncustoms, which forbid their warriors to descend to any menial\nemployment, especially in favor of their women.", "I drink to our better friendship, hoping that a\nlittle horse-flesh may leave no heartburnings atween us.", "\"You have a pair of legs that might make a long path seem short!", "One arm of the\nriver flowed through a deep, narrow ravine, which its current had worn\nin the soft rock, directly beneath his feet, forming an effectual\ndefence, as he believed, against any danger from that quarter; the\nwater, a few rods above them, plunging, glancing, and sweeping along, in\nits most violent and broken manner.", "\"He is a father, and cannot deny his nature.\"", "\"Surely, he forgot not altogether his little Elsie?\"", "Once, indeed, he said--\"\n\nDuncan ceased speaking; for while his eyes were riveted on those of\nAlice, who had turned towards him with the eagerness of filial\naffection, to catch his words, the same strong horrid cry, as before,\nfilled the air, and rendered him mute." ]

[ "I'm an admirator of names, though the Christian fashions\nfall far below savage customs in this particular.", "The young hounds go laughing and singing\ntoo much already through the woods, when they ought not to breathe\nlouder than a fox in his cover.", "Would to God, that he who\nholds the honor of our royal master in his guardianship, would show but\nhalf her firmness!'\"", "speaking in Delaware to the young chief as\nhe re-entered, \"what see you?", "First it runs smoothly, as if meaning to go down the\ndescent as things were ordered; then it angles about and faces the\nshores; nor are there places wanting where it looks backward, as if\nunwilling to leave the wilderness, to mingle with the salt!", "They felt it might be a being partially benighted in the\nvale of ignorance, but it could not be one who would willingly devote\nhis rich natural gifts to the purposes of wanton treachery.", "\"Praised be God, I have never had occasion to meddle with murderous\nimplements!\"", "This is not such a supper as\na major of the Royal Americans has a right to expect, but I've known\nstout detachments of the corps glad to eat their venison raw, and\nwithout a relish too.", "A spectral-looking figure stalked from out the darkness behind the\nscout, and seizing a blazing brand, held it towards the farther\nextremity of their place of retreat.", "\"Ay!" ]

[ "How do you name\nyourself?\"", "\"Gamut--David Gamut,\" returned the singing-master, preparing to wash\ndown his sorrows in a powerful draught of the woodman's high-flavored\nand well-laced compound.", "\"A very good name, and, I dare say, handed down from honest\nforefathers.", "I'm an admirator of names, though the Christian fashions\nfall far below savage customs in this particular.", "The biggest coward I\never knew was called Lyon; and his wife, Patience, would scold you out\nof hearing in less time than a hunted deer would run a rod.", "With an\nIndian 'tis a matter of conscience; what he calls himself, he generally\nis--not that Chingachgook, which signifies Big Sarpent, is really a\nsnake, big or little; but that he understands the windings and turnings\nof human natur', and is silent, and strikes his enemies when they least\nexpect him.", "What may be your calling?\"", "\"I am an unworthy instructor in the art of psalmody.\"", "\"Anan!\"", "\"I teach singing to the youths, of the Connecticut levy.\"", "\"You might be better employed." ]

[ "\n \"Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide;\n He wales a portion with judicious care;\n And 'Let us worship God,' he says, with solemn air.\"", "BURNS.", "Heyward, and his female companions, witnessed this mysterious movement\nwith secret uneasiness; for, though the conduct of the white man had\nhitherto been above reproach, his rude equipments, blunt address, and\nstrong antipathies, together with the character of his silent\nassociates, were all causes for exciting distrust in minds that had been\nso recently alarmed by Indian treachery.", "The stranger alone disregarded the passing incidents.", "He seated himself\non a projection of the rocks, whence he gave no other signs of\nconsciousness than by the struggles of his spirit, as manifested in\nfrequent and heavy sighs.", "Smothered voices were next heard, as though\nmen called to each other in the bowels of the earth, when a sudden light\nflashed upon those without, and laid bare the much-prized secret of the\nplace.", "At the farther extremity of a narrow, deep cavern in the rock, whose\nlength appeared much extended by the perspective and the nature of the\nlight by which it was seen, was seated the scout, holding a blazing knot\nof pine.", "The strong glare of the fire fell full upon his sturdy,\nweather-beaten countenance and forest attire, lending an air of romantic\nwildness to the aspect of an individual, who, seen by the sober light of\nday, would have exhibited the peculiarities of a man remarkable for the\nstrangeness of his dress, the iron-like inflexibility of his frame, and\nthe singular compound of quick, vigilant sagacity, and of exquisite\nsimplicity, that by turns usurped the possession of his muscular\nfeatures.", "At a little distance in advance stood Uncas, his whole person\nthrown powerfully into view.", "The travellers anxiously regarded the\nupright, flexible figure of the young Mohican, graceful and unrestrained\nin the attitudes and movements of nature.", "\"When he heard of your arrival at Edward,\" said Heyward, kindly, \"there\nwas a powerful struggle in his bosom between fear and love; though the\nlatter, heightened, if possible, by so long a separation, quickly\nprevailed.", "'It is the spirit of my noble-minded Cora that leads them,\nDuncan,' he said, 'and I will not balk it.", "Would to God, that he who\nholds the honor of our royal master in his guardianship, would show but\nhalf her firmness!'\"", "\"And did he not speak of me, Heyward?\"", "demanded Alice, with jealous\naffection.", "\"Surely, he forgot not altogether his little Elsie?\"", "\"That was impossible,\" returned the young man; \"he called you by a\nthousand endearing epithets, that I may not presume to use, but to the\njustice of which I can warmly testify.", "Once, indeed, he said--\"\n\nDuncan ceased speaking; for while his eyes were riveted on those of\nAlice, who had turned towards him with the eagerness of filial\naffection, to catch his words, the same strong horrid cry, as before,\nfilled the air, and rendered him mute.", "A long, breathless silence\nsucceeded, during which each looked at the others in fearful expectation\nof hearing the sound repeated.", "At length the blanket was slowly raised,\nand the scout stood in the aperture with a countenance whose firmness\nevidently began to give way, before a mystery that seemed to threaten\nsome danger, against which all his cunning and experience might prove of\nno avail." ]

[ "\n \"They do not sleep.", "On yonder cliffs, a grisly band,\n I see them sit.\"", "GRAY.", "\"'Twould be neglecting a warning that is given for our good, to lie hid\nany longer,\" said Hawkeye, \"when such sounds are raised in the forest!", "The gentle ones may keep close, but the Mohicans and I will watch upon\nthe rock, where I suppose a major of the 60th would wish to keep us\ncompany.\"", "\"Is then our danger so pressing?\"", "asked Cora.", "\"He who makes strange sounds, and gives them out for man's information,\nalone knows our danger.", "I should think myself wicked, unto rebellion\nagainst his will, was I to burrow with such warnings in the air!", "Even\nthe weak soul who passes his days in singing, is stirred by the cry,\nand, as he says, is 'ready to go forth to the battle.'", "If 'twere only a\nbattle, it would be a thing understood by us all, and easily managed;\nbut I have heard that when such shrieks are atween heaven and 'arth, it\nbetokens another sort of warfare!\"", "\"If all our reasons for fear, my friend, are confined to such as proceed\nfrom supernatural causes, we have but little occasion to be alarmed,\"\ncontinued the undisturbed Cora; \"are you certain that our enemies have\nnot invented some new and ingenious method to strike us with terror,\nthat their conquest may become more easy?\"", "\"Lady,\" returned the scout, solemnly, \"I have listened to all the sounds\nof the woods for thirty years, as a man will listen, whose life and\ndeath depend on the quickness of his ears.", "There is no whine of the\npanther, no whistle of the catbird, nor any invention of the devilish\nMingos, that can cheat me!", "I have heard the forest moan like mortal men\nin their affliction; often, and again, have I listened to the wind\nplaying its music in the branches of the girdled trees; and I have heard\nthe lightning cracking in the air, like the snapping of blazing brush,\nas it spitted forth sparks and forked flames; but never have I thought\nthat I heard more than the pleasure of Him who sported with the things\nof his hand.", "But neither the Mohicans, nor I, who am a white man without\na cross, can explain the cry just heard.", "We, therefore, believe it a\nsign given for our good.\"", "\"It is extraordinary!\"", "said Heyward, taking his pistols from the place\nwhere he had laid them on entering; \"be it a sign of peace or a signal\nof war, it must be looked to.", "Lead the way, my friend; I follow.\"", "On issuing from their place of confinement, the whole party instantly\nexperienced a grateful renovation of spirits, by exchanging the pent air\nof the hiding-place for the cool and invigorating atmosphere, which\nplayed around the whirlpools and pitches of the cataract.", "A heavy\nevening breeze swept along the surface of the river, and seemed to drive\nthe roar of the falls into the recesses of their own caverns, whence it\nissued heavily and constant, like thunder rumbling beyond the distant\nhills.", "The moon had risen, and its light was already glancing here and\nthere on the waters above them; but the extremity of the rock where they\nstood still lay in shadow.", "With the exception of the sounds produced by\nthe rushing waters, and an occasional breathing of the air, as it\nmurmured past them in fitful currents, the scene was as still as night\nand solitude could make it.", "In vain were the eyes of each individual\nbent along the opposite shores, in quest of some signs of life, that\nmight explain the nature of the interruption they had heard.", "Their\nanxious and eager looks were baffled by the deceptive light, or rested\nonly on naked rocks, and straight and immovable trees.", "\"There is nothing to be seen but the gloom and quiet of a lovely\nevening,\" whispered Duncan: \"how much should we prize such a scene, and\nall this breathing solitude, at any other moment, Cora!", "Fancy yourselves\nin security and what now, perhaps, increases your terror, may be made\nconducive to enjoyment--\"\n\n\"Listen!\"", "interrupted Alice.", "The caution was unnecessary.", "Once more the same sound arose, as if from\nthe bed of the river, and having broken out of the narrow bounds of the\ncliffs, was heard undulating through the forest, in distant and dying\ncadences.", "\"Can any here give a name to such a cry?\"", "demanded Hawkeye, when the\nlast echo was lost in the woods; \"if so, let him speak; for myself, I\njudge it not to belong to 'arth!\"", "\"Here, then, is one who can undeceive you,\" said Duncan; \"I know the\nsound full well, for often have I heard it on the field of battle, and\nin situations which are frequent in a soldier's life.", "'Tis the horrid\nshriek that a horse will give in his agony; oftener drawn from him in\npain, though sometimes in terror.", "My charger is either a prey to the\nbeasts of the forest, or he sees his danger, without the power to avoid\nit.", "The sound might deceive me in the cavern, but in the open air I know\nit too well to be wrong.\"", "The scout and his companions listened to this simple explanation with\nthe interest of men who imbibe new ideas, at the same time that they get\nrid of old ones, which had proved disagreeable inmates.", "The two latter\nuttered their usual and expressive exclamation, \"Hugh!\"", "as the truth\nfirst glanced upon their minds, while the former, after a short musing\npause, took upon himself to reply.", "\"I cannot deny your words,\" he said; \"for I am little skilled in horses,\nthough born where they abound.", "The wolves must be hovering above their\nheads on the bank, and the timorsome creatures are calling on man for\nhelp, in the best manner they are able.", "Uncas,\"--he spoke in\nDelaware--\"Uncas, drop down in the canoe, and whirl a brand among the\npack; or fear may do what the wolves can't get at to perform, and leave\nus without horses in the morning, when we shall have so much need to\njourney swiftly!\"", "The young native had already descended to the water, to comply, when a\nlong howl was raised on the edge of the river, and was borne swiftly off\ninto the depths of the forest, as though the beasts, of their own\naccord, were abandoning their prey in sudden terror.", "Uncas, with\ninstinctive quickness, receded, and the three foresters held another of\ntheir low, earnest conferences.", "\"We have been like hunters who have lost the points of the heavens, and\nfrom whom the sun has been hid for days,\" said Hawkeye, turning away\nfrom his companions; \"now we begin again to know the signs of our\ncourse, and the paths are cleared from briers!", "Seat yourselves in the\nshade which the moon throws from yonder beech--'tis thicker than that of\nthe pines--and let us wait for that which the Lord may choose to send\nnext.", "Let all your conversation be in whispers; though it would be\nbetter, and perhaps, in the end, wiser, if each one held discourse with\nhis own thoughts, for a time.\"", "The manner of the scout was seriously impressive, though no longer\ndistinguished by any signs of unmanly apprehension.", "It was evident that\nhis momentary weakness had vanished with the explanation of a mystery\nwhich his own experience had not served to fathom; and though he now\nfelt all the realities of their actual condition, that he was prepared\nto meet them with the energy of his hardy nature.", "This feeling seemed\nalso common to the natives, who placed themselves in positions which\ncommanded a full view of both shores, while their own persons were\neffectually concealed from observation.", "In such circumstances, common\nprudence dictated that Heyward and his companions should imitate a\ncaution that proceeded from so intelligent a source.", "The young man drew\na pile of the sassafras from the cave, and placing it in the chasm which\nseparated the two caverns, it was occupied by the sisters, who were thus\nprotected by the rocks from any missiles, while their anxiety was\nrelieved by the assurance that no danger could approach without a\nwarning.", "Heyward himself was posted at hand, so near that he might\ncommunicate with his companions without raising his voice to a dangerous\nelevation, while David, in imitation of the woodsmen, bestowed his\nperson in such a manner among the fissures of the rocks, that his\nungainly limbs were no longer offensive to the eye.", "In this manner, hours passed by without further interruption.", "The moon\nreached the zenith, and shed its mild light perpendicularly on the\nlovely sight of the sisters slumbering peacefully in each other's arms.", "Duncan cast the wide shawl of Cora before a spectacle he so much loved\nto contemplate, and then suffered his own head to seek a pillow on the\nrock.", "David began to utter sounds that would have shocked his delicate\norgans in more wakeful moments; in short, all but Hawkeye and the\nMohicans lost every idea of consciousness, in uncontrollable drowsiness.", "But the watchfulness of these vigilant protectors neither tired nor\nslumbered.", "Immovable as that rock, of which each appeared to form a\npart, they lay, with their eyes roving, without intermission, along the\ndark margin of trees that bounded the adjacent shores of the narrow\nstream.", "Not a sound escaped them; the most subtle examination could not\nhave told they breathed.", "It was evident that this excess of caution\nproceeded from an experience that no subtlety on the part of their\nenemies could deceive.", "It was, however, continued without any apparent\nconsequences, until the moon had set, and a pale streak above the\ntree-tops, at the bend of the river a little below, announced the\napproach of day.", "Then, for the first time, Hawkeye was seen to stir.", "He crawled along\nthe rock, and shook Duncan from his heavy slumbers.", "\"Now is the time to journey,\" he whispered; \"awake the gentle ones, and\nbe ready to get into the canoe when I bring it to the landing-place.\"", "\"Have you had a quiet night?\"", "said Heyward; \"for myself, I believe sleep\nhas got the better of my vigilance.\"", "\"All is yet still as midnight.", "Be silent, but be quick.\"", "By this time Duncan was thoroughly awake, and he immediately lifted the\nshawl from the sleeping females.", "The motion caused Cora to raise her\nhand as if to repulse him, while Alice murmured, in her soft, gentle\nvoice, \"No, no, dear father, we were not deserted; Duncan was with us!\"", "\"Yes, sweet innocence,\" whispered the youth; \"Duncan is here, and while\nlife continues or danger remains, he will never quit thee.", "Cora!", "Alice!", "awake!", "The hour has come to move!\"", "A loud shriek from the younger of the sisters, and the form of the other\nstanding upright before him, in bewildered horror, was the unexpected\nanswer he received.", "While the words were still on the lips of Heyward,\nthere had arisen such a tumult of yells and cries as served to drive the\nswift currents of his own blood back from its bounding course into the\nfountains of his heart.", "It seemed, for near a minute, as if demons of\nhell had possessed themselves of the air about them, and were venting\ntheir savage humors in barbarous sounds.", "The cries came from no\nparticular direction, though it was evident they filled the woods, and\nas the appalled listeners easily imagined, the caverns of the falls, the\nrocks, the bed of the river, and the upper air.", "David raised his tall\nperson in the midst of the infernal din, with a hand on either ear,\nexclaiming--\n\n\"Whence comes this discord!", "Has hell broke loose, that man should utter\nsounds like these!\"", "The bright flashes and the quick reports of a dozen rifles, from the\nopposite banks of the stream, followed this incautious exposure of his\nperson, and left the unfortunate singing-master senseless on that rock\nwhere he had been so long slumbering.", "The Mohicans boldly sent back the\nintimidating yell of their enemies, who raised a shout of savage triumph\nat the fall of Gamut.", "The flash of rifles was then quick and close\nbetween them, but either party was too well skilled to leave even a limb\nexposed to the hostile aim.", "Duncan listened with intense anxiety for\nthe strokes of the paddle, believing that flight was now their only\nrefuge.", "The river glanced by with its ordinary velocity, but the canoe\nwas nowhere to be seen on its dark waters.", "He had just fancied they were\ncruelly deserted by the scout, as a stream of flame issued from the rock\nbeneath him, and a fierce yell, blended with a shriek of agony,\nannounced that the messenger of death, sent from the fatal weapon of\nHawkeye, had found a victim.", "At this slight repulse the assailants\ninstantly withdrew, and gradually the place became as still as before\nthe sudden tumult.", "Duncan seized the favorable moment to spring to the body of Gamut, which\nhe bore within the shelter of the narrow chasm that protected the\nsisters.", "In another minute the whole party was collected in this spot of\ncomparative safety.", "\"The poor fellow has saved his scalp,\" said Hawkeye, coolly passing his\nhand over the head of David; \"but he is a proof that a man may be born\nwith too long a tongue!", "'Twas downright madness to show six feet of\nflesh and blood, on a naked rock, to the raging savages.", "I only wonder\nhe has escaped with life.\"", "\"Is he not dead!\"", "demanded Cora, in a voice whose husky tones showed how\npowerfully natural horror struggled with her assumed firmness.", "\"Can we\ndo aught to assist the wretched man?\"", "\"No, no!", "the life is in his heart yet, and after he has slept awhile he\nwill come to himself, and be a wiser man for it, till the hour of his\nreal time shall come,\" returned Hawkeye, casting another oblique glance\nat the insensible body, while he filled his charger with admirable\nnicety.", "\"Carry him in, Uncas, and lay him on the sassafras.", "The longer\nhis nap lasts the better it will be for him, as I doubt whether he can\nfind a proper cover for such a shape on these rocks; and singing won't\ndo any good with the Iroquois.\"", "\"You believe, then, the attack will be renewed?\"", "asked Heyward.", "\"Do I expect a hungry wolf will satisfy his craving with a mouthful!", "They have lost a man, and 'tis their fashion, when they meet a loss, and\nfail in the surprise, to fall back; but we shall have them on again,\nwith new expedients to circumvent us, and master our scalps.", "Our main\nhope,\" he continued, raising his rugged countenance, across which a\nshade of anxiety just then passed like a darkening cloud, \"will be to\nkeep the rock until Munro can send a party to our help!", "God send it may\nbe soon, and under a leader that knows the Indian customs!\"", "\"You hear our probable fortunes, Cora,\" said Duncan, \"and you know we\nhave everything to hope from the anxiety and experience of your father.", "Come, then, with Alice, into this cavern, where you, at least, will be\nsafe from the murderous rifles of our enemies and where you may bestow a\ncare suited to your gentle natures on our unfortunate comrade.\"", "The sisters followed him into the outer cave, where David was beginning,\nby his sighs, to give symptoms of returning consciousness; and then\ncommending the wounded man to their attention, he immediately prepared\nto leave them.", "\"Duncan!\"", "said the tremulous voice of Cora, when he had reached the\nmouth of the cavern.", "He turned, and beheld the speaker, whose color had\nchanged to a deadly paleness, and whose lip quivered, gazing after him,\nwith an expression of interest which immediately recalled him to her\nside.", "\"Remember, Duncan, how necessary your safety is to our own--how\nyou bear a father's sacred trust--how much depends on your discretion\nand care--in short,\" she added, while the tell-tale blood stole over her\nfeatures, crimsoning her very temples, \"how very deservedly dear you are\nto all of the name of Munro.\"", "\"If anything could add to my own base love of life,\" said Heyward,\nsuffering his unconscious eyes to wander to the youthful form of the\nsilent Alice, \"it would be so kind an assurance.", "As major of the 60th,\nour honest host will tell you I must take my share of the fray; but our\ntask will be easy; it is merely to keep these blood-hounds at bay for a\nfew hours.\"", "Without waiting for reply, he tore himself from the presence of the\nsisters, and joined the scout and his companions, who still lay within\nthe protection of the little chasm between the two caves.", "\"I tell you, Uncas,\" said the former, as Heyward joined them, \"you are\nwasteful of your powder, and the kick of the rifle disconcerts your aim!", "Little powder, light lead, and a long arm, seldom fail of bringing the\ndeath screech from a Mingo!", "At least, such has been my experience with\nthe creatur's.", "Come, friends; let us to our covers, for no man can tell\nwhen or where a Maqua[15] will strike his blow.\"", "The Indians silently repaired to their appointed stations, which were\nfissures in the rocks, whence they could command the approaches to the\nfoot of the falls.", "In the centre of the little island, a few short and\nstunted pines had found root, forming a thicket, into which Hawkeye\ndarted with the swiftness of a deer, followed by the active Duncan.", "Here\nthey secured themselves, as well as circumstances would permit, among\nthe shrubs and fragments of stone that were scattered about the place.", "Above them was a bare, rounded rock, on each side of which the water\nplayed its gambols, and plunged into the abysses beneath, in the manner\nalready described.", "As the day had now dawned, the opposite shores no\nlonger presented a confused outline, but they were able to look into the\nwoods, and distinguish objects beneath the canopy of gloomy pines.", "A long and anxious watch succeeded, but without any further evidences of\na renewed attack; and Duncan began to hope that their fire had proved\nmore fatal than was supposed, and that their enemies had been\neffectually repulsed.", "When he ventured to utter this impression to his\ncompanion, it was met by Hawkeye with an incredulous shake of the head.", "\"You know not the nature of a Maqua, if you think he is so easily beaten\nback without a scalp!\"", "he answered.", "\"If there was one of the imps\nyelling this morning, there were forty!", "and they know our number and\nquality too well to give up the chase so soon.", "Hist!", "look into the water\nabove, just where it breaks over the rocks.", "I am no mortal, if the risky\ndevils haven't swam down upon the very pitch, and, as bad luck would\nhave it, they have hit the head of the island.", "Hist!", "man, keep close!", "or\nthe hair will be off your crown in the turning of a knife!\"", "Heyward lifted his head from the cover, and beheld what he justly\nconsidered a prodigy of rashness and skill.", "The river had worn away the\nedge of the soft rock in such a manner, as to render its first pitch\nless abrupt and perpendicular than is usual at waterfalls.", "With no other\nguide than the ripple of the stream where it met the head of the island,\na party of their insatiable foes had ventured into the current, and swam\ndown upon this point, knowing the ready access it would give, if\nsuccessful, to their intended victims.", "As Hawkeye ceased speaking, four\nhuman heads could be seen peering above a few logs of drift-wood that\nhad lodged on these naked rocks, and which had probably suggested the\nidea of the practicability of the hazardous undertaking.", "At the next\nmoment, a fifth form was seen floating over the green edge of the fall,\na little from the line of the island.", "The savage struggled powerfully to\ngain the point of safety, and, favored by the glancing water, he was\nalready stretching forth an arm to meet the grasp of his companions,\nwhen he shot away again with the whirling current, appeared to rise into\nthe air, with uplifted arms and starting eyeballs, and fell, with a\nsullen plunge, into that deep and yawning abyss over which he hovered.", "A\nsingle, wild, despairing shriek rose from the cavern, and all was hushed\nagain, as the grave.", "The first generous impulse of Duncan was to rush to the rescue of the\nhapless wretch; but he felt himself bound to the spot by the iron grasp\nof the immovable scout.", "\"Would ye bring certain death upon us, by telling the Mingos where we\nlie?\"", "demanded Hawkeye, sternly; \"'tis a charge of powder saved, and\nammunition is as precious now as breath to a worried deer!", "Freshen the\npriming of your pistols--the mist of the falls is apt to dampen the\nbrimstone--and stand firm for a close struggle, while I fire on their\nrush.\"", "He placed his finger in his mouth, and drew a long, shrill whistle,\nwhich was answered from the rocks that were guarded by the Mohicans.", "Duncan caught glimpses of heads above the scattered drift-wood, as this\nsignal rose on the air, but they disappeared again as suddenly as they\nhad glanced upon his sight.", "A low, rustling sound next drew his\nattention behind him, and turning his head, he beheld Uncas within a few\nfeet, creeping to his side.", "Hawkeye spoke to him in Delaware, when the\nyoung chief took his position with singular caution and undisturbed\ncoolness.", "To Heyward this was a moment of feverish and impatient\nsuspense; though the scout saw fit to select it as a fit occasion to\nread a lecture to his more youthful associates on the art of using\nfire-arms with discretion.", "\"Of all we'pons,\" he commenced, \"the long-barrelled, true-grooved,\nsoft-metalled rifle is the most dangerous in skilful hands, though it\nwants a strong arm, a quick eye, and great judgment in charging, to put\nforth all its beauties.", "The gunsmiths can have but little insight into\ntheir trade, when they make their fowling-pieces and short horsemen's--\"\n\nHe was interrupted by the low but expressive \"Hugh!\"", "of Uncas.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE BATTLE AT GLENS FALLS\n\n_Each of the combatants threw all his energies into that effort, and the\nresult was, that both tottered on the brink of the precipice_]\n\n\"I see them, boy, I see them!\"", "continued Hawkeye; \"they are gathering\nfor the rush, or they would keep their dingy backs below the logs.", "Well,\nlet them,\" he added, examining his flint; \"the leading man certainly\ncomes on to his death, though it should be Montcalm himself!\"", "At that moment the woods were filled with another burst of cries, and at\nthe signal four savages sprang from the cover of the drift-wood.", "Heyward\nfelt a burning desire to rush forward to meet them, so intense was the\ndelirious anxiety of the moment; but he was restrained by the deliberate\nexamples of the scout and Uncas.", "When their foes who leaped over the\nblack rock that divided them, with long bounds, uttering the wildest\nyells, were within a few rods, the rifle of Hawkeye slowly rose among\nthe shrubs, and poured out its fatal contents.", "The foremost Indian\nbounded like a stricken deer, and fell headlong among the clefts of the\nisland.", "\"Now, Uncas!\"", "cried the scout, drawing his long knife, while his quick\neyes began to flash with ardor, \"take the last of the screeching imps;\nof the other two we are sartain!\"", "He was obeyed; and but two enemies remained to be overcome.", "Heyward had\ngiven one of his pistols to Hawkeye, and together they rushed down a\nlittle declivity towards their foes; they discharged their weapons at\nthe same instant, and equally without success.", "\"I know'd it!", "and I said it!\"", "muttered the scout, whirling the despised\nlittle implement over the falls with bitter disdain.", "\"Come on, ye bloody\nminded hell-hounds!", "ye meet a man without a cross!\"", "The words were barely uttered, when he encountered a savage of gigantic\nstature, and of the fiercest mien.", "At the same moment, Duncan found\nhimself engaged with the other, in a similar contest of hand to hand.", "With ready skill, Hawkeye and his antagonist each grasped that uplifted\narm of the other which held the dangerous knife.", "For near a minute they\nstood looking one another in the eye, and gradually exerting the power\nof their muscles for the mastery.", "At length, the toughened sinews of the\nwhite man prevailed over the less practised limbs of the native.", "The arm\nof the latter slowly gave way before the increasing force of the scout,\nwho suddenly wresting his armed hand from the grasp of the foe, drove\nthe sharp weapon through his naked bosom to the heart.", "In the meantime\nHeyward had been pressed in a more deadly struggle.", "His slight sword was\nsnapped in the first encounter.", "As he was destitute of any other means\nof defence, his safety now depended entirely on bodily strength and\nresolution.", "Though deficient in neither of these qualities, he had met\nan enemy every way his equal.", "Happily, he soon succeeded in disarming\nhis adversary, whose knife fell on the rock at their feet; and from this\nmoment it became a fierce struggle, who should cast the other over the\ndizzy height into a neighboring cavern of the falls.", "Every successive\nstruggle brought them nearer to the verge, where Duncan perceived the\nfinal and conquering effort must be made.", "Each of the combatants threw\nall his energies into that effort, and the result was, that both\ntottered on the brink of the precipice.", "Heyward felt the grasp of the\nother at his throat, and saw the grim smile the savage gave, under the\nrevengeful hope that he hurried his enemy to a fate similar to his own,\nas he felt his body slowly yielding to a resistless power, and the young\nman experienced the passing agony of such a moment in all its horrors.", "At that instant of extreme danger, a dark hand and glancing knife\nappeared before him; the Indian released his hold, as the blood flowed\nfreely from around the several tendons of the wrist; and while Duncan\nwas drawn backward by the saving arm of Uncas, his charmed eyes were\nstill riveted on the fierce and disappointed countenance of his foe, who\nfell sullenly and disappointed down the irrecoverable precipice.", "\"To cover!", "to cover!\"", "cried Hawkeye, who just then had despatched the\nenemy; \"to cover, for your lives!", "the work is but half ended!\"", "The young Mohican gave a shout of triumph, and, followed by Duncan, he\nglided up the acclivity they had descended to the combat, and sought the\nfriendly shelter of the rocks and shrubs.", "\"They linger yet,\n Avengers of their native land.\"", "GRAY.", "The warning call of the scout was not uttered without occasion.", "During\nthe occurrence of the deadly encounter just related, the roar of the\nfalls was unbroken by any human sound whatever.", "It would seem that\ninterest in the result had kept the natives on the opposite shores in\nbreathless suspense, while the quick evolutions and swift changes in the\nposition of the combatants, effectually prevented a fire that might\nprove dangerous alike to friend and enemy.", "But the moment the struggle\nwas decided, a yell arose as fierce and savage as wild and revengful\npassions could throw into the air.", "It was followed by the swift flashes\nof the rifles, which sent their leaden messengers across the rock in\nvolleys, as though the assailants would pour out their impotent fury on\nthe insensible scene of the fatal contest.", "A steady, though deliberate return was made from the rifle of\nChingachgook, who had maintained his post throughout the fray with\nunmoved resolution.", "When the triumphant shout of Uncas was borne to his\nears, the gratified father raised his voice in a single responsive cry,\nafter which his busy piece alone proved that he still guarded his pass\nwith unwearied diligence.", "In this manner many minutes flew by with the\nswiftness of thought: the rifles of the assailants speaking, at times,\nin rattling volleys, and at others, in occasional, scattering shots.", "Though the rock, the trees, and the shrubs, were cut and torn in a\nhundred places around the besieged, their cover was so close, and so\nrigidly maintained, that, as yet, David had been the only sufferer in\ntheir little band.", "\"Let them burn their powder,\" said the deliberate scout, while bullet\nafter bullet whizzed by the place where he securely lay; \"there will be\na fine gathering of lead when it is over, and I fancy the imps will tire\nof the sport, afore these old stones cry out for mercy!", "Uncas, boy, you\nwaste the kernels by overcharging: and a kicking rifle never carries a\ntrue bullet.", "I told you to take that loping miscreant under the line of\nwhite paint; now, if your bullet went a hair's breadth, it went two\ninches above it.", "The life lies low in a Mingo, and humanity teaches us\nto make a quick end of the sarpents.\"", "A quiet smile lighted the haughty features of the young Mohican,\nbetraying his knowledge of the English language, as well as of the\nother's meaning; but he suffered it to pass away without vindication or\nreply.", "\"I cannot permit you to accuse Uncas of want of judgment or of skill,\"\nsaid Duncan; \"he saved my life in the coolest and readiest manner, and\nhe has made a friend who never will require to be reminded of the debt\nhe owes.\"", "Uncas partly raised his body, and offered his hand to the grasp of\nHeyward.", "During this act of friendship, the two young men exchanged\nlooks of intelligence which caused Duncan to forget the character and\ncondition of his wild associate.", "In the meanwhile, Hawkeye, who looked\non this burst of youthful feeling with a cool but kind regard, made the\nfollowing reply:--\n\n\"Life is an obligation which friends often owe each other in the\nwilderness.", "I dare say I may have served Uncas some such turn myself\nbefore now; and I very well remember that he has stood between me and\ndeath five different times: three times from the Mingos, once in\ncrossing Horican, and--\"\n\n\"That bullet was better aimed than common!\"", "exclaimed Duncan,\ninvoluntarily shrinking from a shot which struck the rock at his side\nwith a smart rebound.", "Hawkeye laid his hand on the shapeless metal, and shook his head, as he\nexamined it, saying, \"Falling lead is never flattened!", "had it come from\nthe clouds this might have happened!\"", "But the rifle of Uncas was deliberately raised towards the heavens,\ndirecting his companions to a point, where the mystery was immediately\nexplained.", "A ragged oak grew on the right bank of the river, nearly\nopposite to their position, which, seeking the freedom of the open\nspace, had inclined so far forward, that its upper branches overhung\nthat arm of the stream which flowed nearest to its own shore.", "Among the\ntopmost leaves, which scantily concealed the gnarled and stunted limbs,\na savage was nestled, partly concealed by the trunk of the tree, and\npartly exposed, as though looking down upon them to ascertain the effect\nproduced by his treacherous aim.", "\"These devils will scale heaven to circumvent us to our ruin,\" said\nHawkeye; \"keep him in play, boy, until I can bring 'Killdeer' to bear,\nwhen we will try his metal on each side of the tree at once.\"", "Uncas delayed his fire until the scout uttered the word.", "The rifles\nflashed, the leaves and the bark of the oak flew into the air, and were\nscattered by the wind, but the Indian answered their assault by a\ntaunting laugh, sending down upon them another bullet in return, that\nstruck the cap of Hawkeye from his head.", "Once more the savage yells\nburst out of the woods, and the leaden hail whistled above the heads of\nthe besieged, as if to confine them to a place where they might become\neasy victims to the enterprise of the warrior who had mounted the tree.", "\"This must be looked to!\"", "said the scout, glancing about him with an\nanxious eye.", "\"Uncas, call up your father; we have need of all our\nwe'pons to bring the cunning varmint from his roost.\"", "The signal was instantly given; and, before Hawkeye had reloaded his\nrifle, they were joined by Chingachgook.", "When his son pointed out to the\nexperienced warrior the situation of their dangerous enemy, the usual\nexclamatory \"Hugh!\"", "burst from his lips; after which, no further\nexpression of surprise or alarm was suffered to escape him.", "Hawkeye and\nthe Mohicans conversed earnestly together in Delaware for a few moments,\nwhen each quietly took his post, in order to execute the plan they had\nspeedily devised.", "The warrior in the oak had maintained a quick, though ineffectual fire,\nfrom the moment of his discovery.", "But his aim was interrupted by the\nvigilance of his enemies, whose rifles instantaneously bore on any part\nof his person that was left exposed.", "Still his bullets fell in the\ncentre of the crouching party.", "The clothes of Heyward, which rendered\nhim peculiarly conspicuous, were repeatedly cut, and once blood was\ndrawn from a slight wound in his arm.", "At length, emboldened by the long and patient watchfulness of his\nenemies, the Huron attempted a better and more fatal aim.", "The quick eye\nof the Mohicans caught the dark line of his lower limbs incautiously\nexposed through the thin foliage, a few inches from the trunk of the\ntree.", "Their rifles made a common report, when, sinking on his wounded\nlimb, part of the body of the savage came into view.", "Swift as thought,\nHawkeye seized the advantage and discharged his fatal weapon into the\ntop of the oak.", "The leaves were unusually agitated; the dangerous rifle\nfell from its commanding elevation, and after a few moments of vain\nstruggling, the form of the savage was seen swinging in the wind, while\nhe still grasped a ragged and naked branch of the tree, with hands\nclenched in desperation.", "\"Give him, in pity give him--the contents of another rifle!\"", "cried\nDuncan, turning away his eyes in horror from the spectacle of a\nfellow-creature in such awful jeopardy.", "\"Not a karnel!\"", "exclaimed the obdurate Hawkeye; \"his death is certain,\nand we have no powder to spare, for Indian fights sometimes last for\ndays; 'tis their scalps or ours!--and God, who made us, has put into our\nnatures the craving to keep the skin on the head!\"", "Against this stern and unyielding morality, supported as it was by such\nvisible policy, there was no appeal.", "From that moment the yells in the\nforest once more ceased, the fire was suffered to decline, and all eyes,\nthose of friends as well as enemies, became fixed on the hopeless\ncondition of the wretch who was dangling between heaven and earth.", "The\nbody yielded to the currents of air, and though no murmur or groan\nescaped the victim, there were instants when he grimly faced his foes,\nand the anguish of cold despair might be traced, through the intervening\ndistance, in possession of his swarthy lineaments.", "Three several times\nthe scout raised his piece in mercy, and as often prudence getting the\nbetter of his intention, it was again silently lowered.", "At length one\nhand of the Huron lost its hold, and dropped exhausted to his side.", "A\ndesperate and fruitless struggle to recover the branch succeeded, and\nthen the savage was seen for a fleeting instant, grasping wildly at the\nempty air.", "The lightning is not quicker than was the flame from the\nrifle of Hawkeye; the limbs of the victim trembled and contracted, the\nhead fell to the bosom, and the body parted the foaming waters like\nlead, when the element closed above it, in its ceaseless velocity, and\nevery vestige of the unhappy Huron was lost forever.", "No shout of triumph succeeded this important advantage, but even the\nMohicans gazed at each other in silent horror.", "A single yell burst from\nthe woods, and all was again still.", "Hawkeye, who alone appeared to\nreason on the occasion, shook his head at his own momentary weakness,\neven uttering his self-disapprobation aloud.", "\"'Twas the last charge in my horn, and the last bullet in my pouch, and\n'twas the act of a boy!\"", "he said; \"what mattered it whether he struck\nthe rock living or dead: feeling would soon be over.", "Uncas, lad, go down\nto the canoe, and bring up the big horn; it is all the powder we have\nleft, and we shall need it to the last grain, or I am ignorant of the\nMingo nature.\"", "The young Mohican complied, leaving the scout turning over the useless\ncontents of his pouch, and shaking the empty horn with renewed\ndiscontent.", "From this unsatisfactory examination, however, he was soon\ncalled by a loud and piercing exclamation from Uncas, that sounded, even\nto the unpractised ears of Duncan, as the signal of some new and\nunexpected calamity.", "Every thought filled with apprehension for the\nprecious treasure he had concealed in the cavern, the young man started\nto his feet, totally regardless of the hazard he incurred by such an\nexposure.", "As if actuated by a common impulse, his movement was imitated\nby his companions, and, together, they rushed down the pass to the\nfriendly chasm, with a rapidity that rendered the scattering fire of\ntheir enemies perfectly harmless.", "The unwonted cry had brought the\nsisters, together with the wounded David, from their place of refuge;\nand the whole party, at a single glance, was made acquainted with the\nnature of the disaster that had disturbed even the practised stoicism of\ntheir youthful Indian protector.", "At a short distance from the rock, their little bark was to be seen\nfloating across the eddy, towards the swift current of the river, in a\nmanner which proved that its course was directed by some hidden agent.", "The instant this unwelcome sight caught the eye of the scout, his rifle\nwas levelled as by instinct, but the barrel gave no answer to the bright\nsparks of the flint.", "\"'Tis too late, 'tis too late!\"", "Hawkeye exclaimed, dropping the useless\npiece in bitter disappointment; \"the miscreant has struck the rapid; and\nhad we powder, it could hardly send the lead swifter than he now goes!\"", "The adventurous Huron raised his head above the shelter of the canoe,\nand while it glided swiftly down the stream, he waved his hand, and gave\nforth the shout, which was the known signal of success.", "His cry was\nanswered by a yell and a laugh from the woods, as tauntingly exulting as\nif fifty demons were uttering their blasphemies at the fall of some\nChristian soul.", "\"Well may you laugh, ye children of the devil!\"", "said the scout, seating\nhimself on a projection of the rock, and suffering his gun to fall\nneglected at his feet, \"for the three quickest and surest rifles in\nthese woods are no better than so many stalks of mullein, or the last\nyear's horns of a buck!\"", "\"What is to be done?\"", "demanded Duncan, losing the first feeling of\ndisappointment in a more manly desire for exertion; \"what will become of\nus?\"", "Hawkeye made no other reply than by passing his finger around the crown\nof his head, in a manner so significant, that none who witnessed the\naction could mistake its meaning.", "\"Surely, surely, our case is not so desperate!\"", "exclaimed the youth;\n\"the Hurons are not here; we may make good the caverns; we may oppose\ntheir landing.\"", "\"With what?\"", "coolly demanded the scout.", "\"The arrows of Uncas, or such\ntears as women shed!", "No, no; you are young, and rich, and have friends,\nand at such an age I know it is hard to die!", "But,\" glancing his eyes at\nthe Mohicans, \"let us remember we are men without a cross, and let us\nteach these natives of the forest that white blood can run as freely as\nred, when the appointed hour is come.\"", "Duncan turned quickly in the direction indicated by the other's eyes,\nand read a confirmation of his worst apprehensions in the conduct of the\nIndians.", "Chingachgook, placing himself in a dignified posture on another\nfragment of the rock, had already laid aside his knife and tomahawk, and\nwas in the act of taking the eagle's plume from his head, and smoothing\nthe solitary tuft of hair in readiness to perform its last and revolting\noffice.", "His countenance was composed, though thoughtful, while his dark\ngleaming eyes were gradually losing the fierceness of the combat in an\nexpression better suited to the change he expected momentarily to\nundergo.", "\"Our case is not, cannot be so hopeless!\"", "said Duncan; \"even at this\nmoment succor may be at hand.", "I see no enemies!", "they have sickened of a\nstruggle in which they risk so much with so little prospect of gain!\"", "\"It may be a minute, or it may be an hour, afore the wily sarpents steal\nupon us, and it is quite in natur' for them to be lying within hearing\nat this very moment,\" said Hawkeye; \"but come they will, and in such a\nfashion as will leave us nothing to hope!", "Chingachgook\"--he spoke in\nDelaware--\"my brother, we have fought our last battle together, and the\nMaquas will triumph in the death of the sage man of the Mohicans, and of\nthe pale-face, whose eyes can make night as day, and level the clouds\nto the mists of the springs!\"", "\"Let the Mingo women go weep over their slain!\"", "returned the Indian,\nwith characteristic pride and unmoved firmness; \"the Great Snake of the\nMohicans has coiled himself in their wigwams, and has poisoned their\ntriumph with the wailings of children whose fathers have not returned!", "Eleven warriors lie hid from the graves of their tribes since the snows\nhave melted, and none will tell where to find them when the tongue of\nChingachgook shall be silent!", "Let them draw the sharpest knife, and\nwhirl the swiftest tomahawk, for their bitterest enemy is in their\nhands.", "Uncas, topmost branch of a noble trunk, call on the cowards to\nhasten or their hearts will soften, and they will change to women!\"", "\"They look among the fishes for their dead!\"", "returned the low, soft\nvoice of the youthful chieftain; \"the Hurons float with the slimy eels!", "They drop from the oaks like fruit that is ready to be eaten!", "and the\nDelawares laugh!\"", "\"Ay, ay,\" muttered the scout, who had listened to this peculiar burst of\nthe natives with deep attention; \"they have warmed their Indian\nfeelings, and they'll soon provoke the Maquas to give them a speedy end.", "As for me, who am of the whole blood of the whites, it is befitting that\nI should die as becomes my color, with no words of scoffing in my mouth,\nand without bitterness at the heart!\"", "\"Why die at all!\"", "said Cora, advancing from the place where natural\nhorror had, until this moment, held her riveted to the rock; \"the path\nis open on every side; fly, then, to the woods, and call on God for\nsuccor.", "Go, brave men, we owe you too much already; let us no longer\ninvolve you in our hapless fortunes!\"", "\"You but little know the craft of the Iroquois, lady, if you judge they\nhave left the path open to the woods!\"", "returned Hawkeye, who, however,\nimmediately added in his simplicity, \"the down stream current, it is\ncertain, might soon sweep us beyond the reach of their rifles or the\nsounds of their voices.\"", "\"Then try the river.", "Why linger to add to the number of the victims of\nour merciless enemies?\"", "\"Why,\" repeated the scout, looking about him proudly, \"because it is\nbetter for a man to die at peace with himself than to live haunted by an\nevil conscience!", "What answer could we give Munro, when he asked us where\nand how we left his children?\"", "\"Go to him, and say, that you left them with a message to hasten to\ntheir aid,\" returned Cora, advancing nigher to the scout, in her\ngenerous ardor; \"that the Hurons bear them into the northern wilds, but\nthat by vigilance and speed they may yet be rescued; and if, after all,\nit should please heaven that his assistance come too late, bear to him,\"\nshe continued, her voice gradually lowering, until it seemed nearly\nchoked, \"the love, the blessings, the final prayers of his daughters,\nand bid him not mourn their early fate, but to look forward with humble\nconfidence to the Christian's goal to meet his children.\"", "The hard, weather-beaten features of the scout began to work, and when\nshe had ended, he dropped his chin to his hand, like a man musing\nprofoundly on the nature of the proposal.", "\"There is reason in her words!\"", "at length broke from his compressed and\ntrembling lips; \"ay, and they bear the spirit of Christianity; what\nmight be right and proper in a redskin, may be sinful in a man who has\nnot even a cross in blood to plead for his ignorance.", "Chingachgook!", "Uncas!", "hear you the talk of the dark-eyed woman!\"", "He now spoke in Delaware to his companions, and his address, though calm\nand deliberate, seemed very decided.", "The elder Mohican heard him with\ndeep gravity, and appeared to ponder on his words, as though he felt the\nimportance of their import.", "After a moment of hesitation, he waved his\nhand in assent, and uttered the English word \"Good!\"", "with the peculiar\nemphasis of his people.", "Then, replacing his knife and tomahawk in his\ngirdle, the warrior moved silently to the edge of the rock which was\nmost concealed from the banks of the river.", "Here he paused a moment,\npointed significantly to the woods below, and saying a few words in his\nown language, as if indicating his intended route, he dropped into the\nwater, and sank from before the eyes of the witnesses of his movements.", "The scout delayed his departure to speak to the generous girl, whose\nbreathing became lighter as she saw the success of her remonstrance.", "\"Wisdom is sometimes given to the young, as well as to the old,\" he\nsaid; \"and what you have spoken is wise, not to call it by a better\nword.", "If you are led into the woods, that is such of you as may be\nspared for a while, break the twigs on the bushes as you pass, and make\nthe marks of your trail as broad as you can, when, if mortal eyes can\nsee them, depend on having a friend who will follow to the ends of 'arth\nafore he desarts you.\"", "He gave Cora an affectionate shake of the hand, lifted his rifle, and\nafter regarding it a moment with melancholy solicitude, laid it\ncarefully aside, and descended to the place where Chingachgook had just\ndisappeared.", "For an instant he hung suspended by the rock; and looking\nabout him, with a countenance of peculiar care, he added, bitterly, \"Had\nthe powder held out, this disgrace could never have befallen!\"", "then,\nloosening his hold, the water closed above his head, and he also became\nlost to view.", "All eyes were now turned on Uncas, who stood leaning against the ragged\nrock, in immovable composure.", "After waiting a short time, Cora pointed\ndown the river, and said:--\n\n\"Your friends have not been seen, and are now, most probably, in safety;\nis it not time for you to follow?\"", "\"Uncas will stay,\" the young Mohican calmly answered in English.", "\"To increase the horror of our capture, and to diminish the chances of\nour release!", "Go, generous young man,\" Cora continued, lowering her eyes\nunder the gaze of the Mohican, and, perhaps, with an intuitive\nconsciousness of her power; \"go to my father, as I have said, and be the\nmost confidential of my messengers.", "Tell him to trust you with the means\nto buy the freedom of his daughters.", "Go!", "'tis my wish, 'tis my prayer,\nthat you will go!\"", "The settled, calm look of the young chief changed to an expression of\ngloom, but he no longer hesitated.", "With a noiseless step he crossed the\nrock, and dropped into the troubled stream.", "Hardly a breath was drawn by\nthose he left behind, until they caught a glimpse of his head emerging\nfor air, far down the current, when he again sank, and was seen no more.", "These sudden and apparently successful experiments had all taken place\nin a few minutes of that time which had now become so precious.", "After\nthe last look at Uncas, Cora turned, and, with a quivering lip,\naddressed herself to Heyward:--\n\n\"I have heard of your boasted skill in the water, too, Duncan,\" she\nsaid; \"follow, then, the wise example set you by these simple and\nfaithful beings.\"", "\"Is such the faith that Cora Munro would exact from her protector?\"", "said\nthe young man, smiling mournfully, but with bitterness.", "\"This is not a time for idle subtleties and false opinions,\" she\nanswered; \"but a moment when every duty should be equally considered.", "To us you can be of no further service here, but your precious life may\nbe saved for other and nearer friends.\"", "He made no reply, though his eyes fell wistfully on the beautiful form\nof Alice, who was clinging to his arm with the dependency of an infant.", "\"Consider,\" continued Cora, after a pause, during which she seemed to\nstruggle with a pang even more acute than any that her fears had\nexcited, \"that the worst to us can be but death; a tribute that all must\npay at the good time of God's appointment.\"", "\"There are evils worse than death,\" said Duncan, speaking hoarsely, and\nas if fretful at her importunity, \"but which the presence of one who\nwould die in your behalf may avert.\"", "Cora ceased her entreaties; and, veiling her face in her shawl, drew the\nnearly insensible Alice after her into the deepest recess of the inner\ncavern." ]

[ "\"I cannot deny your words,\" he said; \"for I am little skilled in horses,\nthough born where they abound.", "In such circumstances, common\nprudence dictated that Heyward and his companions should imitate a\ncaution that proceeded from so intelligent a source.", "The bright flashes and the quick reports of a dozen rifles, from the\nopposite banks of the stream, followed this incautious exposure of his\nperson, and left the unfortunate singing-master senseless on that rock\nwhere he had been so long slumbering.", "Little powder, light lead, and a long arm, seldom fail of bringing the\ndeath screech from a Mingo!", "As Hawkeye ceased speaking, four\nhuman heads could be seen peering above a few logs of drift-wood that\nhad lodged on these naked rocks, and which had probably suggested the\nidea of the practicability of the hazardous undertaking.", "demanded Hawkeye, sternly; \"'tis a charge of powder saved, and\nammunition is as precious now as breath to a worried deer!", "Each of the combatants threw\nall his energies into that effort, and the result was, that both\ntottered on the brink of the precipice.", "\"They linger yet,\n Avengers of their native land.\"", "The warrior in the oak had maintained a quick, though ineffectual fire,\nfrom the moment of his discovery.", "If you are led into the woods, that is such of you as may be\nspared for a while, break the twigs on the bushes as you pass, and make\nthe marks of your trail as broad as you can, when, if mortal eyes can\nsee them, depend on having a friend who will follow to the ends of 'arth\nafore he desarts you.\"" ]

[ "I have heard the forest moan like mortal men\nin their affliction; often, and again, have I listened to the wind\nplaying its music in the branches of the girdled trees; and I have heard\nthe lightning cracking in the air, like the snapping of blazing brush,\nas it spitted forth sparks and forked flames; but never have I thought\nthat I heard more than the pleasure of Him who sported with the things\nof his hand.", "\"Let them burn their powder,\" said the deliberate scout, while bullet\nafter bullet whizzed by the place where he securely lay; \"there will be\na fine gathering of lead when it is over, and I fancy the imps will tire\nof the sport, afore these old stones cry out for mercy!", "demanded Cora, in a voice whose husky tones showed how\npowerfully natural horror struggled with her assumed firmness.", "Hawkeye made no other reply than by passing his finger around the crown\nof his head, in a manner so significant, that none who witnessed the\naction could mistake its meaning.", "Once more the savage yells\nburst out of the woods, and the leaden hail whistled above the heads of\nthe besieged, as if to confine them to a place where they might become\neasy victims to the enterprise of the warrior who had mounted the tree.", "Once more the same sound arose, as if from\nthe bed of the river, and having broken out of the narrow bounds of the\ncliffs, was heard undulating through the forest, in distant and dying\ncadences.", "Hawkeye and\nthe Mohicans conversed earnestly together in Delaware for a few moments,\nwhen each quietly took his post, in order to execute the plan they had\nspeedily devised.", "With a noiseless step he crossed the\nrock, and dropped into the troubled stream.", "\"Surely, surely, our case is not so desperate!\"", "Uncas, with\ninstinctive quickness, receded, and the three foresters held another of\ntheir low, earnest conferences." ]

[ "and I said it!\"", "muttered the scout, whirling the despised\nlittle implement over the falls with bitter disdain.", "\"Come on, ye bloody\nminded hell-hounds!", "ye meet a man without a cross!\"", "The words were barely uttered, when he encountered a savage of gigantic\nstature, and of the fiercest mien.", "At the same moment, Duncan found\nhimself engaged with the other, in a similar contest of hand to hand.", "With ready skill, Hawkeye and his antagonist each grasped that uplifted\narm of the other which held the dangerous knife.", "For near a minute they\nstood looking one another in the eye, and gradually exerting the power\nof their muscles for the mastery.", "At length, the toughened sinews of the\nwhite man prevailed over the less practised limbs of the native.", "The arm\nof the latter slowly gave way before the increasing force of the scout,\nwho suddenly wresting his armed hand from the grasp of the foe, drove\nthe sharp weapon through his naked bosom to the heart.", "In the meantime\nHeyward had been pressed in a more deadly struggle." ]

[ "\n \"They do not sleep.", "On yonder cliffs, a grisly band,\n I see them sit.\"", "GRAY.", "\"'Twould be neglecting a warning that is given for our good, to lie hid\nany longer,\" said Hawkeye, \"when such sounds are raised in the forest!", "The gentle ones may keep close, but the Mohicans and I will watch upon\nthe rock, where I suppose a major of the 60th would wish to keep us\ncompany.\"", "\"Is then our danger so pressing?\"", "asked Cora.", "\"He who makes strange sounds, and gives them out for man's information,\nalone knows our danger.", "I should think myself wicked, unto rebellion\nagainst his will, was I to burrow with such warnings in the air!", "Even\nthe weak soul who passes his days in singing, is stirred by the cry,\nand, as he says, is 'ready to go forth to the battle.'", "These sudden and apparently successful experiments had all taken place\nin a few minutes of that time which had now become so precious.", "After\nthe last look at Uncas, Cora turned, and, with a quivering lip,\naddressed herself to Heyward:--\n\n\"I have heard of your boasted skill in the water, too, Duncan,\" she\nsaid; \"follow, then, the wise example set you by these simple and\nfaithful beings.\"", "\"Is such the faith that Cora Munro would exact from her protector?\"", "said\nthe young man, smiling mournfully, but with bitterness.", "\"This is not a time for idle subtleties and false opinions,\" she\nanswered; \"but a moment when every duty should be equally considered.", "To us you can be of no further service here, but your precious life may\nbe saved for other and nearer friends.\"", "He made no reply, though his eyes fell wistfully on the beautiful form\nof Alice, who was clinging to his arm with the dependency of an infant.", "\"Consider,\" continued Cora, after a pause, during which she seemed to\nstruggle with a pang even more acute than any that her fears had\nexcited, \"that the worst to us can be but death; a tribute that all must\npay at the good time of God's appointment.\"", "\"There are evils worse than death,\" said Duncan, speaking hoarsely, and\nas if fretful at her importunity, \"but which the presence of one who\nwould die in your behalf may avert.\"", "Cora ceased her entreaties; and, veiling her face in her shawl, drew the\nnearly insensible Alice after her into the deepest recess of the inner\ncavern." ]

[ "\n \"Be gay securely;\n Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim'rous clouds,\n That hang on thy clear brow.\"", "_Death of Agrippina._\n\n\nThe sudden and almost magical change, from the stirring incidents of the\ncombat to the stillness that now reigned around him, acted on the heated\nimagination of Heyward like some exciting dream.", "While all the images\nand events he had witnessed remained deeply impressed on his memory, he\nfelt a difficulty in persuading himself of their truth.", "Still ignorant\nof the fate of those who had trusted to the aid of the swift current, he\nat first listened intently to any signal, or sounds of alarm, which\nmight announce the good or evil fortune of their hazardous undertaking.", "His attention was, however, bestowed in vain; for, with the\ndisappearance of Uncas, every sign of the adventurers had been lost,\nleaving him in total uncertainty of their fate.", "In a moment of such painful doubt, Duncan did not hesitate to look about\nhim, without consulting that protection from the rocks which just before\nhad been so necessary to his safety.", "Every effort, however, to detect\nthe least evidence of the approach of their hidden enemies, was as\nfruitless as the inquiry after his late companions.", "The wooded banks of\nthe rivers seemed again deserted by everything possessing animal life.", "The uproar which had so lately echoed through the vaults of the forest\nwas gone, leaving the rush of the waters to swell and sink on the\ncurrents of the air, in the unmingled sweetness of nature.", "A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator of the fray, now stooped from his high and ragged perch, and\nsoared, in wide sweeps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice\nhad been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again to\nopen his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed\npossession of his wild domains.", "Duncan caught from these natural\naccompaniments of the solitary scene a glimmering of hope; and he began\nto rally his faculties to renewed exertions, with something like a\nreviving confidence of success.", "\"The Hurons are not to be seen,\" he said, addressing David, who had by\nno means recovered from the effects of the stunning blow he had\nreceived; \"let us conceal ourselves in the cavern, and trust the rest to\nProvidence.\"", "\"I remember to have united with two comely maidens, in lifting up our\nvoices in praise and thanksgiving,\" returned the bewildered\nsinging-master; \"since which time I have been visited by a heavy\njudgment for my sins.", "I have been mocked with the likeness of sleep,\nwhile sounds of discord have rent my ears, such as might manifest the\nfulness of time, and that nature had forgotten her harmony.\"", "\"Poor fellow!", "thine own period was, in truth, near its accomplishment!", "But arouse, and come with me; I will lead you where all other sounds but\nthose of your own psalmody shall be excluded.\"", "\"There is melody in the fall of the cataract, and the rushing of many\nwaters is sweet to the senses!\"", "said David, pressing his hand confusedly\non his brow.", "\"Is not the air yet filled with shrieks and cries, as\nthough the departed spirits of the damned--\"\n\n\"Not now, not now,\" interrupted the impatient Heyward, \"they have\nceased, and they who raised them, I trust in God, they are gone too!", "everything but the water is still and at peace; in, then, where you may\ncreate those sounds you love so well to hear.\"", "David smiled sadly, though not without a momentary gleam of pleasure, at\nthis allusion to his beloved vocation.", "He no longer hesitated to be led\nto a spot which promised such unalloyed gratification to his wearied\nsenses; and, leaning on the arm of his companion, he entered the narrow\nmouth of the cave.", "Duncan seized a pile of the sassafras, which he drew\nbefore the passage, studiously concealing every appearance of an\naperture.", "Within this fragile barrier he arranged the blankets abandoned\nby the foresters, darkening the inner extremity of the cavern, while its\nouter received a chastened light from the narrow ravine, through which\none arm of the river rushed, to form the junction with its sister\nbranch, a few rods below.", "\"I like not that principle of the natives, which teaches them to submit\nwithout a struggle, in emergencies that appear desperate,\" he said,\nwhile busied in this employment; \"our own maxim, which says, 'while life\nremains there is hope,' is more consoling, and better suited to a\nsoldier's temperament.", "To you, Cora, I will urge no words of idle\nencouragement; your own fortitude and undisturbed reason will teach you\nall that may become your sex; but cannot we dry the tears of that\ntrembling weeper on your bosom?\"", "\"I am calmer, Duncan,\" said Alice, raising herself from the arms of her\nsister, and forcing an appearance of composure through her tears; \"much\ncalmer, now.", "Surely, in this hidden spot we are safe, we are secret,\nfree from injury; we will hope everything from those generous men who\nhave risked so much already in our behalf.\"", "\"Now does our gentle Alice speak like a daughter of Munro!\"", "said\nHeyward, pausing to press her hand as he passed towards the outer\nentrance of the cavern.", "\"With two such examples of courage before him, a\nman would be ashamed to prove other than a hero.\"", "He then seated himself\nin the centre of the cavern, grasping his remaining pistol with a hand\nconvulsively clenched, while his contracted and frowning eye announced\nthe sullen desperation of his purpose.", "\"The Hurons, if they come, may\nnot gain our position so easily as they think,\" he lowly muttered; and\ndropping his head back against the rock, he seemed to await the result\nin patience, though his gaze was unceasingly bent on the open avenue to\ntheir place of retreat.", "With the last sound of his voice, a deep, a long, and almost breathless\nsilence succeeded.", "The fresh air of the morning had penetrated the\nrecess, and its influence was gradually felt on the spirits of its\ninmates.", "As minute after minute passed by, leaving them in undisturbed\nsecurity, the insinuating feeling of hope was gradually gaining\npossession of every bosom, though each one felt reluctant to give\nutterance to expectations that the next moment might so fearfully\ndestroy.", "David alone formed an exception to these varying emotions.", "A gleam of\nlight from the opening crossed his wan countenance, and fell upon the\npages of the little volume, whose leaves he was again occupied in\nturning, as if searching for some song more fitted to their condition\nthan any that had yet met his eye.", "He was, most probably, acting all\nthis time under a confused recollection of the promised consolation of\nDuncan.", "At length, it would seem, his patient industry found its reward;\nfor, without explanation or apology, he pronounced aloud the words \"Isle\nof Wight,\" drew a long, sweet sound from his pitch-pipe, and then ran\nthrough the preliminary modulations of the air, whose name he had just\nmentioned with the sweeter tones of his own musical voice.", "\"May not this prove dangerous?\"", "asked Cora, glancing her dark eye at\nMajor Heyward.", "\"Poor fellow!", "his voice is too feeble to be heard amid the din of the\nfalls,\" was the answer; \"besides, the cavern will prove his friend.", "Let\nhim indulge his passion, since it may be done without hazard.\"", "\"Isle of Wight!\"", "repeated David, looking about him with that dignity\nwith which he had long been wont to silence the whispering echoes of his\nschool; \"'tis a brave tune, and set to solemn words; let it be sung with\nmeet respect!\"", "After allowing a moment of stillness, to enforce his discipline, the\nvoice of the singer was heard, in low, murmuring syllables, gradually\nstealing on the ear, until it filled the narrow vault with sounds\nrendered trebly thrilling by the feeble and tremulous utterance produced\nby his debility.", "The melody, which no weakness could destroy, gradually\nwrought its sweet influence on the senses of those who heard it.", "It even\nprevailed over the miserable travesty of the song of David which the\nsinger had selected from a volume of similar effusions, and caused the\nsense to be forgotten in the insinuating harmony of the sounds.", "Alice\nunconsciously dried her tears, and bent her melting eyes on the pallid\nfeatures of Gamut with an expression of chastened delight that she\nneither affected nor wished to conceal.", "Cora bestowed an approving smile\non the pious efforts of the namesake of the Jewish prince, and Heyward\nsoon turned his steady, stern look from the outlet of the cavern, to\nfasten it, with a milder character, on the face of David, or to meet the\nwandering beams which at moments strayed from the humid eyes of Alice.", "The open sympathy of the listeners stirred the spirit of the votary of\nmusic, whose voice regained its richness and volume, without losing that\ntouching softness which proved its secret charm.", "Exerting his renovated\npowers to their utmost, he was yet filling the arches of the cave with\nlong and full tones, when a yell burst into the air without, that\ninstantly stilled his pious strains, choking his voice suddenly, as\nthough his heart had literally bounded into the passage of his throat.", "\"We are lost!\"", "exclaimed Alice, throwing herself into the arms of Cora.", "\"Not yet, not yet,\" returned the agitated but undaunted Heyward; \"the\nsound came from the centre of the island, and it has been produced by\nthe sight of their dead companions.", "We are not yet discovered, and there\nis still hope.\"", "Faint and almost despairing as was the prospect of escape, the words of\nDuncan were not thrown away, for it awakened the powers of the sisters\nin such a manner that they awaited the result in silence.", "A second yell\nsoon followed the first, when a rush of voices was heard pouring down\nthe island, from its upper to its lower extremity, until they reached\nthe naked rock above the caverns, where, after a shout of savage\ntriumph, the air continued full of horrible cries and screams, such as\nman alone can utter, and he only when in a state of the fiercest\nbarbarity.", "The sounds quickly spread around them in every direction.", "Some called to\ntheir fellows from the water's edge, and were answered from the heights\nabove.", "Cries were heard in the startling vicinity of the chasm between\nthe two caves, which mingled with hoarser yells that arose out of the\nabyss of the deep ravine.", "In short, so rapidly had the savage sounds\ndiffused themselves over the barren rock, that it was not difficult for\nthe anxious listeners to imagine they could be heard beneath, as in\ntruth they were above and on every side of them.", "In the midst of this tumult, a triumphant yell was raised within a few\nyards of the hidden entrance to the cave.", "Heyward abandoned every hope,\nwith the belief it was the signal that they were discovered.", "Again the\nimpression passed away, as he heard the voices collect near the spot\nwhere the white man had so reluctantly abandoned his rifle.", "Amid the\njargon of the Indian dialects that he now plainly heard, it was easy to\ndistinguish not only words, but sentences, in the _patois_ of the\nCanadas.", "A burst of voices had shouted simultaneously, \"La Longue\nCarabine!\"", "causing the opposite woods to re-echo with a name which,\nHeyward well remembered, had been given by his enemies to a celebrated\nhunter and scout of the English camp, and who, he now learnt for the\nfirst time, had been his late companion.", "\"La Longue Carabine!", "La Longue Carabine!\"", "passed from mouth to mouth,\nuntil the whole band appeared to be collected around a trophy which\nwould seem to announce the death of its formidable owner.", "After a\nvociferous consultation, which was, at times, deafened by bursts of\nsavage joy, they again separated, filling the air with the name of a\nfoe, whose body, Heyward could collect from their expressions, they\nhoped to find concealed in some crevice of the island.", "\"Now,\" he whispered to the trembling sisters, \"now is the moment of\nuncertainty!", "if our place of retreat escape this scrutiny, we are still\nsafe!", "In every event, we are assured, by what has fallen from our\nenemies, that our friends have escaped, and in two short hours we may\nlook for succor from Webb.\"", "There were now a few minutes of fearful stillness, during which Heyward\nwell knew that the savages conducted their search with greater vigilance\nand method.", "More than once he could distinguish their footsteps, as they\nbrushed the sassafras, causing the faded leaves to rustle, and the\nbranches to snap.", "At length, the pile yielded a little, a corner of the\nblanket fell, and a faint ray of light gleamed into the inner part of\nthe cave.", "Cora folded Alice to her bosom in agony, and Duncan sprang to\nhis feet.", "A shout was at that moment heard, as if issuing from the\ncentre of the rock, announcing that the neighboring cavern had at length\nbeen entered.", "In a minute, the number and loudness of the voices\nindicated that the whole party was collected in and around that secret\nplace.", "As the inner passages to the two caves were so close to each other,\nDuncan, believing that escape was no longer possible, passed David and\nthe sisters, to place himself between the latter and the first onset of\nthe terrible meeting.", "Grown desperate by his situation, he drew nigh the\nslight barrier which separated him only by a few feet from his\nrelentless pursuers, and placing his face to the casual opening, he even\nlooked out, with a sort of desperate indifference, on their movements.", "Within reach of his arm was the brawny shoulder of a gigantic Indian,\nwhose deep and authoritative voice appeared to give directions to the\nproceedings of his fellows.", "Beyond him again, Duncan could look into the\nvault opposite, which was filled with savages, upturning and rifling the\nhumble furniture of the scout.", "The wound of David had dyed the leaves of\nsassafras with a color that the natives well knew was anticipating the\nseason.", "Over this sign of their success, they set up a howl, like an\nopening from so many hounds who had recovered a lost trail.", "After this\nyell of victory, they tore up the fragrant bed of the cavern, and bore\nthe branches into the chasm, scattering the boughs, as if they suspected\nthem of concealing the person of the man they had so long hated and\nfeared.", "One fierce and wild-looking warrior approached the chief\nbearing a load of the brush, and pointing, exultingly, to the deep red\nstains with which it was sprinkled, uttered his joy in Indian yells,\nwhose meaning Heyward was only enabled to comprehend by the frequent\nrepetition of the name of \"La Longue Carabine!\"", "When his triumph had\nceased, he cast the brush on the slight heap that Duncan had made before\nthe entrance of the second cavern, and closed the view.", "His example was\nfollowed by others, who, as they drew the branches from the cave of the\nscout, threw them into one pile, adding, unconsciously, to the security\nof those they sought.", "The very slightness of the defence was its chief\nmerit, for no one thought of disturbing a mass of brush, which all of\nthem believed, in that moment of hurry and confusion, had been\naccidentally raised by the hands of their own party.", "As the blankets yielded before the outward pressure, and the branches\nsettled in the fissure of the rock by their own weight, forming a\ncompact body, Duncan once more breathed freely.", "With a light step, and\nlighter heart, he returned to the centre of the cave, and took the place\nhe had left, where he could command a view of the opening next the\nriver.", "While he was in the act of making this movement, the Indians, as\nif changing their purpose by a common impulse, broke away from the\ncavern in a body, and were heard rushing up the island again, towards\nthe point whence they had originally descended.", "Here another wailing cry\nbetrayed that they were again collected around the bodies of their dead\ncomrades.", "Duncan now ventured to look at his companions; for, during the most\ncritical moments of their danger, he had been apprehensive that the\nanxiety of his countenance might communicate some additional alarm to\nthose who were so little able to sustain it.", "\"They are gone, Cora!\"", "he whispered; \"Alice, they are returned whence\nthey came, and we are saved!", "To Heaven, that has alone delivered us from\nthe grasp of so merciless an enemy, be all the praise!\"", "\"Then to Heaven will I return my thanks!\"", "exclaimed the younger sister,\nrising from the encircling arms of Cora, and casting herself with\nenthusiastic gratitude on the naked rock; \"to that Heaven who has spared\nthe tears of a gray-headed father; has saved the lives of those I so\nmuch love--\"\n\nBoth Heyward, and the more tempered Cora, witnessed the act of\ninvoluntary emotion with powerful sympathy, the former secretly\nbelieving that piety had never worn a form so lovely as it had now\nassumed in the youthful person of Alice.", "Her eyes radiant with the glow\nof grateful feelings; the flush of her beauty was again seated on her\ncheeks, and her whole soul seemed ready and anxious to pour out its\nthanksgivings, through the medium of her eloquent features.", "But when her\nlips moved, the words they should have uttered appeared frozen by some\nnew and sudden chill.", "Her bloom gave place to the paleness of death; her\nsoft and melting eyes grew hard, and seemed contracting with horror;\nwhile those hands which she had raised, clasped in each other, towards\nheaven, dropped in horizontal lines before her, the fingers pointed\nforward in convulsed motion.", "Heyward turned, the instant she gave a\ndirection to his suspicions, and, peering just above the ledge which\nformed the threshold of the open outlet of the cavern, he beheld the\nmalignant, fierce, and savage features of Le Renard Subtil.", "In that moment of surprise, the self-possession of Heyward did not\ndesert him.", "He observed by the vacant expression of the Indian's\ncountenance, that his eye, accustomed to the open air, had not yet been\nable to penetrate the dusky light which pervaded the depth of the\ncavern.", "He had even thought of retreating beyond a curvature in the\nnatural wall, which might still conceal him and his companions, when, by\nthe sudden gleam of intelligence that shot across the features of the\nsavage, he saw it was too late, and that they were betrayed.", "The look of exultation and brutal triumph which announced this terrible\ntruth was irresistibly irritating.", "Forgetful of everything but the\nimpulses of his hot blood, Duncan levelled his pistol and fired.", "The\nreport of the weapon made the cavern bellow like an eruption from a\nvolcano; and when the smoke it vomited had been driven away before the\ncurrent of air which issued from the ravine, the place so lately\noccupied by the features of his treacherous guide was vacant.", "Rushing to\nthe outlet, Heyward caught a glimpse of his dark figure, stealing around\na low and narrow ledge, which soon hid him entirely from sight.", "Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the explosion, which\nhad just been heard bursting from the bowels of the rock.", "But when Le\nRenard raised his voice in a long and intelligible whoop, it was\nanswered by a spontaneous yell from the mouth of every Indian within\nhearing of the sound.", "The clamorous noises again rushed down the\nisland; and before Duncan had time to recover from the shock, his feeble\nbarrier of brush was scattered to the winds, the cavern was entered at\nboth its extremities, and he and his companions were dragged from their\nshelter and borne into the day, where they stood surrounded by the whole\nband of the triumphant Hurons." ]

[ "A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator of the fray, now stooped from his high and ragged perch, and\nsoared, in wide sweeps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice\nhad been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again to\nopen his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed\npossession of his wild domains.", "To you, Cora, I will urge no words of idle\nencouragement; your own fortitude and undisturbed reason will teach you\nall that may become your sex; but cannot we dry the tears of that\ntrembling weeper on your bosom?\"", "With the last sound of his voice, a deep, a long, and almost breathless\nsilence succeeded.", "Let\nhim indulge his passion, since it may be done without hazard.\"", "repeated David, looking about him with that dignity\nwith which he had long been wont to silence the whispering echoes of his\nschool; \"'tis a brave tune, and set to solemn words; let it be sung with\nmeet respect!\"", "In every event, we are assured, by what has fallen from our\nenemies, that our friends have escaped, and in two short hours we may\nlook for succor from Webb.\"", "A shout was at that moment heard, as if issuing from the\ncentre of the rock, announcing that the neighboring cavern had at length\nbeen entered.", "Grown desperate by his situation, he drew nigh the\nslight barrier which separated him only by a few feet from his\nrelentless pursuers, and placing his face to the casual opening, he even\nlooked out, with a sort of desperate indifference, on their movements.", "Beyond him again, Duncan could look into the\nvault opposite, which was filled with savages, upturning and rifling the\nhumble furniture of the scout.", "Over this sign of their success, they set up a howl, like an\nopening from so many hounds who had recovered a lost trail." ]

[ "his voice is too feeble to be heard amid the din of the\nfalls,\" was the answer; \"besides, the cavern will prove his friend.", "He observed by the vacant expression of the Indian's\ncountenance, that his eye, accustomed to the open air, had not yet been\nable to penetrate the dusky light which pervaded the depth of the\ncavern.", "if our place of retreat escape this scrutiny, we are still\nsafe!", "Duncan seized a pile of the sassafras, which he drew\nbefore the passage, studiously concealing every appearance of an\naperture.", "A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator of the fray, now stooped from his high and ragged perch, and\nsoared, in wide sweeps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice\nhad been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again to\nopen his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed\npossession of his wild domains.", "Again the\nimpression passed away, as he heard the voices collect near the spot\nwhere the white man had so reluctantly abandoned his rifle.", "thine own period was, in truth, near its accomplishment!", "After allowing a moment of stillness, to enforce his discipline, the\nvoice of the singer was heard, in low, murmuring syllables, gradually\nstealing on the ear, until it filled the narrow vault with sounds\nrendered trebly thrilling by the feeble and tremulous utterance produced\nby his debility.", "Heyward turned, the instant she gave a\ndirection to his suspicions, and, peering just above the ledge which\nformed the threshold of the open outlet of the cavern, he beheld the\nmalignant, fierce, and savage features of Le Renard Subtil.", "But when her\nlips moved, the words they should have uttered appeared frozen by some\nnew and sudden chill." ]

[ "Exerting his renovated\npowers to their utmost, he was yet filling the arches of the cave with\nlong and full tones, when a yell burst into the air without, that\ninstantly stilled his pious strains, choking his voice suddenly, as\nthough his heart had literally bounded into the passage of his throat.", "\"We are lost!\"", "exclaimed Alice, throwing herself into the arms of Cora.", "\"Not yet, not yet,\" returned the agitated but undaunted Heyward; \"the\nsound came from the centre of the island, and it has been produced by\nthe sight of their dead companions.", "We are not yet discovered, and there\nis still hope.\"", "Faint and almost despairing as was the prospect of escape, the words of\nDuncan were not thrown away, for it awakened the powers of the sisters\nin such a manner that they awaited the result in silence.", "A second yell\nsoon followed the first, when a rush of voices was heard pouring down\nthe island, from its upper to its lower extremity, until they reached\nthe naked rock above the caverns, where, after a shout of savage\ntriumph, the air continued full of horrible cries and screams, such as\nman alone can utter, and he only when in a state of the fiercest\nbarbarity.", "The sounds quickly spread around them in every direction.", "Some called to\ntheir fellows from the water's edge, and were answered from the heights\nabove.", "Cries were heard in the startling vicinity of the chasm between\nthe two caves, which mingled with hoarser yells that arose out of the\nabyss of the deep ravine.", "In short, so rapidly had the savage sounds\ndiffused themselves over the barren rock, that it was not difficult for\nthe anxious listeners to imagine they could be heard beneath, as in\ntruth they were above and on every side of them." ]

[ "\n \"Be gay securely;\n Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim'rous clouds,\n That hang on thy clear brow.\"", "_Death of Agrippina._\n\n\nThe sudden and almost magical change, from the stirring incidents of the\ncombat to the stillness that now reigned around him, acted on the heated\nimagination of Heyward like some exciting dream.", "While all the images\nand events he had witnessed remained deeply impressed on his memory, he\nfelt a difficulty in persuading himself of their truth.", "Still ignorant\nof the fate of those who had trusted to the aid of the swift current, he\nat first listened intently to any signal, or sounds of alarm, which\nmight announce the good or evil fortune of their hazardous undertaking.", "His attention was, however, bestowed in vain; for, with the\ndisappearance of Uncas, every sign of the adventurers had been lost,\nleaving him in total uncertainty of their fate.", "In a moment of such painful doubt, Duncan did not hesitate to look about\nhim, without consulting that protection from the rocks which just before\nhad been so necessary to his safety.", "Every effort, however, to detect\nthe least evidence of the approach of their hidden enemies, was as\nfruitless as the inquiry after his late companions.", "The wooded banks of\nthe rivers seemed again deserted by everything possessing animal life.", "The uproar which had so lately echoed through the vaults of the forest\nwas gone, leaving the rush of the waters to swell and sink on the\ncurrents of the air, in the unmingled sweetness of nature.", "A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator of the fray, now stooped from his high and ragged perch, and\nsoared, in wide sweeps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice\nhad been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again to\nopen his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed\npossession of his wild domains.", "In that moment of surprise, the self-possession of Heyward did not\ndesert him.", "He observed by the vacant expression of the Indian's\ncountenance, that his eye, accustomed to the open air, had not yet been\nable to penetrate the dusky light which pervaded the depth of the\ncavern.", "He had even thought of retreating beyond a curvature in the\nnatural wall, which might still conceal him and his companions, when, by\nthe sudden gleam of intelligence that shot across the features of the\nsavage, he saw it was too late, and that they were betrayed.", "The look of exultation and brutal triumph which announced this terrible\ntruth was irresistibly irritating.", "Forgetful of everything but the\nimpulses of his hot blood, Duncan levelled his pistol and fired.", "The\nreport of the weapon made the cavern bellow like an eruption from a\nvolcano; and when the smoke it vomited had been driven away before the\ncurrent of air which issued from the ravine, the place so lately\noccupied by the features of his treacherous guide was vacant.", "Rushing to\nthe outlet, Heyward caught a glimpse of his dark figure, stealing around\na low and narrow ledge, which soon hid him entirely from sight.", "Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the explosion, which\nhad just been heard bursting from the bowels of the rock.", "But when Le\nRenard raised his voice in a long and intelligible whoop, it was\nanswered by a spontaneous yell from the mouth of every Indian within\nhearing of the sound.", "The clamorous noises again rushed down the\nisland; and before Duncan had time to recover from the shock, his feeble\nbarrier of brush was scattered to the winds, the cavern was entered at\nboth its extremities, and he and his companions were dragged from their\nshelter and borne into the day, where they stood surrounded by the whole\nband of the triumphant Hurons." ]

[ "\n \"I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn\n As much as we this night have overwatched!\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe instant the shock of this sudden misfortune had abated, Duncan began\nto make his observations on the appearance and proceedings of their\ncaptors.", "Contrary to the usages of the natives in the wantonness of\ntheir success, they had respected, not only the persons of the trembling\nsisters, but his own.", "The rich ornaments of his military attire had\nindeed been repeatedly handled by different individuals of the tribe\nwith eyes expressing a savage longing to possess the baubles; but before\nthe customary violence could be resorted to, a mandate in the\nauthoritative voice of the large warrior already mentioned, stayed the\nuplifted hand, and convinced Heyward that they were to be reserved for\nsome object of particular moment.", "While, however, these manifestations of weakness were exhibited by the\nyoung and vain of the party, the more experienced warriors continued\ntheir search throughout both caverns, with an activity that denoted they\nwere far from being satisfied with those fruits of their conquest which\nhad already been brought to light.", "Unable to discover any new victim,\nthese diligent workers of vengeance soon approached their male\nprisoners, pronouncing the name of \"La Longue Carabine,\" with a\nfierceness that could not easily be mistaken.", "Duncan affected not to\ncomprehend the meaning of their repeated and violent interrogatories,\nwhile his companion was spared the effort of a similar deception by his\nignorance of French.", "Wearied, at length, by their importunities, and\napprehensive of irritating his captors by too stubborn a silence, the\nformer looked about him in quest of Magua; who might interpret his\nanswers to questions which were at each moment becoming more earnest and\nthreatening.", "The conduct of this savage had formed a solitary exception to that of\nall his fellows.", "While the others were busily occupied in seeking to\ngratify their childish passion for finery, by plundering even the\nmiserable effects of the scout, or had been searching, with such\nbloodthirsty vengeance in their looks, for their absent owner, Le Renard\nhad stood at a little distance from the prisoners, with a demeanor so\nquiet and satisfied, as to betray that he had already effected the grand\npurpose of this treachery.", "When the eyes of Heyward first met those of\nhis recent guide, he turned them away in horror at the sinister though\ncalm look he encountered.", "Conquering his disgust, however, he was able,\nwith an averted face, to address his successful enemy.", "\"Le Renard Subtil is too much of a warrior,\" said the reluctant Heyward,\n\"to refuse telling an unarmed man what his conquerors say.\"", "\"They ask for the hunter who knows the paths through the woods,\"\nreturned Magua, in his broken English, laying his hand, at the same\ntime, with a ferocious smile, on the bundle of leaves with which a wound\non his own shoulder was bandaged.", "\"La Longue Carabine!", "his rifle is\ngood, and his eye never shut; but, like the short gun of the white\nchief, it is nothing against the life of Le Subtil!\"", "\"Le Renard is too brave to remember the hurts received in war, or the\nhands that gave them!\"", "\"Was it war, when the tired Indian rested at the sugar-tree to taste his\ncorn!", "who filled the bushes with creeping enemies!", "who drew the knife!", "whose tongue was peace, while his heart was colored with blood!", "Did\nMagua say that the hatchet was out of the ground, and that his hand had\ndug it up?\"", "As Duncan dared not retort upon his accuser by reminding him of his own\npremeditated treachery, and disdained to deprecate his resentment by any\nwords of apology, he remained silent.", "Magua seemed also content to rest\nthe controversy as well as all further communication there, for he\nresumed the leaning attitude against the rock, from which, in momentary\nenergy, he had arisen.", "But the cry of \"La Longue Carabine\" was renewed\nthe instant the impatient savages perceived that the short dialogue was\nended.", "\"You hear,\" said Magua, with stubborn indifference; \"the red Hurons call\nfor the life of 'The Long Rifle,' or they will have the blood of them\nthat keep him hid!\"", "\"He is gone--escaped; he is far beyond their reach.\"", "Renard smiled with cold contempt, as he answered,--\n\n\"When the white man dies, he thinks he is at peace; but the redmen know\nhow to torture even the ghosts of their enemies.", "Where is his body?", "Let\nthe Hurons see his scalp!\"", "\"He is not dead, but escaped.\"", "Magua shook his head incredulously.", "\"Is he a bird, to spread his wings; or is he a fish, to swim without\nair!", "The white chief reads in his books, and he believes the Hurons are\nfools!\"", "\"Though no fish, The Long Rifle can swim.", "He floated down the stream\nwhen the powder was all burnt, and when the eyes of the Hurons were\nbehind a cloud.\"", "\"And why did the white chief stay?\"", "demanded the still incredulous\nIndian.", "\"Is he a stone that goes to the bottom, or does the scalp burn\nhis head?\"", "\"That I am not a stone, your dead comrade, who fell into the falls,\nmight answer, were the life still in him,\" said the provoked young man,\nusing, in his anger, that boastful language which was most likely to\nexcite the admiration of an Indian.", "\"The white man thinks none but\ncowards desert their women.\"", "Magua muttered a few words, inaudibly, between his teeth, before he\ncontinued, aloud,--\n\n\"Can the Delawares swim, too, as well as crawl in the bushes?", "Where is\nLe Gros Serpent?\"", "Duncan, who perceived by the use of these Canadian appellations, that\nhis late companions were much better known to his enemies than to\nhimself, answered, reluctantly, \"He also is gone down with the water.\"", "\"Le Cerf Agile is not here?\"", "\"I know not whom you call 'The Nimble Deer,'\" said Duncan, gladly\nprofiting by any excuse to create delay.", "\"Uncas,\" returned Magua, pronouncing the Delaware name with even greater\ndifficulty than he spoke his English words.", "\"'Bounding Elk' is what the\nwhite man says, when he calls to the young Mohican.\"", "\"Here is some confusion in names between us, Le Renard,\" said Duncan,\nhoping to provoke a discussion.", "\"_Daim_ is the French for deer, and\n_cerf_ for stag; _elan_ is the true term, when one would speak of an\nelk.\"", "\"Yes,\" muttered the Indian, in his native tongue; \"the pale-faces are\nprattling women!", "they have two words for each thing, while a redskin\nwill make the sound of his voice speak for him.\"", "Then changing his\nlanguage, he continued, adhering to the imperfect nomenclature of his\nprovincial instructors, \"The deer is swift, but weak; the elk is swift,\nbut strong; and the son of Le Serpent is Le Cerf Agile.", "Has he leaped\nthe river to the woods?\"", "\"If you mean the younger Delaware, he too is gone down with the water.\"", "As there was nothing improbable to an Indian in the manner of the\nescape, Magua admitted the truth of what he had heard, with a readiness\nthat afforded additional evidence how little he would prize such\nworthless captives.", "With his companions, however, the feeling was\nmanifestly different.", "The Hurons had awaited the result of this short dialogue with\ncharacteristic patience, and with a silence that increased until there\nwas a general stillness in the band.", "When Heyward ceased to speak, they\nturned their eyes, as one man, on Magua, demanding, in this expressive\nmanner, an explanation of what had been said.", "Their interpreter pointed\nto the river, and made them acquainted with the result, as much by the\naction as by the few words he uttered.", "When the fact was generally\nunderstood, the savages raised a frightful yell, which declared the\nextent of their disappointment.", "Some ran furiously to the water's edge,\nbeating the air with frantic gestures, while others spat upon the\nelement, to resent the supposed treason it had committed against their\nacknowledged rights as conquerors.", "A few, and they not the least\npowerful and terrific of the band, threw lowering looks, in which the\nfiercest passion was only tempered by habitual self-command, at those\ncaptives who still remained in their power; while one or two even gave\nvent to their malignant feelings by the most menacing gestures, against\nwhich neither the sex nor the beauty of the sisters was any protection.", "The young soldier made a desperate, but fruitless effort, to spring to\nthe side of Alice, when he saw the dark hand of a savage twisted in the\nrich tresses which were flowing in volumes over her shoulders, while a\nknife was passed around the head from which they fell, as if to denote\nthe horrid manner in which it was about to be robbed of its beautiful\nornament.", "But his hands were bound; and at the first movement he made,\nhe felt the grasp of the powerful Indian who directed the band, pressing\nhis shoulder like a vise.", "Immediately conscious how unavailing any\nstruggle against such an overwhelming force must prove, he submitted to\nhis fate, encouraging his gentle companions by a few low and tender\nassurances that the natives seldom failed to threaten more than they\nperformed.", "But, while Duncan resorted to these words of consolation to quiet the\napprehensions of the sisters, he was not so weak as to deceive himself.", "He well knew that the authority of an Indian chief was so little\nconventional, that it was oftener maintained by physical superiority\nthan by any moral supremacy he might possess.", "The danger was, therefore,\nmagnified exactly in proportion to the number of the savage spirits by\nwhich they were surrounded.", "The most positive mandate from him who\nseemed the acknowledged leader, was liable to be violated at each\nmoment, by any rash hand that might choose to sacrifice a victim to the\n_manes_ of some dead friend or relative.", "While, therefore, he sustained\nan outward appearance of calmness and fortitude, his heart leaped into\nhis throat, whenever any of their fierce captors drew nearer than common\nto the helpless sisters, or fastened one of their sullen wandering looks\non those fragile forms which were so little able to resist the slightest\nassault.", "His apprehensions were, however, greatly relieved, when he saw that the\nleader had summoned his warriors to himself in council.", "Their\ndeliberations were short, and it would seem, by the silence of most of\nthe party, the decision unanimous.", "By the frequency with which the few\nspeakers pointed in the direction of the encampment of Webb, it was\napparent they dreaded the approach of danger from that quarter.", "This\nconsideration probably hastened their determination, and quickened the\nsubsequent movements.", "During this short conference, Heyward, finding a respite from his\ngreatest fears, had leisure to admire the cautious manner in which the\nHurons had made their approaches, even after hostilities had ceased.", "It has already been stated, that the upper half of the island was a\nnaked rock, and destitute of any other defences than a few scattered\nlogs of drift-wood.", "They had selected this point to make their descent,\nhaving borne the canoe through the wood around the cataract for that\npurpose.", "Placing their arms in the little vessel, a dozen men clinging\nto its sides had trusted themselves to the direction of the canoe, which\nwas controlled by two of the most skilful warriors, in attitudes that\nenabled them to command a view of the dangerous passage.", "Favored by this\narrangement, they touched the head of the island at that point which had\nproved so fatal to their first adventures, but with the advantages of\nsuperior numbers, and the possession of fire-arms.", "That such had been\nthe manner of their descent was rendered quite apparent to Duncan; for\nthey now bore the light bark from the upper end of the rock, and placed\nit in the water, near the mouth of the outer cavern.", "As soon as this\nchange was made, the leader made signs to the prisoners to descend and\nenter.", "As resistance was impossible, and remonstrance useless, Heyward set the\nexample of submission, by leading the way into the canoe, where he was\nsoon seated with the sisters, and the still wondering David.", "Notwithstanding the Hurons were necessarily ignorant of the little\nchannels among the eddies and rapids of the stream, they knew the common\nsigns of such a navigation too well to commit any material blunder.", "When\nthe pilot chosen for the task of guiding the canoe had taken his\nstation, the whole band plunged again into the river, the vessel glided\ndown the current, and in a few moments the captives found themselves on\nthe south bank of the stream, nearly opposite to the point where they\nhad struck it the preceding evening.", "Here was held another short but earnest consultation, during which the\nhorses, to whose panic their owners ascribed their heaviest misfortune,\nwere led from the cover of the woods, and brought to the sheltered spot.", "The band now divided.", "The great chief so often mentioned, mounting the\ncharger of Heyward, led the way directly across the river, followed by\nmost of his people, and disappeared in the woods, leaving the prisoners\nin charge of six savages, at whose head was Le Renard Subtil.", "Duncan\nwitnessed all their movements with renewed uneasiness.", "He had been fond of believing, from the uncommon forbearance of the\nsavages, that he was reserved as a prisoner to be delivered to Montcalm.", "As the thoughts of those who are in misery seldom slumber, and the\ninvention is never more lively than when it is stimulated by hope,\nhowever feeble and remote, he had even imagined that the parental\nfeelings of Munro were to be made instrumental in seducing him from his\nduty to the king.", "For though the French commander bore a high character\nfor courage and enterprise, he was also thought to be expert in those\npolitical practices, which do not always respect the nicer obligations\nof morality, and which so generally disgraced the European diplomacy of\nthat period.", "All those busy and ingenious speculations were now annihilated by the\nconduct of his captors.", "That portion of the band who had followed the\nhuge warrior took the route towards the foot of the Horican, and no\nother expectation was left for himself and companions, than that they\nwere to be retained as hopeless captives by their savage conquerors.", "Anxious to know the worst, and willing, in such an emergency, to try the\npotency of gold, he overcame his reluctance to speak to Magua.", "Addressing himself to his former guide, who had now assumed the\nauthority and manner of one who was to direct the future movements of\nthe party, he said, in tones as friendly and confiding as he could\nassume,--\n\n\"I would speak to Magua, what is fit only for so great a chief to hear.\"", "The Indian turned his eyes on the young soldier scornfully, as he\nanswered,--\n\n\"Speak; trees have no ears!\"", "\"But the red Hurons are not deaf; and counsel that is fit for the great\nmen of a nation would make the young warriors drunk.", "If Magua will not\nlisten, the officer of the king knows how to be silent.\"", "The savage spoke carelessly to his comrades, who were busied, after\ntheir awkward manner, in preparing the horses for the reception of the\nsisters, and moved a little to one side, whither, by a cautious gesture,\nhe induced Heyward to follow.", "\"Now speak,\" he said; \"if the words are such as Magua should hear.\"", "\"Le Renard Subtil has proved himself worthy of the honorable name given\nto him by his Canada fathers,\" commenced Heyward; \"I see his wisdom, and\nall that he has done for us, and shall remember it, when the hour to\nreward him arrives.", "Yes!", "Renard has proved that he is not only a great\nchief in council, but one who knows how to deceive his enemies!\"", "\"What has Renard done?\"", "coldly demanded the Indian.", "\"What!", "has he not seen that the woods were filled with outlying parties\nof the enemies, and that the Serpent could not steal through them\nwithout being seen?", "Then, did he not lose his path to blind the eyes of\nthe Hurons?", "Did he not pretend to go back to his tribe, who had treated\nhim ill, and driven him from their wigwams like a dog?", "And, when we saw\nwhat he wished to do, did we not aid him, by making a false face, that\nthe Hurons might think the white man believed that his friend was his\nenemy?", "Is not all this true?", "And when Le Subtil had shut the eyes and\nstopped the ears of his nation by his wisdom, did they not forget that\nthey had once done him wrong, and forced him to flee to the Mohawks?", "And\ndid they not leave him on the south side of the river, with their\nprisoners, while they have gone foolishly on the north?", "Does not Renard\nmean to turn like a fox on his footsteps, and to carry to the rich and\ngray-headed Scotchman his daughters?", "Yes, Magua, I see it all, and I\nhave already been thinking how so much wisdom and honesty should be\nrepaid.", "First, the chief of William Henry will give as a great chief\nshould for such a service.", "The medal[16] of Magua will no longer be of\ntin, but of beaten gold; his horn will run over with powder; dollars\nwill be as plenty in his pouch as pebbles on the shore of Horican; and\nthe deer will lick his hand, for they will know it to be vain to fly\nfrom the rifle he will carry!", "As for myself, I know not how to exceed\nthe gratitude of the Scotchman, but I--yes, I will--\"\n\n\"What will the young chief who comes from towards the sun, give?\"", "demanded the Huron, observing that Heyward hesitated in his desire to\nend the enumeration of benefits with that which might form the climax of\nan Indian's wishes.", "\"He will make the fire-water from the Islands in the salt lake flow\nbefore the wigwam of Magua, until the heart of the Indian shall be\nlighter than the feathers of the humming-bird, and his breath sweeter\nthan the wild honeysuckle.\"", "Le Renard had listened gravely as Heyward slowly proceeded in his subtle\nspeech.", "When the young man mentioned the artifice he supposed the Indian\nto have practised on his own nation, the countenance of the listener was\nveiled in an expression of cautious gravity.", "At the allusion to the\ninjury which Duncan affected to believe had driven the Huron from his\nnative tribe, a gleam of such ungovernable ferocity flashed from the\nother's eyes, as induced the adventurous speaker to believe he had\nstruck the proper chord.", "And by the time he reached the part where he so\nartfully blended the thirst of vengeance with the desire of gain, he\nhad, at least, obtained a command of the deepest attention of the\nsavage.", "The question put by Le Renard had been calm, and with all the\ndignity of an Indian; but it was quite apparent, by the thoughtful\nexpression of the listener's countenance, that the answer was most\ncunningly devised.", "The Huron mused a few moments, and then laying his\nhand on the rude bandages of his wounded shoulder, he said, with some\nenergy,--\n\n\"Do friends make such remarks?\"", "\"Would La Longue Carabine cut one so light on an enemy?\"", "\"Do the Delawares crawl upon those they love, like snakes, twisting\nthemselves to strike?\"", "\"Would Le Gros Serpent have been heard by the ears of one he wished to\nbe deaf?\"", "\"Does the white chief burn his powder in the faces of his brothers?\"", "\"Does he ever miss his aim, when seriously bent to kill?\"", "returned\nDuncan, smiling with well acted sincerity.", "Another long and deliberate pause succeeded these sententious questions\nand ready replies.", "Duncan saw that the Indian hesitated.", "In order to\ncomplete his victory, he was in the act of recommencing the enumeration\nof the rewards, when Magua made an expressive gesture and said--\n\n\"Enough; Le Renard is a wise chief, and what he does will be seen.", "Go,\nand keep the mouth shut.", "When Magua speaks, it will be the time to\nanswer.\"", "Heyward, perceiving that the eyes of his companion were warily fastened\non the rest of the band, fell back immediately, in order to avoid the\nappearance of any suspicious confederacy with their leader.", "Magua\napproached the horses, and affected to be well pleased with the\ndiligence and ingenuity of his comrades.", "He then signed to Heyward to\nassist the sisters into the saddles, for he seldom deigned to use the\nEnglish tongue, unless urged by some motive of more than usual moment.", "There was no longer any plausible pretext for delay; and Duncan was\nobliged, however reluctantly, to comply.", "As he performed this office, he\nwhispered his reviving hopes in the ears of the trembling females, who,\nthrough dread of encountering the savage countenances of their captors,\nseldom raised their eyes from the ground.", "The mare of David had been\ntaken with the followers of the large chief; in consequence, its owner,\nas well as Duncan, was compelled to journey on foot.", "The latter did not,\nhowever, so much regret this circumstance, as it might enable him to\nretard the speed of the party; for he still turned his longing looks in\nthe direction of Fort Edward, in the vain expectation of catching some\nsound from that quarter of the forest, which might denote the approach\nof succor.", "When all were prepared, Magua made the signal to proceed, advancing in\nfront to lead the party in person.", "Next followed David, who was\ngradually coming to a true sense of his condition, as the effects of the\nwound became less and less apparent.", "The sisters rode in his rear, with\nHeyward at their side, while the Indians flanked the party, and brought\nup the close of the march, with a caution that seemed never to tire.", "In this manner they proceeded in uninterrupted silence, except when\nHeyward addressed some solitary word of comfort to the females, or David\ngave vent to the moanings of his spirit in piteous exclamations, which\nhe intended should express the humility of resignation.", "Their direction\nlay towards the south, and in a course nearly opposite to the road to\nWilliam Henry.", "Notwithstanding this apparent adherence in Magua to the\noriginal determination of his conquerors, Heyward could not believe his\ntempting bait was so soon forgotten; and he knew the windings of an\nIndian path too well, to suppose that its apparent course led directly\nto its object, when artifice was at all necessary.", "Mile after mile was,\nhowever, passed through the boundless woods, in this painful manner,\nwithout any prospect of a termination to their journey.", "Heyward watched\nthe sun, as he darted his meridian rays through the branches of the\ntrees, and pined for the moment when the policy of Magua should change\ntheir route to one more favorable to his hopes.", "Sometimes he fancied the\nwary savage, despairing of passing the arm of Montcalm in safety, was\nholding his way towards a well-known border settlement, where a\ndistinguished officer of the crown, and a favored friend of the Six\nNations, held his large possessions, as well as his usual residence.", "To\nbe delivered into the hands of Sir William Johnson was far preferable to\nbeing led into the wilds of Canada; but in order to effect even the\nformer, it would be necessary to traverse the forest for many weary\nleagues, each step of which was carrying him farther from the scene of\nthe war, and, consequently, from the post, not only of honor, but of\nduty.", "Cora alone remembered the parting injunctions of the scout, and whenever\nan opportunity offered, she stretched forth her arm to bend aside the\ntwigs that met her hands.", "But the vigilance of the Indians rendered this\nact of precaution both difficult and dangerous.", "She was often defeated\nin her purpose, by encountering their watchful eyes, when it became\nnecessary to feign an alarm she did not feel, and occupy the limb by\nsome gesture of feminine apprehension.", "Once, and once only, was she\ncompletely successful; when she broke down the bough of a large sumach,\nand, by a sudden thought, let her glove fall at the same instant.", "This\nsign, intended for those that might follow, was observed by one of her\nconductors, who restored the glove, broke the remaining branches of the\nbush in such a manner that it appeared to proceed from the struggling of\nsome beast in its branches, and then laid his hand on his tomahawk, with\na look so significant, that it put an effectual end to these stolen\nmemorials of their passage.", "As there were horses, to leave the prints of their footsteps, in both\nbands of the Indians, this interruption cut off any probable hopes of\nassistance being conveyed through the means of their trail.", "Heyward would have ventured a remonstrance, had there been anything\nencouraging in the gloomy reserve of Magua.", "But the savage, during all\nthis time, seldom turned to look at his followers, and never spoke.", "With\nthe sun for his only guide, or aided by such blind marks as are only\nknown to the sagacity of a native, he held his way along the barrens of\npine, through occasional little fertile vales, across brooks and\nrivulets, and over undulating hills, with the accuracy of instinct, and\nnearly with the directness of a bird.", "He never seemed to hesitate.", "Whether the path was hardly distinguishable, whether it disappeared, or\nwhether it lay beaten and plain before him, made no sensible difference\nin his speed or certainty.", "It seemed as if fatigue could not affect him.", "Whenever the eyes of the wearied travellers rose from the decayed leaves\nover which they trod, his dark form was to be seen glancing among the\nstems of the trees in front, his head immovably fastened in a forward\nposition, with the light plume on his crest fluttering in a current of\nair, made solely by the swiftness of his own motion.", "But all this diligence and speed were not without an object.", "After\ncrossing a low vale, through which a gushing brook meandered, he\nsuddenly ascended a hill, so steep and difficult of ascent, that the\nsisters were compelled to alight, in order to follow.", "When the summit\nwas gained, they found themselves on a level spot, but thinly covered\nwith trees, under one of which Magua had thrown his dark form, as if\nwilling and ready to seek that rest which was so much needed by the\nwhole party.", "\"Cursed by my tribe\n If I forgive him.\"", "_Shylock._\n\n\nThe Indian had selected, for this desirable purpose, one of those steep,\npyramidal hills, which bear a strong resemblance to artificial mounds,\nand which so frequently occur in the valleys of America.", "The one in\nquestion was high and precipitous; its top flattened, as usual; but with\none of its sides more than ordinarily irregular.", "It possessed no other\napparent advantage for a resting-place than in its elevation and form,\nwhich might render defence easy, and surprise nearly impossible.", "As\nHeyward, however, no longer expected that rescue which time and distance\nnow rendered so improbable, he regarded these little peculiarities with\nan eye devoid of interest, devoting himself entirely to the comfort and\ncondolence of his feebler companions.", "The Narragansetts were suffered to\nbrowse on the branches of the trees and shrubs that were thinly\nscattered over the summit of the hill, while the remains of their\nprovisions were spread under the shade of a beech, that stretched its\nhorizontal limbs like a canopy above them.", "Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the Indians had\nfound an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn with an arrow, and had\nborne the more preferable fragments of the victim patiently on his\nshoulders, to the stopping-place.", "Without any aid from the science of\ncookery, he was immediately employed, in common with his fellows, in\ngorging himself with this digestible sustenance.", "Magua alone sat apart,\nwithout participation in the revolting meal, and apparently buried in\nthe deepest thought.", "This abstinence, so remarkable in an Indian, when he possessed the means\nof satisfying hunger, at length attracted the notice of Heyward.", "The\nyoung man willingly believed that the Huron deliberated on the most\neligible manner of eluding the vigilance of his associates.", "With a view\nto assist his plans, by any suggestion of his own, and to strengthen the\ntemptation, he left the beech, and straggled as if without an object, to\nthe spot where Le Renard was seated.", "\"Has not Magua kept the sun in his face long enough to escape all danger\nfrom the Canadians?\"", "he asked, as though no longer doubtful of the good\nintelligence established between them; \"and will not the chief of\nWilliam Henry be better pleased to see his daughters before another\nnight may have hardened his heart to their loss, to make him less\nliberal in his reward?\"", "\"Do the pale-faces love their children less in the morning than at\nnight?\"", "asked the Indian, coldly.", "\"By no means,\" returned Heyward, anxious to recall his error, if he had\nmade one; \"the white man may, and does often, forget the burial-place of\nhis fathers; he sometimes ceases to remember those he should love and\nhas promised to cherish; but the affection of a parent for his child is\nnever permitted to die.\"", "\"And is the heart of the white-headed chief soft, and will he think of\nthe babes that his squaws have given him?", "He is hard to his warriors,\nand his eyes are made of stone!\"", "\"He is severe to the idle and wicked, but to the sober and deserving he\nis a leader, but just and humane.", "I have known many fond and tender\nparents, but never have I seen a man whose heart was softer towards his\nchild.", "You have seen the gray-head in front of his warriors, Magua; but\nI have seen his eyes swimming in water, when he spoke of those children\nwho are now in your power!\"", "Heyward paused, for he knew not how to construe the remarkable\nexpression that gleamed across the swarthy features of the attentive\nIndian.", "At first it seemed as if the remembrance of the promised reward\ngrew vivid in his mind, while he listened to the sources of parental\nfeeling which were to assure its possession; but as Duncan proceeded,\nthe expression of joy became so fiercely malignant, that it was\nimpossible not to apprehend it proceeded from some passion more sinister\nthan avarice.", "\"Go,\" said the Huron, suppressing the alarming exhibition in an instant,\nin a death-like calmness of countenance; \"go to the dark-haired\ndaughter, and say, Magua waits to speak.", "The father will remember what\nthe child promises.\"", "Duncan, who interpreted this speech to express a wish for some\nadditional pledge that the promised gifts should not be withheld,\nslowly and reluctantly repaired to the place where the sisters were now\nresting from their fatigue, to communicate its purport to Cora.", "\"You understand the nature of an Indian's wishes,\" he concluded, as he\nled her towards the place where she was expected, \"and must be prodigal\nof your offers of powder and blankets.", "Ardent spirits are, however, the\nmost prized by such as he; nor would it be amiss to add some boon from\nyour own hand, with that grace you so well know how to practise.", "Remember, Cora, that on your presence of mind and ingenuity even your\nlife, as well as that of Alice, may in some measure depend.\"", "\"Heyward, and yours!\"", "\"Mine is of little moment; it is already sold to my king, and is a prize\nto be seized by any enemy who may possess the power.", "I have no father to\nexpect me, and but few friends to lament a fate which I have courted\nwith the insatiable longings of youth after distinction.", "But hush!", "we\napproach the Indian.", "Magua, the lady with whom you wish to speak is\nhere.\"", "The Indian rose slowly from his seat, and stood for near a minute silent\nand motionless.", "He then signed with his hand for Heyward to retire,\nsaying coldly,--\n\n\"When the Huron talks to the women, his tribe shut their ears.\"", "Duncan, still lingering, as if refusing to comply, Cora said, with a\ncalm smile--\n\n\"You hear, Heyward, and delicacy at least should urge you to retire.", "Go\nto Alice, and comfort her with our reviving prospects.\"", "She waited until he had departed, and then turning to the native, with\nthe dignity of her sex in her voice and manner, she added, \"What would\nLe Renard say to the daughter of Munro?\"", "\"Listen,\" said the Indian, laying his hand firmly upon her arm, as if\nwilling to draw her utmost attention to his words; a movement that Cora\nas firmly but quietly repulsed, by extricating the limb from his grasp:\n\"Magua was born a chief and a warrior among the red Hurons of the lakes;\nhe saw the suns of twenty summers make the snows of twenty winters run\noff in the streams, before he saw a pale-face; and he was happy!", "Then\nhis Canada fathers came into the woods, and taught him to drink the\nfire-water, and he became a rascal.", "The Hurons drove him from the graves\nof his fathers, as they would chase the hunted buffalo.", "He ran down the\nshores of the lakes, and followed their outlet to the 'city of cannon.'", "There he hunted and fished, till the people chased him again through the\nwoods into the arms of his enemies.", "The chief, who was born a Huron, was\nat last a warrior among the Mohawks!\"", "\"Something like this I had heard before,\" said Cora, observing that he\npaused to suppress those passions which began to burn with too bright a\nflame, as he recalled the recollection of his supposed injuries.", "\"Was it the fault of Le Renard that his head was not made of rock?", "Who\ngave him the fire-water?", "who made him a villain?", "'Twas the pale-faces,\nthe people of your own color.\"", "\"And am I answerable that thoughtless and unprincipled men exist, whose\nshades of countenance may resemble mine?\"", "Cora calmly demanded of the\nexcited savage.", "\"No; Magua is a man, and not a fool; such as you never open their lips\nto the burning stream: the Great Spirit has given you wisdom!\"", "\"What then have I to do, or say, in the matter of your misfortunes, not\nto say of your errors?\"", "\"Listen,\" repeated the Indian, resuming his earnest attitude; \"when his\nEnglish and French fathers dug up the hatchet, Le Renard struck the\nwar-post of the Mohawks, and went out against his own nation.", "The\npale-faces have driven the redskins from their hunting-grounds, and now\nwhen they fight, a white man leads the way.", "The old chief at Horican,\nyour father, was the great captain of our war-party.", "He said to the\nMohawks do this, and do that, and he was minded.", "He made a law, that if\nan Indian swallowed the fire-water, and came into the cloth wigwams of\nhis warriors, it should not be forgotten.", "Magua foolishly opened his\nmouth, and the hot liquor led him into the cabin of Munro.", "What did the\ngray-head?", "let his daughter say.\"", "\"He forgot not his words, and did justice by punishing the offender,\"\nsaid the undaunted daughter.", "\"Justice!\"", "repeated the Indian, casting an oblique glance of the most\nferocious expression at her unyielding countenance; \"is it justice to\nmake evil, and then punish for it?", "Magua was not himself; it was the\nfire-water that spoke and acted for him!", "but Munro did not believe it.", "The Huron chief was tied up before all the pale-faced warriors, and\nwhipped like a dog.\"", "Cora remained silent, for she knew not how to palliate this imprudent\nseverity on the part of her father, in a manner to suit the\ncomprehension of an Indian.", "\"See!\"", "continued Magua, tearing aside the slight calico that very\nimperfectly concealed his painted breast; \"here are scars given by\nknives and bullets--of these a warrior may boast before his nation; but\nthe gray-head has left marks on the back of the Huron chief, that he\nmust hide, like a squaw, under this painted cloth of the whites.\"", "\"I had thought,\" resumed Cora, \"that an Indian warrior was patient, and\nthat his spirit felt not, and knew not, the pain his body suffered.\"", "\"When the Chippewas tied Magua to the stake, and cut this gash,\" said\nthe other, laying his finger on a deep scar, \"the Huron laughed in their\nfaces, and told them, Women struck so light!", "His spirit was then in the\nclouds!", "But when he felt the blows of Munro, his spirit lay under the\nbirch.", "The spirit of a Huron is never drunk; it remembers forever!\"", "\"But it may be appeased.", "If my father has done you this injustice, show\nhim how an Indian can forgive an injury, and take back his daughters.", "You have heard from Major Heyward--\"\n\nMagua shook his head, forbidding the repetition of offers he so much\ndespised.", "\"What would you have?\"", "continued Cora, after a most painful pause, while\nthe conviction forced itself on her mind that the too sanguine and\ngenerous Duncan had been cruelly deceived by the cunning of the savage.", "\"What a Huron loves--good for good; bad for bad!\"", "\"You would then revenge the injury inflicted by Munro on his helpless\ndaughters.", "Would it not be more like a man to go before his face, and\ntake the satisfaction of a warrior?\"", "\"The arms of the pale-faces are long, and their knives sharp!\"", "returned\nthe savage, with a malignant laugh: \"why should Le Renard go among the\nmuskets of his warriors, when he holds the spirit of the gray-head in\nhis hand?\"", "\"Name your intention, Magua,\" said Cora, struggling with herself to\nspeak with steady calmness.", "\"Is it to lead us prisoners to the woods, or\ndo you contemplate even some greater evil?", "Is there no reward, no means\nof palliating the injury, and of softening your heart?", "At least, release\nmy gentle sister, and pour out all your malice on me.", "Purchase wealth by\nher safety, and satisfy your revenge with a single victim.", "The loss of\nboth of his daughters might bring the aged man to his grave, and where\nwould then be the satisfaction of Le Renard?\"", "\"Listen,\" said the Indian again.", "\"The light eyes can go back to the\nHorican, and tell the old chief what has been done, if the dark-haired\nwoman will swear by the Great Spirit of her fathers to tell no lie.\"", "\"What must I promise?\"", "demanded Cora, still maintaining a secret\nascendency over the fierce native, by the collected and feminine dignity\nof her presence.", "\"When Magua left his people, his wife was given to another chief; he has\nnow made friends with the Hurons, and will go back to the graves of his\ntribe, on the shores of the great lake.", "Let the daughter of the English\nchief follow, and live in his wigwam forever.\"", "However revolting a proposal of such a character might prove to Cora,\nshe retained, notwithstanding her powerful disgust, sufficient\nself-command to reply, without betraying the weakness.", "\"And what pleasure would Magua find in sharing his cabin with a wife he\ndid not love; one who would be of a nation and color different from his\nown?", "It would be better to take the gold of Munro, and buy the heart of\nsome Huron maid with his gifts.\"", "The Indian made no reply for near a minute, but bent his fierce looks on\nthe countenance of Cora, in such wavering glances, that her eyes sank\nwith shame, under an impression that, for the first time, they had\nencountered an expression that no chaste female might endure.", "While she\nwas shrinking within herself, in dread of having her ears wounded by\nsome proposal still more shocking than the last, the voice of Magua\nanswered, in its tones of deepest malignancy--\n\n\"When the blows scorched the back of the Huron, he would know where to\nfind a woman to feel the smart.", "The daughter of Munro would draw his\nwater, hoe his corn, and cook his venison.", "The body of the gray-head\nwould sleep among his cannon, but his heart would lie within reach of\nthe knife of Le Subtil.\"", "\"Monster!", "well dost thou deserve thy treacherous name!\"", "cried Cora, in\nan ungovernable burst of filial indignation.", "\"None but a fiend could\nmeditate such a vengeance!", "But thou overratest thy power!", "You shall find\nit is, in truth, the heart of Munro you hold, and that it will defy your\nutmost malice!\"", "The Indian answered this bold defiance by a ghastly smile, that showed\nan unaltered purpose, while he motioned her away, as if to close the\nconference forever.", "Cora, already regretting her precipitation, was\nobliged to comply, for Magua instantly left the spot, and approached his\ngluttonous comrades.", "Heyward flew to the side of the agitated female,\nand demanded the result of a dialogue that he had watched at a distance\nwith so much interest.", "But unwilling to alarm the fears of Alice, she\nevaded a direct reply, betraying only by her countenance her utter want\nof success, and keeping her anxious looks fastened on the slightest\nmovements of their captors.", "To the reiterated and earnest questions of\nher sister, concerning their probable destination, she made no other\nanswer than by pointing towards the dark group, with an agitation she\ncould not control, and murmuring, as she folded Alice to her bosom--\n\n\"There, there; read our fortunes in their faces; we shall see; we shall\nsee!\"", "The action, and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke more impressively\nthan any words, and quickly drew the attention of her companions on that\nspot where her own was riveted with an intenseness that nothing but the\nimportance of the stake could create.", "When Magua reached the cluster of lolling savages, who, gorged with\ntheir disgusting meal, lay stretched on the earth in brutal indulgence,\nhe commenced speaking with the dignity of an Indian chief.", "The first\nsyllables he uttered had the effect to cause his listeners to raise\nthemselves in attitudes of respectful attention.", "As the Huron used his\nnative language, the prisoners, notwithstanding the caution of the\nnatives had kept them within the swing of their tomahawks, could only\nconjecture the substance of his harrangue, from the nature of those\nsignificant gestures with which an Indian always illustrates his\neloquence.", "At first, the language, as well as the action of Magua, appeared calm\nand deliberate.", "When he had succeeded in sufficiently awakening the\nattention of his comrades, Heyward fancied, by his pointing so\nfrequently towards the direction of the great lakes, that he spoke of\nthe land of their fathers, and of their distant tribe.", "Frequent\nindications of applause escaped the listeners, who, as they uttered the\nexpressive \"Hugh!\"", "looked at each other in commendation of the speaker.", "Le Renard was too skilful to neglect his advantage.", "He now spoke of the\nlong and painful route by which they had left those spacious grounds and\nhappy villages, to come and battle against the enemies of their\nCanadian fathers.", "He enumerated the warriors of the party; their\nseveral merits; their frequent services to the nation; their wounds, and\nthe number of the scalps they had taken.", "Whenever he alluded to any\npresent (and the subtle Indian neglected none), the dark countenance of\nthe flattered individual gleamed with exultation, nor did he even\nhesitate to assert the truth of the words, by gestures of applause and\nconfirmation.", "Then the voice of the speaker fell, and lost the loud,\nanimated tones of triumph with which he had enumerated their deeds of\nsuccess and victory.", "He described the cataract of Glenn's; the\nimpregnable position of its rocky island, with its caverns, and its\nnumerous rapids and whirlpools; he named the name of La Longue Carabine,\nand paused until the forest beneath them had sent up the last echo of a\nloud and long yell, with which the hated appellation was received.", "He\npointed towards the youthful military captive, and described the death\nof a favorite warrior, who had been precipitated into the deep ravine by\nhis hand.", "He not only mentioned the fate of him who, hanging between\nheaven and earth, had presented such a spectacle of horror to the whole\nband, but he acted anew the terrors of his situation, his resolution and\nhis death, on the branches of a sapling; and, finally, he rapidly\nrecounted the manner in which each of their friends had fallen, never\nfailing to touch upon their courage, and their most acknowledged\nvirtues.", "When this recital of events was ended, his voice once more\nchanged, and became plaintive, and even musical, in its low guttural\nsounds.", "He now spoke of the wives and children of the slain; their\ndestitution; their misery, both physical and moral; their distance; and,\nat last, of their unavenged wrongs.", "Then suddenly lifting his voice to a\npitch of terrific energy, he concluded, by demanding,--\n\n\"Are the Hurons dogs to bear this?", "Who shall say to the wife of Menowgua\nthat the fishes have his scalp, and that his nation have not taken\nrevenge!", "Who will dare meet the mother of Wassawattimie, that scornful\nwoman, with his hands clean!", "What shall be said to the old men when they\nask us for scalps, and we have not a hair from a white head to give\nthem!", "The women will point their fingers at us.", "There is a dark spot on\nthe names of the Hurons, and it must be hid in blood!\"", "His voice was no longer audible in the burst of rage which now broke\ninto the air, as if the wood, instead of containing so small a band, was\nfilled with the nation.", "During the foregoing address the progress of the\nspeaker was too plainly read by those most interested in his success,\nthrough the medium of the countenances of the men he addressed.", "They had\nanswered his melancholy and mourning by sympathy and sorrow; his\nassertions, by gestures of confirmation; and his boastings, with the\nexultation of savages.", "When he spoke of courage, their looks were firm\nand responsive; when he alluded to their injuries, their eyes kindled\nwith fury; when he mentioned the taunts of the women, they dropped their\nheads in shame; but when he pointed out their means of vengeance, he\nstruck a chord which never failed to thrill in the breast of an Indian.", "With the first intimation that it was within their reach, the whole band\nsprang upon their feet as one man; giving utterance to their rage in the\nmost frantic cries, they rushed upon their prisoners in a body with\ndrawn knives and uplifted tomahawks.", "Heyward threw himself between the\nsisters and the foremost, whom he grappled with a desperate strength\nthat for a moment checked his violence.", "This unexpected resistance gave\nMagua time to interpose, and with rapid enunciation and animated\ngesture, he drew the attention of the band again to himself.", "In that\nlanguage he knew so well how to assume, he diverted his comrades from\ntheir instant purpose, and invited them to prolong the misery of their\nvictims.", "His proposal was received with acclamations, and executed with\nthe swiftness of thought.", "Two powerful warriors cast themselves on Heyward, while another was\noccupied in securing the less active singing-master.", "Neither of the\ncaptives, however, submitted without a desperate though fruitless\nstruggle.", "Even David hurled his assailant to the earth; nor was Heyward\nsecured until the victory over his companion enabled the Indians to\ndirect their united force to that object.", "He was then bound and fastened\nto the body of the sapling, on whose branches Magua had acted the\npantomime of the falling Huron.", "When the young soldier regained his\nrecollection, he had the painful certainty before his eyes that a common\nfate was intended for the whole party.", "On his right was Cora, in a\ndurance similar to his own, pale and agitated, but with an eye, whose\nsteady look still read the proceedings of their enemies.", "On his left,\nthe withes which bound her to a pine, performed that office for Alice\nwhich her trembling limbs refused, and alone kept her fragile form from\nsinking.", "Her hands were clasped before her in prayer, but instead of\nlooking upwards towards that power which alone could rescue them, her\nunconscious looks wandered to the countenance of Duncan with infantile\ndependency.", "David had contended, and the novelty of the circumstance\nheld him silent, in deliberation on the propriety of the unusual\noccurrence.", "The vengeance of the Hurons had now taken a new direction, and they\nprepared to execute it with that barbarous ingenuity with which they\nwere familiarized by the practice of centuries.", "Some sought knots, to\nraise the blazing pile; one was riving the splinters of pine, in order\nto pierce the flesh of their captives with the burning fragments; and\nothers bent the tops of two saplings to the earth, in order to suspend\nHeyward by the arms between the recoiling branches.", "But the vengeance of\nMagua sought a deeper and a more malignant enjoyment.", "While the less refined monsters of the band prepared, before the eyes of\nthose who were to suffer, these well known and vulgar means of torture,\nhe approached Cora, and pointed out, with the most malign expression of\ncountenance, the speedy fate that awaited her:--\n\n\"Ha!\"", "he added, \"what says the daughter of Munro?", "Her head is too good\nto find a pillow in the wigwam of Le Renard; will she like it better\nwhen it rolls about this hill a plaything for the wolves?", "Her bosom\ncannot nurse the children of a Huron; she will see it spit upon by\nIndians!\"", "\"What means the monster!\"", "demanded the astonished Heyward.", "\"Nothing!\"", "was the firm reply.", "\"He is a savage, a barbarous and ignorant\nsavage, and knows not what he does.", "Let us find leisure, with our dying\nbreath, to ask for him penitence and pardon.\"", "\"Pardon!\"", "echoed the fierce Huron, mistaking, in his anger, the meaning\nof her words; \"the memory of an Indian is longer than the arm of the\npale-faces; his mercy shorter than their justice!", "Say; shall I send the\nyellow hair to her father, and will you follow Magua to the great lakes,\nto carry his water, and feed him with corn?\"", "Cora beckoned him away, with an emotion of disgust she could not\ncontrol.", "\"Leave me,\" she said, with a solemnity that for a moment checked the\nbarbarity of the Indian; \"you mingle bitterness in my prayers; you stand\nbetween me and my God!\"", "The slight impression produced on the savage was, however, soon\nforgotten, and he continued pointing, with taunting irony, towards\nAlice.", "\"Look!", "the child weeps!", "She is young to die!", "Send her to Munro, to comb\nhis gray hairs, and keep life in the heart of the old man.\"", "Cora could not resist the desire to look upon her youthful sister, in\nwhose eyes she met an imploring glance, that betrayed the longings of\nnature.", "\"What says he, dearest Cora?\"", "asked the trembling voice of Alice.", "\"Did\nhe speak of sending me to our father?\"", "For many moments the elder sister looked upon the younger, with a\ncountenance that wavered with powerful and contending emotions.", "At\nlength she spoke, though her tones had lost their rich and calm fulness,\nin an expression of tenderness that seemed maternal.", "\"Alice,\" she said, \"the Huron offers us both life, nay, more than both;\nhe offers to restore Duncan, our invaluable Duncan, as well as you, to\nour friends--to our father--to our heart-stricken, childless father, if\nI will bow down this rebellious, stubborn pride of mine, and consent--\"\n\nHer voice became choked, and clasping her hands, she looked upward, as\nif seeking, in her agony, intelligence from a wisdom that was infinite.", "\"Say on,\" cried Alice; \"to what, dearest Cora?", "O, that the proffer were\nmade to me!", "to save you, to cheer our aged father, to restore Duncan,\nhow cheerfully could I die!\"", "\"Die!\"", "repeated Cora, with a calmer and a firmer voice, \"that were easy!", "Perhaps the alternative may not be less so.", "He would have me,\" she\ncontinued, her accents sinking under a deep consciousness of the\ndegradation of the proposal, \"follow him to the wilderness; go to the\nhabitations of the Hurons; to remain there: in short to become his wife!", "Speak, then, Alice; child of my affections!", "sister of my love!", "And you,\ntoo, Major Heyward, aid my weak reason with your counsel.", "Is life to be\npurchased by such a sacrifice?", "Will you, Alice, receive it at my hands\nat such a price?", "And _you_, Duncan, guide me; control me between you;\nfor I am wholly yours.\"", "\"Would I!\"", "echoed the indignant and astonished youth.", "\"Cora!", "Cora!", "you\njest with our misery!", "Name not the horrid alternative again; the thought\nitself is worse than a thousand deaths.\"", "\"That such would be _your_ answer, I well knew!\"", "exclaimed Cora, her\ncheeks flushing, and her dark eyes once more sparkling with the\nlingering emotions of a woman.", "\"What says my Alice?", "for her will I\nsubmit without another murmur.\"", "Although both Heyward and Cora listened with painful suspense and the\ndeepest attention, no sounds were heard in reply.", "It appeared as if the\ndelicate and sensitive form of Alice would shrink into itself, as she\nlistened to this proposal.", "Her arms had fallen lengthwise before her,\nthe fingers moving in slight convulsions; her head dropped upon her\nbosom, and her whole person seemed suspended against the tree, looking\nlike some beautiful emblem of the wounded delicacy of her sex, devoid of\nanimation, and yet keenly conscious.", "In a few moments, however, her head\nbegan to move slowly, in a sign of deep, unconquerable disapprobation.", "\"No, no, no; better that we die as we have lived, together!\"", "\"Then die!\"", "shouted Magua, hurling his tomahawk with violence at the\nunresisting speaker, and gnashing his teeth with a rage that could no\nlonger be bridled, at this sudden exhibition of firmness in the one he\nbelieved the weakest of the party.", "The axe cleaved the air in front of\nHeyward, and cutting some of the flowing ringlets of Alice, quivered in\nthe tree above her head.", "The sight maddened Duncan to desperation.", "Collecting all his energies in one effort, he snapped the twigs which\nbound him and rushed upon another savage who was preparing with loud\nyells, and a more deliberate aim, to repeat the blow.", "They encountered,\ngrappled, and fell to the earth together.", "The naked body of his\nantagonist afforded Heyward no means of holding his adversary, who\nglided from his grasp, and rose again with one knee on his chest,\npressing him down with the weight of a giant.", "Duncan already saw the\nknife gleaming in the air, when a whistling sound swept past him, and\nwas rather accompanied, than followed, by the sharp crack of a rifle.", "He\nfelt his breast relieved from the load it had endured; he saw the savage\nexpression of his adversary's countenance change to a look of vacant\nwildness, when the Indian fell dead on the faded leaves by his side." ]

[ "Notwithstanding the Hurons were necessarily ignorant of the little\nchannels among the eddies and rapids of the stream, they knew the common\nsigns of such a navigation too well to commit any material blunder.", "The great chief so often mentioned, mounting the\ncharger of Heyward, led the way directly across the river, followed by\nmost of his people, and disappeared in the woods, leaving the prisoners\nin charge of six savages, at whose head was Le Renard Subtil.", "The question put by Le Renard had been calm, and with all the\ndignity of an Indian; but it was quite apparent, by the thoughtful\nexpression of the listener's countenance, that the answer was most\ncunningly devised.", "Heyward, perceiving that the eyes of his companion were warily fastened\non the rest of the band, fell back immediately, in order to avoid the\nappearance of any suspicious confederacy with their leader.", "At first it seemed as if the remembrance of the promised reward\ngrew vivid in his mind, while he listened to the sources of parental\nfeeling which were to assure its possession; but as Duncan proceeded,\nthe expression of joy became so fiercely malignant, that it was\nimpossible not to apprehend it proceeded from some passion more sinister\nthan avarice.", "\"Justice!\"", "It would be better to take the gold of Munro, and buy the heart of\nsome Huron maid with his gifts.\"", "He was then bound and fastened\nto the body of the sapling, on whose branches Magua had acted the\npantomime of the falling Huron.", "On his right was Cora, in a\ndurance similar to his own, pale and agitated, but with an eye, whose\nsteady look still read the proceedings of their enemies.", "And _you_, Duncan, guide me; control me between you;\nfor I am wholly yours.\"" ]

[ "The Huron chief was tied up before all the pale-faced warriors, and\nwhipped like a dog.\"", "His spirit was then in the\nclouds!", "When the summit\nwas gained, they found themselves on a level spot, but thinly covered\nwith trees, under one of which Magua had thrown his dark form, as if\nwilling and ready to seek that rest which was so much needed by the\nwhole party.", "The danger was, therefore,\nmagnified exactly in proportion to the number of the savage spirits by\nwhich they were surrounded.", "shouted Magua, hurling his tomahawk with violence at the\nunresisting speaker, and gnashing his teeth with a rage that could no\nlonger be bridled, at this sudden exhibition of firmness in the one he\nbelieved the weakest of the party.", "he added, \"what says the daughter of Munro?", "I have known many fond and tender\nparents, but never have I seen a man whose heart was softer towards his\nchild.", "Neither of the\ncaptives, however, submitted without a desperate though fruitless\nstruggle.", "The\npale-faces have driven the redskins from their hunting-grounds, and now\nwhen they fight, a white man leads the way.", "The latter did not,\nhowever, so much regret this circumstance, as it might enable him to\nretard the speed of the party; for he still turned his longing looks in\nthe direction of Fort Edward, in the vain expectation of catching some\nsound from that quarter of the forest, which might denote the approach\nof succor." ]

[ "At first it seemed as if the remembrance of the promised reward\ngrew vivid in his mind, while he listened to the sources of parental\nfeeling which were to assure its possession; but as Duncan proceeded,\nthe expression of joy became so fiercely malignant, that it was\nimpossible not to apprehend it proceeded from some passion more sinister\nthan avarice.", "\"Go,\" said the Huron, suppressing the alarming exhibition in an instant,\nin a death-like calmness of countenance; \"go to the dark-haired\ndaughter, and say, Magua waits to speak.", "The father will remember what\nthe child promises.\"", "Duncan, who interpreted this speech to express a wish for some\nadditional pledge that the promised gifts should not be withheld,\nslowly and reluctantly repaired to the place where the sisters were now\nresting from their fatigue, to communicate its purport to Cora.", "\"You understand the nature of an Indian's wishes,\" he concluded, as he\nled her towards the place where she was expected, \"and must be prodigal\nof your offers of powder and blankets.", "Ardent spirits are, however, the\nmost prized by such as he; nor would it be amiss to add some boon from\nyour own hand, with that grace you so well know how to practise.", "Remember, Cora, that on your presence of mind and ingenuity even your\nlife, as well as that of Alice, may in some measure depend.\"", "\"Heyward, and yours!\"", "\"Mine is of little moment; it is already sold to my king, and is a prize\nto be seized by any enemy who may possess the power.", "I have no father to\nexpect me, and but few friends to lament a fate which I have courted\nwith the insatiable longings of youth after distinction.", "But hush!" ]

[ "\n \"I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn\n As much as we this night have overwatched!\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe instant the shock of this sudden misfortune had abated, Duncan began\nto make his observations on the appearance and proceedings of their\ncaptors.", "Contrary to the usages of the natives in the wantonness of\ntheir success, they had respected, not only the persons of the trembling\nsisters, but his own.", "The rich ornaments of his military attire had\nindeed been repeatedly handled by different individuals of the tribe\nwith eyes expressing a savage longing to possess the baubles; but before\nthe customary violence could be resorted to, a mandate in the\nauthoritative voice of the large warrior already mentioned, stayed the\nuplifted hand, and convinced Heyward that they were to be reserved for\nsome object of particular moment.", "While, however, these manifestations of weakness were exhibited by the\nyoung and vain of the party, the more experienced warriors continued\ntheir search throughout both caverns, with an activity that denoted they\nwere far from being satisfied with those fruits of their conquest which\nhad already been brought to light.", "Unable to discover any new victim,\nthese diligent workers of vengeance soon approached their male\nprisoners, pronouncing the name of \"La Longue Carabine,\" with a\nfierceness that could not easily be mistaken.", "Duncan affected not to\ncomprehend the meaning of their repeated and violent interrogatories,\nwhile his companion was spared the effort of a similar deception by his\nignorance of French.", "Wearied, at length, by their importunities, and\napprehensive of irritating his captors by too stubborn a silence, the\nformer looked about him in quest of Magua; who might interpret his\nanswers to questions which were at each moment becoming more earnest and\nthreatening.", "The conduct of this savage had formed a solitary exception to that of\nall his fellows.", "While the others were busily occupied in seeking to\ngratify their childish passion for finery, by plundering even the\nmiserable effects of the scout, or had been searching, with such\nbloodthirsty vengeance in their looks, for their absent owner, Le Renard\nhad stood at a little distance from the prisoners, with a demeanor so\nquiet and satisfied, as to betray that he had already effected the grand\npurpose of this treachery.", "\"No, no, no; better that we die as we have lived, together!\"", "\"Then die!\"", "shouted Magua, hurling his tomahawk with violence at the\nunresisting speaker, and gnashing his teeth with a rage that could no\nlonger be bridled, at this sudden exhibition of firmness in the one he\nbelieved the weakest of the party.", "The axe cleaved the air in front of\nHeyward, and cutting some of the flowing ringlets of Alice, quivered in\nthe tree above her head.", "The sight maddened Duncan to desperation.", "Collecting all his energies in one effort, he snapped the twigs which\nbound him and rushed upon another savage who was preparing with loud\nyells, and a more deliberate aim, to repeat the blow.", "They encountered,\ngrappled, and fell to the earth together.", "The naked body of his\nantagonist afforded Heyward no means of holding his adversary, who\nglided from his grasp, and rose again with one knee on his chest,\npressing him down with the weight of a giant.", "Duncan already saw the\nknife gleaming in the air, when a whistling sound swept past him, and\nwas rather accompanied, than followed, by the sharp crack of a rifle.", "He\nfelt his breast relieved from the load it had endured; he saw the savage\nexpression of his adversary's countenance change to a look of vacant\nwildness, when the Indian fell dead on the faded leaves by his side." ]

[ "\n \"_Clo._--I am gone, sir,\n And anon, sir,\n I'll be with you again.\"", "_Twelfth Night._\n\n\nThe Hurons stood aghast at this sudden visitation of death on one of\ntheir band.", "But, as they regarded the fatal accuracy of an aim which had\ndared to immolate an enemy at so much hazard to a friend, the name of\n\"La Longue Carabine\" burst simultaneously from every lip, and was\nsucceeded by a wild and a sort of plaintive howl.", "The cry was answered\nby a loud shout from a little thicket, where the incautious party had\npiled their arms; and at the next moment, Hawkeye, too eager to load the\nrifle he had regained, was seen advancing upon them, brandishing the\nclubbed weapon, and cutting the air with wide and powerful sweeps.", "Bold\nand rapid as was the progress of the scout, it was exceeded by that of a\nlight and vigorous form which, bounding past him, leaped, with\nincredible activity and daring, into the very centre of the Hurons,\nwhere it stood, whirling a tomahawk, and flourishing a glittering knife,\nwith fearful menaces, in front of Cora.", "Quicker than the thoughts could\nfollow these unexpected and audacious movements, an image, armed in the\nemblematic panoply of death, glided before their eyes, and assumed a\nthreatening attitude at the other's side.", "The savage tormentors recoiled\nbefore these warlike intruders, and uttered as they appeared in such\nquick succession, the often repeated and peculiar exclamation of\nsurprise, followed by the well known and dreaded appellations of--\n\n\"Le Cerf Agile!", "Le Gros Serpent!\"", "But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not so easily\ndisconcerted.", "Casting his keen eyes around the little plain, he\ncomprehended the nature of the assault at a glance, and encouraging his\nfollowers by his voice as well as by his example, he unsheathed his long\nand dangerous knife, and rushed with a loud whoop upon the expecting\nChingachgook.", "It was the signal for a general combat.", "Neither party had\nfire-arms, and the contest was to be decided in the deadliest manner;\nhand to hand, with weapons of offence, and none of defence.", "Uncas answered the whoop, and leaping on an enemy, with a single, well\ndirected blow of his tomahawk, cleft him to the brain.", "Heyward tore the\nweapon of Magua from the sapling, and rushed eagerly towards the fray.", "As the combatants were now equal in number, each singled an opponent\nfrom the adverse band.", "The rush and blows passed with the fury of a\nwhirlwind, and the swiftness of lightning.", "Hawkeye soon got another\nenemy within reach of his arm, and with one sweep of his formidable\nweapon he beat down the slight and inartificial defences of his\nantagonist, crushing him to the earth with the blow.", "Heyward ventured to\nhurl the tomahawk he had seized, too ardent to await the moment of\nclosing.", "It struck the Indian he had selected on the forehead, and\nchecked for an instant his onward rush.", "Encouraged by this slight\nadvantage, the impetuous young man continued his onset, and sprang upon\nhis enemy with naked hands.", "A single instant was enough to assure him of\nthe rashness of the measure, for he immediately found himself fully\nengaged, with all his activity and courage, in endeavoring to ward the\ndesperate thrusts made with the knife of the Huron.", "Unable longer to\nfoil an enemy so alert and vigilant, he threw his arms about him, and\nsucceeded in pinning the limbs of the other to his side, with an iron\ngrasp, but one that was far too exhausting to himself to continue long.", "In this extremity he heard a voice near him, shouting--\n\n\"Extarminate the varlets!", "no quarter to an accursed Mingo!\"", "At the next moment, the breech of Hawkeye's rifle fell on the naked head\nof his adversary, whose muscles appeared to wither under the shock, as\nhe sank from the arms of Duncan, flexible and motionless.", "When Uncas had brained his first antagonist, he turned, like a hungry\nlion, to seek another.", "The fifth and only Huron disengaged at the first\nonset had paused a moment, and then seeing that all around him were\nemployed in the deadly strife, he sought, with hellish vengeance, to\ncomplete the baffled work of revenge.", "Raising a shout of triumph, he\nsprang towards the defenceless Cora, sending his keen axe, as the\ndreadful precursor of his approach.", "The tomahawk grazed her shoulder,\nand cutting the withes which bound her to the tree, left the maiden at\nliberty to fly.", "She eluded the grasp of the savage, and reckless of her\nown safety, threw herself on the bosom of Alice, striving with\nconvulsed and ill-directed fingers, to tear asunder the twigs which\nconfined the person of her sister.", "Any other than a monster would have\nrelented at such an act of generous devotion to the best and purest\naffection; but the breast of the Huron was a stranger to sympathy.", "Seizing Cora by the rich tresses which fell in confusion about her form,\nhe tore her from her frantic hold, and bowed her down with brutal\nviolence to her knees.", "The savage drew the flowing curls through his\nhand, and raising them on high with an outstretched arm, he passed the\nknife around the exquisitely moulded head of his victim, with a taunting\nand exulting laugh.", "But he purchased this moment of fierce gratification\nwith the loss of the fatal opportunity.", "It was just then the sight\ncaught the eye of Uncas.", "Bounding from his footsteps he appeared for an\ninstant darting through the air, and descending in a ball he fell on the\nchest of his enemy, driving him many yards from the spot, headlong and\nprostrate.", "The violence of the exertion cast the young Mohican at his\nside.", "They arose together, fought, and bled, each in his turn.", "But the\nconflict was soon decided; the tomahawk of Heyward and the rifle of\nHawkeye descended on the skull of the Huron, at the same moment that the\nknife of Uncas reached his heart.", "The battle was now entirely terminated, with the exception of the\nprotracted struggle between Le Renard Subtil and Le Gros Serpent.", "Well\ndid these barbarous warriors prove that they deserved those significant\nnames which had been bestowed for deeds in former wars.", "When they\nengaged, some little time was lost in eluding the quick and vigorous\nthrusts which had been aimed at their lives.", "Suddenly darting on each\nother, they closed, and came to the earth, twisted together like twining\nserpents, in pliant and subtle folds.", "At the moment when the victors\nfound themselves unoccupied, the spot where these experienced and\ndesperate combatants lay, could only be distinguished by a cloud of dust\nand leaves which moved from the centre of the little plain towards its\nboundary, as if raised by the passage of a whirlwind.", "Urged by the\ndifferent motives of filial affection, friendship, and gratitude,\nHeyward and his companions rushed with one accord to the place,\nencircling the little canopy of dust which hung above the warriors.", "In\nvain did Uncas dart around the cloud, with a wish to strike his knife\ninto the heart of his father's foe; the threatening rifle of Hawkeye was\nraised and suspended in vain, while Duncan endeavored to seize the\nlimbs of the Huron with hands that appeared to have lost their power.", "Covered, as they were, with dust and blood, the swift evolutions of the\ncombatants seemed to incorporate their bodies into one.", "The death-like\nlooking figure of the Mohican, and the dark form of the Huron, gleamed\nbefore their eyes in such quick and confused succession, that the\nfriends of the former knew not where nor when to plant the succoring\nblow.", "It is true there were short and fleeting moments, when the fiery\neyes of Magua were seen glittering, like the fabled organs of the\nbasilisk, through the dusty wreath by which he was enveloped, and he\nread by those short and deadly glances the fate of the combat in the\npresence of his enemies; ere, however, any hostile hand could descend on\nhis devoted head, its place was filled by the scowling visage of\nChingachgook.", "In this manner the scene of the combat was removed from\nthe centre of the little plain to its verge.", "The Mohican now found an\nopportunity to make a powerful thrust with his knife; Magua suddenly\nrelinquished his grasp, and fell backward without motion, and seemingly\nwithout life.", "His adversary leaped on his feet, making the arches of the\nforest ring with the sounds of triumph.", "\"Well done for the Delawares!", "victory to the Mohican!\"", "cried Hawkeye,\nonce more elevating the butt of the long and fatal rifle; \"a finishing\nblow from a man without a cross will never tell against his honor, nor\nrob him of his right to the scalp.\"", "But, at the very moment when the dangerous weapon was in the act of\ndescending, the subtle Huron rolled swiftly from beneath the danger,\nover the edge of the precipice, and falling on his feet, was seen\nleaping, with a single bound, into the centre of a thicket of low\nbushes, which clung along its sides.", "The Delawares, who had believed\ntheir enemy dead, uttered their exclamation of surprise, and were\nfollowing with speed and clamor, like hounds in open view of the deer,\nwhen a shrill and peculiar cry from the scout instantly changed their\npurpose, and recalled them to the summit of the hill.", "\"'Twas like himself,\" cried the inveterate forester, whose prejudices\ncontributed so largely to veil his natural sense of justice in all\nmatters which concerned the Mingos; \"a lying and deceitful varlet as he\nis.", "An honest Delaware now, being fairly vanquished, would have lain\nstill, and been knocked on the head, but these knavish Maquas cling to\nlife like so many cats-o'-the-mountain.", "Let him go--let him go; 'tis but\none man, and he without rifle or bow, many a long mile from his French\ncommerades; and, like a rattler that has lost his fangs, he can do no\nfurther mischief, until such time as he, and we too, may leave the\nprints of our moccasins over a long reach of sandy plain.", "See, Uncas,\"\nhe added, in Delaware, \"your father is flaying the scalps already.", "It\nmay be well to go round and feel the vagabonds that are left, or we may\nhave another of them loping through the woods, and screeching like a jay\nthat has been winged.\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE FIGHT IN THE FOREST\n\n_The battle was now entirely terminated, with the exception of the\nprotracted struggle between Le Renard Subtil and Le Gros Serpent_]\n\nSo saying, the honest, but implacable scout, made the circuit of the\ndead, into whose senseless bosoms he thrust his long knife, with as much\ncoolness as though they had been so many brute carcasses.", "He had,\nhowever, been anticipated by the elder Mohican, who had already torn the\nemblems of victory from the unresisting heads of the slain.", "But Uncas, denying his habits, we had almost said his nature, flew with\ninstinctive delicacy, accompanied by Heyward, to the assistance of the\nfemales, and quickly releasing Alice, placed her in the arms of Cora.", "We\nshall not attempt to describe the gratitude to the Almighty Disposer of\nevents which glowed in the bosoms of the sisters, who were thus\nunexpectedly restored to life and to each other.", "Their thanksgivings\nwere deep and silent; the offerings of their gentle spirits, burning\nbrightest and purest on the secret altars of their hearts; and their\nrenovated and more earthly feelings exhibiting themselves in long and\nfervent, though speechless caresses.", "As Alice rose from her knees, where\nshe had sunk by the side of Cora, she threw herself on the bosom of the\nlatter; and sobbed aloud the name of their aged father, while her soft,\ndove-like eyes sparkled with the rays of hope.", "\"We are saved!", "we are saved!\"", "she murmured; \"to return to the arms of\nour dear, dear father, and his heart will not be broken with grief.", "And\nyou too, Cora, my sister; my more than sister, my mother; you too are\nspared.", "And Duncan,\" she added, looking round upon the youth with a\nsmile of ineffable innocence, \"even our own brave and noble Duncan has\nescaped without a hurt.\"", "To these ardent and nearly incoherent words Cora made no other answer\nthan by straining the youthful speaker to her heart, as she bent over\nher, in melting tenderness.", "The manhood of Heyward felt no shame in\ndropping tears over this spectacle of affectionate rapture; and Uncas\nstood, fresh and blood-stained from the combat, a calm, and, apparently,\nan unmoved looker-on, it is true, but with eyes that had already lost\ntheir fierceness, and were beaming with a sympathy that elevated him far\nabove the intelligence, and advanced him probably centuries before the\npractices of his nation.", "During this display of emotions so natural in their situation, Hawkeye,\nwhose vigilant distrust had satisfied itself that the Hurons, who\ndisfigured the heavenly scene, no longer possessed the power to\ninterrupt its harmony, approached David, and liberated him from the\nbonds he had, until that moment, endured with the most exemplary\npatience.", "\"There,\" exclaimed the scout, casting the last withe behind him, \"you\nare once more master of your own limbs, though you seem not to use them\nwith greater judgment than that in which they were first fashioned.", "If\nadvice from one who is not older than yourself, but who having lived\nmost of his time in the wilderness, may be said to have experience\nbeyond his years, will give no offence, you are welcome to my thoughts;\nand these are, to part with the little tooting instrument in your jacket\nto the first fool you meet with, and buy some useful we'pon with the\nmoney, if it be only the barrel of a horseman's pistol.", "By industry and\ncare, you might thus come to some prefarment; for by this time, I should\nthink, your eyes would plainly tell you that a carrion crow is a better\nbird than a mocking thresher.", "The one will, at least, remove foul sights\nfrom before the face of man, while the other is only good to brew\ndisturbances in the woods, by cheating the ears of all that hear them.\"", "\"Arms and the clarion for the battle, but the song of thanksgiving to\nthe victory!\"", "answered the liberated David.", "\"Friend,\" he added,\nthrusting forth his lean, delicate hand towards Hawkeye, in kindness,\nwhile his eyes twinkled and grew moist, \"I thank thee that the hairs of\nmy head still grow where they were first rooted by Providence; for,\nthough those of other men may be more glossy and curling, I have ever\nfound mine own well suited to the brain they shelter.", "That I did not\njoin myself to the battle, was less owing to disinclination, than to the\nbonds of the heathen.", "Valiant and skilful hast thou proved thyself in\nthe conflict, and I hereby thank thee, before proceeding to discharge\nother and more important duties, because thou hast proved thyself well\nworthy of a Christian's praise.\"", "\"The thing is but a trifle, and what you may often see, if you tarry\nlong among us,\" returned the scout, a good deal softened towards the\nman of song, by this unequivocal expression of gratitude.", "\"I have got\nback my old companion, 'Killdeer,'\" he added, striking his hand on the\nbreech of his rifle; \"and that in itself is a victory.", "These Iroquois\nare cunning, but they outwitted themselves when they placed their\nfire-arms out of reach; and had Uncas or his father been gifted with\nonly their common Indian patience, we should have come in upon the\nknaves with three bullets instead of one, and that would have made a\nfinish of the whole pack; yon loping varlet, as well as his commerades.", "But 'twas all foreordered, and for the best.\"", "\"Thou sayest well,\" returned David, \"and hast caught the true spirit of\nChristianity.", "He that is to be saved will be saved, and he that is\npredestined to be damned will be damned.", "This is the doctrine of truth,\nand most consoling and refreshing it is to the true believer.\"", "The scout, who by this time was seated, examining into the state of his\nrifle with a species of parental assiduity, now looked up at the other\nin a displeasure that he did not affect to conceal, roughly interrupting\nfurther speech.", "\"Doctrine, or no doctrine,\" said the sturdy woodsman, \"'tis the belief\nof knaves, and the curse of an honest man.", "I can credit that yonder\nHuron was to fall by my hand, for with my own eyes I have seen it; but\nnothing short of being a witness will cause me to think he had met with\nany reward, or that Chingachgook, there, will be condemned at the final\nday.\"", "\"You have no warranty for such an audacious doctrine, nor any covenant\nto support it,\" cried David, who was deeply tinctured with the subtle\ndistinctions which, in his time, and more especially in his province,\nhad been drawn around the beautiful simplicity of revelation, by\nendeavoring to penetrate the awful mystery of the divine nature,\nsupplying faith by self-sufficiency, and by consequence, involving those\nwho reasoned from such human dogmas in absurdities and doubt; \"your\ntemple is reared on the sands, and the first tempest will wash away its\nfoundation.", "I demand your authorities for such an uncharitable assertion\n(like other advocates of a system, David was not always accurate in his\nuse of terms).", "Name chapter and verse; in which of the holy books do you\nfind language to support you?\"", "\"Book!\"", "repeated Hawkeye, with singular and ill-concealed disdain; \"do\nyou take me for a whimpering boy at the apron-string of one of your old\ngals; and this good rifle on my knee for the feather of a goose's wing,\nmy ox's horn for a bottle of ink, and my leathern pouch for a\ncross-barred handkercher to carry my dinner?", "Book!", "what have such as I,\nwho am a warrior of the wilderness, though a man without a cross, to do\nwith books?", "I never read but in one, and the words that are written\nthere are too simple and too plain to need much schooling; though I may\nboast that of forty long and hard-working years.\"", "\"What call you the volume?\"", "said David, misconceiving the other's\nmeaning.", "\"Tis open before your eyes,\" returned the scout; \"and he who owns it is\nnot a niggard of its use.", "I have heard it said that there are men who\nread in books to convince themselves there is a God.", "I know not but man\nmay so deform his works in the settlement, as to leave that which is so\nclear in the wilderness a matter of doubt among traders and priests.", "If\nany such there be, and he will follow me from sun to sun, through the\nwindings of the forest, he shall see enough to teach him that he is a\nfool, and that the greatest of his folly lies in striving to rise to the\nlevel of One he can never equal, be it in goodness, or be it in power.\"", "The instant David discovered that he battled with a disputant who\nimbibed his faith from the lights of nature, eschewing all subtleties of\ndoctrine, he willingly abandoned a controversy from which he believed\nneither profit nor credit was to be derived.", "While the scout was\nspeaking, he had also seated himself, and producing the ready little\nvolume and the iron-rimmed spectacles, he prepared to discharge a duty,\nwhich nothing but the unexpected assault he had received in his\northodoxy could have so long suspended.", "He was, in truth, a minstrel of\nthe western continent--of a much later day, certainly, than those gifted\nbards, who formerly sang the profane renown of baron and prince, but\nafter the spirit of his own age and country; and he was now prepared to\nexercise the cunning of his craft, in celebration of, or rather in\nthanksgiving for, the recent victory.", "He waited patiently for Hawkeye to\ncease, then lifting his eyes, together with his voice, he said, aloud,--\n\n\"I invite you, friends, to join in praise for this signal deliverance\nfrom the hands of barbarians and infidels, to the comfortable and solemn\ntones of the tune, called 'Northampton.'\"", "He next named the page and verse where the rhymes selected were to be\nfound, and applied the pitch-pipe to his lips, with the decent gravity\nthat he had been wont to use in the temple.", "This time he was, however,\nwithout any accompaniment, for the sisters were just then pouring out\nthose tender effusions of affection which have been already alluded to.", "Nothing deterred by the smallness of his audience, which, in truth,\nconsisted only of the discontented scout, he raised his voice,\ncommencing and ending the sacred song without accident or interruption\nof any kind.", "Hawkeye listened, while he coolly adjusted his flint and reloaded his\nrifle; but the sounds, wanting the extraneous assistance of scene and\nsympathy, failed to awaken his slumbering emotions.", "Never minstrel, or\nby whatever more suitable name David should be known, drew upon his\ntalents in the presence of more insensible auditors; though considering\nthe singleness and sincerity of his motive, it is probable that no bard\nof profane song ever uttered notes that ascended so near to that throne\nwhere all homage and praise is due.", "The scout shook his head, and\nmuttering some unintelligible words, among which \"throat\" and\n\"Iroquois,\" were alone audible, he walked away, to collect, and to\nexamine into, the state of the captured arsenal of the Hurons.", "In this\noffice he was now joined by Chingachgook, who found his own, as well as\nthe rifle of his son, among the arms.", "Even Heyward and David were\nfurnished with weapons; nor was ammunition wanting to render them all\neffectual.", "When the foresters had made their selection, and distributed their\nprizes, the scout announced that the hour had arrived when it was\nnecessary to move.", "By this time the song of Gamut had ceased, and the\nsisters had learned to still the exhibition of their emotions.", "Aided by\nDuncan and the younger Mohican, the two latter descended the precipitous\nsides of that hill which they had so lately ascended under so very\ndifferent auspices, and whose summit had so nearly proved the scene of\ntheir massacre.", "At the foot, they found the Narragansetts browsing the\nherbage of the bushes; and having mounted, they followed the movements\nof a guide, who, in the most deadly straits, had so often proved himself\ntheir friend.", "The journey was, however, short.", "Hawkeye, leaving the\nblind path that the Hurons had followed, turned short to his right, and\nentering the thicket, he crossed a babbling brook, and halted in a\nnarrow dell, under the shade of a few water elms.", "Their distance from\nthe base of the fatal hill was but a few rods, and the steeds had been\nserviceable only in crossing the shallow stream.", "The scout and the Indians appeared to be familiar with the sequestered\nplace where they now were; for, leaning their rifles against the trees,\nthey commenced throwing aside the dried leaves, and opening the blue\nclay, out of which a clear and sparkling spring of bright, glancing\nwater, quickly bubbled.", "The white man then looked about him, as though\nseeking for some object, which was not to be found as readily as he\nexpected:--\n\n\"Them careless imps, the Mohawks, with their Tuscarora and Onondaga\nbrethren, have been here slaking their thirst,\" he muttered, \"and the\nvagabonds have thrown away the gourd!", "This is the way with benefits,\nwhen they are bestowed on such disremembering hounds!", "Here has the Lord\nlaid his hand, in the midst of the howling wilderness, for their good,\nand raised a fountain of water from the bowels of the 'arth, that might\nlaugh at the richest shop of apothecary's ware in all the colonies; and\nsee!", "the knaves have trodden in the clay, and deformed the cleanliness\nof the place, as though they were brute beasts, instead of human men.\"", "Uncas silently extended towards him the desired gourd, which the spleen\nof Hawkeye had hitherto prevented him from observing, on a branch of an\nelm.", "Filling it with water, he retired a short distance, to a place\nwhere the ground was more firm and dry; here he coolly seated himself,\nand after taking a long, and, apparently, a grateful draught, he\ncommenced a very strict examination of the fragments of food left by the\nHurons, which had hung in a wallet on his arm.", "\"Thank you, lad!\"", "he continued, returning the empty gourd to Uncas; \"now\nwe will see how these rampaging Hurons lived, when outlying in\nambushments.", "Look at this!", "The varlets know the better pieces of the\ndeer; and one would think they might carve and roast a saddle, equal to\nthe best cook in the land!", "But everything is raw, for the Iroquois are\nthorough savages.", "Uncas, take my steel, and kindle a fire; a mouthful of\na tender broil will give natur' a helping hand, after so long a trail.\"", "Heyward, perceiving that their guides now set about their repast in\nsober earnest, assisted the ladies to alight, and placed himself at\ntheir side, not unwilling to enjoy a few moments of grateful rest, after\nthe bloody scene he had just gone through.", "While the culinary process\nwas in hand, curiosity induced him to inquire into the circumstances\nwhich had led to their timely and unexpected rescue:--\n\n\"How is it that we see you so soon, my generous friend,\" he asked, \"and\nwithout aid from the garrison of Edward?\"", "\"Had we gone to the bend in the river, we might have been in time to\nrake the leaves over your bodies, but too late to have saved your\nscalps,\" coolly answered the scout.", "\"No, no; instead of throwing away\nstrength and opportunity by crossing to the fort, we lay by, under the\nbank of the Hudson, waiting to watch the movements of the Hurons.\"", "\"You were, then, witnesses of all that passed?\"", "\"Not of all; for Indian sight is too keen to be easily cheated, and we\nkept close.", "A difficult matter it was, too, to keep this Mohican boy\nsnug in the ambushment.", "Ah!", "Uncas, Uncas, your behavior was more like\nthat of a curious woman than of a warrior on his scent.\"", "Uncas permitted his eyes to turn for an instant on the sturdy\ncountenance of the speaker, but he neither spoke nor gave any indication\nof repentance.", "On the contrary, Heyward thought the manner of the young\nMohican was disdainful, if not a little fierce, and that he suppressed\npassions that were ready to explode, as much in compliment to the\nlisteners, as from the deference he usually paid to his white associate.", "\"You saw our capture?\"", "Heyward next demanded.", "\"We heard it,\" was the significant answer.", "\"An Indian yell is plain\nlanguage to men who have passed their days in the woods.", "But when you\nlanded, we were driven to crawl, like sarpents, beneath the leaves; and\nthen we lost sight of you entirely, until we placed eyes on you again,\ntrussed to the trees, and ready bound for an Indian massacre.\"", "\"Our rescue was the deed of Providence.", "It was nearly a miracle that you\ndid not mistake the path, for the Hurons divided, and each band had its\nhorses.\"", "\"Ay!", "there we were thrown off the scent, and might, indeed, have lost\nthe trail, had it not been for Uncas; we took the path, however, that\nled into the wilderness; for we judged, and judged rightly, that the\nsavages would hold that course with their prisoners.", "But when we had\nfollowed it for many miles, without finding a single twig broken, as I\nhad advised, my mind misgave me; especially as all the footsteps had the\nprints of moccasins.\"", "\"Our captors had the precaution to see us shod like themselves,\" said\nDuncan, raising a foot, and exhibiting the buckskin he wore.", "\"Ay, 'twas judgmatical, and like themselves; though we were too expart\nto be thrown from a trail by so common an invention.\"", "\"To what, then, are we indebted for our safety?\"", "\"To what, as a white man who has no taint of Indian blood, I should be\nashamed to own; to the judgment of the young Mohican, in matters which I\nshould know better than he, but which I can now hardly believe to be\ntrue, though my own eyes tell me it is so.\"", "\"'Tis extraordinary!", "will you not name the reason?\"", "\"Uncas was bold enough to say, that the beasts ridden by the gentle\nones,\" continued Hawkeye, glancing his eyes, not without curious\ninterest, on the fillies of the ladies, \"planted the legs of one side on\nthe ground at the same time, which is contrary to the movements of all\ntrotting four-footed animals of my knowledge, except the bear.", "And yet\nhere are horses that always journey in this manner, as my own eyes have\nseen, and as their trail has shown for twenty long miles.\"", "\"'Tis the merit of the animal!", "They come from the shores of\nNarragansett Bay, in the small province of Providence Plantations, and\nare celebrated for their hardihood, and the ease of this peculiar\nmovement; though other horses are not unfrequently trained to the same.\"", "\"It may be--it may be,\" said Hawkeye, who had listened with singular\nattention to this explanation; \"though I am a man who has the full blood\nof the whites, my judgment in deer and beaver is greater than in beasts\nof burden.", "Major Effingham has many noble chargers, but I have never\nseen one travel after such a sideling gait.\"", "\"True; for he would value the animals for very different properties.", "Still is this a breed highly esteemed, and as you witness, much honored\nwith the burdens it is often destined to bear.\"", "The Mohicans had suspended their operations about the glimmering fire,\nto listen; and when Duncan had done, they looked at each other\nsignificantly, the father uttering the never-failing exclamation of\nsurprise.", "The scout ruminated, like a man digesting his newly acquired\nknowledge, and once more stole a curious glance at the horses.", "\"I dare to say there are even stranger sights to be seen in the\nsettlements!\"", "he said, at length; \"natur' is sadly abused by man, when\nhe once gets the mastery.", "But, go sideling or go straight, Uncas had\nseen the movement, and their trail led us on to the broken bush.", "The\nouter branch, near the prints of one of the horses, was bent upward, as\na lady breaks a flower from its stem, but all the rest were ragged and\nbroken down, as if the strong hand of a man had been tearing them!", "So I\nconcluded that the cunning varmints had seen the twig bent, and had torn\nthe rest, to make us believe a buck had been feeling the boughs with his\nantlers.\"", "\"I do believe your sagacity did not deceive you; for some such thing\noccurred!\"", "\"That was easy to see,\" added the scout, in no degree conscious of\nhaving exhibited any extraordinary sagacity; \"and a very different\nmatter it was from a waddling horse!", "It then struck me the Mingos would\npush for this spring, for the knaves well know the vartue of its\nwaters!\"", "\"Is it, then, so famous?\"", "demanded Heyward, examining, with a more\ncurious eye, the secluded dell, with its bubbling fountain, surrounded,\nas it was, by earth of a deep dingy brown.", "\"Few redskins, who travel south and east of the great lakes, but have\nheard of its qualities.", "Will you taste for yourself?\"", "Heyward took the gourd, and after swallowing a little of the water,\nthrew it aside with grimaces of discontent.", "The scout laughed in his\nsilent, but heartfelt manner, and shook his head with vast satisfaction.", "\"Ah!", "you want the flavor that one gets by habit; the time was when I\nliked it as little as yourself; but I have come to my taste, and I now\ncrave it, as a deer does the licks.", "[17] Your high spiced wines are not\nbetter liked than a redskin relishes this water; especially when his\nnatur' is ailing.", "But Uncas has made his fire, and it is time we think\nof eating, for our journey is long, and all before us.\"", "Interrupting the dialogue by this abrupt transition, the scout had\ninstant recourse to the fragments of food which had escaped the voracity\nof the Hurons.", "A very summary process completed the simple cookery, when\nhe and the Mohicans commenced their humble meal, with the silence and\ncharacteristic diligence of men who ate in order to enable themselves\nto endure great and unremitting toil.", "When this necessary, and, happily, grateful duty had been performed,\neach of the foresters stooped and took a long and parting draught at\nthat solitary and silent spring,[18] around which and its sister\nfountains, within fifty years, the wealth, beauty, and talents of a\nhemisphere were to assemble in throngs, in pursuit of health and\npleasure.", "Then Hawkeye announced his determination to proceed.", "The\nsisters resumed their saddles; Duncan and David grasped their rifles,\nand followed on their footsteps; the scout leading the advance, and the\nMohicans bringing up the rear.", "The whole party moved swiftly through the\nnarrow path, towards the north, leaving the healing waters to mingle\nunheeded with the adjacent brook, and the bodies of the dead to fester\non the neighboring mount, without the rites of sepulture; a fate but too\ncommon to the warriors of the woods to excite either commiseration or\ncomment." ]

[ "But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not so easily\ndisconcerted.", "As the combatants were now equal in number, each singled an opponent\nfrom the adverse band.", "The Delawares, who had believed\ntheir enemy dead, uttered their exclamation of surprise, and were\nfollowing with speed and clamor, like hounds in open view of the deer,\nwhen a shrill and peculiar cry from the scout instantly changed their\npurpose, and recalled them to the summit of the hill.", "An honest Delaware now, being fairly vanquished, would have lain\nstill, and been knocked on the head, but these knavish Maquas cling to\nlife like so many cats-o'-the-mountain.", "That I did not\njoin myself to the battle, was less owing to disinclination, than to the\nbonds of the heathen.", "While the culinary process\nwas in hand, curiosity induced him to inquire into the circumstances\nwhich had led to their timely and unexpected rescue:--\n\n\"How is it that we see you so soon, my generous friend,\" he asked, \"and\nwithout aid from the garrison of Edward?\"", "Still is this a breed highly esteemed, and as you witness, much honored\nwith the burdens it is often destined to bear.\"", "The Mohicans had suspended their operations about the glimmering fire,\nto listen; and when Duncan had done, they looked at each other\nsignificantly, the father uttering the never-failing exclamation of\nsurprise.", "Interrupting the dialogue by this abrupt transition, the scout had\ninstant recourse to the fragments of food which had escaped the voracity\nof the Hurons.", "When this necessary, and, happily, grateful duty had been performed,\neach of the foresters stooped and took a long and parting draught at\nthat solitary and silent spring,[18] around which and its sister\nfountains, within fifty years, the wealth, beauty, and talents of a\nhemisphere were to assemble in throngs, in pursuit of health and\npleasure." ]

[ "what have such as I,\nwho am a warrior of the wilderness, though a man without a cross, to do\nwith books?", "As Alice rose from her knees, where\nshe had sunk by the side of Cora, she threw herself on the bosom of the\nlatter; and sobbed aloud the name of their aged father, while her soft,\ndove-like eyes sparkled with the rays of hope.", "Unable longer to\nfoil an enemy so alert and vigilant, he threw his arms about him, and\nsucceeded in pinning the limbs of the other to his side, with an iron\ngrasp, but one that was far too exhausting to himself to continue long.", "This is the doctrine of truth,\nand most consoling and refreshing it is to the true believer.\"", "In this\noffice he was now joined by Chingachgook, who found his own, as well as\nthe rifle of his son, among the arms.", "But Uncas, denying his habits, we had almost said his nature, flew with\ninstinctive delicacy, accompanied by Heyward, to the assistance of the\nfemales, and quickly releasing Alice, placed her in the arms of Cora.", "The varlets know the better pieces of the\ndeer; and one would think they might carve and roast a saddle, equal to\nthe best cook in the land!", "The cry was answered\nby a loud shout from a little thicket, where the incautious party had\npiled their arms; and at the next moment, Hawkeye, too eager to load the\nrifle he had regained, was seen advancing upon them, brandishing the\nclubbed weapon, and cutting the air with wide and powerful sweeps.", "The scout and the Indians appeared to be familiar with the sequestered\nplace where they now were; for, leaning their rifles against the trees,\nthey commenced throwing aside the dried leaves, and opening the blue\nclay, out of which a clear and sparkling spring of bright, glancing\nwater, quickly bubbled.", "\"Book!\"" ]

[ "I demand your authorities for such an uncharitable assertion\n(like other advocates of a system, David was not always accurate in his\nuse of terms).", "Name chapter and verse; in which of the holy books do you\nfind language to support you?\"", "\"Book!\"", "repeated Hawkeye, with singular and ill-concealed disdain; \"do\nyou take me for a whimpering boy at the apron-string of one of your old\ngals; and this good rifle on my knee for the feather of a goose's wing,\nmy ox's horn for a bottle of ink, and my leathern pouch for a\ncross-barred handkercher to carry my dinner?", "Book!", "what have such as I,\nwho am a warrior of the wilderness, though a man without a cross, to do\nwith books?", "I never read but in one, and the words that are written\nthere are too simple and too plain to need much schooling; though I may\nboast that of forty long and hard-working years.\"", "\"What call you the volume?\"", "said David, misconceiving the other's\nmeaning.", "\"Tis open before your eyes,\" returned the scout; \"and he who owns it is\nnot a niggard of its use.", "I have heard it said that there are men who\nread in books to convince themselves there is a God." ]

[ "\n \"_Clo._--I am gone, sir,\n And anon, sir,\n I'll be with you again.\"", "_Twelfth Night._\n\n\nThe Hurons stood aghast at this sudden visitation of death on one of\ntheir band.", "But, as they regarded the fatal accuracy of an aim which had\ndared to immolate an enemy at so much hazard to a friend, the name of\n\"La Longue Carabine\" burst simultaneously from every lip, and was\nsucceeded by a wild and a sort of plaintive howl.", "The cry was answered\nby a loud shout from a little thicket, where the incautious party had\npiled their arms; and at the next moment, Hawkeye, too eager to load the\nrifle he had regained, was seen advancing upon them, brandishing the\nclubbed weapon, and cutting the air with wide and powerful sweeps.", "Bold\nand rapid as was the progress of the scout, it was exceeded by that of a\nlight and vigorous form which, bounding past him, leaped, with\nincredible activity and daring, into the very centre of the Hurons,\nwhere it stood, whirling a tomahawk, and flourishing a glittering knife,\nwith fearful menaces, in front of Cora.", "Quicker than the thoughts could\nfollow these unexpected and audacious movements, an image, armed in the\nemblematic panoply of death, glided before their eyes, and assumed a\nthreatening attitude at the other's side.", "The savage tormentors recoiled\nbefore these warlike intruders, and uttered as they appeared in such\nquick succession, the often repeated and peculiar exclamation of\nsurprise, followed by the well known and dreaded appellations of--\n\n\"Le Cerf Agile!", "Le Gros Serpent!\"", "But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not so easily\ndisconcerted.", "Casting his keen eyes around the little plain, he\ncomprehended the nature of the assault at a glance, and encouraging his\nfollowers by his voice as well as by his example, he unsheathed his long\nand dangerous knife, and rushed with a loud whoop upon the expecting\nChingachgook.", "\"Ah!", "you want the flavor that one gets by habit; the time was when I\nliked it as little as yourself; but I have come to my taste, and I now\ncrave it, as a deer does the licks.", "[17] Your high spiced wines are not\nbetter liked than a redskin relishes this water; especially when his\nnatur' is ailing.", "But Uncas has made his fire, and it is time we think\nof eating, for our journey is long, and all before us.\"", "Interrupting the dialogue by this abrupt transition, the scout had\ninstant recourse to the fragments of food which had escaped the voracity\nof the Hurons.", "A very summary process completed the simple cookery, when\nhe and the Mohicans commenced their humble meal, with the silence and\ncharacteristic diligence of men who ate in order to enable themselves\nto endure great and unremitting toil.", "When this necessary, and, happily, grateful duty had been performed,\neach of the foresters stooped and took a long and parting draught at\nthat solitary and silent spring,[18] around which and its sister\nfountains, within fifty years, the wealth, beauty, and talents of a\nhemisphere were to assemble in throngs, in pursuit of health and\npleasure.", "Then Hawkeye announced his determination to proceed.", "The\nsisters resumed their saddles; Duncan and David grasped their rifles,\nand followed on their footsteps; the scout leading the advance, and the\nMohicans bringing up the rear.", "The whole party moved swiftly through the\nnarrow path, towards the north, leaving the healing waters to mingle\nunheeded with the adjacent brook, and the bodies of the dead to fester\non the neighboring mount, without the rites of sepulture; a fate but too\ncommon to the warriors of the woods to excite either commiseration or\ncomment." ]

[ "\n \"I'll seek a readier path.\"", "PARNELL.", "The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relieved by\noccasional valleys and swells of land, which had been traversed by their\nparty on the morning of the same day, with the baffled Magua for their\nguide.", "The sun had now fallen low towards the distant mountains; and as\ntheir journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat was no\nlonger oppressive.", "Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate;\nand long before the twilight gathered about them, they had made good\nmany toilsome miles on their return.", "The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to select\namong the blind signs of their wild route, with a species of instinct,\nseldom abating his speed, and never pausing to deliberate.", "A rapid and\noblique glance at the moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze\ntowards the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction\nof the numerous water-courses, through which he waded, were sufficient\nto determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties.", "In the\nmeantime, the forest began to change its hues, losing that lively green\nwhich had embellished its arches, in the graver light which is the usual\nprecursor of the close of day.", "While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch glimpses through\nthe trees, of the flood of golden glory which formed a glittering halo\naround the sun, tinging here and there with ruby streaks, or bordering\nwith narrow edgings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled\nat no great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned suddenly,\nand, pointing upwards towards the gorgeous heavens, he spoke:--\n\n\"Yonder is the signal given to a man to seek his food and natural rest,\"\nhe said: \"better and wiser would it be, if he could understand the signs\nof nature, and take a lesson from the fowls of the air and the beasts of\nthe fields!", "Our night, however, will soon be over; for, with the moon,\nwe must be up and moving again.", "I remember to have fou't the Maquas,\nhereaways, in the first war in which I ever drew blood from man; and we\nthrew up a work of blocks, to keep the ravenous varmints from handling\nour scalps.", "If my marks do not fail me, we shall find the place a few\nrods farther to our left.\"", "Without waiting for an assent, or, indeed, for any reply, the sturdy\nhunter moved boldly into a dense thicket of young chestnuts, shoving\naside the branches of the exuberant shoots which nearly covered the\nground, like a man who expected, at each step, to discover some object\nhe had formerly known.", "The recollection of the scout did not deceive\nhim.", "After penetrating through the brush, matted as it was with briers,\nfor a few hundred feet he entered an open space, that surrounded a low,\ngreen hillock, which was crowned by the decayed block-house in question.", "This rude and neglected building was one of those deserted works, which,\nhaving been thrown up on an emergency, had been abandoned with the\ndisappearance of danger, and was now quietly crumbling in the solitude\nof the forest, neglected, and nearly forgotten, like the circumstances\nwhich had caused it to be reared.", "Such memorials of the passage and\nstruggles of man are yet frequent throughout the broad barrier of\nwilderness which once separated the hostile provinces, and form a\nspecies of ruins that are intimately associated with the recollections\nof colonial history, and which are in appropriate keeping with the\ngloomy character of the surrounding scenery.", "[19] The roof of bark had\nlong since fallen, and mingled with the soil; but the huge logs of pine,\nwhich had been hastily thrown together, still preserved their relative\npositions, though one angle of the work had given way under the\npressure, and threatened a speedy downfall to the remainder of the\nrustic edifice.", "While Heyward and his companions hesitated to approach a\nbuilding so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians entered within the low\nwalls, not only without fear, but with obvious interest.", "While the\nformer surveyed the ruins, both internally and externally, with the\ncuriosity of one whose recollections were reviving at each moment,\nChingachgook related to his son, in the language of the Delawares, and\nwith the pride of a conqueror, the brief history of the skirmish which\nhad been fought, in his youth, in that secluded spot.", "A strain of\nmelancholy, however, blended with his triumph, rendering his voice, as\nusual, soft and musical.", "In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted, and prepared to enjoy\ntheir halt in the coolness of the evening, and in a security which they\nbelieved nothing but the beasts of the forest could invade.", "\"Would not our resting-place have been more retired, my worthy friend,\"\ndemanded the more vigilant Duncan, perceiving that the scout had already\nfinished his short survey, \"had we chosen a spot less known, and one\nmore rarely visited than this?\"", "\"Few live who know the block-house was ever raised,\" was the slow and\nmusing answer; \"'tis not often that books are made, and narratives\nwritten, of such a scrimmage as was here fou't atween the Mohicans and\nthe Mohawks, in a war of their own waging.", "I was then a younker, and\nwent out with the Delawares, because I know'd they were a scandalized\nand wronged race.", "Forty days and forty nights did the imps crave our\nblood around this pile of logs, which I designed and partly reared,\nbeing, as you'll remember, no Indian myself, but a man without a cross.", "The Delawares lent themselves to the work, and we made it good, ten to\ntwenty, until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we sallied out\nupon the hounds, and not a man of them ever got back to tell the fate of\nhis party.", "Yes, yes; I was then young, and new to the sight of blood;\nand not relishing the thought that creatures who had spirits like myself\nshould lay on the naked ground, to be torn asunder by beasts, or to\nbleach in the rains, I buried the dead with my own hands, under that\nvery little hillock where you have placed yourselves; and no bad seat\ndoes it make neither, though it be raised by the bones of mortal men.\"", "Heyward and the sisters arose, on the instant, from the grassy\nsepulchre; nor could the two latter, notwithstanding the terrific scenes\nthey had so recently passed through, entirely suppress an emotion of\nnatural horror, when they found themselves in such familiar contact with\nthe grave of the dead Mohawks.", "The gray light, the gloomy little area of\ndark grass, surrounded by its border of brush, beyond which the pines\nrose, in breathing silence, apparently, into the very clouds, and the\ndeath-like stillness of the vast forest, were all in unison to deepen\nsuch a sensation.", "\"They are gone, and they are harmless,\" continued Hawkeye, waving his\nhand, with a melancholy smile, at their manifest alarm: \"they'll never\nshout the war-whoop nor strike a blow with the tomahawk again!", "And of\nall those who aided in placing them where they lie, Chingachgook and I\nonly are living!", "The brothers and family of the Mohican formed our\nwar-party; and you see before you all that are now left of his race.\"", "The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians,\nwith a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune.", "The dark\npersons were still to be seen within the shadows of the block-house, the\nson listening to the relation of his father with that sort of\nintenseness which would be created by a narrative that redounded so much\nto the honor of those whose names he had long revered for their courage\nand savage virtues.", "\"I had thought the Delawares a pacific people,\" said Duncan, \"and that\nthey never waged war in person; trusting the defence of their lands to\nthose very Mohawks that you slew!\"", "\"'Tis true in part,\" returned the scout, \"and yet, at the bottom, 'tis a\nwicked lie.", "Such a treaty was made in ages gone by, through the\ndeviltries of the Dutchers, who wished to disarm the natives that had\nthe best right to the country where they had settled themselves.", "The\nMohicans, though a part of the same nation, having to deal with the\nEnglish, never entered into the silly bargain, but kept to their\nmanhood; as in truth did the Delawares, when their eyes were opened to\ntheir folly.", "You see before you a chief of the great Mohican Sagamores!", "Once his family could chase their deer over tracts of country wider than\nthat which belongs to the Albany Patteroon, without crossing brook or\nhill that was not their own; but what is left to their descendant!", "He\nmay find his six feet of earth when God chooses, and keep it in peace,\nperhaps, if he has a friend who will take the pains to sink his head so\nlow that the ploughshares cannot reach it!\"", "\"Enough!\"", "said Heyward, apprehensive that the subject might lead to a\ndiscussion that would interrupt the harmony so necessary to the\npreservation of his fair companions: \"we have journeyed far, and few\namong us are blessed with forms like that of yours, which seems to know\nneither fatigue nor weakness.\"", "\"The sinews and bones of a man carry me through it all,\" said the\nhunter, surveying his muscular limbs with a simplicity that betrayed the\nhonest pleasure the compliment afforded him: \"there are larger and\nheavier men to be found in the settlements, but you might travel many\ndays in a city before you could meet one able to walk fifty miles\nwithout stopping to take breath, or who has kept the hounds within\nhearing during a chase of hours.", "However, as flesh and blood are not\nalways the same, it is quite reasonable to suppose that the gentle ones\nare willing to rest, after all they have seen and done this day.", "Uncas,\nclear out the spring, while your father and I make a cover for their\ntender heads of these chestnut shoots, and a bed of grass and leaves.\"", "The dialogue ceased, while the hunter and his companions busied\nthemselves in preparations for the comfort and protection of those they\nguided.", "A spring, which many long years before had induced the natives\nto select the place for their temporary fortification, was soon cleared\nof leaves, and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed, diffusing its\nwaters over the verdant hillock.", "A corner of the building was then\nroofed in such a manner as to exclude the heavy dew of the climate, and\npiles of sweet shrubs and dried leaves were laid beneath it for the\nsisters to repose on.", "While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this manner, Cora and Alice\npartook of that refreshment which duty required much more than\ninclination prompted them to accept.", "They then retired within the walls,\nand first offering up their thanksgivings for past mercies, and\npetitioning for a continuance of the divine favor throughout the coming\nnight, they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch, and in spite\nof recollections and forebodings, soon sank into those slumbers which\nnature so imperiously demanded, and which were sweetened by hopes for\nthe morrow.", "Duncan had prepared himself to pass the night in\nwatchfulness near them, just without the ruin, but the scout, perceiving\nhis intention, pointed towards Chingachgook, as he coolly disposed his\nown person on the grass, and said--\n\n\"The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind for such a watch as\nthis!", "The Mohican will be our sentinel, therefore let us sleep.\"", "\"I proved myself a sluggard on my post during the past night,\" said\nHeyward, \"and have less need of repose than you, who did more credit to\nthe character of a soldier.", "Let all the party seek their rest, then,\nwhile I hold guard.\"", "\"If we lay among the white tents of the 60th, and in front of an enemy\nlike the French, I could not ask for a better watchman,\" returned the\nscout; \"but in the darkness and among the signs of the wilderness your\njudgment would be like the folly of a child, and your vigilance thrown\naway.", "Do then, like Uncas and myself, sleep, and sleep in safety.\"", "Heyward perceived, in truth, that the younger Indian had thrown his form\non the side of the hillock while they were talking, like one who sought\nto make the most of the time allotted to rest, and that his example had\nbeen followed by David, whose voice literally \"clove to his jaws,\" with\nthe fever of his wound, heightened, as it was, by their toilsome march.", "Unwilling to prolong a useless discussion, the young man affected to\ncomply, by posting his back against the logs of the block-house, in a\nhalf-recumbent posture, though resolutely determined, in his own mind,\nnot to close an eye until he had delivered his precious charge into the\narms of Munro himself.", "Hawkeye, believing he had prevailed, soon fell\nasleep, and a silence as deep as the solitude in which they had found\nit, pervaded the retired spot.", "For many minutes Duncan succeeded in keeping his senses on the alert,\nand alive to every moaning sound that arose from the forest.", "His vision\nbecame more acute as the shades of evening settled on the place; and\neven after the stars were glimmering above his head, he was able to\ndistinguish the recumbent forms of his companions, as they lay stretched\non the grass, and to note the person of Chingachgook, who sat upright\nand motionless as one of the trees which formed the dark barrier on\nevery side.", "He still heard the gentle breathings of the sisters, who lay\nwithin a few feet of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air,\nof which his ear did not detect the whispering sound.", "At length,\nhowever, the mournful notes of a whippoorwill became blended with the\nmoanings of an owl; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays\nof the stars, and then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.", "At instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his associate\nsentinel; his head next sank upon his shoulder, which, in its turn,\nsought the support of the ground; and, finally, his whole person become\nrelaxed and pliant, and the young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming\nthat he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigils\nbefore the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did not despair\nof gaining, by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness.", "How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he never knew\nhimself, but his slumbering visions had been long lost in total\nforgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light tap on the shoulder.", "Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang upon his feet with a\nconfused recollection of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the\ncommencement of the night.", "\"Who comes?\"", "he demanded, feeling for his sword at the place where it\nwas usually suspended, \"Speak!", "friend or enemy?\"", "\"Friend,\" replied the low voice of Chingachgook; who, pointing upwards\nat the luminary which was shedding its mild light through the opening in\nthe trees, directly in their bivouac, immediately added, in his rude\nEnglish, \"moon comes, and white man's fort far--far off; time to move,\nwhen sleep shuts both eyes of the Frenchman!\"", "\"You say true!", "call up your friends, and bridle the horses, while I\nprepare my own companions for the march!\"", "\"We are awake, Duncan,\" said the soft, silvery tones of Alice within the\nbuilding, \"and ready to travel very fast after so refreshing a sleep;\nbut you have watched through the tedious night in our behalf, after\nhaving endured so much fatigue the live-long day!\"", "\"Say, rather, I would have watched, but my treacherous eyes betrayed me;\ntwice have I proved myself unfit for the trust I bear.\"", "\"Nay, Duncan, deny it not,\" interrupted the smiling Alice, issuing from\nthe shadows of the building into the light of the moon, in all the\nloveliness of her freshened beauty; \"I know you to be a heedless one,\nwhen self is the object of your care, and but too vigilant in favor of\nothers.", "Can we not tarry here a little longer, while you find the rest\nyou need?", "Cheerfully, most cheerfully, will Cora and I keep the vigils,\nwhile you, and all these brave men, endeavor to snatch a little sleep!\"", "\"If shame could cure me of my drowsiness, I should never close an eye\nagain,\" said the uneasy youth, gazing at the ingenuous countenance of\nAlice, where, however, in its sweet solicitude, he read nothing to\nconfirm his half awakened suspicion.", "\"It is but too true, that after\nleading you into danger by my heedlessness, I have not even the merit of\nguarding your pillows as should become a soldier.\"", "\"No one but Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of such a weakness.", "Go,\nthen, and sleep; believe me, neither of us, weak girls as we are, will\nbetray our watch.\"", "The young man was relieved from the awkwardness of making any further\nprotestations of his own demerits, by an exclamation from Chingachgook,\nand the attitude of riveted attention assumed by his son.", "\"The Mohicans hear an enemy!\"", "whispered Hawkeye, who, by this time, in\ncommon with the whole party, was awake and stirring.", "\"They scent danger\nin the wind!\"", "\"God forbid!\"", "exclaimed Heyward.", "\"Surely we have had enough of\nbloodshed!\"", "While he spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle, and\nadvancing towards the front, prepared to atone for his venial\nremissness, by freely exposing his life in defence of those he attended.", "\"'Tis some creature of the forest prowling around us in quest of food,\"\nhe said, in a whisper, as soon as the low, and apparently distant\nsounds, which had startled the Mohicans, reached his own ears.", "\"Hist!\"", "returned the attentive scout; \"'tis man; even I can now tell his\ntread, poor as my senses are when compared to an Indian's!", "That\nscampering Huron has fallen in with one of Montcalm's outlying parties,\nand they have struck upon our trail.", "I shouldn't like, myself, to spill\nmore human blood in this spot,\" he added, looking around with anxiety in\nhis features, at the dim objects by which he was surrounded; \"but what\nmust be, must!", "Lead the horses into the block-house, Uncas; and,\nfriends, do you follow to the same shelter.", "Poor and old as it is, it\noffers a cover, and has rung with the crack of a rifle afore to-night!\"", "He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the Narragansetts within\nthe ruin, whither the whole party repaired with the most guarded\nsilence.", "The sounds of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly audible to\nleave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption.", "They were soon\nmingled with voices calling to each other in an Indian dialect, which\nthe hunter, in a whisper, affirmed to Heyward was the language of the\nHurons.", "When the party reached the point where the horses had entered\nthe thicket which surrounded the block-house, they were evidently at\nfault, having lost those marks which, until that moment, had directed\ntheir pursuit.", "It would seem by the voices that twenty men were soon collected at that\none spot, mingling their different opinions and advice in noisy clamor.", "\"The knaves know our weakness,\" whispered Hawkeye, who stood by the side\nof Heyward, in deep shade, looking through an opening in the logs, \"or\nthey wouldn't indulge their idleness in such a squaw's march.", "Listen to\nthe reptiles!", "each man among them seems to have two tongues, and but a\nsingle leg.\"", "Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in such a moment of\npainful suspense, make any reply to the cool and characteristic remark\nof the scout.", "He only grasped his rifle more firmly, and fastened his\neyes upon the narrow opening, through which he gazed upon the moonlight\nview with increasing anxiety.", "The deeper tones of one who spoke as\nhaving authority were next heard, amid a silence that denoted the\nrespect with which his orders, or rather advice, was received.", "After\nwhich, by the rustling of leaves, and cracking of dried twigs, it was\napparent the savages were separating in pursuit of the lost trail.", "Fortunately for the pursued, the light of the moon, while it shed a\nflood of mild lustre upon the little area around the ruin, was not\nsufficiently strong to penetrate the deep arches of the forest, where\nthe objects still lay in deceptive shadow.", "The search proved fruitless;\nfor so short and sudden had been the passage from the faint path the\ntravellers had journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of their\nfootsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.", "It was not long, however, before the restless savages were heard beating\nthe brush, and gradually approaching the inner edge of that dense border\nof young chestnuts which encircled the little area.", "\"They are coming,\" muttered Heyward, endeavoring to thrust his rifle\nthrough the chink in the logs; \"let us fire on their approach.\"", "\"Keep everything in the shade,\" returned the scout; \"the snapping of a\nflint, or even the smell of a single karnel of the brimstone, would\nbring the hungry varlets upon us in a body.", "Should it please God that we\nmust give battle for the scalps, trust to the experience of men who know\nthe ways of the savages, and who are not often backward when the\nwar-whoop is howled.\"", "Duncan cast his eyes behind him, and saw that the trembling sisters were\ncowering in the far corner of the building, while the Mohicans stood in\nthe shadow, like two upright posts, ready, and apparently willing, to\nstrike when the blow should be needed.", "Curbing his impatience, he again\nlooked out upon the area, and awaited the result in silence.", "At that\ninstant the thicket opened, and a tall and armed Huron advanced a few\npaces into the open space.", "As he gazed upon the silent block-house, the\nmoon fell upon his swarthy countenance, and betrayed its surprise and\ncuriosity.", "He made the exclamation which usually accompanies the former\nemotion in an Indian, and, calling in a low voice, soon drew a companion\nto his side.", "These children of the woods stood together for several moments pointing\nat the crumbling edifice, and conversing in the unintelligible language\nof their tribe.", "They then approached, though with slow and cautious\nsteps, pausing every instant to look at the building, like startled\ndeer, whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened\napprehensions for the mastery.", "The foot of one of them suddenly rested\non the mound, and he stooped to examine its nature.", "At this moment,\nHeyward observed that the scout loosened his knife in his sheath, and\nlowered the muzzle of his rifle.", "Imitating these movements, the young\nman prepared himself for the struggle, which now seemed inevitable.", "The savages were so near, that the least motion in one of the horses, or\neven a breath louder than common, would have betrayed the fugitives.", "But, in discovering the character of the mound, the attention of the\nHurons appeared directed to a different object.", "They spoke together, and\nthe sounds of their voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by a\nreverence that was deeply blended with awe.", "Then they drew warily back,\nkeeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if they expected to see the\napparitions of the dead issue from its silent walls, until having\nreached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket,\nand disappeared.", "Hawkeye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth, and drawing a\nlong, free breath, exclaimed, in an audible whisper,--\n\n\"Ay!", "they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their own lives,\nand, it may be, the lives of better men too.\"", "Heyward lent his attention for a single moment to his companion, but\nwithout replying, he again turned towards those who just then interested\nhim more.", "He heard the two Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soon\nplain that all the pursuers were gathered about them, in deep attention\nto their report.", "After a few minutes of earnest and solemn dialogue,\naltogether different from the noisy clamor with which they had first\ncollected about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant, and\nfinally were lost in the depths of the forest.", "Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chingachgook assured\nhim that every sound from the retiring party was completely swallowed by\nthe distance, when he motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, and\nto assist the sisters into their saddles.", "The instant this was done,\nthey issued through the broken gateway, and stealing out by a direction\nopposite to the one by which they had entered, they quitted the spot,\nthe sisters casting furtive glances at the silent grave and crumbling\nruin, as they left the soft light of the moon, to bury themselves in the\ngloom of the woods.", "\"_Guard._--Qui est la?", "_Puc._--Paisans, pauvres gens de France.\"", "_King Henry VI._\n\n\nDuring the rapid movement from the block-house, and until the party was\ndeeply buried in the forest, each individual was too much interested in\nthe escape to hazard a word even in whispers.", "The scout resumed his post\nin the advance, though his steps, after he had thrown a safe distance\nbetween himself and his enemies, were more deliberate than in their\nprevious march, in consequence of his utter ignorance of the localities\nof the surrounding woods.", "More than once he halted to consult with his\nconfederates, the Mohicans, pointing upwards at the moon, and examining\nthe barks of the trees with care.", "In these brief pauses, Heyward and the\nsisters listened, with senses rendered doubly acute by the danger, to\ndetect any symptoms which might announce the proximity of their foes.", "At\nsuch moments, it seemed as if a vast range of country lay buried in\neternal sleep; not the least sound arising from the forest, unless it\nwas the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a water-course.", "Birds,\nbeasts, and man, appeared to slumber alike, if, indeed, any of the\nlatter were to be found in that wide tract of wilderness.", "But the sounds\nof the rivulet, feeble and murmuring as they were, relieved the guides\nat once from no trifling embarrassment, and towards it they immediately\nheld their way.", "When the banks of the little stream were gained, Hawkeye made another\nhalt; and, taking the moccasins from his feet, he invited Heyward and\nGamut to follow his example.", "He then entered the water, and for near an\nhour they travelled in the bed of the brook, leaving no trail.", "The moon\nhad already sunk into an immense pile of black clouds, which lay\nimpending above the western horizon, when they issued from the low and\ndevious water-course to rise again to the light and level of the sandy\nbut wooded plain.", "Here the scout seemed to be once more at home, for he\nheld on his way with the certainty and diligence of a man who moved in\nthe security of his own knowledge.", "The path soon became more uneven, and\nthe travellers could plainly perceive that the mountains drew nigher to\nthem on each hand, and that they were, in truth, about entering one of\ntheir gorges.", "Suddenly, Hawkeye made a pause, and waiting until he was\njoined by the whole party, he spoke, though in tones so low and\ncautious, that they added to the solemnity of his words, in the quiet\nand darkness of the place.", "\"It is easy to know the pathways, and to find the licks and\nwater-courses of the wilderness,\" he said; \"but who that saw this spot\ncould venture to say, that a mighty army was at rest among yonder silent\ntrees and barren mountains?\"", "\"We are then at no great distance from William Henry?\"", "said Heyward,\nadvancing nigher to the scout.", "\"It is yet a long and weary path, and when and where to strike it, is\nnow our greatest difficulty.", "See,\" he said, pointing through the trees\ntowards a spot where a little basin of water reflected the stars from\nits placid bosom, \"here is the 'bloody pond'; and I am on the ground\nthat I have not only often travelled, but over which I have fou't the\nenemy, from the rising to the setting sun.\"", "\"Ha!", "that sheet of dull and dreary water, then, is the sepulchre of the\nbrave men who fell in the contest.", "I have heard it named, but never have\nI stood on its banks before.\"", "\"Three battles did we make with the Dutch-Frenchman[20] in a day,\"\ncontinued Hawkeye, pursuing the train of his own thoughts, rather than\nreplying to the remark of Duncan.", "\"He met us hard by, in our outward\nmarch to ambush his advance, and scattered us, like driven deer, through\nthe defile, to the shores of Horican.", "Then we rallied behind our fallen\ntrees, and made head against him, under Sir William--who was made Sir\nWilliam for that very deed; and well did we pay him for the disgrace of\nthe morning!", "Hundreds of Frenchmen saw the sun that day for the last\ntime; and even the leader, Dieskau himself, fell into our hands so cut\nand torn with the lead, that he has gone back to his own country, unfit\nfor further acts in war.\"", "\"'Twas a noble repulse!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, in the heat of his youthful\nardor; \"the fame of it reached us early, in our southern army.\"", "\"Ay!", "but it did not end there.", "I was sent by Major Effingham, at Sir\nWilliam's own bidding, to outflank the French, and carry the tidings of\ntheir disaster across the portage, to the fort on the Hudson.", "Just\nhereaway, where you see the trees rise into a mountain swell, I met a\nparty coming down to our aid, and I led them where the enemy were taking\ntheir meal, little dreaming that they had not finished the bloody work\nof the day.\"", "\"And you surprised them?\"", "\"If death can be a surprise to men who are thinking only of the cravings\nof their appetites.", "We gave them but little breathing time, for they had\nborne hard upon us in the fight of the morning, and there were few in\nour party who had not lost friend or relative by their hands.", "When all\nwas over, the dead, and some say the dying, were cast into that little\npond.", "These eyes have seen its waters colored with blood, as natural\nwater never yet flowed from the bowels of the 'arth.\"", "\"It was a convenient, and, I trust, will prove a peaceful grave for a\nsoldier.", "You have, then, seen much service on this frontier?\"", "\"I!\"", "said the scout, erecting his tall person with an air of military\npride; \"there are not many echoes among these hills that haven't rung\nwith the crack of my rifle, nor is there the space of a square mile\natwixt Horican and the river, that 'Killdeer' hasn't dropped a living\nbody on, be it an enemy or be it a brute beast.", "As for the grave, there,\nbeing as quiet as you mention, it is another matter.", "There are them in\nthe camp who say and think, man, to lie still, should not be buried\nwhile the breath is in the body; and certain it is that in the hurry of\nthat evening, the doctors had but little time to say who was living and\nwho was dead.", "Hist!", "see you nothing walking on the shore of the pond?\"", "\"'Tis not probable that any are as houseless as ourselves, in this\ndreary forest.\"", "\"Such as he may care but little for house or shelter, and night dew can\nnever wet a body that passes its days in the water,\" returned the scout,\ngrasping the shoulder of Heyward with such convulsive strength as to\nmake the young soldier painfully sensible how much superstitious terror\nhad got the mastery of a man usually so dauntless.", "\"By heaven!", "there is a human form, and it approaches!", "Stand to your\narms, my friends; for we know not whom we encounter.\"", "\"Qui vive?\"", "demanded a stern, quick voice, which sounded like a\nchallenge from another world, issuing out of that solitary and solemn\nplace.", "\"What says it?\"", "whispered the scout; \"it speaks neither Indian nor\nEnglish!\"", "\"Qui vive?\"", "repeated the same voice, which was quickly followed by the\nrattling of arms, and a menacing attitude.", "\"France!\"", "cried Heyward, advancing from the shadow of the trees to the\nshore of the pond, within a few yards of the sentinel.", "\"D'ou venez-vous--ou allez-vous, d'aussi bonne heure?\"", "demanded the\ngrenadier, in the language and with the accent of a man from old France.", "\"Je viens de la decouverte, et je vais me coucher.\"", "\"Etes-vous officier du roi?\"", "\"Sans doute, mon camarade; me prends-tu pour un provincial!", "Je suis\ncapitaine de chasseurs (Heyward well knew that the other was of a\nregiment in the line); j'ai ici, avec moi, les filles du commandant de\nla fortification.", "Aha!", "tu en as entendu parler!", "je les ai fait\nprisonnieres pres de l'autre fort, et je les conduis au general.\"", "\"Ma foi!", "mesdames; j'en suis fache pour vous,\" exclaimed the young\nsoldier, touching his cap with grace; \"mais--fortune de guerre!", "vous\ntrouverez notre general un brave homme, et bien poli avec les dames.\"", "\"C'est le caractere des gens de guerre,\" said Cora, with admirable\nself-possession.", "\"Adieu, mon ami; je vous souhaiterais un devoir plus\nagreable a remplir.\"", "The soldier made a low and humble acknowledgment for her civility; and\nHeyward adding a \"Bonne nuit, mon camarade,\" they moved deliberately\nforward, leaving the sentinel pacing the banks of the silent pond,\nlittle suspecting an enemy of so much effrontery, and humming to himself\nthose words, which were recalled to his mind by the sight of women, and\nperhaps by recollections of his own distant and beautiful France--\n\n \"Vive le vin, l'amour,\" etc., etc.", "\"'Tis well you understood the knave!\"", "whispered the scout, when they had\ngained a little distance from the place, and letting his rifle fall into\nthe hollow of his arm again; \"I soon saw that he was one of them uneasy\nFrenchers; and well for him it was that his speech was friendly and his\nwishes kind, or a place might have been found for his bones among those\nof his countrymen.\"", "He was interrupted by a long and heavy groan which arose from the little\nbasin, as though, in truth, the spirits of the departed lingered about\ntheir watery sepulchre.", "\"Surely it was of flesh!\"", "continued the scout; \"no spirit could handle\nits arms so steadily!\"", "\"It _was_ of flesh; but whether the poor fellow still belongs to this\nworld may well be doubted,\" said Heyward, glancing his eyes around him,\nand missing Chingachgook from their little band.", "Another groan more\nfaint than the former, was succeeded by a heavy and sullen plunge into\nthe water, and all was as still again as if the borders of the dreary\npool had never been awakened from the silence of creation.", "While they\nyet hesitated in uncertainty, the form of the Indian was seen gliding\nout of the thicket.", "As the chief rejoined them, with one hand he\nattached the reeking scalp of the unfortunate young Frenchman to his\ngirdle, and with the other he replaced the knife and tomahawk that had\ndrunk his blood.", "He then took his wonted station, with the air of a man\nwho believed he had done a deed of merit.", "The scout dropped one end of his rifle to the earth, and leaning his\nhands on the other, he stood musing in profound silence.", "Then shaking\nhis head in a mournful manner, he muttered,--\n\n\"'T would have been a cruel and an unhuman act for a white-skin; but\n'tis the gift and natur' of an Indian, and I suppose it should not be\ndenied.", "I could wish, though, it had befallen an accursed Mingo, rather\nthan that gay young boy from the old countries.\"", "\"Enough!\"", "said Heyward, apprehensive the unconscious sisters might\ncomprehend the nature of the detention, and conquering his disgust by a\ntrain of reflections very much like that of the hunter; \"'tis done; and\nthough better it were left undone, cannot be amended.", "You see we are,\ntoo obviously, within the sentinels of the enemy; what course do you\npropose to follow?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hawkeye, rousing himself again, \"'tis as you say, too late\nto harbor further thoughts about it.", "Ay, the French have gathered around\nthe fort in good earnest, and we have a delicate needle to thread in\npassing them.\"", "\"And but little time to do it in,\" added Heyward, glancing his eyes\nupward, toward the bank of vapor that concealed the setting moon.", "\"And little time to do it in!\"", "repeated the scout.", "\"The thing may be\ndone in two fashions, by the help of Providence, without which it may\nnot be done at all.\"", "\"Name them quickly, for time presses.\"", "\"One would be to dismount the gentle ones, and let their beasts range\nthe plain; by sending the Mohicans in front, we might then cut a lane\nthrough their sentries, and enter the fort over the dead bodies.\"", "\"It will not do--it will not do!\"", "interrupted the generous Heyward; \"a\nsoldier might force his way in this manner, but never with such a\nconvoy.\"", "\"'Twould be, indeed, a bloody path for tender feet to wade in,\" returned\nthe equally reluctant scout; \"but I thought it befitting my manhood to\nname it.", "We must then turn on our trail and get without the line of\ntheir look-outs, when we will bend short to the west, and enter the\nmountains; where I can hide you, so that all the devil's hounds in\nMontcalm's pay would be thrown off the scent, for months to come.\"", "\"Let it be done, and that instantly.\"", "Further words were unnecessary; for Hawkeye, merely uttering the mandate\nto \"follow,\" moved along the route by which they had just entered their\npresent critical and even dangerous situation.", "Their progress, like\ntheir late dialogue, was guarded, and without noise; for none knew at\nwhat moment a passing patrol, or a crouching picket of the enemy, might\nrise upon their path.", "As they held their silent way along the margin of\nthe pond, again Heyward and the scout stole furtive glances at its\nappalling dreariness.", "They looked in vain for the form they had so\nrecently seen stalking along its silent shores, while a low and regular\nwash of the little waves, by announcing that the waters were not yet\nsubsided, furnished a frightful memorial of the deed of blood they had\njust witnessed.", "Like all that passing and gloomy scene, the low basin,\nhowever, quickly melted in the darkness, and became blended with the\nmass of black objects in the rear of the travellers.", "Hawkeye soon deviated from the line of their retreat, and striking off\ntowards the mountains which form the western boundary of the narrow\nplain, he led his followers, with swift steps, deep within the shadows\nthat were cast from their high and broken summits.", "The route was now\npainful; lying over ground ragged with rocks, and intersected with\nravines, and their progress proportionately slow.", "Bleak and black hills\nlay on every side of them, compensating in some degree for the\nadditional toil of the march, by the sense of security they imparted.", "At\nlength the party began slowly to climb a steep and rugged ascent by a\npath that curiously wound among rocks and trees, avoiding the one, and\nsupported by the other, in a manner that showed it had been devised by\nmen long practised in the arts of the wilderness.", "As they gradually rose\nfrom the level of the valleys, the thick darkness which usually precedes\nthe approach of day began to disperse, and objects were seen in the\nplain and palpable colors with which they had been gifted by nature.", "When they issued from the stunted woods which clung to the barren sides\nof the mountain, upon a flat and mossy rock that formed its summit, they\nmet the morning, as it came blushing above the green pines of a hill\nthat lay on the opposite side of the valley of the Horican.", "The scout now told the sisters to dismount; and taking the bridles from\nthe mouths, and the saddles off the backs of the jaded beasts, he turned\nthem loose, to glean a scanty subsistence among the shrubs and meagre\nherbage of that elevated region.", "\"Go,\" he said, \"and seek your food where natur' gives it you; and beware\nthat you become not food to ravenous wolves yourselves, among these\nhills.\"", "\"Have we no further need of them?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"See, and judge with your own eyes,\" said the scout, advancing towards\nthe eastern brow of the mountain, whither he beckoned for the whole\nparty to follow; \"if it was as easy to look into the heart of man as it\nis to spy out the nakedness of Montcalm's camp from this spot,\nhypocrites would grow scarce, and the cunning of a Mingo might prove a\nlosing game, compared to the honesty of a Delaware.\"", "When the travellers reached the verge of the precipice, they saw, at a\nglance, the truth of the scout's declaration, and the admirable\nforesight with which he had led them to their commanding station.", "The mountain on which they stood, elevated, perhaps, a thousand feet in\nthe air, was a high cone that rose a little in advance of that range\nwhich stretches for miles along the western shores of the lake, until\nmeeting its sister piles, beyond the water, it ran off towards the\nCanadas, in confused and broken masses of rock, thinly sprinkled with\nevergreens.", "Immediately at the feet of the party, the southern shore of\nthe Horican swept in a broad semicircle, from mountain to mountain,\nmarking a wide strand, that soon rose into an uneven and somewhat\nelevated plain.", "To the north stretched the limpid, and, as it appeared\nfrom that dizzy height, the narrow sheet of the \"holy lake,\" indented\nwith numberless bays, embellished by fantastic headlands, and dotted\nwith countless islands.", "At the distance of a few leagues, the bed of the\nwaters became lost among mountains, or was wrapped in the masses of\nvapor that came slowly rolling along their bosom, before a light morning\nair.", "But a narrow opening between the crests of the hills pointed out\nthe passage by which they found their way still farther north, to spread\ntheir pure and ample sheets again, before pouring out their tribute into\nthe distant Champlain.", "To the south stretched the defile, or rather\nbroken plain, so often mentioned.", "For several miles in this direction,\nthe mountains appeared reluctant to yield their dominion, but within\nreach of the eye they diverged, and finally melted into the level and\nsandy lands, across which we have accompanied our adventurers in their\ndouble journey.", "Along both ranges of hills, which bounded the opposite\nsides of the lake and valley, clouds of light vapor were rising in\nspiral wreaths from the uninhabited woods, looking like the smokes of\nhidden cottages; or rolled lazily down the declivities, to mingle with\nthe fogs of the lower land.", "A single, solitary, snow-white cloud floated\nabove the valley, and marked the spot beneath which lay the silent pool\nof the \"bloody pond.\"", "Directly on the shore of the lake, and nearer to its western than to its\neastern margin, lay the extensive earthen ramparts and low buildings of\nWilliam Henry.", "Two of the sweeping bastions appeared to rest on the\nwater which washed their bases, while a deep ditch and extensive\nmorasses guarded its other sides and angles.", "The land had been cleared\nof wood for a reasonable distance around the work, but every other part\nof the scene lay in the green livery of nature, except where the limpid\nwater mellowed the view, or the bold rocks thrust their black and naked\nheads above the undulating outline of the mountain ranges.", "In its front\nmight be seen the scattered sentinels, who held a weary watch against\ntheir numerous foes; and within the walls themselves, the travellers\nlooked down upon men still drowsy with a night of vigilance.", "Towards the\nsoutheast, but in immediate contact with the fort, was an entrenched\ncamp, posted on a rocky eminence, that would have been far more eligible\nfor the work itself, in which Hawkeye pointed out the presence of those\nauxiliary regiments that had so recently left the Hudson in their\ncompany.", "From the woods, a little farther to the south, rose numerous\ndark and lurid smokes, that were easily to be distinguished from the\npurer exhalations of the springs, and which the scout also showed to\nHeyward, as evidences that the enemy lay in force in that direction.", "But the spectacle which most concerned the young soldier was on the\nwestern bank of the lake, though quite near to its southern termination.", "On a strip of land, which appeared, from his stand, too narrow to\ncontain such an army, but which, in truth, extended many hundreds of\nyards from the shores of the Horican to the base of the mountain, were\nto be seen the white tents and military engines of an encampment of ten\nthousand men.", "Batteries were already thrown up in their front, and even\nwhile the spectators above them were looking down, with such different\nemotions, on a scene which lay like a map beneath their feet, the roar\nof artillery rose from the valley, and passed off in thundering echoes,\nalong the eastern hills.", "\"Morning is just touching them below,\" said the deliberate and musing\nscout, \"and the watchers have a mind to wake up the sleepers by the\nsound of cannon.", "We are a few hours too late?", "Montcalm has already\nfilled the woods with his accursed Iroquois.\"", "\"The place is, indeed, invested,\" returned Duncan, \"but is there no\nexpedient by which we may enter?", "capture in the works would be far\npreferable to falling again into the hands of roving Indians.\"", "\"See!\"", "exclaimed the scout, unconsciously directing the attention of\nCora to the quarters of her own father, \"how that shot has made the\nstones fly from the side of the commandant's house!", "Ay!", "these Frenchers\nwill pull it to pieces faster than it was put together, solid and thick\nthough it be.\"", "\"Heyward, I sicken at the sight of danger that I cannot share,\" said the\nundaunted, but anxious daughter.", "\"Let us go to Montcalm, and demand\nadmission: he dare not deny a child the boon.\"", "\"You would scarce find the tent of the Frenchman with the hair on your\nhead,\" said the blunt scout.", "\"If I had but one of the thousand boats\nwhich lie empty along that shore, it might be done.", "Ha!", "here will soon\nbe an end of the firing, for yonder comes a fog that will turn day to\nnight, and make an Indian arrow more dangerous than a moulded cannon.", "Now, if you are equal to the work, and will follow, I will make a push;\nfor I long to get down into that camp, if it be only to scatter some\nMingo dogs that I see lurking in the skirts of yonder thicket of birch.\"", "\"We are equal,\" said Cora, firmly: \"on such an errand we will follow to\nany danger.\"", "The scout turned to her with a smile of honest and cordial approbation\nas he answered,--\n\n\"I would I had a thousand men, of brawny limbs and quick eyes, that\nfeared death as little as you!", "I'd send them jabbering Frenchers back\ninto their den again, afore the week was ended, howling like so many\nfettered hounds or hungry wolves.", "But stir,\" he added, turning from her\nto the rest of the party, \"the fog comes rolling down so fast, we shall\nhave but just the time to meet it on the plain, and use it as a cover.", "Remember, if any accident should befall me, to keep the air blowing on\nyour left cheeks--or rather, follow the Mohicans; they'd scent their\nway, be it in day or be it at night.\"", "He then waved his hand for them to follow, and threw himself down the\nsteep declivity, with free, but careful footsteps.", "Heyward assisted the\nsisters to descend, and in a few minutes they were all far down a\nmountain whose sides they had climbed with so much toil and pain.", "The direction taken by Hawkeye soon brought the travellers to the level\nof the plain, nearly opposite to a sally-port in the western curtain of\nthe fort, which lay, itself, at the distance of about half a mile from\nthe point where he halted to allow Duncan to come up with his charge.", "In\ntheir eagerness, and favored by the nature of the ground, they had\nanticipated the fog, which was rolling heavily down the lake, and it\nbecame necessary to pause, until the mists had wrapped the camp of the\nenemy in their fleecy mantle.", "The Mohicans profited by the delay, to\nsteal out of the woods, and to make a survey of surrounding objects.", "They were followed at a little distance by the scout, with a view to\nprofit early by their report, and to obtain some faint knowledge for\nhimself of the more immediate localities.", "In a very few moments he returned, his face reddened with vexation,\nwhile he muttered his disappointment in words of no very gentle import.", "\"Here has the cunning Frenchman been posting a picket directly in our\npath,\" he said; \"redskins and whites; and we shall be as likely to fall\ninto their midst as to pass them in the fog!\"", "\"Cannot we make a circuit to avoid the danger,\" asked Heyward, \"and come\ninto our path again when it is passed?\"", "\"Who that once bends from the line of his march in a fog can tell when\nor how to turn to find it again!", "The mists of Horican are not like the\ncurls from a peace-pipe, or the smoke which settles above a mosquito\nfire.\"", "He was yet speaking, when a crashing sound was heard, and a cannon-ball\nentered the thicket, striking the body of a sapling, and rebounding to\nthe earth, its force being much expended by previous resistance.", "The\nIndians followed instantly like busy attendants on the terrible\nmessenger, and Uncas commenced speaking earnestly and with much action,\nin the Delaware tongue.", "\"It may be so, lad,\" muttered the scout, when he had ended; \"for\ndesperate fevers are not to be treated like a toothache.", "Come, then, the\nfog is shutting in.\"", "\"Stop!\"", "cried Heyward; \"first explain your expectations.\"", "\"'Tis soon done, and a small hope it is; but it is better than nothing.", "This shot that you see,\" added the scout, kicking the harmless iron with\nhis foot, \"has ploughed the 'arth in its road from the fort, and we\nshall hunt for the furrow it has made, when all other signs may fail.", "No\nmore words, but follow, or the fog may leave us in the middle of our\npath, a mark for both armies to shoot at.\"", "Heyward perceiving that, in fact, a crisis had arrived when acts were\nmore required than words, placed himself between the sisters, and drew\nthem swiftly forward, keeping the dim figure of their leader in his eye.", "It was soon apparent that Hawkeye had not magnified the power of the\nfog, for before they had proceeded twenty yards, it was difficult for\nthe different individuals of the party to distinguish each other, in the\nvapor.", "They had made their little circuit to the left, and were already\ninclining again towards the right, having, as Heyward thought, got over\nnearly half the distance to the friendly works, when his ears were\nsaluted with the fierce summons, apparently within twenty feet of them,\nof--\n\n\"Qui va la?\"", "\"Push on!\"", "whispered the scout, once more bending to the left.", "\"Push on!\"", "repeated Heyward; when the summons was renewed by a dozen\nvoices, each of which seemed charged with menace.", "\"C'est moi,\" cried Duncan, dragging, rather than leading those he\nsupported, swiftly onward.", "\"Bete!--qui?--moi!\"", "\"Ami de la France.\"", "\"Tu m'as plus l'air d'un _ennemi_ de la France; arrete!", "ou pardieu je te\nferai ami du diable.", "Non!", "feu, camarades, feu!\"", "The order was instantly obeyed, and the fog was stirred by the explosion\nof fifty muskets.", "Happily, the aim was bad, and the bullets cut the air\nin a direction a little different from that taken by the fugitives;\nthough still so nigh them, that to the unpractised ears of David and the\ntwo females, it appeared as if they whistled within a few inches of the\norgans.", "The outcry was renewed, and the order, not only to fire again,\nbut to pursue, was too plainly audible.", "When Heyward briefly explained\nthe meaning of the words they heard, Hawkeye halted, and spoke with\nquick decision and great firmness.", "\"Let us deliver our fire,\" he said; \"they will believe it a sortie, and\ngive way, or they will wait for reinforcements.\"", "The scheme was well conceived, but failed in its effect.", "The instant the\nFrench heard the pieces, it seemed as if the plain was alive with men,\nmuskets rattling along its whole extent, from the shores of the lake to\nthe farthest boundary of the woods.", "\"We shall draw their entire army upon us, and bring on a general\nassault,\" said Duncan: \"lead on, my friend, for your own life, and\nours.\"", "The scout seemed willing to comply; but, in the hurry of the moment, and\nin the change of position, he had lost the direction.", "In vain he turned\neither cheek towards the light air; they felt equally cool.", "In this\ndilemma, Uncas lighted on the furrow of the cannon-ball, where it had\ncut the ground in three adjacent ant-hills.", "\"Give me the range!\"", "said Hawkeye, bending to catch a glimpse of the\ndirection, and then instantly moving onward.", "Cries, oaths, voices calling to each other, and the reports of muskets,\nwere now quick and incessant, and, apparently, on every side of them.", "Suddenly, a strong glare of light flashed across the scene, the fog\nrolled upwards in thick wreaths, and several cannon belched across the\nplain, and the roar was thrown heavily back from the bellowing echoes of\nthe mountain.", "\"'Tis from the fort!\"", "exclaimed Hawkeye, turning short on his tracks;\n\"and we, like stricken fools, were rushing to the woods, under the very\nknives of the Maquas.\"", "The instant their mistake was rectified, the whole party retraced the\nerror with the utmost diligence.", "Duncan willingly relinquished the\nsupport of Cora to the arm of Uncas, and Cora as readily accepted the\nwelcome assistance.", "Men, hot and angry in pursuit, were evidently on\ntheir footsteps, and each instant threatened their capture, if not their\ndestruction.", "\"Point de quartier aux coquins!\"", "cried an eager pursuer, who seemed to\ndirect the operations of the enemy.", "\"Stand firm, and be ready, my gallant 60ths!\"", "suddenly exclaimed a voice\nabove them; \"wait to see the enemy,--fire low, and sweep the glacis.\"", "\"Father!", "father!\"", "exclaimed a piercing cry from out the mist; \"it is I!", "Alice!", "thy own Elsie!", "spare, O!", "save your daughters!\"", "\"Hold!\"", "shouted the former speaker, in the awful tones of parental\nagony, the sound reaching even to the woods, and rolling back in solemn\necho.", "\"'Tis she!", "God has restored me my children!", "Throw open the\nsally-port; to the field, 60ths, to the field; pull not a trigger, lest\nye kill my lambs!", "Drive off these dogs of France with your steel.\"", "Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting to the spot,\ndirected by the sound, he met a long line of dark red warriors, passing\nswiftly towards the glacis.", "He knew them for his own battalion of the\nroyal Americans, and flying to their head, soon swept every trace of his\npursuers from before the works.", "For an instant, Cora and Alice had stood trembling and bewildered by\nthis unexpected desertion; but, before either had leisure for speech, or\neven thought, an officer of gigantic frame whose locks were bleached\nwith years and service, but whose air of military grandeur had been\nrather softened than destroyed by time, rushed out of the body of the\nmist, and folded them to his bosom, while large scalding tears rolled\ndown his pale and wrinkled cheeks, and he exclaimed, in the peculiar\naccent of Scotland,--\n\n\"For this I thank thee, Lord!", "Let danger come as it will, thy servant is\nnow prepared!\"" ]

[ "The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians,\nwith a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune.", "The deeper tones of one who spoke as\nhaving authority were next heard, amid a silence that denoted the\nrespect with which his orders, or rather advice, was received.", "\"_Guard._--Qui est la?", "\"He met us hard by, in our outward\nmarch to ambush his advance, and scattered us, like driven deer, through\nthe defile, to the shores of Horican.", "Aha!", "\"Ma foi!", "\"See, and judge with your own eyes,\" said the scout, advancing towards\nthe eastern brow of the mountain, whither he beckoned for the whole\nparty to follow; \"if it was as easy to look into the heart of man as it\nis to spy out the nakedness of Montcalm's camp from this spot,\nhypocrites would grow scarce, and the cunning of a Mingo might prove a\nlosing game, compared to the honesty of a Delaware.\"", "Now, if you are equal to the work, and will follow, I will make a push;\nfor I long to get down into that camp, if it be only to scatter some\nMingo dogs that I see lurking in the skirts of yonder thicket of birch.\"", "The scheme was well conceived, but failed in its effect.", "Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting to the spot,\ndirected by the sound, he met a long line of dark red warriors, passing\nswiftly towards the glacis." ]

[ "\"D'ou venez-vous--ou allez-vous, d'aussi bonne heure?\"", "The sounds of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly audible to\nleave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption.", "\"Enough!\"", "He then took his wonted station, with the air of a man\nwho believed he had done a deed of merit.", "Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting to the spot,\ndirected by the sound, he met a long line of dark red warriors, passing\nswiftly towards the glacis.", "When the banks of the little stream were gained, Hawkeye made another\nhalt; and, taking the moccasins from his feet, he invited Heyward and\nGamut to follow his example.", "Towards the\nsoutheast, but in immediate contact with the fort, was an entrenched\ncamp, posted on a rocky eminence, that would have been far more eligible\nfor the work itself, in which Hawkeye pointed out the presence of those\nauxiliary regiments that had so recently left the Hudson in their\ncompany.", "whispered the scout, once more bending to the left.", "The\nIndians followed instantly like busy attendants on the terrible\nmessenger, and Uncas commenced speaking earnestly and with much action,\nin the Delaware tongue.", "\"Give me the range!\"" ]

[ "There are them in\nthe camp who say and think, man, to lie still, should not be buried\nwhile the breath is in the body; and certain it is that in the hurry of\nthat evening, the doctors had but little time to say who was living and\nwho was dead.", "Hist!", "see you nothing walking on the shore of the pond?\"", "\"'Tis not probable that any are as houseless as ourselves, in this\ndreary forest.\"", "\"Such as he may care but little for house or shelter, and night dew can\nnever wet a body that passes its days in the water,\" returned the scout,\ngrasping the shoulder of Heyward with such convulsive strength as to\nmake the young soldier painfully sensible how much superstitious terror\nhad got the mastery of a man usually so dauntless.", "\"By heaven!", "there is a human form, and it approaches!", "Stand to your\narms, my friends; for we know not whom we encounter.\"", "\"Qui vive?\"", "demanded a stern, quick voice, which sounded like a\nchallenge from another world, issuing out of that solitary and solemn\nplace.", "\"What says it?\"" ]

[ "\n \"I'll seek a readier path.\"", "PARNELL.", "The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relieved by\noccasional valleys and swells of land, which had been traversed by their\nparty on the morning of the same day, with the baffled Magua for their\nguide.", "The sun had now fallen low towards the distant mountains; and as\ntheir journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat was no\nlonger oppressive.", "Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate;\nand long before the twilight gathered about them, they had made good\nmany toilsome miles on their return.", "The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to select\namong the blind signs of their wild route, with a species of instinct,\nseldom abating his speed, and never pausing to deliberate.", "A rapid and\noblique glance at the moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze\ntowards the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction\nof the numerous water-courses, through which he waded, were sufficient\nto determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties.", "In the\nmeantime, the forest began to change its hues, losing that lively green\nwhich had embellished its arches, in the graver light which is the usual\nprecursor of the close of day.", "While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch glimpses through\nthe trees, of the flood of golden glory which formed a glittering halo\naround the sun, tinging here and there with ruby streaks, or bordering\nwith narrow edgings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled\nat no great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned suddenly,\nand, pointing upwards towards the gorgeous heavens, he spoke:--\n\n\"Yonder is the signal given to a man to seek his food and natural rest,\"\nhe said: \"better and wiser would it be, if he could understand the signs\nof nature, and take a lesson from the fowls of the air and the beasts of\nthe fields!", "Our night, however, will soon be over; for, with the moon,\nwe must be up and moving again.", "\"Hold!\"", "shouted the former speaker, in the awful tones of parental\nagony, the sound reaching even to the woods, and rolling back in solemn\necho.", "\"'Tis she!", "God has restored me my children!", "Throw open the\nsally-port; to the field, 60ths, to the field; pull not a trigger, lest\nye kill my lambs!", "Drive off these dogs of France with your steel.\"", "Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting to the spot,\ndirected by the sound, he met a long line of dark red warriors, passing\nswiftly towards the glacis.", "He knew them for his own battalion of the\nroyal Americans, and flying to their head, soon swept every trace of his\npursuers from before the works.", "For an instant, Cora and Alice had stood trembling and bewildered by\nthis unexpected desertion; but, before either had leisure for speech, or\neven thought, an officer of gigantic frame whose locks were bleached\nwith years and service, but whose air of military grandeur had been\nrather softened than destroyed by time, rushed out of the body of the\nmist, and folded them to his bosom, while large scalding tears rolled\ndown his pale and wrinkled cheeks, and he exclaimed, in the peculiar\naccent of Scotland,--\n\n\"For this I thank thee, Lord!", "Let danger come as it will, thy servant is\nnow prepared!\"" ]

[ "\n \"Then go we in, to know his embassy;\n Which I could, with ready guess, declare,\n Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nA few succeeding days were passed amid the privations, the uproar, and\nthe dangers of the siege, which was vigorously pressed by a power\nagainst whose approaches Munro possessed no competent means of\nresistance.", "It appeared as if Webb, with his army, which lay slumbering\non the banks of the Hudson, had utterly forgotten the strait to which\nhis countrymen were reduced.", "Montcalm had filled the woods of the\nportage with his savages, every yell and whoop from whom rang through\nthe British encampment, chilling the hearts of men who were already but\ntoo much disposed to magnify the danger.", "Not so, however, with the besieged.", "Animated by the words, and\nstimulated by the examples, of their leaders, they had found their\ncourage, and maintained their ancient reputation, with zeal that did\njustice to the stern character of their commander.", "As if satisfied with\nthe toil of marching through the wilderness to encounter his enemy, the\nFrench general, though of approved skill, had neglected to seize the\nadjacent mountains; whence the besieged might have been exterminated\nwith impunity, and which, in the more modern warfare of the country,\nwould not have been neglected for a single hour.", "This sort of contempt\nfor eminences, or rather dread of the labor of ascending them, might\nhave been termed the besetting weakness of the warfare of the period.", "It\noriginated in the simplicity of the Indian contests, in which, from the\nnature of the combats, and the density of the forests, fortresses were\nrare, and artillery next to useless.", "The carelessness engendered by\nthese usages descended even to the war of the Revolution, and lost the\nStates the important fortress of Ticonderoga, opening a way for the army\nof Burgoyne into what was then the bosom of the country.", "We look back at\nthis ignorance, or infatuation, whichever it may be called, with wonder,\nknowing that the neglect of an eminence, whose difficulties, like those\nof Mount Defiance, have been so greatly exaggerated, would, at the\npresent time, prove fatal to the reputation of the engineer who had\nplanned the works at their base, or to that of the general whose lot it\nwas to defend them.", "The tourist, the valetudinarian, or the amateur of the beauties of\nnature, who, in the train of his four-in-hand, now rolls through the\nscenes we have attempted to describe, in quest of information, health,\nor pleasure, or floats steadily towards his object on those artificial\nwaters which have sprung up under the administration of a statesman[21]\nwho has dared to stake his political character on the hazardous issue,\nis not to suppose that his ancestors traversed those hills, or struggled\nwith the same currents with equal facility.", "The transportation of a\nsingle heavy gun was often considered equal to a victory gained; if,\nhappily, the difficulties of the passage had not so far separated it\nfrom its necessary concomitant, the ammunition, as to render it no more\nthan an useless tube of unwieldy iron.", "The evils of this state of things pressed heavily on the fortunes of the\nresolute Scotsman who now defended William Henry.", "Though his adversary\nneglected the hills, he had planted his batteries with judgment on the\nplain, and caused them to be served with vigor and skill.", "Against this\nassault, the besieged could only oppose the imperfect and hasty\npreparations of a fortress in the wilderness.", "It was in the afternoon of the fifth day of the siege, and the fourth of\nhis own service in it, that Major Heyward profited by a parley that had\njust been beaten, by repairing to the ramparts of one of the water\nbastions, to breathe the cool air from the lake, and to take a survey of\nthe progress of the siege.", "He was alone, if the solitary sentinel who\npaced the mound be excepted; for the artillerists had hastened also to\nprofit by the temporary suspension of their arduous duties.", "The evening\nwas delightfully calm, and the light air from the limpid water fresh and\nsoothing.", "It seemed as if, with the termination to the roar of artillery\nand the plunging of shot, nature had also seized the moment to assume\nher mildest and most captivating form.", "The sun poured down his parting\nglory on the scene, without the oppression of those fierce rays that\nbelong to the climate and the season.", "The mountains looked green and\nfresh and lovely; tempered with the milder light, or softened in shadow,\nas thin vapors floated between them and the sun.", "The numerous islands\nrested on the bosom of the Horican, some low and sunken, as if imbedded\nin the waters, and others appearing to hover above the element, in\nlittle hillocks of green velvet; among which the fishermen of the\nbeleaguering army peacefully rowed their skiffs, or floated at rest on\nthe glassy mirror, in quiet pursuit of their employment.", "The scene was at once animated and still.", "All that pertained to nature\nwas sweet, or simply grand; while those parts which depended on the\ntemper and movements of man were lively and playful.", "Two little spotless flags were abroad, the one on a salient angle of the\nfort, and the other on the advanced battery of the besiegers; emblems of\nthe truce which existed, not only to the acts, but it would seem, also,\nto the enmity of the combatants.", "Behind these, again, swung, heavily opening and closing in silken folds,\nthe rival standards of England and France.", "A hundred gay and thoughtless young Frenchmen were drawing a net to the\npebbly beach, within dangerous proximity to the sullen but silent cannon\nof the fort, while the eastern mountain was sending back the loud shouts\nand gay merriment that attended their sport.", "Some were rushing eagerly\nto enjoy the aquatic games of the lake, and others were already toiling\ntheir way up the neighboring hills, with the restless curiosity of their\nnation.", "To all these sports and pursuits, those of the enemy who watched\nthe besieged, and the besieged themselves, were, however, merely the\nidle, though sympathizing spectators.", "Here and there a picket had,\nindeed, raised a song, or mingled in a dance, which had drawn the dusky\nsavages around them, from their lairs in the forest.", "In short,\neverything wore rather the appearance of a day of pleasure, than of an\nhour stolen from the dangers and toil of a bloody and vindictive\nwarfare.", "Duncan had stood in a musing attitude, contemplating this scene a few\nminutes, when his eyes were directed to the glacis in front of the\nsally-port already mentioned, by the sounds of approaching footsteps.", "He\nwalked to an angle of the bastion, and beheld the scout advancing, under\nthe custody of a French officer, to the body of the fort.", "The\ncountenance of Hawkeye was haggard and careworn, and his air dejected,\nas though he felt the deepest degradation at having fallen into the\npower of his enemies.", "He was without his favorite weapon, and his arms\nwere even bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of a deer.", "The\narrival of flags, to cover the messengers of summons, had occurred so\noften of late, that when Heyward first threw his careless glance on this\ngroup, he expected to see another of the officers of the enemy, charged\nwith a similar office; but the instant he recognized the tall person,\nand still sturdy, though downcast features of his friend the woodsman,\nhe started with surprise, and turned to descend from the bastion into\nthe bosom of the work.", "The sounds of other voices, however, caught his attention, and for a\nmoment caused him to forget his purpose.", "At the inner angle of the mound\nhe met the sisters, walking along the parapet in search, like himself,\nof air and relief from confinement.", "They had not met from that painful\nmoment when he deserted them on the plain, only to assure their safety.", "He had parted from them worn with care, and jaded with fatigue; he now\nsaw them refreshed and blooming, though timid and anxious.", "Under such an\ninducement, it will cause no surprise that the young man lost sight, for\na time, of other objects in order to address them.", "He was, however,\nanticipated by the voice of the ingenuous and youthful Alice.", "\"Ah!", "thou truant!", "thou recreant knight!", "he who abandons his damsels in\nthe very lists!\"", "she cried; \"here have we been days, nay, ages,\nexpecting you at our feet, imploring mercy and forgetfulness of your\ncraven backsliding, or, I should rather say, back-running--for verily\nyou fled in a manner that no stricken deer, as our worthy friend the\nscout would say, could equal!\"", "\"You know that Alice means our thanks and our blessings,\" added the\ngraver and more thoughtful Cora.", "\"In truth, we have a little wondered\nwhy you should so rigidly absent yourself from a place where the\ngratitude of the daughters might receive the support of a parent's\nthanks.\"", "\"Your father himself could tell you, that though absent from your\npresence, I have not been altogether forgetful of your safety,\" returned\nthe young man; \"the mastery of yonder village of huts,\" pointing to the\nneighboring entrenched camp, \"has been keenly disputed; and he who holds\nit is sure to be possessed of this fort, and that which it contains.", "My\ndays and my nights have all been passed there since we separated,\nbecause I thought that duty called me thither.", "But,\" he added with an\nair of chagrin, which he endeavored, though unsuccessfully, to conceal,\n\"had I been aware that what I then believed a soldier's conduct could so\nbe construed, shame would have been added to the list of reasons.\"", "\"Heyward!--Duncan!\"", "exclaimed Alice, bending forward to read his\nhalf-averted countenance, until a lock of her golden hair rested on her\nflushed cheek, and nearly concealed the tear that had started to her\neye; \"did I think this idle tongue of mine had pained you, I would\nsilence it forever, Cora can say, if Cora would, how justly we have\nprized your services, and how deep--I had almost said, how fervent--is\nour gratitude.\"", "\"And will Cora attest the truth of this?\"", "cried Duncan, suffering the\ncloud to be chased from his countenance by a smile of open pleasure.", "\"What says our graver sister?", "Will she find an excuse for the neglect of\nthe knight in the duty of a soldier?\"", "Cora made no immediate answer, but turned her face towards the water, as\nif looking on the sheet of the Horican.", "When she did bend her dark eyes\non the young man, they were yet filled with an expression of anguish\nthat at once drove every thought but that of kind solicitude from his\nmind.", "\"You are not well, dearest Miss Munro!\"", "he exclaimed; \"we have trifled\nwhile you are in suffering.\"", "\"'Tis nothing,\" she answered, refusing his offered support with feminine\nreserve.", "\"That I cannot see the sunny side of the picture of life, like\nthis artless but ardent enthusiast,\" she added, laying her hand lightly,\nbut affectionately, on the arm of her sister, \"is the penalty of\nexperience, and, perhaps, the misfortune of my nature.", "See,\" she\ncontinued, as if determined to shake off infirmity, in a sense of duty;\n\"look around you, Major Heyward, and tell me what a prospect is this for\nthe daughter of a soldier whose greatest happiness is his honor and his\nmilitary renown.\"", "\"Neither ought nor shall be tarnished by circumstances over which he has\nhad no control,\" Duncan warmly replied.", "\"But your words recall me to my\nown duty.", "I go now to your gallant father, to hear his determination in\nmatters of the last moment to the defence.", "God bless you in every\nfortune, noble--Cora--I may and must call you.\"", "She frankly gave him her\nhand, though her lip quivered, and her cheeks gradually became of an\nashy paleness.", "\"In every fortune, I know you will be an ornament and\nhonor to your sex.", "Alice, adieu\"--his tone changed from admiration to\ntenderness--\"adieu, Alice; we shall soon meet again; as conquerors, I\ntrust, and amid rejoicings!\"", "Without waiting for an answer from either, the young man threw himself\ndown the grassy steps of the bastion, and moving rapidly across the\nparade, he was quickly in the presence of their father.", "Munro was\npacing his narrow apartment with a disturbed air and gigantic strides as\nDuncan entered.", "\"You have anticipated my wishes, Major Heyward,\" he said; \"I was about\nto request this favor.\"", "\"I am sorry to see, sir, that the messenger I so warmly recommended has\nreturned in custody of the French!", "I hope there is no reason to distrust\nhis fidelity?\"", "\"The fidelity of 'The Long Rifle' is well known to me,\" returned Munro,\n\"and is above suspicion; though his usual good fortune seems, at last,\nto have failed.", "Montcalm has got him, and with the accursed politeness\nof his nation, he has sent him in with a doleful tale, of 'knowing how I\nvalued the fellow, he could not think of retaining him.'", "A Jesuitical\nway, that, Major Duncan Heyward, of telling a man of his misfortunes!\"", "\"But the general and his succor?\"", "\"Did ye look to the south as ye entered, and could ye not see them?\"", "said the old soldier, laughing bitterly.", "\"Hoot!", "hoot!", "you're an\nimpatient boy, sir, and cannot give the gentlemen leisure for their\nmarch!\"", "\"They are coming, then?", "The scout has said as much?\"", "\"When?", "and by what path?", "for the dunce has omitted to tell me this.", "There is a letter, it would seem, too; and that is the only agreeable\npart of the matter.", "For the customary attentions of your Marquis of\nMontcalm--I warrant me, Duncan, that he of Lothian would buy a dozen\nsuch marquisates--but, if the news of the letter were bad, the gentility\nof this French monsieur would certainly compel him to let us know it.\"", "\"He keeps the letter, then, while he releases the messenger!\"", "\"Ay, that does he, and all for the sake of what you call your\n'_bonhommie_,' I would venture, if the truth was known, the fellow's\ngrandfather taught the noble science of dancing.\"", "\"But what says the scout?", "he has eyes and ears, and a tongue: what\nverbal report does he make?\"", "\"O!", "sir, he is not wanting in natural organs, and he is free to tell all\nthat he has seen and heard.", "The whole amount is this: there is a fort of\nhis majesty's on the banks of the Hudson, called Edward, in honor of his\ngracious highness of York, you'll know; and it is well filled with armed\nmen, as such a work should be.\"", "\"But was there no movement, no signs of any intention to advance to our\nrelief?\"", "\"There were the morning and evening parades; and when one of the\nprovincial loons--you'll know, Duncan, you're half a Scotsman\nyourself--when one of them dropped his powder over his porretch, if it\ntouched the coals, it just burnt!\"", "Then suddenly changing his bitter,\nironical manner, to one more grave and thoughtful, he continued; \"and\nyet there might, and must be, something in that letter which it would be\nwell to know!\"", "\"Our decision should be speedy,\" said Duncan, gladly availing himself of\nthis change of humor, to press the more important objects of their\ninterview; \"I cannot conceal from you, sir, that the camp will not be\nmuch longer tenable; and I am sorry to add, that things appear no better\nin the fort; more than half the guns are bursted.\"", "\"And how should it be otherwise?", "Some were fished from the bottom of the\nlake; some have been rusting in the woods since the discovery of the\ncountry; and some were never guns at all--mere privateersmen's\nplaythings!", "Do you think, sir, you can have Woolwich Warren in the midst\nof a wilderness, three thousand miles from Great Britain!\"", "\"The walls are crumbling about our ears, and provisions begin to fail\nus,\" continued Heyward, without regarding this new burst of indignation;\n\"even the men show signs of discontent and alarm.\"", "\"Major Heyward,\" said Munro, turning to his youthful associate with the\ndignity of his years and superior rank; \"I should have served his\nmajesty for half a century, and earned these gray hairs, in vain, were I\nignorant of all you say, and of the pressing nature of our\ncircumstances; still, there is everything due to the honor of the king's\narms and something to ourselves.", "While there is hope of succor, this\nfortress will I defend, though it be to be done with pebbles gathered on\nthe lake shore.", "It is a sight of the letter, therefore, that we want,\nthat we may know the intentions of the man the Earl of Loudon has left\namong us as his substitute.\"", "\"And can I be of service in the matter?\"", "\"Sir, you can; the Marquis of Montcalm has, in addition to his other\ncivilities, invited me to a personal interview between the works and his\nown camp; in order, as he says, to impart some additional information.", "Now, I think it would not be wise to show any undue solicitude to meet\nhim, and I would employ you, an officer of rank, as my substitute; for\nit would but ill comport with the honor of Scotland to let it be said\none of her gentlemen was outdone in civility by a native of any other\ncountry on earth.\"", "Without assuming the supererogatory task of entering into a discussion\nof the comparative merits of national courtesy, Duncan cheerfully\nassented to supply the place of the veteran in the approaching\ninterview.", "A long and confidential communication now succeeded, during\nwhich the young man received some additional insight into his duty, from\nthe experience and native acuteness of his commander, and then the\nformer took his leave.", "As Duncan could only act as the representative of the commandant of the\nfort, the ceremonies which should have accompanied a meeting between the\nheads of the adverse forces were of course dispensed with.", "The truce\nstill existed, and with a roll and beat of the drum, and covered by a\nlittle white flag, Duncan left the sally-port, within ten minutes after\nhis instructions were ended.", "He was received by the French officer in\nadvance with the usual formalities, and immediately accompanied to a\ndistant marquee of the renowned soldier who led the forces of France.", "The general of the enemy received the youthful messenger, surrounded by\nhis principal officers, and by a swarthy band of the native chiefs, who\nhad followed him to the field, with the warriors of their several\ntribes.", "Heyward paused short, when, in glancing his eyes rapidly over\nthe dark group of the latter, he beheld the malignant countenance of\nMagua, regarding him with the calm but sullen attention which marked the\nexpression of that subtle savage.", "A slight exclamation of surprise even\nburst from the lips of the young man; but instantly recollecting his\nerrand, and the presence in which he stood, he suppressed every\nappearance of emotion, and turned to the hostile leader, who had already\nadvanced a step to receive him.", "The Marquis of Montcalm was, at the period of which we write, in the\nflower of his age, and, it may be added, in the zenith of his fortunes.", "But, even in that enviable situation, he was affable, and distinguished\nas much for his attention to the forms of courtesy, as for that\nchivalrous courage which, only two short years afterwards, induced him\nto throw away his life on the plains of Abraham.", "Duncan, in turning his\neyes from the malign expression of Magua, suffered them to rest with\npleasure on the smiling and polished features, and the noble military\nair, of the French general.", "\"Monsieur,\" said the latter, \"j'ai beaucoup de plaisir a--bah!--ou est\ncet interprete?\"", "\"Je crois, monsieur, qu'il ne sera pas necessaire,\" Heyward modestly\nreplied; \"je parle un peu Francais.\"", "\"Ah!", "j'en suis bien aise,\" said Montcalm, taking Duncan familiarly by\nthe arm, and leading him deep into the marquee, a little out of\near-shot; \"je deteste ces fripons-la; on ne sait jamais sur quel pie on\nest avec eux.", "Eh, bien!", "monsieur,\" he continued, still speaking in\nFrench; \"though I should have been proud of receiving your commandant, I\nam very happy that he has seen proper to employ an officer so\ndistinguished, and who, I am sure, is so amiable, as yourself.\"", "Duncan bowed low, pleased with the compliment, in spite of a most heroic\ndetermination to suffer no artifice to allure him into forgetfulness of\nthe interest of his prince; and Montcalm, after a pause of a moment, as\nif to recollect his thoughts, proceeded,--\n\n\"Your commandant is a brave man, and well qualified to repel my assault.", "Mais, monsieur, is it not time to begin to take more counsel of\nhumanity, and less of your courage?", "The one as strongly characterizes\nthe hero as the other.\"", "\"We consider the qualities as inseparable,\" returned Duncan, smiling;\n\"but while we find in the vigor of your excellency every motive to\nstimulate the one, we can, as yet, see no particular call for the\nexercise of the other.\"", "Montcalm, in his turn, slightly bowed, but it was with the air of a man\ntoo practised to remember the language of flattery.", "After musing a\nmoment, he added,--\n\n\"It is possible my glasses have deceived me, and that your works resist\nour cannon better than I had supposed.", "You know our force?\"", "\"Our accounts vary,\" said Duncan, carelessly; \"the highest, however, has\nnot exceeded twenty thousand men.\"", "The Frenchman bit his lip, and fastened his eyes keenly on the other as\nif to read his thoughts; then, with a readiness peculiar to himself, he\ncontinued, as if assenting to the truth of an enumeration which quite\ndoubled his army,--\n\n\"It is a poor compliment to the vigilance of us soldiers, monsieur,\nthat, do what we will, we never can conceal our numbers.", "If it were to\nbe done at all, one would believe it might succeed in these woods.", "Though you think it too soon to listen to the calls of humanity,\" he\nadded, smiling archly, \"I may be permitted to believe that gallantry is\nnot forgotten by one so young as yourself.", "The daughters of the\ncommandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it was invested?\"", "\"It is true, monsieur; but, so far from weakening our efforts, they set\nus an example of courage in their own fortitude.", "Were nothing but\nresolution necessary to repel so accomplished a soldier as M. de\nMontcalm, I would gladly trust the defence of William Henry to the elder\nof those ladies.\"", "\"We have a wise ordinance in our Salique laws, which says, 'The crown of\nFrance shall never degrade the lance to the distaff,'\" said Montcalm,\ndryly, and with a little hauteur; but instantly adding, with his former\nfrank and easy air, \"as all the nobler qualities are hereditary, I can\neasily credit you; though, as I said before, courage has its limits, and\nhumanity must not be forgotten.", "I trust, monsieur, you come authorized\nto treat for the surrender of the place?\"", "\"Has your excellency found our defence so feeble as to believe the\nmeasure necessary?\"", "\"I should be sorry to have the defence protracted in such a manner as to\nirritate my red friends there,\" continued Montcalm, glancing his eyes at\nthe group of grave and attentive Indians, without attending to the\nother's question; \"I find it difficult, even now, to limit them to the\nusages of war.\"", "Heyward was silent; for a painful recollection of the dangers he had so\nrecently escaped came over his mind, and recalled the images of those\ndefenceless beings who had shared in all his sufferings.", "\"Ces messieurs-la,\" said Montcalm, following up the advantage which he\nconceived he had gained, \"are most formidable when baffled: and it is\nunnecessary to tell you with what difficulty they are restrained in\ntheir anger.", "Eh bien, monsieur!", "shall we speak of the terms?\"", "\"I fear your excellency has been deceived as to the strength of William\nHenry, and the resources of its garrison!\"", "\"I have not sat down before Quebec, but an earthen work, that is\ndefended by twenty-three hundred gallant men,\" was the laconic reply.", "\"Our mounds are earthen, certainly--nor are they seated on the rocks of\nCape Diamond; but they stand on that shore which proved so destructive\nto Dieskau and his army.", "There is also a powerful force within a few\nhours' march of us, which we account upon as part of our means.\"", "\"Some six or eight thousand men,\" returned Montcalm, with much apparent\nindifference, \"whom their leader wisely judges to be safer in their\nworks than in the field.\"", "It was now Heyward's turn to bite his lip with vexation, as the other so\ncoolly alluded to a force which the young man knew to be overrated.", "Both\nmused a little while in silence, when Montcalm renewed the conversation,\nin a way that showed he believed the visit of his guest was solely to\npropose terms of capitulation.", "On the other hand, Heyward began to throw\nsundry inducements in the way of the French general, to betray the\ndiscoveries he had made through the intercepted letter.", "The artifice of\nneither, however, succeeded; and after a protracted and fruitless\ninterview, Duncan took his leave, favorably impressed with an opinion of\nthe courtesy and talents of the enemy's captain, but as ignorant of what\nhe came to learn as when he arrived.", "Montcalm followed him as far as the\nentrance of the marquee, renewing his invitations to the commandant of\nthe fort to give him an immediate meeting in the open ground, between\nthe two armies.", "There they separated, and Duncan returned to the advanced post of the\nFrench, accompanied as before; whence he instantly proceeded to the\nfort, and to the quarters of his own commander." ]

[ "He was without his favorite weapon, and his arms\nwere even bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of a deer.", "The\narrival of flags, to cover the messengers of summons, had occurred so\noften of late, that when Heyward first threw his careless glance on this\ngroup, he expected to see another of the officers of the enemy, charged\nwith a similar office; but the instant he recognized the tall person,\nand still sturdy, though downcast features of his friend the woodsman,\nhe started with surprise, and turned to descend from the bastion into\nthe bosom of the work.", "\"'Tis nothing,\" she answered, refusing his offered support with feminine\nreserve.", "\"But your words recall me to my\nown duty.", "\"Major Heyward,\" said Munro, turning to his youthful associate with the\ndignity of his years and superior rank; \"I should have served his\nmajesty for half a century, and earned these gray hairs, in vain, were I\nignorant of all you say, and of the pressing nature of our\ncircumstances; still, there is everything due to the honor of the king's\narms and something to ourselves.", "As Duncan could only act as the representative of the commandant of the\nfort, the ceremonies which should have accompanied a meeting between the\nheads of the adverse forces were of course dispensed with.", "After musing a\nmoment, he added,--\n\n\"It is possible my glasses have deceived me, and that your works resist\nour cannon better than I had supposed.", "The daughters of the\ncommandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it was invested?\"", "\"I should be sorry to have the defence protracted in such a manner as to\nirritate my red friends there,\" continued Montcalm, glancing his eyes at\nthe group of grave and attentive Indians, without attending to the\nother's question; \"I find it difficult, even now, to limit them to the\nusages of war.\"", "There they separated, and Duncan returned to the advanced post of the\nFrench, accompanied as before; whence he instantly proceeded to the\nfort, and to the quarters of his own commander." ]

[ "For the customary attentions of your Marquis of\nMontcalm--I warrant me, Duncan, that he of Lothian would buy a dozen\nsuch marquisates--but, if the news of the letter were bad, the gentility\nof this French monsieur would certainly compel him to let us know it.\"", "\"Our mounds are earthen, certainly--nor are they seated on the rocks of\nCape Diamond; but they stand on that shore which proved so destructive\nto Dieskau and his army.", "Will she find an excuse for the neglect of\nthe knight in the duty of a soldier?\"", "\"They are coming, then?", "Cora made no immediate answer, but turned her face towards the water, as\nif looking on the sheet of the Horican.", "\"Our decision should be speedy,\" said Duncan, gladly availing himself of\nthis change of humor, to press the more important objects of their\ninterview; \"I cannot conceal from you, sir, that the camp will not be\nmuch longer tenable; and I am sorry to add, that things appear no better\nin the fort; more than half the guns are bursted.\"", "In short,\neverything wore rather the appearance of a day of pleasure, than of an\nhour stolen from the dangers and toil of a bloody and vindictive\nwarfare.", "Though his adversary\nneglected the hills, he had planted his batteries with judgment on the\nplain, and caused them to be served with vigor and skill.", "\"'Tis nothing,\" she answered, refusing his offered support with feminine\nreserve.", "Montcalm, in his turn, slightly bowed, but it was with the air of a man\ntoo practised to remember the language of flattery." ]

[ "I hope there is no reason to distrust\nhis fidelity?\"", "\"The fidelity of 'The Long Rifle' is well known to me,\" returned Munro,\n\"and is above suspicion; though his usual good fortune seems, at last,\nto have failed.", "Montcalm has got him, and with the accursed politeness\nof his nation, he has sent him in with a doleful tale, of 'knowing how I\nvalued the fellow, he could not think of retaining him.'", "A Jesuitical\nway, that, Major Duncan Heyward, of telling a man of his misfortunes!\"", "\"But the general and his succor?\"", "\"Did ye look to the south as ye entered, and could ye not see them?\"", "said the old soldier, laughing bitterly.", "\"Hoot!", "hoot!", "you're an\nimpatient boy, sir, and cannot give the gentlemen leisure for their\nmarch!\"", "\"They are coming, then?" ]

[ "\n \"Then go we in, to know his embassy;\n Which I could, with ready guess, declare,\n Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nA few succeeding days were passed amid the privations, the uproar, and\nthe dangers of the siege, which was vigorously pressed by a power\nagainst whose approaches Munro possessed no competent means of\nresistance.", "It appeared as if Webb, with his army, which lay slumbering\non the banks of the Hudson, had utterly forgotten the strait to which\nhis countrymen were reduced.", "Montcalm had filled the woods of the\nportage with his savages, every yell and whoop from whom rang through\nthe British encampment, chilling the hearts of men who were already but\ntoo much disposed to magnify the danger.", "Not so, however, with the besieged.", "Animated by the words, and\nstimulated by the examples, of their leaders, they had found their\ncourage, and maintained their ancient reputation, with zeal that did\njustice to the stern character of their commander.", "As if satisfied with\nthe toil of marching through the wilderness to encounter his enemy, the\nFrench general, though of approved skill, had neglected to seize the\nadjacent mountains; whence the besieged might have been exterminated\nwith impunity, and which, in the more modern warfare of the country,\nwould not have been neglected for a single hour.", "This sort of contempt\nfor eminences, or rather dread of the labor of ascending them, might\nhave been termed the besetting weakness of the warfare of the period.", "It\noriginated in the simplicity of the Indian contests, in which, from the\nnature of the combats, and the density of the forests, fortresses were\nrare, and artillery next to useless.", "The carelessness engendered by\nthese usages descended even to the war of the Revolution, and lost the\nStates the important fortress of Ticonderoga, opening a way for the army\nof Burgoyne into what was then the bosom of the country.", "\"I have not sat down before Quebec, but an earthen work, that is\ndefended by twenty-three hundred gallant men,\" was the laconic reply.", "\"Our mounds are earthen, certainly--nor are they seated on the rocks of\nCape Diamond; but they stand on that shore which proved so destructive\nto Dieskau and his army.", "There is also a powerful force within a few\nhours' march of us, which we account upon as part of our means.\"", "\"Some six or eight thousand men,\" returned Montcalm, with much apparent\nindifference, \"whom their leader wisely judges to be safer in their\nworks than in the field.\"", "It was now Heyward's turn to bite his lip with vexation, as the other so\ncoolly alluded to a force which the young man knew to be overrated.", "Both\nmused a little while in silence, when Montcalm renewed the conversation,\nin a way that showed he believed the visit of his guest was solely to\npropose terms of capitulation.", "On the other hand, Heyward began to throw\nsundry inducements in the way of the French general, to betray the\ndiscoveries he had made through the intercepted letter.", "The artifice of\nneither, however, succeeded; and after a protracted and fruitless\ninterview, Duncan took his leave, favorably impressed with an opinion of\nthe courtesy and talents of the enemy's captain, but as ignorant of what\nhe came to learn as when he arrived.", "Montcalm followed him as far as the\nentrance of the marquee, renewing his invitations to the commandant of\nthe fort to give him an immediate meeting in the open ground, between\nthe two armies.", "There they separated, and Duncan returned to the advanced post of the\nFrench, accompanied as before; whence he instantly proceeded to the\nfort, and to the quarters of his own commander." ]

[ "\n \"_Edg._--Before you fight the battle, ope this letter.\"", "_King Lear._\n\n\nMajor Heyward found Munro attended only by his daughters.", "Alice sat upon\nhis knee, parting the gray hairs on the forehead of the old man with her\ndelicate fingers; and, whenever he affected to frown on her trifling,\nappeasing his assumed anger by pressing her ruby lips fondly on his\nwrinkled brow.", "Cora was seated nigh them, a calm and amused looker-on;\nregarding the wayward movements of her more youthful sister, with that\nspecies of maternal fondness which characterized her love for Alice.", "Not\nonly the dangers through which they had passed, but those which still\nimpended above them, appeared to be momentarily forgotten, in the\nsoothing indulgence of such a family meeting.", "It seemed as if they had\nprofited by the short truce, to devote an instant to the purest and best\naffections: the daughters forgetting their fears, and the veteran his\ncares, in the security of the moment.", "Of this scene, Duncan, who in his\neagerness to report his arrival had entered unannounced, stood many\nmoments an unobserved and a delighted spectator.", "But the quick and\ndancing eyes of Alice soon caught a glimpse of his figure reflected from\na glass, and she sprang blushing from her father's knee, exclaiming\naloud,--\n\n\"Major Heyward!\"", "\"What of the lad?\"", "demanded the father; \"I have sent him to crack a\nlittle with the Frenchman.", "Ha!", "sir, you are young, and you're nimble!", "Away with you, ye baggage; as if there were not troubles enough for a\nsoldier, without having his camp filled with such prattling hussies as\nyourself!\"", "Alice laughingly followed her sister, who instantly led the way from an\napartment where she perceived their presence was no longer desirable.", "Munro, instead of demanding the result of the young man's mission, paced\nthe room for a few moments, with his hands behind his back, and his head\ninclined towards the floor, like a man lost in thought.", "At length he\nraised his eyes, glistening with a father's fondness, and exclaimed,--\n\n\"They are a pair of excellent girls, Heyward, and such as any one may\nboast of.\"", "\"You are not now to learn my opinion of your daughters, Colonel Munro.\"", "\"True, lad, true,\" interrupted the impatient old man; \"you were about\nopening your mind more fully on that matter the day you got in; but I\ndid not think it becoming in an old soldier to be talking of nuptial\nblessings and wedding jokes when the enemies of his king were likely to\nbe unbidden guests at the feast!", "But I was wrong, Duncan, boy, I was\nwrong there; and I am now ready to hear what you have to say.\"", "\"Notwithstanding the pleasure your assurance gives me, dear sir, I have\njust now a message from Montcalm--\"\n\n\"Let the Frenchman and all his host go to the devil, sir?\"", "exclaimed the\nhasty veteran.", "\"He is not yet master of William Henry, nor shall he ever\nbe, provided Webb proves himself the man he should.", "No, sir!", "thank\nHeaven, we are not yet in such a strait that it can be said Munro is too\nmuch pressed to discharge the little domestic duties of his own family.", "Your mother was the only child of my bosom friend, Duncan; and I'll just\ngive you a hearing, though all the knights of St. Louis were in a body\nat the sally-port, with the French saint at their head, craving to speak\na word under favor.", "A pretty degree of knighthood, sir, is that which\ncan be bought with sugar-hogsheads!", "and then your two-penny marquisates!", "The thistle is the order for dignity and antiquity; the veritable _nemo\nme impune lacessit_ of chivalry!", "Ye had ancestors in that degree,\nDuncan, and they were an ornament to the nobles of Scotland.\"", "Heyward, who perceived that his superior took a malicious pleasure in\nexhibiting his contempt for the message of the French general, was fain\nto humor a spleen that he knew would be short-lived; he therefore\nreplied with as much indifference as he could assume on such a\nsubject,--\n\n\"My request, as you know, sir, went so far as to presume to the honor of\nbeing your son.\"", "\"Ay, boy, you found words to make yourself very plainly comprehended.", "But, let me ask ye, sir, have you been as intelligible to the girl?\"", "\"On my honor, no,\" exclaimed Duncan, warmly; \"there would have been an\nabuse of a confided trust, had I taken advantage of my situation for\nsuch a purpose.\"", "\"Your notions are those of a gentleman, Major Heyward, and well enough\nin their place.", "But Cora Munro is a maiden too discreet, and of a mind\ntoo elevated and improved, to need the guardianship even of a father.\"", "\"Cora!\"", "\"Ay--Cora!", "we are talking of your pretensions to Miss Munro, are we not,\nsir?\"", "\"I--I--I was not conscious of having mentioned her name,\" said Duncan,\nstammering.", "\"And to marry whom, then, did you wish my consent, Major Heyward?\"", "demanded the old soldier, erecting himself in the dignity of offended\nfeeling.", "\"You have another, and not less lovely child.\"", "\"Alice!\"", "exclaimed the father, in an astonishment equal to that with\nwhich Duncan had just repeated the name of her sister.", "\"Such was the direction of my wishes, sir.\"", "The young man awaited in silence the result of the extraordinary effect\nproduced by a communication which, as it now appeared, was so\nunexpected.", "For several minutes Munro paced the chamber with long and\nrapid strides, his rigid features working convulsively, and every\nfaculty seemingly absorbed in the musings of his own mind.", "At length, he\npaused directly in front of Heyward, and riveting his eyes upon those of\nthe other, he said, with a lip that quivered violently,--\n\n\"Duncan Heyward, I have loved you for the sake of him whose blood is in\nyour veins; I have loved you for your own good qualities; and I have\nloved you, because I thought you would contribute to the happiness of my\nchild.", "But all this love would turn to hatred, were I assured that what\nI so much apprehend is true.\"", "\"God forbid that any act or thought of mine should lead to such a\nchange!\"", "exclaimed the young man, whose eye never quailed under the\npenetrating look it encountered.", "Without adverting the impossibility of\nthe other's comprehending those feelings which were hid in his own\nbosom, Munro suffered himself to be appeased by the unaltered\ncountenance he met, and with a voice sensibly softened, he continued,--\n\n\"You would be my son, Duncan, and you're ignorant of the history of the\nman you wish to call your father.", "Sit ye down, young man, and I will\nopen to you the wounds of a seared heart, in as few words as may be\nsuitable.\"", "By this time, the message of Montcalm was as much forgotten by him who\nbore it as by the man for whose ears it was intended.", "Each drew a chair,\nand while the veteran communed a few moments with his own thoughts,\napparently in sadness, the youth suppressed his impatience in a look and\nattitude of respectful attention.", "At length the former spoke:--\n\n\"You'll know, already, Major Heyward, that my family was both ancient\nand honorable,\" commenced the Scotsman; \"though it might not altogether\nbe endowed with that amount of wealth that should correspond with its\ndegree.", "I was, may be, such an one as yourself when I plighted my faith\nto Alice Graham, the only child of a neighboring laird of some estate.", "But the connection was disagreeable to her father, on more accounts than\nmy poverty.", "I did therefore what an honest man should--restored the\nmaiden her troth, and departed the country in the service of my king.", "I\nhad seen many regions, and had shed much blood in different lands,\nbefore duty called me to the islands of the West Indies.", "There it was my\nlot to form a connection with one who in time became my wife, and the\nmother of Cora.", "She was the daughter of a gentleman of those isles, by a\nlady whose misfortune it was, if you will,\" said the old man, proudly,\n\"to be descended, remotely, from that unfortunate class who are so\nbasely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxurious people.", "Ay,\nsir, that is a curse entailed on Scotland by her unnatural union with a\nforeign and trading people.", "But could I find a man among them who would\ndare to reflect on my child, he should feel the weight of a father's\nanger!", "Ha!", "Major Heyward, you are yourself born at the south, where\nthese unfortunate beings are considered of a race inferior to your own.\"", "\"'Tis most unfortunately true, sir,\" said Duncan, unable any longer to\nprevent his eyes from sinking to the floor in embarrassment.", "\"And you cast it on my child as a reproach!", "You scorn to mingle the\nblood of the Heywards with one so degraded--lovely and virtuous though\nshe be?\"", "fiercely demanded the jealous parent.", "\"Heaven protect me from a prejudice so unworthy of my reason!\"", "returned\nDuncan, at the same time conscious of such a feeling, and that as deeply\nrooted as if it had been ingrafted in his nature.", "\"The sweetness, the\nbeauty, the witchery of your younger daughter, Colonel Munro, might\nexplain my motives, without imputing to me this injustice.\"", "\"Ye are right, sir,\" returned the old man, again changing his tones to\nthose of gentleness, or rather softness; \"the girl is the image of what\nher mother was at her years, and before she had become acquainted with\ngrief.", "When death deprived me of my wife I returned to Scotland,\nenriched by the marriage; and would you think it, Duncan!", "The suffering\nangel had remained in the heartless state of celibacy twenty long years,\nand that for the sake of a man who could forget her!", "She did more, sir;\nshe over-looked my want of faith, and all difficulties being now\nremoved, she took me for her husband.\"", "\"And became the mother of Alice?\"", "exclaimed Duncan, with an eagerness\nthat might have proved dangerous at a moment when the thoughts of Munro\nwere less occupied than at present.", "\"She did, indeed,\" said the old man, \"and dearly did she pay for the\nblessing she bestowed.", "But she is a saint in heaven, sir; and it ill\nbecomes one whose foot rests on the grave to mourn a lot so blessed.", "I\nhad her but a single year, though; a short term of happiness for one who\nhad seen her youth fade in hopeless pining.\"", "There was something so commanding in the distress of the old man, that\nHeyward did not dare to venture a syllable of consolation.", "Munro sat\nutterly unconscious of the other's presence, his features exposed and\nworking with the anguish of his regrets, while heavy tears fell from his\neyes, and rolled unheeded from his cheeks to the floor.", "At length he\nmoved, as if suddenly recovering his recollection; when he arose, and\ntaking a single turn across the room, he approached his companion with\nan air of military grandeur, and demanded,--\n\n\"Have you not, Major Heyward, some communication that I should hear from\nthe Marquis de Montcalm?\"", "Duncan started, in his turn, and immediately commenced, in an\nembarrassed voice, the half-forgotten message.", "It is unnecessary to\ndwell upon the evasive, though polite manner, with which the French\ngeneral had eluded every attempt of Heyward to worm from him the purport\nof the communication he had proposed making, or on the decided, though\nstill polished message, by which he now gave his enemy to understand,\nthat unless he chose to receive it in person, he should not receive it\nat all.", "As Munro listened to the detail of Duncan, the excited feelings\nof the father gradually gave way before the obligations of his station,\nand when the other was done, he saw before him nothing but the veteran,\nswelling with the wounded feelings of a soldier.", "\"You have said enough, Major Heyward!\"", "exclaimed the angry old man:\n\"enough to make a volume of commentary on French civility.", "Here has this\ngentleman invited me to a conference, and when I send him a capable\nsubstitute, for ye're all that, Duncan, though your years are but few,\nhe answers me with a riddle.\"", "\"He may have thought less favorably of the substitute, my dear sir; and\nyou will remember that the invitation, which he now repeats, was to the\ncommandant of the works, and not to his second.\"", "\"Well, sir, is not a substitute clothed with all the power and dignity\nof him who grants the commission?", "He wishes to confer with Munro!", "Faith,\nsir, I have much inclination to indulge the man, if it should only be to\nlet him behold the firm countenance we maintain in spite of his numbers\nand his summons.", "There might be no bad policy in such a stroke, young\nman.\"", "Duncan, who believed it of the last importance that they should speedily\ncome at the contents of the letter borne by the scout, gladly encouraged\nthis idea.", "\"Without doubt, he could gather no confidence by witnessing our\nindifference,\" he said.", "\"You never said truer word.", "I could wish, sir, that he would visit the\nworks in open day, and in the form of a storming party: that is the\nleast failing method of proving the countenance of an enemy, and would\nbe far preferable to the battering system he has chosen.", "The beauty and\nmanliness of warfare has been much deformed, Major Heyward, by the arts\nof your Monsieur Vauban.", "Our ancestors were far above such scientific\ncowardice!\"", "\"It may be very true, sir; but we are now obliged to repel art by art.", "What is your pleasure in the matter of the interview?\"", "\"I will meet the Frenchman, and that without fear or delay; promptly;\nsir, as becomes a servant of my royal master.", "Go, Major Heyward, and\ngive them a flourish of the music; and send out a messenger to let them\nknow who is coming.", "We will follow with a small guard, for such respect\nis due to one who holds the honor of his king in keeping; and harkee,\nDuncan,\" he added, in a half whisper, though they were alone, \"it may be\nprudent to have some aid at hand, in case there should be treachery at\nthe bottom of it all.\"", "The young man availed himself of this order to quit the apartment; and,\nas the day was fast coming to a close, he hastened, without delay, to\nmake the necessary arrangements.", "A very few minutes only were necessary\nto parade a few files, and to despatch an orderly with a flag to\nannounce the approach of the commandant of the fort.", "When Duncan had\ndone both these, he led the guard to the sally-port, near which he found\nhis superior ready, waiting his appearance.", "As soon as the usual\nceremonials of a military departure were observed, the veteran and his\nmore youthful companion left the fortress, attended by the escort.", "They had proceeded only a hundred yards from the works, when the little\narray which attended the French general to the conference, was seen\nissuing from the hollow way, which formed the bed of a brook that ran\nbetween the batteries of the besiegers and the fort.", "From the moment\nthat Munro left his own works to appear in front of his enemies, his air\nhad been grand, and his step and countenance highly military.", "The\ninstant he caught a glimpse of the white plume that waved in the hat of\nMontcalm, his eye lighted, and age no longer appeared to possess any\ninfluence over his vast and still muscular person.", "\"Speak to the boys to be watchful, sir,\" he said, in an undertone, to\nDuncan; \"and to look well to their flints and steel, for one is never\nsafe with a servant of these Louises; at the same time, we will show\nthem the front of men in deep security.", "Ye'll understand me, Major\nHeyward!\"", "He was interrupted by the clamor of a drum from the approaching\nFrenchmen, which was immediately answered, when each party pushed an\norderly in advance, bearing a white flag, and the wary Scotsman halted,\nwith his guard close at his back.", "As soon as this slight salutation had\npassed, Montcalm moved towards them with a quick but graceful step,\nbaring his head to the veteran, and dropping his spotless plume nearly\nto the earth in courtesy.", "If the air of Munro was more commanding and\nmanly, it wanted both the ease and insinuating polish of that of the\nFrenchman.", "Neither spoke for a few moments, each regarding the other\nwith curious and interested eyes.", "Then, as became his superior rank and\nthe nature of the interview, Montcalm broke the silence.", "After uttering\nthe usual words of greeting, he turned to Duncan, and continued with a\nsmile of recognition, speaking always in French,--\n\n[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE MEETING OF THE GENERALS\n\n_As soon as this slight salutation had passed, Montcalm moved towards\nthem with a quick but graceful step, baring his head to the veteran, and\ndropping his spotless plume nearly to the earth in courtesy_]\n\n\"I am rejoiced, monsieur, that you have given us the pleasure of your\ncompany on this occasion.", "There will be no necessity to employ an\nordinary interpreter; for, in your hands, I feel the same security as if\nI spoke your language myself.\"", "Duncan acknowledged the compliment, when Montcalm, turning to his guard,\nwhich, in imitation of that of their enemies, pressed close upon him,\ncontinued,--\n\n\"En arriere, mes enfans--il fait chaud; retirez-vous un peu.\"", "Before Major Heyward would imitate this proof of confidence, he glanced\nhis eyes around the plain, and beheld with uneasiness the numerous dusky\ngroups of savages, who looked out from the margin of the surrounding\nwoods, curious spectators of the interview.", "\"Monsieur de Montcalm will readily acknowledge the difference in our\nsituation,\" he said, with some embarrassment, pointing at the same time\ntowards those dangerous foes, who were to be seen in almost every\ndirection.", "\"Were we to dismiss our guard, we should stand here at the\nmercy of our enemies.\"", "\"Monsieur, you have the plighted faith of _un gentilhomme Francais_; for\nyour safety,\" returned Montcalm, laying his hand impressively on his\nheart; \"it should suffice.\"", "\"It shall.", "Fall back,\" Duncan added to the officer who led the escort;\n\"fall back, sir, beyond hearing, and wait for orders.\"", "Munro witnessed this movement with manifest uneasiness; nor did he fail\nto demand an instant explanation.", "\"Is it not our interest, sir, to betray no distrust?\"", "retorted Duncan.", "\"Monsieur de Montcalm pledges his word for our safety, and I have\nordered the men to withdraw a little, in order to prove how much we\ndepend on his assurance.\"", "\"It may be all right, sir, but I have no overweening reliance on the\nfaith of these marquesses, or marquis, as they call themselves.", "Their\npatents of nobility are too common to be certain that they bear the seal\nof true honor.\"", "\"You forget, dear sir, that we confer with an officer distinguished\nalike in Europe and America for his deeds.", "From a soldier of his\nreputation we can have nothing to apprehend.\"", "The old man made a gesture of resignation, though his rigid features\nstill betrayed his obstinate adherence to a distrust, which he derived\nfrom a sort of hereditary contempt of his enemy, rather than from any\npresent signs which might warrant so uncharitable a feeling.", "Montcalm\nwaited patiently until this little dialogue in demi-voice was ended,\nwhen he drew nigher, and opened the subject of their conference.", "\"I have solicited this interview from your superior, monsieur,\" he said,\n\"because I believe he will allow himself to be persuaded that he has\nalready done everything which is necessary for the honor of his prince,\nand will not listen to the admonitions of humanity.", "I will forever bear\ntestimony that his resistance has been gallant, and was continued as\nlong as there was hope.\"", "When this opening was translated to Munro, he answered with dignity, but\nwith sufficient courtesy,--\n\n\"However I may prize such testimony from Monsieur Montcalm, it will be\nmore valuable when it shall be better merited.\"", "The French general smiled, as Duncan gave him the purport of this reply,\nand observed,--\n\n\"What is now so freely accorded to approved courage, may be refused to\nuseless obstinacy.", "Monsieur would wish to see my camp, and witness, for\nhimself, our numbers, and the impossibility of his resisting them, with\nsuccess?\"", "\"I know that the king of France is well served,\" returned the unmoved\nScotsman, as soon as Duncan ended his translation; \"but my own royal\nmaster has as many and as faithful troops.\"", "\"Though not at hand, fortunately for us,\" said Montcalm, without\nwaiting, in his ardor, for the interpreter.", "\"There is a destiny in war,\nto which a brave man knows how to submit, with the same courage that he\nfaces his foes.\"", "\"Had I been conscious that Monsieur Montcalm was master of the English,\nI should have spared myself the trouble of so awkward a translation,\"\nsaid the vexed Duncan, dryly; remembering instantly his recent by-play\nwith Munro.", "\"Your pardon, monsieur,\" rejoined the Frenchman, suffering a slight\ncolor to appear on his dark cheek.", "\"There is a vast difference between\nunderstanding and speaking a foreign tongue; you will, therefore, please\nto assist me still.\"", "Then after a short pause, he added, \"These hills\nafford us every opportunity of reconnoitring your works, messieurs, and\nI am possibly as well acquainted with their weak condition as you can be\nyourselves.\"", "\"Ask the French general if his glasses can reach to the Hudson,\" said\nMunro, proudly; \"and if he knows when and where to expect the army of\nWebb.\"", "\"Let General Webb be his own interpreter,\" returned the politic\nMontcalm, suddenly extending an open letter towards Munro, as he spoke;\n\"you will there learn, monsieur, that his movements are not likely to\nprove embarrassing to my army.\"", "The veteran seized the offered paper, without waiting for Duncan to\ntranslate the speech, and with an eagerness that betrayed how important\nhe deemed its contents.", "As his eye passed hastily over the words, his\ncountenance changed from its look of military pride to one of deep\nchagrin: his lip began to quiver; and, suffering the paper to fall from\nhis hand, his head dropped upon his chest, like that of a man whose\nhopes were withered at a single blow.", "Duncan caught the letter from the\nground, and without apology for the liberty he took, he read at a glance\nits cruel purport.", "Their common superior, so far from encouraging them\nto resist, advised a speedy surrender, urging in the plainest language\nas a reason, the utter impossibility of his sending a single man to\ntheir rescue.", "\"Here is no deception!\"", "exclaimed Duncan, examining the billet both\ninside and out; \"this is the signature of Webb, and must be the captured\nletter.\"", "\"The man has betrayed me!\"", "Munro at length bitterly exclaimed: \"he has\nbrought dishonor to the door of one where disgrace was never before\nknown to dwell, and shame has he heaped heavily on my gray hairs.\"", "\"Say not so,\" cried Duncan; \"we are yet masters of the fort, and of our\nhonor.", "Let us then sell our lives at such a rate as shall make our\nenemies believe the purchase too dear.\"", "\"Boy, I thank thee,\" exclaimed the old man, rousing himself from his\nstupor; \"you have, for once, reminded Munro of his duty.", "We will go\nback, and dig our graves behind those ramparts.\"", "\"Messieurs,\" said Montcalm, advancing towards them a step, in generous\ninterest, \"you little know Louis de St. Veran, if you believe him\ncapable of profiting by this letter to humble brave men, or to build up\na dishonest reputation for himself.", "Listen to my terms before you leave\nme.\"", "\"What says the Frenchman?\"", "demanded the veteran, sternly; \"does he make\na merit of having captured a scout, with a note from headquarters?", "Sir,\nhe had better raise this siege, to go and sit down before Edward if he\nwishes to frighten his enemy with words.\"", "Duncan explained the other's meaning.", "\"Monsieur de Montcalm, we will hear you,\" the veteran added, more calmly,\nas Duncan ended.", "\"To retain the fort is now impossible,\" said his liberal enemy; \"it is\nnecessary to the interests of my master that it should be destroyed;\nbut, as for yourselves, and your brave comrades, there is no privilege\ndear to a soldier that shall be denied.\"", "\"Our colors?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Carry them to England, and show them to your king.\"", "\"Our arms?\"", "\"Keep them; none can use them better.\"", "\"Our march; the surrender of the place?\"", "\"Shall all be done in a way most honorable to yourselves.\"", "Duncan now turned to explain these proposals to his commander, who heard\nhim with amazement, and a sensibility that was deeply touched by such\nunusual and unexpected generosity.", "\"Go you, Duncan,\" he said; \"go with this marquess, as indeed marquess he\nshould be; go to his marquee and arrange it all.", "I have lived to see two\nthings in my old age, that never did I expect to behold.", "An Englishman\nafraid to support a friend, and a Frenchman too honest to profit by his\nadvantage.\"", "So saying, the veteran again dropped his head to his chest, and returned\nslowly towards the fort, exhibiting, by the dejection of his air, to the\nanxious garrison, a harbinger of evil tidings.", "From the shock of this unexpected blow the haughty feelings of Munro\nnever recovered; but from that moment there commenced a change in his\ndetermined character, which accompanied him to a speedy grave.", "Duncan\nremained to settle the terms of the capitulation.", "He was seen to\nre-enter the works during the first watches of the night, and\nimmediately after a private conference with the commandant, to leave\nthem again, It was then openly announced, that hostilities must\ncease--Munro having signed a treaty, by which the place was to be\nyielded to the enemy, with the morning; the garrison to retain their\narms, their colors, and their baggage, and consequently, according to\nmilitary opinion, their honor." ]

[ "Away with you, ye baggage; as if there were not troubles enough for a\nsoldier, without having his camp filled with such prattling hussies as\nyourself!\"", "thank\nHeaven, we are not yet in such a strait that it can be said Munro is too\nmuch pressed to discharge the little domestic duties of his own family.", "Ye had ancestors in that degree,\nDuncan, and they were an ornament to the nobles of Scotland.\"", "\"Cora!\"", "I was, may be, such an one as yourself when I plighted my faith\nto Alice Graham, the only child of a neighboring laird of some estate.", "\"Well, sir, is not a substitute clothed with all the power and dignity\nof him who grants the commission?", "\"It may be very true, sir; but we are now obliged to repel art by art.", "\"Were we to dismiss our guard, we should stand here at the\nmercy of our enemies.\"", "Munro witnessed this movement with manifest uneasiness; nor did he fail\nto demand an instant explanation.", "\"Your pardon, monsieur,\" rejoined the Frenchman, suffering a slight\ncolor to appear on his dark cheek." ]

[ "The\ninstant he caught a glimpse of the white plume that waved in the hat of\nMontcalm, his eye lighted, and age no longer appeared to possess any\ninfluence over his vast and still muscular person.", "\"And became the mother of Alice?\"", "\"I have solicited this interview from your superior, monsieur,\" he said,\n\"because I believe he will allow himself to be persuaded that he has\nalready done everything which is necessary for the honor of his prince,\nand will not listen to the admonitions of humanity.", "Ye'll understand me, Major\nHeyward!\"", "A pretty degree of knighthood, sir, is that which\ncan be bought with sugar-hogsheads!", "I could wish, sir, that he would visit the\nworks in open day, and in the form of a storming party: that is the\nleast failing method of proving the countenance of an enemy, and would\nbe far preferable to the battering system he has chosen.", "Major Heyward, you are yourself born at the south, where\nthese unfortunate beings are considered of a race inferior to your own.\"", "She did more, sir;\nshe over-looked my want of faith, and all difficulties being now\nremoved, she took me for her husband.\"", "\"You have said enough, Major Heyward!\"", "\"It may be very true, sir; but we are now obliged to repel art by art." ]

[ "exclaimed the angry old man:\n\"enough to make a volume of commentary on French civility.", "Here has this\ngentleman invited me to a conference, and when I send him a capable\nsubstitute, for ye're all that, Duncan, though your years are but few,\nhe answers me with a riddle.\"", "\"He may have thought less favorably of the substitute, my dear sir; and\nyou will remember that the invitation, which he now repeats, was to the\ncommandant of the works, and not to his second.\"", "\"Well, sir, is not a substitute clothed with all the power and dignity\nof him who grants the commission?", "He wishes to confer with Munro!", "Faith,\nsir, I have much inclination to indulge the man, if it should only be to\nlet him behold the firm countenance we maintain in spite of his numbers\nand his summons.", "There might be no bad policy in such a stroke, young\nman.\"", "Duncan, who believed it of the last importance that they should speedily\ncome at the contents of the letter borne by the scout, gladly encouraged\nthis idea.", "\"Without doubt, he could gather no confidence by witnessing our\nindifference,\" he said.", "\"You never said truer word.", "I could wish, sir, that he would visit the\nworks in open day, and in the form of a storming party: that is the\nleast failing method of proving the countenance of an enemy, and would\nbe far preferable to the battering system he has chosen." ]

[ "\n \"_Edg._--Before you fight the battle, ope this letter.\"", "_King Lear._\n\n\nMajor Heyward found Munro attended only by his daughters.", "Alice sat upon\nhis knee, parting the gray hairs on the forehead of the old man with her\ndelicate fingers; and, whenever he affected to frown on her trifling,\nappeasing his assumed anger by pressing her ruby lips fondly on his\nwrinkled brow.", "Cora was seated nigh them, a calm and amused looker-on;\nregarding the wayward movements of her more youthful sister, with that\nspecies of maternal fondness which characterized her love for Alice.", "Not\nonly the dangers through which they had passed, but those which still\nimpended above them, appeared to be momentarily forgotten, in the\nsoothing indulgence of such a family meeting.", "It seemed as if they had\nprofited by the short truce, to devote an instant to the purest and best\naffections: the daughters forgetting their fears, and the veteran his\ncares, in the security of the moment.", "Of this scene, Duncan, who in his\neagerness to report his arrival had entered unannounced, stood many\nmoments an unobserved and a delighted spectator.", "But the quick and\ndancing eyes of Alice soon caught a glimpse of his figure reflected from\na glass, and she sprang blushing from her father's knee, exclaiming\naloud,--\n\n\"Major Heyward!\"", "\"What of the lad?\"", "demanded the father; \"I have sent him to crack a\nlittle with the Frenchman.", "\"Our march; the surrender of the place?\"", "\"Shall all be done in a way most honorable to yourselves.\"", "Duncan now turned to explain these proposals to his commander, who heard\nhim with amazement, and a sensibility that was deeply touched by such\nunusual and unexpected generosity.", "\"Go you, Duncan,\" he said; \"go with this marquess, as indeed marquess he\nshould be; go to his marquee and arrange it all.", "I have lived to see two\nthings in my old age, that never did I expect to behold.", "An Englishman\nafraid to support a friend, and a Frenchman too honest to profit by his\nadvantage.\"", "So saying, the veteran again dropped his head to his chest, and returned\nslowly towards the fort, exhibiting, by the dejection of his air, to the\nanxious garrison, a harbinger of evil tidings.", "From the shock of this unexpected blow the haughty feelings of Munro\nnever recovered; but from that moment there commenced a change in his\ndetermined character, which accompanied him to a speedy grave.", "Duncan\nremained to settle the terms of the capitulation.", "He was seen to\nre-enter the works during the first watches of the night, and\nimmediately after a private conference with the commandant, to leave\nthem again, It was then openly announced, that hostilities must\ncease--Munro having signed a treaty, by which the place was to be\nyielded to the enemy, with the morning; the garrison to retain their\narms, their colors, and their baggage, and consequently, according to\nmilitary opinion, their honor." ]

[ "\n \"Weave we the woof.", "The thread is spun.", "The web is wove.", "The work is done.\"", "GRAY.", "The hostile armies, which lay in the wilds of the Horican, passed the\nnight of the 9th of August, 1757, much in the manner they would had they\nencountered on the fairest fields of Europe.", "While the conquered were\nstill, sullen, and dejected, the victors triumphed.", "But there are limits\nalike to grief and joy; and long before the watches of the morning came,\nthe stillness of those boundless woods was only broken by a gay call\nfrom some exulting young Frenchman of the advanced pickets, or a\nmenacing challenge from the fort, which sternly forbade the approach of\nany hostile footsteps before the stipulated moment.", "Even these\noccasional threatening sounds ceased to be heard in that dull hour which\nprecedes the day, at which period a listener might have sought in vain\nany evidence of the presence of those armed powers that then slumbered\non the shores of the \"holy lake.\"", "It was during these moments of deep silence, that the canvas which\nconcealed the entrance to a spacious marquee in the French encampment\nwas shoved aside, and a man issued from beneath the drapery into the\nopen air.", "He was enveloped in a cloak that might have been intended as a\nprotection from the chilling damps of the woods, but which served\nequally well as a mantle, to conceal his person.", "He was permitted to\npass the grenadier, who watched over the slumbers of the French\ncommander, without interruption, the man making the usual salute which\nbetokens military deference, as the other passed swiftly through the\nlittle city of tents, in the direction of William Henry.", "Whenever this\nunknown individual encountered one of the numberless sentinels who\ncrossed his path, his answer was prompt, and as it appeared\nsatisfactory; for he was uniformly allowed to proceed, without further\ninterrogation.", "With the exception of such repeated, but brief interruptions, he had\nmoved, silently, from the centre of the camp, to its most advanced\noutposts, when he drew nigh the soldier who held his watch nearest to\nthe works of the enemy.", "As he approached he was received with the usual\nchallenge,--\n\n\"Qui vive?\"", "\"France,\" was the reply.", "\"Le mot d'ordre?\"", "\"La victoire,\" said the other, drawing so nigh as to be heard in a loud\nwhisper.", "\"C'est bien,\" returned the sentinel, throwing his musket from the charge\nto his shoulder; \"vous vous promenez bien matin, monsieur!\"", "\"Il est necessaire d'etre vigilant, mon enfant,\" the other observed,\ndropping a fold of his cloak, and looking the soldier close in the face,\nas he passed him, still continuing his way towards the British\nfortification.", "The man started; his arms rattled heavily, as he threw\nthem forward, in the lowest and most respectful salute; and when he had\nagain recovered his piece, he turned to walk his post, muttering between\nhis teeth,--\n\n\"Il faut etre vigilant, en verite!", "je crois que nous avons la, un\ncaporal qui ne dort jamais!\"", "The officer proceeded, without affecting to hear the words which escaped\nthe sentinel in his surprise; nor did he again pause until he had\nreached the low strand, and in a somewhat dangerous vicinity to the\nwestern water bastion of the fort.", "The light of an obscure moon was just\nsufficient to render objects, though dim, perceptible in their outlines.", "He, therefore, took the precaution to place himself against the trunk of\na tree, where he leaned for many minutes, and seemed to contemplate the\ndark and silent mounds of the English works in profound attention.", "His\ngaze at the ramparts was not that of a curious or idle spectator; but\nhis looks wandered from point to point, denoting his knowledge of\nmilitary usages, and betraying that his search was not unaccompanied by\ndistrust.", "At length he appeared satisfied; and having cast his eyes\nimpatiently upwards towards the summit of the eastern mountain, as if\nanticipating the approach of the morning, he was in the act of turning\non his footsteps, when a light sound on the nearest angle of the bastion\ncaught his ear, and induced him to remain.", "Just then a figure was seen to approach the edge of the rampart, where\nit stood, apparently contemplating in its turn the distant tents of the\nFrench encampment.", "Its head was then turned towards the east, as though\nequally anxious for the appearance of light, when the form leaned\nagainst the mound, and seemed to gaze upon the glassy expanse of the\nwaters, which, like a submarine firmament, glittered with its thousand\nmimic stars.", "The melancholy air, the hour, together with the vast frame\nof the man who thus leaned, in musing, against the English ramparts,\nleft no doubt as to his person, in the mind of his observant spectator.", "Delicacy, no less than prudence, now urged him to retire; and he had\nmoved cautiously round the body of the tree for that purpose, when\nanother sound drew his attention, and once more arrested his footsteps.", "It was a low and almost inaudible movement of the water, and was\nsucceeded by a grating of pebbles one against the other.", "In a moment he\nsaw a dark form rise, as it were out of the lake, and steal without\nfurther noise to the land, within a few feet of the place where he\nhimself stood.", "A rifle next slowly rose between his eyes and the watery\nmirror; but before it could be discharged his own hand was on the lock.", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed the savage, whose treacherous aim was so singularly\nand so unexpectedly interrupted.", "Without making any reply, the French officer laid his hand on the\nshoulder of the Indian, and led him in profound silence to a distance\nfrom the spot, where their subsequent dialogue might have proved\ndangerous, and where it seemed that one of them, at least, sought a\nvictim.", "Then, throwing open his cloak, so as to expose his uniform and\nthe cross of St. Louis which was suspended at his breast, Montcalm\nsternly demanded,--\n\n\"What means this!", "Does not my son know that the hatchet is buried\nbetween the English and his Canadian Father?\"", "\"What can the Hurons do?\"", "returned the savage, speaking also, though\nimperfectly, in the French language.", "\"Not a warrior has a scalp, and the\npale-faces make friends!\"", "\"Ha!", "Le Renard Subtil!", "Methinks this is an excess of zeal for a friend\nwho was so late an enemy!", "How many suns have set since Le Renard struck\nthe war-post of the English?\"", "\"Where is that sun!\"", "demanded the sullen savage.", "\"Behind the hill; and\nit is dark and cold.", "But when he comes again, it will be bright and\nwarm.", "Le Subtil is the sun of his tribe.", "There have been clouds, and\nmany mountains between him and his nation; but now he shines, and it is\na clear sky!\"", "\"That Le Renard has power with his people, I well know,\" said Montcalm;\n\"for yesterday he hunted for their scalps, and to-day they hear him at\nthe council-fire.\"", "\"Magua is a great chief.\"", "\"Let him prove it, by teaching his nation how to conduct itself towards\nour new friends.\"", "\"Why did the chief of the Canadas bring his young men into the woods,\nand fire his cannon at the earthen house?\"", "demanded the subtle Indian.", "\"To subdue it.", "My master owns the land, and your father has been ordered\nto drive off these English squatters.", "They have consented to go, and now\nhe calls them enemies no longer.\"", "\"'Tis well.", "Magua took the hatchet to color it with blood.", "It is now\nbright; when it is red, it shall be buried.\"", "\"But Magua is pledged not to sully the lilies of France.", "The enemies of\nthe great king across the salt lake are his enemies; his friends, the\nfriends of the Hurons.\"", "\"Friends!\"", "repeated the Indian, in scorn.", "\"Let his father give Magua a\nhand.\"", "Montcalm, who felt that his influence over the warlike tribes he had\ngathered was to be maintained by concession rather than by power,\ncomplied reluctantly with the other's request.", "The savage placed the\nfinger of the French commander on a deep scar in his bosom, and then\nexultingly demanded,--\n\n\"Does my father know that?\"", "\"What warrior does not?", "'tis where a leaden bullet has cut.\"", "\"And this?\"", "continued the Indian, who had turned his naked back to the\nother, his body being without its usual calico mantle.", "\"This!--my son has been sadly injured, here; who has done this?\"", "\"Magua slept hard in the English wigwams, and the sticks have left their\nmark,\" returned the savage, with a hollow laugh, which did not conceal\nthe fierce temper that nearly choked him.", "Then recollecting himself,\nwith sudden and native dignity, he added, \"Go; teach your young men, it\nis peace.", "Le Renard Subtil knows how to speak to a Huron warrior.\"", "Without deigning to bestow further words, or to wait for any answer, the\nsavage cast his rifle into the hollow of his arm, and moved silently\nthrough the encampment towards the woods where his own tribe was known\nto lie.", "Every few yards as he proceeded he was challenged by the\nsentinels; but he stalked sullenly onward, utterly disregarding the\nsummons of the soldiers, who only spared his life because they knew the\nair and tread no less than the obstinate daring of an Indian.", "Montcalm lingered long and melancholy on the strand, where he had been\nleft by his companion, brooding deeply on the temper which his\nungovernable ally had just discovered.", "Already had his fair fame been\ntarnished by one horrid scene, and in circumstances fearfully resembling\nthose under which he now found himself.", "As he mused he became keenly\nsensible of the deep responsibility they assume who disregard the means\nto attain their end, and of all the danger of setting in motion an\nengine which it exceeds human power to control.", "Then shaking off a train\nof reflections that he accounted a weakness in such a moment of triumph,\nhe retraced his steps towards his tent, giving the order as he passed,\nto make the signal that should arouse the army from its slumbers.", "The first tap of the French drums was echoed from the bosom of the fort,\nand presently the valley was filled with the strains of martial music,\nrising long, thrilling, and lively above the rattling accompaniment.", "The\nhorns of the victors sounded merry and cheerful flourishes, until the\nlast laggard of the camp was at his post; but the instant the British\nfifes had blown their shrill signal, they became mute.", "In the meantime\nthe day had dawned, and when the line of the French army was ready to\nreceive its general, the rays of a brilliant sun were glancing along the\nglittering array.", "Then that success, which was already so well known,\nwas officially announced; the favored band who were selected to guard\nthe gates of the fort were detailed, and defiled before their chief; the\nsignal of their approach was given, and all the usual preparations for a\nchange of masters were ordered and executed directly under the guns of\nthe contested works.", "A very different scene presented itself within the lines of the\nAnglo-American army.", "As soon as the warning signal was given, it\nexhibited all the signs of a hurried and forced departure.", "The sullen\nsoldiers shouldered their empty tubes and fell into their places, like\nmen whose blood had been heated by the past contest, and who only\ndesired the opportunity to revenge an indignity which was still wounding\nto their pride, concealed as it was under all the observances of\nmilitary etiquette.", "Women and children ran from place to place, some\nbearing the scanty remnants of their baggage, and others searching in\nthe ranks for those countenances they looked up to for protection.", "Munro appeared among his silent troops firm but dejected.", "It was evident\nthat the unexpected blow had struck deep into his heart, though he\nstruggled to sustain his misfortune with the port of man.", "Duncan was touched at the quiet and impressive exhibition of his grief.", "He had discharged his own duty, and he now pressed to the side of the\nold man, to know in what particular he might serve him.", "\"My daughters,\" was the brief but expressive reply.", "\"Good heavens!", "are not arrangements already made for their convenience?\"", "\"To-day I am only a soldier, Major Heyward,\" said the veteran.", "\"All that\nyou see here, claim alike to be my children.\"", "Duncan had heard enough.", "Without losing one of those moments which had\nnow become so precious, he flew towards the quarters of Munro, in quest\nof the sisters.", "He found them on the threshold of the low edifice,\nalready prepared to depart, and surrounded by a clamorous and weeping\nassemblage of their own sex, that had gathered about the place, with a\nsort of instinctive consciousness that it was the point most likely to\nbe protected.", "Though the cheeks of Cora were pale, and her countenance\nanxious, she had lost none of her firmness; but the eyes of Alice were\ninflamed, and betrayed how long and bitterly she had wept.", "They both,\nhowever, received the young man with undisguised pleasure; the former,\nfor a novelty, being the first to speak.", "\"The fort is lost,\" she said, with a melancholy smile; \"though our good\nname, I trust, remains.\"", "\"'Tis brighter than ever.", "But, dearest Miss Munro, it is time to think\nless of others, and to make some provision for yourself.", "Military\nusage,--pride,--that pride on which you so much value yourself, demands\nthat your father and I should for a little while continue with the\ntroops.", "Then where to seek a proper protector for you against the\nconfusion and chances of such a scene?\"", "\"None is necessary,\" returned Cora; \"who will dare to injure or insult\nthe daughter of such a father, at a time like this?\"", "\"I would not leave you alone,\" continued the youth, looking about him in\na hurried manner, \"for the command of the best regiment in the pay of\nthe king.", "Remember, our Alice is not gifted with all your firmness, and\nGod only knows the terror she might endure.\"", "\"You may be right,\" Cora replied, smiling again, but far more sadly than\nbefore.", "\"Listen!", "chance has already sent us a friend when he is most\nneeded.\"", "Duncan did listen, and on the instant comprehended her meaning.", "The low\nand serious sounds of the sacred music, so well known to the eastern\nprovinces, caught his ear, and instantly drew him to an apartment in an\nadjacent building, which had already been deserted by its customary\ntenants.", "There he found David, pouring out his pious feelings, through\nthe only medium in which he ever indulged.", "Duncan waited, until, by the\ncessation of the movement of the hand, he believed the strain was ended,\nwhen, by touching his shoulder, he drew the attention of the other to\nhimself, and in a few words explained his wishes.", "\"Even so,\" replied the single-minded disciple of the King of Israel,\nwhen the young man had ended; \"I have found much that is comely and\nmelodious in the maidens, and it is fitting that we who have consorted\nin so much peril, should abide together in peace.", "I will attend them,\nwhen I have completed my morning praise, to which nothing is now wanting\nbut the doxology.", "Wilt thou bear a part, friend?", "The metre is common,\nand the tune, 'Southwell.'\"", "Then, extending the little volume, and giving the pitch of the air anew\nwith considerate attention, David recommenced and finished his strains,\nwith a fixedness of manner that it was not easy to interrupt.", "Heyward\nwas fain to wait until the verse was ended; when, seeing David relieving\nhimself from the spectacles, and replacing the book, he continued,--\n\n\"It will be your duty to see that none dare to approach the ladies with\nany rude intention, or to offer insult or taunt at the misfortune of\ntheir brave father.", "In this task you will be seconded by the domestics\nof their household.\"", "\"Even so.\"", "\"It is possible that the Indians and stragglers of the enemy may\nintrude, in which case you will remind them of the terms of the\ncapitulation, and threaten to report their conduct to Montcalm.", "A word\nwill suffice.\"", "\"If not, I have that here which shall,\" returned David, exhibiting his\nbook, with an air in which meekness and confidence were singularly\nblended.", "\"Here are words which, uttered, or rather thundered, with\nproper emphasis, and in measured time, shall quiet the most unruly\ntemper:--\n\n \"'Why rage the heathen furiously!'\"", "--\n\n\"Enough,\" said Heyward, interrupting the burst of his musical\ninvocation: \"we understand each other; it is time that we should now\nassume our respective duties.\"", "Gamut cheerfully assented, and together they sought the females.", "Cora\nreceived her new, and somewhat extraordinary protector, courteously at\nleast; and even the pallid features of Alice lighted again with some of\ntheir native archness as she thanked Heyward for his care.", "Duncan took\noccasion to assure them he had done the best that circumstances\npermitted, and, as he believed, quite enough for the security of their\nfeelings; of danger there was none.", "He then spoke gladly of his\nintention to rejoin them the moment he had led the advance a few miles\ntowards the Hudson, and immediately took his leave.", "By this time the signal of departure had been given, and the head of the\nEnglish column was in motion.", "The sisters started at the sound, and\nglancing their eyes around, they saw the white uniforms of the French\ngrenadiers, who had already taken possession of the gates of the fort.", "At that moment, an enormous cloud seemed to pass suddenly above their\nheads, and looking upward, they discovered that they stood beneath the\nwide folds of the standard of France.", "\"Let us go,\" said Cora; \"this is no longer a fit place for the children\nof an English officer.\"", "Alice clung to the arm of her sister, and together they left the parade,\naccompanied by the moving throng that surrounded them.", "As they passed the gates, the French officers, who had learned their\nrank, bowed often and low, forbearing, however, to intrude those\nattentions which they saw, with peculiar tact, might not be agreeable.", "As every vehicle and each beast of burden was occupied by the sick and\nwounded, Cora had decided to endure the fatigues of a foot march, rather\nthan interfere with their comforts.", "Indeed, many a maimed and feeble\nsoldier was compelled to drag his exhausted limbs in the rear of the\ncolumns, for the want of the necessary means of conveyance, in that\nwilderness.", "The whole, however, was in motion; the weak and wounded,\ngroaning, and in suffering; their comrades, silent and sullen; and the\nwomen and children in terror, they knew not of what.", "As the confused and timid throng left the protecting mounds of the fort,\nand issued on the open plain, the whole scene was at once presented to\ntheir eyes.", "At a little distance on the right, and somewhat in the rear,\nthe French army stood to their arms, Montcalm having collected his\nparties, so soon as his guards had possession of the works.", "They were\nattentive but silent observers of the proceedings of the vanquished,\nfailing in none of the stipulated military honors, and offering no taunt\nor insult, in their success, to their less fortunate foes.", "Living masses\nof the English, to the amount in the whole of near three thousand, were\nmoving slowly across the plain, towards the common centre, and gradually\napproached each other, as they converged to the point of their march, a\nvista cut through the lofty trees, where the road to the Hudson entered\nthe forest.", "Along the sweeping borders of the woods, hung a dark cloud\nof savages, eying the passage of their enemies, and hovering, at a\ndistance, like vultures, who were only kept from swooping on their prey,\nby the presence and restraint of a superior army.", "A few had straggled\namong the conquered columns, where they stalked in sullen discontent;\nattentive, though, as yet, passive observers of the moving multitude.", "The advance, with Heyward at its head, had already reached the defile,\nand was slowly disappearing, when the attention of Cora was drawn to a\ncollection of stragglers, by the sounds of contention.", "A truant\nprovincial was paying the forfeit of his disobedience, by being\nplundered of those very effects which had caused him to desert his place\nin the ranks.", "The man was of powerful frame, and too avaricious to part\nwith his goods without a struggle.", "Individuals from either party\ninterfered; the one side to prevent, and the other to aid in the\nrobbery.", "Voices grew loud and angry, and a hundred savages appeared, as\nit were by magic, where a dozen only had been seen a minute before.", "It\nwas then that Cora saw the form of Magua gliding among his countrymen,\nand speaking with his fatal and artful eloquence.", "The mass of women and\nchildren stopped, and hovered together like alarmed and fluttering\nbirds.", "But the cupidity of the Indian was soon gratified, and the\ndifferent bodies again moved slowly onward.", "The savages now fell back, and seemed content to let their enemies\nadvance without further molestation.", "But as the female crowd approached\nthem, the gaudy colors of a shawl attracted the eyes of a wild and\nuntutored Huron.", "He advanced to seize it, without the least hesitation.", "The woman, more in terror than through love of the ornament, wrapped her\nchild in the coveted article, and folded both more closely to her bosom.", "Cora was in the act of speaking, with an intent to advise the woman to\nabandon the trifle, when the savage relinquished his hold of the shawl,\nand tore the screaming infant from her arms.", "Abandoning everything to\nthe greedy grasp of those around her, the mother darted, with\ndistraction in her mien, to reclaim her child.", "The Indian smiled grimly,\nand extended one hand, in sign of a willingness to exchange, while with\nthe other, he flourished the babe over his head, holding it by the feet\nas if to enhance the value of the ransom.", "\"Here--here--there--all--any--everything!\"", "exclaimed the breathless\nwoman; tearing the lighter articles of dress from her person, with\nill-directed and trembling fingers; \"take all, but give me my babe!\"", "The savage spurned the worthless rags, and perceiving that the shawl had\nalready become a prize to another, his bantering but sullen smile\nchanging to a gleam of ferocity, he dashed the head of the infant\nagainst a rock, and cast its quivering remains to her very feet.", "For an\ninstant, the mother stood, like a statue of despair, looking wildly down\nat the unseemly object, which had so lately nestled in her bosom and\nsmiled in her face; and then she raised her eyes and countenance towards\nheaven, as if calling on God to curse the perpetrator of the foul deed.", "She was spared the sin of such a prayer; for, maddened at his\ndisappointment, and excited at the sight of blood, the Huron mercifully\ndrove his tomahawk into her own brain.", "The mother sank under the blow,\nand fell, grasping at her child, in death, with the same engrossing love\nthat had caused her to cherish it when living.", "At that dangerous moment Magua placed his hands to his mouth, and raised\nthe fatal and appalling whoop.", "The scattered Indians started at the\nwell-known cry, as coursers bound at the signal to quit the goal; and,\ndirectly, there arose such a yell along the plain, and through the\narches of the wood, as seldom burst from human lips before.", "They who\nheard it listened with a curdling horror at the heart, little inferior\nto that dread which may be expected to attend the blasts of the final\nsummons.", "More than two thousand raving savages broke from the forest at the\nsignal, and threw themselves across the fatal plain with instinctive\nalacrity.", "We shall not dwell on the revolting horrors that succeeded.", "Death was everywhere, and in his most terrific and disgusting aspects.", "Resistance only served to inflame the murderers, who inflicted their\nfurious blows long after their victims were beyond the power of their\nresentment.", "The flow of blood might be likened to the outbreaking of a\ntorrent; and, as the natives became heated and maddened by the sight,\nmany among them even kneeled to the earth, and drank freely, exultingly,\nhellishly, of the crimson tide.", "The trained bodies of the troops threw themselves quickly into solid\nmasses, endeavoring to awe their assailants by the imposing appearance\nof a military front.", "The experiment in some measure succeeded, though\nfar too many suffered their unloaded muskets to be torn from their\nhands, in the vain hope of appeasing the savages.", "In such a scene none had leisure to note the fleeting moments.", "It might\nhave been ten minutes (it seemed an age), that the sisters had stood\nriveted to one spot, horror-stricken, and nearly helpless.", "When the\nfirst blow was struck, their screaming companions had pressed upon them\nin a body, rendering flight impossible; and now that fear or death had\nscattered most, if not all, from around them, they saw no avenue open,\nbut such as conducted to the tomahawks of their foes.", "On every side\narose shrieks, groans, exhortations, and curses.", "At this moment Alice\ncaught a glimpse of the vast form of her father, moving rapidly across\nthe plain, in the direction of the French army.", "He was, in truth,\nproceeding to Montcalm, fearless of every danger, to claim the tardy\nescort for which he had before conditioned.", "Fifty glittering axes and\nbarbed spears were offered unheeded at his life, but the savages\nrespected his rank and calmness, even in their fury.", "The dangerous\nweapons were brushed aside by the still nervous arm of the veteran, or\nfell of themselves, after menacing an act that it would seem no one had\ncourage to perform.", "Fortunately, the vindictive Magua was searching for\nhis victim in the very band the veteran had just quitted.", "\"Father--father--we are here!\"", "shrieked Alice, as he passed, at no great\ndistance, without appearing to heed them.", "\"Come to us, father, or we\ndie!\"", "The cry was repeated, and in terms and tones that might have melted a\nheart of stone, but it was unanswered.", "Once, indeed, the old man\nappeared to catch the sounds, for he paused and listened; but Alice had\ndropped senseless on the earth, and Cora had sunk at her side, hovering\nin untiring tenderness over her lifeless form.", "Munro shook his head in\ndisappointment, and proceeded, bent on the high duty of his station.", "\"Lady,\" said Gamut, who, helpless and useless as he was, had not yet\ndreamed of deserting his trust, \"it is the jubilee of the devils, and\nthis is not a meet place for Christians to tarry in.", "Let us up and fly.\"", "\"Go,\" said Cora, still gazing at her unconscious sister; \"save thyself.", "To me thou canst not be of further use.\"", "David comprehended the unyielding character of her resolution, by the\nsimple but expressive gesture that accompanied her words.", "He gazed, for\na moment, at the dusky forms that were acting their hellish rites on\nevery side of him, and his tall person grew more erect, while his chest\nheaved, and every feature swelled, and seemed to speak with the power of\nthe feelings by which he was governed.", "\"If the Jewish boy might tame the evil spirit of Saul by the sound of\nhis harp, and the words of sacred song, it may not be amiss,\" he said,\n\"to try the potency of music here.\"", "Then raising his voice to its highest tones, he poured out a strain so\npowerful as to be heard even amid the din of that bloody field.", "More\nthan one savage rushed towards them, thinking to rifle the unprotected\nsisters of their attire, and bear away their scalps; but when they found\nthis strange and unmoved figure riveted to his post, they paused to\nlisten.", "Astonishment soon changed to admiration, and they passed on to\nother and less courageous victims, openly expressing their satisfaction\nat the firmness with which the white warrior sang his death song.", "Encouraged and deluded by his success, David exerted all his powers to\nextend what he believed so holy an influence.", "The unwonted sounds caught\nthe ears of a distant savage, who flew raging from group to group, like\none who, scorning to touch the vulgar herd, hunted for some victim more\nworthy of his renown.", "It was Magua, who uttered a yell of pleasure when\nhe beheld his ancient prisoners again at his mercy.", "\"Come,\" he said, laying his soiled hands on the dress of Cora, \"the\nwigwam of the Huron is still open.", "Is it not better than this place?\"", "\"Away!\"", "cried Cora, veiling her eyes from his revolting aspect.", "The Indian laughed tauntingly, as he held up his reeking hand, and\nanswered,--\"It is red, but it comes from white veins!\"", "\"Monster!", "there is blood, oceans of blood, upon thy soul; thy spirit has\nmoved this scene.\"", "\"Magua is a great chief!\"", "returned the exulting savage; \"will the dark\nhair go to his tribe?\"", "\"Never!", "strike, if thou wilt, and complete thy revenge.\"", "He hesitated a moment; and then catching the light and senseless form of\nAlice in his arms, the subtle Indian moved swiftly across the plain\ntowards the woods.", "\"Hold!\"", "shrieked Cora, following wildly on his footsteps; \"release the\nchild!", "wretch!", "what is't you do?\"", "But Magua was deaf to her voice; or rather he knew his power, and was\ndetermined to maintain it.", "\"Stay--lady--stay,\" called Gamut, after the unconscious Cora.", "\"The holy\ncharm is beginning to be felt, and soon shalt thou see this horrid\ntumult stilled.\"", "Perceiving that, in his turn, he was unheeded, the faithful David\nfollowed the distracted sister, raising his voice again in sacred song,\nand sweeping the air to the measure, with his long arm, in diligent\naccompaniment.", "In this manner they traversed the plain, through the\nflying, the wounded, and the dead.", "The fierce Huron was, at any time,\nsufficient for himself and the victim that he bore; though Cora would\nhave fallen, more than once, under the blows of her savage enemies, but\nfor the extraordinary being who stalked in her rear, and who now\nappeared to the astonished natives gifted with the protecting spirit of\nmadness.", "Magua, who knew how to avoid the more pressing dangers, and also to\nelude pursuit, entered the woods through a low ravine, where he quickly\nfound the Narragansetts, which the travellers had abandoned so shortly\nbefore, awaiting his appearance, in custody of a savage as fierce and as\nmalign in his expression as himself.", "Laying Alice on one of the horses,\nhe made a sign to Cora to mount the other.", "Notwithstanding the horror excited by the presence of her captor, there\nwas a present relief in escaping from the bloody scene enacting on the\nplain, to which Cora could not be altogether insensible.", "She took her\nseat, and held forth her arms for her sister, with an air of entreaty\nand love that even the Huron could not deny.", "Placing Alice, then, on the\nsame animal with Cora, he seized the bridle, and commenced his route by\nplunging deeper into the forest.", "David, perceiving that he was left\nalone, utterly disregarded, as a subject too worthless even to destroy,\nthrew his long limb across the saddle of the beast they had deserted,\nand made such progress in the pursuit as the difficulties of the path\npermitted.", "They soon began to ascend, but as the motion had a tendency to revive\nthe dormant faculties of her sister, the attention of Cora was too much\ndivided between the tenderest solicitude in her behalf, and in listening\nto the cries which were still too audible on the plain, to note the\ndirection in which they journeyed.", "When, however, they gained the\nflattened surface of the mountain-top, and approached the eastern\nprecipice, she recognized the spot to which she had once before been led\nunder the more friendly auspices of the scout.", "Here Magua suffered them\nto dismount; and, notwithstanding their own captivity, the curiosity\nwhich seems inseparable from horror, induced them to gaze at the\nsickening sight below.", "The cruel work was still unchecked.", "On every side the captured were\nflying before their relentless persecutors, while the armed columns of\nthe Christian king stood fast in an apathy which has never been\nexplained, and which has left an unmovable blot on the otherwise fair\nescutcheon of their leader.", "Nor was the sword of death stayed until\ncupidity got the mastery of revenge.", "Then, indeed, the shrieks of the\nwounded and the yells of their murderers grew less frequent, until,\nfinally, the cries of horror were lost to their ear, or were drowned in\nthe loud, long, and piercing whoops of the triumphant savages." ]

[ "\"Le mot d'ordre?\"", "\"What can the Hurons do?\"", "returned the savage, speaking also, though\nimperfectly, in the French language.", "\"Good heavens!", "are not arrangements already made for their convenience?\"", "But, dearest Miss Munro, it is time to think\nless of others, and to make some provision for yourself.", "A few had straggled\namong the conquered columns, where they stalked in sullen discontent;\nattentive, though, as yet, passive observers of the moving multitude.", "But the cupidity of the Indian was soon gratified, and the\ndifferent bodies again moved slowly onward.", "At that dangerous moment Magua placed his hands to his mouth, and raised\nthe fatal and appalling whoop.", "To me thou canst not be of further use.\"" ]

[ "The mother sank under the blow,\nand fell, grasping at her child, in death, with the same engrossing love\nthat had caused her to cherish it when living.", "Voices grew loud and angry, and a hundred savages appeared, as\nit were by magic, where a dozen only had been seen a minute before.", "But there are limits\nalike to grief and joy; and long before the watches of the morning came,\nthe stillness of those boundless woods was only broken by a gay call\nfrom some exulting young Frenchman of the advanced pickets, or a\nmenacing challenge from the fort, which sternly forbade the approach of\nany hostile footsteps before the stipulated moment.", "\"Come,\" he said, laying his soiled hands on the dress of Cora, \"the\nwigwam of the Huron is still open.", "Without making any reply, the French officer laid his hand on the\nshoulder of the Indian, and led him in profound silence to a distance\nfrom the spot, where their subsequent dialogue might have proved\ndangerous, and where it seemed that one of them, at least, sought a\nvictim.", "returned the exulting savage; \"will the dark\nhair go to his tribe?\"", "But Magua was deaf to her voice; or rather he knew his power, and was\ndetermined to maintain it.", "As he approached he was received with the usual\nchallenge,--\n\n\"Qui vive?\"", "He was enveloped in a cloak that might have been intended as a\nprotection from the chilling damps of the woods, but which served\nequally well as a mantle, to conceal his person.", "To me thou canst not be of further use.\"" ]

[ "The low\nand serious sounds of the sacred music, so well known to the eastern\nprovinces, caught his ear, and instantly drew him to an apartment in an\nadjacent building, which had already been deserted by its customary\ntenants.", "There he found David, pouring out his pious feelings, through\nthe only medium in which he ever indulged.", "Duncan waited, until, by the\ncessation of the movement of the hand, he believed the strain was ended,\nwhen, by touching his shoulder, he drew the attention of the other to\nhimself, and in a few words explained his wishes.", "\"Even so,\" replied the single-minded disciple of the King of Israel,\nwhen the young man had ended; \"I have found much that is comely and\nmelodious in the maidens, and it is fitting that we who have consorted\nin so much peril, should abide together in peace.", "I will attend them,\nwhen I have completed my morning praise, to which nothing is now wanting\nbut the doxology.", "Wilt thou bear a part, friend?", "The metre is common,\nand the tune, 'Southwell.'\"", "Then, extending the little volume, and giving the pitch of the air anew\nwith considerate attention, David recommenced and finished his strains,\nwith a fixedness of manner that it was not easy to interrupt.", "Heyward\nwas fain to wait until the verse was ended; when, seeing David relieving\nhimself from the spectacles, and replacing the book, he continued,--\n\n\"It will be your duty to see that none dare to approach the ladies with\nany rude intention, or to offer insult or taunt at the misfortune of\ntheir brave father.", "In this task you will be seconded by the domestics\nof their household.\"", "\"Even so.\"" ]

[ "\n \"Weave we the woof.", "The thread is spun.", "The web is wove.", "The work is done.\"", "GRAY.", "The hostile armies, which lay in the wilds of the Horican, passed the\nnight of the 9th of August, 1757, much in the manner they would had they\nencountered on the fairest fields of Europe.", "While the conquered were\nstill, sullen, and dejected, the victors triumphed.", "But there are limits\nalike to grief and joy; and long before the watches of the morning came,\nthe stillness of those boundless woods was only broken by a gay call\nfrom some exulting young Frenchman of the advanced pickets, or a\nmenacing challenge from the fort, which sternly forbade the approach of\nany hostile footsteps before the stipulated moment.", "Even these\noccasional threatening sounds ceased to be heard in that dull hour which\nprecedes the day, at which period a listener might have sought in vain\nany evidence of the presence of those armed powers that then slumbered\non the shores of the \"holy lake.\"", "It was during these moments of deep silence, that the canvas which\nconcealed the entrance to a spacious marquee in the French encampment\nwas shoved aside, and a man issued from beneath the drapery into the\nopen air.", "She took her\nseat, and held forth her arms for her sister, with an air of entreaty\nand love that even the Huron could not deny.", "Placing Alice, then, on the\nsame animal with Cora, he seized the bridle, and commenced his route by\nplunging deeper into the forest.", "David, perceiving that he was left\nalone, utterly disregarded, as a subject too worthless even to destroy,\nthrew his long limb across the saddle of the beast they had deserted,\nand made such progress in the pursuit as the difficulties of the path\npermitted.", "They soon began to ascend, but as the motion had a tendency to revive\nthe dormant faculties of her sister, the attention of Cora was too much\ndivided between the tenderest solicitude in her behalf, and in listening\nto the cries which were still too audible on the plain, to note the\ndirection in which they journeyed.", "When, however, they gained the\nflattened surface of the mountain-top, and approached the eastern\nprecipice, she recognized the spot to which she had once before been led\nunder the more friendly auspices of the scout.", "Here Magua suffered them\nto dismount; and, notwithstanding their own captivity, the curiosity\nwhich seems inseparable from horror, induced them to gaze at the\nsickening sight below.", "The cruel work was still unchecked.", "On every side the captured were\nflying before their relentless persecutors, while the armed columns of\nthe Christian king stood fast in an apathy which has never been\nexplained, and which has left an unmovable blot on the otherwise fair\nescutcheon of their leader.", "Nor was the sword of death stayed until\ncupidity got the mastery of revenge.", "Then, indeed, the shrieks of the\nwounded and the yells of their murderers grew less frequent, until,\nfinally, the cries of horror were lost to their ear, or were drowned in\nthe loud, long, and piercing whoops of the triumphant savages." ]

[ "\n \"Why, anything:\n An honorable murderer, if you will;\n For naught I did in hate, but all in honor.\"", "_Othello._\n\n\nThe bloody and inhuman scene rather incidentally mentioned than\ndescribed in the preceding chapter, is conspicuous in the pages of\ncolonial history, by the merited title of \"The Massacre of William\nHenry.\"", "It so far deepened the stain which a previous and very similar\nevent had left upon the reputation of the French commander, that it was\nnot entirely erased by his early and glorious death.", "It is now becoming\nobscured by time; and thousands, who know that Montcalm died like a hero\non the plains of Abraham, have yet to learn how much he was deficient in\nthat moral courage without which no man can be truly great.", "Pages might\nbe written to prove, from this illustrious example, the defects of human\nexcellence; to show how easy it is for generous sentiments, high\ncourtesy, and chivalrous courage, to lose their influence beneath the\nchilling blight of selfishness, and to exhibit to the world a man who\nwas great in all the minor attributes of character, but who was found\nwanting when it became necessary to prove how much principle is superior\nto policy.", "But the task would exceed our prerogatives; and, as history,\nlike love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of\nimaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint Veran will be\nviewed by posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while\nhis cruel apathy on the shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be\nforgotten.", "Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister muse,\nwe shall at once retire from her sacred precincts, within the proper\nlimits of our own humble vocation.", "The third day from the capture of the fort was drawing to a close, but\nthe business of the narrative must still detain the reader on the shores\nof the \"holy lake.\"", "When last seen, the environs of the works were\nfilled with violence and uproar.", "They were now possessed by stillness\nand death.", "The blood-stained conquerors had departed; and their camp,\nwhich had so lately rung with the merry rejoicings of a victorious army,\nlay a silent and deserted city of huts.", "The fortress was a smouldering\nruin; charred rafters, fragments of exploded artillery, and rent\nmason-work, covering its earthen mounds in confused disorder.", "A frightful change had also occurred in the season.", "The sun had hid its\nwarmth behind an impenetrable mass of vapor, and hundreds of human\nforms, which had blackened beneath the fierce heats of August, were\nstiffening in their deformity, before the blasts of a premature\nNovember.", "The curling and spotless mists, which had been seen sailing\nabove the hills towards the north, were now returning in an interminable\ndusky sheet, that was urged along by the fury of a tempest.", "The crowded\nmirror of the Horican was gone; and, in its place, the green and angry\nwaters lashed the shores, as if indignantly casting back its impurities\nto the polluted strand.", "Still the clear fountain retained a portion of\nits charmed influence, but it reflected only the sombre gloom that fell\nfrom the impending heavens.", "That humid and congenial atmosphere which\ncommonly adorned the view, veiling its harshness, and softening its\nasperities, had disappeared, and the northern air poured across the\nwaste of water so harsh and unmingled, that nothing was left to be\nconjectured by the eye, or fashioned by the fancy.", "The fiercer element had cropped the verdure of the plain, which looked\nas though it were scathed by the consuming lightning.", "But, here and\nthere, a dark green tuft rose in the midst of the desolation; the\nearliest fruits of a soil that had been fattened with human blood.", "The\nwhole landscape, which, seen by a favoring light, and in a genial\ntemperature, had been found so lovely, appeared now like some pictured\nallegory of life, in which objects were arrayed in their harshest but\ntruest colors, and without the relief of any shadowing.", "The solitary and arid blades of grass arose from the passing gusts\nfearfully perceptible; the bold and rocky mountains were too distinct in\ntheir barrenness, and the eye even sought relief, in vain, by attempting\nto pierce the illimitable void of heaven, which was shut to its gaze by\nthe dusky sheet of ragged and driving vapor.", "The wind blew unequally; sometimes sweeping heavily along the ground,\nseeming to whisper its moanings in the cold ears of the dead, then\nrising in a shrill and mournful whistling, it entered the forest with a\nrush that filled the air with the leaves and branches it scattered in\nits path.", "Amid the unnatural shower, a few hungry ravens struggled with\nthe gale; but no sooner was the green ocean of woods, which stretched\nbeneath them, passed, than they gladly stopped, at random, to their\nhideous banquet.", "In short, it was the scene of wildness and desolation; and it appeared\nas if all who had profanely entered it had been stricken, at a blow, by\nthe relentless arm of death.", "But the prohibition had ceased; and for the\nfirst time since the perpetrators of those foul deeds which had assisted\nto disfigure the scene were gone, living human beings had now presumed\nto approach the place.", "About an hour before the setting of the sun, on the day already\nmentioned, the forms of five men might have been seen issuing from the\nnarrow vista of trees, where the path to the Hudson entered the forest,\nand advancing in the direction of the ruined works.", "At first their\nprogress was slow and guarded, as though they entered with reluctance\namid the horrors of the spot, or dreaded the renewal of its frightful\nincidents.", "A light figure preceded the rest of the party, with the\ncaution and activity of a native; ascending every hillock to\nreconnoitre, and indicating, by gestures, to his companions, the route\nhe deemed it most prudent to pursue.", "Nor were those in the rear wanting\nin every caution and foresight known to forest warfare.", "One among them,\nhe also was an Indian, moved a little on one flank, and watched the\nmargin of the woods, with eyes long accustomed to read the smallest sign\nof danger.", "The remaining three were white, though clad in vestments\nadapted, both in quality and color, to their present hazardous\npursuit,--that of hanging on the skirts of a retiring army in the\nwilderness.", "The effects produced by the appalling sights that constantly arose in\ntheir path to the lake shore, were as different as the characters of the\nrespective individuals who composed the party.", "The youth in front threw\nserious but furtive glances at the mangled victims, as he stepped\nlightly across the plain, afraid to exhibit his feelings, and yet too\ninexperienced to quell entirely their sudden and powerful influence.", "His\nred associate, however, was superior to such a weakness.", "He passed the\ngroups of dead with a steadiness of purpose, and an eye so calm, that\nnothing but long and inveterate practice could enable him to maintain.", "The sensations produced in the minds of even the white men were\ndifferent, though uniformly sorrowful.", "One, whose gray locks and\nfurrowed lineaments, blending with a martial air and tread, betrayed, in\nspite of the disguise of a woodsman's dress, a man long experienced in\nscenes of war, was not ashamed to groan aloud, whenever a spectacle of\nmore than usual horror came under his view.", "The young man at his elbow\nshuddered, but seemed to suppress his feelings in tenderness to his\ncompanion.", "Of them all, the straggler who brought up the rear appeared\nalone to betray his real thoughts, without fear of observation or dread\nof consequences.", "He gazed at the most appalling sight with eyes and\nmuscles that knew not how to waver, but with execrations so bitter and\ndeep as to denote how much he denounced the crime of his enemies.", "The reader will perceive at once, in these respective characters, the\nMohicans, and their white friend, the scout; together with Munro and\nHeyward.", "It was, in truth, the father in quest of his children, attended\nby the youth who felt so deep a stake in their happiness, and those\nbrave and trusty foresters, who had already proved their skill and\nfidelity through the trying scenes related.", "When Uncas, who moved in front, had reached the centre of the plain, he\nraised a cry that drew his companions in a body to the spot.", "The young\nwarrior had halted over a group of females who lay in a cluster, a\nconfused mass of dead.", "Notwithstanding the revolting horror of the\nexhibition, Munro and Heyward flew towards the festering heap,\nendeavoring, with a love that no unseemliness could extinguish, to\ndiscover whether any vestiges of those they sought were to be seen among\nthe tattered and many-colored garments.", "The father and lover found\ninstant relief in the search; though each was condemned again to\nexperience the misery of an uncertainty that was hardly less\ninsupportable than the most revolting truth.", "They were standing, silent\nand thoughtful, around the melancholy pile, when the scout approached.", "Eying the sad spectacle with an angry countenance, the sturdy woodsman,\nfor the first time since his entering the plain, spoke intelligibly and\naloud:--\n\n\"I have been on many a shocking field, and have followed a trail of\nblood for many miles,\" he said, \"but never have I found the hand of the\ndevil so plain as it is here to be seen!", "Revenge is an Indian feeling,\nand all who know me know that there is no cross in my veins; but this\nmuch will I say--here, in the face of heaven, and with the power of the\nLord so manifest in this howling wilderness,--that should these\nFrenchers ever trust themselves again within the range of a ragged\nbullet, there is one rifle shall play its part, so long as flint will\nfire or powder burn!", "I leave the tomahawk and knife to such as have a\nnatural gift to use them.", "What say you, Chingachgook,\" he added in\nDelaware; \"shall the Hurons boast of this to their women when the deep\nsnows come?\"", "A gleam of resentment flashed across the dark lineaments of the Mohican\nchief: he loosened his knife in its sheath; and then turning calmly from\nthe sight, his countenance settled into a repose as deep as if he never\nknew the instigation of passion.", "\"Montcalm!", "Montcalm!\"", "continued the deeply resentful and less\nself-restrained scout; \"they say a time must come, when all the deeds\ndone in the flesh will be seen at a single look; and that by eyes\ncleared from mortal infirmities.", "Woe betide the wretch who is born to\nbehold this plain, with the judgment hanging about his soul!", "Ha--as I am\na man of white blood, yonder lies a redskin, without the hair of his\nhead where nature rooted it!", "Look to him, Delaware; it may be one of\nyour missing people; and he should have burial like a stout warrior.", "I\nsee it in your eye, Sagamore: a Huron pays for this, afore the fall\nwinds have blown away the scent of the blood!\"", "Chingachgook approached the mutilated form, and turning it over, he\nfound the distinguishing marks of one of those six allied tribes, or\nnations, as they were called, who, while they fought in the English\nranks, were so deadly hostile to his own people.", "Spurning the loathsome\nobject with his foot, he turned from it with the same indifference he\nwould have quitted a brute carcass.", "The scout comprehended the action,\nand very deliberately pursued his own way, continuing, however, his\ndenunciations against the French commander in the same resentful strain.", "\"Nothing but vast wisdom and unlimited power should dare to sweep off\nmen in multitudes,\" he added; \"for it is only the one that can know the\nnecessity of the judgment; and what is there, short of the other, that\ncan replace the creatures of the Lord?", "I hold it a sin to kill the\nsecond buck afore the first is eaten, unless a march in the front, or an\nambushment, be contemplated.", "It is a different matter with a few\nwarriors in open and rugged fight, for 'tis their gift to die with the\nrifle or the tomahawk in hand; according as their natures may happen to\nbe, white or red.", "Uncas, come this way, lad, and let the ravens settle\nupon the Mingo.", "I know, from often seeing it, that they have a craving\nfor the flesh of an Oneida; and it is as well to let the bird follow the\ngift of its natural appetite.\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed the young Mohican, rising on the extremities of his\nfeet, and gazing intently in his front, frightening the raven to some\nother prey, by the sound and the action.", "\"What is it, boy?\"", "whispered the scout, lowering his tall form into a\ncrouching attitude, like a panther about to take his leap; \"God send it\nbe a tardy Frencher, skulking for plunder.", "I do believe 'Killdeer' would\ntake an oncommon range to-day!\"", "Uncas, without making any reply, bounded away from the spot, and in the\nnext instant he was seen tearing from a bush, and waving in triumph a\nfragment of the green riding-veil of Cora.", "The movement, the exhibition,\nand the cry, which again burst from the lips of the young Mohican,\ninstantly drew the whole party about him.", "\"My child!\"", "said Munro, speaking quick and wildly \"give me my child!\"", "\"Uncas will try,\" was the short and touching answer.", "The simple but meaning assurance was lost on the father, who seized the\npiece of gauze, and crushed it in his hand, while his eyes roamed\nfearfully among the bushes, as if he equally dreaded and hoped for the\nsecrets they might reveal.", "\"Here are no dead,\" said Heyward; \"the storm seems not to have passed\nthis way.\"", "\"That's manifest; and clearer than the heavens above our heads,\"\nreturned the undisturbed scout; \"but either she, or they that have\nrobbed her, have passed the bush; for I remember the rag she wore to\nhide a face that all did love to look upon.", "Uncas, you are right; the\ndark-hair has been here, and she has fled like a frightened fawn, to the\nwood; none who could fly would remain to be murdered.", "Let us search for\nthe marks she left; for to Indian eyes, I sometimes think even a\nhumming-bird leaves his trail in the air.\"", "The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and the scout had\nhardly done speaking, before the former raised a cry of success from the\nmargin of the forest.", "On reaching the spot, the anxious party perceived\nanother portion of the veil fluttering on the lower branch of a beech.", "\"Softly, softly,\" said the scout, extending his long rifle in front of\nthe eager Heyward; \"we now know our work, but the beauty of the trail\nmust not be deformed.", "A step too soon may give us hours of trouble.", "We\nhave them, though; that much is beyond denial.\"", "\"Bless ye, bless ye, worthy man!\"", "exclaimed Munro; \"whither, then, have\nthey fled, and where are my babes?\"", "\"The path they have taken depends on many chances.", "If they have gone\nalone, they are quite as likely to move in a circle as straight, and\nthey may be within a dozen miles of us; but if the Hurons, or any of the\nFrench Indians, have laid hands on them, 'tis probable they are now near\nthe borders of the Canadas.", "But what matters that?\"", "continued the\ndeliberate scout, observing the powerful anxiety and disappointment the\nlisteners exhibited; \"here are the Mohicans and I on one end of the\ntrail, and, rely on it, we find the other, though they should be a\nhundred leagues asunder!", "Gently, gently, Uncas, you are as impatient as\na man in the settlements; you forget that light feet leave but faint\nmarks!\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed Chingachgook, who had been occupied in examining an\nopening that had been evidently made through the low underbrush, which\nskirted the forest; and who now stood erect, as he pointed downwards, in\nthe attitude and with the air of a man who beheld a disgusting serpent.", "\"Here is the palpable impression of the footstep of a man,\" cried\nHeyward, bending over the indicated spot; \"he has trod in the margin of\nthis pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken.", "They are captives.\"", "\"Better so than left to starve in the wilderness,\" returned the scout;\n\"and they will leave a wider trail.", "I would wager fifty beaver skins\nagainst as many flints, that the Mohicans and I enter their wigwams\nwithin the month!", "Stoop to it, Uncas, and try what you can make of the\nmoccasin; for moccasin it plainly is, and no shoe.\"", "The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing the scattered leaves\nfrom around the place, he examined it with much of that sort of scrutiny\nthat a money-dealer, in these days of pecuniary doubts, would bestow on\na suspected due-bill.", "At length he arose from his knees, satisfied with\nthe result of the examination.", "\"Well, boy,\" demanded the attentive scout, \"what does it say?", "can you\nmake anything of the tell-tale?\"", "\"Le Renard Subtil!\"", "\"Ha!", "that rampaging devil again!", "there never will be an end of his\nloping, till 'Killdeer' has said a friendly word to him.\"", "Heyward reluctantly admitted the truth of this intelligence, and now\nexpressed rather his hopes than his doubts by saying,--\n\n\"One moccasin is so much like another, it is probable there is some\nmistake.\"", "\"One moccasin like another!", "you may as well say that one foot is like\nanother; though we all know that some are long, and others short; some\nbroad, and others narrow; some with high, and some with low insteps;\nsome in-toed, and some out.", "One moccasin is no more like another than\none book is like another; though they who can read in one are seldom\nable to tell the marks of the other.", "Which is all ordered for the best,\ngiving to every man his natural advantages.", "Let me get down to it,\nUncas; neither book nor moccasin is the worse for having two opinions,\ninstead of one.\"", "The scout stooped to the task, and instantly added,\n\"You are right, boy; here is the patch we saw so often in the other\nchase.", "And the fellow will drink when he can get an opportunity: your\ndrinking Indian always learns to walk with a wider toe than the natural\nsavage, it being the gift of a drunkard to straddle, whether of white or\nred skin.", "'Tis just the length and breadth too!", "look at it, Sagamore:\nyou measured the prints more than once, when we hunted the varmints from\nGlenn's to the health-springs.\"", "Chingachgook complied; and after finishing his short examination, he\narose, and with a quiet demeanor, he merely pronounced the word--\n\n\"Magua!\"", "\"Ay, 'tis a settled thing; here then have passed the dark-hair and\nMagua.\"", "\"And not Alice?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Of her we have not yet seen the signs,\" returned the scout, looking\nclosely around at the trees, the bushes, and the ground.", "\"What have we\nthere?", "Uncas, bring hither the thing you see dangling from yonder\nthorn-bush.\"", "When the Indian had complied, the scout received the prize, and holding\nit on high, he laughed in his silent but heartfelt manner.", "\"'Tis the tooting we'pon of the singer!", "now we shall have a trail a\npriest might travel,\" he said.", "\"Uncas, look for the marks of a shoe that\nis long enough to uphold six feet two of tottering human flesh.", "I begin\nto have some hopes of the fellow, since he has given up squalling to\nfollow some better trade.\"", "\"At least, he has been faithful to his trust,\" said Heyward; \"and Cora\nand Alice are not without a friend.\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hawkeye, dropping his rifle, and leaning on it with an air\nof visible contempt, \"he will do their singing.", "Can he slay a buck for\ntheir dinner; journey by the moss on the beeches, or cut the throat of a\nHuron?", "If not, the first catbird[22] he meets is the cleverest of the\ntwo.", "Well, boy, any signs of such a foundation?\"", "\"Here is something like the footstep of one who has worn a shoe; can it\nbe that of our friend?\"", "\"Touch the leaves lightly, or you'll disconsart the formation.", "That!", "that is the print of a foot, but 'tis the dark-hair's; and small it is,\ntoo, for one of such a noble height and grand appearance.", "The singer\nwould cover it with his heel.\"", "\"Where!", "let me look on the footsteps of my child,\" said Munro, shoving\nthe bushes aside, and bending fondly over the nearly obliterated\nimpression.", "Though the tread, which had left the mark, had been light\nand rapid, it was still plainly visible.", "The aged soldier examined it\nwith eyes that grew dim as he gazed; nor did he rise from his stooping\nposture until Heyward saw that he had watered the trace of his\ndaughter's passage with a scalding tear.", "Willing to divert a distress\nwhich threatened each moment to break through the restraint of\nappearances, by giving the veteran something to do, the young man said\nto the scout,--\n\n\"As we now possess these infallible signs, let us commence our march.", "A\nmoment, at such a time, will appear an age to the captives.\"", "\"It is not the swiftest leaping deer that gives the longest chase,\"\nreturned Hawkeye, without moving his eyes from the different marks that\nhad come under his view; \"we know that the rampaging Huron has\npassed,--and the dark hair,--and the singer,--but where is she of the\nyellow locks and blue eyes?", "Though little, and far from being as bold as\nher sister, she is fair to the view, and pleasant in discourse.", "Has she\nno friend, that none care for her?\"", "\"God forbid she should ever want hundreds!", "Are we not now in her\npursuit?", "for one, I will never cease the search till she be found.\"", "\"In that case we may have to journey by different paths; for here she\nhas not passed, light and little as her footstep would be.\"", "Heyward drew back, all his ardor to proceed seeming to vanish on the\ninstant.", "Without attending to this sudden change in the other's humor,\nthe scout, after musing a moment, continued,--\n\n\"There is no woman in this wilderness could leave such a print as that,\nbut the dark-hair or her sister.", "We know that the first has been here,\nbut where are the signs of the other?", "Let us push deeper on the trail,\nand if nothing offers, we must go back to the plain and strike another\nscent.", "Move on, Uncas, and keep your eyes on the dried leaves.", "I will\nwatch the bushes, while your father shall run with a low nose to the\nground.", "Move on, friends; the sun is getting behind the hills.\"", "\"Is there nothing that I can do?\"", "demanded the anxious Heyward.", "\"You!\"", "repeated the scout, who, with his red friends, was already\nadvancing in the order he had prescribed; \"yes, you can keep in our\nrear, and be careful not to cross the trail.\"", "Before they had proceeded many rods, the Indians stopped, and appeared\nto gaze at some signs on the earth, with more than their usual keenness.", "Both father and son spoke quick and loud, now looking at the object of\ntheir mutual admiration, and now regarding each other with the most\nunequivocal pleasure.", "\"They have found the little foot!\"", "exclaimed the scout, moving forward,\nwithout attending further to his own portion of the duty.", "\"What have we\nhere?", "An ambushment has been planted in the spot?", "No, by the truest\nrifle on the frontiers, here have been them one-sided horses again!", "Now\nthe whole secret is out, and all is plain as the north star at midnight.", "Yes, here they have mounted.", "There the beasts have been bound to a\nsapling, in waiting; and yonder runs the broad path away to the north,\nin full sweep for the Canadas.\"", "\"But still there are no signs of Alice--of the younger Miss\nMunro,\"--said Duncan.", "\"Unless the shining bauble Uncas has just lifted from the ground should\nprove one.", "Pass it this way, lad, that we may look at it.\"", "Heyward instantly knew it for a trinket that Alice was fond of wearing,\nand which he recollected, with the tenacious memory of a lover, to have\nseen, on the fatal morning of the massacre, dangling from the fair neck\nof his mistress.", "He seized the highly prized jewel; and as he proclaimed\nthe fact, it vanished from the eyes of the wondering scout, who in vain\nlooked for it on the ground, long after it was warmly pressed against\nthe beating heart of Duncan.", "\"Pshaw!\"", "said the disappointed Hawkeye, ceasing to rake the leaves with\nthe breech of his rifle; \"'tis a certain sign of age, when the sight\nbegins to weaken.", "Such a glittering gewgaw, and not to be seen!", "Well,\nwell, I can squint along a clouded barrel yet, and that is enough to\nsettle all disputes between me and the Mingos.", "I should like to find the\nthing too, if it were only to carry it to the right owner, and that\nwould be bringing the two ends of what I call a long trail\ntogether,--for by this time the broad St. Lawrence, or, perhaps, the\nGreat Lakes themselves, are atwixt us.\"", "\"So much the more reason why we should not delay our march,\" returned\nHeyward; \"let us proceed.\"", "\"Young blood and hot blood, they say, are much the same thing.", "We are\nnot about to start on a squirrel hunt, or to drive a deer into the\nHorican, but to outlie for days and nights, and to stretch across a\nwilderness where the feet of men seldom go, and where no bookish\nknowledge would carry you through harmless.", "An Indian never starts on\nsuch an expedition without smoking over his council-fire; and though a\nman of white blood, I honor their customs in this particular, seeing\nthat they are deliberate and wise.", "We will, therefore, go back, and\nlight our fire to-night in the ruins of the old fort, and in the morning\nwe shall be fresh, and ready to undertake our work like men, and not\nlike babbling women or eager boys.\"", "Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that altercation would be\nuseless.", "Munro had again sunk into that sort of apathy which had beset\nhim since his late overwhelming misfortunes, and from which he was\napparently to be roused only by some new and powerful excitement.", "Making\na merit of necessity, the young man took the veteran by the arm, and\nfollowed in the footsteps of the Indians and the scout, who had already\nbegun to retrace the path which conducted them to the plain.", "\"_Salar._--Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his\n flesh; what's that good for?\"", "\"_Shy._--To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will\n feed my revenge.\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe shades of evening had come to increase the dreariness of the place,\nwhen the party entered the ruins of William Henry.", "The scout and his\ncompanions immediately made their preparations to pass the night there;\nbut with an earnestness and sobriety of demeanor, that betrayed how much\nthe unusual horrors they had just witnessed worked on even their\npractised feelings.", "A few fragments of rafters were reared against a\nblackened wall; and when Uncas had covered them slightly with brush, the\ntemporary accommodations were deemed sufficient.", "The young Indian\npointed towards his rude hut, when his labor was ended; and Heyward, who\nunderstood the meaning of the silent gesture, gently urged Munro to\nenter.", "Leaving the bereaved old man alone with his sorrows, Duncan\nimmediately returned to the open air, too much excited himself to seek\nthe repose he had recommended to his veteran friend.", "While Hawkeye and the Indians lighted their fire, and took their\nevening's repast, a frugal meal of dried bear's meat, the young man paid\na visit to that curtain of the dilapidated fort which looked out on the\nsheet of the Horican.", "The wind had fallen, and the waves were already\nrolling on the sandy beach beneath him, in a more regular and tempered\nsuccession.", "The clouds, as if tired of their furious chase, were\nbreaking asunder; the heavier volumes, gathering in black masses about\nthe horizon, while the lighter scud still hurried above the water, or\neddied among the tops of the mountains, like broken flights of birds,\nhovering around their roosts.", "Here and there, a red and fiery star\nstruggled through the drifting vapor, furnishing a lurid gleam of\nbrightness to the dull aspect of the heavens.", "Within the bosom of the\nencircling hills, an impenetrable darkness had already settled; and the\nplain lay like a vast and deserted charnel-house, without omen or\nwhisper to disturb the slumbers of its numerous and hapless tenants.", "Of this scene, so chillingly in accordance with the past, Duncan stood\nfor many minutes a rapt observer.", "His eyes wandered from the bosom of\nthe mound, where the foresters were seated around their glimmering fire,\nto the fainter light which still lingered in the skies, and then rested\nlong and anxiously on the embodied gloom, which lay like a dreary void\non that side of him where the dead reposed.", "He soon fancied that\ninexplicable sounds arose from the place, though so indistinct and\nstolen, as to render not only their nature but even their existence\nuncertain.", "Ashamed of his apprehensions, the young man turned towards\nthe water, and strove to divert his attentions to the mimic stars that\ndimly glimmered on its moving surface.", "Still, his too conscious ears\nperformed their ungrateful duty, as if to warn him of some lurking\ndanger.", "At length a swift trampling seemed quite audibly to rush athwart\nthe darkness.", "Unable any longer to quiet his uneasiness, Duncan spoke in\na low voice to the scout, requesting him to ascend the mound to the\nplace where he stood.", "Hawkeye threw his rifle across an arm, and\ncomplied, but with an air so unmoved and calm, as to prove how much he\ncounted on the security of their position.", "\"Listen!\"", "said Duncan, when the other placed himself deliberately at his\nelbow: \"there are suppressed noises on the plain which may show that\nMontcalm has not yet entirely deserted his conquest.\"", "\"Then ears are better than eyes,\" said the undisturbed scout, who,\nhaving just deposited a portion of bear between his grinders, spoke\nthick and slow, like one whose mouth was doubly occupied.", "\"I, myself,\nsaw him caged in Ty, with all his host; for your Frenchers, when they\nhave done a clever thing, like to get back, and have a dance, or a\nmerry-making, with the women over their success.\"", "\"I know not.", "An Indian seldom sleeps in war, and plunder may keep a\nHuron here after his tribe has departed.", "It would be well to extinguish\nthe fire, and have a watch--listen!", "you hear the noise I mean!\"", "\"An Indian more rarely lurks about the graves.", "Though ready to slay, and\nnot over-regardful of the means, he is commonly content with the scalp,\nunless when blood is hot, and temper up; but after the spirit is once\nfairly gone, he forgets his enmity, and is willing to let the dead find\ntheir natural rest.", "Speaking of spirits, Major, are you of opinion that\nthe heaven of a redskin and of us whites will be one and the same?\"", "\"No doubt--no doubt.", "I thought I heard it again!", "or was it the rustling\nof the leaves in the top of the beech?\"", "\"For my own part,\" continued Hawkeye, turning his face, for a moment, in\nthe direction indicated by Heyward, but with a vacant and careless\nmanner, \"I believe that paradise is ordained for happiness; and that men\nwill be indulged in it according to their dispositions and gifts.", "I\ntherefore judge that a redskin is not far from the truth when he\nbelieves he is to find them glorious hunting-grounds of which his\ntraditions tell; nor, for that matter, do I think it would be any\ndisparagement to a man without a cross to pass his time--\"\n\n\"You hear it again?\"", "interrupted Duncan.", "\"Ay, ay; when food is scarce, and when food is plenty, a wolf grows\nbold,\" said the unmoved scout.", "\"There would be picking, too, among the\nskins of the devils, if there was light and time for the sport.", "But,\nconcerning the life that is to come, major: I have heard preachers say,\nin the settlements, that heaven was a place of rest.", "Now men's minds\ndiffer as to their ideas of enjoyment.", "For myself, and I say it with\nreverence to the ordering of Providence, it would be no great indulgence\nto be kept shut up in those mansions of which they preach, having a\nnatural longing for motion and the chase.\"", "Duncan, who was now made to understand the nature of the noises he had\nheard, answered with more attention to the subject which the humor of\nthe scout had chosen for discussion, by saying,--\n\n\"It is difficult to account for the feelings that may attend the last\ngreat change.\"", "\"It would be a change, indeed, for a man who has passed his days in the\nopen air,\" returned the single-minded scout; \"and who has so often\nbroken his fast on the head-waters of the Hudson, to sleep within sound\nof the roaring Mohawk.", "But it is a comfort to know we serve a merciful\nMaster, though we do it each after his fashion, and with great tracts of\nwilderness atween us--what goes there?\"", "\"Is it not the rushing of the wolves you have mentioned?\"", "Hawkeye slowly shook his head, and beckoned for Duncan to follow him to\na spot, to which the glare from the fire did not extend.", "When he had\ntaken this precaution, the scout placed himself in an attitude of\nintense attention, and listened long and keenly for a repetition of the\nlow sound that had so unexpectedly startled him.", "His vigilance, however,\nseemed exercised in vain; for, after a fruitless pause, he whispered to\nDuncan,--\n\n\"We must give a call to Uncas.", "The boy has Indian senses, and may hear\nwhat is hid from us; for being a white-skin, I will not deny my nature.\"", "The young Mohican, who was conversing in a low voice with his father,\nstarted as he heard the moaning of an owl, and springing on his feet he\nlooked towards the black mounds, as if seeking the place whence the\nsounds proceeded.", "The scout repeated the call, and in a few moments,\nDuncan saw the figure of Uncas stealing cautiously along the rampart, to\nthe spot where they stood.", "Hawkeye explained his wishes in a very few words, which were spoken in\nthe Delaware tongue.", "So soon as Uncas was in possession of the reason\nwhy he was summoned, he threw himself flat on the turf; where, to the\neyes of Duncan, he appeared to lie quiet and motionless.", "Surprised at\nthe immovable attitude of the young warrior, and curious to observe the\nmanner in which he employed his faculties to obtain the desired\ninformation, Heyward advanced a few steps, and bent over the dark\nobject, on which he had kept his eyes riveted.", "Then it was he discovered\nthat the form of Uncas had vanished, and that he beheld only the dark\noutline of an inequality in the embankment.", "\"What has become of the Mohican?\"", "he demanded of the scout, stepping\nback in amazement; \"it was here that I saw him fall, and I could have\nsworn that here he yet remained.\"", "\"Hist!", "speak lower; for we know not what ears are open, and the Mingos\nare a quick-witted breed.", "As for Uncas, he is out on the plain, and the\nMaquas, if any such are about us, will find their equal.\"", "\"You think that Montcalm has not called off all his Indians?", "Let us give\nthe alarm to our companions, that we may stand to our arms.", "Here are\nfive of us, who are not unused to meet an enemy.\"", "\"Not a word to either, as you value life.", "Look at the Sagamore, how like\na grand Indian chief he sits by the fire.", "If there are any skulkers out\nin the darkness, they will never discover by his countenance that we\nsuspect danger at hand.\"", "\"But they may discover him, and it will prove his death.", "His person can\nbe too plainly seen by the light of that fire, and he will become the\nfirst and most certain victim.\"", "\"It is undeniable that now you speak the truth,\" returned the scout,\nbetraying more anxiety than was usual; \"yet what can be done?", "A single\nsuspicious look might bring on an attack before we are ready to receive\nit.", "He knows, by the call I gave to Uncas, that we have struck a scent:\nI will tell him that we are on the trail of the Mingos; his Indian\nnature will teach him how to act.\"", "The scout applied his fingers to his mouth, and raised a low hissing\nsound, that caused Duncan, at first, to start aside, believing that he\nheard a serpent.", "The head of Chingachgook was resting on a hand, as he\nsat musing by himself; but the moment he heard the warning of the animal\nwhose name he bore, it arose to an upright position and his dark eyes\nglanced swiftly and keenly on every side of him.", "With this sudden and\nperhaps involuntary movement, every appearance of surprise or alarm\nended.", "His rifle lay untouched, and apparently unnoticed, within reach\nof his hand.", "The tomahawk that he had loosened in his belt for the sake\nof ease, was even suffered to fall from its usual situation to the\nground, and his form seemed to sink, like that of a man whose nerves and\nsinews were suffered to relax for the purpose of rest.", "Cunningly\nresuming his former position, though with a change of hands, as if the\nmovement had been made merely to relieve the limb, the native awaited\nthe result with a calmness and fortitude that none but an Indian warrior\nwould have known how to exercise.", "But Heyward saw that while to a less instructed eye the Mohican chief\nappeared to slumber, his nostrils were expanded, his head was turned a\nlittle to one side, as if to assist the organs of hearing, and that his\nquick and rapid glances ran incessantly over every object, within the\npower of his vision.", "\"See the noble fellow!\"", "whispered Hawkeye, pressing the arm of Heyward;\n\"he knows that a look or a motion might discansart our schemes, and put\nus at the mercy of them imps--\"\n\nHe was interrupted by the flash and report of a rifle.", "The air was\nfilled with sparks of fire around that spot where the eyes of Heyward\nwere still fastened with admiration and wonder.", "A second look told him\nthat Chingachgook had disappeared in the confusion.", "In the meantime the\nscout had thrown forward his rifle, like one prepared for service, and\nawaited impatiently the moment when an enemy might rise to view.", "But\nwith the solitary and fruitless attempt made on the life of\nChingachgook, the attack appeared to have terminated.", "Once or twice the\nlisteners thought they could distinguish the distant rustling of bushes,\nas bodies of some unknown description rushed through them; nor was it\nlong before Hawkeye pointed out the \"scampering of the wolves,\" as they\nfled precipitately before the passage of some intruder on their proper\ndomains.", "After an impatient and breathless pause, a plunge was heard in\nthe water, and it was immediately followed by the report of another\nrifle.", "\"There goes Uncas!\"", "said the scout; \"the boy bears a smart piece!", "I know\nits crack, as well as a father knows the language of his child, for I\ncarried the gun myself until a better offered.\"", "\"What can this mean?\"", "demanded Duncan; \"we are watched, and, as it would\nseem, marked for destruction.\"", "\"Yonder scattered brand can witness that no good was intended, and this\nIndian will testify that no harm has been done,\" returned the scout,\ndropping his rifle across his arm again, and following Chingachgook, who\njust then reappeared within the circle of light, into the bosom of the\nworks.", "\"How is it, Sagamore?", "Are the Mingos upon us in earnest, or is it\nonly one of those rept_y_les who hang upon the skirts of a war party, to\nscalp the dead, go in, and make their boast among the squaws of the\nvaliant deeds done on the pale-faces?\"", "Chingachgook very quietly resumed his seat; nor did he make any reply,\nuntil after he had examined the firebrand which had been struck by the\nbullet that had nearly proved fatal to himself.", "After which, he was\ncontent to reply, holding a single finger up to view, with the English\nmonosyllable,--\n\n\"One.\"", "\"I thought as much,\" returned Hawkeye, seating himself; \"and as he had\ngot the cover of the lake afore Uncas pulled upon him, it is more than\nprobable the knave will sing his lies about some great ambushment, in\nwhich he was outlying on the trail of two Mohicans and a white\nhunter--for the officers can be considered as little better than idlers\nin such a scrimmage.", "Well, let him--let him.", "There are always some\nhonest men in every nation, though heaven knows, too, that they are\nscarce among the Maquas, to look down an upstart when he brags ag'in\nthe face of reason.", "The varlet sent his lead within whistle of your\nears, Sagamore.\"", "Chingachgook turned a calm and incurious eye towards the place where the\nball had struck, and then resumed his former attitude, with a composure\nthat could not be disturbed by so trifling an incident.", "Just then Uncas\nglided into the circle, and seated himself at the fire, with the same\nappearance of indifference as was maintained by his father.", "Of these several movements Heyward was a deeply interested and wondering\nobserver.", "It appeared to him as though the foresters had some secret\nmeans of intelligence, which had escaped the vigilance of his own\nfaculties.", "In place of that eager and garrulous narration with which a\nwhite youth would have endeavored to communicate, and perhaps\nexaggerate, that which had passed out in the darkness of the plain, the\nyoung warrior was seemingly content to let his deeds speak for\nthemselves.", "It was, in fact, neither the moment nor the occasion for an\nIndian to boast of his exploits; and it is probable, that had Heyward\nneglected to inquire, not another syllable would, just then, have been\nuttered on the subject.", "\"What has become of our enemy, Uncas?\"", "demanded Duncan: \"we heard your\nrifle, and hoped you had not fired in vain.\"", "The young chief removed a fold of his hunting-shirt, and quietly exposed\nthe fatal tuft of hair, which he bore as the symbol of victory.", "Chingachgook laid his hand on the scalp, and considered it for a moment\nwith deep attention.", "Then dropping it, with disgust depicted in his\nstrong features, he ejaculated,--\n\n\"Oneida!\"", "\"Oneida!\"", "repeated the scout, who was fast losing his interest in the\nscene, in an apathy nearly assimilated to that of his red associates,\nbut who now advanced with uncommon earnestness to regard the bloody\nbadge.", "\"By the Lord, if the Oneidas are outlying upon the trail, we\nshall be flanked by devils on every side of us!", "Now, to white eyes there\nis no difference between this bit of skin and that of any other Indian,\nand yet the Sagamore declares it came from the poll of a Mingo; nay, he\neven names the tribe of the poor devil with as much ease as if the scalp\nwas the leaf of a book, and each hair a letter.", "What right have\nChristian whites to boast of their learning, when a savage can read a\nlanguage that would prove too much for the wisest of them all!", "What say\n_you_, lad; of what people was the knave?\"", "Uncas raised his eyes to the face of the scout, and answered, in his\nsoft voice,--\n\n\"Oneida.\"", "\"Oneida, again!", "when one Indian makes a declaration it is commonly true;\nbut when he is supported by his people, set it down as gospel!\"", "\"The poor fellow has mistaken us for French,\" said Heyward; \"or he would\nnot have attempted the life of a friend.\"", "\"He mistake a Mohican in his paint for a Huron!", "You would be as likely\nto mistake the white-coated grenadiers of Montcalm for the scarlet\njackets of the 'Royal Americans',\" returned the scout.", "\"No, no, the\nsarpent knew his errand; nor was there any great mistake in the matter,\nfor there is but little love atween a Delaware and a Mingo, let their\ntribes go out to fight for whom they may, in a white quarrel.", "For that\nmatter, though the Oneidas do serve his sacred majesty, who is my own\nsovereign lord and master, I should not have deliberated long about\nletting off 'Killdeer' at the imp myself, had luck thrown him in my\nway.\"", "\"That would have been an abuse of our treaties, and unworthy of your\ncharacter.\"", "\"When a man consorts much with a people,\" continued Hawkeye, \"if they\nare honest and he no knave, love will grow up atwixt them.", "It is true\nthat white cunning has managed to throw the tribes into great confusion\nas respects friends and enemies; so that the Hurons and the Oneidas, who\nspeak the same tongue, or what may be called the same, take each other's\nscalps, and the Delawares are divided among themselves; a few hanging\nabout their great council-fire on their own river, and fighting on the\nsame side with the Mingos, while the greater part are in the Canadas,\nout of natural enmity to the Maquas--thus throwing everything into\ndisorder, and destroying all the harmony of warfare.", "Yet a red natur' is\nnot likely to alter with every shift of policy; so that the love atwixt\na Mohican and a Mingo is much like the regard between a white man and a\nsarpent.\"", "\"I regret to hear it; for I had believed those natives who dwelt within\nour boundaries had found us too just and liberal, not to identify\nthemselves fully with our quarrels.\"", "\"Why, I believe it is natur' to give a preference to one's own quarrels\nbefore those of strangers.", "Now, for myself, I do love justice; and\ntherefore I will not say I hate a Mingo, for that may be unsuitable to\nmy color and my religion, though I will just repeat, it may have been\nowing to the night that 'Killdeer' had no hand in the death of this\nskulking Oneida.\"", "Then, as if satisfied with the force of his own reasons, whatever might\nbe their effect on the opinions of the other disputant, the honest but\nimplacable woodsman turned from the fire, content to let the controversy\nslumber.", "Heyward withdrew to the rampart, too uneasy and too little\naccustomed to the warfare of the woods to remain at ease under the\npossibility of such insidious attacks.", "Not so, however, with the scout\nand the Mohicans.", "Those acute and long practised senses, whose powers so\noften exceed the limits of all ordinary credulity, after having detected\nthe danger, had enabled them to ascertain its magnitude and duration.", "Not one of the three appeared in the least to doubt their perfect\nsecurity, as was indicated by the preparations that were soon made to\nsit in council over their future proceedings.", "The confusion of nations, and even of tribes, to which Hawkeye alluded,\nexisted at that period in the fullest force.", "The great tie of language,\nand, of course, of a common origin, was severed in many places; and it\nwas one of its consequences, that the Delaware and the Mingo (as the\npeople of the Six Nations were called) were found fighting in the same\nranks, while the latter sought the scalp of the Huron, though believed\nto be the root of his own stock.", "The Delawares were even divided among\nthemselves.", "Though love for the soil which had belonged to his ancestors\nkept the Sagamore of the Mohicans with a small band of followers who\nwere serving at Edward, under the banners of the English king, by far\nthe largest portion of his nation were known to be in the field as\nallies of Montcalm.", "The reader probably knows, if enough has not already\nbeen gleaned from this narrative, that the Delaware, or Lenape, claimed\nto be the progenitors of that numerous people, who once were masters of\nmost of the Eastern and Northern States of America, of whom the\ncommunity of the Mohicans was an ancient and highly honored member.", "It was, of course, with a perfect understanding of the minute and\nintricate interest which had armed friend against friend, and brought\nnatural enemies to combat by each other's side, that the scout and his\ncompanions now disposed themselves to deliberate on the measures that\nwere to govern their future movements, amid so many jarring and savage\nraces of men.", "Duncan knew enough of Indian customs to understand the\nreason that the fire was replenished, and why the warriors, not\nexcepting Hawkeye, took their seats within the curl of its smoke with\nso much gravity and decorum.", "Placing himself at an angle of the works,\nwhere he might be a spectator of the scene within, while he kept a\nwatchful eye against any danger from without, he awaited the result with\nas much patience as he could summon.", "After a short and impressive pause, Chingachgook lighted a pipe whose\nbowl was curiously carved in one of the soft stones of the country, and\nwhose stem was a tube of wood, and commenced smoking.", "When he had\ninhaled enough of the fragrance of the soothing weed, he passed the\ninstrument into the hands of the scout.", "In this manner the pipe had made\nits rounds three several times, amid the most profound silence, before\neither of the party opened his lips.", "Then the Sagamore, as the oldest\nand highest in rank, in a few calm and dignified words, proposed the\nsubject for deliberation.", "He was answered by the scout; and Chingachgook\nrejoined, when the other objected to his opinions.", "But the youthful\nUncas continued a silent and respectful listener, until Hawkeye, in\ncomplaisance, demanded his opinion.", "Heyward gathered from the manners of\nthe different speakers, that the father and son espoused one side of a\ndisputed question, while the white man maintained the other.", "The contest\ngradually grew warmer, until it was quite evident the feelings of the\nspeakers began to be somewhat enlisted in the debate.", "Notwithstanding the increasing warmth of the amicable contest, the most\ndecorous Christian assembly, not even excepting those in which its\nreverend ministers are collected, might have learned a wholesome lesson\nof moderation from the forbearance and courtesy of the disputants.", "The\nwords of Uncas were received with the same deep attention as those which\nfell from the maturer wisdom of his father; and so far from manifesting\nany impatience, neither spoke in reply, until a few moments of silent\nmeditation were, seemingly, bestowed in deliberating on what had already\nbeen said.", "The language of the Mohicans was accompanied by gestures so direct and\nnatural, that Heyward had but little difficulty in following the thread\nof their argument.", "On the other hand, the scout was obscure; because,\nfrom the lingering pride of color, he rather affected the cold and\nartificial manner which characterizes all classes of Anglo-Americans,\nwhen unexcited.", "By the frequency with which the Indians described the\nmarks of a forest trail, it was evident they urged a pursuit by land,\nwhile the repeated sweep of Hawkeye's arm towards the Horican denoted\nthat he was for a passage across its waters.", "The latter was, to every appearance, fast losing ground, and the point\nwas about to be decided against him, when he arose to his feet, and\nshaking off his apathy, he suddenly assumed the manner of an Indian, and\nadopted all the arts of native eloquence.", "Elevating an arm, he pointed\nout the track of the sun, repeating the gesture for every day that was\nnecessary to accomplish their object.", "Then he delineated a long and\npainful path, amid rocks and water-courses.", "The age and weakness of the\nslumbering and unconscious Munro were indicated by signs too palpable to\nbe mistaken.", "Duncan perceived that even his own powers were spoken\nlightly of, as the scout extended his palm, and mentioned him by\nappellation of the \"Open Hand,\"--a name his liberality had purchased of\nall the friendly tribes.", "Then came a representation of the light and\ngraceful movements of a canoe, set in forcible contrast to the tottering\nsteps of one enfeebled and tired.", "He concluded by pointing to the scalp\nof the Oneida, and apparently urging the necessity of their departing\nspeedily, and in a manner that should leave no trail.", "The Mohicans listened gravely, and with countenances that reflected the\nsentiments of the speaker.", "Conviction gradually wrought its influence,\nand towards the close of Hawkeye's speech, his sentences were\naccompanied by the customary exclamation of commendation.", "In short,\nUncas and his father became converts to his way of thinking, abandoning\ntheir own previously expressed opinions with a liberality and candor\nthat, had they been the representatives of some great and civilized\npeople, would have infallibly worked their political ruin, by\ndestroying, forever, their reputation for consistency.", "The instant the matter in discussion was decided, the debate, and\neverything connected with it, except the results, appeared to be\nforgotten.", "Hawkeye, without looking round to read his triumph in\napplauding eyes, very composedly stretched his tall frame before the\ndying embers, and closed his own organs in sleep.", "Left now in a measure to themselves, the Mohicans, whose time had been\nso much devoted to the interests of others, seized the moment to devote\nsome attention to themselves.", "Casting off, at once, the grave and\naustere demeanor of an Indian chief, Chingachgook commenced speaking to\nhis son in the soft and playful tones of affection.", "Uncas gladly met\nthe familiar air of his father; and before the hard breathing of the\nscout announced that he slept, a complete change was effected in the\nmanner of his two associates.", "It is impossible to describe the music of their language, while thus\nengaged in laughter and endearments, in such a way as to render it\nintelligible to those whose ears have never listened to its melody.", "The\ncompass of their voices, particularly that of the youth, was\nwonderful,--extending from the deepest bass to tones that were even\nfeminine in softness.", "The eyes of the father followed the plastic and\ningenious movements of the son with open delight, and he never failed to\nsmile in reply to the other's contagious, but low laughter.", "While under\nthe influence of these gentle and natural feelings, no trace of ferocity\nwas to be seen in the softened features of the Sagamore.", "His figured\npanoply of death looked more like a disguise assumed in mockery, than a\nfierce annunciation of a desire to carry destruction in his footsteps.", "After an hour passed in the indulgence of their better feelings,\nChingachgook abruptly announced his desire to sleep, by wrapping his\nhead in his blanket, and stretching his form on the naked earth.", "The\nmerriment of Uncas instantly ceased; and carefully raking the coals in\nsuch a manner that they should impart their warmth to his father's feet,\nthe youth sought his own pillow among the ruins of the place.", "Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these experienced\nforesters, Heyward soon imitated their example; and long before the\nnight had turned, they who lay in the bosom of the ruined work, seemed\nto slumber as heavily as the unconscious multitude whose bones were\nalready beginning to bleach on the surrounding plain." ]

[ "But the task would exceed our prerogatives; and, as history,\nlike love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of\nimaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint Veran will be\nviewed by posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while\nhis cruel apathy on the shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be\nforgotten.", "Look to him, Delaware; it may be one of\nyour missing people; and he should have burial like a stout warrior.", "\"'Tis the tooting we'pon of the singer!", "\"Is it not the rushing of the wolves you have mentioned?\"", "The tomahawk that he had loosened in his belt for the sake\nof ease, was even suffered to fall from its usual situation to the\nground, and his form seemed to sink, like that of a man whose nerves and\nsinews were suffered to relax for the purpose of rest.", "I know\nits crack, as well as a father knows the language of his child, for I\ncarried the gun myself until a better offered.\"", "Then dropping it, with disgust depicted in his\nstrong features, he ejaculated,--\n\n\"Oneida!\"", "Notwithstanding the increasing warmth of the amicable contest, the most\ndecorous Christian assembly, not even excepting those in which its\nreverend ministers are collected, might have learned a wholesome lesson\nof moderation from the forbearance and courtesy of the disputants.", "The\nwords of Uncas were received with the same deep attention as those which\nfell from the maturer wisdom of his father; and so far from manifesting\nany impatience, neither spoke in reply, until a few moments of silent\nmeditation were, seemingly, bestowed in deliberating on what had already\nbeen said.", "The\ncompass of their voices, particularly that of the youth, was\nwonderful,--extending from the deepest bass to tones that were even\nfeminine in softness." ]

[ "\"They have found the little foot!\"", "\"Le Renard Subtil!\"", "\"What have we\nthere?", "I\nsee it in your eye, Sagamore: a Huron pays for this, afore the fall\nwinds have blown away the scent of the blood!\"", "\"Then ears are better than eyes,\" said the undisturbed scout, who,\nhaving just deposited a portion of bear between his grinders, spoke\nthick and slow, like one whose mouth was doubly occupied.", "The aged soldier examined it\nwith eyes that grew dim as he gazed; nor did he rise from his stooping\nposture until Heyward saw that he had watered the trace of his\ndaughter's passage with a scalding tear.", "But the task would exceed our prerogatives; and, as history,\nlike love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of\nimaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint Veran will be\nviewed by posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while\nhis cruel apathy on the shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be\nforgotten.", "Elevating an arm, he pointed\nout the track of the sun, repeating the gesture for every day that was\nnecessary to accomplish their object.", "About an hour before the setting of the sun, on the day already\nmentioned, the forms of five men might have been seen issuing from the\nnarrow vista of trees, where the path to the Hudson entered the forest,\nand advancing in the direction of the ruined works.", "\"Is it not the rushing of the wolves you have mentioned?\"" ]

[ "Such a glittering gewgaw, and not to be seen!", "Well,\nwell, I can squint along a clouded barrel yet, and that is enough to\nsettle all disputes between me and the Mingos.", "I should like to find the\nthing too, if it were only to carry it to the right owner, and that\nwould be bringing the two ends of what I call a long trail\ntogether,--for by this time the broad St. Lawrence, or, perhaps, the\nGreat Lakes themselves, are atwixt us.\"", "\"So much the more reason why we should not delay our march,\" returned\nHeyward; \"let us proceed.\"", "\"Young blood and hot blood, they say, are much the same thing.", "We are\nnot about to start on a squirrel hunt, or to drive a deer into the\nHorican, but to outlie for days and nights, and to stretch across a\nwilderness where the feet of men seldom go, and where no bookish\nknowledge would carry you through harmless.", "An Indian never starts on\nsuch an expedition without smoking over his council-fire; and though a\nman of white blood, I honor their customs in this particular, seeing\nthat they are deliberate and wise.", "We will, therefore, go back, and\nlight our fire to-night in the ruins of the old fort, and in the morning\nwe shall be fresh, and ready to undertake our work like men, and not\nlike babbling women or eager boys.\"", "Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that altercation would be\nuseless.", "Munro had again sunk into that sort of apathy which had beset\nhim since his late overwhelming misfortunes, and from which he was\napparently to be roused only by some new and powerful excitement.", "Making\na merit of necessity, the young man took the veteran by the arm, and\nfollowed in the footsteps of the Indians and the scout, who had already\nbegun to retrace the path which conducted them to the plain." ]

[ "\n \"Why, anything:\n An honorable murderer, if you will;\n For naught I did in hate, but all in honor.\"", "_Othello._\n\n\nThe bloody and inhuman scene rather incidentally mentioned than\ndescribed in the preceding chapter, is conspicuous in the pages of\ncolonial history, by the merited title of \"The Massacre of William\nHenry.\"", "It so far deepened the stain which a previous and very similar\nevent had left upon the reputation of the French commander, that it was\nnot entirely erased by his early and glorious death.", "It is now becoming\nobscured by time; and thousands, who know that Montcalm died like a hero\non the plains of Abraham, have yet to learn how much he was deficient in\nthat moral courage without which no man can be truly great.", "Pages might\nbe written to prove, from this illustrious example, the defects of human\nexcellence; to show how easy it is for generous sentiments, high\ncourtesy, and chivalrous courage, to lose their influence beneath the\nchilling blight of selfishness, and to exhibit to the world a man who\nwas great in all the minor attributes of character, but who was found\nwanting when it became necessary to prove how much principle is superior\nto policy.", "But the task would exceed our prerogatives; and, as history,\nlike love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of\nimaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint Veran will be\nviewed by posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while\nhis cruel apathy on the shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be\nforgotten.", "Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister muse,\nwe shall at once retire from her sacred precincts, within the proper\nlimits of our own humble vocation.", "The third day from the capture of the fort was drawing to a close, but\nthe business of the narrative must still detain the reader on the shores\nof the \"holy lake.\"", "When last seen, the environs of the works were\nfilled with violence and uproar.", "They were now possessed by stillness\nand death.", "Casting off, at once, the grave and\naustere demeanor of an Indian chief, Chingachgook commenced speaking to\nhis son in the soft and playful tones of affection.", "Uncas gladly met\nthe familiar air of his father; and before the hard breathing of the\nscout announced that he slept, a complete change was effected in the\nmanner of his two associates.", "It is impossible to describe the music of their language, while thus\nengaged in laughter and endearments, in such a way as to render it\nintelligible to those whose ears have never listened to its melody.", "The\ncompass of their voices, particularly that of the youth, was\nwonderful,--extending from the deepest bass to tones that were even\nfeminine in softness.", "The eyes of the father followed the plastic and\ningenious movements of the son with open delight, and he never failed to\nsmile in reply to the other's contagious, but low laughter.", "While under\nthe influence of these gentle and natural feelings, no trace of ferocity\nwas to be seen in the softened features of the Sagamore.", "His figured\npanoply of death looked more like a disguise assumed in mockery, than a\nfierce annunciation of a desire to carry destruction in his footsteps.", "After an hour passed in the indulgence of their better feelings,\nChingachgook abruptly announced his desire to sleep, by wrapping his\nhead in his blanket, and stretching his form on the naked earth.", "The\nmerriment of Uncas instantly ceased; and carefully raking the coals in\nsuch a manner that they should impart their warmth to his father's feet,\nthe youth sought his own pillow among the ruins of the place.", "Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these experienced\nforesters, Heyward soon imitated their example; and long before the\nnight had turned, they who lay in the bosom of the ruined work, seemed\nto slumber as heavily as the unconscious multitude whose bones were\nalready beginning to bleach on the surrounding plain." ]

[ "\n \"Land of Albania!", "let me bend mine eyes\n On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men!\"", "_Childe Harold._\n\n\nThe heavens were still studded with stars, when Hawkeye came to arouse\nthe sleepers.", "Casting aside their cloaks Munro and Heyward were on their\nfeet while the woodsman was still making his low calls, at the entrance\nof the rude shelter where they had passed the night.", "When they issued\nfrom beneath its concealment, they found the scout awaiting their\nappearance nigh by, and the only salutation between them was the\nsignificant gesture for silence, made by their sagacious leader.", "\"Think over your prayers,\" he whispered, as they approached him; \"for He\nto whom you make them knows all tongues; that of the heart as well as\nthose of the mouth.", "But speak not a syllable; it is rare for a white\nvoice to pitch itself properly in the woods, as we have seen by the\nexample of that miserable devil, the singer.", "Come,\" he continued,\nturning towards a curtain of the works; \"let us get into the ditch on\nthis side, and be regardful to step on the stones and fragments of wood\nas you go.\"", "His companions complied, though to two of them the reasons of this\nextraordinary precaution were yet a mystery.", "When they were in the low\ncavity that surrounded the earthen fort on three sides, they found the\npassage nearly choked by the ruins.", "With care and patience, however,\nthey succeeded in clambering after the scout, until they reached the\nsandy shore of the Horican.", "\"That's a trail that nothing but a nose can follow,\" said the satisfied\nscout, looking back along their difficult way; \"grass is a treacherous\ncarpet for a flying party to tread on, but wood and stone take no print\nfrom a moccasin.", "Had you worn your armed boots, there might, indeed,\nhave been something to fear; but with the deer-skin suitably prepared, a\nman may trust himself, generally, on rocks with safety.", "Shove in the\ncanoe nigher to the land, Uncas; this sand will take a stamp as easily\nas the butter of the Jarmans on the Mohawk.", "Softly, lad, softly; it must\nnot touch the beach, or the knaves will know by what road we have left\nthe place.\"", "The young man observed the precaution; and the scout, laying a board\nfrom the ruins to the canoe, made a sign for the two officers to enter.", "When this was done, everything was studiously restored to its former\ndisorder; and then Hawkeye succeeded in reaching his little birchen\nvessel, without leaving behind him any of those marks which he appeared\nso much to dread.", "Heyward was silent, until the Indians had cautiously\npaddled the canoe some distance from the fort, and within the broad and\ndark shadow that fell from the eastern mountain on the glassy surface of\nthe lake; then he demanded,--\n\n\"What need have we for this stolen and hurried departure?\"", "\"If the blood of an Oneida could stain such a sheet of pure water as\nthis we float on,\" returned the scout, \"your two eyes would answer your\nown question.", "Have you forgotten the skulking rept_y_le that Uncas\nslew?\"", "\"By no means.", "But he was said to be alone, and dead men give no cause\nfor fear.\"", "\"Ay, he was alone in his deviltry!", "but an Indian whose tribe counts so\nmany warriors, need seldom fear his blood will run, without the\ndeath-shriek coming speedily from some of his enemies.\"", "\"But our presence--the authority of Colonel Munro--would prove a\nsufficient protection against the anger of our allies, especially in a\ncase where a wretch so well merited his fate.", "I trust in Heaven you have\nnot deviated a single foot from the direct line of our course, with so\nslight a reason!\"", "\"Do you think the bullet of that varlet's rifle would have turned aside,\nthough his majesty the king had stood in its path?\"", "returned the\nstubborn scout.", "\"Why did not the grand Frencher, he who is\ncaptain-general of the Canadas, bury the tomahawks of the Hurons, if a\nword from a white can work so strongly on the natur' of an Indian?\"", "The reply of Heyward was interrupted by a groan from Munro; but after he\nhad paused a moment, in deference to the sorrow of his aged friend, he\nresumed the subject.", "\"The Marquis of Montcalm can only settle that error with his God,\" said\nthe young man solemnly.", "\"Ay, ay; now there is reason in your words, for they are bottomed on\nreligion and honesty.", "There is a vast difference between throwing a\nregiment of white coats atwixt the tribes and the prisoners, and coaxing\nan angry savage to forget he carries a knife and a rifle, with words\nthat must begin with calling him your son.", "No, no,\" continued the scout,\nlooking back at the dim shore of William Henry, which was now fast\nreceding, and laughing in his own silent but heartfelt manner; \"I have\nput a trail of water atween us; and unless the imps can make friends\nwith the fishes, and hear who has paddled across their basin, this fine\nmorning, we shall throw the length of the Horican behind us, before they\nhave made up their minds which path to take.\"", "\"With foes in front, and foes in our rear, our journey is like to be one\nof danger.\"", "\"Danger!\"", "repeated Hawkeye, calmly; \"no, not absolutely of danger; for,\nwith vigilant ears and quick eyes, we can manage to keep a few hours\nahead of the knaves; or, if we must try the rifle, there are three of us\nwho understand its gifts as well as any you can name on the borders.", "No,\nnot of danger; but that we shall have what you may call a brisk push of\nit is probable; and it may happen, a brush, a skrimmage, or some such\ndivarsion, but always where covers are good, and ammunition abundant.\"", "It is possible that Heyward's estimate of danger differed in some degree\nfrom that of the scout, for, instead of replying, he now sat in silence,\nwhile the canoe glided over several miles of water.", "Just as the day\ndawned, they entered the narrows of the lake,[23] and stole swiftly and\ncautiously among their numberless little islands.", "It was by this road\nthat Montcalm had retired with his army; and the adventurers knew not\nbut he had left some of his Indians in ambush, to protect the rear of\nhis forces, and collect the stragglers.", "They, therefore, approached the\npassage with the customary silence of their guarded habits.", "Chingachgook laid aside his paddle; while Uncas and the scout urged the\nlight vessel through crooked and intricate channels, where every foot\nthat they advanced exposed them to the danger of some sudden rising on\ntheir progress.", "The eyes of the Sagamore moved warily from islet to\nislet, and copse to copse, as the canoe proceeded; and when a clearer\nsheet of water permitted, his keen vision was bent along the bald rocks\nand impending forests, that frowned upon the narrow strait.", "Heyward, who was a doubly interested spectator, as well from the\nbeauties of the place as from the apprehension natural to his situation,\nwas just believing that he had permitted the latter to be excited\nwithout sufficient reason, when the paddle ceased moving, in obedience\nto a signal from Chingachgook.", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed Uncas, nearly at the moment that the light tap his\nfather had made on the side of the canoe notified them of the vicinity\nof danger.", "\"What now?\"", "asked the scout; \"the lake is as smooth as if the winds had\nnever blown, and I can see along its sheet for miles; there is not so\nmuch as the black head of a loon dotting the water.\"", "The Indian gravely raised his paddle, and pointed in the direction in\nwhich his own steady look was riveted.", "Duncan's eyes followed the\nmotion.", "A few rods in their front lay another of the low wooded islets,\nbut it appeared as calm and peaceful as if its solitude had never been\ndisturbed by the foot of man.", "\"I see nothing,\" he said, \"but land and water; and a lovely scene it\nis.\"", "\"Hist!\"", "interrupted the scout.", "\"Ay, Sagamore, there is always a reason\nfor what you do.", "'Tis but a shade, and yet it is not natural.", "You see\nthe mist, major, that is rising above the island; you can't call it a\nfog, for it is more like a streak of thin cloud--\"\n\n\"It is vapor from the water.\"", "\"That a child could tell.", "But what is the edging of blacker smoke that\nhangs along its lower side, and which you may trace down into the\nthicket of hazel?", "'Tis from a fire; but one that, in my judgment, has\nbeen suffered to burn low.\"", "\"Let us then push for the place, and relieve our doubts,\" said the\nimpatient Duncan; \"the party must be small that can lie on such a bit of\nland.\"", "\"If you judge of Indian cunning by the rules you find in books, or by\nwhite sagacity, they will lead you astray, if not to your death,\"\nreturned Hawkeye, examining the signs of the place with that acuteness\nwhich distinguished him.", "\"If I may be permitted to speak in this matter,\nit will be to say, that we have but two things to choose between: the\none is, to return, and give up all thoughts of following the Hurons--\"\n\n\"Never!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, in a voice far too loud for their\ncircumstances.", "\"Well, well,\" continued Hawkeye, making a hasty sign to repress his\nimpatience; \"I am much of your mind myself; though I thought it becoming\nmy experience to tell the whole.", "We must then make a push, and if the\nIndians or Frenchers are in the narrows, run the gauntlet through these\ntoppling mountains.", "Is there reason in my words, Sagamore?\"", "The Indian made no other answer than by dropping his paddle into the\nwater, and urging forward the canoe.", "As he held the office of directing\nits course, his resolution was sufficiently indicated by the movement.", "The whole party now plied their paddles vigorously, and in a very few\nmoments they had reached a point whence they might command an entire\nview of the northern shore of the island, the side that had hitherto\nbeen concealed.", "\"There they are, by all the truth of signs,\" whispered the scout; \"two\ncanoes and a smoke.", "The knaves haven't yet got their eyes out of the\nmist, or we should hear the accursed whoop.", "Together, friend!", "we are\nleaving them, and are already nearly out of whistle of a bullet.\"", "The well known crack of a rifle, whose ball came skipping along the\nplacid surface of the strait, and a shrill yell from the island,\ninterrupted his speech, and announced that their passage was discovered.", "In another instant several savages were seen rushing into the canoes,\nwhich were soon dancing over the water, in pursuit.", "These fearful\nprecursors of a coming struggle produced no change in the countenances\nand movements of his three guides, so far as Duncan could discover,\nexcept that the strokes of their paddles were longer and more in unison,\nand caused the little bark to spring forward like a creature possessing\nlife and volition.", "\"Hold them there, Sagamore,\" said Hawkeye, looking coolly backward over\nhis left shoulder, while he still plied his paddle; \"keep them just\nthere.", "Them Hurons have never a piece in their nation that will execute\nat this distance; but 'Killdeer' has a barrel on which a man may\ncalculate.\"", "The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient of\nthemselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid aside\nhis paddle, and raised the fatal rifle.", "Three several times he brought\nthe piece to his shoulder, and when his companions were expecting its\nreport, he as often lowered it to request the Indians would permit their\nenemies to approach a little nigher.", "At length his accurate and\nfastidious eye seemed satisfied, and throwing out his left arm on the\nbarrel, he was slowly elevating the muzzle, when an exclamation from\nUncas, who sat in the bow, once more caused him to suspend the shot.", "\"What now, lad?\"", "demanded Hawkeye; \"you saved a Huron from the\ndeath-shriek by that word; have you reason for what you do?\"", "Uncas pointed towards the rocky shore a little in their front, whence\nanother war canoe was darting directly across their course.", "It was too\nobvious now that their situation was imminently perilous to need the aid\nof language to confirm it.", "The scout laid aside his rifle, and resumed\nthe paddle, while Chingachgook inclined the bows of the canoe a little\ntowards the western shore, in order to increase the distance between\nthem and this new enemy.", "In the meantime they were reminded of the\npresence of those who pressed upon their rear, by wild and exulting\nshouts.", "The stirring scene awakened even Munro from his apathy.", "\"Let us make for the rocks on the main,\" he said, with the mien of a\ntired soldier, \"and give battle to the savages.", "God forbid that I, or\nthose attached to me and mine, should ever trust again to the faith of\nany servant of the Louis's!\"", "\"He who wishes to prosper in Indian warfare,\" returned the scout, \"must\nnot be too proud to learn from the wit of a native.", "Lay her more along\nthe land, Sagamore; we are doubling on the varlets, and perhaps they may\ntry to strike our trail on the long calculation.\"", "Hawkeye was not mistaken; for when the Hurons found their course was\nlikely to throw them behind their chase, they rendered it less direct,\nuntil, by gradually bearing more and more obliquely, the two canoes were\nere long, gliding on parallel lines, within two hundred yards of each\nother.", "It now became entirely a trial of speed.", "So rapid was the\nprogress of the light vessels, that the lake curled in their front, in\nminiature waves, and their motion became undulating by its own velocity.", "It was, perhaps, owing to this circumstance, in addition to the\nnecessity of keeping every hand employed at the paddles, that the\nHurons had not immediate recourse to their fire-arms.", "The exertions of\nthe fugitives were too severe to continue long, and the pursuers had the\nadvantage of numbers.", "Duncan observed, with uneasiness, that the scout\nbegan to look anxiously about him, as if searching for some further\nmeans of assisting their flight.", "\"Edge her a little more from the sun, Sagamore,\" said the stubborn\nwoodsman; \"I see the knaves are sparing a man to the rifle.", "A single\nbroken bone might lose us our scalps.", "Edge more from the sun and we will\nput the island between us.\"", "The expedient was not without its use.", "A long, low island lay at a\nlittle distance before them, and as they closed with it, the chasing\ncanoe was compelled to take a side opposite to that on which the pursued\npassed.", "The scout and his companions did not neglect this advantage, but\nthe instant they were hid from observation by the bushes, they redoubled\nefforts that before had seemed prodigious.", "The two canoes came round the\nlast low point, like two coursers at the top of their speed, the\nfugitives taking the lead.", "This change had brought them nigher to each\nother, however, while it altered their relative positions.", "\"You showed knowledge in the shaping of birchen bark, Uncas, when you\nchose this from among the Huron canoes,\" said the scout, smiling,\napparently more in satisfaction at their superiority in the race, than\nfrom that prospect of final escape which now began to open a little upon\nthem.", "\"The imps have put all their strength again at the paddles, and we\nare to struggle for our scalps with bits of flattened wood, instead of\nclouded barrels and true eyes.", "A long stroke, and together, friends.\"", "\"They are preparing for a shot,\" said Heyward; \"and as we are in a line\nwith them, it can scarcely fail.\"", "\"Get you then into the bottom of the canoe,\" returned the scout; \"you\nand the colonel; it will be so much taken from the size of the mark.\"", "Heyward smiled, as he answered,--\n\n\"It would be but an ill example for the highest in rank to dodge, while\nthe warriors were under fire!\"", "\"Lord!", "Lord!", "That is now a white man's courage!\"", "exclaimed the scout;\n\"and like too many of his notions, not to be maintained by reason.", "Do\nyou think the Sagamore, or Uncas, or even I, who am a man without a\ncross, would deliberate about finding a cover in the skrimmage, when an\nopen body would do no good?", "For what have the Frenchers reared up their\nQuebec, if fighting is always to be done in the clearings?\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE FLIGHT ACROSS THE LAKE\n\n_The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient of\nthemselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid aside\nhis paddle, and raised the fatal rifle_]\n\n\"All that you say is very true, my friend,\" replied Heyward; \"still,\nour customs must prevent us from doing as you wish.\"", "A volley from the Hurons interrupted the discourse, and as the bullets\nwhistled about them, Duncan saw the head of Uncas turned, looking back\nat himself and Munro.", "Notwithstanding the nearness of the enemy, and his\nown great personal danger, the countenance of the young warrior\nexpressed no other emotion, as the former was compelled to think, than\namazement at finding men willing to encounter so useless an exposure.", "Chingachgook was probably better acquainted with the notions of white\nmen, for he did not even cast a glance aside from the riveted look his\neye maintained on the object by which he governed their course.", "A ball\nsoon struck the light and polished paddle from the hands of the chief,\nand drove it through the air, far in the advance.", "A shout arose from the\nHurons, who seized the opportunity to fire another volley.", "Uncas\ndescribed an arc in the water with his own blade, and as the canoe\npassed swiftly on, Chingachgook recovered his paddle, and flourishing it\non high, he gave the war-whoop of the Mohicans, and then lent his\nstrength and skill again to the important task.", "The clamorous sounds of \"Le Gros Serpent!\"", "\"La Longue Carabine!\"", "\"Le\nCerf Agile!\"", "burst at once from the canoes behind, and seemed to give\nnew zeal to the pursuers.", "The scout seized \"Killdeer\" in his left hand,\nand elevating it above his head, he shook it in triumph at his enemies.", "The savages answered the insult with a yell, and immediately another\nvolley succeeded.", "The bullets pattered along the lake, and one even\npierced the bark of their little vessel.", "No perceptible emotion could be\ndiscovered in the Mohicans during this critical moment, their rigid\nfeatures expressing neither hope nor alarm; but the scout again turned\nhis head, and laughing in his own silent manner, he said to Heyward,--\n\n\"The knaves love to hear the sounds of their pieces; but the eye is not\nto be found among the Mingos that can calculate a true range in a\ndancing canoe!", "You see the dumb devils have taken off a man to charge,\nand by the smallest measurement that can be allowed, we move three feet\nto their two!\"", "Duncan, who was not altogether as easy under this nice estimate of\ndistances as his companions, was glad to find, however, that owing to\ntheir superior dexterity, and the diversion among their enemies, they\nwere very sensibly obtaining the advantage.", "The Hurons soon fired again,\nand a bullet struck the blade of Hawkeye's paddle without injury.", "\"That will do,\" said the scout, examining the slight indentation with a\ncurious eye; \"it would not have cut the skin of an infant, much less of\nmen, who, like us, have been blown upon by the heavens in their anger.", "Now, major, if you will try to use this piece of flattened wood, I'll\nlet 'Killdeer' take a part in the conversation.\"", "Heyward seized the paddle, and applied himself to the work with an\neagerness that supplied the place of skill, while Hawkeye was engaged in\ninspecting the priming of his rifle.", "The latter then took a swift aim,\nand fired.", "The Huron in the bows of the leading canoe had risen with a\nsimilar object, and he now fell backward, suffering his gun to escape\nfrom his hands into the water.", "In an instant, however, he recovered his\nfeet, though his gestures were wild and bewildered.", "At the same moment\nhis companions suspended their efforts, and the chasing canoes clustered\ntogether, and became stationary.", "Chingachgook and Uncas profited by the\ninterval to regain their wind, though Duncan continued to work with the\nmost persevering industry.", "The father and son now cast calm but\ninquiring glances at each other, to learn if either had sustained any\ninjury by the fire; for both well knew that no cry or exclamation would,\nin such a moment of necessity, have been permitted to betray the\naccident.", "A few large drops of blood were trickling down the shoulder of\nthe Sagamore, who, when he perceived that the eyes of Uncas dwelt too\nlong on the sight, raised some water in the hollow of his hand, and\nwashing off the stain, was content to manifest, in this simple manner,\nthe slightness of the injury.", "\"Softly, softly, major,\" said the scout, who by this time had reloaded\nhis rifle; \"we are a little too far already for a rifle to put forth its\nbeauties, and you see yonder imps are holding a council.", "Let them come\nup within striking distance--my eye may well be trusted in such a\nmatter--and I will trail the varlets the length of the Horican,\nguaranteeing that not a shot of theirs shall, at the worst, more than\nbreak the skin, while 'Killdeer' shall touch the life twice in three\ntimes.\"", "\"We forget our errand,\" returned the diligent Duncan.", "\"For God's sake\nlet us profit by this advantage, and increase our distance from the\nenemy.\"", "\"Give me my children,\" said Munro hoarsely; \"trifle no longer with a\nfather's agony, but restore me my babes.\"", "Long and habitual deference to the mandates of his superiors had taught\nthe scout the virtue of obedience.", "Throwing a last and lingering glance\nat the distant canoes, he laid aside his rifle, and relieving the\nwearied Duncan, resumed the paddle, which he wielded with sinews that\nnever tired.", "His efforts were seconded by those of the Mohicans, and a\nvery few minutes served to place such a sheet of water between them and\ntheir enemies, that Heyward once more breathed freely.", "The lake now began to expand, and their route lay along a wide reach,\nthat was lined, as before, by high and ragged mountains.", "But the islands\nwere few, and easily avoided.", "The strokes of the paddles grew more\nmeasured and regular, while they who plied them continued their labor,\nafter the close and deadly chase from which they had just relieved\nthemselves, with as much coolness as though their speed had been tried\nin sport, rather than under such pressing, nay, almost desperate\ncircumstances.", "Instead of following the western shore, whither their errand led them,\nthe wary Mohican inclined his course more towards those hills behind\nwhich Montcalm was known to have led his army into the formidable\nfortress of Ticonderoga.", "As the Hurons, to every appearance, had\nabandoned the pursuit, there was no apparent reason for this excess of\ncaution.", "It was, however, maintained for hours, until they had reached a\nbay, nigh the northern termination of the lake.", "Here the canoe was\ndriven upon the beach, and the whole party landed.", "Hawkeye and Heyward\nascended an adjacent bluff, where the former, after considering the\nexpanse of water beneath him, pointed out to the latter a small black\nobject, hovering under a headland, at the distance of several miles.", "\"Do you see it?\"", "demanded the scout.", "\"Now, what would you account that\nspot, were you left alone to white experience to find your way through\nthis wilderness?\"", "\"But for its distance and its magnitude, I should suppose it a bird.", "Can\nit be a living object?\"", "\"'Tis a canoe of good birchen bark, and paddled by fierce and crafty\nMingos.", "Though Providence has lent to those who inhabit the woods eyes\nthat would be needless to men in the settlements, where there are\ninventions to assist the sight, yet no human organs can see all the\ndangers which at this moment circumvent us.", "These varlets pretend to be\nbent chiefly on their sun-down meal, but the moment it is dark they will\nbe on our trail, as true as hounds on the scent.", "We must throw them off,\nor our pursuit of Le Renard Subtil may be given up.", "These lakes are\nuseful at times, especially when the game takes the water,\" continued\nthe scout, gazing about him with a countenance of concern; \"but they\ngive no cover, except it be to the fishes.", "God knows what the country\nwould be, if the settlements should ever spread far from the two rivers.", "Both hunting and war would lose their beauty.\"", "\"Let us not delay a moment, without some good and obvious cause.\"", "\"I little like that smoke, which you may see worming up along the rock\nabove the canoe,\" interrupted the abstracted scout.", "\"My life on it,\nother eyes than ours see it, and know its meaning.", "Well, words will not\nmend the matter, and it is time that we were doing.\"", "Hawkeye moved away from the look-out, and descended, musing profoundly,\nto the shore.", "He communicated the result of his observations to his\ncompanions, in Delaware, and a short and earnest consultation succeeded.", "When it terminated, the three instantly set about executing their new\nresolutions.", "The canoe was lifted from the water, and borne on the shoulders of the\nparty.", "They proceeded into the wood, making as broad and obvious a trail\nas possible.", "They soon reached a water-course, which they crossed, and\ncontinued onward, until they came to an extensive and naked rock.", "At\nthis point, where their footsteps might be expected to be no longer\nvisible, they retraced their route to the brook, walking backwards, with\nthe utmost care.", "They now followed the bed of the little stream to the\nlake, into which they immediately launched their canoe again.", "A low\npoint concealed them from the headland, and the margin of the lake was\nfringed for some distance with dense and overhanging bushes.", "Under the\ncover of these natural advantages, they toiled their way, with patient\nindustry, until the scout pronounced that he believed it would be safe\nonce more to land.", "The halt continued until evening rendered objects indistinct and\nuncertain to the eye.", "Then they resumed their route, and, favored by the\ndarkness, pushed silently and vigorously towards the western shore.", "Although the rugged outline of mountain, to which they were steering,\npresented no distinctive marks to the eyes of Duncan, the Mohican\nentered the little haven he had selected with the confidence and\naccuracy of an experienced pilot.", "The boat was again lifted and borne into the woods where it was\ncarefully concealed under a pile of brush.", "The adventurers assumed their\narms and packs, and the scout announced to Munro and Heyward that he and\nthe Indians were at last in readiness to proceed.", "\"If you find a man there, he shall die a flea's death.\"", "_Merry Wives of Windsor._\n\n\nThe party had landed on the border of a region that is, even to this\nday, less known to the inhabitants of the States, than the deserts of\nArabia, or the steppes of Tartary.", "It was the sterile and rugged\ndistrict which separates the tributaries of Champlain from those of the\nHudson, the Mohawk, and the St. Lawrence.", "Since the period of our tale,\nthe active spirit of the country has surrounded it with a belt of rich\nand thriving settlements, though none but the hunter or the savage is\never known, even now, to penetrate its wild recesses.", "As Hawkeye and the Mohicans had, however, often traversed the mountains\nand valleys of this vast wilderness, they did not hesitate to plunge\ninto its depths, with the freedom of men accustomed to its privations\nand difficulties.", "For many hours the travellers toiled on their\nlaborious way, guided by a star, or following the direction of some\nwater-course, until the scout called a halt, and holding a short\nconsultation with the Indians, they lighted their fire, and made the\nusual preparations to pass the remainder of the night where they then\nwere.", "Imitating the example, and emulating the confidence, of their more\nexperienced associates, Munro and Duncan slept without fear, if not\nwithout uneasiness.", "The dews were suffered to exhale, and the sun\ndispersed the mists, and was shedding a strong and clear light in the\nforest, when the travellers resumed their journey.", "After proceeding a few miles, the progress of Hawkeye, who led the\nadvance, became more deliberate and watchful.", "He often stopped to\nexamine the trees; nor did he cross a rivulet, without attentively\nconsidering the quantity, the velocity, and the color of its waters.", "Distrusting his own judgment his appeals to the opinion of Chingachgook\nwere frequent and earnest.", "During one of these conferences, Heyward\nobserved that Uncas stood a patient and silent, though, as he imagined,\nan interested listener.", "He was strongly tempted to address the young\nchief, and demand his opinion of their progress; but the calm and\ndignified demeanor of the native induced him to believe that, like\nhimself, the other was wholly dependent on the sagacity and intelligence\nof the seniors of the party.", "At last, the scout spoke in English, and at\nonce explained the embarrassment of their situation.", "\"When I found that the home path of the Hurons run north,\" he said, \"it\ndid not need the judgment of many long years to tell that they would\nfollow the valleys, and keep atween the waters of the Hudson and the\nHorican, until they might strike the springs of the Canada streams,\nwhich would lead them into the heart of the country of the Frenchers.", "Yet here are we, within a short range of the Scaroon, and not a sign of\na trail have we crossed!", "Human natur' is weak, and it is possible we may\nnot have taken the proper scent.\"", "\"Heaven protect us from such an error!\"", "exclaimed Duncan.", "\"Let us\nretrace our steps, and examine as we go, with keener eyes.", "Has Uncas no\ncounsel to offer in such a strait?\"", "The young Mohican cast a glance at his father, but maintaining his quiet\nand reserved mien, he continued silent.", "Chingachgook had caught the\nlook, and motioning with his hand, he bade him speak.", "The moment this\npermission was accorded, the countenance of Uncas changed from its grave\ncomposure to a gleam of intelligence and joy.", "Bounding forward like a\ndeer, he sprang up the side of a little acclivity, a few rods in\nadvance, and stood exultingly over a spot of fresh earth that looked as\nthough it had been recently upturned by the passage of some heavy\nanimal.", "The eyes of the whole party followed the unexpected movement,\nand read their success in the air of triumph that the youth assumed.", "\"'Tis the trail!\"", "exclaimed the scout, advancing to the spot: \"the lad\nis quick of sight and keen of wit for his years.\"", "\"'Tis extraordinary that he should have withheld his knowledge so long,\"\nmuttered Duncan, at his elbow.", "\"It would have been more wonderful had he spoken without a bidding.", "No,\nno; your young white, who gathers his learning from books and can\nmeasure what he knows by the page, may conceit that his knowledge, like\nhis legs, outruns that of his father; but where experience is the\nmaster, the scholar is made to know the value of years, and respects\nthem accordingly.\"", "\"See!\"", "said Uncas, pointing north and south, at the evident marks of\nthe broad trail on either side of him: \"the dark-hair has gone towards\nthe frost.\"", "\"Hound never ran on a more beautiful scent,\" responded the scout,\ndashing forward, at once, on the indicated route; \"we are favored,\ngreatly favored, and can follow with high noses.", "Ay, here are both your\nwaddling beasts: this Huron travels like a white general.", "The fellow is\nstricken with a judgment, and is mad!", "Look sharp for wheels, Sagamore,\"\nhe continued, looking back, and laughing in his newly awakened\nsatisfaction; \"we shall soon have the fool journeying in a coach, and\nthat with three of the best pair of eyes on the borders, in his rear.\"", "The spirits of the scout, and the astonishing success of the chase, in\nwhich a circuitous distance of more than forty miles had been passed,\ndid not fail to impart a portion of hope to the whole party.", "Their\nadvance was rapid; and made with as much confidence as a traveller would\nproceed along a wide highway.", "If a rock, or a rivulet, or a bit of earth\nharder than common, severed the links of the clue they followed, the\ntrue eye of the scout recovered them at a distance, and seldom rendered\nthe delay of a single moment necessary.", "Their progress was much\nfacilitated by the certainty that Magua had found it necessary to\njourney through the valleys; a circumstance which rendered the general\ndirection of the route sure.", "Nor had the Huron entirely neglected the\narts uniformly practised by the natives when retiring in front of any\nenemy.", "False trails, and sudden turnings, were frequent, wherever a\nbrook, or the formation of the ground, rendered them feasible; but his\npursuers were rarely deceived, and never failed to detect their error,\nbefore they had lost either time or distance on the deceptive track.", "By the middle of the afternoon they had passed the Scaroon, and were\nfollowing the route of the declining sun.", "After descending an eminence\nto a low bottom, through which a stream glided, they suddenly came to a\nplace where the party of Le Renard had made a halt.", "Extinguished brands\nwere lying around a spring, the offals of a deer were scattered about\nthe place, and the trees bore evident marks of having been browsed by\nthe horses.", "At a little distance, Heyward discovered, and contemplated\nwith tender emotion, the small bower under which he was fain to believe\nthat Cora and Alice had reposed.", "But while the earth was trodden, and\nthe footsteps of both men and beasts were so plainly visible around the\nplace, the trail appeared to have suddenly ended.", "It was easy to follow the track of the Narragansetts, but they seemed\nonly to have wandered without guides, or any other object than the\npursuit of food.", "At length Uncas, who, with his father, had endeavored\nto trace the route of the horses, came upon a sign of their presence\nthat was quite recent.", "Before following the clue, he communicated his\nsuccess to his companions; and while the latter were consulting on the\ncircumstance, the youth reappeared, leading the two fillies, with their\nsaddles broken, and the housings soiled, as though they had been\npermitted to run at will for several days.", "\"What should this mean?\"", "said Duncan, turning pale, and glancing his\neyes around him, as if he feared the brush and leaves were about to give\nup some horrid secret.", "\"That our march is come to a quick end, and that we are in an enemy's\ncountry,\" returned the scout.", "\"Had the knaves been pressed, and the\ngentle ones wanted horses to keep up with the party, he might have taken\ntheir scalps; but without an enemy at his heels, and with such rugged\nbeasts as these, he would not hurt a hair of their heads.", "I know your\nthoughts, and shame be it to our color that you have reason for them;\nbut he who thinks that even a Mingo would ill-treat a woman, unless it\nbe to tomahawk her, knows nothing of Indian natur', or the laws of the\nwoods.", "No, no; I have heard that the French Indians had come into these\nhills, to hunt the moose, and we are getting within scent of their camp.", "Why should they not?", "the morning and evening guns of Ty may be heard any\nday among these mountains; for the Frenchers are running a new line\natween the provinces of the king and the Canadas.", "It is true that the\nhorses are here, but the Hurons are gone; let us then hunt for the path\nby which they departed.\"", "Hawkeye and the Mohicans now applied themselves to their task in good\nearnest.", "A circle of a few hundred feet in circumference was drawn, and\neach of the party took a segment for his portion.", "The examination,\nhowever, resulted in no discovery.", "The impressions of footsteps were\nnumerous, but they all appeared like those of men who had wandered about\nthe spot, without any design to quit it.", "Again the scout and his\ncompanions made the circuit of the halting-place, each slowly following\nthe other, until they assembled in the centre once more, no wiser than\nwhen they started.", "\"Such cunning is not without its deviltry,\" exclaimed Hawkeye, when he\nmet the disappointed looks of his assistants.", "\"We must get down to it, Sagamore, beginning at the spring, and going\nover the ground by inches.", "The Huron shall never brag in his tribe that\nhe has a foot which leaves no print.\"", "Setting the example himself, the scout engaged in the scrutiny with\nrenewed zeal.", "Not a leaf was left unturned.", "The sticks were removed, and\nthe stones lifted; for Indian cunning was known frequently to adopt\nthese objects as covers, laboring with the utmost patience and industry,\nto conceal each footstep as they proceeded.", "Still no discovery was made.", "At length Uncas, whose activity had enabled him to achieve his portion\nof the task the soonest, raked the earth across the turbid little rill\nwhich ran from the spring, and diverted its course into another channel.", "So soon as its narrow bed below the dam was dry, he stooped over it with\nkeen and curious eyes.", "A cry of exultation immediately announced the\nsuccess of the young warrior.", "The whole party crowded to the spot where\nUncas pointed out the impression of a moccasin in the moist alluvion.", "\"The lad will be an honor to his people,\" said Hawkeye, regarding the\ntrail with as much admiration as a naturalist would expend on the tusk\nof a mammoth or the rib of a mastodon; \"ay, and a thorn in the sides of\nthe Hurons.", "Yet that is not the footstep of an Indian!", "the weight is too\nmuch on the heel, and the toes are squared, as though one of the French\ndancers had been in, pigeon-winging his tribe!", "Run back, Uncas, and\nbring me the size of the singer's foot.", "You will find a beautiful print\nof it just opposite yon rock, agin the hillside.\"", "While the youth was engaged in this commission, the scout and\nChingachgook were attentively considering the impressions.", "The\nmeasurements agreed, and the former unhesitatingly pronounced that the\nfootstep was that of David, who had once more, been made to exchange his\nshoes for moccasins.", "\"I can now read the whole of it, as plainly as if I had seen the arts of\nLe Subtil,\" he added; \"the singer, being a man whose gifts lay chiefly\nin his throat and feet, was made to go first, and the others have trod\nin his steps, imitating their formation.\"", "\"But,\" cried Duncan, \"I see no signs of--\"\n\n\"The gentle ones,\" interrupted the scout; \"the varlet has found a way to\ncarry them, until he supposed he had thrown any followers off the scent.", "My life on it, we see their pretty little feet again, before many rods\ngo by.\"", "The whole party now proceeded, following the course of the rill, keeping\nanxious eyes on the regular impressions.", "The water soon flowed into its\nbed again, but watching the ground on either side, the foresters pursued\ntheir way content with knowing that the trail lay beneath.", "More than\nhalf a mile was passed, before the rill rippled close around the base of\nan extensive and dry rock.", "Here they paused to make sure that the Hurons\nhad not quitted the water.", "It was fortunate they did so.", "For the quick and active Uncas soon found\nthe impression of a foot on a bunch of moss, where it would seem an\nIndian had inadvertently trodden.", "Pursuing the direction given by this\ndiscovery, he entered the neighboring thicket, and struck the trail, as\nfresh and obvious as it had been before they reached the spring.", "Another\nshout announced the good fortune of the youth to his companions, and at\nonce terminated the search.", "\"Ay, it has been planned with Indian judgment,\" said the scout, when the\nparty was assembled around the place; \"and would have blinded white\neyes.\"", "\"Shall we proceed?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Softly, softly: we know our path; but it is good to examine the\nformation of things.", "This is my schooling, major; and if one neglects\nthe book, there is little chance of learning from the open hand of\nProvidence.", "All is plain but one thing, which is the manner that the\nknave contrived to get the gentle ones along the blind trail.", "Even a\nHuron would be too proud to let their tender feet touch the water.\"", "\"Will this assist in explaining the difficulty?\"", "said Heyward, pointing\ntowards the fragments of a sort of handbarrow, that had been rudely\nconstructed of boughs, and bound together with withes, and which now\nseemed carelessly cast aside as useless.", "\"'Tis explained!\"", "cried the delighted Hawkeye.", "\"If them varlets have\npassed a minute, they have spent hours in striving to fabricate a lying\nend to their trail!", "Well, I've known them to waste a day in the same\nmanner, to as little purpose.", "Here we have three pair of moccasins, and\ntwo of little feet.", "It is amazing that any mortal beings can journey on\nlimbs so small!", "Pass me the thong of buckskin, Uncas, and let me take\nthe length of this foot.", "By the Lord, it is no longer than a child's and\nyet the maidens are tall and comely.", "That Providence is partial in its\ngifts, for its own wise reasons, the best and most contented of us must\nallow.\"", "\"The tender limbs of my daughters are unequal to these hardships,\" said\nMunro, looking at the light footsteps of his children, with a parent's\nlove: \"we shall find their fainting forms in this desert.\"", "\"Of that there is little cause of fear,\" returned the scout, slowly\nshaking his head; \"this is a firm and straight, though a light step, and\nnot over long.", "See, the heel has hardly touched the ground; and there\nthe dark-hair has made a little jump, from root to root.", "No, no; my\nknowledge for it, neither of them was nigh fainting, hereaway.", "Now, the\nsinger was beginning to be foot-sore and leg-weary as is plain by his\ntrail.", "There, you see, he slipped; here he has travelled wide, and\ntottered; and there, again, it looks as though he journeyed on\nsnow-shoes.", "Ay, ay, a man who uses his throat altogether, can hardly\ngive his legs a proper training.\"", "From such undeniable testimony did the practised woodsman arrive at the\ntruth, with nearly as much certainty and precision as if he had been a\nwitness of all those events which his ingenuity so easily elucidated.", "Cheered by these assurances, and satisfied by a reasoning that was so\nobvious, while it was so simple, the party resumed its course, after\nmaking a short halt to take a hurried repast.", "When the meal was ended, the scout cast a glance upwards at the setting\nsun, and pushed forward with a rapidity which compelled Heyward and the\nstill vigorous Munro to exert all their muscles to equal.", "Their route\nnow lay along the bottom which had already been mentioned.", "As the Hurons\nhad made no further efforts to conceal their footsteps, the progress of\nthe pursuers was no longer delayed by uncertainty.", "Before an hour had\nelapsed, however, the speed of Hawkeye sensibly abated, and his head,\ninstead of maintaining its former direct and forward look, began to turn\nsuspiciously from side to side, as if he were conscious of approaching\ndanger.", "He soon stopped again, and waited for the whole party to come\nup.", "\"I scent the Hurons,\" he said, speaking to the Mohicans; \"yonder is open\nsky, through the tree-tops, and we are getting too nigh their\nencampment.", "Sagamore, you will take the hillside, to the right; Uncas\nwill bend along the brook to the left, while I will try the trail.", "If\nanything should happen, the call will be three croaks of a crow.", "I saw\none of the birds fanning himself in the air, just beyond the dead\noak--another sign that we are touching an encampment.\"", "The Indians departed their several ways without reply, while Hawkeye\ncautiously proceeded with the two gentlemen.", "Heyward soon pressed to the\nside of their guide, eager to catch an early glimpse of those enemies he\nhad pursued with so much toil and anxiety.", "His companion told him to\nsteal to the edge of the wood, which, as usual, was fringed with a\nthicket, and wait his coming, for he wished to examine certain\nsuspicious signs a little on one side.", "Duncan obeyed, and soon found\nhimself in a situation to command a view which he found as extraordinary\nas it was novel.", "The trees of many acres had been felled, and the glow of a mild summer's\nevening had fallen on the clearing, in beautiful contrast to the gray\nlight of the forest.", "A short distance from the place where Duncan stood,\nthe stream had seemingly expanded into a little lake, covering most of\nthe low land, from mountain to mountain.", "The water fell out of this wide\nbasin, in a cataract so regular and gentle, that it appeared rather to\nbe the work of human hands, than fashioned by nature.", "A hundred earthen\ndwellings stood on the margin of the lake, and even in its water, as\nthough the latter had overflowed its usual banks.", "Their rounded roofs,\nadmirably moulded for defence against the weather, denoted more of\nindustry and foresight than the natives were wont to bestow on their\nregular habitations, much less on those they occupied for the temporary\npurposes of hunting and war.", "In short, the whole village or town,\nwhichever it might be termed, possessed more of method and neatness of\nexecution, than the white men had been accustomed to believe belonged,\nordinarily, to the Indian habits.", "It appeared, however, to be deserted.", "At least, so thought Duncan for many minutes; but, at length, he fancied\nhe discovered several human forms advancing towards him on all fours,\nand apparently dragging in their train some heavy, and as he was quick\nto apprehend, some formidable engine.", "Just then a few dark looking heads\ngleamed out of the dwellings, and the place seemed suddenly alive with\nbeings, which, however, glided from cover to cover so swiftly, as to\nallow no opportunity of examining their humors or pursuits.", "Alarmed at\nthese suspicious and inexplicable movements, he was about to attempt the\nsignal of the crows, when the rustling of leaves at hand drew his eyes\nin another direction.", "The young man started, and recoiled a few paces instinctively, when he\nfound himself within a hundred yards of a stranger Indian.", "Recovering\nhis recollection on the instant, instead of sounding an alarm, which\nmight prove fatal to himself, he remained stationary, an attentive\nobserver of the other's motions.", "An instant of calm observation served to assure Duncan that he was\nundiscovered.", "The native, like himself, seemed occupied in considering\nthe low dwellings of the village, and the stolen movements of its\ninhabitants.", "It was impossible to discover the expression of his\nfeatures, through the grotesque mask of paint under which they were\nconcealed; though Duncan fancied it was rather melancholy than savage.", "His head was shaved, as usual, with the exception of the crown, from\nwhose tuft three or four faded feathers from a hawk's wing were loosely\ndangling.", "A ragged calico mantle half-encircled his body, while his\nnether garment was composed of an ordinary shirt, the sleeves of which\nwere made to perform the office that is usually executed by a much more\ncommodious arrangement.", "His legs were bare, and sadly cut and torn by\nbriers.", "The feet were, however, covered with a pair of good deer-skin\nmoccasins.", "Altogether, the appearance of the individual was forlorn and\nmiserable.", "Duncan was still curiously observing the person of his neighbor, when\nthe scout stole silently and cautiously to his side.", "\"You see we have reached their settlement or encampment,\" whispered the\nyoung man; \"and here is one of the savages himself, in a very\nembarrassing position for our further movements.\"", "Hawkeye started, and dropped his rifle, directed by the finger of his\ncompanion, the stranger came under his view.", "Then lowering the dangerous\nmuzzle, he stretched forward his long neck, as if to assist a scrutiny\nthat was already intensely keen.", "\"The imp is not a Huron,\" he said, \"nor of any of the Canada tribes; and\nyet you see, by his clothes, the knave has been plundering a white.", "Ay,\nMontcalm has raked the woods for his inroad, and a whooping, murdering\nset of varlets has he gathered together.", "Can you see where he has put\nhis rifle or his bow?\"", "\"He appears to have no arms; nor does he seem to be viciously inclined.", "Unless he communicate the alarm to his fellows, who as you see are\ndodging about the water, we have but little to fear from him.\"", "The scout turned to Heyward, and regarded him a moment with unconcealed\namazement.", "Then opening wide his mouth, he indulged in unrestrained and\nheartfelt laughter, though in that silent and peculiar manner which\ndanger had so long taught him to practise.", "Repeating the words, \"fellows who are dodging about the water!\"", "he\nadded, \"so much for schooling and passing a boyhood in the settlements!", "The knave has long legs, though, and shall not be trusted.", "Do you keep\nhim under your rifle while I creep in behind, through the bush, and take\nhim alive.", "Fire on no account.\"", "Heyward had already permitted his companion to bury part of his person\nin the thicket, when, stretching forth an arm, he arrested him, in order\nto ask,--\n\n\"If I see you in danger, may I not risk a shot?\"", "Hawkeye regarded him a moment, like one who knew not how to take the\nquestion; then nodding his head, he answered, still laughing, though\ninaudibly,--\n\n\"Fire a whole platoon, major.\"", "In the next moment he was concealed by the leaves.", "Duncan waited several\nminutes in feverish impatience, before he caught another glimpse of the\nscout.", "Then he reappeared, creeping along the earth, from which his\ndress was hardly distinguishable, directly in the rear of his intended\ncaptive.", "Having reached within a few yards of the latter, he arose to\nhis feet, silently and slowly.", "At that instant, several loud blows were\nstruck on the water, and Duncan turned his eyes just in time to perceive\nthat a hundred dark forms were plunging, in a body, into the troubled\nlittle sheet.", "Grasping his rifle, his looks were again bent on the\nIndian near him.", "Instead of taking the alarm, the unconscious savage\nstretched forward his neck, as if he also watched the movements about\nthe gloomy lake, with a sort of silly curiosity.", "In the meantime, the\nuplifted hand of Hawkeye was above him.", "But, without any apparent\nreason, it was withdrawn, and its owner indulged in another long, though\nstill silent, fit of merriment.", "When the peculiar and hearty laughter of\nHawkeye was ended, instead of grasping his victim by the throat, he\ntapped him lightly on the shoulder, and exclaimed aloud,--\n\n\"How now, friend!", "have you a mind to teach the beavers to sing?\"", "\"Even so,\" was the ready answer.", "\"It would seem that the Being that gave\nthem power to improve his gifts so well, would not deny them voices to\nproclaim his praise.\"" ]

[ "let me bend mine eyes\n On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men!\"", "You see\nthe mist, major, that is rising above the island; you can't call it a\nfog, for it is more like a streak of thin cloud--\"\n\n\"It is vapor from the water.\"", "The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient of\nthemselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid aside\nhis paddle, and raised the fatal rifle.", "Duncan, who was not altogether as easy under this nice estimate of\ndistances as his companions, was glad to find, however, that owing to\ntheir superior dexterity, and the diversion among their enemies, they\nwere very sensibly obtaining the advantage.", "\"We forget our errand,\" returned the diligent Duncan.", "God knows what the country\nwould be, if the settlements should ever spread far from the two rivers.", "exclaimed the scout, advancing to the spot: \"the lad\nis quick of sight and keen of wit for his years.\"", "The spirits of the scout, and the astonishing success of the chase, in\nwhich a circuitous distance of more than forty miles had been passed,\ndid not fail to impart a portion of hope to the whole party.", "Run back, Uncas, and\nbring me the size of the singer's foot.", "Duncan obeyed, and soon found\nhimself in a situation to command a view which he found as extraordinary\nas it was novel." ]

[ "\"Softly, softly: we know our path; but it is good to examine the\nformation of things.", "The knave has long legs, though, and shall not be trusted.", "It was the sterile and rugged\ndistrict which separates the tributaries of Champlain from those of the\nHudson, the Mohawk, and the St. Lawrence.", "Under the\ncover of these natural advantages, they toiled their way, with patient\nindustry, until the scout pronounced that he believed it would be safe\nonce more to land.", "Setting the example himself, the scout engaged in the scrutiny with\nrenewed zeal.", "Another\nshout announced the good fortune of the youth to his companions, and at\nonce terminated the search.", "No, no,\" continued the scout,\nlooking back at the dim shore of William Henry, which was now fast\nreceding, and laughing in his own silent but heartfelt manner; \"I have\nput a trail of water atween us; and unless the imps can make friends\nwith the fishes, and hear who has paddled across their basin, this fine\nmorning, we shall throw the length of the Horican behind us, before they\nhave made up their minds which path to take.\"", "\"Softly, softly, major,\" said the scout, who by this time had reloaded\nhis rifle; \"we are a little too far already for a rifle to put forth its\nbeauties, and you see yonder imps are holding a council.", "Ay, here are both your\nwaddling beasts: this Huron travels like a white general.", "For many hours the travellers toiled on their\nlaborious way, guided by a star, or following the direction of some\nwater-course, until the scout called a halt, and holding a short\nconsultation with the Indians, they lighted their fire, and made the\nusual preparations to pass the remainder of the night where they then\nwere." ]

[ "They soon reached a water-course, which they crossed, and\ncontinued onward, until they came to an extensive and naked rock.", "At\nthis point, where their footsteps might be expected to be no longer\nvisible, they retraced their route to the brook, walking backwards, with\nthe utmost care.", "They now followed the bed of the little stream to the\nlake, into which they immediately launched their canoe again.", "A low\npoint concealed them from the headland, and the margin of the lake was\nfringed for some distance with dense and overhanging bushes.", "Under the\ncover of these natural advantages, they toiled their way, with patient\nindustry, until the scout pronounced that he believed it would be safe\nonce more to land.", "The halt continued until evening rendered objects indistinct and\nuncertain to the eye.", "Then they resumed their route, and, favored by the\ndarkness, pushed silently and vigorously towards the western shore.", "Although the rugged outline of mountain, to which they were steering,\npresented no distinctive marks to the eyes of Duncan, the Mohican\nentered the little haven he had selected with the confidence and\naccuracy of an experienced pilot.", "The boat was again lifted and borne into the woods where it was\ncarefully concealed under a pile of brush.", "The adventurers assumed their\narms and packs, and the scout announced to Munro and Heyward that he and\nthe Indians were at last in readiness to proceed.", "\"If you find a man there, he shall die a flea's death.\"" ]

[ "\n \"Land of Albania!", "let me bend mine eyes\n On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men!\"", "_Childe Harold._\n\n\nThe heavens were still studded with stars, when Hawkeye came to arouse\nthe sleepers.", "Casting aside their cloaks Munro and Heyward were on their\nfeet while the woodsman was still making his low calls, at the entrance\nof the rude shelter where they had passed the night.", "When they issued\nfrom beneath its concealment, they found the scout awaiting their\nappearance nigh by, and the only salutation between them was the\nsignificant gesture for silence, made by their sagacious leader.", "\"Think over your prayers,\" he whispered, as they approached him; \"for He\nto whom you make them knows all tongues; that of the heart as well as\nthose of the mouth.", "But speak not a syllable; it is rare for a white\nvoice to pitch itself properly in the woods, as we have seen by the\nexample of that miserable devil, the singer.", "Come,\" he continued,\nturning towards a curtain of the works; \"let us get into the ditch on\nthis side, and be regardful to step on the stones and fragments of wood\nas you go.\"", "His companions complied, though to two of them the reasons of this\nextraordinary precaution were yet a mystery.", "When they were in the low\ncavity that surrounded the earthen fort on three sides, they found the\npassage nearly choked by the ruins.", "Having reached within a few yards of the latter, he arose to\nhis feet, silently and slowly.", "At that instant, several loud blows were\nstruck on the water, and Duncan turned his eyes just in time to perceive\nthat a hundred dark forms were plunging, in a body, into the troubled\nlittle sheet.", "Grasping his rifle, his looks were again bent on the\nIndian near him.", "Instead of taking the alarm, the unconscious savage\nstretched forward his neck, as if he also watched the movements about\nthe gloomy lake, with a sort of silly curiosity.", "In the meantime, the\nuplifted hand of Hawkeye was above him.", "But, without any apparent\nreason, it was withdrawn, and its owner indulged in another long, though\nstill silent, fit of merriment.", "When the peculiar and hearty laughter of\nHawkeye was ended, instead of grasping his victim by the throat, he\ntapped him lightly on the shoulder, and exclaimed aloud,--\n\n\"How now, friend!", "have you a mind to teach the beavers to sing?\"", "\"Even so,\" was the ready answer.", "\"It would seem that the Being that gave\nthem power to improve his gifts so well, would not deny them voices to\nproclaim his praise.\"" ]

[ "\n _\"Bot._--Are we all met?\"", "_\"Qui._--Pat--pat; and here's a marvellous\n Convenient place for our rehearsal.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe reader may better imagine, than we describe, the surprise of\nHeyward.", "His lurking Indians were suddenly converted into four-footed\nbeasts; his lake into a beaver pond; his cataract into a dam,\nconstructed by those industrious and ingenious quadrupeds; and a\nsuspected enemy into his tried friend, David Gamut, the master of\npsalmody.", "The presence of the latter created so many unexpected hopes\nrelative to the sisters that, without a moment's hesitation, the young\nman broke out of his ambush, and sprang forward to join the two\nprincipal actors in the scene.", "The merriment of Hawkeye was not easily appeased.", "Without ceremony, and\nwith a rough hand, he twirled the supple Gamut around on his heel, and\nmore than once affirmed that the Hurons had done themselves great credit\nin the fashion of his costume.", "Then seizing the hand of the other, he\nsqueezed it with a gripe that brought the tears into the eyes of the\nplacid David, and wished him joy of his new condition.", "\"You were about opening your throat-practysings among the beavers, were\nye?\"", "he said.", "\"The cunning devils know half the trade already, for they\nbeat the time with their tails, as you heard just now; and in good time\nit was too, or 'Killdeer' might have sounded the first note among them.", "I have known greater fools, who could read and write, than an\nexperienced old beaver; but as for squalling, the animals are born dumb!", "What think you of such a song as this?\"", "David shut his sensitive ears, and even Heyward, apprised as he was of\nthe nature of the cry, looked upwards in quest of the bird, as the\ncawing of a crow rang in the air about them.", "\"See!\"", "continued the laughing scout, as he pointed towards the remainder\nof the party, who, in obedience to the signal, were already\napproaching: \"this is music which has its natural virtues; it brings two\ngood rifles to my elbow, to say nothing of the knives and tomahawks.", "But\nwe see that you are safe; now tell us what has become of the maidens.\"", "\"They are captives to the heathen,\" said David; \"and though greatly\ntroubled in spirit, enjoying comfort and safety in the body.\"", "\"Both?\"", "demanded the breathless Heyward.", "\"Even so.", "Though our wayfaring has been sore and our sustenance scanty,\nwe have had little other cause for complaint, except the violence done\nour feelings, by being thus led in captivity into a far land.\"", "\"Bless ye for these very words!\"", "exclaimed the trembling Munro; \"I shall\nthen receive my babes spotless and angel-like, as I lost them!\"", "\"I know not that their delivery is at hand,\" returned the doubting\nDavid; \"the leader of these savages is possessed of an evil spirit that\nno power short of Omnipotence can tame.", "I have tried him sleeping and\nwaking, but neither sounds nor language seem to touch his soul.\"", "\"Where is the knave?\"", "bluntly interrupted the scout.", "\"He hunts the moose to-day, with his young men; and to-morrow, as I\nhear, they pass farther into these forests, and nigher to the borders of\nCanada.", "The elder maiden is conveyed to a neighboring people, whose\nlodges are situate beyond yonder black pinnacle of rock; while the\nyounger is detained among the women of the Hurons, whose dwellings are\nbut two short miles hence, on a table-land, where the fire has done the\noffice of the axe, and prepared the place for their reception.\"", "\"Alice, my gentle Alice!\"", "murmured Heyward; \"she has lost the\nconsolation of her sister's presence!\"", "\"Even so.", "But so far as praise and thanksgiving in psalmody can temper\nthe spirit in affliction, she has not suffered.\"", "\"Has she then a heart for music?\"", "\"Of the graver and more solemn character; though it must be acknowledged\nthat, in spite of all my endeavors, the maiden weeps oftener than she\nsmiles.", "At such moments I forbear to press the holy songs; but there are\nmany sweet and comfortable periods of satisfactory communication, when\nthe ears of the savages are astounded with the upliftings of our\nvoices.\"", "\"And why are you permitted to go at large, unwatched?\"", "David composed his features into what he intended should express an air\nof modest humility, before he meekly replied--\n\n\"Little be the praise to such a worm as I.", "But, though the power of\npsalmody was suspended in the terrible business of that field of blood\nthrough which we passed, it has recovered its influence even over the\nsouls of the heathen, and I am suffered to go and come at will.\"", "The scout laughed, and tapping his own forehead significantly, he\nperhaps explained the singular indulgence more satisfactorily when he\nsaid--\n\n\"The Indians never harm a non-composser.", "But why, when the path lay open\nbefore your eyes, did you not strike back on your own trail (it is not\nso blind as that which a squirrel would make), and bring in the tidings\nto Edward?\"", "The scout, remembering only his own sturdy and iron nature, had probably\nexacted a task that David, under no circumstances, could have performed.", "But, without entirely losing the meekness of his air, the latter was\ncontent to answer--\n\n\"Though my soul would rejoice to visit the habitations of Christendom\nonce more, my feet would rather follow the tender spirits intrusted to\nmy keeping, even into the idolatrous province of the Jesuits, than take\none step backward, while they pined in captivity and sorrow.\"", "Though the figurative language of David was not very intelligible, the\nsincere and steady expression of his eye, and the glow on his honest\ncountenance, were not easily mistaken.", "Uncas pressed closer to his side,\nand regarded the speaker with a look of commendation, while his father\nexpressed his satisfaction by the ordinary pithy exclamation of\napprobation.", "The scout shook his head as he rejoined--\n\n\"The Lord never intended that the man should place all his endeavors in\nhis throat, to the neglect of other and better gifts!", "But he has fallen\ninto the hands of some silly woman, when he should have been gathering\nhis education under a blue sky, among the beauties of the forest.", "Here,\nfriend; I did intend to kindle a fire with this tooting whistle of\nthine; but as you value the thing, take it, and blow your best on it!\"", "Gamut received his pitch-pipe with as strong an expression of pleasure\nas he believed compatible with the grave functions he exercised.", "After\nessaying its virtues repeatedly, in contrast with his own voice, and\nsatisfying himself that none of its melody was lost, he made a very\nserious demonstration towards achieving a few stanzas of one of the\nlongest effusions in the little volume so often mentioned.", "Heyward, however, hastily interrupted his pious purpose, by continuing\nquestions concerning the past and present condition of his\nfellow-captives, and in a manner more methodical than had been permitted\nby his feelings in the opening of their interview.", "David, though he\nregarded his treasure with longing eyes, was constrained to answer:\nespecially as the venerable father took a part in the interrogatories,\nwith an interest too imposing to be denied.", "Nor did the scout fail to\nthrow in a pertinent inquiry, whenever a fitting occasion presented.", "In\nthis manner, though with frequent interruptions, which were filled with\ncertain threatening sounds from the recovered instrument, the pursuers\nwere put in possession of such leading circumstances as were likely to\nprove useful in accomplishing their great and engrossing object--the\nrecovery of the sisters.", "The narrative of David was simple, and the\nfacts but few.", "Magua had waited on the mountain until a safe moment to retire presented\nitself, when he had descended, and taken the route along the western\nside of the Horican, in the direction of the Canadas.", "As the subtle\nHuron was familiar with the paths, and well knew there was no immediate\ndanger of pursuit, their progress had been moderate, and far from\nfatiguing.", "It appeared from the unembellished statement of David, that\nhis own presence had been rather endured than desired; though even Magua\nhad not been entirely exempt from that veneration with which the Indians\nregard those whom the Great Spirit has visited in their intellects.", "At\nnight, the utmost care had been taken of the captives, both to prevent\ninjury from the damps of the woods, and to guard against an escape.", "At\nthe spring, the horses were turned loose, as has been seen; and\nnotwithstanding the remoteness and length of their trail, the artifices\nalready named were resorted to, in order to cut off every clue to their\nplace of retreat.", "On their arrival at the encampment of his people,\nMagua, in obedience to a policy seldom departed from, separated his\nprisoners.", "Cora had been sent to a tribe that temporarily occupied an\nadjacent valley, though David was too ignorant of the customs and\nhistory of the natives to be able to declare anything satisfactory\nconcerning their name or character.", "He only knew that they had not\nengaged in the late expedition against William Henry; that, like the\nHurons themselves, they were allies of Montcalm; and that they\nmaintained an amicable, though a watchful intercourse with the warlike\nand savage people, whom chance had, for a time, brought in such close\nand disagreeable contact with themselves.", "The Mohicans and the scout listened to his interrupted and imperfect\nnarrative, with an interest that obviously increased as he proceeded;\nand it was while attempting to explain the pursuits of the community in\nwhich Cora was detained, that the latter abruptly demanded--\n\n\"Did you see the fashion of their knives?", "Were they of English or French\nformation?\"", "\"My thoughts were bent on no such vanities, but rather mingled in\nconsolation with those of the maidens.\"", "\"The time may come when you will not consider the knife of a savage such\na despisable vanity,\" returned the scout, with a strong expression of\ncontempt for the other's dulness.", "\"Had they held their corn-feast--or\ncan you say anything of the totems of the tribe?\"", "\"Of corn, we had many and plentiful feasts; for the grain, being in the\nmilk, is both sweet to the mouth and comfortable to the stomach.", "Of\ntotem, I know not the meaning; but if it appertaineth in any wise to the\nart of Indian music, it need not be inquired after at their hands.", "They\nnever join their voices in praise, and it would seem that they are among\nthe profanest of the idolatrous.\"", "\"Therein you belie the nature of an Indian.", "Even the Mingo adores but\nthe true and living God.", "'Tis a wicked fabrication of the whites, and I\nsay it to the shame of my color, that would make the warrior bow down\nbefore images of his own creation.", "It is true, they endeavor to make\ntruces with the wicked one--as who would not with an enemy he cannot\nconquer!--but they look up for favor and assistance to the Great and\nGood Spirit only.\"", "\"It may be so,\" said David; \"but I have seen strange and fantastic\nimages drawn in their paint, of which their admiration and care savored\nof spiritual pride; especially one, and that, too, a foul and loathsome\nobject.\"", "\"Was it a sarpent?\"", "quickly demanded the scout.", "\"Much the same.", "It was in the likeness of an abject and creeping\ntortoise.\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed both the attentive Mohicans in a breath; while the\nscout shook his head with an air of one who had made an important, but\nby no means a pleasing discovery.", "Then the father spoke, in the language\nof the Delawares, and with a calmness and dignity that instantly\narrested the attention even of those to whom his words were\nunintelligible.", "His gestures were impressive, and at times energetic.", "Once he lifted his arm on high; and as it descended, the action threw\naside the folds of his light mantle, a finger resting on his breast, as\nif he would enforce his meaning by the attitude.", "Duncan's eyes followed\nthe movement, and he perceived that the animal just mentioned was\nbeautifully, though faintly, worked in a blue tint, on the swarthy\nbreast of the chief.", "All that he had ever heard of the violent\nseparation of the vast tribes of the Delawares rushed across his mind,\nand he awaited the proper moment to speak, with a suspense that was\nrendered nearly intolerable, by his interest in the stake.", "His wish,\nhowever, was anticipated by the scout, who turned from his red friend,\nsaying--\n\n\"We have found that which may be good or evil to us, as Heaven disposes.", "The Sagamore is of the high blood of the Delawares, and is the great\nchief of their Tortoises!", "That some of this stock are among the people\nof whom the singer tells us, is plain, by his words; and had he but\nspent half the breath in prudent questions, that he has blown away in\nmaking a trumpet of his throat, we might have known how many warriors\nthey numbered.", "It is, altogether, a dangerous path we move in; for a\nfriend whose face is turned from you often bears a bloodier mind than\nthe enemy who seeks your scalp.\"", "\"Explain,\" said Duncan.", "\"'Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and one I little like to think\nof; for it is not to be denied, that the evil has been mainly done by\nmen with white skins.", "But it has ended in turning the tomahawk of\nbrother against brother, and brought the Mingo and the Delaware to\ntravel in the same path.\"", "\"You then suspect it is a portion of that people among whom Cora\nresides?\"", "The scout nodded his head in assent, though he seemed anxious to waive\nthe further discussion of a subject that appeared painful.", "The impatient\nDuncan now made several hasty and desperate propositions to attempt the\nrelease of the sisters.", "Munro seemed to shake off his apathy, and\nlistened to the wild schemes of the young man with a deference that his\ngray hairs and reverend years should have denied.", "But the scout, after\nsuffering the ardor of the lover to expend itself a little, found means\nto convince him of the folly of precipitation, in a matter that would\nrequire their coolest judgment and utmost fortitude.", "\"It would be well,\" he added, \"to let this man go in again, as usual,\nand for him to tarry in the lodges, giving notice to the gentle ones of\nour approach, until we call him out, by signal, to consult.", "You know the\ncry of a crow, friend, from the whistle of the whippoorwill?\"", "\"'Tis a pleasing bird,\" returned David, \"and has a soft and melancholy\nnote!", "though the time is rather quick and ill-measured.\"", "\"He speaks of the wish-ton-wish,\" said the scout; \"well, since you like\nhis whistle, it shall be your signal.", "Remember, then, when you hear the\nwhippoorwill's call three times repeated, you are to come into the\nbushes where the bird might be supposed----\"\n\n\"Stop,\" interrupted Heyward; \"I will accompany him.\"", "\"You!\"", "exclaimed the astonished Hawkeye; \"are you tired of seeing the\nsun rise and set?\"", "\"David is a living proof that the Hurons can be merciful.\"", "\"Ay, but David can use his throat, as no man in his senses would pervert\nthe gift.\"", "\"I, too, can play the madman, the fool, the hero; in short, any or\neverything to rescue her I love.", "Name your objections no longer; I am\nresolved.\"", "Hawkeye regarded the young man a moment in speechless amazement.", "But\nDuncan, who, in deference to the other's skill and services, had\nhitherto submitted somewhat implicitly to his dictation, now assumed the\nsuperior, with a manner that was not easily resisted.", "He waved his hand,\nin sign of his dislike to all remonstrance, and then, in more tempered\nlanguage, he continued--\n\n\"You have the means of disguise; change me; paint me, too, if you will;\nin short, alter me to anything--a fool.\"", "\"It is not for one like me to say that he who is already formed by so\npowerful a hand as Providence, stands in need of a change,\" muttered the\ndiscontented scout.", "\"When you send your parties abroad in war, you find\nit prudent, at least, to arrange the marks and places of encampment, in\norder that they who fight on your side may know when and where to expect\na friend.\"", "\"Listen,\" interrupted Duncan; \"you have heard from this faithful\nfollower of the captives, that the Indians are of two tribes, if not of\ndifferent nations.", "With one, whom you think to be a branch of the\nDelawares, is she you call the 'dark-hair'; the other, and younger of\nthe ladies, is undeniably with our declared enemies, the Hurons.", "It\nbecomes my youth and rank to attempt the latter adventure.", "While you,\ntherefore, are negotiating with your friends for the release of one of\nthe sisters, I will effect that of the other, or die.\"", "The awakened spirit of the young soldier gleamed in his eyes, and his\nform became imposing under its influence.", "Hawkeye, though too much\naccustomed to Indian artifices not to foresee the danger of the\nexperiment, knew not well how to combat this sudden resolution.", "Perhaps there was something in the proposal that suited his own hardy\nnature, and that secret love of desperate adventure, which had increased\nwith his experience, until hazard and danger had become, in some\nmeasure, necessary to the enjoyment of his existence.", "Instead of\ncontinuing to oppose the scheme of Duncan, his humor suddenly altered,\nand he lent himself to its execution.", "\"Come,\" he said, with a good-humored smile; \"the buck that will take to\nthe water must be headed, and not followed.", "Chingachgook has as many\ndifferent paints as the engineer officer's wife, who takes down natur'\non scraps of paper, making the mountains look like cocks of rusty hay,\nand placing the blue sky in reach of your hand.", "The Sagamore can use\nthem, too.", "Seat yourself on the log; and my life on it, he can soon make\na natural fool of you, and that well to your liking.\"", "Duncan complied; and the Mohican, who had been an attentive listener to\nthe discourse, readily undertook the office.", "Long practised in all the\nsubtle arts of his race, he drew, with great dexterity and quickness,\nthe fantastic shadow that the natives were accustomed to consider as the\nevidence of a friendly and jocular disposition.", "Every line that could\npossibly be interpreted into a secret inclination for war, was carefully\navoided; while, on the other hand, he studied those conceits that might\nbe construed into amity.", "In short, he entirely sacrificed every appearance of the warrior to the\nmasquerade of a buffoon.", "Such exhibitions were not uncommon among the\nIndians; and as Duncan was already sufficiently disguised in his dress,\nthere certainly did exist some reason for believing that, with his\nknowledge of French, he might pass for a juggler from Ticonderoga,\nstraggling among the allied and friendly tribes.", "When he was thought to be sufficiently painted, the scout gave him much\nfriendly advice; concerted signals, and appointed the place where they\nshould meet, in the event of mutual success.", "The parting between Munro\nand his young friend was more melancholy; still, the former submitted to\nthe separation with an indifference that his warm and honest nature\nwould never have permitted in a more healthful state of mind.", "The scout\nled Heyward aside, and acquainted him with his intention to leave the\nveteran in some safe encampment, in charge of Chingachgook, while he and\nUncas pursued their inquiries among the people they had reason to\nbelieve were Delawares.", "Then renewing his cautions and advice, he\nconcluded by saying, with a solemnity and warmth of feeling, with which\nDuncan was deeply touched:\n\n\"And now God bless you!", "You have shown a spirit that I like; for it is\nthe gift of youth, more especially one of warm blood and a stout heart.", "But believe the warning of a man who has reason to know all he says to\nbe true.", "You will have occasion for your best manhood, and for a sharper\nwit than what is to be gathered in books, afore you outdo the cunning,\nor get the better of the courage of a Mingo.", "God bless you!", "if the\nHurons master your scalp, rely on the promise of one who has two stout\nwarriors to back him.", "They shall pay for their victory, with a life for\nevery hair it holds.", "I say, young gentleman, may Providence bless your\nundertaking, which is altogether for good; and remember, that to outwit\nthe knaves it is lawful to practise things that may not be naturally the\ngift of a white skin.\"", "Duncan shook his worthy and reluctant associate warmly by the hand, once\nmore recommended his aged friend to his care, and returning his good\nwishes, he motioned to David to proceed.", "Hawkeye gazed after the\nhigh-spirited and adventurous young man for several moments, in open\nadmiration; then shaking his head doubtingly, he turned, and led his own\ndivision of the party into the concealment of the forest.", "The route taken by Duncan and David lay directly across the clearing of\nthe beavers, and along the margin of their pond.", "When the former found himself alone with one so simple, and so little\nqualified to render any assistance in desperate emergencies, he first\nbegan to be sensible of the difficulties of the task he had undertaken.", "The fading light increased the gloominess of the bleak and savage\nwilderness that stretched so far on every side of him; and there was\neven a fearful character in the stillness of those little huts, that he\nknew were so abundantly peopled.", "It struck him, as he gazed at the\nadmirable structures and the wonderful precautions of their sagacious\ninmates, that even the brutes of these vast wilds were possessed of an\ninstinct nearly commensurate with his own reason; and he could not\nreflect, without anxiety, on the unequal contest that he had so rashly\ncourted.", "Then came the glowing image of Alice; her distress; her actual\ndanger; and all the peril of his situation was forgotten.", "Cheering\nDavid, he moved on with the light and vigorous step of youth and\nenterprise.", "After making nearly a semicircle around the pond, they diverged from the\nwater-course, and began to ascend to the level of a slight elevation in\nthat bottom land, over which they journeyed.", "Within half an hour they\ngained the margin of another opening that bore all the signs of having\nbeen also made by the beavers, and which those sagacious animals had\nprobably been induced, by some accident, to abandon, for the more\neligible position they now occupied.", "A very natural sensation caused\nDuncan to hesitate a moment, unwilling to leave the cover of their bushy\npath, as a man pauses to collect his energies before he essays any\nhazardous experiment, in which he is secretly conscious they will all be\nneeded.", "He profited by the halt, to gather such information as might be\nobtained from his short and hasty glances.", "On the opposite side of the clearing, and near the point where the brook\ntumbled over some rocks, from a still higher level, some fifty or sixty\nlodges, rudely fabricated of logs, brush, and earth intermingled, were\nto be discovered.", "They were arranged without any order, and seemed to be\nconstructed with very little attention to neatness or beauty.", "Indeed, so\nvery inferior were they in the two latter particulars to the village\nDuncan had just seen, that he began to expect a second surprise, no less\nastonishing than the former.", "This expectation was in no degree\ndiminished, when, by the doubtful twilight, he beheld twenty or thirty\nforms rising alternately from the cover of the tall, coarse grass, in\nfront of the lodges, and then sinking again from the sight, as it were\nto burrow in the earth.", "By the sudden and hasty glimpses that he caught\nof these figures, they seemed more like dark glancing spectres, or some\nother unearthly beings, than creatures fashioned with the ordinary and\nvulgar materials of flesh and blood.", "A gaunt, naked form was seen, for a\nsingle instant, tossing its arms wildly in the air, and then the spot it\nhad filled was vacant; the figure appearing suddenly in some other and\ndistant place, or being succeeded by another, possessing the same\nmysterious character.", "David, observing that his companion lingered,\npursued the direction of his gaze, and in some measure recalled the\nrecollection of Heyward, by speaking.", "\"There is much fruitful soil uncultivated here,\" he said; \"and I may\nadd, without the sinful leaven of self-commendation, that since my short\nsojourn in these heathenish abodes, much good seed has been scattered by\nthe wayside.\"", "\"The tribes are fonder of the chase than of the arts of men of labor,\"\nreturned the unconscious Duncan, still gazing at the objects of his\nwonder.", "\"It is rather joy than labor to the spirit, to lift up the voice in\npraise; but sadly do these boys abuse their gifts.", "Rarely have I found\nany of their age, on whom nature has so freely bestowed the elements of\npsalmody; and surely, surely, there are none who neglect them more.", "Three nights have I now tarried here, and three several times have I\nassembled the urchins to join in sacred song; and as often have they\nresponded to my efforts with whoopings and howlings that have chilled my\nsoul!\"", "\"Of whom speak you?\"", "\"Of those children of the devil, who waste the precious moments in\nyonder idle antics.", "Ah!", "the wholesome restraint of discipline is but\nlittle known among this self-abandoned people.", "In a country of birches,\na rod is never seen; and it ought not to appear a marvel in my eyes,\nthat the choicest blessings of Providence are wasted in such cries as\nthese.\"", "David closed his ears against the juvenile pack, whose yell just then\nrang shrilly through the forest; and Duncan, suffering his lip to curl,\nas in mockery of his own superstition, said firmly:\n\n\"We will proceed.\"", "Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the master of song\ncomplied, and together they pursued their way towards what David was\nsometimes wont to call \"the tents of the Philistines.\"" ]

[ "bluntly interrupted the scout.", "Uncas pressed closer to his side,\nand regarded the speaker with a look of commendation, while his father\nexpressed his satisfaction by the ordinary pithy exclamation of\napprobation.", "After\nessaying its virtues repeatedly, in contrast with his own voice, and\nsatisfying himself that none of its melody was lost, he made a very\nserious demonstration towards achieving a few stanzas of one of the\nlongest effusions in the little volume so often mentioned.", "\"The time may come when you will not consider the knife of a savage such\na despisable vanity,\" returned the scout, with a strong expression of\ncontempt for the other's dulness.", "\"It may be so,\" said David; \"but I have seen strange and fantastic\nimages drawn in their paint, of which their admiration and care savored\nof spiritual pride; especially one, and that, too, a foul and loathsome\nobject.\"", "Seat yourself on the log; and my life on it, he can soon make\na natural fool of you, and that well to your liking.\"", "Duncan complied; and the Mohican, who had been an attentive listener to\nthe discourse, readily undertook the office.", "A very natural sensation caused\nDuncan to hesitate a moment, unwilling to leave the cover of their bushy\npath, as a man pauses to collect his energies before he essays any\nhazardous experiment, in which he is secretly conscious they will all be\nneeded.", "This expectation was in no degree\ndiminished, when, by the doubtful twilight, he beheld twenty or thirty\nforms rising alternately from the cover of the tall, coarse grass, in\nfront of the lodges, and then sinking again from the sight, as it were\nto burrow in the earth.", "David, observing that his companion lingered,\npursued the direction of his gaze, and in some measure recalled the\nrecollection of Heyward, by speaking." ]

[ "\"'Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and one I little like to think\nof; for it is not to be denied, that the evil has been mainly done by\nmen with white skins.", "Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the master of song\ncomplied, and together they pursued their way towards what David was\nsometimes wont to call \"the tents of the Philistines.\"", "\"Even so.", "I say, young gentleman, may Providence bless your\nundertaking, which is altogether for good; and remember, that to outwit\nthe knaves it is lawful to practise things that may not be naturally the\ngift of a white skin.\"", "\n _\"Bot._--Are we all met?\"", "I have tried him sleeping and\nwaking, but neither sounds nor language seem to touch his soul.\"", "Hawkeye, though too much\naccustomed to Indian artifices not to foresee the danger of the\nexperiment, knew not well how to combat this sudden resolution.", "Of\ntotem, I know not the meaning; but if it appertaineth in any wise to the\nart of Indian music, it need not be inquired after at their hands.", "The route taken by Duncan and David lay directly across the clearing of\nthe beavers, and along the margin of their pond.", "After making nearly a semicircle around the pond, they diverged from the\nwater-course, and began to ascend to the level of a slight elevation in\nthat bottom land, over which they journeyed." ]

[ "Then the father spoke, in the language\nof the Delawares, and with a calmness and dignity that instantly\narrested the attention even of those to whom his words were\nunintelligible.", "His gestures were impressive, and at times energetic.", "Once he lifted his arm on high; and as it descended, the action threw\naside the folds of his light mantle, a finger resting on his breast, as\nif he would enforce his meaning by the attitude.", "Duncan's eyes followed\nthe movement, and he perceived that the animal just mentioned was\nbeautifully, though faintly, worked in a blue tint, on the swarthy\nbreast of the chief.", "All that he had ever heard of the violent\nseparation of the vast tribes of the Delawares rushed across his mind,\nand he awaited the proper moment to speak, with a suspense that was\nrendered nearly intolerable, by his interest in the stake.", "His wish,\nhowever, was anticipated by the scout, who turned from his red friend,\nsaying--\n\n\"We have found that which may be good or evil to us, as Heaven disposes.", "The Sagamore is of the high blood of the Delawares, and is the great\nchief of their Tortoises!", "That some of this stock are among the people\nof whom the singer tells us, is plain, by his words; and had he but\nspent half the breath in prudent questions, that he has blown away in\nmaking a trumpet of his throat, we might have known how many warriors\nthey numbered.", "It is, altogether, a dangerous path we move in; for a\nfriend whose face is turned from you often bears a bloodier mind than\nthe enemy who seeks your scalp.\"", "\"Explain,\" said Duncan.", "\"'Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and one I little like to think\nof; for it is not to be denied, that the evil has been mainly done by\nmen with white skins." ]

[ "\n _\"Bot._--Are we all met?\"", "_\"Qui._--Pat--pat; and here's a marvellous\n Convenient place for our rehearsal.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe reader may better imagine, than we describe, the surprise of\nHeyward.", "His lurking Indians were suddenly converted into four-footed\nbeasts; his lake into a beaver pond; his cataract into a dam,\nconstructed by those industrious and ingenious quadrupeds; and a\nsuspected enemy into his tried friend, David Gamut, the master of\npsalmody.", "The presence of the latter created so many unexpected hopes\nrelative to the sisters that, without a moment's hesitation, the young\nman broke out of his ambush, and sprang forward to join the two\nprincipal actors in the scene.", "The merriment of Hawkeye was not easily appeased.", "Without ceremony, and\nwith a rough hand, he twirled the supple Gamut around on his heel, and\nmore than once affirmed that the Hurons had done themselves great credit\nin the fashion of his costume.", "Then seizing the hand of the other, he\nsqueezed it with a gripe that brought the tears into the eyes of the\nplacid David, and wished him joy of his new condition.", "\"You were about opening your throat-practysings among the beavers, were\nye?\"", "he said.", "\"It is rather joy than labor to the spirit, to lift up the voice in\npraise; but sadly do these boys abuse their gifts.", "Rarely have I found\nany of their age, on whom nature has so freely bestowed the elements of\npsalmody; and surely, surely, there are none who neglect them more.", "Three nights have I now tarried here, and three several times have I\nassembled the urchins to join in sacred song; and as often have they\nresponded to my efforts with whoopings and howlings that have chilled my\nsoul!\"", "\"Of whom speak you?\"", "\"Of those children of the devil, who waste the precious moments in\nyonder idle antics.", "Ah!", "the wholesome restraint of discipline is but\nlittle known among this self-abandoned people.", "In a country of birches,\na rod is never seen; and it ought not to appear a marvel in my eyes,\nthat the choicest blessings of Providence are wasted in such cries as\nthese.\"", "David closed his ears against the juvenile pack, whose yell just then\nrang shrilly through the forest; and Duncan, suffering his lip to curl,\nas in mockery of his own superstition, said firmly:\n\n\"We will proceed.\"", "Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the master of song\ncomplied, and together they pursued their way towards what David was\nsometimes wont to call \"the tents of the Philistines.\"" ]

[ "\n \"But though the beast of game\n The privilege of chase may claim;\n Though space and law the stag we lend\n Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend;\n Who ever recked, where, how, or when\n The prowling fox was trapped or slain?\"", "_Lady of the Lake._\n\n\nIt is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like those of the\nmore instructed whites, guarded by the presence of armed men.", "Well\ninformed of the approach of every danger, while it is yet at a distance,\nthe Indian generally rests secure under his knowledge of the signs of\nthe forest, and the long and difficult paths that separate him from\nthose he has most reason to dread.", "But the enemy who, by any lucky\nconcurrence of accidents, has found means to elude the vigilance of the\nscouts, will seldom meet with sentinels nearer home to sound the alarm.", "In addition to this general usage, the tribes friendly to the French\nknew too well the weight of the blow that had just been struck, to\napprehend any immediate danger from the hostile nations that were\ntributary to the crown of Britain.", "When Duncan and David, therefore, found themselves in the centre of the\nchildren, who played the antics already mentioned, it was with the least\nprevious intimation of their approach.", "But so soon as they were\nobserved, the whole of the juvenile pack raised, by common consent, a\nshrill and warning whoop; and then sank, as it were, by magic, from\nbefore the sight of their visitors.", "The naked, tawny bodies of the\ncrouching urchins blended so nicely, at that hour, with the withered\nherbage, that at first it seemed as if the earth had, in truth,\nswallowed up their forms; though when surprise permitted Duncan to bend\nhis look more curiously about the spot, he found it everywhere met by\ndark, quick, and rolling eyeballs.", "Gathering no encouragement from this startling presage of the nature of\nthe scrutiny he was likely to undergo from the more mature judgments of\nthe men, there was an instant when the young soldier would have\nretreated.", "It was, however, too late to appear to hesitate.", "The cry of\nthe children had drawn a dozen warriors to the door of the nearest\nlodge, where they stood clustered in a dark and savage group, gravely\nawaiting the nearer approach of those who had unexpectedly come among\nthem.", "David, in some measure familiarized to the scene, led the way with a\nsteadiness that no slight obstacle was likely to disconcert, into this\nvery building.", "It was the principal edifice of the village, though\nroughly constructed of the bark and branches of trees; being the lodge\nin which the tribe held its councils and public meetings during their\ntemporary residence on the borders of the English province.", "Duncan found\nit difficult to assume the necessary appearance of unconcern, as he\nbrushed the dark and powerful frames of the savages who thronged its\nthreshold; but, conscious that his existence depended on his presence of\nmind, he trusted to the discretion of his companion, whose footsteps he\nclosely followed, endeavoring, as he proceeded, to rally his thoughts\nfor the occasion.", "His blood curdled when he found himself in absolute\ncontact with such fierce and implacable enemies; but he so far mastered\nhis feelings as to pursue his way into the centre of the lodge, with an\nexterior that did not betray the weakness.", "Imitating the example of the\ndeliberate Gamut, he drew a bundle of fragrant brush from beneath a pile\nthat filled a corner of the hut, and seated himself in silence.", "So soon as their visitor had passed, the observant warriors fell back\nfrom the entrance, and arranging themselves about him, they seemed\npatiently to await the moment when it might comport with the dignity of\nthe stranger to speak.", "By far the greater number stood leaning, in lazy,\nlounging attitudes, against the upright posts that supported the crazy\nbuilding, while three or four of the oldest and most distinguished of\nthe chiefs placed themselves on the earth a little more in advance.", "A flaring torch was burning in the place, and sent its red glare from\nface to face and figure to figure, as it waved in the currents of air.", "Duncan profited by its light to read the probable character of his\nreception, in the countenances of his hosts.", "But his ingenuity availed\nhim little, against the cold artifices of the people he had encountered.", "The chiefs in front scarce cast a glance at his person, keeping their\neyes on the ground, with an air that might have been intended for\nrespect, but which it was quite easy to construe into distrust.", "The men\nin shadow were less reserved.", "Duncan soon detected their searching, but\nstolen looks, which, in truth, scanned his person and attire inch by\ninch; leaving no emotion of the countenance, no gesture, no line of the\npaint, nor even the fashion of a garment, unheeded, and without comment.", "At length one whose hair was beginning to be sprinkled with gray, but\nwhose sinewy limbs and firm tread announced that he was still equal to\nthe duties of manhood, advanced out of the gloom of a corner, whither he\nhad probably posted himself to make his observations unseen, and spoke.", "He used the language of the Wyandots, or Hurons; his words were,\nconsequently, unintelligible to Heyward, though they seemed, by the\ngestures that accompanied them, to be uttered more in courtesy than\nanger.", "The latter shook his head, and made a gesture indicative of his\ninability to reply.", "\"Do none of my brothers speak the French or the English?\"", "he said, in\nthe former language, looking about him from countenance to countenance,\nin hopes of finding a nod of assent.", "Though more than one had turned, as if to catch the meaning of his\nwords, they remained unanswered.", "\"I should be grieved to think,\" continued Duncan, speaking slowly, and\nusing the simplest French of which he was the master, \"to believe, that\nnone of this wise and brave nation understand the language that the\n'Grand Monarque' uses when he talks to his children.", "His heart would be\nheavy did he believe his red warriors paid him so little respect!\"", "A long and grave pause succeeded, during which no movement of a limb,\nnor any expression of an eye, betrayed the impression produced by his\nremark.", "Duncan, who knew that silence was a virtue among his hosts,\ngladly had recourse to the custom, in order to arrange his ideas.", "At\nlength the same warrior who had before addressed him replied, by dryly\ndemanding, in the language of the Canadas--\n\n\"When our Great Father speaks to his people, is it with the tongue of a\nHuron?\"", "\"He knows no difference in his children, whether the color of the skin\nbe red, or black, or white,\" returned Duncan, evasively; \"though chiefly\nis he satisfied with the brave Hurons.\"", "\"In what manner will he speak,\" demanded the wary chief, \"when the\nrunners count to him the scalps which five nights ago grew on the heads\nof the Yengeese?\"", "\"They were his enemies,\" said Duncan, shuddering involuntarily; \"and,\ndoubtless, he will say, It is good; my Hurons are very gallant.\"", "\"Our Canada father does not think it.", "Instead of looking forward to\nreward his Indians, his eyes are turned backward.", "He sees the dead\nYengeese, but no Huron.", "What can this mean?\"", "\"A great chief, like him, has more thoughts than tongues.", "He looks to\nsee that no enemies are on his trail.\"", "\"The canoe of a dead warrior will not float on the Horican,\" returned\nthe savage, gloomily.", "\"His ears are open to the Delawares, who are not\nour friends, and they fill them with lies.\"", "\"It cannot be.", "See; he has bid me, who am a man that knows the art of\nhealing, to go to his children, the red Hurons of the great lakes, and\nask if any are sick!\"", "Another silence succeeded this annunciation of the character Duncan had\nassumed.", "Every eye was simultaneously bent on his person, as if to\ninquire into the truth or falsehood of the declaration, with an\nintelligence and keenness that caused the subject of their scrutiny to\ntremble for the result.", "He was, however, relieved again by the former\nspeaker.", "\"Do the cunning men of the Canadas paint their skins?\"", "the Huron coldly\ncontinued; \"we have heard them boast that their faces were pale.\"", "\"When an Indian chief comes among his white fathers,\" returned Duncan,\nwith great steadiness, \"he lays aside his buffalo robe, to carry the\nshirt that is offered him.", "My brothers have given me paint, and I wear\nit.\"", "A low murmur of applause announced that the compliment to the tribe was\nfavorably received.", "The elderly chief made a gesture of commendation,\nwhich was answered by most of his companions, who each threw forth a\nhand, and uttered a brief exclamation of pleasure.", "Duncan began to\nbreathe more freely, believing that the weight of his examination was\npast; and as he had already prepared a simple and probable tale to\nsupport his pretended occupation, his hopes of ultimate success grew\nbrighter.", "After a silence of a few moments, as if adjusting his thoughts, in order\nto make a suitable answer to the declaration their guest had just given,\nanother warrior arose, and placed himself in an attitude to speak.", "While\nhis lips were yet in the act of parting, a low but fearful sound arose\nfrom the forest, and was immediately succeeded by a high, shrill yell,\nthat was drawn out, until it equalled the longest and most plaintive\nhowl of the wolf.", "The sudden and terrible interruption caused Duncan to\nstart from his seat, unconscious of everything but the effect produced\nby so frightful a cry.", "At the same moment, the warriors glided in a body\nfrom the lodge, and the outer air was filled with loud shouts, that\nnearly drowned those awful sounds, which were still ringing beneath the\narches of the woods.", "Unable to command himself any longer, the youth\nbroke from the place, and presently stood in the centre of a disorderly\nthrong, that included nearly everything having life, within the limits\nof the encampment.", "Men, women, and children; the aged, the infirm, the\nactive, and the strong, were alike abroad; some exclaiming aloud, others\nclapping their hands with a joy that seemed frantic, and all expressing\ntheir savage pleasure in some unexpected event.", "Though astounded, at\nfirst, by the uproar, Heyward was soon enabled to find its solution by\nthe scene that followed.", "There yet lingered sufficient light in the heavens to exhibit those\nbright openings among the tree-tops, where different paths left the\nclearing to enter the depths of the wilderness.", "Beneath one of them, a\nline of warriors issued from the woods, and advanced slowly towards the\ndwellings.", "One in front bore a short pole, on which, as it afterwards\nappeared, were suspended several human scalps.", "The startling sounds that\nDuncan had heard were what the whites have not inappropriately called\nthe \"death-halloo;\" and each repetition of the cry was intended to\nannounce to the tribe the fate of an enemy.", "Thus far the knowledge of\nHeyward assisted him in the explanation; and as he now knew that the\ninterruption was caused by the unlooked-for return of a successful\nwar-party, every disagreeable sensation was quieted in inward\ncongratulation, for the opportune relief and insignificance it conferred\non himself.", "When at the distance of a few hundred feet from the lodges, the newly\narrived warriors halted.", "Their plaintive and terrific cry, which was\nintended to represent equally the wailings of the dead and the triumph\nof the victors, had entirely ceased.", "One of their number now called\naloud, in words that were far from appalling, though not more\nintelligible to those for whose ears they were intended, than their\nexpressive yells.", "It would be difficult to convey a suitable idea of the\nsavage ecstasy with which the news thus imparted was received.", "The whole\nencampment, in a moment, became a scene of the most violent bustle and\ncommotion.", "The warriors drew their knives, and flourishing them, they\narranged themselves in two lines, forming a lane that extended from the\nwar-party to the lodges.", "The squaws seized clubs, axes, or whatever\nweapon of offence first offered itself to their hands, and rushed\neagerly to act their part in the cruel game that was at hand.", "Even the\nchildren would not be excluded; but boys, little able to wield the\ninstruments, tore the tomahawks from the belts of their fathers, and\nstole into the ranks, apt imitators of the savage traits exhibited by\ntheir parents.", "Large piles of brush lay scattered about the clearing, and a wary and\naged squaw was occupied in firing as many as might serve to light the\ncoming exhibition.", "As the flame arose, its power exceeded that of the\nparting day, and assisted to render objects at the same time more\ndistinct and more hideous.", "The whole scene formed a striking picture,\nwhose frame was composed of the dark and tall border of pines.", "The\nwarriors just arrived were the most distant figures.", "A little in advance\nstood two men, who were apparently selected from the rest, as the\nprincipal actors in what was to follow.", "The light was not strong enough\nto render their features distinct, though it was quite evident that they\nwere governed by very different emotions.", "While one stood erect and\nfirm, prepared to meet his fate like a hero, the other bowed his head,\nas if palsied by terror or stricken with shame.", "The high-spirited Duncan\nfelt a powerful impulse of admiration and pity towards the former,\nthough no opportunity could offer to exhibit his generous emotions.", "He\nwatched his slightest movement, however, with eager eyes; and as he\ntraced the fine outline of his admirably proportioned and active frame,\nhe endeavored to persuade himself, that if the powers of man, seconded\nby such noble resolution, could bear one harmless through so severe a\ntrial, the youthful captive before him might hope for success in the\nhazardous race he was about to run.", "Insensibly the young man drew nigher\nto the swarthy lines of the Hurons, and scarcely breathed, so intense\nbecame his interest in the spectacle.", "Just then the signal yell was\ngiven, and the momentary quiet which had preceded it was broken by a\nburst of cries, that far exceeded any before heard.", "The most abject of\nthe two victims continued motionless; but the other bounded from the\nplace at the cry, with the activity and swiftness of a deer.", "Instead of\nrushing through the hostile lines, as had been expected, he just\nentered the dangerous defile, and before time was given for a single\nblow, turned short, and leaping the heads of a row of children, he\ngained at once the exterior and safer side of the formidable array.", "The\nartifice was answered by a hundred voices raised in imprecations; and\nthe whole of the excited multitude broke from their order, and spread\nthemselves about the place in wild confusion.", "A dozen blazing piles now shed their lurid brightness on the place,\nwhich resembled some unhallowed and supernatural arena, in which\nmalicious demons had assembled to act their bloody and lawless rites.", "The forms in the background looked like unearthly beings, gliding before\nthe eye, and cleaving the air with frantic and unmeaning gestures; while\nthe savage passions of such as passed the flames, were rendered\nfearfully distinct by the gleams that shot athwart their inflamed\nvisages.", "It will easily be understood, that amid such a concourse of vindictive\nenemies, no breathing time was allowed the fugitive.", "There was a single\nmoment when it seemed as if he would have reached the forest, but the\nwhole body of his captors threw themselves before him, and drove him\nback into the centre of his relentless persecutors.", "Turning like a\nheaded deer, he shot, with the swiftness of an arrow, through a pillar\nof forked flame, and passing the whole multitude harmless, he appeared\non the opposite side of the clearing.", "Here too he was met and turned by\na few of the older and more subtle of the Hurons.", "Once more he tried the\nthrong, as if seeking safety in its blindness, and then several moments\nsucceeded, during which Duncan believed the active and courageous young\nstranger was lost.", "Nothing could be distinguished but a dark mass of human forms tossed and\ninvolved in inexplicable confusion.", "Arms, gleaming knives, and\nformidable clubs, appeared above them, but the blows were evidently\ngiven at random.", "The awful effect was heightened by the piercing shrieks\nof the women and the fierce yells of the warriors.", "Now and then Duncan\ncaught a glimpse of a light form cleaving the air in some desperate\nbound, and he rather hoped than believed that the captive yet retained\nthe command of his astonishing powers of activity.", "Suddenly the\nmultitude rolled backward, and approached the spot where he himself\nstood.", "The heavy body in the rear pressed upon the women and children in\nfront, and bore them to the earth.", "The stranger reappeared in the\nconfusion.", "Human power could not, however, much longer endure so severe\na trial.", "Of this the captive seemed conscious.", "Profiting by the\nmomentary opening, he darted from among the warriors, and made a\ndesperate, and, what seemed to Duncan, a final effort to gain the wood.", "As if aware that no danger was to be apprehended from the young soldier,\nthe fugitive nearly brushed his person in his flight.", "A tall and\npowerful Huron, who had husbanded his forces, pressed close upon his\nheels, and with an uplifted arm menaced a fatal blow.", "Duncan thrust\nforth a foot, and the shock precipitated the eager savage headlong, many\nfeet in advance of his intended victim.", "Thought itself is not quicker\nthan was the motion with which the latter profited by the advantage; he\nturned, gleamed like a meteor again before the eyes of Duncan, and at\nthe next moment, when the latter recovered his recollection, and gazed\naround in quest of the captive, he saw him quietly leaning against a\nsmall painted post, which stood before the door of the principal lodge.", "Apprehensive that the part he had taken in the escape might prove fatal\nto himself, Duncan left the place without delay.", "He followed the crowd,\nwhich drew nigh the lodges, gloomy and sullen, like any other multitude\nthat had been disappointed in an execution.", "Curiosity, or perhaps a\nbetter feeling, induced him to approach the stranger.", "He found him,\nstanding with one arm cast about the protecting post, and breathing\nthick and hard, after his exertions, but disdaining to permit a single\nsign of suffering to escape.", "His person was now protected by immemorial\nand sacred usage, until the tribe in council had deliberated and\ndetermined on his fate.", "It was not difficult, however, to foretell the\nresult, if any presage could be drawn from the feelings of those who\ncrowded the place.", "There was no term of abuse known to the Huron vocabulary that the\ndisappointed women did not lavishly expend on the successful stranger.", "They flouted at his efforts, and told him, with bitter scoffs, that his\nfeet were better than his hands; and that he merited wings, while he\nknew not the use of an arrow or a knife.", "To all this the captive made no\nreply; but was content to preserve an attitude in which dignity was\nsingularly blended with disdain.", "Exasperated as much by his composure as\nby his good-fortune, their words became unintelligible, and were\nsucceeded by shrill, piercing yells.", "Just then the crafty squaw, who had\ntaken the necessary precaution to fire the piles, made her way through\nthe throng, and cleared a place for herself in front of the captive.", "The\nsqualid and withered person of this hag might well have obtained for her\nthe character of possessing more than human cunning.", "Throwing back her\nlight vestment, she stretched forth her long skinny arm, in derision,\nand using the language of the Lenape, as more intelligible to the\nsubject of her gibes, she commenced aloud--\n\n\"Look you, Delaware!\"", "she said, snapping her fingers in his face; \"your\nnation is a race of women, and the hoe is better fitted to your hands\nthan the gun.", "Your squaws are the mothers of deer; but if a bear, or a\nwild cat, or a serpent were born among you, ye would flee.", "The Huron\ngirls shall make you petticoats, and we will find you a husband.\"", "A burst of savage laughter succeeded this attack, during which the soft\nand musical merriment of the younger females strangely chimed with the\ncracked voice of their older and more malignant companion.", "But the\nstranger was superior to all their efforts.", "His head was immovable; nor\ndid he betray the slightest consciousness that any were present, except\nwhen his haughty eye rolled towards the dusky forms of the warriors, who\nstalked in the background, silent and sullen observers of the scene.", "Infuriated at the self-command of the captive, the woman placed her arms\nakimbo; and throwing herself into a posture of defiance, she broke out\nanew, in a torrent of words that no art of ours could commit\nsuccessfully to paper.", "Her breath was, however, expended in vain; for,\nalthough distinguished in her own nation as a proficient in the art of\nabuse, she was permitted to work herself into such a fury as actually to\nfoam at the mouth, without causing a muscle to vibrate in the motionless\nfigure of the stranger.", "The effect of his indifference began to extend\nitself to the other spectators; and a youngster, who was just quitting\nthe condition of a boy, to enter the state of manhood, attempted to\nassist the termagant, by flourishing his tomahawk before their victim,\nand adding his empty boasts to the taunts of the woman.", "Then, indeed,\nthe captive turned his face towards the light, and looked down on the\nstripling with an expression that was superior to contempt.", "At the next\nmoment he resumed his quiet and reclining attitude against the post.", "But\nthe change of posture had permitted Duncan to exchange glances with the\nfirm and piercing eyes of Uncas.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE TERMAGANT\n\n_Throwing back her light vestment, she stretched forth her long skinny\narm, in derision_]\n\nBreathless with amazement, and heavily oppressed with the critical\nsituation of his friend, Heyward recoiled before the look, trembling\nlest its meaning might, in some unknown manner, hasten the prisoner's\nfate.", "There was not, however, any instant cause for such an\napprehension.", "Just then a warrior forced his way into the exasperated\ncrowd.", "Motioning the women and children aside with a stern gesture, he\ntook Uncas by the arm, and led him towards the door of the council\nlodge.", "Thither all the chiefs, and most of the distinguished warriors,\nfollowed; among whom the anxious Heyward found means to enter without\nattracting any dangerous attention to himself.", "A few minutes were consumed in disposing of those present in a manner\nsuitable to their rank and influence in the tribe.", "An order very similar\nto that adopted in the preceding interview was observed; the aged and\nsuperior chiefs occupying the area of the spacious apartment, within the\npowerful light of a glaring torch, while their juniors and inferiors\nwere arranged in the background, presenting a dark outline of swarthy\nand marked visages.", "In the very centre of the lodge, immediately under\nan opening that admitted the twinkling light of one or two stars, stood\nUncas, calm, elevated, and collected.", "His high and haughty carriage was\nnot lost on his captors, who often bent their looks on his person, with\neyes which, while they lost none of their inflexibility of purpose,\nplainly betrayed their admiration of the stranger's daring.", "The case was different with the individual whom Duncan had observed to\nstand forth with his friend, previously to the desperate trial of speed;\nand who, instead of joining in the chase, had remained, throughout its\nturbulent uproar, like a cringing statue, expressive of shame and\ndisgrace.", "Though not a hand had been extended to greet him, nor yet an\neye had condescended to watch his movements, he had also entered the\nlodge, as though impelled by a fate to whose decrees he submitted,\nseemingly, without a struggle.", "Heyward profited by the first opportunity\nto gaze in his face, secretly apprehensive he might find the features of\nanother acquaintance; but they proved to be those of a stranger, and,\nwhat was still more inexplicable, of one who bore all the distinctive\nmarks of a Huron warrior.", "Instead of mingling with his tribe, however,\nhe sat apart, a solitary being in a multitude, his form shrinking into a\ncrouching and abject attitude, as if anxious to fill as little space as\npossible.", "When each individual had taken his proper station, and silence\nreigned in the place, the gray-haired chief already introduced to the\nreader, spoke aloud, in the language of the Lenni Lenape.", "\"Delaware,\" he said, \"though one of a nation of women, you have proved\nyourself a man.", "I would give you food; but he who eats with a Huron\nshould become his friend.", "Rest in peace till the morning sun, when our\nlast words shall be spoken.\"", "\"Seven nights, and as many summer days, have I fasted on the trail of\nthe Hurons,\" Uncas coldly replied; \"the children of the Lenape know how\nto travel the path of the just without lingering to eat.\"", "\"Two of my young men are in pursuit of your companion,\" resumed the\nother, without appearing to regard the boast of his captive; \"when they\nget back, then will our wise men say to you 'live' or 'die.'\"", "\"Has a Huron no ears?\"", "scornfully exclaimed Uncas; \"twice, since he has\nbeen your prisoner, has the Delaware heard a gun that he knows.", "Your\nyoung men will never come back!\"", "A short and sullen pause succeeded this bold assertion.", "Duncan, who\nunderstood the Mohican to allude to the fatal rifle of the scout, bent\nforward in earnest observation of the effect it might produce on the\nconquerors; but the chief was content with simply retorting,--\n\n\"If the Lenape are so skilful, why is one of their bravest warriors\nhere?\"", "\"He followed in the steps of a flying coward, and fell into a snare.", "The\ncunning beaver may be caught.\"", "As Uncas thus replied, he pointed with his finger toward the solitary\nHuron, but without deigning to bestow any other notice on so unworthy an\nobject.", "The words of the answer and the air of the speaker produced a\nstrong sensation among his auditors.", "Every eye rolled sullenly towards\nthe individual indicated by the simple gesture, and a low, threatening\nmurmur passed through the crowd.", "The ominous sounds reached the outer\ndoor, and the women and children pressing into the throng, no gap had\nbeen left, between shoulder and shoulder, that was not now filled with\nthe dark lineaments of some eager and curious human countenance.", "In the meantime, the more aged chiefs, in the centre, communed with each\nother in short and broken sentences.", "Not a word was uttered that did not\nconvey the meaning of the speaker, in the simplest and most energetic\nform.", "Again, a long and deeply solemn pause took place.", "It was known,\nby all present, to be the grave precursor of a weighty and important\njudgment.", "They who composed the outer circle of faces were on tiptoe to\ngaze; and even the culprit for an instant forgot his shame in a deeper\nemotion, and exposed his abject features, in order to cast an anxious\nand troubled glance at the dark assemblage of chiefs.", "The silence was\nfinally broken by the aged warrior so often named.", "He arose from the\nearth, and moving past the immovable form of Uncas, placed himself in a\ndignified attitude before the offender.", "At that moment, the withered\nsquaw already mentioned moved into the circle, in a slow, sideling sort\nof a dance, holding the torch, and muttering the indistinct words of\nwhat might have been a species of incantation.", "Though her presence was\naltogether an intrusion, it was unheeded.", "Approaching Uncas, she held the blazing brand in such a manner as to\ncast its red glare on his person, and to expose the slightest emotion of\nhis countenance.", "The Mohican maintained his firm and haughty attitude;\nand his eye, so far from deigning to meet her inquisitive look, dwelt\nsteadily on the distance, as though it penetrated the obstacles which\nimpeded the view, and looked into futurity.", "Satisfied with her\nexamination, she left him, with a slight expression of pleasure, and\nproceeded to practise the same trying experiment on her delinquent\ncountryman.", "The young Huron was in his war paint, and very little of a finely\nmoulded form was concealed by his attire.", "The light rendered every limb\nand joint discernible, and Duncan turned away in horror when he saw they\nwere writhing in irrepressible agony.", "The woman was commencing a low and\nplaintive howl at the sad and shameful spectacle, when the chief put\nforth his hand and gently pushed her aside.", "\"Reed-that-bends,\" he said, addressing the young culprit by name, and in\nhis proper language, \"though the Great Spirit has made you pleasant to\nthe eyes, it would have been better that you had not been born.", "Your\ntongue is loud in the village, but in battle it is still.", "None of my\nyoung men strike the tomahawk deeper into the war-post--none of them so\nlightly on the Yengeese.", "The enemy know the shape of your back, but they\nhave never seen the color of your eyes.", "Three times have they called on\nyou to come, and as often did you forget to answer.", "Your name will never\nbe mentioned again in your tribe--it is already forgotten.\"", "As the chief slowly uttered these words, pausing impressively between\neach sentence, the culprit raised his face, in deference to the other's\nrank and years.", "Shame, horror, and pride struggled in its lineaments.", "His eye, which was contracted with inward anguish, gleamed on the\npersons of those whose breath was his fame; and the latter emotion for\nan instant predominated.", "He arose to his feet, and baring his bosom,\nlooked steadily on the keen, glittering knife, that was already upheld\nby his inexorable judge.", "As the weapon passed slowly into his heart he\neven smiled, as if in joy at having found death less dreadful than he\nhad anticipated, and fell heavily on his face, at the feet of the rigid\nand unyielding form of Uncas.", "The squaw gave a loud and plaintive yell, dashed the torch to the earth,\nand buried everything in darkness.", "The whole shuddering group of\nspectators glided from the lodge, like troubled sprites; and Duncan\nthought that he and the yet throbbing body of the victim of an Indian\njudgment had now become its only tenants.", "\"Thus spoke the sage: the kings without delay\n Dissolve the council, and their chief obey.\"", "POPE'S _Iliad._\n\n\nA single moment served to convince the youth that he was mistaken.", "A\nhand was laid, with a powerful pressure, on his arm, and the low voice\nof Uncas muttered in his ears,--\n\n\"The Hurons are dogs.", "The sight of a coward's blood can never make a\nwarrior tremble.", "The 'Gray Head' and the Sagamore are safe, and the\nrifle of Hawkeye is not asleep.", "Go,--Uncas and the 'Open Hand' are now\nstrangers.", "It is enough.\"", "Heyward would gladly have heard more, but a gentle push from his friend\nurged him towards the door, and admonished him of the danger that might\nattend the discovery of their intercourse.", "Slowly and reluctantly\nyielding to the necessity, he quitted the place, and mingled with the\nthrong that hovered nigh.", "The dying fires in the clearing cast a dim and\nuncertain light on the dusky figures that were silently stalking to and\nfro; and occasionally a brighter gleam than common glanced into the\nlodge, and exhibited the figure of Uncas still maintaining its upright\nattitude near the dead body of the Huron.", "A knot of warriors soon entered the place again, and reissuing, they\nbore the senseless remains into the adjacent woods.", "After this\ntermination of the scene, Duncan wandered among the lodges, unquestioned\nand unnoticed, endeavoring to find some trace of her in whose behalf he\nincurred the risk he ran.", "In the present temper of the tribe, it would\nhave been easy to have fled and rejoined his companions, had such a wish\ncrossed his mind.", "But, in addition to the never-ceasing anxiety on\naccount of Alice, a fresher, though feebler interest in the fate of\nUncas assisted to chain him to the spot.", "He continued, therefore, to\nstray from hut to hut, looking into each only to encounter additional\ndisappointment, until he had made the entire circuit of the village.", "Abandoning a species of inquiry that proved so fruitless, he retraced\nhis steps to the council lodge, resolved to seek and question David, in\norder to put an end to his doubts.", "On reaching the building which had proved alike the seat of judgment\nand the place of execution, the young man found that the excitement had\nalready subsided.", "The warriors had reassembled, and were now calmly\nsmoking, while they conversed gravely on the chief incidents of their\nrecent expedition to the head of the Horican.", "Though the return of\nDuncan was likely to remind them of his character, and the suspicious\ncircumstances of his visit, it produced no visible sensation.", "So far,\nthe terrible scene that had just occurred proved favorable to his views,\nand he required no other prompter than his own feelings to convince him\nof the expediency of profiting by so unexpected an advantage.", "Without seeming to hesitate, he walked into the lodge, and took his seat\nwith a gravity that accorded admirably with the deportment of his hosts.", "A hasty but searching glance sufficed to tell him that, though Uncas\nstill remained where he had left him, David had not reappeared.", "No other\nrestraint was imposed on the former than the watchful looks of a young\nHuron, who had placed himself at hand; though an armed warrior leaned\nagainst the post that formed one side of the narrow door-way.", "In every\nother respect, the captive seemed at liberty; still he was excluded from\nall participation in the discourse, and possessed much more of the air\nof some finely moulded statue than a man having life and volition.", "Heyward had too recently witnessed a frightful instance of the prompt\npunishments of the people into whose hands he had fallen, to hazard an\nexposure by any officious boldness.", "He would greatly have preferred\nsilence and meditation to speech, when a discovery of his real condition\nmight prove so instantly fatal.", "Unfortunately for this prudent\nresolution, his entertainers appeared otherwise disposed.", "He had not\nlong occupied the seat wisely taken a little in the shade, when another\nof the elder warriors, who spoke the French language, addressed him:--\n\n\"My Canada father does not forget his children,\" said the chief; \"I\nthank him.", "An evil spirit lives in the wife of one of my young men.", "Can\nthe cunning stranger frighten him away?\"", "Heyward possessed some knowledge of the mummery practised among the\nIndians, in the cases of such supposed visitations.", "He saw, at a glance,\nthat the circumstance might possibly be improved to further his own end.", "It would, therefore, have been difficult, just then, to have uttered a\nproposal that would have given him more satisfaction.", "Aware of the\nnecessity of preserving the dignity of his imaginary character, however,\nhe repressed his feelings, and answered with suitable mystery,--\n\n\"Spirits differ; some yield to the power of wisdom, while others are too\nstrong.\"", "\"My brother is a great medicine,\" said the cunning savage; \"he will\ntry?\"", "A gesture of assent was the answer.", "The Huron was content with the\nassurance, and resuming his pipe, he awaited the proper moment to move.", "The impatient Heyward, inwardly execrating the cold customs of the\nsavages, which required such sacrifices to appearance, was fain to\nassume an air of indifference, equal to that maintained by the chief,\nwho was, in truth, a near relative of the afflicted woman.", "The minutes\nlingered, and the delay had seemed an hour to the adventurer in\nempiricism, when the Huron laid aside his pipe, and drew his robe across\nhis breast, as if about to lead the way to the lodge of the invalid.", "Just then, a warrior of powerful frame darkened the door, and stalking\nsilently among the attentive group, he seated himself on one end of the\nlow pile of brush which sustained Duncan.", "The latter cast an impatient\nlook at his neighbor, and felt his flesh creep with uncontrollable\nhorror when he found himself in actual contact with Magua.", "The sudden return of this artful and dreaded chief caused a delay in the\ndeparture of the Huron.", "Several pipes, that had been extinguished, were\nlighted again; while the newcomer, without speaking a word, drew his\ntomahawk from his girdle, and filling the bowl on its head, began to\ninhale the vapors of the weed through the hollow handle, with as much\nindifference as if he had not been absent two weary days on a long and\ntoilsome hunt.", "Ten minutes, which appeared so many ages to Duncan, might\nhave passed in this manner; and the warriors were fairly enveloped in a\ncloud of white smoke before any of them spoke.", "\"Welcome!\"", "one at length uttered; \"has my friend found the moose?\"", "\"The young men stagger under their burdens,\" returned Magua.", "\"Let\n'Reed-that-bends' go on the hunting-path; he will meet them.\"", "A deep and awful silence succeeded the utterance of the forbidden name.", "Each pipe dropped from the lips of its owner as though all had inhaled\nan impurity at the same instant.", "The smoke wreathed above their heads in\nlittle eddies, and curling in a spiral form, it ascended swiftly\nthrough the opening in the roof of the lodge, leaving the place beneath\nclear of its fumes, and each dark visage distinctly visible.", "The looks\nof most of the warriors were riveted on the earth; though a few of the\nyounger and less gifted of the party suffered their wild and glaring\neyeballs to roll in the direction of a white-headed savage, who sat\nbetween two of the most venerated chiefs of the tribe.", "There was nothing\nin the air or attire of this Indian that would seem to entitle him to\nsuch a distinction.", "The former was rather depressed, than remarkable for\nthe bearing of the natives; and the latter was such as was commonly worn\nby the ordinary men of the nation.", "Like most around him, for more than a\nminute his look too was on the ground; but, trusting his eyes at length\nto steal a glance aside, he perceived that he was becoming an object of\ngeneral attention.", "Then he arose and lifted his voice in the general\nsilence.", "\"It was a lie,\" he said; \"I had no son.", "He who was called by that name\nis forgotten; his blood was pale; and it came not from the veins of a\nHuron; the wicked Chippewas cheated my squaw.", "The Great Spirit has said,\nthat the family of Wiss-entush should end; he is happy who knows that\nthe evil of his race dies with himself.", "I have done.\"", "The speaker, who was the father of the recreant young Indian, looked\nround and about him, as if seeking commendation of his stoicism in the\neyes of his auditors.", "But the stern customs of his people had made too\nsevere an exaction of the feeble old man.", "The expression of his eye\ncontradicted his figurative and boastful language, while every muscle in\nhis wrinkled visage was working with anguish.", "Standing a single minute\nto enjoy his bitter triumph, he turned away, as if sickening at the gaze\nof men, and veiling his face in his blanket, he walked from the lodge\nwith the noiseless step of an Indian, seeking, in the privacy of his own\nabode, the sympathy of one like himself, aged, forlorn, and childless.", "The Indians, who believe in the hereditary transmission of virtues and\ndefects in character, suffered him to depart in silence.", "Then, with an\nelevation of breeding that many in a more cultivated state of society\nmight profitably emulate, one of the chiefs drew the attention of the\nyoung men from the weakness they had just witnessed, by saying, in a\ncheerful voice, addressing himself in courtesy to Magua, as the newest\ncomer,--\n\n\"The Delawares have been like bears after the honey-pots, prowling\naround my village.", "But who has ever found a Huron asleep?\"", "The darkness of the impending cloud which precedes a burst of thunder\nwas not blacker than the brow of Magua as he exclaimed,--\n\n\"The Delawares of the Lakes!\"", "\"Not so.", "They who wear the petticoats of squaws, on their own river.", "One\nof them has been passing the tribe.\"", "\"Did my young men take his scalp?\"", "\"His legs were good, though his arm is better for the hoe than the\ntomahawk,\" returned the other, pointing to the immovable form of Uncas.", "Instead of manifesting any womanish curiosity to feast his eyes with the\nsight of a captive from a people he was known to have so much reason to\nhate, Magua continued to smoke, with the meditative air that he usually\nmaintained, when there was no immediate call on his cunning or his\neloquence.", "Although secretly amazed at the facts communicated by the\nspeech of the aged father, he permitted himself to ask no questions,\nreserving his inquiries for a more suitable moment.", "It was only after a\nsufficient interval that he shook the ashes from his pipe, replaced the\ntomahawk, tightened his girdle, and arose, casting for the first time a\nglance in the direction of the prisoner, who stood a little behind him.", "The wary, though seemingly abstracted Uncas, caught a glimpse of the\nmovement, and turning suddenly to the light, their looks met.", "Near a\nminute these two bold and untamed spirits stood regarding one another\nsteadily in the eye, neither quailing in the least before the fierce\ngaze he encountered.", "The form of Uncas dilated, and his nostrils opened\nlike those of a tiger at bay; but so rigid and unyielding was his\nposture, that he might easily have been converted by the imagination\ninto an exquisite and faultless representation of the warlike deity of\nhis tribe.", "The lineaments of the quivering features of Magua proved more\nductile; his countenance gradually lost its character of defiance in an\nexpression of ferocious joy, and heaving a breath from the very bottom\nof his chest, he pronounced aloud the very formidable name of--\n\n\"Le Cerf Agile!\"", "Each warrior sprang upon his feet at the utterance of the well known\nappellation, and there was a short period during which the stoical\nconstancy of the natives was completely conquered by surprise.", "The\nhated and yet respected name was repeated as by one voice, carrying the\nsound even beyond the limits of the lodge.", "The women and children, who\nlingered around the entrance, took up the words in an echo, which was\nsucceeded by another shrill and plaintive howl.", "The latter was not yet\nended, when the sensation among the men had entirely abated.", "Each one in\npresence seated himself, as though ashamed of his precipitation; but it\nwas many minutes before their meaning eyes ceased to roll towards their\ncaptive, in curious examination of a warrior who had so often proved his\nprowess on the best and proudest of their nation.", "Uncas enjoyed his\nvictory, but was content with merely exhibiting his triumph by a quiet\nsmile--an emblem of scorn which belongs to all time and every nation.", "Magua caught the expression, and raising his arm, he shook it at the\ncaptive, the light silver ornaments attached to his bracelet rattling\nwith the trembling agitation of the limb, as, in a tone of vengeance, he\nexclaimed, in English,--\n\n\"Mohican, you die!\"", "\"The healing waters will never bring the dead Hurons to life,\" returned\nUncas, in the music of the Delawares; \"the tumbling river washes their\nbones; their men are squaws; their women owls.", "Go!", "call together the\nHuron dogs, that they may look upon a warrior.", "My nostrils are offended;\nthey scent the blood of a coward.\"", "The latter allusion struck deep, and the injury rankled.", "Many of the\nHurons understood the strange tongue in which the captive spoke, among\nwhich number was Magua.", "This cunning savage beheld, and instantly\nprofited by his advantage.", "Dropping the light robe of skin from his\nshoulder, he stretched forth his arm, and commenced a burst of his\ndangerous and artful eloquence.", "However much his influence among his\npeople had been impaired by his occasional and besetting weakness, as\nwell as by his desertion of the tribe, his courage and his fame as an\norator were undeniable.", "He never spoke without auditors, and rarely\nwithout making converts to his opinions.", "On the present occasion, his\nnative powers were stimulated by the thirst of revenge.", "He again recounted the events of the attack on the island at Glenn's,\nthe death of his associates, and the escape of their most formidable\nenemies.", "Then he described the nature and position of the mount whither\nhe had led such captives as had fallen into their hands.", "Of his own\nbloody intentions towards the maidens, and of his baffled malice he made\nno mention, but passed rapidly on to the surprise of the party by La\nLongue Carabine, and its fatal termination.", "Here he paused, and looked\nabout him, in affected veneration for the departed, but, in truth, to\nnote the effect of his opening narrative.", "As usual, every eye was\nriveted on his face.", "Each dusky figure seemed a breathing statue, so\nmotionless was the posture, so intense the attention of the individual.", "Then Magua dropped his voice, which had hitherto been clear, strong, and\nelevated, and touched upon the merits of the dead.", "No quality that was\nlikely to command the sympathy of an Indian escaped his notice.", "One had\nnever been known to follow the chase in vain; another had been\nindefatigable on the trail of their enemies.", "This was brave, that\ngenerous.", "In short, he so managed his allusions, that in a nation, which\nwas composed of so few families, he contrived to strike every chord that\nmight find, in its turn, some breast in which to vibrate.", "\"Are the bones of my young men,\" he concluded, \"in the burial-place of\nthe Hurons?", "You know they are not.", "Their spirits are gone towards the\nsetting sun, and are already crossing the great waters, to the happy\nhunting-grounds.", "But they departed without food, without guns or knives,\nwithout moccasins, naked and poor as they were born.", "Shall this be?", "Are\ntheir souls to enter the land of the just like hungry Iroquois or\nunmanly Delawares; or shall they meet their friends with arms in their\nhands and robes on their backs?", "What will our fathers think the tribes\nof the Wyandots have become?", "They will look on their children with a\ndark eye, and say, Go!", "a Chippewa has come hither with the name of a\nHuron.", "Brothers, we must not forget the dead; a redskin never ceases to\nremember.", "We will load the back of this Mohican until he staggers under\nour bounty, and despatch him after my young men.", "They call to us for\naid, though our ears are not open; they say, Forget us not.", "When they\nsee the spirit of this Mohican toiling after them with his burden, they\nwill know we are of that mind.", "Then will they go on happy; and our\nchildren will say, 'So did our fathers to their friends, so must we do\nto them.'", "What is a Yengee?", "we have slain many, but the earth is still\npale.", "A stain on the name of a Huron can only be hid by blood that comes\nfrom the veins of an Indian.", "Let this Delaware die.\"", "The effect of such an harangue, delivered in the nervous language and\nwith the emphatic manner of a Huron orator, could scarcely be mistaken.", "Magua had so artfully blended the natural sympathies with the religious\nsuperstition of his auditors, that their minds, already prepared by\ncustom to sacrifice a victim to the _manes_ of their countrymen, lost\nevery vestige of humanity in a wish for revenge.", "One warrior in\nparticular, a man of wild and ferocious mien, had been conspicuous for\nthe attention he had given to the words of the speaker.", "His countenance\nhad changed with each passing emotion, until it settled into a look of\ndeadly malice.", "As Magua ended he arose, and uttering the yell of a\ndemon, his polished little axe was seen glancing in the torch-light as\nhe whirled it above his head.", "The motion and the cry were too sudden for\nwords to interrupt his bloody intention.", "It appeared as if a bright\ngleam shot from his hand, which was crossed at the same moment by a dark\nand powerful line.", "The former was the tomahawk in its passage; the\nlatter the arm that Magua darted forward to divert its aim.", "The quick\nand ready motion of the chief was not entirely too late.", "The keen weapon\ncut the war-plume from the scalping-tuft of Uncas, and passed through\nthe frail wall of the lodge, as though it were hurled from some\nformidable engine.", "Duncan had seen the threatening action, and sprang upon his feet, with a\nheart which while it leaped into his throat, swelled with the most\ngenerous resolution in behalf of his friend.", "A glance told him that the\nblow had failed, and terror changed to admiration.", "Uncas stood still,\nlooking his enemy in the eye with features that seemed superior to\nemotion.", "Marble could not be colder, calmer, or steadier than the\ncountenance he put upon this sudden and vindictive attack.", "Then, as if\npitying a want of skill which had proved so fortunate to himself, he\nsmiled, and muttered a few words of contempt in his own tongue.", "\"No!\"", "said Magua, after satisfying himself of the safety of the captive;\n\"the sun must shine on his shame; the squaws must see his flesh tremble,\nor our revenge will be like the play of boys.", "Go!", "take him where there\nis silence; let us see if a Delaware can sleep at night, and in the\nmorning die.\"", "The young men whose duty it was to guard the prisoner instantly passed\ntheir ligaments of bark across his arms, and led him from the lodge,\namid a profound and ominous silence.", "It was only as the figure of Uncas\nstood in the opening of the door that his firm step hesitated.", "There he\nturned, and, in the sweeping and haughty glance that he threw around the\ncircle of his enemies, Duncan caught a look which he was glad to\nconstrue into an expression that he was not entirely deserted by hope.", "Magua was content with his success, or too much occupied with his secret\npurposes to push his inquiries any further.", "Shaking his mantle, and\nfolding it on his bosom, he also quitted the place, without pursuing a\nsubject which might have proved so fatal to the individual at his elbow.", "Notwithstanding his rising resentment, his natural firmness, and his\nanxiety in behalf of Uncas, Heyward felt sensibly relieved by the\nabsence of so dangerous and so subtle a foe.", "The excitement produced by\nthe speech gradually subsided.", "The warriors resumed their seats, and\nclouds of smoke once more filled the lodge.", "For near half an hour, not a\nsyllable was uttered, or scarcely a look cast aside; a grave and\nmeditative silence being the ordinary succession to every scene of\nviolence and commotion among those beings, who were alike so impetuous\nand yet so self-restrained.", "When the chief who had solicited the aid of Duncan finished his pipe, he\nmade a final and successful movement towards departing.", "A motion of a\nfinger was the intimation he gave the supposed physician to follow; and\npassing through the clouds of smoke, Duncan was glad, on more accounts\nthan one, to be able, at last, to breathe the pure air of a cool and\nrefreshing summer evening.", "Instead of pursuing his way among those lodges where Heyward had already\nmade his unsuccessful search, his companion turned aside, and proceeded\ndirectly towards the base of an adjacent mountain, which overhung the\ntemporary village.", "A thicket of brush skirted its foot, and it became\nnecessary to proceed through a crooked and narrow path.", "The boys had\nresumed their sports in the clearing, and were enacting a mimic chase to\nthe post among themselves.", "In order to render their games as like the\nreality as possible, one of the boldest of their number had conveyed a\nfew brands into some piles of tree-tops that had hitherto escaped the\nburning.", "The blaze of one of these fires lighted the way of the chief\nand Duncan, and gave a character of additional wildness to the rude\nscenery.", "At a little distance from a bald rock, and directly in its\nfront, they entered a grassy opening, which they prepared to cross.", "Just\nthen fresh fuel was added to the fire, and a powerful light penetrated\neven to that distant spot.", "It fell upon the white surface of the\nmountain, and was reflected downwards upon a dark and mysterious-looking\nbeing that arose, unexpectedly, in their path.", "The Indian paused, as if doubtful whether to proceed, and permitted his\ncompanion to approach his side.", "A large black ball, which at first\nseemed stationary, now began to move in a manner that to the latter was\ninexplicable.", "Again the fire brightened, and its glare fell more\ndistinctly on the object.", "Then even Duncan knew it, by its restless and\nsideling attitudes, which kept the upper part of its form in constant\nmotion, while the animal itself appeared seated, to be a bear.", "Though it\ngrowled loudly and fiercely, and there were instants when its glistening\neyeballs might be seen, it gave no other indications of hostility.", "The\nHuron, at least, seemed assured that the intentions of this singular\nintruder were peaceable, for after giving it an attentive examination,\nhe quietly pursued his course.", "Duncan, who knew that the animal was often domesticated among the\nIndians, followed the example of his companion, believing that some\nfavorite of the tribe had found its way into the thicket, in search of\nfood.", "They passed it unmolested.", "Though obliged to come nearly in\ncontact with the monster, the Huron, who had at first so warily\ndetermined the character of his strange visitor, was now content with\nproceeding without wasting a moment in further examination; but Heyward\nwas unable to prevent his eyes from looking backward, in salutary\nwatchfulness against attacks in the rear.", "His uneasiness was in no\ndegree diminished when he perceived the beast rolling along their path,\nand following their footsteps.", "He would have spoken, but the Indian at\nthat moment shoved aside a door of bark, and entered a cavern in the\nbosom of the mountain.", "Profiting by so easy a method of retreat, Duncan stepped after him, and\nwas gladly closing the slight cover to the opening, when he felt it\ndrawn from his hand by the beast, whose shaggy form immediately darkened\nthe passage.", "They were now in a straight and long gallery, in a chasm of\nthe rocks, where retreat without encountering the animal was impossible.", "Making the best of the circumstances, the young man pressed forward,\nkeeping as close as possible to his conductor.", "The bear growled\nfrequently at his heels, and once or twice its enormous paws were laid\non his person, as if disposed to prevent his further passage into the\nden.", "How long the nerves of Heyward would have sustained him in this\nextraordinary situation, it might be difficult to decide; for, happily,\nhe soon found relief.", "A glimmer of light had constantly been in their\nfront, and they now arrived at the place whence it proceeded.", "A large cavity in the rock had been rudely fitted to answer the purposes\nof many apartments.", "The subdivisions were simple but ingenious, being\ncomposed of stone, sticks, and bark, intermingled.", "Openings above\nadmitted the light by day, and at night fires and torches supplied the\nplace of the sun.", "Hither the Hurons had brought most of their valuables,\nespecially those which more particularly pertained to the nation; and\nhither, as it now appeared, the sick woman, who was believed to be the\nvictim of supernatural power, had been transported also, under an\nimpression that her tormentor would find more difficulty in making his\nassaults through walls of stone than through the leafy coverings of the\nlodges.", "The apartment into which Duncan and his guide first entered, had\nbeen exclusively devoted to her accommodation.", "The latter approached her\nbedside, which was surrounded by females, in the centre of whom Heyward\nwas surprised to find his missing friend David.", "A single look was sufficient to apprise the pretended leech that the\ninvalid was far beyond his powers of healing.", "She lay in a sort of\nparalysis, indifferent to the objects which crowded before her sight,\nand happily unconscious of suffering.", "Heyward was far from regretting\nthat his mummeries were to be performed on one who was much too ill to\ntake an interest in their failure or success.", "The slight qualm of\nconscience which had been excited by the intended deception was\ninstantly appeased, and he began to collect his thoughts, in order to\nenact his part with suitable spirit, when he found he was about to be\nanticipated in his skill by an attempt to prove the power of music.", "Gamut, who had stood prepared to pour forth his spirit in song when the\nvisitors entered, after delaying a moment, drew a strain from his pipe,\nand commenced a hymn that might have worked a miracle, had faith in its\nefficacy been of much avail.", "He was allowed to proceed to the close, the\nIndians respecting his imaginary infirmity, and Duncan too glad of the\ndelay to hazard the slightest interruption.", "As the dying cadence of his\nstrains was falling on the ears of the latter, he started aside at\nhearing them repeated behind him in a voice half human, half\nsepulchral.", "Looking around, he beheld the shaggy monster seated on end\nin a shadow of the cavern, where, while his restless body swung in the\nuneasy manner of the animal, it repeated, in a sort of low growl, sound,\nif not words, which bore some slight resemblance to the melody of the\nsinger.", "The effect of so strange an echo on David may better be imagined than\ndescribed.", "His eyes opened as if he doubted their truth; and his voice\nbecame instantly mute in excess of wonder.", "A deep-laid scheme, of\ncommunicating some important intelligence to Heyward, was driven from\nhis recollection by an emotion which very nearly resembled fear, but\nwhich he was fain to believe was admiration.", "Under its influence, he\nexclaimed aloud--\"She expects you, and is at hand;\" and precipitately\nleft the cavern." ]

[ "\n \"But though the beast of game\n The privilege of chase may claim;\n Though space and law the stag we lend\n Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend;\n Who ever recked, where, how, or when\n The prowling fox was trapped or slain?\"", "Large piles of brush lay scattered about the clearing, and a wary and\naged squaw was occupied in firing as many as might serve to light the\ncoming exhibition.", "A little in advance\nstood two men, who were apparently selected from the rest, as the\nprincipal actors in what was to follow.", "The words of the answer and the air of the speaker produced a\nstrong sensation among his auditors.", "His eye, which was contracted with inward anguish, gleamed on the\npersons of those whose breath was his fame; and the latter emotion for\nan instant predominated.", "Like most around him, for more than a\nminute his look too was on the ground; but, trusting his eyes at length\nto steal a glance aside, he perceived that he was becoming an object of\ngeneral attention.", "It was only after a\nsufficient interval that he shook the ashes from his pipe, replaced the\ntomahawk, tightened his girdle, and arose, casting for the first time a\nglance in the direction of the prisoner, who stood a little behind him.", "Each warrior sprang upon his feet at the utterance of the well known\nappellation, and there was a short period during which the stoical\nconstancy of the natives was completely conquered by surprise.", "You know they are not.", "As the dying cadence of his\nstrains was falling on the ears of the latter, he started aside at\nhearing them repeated behind him in a voice half human, half\nsepulchral." ]

[ "His countenance\nhad changed with each passing emotion, until it settled into a look of\ndeadly malice.", "Thought itself is not quicker\nthan was the motion with which the latter profited by the advantage; he\nturned, gleamed like a meteor again before the eyes of Duncan, and at\nthe next moment, when the latter recovered his recollection, and gazed\naround in quest of the captive, he saw him quietly leaning against a\nsmall painted post, which stood before the door of the principal lodge.", "\"Not so.", "Turning like a\nheaded deer, he shot, with the swiftness of an arrow, through a pillar\nof forked flame, and passing the whole multitude harmless, he appeared\non the opposite side of the clearing.", "The latter cast an impatient\nlook at his neighbor, and felt his flesh creep with uncontrollable\nhorror when he found himself in actual contact with Magua.", "As usual, every eye was\nriveted on his face.", "Aware of the\nnecessity of preserving the dignity of his imaginary character, however,\nhe repressed his feelings, and answered with suitable mystery,--\n\n\"Spirits differ; some yield to the power of wisdom, while others are too\nstrong.\"", "But the stern customs of his people had made too\nsevere an exaction of the feeble old man.", "Though her presence was\naltogether an intrusion, it was unheeded.", "\"The young men stagger under their burdens,\" returned Magua." ]

[ "As the weapon passed slowly into his heart he\neven smiled, as if in joy at having found death less dreadful than he\nhad anticipated, and fell heavily on his face, at the feet of the rigid\nand unyielding form of Uncas.", "The squaw gave a loud and plaintive yell, dashed the torch to the earth,\nand buried everything in darkness.", "The whole shuddering group of\nspectators glided from the lodge, like troubled sprites; and Duncan\nthought that he and the yet throbbing body of the victim of an Indian\njudgment had now become its only tenants.", "\"Thus spoke the sage: the kings without delay\n Dissolve the council, and their chief obey.\"", "POPE'S _Iliad._\n\n\nA single moment served to convince the youth that he was mistaken.", "A\nhand was laid, with a powerful pressure, on his arm, and the low voice\nof Uncas muttered in his ears,--\n\n\"The Hurons are dogs.", "The sight of a coward's blood can never make a\nwarrior tremble.", "The 'Gray Head' and the Sagamore are safe, and the\nrifle of Hawkeye is not asleep.", "Go,--Uncas and the 'Open Hand' are now\nstrangers.", "It is enough.\"", "Heyward would gladly have heard more, but a gentle push from his friend\nurged him towards the door, and admonished him of the danger that might\nattend the discovery of their intercourse." ]

[ "\n \"But though the beast of game\n The privilege of chase may claim;\n Though space and law the stag we lend\n Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend;\n Who ever recked, where, how, or when\n The prowling fox was trapped or slain?\"", "_Lady of the Lake._\n\n\nIt is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like those of the\nmore instructed whites, guarded by the presence of armed men.", "Well\ninformed of the approach of every danger, while it is yet at a distance,\nthe Indian generally rests secure under his knowledge of the signs of\nthe forest, and the long and difficult paths that separate him from\nthose he has most reason to dread.", "But the enemy who, by any lucky\nconcurrence of accidents, has found means to elude the vigilance of the\nscouts, will seldom meet with sentinels nearer home to sound the alarm.", "In addition to this general usage, the tribes friendly to the French\nknew too well the weight of the blow that had just been struck, to\napprehend any immediate danger from the hostile nations that were\ntributary to the crown of Britain.", "When Duncan and David, therefore, found themselves in the centre of the\nchildren, who played the antics already mentioned, it was with the least\nprevious intimation of their approach.", "But so soon as they were\nobserved, the whole of the juvenile pack raised, by common consent, a\nshrill and warning whoop; and then sank, as it were, by magic, from\nbefore the sight of their visitors.", "The naked, tawny bodies of the\ncrouching urchins blended so nicely, at that hour, with the withered\nherbage, that at first it seemed as if the earth had, in truth,\nswallowed up their forms; though when surprise permitted Duncan to bend\nhis look more curiously about the spot, he found it everywhere met by\ndark, quick, and rolling eyeballs.", "Gathering no encouragement from this startling presage of the nature of\nthe scrutiny he was likely to undergo from the more mature judgments of\nthe men, there was an instant when the young soldier would have\nretreated.", "It was, however, too late to appear to hesitate.", "Heyward was far from regretting\nthat his mummeries were to be performed on one who was much too ill to\ntake an interest in their failure or success.", "The slight qualm of\nconscience which had been excited by the intended deception was\ninstantly appeased, and he began to collect his thoughts, in order to\nenact his part with suitable spirit, when he found he was about to be\nanticipated in his skill by an attempt to prove the power of music.", "Gamut, who had stood prepared to pour forth his spirit in song when the\nvisitors entered, after delaying a moment, drew a strain from his pipe,\nand commenced a hymn that might have worked a miracle, had faith in its\nefficacy been of much avail.", "He was allowed to proceed to the close, the\nIndians respecting his imaginary infirmity, and Duncan too glad of the\ndelay to hazard the slightest interruption.", "As the dying cadence of his\nstrains was falling on the ears of the latter, he started aside at\nhearing them repeated behind him in a voice half human, half\nsepulchral.", "Looking around, he beheld the shaggy monster seated on end\nin a shadow of the cavern, where, while his restless body swung in the\nuneasy manner of the animal, it repeated, in a sort of low growl, sound,\nif not words, which bore some slight resemblance to the melody of the\nsinger.", "The effect of so strange an echo on David may better be imagined than\ndescribed.", "His eyes opened as if he doubted their truth; and his voice\nbecame instantly mute in excess of wonder.", "A deep-laid scheme, of\ncommunicating some important intelligence to Heyward, was driven from\nhis recollection by an emotion which very nearly resembled fear, but\nwhich he was fain to believe was admiration.", "Under its influence, he\nexclaimed aloud--\"She expects you, and is at hand;\" and precipitately\nleft the cavern." ]

[ "\n _\"Snug._--Have you the lion's part written?", "Pray you, if it be, give\n it me, for I am slow of study.\"", "_\"Quince_.--You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThere was a strange blending of the ridiculous with that which was\nsolemn in this scene.", "The beast still continued its rolling, and\napparently untiring movements, though its ludicrous attempt to imitate\nthe melody of David ceased the instant the latter abandoned the field.", "The words of Gamut were, as has been seen, in his native tongue; and to\nDuncan they seemed pregnant with some hidden meaning, though nothing\npresent assisted him in discovering the object of their illusion.", "A\nspeedy end was, however, put to every conjecture on the subject, by the\nmanner of the chief, who advanced to the bedside of the invalid, and\nbeckoned away the whole group of female attendants that had clustered\nthere to witness the skill of the stranger.", "He was implicitly, though\nreluctantly, obeyed; and when the low echo which rang along the hollow\nnatural gallery from the distant closing door had ceased, pointing\ntowards his insensible daughter, he said,--\n\n\"Now let my brother show his power.\"", "Thus unequivocally called on to exercise the functions of his assumed\ncharacter, Heyward was apprehensive that the smallest delay might prove\ndangerous.", "Endeavoring then to collect his ideas, he prepared to perform\nthat species of incantation, and those uncouth rites, under which the\nIndian conjurers are accustomed to conceal their ignorance and\nimpotency.", "It is more than probable that, in the disordered state of his\nthoughts, he would soon have fallen into some suspicious, if not fatal\nerror, had not his incipient attempts been interrupted by a fierce growl\nfrom the quadruped.", "Three several times did he renew his efforts to\nproceed, and as often was he met by the same unaccountable opposition,\neach interruption seeming more savage and threatening than the\npreceding.", "\"The cunning ones are jealous,\" said the Huron; \"I go.", "Brother, the\nwoman is the wife of one of my bravest young men; deal justly by her.", "Peace!\"", "he added, beckoning to the discontented beast to be quiet; \"I\ngo.\"", "The chief was as good as his word, and Duncan now found himself alone in\nthat wild and desolate abode, with the helpless invalid, and the fierce\nand dangerous brute.", "The latter listened to the movements of the Indian\nwith that air of sagacity that a bear is known to possess, until another\necho announced that he had also left the cavern, when it turned and came\nwaddling up to Duncan, before whom it seated itself, in its natural\nattitude, erect like a man.", "The youth looked anxiously about him for\nsome weapon, with which he might make a resistance against the attack he\nnow seriously expected.", "It seemed, however, as if the humor of the animal had suddenly changed.", "Instead of continuing its discontented growls, or manifesting any\nfurther signs of anger, the whole of its shaggy body shook violently, as\nif agitated by some strange internal convulsion.", "The huge and unwieldy\ntalons pawed stupidly about the grinning muzzle, and while Heyward kept\nhis eyes riveted on its movements with jealous watchfulness, the grim\nhead fell on one side, and in its place appeared the honest, sturdy\ncountenance of the scout, who was indulging from the bottom of his soul,\nin his own peculiar expression of merriment.", "\"Hist!\"", "said the wary woodsman, interrupting Heyward's exclamation of\nsurprise; \"the varlets are about the place, and any sounds that are not\nnatural to witchcraft would bring them back upon us in a body.\"", "\"Tell me the meaning of this masquerade; and why you have attempted so\ndesperate an adventure.\"", "\"Ah!", "reason and calculation are often outdone by accident,\" returned the\nscout.", "\"But as a story should always commence at the beginning, I will\ntell you the whole in order.", "After we parted I placed the commandant and\nthe Sagamore in an old beaver lodge, where they are safer from the\nHurons than they would be in the garrison of Edward, for your high\nnorthwest Indians, not having as yet got the traders among them,\ncontinue to venerate the beaver.", "After which Uncas and I pushed for the\nother encampment, as was agreed; have you seen the lad?\"", "\"To my great grief!", "he is captive, and condemned to die at the rising of\nthe sun.\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE MASQUERADER\n\n_The grim head fell on one side, and in its place appeared the honest,\nsturdy countenance of the scout_]\n\n\"I had misgivings that such would be his fate,\" resumed the scout, in a\nless confident and joyous tone.", "But soon regaining his naturally firm\nvoice, he continued: \"His bad fortune is the true reason of my being\nhere, for it would never do to abandon such a boy to the Hurons.", "A rare\ntime the knaves would have of it, could they tie The Bounding Elk and\nThe Long Carabine, as they call me, to the same stake!", "Though why they\nhave given me such a name I never knew, there being as little likeness\nbetween the gifts of 'Killdeer,' and the performance of one of your real\nCanada carabynes, as there is between the natur' of a pipe-stone and a\nflint!\"", "\"Keep to your tale,\" said the impatient Heyward; \"we know not at what\nmoment the Hurons may return.\"", "\"No fear of them.", "A conjurer must have his time, like a straggling\npriest in the settlements.", "We are as safe from interruption as a\nmissionary would be at the beginning of a two hours' discourse.", "Well,\nUncas and I fell in with a return party of the varlets; the lad was much\ntoo forward for a scout; nay, for that matter, being of hot blood, he\nwas not so much to blame; and, after all, one of the Hurons proved a\ncoward, and in fleeing led him into an ambushment.\"", "\"And dearly has he paid for the weakness!\"", "The scout significantly passed his hand across his own throat, and\nnodded, as if he said, \"I comprehend your meaning.\"", "After which he\ncontinued, in a more audible though scarcely more intelligible\nlanguage,--\n\n\"After the loss of the boy I turned upon the Hurons, as you may judge.", "There have been scrimmages atween one or two of their outlyers and\nmyself; but that is neither here nor there.", "So, after I had shot the\nimps, I got in pretty nigh to the lodges without further commotion.", "Then\nwhat should luck do in my favor, but lead me to the very spot where one\nof the most famous conjurers of the tribe was dressing himself, as I\nwell knew, for some great battle with Satan--though why should I call\nthat luck, which it now seems was an especial ordering of Providence!", "So\na judgmatical rap over the head stiffened the lying impostor for a time,\nand leaving him a bit of walnut for his supper, to prevent an uproar,\nand stringing him up atween two sapplings, I made free with his finery,\nand took the part of the bear on myself, in order that the operations\nmight proceed.\"", "\"And admirably did you enact the character; the animal itself might have\nbeen shamed by the representation.\"", "\"Lord, major,\" returned the flattered woodsman, \"I should be but a poor\nscholar for one who has studied so long in the wilderness, did I not\nknow how to set forth the movements and natur' of such a beast.", "Had it\nbeen now a catamount, or even a full-sized panther, I would have\nembellished a performance for you worth regarding.", "But it is no such\nmarvellous feat to exhibit the feats of so dull a beast; though, for\nthat matter too, a bear may be overacted.", "Yes, yes; it is not every\nimitator that knows natur' may be outdone easier than she is equalled.", "But all our work is yet before us: where is the gentle one?\"", "\"Heaven knows; I have examined every lodge in the village, without\ndiscovering the slightest trace of her presence in the tribe.\"", "\"You heard what the singer said, as he left us,--'She is at hand, and\nexpects you'?\"", "\"I have been compelled to believe he alluded to this unhappy woman.\"", "\"The simpleton was frightened, and blundered through his message; but he\nhad a deeper meaning.", "Here are walls enough to separate the whole\nsettlement.", "A bear ought to climb; therefore will I take a look above\nthem.", "There may be honey-pots hid in these rocks, and I am a beast you\nknow, that has a hankering for the sweets.\"", "The scout looked behind him, laughing at his own conceit, while he\nclambered up the partition, imitating, as he went, the clumsy motions of\nthe beast he represented; but the instant the summit was gained he made\na gesture for silence, and slid down with the utmost precipitation.", "\"She is here,\" he whispered, \"and by that door you will find her.", "I\nwould have spoken a word of comfort to the afflicted soul; but the sight\nof such a monster might upset her reason.", "Though for that matter, major,\nyou are none of the most inviting yourself in your paint.\"", "Duncan, who had already sprung eagerly forward, drew instantly back on\nhearing these discouraging words.", "\"Am I, then, so very revolting?\"", "he demanded, with an air of chagrin.", "\"You might not startle a wolf, or turn the Royal Americans from a\ncharge; but I have seen the time when you had a better-favored look;\nyour streaked countenances are not ill-judged of by the squaws, but\nyoung women of white blood give the preference to their own color.", "See,\"\nhe added, pointing to a place where the water trickled from a rock,\nforming a little crystal spring before it found an issue through the\nadjacent crevices; \"you may easily get rid of the Sagamore's daub, and\nwhen you come back I will try my hand at a new embellishment.", "It's as\ncommon for a conjurer to alter his paint as for a buck in the\nsettlements to change his finery.\"", "The deliberate woodsman had little occasion to hunt for arguments to\nenforce his advice.", "He was yet speaking when Duncan availed himself of\nthe water.", "In a moment every frightful or offensive mark was\nobliterated, and the youth appeared again in the lineaments with which\nhe had been gifted by nature.", "Thus prepared for an interview with his\nmistress, he took a hasty leave of his companion, and disappeared\nthrough the indicated passage.", "The scout witnessed his departure with\ncomplacency, nodding his head after him, and muttering his good wishes;\nafter which he very coolly set about an examination of the state of the\nlarder, among the Hurons--the cavern, among other purposes, being used\nas a receptacle for the fruits of their hunts.", "Duncan had no other guide than a distant glimmering light, which served,\nhowever, the office of a polar star to the lover.", "By its aid he was\nenabled to enter the haven of his hopes, which was merely another\napartment of the cavern, that had been solely appropriated to the\nsafe-keeping of so important a prisoner as a daughter of the commandant\nof William Henry.", "It was profusely strewed with the plunder of that\nunlucky fortress.", "In the midst of this confusion he found her he sought,\npale, anxious, and terrified, but lovely.", "David had prepared her for\nsuch a visit.", "\"Duncan!\"", "she exclaimed, in a voice that seemed to tremble at the sounds\ncreated by itself.", "\"Alice\" he answered, leaping carelessly among trunks, boxes, arms, and\nfurniture, until he stood at her side.", "\"I knew that you would never desert me,\" she said, looking up with a\nmomentary glow on her otherwise dejected countenance.", "\"But you are\nalone!", "grateful as it is to be thus remembered, I could wish to think\nyou are not entirely alone.\"", "Duncan, observing that she trembled in a manner which betrayed her\ninability to stand, gently induced her to be seated, while he recounted\nthose leading incidents which it has been our task to record.", "Alice\nlistened with breathless interest; and though the young man touched\nlightly on the sorrows of the stricken father, taking care, however, not\nto wound the self-love of his auditor, the tears ran as freely down the\ncheeks of the daughter as though she had never wept before.", "The soothing\ntenderness of Duncan, however, soon quieted the first burst of her\nemotions, and she then heard him to the close with undivided attention,\nif not with composure.", "\"And now, Alice,\" he added, \"you will see how much is still expected of\nyou.", "By the assistance of our experienced and invaluable friend, the\nscout, we may find our way from this savage people, but you will have to\nexert your utmost fortitude.", "Remember that you fly to the arms of your\nvenerable parent, and how much his happiness, as well as your own,\ndepends on those exertions.\"", "\"Can I do otherwise for a father who has done so much for me?\"", "\"And for me too,\" continued the youth, gently pressing the hand he held\nin both his own.", "The look of innocence and surprise which he received in return convinced\nDuncan of the necessity of being more explicit.", "\"This is neither the place nor the occasion to detain you with selfish\nwishes,\" he added; \"but what heart loaded like mine would not wish to\ncast its burden?", "They say misery is the closest of all ties; our common\nsuffering in your behalf left but little to be explained between your\nfather and myself.\"", "\"And dearest Cora, Duncan; surely Cora was not forgotten?\"", "\"Not forgotten!", "no; regretted, as woman was seldom mourned before.", "Your\nvenerable father knew no difference between his children; but I--Alice,\nyou will not be offended when I say, that to me her worth was in a\ndegree obscured--\"\n\n\"Then you knew not the merit of my sister,\" said Alice, withdrawing her\nhand; \"of you she ever speaks as of one who is her nearest friend.\"", "\"I would gladly believe her such,\" returned Duncan, hastily; \"I could\nwish her to be even more; but with you, Alice, I have the permission of\nyour father to aspire to a still nearer and dearer tie.\"", "Alice trembled violently, and there was an instant during which she bent\nher face aside, yielding to the emotions common to her sex; but they\nquickly passed away, leaving her mistress of her deportment, if not of\nher affections.", "\"Heyward,\" she said, looking him full in the face with a touching\nexpression of innocence and dependency, \"give me the sacred presence\nand the holy sanction of that parent before you urge me further.\"", "\"Though more I should not, less I could not say,\" the youth was about to\nanswer, when he was interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder.", "Starting\nto his feet, he turned, and, confronting the intruder, his looks fell on\nthe dark form and malignant visage of Magua.", "The deep guttural laugh of\nthe savage sounded, at such a moment, to Duncan like the hellish taunt\nof a demon.", "Had he pursued the sudden and fierce impulse of the instant,\nhe would have cast himself on the Huron, and committed their fortunes to\nthe issue of a deadly struggle.", "But, without arms of any description,\nignorant of what succor his subtle enemy could command, and charged with\nthe safety of one who was just then dearer than ever to his heart, he no\nsooner entertained than he abandoned the desperate intention.", "\"What is your purpose?\"", "said Alice, meekly folding her arms on her\nbosom, and struggling to conceal an agony of apprehension in behalf of\nHeyward, in the usual cold and distant manner with which she received\nthe visits of her captor.", "The exulting Indian had resumed his austere countenance, though he drew\nwarily back before the menacing glance of the young man's fiery eye.", "He\nregarded both his captives for a moment with a steady look, and then\nstepping aside, he dropped a log of wood across a door different from\nthat by which Duncan had entered.", "The latter now comprehended the manner\nof his surprise, and believing himself irretrievably lost, he drew Alice\nto his bosom, and stood prepared to meet a fate which he hardly\nregretted, since it was to be suffered in such company.", "But Magua\nmeditated no immediate violence.", "His first measures were very evidently\ntaken to secure his new captive; nor did he even bestow a second glance\nat the motionless forms in the centre of the cavern, until he had\ncompletely cut off every hope of retreat through the private outlet he\nhad himself used.", "He was watched in all his movements by Heyward, who,\nhowever, remained firm, still folding the fragile form of Alice to his\nheart, at once too proud and too hopeless to ask favor of an enemy so\noften foiled.", "When Magua had effected his object he approached his\nprisoners, and said in English,--\n\n\"The pale-faces trap the cunning beavers; but the redskins know how to\ntake the Yengeese.\"", "\"Huron, do your worst!\"", "exclaimed the excited Heyward, forgetful that a\ndouble stake was involved in his life; \"you and your vengeance are alike\ndespised.\"", "\"Will the white man speak these words at the stake?\"", "asked Magua;\nmanifesting, at the same time, how little faith he had in the other's\nresolution by the sneer that accompanied his words.", "\"Here; singly to your face, or in the presence of your nation.\"", "\"Le Renard Subtil is a great chief!\"", "returned the Indian; \"he will go\nand bring his young men to see how bravely a pale-face can laugh at the\ntortures.\"", "He turned away while speaking, and was about to leave the place through\nthe avenue by which Duncan had approached, when a growl caught his ear,\nand caused him to hesitate.", "The figure of the bear appeared in the door,\nwhere it sat, rolling from side to side in its customary restlessness.", "Magua, like the father of the sick woman, eyed it keenly for a moment,\nas if to ascertain its character.", "He was far above the more vulgar\nsuperstitions of his tribe, and so soon as he recognized the well-known\nattire of the conjurer, he prepared to pass it in cool contempt.", "But a\nlouder and more threatening growl caused him again to pause.", "Then he\nseemed as if suddenly resolved to trifle no longer, and moved resolutely\nforward.", "The mimic animal, which had advanced a little, retired slowly\nin his front, until it arrived again at the pass, when rearing on its\nhinder legs it beat the air with its paws, in the manner practised by\nits brutal prototype.", "\"Fool!\"", "exclaimed the chief, in Huron, \"go play with the children and\nsquaws; leave men to their wisdom.\"", "He once more endeavored to pass the supposed empiric, scorning even the\nparade of threatening to use the knife, or tomahawk, that was pendent\nfrom his belt.", "Suddenly the beast extended its arms, or rather legs, and\ninclosed him in a grasp that might have vied with the far-famed power of\nthe \"bear's hug\" itself.", "Heyward had watched the whole procedure, on the\npart of Hawkeye, with breathless interest.", "At first he relinquished his\nhold of Alice; then he caught up a thong of buckskin, which had been\nused around some bundle, and when he beheld his enemy with his two arms\npinned to his side by the iron muscles of the scout, he rushed upon him,\nand effectually secured them there.", "Arms, legs, and feet were encircled\nin twenty folds of the thong, in less time than we have taken to record\nthe circumstance.", "When the formidable Huron was completely pinioned, the\nscout released his hold, and Duncan laid his enemy on his back, utterly\nhelpless.", "Throughout the whole of this sudden and extraordinary operation, Magua,\nthough he had struggled violently, until assured he was in the hands of\none whose nerves were far better strung than his own, had not uttered\nthe slightest exclamation.", "But when Hawkeye, by way of making a summary\nexplanation of his conduct, removed the shaggy jaws of the beast, and\nexposed his own rugged and earnest countenance to the gaze of the Huron,\nthe philosophy of the latter was so far mastered as to permit him to\nutter the never-failing,--\n\n\"Hugh!\"", "\"Ay!", "you've found your tongue,\" said his undisturbed conqueror; \"now, in\norder that you shall not use it to our ruin, I must make free to stop\nyour mouth.\"", "As there was no time to be lost, the scout immediately set about\neffecting so necessary a precaution; and when he had gagged the Indian,\nhis enemy might safely have been considered as _hors de combat_.", "\"By what place did the imp enter?\"", "asked the industrious scout, when his\nwork was ended.", "\"Not a soul has passed my way since you left me.\"", "Duncan pointed out the door by which Magua had come, and which now\npresented too many obstacles to a quick retreat.", "\"Bring on the gentle one, then,\" continued his friend; \"we must make a\npush for the woods by the other outlet.\"", "\"'Tis impossible!\"", "said Duncan; \"fear has overcome her, and she is\nhelpless.", "Alice!", "my sweet, my own Alice, arouse yourself; now is the\nmoment to fly.", "'Tis in vain!", "she hears, but is unable to follow.", "Go,\nnoble and worthy friend; save yourself, and leave me to my fate!\"", "\"Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its lesson!\"", "returned the scout.", "\"There, wrap her in them Indian cloths.", "Conceal all\nof her little form.", "Nay, that foot has no fellow in the wilderness; it\nwill betray her.", "All, every part.", "Now take her in your arms, and follow.", "Leave the rest to me.\"", "Duncan, as may be gathered from the words of his companion, was eagerly\nobeying; and as the other finished speaking, he took the light person of\nAlice in his arms, and followed on the footsteps of the scout.", "They\nfound the sick woman as they had left her, still alone, and passed\nswiftly on, by the natural gallery, to the place of entrance.", "As they\napproached the little door of bark, a murmur of voices without announced\nthat the friends and relatives of the invalid were gathered about the\nplace, patiently awaiting a summons to re-enter.", "\"If I open my lips to speak,\" Hawkeye whispered, \"my English, which is\nthe genuine tongue of a white-skin, will tell the varlets that an enemy\nis among them.", "You must give 'em your jargon, major; and say that we\nhave shut the evil spirit in the cave, and are taking the woman to the\nwoods in order to find strengthening roots.", "Practyse all your cunning,\nfor it is a lawful undertaking.\"", "The door opened a little, as if one without was listening to the\nproceedings within, and compelled the scout to cease his directions.", "A\nfierce growl repelled the eavesdropper, and then the scout boldly threw\nopen the covering of bark, and left the place, enacting the character of\nthe bear as he proceeded.", "Duncan kept close at his heels, and so found\nhimself in the centre of a cluster of twenty anxious relatives and\nfriends.", "The crowd fell back a little, and permitted the father, and one who\nappeared to be the husband of the woman, to approach.", "\"Has my brother driven away the evil spirit?\"", "demanded the former.", "\"What\nhas he in his arms?\"", "\"Thy child,\" returned Duncan, gravely; \"the disease has gone out of her;\nit is shut up in the rocks.", "I take the woman to a distance, where I will\nstrengthen her against any further attacks.", "She shall be in the wigwam\nof the young man when the sun comes again.\"", "When the father had translated the meaning of the stranger's words into\nthe Huron language, a suppressed murmur announced the satisfaction with\nwhich the intelligence was received.", "The chief himself waved his hand\nfor Duncan to proceed, saying aloud, in a firm voice, and with a lofty\nmanner,--\n\n\"Go; I am a man, and I will enter the rock and fight the wicked one.\"", "Heyward had gladly obeyed, and was already past the little group, when\nthese startling words arrested him.", "\"Is my brother mad?\"", "he exclaimed; \"is he cruel!", "He will meet the\ndisease, and it will enter him; or he will drive out the disease, and it\nwill chase his daughter into the woods.", "No; let my children wait\nwithout, and if the spirit appears beat him down with clubs.", "He is\ncunning, and will bury himself in the mountain, when he sees how many\nare ready to fight him.\"", "This singular warning had the desired effect.", "Instead of entering the\ncavern, the father and husband drew their tomahawks, and posted\nthemselves in readiness to deal their vengeance on the imaginary\ntormentor of their sick relative, while the women and children broke\nbranches from the bushes, or seized fragments of the rock, with a\nsimilar intention.", "At this favorable moment the counterfeit conjurers\ndisappeared.", "Hawkeye, at the same time that he had presumed so far on the nature of\nthe Indian superstitions, was not ignorant that they were rather\ntolerated than relied on by the wisest of the chiefs.", "He well knew the\nvalue of time in the present emergency.", "Whatever might be the extent of\nthe self-delusion of his enemies, and however it had tended to assist\nhis schemes, the slightest cause of suspicion, acting on the subtle\nnature of an Indian, would be likely to prove fatal.", "Taking the path,\ntherefore, that was most likely to avoid observation, he rather skirted\nthan entered the village.", "The warriors were still to be seen in the\ndistance, by the fading light of the fires, stalking from lodge to\nlodge.", "But the children had abandoned their sports for their beds of\nskins, and the quiet of night was already beginning to prevail over the\nturbulence and excitement of so busy and important an evening.", "Alice revived under the renovating influence of the open air, and as her\nphysical rather than her mental powers had been the subject of weakness,\nshe stood in no need of any explanation of that which had occurred.", "\"Now let me make an effort to walk,\" she said, when they had entered the\nforest, blushing, though unseen, that she had not been sooner able to\nquit the arms of Duncan; \"I am indeed restored.\"", "\"Nay, Alice, you are yet too weak.\"", "The maiden struggled gently to release herself, and Heyward was\ncompelled to part with his precious burden.", "The representative of the\nbear had certainly been an entire stranger to the delicious emotions of\nthe lover while his arms encircled his mistress; and he was, perhaps, a\nstranger also to the nature of that feeling of ingenuous shame that\noppressed the trembling Alice.", "But when he found himself at a suitable\ndistance from the lodges he made a halt, and spoke on a subject of which\nhe was thoroughly the master.", "\"This path will lead you to the brook,\" he said; \"follow its northern\nbank until you come to a fall; and mount the hill on your right, and you\nwill see the fires of the other people.", "There you must go and demand\nprotection; if they are true Delawares, you will be safe.", "A distant\nflight with that gentle one, just now, is impossible.", "The Hurons would\nfollow up our trail, and master our scalps, before we had got a dozen\nmiles.", "Go, and Providence be with you.\"", "\"And you!\"", "demanded Heyward, in surprise; \"surely we part not here?\"", "\"The Hurons hold the pride of the Delawares; the last of the high blood\nof the Mohicans is in their power,\" returned the scout; \"I go to see\nwhat can be done in his favor.", "Had they mastered your scalp, major, a\nknave should have fallen for every hair it held, as I promised; but if\nthe young Sagamore is to be led to the stake, the Indians shall see also\nhow a man without a cross can die.\"", "Not in the least offended with the decided preference that the sturdy\nwoodsman gave to one who might, in some degree, be called the child of\nhis adoption, Duncan still continued to urge such reasons against so\ndesperate an effort as presented themselves.", "He was aided by Alice, who\nmingled her entreaties with those of Heyward that he would abandon a\nresolution that promised so much danger, with so little hope of success.", "Their eloquence and ingenuity were expended in vain.", "The scout heard\nthem attentively, but impatiently, and finally closed the discussion, by\nanswering, in a tone that instantly silenced Alice, while it told\nHeyward how fruitless any further remonstrances would be,--\n\n\"I have heard,\" he said, \"that there is a feeling in youth which binds\nman to woman closer than the father is tied to the son.", "It may be so.", "I\nhave seldom been where women of my color dwell; but such may be the\ngifts of nature in the settlements.", "You have risked life, and all that\nis dear to you, to bring off this gentle one, and I suppose that some\nsuch disposition is at the bottom of it all.", "As for me, I taught the lad\nthe real character of a rifle; and well has he paid me for it.", "I have\nfou't at his side in many a bloody scrimmage; and so long as I could\nhear the crack of his piece in one ear, and that of the Sagamore in the\nother, I knew no enemy was on my back.", "Winters and summers, nights and\ndays, have we roved the wilderness in company, eating of the same dish,\none sleeping while the other watched; and afore it shall be said that\nUncas was taken to the torment, and I at hand--There is but a single\nRuler of us all, whatever may be the color of the skin; and Him I call\nto witness, that before the Mohican boy shall perish for the want of a\nfriend, good faith shall depart the 'arth, and 'Killdeer' become as\nharmless as the tooting we'pon of the singer!\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE LOVERS\n\n_Heyward and Alice took their way together towards the distant village\nof the Delawares_]\n\nDuncan released his hold on the arm of the scout, who turned, and\nsteadily retraced his steps towards the lodges.", "After pausing a moment\nto gaze at his retiring form, the successful and yet sorrowful Heyward,\nand Alice, took their way together towards the distant village of the\nDelawares." ]

[ "The beast still continued its rolling, and\napparently untiring movements, though its ludicrous attempt to imitate\nthe melody of David ceased the instant the latter abandoned the field.", "Peace!\"", "After we parted I placed the commandant and\nthe Sagamore in an old beaver lodge, where they are safer from the\nHurons than they would be in the garrison of Edward, for your high\nnorthwest Indians, not having as yet got the traders among them,\ncontinue to venerate the beaver.", "The scout looked behind him, laughing at his own conceit, while he\nclambered up the partition, imitating, as he went, the clumsy motions of\nthe beast he represented; but the instant the summit was gained he made\na gesture for silence, and slid down with the utmost precipitation.", "It was profusely strewed with the plunder of that\nunlucky fortress.", "Remember that you fly to the arms of your\nvenerable parent, and how much his happiness, as well as your own,\ndepends on those exertions.\"", "As there was no time to be lost, the scout immediately set about\neffecting so necessary a precaution; and when he had gagged the Indian,\nhis enemy might safely have been considered as _hors de combat_.", "There you must go and demand\nprotection; if they are true Delawares, you will be safe.", "\"The Hurons hold the pride of the Delawares; the last of the high blood\nof the Mohicans is in their power,\" returned the scout; \"I go to see\nwhat can be done in his favor.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE LOVERS\n\n_Heyward and Alice took their way together towards the distant village\nof the Delawares_]\n\nDuncan released his hold on the arm of the scout, who turned, and\nsteadily retraced his steps towards the lodges." ]

[ "Duncan kept close at his heels, and so found\nhimself in the centre of a cluster of twenty anxious relatives and\nfriends.", "He was implicitly, though\nreluctantly, obeyed; and when the low echo which rang along the hollow\nnatural gallery from the distant closing door had ceased, pointing\ntowards his insensible daughter, he said,--\n\n\"Now let my brother show his power.\"", "\"The Hurons hold the pride of the Delawares; the last of the high blood\nof the Mohicans is in their power,\" returned the scout; \"I go to see\nwhat can be done in his favor.", "Magua, like the father of the sick woman, eyed it keenly for a moment,\nas if to ascertain its character.", "\"Am I, then, so very revolting?\"", "\"Here; singly to your face, or in the presence of your nation.\"", "Peace!\"", "The exulting Indian had resumed his austere countenance, though he drew\nwarily back before the menacing glance of the young man's fiery eye.", "As there was no time to be lost, the scout immediately set about\neffecting so necessary a precaution; and when he had gagged the Indian,\nhis enemy might safely have been considered as _hors de combat_.", "The latter now comprehended the manner\nof his surprise, and believing himself irretrievably lost, he drew Alice\nto his bosom, and stood prepared to meet a fate which he hardly\nregretted, since it was to be suffered in such company." ]

[ "Had he pursued the sudden and fierce impulse of the instant,\nhe would have cast himself on the Huron, and committed their fortunes to\nthe issue of a deadly struggle.", "But, without arms of any description,\nignorant of what succor his subtle enemy could command, and charged with\nthe safety of one who was just then dearer than ever to his heart, he no\nsooner entertained than he abandoned the desperate intention.", "\"What is your purpose?\"", "said Alice, meekly folding her arms on her\nbosom, and struggling to conceal an agony of apprehension in behalf of\nHeyward, in the usual cold and distant manner with which she received\nthe visits of her captor.", "The exulting Indian had resumed his austere countenance, though he drew\nwarily back before the menacing glance of the young man's fiery eye.", "He\nregarded both his captives for a moment with a steady look, and then\nstepping aside, he dropped a log of wood across a door different from\nthat by which Duncan had entered.", "The latter now comprehended the manner\nof his surprise, and believing himself irretrievably lost, he drew Alice\nto his bosom, and stood prepared to meet a fate which he hardly\nregretted, since it was to be suffered in such company.", "But Magua\nmeditated no immediate violence.", "His first measures were very evidently\ntaken to secure his new captive; nor did he even bestow a second glance\nat the motionless forms in the centre of the cavern, until he had\ncompletely cut off every hope of retreat through the private outlet he\nhad himself used.", "He was watched in all his movements by Heyward, who,\nhowever, remained firm, still folding the fragile form of Alice to his\nheart, at once too proud and too hopeless to ask favor of an enemy so\noften foiled.", "When Magua had effected his object he approached his\nprisoners, and said in English,--\n\n\"The pale-faces trap the cunning beavers; but the redskins know how to\ntake the Yengeese.\"" ]

[ "\n _\"Snug._--Have you the lion's part written?", "Pray you, if it be, give\n it me, for I am slow of study.\"", "_\"Quince_.--You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThere was a strange blending of the ridiculous with that which was\nsolemn in this scene.", "The beast still continued its rolling, and\napparently untiring movements, though its ludicrous attempt to imitate\nthe melody of David ceased the instant the latter abandoned the field.", "The words of Gamut were, as has been seen, in his native tongue; and to\nDuncan they seemed pregnant with some hidden meaning, though nothing\npresent assisted him in discovering the object of their illusion.", "A\nspeedy end was, however, put to every conjecture on the subject, by the\nmanner of the chief, who advanced to the bedside of the invalid, and\nbeckoned away the whole group of female attendants that had clustered\nthere to witness the skill of the stranger.", "He was implicitly, though\nreluctantly, obeyed; and when the low echo which rang along the hollow\nnatural gallery from the distant closing door had ceased, pointing\ntowards his insensible daughter, he said,--\n\n\"Now let my brother show his power.\"", "Thus unequivocally called on to exercise the functions of his assumed\ncharacter, Heyward was apprehensive that the smallest delay might prove\ndangerous.", "Endeavoring then to collect his ideas, he prepared to perform\nthat species of incantation, and those uncouth rites, under which the\nIndian conjurers are accustomed to conceal their ignorance and\nimpotency.", "Their eloquence and ingenuity were expended in vain.", "The scout heard\nthem attentively, but impatiently, and finally closed the discussion, by\nanswering, in a tone that instantly silenced Alice, while it told\nHeyward how fruitless any further remonstrances would be,--\n\n\"I have heard,\" he said, \"that there is a feeling in youth which binds\nman to woman closer than the father is tied to the son.", "It may be so.", "I\nhave seldom been where women of my color dwell; but such may be the\ngifts of nature in the settlements.", "You have risked life, and all that\nis dear to you, to bring off this gentle one, and I suppose that some\nsuch disposition is at the bottom of it all.", "As for me, I taught the lad\nthe real character of a rifle; and well has he paid me for it.", "I have\nfou't at his side in many a bloody scrimmage; and so long as I could\nhear the crack of his piece in one ear, and that of the Sagamore in the\nother, I knew no enemy was on my back.", "Winters and summers, nights and\ndays, have we roved the wilderness in company, eating of the same dish,\none sleeping while the other watched; and afore it shall be said that\nUncas was taken to the torment, and I at hand--There is but a single\nRuler of us all, whatever may be the color of the skin; and Him I call\nto witness, that before the Mohican boy shall perish for the want of a\nfriend, good faith shall depart the 'arth, and 'Killdeer' become as\nharmless as the tooting we'pon of the singer!\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE LOVERS\n\n_Heyward and Alice took their way together towards the distant village\nof the Delawares_]\n\nDuncan released his hold on the arm of the scout, who turned, and\nsteadily retraced his steps towards the lodges.", "After pausing a moment\nto gaze at his retiring form, the successful and yet sorrowful Heyward,\nand Alice, took their way together towards the distant village of the\nDelawares." ]

[ "\n \"_Bot._--Let me play the lion too.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nNotwithstanding the high resolution of Hawkeye, he fully comprehended\nall the difficulties and dangers he was about to incur.", "In his return to\nthe camp, his acute and practised intellects were intently engaged in\ndevising means to counteract a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of\nhis enemies, that he knew were, in no degree, inferior to his own.", "Nothing but the color of his skin had saved the lives of Magua and the\nconjurer, who would have been the first victims sacrificed to his own\nsecurity, had not the scout believed such an act, however congenial it\nmight be to the nature of an Indian, utterly unworthy of one who boasted\na descent from men that knew no cross of blood.", "Accordingly, he trusted\nto the withes and ligaments with which he had bound his captives, and\npursued his way directly towards the centre of the lodges.", "As he approached the buildings, his steps became more deliberate, and\nhis vigilant eye suffered no sign, whether friendly or hostile, to\nescape him.", "A neglected hut was a little in advance of the others, and\nappeared as if it had been deserted when half completed--most probably\non account of failing in some of the more important requisites; such as\nfood or water.", "A faint light glimmered through its cracks, however, and\nannounced that, notwithstanding its imperfect structure, it was not\nwithout a tenant.", "Thither, then, the scout proceeded, like a prudent\ngeneral, who was about to feel the advanced positions of his enemy,\nbefore he hazarded the main attack.", "Throwing himself into a suitable posture for the beast he represented,\nHawkeye crawled to a little opening, where he might command a view of\nthe interior.", "It proved to be the abiding-place of David Gamut.", "Hither\nthe faithful singing-master had now brought himself, together with all\nhis sorrows, his apprehensions, and his meek dependence on the\nprotection of Providence.", "At the precise moment when his ungainly person\ncame under the observation of the scout, in the manner just mentioned,\nthe woodsman himself, though in his assumed character, was the subject\nof the solitary being's profoundest reflections.", "However implicit the faith of David was in the performance of ancient\nmiracles, he eschewed the belief of any direct supernatural agency in\nthe management of modern morality.", "In other words, while he had implicit\nfaith in the ability of Balsam's ass to speak, he was somewhat skeptical\non the subject of a bear's singing; and yet he had been assured of the\nlatter, on the testimony of his own exquisite organs.", "There was\nsomething in his air and manner that betrayed to the scout the utter\nconfusion of the state of his mind.", "He was seated on a pile of brush, a\nfew twigs from which occasionally fed his low fire, with his head\nleaning on his arm, in a posture of melancholy musing.", "The costume of\nthe votary of music had undergone no other alteration from that so\nlately described, except that he had covered his bald head with the\ntriangular beaver, which had not proved sufficiently alluring to excite\nthe cupidity of any of his captors.", "The ingenious Hawkeye, who recalled the hasty manner in which the other\nhad abandoned his post at the bedside of the sick woman, was not without\nhis suspicions concerning the subject of so much solemn deliberation.", "First making the circuit of the hut, and ascertaining that it stood\nquite alone, and that the character of its inmate was likely to protect\nit from visitors, he ventured through its low door, into the very\npresence of Gamut.", "The position of the latter brought the fire between\nthem; and when Hawkeye had seated himself on end, near a minute elapsed,\nduring which the two remained regarding each other without speaking.", "The\nsuddenness and the nature of the surprise had nearly proved too much\nfor--we will not say the philosophy--but for the faith and resolution of\nDavid.", "He fumbled for his pitch-pipe, and arose with a confused\nintention of attempting a musical exorcism.", "\"Dark and mysterious monster!\"", "he exclaimed, while with trembling hands\nhe disposed of his auxiliary eyes, and sought his never-failing resource\nin trouble, the gifted version of the Psalms: \"I know not your nature\nnor intents; but if aught you meditate against the person and rights of\none of the humblest servants of the temple, listen to the inspired\nlanguage of the youth of Israel, and repent.\"", "The bear shook his shaggy sides, and then a well-known voice replied,--\n\n\"Put up the tooting we'pon, and teach your throat modesty.", "Five words of\nplain and comprehensible English are worth, just now, an hour of\nsqualling.\"", "\"What art thou!\"", "demanded David, utterly disqualified to pursue his\noriginal intention, and nearly gasping for breath.", "\"A man like yourself; and one whose blood is as little tainted by the\ncross of a bear, or an Indian, as your own.", "Have you so soon forgotten\nfrom whom you received the foolish instrument you hold in your hand?\"", "\"Can these things be?\"", "returned David, breathing more freely, as the\ntruth began to dawn upon him.", "\"I have found many marvels during my\nsojourn with the heathen, but surely nothing to excel this!\"", "\"Come, come,\" returned Hawkeye, uncasing his honest countenance, the\nbetter to assure the wavering confidence of his companion; \"you may see\na skin, which, if it be not as white as one of the gentle ones, has no\ntinge of red to it that the winds of heaven and the sun have not\nbestowed.", "Now let us to business.\"", "\"First tell me of the maiden, and of the youth who so bravely sought\nher,\" interrupted David.", "\"Ay, they are happily freed from the tomahawks of these varlets.", "But can\nyou put me on the scent of Uncas?\"", "\"The young man is in bondage, and much I fear his death is decreed.", "I\ngreatly mourn that one so well disposed should die in his ignorance, and\nI have sought a goodly hymn--\"\n\n\"Can you lead me to him?\"", "\"The task will not be difficult,\" returned David, hesitating; \"though I\ngreatly fear your presence would rather increase than mitigate his\nunhappy fortunes.\"", "\"No more words, but lead on,\" returned Hawkeye, concealing his face\nagain, and setting the example in his own person, by instantly quitting\nthe lodge.", "As they proceeded, the scout ascertained that his companion found access\nto Uncas, under privilege of his imaginary infirmity, aided by the favor\nhe had acquired with one of the guards, who, in consequence of speaking\na little English, had been selected by David as the subject of a\nreligious conversation.", "How far the Huron comprehended the intentions of\nhis new friend, may well be doubted; but as exclusive attention is as\nflattering to a savage as to a more civilized individual, it had\nproduced the effect we have mentioned.", "It is unnecessary to repeat the\nshrewd manner with which the scout extracted these particulars from the\nsimple David; neither shall we dwell in this place on the nature of the\ninstructions he delivered, when completely master of all the necessary\nfacts; as the whole will be sufficiently explained to the reader in the\ncourse of the narrative.", "The lodge in which Uncas was confined was in the very centre of the\nvillage, and in a situation, perhaps, more difficult than any other to\napproach, or leave, without observation.", "But it was not the policy of\nHawkeye to affect the least concealment.", "Presuming on his disguise, and\nhis ability to sustain the character he had assumed, he took the most\nplain and direct route to the place.", "The hour, however, afforded him\nsome little of that protection which he appeared so much to despise.", "The\nboys were already buried in sleep, and all the women, and most of the\nwarriors, had retired to their lodges for the night.", "Four or five of the\nlatter only lingered about the door of the prison of Uncas, wary but\nclose observers of the manner of their captive.", "At the sight of Gamut, accompanied by one in the well known masquerade\nof their most distinguished conjurer, they readily made way for them\nboth.", "Still they betrayed no intention to depart.", "On the other hand,\nthey were evidently disposed to remain bound to the place by an\nadditional interest in the mysterious mummeries that they of course\nexpected from such a visit.", "From the total inability of the scout to address the Hurons in their own\nlanguage, he was compelled to trust the conversation entirely to David.", "Notwithstanding the simplicity of the latter, he did ample justice to\nthe instructions he had received, more than fulfilling the strongest\nhopes of his teacher.", "\"The Delawares are women!\"", "he exclaimed, addressing himself to the\nsavage who had a slight understanding of the language in which he spoke;\n\"the Yengeese, my foolish countrymen, have told them to take up the\ntomahawk, and strike their fathers in the Canadas, and they have\nforgotten their sex.", "Does my brother wish to hear Le Cerf Agile ask for\nhis petticoats, and see him weep before the Hurons, at the stake?\"", "The exclamation \"Hugh!\"", "delivered in a strong tone of assent, announced\nthe gratification the savage would receive in witnessing such an\nexhibition of weakness in an enemy so long hated and so much feared.", "\"Then let him step aside, and the cunning man will blow upon the dog!", "Tell it to my brothers.\"", "The Huron explained the meaning of David to his fellows, who, in their\nturn, listened to the project with that sort of satisfaction that their\nuntamed spirits might be expected to find in such a refinement in\ncruelty.", "They drew back a little from the entrance, and motioned to the\nsupposed conjurer to enter.", "But the bear, instead of obeying, maintained\nthe seat it had taken, and growled.", "\"The cunning man is afraid that his breath will blow upon his brothers,\nand take away their courage too,\" continued David, improving the hint he\nreceived; \"they must stand farther off.\"", "The Hurons, who would have deemed such a misfortune the heaviest\ncalamity that could befall them, fell back in a body, taking a position\nwhere they were out of ear-shot, though at the same time they could\ncommand a view of the entrance to the lodge.", "Then, as if satisfied of\ntheir safety, the scout left his position, and slowly entered the place.", "It was silent and gloomy, being tenanted solely by the captive, and\nlighted by the dying embers of a fire, which had been used for the\npurposes of cookery.", "Uncas occupied a distant corner, in a reclining attitude, being rigidly\nbound, both hands and feet, by strong and painful withes.", "When the\nfrightful object first presented itself to the young Mohican, he did not\ndeign to bestow a single glance on the animal.", "The scout, who had left\nDavid at the door, to ascertain they were not observed, thought it\nprudent to preserve his disguise until assured of their privacy.", "Instead\nof speaking, therefore, he exerted himself to enact one of the antics of\nthe animal he represented.", "The young Mohican, who at first believed his\nenemies had sent in a real beast to torment him, and try his nerves,\ndetected, in those performances that to Heyward had appeared so\naccurate, certain blemishes, that at once betrayed the counterfeit.", "Had\nHawkeye been aware of the low estimation in which the more skilful Uncas\nheld his representations, he would probably have prolonged the\nentertainment a little in pique.", "But the scornful expression of the\nyoung man's eye admitted of so many constructions, that the worthy scout\nwas spared the mortification of such a discovery.", "As soon, therefore, as\nDavid gave the pre-concerted signal, a low hissing sound was heard in\nthe lodge, in place of the fierce growlings of the bear.", "Uncas had cast his body back against the wall of the hut, and closed\nhis eyes, as if willing to exclude so contemptible and disagreeable an\nobject from his sight.", "But the moment the noise of the serpent was\nheard, he arose, and cast his looks on each side of him, bending his\nhead low, and turning it inquiringly in every direction, until his keen\neye rested on the shaggy monster, where it remained riveted, as though\nfixed by the power of a charm.", "Again the same sounds were repeated,\nevidently proceeding from the mouth of the beast.", "Once more the eyes of\nthe youth roamed over the interior of the lodge, and returning to their\nformer resting place, he uttered, in a deep, suppressed voice,--\n\n\"Hawkeye!\"", "\"Cut his bands,\" said Hawkeye to David, who just then approached them.", "The singer did as he was ordered, and Uncas found his limbs released.", "At\nthe same moment the dried skin of the animal rattled, and presently the\nscout arose to his feet, in proper person.", "The Mohican appeared to\ncomprehend the nature of the attempt his friend had made, intuitively;\nneither tongue nor feature betraying another symptom of surprise.", "When\nHawkeye had cast his shaggy vestment, which was done by simply loosing\ncertain thongs of skin, he drew a long glittering knife, and put it in\nthe hands of Uncas.", "\"The red Hurons are without,\" he said; \"let us be ready.\"", "At the same time he laid his finger significantly on another similar\nweapon, both being the fruits of his prowess among their enemies during\nthe evening.", "\"We will go,\" said Uncas.", "\"Whither?\"", "\"To the Tortoises; they are the children of my grandfathers.\"", "\"Ay, lad,\" said the scout in English--a language he was apt to use when\na little abstracted in mind; \"the same blood runs in your veins, I\nbelieve; but time and distance have a little changed its color.", "What\nshall we do with the Mingos at the door?", "They count six, and this singer\nis as good as nothing.\"", "\"The Hurons are boasters,\" said Uncas scornfully; \"their 'totem' is a\nmoose, and they run like snails.", "The Delawares are children of the\ntortoise, and they outstrip the deer.\"", "\"Ay, lad, there is truth in what you say; and I doubt not, on a rush,\nyou would pass the whole nation; and, in a straight race of two miles,\nwould be in, and get your breath again, afore a knave of them all was\nwithin hearing of the other village.", "But the gift of a white man lies\nmore in his arms than in his legs.", "As for myself, I can brain a Huron as\nwell as a better man; but when it comes to a race, the knaves would\nprove too much for me.\"", "Uncas, who had already approached the door, in readiness to lead the\nway, now recoiled; and placed himself, once more, in the bottom of the\nlodge.", "But Hawkeye, who was too much occupied with his own thoughts to\nnote the movement, continued speaking more to himself than to his\ncompanion.", "\"After all,\" he said, \"it is unreasonable to keep one man in bondage to\nthe gifts of another.", "So, Uncas, you had better take the leap, while I\nput on the skin again, and trust to cunning for want of speed.\"", "The young Mohican made no reply, but quietly folded his arms, and leaned\nhis body against one of the upright posts that supported the wall of the\nhut.", "\"Well,\" said the scout, looking up at him, \"why do you tarry?", "There will\nbe time enough for me, as the knaves will give chase to you at first.\"", "\"Uncas will stay,\" was the calm reply.", "\"For what?\"", "\"To fight with his father's brother, and die with the friend of the\nDelawares.\"", "\"Ay, lad,\" returned Hawkeye, squeezing the hand of Uncas between his own\niron fingers; \"'twould have been more like a Mingo than a Mohican had\nyou left me.", "But I thought I would make the offer, seeing that youth\ncommonly loves life.", "Well, what can't be done by main courage, in war,\nmust be done by circumvention.", "Put on the skin; I doubt not you can play\nthe bear nearly as well as myself.\"", "Whatever might have been the private opinion of Uncas of their\nrespective abilities in this particular, his grave countenance\nmanifested no opinion of his own superiority.", "He silently and\nexpeditiously encased himself in the covering of the beast, and then\nawaited such other movements as his more aged companion saw fit to\ndictate.", "\"Now, friend,\" said Hawkeye, addressing David, \"an exchange of garments\nwill be a great convenience to you, inasmuch as you are but little\naccustomed to the make-shifts of the wilderness.", "Here, take my hunting\nshirt and cap, and give me your blanket and hat.", "You must trust me with\nthe book and spectacles, as well as the tooter, too; if we ever meet\nagain, in better times, you shall have all back again, with many thanks\ninto the bargain.\"", "David parted with the several articles named with a readiness that would\nhave done great credit to his liberality, had he not certainly profited,\nin many particulars, by the exchange.", "Hawkeye was not long in assuming\nhis borrowed garments; and when his restless eyes were hid behind the\nglasses, and his head was surmounted by the triangular beaver, as their\nstatures were not dissimilar, he might readily have passed for the\nsinger by star-light.", "As soon as these dispositions were made, the scout\nturned to David, and gave him his parting instructions.", "\"Are you much given to cowardice?\"", "he bluntly asked, by way of obtaining\na suitable understanding of the whole case before he ventured a\nprescription.", "\"My pursuits are peaceful, and my temper, I humbly trust, is greatly\ngiven to mercy and love,\" returned David, a little nettled at so direct\nan attack on his manhood; \"but there are none who can say that I have\never forgotten my faith in the Lord, even in the greatest straits.\"", "\"Your chiefest danger will be at the moment when the savages find out\nthat they have been deceived.", "If you are not then knocked in the head,\nyour being a non-composser will protect you; and you'll then have good\nreason to expect to die in your bed.", "If you stay, it must be to sit down\nhere in the shadow, and take the part of Uncas, until such times as the\ncunning of the Indians discover the cheat, when, as I have already said,\nyour time of trial will come.", "So choose for yourself,--to make a rush or\ntarry here.\"", "\"Even so,\" said David, firmly; \"I will abide in the place of the\nDelaware.", "Bravely and generously has he battled in my behalf; and this,\nand more, will I dare in his service.\"", "\"You have spoken as a man, and like one who, under wiser schooling,\nwould have been brought to better things.", "Hold your head down, and draw\nin your legs; their formation might tell the truth too early.", "Keep\nsilent as long as may be; and it would be wise, when you do speak, to\nbreak out suddenly in one of your shoutings, which will serve to remind\nthe Indians that you are not altogether as responsible as men should be.", "If, however, they take your scalp, as I trust and believe they will not,\ndepend on it, Uncas and I will not forget the deed, but revenge it as\nbecomes true warriors and trusty friends.\"", "\"Hold!\"", "said David, perceiving that with this assurance they were about\nto leave him; \"I am an unworthy and humble follower of One who taught\nnot the damnable principle of revenge.", "Should I fall, therefore, seek no\nvictims to my manes, but rather forgive my destroyers; and if you\nremember them at all, let it be in prayers for the enlightening of their\nminds, and for their eternal welfare.\"", "The scout hesitated, and appeared to muse.", "\"There is a principle in that,\" he said, \"different from the law of the\nwoods; and yet it is fair and noble to reflect upon.\"", "Then, heaving a\nheavy sigh, probably among the last he ever drew in pining for a\ncondition he had so long abandoned, he added, \"It is what I would wish\nto practise, myself, as one without a cross of blood, though it is not\nalways easy to deal with an Indian as you would with a fellow Christian.", "God bless you, friend; I do believe your scent is not greatly wrong,\nwhen the matter is duly considered, and keeping eternity before the\neyes, though much depends on the natural gifts, and the force of\ntemptation.\"", "So saying, the scout returned and shook David cordially by the hand;\nafter which act of friendship he immediately left the lodge, attended by\nthe new representative of the beast.", "The instant Hawkeye found himself under the observation of the Hurons,\nhe drew up his tall form in the rigid manner of David, threw out his arm\nin the act of keeping time, and commenced what he intended for an\nimitation of his psalmody.", "Happily for the success of this delicate\nadventure, he had to deal with ears but little practised in the concord\nof sweet sounds, or the miserable effort would infallibly have been\ndetected.", "It was necessary to pass within a dangerous proximity of the\ndark group of the savages, and the voice of the scout grew louder as\nthey drew nigher.", "When at the nearest point, the Huron who spoke the\nEnglish thrust out an arm, and stopped the supposed singing-master.", "\"The Delaware dog!\"", "he said, leaning forward, and peering through the\ndim light to catch the expression of the other's features; \"is he\nafraid?", "will the Hurons hear his groans?\"", "A growl so exceedingly fierce and natural proceeded from the beast, that\nthe young Indian released his hold and started aside, as if to assure\nhimself that it was not a veritable bear, and no counterfeit, that was\nrolling before him.", "Hawkeye, who feared his voice would betray him to\nhis subtle enemies, gladly profited by the interruption, to break out\nanew in such a burst of musical expression as would, probably, in a\nmore refined state of society have been termed \"a grand crash.\"", "Among\nhis actual auditors, however, it merely gave him an additional claim to\nthat respect which they never withhold from such as are believed to be\nthe subjects of mental alienation.", "The little knot of Indians drew back\nin a body, and suffered, as they thought, the conjurer and his inspired\nassistant to proceed.", "It required no common exercise of fortitude in Uncas and the scout, to\ncontinue the dignified and deliberate pace they had assumed in passing\nthe lodges; especially as they immediately perceived that curiosity had\nso far mastered fear, as to induce the watchers to approach the hut, in\norder to witness the effect of the incantations.", "The least injudicious\nor impatient movement on the part of David might betray them, and time\nwas absolutely necessary to insure the safety of the scout.", "The loud\nnoise the latter conceived it politic to continue, drew many curious\ngazers to the doors of the different huts as they passed; and once or\ntwice a dark-looking warrior stepped across their path, led to the act\nby superstition or watchfulness.", "They were not, however, interrupted;\nthe darkness of the hour, and the coldness of the attempt, proving their\nprincipal friends.", "The adventurers had got clear of the village, and were now swiftly\napproaching the shelter of the woods, when a loud and long cry arose\nfrom the lodge where Uncas had been confined.", "The Mohican started on his\nfeet, and shook his shaggy covering, as though the animal he\ncounterfeited was about to make some desperate effort.", "\"Hold!\"", "said the scout, grasping his friend by the shoulder, \"let them\nyell again!", "'Twas nothing but wonderment.\"", "He had no occasion to delay, for the next instant a burst of cries\nfilled the outer air, and ran along the whole extent of the village.", "Uncas cast his skin, and stepped forth in his own beautiful proportions.", "Hawkeye tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and glided ahead.", "\"Now let the devils strike our scent!\"", "said the scout, tearing two\nrifles, with all their attendant accoutrements, from beneath a bush, and\nflourishing \"Killdeer\" as he handed Uncas his weapon; \"two, at least,\nwill find it to their deaths.\"", "Then throwing their pieces to a low trail, like sportsmen in readiness\nfor their game, they dashed forward, and were soon buried in the sombre\ndarkness of the forest." ]

[ "The costume of\nthe votary of music had undergone no other alteration from that so\nlately described, except that he had covered his bald head with the\ntriangular beaver, which had not proved sufficiently alluring to excite\nthe cupidity of any of his captors.", "The position of the latter brought the fire between\nthem; and when Hawkeye had seated himself on end, near a minute elapsed,\nduring which the two remained regarding each other without speaking.", "The\nsuddenness and the nature of the surprise had nearly proved too much\nfor--we will not say the philosophy--but for the faith and resolution of\nDavid.", "returned David, breathing more freely, as the\ntruth began to dawn upon him.", "\"No more words, but lead on,\" returned Hawkeye, concealing his face\nagain, and setting the example in his own person, by instantly quitting\nthe lodge.", "Hawkeye was not long in assuming\nhis borrowed garments; and when his restless eyes were hid behind the\nglasses, and his head was surmounted by the triangular beaver, as their\nstatures were not dissimilar, he might readily have passed for the\nsinger by star-light.", "he bluntly asked, by way of obtaining\na suitable understanding of the whole case before he ventured a\nprescription.", "\"Hold!\"", "\"There is a principle in that,\" he said, \"different from the law of the\nwoods; and yet it is fair and noble to reflect upon.\"", "said the scout, tearing two\nrifles, with all their attendant accoutrements, from beneath a bush, and\nflourishing \"Killdeer\" as he handed Uncas his weapon; \"two, at least,\nwill find it to their deaths.\"" ]

[ "Whatever might have been the private opinion of Uncas of their\nrespective abilities in this particular, his grave countenance\nmanifested no opinion of his own superiority.", "In other words, while he had implicit\nfaith in the ability of Balsam's ass to speak, he was somewhat skeptical\non the subject of a bear's singing; and yet he had been assured of the\nlatter, on the testimony of his own exquisite organs.", "A neglected hut was a little in advance of the others, and\nappeared as if it had been deserted when half completed--most probably\non account of failing in some of the more important requisites; such as\nfood or water.", "The young Mohican, who at first believed his\nenemies had sent in a real beast to torment him, and try his nerves,\ndetected, in those performances that to Heyward had appeared so\naccurate, certain blemishes, that at once betrayed the counterfeit.", "\"Ay, they are happily freed from the tomahawks of these varlets.", "\"We will go,\" said Uncas.", "\"The young man is in bondage, and much I fear his death is decreed.", "Here, take my hunting\nshirt and cap, and give me your blanket and hat.", "The Delawares are children of the\ntortoise, and they outstrip the deer.\"", "They were not, however, interrupted;\nthe darkness of the hour, and the coldness of the attempt, proving their\nprincipal friends." ]

[ "But the moment the noise of the serpent was\nheard, he arose, and cast his looks on each side of him, bending his\nhead low, and turning it inquiringly in every direction, until his keen\neye rested on the shaggy monster, where it remained riveted, as though\nfixed by the power of a charm.", "Again the same sounds were repeated,\nevidently proceeding from the mouth of the beast.", "Once more the eyes of\nthe youth roamed over the interior of the lodge, and returning to their\nformer resting place, he uttered, in a deep, suppressed voice,--\n\n\"Hawkeye!\"", "\"Cut his bands,\" said Hawkeye to David, who just then approached them.", "The singer did as he was ordered, and Uncas found his limbs released.", "At\nthe same moment the dried skin of the animal rattled, and presently the\nscout arose to his feet, in proper person.", "The Mohican appeared to\ncomprehend the nature of the attempt his friend had made, intuitively;\nneither tongue nor feature betraying another symptom of surprise.", "When\nHawkeye had cast his shaggy vestment, which was done by simply loosing\ncertain thongs of skin, he drew a long glittering knife, and put it in\nthe hands of Uncas.", "\"The red Hurons are without,\" he said; \"let us be ready.\"", "At the same time he laid his finger significantly on another similar\nweapon, both being the fruits of his prowess among their enemies during\nthe evening.", "\"We will go,\" said Uncas." ]

[ "\n \"_Bot._--Let me play the lion too.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nNotwithstanding the high resolution of Hawkeye, he fully comprehended\nall the difficulties and dangers he was about to incur.", "In his return to\nthe camp, his acute and practised intellects were intently engaged in\ndevising means to counteract a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of\nhis enemies, that he knew were, in no degree, inferior to his own.", "Nothing but the color of his skin had saved the lives of Magua and the\nconjurer, who would have been the first victims sacrificed to his own\nsecurity, had not the scout believed such an act, however congenial it\nmight be to the nature of an Indian, utterly unworthy of one who boasted\na descent from men that knew no cross of blood.", "Accordingly, he trusted\nto the withes and ligaments with which he had bound his captives, and\npursued his way directly towards the centre of the lodges.", "As he approached the buildings, his steps became more deliberate, and\nhis vigilant eye suffered no sign, whether friendly or hostile, to\nescape him.", "A neglected hut was a little in advance of the others, and\nappeared as if it had been deserted when half completed--most probably\non account of failing in some of the more important requisites; such as\nfood or water.", "A faint light glimmered through its cracks, however, and\nannounced that, notwithstanding its imperfect structure, it was not\nwithout a tenant.", "Thither, then, the scout proceeded, like a prudent\ngeneral, who was about to feel the advanced positions of his enemy,\nbefore he hazarded the main attack.", "Throwing himself into a suitable posture for the beast he represented,\nHawkeye crawled to a little opening, where he might command a view of\nthe interior.", "The Mohican started on his\nfeet, and shook his shaggy covering, as though the animal he\ncounterfeited was about to make some desperate effort.", "\"Hold!\"", "said the scout, grasping his friend by the shoulder, \"let them\nyell again!", "'Twas nothing but wonderment.\"", "He had no occasion to delay, for the next instant a burst of cries\nfilled the outer air, and ran along the whole extent of the village.", "Uncas cast his skin, and stepped forth in his own beautiful proportions.", "Hawkeye tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and glided ahead.", "\"Now let the devils strike our scent!\"", "said the scout, tearing two\nrifles, with all their attendant accoutrements, from beneath a bush, and\nflourishing \"Killdeer\" as he handed Uncas his weapon; \"two, at least,\nwill find it to their deaths.\"", "Then throwing their pieces to a low trail, like sportsmen in readiness\nfor their game, they dashed forward, and were soon buried in the sombre\ndarkness of the forest." ]

[ "\n \"_Ant._ I shall remember:\n When Caesar says _Do this_, it is performed.\"", "_Julius Caesar._\n\n\nThe impatience of the savages who lingered about the prison of Uncas, as\nhas been seen, had overcome their dread of the conjurer's breath.", "They\nstole cautiously, and with beating hearts, to a crevice, through which\nthe faint light of the fire was glimmering.", "For several minutes they\nmistook the form of David for that of their prisoner; but the very\naccident which Hawkeye had foreseen occurred.", "Tired of keeping the\nextremities of his long person so near together, the singer gradually\nsuffered the lower limbs to extend themselves, until one of his\nmisshapen feet actually came in contact with and shoved aside the embers\nof the fire.", "At first the Hurons believed the Delaware had been thus\ndeformed by witchcraft.", "But when David, unconscious of being observed,\nturned his head, and exposed his simple, mild countenance, in place of\nthe haughty lineaments of their prisoner, it would have exceeded the\ncredulity of even a native to have doubted any longer.", "They rushed\ntogether into the lodge, and laying their hands, with but little\nceremony, on their captive, immediately detected the imposition.", "Then\narose the cry first heard by the fugitives.", "It was succeeded by the most\nfrantic and angry demonstrations of vengeance.", "David, however firm in\nhis determination to cover the retreat of his friends, was compelled to\nbelieve that his own final hour had come.", "Deprived of his book and his\npipe, he was fain to trust to a memory that rarely failed him on such\nsubjects; and breaking forth in a loud and impassioned strain, he\nendeavored to soothe his passage into the other world, by singing the\nopening verse of a funeral anthem.", "The Indians were seasonably reminded\nof his infirmity, and rushing into the open air, they aroused the\nvillage in the manner described.", "A native warrior fights as he sleeps, without the protection of anything\ndefensive.", "The sounds of the alarm were, therefore, hardly uttered,\nbefore two hundred men were afoot, and ready for the battle or the\nchase, as either might be required.", "The escape was soon known; and the\nwhole tribe crowded, in a body, around the council-lodge, impatiently\nawaiting the instruction of their chiefs.", "In such a sudden demand on\ntheir wisdom, the presence of the cunning Magua could scarcely fail of\nbeing needed.", "His name was mentioned, and all looked round in wonder\nthat he did not appear.", "Messengers were then despatched to his lodge,\nrequiring his presence.", "In the meantime, some of the swiftest and most discreet of the young men\nwere ordered to make the circuit of the clearing, under cover of the\nwoods, in order to ascertain that their suspected neighbors, the\nDelawares, designed no mischief.", "Women and children ran to and fro; and\nin short, the whole encampment exhibited another scene of wild and\nsavage confusion.", "Gradually, however, these symptoms of disorder\ndiminished; and in a few minutes the oldest and most distinguished\nchiefs were assembled in the lodge, in grave consultation.", "The clamor of many voices soon announced that a party approached, who\nmight be expected to communicate some intelligence that would explain\nthe mystery of the novel surprise.", "The crowd without gave way, and\nseveral warriors entered the place, bringing with them the hapless\nconjurer, who had been left so long by the scout in duress.", "Notwithstanding this man was held in very unequal estimation among the\nHurons, some believing implicitly in his power, and others deeming him\nan impostor, he was now listened to by all with the deepest attention.", "When his brief story was ended, the father of the sick woman stepped\nforth, and, in a few pithy expressions, related, in his turn, what he\nknew.", "These two narratives gave a proper direction to the subsequent\ninquiries, which were now made with the characteristic cunning of\nsavages.", "Instead of rushing in a confused and disorderly throng to the cavern,\nten of the wisest and firmest among the chiefs were selected to\nprosecute the investigation.", "As no time was to be lost, the instant the\nchoice was made the individuals appointed rose in a body, and left the\nplace without speaking.", "On reaching the entrance, the younger men in\nadvance made way for their seniors; and the whole proceeded along the\nlow, dark gallery, with the firmness of warriors ready to devote\nthemselves to the public good, though, at the same time, secretly\ndoubting the nature of the power with which they were about to contend.", "The outer apartment of the cavern was silent and gloomy.", "The woman lay\nin her usual place and posture, though there were those present who\naffirmed they had seen her borne to the woods, by the supposed \"medicine\nof the white men.\"", "Such a direct and palpable contradiction of the tale\nrelated by the father, caused all eyes to be turned on him.", "Chafed by\nthe silent imputation, and inwardly troubled by so unaccountable a\ncircumstance, the chief advanced to the side of the bed, and stooping,\ncast an incredulous look at the features, as if distrusting their\nreality.", "His daughter was dead.", "The unerring feeling of nature, for a moment prevailed, and the old\nwarrior hid his eyes in sorrow.", "Then recovering his self-possession, he\nfaced his companions, and pointing towards the corpse, he said, in the\nlanguage of his people,--\n\n\"The wife of my young man has left us!", "the Great Spirit is angry with\nhis children.\"", "The mournful intelligence was received in solemn silence.", "After a short\npause, one of the elder Indians was about to speak, when a dark-looking\nobject was seen rolling out of an adjoining apartment, into the very\ncentre of the room where they stood.", "Ignorant of the nature of the\nbeings they had to deal with, the whole party drew back a little, and\ngazed in admiration, until the object fronted the light, and rising on\nend, exhibited the distorted, but still fierce and sullen features of\nMagua.", "The discovery was succeeded by a general exclamation of\namazement.", "As soon, however, as the true situation of the chief was understood,\nseveral ready knives appeared, and his limbs and tongue were quickly\nreleased.", "The Huron arose, and shook himself like a lion quitting his\nlair.", "Not a word escaped him, though his hand played convulsively with\nthe handle of his knife, while his lowering eyes scanned the whole\nparty, as if they sought an object suited to the first burst of his\nvengeance.", "It was happy for Uncas and the scout, and even David, that they were all\nbeyond the reach of his arm at such a moment; for, assuredly, no\nrefinement in cruelty would then have deferred their deaths, in\nopposition to the promptings of the fierce temper that nearly choked\nhim.", "Meeting everywhere faces that he knew as friends, the savage grated\nhis teeth together like rasps of iron, and swallowed his passion for\nwant of a victim on whom to vent it.", "This exhibition of anger was noted\nby all present; and, from an apprehension of exasperating a temper that\nwas already chafed nearly to madness, several minutes were suffered to\npass before another word was uttered.", "When, however, suitable time had\nelapsed, the oldest of the party spoke.", "\"My friend has found an enemy,\" he said.", "\"Is he nigh, that the Hurons\nmay take revenge?\"", "\"Let the Delaware die!\"", "exclaimed Magua, in a voice of thunder.", "Another long and expressive silence was observed, and was broken, as\nbefore, with due precaution, by the same individual.", "\"The Mohican is swift of foot, and leaps far,\" he said; \"but my young\nmen are on his trail.\"", "\"Is he gone?\"", "demanded Magua, in tones so deep and guttural, that they\nseemed to proceed from his inmost chest.", "\"An evil spirit has been among us, and the Delaware has blinded our\neyes.\"", "\"An evil spirit!\"", "repeated the other, mockingly; \"'tis the spirit that\nhas taken the lives of so many Hurons; the spirit that slew my young men\nat 'the tumbling river'; that took their scalps at the 'healing spring';\nand who has now bound the arms of Le Renard Subtil!\"", "\"Of whom does my friend speak?\"", "\"Of the dog who carries the heart and cunning of a Huron under a pale\nskin--La Longue Carabine.\"", "The pronunciation of so terrible a name produced the usual effect among\nhis auditors.", "But when time was given for reflection, and the warriors\nremembered that their formidable and daring enemy had even been in the\nbosom of their encampment, working injury, fearful rage took the place\nof wonder, and all those fierce passions with which the bosom of Magua\nhad just been struggling were suddenly transferred to his companions.", "Some among them gnashed their teeth in anger, others vented their\nfeelings in yells, and some, again beat the air as frantically as if the\nobject of their resentment were suffering under their blows.", "But this\nsudden outbreaking of temper as quickly subsided in the still and sullen\nrestraint they most affected, in their moments of inaction.", "Magua who had in his turn found leisure for reflection, now changed his\nmanner, and assumed the air of one who knew how to think and act with a\ndignity worthy of so grave a subject.", "\"Let us go to my people,\" he said; \"they wait for us.\"", "His companions consented in silence, and the whole of the savage party\nleft the cavern and returned to the council-lodge.", "When they were\nseated, all eyes turned on Magua, who understood, from such an\nindication, that, by common consent, they had devolved the duty of\nrelating what had passed on him.", "He arose, and told his tale without\nduplicity or reservation.", "The whole deception practised by both Duncan\nand Hawkeye was, of course, laid naked; and no room was found, even for\nthe most superstitious of the tribe, any longer to affix a doubt on the\ncharacter of the occurrences.", "It was but too apparent that they had been\ninsultingly, shamefully, disgracefully deceived.", "When he had ended, and\nresumed his seat, the collected tribe--for his auditors, in substance,\nincluded all the fighting men of the party--sat regarding each other\nlike men astonished equally at the audacity and the success of their\nenemies.", "The next consideration, however, was the means and\nopportunities for revenge.", "Additional pursuers were sent on the trail of the fugitives; and then\nthe chiefs applied themselves, in earnest, to the business of\nconsultation.", "Many different expedients were proposed by the elder\nwarriors, in succession, to all of which Magua was a silent and\nrespectful listener.", "That subtle savage had recovered his artifice and\nself-command, and now proceeded towards his object with his customary\ncaution and skill.", "It was only when each one disposed to speak had\nuttered his sentiments, that he prepared to advance his own opinions.", "They were given with additional weight from the circumstance that some\nof the runners had already returned, and reported that their enemies had\nbeen traced so far as to leave no doubt of their having sought safety in\nthe neighboring camp of their suspected allies, the Delawares.", "With the\nadvantage of possessing this important intelligence, the chief warily\nlaid his plans before his fellows, and, as might have been anticipated\nfrom his eloquence and cunning, they were adopted without a dissenting\nvoice.", "They were, briefly, as follows, both in opinions and in motives.", "It has been already stated that, in obedience to a policy rarely\ndeparted from, the sisters were separated so soon as they reached the\nHuron village.", "Magua had early discovered that in retaining the person\nof Alice, he possessed the most effectual check on Cora.", "When they\nparted, therefore, he kept the former within reach of his hand,\nconsigning the one he most valued to the keeping of their allies.", "The\narrangement was understood to be merely temporary, and was made as much\nwith a view to flatter his neighbors as in obedience to the invariable\nrule of Indian policy.", "While goaded incessantly by those revengeful impulses that in a savage\nseldom slumber, the chief was still attentive to his more permanent\npersonal interests.", "The follies and disloyalty committed in his youth\nwere to be expiated by a long and painful penance, ere he could be\nrestored to the full enjoyment of the confidence of his ancient people;\nand without confidence, there could be no authority in an Indian tribe.", "In this delicate and arduous situation, the crafty native had neglected\nno means of increasing his influence; and one of the happiest of his\nexpedients had been the success with which he had cultivated the favor\nof their powerful and dangerous neighbors.", "The result of his experiment\nhad answered all the expectations of his policy; for the Hurons were in\nno degree exempt from that governing principle of nature, which induces\nman to value his gifts precisely in the degree that they are appreciated\nby others.", "But, while he was making this ostensible sacrifice to general\nconsiderations, Magua never lost sight of his individual motives.", "The\nlatter had been frustrated by the unlooked-for events which had placed\nall his prisoners beyond his control; and he now found himself reduced\nto the necessity of suing for favors to those whom it had so lately been\nhis policy to oblige.", "Several of the chiefs had proposed deep and treacherous schemes to\nsurprise the Delawares, and, by gaining possession of their camp, to\nrecover their prisoners by the same blow; for all agreed that their\nhonor, their interests, and the peace and happiness of their dead\ncountrymen, imperiously required them speedily to immolate some victims\nto their revenge.", "But plans so dangerous to attempt, and of such\ndoubtful issue, Magua found little difficulty in defeating.", "He exposed\ntheir risk and fallacy with his usual skill; and it was only after he\nhad removed every impediment, in the shape of opposing advice, that he\nventured to propose his own projects.", "He commenced by flattering the self-love of his auditors; a\nnever-failing method of commanding attention.", "When he had enumerated the\nmany different occasions on which the Hurons had exhibited their courage\nand prowess, in the punishment of insults, he digressed in a high\nencomium on the virtue of wisdom.", "He painted the quality, as forming the\ngreat point of difference between the beaver and other brutes; between\nbrutes and men; and, finally, between the Hurons, in particular, and\nthe rest of the human race.", "After he had sufficiently extolled the\nproperty of discretion, he undertook to exhibit in what manner its use\nwas applicable to the present situation of their tribe.", "On the one hand,\nhe said, was their great pale father, the governor of the Canadas, who\nhad looked upon his children with a hard eye since their tomahawks had\nbeen so red; on the other, a people as numerous as themselves, who spoke\na different language, possessed different interests, and loved them not,\nand who would be glad of any pretence to bring them in disgrace with the\ngreat white chief.", "Then he spoke of their necessities; of the gifts they\nhad a right to expect for their past services; of their distance from\ntheir proper hunting-grounds and native villages; and of the necessity\nof consulting prudence more, and inclination less, in so critical\ncircumstances.", "When he perceived that, while the old men applauded his\nmoderation, many of the fiercest and most distinguished of the warriors\nlistened to these politic plans with lowering looks, he cunningly led\nthem back to the subject which they most loved.", "He spoke openly of the\nfruits of their wisdom, which he boldly pronounced would be a complete\nand final triumph over their enemies.", "He even darkly hinted that their\nsuccess might be extended, with proper caution, in such a manner as to\ninclude the destruction of all whom they had reason to hate.", "In short,\nhe so blended the warlike with the artful, the obvious with the obscure,\nas to flatter the propensities of both parties, and to leave to each\nsubject of hope, while neither could say it clearly comprehended his\nintentions.", "The orator, or the politician, who can produce such a state of things,\nis commonly popular with his contemporaries, however he may be treated\nby posterity.", "All perceived that more was meant than was uttered, and\neach one believed that the hidden meaning was precisely such as his own\nfaculties enabled him to understand, or his own wishes led him to\nanticipate.", "In this happy state of things, it is not surprising that the management\nof Magua prevailed.", "The tribe consented to act with deliberation, and\nwith one voice they committed the direction of the whole affair to the\ngovernment of the chief who had suggested such wise and intelligible\nexpedients.", "Magua had now attained one great object of all his cunning and\nenterprise.", "The ground he had lost in the favor of his people was\ncompletely regained, and he found himself even placed at the head of\naffairs.", "He was, in truth, their ruler; and, so long as he could\nmaintain his popularity, no monarch could be more despotic, especially\nwhile the tribe continued in a hostile country.", "Throwing off, therefore,\nthe appearance of consultation, he assumed the grave air of authority\nnecessary to support the dignity of his office.", "Runners were despatched for intelligence in different directions; spies\nwere ordered to approach and feel the encampment of the Delawares; the\nwarriors were dismissed to their lodges, with an intimation that their\nservices would soon be needed; and the women and children were ordered\nto retire, with a warning that it was their province to be silent.", "When\nthese several arrangements were made, Magua passed through the village,\nstopping here and there to pay a visit where he thought his presence\nmight be flattering to the individual.", "He confirmed his friends in their\nconfidence, fixed the wavering, and gratified all.", "Then he sought his\nown lodge.", "The wife the Huron chief had abandoned, when he was chased\nfrom among his people, was dead.", "Children he had none; and he now\noccupied a hut, without companion of any sort.", "It was, in fact, the\ndilapidated and solitary structure in which David had been discovered,\nand whom he had tolerated in his presence, on those few occasions when\nthey met, with the contemptuous indifference of a haughty superiority.", "Hither, then, Magua retired, when his labors of policy were ended.", "While\nothers slept, however, he neither knew nor sought repose.", "Had there been\none sufficiently curious to have watched the movements of the newly\nelected chief, he would have seen him seated in a corner of his lodge,\nmusing on the subject of his future plans, from the hour of his\nretirement to the time he had appointed for the warriors to assemble\nagain.", "Occasionally the air breathed through the crevices of the hut,\nand the low flames that fluttered about the embers of the fire threw\ntheir wavering light on the person of the sullen recluse.", "At such\nmoments it would not have been difficult to have fancied the dusky\nsavage the Prince of Darkness, brooding on his own fancied wrongs, and\nplotting evil.", "Long before the day dawned, however, warrior after warrior entered the\nsolitary hut of Magua, until they had collected to the number of twenty.", "Each bore his rifle, and all the other accoutrements of war, though the\npaint was uniformly peaceful.", "The entrance of these fierce-looking\nbeings was unnoticed; some seating themselves in the shadows of the\nplace, and others standing like motionless statues, until the whole of\nthe designated band was collected.", "Then Magua arose and gave the signal to proceed, marching himself in\nadvance.", "They followed their leader singly, and in that well-known order\nwhich has obtained the distinguishing appellation of \"Indian file.\"", "Unlike other men engaged in the spirit-stirring business of war, they\nstole from their camp unostentatiously and unobserved, resembling a band\nof gliding spectres, more than warriors seeking the bubble reputation by\ndeeds of desperate daring.", "Instead of taking the path which led directly towards the camp of the\nDelawares, Magua led his party for some distance down the windings of\nthe stream, and along the little artificial lake of the beavers.", "The day\nbegan to dawn as they entered the clearing which had been formed by\nthose sagacious and industrious animals.", "Though Magua, who had resumed\nhis ancient garb, bore the outline of a fox on the dressed skin which\nformed his robe, there was one chief of his party who carried the beaver\nas his peculiar symbol, or \"totem.\"", "There would have been a species of\nprofanity in the omission, had this man passed so powerful a community\nof his fancied kindred, without bestowing some evidence of his regard.", "Accordingly, he paused, and spoke in words as kind and friendly as if he\nwere addressing more intelligent beings.", "He called the animals his\ncousins, and reminded them that his protecting influence was the reason\nthey remained unharmed, while so many avaricious traders were prompting\nthe Indians to take their lives.", "He promised a continuance of his\nfavors, and admonished them to be grateful.", "After which, he spoke of the\nexpedition in which he was himself engaged, and intimated, though with\nsufficient delicacy and circumlocution, the expediency of bestowing on\ntheir relative a portion of that wisdom for which they were so\nrenowned.", "[24]\n\nDuring the utterance of this extraordinary address, the companions of\nthe speaker were as grave and as attentive to his language as though\nthey were all equally impressed with its propriety.", "Once or twice black\nobjects were seen rising to the surface of the water, and the Huron\nexpressed pleasure, conceiving that his words were not bestowed in\nvain.", "Just as he had ended his address, the head of a large beaver was\nthrust from the door of a lodge, whose earthen walls had been much\ninjured, and which the party had believed, from its situation, to be\nuninhabited.", "Such an extraordinary sign of confidence was received by\nthe orator as a highly favorable omen; and though the animal retreated a\nlittle precipitately, he was lavish of his thanks and commendations.", "When Magua thought sufficient time had been lost in gratifying the\nfamily affection of the warrior, he again made the signal to proceed.", "As\nthe Indians moved away in a body, and with a step that would have been\ninaudible to the ears of any common man, the same venerable-looking\nbeaver once more ventured his head from its cover.", "Had any of the Hurons\nturned to look behind them, they would have seen the animal watching\ntheir movements with an interest and sagacity that might easily have\nbeen mistaken for reason.", "Indeed, so very distinct and intelligible were\nthe devices of the quadruped, that even the most experienced observer\nwould have been at a loss to account for its actions, until the moment\nwhen the party entered the forest, when the whole would have been\nexplained, by seeing the entire animal issue from the lodge, uncasing,\nby the act, the grave features of Chingachgook from his mask of fur." ]

[ "\"Let the Delaware die!\"", "\"The Mohican is swift of foot, and leaps far,\" he said; \"but my young\nmen are on his trail.\"", "\"Let us go to my people,\" he said; \"they wait for us.\"", "They were given with additional weight from the circumstance that some\nof the runners had already returned, and reported that their enemies had\nbeen traced so far as to leave no doubt of their having sought safety in\nthe neighboring camp of their suspected allies, the Delawares.", "He commenced by flattering the self-love of his auditors; a\nnever-failing method of commanding attention.", "He spoke openly of the\nfruits of their wisdom, which he boldly pronounced would be a complete\nand final triumph over their enemies.", "The tribe consented to act with deliberation, and\nwith one voice they committed the direction of the whole affair to the\ngovernment of the chief who had suggested such wise and intelligible\nexpedients.", "Throwing off, therefore,\nthe appearance of consultation, he assumed the grave air of authority\nnecessary to support the dignity of his office.", "Accordingly, he paused, and spoke in words as kind and friendly as if he\nwere addressing more intelligent beings.", "After which, he spoke of the\nexpedition in which he was himself engaged, and intimated, though with\nsufficient delicacy and circumlocution, the expediency of bestowing on\ntheir relative a portion of that wisdom for which they were so\nrenowned." ]

[ "He commenced by flattering the self-love of his auditors; a\nnever-failing method of commanding attention.", "It has been already stated that, in obedience to a policy rarely\ndeparted from, the sisters were separated so soon as they reached the\nHuron village.", "repeated the other, mockingly; \"'tis the spirit that\nhas taken the lives of so many Hurons; the spirit that slew my young men\nat 'the tumbling river'; that took their scalps at the 'healing spring';\nand who has now bound the arms of Le Renard Subtil!\"", "The next consideration, however, was the means and\nopportunities for revenge.", "The woman lay\nin her usual place and posture, though there were those present who\naffirmed they had seen her borne to the woods, by the supposed \"medicine\nof the white men.\"", "A native warrior fights as he sleeps, without the protection of anything\ndefensive.", "It was, in fact, the\ndilapidated and solitary structure in which David had been discovered,\nand whom he had tolerated in his presence, on those few occasions when\nthey met, with the contemptuous indifference of a haughty superiority.", "It was but too apparent that they had been\ninsultingly, shamefully, disgracefully deceived.", "It was only when each one disposed to speak had\nuttered his sentiments, that he prepared to advance his own opinions.", "\"An evil spirit has been among us, and the Delaware has blinded our\neyes.\"" ]

[ "His companions consented in silence, and the whole of the savage party\nleft the cavern and returned to the council-lodge.", "When they were\nseated, all eyes turned on Magua, who understood, from such an\nindication, that, by common consent, they had devolved the duty of\nrelating what had passed on him.", "He arose, and told his tale without\nduplicity or reservation.", "The whole deception practised by both Duncan\nand Hawkeye was, of course, laid naked; and no room was found, even for\nthe most superstitious of the tribe, any longer to affix a doubt on the\ncharacter of the occurrences.", "It was but too apparent that they had been\ninsultingly, shamefully, disgracefully deceived.", "When he had ended, and\nresumed his seat, the collected tribe--for his auditors, in substance,\nincluded all the fighting men of the party--sat regarding each other\nlike men astonished equally at the audacity and the success of their\nenemies.", "The next consideration, however, was the means and\nopportunities for revenge.", "Additional pursuers were sent on the trail of the fugitives; and then\nthe chiefs applied themselves, in earnest, to the business of\nconsultation.", "Many different expedients were proposed by the elder\nwarriors, in succession, to all of which Magua was a silent and\nrespectful listener.", "That subtle savage had recovered his artifice and\nself-command, and now proceeded towards his object with his customary\ncaution and skill.", "It was only when each one disposed to speak had\nuttered his sentiments, that he prepared to advance his own opinions." ]

[ "\n \"_Ant._ I shall remember:\n When Caesar says _Do this_, it is performed.\"", "_Julius Caesar._\n\n\nThe impatience of the savages who lingered about the prison of Uncas, as\nhas been seen, had overcome their dread of the conjurer's breath.", "They\nstole cautiously, and with beating hearts, to a crevice, through which\nthe faint light of the fire was glimmering.", "For several minutes they\nmistook the form of David for that of their prisoner; but the very\naccident which Hawkeye had foreseen occurred.", "Tired of keeping the\nextremities of his long person so near together, the singer gradually\nsuffered the lower limbs to extend themselves, until one of his\nmisshapen feet actually came in contact with and shoved aside the embers\nof the fire.", "At first the Hurons believed the Delaware had been thus\ndeformed by witchcraft.", "But when David, unconscious of being observed,\nturned his head, and exposed his simple, mild countenance, in place of\nthe haughty lineaments of their prisoner, it would have exceeded the\ncredulity of even a native to have doubted any longer.", "They rushed\ntogether into the lodge, and laying their hands, with but little\nceremony, on their captive, immediately detected the imposition.", "Then\narose the cry first heard by the fugitives.", "It was succeeded by the most\nfrantic and angry demonstrations of vengeance.", "He promised a continuance of his\nfavors, and admonished them to be grateful.", "After which, he spoke of the\nexpedition in which he was himself engaged, and intimated, though with\nsufficient delicacy and circumlocution, the expediency of bestowing on\ntheir relative a portion of that wisdom for which they were so\nrenowned.", "[24]\n\nDuring the utterance of this extraordinary address, the companions of\nthe speaker were as grave and as attentive to his language as though\nthey were all equally impressed with its propriety.", "Once or twice black\nobjects were seen rising to the surface of the water, and the Huron\nexpressed pleasure, conceiving that his words were not bestowed in\nvain.", "Just as he had ended his address, the head of a large beaver was\nthrust from the door of a lodge, whose earthen walls had been much\ninjured, and which the party had believed, from its situation, to be\nuninhabited.", "Such an extraordinary sign of confidence was received by\nthe orator as a highly favorable omen; and though the animal retreated a\nlittle precipitately, he was lavish of his thanks and commendations.", "When Magua thought sufficient time had been lost in gratifying the\nfamily affection of the warrior, he again made the signal to proceed.", "As\nthe Indians moved away in a body, and with a step that would have been\ninaudible to the ears of any common man, the same venerable-looking\nbeaver once more ventured his head from its cover.", "Had any of the Hurons\nturned to look behind them, they would have seen the animal watching\ntheir movements with an interest and sagacity that might easily have\nbeen mistaken for reason.", "Indeed, so very distinct and intelligible were\nthe devices of the quadruped, that even the most experienced observer\nwould have been at a loss to account for its actions, until the moment\nwhen the party entered the forest, when the whole would have been\nexplained, by seeing the entire animal issue from the lodge, uncasing,\nby the act, the grave features of Chingachgook from his mask of fur." ]

[ "\n \"Brief, I pray you; for you see, 'tis a busy time with me.\"", "_Much Ado About Nothing._\n\n\nThe tribe, or rather half tribe, of Delawares, which has been so often\nmentioned, and whose present place of encampment was so nigh the\ntemporary village of the Hurons, could assemble about an equal number of\nwarriors with the latter people.", "Like their neighbors, they had followed\nMontcalm into the territories of the English crown, and were making\nheavy and serious inroads on the hunting-grounds of the Mohawks; though\nthey had seen fit, with the mysterious reserve so common among the\nnatives, to withhold their assistance at the moment when it was most\nrequired.", "The French had accounted for this unexpected defection on the\npart of their ally in various ways.", "It was the prevalent opinion,\nhowever, that they had been influenced by veneration for the ancient\ntreaty, that had once made them dependent on the Six Nations for\nmilitary protection, and now rendered them reluctant to encounter their\nformer masters.", "As for the tribe itself, it had been content to announce\nto Montcalm, through his emissaries, with Indian brevity, that their\nhatchets were dull, and time was necessary to sharpen them.", "The politic\ncaptain of the Canadas had deemed it wiser to submit to entertain a\npassive friend, than by any acts of ill-judged severity to convert him\ninto an open enemy.", "On that morning when Magua led his silent party from the settlement of\nthe beavers into the forest, in the manner described, the sun rose upon\nthe Delaware encampment as if it had suddenly burst upon a busy people,\nactively employed in all the customary avocations of high noon.", "The\nwomen ran from lodge to lodge, some engaged in preparing their morning's\nmeal, a few earnestly bent on seeking the comforts necessary to their\nhabits, but more pausing to exchange hasty and whispered sentences with\ntheir friends.", "The warriors were lounging in groups, musing more than\nthey conversed; and when a few words were uttered, speaking like men who\ndeeply weighed their opinions.", "The instruments of the chase were to be\nseen in abundance among the lodges; but none departed.", "Here and there a\nwarrior was examining his arms, with an attention that is rarely\nbestowed on the implements, when no other enemy than the beasts of the\nforest is expected to be encountered.", "And, occasionally, the eyes of a\nwhole group were turned simultaneously towards a large and silent lodge\nin the centre of the village, as if it contained the subject of their\ncommon thoughts.", "During the existence of this scene, a man suddenly appeared at the\nfarthest extremity of a platform of rock which formed the level of the\nvillage.", "He was without arms, and his paint tended rather to soften than\nincrease the natural sternness of his austere countenance.", "When in full\nview of the Delawares he stopped, and made a gesture of amity, by\nthrowing his arm upward towards heaven, and then letting it fall\nimpressively on his breast.", "The inhabitants of the village answered his\nsalute by a low murmur of welcome, and encouraged him to advance by\nsimilar indications of friendship.", "Fortified by these assurances, the\ndark figure left the brow of the natural rocky terrace, where it had\nstood a moment, drawn in a strong outline against the blushing morning\nsky, and moved with dignity into the very centre of the huts.", "As he\napproached, nothing was audible but the rattling of the light silver\nornaments that loaded his arms and neck, and the tinkling of the little\nbells that fringed his deer-skin moccasins.", "He made, as he advanced,\nmany courteous signs of greeting to the men he passed, neglecting to\nnotice the women, however, like one who deemed their favor, in the\npresent enterprise, of no importance.", "When he had reached the group in\nwhich it was evident, by the haughtiness of their common mien, that the\nprincipal chiefs were collected, the stranger paused, and then the\nDelawares saw that the active and erect form that stood before them was\nthat of the well-known Huron chief, Le Renard Subtil.", "His reception was grave, silent, and wary.", "The warriors in front stepped\naside, opening the way to their most approved orator by the action; one\nwho spoke all those languages that were cultivated among the northern\naborigines.", "\"The wise Huron is welcome,\" said the Delaware, in the language of the\nMaquas; \"he is come to eat his 'succotash,'[25] with his brothers of the\nlakes.\"", "\"He is come,\" repeated Magua, bending his head with the dignity of an\nEastern prince.", "The chief extended his arm, and taking the other by the wrist, they once\nmore exchanged friendly salutations.", "Then the Delaware invited his guest\nto enter his own lodge, and share his morning meal.", "The invitation was\naccepted; and the two warriors, attended by three or four of the old\nmen, walked calmly away, leaving the rest of the tribe devoured by a\ndesire to understand the reasons of so unusual a visit, and yet not\nbetraying the least impatience by sign or word.", "During the short and frugal repast that followed, the conversation was\nextremely circumspect, and related entirely to the events of the hunt in\nwhich Magua had so lately been engaged.", "It would have been impossible\nfor the most finished breeding to wear more of the appearance of\nconsidering the visit as a matter of course, than did his hosts,\nnotwithstanding every individual present was perfectly aware that it\nmust be connected with some secret object, and that probably of\nimportance to themselves.", "When the appetites of the whole were appeased,\nthe squaws removed the trenchers and gourd, and the two parties began to\nprepare themselves for a subtle trial of their wits.", "\"Is the face of my great Canada father turned again towards his Huron\nchildren?\"", "demanded the orator of the Delawares.", "\"When was it ever otherwise?\"", "returned Magua.", "\"He calls my people 'most\nbeloved.'\"", "The Delaware gravely bowed his acquiescence to what he knew to be false,\nand continued,--\n\n\"The tomahawks of your young men have been very red.\"", "\"It is so; but they are now bright and dull; for the Yengeese are dead,\nand the Delawares are our neighbors.\"", "The other acknowledged the pacific compliment by a gesture of the hand,\nand remained silent.", "Then Magua, as if recalled to such a recollection,\nby the allusion to the massacre, demanded,--\n\n\"Does my prisoner give trouble to my brothers?\"", "\"She is welcome.\"", "\"The path between the Hurons and the Delawares is short, and it is open;\nlet her be sent to my squaws, if she gives trouble to my brother.\"", "\"She is welcome,\" returned the chief of the latter nation, still more\nemphatically.", "The baffled Magua continued silent several minutes, apparently\nindifferent, however, to the repulse he had received in this his open\neffort to gain possession of Cora.", "\"Do my young men leave the Delawares room on the mountains for their\nhunts?\"", "he at length continued.", "\"The Lenape are rulers of their own hills,\" returned the other, a little\nhaughtily.", "\"It is well.", "Justice is the master of a redskin!", "Why should they\nbrighten their tomahawks, and sharpen their knives against each other?", "Are not the pale-faces thicker than the swallows in the season of\nflowers?\"", "\"Good!\"", "exclaimed two or three of his auditors at the same time.", "Magua waited a little, to permit his words to soften the feelings of the\nDelawares, before he added,--\n\n\"Have there not been strange moccasins in the woods?", "Have not my\nbrothers scented the feet of white men?\"", "\"Let my Canada father come,\" returned the other evasively; \"his children\nare ready to see him.\"", "\"When the great chief comes, it is to smoke with the Indians in their\nwigwams.", "The Hurons say, too, he is welcome.", "But the Yengeese have long\narms, and legs that never tire!", "My young men dreamed they had seen the\ntrail of the Yengeese nigh the village of the Delawares?\"", "\"They will not find the Lenape asleep.\"", "\"It is well.", "The warrior whose eye is open can see his enemy,\" said\nMagua, once more shifting his ground, when he found himself unable to\npenetrate the caution of his companion.", "\"I have brought gifts to my\nbrother.", "His nation would not go on the war-path because they did not\nthink it well; but their friends have remembered where they lived.\"", "When he had thus announced his liberal intention, the crafty chief\narose, and gravely spread his presents before the dazzled eyes of his\nhosts.", "They consisted principally of trinkets of little value, plundered\nfrom the slaughtered females of William Henry.", "In the division of the\nbaubles the cunning Huron discovered no less art than in their\nselection.", "While he bestowed those of greater value on the two most\ndistinguished warriors, one of whom was his host, he seasoned his\nofferings to their inferiors with such well-timed and apposite\ncompliments, as left them no grounds of complaint.", "In short, the whole\nceremony contained such a happy blending of the profitable with the\nflattering, that it was not difficult for the donor immediately to read\nthe effect of a generosity so aptly mingled with praise, in the eyes of\nthose he addressed.", "This well-judged and politic stroke on the part of Magua was not without\ninstantaneous results.", "The Delawares lost their gravity in a much more\ncordial expression; and the host, in particular, after contemplating his\nown liberal share of the spoil for some moments with peculiar\ngratification, repeated with strong emphasis, the words,--\n\n\"My brother is a wise chief.", "He is welcome!\"", "\"The Hurons love their friends the Delawares,\" returned Magua.", "\"Why\nshould they not?", "they are colored by the same sun, and their just men\nwill hunt in the same grounds after death.", "The redskins should be\nfriends, and look with open eyes on the white men.", "Has not my brother\nscented spies in the woods?\"", "The Delaware, whose name in English signified \"Hard Heart,\" an\nappellation that the French had translated into \"Le Coeur-dur,\" forgot\nthe obduracy of purpose, which had probably obtained him so significant\na title.", "His countenance grew very sensibly less stern, and now deigned\nto answer more directly.", "\"There have been strange moccasins about my camp.", "They have been tracked\ninto my lodges.\"", "\"Did my brother beat out the dogs?\"", "asked Magua, without adverting in\nany manner to the former equivocation of the chief.", "\"It would not do.", "The stranger is always welcome to the children of the\nLenape.\"", "\"The stranger, but not the spy.\"", "\"Would the Yengeese send their women as spies?", "Did not the Huron chief\nsay he took women in the battle?\"", "\"He told no lie.", "The Yengeese have sent out their scouts.", "They have been\nin my wigwams, but they found there no one to say welcome.", "Then they\nfled to the Delawares--for, say they, the Delawares are our friends;\ntheir minds are turned from their Canada father!\"", "This insinuation was a home thrust, and one that in a more advanced\nstate of society, would have entitled Magua to the reputation of a\nskilful diplomatist.", "The recent defection of the tribe had, as they well\nknew themselves, subjected the Delawares to much reproach among their\nFrench allies; and they were now made to feel that their future actions\nwere to be regarded with jealousy and distrust.", "There was no deep\ninsight into causes and effects necessary to foresee that such a\nsituation of things was likely to prove highly prejudicial to their\nfuture movements.", "Their distant villages, their hunting-grounds, and\nhundreds of their women and children, together with a material part of\ntheir physical force, were actually within the limits of the French\nterritory.", "Accordingly, this alarming annunciation was received, as\nMagua intended, with manifest disapprobation, if not with alarm.", "\"Let my father look in my face,\" said Le Coeur-dur; \"he will see no\nchange.", "It is true, my young men did not go out on the war-path; they\nhad dreams for not doing so.", "But they love and venerate the great white\nchief.\"", "\"Will he think so when he hears that his greatest enemy is fed in the\ncamp of his children?", "When he is told a bloody Yengee smokes at your\nfire?", "That the pale-face who has slain so many of his friends goes in\nand out among the Delawares?", "Go!", "my great Canada father is not a fool!\"", "\"Where is the Yengee that the Delawares fear?\"", "returned the other; \"who\nhas slain my young men?", "who is the mortal enemy of my Great Father!\"", "\"La Longue Carabine.\"", "The Delaware warriors started at the well-known name, betraying, by\ntheir amazement, that they now learnt, for the first time, one so famous\namong the Indian allies of France was within their power.", "\"What does my brother mean?\"", "demanded Le Coeur-dur, in a tone that, by\nits wonder, far exceeded the usual apathy of his race.", "\"A Huron never lies!\"", "returned Magua coldly, leaning his head against\nthe side of the lodge, and drawing his slight robe across his tawny\nbreast.", "\"Let the Delawares count their prisoners; they will find one\nwhose skin is neither red nor pale.\"", "A long and musing pause succeeded.", "The chief consulted apart with his\ncompanions, and messengers were despatched to collect certain others of\nthe most distinguished men of the tribe.", "As warrior after warrior dropped in, they were each made acquainted, in\nturn, with the important intelligence that Magua had just communicated.", "The air of surprise, and the usual low, deep, guttural exclamation, were\ncommon to them all.", "The news spread from mouth to mouth, until the whole\nencampment became powerfully agitated.", "The women suspended their\nlabors, to catch such syllables as unguardedly fell from the lips of the\nconsulting warriors.", "The boys deserted their sports, and walking\nfearlessly among their fathers, looked up in curious admiration, as they\nheard the brief exclamations of wonder they so freely expressed at the\ntemerity of their hated foe.", "In short, every occupation was abandoned\nfor the time, and all other pursuits seemed discarded, in order that the\ntribe might freely indulge, after their own peculiar manner, in an open\nexpression of feeling.", "When the excitement had a little abated, the old men disposed themselves\nseriously to consider that which it became the honor and safety of their\ntribe to perform, under circumstances of so much delicacy and\nembarrassment.", "During all these movements, and in the midst of the\ngeneral commotion, Magua had not only maintained his seat, but the very\nattitude he had originally taken, against the side of the lodge, where\nhe continued as immovable, and, apparently, as unconcerned, as if he had\nno interest in the result.", "Not a single indication of the future\nintentions of his hosts, however, escaped his vigilant eyes.", "With his\nconsummate knowledge of the nature of the people with whom he had to\ndeal, he anticipated every measure on which they decided; and it might\nalmost be said, that, in many instances, he knew their intentions, even\nbefore they became known to themselves.", "The council of the Delawares was short.", "When it was ended, a general\nbustle announced that it was to be immediately succeeded by a solemn and\nformal assemblage of the nation.", "As such meetings were rare, and only\ncalled on occasions of the last importance, the subtle Huron, who still\nsat apart, a wily and dark observer of the proceedings, now knew that\nall his projects must be brought to their final issue.", "He therefore left\nthe lodge, and walked silently forth to the place in front of the\nencampment whither the warriors were already beginning to collect.", "It might have been half an hour before each individual, including even\nthe women and children, was in his place.", "The delay had been created by\nthe grave preparations that were deemed necessary to so solemn and\nunusual a conference.", "But when the sun was seen climbing above the tops\nof that mountain against whose bosom the Delawares had constructed their\nencampment, most were seated; and as his bright rays darted from behind\nthe outline of trees that fringed the eminence, they fell upon as grave,\nas attentive, and as deeply interested a multitude, as was probably\never before lighted by his morning beams.", "Its number somewhat exceeded a\nthousand souls.", "In a collection of such serious savages, there is never to be found any\nimpatient aspirant after premature distinction, standing ready to move\nhis auditors to some hasty, and, perhaps, injudicious discussion, in\norder that his own reputation may be the gainer.", "An act of so much\nprecipitancy and presumption would seal the downfall of precocious\nintellect forever.", "It rested solely with the oldest and most experienced\nof the men to lay the subject of the conference before the people.", "Until\nsuch a one chose to make some movement, no deeds in arms, no natural\ngifts, nor any renown as an orator, would have justified the slightest\ninterruption.", "On the present occasion, the aged warrior whose privilege\nit was to speak, was silent, seemingly oppressed with the magnitude of\nhis subject.", "The delay had already continued long beyond the usual\ndeliberative pause that always precedes a conference; but no sign of\nimpatience or surprise escaped even the youngest boy.", "Occasionally, an\neye was raised from the earth, where the looks of most were riveted, and\nstrayed towards a particular lodge, that was, however, in no manner\ndistinguished from those around it, except in the peculiar care that had\nbeen taken to protect it against the assaults of the weather.", "At length, one of those low murmurs that are so apt to disturb a\nmultitude, was heard, and the whole nation arose to their feet by a\ncommon impulse.", "At that the door of the lodge in question opened, and\nthree men, issuing from it, slowly approached the place of consultation.", "They were all aged, even beyond that period to which the oldest present\nhad reached; but one in the centre, who leaned on his companions for\nsupport, had numbered an amount of years to which the human race is\nseldom permitted to attain.", "His frame, which had once been tall and\nerect, like the cedar, was now bending under the pressure of more than a\ncentury.", "The elastic, light step of an Indian was gone, and in its place\nhe was compelled to toil his tardy way over the ground, inch by inch.", "His dark, wrinkled countenance was in singular and wild contrast with\nthe long white locks which floated on his shoulders in such thickness as\nto announce that generations had probably passed away since they had\nlast been shorn.", "The dress of this patriarch--for such, considering his vast age, in\nconjunction with his affinity and influence with his people, he might\nvery properly be termed--was rich and imposing, though strictly after\nthe simple fashions of the tribe.", "His robe was of the finest skins,\nwhich had been deprived of their fur, in order to admit of a\nhieroglyphical representation of various deeds in arms, done in former\nages.", "His bosom was loaded with medals, some in massive silver, and one\nor two even in gold, the gifts of various Christian potentates during\nthe long period of his life.", "He also wore armlets, and cinctures above\nthe ankles, of the latter precious metal.", "His head, on the whole of\nwhich the hair had been permitted to grow, the pursuits of war having so\nlong been abandoned, was encircled by a sort of plated diadem, which, in\nits turn, bore lesser and more glittering ornaments, that sparkled amid\nthe glossy hues of three drooping ostrich feathers, dyed a deep black,\nin touching contrast to the color of his snow-white locks.", "His tomahawk\nwas nearly hid in silver, and the handle of his knife shone like a horn\nof solid gold.", "So soon as the first hum of emotion and pleasure, which the sudden\nappearance of this venerated individual created, had a little subsided,\nthe name of \"Tamenund\" was whispered from mouth to mouth.", "Magua had\noften heard the fame of this wise and just Delaware; a reputation that\neven proceeded so far as to bestow on him the rare gift of holding\nsecret communion with the Great Spirit, and which has since transmitted\nhis name, with some slight alteration, to the white usurpers of his\nancient territory, as the imaginary tutelar saint of a vast empire.", "The\nHuron chief, therefore, stepped eagerly out a little from the throng, to\na spot whence he might catch a nearer glimpse of the features of the\nman, whose decision was likely to produce so deep an influence on his\nown fortunes.", "The eyes of the old man were closed, as though the organs were wearied\nwith having so long witnessed the selfish workings of the human\npassions.", "The color of his skin differed from that of most around him,\nbeing richer and darker, the latter hue having been produced by certain\ndelicate and mazy lines of complicated and yet beautiful figures, which\nhad been traced over most of his person by the operation of tattooing.", "Notwithstanding the position of the Huron, he passed the observant and\nsilent Magua without notice, and leaning on his two venerable supporters\nproceeded to the high place of the multitude, where he seated himself in\nthe centre of his nation, with the dignity of a monarch and the air of a\nfather.", "Nothing could surpass the reverence and affection with which this\nunexpected visit from one who belonged rather to another world than to\nthis, was received by his people.", "After a suitable and decent pause, the\nprincipal chiefs arose; and approaching the patriarch, they placed his\nhands reverently on their heads, seeming to entreat a blessing.", "The\nyounger men were content with touching his robe, or even drawing nigh\nhis person, in order to breathe in the atmosphere of one so aged, so\njust, and so valiant.", "None but the most distinguished among the youthful\nwarriors even presumed so far as to perform the latter ceremony; the\ngreat mass of the multitude deeming it a sufficient happiness to look\nupon a form so deeply venerated, and so well beloved.", "When these acts of\naffection and respect were performed, the chiefs drew back again to\ntheir several places, and silence reigned in the whole encampment.", "After a short delay, a few of the young men, to whom instructions had\nbeen whispered by one of the aged attendants of Tamenund, arose, left\nthe crowd, and entered the lodge which has already been noted as the\nobject of so much attention throughout that morning.", "In a few minutes\nthey reappeared, escorting the individuals who had caused all these\nsolemn preparations towards the seat of judgment.", "The crowd opened in a\nlane; and when the party had re-entered, it closed in again, forming a\nlarge and dense belt of human bodies, arranged in an open circle.", "\"The assembly seated, rising o'er the rest,\n Achilles thus the king of men addressed.\"", "POPE'S _Iliad._\n\n\nCora stood foremost among the prisoners, entwining her arms in those of\nAlice, in the tenderness of sisterly love.", "Notwithstanding the fearful\nand menacing array of savages on every side of her, no apprehension on\nher own account could prevent the noble-minded maiden from keeping her\neyes fastened on the pale and anxious features of the trembling Alice.", "Close at their side stood Heyward, with an interest in both, that, at\nsuch a moment of intense uncertainty, scarcely knew a preponderance in\nfavor of her whom he most loved.", "Hawkeye had placed himself a little in\nthe rear, with a deference to the superior rank of his companions, that\nno similarity in the state of their present fortunes could induce him to\nforget.", "Uncas was not there.", "When perfect silence was again restored, and after the usual long,\nimpressive pause, one of the two aged chiefs who sat at the side of the\npatriarch arose, and demanded aloud, in very intelligible English,--\n\n\"Which of my prisoners is La Longue Carabine?\"", "Neither Duncan nor the scout answered.", "The former, however, glanced his\neyes around the dark and silent assembly, and recoiled a pace, when they\nfell on the malignant visage of Magua.", "He saw, at once, that this wily\nsavage had some secret agency in their present arraignment before the\nnation, and determined to throw every possible impediment in the way of\nthe execution of his sinister plans.", "He had witnessed one instance of\nthe summary punishments of the Indians, and now dreaded that his\ncompanion was to be selected for a second.", "In this dilemma, with little\nor no time for reflection, he suddenly determined to cloak his\ninvaluable friend, at any or every hazard to himself.", "Before he had\ntime, however, to speak, the question was repeated in a louder voice,\nand with a clearer utterance.", "\"Give us arms,\" the young man haughtily replied, \"and place us in\nyonder woods.", "Our deeds shall speak for us!\"", "\"This is the warrior whose name has filled our ears!\"", "returned the\nchief, regarding Heyward with that sort of curious interest which seems\ninseparable from man, when first beholding one of his fellows to whom\nmerit or accident, virtue or crime, has given notoriety.", "\"What has\nbrought the white man into the camp of the Delawares?\"", "\"My necessities.", "I come for food, shelter and friends.\"", "\"It cannot be.", "The woods are full of game.", "The head of a warrior needs\nno other shelter than a sky without clouds; and the Delawares are the\nenemies, and not the friends, of the Yengeese.", "Go!", "the mouth has spoken,\nwhile the heart said nothing.\"", "Duncan, a little at a loss in what manner to proceed, remained silent;\nbut the scout, who had listened attentively to all that passed, now\nadvanced steadily to the front.", "\"That I did not answer to the call for La Longue Carabine, was not owing\neither to shame or fear,\" he said; \"for neither one nor the other is the\ngift of an honest man.", "But I do not admit the right of the Mingos to\nbestow a name on one whose friends have been mindful of his gifts, in\nthis particular; especially as their title is a lie, 'Killdeer' being a\ngrooved barrel and no carabyne.", "I am the man, however, that got the name\nof Nathaniel from my kin; the compliment of Hawkeye from the Delawares,\nwho live on their own river; and whom the Iroquois have presumed to\nstyle the 'Long Rifle,' without any warranty from him who is most\nconcerned in the matter.\"", "The eyes of all present, which had hitherto been gravely scanning the\nperson of Duncan, were now turned, on the instant, towards the upright\niron frame of this new pretender to the distinguished appellation.", "It\nwas in no degree remarkable that there should be found two who were\nwilling to claim so great an honor, for impostors, though rare, were not\nunknown amongst the natives; but it was altogether material to the just\nand severe intentions of the Delawares, that there should be no mistake\nin the matter.", "Some of their old men consulted together in private, and\nthen, as it would seem, they determined to interrogate their visitor on\nthe subject.", "\"My brother has said that a snake crept into my camp,\" said the chief to\nMagua; \"which is he?\"", "The Huron pointed to the scout.", "\"Will a wise Delaware believe the barking of a wolf?\"", "exclaimed Duncan,\nstill more confirmed in the evil intentions of his ancient enemy: \"a dog\nnever lies, but when was a wolf known to speak the truth?\"", "The eyes of Magua flashed fire; but, suddenly recollecting the necessity\nof maintaining his presence of mind, he turned away in silent disdain,\nwell assured that the sagacity of the Indians would not fail to extract\nthe real merits of the point in controversy.", "He was not deceived; for,\nafter another short consultation, the wary Delaware turned to him again,\nand expressed the determination of the chiefs, though in the most\nconsiderate language.", "\"My brother has been called a liar,\" he said, \"and his friends are\nangry.", "They will show that he has spoken the truth.", "Give my prisoners\nguns, and let them prove which is the man.\"", "Magua affected to consider the expedient, which he well knew proceeded\nfrom distrust of himself, as a compliment, and made a gesture of\nacquiescence, well content that his veracity should be supported by so\nskilful a marksman as the scout.", "The weapons were instantly placed in\nthe hands of the friendly opponents, and they were bid to fire over the\nheads of the seated multitude at an earthen vessel, which lay, by\naccident, on a stump some fifty yards from the place where they stood.", "Heyward smiled to himself at the idea of a competition with the scout,\nthough he determined to persevere in the deception, until apprised of\nthe real designs of Magua.", "Raising his rifle with the utmost care, and\nrenewing his aim three several times, he fired.", "The bullet cut the wood\nwithin a few inches of the vessel; and a general exclamation of\nsatisfaction announced that the shot was considered a proof of great\nskill in the use of the weapon.", "Even Hawkeye nodded his head, as if he\nwould say, it was better than he had expected.", "But, instead of\nmanifesting an intention to contend with the successful marksman, he\nstood leaning on his rifle for more than a minute, like a man who was\ncompletely buried in thought.", "From this reverie he was, however,\nawakened by one of the young Indians who had furnished the arms, and who\nnow touched his shoulder, saying, in exceedingly broken English,--\n\n\"Can the pale-face beat it?\"", "\"Yes, Huron!\"", "exclaimed the scout, raising the short rifle in his right\nhand, and shaking it at Magua, with as much apparent ease as if it were\na reed; \"yes, Huron, I could strike you now, and no power of earth could\nprevent the deed!", "The soaring hawk is not more certain of the dove than\nI am this moment of you, did I choose to send a bullet to your heart!", "Why should I not?", "Why!--because the gifts of my color forbid it, and I\nmight draw down evil on tender and innocent heads.", "If you know such a\nbeing as God, thank Him, therefore, in your inward soul; for you have\nreason.\"", "The flushed countenance, angry eye, and swelling figure of the scout,\nproduced a sensation of secret awe in all that heard him.", "The Delawares\nheld their breath in expectation; but Magua himself, even while he\ndistrusted the forbearance of his enemy, remained immovable and calm,\nwhere he stood wedged in by the crowd, as one who grew to the spot.", "\"Beat it,\" replied the young Delaware at the elbow of the scout.", "\"Beat what, fool!--what!\"", "exclaimed Hawkeye, still flourishing the\nweapon angrily above his head, though his eye no longer sought the\nperson of Magua.", "\"If the white man is the warrior he pretends,\" said the aged chief, \"let\nhim strike nigher to the mark.\"", "The scout laughed aloud--a noise that produced the startling effect of\nan unnatural sound on Heyward; then dropping the piece heavily into his\nextended left hand, it was discharged, apparently by the shock, driving\nthe fragments of the vessel into the air, and scattering them on every\nside.", "Almost at the same instant, the rattling sound of the rifle was\nheard, as he suffered it to fall, contemptuously, to the earth.", "The first impression of so strange a scene was engrossing admiration.", "Then a low, but increasing murmur, ran through the multitude, and\nfinally swelled into sounds that denoted a lively opposition in the\nsentiments of the spectators.", "While some openly testified their\nsatisfaction at so unexampled dexterity, by far the larger portion of\nthe tribe were inclined to believe the success of the shot was the\nresult of accident.", "Heyward was not slow to confirm an opinion that was\nso favorable to his own pretentions.", "\"It was chance!\"", "he exclaimed; \"none can shoot without an aim!\"", "\"Chance!\"", "echoed the excited woodsman, who was now stubbornly bent on\nmaintaining his identity at every hazard, and on whom the secret hints\nof Heyward to acquiesce in the deception were entirely lost.", "\"Does\nyonder lying Huron, too, think it chance?", "Give him another gun, and\nplace us face to face, without cover or dodge, and let Providence, and\nour own eyes, decide the matter atween us!", "I do not make the offer to\nyou, major; for our blood is of a color, and we serve the same master.\"", "\"That the Huron is a liar, is very evident,\" returned Heyward, coolly;\n\"you have yourself heard him assert you to be La Longue Carabine.\"", "It were impossible to say what violent assertion the stubborn Hawkeye\nwould have next made, in his headlong wish to vindicate his identity,\nhad not the aged Delaware once more interposed.", "\"The hawk which comes from the clouds can return when he will,\" he said;\n\"give them the guns.\"", "This time the scout seized the rifle with avidity; nor had Magua, though\nhe watched the movement of the marksman with jealous eyes, any further\ncause for apprehension.", "\"Now let it be proved, in the face of this tribe of Delawares, which is\nthe better man,\" cried the scout, tapping the butt of his piece with\nthat finger which had pulled so many fatal triggers.", "\"You see the gourd\nhanging against yonder tree, major; if you are a marksman fit for the\nborders, let me see you break its shell!\"", "Duncan noted the object, and prepared himself to renew the trial.", "The\ngourd was one of the usual little vessels used by the Indians, and it\nwas suspended from a dead branch of a small pine, by a thong of\ndeer-skin, at the full distance of a hundred yards.", "So strangely\ncompounded is the feeling of self-love, that the young soldier, while he\nknew the utter worthlessness of the suffrages of his savage umpires,\nforgot the sudden motives of the contest in a wish to excel.", "It has been\nseen, already, that his skill was far from being contemptible, and he\nnow resolved to put forth its nicest qualities.", "Had his life depended on\nthe issue, the aim of Duncan could not have been more deliberate or\nguarded.", "He fired; and three or four young Indians, who sprang forward\nat the report, announced with a shout, that the ball was in the tree, a\nvery little on one side of the proper object.", "The warriors uttered a\ncommon ejaculation of pleasure, and then turned their eyes inquiringly\non the movements of his rival.", "\"It may do for the Royal Americans!\"", "said Hawkeye, laughing once more\nin his own silent, heartfelt manner; \"but had my gun often turned so\nmuch from the true line, many a marten, whose skin is now in a lady's\nmuff, would still be in the woods; ay, and many a bloody Mingo, who has\ndeparted to his final account, would be acting his deviltries at this\nvery day, atween the provinces.", "I hope the squaw who owns the gourd has\nmore of them in her wigwam, for this will never hold water again!\"", "The scout had shook his priming, and cocked his piece, while speaking;\nand, as he ended, he threw back a foot, and slowly raised the muzzle\nfrom the earth: the motion was steady, uniform, and in one direction.", "When on a perfect level, it remained for a single moment, without tremor\nor variation, as though both man and rifle were carved in stone.", "During\nthat stationary instant, it poured forth its contents, in a bright,\nglancing sheet of flame.", "Again the young Indians bounded forward; but\ntheir hurried search and disappointed looks announced that no traces of\nthe bullet were to be seen.", "\"Go!\"", "said the old chief to the scout, in a tone of strong disgust;\n\"thou art a wolf in the skin of a dog.", "I will talk to the 'Long Rifle'\nof the Yengeese.\"", "\"Ah!", "had I that piece which furnished the name you use, I would obligate\nmyself to cut the thong, and drop the gourd without breaking it!\"", "returned Hawkeye, perfectly undisturbed by the other's manner, \"Fools,\nif you would find the bullet of a sharpshooter of these woods, you must\nlook in the object and not around it!\"", "The Indian youths instantly comprehended his meaning--for this time he\nspoke in the Delaware tongue--and tearing the gourd from the tree, they\nheld it on high with an exulting shout, displaying a hole in its bottom,\nwhich had been cut by the bullet, after passing through the usual\norifice in the centre of its upper side.", "At this unexpected exhibition,\na loud and vehement expression of pleasure burst from the mouth of every\nwarrior present.", "It decided the question, and effectually established\nHawkeye in the possession of his dangerous reputation.", "Those curious and\nadmiring eyes which had been turned again on Heyward, were finally\ndirected to the weather-beaten form of the scout, who immediately became\nthe principal object of attention to the simple and unsophisticated\nbeings by whom he was surrounded.", "When the sudden and noisy commotion\nhad a little subsided, the aged chief resumed his examination.", "\"Why did you wish to stop my ears?\"", "he said, addressing Duncan; \"are\nthe Delawares fools, that they could not know the young panther from the\ncat?\"", "\"They will yet find the Huron a singing-bird,\" said Duncan, endeavoring\nto adopt the figurative language of the natives.", "\"It is good.", "We will know who can shut the ears of men.", "Brother,\" added\nthe chief, turning his eyes on Magua, \"the Delawares listen.\"", "Thus singled, and directly called on to declare his object, the Huron\narose; and advancing with great deliberation and dignity into the very\ncentre of the circle, where he stood confronted to the prisoners, he\nplaced himself in an attitude to speak.", "Before opening his mouth,\nhowever, he bent his eyes slowly along the whole living boundary of\nearnest faces as if to temper his expressions to the capacities of his\naudience.", "On Hawkeye he cast a glance of respectful enmity; on Duncan, a\nlook of inextinguishable hatred; the shrinking figure of Alice he\nscarcely deigned to notice; but when his glance met the firm,\ncommanding, and yet lovely form of Cora, his eye lingered a moment, with\nan expression that it might have been difficult to define.", "Then, filled\nwith his own dark intentions, he spoke in the language of the Canadas, a\ntongue that he well knew was comprehended by most of his auditors.", "\"The Spirit that made men colored them differently,\" commenced the\nsubtle Huron.", "\"Some are blacker than the sluggish bear.", "These He said\nwould be slaves; and He ordered them to work forever, like the beaver.", "You may hear them groan, when the south wind blows, louder than the\nlowing buffaloes, along the shores of the great salt lake, where the big\ncanoes come and go with them in droves.", "Some He made with faces paler\nthan the ermine of the forests: and these He ordered to be traders; dogs\nto their women, and wolves to their slaves.", "He gave this people the\nnature of the pigeon: wings that never tire; young, more plentiful than\nthe leaves on the trees, and appetites to devour the earth.", "He gave them\ntongues like the false call of the wild-cat; hearts like rabbits; the\ncunning of the hog (but none of the fox), and arms longer than the legs\nof the moose.", "With his tongue, he stops the ears of the Indians; his\nheart teaches him to pay warriors to fight his battles; his cunning\ntells him how to get together the goods of the earth; and his arms\ninclose the land from the shores of the salt-water to the islands of the\ngreat lake.", "His gluttony makes him sick.", "God gave him enough, and yet\nhe wants all.", "Such are the pale-faces.", "\"Some the Great Spirit made with skins brighter and redder than yonder\nsun,\" continued Magua, pointing impressively upwards to the lurid\nluminary, which was struggling through the misty atmosphere of the\nhorizon; \"and these did He fashion to His own mind.", "He gave them this\nisland as He had made it, covered with trees, and filled with game.", "The\nwind made their clearings; the sun and rains ripened their fruits; and\nthe snows came to tell them to be thankful.", "What need had they of roads\nto journey by!", "They saw through the hills.", "When the beavers worked, they\nlay in the shade, and looked on.", "The winds cooled them in summer; in\nwinter, skins kept them warm.", "If they fought among themselves, it was to\nprove that they were men.", "They were brave; they were just; they were\nhappy.\"", "Here the speaker paused, and again looked around him, to discover if his\nlegend had touched the sympathies of his listeners.", "He met everywhere\nwith eyes riveted on his own, heads erect, and nostrils expanded, as if\neach individual present felt himself able and willing, singly, to\nredress the wrongs of his race.", "\"If the Great Spirit gave different tongues to his red children,\" he\ncontinued, in a low, still, melancholy voice, \"it was that all animals\nmight understand them.", "Some He placed among the snows, with their cousin\nthe bear.", "Some he placed near the setting sun, on the road to the happy\nhunting-grounds.", "Some on the lands around the great fresh waters; but to\nhis greatest, and most beloved, He gave the sands of the salt lake.", "Do\nmy brothers know the name of this favored people?\"", "\"It was the Lenape!\"", "exclaimed twenty eager voices, in a breath.", "\"It was the Lenni Lenape,\" returned Magua, affecting to bend his head in\nreverence to their former greatness.", "\"It was the tribes of the Lenape!", "The sun rose from water that was salt, and set in water that was sweet,\nand never hid himself from their eyes.", "But why should I, a Huron of the\nwoods, tell a wise people their own traditions?", "Why remind them of their\ninjuries; their ancient greatness; their deeds; their glory; their\nhappiness,--their losses; their defeats; their misery?", "Is there not one\namong them who has seen it all, and who knows it to be true?", "I have\ndone.", "My tongue is still, for my heart is of lead.", "I listen.\"", "As the voice of the speaker suddenly ceased, every face and all eyes\nturned, by a common movement, towards the venerable Tamenund.", "From the\nmoment that he took his seat, until the present instant, the lips of the\npatriarch had not severed, and scarcely a sign of life had escaped him.", "He sat bent in feebleness, and apparently unconscious of the presence he\nwas in, during the whole of that opening scene, in which the skill of\nthe scout had been so clearly established.", "At the nicely graduated sound\nof Magua's voice, however, he betrayed some evidence of consciousness,\nand once or twice he even raised his head, as if to listen.", "But when the\ncrafty Huron spoke of his nation by name, the eyelids of the old man\nraised themselves, and he looked out upon the multitude with that sort\nof dull unmeaning expression which might be supposed to belong to the\ncountenance of a spectre.", "Then he made an effort to rise, and being\nupheld by his supporters, he gained his feet, in a posture commanding by\nits dignity, while he tottered with weakness.", "\"Who calls upon the children of the Lenape!\"", "he said, in a deep,\nguttural voice, that was rendered awfully audible by the breathless\nsilence of the multitude: \"who speaks of things gone!", "Does not the egg\nbecome a worm--the worm a fly, and perish?", "Why tell the Delawares of\ngood that is past?", "Better thank the Manitou for that which remains.\"", "\"It is a Wyandot,\" said Magua, stepping nigher to the rude platform on\nwhich the other stood; \"a friend of Tamenund.\"", "\"A friend!\"", "repeated the sage, on whose brow a dark frown settled,\nimparting a portion of that severity which had rendered his eye so\nterrible in middle age.", "\"Are the Mingos rulers of the earth?", "What brings\na Huron here?\"", "\"Justice.", "His prisoners are with his brothers, and he comes for his\nown.\"", "Tamenund turned his head towards one of his supporters, and listened to\nthe short explanation the man gave.", "Then facing the applicant, he\nregarded him a moment with deep attention; after which he said, in a low\nand reluctant voice,--\n\n\"Justice is the law of the great Manitou.", "My children, give the stranger\nfood.", "Then, Huron, take thine own and depart.\"", "On the delivery of this solemn judgment, the patriarch seated himself,\nand closed his eyes again, as if better pleased with the images of his\nown ripened experience than with the visible objects of the world.", "Against such a decree there was no Delaware sufficiently hardy to\nmurmur, much less oppose himself.", "The words were barely uttered when\nfour or five of the younger warriors, stepping behind Heyward and the\nscout, passed thongs so dexterously and rapidly around their arms, as to\nhold them both in instant bondage.", "The former was too much engrossed\nwith his precious and nearly insensible burden, to be aware of their\nintentions before they were executed; and the latter, who considered\neven the hostile tribes of the Delawares a superior race of beings,\nsubmitted without resistance.", "Perhaps, however, the manner of the scout\nwould not have been so passive, had he fully comprehended the language\nin which the preceding dialogue had been conducted.", "Magua cast a look of triumph around the whole assembly before he\nproceeded to the execution of his purpose.", "Perceiving that the men were\nunable to offer any resistance, he turned his looks on her he valued\nmost.", "Cora met his gaze with an eye so calm and firm, that his\nresolution wavered.", "Then recollecting his former artifice, he raised\nAlice from the arms of the warrior against whom she leaned, and\nbeckoning Heyward to follow, he motioned for the encircling crowd to\nopen.", "But Cora, instead of obeying the impulse he had expected, rushed\nto the feet of the patriarch, and raising her voice, exclaimed aloud,--\n\n\"Just and venerable Delaware, on thy wisdom and power we lean for mercy!", "Be deaf to yonder artful and remorseless monster, who poisons thy ears\nwith falsehoods to feed his thirst for blood.", "Thou that hast lived long,\nand that hast seen the evil of the world, should know how to temper its\ncalamities to the miserable.\"", "The eyes of the old man opened heavily, and he once more looked upwards\nat the multitude.", "As the piercing tones of the supplicant swelled on his\nears, they moved slowly in the direction of her person, and finally\nsettled there in a steady gaze.", "Cora had cast herself to her knees; and,\nwith hands clenched in each other and pressed upon her bosom, she\nremained like a beauteous and breathing model of her sex, looking up in\nhis faded, but majestic countenance, with a species of holy reverence.", "Gradually the expression of Tamenund's features changed, and losing\ntheir vacancy in admiration, they lighted with a portion of that\nintelligence which a century before had been wont to communicate his\nyouthful fire to the extensive bands of the Delawares.", "Rising without\nassistance, and seemingly without an effort, he demanded, in a voice\nthat startled its auditors by its firmness,--\n\n\"What art thou?\"", "\"A woman.", "One of a hated race, if thou wilt--a Yengee.", "But one who has\nnever harmed thee, and who cannot harm thy people, if she would; who\nasks for succor.\"", "\"Tell me, my children,\" continued the patriarch, hoarsely, motioning to\nthose around him, though his eyes still dwelt upon the kneeling form of\nCora, \"where have the Delawares camped?\"", "\"In the mountains of the Iroquois, beyond the clear springs of the\nHorican.\"", "\"Many parching summers are come and gone,\" continued the sage, \"since I\ndrank of the water of my own rivers.", "The children of Minquon[26] are the\njustest white men; but they were thirsty, and they took it to\nthemselves.", "Do they follow us so far?\"", "\"We follow none; we covet nothing,\" answered Cora.", "\"Captives against our\nwills, have we been brought among you; and we ask but permission to\ndepart to our own in peace.", "Art thou not Tamenund--the father, the\njudge, I had almost said, the prophet--of this people?\"", "\"I am Tamenund of many days.\"", "\"'Tis now some seven years that one of thy people was at the mercy of a\nwhite chief on the borders of this province.", "He claimed to be of the\nblood of the good and just Tamenund.", "'Go,' said the white man, 'for thy\nparent's sake thou art free.'", "Dost thou remember the name of that\nEnglish warrior?\"", "\"I remember, that when a laughing boy,\" returned the patriarch, with the\npeculiar recollection of vast age, \"I stood upon the sands of the\nsea-shore, and saw a big canoe, with wings whiter than the swan's, and\nwider than many eagles, come from the rising sun.\"", "\"Nay, nay; I speak not of a time so very distant, but of favor shown to\nthy kindred by one of mine, within the memory of thy youngest warrior.\"", "\"Was it when the Yengeese and the Dutchmanne fought for the\nhunting-grounds of the Delawares?", "Then Tamenund was a chief, and first\nlaid aside the bow for the lightning of the pale faces--\"\n\n[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE SUPPLICANT\n\n_Cora had cast herself to her knees; and, with hands clenched in each\nother and pressed upon her bosom, she remained like a beauteous and\nbreathing model of her sex_]\n\n\"Nor yet then,\" interrupted Cora, \"by many ages; I speak of a thing of\nyesterday.", "Surely, surely, you forget it not.\"", "\"It was but yesterday,\" rejoined the aged man, with touching pathos,\n\"that the children of the Lenape were masters of the world.", "The fishes\nof the salt lake, the birds, the beasts, and the Mengwe of the woods,\nowned them for sagamores.\"", "Cora bowed her head in disappointment, and, for a bitter moment,\nstruggled with her chagrin.", "Then elevating her rich features and beaming\neyes, she continued, in tones scarcely less penetrating than the\nunearthly voice of the patriarch himself,--\n\n\"Tell me, is Tamenund a father?\"", "The old man looked down upon her from his elevated stand, with a\nbenignant smile on his wasted countenance, and then casting his eyes\nslowly over the whole assemblage, he answered,--\n\n\"Of a nation.\"", "\"For myself I ask nothing.", "Like thee and thine, venerable chief,\" she\ncontinued, pressing her hands convulsively on her heart, and suffering\nher head to droop until her burning cheeks were nearly concealed in the\nmaze of dark glossy tresses that fell in disorder upon her shoulders,\n\"the curse of my ancestors has fallen heavily on their child.", "But yonder\nis one who has never known the weight of Heaven's displeasure until now.", "She is the daughter of an old and failing man, whose days are near their\nclose.", "She has many, very many, to love her, and delight in her; and she\nis too good, much too precious, to become the victim of that villain.\"", "\"I know that the pale-faces are a proud and hungry race.", "I know that\nthey claim not only to have the earth, but that the meanest of their\ncolor is better than the sachems of the redman.", "The dogs and crows of\ntheir tribes,\" continued the earnest old chieftain, without heeding the\nwounded spirit of his listener, whose head was nearly crushed to the\nearth in shame, as he proceeded, \"would bark and caw before they would\ntake a woman to their wigwams whose blood was not of the color of snow.", "But let them not boast before the face of the Manitou too loud.", "They\nentered the land at the rising, and may yet go off at the setting sun.", "I\nhave often seen the locusts strip the leaves from the trees, but the\nseason of blossoms has always come again.\"", "\"It is so,\" said Cora, drawing a long breath, as if reviving from a\ntrance, raising her face, and shaking back her shining veil, with a\nkindling eye, that contradicted the death-like paleness of her\ncountenance; \"but why--it is not permitted us to inquire.", "There is yet\none of thine own people who has not been brought before thee; before\nthou lettest the Huron depart in triumph, hear him speak.\"", "Observing Tamenund to look about him doubtingly, one of his companions\nsaid,--\n\n\"It is a snake--a redskin in the pay of the Yengeese.", "We keep him for\nthe torture.\"", "\"Let him come,\" returned the sage.", "Then Tamenund once more sank into his seat, and a silence so deep\nprevailed, while the young men prepared to obey his simple mandate, that\nthe leaves, which fluttered in the draught of the light morning air,\nwere distinctly heard rustling in the surrounding forest." ]

[ "The instruments of the chase were to be\nseen in abundance among the lodges; but none departed.", "demanded the orator of the Delawares.", "\"It is well.", "\"Let the Delawares count their prisoners; they will find one\nwhose skin is neither red nor pale.\"", "Not a single indication of the future\nintentions of his hosts, however, escaped his vigilant eyes.", "Hawkeye had placed himself a little in\nthe rear, with a deference to the superior rank of his companions, that\nno similarity in the state of their present fortunes could induce him to\nforget.", "Almost at the same instant, the rattling sound of the rifle was\nheard, as he suffered it to fall, contemptuously, to the earth.", "said the old chief to the scout, in a tone of strong disgust;\n\"thou art a wolf in the skin of a dog.", "Then, filled\nwith his own dark intentions, he spoke in the language of the Canadas, a\ntongue that he well knew was comprehended by most of his auditors.", "The winds cooled them in summer; in\nwinter, skins kept them warm." ]

[ "The invitation was\naccepted; and the two warriors, attended by three or four of the old\nmen, walked calmly away, leaving the rest of the tribe devoured by a\ndesire to understand the reasons of so unusual a visit, and yet not\nbetraying the least impatience by sign or word.", "It is true, my young men did not go out on the war-path; they\nhad dreams for not doing so.", "Then he made an effort to rise, and being\nupheld by his supporters, he gained his feet, in a posture commanding by\nits dignity, while he tottered with weakness.", "Did not the Huron chief\nsay he took women in the battle?\"", "The instruments of the chase were to be\nseen in abundance among the lodges; but none departed.", "On Hawkeye he cast a glance of respectful enmity; on Duncan, a\nlook of inextinguishable hatred; the shrinking figure of Alice he\nscarcely deigned to notice; but when his glance met the firm,\ncommanding, and yet lovely form of Cora, his eye lingered a moment, with\nan expression that it might have been difficult to define.", "But the Yengeese have long\narms, and legs that never tire!", "\"I am Tamenund of many days.\"", "The delay had been created by\nthe grave preparations that were deemed necessary to so solemn and\nunusual a conference.", "When in full\nview of the Delawares he stopped, and made a gesture of amity, by\nthrowing his arm upward towards heaven, and then letting it fall\nimpressively on his breast." ]

[ "I am the man, however, that got the name\nof Nathaniel from my kin; the compliment of Hawkeye from the Delawares,\nwho live on their own river; and whom the Iroquois have presumed to\nstyle the 'Long Rifle,' without any warranty from him who is most\nconcerned in the matter.\"", "The eyes of all present, which had hitherto been gravely scanning the\nperson of Duncan, were now turned, on the instant, towards the upright\niron frame of this new pretender to the distinguished appellation.", "It\nwas in no degree remarkable that there should be found two who were\nwilling to claim so great an honor, for impostors, though rare, were not\nunknown amongst the natives; but it was altogether material to the just\nand severe intentions of the Delawares, that there should be no mistake\nin the matter.", "Some of their old men consulted together in private, and\nthen, as it would seem, they determined to interrogate their visitor on\nthe subject.", "\"My brother has said that a snake crept into my camp,\" said the chief to\nMagua; \"which is he?\"", "The Huron pointed to the scout.", "\"Will a wise Delaware believe the barking of a wolf?\"", "exclaimed Duncan,\nstill more confirmed in the evil intentions of his ancient enemy: \"a dog\nnever lies, but when was a wolf known to speak the truth?\"", "The eyes of Magua flashed fire; but, suddenly recollecting the necessity\nof maintaining his presence of mind, he turned away in silent disdain,\nwell assured that the sagacity of the Indians would not fail to extract\nthe real merits of the point in controversy.", "He was not deceived; for,\nafter another short consultation, the wary Delaware turned to him again,\nand expressed the determination of the chiefs, though in the most\nconsiderate language.", "\"My brother has been called a liar,\" he said, \"and his friends are\nangry." ]

[ "\n \"Brief, I pray you; for you see, 'tis a busy time with me.\"", "_Much Ado About Nothing._\n\n\nThe tribe, or rather half tribe, of Delawares, which has been so often\nmentioned, and whose present place of encampment was so nigh the\ntemporary village of the Hurons, could assemble about an equal number of\nwarriors with the latter people.", "Like their neighbors, they had followed\nMontcalm into the territories of the English crown, and were making\nheavy and serious inroads on the hunting-grounds of the Mohawks; though\nthey had seen fit, with the mysterious reserve so common among the\nnatives, to withhold their assistance at the moment when it was most\nrequired.", "The French had accounted for this unexpected defection on the\npart of their ally in various ways.", "It was the prevalent opinion,\nhowever, that they had been influenced by veneration for the ancient\ntreaty, that had once made them dependent on the Six Nations for\nmilitary protection, and now rendered them reluctant to encounter their\nformer masters.", "As for the tribe itself, it had been content to announce\nto Montcalm, through his emissaries, with Indian brevity, that their\nhatchets were dull, and time was necessary to sharpen them.", "The politic\ncaptain of the Canadas had deemed it wiser to submit to entertain a\npassive friend, than by any acts of ill-judged severity to convert him\ninto an open enemy.", "On that morning when Magua led his silent party from the settlement of\nthe beavers into the forest, in the manner described, the sun rose upon\nthe Delaware encampment as if it had suddenly burst upon a busy people,\nactively employed in all the customary avocations of high noon.", "The\nwomen ran from lodge to lodge, some engaged in preparing their morning's\nmeal, a few earnestly bent on seeking the comforts necessary to their\nhabits, but more pausing to exchange hasty and whispered sentences with\ntheir friends.", "The warriors were lounging in groups, musing more than\nthey conversed; and when a few words were uttered, speaking like men who\ndeeply weighed their opinions.", "The dogs and crows of\ntheir tribes,\" continued the earnest old chieftain, without heeding the\nwounded spirit of his listener, whose head was nearly crushed to the\nearth in shame, as he proceeded, \"would bark and caw before they would\ntake a woman to their wigwams whose blood was not of the color of snow.", "But let them not boast before the face of the Manitou too loud.", "They\nentered the land at the rising, and may yet go off at the setting sun.", "I\nhave often seen the locusts strip the leaves from the trees, but the\nseason of blossoms has always come again.\"", "\"It is so,\" said Cora, drawing a long breath, as if reviving from a\ntrance, raising her face, and shaking back her shining veil, with a\nkindling eye, that contradicted the death-like paleness of her\ncountenance; \"but why--it is not permitted us to inquire.", "There is yet\none of thine own people who has not been brought before thee; before\nthou lettest the Huron depart in triumph, hear him speak.\"", "Observing Tamenund to look about him doubtingly, one of his companions\nsaid,--\n\n\"It is a snake--a redskin in the pay of the Yengeese.", "We keep him for\nthe torture.\"", "\"Let him come,\" returned the sage.", "Then Tamenund once more sank into his seat, and a silence so deep\nprevailed, while the young men prepared to obey his simple mandate, that\nthe leaves, which fluttered in the draught of the light morning air,\nwere distinctly heard rustling in the surrounding forest." ]

[ "\n \"If you deny me, fie upon your law!", "There is no force in the decrees of Venice:\n I stand for judgment; answer, shall I have it?\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe silence continued unbroken by human sounds for many anxious minutes.", "Then the waving multitude opened and shut again, and Uncas stood in the\nliving circle.", "All those eyes, which had been curiously studying the\nlineaments of the sage, as the source of their own intelligence, turned\non the instant, and were now bent in secret admiration on the erect,\nagile, and faultless person of the captive.", "But neither the presence in\nwhich he found himself, nor the exclusive attention that he attracted,\nin any manner disturbed the self-possession of the young Mohican.", "He\ncast a deliberate and observing look on every side of him, meeting the\nsettled expression of hostility that lowered in the visages of the\nchiefs, with the same calmness as the curious gaze of the attentive\nchildren.", "But when, last in his haughty scrutiny, the person of Tamenund\ncame under his glance, his eye became fixed, as though all other objects\nwere already forgotten.", "Then advancing with a slow and noiseless step up\nthe area, he placed himself immediately before the footstool of the\nsage.", "Here he stood unnoted, though keenly observant himself, until one\nof the chiefs apprised the latter of his presence.", "\"With what tongue does the prisoner speak to the Manitou?\"", "demanded the\npatriarch, without unclosing his eyes.", "\"Like his fathers,\" Uncas replied; \"with the tongue of a Delaware.\"", "At this sudden and unexpected annunciation, a low, fierce yell ran\nthrough the multitude, that might not inaptly be compared to the growl\nof the lion, as his choler is first awakened--a fearful omen of the\nweight of his future anger.", "The effect was equally strong on the sage,\nthough differently exhibited.", "He passed a hand before his eyes, as if to\nexclude the least evidence of so shameful a spectacle, while he\nrepeated, in his low, guttural tones, the words he had just heard.", "\"A Delaware!", "I have lived to see the tribes of the Lenape driven from\ntheir council-fires, and scattered, like broken herds of deer, among the\nhills of the Iroquois!", "I have seen the hatchets of a strange people\nsweep woods from the valleys, that the winds of heaven had spared!", "The\nbeasts that run on the mountains, and the birds that fly above the\ntrees, have I seen living in the wigwams of men; but never before have I\nfound a Delaware so base as to creep, like a poisonous serpent, into the\ncamps of his nation.\"", "\"The singing-birds have opened their bills,\" returned Uncas, in the\nsoftest notes of his own musical voice; \"and Tamenund has heard their\nsong.\"", "The sage started, and bent his head aside, as if to catch the fleeting\nsounds of some passing melody.", "\"Does Tamenund dream!\"", "he exclaimed.", "\"What voice is at his ear!", "Have the\nwinters gone backward!", "Will summer come again to the children of the\nLenape!\"", "A solemn and respectful silence succeeded this incoherent burst from the\nlips of the Delaware prophet.", "His people steadily construed his\nunintelligible language into one of those mysterious conferences he was\nbelieved to hold so frequently with a superior intelligence, and they\nawaited the issue of the revelation in awe.", "After a patient pause,\nhowever, one of the aged men, perceiving that the sage had lost the\nrecollection of the subject before them, ventured to remind him again of\nthe presence of the prisoner.", "\"The false Delaware trembles lest he should hear the words of Tamenund,\"\nhe said.", "\"'Tis a hound that howls, when the Yengeese show him a trail.\"", "\"And ye,\" returned Uncas, looking sternly around him, \"are dogs that\nwhine, when the Frenchman casts ye the offals of his deer!\"", "Twenty knives gleamed in the air, and as many warriors sprang to their\nfeet, at this biting, and perhaps merited retort; but a motion from one\nof the chiefs suppressed the outbreaking of their tempers, and restored\nthe appearance of quiet.", "The task might probably have been more\ndifficult, had not a movement made by Tamenund indicated that he was\nagain about to speak.", "\"Delaware!\"", "resumed the sage, \"little art thou worthy of thy name.", "My\npeople have not seen a bright sun in many winters; and the warrior who\ndeserts his tribe when hid in clouds is doubly a traitor.", "The law of\nthe Manitou is just.", "It is so; while the rivers run and the mountains\nstand, while the blossoms come and go on the trees, it must be so.", "He is\nthine, my children; deal justly by him.\"", "Not a limb was moved, nor was a breath drawn louder and longer than\ncommon, until the closing syllable of this final decree had passed the\nlips of Tamenund.", "Then a cry of vengeance burst at once, as it might be,\nfrom the united lips of the nation; a frightful augury of their ruthless\nintentions.", "In the midst of these prolonged and savage yells, a chief\nproclaimed, in a high voice, that the captive was condemned to endure\nthe dreadful trial of torture by fire.", "The circle broke its order, and\nscreams of delight mingled with the bustle and tumult of preparation.", "Heyward struggled madly with his captors; the anxious eyes of Hawkeye\nbegan to look around him, with an expression of peculiar earnestness;\nand Cora again threw herself at the feet of the patriarch, once more a\nsuppliant for mercy.", "Throughout the whole of these trying moments, Uncas had alone preserved\nhis serenity.", "He looked on the preparations with a steady eye, and when\nthe tormentors came to seize him, he met them with a firm and upright\nattitude.", "One among them, if possible, more fierce and savage than his\nfellows, seized the hunting-shirt of the young warrior, and at a single\neffort tore it from his body.", "Then, with a yell of frantic pleasure, he\nleaped towards his unresisting victim, and prepared to lead him to the\nstake.", "But, at that moment, when he appeared most a stranger to the\nfeelings of humanity, the purpose of the savage was arrested as suddenly\nas if a supernatural agency had interposed in the behalf of Uncas.", "The\neyeballs of the Delaware seemed to start from their sockets; his mouth\nopened, and his whole form became frozen in an attitude of amazement.", "Raising his hand with a slow and regulated motion, he pointed with a\nfinger to the bosom of the captive.", "His companions crowded about him in\nwonder, and every eye was, like his own, fastened intently on the figure\nof a small tortoise, beautifully tattooed on the breast of the prisoner,\nin a bright blue tint.", "For a single instant Uncas enjoyed his triumph, smiling calmly on the\nscene.", "Then motioning the crowd away with a high and haughty sweep of\nhis arm, he advanced in front of the nation with the air of a king, and\nspoke in a voice louder than the murmur of admiration that ran through\nthe multitude.", "\"Men of the Lenni Lenape!\"", "he said, \"my race upholds the earth!", "Your\nfeeble tribe stands on my shell!", "[27] What fire that a Delaware can light\nwould burn the child of my fathers,\" he added, pointing proudly to the\nsimple blazonry on his skin; \"the blood that came from such a stock\nwould smother your flames!", "My race is the grandfather of nations!\"", "\"Who art thou?\"", "demanded Tamenund, rising at the startling tones he\nheard, more than at any meaning conveyed by the language of the\nprisoner.", "\"Uncas, the son of Chingachgook,\" answered the captive modestly, turning\nfrom the nation, and bending his head in reverence to the other's\ncharacter and years; \"a son of the great Unamis.\"", "\"The hour of Tamenund is nigh!\"", "exclaimed the sage; \"the day is come, at\nlast, to the night!", "I thank the Manitou, that one is here to fill my\nplace at the council-fire.", "Uncas, the child of Uncas, is found!", "Let the\neyes of a dying eagle gaze on the rising sun.\"", "The youth stepped lightly, but proudly, on the platform, where he became\nvisible to the whole agitated and wondering multitude.", "Tamenund held him\nlong at the length of his arm, and read every turn in the fine\nlineaments of his countenance, with the untiring gaze of one who\nrecalled days of happiness.", "\"Is Tamenund a boy?\"", "at length the bewildered prophet exclaimed.", "\"Have I\ndreamt of so many snows--that my people were scattered like floating\nsands--of Yengeese, more plenty than the leaves on the trees!", "The arrow\nof Tamenund would not frighten the fawn; his arm is withered like the\nbranch of a dead oak; the snail would be swifter in the race; yet is\nUncas before him as they went to battle against the pale-faces!", "Uncas,\nthe panther of his tribe, the eldest son of the Lenape, the wisest\nSagamore of the Mohicans!", "Tell me, ye Delawares, has Tamenund been a\nsleeper for a hundred winters?\"", "The calm and deep silence which succeeded these words, sufficiently\nannounced the awful reverence with which his people received the\ncommunication of the patriarch.", "None dared to answer, though all\nlistened in breathless expectation of what might follow.", "Uncas, however,\nlooking in his face with the fondness and veneration of a favored child,\npresumed on his own high and acknowledged rank, to reply.", "\"Four warriors of his race have lived, and died,\" he said, \"since the\nfriend of Tamenund led his people in battle.", "The blood of the turtle has\nbeen in many chiefs, but all have gone back into the earth from whence\nthey came except Chingachgook and his son.\"", "\"It is true--it is true,\" returned the sage; a flash of recollection\ndestroying all his pleasing fancies, and restoring him at once to a\nconsciousness of the true history of his nation.", "\"Our wise men have\noften said that two warriors of the unchanged race were in the hills of\nthe Yengeese; why have their seats at the council-fires of the Delawares\nbeen so long empty?\"", "At these words the young man raised his head, which he had still kept\nbowed a little, in reverence; and lifting his voice so as to be heard by\nthe multitude, as if to explain at once and forever the policy of his\nfamily, he said aloud,--\n\n\"Once we slept where we could hear the salt lake speak in its anger.", "Then we were rulers and sagamores over the land.", "But when a pale-face\nwas seen on every brook, we followed the deer back to the river of our\nnation.", "The Delawares were gone.", "Few warriors of them all stayed to\ndrink of the stream they loved.", "Then said my fathers, 'Here will we\nhunt.", "The waters of the river go into the salt lake.", "If we go towards\nthe setting sun, we shall find streams that run into the great lakes of\nsweet water; there would a Mohican die, like fishes of the sea, in the\nclear springs.", "When the Manitou is ready, and shall say \"Come,\" we will\nfollow the river to the sea, and take our own again.'", "Such, Delawares,\nis the belief of the children of the Turtle.", "Our eyes are on the rising,\nand not towards the setting sun.", "We know whence he comes, but we know\nnot whither he goes.", "It is enough.\"", "The men of the Lenape listened to his words with all the respect that\nsuperstition could lend, finding a secret charm even in the figurative\nlanguage with which the young Sagamore imparted his ideas.", "Uncas himself\nwatched the effect of his brief explanation with intelligent eyes, and\ngradually dropped the air of authority he had assumed, as he perceived\nthat his auditors were content.", "Then permitting his looks to wander over\nthe silent throng that crowded around the elevated seat of Tamenund, he\nfirst perceived Hawkeye in his bonds.", "Stepping eagerly from his stand,\nhe made way for himself to the side of his friend; and cutting his\nthongs with a quick and angry stroke of his own knife, he motioned to\nthe crowd to divide.", "The Indians silently obeyed, and once more they\nstood ranged in their circle, as before his appearance among them.", "Uncas\ntook the scout by the hand, and led him to the feet of the patriarch.", "\"Father,\" he said, \"look at this pale-face; a just man, and the friend\nof the Delawares.\"", "\"Is he a son of Minquon?\"", "\"Not so; a warrior known to the Yengeese, and feared by the Maquas.\"", "\"What name has he gained by his deeds?\"", "\"We call him Hawkeye,\" Uncas replied, using the Delaware phrase; \"for\nhis sight never fails.", "The Mingos know him better by the death he gives\ntheir warriors; with them he is 'The Long Rifle.'\"", "\"La Longue Carabine!\"", "exclaimed Tamenund, opening his eyes, and\nregarding the scout sternly.", "\"My son has not done well to call him\nfriend.\"", "\"I call him so who proves himself such,\" returned the young chief, with\ngreat calmness, but with a steady mien.", "\"If Uncas is welcome among the\nDelawares, then is Hawkeye with his friends.\"", "\"The pale-face has slain my young men; his name is great for the blows\nhe has struck the Lenape.\"", "\"If a Mingo has whispered that much in the ear of the Delaware, he has\nonly shown that he is a singing-bird,\" said the scout, who now believed\nthat it was time to vindicate himself from such offensive charges, and\nwho spoke in the tongue of the man he addressed, modifying his Indian\nfigures, however, with his own peculiar notions.", "\"That I have slain the\nMaquas I am not the man to deny, even at their own council-fires; but\nthat, knowingly, my hand has ever harmed a Delaware, is opposed to the\nreason of my gifts, which is friendly to them, and all that belongs to\ntheir nation.\"", "A low exclamation of applause passed among the warriors, who exchanged\nlooks with each other like men that first began to perceive their error.", "\"Where is the Huron?\"", "demanded Tamenund.", "\"Has he stopped my ears?\"", "Magua, whose feelings during that scene in which Uncas had triumphed may\nbe much better imagined than described, answered to the call by stepping\nboldly in front of the patriarch.", "\"The just Tamenund,\" he said, \"will not keep what a Huron has lent.\"", "\"Tell me, son of my brother,\" returned the sage, avoiding the dark\ncountenance of Le Subtil, and turning gladly to the more ingenuous\nfeatures of Uncas, \"has the stranger a conqueror's right over you?\"", "\"He has none.", "The panther may get into snares set by the women; but he\nis strong, and knows how to leap through them.\"", "\"La Longue Carabine?\"", "\"Laughs at the Mingoes.", "Go, Huron, ask your squaws the color of a bear.\"", "\"The stranger and the white maiden that came into my camp together?\"", "\"Should journey on an open path.\"", "\"And the woman that Huron left with my warriors?\"", "Uncas made no reply.", "\"And the woman that the Mingo has brought into my camp,\" repeated\nTamenund, gravely.", "\"She is mine,\" cried Magua, shaking his hand in triumph at Uncas.", "\"Mohican, you know that she is mine.\"", "\"My son is silent,\" said Tamenund, endeavoring to read the expression of\nthe face that the youth turned from him in sorrow.", "\"It is so,\" was the low answer.", "A short and impressive pause succeeded, during which it was very\napparent with what reluctance the multitude admitted the justice of the\nMingo's claim.", "At length the sage, in whom alone the decision depended,\nsaid, in a firm voice,--\n\n\"Huron, depart.\"", "\"As he came, just Tamenund,\" demanded the wily Magua; \"or with hands\nfilled with the faith of the Delawares?", "The wigwam of Le Renard Subtil\nis empty.", "Make him strong with his own.\"", "The aged man mused with himself for a time; and then bending his head\ntowards one of his venerable companions, he asked,--\n\n\"Are my ears open?\"", "\"It is true.\"", "\"Is this Mingo a chief?\"", "\"The first in his nation.\"", "\"Girl, what wouldst thou?", "A great warrior takes thee to wife.", "Go!", "thy\nrace will not end.\"", "\"Better, a thousand times, it should,\" exclaimed the horror-struck\nCora, \"than meet with such a degradation!\"", "\"Huron, her mind is in the tents of her fathers.", "An unwilling maiden\nmakes an unhappy wigwam.\"", "\"She speaks with the tongue of her people,\" returned Magua, regarding\nhis victim with a look of bitter irony.", "\"She is of a race of traders,\nand will bargain for a bright look.", "Let Tamenund speak the words.\"", "\"Take you the wampum, and our love.\"", "\"Nothing hence but what Magua brought hither.\"", "\"Then depart with thine own.", "The great Manitou forbids that a Delaware\nshould be unjust.\"", "Magua advanced, and seized his captive strongly by the arm; the\nDelawares fell back, in silence; and Cora, as if conscious that\nremonstrance would be useless, prepared to submit to her fate without\nresistance.", "\"Hold, hold!\"", "cried Duncan, springing forward; \"Huron, have mercy!", "her\nransom shall make thee richer than any of thy people were ever yet known\nto be.\"", "\"Magua is a redskin; he wants not the beads of the pale-faces.\"", "\"Gold, silver, powder, lead--all that a warrior needs shall be in thy\nwigwam; all that becomes the greatest chief.\"", "\"Le Subtil is very strong,\" cried Magua, violently shaking the hand\nwhich grasped the unresisting arm of Cora; \"he has his revenge!\"", "\"Mighty ruler of providence!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, clasping his hands\ntogether in agony, \"can this be suffered!", "To you, just Tamenund, I\nappeal for mercy.\"", "\"The words of the Delaware are said,\" returned the sage, closing his\neyes, and dropping back into his seat, alike wearied with his mental and\nhis bodily exertion.", "\"Men speak not twice.\"", "\"That a chief should not misspend his time in unsaying what had once\nbeen spoken, is wise and reasonable,\" said Hawkeye, motioning to Duncan\nto be silent; \"but it is also prudent in every warrior to consider well\nbefore he strikes his tomahawk into the head of his prisoner.", "Huron, I\nlove you not; nor can I say that any Mingo has ever received much favor\nat my hands.", "It is fair to conclude that, if this war does not soon end,\nmany more of your warriors will meet me in the woods.", "Put it to your\njudgment, then, whether you would prefer taking such a prisoner as that\ninto your encampment, or one like myself, who am a man that it would\ngreatly rejoice your nation to see with naked hands.\"", "\"Will 'The Long Rifle' give his life for the woman?\"", "demanded Magua,\nhesitatingly; for he had already made a motion towards quitting the\nplace with his victim.", "\"No, no; I have not said so much as that,\" returned Hawkeye, drawing\nback with suitable discretion, when he noted the eagerness with which\nMagua listened to his proposal.", "\"It would be an unequal exchange, to\ngive a warrior, in the prime of his age and usefulness, for the best\nwoman on the frontiers.", "I might consent to go into winter-quarters,\nnow--at least six weeks afore the leaves will turn--on condition you\nwill release the maiden.\"", "Magua shook his head, and made an impatient sign for the crowd to open.", "\"Well, then,\" added the scout, with the musing air of a man who had not\nhalf made up his mind, \"I will throw 'Killdeer' into the bargain.", "Take\nthe word of an experienced hunter, the piece has not its equal atween\nthe provinces.\"", "Magua still disdained to reply, continuing his efforts to disperse the\ncrowd.", "\"Perhaps,\" added the scout, losing his dissembled coolness, exactly in\nproportion as the other manifested an indifference to the exchange, \"if\nI should condition to teach your young men the real virtue of the\nwe'pon, it would smooth the little differences in our judgments.\"", "Le Renard fiercely ordered the Delawares, who still lingered in an\nimpenetrable belt around him, in hopes he would listen to the amicable\nproposal, to open his path, threatening, by the glance of his eye,\nanother appeal to the infallible justice of their \"prophet.\"", "\"What is ordered must sooner or later arrive,\" continued Hawkeye,\nturning with a sad and humbled look to Uncas.", "\"The varlet knows his\nadvantage, and will keep it!", "God bless you, boy; you have found friends\namong your natural kin and I hope they will prove as true as some you\nhave met who had no Indian cross.", "As for me, sooner or later, I must\ndie; it is therefore fortunate there are but few to make my death-howl.", "After all, it is likely the imps would have managed to master my scalp,\nso a day or two will make no great difference in the everlasting\nreckoning of time.", "God bless you,\" added the rugged woodsman, bending\nhis head aside, and then instantly changing its direction again, with a\nwistful look towards the youth; \"I loved both you and your father,\nUncas, though our skins are not altogether of a color, and our gifts are\nsomewhat different.", "Tell the Sagamore I never lost sight of him in my\ngreatest trouble; and, as for you, think of me sometimes when on a lucky\ntrail; and depend on it, boy, whether there be one heaven or two, there\nis a path in the other world by which honest men may come together\nagain.", "You'll find the rifle in the place we hid it; take it, and keep\nit for my sake; and harkee, lad, as your natural gifts don't deny you\nthe use of vengeance, use it a little freely on the Mingos; it may\nunburden grief at my loss, and ease your mind.", "Huron, I accept your\noffer; release the woman.", "I am your prisoner!\"", "A suppressed, but still distinct murmur of approbation, ran through the\ncrowd at this generous proposition; even the fiercest among the Delaware\nwarriors manifesting pleasure at the manliness of the intended\nsacrifice.", "Magua paused, and for an anxious moment, it might be said, he\ndoubted; then casting his eyes on Cora, with an expression in which\nferocity and admiration were strangely mingled, his purpose became fixed\nforever.", "He intimated his contempt of the offer with a backward motion of his\nhead, and said, in a steady and settled voice,--\n\n\"Le Renard Subtil is a great chief; he has but one mind.", "Come,\" he\nadded, laying his hand too familiarly on the shoulder of his captive to\nurge her onward; \"a Huron is no tattler; we will go.\"", "The maiden drew back in lofty womanly reserve, and her dark eye kindled,\nwhile the rich blood shot, like the passing brightness of the sun, into\nher very temples, at the indignity.", "\"I am your prisoner, and at a fitting time shall be ready to follow,\neven to my death.", "But violence is unnecessary,\" she coldly said; and\nimmediately turning to Hawkeye, added, \"Generous hunter!", "from my soul I\nthank you.", "Your offer is in vain, neither could it be accepted; but\nstill you may serve me, even more than in your own noble intention.", "Look\nat that drooping, humbled child!", "Abandon her not until you leave her in\nthe habitation of civilized men.", "I will not say,\" wringing the hard hand\nof the scout, \"that her father will reward you--for such as you are\nabove the rewards of men--but he will thank you, and bless you.", "And,\nbelieve me, the blessing of a just and aged man has virtue in the sight\nof Heaven.", "Would to God, I could hear one from his lips at this awful\nmoment!\"", "Her voice became choked, and, for an instant, she was silent;\nthen advancing a step nigher to Duncan, who was supporting her\nunconscious sister, she continued, in more subdued tones, but in which\nfeeling and the habits of her sex maintained a fearful struggle,--\"I\nneed not tell you to cherish the treasure you will possess.", "You love\nher, Heyward; that would conceal a thousand faults, though she had them.", "She is kind, gentle, sweet, good, as mortal may be.", "There is not a\nblemish in mind or person at which the proudest of you all would sicken.", "She is fair--O!", "how surpassingly fair!\"", "laying her own beautiful, but\nless brilliant hand, in melancholy affection on the alabaster forehead\nof Alice, and parting the golden hair which clustered about her brows;\n\"and yet her soul is pure and spotless as her skin!", "I could say\nmuch--more, perhaps, than cooler reason would approve; but I will spare\nyou and myself\"--Her voice became inaudible, and her face was bent over\nthe form of her sister.", "After a long and burning kiss, she arose, and\nwith features of the hue of death, but without even a tear in her\nfeverish eye, she turned away, and added, to the savage, with all her\nformer elevation of manner,--\"Now, sir, if it be your pleasure, I will\nfollow.\"", "\"Ay, go,\" cried Duncan, placing Alice in the arms of an Indian girl;\n\"go, Magua, go.", "These Delawares have their laws, which forbid them to\ndetain you; but I--I have no such obligation.", "Go, malignant monster--why\ndo you delay?\"", "It would be difficult to describe the expression with which Magua\nlistened to this threat to follow.", "There was at first a fierce and\nmanifest display of joy, and then it was instantly subdued in a look of\ncunning coldness.", "\"The woods are open,\" he was content with answering.", "\"'The Open Hand'\ncan come.\"", "\"Hold,\" cried Hawkeye, seizing Duncan by the arm, and detaining him by\nviolence; \"you know not the craft of the imp.", "He would lead you to an\nambushment, and your death--\"\n\n\"Huron,\" interrupted Uncas, who, submissive to the stern customs of his\npeople, had been an attentive and grave listener to all that passed;\n\"Huron, the justice of the Delawares comes from the Manitou.", "Look at the\nsun.", "He is now in the upper branches of the hemlock.", "Your path is short\nand open.", "When he is seen above the trees, there will be men on your\ntrail.\"", "\"I hear a crow!\"", "exclaimed Magua, with a taunting laugh.", "\"Go!\"", "he added,\nshaking his hand at the crowd, which had slowly opened to admit his\npassage,--\"Where are the petticoats of the Delawares!", "Let them send\ntheir arrows and their guns to the Wyandots; they shall have venison to\neat, and corn to hoe.", "Dogs, rabbits, thieves--I spit on you!\"", "His parting gibes were listened to in a dead, boding silence, and, with\nthese biting words in his mouth, the triumphant Magua passed unmolested\ninto the forest, followed by his passive captive, and protected by the\ninviolable laws of Indian hospitality." ]

[ "There is no force in the decrees of Venice:\n I stand for judgment; answer, shall I have it?\"", "He passed a hand before his eyes, as if to\nexclude the least evidence of so shameful a spectacle, while he\nrepeated, in his low, guttural tones, the words he had just heard.", "I have lived to see the tribes of the Lenape driven from\ntheir council-fires, and scattered, like broken herds of deer, among the\nhills of the Iroquois!", "I have seen the hatchets of a strange people\nsweep woods from the valleys, that the winds of heaven had spared!", "\"Men of the Lenni Lenape!\"", "Your\nfeeble tribe stands on my shell!", "thy\nrace will not end.\"", "Magua advanced, and seized his captive strongly by the arm; the\nDelawares fell back, in silence; and Cora, as if conscious that\nremonstrance would be useless, prepared to submit to her fate without\nresistance.", "I might consent to go into winter-quarters,\nnow--at least six weeks afore the leaves will turn--on condition you\nwill release the maiden.\"", "He is now in the upper branches of the hemlock." ]

[ "Go, malignant monster--why\ndo you delay?\"", "He would lead you to an\nambushment, and your death--\"\n\n\"Huron,\" interrupted Uncas, who, submissive to the stern customs of his\npeople, had been an attentive and grave listener to all that passed;\n\"Huron, the justice of the Delawares comes from the Manitou.", "The sage started, and bent his head aside, as if to catch the fleeting\nsounds of some passing melody.", "Uncas made no reply.", "\"Is Tamenund a boy?\"", "His people steadily construed his\nunintelligible language into one of those mysterious conferences he was\nbelieved to hold so frequently with a superior intelligence, and they\nawaited the issue of the revelation in awe.", "Make him strong with his own.\"", "Uncas\ntook the scout by the hand, and led him to the feet of the patriarch.", "I might consent to go into winter-quarters,\nnow--at least six weeks afore the leaves will turn--on condition you\nwill release the maiden.\"", "The calm and deep silence which succeeded these words, sufficiently\nannounced the awful reverence with which his people received the\ncommunication of the patriarch." ]

[ "\"If a Mingo has whispered that much in the ear of the Delaware, he has\nonly shown that he is a singing-bird,\" said the scout, who now believed\nthat it was time to vindicate himself from such offensive charges, and\nwho spoke in the tongue of the man he addressed, modifying his Indian\nfigures, however, with his own peculiar notions.", "\"That I have slain the\nMaquas I am not the man to deny, even at their own council-fires; but\nthat, knowingly, my hand has ever harmed a Delaware, is opposed to the\nreason of my gifts, which is friendly to them, and all that belongs to\ntheir nation.\"", "A low exclamation of applause passed among the warriors, who exchanged\nlooks with each other like men that first began to perceive their error.", "\"Where is the Huron?\"", "demanded Tamenund.", "\"Has he stopped my ears?\"", "Magua, whose feelings during that scene in which Uncas had triumphed may\nbe much better imagined than described, answered to the call by stepping\nboldly in front of the patriarch.", "\"The just Tamenund,\" he said, \"will not keep what a Huron has lent.\"", "\"Tell me, son of my brother,\" returned the sage, avoiding the dark\ncountenance of Le Subtil, and turning gladly to the more ingenuous\nfeatures of Uncas, \"has the stranger a conqueror's right over you?\"", "\"He has none.", "The panther may get into snares set by the women; but he\nis strong, and knows how to leap through them.\"" ]

[ "\n \"If you deny me, fie upon your law!", "There is no force in the decrees of Venice:\n I stand for judgment; answer, shall I have it?\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe silence continued unbroken by human sounds for many anxious minutes.", "Then the waving multitude opened and shut again, and Uncas stood in the\nliving circle.", "All those eyes, which had been curiously studying the\nlineaments of the sage, as the source of their own intelligence, turned\non the instant, and were now bent in secret admiration on the erect,\nagile, and faultless person of the captive.", "But neither the presence in\nwhich he found himself, nor the exclusive attention that he attracted,\nin any manner disturbed the self-possession of the young Mohican.", "He\ncast a deliberate and observing look on every side of him, meeting the\nsettled expression of hostility that lowered in the visages of the\nchiefs, with the same calmness as the curious gaze of the attentive\nchildren.", "But when, last in his haughty scrutiny, the person of Tamenund\ncame under his glance, his eye became fixed, as though all other objects\nwere already forgotten.", "Then advancing with a slow and noiseless step up\nthe area, he placed himself immediately before the footstool of the\nsage.", "Here he stood unnoted, though keenly observant himself, until one\nof the chiefs apprised the latter of his presence.", "He is now in the upper branches of the hemlock.", "Your path is short\nand open.", "When he is seen above the trees, there will be men on your\ntrail.\"", "\"I hear a crow!\"", "exclaimed Magua, with a taunting laugh.", "\"Go!\"", "he added,\nshaking his hand at the crowd, which had slowly opened to admit his\npassage,--\"Where are the petticoats of the Delawares!", "Let them send\ntheir arrows and their guns to the Wyandots; they shall have venison to\neat, and corn to hoe.", "Dogs, rabbits, thieves--I spit on you!\"", "His parting gibes were listened to in a dead, boding silence, and, with\nthese biting words in his mouth, the triumphant Magua passed unmolested\ninto the forest, followed by his passive captive, and protected by the\ninviolable laws of Indian hospitality." ]

[ "\n_\"Flue._--Kill the poys and the luggage!", "'Tis expressly against the\n law of arms; 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be\n offered in the world.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nSo long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the multitude\nremained motionless as beings charmed to the place by some power that\nwas friendly to the Huron; but the instant he disappeared, it became\ntossed and agitated by fierce and powerful passion.", "Uncas maintained his\nelevated stand, keeping his eyes on the form of Cora, until the colors\nof her dress were blended with the foliage of the forest; when he\ndescended, and moving silently through the throng, he disappeared in\nthat lodge from which he had so recently issued.", "A few of the graver and\nmore attentive warriors, who caught the gleams of anger that shot from\nthe eyes of the young chief in passing, followed him to the place he had\nselected for his meditations.", "After which, Tamenund and Alice were\nremoved, and the women and children were ordered to disperse.", "During the\nmomentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled a hive of\ntroubled bees, who only awaited the appearance and example of their\nleader to take some distant and momentous flight.", "A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Uncas; and moving\ndeliberately, with a sort of grave march, towards a dwarf pine that grew\nin the crevices of the rocky terrace, he tore the bark from its body,\nand then returned whence he came without speaking.", "He was soon followed\nby another, who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked\nand blazed[28] trunk.", "A third colored the posts with stripes of a dark\nred paint; all which indications of a hostile design in the leaders of\nthe nation were received by the men without in a gloomy and ominous\nsilence.", "Finally, the Mohican himself reappeared, divested of all his\nattire except his girdle and leggings, and with one-half of his fine\nfeatures hid under a cloud of threatening black.", "Uncas moved with a slow and dignified tread towards the post, which he\nimmediately commenced encircling with a measured step, not unlike an\nancient dance, raising his voice, at the same time, in the wild and\nirregular chant of his war-song.", "The notes were in the extremes of human\nsounds; being sometimes melancholy and exquisitely plaintive, even\nrivalling the melody of birds--and then, by sudden and startling\ntransitions, causing the auditors to tremble by their depth and energy.", "The words were few and often repeated, proceeding gradually from a sort\nof invocation, or hymn to the Deity, to an intimation of the warrior's\nobject, and terminating as they commenced with an acknowledgment of his\nown dependence on the Great Spirit.", "If it were possible to translate the\ncomprehensive and melodious language in which he spoke, the ode might\nread something like the following:\n\n \"Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Thou art great, thou art good, thou art wise:\n Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Thou art just.", "\"In the heavens, in the clouds, O, I see\n Many spots--many dark, many red:\n In the heavens, O, I see\n Many clouds.", "\"In the woods, in the air, O, I hear\n The whoop, the long yell, and the cry:\n In the woods, O, I hear\n The loud whoop!", "\"Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Thou art weak--thou art strong; I am slow:\n Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Give me aid.\"", "At the end of what might be called each verse he made a pause, by\nraising a note louder and longer than common, that was peculiarly suited\nto the sentiment just expressed.", "The first close was solemn, and\nintended to convey the idea of veneration; the second descriptive,\nbordering on the alarming; and the third was the well known and terrific\nwar-whoop, which burst from the lips of the young warrior, like a\ncombination of all the frightful sounds of battle.", "The last was like the\nfirst, humble and imploring.", "Three times did he repeat this song, and as\noften did he encircle the post in his dance.", "At the close of the first turn, a grave and highly esteemed chief of\nthe Lenape followed his example, singing words of his own, however, to\nmusic of a similar character.", "Warrior after warrior enlisted in the\ndance, until all of any renown and authority were numbered in its mazes.", "The spectacle now became wildly terrific; the fierce-looking and\nmenacing visages of the chiefs receiving additional power from the\nappalling strains in which they mingled their guttural tones.", "Just then\nUncas struck his tomahawk deep into the post, and raised his voice in a\nshout, which might be termed his own battle-cry.", "The act announced that\nhe had assumed the chief authority in the intended expedition.", "It was a signal that awakened all the slumbering passions of a nation.", "A\nhundred youths, who had hitherto been restrained by the diffidence of\ntheir years, rushed in a frantic body on the fancied emblem of their\nenemy, and severed it asunder, splinter by splinter, until nothing\nremained of the trunk but its roots in the earth.", "During this moment of\ntumult, the most ruthless deeds of war were performed on the fragments\nof the tree, with as much apparent ferocity as if they were the living\nvictims of their cruelty.", "Some were scalped; some received the keen and\ntrembling axe; and others suffered by thrusts from the fatal knife.", "In\nshort, the manifestations of zeal and fierce delight were so great and\nunequivocal, that the expedition was declared to be a war of the nation.", "The instant Uncas had struck the blow, he moved out of the circle, and\ncast his eyes up to the sun, which was just gaining the point, when the\ntruce with Magua was to end.", "The fact was soon announced by a\nsignificant gesture, accompanied by a corresponding cry; and the whole\nof the excited multitude abandoned their mimic warfare, with shrill\nyells of pleasure, to prepare for the more hazardous experiment of the\nreality.", "The whole face of the encampment was instantly changed.", "The warriors,\nwho were already armed and painted, became as still as if they were\nincapable of any uncommon burst of emotion.", "On the other hand, the women\nbroke out of the lodges, with the songs of joy and those of lamentation,\nso strangely mingled, that it might have been difficult to have said\nwhich passion preponderated.", "None, however, were idle.", "Some bore their\nchoicest articles, others their young, and some their aged and infirm,\ninto the forest, which spread itself like a verdant carpet of bright\ngreen against the side of the mountain.", "Thither Tamenund also retired,\nwith calm composure, after a short and touching interview with Uncas;\nfrom whom the sage separated with the reluctance that a parent would\nquit a long lost and just recovered child.", "In the meantime, Duncan saw\nAlice to a place of safety, and then sought the scout, with a\ncountenance that denoted how eagerly he also panted for the approaching\ncontest.", "But Hawkeye was too much accustomed to the war-song and the enlistments\nof the natives, to betray any interest in the passing scene.", "He merely\ncast an occasional look at the number and quality of the warriors, who,\nfrom time to time, signified their readiness to accompany Uncas to the\nfield.", "In this particular he was soon satisfied; for, as has been\nalready seen, the power of the young chief quickly embraced every\nfighting man in the nation.", "After this material point was so\nsatisfactorily decided, he despatched an Indian boy in quest of\n\"Killdeer\" and the rifle of Uncas, to the place where they had deposited\nthe weapons on approaching the camp of the Delawares; a measure of\ndouble policy, inasmuch as it protected the arms from their own fate, if\ndetained as prisoners, and gave them the advantage of appearing among\nthe strangers rather as sufferers than as men provided with the means of\ndefence and subsistence.", "In selecting another to perform the office of\nreclaiming his highly prized rifle, the scout had lost sight of none of\nhis habitual caution.", "He knew that Magua had not come unattended, and he\nalso knew that Huron spies watched the movements of their new enemies,\nalong the whole boundary of the woods.", "It would, therefore, have been\nfatal to himself to have attempted the experiment; a warrior would have\nfared no better; but the danger of a boy would not be likely to commence\nuntil after his object was discovered.", "When Heyward joined him, the\nscout was coolly awaiting the result of this experiment.", "The boy, who had been well instructed, and was sufficiently crafty,\nproceeded, with a bosom that was swelling with the pride of such a\nconfidence, and all the hopes of young ambition, carelessly across the\nclearing to the wood, which he entered at a point at some little\ndistance from the place where the guns were secreted.", "The instant,\nhowever, he was concealed by the foliage of the bushes, his dusky form\nwas to be seen gliding, like that of a serpent, towards the desired\ntreasure.", "He was successful; and in another moment he appeared flying\nacross the narrow opening that skirted the base of the terrace on which\nthe village stood, with the velocity of an arrow, and bearing a prize\nin each hand.", "He had actually gained the crags, and was leaping up their\nsides with incredible activity, when a shot from the woods showed how\naccurate had been the judgment of the scout.", "The boy answered it with a\nfeeble but contemptuous shout; and immediately a second bullet was sent\nafter him from another part of the cover.", "At the next instant he\nappeared on the level above, elevating his guns in triumph, while he\nmoved with the air of a conqueror towards the renowned hunter who had\nhonored him by so glorious a commission.", "Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawkeye had taken in the fate of his\nmessenger, he received \"Killdeer\" with a satisfaction that, momentarily,\ndrove all other recollections from his mind.", "After examining the piece\nwith an intelligent eye, and opening and shutting the pan some ten or\nfifteen times, and trying sundry other equally important experiments on\nthe lock, he turned to the boy, and demanded with great manifestations\nof kindness, if he was hurt.", "The urchin looked proudly up in his face,\nbut made no reply.", "\"Ah!", "I see, lad, the knaves have barked your arm!\"", "added the scout,\ntaking up the limb of the patient sufferer, across which a deep flesh\nwound had been made by one of the bullets; \"but a little bruised alder\nwill act like a charm.", "In the meantime I will wrap it in a badge of\nwampum!", "You have commenced the business of a warrior early, my brave\nboy, and are likely to bear a plenty of honorable scars to your grave.", "I\nknow many young men that have taken scalps who cannot show such a mark\nas this.", "Go!\"", "having bound up the arm; \"you will be a chief!\"", "The lad departed, prouder of his flowing blood than the vainest courtier\ncould be of his blushing ribbon; and stalked among the fellows of his\nage, an object of general admiration and envy.", "But in a moment of so many serious and important duties, this single act\nof juvenile fortitude did not attract the general notice and\ncommendation it would have received under milder auspices.", "It had,\nhowever, served to apprise the Delawares of the position and the\nintentions of their enemies.", "Accordingly a party of adventurers, better\nsuited to the task than the weak though spirited boy, was ordered to\ndislodge the skulkers.", "The duty was soon performed; for most of the\nHurons retired of themselves when they found they had been discovered.", "The Delawares followed to a sufficient distance from their own\nencampment, and then halted for orders, apprehensive of being led into\nan ambush.", "As both parties secreted themselves, the woods were again as\nstill and quiet as a mild summer morning and deep solitude could render\nthem.", "The calm but still impatient Uncas now collected his chiefs, and divided\nhis power.", "He presented Hawkeye as a warrior, often tried, and always\nfound deserving of confidence.", "When he found his friend met with a\nfavorable reception, he bestowed on him the command of twenty men, like\nhimself, active, skilful, and resolute.", "He gave the Delawares to\nunderstand the rank of Heyward among the troops of the Yengeese, and\nthen tendered to him a trust of equal authority.", "But Duncan declined the\ncharge, professing his readiness to serve as a volunteer by the side of\nthe scout.", "After this disposition, the young Mohican appointed various\nnative chiefs to fill the different situations of responsibility, and\nthe time pressing, he gave forth the word to march.", "He was cheerfully,\nbut silently, obeyed by more than two hundred men.", "Their entrance into the forest was perfectly unmolested; nor did they\nencounter any living objects, that could either give the alarm, or\nfurnish the intelligence they needed, until they came upon the lairs of\ntheir own scouts.", "Here a halt was ordered, and the chiefs were assembled\nto hold a \"whispering council.\"", "At this meeting divers plans of operation were suggested, though none of\na character to meet the wishes of their ardent leader.", "Had Uncas\nfollowed the promptings of his own inclinations, he would have led his\nfollowers to the charge without a moment's delay, and put the conflict\nto the hazard of an instant issue; but such a course would have been in\nopposition to all the received practices and opinions of his countrymen.", "He was, therefore, fain to adopt a caution that in the present temper of\nhis mind he execrated, and to listen to advice at which his fiery spirit\nchafed, under the vivid recollection of Cora's danger and Magua's\ninsolence.", "After an unsatisfactory conference of many minutes, a solitary\nindividual was seen advancing from the side of the enemy, with such\napparent haste, as to induce the belief he might be a messenger charged\nwith pacific overtures.", "When within a hundred yards, however, of the\ncover behind which the Delaware council had assembled, the stranger\nhesitated, appeared uncertain what course to take, and finally halted.", "All eyes were now turned on Uncas, as if seeking directions how to\nproceed.", "\"Hawkeye,\" said the young chief, in a low voice, \"he must never speak to\nthe Hurons again.\"", "\"His time has come,\" said the laconic scout, thrusting the long barrel\nof his rifle through the leaves, and taking his deliberate and fatal\naim.", "But, instead of pulling the trigger he lowered the muzzle again,\nand indulged himself in a fit of his peculiar mirth.", "\"I took the imp for\na Mingo, as I'm a miserable sinner!\"", "he said; \"but when my eye ranged\nalong his ribs for a place to get the bullet in--would you think it,\nUncas--I saw the musicianer's blower; and so, after all, it is the man\nthey call Gamut, whose death can profit no one, and whose life, if his\ntongue can do anything but sing, may be made serviceable to our own\nends.", "If sounds have not lost their virtue, I'll soon have a discourse\nwith the honest fellow, and that in a voice he'll find more agreeable\nthan the speech of 'Killdeer.'\"", "So saying, Hawkeye laid aside his rifle; and crawling through the bushes\nuntil within hearing of David, he attempted to repeat the musical\neffort, which had conducted himself, with so much safety and _eclat_,\nthrough the Huron encampment.", "The exquisite organs of Gamut could not\nreadily be deceived (and, to say the truth, it would have been difficult\nfor any other than Hawkeye to produce a similar noise), and\nconsequently, having once before heard the sounds, he now knew whence\nthey proceeded.", "The poor fellow appeared relieved from a state of great\nembarrassment; for pursuing the direction of the voice--a task that to\nhim was not much less arduous than it would have been to have gone up in\nthe face of a battery--he soon discovered the hidden songster.", "\"I wonder what the Hurons will think of that!\"", "said the scout, laughing,\nas he took his companion by the arm, and urged him towards the rear.", "\"If\nthe knaves lie within ear-shot, they will say there are two\nnon-compossers instead of one!", "But here we are safe,\" he added, pointing\nto Uncas and his associates.", "\"Now give us the history of the Mingo\ninventions in natural English, and without any ups and downs of voice.\"", "David gazed about him, at the fierce and wild-looking chiefs, in mute\nwonder; but assured by the presence of faces that he knew, he soon\nrallied his faculties so far as to make an intelligent reply.", "\"The heathen are abroad in goodly numbers,\" said David, \"and, I fear,\nwith evil intent.", "There has been much howling and ungodly revelry,\ntogether with such sounds as it is profanity to utter, in their\nhabitations within the past hour; so much so, in truth, that I have fled\nto the Delawares in search of peace.\"", "\"Your ears might not have profited much by the exchange, had you been\nquicker of foot,\" returned the scout, a little dryly.", "\"But let that be\nas it may; where are the Hurons?\"", "\"They lie hid in the forest, between this spot and their village, in\nsuch force, that prudence would teach you instantly to return.\"", "Uncas cast a glance along the range of trees which concealed his own\nband and mentioned the name of--\n\n\"Magua?\"", "\"Is among them.", "He brought in the maiden that had sojourned with the\nDelawares, and leaving her in the cave, has put himself, like a raging\nwolf, at the head of his savages.", "I know not what has troubled his\nspirit so greatly!\"", "\"He has left her, you say, in the cave!\"", "interrupted Heyward; \"'tis well\nthat we know its situation!", "May not something be done for her instant\nrelief?\"", "Uncas looked earnestly at the scout, before he asked,--\n\n\"What says Hawkeye?\"", "\"Give me twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right, along the stream;\nand passing by the huts of the beaver, will join the Sagamore and the\ncolonel.", "You shall then hear the whoop from that quarter; with this wind\none may easily send it a mile.", "Then, Uncas, do you drive in their front;\nwhen they come within range of our pieces, we will give them a blow\nthat, I pledge the good name of an old frontiersman, shall make their\nline bend like an ashen bow.", "After which, we will carry their village,\nand take the woman from the cave; when the affair may be finished with\nthe tribe, according to a white man's battle, by a blow and a victory;\nor, in the Indian fashion, with dodge and cover.", "There may be no great\nlearning, major, in this plan, but with courage and patience it can all\nbe done.\"", "\"I like it much,\" cried Duncan, who saw the release of Cora was the\nprimary object in the mind of the scout; \"I like it much.", "Let it be\ninstantly attempted.\"", "After a short conference, the plan was matured, and rendered more\nintelligible to the several parties; the different signals were\nappointed, and the chiefs separated, each to his allotted station." ]

[ "He was soon followed\nby another, who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked\nand blazed[28] trunk.", "Manitou!", "Warrior after warrior enlisted in the\ndance, until all of any renown and authority were numbered in its mazes.", "After this material point was so\nsatisfactorily decided, he despatched an Indian boy in quest of\n\"Killdeer\" and the rifle of Uncas, to the place where they had deposited\nthe weapons on approaching the camp of the Delawares; a measure of\ndouble policy, inasmuch as it protected the arms from their own fate, if\ndetained as prisoners, and gave them the advantage of appearing among\nthe strangers rather as sufferers than as men provided with the means of\ndefence and subsistence.", "The instant,\nhowever, he was concealed by the foliage of the bushes, his dusky form\nwas to be seen gliding, like that of a serpent, towards the desired\ntreasure.", "In the meantime I will wrap it in a badge of\nwampum!", "He presented Hawkeye as a warrior, often tried, and always\nfound deserving of confidence.", "I know not what has troubled his\nspirit so greatly!\"", "May not something be done for her instant\nrelief?\"", "\"I like it much,\" cried Duncan, who saw the release of Cora was the\nprimary object in the mind of the scout; \"I like it much." ]

[ "None, however, were idle.", "The act announced that\nhe had assumed the chief authority in the intended expedition.", "But Hawkeye was too much accustomed to the war-song and the enlistments\nof the natives, to betray any interest in the passing scene.", "He was, therefore, fain to adopt a caution that in the present temper of\nhis mind he execrated, and to listen to advice at which his fiery spirit\nchafed, under the vivid recollection of Cora's danger and Magua's\ninsolence.", "\"If\nthe knaves lie within ear-shot, they will say there are two\nnon-compossers instead of one!", "During the\nmomentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled a hive of\ntroubled bees, who only awaited the appearance and example of their\nleader to take some distant and momentous flight.", "After this disposition, the young Mohican appointed various\nnative chiefs to fill the different situations of responsibility, and\nthe time pressing, he gave forth the word to march.", "He merely\ncast an occasional look at the number and quality of the warriors, who,\nfrom time to time, signified their readiness to accompany Uncas to the\nfield.", "\"I wonder what the Hurons will think of that!\"", "Some were scalped; some received the keen and\ntrembling axe; and others suffered by thrusts from the fatal knife." ]

[ "He had actually gained the crags, and was leaping up their\nsides with incredible activity, when a shot from the woods showed how\naccurate had been the judgment of the scout.", "The boy answered it with a\nfeeble but contemptuous shout; and immediately a second bullet was sent\nafter him from another part of the cover.", "At the next instant he\nappeared on the level above, elevating his guns in triumph, while he\nmoved with the air of a conqueror towards the renowned hunter who had\nhonored him by so glorious a commission.", "Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawkeye had taken in the fate of his\nmessenger, he received \"Killdeer\" with a satisfaction that, momentarily,\ndrove all other recollections from his mind.", "After examining the piece\nwith an intelligent eye, and opening and shutting the pan some ten or\nfifteen times, and trying sundry other equally important experiments on\nthe lock, he turned to the boy, and demanded with great manifestations\nof kindness, if he was hurt.", "The urchin looked proudly up in his face,\nbut made no reply.", "\"Ah!", "I see, lad, the knaves have barked your arm!\"", "added the scout,\ntaking up the limb of the patient sufferer, across which a deep flesh\nwound had been made by one of the bullets; \"but a little bruised alder\nwill act like a charm.", "In the meantime I will wrap it in a badge of\nwampum!", "You have commenced the business of a warrior early, my brave\nboy, and are likely to bear a plenty of honorable scars to your grave." ]

[ "\n_\"Flue._--Kill the poys and the luggage!", "'Tis expressly against the\n law of arms; 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be\n offered in the world.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nSo long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the multitude\nremained motionless as beings charmed to the place by some power that\nwas friendly to the Huron; but the instant he disappeared, it became\ntossed and agitated by fierce and powerful passion.", "Uncas maintained his\nelevated stand, keeping his eyes on the form of Cora, until the colors\nof her dress were blended with the foliage of the forest; when he\ndescended, and moving silently through the throng, he disappeared in\nthat lodge from which he had so recently issued.", "A few of the graver and\nmore attentive warriors, who caught the gleams of anger that shot from\nthe eyes of the young chief in passing, followed him to the place he had\nselected for his meditations.", "After which, Tamenund and Alice were\nremoved, and the women and children were ordered to disperse.", "During the\nmomentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled a hive of\ntroubled bees, who only awaited the appearance and example of their\nleader to take some distant and momentous flight.", "A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Uncas; and moving\ndeliberately, with a sort of grave march, towards a dwarf pine that grew\nin the crevices of the rocky terrace, he tore the bark from its body,\nand then returned whence he came without speaking.", "He was soon followed\nby another, who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked\nand blazed[28] trunk.", "A third colored the posts with stripes of a dark\nred paint; all which indications of a hostile design in the leaders of\nthe nation were received by the men without in a gloomy and ominous\nsilence.", "May not something be done for her instant\nrelief?\"", "Uncas looked earnestly at the scout, before he asked,--\n\n\"What says Hawkeye?\"", "\"Give me twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right, along the stream;\nand passing by the huts of the beaver, will join the Sagamore and the\ncolonel.", "You shall then hear the whoop from that quarter; with this wind\none may easily send it a mile.", "Then, Uncas, do you drive in their front;\nwhen they come within range of our pieces, we will give them a blow\nthat, I pledge the good name of an old frontiersman, shall make their\nline bend like an ashen bow.", "After which, we will carry their village,\nand take the woman from the cave; when the affair may be finished with\nthe tribe, according to a white man's battle, by a blow and a victory;\nor, in the Indian fashion, with dodge and cover.", "There may be no great\nlearning, major, in this plan, but with courage and patience it can all\nbe done.\"", "\"I like it much,\" cried Duncan, who saw the release of Cora was the\nprimary object in the mind of the scout; \"I like it much.", "Let it be\ninstantly attempted.\"", "After a short conference, the plan was matured, and rendered more\nintelligible to the several parties; the different signals were\nappointed, and the chiefs separated, each to his allotted station." ]

[ "\n \"But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,\n Till the great king, without a ransom paid,\n To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.\"", "POPE.", "During the time Uncas was making this disposition of his forces, the\nwoods were still, and, with the exception of those who had met in\ncouncil, apparently as much untenanted, as when they came fresh from the\nhands of their Almighty Creator.", "The eye could range, in every\ndirection, through the long and shadowed vistas of the trees; but\nnowhere was any object to be seen that did not properly belong to the\npeaceful and slumbering scenery.", "Here and there a bird was heard\nfluttering among the branches of the beeches, and occasionally a\nsquirrel dropped a nut, drawing the startled looks of the party, for a\nmoment, to the place; but the instant the casual interruption ceased,\nthe passing air was heard murmuring above their heads, along that\nverdant and undulating surface of forest, which spread itself unbroken,\nunless by stream or lake, over such a vast region of country.", "Across the\ntract of wilderness, which lay between the Delawares and the village of\ntheir enemies, it seemed as if the foot of man had never trodden, so\nbreathing and deep was the silence in which it lay.", "But Hawkeye, whose\nduty led him foremost in the adventure, knew the character of those with\nwhom he was about to contend too well to trust the treacherous quiet.", "When he saw his little band collected, the scout threw \"Killdeer\" into\nthe hollow of his arm, and making a silent signal that he would be\nfollowed, he led them many rods towards the rear, into the bed of a\nlittle brook which they had crossed in advancing.", "Here he halted; and\nafter waiting for the whole of his grave and attentive warriors to close\nabout him, he spoke in Delaware, demanding--\n\n\"Do any of my young men know whither this run will lead us?\"", "A Delaware stretched forth a hand, with the two fingers separated, and\nindicating the manner in which they were joined at the root, he\nanswered,--\n\n\"Before the sun could go his own length, the little water will be in\nthe big.\"", "Then he added, pointing in the direction of the place he\nmentioned, \"the two make enough for the beavers.\"", "\"I thought as much,\" returned the scout, glancing his eye upwards at the\nopening in the tree-tops, \"from the course it takes, and the bearings of\nthe mountains.", "Men, we will keep within the cover of its banks till we\nscent the Hurons.\"", "His companions gave the usual brief exclamation of assent, but\nperceiving that their leader was about to lead the way in person, one or\ntwo made signs that all was not as it should be.", "Hawkeye, who\ncomprehended their meaning glances, turned, and perceived that his party\nhad been followed thus far by the singing-master.", "\"Do you know, friend,\" asked the scout gravely, and perhaps with a\nlittle of the pride of conscious deserving in his manner, \"that this is\na band of rangers chosen for the most desperate service, and put under\nthe command of one who, though another might say it with a better face,\nwill not be apt to leave them idle.", "It may not be five, it cannot be\nthirty minutes before we tread on the body of a Huron, living or dead.\"", "\"Though not admonished of your intentions in words,\" returned David,\nwhose face was a little flushed, and whose ordinarily quiet and\nunmeaning eyes glimmered with an expression of unusual fire, \"your men\nhave reminded me of the children of Jacob going out to battle against\nthe Shechemites, for wickedly aspiring to wedlock with a woman of a race\nthat was favored of the Lord.", "Now, I have journeyed far, and sojourned\nmuch in good and evil with the maiden ye seek; and though not a man of\nwar, with my loins girded and my sword sharpened, yet would I gladly\nstrike a blow in her behalf.\"", "The scout hesitated, as if weighing the chances of such a strange\nenlistment in his mind before he answered,--\n\n\"You know not the use of any we'pon.", "You carry no rifle; and believe me,\nwhat the Mingos take they will freely give again.\"", "\"Though not a vaunting and bloodily disposed Goliath,\" returned David,\ndrawing a sling from beneath his parti-colored and uncouth attire, \"I\nhave not forgotten the example of the Jewish boy.", "With this ancient\ninstrument of war have I practised much in my youth, and peradventure\nthe skill has not entirely departed from me.\"", "\"Ay!\"", "said Hawkeye, considering the deer-skin thong and apron, with a\ncold and discouraging eye; \"the thing might do its work among arrows, or\neven knives; but these Mengwe have been furnished by the Frenchers with\na good grooved barrel a man.", "However, it seems to be your gift to go\nunharmed amid fire; and as you have hitherto been favored--major, you\nhave left your rifle at a cock; a single shot before the time would be\njust twenty scalps lost to no purpose--singer, you can follow; we may\nfind use for you in the shoutings.\"", "\"I thank you, friend,\" returned David, supplying himself, like his royal\nnamesake, from among the pebbles of the brook; \"though not given to the\ndesire to kill, had you sent me away my spirit would have been\ntroubled.\"", "\"Remember,\" added the scout, tapping his own head significantly on that\nspot where Gamut was yet sore, \"we come to fight, and not to musickate.", "Until the general whoop is given, nothing speaks but the rifle.\"", "David nodded, as much as to signify his acquiescence with the terms; and\nthen Hawkeye, casting another observant glance over his followers, made\nthe signal to proceed.", "Their route lay, for the distance of a mile, along the bed of the\nwater-course.", "Though protected from any great danger of observation by\nthe precipitous banks, and the thick shrubbery which skirted the stream,\nno precaution known to an Indian attack was neglected.", "A warrior rather\ncrawled than walked on each flank, so as to catch occasional glimpses\ninto the forest; and every few minutes the band came to a halt, and\nlistened for hostile sounds, with an acuteness of organs that would be\nscarcely conceivable to a man in a less natural state.", "Their march was,\nhowever, unmolested, and they reached the point where the lesser stream\nwas lost in the greater, without the smallest evidence that their\nprogress had been noted.", "Here the scout again halted, to consult the\nsigns of the forest.", "\"We are likely to have a good day for a fight,\" he said, in English,\naddressing Heyward, and glancing his eye upwards at the clouds, which\nbegan to move in broad sheets across the firmament; \"a bright sun and a\nglittering barrel are no friends to true sight.", "Everything is favorable;\nthey have the wind, which will bring down their noises and their smoke\ntoo, no little matter in itself; whereas, with us it will be first a\nshot, and then a clear view.", "But here is an end of our cover; the\nbeavers have had the range of this stream for hundreds of years, and\nwhat atween their food and their dams, there is, as you see, many a\ngirdled stub, but few living trees.\"", "Hawkeye had, in truth, in these few words, given no bad description of\nthe prospect that now lay in their front.", "The brook was irregular in its\nwidth, sometimes shooting through narrow fissures in the rocks, and at\nothers spreading over acres of bottom land, forming little areas that\nmight be termed ponds.", "Everywhere along its banks were the mouldering\nrelics of dead trees, in all the stages of decay, from those that\ngroaned on their tottering trunks to such as had recently been robbed of\nthose rugged coats that so mysteriously contain their principle of life.", "A few long, low, and moss-covered piles were scattered among them, like\nthe memorials of a former and long-departed generation.", "All these minute particulars were noted by the scout, with a gravity and\ninterest that they probably had never before attracted.", "He knew that the\nHuron encampment lay a short half mile up the brook; and, with the\ncharacteristic anxiety of one who dreaded a hidden danger, he was\ngreatly troubled at not finding the smallest trace of the presence of\nhis enemy.", "Once or twice he felt induced to give the order for a rush,\nand to attempt the village by surprise; but his experience quickly\nadmonished him of the danger of so useless an experiment.", "Then he\nlistened intently, and with painful uncertainty, for the sounds of\nhostility in the quarter where Uncas was left; but nothing was audible\nexcept the sighing of the wind, that began to sweep over the bosom of\nthe forest in gusts which threatened a tempest.", "At length, yielding\nrather to his unusual impatience than taking counsel from his knowledge,\nhe determined to bring matters to an issue, by unmasking his force, and\nproceeding cautiously, but steadily, up the stream.", "The scout had stood, while making his observations, sheltered by a\nbrake, and his companions still lay in the bed of the ravine, through\nwhich the smaller stream debouched; but on hearing his low, though\nintelligible signal, the whole party stole up the bank, like so many\ndark spectres, and silently arranged themselves around him.", "Pointing in\nthe direction he wished to proceed, Hawkeye advanced, the band breaking\noff in single files, and following so accurately in his footsteps, as if\nto leave it, if we except Heyward and David, the trail of but a single\nman.", "The party was, however, scarcely uncovered before a volley from a dozen\nrifles was heard in their rear; and a Delaware leaping high into the\nair, like a wounded deer, fell at his whole length, perfectly dead.", "\"Ah!", "I feared some deviltry like this!\"", "exclaimed the scout, in English;\nadding, with the quickness of thought, in his adopted tongue, \"To cover,\nmen, and charge!\"", "The band dispersed at the word, and before Heyward had well recovered\nfrom his surprise, he found himself standing alone with David.", "Luckily,\nthe Hurons had already fallen back, and he was safe from their fire.", "But\nthis state of things was evidently to be of short continuance; for the\nscout set the example of pressing on their retreat, by discharging his\nrifle, and darting from tree to tree, as his enemy slowly yielded\nground.", "It would seem that the assault had been made by a very small party of\nthe Hurons, which, however, continued to increase in numbers, as it\nretired on its friends, until the return fire was very nearly, if not\nquite, equal to that maintained by the advancing Delawares.", "Heyward\nthrew himself among the combatants, and imitating the necessary caution\nof his companions, he made quick discharges with his own rifle.", "The\ncontest now grew warm and stationary.", "Few were injured, as both parties\nkept their bodies as much protected as possible by the trees; never,\nindeed, exposing any part of their persons except in the act of taking\naim.", "But the chances were gradually growing unfavorable to Hawkeye and\nhis band.", "The quick-sighted scout perceived his danger, without knowing\nhow to remedy it.", "He saw it was more dangerous to retreat than to\nmaintain his ground; while he found his enemy throwing out men on his\nflank, which rendered the task of keeping themselves covered so very\ndifficult to the Delawares, as nearly to silence their fire.", "At this\nembarrassing moment, when they began to think the whole of the hostile\ntribe was gradually encircling them, they heard the yell of combatants,\nand the rattling of arms, echoing under the arches of the wood, at the\nplace where Uncas was posted; a bottom which, in a manner, lay beneath\nthe ground on which Hawkeye and his party were contending.", "The effects of this attack were instantaneous, and to the scout and his\nfriends greatly relieving.", "It would seem that, while his own surprise\nhad been anticipated, and had consequently failed, the enemy, in their\nturn, having been deceived in its object and in his numbers, had left\ntoo small a force to resist the impetuous onset of the young Mohican.", "This fact was doubly apparent, by the rapid manner in which the battle\nin the forest rolled upwards towards the village, and by an instant\nfalling off in the number of their assailants, who rushed to assist in\nmaintaining the front, and, as it now proved to be, the principal point\nof defence.", "Animating his followers by his voice, and his own example, Hawkeye then\ngave the word to bear down upon their foes.", "The charge, in that rude\nspecies of warfare, consisted merely in pushing from cover to cover,\nnigher to the enemy; and in this manoeuvre he was instantly and\nsuccessfully obeyed.", "The Hurons were compelled to withdraw, and the\nscene of the contest rapidly changed from the more open ground on which\nit had commenced, to a spot where the assailed found a thicket to rest\nupon.", "Here the struggle was protracted, arduous, and seemingly of\ndoubtful issue; the Delawares, though none of them fell, beginning to\nbleed freely, in consequence of the disadvantage at which they were\nheld.", "In this crisis, Hawkeye found means to get behind the same tree as that\nwhich served for a cover to Heyward; most of his own combatants being\nwithin call, a little on his right, where they maintained rapid, though\nfruitless, discharges on their sheltered enemies.", "\"You are a young man, major,\" said the scout, dropping the butt of\n\"Killdeer\" to the earth, and leaning on the barrel, a little fatigued\nwith his previous industry; \"and it may be your gift to lead armies at\nsome future day ag'in these imps the Mingos, You may here see the\nphilosophy of an Indian fight.", "It consists mainly in a ready hand, a\nquick eye, and a good cover.", "Now, if you had a company of the Royal\nAmericans here, in what manner would you set them to work in this\nbusiness?\"", "\"The bayonet would make a road.\"", "\"Ay, there is white reason in what you say; but a man must ask himself,\nin this wilderness, how many lives he can spare.", "No--horse,\"[29]\ncontinued the scout, shaking his head, like one who mused; \"horse, I am\nashamed to say, must, sooner or later, decide these scrimmages.", "The\nbrutes are better than men, and to horse must we come at last.", "Put a\nshodden hoof on the moccasin of a redskin; and if his rifle be once\nemptied, he will never stop to load it again.\"", "\"This is a subject that might better be discussed at another time,\"\nreturned Heyward; \"shall we charge?\"", "\"I see no contradiction to the gifts of any man, in passing his\nbreathing spells in useful reflections,\" the scout replied.", "\"As to a\nrush, I little relish such a measure; for a scalp or two must be thrown\naway in the attempt.", "And yet,\" he added, bending his head aside, to\ncatch the sounds of the distant combat, \"if we are to be of use to\nUncas, these knaves in our front must be got rid of!\"", "Then turning, with a prompt and decided air, he called aloud to his\nIndians, in their own language.", "His words were answered by a shout; and,\nat a given signal, each warrior made a swift movement around his\nparticular tree.", "The sight of so many dark bodies, glancing before their\neyes at the same instant, drew a hasty, and consequently an ineffectual\nfire from the Hurons.", "Without stopping to breathe, the Delawares leaped,\nin long bounds, towards the wood, like so many panthers springing upon\ntheir prey.", "Hawkeye was in front, brandishing his terrible rifle, and\nanimating his followers by his example.", "A few of the older and more\ncunning Hurons, who had not been deceived by the artifice which had been\npractised to draw their fire, now made a close and deadly discharge of\ntheir pieces, and justified the apprehensions of the scout, by felling\nthree of his foremost warriors.", "But the shock was insufficient to repel\nthe impetus of the charge.", "The Delawares broke into the cover with the\nferocity of their natures, and swept away every trace of resistance by\nthe fury of the onset.", "The combat endured only for an instant, hand to hand, and then the\nassailed yielded ground rapidly, until they reached the opposite margin\nof the thicket, where they clung to the cover, with the sort of\nobstinacy that is so often witnessed in hunted brutes.", "At this critical\nmoment, when the success of the struggle was again becoming doubtful,\nthe crack of the rifle was heard behind the Hurons, and a bullet came\nwhizzing from among some beaver lodges, which were situated in the\nclearing, in their rear, and was followed by the fierce and appalling\nyell of the war-whoop.", "\"There speaks the Sagamore!\"", "shouted Hawkeye, answering the cry with\nhis own stentorian voice; \"we have them now in face and back!\"", "The effect on the Hurons was instantaneous.", "Discouraged by an assault\nfrom a quarter that left them no opportunity for cover, their warriors\nuttered a common yell of disappointment, and breaking off in a body,\nthey spread themselves across the opening, heedless of every\nconsideration but flight.", "Many fell, in making the experiment, under the\nbullets and the blows of the pursuing Delawares.", "We shall not pause to detail the meeting between the scout and\nChingachgook, or the more touching interview that Duncan held with\nMunro.", "A few brief and hurried words served to explain the state of\nthings to both parties; and then Hawkeye pointing out the Sagamore to\nhis band, resigned the chief authority into the hands of the Mohican\nchief.", "Chingachgook assumed the station to which his birth and\nexperience gave him so distinguished a claim, with the grave dignity\nthat always gives force to the mandates of a native warrior.", "Following\nthe footsteps of the scout, he led the party back through the thicket,\nhis men scalping the fallen Hurons, and secreting the bodies of their\nown dead as they proceeded, until they gained a point where the former\nwas content to make a halt.", "The warriors, who had breathed themselves freely in the preceding\nstruggle, were now posted on a bit of level ground, sprinkled with trees\nin sufficient numbers to conceal them.", "The land fell away rather\nprecipitately in front, and beneath their eyes stretched, for several\nmiles, a narrow, dark, and wooded vale.", "It was through this dense and\ndark forest that Uncas was still contending with the main body of the\nHurons.", "The Mohican and his friends advanced to the brow of the hill, and\nlistened, with practised ears, to the sounds of the combat.", "A few birds\nhovered over the leafy bosom of the valley, frightened from their\nsecluded nests; and here and there a light vapory cloud, which seemed\nalready blending with the atmosphere, arose above the trees, and\nindicated some spot where the struggle had been fierce and stationary.", "\"The fight is coming up the ascent,\" said Duncan, pointing in the\ndirection of a new explosion of fire-arms; \"we are too much in the\ncentre of their line to be effective.\"", "\"They will incline into the hollow, where the cover is thicker,\" said\nthe scout, \"and that will leave us well on their flank.", "Go, Sagamore;\nyou will hardly be in time to give the whoop, and lead on the young men.", "I will fight this scrimmage with warriors of my own color.", "You know me,\nMohican; not a Huron of them all shall cross the swell, into your rear,\nwithout the notice of 'Killdeer.'\"", "The Indian chief paused another moment to consider the signs of the\ncontest, which was now rolling rapidly up the ascent, a certain evidence\nthat the Delawares triumphed; nor did he actually quit the place until\nadmonished of the proximity of his friends, as well as enemies, by the\nbullets of the former, which began to patter among the dried leaves on\nthe ground, like the bits of falling hail which precede the bursting of\nthe tempest.", "Hawkeye and his three companions withdrew a few paces to a\nshelter, and awaited the issue with calmness, that nothing but great\npractice could impart in such a scene.", "It was not long before the reports of the rifles began to lose the\nechoes of the woods, and to sound like weapons discharged in the open\nair.", "Then a warrior appeared, here and there, driven to the skirts of\nthe forest, and rallying as he entered the clearing, as at the place\nwhere the final stand was to be made.", "These were soon joined by the\nothers, until a long line of swarthy figures was to be seen clinging to\nthe cover with the obstinacy of desperation.", "Heyward began to grow\nimpatient, and turned his eyes anxiously in the direction of\nChingachgook.", "The chief was seated on a rock, with nothing visible but\nhis calm visage, considering the spectacle with an eye as deliberate as\nif he were posted there merely to view the struggle.", "\"The time is come for the Delawares to strike!\"", "said Duncan.", "\"Not so, not so,\" returned the scout; \"when he scents his friends, he\nwill let them know that he is here.", "See, see; the knaves are getting in\nthat clump of pines, like bees settling after their flight.", "By the Lord,\na squaw might put a bullet into the centre of such a knot of dark\nskins!\"", "At that instant the whoop was given, and a dozen Hurons fell by a\ndischarge from Chingachgook and his band.", "The shout that followed was\nanswered by a single war-cry from the forest, and a yell passed through\nthe air that sounded as if a thousand throats were united in a common\neffort.", "The Hurons staggered, deserting the centre of their line, and\nUncas issued from the forest through the opening they left, at the head\nof a hundred warriors.", "Waving his hands right and left, the young chief pointed out the enemy\nto his followers, who separated in pursuit.", "The war now divided, both\nwings of the broken Hurons seeking protection in the woods again, hotly\npressed by the victorious warriors of the Lenape.", "A minute might have\npassed, but the sounds were already receding in different directions,\nand gradually losing their distinctness beneath the echoing arches of\nthe woods.", "One little knot of Hurons, however, had disdained to seek a\ncover, and were retiring, like lions at bay, slowly and sullenly up the\nacclivity which Chingachgook and his band had just deserted, to mingle\nmore closely in the fray.", "Magua was conspicuous in this party, both by\nhis fierce and savage mien, and by the air of haughty authority he yet\nmaintained.", "In his eagerness to expedite the pursuit, Uncas had left himself nearly\nalone; but the moment his eyes caught the figure of Le Subtil, every\nother consideration was forgotten.", "Raising his cry of battle, which\nrecalled some six or seven warriors, and reckless of the disparity of\ntheir numbers, he rushed upon his enemy.", "Le Renard, who watched the\nmovement, paused to receive him with secret joy.", "But at the moment when\nhe thought the rashness of his impetuous young assailant had left him at\nhis mercy, another shout was given, and La Longue Carabine was seen\nrushing to the rescue, attended by all his white associates.", "The Huron\ninstantly turned, and commenced a rapid retreat up the ascent.", "There was no time for greetings or congratulations; for Uncas, though\nunconscious of the presence of his friends, continued the pursuit with\nthe velocity of the wind.", "In vain Hawkeye called to him to respect the\ncovers; the young Mohican braved the dangerous fire of his enemies, and\nsoon compelled them to a flight as swift as his own headlong speed.", "It\nwas fortunate that the race was of short continuance, and that the white\nmen were much favored by their position, or the Delaware would soon have\noutstripped all his companions, and fallen a victim to his own temerity.", "But ere such a calamity could happen, the pursuers and pursued entered\nthe Wyandot village, within striking distance of each other.", "Excited by the presence of their dwellings, and tired of the chase, the\nHurons now made a stand, and fought around their council-lodge with the\nfury of despair.", "The onset and the issue were like the passage and\ndestruction of a whirlwind.", "The tomahawk of Uncas, the blows of\nHawkeye, and even the still nervous arm of Munro, were all busy for that\npassing moment, and the ground was quickly strewed with their enemies.", "Still Magua, though daring and much exposed, escaped from every effort\nagainst his life, with that sort of fabled protection that was made to\noverlook the fortunes of favored heroes in the legends of ancient\npoetry.", "Raising a yell that spoke volumes of anger and disappointment,\nthe subtle chief, when he saw his comrades fallen, darted away from the\nplace, attended by his two only surviving friends, leaving the Delawares\nengaged in stripping the dead of the bloody trophies of their victory.", "But Uncas, who had vainly sought him in the _melee_ bounded forward in\npursuit; Hawkeye, Heyward, and David still pressing on his footsteps.", "The utmost that the scout could effect, was to keep the muzzle of his\nrifle a little in advance of his friend, to whom, however, it answered\nevery purpose of a charmed shield.", "Once Magua appeared disposed to make\nanother and a final effort to revenge his losses; but, abandoning his\nintention as soon as demonstrated, he leaped into a thicket of bushes,\nthrough which he was followed by his enemies, and suddenly entered the\nmouth of the cave already known to the reader.", "Hawkeye, who had only\nforborne to fire in tenderness to Uncas, raised a shout of success, and\nproclaimed aloud, that now they were certain of their game.", "The pursuers\ndashed into the long and narrow entrance, in time to catch a glimpse of\nthe retreating forms of the Hurons.", "Their passage through the natural\ngalleries and subterraneous apartments of the cavern was preceded by the\nshrieks and cries of hundreds of women and children.", "The place, seen by\nits dim and uncertain light, appeared like the shades of the infernal\nregions, across which unhappy ghosts and savage demons were flitting in\nmultitudes.", "Still Uncas kept his eye on Magua, as if life to him possessed but a\nsingle object.", "Heyward and the scout still pressed on his rear,\nactuated, though possibly in a less degree, by a common feeling.", "But\ntheir way was becoming intricate, in those dark and gloomy passages, and\nthe glimpses of the retiring warriors less distinct and frequent; and\nfor a moment the trace was believed to be lost, when a white robe was\nseen fluttering in the farther extremity of a passage that seemed to\nlead up the mountain.", "\"'Tis Cora!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, in a voice in which horror and delight\nwere wildly mingled.", "\"Cora!", "Cora!\"", "echoed Uncas, bending forward like a deer.", "\"'Tis the maiden!\"", "shouted the scout, \"Courage, lady; we come!--we\ncome!\"", "The chase was renewed with a diligence rendered tenfold encouraging by\nthis glimpse of the captive.", "But the way was rugged, broken, and in\nspots nearly impassable.", "Uncas abandoned his rifle, and leaped forward\nwith headlong precipitation.", "Heyward rashly imitated his example, though\nboth were, a moment afterwards, admonished of its madness, by hearing\nthe bellowing of a piece, that the Hurons found time to discharge down\nthe passage in the rocks, the bullet from which even gave the young\nMohican a slight wound.", "\"We must close!\"", "said the scout, passing his friends by a desperate\nleap; \"the knaves will pick us all off at this distance; and see, they\nhold the maiden so as to shield themselves!\"", "Though his words were unheeded, or rather unheard, his example was\nfollowed by his companions, who, by incredible exertions, got near\nenough to the fugitives to perceive that Cora was borne along between\nthe two warriors, while Magua prescribed the direction and manner of\ntheir flight.", "At this moment the forms of all four were strongly drawn\nagainst an opening in the sky, and they disappeared.", "Nearly frantic with\ndisappointment, Uncas and Heyward increased efforts that already seemed\nsuper-human, and they issued from the cavern on the side of the\nmountain, in time to note the route of the pursued.", "The course lay up\nthe ascent, and still continued hazardous and laborious.", "Encumbered by his rifle, and, perhaps, not sustained by so deep an\ninterest in the captive as his companions, the scout suffered the latter\nto precede him a little, Uncas, in his turn, taking the lead of Heyward.", "In this manner, rocks, precipices, and difficulties were surmounted in\nan incredibly short space, that at another time, and under other\ncircumstances, would have been deemed almost insuperable.", "But the\nimpetuous young men were rewarded, by finding that, encumbered with\nCora, the Hurons were losing ground in the race.", "\"Stay, dog of the Wyandots!\"", "exclaimed Uncas, shaking his bright\ntomahawk at Magua; \"a Delaware girl calls stay!\"", "\"I will go no farther,\" cried Cora, stepping unexpectedly on a ledge of\nrocks, that overhung a deep precipice, at no great distance from the\nsummit of the mountain.", "\"Kill me if thou wilt, detestable Huron; I will\ngo no farther.\"", "The supporters of the maiden raised their ready tomahawks with the\nimpious joy that fiends are thought to take in mischief, but Magua\nstayed the uplifted arms.", "The Huron chief, after casting the weapons he\nhad wrested from his companions over the rock, drew his knife, and\nturned to his captive, with a look in which conflicting passions\nfiercely contended.", "\"Woman,\" he said, \"choose; the wigwam or the knife of Le Subtil!\"", "Cora regarded him not, but dropping on her knees, she raised her eyes\nand stretched her arms towards heaven, saying, in a meek and yet\nconfiding voice,--\n\n\"I am thine!", "do with me as thou seest best!\"", "\"Woman,\" repeated Magua, hoarsely, and endeavoring in vain to catch a\nglance from her serene and beaming eye, \"choose!\"", "But Cora neither heard nor heeded his demand.", "The form of the Huron\ntrembled in every fibre, and he raised his arm on high, but dropped it\nagain with a bewildered air, like one who doubted.", "Once more he\nstruggled with himself and lifted the keen weapon again; but just then a\npiercing cry was heard above them, and Uncas appeared, leaping\nfrantically, from a fearful height, upon the ledge.", "Magua recoiled a\nstep; and one of his assistants, profiting by the chance, sheathed his\nown knife in the bosom of Cora.", "The Huron sprang like a tiger on his offending and already retreating\ncountryman, but the falling form of Uncas separated the unnatural\ncombatants.", "Diverted from his object by this interruption, and maddened\nby the murder he had just witnessed, Magua buried his weapon in the back\nof the prostrate Delaware, uttering an unearthly shout as he committed\nthe dastardly deed.", "But Uncas arose from the blow, as the wounded\npanther turns upon his foe, and struck the murderer of Cora to his feet,\nby an effort in which the last of his failing strength was expended.", "Then, with a stern and steady look, he turned to Le Subtil, and\nindicated by the expression of his eye, all that he would do, had not\nthe power deserted him.", "The latter seized the nerveless arm of the\nunresisting Delaware, and passed his knife into his bosom three several\ntimes, before his victim, still keeping his gaze riveted on his enemy\nwith a look of inextinguishable scorn, fell dead at his feet.", "\"Mercy!", "mercy!", "Huron,\" cried Heyward, from above, in tones nearly\nchoked by horror; \"give mercy, and thou shalt receive it!\"", "Whirling the bloody knife up at the imploring youth, the victorious\nMagua uttered a cry so fierce, so wild, and yet so joyous, that it\nconveyed the sounds of savage triumph to the ears of those who fought in\nthe valley, a thousand feet below.", "He was answered by a burst from the\nlips of the scout, whose tall person was just then seen moving swiftly\ntowards him, along those dangerous crags, with steps as bold and\nreckless as if he possessed the power to move in air.", "But when the\nhunter reached the scene of the ruthless massacre, the ledge was\ntenanted only by the dead.", "His keen eye took a single look at the victims, and then shot its\nglances over the difficulties of the ascent in his front.", "A form stood\nat the brow of the mountain, on the very edge of the giddy height, with\nuplifted arms, in an awful attitude of menace.", "Without stopping to\nconsider his person, the rifle of Hawkeye was raised; but a rock, which\nfell on the head of one of the fugitives below exposed the indignant and\nglowing countenance of the honest Gamut.", "Then Magua issued from a\ncrevice, and stepping with calm indifference over the body of the last\nof his associates, he leaped a wide fissure, and ascended the rocks at a\npoint where the arm of David could not reach him.", "A single bound would\ncarry him to the brow of the precipice, and assure his safety.", "Before\ntaking the leap, however, the Huron paused, and shaking his hand at the\nscout, he shouted,--\n\n\"The pale-faces are dogs!", "the Delawares women!", "Magua leaves them on the\nrocks, for the crows!\"", "Laughing hoarsely, he made a desperate leap, and fell short of his mark;\nthough his hand grasped a shrub on the verge of the height.", "The form of\nHawkeye had crouched like a beast about to take its spring, and his\nframe trembled so violently with eagerness, that the muzzle of the\nhalf-raised rifle played like a leaf fluttering in the wind.", "Without\nexhausting himself with fruitless efforts, the cunning Magua suffered\nhis body to drop to the length of his arms, and found a fragment for his\nfeet to rest on.", "Then summoning all his powers, he renewed the attempt,\nand so far succeeded, as to draw his knees on the edge of the mountain.", "It was now, when the body of his enemy was most collected together, that\nthe agitated weapon of the scout was drawn to his shoulder.", "The\nsurrounding rocks themselves were not steadier than the piece became,\nfor the single instant that it poured out its contents.", "The arms of the\nHuron relaxed, and his body fell back a little, while his knees still\nkept their position.", "Turning a relentless look on his enemy, he shook a\nhand in grim defiance.", "But his hold loosened, and his dark person was\nseen cutting the air with its head downwards, for a fleeting instant,\nuntil it glided past the fringe of shrubbery which clung to the\nmountain, in its rapid flight to destruction." ]

[ "said Hawkeye, considering the deer-skin thong and apron, with a\ncold and discouraging eye; \"the thing might do its work among arrows, or\neven knives; but these Mengwe have been furnished by the Frenchers with\na good grooved barrel a man.", "Pointing in\nthe direction he wished to proceed, Hawkeye advanced, the band breaking\noff in single files, and following so accurately in his footsteps, as if\nto leave it, if we except Heyward and David, the trail of but a single\nman.", "He saw it was more dangerous to retreat than to\nmaintain his ground; while he found his enemy throwing out men on his\nflank, which rendered the task of keeping themselves covered so very\ndifficult to the Delawares, as nearly to silence their fire.", "But the shock was insufficient to repel\nthe impetus of the charge.", "The land fell away rather\nprecipitately in front, and beneath their eyes stretched, for several\nmiles, a narrow, dark, and wooded vale.", "Go, Sagamore;\nyou will hardly be in time to give the whoop, and lead on the young men.", "said Duncan.", "\"We must close!\"", "He was answered by a burst from the\nlips of the scout, whose tall person was just then seen moving swiftly\ntowards him, along those dangerous crags, with steps as bold and\nreckless as if he possessed the power to move in air.", "A single bound would\ncarry him to the brow of the precipice, and assure his safety." ]

[ "\"Ay, there is white reason in what you say; but a man must ask himself,\nin this wilderness, how many lives he can spare.", "A single bound would\ncarry him to the brow of the precipice, and assure his safety.", "One little knot of Hurons, however, had disdained to seek a\ncover, and were retiring, like lions at bay, slowly and sullenly up the\nacclivity which Chingachgook and his band had just deserted, to mingle\nmore closely in the fray.", "\"Cora!", "At that instant the whoop was given, and a dozen Hurons fell by a\ndischarge from Chingachgook and his band.", "\"As to a\nrush, I little relish such a measure; for a scalp or two must be thrown\naway in the attempt.", "It consists mainly in a ready hand, a\nquick eye, and a good cover.", "Without stopping to\nconsider his person, the rifle of Hawkeye was raised; but a rock, which\nfell on the head of one of the fugitives below exposed the indignant and\nglowing countenance of the honest Gamut.", "All these minute particulars were noted by the scout, with a gravity and\ninterest that they probably had never before attracted.", "\"'Tis Cora!\"" ]

[ "The land fell away rather\nprecipitately in front, and beneath their eyes stretched, for several\nmiles, a narrow, dark, and wooded vale.", "It was through this dense and\ndark forest that Uncas was still contending with the main body of the\nHurons.", "The Mohican and his friends advanced to the brow of the hill, and\nlistened, with practised ears, to the sounds of the combat.", "A few birds\nhovered over the leafy bosom of the valley, frightened from their\nsecluded nests; and here and there a light vapory cloud, which seemed\nalready blending with the atmosphere, arose above the trees, and\nindicated some spot where the struggle had been fierce and stationary.", "\"The fight is coming up the ascent,\" said Duncan, pointing in the\ndirection of a new explosion of fire-arms; \"we are too much in the\ncentre of their line to be effective.\"", "\"They will incline into the hollow, where the cover is thicker,\" said\nthe scout, \"and that will leave us well on their flank.", "Go, Sagamore;\nyou will hardly be in time to give the whoop, and lead on the young men.", "I will fight this scrimmage with warriors of my own color.", "You know me,\nMohican; not a Huron of them all shall cross the swell, into your rear,\nwithout the notice of 'Killdeer.'\"", "The Indian chief paused another moment to consider the signs of the\ncontest, which was now rolling rapidly up the ascent, a certain evidence\nthat the Delawares triumphed; nor did he actually quit the place until\nadmonished of the proximity of his friends, as well as enemies, by the\nbullets of the former, which began to patter among the dried leaves on\nthe ground, like the bits of falling hail which precede the bursting of\nthe tempest.", "Hawkeye and his three companions withdrew a few paces to a\nshelter, and awaited the issue with calmness, that nothing but great\npractice could impart in such a scene." ]

[ "\n \"But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,\n Till the great king, without a ransom paid,\n To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.\"", "POPE.", "During the time Uncas was making this disposition of his forces, the\nwoods were still, and, with the exception of those who had met in\ncouncil, apparently as much untenanted, as when they came fresh from the\nhands of their Almighty Creator.", "The eye could range, in every\ndirection, through the long and shadowed vistas of the trees; but\nnowhere was any object to be seen that did not properly belong to the\npeaceful and slumbering scenery.", "Here and there a bird was heard\nfluttering among the branches of the beeches, and occasionally a\nsquirrel dropped a nut, drawing the startled looks of the party, for a\nmoment, to the place; but the instant the casual interruption ceased,\nthe passing air was heard murmuring above their heads, along that\nverdant and undulating surface of forest, which spread itself unbroken,\nunless by stream or lake, over such a vast region of country.", "Across the\ntract of wilderness, which lay between the Delawares and the village of\ntheir enemies, it seemed as if the foot of man had never trodden, so\nbreathing and deep was the silence in which it lay.", "But Hawkeye, whose\nduty led him foremost in the adventure, knew the character of those with\nwhom he was about to contend too well to trust the treacherous quiet.", "When he saw his little band collected, the scout threw \"Killdeer\" into\nthe hollow of his arm, and making a silent signal that he would be\nfollowed, he led them many rods towards the rear, into the bed of a\nlittle brook which they had crossed in advancing.", "Here he halted; and\nafter waiting for the whole of his grave and attentive warriors to close\nabout him, he spoke in Delaware, demanding--\n\n\"Do any of my young men know whither this run will lead us?\"", "A Delaware stretched forth a hand, with the two fingers separated, and\nindicating the manner in which they were joined at the root, he\nanswered,--\n\n\"Before the sun could go his own length, the little water will be in\nthe big.\"", "Magua leaves them on the\nrocks, for the crows!\"", "Laughing hoarsely, he made a desperate leap, and fell short of his mark;\nthough his hand grasped a shrub on the verge of the height.", "The form of\nHawkeye had crouched like a beast about to take its spring, and his\nframe trembled so violently with eagerness, that the muzzle of the\nhalf-raised rifle played like a leaf fluttering in the wind.", "Without\nexhausting himself with fruitless efforts, the cunning Magua suffered\nhis body to drop to the length of his arms, and found a fragment for his\nfeet to rest on.", "Then summoning all his powers, he renewed the attempt,\nand so far succeeded, as to draw his knees on the edge of the mountain.", "It was now, when the body of his enemy was most collected together, that\nthe agitated weapon of the scout was drawn to his shoulder.", "The\nsurrounding rocks themselves were not steadier than the piece became,\nfor the single instant that it poured out its contents.", "The arms of the\nHuron relaxed, and his body fell back a little, while his knees still\nkept their position.", "Turning a relentless look on his enemy, he shook a\nhand in grim defiance.", "But his hold loosened, and his dark person was\nseen cutting the air with its head downwards, for a fleeting instant,\nuntil it glided past the fringe of shrubbery which clung to the\nmountain, in its rapid flight to destruction." ]

[ "\n \"They fought, like brave men, long and well,\n They piled that ground with Moslem slain,\n They conquered--but Bozzaris fell,\n Bleeding at every vein.", "His few surviving comrades saw\n His smile when rang their proud hurrah,\n And the red field was won;\n Then saw in death his eyelids close\n Calmly, as to a night's repose,\n Like flowers at set of sun.\"", "HALLECK.", "The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation of mourners.", "The sounds of the battle were over, and they had fed fat their ancient\ngrudge, and had avenged their recent quarrel with the Mengwe, by the\ndestruction of a whole community.", "The black and murky atmosphere that\nfloated around the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficiently\nannounced, of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe; while hundreds\nof ravens, that struggled above the bleak summits of the mountains, or\nswept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the woods, furnished a\nfrightful direction to the scene of the combat.", "In short, any eye, at\nall practised in the signs of a frontier warfare, might easily have\ntraced all those unerring evidences of the ruthless results which attend\nan Indian vengeance.", "Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners.", "No shouts of\nsuccess, no songs of triumph, were heard, in rejoicings for their\nvictory.", "The latest straggler had returned from his fell employment,\nonly to strip himself of the terrific emblems of his bloody calling, and\nto join in the lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people.", "Pride and exultation were supplanted by humility, and the fiercest of\nhuman passions was already succeeded by the most profound and\nunequivocal demonstrations of grief.", "The lodges were deserted; but a broad belt of earnest faces encircled a\nspot in their vicinity, whither everything possessing life had repaired,\nand where all were now collected, in deep and awful silence.", "Though\nbeings of every rank and age, of both sexes, and of all pursuits, had\nunited to form this breathing wall of bodies, they were influenced by a\nsingle emotion.", "Each eye was riveted on the centre of that ring, which\ncontained the objects of so much, and of so common, an interest.", "Six Delaware girls, with their long, dark, flowing tresses falling\nloosely across their bosoms, stood apart, and only gave proofs of their\nexistence as they occasionally strewed sweet-scented herbs and forest\nflowers on a litter of fragrant plants, that, under a pall of Indian\nrobes, supported all that now remained of the ardent, high-souled, and\ngenerous Cora.", "Her form was concealed in many wrappers of the same\nsimple manufacture, and her face was shut forever from the gaze of men.", "At her feet was seated the desolate Munro.", "His aged head was bowed\nnearly to the earth, in compelled submission to the stroke of\nProvidence; but a hidden anguish struggled about his furrowed brow, that\nwas only partially concealed by the careless locks of gray that had\nfallen, neglected, on his temples.", "Gamut stood at his side, his meek\nhead bared to the rays of the sun, while his eyes, wandering and\nconcerned, seemed to be equally divided between that little volume,\nwhich contained so many quaint but holy maxims, and the being in whose\nbehalf his soul yearned to administer consolation.", "Heyward was also\nnigh, supporting himself against a tree, and endeavoring to keep down\nthose sudden risings of sorrow that it required his utmost manhood to\nsubdue.", "But sad and melancholy as this group may easily be imagined, it was far\nless touching than another, that occupied the opposite space of the same\narea.", "Seated, as in life, with his form and limbs arranged in grave and\ndecent composure, Uncas appeared, arrayed in the most gorgeous ornaments\nthat the wealth of the tribe could furnish.", "Rich plumes nodded above his\nhead; wampum, gorgets, bracelets, and medals, adorned his person in\nprofusion; though his dull eye and vacant lineaments too strongly\ncontradicted the idle tale of pride they would convey.", "Directly in front of the corpse Chingachgook was placed, without arms,\npaint, or adornment of any sort, except the bright blue blazonry of his\nrace, that was indelibly impressed on his naked bosom.", "During the long\nperiod that the tribe had been thus collected, the Mohican warrior had\nkept a steady, anxious look on the cold and senseless countenance of his\nson.", "So riveted and intense had been that gaze, and so changeless his\nattitude, that a stranger might not have told the living from the dead,\nbut for the occasional gleamings of a troubled spirit that shot athwart\nthe dark visage of one, and the death-like calm that had forever settled\non the lineaments of the other.", "The scout was hard by, leaning in a pensive posture on his own fatal and\navenging weapon; while Tamenund, supported by the elders of his nation,\noccupied a high place at hand, whence he might look down on the mute and\nsorrowful assemblage of his people.", "Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in the\nmilitary attire of a strange nation; and without it was his war-horse,\nin the centre of a collection of mounted domestics, seemingly in\nreadiness to undertake some distant journey.", "The vestments of the\nstranger announced him to be one who held a responsible situation near\nthe person of the captain of the Canadas; and who, as it would now seem,\nfinding his errand of peace frustrated by the fierce impetuosity of his\nallies, was content to become a silent and sad spectator of the fruits\nof a contest that he had arrived too late to anticipate.", "The day was drawing to the close of its first quarter, and yet had the\nmultitude maintained its breathing stillness since its dawn.", "No sound\nlouder than a stifled sob had been heard among them, nor had even a limb\nbeen moved throughout that long and painful period, except to perform\nthe simple and touching offerings that were made, from time to time, in\ncommemoration of the dead.", "The patience and forbearance of Indian\nfortitude could alone support such an appearance of abstraction, as\nseemed now to have turned each dark and motionless figure into stone.", "At length, the sage of the Delawares stretched forth an arm, and leaning\non the shoulders of his attendants, he arose with an air as feeble as if\nanother age had already intervened between the man who had met his\nnation the preceding day, and him who now tottered on his elevated\nstand.", "\"Men of the Lenape!\"", "he said, in hollow tones that sounded like a voice\ncharged with some prophetic mission; \"the face of the Manitou is behind\na cloud!", "His eye is turned from you; His ears are shut; His tongue gives\nno answer.", "You see Him not; yet His judgments are before you.", "Let your\nhearts be open and your spirits tell no lie.", "Men of the Lenape!", "the face\nof the Manitou is behind a cloud.\"", "As this simple and yet terrible annunciation stole on the ears of the\nmultitude, a stillness as deep and awful succeeded as if the venerated\nspirit they worshipped had uttered the words without the aid of human\norgans; and even the inanimate Uncas appeared a being of life, compared\nwith the humbled and submissive throng by whom he was surrounded.", "As the\nimmediate effect, however, gradually passed away, a low murmur of voices\ncommenced a sort of chant in honor of the dead.", "The sounds were those of\nfemales, and were thrillingly soft and wailing.", "The words were connected\nby no regular continuation, but as one ceased another took up the\neulogy, or lamentation, whichever it might be called, and gave vent to\nher emotions in such language as was suggested by her feelings and the\noccasion.", "At intervals the speaker was interrupted by general and loud\nbursts of sorrow, during which the girls around the bier of Cora plucked\nthe plants and flowers blindly from her body, as if bewildered with\ngrief.", "But, in the milder moments of their plaint, these emblems of\npurity and sweetness were cast back to their places, with every sign of\ntenderness and regret.", "Though rendered less connected by many and\ngeneral interruptions and outbreakings, a translation of their language\nwould have contained a regular descant, which, in substance, might have\nproved to possess a train of consecutive ideas.", "A girl, selected for the task by her rank and qualifications, commenced\nby modest allusions to the qualities of the deceased warrior,\nembellishing her expressions with those oriental images that the Indians\nhave probably brought with them from the extremes of the other\ncontinent, and which form of themselves a link to connect the ancient\nhistories of the two worlds.", "She called him the \"panther of his tribe\";\nand described him as one whose moccasin left no trail on the dews; whose\nbound was like the leap of the young fawn; whose eye was brighter than a\nstar in the dark night; and whose voice, in battle, was loud as the\nthunder of the Manitou.", "She reminded him of the mother who bore him, and\ndwelt forcibly on the happiness she must feel in possessing such a son.", "She bade him tell her, when they met in the world of spirits, that the\nDelaware girls had shed tears above the grave of her child, and had\ncalled her blessed.", "Then, they who succeeded, changing their tones to a milder and still\nmore tender strain, alluded, with the delicacy and sensitiveness of\nwoman, to the stranger maiden, who had left the upper earth at a time so\nnear his own departure, as to render the will of the Great Spirit too\nmanifest to be disregarded.", "They admonished him to be kind to her, and\nto have consideration for her ignorance of those arts which were so\nnecessary to the comfort of a warrior like himself.", "They dwelt upon her\nmatchless beauty, and on her noble resolution, without the taint of\nenvy, and as angels may be thought to delight in a superior excellence;\nadding, that these endowments should prove more than equivalent for any\nlittle imperfections in her education.", "After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the maiden\nherself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and love.", "They exhorted\nher to be of cheerful mind, and to fear nothing for future welfare.", "A\nhunter would be her companion, who knew how to provide for her smallest\nwants; and a warrior was at her side who was able to protect her against\nevery danger.", "They promised that her path should be pleasant, and her\nburden light.", "They cautioned her against unavailing regrets for the\nfriends of her youth, and the scenes where her fathers had dwelt;\nassuring her that the \"blessed hunting-grounds of the Lenape\" contained\nvales as pleasant, streams as pure, and flowers as sweet, as the \"heaven\nof the pale-faces.\"", "They advised her to be attentive to the wants of her\ncompanion, and never to forget the distinction which the Manitou had so\nwisely established between them.", "Then, in a wild burst of their chant,\nthey sang with united voices the temper of the Mohican's mind.", "They\npronounced him noble, manly and generous; all that became a warrior, and\nall that a maid might love.", "Clothing their ideas in the most remote and\nsubtle images, they betrayed, that, in the short period of their\nintercourse, they had discovered, with the intuitive perception of their\nsex, the truant disposition of his inclinations.", "The Delaware girls had\nfound no favor in his eyes!", "He was of a race that had once been lords on\nthe shores of the salt lake, and his wishes had led him back to a people\nwho dwelt about the graves of his fathers.", "Why should not such a\npredilection be encouraged!", "That she was of a blood purer and richer\nthan the rest of her nation, any eye might have seen; that she was equal\nto the dangers and daring of a life in the woods, her conduct had\nproved; and now, they added, the \"wise one of the earth\" had\ntransplanted her to a place where she would find congenial spirits, and\nmight be forever happy.", "Then, with another transition in voice and subject, allusions were made\nto the virgin who wept in the adjacent lodge.", "They compared her to\nflakes of snow; as pure, as white, as brilliant, and as liable to melt\nin the fierce heats of summer, or congeal in the frosts of winter.", "They\ndoubted not that she was lovely in the eyes of the young chief, whose\nskin and whose sorrow seemed so like her own; but, though far from\nexpressing such a preference, it was evident they deemed her less\nexcellent than the maid they mourned.", "Still they denied her no meed her\nrare charms might properly claim.", "Her ringlets were compared to the\nexuberant tendrils of the vine, her eye to the blue vault of the\nheavens, and the most spotless cloud, with its glowing flush of the sun,\nwas admitted to be less attractive than her bloom.", "During these and similar songs nothing was audible but the murmurs of\nthe music; relieved, as it was, or rather rendered terrible, by those\noccasional bursts of grief which might be called its choruses.", "The\nDelawares themselves listened like charmed men; and it was very\napparent, by the variations of their speaking countenances, how deep and\ntrue was their sympathy.", "Even David was not reluctant to lend his ears\nto tones of voices so sweet; and long ere the chant was ended, his gaze\nannounced that his soul was enthralled.", "The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the words were\nintelligible, suffered himself to be a little aroused from his\nmeditative posture, and bent his face aside, to catch their meaning, as\nthe girls proceeded.", "But when they spoke of the future prospects of Cora\nand Uncas, he shook his head, like one who knew the error of their\nsimple creed, and resuming his reclining attitude, he maintained it\nuntil the ceremony--if that might be called a ceremony, in which feeling\nwas so deeply imbued--was finished.", "Happily for the self-command of both\nHeyward and Munro, they knew not the meaning of the wild sounds they\nheard.", "Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest manifested by the\nnative part of the audience.", "His look never changed throughout the whole\nof the scene, nor did a muscle move in his rigid countenance, even at\nthe wildest or the most pathetic parts of the lamentation.", "The cold and\nsenseless remains of his son was all to him, and every other sense but\nthat of sight seemed frozen, in order that his eyes might take their\nfinal gaze at those lineaments he had so long loved, and which were now\nabout to be closed forever from his view.", "In this stage of the funeral obsequies, a warrior much renowned for\ndeeds in arms, and more especially for services in the recent combat, a\nman of stern and grave demeanor, advanced slowly from the crowd, and\nplaced himself nigh the person of the dead.", "\"Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki?\"", "he said, addressing\nhimself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if the empty clay retained the\nfaculties of the animated man; \"thy time has been like that of the sun\nwhen in the trees; thy glory brighter than his light at noonday.", "Thou\nart gone, youthful warrior, but a hundred Wyandots are clearing the\nbriers from thy path to the world of spirits.", "Who that saw thee in\nbattle would believe that thou couldst die?", "Who before thee has ever\nshown Uttawa the way into the fight?", "Thy feet were like the wings of\neagles; thine arm heavier than falling branches from the pine; and thy\nvoice like the Manitou when he speaks in the clouds.", "The tongue of\nUttawa is weak,\" he added, looking about him with a melancholy gaze,\n\"and his heart exceeding heavy.", "Pride of the Wapanachki, why hast thou\nleft us?\"", "He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of the high and\ngifted men of the nation had sung or spoken their tribute of praise over\nthe _manes_ of the deceased chief.", "When each had ended, another deep and\nbreathing silence reigned in all the place.", "Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed accompaniment of\ndistant music, rising just high enough on the air to be audible, and yet\nso indistinctly, as to leave its character, and the place whence it\nproceeded, alike matters of conjecture.", "It was, however, succeeded by\nanother and another strain, each in a higher key, until they grew on the\near, first in long drawn and often repeated interjections, and finally\nin words.", "The lips of Chingachgook had so far parted, as to announce\nthat it was the monody of the father.", "Though not an eye was turned\ntowards him, nor the smallest sign of impatience exhibited, it was\napparent, by the manner in which the multitude elevated their heads to\nlisten, that they drank in the sounds with an intenseness of attention,\nthat none but Tamenund himself had ever before commanded.", "But they\nlistened in vain.", "The strains rose just so loud as to become\nintelligible, and then grew fainter and more trembling, until they\nfinally sank on the ear, as if borne away by a passing breath of wind.", "The lips of the Sagamore closed, and he remained silent in his seat,\nlooking, with his riveted eye and motionless form, like some creature\nthat had been turned from the Almighty hand with the form but without\nthe spirit of a man.", "The Delawares, who knew by these symptoms that the\nmind of their friend was not prepared for so mighty an effort of\nfortitude, relaxed in their attention; and, with an innate delicacy,\nseemed to bestow all their thoughts on the obsequies of the stranger\nmaiden.", "A signal was given, by one of the elder chiefs, to the women who crowded\nthat part of the circle near which the body of Cora lay.", "Obedient to the\nsign, the girls raised the bier to the elevation of their heads, and\nadvanced with slow and regulated steps, chanting, as they proceeded,\nanother wailing song in praise of the deceased.", "Gamut, who had been a\nclose observer of rites he deemed so heathenish, now bent his head over\nthe shoulder of the unconscious father, whispering,--\n\n\"They move with the remains of thy child; shall we not follow, and see\nthem interred with Christian burial?\"", "Munro started, as if the last trumpet had sounded in his ear, and\nbestowing one anxious and hurried glance around him, he arose and\nfollowed in the simple train, with the mien of a soldier, but bearing\nthe full burden of a parent's suffering.", "His friends pressed around him\nwith a sorrow that was too strong to be termed sympathy--even the young\nFrenchman joining in the procession, with the air of a man who was\nsensibly touched at the early and melancholy fate of one so lovely.", "But\nwhen the last and humblest female of the tribe had joined in the wild,\nand yet ordered array, the men of the Lenape contracted their circle,\nand formed again around the person of Uncas, as silent, as grave, and as\nmotionless as before.", "The place which had been chosen for the grave of Cora was a little\nknoll, where a cluster of young and healthful pines had taken root,\nforming of themselves a melancholy and appropriate shade over the spot.", "On reaching it the girls deposited their burden, and continued for many\nminutes waiting, with characteristic patience, and native timidity, for\nsome evidence that they whose feelings were most concerned were content\nwith the arrangement.", "At length the scout, who alone understood their\nhabits, said, in their own language,--\n\n\"My daughters have done well; the white men thank them.\"", "Satisfied with this testimony in their favor, the girls proceeded to\ndeposit the body in a shell, ingeniously, and not inelegantly,\nfabricated of the bark of the birch; after which they lowered it into\nits dark and final abode.", "The ceremony of covering the remains, and\nconcealing the marks of the fresh earth, by leaves and other natural\nand customary objects, was conducted with the same simple and silent\nforms.", "But when the labors of the kind beings who had performed these\nsad and friendly offices were so far completed, they hesitated, in a way\nto show that they knew not how much further they might proceed.", "It was\nin this stage of the rites that the scout again addressed them:--\n\n\"My young women have done enough,\" he said; \"the spirit of a pale-face\nhas no need of food or raiment, their gifts being according to the\nheaven of their color.", "I see,\" he added, glancing an eye at David, who\nwas preparing his book in a manner that indicated an intention to lead\nthe way in sacred song, \"that one who better knows the Christian\nfashions is about to speak.\"", "The females stood modestly aside, and, from having been the principal\nactors in the scene, they now became the meek and attentive observers of\nthat which followed.", "During the time David was occupied in pouring out\nthe pious feelings of his spirit in this manner, not a sign of surprise,\nnor a look of impatience, escaped them.", "They listened like those who\nknew the meaning of the strange words, and appeared as if they felt the\nmingled emotions of sorrow, hope, and resignation, they were intended to\nconvey.", "Excited by the scene he had just witnessed, and perhaps influenced by\nhis own secret emotions, the master of song exceeded his usual efforts.", "His full, rich voice was not found to suffer by a comparison with the\nsoft tones of the girls; and his more modulated strains possessed, at\nleast for the ears of those to whom they were peculiarly addressed, the\nadditional power of intelligence.", "He ended the anthem, as he had\ncommenced it, in the midst of a grave and solemn stillness.", "When, however, the closing cadence had fallen on the ears of his\nauditors, the secret, timorous glances of the eyes, and the general, and\nyet subdued movement of the assemblage, betrayed that something was\nexpected from the father of the deceased.", "Munro seemed sensible that the\ntime was come for him to exert what is, perhaps, the greatest effort of\nwhich human nature is capable.", "He bared his gray locks, and looked\naround the timid and quiet throng by which he was encircled with a firm\nand collected countenance.", "Then motioning with his hand for the scout to\nlisten, he said,--\n\n\"Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken and failing\nman returns them his thanks.", "Tell them, that the Being we all worship,\nunder different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that the\ntime shall not be distant when we may assemble around his throne without\ndistinction of sex, or rank, or color.\"", "The scout listened to the tremulous voice in which the veteran delivered\nthese words, and shook his head slowly when they were ended, as one who\ndoubted their efficacy.", "\"To tell them this,\" he said, \"would be to tell them that the snows come\nnot in the winter, or that the sun shines fiercest when the trees are\nstripped of their leaves.\"", "Then turning to the women, he made such a communication of the other's\ngratitude as he deemed most suited to the capacities of his listeners.", "The head of Munro had already sunk upon his chest, and he was again fast\nrelapsing into melancholy, when the young Frenchman before named\nventured to touch him lightly on the elbow.", "As soon as he had gained the\nattention of the mourning old man, he pointed towards a group of young\nIndians, who approached with a light but closely covered litter, and\nthen pointed upward towards the sun.", "\"I understand you, sir,\" returned Munro, with a voice of forced\nfirmness; \"I understand you.", "It is the will of Heaven, and I submit.", "Cora, my child!", "if the prayers of a heartbroken father could avail thee\nnow, how blessed shouldst thou be!", "Come, gentlemen,\" he added, looking\nabout him with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish that\nquivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be concealed,\n\"our duty here is ended; let us depart.\"", "Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a spot where, each\ninstant, he felt his self-control was about to desert him.", "While his\ncompanions were mounting, however, he found time to press the hand of\nthe scout, and to repeat the terms of an engagement they had made, to\nmeet again within the posts of the British army.", "Then gladly throwing\nhimself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side of the\nlitter, whence low and stifled sobs alone announced the presence of\nAlice.", "In this manner, the head of Munro again dropping on his bosom,\nwith Heyward and David following in sorrowing silence, and attended by\nthe aide of Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with the\nexception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of the Delawares, and\nwere soon buried in the vast forests of that region.", "But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united the\nfeelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the strangers who\nhad thus transiently visited them, was not so easily broken.", "Years\npassed away before the traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of the\nyoung warrior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights and\ntedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a desire\nfor vengeance.", "Neither were the secondary actors in these momentous\nincidents forgotten.", "Through the medium of the scout, who served for\nyears afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, they\nlearned, in answer to their inquiries, that the \"Gray Head\" was speedily\ngathered to his fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by his\nmilitary misfortunes; and that the \"Open Hand\" had conveyed his\nsurviving daughter far into the settlements of the \"pale-faces,\" where\nher tears had at last ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by the\nbright smiles which were better suited to her joyous nature.", "But these were events of a time later than that which concerns our tale.", "Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye returned to the spot where his own\nsympathies led him, with a force that no ideal bond of union could\nbestow.", "He was just in time to catch a parting look of the features of\nUncas, whom the Delawares were already inclosing in his last vestments\nof skins.", "They paused to permit the longing and lingering gaze of the\nsturdy woodsman, and when it was ended, the body was enveloped, never to\nbe unclosed again.", "Then came a procession like the other, and the whole\nnation was collected about the temporary grave of the chief--temporary,\nbecause it was proper that, at some future day, his bones should rest\namong those of his own people.", "The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and general.", "The\nsame grave expression of grief, the same rigid silence, and the same\ndeference to the principal mourner, were observed around the place of\ninterment as have been already described.", "The body was deposited in an\nattitude of repose, facing the rising sun, with the implements of war\nand of the chase at hand, in readiness for the final journey.", "An opening\nwas left in the shell, by which it was protected from the soil, for the\nspirit to communicate with its earthly tenement, when necessary; and the\nwhole was concealed from the instinct, and protected from the ravages of\nthe beasts of prey, with an ingenuity peculiar to the natives.", "The\nmanual rites then ceased, and all present reverted to the more spiritual\npart of the ceremonies.", "Chingachgook became once more the object of the common attention.", "He\nhad not yet spoken, and something consolatory and instructive was\nexpected from so renowned a chief on an occasion of such interest.", "Conscious of the wishes of the people, the stern and self-restrained\nwarrior raised his face, which had latterly been buried in his robe, and\nlooked about him with a steady eye.", "His firmly compressed and expressive\nlips then severed, and for the first time during the long ceremonies his\nvoice was distinctly audible.", "\"Why do my brothers mourn!\"", "he said, regarding the dark race of dejected\nwarriors by whom he was environed; \"why do my daughters weep!", "that a\nyoung man has gone to the happy hunting-grounds; that a chief has filled\nhis time with honor!", "He was good; he was dutiful; he was brave.", "Who can\ndeny it?", "The Manitou had need of such a warrior, and He has called him\naway.", "As for me, the son and the father of Uncas, I am a blazed pine, in\na clearing of the pale-faces.", "My race has gone from the shores of the\nsalt lake, and the hills of the Delawares.", "But who can say that the\nSerpent of his tribe has forgotten his wisdom?", "I am alone--\"\n\n\"No, no,\" cried Hawkeye, who had been gazing with a yearning look at the\nrigid features of his friend, with something like his own self-command,\nbut whose philosophy could endure no longer; \"no, Sagamore, not alone.", "The gifts of our colors may be different, but God has so placed us as to\njourney in the same path.", "I have no kin, and I may also say, like you,\nno people.", "He was your son, and a redskin by nature; and it may be that\nyour blood was nearer--but if ever I forget the lad who has so often\nfou't at my side in war, and slept at my side in peace, may He who made\nus all, whatever may be our color or our gifts, forget me!", "The boy has\nleft us for a time; but, Sagamore, you are not alone.\"", "Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth of feeling, the scout\nhad stretched across the fresh earth, and in that attitude of friendship\nthese two sturdy and intrepid woodsmen bowed their heads together, while\nscalding tears fell to their feet, watering the grave of Uncas like\ndrops of falling rain.", "In the midst of the awful stillness with which such a burst of feeling,\ncoming, as it did, from the two most renowned warriors of that region,\nwas received, Tamenund lifted his voice to disperse the multitude.", "\"It is enough,\" he said.", "\"Go, children of the Lenape, the anger of the\nManitou is not done.", "Why should Tamenund stay?", "The pale-faces are\nmasters of the earth, and the time of the redmen has not yet come again.", "My day has been too long.", "In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy\nand strong; and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to see the\nlast warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans.\"", "FOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] As each nation of the Indians had either its language or its\ndialect, they usually gave different names to the same places, though\nnearly all of their appellations were descriptive of the object.", "Thus, a\nliteral translation of the name of this beautiful sheet of water, used\nby the tribe that dwelt on its banks would be \"The Tail of the Lake.\"", "Lake George, as it is vulgarly, and now indeed legally called, forms a\nsort of tail to Lake Champlain, when viewed on the map.", "Hence the name.", "[2] Washington: who, after uselessly admonishing the European general of\nthe danger into which he was heedlessly running, saved the remnants of\nthe British army, on this occasion, by his decision and courage.", "The\nreputation earned by Washington in this battle was the principal cause\nof his being selected to command the American armies at a later day.", "It\nis a circumstance worthy of observation, that, while all America rang\nwith his well-merited reputation, his name does not occur in any\nEuropean account of the battle; at least, the author has searched for it\nwithout success.", "In this manner does the mother country absorb even the\nfame, under that system of rule.", "[3] There existed for a long time a confederation among the Indian\ntribes which occupied the northwestern part of the colony of New York,\nwhich was at first known as the \"Five Nations.\"", "At a later day it\nadmitted another tribe, when the appellation was changed to that of the\n\"Six Nations.\"", "The original confederation consisted of the Mohawks, the\nOneidas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Onondagas.", "The sixth tribe\nwas the Tuscaroras.", "There are remnants of all these people still living\non lands secured to them by the State; but they are daily disappearing,\neither by deaths or by removals to scenes more congenial to their\nhabits.", "In a short time there will be no remains of these extraordinary\npeople, in those regions in which they dwelt for centuries, but their\nnames.", "The State of New York has counties named after all of them but\nthe Mohawks and the Tuscaroras.", "The second river of that State is called\nthe Mohawk.", "[4] In the State of Rhode Island there is a bay called Narragansett, so\nnamed after a powerful tribe of Indians, which formerly dwelt on its\nbanks.", "Accident, or one of those unaccountable freaks which nature\nsometimes plays in the animal world, gave rise to a breed of horses\nwhich were once well known in America by the name of the Narragansetts.", "They were small, commonly of the color called sorrel in America, and\ndistinguished by their habit of pacing.", "Horses of this race were, and\nare still, in much request as saddle-horses, on account of their\nhardiness and the ease of their movements.", "As they were also sure of\nfoot, the Narragansetts were greatly sought for by females who were\nobliged to travel over the roots and holes in the \"new countries.\"", "[5] The North American warrior caused the hair to be plucked from his\nwhole body; a small tuft, only, was left on the crown of his head in\norder that his enemy might avail himself of it, in wrenching off the\nscalp in the event of his fall.", "The scalp was the only admissible trophy\nof victory.", "Thus, it was deemed more important to obtain the scalp than\nto kill the man.", "Some tribes lay great stress on the honor of striking a\ndead body.", "These practices have nearly disappeared among the Indians of\nthe Atlantic States.", "[6] The hunting-shirt is a picturesque smock frock, being shorter, and\nornamented with fringes and tassels.", "The colors are intended to imitate\nthe hues of the wood with a view to concealment.", "Many corps of American\nriflemen have been thus attired; and the dress is one of the most\nstriking of modern times.", "The hunting-shirt is frequently white.", "[7] The rifle of the army is short; that of the hunter is always long.", "[8] The Mississippi.", "The scout alludes to a tradition which is very\npopular among the tribes of the Atlantic States.", "Evidence of their\nAsiatic origin is deduced from the circumstances, though great\nuncertainty hangs over the whole history of the Indians.", "[9] The scene of this tale was in the 42d degree of latitude, where the\ntwilight is never of long continuance.", "[10] The reader will remember that New York was originally a colony of\nthe Dutch.", "[11] The principal villages of the Indians are still called \"castles\" by\nthe whites of New York.", "\"Oneida castle\" is no more than a scattered\nhamlet; but the name is in general use.", "[12] In vulgar parlance the condiments of a repast are called by the\nAmerican \"a relish,\" substituting the thing for its effect.", "These\nprovincial terms are frequently put in the mouths of the speakers,\naccording to their several conditions in life.", "Most of them are of local\nuse, and others quite peculiar to the particular class of men to which\nthe character belongs.", "In the present instance, the scout uses the word\nwith immediate reference to the salt, with which his own party was so\nfortunate as to be provided.", "[13] Glenn's Falls are on the Hudson, some forty or fifty miles above\nthe head of tide, or the place where that river becomes navigable for\nsloops.", "The description of this picturesque and remarkable little\ncataract, as given by the scout, is sufficiently correct, though the\napplication of the water to the uses of civilized life has materially\ninjured its beauties.", "The rocky island and the two caverns are well\nknown to every traveller, since the former sustains a pier of a bridge,\nwhich is now thrown across the river, immediately above the fall.", "In\nexplanation of the taste of Hawkeye, it should be remembered that men\nalways prize that most which is least enjoyed.", "Thus, in a new country,\nthe woods and other objects, which in an old country would be maintained\nat great cost, are got rid of, simply with a view of \"improving,\" as it\nis called.", "[14] The meaning of Indian words is much governed by the emphasis and\ntones.", "[15] Mingo was the Delaware term for the Five Nations.", "Maquas was the\nname given them by the Dutch.", "The French, from their first intercourse\nwith them, called them Iroquois.", "[16] It has long been a practice with the whites to conciliate the\nimportant men of the Indians, by presenting medals, which are worn in\nthe place of their own rude ornaments.", "Those given by the English\ngenerally bear the impression of the reigning king, and those given by\nthe Americans that of the president.", "[17] Many of the animals of the American forests resort to those spots\nwhere salt springs are found.", "These are called \"licks\" or \"salt licks,\"\nin the language of the country, from the circumstance that the quadruped\nis often obliged to lick the earth, in order to obtain the saline\nparticles.", "These licks are great places of resort with the hunters, who\nwaylay their game near the paths that lead to them.", "[18] The scene of the foregoing incidents is on the spot where the\nvillage of Ballston now stands; one of the two principal watering-places\nof America.", "[19] Some years since, the writer was shooting in the vicinity of the\nruins of Fort Oswego, which stands on the shores of Lake Ontario.", "His\ngame was deer, and his chase a forest that stretched with little\ninterruption, fifty miles inland.", "Unexpectedly he came upon six or eight\nladders lying in the woods within a short distance of each other.", "They\nwere rudely made, and much decayed.", "Wondering what could have assembled\nso many of these instruments in such a place, he sought an old man who\nresided near for the explanation.", "During the war of 1776 Fort Oswego was held by the British.", "An\nexpedition had been sent two hundred miles through the wilderness to\nsurprise the fort.", "It appears that the Americans, on reaching the spot\nnamed, which was within a mile or two of the fort, first learned that\nthey were expected, and in great danger of being cut off.", "They threw\naway their scaling-ladders, and made a rapid retreat.", "These ladders had\nlain unmolested thirty years, in the spot where they had thus been cast.", "[20] Baron Dieskau, a German, in the service of France.", "A few years\nprevious to the period of the tale, this officer was defeated by Sir\nWilliam Johnson of Johnstown, New York, on the shores of Lake George.", "See Appendix, Note H.\n\n[21] Evidently the late De Witt Clinton, who died governor of New York\nin 1828.", "[22] The powers of the American mocking-bird are generally known.", "But\nthe true mocking-bird is not found so far north as the State of New\nYork, where it has, however, two substitutes of inferior excellence; the\ncatbird, so often named by the scout, and the bird vulgarly called\nground-thresher.", "Either of these two last birds is superior to the\nnightingale, or the lark, though, in general, the American birds are\nless musical than those of Europe.", "[23] The beauties of Lake George are well known to every American\ntourist.", "In the height of the mountains which surround it, and in\nartificial accessories, it is inferior to the finest of the Swiss and\nItalian lakes, while in outline and purity of water it is fully their\nequal; and in the number and disposition of its isles and islets much\nsuperior to them all together.", "There are said to be some hundreds of\nislands in a sheet of water less than thirty miles long.", "The narrows\nwhich connect what may be called, in truth, two lakes, are crowded with\nislands to such a degree as to leave passages between them frequently of\nonly a few feet in width.", "The lake itself varies in breadth from one to\nthree miles.", "The State of New York is remarkable for the number and beauty of its\nlakes.", "One of its frontiers lies on the vast sheet of Ontario, while\nChamplain stretches nearly a hundred miles along another.", "Oneida,\nCayuga, Canandaigua, Seneca, and George, are all lakes of thirty miles\nin length, while those of a size smaller are without number.", "On most of\nthese lakes there are now beautiful villages, and on many of them\nsteamboats.", "[24] These harangues of the beasts are frequent among the Indians.", "They\noften address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice,\nor commending their resolution, as they may happen to exhibit fortitude,\nor the reverse in suffering.", "[25] A dish composed of cracked corn and beans.", "It is much used also by\nthe whites.", "By corn is meant maize.", "[26] William Penn was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as he never\nused violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation for\nprobity passed into a proverb.", "The American is justly proud of the\norigin of his nation, which is perhaps unequalled in the history of the\nworld; but the Pennsylvanian and Jerseyman have more reason to value\nthemselves in their ancestors than the natives of any other State, since\nno wrong was done the original owners of the soil.", "[27] Turtle.", "[28] A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is\nsaid, in the language of the country, to be \"blazed.\"", "The term is\nstrictly English; for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a white\nmark.", "[29] The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being\nlittle underbush, and few tangled brakes.", "The plan of Hawkeye is the one\nwhich has always proved the most successful in the battles between the\nwhites and the Indians.", "Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami,\nreceived the fire of his enemies in line; and then causing his dragoons\nto wheel round his flanks, the Indians were driven from their covers\nbefore they had time to load.", "One of the most conspicuous of the chiefs\nwho fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer, that the redmen\ncould not fight the warriors with \"long knives and leather-stockings\";\nmeaning the dragoons with their sabres and boots." ]

[ "Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in the\nmilitary attire of a strange nation; and without it was his war-horse,\nin the centre of a collection of mounted domestics, seemingly in\nreadiness to undertake some distant journey.", "The patience and forbearance of Indian\nfortitude could alone support such an appearance of abstraction, as\nseemed now to have turned each dark and motionless figure into stone.", "She bade him tell her, when they met in the world of spirits, that the\nDelaware girls had shed tears above the grave of her child, and had\ncalled her blessed.", "They exhorted\nher to be of cheerful mind, and to fear nothing for future welfare.", "Then turning to the women, he made such a communication of the other's\ngratitude as he deemed most suited to the capacities of his listeners.", "\"It is enough,\" he said.", "The colors are intended to imitate\nthe hues of the wood with a view to concealment.", "[8] The Mississippi.", "\"Oneida castle\" is no more than a scattered\nhamlet; but the name is in general use.", "They\nwere rudely made, and much decayed." ]

[ "The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and general.", "By corn is meant maize.", "Thus, in a new country,\nthe woods and other objects, which in an old country would be maintained\nat great cost, are got rid of, simply with a view of \"improving,\" as it\nis called.", "They promised that her path should be pleasant, and her\nburden light.", "Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest manifested by the\nnative part of the audience.", "Evidence of their\nAsiatic origin is deduced from the circumstances, though great\nuncertainty hangs over the whole history of the Indians.", "Then motioning with his hand for the scout to\nlisten, he said,--\n\n\"Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken and failing\nman returns them his thanks.", "Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye returned to the spot where his own\nsympathies led him, with a force that no ideal bond of union could\nbestow.", "The cold and\nsenseless remains of his son was all to him, and every other sense but\nthat of sight seemed frozen, in order that his eyes might take their\nfinal gaze at those lineaments he had so long loved, and which were now\nabout to be closed forever from his view.", "[10] The reader will remember that New York was originally a colony of\nthe Dutch." ]

[ "Cora, my child!", "if the prayers of a heartbroken father could avail thee\nnow, how blessed shouldst thou be!", "Come, gentlemen,\" he added, looking\nabout him with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish that\nquivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be concealed,\n\"our duty here is ended; let us depart.\"", "Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a spot where, each\ninstant, he felt his self-control was about to desert him.", "While his\ncompanions were mounting, however, he found time to press the hand of\nthe scout, and to repeat the terms of an engagement they had made, to\nmeet again within the posts of the British army.", "Then gladly throwing\nhimself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side of the\nlitter, whence low and stifled sobs alone announced the presence of\nAlice.", "In this manner, the head of Munro again dropping on his bosom,\nwith Heyward and David following in sorrowing silence, and attended by\nthe aide of Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with the\nexception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of the Delawares, and\nwere soon buried in the vast forests of that region.", "But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united the\nfeelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the strangers who\nhad thus transiently visited them, was not so easily broken.", "Years\npassed away before the traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of the\nyoung warrior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights and\ntedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a desire\nfor vengeance.", "Neither were the secondary actors in these momentous\nincidents forgotten.", "Through the medium of the scout, who served for\nyears afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, they\nlearned, in answer to their inquiries, that the \"Gray Head\" was speedily\ngathered to his fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by his\nmilitary misfortunes; and that the \"Open Hand\" had conveyed his\nsurviving daughter far into the settlements of the \"pale-faces,\" where\nher tears had at last ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by the\nbright smiles which were better suited to her joyous nature." ]

[ "\n \"They fought, like brave men, long and well,\n They piled that ground with Moslem slain,\n They conquered--but Bozzaris fell,\n Bleeding at every vein.", "His few surviving comrades saw\n His smile when rang their proud hurrah,\n And the red field was won;\n Then saw in death his eyelids close\n Calmly, as to a night's repose,\n Like flowers at set of sun.\"", "HALLECK.", "The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation of mourners.", "The sounds of the battle were over, and they had fed fat their ancient\ngrudge, and had avenged their recent quarrel with the Mengwe, by the\ndestruction of a whole community.", "The black and murky atmosphere that\nfloated around the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficiently\nannounced, of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe; while hundreds\nof ravens, that struggled above the bleak summits of the mountains, or\nswept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the woods, furnished a\nfrightful direction to the scene of the combat.", "In short, any eye, at\nall practised in the signs of a frontier warfare, might easily have\ntraced all those unerring evidences of the ruthless results which attend\nan Indian vengeance.", "Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners.", "No shouts of\nsuccess, no songs of triumph, were heard, in rejoicings for their\nvictory.", "The latest straggler had returned from his fell employment,\nonly to strip himself of the terrific emblems of his bloody calling, and\nto join in the lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people.", "By corn is meant maize.", "[26] William Penn was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as he never\nused violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation for\nprobity passed into a proverb.", "The American is justly proud of the\norigin of his nation, which is perhaps unequalled in the history of the\nworld; but the Pennsylvanian and Jerseyman have more reason to value\nthemselves in their ancestors than the natives of any other State, since\nno wrong was done the original owners of the soil.", "[27] Turtle.", "[28] A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is\nsaid, in the language of the country, to be \"blazed.\"", "The term is\nstrictly English; for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a white\nmark.", "[29] The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being\nlittle underbush, and few tangled brakes.", "The plan of Hawkeye is the one\nwhich has always proved the most successful in the battles between the\nwhites and the Indians.", "Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami,\nreceived the fire of his enemies in line; and then causing his dragoons\nto wheel round his flanks, the Indians were driven from their covers\nbefore they had time to load.", "One of the most conspicuous of the chiefs\nwho fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer, that the redmen\ncould not fight the warriors with \"long knives and leather-stockings\";\nmeaning the dragoons with their sabres and boots." ]

[ "\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." ]

[ "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.\"", "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.", "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.", "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 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.", "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.", "He had all the bones and joints\nof other men, without any of their proportions.", "The same contrariety in his members seemed\nto exist throughout the whole man.", "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." ]

[ "Erect, his stature\nsurpassed that of his fellows; seated, he appeared reduced within the\nordinary limits of the race.", "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.", "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.", "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.", "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 two united to rob the untutored possessors of its wooded\nscenery of their native right to perpetuate its original appellation of\n\"Horican.", "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.", "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.", "A wide and apparently an impervious\nboundary of forests severed the possessions of the hostile provinces of\nFrance and England.", "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." ]

[ "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." ]

[ "\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 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." ]

[ "\n \"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." ]

[ "SHAKESPEARE.", "\"I like him not,\" said the lady, shuddering, partly in assumed, yet more\nin real terror.", "[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!\"", "\"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.\"", "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.", "None can say they have ever known me neglect my gifts!", "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 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." ]

[ "\"Cora, what think you?\"", "\"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.", "'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_.\"", "The first point to be obtained is to know one's own mind.", "\"Even so.", "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.", "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.", "[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.\"", "\"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.", "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!" ]

[ "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!\"" ]

[ "\n \"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.", "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!\"" ]

[ "\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.\"", "His person, though muscular, was\nrather attenuated than full; but every nerve and muscle appeared strung\nand indurated by unremitted exposure and toil.", "\"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.\"", "If unsatisfied by the philosophy of his companion, the Indian was far\ntoo dignified to betray his unbelief.", "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.", "Hawkeye, let us\neat to-night, and show the Maquas that we are men to-morrow.\"", "\"He's a boy!\"", "\"Does he think when a hunter sees a part of the\ncreatur', he can't tell where the rest of him should be!\"", "\"I hear the sounds of feet!\"", "\"Perhaps the wolves have driven the buck to shelter, and are following\non his trail.\"" ]

[ "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?\"", "BRYANT.", "\"Is there no difference, Hawkeye, between the\nstone-headed arrow of the warrior, and the leaden bullet with which you\nkill?\"", "\"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.", "\"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.\"", "\"My tribe is the grandfather of nations, but I am an unmixed man.", "These feeble and broken sounds were, however, too familiar to the\nforesters, to draw their attention from the more interesting matter of\ntheir dialogue.", "He also bore a knife in a girdle of\nwampum, like that which confined the scanty garments of the Indian, but\nno tomahawk.", "The\nblood of chiefs is in my veins, where it must stay forever.", "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 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.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe words were still in the mouth of the scout, when the leader of the\nparty, whose approaching footsteps had caught the vigilant ear of the\nIndian, came openly into view.", "A beaten path, such as those made by the\nperiodical passage of the deer, wound through a little glen at no great\ndistance, and struck the river at the point where the white man and his\nred companions had posted themselves.", "Along this track the travellers,\nwho had produced a surprise so unusual in the depths of the forest,\nadvanced slowly towards the hunter, who was in front of his associates,\nin readiness to receive them.", "\"Who comes?\"", "demanded the scout, throwing his rifle carelessly across\nhis left arm, and keeping the forefinger of his right hand on the\ntrigger, though he avoided all appearance of menace in the act, \"Who\ncomes hither, among the beasts and dangers of the wilderness?\"", "\"Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the king,\"\nreturned he who rode foremost.", "\"Men who have journeyed since the rising\nsun, in the shades of this forest, without nourishment, and are sadly\ntired of their wayfaring.\"", "\"You are, then, lost,\" interrupted the hunter, \"and have found how\nhelpless 'tis not to know whether to take the right hand or the left?\"", "\"Even so; sucking babes are not more dependent on those who guide them\nthan we who are of larger growth, and who may now be said to possess the\nstature without the knowledge of men.", "Know you the distance to a post of\nthe crown called William Henry?\"", "\"Hoot!\"", "shouted the scout, who did not spare his open laughter, though,\ninstantly checking the dangerous sounds, he indulged his merriment at\nless risk of being overheard by any lurking enemies.", "\"You are as much\noff the scent as a hound would be, with Horican atwixt him and the deer!", "William Henry, man!", "if you are friends to the king, and have business\nwith the army, your better way would be to follow the river down to\nEdward, and lay the matter before Webb; who tarries there, instead of\npushing into the defiles, and driving this saucy Frenchman back across\nChamplain, into his den again.\"", "Before the stranger could make any reply to this unexpected proposition,\nanother horseman dashed the bushes aside, and leaped his charger into\nthe pathway, in front of his companion.", "\"What, then, may be our distance from Fort Edward?\"", "demanded a new\nspeaker; \"the place you advise us to seek we left this morning, and our\ndestination is the head of the lake.\"", "\"Then you must have lost your eyesight afore losing your way, for the\nroad across the portage is cut to a good two rods, and is as grand a\npath, I calculate, as any that runs into London, or even before the\npalace of the king himself.\"", "\"We will not dispute concerning the excellence of the passage,\" returned\nHeyward, smiling; for, as the reader has anticipated, it was he.", "\"It is\nenough, for the present, that we trusted to an Indian guide to take us\nby a nearer, though blinder path, and that we are deceived in his\nknowledge.", "In plain words, we know not where we are.\"", "\"An Indian lost in the woods!\"", "said the scout, shaking his head\ndoubtingly; \"when the sun is scorching the tree-tops, and the\nwater-courses are full; when the moss on every beech he sees, will tell\nhim in which quarter the north star will shine at night!", "The woods are\nfull of deer paths which run to the streams and licks, places well known\nto everybody; nor have the geese done their flight to the Canada waters\naltogether!", "'Tis strange that an Indian should be lost atwixt Horican\nand the bend in the river.", "Is he a Mohawk?\"", "\"Not by birth, though adopted in that tribe; I think his birthplace was\nfarther north, and he is one of those you call a Huron.\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed the two companions of the scout, who had continued,\nuntil this part of the dialogue, seated immovable, and apparently\nindifferent to what passed, but who now sprang to their feet with an\nactivity and interest that had evidently got the better of their\nreserve, by surprise.", "\"A Huron!\"", "repeated the sturdy scout, once more shaking his head in open\ndistrust; \"they are a thievish race, nor do I care by whom they are\nadopted; you can never make anything of them but skulks and vagabonds.", "Since you trusted yourself to the care of one of that nation, I only\nwonder that you have not fallen in with more.\"", "\"Of that there is little danger, since William Henry is so many miles in\nour front.", "You forget that I have told you our guide is now a Mohawk,\nand that he serves with our forces as a friend.\"", "\"And I tell you that he who is born a Mingo will die a Mingo,\" returned\nthe other, positively.", "\"A Mohawk!", "No, give me a Delaware or a Mohican\nfor honesty; and when they will fight, which they won't all do, having\nsuffered their cunning enemies, the Maquas, to make them women--but when\nthey will fight at all, look to a Delaware, or a Mohican, for a\nwarrior!\"", "\"Enough of this,\" said Heyward, impatiently; \"I wish not to inquire into\nthe character of a man that I know, and to whom you must be a stranger.", "You have not yet answered my question: what is our distance from the\nmain army at Edward?\"", "\"It seems that may depend on who is your guide.", "One would think such a\nhorse as that might get over a good deal of ground atwixt sun-up and\nsun-down.\"", "\"I wish no contention of idle words with you, friend,\" said Heyward,\ncurbing his dissatisfied manner, and speaking in a more gentle voice;\n\"if you will tell me the distance to Fort Edward, and conduct me\nthither, your labor shall not go without its reward.\"", "\"And in so doing, how know I that I don't guide an enemy, and a spy of\nMontcalm, to the works of the army?", "It is not every man who can speak\nthe English tongue that is an honest subject.\"", "\"If you serve with the troops, of whom I judge you to be a scout, you\nshould know of such a regiment of the king as the 60th.\"", "\"The 60th!", "you can tell me little of the Royal Americans that I don't\nknow, though I do wear a hunting-shirt instead of a scarlet jacket.\"", "\"Well, then, among the other things, you may know the name of its\nmajor?\"", "\"Its major!\"", "interrupted the hunter, elevating his body like one who was\nproud of his trust.", "\"If there is a man in the country who knows Major\nEffingham, he stands before you.\"", "\"It is a corps which has many majors; the gentleman you name is the\nsenior, but I speak of the junior of them all; he who commands the\ncompanies in garrison at William Henry.\"", "\"Yes, yes, I have heard that a young gentleman of vast riches, from one\nof the provinces far south, has got the place.", "He is over young, too, to\nhold such rank, and to be put above men whose heads are beginning to\nbleach; and yet they say he is a soldier in his knowledge, and a gallant\ngentleman!\"", "\"Whatever he may be, or however he may be qualified for his rank, he now\nspeaks to you, and of course can be no enemy to dread.\"", "The scout regarded Heyward in surprise, and then lifting his cap, he\nanswered, in a tone less confident than before, though still expressing\ndoubt,--\n\n\"I have heard a party was to leave the encampment this morning, for the\nlake shore.\"", "\"You have heard the truth; but I preferred a nearer route, trusting to\nthe knowledge of the Indian I mentioned.\"", "\"And he deceived you, and then deserted?\"", "\"Neither, as I believe; certainly not the latter, for he is to be found\nin the rear.\"", "\"I should like to look at the creatur'; if it is a true Iroquois I can\ntell him by his knavish look, and by his paint,\" said the scout,\nstepping past the charger of Heyward, and entering the path behind the\nmare of the singing-master, whose foal had taken advantage of the halt\nto exact the maternal contribution.", "After shoving aside the bushes, and\nproceeding a few paces, he encountered the females, who awaited the\nresult of the conference with anxiety, and not entirely without\napprehension.", "Behind these, the runner leaned against a tree, where he\nstood the close examination of the scout with an air unmoved, though\nwith a look so dark and savage, that it might in itself excite fear.", "Satisfied with his scrutiny, the hunter soon left him.", "As he repassed\nthe females, he paused a moment to gaze upon their beauty, answering to\nthe smile and nod of Alice with a look of open pleasure.", "Thence he went\nto the side of the motherly animal, and spending a minute in a fruitless\ninquiry into the character of her rider, he shook his head and returned\nto Heyward.", "\"A Mingo is a Mingo, and God having made him so, neither the Mohawks nor\nany other tribe can alter him,\" he said, when he had regained his former\nposition.", "\"If we were alone, and you would leave that noble horse at the\nmercy of the wolves to-night, I could show you the way to Edward,\nmyself, within an hour, for it lies only about an hour's journey hence;\nbut with such ladies in your company 'tis impossible!\"", "\"And why?", "they are fatigued, but they are quite equal to a ride of a few\nmore miles.\"", "\"'Tis a natural impossibility!\"", "repeated the scout; \"I wouldn't walk a\nmile in these woods after night gets into them, in company with that\nrunner, for the best rifle in the colonies.", "They are full of outlying\nIroquois, and your mongrel Mohawk knows where to find them too well, to\nbe my companion.\"", "\"Think you so?\"", "said Heyward, leaning forward in the saddle, and\ndropping his voice nearly to a whisper; \"I confess I have not been\nwithout my own suspicions, though I have endeavored to conceal them, and\naffected a confidence I have not always felt, on account of my\ncompanions.", "It was because I suspected him that I would follow no\nlonger; making him, as you see, follow me.\"", "\"I knew he was one of the cheats as soon as I laid eyes on him!\"", "returned the scout, placing a finger on his nose, in sign of caution.", "\"The thief is leaning against the foot of the sugar sapling, that you\ncan see over them bushes; his right leg is in a line with the bark of\nthe tree, and,\" tapping his rifle, \"I can take him from where I stand,\nbetween the ankle and the knee, with a single shot, putting an end to\nhis tramping through the woods, for at least a month to come.", "If I\nshould go back to him, the cunning varmint would suspect something, and\nbe dodging through the trees like a frightened deer.\"", "\"It will not do.", "He may be innocent, and I dislike the act.", "Though, if I\nfelt confident of his treachery--\"\n\n\"'Tis a safe thing to calculate on the knavery of an Iroquois,\" said the\nscout, throwing his rifle forward, by a sort of instinctive movement.", "\"Hold!\"", "interrupted Heyward, \"it will not do--we must think of some\nother scheme; and yet, I have much reason to believe the rascal has\ndeceived me.\"", "The hunter, who had already abandoned his intention of maiming the\nrunner, mused a moment, and then made a gesture, which instantly brought\nhis two red companions to his side.", "They spoke together earnestly in the\nDelaware language, though in an undertone; and by the gestures of the\nwhite man, which were frequently directed towards the top of the\nsapling, it was evident he pointed out the situation of their hidden\nenemy.", "His companions were not long in comprehending his wishes, and\nlaying aside their fire-arms, they parted, taking opposite sides of the\npath, and burying themselves in the thicket, with such cautious\nmovements, that their steps were inaudible.", "\"Now, go you back,\" said the hunter, speaking again to Heyward, \"and\nhold the imp in talk; these Mohicans here will take him without breaking\nhis paint.\"", "\"Nay,\" said Heyward, proudly, \"I will seize him myself.\"", "\"Hist!", "what could you do, mounted, against an Indian in the bushes?\"", "\"I will dismount.\"", "\"And, think you, when he saw one of your feet out of the stirrup, he\nwould wait for the other to be free?", "Whoever comes into the woods to\ndeal with the natives, must use Indian fashions, if he would wish to\nprosper in his undertakings.", "Go, then, talk openly to the miscreant, and\nseem to believe him the truest friend you have on 'arth.\"", "Heyward prepared to comply, though with strong disgust at the nature of\nthe office he was compelled to execute.", "Each moment, however, pressed\nupon him a conviction of the critical situation in which he had suffered\nhis invaluable trust to be involved through his own confidence.", "The sun\nhad already disappeared, and the woods, suddenly deprived of his\nlight,[9] were assuming a dusky hue, which keenly reminded him that the\nhour the savage usually chose for his most barbarous and remorseless\nacts of vengeance or hostility, was speedily drawing near.", "Stimulated by\napprehension, he left the scout, who immediately entered into a loud\nconversation with the stranger that had so unceremoniously enlisted\nhimself in the party of travellers that morning.", "In passing his gentler\ncompanions Heyward uttered a few words of encouragement, and was pleased\nto find that, though fatigued with the exercise of the day, they\nappeared to entertain no suspicion that their present embarrassment was\nother than the result of accident.", "Giving them reason to believe he was\nmerely employed in a consultation concerning the future route, he\nspurred his charger, and drew the reins again, when the animal had\ncarried him within a few yards of the place where the sullen runner\nstill stood, leaning against the tree.", "\"You may see, Magua,\" he said, endeavoring to assume an air of freedom\nand confidence, \"that the night is closing around us, and yet we are no\nnearer to William Henry than when we left the encampment of Webb with\nthe rising sun.", "You have missed the way, nor have I been more fortunate.", "But, happily we have fallen in with a hunter, he whom you hear talking\nto the singer, that is acquainted with the deer-paths and by-ways of the\nwoods, and who promises to lead us to a place where we may rest securely\ntill the morning.\"", "The Indian riveted his glowing eyes on Heyward as he asked, in his\nimperfect English, \"Is he alone?\"", "\"Alone!\"", "hesitatingly answered Heyward to whom deception was too new to\nbe assumed without embarrassment.", "\"O!", "not alone, surely, Magua, for you\nknow that we are with him.\"", "\"Then Le Renard Subtil will go,\" returned the runner, coolly raising his\nlittle wallet from the place where it had lain at his feet; \"and the\npale-faces will see none but their own color.\"", "\"Go!", "Whom call you Le Renard?\"", "\"'Tis the name his Canada fathers have given to Magua,\" returned the\nrunner, with an air that manifested his pride at the distinction.", "\"Night\nis the same as day to Le Subtil, when Munro waits for him.\"", "\"And what account will Le Renard give the chief of William Henry\nconcerning his daughters?", "Will he dare to tell the hot-blooded Scotsman\nthat his children are left without a guide, though Magua promised to be\none?\"", "\"Though the gray head has a loud voice, and a long arm, Le Renard will\nnot hear him, or feel him, in the woods.\"", "\"But what will the Mohawks say?", "They will make him petticoats, and bid\nhim stay in the wigwam with the women, for he is no longer to be trusted\nwith the business of a man.\"", "\"Le Subtil knows the path to the great lakes, and he can find the bones\nof his fathers,\" was the answer of the unmoved runner.", "\"Enough, Magua,\" said Heyward; \"are we not friends?", "Why should there be\nbitter words between us?", "Munro has promised you a gift for your services\nwhen performed, and I shall be your debtor for another.", "Rest your weary\nlimbs, then, and open your wallet to eat.", "We have a few moments to\nspare; let us not waste them in talk like wrangling women.", "When the\nladies are refreshed we will proceed.\"", "\"The pale-faces make themselves dogs to their women,\" muttered the\nIndian, in his native language, \"and when they want to eat, their\nwarriors must lay aside the tomahawk to feed their laziness.\"", "\"What say you, Renard?\"", "\"Le Subtil says it is good.\"", "The Indian then fastened his eyes keenly on the open countenance of\nHeyward, but meeting his glance, he turned them quickly away, and\nseating himself deliberately on the ground, he drew forth the remnant of\nsome former repast, and began to eat, though not without first bending\nhis looks slowly and cautiously around him.", "\"This is well,\" continued Heyward; \"and Le Renard will have strength and\nsight to find the path in the morning;\" he paused, for sounds like the\nsnapping of a dried stick, and the rustling of leaves, rose from the\nadjacent bushes, but recollecting himself instantly, he continued,--\"we\nmust be moving before the sun is seen, or Montcalm may lie in our path,\nand shut us out from the fortress.\"", "The hand of Magua dropped from his mouth to his side, and though his\neyes were fastened on the ground, his head was turned aside, his\nnostrils expanded, and his ears seemed even to stand more erect than\nusual, giving to him the appearance of a statue that was made to\nrepresent intense attention.", "Heyward, who watched his movements with a vigilant eye, carelessly\nextricated one of his feet from the stirrup, while he passed a hand\ntowards the bear-skin covering of his holsters.", "Every effort to detect\nthe point most regarded by the runner was completely frustrated by the\ntremulous glances of his organs, which seemed not to rest a single\ninstant on any particular object, and which, at the same time, could be\nhardly said to move.", "While he hesitated how to proceed, Le Subtil\ncautiously raised himself to his feet, though with a motion so slow and\nguarded, that not the slightest noise was produced by the change.", "Heyward felt it had now become incumbent on him to act.", "Throwing his leg\nover the saddle, he dismounted, with a determination to advance and\nseize his treacherous companion, trusting the result to his own manhood.", "In order, however, to prevent unnecessary alarm, he still preserved an\nair of calmness and friendship.", "\"Le Renard Subtil does not eat,\" he said, using the appellation he had\nfound most flattering to the vanity of the Indian.", "\"His corn is not well\nparched, and it seems dry.", "Let me examine; perhaps something may be\nfound among my own provisions that will help his appetite.\"", "Magua held out the wallet to the proffer of the other.", "He even suffered\ntheir hands to meet, without betraying the least emotion, or varying his\nriveted attitude of attention.", "But when he felt the fingers of Heyward\nmoving gently along his own naked arm, he struck up the limb of the\nyoung man, and uttering a piercing cry as he darted beneath it, plunged,\nat a single bound, into the opposite thicket.", "At the next instant the\nform of Chingachgook appeared from the bushes, looking like a spectre in\nits paint, and glided across the path in swift pursuit.", "Next followed\nthe shout of Uncas, when the woods were lighted by a sudden flash, that\nwas accompanied by the sharp report of the hunter's rifle." ]

[ "\"Enough of this,\" said Heyward, impatiently; \"I wish not to inquire into\nthe character of a man that I know, and to whom you must be a stranger.", "you can tell me little of the Royal Americans that I don't\nknow, though I do wear a hunting-shirt instead of a scarlet jacket.\"", "\"A Mingo is a Mingo, and God having made him so, neither the Mohawks nor\nany other tribe can alter him,\" he said, when he had regained his former\nposition.", "They are full of outlying\nIroquois, and your mongrel Mohawk knows where to find them too well, to\nbe my companion.\"", "said Heyward, leaning forward in the saddle, and\ndropping his voice nearly to a whisper; \"I confess I have not been\nwithout my own suspicions, though I have endeavored to conceal them, and\naffected a confidence I have not always felt, on account of my\ncompanions.", "The sun\nhad already disappeared, and the woods, suddenly deprived of his\nlight,[9] were assuming a dusky hue, which keenly reminded him that the\nhour the savage usually chose for his most barbarous and remorseless\nacts of vengeance or hostility, was speedily drawing near.", "hesitatingly answered Heyward to whom deception was too new to\nbe assumed without embarrassment.", "\"And what account will Le Renard give the chief of William Henry\nconcerning his daughters?", "Munro has promised you a gift for your services\nwhen performed, and I shall be your debtor for another.", "Let me examine; perhaps something may be\nfound among my own provisions that will help his appetite.\"" ]

[ "'Tis strange that an Indian should be lost atwixt Horican\nand the bend in the river.", "\"Hold!\"", "You forget that I have told you our guide is now a Mohawk,\nand that he serves with our forces as a friend.\"", "Though, if I\nfelt confident of his treachery--\"\n\n\"'Tis a safe thing to calculate on the knavery of an Iroquois,\" said the\nscout, throwing his rifle forward, by a sort of instinctive movement.", "if you are friends to the king, and have business\nwith the army, your better way would be to follow the river down to\nEdward, and lay the matter before Webb; who tarries there, instead of\npushing into the defiles, and driving this saucy Frenchman back across\nChamplain, into his den again.\"", "\"Yes, yes, I have heard that a young gentleman of vast riches, from one\nof the provinces far south, has got the place.", "Know you the distance to a post of\nthe crown called William Henry?\"", "shouted the scout, who did not spare his open laughter, though,\ninstantly checking the dangerous sounds, he indulged his merriment at\nless risk of being overheard by any lurking enemies.", "In passing his gentler\ncompanions Heyward uttered a few words of encouragement, and was pleased\nto find that, though fatigued with the exercise of the day, they\nappeared to entertain no suspicion that their present embarrassment was\nother than the result of accident.", "\"A Mingo is a Mingo, and God having made him so, neither the Mohawks nor\nany other tribe can alter him,\" he said, when he had regained his former\nposition." ]

[ "\"And why?", "they are fatigued, but they are quite equal to a ride of a few\nmore miles.\"", "\"'Tis a natural impossibility!\"", "repeated the scout; \"I wouldn't walk a\nmile in these woods after night gets into them, in company with that\nrunner, for the best rifle in the colonies.", "They are full of outlying\nIroquois, and your mongrel Mohawk knows where to find them too well, to\nbe my companion.\"", "\"Think you so?\"", "said Heyward, leaning forward in the saddle, and\ndropping his voice nearly to a whisper; \"I confess I have not been\nwithout my own suspicions, though I have endeavored to conceal them, and\naffected a confidence I have not always felt, on account of my\ncompanions.", "It was because I suspected him that I would follow no\nlonger; making him, as you see, follow me.\"", "\"I knew he was one of the cheats as soon as I laid eyes on him!\"", "returned the scout, placing a finger on his nose, in sign of caution.", "\"The thief is leaning against the foot of the sugar sapling, that you\ncan see over them bushes; his right leg is in a line with the bark of\nthe tree, and,\" tapping his rifle, \"I can take him from where I stand,\nbetween the ankle and the knee, with a single shot, putting an end to\nhis tramping through the woods, for at least a month to come." ]

[ "\n \"Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove\n Till I torment thee for this injury.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe words were still in the mouth of the scout, when the leader of the\nparty, whose approaching footsteps had caught the vigilant ear of the\nIndian, came openly into view.", "A beaten path, such as those made by the\nperiodical passage of the deer, wound through a little glen at no great\ndistance, and struck the river at the point where the white man and his\nred companions had posted themselves.", "Along this track the travellers,\nwho had produced a surprise so unusual in the depths of the forest,\nadvanced slowly towards the hunter, who was in front of his associates,\nin readiness to receive them.", "\"Who comes?\"", "demanded the scout, throwing his rifle carelessly across\nhis left arm, and keeping the forefinger of his right hand on the\ntrigger, though he avoided all appearance of menace in the act, \"Who\ncomes hither, among the beasts and dangers of the wilderness?\"", "\"Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the king,\"\nreturned he who rode foremost.", "\"Men who have journeyed since the rising\nsun, in the shades of this forest, without nourishment, and are sadly\ntired of their wayfaring.\"", "\"You are, then, lost,\" interrupted the hunter, \"and have found how\nhelpless 'tis not to know whether to take the right hand or the left?\"", "\"Even so; sucking babes are not more dependent on those who guide them\nthan we who are of larger growth, and who may now be said to possess the\nstature without the knowledge of men.", "Throwing his leg\nover the saddle, he dismounted, with a determination to advance and\nseize his treacherous companion, trusting the result to his own manhood.", "In order, however, to prevent unnecessary alarm, he still preserved an\nair of calmness and friendship.", "\"Le Renard Subtil does not eat,\" he said, using the appellation he had\nfound most flattering to the vanity of the Indian.", "\"His corn is not well\nparched, and it seems dry.", "Let me examine; perhaps something may be\nfound among my own provisions that will help his appetite.\"", "Magua held out the wallet to the proffer of the other.", "He even suffered\ntheir hands to meet, without betraying the least emotion, or varying his\nriveted attitude of attention.", "But when he felt the fingers of Heyward\nmoving gently along his own naked arm, he struck up the limb of the\nyoung man, and uttering a piercing cry as he darted beneath it, plunged,\nat a single bound, into the opposite thicket.", "At the next instant the\nform of Chingachgook appeared from the bushes, looking like a spectre in\nits paint, and glided across the path in swift pursuit.", "Next followed\nthe shout of Uncas, when the woods were lighted by a sudden flash, that\nwas accompanied by the sharp report of the hunter's rifle." ]

[ "\n \"In such a night\n Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;\n And saw the lion's shadow ere himself.\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe suddenness of the flight of his guide, and the wild cries of the\npursuers, caused Heyward to remain fixed, for a few moments, in inactive\nsurprise.", "Then recollecting the importance of securing the fugitive, he\ndashed aside the surrounding bushes, and pressed eagerly forward to lend\nhis aid in the chase.", "Before he had, however, proceeded a hundred yards,\nhe met the three foresters already returning from their unsuccessful\npursuit.", "\"Why so soon disheartened!\"", "he exclaimed; \"the scoundrel must be\nconcealed behind some of these trees, and may yet be secured.", "We are not\nsafe while he goes at large.\"", "\"Would you set a cloud to chase the wind?\"", "returned the disappointed\nscout; \"I heard the imp, brushing over the dry leaves, like a black\nsnake, and blinking a glimpse of him, just over ag'in yon big pine, I\npulled as it might be on the scent; but 'twouldn't do!", "and yet for a\nreasoning aim, if anybody but myself had touched the trigger, I should\ncall it a quick sight; and I may be accounted to have experience in\nthese matters, and one who ought to know.", "Look at this sumach; its\nleaves are red, though everybody knows the fruit is in the yellow\nblossom, in the month of July!\"", "\"'Tis the blood of Le Subtil!", "he is hurt, and may yet fall!\"", "\"No, no,\" returned the scout, in decided disapprobation of this opinion,\n\"I rubbed the bark off a limb, perhaps, but the creature leaped the\nlonger for it.", "A rifle-bullet acts on a running animal, when it barks\nhim, much the same as one of your spurs on a horse; that is, it quickens\nmotion, and puts life into the flesh, instead of taking it away.", "But\nwhen it cuts the ragged hole, after a bound or two, there is, commonly,\na stagnation of further leaping, be it Indian or be it deer!\"", "\"We are four able bodies, to one wounded man!\"", "\"Is life grievous to you?\"", "interrupted the scout.", "\"Yonder red devils\nwould draw you within swing of the tomahawks of his comrades, before you\nwere heated in the chase.", "It was an unthoughtful act in a man who has so\noften slept with the war-whoop ringing in the air, to let off his piece\nwithin sound of an ambushment!", "But then it was a natural temptation!", "'twas very natural!", "Come, friends, let us move our station, and in such\na fashion, too, as will throw the cunning of a Mingo on a wrong scent,\nor our scalps will be drying in the wind in front of Montcalm's marquee,\nag'in this hour to-morrow.\"", "This appalling declaration, which the scout uttered with the cool\nassurance of a man who fully comprehended, while he did not fear to face\nthe danger, served to remind Heyward of the importance of the charge\nwith which he himself had been intrusted.", "Glancing his eyes around, with\na vain effort to pierce the gloom that was thickening beneath the leafy\narches of the forest, he felt as if, cut off from human aid, his\nunresisting companions would soon lie at the entire mercy of those\nbarbarous enemies, who, like beasts of prey, only waited till the\ngathering darkness might render their blows more fatally certain.", "His\nawakened imagination, deluded by the deceptive light, converted each\nwaving bush, or the fragment of some fallen tree, into human forms, and\ntwenty times he fancied he could distinguish the horrid visages of his\nlurking foes, peering from their hiding-places, in never-ceasing\nwatchfulness of the movements of his party.", "Looking upward, he found\nthat the thin fleecy clouds, which evening had painted on the blue sky,\nwere already losing their faintest tints of rose-color, while the\nimbedded stream, which glided past the spot where he stood, was to be\ntraced only by the dark boundary of its wooded banks.", "\"What is to be done?\"", "he said, feeling the utter helplessness of doubt\nin such a pressing strait; \"desert me not, for God's sake!", "remain to\ndefend those I escort, and freely name your own reward!\"", "His companions, who conversed apart in the language of their tribe,\nheeded not this sudden and earnest appeal.", "Though their dialogue was\nmaintained in low and cautious sounds, but little above a whisper,\nHeyward, who now approached, could easily distinguish the earnest tones\nof the younger warrior from the more deliberate speeches of his seniors.", "It was evident that they debated on the propriety of some measure that\nnearly concerned the welfare of the travellers.", "Yielding to his\npowerful interest in the subject, and impatient of a delay that seemed\nfraught with so much additional danger, Heyward drew still nigher to the\ndusky group, with an intention of making his offers of compensation more\ndefinite, when the white man, motioning, with his hand, as if he\nconceded the disputed point, turned away, saying in a sort of soliloquy,\nand in the English tongue,--\n\n\"Uncas is right!", "it would not be the act of men to leave such harmless\nthings to their fate, even though it breaks up the harboring place\nforever.", "If you would save these tender blossoms from the fangs of the\nworst of serpents, gentleman, you have neither time to lose nor\nresolution to throw away!\"", "\"How can such a wish be doubted!", "have I not already offered--\"\n\n\"Offer your prayers to Him who can give us wisdom to circumvent the\ncunning of the devils who fill these woods,\" calmly interrupted the\nscout, \"but spare your offers of money, which neither you may live to\nrealize, nor I to profit by.", "These Mohicans and I will do what man's\nthoughts can invent, to keep such flowers, which, though so sweet, were\nnever made for the wilderness, from harm, and that without hope of any\nother recompense but such as God always gives to upright dealings.", "First, you must promise two things, both in your own name and for your\nfriends, or without serving you, we shall only injure ourselves!\"", "\"Name them.\"", "\"The one is, to be still as these sleeping woods, let what will happen;\nand the other is, to keep the place where we shall take you, forever a\nsecret from all mortal men.\"", "\"I will do my utmost to see both these conditions fulfilled.\"", "\"Then follow, for we are losing moments that are as precious as the\nheart's blood to a stricken deer!\"", "Heyward could distinguish the impatient gesture of the scout, through\nthe increasing shadows of the evening, and he moved in his footsteps,\nswiftly, towards the place where he had left the remainder of his party.", "When they rejoined the expecting and anxious females, he briefly\nacquainted them with the conditions of their new guide, and with the\nnecessity that existed for their hushing every apprehension, in instant\nand serious exertions.", "Although his alarming communication was not\nreceived without much secret terror by the listeners, his earnest and\nimpressive manner, aided perhaps by the nature of the danger, succeeded\nin bracing their nerves to undergo some unlooked-for and unusual trial.", "Silently, and without a moment's delay, they permitted him to assist\nthem from their saddles, when they descended quickly to the water's\nedge, where the scout had collected the rest of the party, more by the\nagency of expressive gestures than by any use of words.", "\"What to do with these dumb creatures!\"", "muttered the white man, on whom\nthe sole control of their future movements appeared to devolve; \"it\nwould be time lost to cut their throats, and cast them into the river;\nand to leave them here, would be to tell the Mingos that they have not\nfar to seek to find their owners!\"", "\"Then give them their bridles, and let them range the woods,\" Heyward\nventured to suggest.", "\"No; it would be better to mislead the imps, and make them believe they\nmust equal a horse's speed to run down their chase.", "Ay, ay, that will\nblind their fire-balls of eyes!", "Chingach--Hist?", "what stirs the bush?\"", "\"The colt.\"", "\"That colt, at least, must die,\" muttered the scout, grasping the mane\nof the nimble beast, which easily eluded his hand; \"Uncas, your arrows!\"", "\"Hold!\"", "exclaimed the proprietor of the condemned animal, aloud, without\nregard to the whispering tones used by the others; \"spare the foal of\nMiriam!", "it is the comely offspring of a faithful dam, and would\nwillingly injure naught.\"", "\"When men struggle for the single life God has given them,\" said the\nscout sternly, \"even their own kind seem no more than the beasts of the\nwood.", "If you speak again, I shall leave you to the mercy of the Maquas!", "Draw to your arrow's head, Uncas; we have no time for second blows.\"", "The low, muttering sounds of his threatening voice were still audible,\nwhen the wounded foal, first rearing on its hinder legs, plunged forward\nto its knees.", "It was met by Chingachgook, whose knife passed across its\nthroat quicker than thought, and then precipitating the motions of the\nstruggling victim, he dashed it into the river, down whose stream it\nglided away, gasping audibly for breath with its ebbing life.", "This deed\nof apparent cruelty, but of real necessity, fell upon the spirits of the\ntravellers like a terrific warning of the peril in which they stood,\nheightened as it was by the calm though steady resolution of the actors\nin the scene.", "The sisters shuddered and clung closer to each other,\nwhile Heyward instinctively laid his hand on one of the pistols he had\njust drawn from their holsters, as he placed himself between his charge\nand those dense shadows that seemed to draw an impenetrable veil before\nthe bosom of the forest.", "The Indians, however, hesitated not a moment, but taking the bridles,\nthey led the frightened and reluctant horses into the bed of the river.", "At a short distance from the shore they turned, and were soon concealed\nby the projection of the bank, under the brow of which they moved, in a\ndirection opposite to the course of the waters.", "In the meantime, the\nscout drew a canoe of bark from its place of concealment beneath some\nlow bushes, whose branches were waving with the eddies of the current,\ninto which he silently motioned for the females to enter.", "They complied\nwithout hesitation, though many a fearful and anxious glance was thrown\nbehind them towards the thickening gloom which now lay like a dark\nbarrier along the margin of the stream.", "So soon as Cora and Alice were seated, the scout, without regarding the\nelement, directed Heyward to support one side of the frail vessel, and\nposting himself at the other, they bore it up against the stream,\nfollowed by the dejected owner of the dead foal.", "In this manner they\nproceeded, for many rods, in a silence that was only interrupted by the\nrippling of the water, as its eddies played around them, or the low dash\nmade by their own cautious footsteps.", "Heyward yielded the guidance of\nthe canoe implicitly to the scout, who approached or receded from the\nshore, to avoid the fragments of rocks, or deeper parts of the river,\nwith a readiness that showed his knowledge of the route they held.", "Occasionally he would stop; and in the midst of a breathing stillness,\nthat the dull but increasing roar of the waterfall only served to render\nmore impressive, he would listen with painful intenseness, to catch any\nsounds that might arise from the slumbering forest.", "When assured that\nall was still, and unable to detect, even by the aid of his practised\nsenses, any sign of his approaching foes, he would deliberately resume\nhis slow and unguarded progress.", "At length they reached a point in the\nriver, where the roving eye of Heyward became riveted on a cluster of\nblack objects, collected at a spot where the high bank threw a deeper\nshadow than usual on the dark waters.", "Hesitating to advance, he pointed\nout the place to the attention of his companion.", "\"Ay,\" returned the composed scout, \"the Indians have hid the beasts\nwith the judgment of natives!", "Water leaves no trail, and an owl's eyes\nwould be blinded by the darkness of such a hole.\"", "The whole party was soon reunited, and another consultation was held\nbetween the scout and his new comrades, during which, they whose fates\ndepended on the faith and ingenuity of these unknown foresters, had a\nlittle leisure to observe their situation more minutely.", "The river was confined between high and cragged rocks, one of which\nimpended above the spot where the canoe rested.", "As these, again, were\nsurmounted by tall trees, which appeared to totter on the brows of the\nprecipice, it gave the stream the appearance of running through a deep\nand narrow dell.", "All beneath the fantastic limbs and ragged tree-tops,\nwhich were, here and there, dimly painted against the starry zenith, lay\nalike in shadowed obscurity.", "Behind them, the curvature of the banks\nsoon bounded the view, by the same dark and wooded outline; but in\nfront, and apparently at no great distance, the water seemed piled\nagainst the heavens, whence it tumbled into caverns, out of which issued\nthose sullen sounds that had loaded the evening atmosphere.", "It seemed,\nin truth, to be a spot devoted to seclusion, and the sisters imbibed a\nsoothing impression of security, as they gazed upon its romantic, though\nnot unappalling beauties.", "A general movement among their conductors,\nhowever, soon recalled them from a contemplation of the wild charms that\nnight had assisted to lend the place, to a painful sense of their real\nperil.", "The horses had been secured to some scattered shrubs that grew in the\nfissures of the rocks, where, standing in the water, they were left to\npass the night.", "The scout directed Heyward and his disconsolate\nfellow-travellers to seat themselves in the forward end of the canoe,\nand took possession of the other himself, as erect and steady as if he\nfloated in a vessel of much firmer materials.", "The Indians warily\nretraced their steps towards the place they had left, when the scout,\nplacing his pole against a rock, by a powerful shove, sent his frail\nbark directly into the centre of the turbulent stream.", "For many minutes\nthe struggle between the light bubble in which they floated, and the\nswift current, was severe and doubtful.", "Forbidden to stir even a hand,\nand almost afraid to breathe, lest they should expose the frail fabric\nto the fury of the stream, the passengers watched the glancing waters in\nfeverish suspense.", "Twenty times they thought the whirling eddies were\nsweeping them to destruction, when the master-hand of their pilot would\nbring the bows of the canoe to stem the rapid.", "A long, a vigorous, and,\nas it appeared to the females, a desperate effort, closed the struggle.", "Just as Alice veiled her eyes in horror, under the impression that they\nwere about to be swept within the vortex at the foot of the cataract,\nthe canoe floated, stationary, at the side of a flat rock, that lay on a\nlevel with the water.", "\"Where are we?", "and what is next to be done?\"", "demanded Heyward,\nperceiving that the exertions of the scout had ceased.", "\"You are at the foot of Glenn's,\" returned the other, speaking aloud,\nwithout fear of consequences, within the roar of the cataract; \"and the\nnext thing is to make a steady landing, lest the canoe upset, and you\nshould go down again the hard road we have travelled, faster than you\ncame up; 'tis a hard rift to stem, when the river is a little swelled;\nand five is an unnatural number to keep dry, in the hurry-skurry, with a\nlittle birchen bark and gum.", "There, go you all on the rock, and I will\nbring up the Mohicans with the venison.", "A man had better sleep without\nhis scalp, than famish in the midst of plenty.\"", "His passengers gladly complied with these directions.", "As the last foot\ntouched the rock, the canoe whirled from its station, when the tall form\nof the scout was seen, for an instant, gliding above the waters, before\nit disappeared in the impenetrable darkness that rested on the bed of\nthe river.", "Left by their guide, the travellers remained a few minutes in\nhelpless ignorance, afraid even to move along the broken rocks, lest a\nfalse step should precipitate them down some one of the many deep and\nroaring caverns, into which the water seemed to tumble, on every side of\nthem.", "Their suspense, however, was soon relieved; for aided by the skill\nof the natives, the canoe shot back into the eddy, and floated again at\nthe side of the low rock before they thought the scout had even time to\nrejoin his companions.", "\"We are now fortified, garrisoned, and provisioned,\" cried Heyward,\ncheerfully, \"and may set Montcalm and his allies at defiance.", "How, now,\nmy vigilant sentinel, can you see anything of those you call the\nIroquois, on the mainland?\"", "\"I call them Iroquois, because to me every native, who speaks a foreign\ntongue, is accounted an enemy, though he may pretend to serve the king!", "If Webb wants faith and honesty in an Indian, let him bring out the\ntribes of the Delawares, and send these greedy and lying Mohawks and\nOneidas, with their six nations of varlets, where in nature they belong,\namong the French!\"", "\"We should then exchange a warlike for a useless friend!", "I have heard\nthat the Delawares have laid aside the hatchet, and are content to be\ncalled women!\"", "\"Ay, shame on the Hollanders[10] and Iroquois, who circumvented them by\ntheir deviltries, into such a treaty!", "But I have known them for twenty\nyears, and I call him liar, that says cowardly blood runs in the veins\nof a Delaware.", "You have driven their tribes from the sea-shore, and\nwould now believe what their enemies say, that you may sleep at night\nupon an easy pillow.", "No, no; to me, every Indian who speaks a foreign\ntongue is an Iroquois, whether the castle[11] of his tribe be in Canada,\nor be in New York.\"", "Heyward, perceiving that the stubborn adherence of the scout to the\ncause of his friends the Delawares or Mohicans, for they were branches\nof the same numerous people, was likely to prolong a useless discussion,\nchanged the subject.", "\"Treaty or no treaty, I know full well, that your two companions are\nbrave and cautious warriors!", "have they heard or seen anything of our\nenemies?\"", "\"An Indian is a mortal to be felt afore he is seen,\" returned the scout,\nascending the rock, and throwing the deer carelessly down.", "\"I trust to\nother signs than such as come in at the eye, when I am outlying on the\ntrail of the Mingos.\"", "\"Do your ears tell you that they have traced our retreat?\"", "\"I should be sorry to think they had, though this is a spot that stout\ncourage might hold for a smart skrimmage.", "I will not deny, however, but\nthe horses cowered when I passed them, as though they scented the\nwolves; and a wolf is a beast that is apt to hover about an Indian\nambushment, craving the offals of the deer the savages kill.\"", "\"You forget the buck at your feet!", "or, may we not owe their visit to the\ndead colt?", "Ha!", "what noise is that?\"", "\"Poor Miriam!\"", "murmured the stranger; \"thy foal was foreordained to\nbecome a prey to ravenous beasts!\"", "Then, suddenly lifting up his voice,\namid the eternal din of the waters, he sang aloud,--\n\n \"First born of Egypt, smite did He,\n Of mankind, and of beast also;\n O, Egypt!", "wonders sent 'midst thee,\n On Pharaoh and his servants too!\"", "\"The death of the colt sits heavy on the heart of its owner,\" said the\nscout; \"but it's a good sign to see a man account upon his dumb friends.", "He has the religion of the matter, in believing what is to happen will\nhappen; and with such a consolation, it won't be long afore he submits\nto the rationality of killing a four-footed beast, to save the lives of\nhuman men.", "It may be as you say,\" he continued, reverting to the purport\nof Heyward's last remark; \"and the greater the reason why we should cut\nour steaks, and let the carcase drive down the stream, or we shall have\nthe pack howling along the cliffs, begrudging every mouthful we swallow.", "Besides, though the Delaware tongue is the same as a book to the\nIroquois, the cunning varlets are quick enough at understanding the\nreason of a wolf's howl.\"", "The scout, whilst making his remarks, was busied in collecting certain\nnecessary implements; as he concluded, he moved silently by the group of\ntravellers, accompanied by the Mohicans, who seemed to comprehend his\nintentions with instinctive readiness, when the whole three disappeared\nin succession, seeming to vanish against the dark face of a\nperpendicular rock, that rose to the height of a few yards within as\nmany feet of the water's edge." ]

[ "he is hurt, and may yet fall!\"", "A rifle-bullet acts on a running animal, when it barks\nhim, much the same as one of your spurs on a horse; that is, it quickens\nmotion, and puts life into the flesh, instead of taking it away.", "But\nwhen it cuts the ragged hole, after a bound or two, there is, commonly,\na stagnation of further leaping, be it Indian or be it deer!\"", "First, you must promise two things, both in your own name and for your\nfriends, or without serving you, we shall only injure ourselves!\"", "what stirs the bush?\"", "Water leaves no trail, and an owl's eyes\nwould be blinded by the darkness of such a hole.\"", "\"I should be sorry to think they had, though this is a spot that stout\ncourage might hold for a smart skrimmage.", "\"Poor Miriam!\"", "Then, suddenly lifting up his voice,\namid the eternal din of the waters, he sang aloud,--\n\n \"First born of Egypt, smite did He,\n Of mankind, and of beast also;\n O, Egypt!", "Besides, though the Delaware tongue is the same as a book to the\nIroquois, the cunning varlets are quick enough at understanding the\nreason of a wolf's howl.\"" ]

[ "\"You are at the foot of Glenn's,\" returned the other, speaking aloud,\nwithout fear of consequences, within the roar of the cataract; \"and the\nnext thing is to make a steady landing, lest the canoe upset, and you\nshould go down again the hard road we have travelled, faster than you\ncame up; 'tis a hard rift to stem, when the river is a little swelled;\nand five is an unnatural number to keep dry, in the hurry-skurry, with a\nlittle birchen bark and gum.", "The low, muttering sounds of his threatening voice were still audible,\nwhen the wounded foal, first rearing on its hinder legs, plunged forward\nto its knees.", "Glancing his eyes around, with\na vain effort to pierce the gloom that was thickening beneath the leafy\narches of the forest, he felt as if, cut off from human aid, his\nunresisting companions would soon lie at the entire mercy of those\nbarbarous enemies, who, like beasts of prey, only waited till the\ngathering darkness might render their blows more fatally certain.", "what noise is that?\"", "Draw to your arrow's head, Uncas; we have no time for second blows.\"", "This appalling declaration, which the scout uttered with the cool\nassurance of a man who fully comprehended, while he did not fear to face\nthe danger, served to remind Heyward of the importance of the charge\nwith which he himself had been intrusted.", "\"Then give them their bridles, and let them range the woods,\" Heyward\nventured to suggest.", "A general movement among their conductors,\nhowever, soon recalled them from a contemplation of the wild charms that\nnight had assisted to lend the place, to a painful sense of their real\nperil.", "returned the disappointed\nscout; \"I heard the imp, brushing over the dry leaves, like a black\nsnake, and blinking a glimpse of him, just over ag'in yon big pine, I\npulled as it might be on the scent; but 'twouldn't do!", "In this manner they\nproceeded, for many rods, in a silence that was only interrupted by the\nrippling of the water, as its eddies played around them, or the low dash\nmade by their own cautious footsteps." ]

[ "Draw to your arrow's head, Uncas; we have no time for second blows.\"", "The low, muttering sounds of his threatening voice were still audible,\nwhen the wounded foal, first rearing on its hinder legs, plunged forward\nto its knees.", "It was met by Chingachgook, whose knife passed across its\nthroat quicker than thought, and then precipitating the motions of the\nstruggling victim, he dashed it into the river, down whose stream it\nglided away, gasping audibly for breath with its ebbing life.", "This deed\nof apparent cruelty, but of real necessity, fell upon the spirits of the\ntravellers like a terrific warning of the peril in which they stood,\nheightened as it was by the calm though steady resolution of the actors\nin the scene.", "The sisters shuddered and clung closer to each other,\nwhile Heyward instinctively laid his hand on one of the pistols he had\njust drawn from their holsters, as he placed himself between his charge\nand those dense shadows that seemed to draw an impenetrable veil before\nthe bosom of the forest.", "The Indians, however, hesitated not a moment, but taking the bridles,\nthey led the frightened and reluctant horses into the bed of the river.", "At a short distance from the shore they turned, and were soon concealed\nby the projection of the bank, under the brow of which they moved, in a\ndirection opposite to the course of the waters.", "In the meantime, the\nscout drew a canoe of bark from its place of concealment beneath some\nlow bushes, whose branches were waving with the eddies of the current,\ninto which he silently motioned for the females to enter.", "They complied\nwithout hesitation, though many a fearful and anxious glance was thrown\nbehind them towards the thickening gloom which now lay like a dark\nbarrier along the margin of the stream.", "So soon as Cora and Alice were seated, the scout, without regarding the\nelement, directed Heyward to support one side of the frail vessel, and\nposting himself at the other, they bore it up against the stream,\nfollowed by the dejected owner of the dead foal.", "In this manner they\nproceeded, for many rods, in a silence that was only interrupted by the\nrippling of the water, as its eddies played around them, or the low dash\nmade by their own cautious footsteps." ]

[ "\n \"In such a night\n Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;\n And saw the lion's shadow ere himself.\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe suddenness of the flight of his guide, and the wild cries of the\npursuers, caused Heyward to remain fixed, for a few moments, in inactive\nsurprise.", "Then recollecting the importance of securing the fugitive, he\ndashed aside the surrounding bushes, and pressed eagerly forward to lend\nhis aid in the chase.", "Before he had, however, proceeded a hundred yards,\nhe met the three foresters already returning from their unsuccessful\npursuit.", "\"Why so soon disheartened!\"", "he exclaimed; \"the scoundrel must be\nconcealed behind some of these trees, and may yet be secured.", "We are not\nsafe while he goes at large.\"", "\"Would you set a cloud to chase the wind?\"", "returned the disappointed\nscout; \"I heard the imp, brushing over the dry leaves, like a black\nsnake, and blinking a glimpse of him, just over ag'in yon big pine, I\npulled as it might be on the scent; but 'twouldn't do!", "and yet for a\nreasoning aim, if anybody but myself had touched the trigger, I should\ncall it a quick sight; and I may be accounted to have experience in\nthese matters, and one who ought to know.", "what noise is that?\"", "\"Poor Miriam!\"", "murmured the stranger; \"thy foal was foreordained to\nbecome a prey to ravenous beasts!\"", "Then, suddenly lifting up his voice,\namid the eternal din of the waters, he sang aloud,--\n\n \"First born of Egypt, smite did He,\n Of mankind, and of beast also;\n O, Egypt!", "wonders sent 'midst thee,\n On Pharaoh and his servants too!\"", "\"The death of the colt sits heavy on the heart of its owner,\" said the\nscout; \"but it's a good sign to see a man account upon his dumb friends.", "He has the religion of the matter, in believing what is to happen will\nhappen; and with such a consolation, it won't be long afore he submits\nto the rationality of killing a four-footed beast, to save the lives of\nhuman men.", "It may be as you say,\" he continued, reverting to the purport\nof Heyward's last remark; \"and the greater the reason why we should cut\nour steaks, and let the carcase drive down the stream, or we shall have\nthe pack howling along the cliffs, begrudging every mouthful we swallow.", "Besides, though the Delaware tongue is the same as a book to the\nIroquois, the cunning varlets are quick enough at understanding the\nreason of a wolf's howl.\"", "The scout, whilst making his remarks, was busied in collecting certain\nnecessary implements; as he concluded, he moved silently by the group of\ntravellers, accompanied by the Mohicans, who seemed to comprehend his\nintentions with instinctive readiness, when the whole three disappeared\nin succession, seeming to vanish against the dark face of a\nperpendicular rock, that rose to the height of a few yards within as\nmany feet of the water's edge." ]

[ "\n \"Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide;\n He wales a portion with judicious care;\n And 'Let us worship God,' he says, with solemn air.\"", "BURNS.", "Heyward, and his female companions, witnessed this mysterious movement\nwith secret uneasiness; for, though the conduct of the white man had\nhitherto been above reproach, his rude equipments, blunt address, and\nstrong antipathies, together with the character of his silent\nassociates, were all causes for exciting distrust in minds that had been\nso recently alarmed by Indian treachery.", "The stranger alone disregarded the passing incidents.", "He seated himself\non a projection of the rocks, whence he gave no other signs of\nconsciousness than by the struggles of his spirit, as manifested in\nfrequent and heavy sighs.", "Smothered voices were next heard, as though\nmen called to each other in the bowels of the earth, when a sudden light\nflashed upon those without, and laid bare the much-prized secret of the\nplace.", "At the farther extremity of a narrow, deep cavern in the rock, whose\nlength appeared much extended by the perspective and the nature of the\nlight by which it was seen, was seated the scout, holding a blazing knot\nof pine.", "The strong glare of the fire fell full upon his sturdy,\nweather-beaten countenance and forest attire, lending an air of romantic\nwildness to the aspect of an individual, who, seen by the sober light of\nday, would have exhibited the peculiarities of a man remarkable for the\nstrangeness of his dress, the iron-like inflexibility of his frame, and\nthe singular compound of quick, vigilant sagacity, and of exquisite\nsimplicity, that by turns usurped the possession of his muscular\nfeatures.", "At a little distance in advance stood Uncas, his whole person\nthrown powerfully into view.", "The travellers anxiously regarded the\nupright, flexible figure of the young Mohican, graceful and unrestrained\nin the attitudes and movements of nature.", "Though his person was more\nthan usually screened by a green and fringed hunting-shirt, like that of\nthe white man, there was no concealment to his dark, glancing, fearless\neye, alike terrible and calm; the bold outline of his high, haughty\nfeatures, pure in their native red; or to the dignified elevation of his\nreceding forehead, together with all the finest proportions of a noble\nhead, bared to the generous scalping tuft.", "It was the first opportunity\npossessed by Duncan and his companions, to view the marked lineaments of\neither of their Indian attendants, and each individual of the party felt\nrelieved from a burden of doubt, as the proud and determined, though\nwild expression of the features of the young warrior forced itself on\ntheir notice.", "They felt it might be a being partially benighted in the\nvale of ignorance, but it could not be one who would willingly devote\nhis rich natural gifts to the purposes of wanton treachery.", "The\ningenuous Alice gazed at his free air and proud carriage, as she would\nhave looked upon some precious relic of the Grecian chisel, to which\nlife had been imparted by the intervention of a miracle; while Heyward,\nthough accustomed to see the perfection of form which abounds among the\nuncorrupted natives, openly expressed his admiration at such an\nunblemished specimen of the noblest proportions of man.", "\"I could sleep in peace,\" whispered Alice, in reply, \"with such a\nfearless and generous looking youth for my sentinel.", "Surely, Duncan,\nthose cruel murders, those terrific scenes of torture, of which we read\nand hear so much, are never acted in the presence of such as he!\"", "\"This, certainly, is a rare and brilliant instance of those natural\nqualities, in which these peculiar people are said to excel,\" he\nanswered.", "\"I agree with you, Alice, in thinking that such a front and\neye were formed rather to intimidate than to deceive; but let us not\npractise a deception upon ourselves, by expecting any other exhibition\nof what we esteem virtue than according to the fashion of a savage.", "As\nbright examples of great qualities are but too uncommon among\nChristians, so are they singular and solitary with the Indians; though,\nfor the honor of our common nature, neither are incapable of producing\nthem.", "Let us then hope that this Mohican may not disappoint our wishes,\nbut prove, what his looks assert him to be, a brave and constant\nfriend.\"", "\"Now Major Heyward speaks as Major Heyward should,\" said Cora; \"who,\nthat looks at this creature of nature, remembers the shade of his skin!\"", "A short, and apparently an embarrassed silence succeeded this remark,\nwhich was interrupted by the scout calling to them, aloud, to enter.", "\"This fire begins to show too bright a flame,\" he continued, as they\ncomplied, \"and might light the Mingos to our undoing.", "Uncas, drop the\nblanket, and show the knaves its dark side.", "This is not such a supper as\na major of the Royal Americans has a right to expect, but I've known\nstout detachments of the corps glad to eat their venison raw, and\nwithout a relish too.", "[12] Here, you see, we have plenty of salt, and can\nmake a quick broil.", "There's fresh sassafras boughs for the ladies to sit\non, which may not be as proud as their my-hog-guinea chairs, but which\nsends up a sweeter flavor than the skin of any hog can do, be it of\nGuinea, or be it of any other land.", "Come, friend, don't be mournful for\nthe colt; 'twas an innocent thing, and had not seen much hardship.", "Its\ndeath will save the creature many a sore back and weary foot!\"", "Uncas did as the other had directed, and when the voice of Hawkeye\nceased, the roar of the cataract sounded like the rumbling of distant\nthunder.", "\"Are we quite safe in this cavern?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Is there no\ndanger of surprise?", "A single armed man, at its entrance, would hold us\nat his mercy.\"", "A spectral-looking figure stalked from out the darkness behind the\nscout, and seizing a blazing brand, held it towards the farther\nextremity of their place of retreat.", "Alice uttered a faint shriek, and\neven Cora rose to her feet, as this appalling object moved into the\nlight; but a single word from Heyward calmed them, with the assurance it\nwas only their attendant, Chingachgook, who, lifting another blanket,\ndiscovered that the cavern had two outlets.", "Then, holding the brand, he\ncrossed a deep, narrow chasm in the rocks, which ran at right angles\nwith the passage they were in, but which, unlike that, was open to the\nheavens, and entered another cave, answering to the description of the\nfirst, in every essential particular.", "\"Such old foxes as Chingachgook and myself are not often caught in a\nburrow with one hole,\" said Hawkeye, laughing; \"you can easily see the\ncunning of the place--the rock is black limestone, which everybody knows\nis soft; it makes no uncomfortable pillow, where brush and pine wood is\nscarce; well, the fall was once a few yards below us, and I dare to say\nwas, in its time, as regular and as handsome a sheet of water as any\nalong the Hudson.", "But old age is a great injury to good looks, as these\nsweet young ladies have yet to l'arn!", "The place is sadly changed!", "These\nrocks are full of cracks, and in some places they are softer than at\nothersome, and the water has worked out deep hollows for itself, until\nit has fallen back, ay, some hundred feet, breaking here and wearing\nthere, until the falls have neither shape nor consistency.\"", "\"In what part of them are we?\"", "asked Heyward.", "\"Why, we are nigh the spot that Providence first placed them at, but\nwhere, it seems, they were too rebellious to stay.", "The rock proved\nsofter on each side of us, and so they left the centre of the river bare\nand dry, first working out these two little holes for us to hide in.\"", "\"We are then on an island?\"", "\"Ay!", "there are the falls on two sides of us, and the river above and\nbelow.", "If you had daylight, it would be worth the trouble to step up on\nthe height of this rock, and look at the perversity of the water.", "It\nfalls by no rule at all; sometimes it leaps, sometimes it tumbles;\nthere, it skips; here, it shoots; in one place 'tis white as snow, and\nin another 'tis green as grass; hereabouts, it pitches into deep\nhollows, that rumble and quake the 'arth; and hereaway, it ripples and\nsings like a brook, fashioning whirlpools and gulleys in the old stone,\nas it 'twas no harder than trodden clay.", "The whole design of the river\nseems disconcerted.", "First it runs smoothly, as if meaning to go down the\ndescent as things were ordered; then it angles about and faces the\nshores; nor are there places wanting where it looks backward, as if\nunwilling to leave the wilderness, to mingle with the salt!", "Ay, lady,\nthe fine cobweb-looking cloth you wear at your throat, is coarse, and\nlike a fish-net, to little spots I can show you, where the river\nfabricates all sorts of images, as if, having broke loose from order, it\nwould try its hand at everything.", "And yet what does it amount to!", "After\nthe water has been suffered to have its will, for a time, like a\nheadstrong man, it is gathered together by the hand that made it, and a\nfew rods below you may see it all, flowing on steadily towards the sea,\nas was foreordained from the first foundation of the 'arth!\"", "While his auditors received a cheering assurance of the security of\ntheir place of concealment, from this untutored description of\nGlenn's,[13] they were much inclined to judge differently from Hawkeye,\nof its wild beauties.", "But they were not in a situation to suffer their\nthoughts to dwell on the charms of natural objects; and, as the scout\nhad not found it necessary to cease his culinary labors while he spoke,\nunless to point out, with a broken fork, the direction of some\nparticularly obnoxious point in the rebellious stream, they now suffered\ntheir attention to be drawn to the necessary, though more vulgar\nconsideration of their supper.", "The repast, which was greatly aided by the addition of a few delicacies\nthat Heyward had the precaution to bring with him when they left their\nhorses, was exceedingly refreshing to the wearied party.", "Uncas acted as\nattendant to the females, performing all the little offices within his\npower, with a mixture of dignity and anxious grace, that served to amuse\nHeyward, who well knew that it was an utter innovation on the Indian\ncustoms, which forbid their warriors to descend to any menial\nemployment, especially in favor of their women.", "As the rites of\nhospitality were, however, considered sacred among them, this little\ndeparture from the dignity of manhood excited no audible comment.", "Had\nthere been one there sufficiently disengaged to become a close observer,\nhe might have fancied that the services of the young chief were not\nentirely impartial.", "That while he tendered to Alice the gourd of sweet\nwater and the venison in a trencher, neatly carved from the knot of the\npepperidge, with sufficient courtesy, in performing the same offices to\nher sister, his dark eye lingered on her rich, speaking countenance.", "Once or twice he was compelled to speak, to command the attention of\nthose he served.", "In such cases, he made use of English, broken and\nimperfect, but sufficiently intelligible, and which he rendered so mild\nand musical, by his deep,[14] guttural voice, that it never failed to\ncause both ladies to look up in admiration and astonishment.", "In the\ncourse of these civilities, a few sentences were exchanged, that served\nto establish the appearance of an amicable intercourse between the\nparties.", "In the meanwhile, the gravity of Chingachgook remained immovable.", "He had\nseated himself more within the circle of light, where the frequent\nuneasy glances of his guests were better enabled to separate the natural\nexpression of his face from the artificial terrors of the war-paint.", "They found a strong resemblance between father and son, with the\ndifference that might be expected from age and hardships.", "The fierceness\nof his countenance now seemed to slumber, and in its place was to be\nseen the quiet, vacant composure, which distinguishes an Indian warrior,\nwhen his faculties are not required for any of the greater purposes of\nhis existence.", "It was, however, easy to be seen, by the occasional\ngleams that shot across his swarthy visage, that it was only necessary\nto arouse his passions, in order to give full effect to the terrific\ndevice which he had adopted to intimidate his enemies.", "On the other\nhand, the quick, roving eye of the scout seldom rested.", "He ate and drank\nwith an appetite that no sense of danger could disturb, but his\nvigilance seemed never to desert him.", "Twenty times the gourd or the\nvenison was suspended before his lips, while his head was turned aside,\nas though he listened to some distant and distrusted sounds--a movement\nthat never failed to recall his guests from regarding the novelties of\ntheir situation, to a recollection of the alarming reasons that had\ndriven them to seek it.", "As these frequent pauses were never followed by\nany remark, the momentary uneasiness they created quickly passed away,\nand for a time was forgotten.", "\"Come, friend,\" said Hawkeye, drawing out a keg from beneath a cover of\nleaves, towards the close of the repast, and addressing the stranger who\nsat at his elbow, doing great justice to his culinary skill, \"try a\nlittle spruce; 'twill wash away all thoughts of the colt, and quicken\nthe life in your bosom.", "I drink to our better friendship, hoping that a\nlittle horse-flesh may leave no heartburnings atween us.", "How do you name\nyourself?\"", "\"Gamut--David Gamut,\" returned the singing-master, preparing to wash\ndown his sorrows in a powerful draught of the woodman's high-flavored\nand well-laced compound.", "\"A very good name, and, I dare say, handed down from honest\nforefathers.", "I'm an admirator of names, though the Christian fashions\nfall far below savage customs in this particular.", "The biggest coward I\never knew was called Lyon; and his wife, Patience, would scold you out\nof hearing in less time than a hunted deer would run a rod.", "With an\nIndian 'tis a matter of conscience; what he calls himself, he generally\nis--not that Chingachgook, which signifies Big Sarpent, is really a\nsnake, big or little; but that he understands the windings and turnings\nof human natur', and is silent, and strikes his enemies when they least\nexpect him.", "What may be your calling?\"", "\"I am an unworthy instructor in the art of psalmody.\"", "\"Anan!\"", "\"I teach singing to the youths, of the Connecticut levy.\"", "\"You might be better employed.", "The young hounds go laughing and singing\ntoo much already through the woods, when they ought not to breathe\nlouder than a fox in his cover.", "Can you use the smooth bore, or handle\nthe rifle?\"", "\"Praised be God, I have never had occasion to meddle with murderous\nimplements!\"", "\"Perhaps you understand the compass, and lay down the water-courses and\nmountains of the wilderness on paper, in order that they who follow may\nfind places by their given names?\"", "\"I practise no such employment.\"", "\"You have a pair of legs that might make a long path seem short!", "you\njourney sometimes, I fancy, with tidings for the general.\"", "\"Never; I follow no other than my own high vocation, which is\ninstruction in sacred music!\"", "\"'Tis a strange calling!\"", "muttered Hawkeye, with an inward laugh, \"to go\nthrough life, like a catbird, mocking all the ups and downs that may\nhappen to come out of other men's throats.", "Well, friend, I suppose it is\nyour gift, and mustn't be denied any more than if 'twas shooting, or\nsome other better inclination.", "Let us hear what you can do in that way;\n'twill be a friendly manner of saying good-night, for 'tis time that\nthese ladies should be getting strength for a hard and a long push, in\nthe pride of the morning, afore the Maquas are stirring!\"", "\"With joyful pleasure do I consent,\" said David, adjusting his\niron-rimmed spectacles, and producing his beloved little volume, which\nhe immediately tendered to Alice.", "\"What can be more fitting and\nconsolatory, than to offer up evening praise, after a day of such\nexceeding jeopardy!\"", "Alice smiled; but regarding Heyward, she blushed and hesitated.", "\"Indulge yourself,\" he whispered: \"ought not the suggestion of the\nworthy namesake of the Psalmist to have its weight at such a moment?\"", "Encouraged by his opinion, Alice did what her pious inclinations and her\nkeen relish for gentle sounds, had before so strongly urged.", "The book\nwas open at a hymn not ill adapted to their situation, and in which the\npoet, no longer goaded by his desire to excel the inspired king of\nIsrael, had discovered some chastened and respectable powers.", "Cora\nbetrayed a disposition to support her sister, and the sacred song\nproceeded, after the indispensable preliminaries of the pitch-pipe and\nthe tune had been duly attended to by the methodical David.", "The air was solemn and slow.", "At times it rose to the fullest compass of\nthe rich voices of the females, who hung over their little book in holy\nexcitement, and again it sank so low, that the rushing of the waters ran\nthrough their melody, like a hollow accompaniment.", "The natural taste and\ntrue ear of David governed and modified the sounds to suit the confined\ncavern, every crevice, and cranny of which was filled with the thrilling\nnotes of their flexible voices.", "The Indians riveted their eyes on the\nrocks, and listened with an attention that seemed to turn them into\nstone.", "But the scout, who had placed his chin in his hand, with an\nexpression of cold indifference, gradually suffered his rigid features\nto relax, until, as verse succeeded verse, he felt his iron nature\nsubdued, while his recollection was carried back to boyhood, when his\nears had been accustomed to listen to similar sounds of praise, in the\nsettlements of the colony.", "His roving eyes began to moisten, and before\nthe hymn was ended, scalding tears rolled out of fountains that had long\nseemed dry, and followed each other down those cheeks, that had oftener\nfelt the storms of heaven than any testimonials of weakness.", "The singers\nwere dwelling on one of those low, dying chords, which the ear devours\nwith such greedy rapture, as if conscious that it is about to lose them,\nwhen a cry, that seemed neither human nor earthly, rose in the outward\nair, penetrating not only the recesses of the cavern, but to the inmost\nhearts of all who heard it.", "It was followed by a stillness apparently as\ndeep as if the waters had been checked in their furious progress, at\nsuch a horrid and unusual interruption.", "\"What is it?\"", "murmured Alice, after a few moments of terrible suspense.", "\"What is it?\"", "repeated Heyward aloud.", "Neither Hawkeye nor the Indians made any reply.", "They listened, as if\nexpecting the sound would be repeated, with a manner that expressed\ntheir own astonishment.", "At length they spoke together earnestly, in the\nDelaware language, when Uncas, passing by the inner and most concealed\naperture, cautiously left the cavern.", "When he had gone, the scout first\nspoke in English.", "\"What it is, or what it is not, none here can tell; though two of us\nhave ranged the woods for more than thirty years!", "I did believe there\nwas no cry that Indians or beast could make, that my ears had not heard;\nbut this has proved that I was only a vain and conceited mortal!\"", "\"Was it not, then, the shout the warriors make when they wish to\nintimidate their enemies?\"", "asked Cora, who stood drawing her veil about\nher person, with a calmness to which her agitated sister was a stranger.", "\"No, no; this was bad, and shocking, and had a sort of unhuman sound;\nbut when you once hear the war-whoop, you will never mistake it for\nanything else!", "Well, Uncas!\"", "speaking in Delaware to the young chief as\nhe re-entered, \"what see you?", "do our lights shine through the blankets?\"", "The answer was short, and apparently decided, being given in the same\ntongue.", "\"There is nothing to be seen without,\" continued Hawkeye, shaking his\nhead in discontent; \"and our hiding-place is still in darkness!", "Pass\ninto the other cave, you that need it, and seek for sleep; we must be\nafoot long before the sun, and make the most of our time to get to\nEdward, while the Mingos are taking their morning nap.\"", "Cora set the example of compliance, with a steadiness that taught the\nmore timid Alice the necessity of obedience.", "Before leaving the place,\nhowever, she whispered a request to Duncan that he would follow.", "Uncas\nraised the blanket for their passage, and as the sisters turned to thank\nhim for this act of attention, they saw the scout seated again before\nthe dying embers, with his face resting on his hands, in a manner which\nshowed how deeply he brooded on the unaccountable interruption which\nhad broken up their evening devotions.", "Heyward took with him a blazing knot, which threw a dim light through\nthe narrow vista of their new apartment.", "Placing it in a favorable\nposition, he joined the females, who now found themselves alone with him\nfor the first time since they had left the friendly ramparts of Fort\nEdward.", "\"Leave us not, Duncan,\" said Alice; \"we cannot sleep in such a place as\nthis, with that horrid cry still ringing in our ears!\"", "\"First let us examine into the security of your fortress,\" he answered,\n\"and then we will speak of rest.\"", "He approached the farther end of the cavern, to an outlet, which, like\nthe others, was concealed by blankets, and removing the thick screen,\nbreathed the fresh and reviving air from the cataract.", "One arm of the\nriver flowed through a deep, narrow ravine, which its current had worn\nin the soft rock, directly beneath his feet, forming an effectual\ndefence, as he believed, against any danger from that quarter; the\nwater, a few rods above them, plunging, glancing, and sweeping along, in\nits most violent and broken manner.", "\"Nature has made an impenetrable barrier on this side,\" he continued,\npointing down the perpendicular declivity into the dark current, before\nhe dropped the blanket; \"and as you know that good men and true are on\nguard in front, I see no reason why the advice of our honest host should\nbe disregarded.", "I am certain Cora will join me in saying that sleep is\nnecessary to you both.\"", "\"Cora may submit to the justice of your opinion, though she cannot put\nit in practise,\" returned the elder sister, who had placed herself by\nthe side of Alice, on a couch of sassafras; \"there would be other causes\nto chase away sleep, though we had been spared the shock of this\nmysterious noise.", "Ask yourself, Heyward, can daughters forget the\nanxiety a father must endure, whose children lodge, he knows not where\nor how, in such a wilderness, and in the midst of so many perils?\"", "\"He is a soldier, and knows how to estimate the chances of the woods.\"", "\"He is a father, and cannot deny his nature.\"", "\"How kind has he ever been to all my follies!", "how tender and indulgent\nto all my wishes!\"", "sobbed Alice.", "\"We have been selfish, sister, in\nurging our visit at such hazard!\"", "\"I may have been rash in pressing his consent in a moment of much\nembarrassment, but I would have proved to him, that however others might\nneglect him in his strait, his children at least were faithful!\"", "\"When he heard of your arrival at Edward,\" said Heyward, kindly, \"there\nwas a powerful struggle in his bosom between fear and love; though the\nlatter, heightened, if possible, by so long a separation, quickly\nprevailed.", "'It is the spirit of my noble-minded Cora that leads them,\nDuncan,' he said, 'and I will not balk it.", "Would to God, that he who\nholds the honor of our royal master in his guardianship, would show but\nhalf her firmness!'\"", "\"And did he not speak of me, Heyward?\"", "demanded Alice, with jealous\naffection.", "\"Surely, he forgot not altogether his little Elsie?\"", "\"That was impossible,\" returned the young man; \"he called you by a\nthousand endearing epithets, that I may not presume to use, but to the\njustice of which I can warmly testify.", "Once, indeed, he said--\"\n\nDuncan ceased speaking; for while his eyes were riveted on those of\nAlice, who had turned towards him with the eagerness of filial\naffection, to catch his words, the same strong horrid cry, as before,\nfilled the air, and rendered him mute.", "A long, breathless silence\nsucceeded, during which each looked at the others in fearful expectation\nof hearing the sound repeated.", "At length the blanket was slowly raised,\nand the scout stood in the aperture with a countenance whose firmness\nevidently began to give way, before a mystery that seemed to threaten\nsome danger, against which all his cunning and experience might prove of\nno avail." ]

[ "\"I agree with you, Alice, in thinking that such a front and\neye were formed rather to intimidate than to deceive; but let us not\npractise a deception upon ourselves, by expecting any other exhibition\nof what we esteem virtue than according to the fashion of a savage.", "\"Now Major Heyward speaks as Major Heyward should,\" said Cora; \"who,\nthat looks at this creature of nature, remembers the shade of his skin!\"", "\"Are we quite safe in this cavern?\"", "there are the falls on two sides of us, and the river above and\nbelow.", "Had\nthere been one there sufficiently disengaged to become a close observer,\nhe might have fancied that the services of the young chief were not\nentirely impartial.", "In such cases, he made use of English, broken and\nimperfect, but sufficiently intelligible, and which he rendered so mild\nand musical, by his deep,[14] guttural voice, that it never failed to\ncause both ladies to look up in admiration and astonishment.", "Encouraged by his opinion, Alice did what her pious inclinations and her\nkeen relish for gentle sounds, had before so strongly urged.", "Ask yourself, Heyward, can daughters forget the\nanxiety a father must endure, whose children lodge, he knows not where\nor how, in such a wilderness, and in the midst of so many perils?\"", "\"How kind has he ever been to all my follies!", "\"I may have been rash in pressing his consent in a moment of much\nembarrassment, but I would have proved to him, that however others might\nneglect him in his strait, his children at least were faithful!\"" ]

[ "The young hounds go laughing and singing\ntoo much already through the woods, when they ought not to breathe\nlouder than a fox in his cover.", "\"With joyful pleasure do I consent,\" said David, adjusting his\niron-rimmed spectacles, and producing his beloved little volume, which\nhe immediately tendered to Alice.", "At length they spoke together earnestly, in the\nDelaware language, when Uncas, passing by the inner and most concealed\naperture, cautiously left the cavern.", "At length the blanket was slowly raised,\nand the scout stood in the aperture with a countenance whose firmness\nevidently began to give way, before a mystery that seemed to threaten\nsome danger, against which all his cunning and experience might prove of\nno avail.", "\"In what part of them are we?\"", "Well, friend, I suppose it is\nyour gift, and mustn't be denied any more than if 'twas shooting, or\nsome other better inclination.", "Uncas\nraised the blanket for their passage, and as the sisters turned to thank\nhim for this act of attention, they saw the scout seated again before\nthe dying embers, with his face resting on his hands, in a manner which\nshowed how deeply he brooded on the unaccountable interruption which\nhad broken up their evening devotions.", "A short, and apparently an embarrassed silence succeeded this remark,\nwhich was interrupted by the scout calling to them, aloud, to enter.", "\"This, certainly, is a rare and brilliant instance of those natural\nqualities, in which these peculiar people are said to excel,\" he\nanswered.", "[12] Here, you see, we have plenty of salt, and can\nmake a quick broil." ]

[ "How do you name\nyourself?\"", "\"Gamut--David Gamut,\" returned the singing-master, preparing to wash\ndown his sorrows in a powerful draught of the woodman's high-flavored\nand well-laced compound.", "\"A very good name, and, I dare say, handed down from honest\nforefathers.", "I'm an admirator of names, though the Christian fashions\nfall far below savage customs in this particular.", "The biggest coward I\never knew was called Lyon; and his wife, Patience, would scold you out\nof hearing in less time than a hunted deer would run a rod.", "With an\nIndian 'tis a matter of conscience; what he calls himself, he generally\nis--not that Chingachgook, which signifies Big Sarpent, is really a\nsnake, big or little; but that he understands the windings and turnings\nof human natur', and is silent, and strikes his enemies when they least\nexpect him.", "What may be your calling?\"", "\"I am an unworthy instructor in the art of psalmody.\"", "\"Anan!\"", "\"I teach singing to the youths, of the Connecticut levy.\"", "\"You might be better employed." ]

[ "\n \"Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide;\n He wales a portion with judicious care;\n And 'Let us worship God,' he says, with solemn air.\"", "BURNS.", "Heyward, and his female companions, witnessed this mysterious movement\nwith secret uneasiness; for, though the conduct of the white man had\nhitherto been above reproach, his rude equipments, blunt address, and\nstrong antipathies, together with the character of his silent\nassociates, were all causes for exciting distrust in minds that had been\nso recently alarmed by Indian treachery.", "The stranger alone disregarded the passing incidents.", "He seated himself\non a projection of the rocks, whence he gave no other signs of\nconsciousness than by the struggles of his spirit, as manifested in\nfrequent and heavy sighs.", "Smothered voices were next heard, as though\nmen called to each other in the bowels of the earth, when a sudden light\nflashed upon those without, and laid bare the much-prized secret of the\nplace.", "At the farther extremity of a narrow, deep cavern in the rock, whose\nlength appeared much extended by the perspective and the nature of the\nlight by which it was seen, was seated the scout, holding a blazing knot\nof pine.", "The strong glare of the fire fell full upon his sturdy,\nweather-beaten countenance and forest attire, lending an air of romantic\nwildness to the aspect of an individual, who, seen by the sober light of\nday, would have exhibited the peculiarities of a man remarkable for the\nstrangeness of his dress, the iron-like inflexibility of his frame, and\nthe singular compound of quick, vigilant sagacity, and of exquisite\nsimplicity, that by turns usurped the possession of his muscular\nfeatures.", "At a little distance in advance stood Uncas, his whole person\nthrown powerfully into view.", "The travellers anxiously regarded the\nupright, flexible figure of the young Mohican, graceful and unrestrained\nin the attitudes and movements of nature.", "\"When he heard of your arrival at Edward,\" said Heyward, kindly, \"there\nwas a powerful struggle in his bosom between fear and love; though the\nlatter, heightened, if possible, by so long a separation, quickly\nprevailed.", "'It is the spirit of my noble-minded Cora that leads them,\nDuncan,' he said, 'and I will not balk it.", "Would to God, that he who\nholds the honor of our royal master in his guardianship, would show but\nhalf her firmness!'\"", "\"And did he not speak of me, Heyward?\"", "demanded Alice, with jealous\naffection.", "\"Surely, he forgot not altogether his little Elsie?\"", "\"That was impossible,\" returned the young man; \"he called you by a\nthousand endearing epithets, that I may not presume to use, but to the\njustice of which I can warmly testify.", "Once, indeed, he said--\"\n\nDuncan ceased speaking; for while his eyes were riveted on those of\nAlice, who had turned towards him with the eagerness of filial\naffection, to catch his words, the same strong horrid cry, as before,\nfilled the air, and rendered him mute.", "A long, breathless silence\nsucceeded, during which each looked at the others in fearful expectation\nof hearing the sound repeated.", "At length the blanket was slowly raised,\nand the scout stood in the aperture with a countenance whose firmness\nevidently began to give way, before a mystery that seemed to threaten\nsome danger, against which all his cunning and experience might prove of\nno avail." ]

[ "\n \"They do not sleep.", "On yonder cliffs, a grisly band,\n I see them sit.\"", "GRAY.", "\"'Twould be neglecting a warning that is given for our good, to lie hid\nany longer,\" said Hawkeye, \"when such sounds are raised in the forest!", "The gentle ones may keep close, but the Mohicans and I will watch upon\nthe rock, where I suppose a major of the 60th would wish to keep us\ncompany.\"", "\"Is then our danger so pressing?\"", "asked Cora.", "\"He who makes strange sounds, and gives them out for man's information,\nalone knows our danger.", "I should think myself wicked, unto rebellion\nagainst his will, was I to burrow with such warnings in the air!", "Even\nthe weak soul who passes his days in singing, is stirred by the cry,\nand, as he says, is 'ready to go forth to the battle.'", "If 'twere only a\nbattle, it would be a thing understood by us all, and easily managed;\nbut I have heard that when such shrieks are atween heaven and 'arth, it\nbetokens another sort of warfare!\"", "\"If all our reasons for fear, my friend, are confined to such as proceed\nfrom supernatural causes, we have but little occasion to be alarmed,\"\ncontinued the undisturbed Cora; \"are you certain that our enemies have\nnot invented some new and ingenious method to strike us with terror,\nthat their conquest may become more easy?\"", "\"Lady,\" returned the scout, solemnly, \"I have listened to all the sounds\nof the woods for thirty years, as a man will listen, whose life and\ndeath depend on the quickness of his ears.", "There is no whine of the\npanther, no whistle of the catbird, nor any invention of the devilish\nMingos, that can cheat me!", "I have heard the forest moan like mortal men\nin their affliction; often, and again, have I listened to the wind\nplaying its music in the branches of the girdled trees; and I have heard\nthe lightning cracking in the air, like the snapping of blazing brush,\nas it spitted forth sparks and forked flames; but never have I thought\nthat I heard more than the pleasure of Him who sported with the things\nof his hand.", "But neither the Mohicans, nor I, who am a white man without\na cross, can explain the cry just heard.", "We, therefore, believe it a\nsign given for our good.\"", "\"It is extraordinary!\"", "said Heyward, taking his pistols from the place\nwhere he had laid them on entering; \"be it a sign of peace or a signal\nof war, it must be looked to.", "Lead the way, my friend; I follow.\"", "On issuing from their place of confinement, the whole party instantly\nexperienced a grateful renovation of spirits, by exchanging the pent air\nof the hiding-place for the cool and invigorating atmosphere, which\nplayed around the whirlpools and pitches of the cataract.", "A heavy\nevening breeze swept along the surface of the river, and seemed to drive\nthe roar of the falls into the recesses of their own caverns, whence it\nissued heavily and constant, like thunder rumbling beyond the distant\nhills.", "The moon had risen, and its light was already glancing here and\nthere on the waters above them; but the extremity of the rock where they\nstood still lay in shadow.", "With the exception of the sounds produced by\nthe rushing waters, and an occasional breathing of the air, as it\nmurmured past them in fitful currents, the scene was as still as night\nand solitude could make it.", "In vain were the eyes of each individual\nbent along the opposite shores, in quest of some signs of life, that\nmight explain the nature of the interruption they had heard.", "Their\nanxious and eager looks were baffled by the deceptive light, or rested\nonly on naked rocks, and straight and immovable trees.", "\"There is nothing to be seen but the gloom and quiet of a lovely\nevening,\" whispered Duncan: \"how much should we prize such a scene, and\nall this breathing solitude, at any other moment, Cora!", "Fancy yourselves\nin security and what now, perhaps, increases your terror, may be made\nconducive to enjoyment--\"\n\n\"Listen!\"", "interrupted Alice.", "The caution was unnecessary.", "Once more the same sound arose, as if from\nthe bed of the river, and having broken out of the narrow bounds of the\ncliffs, was heard undulating through the forest, in distant and dying\ncadences.", "\"Can any here give a name to such a cry?\"", "demanded Hawkeye, when the\nlast echo was lost in the woods; \"if so, let him speak; for myself, I\njudge it not to belong to 'arth!\"", "\"Here, then, is one who can undeceive you,\" said Duncan; \"I know the\nsound full well, for often have I heard it on the field of battle, and\nin situations which are frequent in a soldier's life.", "'Tis the horrid\nshriek that a horse will give in his agony; oftener drawn from him in\npain, though sometimes in terror.", "My charger is either a prey to the\nbeasts of the forest, or he sees his danger, without the power to avoid\nit.", "The sound might deceive me in the cavern, but in the open air I know\nit too well to be wrong.\"", "The scout and his companions listened to this simple explanation with\nthe interest of men who imbibe new ideas, at the same time that they get\nrid of old ones, which had proved disagreeable inmates.", "The two latter\nuttered their usual and expressive exclamation, \"Hugh!\"", "as the truth\nfirst glanced upon their minds, while the former, after a short musing\npause, took upon himself to reply.", "\"I cannot deny your words,\" he said; \"for I am little skilled in horses,\nthough born where they abound.", "The wolves must be hovering above their\nheads on the bank, and the timorsome creatures are calling on man for\nhelp, in the best manner they are able.", "Uncas,\"--he spoke in\nDelaware--\"Uncas, drop down in the canoe, and whirl a brand among the\npack; or fear may do what the wolves can't get at to perform, and leave\nus without horses in the morning, when we shall have so much need to\njourney swiftly!\"", "The young native had already descended to the water, to comply, when a\nlong howl was raised on the edge of the river, and was borne swiftly off\ninto the depths of the forest, as though the beasts, of their own\naccord, were abandoning their prey in sudden terror.", "Uncas, with\ninstinctive quickness, receded, and the three foresters held another of\ntheir low, earnest conferences.", "\"We have been like hunters who have lost the points of the heavens, and\nfrom whom the sun has been hid for days,\" said Hawkeye, turning away\nfrom his companions; \"now we begin again to know the signs of our\ncourse, and the paths are cleared from briers!", "Seat yourselves in the\nshade which the moon throws from yonder beech--'tis thicker than that of\nthe pines--and let us wait for that which the Lord may choose to send\nnext.", "Let all your conversation be in whispers; though it would be\nbetter, and perhaps, in the end, wiser, if each one held discourse with\nhis own thoughts, for a time.\"", "The manner of the scout was seriously impressive, though no longer\ndistinguished by any signs of unmanly apprehension.", "It was evident that\nhis momentary weakness had vanished with the explanation of a mystery\nwhich his own experience had not served to fathom; and though he now\nfelt all the realities of their actual condition, that he was prepared\nto meet them with the energy of his hardy nature.", "This feeling seemed\nalso common to the natives, who placed themselves in positions which\ncommanded a full view of both shores, while their own persons were\neffectually concealed from observation.", "In such circumstances, common\nprudence dictated that Heyward and his companions should imitate a\ncaution that proceeded from so intelligent a source.", "The young man drew\na pile of the sassafras from the cave, and placing it in the chasm which\nseparated the two caverns, it was occupied by the sisters, who were thus\nprotected by the rocks from any missiles, while their anxiety was\nrelieved by the assurance that no danger could approach without a\nwarning.", "Heyward himself was posted at hand, so near that he might\ncommunicate with his companions without raising his voice to a dangerous\nelevation, while David, in imitation of the woodsmen, bestowed his\nperson in such a manner among the fissures of the rocks, that his\nungainly limbs were no longer offensive to the eye.", "In this manner, hours passed by without further interruption.", "The moon\nreached the zenith, and shed its mild light perpendicularly on the\nlovely sight of the sisters slumbering peacefully in each other's arms.", "Duncan cast the wide shawl of Cora before a spectacle he so much loved\nto contemplate, and then suffered his own head to seek a pillow on the\nrock.", "David began to utter sounds that would have shocked his delicate\norgans in more wakeful moments; in short, all but Hawkeye and the\nMohicans lost every idea of consciousness, in uncontrollable drowsiness.", "But the watchfulness of these vigilant protectors neither tired nor\nslumbered.", "Immovable as that rock, of which each appeared to form a\npart, they lay, with their eyes roving, without intermission, along the\ndark margin of trees that bounded the adjacent shores of the narrow\nstream.", "Not a sound escaped them; the most subtle examination could not\nhave told they breathed.", "It was evident that this excess of caution\nproceeded from an experience that no subtlety on the part of their\nenemies could deceive.", "It was, however, continued without any apparent\nconsequences, until the moon had set, and a pale streak above the\ntree-tops, at the bend of the river a little below, announced the\napproach of day.", "Then, for the first time, Hawkeye was seen to stir.", "He crawled along\nthe rock, and shook Duncan from his heavy slumbers.", "\"Now is the time to journey,\" he whispered; \"awake the gentle ones, and\nbe ready to get into the canoe when I bring it to the landing-place.\"", "\"Have you had a quiet night?\"", "said Heyward; \"for myself, I believe sleep\nhas got the better of my vigilance.\"", "\"All is yet still as midnight.", "Be silent, but be quick.\"", "By this time Duncan was thoroughly awake, and he immediately lifted the\nshawl from the sleeping females.", "The motion caused Cora to raise her\nhand as if to repulse him, while Alice murmured, in her soft, gentle\nvoice, \"No, no, dear father, we were not deserted; Duncan was with us!\"", "\"Yes, sweet innocence,\" whispered the youth; \"Duncan is here, and while\nlife continues or danger remains, he will never quit thee.", "Cora!", "Alice!", "awake!", "The hour has come to move!\"", "A loud shriek from the younger of the sisters, and the form of the other\nstanding upright before him, in bewildered horror, was the unexpected\nanswer he received.", "While the words were still on the lips of Heyward,\nthere had arisen such a tumult of yells and cries as served to drive the\nswift currents of his own blood back from its bounding course into the\nfountains of his heart.", "It seemed, for near a minute, as if demons of\nhell had possessed themselves of the air about them, and were venting\ntheir savage humors in barbarous sounds.", "The cries came from no\nparticular direction, though it was evident they filled the woods, and\nas the appalled listeners easily imagined, the caverns of the falls, the\nrocks, the bed of the river, and the upper air.", "David raised his tall\nperson in the midst of the infernal din, with a hand on either ear,\nexclaiming--\n\n\"Whence comes this discord!", "Has hell broke loose, that man should utter\nsounds like these!\"", "The bright flashes and the quick reports of a dozen rifles, from the\nopposite banks of the stream, followed this incautious exposure of his\nperson, and left the unfortunate singing-master senseless on that rock\nwhere he had been so long slumbering.", "The Mohicans boldly sent back the\nintimidating yell of their enemies, who raised a shout of savage triumph\nat the fall of Gamut.", "The flash of rifles was then quick and close\nbetween them, but either party was too well skilled to leave even a limb\nexposed to the hostile aim.", "Duncan listened with intense anxiety for\nthe strokes of the paddle, believing that flight was now their only\nrefuge.", "The river glanced by with its ordinary velocity, but the canoe\nwas nowhere to be seen on its dark waters.", "He had just fancied they were\ncruelly deserted by the scout, as a stream of flame issued from the rock\nbeneath him, and a fierce yell, blended with a shriek of agony,\nannounced that the messenger of death, sent from the fatal weapon of\nHawkeye, had found a victim.", "At this slight repulse the assailants\ninstantly withdrew, and gradually the place became as still as before\nthe sudden tumult.", "Duncan seized the favorable moment to spring to the body of Gamut, which\nhe bore within the shelter of the narrow chasm that protected the\nsisters.", "In another minute the whole party was collected in this spot of\ncomparative safety.", "\"The poor fellow has saved his scalp,\" said Hawkeye, coolly passing his\nhand over the head of David; \"but he is a proof that a man may be born\nwith too long a tongue!", "'Twas downright madness to show six feet of\nflesh and blood, on a naked rock, to the raging savages.", "I only wonder\nhe has escaped with life.\"", "\"Is he not dead!\"", "demanded Cora, in a voice whose husky tones showed how\npowerfully natural horror struggled with her assumed firmness.", "\"Can we\ndo aught to assist the wretched man?\"", "\"No, no!", "the life is in his heart yet, and after he has slept awhile he\nwill come to himself, and be a wiser man for it, till the hour of his\nreal time shall come,\" returned Hawkeye, casting another oblique glance\nat the insensible body, while he filled his charger with admirable\nnicety.", "\"Carry him in, Uncas, and lay him on the sassafras.", "The longer\nhis nap lasts the better it will be for him, as I doubt whether he can\nfind a proper cover for such a shape on these rocks; and singing won't\ndo any good with the Iroquois.\"", "\"You believe, then, the attack will be renewed?\"", "asked Heyward.", "\"Do I expect a hungry wolf will satisfy his craving with a mouthful!", "They have lost a man, and 'tis their fashion, when they meet a loss, and\nfail in the surprise, to fall back; but we shall have them on again,\nwith new expedients to circumvent us, and master our scalps.", "Our main\nhope,\" he continued, raising his rugged countenance, across which a\nshade of anxiety just then passed like a darkening cloud, \"will be to\nkeep the rock until Munro can send a party to our help!", "God send it may\nbe soon, and under a leader that knows the Indian customs!\"", "\"You hear our probable fortunes, Cora,\" said Duncan, \"and you know we\nhave everything to hope from the anxiety and experience of your father.", "Come, then, with Alice, into this cavern, where you, at least, will be\nsafe from the murderous rifles of our enemies and where you may bestow a\ncare suited to your gentle natures on our unfortunate comrade.\"", "The sisters followed him into the outer cave, where David was beginning,\nby his sighs, to give symptoms of returning consciousness; and then\ncommending the wounded man to their attention, he immediately prepared\nto leave them.", "\"Duncan!\"", "said the tremulous voice of Cora, when he had reached the\nmouth of the cavern.", "He turned, and beheld the speaker, whose color had\nchanged to a deadly paleness, and whose lip quivered, gazing after him,\nwith an expression of interest which immediately recalled him to her\nside.", "\"Remember, Duncan, how necessary your safety is to our own--how\nyou bear a father's sacred trust--how much depends on your discretion\nand care--in short,\" she added, while the tell-tale blood stole over her\nfeatures, crimsoning her very temples, \"how very deservedly dear you are\nto all of the name of Munro.\"", "\"If anything could add to my own base love of life,\" said Heyward,\nsuffering his unconscious eyes to wander to the youthful form of the\nsilent Alice, \"it would be so kind an assurance.", "As major of the 60th,\nour honest host will tell you I must take my share of the fray; but our\ntask will be easy; it is merely to keep these blood-hounds at bay for a\nfew hours.\"", "Without waiting for reply, he tore himself from the presence of the\nsisters, and joined the scout and his companions, who still lay within\nthe protection of the little chasm between the two caves.", "\"I tell you, Uncas,\" said the former, as Heyward joined them, \"you are\nwasteful of your powder, and the kick of the rifle disconcerts your aim!", "Little powder, light lead, and a long arm, seldom fail of bringing the\ndeath screech from a Mingo!", "At least, such has been my experience with\nthe creatur's.", "Come, friends; let us to our covers, for no man can tell\nwhen or where a Maqua[15] will strike his blow.\"", "The Indians silently repaired to their appointed stations, which were\nfissures in the rocks, whence they could command the approaches to the\nfoot of the falls.", "In the centre of the little island, a few short and\nstunted pines had found root, forming a thicket, into which Hawkeye\ndarted with the swiftness of a deer, followed by the active Duncan.", "Here\nthey secured themselves, as well as circumstances would permit, among\nthe shrubs and fragments of stone that were scattered about the place.", "Above them was a bare, rounded rock, on each side of which the water\nplayed its gambols, and plunged into the abysses beneath, in the manner\nalready described.", "As the day had now dawned, the opposite shores no\nlonger presented a confused outline, but they were able to look into the\nwoods, and distinguish objects beneath the canopy of gloomy pines.", "A long and anxious watch succeeded, but without any further evidences of\na renewed attack; and Duncan began to hope that their fire had proved\nmore fatal than was supposed, and that their enemies had been\neffectually repulsed.", "When he ventured to utter this impression to his\ncompanion, it was met by Hawkeye with an incredulous shake of the head.", "\"You know not the nature of a Maqua, if you think he is so easily beaten\nback without a scalp!\"", "he answered.", "\"If there was one of the imps\nyelling this morning, there were forty!", "and they know our number and\nquality too well to give up the chase so soon.", "Hist!", "look into the water\nabove, just where it breaks over the rocks.", "I am no mortal, if the risky\ndevils haven't swam down upon the very pitch, and, as bad luck would\nhave it, they have hit the head of the island.", "Hist!", "man, keep close!", "or\nthe hair will be off your crown in the turning of a knife!\"", "Heyward lifted his head from the cover, and beheld what he justly\nconsidered a prodigy of rashness and skill.", "The river had worn away the\nedge of the soft rock in such a manner, as to render its first pitch\nless abrupt and perpendicular than is usual at waterfalls.", "With no other\nguide than the ripple of the stream where it met the head of the island,\na party of their insatiable foes had ventured into the current, and swam\ndown upon this point, knowing the ready access it would give, if\nsuccessful, to their intended victims.", "As Hawkeye ceased speaking, four\nhuman heads could be seen peering above a few logs of drift-wood that\nhad lodged on these naked rocks, and which had probably suggested the\nidea of the practicability of the hazardous undertaking.", "At the next\nmoment, a fifth form was seen floating over the green edge of the fall,\na little from the line of the island.", "The savage struggled powerfully to\ngain the point of safety, and, favored by the glancing water, he was\nalready stretching forth an arm to meet the grasp of his companions,\nwhen he shot away again with the whirling current, appeared to rise into\nthe air, with uplifted arms and starting eyeballs, and fell, with a\nsullen plunge, into that deep and yawning abyss over which he hovered.", "A\nsingle, wild, despairing shriek rose from the cavern, and all was hushed\nagain, as the grave.", "The first generous impulse of Duncan was to rush to the rescue of the\nhapless wretch; but he felt himself bound to the spot by the iron grasp\nof the immovable scout.", "\"Would ye bring certain death upon us, by telling the Mingos where we\nlie?\"", "demanded Hawkeye, sternly; \"'tis a charge of powder saved, and\nammunition is as precious now as breath to a worried deer!", "Freshen the\npriming of your pistols--the mist of the falls is apt to dampen the\nbrimstone--and stand firm for a close struggle, while I fire on their\nrush.\"", "He placed his finger in his mouth, and drew a long, shrill whistle,\nwhich was answered from the rocks that were guarded by the Mohicans.", "Duncan caught glimpses of heads above the scattered drift-wood, as this\nsignal rose on the air, but they disappeared again as suddenly as they\nhad glanced upon his sight.", "A low, rustling sound next drew his\nattention behind him, and turning his head, he beheld Uncas within a few\nfeet, creeping to his side.", "Hawkeye spoke to him in Delaware, when the\nyoung chief took his position with singular caution and undisturbed\ncoolness.", "To Heyward this was a moment of feverish and impatient\nsuspense; though the scout saw fit to select it as a fit occasion to\nread a lecture to his more youthful associates on the art of using\nfire-arms with discretion.", "\"Of all we'pons,\" he commenced, \"the long-barrelled, true-grooved,\nsoft-metalled rifle is the most dangerous in skilful hands, though it\nwants a strong arm, a quick eye, and great judgment in charging, to put\nforth all its beauties.", "The gunsmiths can have but little insight into\ntheir trade, when they make their fowling-pieces and short horsemen's--\"\n\nHe was interrupted by the low but expressive \"Hugh!\"", "of Uncas.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE BATTLE AT GLENS FALLS\n\n_Each of the combatants threw all his energies into that effort, and the\nresult was, that both tottered on the brink of the precipice_]\n\n\"I see them, boy, I see them!\"", "continued Hawkeye; \"they are gathering\nfor the rush, or they would keep their dingy backs below the logs.", "Well,\nlet them,\" he added, examining his flint; \"the leading man certainly\ncomes on to his death, though it should be Montcalm himself!\"", "At that moment the woods were filled with another burst of cries, and at\nthe signal four savages sprang from the cover of the drift-wood.", "Heyward\nfelt a burning desire to rush forward to meet them, so intense was the\ndelirious anxiety of the moment; but he was restrained by the deliberate\nexamples of the scout and Uncas.", "When their foes who leaped over the\nblack rock that divided them, with long bounds, uttering the wildest\nyells, were within a few rods, the rifle of Hawkeye slowly rose among\nthe shrubs, and poured out its fatal contents.", "The foremost Indian\nbounded like a stricken deer, and fell headlong among the clefts of the\nisland.", "\"Now, Uncas!\"", "cried the scout, drawing his long knife, while his quick\neyes began to flash with ardor, \"take the last of the screeching imps;\nof the other two we are sartain!\"", "He was obeyed; and but two enemies remained to be overcome.", "Heyward had\ngiven one of his pistols to Hawkeye, and together they rushed down a\nlittle declivity towards their foes; they discharged their weapons at\nthe same instant, and equally without success.", "\"I know'd it!", "and I said it!\"", "muttered the scout, whirling the despised\nlittle implement over the falls with bitter disdain.", "\"Come on, ye bloody\nminded hell-hounds!", "ye meet a man without a cross!\"", "The words were barely uttered, when he encountered a savage of gigantic\nstature, and of the fiercest mien.", "At the same moment, Duncan found\nhimself engaged with the other, in a similar contest of hand to hand.", "With ready skill, Hawkeye and his antagonist each grasped that uplifted\narm of the other which held the dangerous knife.", "For near a minute they\nstood looking one another in the eye, and gradually exerting the power\nof their muscles for the mastery.", "At length, the toughened sinews of the\nwhite man prevailed over the less practised limbs of the native.", "The arm\nof the latter slowly gave way before the increasing force of the scout,\nwho suddenly wresting his armed hand from the grasp of the foe, drove\nthe sharp weapon through his naked bosom to the heart.", "In the meantime\nHeyward had been pressed in a more deadly struggle.", "His slight sword was\nsnapped in the first encounter.", "As he was destitute of any other means\nof defence, his safety now depended entirely on bodily strength and\nresolution.", "Though deficient in neither of these qualities, he had met\nan enemy every way his equal.", "Happily, he soon succeeded in disarming\nhis adversary, whose knife fell on the rock at their feet; and from this\nmoment it became a fierce struggle, who should cast the other over the\ndizzy height into a neighboring cavern of the falls.", "Every successive\nstruggle brought them nearer to the verge, where Duncan perceived the\nfinal and conquering effort must be made.", "Each of the combatants threw\nall his energies into that effort, and the result was, that both\ntottered on the brink of the precipice.", "Heyward felt the grasp of the\nother at his throat, and saw the grim smile the savage gave, under the\nrevengeful hope that he hurried his enemy to a fate similar to his own,\nas he felt his body slowly yielding to a resistless power, and the young\nman experienced the passing agony of such a moment in all its horrors.", "At that instant of extreme danger, a dark hand and glancing knife\nappeared before him; the Indian released his hold, as the blood flowed\nfreely from around the several tendons of the wrist; and while Duncan\nwas drawn backward by the saving arm of Uncas, his charmed eyes were\nstill riveted on the fierce and disappointed countenance of his foe, who\nfell sullenly and disappointed down the irrecoverable precipice.", "\"To cover!", "to cover!\"", "cried Hawkeye, who just then had despatched the\nenemy; \"to cover, for your lives!", "the work is but half ended!\"", "The young Mohican gave a shout of triumph, and, followed by Duncan, he\nglided up the acclivity they had descended to the combat, and sought the\nfriendly shelter of the rocks and shrubs." ]

[ "If 'twere only a\nbattle, it would be a thing understood by us all, and easily managed;\nbut I have heard that when such shrieks are atween heaven and 'arth, it\nbetokens another sort of warfare!\"", "On issuing from their place of confinement, the whole party instantly\nexperienced a grateful renovation of spirits, by exchanging the pent air\nof the hiding-place for the cool and invigorating atmosphere, which\nplayed around the whirlpools and pitches of the cataract.", "The cries came from no\nparticular direction, though it was evident they filled the woods, and\nas the appalled listeners easily imagined, the caverns of the falls, the\nrocks, the bed of the river, and the upper air.", "God send it may\nbe soon, and under a leader that knows the Indian customs!\"", "Hist!", "The savage struggled powerfully to\ngain the point of safety, and, favored by the glancing water, he was\nalready stretching forth an arm to meet the grasp of his companions,\nwhen he shot away again with the whirling current, appeared to rise into\nthe air, with uplifted arms and starting eyeballs, and fell, with a\nsullen plunge, into that deep and yawning abyss over which he hovered.", "Freshen the\npriming of your pistols--the mist of the falls is apt to dampen the\nbrimstone--and stand firm for a close struggle, while I fire on their\nrush.\"", "A low, rustling sound next drew his\nattention behind him, and turning his head, he beheld Uncas within a few\nfeet, creeping to his side.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE BATTLE AT GLENS FALLS\n\n_Each of the combatants threw all his energies into that effort, and the\nresult was, that both tottered on the brink of the precipice_]\n\n\"I see them, boy, I see them!\"", "Heyward had\ngiven one of his pistols to Hawkeye, and together they rushed down a\nlittle declivity towards their foes; they discharged their weapons at\nthe same instant, and equally without success." ]

[ "asked Cora.", "Alice!", "said Heyward, taking his pistols from the place\nwhere he had laid them on entering; \"be it a sign of peace or a signal\nof war, it must be looked to.", "He crawled along\nthe rock, and shook Duncan from his heavy slumbers.", "The river glanced by with its ordinary velocity, but the canoe\nwas nowhere to be seen on its dark waters.", "The arm\nof the latter slowly gave way before the increasing force of the scout,\nwho suddenly wresting his armed hand from the grasp of the foe, drove\nthe sharp weapon through his naked bosom to the heart.", "Lead the way, my friend; I follow.\"", "\"If anything could add to my own base love of life,\" said Heyward,\nsuffering his unconscious eyes to wander to the youthful form of the\nsilent Alice, \"it would be so kind an assurance.", "While the words were still on the lips of Heyward,\nthere had arisen such a tumult of yells and cries as served to drive the\nswift currents of his own blood back from its bounding course into the\nfountains of his heart.", "He placed his finger in his mouth, and drew a long, shrill whistle,\nwhich was answered from the rocks that were guarded by the Mohicans." ]

[ "\"The poor fellow has saved his scalp,\" said Hawkeye, coolly passing his\nhand over the head of David; \"but he is a proof that a man may be born\nwith too long a tongue!", "'Twas downright madness to show six feet of\nflesh and blood, on a naked rock, to the raging savages.", "I only wonder\nhe has escaped with life.\"", "\"Is he not dead!\"", "demanded Cora, in a voice whose husky tones showed how\npowerfully natural horror struggled with her assumed firmness.", "\"Can we\ndo aught to assist the wretched man?\"", "\"No, no!", "the life is in his heart yet, and after he has slept awhile he\nwill come to himself, and be a wiser man for it, till the hour of his\nreal time shall come,\" returned Hawkeye, casting another oblique glance\nat the insensible body, while he filled his charger with admirable\nnicety.", "\"Carry him in, Uncas, and lay him on the sassafras.", "The longer\nhis nap lasts the better it will be for him, as I doubt whether he can\nfind a proper cover for such a shape on these rocks; and singing won't\ndo any good with the Iroquois.\"", "\"You believe, then, the attack will be renewed?\"" ]

[ "\n \"They do not sleep.", "On yonder cliffs, a grisly band,\n I see them sit.\"", "GRAY.", "\"'Twould be neglecting a warning that is given for our good, to lie hid\nany longer,\" said Hawkeye, \"when such sounds are raised in the forest!", "The gentle ones may keep close, but the Mohicans and I will watch upon\nthe rock, where I suppose a major of the 60th would wish to keep us\ncompany.\"", "\"Is then our danger so pressing?\"", "asked Cora.", "\"He who makes strange sounds, and gives them out for man's information,\nalone knows our danger.", "I should think myself wicked, unto rebellion\nagainst his will, was I to burrow with such warnings in the air!", "Even\nthe weak soul who passes his days in singing, is stirred by the cry,\nand, as he says, is 'ready to go forth to the battle.'", "Happily, he soon succeeded in disarming\nhis adversary, whose knife fell on the rock at their feet; and from this\nmoment it became a fierce struggle, who should cast the other over the\ndizzy height into a neighboring cavern of the falls.", "Every successive\nstruggle brought them nearer to the verge, where Duncan perceived the\nfinal and conquering effort must be made.", "Each of the combatants threw\nall his energies into that effort, and the result was, that both\ntottered on the brink of the precipice.", "Heyward felt the grasp of the\nother at his throat, and saw the grim smile the savage gave, under the\nrevengeful hope that he hurried his enemy to a fate similar to his own,\nas he felt his body slowly yielding to a resistless power, and the young\nman experienced the passing agony of such a moment in all its horrors.", "At that instant of extreme danger, a dark hand and glancing knife\nappeared before him; the Indian released his hold, as the blood flowed\nfreely from around the several tendons of the wrist; and while Duncan\nwas drawn backward by the saving arm of Uncas, his charmed eyes were\nstill riveted on the fierce and disappointed countenance of his foe, who\nfell sullenly and disappointed down the irrecoverable precipice.", "\"To cover!", "to cover!\"", "cried Hawkeye, who just then had despatched the\nenemy; \"to cover, for your lives!", "the work is but half ended!\"", "The young Mohican gave a shout of triumph, and, followed by Duncan, he\nglided up the acclivity they had descended to the combat, and sought the\nfriendly shelter of the rocks and shrubs." ]

[ "\n \"They linger yet,\n Avengers of their native land.\"", "GRAY.", "The warning call of the scout was not uttered without occasion.", "During\nthe occurrence of the deadly encounter just related, the roar of the\nfalls was unbroken by any human sound whatever.", "It would seem that\ninterest in the result had kept the natives on the opposite shores in\nbreathless suspense, while the quick evolutions and swift changes in the\nposition of the combatants, effectually prevented a fire that might\nprove dangerous alike to friend and enemy.", "But the moment the struggle\nwas decided, a yell arose as fierce and savage as wild and revengful\npassions could throw into the air.", "It was followed by the swift flashes\nof the rifles, which sent their leaden messengers across the rock in\nvolleys, as though the assailants would pour out their impotent fury on\nthe insensible scene of the fatal contest.", "A steady, though deliberate return was made from the rifle of\nChingachgook, who had maintained his post throughout the fray with\nunmoved resolution.", "When the triumphant shout of Uncas was borne to his\nears, the gratified father raised his voice in a single responsive cry,\nafter which his busy piece alone proved that he still guarded his pass\nwith unwearied diligence.", "In this manner many minutes flew by with the\nswiftness of thought: the rifles of the assailants speaking, at times,\nin rattling volleys, and at others, in occasional, scattering shots.", "Though the rock, the trees, and the shrubs, were cut and torn in a\nhundred places around the besieged, their cover was so close, and so\nrigidly maintained, that, as yet, David had been the only sufferer in\ntheir little band.", "\"Let them burn their powder,\" said the deliberate scout, while bullet\nafter bullet whizzed by the place where he securely lay; \"there will be\na fine gathering of lead when it is over, and I fancy the imps will tire\nof the sport, afore these old stones cry out for mercy!", "Uncas, boy, you\nwaste the kernels by overcharging: and a kicking rifle never carries a\ntrue bullet.", "I told you to take that loping miscreant under the line of\nwhite paint; now, if your bullet went a hair's breadth, it went two\ninches above it.", "The life lies low in a Mingo, and humanity teaches us\nto make a quick end of the sarpents.\"", "A quiet smile lighted the haughty features of the young Mohican,\nbetraying his knowledge of the English language, as well as of the\nother's meaning; but he suffered it to pass away without vindication or\nreply.", "\"I cannot permit you to accuse Uncas of want of judgment or of skill,\"\nsaid Duncan; \"he saved my life in the coolest and readiest manner, and\nhe has made a friend who never will require to be reminded of the debt\nhe owes.\"", "Uncas partly raised his body, and offered his hand to the grasp of\nHeyward.", "During this act of friendship, the two young men exchanged\nlooks of intelligence which caused Duncan to forget the character and\ncondition of his wild associate.", "In the meanwhile, Hawkeye, who looked\non this burst of youthful feeling with a cool but kind regard, made the\nfollowing reply:--\n\n\"Life is an obligation which friends often owe each other in the\nwilderness.", "I dare say I may have served Uncas some such turn myself\nbefore now; and I very well remember that he has stood between me and\ndeath five different times: three times from the Mingos, once in\ncrossing Horican, and--\"\n\n\"That bullet was better aimed than common!\"", "exclaimed Duncan,\ninvoluntarily shrinking from a shot which struck the rock at his side\nwith a smart rebound.", "Hawkeye laid his hand on the shapeless metal, and shook his head, as he\nexamined it, saying, \"Falling lead is never flattened!", "had it come from\nthe clouds this might have happened!\"", "But the rifle of Uncas was deliberately raised towards the heavens,\ndirecting his companions to a point, where the mystery was immediately\nexplained.", "A ragged oak grew on the right bank of the river, nearly\nopposite to their position, which, seeking the freedom of the open\nspace, had inclined so far forward, that its upper branches overhung\nthat arm of the stream which flowed nearest to its own shore.", "Among the\ntopmost leaves, which scantily concealed the gnarled and stunted limbs,\na savage was nestled, partly concealed by the trunk of the tree, and\npartly exposed, as though looking down upon them to ascertain the effect\nproduced by his treacherous aim.", "\"These devils will scale heaven to circumvent us to our ruin,\" said\nHawkeye; \"keep him in play, boy, until I can bring 'Killdeer' to bear,\nwhen we will try his metal on each side of the tree at once.\"", "Uncas delayed his fire until the scout uttered the word.", "The rifles\nflashed, the leaves and the bark of the oak flew into the air, and were\nscattered by the wind, but the Indian answered their assault by a\ntaunting laugh, sending down upon them another bullet in return, that\nstruck the cap of Hawkeye from his head.", "Once more the savage yells\nburst out of the woods, and the leaden hail whistled above the heads of\nthe besieged, as if to confine them to a place where they might become\neasy victims to the enterprise of the warrior who had mounted the tree.", "\"This must be looked to!\"", "said the scout, glancing about him with an\nanxious eye.", "\"Uncas, call up your father; we have need of all our\nwe'pons to bring the cunning varmint from his roost.\"", "The signal was instantly given; and, before Hawkeye had reloaded his\nrifle, they were joined by Chingachgook.", "When his son pointed out to the\nexperienced warrior the situation of their dangerous enemy, the usual\nexclamatory \"Hugh!\"", "burst from his lips; after which, no further\nexpression of surprise or alarm was suffered to escape him.", "Hawkeye and\nthe Mohicans conversed earnestly together in Delaware for a few moments,\nwhen each quietly took his post, in order to execute the plan they had\nspeedily devised.", "The warrior in the oak had maintained a quick, though ineffectual fire,\nfrom the moment of his discovery.", "But his aim was interrupted by the\nvigilance of his enemies, whose rifles instantaneously bore on any part\nof his person that was left exposed.", "Still his bullets fell in the\ncentre of the crouching party.", "The clothes of Heyward, which rendered\nhim peculiarly conspicuous, were repeatedly cut, and once blood was\ndrawn from a slight wound in his arm.", "At length, emboldened by the long and patient watchfulness of his\nenemies, the Huron attempted a better and more fatal aim.", "The quick eye\nof the Mohicans caught the dark line of his lower limbs incautiously\nexposed through the thin foliage, a few inches from the trunk of the\ntree.", "Their rifles made a common report, when, sinking on his wounded\nlimb, part of the body of the savage came into view.", "Swift as thought,\nHawkeye seized the advantage and discharged his fatal weapon into the\ntop of the oak.", "The leaves were unusually agitated; the dangerous rifle\nfell from its commanding elevation, and after a few moments of vain\nstruggling, the form of the savage was seen swinging in the wind, while\nhe still grasped a ragged and naked branch of the tree, with hands\nclenched in desperation.", "\"Give him, in pity give him--the contents of another rifle!\"", "cried\nDuncan, turning away his eyes in horror from the spectacle of a\nfellow-creature in such awful jeopardy.", "\"Not a karnel!\"", "exclaimed the obdurate Hawkeye; \"his death is certain,\nand we have no powder to spare, for Indian fights sometimes last for\ndays; 'tis their scalps or ours!--and God, who made us, has put into our\nnatures the craving to keep the skin on the head!\"", "Against this stern and unyielding morality, supported as it was by such\nvisible policy, there was no appeal.", "From that moment the yells in the\nforest once more ceased, the fire was suffered to decline, and all eyes,\nthose of friends as well as enemies, became fixed on the hopeless\ncondition of the wretch who was dangling between heaven and earth.", "The\nbody yielded to the currents of air, and though no murmur or groan\nescaped the victim, there were instants when he grimly faced his foes,\nand the anguish of cold despair might be traced, through the intervening\ndistance, in possession of his swarthy lineaments.", "Three several times\nthe scout raised his piece in mercy, and as often prudence getting the\nbetter of his intention, it was again silently lowered.", "At length one\nhand of the Huron lost its hold, and dropped exhausted to his side.", "A\ndesperate and fruitless struggle to recover the branch succeeded, and\nthen the savage was seen for a fleeting instant, grasping wildly at the\nempty air.", "The lightning is not quicker than was the flame from the\nrifle of Hawkeye; the limbs of the victim trembled and contracted, the\nhead fell to the bosom, and the body parted the foaming waters like\nlead, when the element closed above it, in its ceaseless velocity, and\nevery vestige of the unhappy Huron was lost forever.", "No shout of triumph succeeded this important advantage, but even the\nMohicans gazed at each other in silent horror.", "A single yell burst from\nthe woods, and all was again still.", "Hawkeye, who alone appeared to\nreason on the occasion, shook his head at his own momentary weakness,\neven uttering his self-disapprobation aloud.", "\"'Twas the last charge in my horn, and the last bullet in my pouch, and\n'twas the act of a boy!\"", "he said; \"what mattered it whether he struck\nthe rock living or dead: feeling would soon be over.", "Uncas, lad, go down\nto the canoe, and bring up the big horn; it is all the powder we have\nleft, and we shall need it to the last grain, or I am ignorant of the\nMingo nature.\"", "The young Mohican complied, leaving the scout turning over the useless\ncontents of his pouch, and shaking the empty horn with renewed\ndiscontent.", "From this unsatisfactory examination, however, he was soon\ncalled by a loud and piercing exclamation from Uncas, that sounded, even\nto the unpractised ears of Duncan, as the signal of some new and\nunexpected calamity.", "Every thought filled with apprehension for the\nprecious treasure he had concealed in the cavern, the young man started\nto his feet, totally regardless of the hazard he incurred by such an\nexposure.", "As if actuated by a common impulse, his movement was imitated\nby his companions, and, together, they rushed down the pass to the\nfriendly chasm, with a rapidity that rendered the scattering fire of\ntheir enemies perfectly harmless.", "The unwonted cry had brought the\nsisters, together with the wounded David, from their place of refuge;\nand the whole party, at a single glance, was made acquainted with the\nnature of the disaster that had disturbed even the practised stoicism of\ntheir youthful Indian protector.", "At a short distance from the rock, their little bark was to be seen\nfloating across the eddy, towards the swift current of the river, in a\nmanner which proved that its course was directed by some hidden agent.", "The instant this unwelcome sight caught the eye of the scout, his rifle\nwas levelled as by instinct, but the barrel gave no answer to the bright\nsparks of the flint.", "\"'Tis too late, 'tis too late!\"", "Hawkeye exclaimed, dropping the useless\npiece in bitter disappointment; \"the miscreant has struck the rapid; and\nhad we powder, it could hardly send the lead swifter than he now goes!\"", "The adventurous Huron raised his head above the shelter of the canoe,\nand while it glided swiftly down the stream, he waved his hand, and gave\nforth the shout, which was the known signal of success.", "His cry was\nanswered by a yell and a laugh from the woods, as tauntingly exulting as\nif fifty demons were uttering their blasphemies at the fall of some\nChristian soul.", "\"Well may you laugh, ye children of the devil!\"", "said the scout, seating\nhimself on a projection of the rock, and suffering his gun to fall\nneglected at his feet, \"for the three quickest and surest rifles in\nthese woods are no better than so many stalks of mullein, or the last\nyear's horns of a buck!\"", "\"What is to be done?\"", "demanded Duncan, losing the first feeling of\ndisappointment in a more manly desire for exertion; \"what will become of\nus?\"", "Hawkeye made no other reply than by passing his finger around the crown\nof his head, in a manner so significant, that none who witnessed the\naction could mistake its meaning.", "\"Surely, surely, our case is not so desperate!\"", "exclaimed the youth;\n\"the Hurons are not here; we may make good the caverns; we may oppose\ntheir landing.\"", "\"With what?\"", "coolly demanded the scout.", "\"The arrows of Uncas, or such\ntears as women shed!", "No, no; you are young, and rich, and have friends,\nand at such an age I know it is hard to die!", "But,\" glancing his eyes at\nthe Mohicans, \"let us remember we are men without a cross, and let us\nteach these natives of the forest that white blood can run as freely as\nred, when the appointed hour is come.\"", "Duncan turned quickly in the direction indicated by the other's eyes,\nand read a confirmation of his worst apprehensions in the conduct of the\nIndians.", "Chingachgook, placing himself in a dignified posture on another\nfragment of the rock, had already laid aside his knife and tomahawk, and\nwas in the act of taking the eagle's plume from his head, and smoothing\nthe solitary tuft of hair in readiness to perform its last and revolting\noffice.", "His countenance was composed, though thoughtful, while his dark\ngleaming eyes were gradually losing the fierceness of the combat in an\nexpression better suited to the change he expected momentarily to\nundergo.", "\"Our case is not, cannot be so hopeless!\"", "said Duncan; \"even at this\nmoment succor may be at hand.", "I see no enemies!", "they have sickened of a\nstruggle in which they risk so much with so little prospect of gain!\"", "\"It may be a minute, or it may be an hour, afore the wily sarpents steal\nupon us, and it is quite in natur' for them to be lying within hearing\nat this very moment,\" said Hawkeye; \"but come they will, and in such a\nfashion as will leave us nothing to hope!", "Chingachgook\"--he spoke in\nDelaware--\"my brother, we have fought our last battle together, and the\nMaquas will triumph in the death of the sage man of the Mohicans, and of\nthe pale-face, whose eyes can make night as day, and level the clouds\nto the mists of the springs!\"", "\"Let the Mingo women go weep over their slain!\"", "returned the Indian,\nwith characteristic pride and unmoved firmness; \"the Great Snake of the\nMohicans has coiled himself in their wigwams, and has poisoned their\ntriumph with the wailings of children whose fathers have not returned!", "Eleven warriors lie hid from the graves of their tribes since the snows\nhave melted, and none will tell where to find them when the tongue of\nChingachgook shall be silent!", "Let them draw the sharpest knife, and\nwhirl the swiftest tomahawk, for their bitterest enemy is in their\nhands.", "Uncas, topmost branch of a noble trunk, call on the cowards to\nhasten or their hearts will soften, and they will change to women!\"", "\"They look among the fishes for their dead!\"", "returned the low, soft\nvoice of the youthful chieftain; \"the Hurons float with the slimy eels!", "They drop from the oaks like fruit that is ready to be eaten!", "and the\nDelawares laugh!\"", "\"Ay, ay,\" muttered the scout, who had listened to this peculiar burst of\nthe natives with deep attention; \"they have warmed their Indian\nfeelings, and they'll soon provoke the Maquas to give them a speedy end.", "As for me, who am of the whole blood of the whites, it is befitting that\nI should die as becomes my color, with no words of scoffing in my mouth,\nand without bitterness at the heart!\"", "\"Why die at all!\"", "said Cora, advancing from the place where natural\nhorror had, until this moment, held her riveted to the rock; \"the path\nis open on every side; fly, then, to the woods, and call on God for\nsuccor.", "Go, brave men, we owe you too much already; let us no longer\ninvolve you in our hapless fortunes!\"", "\"You but little know the craft of the Iroquois, lady, if you judge they\nhave left the path open to the woods!\"", "returned Hawkeye, who, however,\nimmediately added in his simplicity, \"the down stream current, it is\ncertain, might soon sweep us beyond the reach of their rifles or the\nsounds of their voices.\"", "\"Then try the river.", "Why linger to add to the number of the victims of\nour merciless enemies?\"", "\"Why,\" repeated the scout, looking about him proudly, \"because it is\nbetter for a man to die at peace with himself than to live haunted by an\nevil conscience!", "What answer could we give Munro, when he asked us where\nand how we left his children?\"", "\"Go to him, and say, that you left them with a message to hasten to\ntheir aid,\" returned Cora, advancing nigher to the scout, in her\ngenerous ardor; \"that the Hurons bear them into the northern wilds, but\nthat by vigilance and speed they may yet be rescued; and if, after all,\nit should please heaven that his assistance come too late, bear to him,\"\nshe continued, her voice gradually lowering, until it seemed nearly\nchoked, \"the love, the blessings, the final prayers of his daughters,\nand bid him not mourn their early fate, but to look forward with humble\nconfidence to the Christian's goal to meet his children.\"", "The hard, weather-beaten features of the scout began to work, and when\nshe had ended, he dropped his chin to his hand, like a man musing\nprofoundly on the nature of the proposal.", "\"There is reason in her words!\"", "at length broke from his compressed and\ntrembling lips; \"ay, and they bear the spirit of Christianity; what\nmight be right and proper in a redskin, may be sinful in a man who has\nnot even a cross in blood to plead for his ignorance.", "Chingachgook!", "Uncas!", "hear you the talk of the dark-eyed woman!\"", "He now spoke in Delaware to his companions, and his address, though calm\nand deliberate, seemed very decided.", "The elder Mohican heard him with\ndeep gravity, and appeared to ponder on his words, as though he felt the\nimportance of their import.", "After a moment of hesitation, he waved his\nhand in assent, and uttered the English word \"Good!\"", "with the peculiar\nemphasis of his people.", "Then, replacing his knife and tomahawk in his\ngirdle, the warrior moved silently to the edge of the rock which was\nmost concealed from the banks of the river.", "Here he paused a moment,\npointed significantly to the woods below, and saying a few words in his\nown language, as if indicating his intended route, he dropped into the\nwater, and sank from before the eyes of the witnesses of his movements.", "The scout delayed his departure to speak to the generous girl, whose\nbreathing became lighter as she saw the success of her remonstrance.", "\"Wisdom is sometimes given to the young, as well as to the old,\" he\nsaid; \"and what you have spoken is wise, not to call it by a better\nword.", "If you are led into the woods, that is such of you as may be\nspared for a while, break the twigs on the bushes as you pass, and make\nthe marks of your trail as broad as you can, when, if mortal eyes can\nsee them, depend on having a friend who will follow to the ends of 'arth\nafore he desarts you.\"", "He gave Cora an affectionate shake of the hand, lifted his rifle, and\nafter regarding it a moment with melancholy solicitude, laid it\ncarefully aside, and descended to the place where Chingachgook had just\ndisappeared.", "For an instant he hung suspended by the rock; and looking\nabout him, with a countenance of peculiar care, he added, bitterly, \"Had\nthe powder held out, this disgrace could never have befallen!\"", "then,\nloosening his hold, the water closed above his head, and he also became\nlost to view.", "All eyes were now turned on Uncas, who stood leaning against the ragged\nrock, in immovable composure.", "After waiting a short time, Cora pointed\ndown the river, and said:--\n\n\"Your friends have not been seen, and are now, most probably, in safety;\nis it not time for you to follow?\"", "\"Uncas will stay,\" the young Mohican calmly answered in English.", "\"To increase the horror of our capture, and to diminish the chances of\nour release!", "Go, generous young man,\" Cora continued, lowering her eyes\nunder the gaze of the Mohican, and, perhaps, with an intuitive\nconsciousness of her power; \"go to my father, as I have said, and be the\nmost confidential of my messengers.", "Tell him to trust you with the means\nto buy the freedom of his daughters.", "Go!", "'tis my wish, 'tis my prayer,\nthat you will go!\"", "The settled, calm look of the young chief changed to an expression of\ngloom, but he no longer hesitated.", "With a noiseless step he crossed the\nrock, and dropped into the troubled stream.", "Hardly a breath was drawn by\nthose he left behind, until they caught a glimpse of his head emerging\nfor air, far down the current, when he again sank, and was seen no more.", "These sudden and apparently successful experiments had all taken place\nin a few minutes of that time which had now become so precious.", "After\nthe last look at Uncas, Cora turned, and, with a quivering lip,\naddressed herself to Heyward:--\n\n\"I have heard of your boasted skill in the water, too, Duncan,\" she\nsaid; \"follow, then, the wise example set you by these simple and\nfaithful beings.\"", "\"Is such the faith that Cora Munro would exact from her protector?\"", "said\nthe young man, smiling mournfully, but with bitterness.", "\"This is not a time for idle subtleties and false opinions,\" she\nanswered; \"but a moment when every duty should be equally considered.", "To us you can be of no further service here, but your precious life may\nbe saved for other and nearer friends.\"", "He made no reply, though his eyes fell wistfully on the beautiful form\nof Alice, who was clinging to his arm with the dependency of an infant.", "\"Consider,\" continued Cora, after a pause, during which she seemed to\nstruggle with a pang even more acute than any that her fears had\nexcited, \"that the worst to us can be but death; a tribute that all must\npay at the good time of God's appointment.\"", "\"There are evils worse than death,\" said Duncan, speaking hoarsely, and\nas if fretful at her importunity, \"but which the presence of one who\nwould die in your behalf may avert.\"", "Cora ceased her entreaties; and, veiling her face in her shawl, drew the\nnearly insensible Alice after her into the deepest recess of the inner\ncavern." ]

[ "During this act of friendship, the two young men exchanged\nlooks of intelligence which caused Duncan to forget the character and\ncondition of his wild associate.", "\"Uncas, call up your father; we have need of all our\nwe'pons to bring the cunning varmint from his roost.\"", "From that moment the yells in the\nforest once more ceased, the fire was suffered to decline, and all eyes,\nthose of friends as well as enemies, became fixed on the hopeless\ncondition of the wretch who was dangling between heaven and earth.", "\"'Twas the last charge in my horn, and the last bullet in my pouch, and\n'twas the act of a boy!\"", "Every thought filled with apprehension for the\nprecious treasure he had concealed in the cavern, the young man started\nto his feet, totally regardless of the hazard he incurred by such an\nexposure.", "As if actuated by a common impulse, his movement was imitated\nby his companions, and, together, they rushed down the pass to the\nfriendly chasm, with a rapidity that rendered the scattering fire of\ntheir enemies perfectly harmless.", "said the scout, seating\nhimself on a projection of the rock, and suffering his gun to fall\nneglected at his feet, \"for the three quickest and surest rifles in\nthese woods are no better than so many stalks of mullein, or the last\nyear's horns of a buck!\"", "\"Surely, surely, our case is not so desperate!\"", "\"They look among the fishes for their dead!\"", "The hard, weather-beaten features of the scout began to work, and when\nshe had ended, he dropped his chin to his hand, like a man musing\nprofoundly on the nature of the proposal." ]

[ "A quiet smile lighted the haughty features of the young Mohican,\nbetraying his knowledge of the English language, as well as of the\nother's meaning; but he suffered it to pass away without vindication or\nreply.", "\"Ay, ay,\" muttered the scout, who had listened to this peculiar burst of\nthe natives with deep attention; \"they have warmed their Indian\nfeelings, and they'll soon provoke the Maquas to give them a speedy end.", "As if actuated by a common impulse, his movement was imitated\nby his companions, and, together, they rushed down the pass to the\nfriendly chasm, with a rapidity that rendered the scattering fire of\ntheir enemies perfectly harmless.", "returned Hawkeye, who, however,\nimmediately added in his simplicity, \"the down stream current, it is\ncertain, might soon sweep us beyond the reach of their rifles or the\nsounds of their voices.\"", "Against this stern and unyielding morality, supported as it was by such\nvisible policy, there was no appeal.", "\"Our case is not, cannot be so hopeless!\"", "exclaimed Duncan,\ninvoluntarily shrinking from a shot which struck the rock at his side\nwith a smart rebound.", "The adventurous Huron raised his head above the shelter of the canoe,\nand while it glided swiftly down the stream, he waved his hand, and gave\nforth the shout, which was the known signal of success.", "The warning call of the scout was not uttered without occasion.", "But the rifle of Uncas was deliberately raised towards the heavens,\ndirecting his companions to a point, where the mystery was immediately\nexplained." ]

[ "The adventurous Huron raised his head above the shelter of the canoe,\nand while it glided swiftly down the stream, he waved his hand, and gave\nforth the shout, which was the known signal of success.", "His cry was\nanswered by a yell and a laugh from the woods, as tauntingly exulting as\nif fifty demons were uttering their blasphemies at the fall of some\nChristian soul.", "\"Well may you laugh, ye children of the devil!\"", "said the scout, seating\nhimself on a projection of the rock, and suffering his gun to fall\nneglected at his feet, \"for the three quickest and surest rifles in\nthese woods are no better than so many stalks of mullein, or the last\nyear's horns of a buck!\"", "\"What is to be done?\"", "demanded Duncan, losing the first feeling of\ndisappointment in a more manly desire for exertion; \"what will become of\nus?\"", "Hawkeye made no other reply than by passing his finger around the crown\nof his head, in a manner so significant, that none who witnessed the\naction could mistake its meaning.", "\"Surely, surely, our case is not so desperate!\"", "exclaimed the youth;\n\"the Hurons are not here; we may make good the caverns; we may oppose\ntheir landing.\"", "\"With what?\"", "coolly demanded the scout." ]

[ "\n \"They linger yet,\n Avengers of their native land.\"", "GRAY.", "The warning call of the scout was not uttered without occasion.", "During\nthe occurrence of the deadly encounter just related, the roar of the\nfalls was unbroken by any human sound whatever.", "It would seem that\ninterest in the result had kept the natives on the opposite shores in\nbreathless suspense, while the quick evolutions and swift changes in the\nposition of the combatants, effectually prevented a fire that might\nprove dangerous alike to friend and enemy.", "But the moment the struggle\nwas decided, a yell arose as fierce and savage as wild and revengful\npassions could throw into the air.", "It was followed by the swift flashes\nof the rifles, which sent their leaden messengers across the rock in\nvolleys, as though the assailants would pour out their impotent fury on\nthe insensible scene of the fatal contest.", "A steady, though deliberate return was made from the rifle of\nChingachgook, who had maintained his post throughout the fray with\nunmoved resolution.", "When the triumphant shout of Uncas was borne to his\nears, the gratified father raised his voice in a single responsive cry,\nafter which his busy piece alone proved that he still guarded his pass\nwith unwearied diligence.", "In this manner many minutes flew by with the\nswiftness of thought: the rifles of the assailants speaking, at times,\nin rattling volleys, and at others, in occasional, scattering shots.", "These sudden and apparently successful experiments had all taken place\nin a few minutes of that time which had now become so precious.", "After\nthe last look at Uncas, Cora turned, and, with a quivering lip,\naddressed herself to Heyward:--\n\n\"I have heard of your boasted skill in the water, too, Duncan,\" she\nsaid; \"follow, then, the wise example set you by these simple and\nfaithful beings.\"", "\"Is such the faith that Cora Munro would exact from her protector?\"", "said\nthe young man, smiling mournfully, but with bitterness.", "\"This is not a time for idle subtleties and false opinions,\" she\nanswered; \"but a moment when every duty should be equally considered.", "To us you can be of no further service here, but your precious life may\nbe saved for other and nearer friends.\"", "He made no reply, though his eyes fell wistfully on the beautiful form\nof Alice, who was clinging to his arm with the dependency of an infant.", "\"Consider,\" continued Cora, after a pause, during which she seemed to\nstruggle with a pang even more acute than any that her fears had\nexcited, \"that the worst to us can be but death; a tribute that all must\npay at the good time of God's appointment.\"", "\"There are evils worse than death,\" said Duncan, speaking hoarsely, and\nas if fretful at her importunity, \"but which the presence of one who\nwould die in your behalf may avert.\"", "Cora ceased her entreaties; and, veiling her face in her shawl, drew the\nnearly insensible Alice after her into the deepest recess of the inner\ncavern." ]

[ "\n \"Be gay securely;\n Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim'rous clouds,\n That hang on thy clear brow.\"", "_Death of Agrippina._\n\n\nThe sudden and almost magical change, from the stirring incidents of the\ncombat to the stillness that now reigned around him, acted on the heated\nimagination of Heyward like some exciting dream.", "While all the images\nand events he had witnessed remained deeply impressed on his memory, he\nfelt a difficulty in persuading himself of their truth.", "Still ignorant\nof the fate of those who had trusted to the aid of the swift current, he\nat first listened intently to any signal, or sounds of alarm, which\nmight announce the good or evil fortune of their hazardous undertaking.", "His attention was, however, bestowed in vain; for, with the\ndisappearance of Uncas, every sign of the adventurers had been lost,\nleaving him in total uncertainty of their fate.", "In a moment of such painful doubt, Duncan did not hesitate to look about\nhim, without consulting that protection from the rocks which just before\nhad been so necessary to his safety.", "Every effort, however, to detect\nthe least evidence of the approach of their hidden enemies, was as\nfruitless as the inquiry after his late companions.", "The wooded banks of\nthe rivers seemed again deserted by everything possessing animal life.", "The uproar which had so lately echoed through the vaults of the forest\nwas gone, leaving the rush of the waters to swell and sink on the\ncurrents of the air, in the unmingled sweetness of nature.", "A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator of the fray, now stooped from his high and ragged perch, and\nsoared, in wide sweeps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice\nhad been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again to\nopen his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed\npossession of his wild domains.", "Duncan caught from these natural\naccompaniments of the solitary scene a glimmering of hope; and he began\nto rally his faculties to renewed exertions, with something like a\nreviving confidence of success.", "\"The Hurons are not to be seen,\" he said, addressing David, who had by\nno means recovered from the effects of the stunning blow he had\nreceived; \"let us conceal ourselves in the cavern, and trust the rest to\nProvidence.\"", "\"I remember to have united with two comely maidens, in lifting up our\nvoices in praise and thanksgiving,\" returned the bewildered\nsinging-master; \"since which time I have been visited by a heavy\njudgment for my sins.", "I have been mocked with the likeness of sleep,\nwhile sounds of discord have rent my ears, such as might manifest the\nfulness of time, and that nature had forgotten her harmony.\"", "\"Poor fellow!", "thine own period was, in truth, near its accomplishment!", "But arouse, and come with me; I will lead you where all other sounds but\nthose of your own psalmody shall be excluded.\"", "\"There is melody in the fall of the cataract, and the rushing of many\nwaters is sweet to the senses!\"", "said David, pressing his hand confusedly\non his brow.", "\"Is not the air yet filled with shrieks and cries, as\nthough the departed spirits of the damned--\"\n\n\"Not now, not now,\" interrupted the impatient Heyward, \"they have\nceased, and they who raised them, I trust in God, they are gone too!", "everything but the water is still and at peace; in, then, where you may\ncreate those sounds you love so well to hear.\"", "David smiled sadly, though not without a momentary gleam of pleasure, at\nthis allusion to his beloved vocation.", "He no longer hesitated to be led\nto a spot which promised such unalloyed gratification to his wearied\nsenses; and, leaning on the arm of his companion, he entered the narrow\nmouth of the cave.", "Duncan seized a pile of the sassafras, which he drew\nbefore the passage, studiously concealing every appearance of an\naperture.", "Within this fragile barrier he arranged the blankets abandoned\nby the foresters, darkening the inner extremity of the cavern, while its\nouter received a chastened light from the narrow ravine, through which\none arm of the river rushed, to form the junction with its sister\nbranch, a few rods below.", "\"I like not that principle of the natives, which teaches them to submit\nwithout a struggle, in emergencies that appear desperate,\" he said,\nwhile busied in this employment; \"our own maxim, which says, 'while life\nremains there is hope,' is more consoling, and better suited to a\nsoldier's temperament.", "To you, Cora, I will urge no words of idle\nencouragement; your own fortitude and undisturbed reason will teach you\nall that may become your sex; but cannot we dry the tears of that\ntrembling weeper on your bosom?\"", "\"I am calmer, Duncan,\" said Alice, raising herself from the arms of her\nsister, and forcing an appearance of composure through her tears; \"much\ncalmer, now.", "Surely, in this hidden spot we are safe, we are secret,\nfree from injury; we will hope everything from those generous men who\nhave risked so much already in our behalf.\"", "\"Now does our gentle Alice speak like a daughter of Munro!\"", "said\nHeyward, pausing to press her hand as he passed towards the outer\nentrance of the cavern.", "\"With two such examples of courage before him, a\nman would be ashamed to prove other than a hero.\"", "He then seated himself\nin the centre of the cavern, grasping his remaining pistol with a hand\nconvulsively clenched, while his contracted and frowning eye announced\nthe sullen desperation of his purpose.", "\"The Hurons, if they come, may\nnot gain our position so easily as they think,\" he lowly muttered; and\ndropping his head back against the rock, he seemed to await the result\nin patience, though his gaze was unceasingly bent on the open avenue to\ntheir place of retreat.", "With the last sound of his voice, a deep, a long, and almost breathless\nsilence succeeded.", "The fresh air of the morning had penetrated the\nrecess, and its influence was gradually felt on the spirits of its\ninmates.", "As minute after minute passed by, leaving them in undisturbed\nsecurity, the insinuating feeling of hope was gradually gaining\npossession of every bosom, though each one felt reluctant to give\nutterance to expectations that the next moment might so fearfully\ndestroy.", "David alone formed an exception to these varying emotions.", "A gleam of\nlight from the opening crossed his wan countenance, and fell upon the\npages of the little volume, whose leaves he was again occupied in\nturning, as if searching for some song more fitted to their condition\nthan any that had yet met his eye.", "He was, most probably, acting all\nthis time under a confused recollection of the promised consolation of\nDuncan.", "At length, it would seem, his patient industry found its reward;\nfor, without explanation or apology, he pronounced aloud the words \"Isle\nof Wight,\" drew a long, sweet sound from his pitch-pipe, and then ran\nthrough the preliminary modulations of the air, whose name he had just\nmentioned with the sweeter tones of his own musical voice.", "\"May not this prove dangerous?\"", "asked Cora, glancing her dark eye at\nMajor Heyward.", "\"Poor fellow!", "his voice is too feeble to be heard amid the din of the\nfalls,\" was the answer; \"besides, the cavern will prove his friend.", "Let\nhim indulge his passion, since it may be done without hazard.\"", "\"Isle of Wight!\"", "repeated David, looking about him with that dignity\nwith which he had long been wont to silence the whispering echoes of his\nschool; \"'tis a brave tune, and set to solemn words; let it be sung with\nmeet respect!\"", "After allowing a moment of stillness, to enforce his discipline, the\nvoice of the singer was heard, in low, murmuring syllables, gradually\nstealing on the ear, until it filled the narrow vault with sounds\nrendered trebly thrilling by the feeble and tremulous utterance produced\nby his debility.", "The melody, which no weakness could destroy, gradually\nwrought its sweet influence on the senses of those who heard it.", "It even\nprevailed over the miserable travesty of the song of David which the\nsinger had selected from a volume of similar effusions, and caused the\nsense to be forgotten in the insinuating harmony of the sounds.", "Alice\nunconsciously dried her tears, and bent her melting eyes on the pallid\nfeatures of Gamut with an expression of chastened delight that she\nneither affected nor wished to conceal.", "Cora bestowed an approving smile\non the pious efforts of the namesake of the Jewish prince, and Heyward\nsoon turned his steady, stern look from the outlet of the cavern, to\nfasten it, with a milder character, on the face of David, or to meet the\nwandering beams which at moments strayed from the humid eyes of Alice.", "The open sympathy of the listeners stirred the spirit of the votary of\nmusic, whose voice regained its richness and volume, without losing that\ntouching softness which proved its secret charm.", "Exerting his renovated\npowers to their utmost, he was yet filling the arches of the cave with\nlong and full tones, when a yell burst into the air without, that\ninstantly stilled his pious strains, choking his voice suddenly, as\nthough his heart had literally bounded into the passage of his throat.", "\"We are lost!\"", "exclaimed Alice, throwing herself into the arms of Cora.", "\"Not yet, not yet,\" returned the agitated but undaunted Heyward; \"the\nsound came from the centre of the island, and it has been produced by\nthe sight of their dead companions.", "We are not yet discovered, and there\nis still hope.\"", "Faint and almost despairing as was the prospect of escape, the words of\nDuncan were not thrown away, for it awakened the powers of the sisters\nin such a manner that they awaited the result in silence.", "A second yell\nsoon followed the first, when a rush of voices was heard pouring down\nthe island, from its upper to its lower extremity, until they reached\nthe naked rock above the caverns, where, after a shout of savage\ntriumph, the air continued full of horrible cries and screams, such as\nman alone can utter, and he only when in a state of the fiercest\nbarbarity.", "The sounds quickly spread around them in every direction.", "Some called to\ntheir fellows from the water's edge, and were answered from the heights\nabove.", "Cries were heard in the startling vicinity of the chasm between\nthe two caves, which mingled with hoarser yells that arose out of the\nabyss of the deep ravine.", "In short, so rapidly had the savage sounds\ndiffused themselves over the barren rock, that it was not difficult for\nthe anxious listeners to imagine they could be heard beneath, as in\ntruth they were above and on every side of them.", "In the midst of this tumult, a triumphant yell was raised within a few\nyards of the hidden entrance to the cave.", "Heyward abandoned every hope,\nwith the belief it was the signal that they were discovered.", "Again the\nimpression passed away, as he heard the voices collect near the spot\nwhere the white man had so reluctantly abandoned his rifle.", "Amid the\njargon of the Indian dialects that he now plainly heard, it was easy to\ndistinguish not only words, but sentences, in the _patois_ of the\nCanadas.", "A burst of voices had shouted simultaneously, \"La Longue\nCarabine!\"", "causing the opposite woods to re-echo with a name which,\nHeyward well remembered, had been given by his enemies to a celebrated\nhunter and scout of the English camp, and who, he now learnt for the\nfirst time, had been his late companion.", "\"La Longue Carabine!", "La Longue Carabine!\"", "passed from mouth to mouth,\nuntil the whole band appeared to be collected around a trophy which\nwould seem to announce the death of its formidable owner.", "After a\nvociferous consultation, which was, at times, deafened by bursts of\nsavage joy, they again separated, filling the air with the name of a\nfoe, whose body, Heyward could collect from their expressions, they\nhoped to find concealed in some crevice of the island.", "\"Now,\" he whispered to the trembling sisters, \"now is the moment of\nuncertainty!", "if our place of retreat escape this scrutiny, we are still\nsafe!", "In every event, we are assured, by what has fallen from our\nenemies, that our friends have escaped, and in two short hours we may\nlook for succor from Webb.\"", "There were now a few minutes of fearful stillness, during which Heyward\nwell knew that the savages conducted their search with greater vigilance\nand method.", "More than once he could distinguish their footsteps, as they\nbrushed the sassafras, causing the faded leaves to rustle, and the\nbranches to snap.", "At length, the pile yielded a little, a corner of the\nblanket fell, and a faint ray of light gleamed into the inner part of\nthe cave.", "Cora folded Alice to her bosom in agony, and Duncan sprang to\nhis feet.", "A shout was at that moment heard, as if issuing from the\ncentre of the rock, announcing that the neighboring cavern had at length\nbeen entered.", "In a minute, the number and loudness of the voices\nindicated that the whole party was collected in and around that secret\nplace.", "As the inner passages to the two caves were so close to each other,\nDuncan, believing that escape was no longer possible, passed David and\nthe sisters, to place himself between the latter and the first onset of\nthe terrible meeting.", "Grown desperate by his situation, he drew nigh the\nslight barrier which separated him only by a few feet from his\nrelentless pursuers, and placing his face to the casual opening, he even\nlooked out, with a sort of desperate indifference, on their movements.", "Within reach of his arm was the brawny shoulder of a gigantic Indian,\nwhose deep and authoritative voice appeared to give directions to the\nproceedings of his fellows.", "Beyond him again, Duncan could look into the\nvault opposite, which was filled with savages, upturning and rifling the\nhumble furniture of the scout.", "The wound of David had dyed the leaves of\nsassafras with a color that the natives well knew was anticipating the\nseason.", "Over this sign of their success, they set up a howl, like an\nopening from so many hounds who had recovered a lost trail.", "After this\nyell of victory, they tore up the fragrant bed of the cavern, and bore\nthe branches into the chasm, scattering the boughs, as if they suspected\nthem of concealing the person of the man they had so long hated and\nfeared.", "One fierce and wild-looking warrior approached the chief\nbearing a load of the brush, and pointing, exultingly, to the deep red\nstains with which it was sprinkled, uttered his joy in Indian yells,\nwhose meaning Heyward was only enabled to comprehend by the frequent\nrepetition of the name of \"La Longue Carabine!\"", "When his triumph had\nceased, he cast the brush on the slight heap that Duncan had made before\nthe entrance of the second cavern, and closed the view.", "His example was\nfollowed by others, who, as they drew the branches from the cave of the\nscout, threw them into one pile, adding, unconsciously, to the security\nof those they sought.", "The very slightness of the defence was its chief\nmerit, for no one thought of disturbing a mass of brush, which all of\nthem believed, in that moment of hurry and confusion, had been\naccidentally raised by the hands of their own party.", "As the blankets yielded before the outward pressure, and the branches\nsettled in the fissure of the rock by their own weight, forming a\ncompact body, Duncan once more breathed freely.", "With a light step, and\nlighter heart, he returned to the centre of the cave, and took the place\nhe had left, where he could command a view of the opening next the\nriver.", "While he was in the act of making this movement, the Indians, as\nif changing their purpose by a common impulse, broke away from the\ncavern in a body, and were heard rushing up the island again, towards\nthe point whence they had originally descended.", "Here another wailing cry\nbetrayed that they were again collected around the bodies of their dead\ncomrades.", "Duncan now ventured to look at his companions; for, during the most\ncritical moments of their danger, he had been apprehensive that the\nanxiety of his countenance might communicate some additional alarm to\nthose who were so little able to sustain it.", "\"They are gone, Cora!\"", "he whispered; \"Alice, they are returned whence\nthey came, and we are saved!", "To Heaven, that has alone delivered us from\nthe grasp of so merciless an enemy, be all the praise!\"", "\"Then to Heaven will I return my thanks!\"", "exclaimed the younger sister,\nrising from the encircling arms of Cora, and casting herself with\nenthusiastic gratitude on the naked rock; \"to that Heaven who has spared\nthe tears of a gray-headed father; has saved the lives of those I so\nmuch love--\"\n\nBoth Heyward, and the more tempered Cora, witnessed the act of\ninvoluntary emotion with powerful sympathy, the former secretly\nbelieving that piety had never worn a form so lovely as it had now\nassumed in the youthful person of Alice.", "Her eyes radiant with the glow\nof grateful feelings; the flush of her beauty was again seated on her\ncheeks, and her whole soul seemed ready and anxious to pour out its\nthanksgivings, through the medium of her eloquent features.", "But when her\nlips moved, the words they should have uttered appeared frozen by some\nnew and sudden chill.", "Her bloom gave place to the paleness of death; her\nsoft and melting eyes grew hard, and seemed contracting with horror;\nwhile those hands which she had raised, clasped in each other, towards\nheaven, dropped in horizontal lines before her, the fingers pointed\nforward in convulsed motion.", "Heyward turned, the instant she gave a\ndirection to his suspicions, and, peering just above the ledge which\nformed the threshold of the open outlet of the cavern, he beheld the\nmalignant, fierce, and savage features of Le Renard Subtil.", "In that moment of surprise, the self-possession of Heyward did not\ndesert him.", "He observed by the vacant expression of the Indian's\ncountenance, that his eye, accustomed to the open air, had not yet been\nable to penetrate the dusky light which pervaded the depth of the\ncavern.", "He had even thought of retreating beyond a curvature in the\nnatural wall, which might still conceal him and his companions, when, by\nthe sudden gleam of intelligence that shot across the features of the\nsavage, he saw it was too late, and that they were betrayed.", "The look of exultation and brutal triumph which announced this terrible\ntruth was irresistibly irritating.", "Forgetful of everything but the\nimpulses of his hot blood, Duncan levelled his pistol and fired.", "The\nreport of the weapon made the cavern bellow like an eruption from a\nvolcano; and when the smoke it vomited had been driven away before the\ncurrent of air which issued from the ravine, the place so lately\noccupied by the features of his treacherous guide was vacant.", "Rushing to\nthe outlet, Heyward caught a glimpse of his dark figure, stealing around\na low and narrow ledge, which soon hid him entirely from sight.", "Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the explosion, which\nhad just been heard bursting from the bowels of the rock.", "But when Le\nRenard raised his voice in a long and intelligible whoop, it was\nanswered by a spontaneous yell from the mouth of every Indian within\nhearing of the sound.", "The clamorous noises again rushed down the\nisland; and before Duncan had time to recover from the shock, his feeble\nbarrier of brush was scattered to the winds, the cavern was entered at\nboth its extremities, and he and his companions were dragged from their\nshelter and borne into the day, where they stood surrounded by the whole\nband of the triumphant Hurons." ]

[ "_Death of Agrippina._\n\n\nThe sudden and almost magical change, from the stirring incidents of the\ncombat to the stillness that now reigned around him, acted on the heated\nimagination of Heyward like some exciting dream.", "A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator of the fray, now stooped from his high and ragged perch, and\nsoared, in wide sweeps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice\nhad been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again to\nopen his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed\npossession of his wild domains.", "\"I remember to have united with two comely maidens, in lifting up our\nvoices in praise and thanksgiving,\" returned the bewildered\nsinging-master; \"since which time I have been visited by a heavy\njudgment for my sins.", "\"I am calmer, Duncan,\" said Alice, raising herself from the arms of her\nsister, and forcing an appearance of composure through her tears; \"much\ncalmer, now.", "\"The Hurons, if they come, may\nnot gain our position so easily as they think,\" he lowly muttered; and\ndropping his head back against the rock, he seemed to await the result\nin patience, though his gaze was unceasingly bent on the open avenue to\ntheir place of retreat.", "We are not yet discovered, and there\nis still hope.\"", "In short, so rapidly had the savage sounds\ndiffused themselves over the barren rock, that it was not difficult for\nthe anxious listeners to imagine they could be heard beneath, as in\ntruth they were above and on every side of them.", "Amid the\njargon of the Indian dialects that he now plainly heard, it was easy to\ndistinguish not only words, but sentences, in the _patois_ of the\nCanadas.", "La Longue Carabine!\"", "More than once he could distinguish their footsteps, as they\nbrushed the sassafras, causing the faded leaves to rustle, and the\nbranches to snap." ]

[ "if our place of retreat escape this scrutiny, we are still\nsafe!", "Every effort, however, to detect\nthe least evidence of the approach of their hidden enemies, was as\nfruitless as the inquiry after his late companions.", "Heyward abandoned every hope,\nwith the belief it was the signal that they were discovered.", "But when her\nlips moved, the words they should have uttered appeared frozen by some\nnew and sudden chill.", "A gleam of\nlight from the opening crossed his wan countenance, and fell upon the\npages of the little volume, whose leaves he was again occupied in\nturning, as if searching for some song more fitted to their condition\nthan any that had yet met his eye.", "The look of exultation and brutal triumph which announced this terrible\ntruth was irresistibly irritating.", "\"La Longue Carabine!", "Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the explosion, which\nhad just been heard bursting from the bowels of the rock.", "Let\nhim indulge his passion, since it may be done without hazard.\"", "\"I am calmer, Duncan,\" said Alice, raising herself from the arms of her\nsister, and forcing an appearance of composure through her tears; \"much\ncalmer, now." ]

[ "Exerting his renovated\npowers to their utmost, he was yet filling the arches of the cave with\nlong and full tones, when a yell burst into the air without, that\ninstantly stilled his pious strains, choking his voice suddenly, as\nthough his heart had literally bounded into the passage of his throat.", "\"We are lost!\"", "exclaimed Alice, throwing herself into the arms of Cora.", "\"Not yet, not yet,\" returned the agitated but undaunted Heyward; \"the\nsound came from the centre of the island, and it has been produced by\nthe sight of their dead companions.", "We are not yet discovered, and there\nis still hope.\"", "Faint and almost despairing as was the prospect of escape, the words of\nDuncan were not thrown away, for it awakened the powers of the sisters\nin such a manner that they awaited the result in silence.", "A second yell\nsoon followed the first, when a rush of voices was heard pouring down\nthe island, from its upper to its lower extremity, until they reached\nthe naked rock above the caverns, where, after a shout of savage\ntriumph, the air continued full of horrible cries and screams, such as\nman alone can utter, and he only when in a state of the fiercest\nbarbarity.", "The sounds quickly spread around them in every direction.", "Some called to\ntheir fellows from the water's edge, and were answered from the heights\nabove.", "Cries were heard in the startling vicinity of the chasm between\nthe two caves, which mingled with hoarser yells that arose out of the\nabyss of the deep ravine.", "In short, so rapidly had the savage sounds\ndiffused themselves over the barren rock, that it was not difficult for\nthe anxious listeners to imagine they could be heard beneath, as in\ntruth they were above and on every side of them." ]

[ "\n \"Be gay securely;\n Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim'rous clouds,\n That hang on thy clear brow.\"", "_Death of Agrippina._\n\n\nThe sudden and almost magical change, from the stirring incidents of the\ncombat to the stillness that now reigned around him, acted on the heated\nimagination of Heyward like some exciting dream.", "While all the images\nand events he had witnessed remained deeply impressed on his memory, he\nfelt a difficulty in persuading himself of their truth.", "Still ignorant\nof the fate of those who had trusted to the aid of the swift current, he\nat first listened intently to any signal, or sounds of alarm, which\nmight announce the good or evil fortune of their hazardous undertaking.", "His attention was, however, bestowed in vain; for, with the\ndisappearance of Uncas, every sign of the adventurers had been lost,\nleaving him in total uncertainty of their fate.", "In a moment of such painful doubt, Duncan did not hesitate to look about\nhim, without consulting that protection from the rocks which just before\nhad been so necessary to his safety.", "Every effort, however, to detect\nthe least evidence of the approach of their hidden enemies, was as\nfruitless as the inquiry after his late companions.", "The wooded banks of\nthe rivers seemed again deserted by everything possessing animal life.", "The uproar which had so lately echoed through the vaults of the forest\nwas gone, leaving the rush of the waters to swell and sink on the\ncurrents of the air, in the unmingled sweetness of nature.", "A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator of the fray, now stooped from his high and ragged perch, and\nsoared, in wide sweeps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice\nhad been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again to\nopen his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed\npossession of his wild domains.", "In that moment of surprise, the self-possession of Heyward did not\ndesert him.", "He observed by the vacant expression of the Indian's\ncountenance, that his eye, accustomed to the open air, had not yet been\nable to penetrate the dusky light which pervaded the depth of the\ncavern.", "He had even thought of retreating beyond a curvature in the\nnatural wall, which might still conceal him and his companions, when, by\nthe sudden gleam of intelligence that shot across the features of the\nsavage, he saw it was too late, and that they were betrayed.", "The look of exultation and brutal triumph which announced this terrible\ntruth was irresistibly irritating.", "Forgetful of everything but the\nimpulses of his hot blood, Duncan levelled his pistol and fired.", "The\nreport of the weapon made the cavern bellow like an eruption from a\nvolcano; and when the smoke it vomited had been driven away before the\ncurrent of air which issued from the ravine, the place so lately\noccupied by the features of his treacherous guide was vacant.", "Rushing to\nthe outlet, Heyward caught a glimpse of his dark figure, stealing around\na low and narrow ledge, which soon hid him entirely from sight.", "Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the explosion, which\nhad just been heard bursting from the bowels of the rock.", "But when Le\nRenard raised his voice in a long and intelligible whoop, it was\nanswered by a spontaneous yell from the mouth of every Indian within\nhearing of the sound.", "The clamorous noises again rushed down the\nisland; and before Duncan had time to recover from the shock, his feeble\nbarrier of brush was scattered to the winds, the cavern was entered at\nboth its extremities, and he and his companions were dragged from their\nshelter and borne into the day, where they stood surrounded by the whole\nband of the triumphant Hurons." ]

[ "\n \"I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn\n As much as we this night have overwatched!\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe instant the shock of this sudden misfortune had abated, Duncan began\nto make his observations on the appearance and proceedings of their\ncaptors.", "Contrary to the usages of the natives in the wantonness of\ntheir success, they had respected, not only the persons of the trembling\nsisters, but his own.", "The rich ornaments of his military attire had\nindeed been repeatedly handled by different individuals of the tribe\nwith eyes expressing a savage longing to possess the baubles; but before\nthe customary violence could be resorted to, a mandate in the\nauthoritative voice of the large warrior already mentioned, stayed the\nuplifted hand, and convinced Heyward that they were to be reserved for\nsome object of particular moment.", "While, however, these manifestations of weakness were exhibited by the\nyoung and vain of the party, the more experienced warriors continued\ntheir search throughout both caverns, with an activity that denoted they\nwere far from being satisfied with those fruits of their conquest which\nhad already been brought to light.", "Unable to discover any new victim,\nthese diligent workers of vengeance soon approached their male\nprisoners, pronouncing the name of \"La Longue Carabine,\" with a\nfierceness that could not easily be mistaken.", "Duncan affected not to\ncomprehend the meaning of their repeated and violent interrogatories,\nwhile his companion was spared the effort of a similar deception by his\nignorance of French.", "Wearied, at length, by their importunities, and\napprehensive of irritating his captors by too stubborn a silence, the\nformer looked about him in quest of Magua; who might interpret his\nanswers to questions which were at each moment becoming more earnest and\nthreatening.", "The conduct of this savage had formed a solitary exception to that of\nall his fellows.", "While the others were busily occupied in seeking to\ngratify their childish passion for finery, by plundering even the\nmiserable effects of the scout, or had been searching, with such\nbloodthirsty vengeance in their looks, for their absent owner, Le Renard\nhad stood at a little distance from the prisoners, with a demeanor so\nquiet and satisfied, as to betray that he had already effected the grand\npurpose of this treachery.", "When the eyes of Heyward first met those of\nhis recent guide, he turned them away in horror at the sinister though\ncalm look he encountered.", "Conquering his disgust, however, he was able,\nwith an averted face, to address his successful enemy.", "\"Le Renard Subtil is too much of a warrior,\" said the reluctant Heyward,\n\"to refuse telling an unarmed man what his conquerors say.\"", "\"They ask for the hunter who knows the paths through the woods,\"\nreturned Magua, in his broken English, laying his hand, at the same\ntime, with a ferocious smile, on the bundle of leaves with which a wound\non his own shoulder was bandaged.", "\"La Longue Carabine!", "his rifle is\ngood, and his eye never shut; but, like the short gun of the white\nchief, it is nothing against the life of Le Subtil!\"", "\"Le Renard is too brave to remember the hurts received in war, or the\nhands that gave them!\"", "\"Was it war, when the tired Indian rested at the sugar-tree to taste his\ncorn!", "who filled the bushes with creeping enemies!", "who drew the knife!", "whose tongue was peace, while his heart was colored with blood!", "Did\nMagua say that the hatchet was out of the ground, and that his hand had\ndug it up?\"", "As Duncan dared not retort upon his accuser by reminding him of his own\npremeditated treachery, and disdained to deprecate his resentment by any\nwords of apology, he remained silent.", "Magua seemed also content to rest\nthe controversy as well as all further communication there, for he\nresumed the leaning attitude against the rock, from which, in momentary\nenergy, he had arisen.", "But the cry of \"La Longue Carabine\" was renewed\nthe instant the impatient savages perceived that the short dialogue was\nended.", "\"You hear,\" said Magua, with stubborn indifference; \"the red Hurons call\nfor the life of 'The Long Rifle,' or they will have the blood of them\nthat keep him hid!\"", "\"He is gone--escaped; he is far beyond their reach.\"", "Renard smiled with cold contempt, as he answered,--\n\n\"When the white man dies, he thinks he is at peace; but the redmen know\nhow to torture even the ghosts of their enemies.", "Where is his body?", "Let\nthe Hurons see his scalp!\"", "\"He is not dead, but escaped.\"", "Magua shook his head incredulously.", "\"Is he a bird, to spread his wings; or is he a fish, to swim without\nair!", "The white chief reads in his books, and he believes the Hurons are\nfools!\"", "\"Though no fish, The Long Rifle can swim.", "He floated down the stream\nwhen the powder was all burnt, and when the eyes of the Hurons were\nbehind a cloud.\"", "\"And why did the white chief stay?\"", "demanded the still incredulous\nIndian.", "\"Is he a stone that goes to the bottom, or does the scalp burn\nhis head?\"", "\"That I am not a stone, your dead comrade, who fell into the falls,\nmight answer, were the life still in him,\" said the provoked young man,\nusing, in his anger, that boastful language which was most likely to\nexcite the admiration of an Indian.", "\"The white man thinks none but\ncowards desert their women.\"", "Magua muttered a few words, inaudibly, between his teeth, before he\ncontinued, aloud,--\n\n\"Can the Delawares swim, too, as well as crawl in the bushes?", "Where is\nLe Gros Serpent?\"", "Duncan, who perceived by the use of these Canadian appellations, that\nhis late companions were much better known to his enemies than to\nhimself, answered, reluctantly, \"He also is gone down with the water.\"", "\"Le Cerf Agile is not here?\"", "\"I know not whom you call 'The Nimble Deer,'\" said Duncan, gladly\nprofiting by any excuse to create delay.", "\"Uncas,\" returned Magua, pronouncing the Delaware name with even greater\ndifficulty than he spoke his English words.", "\"'Bounding Elk' is what the\nwhite man says, when he calls to the young Mohican.\"", "\"Here is some confusion in names between us, Le Renard,\" said Duncan,\nhoping to provoke a discussion.", "\"_Daim_ is the French for deer, and\n_cerf_ for stag; _elan_ is the true term, when one would speak of an\nelk.\"", "\"Yes,\" muttered the Indian, in his native tongue; \"the pale-faces are\nprattling women!", "they have two words for each thing, while a redskin\nwill make the sound of his voice speak for him.\"", "Then changing his\nlanguage, he continued, adhering to the imperfect nomenclature of his\nprovincial instructors, \"The deer is swift, but weak; the elk is swift,\nbut strong; and the son of Le Serpent is Le Cerf Agile.", "Has he leaped\nthe river to the woods?\"", "\"If you mean the younger Delaware, he too is gone down with the water.\"", "As there was nothing improbable to an Indian in the manner of the\nescape, Magua admitted the truth of what he had heard, with a readiness\nthat afforded additional evidence how little he would prize such\nworthless captives.", "With his companions, however, the feeling was\nmanifestly different.", "The Hurons had awaited the result of this short dialogue with\ncharacteristic patience, and with a silence that increased until there\nwas a general stillness in the band.", "When Heyward ceased to speak, they\nturned their eyes, as one man, on Magua, demanding, in this expressive\nmanner, an explanation of what had been said.", "Their interpreter pointed\nto the river, and made them acquainted with the result, as much by the\naction as by the few words he uttered.", "When the fact was generally\nunderstood, the savages raised a frightful yell, which declared the\nextent of their disappointment.", "Some ran furiously to the water's edge,\nbeating the air with frantic gestures, while others spat upon the\nelement, to resent the supposed treason it had committed against their\nacknowledged rights as conquerors.", "A few, and they not the least\npowerful and terrific of the band, threw lowering looks, in which the\nfiercest passion was only tempered by habitual self-command, at those\ncaptives who still remained in their power; while one or two even gave\nvent to their malignant feelings by the most menacing gestures, against\nwhich neither the sex nor the beauty of the sisters was any protection.", "The young soldier made a desperate, but fruitless effort, to spring to\nthe side of Alice, when he saw the dark hand of a savage twisted in the\nrich tresses which were flowing in volumes over her shoulders, while a\nknife was passed around the head from which they fell, as if to denote\nthe horrid manner in which it was about to be robbed of its beautiful\nornament.", "But his hands were bound; and at the first movement he made,\nhe felt the grasp of the powerful Indian who directed the band, pressing\nhis shoulder like a vise.", "Immediately conscious how unavailing any\nstruggle against such an overwhelming force must prove, he submitted to\nhis fate, encouraging his gentle companions by a few low and tender\nassurances that the natives seldom failed to threaten more than they\nperformed.", "But, while Duncan resorted to these words of consolation to quiet the\napprehensions of the sisters, he was not so weak as to deceive himself.", "He well knew that the authority of an Indian chief was so little\nconventional, that it was oftener maintained by physical superiority\nthan by any moral supremacy he might possess.", "The danger was, therefore,\nmagnified exactly in proportion to the number of the savage spirits by\nwhich they were surrounded.", "The most positive mandate from him who\nseemed the acknowledged leader, was liable to be violated at each\nmoment, by any rash hand that might choose to sacrifice a victim to the\n_manes_ of some dead friend or relative.", "While, therefore, he sustained\nan outward appearance of calmness and fortitude, his heart leaped into\nhis throat, whenever any of their fierce captors drew nearer than common\nto the helpless sisters, or fastened one of their sullen wandering looks\non those fragile forms which were so little able to resist the slightest\nassault.", "His apprehensions were, however, greatly relieved, when he saw that the\nleader had summoned his warriors to himself in council.", "Their\ndeliberations were short, and it would seem, by the silence of most of\nthe party, the decision unanimous.", "By the frequency with which the few\nspeakers pointed in the direction of the encampment of Webb, it was\napparent they dreaded the approach of danger from that quarter.", "This\nconsideration probably hastened their determination, and quickened the\nsubsequent movements.", "During this short conference, Heyward, finding a respite from his\ngreatest fears, had leisure to admire the cautious manner in which the\nHurons had made their approaches, even after hostilities had ceased.", "It has already been stated, that the upper half of the island was a\nnaked rock, and destitute of any other defences than a few scattered\nlogs of drift-wood.", "They had selected this point to make their descent,\nhaving borne the canoe through the wood around the cataract for that\npurpose.", "Placing their arms in the little vessel, a dozen men clinging\nto its sides had trusted themselves to the direction of the canoe, which\nwas controlled by two of the most skilful warriors, in attitudes that\nenabled them to command a view of the dangerous passage.", "Favored by this\narrangement, they touched the head of the island at that point which had\nproved so fatal to their first adventures, but with the advantages of\nsuperior numbers, and the possession of fire-arms.", "That such had been\nthe manner of their descent was rendered quite apparent to Duncan; for\nthey now bore the light bark from the upper end of the rock, and placed\nit in the water, near the mouth of the outer cavern.", "As soon as this\nchange was made, the leader made signs to the prisoners to descend and\nenter.", "As resistance was impossible, and remonstrance useless, Heyward set the\nexample of submission, by leading the way into the canoe, where he was\nsoon seated with the sisters, and the still wondering David.", "Notwithstanding the Hurons were necessarily ignorant of the little\nchannels among the eddies and rapids of the stream, they knew the common\nsigns of such a navigation too well to commit any material blunder.", "When\nthe pilot chosen for the task of guiding the canoe had taken his\nstation, the whole band plunged again into the river, the vessel glided\ndown the current, and in a few moments the captives found themselves on\nthe south bank of the stream, nearly opposite to the point where they\nhad struck it the preceding evening.", "Here was held another short but earnest consultation, during which the\nhorses, to whose panic their owners ascribed their heaviest misfortune,\nwere led from the cover of the woods, and brought to the sheltered spot.", "The band now divided.", "The great chief so often mentioned, mounting the\ncharger of Heyward, led the way directly across the river, followed by\nmost of his people, and disappeared in the woods, leaving the prisoners\nin charge of six savages, at whose head was Le Renard Subtil.", "Duncan\nwitnessed all their movements with renewed uneasiness.", "He had been fond of believing, from the uncommon forbearance of the\nsavages, that he was reserved as a prisoner to be delivered to Montcalm.", "As the thoughts of those who are in misery seldom slumber, and the\ninvention is never more lively than when it is stimulated by hope,\nhowever feeble and remote, he had even imagined that the parental\nfeelings of Munro were to be made instrumental in seducing him from his\nduty to the king.", "For though the French commander bore a high character\nfor courage and enterprise, he was also thought to be expert in those\npolitical practices, which do not always respect the nicer obligations\nof morality, and which so generally disgraced the European diplomacy of\nthat period.", "All those busy and ingenious speculations were now annihilated by the\nconduct of his captors.", "That portion of the band who had followed the\nhuge warrior took the route towards the foot of the Horican, and no\nother expectation was left for himself and companions, than that they\nwere to be retained as hopeless captives by their savage conquerors.", "Anxious to know the worst, and willing, in such an emergency, to try the\npotency of gold, he overcame his reluctance to speak to Magua.", "Addressing himself to his former guide, who had now assumed the\nauthority and manner of one who was to direct the future movements of\nthe party, he said, in tones as friendly and confiding as he could\nassume,--\n\n\"I would speak to Magua, what is fit only for so great a chief to hear.\"", "The Indian turned his eyes on the young soldier scornfully, as he\nanswered,--\n\n\"Speak; trees have no ears!\"", "\"But the red Hurons are not deaf; and counsel that is fit for the great\nmen of a nation would make the young warriors drunk.", "If Magua will not\nlisten, the officer of the king knows how to be silent.\"", "The savage spoke carelessly to his comrades, who were busied, after\ntheir awkward manner, in preparing the horses for the reception of the\nsisters, and moved a little to one side, whither, by a cautious gesture,\nhe induced Heyward to follow.", "\"Now speak,\" he said; \"if the words are such as Magua should hear.\"", "\"Le Renard Subtil has proved himself worthy of the honorable name given\nto him by his Canada fathers,\" commenced Heyward; \"I see his wisdom, and\nall that he has done for us, and shall remember it, when the hour to\nreward him arrives.", "Yes!", "Renard has proved that he is not only a great\nchief in council, but one who knows how to deceive his enemies!\"", "\"What has Renard done?\"", "coldly demanded the Indian.", "\"What!", "has he not seen that the woods were filled with outlying parties\nof the enemies, and that the Serpent could not steal through them\nwithout being seen?", "Then, did he not lose his path to blind the eyes of\nthe Hurons?", "Did he not pretend to go back to his tribe, who had treated\nhim ill, and driven him from their wigwams like a dog?", "And, when we saw\nwhat he wished to do, did we not aid him, by making a false face, that\nthe Hurons might think the white man believed that his friend was his\nenemy?", "Is not all this true?", "And when Le Subtil had shut the eyes and\nstopped the ears of his nation by his wisdom, did they not forget that\nthey had once done him wrong, and forced him to flee to the Mohawks?", "And\ndid they not leave him on the south side of the river, with their\nprisoners, while they have gone foolishly on the north?", "Does not Renard\nmean to turn like a fox on his footsteps, and to carry to the rich and\ngray-headed Scotchman his daughters?", "Yes, Magua, I see it all, and I\nhave already been thinking how so much wisdom and honesty should be\nrepaid.", "First, the chief of William Henry will give as a great chief\nshould for such a service.", "The medal[16] of Magua will no longer be of\ntin, but of beaten gold; his horn will run over with powder; dollars\nwill be as plenty in his pouch as pebbles on the shore of Horican; and\nthe deer will lick his hand, for they will know it to be vain to fly\nfrom the rifle he will carry!", "As for myself, I know not how to exceed\nthe gratitude of the Scotchman, but I--yes, I will--\"\n\n\"What will the young chief who comes from towards the sun, give?\"", "demanded the Huron, observing that Heyward hesitated in his desire to\nend the enumeration of benefits with that which might form the climax of\nan Indian's wishes.", "\"He will make the fire-water from the Islands in the salt lake flow\nbefore the wigwam of Magua, until the heart of the Indian shall be\nlighter than the feathers of the humming-bird, and his breath sweeter\nthan the wild honeysuckle.\"", "Le Renard had listened gravely as Heyward slowly proceeded in his subtle\nspeech.", "When the young man mentioned the artifice he supposed the Indian\nto have practised on his own nation, the countenance of the listener was\nveiled in an expression of cautious gravity.", "At the allusion to the\ninjury which Duncan affected to believe had driven the Huron from his\nnative tribe, a gleam of such ungovernable ferocity flashed from the\nother's eyes, as induced the adventurous speaker to believe he had\nstruck the proper chord.", "And by the time he reached the part where he so\nartfully blended the thirst of vengeance with the desire of gain, he\nhad, at least, obtained a command of the deepest attention of the\nsavage.", "The question put by Le Renard had been calm, and with all the\ndignity of an Indian; but it was quite apparent, by the thoughtful\nexpression of the listener's countenance, that the answer was most\ncunningly devised.", "The Huron mused a few moments, and then laying his\nhand on the rude bandages of his wounded shoulder, he said, with some\nenergy,--\n\n\"Do friends make such remarks?\"", "\"Would La Longue Carabine cut one so light on an enemy?\"", "\"Do the Delawares crawl upon those they love, like snakes, twisting\nthemselves to strike?\"", "\"Would Le Gros Serpent have been heard by the ears of one he wished to\nbe deaf?\"", "\"Does the white chief burn his powder in the faces of his brothers?\"", "\"Does he ever miss his aim, when seriously bent to kill?\"", "returned\nDuncan, smiling with well acted sincerity.", "Another long and deliberate pause succeeded these sententious questions\nand ready replies.", "Duncan saw that the Indian hesitated.", "In order to\ncomplete his victory, he was in the act of recommencing the enumeration\nof the rewards, when Magua made an expressive gesture and said--\n\n\"Enough; Le Renard is a wise chief, and what he does will be seen.", "Go,\nand keep the mouth shut.", "When Magua speaks, it will be the time to\nanswer.\"", "Heyward, perceiving that the eyes of his companion were warily fastened\non the rest of the band, fell back immediately, in order to avoid the\nappearance of any suspicious confederacy with their leader.", "Magua\napproached the horses, and affected to be well pleased with the\ndiligence and ingenuity of his comrades.", "He then signed to Heyward to\nassist the sisters into the saddles, for he seldom deigned to use the\nEnglish tongue, unless urged by some motive of more than usual moment.", "There was no longer any plausible pretext for delay; and Duncan was\nobliged, however reluctantly, to comply.", "As he performed this office, he\nwhispered his reviving hopes in the ears of the trembling females, who,\nthrough dread of encountering the savage countenances of their captors,\nseldom raised their eyes from the ground.", "The mare of David had been\ntaken with the followers of the large chief; in consequence, its owner,\nas well as Duncan, was compelled to journey on foot.", "The latter did not,\nhowever, so much regret this circumstance, as it might enable him to\nretard the speed of the party; for he still turned his longing looks in\nthe direction of Fort Edward, in the vain expectation of catching some\nsound from that quarter of the forest, which might denote the approach\nof succor.", "When all were prepared, Magua made the signal to proceed, advancing in\nfront to lead the party in person.", "Next followed David, who was\ngradually coming to a true sense of his condition, as the effects of the\nwound became less and less apparent.", "The sisters rode in his rear, with\nHeyward at their side, while the Indians flanked the party, and brought\nup the close of the march, with a caution that seemed never to tire.", "In this manner they proceeded in uninterrupted silence, except when\nHeyward addressed some solitary word of comfort to the females, or David\ngave vent to the moanings of his spirit in piteous exclamations, which\nhe intended should express the humility of resignation.", "Their direction\nlay towards the south, and in a course nearly opposite to the road to\nWilliam Henry.", "Notwithstanding this apparent adherence in Magua to the\noriginal determination of his conquerors, Heyward could not believe his\ntempting bait was so soon forgotten; and he knew the windings of an\nIndian path too well, to suppose that its apparent course led directly\nto its object, when artifice was at all necessary.", "Mile after mile was,\nhowever, passed through the boundless woods, in this painful manner,\nwithout any prospect of a termination to their journey.", "Heyward watched\nthe sun, as he darted his meridian rays through the branches of the\ntrees, and pined for the moment when the policy of Magua should change\ntheir route to one more favorable to his hopes.", "Sometimes he fancied the\nwary savage, despairing of passing the arm of Montcalm in safety, was\nholding his way towards a well-known border settlement, where a\ndistinguished officer of the crown, and a favored friend of the Six\nNations, held his large possessions, as well as his usual residence.", "To\nbe delivered into the hands of Sir William Johnson was far preferable to\nbeing led into the wilds of Canada; but in order to effect even the\nformer, it would be necessary to traverse the forest for many weary\nleagues, each step of which was carrying him farther from the scene of\nthe war, and, consequently, from the post, not only of honor, but of\nduty.", "Cora alone remembered the parting injunctions of the scout, and whenever\nan opportunity offered, she stretched forth her arm to bend aside the\ntwigs that met her hands.", "But the vigilance of the Indians rendered this\nact of precaution both difficult and dangerous.", "She was often defeated\nin her purpose, by encountering their watchful eyes, when it became\nnecessary to feign an alarm she did not feel, and occupy the limb by\nsome gesture of feminine apprehension.", "Once, and once only, was she\ncompletely successful; when she broke down the bough of a large sumach,\nand, by a sudden thought, let her glove fall at the same instant.", "This\nsign, intended for those that might follow, was observed by one of her\nconductors, who restored the glove, broke the remaining branches of the\nbush in such a manner that it appeared to proceed from the struggling of\nsome beast in its branches, and then laid his hand on his tomahawk, with\na look so significant, that it put an effectual end to these stolen\nmemorials of their passage.", "As there were horses, to leave the prints of their footsteps, in both\nbands of the Indians, this interruption cut off any probable hopes of\nassistance being conveyed through the means of their trail.", "Heyward would have ventured a remonstrance, had there been anything\nencouraging in the gloomy reserve of Magua.", "But the savage, during all\nthis time, seldom turned to look at his followers, and never spoke.", "With\nthe sun for his only guide, or aided by such blind marks as are only\nknown to the sagacity of a native, he held his way along the barrens of\npine, through occasional little fertile vales, across brooks and\nrivulets, and over undulating hills, with the accuracy of instinct, and\nnearly with the directness of a bird.", "He never seemed to hesitate.", "Whether the path was hardly distinguishable, whether it disappeared, or\nwhether it lay beaten and plain before him, made no sensible difference\nin his speed or certainty.", "It seemed as if fatigue could not affect him.", "Whenever the eyes of the wearied travellers rose from the decayed leaves\nover which they trod, his dark form was to be seen glancing among the\nstems of the trees in front, his head immovably fastened in a forward\nposition, with the light plume on his crest fluttering in a current of\nair, made solely by the swiftness of his own motion.", "But all this diligence and speed were not without an object.", "After\ncrossing a low vale, through which a gushing brook meandered, he\nsuddenly ascended a hill, so steep and difficult of ascent, that the\nsisters were compelled to alight, in order to follow.", "When the summit\nwas gained, they found themselves on a level spot, but thinly covered\nwith trees, under one of which Magua had thrown his dark form, as if\nwilling and ready to seek that rest which was so much needed by the\nwhole party." ]

[ "\"Was it war, when the tired Indian rested at the sugar-tree to taste his\ncorn!", "The white chief reads in his books, and he believes the Hurons are\nfools!\"", "\"The white man thinks none but\ncowards desert their women.\"", "A few, and they not the least\npowerful and terrific of the band, threw lowering looks, in which the\nfiercest passion was only tempered by habitual self-command, at those\ncaptives who still remained in their power; while one or two even gave\nvent to their malignant feelings by the most menacing gestures, against\nwhich neither the sex nor the beauty of the sisters was any protection.", "Their\ndeliberations were short, and it would seem, by the silence of most of\nthe party, the decision unanimous.", "They had selected this point to make their descent,\nhaving borne the canoe through the wood around the cataract for that\npurpose.", "He had been fond of believing, from the uncommon forbearance of the\nsavages, that he was reserved as a prisoner to be delivered to Montcalm.", "Anxious to know the worst, and willing, in such an emergency, to try the\npotency of gold, he overcame his reluctance to speak to Magua.", "And when Le Subtil had shut the eyes and\nstopped the ears of his nation by his wisdom, did they not forget that\nthey had once done him wrong, and forced him to flee to the Mohawks?", "Magua\napproached the horses, and affected to be well pleased with the\ndiligence and ingenuity of his comrades." ]

[ "This\nsign, intended for those that might follow, was observed by one of her\nconductors, who restored the glove, broke the remaining branches of the\nbush in such a manner that it appeared to proceed from the struggling of\nsome beast in its branches, and then laid his hand on his tomahawk, with\na look so significant, that it put an effectual end to these stolen\nmemorials of their passage.", "A few, and they not the least\npowerful and terrific of the band, threw lowering looks, in which the\nfiercest passion was only tempered by habitual self-command, at those\ncaptives who still remained in their power; while one or two even gave\nvent to their malignant feelings by the most menacing gestures, against\nwhich neither the sex nor the beauty of the sisters was any protection.", "\"Le Renard is too brave to remember the hurts received in war, or the\nhands that gave them!\"", "As there was nothing improbable to an Indian in the manner of the\nescape, Magua admitted the truth of what he had heard, with a readiness\nthat afforded additional evidence how little he would prize such\nworthless captives.", "Whether the path was hardly distinguishable, whether it disappeared, or\nwhether it lay beaten and plain before him, made no sensible difference\nin his speed or certainty.", "The mare of David had been\ntaken with the followers of the large chief; in consequence, its owner,\nas well as Duncan, was compelled to journey on foot.", "In this manner they proceeded in uninterrupted silence, except when\nHeyward addressed some solitary word of comfort to the females, or David\ngave vent to the moanings of his spirit in piteous exclamations, which\nhe intended should express the humility of resignation.", "That such had been\nthe manner of their descent was rendered quite apparent to Duncan; for\nthey now bore the light bark from the upper end of the rock, and placed\nit in the water, near the mouth of the outer cavern.", "Addressing himself to his former guide, who had now assumed the\nauthority and manner of one who was to direct the future movements of\nthe party, he said, in tones as friendly and confiding as he could\nassume,--\n\n\"I would speak to Magua, what is fit only for so great a chief to hear.\"", "And when Le Subtil had shut the eyes and\nstopped the ears of his nation by his wisdom, did they not forget that\nthey had once done him wrong, and forced him to flee to the Mohawks?" ]

[ "That such had been\nthe manner of their descent was rendered quite apparent to Duncan; for\nthey now bore the light bark from the upper end of the rock, and placed\nit in the water, near the mouth of the outer cavern.", "As soon as this\nchange was made, the leader made signs to the prisoners to descend and\nenter.", "As resistance was impossible, and remonstrance useless, Heyward set the\nexample of submission, by leading the way into the canoe, where he was\nsoon seated with the sisters, and the still wondering David.", "Notwithstanding the Hurons were necessarily ignorant of the little\nchannels among the eddies and rapids of the stream, they knew the common\nsigns of such a navigation too well to commit any material blunder.", "When\nthe pilot chosen for the task of guiding the canoe had taken his\nstation, the whole band plunged again into the river, the vessel glided\ndown the current, and in a few moments the captives found themselves on\nthe south bank of the stream, nearly opposite to the point where they\nhad struck it the preceding evening.", "Here was held another short but earnest consultation, during which the\nhorses, to whose panic their owners ascribed their heaviest misfortune,\nwere led from the cover of the woods, and brought to the sheltered spot.", "The band now divided.", "The great chief so often mentioned, mounting the\ncharger of Heyward, led the way directly across the river, followed by\nmost of his people, and disappeared in the woods, leaving the prisoners\nin charge of six savages, at whose head was Le Renard Subtil.", "Duncan\nwitnessed all their movements with renewed uneasiness.", "He had been fond of believing, from the uncommon forbearance of the\nsavages, that he was reserved as a prisoner to be delivered to Montcalm.", "As the thoughts of those who are in misery seldom slumber, and the\ninvention is never more lively than when it is stimulated by hope,\nhowever feeble and remote, he had even imagined that the parental\nfeelings of Munro were to be made instrumental in seducing him from his\nduty to the king." ]

[ "\n \"I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn\n As much as we this night have overwatched!\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe instant the shock of this sudden misfortune had abated, Duncan began\nto make his observations on the appearance and proceedings of their\ncaptors.", "Contrary to the usages of the natives in the wantonness of\ntheir success, they had respected, not only the persons of the trembling\nsisters, but his own.", "The rich ornaments of his military attire had\nindeed been repeatedly handled by different individuals of the tribe\nwith eyes expressing a savage longing to possess the baubles; but before\nthe customary violence could be resorted to, a mandate in the\nauthoritative voice of the large warrior already mentioned, stayed the\nuplifted hand, and convinced Heyward that they were to be reserved for\nsome object of particular moment.", "While, however, these manifestations of weakness were exhibited by the\nyoung and vain of the party, the more experienced warriors continued\ntheir search throughout both caverns, with an activity that denoted they\nwere far from being satisfied with those fruits of their conquest which\nhad already been brought to light.", "Unable to discover any new victim,\nthese diligent workers of vengeance soon approached their male\nprisoners, pronouncing the name of \"La Longue Carabine,\" with a\nfierceness that could not easily be mistaken.", "Duncan affected not to\ncomprehend the meaning of their repeated and violent interrogatories,\nwhile his companion was spared the effort of a similar deception by his\nignorance of French.", "Wearied, at length, by their importunities, and\napprehensive of irritating his captors by too stubborn a silence, the\nformer looked about him in quest of Magua; who might interpret his\nanswers to questions which were at each moment becoming more earnest and\nthreatening.", "The conduct of this savage had formed a solitary exception to that of\nall his fellows.", "While the others were busily occupied in seeking to\ngratify their childish passion for finery, by plundering even the\nmiserable effects of the scout, or had been searching, with such\nbloodthirsty vengeance in their looks, for their absent owner, Le Renard\nhad stood at a little distance from the prisoners, with a demeanor so\nquiet and satisfied, as to betray that he had already effected the grand\npurpose of this treachery.", "Heyward would have ventured a remonstrance, had there been anything\nencouraging in the gloomy reserve of Magua.", "But the savage, during all\nthis time, seldom turned to look at his followers, and never spoke.", "With\nthe sun for his only guide, or aided by such blind marks as are only\nknown to the sagacity of a native, he held his way along the barrens of\npine, through occasional little fertile vales, across brooks and\nrivulets, and over undulating hills, with the accuracy of instinct, and\nnearly with the directness of a bird.", "He never seemed to hesitate.", "Whether the path was hardly distinguishable, whether it disappeared, or\nwhether it lay beaten and plain before him, made no sensible difference\nin his speed or certainty.", "It seemed as if fatigue could not affect him.", "Whenever the eyes of the wearied travellers rose from the decayed leaves\nover which they trod, his dark form was to be seen glancing among the\nstems of the trees in front, his head immovably fastened in a forward\nposition, with the light plume on his crest fluttering in a current of\nair, made solely by the swiftness of his own motion.", "But all this diligence and speed were not without an object.", "After\ncrossing a low vale, through which a gushing brook meandered, he\nsuddenly ascended a hill, so steep and difficult of ascent, that the\nsisters were compelled to alight, in order to follow.", "When the summit\nwas gained, they found themselves on a level spot, but thinly covered\nwith trees, under one of which Magua had thrown his dark form, as if\nwilling and ready to seek that rest which was so much needed by the\nwhole party." ]

[ "\n \"Cursed by my tribe\n If I forgive him.\"", "_Shylock._\n\n\nThe Indian had selected, for this desirable purpose, one of those steep,\npyramidal hills, which bear a strong resemblance to artificial mounds,\nand which so frequently occur in the valleys of America.", "The one in\nquestion was high and precipitous; its top flattened, as usual; but with\none of its sides more than ordinarily irregular.", "It possessed no other\napparent advantage for a resting-place than in its elevation and form,\nwhich might render defence easy, and surprise nearly impossible.", "As\nHeyward, however, no longer expected that rescue which time and distance\nnow rendered so improbable, he regarded these little peculiarities with\nan eye devoid of interest, devoting himself entirely to the comfort and\ncondolence of his feebler companions.", "The Narragansetts were suffered to\nbrowse on the branches of the trees and shrubs that were thinly\nscattered over the summit of the hill, while the remains of their\nprovisions were spread under the shade of a beech, that stretched its\nhorizontal limbs like a canopy above them.", "Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the Indians had\nfound an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn with an arrow, and had\nborne the more preferable fragments of the victim patiently on his\nshoulders, to the stopping-place.", "Without any aid from the science of\ncookery, he was immediately employed, in common with his fellows, in\ngorging himself with this digestible sustenance.", "Magua alone sat apart,\nwithout participation in the revolting meal, and apparently buried in\nthe deepest thought.", "This abstinence, so remarkable in an Indian, when he possessed the means\nof satisfying hunger, at length attracted the notice of Heyward.", "The\nyoung man willingly believed that the Huron deliberated on the most\neligible manner of eluding the vigilance of his associates.", "With a view\nto assist his plans, by any suggestion of his own, and to strengthen the\ntemptation, he left the beech, and straggled as if without an object, to\nthe spot where Le Renard was seated.", "\"Has not Magua kept the sun in his face long enough to escape all danger\nfrom the Canadians?\"", "he asked, as though no longer doubtful of the good\nintelligence established between them; \"and will not the chief of\nWilliam Henry be better pleased to see his daughters before another\nnight may have hardened his heart to their loss, to make him less\nliberal in his reward?\"", "\"Do the pale-faces love their children less in the morning than at\nnight?\"", "asked the Indian, coldly.", "\"By no means,\" returned Heyward, anxious to recall his error, if he had\nmade one; \"the white man may, and does often, forget the burial-place of\nhis fathers; he sometimes ceases to remember those he should love and\nhas promised to cherish; but the affection of a parent for his child is\nnever permitted to die.\"", "\"And is the heart of the white-headed chief soft, and will he think of\nthe babes that his squaws have given him?", "He is hard to his warriors,\nand his eyes are made of stone!\"", "\"He is severe to the idle and wicked, but to the sober and deserving he\nis a leader, but just and humane.", "I have known many fond and tender\nparents, but never have I seen a man whose heart was softer towards his\nchild.", "You have seen the gray-head in front of his warriors, Magua; but\nI have seen his eyes swimming in water, when he spoke of those children\nwho are now in your power!\"", "Heyward paused, for he knew not how to construe the remarkable\nexpression that gleamed across the swarthy features of the attentive\nIndian.", "At first it seemed as if the remembrance of the promised reward\ngrew vivid in his mind, while he listened to the sources of parental\nfeeling which were to assure its possession; but as Duncan proceeded,\nthe expression of joy became so fiercely malignant, that it was\nimpossible not to apprehend it proceeded from some passion more sinister\nthan avarice.", "\"Go,\" said the Huron, suppressing the alarming exhibition in an instant,\nin a death-like calmness of countenance; \"go to the dark-haired\ndaughter, and say, Magua waits to speak.", "The father will remember what\nthe child promises.\"", "Duncan, who interpreted this speech to express a wish for some\nadditional pledge that the promised gifts should not be withheld,\nslowly and reluctantly repaired to the place where the sisters were now\nresting from their fatigue, to communicate its purport to Cora.", "\"You understand the nature of an Indian's wishes,\" he concluded, as he\nled her towards the place where she was expected, \"and must be prodigal\nof your offers of powder and blankets.", "Ardent spirits are, however, the\nmost prized by such as he; nor would it be amiss to add some boon from\nyour own hand, with that grace you so well know how to practise.", "Remember, Cora, that on your presence of mind and ingenuity even your\nlife, as well as that of Alice, may in some measure depend.\"", "\"Heyward, and yours!\"", "\"Mine is of little moment; it is already sold to my king, and is a prize\nto be seized by any enemy who may possess the power.", "I have no father to\nexpect me, and but few friends to lament a fate which I have courted\nwith the insatiable longings of youth after distinction.", "But hush!", "we\napproach the Indian.", "Magua, the lady with whom you wish to speak is\nhere.\"", "The Indian rose slowly from his seat, and stood for near a minute silent\nand motionless.", "He then signed with his hand for Heyward to retire,\nsaying coldly,--\n\n\"When the Huron talks to the women, his tribe shut their ears.\"", "Duncan, still lingering, as if refusing to comply, Cora said, with a\ncalm smile--\n\n\"You hear, Heyward, and delicacy at least should urge you to retire.", "Go\nto Alice, and comfort her with our reviving prospects.\"", "She waited until he had departed, and then turning to the native, with\nthe dignity of her sex in her voice and manner, she added, \"What would\nLe Renard say to the daughter of Munro?\"", "\"Listen,\" said the Indian, laying his hand firmly upon her arm, as if\nwilling to draw her utmost attention to his words; a movement that Cora\nas firmly but quietly repulsed, by extricating the limb from his grasp:\n\"Magua was born a chief and a warrior among the red Hurons of the lakes;\nhe saw the suns of twenty summers make the snows of twenty winters run\noff in the streams, before he saw a pale-face; and he was happy!", "Then\nhis Canada fathers came into the woods, and taught him to drink the\nfire-water, and he became a rascal.", "The Hurons drove him from the graves\nof his fathers, as they would chase the hunted buffalo.", "He ran down the\nshores of the lakes, and followed their outlet to the 'city of cannon.'", "There he hunted and fished, till the people chased him again through the\nwoods into the arms of his enemies.", "The chief, who was born a Huron, was\nat last a warrior among the Mohawks!\"", "\"Something like this I had heard before,\" said Cora, observing that he\npaused to suppress those passions which began to burn with too bright a\nflame, as he recalled the recollection of his supposed injuries.", "\"Was it the fault of Le Renard that his head was not made of rock?", "Who\ngave him the fire-water?", "who made him a villain?", "'Twas the pale-faces,\nthe people of your own color.\"", "\"And am I answerable that thoughtless and unprincipled men exist, whose\nshades of countenance may resemble mine?\"", "Cora calmly demanded of the\nexcited savage.", "\"No; Magua is a man, and not a fool; such as you never open their lips\nto the burning stream: the Great Spirit has given you wisdom!\"", "\"What then have I to do, or say, in the matter of your misfortunes, not\nto say of your errors?\"", "\"Listen,\" repeated the Indian, resuming his earnest attitude; \"when his\nEnglish and French fathers dug up the hatchet, Le Renard struck the\nwar-post of the Mohawks, and went out against his own nation.", "The\npale-faces have driven the redskins from their hunting-grounds, and now\nwhen they fight, a white man leads the way.", "The old chief at Horican,\nyour father, was the great captain of our war-party.", "He said to the\nMohawks do this, and do that, and he was minded.", "He made a law, that if\nan Indian swallowed the fire-water, and came into the cloth wigwams of\nhis warriors, it should not be forgotten.", "Magua foolishly opened his\nmouth, and the hot liquor led him into the cabin of Munro.", "What did the\ngray-head?", "let his daughter say.\"", "\"He forgot not his words, and did justice by punishing the offender,\"\nsaid the undaunted daughter.", "\"Justice!\"", "repeated the Indian, casting an oblique glance of the most\nferocious expression at her unyielding countenance; \"is it justice to\nmake evil, and then punish for it?", "Magua was not himself; it was the\nfire-water that spoke and acted for him!", "but Munro did not believe it.", "The Huron chief was tied up before all the pale-faced warriors, and\nwhipped like a dog.\"", "Cora remained silent, for she knew not how to palliate this imprudent\nseverity on the part of her father, in a manner to suit the\ncomprehension of an Indian.", "\"See!\"", "continued Magua, tearing aside the slight calico that very\nimperfectly concealed his painted breast; \"here are scars given by\nknives and bullets--of these a warrior may boast before his nation; but\nthe gray-head has left marks on the back of the Huron chief, that he\nmust hide, like a squaw, under this painted cloth of the whites.\"", "\"I had thought,\" resumed Cora, \"that an Indian warrior was patient, and\nthat his spirit felt not, and knew not, the pain his body suffered.\"", "\"When the Chippewas tied Magua to the stake, and cut this gash,\" said\nthe other, laying his finger on a deep scar, \"the Huron laughed in their\nfaces, and told them, Women struck so light!", "His spirit was then in the\nclouds!", "But when he felt the blows of Munro, his spirit lay under the\nbirch.", "The spirit of a Huron is never drunk; it remembers forever!\"", "\"But it may be appeased.", "If my father has done you this injustice, show\nhim how an Indian can forgive an injury, and take back his daughters.", "You have heard from Major Heyward--\"\n\nMagua shook his head, forbidding the repetition of offers he so much\ndespised.", "\"What would you have?\"", "continued Cora, after a most painful pause, while\nthe conviction forced itself on her mind that the too sanguine and\ngenerous Duncan had been cruelly deceived by the cunning of the savage.", "\"What a Huron loves--good for good; bad for bad!\"", "\"You would then revenge the injury inflicted by Munro on his helpless\ndaughters.", "Would it not be more like a man to go before his face, and\ntake the satisfaction of a warrior?\"", "\"The arms of the pale-faces are long, and their knives sharp!\"", "returned\nthe savage, with a malignant laugh: \"why should Le Renard go among the\nmuskets of his warriors, when he holds the spirit of the gray-head in\nhis hand?\"", "\"Name your intention, Magua,\" said Cora, struggling with herself to\nspeak with steady calmness.", "\"Is it to lead us prisoners to the woods, or\ndo you contemplate even some greater evil?", "Is there no reward, no means\nof palliating the injury, and of softening your heart?", "At least, release\nmy gentle sister, and pour out all your malice on me.", "Purchase wealth by\nher safety, and satisfy your revenge with a single victim.", "The loss of\nboth of his daughters might bring the aged man to his grave, and where\nwould then be the satisfaction of Le Renard?\"", "\"Listen,\" said the Indian again.", "\"The light eyes can go back to the\nHorican, and tell the old chief what has been done, if the dark-haired\nwoman will swear by the Great Spirit of her fathers to tell no lie.\"", "\"What must I promise?\"", "demanded Cora, still maintaining a secret\nascendency over the fierce native, by the collected and feminine dignity\nof her presence.", "\"When Magua left his people, his wife was given to another chief; he has\nnow made friends with the Hurons, and will go back to the graves of his\ntribe, on the shores of the great lake.", "Let the daughter of the English\nchief follow, and live in his wigwam forever.\"", "However revolting a proposal of such a character might prove to Cora,\nshe retained, notwithstanding her powerful disgust, sufficient\nself-command to reply, without betraying the weakness.", "\"And what pleasure would Magua find in sharing his cabin with a wife he\ndid not love; one who would be of a nation and color different from his\nown?", "It would be better to take the gold of Munro, and buy the heart of\nsome Huron maid with his gifts.\"", "The Indian made no reply for near a minute, but bent his fierce looks on\nthe countenance of Cora, in such wavering glances, that her eyes sank\nwith shame, under an impression that, for the first time, they had\nencountered an expression that no chaste female might endure.", "While she\nwas shrinking within herself, in dread of having her ears wounded by\nsome proposal still more shocking than the last, the voice of Magua\nanswered, in its tones of deepest malignancy--\n\n\"When the blows scorched the back of the Huron, he would know where to\nfind a woman to feel the smart.", "The daughter of Munro would draw his\nwater, hoe his corn, and cook his venison.", "The body of the gray-head\nwould sleep among his cannon, but his heart would lie within reach of\nthe knife of Le Subtil.\"", "\"Monster!", "well dost thou deserve thy treacherous name!\"", "cried Cora, in\nan ungovernable burst of filial indignation.", "\"None but a fiend could\nmeditate such a vengeance!", "But thou overratest thy power!", "You shall find\nit is, in truth, the heart of Munro you hold, and that it will defy your\nutmost malice!\"", "The Indian answered this bold defiance by a ghastly smile, that showed\nan unaltered purpose, while he motioned her away, as if to close the\nconference forever.", "Cora, already regretting her precipitation, was\nobliged to comply, for Magua instantly left the spot, and approached his\ngluttonous comrades.", "Heyward flew to the side of the agitated female,\nand demanded the result of a dialogue that he had watched at a distance\nwith so much interest.", "But unwilling to alarm the fears of Alice, she\nevaded a direct reply, betraying only by her countenance her utter want\nof success, and keeping her anxious looks fastened on the slightest\nmovements of their captors.", "To the reiterated and earnest questions of\nher sister, concerning their probable destination, she made no other\nanswer than by pointing towards the dark group, with an agitation she\ncould not control, and murmuring, as she folded Alice to her bosom--\n\n\"There, there; read our fortunes in their faces; we shall see; we shall\nsee!\"", "The action, and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke more impressively\nthan any words, and quickly drew the attention of her companions on that\nspot where her own was riveted with an intenseness that nothing but the\nimportance of the stake could create.", "When Magua reached the cluster of lolling savages, who, gorged with\ntheir disgusting meal, lay stretched on the earth in brutal indulgence,\nhe commenced speaking with the dignity of an Indian chief.", "The first\nsyllables he uttered had the effect to cause his listeners to raise\nthemselves in attitudes of respectful attention.", "As the Huron used his\nnative language, the prisoners, notwithstanding the caution of the\nnatives had kept them within the swing of their tomahawks, could only\nconjecture the substance of his harrangue, from the nature of those\nsignificant gestures with which an Indian always illustrates his\neloquence.", "At first, the language, as well as the action of Magua, appeared calm\nand deliberate.", "When he had succeeded in sufficiently awakening the\nattention of his comrades, Heyward fancied, by his pointing so\nfrequently towards the direction of the great lakes, that he spoke of\nthe land of their fathers, and of their distant tribe.", "Frequent\nindications of applause escaped the listeners, who, as they uttered the\nexpressive \"Hugh!\"", "looked at each other in commendation of the speaker.", "Le Renard was too skilful to neglect his advantage.", "He now spoke of the\nlong and painful route by which they had left those spacious grounds and\nhappy villages, to come and battle against the enemies of their\nCanadian fathers.", "He enumerated the warriors of the party; their\nseveral merits; their frequent services to the nation; their wounds, and\nthe number of the scalps they had taken.", "Whenever he alluded to any\npresent (and the subtle Indian neglected none), the dark countenance of\nthe flattered individual gleamed with exultation, nor did he even\nhesitate to assert the truth of the words, by gestures of applause and\nconfirmation.", "Then the voice of the speaker fell, and lost the loud,\nanimated tones of triumph with which he had enumerated their deeds of\nsuccess and victory.", "He described the cataract of Glenn's; the\nimpregnable position of its rocky island, with its caverns, and its\nnumerous rapids and whirlpools; he named the name of La Longue Carabine,\nand paused until the forest beneath them had sent up the last echo of a\nloud and long yell, with which the hated appellation was received.", "He\npointed towards the youthful military captive, and described the death\nof a favorite warrior, who had been precipitated into the deep ravine by\nhis hand.", "He not only mentioned the fate of him who, hanging between\nheaven and earth, had presented such a spectacle of horror to the whole\nband, but he acted anew the terrors of his situation, his resolution and\nhis death, on the branches of a sapling; and, finally, he rapidly\nrecounted the manner in which each of their friends had fallen, never\nfailing to touch upon their courage, and their most acknowledged\nvirtues.", "When this recital of events was ended, his voice once more\nchanged, and became plaintive, and even musical, in its low guttural\nsounds.", "He now spoke of the wives and children of the slain; their\ndestitution; their misery, both physical and moral; their distance; and,\nat last, of their unavenged wrongs.", "Then suddenly lifting his voice to a\npitch of terrific energy, he concluded, by demanding,--\n\n\"Are the Hurons dogs to bear this?", "Who shall say to the wife of Menowgua\nthat the fishes have his scalp, and that his nation have not taken\nrevenge!", "Who will dare meet the mother of Wassawattimie, that scornful\nwoman, with his hands clean!", "What shall be said to the old men when they\nask us for scalps, and we have not a hair from a white head to give\nthem!", "The women will point their fingers at us.", "There is a dark spot on\nthe names of the Hurons, and it must be hid in blood!\"", "His voice was no longer audible in the burst of rage which now broke\ninto the air, as if the wood, instead of containing so small a band, was\nfilled with the nation.", "During the foregoing address the progress of the\nspeaker was too plainly read by those most interested in his success,\nthrough the medium of the countenances of the men he addressed.", "They had\nanswered his melancholy and mourning by sympathy and sorrow; his\nassertions, by gestures of confirmation; and his boastings, with the\nexultation of savages.", "When he spoke of courage, their looks were firm\nand responsive; when he alluded to their injuries, their eyes kindled\nwith fury; when he mentioned the taunts of the women, they dropped their\nheads in shame; but when he pointed out their means of vengeance, he\nstruck a chord which never failed to thrill in the breast of an Indian.", "With the first intimation that it was within their reach, the whole band\nsprang upon their feet as one man; giving utterance to their rage in the\nmost frantic cries, they rushed upon their prisoners in a body with\ndrawn knives and uplifted tomahawks.", "Heyward threw himself between the\nsisters and the foremost, whom he grappled with a desperate strength\nthat for a moment checked his violence.", "This unexpected resistance gave\nMagua time to interpose, and with rapid enunciation and animated\ngesture, he drew the attention of the band again to himself.", "In that\nlanguage he knew so well how to assume, he diverted his comrades from\ntheir instant purpose, and invited them to prolong the misery of their\nvictims.", "His proposal was received with acclamations, and executed with\nthe swiftness of thought.", "Two powerful warriors cast themselves on Heyward, while another was\noccupied in securing the less active singing-master.", "Neither of the\ncaptives, however, submitted without a desperate though fruitless\nstruggle.", "Even David hurled his assailant to the earth; nor was Heyward\nsecured until the victory over his companion enabled the Indians to\ndirect their united force to that object.", "He was then bound and fastened\nto the body of the sapling, on whose branches Magua had acted the\npantomime of the falling Huron.", "When the young soldier regained his\nrecollection, he had the painful certainty before his eyes that a common\nfate was intended for the whole party.", "On his right was Cora, in a\ndurance similar to his own, pale and agitated, but with an eye, whose\nsteady look still read the proceedings of their enemies.", "On his left,\nthe withes which bound her to a pine, performed that office for Alice\nwhich her trembling limbs refused, and alone kept her fragile form from\nsinking.", "Her hands were clasped before her in prayer, but instead of\nlooking upwards towards that power which alone could rescue them, her\nunconscious looks wandered to the countenance of Duncan with infantile\ndependency.", "David had contended, and the novelty of the circumstance\nheld him silent, in deliberation on the propriety of the unusual\noccurrence.", "The vengeance of the Hurons had now taken a new direction, and they\nprepared to execute it with that barbarous ingenuity with which they\nwere familiarized by the practice of centuries.", "Some sought knots, to\nraise the blazing pile; one was riving the splinters of pine, in order\nto pierce the flesh of their captives with the burning fragments; and\nothers bent the tops of two saplings to the earth, in order to suspend\nHeyward by the arms between the recoiling branches.", "But the vengeance of\nMagua sought a deeper and a more malignant enjoyment.", "While the less refined monsters of the band prepared, before the eyes of\nthose who were to suffer, these well known and vulgar means of torture,\nhe approached Cora, and pointed out, with the most malign expression of\ncountenance, the speedy fate that awaited her:--\n\n\"Ha!\"", "he added, \"what says the daughter of Munro?", "Her head is too good\nto find a pillow in the wigwam of Le Renard; will she like it better\nwhen it rolls about this hill a plaything for the wolves?", "Her bosom\ncannot nurse the children of a Huron; she will see it spit upon by\nIndians!\"", "\"What means the monster!\"", "demanded the astonished Heyward.", "\"Nothing!\"", "was the firm reply.", "\"He is a savage, a barbarous and ignorant\nsavage, and knows not what he does.", "Let us find leisure, with our dying\nbreath, to ask for him penitence and pardon.\"", "\"Pardon!\"", "echoed the fierce Huron, mistaking, in his anger, the meaning\nof her words; \"the memory of an Indian is longer than the arm of the\npale-faces; his mercy shorter than their justice!", "Say; shall I send the\nyellow hair to her father, and will you follow Magua to the great lakes,\nto carry his water, and feed him with corn?\"", "Cora beckoned him away, with an emotion of disgust she could not\ncontrol.", "\"Leave me,\" she said, with a solemnity that for a moment checked the\nbarbarity of the Indian; \"you mingle bitterness in my prayers; you stand\nbetween me and my God!\"", "The slight impression produced on the savage was, however, soon\nforgotten, and he continued pointing, with taunting irony, towards\nAlice.", "\"Look!", "the child weeps!", "She is young to die!", "Send her to Munro, to comb\nhis gray hairs, and keep life in the heart of the old man.\"", "Cora could not resist the desire to look upon her youthful sister, in\nwhose eyes she met an imploring glance, that betrayed the longings of\nnature.", "\"What says he, dearest Cora?\"", "asked the trembling voice of Alice.", "\"Did\nhe speak of sending me to our father?\"", "For many moments the elder sister looked upon the younger, with a\ncountenance that wavered with powerful and contending emotions.", "At\nlength she spoke, though her tones had lost their rich and calm fulness,\nin an expression of tenderness that seemed maternal.", "\"Alice,\" she said, \"the Huron offers us both life, nay, more than both;\nhe offers to restore Duncan, our invaluable Duncan, as well as you, to\nour friends--to our father--to our heart-stricken, childless father, if\nI will bow down this rebellious, stubborn pride of mine, and consent--\"\n\nHer voice became choked, and clasping her hands, she looked upward, as\nif seeking, in her agony, intelligence from a wisdom that was infinite.", "\"Say on,\" cried Alice; \"to what, dearest Cora?", "O, that the proffer were\nmade to me!", "to save you, to cheer our aged father, to restore Duncan,\nhow cheerfully could I die!\"", "\"Die!\"", "repeated Cora, with a calmer and a firmer voice, \"that were easy!", "Perhaps the alternative may not be less so.", "He would have me,\" she\ncontinued, her accents sinking under a deep consciousness of the\ndegradation of the proposal, \"follow him to the wilderness; go to the\nhabitations of the Hurons; to remain there: in short to become his wife!", "Speak, then, Alice; child of my affections!", "sister of my love!", "And you,\ntoo, Major Heyward, aid my weak reason with your counsel.", "Is life to be\npurchased by such a sacrifice?", "Will you, Alice, receive it at my hands\nat such a price?", "And _you_, Duncan, guide me; control me between you;\nfor I am wholly yours.\"", "\"Would I!\"", "echoed the indignant and astonished youth.", "\"Cora!", "Cora!", "you\njest with our misery!", "Name not the horrid alternative again; the thought\nitself is worse than a thousand deaths.\"", "\"That such would be _your_ answer, I well knew!\"", "exclaimed Cora, her\ncheeks flushing, and her dark eyes once more sparkling with the\nlingering emotions of a woman.", "\"What says my Alice?", "for her will I\nsubmit without another murmur.\"", "Although both Heyward and Cora listened with painful suspense and the\ndeepest attention, no sounds were heard in reply.", "It appeared as if the\ndelicate and sensitive form of Alice would shrink into itself, as she\nlistened to this proposal.", "Her arms had fallen lengthwise before her,\nthe fingers moving in slight convulsions; her head dropped upon her\nbosom, and her whole person seemed suspended against the tree, looking\nlike some beautiful emblem of the wounded delicacy of her sex, devoid of\nanimation, and yet keenly conscious.", "In a few moments, however, her head\nbegan to move slowly, in a sign of deep, unconquerable disapprobation.", "\"No, no, no; better that we die as we have lived, together!\"", "\"Then die!\"", "shouted Magua, hurling his tomahawk with violence at the\nunresisting speaker, and gnashing his teeth with a rage that could no\nlonger be bridled, at this sudden exhibition of firmness in the one he\nbelieved the weakest of the party.", "The axe cleaved the air in front of\nHeyward, and cutting some of the flowing ringlets of Alice, quivered in\nthe tree above her head.", "The sight maddened Duncan to desperation.", "Collecting all his energies in one effort, he snapped the twigs which\nbound him and rushed upon another savage who was preparing with loud\nyells, and a more deliberate aim, to repeat the blow.", "They encountered,\ngrappled, and fell to the earth together.", "The naked body of his\nantagonist afforded Heyward no means of holding his adversary, who\nglided from his grasp, and rose again with one knee on his chest,\npressing him down with the weight of a giant.", "Duncan already saw the\nknife gleaming in the air, when a whistling sound swept past him, and\nwas rather accompanied, than followed, by the sharp crack of a rifle.", "He\nfelt his breast relieved from the load it had endured; he saw the savage\nexpression of his adversary's countenance change to a look of vacant\nwildness, when the Indian fell dead on the faded leaves by his side." ]

[ "The one in\nquestion was high and precipitous; its top flattened, as usual; but with\none of its sides more than ordinarily irregular.", "But when he felt the blows of Munro, his spirit lay under the\nbirch.", "He now spoke of the wives and children of the slain; their\ndestitution; their misery, both physical and moral; their distance; and,\nat last, of their unavenged wrongs.", "There is a dark spot on\nthe names of the Hurons, and it must be hid in blood!\"", "On his right was Cora, in a\ndurance similar to his own, pale and agitated, but with an eye, whose\nsteady look still read the proceedings of their enemies.", "\"What means the monster!\"", "\"Nothing!\"", "was the firm reply.", "Cora!", "\"That such would be _your_ answer, I well knew!\"" ]

[ "I have known many fond and tender\nparents, but never have I seen a man whose heart was softer towards his\nchild.", "echoed the fierce Huron, mistaking, in his anger, the meaning\nof her words; \"the memory of an Indian is longer than the arm of the\npale-faces; his mercy shorter than their justice!", "When Magua reached the cluster of lolling savages, who, gorged with\ntheir disgusting meal, lay stretched on the earth in brutal indulgence,\nhe commenced speaking with the dignity of an Indian chief.", "Her bosom\ncannot nurse the children of a Huron; she will see it spit upon by\nIndians!\"", "Neither of the\ncaptives, however, submitted without a desperate though fruitless\nstruggle.", "The slight impression produced on the savage was, however, soon\nforgotten, and he continued pointing, with taunting irony, towards\nAlice.", "The spirit of a Huron is never drunk; it remembers forever!\"", "He made a law, that if\nan Indian swallowed the fire-water, and came into the cloth wigwams of\nhis warriors, it should not be forgotten.", "The daughter of Munro would draw his\nwater, hoe his corn, and cook his venison.", "\"The arms of the pale-faces are long, and their knives sharp!\"" ]

[ "well dost thou deserve thy treacherous name!\"", "cried Cora, in\nan ungovernable burst of filial indignation.", "\"None but a fiend could\nmeditate such a vengeance!", "But thou overratest thy power!", "You shall find\nit is, in truth, the heart of Munro you hold, and that it will defy your\nutmost malice!\"", "The Indian answered this bold defiance by a ghastly smile, that showed\nan unaltered purpose, while he motioned her away, as if to close the\nconference forever.", "Cora, already regretting her precipitation, was\nobliged to comply, for Magua instantly left the spot, and approached his\ngluttonous comrades.", "Heyward flew to the side of the agitated female,\nand demanded the result of a dialogue that he had watched at a distance\nwith so much interest.", "But unwilling to alarm the fears of Alice, she\nevaded a direct reply, betraying only by her countenance her utter want\nof success, and keeping her anxious looks fastened on the slightest\nmovements of their captors.", "To the reiterated and earnest questions of\nher sister, concerning their probable destination, she made no other\nanswer than by pointing towards the dark group, with an agitation she\ncould not control, and murmuring, as she folded Alice to her bosom--\n\n\"There, there; read our fortunes in their faces; we shall see; we shall\nsee!\"", "The action, and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke more impressively\nthan any words, and quickly drew the attention of her companions on that\nspot where her own was riveted with an intenseness that nothing but the\nimportance of the stake could create." ]

[ "\n \"Cursed by my tribe\n If I forgive him.\"", "_Shylock._\n\n\nThe Indian had selected, for this desirable purpose, one of those steep,\npyramidal hills, which bear a strong resemblance to artificial mounds,\nand which so frequently occur in the valleys of America.", "The one in\nquestion was high and precipitous; its top flattened, as usual; but with\none of its sides more than ordinarily irregular.", "It possessed no other\napparent advantage for a resting-place than in its elevation and form,\nwhich might render defence easy, and surprise nearly impossible.", "As\nHeyward, however, no longer expected that rescue which time and distance\nnow rendered so improbable, he regarded these little peculiarities with\nan eye devoid of interest, devoting himself entirely to the comfort and\ncondolence of his feebler companions.", "The Narragansetts were suffered to\nbrowse on the branches of the trees and shrubs that were thinly\nscattered over the summit of the hill, while the remains of their\nprovisions were spread under the shade of a beech, that stretched its\nhorizontal limbs like a canopy above them.", "Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the Indians had\nfound an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn with an arrow, and had\nborne the more preferable fragments of the victim patiently on his\nshoulders, to the stopping-place.", "Without any aid from the science of\ncookery, he was immediately employed, in common with his fellows, in\ngorging himself with this digestible sustenance.", "Magua alone sat apart,\nwithout participation in the revolting meal, and apparently buried in\nthe deepest thought.", "This abstinence, so remarkable in an Indian, when he possessed the means\nof satisfying hunger, at length attracted the notice of Heyward.", "\"No, no, no; better that we die as we have lived, together!\"", "\"Then die!\"", "shouted Magua, hurling his tomahawk with violence at the\nunresisting speaker, and gnashing his teeth with a rage that could no\nlonger be bridled, at this sudden exhibition of firmness in the one he\nbelieved the weakest of the party.", "The axe cleaved the air in front of\nHeyward, and cutting some of the flowing ringlets of Alice, quivered in\nthe tree above her head.", "The sight maddened Duncan to desperation.", "Collecting all his energies in one effort, he snapped the twigs which\nbound him and rushed upon another savage who was preparing with loud\nyells, and a more deliberate aim, to repeat the blow.", "They encountered,\ngrappled, and fell to the earth together.", "The naked body of his\nantagonist afforded Heyward no means of holding his adversary, who\nglided from his grasp, and rose again with one knee on his chest,\npressing him down with the weight of a giant.", "Duncan already saw the\nknife gleaming in the air, when a whistling sound swept past him, and\nwas rather accompanied, than followed, by the sharp crack of a rifle.", "He\nfelt his breast relieved from the load it had endured; he saw the savage\nexpression of his adversary's countenance change to a look of vacant\nwildness, when the Indian fell dead on the faded leaves by his side." ]

[ "\n \"_Clo._--I am gone, sir,\n And anon, sir,\n I'll be with you again.\"", "_Twelfth Night._\n\n\nThe Hurons stood aghast at this sudden visitation of death on one of\ntheir band.", "But, as they regarded the fatal accuracy of an aim which had\ndared to immolate an enemy at so much hazard to a friend, the name of\n\"La Longue Carabine\" burst simultaneously from every lip, and was\nsucceeded by a wild and a sort of plaintive howl.", "The cry was answered\nby a loud shout from a little thicket, where the incautious party had\npiled their arms; and at the next moment, Hawkeye, too eager to load the\nrifle he had regained, was seen advancing upon them, brandishing the\nclubbed weapon, and cutting the air with wide and powerful sweeps.", "Bold\nand rapid as was the progress of the scout, it was exceeded by that of a\nlight and vigorous form which, bounding past him, leaped, with\nincredible activity and daring, into the very centre of the Hurons,\nwhere it stood, whirling a tomahawk, and flourishing a glittering knife,\nwith fearful menaces, in front of Cora.", "Quicker than the thoughts could\nfollow these unexpected and audacious movements, an image, armed in the\nemblematic panoply of death, glided before their eyes, and assumed a\nthreatening attitude at the other's side.", "The savage tormentors recoiled\nbefore these warlike intruders, and uttered as they appeared in such\nquick succession, the often repeated and peculiar exclamation of\nsurprise, followed by the well known and dreaded appellations of--\n\n\"Le Cerf Agile!", "Le Gros Serpent!\"", "But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not so easily\ndisconcerted.", "Casting his keen eyes around the little plain, he\ncomprehended the nature of the assault at a glance, and encouraging his\nfollowers by his voice as well as by his example, he unsheathed his long\nand dangerous knife, and rushed with a loud whoop upon the expecting\nChingachgook.", "It was the signal for a general combat.", "Neither party had\nfire-arms, and the contest was to be decided in the deadliest manner;\nhand to hand, with weapons of offence, and none of defence.", "Uncas answered the whoop, and leaping on an enemy, with a single, well\ndirected blow of his tomahawk, cleft him to the brain.", "Heyward tore the\nweapon of Magua from the sapling, and rushed eagerly towards the fray.", "As the combatants were now equal in number, each singled an opponent\nfrom the adverse band.", "The rush and blows passed with the fury of a\nwhirlwind, and the swiftness of lightning.", "Hawkeye soon got another\nenemy within reach of his arm, and with one sweep of his formidable\nweapon he beat down the slight and inartificial defences of his\nantagonist, crushing him to the earth with the blow.", "Heyward ventured to\nhurl the tomahawk he had seized, too ardent to await the moment of\nclosing.", "It struck the Indian he had selected on the forehead, and\nchecked for an instant his onward rush.", "Encouraged by this slight\nadvantage, the impetuous young man continued his onset, and sprang upon\nhis enemy with naked hands.", "A single instant was enough to assure him of\nthe rashness of the measure, for he immediately found himself fully\nengaged, with all his activity and courage, in endeavoring to ward the\ndesperate thrusts made with the knife of the Huron.", "Unable longer to\nfoil an enemy so alert and vigilant, he threw his arms about him, and\nsucceeded in pinning the limbs of the other to his side, with an iron\ngrasp, but one that was far too exhausting to himself to continue long.", "In this extremity he heard a voice near him, shouting--\n\n\"Extarminate the varlets!", "no quarter to an accursed Mingo!\"", "At the next moment, the breech of Hawkeye's rifle fell on the naked head\nof his adversary, whose muscles appeared to wither under the shock, as\nhe sank from the arms of Duncan, flexible and motionless.", "When Uncas had brained his first antagonist, he turned, like a hungry\nlion, to seek another.", "The fifth and only Huron disengaged at the first\nonset had paused a moment, and then seeing that all around him were\nemployed in the deadly strife, he sought, with hellish vengeance, to\ncomplete the baffled work of revenge.", "Raising a shout of triumph, he\nsprang towards the defenceless Cora, sending his keen axe, as the\ndreadful precursor of his approach.", "The tomahawk grazed her shoulder,\nand cutting the withes which bound her to the tree, left the maiden at\nliberty to fly.", "She eluded the grasp of the savage, and reckless of her\nown safety, threw herself on the bosom of Alice, striving with\nconvulsed and ill-directed fingers, to tear asunder the twigs which\nconfined the person of her sister.", "Any other than a monster would have\nrelented at such an act of generous devotion to the best and purest\naffection; but the breast of the Huron was a stranger to sympathy.", "Seizing Cora by the rich tresses which fell in confusion about her form,\nhe tore her from her frantic hold, and bowed her down with brutal\nviolence to her knees.", "The savage drew the flowing curls through his\nhand, and raising them on high with an outstretched arm, he passed the\nknife around the exquisitely moulded head of his victim, with a taunting\nand exulting laugh.", "But he purchased this moment of fierce gratification\nwith the loss of the fatal opportunity.", "It was just then the sight\ncaught the eye of Uncas.", "Bounding from his footsteps he appeared for an\ninstant darting through the air, and descending in a ball he fell on the\nchest of his enemy, driving him many yards from the spot, headlong and\nprostrate.", "The violence of the exertion cast the young Mohican at his\nside.", "They arose together, fought, and bled, each in his turn.", "But the\nconflict was soon decided; the tomahawk of Heyward and the rifle of\nHawkeye descended on the skull of the Huron, at the same moment that the\nknife of Uncas reached his heart.", "The battle was now entirely terminated, with the exception of the\nprotracted struggle between Le Renard Subtil and Le Gros Serpent.", "Well\ndid these barbarous warriors prove that they deserved those significant\nnames which had been bestowed for deeds in former wars.", "When they\nengaged, some little time was lost in eluding the quick and vigorous\nthrusts which had been aimed at their lives.", "Suddenly darting on each\nother, they closed, and came to the earth, twisted together like twining\nserpents, in pliant and subtle folds.", "At the moment when the victors\nfound themselves unoccupied, the spot where these experienced and\ndesperate combatants lay, could only be distinguished by a cloud of dust\nand leaves which moved from the centre of the little plain towards its\nboundary, as if raised by the passage of a whirlwind.", "Urged by the\ndifferent motives of filial affection, friendship, and gratitude,\nHeyward and his companions rushed with one accord to the place,\nencircling the little canopy of dust which hung above the warriors.", "In\nvain did Uncas dart around the cloud, with a wish to strike his knife\ninto the heart of his father's foe; the threatening rifle of Hawkeye was\nraised and suspended in vain, while Duncan endeavored to seize the\nlimbs of the Huron with hands that appeared to have lost their power.", "Covered, as they were, with dust and blood, the swift evolutions of the\ncombatants seemed to incorporate their bodies into one.", "The death-like\nlooking figure of the Mohican, and the dark form of the Huron, gleamed\nbefore their eyes in such quick and confused succession, that the\nfriends of the former knew not where nor when to plant the succoring\nblow.", "It is true there were short and fleeting moments, when the fiery\neyes of Magua were seen glittering, like the fabled organs of the\nbasilisk, through the dusty wreath by which he was enveloped, and he\nread by those short and deadly glances the fate of the combat in the\npresence of his enemies; ere, however, any hostile hand could descend on\nhis devoted head, its place was filled by the scowling visage of\nChingachgook.", "In this manner the scene of the combat was removed from\nthe centre of the little plain to its verge.", "The Mohican now found an\nopportunity to make a powerful thrust with his knife; Magua suddenly\nrelinquished his grasp, and fell backward without motion, and seemingly\nwithout life.", "His adversary leaped on his feet, making the arches of the\nforest ring with the sounds of triumph.", "\"Well done for the Delawares!", "victory to the Mohican!\"", "cried Hawkeye,\nonce more elevating the butt of the long and fatal rifle; \"a finishing\nblow from a man without a cross will never tell against his honor, nor\nrob him of his right to the scalp.\"", "But, at the very moment when the dangerous weapon was in the act of\ndescending, the subtle Huron rolled swiftly from beneath the danger,\nover the edge of the precipice, and falling on his feet, was seen\nleaping, with a single bound, into the centre of a thicket of low\nbushes, which clung along its sides.", "The Delawares, who had believed\ntheir enemy dead, uttered their exclamation of surprise, and were\nfollowing with speed and clamor, like hounds in open view of the deer,\nwhen a shrill and peculiar cry from the scout instantly changed their\npurpose, and recalled them to the summit of the hill.", "\"'Twas like himself,\" cried the inveterate forester, whose prejudices\ncontributed so largely to veil his natural sense of justice in all\nmatters which concerned the Mingos; \"a lying and deceitful varlet as he\nis.", "An honest Delaware now, being fairly vanquished, would have lain\nstill, and been knocked on the head, but these knavish Maquas cling to\nlife like so many cats-o'-the-mountain.", "Let him go--let him go; 'tis but\none man, and he without rifle or bow, many a long mile from his French\ncommerades; and, like a rattler that has lost his fangs, he can do no\nfurther mischief, until such time as he, and we too, may leave the\nprints of our moccasins over a long reach of sandy plain.", "See, Uncas,\"\nhe added, in Delaware, \"your father is flaying the scalps already.", "It\nmay be well to go round and feel the vagabonds that are left, or we may\nhave another of them loping through the woods, and screeching like a jay\nthat has been winged.\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE FIGHT IN THE FOREST\n\n_The battle was now entirely terminated, with the exception of the\nprotracted struggle between Le Renard Subtil and Le Gros Serpent_]\n\nSo saying, the honest, but implacable scout, made the circuit of the\ndead, into whose senseless bosoms he thrust his long knife, with as much\ncoolness as though they had been so many brute carcasses.", "He had,\nhowever, been anticipated by the elder Mohican, who had already torn the\nemblems of victory from the unresisting heads of the slain.", "But Uncas, denying his habits, we had almost said his nature, flew with\ninstinctive delicacy, accompanied by Heyward, to the assistance of the\nfemales, and quickly releasing Alice, placed her in the arms of Cora.", "We\nshall not attempt to describe the gratitude to the Almighty Disposer of\nevents which glowed in the bosoms of the sisters, who were thus\nunexpectedly restored to life and to each other.", "Their thanksgivings\nwere deep and silent; the offerings of their gentle spirits, burning\nbrightest and purest on the secret altars of their hearts; and their\nrenovated and more earthly feelings exhibiting themselves in long and\nfervent, though speechless caresses.", "As Alice rose from her knees, where\nshe had sunk by the side of Cora, she threw herself on the bosom of the\nlatter; and sobbed aloud the name of their aged father, while her soft,\ndove-like eyes sparkled with the rays of hope.", "\"We are saved!", "we are saved!\"", "she murmured; \"to return to the arms of\nour dear, dear father, and his heart will not be broken with grief.", "And\nyou too, Cora, my sister; my more than sister, my mother; you too are\nspared.", "And Duncan,\" she added, looking round upon the youth with a\nsmile of ineffable innocence, \"even our own brave and noble Duncan has\nescaped without a hurt.\"", "To these ardent and nearly incoherent words Cora made no other answer\nthan by straining the youthful speaker to her heart, as she bent over\nher, in melting tenderness.", "The manhood of Heyward felt no shame in\ndropping tears over this spectacle of affectionate rapture; and Uncas\nstood, fresh and blood-stained from the combat, a calm, and, apparently,\nan unmoved looker-on, it is true, but with eyes that had already lost\ntheir fierceness, and were beaming with a sympathy that elevated him far\nabove the intelligence, and advanced him probably centuries before the\npractices of his nation.", "During this display of emotions so natural in their situation, Hawkeye,\nwhose vigilant distrust had satisfied itself that the Hurons, who\ndisfigured the heavenly scene, no longer possessed the power to\ninterrupt its harmony, approached David, and liberated him from the\nbonds he had, until that moment, endured with the most exemplary\npatience.", "\"There,\" exclaimed the scout, casting the last withe behind him, \"you\nare once more master of your own limbs, though you seem not to use them\nwith greater judgment than that in which they were first fashioned.", "If\nadvice from one who is not older than yourself, but who having lived\nmost of his time in the wilderness, may be said to have experience\nbeyond his years, will give no offence, you are welcome to my thoughts;\nand these are, to part with the little tooting instrument in your jacket\nto the first fool you meet with, and buy some useful we'pon with the\nmoney, if it be only the barrel of a horseman's pistol.", "By industry and\ncare, you might thus come to some prefarment; for by this time, I should\nthink, your eyes would plainly tell you that a carrion crow is a better\nbird than a mocking thresher.", "The one will, at least, remove foul sights\nfrom before the face of man, while the other is only good to brew\ndisturbances in the woods, by cheating the ears of all that hear them.\"", "\"Arms and the clarion for the battle, but the song of thanksgiving to\nthe victory!\"", "answered the liberated David.", "\"Friend,\" he added,\nthrusting forth his lean, delicate hand towards Hawkeye, in kindness,\nwhile his eyes twinkled and grew moist, \"I thank thee that the hairs of\nmy head still grow where they were first rooted by Providence; for,\nthough those of other men may be more glossy and curling, I have ever\nfound mine own well suited to the brain they shelter.", "That I did not\njoin myself to the battle, was less owing to disinclination, than to the\nbonds of the heathen.", "Valiant and skilful hast thou proved thyself in\nthe conflict, and I hereby thank thee, before proceeding to discharge\nother and more important duties, because thou hast proved thyself well\nworthy of a Christian's praise.\"", "\"The thing is but a trifle, and what you may often see, if you tarry\nlong among us,\" returned the scout, a good deal softened towards the\nman of song, by this unequivocal expression of gratitude.", "\"I have got\nback my old companion, 'Killdeer,'\" he added, striking his hand on the\nbreech of his rifle; \"and that in itself is a victory.", "These Iroquois\nare cunning, but they outwitted themselves when they placed their\nfire-arms out of reach; and had Uncas or his father been gifted with\nonly their common Indian patience, we should have come in upon the\nknaves with three bullets instead of one, and that would have made a\nfinish of the whole pack; yon loping varlet, as well as his commerades.", "But 'twas all foreordered, and for the best.\"", "\"Thou sayest well,\" returned David, \"and hast caught the true spirit of\nChristianity.", "He that is to be saved will be saved, and he that is\npredestined to be damned will be damned.", "This is the doctrine of truth,\nand most consoling and refreshing it is to the true believer.\"", "The scout, who by this time was seated, examining into the state of his\nrifle with a species of parental assiduity, now looked up at the other\nin a displeasure that he did not affect to conceal, roughly interrupting\nfurther speech.", "\"Doctrine, or no doctrine,\" said the sturdy woodsman, \"'tis the belief\nof knaves, and the curse of an honest man.", "I can credit that yonder\nHuron was to fall by my hand, for with my own eyes I have seen it; but\nnothing short of being a witness will cause me to think he had met with\nany reward, or that Chingachgook, there, will be condemned at the final\nday.\"", "\"You have no warranty for such an audacious doctrine, nor any covenant\nto support it,\" cried David, who was deeply tinctured with the subtle\ndistinctions which, in his time, and more especially in his province,\nhad been drawn around the beautiful simplicity of revelation, by\nendeavoring to penetrate the awful mystery of the divine nature,\nsupplying faith by self-sufficiency, and by consequence, involving those\nwho reasoned from such human dogmas in absurdities and doubt; \"your\ntemple is reared on the sands, and the first tempest will wash away its\nfoundation.", "I demand your authorities for such an uncharitable assertion\n(like other advocates of a system, David was not always accurate in his\nuse of terms).", "Name chapter and verse; in which of the holy books do you\nfind language to support you?\"", "\"Book!\"", "repeated Hawkeye, with singular and ill-concealed disdain; \"do\nyou take me for a whimpering boy at the apron-string of one of your old\ngals; and this good rifle on my knee for the feather of a goose's wing,\nmy ox's horn for a bottle of ink, and my leathern pouch for a\ncross-barred handkercher to carry my dinner?", "Book!", "what have such as I,\nwho am a warrior of the wilderness, though a man without a cross, to do\nwith books?", "I never read but in one, and the words that are written\nthere are too simple and too plain to need much schooling; though I may\nboast that of forty long and hard-working years.\"", "\"What call you the volume?\"", "said David, misconceiving the other's\nmeaning.", "\"Tis open before your eyes,\" returned the scout; \"and he who owns it is\nnot a niggard of its use.", "I have heard it said that there are men who\nread in books to convince themselves there is a God.", "I know not but man\nmay so deform his works in the settlement, as to leave that which is so\nclear in the wilderness a matter of doubt among traders and priests.", "If\nany such there be, and he will follow me from sun to sun, through the\nwindings of the forest, he shall see enough to teach him that he is a\nfool, and that the greatest of his folly lies in striving to rise to the\nlevel of One he can never equal, be it in goodness, or be it in power.\"", "The instant David discovered that he battled with a disputant who\nimbibed his faith from the lights of nature, eschewing all subtleties of\ndoctrine, he willingly abandoned a controversy from which he believed\nneither profit nor credit was to be derived.", "While the scout was\nspeaking, he had also seated himself, and producing the ready little\nvolume and the iron-rimmed spectacles, he prepared to discharge a duty,\nwhich nothing but the unexpected assault he had received in his\northodoxy could have so long suspended.", "He was, in truth, a minstrel of\nthe western continent--of a much later day, certainly, than those gifted\nbards, who formerly sang the profane renown of baron and prince, but\nafter the spirit of his own age and country; and he was now prepared to\nexercise the cunning of his craft, in celebration of, or rather in\nthanksgiving for, the recent victory.", "He waited patiently for Hawkeye to\ncease, then lifting his eyes, together with his voice, he said, aloud,--\n\n\"I invite you, friends, to join in praise for this signal deliverance\nfrom the hands of barbarians and infidels, to the comfortable and solemn\ntones of the tune, called 'Northampton.'\"", "He next named the page and verse where the rhymes selected were to be\nfound, and applied the pitch-pipe to his lips, with the decent gravity\nthat he had been wont to use in the temple.", "This time he was, however,\nwithout any accompaniment, for the sisters were just then pouring out\nthose tender effusions of affection which have been already alluded to.", "Nothing deterred by the smallness of his audience, which, in truth,\nconsisted only of the discontented scout, he raised his voice,\ncommencing and ending the sacred song without accident or interruption\nof any kind.", "Hawkeye listened, while he coolly adjusted his flint and reloaded his\nrifle; but the sounds, wanting the extraneous assistance of scene and\nsympathy, failed to awaken his slumbering emotions.", "Never minstrel, or\nby whatever more suitable name David should be known, drew upon his\ntalents in the presence of more insensible auditors; though considering\nthe singleness and sincerity of his motive, it is probable that no bard\nof profane song ever uttered notes that ascended so near to that throne\nwhere all homage and praise is due.", "The scout shook his head, and\nmuttering some unintelligible words, among which \"throat\" and\n\"Iroquois,\" were alone audible, he walked away, to collect, and to\nexamine into, the state of the captured arsenal of the Hurons.", "In this\noffice he was now joined by Chingachgook, who found his own, as well as\nthe rifle of his son, among the arms.", "Even Heyward and David were\nfurnished with weapons; nor was ammunition wanting to render them all\neffectual.", "When the foresters had made their selection, and distributed their\nprizes, the scout announced that the hour had arrived when it was\nnecessary to move.", "By this time the song of Gamut had ceased, and the\nsisters had learned to still the exhibition of their emotions.", "Aided by\nDuncan and the younger Mohican, the two latter descended the precipitous\nsides of that hill which they had so lately ascended under so very\ndifferent auspices, and whose summit had so nearly proved the scene of\ntheir massacre.", "At the foot, they found the Narragansetts browsing the\nherbage of the bushes; and having mounted, they followed the movements\nof a guide, who, in the most deadly straits, had so often proved himself\ntheir friend.", "The journey was, however, short.", "Hawkeye, leaving the\nblind path that the Hurons had followed, turned short to his right, and\nentering the thicket, he crossed a babbling brook, and halted in a\nnarrow dell, under the shade of a few water elms.", "Their distance from\nthe base of the fatal hill was but a few rods, and the steeds had been\nserviceable only in crossing the shallow stream.", "The scout and the Indians appeared to be familiar with the sequestered\nplace where they now were; for, leaning their rifles against the trees,\nthey commenced throwing aside the dried leaves, and opening the blue\nclay, out of which a clear and sparkling spring of bright, glancing\nwater, quickly bubbled.", "The white man then looked about him, as though\nseeking for some object, which was not to be found as readily as he\nexpected:--\n\n\"Them careless imps, the Mohawks, with their Tuscarora and Onondaga\nbrethren, have been here slaking their thirst,\" he muttered, \"and the\nvagabonds have thrown away the gourd!", "This is the way with benefits,\nwhen they are bestowed on such disremembering hounds!", "Here has the Lord\nlaid his hand, in the midst of the howling wilderness, for their good,\nand raised a fountain of water from the bowels of the 'arth, that might\nlaugh at the richest shop of apothecary's ware in all the colonies; and\nsee!", "the knaves have trodden in the clay, and deformed the cleanliness\nof the place, as though they were brute beasts, instead of human men.\"", "Uncas silently extended towards him the desired gourd, which the spleen\nof Hawkeye had hitherto prevented him from observing, on a branch of an\nelm.", "Filling it with water, he retired a short distance, to a place\nwhere the ground was more firm and dry; here he coolly seated himself,\nand after taking a long, and, apparently, a grateful draught, he\ncommenced a very strict examination of the fragments of food left by the\nHurons, which had hung in a wallet on his arm.", "\"Thank you, lad!\"", "he continued, returning the empty gourd to Uncas; \"now\nwe will see how these rampaging Hurons lived, when outlying in\nambushments.", "Look at this!", "The varlets know the better pieces of the\ndeer; and one would think they might carve and roast a saddle, equal to\nthe best cook in the land!", "But everything is raw, for the Iroquois are\nthorough savages.", "Uncas, take my steel, and kindle a fire; a mouthful of\na tender broil will give natur' a helping hand, after so long a trail.\"", "Heyward, perceiving that their guides now set about their repast in\nsober earnest, assisted the ladies to alight, and placed himself at\ntheir side, not unwilling to enjoy a few moments of grateful rest, after\nthe bloody scene he had just gone through.", "While the culinary process\nwas in hand, curiosity induced him to inquire into the circumstances\nwhich had led to their timely and unexpected rescue:--\n\n\"How is it that we see you so soon, my generous friend,\" he asked, \"and\nwithout aid from the garrison of Edward?\"", "\"Had we gone to the bend in the river, we might have been in time to\nrake the leaves over your bodies, but too late to have saved your\nscalps,\" coolly answered the scout.", "\"No, no; instead of throwing away\nstrength and opportunity by crossing to the fort, we lay by, under the\nbank of the Hudson, waiting to watch the movements of the Hurons.\"", "\"You were, then, witnesses of all that passed?\"", "\"Not of all; for Indian sight is too keen to be easily cheated, and we\nkept close.", "A difficult matter it was, too, to keep this Mohican boy\nsnug in the ambushment.", "Ah!", "Uncas, Uncas, your behavior was more like\nthat of a curious woman than of a warrior on his scent.\"", "Uncas permitted his eyes to turn for an instant on the sturdy\ncountenance of the speaker, but he neither spoke nor gave any indication\nof repentance.", "On the contrary, Heyward thought the manner of the young\nMohican was disdainful, if not a little fierce, and that he suppressed\npassions that were ready to explode, as much in compliment to the\nlisteners, as from the deference he usually paid to his white associate.", "\"You saw our capture?\"", "Heyward next demanded.", "\"We heard it,\" was the significant answer.", "\"An Indian yell is plain\nlanguage to men who have passed their days in the woods.", "But when you\nlanded, we were driven to crawl, like sarpents, beneath the leaves; and\nthen we lost sight of you entirely, until we placed eyes on you again,\ntrussed to the trees, and ready bound for an Indian massacre.\"", "\"Our rescue was the deed of Providence.", "It was nearly a miracle that you\ndid not mistake the path, for the Hurons divided, and each band had its\nhorses.\"", "\"Ay!", "there we were thrown off the scent, and might, indeed, have lost\nthe trail, had it not been for Uncas; we took the path, however, that\nled into the wilderness; for we judged, and judged rightly, that the\nsavages would hold that course with their prisoners.", "But when we had\nfollowed it for many miles, without finding a single twig broken, as I\nhad advised, my mind misgave me; especially as all the footsteps had the\nprints of moccasins.\"", "\"Our captors had the precaution to see us shod like themselves,\" said\nDuncan, raising a foot, and exhibiting the buckskin he wore.", "\"Ay, 'twas judgmatical, and like themselves; though we were too expart\nto be thrown from a trail by so common an invention.\"", "\"To what, then, are we indebted for our safety?\"", "\"To what, as a white man who has no taint of Indian blood, I should be\nashamed to own; to the judgment of the young Mohican, in matters which I\nshould know better than he, but which I can now hardly believe to be\ntrue, though my own eyes tell me it is so.\"", "\"'Tis extraordinary!", "will you not name the reason?\"", "\"Uncas was bold enough to say, that the beasts ridden by the gentle\nones,\" continued Hawkeye, glancing his eyes, not without curious\ninterest, on the fillies of the ladies, \"planted the legs of one side on\nthe ground at the same time, which is contrary to the movements of all\ntrotting four-footed animals of my knowledge, except the bear.", "And yet\nhere are horses that always journey in this manner, as my own eyes have\nseen, and as their trail has shown for twenty long miles.\"", "\"'Tis the merit of the animal!", "They come from the shores of\nNarragansett Bay, in the small province of Providence Plantations, and\nare celebrated for their hardihood, and the ease of this peculiar\nmovement; though other horses are not unfrequently trained to the same.\"", "\"It may be--it may be,\" said Hawkeye, who had listened with singular\nattention to this explanation; \"though I am a man who has the full blood\nof the whites, my judgment in deer and beaver is greater than in beasts\nof burden.", "Major Effingham has many noble chargers, but I have never\nseen one travel after such a sideling gait.\"", "\"True; for he would value the animals for very different properties.", "Still is this a breed highly esteemed, and as you witness, much honored\nwith the burdens it is often destined to bear.\"", "The Mohicans had suspended their operations about the glimmering fire,\nto listen; and when Duncan had done, they looked at each other\nsignificantly, the father uttering the never-failing exclamation of\nsurprise.", "The scout ruminated, like a man digesting his newly acquired\nknowledge, and once more stole a curious glance at the horses.", "\"I dare to say there are even stranger sights to be seen in the\nsettlements!\"", "he said, at length; \"natur' is sadly abused by man, when\nhe once gets the mastery.", "But, go sideling or go straight, Uncas had\nseen the movement, and their trail led us on to the broken bush.", "The\nouter branch, near the prints of one of the horses, was bent upward, as\na lady breaks a flower from its stem, but all the rest were ragged and\nbroken down, as if the strong hand of a man had been tearing them!", "So I\nconcluded that the cunning varmints had seen the twig bent, and had torn\nthe rest, to make us believe a buck had been feeling the boughs with his\nantlers.\"", "\"I do believe your sagacity did not deceive you; for some such thing\noccurred!\"", "\"That was easy to see,\" added the scout, in no degree conscious of\nhaving exhibited any extraordinary sagacity; \"and a very different\nmatter it was from a waddling horse!", "It then struck me the Mingos would\npush for this spring, for the knaves well know the vartue of its\nwaters!\"", "\"Is it, then, so famous?\"", "demanded Heyward, examining, with a more\ncurious eye, the secluded dell, with its bubbling fountain, surrounded,\nas it was, by earth of a deep dingy brown.", "\"Few redskins, who travel south and east of the great lakes, but have\nheard of its qualities.", "Will you taste for yourself?\"", "Heyward took the gourd, and after swallowing a little of the water,\nthrew it aside with grimaces of discontent.", "The scout laughed in his\nsilent, but heartfelt manner, and shook his head with vast satisfaction.", "\"Ah!", "you want the flavor that one gets by habit; the time was when I\nliked it as little as yourself; but I have come to my taste, and I now\ncrave it, as a deer does the licks.", "[17] Your high spiced wines are not\nbetter liked than a redskin relishes this water; especially when his\nnatur' is ailing.", "But Uncas has made his fire, and it is time we think\nof eating, for our journey is long, and all before us.\"", "Interrupting the dialogue by this abrupt transition, the scout had\ninstant recourse to the fragments of food which had escaped the voracity\nof the Hurons.", "A very summary process completed the simple cookery, when\nhe and the Mohicans commenced their humble meal, with the silence and\ncharacteristic diligence of men who ate in order to enable themselves\nto endure great and unremitting toil.", "When this necessary, and, happily, grateful duty had been performed,\neach of the foresters stooped and took a long and parting draught at\nthat solitary and silent spring,[18] around which and its sister\nfountains, within fifty years, the wealth, beauty, and talents of a\nhemisphere were to assemble in throngs, in pursuit of health and\npleasure.", "Then Hawkeye announced his determination to proceed.", "The\nsisters resumed their saddles; Duncan and David grasped their rifles,\nand followed on their footsteps; the scout leading the advance, and the\nMohicans bringing up the rear.", "The whole party moved swiftly through the\nnarrow path, towards the north, leaving the healing waters to mingle\nunheeded with the adjacent brook, and the bodies of the dead to fester\non the neighboring mount, without the rites of sepulture; a fate but too\ncommon to the warriors of the woods to excite either commiseration or\ncomment." ]

[ "The fifth and only Huron disengaged at the first\nonset had paused a moment, and then seeing that all around him were\nemployed in the deadly strife, he sought, with hellish vengeance, to\ncomplete the baffled work of revenge.", "Raising a shout of triumph, he\nsprang towards the defenceless Cora, sending his keen axe, as the\ndreadful precursor of his approach.", "She eluded the grasp of the savage, and reckless of her\nown safety, threw herself on the bosom of Alice, striving with\nconvulsed and ill-directed fingers, to tear asunder the twigs which\nconfined the person of her sister.", "It was just then the sight\ncaught the eye of Uncas.", "The battle was now entirely terminated, with the exception of the\nprotracted struggle between Le Renard Subtil and Le Gros Serpent.", "As Alice rose from her knees, where\nshe had sunk by the side of Cora, she threw herself on the bosom of the\nlatter; and sobbed aloud the name of their aged father, while her soft,\ndove-like eyes sparkled with the rays of hope.", "we are saved!\"", "And Duncan,\" she added, looking round upon the youth with a\nsmile of ineffable innocence, \"even our own brave and noble Duncan has\nescaped without a hurt.\"", "Heyward, perceiving that their guides now set about their repast in\nsober earnest, assisted the ladies to alight, and placed himself at\ntheir side, not unwilling to enjoy a few moments of grateful rest, after\nthe bloody scene he had just gone through.", "Heyward took the gourd, and after swallowing a little of the water,\nthrew it aside with grimaces of discontent." ]

[ "That I did not\njoin myself to the battle, was less owing to disinclination, than to the\nbonds of the heathen.", "The Delawares, who had believed\ntheir enemy dead, uttered their exclamation of surprise, and were\nfollowing with speed and clamor, like hounds in open view of the deer,\nwhen a shrill and peculiar cry from the scout instantly changed their\npurpose, and recalled them to the summit of the hill.", "Bounding from his footsteps he appeared for an\ninstant darting through the air, and descending in a ball he fell on the\nchest of his enemy, driving him many yards from the spot, headlong and\nprostrate.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE FIGHT IN THE FOREST\n\n_The battle was now entirely terminated, with the exception of the\nprotracted struggle between Le Renard Subtil and Le Gros Serpent_]\n\nSo saying, the honest, but implacable scout, made the circuit of the\ndead, into whose senseless bosoms he thrust his long knife, with as much\ncoolness as though they had been so many brute carcasses.", "But the\nconflict was soon decided; the tomahawk of Heyward and the rifle of\nHawkeye descended on the skull of the Huron, at the same moment that the\nknife of Uncas reached his heart.", "He next named the page and verse where the rhymes selected were to be\nfound, and applied the pitch-pipe to his lips, with the decent gravity\nthat he had been wont to use in the temple.", "An honest Delaware now, being fairly vanquished, would have lain\nstill, and been knocked on the head, but these knavish Maquas cling to\nlife like so many cats-o'-the-mountain.", "In this manner the scene of the combat was removed from\nthe centre of the little plain to its verge.", "Never minstrel, or\nby whatever more suitable name David should be known, drew upon his\ntalents in the presence of more insensible auditors; though considering\nthe singleness and sincerity of his motive, it is probable that no bard\nof profane song ever uttered notes that ascended so near to that throne\nwhere all homage and praise is due.", "Heyward next demanded." ]

[ "I demand your authorities for such an uncharitable assertion\n(like other advocates of a system, David was not always accurate in his\nuse of terms).", "Name chapter and verse; in which of the holy books do you\nfind language to support you?\"", "\"Book!\"", "repeated Hawkeye, with singular and ill-concealed disdain; \"do\nyou take me for a whimpering boy at the apron-string of one of your old\ngals; and this good rifle on my knee for the feather of a goose's wing,\nmy ox's horn for a bottle of ink, and my leathern pouch for a\ncross-barred handkercher to carry my dinner?", "Book!", "what have such as I,\nwho am a warrior of the wilderness, though a man without a cross, to do\nwith books?", "I never read but in one, and the words that are written\nthere are too simple and too plain to need much schooling; though I may\nboast that of forty long and hard-working years.\"", "\"What call you the volume?\"", "said David, misconceiving the other's\nmeaning.", "\"Tis open before your eyes,\" returned the scout; \"and he who owns it is\nnot a niggard of its use.", "I have heard it said that there are men who\nread in books to convince themselves there is a God." ]

[ "\n \"_Clo._--I am gone, sir,\n And anon, sir,\n I'll be with you again.\"", "_Twelfth Night._\n\n\nThe Hurons stood aghast at this sudden visitation of death on one of\ntheir band.", "But, as they regarded the fatal accuracy of an aim which had\ndared to immolate an enemy at so much hazard to a friend, the name of\n\"La Longue Carabine\" burst simultaneously from every lip, and was\nsucceeded by a wild and a sort of plaintive howl.", "The cry was answered\nby a loud shout from a little thicket, where the incautious party had\npiled their arms; and at the next moment, Hawkeye, too eager to load the\nrifle he had regained, was seen advancing upon them, brandishing the\nclubbed weapon, and cutting the air with wide and powerful sweeps.", "Bold\nand rapid as was the progress of the scout, it was exceeded by that of a\nlight and vigorous form which, bounding past him, leaped, with\nincredible activity and daring, into the very centre of the Hurons,\nwhere it stood, whirling a tomahawk, and flourishing a glittering knife,\nwith fearful menaces, in front of Cora.", "Quicker than the thoughts could\nfollow these unexpected and audacious movements, an image, armed in the\nemblematic panoply of death, glided before their eyes, and assumed a\nthreatening attitude at the other's side.", "The savage tormentors recoiled\nbefore these warlike intruders, and uttered as they appeared in such\nquick succession, the often repeated and peculiar exclamation of\nsurprise, followed by the well known and dreaded appellations of--\n\n\"Le Cerf Agile!", "Le Gros Serpent!\"", "But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not so easily\ndisconcerted.", "Casting his keen eyes around the little plain, he\ncomprehended the nature of the assault at a glance, and encouraging his\nfollowers by his voice as well as by his example, he unsheathed his long\nand dangerous knife, and rushed with a loud whoop upon the expecting\nChingachgook.", "\"Ah!", "you want the flavor that one gets by habit; the time was when I\nliked it as little as yourself; but I have come to my taste, and I now\ncrave it, as a deer does the licks.", "[17] Your high spiced wines are not\nbetter liked than a redskin relishes this water; especially when his\nnatur' is ailing.", "But Uncas has made his fire, and it is time we think\nof eating, for our journey is long, and all before us.\"", "Interrupting the dialogue by this abrupt transition, the scout had\ninstant recourse to the fragments of food which had escaped the voracity\nof the Hurons.", "A very summary process completed the simple cookery, when\nhe and the Mohicans commenced their humble meal, with the silence and\ncharacteristic diligence of men who ate in order to enable themselves\nto endure great and unremitting toil.", "When this necessary, and, happily, grateful duty had been performed,\neach of the foresters stooped and took a long and parting draught at\nthat solitary and silent spring,[18] around which and its sister\nfountains, within fifty years, the wealth, beauty, and talents of a\nhemisphere were to assemble in throngs, in pursuit of health and\npleasure.", "Then Hawkeye announced his determination to proceed.", "The\nsisters resumed their saddles; Duncan and David grasped their rifles,\nand followed on their footsteps; the scout leading the advance, and the\nMohicans bringing up the rear.", "The whole party moved swiftly through the\nnarrow path, towards the north, leaving the healing waters to mingle\nunheeded with the adjacent brook, and the bodies of the dead to fester\non the neighboring mount, without the rites of sepulture; a fate but too\ncommon to the warriors of the woods to excite either commiseration or\ncomment." ]

[ "\n \"I'll seek a readier path.\"", "PARNELL.", "The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relieved by\noccasional valleys and swells of land, which had been traversed by their\nparty on the morning of the same day, with the baffled Magua for their\nguide.", "The sun had now fallen low towards the distant mountains; and as\ntheir journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat was no\nlonger oppressive.", "Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate;\nand long before the twilight gathered about them, they had made good\nmany toilsome miles on their return.", "The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to select\namong the blind signs of their wild route, with a species of instinct,\nseldom abating his speed, and never pausing to deliberate.", "A rapid and\noblique glance at the moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze\ntowards the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction\nof the numerous water-courses, through which he waded, were sufficient\nto determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties.", "In the\nmeantime, the forest began to change its hues, losing that lively green\nwhich had embellished its arches, in the graver light which is the usual\nprecursor of the close of day.", "While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch glimpses through\nthe trees, of the flood of golden glory which formed a glittering halo\naround the sun, tinging here and there with ruby streaks, or bordering\nwith narrow edgings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled\nat no great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned suddenly,\nand, pointing upwards towards the gorgeous heavens, he spoke:--\n\n\"Yonder is the signal given to a man to seek his food and natural rest,\"\nhe said: \"better and wiser would it be, if he could understand the signs\nof nature, and take a lesson from the fowls of the air and the beasts of\nthe fields!", "Our night, however, will soon be over; for, with the moon,\nwe must be up and moving again.", "I remember to have fou't the Maquas,\nhereaways, in the first war in which I ever drew blood from man; and we\nthrew up a work of blocks, to keep the ravenous varmints from handling\nour scalps.", "If my marks do not fail me, we shall find the place a few\nrods farther to our left.\"", "Without waiting for an assent, or, indeed, for any reply, the sturdy\nhunter moved boldly into a dense thicket of young chestnuts, shoving\naside the branches of the exuberant shoots which nearly covered the\nground, like a man who expected, at each step, to discover some object\nhe had formerly known.", "The recollection of the scout did not deceive\nhim.", "After penetrating through the brush, matted as it was with briers,\nfor a few hundred feet he entered an open space, that surrounded a low,\ngreen hillock, which was crowned by the decayed block-house in question.", "This rude and neglected building was one of those deserted works, which,\nhaving been thrown up on an emergency, had been abandoned with the\ndisappearance of danger, and was now quietly crumbling in the solitude\nof the forest, neglected, and nearly forgotten, like the circumstances\nwhich had caused it to be reared.", "Such memorials of the passage and\nstruggles of man are yet frequent throughout the broad barrier of\nwilderness which once separated the hostile provinces, and form a\nspecies of ruins that are intimately associated with the recollections\nof colonial history, and which are in appropriate keeping with the\ngloomy character of the surrounding scenery.", "[19] The roof of bark had\nlong since fallen, and mingled with the soil; but the huge logs of pine,\nwhich had been hastily thrown together, still preserved their relative\npositions, though one angle of the work had given way under the\npressure, and threatened a speedy downfall to the remainder of the\nrustic edifice.", "While Heyward and his companions hesitated to approach a\nbuilding so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians entered within the low\nwalls, not only without fear, but with obvious interest.", "While the\nformer surveyed the ruins, both internally and externally, with the\ncuriosity of one whose recollections were reviving at each moment,\nChingachgook related to his son, in the language of the Delawares, and\nwith the pride of a conqueror, the brief history of the skirmish which\nhad been fought, in his youth, in that secluded spot.", "A strain of\nmelancholy, however, blended with his triumph, rendering his voice, as\nusual, soft and musical.", "In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted, and prepared to enjoy\ntheir halt in the coolness of the evening, and in a security which they\nbelieved nothing but the beasts of the forest could invade.", "\"Would not our resting-place have been more retired, my worthy friend,\"\ndemanded the more vigilant Duncan, perceiving that the scout had already\nfinished his short survey, \"had we chosen a spot less known, and one\nmore rarely visited than this?\"", "\"Few live who know the block-house was ever raised,\" was the slow and\nmusing answer; \"'tis not often that books are made, and narratives\nwritten, of such a scrimmage as was here fou't atween the Mohicans and\nthe Mohawks, in a war of their own waging.", "I was then a younker, and\nwent out with the Delawares, because I know'd they were a scandalized\nand wronged race.", "Forty days and forty nights did the imps crave our\nblood around this pile of logs, which I designed and partly reared,\nbeing, as you'll remember, no Indian myself, but a man without a cross.", "The Delawares lent themselves to the work, and we made it good, ten to\ntwenty, until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we sallied out\nupon the hounds, and not a man of them ever got back to tell the fate of\nhis party.", "Yes, yes; I was then young, and new to the sight of blood;\nand not relishing the thought that creatures who had spirits like myself\nshould lay on the naked ground, to be torn asunder by beasts, or to\nbleach in the rains, I buried the dead with my own hands, under that\nvery little hillock where you have placed yourselves; and no bad seat\ndoes it make neither, though it be raised by the bones of mortal men.\"", "Heyward and the sisters arose, on the instant, from the grassy\nsepulchre; nor could the two latter, notwithstanding the terrific scenes\nthey had so recently passed through, entirely suppress an emotion of\nnatural horror, when they found themselves in such familiar contact with\nthe grave of the dead Mohawks.", "The gray light, the gloomy little area of\ndark grass, surrounded by its border of brush, beyond which the pines\nrose, in breathing silence, apparently, into the very clouds, and the\ndeath-like stillness of the vast forest, were all in unison to deepen\nsuch a sensation.", "\"They are gone, and they are harmless,\" continued Hawkeye, waving his\nhand, with a melancholy smile, at their manifest alarm: \"they'll never\nshout the war-whoop nor strike a blow with the tomahawk again!", "And of\nall those who aided in placing them where they lie, Chingachgook and I\nonly are living!", "The brothers and family of the Mohican formed our\nwar-party; and you see before you all that are now left of his race.\"", "The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians,\nwith a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune.", "The dark\npersons were still to be seen within the shadows of the block-house, the\nson listening to the relation of his father with that sort of\nintenseness which would be created by a narrative that redounded so much\nto the honor of those whose names he had long revered for their courage\nand savage virtues.", "\"I had thought the Delawares a pacific people,\" said Duncan, \"and that\nthey never waged war in person; trusting the defence of their lands to\nthose very Mohawks that you slew!\"", "\"'Tis true in part,\" returned the scout, \"and yet, at the bottom, 'tis a\nwicked lie.", "Such a treaty was made in ages gone by, through the\ndeviltries of the Dutchers, who wished to disarm the natives that had\nthe best right to the country where they had settled themselves.", "The\nMohicans, though a part of the same nation, having to deal with the\nEnglish, never entered into the silly bargain, but kept to their\nmanhood; as in truth did the Delawares, when their eyes were opened to\ntheir folly.", "You see before you a chief of the great Mohican Sagamores!", "Once his family could chase their deer over tracts of country wider than\nthat which belongs to the Albany Patteroon, without crossing brook or\nhill that was not their own; but what is left to their descendant!", "He\nmay find his six feet of earth when God chooses, and keep it in peace,\nperhaps, if he has a friend who will take the pains to sink his head so\nlow that the ploughshares cannot reach it!\"", "\"Enough!\"", "said Heyward, apprehensive that the subject might lead to a\ndiscussion that would interrupt the harmony so necessary to the\npreservation of his fair companions: \"we have journeyed far, and few\namong us are blessed with forms like that of yours, which seems to know\nneither fatigue nor weakness.\"", "\"The sinews and bones of a man carry me through it all,\" said the\nhunter, surveying his muscular limbs with a simplicity that betrayed the\nhonest pleasure the compliment afforded him: \"there are larger and\nheavier men to be found in the settlements, but you might travel many\ndays in a city before you could meet one able to walk fifty miles\nwithout stopping to take breath, or who has kept the hounds within\nhearing during a chase of hours.", "However, as flesh and blood are not\nalways the same, it is quite reasonable to suppose that the gentle ones\nare willing to rest, after all they have seen and done this day.", "Uncas,\nclear out the spring, while your father and I make a cover for their\ntender heads of these chestnut shoots, and a bed of grass and leaves.\"", "The dialogue ceased, while the hunter and his companions busied\nthemselves in preparations for the comfort and protection of those they\nguided.", "A spring, which many long years before had induced the natives\nto select the place for their temporary fortification, was soon cleared\nof leaves, and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed, diffusing its\nwaters over the verdant hillock.", "A corner of the building was then\nroofed in such a manner as to exclude the heavy dew of the climate, and\npiles of sweet shrubs and dried leaves were laid beneath it for the\nsisters to repose on.", "While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this manner, Cora and Alice\npartook of that refreshment which duty required much more than\ninclination prompted them to accept.", "They then retired within the walls,\nand first offering up their thanksgivings for past mercies, and\npetitioning for a continuance of the divine favor throughout the coming\nnight, they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch, and in spite\nof recollections and forebodings, soon sank into those slumbers which\nnature so imperiously demanded, and which were sweetened by hopes for\nthe morrow.", "Duncan had prepared himself to pass the night in\nwatchfulness near them, just without the ruin, but the scout, perceiving\nhis intention, pointed towards Chingachgook, as he coolly disposed his\nown person on the grass, and said--\n\n\"The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind for such a watch as\nthis!", "The Mohican will be our sentinel, therefore let us sleep.\"", "\"I proved myself a sluggard on my post during the past night,\" said\nHeyward, \"and have less need of repose than you, who did more credit to\nthe character of a soldier.", "Let all the party seek their rest, then,\nwhile I hold guard.\"", "\"If we lay among the white tents of the 60th, and in front of an enemy\nlike the French, I could not ask for a better watchman,\" returned the\nscout; \"but in the darkness and among the signs of the wilderness your\njudgment would be like the folly of a child, and your vigilance thrown\naway.", "Do then, like Uncas and myself, sleep, and sleep in safety.\"", "Heyward perceived, in truth, that the younger Indian had thrown his form\non the side of the hillock while they were talking, like one who sought\nto make the most of the time allotted to rest, and that his example had\nbeen followed by David, whose voice literally \"clove to his jaws,\" with\nthe fever of his wound, heightened, as it was, by their toilsome march.", "Unwilling to prolong a useless discussion, the young man affected to\ncomply, by posting his back against the logs of the block-house, in a\nhalf-recumbent posture, though resolutely determined, in his own mind,\nnot to close an eye until he had delivered his precious charge into the\narms of Munro himself.", "Hawkeye, believing he had prevailed, soon fell\nasleep, and a silence as deep as the solitude in which they had found\nit, pervaded the retired spot.", "For many minutes Duncan succeeded in keeping his senses on the alert,\nand alive to every moaning sound that arose from the forest.", "His vision\nbecame more acute as the shades of evening settled on the place; and\neven after the stars were glimmering above his head, he was able to\ndistinguish the recumbent forms of his companions, as they lay stretched\non the grass, and to note the person of Chingachgook, who sat upright\nand motionless as one of the trees which formed the dark barrier on\nevery side.", "He still heard the gentle breathings of the sisters, who lay\nwithin a few feet of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air,\nof which his ear did not detect the whispering sound.", "At length,\nhowever, the mournful notes of a whippoorwill became blended with the\nmoanings of an owl; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays\nof the stars, and then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.", "At instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his associate\nsentinel; his head next sank upon his shoulder, which, in its turn,\nsought the support of the ground; and, finally, his whole person become\nrelaxed and pliant, and the young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming\nthat he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigils\nbefore the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did not despair\nof gaining, by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness.", "How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he never knew\nhimself, but his slumbering visions had been long lost in total\nforgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light tap on the shoulder.", "Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang upon his feet with a\nconfused recollection of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the\ncommencement of the night.", "\"Who comes?\"", "he demanded, feeling for his sword at the place where it\nwas usually suspended, \"Speak!", "friend or enemy?\"", "\"Friend,\" replied the low voice of Chingachgook; who, pointing upwards\nat the luminary which was shedding its mild light through the opening in\nthe trees, directly in their bivouac, immediately added, in his rude\nEnglish, \"moon comes, and white man's fort far--far off; time to move,\nwhen sleep shuts both eyes of the Frenchman!\"", "\"You say true!", "call up your friends, and bridle the horses, while I\nprepare my own companions for the march!\"", "\"We are awake, Duncan,\" said the soft, silvery tones of Alice within the\nbuilding, \"and ready to travel very fast after so refreshing a sleep;\nbut you have watched through the tedious night in our behalf, after\nhaving endured so much fatigue the live-long day!\"", "\"Say, rather, I would have watched, but my treacherous eyes betrayed me;\ntwice have I proved myself unfit for the trust I bear.\"", "\"Nay, Duncan, deny it not,\" interrupted the smiling Alice, issuing from\nthe shadows of the building into the light of the moon, in all the\nloveliness of her freshened beauty; \"I know you to be a heedless one,\nwhen self is the object of your care, and but too vigilant in favor of\nothers.", "Can we not tarry here a little longer, while you find the rest\nyou need?", "Cheerfully, most cheerfully, will Cora and I keep the vigils,\nwhile you, and all these brave men, endeavor to snatch a little sleep!\"", "\"If shame could cure me of my drowsiness, I should never close an eye\nagain,\" said the uneasy youth, gazing at the ingenuous countenance of\nAlice, where, however, in its sweet solicitude, he read nothing to\nconfirm his half awakened suspicion.", "\"It is but too true, that after\nleading you into danger by my heedlessness, I have not even the merit of\nguarding your pillows as should become a soldier.\"", "\"No one but Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of such a weakness.", "Go,\nthen, and sleep; believe me, neither of us, weak girls as we are, will\nbetray our watch.\"", "The young man was relieved from the awkwardness of making any further\nprotestations of his own demerits, by an exclamation from Chingachgook,\nand the attitude of riveted attention assumed by his son.", "\"The Mohicans hear an enemy!\"", "whispered Hawkeye, who, by this time, in\ncommon with the whole party, was awake and stirring.", "\"They scent danger\nin the wind!\"", "\"God forbid!\"", "exclaimed Heyward.", "\"Surely we have had enough of\nbloodshed!\"", "While he spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle, and\nadvancing towards the front, prepared to atone for his venial\nremissness, by freely exposing his life in defence of those he attended.", "\"'Tis some creature of the forest prowling around us in quest of food,\"\nhe said, in a whisper, as soon as the low, and apparently distant\nsounds, which had startled the Mohicans, reached his own ears.", "\"Hist!\"", "returned the attentive scout; \"'tis man; even I can now tell his\ntread, poor as my senses are when compared to an Indian's!", "That\nscampering Huron has fallen in with one of Montcalm's outlying parties,\nand they have struck upon our trail.", "I shouldn't like, myself, to spill\nmore human blood in this spot,\" he added, looking around with anxiety in\nhis features, at the dim objects by which he was surrounded; \"but what\nmust be, must!", "Lead the horses into the block-house, Uncas; and,\nfriends, do you follow to the same shelter.", "Poor and old as it is, it\noffers a cover, and has rung with the crack of a rifle afore to-night!\"", "He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the Narragansetts within\nthe ruin, whither the whole party repaired with the most guarded\nsilence.", "The sounds of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly audible to\nleave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption.", "They were soon\nmingled with voices calling to each other in an Indian dialect, which\nthe hunter, in a whisper, affirmed to Heyward was the language of the\nHurons.", "When the party reached the point where the horses had entered\nthe thicket which surrounded the block-house, they were evidently at\nfault, having lost those marks which, until that moment, had directed\ntheir pursuit.", "It would seem by the voices that twenty men were soon collected at that\none spot, mingling their different opinions and advice in noisy clamor.", "\"The knaves know our weakness,\" whispered Hawkeye, who stood by the side\nof Heyward, in deep shade, looking through an opening in the logs, \"or\nthey wouldn't indulge their idleness in such a squaw's march.", "Listen to\nthe reptiles!", "each man among them seems to have two tongues, and but a\nsingle leg.\"", "Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in such a moment of\npainful suspense, make any reply to the cool and characteristic remark\nof the scout.", "He only grasped his rifle more firmly, and fastened his\neyes upon the narrow opening, through which he gazed upon the moonlight\nview with increasing anxiety.", "The deeper tones of one who spoke as\nhaving authority were next heard, amid a silence that denoted the\nrespect with which his orders, or rather advice, was received.", "After\nwhich, by the rustling of leaves, and cracking of dried twigs, it was\napparent the savages were separating in pursuit of the lost trail.", "Fortunately for the pursued, the light of the moon, while it shed a\nflood of mild lustre upon the little area around the ruin, was not\nsufficiently strong to penetrate the deep arches of the forest, where\nthe objects still lay in deceptive shadow.", "The search proved fruitless;\nfor so short and sudden had been the passage from the faint path the\ntravellers had journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of their\nfootsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.", "It was not long, however, before the restless savages were heard beating\nthe brush, and gradually approaching the inner edge of that dense border\nof young chestnuts which encircled the little area.", "\"They are coming,\" muttered Heyward, endeavoring to thrust his rifle\nthrough the chink in the logs; \"let us fire on their approach.\"", "\"Keep everything in the shade,\" returned the scout; \"the snapping of a\nflint, or even the smell of a single karnel of the brimstone, would\nbring the hungry varlets upon us in a body.", "Should it please God that we\nmust give battle for the scalps, trust to the experience of men who know\nthe ways of the savages, and who are not often backward when the\nwar-whoop is howled.\"", "Duncan cast his eyes behind him, and saw that the trembling sisters were\ncowering in the far corner of the building, while the Mohicans stood in\nthe shadow, like two upright posts, ready, and apparently willing, to\nstrike when the blow should be needed.", "Curbing his impatience, he again\nlooked out upon the area, and awaited the result in silence.", "At that\ninstant the thicket opened, and a tall and armed Huron advanced a few\npaces into the open space.", "As he gazed upon the silent block-house, the\nmoon fell upon his swarthy countenance, and betrayed its surprise and\ncuriosity.", "He made the exclamation which usually accompanies the former\nemotion in an Indian, and, calling in a low voice, soon drew a companion\nto his side.", "These children of the woods stood together for several moments pointing\nat the crumbling edifice, and conversing in the unintelligible language\nof their tribe.", "They then approached, though with slow and cautious\nsteps, pausing every instant to look at the building, like startled\ndeer, whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened\napprehensions for the mastery.", "The foot of one of them suddenly rested\non the mound, and he stooped to examine its nature.", "At this moment,\nHeyward observed that the scout loosened his knife in his sheath, and\nlowered the muzzle of his rifle.", "Imitating these movements, the young\nman prepared himself for the struggle, which now seemed inevitable.", "The savages were so near, that the least motion in one of the horses, or\neven a breath louder than common, would have betrayed the fugitives.", "But, in discovering the character of the mound, the attention of the\nHurons appeared directed to a different object.", "They spoke together, and\nthe sounds of their voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by a\nreverence that was deeply blended with awe.", "Then they drew warily back,\nkeeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if they expected to see the\napparitions of the dead issue from its silent walls, until having\nreached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket,\nand disappeared.", "Hawkeye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth, and drawing a\nlong, free breath, exclaimed, in an audible whisper,--\n\n\"Ay!", "they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their own lives,\nand, it may be, the lives of better men too.\"", "Heyward lent his attention for a single moment to his companion, but\nwithout replying, he again turned towards those who just then interested\nhim more.", "He heard the two Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soon\nplain that all the pursuers were gathered about them, in deep attention\nto their report.", "After a few minutes of earnest and solemn dialogue,\naltogether different from the noisy clamor with which they had first\ncollected about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant, and\nfinally were lost in the depths of the forest.", "Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chingachgook assured\nhim that every sound from the retiring party was completely swallowed by\nthe distance, when he motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, and\nto assist the sisters into their saddles.", "The instant this was done,\nthey issued through the broken gateway, and stealing out by a direction\nopposite to the one by which they had entered, they quitted the spot,\nthe sisters casting furtive glances at the silent grave and crumbling\nruin, as they left the soft light of the moon, to bury themselves in the\ngloom of the woods." ]

[ "The recollection of the scout did not deceive\nhim.", "\"Few live who know the block-house was ever raised,\" was the slow and\nmusing answer; \"'tis not often that books are made, and narratives\nwritten, of such a scrimmage as was here fou't atween the Mohicans and\nthe Mohawks, in a war of their own waging.", "Duncan had prepared himself to pass the night in\nwatchfulness near them, just without the ruin, but the scout, perceiving\nhis intention, pointed towards Chingachgook, as he coolly disposed his\nown person on the grass, and said--\n\n\"The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind for such a watch as\nthis!", "The Mohican will be our sentinel, therefore let us sleep.\"", "At length,\nhowever, the mournful notes of a whippoorwill became blended with the\nmoanings of an owl; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays\nof the stars, and then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.", "Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang upon his feet with a\nconfused recollection of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the\ncommencement of the night.", "\"God forbid!\"", "The deeper tones of one who spoke as\nhaving authority were next heard, amid a silence that denoted the\nrespect with which his orders, or rather advice, was received.", "Imitating these movements, the young\nman prepared himself for the struggle, which now seemed inevitable.", "Then they drew warily back,\nkeeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if they expected to see the\napparitions of the dead issue from its silent walls, until having\nreached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket,\nand disappeared." ]

[ "\"They are gone, and they are harmless,\" continued Hawkeye, waving his\nhand, with a melancholy smile, at their manifest alarm: \"they'll never\nshout the war-whoop nor strike a blow with the tomahawk again!", "Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chingachgook assured\nhim that every sound from the retiring party was completely swallowed by\nthe distance, when he motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, and\nto assist the sisters into their saddles.", "The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relieved by\noccasional valleys and swells of land, which had been traversed by their\nparty on the morning of the same day, with the baffled Magua for their\nguide.", "Uncas,\nclear out the spring, while your father and I make a cover for their\ntender heads of these chestnut shoots, and a bed of grass and leaves.\"", "\"God forbid!\"", "If my marks do not fail me, we shall find the place a few\nrods farther to our left.\"", "The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians,\nwith a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune.", "You see before you a chief of the great Mohican Sagamores!", "After\nwhich, by the rustling of leaves, and cracking of dried twigs, it was\napparent the savages were separating in pursuit of the lost trail.", "When the party reached the point where the horses had entered\nthe thicket which surrounded the block-house, they were evidently at\nfault, having lost those marks which, until that moment, had directed\ntheir pursuit." ]

[ "He still heard the gentle breathings of the sisters, who lay\nwithin a few feet of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air,\nof which his ear did not detect the whispering sound.", "At length,\nhowever, the mournful notes of a whippoorwill became blended with the\nmoanings of an owl; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays\nof the stars, and then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.", "At instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his associate\nsentinel; his head next sank upon his shoulder, which, in its turn,\nsought the support of the ground; and, finally, his whole person become\nrelaxed and pliant, and the young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming\nthat he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigils\nbefore the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did not despair\nof gaining, by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness.", "How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he never knew\nhimself, but his slumbering visions had been long lost in total\nforgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light tap on the shoulder.", "Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang upon his feet with a\nconfused recollection of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the\ncommencement of the night.", "\"Who comes?\"", "he demanded, feeling for his sword at the place where it\nwas usually suspended, \"Speak!", "friend or enemy?\"", "\"Friend,\" replied the low voice of Chingachgook; who, pointing upwards\nat the luminary which was shedding its mild light through the opening in\nthe trees, directly in their bivouac, immediately added, in his rude\nEnglish, \"moon comes, and white man's fort far--far off; time to move,\nwhen sleep shuts both eyes of the Frenchman!\"", "\"You say true!", "call up your friends, and bridle the horses, while I\nprepare my own companions for the march!\"" ]

[ "\n \"I'll seek a readier path.\"", "PARNELL.", "The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relieved by\noccasional valleys and swells of land, which had been traversed by their\nparty on the morning of the same day, with the baffled Magua for their\nguide.", "The sun had now fallen low towards the distant mountains; and as\ntheir journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat was no\nlonger oppressive.", "Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate;\nand long before the twilight gathered about them, they had made good\nmany toilsome miles on their return.", "The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to select\namong the blind signs of their wild route, with a species of instinct,\nseldom abating his speed, and never pausing to deliberate.", "A rapid and\noblique glance at the moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze\ntowards the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction\nof the numerous water-courses, through which he waded, were sufficient\nto determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties.", "In the\nmeantime, the forest began to change its hues, losing that lively green\nwhich had embellished its arches, in the graver light which is the usual\nprecursor of the close of day.", "While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch glimpses through\nthe trees, of the flood of golden glory which formed a glittering halo\naround the sun, tinging here and there with ruby streaks, or bordering\nwith narrow edgings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled\nat no great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned suddenly,\nand, pointing upwards towards the gorgeous heavens, he spoke:--\n\n\"Yonder is the signal given to a man to seek his food and natural rest,\"\nhe said: \"better and wiser would it be, if he could understand the signs\nof nature, and take a lesson from the fowls of the air and the beasts of\nthe fields!", "Our night, however, will soon be over; for, with the moon,\nwe must be up and moving again.", "But, in discovering the character of the mound, the attention of the\nHurons appeared directed to a different object.", "They spoke together, and\nthe sounds of their voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by a\nreverence that was deeply blended with awe.", "Then they drew warily back,\nkeeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if they expected to see the\napparitions of the dead issue from its silent walls, until having\nreached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket,\nand disappeared.", "Hawkeye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth, and drawing a\nlong, free breath, exclaimed, in an audible whisper,--\n\n\"Ay!", "they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their own lives,\nand, it may be, the lives of better men too.\"", "Heyward lent his attention for a single moment to his companion, but\nwithout replying, he again turned towards those who just then interested\nhim more.", "He heard the two Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soon\nplain that all the pursuers were gathered about them, in deep attention\nto their report.", "After a few minutes of earnest and solemn dialogue,\naltogether different from the noisy clamor with which they had first\ncollected about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant, and\nfinally were lost in the depths of the forest.", "Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chingachgook assured\nhim that every sound from the retiring party was completely swallowed by\nthe distance, when he motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, and\nto assist the sisters into their saddles.", "The instant this was done,\nthey issued through the broken gateway, and stealing out by a direction\nopposite to the one by which they had entered, they quitted the spot,\nthe sisters casting furtive glances at the silent grave and crumbling\nruin, as they left the soft light of the moon, to bury themselves in the\ngloom of the woods." ]

[ "\n \"_Guard._--Qui est la?", "_Puc._--Paisans, pauvres gens de France.\"", "_King Henry VI._\n\n\nDuring the rapid movement from the block-house, and until the party was\ndeeply buried in the forest, each individual was too much interested in\nthe escape to hazard a word even in whispers.", "The scout resumed his post\nin the advance, though his steps, after he had thrown a safe distance\nbetween himself and his enemies, were more deliberate than in their\nprevious march, in consequence of his utter ignorance of the localities\nof the surrounding woods.", "More than once he halted to consult with his\nconfederates, the Mohicans, pointing upwards at the moon, and examining\nthe barks of the trees with care.", "In these brief pauses, Heyward and the\nsisters listened, with senses rendered doubly acute by the danger, to\ndetect any symptoms which might announce the proximity of their foes.", "At\nsuch moments, it seemed as if a vast range of country lay buried in\neternal sleep; not the least sound arising from the forest, unless it\nwas the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a water-course.", "Birds,\nbeasts, and man, appeared to slumber alike, if, indeed, any of the\nlatter were to be found in that wide tract of wilderness.", "But the sounds\nof the rivulet, feeble and murmuring as they were, relieved the guides\nat once from no trifling embarrassment, and towards it they immediately\nheld their way.", "When the banks of the little stream were gained, Hawkeye made another\nhalt; and, taking the moccasins from his feet, he invited Heyward and\nGamut to follow his example.", "He then entered the water, and for near an\nhour they travelled in the bed of the brook, leaving no trail.", "The moon\nhad already sunk into an immense pile of black clouds, which lay\nimpending above the western horizon, when they issued from the low and\ndevious water-course to rise again to the light and level of the sandy\nbut wooded plain.", "Here the scout seemed to be once more at home, for he\nheld on his way with the certainty and diligence of a man who moved in\nthe security of his own knowledge.", "The path soon became more uneven, and\nthe travellers could plainly perceive that the mountains drew nigher to\nthem on each hand, and that they were, in truth, about entering one of\ntheir gorges.", "Suddenly, Hawkeye made a pause, and waiting until he was\njoined by the whole party, he spoke, though in tones so low and\ncautious, that they added to the solemnity of his words, in the quiet\nand darkness of the place.", "\"It is easy to know the pathways, and to find the licks and\nwater-courses of the wilderness,\" he said; \"but who that saw this spot\ncould venture to say, that a mighty army was at rest among yonder silent\ntrees and barren mountains?\"", "\"We are then at no great distance from William Henry?\"", "said Heyward,\nadvancing nigher to the scout.", "\"It is yet a long and weary path, and when and where to strike it, is\nnow our greatest difficulty.", "See,\" he said, pointing through the trees\ntowards a spot where a little basin of water reflected the stars from\nits placid bosom, \"here is the 'bloody pond'; and I am on the ground\nthat I have not only often travelled, but over which I have fou't the\nenemy, from the rising to the setting sun.\"", "\"Ha!", "that sheet of dull and dreary water, then, is the sepulchre of the\nbrave men who fell in the contest.", "I have heard it named, but never have\nI stood on its banks before.\"", "\"Three battles did we make with the Dutch-Frenchman[20] in a day,\"\ncontinued Hawkeye, pursuing the train of his own thoughts, rather than\nreplying to the remark of Duncan.", "\"He met us hard by, in our outward\nmarch to ambush his advance, and scattered us, like driven deer, through\nthe defile, to the shores of Horican.", "Then we rallied behind our fallen\ntrees, and made head against him, under Sir William--who was made Sir\nWilliam for that very deed; and well did we pay him for the disgrace of\nthe morning!", "Hundreds of Frenchmen saw the sun that day for the last\ntime; and even the leader, Dieskau himself, fell into our hands so cut\nand torn with the lead, that he has gone back to his own country, unfit\nfor further acts in war.\"", "\"'Twas a noble repulse!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, in the heat of his youthful\nardor; \"the fame of it reached us early, in our southern army.\"", "\"Ay!", "but it did not end there.", "I was sent by Major Effingham, at Sir\nWilliam's own bidding, to outflank the French, and carry the tidings of\ntheir disaster across the portage, to the fort on the Hudson.", "Just\nhereaway, where you see the trees rise into a mountain swell, I met a\nparty coming down to our aid, and I led them where the enemy were taking\ntheir meal, little dreaming that they had not finished the bloody work\nof the day.\"", "\"And you surprised them?\"", "\"If death can be a surprise to men who are thinking only of the cravings\nof their appetites.", "We gave them but little breathing time, for they had\nborne hard upon us in the fight of the morning, and there were few in\nour party who had not lost friend or relative by their hands.", "When all\nwas over, the dead, and some say the dying, were cast into that little\npond.", "These eyes have seen its waters colored with blood, as natural\nwater never yet flowed from the bowels of the 'arth.\"", "\"It was a convenient, and, I trust, will prove a peaceful grave for a\nsoldier.", "You have, then, seen much service on this frontier?\"", "\"I!\"", "said the scout, erecting his tall person with an air of military\npride; \"there are not many echoes among these hills that haven't rung\nwith the crack of my rifle, nor is there the space of a square mile\natwixt Horican and the river, that 'Killdeer' hasn't dropped a living\nbody on, be it an enemy or be it a brute beast.", "As for the grave, there,\nbeing as quiet as you mention, it is another matter.", "There are them in\nthe camp who say and think, man, to lie still, should not be buried\nwhile the breath is in the body; and certain it is that in the hurry of\nthat evening, the doctors had but little time to say who was living and\nwho was dead.", "Hist!", "see you nothing walking on the shore of the pond?\"", "\"'Tis not probable that any are as houseless as ourselves, in this\ndreary forest.\"", "\"Such as he may care but little for house or shelter, and night dew can\nnever wet a body that passes its days in the water,\" returned the scout,\ngrasping the shoulder of Heyward with such convulsive strength as to\nmake the young soldier painfully sensible how much superstitious terror\nhad got the mastery of a man usually so dauntless.", "\"By heaven!", "there is a human form, and it approaches!", "Stand to your\narms, my friends; for we know not whom we encounter.\"", "\"Qui vive?\"", "demanded a stern, quick voice, which sounded like a\nchallenge from another world, issuing out of that solitary and solemn\nplace.", "\"What says it?\"", "whispered the scout; \"it speaks neither Indian nor\nEnglish!\"", "\"Qui vive?\"", "repeated the same voice, which was quickly followed by the\nrattling of arms, and a menacing attitude.", "\"France!\"", "cried Heyward, advancing from the shadow of the trees to the\nshore of the pond, within a few yards of the sentinel.", "\"D'ou venez-vous--ou allez-vous, d'aussi bonne heure?\"", "demanded the\ngrenadier, in the language and with the accent of a man from old France.", "\"Je viens de la decouverte, et je vais me coucher.\"", "\"Etes-vous officier du roi?\"", "\"Sans doute, mon camarade; me prends-tu pour un provincial!", "Je suis\ncapitaine de chasseurs (Heyward well knew that the other was of a\nregiment in the line); j'ai ici, avec moi, les filles du commandant de\nla fortification.", "Aha!", "tu en as entendu parler!", "je les ai fait\nprisonnieres pres de l'autre fort, et je les conduis au general.\"", "\"Ma foi!", "mesdames; j'en suis fache pour vous,\" exclaimed the young\nsoldier, touching his cap with grace; \"mais--fortune de guerre!", "vous\ntrouverez notre general un brave homme, et bien poli avec les dames.\"", "\"C'est le caractere des gens de guerre,\" said Cora, with admirable\nself-possession.", "\"Adieu, mon ami; je vous souhaiterais un devoir plus\nagreable a remplir.\"", "The soldier made a low and humble acknowledgment for her civility; and\nHeyward adding a \"Bonne nuit, mon camarade,\" they moved deliberately\nforward, leaving the sentinel pacing the banks of the silent pond,\nlittle suspecting an enemy of so much effrontery, and humming to himself\nthose words, which were recalled to his mind by the sight of women, and\nperhaps by recollections of his own distant and beautiful France--\n\n \"Vive le vin, l'amour,\" etc., etc.", "\"'Tis well you understood the knave!\"", "whispered the scout, when they had\ngained a little distance from the place, and letting his rifle fall into\nthe hollow of his arm again; \"I soon saw that he was one of them uneasy\nFrenchers; and well for him it was that his speech was friendly and his\nwishes kind, or a place might have been found for his bones among those\nof his countrymen.\"", "He was interrupted by a long and heavy groan which arose from the little\nbasin, as though, in truth, the spirits of the departed lingered about\ntheir watery sepulchre.", "\"Surely it was of flesh!\"", "continued the scout; \"no spirit could handle\nits arms so steadily!\"", "\"It _was_ of flesh; but whether the poor fellow still belongs to this\nworld may well be doubted,\" said Heyward, glancing his eyes around him,\nand missing Chingachgook from their little band.", "Another groan more\nfaint than the former, was succeeded by a heavy and sullen plunge into\nthe water, and all was as still again as if the borders of the dreary\npool had never been awakened from the silence of creation.", "While they\nyet hesitated in uncertainty, the form of the Indian was seen gliding\nout of the thicket.", "As the chief rejoined them, with one hand he\nattached the reeking scalp of the unfortunate young Frenchman to his\ngirdle, and with the other he replaced the knife and tomahawk that had\ndrunk his blood.", "He then took his wonted station, with the air of a man\nwho believed he had done a deed of merit.", "The scout dropped one end of his rifle to the earth, and leaning his\nhands on the other, he stood musing in profound silence.", "Then shaking\nhis head in a mournful manner, he muttered,--\n\n\"'T would have been a cruel and an unhuman act for a white-skin; but\n'tis the gift and natur' of an Indian, and I suppose it should not be\ndenied.", "I could wish, though, it had befallen an accursed Mingo, rather\nthan that gay young boy from the old countries.\"", "\"Enough!\"", "said Heyward, apprehensive the unconscious sisters might\ncomprehend the nature of the detention, and conquering his disgust by a\ntrain of reflections very much like that of the hunter; \"'tis done; and\nthough better it were left undone, cannot be amended.", "You see we are,\ntoo obviously, within the sentinels of the enemy; what course do you\npropose to follow?\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hawkeye, rousing himself again, \"'tis as you say, too late\nto harbor further thoughts about it.", "Ay, the French have gathered around\nthe fort in good earnest, and we have a delicate needle to thread in\npassing them.\"", "\"And but little time to do it in,\" added Heyward, glancing his eyes\nupward, toward the bank of vapor that concealed the setting moon.", "\"And little time to do it in!\"", "repeated the scout.", "\"The thing may be\ndone in two fashions, by the help of Providence, without which it may\nnot be done at all.\"", "\"Name them quickly, for time presses.\"", "\"One would be to dismount the gentle ones, and let their beasts range\nthe plain; by sending the Mohicans in front, we might then cut a lane\nthrough their sentries, and enter the fort over the dead bodies.\"", "\"It will not do--it will not do!\"", "interrupted the generous Heyward; \"a\nsoldier might force his way in this manner, but never with such a\nconvoy.\"", "\"'Twould be, indeed, a bloody path for tender feet to wade in,\" returned\nthe equally reluctant scout; \"but I thought it befitting my manhood to\nname it.", "We must then turn on our trail and get without the line of\ntheir look-outs, when we will bend short to the west, and enter the\nmountains; where I can hide you, so that all the devil's hounds in\nMontcalm's pay would be thrown off the scent, for months to come.\"", "\"Let it be done, and that instantly.\"", "Further words were unnecessary; for Hawkeye, merely uttering the mandate\nto \"follow,\" moved along the route by which they had just entered their\npresent critical and even dangerous situation.", "Their progress, like\ntheir late dialogue, was guarded, and without noise; for none knew at\nwhat moment a passing patrol, or a crouching picket of the enemy, might\nrise upon their path.", "As they held their silent way along the margin of\nthe pond, again Heyward and the scout stole furtive glances at its\nappalling dreariness.", "They looked in vain for the form they had so\nrecently seen stalking along its silent shores, while a low and regular\nwash of the little waves, by announcing that the waters were not yet\nsubsided, furnished a frightful memorial of the deed of blood they had\njust witnessed.", "Like all that passing and gloomy scene, the low basin,\nhowever, quickly melted in the darkness, and became blended with the\nmass of black objects in the rear of the travellers.", "Hawkeye soon deviated from the line of their retreat, and striking off\ntowards the mountains which form the western boundary of the narrow\nplain, he led his followers, with swift steps, deep within the shadows\nthat were cast from their high and broken summits.", "The route was now\npainful; lying over ground ragged with rocks, and intersected with\nravines, and their progress proportionately slow.", "Bleak and black hills\nlay on every side of them, compensating in some degree for the\nadditional toil of the march, by the sense of security they imparted.", "At\nlength the party began slowly to climb a steep and rugged ascent by a\npath that curiously wound among rocks and trees, avoiding the one, and\nsupported by the other, in a manner that showed it had been devised by\nmen long practised in the arts of the wilderness.", "As they gradually rose\nfrom the level of the valleys, the thick darkness which usually precedes\nthe approach of day began to disperse, and objects were seen in the\nplain and palpable colors with which they had been gifted by nature.", "When they issued from the stunted woods which clung to the barren sides\nof the mountain, upon a flat and mossy rock that formed its summit, they\nmet the morning, as it came blushing above the green pines of a hill\nthat lay on the opposite side of the valley of the Horican.", "The scout now told the sisters to dismount; and taking the bridles from\nthe mouths, and the saddles off the backs of the jaded beasts, he turned\nthem loose, to glean a scanty subsistence among the shrubs and meagre\nherbage of that elevated region.", "\"Go,\" he said, \"and seek your food where natur' gives it you; and beware\nthat you become not food to ravenous wolves yourselves, among these\nhills.\"", "\"Have we no further need of them?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"See, and judge with your own eyes,\" said the scout, advancing towards\nthe eastern brow of the mountain, whither he beckoned for the whole\nparty to follow; \"if it was as easy to look into the heart of man as it\nis to spy out the nakedness of Montcalm's camp from this spot,\nhypocrites would grow scarce, and the cunning of a Mingo might prove a\nlosing game, compared to the honesty of a Delaware.\"", "When the travellers reached the verge of the precipice, they saw, at a\nglance, the truth of the scout's declaration, and the admirable\nforesight with which he had led them to their commanding station.", "The mountain on which they stood, elevated, perhaps, a thousand feet in\nthe air, was a high cone that rose a little in advance of that range\nwhich stretches for miles along the western shores of the lake, until\nmeeting its sister piles, beyond the water, it ran off towards the\nCanadas, in confused and broken masses of rock, thinly sprinkled with\nevergreens.", "Immediately at the feet of the party, the southern shore of\nthe Horican swept in a broad semicircle, from mountain to mountain,\nmarking a wide strand, that soon rose into an uneven and somewhat\nelevated plain.", "To the north stretched the limpid, and, as it appeared\nfrom that dizzy height, the narrow sheet of the \"holy lake,\" indented\nwith numberless bays, embellished by fantastic headlands, and dotted\nwith countless islands.", "At the distance of a few leagues, the bed of the\nwaters became lost among mountains, or was wrapped in the masses of\nvapor that came slowly rolling along their bosom, before a light morning\nair.", "But a narrow opening between the crests of the hills pointed out\nthe passage by which they found their way still farther north, to spread\ntheir pure and ample sheets again, before pouring out their tribute into\nthe distant Champlain.", "To the south stretched the defile, or rather\nbroken plain, so often mentioned.", "For several miles in this direction,\nthe mountains appeared reluctant to yield their dominion, but within\nreach of the eye they diverged, and finally melted into the level and\nsandy lands, across which we have accompanied our adventurers in their\ndouble journey.", "Along both ranges of hills, which bounded the opposite\nsides of the lake and valley, clouds of light vapor were rising in\nspiral wreaths from the uninhabited woods, looking like the smokes of\nhidden cottages; or rolled lazily down the declivities, to mingle with\nthe fogs of the lower land.", "A single, solitary, snow-white cloud floated\nabove the valley, and marked the spot beneath which lay the silent pool\nof the \"bloody pond.\"", "Directly on the shore of the lake, and nearer to its western than to its\neastern margin, lay the extensive earthen ramparts and low buildings of\nWilliam Henry.", "Two of the sweeping bastions appeared to rest on the\nwater which washed their bases, while a deep ditch and extensive\nmorasses guarded its other sides and angles.", "The land had been cleared\nof wood for a reasonable distance around the work, but every other part\nof the scene lay in the green livery of nature, except where the limpid\nwater mellowed the view, or the bold rocks thrust their black and naked\nheads above the undulating outline of the mountain ranges.", "In its front\nmight be seen the scattered sentinels, who held a weary watch against\ntheir numerous foes; and within the walls themselves, the travellers\nlooked down upon men still drowsy with a night of vigilance.", "Towards the\nsoutheast, but in immediate contact with the fort, was an entrenched\ncamp, posted on a rocky eminence, that would have been far more eligible\nfor the work itself, in which Hawkeye pointed out the presence of those\nauxiliary regiments that had so recently left the Hudson in their\ncompany.", "From the woods, a little farther to the south, rose numerous\ndark and lurid smokes, that were easily to be distinguished from the\npurer exhalations of the springs, and which the scout also showed to\nHeyward, as evidences that the enemy lay in force in that direction.", "But the spectacle which most concerned the young soldier was on the\nwestern bank of the lake, though quite near to its southern termination.", "On a strip of land, which appeared, from his stand, too narrow to\ncontain such an army, but which, in truth, extended many hundreds of\nyards from the shores of the Horican to the base of the mountain, were\nto be seen the white tents and military engines of an encampment of ten\nthousand men.", "Batteries were already thrown up in their front, and even\nwhile the spectators above them were looking down, with such different\nemotions, on a scene which lay like a map beneath their feet, the roar\nof artillery rose from the valley, and passed off in thundering echoes,\nalong the eastern hills.", "\"Morning is just touching them below,\" said the deliberate and musing\nscout, \"and the watchers have a mind to wake up the sleepers by the\nsound of cannon.", "We are a few hours too late?", "Montcalm has already\nfilled the woods with his accursed Iroquois.\"", "\"The place is, indeed, invested,\" returned Duncan, \"but is there no\nexpedient by which we may enter?", "capture in the works would be far\npreferable to falling again into the hands of roving Indians.\"", "\"See!\"", "exclaimed the scout, unconsciously directing the attention of\nCora to the quarters of her own father, \"how that shot has made the\nstones fly from the side of the commandant's house!", "Ay!", "these Frenchers\nwill pull it to pieces faster than it was put together, solid and thick\nthough it be.\"", "\"Heyward, I sicken at the sight of danger that I cannot share,\" said the\nundaunted, but anxious daughter.", "\"Let us go to Montcalm, and demand\nadmission: he dare not deny a child the boon.\"", "\"You would scarce find the tent of the Frenchman with the hair on your\nhead,\" said the blunt scout.", "\"If I had but one of the thousand boats\nwhich lie empty along that shore, it might be done.", "Ha!", "here will soon\nbe an end of the firing, for yonder comes a fog that will turn day to\nnight, and make an Indian arrow more dangerous than a moulded cannon.", "Now, if you are equal to the work, and will follow, I will make a push;\nfor I long to get down into that camp, if it be only to scatter some\nMingo dogs that I see lurking in the skirts of yonder thicket of birch.\"", "\"We are equal,\" said Cora, firmly: \"on such an errand we will follow to\nany danger.\"", "The scout turned to her with a smile of honest and cordial approbation\nas he answered,--\n\n\"I would I had a thousand men, of brawny limbs and quick eyes, that\nfeared death as little as you!", "I'd send them jabbering Frenchers back\ninto their den again, afore the week was ended, howling like so many\nfettered hounds or hungry wolves.", "But stir,\" he added, turning from her\nto the rest of the party, \"the fog comes rolling down so fast, we shall\nhave but just the time to meet it on the plain, and use it as a cover.", "Remember, if any accident should befall me, to keep the air blowing on\nyour left cheeks--or rather, follow the Mohicans; they'd scent their\nway, be it in day or be it at night.\"", "He then waved his hand for them to follow, and threw himself down the\nsteep declivity, with free, but careful footsteps.", "Heyward assisted the\nsisters to descend, and in a few minutes they were all far down a\nmountain whose sides they had climbed with so much toil and pain.", "The direction taken by Hawkeye soon brought the travellers to the level\nof the plain, nearly opposite to a sally-port in the western curtain of\nthe fort, which lay, itself, at the distance of about half a mile from\nthe point where he halted to allow Duncan to come up with his charge.", "In\ntheir eagerness, and favored by the nature of the ground, they had\nanticipated the fog, which was rolling heavily down the lake, and it\nbecame necessary to pause, until the mists had wrapped the camp of the\nenemy in their fleecy mantle.", "The Mohicans profited by the delay, to\nsteal out of the woods, and to make a survey of surrounding objects.", "They were followed at a little distance by the scout, with a view to\nprofit early by their report, and to obtain some faint knowledge for\nhimself of the more immediate localities.", "In a very few moments he returned, his face reddened with vexation,\nwhile he muttered his disappointment in words of no very gentle import.", "\"Here has the cunning Frenchman been posting a picket directly in our\npath,\" he said; \"redskins and whites; and we shall be as likely to fall\ninto their midst as to pass them in the fog!\"", "\"Cannot we make a circuit to avoid the danger,\" asked Heyward, \"and come\ninto our path again when it is passed?\"", "\"Who that once bends from the line of his march in a fog can tell when\nor how to turn to find it again!", "The mists of Horican are not like the\ncurls from a peace-pipe, or the smoke which settles above a mosquito\nfire.\"", "He was yet speaking, when a crashing sound was heard, and a cannon-ball\nentered the thicket, striking the body of a sapling, and rebounding to\nthe earth, its force being much expended by previous resistance.", "The\nIndians followed instantly like busy attendants on the terrible\nmessenger, and Uncas commenced speaking earnestly and with much action,\nin the Delaware tongue.", "\"It may be so, lad,\" muttered the scout, when he had ended; \"for\ndesperate fevers are not to be treated like a toothache.", "Come, then, the\nfog is shutting in.\"", "\"Stop!\"", "cried Heyward; \"first explain your expectations.\"", "\"'Tis soon done, and a small hope it is; but it is better than nothing.", "This shot that you see,\" added the scout, kicking the harmless iron with\nhis foot, \"has ploughed the 'arth in its road from the fort, and we\nshall hunt for the furrow it has made, when all other signs may fail.", "No\nmore words, but follow, or the fog may leave us in the middle of our\npath, a mark for both armies to shoot at.\"", "Heyward perceiving that, in fact, a crisis had arrived when acts were\nmore required than words, placed himself between the sisters, and drew\nthem swiftly forward, keeping the dim figure of their leader in his eye.", "It was soon apparent that Hawkeye had not magnified the power of the\nfog, for before they had proceeded twenty yards, it was difficult for\nthe different individuals of the party to distinguish each other, in the\nvapor.", "They had made their little circuit to the left, and were already\ninclining again towards the right, having, as Heyward thought, got over\nnearly half the distance to the friendly works, when his ears were\nsaluted with the fierce summons, apparently within twenty feet of them,\nof--\n\n\"Qui va la?\"", "\"Push on!\"", "whispered the scout, once more bending to the left.", "\"Push on!\"", "repeated Heyward; when the summons was renewed by a dozen\nvoices, each of which seemed charged with menace.", "\"C'est moi,\" cried Duncan, dragging, rather than leading those he\nsupported, swiftly onward.", "\"Bete!--qui?--moi!\"", "\"Ami de la France.\"", "\"Tu m'as plus l'air d'un _ennemi_ de la France; arrete!", "ou pardieu je te\nferai ami du diable.", "Non!", "feu, camarades, feu!\"", "The order was instantly obeyed, and the fog was stirred by the explosion\nof fifty muskets.", "Happily, the aim was bad, and the bullets cut the air\nin a direction a little different from that taken by the fugitives;\nthough still so nigh them, that to the unpractised ears of David and the\ntwo females, it appeared as if they whistled within a few inches of the\norgans.", "The outcry was renewed, and the order, not only to fire again,\nbut to pursue, was too plainly audible.", "When Heyward briefly explained\nthe meaning of the words they heard, Hawkeye halted, and spoke with\nquick decision and great firmness.", "\"Let us deliver our fire,\" he said; \"they will believe it a sortie, and\ngive way, or they will wait for reinforcements.\"", "The scheme was well conceived, but failed in its effect.", "The instant the\nFrench heard the pieces, it seemed as if the plain was alive with men,\nmuskets rattling along its whole extent, from the shores of the lake to\nthe farthest boundary of the woods.", "\"We shall draw their entire army upon us, and bring on a general\nassault,\" said Duncan: \"lead on, my friend, for your own life, and\nours.\"", "The scout seemed willing to comply; but, in the hurry of the moment, and\nin the change of position, he had lost the direction.", "In vain he turned\neither cheek towards the light air; they felt equally cool.", "In this\ndilemma, Uncas lighted on the furrow of the cannon-ball, where it had\ncut the ground in three adjacent ant-hills.", "\"Give me the range!\"", "said Hawkeye, bending to catch a glimpse of the\ndirection, and then instantly moving onward.", "Cries, oaths, voices calling to each other, and the reports of muskets,\nwere now quick and incessant, and, apparently, on every side of them.", "Suddenly, a strong glare of light flashed across the scene, the fog\nrolled upwards in thick wreaths, and several cannon belched across the\nplain, and the roar was thrown heavily back from the bellowing echoes of\nthe mountain.", "\"'Tis from the fort!\"", "exclaimed Hawkeye, turning short on his tracks;\n\"and we, like stricken fools, were rushing to the woods, under the very\nknives of the Maquas.\"", "The instant their mistake was rectified, the whole party retraced the\nerror with the utmost diligence.", "Duncan willingly relinquished the\nsupport of Cora to the arm of Uncas, and Cora as readily accepted the\nwelcome assistance.", "Men, hot and angry in pursuit, were evidently on\ntheir footsteps, and each instant threatened their capture, if not their\ndestruction.", "\"Point de quartier aux coquins!\"", "cried an eager pursuer, who seemed to\ndirect the operations of the enemy.", "\"Stand firm, and be ready, my gallant 60ths!\"", "suddenly exclaimed a voice\nabove them; \"wait to see the enemy,--fire low, and sweep the glacis.\"", "\"Father!", "father!\"", "exclaimed a piercing cry from out the mist; \"it is I!", "Alice!", "thy own Elsie!", "spare, O!", "save your daughters!\"", "\"Hold!\"", "shouted the former speaker, in the awful tones of parental\nagony, the sound reaching even to the woods, and rolling back in solemn\necho.", "\"'Tis she!", "God has restored me my children!", "Throw open the\nsally-port; to the field, 60ths, to the field; pull not a trigger, lest\nye kill my lambs!", "Drive off these dogs of France with your steel.\"", "Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting to the spot,\ndirected by the sound, he met a long line of dark red warriors, passing\nswiftly towards the glacis.", "He knew them for his own battalion of the\nroyal Americans, and flying to their head, soon swept every trace of his\npursuers from before the works.", "For an instant, Cora and Alice had stood trembling and bewildered by\nthis unexpected desertion; but, before either had leisure for speech, or\neven thought, an officer of gigantic frame whose locks were bleached\nwith years and service, but whose air of military grandeur had been\nrather softened than destroyed by time, rushed out of the body of the\nmist, and folded them to his bosom, while large scalding tears rolled\ndown his pale and wrinkled cheeks, and he exclaimed, in the peculiar\naccent of Scotland,--\n\n\"For this I thank thee, Lord!", "Let danger come as it will, thy servant is\nnow prepared!\"" ]

[ "\n \"_Guard._--Qui est la?", "The moon\nhad already sunk into an immense pile of black clouds, which lay\nimpending above the western horizon, when they issued from the low and\ndevious water-course to rise again to the light and level of the sandy\nbut wooded plain.", "\"And you surprised them?\"", "said the scout, erecting his tall person with an air of military\npride; \"there are not many echoes among these hills that haven't rung\nwith the crack of my rifle, nor is there the space of a square mile\natwixt Horican and the river, that 'Killdeer' hasn't dropped a living\nbody on, be it an enemy or be it a brute beast.", "je les ai fait\nprisonnieres pres de l'autre fort, et je les conduis au general.\"", "vous\ntrouverez notre general un brave homme, et bien poli avec les dames.\"", "Then shaking\nhis head in a mournful manner, he muttered,--\n\n\"'T would have been a cruel and an unhuman act for a white-skin; but\n'tis the gift and natur' of an Indian, and I suppose it should not be\ndenied.", "The Mohicans profited by the delay, to\nsteal out of the woods, and to make a survey of surrounding objects.", "\"Let us deliver our fire,\" he said; \"they will believe it a sortie, and\ngive way, or they will wait for reinforcements.\"", "Men, hot and angry in pursuit, were evidently on\ntheir footsteps, and each instant threatened their capture, if not their\ndestruction." ]

[ "\"And little time to do it in!\"", "When all\nwas over, the dead, and some say the dying, were cast into that little\npond.", "\"Morning is just touching them below,\" said the deliberate and musing\nscout, \"and the watchers have a mind to wake up the sleepers by the\nsound of cannon.", "\"Here has the cunning Frenchman been posting a picket directly in our\npath,\" he said; \"redskins and whites; and we shall be as likely to fall\ninto their midst as to pass them in the fog!\"", "suddenly exclaimed a voice\nabove them; \"wait to see the enemy,--fire low, and sweep the glacis.\"", "The instant the\nFrench heard the pieces, it seemed as if the plain was alive with men,\nmuskets rattling along its whole extent, from the shores of the lake to\nthe farthest boundary of the woods.", "There are them in\nthe camp who say and think, man, to lie still, should not be buried\nwhile the breath is in the body; and certain it is that in the hurry of\nthat evening, the doctors had but little time to say who was living and\nwho was dead.", "said Hawkeye, bending to catch a glimpse of the\ndirection, and then instantly moving onward.", "Further words were unnecessary; for Hawkeye, merely uttering the mandate\nto \"follow,\" moved along the route by which they had just entered their\npresent critical and even dangerous situation.", "The soldier made a low and humble acknowledgment for her civility; and\nHeyward adding a \"Bonne nuit, mon camarade,\" they moved deliberately\nforward, leaving the sentinel pacing the banks of the silent pond,\nlittle suspecting an enemy of so much effrontery, and humming to himself\nthose words, which were recalled to his mind by the sight of women, and\nperhaps by recollections of his own distant and beautiful France--\n\n \"Vive le vin, l'amour,\" etc., etc." ]

[ "As they gradually rose\nfrom the level of the valleys, the thick darkness which usually precedes\nthe approach of day began to disperse, and objects were seen in the\nplain and palpable colors with which they had been gifted by nature.", "When they issued from the stunted woods which clung to the barren sides\nof the mountain, upon a flat and mossy rock that formed its summit, they\nmet the morning, as it came blushing above the green pines of a hill\nthat lay on the opposite side of the valley of the Horican.", "The scout now told the sisters to dismount; and taking the bridles from\nthe mouths, and the saddles off the backs of the jaded beasts, he turned\nthem loose, to glean a scanty subsistence among the shrubs and meagre\nherbage of that elevated region.", "\"Go,\" he said, \"and seek your food where natur' gives it you; and beware\nthat you become not food to ravenous wolves yourselves, among these\nhills.\"", "\"Have we no further need of them?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"See, and judge with your own eyes,\" said the scout, advancing towards\nthe eastern brow of the mountain, whither he beckoned for the whole\nparty to follow; \"if it was as easy to look into the heart of man as it\nis to spy out the nakedness of Montcalm's camp from this spot,\nhypocrites would grow scarce, and the cunning of a Mingo might prove a\nlosing game, compared to the honesty of a Delaware.\"", "When the travellers reached the verge of the precipice, they saw, at a\nglance, the truth of the scout's declaration, and the admirable\nforesight with which he had led them to their commanding station.", "The mountain on which they stood, elevated, perhaps, a thousand feet in\nthe air, was a high cone that rose a little in advance of that range\nwhich stretches for miles along the western shores of the lake, until\nmeeting its sister piles, beyond the water, it ran off towards the\nCanadas, in confused and broken masses of rock, thinly sprinkled with\nevergreens.", "Immediately at the feet of the party, the southern shore of\nthe Horican swept in a broad semicircle, from mountain to mountain,\nmarking a wide strand, that soon rose into an uneven and somewhat\nelevated plain.", "To the north stretched the limpid, and, as it appeared\nfrom that dizzy height, the narrow sheet of the \"holy lake,\" indented\nwith numberless bays, embellished by fantastic headlands, and dotted\nwith countless islands." ]

[ "\n \"_Guard._--Qui est la?", "_Puc._--Paisans, pauvres gens de France.\"", "_King Henry VI._\n\n\nDuring the rapid movement from the block-house, and until the party was\ndeeply buried in the forest, each individual was too much interested in\nthe escape to hazard a word even in whispers.", "The scout resumed his post\nin the advance, though his steps, after he had thrown a safe distance\nbetween himself and his enemies, were more deliberate than in their\nprevious march, in consequence of his utter ignorance of the localities\nof the surrounding woods.", "More than once he halted to consult with his\nconfederates, the Mohicans, pointing upwards at the moon, and examining\nthe barks of the trees with care.", "In these brief pauses, Heyward and the\nsisters listened, with senses rendered doubly acute by the danger, to\ndetect any symptoms which might announce the proximity of their foes.", "At\nsuch moments, it seemed as if a vast range of country lay buried in\neternal sleep; not the least sound arising from the forest, unless it\nwas the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a water-course.", "Birds,\nbeasts, and man, appeared to slumber alike, if, indeed, any of the\nlatter were to be found in that wide tract of wilderness.", "But the sounds\nof the rivulet, feeble and murmuring as they were, relieved the guides\nat once from no trifling embarrassment, and towards it they immediately\nheld their way.", "When the banks of the little stream were gained, Hawkeye made another\nhalt; and, taking the moccasins from his feet, he invited Heyward and\nGamut to follow his example.", "\"Hold!\"", "shouted the former speaker, in the awful tones of parental\nagony, the sound reaching even to the woods, and rolling back in solemn\necho.", "\"'Tis she!", "God has restored me my children!", "Throw open the\nsally-port; to the field, 60ths, to the field; pull not a trigger, lest\nye kill my lambs!", "Drive off these dogs of France with your steel.\"", "Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting to the spot,\ndirected by the sound, he met a long line of dark red warriors, passing\nswiftly towards the glacis.", "He knew them for his own battalion of the\nroyal Americans, and flying to their head, soon swept every trace of his\npursuers from before the works.", "For an instant, Cora and Alice had stood trembling and bewildered by\nthis unexpected desertion; but, before either had leisure for speech, or\neven thought, an officer of gigantic frame whose locks were bleached\nwith years and service, but whose air of military grandeur had been\nrather softened than destroyed by time, rushed out of the body of the\nmist, and folded them to his bosom, while large scalding tears rolled\ndown his pale and wrinkled cheeks, and he exclaimed, in the peculiar\naccent of Scotland,--\n\n\"For this I thank thee, Lord!", "Let danger come as it will, thy servant is\nnow prepared!\"" ]

[ "\n \"Then go we in, to know his embassy;\n Which I could, with ready guess, declare,\n Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nA few succeeding days were passed amid the privations, the uproar, and\nthe dangers of the siege, which was vigorously pressed by a power\nagainst whose approaches Munro possessed no competent means of\nresistance.", "It appeared as if Webb, with his army, which lay slumbering\non the banks of the Hudson, had utterly forgotten the strait to which\nhis countrymen were reduced.", "Montcalm had filled the woods of the\nportage with his savages, every yell and whoop from whom rang through\nthe British encampment, chilling the hearts of men who were already but\ntoo much disposed to magnify the danger.", "Not so, however, with the besieged.", "Animated by the words, and\nstimulated by the examples, of their leaders, they had found their\ncourage, and maintained their ancient reputation, with zeal that did\njustice to the stern character of their commander.", "As if satisfied with\nthe toil of marching through the wilderness to encounter his enemy, the\nFrench general, though of approved skill, had neglected to seize the\nadjacent mountains; whence the besieged might have been exterminated\nwith impunity, and which, in the more modern warfare of the country,\nwould not have been neglected for a single hour.", "This sort of contempt\nfor eminences, or rather dread of the labor of ascending them, might\nhave been termed the besetting weakness of the warfare of the period.", "It\noriginated in the simplicity of the Indian contests, in which, from the\nnature of the combats, and the density of the forests, fortresses were\nrare, and artillery next to useless.", "The carelessness engendered by\nthese usages descended even to the war of the Revolution, and lost the\nStates the important fortress of Ticonderoga, opening a way for the army\nof Burgoyne into what was then the bosom of the country.", "We look back at\nthis ignorance, or infatuation, whichever it may be called, with wonder,\nknowing that the neglect of an eminence, whose difficulties, like those\nof Mount Defiance, have been so greatly exaggerated, would, at the\npresent time, prove fatal to the reputation of the engineer who had\nplanned the works at their base, or to that of the general whose lot it\nwas to defend them.", "The tourist, the valetudinarian, or the amateur of the beauties of\nnature, who, in the train of his four-in-hand, now rolls through the\nscenes we have attempted to describe, in quest of information, health,\nor pleasure, or floats steadily towards his object on those artificial\nwaters which have sprung up under the administration of a statesman[21]\nwho has dared to stake his political character on the hazardous issue,\nis not to suppose that his ancestors traversed those hills, or struggled\nwith the same currents with equal facility.", "The transportation of a\nsingle heavy gun was often considered equal to a victory gained; if,\nhappily, the difficulties of the passage had not so far separated it\nfrom its necessary concomitant, the ammunition, as to render it no more\nthan an useless tube of unwieldy iron.", "The evils of this state of things pressed heavily on the fortunes of the\nresolute Scotsman who now defended William Henry.", "Though his adversary\nneglected the hills, he had planted his batteries with judgment on the\nplain, and caused them to be served with vigor and skill.", "Against this\nassault, the besieged could only oppose the imperfect and hasty\npreparations of a fortress in the wilderness.", "It was in the afternoon of the fifth day of the siege, and the fourth of\nhis own service in it, that Major Heyward profited by a parley that had\njust been beaten, by repairing to the ramparts of one of the water\nbastions, to breathe the cool air from the lake, and to take a survey of\nthe progress of the siege.", "He was alone, if the solitary sentinel who\npaced the mound be excepted; for the artillerists had hastened also to\nprofit by the temporary suspension of their arduous duties.", "The evening\nwas delightfully calm, and the light air from the limpid water fresh and\nsoothing.", "It seemed as if, with the termination to the roar of artillery\nand the plunging of shot, nature had also seized the moment to assume\nher mildest and most captivating form.", "The sun poured down his parting\nglory on the scene, without the oppression of those fierce rays that\nbelong to the climate and the season.", "The mountains looked green and\nfresh and lovely; tempered with the milder light, or softened in shadow,\nas thin vapors floated between them and the sun.", "The numerous islands\nrested on the bosom of the Horican, some low and sunken, as if imbedded\nin the waters, and others appearing to hover above the element, in\nlittle hillocks of green velvet; among which the fishermen of the\nbeleaguering army peacefully rowed their skiffs, or floated at rest on\nthe glassy mirror, in quiet pursuit of their employment.", "The scene was at once animated and still.", "All that pertained to nature\nwas sweet, or simply grand; while those parts which depended on the\ntemper and movements of man were lively and playful.", "Two little spotless flags were abroad, the one on a salient angle of the\nfort, and the other on the advanced battery of the besiegers; emblems of\nthe truce which existed, not only to the acts, but it would seem, also,\nto the enmity of the combatants.", "Behind these, again, swung, heavily opening and closing in silken folds,\nthe rival standards of England and France.", "A hundred gay and thoughtless young Frenchmen were drawing a net to the\npebbly beach, within dangerous proximity to the sullen but silent cannon\nof the fort, while the eastern mountain was sending back the loud shouts\nand gay merriment that attended their sport.", "Some were rushing eagerly\nto enjoy the aquatic games of the lake, and others were already toiling\ntheir way up the neighboring hills, with the restless curiosity of their\nnation.", "To all these sports and pursuits, those of the enemy who watched\nthe besieged, and the besieged themselves, were, however, merely the\nidle, though sympathizing spectators.", "Here and there a picket had,\nindeed, raised a song, or mingled in a dance, which had drawn the dusky\nsavages around them, from their lairs in the forest.", "In short,\neverything wore rather the appearance of a day of pleasure, than of an\nhour stolen from the dangers and toil of a bloody and vindictive\nwarfare.", "Duncan had stood in a musing attitude, contemplating this scene a few\nminutes, when his eyes were directed to the glacis in front of the\nsally-port already mentioned, by the sounds of approaching footsteps.", "He\nwalked to an angle of the bastion, and beheld the scout advancing, under\nthe custody of a French officer, to the body of the fort.", "The\ncountenance of Hawkeye was haggard and careworn, and his air dejected,\nas though he felt the deepest degradation at having fallen into the\npower of his enemies.", "He was without his favorite weapon, and his arms\nwere even bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of a deer.", "The\narrival of flags, to cover the messengers of summons, had occurred so\noften of late, that when Heyward first threw his careless glance on this\ngroup, he expected to see another of the officers of the enemy, charged\nwith a similar office; but the instant he recognized the tall person,\nand still sturdy, though downcast features of his friend the woodsman,\nhe started with surprise, and turned to descend from the bastion into\nthe bosom of the work.", "The sounds of other voices, however, caught his attention, and for a\nmoment caused him to forget his purpose.", "At the inner angle of the mound\nhe met the sisters, walking along the parapet in search, like himself,\nof air and relief from confinement.", "They had not met from that painful\nmoment when he deserted them on the plain, only to assure their safety.", "He had parted from them worn with care, and jaded with fatigue; he now\nsaw them refreshed and blooming, though timid and anxious.", "Under such an\ninducement, it will cause no surprise that the young man lost sight, for\na time, of other objects in order to address them.", "He was, however,\nanticipated by the voice of the ingenuous and youthful Alice.", "\"Ah!", "thou truant!", "thou recreant knight!", "he who abandons his damsels in\nthe very lists!\"", "she cried; \"here have we been days, nay, ages,\nexpecting you at our feet, imploring mercy and forgetfulness of your\ncraven backsliding, or, I should rather say, back-running--for verily\nyou fled in a manner that no stricken deer, as our worthy friend the\nscout would say, could equal!\"", "\"You know that Alice means our thanks and our blessings,\" added the\ngraver and more thoughtful Cora.", "\"In truth, we have a little wondered\nwhy you should so rigidly absent yourself from a place where the\ngratitude of the daughters might receive the support of a parent's\nthanks.\"", "\"Your father himself could tell you, that though absent from your\npresence, I have not been altogether forgetful of your safety,\" returned\nthe young man; \"the mastery of yonder village of huts,\" pointing to the\nneighboring entrenched camp, \"has been keenly disputed; and he who holds\nit is sure to be possessed of this fort, and that which it contains.", "My\ndays and my nights have all been passed there since we separated,\nbecause I thought that duty called me thither.", "But,\" he added with an\nair of chagrin, which he endeavored, though unsuccessfully, to conceal,\n\"had I been aware that what I then believed a soldier's conduct could so\nbe construed, shame would have been added to the list of reasons.\"", "\"Heyward!--Duncan!\"", "exclaimed Alice, bending forward to read his\nhalf-averted countenance, until a lock of her golden hair rested on her\nflushed cheek, and nearly concealed the tear that had started to her\neye; \"did I think this idle tongue of mine had pained you, I would\nsilence it forever, Cora can say, if Cora would, how justly we have\nprized your services, and how deep--I had almost said, how fervent--is\nour gratitude.\"", "\"And will Cora attest the truth of this?\"", "cried Duncan, suffering the\ncloud to be chased from his countenance by a smile of open pleasure.", "\"What says our graver sister?", "Will she find an excuse for the neglect of\nthe knight in the duty of a soldier?\"", "Cora made no immediate answer, but turned her face towards the water, as\nif looking on the sheet of the Horican.", "When she did bend her dark eyes\non the young man, they were yet filled with an expression of anguish\nthat at once drove every thought but that of kind solicitude from his\nmind.", "\"You are not well, dearest Miss Munro!\"", "he exclaimed; \"we have trifled\nwhile you are in suffering.\"", "\"'Tis nothing,\" she answered, refusing his offered support with feminine\nreserve.", "\"That I cannot see the sunny side of the picture of life, like\nthis artless but ardent enthusiast,\" she added, laying her hand lightly,\nbut affectionately, on the arm of her sister, \"is the penalty of\nexperience, and, perhaps, the misfortune of my nature.", "See,\" she\ncontinued, as if determined to shake off infirmity, in a sense of duty;\n\"look around you, Major Heyward, and tell me what a prospect is this for\nthe daughter of a soldier whose greatest happiness is his honor and his\nmilitary renown.\"", "\"Neither ought nor shall be tarnished by circumstances over which he has\nhad no control,\" Duncan warmly replied.", "\"But your words recall me to my\nown duty.", "I go now to your gallant father, to hear his determination in\nmatters of the last moment to the defence.", "God bless you in every\nfortune, noble--Cora--I may and must call you.\"", "She frankly gave him her\nhand, though her lip quivered, and her cheeks gradually became of an\nashy paleness.", "\"In every fortune, I know you will be an ornament and\nhonor to your sex.", "Alice, adieu\"--his tone changed from admiration to\ntenderness--\"adieu, Alice; we shall soon meet again; as conquerors, I\ntrust, and amid rejoicings!\"", "Without waiting for an answer from either, the young man threw himself\ndown the grassy steps of the bastion, and moving rapidly across the\nparade, he was quickly in the presence of their father.", "Munro was\npacing his narrow apartment with a disturbed air and gigantic strides as\nDuncan entered.", "\"You have anticipated my wishes, Major Heyward,\" he said; \"I was about\nto request this favor.\"", "\"I am sorry to see, sir, that the messenger I so warmly recommended has\nreturned in custody of the French!", "I hope there is no reason to distrust\nhis fidelity?\"", "\"The fidelity of 'The Long Rifle' is well known to me,\" returned Munro,\n\"and is above suspicion; though his usual good fortune seems, at last,\nto have failed.", "Montcalm has got him, and with the accursed politeness\nof his nation, he has sent him in with a doleful tale, of 'knowing how I\nvalued the fellow, he could not think of retaining him.'", "A Jesuitical\nway, that, Major Duncan Heyward, of telling a man of his misfortunes!\"", "\"But the general and his succor?\"", "\"Did ye look to the south as ye entered, and could ye not see them?\"", "said the old soldier, laughing bitterly.", "\"Hoot!", "hoot!", "you're an\nimpatient boy, sir, and cannot give the gentlemen leisure for their\nmarch!\"", "\"They are coming, then?", "The scout has said as much?\"", "\"When?", "and by what path?", "for the dunce has omitted to tell me this.", "There is a letter, it would seem, too; and that is the only agreeable\npart of the matter.", "For the customary attentions of your Marquis of\nMontcalm--I warrant me, Duncan, that he of Lothian would buy a dozen\nsuch marquisates--but, if the news of the letter were bad, the gentility\nof this French monsieur would certainly compel him to let us know it.\"", "\"He keeps the letter, then, while he releases the messenger!\"", "\"Ay, that does he, and all for the sake of what you call your\n'_bonhommie_,' I would venture, if the truth was known, the fellow's\ngrandfather taught the noble science of dancing.\"", "\"But what says the scout?", "he has eyes and ears, and a tongue: what\nverbal report does he make?\"", "\"O!", "sir, he is not wanting in natural organs, and he is free to tell all\nthat he has seen and heard.", "The whole amount is this: there is a fort of\nhis majesty's on the banks of the Hudson, called Edward, in honor of his\ngracious highness of York, you'll know; and it is well filled with armed\nmen, as such a work should be.\"", "\"But was there no movement, no signs of any intention to advance to our\nrelief?\"", "\"There were the morning and evening parades; and when one of the\nprovincial loons--you'll know, Duncan, you're half a Scotsman\nyourself--when one of them dropped his powder over his porretch, if it\ntouched the coals, it just burnt!\"", "Then suddenly changing his bitter,\nironical manner, to one more grave and thoughtful, he continued; \"and\nyet there might, and must be, something in that letter which it would be\nwell to know!\"", "\"Our decision should be speedy,\" said Duncan, gladly availing himself of\nthis change of humor, to press the more important objects of their\ninterview; \"I cannot conceal from you, sir, that the camp will not be\nmuch longer tenable; and I am sorry to add, that things appear no better\nin the fort; more than half the guns are bursted.\"", "\"And how should it be otherwise?", "Some were fished from the bottom of the\nlake; some have been rusting in the woods since the discovery of the\ncountry; and some were never guns at all--mere privateersmen's\nplaythings!", "Do you think, sir, you can have Woolwich Warren in the midst\nof a wilderness, three thousand miles from Great Britain!\"", "\"The walls are crumbling about our ears, and provisions begin to fail\nus,\" continued Heyward, without regarding this new burst of indignation;\n\"even the men show signs of discontent and alarm.\"", "\"Major Heyward,\" said Munro, turning to his youthful associate with the\ndignity of his years and superior rank; \"I should have served his\nmajesty for half a century, and earned these gray hairs, in vain, were I\nignorant of all you say, and of the pressing nature of our\ncircumstances; still, there is everything due to the honor of the king's\narms and something to ourselves.", "While there is hope of succor, this\nfortress will I defend, though it be to be done with pebbles gathered on\nthe lake shore.", "It is a sight of the letter, therefore, that we want,\nthat we may know the intentions of the man the Earl of Loudon has left\namong us as his substitute.\"", "\"And can I be of service in the matter?\"", "\"Sir, you can; the Marquis of Montcalm has, in addition to his other\ncivilities, invited me to a personal interview between the works and his\nown camp; in order, as he says, to impart some additional information.", "Now, I think it would not be wise to show any undue solicitude to meet\nhim, and I would employ you, an officer of rank, as my substitute; for\nit would but ill comport with the honor of Scotland to let it be said\none of her gentlemen was outdone in civility by a native of any other\ncountry on earth.\"", "Without assuming the supererogatory task of entering into a discussion\nof the comparative merits of national courtesy, Duncan cheerfully\nassented to supply the place of the veteran in the approaching\ninterview.", "A long and confidential communication now succeeded, during\nwhich the young man received some additional insight into his duty, from\nthe experience and native acuteness of his commander, and then the\nformer took his leave.", "As Duncan could only act as the representative of the commandant of the\nfort, the ceremonies which should have accompanied a meeting between the\nheads of the adverse forces were of course dispensed with.", "The truce\nstill existed, and with a roll and beat of the drum, and covered by a\nlittle white flag, Duncan left the sally-port, within ten minutes after\nhis instructions were ended.", "He was received by the French officer in\nadvance with the usual formalities, and immediately accompanied to a\ndistant marquee of the renowned soldier who led the forces of France.", "The general of the enemy received the youthful messenger, surrounded by\nhis principal officers, and by a swarthy band of the native chiefs, who\nhad followed him to the field, with the warriors of their several\ntribes.", "Heyward paused short, when, in glancing his eyes rapidly over\nthe dark group of the latter, he beheld the malignant countenance of\nMagua, regarding him with the calm but sullen attention which marked the\nexpression of that subtle savage.", "A slight exclamation of surprise even\nburst from the lips of the young man; but instantly recollecting his\nerrand, and the presence in which he stood, he suppressed every\nappearance of emotion, and turned to the hostile leader, who had already\nadvanced a step to receive him.", "The Marquis of Montcalm was, at the period of which we write, in the\nflower of his age, and, it may be added, in the zenith of his fortunes.", "But, even in that enviable situation, he was affable, and distinguished\nas much for his attention to the forms of courtesy, as for that\nchivalrous courage which, only two short years afterwards, induced him\nto throw away his life on the plains of Abraham.", "Duncan, in turning his\neyes from the malign expression of Magua, suffered them to rest with\npleasure on the smiling and polished features, and the noble military\nair, of the French general.", "\"Monsieur,\" said the latter, \"j'ai beaucoup de plaisir a--bah!--ou est\ncet interprete?\"", "\"Je crois, monsieur, qu'il ne sera pas necessaire,\" Heyward modestly\nreplied; \"je parle un peu Francais.\"", "\"Ah!", "j'en suis bien aise,\" said Montcalm, taking Duncan familiarly by\nthe arm, and leading him deep into the marquee, a little out of\near-shot; \"je deteste ces fripons-la; on ne sait jamais sur quel pie on\nest avec eux.", "Eh, bien!", "monsieur,\" he continued, still speaking in\nFrench; \"though I should have been proud of receiving your commandant, I\nam very happy that he has seen proper to employ an officer so\ndistinguished, and who, I am sure, is so amiable, as yourself.\"", "Duncan bowed low, pleased with the compliment, in spite of a most heroic\ndetermination to suffer no artifice to allure him into forgetfulness of\nthe interest of his prince; and Montcalm, after a pause of a moment, as\nif to recollect his thoughts, proceeded,--\n\n\"Your commandant is a brave man, and well qualified to repel my assault.", "Mais, monsieur, is it not time to begin to take more counsel of\nhumanity, and less of your courage?", "The one as strongly characterizes\nthe hero as the other.\"", "\"We consider the qualities as inseparable,\" returned Duncan, smiling;\n\"but while we find in the vigor of your excellency every motive to\nstimulate the one, we can, as yet, see no particular call for the\nexercise of the other.\"", "Montcalm, in his turn, slightly bowed, but it was with the air of a man\ntoo practised to remember the language of flattery.", "After musing a\nmoment, he added,--\n\n\"It is possible my glasses have deceived me, and that your works resist\nour cannon better than I had supposed.", "You know our force?\"", "\"Our accounts vary,\" said Duncan, carelessly; \"the highest, however, has\nnot exceeded twenty thousand men.\"", "The Frenchman bit his lip, and fastened his eyes keenly on the other as\nif to read his thoughts; then, with a readiness peculiar to himself, he\ncontinued, as if assenting to the truth of an enumeration which quite\ndoubled his army,--\n\n\"It is a poor compliment to the vigilance of us soldiers, monsieur,\nthat, do what we will, we never can conceal our numbers.", "If it were to\nbe done at all, one would believe it might succeed in these woods.", "Though you think it too soon to listen to the calls of humanity,\" he\nadded, smiling archly, \"I may be permitted to believe that gallantry is\nnot forgotten by one so young as yourself.", "The daughters of the\ncommandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it was invested?\"", "\"It is true, monsieur; but, so far from weakening our efforts, they set\nus an example of courage in their own fortitude.", "Were nothing but\nresolution necessary to repel so accomplished a soldier as M. de\nMontcalm, I would gladly trust the defence of William Henry to the elder\nof those ladies.\"", "\"We have a wise ordinance in our Salique laws, which says, 'The crown of\nFrance shall never degrade the lance to the distaff,'\" said Montcalm,\ndryly, and with a little hauteur; but instantly adding, with his former\nfrank and easy air, \"as all the nobler qualities are hereditary, I can\neasily credit you; though, as I said before, courage has its limits, and\nhumanity must not be forgotten.", "I trust, monsieur, you come authorized\nto treat for the surrender of the place?\"", "\"Has your excellency found our defence so feeble as to believe the\nmeasure necessary?\"", "\"I should be sorry to have the defence protracted in such a manner as to\nirritate my red friends there,\" continued Montcalm, glancing his eyes at\nthe group of grave and attentive Indians, without attending to the\nother's question; \"I find it difficult, even now, to limit them to the\nusages of war.\"", "Heyward was silent; for a painful recollection of the dangers he had so\nrecently escaped came over his mind, and recalled the images of those\ndefenceless beings who had shared in all his sufferings.", "\"Ces messieurs-la,\" said Montcalm, following up the advantage which he\nconceived he had gained, \"are most formidable when baffled: and it is\nunnecessary to tell you with what difficulty they are restrained in\ntheir anger.", "Eh bien, monsieur!", "shall we speak of the terms?\"", "\"I fear your excellency has been deceived as to the strength of William\nHenry, and the resources of its garrison!\"", "\"I have not sat down before Quebec, but an earthen work, that is\ndefended by twenty-three hundred gallant men,\" was the laconic reply.", "\"Our mounds are earthen, certainly--nor are they seated on the rocks of\nCape Diamond; but they stand on that shore which proved so destructive\nto Dieskau and his army.", "There is also a powerful force within a few\nhours' march of us, which we account upon as part of our means.\"", "\"Some six or eight thousand men,\" returned Montcalm, with much apparent\nindifference, \"whom their leader wisely judges to be safer in their\nworks than in the field.\"", "It was now Heyward's turn to bite his lip with vexation, as the other so\ncoolly alluded to a force which the young man knew to be overrated.", "Both\nmused a little while in silence, when Montcalm renewed the conversation,\nin a way that showed he believed the visit of his guest was solely to\npropose terms of capitulation.", "On the other hand, Heyward began to throw\nsundry inducements in the way of the French general, to betray the\ndiscoveries he had made through the intercepted letter.", "The artifice of\nneither, however, succeeded; and after a protracted and fruitless\ninterview, Duncan took his leave, favorably impressed with an opinion of\nthe courtesy and talents of the enemy's captain, but as ignorant of what\nhe came to learn as when he arrived.", "Montcalm followed him as far as the\nentrance of the marquee, renewing his invitations to the commandant of\nthe fort to give him an immediate meeting in the open ground, between\nthe two armies.", "There they separated, and Duncan returned to the advanced post of the\nFrench, accompanied as before; whence he instantly proceeded to the\nfort, and to the quarters of his own commander." ]

[ "It appeared as if Webb, with his army, which lay slumbering\non the banks of the Hudson, had utterly forgotten the strait to which\nhis countrymen were reduced.", "The carelessness engendered by\nthese usages descended even to the war of the Revolution, and lost the\nStates the important fortress of Ticonderoga, opening a way for the army\nof Burgoyne into what was then the bosom of the country.", "It seemed as if, with the termination to the roar of artillery\nand the plunging of shot, nature had also seized the moment to assume\nher mildest and most captivating form.", "Some were rushing eagerly\nto enjoy the aquatic games of the lake, and others were already toiling\ntheir way up the neighboring hills, with the restless curiosity of their\nnation.", "At the inner angle of the mound\nhe met the sisters, walking along the parapet in search, like himself,\nof air and relief from confinement.", "\"Major Heyward,\" said Munro, turning to his youthful associate with the\ndignity of his years and superior rank; \"I should have served his\nmajesty for half a century, and earned these gray hairs, in vain, were I\nignorant of all you say, and of the pressing nature of our\ncircumstances; still, there is everything due to the honor of the king's\narms and something to ourselves.", "\"Sir, you can; the Marquis of Montcalm has, in addition to his other\ncivilities, invited me to a personal interview between the works and his\nown camp; in order, as he says, to impart some additional information.", "\"Our accounts vary,\" said Duncan, carelessly; \"the highest, however, has\nnot exceeded twenty thousand men.\"", "If it were to\nbe done at all, one would believe it might succeed in these woods.", "The daughters of the\ncommandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it was invested?\"" ]

[ "\"Our accounts vary,\" said Duncan, carelessly; \"the highest, however, has\nnot exceeded twenty thousand men.\"", "Behind these, again, swung, heavily opening and closing in silken folds,\nthe rival standards of England and France.", "\"'Tis nothing,\" she answered, refusing his offered support with feminine\nreserve.", "Here and there a picket had,\nindeed, raised a song, or mingled in a dance, which had drawn the dusky\nsavages around them, from their lairs in the forest.", "They had not met from that painful\nmoment when he deserted them on the plain, only to assure their safety.", "The sounds of other voices, however, caught his attention, and for a\nmoment caused him to forget his purpose.", "See,\" she\ncontinued, as if determined to shake off infirmity, in a sense of duty;\n\"look around you, Major Heyward, and tell me what a prospect is this for\nthe daughter of a soldier whose greatest happiness is his honor and his\nmilitary renown.\"", "\"And will Cora attest the truth of this?\"", "Montcalm had filled the woods of the\nportage with his savages, every yell and whoop from whom rang through\nthe British encampment, chilling the hearts of men who were already but\ntoo much disposed to magnify the danger.", "On the other hand, Heyward began to throw\nsundry inducements in the way of the French general, to betray the\ndiscoveries he had made through the intercepted letter." ]

[ "I hope there is no reason to distrust\nhis fidelity?\"", "\"The fidelity of 'The Long Rifle' is well known to me,\" returned Munro,\n\"and is above suspicion; though his usual good fortune seems, at last,\nto have failed.", "Montcalm has got him, and with the accursed politeness\nof his nation, he has sent him in with a doleful tale, of 'knowing how I\nvalued the fellow, he could not think of retaining him.'", "A Jesuitical\nway, that, Major Duncan Heyward, of telling a man of his misfortunes!\"", "\"But the general and his succor?\"", "\"Did ye look to the south as ye entered, and could ye not see them?\"", "said the old soldier, laughing bitterly.", "\"Hoot!", "hoot!", "you're an\nimpatient boy, sir, and cannot give the gentlemen leisure for their\nmarch!\"", "\"They are coming, then?" ]

[ "\n \"Then go we in, to know his embassy;\n Which I could, with ready guess, declare,\n Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nA few succeeding days were passed amid the privations, the uproar, and\nthe dangers of the siege, which was vigorously pressed by a power\nagainst whose approaches Munro possessed no competent means of\nresistance.", "It appeared as if Webb, with his army, which lay slumbering\non the banks of the Hudson, had utterly forgotten the strait to which\nhis countrymen were reduced.", "Montcalm had filled the woods of the\nportage with his savages, every yell and whoop from whom rang through\nthe British encampment, chilling the hearts of men who were already but\ntoo much disposed to magnify the danger.", "Not so, however, with the besieged.", "Animated by the words, and\nstimulated by the examples, of their leaders, they had found their\ncourage, and maintained their ancient reputation, with zeal that did\njustice to the stern character of their commander.", "As if satisfied with\nthe toil of marching through the wilderness to encounter his enemy, the\nFrench general, though of approved skill, had neglected to seize the\nadjacent mountains; whence the besieged might have been exterminated\nwith impunity, and which, in the more modern warfare of the country,\nwould not have been neglected for a single hour.", "This sort of contempt\nfor eminences, or rather dread of the labor of ascending them, might\nhave been termed the besetting weakness of the warfare of the period.", "It\noriginated in the simplicity of the Indian contests, in which, from the\nnature of the combats, and the density of the forests, fortresses were\nrare, and artillery next to useless.", "The carelessness engendered by\nthese usages descended even to the war of the Revolution, and lost the\nStates the important fortress of Ticonderoga, opening a way for the army\nof Burgoyne into what was then the bosom of the country.", "\"I have not sat down before Quebec, but an earthen work, that is\ndefended by twenty-three hundred gallant men,\" was the laconic reply.", "\"Our mounds are earthen, certainly--nor are they seated on the rocks of\nCape Diamond; but they stand on that shore which proved so destructive\nto Dieskau and his army.", "There is also a powerful force within a few\nhours' march of us, which we account upon as part of our means.\"", "\"Some six or eight thousand men,\" returned Montcalm, with much apparent\nindifference, \"whom their leader wisely judges to be safer in their\nworks than in the field.\"", "It was now Heyward's turn to bite his lip with vexation, as the other so\ncoolly alluded to a force which the young man knew to be overrated.", "Both\nmused a little while in silence, when Montcalm renewed the conversation,\nin a way that showed he believed the visit of his guest was solely to\npropose terms of capitulation.", "On the other hand, Heyward began to throw\nsundry inducements in the way of the French general, to betray the\ndiscoveries he had made through the intercepted letter.", "The artifice of\nneither, however, succeeded; and after a protracted and fruitless\ninterview, Duncan took his leave, favorably impressed with an opinion of\nthe courtesy and talents of the enemy's captain, but as ignorant of what\nhe came to learn as when he arrived.", "Montcalm followed him as far as the\nentrance of the marquee, renewing his invitations to the commandant of\nthe fort to give him an immediate meeting in the open ground, between\nthe two armies.", "There they separated, and Duncan returned to the advanced post of the\nFrench, accompanied as before; whence he instantly proceeded to the\nfort, and to the quarters of his own commander." ]

[ "\n \"_Edg._--Before you fight the battle, ope this letter.\"", "_King Lear._\n\n\nMajor Heyward found Munro attended only by his daughters.", "Alice sat upon\nhis knee, parting the gray hairs on the forehead of the old man with her\ndelicate fingers; and, whenever he affected to frown on her trifling,\nappeasing his assumed anger by pressing her ruby lips fondly on his\nwrinkled brow.", "Cora was seated nigh them, a calm and amused looker-on;\nregarding the wayward movements of her more youthful sister, with that\nspecies of maternal fondness which characterized her love for Alice.", "Not\nonly the dangers through which they had passed, but those which still\nimpended above them, appeared to be momentarily forgotten, in the\nsoothing indulgence of such a family meeting.", "It seemed as if they had\nprofited by the short truce, to devote an instant to the purest and best\naffections: the daughters forgetting their fears, and the veteran his\ncares, in the security of the moment.", "Of this scene, Duncan, who in his\neagerness to report his arrival had entered unannounced, stood many\nmoments an unobserved and a delighted spectator.", "But the quick and\ndancing eyes of Alice soon caught a glimpse of his figure reflected from\na glass, and she sprang blushing from her father's knee, exclaiming\naloud,--\n\n\"Major Heyward!\"", "\"What of the lad?\"", "demanded the father; \"I have sent him to crack a\nlittle with the Frenchman.", "Ha!", "sir, you are young, and you're nimble!", "Away with you, ye baggage; as if there were not troubles enough for a\nsoldier, without having his camp filled with such prattling hussies as\nyourself!\"", "Alice laughingly followed her sister, who instantly led the way from an\napartment where she perceived their presence was no longer desirable.", "Munro, instead of demanding the result of the young man's mission, paced\nthe room for a few moments, with his hands behind his back, and his head\ninclined towards the floor, like a man lost in thought.", "At length he\nraised his eyes, glistening with a father's fondness, and exclaimed,--\n\n\"They are a pair of excellent girls, Heyward, and such as any one may\nboast of.\"", "\"You are not now to learn my opinion of your daughters, Colonel Munro.\"", "\"True, lad, true,\" interrupted the impatient old man; \"you were about\nopening your mind more fully on that matter the day you got in; but I\ndid not think it becoming in an old soldier to be talking of nuptial\nblessings and wedding jokes when the enemies of his king were likely to\nbe unbidden guests at the feast!", "But I was wrong, Duncan, boy, I was\nwrong there; and I am now ready to hear what you have to say.\"", "\"Notwithstanding the pleasure your assurance gives me, dear sir, I have\njust now a message from Montcalm--\"\n\n\"Let the Frenchman and all his host go to the devil, sir?\"", "exclaimed the\nhasty veteran.", "\"He is not yet master of William Henry, nor shall he ever\nbe, provided Webb proves himself the man he should.", "No, sir!", "thank\nHeaven, we are not yet in such a strait that it can be said Munro is too\nmuch pressed to discharge the little domestic duties of his own family.", "Your mother was the only child of my bosom friend, Duncan; and I'll just\ngive you a hearing, though all the knights of St. Louis were in a body\nat the sally-port, with the French saint at their head, craving to speak\na word under favor.", "A pretty degree of knighthood, sir, is that which\ncan be bought with sugar-hogsheads!", "and then your two-penny marquisates!", "The thistle is the order for dignity and antiquity; the veritable _nemo\nme impune lacessit_ of chivalry!", "Ye had ancestors in that degree,\nDuncan, and they were an ornament to the nobles of Scotland.\"", "Heyward, who perceived that his superior took a malicious pleasure in\nexhibiting his contempt for the message of the French general, was fain\nto humor a spleen that he knew would be short-lived; he therefore\nreplied with as much indifference as he could assume on such a\nsubject,--\n\n\"My request, as you know, sir, went so far as to presume to the honor of\nbeing your son.\"", "\"Ay, boy, you found words to make yourself very plainly comprehended.", "But, let me ask ye, sir, have you been as intelligible to the girl?\"", "\"On my honor, no,\" exclaimed Duncan, warmly; \"there would have been an\nabuse of a confided trust, had I taken advantage of my situation for\nsuch a purpose.\"", "\"Your notions are those of a gentleman, Major Heyward, and well enough\nin their place.", "But Cora Munro is a maiden too discreet, and of a mind\ntoo elevated and improved, to need the guardianship even of a father.\"", "\"Cora!\"", "\"Ay--Cora!", "we are talking of your pretensions to Miss Munro, are we not,\nsir?\"", "\"I--I--I was not conscious of having mentioned her name,\" said Duncan,\nstammering.", "\"And to marry whom, then, did you wish my consent, Major Heyward?\"", "demanded the old soldier, erecting himself in the dignity of offended\nfeeling.", "\"You have another, and not less lovely child.\"", "\"Alice!\"", "exclaimed the father, in an astonishment equal to that with\nwhich Duncan had just repeated the name of her sister.", "\"Such was the direction of my wishes, sir.\"", "The young man awaited in silence the result of the extraordinary effect\nproduced by a communication which, as it now appeared, was so\nunexpected.", "For several minutes Munro paced the chamber with long and\nrapid strides, his rigid features working convulsively, and every\nfaculty seemingly absorbed in the musings of his own mind.", "At length, he\npaused directly in front of Heyward, and riveting his eyes upon those of\nthe other, he said, with a lip that quivered violently,--\n\n\"Duncan Heyward, I have loved you for the sake of him whose blood is in\nyour veins; I have loved you for your own good qualities; and I have\nloved you, because I thought you would contribute to the happiness of my\nchild.", "But all this love would turn to hatred, were I assured that what\nI so much apprehend is true.\"", "\"God forbid that any act or thought of mine should lead to such a\nchange!\"", "exclaimed the young man, whose eye never quailed under the\npenetrating look it encountered.", "Without adverting the impossibility of\nthe other's comprehending those feelings which were hid in his own\nbosom, Munro suffered himself to be appeased by the unaltered\ncountenance he met, and with a voice sensibly softened, he continued,--\n\n\"You would be my son, Duncan, and you're ignorant of the history of the\nman you wish to call your father.", "Sit ye down, young man, and I will\nopen to you the wounds of a seared heart, in as few words as may be\nsuitable.\"", "By this time, the message of Montcalm was as much forgotten by him who\nbore it as by the man for whose ears it was intended.", "Each drew a chair,\nand while the veteran communed a few moments with his own thoughts,\napparently in sadness, the youth suppressed his impatience in a look and\nattitude of respectful attention.", "At length the former spoke:--\n\n\"You'll know, already, Major Heyward, that my family was both ancient\nand honorable,\" commenced the Scotsman; \"though it might not altogether\nbe endowed with that amount of wealth that should correspond with its\ndegree.", "I was, may be, such an one as yourself when I plighted my faith\nto Alice Graham, the only child of a neighboring laird of some estate.", "But the connection was disagreeable to her father, on more accounts than\nmy poverty.", "I did therefore what an honest man should--restored the\nmaiden her troth, and departed the country in the service of my king.", "I\nhad seen many regions, and had shed much blood in different lands,\nbefore duty called me to the islands of the West Indies.", "There it was my\nlot to form a connection with one who in time became my wife, and the\nmother of Cora.", "She was the daughter of a gentleman of those isles, by a\nlady whose misfortune it was, if you will,\" said the old man, proudly,\n\"to be descended, remotely, from that unfortunate class who are so\nbasely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxurious people.", "Ay,\nsir, that is a curse entailed on Scotland by her unnatural union with a\nforeign and trading people.", "But could I find a man among them who would\ndare to reflect on my child, he should feel the weight of a father's\nanger!", "Ha!", "Major Heyward, you are yourself born at the south, where\nthese unfortunate beings are considered of a race inferior to your own.\"", "\"'Tis most unfortunately true, sir,\" said Duncan, unable any longer to\nprevent his eyes from sinking to the floor in embarrassment.", "\"And you cast it on my child as a reproach!", "You scorn to mingle the\nblood of the Heywards with one so degraded--lovely and virtuous though\nshe be?\"", "fiercely demanded the jealous parent.", "\"Heaven protect me from a prejudice so unworthy of my reason!\"", "returned\nDuncan, at the same time conscious of such a feeling, and that as deeply\nrooted as if it had been ingrafted in his nature.", "\"The sweetness, the\nbeauty, the witchery of your younger daughter, Colonel Munro, might\nexplain my motives, without imputing to me this injustice.\"", "\"Ye are right, sir,\" returned the old man, again changing his tones to\nthose of gentleness, or rather softness; \"the girl is the image of what\nher mother was at her years, and before she had become acquainted with\ngrief.", "When death deprived me of my wife I returned to Scotland,\nenriched by the marriage; and would you think it, Duncan!", "The suffering\nangel had remained in the heartless state of celibacy twenty long years,\nand that for the sake of a man who could forget her!", "She did more, sir;\nshe over-looked my want of faith, and all difficulties being now\nremoved, she took me for her husband.\"", "\"And became the mother of Alice?\"", "exclaimed Duncan, with an eagerness\nthat might have proved dangerous at a moment when the thoughts of Munro\nwere less occupied than at present.", "\"She did, indeed,\" said the old man, \"and dearly did she pay for the\nblessing she bestowed.", "But she is a saint in heaven, sir; and it ill\nbecomes one whose foot rests on the grave to mourn a lot so blessed.", "I\nhad her but a single year, though; a short term of happiness for one who\nhad seen her youth fade in hopeless pining.\"", "There was something so commanding in the distress of the old man, that\nHeyward did not dare to venture a syllable of consolation.", "Munro sat\nutterly unconscious of the other's presence, his features exposed and\nworking with the anguish of his regrets, while heavy tears fell from his\neyes, and rolled unheeded from his cheeks to the floor.", "At length he\nmoved, as if suddenly recovering his recollection; when he arose, and\ntaking a single turn across the room, he approached his companion with\nan air of military grandeur, and demanded,--\n\n\"Have you not, Major Heyward, some communication that I should hear from\nthe Marquis de Montcalm?\"", "Duncan started, in his turn, and immediately commenced, in an\nembarrassed voice, the half-forgotten message.", "It is unnecessary to\ndwell upon the evasive, though polite manner, with which the French\ngeneral had eluded every attempt of Heyward to worm from him the purport\nof the communication he had proposed making, or on the decided, though\nstill polished message, by which he now gave his enemy to understand,\nthat unless he chose to receive it in person, he should not receive it\nat all.", "As Munro listened to the detail of Duncan, the excited feelings\nof the father gradually gave way before the obligations of his station,\nand when the other was done, he saw before him nothing but the veteran,\nswelling with the wounded feelings of a soldier.", "\"You have said enough, Major Heyward!\"", "exclaimed the angry old man:\n\"enough to make a volume of commentary on French civility.", "Here has this\ngentleman invited me to a conference, and when I send him a capable\nsubstitute, for ye're all that, Duncan, though your years are but few,\nhe answers me with a riddle.\"", "\"He may have thought less favorably of the substitute, my dear sir; and\nyou will remember that the invitation, which he now repeats, was to the\ncommandant of the works, and not to his second.\"", "\"Well, sir, is not a substitute clothed with all the power and dignity\nof him who grants the commission?", "He wishes to confer with Munro!", "Faith,\nsir, I have much inclination to indulge the man, if it should only be to\nlet him behold the firm countenance we maintain in spite of his numbers\nand his summons.", "There might be no bad policy in such a stroke, young\nman.\"", "Duncan, who believed it of the last importance that they should speedily\ncome at the contents of the letter borne by the scout, gladly encouraged\nthis idea.", "\"Without doubt, he could gather no confidence by witnessing our\nindifference,\" he said.", "\"You never said truer word.", "I could wish, sir, that he would visit the\nworks in open day, and in the form of a storming party: that is the\nleast failing method of proving the countenance of an enemy, and would\nbe far preferable to the battering system he has chosen.", "The beauty and\nmanliness of warfare has been much deformed, Major Heyward, by the arts\nof your Monsieur Vauban.", "Our ancestors were far above such scientific\ncowardice!\"", "\"It may be very true, sir; but we are now obliged to repel art by art.", "What is your pleasure in the matter of the interview?\"", "\"I will meet the Frenchman, and that without fear or delay; promptly;\nsir, as becomes a servant of my royal master.", "Go, Major Heyward, and\ngive them a flourish of the music; and send out a messenger to let them\nknow who is coming.", "We will follow with a small guard, for such respect\nis due to one who holds the honor of his king in keeping; and harkee,\nDuncan,\" he added, in a half whisper, though they were alone, \"it may be\nprudent to have some aid at hand, in case there should be treachery at\nthe bottom of it all.\"", "The young man availed himself of this order to quit the apartment; and,\nas the day was fast coming to a close, he hastened, without delay, to\nmake the necessary arrangements.", "A very few minutes only were necessary\nto parade a few files, and to despatch an orderly with a flag to\nannounce the approach of the commandant of the fort.", "When Duncan had\ndone both these, he led the guard to the sally-port, near which he found\nhis superior ready, waiting his appearance.", "As soon as the usual\nceremonials of a military departure were observed, the veteran and his\nmore youthful companion left the fortress, attended by the escort.", "They had proceeded only a hundred yards from the works, when the little\narray which attended the French general to the conference, was seen\nissuing from the hollow way, which formed the bed of a brook that ran\nbetween the batteries of the besiegers and the fort.", "From the moment\nthat Munro left his own works to appear in front of his enemies, his air\nhad been grand, and his step and countenance highly military.", "The\ninstant he caught a glimpse of the white plume that waved in the hat of\nMontcalm, his eye lighted, and age no longer appeared to possess any\ninfluence over his vast and still muscular person.", "\"Speak to the boys to be watchful, sir,\" he said, in an undertone, to\nDuncan; \"and to look well to their flints and steel, for one is never\nsafe with a servant of these Louises; at the same time, we will show\nthem the front of men in deep security.", "Ye'll understand me, Major\nHeyward!\"", "He was interrupted by the clamor of a drum from the approaching\nFrenchmen, which was immediately answered, when each party pushed an\norderly in advance, bearing a white flag, and the wary Scotsman halted,\nwith his guard close at his back.", "As soon as this slight salutation had\npassed, Montcalm moved towards them with a quick but graceful step,\nbaring his head to the veteran, and dropping his spotless plume nearly\nto the earth in courtesy.", "If the air of Munro was more commanding and\nmanly, it wanted both the ease and insinuating polish of that of the\nFrenchman.", "Neither spoke for a few moments, each regarding the other\nwith curious and interested eyes.", "Then, as became his superior rank and\nthe nature of the interview, Montcalm broke the silence.", "After uttering\nthe usual words of greeting, he turned to Duncan, and continued with a\nsmile of recognition, speaking always in French,--\n\n[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE MEETING OF THE GENERALS\n\n_As soon as this slight salutation had passed, Montcalm moved towards\nthem with a quick but graceful step, baring his head to the veteran, and\ndropping his spotless plume nearly to the earth in courtesy_]\n\n\"I am rejoiced, monsieur, that you have given us the pleasure of your\ncompany on this occasion.", "There will be no necessity to employ an\nordinary interpreter; for, in your hands, I feel the same security as if\nI spoke your language myself.\"", "Duncan acknowledged the compliment, when Montcalm, turning to his guard,\nwhich, in imitation of that of their enemies, pressed close upon him,\ncontinued,--\n\n\"En arriere, mes enfans--il fait chaud; retirez-vous un peu.\"", "Before Major Heyward would imitate this proof of confidence, he glanced\nhis eyes around the plain, and beheld with uneasiness the numerous dusky\ngroups of savages, who looked out from the margin of the surrounding\nwoods, curious spectators of the interview.", "\"Monsieur de Montcalm will readily acknowledge the difference in our\nsituation,\" he said, with some embarrassment, pointing at the same time\ntowards those dangerous foes, who were to be seen in almost every\ndirection.", "\"Were we to dismiss our guard, we should stand here at the\nmercy of our enemies.\"", "\"Monsieur, you have the plighted faith of _un gentilhomme Francais_; for\nyour safety,\" returned Montcalm, laying his hand impressively on his\nheart; \"it should suffice.\"", "\"It shall.", "Fall back,\" Duncan added to the officer who led the escort;\n\"fall back, sir, beyond hearing, and wait for orders.\"", "Munro witnessed this movement with manifest uneasiness; nor did he fail\nto demand an instant explanation.", "\"Is it not our interest, sir, to betray no distrust?\"", "retorted Duncan.", "\"Monsieur de Montcalm pledges his word for our safety, and I have\nordered the men to withdraw a little, in order to prove how much we\ndepend on his assurance.\"", "\"It may be all right, sir, but I have no overweening reliance on the\nfaith of these marquesses, or marquis, as they call themselves.", "Their\npatents of nobility are too common to be certain that they bear the seal\nof true honor.\"", "\"You forget, dear sir, that we confer with an officer distinguished\nalike in Europe and America for his deeds.", "From a soldier of his\nreputation we can have nothing to apprehend.\"", "The old man made a gesture of resignation, though his rigid features\nstill betrayed his obstinate adherence to a distrust, which he derived\nfrom a sort of hereditary contempt of his enemy, rather than from any\npresent signs which might warrant so uncharitable a feeling.", "Montcalm\nwaited patiently until this little dialogue in demi-voice was ended,\nwhen he drew nigher, and opened the subject of their conference.", "\"I have solicited this interview from your superior, monsieur,\" he said,\n\"because I believe he will allow himself to be persuaded that he has\nalready done everything which is necessary for the honor of his prince,\nand will not listen to the admonitions of humanity.", "I will forever bear\ntestimony that his resistance has been gallant, and was continued as\nlong as there was hope.\"", "When this opening was translated to Munro, he answered with dignity, but\nwith sufficient courtesy,--\n\n\"However I may prize such testimony from Monsieur Montcalm, it will be\nmore valuable when it shall be better merited.\"", "The French general smiled, as Duncan gave him the purport of this reply,\nand observed,--\n\n\"What is now so freely accorded to approved courage, may be refused to\nuseless obstinacy.", "Monsieur would wish to see my camp, and witness, for\nhimself, our numbers, and the impossibility of his resisting them, with\nsuccess?\"", "\"I know that the king of France is well served,\" returned the unmoved\nScotsman, as soon as Duncan ended his translation; \"but my own royal\nmaster has as many and as faithful troops.\"", "\"Though not at hand, fortunately for us,\" said Montcalm, without\nwaiting, in his ardor, for the interpreter.", "\"There is a destiny in war,\nto which a brave man knows how to submit, with the same courage that he\nfaces his foes.\"", "\"Had I been conscious that Monsieur Montcalm was master of the English,\nI should have spared myself the trouble of so awkward a translation,\"\nsaid the vexed Duncan, dryly; remembering instantly his recent by-play\nwith Munro.", "\"Your pardon, monsieur,\" rejoined the Frenchman, suffering a slight\ncolor to appear on his dark cheek.", "\"There is a vast difference between\nunderstanding and speaking a foreign tongue; you will, therefore, please\nto assist me still.\"", "Then after a short pause, he added, \"These hills\nafford us every opportunity of reconnoitring your works, messieurs, and\nI am possibly as well acquainted with their weak condition as you can be\nyourselves.\"", "\"Ask the French general if his glasses can reach to the Hudson,\" said\nMunro, proudly; \"and if he knows when and where to expect the army of\nWebb.\"", "\"Let General Webb be his own interpreter,\" returned the politic\nMontcalm, suddenly extending an open letter towards Munro, as he spoke;\n\"you will there learn, monsieur, that his movements are not likely to\nprove embarrassing to my army.\"", "The veteran seized the offered paper, without waiting for Duncan to\ntranslate the speech, and with an eagerness that betrayed how important\nhe deemed its contents.", "As his eye passed hastily over the words, his\ncountenance changed from its look of military pride to one of deep\nchagrin: his lip began to quiver; and, suffering the paper to fall from\nhis hand, his head dropped upon his chest, like that of a man whose\nhopes were withered at a single blow.", "Duncan caught the letter from the\nground, and without apology for the liberty he took, he read at a glance\nits cruel purport.", "Their common superior, so far from encouraging them\nto resist, advised a speedy surrender, urging in the plainest language\nas a reason, the utter impossibility of his sending a single man to\ntheir rescue.", "\"Here is no deception!\"", "exclaimed Duncan, examining the billet both\ninside and out; \"this is the signature of Webb, and must be the captured\nletter.\"", "\"The man has betrayed me!\"", "Munro at length bitterly exclaimed: \"he has\nbrought dishonor to the door of one where disgrace was never before\nknown to dwell, and shame has he heaped heavily on my gray hairs.\"", "\"Say not so,\" cried Duncan; \"we are yet masters of the fort, and of our\nhonor.", "Let us then sell our lives at such a rate as shall make our\nenemies believe the purchase too dear.\"", "\"Boy, I thank thee,\" exclaimed the old man, rousing himself from his\nstupor; \"you have, for once, reminded Munro of his duty.", "We will go\nback, and dig our graves behind those ramparts.\"", "\"Messieurs,\" said Montcalm, advancing towards them a step, in generous\ninterest, \"you little know Louis de St. Veran, if you believe him\ncapable of profiting by this letter to humble brave men, or to build up\na dishonest reputation for himself.", "Listen to my terms before you leave\nme.\"", "\"What says the Frenchman?\"", "demanded the veteran, sternly; \"does he make\na merit of having captured a scout, with a note from headquarters?", "Sir,\nhe had better raise this siege, to go and sit down before Edward if he\nwishes to frighten his enemy with words.\"", "Duncan explained the other's meaning.", "\"Monsieur de Montcalm, we will hear you,\" the veteran added, more calmly,\nas Duncan ended.", "\"To retain the fort is now impossible,\" said his liberal enemy; \"it is\nnecessary to the interests of my master that it should be destroyed;\nbut, as for yourselves, and your brave comrades, there is no privilege\ndear to a soldier that shall be denied.\"", "\"Our colors?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Carry them to England, and show them to your king.\"", "\"Our arms?\"", "\"Keep them; none can use them better.\"", "\"Our march; the surrender of the place?\"", "\"Shall all be done in a way most honorable to yourselves.\"", "Duncan now turned to explain these proposals to his commander, who heard\nhim with amazement, and a sensibility that was deeply touched by such\nunusual and unexpected generosity.", "\"Go you, Duncan,\" he said; \"go with this marquess, as indeed marquess he\nshould be; go to his marquee and arrange it all.", "I have lived to see two\nthings in my old age, that never did I expect to behold.", "An Englishman\nafraid to support a friend, and a Frenchman too honest to profit by his\nadvantage.\"", "So saying, the veteran again dropped his head to his chest, and returned\nslowly towards the fort, exhibiting, by the dejection of his air, to the\nanxious garrison, a harbinger of evil tidings.", "From the shock of this unexpected blow the haughty feelings of Munro\nnever recovered; but from that moment there commenced a change in his\ndetermined character, which accompanied him to a speedy grave.", "Duncan\nremained to settle the terms of the capitulation.", "He was seen to\nre-enter the works during the first watches of the night, and\nimmediately after a private conference with the commandant, to leave\nthem again, It was then openly announced, that hostilities must\ncease--Munro having signed a treaty, by which the place was to be\nyielded to the enemy, with the morning; the garrison to retain their\narms, their colors, and their baggage, and consequently, according to\nmilitary opinion, their honor." ]

[ "Ha!", "\"On my honor, no,\" exclaimed Duncan, warmly; \"there would have been an\nabuse of a confided trust, had I taken advantage of my situation for\nsuch a purpose.\"", "we are talking of your pretensions to Miss Munro, are we not,\nsir?\"", "exclaimed Duncan, with an eagerness\nthat might have proved dangerous at a moment when the thoughts of Munro\nwere less occupied than at present.", "\"He may have thought less favorably of the substitute, my dear sir; and\nyou will remember that the invitation, which he now repeats, was to the\ncommandant of the works, and not to his second.\"", "He wishes to confer with Munro!", "Faith,\nsir, I have much inclination to indulge the man, if it should only be to\nlet him behold the firm countenance we maintain in spite of his numbers\nand his summons.", "As soon as the usual\nceremonials of a military departure were observed, the veteran and his\nmore youthful companion left the fortress, attended by the escort.", "I will forever bear\ntestimony that his resistance has been gallant, and was continued as\nlong as there was hope.\"", "\"Your pardon, monsieur,\" rejoined the Frenchman, suffering a slight\ncolor to appear on his dark cheek." ]

[ "\"And you cast it on my child as a reproach!", "\"There is a destiny in war,\nto which a brave man knows how to submit, with the same courage that he\nfaces his foes.\"", "\"Our march; the surrender of the place?\"", "Let us then sell our lives at such a rate as shall make our\nenemies believe the purchase too dear.\"", "\"Without doubt, he could gather no confidence by witnessing our\nindifference,\" he said.", "Fall back,\" Duncan added to the officer who led the escort;\n\"fall back, sir, beyond hearing, and wait for orders.\"", "But she is a saint in heaven, sir; and it ill\nbecomes one whose foot rests on the grave to mourn a lot so blessed.", "As soon as the usual\nceremonials of a military departure were observed, the veteran and his\nmore youthful companion left the fortress, attended by the escort.", "\"To retain the fort is now impossible,\" said his liberal enemy; \"it is\nnecessary to the interests of my master that it should be destroyed;\nbut, as for yourselves, and your brave comrades, there is no privilege\ndear to a soldier that shall be denied.\"", "She did more, sir;\nshe over-looked my want of faith, and all difficulties being now\nremoved, she took me for her husband.\"" ]

[ "exclaimed the angry old man:\n\"enough to make a volume of commentary on French civility.", "Here has this\ngentleman invited me to a conference, and when I send him a capable\nsubstitute, for ye're all that, Duncan, though your years are but few,\nhe answers me with a riddle.\"", "\"He may have thought less favorably of the substitute, my dear sir; and\nyou will remember that the invitation, which he now repeats, was to the\ncommandant of the works, and not to his second.\"", "\"Well, sir, is not a substitute clothed with all the power and dignity\nof him who grants the commission?", "He wishes to confer with Munro!", "Faith,\nsir, I have much inclination to indulge the man, if it should only be to\nlet him behold the firm countenance we maintain in spite of his numbers\nand his summons.", "There might be no bad policy in such a stroke, young\nman.\"", "Duncan, who believed it of the last importance that they should speedily\ncome at the contents of the letter borne by the scout, gladly encouraged\nthis idea.", "\"Without doubt, he could gather no confidence by witnessing our\nindifference,\" he said.", "\"You never said truer word.", "I could wish, sir, that he would visit the\nworks in open day, and in the form of a storming party: that is the\nleast failing method of proving the countenance of an enemy, and would\nbe far preferable to the battering system he has chosen." ]

[ "\n \"_Edg._--Before you fight the battle, ope this letter.\"", "_King Lear._\n\n\nMajor Heyward found Munro attended only by his daughters.", "Alice sat upon\nhis knee, parting the gray hairs on the forehead of the old man with her\ndelicate fingers; and, whenever he affected to frown on her trifling,\nappeasing his assumed anger by pressing her ruby lips fondly on his\nwrinkled brow.", "Cora was seated nigh them, a calm and amused looker-on;\nregarding the wayward movements of her more youthful sister, with that\nspecies of maternal fondness which characterized her love for Alice.", "Not\nonly the dangers through which they had passed, but those which still\nimpended above them, appeared to be momentarily forgotten, in the\nsoothing indulgence of such a family meeting.", "It seemed as if they had\nprofited by the short truce, to devote an instant to the purest and best\naffections: the daughters forgetting their fears, and the veteran his\ncares, in the security of the moment.", "Of this scene, Duncan, who in his\neagerness to report his arrival had entered unannounced, stood many\nmoments an unobserved and a delighted spectator.", "But the quick and\ndancing eyes of Alice soon caught a glimpse of his figure reflected from\na glass, and she sprang blushing from her father's knee, exclaiming\naloud,--\n\n\"Major Heyward!\"", "\"What of the lad?\"", "demanded the father; \"I have sent him to crack a\nlittle with the Frenchman.", "\"Our march; the surrender of the place?\"", "\"Shall all be done in a way most honorable to yourselves.\"", "Duncan now turned to explain these proposals to his commander, who heard\nhim with amazement, and a sensibility that was deeply touched by such\nunusual and unexpected generosity.", "\"Go you, Duncan,\" he said; \"go with this marquess, as indeed marquess he\nshould be; go to his marquee and arrange it all.", "I have lived to see two\nthings in my old age, that never did I expect to behold.", "An Englishman\nafraid to support a friend, and a Frenchman too honest to profit by his\nadvantage.\"", "So saying, the veteran again dropped his head to his chest, and returned\nslowly towards the fort, exhibiting, by the dejection of his air, to the\nanxious garrison, a harbinger of evil tidings.", "From the shock of this unexpected blow the haughty feelings of Munro\nnever recovered; but from that moment there commenced a change in his\ndetermined character, which accompanied him to a speedy grave.", "Duncan\nremained to settle the terms of the capitulation.", "He was seen to\nre-enter the works during the first watches of the night, and\nimmediately after a private conference with the commandant, to leave\nthem again, It was then openly announced, that hostilities must\ncease--Munro having signed a treaty, by which the place was to be\nyielded to the enemy, with the morning; the garrison to retain their\narms, their colors, and their baggage, and consequently, according to\nmilitary opinion, their honor." ]

[ "\n \"Weave we the woof.", "The thread is spun.", "The web is wove.", "The work is done.\"", "GRAY.", "The hostile armies, which lay in the wilds of the Horican, passed the\nnight of the 9th of August, 1757, much in the manner they would had they\nencountered on the fairest fields of Europe.", "While the conquered were\nstill, sullen, and dejected, the victors triumphed.", "But there are limits\nalike to grief and joy; and long before the watches of the morning came,\nthe stillness of those boundless woods was only broken by a gay call\nfrom some exulting young Frenchman of the advanced pickets, or a\nmenacing challenge from the fort, which sternly forbade the approach of\nany hostile footsteps before the stipulated moment.", "Even these\noccasional threatening sounds ceased to be heard in that dull hour which\nprecedes the day, at which period a listener might have sought in vain\nany evidence of the presence of those armed powers that then slumbered\non the shores of the \"holy lake.\"", "It was during these moments of deep silence, that the canvas which\nconcealed the entrance to a spacious marquee in the French encampment\nwas shoved aside, and a man issued from beneath the drapery into the\nopen air.", "He was enveloped in a cloak that might have been intended as a\nprotection from the chilling damps of the woods, but which served\nequally well as a mantle, to conceal his person.", "He was permitted to\npass the grenadier, who watched over the slumbers of the French\ncommander, without interruption, the man making the usual salute which\nbetokens military deference, as the other passed swiftly through the\nlittle city of tents, in the direction of William Henry.", "Whenever this\nunknown individual encountered one of the numberless sentinels who\ncrossed his path, his answer was prompt, and as it appeared\nsatisfactory; for he was uniformly allowed to proceed, without further\ninterrogation.", "With the exception of such repeated, but brief interruptions, he had\nmoved, silently, from the centre of the camp, to its most advanced\noutposts, when he drew nigh the soldier who held his watch nearest to\nthe works of the enemy.", "As he approached he was received with the usual\nchallenge,--\n\n\"Qui vive?\"", "\"France,\" was the reply.", "\"Le mot d'ordre?\"", "\"La victoire,\" said the other, drawing so nigh as to be heard in a loud\nwhisper.", "\"C'est bien,\" returned the sentinel, throwing his musket from the charge\nto his shoulder; \"vous vous promenez bien matin, monsieur!\"", "\"Il est necessaire d'etre vigilant, mon enfant,\" the other observed,\ndropping a fold of his cloak, and looking the soldier close in the face,\nas he passed him, still continuing his way towards the British\nfortification.", "The man started; his arms rattled heavily, as he threw\nthem forward, in the lowest and most respectful salute; and when he had\nagain recovered his piece, he turned to walk his post, muttering between\nhis teeth,--\n\n\"Il faut etre vigilant, en verite!", "je crois que nous avons la, un\ncaporal qui ne dort jamais!\"", "The officer proceeded, without affecting to hear the words which escaped\nthe sentinel in his surprise; nor did he again pause until he had\nreached the low strand, and in a somewhat dangerous vicinity to the\nwestern water bastion of the fort.", "The light of an obscure moon was just\nsufficient to render objects, though dim, perceptible in their outlines.", "He, therefore, took the precaution to place himself against the trunk of\na tree, where he leaned for many minutes, and seemed to contemplate the\ndark and silent mounds of the English works in profound attention.", "His\ngaze at the ramparts was not that of a curious or idle spectator; but\nhis looks wandered from point to point, denoting his knowledge of\nmilitary usages, and betraying that his search was not unaccompanied by\ndistrust.", "At length he appeared satisfied; and having cast his eyes\nimpatiently upwards towards the summit of the eastern mountain, as if\nanticipating the approach of the morning, he was in the act of turning\non his footsteps, when a light sound on the nearest angle of the bastion\ncaught his ear, and induced him to remain.", "Just then a figure was seen to approach the edge of the rampart, where\nit stood, apparently contemplating in its turn the distant tents of the\nFrench encampment.", "Its head was then turned towards the east, as though\nequally anxious for the appearance of light, when the form leaned\nagainst the mound, and seemed to gaze upon the glassy expanse of the\nwaters, which, like a submarine firmament, glittered with its thousand\nmimic stars.", "The melancholy air, the hour, together with the vast frame\nof the man who thus leaned, in musing, against the English ramparts,\nleft no doubt as to his person, in the mind of his observant spectator.", "Delicacy, no less than prudence, now urged him to retire; and he had\nmoved cautiously round the body of the tree for that purpose, when\nanother sound drew his attention, and once more arrested his footsteps.", "It was a low and almost inaudible movement of the water, and was\nsucceeded by a grating of pebbles one against the other.", "In a moment he\nsaw a dark form rise, as it were out of the lake, and steal without\nfurther noise to the land, within a few feet of the place where he\nhimself stood.", "A rifle next slowly rose between his eyes and the watery\nmirror; but before it could be discharged his own hand was on the lock.", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed the savage, whose treacherous aim was so singularly\nand so unexpectedly interrupted.", "Without making any reply, the French officer laid his hand on the\nshoulder of the Indian, and led him in profound silence to a distance\nfrom the spot, where their subsequent dialogue might have proved\ndangerous, and where it seemed that one of them, at least, sought a\nvictim.", "Then, throwing open his cloak, so as to expose his uniform and\nthe cross of St. Louis which was suspended at his breast, Montcalm\nsternly demanded,--\n\n\"What means this!", "Does not my son know that the hatchet is buried\nbetween the English and his Canadian Father?\"", "\"What can the Hurons do?\"", "returned the savage, speaking also, though\nimperfectly, in the French language.", "\"Not a warrior has a scalp, and the\npale-faces make friends!\"", "\"Ha!", "Le Renard Subtil!", "Methinks this is an excess of zeal for a friend\nwho was so late an enemy!", "How many suns have set since Le Renard struck\nthe war-post of the English?\"", "\"Where is that sun!\"", "demanded the sullen savage.", "\"Behind the hill; and\nit is dark and cold.", "But when he comes again, it will be bright and\nwarm.", "Le Subtil is the sun of his tribe.", "There have been clouds, and\nmany mountains between him and his nation; but now he shines, and it is\na clear sky!\"", "\"That Le Renard has power with his people, I well know,\" said Montcalm;\n\"for yesterday he hunted for their scalps, and to-day they hear him at\nthe council-fire.\"", "\"Magua is a great chief.\"", "\"Let him prove it, by teaching his nation how to conduct itself towards\nour new friends.\"", "\"Why did the chief of the Canadas bring his young men into the woods,\nand fire his cannon at the earthen house?\"", "demanded the subtle Indian.", "\"To subdue it.", "My master owns the land, and your father has been ordered\nto drive off these English squatters.", "They have consented to go, and now\nhe calls them enemies no longer.\"", "\"'Tis well.", "Magua took the hatchet to color it with blood.", "It is now\nbright; when it is red, it shall be buried.\"", "\"But Magua is pledged not to sully the lilies of France.", "The enemies of\nthe great king across the salt lake are his enemies; his friends, the\nfriends of the Hurons.\"", "\"Friends!\"", "repeated the Indian, in scorn.", "\"Let his father give Magua a\nhand.\"", "Montcalm, who felt that his influence over the warlike tribes he had\ngathered was to be maintained by concession rather than by power,\ncomplied reluctantly with the other's request.", "The savage placed the\nfinger of the French commander on a deep scar in his bosom, and then\nexultingly demanded,--\n\n\"Does my father know that?\"", "\"What warrior does not?", "'tis where a leaden bullet has cut.\"", "\"And this?\"", "continued the Indian, who had turned his naked back to the\nother, his body being without its usual calico mantle.", "\"This!--my son has been sadly injured, here; who has done this?\"", "\"Magua slept hard in the English wigwams, and the sticks have left their\nmark,\" returned the savage, with a hollow laugh, which did not conceal\nthe fierce temper that nearly choked him.", "Then recollecting himself,\nwith sudden and native dignity, he added, \"Go; teach your young men, it\nis peace.", "Le Renard Subtil knows how to speak to a Huron warrior.\"", "Without deigning to bestow further words, or to wait for any answer, the\nsavage cast his rifle into the hollow of his arm, and moved silently\nthrough the encampment towards the woods where his own tribe was known\nto lie.", "Every few yards as he proceeded he was challenged by the\nsentinels; but he stalked sullenly onward, utterly disregarding the\nsummons of the soldiers, who only spared his life because they knew the\nair and tread no less than the obstinate daring of an Indian.", "Montcalm lingered long and melancholy on the strand, where he had been\nleft by his companion, brooding deeply on the temper which his\nungovernable ally had just discovered.", "Already had his fair fame been\ntarnished by one horrid scene, and in circumstances fearfully resembling\nthose under which he now found himself.", "As he mused he became keenly\nsensible of the deep responsibility they assume who disregard the means\nto attain their end, and of all the danger of setting in motion an\nengine which it exceeds human power to control.", "Then shaking off a train\nof reflections that he accounted a weakness in such a moment of triumph,\nhe retraced his steps towards his tent, giving the order as he passed,\nto make the signal that should arouse the army from its slumbers.", "The first tap of the French drums was echoed from the bosom of the fort,\nand presently the valley was filled with the strains of martial music,\nrising long, thrilling, and lively above the rattling accompaniment.", "The\nhorns of the victors sounded merry and cheerful flourishes, until the\nlast laggard of the camp was at his post; but the instant the British\nfifes had blown their shrill signal, they became mute.", "In the meantime\nthe day had dawned, and when the line of the French army was ready to\nreceive its general, the rays of a brilliant sun were glancing along the\nglittering array.", "Then that success, which was already so well known,\nwas officially announced; the favored band who were selected to guard\nthe gates of the fort were detailed, and defiled before their chief; the\nsignal of their approach was given, and all the usual preparations for a\nchange of masters were ordered and executed directly under the guns of\nthe contested works.", "A very different scene presented itself within the lines of the\nAnglo-American army.", "As soon as the warning signal was given, it\nexhibited all the signs of a hurried and forced departure.", "The sullen\nsoldiers shouldered their empty tubes and fell into their places, like\nmen whose blood had been heated by the past contest, and who only\ndesired the opportunity to revenge an indignity which was still wounding\nto their pride, concealed as it was under all the observances of\nmilitary etiquette.", "Women and children ran from place to place, some\nbearing the scanty remnants of their baggage, and others searching in\nthe ranks for those countenances they looked up to for protection.", "Munro appeared among his silent troops firm but dejected.", "It was evident\nthat the unexpected blow had struck deep into his heart, though he\nstruggled to sustain his misfortune with the port of man.", "Duncan was touched at the quiet and impressive exhibition of his grief.", "He had discharged his own duty, and he now pressed to the side of the\nold man, to know in what particular he might serve him.", "\"My daughters,\" was the brief but expressive reply.", "\"Good heavens!", "are not arrangements already made for their convenience?\"", "\"To-day I am only a soldier, Major Heyward,\" said the veteran.", "\"All that\nyou see here, claim alike to be my children.\"", "Duncan had heard enough.", "Without losing one of those moments which had\nnow become so precious, he flew towards the quarters of Munro, in quest\nof the sisters.", "He found them on the threshold of the low edifice,\nalready prepared to depart, and surrounded by a clamorous and weeping\nassemblage of their own sex, that had gathered about the place, with a\nsort of instinctive consciousness that it was the point most likely to\nbe protected.", "Though the cheeks of Cora were pale, and her countenance\nanxious, she had lost none of her firmness; but the eyes of Alice were\ninflamed, and betrayed how long and bitterly she had wept.", "They both,\nhowever, received the young man with undisguised pleasure; the former,\nfor a novelty, being the first to speak.", "\"The fort is lost,\" she said, with a melancholy smile; \"though our good\nname, I trust, remains.\"", "\"'Tis brighter than ever.", "But, dearest Miss Munro, it is time to think\nless of others, and to make some provision for yourself.", "Military\nusage,--pride,--that pride on which you so much value yourself, demands\nthat your father and I should for a little while continue with the\ntroops.", "Then where to seek a proper protector for you against the\nconfusion and chances of such a scene?\"", "\"None is necessary,\" returned Cora; \"who will dare to injure or insult\nthe daughter of such a father, at a time like this?\"", "\"I would not leave you alone,\" continued the youth, looking about him in\na hurried manner, \"for the command of the best regiment in the pay of\nthe king.", "Remember, our Alice is not gifted with all your firmness, and\nGod only knows the terror she might endure.\"", "\"You may be right,\" Cora replied, smiling again, but far more sadly than\nbefore.", "\"Listen!", "chance has already sent us a friend when he is most\nneeded.\"", "Duncan did listen, and on the instant comprehended her meaning.", "The low\nand serious sounds of the sacred music, so well known to the eastern\nprovinces, caught his ear, and instantly drew him to an apartment in an\nadjacent building, which had already been deserted by its customary\ntenants.", "There he found David, pouring out his pious feelings, through\nthe only medium in which he ever indulged.", "Duncan waited, until, by the\ncessation of the movement of the hand, he believed the strain was ended,\nwhen, by touching his shoulder, he drew the attention of the other to\nhimself, and in a few words explained his wishes.", "\"Even so,\" replied the single-minded disciple of the King of Israel,\nwhen the young man had ended; \"I have found much that is comely and\nmelodious in the maidens, and it is fitting that we who have consorted\nin so much peril, should abide together in peace.", "I will attend them,\nwhen I have completed my morning praise, to which nothing is now wanting\nbut the doxology.", "Wilt thou bear a part, friend?", "The metre is common,\nand the tune, 'Southwell.'\"", "Then, extending the little volume, and giving the pitch of the air anew\nwith considerate attention, David recommenced and finished his strains,\nwith a fixedness of manner that it was not easy to interrupt.", "Heyward\nwas fain to wait until the verse was ended; when, seeing David relieving\nhimself from the spectacles, and replacing the book, he continued,--\n\n\"It will be your duty to see that none dare to approach the ladies with\nany rude intention, or to offer insult or taunt at the misfortune of\ntheir brave father.", "In this task you will be seconded by the domestics\nof their household.\"", "\"Even so.\"", "\"It is possible that the Indians and stragglers of the enemy may\nintrude, in which case you will remind them of the terms of the\ncapitulation, and threaten to report their conduct to Montcalm.", "A word\nwill suffice.\"", "\"If not, I have that here which shall,\" returned David, exhibiting his\nbook, with an air in which meekness and confidence were singularly\nblended.", "\"Here are words which, uttered, or rather thundered, with\nproper emphasis, and in measured time, shall quiet the most unruly\ntemper:--\n\n \"'Why rage the heathen furiously!'\"", "--\n\n\"Enough,\" said Heyward, interrupting the burst of his musical\ninvocation: \"we understand each other; it is time that we should now\nassume our respective duties.\"", "Gamut cheerfully assented, and together they sought the females.", "Cora\nreceived her new, and somewhat extraordinary protector, courteously at\nleast; and even the pallid features of Alice lighted again with some of\ntheir native archness as she thanked Heyward for his care.", "Duncan took\noccasion to assure them he had done the best that circumstances\npermitted, and, as he believed, quite enough for the security of their\nfeelings; of danger there was none.", "He then spoke gladly of his\nintention to rejoin them the moment he had led the advance a few miles\ntowards the Hudson, and immediately took his leave.", "By this time the signal of departure had been given, and the head of the\nEnglish column was in motion.", "The sisters started at the sound, and\nglancing their eyes around, they saw the white uniforms of the French\ngrenadiers, who had already taken possession of the gates of the fort.", "At that moment, an enormous cloud seemed to pass suddenly above their\nheads, and looking upward, they discovered that they stood beneath the\nwide folds of the standard of France.", "\"Let us go,\" said Cora; \"this is no longer a fit place for the children\nof an English officer.\"", "Alice clung to the arm of her sister, and together they left the parade,\naccompanied by the moving throng that surrounded them.", "As they passed the gates, the French officers, who had learned their\nrank, bowed often and low, forbearing, however, to intrude those\nattentions which they saw, with peculiar tact, might not be agreeable.", "As every vehicle and each beast of burden was occupied by the sick and\nwounded, Cora had decided to endure the fatigues of a foot march, rather\nthan interfere with their comforts.", "Indeed, many a maimed and feeble\nsoldier was compelled to drag his exhausted limbs in the rear of the\ncolumns, for the want of the necessary means of conveyance, in that\nwilderness.", "The whole, however, was in motion; the weak and wounded,\ngroaning, and in suffering; their comrades, silent and sullen; and the\nwomen and children in terror, they knew not of what.", "As the confused and timid throng left the protecting mounds of the fort,\nand issued on the open plain, the whole scene was at once presented to\ntheir eyes.", "At a little distance on the right, and somewhat in the rear,\nthe French army stood to their arms, Montcalm having collected his\nparties, so soon as his guards had possession of the works.", "They were\nattentive but silent observers of the proceedings of the vanquished,\nfailing in none of the stipulated military honors, and offering no taunt\nor insult, in their success, to their less fortunate foes.", "Living masses\nof the English, to the amount in the whole of near three thousand, were\nmoving slowly across the plain, towards the common centre, and gradually\napproached each other, as they converged to the point of their march, a\nvista cut through the lofty trees, where the road to the Hudson entered\nthe forest.", "Along the sweeping borders of the woods, hung a dark cloud\nof savages, eying the passage of their enemies, and hovering, at a\ndistance, like vultures, who were only kept from swooping on their prey,\nby the presence and restraint of a superior army.", "A few had straggled\namong the conquered columns, where they stalked in sullen discontent;\nattentive, though, as yet, passive observers of the moving multitude.", "The advance, with Heyward at its head, had already reached the defile,\nand was slowly disappearing, when the attention of Cora was drawn to a\ncollection of stragglers, by the sounds of contention.", "A truant\nprovincial was paying the forfeit of his disobedience, by being\nplundered of those very effects which had caused him to desert his place\nin the ranks.", "The man was of powerful frame, and too avaricious to part\nwith his goods without a struggle.", "Individuals from either party\ninterfered; the one side to prevent, and the other to aid in the\nrobbery.", "Voices grew loud and angry, and a hundred savages appeared, as\nit were by magic, where a dozen only had been seen a minute before.", "It\nwas then that Cora saw the form of Magua gliding among his countrymen,\nand speaking with his fatal and artful eloquence.", "The mass of women and\nchildren stopped, and hovered together like alarmed and fluttering\nbirds.", "But the cupidity of the Indian was soon gratified, and the\ndifferent bodies again moved slowly onward.", "The savages now fell back, and seemed content to let their enemies\nadvance without further molestation.", "But as the female crowd approached\nthem, the gaudy colors of a shawl attracted the eyes of a wild and\nuntutored Huron.", "He advanced to seize it, without the least hesitation.", "The woman, more in terror than through love of the ornament, wrapped her\nchild in the coveted article, and folded both more closely to her bosom.", "Cora was in the act of speaking, with an intent to advise the woman to\nabandon the trifle, when the savage relinquished his hold of the shawl,\nand tore the screaming infant from her arms.", "Abandoning everything to\nthe greedy grasp of those around her, the mother darted, with\ndistraction in her mien, to reclaim her child.", "The Indian smiled grimly,\nand extended one hand, in sign of a willingness to exchange, while with\nthe other, he flourished the babe over his head, holding it by the feet\nas if to enhance the value of the ransom.", "\"Here--here--there--all--any--everything!\"", "exclaimed the breathless\nwoman; tearing the lighter articles of dress from her person, with\nill-directed and trembling fingers; \"take all, but give me my babe!\"", "The savage spurned the worthless rags, and perceiving that the shawl had\nalready become a prize to another, his bantering but sullen smile\nchanging to a gleam of ferocity, he dashed the head of the infant\nagainst a rock, and cast its quivering remains to her very feet.", "For an\ninstant, the mother stood, like a statue of despair, looking wildly down\nat the unseemly object, which had so lately nestled in her bosom and\nsmiled in her face; and then she raised her eyes and countenance towards\nheaven, as if calling on God to curse the perpetrator of the foul deed.", "She was spared the sin of such a prayer; for, maddened at his\ndisappointment, and excited at the sight of blood, the Huron mercifully\ndrove his tomahawk into her own brain.", "The mother sank under the blow,\nand fell, grasping at her child, in death, with the same engrossing love\nthat had caused her to cherish it when living.", "At that dangerous moment Magua placed his hands to his mouth, and raised\nthe fatal and appalling whoop.", "The scattered Indians started at the\nwell-known cry, as coursers bound at the signal to quit the goal; and,\ndirectly, there arose such a yell along the plain, and through the\narches of the wood, as seldom burst from human lips before.", "They who\nheard it listened with a curdling horror at the heart, little inferior\nto that dread which may be expected to attend the blasts of the final\nsummons.", "More than two thousand raving savages broke from the forest at the\nsignal, and threw themselves across the fatal plain with instinctive\nalacrity.", "We shall not dwell on the revolting horrors that succeeded.", "Death was everywhere, and in his most terrific and disgusting aspects.", "Resistance only served to inflame the murderers, who inflicted their\nfurious blows long after their victims were beyond the power of their\nresentment.", "The flow of blood might be likened to the outbreaking of a\ntorrent; and, as the natives became heated and maddened by the sight,\nmany among them even kneeled to the earth, and drank freely, exultingly,\nhellishly, of the crimson tide.", "The trained bodies of the troops threw themselves quickly into solid\nmasses, endeavoring to awe their assailants by the imposing appearance\nof a military front.", "The experiment in some measure succeeded, though\nfar too many suffered their unloaded muskets to be torn from their\nhands, in the vain hope of appeasing the savages.", "In such a scene none had leisure to note the fleeting moments.", "It might\nhave been ten minutes (it seemed an age), that the sisters had stood\nriveted to one spot, horror-stricken, and nearly helpless.", "When the\nfirst blow was struck, their screaming companions had pressed upon them\nin a body, rendering flight impossible; and now that fear or death had\nscattered most, if not all, from around them, they saw no avenue open,\nbut such as conducted to the tomahawks of their foes.", "On every side\narose shrieks, groans, exhortations, and curses.", "At this moment Alice\ncaught a glimpse of the vast form of her father, moving rapidly across\nthe plain, in the direction of the French army.", "He was, in truth,\nproceeding to Montcalm, fearless of every danger, to claim the tardy\nescort for which he had before conditioned.", "Fifty glittering axes and\nbarbed spears were offered unheeded at his life, but the savages\nrespected his rank and calmness, even in their fury.", "The dangerous\nweapons were brushed aside by the still nervous arm of the veteran, or\nfell of themselves, after menacing an act that it would seem no one had\ncourage to perform.", "Fortunately, the vindictive Magua was searching for\nhis victim in the very band the veteran had just quitted.", "\"Father--father--we are here!\"", "shrieked Alice, as he passed, at no great\ndistance, without appearing to heed them.", "\"Come to us, father, or we\ndie!\"", "The cry was repeated, and in terms and tones that might have melted a\nheart of stone, but it was unanswered.", "Once, indeed, the old man\nappeared to catch the sounds, for he paused and listened; but Alice had\ndropped senseless on the earth, and Cora had sunk at her side, hovering\nin untiring tenderness over her lifeless form.", "Munro shook his head in\ndisappointment, and proceeded, bent on the high duty of his station.", "\"Lady,\" said Gamut, who, helpless and useless as he was, had not yet\ndreamed of deserting his trust, \"it is the jubilee of the devils, and\nthis is not a meet place for Christians to tarry in.", "Let us up and fly.\"", "\"Go,\" said Cora, still gazing at her unconscious sister; \"save thyself.", "To me thou canst not be of further use.\"", "David comprehended the unyielding character of her resolution, by the\nsimple but expressive gesture that accompanied her words.", "He gazed, for\na moment, at the dusky forms that were acting their hellish rites on\nevery side of him, and his tall person grew more erect, while his chest\nheaved, and every feature swelled, and seemed to speak with the power of\nthe feelings by which he was governed.", "\"If the Jewish boy might tame the evil spirit of Saul by the sound of\nhis harp, and the words of sacred song, it may not be amiss,\" he said,\n\"to try the potency of music here.\"", "Then raising his voice to its highest tones, he poured out a strain so\npowerful as to be heard even amid the din of that bloody field.", "More\nthan one savage rushed towards them, thinking to rifle the unprotected\nsisters of their attire, and bear away their scalps; but when they found\nthis strange and unmoved figure riveted to his post, they paused to\nlisten.", "Astonishment soon changed to admiration, and they passed on to\nother and less courageous victims, openly expressing their satisfaction\nat the firmness with which the white warrior sang his death song.", "Encouraged and deluded by his success, David exerted all his powers to\nextend what he believed so holy an influence.", "The unwonted sounds caught\nthe ears of a distant savage, who flew raging from group to group, like\none who, scorning to touch the vulgar herd, hunted for some victim more\nworthy of his renown.", "It was Magua, who uttered a yell of pleasure when\nhe beheld his ancient prisoners again at his mercy.", "\"Come,\" he said, laying his soiled hands on the dress of Cora, \"the\nwigwam of the Huron is still open.", "Is it not better than this place?\"", "\"Away!\"", "cried Cora, veiling her eyes from his revolting aspect.", "The Indian laughed tauntingly, as he held up his reeking hand, and\nanswered,--\"It is red, but it comes from white veins!\"", "\"Monster!", "there is blood, oceans of blood, upon thy soul; thy spirit has\nmoved this scene.\"", "\"Magua is a great chief!\"", "returned the exulting savage; \"will the dark\nhair go to his tribe?\"", "\"Never!", "strike, if thou wilt, and complete thy revenge.\"", "He hesitated a moment; and then catching the light and senseless form of\nAlice in his arms, the subtle Indian moved swiftly across the plain\ntowards the woods.", "\"Hold!\"", "shrieked Cora, following wildly on his footsteps; \"release the\nchild!", "wretch!", "what is't you do?\"", "But Magua was deaf to her voice; or rather he knew his power, and was\ndetermined to maintain it.", "\"Stay--lady--stay,\" called Gamut, after the unconscious Cora.", "\"The holy\ncharm is beginning to be felt, and soon shalt thou see this horrid\ntumult stilled.\"", "Perceiving that, in his turn, he was unheeded, the faithful David\nfollowed the distracted sister, raising his voice again in sacred song,\nand sweeping the air to the measure, with his long arm, in diligent\naccompaniment.", "In this manner they traversed the plain, through the\nflying, the wounded, and the dead.", "The fierce Huron was, at any time,\nsufficient for himself and the victim that he bore; though Cora would\nhave fallen, more than once, under the blows of her savage enemies, but\nfor the extraordinary being who stalked in her rear, and who now\nappeared to the astonished natives gifted with the protecting spirit of\nmadness.", "Magua, who knew how to avoid the more pressing dangers, and also to\nelude pursuit, entered the woods through a low ravine, where he quickly\nfound the Narragansetts, which the travellers had abandoned so shortly\nbefore, awaiting his appearance, in custody of a savage as fierce and as\nmalign in his expression as himself.", "Laying Alice on one of the horses,\nhe made a sign to Cora to mount the other.", "Notwithstanding the horror excited by the presence of her captor, there\nwas a present relief in escaping from the bloody scene enacting on the\nplain, to which Cora could not be altogether insensible.", "She took her\nseat, and held forth her arms for her sister, with an air of entreaty\nand love that even the Huron could not deny.", "Placing Alice, then, on the\nsame animal with Cora, he seized the bridle, and commenced his route by\nplunging deeper into the forest.", "David, perceiving that he was left\nalone, utterly disregarded, as a subject too worthless even to destroy,\nthrew his long limb across the saddle of the beast they had deserted,\nand made such progress in the pursuit as the difficulties of the path\npermitted.", "They soon began to ascend, but as the motion had a tendency to revive\nthe dormant faculties of her sister, the attention of Cora was too much\ndivided between the tenderest solicitude in her behalf, and in listening\nto the cries which were still too audible on the plain, to note the\ndirection in which they journeyed.", "When, however, they gained the\nflattened surface of the mountain-top, and approached the eastern\nprecipice, she recognized the spot to which she had once before been led\nunder the more friendly auspices of the scout.", "Here Magua suffered them\nto dismount; and, notwithstanding their own captivity, the curiosity\nwhich seems inseparable from horror, induced them to gaze at the\nsickening sight below.", "The cruel work was still unchecked.", "On every side the captured were\nflying before their relentless persecutors, while the armed columns of\nthe Christian king stood fast in an apathy which has never been\nexplained, and which has left an unmovable blot on the otherwise fair\nescutcheon of their leader.", "Nor was the sword of death stayed until\ncupidity got the mastery of revenge.", "Then, indeed, the shrieks of the\nwounded and the yells of their murderers grew less frequent, until,\nfinally, the cries of horror were lost to their ear, or were drowned in\nthe loud, long, and piercing whoops of the triumphant savages." ]

[ "At length he appeared satisfied; and having cast his eyes\nimpatiently upwards towards the summit of the eastern mountain, as if\nanticipating the approach of the morning, he was in the act of turning\non his footsteps, when a light sound on the nearest angle of the bastion\ncaught his ear, and induced him to remain.", "\"Magua is a great chief.\"", "\"But Magua is pledged not to sully the lilies of France.", "The sullen\nsoldiers shouldered their empty tubes and fell into their places, like\nmen whose blood had been heated by the past contest, and who only\ndesired the opportunity to revenge an indignity which was still wounding\nto their pride, concealed as it was under all the observances of\nmilitary etiquette.", "As they passed the gates, the French officers, who had learned their\nrank, bowed often and low, forbearing, however, to intrude those\nattentions which they saw, with peculiar tact, might not be agreeable.", "The savage spurned the worthless rags, and perceiving that the shawl had\nalready become a prize to another, his bantering but sullen smile\nchanging to a gleam of ferocity, he dashed the head of the infant\nagainst a rock, and cast its quivering remains to her very feet.", "At that dangerous moment Magua placed his hands to his mouth, and raised\nthe fatal and appalling whoop.", "\"Lady,\" said Gamut, who, helpless and useless as he was, had not yet\ndreamed of deserting his trust, \"it is the jubilee of the devils, and\nthis is not a meet place for Christians to tarry in.", "He hesitated a moment; and then catching the light and senseless form of\nAlice in his arms, the subtle Indian moved swiftly across the plain\ntowards the woods.", "wretch!" ]

[ "The savages now fell back, and seemed content to let their enemies\nadvance without further molestation.", "\"And this?\"", "For an\ninstant, the mother stood, like a statue of despair, looking wildly down\nat the unseemly object, which had so lately nestled in her bosom and\nsmiled in her face; and then she raised her eyes and countenance towards\nheaven, as if calling on God to curse the perpetrator of the foul deed.", "The flow of blood might be likened to the outbreaking of a\ntorrent; and, as the natives became heated and maddened by the sight,\nmany among them even kneeled to the earth, and drank freely, exultingly,\nhellishly, of the crimson tide.", "je crois que nous avons la, un\ncaporal qui ne dort jamais!\"", "Resistance only served to inflame the murderers, who inflicted their\nfurious blows long after their victims were beyond the power of their\nresentment.", "\"Behind the hill; and\nit is dark and cold.", "A rifle next slowly rose between his eyes and the watery\nmirror; but before it could be discharged his own hand was on the lock.", "Encouraged and deluded by his success, David exerted all his powers to\nextend what he believed so holy an influence.", "Methinks this is an excess of zeal for a friend\nwho was so late an enemy!" ]

[ "The low\nand serious sounds of the sacred music, so well known to the eastern\nprovinces, caught his ear, and instantly drew him to an apartment in an\nadjacent building, which had already been deserted by its customary\ntenants.", "There he found David, pouring out his pious feelings, through\nthe only medium in which he ever indulged.", "Duncan waited, until, by the\ncessation of the movement of the hand, he believed the strain was ended,\nwhen, by touching his shoulder, he drew the attention of the other to\nhimself, and in a few words explained his wishes.", "\"Even so,\" replied the single-minded disciple of the King of Israel,\nwhen the young man had ended; \"I have found much that is comely and\nmelodious in the maidens, and it is fitting that we who have consorted\nin so much peril, should abide together in peace.", "I will attend them,\nwhen I have completed my morning praise, to which nothing is now wanting\nbut the doxology.", "Wilt thou bear a part, friend?", "The metre is common,\nand the tune, 'Southwell.'\"", "Then, extending the little volume, and giving the pitch of the air anew\nwith considerate attention, David recommenced and finished his strains,\nwith a fixedness of manner that it was not easy to interrupt.", "Heyward\nwas fain to wait until the verse was ended; when, seeing David relieving\nhimself from the spectacles, and replacing the book, he continued,--\n\n\"It will be your duty to see that none dare to approach the ladies with\nany rude intention, or to offer insult or taunt at the misfortune of\ntheir brave father.", "In this task you will be seconded by the domestics\nof their household.\"", "\"Even so.\"" ]

[ "\n \"Weave we the woof.", "The thread is spun.", "The web is wove.", "The work is done.\"", "GRAY.", "The hostile armies, which lay in the wilds of the Horican, passed the\nnight of the 9th of August, 1757, much in the manner they would had they\nencountered on the fairest fields of Europe.", "While the conquered were\nstill, sullen, and dejected, the victors triumphed.", "But there are limits\nalike to grief and joy; and long before the watches of the morning came,\nthe stillness of those boundless woods was only broken by a gay call\nfrom some exulting young Frenchman of the advanced pickets, or a\nmenacing challenge from the fort, which sternly forbade the approach of\nany hostile footsteps before the stipulated moment.", "Even these\noccasional threatening sounds ceased to be heard in that dull hour which\nprecedes the day, at which period a listener might have sought in vain\nany evidence of the presence of those armed powers that then slumbered\non the shores of the \"holy lake.\"", "It was during these moments of deep silence, that the canvas which\nconcealed the entrance to a spacious marquee in the French encampment\nwas shoved aside, and a man issued from beneath the drapery into the\nopen air.", "She took her\nseat, and held forth her arms for her sister, with an air of entreaty\nand love that even the Huron could not deny.", "Placing Alice, then, on the\nsame animal with Cora, he seized the bridle, and commenced his route by\nplunging deeper into the forest.", "David, perceiving that he was left\nalone, utterly disregarded, as a subject too worthless even to destroy,\nthrew his long limb across the saddle of the beast they had deserted,\nand made such progress in the pursuit as the difficulties of the path\npermitted.", "They soon began to ascend, but as the motion had a tendency to revive\nthe dormant faculties of her sister, the attention of Cora was too much\ndivided between the tenderest solicitude in her behalf, and in listening\nto the cries which were still too audible on the plain, to note the\ndirection in which they journeyed.", "When, however, they gained the\nflattened surface of the mountain-top, and approached the eastern\nprecipice, she recognized the spot to which she had once before been led\nunder the more friendly auspices of the scout.", "Here Magua suffered them\nto dismount; and, notwithstanding their own captivity, the curiosity\nwhich seems inseparable from horror, induced them to gaze at the\nsickening sight below.", "The cruel work was still unchecked.", "On every side the captured were\nflying before their relentless persecutors, while the armed columns of\nthe Christian king stood fast in an apathy which has never been\nexplained, and which has left an unmovable blot on the otherwise fair\nescutcheon of their leader.", "Nor was the sword of death stayed until\ncupidity got the mastery of revenge.", "Then, indeed, the shrieks of the\nwounded and the yells of their murderers grew less frequent, until,\nfinally, the cries of horror were lost to their ear, or were drowned in\nthe loud, long, and piercing whoops of the triumphant savages." ]

[ "\n \"Why, anything:\n An honorable murderer, if you will;\n For naught I did in hate, but all in honor.\"", "_Othello._\n\n\nThe bloody and inhuman scene rather incidentally mentioned than\ndescribed in the preceding chapter, is conspicuous in the pages of\ncolonial history, by the merited title of \"The Massacre of William\nHenry.\"", "It so far deepened the stain which a previous and very similar\nevent had left upon the reputation of the French commander, that it was\nnot entirely erased by his early and glorious death.", "It is now becoming\nobscured by time; and thousands, who know that Montcalm died like a hero\non the plains of Abraham, have yet to learn how much he was deficient in\nthat moral courage without which no man can be truly great.", "Pages might\nbe written to prove, from this illustrious example, the defects of human\nexcellence; to show how easy it is for generous sentiments, high\ncourtesy, and chivalrous courage, to lose their influence beneath the\nchilling blight of selfishness, and to exhibit to the world a man who\nwas great in all the minor attributes of character, but who was found\nwanting when it became necessary to prove how much principle is superior\nto policy.", "But the task would exceed our prerogatives; and, as history,\nlike love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of\nimaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint Veran will be\nviewed by posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while\nhis cruel apathy on the shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be\nforgotten.", "Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister muse,\nwe shall at once retire from her sacred precincts, within the proper\nlimits of our own humble vocation.", "The third day from the capture of the fort was drawing to a close, but\nthe business of the narrative must still detain the reader on the shores\nof the \"holy lake.\"", "When last seen, the environs of the works were\nfilled with violence and uproar.", "They were now possessed by stillness\nand death.", "The blood-stained conquerors had departed; and their camp,\nwhich had so lately rung with the merry rejoicings of a victorious army,\nlay a silent and deserted city of huts.", "The fortress was a smouldering\nruin; charred rafters, fragments of exploded artillery, and rent\nmason-work, covering its earthen mounds in confused disorder.", "A frightful change had also occurred in the season.", "The sun had hid its\nwarmth behind an impenetrable mass of vapor, and hundreds of human\nforms, which had blackened beneath the fierce heats of August, were\nstiffening in their deformity, before the blasts of a premature\nNovember.", "The curling and spotless mists, which had been seen sailing\nabove the hills towards the north, were now returning in an interminable\ndusky sheet, that was urged along by the fury of a tempest.", "The crowded\nmirror of the Horican was gone; and, in its place, the green and angry\nwaters lashed the shores, as if indignantly casting back its impurities\nto the polluted strand.", "Still the clear fountain retained a portion of\nits charmed influence, but it reflected only the sombre gloom that fell\nfrom the impending heavens.", "That humid and congenial atmosphere which\ncommonly adorned the view, veiling its harshness, and softening its\nasperities, had disappeared, and the northern air poured across the\nwaste of water so harsh and unmingled, that nothing was left to be\nconjectured by the eye, or fashioned by the fancy.", "The fiercer element had cropped the verdure of the plain, which looked\nas though it were scathed by the consuming lightning.", "But, here and\nthere, a dark green tuft rose in the midst of the desolation; the\nearliest fruits of a soil that had been fattened with human blood.", "The\nwhole landscape, which, seen by a favoring light, and in a genial\ntemperature, had been found so lovely, appeared now like some pictured\nallegory of life, in which objects were arrayed in their harshest but\ntruest colors, and without the relief of any shadowing.", "The solitary and arid blades of grass arose from the passing gusts\nfearfully perceptible; the bold and rocky mountains were too distinct in\ntheir barrenness, and the eye even sought relief, in vain, by attempting\nto pierce the illimitable void of heaven, which was shut to its gaze by\nthe dusky sheet of ragged and driving vapor.", "The wind blew unequally; sometimes sweeping heavily along the ground,\nseeming to whisper its moanings in the cold ears of the dead, then\nrising in a shrill and mournful whistling, it entered the forest with a\nrush that filled the air with the leaves and branches it scattered in\nits path.", "Amid the unnatural shower, a few hungry ravens struggled with\nthe gale; but no sooner was the green ocean of woods, which stretched\nbeneath them, passed, than they gladly stopped, at random, to their\nhideous banquet.", "In short, it was the scene of wildness and desolation; and it appeared\nas if all who had profanely entered it had been stricken, at a blow, by\nthe relentless arm of death.", "But the prohibition had ceased; and for the\nfirst time since the perpetrators of those foul deeds which had assisted\nto disfigure the scene were gone, living human beings had now presumed\nto approach the place.", "About an hour before the setting of the sun, on the day already\nmentioned, the forms of five men might have been seen issuing from the\nnarrow vista of trees, where the path to the Hudson entered the forest,\nand advancing in the direction of the ruined works.", "At first their\nprogress was slow and guarded, as though they entered with reluctance\namid the horrors of the spot, or dreaded the renewal of its frightful\nincidents.", "A light figure preceded the rest of the party, with the\ncaution and activity of a native; ascending every hillock to\nreconnoitre, and indicating, by gestures, to his companions, the route\nhe deemed it most prudent to pursue.", "Nor were those in the rear wanting\nin every caution and foresight known to forest warfare.", "One among them,\nhe also was an Indian, moved a little on one flank, and watched the\nmargin of the woods, with eyes long accustomed to read the smallest sign\nof danger.", "The remaining three were white, though clad in vestments\nadapted, both in quality and color, to their present hazardous\npursuit,--that of hanging on the skirts of a retiring army in the\nwilderness.", "The effects produced by the appalling sights that constantly arose in\ntheir path to the lake shore, were as different as the characters of the\nrespective individuals who composed the party.", "The youth in front threw\nserious but furtive glances at the mangled victims, as he stepped\nlightly across the plain, afraid to exhibit his feelings, and yet too\ninexperienced to quell entirely their sudden and powerful influence.", "His\nred associate, however, was superior to such a weakness.", "He passed the\ngroups of dead with a steadiness of purpose, and an eye so calm, that\nnothing but long and inveterate practice could enable him to maintain.", "The sensations produced in the minds of even the white men were\ndifferent, though uniformly sorrowful.", "One, whose gray locks and\nfurrowed lineaments, blending with a martial air and tread, betrayed, in\nspite of the disguise of a woodsman's dress, a man long experienced in\nscenes of war, was not ashamed to groan aloud, whenever a spectacle of\nmore than usual horror came under his view.", "The young man at his elbow\nshuddered, but seemed to suppress his feelings in tenderness to his\ncompanion.", "Of them all, the straggler who brought up the rear appeared\nalone to betray his real thoughts, without fear of observation or dread\nof consequences.", "He gazed at the most appalling sight with eyes and\nmuscles that knew not how to waver, but with execrations so bitter and\ndeep as to denote how much he denounced the crime of his enemies.", "The reader will perceive at once, in these respective characters, the\nMohicans, and their white friend, the scout; together with Munro and\nHeyward.", "It was, in truth, the father in quest of his children, attended\nby the youth who felt so deep a stake in their happiness, and those\nbrave and trusty foresters, who had already proved their skill and\nfidelity through the trying scenes related.", "When Uncas, who moved in front, had reached the centre of the plain, he\nraised a cry that drew his companions in a body to the spot.", "The young\nwarrior had halted over a group of females who lay in a cluster, a\nconfused mass of dead.", "Notwithstanding the revolting horror of the\nexhibition, Munro and Heyward flew towards the festering heap,\nendeavoring, with a love that no unseemliness could extinguish, to\ndiscover whether any vestiges of those they sought were to be seen among\nthe tattered and many-colored garments.", "The father and lover found\ninstant relief in the search; though each was condemned again to\nexperience the misery of an uncertainty that was hardly less\ninsupportable than the most revolting truth.", "They were standing, silent\nand thoughtful, around the melancholy pile, when the scout approached.", "Eying the sad spectacle with an angry countenance, the sturdy woodsman,\nfor the first time since his entering the plain, spoke intelligibly and\naloud:--\n\n\"I have been on many a shocking field, and have followed a trail of\nblood for many miles,\" he said, \"but never have I found the hand of the\ndevil so plain as it is here to be seen!", "Revenge is an Indian feeling,\nand all who know me know that there is no cross in my veins; but this\nmuch will I say--here, in the face of heaven, and with the power of the\nLord so manifest in this howling wilderness,--that should these\nFrenchers ever trust themselves again within the range of a ragged\nbullet, there is one rifle shall play its part, so long as flint will\nfire or powder burn!", "I leave the tomahawk and knife to such as have a\nnatural gift to use them.", "What say you, Chingachgook,\" he added in\nDelaware; \"shall the Hurons boast of this to their women when the deep\nsnows come?\"", "A gleam of resentment flashed across the dark lineaments of the Mohican\nchief: he loosened his knife in its sheath; and then turning calmly from\nthe sight, his countenance settled into a repose as deep as if he never\nknew the instigation of passion.", "\"Montcalm!", "Montcalm!\"", "continued the deeply resentful and less\nself-restrained scout; \"they say a time must come, when all the deeds\ndone in the flesh will be seen at a single look; and that by eyes\ncleared from mortal infirmities.", "Woe betide the wretch who is born to\nbehold this plain, with the judgment hanging about his soul!", "Ha--as I am\na man of white blood, yonder lies a redskin, without the hair of his\nhead where nature rooted it!", "Look to him, Delaware; it may be one of\nyour missing people; and he should have burial like a stout warrior.", "I\nsee it in your eye, Sagamore: a Huron pays for this, afore the fall\nwinds have blown away the scent of the blood!\"", "Chingachgook approached the mutilated form, and turning it over, he\nfound the distinguishing marks of one of those six allied tribes, or\nnations, as they were called, who, while they fought in the English\nranks, were so deadly hostile to his own people.", "Spurning the loathsome\nobject with his foot, he turned from it with the same indifference he\nwould have quitted a brute carcass.", "The scout comprehended the action,\nand very deliberately pursued his own way, continuing, however, his\ndenunciations against the French commander in the same resentful strain.", "\"Nothing but vast wisdom and unlimited power should dare to sweep off\nmen in multitudes,\" he added; \"for it is only the one that can know the\nnecessity of the judgment; and what is there, short of the other, that\ncan replace the creatures of the Lord?", "I hold it a sin to kill the\nsecond buck afore the first is eaten, unless a march in the front, or an\nambushment, be contemplated.", "It is a different matter with a few\nwarriors in open and rugged fight, for 'tis their gift to die with the\nrifle or the tomahawk in hand; according as their natures may happen to\nbe, white or red.", "Uncas, come this way, lad, and let the ravens settle\nupon the Mingo.", "I know, from often seeing it, that they have a craving\nfor the flesh of an Oneida; and it is as well to let the bird follow the\ngift of its natural appetite.\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed the young Mohican, rising on the extremities of his\nfeet, and gazing intently in his front, frightening the raven to some\nother prey, by the sound and the action.", "\"What is it, boy?\"", "whispered the scout, lowering his tall form into a\ncrouching attitude, like a panther about to take his leap; \"God send it\nbe a tardy Frencher, skulking for plunder.", "I do believe 'Killdeer' would\ntake an oncommon range to-day!\"", "Uncas, without making any reply, bounded away from the spot, and in the\nnext instant he was seen tearing from a bush, and waving in triumph a\nfragment of the green riding-veil of Cora.", "The movement, the exhibition,\nand the cry, which again burst from the lips of the young Mohican,\ninstantly drew the whole party about him.", "\"My child!\"", "said Munro, speaking quick and wildly \"give me my child!\"", "\"Uncas will try,\" was the short and touching answer.", "The simple but meaning assurance was lost on the father, who seized the\npiece of gauze, and crushed it in his hand, while his eyes roamed\nfearfully among the bushes, as if he equally dreaded and hoped for the\nsecrets they might reveal.", "\"Here are no dead,\" said Heyward; \"the storm seems not to have passed\nthis way.\"", "\"That's manifest; and clearer than the heavens above our heads,\"\nreturned the undisturbed scout; \"but either she, or they that have\nrobbed her, have passed the bush; for I remember the rag she wore to\nhide a face that all did love to look upon.", "Uncas, you are right; the\ndark-hair has been here, and she has fled like a frightened fawn, to the\nwood; none who could fly would remain to be murdered.", "Let us search for\nthe marks she left; for to Indian eyes, I sometimes think even a\nhumming-bird leaves his trail in the air.\"", "The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and the scout had\nhardly done speaking, before the former raised a cry of success from the\nmargin of the forest.", "On reaching the spot, the anxious party perceived\nanother portion of the veil fluttering on the lower branch of a beech.", "\"Softly, softly,\" said the scout, extending his long rifle in front of\nthe eager Heyward; \"we now know our work, but the beauty of the trail\nmust not be deformed.", "A step too soon may give us hours of trouble.", "We\nhave them, though; that much is beyond denial.\"", "\"Bless ye, bless ye, worthy man!\"", "exclaimed Munro; \"whither, then, have\nthey fled, and where are my babes?\"", "\"The path they have taken depends on many chances.", "If they have gone\nalone, they are quite as likely to move in a circle as straight, and\nthey may be within a dozen miles of us; but if the Hurons, or any of the\nFrench Indians, have laid hands on them, 'tis probable they are now near\nthe borders of the Canadas.", "But what matters that?\"", "continued the\ndeliberate scout, observing the powerful anxiety and disappointment the\nlisteners exhibited; \"here are the Mohicans and I on one end of the\ntrail, and, rely on it, we find the other, though they should be a\nhundred leagues asunder!", "Gently, gently, Uncas, you are as impatient as\na man in the settlements; you forget that light feet leave but faint\nmarks!\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed Chingachgook, who had been occupied in examining an\nopening that had been evidently made through the low underbrush, which\nskirted the forest; and who now stood erect, as he pointed downwards, in\nthe attitude and with the air of a man who beheld a disgusting serpent.", "\"Here is the palpable impression of the footstep of a man,\" cried\nHeyward, bending over the indicated spot; \"he has trod in the margin of\nthis pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken.", "They are captives.\"", "\"Better so than left to starve in the wilderness,\" returned the scout;\n\"and they will leave a wider trail.", "I would wager fifty beaver skins\nagainst as many flints, that the Mohicans and I enter their wigwams\nwithin the month!", "Stoop to it, Uncas, and try what you can make of the\nmoccasin; for moccasin it plainly is, and no shoe.\"", "The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing the scattered leaves\nfrom around the place, he examined it with much of that sort of scrutiny\nthat a money-dealer, in these days of pecuniary doubts, would bestow on\na suspected due-bill.", "At length he arose from his knees, satisfied with\nthe result of the examination.", "\"Well, boy,\" demanded the attentive scout, \"what does it say?", "can you\nmake anything of the tell-tale?\"", "\"Le Renard Subtil!\"", "\"Ha!", "that rampaging devil again!", "there never will be an end of his\nloping, till 'Killdeer' has said a friendly word to him.\"", "Heyward reluctantly admitted the truth of this intelligence, and now\nexpressed rather his hopes than his doubts by saying,--\n\n\"One moccasin is so much like another, it is probable there is some\nmistake.\"", "\"One moccasin like another!", "you may as well say that one foot is like\nanother; though we all know that some are long, and others short; some\nbroad, and others narrow; some with high, and some with low insteps;\nsome in-toed, and some out.", "One moccasin is no more like another than\none book is like another; though they who can read in one are seldom\nable to tell the marks of the other.", "Which is all ordered for the best,\ngiving to every man his natural advantages.", "Let me get down to it,\nUncas; neither book nor moccasin is the worse for having two opinions,\ninstead of one.\"", "The scout stooped to the task, and instantly added,\n\"You are right, boy; here is the patch we saw so often in the other\nchase.", "And the fellow will drink when he can get an opportunity: your\ndrinking Indian always learns to walk with a wider toe than the natural\nsavage, it being the gift of a drunkard to straddle, whether of white or\nred skin.", "'Tis just the length and breadth too!", "look at it, Sagamore:\nyou measured the prints more than once, when we hunted the varmints from\nGlenn's to the health-springs.\"", "Chingachgook complied; and after finishing his short examination, he\narose, and with a quiet demeanor, he merely pronounced the word--\n\n\"Magua!\"", "\"Ay, 'tis a settled thing; here then have passed the dark-hair and\nMagua.\"", "\"And not Alice?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Of her we have not yet seen the signs,\" returned the scout, looking\nclosely around at the trees, the bushes, and the ground.", "\"What have we\nthere?", "Uncas, bring hither the thing you see dangling from yonder\nthorn-bush.\"", "When the Indian had complied, the scout received the prize, and holding\nit on high, he laughed in his silent but heartfelt manner.", "\"'Tis the tooting we'pon of the singer!", "now we shall have a trail a\npriest might travel,\" he said.", "\"Uncas, look for the marks of a shoe that\nis long enough to uphold six feet two of tottering human flesh.", "I begin\nto have some hopes of the fellow, since he has given up squalling to\nfollow some better trade.\"", "\"At least, he has been faithful to his trust,\" said Heyward; \"and Cora\nand Alice are not without a friend.\"", "\"Yes,\" said Hawkeye, dropping his rifle, and leaning on it with an air\nof visible contempt, \"he will do their singing.", "Can he slay a buck for\ntheir dinner; journey by the moss on the beeches, or cut the throat of a\nHuron?", "If not, the first catbird[22] he meets is the cleverest of the\ntwo.", "Well, boy, any signs of such a foundation?\"", "\"Here is something like the footstep of one who has worn a shoe; can it\nbe that of our friend?\"", "\"Touch the leaves lightly, or you'll disconsart the formation.", "That!", "that is the print of a foot, but 'tis the dark-hair's; and small it is,\ntoo, for one of such a noble height and grand appearance.", "The singer\nwould cover it with his heel.\"", "\"Where!", "let me look on the footsteps of my child,\" said Munro, shoving\nthe bushes aside, and bending fondly over the nearly obliterated\nimpression.", "Though the tread, which had left the mark, had been light\nand rapid, it was still plainly visible.", "The aged soldier examined it\nwith eyes that grew dim as he gazed; nor did he rise from his stooping\nposture until Heyward saw that he had watered the trace of his\ndaughter's passage with a scalding tear.", "Willing to divert a distress\nwhich threatened each moment to break through the restraint of\nappearances, by giving the veteran something to do, the young man said\nto the scout,--\n\n\"As we now possess these infallible signs, let us commence our march.", "A\nmoment, at such a time, will appear an age to the captives.\"", "\"It is not the swiftest leaping deer that gives the longest chase,\"\nreturned Hawkeye, without moving his eyes from the different marks that\nhad come under his view; \"we know that the rampaging Huron has\npassed,--and the dark hair,--and the singer,--but where is she of the\nyellow locks and blue eyes?", "Though little, and far from being as bold as\nher sister, she is fair to the view, and pleasant in discourse.", "Has she\nno friend, that none care for her?\"", "\"God forbid she should ever want hundreds!", "Are we not now in her\npursuit?", "for one, I will never cease the search till she be found.\"", "\"In that case we may have to journey by different paths; for here she\nhas not passed, light and little as her footstep would be.\"", "Heyward drew back, all his ardor to proceed seeming to vanish on the\ninstant.", "Without attending to this sudden change in the other's humor,\nthe scout, after musing a moment, continued,--\n\n\"There is no woman in this wilderness could leave such a print as that,\nbut the dark-hair or her sister.", "We know that the first has been here,\nbut where are the signs of the other?", "Let us push deeper on the trail,\nand if nothing offers, we must go back to the plain and strike another\nscent.", "Move on, Uncas, and keep your eyes on the dried leaves.", "I will\nwatch the bushes, while your father shall run with a low nose to the\nground.", "Move on, friends; the sun is getting behind the hills.\"", "\"Is there nothing that I can do?\"", "demanded the anxious Heyward.", "\"You!\"", "repeated the scout, who, with his red friends, was already\nadvancing in the order he had prescribed; \"yes, you can keep in our\nrear, and be careful not to cross the trail.\"", "Before they had proceeded many rods, the Indians stopped, and appeared\nto gaze at some signs on the earth, with more than their usual keenness.", "Both father and son spoke quick and loud, now looking at the object of\ntheir mutual admiration, and now regarding each other with the most\nunequivocal pleasure.", "\"They have found the little foot!\"", "exclaimed the scout, moving forward,\nwithout attending further to his own portion of the duty.", "\"What have we\nhere?", "An ambushment has been planted in the spot?", "No, by the truest\nrifle on the frontiers, here have been them one-sided horses again!", "Now\nthe whole secret is out, and all is plain as the north star at midnight.", "Yes, here they have mounted.", "There the beasts have been bound to a\nsapling, in waiting; and yonder runs the broad path away to the north,\nin full sweep for the Canadas.\"", "\"But still there are no signs of Alice--of the younger Miss\nMunro,\"--said Duncan.", "\"Unless the shining bauble Uncas has just lifted from the ground should\nprove one.", "Pass it this way, lad, that we may look at it.\"", "Heyward instantly knew it for a trinket that Alice was fond of wearing,\nand which he recollected, with the tenacious memory of a lover, to have\nseen, on the fatal morning of the massacre, dangling from the fair neck\nof his mistress.", "He seized the highly prized jewel; and as he proclaimed\nthe fact, it vanished from the eyes of the wondering scout, who in vain\nlooked for it on the ground, long after it was warmly pressed against\nthe beating heart of Duncan.", "\"Pshaw!\"", "said the disappointed Hawkeye, ceasing to rake the leaves with\nthe breech of his rifle; \"'tis a certain sign of age, when the sight\nbegins to weaken.", "Such a glittering gewgaw, and not to be seen!", "Well,\nwell, I can squint along a clouded barrel yet, and that is enough to\nsettle all disputes between me and the Mingos.", "I should like to find the\nthing too, if it were only to carry it to the right owner, and that\nwould be bringing the two ends of what I call a long trail\ntogether,--for by this time the broad St. Lawrence, or, perhaps, the\nGreat Lakes themselves, are atwixt us.\"", "\"So much the more reason why we should not delay our march,\" returned\nHeyward; \"let us proceed.\"", "\"Young blood and hot blood, they say, are much the same thing.", "We are\nnot about to start on a squirrel hunt, or to drive a deer into the\nHorican, but to outlie for days and nights, and to stretch across a\nwilderness where the feet of men seldom go, and where no bookish\nknowledge would carry you through harmless.", "An Indian never starts on\nsuch an expedition without smoking over his council-fire; and though a\nman of white blood, I honor their customs in this particular, seeing\nthat they are deliberate and wise.", "We will, therefore, go back, and\nlight our fire to-night in the ruins of the old fort, and in the morning\nwe shall be fresh, and ready to undertake our work like men, and not\nlike babbling women or eager boys.\"", "Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that altercation would be\nuseless.", "Munro had again sunk into that sort of apathy which had beset\nhim since his late overwhelming misfortunes, and from which he was\napparently to be roused only by some new and powerful excitement.", "Making\na merit of necessity, the young man took the veteran by the arm, and\nfollowed in the footsteps of the Indians and the scout, who had already\nbegun to retrace the path which conducted them to the plain." ]

[ "Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister muse,\nwe shall at once retire from her sacred precincts, within the proper\nlimits of our own humble vocation.", "Of them all, the straggler who brought up the rear appeared\nalone to betray his real thoughts, without fear of observation or dread\nof consequences.", "The reader will perceive at once, in these respective characters, the\nMohicans, and their white friend, the scout; together with Munro and\nHeyward.", "Notwithstanding the revolting horror of the\nexhibition, Munro and Heyward flew towards the festering heap,\nendeavoring, with a love that no unseemliness could extinguish, to\ndiscover whether any vestiges of those they sought were to be seen among\nthe tattered and many-colored garments.", "Chingachgook approached the mutilated form, and turning it over, he\nfound the distinguishing marks of one of those six allied tribes, or\nnations, as they were called, who, while they fought in the English\nranks, were so deadly hostile to his own people.", "\"Well, boy,\" demanded the attentive scout, \"what does it say?", "can you\nmake anything of the tell-tale?\"", "Let us push deeper on the trail,\nand if nothing offers, we must go back to the plain and strike another\nscent.", "We are\nnot about to start on a squirrel hunt, or to drive a deer into the\nHorican, but to outlie for days and nights, and to stretch across a\nwilderness where the feet of men seldom go, and where no bookish\nknowledge would carry you through harmless.", "Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that altercation would be\nuseless." ]

[ "I should like to find the\nthing too, if it were only to carry it to the right owner, and that\nwould be bringing the two ends of what I call a long trail\ntogether,--for by this time the broad St. Lawrence, or, perhaps, the\nGreat Lakes themselves, are atwixt us.\"", "The curling and spotless mists, which had been seen sailing\nabove the hills towards the north, were now returning in an interminable\ndusky sheet, that was urged along by the fury of a tempest.", "demanded Heyward.", "The fiercer element had cropped the verdure of the plain, which looked\nas though it were scathed by the consuming lightning.", "The blood-stained conquerors had departed; and their camp,\nwhich had so lately rung with the merry rejoicings of a victorious army,\nlay a silent and deserted city of huts.", "\"Touch the leaves lightly, or you'll disconsart the formation.", "I hold it a sin to kill the\nsecond buck afore the first is eaten, unless a march in the front, or an\nambushment, be contemplated.", "One, whose gray locks and\nfurrowed lineaments, blending with a martial air and tread, betrayed, in\nspite of the disguise of a woodsman's dress, a man long experienced in\nscenes of war, was not ashamed to groan aloud, whenever a spectacle of\nmore than usual horror came under his view.", "\"The path they have taken depends on many chances.", "\"Here is the palpable impression of the footstep of a man,\" cried\nHeyward, bending over the indicated spot; \"he has trod in the margin of\nthis pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken." ]

[ "But what matters that?\"", "continued the\ndeliberate scout, observing the powerful anxiety and disappointment the\nlisteners exhibited; \"here are the Mohicans and I on one end of the\ntrail, and, rely on it, we find the other, though they should be a\nhundred leagues asunder!", "Gently, gently, Uncas, you are as impatient as\na man in the settlements; you forget that light feet leave but faint\nmarks!\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed Chingachgook, who had been occupied in examining an\nopening that had been evidently made through the low underbrush, which\nskirted the forest; and who now stood erect, as he pointed downwards, in\nthe attitude and with the air of a man who beheld a disgusting serpent.", "\"Here is the palpable impression of the footstep of a man,\" cried\nHeyward, bending over the indicated spot; \"he has trod in the margin of\nthis pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken.", "They are captives.\"", "\"Better so than left to starve in the wilderness,\" returned the scout;\n\"and they will leave a wider trail.", "I would wager fifty beaver skins\nagainst as many flints, that the Mohicans and I enter their wigwams\nwithin the month!", "Stoop to it, Uncas, and try what you can make of the\nmoccasin; for moccasin it plainly is, and no shoe.\"", "The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing the scattered leaves\nfrom around the place, he examined it with much of that sort of scrutiny\nthat a money-dealer, in these days of pecuniary doubts, would bestow on\na suspected due-bill." ]

[ "\n \"Why, anything:\n An honorable murderer, if you will;\n For naught I did in hate, but all in honor.\"", "_Othello._\n\n\nThe bloody and inhuman scene rather incidentally mentioned than\ndescribed in the preceding chapter, is conspicuous in the pages of\ncolonial history, by the merited title of \"The Massacre of William\nHenry.\"", "It so far deepened the stain which a previous and very similar\nevent had left upon the reputation of the French commander, that it was\nnot entirely erased by his early and glorious death.", "It is now becoming\nobscured by time; and thousands, who know that Montcalm died like a hero\non the plains of Abraham, have yet to learn how much he was deficient in\nthat moral courage without which no man can be truly great.", "Pages might\nbe written to prove, from this illustrious example, the defects of human\nexcellence; to show how easy it is for generous sentiments, high\ncourtesy, and chivalrous courage, to lose their influence beneath the\nchilling blight of selfishness, and to exhibit to the world a man who\nwas great in all the minor attributes of character, but who was found\nwanting when it became necessary to prove how much principle is superior\nto policy.", "But the task would exceed our prerogatives; and, as history,\nlike love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of\nimaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint Veran will be\nviewed by posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while\nhis cruel apathy on the shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be\nforgotten.", "Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister muse,\nwe shall at once retire from her sacred precincts, within the proper\nlimits of our own humble vocation.", "The third day from the capture of the fort was drawing to a close, but\nthe business of the narrative must still detain the reader on the shores\nof the \"holy lake.\"", "When last seen, the environs of the works were\nfilled with violence and uproar.", "They were now possessed by stillness\nand death.", "Well,\nwell, I can squint along a clouded barrel yet, and that is enough to\nsettle all disputes between me and the Mingos.", "I should like to find the\nthing too, if it were only to carry it to the right owner, and that\nwould be bringing the two ends of what I call a long trail\ntogether,--for by this time the broad St. Lawrence, or, perhaps, the\nGreat Lakes themselves, are atwixt us.\"", "\"So much the more reason why we should not delay our march,\" returned\nHeyward; \"let us proceed.\"", "\"Young blood and hot blood, they say, are much the same thing.", "We are\nnot about to start on a squirrel hunt, or to drive a deer into the\nHorican, but to outlie for days and nights, and to stretch across a\nwilderness where the feet of men seldom go, and where no bookish\nknowledge would carry you through harmless.", "An Indian never starts on\nsuch an expedition without smoking over his council-fire; and though a\nman of white blood, I honor their customs in this particular, seeing\nthat they are deliberate and wise.", "We will, therefore, go back, and\nlight our fire to-night in the ruins of the old fort, and in the morning\nwe shall be fresh, and ready to undertake our work like men, and not\nlike babbling women or eager boys.\"", "Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that altercation would be\nuseless.", "Munro had again sunk into that sort of apathy which had beset\nhim since his late overwhelming misfortunes, and from which he was\napparently to be roused only by some new and powerful excitement.", "Making\na merit of necessity, the young man took the veteran by the arm, and\nfollowed in the footsteps of the Indians and the scout, who had already\nbegun to retrace the path which conducted them to the plain." ]

[ "\n \"_Salar._--Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his\n flesh; what's that good for?\"", "\"_Shy._--To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will\n feed my revenge.\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe shades of evening had come to increase the dreariness of the place,\nwhen the party entered the ruins of William Henry.", "The scout and his\ncompanions immediately made their preparations to pass the night there;\nbut with an earnestness and sobriety of demeanor, that betrayed how much\nthe unusual horrors they had just witnessed worked on even their\npractised feelings.", "A few fragments of rafters were reared against a\nblackened wall; and when Uncas had covered them slightly with brush, the\ntemporary accommodations were deemed sufficient.", "The young Indian\npointed towards his rude hut, when his labor was ended; and Heyward, who\nunderstood the meaning of the silent gesture, gently urged Munro to\nenter.", "Leaving the bereaved old man alone with his sorrows, Duncan\nimmediately returned to the open air, too much excited himself to seek\nthe repose he had recommended to his veteran friend.", "While Hawkeye and the Indians lighted their fire, and took their\nevening's repast, a frugal meal of dried bear's meat, the young man paid\na visit to that curtain of the dilapidated fort which looked out on the\nsheet of the Horican.", "The wind had fallen, and the waves were already\nrolling on the sandy beach beneath him, in a more regular and tempered\nsuccession.", "The clouds, as if tired of their furious chase, were\nbreaking asunder; the heavier volumes, gathering in black masses about\nthe horizon, while the lighter scud still hurried above the water, or\neddied among the tops of the mountains, like broken flights of birds,\nhovering around their roosts.", "Here and there, a red and fiery star\nstruggled through the drifting vapor, furnishing a lurid gleam of\nbrightness to the dull aspect of the heavens.", "Within the bosom of the\nencircling hills, an impenetrable darkness had already settled; and the\nplain lay like a vast and deserted charnel-house, without omen or\nwhisper to disturb the slumbers of its numerous and hapless tenants.", "Of this scene, so chillingly in accordance with the past, Duncan stood\nfor many minutes a rapt observer.", "His eyes wandered from the bosom of\nthe mound, where the foresters were seated around their glimmering fire,\nto the fainter light which still lingered in the skies, and then rested\nlong and anxiously on the embodied gloom, which lay like a dreary void\non that side of him where the dead reposed.", "He soon fancied that\ninexplicable sounds arose from the place, though so indistinct and\nstolen, as to render not only their nature but even their existence\nuncertain.", "Ashamed of his apprehensions, the young man turned towards\nthe water, and strove to divert his attentions to the mimic stars that\ndimly glimmered on its moving surface.", "Still, his too conscious ears\nperformed their ungrateful duty, as if to warn him of some lurking\ndanger.", "At length a swift trampling seemed quite audibly to rush athwart\nthe darkness.", "Unable any longer to quiet his uneasiness, Duncan spoke in\na low voice to the scout, requesting him to ascend the mound to the\nplace where he stood.", "Hawkeye threw his rifle across an arm, and\ncomplied, but with an air so unmoved and calm, as to prove how much he\ncounted on the security of their position.", "\"Listen!\"", "said Duncan, when the other placed himself deliberately at his\nelbow: \"there are suppressed noises on the plain which may show that\nMontcalm has not yet entirely deserted his conquest.\"", "\"Then ears are better than eyes,\" said the undisturbed scout, who,\nhaving just deposited a portion of bear between his grinders, spoke\nthick and slow, like one whose mouth was doubly occupied.", "\"I, myself,\nsaw him caged in Ty, with all his host; for your Frenchers, when they\nhave done a clever thing, like to get back, and have a dance, or a\nmerry-making, with the women over their success.\"", "\"I know not.", "An Indian seldom sleeps in war, and plunder may keep a\nHuron here after his tribe has departed.", "It would be well to extinguish\nthe fire, and have a watch--listen!", "you hear the noise I mean!\"", "\"An Indian more rarely lurks about the graves.", "Though ready to slay, and\nnot over-regardful of the means, he is commonly content with the scalp,\nunless when blood is hot, and temper up; but after the spirit is once\nfairly gone, he forgets his enmity, and is willing to let the dead find\ntheir natural rest.", "Speaking of spirits, Major, are you of opinion that\nthe heaven of a redskin and of us whites will be one and the same?\"", "\"No doubt--no doubt.", "I thought I heard it again!", "or was it the rustling\nof the leaves in the top of the beech?\"", "\"For my own part,\" continued Hawkeye, turning his face, for a moment, in\nthe direction indicated by Heyward, but with a vacant and careless\nmanner, \"I believe that paradise is ordained for happiness; and that men\nwill be indulged in it according to their dispositions and gifts.", "I\ntherefore judge that a redskin is not far from the truth when he\nbelieves he is to find them glorious hunting-grounds of which his\ntraditions tell; nor, for that matter, do I think it would be any\ndisparagement to a man without a cross to pass his time--\"\n\n\"You hear it again?\"", "interrupted Duncan.", "\"Ay, ay; when food is scarce, and when food is plenty, a wolf grows\nbold,\" said the unmoved scout.", "\"There would be picking, too, among the\nskins of the devils, if there was light and time for the sport.", "But,\nconcerning the life that is to come, major: I have heard preachers say,\nin the settlements, that heaven was a place of rest.", "Now men's minds\ndiffer as to their ideas of enjoyment.", "For myself, and I say it with\nreverence to the ordering of Providence, it would be no great indulgence\nto be kept shut up in those mansions of which they preach, having a\nnatural longing for motion and the chase.\"", "Duncan, who was now made to understand the nature of the noises he had\nheard, answered with more attention to the subject which the humor of\nthe scout had chosen for discussion, by saying,--\n\n\"It is difficult to account for the feelings that may attend the last\ngreat change.\"", "\"It would be a change, indeed, for a man who has passed his days in the\nopen air,\" returned the single-minded scout; \"and who has so often\nbroken his fast on the head-waters of the Hudson, to sleep within sound\nof the roaring Mohawk.", "But it is a comfort to know we serve a merciful\nMaster, though we do it each after his fashion, and with great tracts of\nwilderness atween us--what goes there?\"", "\"Is it not the rushing of the wolves you have mentioned?\"", "Hawkeye slowly shook his head, and beckoned for Duncan to follow him to\na spot, to which the glare from the fire did not extend.", "When he had\ntaken this precaution, the scout placed himself in an attitude of\nintense attention, and listened long and keenly for a repetition of the\nlow sound that had so unexpectedly startled him.", "His vigilance, however,\nseemed exercised in vain; for, after a fruitless pause, he whispered to\nDuncan,--\n\n\"We must give a call to Uncas.", "The boy has Indian senses, and may hear\nwhat is hid from us; for being a white-skin, I will not deny my nature.\"", "The young Mohican, who was conversing in a low voice with his father,\nstarted as he heard the moaning of an owl, and springing on his feet he\nlooked towards the black mounds, as if seeking the place whence the\nsounds proceeded.", "The scout repeated the call, and in a few moments,\nDuncan saw the figure of Uncas stealing cautiously along the rampart, to\nthe spot where they stood.", "Hawkeye explained his wishes in a very few words, which were spoken in\nthe Delaware tongue.", "So soon as Uncas was in possession of the reason\nwhy he was summoned, he threw himself flat on the turf; where, to the\neyes of Duncan, he appeared to lie quiet and motionless.", "Surprised at\nthe immovable attitude of the young warrior, and curious to observe the\nmanner in which he employed his faculties to obtain the desired\ninformation, Heyward advanced a few steps, and bent over the dark\nobject, on which he had kept his eyes riveted.", "Then it was he discovered\nthat the form of Uncas had vanished, and that he beheld only the dark\noutline of an inequality in the embankment.", "\"What has become of the Mohican?\"", "he demanded of the scout, stepping\nback in amazement; \"it was here that I saw him fall, and I could have\nsworn that here he yet remained.\"", "\"Hist!", "speak lower; for we know not what ears are open, and the Mingos\nare a quick-witted breed.", "As for Uncas, he is out on the plain, and the\nMaquas, if any such are about us, will find their equal.\"", "\"You think that Montcalm has not called off all his Indians?", "Let us give\nthe alarm to our companions, that we may stand to our arms.", "Here are\nfive of us, who are not unused to meet an enemy.\"", "\"Not a word to either, as you value life.", "Look at the Sagamore, how like\na grand Indian chief he sits by the fire.", "If there are any skulkers out\nin the darkness, they will never discover by his countenance that we\nsuspect danger at hand.\"", "\"But they may discover him, and it will prove his death.", "His person can\nbe too plainly seen by the light of that fire, and he will become the\nfirst and most certain victim.\"", "\"It is undeniable that now you speak the truth,\" returned the scout,\nbetraying more anxiety than was usual; \"yet what can be done?", "A single\nsuspicious look might bring on an attack before we are ready to receive\nit.", "He knows, by the call I gave to Uncas, that we have struck a scent:\nI will tell him that we are on the trail of the Mingos; his Indian\nnature will teach him how to act.\"", "The scout applied his fingers to his mouth, and raised a low hissing\nsound, that caused Duncan, at first, to start aside, believing that he\nheard a serpent.", "The head of Chingachgook was resting on a hand, as he\nsat musing by himself; but the moment he heard the warning of the animal\nwhose name he bore, it arose to an upright position and his dark eyes\nglanced swiftly and keenly on every side of him.", "With this sudden and\nperhaps involuntary movement, every appearance of surprise or alarm\nended.", "His rifle lay untouched, and apparently unnoticed, within reach\nof his hand.", "The tomahawk that he had loosened in his belt for the sake\nof ease, was even suffered to fall from its usual situation to the\nground, and his form seemed to sink, like that of a man whose nerves and\nsinews were suffered to relax for the purpose of rest.", "Cunningly\nresuming his former position, though with a change of hands, as if the\nmovement had been made merely to relieve the limb, the native awaited\nthe result with a calmness and fortitude that none but an Indian warrior\nwould have known how to exercise.", "But Heyward saw that while to a less instructed eye the Mohican chief\nappeared to slumber, his nostrils were expanded, his head was turned a\nlittle to one side, as if to assist the organs of hearing, and that his\nquick and rapid glances ran incessantly over every object, within the\npower of his vision.", "\"See the noble fellow!\"", "whispered Hawkeye, pressing the arm of Heyward;\n\"he knows that a look or a motion might discansart our schemes, and put\nus at the mercy of them imps--\"\n\nHe was interrupted by the flash and report of a rifle.", "The air was\nfilled with sparks of fire around that spot where the eyes of Heyward\nwere still fastened with admiration and wonder.", "A second look told him\nthat Chingachgook had disappeared in the confusion.", "In the meantime the\nscout had thrown forward his rifle, like one prepared for service, and\nawaited impatiently the moment when an enemy might rise to view.", "But\nwith the solitary and fruitless attempt made on the life of\nChingachgook, the attack appeared to have terminated.", "Once or twice the\nlisteners thought they could distinguish the distant rustling of bushes,\nas bodies of some unknown description rushed through them; nor was it\nlong before Hawkeye pointed out the \"scampering of the wolves,\" as they\nfled precipitately before the passage of some intruder on their proper\ndomains.", "After an impatient and breathless pause, a plunge was heard in\nthe water, and it was immediately followed by the report of another\nrifle.", "\"There goes Uncas!\"", "said the scout; \"the boy bears a smart piece!", "I know\nits crack, as well as a father knows the language of his child, for I\ncarried the gun myself until a better offered.\"", "\"What can this mean?\"", "demanded Duncan; \"we are watched, and, as it would\nseem, marked for destruction.\"", "\"Yonder scattered brand can witness that no good was intended, and this\nIndian will testify that no harm has been done,\" returned the scout,\ndropping his rifle across his arm again, and following Chingachgook, who\njust then reappeared within the circle of light, into the bosom of the\nworks.", "\"How is it, Sagamore?", "Are the Mingos upon us in earnest, or is it\nonly one of those rept_y_les who hang upon the skirts of a war party, to\nscalp the dead, go in, and make their boast among the squaws of the\nvaliant deeds done on the pale-faces?\"", "Chingachgook very quietly resumed his seat; nor did he make any reply,\nuntil after he had examined the firebrand which had been struck by the\nbullet that had nearly proved fatal to himself.", "After which, he was\ncontent to reply, holding a single finger up to view, with the English\nmonosyllable,--\n\n\"One.\"", "\"I thought as much,\" returned Hawkeye, seating himself; \"and as he had\ngot the cover of the lake afore Uncas pulled upon him, it is more than\nprobable the knave will sing his lies about some great ambushment, in\nwhich he was outlying on the trail of two Mohicans and a white\nhunter--for the officers can be considered as little better than idlers\nin such a scrimmage.", "Well, let him--let him.", "There are always some\nhonest men in every nation, though heaven knows, too, that they are\nscarce among the Maquas, to look down an upstart when he brags ag'in\nthe face of reason.", "The varlet sent his lead within whistle of your\nears, Sagamore.\"", "Chingachgook turned a calm and incurious eye towards the place where the\nball had struck, and then resumed his former attitude, with a composure\nthat could not be disturbed by so trifling an incident.", "Just then Uncas\nglided into the circle, and seated himself at the fire, with the same\nappearance of indifference as was maintained by his father.", "Of these several movements Heyward was a deeply interested and wondering\nobserver.", "It appeared to him as though the foresters had some secret\nmeans of intelligence, which had escaped the vigilance of his own\nfaculties.", "In place of that eager and garrulous narration with which a\nwhite youth would have endeavored to communicate, and perhaps\nexaggerate, that which had passed out in the darkness of the plain, the\nyoung warrior was seemingly content to let his deeds speak for\nthemselves.", "It was, in fact, neither the moment nor the occasion for an\nIndian to boast of his exploits; and it is probable, that had Heyward\nneglected to inquire, not another syllable would, just then, have been\nuttered on the subject.", "\"What has become of our enemy, Uncas?\"", "demanded Duncan: \"we heard your\nrifle, and hoped you had not fired in vain.\"", "The young chief removed a fold of his hunting-shirt, and quietly exposed\nthe fatal tuft of hair, which he bore as the symbol of victory.", "Chingachgook laid his hand on the scalp, and considered it for a moment\nwith deep attention.", "Then dropping it, with disgust depicted in his\nstrong features, he ejaculated,--\n\n\"Oneida!\"", "\"Oneida!\"", "repeated the scout, who was fast losing his interest in the\nscene, in an apathy nearly assimilated to that of his red associates,\nbut who now advanced with uncommon earnestness to regard the bloody\nbadge.", "\"By the Lord, if the Oneidas are outlying upon the trail, we\nshall be flanked by devils on every side of us!", "Now, to white eyes there\nis no difference between this bit of skin and that of any other Indian,\nand yet the Sagamore declares it came from the poll of a Mingo; nay, he\neven names the tribe of the poor devil with as much ease as if the scalp\nwas the leaf of a book, and each hair a letter.", "What right have\nChristian whites to boast of their learning, when a savage can read a\nlanguage that would prove too much for the wisest of them all!", "What say\n_you_, lad; of what people was the knave?\"", "Uncas raised his eyes to the face of the scout, and answered, in his\nsoft voice,--\n\n\"Oneida.\"", "\"Oneida, again!", "when one Indian makes a declaration it is commonly true;\nbut when he is supported by his people, set it down as gospel!\"", "\"The poor fellow has mistaken us for French,\" said Heyward; \"or he would\nnot have attempted the life of a friend.\"", "\"He mistake a Mohican in his paint for a Huron!", "You would be as likely\nto mistake the white-coated grenadiers of Montcalm for the scarlet\njackets of the 'Royal Americans',\" returned the scout.", "\"No, no, the\nsarpent knew his errand; nor was there any great mistake in the matter,\nfor there is but little love atween a Delaware and a Mingo, let their\ntribes go out to fight for whom they may, in a white quarrel.", "For that\nmatter, though the Oneidas do serve his sacred majesty, who is my own\nsovereign lord and master, I should not have deliberated long about\nletting off 'Killdeer' at the imp myself, had luck thrown him in my\nway.\"", "\"That would have been an abuse of our treaties, and unworthy of your\ncharacter.\"", "\"When a man consorts much with a people,\" continued Hawkeye, \"if they\nare honest and he no knave, love will grow up atwixt them.", "It is true\nthat white cunning has managed to throw the tribes into great confusion\nas respects friends and enemies; so that the Hurons and the Oneidas, who\nspeak the same tongue, or what may be called the same, take each other's\nscalps, and the Delawares are divided among themselves; a few hanging\nabout their great council-fire on their own river, and fighting on the\nsame side with the Mingos, while the greater part are in the Canadas,\nout of natural enmity to the Maquas--thus throwing everything into\ndisorder, and destroying all the harmony of warfare.", "Yet a red natur' is\nnot likely to alter with every shift of policy; so that the love atwixt\na Mohican and a Mingo is much like the regard between a white man and a\nsarpent.\"", "\"I regret to hear it; for I had believed those natives who dwelt within\nour boundaries had found us too just and liberal, not to identify\nthemselves fully with our quarrels.\"", "\"Why, I believe it is natur' to give a preference to one's own quarrels\nbefore those of strangers.", "Now, for myself, I do love justice; and\ntherefore I will not say I hate a Mingo, for that may be unsuitable to\nmy color and my religion, though I will just repeat, it may have been\nowing to the night that 'Killdeer' had no hand in the death of this\nskulking Oneida.\"", "Then, as if satisfied with the force of his own reasons, whatever might\nbe their effect on the opinions of the other disputant, the honest but\nimplacable woodsman turned from the fire, content to let the controversy\nslumber.", "Heyward withdrew to the rampart, too uneasy and too little\naccustomed to the warfare of the woods to remain at ease under the\npossibility of such insidious attacks.", "Not so, however, with the scout\nand the Mohicans.", "Those acute and long practised senses, whose powers so\noften exceed the limits of all ordinary credulity, after having detected\nthe danger, had enabled them to ascertain its magnitude and duration.", "Not one of the three appeared in the least to doubt their perfect\nsecurity, as was indicated by the preparations that were soon made to\nsit in council over their future proceedings.", "The confusion of nations, and even of tribes, to which Hawkeye alluded,\nexisted at that period in the fullest force.", "The great tie of language,\nand, of course, of a common origin, was severed in many places; and it\nwas one of its consequences, that the Delaware and the Mingo (as the\npeople of the Six Nations were called) were found fighting in the same\nranks, while the latter sought the scalp of the Huron, though believed\nto be the root of his own stock.", "The Delawares were even divided among\nthemselves.", "Though love for the soil which had belonged to his ancestors\nkept the Sagamore of the Mohicans with a small band of followers who\nwere serving at Edward, under the banners of the English king, by far\nthe largest portion of his nation were known to be in the field as\nallies of Montcalm.", "The reader probably knows, if enough has not already\nbeen gleaned from this narrative, that the Delaware, or Lenape, claimed\nto be the progenitors of that numerous people, who once were masters of\nmost of the Eastern and Northern States of America, of whom the\ncommunity of the Mohicans was an ancient and highly honored member.", "It was, of course, with a perfect understanding of the minute and\nintricate interest which had armed friend against friend, and brought\nnatural enemies to combat by each other's side, that the scout and his\ncompanions now disposed themselves to deliberate on the measures that\nwere to govern their future movements, amid so many jarring and savage\nraces of men.", "Duncan knew enough of Indian customs to understand the\nreason that the fire was replenished, and why the warriors, not\nexcepting Hawkeye, took their seats within the curl of its smoke with\nso much gravity and decorum.", "Placing himself at an angle of the works,\nwhere he might be a spectator of the scene within, while he kept a\nwatchful eye against any danger from without, he awaited the result with\nas much patience as he could summon.", "After a short and impressive pause, Chingachgook lighted a pipe whose\nbowl was curiously carved in one of the soft stones of the country, and\nwhose stem was a tube of wood, and commenced smoking.", "When he had\ninhaled enough of the fragrance of the soothing weed, he passed the\ninstrument into the hands of the scout.", "In this manner the pipe had made\nits rounds three several times, amid the most profound silence, before\neither of the party opened his lips.", "Then the Sagamore, as the oldest\nand highest in rank, in a few calm and dignified words, proposed the\nsubject for deliberation.", "He was answered by the scout; and Chingachgook\nrejoined, when the other objected to his opinions.", "But the youthful\nUncas continued a silent and respectful listener, until Hawkeye, in\ncomplaisance, demanded his opinion.", "Heyward gathered from the manners of\nthe different speakers, that the father and son espoused one side of a\ndisputed question, while the white man maintained the other.", "The contest\ngradually grew warmer, until it was quite evident the feelings of the\nspeakers began to be somewhat enlisted in the debate.", "Notwithstanding the increasing warmth of the amicable contest, the most\ndecorous Christian assembly, not even excepting those in which its\nreverend ministers are collected, might have learned a wholesome lesson\nof moderation from the forbearance and courtesy of the disputants.", "The\nwords of Uncas were received with the same deep attention as those which\nfell from the maturer wisdom of his father; and so far from manifesting\nany impatience, neither spoke in reply, until a few moments of silent\nmeditation were, seemingly, bestowed in deliberating on what had already\nbeen said.", "The language of the Mohicans was accompanied by gestures so direct and\nnatural, that Heyward had but little difficulty in following the thread\nof their argument.", "On the other hand, the scout was obscure; because,\nfrom the lingering pride of color, he rather affected the cold and\nartificial manner which characterizes all classes of Anglo-Americans,\nwhen unexcited.", "By the frequency with which the Indians described the\nmarks of a forest trail, it was evident they urged a pursuit by land,\nwhile the repeated sweep of Hawkeye's arm towards the Horican denoted\nthat he was for a passage across its waters.", "The latter was, to every appearance, fast losing ground, and the point\nwas about to be decided against him, when he arose to his feet, and\nshaking off his apathy, he suddenly assumed the manner of an Indian, and\nadopted all the arts of native eloquence.", "Elevating an arm, he pointed\nout the track of the sun, repeating the gesture for every day that was\nnecessary to accomplish their object.", "Then he delineated a long and\npainful path, amid rocks and water-courses.", "The age and weakness of the\nslumbering and unconscious Munro were indicated by signs too palpable to\nbe mistaken.", "Duncan perceived that even his own powers were spoken\nlightly of, as the scout extended his palm, and mentioned him by\nappellation of the \"Open Hand,\"--a name his liberality had purchased of\nall the friendly tribes.", "Then came a representation of the light and\ngraceful movements of a canoe, set in forcible contrast to the tottering\nsteps of one enfeebled and tired.", "He concluded by pointing to the scalp\nof the Oneida, and apparently urging the necessity of their departing\nspeedily, and in a manner that should leave no trail.", "The Mohicans listened gravely, and with countenances that reflected the\nsentiments of the speaker.", "Conviction gradually wrought its influence,\nand towards the close of Hawkeye's speech, his sentences were\naccompanied by the customary exclamation of commendation.", "In short,\nUncas and his father became converts to his way of thinking, abandoning\ntheir own previously expressed opinions with a liberality and candor\nthat, had they been the representatives of some great and civilized\npeople, would have infallibly worked their political ruin, by\ndestroying, forever, their reputation for consistency.", "The instant the matter in discussion was decided, the debate, and\neverything connected with it, except the results, appeared to be\nforgotten.", "Hawkeye, without looking round to read his triumph in\napplauding eyes, very composedly stretched his tall frame before the\ndying embers, and closed his own organs in sleep.", "Left now in a measure to themselves, the Mohicans, whose time had been\nso much devoted to the interests of others, seized the moment to devote\nsome attention to themselves.", "Casting off, at once, the grave and\naustere demeanor of an Indian chief, Chingachgook commenced speaking to\nhis son in the soft and playful tones of affection.", "Uncas gladly met\nthe familiar air of his father; and before the hard breathing of the\nscout announced that he slept, a complete change was effected in the\nmanner of his two associates.", "It is impossible to describe the music of their language, while thus\nengaged in laughter and endearments, in such a way as to render it\nintelligible to those whose ears have never listened to its melody.", "The\ncompass of their voices, particularly that of the youth, was\nwonderful,--extending from the deepest bass to tones that were even\nfeminine in softness.", "The eyes of the father followed the plastic and\ningenious movements of the son with open delight, and he never failed to\nsmile in reply to the other's contagious, but low laughter.", "While under\nthe influence of these gentle and natural feelings, no trace of ferocity\nwas to be seen in the softened features of the Sagamore.", "His figured\npanoply of death looked more like a disguise assumed in mockery, than a\nfierce annunciation of a desire to carry destruction in his footsteps.", "After an hour passed in the indulgence of their better feelings,\nChingachgook abruptly announced his desire to sleep, by wrapping his\nhead in his blanket, and stretching his form on the naked earth.", "The\nmerriment of Uncas instantly ceased; and carefully raking the coals in\nsuch a manner that they should impart their warmth to his father's feet,\nthe youth sought his own pillow among the ruins of the place.", "Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these experienced\nforesters, Heyward soon imitated their example; and long before the\nnight had turned, they who lay in the bosom of the ruined work, seemed\nto slumber as heavily as the unconscious multitude whose bones were\nalready beginning to bleach on the surrounding plain." ]

[ "The clouds, as if tired of their furious chase, were\nbreaking asunder; the heavier volumes, gathering in black masses about\nthe horizon, while the lighter scud still hurried above the water, or\neddied among the tops of the mountains, like broken flights of birds,\nhovering around their roosts.", "you hear the noise I mean!\"", "Now men's minds\ndiffer as to their ideas of enjoyment.", "Here are\nfive of us, who are not unused to meet an enemy.\"", "His person can\nbe too plainly seen by the light of that fire, and he will become the\nfirst and most certain victim.\"", "Once or twice the\nlisteners thought they could distinguish the distant rustling of bushes,\nas bodies of some unknown description rushed through them; nor was it\nlong before Hawkeye pointed out the \"scampering of the wolves,\" as they\nfled precipitately before the passage of some intruder on their proper\ndomains.", "\"I thought as much,\" returned Hawkeye, seating himself; \"and as he had\ngot the cover of the lake afore Uncas pulled upon him, it is more than\nprobable the knave will sing his lies about some great ambushment, in\nwhich he was outlying on the trail of two Mohicans and a white\nhunter--for the officers can be considered as little better than idlers\nin such a scrimmage.", "In place of that eager and garrulous narration with which a\nwhite youth would have endeavored to communicate, and perhaps\nexaggerate, that which had passed out in the darkness of the plain, the\nyoung warrior was seemingly content to let his deeds speak for\nthemselves.", "Left now in a measure to themselves, the Mohicans, whose time had been\nso much devoted to the interests of others, seized the moment to devote\nsome attention to themselves.", "After an hour passed in the indulgence of their better feelings,\nChingachgook abruptly announced his desire to sleep, by wrapping his\nhead in his blanket, and stretching his form on the naked earth." ]

[ "demanded Duncan; \"we are watched, and, as it would\nseem, marked for destruction.\"", "It was, of course, with a perfect understanding of the minute and\nintricate interest which had armed friend against friend, and brought\nnatural enemies to combat by each other's side, that the scout and his\ncompanions now disposed themselves to deliberate on the measures that\nwere to govern their future movements, amid so many jarring and savage\nraces of men.", "Then the Sagamore, as the oldest\nand highest in rank, in a few calm and dignified words, proposed the\nsubject for deliberation.", "But,\nconcerning the life that is to come, major: I have heard preachers say,\nin the settlements, that heaven was a place of rest.", "The great tie of language,\nand, of course, of a common origin, was severed in many places; and it\nwas one of its consequences, that the Delaware and the Mingo (as the\npeople of the Six Nations were called) were found fighting in the same\nranks, while the latter sought the scalp of the Huron, though believed\nto be the root of his own stock.", "The scout applied his fingers to his mouth, and raised a low hissing\nsound, that caused Duncan, at first, to start aside, believing that he\nheard a serpent.", "It is true\nthat white cunning has managed to throw the tribes into great confusion\nas respects friends and enemies; so that the Hurons and the Oneidas, who\nspeak the same tongue, or what may be called the same, take each other's\nscalps, and the Delawares are divided among themselves; a few hanging\nabout their great council-fire on their own river, and fighting on the\nsame side with the Mingos, while the greater part are in the Canadas,\nout of natural enmity to the Maquas--thus throwing everything into\ndisorder, and destroying all the harmony of warfare.", "Now, for myself, I do love justice; and\ntherefore I will not say I hate a Mingo, for that may be unsuitable to\nmy color and my religion, though I will just repeat, it may have been\nowing to the night that 'Killdeer' had no hand in the death of this\nskulking Oneida.\"", "The\nmerriment of Uncas instantly ceased; and carefully raking the coals in\nsuch a manner that they should impart their warmth to his father's feet,\nthe youth sought his own pillow among the ruins of the place.", "Though ready to slay, and\nnot over-regardful of the means, he is commonly content with the scalp,\nunless when blood is hot, and temper up; but after the spirit is once\nfairly gone, he forgets his enmity, and is willing to let the dead find\ntheir natural rest." ]

[ "After an impatient and breathless pause, a plunge was heard in\nthe water, and it was immediately followed by the report of another\nrifle.", "\"There goes Uncas!\"", "said the scout; \"the boy bears a smart piece!", "I know\nits crack, as well as a father knows the language of his child, for I\ncarried the gun myself until a better offered.\"", "\"What can this mean?\"", "demanded Duncan; \"we are watched, and, as it would\nseem, marked for destruction.\"", "\"Yonder scattered brand can witness that no good was intended, and this\nIndian will testify that no harm has been done,\" returned the scout,\ndropping his rifle across his arm again, and following Chingachgook, who\njust then reappeared within the circle of light, into the bosom of the\nworks.", "\"How is it, Sagamore?", "Are the Mingos upon us in earnest, or is it\nonly one of those rept_y_les who hang upon the skirts of a war party, to\nscalp the dead, go in, and make their boast among the squaws of the\nvaliant deeds done on the pale-faces?\"", "Chingachgook very quietly resumed his seat; nor did he make any reply,\nuntil after he had examined the firebrand which had been struck by the\nbullet that had nearly proved fatal to himself.", "After which, he was\ncontent to reply, holding a single finger up to view, with the English\nmonosyllable,--\n\n\"One.\"" ]

[ "\n \"_Salar._--Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his\n flesh; what's that good for?\"", "\"_Shy._--To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will\n feed my revenge.\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe shades of evening had come to increase the dreariness of the place,\nwhen the party entered the ruins of William Henry.", "The scout and his\ncompanions immediately made their preparations to pass the night there;\nbut with an earnestness and sobriety of demeanor, that betrayed how much\nthe unusual horrors they had just witnessed worked on even their\npractised feelings.", "A few fragments of rafters were reared against a\nblackened wall; and when Uncas had covered them slightly with brush, the\ntemporary accommodations were deemed sufficient.", "The young Indian\npointed towards his rude hut, when his labor was ended; and Heyward, who\nunderstood the meaning of the silent gesture, gently urged Munro to\nenter.", "Leaving the bereaved old man alone with his sorrows, Duncan\nimmediately returned to the open air, too much excited himself to seek\nthe repose he had recommended to his veteran friend.", "While Hawkeye and the Indians lighted their fire, and took their\nevening's repast, a frugal meal of dried bear's meat, the young man paid\na visit to that curtain of the dilapidated fort which looked out on the\nsheet of the Horican.", "The wind had fallen, and the waves were already\nrolling on the sandy beach beneath him, in a more regular and tempered\nsuccession.", "The clouds, as if tired of their furious chase, were\nbreaking asunder; the heavier volumes, gathering in black masses about\nthe horizon, while the lighter scud still hurried above the water, or\neddied among the tops of the mountains, like broken flights of birds,\nhovering around their roosts.", "Casting off, at once, the grave and\naustere demeanor of an Indian chief, Chingachgook commenced speaking to\nhis son in the soft and playful tones of affection.", "Uncas gladly met\nthe familiar air of his father; and before the hard breathing of the\nscout announced that he slept, a complete change was effected in the\nmanner of his two associates.", "It is impossible to describe the music of their language, while thus\nengaged in laughter and endearments, in such a way as to render it\nintelligible to those whose ears have never listened to its melody.", "The\ncompass of their voices, particularly that of the youth, was\nwonderful,--extending from the deepest bass to tones that were even\nfeminine in softness.", "The eyes of the father followed the plastic and\ningenious movements of the son with open delight, and he never failed to\nsmile in reply to the other's contagious, but low laughter.", "While under\nthe influence of these gentle and natural feelings, no trace of ferocity\nwas to be seen in the softened features of the Sagamore.", "His figured\npanoply of death looked more like a disguise assumed in mockery, than a\nfierce annunciation of a desire to carry destruction in his footsteps.", "After an hour passed in the indulgence of their better feelings,\nChingachgook abruptly announced his desire to sleep, by wrapping his\nhead in his blanket, and stretching his form on the naked earth.", "The\nmerriment of Uncas instantly ceased; and carefully raking the coals in\nsuch a manner that they should impart their warmth to his father's feet,\nthe youth sought his own pillow among the ruins of the place.", "Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these experienced\nforesters, Heyward soon imitated their example; and long before the\nnight had turned, they who lay in the bosom of the ruined work, seemed\nto slumber as heavily as the unconscious multitude whose bones were\nalready beginning to bleach on the surrounding plain." ]

[ "\n \"Land of Albania!", "let me bend mine eyes\n On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men!\"", "_Childe Harold._\n\n\nThe heavens were still studded with stars, when Hawkeye came to arouse\nthe sleepers.", "Casting aside their cloaks Munro and Heyward were on their\nfeet while the woodsman was still making his low calls, at the entrance\nof the rude shelter where they had passed the night.", "When they issued\nfrom beneath its concealment, they found the scout awaiting their\nappearance nigh by, and the only salutation between them was the\nsignificant gesture for silence, made by their sagacious leader.", "\"Think over your prayers,\" he whispered, as they approached him; \"for He\nto whom you make them knows all tongues; that of the heart as well as\nthose of the mouth.", "But speak not a syllable; it is rare for a white\nvoice to pitch itself properly in the woods, as we have seen by the\nexample of that miserable devil, the singer.", "Come,\" he continued,\nturning towards a curtain of the works; \"let us get into the ditch on\nthis side, and be regardful to step on the stones and fragments of wood\nas you go.\"", "His companions complied, though to two of them the reasons of this\nextraordinary precaution were yet a mystery.", "When they were in the low\ncavity that surrounded the earthen fort on three sides, they found the\npassage nearly choked by the ruins.", "With care and patience, however,\nthey succeeded in clambering after the scout, until they reached the\nsandy shore of the Horican.", "\"That's a trail that nothing but a nose can follow,\" said the satisfied\nscout, looking back along their difficult way; \"grass is a treacherous\ncarpet for a flying party to tread on, but wood and stone take no print\nfrom a moccasin.", "Had you worn your armed boots, there might, indeed,\nhave been something to fear; but with the deer-skin suitably prepared, a\nman may trust himself, generally, on rocks with safety.", "Shove in the\ncanoe nigher to the land, Uncas; this sand will take a stamp as easily\nas the butter of the Jarmans on the Mohawk.", "Softly, lad, softly; it must\nnot touch the beach, or the knaves will know by what road we have left\nthe place.\"", "The young man observed the precaution; and the scout, laying a board\nfrom the ruins to the canoe, made a sign for the two officers to enter.", "When this was done, everything was studiously restored to its former\ndisorder; and then Hawkeye succeeded in reaching his little birchen\nvessel, without leaving behind him any of those marks which he appeared\nso much to dread.", "Heyward was silent, until the Indians had cautiously\npaddled the canoe some distance from the fort, and within the broad and\ndark shadow that fell from the eastern mountain on the glassy surface of\nthe lake; then he demanded,--\n\n\"What need have we for this stolen and hurried departure?\"", "\"If the blood of an Oneida could stain such a sheet of pure water as\nthis we float on,\" returned the scout, \"your two eyes would answer your\nown question.", "Have you forgotten the skulking rept_y_le that Uncas\nslew?\"", "\"By no means.", "But he was said to be alone, and dead men give no cause\nfor fear.\"", "\"Ay, he was alone in his deviltry!", "but an Indian whose tribe counts so\nmany warriors, need seldom fear his blood will run, without the\ndeath-shriek coming speedily from some of his enemies.\"", "\"But our presence--the authority of Colonel Munro--would prove a\nsufficient protection against the anger of our allies, especially in a\ncase where a wretch so well merited his fate.", "I trust in Heaven you have\nnot deviated a single foot from the direct line of our course, with so\nslight a reason!\"", "\"Do you think the bullet of that varlet's rifle would have turned aside,\nthough his majesty the king had stood in its path?\"", "returned the\nstubborn scout.", "\"Why did not the grand Frencher, he who is\ncaptain-general of the Canadas, bury the tomahawks of the Hurons, if a\nword from a white can work so strongly on the natur' of an Indian?\"", "The reply of Heyward was interrupted by a groan from Munro; but after he\nhad paused a moment, in deference to the sorrow of his aged friend, he\nresumed the subject.", "\"The Marquis of Montcalm can only settle that error with his God,\" said\nthe young man solemnly.", "\"Ay, ay; now there is reason in your words, for they are bottomed on\nreligion and honesty.", "There is a vast difference between throwing a\nregiment of white coats atwixt the tribes and the prisoners, and coaxing\nan angry savage to forget he carries a knife and a rifle, with words\nthat must begin with calling him your son.", "No, no,\" continued the scout,\nlooking back at the dim shore of William Henry, which was now fast\nreceding, and laughing in his own silent but heartfelt manner; \"I have\nput a trail of water atween us; and unless the imps can make friends\nwith the fishes, and hear who has paddled across their basin, this fine\nmorning, we shall throw the length of the Horican behind us, before they\nhave made up their minds which path to take.\"", "\"With foes in front, and foes in our rear, our journey is like to be one\nof danger.\"", "\"Danger!\"", "repeated Hawkeye, calmly; \"no, not absolutely of danger; for,\nwith vigilant ears and quick eyes, we can manage to keep a few hours\nahead of the knaves; or, if we must try the rifle, there are three of us\nwho understand its gifts as well as any you can name on the borders.", "No,\nnot of danger; but that we shall have what you may call a brisk push of\nit is probable; and it may happen, a brush, a skrimmage, or some such\ndivarsion, but always where covers are good, and ammunition abundant.\"", "It is possible that Heyward's estimate of danger differed in some degree\nfrom that of the scout, for, instead of replying, he now sat in silence,\nwhile the canoe glided over several miles of water.", "Just as the day\ndawned, they entered the narrows of the lake,[23] and stole swiftly and\ncautiously among their numberless little islands.", "It was by this road\nthat Montcalm had retired with his army; and the adventurers knew not\nbut he had left some of his Indians in ambush, to protect the rear of\nhis forces, and collect the stragglers.", "They, therefore, approached the\npassage with the customary silence of their guarded habits.", "Chingachgook laid aside his paddle; while Uncas and the scout urged the\nlight vessel through crooked and intricate channels, where every foot\nthat they advanced exposed them to the danger of some sudden rising on\ntheir progress.", "The eyes of the Sagamore moved warily from islet to\nislet, and copse to copse, as the canoe proceeded; and when a clearer\nsheet of water permitted, his keen vision was bent along the bald rocks\nand impending forests, that frowned upon the narrow strait.", "Heyward, who was a doubly interested spectator, as well from the\nbeauties of the place as from the apprehension natural to his situation,\nwas just believing that he had permitted the latter to be excited\nwithout sufficient reason, when the paddle ceased moving, in obedience\nto a signal from Chingachgook.", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed Uncas, nearly at the moment that the light tap his\nfather had made on the side of the canoe notified them of the vicinity\nof danger.", "\"What now?\"", "asked the scout; \"the lake is as smooth as if the winds had\nnever blown, and I can see along its sheet for miles; there is not so\nmuch as the black head of a loon dotting the water.\"", "The Indian gravely raised his paddle, and pointed in the direction in\nwhich his own steady look was riveted.", "Duncan's eyes followed the\nmotion.", "A few rods in their front lay another of the low wooded islets,\nbut it appeared as calm and peaceful as if its solitude had never been\ndisturbed by the foot of man.", "\"I see nothing,\" he said, \"but land and water; and a lovely scene it\nis.\"", "\"Hist!\"", "interrupted the scout.", "\"Ay, Sagamore, there is always a reason\nfor what you do.", "'Tis but a shade, and yet it is not natural.", "You see\nthe mist, major, that is rising above the island; you can't call it a\nfog, for it is more like a streak of thin cloud--\"\n\n\"It is vapor from the water.\"", "\"That a child could tell.", "But what is the edging of blacker smoke that\nhangs along its lower side, and which you may trace down into the\nthicket of hazel?", "'Tis from a fire; but one that, in my judgment, has\nbeen suffered to burn low.\"", "\"Let us then push for the place, and relieve our doubts,\" said the\nimpatient Duncan; \"the party must be small that can lie on such a bit of\nland.\"", "\"If you judge of Indian cunning by the rules you find in books, or by\nwhite sagacity, they will lead you astray, if not to your death,\"\nreturned Hawkeye, examining the signs of the place with that acuteness\nwhich distinguished him.", "\"If I may be permitted to speak in this matter,\nit will be to say, that we have but two things to choose between: the\none is, to return, and give up all thoughts of following the Hurons--\"\n\n\"Never!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, in a voice far too loud for their\ncircumstances.", "\"Well, well,\" continued Hawkeye, making a hasty sign to repress his\nimpatience; \"I am much of your mind myself; though I thought it becoming\nmy experience to tell the whole.", "We must then make a push, and if the\nIndians or Frenchers are in the narrows, run the gauntlet through these\ntoppling mountains.", "Is there reason in my words, Sagamore?\"", "The Indian made no other answer than by dropping his paddle into the\nwater, and urging forward the canoe.", "As he held the office of directing\nits course, his resolution was sufficiently indicated by the movement.", "The whole party now plied their paddles vigorously, and in a very few\nmoments they had reached a point whence they might command an entire\nview of the northern shore of the island, the side that had hitherto\nbeen concealed.", "\"There they are, by all the truth of signs,\" whispered the scout; \"two\ncanoes and a smoke.", "The knaves haven't yet got their eyes out of the\nmist, or we should hear the accursed whoop.", "Together, friend!", "we are\nleaving them, and are already nearly out of whistle of a bullet.\"", "The well known crack of a rifle, whose ball came skipping along the\nplacid surface of the strait, and a shrill yell from the island,\ninterrupted his speech, and announced that their passage was discovered.", "In another instant several savages were seen rushing into the canoes,\nwhich were soon dancing over the water, in pursuit.", "These fearful\nprecursors of a coming struggle produced no change in the countenances\nand movements of his three guides, so far as Duncan could discover,\nexcept that the strokes of their paddles were longer and more in unison,\nand caused the little bark to spring forward like a creature possessing\nlife and volition.", "\"Hold them there, Sagamore,\" said Hawkeye, looking coolly backward over\nhis left shoulder, while he still plied his paddle; \"keep them just\nthere.", "Them Hurons have never a piece in their nation that will execute\nat this distance; but 'Killdeer' has a barrel on which a man may\ncalculate.\"", "The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient of\nthemselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid aside\nhis paddle, and raised the fatal rifle.", "Three several times he brought\nthe piece to his shoulder, and when his companions were expecting its\nreport, he as often lowered it to request the Indians would permit their\nenemies to approach a little nigher.", "At length his accurate and\nfastidious eye seemed satisfied, and throwing out his left arm on the\nbarrel, he was slowly elevating the muzzle, when an exclamation from\nUncas, who sat in the bow, once more caused him to suspend the shot.", "\"What now, lad?\"", "demanded Hawkeye; \"you saved a Huron from the\ndeath-shriek by that word; have you reason for what you do?\"", "Uncas pointed towards the rocky shore a little in their front, whence\nanother war canoe was darting directly across their course.", "It was too\nobvious now that their situation was imminently perilous to need the aid\nof language to confirm it.", "The scout laid aside his rifle, and resumed\nthe paddle, while Chingachgook inclined the bows of the canoe a little\ntowards the western shore, in order to increase the distance between\nthem and this new enemy.", "In the meantime they were reminded of the\npresence of those who pressed upon their rear, by wild and exulting\nshouts.", "The stirring scene awakened even Munro from his apathy.", "\"Let us make for the rocks on the main,\" he said, with the mien of a\ntired soldier, \"and give battle to the savages.", "God forbid that I, or\nthose attached to me and mine, should ever trust again to the faith of\nany servant of the Louis's!\"", "\"He who wishes to prosper in Indian warfare,\" returned the scout, \"must\nnot be too proud to learn from the wit of a native.", "Lay her more along\nthe land, Sagamore; we are doubling on the varlets, and perhaps they may\ntry to strike our trail on the long calculation.\"", "Hawkeye was not mistaken; for when the Hurons found their course was\nlikely to throw them behind their chase, they rendered it less direct,\nuntil, by gradually bearing more and more obliquely, the two canoes were\nere long, gliding on parallel lines, within two hundred yards of each\nother.", "It now became entirely a trial of speed.", "So rapid was the\nprogress of the light vessels, that the lake curled in their front, in\nminiature waves, and their motion became undulating by its own velocity.", "It was, perhaps, owing to this circumstance, in addition to the\nnecessity of keeping every hand employed at the paddles, that the\nHurons had not immediate recourse to their fire-arms.", "The exertions of\nthe fugitives were too severe to continue long, and the pursuers had the\nadvantage of numbers.", "Duncan observed, with uneasiness, that the scout\nbegan to look anxiously about him, as if searching for some further\nmeans of assisting their flight.", "\"Edge her a little more from the sun, Sagamore,\" said the stubborn\nwoodsman; \"I see the knaves are sparing a man to the rifle.", "A single\nbroken bone might lose us our scalps.", "Edge more from the sun and we will\nput the island between us.\"", "The expedient was not without its use.", "A long, low island lay at a\nlittle distance before them, and as they closed with it, the chasing\ncanoe was compelled to take a side opposite to that on which the pursued\npassed.", "The scout and his companions did not neglect this advantage, but\nthe instant they were hid from observation by the bushes, they redoubled\nefforts that before had seemed prodigious.", "The two canoes came round the\nlast low point, like two coursers at the top of their speed, the\nfugitives taking the lead.", "This change had brought them nigher to each\nother, however, while it altered their relative positions.", "\"You showed knowledge in the shaping of birchen bark, Uncas, when you\nchose this from among the Huron canoes,\" said the scout, smiling,\napparently more in satisfaction at their superiority in the race, than\nfrom that prospect of final escape which now began to open a little upon\nthem.", "\"The imps have put all their strength again at the paddles, and we\nare to struggle for our scalps with bits of flattened wood, instead of\nclouded barrels and true eyes.", "A long stroke, and together, friends.\"", "\"They are preparing for a shot,\" said Heyward; \"and as we are in a line\nwith them, it can scarcely fail.\"", "\"Get you then into the bottom of the canoe,\" returned the scout; \"you\nand the colonel; it will be so much taken from the size of the mark.\"", "Heyward smiled, as he answered,--\n\n\"It would be but an ill example for the highest in rank to dodge, while\nthe warriors were under fire!\"", "\"Lord!", "Lord!", "That is now a white man's courage!\"", "exclaimed the scout;\n\"and like too many of his notions, not to be maintained by reason.", "Do\nyou think the Sagamore, or Uncas, or even I, who am a man without a\ncross, would deliberate about finding a cover in the skrimmage, when an\nopen body would do no good?", "For what have the Frenchers reared up their\nQuebec, if fighting is always to be done in the clearings?\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE FLIGHT ACROSS THE LAKE\n\n_The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient of\nthemselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid aside\nhis paddle, and raised the fatal rifle_]\n\n\"All that you say is very true, my friend,\" replied Heyward; \"still,\nour customs must prevent us from doing as you wish.\"", "A volley from the Hurons interrupted the discourse, and as the bullets\nwhistled about them, Duncan saw the head of Uncas turned, looking back\nat himself and Munro.", "Notwithstanding the nearness of the enemy, and his\nown great personal danger, the countenance of the young warrior\nexpressed no other emotion, as the former was compelled to think, than\namazement at finding men willing to encounter so useless an exposure.", "Chingachgook was probably better acquainted with the notions of white\nmen, for he did not even cast a glance aside from the riveted look his\neye maintained on the object by which he governed their course.", "A ball\nsoon struck the light and polished paddle from the hands of the chief,\nand drove it through the air, far in the advance.", "A shout arose from the\nHurons, who seized the opportunity to fire another volley.", "Uncas\ndescribed an arc in the water with his own blade, and as the canoe\npassed swiftly on, Chingachgook recovered his paddle, and flourishing it\non high, he gave the war-whoop of the Mohicans, and then lent his\nstrength and skill again to the important task.", "The clamorous sounds of \"Le Gros Serpent!\"", "\"La Longue Carabine!\"", "\"Le\nCerf Agile!\"", "burst at once from the canoes behind, and seemed to give\nnew zeal to the pursuers.", "The scout seized \"Killdeer\" in his left hand,\nand elevating it above his head, he shook it in triumph at his enemies.", "The savages answered the insult with a yell, and immediately another\nvolley succeeded.", "The bullets pattered along the lake, and one even\npierced the bark of their little vessel.", "No perceptible emotion could be\ndiscovered in the Mohicans during this critical moment, their rigid\nfeatures expressing neither hope nor alarm; but the scout again turned\nhis head, and laughing in his own silent manner, he said to Heyward,--\n\n\"The knaves love to hear the sounds of their pieces; but the eye is not\nto be found among the Mingos that can calculate a true range in a\ndancing canoe!", "You see the dumb devils have taken off a man to charge,\nand by the smallest measurement that can be allowed, we move three feet\nto their two!\"", "Duncan, who was not altogether as easy under this nice estimate of\ndistances as his companions, was glad to find, however, that owing to\ntheir superior dexterity, and the diversion among their enemies, they\nwere very sensibly obtaining the advantage.", "The Hurons soon fired again,\nand a bullet struck the blade of Hawkeye's paddle without injury.", "\"That will do,\" said the scout, examining the slight indentation with a\ncurious eye; \"it would not have cut the skin of an infant, much less of\nmen, who, like us, have been blown upon by the heavens in their anger.", "Now, major, if you will try to use this piece of flattened wood, I'll\nlet 'Killdeer' take a part in the conversation.\"", "Heyward seized the paddle, and applied himself to the work with an\neagerness that supplied the place of skill, while Hawkeye was engaged in\ninspecting the priming of his rifle.", "The latter then took a swift aim,\nand fired.", "The Huron in the bows of the leading canoe had risen with a\nsimilar object, and he now fell backward, suffering his gun to escape\nfrom his hands into the water.", "In an instant, however, he recovered his\nfeet, though his gestures were wild and bewildered.", "At the same moment\nhis companions suspended their efforts, and the chasing canoes clustered\ntogether, and became stationary.", "Chingachgook and Uncas profited by the\ninterval to regain their wind, though Duncan continued to work with the\nmost persevering industry.", "The father and son now cast calm but\ninquiring glances at each other, to learn if either had sustained any\ninjury by the fire; for both well knew that no cry or exclamation would,\nin such a moment of necessity, have been permitted to betray the\naccident.", "A few large drops of blood were trickling down the shoulder of\nthe Sagamore, who, when he perceived that the eyes of Uncas dwelt too\nlong on the sight, raised some water in the hollow of his hand, and\nwashing off the stain, was content to manifest, in this simple manner,\nthe slightness of the injury.", "\"Softly, softly, major,\" said the scout, who by this time had reloaded\nhis rifle; \"we are a little too far already for a rifle to put forth its\nbeauties, and you see yonder imps are holding a council.", "Let them come\nup within striking distance--my eye may well be trusted in such a\nmatter--and I will trail the varlets the length of the Horican,\nguaranteeing that not a shot of theirs shall, at the worst, more than\nbreak the skin, while 'Killdeer' shall touch the life twice in three\ntimes.\"", "\"We forget our errand,\" returned the diligent Duncan.", "\"For God's sake\nlet us profit by this advantage, and increase our distance from the\nenemy.\"", "\"Give me my children,\" said Munro hoarsely; \"trifle no longer with a\nfather's agony, but restore me my babes.\"", "Long and habitual deference to the mandates of his superiors had taught\nthe scout the virtue of obedience.", "Throwing a last and lingering glance\nat the distant canoes, he laid aside his rifle, and relieving the\nwearied Duncan, resumed the paddle, which he wielded with sinews that\nnever tired.", "His efforts were seconded by those of the Mohicans, and a\nvery few minutes served to place such a sheet of water between them and\ntheir enemies, that Heyward once more breathed freely.", "The lake now began to expand, and their route lay along a wide reach,\nthat was lined, as before, by high and ragged mountains.", "But the islands\nwere few, and easily avoided.", "The strokes of the paddles grew more\nmeasured and regular, while they who plied them continued their labor,\nafter the close and deadly chase from which they had just relieved\nthemselves, with as much coolness as though their speed had been tried\nin sport, rather than under such pressing, nay, almost desperate\ncircumstances.", "Instead of following the western shore, whither their errand led them,\nthe wary Mohican inclined his course more towards those hills behind\nwhich Montcalm was known to have led his army into the formidable\nfortress of Ticonderoga.", "As the Hurons, to every appearance, had\nabandoned the pursuit, there was no apparent reason for this excess of\ncaution.", "It was, however, maintained for hours, until they had reached a\nbay, nigh the northern termination of the lake.", "Here the canoe was\ndriven upon the beach, and the whole party landed.", "Hawkeye and Heyward\nascended an adjacent bluff, where the former, after considering the\nexpanse of water beneath him, pointed out to the latter a small black\nobject, hovering under a headland, at the distance of several miles.", "\"Do you see it?\"", "demanded the scout.", "\"Now, what would you account that\nspot, were you left alone to white experience to find your way through\nthis wilderness?\"", "\"But for its distance and its magnitude, I should suppose it a bird.", "Can\nit be a living object?\"", "\"'Tis a canoe of good birchen bark, and paddled by fierce and crafty\nMingos.", "Though Providence has lent to those who inhabit the woods eyes\nthat would be needless to men in the settlements, where there are\ninventions to assist the sight, yet no human organs can see all the\ndangers which at this moment circumvent us.", "These varlets pretend to be\nbent chiefly on their sun-down meal, but the moment it is dark they will\nbe on our trail, as true as hounds on the scent.", "We must throw them off,\nor our pursuit of Le Renard Subtil may be given up.", "These lakes are\nuseful at times, especially when the game takes the water,\" continued\nthe scout, gazing about him with a countenance of concern; \"but they\ngive no cover, except it be to the fishes.", "God knows what the country\nwould be, if the settlements should ever spread far from the two rivers.", "Both hunting and war would lose their beauty.\"", "\"Let us not delay a moment, without some good and obvious cause.\"", "\"I little like that smoke, which you may see worming up along the rock\nabove the canoe,\" interrupted the abstracted scout.", "\"My life on it,\nother eyes than ours see it, and know its meaning.", "Well, words will not\nmend the matter, and it is time that we were doing.\"", "Hawkeye moved away from the look-out, and descended, musing profoundly,\nto the shore.", "He communicated the result of his observations to his\ncompanions, in Delaware, and a short and earnest consultation succeeded.", "When it terminated, the three instantly set about executing their new\nresolutions.", "The canoe was lifted from the water, and borne on the shoulders of the\nparty.", "They proceeded into the wood, making as broad and obvious a trail\nas possible.", "They soon reached a water-course, which they crossed, and\ncontinued onward, until they came to an extensive and naked rock.", "At\nthis point, where their footsteps might be expected to be no longer\nvisible, they retraced their route to the brook, walking backwards, with\nthe utmost care.", "They now followed the bed of the little stream to the\nlake, into which they immediately launched their canoe again.", "A low\npoint concealed them from the headland, and the margin of the lake was\nfringed for some distance with dense and overhanging bushes.", "Under the\ncover of these natural advantages, they toiled their way, with patient\nindustry, until the scout pronounced that he believed it would be safe\nonce more to land.", "The halt continued until evening rendered objects indistinct and\nuncertain to the eye.", "Then they resumed their route, and, favored by the\ndarkness, pushed silently and vigorously towards the western shore.", "Although the rugged outline of mountain, to which they were steering,\npresented no distinctive marks to the eyes of Duncan, the Mohican\nentered the little haven he had selected with the confidence and\naccuracy of an experienced pilot.", "The boat was again lifted and borne into the woods where it was\ncarefully concealed under a pile of brush.", "The adventurers assumed their\narms and packs, and the scout announced to Munro and Heyward that he and\nthe Indians were at last in readiness to proceed." ]

[ "But speak not a syllable; it is rare for a white\nvoice to pitch itself properly in the woods, as we have seen by the\nexample of that miserable devil, the singer.", "A few rods in their front lay another of the low wooded islets,\nbut it appeared as calm and peaceful as if its solitude had never been\ndisturbed by the foot of man.", "'Tis but a shade, and yet it is not natural.", "You see\nthe mist, major, that is rising above the island; you can't call it a\nfog, for it is more like a streak of thin cloud--\"\n\n\"It is vapor from the water.\"", "\"That a child could tell.", "\"Hold them there, Sagamore,\" said Hawkeye, looking coolly backward over\nhis left shoulder, while he still plied his paddle; \"keep them just\nthere.", "The stirring scene awakened even Munro from his apathy.", "exclaimed the scout;\n\"and like too many of his notions, not to be maintained by reason.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE FLIGHT ACROSS THE LAKE\n\n_The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient of\nthemselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid aside\nhis paddle, and raised the fatal rifle_]\n\n\"All that you say is very true, my friend,\" replied Heyward; \"still,\nour customs must prevent us from doing as you wish.\"", "Can\nit be a living object?\"" ]

[ "\"Let us make for the rocks on the main,\" he said, with the mien of a\ntired soldier, \"and give battle to the savages.", "His efforts were seconded by those of the Mohicans, and a\nvery few minutes served to place such a sheet of water between them and\ntheir enemies, that Heyward once more breathed freely.", "The young man observed the precaution; and the scout, laying a board\nfrom the ruins to the canoe, made a sign for the two officers to enter.", "\"They are preparing for a shot,\" said Heyward; \"and as we are in a line\nwith them, it can scarcely fail.\"", "They proceeded into the wood, making as broad and obvious a trail\nas possible.", "When this was done, everything was studiously restored to its former\ndisorder; and then Hawkeye succeeded in reaching his little birchen\nvessel, without leaving behind him any of those marks which he appeared\nso much to dread.", "\"Softly, softly, major,\" said the scout, who by this time had reloaded\nhis rifle; \"we are a little too far already for a rifle to put forth its\nbeauties, and you see yonder imps are holding a council.", "No, no,\" continued the scout,\nlooking back at the dim shore of William Henry, which was now fast\nreceding, and laughing in his own silent but heartfelt manner; \"I have\nput a trail of water atween us; and unless the imps can make friends\nwith the fishes, and hear who has paddled across their basin, this fine\nmorning, we shall throw the length of the Horican behind us, before they\nhave made up their minds which path to take.\"", "Let them come\nup within striking distance--my eye may well be trusted in such a\nmatter--and I will trail the varlets the length of the Horican,\nguaranteeing that not a shot of theirs shall, at the worst, more than\nbreak the skin, while 'Killdeer' shall touch the life twice in three\ntimes.\"", "Just as the day\ndawned, they entered the narrows of the lake,[23] and stole swiftly and\ncautiously among their numberless little islands." ]

[ "\"He who wishes to prosper in Indian warfare,\" returned the scout, \"must\nnot be too proud to learn from the wit of a native.", "Lay her more along\nthe land, Sagamore; we are doubling on the varlets, and perhaps they may\ntry to strike our trail on the long calculation.\"", "Hawkeye was not mistaken; for when the Hurons found their course was\nlikely to throw them behind their chase, they rendered it less direct,\nuntil, by gradually bearing more and more obliquely, the two canoes were\nere long, gliding on parallel lines, within two hundred yards of each\nother.", "It now became entirely a trial of speed.", "So rapid was the\nprogress of the light vessels, that the lake curled in their front, in\nminiature waves, and their motion became undulating by its own velocity.", "It was, perhaps, owing to this circumstance, in addition to the\nnecessity of keeping every hand employed at the paddles, that the\nHurons had not immediate recourse to their fire-arms.", "The exertions of\nthe fugitives were too severe to continue long, and the pursuers had the\nadvantage of numbers.", "Duncan observed, with uneasiness, that the scout\nbegan to look anxiously about him, as if searching for some further\nmeans of assisting their flight.", "\"Edge her a little more from the sun, Sagamore,\" said the stubborn\nwoodsman; \"I see the knaves are sparing a man to the rifle.", "A single\nbroken bone might lose us our scalps.", "Edge more from the sun and we will\nput the island between us.\"" ]

[ "\n \"Land of Albania!", "let me bend mine eyes\n On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men!\"", "_Childe Harold._\n\n\nThe heavens were still studded with stars, when Hawkeye came to arouse\nthe sleepers.", "Casting aside their cloaks Munro and Heyward were on their\nfeet while the woodsman was still making his low calls, at the entrance\nof the rude shelter where they had passed the night.", "When they issued\nfrom beneath its concealment, they found the scout awaiting their\nappearance nigh by, and the only salutation between them was the\nsignificant gesture for silence, made by their sagacious leader.", "\"Think over your prayers,\" he whispered, as they approached him; \"for He\nto whom you make them knows all tongues; that of the heart as well as\nthose of the mouth.", "But speak not a syllable; it is rare for a white\nvoice to pitch itself properly in the woods, as we have seen by the\nexample of that miserable devil, the singer.", "Come,\" he continued,\nturning towards a curtain of the works; \"let us get into the ditch on\nthis side, and be regardful to step on the stones and fragments of wood\nas you go.\"", "His companions complied, though to two of them the reasons of this\nextraordinary precaution were yet a mystery.", "When they were in the low\ncavity that surrounded the earthen fort on three sides, they found the\npassage nearly choked by the ruins.", "They soon reached a water-course, which they crossed, and\ncontinued onward, until they came to an extensive and naked rock.", "At\nthis point, where their footsteps might be expected to be no longer\nvisible, they retraced their route to the brook, walking backwards, with\nthe utmost care.", "They now followed the bed of the little stream to the\nlake, into which they immediately launched their canoe again.", "A low\npoint concealed them from the headland, and the margin of the lake was\nfringed for some distance with dense and overhanging bushes.", "Under the\ncover of these natural advantages, they toiled their way, with patient\nindustry, until the scout pronounced that he believed it would be safe\nonce more to land.", "The halt continued until evening rendered objects indistinct and\nuncertain to the eye.", "Then they resumed their route, and, favored by the\ndarkness, pushed silently and vigorously towards the western shore.", "Although the rugged outline of mountain, to which they were steering,\npresented no distinctive marks to the eyes of Duncan, the Mohican\nentered the little haven he had selected with the confidence and\naccuracy of an experienced pilot.", "The boat was again lifted and borne into the woods where it was\ncarefully concealed under a pile of brush.", "The adventurers assumed their\narms and packs, and the scout announced to Munro and Heyward that he and\nthe Indians were at last in readiness to proceed." ]

[ "\n \"If you find a man there, he shall die a flea's death.\"", "_Merry Wives of Windsor._\n\n\nThe party had landed on the border of a region that is, even to this\nday, less known to the inhabitants of the States, than the deserts of\nArabia, or the steppes of Tartary.", "It was the sterile and rugged\ndistrict which separates the tributaries of Champlain from those of the\nHudson, the Mohawk, and the St. Lawrence.", "Since the period of our tale,\nthe active spirit of the country has surrounded it with a belt of rich\nand thriving settlements, though none but the hunter or the savage is\never known, even now, to penetrate its wild recesses.", "As Hawkeye and the Mohicans had, however, often traversed the mountains\nand valleys of this vast wilderness, they did not hesitate to plunge\ninto its depths, with the freedom of men accustomed to its privations\nand difficulties.", "For many hours the travellers toiled on their\nlaborious way, guided by a star, or following the direction of some\nwater-course, until the scout called a halt, and holding a short\nconsultation with the Indians, they lighted their fire, and made the\nusual preparations to pass the remainder of the night where they then\nwere.", "Imitating the example, and emulating the confidence, of their more\nexperienced associates, Munro and Duncan slept without fear, if not\nwithout uneasiness.", "The dews were suffered to exhale, and the sun\ndispersed the mists, and was shedding a strong and clear light in the\nforest, when the travellers resumed their journey.", "After proceeding a few miles, the progress of Hawkeye, who led the\nadvance, became more deliberate and watchful.", "He often stopped to\nexamine the trees; nor did he cross a rivulet, without attentively\nconsidering the quantity, the velocity, and the color of its waters.", "Distrusting his own judgment his appeals to the opinion of Chingachgook\nwere frequent and earnest.", "During one of these conferences, Heyward\nobserved that Uncas stood a patient and silent, though, as he imagined,\nan interested listener.", "He was strongly tempted to address the young\nchief, and demand his opinion of their progress; but the calm and\ndignified demeanor of the native induced him to believe that, like\nhimself, the other was wholly dependent on the sagacity and intelligence\nof the seniors of the party.", "At last, the scout spoke in English, and at\nonce explained the embarrassment of their situation.", "\"When I found that the home path of the Hurons run north,\" he said, \"it\ndid not need the judgment of many long years to tell that they would\nfollow the valleys, and keep atween the waters of the Hudson and the\nHorican, until they might strike the springs of the Canada streams,\nwhich would lead them into the heart of the country of the Frenchers.", "Yet here are we, within a short range of the Scaroon, and not a sign of\na trail have we crossed!", "Human natur' is weak, and it is possible we may\nnot have taken the proper scent.\"", "\"Heaven protect us from such an error!\"", "exclaimed Duncan.", "\"Let us\nretrace our steps, and examine as we go, with keener eyes.", "Has Uncas no\ncounsel to offer in such a strait?\"", "The young Mohican cast a glance at his father, but maintaining his quiet\nand reserved mien, he continued silent.", "Chingachgook had caught the\nlook, and motioning with his hand, he bade him speak.", "The moment this\npermission was accorded, the countenance of Uncas changed from its grave\ncomposure to a gleam of intelligence and joy.", "Bounding forward like a\ndeer, he sprang up the side of a little acclivity, a few rods in\nadvance, and stood exultingly over a spot of fresh earth that looked as\nthough it had been recently upturned by the passage of some heavy\nanimal.", "The eyes of the whole party followed the unexpected movement,\nand read their success in the air of triumph that the youth assumed.", "\"'Tis the trail!\"", "exclaimed the scout, advancing to the spot: \"the lad\nis quick of sight and keen of wit for his years.\"", "\"'Tis extraordinary that he should have withheld his knowledge so long,\"\nmuttered Duncan, at his elbow.", "\"It would have been more wonderful had he spoken without a bidding.", "No,\nno; your young white, who gathers his learning from books and can\nmeasure what he knows by the page, may conceit that his knowledge, like\nhis legs, outruns that of his father; but where experience is the\nmaster, the scholar is made to know the value of years, and respects\nthem accordingly.\"", "\"See!\"", "said Uncas, pointing north and south, at the evident marks of\nthe broad trail on either side of him: \"the dark-hair has gone towards\nthe frost.\"", "\"Hound never ran on a more beautiful scent,\" responded the scout,\ndashing forward, at once, on the indicated route; \"we are favored,\ngreatly favored, and can follow with high noses.", "Ay, here are both your\nwaddling beasts: this Huron travels like a white general.", "The fellow is\nstricken with a judgment, and is mad!", "Look sharp for wheels, Sagamore,\"\nhe continued, looking back, and laughing in his newly awakened\nsatisfaction; \"we shall soon have the fool journeying in a coach, and\nthat with three of the best pair of eyes on the borders, in his rear.\"", "The spirits of the scout, and the astonishing success of the chase, in\nwhich a circuitous distance of more than forty miles had been passed,\ndid not fail to impart a portion of hope to the whole party.", "Their\nadvance was rapid; and made with as much confidence as a traveller would\nproceed along a wide highway.", "If a rock, or a rivulet, or a bit of earth\nharder than common, severed the links of the clue they followed, the\ntrue eye of the scout recovered them at a distance, and seldom rendered\nthe delay of a single moment necessary.", "Their progress was much\nfacilitated by the certainty that Magua had found it necessary to\njourney through the valleys; a circumstance which rendered the general\ndirection of the route sure.", "Nor had the Huron entirely neglected the\narts uniformly practised by the natives when retiring in front of any\nenemy.", "False trails, and sudden turnings, were frequent, wherever a\nbrook, or the formation of the ground, rendered them feasible; but his\npursuers were rarely deceived, and never failed to detect their error,\nbefore they had lost either time or distance on the deceptive track.", "By the middle of the afternoon they had passed the Scaroon, and were\nfollowing the route of the declining sun.", "After descending an eminence\nto a low bottom, through which a stream glided, they suddenly came to a\nplace where the party of Le Renard had made a halt.", "Extinguished brands\nwere lying around a spring, the offals of a deer were scattered about\nthe place, and the trees bore evident marks of having been browsed by\nthe horses.", "At a little distance, Heyward discovered, and contemplated\nwith tender emotion, the small bower under which he was fain to believe\nthat Cora and Alice had reposed.", "But while the earth was trodden, and\nthe footsteps of both men and beasts were so plainly visible around the\nplace, the trail appeared to have suddenly ended.", "It was easy to follow the track of the Narragansetts, but they seemed\nonly to have wandered without guides, or any other object than the\npursuit of food.", "At length Uncas, who, with his father, had endeavored\nto trace the route of the horses, came upon a sign of their presence\nthat was quite recent.", "Before following the clue, he communicated his\nsuccess to his companions; and while the latter were consulting on the\ncircumstance, the youth reappeared, leading the two fillies, with their\nsaddles broken, and the housings soiled, as though they had been\npermitted to run at will for several days.", "\"What should this mean?\"", "said Duncan, turning pale, and glancing his\neyes around him, as if he feared the brush and leaves were about to give\nup some horrid secret.", "\"That our march is come to a quick end, and that we are in an enemy's\ncountry,\" returned the scout.", "\"Had the knaves been pressed, and the\ngentle ones wanted horses to keep up with the party, he might have taken\ntheir scalps; but without an enemy at his heels, and with such rugged\nbeasts as these, he would not hurt a hair of their heads.", "I know your\nthoughts, and shame be it to our color that you have reason for them;\nbut he who thinks that even a Mingo would ill-treat a woman, unless it\nbe to tomahawk her, knows nothing of Indian natur', or the laws of the\nwoods.", "No, no; I have heard that the French Indians had come into these\nhills, to hunt the moose, and we are getting within scent of their camp.", "Why should they not?", "the morning and evening guns of Ty may be heard any\nday among these mountains; for the Frenchers are running a new line\natween the provinces of the king and the Canadas.", "It is true that the\nhorses are here, but the Hurons are gone; let us then hunt for the path\nby which they departed.\"", "Hawkeye and the Mohicans now applied themselves to their task in good\nearnest.", "A circle of a few hundred feet in circumference was drawn, and\neach of the party took a segment for his portion.", "The examination,\nhowever, resulted in no discovery.", "The impressions of footsteps were\nnumerous, but they all appeared like those of men who had wandered about\nthe spot, without any design to quit it.", "Again the scout and his\ncompanions made the circuit of the halting-place, each slowly following\nthe other, until they assembled in the centre once more, no wiser than\nwhen they started.", "\"Such cunning is not without its deviltry,\" exclaimed Hawkeye, when he\nmet the disappointed looks of his assistants.", "\"We must get down to it, Sagamore, beginning at the spring, and going\nover the ground by inches.", "The Huron shall never brag in his tribe that\nhe has a foot which leaves no print.\"", "Setting the example himself, the scout engaged in the scrutiny with\nrenewed zeal.", "Not a leaf was left unturned.", "The sticks were removed, and\nthe stones lifted; for Indian cunning was known frequently to adopt\nthese objects as covers, laboring with the utmost patience and industry,\nto conceal each footstep as they proceeded.", "Still no discovery was made.", "At length Uncas, whose activity had enabled him to achieve his portion\nof the task the soonest, raked the earth across the turbid little rill\nwhich ran from the spring, and diverted its course into another channel.", "So soon as its narrow bed below the dam was dry, he stooped over it with\nkeen and curious eyes.", "A cry of exultation immediately announced the\nsuccess of the young warrior.", "The whole party crowded to the spot where\nUncas pointed out the impression of a moccasin in the moist alluvion.", "\"The lad will be an honor to his people,\" said Hawkeye, regarding the\ntrail with as much admiration as a naturalist would expend on the tusk\nof a mammoth or the rib of a mastodon; \"ay, and a thorn in the sides of\nthe Hurons.", "Yet that is not the footstep of an Indian!", "the weight is too\nmuch on the heel, and the toes are squared, as though one of the French\ndancers had been in, pigeon-winging his tribe!", "Run back, Uncas, and\nbring me the size of the singer's foot.", "You will find a beautiful print\nof it just opposite yon rock, agin the hillside.\"", "While the youth was engaged in this commission, the scout and\nChingachgook were attentively considering the impressions.", "The\nmeasurements agreed, and the former unhesitatingly pronounced that the\nfootstep was that of David, who had once more, been made to exchange his\nshoes for moccasins.", "\"I can now read the whole of it, as plainly as if I had seen the arts of\nLe Subtil,\" he added; \"the singer, being a man whose gifts lay chiefly\nin his throat and feet, was made to go first, and the others have trod\nin his steps, imitating their formation.\"", "\"But,\" cried Duncan, \"I see no signs of--\"\n\n\"The gentle ones,\" interrupted the scout; \"the varlet has found a way to\ncarry them, until he supposed he had thrown any followers off the scent.", "My life on it, we see their pretty little feet again, before many rods\ngo by.\"", "The whole party now proceeded, following the course of the rill, keeping\nanxious eyes on the regular impressions.", "The water soon flowed into its\nbed again, but watching the ground on either side, the foresters pursued\ntheir way content with knowing that the trail lay beneath.", "More than\nhalf a mile was passed, before the rill rippled close around the base of\nan extensive and dry rock.", "Here they paused to make sure that the Hurons\nhad not quitted the water.", "It was fortunate they did so.", "For the quick and active Uncas soon found\nthe impression of a foot on a bunch of moss, where it would seem an\nIndian had inadvertently trodden.", "Pursuing the direction given by this\ndiscovery, he entered the neighboring thicket, and struck the trail, as\nfresh and obvious as it had been before they reached the spring.", "Another\nshout announced the good fortune of the youth to his companions, and at\nonce terminated the search.", "\"Ay, it has been planned with Indian judgment,\" said the scout, when the\nparty was assembled around the place; \"and would have blinded white\neyes.\"", "\"Shall we proceed?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Softly, softly: we know our path; but it is good to examine the\nformation of things.", "This is my schooling, major; and if one neglects\nthe book, there is little chance of learning from the open hand of\nProvidence.", "All is plain but one thing, which is the manner that the\nknave contrived to get the gentle ones along the blind trail.", "Even a\nHuron would be too proud to let their tender feet touch the water.\"", "\"Will this assist in explaining the difficulty?\"", "said Heyward, pointing\ntowards the fragments of a sort of handbarrow, that had been rudely\nconstructed of boughs, and bound together with withes, and which now\nseemed carelessly cast aside as useless.", "\"'Tis explained!\"", "cried the delighted Hawkeye.", "\"If them varlets have\npassed a minute, they have spent hours in striving to fabricate a lying\nend to their trail!", "Well, I've known them to waste a day in the same\nmanner, to as little purpose.", "Here we have three pair of moccasins, and\ntwo of little feet.", "It is amazing that any mortal beings can journey on\nlimbs so small!", "Pass me the thong of buckskin, Uncas, and let me take\nthe length of this foot.", "By the Lord, it is no longer than a child's and\nyet the maidens are tall and comely.", "That Providence is partial in its\ngifts, for its own wise reasons, the best and most contented of us must\nallow.\"", "\"The tender limbs of my daughters are unequal to these hardships,\" said\nMunro, looking at the light footsteps of his children, with a parent's\nlove: \"we shall find their fainting forms in this desert.\"", "\"Of that there is little cause of fear,\" returned the scout, slowly\nshaking his head; \"this is a firm and straight, though a light step, and\nnot over long.", "See, the heel has hardly touched the ground; and there\nthe dark-hair has made a little jump, from root to root.", "No, no; my\nknowledge for it, neither of them was nigh fainting, hereaway.", "Now, the\nsinger was beginning to be foot-sore and leg-weary as is plain by his\ntrail.", "There, you see, he slipped; here he has travelled wide, and\ntottered; and there, again, it looks as though he journeyed on\nsnow-shoes.", "Ay, ay, a man who uses his throat altogether, can hardly\ngive his legs a proper training.\"", "From such undeniable testimony did the practised woodsman arrive at the\ntruth, with nearly as much certainty and precision as if he had been a\nwitness of all those events which his ingenuity so easily elucidated.", "Cheered by these assurances, and satisfied by a reasoning that was so\nobvious, while it was so simple, the party resumed its course, after\nmaking a short halt to take a hurried repast.", "When the meal was ended, the scout cast a glance upwards at the setting\nsun, and pushed forward with a rapidity which compelled Heyward and the\nstill vigorous Munro to exert all their muscles to equal.", "Their route\nnow lay along the bottom which had already been mentioned.", "As the Hurons\nhad made no further efforts to conceal their footsteps, the progress of\nthe pursuers was no longer delayed by uncertainty.", "Before an hour had\nelapsed, however, the speed of Hawkeye sensibly abated, and his head,\ninstead of maintaining its former direct and forward look, began to turn\nsuspiciously from side to side, as if he were conscious of approaching\ndanger.", "He soon stopped again, and waited for the whole party to come\nup.", "\"I scent the Hurons,\" he said, speaking to the Mohicans; \"yonder is open\nsky, through the tree-tops, and we are getting too nigh their\nencampment.", "Sagamore, you will take the hillside, to the right; Uncas\nwill bend along the brook to the left, while I will try the trail.", "If\nanything should happen, the call will be three croaks of a crow.", "I saw\none of the birds fanning himself in the air, just beyond the dead\noak--another sign that we are touching an encampment.\"", "The Indians departed their several ways without reply, while Hawkeye\ncautiously proceeded with the two gentlemen.", "Heyward soon pressed to the\nside of their guide, eager to catch an early glimpse of those enemies he\nhad pursued with so much toil and anxiety.", "His companion told him to\nsteal to the edge of the wood, which, as usual, was fringed with a\nthicket, and wait his coming, for he wished to examine certain\nsuspicious signs a little on one side.", "Duncan obeyed, and soon found\nhimself in a situation to command a view which he found as extraordinary\nas it was novel.", "The trees of many acres had been felled, and the glow of a mild summer's\nevening had fallen on the clearing, in beautiful contrast to the gray\nlight of the forest.", "A short distance from the place where Duncan stood,\nthe stream had seemingly expanded into a little lake, covering most of\nthe low land, from mountain to mountain.", "The water fell out of this wide\nbasin, in a cataract so regular and gentle, that it appeared rather to\nbe the work of human hands, than fashioned by nature.", "A hundred earthen\ndwellings stood on the margin of the lake, and even in its water, as\nthough the latter had overflowed its usual banks.", "Their rounded roofs,\nadmirably moulded for defence against the weather, denoted more of\nindustry and foresight than the natives were wont to bestow on their\nregular habitations, much less on those they occupied for the temporary\npurposes of hunting and war.", "In short, the whole village or town,\nwhichever it might be termed, possessed more of method and neatness of\nexecution, than the white men had been accustomed to believe belonged,\nordinarily, to the Indian habits.", "It appeared, however, to be deserted.", "At least, so thought Duncan for many minutes; but, at length, he fancied\nhe discovered several human forms advancing towards him on all fours,\nand apparently dragging in their train some heavy, and as he was quick\nto apprehend, some formidable engine.", "Just then a few dark looking heads\ngleamed out of the dwellings, and the place seemed suddenly alive with\nbeings, which, however, glided from cover to cover so swiftly, as to\nallow no opportunity of examining their humors or pursuits.", "Alarmed at\nthese suspicious and inexplicable movements, he was about to attempt the\nsignal of the crows, when the rustling of leaves at hand drew his eyes\nin another direction.", "The young man started, and recoiled a few paces instinctively, when he\nfound himself within a hundred yards of a stranger Indian.", "Recovering\nhis recollection on the instant, instead of sounding an alarm, which\nmight prove fatal to himself, he remained stationary, an attentive\nobserver of the other's motions.", "An instant of calm observation served to assure Duncan that he was\nundiscovered.", "The native, like himself, seemed occupied in considering\nthe low dwellings of the village, and the stolen movements of its\ninhabitants.", "It was impossible to discover the expression of his\nfeatures, through the grotesque mask of paint under which they were\nconcealed; though Duncan fancied it was rather melancholy than savage.", "His head was shaved, as usual, with the exception of the crown, from\nwhose tuft three or four faded feathers from a hawk's wing were loosely\ndangling.", "A ragged calico mantle half-encircled his body, while his\nnether garment was composed of an ordinary shirt, the sleeves of which\nwere made to perform the office that is usually executed by a much more\ncommodious arrangement.", "His legs were bare, and sadly cut and torn by\nbriers.", "The feet were, however, covered with a pair of good deer-skin\nmoccasins.", "Altogether, the appearance of the individual was forlorn and\nmiserable.", "Duncan was still curiously observing the person of his neighbor, when\nthe scout stole silently and cautiously to his side.", "\"You see we have reached their settlement or encampment,\" whispered the\nyoung man; \"and here is one of the savages himself, in a very\nembarrassing position for our further movements.\"", "Hawkeye started, and dropped his rifle, directed by the finger of his\ncompanion, the stranger came under his view.", "Then lowering the dangerous\nmuzzle, he stretched forward his long neck, as if to assist a scrutiny\nthat was already intensely keen.", "\"The imp is not a Huron,\" he said, \"nor of any of the Canada tribes; and\nyet you see, by his clothes, the knave has been plundering a white.", "Ay,\nMontcalm has raked the woods for his inroad, and a whooping, murdering\nset of varlets has he gathered together.", "Can you see where he has put\nhis rifle or his bow?\"", "\"He appears to have no arms; nor does he seem to be viciously inclined.", "Unless he communicate the alarm to his fellows, who as you see are\ndodging about the water, we have but little to fear from him.\"", "The scout turned to Heyward, and regarded him a moment with unconcealed\namazement.", "Then opening wide his mouth, he indulged in unrestrained and\nheartfelt laughter, though in that silent and peculiar manner which\ndanger had so long taught him to practise.", "Repeating the words, \"fellows who are dodging about the water!\"", "he\nadded, \"so much for schooling and passing a boyhood in the settlements!", "The knave has long legs, though, and shall not be trusted.", "Do you keep\nhim under your rifle while I creep in behind, through the bush, and take\nhim alive.", "Fire on no account.\"", "Heyward had already permitted his companion to bury part of his person\nin the thicket, when, stretching forth an arm, he arrested him, in order\nto ask,--\n\n\"If I see you in danger, may I not risk a shot?\"", "Hawkeye regarded him a moment, like one who knew not how to take the\nquestion; then nodding his head, he answered, still laughing, though\ninaudibly,--\n\n\"Fire a whole platoon, major.\"", "In the next moment he was concealed by the leaves.", "Duncan waited several\nminutes in feverish impatience, before he caught another glimpse of the\nscout.", "Then he reappeared, creeping along the earth, from which his\ndress was hardly distinguishable, directly in the rear of his intended\ncaptive.", "Having reached within a few yards of the latter, he arose to\nhis feet, silently and slowly.", "At that instant, several loud blows were\nstruck on the water, and Duncan turned his eyes just in time to perceive\nthat a hundred dark forms were plunging, in a body, into the troubled\nlittle sheet.", "Grasping his rifle, his looks were again bent on the\nIndian near him.", "Instead of taking the alarm, the unconscious savage\nstretched forward his neck, as if he also watched the movements about\nthe gloomy lake, with a sort of silly curiosity.", "In the meantime, the\nuplifted hand of Hawkeye was above him.", "But, without any apparent\nreason, it was withdrawn, and its owner indulged in another long, though\nstill silent, fit of merriment.", "When the peculiar and hearty laughter of\nHawkeye was ended, instead of grasping his victim by the throat, he\ntapped him lightly on the shoulder, and exclaimed aloud,--\n\n\"How now, friend!", "have you a mind to teach the beavers to sing?\"", "\"Even so,\" was the ready answer.", "\"It would seem that the Being that gave\nthem power to improve his gifts so well, would not deny them voices to\nproclaim his praise.\"" ]

[ "\"Heaven protect us from such an error!\"", "At length Uncas, who, with his father, had endeavored\nto trace the route of the horses, came upon a sign of their presence\nthat was quite recent.", "Still no discovery was made.", "\"But,\" cried Duncan, \"I see no signs of--\"\n\n\"The gentle ones,\" interrupted the scout; \"the varlet has found a way to\ncarry them, until he supposed he had thrown any followers off the scent.", "Here they paused to make sure that the Hurons\nhad not quitted the water.", "said Heyward, pointing\ntowards the fragments of a sort of handbarrow, that had been rudely\nconstructed of boughs, and bound together with withes, and which now\nseemed carelessly cast aside as useless.", "The Indians departed their several ways without reply, while Hawkeye\ncautiously proceeded with the two gentlemen.", "A hundred earthen\ndwellings stood on the margin of the lake, and even in its water, as\nthough the latter had overflowed its usual banks.", "Then opening wide his mouth, he indulged in unrestrained and\nheartfelt laughter, though in that silent and peculiar manner which\ndanger had so long taught him to practise.", "Duncan waited several\nminutes in feverish impatience, before he caught another glimpse of the\nscout." ]

[ "After descending an eminence\nto a low bottom, through which a stream glided, they suddenly came to a\nplace where the party of Le Renard had made a halt.", "exclaimed Duncan.", "\"We must get down to it, Sagamore, beginning at the spring, and going\nover the ground by inches.", "False trails, and sudden turnings, were frequent, wherever a\nbrook, or the formation of the ground, rendered them feasible; but his\npursuers were rarely deceived, and never failed to detect their error,\nbefore they had lost either time or distance on the deceptive track.", "\"Will this assist in explaining the difficulty?\"", "the weight is too\nmuch on the heel, and the toes are squared, as though one of the French\ndancers had been in, pigeon-winging his tribe!", "His companion told him to\nsteal to the edge of the wood, which, as usual, was fringed with a\nthicket, and wait his coming, for he wished to examine certain\nsuspicious signs a little on one side.", "The sticks were removed, and\nthe stones lifted; for Indian cunning was known frequently to adopt\nthese objects as covers, laboring with the utmost patience and industry,\nto conceal each footstep as they proceeded.", "Grasping his rifle, his looks were again bent on the\nIndian near him.", "Ay, ay, a man who uses his throat altogether, can hardly\ngive his legs a proper training.\"" ]

[ "The water soon flowed into its\nbed again, but watching the ground on either side, the foresters pursued\ntheir way content with knowing that the trail lay beneath.", "More than\nhalf a mile was passed, before the rill rippled close around the base of\nan extensive and dry rock.", "Here they paused to make sure that the Hurons\nhad not quitted the water.", "It was fortunate they did so.", "For the quick and active Uncas soon found\nthe impression of a foot on a bunch of moss, where it would seem an\nIndian had inadvertently trodden.", "Pursuing the direction given by this\ndiscovery, he entered the neighboring thicket, and struck the trail, as\nfresh and obvious as it had been before they reached the spring.", "Another\nshout announced the good fortune of the youth to his companions, and at\nonce terminated the search.", "\"Ay, it has been planned with Indian judgment,\" said the scout, when the\nparty was assembled around the place; \"and would have blinded white\neyes.\"", "\"Shall we proceed?\"", "demanded Heyward.", "\"Softly, softly: we know our path; but it is good to examine the\nformation of things." ]

[ "\n \"If you find a man there, he shall die a flea's death.\"", "_Merry Wives of Windsor._\n\n\nThe party had landed on the border of a region that is, even to this\nday, less known to the inhabitants of the States, than the deserts of\nArabia, or the steppes of Tartary.", "It was the sterile and rugged\ndistrict which separates the tributaries of Champlain from those of the\nHudson, the Mohawk, and the St. Lawrence.", "Since the period of our tale,\nthe active spirit of the country has surrounded it with a belt of rich\nand thriving settlements, though none but the hunter or the savage is\never known, even now, to penetrate its wild recesses.", "As Hawkeye and the Mohicans had, however, often traversed the mountains\nand valleys of this vast wilderness, they did not hesitate to plunge\ninto its depths, with the freedom of men accustomed to its privations\nand difficulties.", "For many hours the travellers toiled on their\nlaborious way, guided by a star, or following the direction of some\nwater-course, until the scout called a halt, and holding a short\nconsultation with the Indians, they lighted their fire, and made the\nusual preparations to pass the remainder of the night where they then\nwere.", "Imitating the example, and emulating the confidence, of their more\nexperienced associates, Munro and Duncan slept without fear, if not\nwithout uneasiness.", "The dews were suffered to exhale, and the sun\ndispersed the mists, and was shedding a strong and clear light in the\nforest, when the travellers resumed their journey.", "After proceeding a few miles, the progress of Hawkeye, who led the\nadvance, became more deliberate and watchful.", "He often stopped to\nexamine the trees; nor did he cross a rivulet, without attentively\nconsidering the quantity, the velocity, and the color of its waters.", "Having reached within a few yards of the latter, he arose to\nhis feet, silently and slowly.", "At that instant, several loud blows were\nstruck on the water, and Duncan turned his eyes just in time to perceive\nthat a hundred dark forms were plunging, in a body, into the troubled\nlittle sheet.", "Grasping his rifle, his looks were again bent on the\nIndian near him.", "Instead of taking the alarm, the unconscious savage\nstretched forward his neck, as if he also watched the movements about\nthe gloomy lake, with a sort of silly curiosity.", "In the meantime, the\nuplifted hand of Hawkeye was above him.", "But, without any apparent\nreason, it was withdrawn, and its owner indulged in another long, though\nstill silent, fit of merriment.", "When the peculiar and hearty laughter of\nHawkeye was ended, instead of grasping his victim by the throat, he\ntapped him lightly on the shoulder, and exclaimed aloud,--\n\n\"How now, friend!", "have you a mind to teach the beavers to sing?\"", "\"Even so,\" was the ready answer.", "\"It would seem that the Being that gave\nthem power to improve his gifts so well, would not deny them voices to\nproclaim his praise.\"" ]

[ "\n _\"Bot._--Are we all met?\"", "_\"Qui._--Pat--pat; and here's a marvellous\n Convenient place for our rehearsal.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe reader may better imagine, than we describe, the surprise of\nHeyward.", "His lurking Indians were suddenly converted into four-footed\nbeasts; his lake into a beaver pond; his cataract into a dam,\nconstructed by those industrious and ingenious quadrupeds; and a\nsuspected enemy into his tried friend, David Gamut, the master of\npsalmody.", "The presence of the latter created so many unexpected hopes\nrelative to the sisters that, without a moment's hesitation, the young\nman broke out of his ambush, and sprang forward to join the two\nprincipal actors in the scene.", "The merriment of Hawkeye was not easily appeased.", "Without ceremony, and\nwith a rough hand, he twirled the supple Gamut around on his heel, and\nmore than once affirmed that the Hurons had done themselves great credit\nin the fashion of his costume.", "Then seizing the hand of the other, he\nsqueezed it with a gripe that brought the tears into the eyes of the\nplacid David, and wished him joy of his new condition.", "\"You were about opening your throat-practysings among the beavers, were\nye?\"", "he said.", "\"The cunning devils know half the trade already, for they\nbeat the time with their tails, as you heard just now; and in good time\nit was too, or 'Killdeer' might have sounded the first note among them.", "I have known greater fools, who could read and write, than an\nexperienced old beaver; but as for squalling, the animals are born dumb!", "What think you of such a song as this?\"", "David shut his sensitive ears, and even Heyward, apprised as he was of\nthe nature of the cry, looked upwards in quest of the bird, as the\ncawing of a crow rang in the air about them.", "\"See!\"", "continued the laughing scout, as he pointed towards the remainder\nof the party, who, in obedience to the signal, were already\napproaching: \"this is music which has its natural virtues; it brings two\ngood rifles to my elbow, to say nothing of the knives and tomahawks.", "But\nwe see that you are safe; now tell us what has become of the maidens.\"", "\"They are captives to the heathen,\" said David; \"and though greatly\ntroubled in spirit, enjoying comfort and safety in the body.\"", "\"Both?\"", "demanded the breathless Heyward.", "\"Even so.", "Though our wayfaring has been sore and our sustenance scanty,\nwe have had little other cause for complaint, except the violence done\nour feelings, by being thus led in captivity into a far land.\"", "\"Bless ye for these very words!\"", "exclaimed the trembling Munro; \"I shall\nthen receive my babes spotless and angel-like, as I lost them!\"", "\"I know not that their delivery is at hand,\" returned the doubting\nDavid; \"the leader of these savages is possessed of an evil spirit that\nno power short of Omnipotence can tame.", "I have tried him sleeping and\nwaking, but neither sounds nor language seem to touch his soul.\"", "\"Where is the knave?\"", "bluntly interrupted the scout.", "\"He hunts the moose to-day, with his young men; and to-morrow, as I\nhear, they pass farther into these forests, and nigher to the borders of\nCanada.", "The elder maiden is conveyed to a neighboring people, whose\nlodges are situate beyond yonder black pinnacle of rock; while the\nyounger is detained among the women of the Hurons, whose dwellings are\nbut two short miles hence, on a table-land, where the fire has done the\noffice of the axe, and prepared the place for their reception.\"", "\"Alice, my gentle Alice!\"", "murmured Heyward; \"she has lost the\nconsolation of her sister's presence!\"", "\"Even so.", "But so far as praise and thanksgiving in psalmody can temper\nthe spirit in affliction, she has not suffered.\"", "\"Has she then a heart for music?\"", "\"Of the graver and more solemn character; though it must be acknowledged\nthat, in spite of all my endeavors, the maiden weeps oftener than she\nsmiles.", "At such moments I forbear to press the holy songs; but there are\nmany sweet and comfortable periods of satisfactory communication, when\nthe ears of the savages are astounded with the upliftings of our\nvoices.\"", "\"And why are you permitted to go at large, unwatched?\"", "David composed his features into what he intended should express an air\nof modest humility, before he meekly replied--\n\n\"Little be the praise to such a worm as I.", "But, though the power of\npsalmody was suspended in the terrible business of that field of blood\nthrough which we passed, it has recovered its influence even over the\nsouls of the heathen, and I am suffered to go and come at will.\"", "The scout laughed, and tapping his own forehead significantly, he\nperhaps explained the singular indulgence more satisfactorily when he\nsaid--\n\n\"The Indians never harm a non-composser.", "But why, when the path lay open\nbefore your eyes, did you not strike back on your own trail (it is not\nso blind as that which a squirrel would make), and bring in the tidings\nto Edward?\"", "The scout, remembering only his own sturdy and iron nature, had probably\nexacted a task that David, under no circumstances, could have performed.", "But, without entirely losing the meekness of his air, the latter was\ncontent to answer--\n\n\"Though my soul would rejoice to visit the habitations of Christendom\nonce more, my feet would rather follow the tender spirits intrusted to\nmy keeping, even into the idolatrous province of the Jesuits, than take\none step backward, while they pined in captivity and sorrow.\"", "Though the figurative language of David was not very intelligible, the\nsincere and steady expression of his eye, and the glow on his honest\ncountenance, were not easily mistaken.", "Uncas pressed closer to his side,\nand regarded the speaker with a look of commendation, while his father\nexpressed his satisfaction by the ordinary pithy exclamation of\napprobation.", "The scout shook his head as he rejoined--\n\n\"The Lord never intended that the man should place all his endeavors in\nhis throat, to the neglect of other and better gifts!", "But he has fallen\ninto the hands of some silly woman, when he should have been gathering\nhis education under a blue sky, among the beauties of the forest.", "Here,\nfriend; I did intend to kindle a fire with this tooting whistle of\nthine; but as you value the thing, take it, and blow your best on it!\"", "Gamut received his pitch-pipe with as strong an expression of pleasure\nas he believed compatible with the grave functions he exercised.", "After\nessaying its virtues repeatedly, in contrast with his own voice, and\nsatisfying himself that none of its melody was lost, he made a very\nserious demonstration towards achieving a few stanzas of one of the\nlongest effusions in the little volume so often mentioned.", "Heyward, however, hastily interrupted his pious purpose, by continuing\nquestions concerning the past and present condition of his\nfellow-captives, and in a manner more methodical than had been permitted\nby his feelings in the opening of their interview.", "David, though he\nregarded his treasure with longing eyes, was constrained to answer:\nespecially as the venerable father took a part in the interrogatories,\nwith an interest too imposing to be denied.", "Nor did the scout fail to\nthrow in a pertinent inquiry, whenever a fitting occasion presented.", "In\nthis manner, though with frequent interruptions, which were filled with\ncertain threatening sounds from the recovered instrument, the pursuers\nwere put in possession of such leading circumstances as were likely to\nprove useful in accomplishing their great and engrossing object--the\nrecovery of the sisters.", "The narrative of David was simple, and the\nfacts but few.", "Magua had waited on the mountain until a safe moment to retire presented\nitself, when he had descended, and taken the route along the western\nside of the Horican, in the direction of the Canadas.", "As the subtle\nHuron was familiar with the paths, and well knew there was no immediate\ndanger of pursuit, their progress had been moderate, and far from\nfatiguing.", "It appeared from the unembellished statement of David, that\nhis own presence had been rather endured than desired; though even Magua\nhad not been entirely exempt from that veneration with which the Indians\nregard those whom the Great Spirit has visited in their intellects.", "At\nnight, the utmost care had been taken of the captives, both to prevent\ninjury from the damps of the woods, and to guard against an escape.", "At\nthe spring, the horses were turned loose, as has been seen; and\nnotwithstanding the remoteness and length of their trail, the artifices\nalready named were resorted to, in order to cut off every clue to their\nplace of retreat.", "On their arrival at the encampment of his people,\nMagua, in obedience to a policy seldom departed from, separated his\nprisoners.", "Cora had been sent to a tribe that temporarily occupied an\nadjacent valley, though David was too ignorant of the customs and\nhistory of the natives to be able to declare anything satisfactory\nconcerning their name or character.", "He only knew that they had not\nengaged in the late expedition against William Henry; that, like the\nHurons themselves, they were allies of Montcalm; and that they\nmaintained an amicable, though a watchful intercourse with the warlike\nand savage people, whom chance had, for a time, brought in such close\nand disagreeable contact with themselves.", "The Mohicans and the scout listened to his interrupted and imperfect\nnarrative, with an interest that obviously increased as he proceeded;\nand it was while attempting to explain the pursuits of the community in\nwhich Cora was detained, that the latter abruptly demanded--\n\n\"Did you see the fashion of their knives?", "Were they of English or French\nformation?\"", "\"My thoughts were bent on no such vanities, but rather mingled in\nconsolation with those of the maidens.\"", "\"The time may come when you will not consider the knife of a savage such\na despisable vanity,\" returned the scout, with a strong expression of\ncontempt for the other's dulness.", "\"Had they held their corn-feast--or\ncan you say anything of the totems of the tribe?\"", "\"Of corn, we had many and plentiful feasts; for the grain, being in the\nmilk, is both sweet to the mouth and comfortable to the stomach.", "Of\ntotem, I know not the meaning; but if it appertaineth in any wise to the\nart of Indian music, it need not be inquired after at their hands.", "They\nnever join their voices in praise, and it would seem that they are among\nthe profanest of the idolatrous.\"", "\"Therein you belie the nature of an Indian.", "Even the Mingo adores but\nthe true and living God.", "'Tis a wicked fabrication of the whites, and I\nsay it to the shame of my color, that would make the warrior bow down\nbefore images of his own creation.", "It is true, they endeavor to make\ntruces with the wicked one--as who would not with an enemy he cannot\nconquer!--but they look up for favor and assistance to the Great and\nGood Spirit only.\"", "\"It may be so,\" said David; \"but I have seen strange and fantastic\nimages drawn in their paint, of which their admiration and care savored\nof spiritual pride; especially one, and that, too, a foul and loathsome\nobject.\"", "\"Was it a sarpent?\"", "quickly demanded the scout.", "\"Much the same.", "It was in the likeness of an abject and creeping\ntortoise.\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "exclaimed both the attentive Mohicans in a breath; while the\nscout shook his head with an air of one who had made an important, but\nby no means a pleasing discovery.", "Then the father spoke, in the language\nof the Delawares, and with a calmness and dignity that instantly\narrested the attention even of those to whom his words were\nunintelligible.", "His gestures were impressive, and at times energetic.", "Once he lifted his arm on high; and as it descended, the action threw\naside the folds of his light mantle, a finger resting on his breast, as\nif he would enforce his meaning by the attitude.", "Duncan's eyes followed\nthe movement, and he perceived that the animal just mentioned was\nbeautifully, though faintly, worked in a blue tint, on the swarthy\nbreast of the chief.", "All that he had ever heard of the violent\nseparation of the vast tribes of the Delawares rushed across his mind,\nand he awaited the proper moment to speak, with a suspense that was\nrendered nearly intolerable, by his interest in the stake.", "His wish,\nhowever, was anticipated by the scout, who turned from his red friend,\nsaying--\n\n\"We have found that which may be good or evil to us, as Heaven disposes.", "The Sagamore is of the high blood of the Delawares, and is the great\nchief of their Tortoises!", "That some of this stock are among the people\nof whom the singer tells us, is plain, by his words; and had he but\nspent half the breath in prudent questions, that he has blown away in\nmaking a trumpet of his throat, we might have known how many warriors\nthey numbered.", "It is, altogether, a dangerous path we move in; for a\nfriend whose face is turned from you often bears a bloodier mind than\nthe enemy who seeks your scalp.\"", "\"Explain,\" said Duncan.", "\"'Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and one I little like to think\nof; for it is not to be denied, that the evil has been mainly done by\nmen with white skins.", "But it has ended in turning the tomahawk of\nbrother against brother, and brought the Mingo and the Delaware to\ntravel in the same path.\"", "\"You then suspect it is a portion of that people among whom Cora\nresides?\"", "The scout nodded his head in assent, though he seemed anxious to waive\nthe further discussion of a subject that appeared painful.", "The impatient\nDuncan now made several hasty and desperate propositions to attempt the\nrelease of the sisters.", "Munro seemed to shake off his apathy, and\nlistened to the wild schemes of the young man with a deference that his\ngray hairs and reverend years should have denied.", "But the scout, after\nsuffering the ardor of the lover to expend itself a little, found means\nto convince him of the folly of precipitation, in a matter that would\nrequire their coolest judgment and utmost fortitude.", "\"It would be well,\" he added, \"to let this man go in again, as usual,\nand for him to tarry in the lodges, giving notice to the gentle ones of\nour approach, until we call him out, by signal, to consult.", "You know the\ncry of a crow, friend, from the whistle of the whippoorwill?\"", "\"'Tis a pleasing bird,\" returned David, \"and has a soft and melancholy\nnote!", "though the time is rather quick and ill-measured.\"", "\"He speaks of the wish-ton-wish,\" said the scout; \"well, since you like\nhis whistle, it shall be your signal.", "Remember, then, when you hear the\nwhippoorwill's call three times repeated, you are to come into the\nbushes where the bird might be supposed----\"\n\n\"Stop,\" interrupted Heyward; \"I will accompany him.\"", "\"You!\"", "exclaimed the astonished Hawkeye; \"are you tired of seeing the\nsun rise and set?\"", "\"David is a living proof that the Hurons can be merciful.\"", "\"Ay, but David can use his throat, as no man in his senses would pervert\nthe gift.\"", "\"I, too, can play the madman, the fool, the hero; in short, any or\neverything to rescue her I love.", "Name your objections no longer; I am\nresolved.\"", "Hawkeye regarded the young man a moment in speechless amazement.", "But\nDuncan, who, in deference to the other's skill and services, had\nhitherto submitted somewhat implicitly to his dictation, now assumed the\nsuperior, with a manner that was not easily resisted.", "He waved his hand,\nin sign of his dislike to all remonstrance, and then, in more tempered\nlanguage, he continued--\n\n\"You have the means of disguise; change me; paint me, too, if you will;\nin short, alter me to anything--a fool.\"", "\"It is not for one like me to say that he who is already formed by so\npowerful a hand as Providence, stands in need of a change,\" muttered the\ndiscontented scout.", "\"When you send your parties abroad in war, you find\nit prudent, at least, to arrange the marks and places of encampment, in\norder that they who fight on your side may know when and where to expect\na friend.\"", "\"Listen,\" interrupted Duncan; \"you have heard from this faithful\nfollower of the captives, that the Indians are of two tribes, if not of\ndifferent nations.", "With one, whom you think to be a branch of the\nDelawares, is she you call the 'dark-hair'; the other, and younger of\nthe ladies, is undeniably with our declared enemies, the Hurons.", "It\nbecomes my youth and rank to attempt the latter adventure.", "While you,\ntherefore, are negotiating with your friends for the release of one of\nthe sisters, I will effect that of the other, or die.\"", "The awakened spirit of the young soldier gleamed in his eyes, and his\nform became imposing under its influence.", "Hawkeye, though too much\naccustomed to Indian artifices not to foresee the danger of the\nexperiment, knew not well how to combat this sudden resolution.", "Perhaps there was something in the proposal that suited his own hardy\nnature, and that secret love of desperate adventure, which had increased\nwith his experience, until hazard and danger had become, in some\nmeasure, necessary to the enjoyment of his existence.", "Instead of\ncontinuing to oppose the scheme of Duncan, his humor suddenly altered,\nand he lent himself to its execution.", "\"Come,\" he said, with a good-humored smile; \"the buck that will take to\nthe water must be headed, and not followed.", "Chingachgook has as many\ndifferent paints as the engineer officer's wife, who takes down natur'\non scraps of paper, making the mountains look like cocks of rusty hay,\nand placing the blue sky in reach of your hand.", "The Sagamore can use\nthem, too.", "Seat yourself on the log; and my life on it, he can soon make\na natural fool of you, and that well to your liking.\"", "Duncan complied; and the Mohican, who had been an attentive listener to\nthe discourse, readily undertook the office.", "Long practised in all the\nsubtle arts of his race, he drew, with great dexterity and quickness,\nthe fantastic shadow that the natives were accustomed to consider as the\nevidence of a friendly and jocular disposition.", "Every line that could\npossibly be interpreted into a secret inclination for war, was carefully\navoided; while, on the other hand, he studied those conceits that might\nbe construed into amity.", "In short, he entirely sacrificed every appearance of the warrior to the\nmasquerade of a buffoon.", "Such exhibitions were not uncommon among the\nIndians; and as Duncan was already sufficiently disguised in his dress,\nthere certainly did exist some reason for believing that, with his\nknowledge of French, he might pass for a juggler from Ticonderoga,\nstraggling among the allied and friendly tribes.", "When he was thought to be sufficiently painted, the scout gave him much\nfriendly advice; concerted signals, and appointed the place where they\nshould meet, in the event of mutual success.", "The parting between Munro\nand his young friend was more melancholy; still, the former submitted to\nthe separation with an indifference that his warm and honest nature\nwould never have permitted in a more healthful state of mind.", "The scout\nled Heyward aside, and acquainted him with his intention to leave the\nveteran in some safe encampment, in charge of Chingachgook, while he and\nUncas pursued their inquiries among the people they had reason to\nbelieve were Delawares.", "Then renewing his cautions and advice, he\nconcluded by saying, with a solemnity and warmth of feeling, with which\nDuncan was deeply touched:\n\n\"And now God bless you!", "You have shown a spirit that I like; for it is\nthe gift of youth, more especially one of warm blood and a stout heart.", "But believe the warning of a man who has reason to know all he says to\nbe true.", "You will have occasion for your best manhood, and for a sharper\nwit than what is to be gathered in books, afore you outdo the cunning,\nor get the better of the courage of a Mingo.", "God bless you!", "if the\nHurons master your scalp, rely on the promise of one who has two stout\nwarriors to back him.", "They shall pay for their victory, with a life for\nevery hair it holds.", "I say, young gentleman, may Providence bless your\nundertaking, which is altogether for good; and remember, that to outwit\nthe knaves it is lawful to practise things that may not be naturally the\ngift of a white skin.\"", "Duncan shook his worthy and reluctant associate warmly by the hand, once\nmore recommended his aged friend to his care, and returning his good\nwishes, he motioned to David to proceed.", "Hawkeye gazed after the\nhigh-spirited and adventurous young man for several moments, in open\nadmiration; then shaking his head doubtingly, he turned, and led his own\ndivision of the party into the concealment of the forest.", "The route taken by Duncan and David lay directly across the clearing of\nthe beavers, and along the margin of their pond.", "When the former found himself alone with one so simple, and so little\nqualified to render any assistance in desperate emergencies, he first\nbegan to be sensible of the difficulties of the task he had undertaken.", "The fading light increased the gloominess of the bleak and savage\nwilderness that stretched so far on every side of him; and there was\neven a fearful character in the stillness of those little huts, that he\nknew were so abundantly peopled.", "It struck him, as he gazed at the\nadmirable structures and the wonderful precautions of their sagacious\ninmates, that even the brutes of these vast wilds were possessed of an\ninstinct nearly commensurate with his own reason; and he could not\nreflect, without anxiety, on the unequal contest that he had so rashly\ncourted.", "Then came the glowing image of Alice; her distress; her actual\ndanger; and all the peril of his situation was forgotten.", "Cheering\nDavid, he moved on with the light and vigorous step of youth and\nenterprise.", "After making nearly a semicircle around the pond, they diverged from the\nwater-course, and began to ascend to the level of a slight elevation in\nthat bottom land, over which they journeyed.", "Within half an hour they\ngained the margin of another opening that bore all the signs of having\nbeen also made by the beavers, and which those sagacious animals had\nprobably been induced, by some accident, to abandon, for the more\neligible position they now occupied.", "A very natural sensation caused\nDuncan to hesitate a moment, unwilling to leave the cover of their bushy\npath, as a man pauses to collect his energies before he essays any\nhazardous experiment, in which he is secretly conscious they will all be\nneeded.", "He profited by the halt, to gather such information as might be\nobtained from his short and hasty glances.", "On the opposite side of the clearing, and near the point where the brook\ntumbled over some rocks, from a still higher level, some fifty or sixty\nlodges, rudely fabricated of logs, brush, and earth intermingled, were\nto be discovered.", "They were arranged without any order, and seemed to be\nconstructed with very little attention to neatness or beauty.", "Indeed, so\nvery inferior were they in the two latter particulars to the village\nDuncan had just seen, that he began to expect a second surprise, no less\nastonishing than the former.", "This expectation was in no degree\ndiminished, when, by the doubtful twilight, he beheld twenty or thirty\nforms rising alternately from the cover of the tall, coarse grass, in\nfront of the lodges, and then sinking again from the sight, as it were\nto burrow in the earth.", "By the sudden and hasty glimpses that he caught\nof these figures, they seemed more like dark glancing spectres, or some\nother unearthly beings, than creatures fashioned with the ordinary and\nvulgar materials of flesh and blood.", "A gaunt, naked form was seen, for a\nsingle instant, tossing its arms wildly in the air, and then the spot it\nhad filled was vacant; the figure appearing suddenly in some other and\ndistant place, or being succeeded by another, possessing the same\nmysterious character.", "David, observing that his companion lingered,\npursued the direction of his gaze, and in some measure recalled the\nrecollection of Heyward, by speaking.", "\"There is much fruitful soil uncultivated here,\" he said; \"and I may\nadd, without the sinful leaven of self-commendation, that since my short\nsojourn in these heathenish abodes, much good seed has been scattered by\nthe wayside.\"", "\"The tribes are fonder of the chase than of the arts of men of labor,\"\nreturned the unconscious Duncan, still gazing at the objects of his\nwonder.", "\"It is rather joy than labor to the spirit, to lift up the voice in\npraise; but sadly do these boys abuse their gifts.", "Rarely have I found\nany of their age, on whom nature has so freely bestowed the elements of\npsalmody; and surely, surely, there are none who neglect them more.", "Three nights have I now tarried here, and three several times have I\nassembled the urchins to join in sacred song; and as often have they\nresponded to my efforts with whoopings and howlings that have chilled my\nsoul!\"", "\"Of whom speak you?\"", "\"Of those children of the devil, who waste the precious moments in\nyonder idle antics.", "Ah!", "the wholesome restraint of discipline is but\nlittle known among this self-abandoned people.", "In a country of birches,\na rod is never seen; and it ought not to appear a marvel in my eyes,\nthat the choicest blessings of Providence are wasted in such cries as\nthese.\"", "David closed his ears against the juvenile pack, whose yell just then\nrang shrilly through the forest; and Duncan, suffering his lip to curl,\nas in mockery of his own superstition, said firmly:\n\n\"We will proceed.\"", "Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the master of song\ncomplied, and together they pursued their way towards what David was\nsometimes wont to call \"the tents of the Philistines.\"" ]

[ "Then seizing the hand of the other, he\nsqueezed it with a gripe that brought the tears into the eyes of the\nplacid David, and wished him joy of his new condition.", "he said.", "bluntly interrupted the scout.", "The elder maiden is conveyed to a neighboring people, whose\nlodges are situate beyond yonder black pinnacle of rock; while the\nyounger is detained among the women of the Hurons, whose dwellings are\nbut two short miles hence, on a table-land, where the fire has done the\noffice of the axe, and prepared the place for their reception.\"", "Uncas pressed closer to his side,\nand regarded the speaker with a look of commendation, while his father\nexpressed his satisfaction by the ordinary pithy exclamation of\napprobation.", "\"My thoughts were bent on no such vanities, but rather mingled in\nconsolation with those of the maidens.\"", "\"The time may come when you will not consider the knife of a savage such\na despisable vanity,\" returned the scout, with a strong expression of\ncontempt for the other's dulness.", "His gestures were impressive, and at times energetic.", "When the former found himself alone with one so simple, and so little\nqualified to render any assistance in desperate emergencies, he first\nbegan to be sensible of the difficulties of the task he had undertaken.", "Cheering\nDavid, he moved on with the light and vigorous step of youth and\nenterprise." ]

[ "exclaimed the astonished Hawkeye; \"are you tired of seeing the\nsun rise and set?\"", "\"My thoughts were bent on no such vanities, but rather mingled in\nconsolation with those of the maidens.\"", "\"They are captives to the heathen,\" said David; \"and though greatly\ntroubled in spirit, enjoying comfort and safety in the body.\"", "It\nbecomes my youth and rank to attempt the latter adventure.", "At\nthe spring, the horses were turned loose, as has been seen; and\nnotwithstanding the remoteness and length of their trail, the artifices\nalready named were resorted to, in order to cut off every clue to their\nplace of retreat.", "\"Even so.", "\"Of corn, we had many and plentiful feasts; for the grain, being in the\nmilk, is both sweet to the mouth and comfortable to the stomach.", "\"I know not that their delivery is at hand,\" returned the doubting\nDavid; \"the leader of these savages is possessed of an evil spirit that\nno power short of Omnipotence can tame.", "continued the laughing scout, as he pointed towards the remainder\nof the party, who, in obedience to the signal, were already\napproaching: \"this is music which has its natural virtues; it brings two\ngood rifles to my elbow, to say nothing of the knives and tomahawks.", "Duncan complied; and the Mohican, who had been an attentive listener to\nthe discourse, readily undertook the office." ]

[ "Then the father spoke, in the language\nof the Delawares, and with a calmness and dignity that instantly\narrested the attention even of those to whom his words were\nunintelligible.", "His gestures were impressive, and at times energetic.", "Once he lifted his arm on high; and as it descended, the action threw\naside the folds of his light mantle, a finger resting on his breast, as\nif he would enforce his meaning by the attitude.", "Duncan's eyes followed\nthe movement, and he perceived that the animal just mentioned was\nbeautifully, though faintly, worked in a blue tint, on the swarthy\nbreast of the chief.", "All that he had ever heard of the violent\nseparation of the vast tribes of the Delawares rushed across his mind,\nand he awaited the proper moment to speak, with a suspense that was\nrendered nearly intolerable, by his interest in the stake.", "His wish,\nhowever, was anticipated by the scout, who turned from his red friend,\nsaying--\n\n\"We have found that which may be good or evil to us, as Heaven disposes.", "The Sagamore is of the high blood of the Delawares, and is the great\nchief of their Tortoises!", "That some of this stock are among the people\nof whom the singer tells us, is plain, by his words; and had he but\nspent half the breath in prudent questions, that he has blown away in\nmaking a trumpet of his throat, we might have known how many warriors\nthey numbered.", "It is, altogether, a dangerous path we move in; for a\nfriend whose face is turned from you often bears a bloodier mind than\nthe enemy who seeks your scalp.\"", "\"Explain,\" said Duncan.", "\"'Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and one I little like to think\nof; for it is not to be denied, that the evil has been mainly done by\nmen with white skins." ]

[ "\n _\"Bot._--Are we all met?\"", "_\"Qui._--Pat--pat; and here's a marvellous\n Convenient place for our rehearsal.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe reader may better imagine, than we describe, the surprise of\nHeyward.", "His lurking Indians were suddenly converted into four-footed\nbeasts; his lake into a beaver pond; his cataract into a dam,\nconstructed by those industrious and ingenious quadrupeds; and a\nsuspected enemy into his tried friend, David Gamut, the master of\npsalmody.", "The presence of the latter created so many unexpected hopes\nrelative to the sisters that, without a moment's hesitation, the young\nman broke out of his ambush, and sprang forward to join the two\nprincipal actors in the scene.", "The merriment of Hawkeye was not easily appeased.", "Without ceremony, and\nwith a rough hand, he twirled the supple Gamut around on his heel, and\nmore than once affirmed that the Hurons had done themselves great credit\nin the fashion of his costume.", "Then seizing the hand of the other, he\nsqueezed it with a gripe that brought the tears into the eyes of the\nplacid David, and wished him joy of his new condition.", "\"You were about opening your throat-practysings among the beavers, were\nye?\"", "he said.", "\"It is rather joy than labor to the spirit, to lift up the voice in\npraise; but sadly do these boys abuse their gifts.", "Rarely have I found\nany of their age, on whom nature has so freely bestowed the elements of\npsalmody; and surely, surely, there are none who neglect them more.", "Three nights have I now tarried here, and three several times have I\nassembled the urchins to join in sacred song; and as often have they\nresponded to my efforts with whoopings and howlings that have chilled my\nsoul!\"", "\"Of whom speak you?\"", "\"Of those children of the devil, who waste the precious moments in\nyonder idle antics.", "Ah!", "the wholesome restraint of discipline is but\nlittle known among this self-abandoned people.", "In a country of birches,\na rod is never seen; and it ought not to appear a marvel in my eyes,\nthat the choicest blessings of Providence are wasted in such cries as\nthese.\"", "David closed his ears against the juvenile pack, whose yell just then\nrang shrilly through the forest; and Duncan, suffering his lip to curl,\nas in mockery of his own superstition, said firmly:\n\n\"We will proceed.\"", "Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the master of song\ncomplied, and together they pursued their way towards what David was\nsometimes wont to call \"the tents of the Philistines.\"" ]

[ "\n \"But though the beast of game\n The privilege of chase may claim;\n Though space and law the stag we lend\n Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend;\n Who ever recked, where, how, or when\n The prowling fox was trapped or slain?\"", "_Lady of the Lake._\n\n\nIt is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like those of the\nmore instructed whites, guarded by the presence of armed men.", "Well\ninformed of the approach of every danger, while it is yet at a distance,\nthe Indian generally rests secure under his knowledge of the signs of\nthe forest, and the long and difficult paths that separate him from\nthose he has most reason to dread.", "But the enemy who, by any lucky\nconcurrence of accidents, has found means to elude the vigilance of the\nscouts, will seldom meet with sentinels nearer home to sound the alarm.", "In addition to this general usage, the tribes friendly to the French\nknew too well the weight of the blow that had just been struck, to\napprehend any immediate danger from the hostile nations that were\ntributary to the crown of Britain.", "When Duncan and David, therefore, found themselves in the centre of the\nchildren, who played the antics already mentioned, it was with the least\nprevious intimation of their approach.", "But so soon as they were\nobserved, the whole of the juvenile pack raised, by common consent, a\nshrill and warning whoop; and then sank, as it were, by magic, from\nbefore the sight of their visitors.", "The naked, tawny bodies of the\ncrouching urchins blended so nicely, at that hour, with the withered\nherbage, that at first it seemed as if the earth had, in truth,\nswallowed up their forms; though when surprise permitted Duncan to bend\nhis look more curiously about the spot, he found it everywhere met by\ndark, quick, and rolling eyeballs.", "Gathering no encouragement from this startling presage of the nature of\nthe scrutiny he was likely to undergo from the more mature judgments of\nthe men, there was an instant when the young soldier would have\nretreated.", "It was, however, too late to appear to hesitate.", "The cry of\nthe children had drawn a dozen warriors to the door of the nearest\nlodge, where they stood clustered in a dark and savage group, gravely\nawaiting the nearer approach of those who had unexpectedly come among\nthem.", "David, in some measure familiarized to the scene, led the way with a\nsteadiness that no slight obstacle was likely to disconcert, into this\nvery building.", "It was the principal edifice of the village, though\nroughly constructed of the bark and branches of trees; being the lodge\nin which the tribe held its councils and public meetings during their\ntemporary residence on the borders of the English province.", "Duncan found\nit difficult to assume the necessary appearance of unconcern, as he\nbrushed the dark and powerful frames of the savages who thronged its\nthreshold; but, conscious that his existence depended on his presence of\nmind, he trusted to the discretion of his companion, whose footsteps he\nclosely followed, endeavoring, as he proceeded, to rally his thoughts\nfor the occasion.", "His blood curdled when he found himself in absolute\ncontact with such fierce and implacable enemies; but he so far mastered\nhis feelings as to pursue his way into the centre of the lodge, with an\nexterior that did not betray the weakness.", "Imitating the example of the\ndeliberate Gamut, he drew a bundle of fragrant brush from beneath a pile\nthat filled a corner of the hut, and seated himself in silence.", "So soon as their visitor had passed, the observant warriors fell back\nfrom the entrance, and arranging themselves about him, they seemed\npatiently to await the moment when it might comport with the dignity of\nthe stranger to speak.", "By far the greater number stood leaning, in lazy,\nlounging attitudes, against the upright posts that supported the crazy\nbuilding, while three or four of the oldest and most distinguished of\nthe chiefs placed themselves on the earth a little more in advance.", "A flaring torch was burning in the place, and sent its red glare from\nface to face and figure to figure, as it waved in the currents of air.", "Duncan profited by its light to read the probable character of his\nreception, in the countenances of his hosts.", "But his ingenuity availed\nhim little, against the cold artifices of the people he had encountered.", "The chiefs in front scarce cast a glance at his person, keeping their\neyes on the ground, with an air that might have been intended for\nrespect, but which it was quite easy to construe into distrust.", "The men\nin shadow were less reserved.", "Duncan soon detected their searching, but\nstolen looks, which, in truth, scanned his person and attire inch by\ninch; leaving no emotion of the countenance, no gesture, no line of the\npaint, nor even the fashion of a garment, unheeded, and without comment.", "At length one whose hair was beginning to be sprinkled with gray, but\nwhose sinewy limbs and firm tread announced that he was still equal to\nthe duties of manhood, advanced out of the gloom of a corner, whither he\nhad probably posted himself to make his observations unseen, and spoke.", "He used the language of the Wyandots, or Hurons; his words were,\nconsequently, unintelligible to Heyward, though they seemed, by the\ngestures that accompanied them, to be uttered more in courtesy than\nanger.", "The latter shook his head, and made a gesture indicative of his\ninability to reply.", "\"Do none of my brothers speak the French or the English?\"", "he said, in\nthe former language, looking about him from countenance to countenance,\nin hopes of finding a nod of assent.", "Though more than one had turned, as if to catch the meaning of his\nwords, they remained unanswered.", "\"I should be grieved to think,\" continued Duncan, speaking slowly, and\nusing the simplest French of which he was the master, \"to believe, that\nnone of this wise and brave nation understand the language that the\n'Grand Monarque' uses when he talks to his children.", "His heart would be\nheavy did he believe his red warriors paid him so little respect!\"", "A long and grave pause succeeded, during which no movement of a limb,\nnor any expression of an eye, betrayed the impression produced by his\nremark.", "Duncan, who knew that silence was a virtue among his hosts,\ngladly had recourse to the custom, in order to arrange his ideas.", "At\nlength the same warrior who had before addressed him replied, by dryly\ndemanding, in the language of the Canadas--\n\n\"When our Great Father speaks to his people, is it with the tongue of a\nHuron?\"", "\"He knows no difference in his children, whether the color of the skin\nbe red, or black, or white,\" returned Duncan, evasively; \"though chiefly\nis he satisfied with the brave Hurons.\"", "\"In what manner will he speak,\" demanded the wary chief, \"when the\nrunners count to him the scalps which five nights ago grew on the heads\nof the Yengeese?\"", "\"They were his enemies,\" said Duncan, shuddering involuntarily; \"and,\ndoubtless, he will say, It is good; my Hurons are very gallant.\"", "\"Our Canada father does not think it.", "Instead of looking forward to\nreward his Indians, his eyes are turned backward.", "He sees the dead\nYengeese, but no Huron.", "What can this mean?\"", "\"A great chief, like him, has more thoughts than tongues.", "He looks to\nsee that no enemies are on his trail.\"", "\"The canoe of a dead warrior will not float on the Horican,\" returned\nthe savage, gloomily.", "\"His ears are open to the Delawares, who are not\nour friends, and they fill them with lies.\"", "\"It cannot be.", "See; he has bid me, who am a man that knows the art of\nhealing, to go to his children, the red Hurons of the great lakes, and\nask if any are sick!\"", "Another silence succeeded this annunciation of the character Duncan had\nassumed.", "Every eye was simultaneously bent on his person, as if to\ninquire into the truth or falsehood of the declaration, with an\nintelligence and keenness that caused the subject of their scrutiny to\ntremble for the result.", "He was, however, relieved again by the former\nspeaker.", "\"Do the cunning men of the Canadas paint their skins?\"", "the Huron coldly\ncontinued; \"we have heard them boast that their faces were pale.\"", "\"When an Indian chief comes among his white fathers,\" returned Duncan,\nwith great steadiness, \"he lays aside his buffalo robe, to carry the\nshirt that is offered him.", "My brothers have given me paint, and I wear\nit.\"", "A low murmur of applause announced that the compliment to the tribe was\nfavorably received.", "The elderly chief made a gesture of commendation,\nwhich was answered by most of his companions, who each threw forth a\nhand, and uttered a brief exclamation of pleasure.", "Duncan began to\nbreathe more freely, believing that the weight of his examination was\npast; and as he had already prepared a simple and probable tale to\nsupport his pretended occupation, his hopes of ultimate success grew\nbrighter.", "After a silence of a few moments, as if adjusting his thoughts, in order\nto make a suitable answer to the declaration their guest had just given,\nanother warrior arose, and placed himself in an attitude to speak.", "While\nhis lips were yet in the act of parting, a low but fearful sound arose\nfrom the forest, and was immediately succeeded by a high, shrill yell,\nthat was drawn out, until it equalled the longest and most plaintive\nhowl of the wolf.", "The sudden and terrible interruption caused Duncan to\nstart from his seat, unconscious of everything but the effect produced\nby so frightful a cry.", "At the same moment, the warriors glided in a body\nfrom the lodge, and the outer air was filled with loud shouts, that\nnearly drowned those awful sounds, which were still ringing beneath the\narches of the woods.", "Unable to command himself any longer, the youth\nbroke from the place, and presently stood in the centre of a disorderly\nthrong, that included nearly everything having life, within the limits\nof the encampment.", "Men, women, and children; the aged, the infirm, the\nactive, and the strong, were alike abroad; some exclaiming aloud, others\nclapping their hands with a joy that seemed frantic, and all expressing\ntheir savage pleasure in some unexpected event.", "Though astounded, at\nfirst, by the uproar, Heyward was soon enabled to find its solution by\nthe scene that followed.", "There yet lingered sufficient light in the heavens to exhibit those\nbright openings among the tree-tops, where different paths left the\nclearing to enter the depths of the wilderness.", "Beneath one of them, a\nline of warriors issued from the woods, and advanced slowly towards the\ndwellings.", "One in front bore a short pole, on which, as it afterwards\nappeared, were suspended several human scalps.", "The startling sounds that\nDuncan had heard were what the whites have not inappropriately called\nthe \"death-halloo;\" and each repetition of the cry was intended to\nannounce to the tribe the fate of an enemy.", "Thus far the knowledge of\nHeyward assisted him in the explanation; and as he now knew that the\ninterruption was caused by the unlooked-for return of a successful\nwar-party, every disagreeable sensation was quieted in inward\ncongratulation, for the opportune relief and insignificance it conferred\non himself.", "When at the distance of a few hundred feet from the lodges, the newly\narrived warriors halted.", "Their plaintive and terrific cry, which was\nintended to represent equally the wailings of the dead and the triumph\nof the victors, had entirely ceased.", "One of their number now called\naloud, in words that were far from appalling, though not more\nintelligible to those for whose ears they were intended, than their\nexpressive yells.", "It would be difficult to convey a suitable idea of the\nsavage ecstasy with which the news thus imparted was received.", "The whole\nencampment, in a moment, became a scene of the most violent bustle and\ncommotion.", "The warriors drew their knives, and flourishing them, they\narranged themselves in two lines, forming a lane that extended from the\nwar-party to the lodges.", "The squaws seized clubs, axes, or whatever\nweapon of offence first offered itself to their hands, and rushed\neagerly to act their part in the cruel game that was at hand.", "Even the\nchildren would not be excluded; but boys, little able to wield the\ninstruments, tore the tomahawks from the belts of their fathers, and\nstole into the ranks, apt imitators of the savage traits exhibited by\ntheir parents.", "Large piles of brush lay scattered about the clearing, and a wary and\naged squaw was occupied in firing as many as might serve to light the\ncoming exhibition.", "As the flame arose, its power exceeded that of the\nparting day, and assisted to render objects at the same time more\ndistinct and more hideous.", "The whole scene formed a striking picture,\nwhose frame was composed of the dark and tall border of pines.", "The\nwarriors just arrived were the most distant figures.", "A little in advance\nstood two men, who were apparently selected from the rest, as the\nprincipal actors in what was to follow.", "The light was not strong enough\nto render their features distinct, though it was quite evident that they\nwere governed by very different emotions.", "While one stood erect and\nfirm, prepared to meet his fate like a hero, the other bowed his head,\nas if palsied by terror or stricken with shame.", "The high-spirited Duncan\nfelt a powerful impulse of admiration and pity towards the former,\nthough no opportunity could offer to exhibit his generous emotions.", "He\nwatched his slightest movement, however, with eager eyes; and as he\ntraced the fine outline of his admirably proportioned and active frame,\nhe endeavored to persuade himself, that if the powers of man, seconded\nby such noble resolution, could bear one harmless through so severe a\ntrial, the youthful captive before him might hope for success in the\nhazardous race he was about to run.", "Insensibly the young man drew nigher\nto the swarthy lines of the Hurons, and scarcely breathed, so intense\nbecame his interest in the spectacle.", "Just then the signal yell was\ngiven, and the momentary quiet which had preceded it was broken by a\nburst of cries, that far exceeded any before heard.", "The most abject of\nthe two victims continued motionless; but the other bounded from the\nplace at the cry, with the activity and swiftness of a deer.", "Instead of\nrushing through the hostile lines, as had been expected, he just\nentered the dangerous defile, and before time was given for a single\nblow, turned short, and leaping the heads of a row of children, he\ngained at once the exterior and safer side of the formidable array.", "The\nartifice was answered by a hundred voices raised in imprecations; and\nthe whole of the excited multitude broke from their order, and spread\nthemselves about the place in wild confusion.", "A dozen blazing piles now shed their lurid brightness on the place,\nwhich resembled some unhallowed and supernatural arena, in which\nmalicious demons had assembled to act their bloody and lawless rites.", "The forms in the background looked like unearthly beings, gliding before\nthe eye, and cleaving the air with frantic and unmeaning gestures; while\nthe savage passions of such as passed the flames, were rendered\nfearfully distinct by the gleams that shot athwart their inflamed\nvisages.", "It will easily be understood, that amid such a concourse of vindictive\nenemies, no breathing time was allowed the fugitive.", "There was a single\nmoment when it seemed as if he would have reached the forest, but the\nwhole body of his captors threw themselves before him, and drove him\nback into the centre of his relentless persecutors.", "Turning like a\nheaded deer, he shot, with the swiftness of an arrow, through a pillar\nof forked flame, and passing the whole multitude harmless, he appeared\non the opposite side of the clearing.", "Here too he was met and turned by\na few of the older and more subtle of the Hurons.", "Once more he tried the\nthrong, as if seeking safety in its blindness, and then several moments\nsucceeded, during which Duncan believed the active and courageous young\nstranger was lost.", "Nothing could be distinguished but a dark mass of human forms tossed and\ninvolved in inexplicable confusion.", "Arms, gleaming knives, and\nformidable clubs, appeared above them, but the blows were evidently\ngiven at random.", "The awful effect was heightened by the piercing shrieks\nof the women and the fierce yells of the warriors.", "Now and then Duncan\ncaught a glimpse of a light form cleaving the air in some desperate\nbound, and he rather hoped than believed that the captive yet retained\nthe command of his astonishing powers of activity.", "Suddenly the\nmultitude rolled backward, and approached the spot where he himself\nstood.", "The heavy body in the rear pressed upon the women and children in\nfront, and bore them to the earth.", "The stranger reappeared in the\nconfusion.", "Human power could not, however, much longer endure so severe\na trial.", "Of this the captive seemed conscious.", "Profiting by the\nmomentary opening, he darted from among the warriors, and made a\ndesperate, and, what seemed to Duncan, a final effort to gain the wood.", "As if aware that no danger was to be apprehended from the young soldier,\nthe fugitive nearly brushed his person in his flight.", "A tall and\npowerful Huron, who had husbanded his forces, pressed close upon his\nheels, and with an uplifted arm menaced a fatal blow.", "Duncan thrust\nforth a foot, and the shock precipitated the eager savage headlong, many\nfeet in advance of his intended victim.", "Thought itself is not quicker\nthan was the motion with which the latter profited by the advantage; he\nturned, gleamed like a meteor again before the eyes of Duncan, and at\nthe next moment, when the latter recovered his recollection, and gazed\naround in quest of the captive, he saw him quietly leaning against a\nsmall painted post, which stood before the door of the principal lodge.", "Apprehensive that the part he had taken in the escape might prove fatal\nto himself, Duncan left the place without delay.", "He followed the crowd,\nwhich drew nigh the lodges, gloomy and sullen, like any other multitude\nthat had been disappointed in an execution.", "Curiosity, or perhaps a\nbetter feeling, induced him to approach the stranger.", "He found him,\nstanding with one arm cast about the protecting post, and breathing\nthick and hard, after his exertions, but disdaining to permit a single\nsign of suffering to escape.", "His person was now protected by immemorial\nand sacred usage, until the tribe in council had deliberated and\ndetermined on his fate.", "It was not difficult, however, to foretell the\nresult, if any presage could be drawn from the feelings of those who\ncrowded the place.", "There was no term of abuse known to the Huron vocabulary that the\ndisappointed women did not lavishly expend on the successful stranger.", "They flouted at his efforts, and told him, with bitter scoffs, that his\nfeet were better than his hands; and that he merited wings, while he\nknew not the use of an arrow or a knife.", "To all this the captive made no\nreply; but was content to preserve an attitude in which dignity was\nsingularly blended with disdain.", "Exasperated as much by his composure as\nby his good-fortune, their words became unintelligible, and were\nsucceeded by shrill, piercing yells.", "Just then the crafty squaw, who had\ntaken the necessary precaution to fire the piles, made her way through\nthe throng, and cleared a place for herself in front of the captive.", "The\nsqualid and withered person of this hag might well have obtained for her\nthe character of possessing more than human cunning.", "Throwing back her\nlight vestment, she stretched forth her long skinny arm, in derision,\nand using the language of the Lenape, as more intelligible to the\nsubject of her gibes, she commenced aloud--\n\n\"Look you, Delaware!\"", "she said, snapping her fingers in his face; \"your\nnation is a race of women, and the hoe is better fitted to your hands\nthan the gun.", "Your squaws are the mothers of deer; but if a bear, or a\nwild cat, or a serpent were born among you, ye would flee.", "The Huron\ngirls shall make you petticoats, and we will find you a husband.\"", "A burst of savage laughter succeeded this attack, during which the soft\nand musical merriment of the younger females strangely chimed with the\ncracked voice of their older and more malignant companion.", "But the\nstranger was superior to all their efforts.", "His head was immovable; nor\ndid he betray the slightest consciousness that any were present, except\nwhen his haughty eye rolled towards the dusky forms of the warriors, who\nstalked in the background, silent and sullen observers of the scene.", "Infuriated at the self-command of the captive, the woman placed her arms\nakimbo; and throwing herself into a posture of defiance, she broke out\nanew, in a torrent of words that no art of ours could commit\nsuccessfully to paper.", "Her breath was, however, expended in vain; for,\nalthough distinguished in her own nation as a proficient in the art of\nabuse, she was permitted to work herself into such a fury as actually to\nfoam at the mouth, without causing a muscle to vibrate in the motionless\nfigure of the stranger.", "The effect of his indifference began to extend\nitself to the other spectators; and a youngster, who was just quitting\nthe condition of a boy, to enter the state of manhood, attempted to\nassist the termagant, by flourishing his tomahawk before their victim,\nand adding his empty boasts to the taunts of the woman.", "Then, indeed,\nthe captive turned his face towards the light, and looked down on the\nstripling with an expression that was superior to contempt.", "At the next\nmoment he resumed his quiet and reclining attitude against the post.", "But\nthe change of posture had permitted Duncan to exchange glances with the\nfirm and piercing eyes of Uncas.", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE TERMAGANT\n\n_Throwing back her light vestment, she stretched forth her long skinny\narm, in derision_]\n\nBreathless with amazement, and heavily oppressed with the critical\nsituation of his friend, Heyward recoiled before the look, trembling\nlest its meaning might, in some unknown manner, hasten the prisoner's\nfate.", "There was not, however, any instant cause for such an\napprehension.", "Just then a warrior forced his way into the exasperated\ncrowd.", "Motioning the women and children aside with a stern gesture, he\ntook Uncas by the arm, and led him towards the door of the council\nlodge.", "Thither all the chiefs, and most of the distinguished warriors,\nfollowed; among whom the anxious Heyward found means to enter without\nattracting any dangerous attention to himself.", "A few minutes were consumed in disposing of those present in a manner\nsuitable to their rank and influence in the tribe.", "An order very similar\nto that adopted in the preceding interview was observed; the aged and\nsuperior chiefs occupying the area of the spacious apartment, within the\npowerful light of a glaring torch, while their juniors and inferiors\nwere arranged in the background, presenting a dark outline of swarthy\nand marked visages.", "In the very centre of the lodge, immediately under\nan opening that admitted the twinkling light of one or two stars, stood\nUncas, calm, elevated, and collected.", "His high and haughty carriage was\nnot lost on his captors, who often bent their looks on his person, with\neyes which, while they lost none of their inflexibility of purpose,\nplainly betrayed their admiration of the stranger's daring.", "The case was different with the individual whom Duncan had observed to\nstand forth with his friend, previously to the desperate trial of speed;\nand who, instead of joining in the chase, had remained, throughout its\nturbulent uproar, like a cringing statue, expressive of shame and\ndisgrace.", "Though not a hand had been extended to greet him, nor yet an\neye had condescended to watch his movements, he had also entered the\nlodge, as though impelled by a fate to whose decrees he submitted,\nseemingly, without a struggle.", "Heyward profited by the first opportunity\nto gaze in his face, secretly apprehensive he might find the features of\nanother acquaintance; but they proved to be those of a stranger, and,\nwhat was still more inexplicable, of one who bore all the distinctive\nmarks of a Huron warrior.", "Instead of mingling with his tribe, however,\nhe sat apart, a solitary being in a multitude, his form shrinking into a\ncrouching and abject attitude, as if anxious to fill as little space as\npossible.", "When each individual had taken his proper station, and silence\nreigned in the place, the gray-haired chief already introduced to the\nreader, spoke aloud, in the language of the Lenni Lenape.", "\"Delaware,\" he said, \"though one of a nation of women, you have proved\nyourself a man.", "I would give you food; but he who eats with a Huron\nshould become his friend.", "Rest in peace till the morning sun, when our\nlast words shall be spoken.\"", "\"Seven nights, and as many summer days, have I fasted on the trail of\nthe Hurons,\" Uncas coldly replied; \"the children of the Lenape know how\nto travel the path of the just without lingering to eat.\"", "\"Two of my young men are in pursuit of your companion,\" resumed the\nother, without appearing to regard the boast of his captive; \"when they\nget back, then will our wise men say to you 'live' or 'die.'\"", "\"Has a Huron no ears?\"", "scornfully exclaimed Uncas; \"twice, since he has\nbeen your prisoner, has the Delaware heard a gun that he knows.", "Your\nyoung men will never come back!\"", "A short and sullen pause succeeded this bold assertion.", "Duncan, who\nunderstood the Mohican to allude to the fatal rifle of the scout, bent\nforward in earnest observation of the effect it might produce on the\nconquerors; but the chief was content with simply retorting,--\n\n\"If the Lenape are so skilful, why is one of their bravest warriors\nhere?\"", "\"He followed in the steps of a flying coward, and fell into a snare.", "The\ncunning beaver may be caught.\"", "As Uncas thus replied, he pointed with his finger toward the solitary\nHuron, but without deigning to bestow any other notice on so unworthy an\nobject.", "The words of the answer and the air of the speaker produced a\nstrong sensation among his auditors.", "Every eye rolled sullenly towards\nthe individual indicated by the simple gesture, and a low, threatening\nmurmur passed through the crowd.", "The ominous sounds reached the outer\ndoor, and the women and children pressing into the throng, no gap had\nbeen left, between shoulder and shoulder, that was not now filled with\nthe dark lineaments of some eager and curious human countenance.", "In the meantime, the more aged chiefs, in the centre, communed with each\nother in short and broken sentences.", "Not a word was uttered that did not\nconvey the meaning of the speaker, in the simplest and most energetic\nform.", "Again, a long and deeply solemn pause took place.", "It was known,\nby all present, to be the grave precursor of a weighty and important\njudgment.", "They who composed the outer circle of faces were on tiptoe to\ngaze; and even the culprit for an instant forgot his shame in a deeper\nemotion, and exposed his abject features, in order to cast an anxious\nand troubled glance at the dark assemblage of chiefs.", "The silence was\nfinally broken by the aged warrior so often named.", "He arose from the\nearth, and moving past the immovable form of Uncas, placed himself in a\ndignified attitude before the offender.", "At that moment, the withered\nsquaw already mentioned moved into the circle, in a slow, sideling sort\nof a dance, holding the torch, and muttering the indistinct words of\nwhat might have been a species of incantation.", "Though her presence was\naltogether an intrusion, it was unheeded.", "Approaching Uncas, she held the blazing brand in such a manner as to\ncast its red glare on his person, and to expose the slightest emotion of\nhis countenance.", "The Mohican maintained his firm and haughty attitude;\nand his eye, so far from deigning to meet her inquisitive look, dwelt\nsteadily on the distance, as though it penetrated the obstacles which\nimpeded the view, and looked into futurity.", "Satisfied with her\nexamination, she left him, with a slight expression of pleasure, and\nproceeded to practise the same trying experiment on her delinquent\ncountryman.", "The young Huron was in his war paint, and very little of a finely\nmoulded form was concealed by his attire.", "The light rendered every limb\nand joint discernible, and Duncan turned away in horror when he saw they\nwere writhing in irrepressible agony.", "The woman was commencing a low and\nplaintive howl at the sad and shameful spectacle, when the chief put\nforth his hand and gently pushed her aside.", "\"Reed-that-bends,\" he said, addressing the young culprit by name, and in\nhis proper language, \"though the Great Spirit has made you pleasant to\nthe eyes, it would have been better that you had not been born.", "Your\ntongue is loud in the village, but in battle it is still.", "None of my\nyoung men strike the tomahawk deeper into the war-post--none of them so\nlightly on the Yengeese.", "The enemy know the shape of your back, but they\nhave never seen the color of your eyes.", "Three times have they called on\nyou to come, and as often did you forget to answer.", "Your name will never\nbe mentioned again in your tribe--it is already forgotten.\"", "As the chief slowly uttered these words, pausing impressively between\neach sentence, the culprit raised his face, in deference to the other's\nrank and years.", "Shame, horror, and pride struggled in its lineaments.", "His eye, which was contracted with inward anguish, gleamed on the\npersons of those whose breath was his fame; and the latter emotion for\nan instant predominated.", "He arose to his feet, and baring his bosom,\nlooked steadily on the keen, glittering knife, that was already upheld\nby his inexorable judge.", "As the weapon passed slowly into his heart he\neven smiled, as if in joy at having found death less dreadful than he\nhad anticipated, and fell heavily on his face, at the feet of the rigid\nand unyielding form of Uncas.", "The squaw gave a loud and plaintive yell, dashed the torch to the earth,\nand buried everything in darkness.", "The whole shuddering group of\nspectators glided from the lodge, like troubled sprites; and Duncan\nthought that he and the yet throbbing body of the victim of an Indian\njudgment had now become its only tenants." ]

[ "Though more than one had turned, as if to catch the meaning of his\nwords, they remained unanswered.", "Another silence succeeded this annunciation of the character Duncan had\nassumed.", "The whole scene formed a striking picture,\nwhose frame was composed of the dark and tall border of pines.", "Just then the signal yell was\ngiven, and the momentary quiet which had preceded it was broken by a\nburst of cries, that far exceeded any before heard.", "Once more he tried the\nthrong, as if seeking safety in its blindness, and then several moments\nsucceeded, during which Duncan believed the active and courageous young\nstranger was lost.", "Duncan thrust\nforth a foot, and the shock precipitated the eager savage headlong, many\nfeet in advance of his intended victim.", "But the\nstranger was superior to all their efforts.", "The case was different with the individual whom Duncan had observed to\nstand forth with his friend, previously to the desperate trial of speed;\nand who, instead of joining in the chase, had remained, throughout its\nturbulent uproar, like a cringing statue, expressive of shame and\ndisgrace.", "\"Seven nights, and as many summer days, have I fasted on the trail of\nthe Hurons,\" Uncas coldly replied; \"the children of the Lenape know how\nto travel the path of the just without lingering to eat.\"", "The enemy know the shape of your back, but they\nhave never seen the color of your eyes." ]

[ "A short and sullen pause succeeded this bold assertion.", "The effect of his indifference began to extend\nitself to the other spectators; and a youngster, who was just quitting\nthe condition of a boy, to enter the state of manhood, attempted to\nassist the termagant, by flourishing his tomahawk before their victim,\nand adding his empty boasts to the taunts of the woman.", "The words of the answer and the air of the speaker produced a\nstrong sensation among his auditors.", "The\nsqualid and withered person of this hag might well have obtained for her\nthe character of possessing more than human cunning.", "But\nthe change of posture had permitted Duncan to exchange glances with the\nfirm and piercing eyes of Uncas.", "The elderly chief made a gesture of commendation,\nwhich was answered by most of his companions, who each threw forth a\nhand, and uttered a brief exclamation of pleasure.", "Large piles of brush lay scattered about the clearing, and a wary and\naged squaw was occupied in firing as many as might serve to light the\ncoming exhibition.", "Suddenly the\nmultitude rolled backward, and approached the spot where he himself\nstood.", "He used the language of the Wyandots, or Hurons; his words were,\nconsequently, unintelligible to Heyward, though they seemed, by the\ngestures that accompanied them, to be uttered more in courtesy than\nanger.", "Motioning the women and children aside with a stern gesture, he\ntook Uncas by the arm, and led him towards the door of the council\nlodge." ]

[ "The forms in the background looked like unearthly beings, gliding before\nthe eye, and cleaving the air with frantic and unmeaning gestures; while\nthe savage passions of such as passed the flames, were rendered\nfearfully distinct by the gleams that shot athwart their inflamed\nvisages.", "It will easily be understood, that amid such a concourse of vindictive\nenemies, no breathing time was allowed the fugitive.", "There was a single\nmoment when it seemed as if he would have reached the forest, but the\nwhole body of his captors threw themselves before him, and drove him\nback into the centre of his relentless persecutors.", "Turning like a\nheaded deer, he shot, with the swiftness of an arrow, through a pillar\nof forked flame, and passing the whole multitude harmless, he appeared\non the opposite side of the clearing.", "Here too he was met and turned by\na few of the older and more subtle of the Hurons.", "Once more he tried the\nthrong, as if seeking safety in its blindness, and then several moments\nsucceeded, during which Duncan believed the active and courageous young\nstranger was lost.", "Nothing could be distinguished but a dark mass of human forms tossed and\ninvolved in inexplicable confusion.", "Arms, gleaming knives, and\nformidable clubs, appeared above them, but the blows were evidently\ngiven at random.", "The awful effect was heightened by the piercing shrieks\nof the women and the fierce yells of the warriors.", "Now and then Duncan\ncaught a glimpse of a light form cleaving the air in some desperate\nbound, and he rather hoped than believed that the captive yet retained\nthe command of his astonishing powers of activity.", "Suddenly the\nmultitude rolled backward, and approached the spot where he himself\nstood." ]

[ "\n \"But though the beast of game\n The privilege of chase may claim;\n Though space and law the stag we lend\n Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend;\n Who ever recked, where, how, or when\n The prowling fox was trapped or slain?\"", "_Lady of the Lake._\n\n\nIt is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like those of the\nmore instructed whites, guarded by the presence of armed men.", "Well\ninformed of the approach of every danger, while it is yet at a distance,\nthe Indian generally rests secure under his knowledge of the signs of\nthe forest, and the long and difficult paths that separate him from\nthose he has most reason to dread.", "But the enemy who, by any lucky\nconcurrence of accidents, has found means to elude the vigilance of the\nscouts, will seldom meet with sentinels nearer home to sound the alarm.", "In addition to this general usage, the tribes friendly to the French\nknew too well the weight of the blow that had just been struck, to\napprehend any immediate danger from the hostile nations that were\ntributary to the crown of Britain.", "When Duncan and David, therefore, found themselves in the centre of the\nchildren, who played the antics already mentioned, it was with the least\nprevious intimation of their approach.", "But so soon as they were\nobserved, the whole of the juvenile pack raised, by common consent, a\nshrill and warning whoop; and then sank, as it were, by magic, from\nbefore the sight of their visitors.", "The naked, tawny bodies of the\ncrouching urchins blended so nicely, at that hour, with the withered\nherbage, that at first it seemed as if the earth had, in truth,\nswallowed up their forms; though when surprise permitted Duncan to bend\nhis look more curiously about the spot, he found it everywhere met by\ndark, quick, and rolling eyeballs.", "Gathering no encouragement from this startling presage of the nature of\nthe scrutiny he was likely to undergo from the more mature judgments of\nthe men, there was an instant when the young soldier would have\nretreated.", "It was, however, too late to appear to hesitate.", "The enemy know the shape of your back, but they\nhave never seen the color of your eyes.", "Three times have they called on\nyou to come, and as often did you forget to answer.", "Your name will never\nbe mentioned again in your tribe--it is already forgotten.\"", "As the chief slowly uttered these words, pausing impressively between\neach sentence, the culprit raised his face, in deference to the other's\nrank and years.", "Shame, horror, and pride struggled in its lineaments.", "His eye, which was contracted with inward anguish, gleamed on the\npersons of those whose breath was his fame; and the latter emotion for\nan instant predominated.", "He arose to his feet, and baring his bosom,\nlooked steadily on the keen, glittering knife, that was already upheld\nby his inexorable judge.", "As the weapon passed slowly into his heart he\neven smiled, as if in joy at having found death less dreadful than he\nhad anticipated, and fell heavily on his face, at the feet of the rigid\nand unyielding form of Uncas.", "The squaw gave a loud and plaintive yell, dashed the torch to the earth,\nand buried everything in darkness.", "The whole shuddering group of\nspectators glided from the lodge, like troubled sprites; and Duncan\nthought that he and the yet throbbing body of the victim of an Indian\njudgment had now become its only tenants." ]

[ "\n \"Thus spoke the sage: the kings without delay\n Dissolve the council, and their chief obey.\"", "POPE'S _Iliad._\n\n\nA single moment served to convince the youth that he was mistaken.", "A\nhand was laid, with a powerful pressure, on his arm, and the low voice\nof Uncas muttered in his ears,--\n\n\"The Hurons are dogs.", "The sight of a coward's blood can never make a\nwarrior tremble.", "The 'Gray Head' and the Sagamore are safe, and the\nrifle of Hawkeye is not asleep.", "Go,--Uncas and the 'Open Hand' are now\nstrangers.", "It is enough.\"", "Heyward would gladly have heard more, but a gentle push from his friend\nurged him towards the door, and admonished him of the danger that might\nattend the discovery of their intercourse.", "Slowly and reluctantly\nyielding to the necessity, he quitted the place, and mingled with the\nthrong that hovered nigh.", "The dying fires in the clearing cast a dim and\nuncertain light on the dusky figures that were silently stalking to and\nfro; and occasionally a brighter gleam than common glanced into the\nlodge, and exhibited the figure of Uncas still maintaining its upright\nattitude near the dead body of the Huron.", "A knot of warriors soon entered the place again, and reissuing, they\nbore the senseless remains into the adjacent woods.", "After this\ntermination of the scene, Duncan wandered among the lodges, unquestioned\nand unnoticed, endeavoring to find some trace of her in whose behalf he\nincurred the risk he ran.", "In the present temper of the tribe, it would\nhave been easy to have fled and rejoined his companions, had such a wish\ncrossed his mind.", "But, in addition to the never-ceasing anxiety on\naccount of Alice, a fresher, though feebler interest in the fate of\nUncas assisted to chain him to the spot.", "He continued, therefore, to\nstray from hut to hut, looking into each only to encounter additional\ndisappointment, until he had made the entire circuit of the village.", "Abandoning a species of inquiry that proved so fruitless, he retraced\nhis steps to the council lodge, resolved to seek and question David, in\norder to put an end to his doubts.", "On reaching the building which had proved alike the seat of judgment\nand the place of execution, the young man found that the excitement had\nalready subsided.", "The warriors had reassembled, and were now calmly\nsmoking, while they conversed gravely on the chief incidents of their\nrecent expedition to the head of the Horican.", "Though the return of\nDuncan was likely to remind them of his character, and the suspicious\ncircumstances of his visit, it produced no visible sensation.", "So far,\nthe terrible scene that had just occurred proved favorable to his views,\nand he required no other prompter than his own feelings to convince him\nof the expediency of profiting by so unexpected an advantage.", "Without seeming to hesitate, he walked into the lodge, and took his seat\nwith a gravity that accorded admirably with the deportment of his hosts.", "A hasty but searching glance sufficed to tell him that, though Uncas\nstill remained where he had left him, David had not reappeared.", "No other\nrestraint was imposed on the former than the watchful looks of a young\nHuron, who had placed himself at hand; though an armed warrior leaned\nagainst the post that formed one side of the narrow door-way.", "In every\nother respect, the captive seemed at liberty; still he was excluded from\nall participation in the discourse, and possessed much more of the air\nof some finely moulded statue than a man having life and volition.", "Heyward had too recently witnessed a frightful instance of the prompt\npunishments of the people into whose hands he had fallen, to hazard an\nexposure by any officious boldness.", "He would greatly have preferred\nsilence and meditation to speech, when a discovery of his real condition\nmight prove so instantly fatal.", "Unfortunately for this prudent\nresolution, his entertainers appeared otherwise disposed.", "He had not\nlong occupied the seat wisely taken a little in the shade, when another\nof the elder warriors, who spoke the French language, addressed him:--\n\n\"My Canada father does not forget his children,\" said the chief; \"I\nthank him.", "An evil spirit lives in the wife of one of my young men.", "Can\nthe cunning stranger frighten him away?\"", "Heyward possessed some knowledge of the mummery practised among the\nIndians, in the cases of such supposed visitations.", "He saw, at a glance,\nthat the circumstance might possibly be improved to further his own end.", "It would, therefore, have been difficult, just then, to have uttered a\nproposal that would have given him more satisfaction.", "Aware of the\nnecessity of preserving the dignity of his imaginary character, however,\nhe repressed his feelings, and answered with suitable mystery,--\n\n\"Spirits differ; some yield to the power of wisdom, while others are too\nstrong.\"", "\"My brother is a great medicine,\" said the cunning savage; \"he will\ntry?\"", "A gesture of assent was the answer.", "The Huron was content with the\nassurance, and resuming his pipe, he awaited the proper moment to move.", "The impatient Heyward, inwardly execrating the cold customs of the\nsavages, which required such sacrifices to appearance, was fain to\nassume an air of indifference, equal to that maintained by the chief,\nwho was, in truth, a near relative of the afflicted woman.", "The minutes\nlingered, and the delay had seemed an hour to the adventurer in\nempiricism, when the Huron laid aside his pipe, and drew his robe across\nhis breast, as if about to lead the way to the lodge of the invalid.", "Just then, a warrior of powerful frame darkened the door, and stalking\nsilently among the attentive group, he seated himself on one end of the\nlow pile of brush which sustained Duncan.", "The latter cast an impatient\nlook at his neighbor, and felt his flesh creep with uncontrollable\nhorror when he found himself in actual contact with Magua.", "The sudden return of this artful and dreaded chief caused a delay in the\ndeparture of the Huron.", "Several pipes, that had been extinguished, were\nlighted again; while the newcomer, without speaking a word, drew his\ntomahawk from his girdle, and filling the bowl on its head, began to\ninhale the vapors of the weed through the hollow handle, with as much\nindifference as if he had not been absent two weary days on a long and\ntoilsome hunt.", "Ten minutes, which appeared so many ages to Duncan, might\nhave passed in this manner; and the warriors were fairly enveloped in a\ncloud of white smoke before any of them spoke.", "\"Welcome!\"", "one at length uttered; \"has my friend found the moose?\"", "\"The young men stagger under their burdens,\" returned Magua.", "\"Let\n'Reed-that-bends' go on the hunting-path; he will meet them.\"", "A deep and awful silence succeeded the utterance of the forbidden name.", "Each pipe dropped from the lips of its owner as though all had inhaled\nan impurity at the same instant.", "The smoke wreathed above their heads in\nlittle eddies, and curling in a spiral form, it ascended swiftly\nthrough the opening in the roof of the lodge, leaving the place beneath\nclear of its fumes, and each dark visage distinctly visible.", "The looks\nof most of the warriors were riveted on the earth; though a few of the\nyounger and less gifted of the party suffered their wild and glaring\neyeballs to roll in the direction of a white-headed savage, who sat\nbetween two of the most venerated chiefs of the tribe.", "There was nothing\nin the air or attire of this Indian that would seem to entitle him to\nsuch a distinction.", "The former was rather depressed, than remarkable for\nthe bearing of the natives; and the latter was such as was commonly worn\nby the ordinary men of the nation.", "Like most around him, for more than a\nminute his look too was on the ground; but, trusting his eyes at length\nto steal a glance aside, he perceived that he was becoming an object of\ngeneral attention.", "Then he arose and lifted his voice in the general\nsilence.", "\"It was a lie,\" he said; \"I had no son.", "He who was called by that name\nis forgotten; his blood was pale; and it came not from the veins of a\nHuron; the wicked Chippewas cheated my squaw.", "The Great Spirit has said,\nthat the family of Wiss-entush should end; he is happy who knows that\nthe evil of his race dies with himself.", "I have done.\"", "The speaker, who was the father of the recreant young Indian, looked\nround and about him, as if seeking commendation of his stoicism in the\neyes of his auditors.", "But the stern customs of his people had made too\nsevere an exaction of the feeble old man.", "The expression of his eye\ncontradicted his figurative and boastful language, while every muscle in\nhis wrinkled visage was working with anguish.", "Standing a single minute\nto enjoy his bitter triumph, he turned away, as if sickening at the gaze\nof men, and veiling his face in his blanket, he walked from the lodge\nwith the noiseless step of an Indian, seeking, in the privacy of his own\nabode, the sympathy of one like himself, aged, forlorn, and childless.", "The Indians, who believe in the hereditary transmission of virtues and\ndefects in character, suffered him to depart in silence.", "Then, with an\nelevation of breeding that many in a more cultivated state of society\nmight profitably emulate, one of the chiefs drew the attention of the\nyoung men from the weakness they had just witnessed, by saying, in a\ncheerful voice, addressing himself in courtesy to Magua, as the newest\ncomer,--\n\n\"The Delawares have been like bears after the honey-pots, prowling\naround my village.", "But who has ever found a Huron asleep?\"", "The darkness of the impending cloud which precedes a burst of thunder\nwas not blacker than the brow of Magua as he exclaimed,--\n\n\"The Delawares of the Lakes!\"", "\"Not so.", "They who wear the petticoats of squaws, on their own river.", "One\nof them has been passing the tribe.\"", "\"Did my young men take his scalp?\"", "\"His legs were good, though his arm is better for the hoe than the\ntomahawk,\" returned the other, pointing to the immovable form of Uncas.", "Instead of manifesting any womanish curiosity to feast his eyes with the\nsight of a captive from a people he was known to have so much reason to\nhate, Magua continued to smoke, with the meditative air that he usually\nmaintained, when there was no immediate call on his cunning or his\neloquence.", "Although secretly amazed at the facts communicated by the\nspeech of the aged father, he permitted himself to ask no questions,\nreserving his inquiries for a more suitable moment.", "It was only after a\nsufficient interval that he shook the ashes from his pipe, replaced the\ntomahawk, tightened his girdle, and arose, casting for the first time a\nglance in the direction of the prisoner, who stood a little behind him.", "The wary, though seemingly abstracted Uncas, caught a glimpse of the\nmovement, and turning suddenly to the light, their looks met.", "Near a\nminute these two bold and untamed spirits stood regarding one another\nsteadily in the eye, neither quailing in the least before the fierce\ngaze he encountered.", "The form of Uncas dilated, and his nostrils opened\nlike those of a tiger at bay; but so rigid and unyielding was his\nposture, that he might easily have been converted by the imagination\ninto an exquisite and faultless representation of the warlike deity of\nhis tribe.", "The lineaments of the quivering features of Magua proved more\nductile; his countenance gradually lost its character of defiance in an\nexpression of ferocious joy, and heaving a breath from the very bottom\nof his chest, he pronounced aloud the very formidable name of--\n\n\"Le Cerf Agile!\"", "Each warrior sprang upon his feet at the utterance of the well known\nappellation, and there was a short period during which the stoical\nconstancy of the natives was completely conquered by surprise.", "The\nhated and yet respected name was repeated as by one voice, carrying the\nsound even beyond the limits of the lodge.", "The women and children, who\nlingered around the entrance, took up the words in an echo, which was\nsucceeded by another shrill and plaintive howl.", "The latter was not yet\nended, when the sensation among the men had entirely abated.", "Each one in\npresence seated himself, as though ashamed of his precipitation; but it\nwas many minutes before their meaning eyes ceased to roll towards their\ncaptive, in curious examination of a warrior who had so often proved his\nprowess on the best and proudest of their nation.", "Uncas enjoyed his\nvictory, but was content with merely exhibiting his triumph by a quiet\nsmile--an emblem of scorn which belongs to all time and every nation.", "Magua caught the expression, and raising his arm, he shook it at the\ncaptive, the light silver ornaments attached to his bracelet rattling\nwith the trembling agitation of the limb, as, in a tone of vengeance, he\nexclaimed, in English,--\n\n\"Mohican, you die!\"", "\"The healing waters will never bring the dead Hurons to life,\" returned\nUncas, in the music of the Delawares; \"the tumbling river washes their\nbones; their men are squaws; their women owls.", "Go!", "call together the\nHuron dogs, that they may look upon a warrior.", "My nostrils are offended;\nthey scent the blood of a coward.\"", "The latter allusion struck deep, and the injury rankled.", "Many of the\nHurons understood the strange tongue in which the captive spoke, among\nwhich number was Magua.", "This cunning savage beheld, and instantly\nprofited by his advantage.", "Dropping the light robe of skin from his\nshoulder, he stretched forth his arm, and commenced a burst of his\ndangerous and artful eloquence.", "However much his influence among his\npeople had been impaired by his occasional and besetting weakness, as\nwell as by his desertion of the tribe, his courage and his fame as an\norator were undeniable.", "He never spoke without auditors, and rarely\nwithout making converts to his opinions.", "On the present occasion, his\nnative powers were stimulated by the thirst of revenge.", "He again recounted the events of the attack on the island at Glenn's,\nthe death of his associates, and the escape of their most formidable\nenemies.", "Then he described the nature and position of the mount whither\nhe had led such captives as had fallen into their hands.", "Of his own\nbloody intentions towards the maidens, and of his baffled malice he made\nno mention, but passed rapidly on to the surprise of the party by La\nLongue Carabine, and its fatal termination.", "Here he paused, and looked\nabout him, in affected veneration for the departed, but, in truth, to\nnote the effect of his opening narrative.", "As usual, every eye was\nriveted on his face.", "Each dusky figure seemed a breathing statue, so\nmotionless was the posture, so intense the attention of the individual.", "Then Magua dropped his voice, which had hitherto been clear, strong, and\nelevated, and touched upon the merits of the dead.", "No quality that was\nlikely to command the sympathy of an Indian escaped his notice.", "One had\nnever been known to follow the chase in vain; another had been\nindefatigable on the trail of their enemies.", "This was brave, that\ngenerous.", "In short, he so managed his allusions, that in a nation, which\nwas composed of so few families, he contrived to strike every chord that\nmight find, in its turn, some breast in which to vibrate.", "\"Are the bones of my young men,\" he concluded, \"in the burial-place of\nthe Hurons?", "You know they are not.", "Their spirits are gone towards the\nsetting sun, and are already crossing the great waters, to the happy\nhunting-grounds.", "But they departed without food, without guns or knives,\nwithout moccasins, naked and poor as they were born.", "Shall this be?", "Are\ntheir souls to enter the land of the just like hungry Iroquois or\nunmanly Delawares; or shall they meet their friends with arms in their\nhands and robes on their backs?", "What will our fathers think the tribes\nof the Wyandots have become?", "They will look on their children with a\ndark eye, and say, Go!", "a Chippewa has come hither with the name of a\nHuron.", "Brothers, we must not forget the dead; a redskin never ceases to\nremember.", "We will load the back of this Mohican until he staggers under\nour bounty, and despatch him after my young men.", "They call to us for\naid, though our ears are not open; they say, Forget us not.", "When they\nsee the spirit of this Mohican toiling after them with his burden, they\nwill know we are of that mind.", "Then will they go on happy; and our\nchildren will say, 'So did our fathers to their friends, so must we do\nto them.'", "What is a Yengee?", "we have slain many, but the earth is still\npale.", "A stain on the name of a Huron can only be hid by blood that comes\nfrom the veins of an Indian.", "Let this Delaware die.\"", "The effect of such an harangue, delivered in the nervous language and\nwith the emphatic manner of a Huron orator, could scarcely be mistaken.", "Magua had so artfully blended the natural sympathies with the religious\nsuperstition of his auditors, that their minds, already prepared by\ncustom to sacrifice a victim to the _manes_ of their countrymen, lost\nevery vestige of humanity in a wish for revenge.", "One warrior in\nparticular, a man of wild and ferocious mien, had been conspicuous for\nthe attention he had given to the words of the speaker.", "His countenance\nhad changed with each passing emotion, until it settled into a look of\ndeadly malice.", "As Magua ended he arose, and uttering the yell of a\ndemon, his polished little axe was seen glancing in the torch-light as\nhe whirled it above his head.", "The motion and the cry were too sudden for\nwords to interrupt his bloody intention.", "It appeared as if a bright\ngleam shot from his hand, which was crossed at the same moment by a dark\nand powerful line.", "The former was the tomahawk in its passage; the\nlatter the arm that Magua darted forward to divert its aim.", "The quick\nand ready motion of the chief was not entirely too late.", "The keen weapon\ncut the war-plume from the scalping-tuft of Uncas, and passed through\nthe frail wall of the lodge, as though it were hurled from some\nformidable engine.", "Duncan had seen the threatening action, and sprang upon his feet, with a\nheart which while it leaped into his throat, swelled with the most\ngenerous resolution in behalf of his friend.", "A glance told him that the\nblow had failed, and terror changed to admiration.", "Uncas stood still,\nlooking his enemy in the eye with features that seemed superior to\nemotion.", "Marble could not be colder, calmer, or steadier than the\ncountenance he put upon this sudden and vindictive attack.", "Then, as if\npitying a want of skill which had proved so fortunate to himself, he\nsmiled, and muttered a few words of contempt in his own tongue.", "\"No!\"", "said Magua, after satisfying himself of the safety of the captive;\n\"the sun must shine on his shame; the squaws must see his flesh tremble,\nor our revenge will be like the play of boys.", "Go!", "take him where there\nis silence; let us see if a Delaware can sleep at night, and in the\nmorning die.\"", "The young men whose duty it was to guard the prisoner instantly passed\ntheir ligaments of bark across his arms, and led him from the lodge,\namid a profound and ominous silence.", "It was only as the figure of Uncas\nstood in the opening of the door that his firm step hesitated.", "There he\nturned, and, in the sweeping and haughty glance that he threw around the\ncircle of his enemies, Duncan caught a look which he was glad to\nconstrue into an expression that he was not entirely deserted by hope.", "Magua was content with his success, or too much occupied with his secret\npurposes to push his inquiries any further.", "Shaking his mantle, and\nfolding it on his bosom, he also quitted the place, without pursuing a\nsubject which might have proved so fatal to the individual at his elbow.", "Notwithstanding his rising resentment, his natural firmness, and his\nanxiety in behalf of Uncas, Heyward felt sensibly relieved by the\nabsence of so dangerous and so subtle a foe.", "The excitement produced by\nthe speech gradually subsided.", "The warriors resumed their seats, and\nclouds of smoke once more filled the lodge.", "For near half an hour, not a\nsyllable was uttered, or scarcely a look cast aside; a grave and\nmeditative silence being the ordinary succession to every scene of\nviolence and commotion among those beings, who were alike so impetuous\nand yet so self-restrained.", "When the chief who had solicited the aid of Duncan finished his pipe, he\nmade a final and successful movement towards departing.", "A motion of a\nfinger was the intimation he gave the supposed physician to follow; and\npassing through the clouds of smoke, Duncan was glad, on more accounts\nthan one, to be able, at last, to breathe the pure air of a cool and\nrefreshing summer evening.", "Instead of pursuing his way among those lodges where Heyward had already\nmade his unsuccessful search, his companion turned aside, and proceeded\ndirectly towards the base of an adjacent mountain, which overhung the\ntemporary village.", "A thicket of brush skirted its foot, and it became\nnecessary to proceed through a crooked and narrow path.", "The boys had\nresumed their sports in the clearing, and were enacting a mimic chase to\nthe post among themselves.", "In order to render their games as like the\nreality as possible, one of the boldest of their number had conveyed a\nfew brands into some piles of tree-tops that had hitherto escaped the\nburning.", "The blaze of one of these fires lighted the way of the chief\nand Duncan, and gave a character of additional wildness to the rude\nscenery.", "At a little distance from a bald rock, and directly in its\nfront, they entered a grassy opening, which they prepared to cross.", "Just\nthen fresh fuel was added to the fire, and a powerful light penetrated\neven to that distant spot.", "It fell upon the white surface of the\nmountain, and was reflected downwards upon a dark and mysterious-looking\nbeing that arose, unexpectedly, in their path.", "The Indian paused, as if doubtful whether to proceed, and permitted his\ncompanion to approach his side.", "A large black ball, which at first\nseemed stationary, now began to move in a manner that to the latter was\ninexplicable.", "Again the fire brightened, and its glare fell more\ndistinctly on the object.", "Then even Duncan knew it, by its restless and\nsideling attitudes, which kept the upper part of its form in constant\nmotion, while the animal itself appeared seated, to be a bear.", "Though it\ngrowled loudly and fiercely, and there were instants when its glistening\neyeballs might be seen, it gave no other indications of hostility.", "The\nHuron, at least, seemed assured that the intentions of this singular\nintruder were peaceable, for after giving it an attentive examination,\nhe quietly pursued his course.", "Duncan, who knew that the animal was often domesticated among the\nIndians, followed the example of his companion, believing that some\nfavorite of the tribe had found its way into the thicket, in search of\nfood.", "They passed it unmolested.", "Though obliged to come nearly in\ncontact with the monster, the Huron, who had at first so warily\ndetermined the character of his strange visitor, was now content with\nproceeding without wasting a moment in further examination; but Heyward\nwas unable to prevent his eyes from looking backward, in salutary\nwatchfulness against attacks in the rear.", "His uneasiness was in no\ndegree diminished when he perceived the beast rolling along their path,\nand following their footsteps.", "He would have spoken, but the Indian at\nthat moment shoved aside a door of bark, and entered a cavern in the\nbosom of the mountain.", "Profiting by so easy a method of retreat, Duncan stepped after him, and\nwas gladly closing the slight cover to the opening, when he felt it\ndrawn from his hand by the beast, whose shaggy form immediately darkened\nthe passage.", "They were now in a straight and long gallery, in a chasm of\nthe rocks, where retreat without encountering the animal was impossible.", "Making the best of the circumstances, the young man pressed forward,\nkeeping as close as possible to his conductor.", "The bear growled\nfrequently at his heels, and once or twice its enormous paws were laid\non his person, as if disposed to prevent his further passage into the\nden.", "How long the nerves of Heyward would have sustained him in this\nextraordinary situation, it might be difficult to decide; for, happily,\nhe soon found relief.", "A glimmer of light had constantly been in their\nfront, and they now arrived at the place whence it proceeded.", "A large cavity in the rock had been rudely fitted to answer the purposes\nof many apartments.", "The subdivisions were simple but ingenious, being\ncomposed of stone, sticks, and bark, intermingled.", "Openings above\nadmitted the light by day, and at night fires and torches supplied the\nplace of the sun.", "Hither the Hurons had brought most of their valuables,\nespecially those which more particularly pertained to the nation; and\nhither, as it now appeared, the sick woman, who was believed to be the\nvictim of supernatural power, had been transported also, under an\nimpression that her tormentor would find more difficulty in making his\nassaults through walls of stone than through the leafy coverings of the\nlodges.", "The apartment into which Duncan and his guide first entered, had\nbeen exclusively devoted to her accommodation.", "The latter approached her\nbedside, which was surrounded by females, in the centre of whom Heyward\nwas surprised to find his missing friend David.", "A single look was sufficient to apprise the pretended leech that the\ninvalid was far beyond his powers of healing.", "She lay in a sort of\nparalysis, indifferent to the objects which crowded before her sight,\nand happily unconscious of suffering.", "Heyward was far from regretting\nthat his mummeries were to be performed on one who was much too ill to\ntake an interest in their failure or success.", "The slight qualm of\nconscience which had been excited by the intended deception was\ninstantly appeased, and he began to collect his thoughts, in order to\nenact his part with suitable spirit, when he found he was about to be\nanticipated in his skill by an attempt to prove the power of music.", "Gamut, who had stood prepared to pour forth his spirit in song when the\nvisitors entered, after delaying a moment, drew a strain from his pipe,\nand commenced a hymn that might have worked a miracle, had faith in its\nefficacy been of much avail.", "He was allowed to proceed to the close, the\nIndians respecting his imaginary infirmity, and Duncan too glad of the\ndelay to hazard the slightest interruption.", "As the dying cadence of his\nstrains was falling on the ears of the latter, he started aside at\nhearing them repeated behind him in a voice half human, half\nsepulchral.", "Looking around, he beheld the shaggy monster seated on end\nin a shadow of the cavern, where, while his restless body swung in the\nuneasy manner of the animal, it repeated, in a sort of low growl, sound,\nif not words, which bore some slight resemblance to the melody of the\nsinger.", "The effect of so strange an echo on David may better be imagined than\ndescribed.", "His eyes opened as if he doubted their truth; and his voice\nbecame instantly mute in excess of wonder.", "A deep-laid scheme, of\ncommunicating some important intelligence to Heyward, was driven from\nhis recollection by an emotion which very nearly resembled fear, but\nwhich he was fain to believe was admiration.", "Under its influence, he\nexclaimed aloud--\"She expects you, and is at hand;\" and precipitately\nleft the cavern." ]

[ "\n \"Thus spoke the sage: the kings without delay\n Dissolve the council, and their chief obey.\"", "After this\ntermination of the scene, Duncan wandered among the lodges, unquestioned\nand unnoticed, endeavoring to find some trace of her in whose behalf he\nincurred the risk he ran.", "Then, with an\nelevation of breeding that many in a more cultivated state of society\nmight profitably emulate, one of the chiefs drew the attention of the\nyoung men from the weakness they had just witnessed, by saying, in a\ncheerful voice, addressing himself in courtesy to Magua, as the newest\ncomer,--\n\n\"The Delawares have been like bears after the honey-pots, prowling\naround my village.", "Their spirits are gone towards the\nsetting sun, and are already crossing the great waters, to the happy\nhunting-grounds.", "It appeared as if a bright\ngleam shot from his hand, which was crossed at the same moment by a dark\nand powerful line.", "Duncan had seen the threatening action, and sprang upon his feet, with a\nheart which while it leaped into his throat, swelled with the most\ngenerous resolution in behalf of his friend.", "He would have spoken, but the Indian at\nthat moment shoved aside a door of bark, and entered a cavern in the\nbosom of the mountain.", "A glimmer of light had constantly been in their\nfront, and they now arrived at the place whence it proceeded.", "Openings above\nadmitted the light by day, and at night fires and torches supplied the\nplace of the sun.", "She lay in a sort of\nparalysis, indifferent to the objects which crowded before her sight,\nand happily unconscious of suffering." ]

[ "His countenance\nhad changed with each passing emotion, until it settled into a look of\ndeadly malice.", "The lineaments of the quivering features of Magua proved more\nductile; his countenance gradually lost its character of defiance in an\nexpression of ferocious joy, and heaving a breath from the very bottom\nof his chest, he pronounced aloud the very formidable name of--\n\n\"Le Cerf Agile!\"", "call together the\nHuron dogs, that they may look upon a warrior.", "\"The young men stagger under their burdens,\" returned Magua.", "The Indians, who believe in the hereditary transmission of virtues and\ndefects in character, suffered him to depart in silence.", "The expression of his eye\ncontradicted his figurative and boastful language, while every muscle in\nhis wrinkled visage was working with anguish.", "Instead of manifesting any womanish curiosity to feast his eyes with the\nsight of a captive from a people he was known to have so much reason to\nhate, Magua continued to smoke, with the meditative air that he usually\nmaintained, when there was no immediate call on his cunning or his\neloquence.", "His uneasiness was in no\ndegree diminished when he perceived the beast rolling along their path,\nand following their footsteps.", "Though obliged to come nearly in\ncontact with the monster, the Huron, who had at first so warily\ndetermined the character of his strange visitor, was now content with\nproceeding without wasting a moment in further examination; but Heyward\nwas unable to prevent his eyes from looking backward, in salutary\nwatchfulness against attacks in the rear.", "Each warrior sprang upon his feet at the utterance of the well known\nappellation, and there was a short period during which the stoical\nconstancy of the natives was completely conquered by surprise." ]

[ "However much his influence among his\npeople had been impaired by his occasional and besetting weakness, as\nwell as by his desertion of the tribe, his courage and his fame as an\norator were undeniable.", "He never spoke without auditors, and rarely\nwithout making converts to his opinions.", "On the present occasion, his\nnative powers were stimulated by the thirst of revenge.", "He again recounted the events of the attack on the island at Glenn's,\nthe death of his associates, and the escape of their most formidable\nenemies.", "Then he described the nature and position of the mount whither\nhe had led such captives as had fallen into their hands.", "Of his own\nbloody intentions towards the maidens, and of his baffled malice he made\nno mention, but passed rapidly on to the surprise of the party by La\nLongue Carabine, and its fatal termination.", "Here he paused, and looked\nabout him, in affected veneration for the departed, but, in truth, to\nnote the effect of his opening narrative.", "As usual, every eye was\nriveted on his face.", "Each dusky figure seemed a breathing statue, so\nmotionless was the posture, so intense the attention of the individual.", "Then Magua dropped his voice, which had hitherto been clear, strong, and\nelevated, and touched upon the merits of the dead.", "No quality that was\nlikely to command the sympathy of an Indian escaped his notice." ]

[ "\n \"Thus spoke the sage: the kings without delay\n Dissolve the council, and their chief obey.\"", "POPE'S _Iliad._\n\n\nA single moment served to convince the youth that he was mistaken.", "A\nhand was laid, with a powerful pressure, on his arm, and the low voice\nof Uncas muttered in his ears,--\n\n\"The Hurons are dogs.", "The sight of a coward's blood can never make a\nwarrior tremble.", "The 'Gray Head' and the Sagamore are safe, and the\nrifle of Hawkeye is not asleep.", "Go,--Uncas and the 'Open Hand' are now\nstrangers.", "It is enough.\"", "Heyward would gladly have heard more, but a gentle push from his friend\nurged him towards the door, and admonished him of the danger that might\nattend the discovery of their intercourse.", "Slowly and reluctantly\nyielding to the necessity, he quitted the place, and mingled with the\nthrong that hovered nigh.", "The dying fires in the clearing cast a dim and\nuncertain light on the dusky figures that were silently stalking to and\nfro; and occasionally a brighter gleam than common glanced into the\nlodge, and exhibited the figure of Uncas still maintaining its upright\nattitude near the dead body of the Huron.", "Heyward was far from regretting\nthat his mummeries were to be performed on one who was much too ill to\ntake an interest in their failure or success.", "The slight qualm of\nconscience which had been excited by the intended deception was\ninstantly appeased, and he began to collect his thoughts, in order to\nenact his part with suitable spirit, when he found he was about to be\nanticipated in his skill by an attempt to prove the power of music.", "Gamut, who had stood prepared to pour forth his spirit in song when the\nvisitors entered, after delaying a moment, drew a strain from his pipe,\nand commenced a hymn that might have worked a miracle, had faith in its\nefficacy been of much avail.", "He was allowed to proceed to the close, the\nIndians respecting his imaginary infirmity, and Duncan too glad of the\ndelay to hazard the slightest interruption.", "As the dying cadence of his\nstrains was falling on the ears of the latter, he started aside at\nhearing them repeated behind him in a voice half human, half\nsepulchral.", "Looking around, he beheld the shaggy monster seated on end\nin a shadow of the cavern, where, while his restless body swung in the\nuneasy manner of the animal, it repeated, in a sort of low growl, sound,\nif not words, which bore some slight resemblance to the melody of the\nsinger.", "The effect of so strange an echo on David may better be imagined than\ndescribed.", "His eyes opened as if he doubted their truth; and his voice\nbecame instantly mute in excess of wonder.", "A deep-laid scheme, of\ncommunicating some important intelligence to Heyward, was driven from\nhis recollection by an emotion which very nearly resembled fear, but\nwhich he was fain to believe was admiration.", "Under its influence, he\nexclaimed aloud--\"She expects you, and is at hand;\" and precipitately\nleft the cavern." ]

[ "\n _\"Snug._--Have you the lion's part written?", "Pray you, if it be, give\n it me, for I am slow of study.\"", "_\"Quince_.--You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThere was a strange blending of the ridiculous with that which was\nsolemn in this scene.", "The beast still continued its rolling, and\napparently untiring movements, though its ludicrous attempt to imitate\nthe melody of David ceased the instant the latter abandoned the field.", "The words of Gamut were, as has been seen, in his native tongue; and to\nDuncan they seemed pregnant with some hidden meaning, though nothing\npresent assisted him in discovering the object of their illusion.", "A\nspeedy end was, however, put to every conjecture on the subject, by the\nmanner of the chief, who advanced to the bedside of the invalid, and\nbeckoned away the whole group of female attendants that had clustered\nthere to witness the skill of the stranger.", "He was implicitly, though\nreluctantly, obeyed; and when the low echo which rang along the hollow\nnatural gallery from the distant closing door had ceased, pointing\ntowards his insensible daughter, he said,--\n\n\"Now let my brother show his power.\"", "Thus unequivocally called on to exercise the functions of his assumed\ncharacter, Heyward was apprehensive that the smallest delay might prove\ndangerous.", "Endeavoring then to collect his ideas, he prepared to perform\nthat species of incantation, and those uncouth rites, under which the\nIndian conjurers are accustomed to conceal their ignorance and\nimpotency.", "It is more than probable that, in the disordered state of his\nthoughts, he would soon have fallen into some suspicious, if not fatal\nerror, had not his incipient attempts been interrupted by a fierce growl\nfrom the quadruped.", "Three several times did he renew his efforts to\nproceed, and as often was he met by the same unaccountable opposition,\neach interruption seeming more savage and threatening than the\npreceding.", "\"The cunning ones are jealous,\" said the Huron; \"I go.", "Brother, the\nwoman is the wife of one of my bravest young men; deal justly by her.", "Peace!\"", "he added, beckoning to the discontented beast to be quiet; \"I\ngo.\"", "The chief was as good as his word, and Duncan now found himself alone in\nthat wild and desolate abode, with the helpless invalid, and the fierce\nand dangerous brute.", "The latter listened to the movements of the Indian\nwith that air of sagacity that a bear is known to possess, until another\necho announced that he had also left the cavern, when it turned and came\nwaddling up to Duncan, before whom it seated itself, in its natural\nattitude, erect like a man.", "The youth looked anxiously about him for\nsome weapon, with which he might make a resistance against the attack he\nnow seriously expected.", "It seemed, however, as if the humor of the animal had suddenly changed.", "Instead of continuing its discontented growls, or manifesting any\nfurther signs of anger, the whole of its shaggy body shook violently, as\nif agitated by some strange internal convulsion.", "The huge and unwieldy\ntalons pawed stupidly about the grinning muzzle, and while Heyward kept\nhis eyes riveted on its movements with jealous watchfulness, the grim\nhead fell on one side, and in its place appeared the honest, sturdy\ncountenance of the scout, who was indulging from the bottom of his soul,\nin his own peculiar expression of merriment.", "\"Hist!\"", "said the wary woodsman, interrupting Heyward's exclamation of\nsurprise; \"the varlets are about the place, and any sounds that are not\nnatural to witchcraft would bring them back upon us in a body.\"", "\"Tell me the meaning of this masquerade; and why you have attempted so\ndesperate an adventure.\"", "\"Ah!", "reason and calculation are often outdone by accident,\" returned the\nscout.", "\"But as a story should always commence at the beginning, I will\ntell you the whole in order.", "After we parted I placed the commandant and\nthe Sagamore in an old beaver lodge, where they are safer from the\nHurons than they would be in the garrison of Edward, for your high\nnorthwest Indians, not having as yet got the traders among them,\ncontinue to venerate the beaver.", "After which Uncas and I pushed for the\nother encampment, as was agreed; have you seen the lad?\"", "\"To my great grief!", "he is captive, and condemned to die at the rising of\nthe sun.\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE MASQUERADER\n\n_The grim head fell on one side, and in its place appeared the honest,\nsturdy countenance of the scout_]\n\n\"I had misgivings that such would be his fate,\" resumed the scout, in a\nless confident and joyous tone.", "But soon regaining his naturally firm\nvoice, he continued: \"His bad fortune is the true reason of my being\nhere, for it would never do to abandon such a boy to the Hurons.", "A rare\ntime the knaves would have of it, could they tie The Bounding Elk and\nThe Long Carabine, as they call me, to the same stake!", "Though why they\nhave given me such a name I never knew, there being as little likeness\nbetween the gifts of 'Killdeer,' and the performance of one of your real\nCanada carabynes, as there is between the natur' of a pipe-stone and a\nflint!\"", "\"Keep to your tale,\" said the impatient Heyward; \"we know not at what\nmoment the Hurons may return.\"", "\"No fear of them.", "A conjurer must have his time, like a straggling\npriest in the settlements.", "We are as safe from interruption as a\nmissionary would be at the beginning of a two hours' discourse.", "Well,\nUncas and I fell in with a return party of the varlets; the lad was much\ntoo forward for a scout; nay, for that matter, being of hot blood, he\nwas not so much to blame; and, after all, one of the Hurons proved a\ncoward, and in fleeing led him into an ambushment.\"", "\"And dearly has he paid for the weakness!\"", "The scout significantly passed his hand across his own throat, and\nnodded, as if he said, \"I comprehend your meaning.\"", "After which he\ncontinued, in a more audible though scarcely more intelligible\nlanguage,--\n\n\"After the loss of the boy I turned upon the Hurons, as you may judge.", "There have been scrimmages atween one or two of their outlyers and\nmyself; but that is neither here nor there.", "So, after I had shot the\nimps, I got in pretty nigh to the lodges without further commotion.", "Then\nwhat should luck do in my favor, but lead me to the very spot where one\nof the most famous conjurers of the tribe was dressing himself, as I\nwell knew, for some great battle with Satan--though why should I call\nthat luck, which it now seems was an especial ordering of Providence!", "So\na judgmatical rap over the head stiffened the lying impostor for a time,\nand leaving him a bit of walnut for his supper, to prevent an uproar,\nand stringing him up atween two sapplings, I made free with his finery,\nand took the part of the bear on myself, in order that the operations\nmight proceed.\"", "\"And admirably did you enact the character; the animal itself might have\nbeen shamed by the representation.\"", "\"Lord, major,\" returned the flattered woodsman, \"I should be but a poor\nscholar for one who has studied so long in the wilderness, did I not\nknow how to set forth the movements and natur' of such a beast.", "Had it\nbeen now a catamount, or even a full-sized panther, I would have\nembellished a performance for you worth regarding.", "But it is no such\nmarvellous feat to exhibit the feats of so dull a beast; though, for\nthat matter too, a bear may be overacted.", "Yes, yes; it is not every\nimitator that knows natur' may be outdone easier than she is equalled.", "But all our work is yet before us: where is the gentle one?\"", "\"Heaven knows; I have examined every lodge in the village, without\ndiscovering the slightest trace of her presence in the tribe.\"", "\"You heard what the singer said, as he left us,--'She is at hand, and\nexpects you'?\"", "\"I have been compelled to believe he alluded to this unhappy woman.\"", "\"The simpleton was frightened, and blundered through his message; but he\nhad a deeper meaning.", "Here are walls enough to separate the whole\nsettlement.", "A bear ought to climb; therefore will I take a look above\nthem.", "There may be honey-pots hid in these rocks, and I am a beast you\nknow, that has a hankering for the sweets.\"", "The scout looked behind him, laughing at his own conceit, while he\nclambered up the partition, imitating, as he went, the clumsy motions of\nthe beast he represented; but the instant the summit was gained he made\na gesture for silence, and slid down with the utmost precipitation.", "\"She is here,\" he whispered, \"and by that door you will find her.", "I\nwould have spoken a word of comfort to the afflicted soul; but the sight\nof such a monster might upset her reason.", "Though for that matter, major,\nyou are none of the most inviting yourself in your paint.\"", "Duncan, who had already sprung eagerly forward, drew instantly back on\nhearing these discouraging words.", "\"Am I, then, so very revolting?\"", "he demanded, with an air of chagrin.", "\"You might not startle a wolf, or turn the Royal Americans from a\ncharge; but I have seen the time when you had a better-favored look;\nyour streaked countenances are not ill-judged of by the squaws, but\nyoung women of white blood give the preference to their own color.", "See,\"\nhe added, pointing to a place where the water trickled from a rock,\nforming a little crystal spring before it found an issue through the\nadjacent crevices; \"you may easily get rid of the Sagamore's daub, and\nwhen you come back I will try my hand at a new embellishment.", "It's as\ncommon for a conjurer to alter his paint as for a buck in the\nsettlements to change his finery.\"", "The deliberate woodsman had little occasion to hunt for arguments to\nenforce his advice.", "He was yet speaking when Duncan availed himself of\nthe water.", "In a moment every frightful or offensive mark was\nobliterated, and the youth appeared again in the lineaments with which\nhe had been gifted by nature.", "Thus prepared for an interview with his\nmistress, he took a hasty leave of his companion, and disappeared\nthrough the indicated passage.", "The scout witnessed his departure with\ncomplacency, nodding his head after him, and muttering his good wishes;\nafter which he very coolly set about an examination of the state of the\nlarder, among the Hurons--the cavern, among other purposes, being used\nas a receptacle for the fruits of their hunts.", "Duncan had no other guide than a distant glimmering light, which served,\nhowever, the office of a polar star to the lover.", "By its aid he was\nenabled to enter the haven of his hopes, which was merely another\napartment of the cavern, that had been solely appropriated to the\nsafe-keeping of so important a prisoner as a daughter of the commandant\nof William Henry.", "It was profusely strewed with the plunder of that\nunlucky fortress.", "In the midst of this confusion he found her he sought,\npale, anxious, and terrified, but lovely.", "David had prepared her for\nsuch a visit.", "\"Duncan!\"", "she exclaimed, in a voice that seemed to tremble at the sounds\ncreated by itself.", "\"Alice\" he answered, leaping carelessly among trunks, boxes, arms, and\nfurniture, until he stood at her side.", "\"I knew that you would never desert me,\" she said, looking up with a\nmomentary glow on her otherwise dejected countenance.", "\"But you are\nalone!", "grateful as it is to be thus remembered, I could wish to think\nyou are not entirely alone.\"", "Duncan, observing that she trembled in a manner which betrayed her\ninability to stand, gently induced her to be seated, while he recounted\nthose leading incidents which it has been our task to record.", "Alice\nlistened with breathless interest; and though the young man touched\nlightly on the sorrows of the stricken father, taking care, however, not\nto wound the self-love of his auditor, the tears ran as freely down the\ncheeks of the daughter as though she had never wept before.", "The soothing\ntenderness of Duncan, however, soon quieted the first burst of her\nemotions, and she then heard him to the close with undivided attention,\nif not with composure.", "\"And now, Alice,\" he added, \"you will see how much is still expected of\nyou.", "By the assistance of our experienced and invaluable friend, the\nscout, we may find our way from this savage people, but you will have to\nexert your utmost fortitude.", "Remember that you fly to the arms of your\nvenerable parent, and how much his happiness, as well as your own,\ndepends on those exertions.\"", "\"Can I do otherwise for a father who has done so much for me?\"", "\"And for me too,\" continued the youth, gently pressing the hand he held\nin both his own.", "The look of innocence and surprise which he received in return convinced\nDuncan of the necessity of being more explicit.", "\"This is neither the place nor the occasion to detain you with selfish\nwishes,\" he added; \"but what heart loaded like mine would not wish to\ncast its burden?", "They say misery is the closest of all ties; our common\nsuffering in your behalf left but little to be explained between your\nfather and myself.\"", "\"And dearest Cora, Duncan; surely Cora was not forgotten?\"", "\"Not forgotten!", "no; regretted, as woman was seldom mourned before.", "Your\nvenerable father knew no difference between his children; but I--Alice,\nyou will not be offended when I say, that to me her worth was in a\ndegree obscured--\"\n\n\"Then you knew not the merit of my sister,\" said Alice, withdrawing her\nhand; \"of you she ever speaks as of one who is her nearest friend.\"", "\"I would gladly believe her such,\" returned Duncan, hastily; \"I could\nwish her to be even more; but with you, Alice, I have the permission of\nyour father to aspire to a still nearer and dearer tie.\"", "Alice trembled violently, and there was an instant during which she bent\nher face aside, yielding to the emotions common to her sex; but they\nquickly passed away, leaving her mistress of her deportment, if not of\nher affections.", "\"Heyward,\" she said, looking him full in the face with a touching\nexpression of innocence and dependency, \"give me the sacred presence\nand the holy sanction of that parent before you urge me further.\"", "\"Though more I should not, less I could not say,\" the youth was about to\nanswer, when he was interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder.", "Starting\nto his feet, he turned, and, confronting the intruder, his looks fell on\nthe dark form and malignant visage of Magua.", "The deep guttural laugh of\nthe savage sounded, at such a moment, to Duncan like the hellish taunt\nof a demon.", "Had he pursued the sudden and fierce impulse of the instant,\nhe would have cast himself on the Huron, and committed their fortunes to\nthe issue of a deadly struggle.", "But, without arms of any description,\nignorant of what succor his subtle enemy could command, and charged with\nthe safety of one who was just then dearer than ever to his heart, he no\nsooner entertained than he abandoned the desperate intention.", "\"What is your purpose?\"", "said Alice, meekly folding her arms on her\nbosom, and struggling to conceal an agony of apprehension in behalf of\nHeyward, in the usual cold and distant manner with which she received\nthe visits of her captor.", "The exulting Indian had resumed his austere countenance, though he drew\nwarily back before the menacing glance of the young man's fiery eye.", "He\nregarded both his captives for a moment with a steady look, and then\nstepping aside, he dropped a log of wood across a door different from\nthat by which Duncan had entered.", "The latter now comprehended the manner\nof his surprise, and believing himself irretrievably lost, he drew Alice\nto his bosom, and stood prepared to meet a fate which he hardly\nregretted, since it was to be suffered in such company.", "But Magua\nmeditated no immediate violence.", "His first measures were very evidently\ntaken to secure his new captive; nor did he even bestow a second glance\nat the motionless forms in the centre of the cavern, until he had\ncompletely cut off every hope of retreat through the private outlet he\nhad himself used.", "He was watched in all his movements by Heyward, who,\nhowever, remained firm, still folding the fragile form of Alice to his\nheart, at once too proud and too hopeless to ask favor of an enemy so\noften foiled.", "When Magua had effected his object he approached his\nprisoners, and said in English,--\n\n\"The pale-faces trap the cunning beavers; but the redskins know how to\ntake the Yengeese.\"", "\"Huron, do your worst!\"", "exclaimed the excited Heyward, forgetful that a\ndouble stake was involved in his life; \"you and your vengeance are alike\ndespised.\"", "\"Will the white man speak these words at the stake?\"", "asked Magua;\nmanifesting, at the same time, how little faith he had in the other's\nresolution by the sneer that accompanied his words.", "\"Here; singly to your face, or in the presence of your nation.\"", "\"Le Renard Subtil is a great chief!\"", "returned the Indian; \"he will go\nand bring his young men to see how bravely a pale-face can laugh at the\ntortures.\"", "He turned away while speaking, and was about to leave the place through\nthe avenue by which Duncan had approached, when a growl caught his ear,\nand caused him to hesitate.", "The figure of the bear appeared in the door,\nwhere it sat, rolling from side to side in its customary restlessness.", "Magua, like the father of the sick woman, eyed it keenly for a moment,\nas if to ascertain its character.", "He was far above the more vulgar\nsuperstitions of his tribe, and so soon as he recognized the well-known\nattire of the conjurer, he prepared to pass it in cool contempt.", "But a\nlouder and more threatening growl caused him again to pause.", "Then he\nseemed as if suddenly resolved to trifle no longer, and moved resolutely\nforward.", "The mimic animal, which had advanced a little, retired slowly\nin his front, until it arrived again at the pass, when rearing on its\nhinder legs it beat the air with its paws, in the manner practised by\nits brutal prototype.", "\"Fool!\"", "exclaimed the chief, in Huron, \"go play with the children and\nsquaws; leave men to their wisdom.\"", "He once more endeavored to pass the supposed empiric, scorning even the\nparade of threatening to use the knife, or tomahawk, that was pendent\nfrom his belt.", "Suddenly the beast extended its arms, or rather legs, and\ninclosed him in a grasp that might have vied with the far-famed power of\nthe \"bear's hug\" itself.", "Heyward had watched the whole procedure, on the\npart of Hawkeye, with breathless interest.", "At first he relinquished his\nhold of Alice; then he caught up a thong of buckskin, which had been\nused around some bundle, and when he beheld his enemy with his two arms\npinned to his side by the iron muscles of the scout, he rushed upon him,\nand effectually secured them there.", "Arms, legs, and feet were encircled\nin twenty folds of the thong, in less time than we have taken to record\nthe circumstance.", "When the formidable Huron was completely pinioned, the\nscout released his hold, and Duncan laid his enemy on his back, utterly\nhelpless.", "Throughout the whole of this sudden and extraordinary operation, Magua,\nthough he had struggled violently, until assured he was in the hands of\none whose nerves were far better strung than his own, had not uttered\nthe slightest exclamation.", "But when Hawkeye, by way of making a summary\nexplanation of his conduct, removed the shaggy jaws of the beast, and\nexposed his own rugged and earnest countenance to the gaze of the Huron,\nthe philosophy of the latter was so far mastered as to permit him to\nutter the never-failing,--\n\n\"Hugh!\"", "\"Ay!", "you've found your tongue,\" said his undisturbed conqueror; \"now, in\norder that you shall not use it to our ruin, I must make free to stop\nyour mouth.\"", "As there was no time to be lost, the scout immediately set about\neffecting so necessary a precaution; and when he had gagged the Indian,\nhis enemy might safely have been considered as _hors de combat_.", "\"By what place did the imp enter?\"", "asked the industrious scout, when his\nwork was ended.", "\"Not a soul has passed my way since you left me.\"", "Duncan pointed out the door by which Magua had come, and which now\npresented too many obstacles to a quick retreat.", "\"Bring on the gentle one, then,\" continued his friend; \"we must make a\npush for the woods by the other outlet.\"", "\"'Tis impossible!\"", "said Duncan; \"fear has overcome her, and she is\nhelpless.", "Alice!", "my sweet, my own Alice, arouse yourself; now is the\nmoment to fly.", "'Tis in vain!", "she hears, but is unable to follow.", "Go,\nnoble and worthy friend; save yourself, and leave me to my fate!\"", "\"Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its lesson!\"", "returned the scout.", "\"There, wrap her in them Indian cloths.", "Conceal all\nof her little form.", "Nay, that foot has no fellow in the wilderness; it\nwill betray her.", "All, every part.", "Now take her in your arms, and follow.", "Leave the rest to me.\"", "Duncan, as may be gathered from the words of his companion, was eagerly\nobeying; and as the other finished speaking, he took the light person of\nAlice in his arms, and followed on the footsteps of the scout.", "They\nfound the sick woman as they had left her, still alone, and passed\nswiftly on, by the natural gallery, to the place of entrance.", "As they\napproached the little door of bark, a murmur of voices without announced\nthat the friends and relatives of the invalid were gathered about the\nplace, patiently awaiting a summons to re-enter.", "\"If I open my lips to speak,\" Hawkeye whispered, \"my English, which is\nthe genuine tongue of a white-skin, will tell the varlets that an enemy\nis among them.", "You must give 'em your jargon, major; and say that we\nhave shut the evil spirit in the cave, and are taking the woman to the\nwoods in order to find strengthening roots.", "Practyse all your cunning,\nfor it is a lawful undertaking.\"", "The door opened a little, as if one without was listening to the\nproceedings within, and compelled the scout to cease his directions.", "A\nfierce growl repelled the eavesdropper, and then the scout boldly threw\nopen the covering of bark, and left the place, enacting the character of\nthe bear as he proceeded.", "Duncan kept close at his heels, and so found\nhimself in the centre of a cluster of twenty anxious relatives and\nfriends.", "The crowd fell back a little, and permitted the father, and one who\nappeared to be the husband of the woman, to approach.", "\"Has my brother driven away the evil spirit?\"", "demanded the former.", "\"What\nhas he in his arms?\"", "\"Thy child,\" returned Duncan, gravely; \"the disease has gone out of her;\nit is shut up in the rocks.", "I take the woman to a distance, where I will\nstrengthen her against any further attacks.", "She shall be in the wigwam\nof the young man when the sun comes again.\"", "When the father had translated the meaning of the stranger's words into\nthe Huron language, a suppressed murmur announced the satisfaction with\nwhich the intelligence was received.", "The chief himself waved his hand\nfor Duncan to proceed, saying aloud, in a firm voice, and with a lofty\nmanner,--\n\n\"Go; I am a man, and I will enter the rock and fight the wicked one.\"", "Heyward had gladly obeyed, and was already past the little group, when\nthese startling words arrested him.", "\"Is my brother mad?\"", "he exclaimed; \"is he cruel!", "He will meet the\ndisease, and it will enter him; or he will drive out the disease, and it\nwill chase his daughter into the woods.", "No; let my children wait\nwithout, and if the spirit appears beat him down with clubs.", "He is\ncunning, and will bury himself in the mountain, when he sees how many\nare ready to fight him.\"", "This singular warning had the desired effect.", "Instead of entering the\ncavern, the father and husband drew their tomahawks, and posted\nthemselves in readiness to deal their vengeance on the imaginary\ntormentor of their sick relative, while the women and children broke\nbranches from the bushes, or seized fragments of the rock, with a\nsimilar intention.", "At this favorable moment the counterfeit conjurers\ndisappeared.", "Hawkeye, at the same time that he had presumed so far on the nature of\nthe Indian superstitions, was not ignorant that they were rather\ntolerated than relied on by the wisest of the chiefs.", "He well knew the\nvalue of time in the present emergency.", "Whatever might be the extent of\nthe self-delusion of his enemies, and however it had tended to assist\nhis schemes, the slightest cause of suspicion, acting on the subtle\nnature of an Indian, would be likely to prove fatal.", "Taking the path,\ntherefore, that was most likely to avoid observation, he rather skirted\nthan entered the village.", "The warriors were still to be seen in the\ndistance, by the fading light of the fires, stalking from lodge to\nlodge.", "But the children had abandoned their sports for their beds of\nskins, and the quiet of night was already beginning to prevail over the\nturbulence and excitement of so busy and important an evening.", "Alice revived under the renovating influence of the open air, and as her\nphysical rather than her mental powers had been the subject of weakness,\nshe stood in no need of any explanation of that which had occurred.", "\"Now let me make an effort to walk,\" she said, when they had entered the\nforest, blushing, though unseen, that she had not been sooner able to\nquit the arms of Duncan; \"I am indeed restored.\"", "\"Nay, Alice, you are yet too weak.\"", "The maiden struggled gently to release herself, and Heyward was\ncompelled to part with his precious burden.", "The representative of the\nbear had certainly been an entire stranger to the delicious emotions of\nthe lover while his arms encircled his mistress; and he was, perhaps, a\nstranger also to the nature of that feeling of ingenuous shame that\noppressed the trembling Alice.", "But when he found himself at a suitable\ndistance from the lodges he made a halt, and spoke on a subject of which\nhe was thoroughly the master.", "\"This path will lead you to the brook,\" he said; \"follow its northern\nbank until you come to a fall; and mount the hill on your right, and you\nwill see the fires of the other people.", "There you must go and demand\nprotection; if they are true Delawares, you will be safe.", "A distant\nflight with that gentle one, just now, is impossible.", "The Hurons would\nfollow up our trail, and master our scalps, before we had got a dozen\nmiles.", "Go, and Providence be with you.\"", "\"And you!\"", "demanded Heyward, in surprise; \"surely we part not here?\"", "\"The Hurons hold the pride of the Delawares; the last of the high blood\nof the Mohicans is in their power,\" returned the scout; \"I go to see\nwhat can be done in his favor.", "Had they mastered your scalp, major, a\nknave should have fallen for every hair it held, as I promised; but if\nthe young Sagamore is to be led to the stake, the Indians shall see also\nhow a man without a cross can die.\"", "Not in the least offended with the decided preference that the sturdy\nwoodsman gave to one who might, in some degree, be called the child of\nhis adoption, Duncan still continued to urge such reasons against so\ndesperate an effort as presented themselves.", "He was aided by Alice, who\nmingled her entreaties with those of Heyward that he would abandon a\nresolution that promised so much danger, with so little hope of success.", "Their eloquence and ingenuity were expended in vain.", "The scout heard\nthem attentively, but impatiently, and finally closed the discussion, by\nanswering, in a tone that instantly silenced Alice, while it told\nHeyward how fruitless any further remonstrances would be,--\n\n\"I have heard,\" he said, \"that there is a feeling in youth which binds\nman to woman closer than the father is tied to the son.", "It may be so.", "I\nhave seldom been where women of my color dwell; but such may be the\ngifts of nature in the settlements.", "You have risked life, and all that\nis dear to you, to bring off this gentle one, and I suppose that some\nsuch disposition is at the bottom of it all.", "As for me, I taught the lad\nthe real character of a rifle; and well has he paid me for it.", "I have\nfou't at his side in many a bloody scrimmage; and so long as I could\nhear the crack of his piece in one ear, and that of the Sagamore in the\nother, I knew no enemy was on my back.", "Winters and summers, nights and\ndays, have we roved the wilderness in company, eating of the same dish,\none sleeping while the other watched; and afore it shall be said that\nUncas was taken to the torment, and I at hand--There is but a single\nRuler of us all, whatever may be the color of the skin; and Him I call\nto witness, that before the Mohican boy shall perish for the want of a\nfriend, good faith shall depart the 'arth, and 'Killdeer' become as\nharmless as the tooting we'pon of the singer!\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE LOVERS\n\n_Heyward and Alice took their way together towards the distant village\nof the Delawares_]\n\nDuncan released his hold on the arm of the scout, who turned, and\nsteadily retraced his steps towards the lodges.", "After pausing a moment\nto gaze at his retiring form, the successful and yet sorrowful Heyward,\nand Alice, took their way together towards the distant village of the\nDelawares." ]

[ "The latter listened to the movements of the Indian\nwith that air of sagacity that a bear is known to possess, until another\necho announced that he had also left the cavern, when it turned and came\nwaddling up to Duncan, before whom it seated itself, in its natural\nattitude, erect like a man.", "Had it\nbeen now a catamount, or even a full-sized panther, I would have\nembellished a performance for you worth regarding.", "David had prepared her for\nsuch a visit.", "\"I knew that you would never desert me,\" she said, looking up with a\nmomentary glow on her otherwise dejected countenance.", "\"Can I do otherwise for a father who has done so much for me?\"", "\"What is your purpose?\"", "returned the scout.", "You must give 'em your jargon, major; and say that we\nhave shut the evil spirit in the cave, and are taking the woman to the\nwoods in order to find strengthening roots.", "Practyse all your cunning,\nfor it is a lawful undertaking.\"", "No; let my children wait\nwithout, and if the spirit appears beat him down with clubs." ]

[ "The representative of the\nbear had certainly been an entire stranger to the delicious emotions of\nthe lover while his arms encircled his mistress; and he was, perhaps, a\nstranger also to the nature of that feeling of ingenuous shame that\noppressed the trembling Alice.", "\"Keep to your tale,\" said the impatient Heyward; \"we know not at what\nmoment the Hurons may return.\"", "Duncan had no other guide than a distant glimmering light, which served,\nhowever, the office of a polar star to the lover.", "Here are walls enough to separate the whole\nsettlement.", "\"The Hurons hold the pride of the Delawares; the last of the high blood\nof the Mohicans is in their power,\" returned the scout; \"I go to see\nwhat can be done in his favor.", "\"I would gladly believe her such,\" returned Duncan, hastily; \"I could\nwish her to be even more; but with you, Alice, I have the permission of\nyour father to aspire to a still nearer and dearer tie.\"", "But a\nlouder and more threatening growl caused him again to pause.", "Pray you, if it be, give\n it me, for I am slow of study.\"", "Instead of continuing its discontented growls, or manifesting any\nfurther signs of anger, the whole of its shaggy body shook violently, as\nif agitated by some strange internal convulsion.", "returned the Indian; \"he will go\nand bring his young men to see how bravely a pale-face can laugh at the\ntortures.\"" ]

[ "Had he pursued the sudden and fierce impulse of the instant,\nhe would have cast himself on the Huron, and committed their fortunes to\nthe issue of a deadly struggle.", "But, without arms of any description,\nignorant of what succor his subtle enemy could command, and charged with\nthe safety of one who was just then dearer than ever to his heart, he no\nsooner entertained than he abandoned the desperate intention.", "\"What is your purpose?\"", "said Alice, meekly folding her arms on her\nbosom, and struggling to conceal an agony of apprehension in behalf of\nHeyward, in the usual cold and distant manner with which she received\nthe visits of her captor.", "The exulting Indian had resumed his austere countenance, though he drew\nwarily back before the menacing glance of the young man's fiery eye.", "He\nregarded both his captives for a moment with a steady look, and then\nstepping aside, he dropped a log of wood across a door different from\nthat by which Duncan had entered.", "The latter now comprehended the manner\nof his surprise, and believing himself irretrievably lost, he drew Alice\nto his bosom, and stood prepared to meet a fate which he hardly\nregretted, since it was to be suffered in such company.", "But Magua\nmeditated no immediate violence.", "His first measures were very evidently\ntaken to secure his new captive; nor did he even bestow a second glance\nat the motionless forms in the centre of the cavern, until he had\ncompletely cut off every hope of retreat through the private outlet he\nhad himself used.", "He was watched in all his movements by Heyward, who,\nhowever, remained firm, still folding the fragile form of Alice to his\nheart, at once too proud and too hopeless to ask favor of an enemy so\noften foiled.", "When Magua had effected his object he approached his\nprisoners, and said in English,--\n\n\"The pale-faces trap the cunning beavers; but the redskins know how to\ntake the Yengeese.\"" ]

[ "\n _\"Snug._--Have you the lion's part written?", "Pray you, if it be, give\n it me, for I am slow of study.\"", "_\"Quince_.--You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThere was a strange blending of the ridiculous with that which was\nsolemn in this scene.", "The beast still continued its rolling, and\napparently untiring movements, though its ludicrous attempt to imitate\nthe melody of David ceased the instant the latter abandoned the field.", "The words of Gamut were, as has been seen, in his native tongue; and to\nDuncan they seemed pregnant with some hidden meaning, though nothing\npresent assisted him in discovering the object of their illusion.", "A\nspeedy end was, however, put to every conjecture on the subject, by the\nmanner of the chief, who advanced to the bedside of the invalid, and\nbeckoned away the whole group of female attendants that had clustered\nthere to witness the skill of the stranger.", "He was implicitly, though\nreluctantly, obeyed; and when the low echo which rang along the hollow\nnatural gallery from the distant closing door had ceased, pointing\ntowards his insensible daughter, he said,--\n\n\"Now let my brother show his power.\"", "Thus unequivocally called on to exercise the functions of his assumed\ncharacter, Heyward was apprehensive that the smallest delay might prove\ndangerous.", "Endeavoring then to collect his ideas, he prepared to perform\nthat species of incantation, and those uncouth rites, under which the\nIndian conjurers are accustomed to conceal their ignorance and\nimpotency.", "Their eloquence and ingenuity were expended in vain.", "The scout heard\nthem attentively, but impatiently, and finally closed the discussion, by\nanswering, in a tone that instantly silenced Alice, while it told\nHeyward how fruitless any further remonstrances would be,--\n\n\"I have heard,\" he said, \"that there is a feeling in youth which binds\nman to woman closer than the father is tied to the son.", "It may be so.", "I\nhave seldom been where women of my color dwell; but such may be the\ngifts of nature in the settlements.", "You have risked life, and all that\nis dear to you, to bring off this gentle one, and I suppose that some\nsuch disposition is at the bottom of it all.", "As for me, I taught the lad\nthe real character of a rifle; and well has he paid me for it.", "I have\nfou't at his side in many a bloody scrimmage; and so long as I could\nhear the crack of his piece in one ear, and that of the Sagamore in the\nother, I knew no enemy was on my back.", "Winters and summers, nights and\ndays, have we roved the wilderness in company, eating of the same dish,\none sleeping while the other watched; and afore it shall be said that\nUncas was taken to the torment, and I at hand--There is but a single\nRuler of us all, whatever may be the color of the skin; and Him I call\nto witness, that before the Mohican boy shall perish for the want of a\nfriend, good faith shall depart the 'arth, and 'Killdeer' become as\nharmless as the tooting we'pon of the singer!\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE LOVERS\n\n_Heyward and Alice took their way together towards the distant village\nof the Delawares_]\n\nDuncan released his hold on the arm of the scout, who turned, and\nsteadily retraced his steps towards the lodges.", "After pausing a moment\nto gaze at his retiring form, the successful and yet sorrowful Heyward,\nand Alice, took their way together towards the distant village of the\nDelawares." ]

[ "\n \"_Bot._--Let me play the lion too.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nNotwithstanding the high resolution of Hawkeye, he fully comprehended\nall the difficulties and dangers he was about to incur.", "In his return to\nthe camp, his acute and practised intellects were intently engaged in\ndevising means to counteract a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of\nhis enemies, that he knew were, in no degree, inferior to his own.", "Nothing but the color of his skin had saved the lives of Magua and the\nconjurer, who would have been the first victims sacrificed to his own\nsecurity, had not the scout believed such an act, however congenial it\nmight be to the nature of an Indian, utterly unworthy of one who boasted\na descent from men that knew no cross of blood.", "Accordingly, he trusted\nto the withes and ligaments with which he had bound his captives, and\npursued his way directly towards the centre of the lodges.", "As he approached the buildings, his steps became more deliberate, and\nhis vigilant eye suffered no sign, whether friendly or hostile, to\nescape him.", "A neglected hut was a little in advance of the others, and\nappeared as if it had been deserted when half completed--most probably\non account of failing in some of the more important requisites; such as\nfood or water.", "A faint light glimmered through its cracks, however, and\nannounced that, notwithstanding its imperfect structure, it was not\nwithout a tenant.", "Thither, then, the scout proceeded, like a prudent\ngeneral, who was about to feel the advanced positions of his enemy,\nbefore he hazarded the main attack.", "Throwing himself into a suitable posture for the beast he represented,\nHawkeye crawled to a little opening, where he might command a view of\nthe interior.", "It proved to be the abiding-place of David Gamut.", "Hither\nthe faithful singing-master had now brought himself, together with all\nhis sorrows, his apprehensions, and his meek dependence on the\nprotection of Providence.", "At the precise moment when his ungainly person\ncame under the observation of the scout, in the manner just mentioned,\nthe woodsman himself, though in his assumed character, was the subject\nof the solitary being's profoundest reflections.", "However implicit the faith of David was in the performance of ancient\nmiracles, he eschewed the belief of any direct supernatural agency in\nthe management of modern morality.", "In other words, while he had implicit\nfaith in the ability of Balsam's ass to speak, he was somewhat skeptical\non the subject of a bear's singing; and yet he had been assured of the\nlatter, on the testimony of his own exquisite organs.", "There was\nsomething in his air and manner that betrayed to the scout the utter\nconfusion of the state of his mind.", "He was seated on a pile of brush, a\nfew twigs from which occasionally fed his low fire, with his head\nleaning on his arm, in a posture of melancholy musing.", "The costume of\nthe votary of music had undergone no other alteration from that so\nlately described, except that he had covered his bald head with the\ntriangular beaver, which had not proved sufficiently alluring to excite\nthe cupidity of any of his captors.", "The ingenious Hawkeye, who recalled the hasty manner in which the other\nhad abandoned his post at the bedside of the sick woman, was not without\nhis suspicions concerning the subject of so much solemn deliberation.", "First making the circuit of the hut, and ascertaining that it stood\nquite alone, and that the character of its inmate was likely to protect\nit from visitors, he ventured through its low door, into the very\npresence of Gamut.", "The position of the latter brought the fire between\nthem; and when Hawkeye had seated himself on end, near a minute elapsed,\nduring which the two remained regarding each other without speaking.", "The\nsuddenness and the nature of the surprise had nearly proved too much\nfor--we will not say the philosophy--but for the faith and resolution of\nDavid.", "He fumbled for his pitch-pipe, and arose with a confused\nintention of attempting a musical exorcism.", "\"Dark and mysterious monster!\"", "he exclaimed, while with trembling hands\nhe disposed of his auxiliary eyes, and sought his never-failing resource\nin trouble, the gifted version of the Psalms: \"I know not your nature\nnor intents; but if aught you meditate against the person and rights of\none of the humblest servants of the temple, listen to the inspired\nlanguage of the youth of Israel, and repent.\"", "The bear shook his shaggy sides, and then a well-known voice replied,--\n\n\"Put up the tooting we'pon, and teach your throat modesty.", "Five words of\nplain and comprehensible English are worth, just now, an hour of\nsqualling.\"", "\"What art thou!\"", "demanded David, utterly disqualified to pursue his\noriginal intention, and nearly gasping for breath.", "\"A man like yourself; and one whose blood is as little tainted by the\ncross of a bear, or an Indian, as your own.", "Have you so soon forgotten\nfrom whom you received the foolish instrument you hold in your hand?\"", "\"Can these things be?\"", "returned David, breathing more freely, as the\ntruth began to dawn upon him.", "\"I have found many marvels during my\nsojourn with the heathen, but surely nothing to excel this!\"", "\"Come, come,\" returned Hawkeye, uncasing his honest countenance, the\nbetter to assure the wavering confidence of his companion; \"you may see\na skin, which, if it be not as white as one of the gentle ones, has no\ntinge of red to it that the winds of heaven and the sun have not\nbestowed.", "Now let us to business.\"", "\"First tell me of the maiden, and of the youth who so bravely sought\nher,\" interrupted David.", "\"Ay, they are happily freed from the tomahawks of these varlets.", "But can\nyou put me on the scent of Uncas?\"", "\"The young man is in bondage, and much I fear his death is decreed.", "I\ngreatly mourn that one so well disposed should die in his ignorance, and\nI have sought a goodly hymn--\"\n\n\"Can you lead me to him?\"", "\"The task will not be difficult,\" returned David, hesitating; \"though I\ngreatly fear your presence would rather increase than mitigate his\nunhappy fortunes.\"", "\"No more words, but lead on,\" returned Hawkeye, concealing his face\nagain, and setting the example in his own person, by instantly quitting\nthe lodge.", "As they proceeded, the scout ascertained that his companion found access\nto Uncas, under privilege of his imaginary infirmity, aided by the favor\nhe had acquired with one of the guards, who, in consequence of speaking\na little English, had been selected by David as the subject of a\nreligious conversation.", "How far the Huron comprehended the intentions of\nhis new friend, may well be doubted; but as exclusive attention is as\nflattering to a savage as to a more civilized individual, it had\nproduced the effect we have mentioned.", "It is unnecessary to repeat the\nshrewd manner with which the scout extracted these particulars from the\nsimple David; neither shall we dwell in this place on the nature of the\ninstructions he delivered, when completely master of all the necessary\nfacts; as the whole will be sufficiently explained to the reader in the\ncourse of the narrative.", "The lodge in which Uncas was confined was in the very centre of the\nvillage, and in a situation, perhaps, more difficult than any other to\napproach, or leave, without observation.", "But it was not the policy of\nHawkeye to affect the least concealment.", "Presuming on his disguise, and\nhis ability to sustain the character he had assumed, he took the most\nplain and direct route to the place.", "The hour, however, afforded him\nsome little of that protection which he appeared so much to despise.", "The\nboys were already buried in sleep, and all the women, and most of the\nwarriors, had retired to their lodges for the night.", "Four or five of the\nlatter only lingered about the door of the prison of Uncas, wary but\nclose observers of the manner of their captive.", "At the sight of Gamut, accompanied by one in the well known masquerade\nof their most distinguished conjurer, they readily made way for them\nboth.", "Still they betrayed no intention to depart.", "On the other hand,\nthey were evidently disposed to remain bound to the place by an\nadditional interest in the mysterious mummeries that they of course\nexpected from such a visit.", "From the total inability of the scout to address the Hurons in their own\nlanguage, he was compelled to trust the conversation entirely to David.", "Notwithstanding the simplicity of the latter, he did ample justice to\nthe instructions he had received, more than fulfilling the strongest\nhopes of his teacher.", "\"The Delawares are women!\"", "he exclaimed, addressing himself to the\nsavage who had a slight understanding of the language in which he spoke;\n\"the Yengeese, my foolish countrymen, have told them to take up the\ntomahawk, and strike their fathers in the Canadas, and they have\nforgotten their sex.", "Does my brother wish to hear Le Cerf Agile ask for\nhis petticoats, and see him weep before the Hurons, at the stake?\"", "The exclamation \"Hugh!\"", "delivered in a strong tone of assent, announced\nthe gratification the savage would receive in witnessing such an\nexhibition of weakness in an enemy so long hated and so much feared.", "\"Then let him step aside, and the cunning man will blow upon the dog!", "Tell it to my brothers.\"", "The Huron explained the meaning of David to his fellows, who, in their\nturn, listened to the project with that sort of satisfaction that their\nuntamed spirits might be expected to find in such a refinement in\ncruelty.", "They drew back a little from the entrance, and motioned to the\nsupposed conjurer to enter.", "But the bear, instead of obeying, maintained\nthe seat it had taken, and growled.", "\"The cunning man is afraid that his breath will blow upon his brothers,\nand take away their courage too,\" continued David, improving the hint he\nreceived; \"they must stand farther off.\"", "The Hurons, who would have deemed such a misfortune the heaviest\ncalamity that could befall them, fell back in a body, taking a position\nwhere they were out of ear-shot, though at the same time they could\ncommand a view of the entrance to the lodge.", "Then, as if satisfied of\ntheir safety, the scout left his position, and slowly entered the place.", "It was silent and gloomy, being tenanted solely by the captive, and\nlighted by the dying embers of a fire, which had been used for the\npurposes of cookery.", "Uncas occupied a distant corner, in a reclining attitude, being rigidly\nbound, both hands and feet, by strong and painful withes.", "When the\nfrightful object first presented itself to the young Mohican, he did not\ndeign to bestow a single glance on the animal.", "The scout, who had left\nDavid at the door, to ascertain they were not observed, thought it\nprudent to preserve his disguise until assured of their privacy.", "Instead\nof speaking, therefore, he exerted himself to enact one of the antics of\nthe animal he represented.", "The young Mohican, who at first believed his\nenemies had sent in a real beast to torment him, and try his nerves,\ndetected, in those performances that to Heyward had appeared so\naccurate, certain blemishes, that at once betrayed the counterfeit.", "Had\nHawkeye been aware of the low estimation in which the more skilful Uncas\nheld his representations, he would probably have prolonged the\nentertainment a little in pique.", "But the scornful expression of the\nyoung man's eye admitted of so many constructions, that the worthy scout\nwas spared the mortification of such a discovery.", "As soon, therefore, as\nDavid gave the pre-concerted signal, a low hissing sound was heard in\nthe lodge, in place of the fierce growlings of the bear.", "Uncas had cast his body back against the wall of the hut, and closed\nhis eyes, as if willing to exclude so contemptible and disagreeable an\nobject from his sight.", "But the moment the noise of the serpent was\nheard, he arose, and cast his looks on each side of him, bending his\nhead low, and turning it inquiringly in every direction, until his keen\neye rested on the shaggy monster, where it remained riveted, as though\nfixed by the power of a charm.", "Again the same sounds were repeated,\nevidently proceeding from the mouth of the beast.", "Once more the eyes of\nthe youth roamed over the interior of the lodge, and returning to their\nformer resting place, he uttered, in a deep, suppressed voice,--\n\n\"Hawkeye!\"", "\"Cut his bands,\" said Hawkeye to David, who just then approached them.", "The singer did as he was ordered, and Uncas found his limbs released.", "At\nthe same moment the dried skin of the animal rattled, and presently the\nscout arose to his feet, in proper person.", "The Mohican appeared to\ncomprehend the nature of the attempt his friend had made, intuitively;\nneither tongue nor feature betraying another symptom of surprise.", "When\nHawkeye had cast his shaggy vestment, which was done by simply loosing\ncertain thongs of skin, he drew a long glittering knife, and put it in\nthe hands of Uncas.", "\"The red Hurons are without,\" he said; \"let us be ready.\"", "At the same time he laid his finger significantly on another similar\nweapon, both being the fruits of his prowess among their enemies during\nthe evening.", "\"We will go,\" said Uncas.", "\"Whither?\"", "\"To the Tortoises; they are the children of my grandfathers.\"", "\"Ay, lad,\" said the scout in English--a language he was apt to use when\na little abstracted in mind; \"the same blood runs in your veins, I\nbelieve; but time and distance have a little changed its color.", "What\nshall we do with the Mingos at the door?", "They count six, and this singer\nis as good as nothing.\"", "\"The Hurons are boasters,\" said Uncas scornfully; \"their 'totem' is a\nmoose, and they run like snails.", "The Delawares are children of the\ntortoise, and they outstrip the deer.\"", "\"Ay, lad, there is truth in what you say; and I doubt not, on a rush,\nyou would pass the whole nation; and, in a straight race of two miles,\nwould be in, and get your breath again, afore a knave of them all was\nwithin hearing of the other village.", "But the gift of a white man lies\nmore in his arms than in his legs.", "As for myself, I can brain a Huron as\nwell as a better man; but when it comes to a race, the knaves would\nprove too much for me.\"", "Uncas, who had already approached the door, in readiness to lead the\nway, now recoiled; and placed himself, once more, in the bottom of the\nlodge.", "But Hawkeye, who was too much occupied with his own thoughts to\nnote the movement, continued speaking more to himself than to his\ncompanion.", "\"After all,\" he said, \"it is unreasonable to keep one man in bondage to\nthe gifts of another.", "So, Uncas, you had better take the leap, while I\nput on the skin again, and trust to cunning for want of speed.\"", "The young Mohican made no reply, but quietly folded his arms, and leaned\nhis body against one of the upright posts that supported the wall of the\nhut.", "\"Well,\" said the scout, looking up at him, \"why do you tarry?", "There will\nbe time enough for me, as the knaves will give chase to you at first.\"", "\"Uncas will stay,\" was the calm reply.", "\"For what?\"", "\"To fight with his father's brother, and die with the friend of the\nDelawares.\"", "\"Ay, lad,\" returned Hawkeye, squeezing the hand of Uncas between his own\niron fingers; \"'twould have been more like a Mingo than a Mohican had\nyou left me.", "But I thought I would make the offer, seeing that youth\ncommonly loves life.", "Well, what can't be done by main courage, in war,\nmust be done by circumvention.", "Put on the skin; I doubt not you can play\nthe bear nearly as well as myself.\"", "Whatever might have been the private opinion of Uncas of their\nrespective abilities in this particular, his grave countenance\nmanifested no opinion of his own superiority.", "He silently and\nexpeditiously encased himself in the covering of the beast, and then\nawaited such other movements as his more aged companion saw fit to\ndictate.", "\"Now, friend,\" said Hawkeye, addressing David, \"an exchange of garments\nwill be a great convenience to you, inasmuch as you are but little\naccustomed to the make-shifts of the wilderness.", "Here, take my hunting\nshirt and cap, and give me your blanket and hat.", "You must trust me with\nthe book and spectacles, as well as the tooter, too; if we ever meet\nagain, in better times, you shall have all back again, with many thanks\ninto the bargain.\"", "David parted with the several articles named with a readiness that would\nhave done great credit to his liberality, had he not certainly profited,\nin many particulars, by the exchange.", "Hawkeye was not long in assuming\nhis borrowed garments; and when his restless eyes were hid behind the\nglasses, and his head was surmounted by the triangular beaver, as their\nstatures were not dissimilar, he might readily have passed for the\nsinger by star-light.", "As soon as these dispositions were made, the scout\nturned to David, and gave him his parting instructions.", "\"Are you much given to cowardice?\"", "he bluntly asked, by way of obtaining\na suitable understanding of the whole case before he ventured a\nprescription.", "\"My pursuits are peaceful, and my temper, I humbly trust, is greatly\ngiven to mercy and love,\" returned David, a little nettled at so direct\nan attack on his manhood; \"but there are none who can say that I have\never forgotten my faith in the Lord, even in the greatest straits.\"", "\"Your chiefest danger will be at the moment when the savages find out\nthat they have been deceived.", "If you are not then knocked in the head,\nyour being a non-composser will protect you; and you'll then have good\nreason to expect to die in your bed.", "If you stay, it must be to sit down\nhere in the shadow, and take the part of Uncas, until such times as the\ncunning of the Indians discover the cheat, when, as I have already said,\nyour time of trial will come.", "So choose for yourself,--to make a rush or\ntarry here.\"", "\"Even so,\" said David, firmly; \"I will abide in the place of the\nDelaware.", "Bravely and generously has he battled in my behalf; and this,\nand more, will I dare in his service.\"", "\"You have spoken as a man, and like one who, under wiser schooling,\nwould have been brought to better things.", "Hold your head down, and draw\nin your legs; their formation might tell the truth too early.", "Keep\nsilent as long as may be; and it would be wise, when you do speak, to\nbreak out suddenly in one of your shoutings, which will serve to remind\nthe Indians that you are not altogether as responsible as men should be.", "If, however, they take your scalp, as I trust and believe they will not,\ndepend on it, Uncas and I will not forget the deed, but revenge it as\nbecomes true warriors and trusty friends.\"", "\"Hold!\"", "said David, perceiving that with this assurance they were about\nto leave him; \"I am an unworthy and humble follower of One who taught\nnot the damnable principle of revenge.", "Should I fall, therefore, seek no\nvictims to my manes, but rather forgive my destroyers; and if you\nremember them at all, let it be in prayers for the enlightening of their\nminds, and for their eternal welfare.\"", "The scout hesitated, and appeared to muse.", "\"There is a principle in that,\" he said, \"different from the law of the\nwoods; and yet it is fair and noble to reflect upon.\"", "Then, heaving a\nheavy sigh, probably among the last he ever drew in pining for a\ncondition he had so long abandoned, he added, \"It is what I would wish\nto practise, myself, as one without a cross of blood, though it is not\nalways easy to deal with an Indian as you would with a fellow Christian.", "God bless you, friend; I do believe your scent is not greatly wrong,\nwhen the matter is duly considered, and keeping eternity before the\neyes, though much depends on the natural gifts, and the force of\ntemptation.\"", "So saying, the scout returned and shook David cordially by the hand;\nafter which act of friendship he immediately left the lodge, attended by\nthe new representative of the beast.", "The instant Hawkeye found himself under the observation of the Hurons,\nhe drew up his tall form in the rigid manner of David, threw out his arm\nin the act of keeping time, and commenced what he intended for an\nimitation of his psalmody.", "Happily for the success of this delicate\nadventure, he had to deal with ears but little practised in the concord\nof sweet sounds, or the miserable effort would infallibly have been\ndetected.", "It was necessary to pass within a dangerous proximity of the\ndark group of the savages, and the voice of the scout grew louder as\nthey drew nigher.", "When at the nearest point, the Huron who spoke the\nEnglish thrust out an arm, and stopped the supposed singing-master.", "\"The Delaware dog!\"", "he said, leaning forward, and peering through the\ndim light to catch the expression of the other's features; \"is he\nafraid?", "will the Hurons hear his groans?\"", "A growl so exceedingly fierce and natural proceeded from the beast, that\nthe young Indian released his hold and started aside, as if to assure\nhimself that it was not a veritable bear, and no counterfeit, that was\nrolling before him.", "Hawkeye, who feared his voice would betray him to\nhis subtle enemies, gladly profited by the interruption, to break out\nanew in such a burst of musical expression as would, probably, in a\nmore refined state of society have been termed \"a grand crash.\"", "Among\nhis actual auditors, however, it merely gave him an additional claim to\nthat respect which they never withhold from such as are believed to be\nthe subjects of mental alienation.", "The little knot of Indians drew back\nin a body, and suffered, as they thought, the conjurer and his inspired\nassistant to proceed.", "It required no common exercise of fortitude in Uncas and the scout, to\ncontinue the dignified and deliberate pace they had assumed in passing\nthe lodges; especially as they immediately perceived that curiosity had\nso far mastered fear, as to induce the watchers to approach the hut, in\norder to witness the effect of the incantations.", "The least injudicious\nor impatient movement on the part of David might betray them, and time\nwas absolutely necessary to insure the safety of the scout.", "The loud\nnoise the latter conceived it politic to continue, drew many curious\ngazers to the doors of the different huts as they passed; and once or\ntwice a dark-looking warrior stepped across their path, led to the act\nby superstition or watchfulness.", "They were not, however, interrupted;\nthe darkness of the hour, and the coldness of the attempt, proving their\nprincipal friends.", "The adventurers had got clear of the village, and were now swiftly\napproaching the shelter of the woods, when a loud and long cry arose\nfrom the lodge where Uncas had been confined.", "The Mohican started on his\nfeet, and shook his shaggy covering, as though the animal he\ncounterfeited was about to make some desperate effort.", "\"Hold!\"", "said the scout, grasping his friend by the shoulder, \"let them\nyell again!", "'Twas nothing but wonderment.\"", "He had no occasion to delay, for the next instant a burst of cries\nfilled the outer air, and ran along the whole extent of the village.", "Uncas cast his skin, and stepped forth in his own beautiful proportions.", "Hawkeye tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and glided ahead.", "\"Now let the devils strike our scent!\"", "said the scout, tearing two\nrifles, with all their attendant accoutrements, from beneath a bush, and\nflourishing \"Killdeer\" as he handed Uncas his weapon; \"two, at least,\nwill find it to their deaths.\"", "Then throwing their pieces to a low trail, like sportsmen in readiness\nfor their game, they dashed forward, and were soon buried in the sombre\ndarkness of the forest." ]

[ "\"Can these things be?\"", "The young Mohican, who at first believed his\nenemies had sent in a real beast to torment him, and try his nerves,\ndetected, in those performances that to Heyward had appeared so\naccurate, certain blemishes, that at once betrayed the counterfeit.", "Had\nHawkeye been aware of the low estimation in which the more skilful Uncas\nheld his representations, he would probably have prolonged the\nentertainment a little in pique.", "Uncas had cast his body back against the wall of the hut, and closed\nhis eyes, as if willing to exclude so contemptible and disagreeable an\nobject from his sight.", "\"Cut his bands,\" said Hawkeye to David, who just then approached them.", "\"After all,\" he said, \"it is unreasonable to keep one man in bondage to\nthe gifts of another.", "So, Uncas, you had better take the leap, while I\nput on the skin again, and trust to cunning for want of speed.\"", "So choose for yourself,--to make a rush or\ntarry here.\"", "Then, heaving a\nheavy sigh, probably among the last he ever drew in pining for a\ncondition he had so long abandoned, he added, \"It is what I would wish\nto practise, myself, as one without a cross of blood, though it is not\nalways easy to deal with an Indian as you would with a fellow Christian.", "Then throwing their pieces to a low trail, like sportsmen in readiness\nfor their game, they dashed forward, and were soon buried in the sombre\ndarkness of the forest." ]

[ "In other words, while he had implicit\nfaith in the ability of Balsam's ass to speak, he was somewhat skeptical\non the subject of a bear's singing; and yet he had been assured of the\nlatter, on the testimony of his own exquisite organs.", "Then, heaving a\nheavy sigh, probably among the last he ever drew in pining for a\ncondition he had so long abandoned, he added, \"It is what I would wish\nto practise, myself, as one without a cross of blood, though it is not\nalways easy to deal with an Indian as you would with a fellow Christian.", "At the sight of Gamut, accompanied by one in the well known masquerade\nof their most distinguished conjurer, they readily made way for them\nboth.", "Should I fall, therefore, seek no\nvictims to my manes, but rather forgive my destroyers; and if you\nremember them at all, let it be in prayers for the enlightening of their\nminds, and for their eternal welfare.\"", "Here, take my hunting\nshirt and cap, and give me your blanket and hat.", "\"The Delaware dog!\"", "David parted with the several articles named with a readiness that would\nhave done great credit to his liberality, had he not certainly profited,\nin many particulars, by the exchange.", "In his return to\nthe camp, his acute and practised intellects were intently engaged in\ndevising means to counteract a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of\nhis enemies, that he knew were, in no degree, inferior to his own.", "Throwing himself into a suitable posture for the beast he represented,\nHawkeye crawled to a little opening, where he might command a view of\nthe interior.", "Then, as if satisfied of\ntheir safety, the scout left his position, and slowly entered the place." ]

[ "But the moment the noise of the serpent was\nheard, he arose, and cast his looks on each side of him, bending his\nhead low, and turning it inquiringly in every direction, until his keen\neye rested on the shaggy monster, where it remained riveted, as though\nfixed by the power of a charm.", "Again the same sounds were repeated,\nevidently proceeding from the mouth of the beast.", "Once more the eyes of\nthe youth roamed over the interior of the lodge, and returning to their\nformer resting place, he uttered, in a deep, suppressed voice,--\n\n\"Hawkeye!\"", "\"Cut his bands,\" said Hawkeye to David, who just then approached them.", "The singer did as he was ordered, and Uncas found his limbs released.", "At\nthe same moment the dried skin of the animal rattled, and presently the\nscout arose to his feet, in proper person.", "The Mohican appeared to\ncomprehend the nature of the attempt his friend had made, intuitively;\nneither tongue nor feature betraying another symptom of surprise.", "When\nHawkeye had cast his shaggy vestment, which was done by simply loosing\ncertain thongs of skin, he drew a long glittering knife, and put it in\nthe hands of Uncas.", "\"The red Hurons are without,\" he said; \"let us be ready.\"", "At the same time he laid his finger significantly on another similar\nweapon, both being the fruits of his prowess among their enemies during\nthe evening.", "\"We will go,\" said Uncas." ]

[ "\n \"_Bot._--Let me play the lion too.\"", "_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nNotwithstanding the high resolution of Hawkeye, he fully comprehended\nall the difficulties and dangers he was about to incur.", "In his return to\nthe camp, his acute and practised intellects were intently engaged in\ndevising means to counteract a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of\nhis enemies, that he knew were, in no degree, inferior to his own.", "Nothing but the color of his skin had saved the lives of Magua and the\nconjurer, who would have been the first victims sacrificed to his own\nsecurity, had not the scout believed such an act, however congenial it\nmight be to the nature of an Indian, utterly unworthy of one who boasted\na descent from men that knew no cross of blood.", "Accordingly, he trusted\nto the withes and ligaments with which he had bound his captives, and\npursued his way directly towards the centre of the lodges.", "As he approached the buildings, his steps became more deliberate, and\nhis vigilant eye suffered no sign, whether friendly or hostile, to\nescape him.", "A neglected hut was a little in advance of the others, and\nappeared as if it had been deserted when half completed--most probably\non account of failing in some of the more important requisites; such as\nfood or water.", "A faint light glimmered through its cracks, however, and\nannounced that, notwithstanding its imperfect structure, it was not\nwithout a tenant.", "Thither, then, the scout proceeded, like a prudent\ngeneral, who was about to feel the advanced positions of his enemy,\nbefore he hazarded the main attack.", "Throwing himself into a suitable posture for the beast he represented,\nHawkeye crawled to a little opening, where he might command a view of\nthe interior.", "The Mohican started on his\nfeet, and shook his shaggy covering, as though the animal he\ncounterfeited was about to make some desperate effort.", "\"Hold!\"", "said the scout, grasping his friend by the shoulder, \"let them\nyell again!", "'Twas nothing but wonderment.\"", "He had no occasion to delay, for the next instant a burst of cries\nfilled the outer air, and ran along the whole extent of the village.", "Uncas cast his skin, and stepped forth in his own beautiful proportions.", "Hawkeye tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and glided ahead.", "\"Now let the devils strike our scent!\"", "said the scout, tearing two\nrifles, with all their attendant accoutrements, from beneath a bush, and\nflourishing \"Killdeer\" as he handed Uncas his weapon; \"two, at least,\nwill find it to their deaths.\"", "Then throwing their pieces to a low trail, like sportsmen in readiness\nfor their game, they dashed forward, and were soon buried in the sombre\ndarkness of the forest." ]

[ "\n \"_Ant._ I shall remember:\n When Caesar says _Do this_, it is performed.\"", "_Julius Caesar._\n\n\nThe impatience of the savages who lingered about the prison of Uncas, as\nhas been seen, had overcome their dread of the conjurer's breath.", "They\nstole cautiously, and with beating hearts, to a crevice, through which\nthe faint light of the fire was glimmering.", "For several minutes they\nmistook the form of David for that of their prisoner; but the very\naccident which Hawkeye had foreseen occurred.", "Tired of keeping the\nextremities of his long person so near together, the singer gradually\nsuffered the lower limbs to extend themselves, until one of his\nmisshapen feet actually came in contact with and shoved aside the embers\nof the fire.", "At first the Hurons believed the Delaware had been thus\ndeformed by witchcraft.", "But when David, unconscious of being observed,\nturned his head, and exposed his simple, mild countenance, in place of\nthe haughty lineaments of their prisoner, it would have exceeded the\ncredulity of even a native to have doubted any longer.", "They rushed\ntogether into the lodge, and laying their hands, with but little\nceremony, on their captive, immediately detected the imposition.", "Then\narose the cry first heard by the fugitives.", "It was succeeded by the most\nfrantic and angry demonstrations of vengeance.", "David, however firm in\nhis determination to cover the retreat of his friends, was compelled to\nbelieve that his own final hour had come.", "Deprived of his book and his\npipe, he was fain to trust to a memory that rarely failed him on such\nsubjects; and breaking forth in a loud and impassioned strain, he\nendeavored to soothe his passage into the other world, by singing the\nopening verse of a funeral anthem.", "The Indians were seasonably reminded\nof his infirmity, and rushing into the open air, they aroused the\nvillage in the manner described.", "A native warrior fights as he sleeps, without the protection of anything\ndefensive.", "The sounds of the alarm were, therefore, hardly uttered,\nbefore two hundred men were afoot, and ready for the battle or the\nchase, as either might be required.", "The escape was soon known; and the\nwhole tribe crowded, in a body, around the council-lodge, impatiently\nawaiting the instruction of their chiefs.", "In such a sudden demand on\ntheir wisdom, the presence of the cunning Magua could scarcely fail of\nbeing needed.", "His name was mentioned, and all looked round in wonder\nthat he did not appear.", "Messengers were then despatched to his lodge,\nrequiring his presence.", "In the meantime, some of the swiftest and most discreet of the young men\nwere ordered to make the circuit of the clearing, under cover of the\nwoods, in order to ascertain that their suspected neighbors, the\nDelawares, designed no mischief.", "Women and children ran to and fro; and\nin short, the whole encampment exhibited another scene of wild and\nsavage confusion.", "Gradually, however, these symptoms of disorder\ndiminished; and in a few minutes the oldest and most distinguished\nchiefs were assembled in the lodge, in grave consultation.", "The clamor of many voices soon announced that a party approached, who\nmight be expected to communicate some intelligence that would explain\nthe mystery of the novel surprise.", "The crowd without gave way, and\nseveral warriors entered the place, bringing with them the hapless\nconjurer, who had been left so long by the scout in duress.", "Notwithstanding this man was held in very unequal estimation among the\nHurons, some believing implicitly in his power, and others deeming him\nan impostor, he was now listened to by all with the deepest attention.", "When his brief story was ended, the father of the sick woman stepped\nforth, and, in a few pithy expressions, related, in his turn, what he\nknew.", "These two narratives gave a proper direction to the subsequent\ninquiries, which were now made with the characteristic cunning of\nsavages.", "Instead of rushing in a confused and disorderly throng to the cavern,\nten of the wisest and firmest among the chiefs were selected to\nprosecute the investigation.", "As no time was to be lost, the instant the\nchoice was made the individuals appointed rose in a body, and left the\nplace without speaking.", "On reaching the entrance, the younger men in\nadvance made way for their seniors; and the whole proceeded along the\nlow, dark gallery, with the firmness of warriors ready to devote\nthemselves to the public good, though, at the same time, secretly\ndoubting the nature of the power with which they were about to contend.", "The outer apartment of the cavern was silent and gloomy.", "The woman lay\nin her usual place and posture, though there were those present who\naffirmed they had seen her borne to the woods, by the supposed \"medicine\nof the white men.\"", "Such a direct and palpable contradiction of the tale\nrelated by the father, caused all eyes to be turned on him.", "Chafed by\nthe silent imputation, and inwardly troubled by so unaccountable a\ncircumstance, the chief advanced to the side of the bed, and stooping,\ncast an incredulous look at the features, as if distrusting their\nreality.", "His daughter was dead.", "The unerring feeling of nature, for a moment prevailed, and the old\nwarrior hid his eyes in sorrow.", "Then recovering his self-possession, he\nfaced his companions, and pointing towards the corpse, he said, in the\nlanguage of his people,--\n\n\"The wife of my young man has left us!", "the Great Spirit is angry with\nhis children.\"", "The mournful intelligence was received in solemn silence.", "After a short\npause, one of the elder Indians was about to speak, when a dark-looking\nobject was seen rolling out of an adjoining apartment, into the very\ncentre of the room where they stood.", "Ignorant of the nature of the\nbeings they had to deal with, the whole party drew back a little, and\ngazed in admiration, until the object fronted the light, and rising on\nend, exhibited the distorted, but still fierce and sullen features of\nMagua.", "The discovery was succeeded by a general exclamation of\namazement.", "As soon, however, as the true situation of the chief was understood,\nseveral ready knives appeared, and his limbs and tongue were quickly\nreleased.", "The Huron arose, and shook himself like a lion quitting his\nlair.", "Not a word escaped him, though his hand played convulsively with\nthe handle of his knife, while his lowering eyes scanned the whole\nparty, as if they sought an object suited to the first burst of his\nvengeance.", "It was happy for Uncas and the scout, and even David, that they were all\nbeyond the reach of his arm at such a moment; for, assuredly, no\nrefinement in cruelty would then have deferred their deaths, in\nopposition to the promptings of the fierce temper that nearly choked\nhim.", "Meeting everywhere faces that he knew as friends, the savage grated\nhis teeth together like rasps of iron, and swallowed his passion for\nwant of a victim on whom to vent it.", "This exhibition of anger was noted\nby all present; and, from an apprehension of exasperating a temper that\nwas already chafed nearly to madness, several minutes were suffered to\npass before another word was uttered.", "When, however, suitable time had\nelapsed, the oldest of the party spoke.", "\"My friend has found an enemy,\" he said.", "\"Is he nigh, that the Hurons\nmay take revenge?\"", "\"Let the Delaware die!\"", "exclaimed Magua, in a voice of thunder.", "Another long and expressive silence was observed, and was broken, as\nbefore, with due precaution, by the same individual.", "\"The Mohican is swift of foot, and leaps far,\" he said; \"but my young\nmen are on his trail.\"", "\"Is he gone?\"", "demanded Magua, in tones so deep and guttural, that they\nseemed to proceed from his inmost chest.", "\"An evil spirit has been among us, and the Delaware has blinded our\neyes.\"", "\"An evil spirit!\"", "repeated the other, mockingly; \"'tis the spirit that\nhas taken the lives of so many Hurons; the spirit that slew my young men\nat 'the tumbling river'; that took their scalps at the 'healing spring';\nand who has now bound the arms of Le Renard Subtil!\"", "\"Of whom does my friend speak?\"", "\"Of the dog who carries the heart and cunning of a Huron under a pale\nskin--La Longue Carabine.\"", "The pronunciation of so terrible a name produced the usual effect among\nhis auditors.", "But when time was given for reflection, and the warriors\nremembered that their formidable and daring enemy had even been in the\nbosom of their encampment, working injury, fearful rage took the place\nof wonder, and all those fierce passions with which the bosom of Magua\nhad just been struggling were suddenly transferred to his companions.", "Some among them gnashed their teeth in anger, others vented their\nfeelings in yells, and some, again beat the air as frantically as if the\nobject of their resentment were suffering under their blows.", "But this\nsudden outbreaking of temper as quickly subsided in the still and sullen\nrestraint they most affected, in their moments of inaction.", "Magua who had in his turn found leisure for reflection, now changed his\nmanner, and assumed the air of one who knew how to think and act with a\ndignity worthy of so grave a subject.", "\"Let us go to my people,\" he said; \"they wait for us.\"", "His companions consented in silence, and the whole of the savage party\nleft the cavern and returned to the council-lodge.", "When they were\nseated, all eyes turned on Magua, who understood, from such an\nindication, that, by common consent, they had devolved the duty of\nrelating what had passed on him.", "He arose, and told his tale without\nduplicity or reservation.", "The whole deception practised by both Duncan\nand Hawkeye was, of course, laid naked; and no room was found, even for\nthe most superstitious of the tribe, any longer to affix a doubt on the\ncharacter of the occurrences.", "It was but too apparent that they had been\ninsultingly, shamefully, disgracefully deceived.", "When he had ended, and\nresumed his seat, the collected tribe--for his auditors, in substance,\nincluded all the fighting men of the party--sat regarding each other\nlike men astonished equally at the audacity and the success of their\nenemies.", "The next consideration, however, was the means and\nopportunities for revenge.", "Additional pursuers were sent on the trail of the fugitives; and then\nthe chiefs applied themselves, in earnest, to the business of\nconsultation.", "Many different expedients were proposed by the elder\nwarriors, in succession, to all of which Magua was a silent and\nrespectful listener.", "That subtle savage had recovered his artifice and\nself-command, and now proceeded towards his object with his customary\ncaution and skill.", "It was only when each one disposed to speak had\nuttered his sentiments, that he prepared to advance his own opinions.", "They were given with additional weight from the circumstance that some\nof the runners had already returned, and reported that their enemies had\nbeen traced so far as to leave no doubt of their having sought safety in\nthe neighboring camp of their suspected allies, the Delawares.", "With the\nadvantage of possessing this important intelligence, the chief warily\nlaid his plans before his fellows, and, as might have been anticipated\nfrom his eloquence and cunning, they were adopted without a dissenting\nvoice.", "They were, briefly, as follows, both in opinions and in motives.", "It has been already stated that, in obedience to a policy rarely\ndeparted from, the sisters were separated so soon as they reached the\nHuron village.", "Magua had early discovered that in retaining the person\nof Alice, he possessed the most effectual check on Cora.", "When they\nparted, therefore, he kept the former within reach of his hand,\nconsigning the one he most valued to the keeping of their allies.", "The\narrangement was understood to be merely temporary, and was made as much\nwith a view to flatter his neighbors as in obedience to the invariable\nrule of Indian policy.", "While goaded incessantly by those revengeful impulses that in a savage\nseldom slumber, the chief was still attentive to his more permanent\npersonal interests.", "The follies and disloyalty committed in his youth\nwere to be expiated by a long and painful penance, ere he could be\nrestored to the full enjoyment of the confidence of his ancient people;\nand without confidence, there could be no authority in an Indian tribe.", "In this delicate and arduous situation, the crafty native had neglected\nno means of increasing his influence; and one of the happiest of his\nexpedients had been the success with which he had cultivated the favor\nof their powerful and dangerous neighbors.", "The result of his experiment\nhad answered all the expectations of his policy; for the Hurons were in\nno degree exempt from that governing principle of nature, which induces\nman to value his gifts precisely in the degree that they are appreciated\nby others.", "But, while he was making this ostensible sacrifice to general\nconsiderations, Magua never lost sight of his individual motives.", "The\nlatter had been frustrated by the unlooked-for events which had placed\nall his prisoners beyond his control; and he now found himself reduced\nto the necessity of suing for favors to those whom it had so lately been\nhis policy to oblige.", "Several of the chiefs had proposed deep and treacherous schemes to\nsurprise the Delawares, and, by gaining possession of their camp, to\nrecover their prisoners by the same blow; for all agreed that their\nhonor, their interests, and the peace and happiness of their dead\ncountrymen, imperiously required them speedily to immolate some victims\nto their revenge.", "But plans so dangerous to attempt, and of such\ndoubtful issue, Magua found little difficulty in defeating.", "He exposed\ntheir risk and fallacy with his usual skill; and it was only after he\nhad removed every impediment, in the shape of opposing advice, that he\nventured to propose his own projects.", "He commenced by flattering the self-love of his auditors; a\nnever-failing method of commanding attention.", "When he had enumerated the\nmany different occasions on which the Hurons had exhibited their courage\nand prowess, in the punishment of insults, he digressed in a high\nencomium on the virtue of wisdom.", "He painted the quality, as forming the\ngreat point of difference between the beaver and other brutes; between\nbrutes and men; and, finally, between the Hurons, in particular, and\nthe rest of the human race.", "After he had sufficiently extolled the\nproperty of discretion, he undertook to exhibit in what manner its use\nwas applicable to the present situation of their tribe.", "On the one hand,\nhe said, was their great pale father, the governor of the Canadas, who\nhad looked upon his children with a hard eye since their tomahawks had\nbeen so red; on the other, a people as numerous as themselves, who spoke\na different language, possessed different interests, and loved them not,\nand who would be glad of any pretence to bring them in disgrace with the\ngreat white chief.", "Then he spoke of their necessities; of the gifts they\nhad a right to expect for their past services; of their distance from\ntheir proper hunting-grounds and native villages; and of the necessity\nof consulting prudence more, and inclination less, in so critical\ncircumstances.", "When he perceived that, while the old men applauded his\nmoderation, many of the fiercest and most distinguished of the warriors\nlistened to these politic plans with lowering looks, he cunningly led\nthem back to the subject which they most loved.", "He spoke openly of the\nfruits of their wisdom, which he boldly pronounced would be a complete\nand final triumph over their enemies.", "He even darkly hinted that their\nsuccess might be extended, with proper caution, in such a manner as to\ninclude the destruction of all whom they had reason to hate.", "In short,\nhe so blended the warlike with the artful, the obvious with the obscure,\nas to flatter the propensities of both parties, and to leave to each\nsubject of hope, while neither could say it clearly comprehended his\nintentions.", "The orator, or the politician, who can produce such a state of things,\nis commonly popular with his contemporaries, however he may be treated\nby posterity.", "All perceived that more was meant than was uttered, and\neach one believed that the hidden meaning was precisely such as his own\nfaculties enabled him to understand, or his own wishes led him to\nanticipate.", "In this happy state of things, it is not surprising that the management\nof Magua prevailed.", "The tribe consented to act with deliberation, and\nwith one voice they committed the direction of the whole affair to the\ngovernment of the chief who had suggested such wise and intelligible\nexpedients.", "Magua had now attained one great object of all his cunning and\nenterprise.", "The ground he had lost in the favor of his people was\ncompletely regained, and he found himself even placed at the head of\naffairs.", "He was, in truth, their ruler; and, so long as he could\nmaintain his popularity, no monarch could be more despotic, especially\nwhile the tribe continued in a hostile country.", "Throwing off, therefore,\nthe appearance of consultation, he assumed the grave air of authority\nnecessary to support the dignity of his office.", "Runners were despatched for intelligence in different directions; spies\nwere ordered to approach and feel the encampment of the Delawares; the\nwarriors were dismissed to their lodges, with an intimation that their\nservices would soon be needed; and the women and children were ordered\nto retire, with a warning that it was their province to be silent.", "When\nthese several arrangements were made, Magua passed through the village,\nstopping here and there to pay a visit where he thought his presence\nmight be flattering to the individual.", "He confirmed his friends in their\nconfidence, fixed the wavering, and gratified all.", "Then he sought his\nown lodge.", "The wife the Huron chief had abandoned, when he was chased\nfrom among his people, was dead.", "Children he had none; and he now\noccupied a hut, without companion of any sort.", "It was, in fact, the\ndilapidated and solitary structure in which David had been discovered,\nand whom he had tolerated in his presence, on those few occasions when\nthey met, with the contemptuous indifference of a haughty superiority.", "Hither, then, Magua retired, when his labors of policy were ended.", "While\nothers slept, however, he neither knew nor sought repose.", "Had there been\none sufficiently curious to have watched the movements of the newly\nelected chief, he would have seen him seated in a corner of his lodge,\nmusing on the subject of his future plans, from the hour of his\nretirement to the time he had appointed for the warriors to assemble\nagain.", "Occasionally the air breathed through the crevices of the hut,\nand the low flames that fluttered about the embers of the fire threw\ntheir wavering light on the person of the sullen recluse.", "At such\nmoments it would not have been difficult to have fancied the dusky\nsavage the Prince of Darkness, brooding on his own fancied wrongs, and\nplotting evil.", "Long before the day dawned, however, warrior after warrior entered the\nsolitary hut of Magua, until they had collected to the number of twenty.", "Each bore his rifle, and all the other accoutrements of war, though the\npaint was uniformly peaceful.", "The entrance of these fierce-looking\nbeings was unnoticed; some seating themselves in the shadows of the\nplace, and others standing like motionless statues, until the whole of\nthe designated band was collected.", "Then Magua arose and gave the signal to proceed, marching himself in\nadvance.", "They followed their leader singly, and in that well-known order\nwhich has obtained the distinguishing appellation of \"Indian file.\"", "Unlike other men engaged in the spirit-stirring business of war, they\nstole from their camp unostentatiously and unobserved, resembling a band\nof gliding spectres, more than warriors seeking the bubble reputation by\ndeeds of desperate daring.", "Instead of taking the path which led directly towards the camp of the\nDelawares, Magua led his party for some distance down the windings of\nthe stream, and along the little artificial lake of the beavers.", "The day\nbegan to dawn as they entered the clearing which had been formed by\nthose sagacious and industrious animals.", "Though Magua, who had resumed\nhis ancient garb, bore the outline of a fox on the dressed skin which\nformed his robe, there was one chief of his party who carried the beaver\nas his peculiar symbol, or \"totem.\"", "There would have been a species of\nprofanity in the omission, had this man passed so powerful a community\nof his fancied kindred, without bestowing some evidence of his regard.", "Accordingly, he paused, and spoke in words as kind and friendly as if he\nwere addressing more intelligent beings.", "He called the animals his\ncousins, and reminded them that his protecting influence was the reason\nthey remained unharmed, while so many avaricious traders were prompting\nthe Indians to take their lives.", "He promised a continuance of his\nfavors, and admonished them to be grateful.", "After which, he spoke of the\nexpedition in which he was himself engaged, and intimated, though with\nsufficient delicacy and circumlocution, the expediency of bestowing on\ntheir relative a portion of that wisdom for which they were so\nrenowned.", "[24]\n\nDuring the utterance of this extraordinary address, the companions of\nthe speaker were as grave and as attentive to his language as though\nthey were all equally impressed with its propriety.", "Once or twice black\nobjects were seen rising to the surface of the water, and the Huron\nexpressed pleasure, conceiving that his words were not bestowed in\nvain.", "Just as he had ended his address, the head of a large beaver was\nthrust from the door of a lodge, whose earthen walls had been much\ninjured, and which the party had believed, from its situation, to be\nuninhabited.", "Such an extraordinary sign of confidence was received by\nthe orator as a highly favorable omen; and though the animal retreated a\nlittle precipitately, he was lavish of his thanks and commendations.", "When Magua thought sufficient time had been lost in gratifying the\nfamily affection of the warrior, he again made the signal to proceed.", "As\nthe Indians moved away in a body, and with a step that would have been\ninaudible to the ears of any common man, the same venerable-looking\nbeaver once more ventured his head from its cover.", "Had any of the Hurons\nturned to look behind them, they would have seen the animal watching\ntheir movements with an interest and sagacity that might easily have\nbeen mistaken for reason.", "Indeed, so very distinct and intelligible were\nthe devices of the quadruped, that even the most experienced observer\nwould have been at a loss to account for its actions, until the moment\nwhen the party entered the forest, when the whole would have been\nexplained, by seeing the entire animal issue from the lodge, uncasing,\nby the act, the grave features of Chingachgook from his mask of fur." ]

[ "\n \"_Ant._ I shall remember:\n When Caesar says _Do this_, it is performed.\"", "Such a direct and palpable contradiction of the tale\nrelated by the father, caused all eyes to be turned on him.", "Not a word escaped him, though his hand played convulsively with\nthe handle of his knife, while his lowering eyes scanned the whole\nparty, as if they sought an object suited to the first burst of his\nvengeance.", "\"My friend has found an enemy,\" he said.", "That subtle savage had recovered his artifice and\nself-command, and now proceeded towards his object with his customary\ncaution and skill.", "He painted the quality, as forming the\ngreat point of difference between the beaver and other brutes; between\nbrutes and men; and, finally, between the Hurons, in particular, and\nthe rest of the human race.", "He even darkly hinted that their\nsuccess might be extended, with proper caution, in such a manner as to\ninclude the destruction of all whom they had reason to hate.", "In this happy state of things, it is not surprising that the management\nof Magua prevailed.", "Once or twice black\nobjects were seen rising to the surface of the water, and the Huron\nexpressed pleasure, conceiving that his words were not bestowed in\nvain.", "Had any of the Hurons\nturned to look behind them, they would have seen the animal watching\ntheir movements with an interest and sagacity that might easily have\nbeen mistaken for reason." ]

[ "They\nstole cautiously, and with beating hearts, to a crevice, through which\nthe faint light of the fire was glimmering.", "[24]\n\nDuring the utterance of this extraordinary address, the companions of\nthe speaker were as grave and as attentive to his language as though\nthey were all equally impressed with its propriety.", "The\narrangement was understood to be merely temporary, and was made as much\nwith a view to flatter his neighbors as in obedience to the invariable\nrule of Indian policy.", "\"My friend has found an enemy,\" he said.", "Meeting everywhere faces that he knew as friends, the savage grated\nhis teeth together like rasps of iron, and swallowed his passion for\nwant of a victim on whom to vent it.", "On reaching the entrance, the younger men in\nadvance made way for their seniors; and the whole proceeded along the\nlow, dark gallery, with the firmness of warriors ready to devote\nthemselves to the public good, though, at the same time, secretly\ndoubting the nature of the power with which they were about to contend.", "While\nothers slept, however, he neither knew nor sought repose.", "But, while he was making this ostensible sacrifice to general\nconsiderations, Magua never lost sight of his individual motives.", "Children he had none; and he now\noccupied a hut, without companion of any sort.", "The\nlatter had been frustrated by the unlooked-for events which had placed\nall his prisoners beyond his control; and he now found himself reduced\nto the necessity of suing for favors to those whom it had so lately been\nhis policy to oblige." ]

[ "His companions consented in silence, and the whole of the savage party\nleft the cavern and returned to the council-lodge.", "When they were\nseated, all eyes turned on Magua, who understood, from such an\nindication, that, by common consent, they had devolved the duty of\nrelating what had passed on him.", "He arose, and told his tale without\nduplicity or reservation.", "The whole deception practised by both Duncan\nand Hawkeye was, of course, laid naked; and no room was found, even for\nthe most superstitious of the tribe, any longer to affix a doubt on the\ncharacter of the occurrences.", "It was but too apparent that they had been\ninsultingly, shamefully, disgracefully deceived.", "When he had ended, and\nresumed his seat, the collected tribe--for his auditors, in substance,\nincluded all the fighting men of the party--sat regarding each other\nlike men astonished equally at the audacity and the success of their\nenemies.", "The next consideration, however, was the means and\nopportunities for revenge.", "Additional pursuers were sent on the trail of the fugitives; and then\nthe chiefs applied themselves, in earnest, to the business of\nconsultation.", "Many different expedients were proposed by the elder\nwarriors, in succession, to all of which Magua was a silent and\nrespectful listener.", "That subtle savage had recovered his artifice and\nself-command, and now proceeded towards his object with his customary\ncaution and skill.", "It was only when each one disposed to speak had\nuttered his sentiments, that he prepared to advance his own opinions." ]

[ "\n \"_Ant._ I shall remember:\n When Caesar says _Do this_, it is performed.\"", "_Julius Caesar._\n\n\nThe impatience of the savages who lingered about the prison of Uncas, as\nhas been seen, had overcome their dread of the conjurer's breath.", "They\nstole cautiously, and with beating hearts, to a crevice, through which\nthe faint light of the fire was glimmering.", "For several minutes they\nmistook the form of David for that of their prisoner; but the very\naccident which Hawkeye had foreseen occurred.", "Tired of keeping the\nextremities of his long person so near together, the singer gradually\nsuffered the lower limbs to extend themselves, until one of his\nmisshapen feet actually came in contact with and shoved aside the embers\nof the fire.", "At first the Hurons believed the Delaware had been thus\ndeformed by witchcraft.", "But when David, unconscious of being observed,\nturned his head, and exposed his simple, mild countenance, in place of\nthe haughty lineaments of their prisoner, it would have exceeded the\ncredulity of even a native to have doubted any longer.", "They rushed\ntogether into the lodge, and laying their hands, with but little\nceremony, on their captive, immediately detected the imposition.", "Then\narose the cry first heard by the fugitives.", "It was succeeded by the most\nfrantic and angry demonstrations of vengeance.", "He promised a continuance of his\nfavors, and admonished them to be grateful.", "After which, he spoke of the\nexpedition in which he was himself engaged, and intimated, though with\nsufficient delicacy and circumlocution, the expediency of bestowing on\ntheir relative a portion of that wisdom for which they were so\nrenowned.", "[24]\n\nDuring the utterance of this extraordinary address, the companions of\nthe speaker were as grave and as attentive to his language as though\nthey were all equally impressed with its propriety.", "Once or twice black\nobjects were seen rising to the surface of the water, and the Huron\nexpressed pleasure, conceiving that his words were not bestowed in\nvain.", "Just as he had ended his address, the head of a large beaver was\nthrust from the door of a lodge, whose earthen walls had been much\ninjured, and which the party had believed, from its situation, to be\nuninhabited.", "Such an extraordinary sign of confidence was received by\nthe orator as a highly favorable omen; and though the animal retreated a\nlittle precipitately, he was lavish of his thanks and commendations.", "When Magua thought sufficient time had been lost in gratifying the\nfamily affection of the warrior, he again made the signal to proceed.", "As\nthe Indians moved away in a body, and with a step that would have been\ninaudible to the ears of any common man, the same venerable-looking\nbeaver once more ventured his head from its cover.", "Had any of the Hurons\nturned to look behind them, they would have seen the animal watching\ntheir movements with an interest and sagacity that might easily have\nbeen mistaken for reason.", "Indeed, so very distinct and intelligible were\nthe devices of the quadruped, that even the most experienced observer\nwould have been at a loss to account for its actions, until the moment\nwhen the party entered the forest, when the whole would have been\nexplained, by seeing the entire animal issue from the lodge, uncasing,\nby the act, the grave features of Chingachgook from his mask of fur." ]

[ "\n \"Brief, I pray you; for you see, 'tis a busy time with me.\"", "_Much Ado About Nothing._\n\n\nThe tribe, or rather half tribe, of Delawares, which has been so often\nmentioned, and whose present place of encampment was so nigh the\ntemporary village of the Hurons, could assemble about an equal number of\nwarriors with the latter people.", "Like their neighbors, they had followed\nMontcalm into the territories of the English crown, and were making\nheavy and serious inroads on the hunting-grounds of the Mohawks; though\nthey had seen fit, with the mysterious reserve so common among the\nnatives, to withhold their assistance at the moment when it was most\nrequired.", "The French had accounted for this unexpected defection on the\npart of their ally in various ways.", "It was the prevalent opinion,\nhowever, that they had been influenced by veneration for the ancient\ntreaty, that had once made them dependent on the Six Nations for\nmilitary protection, and now rendered them reluctant to encounter their\nformer masters.", "As for the tribe itself, it had been content to announce\nto Montcalm, through his emissaries, with Indian brevity, that their\nhatchets were dull, and time was necessary to sharpen them.", "The politic\ncaptain of the Canadas had deemed it wiser to submit to entertain a\npassive friend, than by any acts of ill-judged severity to convert him\ninto an open enemy.", "On that morning when Magua led his silent party from the settlement of\nthe beavers into the forest, in the manner described, the sun rose upon\nthe Delaware encampment as if it had suddenly burst upon a busy people,\nactively employed in all the customary avocations of high noon.", "The\nwomen ran from lodge to lodge, some engaged in preparing their morning's\nmeal, a few earnestly bent on seeking the comforts necessary to their\nhabits, but more pausing to exchange hasty and whispered sentences with\ntheir friends.", "The warriors were lounging in groups, musing more than\nthey conversed; and when a few words were uttered, speaking like men who\ndeeply weighed their opinions.", "The instruments of the chase were to be\nseen in abundance among the lodges; but none departed.", "Here and there a\nwarrior was examining his arms, with an attention that is rarely\nbestowed on the implements, when no other enemy than the beasts of the\nforest is expected to be encountered.", "And, occasionally, the eyes of a\nwhole group were turned simultaneously towards a large and silent lodge\nin the centre of the village, as if it contained the subject of their\ncommon thoughts.", "During the existence of this scene, a man suddenly appeared at the\nfarthest extremity of a platform of rock which formed the level of the\nvillage.", "He was without arms, and his paint tended rather to soften than\nincrease the natural sternness of his austere countenance.", "When in full\nview of the Delawares he stopped, and made a gesture of amity, by\nthrowing his arm upward towards heaven, and then letting it fall\nimpressively on his breast.", "The inhabitants of the village answered his\nsalute by a low murmur of welcome, and encouraged him to advance by\nsimilar indications of friendship.", "Fortified by these assurances, the\ndark figure left the brow of the natural rocky terrace, where it had\nstood a moment, drawn in a strong outline against the blushing morning\nsky, and moved with dignity into the very centre of the huts.", "As he\napproached, nothing was audible but the rattling of the light silver\nornaments that loaded his arms and neck, and the tinkling of the little\nbells that fringed his deer-skin moccasins.", "He made, as he advanced,\nmany courteous signs of greeting to the men he passed, neglecting to\nnotice the women, however, like one who deemed their favor, in the\npresent enterprise, of no importance.", "When he had reached the group in\nwhich it was evident, by the haughtiness of their common mien, that the\nprincipal chiefs were collected, the stranger paused, and then the\nDelawares saw that the active and erect form that stood before them was\nthat of the well-known Huron chief, Le Renard Subtil.", "His reception was grave, silent, and wary.", "The warriors in front stepped\naside, opening the way to their most approved orator by the action; one\nwho spoke all those languages that were cultivated among the northern\naborigines.", "\"The wise Huron is welcome,\" said the Delaware, in the language of the\nMaquas; \"he is come to eat his 'succotash,'[25] with his brothers of the\nlakes.\"", "\"He is come,\" repeated Magua, bending his head with the dignity of an\nEastern prince.", "The chief extended his arm, and taking the other by the wrist, they once\nmore exchanged friendly salutations.", "Then the Delaware invited his guest\nto enter his own lodge, and share his morning meal.", "The invitation was\naccepted; and the two warriors, attended by three or four of the old\nmen, walked calmly away, leaving the rest of the tribe devoured by a\ndesire to understand the reasons of so unusual a visit, and yet not\nbetraying the least impatience by sign or word.", "During the short and frugal repast that followed, the conversation was\nextremely circumspect, and related entirely to the events of the hunt in\nwhich Magua had so lately been engaged.", "It would have been impossible\nfor the most finished breeding to wear more of the appearance of\nconsidering the visit as a matter of course, than did his hosts,\nnotwithstanding every individual present was perfectly aware that it\nmust be connected with some secret object, and that probably of\nimportance to themselves.", "When the appetites of the whole were appeased,\nthe squaws removed the trenchers and gourd, and the two parties began to\nprepare themselves for a subtle trial of their wits.", "\"Is the face of my great Canada father turned again towards his Huron\nchildren?\"", "demanded the orator of the Delawares.", "\"When was it ever otherwise?\"", "returned Magua.", "\"He calls my people 'most\nbeloved.'\"", "The Delaware gravely bowed his acquiescence to what he knew to be false,\nand continued,--\n\n\"The tomahawks of your young men have been very red.\"", "\"It is so; but they are now bright and dull; for the Yengeese are dead,\nand the Delawares are our neighbors.\"", "The other acknowledged the pacific compliment by a gesture of the hand,\nand remained silent.", "Then Magua, as if recalled to such a recollection,\nby the allusion to the massacre, demanded,--\n\n\"Does my prisoner give trouble to my brothers?\"", "\"She is welcome.\"", "\"The path between the Hurons and the Delawares is short, and it is open;\nlet her be sent to my squaws, if she gives trouble to my brother.\"", "\"She is welcome,\" returned the chief of the latter nation, still more\nemphatically.", "The baffled Magua continued silent several minutes, apparently\nindifferent, however, to the repulse he had received in this his open\neffort to gain possession of Cora.", "\"Do my young men leave the Delawares room on the mountains for their\nhunts?\"", "he at length continued.", "\"The Lenape are rulers of their own hills,\" returned the other, a little\nhaughtily.", "\"It is well.", "Justice is the master of a redskin!", "Why should they\nbrighten their tomahawks, and sharpen their knives against each other?", "Are not the pale-faces thicker than the swallows in the season of\nflowers?\"", "\"Good!\"", "exclaimed two or three of his auditors at the same time.", "Magua waited a little, to permit his words to soften the feelings of the\nDelawares, before he added,--\n\n\"Have there not been strange moccasins in the woods?", "Have not my\nbrothers scented the feet of white men?\"", "\"Let my Canada father come,\" returned the other evasively; \"his children\nare ready to see him.\"", "\"When the great chief comes, it is to smoke with the Indians in their\nwigwams.", "The Hurons say, too, he is welcome.", "But the Yengeese have long\narms, and legs that never tire!", "My young men dreamed they had seen the\ntrail of the Yengeese nigh the village of the Delawares?\"", "\"They will not find the Lenape asleep.\"", "\"It is well.", "The warrior whose eye is open can see his enemy,\" said\nMagua, once more shifting his ground, when he found himself unable to\npenetrate the caution of his companion.", "\"I have brought gifts to my\nbrother.", "His nation would not go on the war-path because they did not\nthink it well; but their friends have remembered where they lived.\"", "When he had thus announced his liberal intention, the crafty chief\narose, and gravely spread his presents before the dazzled eyes of his\nhosts.", "They consisted principally of trinkets of little value, plundered\nfrom the slaughtered females of William Henry.", "In the division of the\nbaubles the cunning Huron discovered no less art than in their\nselection.", "While he bestowed those of greater value on the two most\ndistinguished warriors, one of whom was his host, he seasoned his\nofferings to their inferiors with such well-timed and apposite\ncompliments, as left them no grounds of complaint.", "In short, the whole\nceremony contained such a happy blending of the profitable with the\nflattering, that it was not difficult for the donor immediately to read\nthe effect of a generosity so aptly mingled with praise, in the eyes of\nthose he addressed.", "This well-judged and politic stroke on the part of Magua was not without\ninstantaneous results.", "The Delawares lost their gravity in a much more\ncordial expression; and the host, in particular, after contemplating his\nown liberal share of the spoil for some moments with peculiar\ngratification, repeated with strong emphasis, the words,--\n\n\"My brother is a wise chief.", "He is welcome!\"", "\"The Hurons love their friends the Delawares,\" returned Magua.", "\"Why\nshould they not?", "they are colored by the same sun, and their just men\nwill hunt in the same grounds after death.", "The redskins should be\nfriends, and look with open eyes on the white men.", "Has not my brother\nscented spies in the woods?\"", "The Delaware, whose name in English signified \"Hard Heart,\" an\nappellation that the French had translated into \"Le Coeur-dur,\" forgot\nthe obduracy of purpose, which had probably obtained him so significant\na title.", "His countenance grew very sensibly less stern, and now deigned\nto answer more directly.", "\"There have been strange moccasins about my camp.", "They have been tracked\ninto my lodges.\"", "\"Did my brother beat out the dogs?\"", "asked Magua, without adverting in\nany manner to the former equivocation of the chief.", "\"It would not do.", "The stranger is always welcome to the children of the\nLenape.\"", "\"The stranger, but not the spy.\"", "\"Would the Yengeese send their women as spies?", "Did not the Huron chief\nsay he took women in the battle?\"", "\"He told no lie.", "The Yengeese have sent out their scouts.", "They have been\nin my wigwams, but they found there no one to say welcome.", "Then they\nfled to the Delawares--for, say they, the Delawares are our friends;\ntheir minds are turned from their Canada father!\"", "This insinuation was a home thrust, and one that in a more advanced\nstate of society, would have entitled Magua to the reputation of a\nskilful diplomatist.", "The recent defection of the tribe had, as they well\nknew themselves, subjected the Delawares to much reproach among their\nFrench allies; and they were now made to feel that their future actions\nwere to be regarded with jealousy and distrust.", "There was no deep\ninsight into causes and effects necessary to foresee that such a\nsituation of things was likely to prove highly prejudicial to their\nfuture movements.", "Their distant villages, their hunting-grounds, and\nhundreds of their women and children, together with a material part of\ntheir physical force, were actually within the limits of the French\nterritory.", "Accordingly, this alarming annunciation was received, as\nMagua intended, with manifest disapprobation, if not with alarm.", "\"Let my father look in my face,\" said Le Coeur-dur; \"he will see no\nchange.", "It is true, my young men did not go out on the war-path; they\nhad dreams for not doing so.", "But they love and venerate the great white\nchief.\"", "\"Will he think so when he hears that his greatest enemy is fed in the\ncamp of his children?", "When he is told a bloody Yengee smokes at your\nfire?", "That the pale-face who has slain so many of his friends goes in\nand out among the Delawares?", "Go!", "my great Canada father is not a fool!\"", "\"Where is the Yengee that the Delawares fear?\"", "returned the other; \"who\nhas slain my young men?", "who is the mortal enemy of my Great Father!\"", "\"La Longue Carabine.\"", "The Delaware warriors started at the well-known name, betraying, by\ntheir amazement, that they now learnt, for the first time, one so famous\namong the Indian allies of France was within their power.", "\"What does my brother mean?\"", "demanded Le Coeur-dur, in a tone that, by\nits wonder, far exceeded the usual apathy of his race.", "\"A Huron never lies!\"", "returned Magua coldly, leaning his head against\nthe side of the lodge, and drawing his slight robe across his tawny\nbreast.", "\"Let the Delawares count their prisoners; they will find one\nwhose skin is neither red nor pale.\"", "A long and musing pause succeeded.", "The chief consulted apart with his\ncompanions, and messengers were despatched to collect certain others of\nthe most distinguished men of the tribe.", "As warrior after warrior dropped in, they were each made acquainted, in\nturn, with the important intelligence that Magua had just communicated.", "The air of surprise, and the usual low, deep, guttural exclamation, were\ncommon to them all.", "The news spread from mouth to mouth, until the whole\nencampment became powerfully agitated.", "The women suspended their\nlabors, to catch such syllables as unguardedly fell from the lips of the\nconsulting warriors.", "The boys deserted their sports, and walking\nfearlessly among their fathers, looked up in curious admiration, as they\nheard the brief exclamations of wonder they so freely expressed at the\ntemerity of their hated foe.", "In short, every occupation was abandoned\nfor the time, and all other pursuits seemed discarded, in order that the\ntribe might freely indulge, after their own peculiar manner, in an open\nexpression of feeling.", "When the excitement had a little abated, the old men disposed themselves\nseriously to consider that which it became the honor and safety of their\ntribe to perform, under circumstances of so much delicacy and\nembarrassment.", "During all these movements, and in the midst of the\ngeneral commotion, Magua had not only maintained his seat, but the very\nattitude he had originally taken, against the side of the lodge, where\nhe continued as immovable, and, apparently, as unconcerned, as if he had\nno interest in the result.", "Not a single indication of the future\nintentions of his hosts, however, escaped his vigilant eyes.", "With his\nconsummate knowledge of the nature of the people with whom he had to\ndeal, he anticipated every measure on which they decided; and it might\nalmost be said, that, in many instances, he knew their intentions, even\nbefore they became known to themselves.", "The council of the Delawares was short.", "When it was ended, a general\nbustle announced that it was to be immediately succeeded by a solemn and\nformal assemblage of the nation.", "As such meetings were rare, and only\ncalled on occasions of the last importance, the subtle Huron, who still\nsat apart, a wily and dark observer of the proceedings, now knew that\nall his projects must be brought to their final issue.", "He therefore left\nthe lodge, and walked silently forth to the place in front of the\nencampment whither the warriors were already beginning to collect.", "It might have been half an hour before each individual, including even\nthe women and children, was in his place.", "The delay had been created by\nthe grave preparations that were deemed necessary to so solemn and\nunusual a conference.", "But when the sun was seen climbing above the tops\nof that mountain against whose bosom the Delawares had constructed their\nencampment, most were seated; and as his bright rays darted from behind\nthe outline of trees that fringed the eminence, they fell upon as grave,\nas attentive, and as deeply interested a multitude, as was probably\never before lighted by his morning beams.", "Its number somewhat exceeded a\nthousand souls.", "In a collection of such serious savages, there is never to be found any\nimpatient aspirant after premature distinction, standing ready to move\nhis auditors to some hasty, and, perhaps, injudicious discussion, in\norder that his own reputation may be the gainer.", "An act of so much\nprecipitancy and presumption would seal the downfall of precocious\nintellect forever.", "It rested solely with the oldest and most experienced\nof the men to lay the subject of the conference before the people.", "Until\nsuch a one chose to make some movement, no deeds in arms, no natural\ngifts, nor any renown as an orator, would have justified the slightest\ninterruption.", "On the present occasion, the aged warrior whose privilege\nit was to speak, was silent, seemingly oppressed with the magnitude of\nhis subject.", "The delay had already continued long beyond the usual\ndeliberative pause that always precedes a conference; but no sign of\nimpatience or surprise escaped even the youngest boy.", "Occasionally, an\neye was raised from the earth, where the looks of most were riveted, and\nstrayed towards a particular lodge, that was, however, in no manner\ndistinguished from those around it, except in the peculiar care that had\nbeen taken to protect it against the assaults of the weather.", "At length, one of those low murmurs that are so apt to disturb a\nmultitude, was heard, and the whole nation arose to their feet by a\ncommon impulse.", "At that the door of the lodge in question opened, and\nthree men, issuing from it, slowly approached the place of consultation.", "They were all aged, even beyond that period to which the oldest present\nhad reached; but one in the centre, who leaned on his companions for\nsupport, had numbered an amount of years to which the human race is\nseldom permitted to attain.", "His frame, which had once been tall and\nerect, like the cedar, was now bending under the pressure of more than a\ncentury.", "The elastic, light step of an Indian was gone, and in its place\nhe was compelled to toil his tardy way over the ground, inch by inch.", "His dark, wrinkled countenance was in singular and wild contrast with\nthe long white locks which floated on his shoulders in such thickness as\nto announce that generations had probably passed away since they had\nlast been shorn.", "The dress of this patriarch--for such, considering his vast age, in\nconjunction with his affinity and influence with his people, he might\nvery properly be termed--was rich and imposing, though strictly after\nthe simple fashions of the tribe.", "His robe was of the finest skins,\nwhich had been deprived of their fur, in order to admit of a\nhieroglyphical representation of various deeds in arms, done in former\nages.", "His bosom was loaded with medals, some in massive silver, and one\nor two even in gold, the gifts of various Christian potentates during\nthe long period of his life.", "He also wore armlets, and cinctures above\nthe ankles, of the latter precious metal.", "His head, on the whole of\nwhich the hair had been permitted to grow, the pursuits of war having so\nlong been abandoned, was encircled by a sort of plated diadem, which, in\nits turn, bore lesser and more glittering ornaments, that sparkled amid\nthe glossy hues of three drooping ostrich feathers, dyed a deep black,\nin touching contrast to the color of his snow-white locks.", "His tomahawk\nwas nearly hid in silver, and the handle of his knife shone like a horn\nof solid gold.", "So soon as the first hum of emotion and pleasure, which the sudden\nappearance of this venerated individual created, had a little subsided,\nthe name of \"Tamenund\" was whispered from mouth to mouth.", "Magua had\noften heard the fame of this wise and just Delaware; a reputation that\neven proceeded so far as to bestow on him the rare gift of holding\nsecret communion with the Great Spirit, and which has since transmitted\nhis name, with some slight alteration, to the white usurpers of his\nancient territory, as the imaginary tutelar saint of a vast empire.", "The\nHuron chief, therefore, stepped eagerly out a little from the throng, to\na spot whence he might catch a nearer glimpse of the features of the\nman, whose decision was likely to produce so deep an influence on his\nown fortunes.", "The eyes of the old man were closed, as though the organs were wearied\nwith having so long witnessed the selfish workings of the human\npassions.", "The color of his skin differed from that of most around him,\nbeing richer and darker, the latter hue having been produced by certain\ndelicate and mazy lines of complicated and yet beautiful figures, which\nhad been traced over most of his person by the operation of tattooing.", "Notwithstanding the position of the Huron, he passed the observant and\nsilent Magua without notice, and leaning on his two venerable supporters\nproceeded to the high place of the multitude, where he seated himself in\nthe centre of his nation, with the dignity of a monarch and the air of a\nfather.", "Nothing could surpass the reverence and affection with which this\nunexpected visit from one who belonged rather to another world than to\nthis, was received by his people.", "After a suitable and decent pause, the\nprincipal chiefs arose; and approaching the patriarch, they placed his\nhands reverently on their heads, seeming to entreat a blessing.", "The\nyounger men were content with touching his robe, or even drawing nigh\nhis person, in order to breathe in the atmosphere of one so aged, so\njust, and so valiant.", "None but the most distinguished among the youthful\nwarriors even presumed so far as to perform the latter ceremony; the\ngreat mass of the multitude deeming it a sufficient happiness to look\nupon a form so deeply venerated, and so well beloved.", "When these acts of\naffection and respect were performed, the chiefs drew back again to\ntheir several places, and silence reigned in the whole encampment.", "After a short delay, a few of the young men, to whom instructions had\nbeen whispered by one of the aged attendants of Tamenund, arose, left\nthe crowd, and entered the lodge which has already been noted as the\nobject of so much attention throughout that morning.", "In a few minutes\nthey reappeared, escorting the individuals who had caused all these\nsolemn preparations towards the seat of judgment.", "The crowd opened in a\nlane; and when the party had re-entered, it closed in again, forming a\nlarge and dense belt of human bodies, arranged in an open circle." ]

[ "Magua waited a little, to permit his words to soften the feelings of the\nDelawares, before he added,--\n\n\"Have there not been strange moccasins in the woods?", "\"The Hurons love their friends the Delawares,\" returned Magua.", "Has not my brother\nscented spies in the woods?\"", "\"Did my brother beat out the dogs?\"", "The Delaware warriors started at the well-known name, betraying, by\ntheir amazement, that they now learnt, for the first time, one so famous\namong the Indian allies of France was within their power.", "\"A Huron never lies!\"", "The air of surprise, and the usual low, deep, guttural exclamation, were\ncommon to them all.", "His dark, wrinkled countenance was in singular and wild contrast with\nthe long white locks which floated on his shoulders in such thickness as\nto announce that generations had probably passed away since they had\nlast been shorn.", "So soon as the first hum of emotion and pleasure, which the sudden\nappearance of this venerated individual created, had a little subsided,\nthe name of \"Tamenund\" was whispered from mouth to mouth.", "In a few minutes\nthey reappeared, escorting the individuals who had caused all these\nsolemn preparations towards the seat of judgment." ]

[ "Fortified by these assurances, the\ndark figure left the brow of the natural rocky terrace, where it had\nstood a moment, drawn in a strong outline against the blushing morning\nsky, and moved with dignity into the very centre of the huts.", "\"The Hurons love their friends the Delawares,\" returned Magua.", "That the pale-face who has slain so many of his friends goes in\nand out among the Delawares?", "The\nHuron chief, therefore, stepped eagerly out a little from the throng, to\na spot whence he might catch a nearer glimpse of the features of the\nman, whose decision was likely to produce so deep an influence on his\nown fortunes.", "The recent defection of the tribe had, as they well\nknew themselves, subjected the Delawares to much reproach among their\nFrench allies; and they were now made to feel that their future actions\nwere to be regarded with jealousy and distrust.", "This well-judged and politic stroke on the part of Magua was not without\ninstantaneous results.", "Accordingly, this alarming annunciation was received, as\nMagua intended, with manifest disapprobation, if not with alarm.", "The French had accounted for this unexpected defection on the\npart of their ally in various ways.", "Not a single indication of the future\nintentions of his hosts, however, escaped his vigilant eyes.", "After a short delay, a few of the young men, to whom instructions had\nbeen whispered by one of the aged attendants of Tamenund, arose, left\nthe crowd, and entered the lodge which has already been noted as the\nobject of so much attention throughout that morning." ]

[ "His countenance grew very sensibly less stern, and now deigned\nto answer more directly.", "\"There have been strange moccasins about my camp.", "They have been tracked\ninto my lodges.\"", "\"Did my brother beat out the dogs?\"", "asked Magua, without adverting in\nany manner to the former equivocation of the chief.", "\"It would not do.", "The stranger is always welcome to the children of the\nLenape.\"", "\"The stranger, but not the spy.\"", "\"Would the Yengeese send their women as spies?", "Did not the Huron chief\nsay he took women in the battle?\"", "\"He told no lie." ]

[ "\n \"Brief, I pray you; for you see, 'tis a busy time with me.\"", "_Much Ado About Nothing._\n\n\nThe tribe, or rather half tribe, of Delawares, which has been so often\nmentioned, and whose present place of encampment was so nigh the\ntemporary village of the Hurons, could assemble about an equal number of\nwarriors with the latter people.", "Like their neighbors, they had followed\nMontcalm into the territories of the English crown, and were making\nheavy and serious inroads on the hunting-grounds of the Mohawks; though\nthey had seen fit, with the mysterious reserve so common among the\nnatives, to withhold their assistance at the moment when it was most\nrequired.", "The French had accounted for this unexpected defection on the\npart of their ally in various ways.", "It was the prevalent opinion,\nhowever, that they had been influenced by veneration for the ancient\ntreaty, that had once made them dependent on the Six Nations for\nmilitary protection, and now rendered them reluctant to encounter their\nformer masters.", "As for the tribe itself, it had been content to announce\nto Montcalm, through his emissaries, with Indian brevity, that their\nhatchets were dull, and time was necessary to sharpen them.", "The politic\ncaptain of the Canadas had deemed it wiser to submit to entertain a\npassive friend, than by any acts of ill-judged severity to convert him\ninto an open enemy.", "On that morning when Magua led his silent party from the settlement of\nthe beavers into the forest, in the manner described, the sun rose upon\nthe Delaware encampment as if it had suddenly burst upon a busy people,\nactively employed in all the customary avocations of high noon.", "The\nwomen ran from lodge to lodge, some engaged in preparing their morning's\nmeal, a few earnestly bent on seeking the comforts necessary to their\nhabits, but more pausing to exchange hasty and whispered sentences with\ntheir friends.", "The warriors were lounging in groups, musing more than\nthey conversed; and when a few words were uttered, speaking like men who\ndeeply weighed their opinions.", "The color of his skin differed from that of most around him,\nbeing richer and darker, the latter hue having been produced by certain\ndelicate and mazy lines of complicated and yet beautiful figures, which\nhad been traced over most of his person by the operation of tattooing.", "Notwithstanding the position of the Huron, he passed the observant and\nsilent Magua without notice, and leaning on his two venerable supporters\nproceeded to the high place of the multitude, where he seated himself in\nthe centre of his nation, with the dignity of a monarch and the air of a\nfather.", "Nothing could surpass the reverence and affection with which this\nunexpected visit from one who belonged rather to another world than to\nthis, was received by his people.", "After a suitable and decent pause, the\nprincipal chiefs arose; and approaching the patriarch, they placed his\nhands reverently on their heads, seeming to entreat a blessing.", "The\nyounger men were content with touching his robe, or even drawing nigh\nhis person, in order to breathe in the atmosphere of one so aged, so\njust, and so valiant.", "None but the most distinguished among the youthful\nwarriors even presumed so far as to perform the latter ceremony; the\ngreat mass of the multitude deeming it a sufficient happiness to look\nupon a form so deeply venerated, and so well beloved.", "When these acts of\naffection and respect were performed, the chiefs drew back again to\ntheir several places, and silence reigned in the whole encampment.", "After a short delay, a few of the young men, to whom instructions had\nbeen whispered by one of the aged attendants of Tamenund, arose, left\nthe crowd, and entered the lodge which has already been noted as the\nobject of so much attention throughout that morning.", "In a few minutes\nthey reappeared, escorting the individuals who had caused all these\nsolemn preparations towards the seat of judgment.", "The crowd opened in a\nlane; and when the party had re-entered, it closed in again, forming a\nlarge and dense belt of human bodies, arranged in an open circle." ]

[ "\n \"The assembly seated, rising o'er the rest,\n Achilles thus the king of men addressed.\"", "POPE'S _Iliad._\n\n\nCora stood foremost among the prisoners, entwining her arms in those of\nAlice, in the tenderness of sisterly love.", "Notwithstanding the fearful\nand menacing array of savages on every side of her, no apprehension on\nher own account could prevent the noble-minded maiden from keeping her\neyes fastened on the pale and anxious features of the trembling Alice.", "Close at their side stood Heyward, with an interest in both, that, at\nsuch a moment of intense uncertainty, scarcely knew a preponderance in\nfavor of her whom he most loved.", "Hawkeye had placed himself a little in\nthe rear, with a deference to the superior rank of his companions, that\nno similarity in the state of their present fortunes could induce him to\nforget.", "Uncas was not there.", "When perfect silence was again restored, and after the usual long,\nimpressive pause, one of the two aged chiefs who sat at the side of the\npatriarch arose, and demanded aloud, in very intelligible English,--\n\n\"Which of my prisoners is La Longue Carabine?\"", "Neither Duncan nor the scout answered.", "The former, however, glanced his\neyes around the dark and silent assembly, and recoiled a pace, when they\nfell on the malignant visage of Magua.", "He saw, at once, that this wily\nsavage had some secret agency in their present arraignment before the\nnation, and determined to throw every possible impediment in the way of\nthe execution of his sinister plans.", "He had witnessed one instance of\nthe summary punishments of the Indians, and now dreaded that his\ncompanion was to be selected for a second.", "In this dilemma, with little\nor no time for reflection, he suddenly determined to cloak his\ninvaluable friend, at any or every hazard to himself.", "Before he had\ntime, however, to speak, the question was repeated in a louder voice,\nand with a clearer utterance.", "\"Give us arms,\" the young man haughtily replied, \"and place us in\nyonder woods.", "Our deeds shall speak for us!\"", "\"This is the warrior whose name has filled our ears!\"", "returned the\nchief, regarding Heyward with that sort of curious interest which seems\ninseparable from man, when first beholding one of his fellows to whom\nmerit or accident, virtue or crime, has given notoriety.", "\"What has\nbrought the white man into the camp of the Delawares?\"", "\"My necessities.", "I come for food, shelter and friends.\"", "\"It cannot be.", "The woods are full of game.", "The head of a warrior needs\nno other shelter than a sky without clouds; and the Delawares are the\nenemies, and not the friends, of the Yengeese.", "Go!", "the mouth has spoken,\nwhile the heart said nothing.\"", "Duncan, a little at a loss in what manner to proceed, remained silent;\nbut the scout, who had listened attentively to all that passed, now\nadvanced steadily to the front.", "\"That I did not answer to the call for La Longue Carabine, was not owing\neither to shame or fear,\" he said; \"for neither one nor the other is the\ngift of an honest man.", "But I do not admit the right of the Mingos to\nbestow a name on one whose friends have been mindful of his gifts, in\nthis particular; especially as their title is a lie, 'Killdeer' being a\ngrooved barrel and no carabyne.", "I am the man, however, that got the name\nof Nathaniel from my kin; the compliment of Hawkeye from the Delawares,\nwho live on their own river; and whom the Iroquois have presumed to\nstyle the 'Long Rifle,' without any warranty from him who is most\nconcerned in the matter.\"", "The eyes of all present, which had hitherto been gravely scanning the\nperson of Duncan, were now turned, on the instant, towards the upright\niron frame of this new pretender to the distinguished appellation.", "It\nwas in no degree remarkable that there should be found two who were\nwilling to claim so great an honor, for impostors, though rare, were not\nunknown amongst the natives; but it was altogether material to the just\nand severe intentions of the Delawares, that there should be no mistake\nin the matter.", "Some of their old men consulted together in private, and\nthen, as it would seem, they determined to interrogate their visitor on\nthe subject.", "\"My brother has said that a snake crept into my camp,\" said the chief to\nMagua; \"which is he?\"", "The Huron pointed to the scout.", "\"Will a wise Delaware believe the barking of a wolf?\"", "exclaimed Duncan,\nstill more confirmed in the evil intentions of his ancient enemy: \"a dog\nnever lies, but when was a wolf known to speak the truth?\"", "The eyes of Magua flashed fire; but, suddenly recollecting the necessity\nof maintaining his presence of mind, he turned away in silent disdain,\nwell assured that the sagacity of the Indians would not fail to extract\nthe real merits of the point in controversy.", "He was not deceived; for,\nafter another short consultation, the wary Delaware turned to him again,\nand expressed the determination of the chiefs, though in the most\nconsiderate language.", "\"My brother has been called a liar,\" he said, \"and his friends are\nangry.", "They will show that he has spoken the truth.", "Give my prisoners\nguns, and let them prove which is the man.\"", "Magua affected to consider the expedient, which he well knew proceeded\nfrom distrust of himself, as a compliment, and made a gesture of\nacquiescence, well content that his veracity should be supported by so\nskilful a marksman as the scout.", "The weapons were instantly placed in\nthe hands of the friendly opponents, and they were bid to fire over the\nheads of the seated multitude at an earthen vessel, which lay, by\naccident, on a stump some fifty yards from the place where they stood.", "Heyward smiled to himself at the idea of a competition with the scout,\nthough he determined to persevere in the deception, until apprised of\nthe real designs of Magua.", "Raising his rifle with the utmost care, and\nrenewing his aim three several times, he fired.", "The bullet cut the wood\nwithin a few inches of the vessel; and a general exclamation of\nsatisfaction announced that the shot was considered a proof of great\nskill in the use of the weapon.", "Even Hawkeye nodded his head, as if he\nwould say, it was better than he had expected.", "But, instead of\nmanifesting an intention to contend with the successful marksman, he\nstood leaning on his rifle for more than a minute, like a man who was\ncompletely buried in thought.", "From this reverie he was, however,\nawakened by one of the young Indians who had furnished the arms, and who\nnow touched his shoulder, saying, in exceedingly broken English,--\n\n\"Can the pale-face beat it?\"", "\"Yes, Huron!\"", "exclaimed the scout, raising the short rifle in his right\nhand, and shaking it at Magua, with as much apparent ease as if it were\na reed; \"yes, Huron, I could strike you now, and no power of earth could\nprevent the deed!", "The soaring hawk is not more certain of the dove than\nI am this moment of you, did I choose to send a bullet to your heart!", "Why should I not?", "Why!--because the gifts of my color forbid it, and I\nmight draw down evil on tender and innocent heads.", "If you know such a\nbeing as God, thank Him, therefore, in your inward soul; for you have\nreason.\"", "The flushed countenance, angry eye, and swelling figure of the scout,\nproduced a sensation of secret awe in all that heard him.", "The Delawares\nheld their breath in expectation; but Magua himself, even while he\ndistrusted the forbearance of his enemy, remained immovable and calm,\nwhere he stood wedged in by the crowd, as one who grew to the spot.", "\"Beat it,\" replied the young Delaware at the elbow of the scout.", "\"Beat what, fool!--what!\"", "exclaimed Hawkeye, still flourishing the\nweapon angrily above his head, though his eye no longer sought the\nperson of Magua.", "\"If the white man is the warrior he pretends,\" said the aged chief, \"let\nhim strike nigher to the mark.\"", "The scout laughed aloud--a noise that produced the startling effect of\nan unnatural sound on Heyward; then dropping the piece heavily into his\nextended left hand, it was discharged, apparently by the shock, driving\nthe fragments of the vessel into the air, and scattering them on every\nside.", "Almost at the same instant, the rattling sound of the rifle was\nheard, as he suffered it to fall, contemptuously, to the earth.", "The first impression of so strange a scene was engrossing admiration.", "Then a low, but increasing murmur, ran through the multitude, and\nfinally swelled into sounds that denoted a lively opposition in the\nsentiments of the spectators.", "While some openly testified their\nsatisfaction at so unexampled dexterity, by far the larger portion of\nthe tribe were inclined to believe the success of the shot was the\nresult of accident.", "Heyward was not slow to confirm an opinion that was\nso favorable to his own pretentions.", "\"It was chance!\"", "he exclaimed; \"none can shoot without an aim!\"", "\"Chance!\"", "echoed the excited woodsman, who was now stubbornly bent on\nmaintaining his identity at every hazard, and on whom the secret hints\nof Heyward to acquiesce in the deception were entirely lost.", "\"Does\nyonder lying Huron, too, think it chance?", "Give him another gun, and\nplace us face to face, without cover or dodge, and let Providence, and\nour own eyes, decide the matter atween us!", "I do not make the offer to\nyou, major; for our blood is of a color, and we serve the same master.\"", "\"That the Huron is a liar, is very evident,\" returned Heyward, coolly;\n\"you have yourself heard him assert you to be La Longue Carabine.\"", "It were impossible to say what violent assertion the stubborn Hawkeye\nwould have next made, in his headlong wish to vindicate his identity,\nhad not the aged Delaware once more interposed.", "\"The hawk which comes from the clouds can return when he will,\" he said;\n\"give them the guns.\"", "This time the scout seized the rifle with avidity; nor had Magua, though\nhe watched the movement of the marksman with jealous eyes, any further\ncause for apprehension.", "\"Now let it be proved, in the face of this tribe of Delawares, which is\nthe better man,\" cried the scout, tapping the butt of his piece with\nthat finger which had pulled so many fatal triggers.", "\"You see the gourd\nhanging against yonder tree, major; if you are a marksman fit for the\nborders, let me see you break its shell!\"", "Duncan noted the object, and prepared himself to renew the trial.", "The\ngourd was one of the usual little vessels used by the Indians, and it\nwas suspended from a dead branch of a small pine, by a thong of\ndeer-skin, at the full distance of a hundred yards.", "So strangely\ncompounded is the feeling of self-love, that the young soldier, while he\nknew the utter worthlessness of the suffrages of his savage umpires,\nforgot the sudden motives of the contest in a wish to excel.", "It has been\nseen, already, that his skill was far from being contemptible, and he\nnow resolved to put forth its nicest qualities.", "Had his life depended on\nthe issue, the aim of Duncan could not have been more deliberate or\nguarded.", "He fired; and three or four young Indians, who sprang forward\nat the report, announced with a shout, that the ball was in the tree, a\nvery little on one side of the proper object.", "The warriors uttered a\ncommon ejaculation of pleasure, and then turned their eyes inquiringly\non the movements of his rival.", "\"It may do for the Royal Americans!\"", "said Hawkeye, laughing once more\nin his own silent, heartfelt manner; \"but had my gun often turned so\nmuch from the true line, many a marten, whose skin is now in a lady's\nmuff, would still be in the woods; ay, and many a bloody Mingo, who has\ndeparted to his final account, would be acting his deviltries at this\nvery day, atween the provinces.", "I hope the squaw who owns the gourd has\nmore of them in her wigwam, for this will never hold water again!\"", "The scout had shook his priming, and cocked his piece, while speaking;\nand, as he ended, he threw back a foot, and slowly raised the muzzle\nfrom the earth: the motion was steady, uniform, and in one direction.", "When on a perfect level, it remained for a single moment, without tremor\nor variation, as though both man and rifle were carved in stone.", "During\nthat stationary instant, it poured forth its contents, in a bright,\nglancing sheet of flame.", "Again the young Indians bounded forward; but\ntheir hurried search and disappointed looks announced that no traces of\nthe bullet were to be seen.", "\"Go!\"", "said the old chief to the scout, in a tone of strong disgust;\n\"thou art a wolf in the skin of a dog.", "I will talk to the 'Long Rifle'\nof the Yengeese.\"", "\"Ah!", "had I that piece which furnished the name you use, I would obligate\nmyself to cut the thong, and drop the gourd without breaking it!\"", "returned Hawkeye, perfectly undisturbed by the other's manner, \"Fools,\nif you would find the bullet of a sharpshooter of these woods, you must\nlook in the object and not around it!\"", "The Indian youths instantly comprehended his meaning--for this time he\nspoke in the Delaware tongue--and tearing the gourd from the tree, they\nheld it on high with an exulting shout, displaying a hole in its bottom,\nwhich had been cut by the bullet, after passing through the usual\norifice in the centre of its upper side.", "At this unexpected exhibition,\na loud and vehement expression of pleasure burst from the mouth of every\nwarrior present.", "It decided the question, and effectually established\nHawkeye in the possession of his dangerous reputation.", "Those curious and\nadmiring eyes which had been turned again on Heyward, were finally\ndirected to the weather-beaten form of the scout, who immediately became\nthe principal object of attention to the simple and unsophisticated\nbeings by whom he was surrounded.", "When the sudden and noisy commotion\nhad a little subsided, the aged chief resumed his examination.", "\"Why did you wish to stop my ears?\"", "he said, addressing Duncan; \"are\nthe Delawares fools, that they could not know the young panther from the\ncat?\"", "\"They will yet find the Huron a singing-bird,\" said Duncan, endeavoring\nto adopt the figurative language of the natives.", "\"It is good.", "We will know who can shut the ears of men.", "Brother,\" added\nthe chief, turning his eyes on Magua, \"the Delawares listen.\"", "Thus singled, and directly called on to declare his object, the Huron\narose; and advancing with great deliberation and dignity into the very\ncentre of the circle, where he stood confronted to the prisoners, he\nplaced himself in an attitude to speak.", "Before opening his mouth,\nhowever, he bent his eyes slowly along the whole living boundary of\nearnest faces as if to temper his expressions to the capacities of his\naudience.", "On Hawkeye he cast a glance of respectful enmity; on Duncan, a\nlook of inextinguishable hatred; the shrinking figure of Alice he\nscarcely deigned to notice; but when his glance met the firm,\ncommanding, and yet lovely form of Cora, his eye lingered a moment, with\nan expression that it might have been difficult to define.", "Then, filled\nwith his own dark intentions, he spoke in the language of the Canadas, a\ntongue that he well knew was comprehended by most of his auditors.", "\"The Spirit that made men colored them differently,\" commenced the\nsubtle Huron.", "\"Some are blacker than the sluggish bear.", "These He said\nwould be slaves; and He ordered them to work forever, like the beaver.", "You may hear them groan, when the south wind blows, louder than the\nlowing buffaloes, along the shores of the great salt lake, where the big\ncanoes come and go with them in droves.", "Some He made with faces paler\nthan the ermine of the forests: and these He ordered to be traders; dogs\nto their women, and wolves to their slaves.", "He gave this people the\nnature of the pigeon: wings that never tire; young, more plentiful than\nthe leaves on the trees, and appetites to devour the earth.", "He gave them\ntongues like the false call of the wild-cat; hearts like rabbits; the\ncunning of the hog (but none of the fox), and arms longer than the legs\nof the moose.", "With his tongue, he stops the ears of the Indians; his\nheart teaches him to pay warriors to fight his battles; his cunning\ntells him how to get together the goods of the earth; and his arms\ninclose the land from the shores of the salt-water to the islands of the\ngreat lake.", "His gluttony makes him sick.", "God gave him enough, and yet\nhe wants all.", "Such are the pale-faces.", "\"Some the Great Spirit made with skins brighter and redder than yonder\nsun,\" continued Magua, pointing impressively upwards to the lurid\nluminary, which was struggling through the misty atmosphere of the\nhorizon; \"and these did He fashion to His own mind.", "He gave them this\nisland as He had made it, covered with trees, and filled with game.", "The\nwind made their clearings; the sun and rains ripened their fruits; and\nthe snows came to tell them to be thankful.", "What need had they of roads\nto journey by!", "They saw through the hills.", "When the beavers worked, they\nlay in the shade, and looked on.", "The winds cooled them in summer; in\nwinter, skins kept them warm.", "If they fought among themselves, it was to\nprove that they were men.", "They were brave; they were just; they were\nhappy.\"", "Here the speaker paused, and again looked around him, to discover if his\nlegend had touched the sympathies of his listeners.", "He met everywhere\nwith eyes riveted on his own, heads erect, and nostrils expanded, as if\neach individual present felt himself able and willing, singly, to\nredress the wrongs of his race.", "\"If the Great Spirit gave different tongues to his red children,\" he\ncontinued, in a low, still, melancholy voice, \"it was that all animals\nmight understand them.", "Some He placed among the snows, with their cousin\nthe bear.", "Some he placed near the setting sun, on the road to the happy\nhunting-grounds.", "Some on the lands around the great fresh waters; but to\nhis greatest, and most beloved, He gave the sands of the salt lake.", "Do\nmy brothers know the name of this favored people?\"", "\"It was the Lenape!\"", "exclaimed twenty eager voices, in a breath.", "\"It was the Lenni Lenape,\" returned Magua, affecting to bend his head in\nreverence to their former greatness.", "\"It was the tribes of the Lenape!", "The sun rose from water that was salt, and set in water that was sweet,\nand never hid himself from their eyes.", "But why should I, a Huron of the\nwoods, tell a wise people their own traditions?", "Why remind them of their\ninjuries; their ancient greatness; their deeds; their glory; their\nhappiness,--their losses; their defeats; their misery?", "Is there not one\namong them who has seen it all, and who knows it to be true?", "I have\ndone.", "My tongue is still, for my heart is of lead.", "I listen.\"", "As the voice of the speaker suddenly ceased, every face and all eyes\nturned, by a common movement, towards the venerable Tamenund.", "From the\nmoment that he took his seat, until the present instant, the lips of the\npatriarch had not severed, and scarcely a sign of life had escaped him.", "He sat bent in feebleness, and apparently unconscious of the presence he\nwas in, during the whole of that opening scene, in which the skill of\nthe scout had been so clearly established.", "At the nicely graduated sound\nof Magua's voice, however, he betrayed some evidence of consciousness,\nand once or twice he even raised his head, as if to listen.", "But when the\ncrafty Huron spoke of his nation by name, the eyelids of the old man\nraised themselves, and he looked out upon the multitude with that sort\nof dull unmeaning expression which might be supposed to belong to the\ncountenance of a spectre.", "Then he made an effort to rise, and being\nupheld by his supporters, he gained his feet, in a posture commanding by\nits dignity, while he tottered with weakness.", "\"Who calls upon the children of the Lenape!\"", "he said, in a deep,\nguttural voice, that was rendered awfully audible by the breathless\nsilence of the multitude: \"who speaks of things gone!", "Does not the egg\nbecome a worm--the worm a fly, and perish?", "Why tell the Delawares of\ngood that is past?", "Better thank the Manitou for that which remains.\"", "\"It is a Wyandot,\" said Magua, stepping nigher to the rude platform on\nwhich the other stood; \"a friend of Tamenund.\"", "\"A friend!\"", "repeated the sage, on whose brow a dark frown settled,\nimparting a portion of that severity which had rendered his eye so\nterrible in middle age.", "\"Are the Mingos rulers of the earth?", "What brings\na Huron here?\"", "\"Justice.", "His prisoners are with his brothers, and he comes for his\nown.\"", "Tamenund turned his head towards one of his supporters, and listened to\nthe short explanation the man gave.", "Then facing the applicant, he\nregarded him a moment with deep attention; after which he said, in a low\nand reluctant voice,--\n\n\"Justice is the law of the great Manitou.", "My children, give the stranger\nfood.", "Then, Huron, take thine own and depart.\"", "On the delivery of this solemn judgment, the patriarch seated himself,\nand closed his eyes again, as if better pleased with the images of his\nown ripened experience than with the visible objects of the world.", "Against such a decree there was no Delaware sufficiently hardy to\nmurmur, much less oppose himself.", "The words were barely uttered when\nfour or five of the younger warriors, stepping behind Heyward and the\nscout, passed thongs so dexterously and rapidly around their arms, as to\nhold them both in instant bondage.", "The former was too much engrossed\nwith his precious and nearly insensible burden, to be aware of their\nintentions before they were executed; and the latter, who considered\neven the hostile tribes of the Delawares a superior race of beings,\nsubmitted without resistance.", "Perhaps, however, the manner of the scout\nwould not have been so passive, had he fully comprehended the language\nin which the preceding dialogue had been conducted.", "Magua cast a look of triumph around the whole assembly before he\nproceeded to the execution of his purpose.", "Perceiving that the men were\nunable to offer any resistance, he turned his looks on her he valued\nmost.", "Cora met his gaze with an eye so calm and firm, that his\nresolution wavered.", "Then recollecting his former artifice, he raised\nAlice from the arms of the warrior against whom she leaned, and\nbeckoning Heyward to follow, he motioned for the encircling crowd to\nopen.", "But Cora, instead of obeying the impulse he had expected, rushed\nto the feet of the patriarch, and raising her voice, exclaimed aloud,--\n\n\"Just and venerable Delaware, on thy wisdom and power we lean for mercy!", "Be deaf to yonder artful and remorseless monster, who poisons thy ears\nwith falsehoods to feed his thirst for blood.", "Thou that hast lived long,\nand that hast seen the evil of the world, should know how to temper its\ncalamities to the miserable.\"", "The eyes of the old man opened heavily, and he once more looked upwards\nat the multitude.", "As the piercing tones of the supplicant swelled on his\nears, they moved slowly in the direction of her person, and finally\nsettled there in a steady gaze.", "Cora had cast herself to her knees; and,\nwith hands clenched in each other and pressed upon her bosom, she\nremained like a beauteous and breathing model of her sex, looking up in\nhis faded, but majestic countenance, with a species of holy reverence.", "Gradually the expression of Tamenund's features changed, and losing\ntheir vacancy in admiration, they lighted with a portion of that\nintelligence which a century before had been wont to communicate his\nyouthful fire to the extensive bands of the Delawares.", "Rising without\nassistance, and seemingly without an effort, he demanded, in a voice\nthat startled its auditors by its firmness,--\n\n\"What art thou?\"", "\"A woman.", "One of a hated race, if thou wilt--a Yengee.", "But one who has\nnever harmed thee, and who cannot harm thy people, if she would; who\nasks for succor.\"", "\"Tell me, my children,\" continued the patriarch, hoarsely, motioning to\nthose around him, though his eyes still dwelt upon the kneeling form of\nCora, \"where have the Delawares camped?\"", "\"In the mountains of the Iroquois, beyond the clear springs of the\nHorican.\"", "\"Many parching summers are come and gone,\" continued the sage, \"since I\ndrank of the water of my own rivers.", "The children of Minquon[26] are the\njustest white men; but they were thirsty, and they took it to\nthemselves.", "Do they follow us so far?\"", "\"We follow none; we covet nothing,\" answered Cora.", "\"Captives against our\nwills, have we been brought among you; and we ask but permission to\ndepart to our own in peace.", "Art thou not Tamenund--the father, the\njudge, I had almost said, the prophet--of this people?\"", "\"I am Tamenund of many days.\"", "\"'Tis now some seven years that one of thy people was at the mercy of a\nwhite chief on the borders of this province.", "He claimed to be of the\nblood of the good and just Tamenund.", "'Go,' said the white man, 'for thy\nparent's sake thou art free.'", "Dost thou remember the name of that\nEnglish warrior?\"", "\"I remember, that when a laughing boy,\" returned the patriarch, with the\npeculiar recollection of vast age, \"I stood upon the sands of the\nsea-shore, and saw a big canoe, with wings whiter than the swan's, and\nwider than many eagles, come from the rising sun.\"", "\"Nay, nay; I speak not of a time so very distant, but of favor shown to\nthy kindred by one of mine, within the memory of thy youngest warrior.\"", "\"Was it when the Yengeese and the Dutchmanne fought for the\nhunting-grounds of the Delawares?", "Then Tamenund was a chief, and first\nlaid aside the bow for the lightning of the pale faces--\"\n\n[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nTHE SUPPLICANT\n\n_Cora had cast herself to her knees; and, with hands clenched in each\nother and pressed upon her bosom, she remained like a beauteous and\nbreathing model of her sex_]\n\n\"Nor yet then,\" interrupted Cora, \"by many ages; I speak of a thing of\nyesterday.", "Surely, surely, you forget it not.\"", "\"It was but yesterday,\" rejoined the aged man, with touching pathos,\n\"that the children of the Lenape were masters of the world.", "The fishes\nof the salt lake, the birds, the beasts, and the Mengwe of the woods,\nowned them for sagamores.\"", "Cora bowed her head in disappointment, and, for a bitter moment,\nstruggled with her chagrin.", "Then elevating her rich features and beaming\neyes, she continued, in tones scarcely less penetrating than the\nunearthly voice of the patriarch himself,--\n\n\"Tell me, is Tamenund a father?\"", "The old man looked down upon her from his elevated stand, with a\nbenignant smile on his wasted countenance, and then casting his eyes\nslowly over the whole assemblage, he answered,--\n\n\"Of a nation.\"", "\"For myself I ask nothing.", "Like thee and thine, venerable chief,\" she\ncontinued, pressing her hands convulsively on her heart, and suffering\nher head to droop until her burning cheeks were nearly concealed in the\nmaze of dark glossy tresses that fell in disorder upon her shoulders,\n\"the curse of my ancestors has fallen heavily on their child.", "But yonder\nis one who has never known the weight of Heaven's displeasure until now.", "She is the daughter of an old and failing man, whose days are near their\nclose.", "She has many, very many, to love her, and delight in her; and she\nis too good, much too precious, to become the victim of that villain.\"", "\"I know that the pale-faces are a proud and hungry race.", "I know that\nthey claim not only to have the earth, but that the meanest of their\ncolor is better than the sachems of the redman.", "The dogs and crows of\ntheir tribes,\" continued the earnest old chieftain, without heeding the\nwounded spirit of his listener, whose head was nearly crushed to the\nearth in shame, as he proceeded, \"would bark and caw before they would\ntake a woman to their wigwams whose blood was not of the color of snow.", "But let them not boast before the face of the Manitou too loud.", "They\nentered the land at the rising, and may yet go off at the setting sun.", "I\nhave often seen the locusts strip the leaves from the trees, but the\nseason of blossoms has always come again.\"", "\"It is so,\" said Cora, drawing a long breath, as if reviving from a\ntrance, raising her face, and shaking back her shining veil, with a\nkindling eye, that contradicted the death-like paleness of her\ncountenance; \"but why--it is not permitted us to inquire.", "There is yet\none of thine own people who has not been brought before thee; before\nthou lettest the Huron depart in triumph, hear him speak.\"", "Observing Tamenund to look about him doubtingly, one of his companions\nsaid,--\n\n\"It is a snake--a redskin in the pay of the Yengeese.", "We keep him for\nthe torture.\"", "\"Let him come,\" returned the sage.", "Then Tamenund once more sank into his seat, and a silence so deep\nprevailed, while the young men prepared to obey his simple mandate, that\nthe leaves, which fluttered in the draught of the light morning air,\nwere distinctly heard rustling in the surrounding forest." ]

[ "Heyward smiled to himself at the idea of a competition with the scout,\nthough he determined to persevere in the deception, until apprised of\nthe real designs of Magua.", "If you know such a\nbeing as God, thank Him, therefore, in your inward soul; for you have\nreason.\"", "On Hawkeye he cast a glance of respectful enmity; on Duncan, a\nlook of inextinguishable hatred; the shrinking figure of Alice he\nscarcely deigned to notice; but when his glance met the firm,\ncommanding, and yet lovely form of Cora, his eye lingered a moment, with\nan expression that it might have been difficult to define.", "He gave them\ntongues like the false call of the wild-cat; hearts like rabbits; the\ncunning of the hog (but none of the fox), and arms longer than the legs\nof the moose.", "They saw through the hills.", "What brings\na Huron here?\"", "Then facing the applicant, he\nregarded him a moment with deep attention; after which he said, in a low\nand reluctant voice,--\n\n\"Justice is the law of the great Manitou.", "As the piercing tones of the supplicant swelled on his\nears, they moved slowly in the direction of her person, and finally\nsettled there in a steady gaze.", "\"I am Tamenund of many days.\"", "There is yet\none of thine own people who has not been brought before thee; before\nthou lettest the Huron depart in triumph, hear him speak.\"" ]

[ "Gradually the expression of Tamenund's features changed, and losing\ntheir vacancy in admiration, they lighted with a portion of that\nintelligence which a century before had been wont to communicate his\nyouthful fire to the extensive bands of the Delawares.", "He met everywhere\nwith eyes riveted on his own, heads erect, and nostrils expanded, as if\neach individual present felt himself able and willing, singly, to\nredress the wrongs of his race.", "The eyes of Magua flashed fire; but, suddenly recollecting the necessity\nof maintaining his presence of mind, he turned away in silent disdain,\nwell assured that the sagacity of the Indians would not fail to extract\nthe real merits of the point in controversy.", "exclaimed the scout, raising the short rifle in his right\nhand, and shaking it at Magua, with as much apparent ease as if it were\na reed; \"yes, Huron, I could strike you now, and no power of earth could\nprevent the deed!", "\"That I did not answer to the call for La Longue Carabine, was not owing\neither to shame or fear,\" he said; \"for neither one nor the other is the\ngift of an honest man.", "Better thank the Manitou for that which remains.\"", "But let them not boast before the face of the Manitou too loud.", "\"That the Huron is a liar, is very evident,\" returned Heyward, coolly;\n\"you have yourself heard him assert you to be La Longue Carabine.\"", "The children of Minquon[26] are the\njustest white men; but they were thirsty, and they took it to\nthemselves.", "Again the young Indians bounded forward; but\ntheir hurried search and disappointed looks announced that no traces of\nthe bullet were to be seen." ]

[ "Before opening his mouth,\nhowever, he bent his eyes slowly along the whole living boundary of\nearnest faces as if to temper his expressions to the capacities of his\naudience.", "On Hawkeye he cast a glance of respectful enmity; on Duncan, a\nlook of inextinguishable hatred; the shrinking figure of Alice he\nscarcely deigned to notice; but when his glance met the firm,\ncommanding, and yet lovely form of Cora, his eye lingered a moment, with\nan expression that it might have been difficult to define.", "Then, filled\nwith his own dark intentions, he spoke in the language of the Canadas, a\ntongue that he well knew was comprehended by most of his auditors.", "\"The Spirit that made men colored them differently,\" commenced the\nsubtle Huron.", "\"Some are blacker than the sluggish bear.", "These He said\nwould be slaves; and He ordered them to work forever, like the beaver.", "You may hear them groan, when the south wind blows, louder than the\nlowing buffaloes, along the shores of the great salt lake, where the big\ncanoes come and go with them in droves.", "Some He made with faces paler\nthan the ermine of the forests: and these He ordered to be traders; dogs\nto their women, and wolves to their slaves.", "He gave this people the\nnature of the pigeon: wings that never tire; young, more plentiful than\nthe leaves on the trees, and appetites to devour the earth.", "He gave them\ntongues like the false call of the wild-cat; hearts like rabbits; the\ncunning of the hog (but none of the fox), and arms longer than the legs\nof the moose.", "With his tongue, he stops the ears of the Indians; his\nheart teaches him to pay warriors to fight his battles; his cunning\ntells him how to get together the goods of the earth; and his arms\ninclose the land from the shores of the salt-water to the islands of the\ngreat lake." ]

[ "\n \"The assembly seated, rising o'er the rest,\n Achilles thus the king of men addressed.\"", "POPE'S _Iliad._\n\n\nCora stood foremost among the prisoners, entwining her arms in those of\nAlice, in the tenderness of sisterly love.", "Notwithstanding the fearful\nand menacing array of savages on every side of her, no apprehension on\nher own account could prevent the noble-minded maiden from keeping her\neyes fastened on the pale and anxious features of the trembling Alice.", "Close at their side stood Heyward, with an interest in both, that, at\nsuch a moment of intense uncertainty, scarcely knew a preponderance in\nfavor of her whom he most loved.", "Hawkeye had placed himself a little in\nthe rear, with a deference to the superior rank of his companions, that\nno similarity in the state of their present fortunes could induce him to\nforget.", "Uncas was not there.", "When perfect silence was again restored, and after the usual long,\nimpressive pause, one of the two aged chiefs who sat at the side of the\npatriarch arose, and demanded aloud, in very intelligible English,--\n\n\"Which of my prisoners is La Longue Carabine?\"", "Neither Duncan nor the scout answered.", "The former, however, glanced his\neyes around the dark and silent assembly, and recoiled a pace, when they\nfell on the malignant visage of Magua.", "He saw, at once, that this wily\nsavage had some secret agency in their present arraignment before the\nnation, and determined to throw every possible impediment in the way of\nthe execution of his sinister plans.", "The dogs and crows of\ntheir tribes,\" continued the earnest old chieftain, without heeding the\nwounded spirit of his listener, whose head was nearly crushed to the\nearth in shame, as he proceeded, \"would bark and caw before they would\ntake a woman to their wigwams whose blood was not of the color of snow.", "But let them not boast before the face of the Manitou too loud.", "They\nentered the land at the rising, and may yet go off at the setting sun.", "I\nhave often seen the locusts strip the leaves from the trees, but the\nseason of blossoms has always come again.\"", "\"It is so,\" said Cora, drawing a long breath, as if reviving from a\ntrance, raising her face, and shaking back her shining veil, with a\nkindling eye, that contradicted the death-like paleness of her\ncountenance; \"but why--it is not permitted us to inquire.", "There is yet\none of thine own people who has not been brought before thee; before\nthou lettest the Huron depart in triumph, hear him speak.\"", "Observing Tamenund to look about him doubtingly, one of his companions\nsaid,--\n\n\"It is a snake--a redskin in the pay of the Yengeese.", "We keep him for\nthe torture.\"", "\"Let him come,\" returned the sage.", "Then Tamenund once more sank into his seat, and a silence so deep\nprevailed, while the young men prepared to obey his simple mandate, that\nthe leaves, which fluttered in the draught of the light morning air,\nwere distinctly heard rustling in the surrounding forest." ]

[ "\n \"If you deny me, fie upon your law!", "There is no force in the decrees of Venice:\n I stand for judgment; answer, shall I have it?\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe silence continued unbroken by human sounds for many anxious minutes.", "Then the waving multitude opened and shut again, and Uncas stood in the\nliving circle.", "All those eyes, which had been curiously studying the\nlineaments of the sage, as the source of their own intelligence, turned\non the instant, and were now bent in secret admiration on the erect,\nagile, and faultless person of the captive.", "But neither the presence in\nwhich he found himself, nor the exclusive attention that he attracted,\nin any manner disturbed the self-possession of the young Mohican.", "He\ncast a deliberate and observing look on every side of him, meeting the\nsettled expression of hostility that lowered in the visages of the\nchiefs, with the same calmness as the curious gaze of the attentive\nchildren.", "But when, last in his haughty scrutiny, the person of Tamenund\ncame under his glance, his eye became fixed, as though all other objects\nwere already forgotten.", "Then advancing with a slow and noiseless step up\nthe area, he placed himself immediately before the footstool of the\nsage.", "Here he stood unnoted, though keenly observant himself, until one\nof the chiefs apprised the latter of his presence.", "\"With what tongue does the prisoner speak to the Manitou?\"", "demanded the\npatriarch, without unclosing his eyes.", "\"Like his fathers,\" Uncas replied; \"with the tongue of a Delaware.\"", "At this sudden and unexpected annunciation, a low, fierce yell ran\nthrough the multitude, that might not inaptly be compared to the growl\nof the lion, as his choler is first awakened--a fearful omen of the\nweight of his future anger.", "The effect was equally strong on the sage,\nthough differently exhibited.", "He passed a hand before his eyes, as if to\nexclude the least evidence of so shameful a spectacle, while he\nrepeated, in his low, guttural tones, the words he had just heard.", "\"A Delaware!", "I have lived to see the tribes of the Lenape driven from\ntheir council-fires, and scattered, like broken herds of deer, among the\nhills of the Iroquois!", "I have seen the hatchets of a strange people\nsweep woods from the valleys, that the winds of heaven had spared!", "The\nbeasts that run on the mountains, and the birds that fly above the\ntrees, have I seen living in the wigwams of men; but never before have I\nfound a Delaware so base as to creep, like a poisonous serpent, into the\ncamps of his nation.\"", "\"The singing-birds have opened their bills,\" returned Uncas, in the\nsoftest notes of his own musical voice; \"and Tamenund has heard their\nsong.\"", "The sage started, and bent his head aside, as if to catch the fleeting\nsounds of some passing melody.", "\"Does Tamenund dream!\"", "he exclaimed.", "\"What voice is at his ear!", "Have the\nwinters gone backward!", "Will summer come again to the children of the\nLenape!\"", "A solemn and respectful silence succeeded this incoherent burst from the\nlips of the Delaware prophet.", "His people steadily construed his\nunintelligible language into one of those mysterious conferences he was\nbelieved to hold so frequently with a superior intelligence, and they\nawaited the issue of the revelation in awe.", "After a patient pause,\nhowever, one of the aged men, perceiving that the sage had lost the\nrecollection of the subject before them, ventured to remind him again of\nthe presence of the prisoner.", "\"The false Delaware trembles lest he should hear the words of Tamenund,\"\nhe said.", "\"'Tis a hound that howls, when the Yengeese show him a trail.\"", "\"And ye,\" returned Uncas, looking sternly around him, \"are dogs that\nwhine, when the Frenchman casts ye the offals of his deer!\"", "Twenty knives gleamed in the air, and as many warriors sprang to their\nfeet, at this biting, and perhaps merited retort; but a motion from one\nof the chiefs suppressed the outbreaking of their tempers, and restored\nthe appearance of quiet.", "The task might probably have been more\ndifficult, had not a movement made by Tamenund indicated that he was\nagain about to speak.", "\"Delaware!\"", "resumed the sage, \"little art thou worthy of thy name.", "My\npeople have not seen a bright sun in many winters; and the warrior who\ndeserts his tribe when hid in clouds is doubly a traitor.", "The law of\nthe Manitou is just.", "It is so; while the rivers run and the mountains\nstand, while the blossoms come and go on the trees, it must be so.", "He is\nthine, my children; deal justly by him.\"", "Not a limb was moved, nor was a breath drawn louder and longer than\ncommon, until the closing syllable of this final decree had passed the\nlips of Tamenund.", "Then a cry of vengeance burst at once, as it might be,\nfrom the united lips of the nation; a frightful augury of their ruthless\nintentions.", "In the midst of these prolonged and savage yells, a chief\nproclaimed, in a high voice, that the captive was condemned to endure\nthe dreadful trial of torture by fire.", "The circle broke its order, and\nscreams of delight mingled with the bustle and tumult of preparation.", "Heyward struggled madly with his captors; the anxious eyes of Hawkeye\nbegan to look around him, with an expression of peculiar earnestness;\nand Cora again threw herself at the feet of the patriarch, once more a\nsuppliant for mercy.", "Throughout the whole of these trying moments, Uncas had alone preserved\nhis serenity.", "He looked on the preparations with a steady eye, and when\nthe tormentors came to seize him, he met them with a firm and upright\nattitude.", "One among them, if possible, more fierce and savage than his\nfellows, seized the hunting-shirt of the young warrior, and at a single\neffort tore it from his body.", "Then, with a yell of frantic pleasure, he\nleaped towards his unresisting victim, and prepared to lead him to the\nstake.", "But, at that moment, when he appeared most a stranger to the\nfeelings of humanity, the purpose of the savage was arrested as suddenly\nas if a supernatural agency had interposed in the behalf of Uncas.", "The\neyeballs of the Delaware seemed to start from their sockets; his mouth\nopened, and his whole form became frozen in an attitude of amazement.", "Raising his hand with a slow and regulated motion, he pointed with a\nfinger to the bosom of the captive.", "His companions crowded about him in\nwonder, and every eye was, like his own, fastened intently on the figure\nof a small tortoise, beautifully tattooed on the breast of the prisoner,\nin a bright blue tint.", "For a single instant Uncas enjoyed his triumph, smiling calmly on the\nscene.", "Then motioning the crowd away with a high and haughty sweep of\nhis arm, he advanced in front of the nation with the air of a king, and\nspoke in a voice louder than the murmur of admiration that ran through\nthe multitude.", "\"Men of the Lenni Lenape!\"", "he said, \"my race upholds the earth!", "Your\nfeeble tribe stands on my shell!", "[27] What fire that a Delaware can light\nwould burn the child of my fathers,\" he added, pointing proudly to the\nsimple blazonry on his skin; \"the blood that came from such a stock\nwould smother your flames!", "My race is the grandfather of nations!\"", "\"Who art thou?\"", "demanded Tamenund, rising at the startling tones he\nheard, more than at any meaning conveyed by the language of the\nprisoner.", "\"Uncas, the son of Chingachgook,\" answered the captive modestly, turning\nfrom the nation, and bending his head in reverence to the other's\ncharacter and years; \"a son of the great Unamis.\"", "\"The hour of Tamenund is nigh!\"", "exclaimed the sage; \"the day is come, at\nlast, to the night!", "I thank the Manitou, that one is here to fill my\nplace at the council-fire.", "Uncas, the child of Uncas, is found!", "Let the\neyes of a dying eagle gaze on the rising sun.\"", "The youth stepped lightly, but proudly, on the platform, where he became\nvisible to the whole agitated and wondering multitude.", "Tamenund held him\nlong at the length of his arm, and read every turn in the fine\nlineaments of his countenance, with the untiring gaze of one who\nrecalled days of happiness.", "\"Is Tamenund a boy?\"", "at length the bewildered prophet exclaimed.", "\"Have I\ndreamt of so many snows--that my people were scattered like floating\nsands--of Yengeese, more plenty than the leaves on the trees!", "The arrow\nof Tamenund would not frighten the fawn; his arm is withered like the\nbranch of a dead oak; the snail would be swifter in the race; yet is\nUncas before him as they went to battle against the pale-faces!", "Uncas,\nthe panther of his tribe, the eldest son of the Lenape, the wisest\nSagamore of the Mohicans!", "Tell me, ye Delawares, has Tamenund been a\nsleeper for a hundred winters?\"", "The calm and deep silence which succeeded these words, sufficiently\nannounced the awful reverence with which his people received the\ncommunication of the patriarch.", "None dared to answer, though all\nlistened in breathless expectation of what might follow.", "Uncas, however,\nlooking in his face with the fondness and veneration of a favored child,\npresumed on his own high and acknowledged rank, to reply.", "\"Four warriors of his race have lived, and died,\" he said, \"since the\nfriend of Tamenund led his people in battle.", "The blood of the turtle has\nbeen in many chiefs, but all have gone back into the earth from whence\nthey came except Chingachgook and his son.\"", "\"It is true--it is true,\" returned the sage; a flash of recollection\ndestroying all his pleasing fancies, and restoring him at once to a\nconsciousness of the true history of his nation.", "\"Our wise men have\noften said that two warriors of the unchanged race were in the hills of\nthe Yengeese; why have their seats at the council-fires of the Delawares\nbeen so long empty?\"", "At these words the young man raised his head, which he had still kept\nbowed a little, in reverence; and lifting his voice so as to be heard by\nthe multitude, as if to explain at once and forever the policy of his\nfamily, he said aloud,--\n\n\"Once we slept where we could hear the salt lake speak in its anger.", "Then we were rulers and sagamores over the land.", "But when a pale-face\nwas seen on every brook, we followed the deer back to the river of our\nnation.", "The Delawares were gone.", "Few warriors of them all stayed to\ndrink of the stream they loved.", "Then said my fathers, 'Here will we\nhunt.", "The waters of the river go into the salt lake.", "If we go towards\nthe setting sun, we shall find streams that run into the great lakes of\nsweet water; there would a Mohican die, like fishes of the sea, in the\nclear springs.", "When the Manitou is ready, and shall say \"Come,\" we will\nfollow the river to the sea, and take our own again.'", "Such, Delawares,\nis the belief of the children of the Turtle.", "Our eyes are on the rising,\nand not towards the setting sun.", "We know whence he comes, but we know\nnot whither he goes.", "It is enough.\"", "The men of the Lenape listened to his words with all the respect that\nsuperstition could lend, finding a secret charm even in the figurative\nlanguage with which the young Sagamore imparted his ideas.", "Uncas himself\nwatched the effect of his brief explanation with intelligent eyes, and\ngradually dropped the air of authority he had assumed, as he perceived\nthat his auditors were content.", "Then permitting his looks to wander over\nthe silent throng that crowded around the elevated seat of Tamenund, he\nfirst perceived Hawkeye in his bonds.", "Stepping eagerly from his stand,\nhe made way for himself to the side of his friend; and cutting his\nthongs with a quick and angry stroke of his own knife, he motioned to\nthe crowd to divide.", "The Indians silently obeyed, and once more they\nstood ranged in their circle, as before his appearance among them.", "Uncas\ntook the scout by the hand, and led him to the feet of the patriarch.", "\"Father,\" he said, \"look at this pale-face; a just man, and the friend\nof the Delawares.\"", "\"Is he a son of Minquon?\"", "\"Not so; a warrior known to the Yengeese, and feared by the Maquas.\"", "\"What name has he gained by his deeds?\"", "\"We call him Hawkeye,\" Uncas replied, using the Delaware phrase; \"for\nhis sight never fails.", "The Mingos know him better by the death he gives\ntheir warriors; with them he is 'The Long Rifle.'\"", "\"La Longue Carabine!\"", "exclaimed Tamenund, opening his eyes, and\nregarding the scout sternly.", "\"My son has not done well to call him\nfriend.\"", "\"I call him so who proves himself such,\" returned the young chief, with\ngreat calmness, but with a steady mien.", "\"If Uncas is welcome among the\nDelawares, then is Hawkeye with his friends.\"", "\"The pale-face has slain my young men; his name is great for the blows\nhe has struck the Lenape.\"", "\"If a Mingo has whispered that much in the ear of the Delaware, he has\nonly shown that he is a singing-bird,\" said the scout, who now believed\nthat it was time to vindicate himself from such offensive charges, and\nwho spoke in the tongue of the man he addressed, modifying his Indian\nfigures, however, with his own peculiar notions.", "\"That I have slain the\nMaquas I am not the man to deny, even at their own council-fires; but\nthat, knowingly, my hand has ever harmed a Delaware, is opposed to the\nreason of my gifts, which is friendly to them, and all that belongs to\ntheir nation.\"", "A low exclamation of applause passed among the warriors, who exchanged\nlooks with each other like men that first began to perceive their error.", "\"Where is the Huron?\"", "demanded Tamenund.", "\"Has he stopped my ears?\"", "Magua, whose feelings during that scene in which Uncas had triumphed may\nbe much better imagined than described, answered to the call by stepping\nboldly in front of the patriarch.", "\"The just Tamenund,\" he said, \"will not keep what a Huron has lent.\"", "\"Tell me, son of my brother,\" returned the sage, avoiding the dark\ncountenance of Le Subtil, and turning gladly to the more ingenuous\nfeatures of Uncas, \"has the stranger a conqueror's right over you?\"", "\"He has none.", "The panther may get into snares set by the women; but he\nis strong, and knows how to leap through them.\"", "\"La Longue Carabine?\"", "\"Laughs at the Mingoes.", "Go, Huron, ask your squaws the color of a bear.\"", "\"The stranger and the white maiden that came into my camp together?\"", "\"Should journey on an open path.\"", "\"And the woman that Huron left with my warriors?\"", "Uncas made no reply.", "\"And the woman that the Mingo has brought into my camp,\" repeated\nTamenund, gravely.", "\"She is mine,\" cried Magua, shaking his hand in triumph at Uncas.", "\"Mohican, you know that she is mine.\"", "\"My son is silent,\" said Tamenund, endeavoring to read the expression of\nthe face that the youth turned from him in sorrow.", "\"It is so,\" was the low answer.", "A short and impressive pause succeeded, during which it was very\napparent with what reluctance the multitude admitted the justice of the\nMingo's claim.", "At length the sage, in whom alone the decision depended,\nsaid, in a firm voice,--\n\n\"Huron, depart.\"", "\"As he came, just Tamenund,\" demanded the wily Magua; \"or with hands\nfilled with the faith of the Delawares?", "The wigwam of Le Renard Subtil\nis empty.", "Make him strong with his own.\"", "The aged man mused with himself for a time; and then bending his head\ntowards one of his venerable companions, he asked,--\n\n\"Are my ears open?\"", "\"It is true.\"", "\"Is this Mingo a chief?\"", "\"The first in his nation.\"", "\"Girl, what wouldst thou?", "A great warrior takes thee to wife.", "Go!", "thy\nrace will not end.\"", "\"Better, a thousand times, it should,\" exclaimed the horror-struck\nCora, \"than meet with such a degradation!\"", "\"Huron, her mind is in the tents of her fathers.", "An unwilling maiden\nmakes an unhappy wigwam.\"", "\"She speaks with the tongue of her people,\" returned Magua, regarding\nhis victim with a look of bitter irony.", "\"She is of a race of traders,\nand will bargain for a bright look.", "Let Tamenund speak the words.\"", "\"Take you the wampum, and our love.\"", "\"Nothing hence but what Magua brought hither.\"", "\"Then depart with thine own.", "The great Manitou forbids that a Delaware\nshould be unjust.\"", "Magua advanced, and seized his captive strongly by the arm; the\nDelawares fell back, in silence; and Cora, as if conscious that\nremonstrance would be useless, prepared to submit to her fate without\nresistance.", "\"Hold, hold!\"", "cried Duncan, springing forward; \"Huron, have mercy!", "her\nransom shall make thee richer than any of thy people were ever yet known\nto be.\"", "\"Magua is a redskin; he wants not the beads of the pale-faces.\"", "\"Gold, silver, powder, lead--all that a warrior needs shall be in thy\nwigwam; all that becomes the greatest chief.\"", "\"Le Subtil is very strong,\" cried Magua, violently shaking the hand\nwhich grasped the unresisting arm of Cora; \"he has his revenge!\"", "\"Mighty ruler of providence!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, clasping his hands\ntogether in agony, \"can this be suffered!", "To you, just Tamenund, I\nappeal for mercy.\"", "\"The words of the Delaware are said,\" returned the sage, closing his\neyes, and dropping back into his seat, alike wearied with his mental and\nhis bodily exertion.", "\"Men speak not twice.\"", "\"That a chief should not misspend his time in unsaying what had once\nbeen spoken, is wise and reasonable,\" said Hawkeye, motioning to Duncan\nto be silent; \"but it is also prudent in every warrior to consider well\nbefore he strikes his tomahawk into the head of his prisoner.", "Huron, I\nlove you not; nor can I say that any Mingo has ever received much favor\nat my hands.", "It is fair to conclude that, if this war does not soon end,\nmany more of your warriors will meet me in the woods.", "Put it to your\njudgment, then, whether you would prefer taking such a prisoner as that\ninto your encampment, or one like myself, who am a man that it would\ngreatly rejoice your nation to see with naked hands.\"", "\"Will 'The Long Rifle' give his life for the woman?\"", "demanded Magua,\nhesitatingly; for he had already made a motion towards quitting the\nplace with his victim.", "\"No, no; I have not said so much as that,\" returned Hawkeye, drawing\nback with suitable discretion, when he noted the eagerness with which\nMagua listened to his proposal.", "\"It would be an unequal exchange, to\ngive a warrior, in the prime of his age and usefulness, for the best\nwoman on the frontiers.", "I might consent to go into winter-quarters,\nnow--at least six weeks afore the leaves will turn--on condition you\nwill release the maiden.\"", "Magua shook his head, and made an impatient sign for the crowd to open.", "\"Well, then,\" added the scout, with the musing air of a man who had not\nhalf made up his mind, \"I will throw 'Killdeer' into the bargain.", "Take\nthe word of an experienced hunter, the piece has not its equal atween\nthe provinces.\"", "Magua still disdained to reply, continuing his efforts to disperse the\ncrowd.", "\"Perhaps,\" added the scout, losing his dissembled coolness, exactly in\nproportion as the other manifested an indifference to the exchange, \"if\nI should condition to teach your young men the real virtue of the\nwe'pon, it would smooth the little differences in our judgments.\"", "Le Renard fiercely ordered the Delawares, who still lingered in an\nimpenetrable belt around him, in hopes he would listen to the amicable\nproposal, to open his path, threatening, by the glance of his eye,\nanother appeal to the infallible justice of their \"prophet.\"", "\"What is ordered must sooner or later arrive,\" continued Hawkeye,\nturning with a sad and humbled look to Uncas.", "\"The varlet knows his\nadvantage, and will keep it!", "God bless you, boy; you have found friends\namong your natural kin and I hope they will prove as true as some you\nhave met who had no Indian cross.", "As for me, sooner or later, I must\ndie; it is therefore fortunate there are but few to make my death-howl.", "After all, it is likely the imps would have managed to master my scalp,\nso a day or two will make no great difference in the everlasting\nreckoning of time.", "God bless you,\" added the rugged woodsman, bending\nhis head aside, and then instantly changing its direction again, with a\nwistful look towards the youth; \"I loved both you and your father,\nUncas, though our skins are not altogether of a color, and our gifts are\nsomewhat different.", "Tell the Sagamore I never lost sight of him in my\ngreatest trouble; and, as for you, think of me sometimes when on a lucky\ntrail; and depend on it, boy, whether there be one heaven or two, there\nis a path in the other world by which honest men may come together\nagain.", "You'll find the rifle in the place we hid it; take it, and keep\nit for my sake; and harkee, lad, as your natural gifts don't deny you\nthe use of vengeance, use it a little freely on the Mingos; it may\nunburden grief at my loss, and ease your mind.", "Huron, I accept your\noffer; release the woman.", "I am your prisoner!\"", "A suppressed, but still distinct murmur of approbation, ran through the\ncrowd at this generous proposition; even the fiercest among the Delaware\nwarriors manifesting pleasure at the manliness of the intended\nsacrifice.", "Magua paused, and for an anxious moment, it might be said, he\ndoubted; then casting his eyes on Cora, with an expression in which\nferocity and admiration were strangely mingled, his purpose became fixed\nforever.", "He intimated his contempt of the offer with a backward motion of his\nhead, and said, in a steady and settled voice,--\n\n\"Le Renard Subtil is a great chief; he has but one mind.", "Come,\" he\nadded, laying his hand too familiarly on the shoulder of his captive to\nurge her onward; \"a Huron is no tattler; we will go.\"", "The maiden drew back in lofty womanly reserve, and her dark eye kindled,\nwhile the rich blood shot, like the passing brightness of the sun, into\nher very temples, at the indignity.", "\"I am your prisoner, and at a fitting time shall be ready to follow,\neven to my death.", "But violence is unnecessary,\" she coldly said; and\nimmediately turning to Hawkeye, added, \"Generous hunter!", "from my soul I\nthank you.", "Your offer is in vain, neither could it be accepted; but\nstill you may serve me, even more than in your own noble intention.", "Look\nat that drooping, humbled child!", "Abandon her not until you leave her in\nthe habitation of civilized men.", "I will not say,\" wringing the hard hand\nof the scout, \"that her father will reward you--for such as you are\nabove the rewards of men--but he will thank you, and bless you.", "And,\nbelieve me, the blessing of a just and aged man has virtue in the sight\nof Heaven.", "Would to God, I could hear one from his lips at this awful\nmoment!\"", "Her voice became choked, and, for an instant, she was silent;\nthen advancing a step nigher to Duncan, who was supporting her\nunconscious sister, she continued, in more subdued tones, but in which\nfeeling and the habits of her sex maintained a fearful struggle,--\"I\nneed not tell you to cherish the treasure you will possess.", "You love\nher, Heyward; that would conceal a thousand faults, though she had them.", "She is kind, gentle, sweet, good, as mortal may be.", "There is not a\nblemish in mind or person at which the proudest of you all would sicken.", "She is fair--O!", "how surpassingly fair!\"", "laying her own beautiful, but\nless brilliant hand, in melancholy affection on the alabaster forehead\nof Alice, and parting the golden hair which clustered about her brows;\n\"and yet her soul is pure and spotless as her skin!", "I could say\nmuch--more, perhaps, than cooler reason would approve; but I will spare\nyou and myself\"--Her voice became inaudible, and her face was bent over\nthe form of her sister.", "After a long and burning kiss, she arose, and\nwith features of the hue of death, but without even a tear in her\nfeverish eye, she turned away, and added, to the savage, with all her\nformer elevation of manner,--\"Now, sir, if it be your pleasure, I will\nfollow.\"", "\"Ay, go,\" cried Duncan, placing Alice in the arms of an Indian girl;\n\"go, Magua, go.", "These Delawares have their laws, which forbid them to\ndetain you; but I--I have no such obligation.", "Go, malignant monster--why\ndo you delay?\"", "It would be difficult to describe the expression with which Magua\nlistened to this threat to follow.", "There was at first a fierce and\nmanifest display of joy, and then it was instantly subdued in a look of\ncunning coldness.", "\"The woods are open,\" he was content with answering.", "\"'The Open Hand'\ncan come.\"", "\"Hold,\" cried Hawkeye, seizing Duncan by the arm, and detaining him by\nviolence; \"you know not the craft of the imp.", "He would lead you to an\nambushment, and your death--\"\n\n\"Huron,\" interrupted Uncas, who, submissive to the stern customs of his\npeople, had been an attentive and grave listener to all that passed;\n\"Huron, the justice of the Delawares comes from the Manitou.", "Look at the\nsun.", "He is now in the upper branches of the hemlock.", "Your path is short\nand open.", "When he is seen above the trees, there will be men on your\ntrail.\"", "\"I hear a crow!\"", "exclaimed Magua, with a taunting laugh.", "\"Go!\"", "he added,\nshaking his hand at the crowd, which had slowly opened to admit his\npassage,--\"Where are the petticoats of the Delawares!", "Let them send\ntheir arrows and their guns to the Wyandots; they shall have venison to\neat, and corn to hoe.", "Dogs, rabbits, thieves--I spit on you!\"", "His parting gibes were listened to in a dead, boding silence, and, with\nthese biting words in his mouth, the triumphant Magua passed unmolested\ninto the forest, followed by his passive captive, and protected by the\ninviolable laws of Indian hospitality." ]

[ "The sage started, and bent his head aside, as if to catch the fleeting\nsounds of some passing melody.", "he exclaimed.", "at length the bewildered prophet exclaimed.", "Then we were rulers and sagamores over the land.", "\"And the woman that Huron left with my warriors?\"", "\"Nothing hence but what Magua brought hither.\"", "\"Hold, hold!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, clasping his hands\ntogether in agony, \"can this be suffered!", "After all, it is likely the imps would have managed to master my scalp,\nso a day or two will make no great difference in the everlasting\nreckoning of time.", "I will not say,\" wringing the hard hand\nof the scout, \"that her father will reward you--for such as you are\nabove the rewards of men--but he will thank you, and bless you." ]

[ "\"The pale-face has slain my young men; his name is great for the blows\nhe has struck the Lenape.\"", "\"My son has not done well to call him\nfriend.\"", "\"The false Delaware trembles lest he should hear the words of Tamenund,\"\nhe said.", "His people steadily construed his\nunintelligible language into one of those mysterious conferences he was\nbelieved to hold so frequently with a superior intelligence, and they\nawaited the issue of the revelation in awe.", "At this sudden and unexpected annunciation, a low, fierce yell ran\nthrough the multitude, that might not inaptly be compared to the growl\nof the lion, as his choler is first awakened--a fearful omen of the\nweight of his future anger.", "The law of\nthe Manitou is just.", "He looked on the preparations with a steady eye, and when\nthe tormentors came to seize him, he met them with a firm and upright\nattitude.", "The waters of the river go into the salt lake.", "The sage started, and bent his head aside, as if to catch the fleeting\nsounds of some passing melody.", "Uncas,\nthe panther of his tribe, the eldest son of the Lenape, the wisest\nSagamore of the Mohicans!" ]

[ "\"If a Mingo has whispered that much in the ear of the Delaware, he has\nonly shown that he is a singing-bird,\" said the scout, who now believed\nthat it was time to vindicate himself from such offensive charges, and\nwho spoke in the tongue of the man he addressed, modifying his Indian\nfigures, however, with his own peculiar notions.", "\"That I have slain the\nMaquas I am not the man to deny, even at their own council-fires; but\nthat, knowingly, my hand has ever harmed a Delaware, is opposed to the\nreason of my gifts, which is friendly to them, and all that belongs to\ntheir nation.\"", "A low exclamation of applause passed among the warriors, who exchanged\nlooks with each other like men that first began to perceive their error.", "\"Where is the Huron?\"", "demanded Tamenund.", "\"Has he stopped my ears?\"", "Magua, whose feelings during that scene in which Uncas had triumphed may\nbe much better imagined than described, answered to the call by stepping\nboldly in front of the patriarch.", "\"The just Tamenund,\" he said, \"will not keep what a Huron has lent.\"", "\"Tell me, son of my brother,\" returned the sage, avoiding the dark\ncountenance of Le Subtil, and turning gladly to the more ingenuous\nfeatures of Uncas, \"has the stranger a conqueror's right over you?\"", "\"He has none.", "The panther may get into snares set by the women; but he\nis strong, and knows how to leap through them.\"" ]

[ "\n \"If you deny me, fie upon your law!", "There is no force in the decrees of Venice:\n I stand for judgment; answer, shall I have it?\"", "_Merchant of Venice._\n\n\nThe silence continued unbroken by human sounds for many anxious minutes.", "Then the waving multitude opened and shut again, and Uncas stood in the\nliving circle.", "All those eyes, which had been curiously studying the\nlineaments of the sage, as the source of their own intelligence, turned\non the instant, and were now bent in secret admiration on the erect,\nagile, and faultless person of the captive.", "But neither the presence in\nwhich he found himself, nor the exclusive attention that he attracted,\nin any manner disturbed the self-possession of the young Mohican.", "He\ncast a deliberate and observing look on every side of him, meeting the\nsettled expression of hostility that lowered in the visages of the\nchiefs, with the same calmness as the curious gaze of the attentive\nchildren.", "But when, last in his haughty scrutiny, the person of Tamenund\ncame under his glance, his eye became fixed, as though all other objects\nwere already forgotten.", "Then advancing with a slow and noiseless step up\nthe area, he placed himself immediately before the footstool of the\nsage.", "Here he stood unnoted, though keenly observant himself, until one\nof the chiefs apprised the latter of his presence.", "He is now in the upper branches of the hemlock.", "Your path is short\nand open.", "When he is seen above the trees, there will be men on your\ntrail.\"", "\"I hear a crow!\"", "exclaimed Magua, with a taunting laugh.", "\"Go!\"", "he added,\nshaking his hand at the crowd, which had slowly opened to admit his\npassage,--\"Where are the petticoats of the Delawares!", "Let them send\ntheir arrows and their guns to the Wyandots; they shall have venison to\neat, and corn to hoe.", "Dogs, rabbits, thieves--I spit on you!\"", "His parting gibes were listened to in a dead, boding silence, and, with\nthese biting words in his mouth, the triumphant Magua passed unmolested\ninto the forest, followed by his passive captive, and protected by the\ninviolable laws of Indian hospitality." ]

[ "\n_\"Flue._--Kill the poys and the luggage!", "'Tis expressly against the\n law of arms; 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be\n offered in the world.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nSo long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the multitude\nremained motionless as beings charmed to the place by some power that\nwas friendly to the Huron; but the instant he disappeared, it became\ntossed and agitated by fierce and powerful passion.", "Uncas maintained his\nelevated stand, keeping his eyes on the form of Cora, until the colors\nof her dress were blended with the foliage of the forest; when he\ndescended, and moving silently through the throng, he disappeared in\nthat lodge from which he had so recently issued.", "A few of the graver and\nmore attentive warriors, who caught the gleams of anger that shot from\nthe eyes of the young chief in passing, followed him to the place he had\nselected for his meditations.", "After which, Tamenund and Alice were\nremoved, and the women and children were ordered to disperse.", "During the\nmomentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled a hive of\ntroubled bees, who only awaited the appearance and example of their\nleader to take some distant and momentous flight.", "A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Uncas; and moving\ndeliberately, with a sort of grave march, towards a dwarf pine that grew\nin the crevices of the rocky terrace, he tore the bark from its body,\nand then returned whence he came without speaking.", "He was soon followed\nby another, who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked\nand blazed[28] trunk.", "A third colored the posts with stripes of a dark\nred paint; all which indications of a hostile design in the leaders of\nthe nation were received by the men without in a gloomy and ominous\nsilence.", "Finally, the Mohican himself reappeared, divested of all his\nattire except his girdle and leggings, and with one-half of his fine\nfeatures hid under a cloud of threatening black.", "Uncas moved with a slow and dignified tread towards the post, which he\nimmediately commenced encircling with a measured step, not unlike an\nancient dance, raising his voice, at the same time, in the wild and\nirregular chant of his war-song.", "The notes were in the extremes of human\nsounds; being sometimes melancholy and exquisitely plaintive, even\nrivalling the melody of birds--and then, by sudden and startling\ntransitions, causing the auditors to tremble by their depth and energy.", "The words were few and often repeated, proceeding gradually from a sort\nof invocation, or hymn to the Deity, to an intimation of the warrior's\nobject, and terminating as they commenced with an acknowledgment of his\nown dependence on the Great Spirit.", "If it were possible to translate the\ncomprehensive and melodious language in which he spoke, the ode might\nread something like the following:\n\n \"Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Thou art great, thou art good, thou art wise:\n Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Thou art just.", "\"In the heavens, in the clouds, O, I see\n Many spots--many dark, many red:\n In the heavens, O, I see\n Many clouds.", "\"In the woods, in the air, O, I hear\n The whoop, the long yell, and the cry:\n In the woods, O, I hear\n The loud whoop!", "\"Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Thou art weak--thou art strong; I am slow:\n Manitou!", "Manitou!", "Give me aid.\"", "At the end of what might be called each verse he made a pause, by\nraising a note louder and longer than common, that was peculiarly suited\nto the sentiment just expressed.", "The first close was solemn, and\nintended to convey the idea of veneration; the second descriptive,\nbordering on the alarming; and the third was the well known and terrific\nwar-whoop, which burst from the lips of the young warrior, like a\ncombination of all the frightful sounds of battle.", "The last was like the\nfirst, humble and imploring.", "Three times did he repeat this song, and as\noften did he encircle the post in his dance.", "At the close of the first turn, a grave and highly esteemed chief of\nthe Lenape followed his example, singing words of his own, however, to\nmusic of a similar character.", "Warrior after warrior enlisted in the\ndance, until all of any renown and authority were numbered in its mazes.", "The spectacle now became wildly terrific; the fierce-looking and\nmenacing visages of the chiefs receiving additional power from the\nappalling strains in which they mingled their guttural tones.", "Just then\nUncas struck his tomahawk deep into the post, and raised his voice in a\nshout, which might be termed his own battle-cry.", "The act announced that\nhe had assumed the chief authority in the intended expedition.", "It was a signal that awakened all the slumbering passions of a nation.", "A\nhundred youths, who had hitherto been restrained by the diffidence of\ntheir years, rushed in a frantic body on the fancied emblem of their\nenemy, and severed it asunder, splinter by splinter, until nothing\nremained of the trunk but its roots in the earth.", "During this moment of\ntumult, the most ruthless deeds of war were performed on the fragments\nof the tree, with as much apparent ferocity as if they were the living\nvictims of their cruelty.", "Some were scalped; some received the keen and\ntrembling axe; and others suffered by thrusts from the fatal knife.", "In\nshort, the manifestations of zeal and fierce delight were so great and\nunequivocal, that the expedition was declared to be a war of the nation.", "The instant Uncas had struck the blow, he moved out of the circle, and\ncast his eyes up to the sun, which was just gaining the point, when the\ntruce with Magua was to end.", "The fact was soon announced by a\nsignificant gesture, accompanied by a corresponding cry; and the whole\nof the excited multitude abandoned their mimic warfare, with shrill\nyells of pleasure, to prepare for the more hazardous experiment of the\nreality.", "The whole face of the encampment was instantly changed.", "The warriors,\nwho were already armed and painted, became as still as if they were\nincapable of any uncommon burst of emotion.", "On the other hand, the women\nbroke out of the lodges, with the songs of joy and those of lamentation,\nso strangely mingled, that it might have been difficult to have said\nwhich passion preponderated.", "None, however, were idle.", "Some bore their\nchoicest articles, others their young, and some their aged and infirm,\ninto the forest, which spread itself like a verdant carpet of bright\ngreen against the side of the mountain.", "Thither Tamenund also retired,\nwith calm composure, after a short and touching interview with Uncas;\nfrom whom the sage separated with the reluctance that a parent would\nquit a long lost and just recovered child.", "In the meantime, Duncan saw\nAlice to a place of safety, and then sought the scout, with a\ncountenance that denoted how eagerly he also panted for the approaching\ncontest.", "But Hawkeye was too much accustomed to the war-song and the enlistments\nof the natives, to betray any interest in the passing scene.", "He merely\ncast an occasional look at the number and quality of the warriors, who,\nfrom time to time, signified their readiness to accompany Uncas to the\nfield.", "In this particular he was soon satisfied; for, as has been\nalready seen, the power of the young chief quickly embraced every\nfighting man in the nation.", "After this material point was so\nsatisfactorily decided, he despatched an Indian boy in quest of\n\"Killdeer\" and the rifle of Uncas, to the place where they had deposited\nthe weapons on approaching the camp of the Delawares; a measure of\ndouble policy, inasmuch as it protected the arms from their own fate, if\ndetained as prisoners, and gave them the advantage of appearing among\nthe strangers rather as sufferers than as men provided with the means of\ndefence and subsistence.", "In selecting another to perform the office of\nreclaiming his highly prized rifle, the scout had lost sight of none of\nhis habitual caution.", "He knew that Magua had not come unattended, and he\nalso knew that Huron spies watched the movements of their new enemies,\nalong the whole boundary of the woods.", "It would, therefore, have been\nfatal to himself to have attempted the experiment; a warrior would have\nfared no better; but the danger of a boy would not be likely to commence\nuntil after his object was discovered.", "When Heyward joined him, the\nscout was coolly awaiting the result of this experiment.", "The boy, who had been well instructed, and was sufficiently crafty,\nproceeded, with a bosom that was swelling with the pride of such a\nconfidence, and all the hopes of young ambition, carelessly across the\nclearing to the wood, which he entered at a point at some little\ndistance from the place where the guns were secreted.", "The instant,\nhowever, he was concealed by the foliage of the bushes, his dusky form\nwas to be seen gliding, like that of a serpent, towards the desired\ntreasure.", "He was successful; and in another moment he appeared flying\nacross the narrow opening that skirted the base of the terrace on which\nthe village stood, with the velocity of an arrow, and bearing a prize\nin each hand.", "He had actually gained the crags, and was leaping up their\nsides with incredible activity, when a shot from the woods showed how\naccurate had been the judgment of the scout.", "The boy answered it with a\nfeeble but contemptuous shout; and immediately a second bullet was sent\nafter him from another part of the cover.", "At the next instant he\nappeared on the level above, elevating his guns in triumph, while he\nmoved with the air of a conqueror towards the renowned hunter who had\nhonored him by so glorious a commission.", "Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawkeye had taken in the fate of his\nmessenger, he received \"Killdeer\" with a satisfaction that, momentarily,\ndrove all other recollections from his mind.", "After examining the piece\nwith an intelligent eye, and opening and shutting the pan some ten or\nfifteen times, and trying sundry other equally important experiments on\nthe lock, he turned to the boy, and demanded with great manifestations\nof kindness, if he was hurt.", "The urchin looked proudly up in his face,\nbut made no reply.", "\"Ah!", "I see, lad, the knaves have barked your arm!\"", "added the scout,\ntaking up the limb of the patient sufferer, across which a deep flesh\nwound had been made by one of the bullets; \"but a little bruised alder\nwill act like a charm.", "In the meantime I will wrap it in a badge of\nwampum!", "You have commenced the business of a warrior early, my brave\nboy, and are likely to bear a plenty of honorable scars to your grave.", "I\nknow many young men that have taken scalps who cannot show such a mark\nas this.", "Go!\"", "having bound up the arm; \"you will be a chief!\"", "The lad departed, prouder of his flowing blood than the vainest courtier\ncould be of his blushing ribbon; and stalked among the fellows of his\nage, an object of general admiration and envy.", "But in a moment of so many serious and important duties, this single act\nof juvenile fortitude did not attract the general notice and\ncommendation it would have received under milder auspices.", "It had,\nhowever, served to apprise the Delawares of the position and the\nintentions of their enemies.", "Accordingly a party of adventurers, better\nsuited to the task than the weak though spirited boy, was ordered to\ndislodge the skulkers.", "The duty was soon performed; for most of the\nHurons retired of themselves when they found they had been discovered.", "The Delawares followed to a sufficient distance from their own\nencampment, and then halted for orders, apprehensive of being led into\nan ambush.", "As both parties secreted themselves, the woods were again as\nstill and quiet as a mild summer morning and deep solitude could render\nthem.", "The calm but still impatient Uncas now collected his chiefs, and divided\nhis power.", "He presented Hawkeye as a warrior, often tried, and always\nfound deserving of confidence.", "When he found his friend met with a\nfavorable reception, he bestowed on him the command of twenty men, like\nhimself, active, skilful, and resolute.", "He gave the Delawares to\nunderstand the rank of Heyward among the troops of the Yengeese, and\nthen tendered to him a trust of equal authority.", "But Duncan declined the\ncharge, professing his readiness to serve as a volunteer by the side of\nthe scout.", "After this disposition, the young Mohican appointed various\nnative chiefs to fill the different situations of responsibility, and\nthe time pressing, he gave forth the word to march.", "He was cheerfully,\nbut silently, obeyed by more than two hundred men.", "Their entrance into the forest was perfectly unmolested; nor did they\nencounter any living objects, that could either give the alarm, or\nfurnish the intelligence they needed, until they came upon the lairs of\ntheir own scouts.", "Here a halt was ordered, and the chiefs were assembled\nto hold a \"whispering council.\"", "At this meeting divers plans of operation were suggested, though none of\na character to meet the wishes of their ardent leader.", "Had Uncas\nfollowed the promptings of his own inclinations, he would have led his\nfollowers to the charge without a moment's delay, and put the conflict\nto the hazard of an instant issue; but such a course would have been in\nopposition to all the received practices and opinions of his countrymen.", "He was, therefore, fain to adopt a caution that in the present temper of\nhis mind he execrated, and to listen to advice at which his fiery spirit\nchafed, under the vivid recollection of Cora's danger and Magua's\ninsolence.", "After an unsatisfactory conference of many minutes, a solitary\nindividual was seen advancing from the side of the enemy, with such\napparent haste, as to induce the belief he might be a messenger charged\nwith pacific overtures.", "When within a hundred yards, however, of the\ncover behind which the Delaware council had assembled, the stranger\nhesitated, appeared uncertain what course to take, and finally halted.", "All eyes were now turned on Uncas, as if seeking directions how to\nproceed.", "\"Hawkeye,\" said the young chief, in a low voice, \"he must never speak to\nthe Hurons again.\"", "\"His time has come,\" said the laconic scout, thrusting the long barrel\nof his rifle through the leaves, and taking his deliberate and fatal\naim.", "But, instead of pulling the trigger he lowered the muzzle again,\nand indulged himself in a fit of his peculiar mirth.", "\"I took the imp for\na Mingo, as I'm a miserable sinner!\"", "he said; \"but when my eye ranged\nalong his ribs for a place to get the bullet in--would you think it,\nUncas--I saw the musicianer's blower; and so, after all, it is the man\nthey call Gamut, whose death can profit no one, and whose life, if his\ntongue can do anything but sing, may be made serviceable to our own\nends.", "If sounds have not lost their virtue, I'll soon have a discourse\nwith the honest fellow, and that in a voice he'll find more agreeable\nthan the speech of 'Killdeer.'\"", "So saying, Hawkeye laid aside his rifle; and crawling through the bushes\nuntil within hearing of David, he attempted to repeat the musical\neffort, which had conducted himself, with so much safety and _eclat_,\nthrough the Huron encampment.", "The exquisite organs of Gamut could not\nreadily be deceived (and, to say the truth, it would have been difficult\nfor any other than Hawkeye to produce a similar noise), and\nconsequently, having once before heard the sounds, he now knew whence\nthey proceeded.", "The poor fellow appeared relieved from a state of great\nembarrassment; for pursuing the direction of the voice--a task that to\nhim was not much less arduous than it would have been to have gone up in\nthe face of a battery--he soon discovered the hidden songster.", "\"I wonder what the Hurons will think of that!\"", "said the scout, laughing,\nas he took his companion by the arm, and urged him towards the rear.", "\"If\nthe knaves lie within ear-shot, they will say there are two\nnon-compossers instead of one!", "But here we are safe,\" he added, pointing\nto Uncas and his associates.", "\"Now give us the history of the Mingo\ninventions in natural English, and without any ups and downs of voice.\"", "David gazed about him, at the fierce and wild-looking chiefs, in mute\nwonder; but assured by the presence of faces that he knew, he soon\nrallied his faculties so far as to make an intelligent reply.", "\"The heathen are abroad in goodly numbers,\" said David, \"and, I fear,\nwith evil intent.", "There has been much howling and ungodly revelry,\ntogether with such sounds as it is profanity to utter, in their\nhabitations within the past hour; so much so, in truth, that I have fled\nto the Delawares in search of peace.\"", "\"Your ears might not have profited much by the exchange, had you been\nquicker of foot,\" returned the scout, a little dryly.", "\"But let that be\nas it may; where are the Hurons?\"", "\"They lie hid in the forest, between this spot and their village, in\nsuch force, that prudence would teach you instantly to return.\"", "Uncas cast a glance along the range of trees which concealed his own\nband and mentioned the name of--\n\n\"Magua?\"", "\"Is among them.", "He brought in the maiden that had sojourned with the\nDelawares, and leaving her in the cave, has put himself, like a raging\nwolf, at the head of his savages.", "I know not what has troubled his\nspirit so greatly!\"", "\"He has left her, you say, in the cave!\"", "interrupted Heyward; \"'tis well\nthat we know its situation!", "May not something be done for her instant\nrelief?\"", "Uncas looked earnestly at the scout, before he asked,--\n\n\"What says Hawkeye?\"", "\"Give me twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right, along the stream;\nand passing by the huts of the beaver, will join the Sagamore and the\ncolonel.", "You shall then hear the whoop from that quarter; with this wind\none may easily send it a mile.", "Then, Uncas, do you drive in their front;\nwhen they come within range of our pieces, we will give them a blow\nthat, I pledge the good name of an old frontiersman, shall make their\nline bend like an ashen bow.", "After which, we will carry their village,\nand take the woman from the cave; when the affair may be finished with\nthe tribe, according to a white man's battle, by a blow and a victory;\nor, in the Indian fashion, with dodge and cover.", "There may be no great\nlearning, major, in this plan, but with courage and patience it can all\nbe done.\"", "\"I like it much,\" cried Duncan, who saw the release of Cora was the\nprimary object in the mind of the scout; \"I like it much.", "Let it be\ninstantly attempted.\"", "After a short conference, the plan was matured, and rendered more\nintelligible to the several parties; the different signals were\nappointed, and the chiefs separated, each to his allotted station." ]

[ "During the\nmomentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled a hive of\ntroubled bees, who only awaited the appearance and example of their\nleader to take some distant and momentous flight.", "Uncas moved with a slow and dignified tread towards the post, which he\nimmediately commenced encircling with a measured step, not unlike an\nancient dance, raising his voice, at the same time, in the wild and\nirregular chant of his war-song.", "Manitou!", "It was a signal that awakened all the slumbering passions of a nation.", "In the meantime, Duncan saw\nAlice to a place of safety, and then sought the scout, with a\ncountenance that denoted how eagerly he also panted for the approaching\ncontest.", "It would, therefore, have been\nfatal to himself to have attempted the experiment; a warrior would have\nfared no better; but the danger of a boy would not be likely to commence\nuntil after his object was discovered.", "The instant,\nhowever, he was concealed by the foliage of the bushes, his dusky form\nwas to be seen gliding, like that of a serpent, towards the desired\ntreasure.", "He had actually gained the crags, and was leaping up their\nsides with incredible activity, when a shot from the woods showed how\naccurate had been the judgment of the scout.", "Accordingly a party of adventurers, better\nsuited to the task than the weak though spirited boy, was ordered to\ndislodge the skulkers.", "I know not what has troubled his\nspirit so greatly!\"" ]

[ "having bound up the arm; \"you will be a chief!\"", "If sounds have not lost their virtue, I'll soon have a discourse\nwith the honest fellow, and that in a voice he'll find more agreeable\nthan the speech of 'Killdeer.'\"", "In the meantime I will wrap it in a badge of\nwampum!", "The lad departed, prouder of his flowing blood than the vainest courtier\ncould be of his blushing ribbon; and stalked among the fellows of his\nage, an object of general admiration and envy.", "\"Manitou!", "It would, therefore, have been\nfatal to himself to have attempted the experiment; a warrior would have\nfared no better; but the danger of a boy would not be likely to commence\nuntil after his object was discovered.", "The instant Uncas had struck the blow, he moved out of the circle, and\ncast his eyes up to the sun, which was just gaining the point, when the\ntruce with Magua was to end.", "said the scout, laughing,\nas he took his companion by the arm, and urged him towards the rear.", "\"Your ears might not have profited much by the exchange, had you been\nquicker of foot,\" returned the scout, a little dryly.", "Manitou!" ]

[ "He had actually gained the crags, and was leaping up their\nsides with incredible activity, when a shot from the woods showed how\naccurate had been the judgment of the scout.", "The boy answered it with a\nfeeble but contemptuous shout; and immediately a second bullet was sent\nafter him from another part of the cover.", "At the next instant he\nappeared on the level above, elevating his guns in triumph, while he\nmoved with the air of a conqueror towards the renowned hunter who had\nhonored him by so glorious a commission.", "Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawkeye had taken in the fate of his\nmessenger, he received \"Killdeer\" with a satisfaction that, momentarily,\ndrove all other recollections from his mind.", "After examining the piece\nwith an intelligent eye, and opening and shutting the pan some ten or\nfifteen times, and trying sundry other equally important experiments on\nthe lock, he turned to the boy, and demanded with great manifestations\nof kindness, if he was hurt.", "The urchin looked proudly up in his face,\nbut made no reply.", "\"Ah!", "I see, lad, the knaves have barked your arm!\"", "added the scout,\ntaking up the limb of the patient sufferer, across which a deep flesh\nwound had been made by one of the bullets; \"but a little bruised alder\nwill act like a charm.", "In the meantime I will wrap it in a badge of\nwampum!", "You have commenced the business of a warrior early, my brave\nboy, and are likely to bear a plenty of honorable scars to your grave." ]

[ "\n_\"Flue._--Kill the poys and the luggage!", "'Tis expressly against the\n law of arms; 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be\n offered in the world.\"", "_King Henry V._\n\n\nSo long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the multitude\nremained motionless as beings charmed to the place by some power that\nwas friendly to the Huron; but the instant he disappeared, it became\ntossed and agitated by fierce and powerful passion.", "Uncas maintained his\nelevated stand, keeping his eyes on the form of Cora, until the colors\nof her dress were blended with the foliage of the forest; when he\ndescended, and moving silently through the throng, he disappeared in\nthat lodge from which he had so recently issued.", "A few of the graver and\nmore attentive warriors, who caught the gleams of anger that shot from\nthe eyes of the young chief in passing, followed him to the place he had\nselected for his meditations.", "After which, Tamenund and Alice were\nremoved, and the women and children were ordered to disperse.", "During the\nmomentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled a hive of\ntroubled bees, who only awaited the appearance and example of their\nleader to take some distant and momentous flight.", "A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Uncas; and moving\ndeliberately, with a sort of grave march, towards a dwarf pine that grew\nin the crevices of the rocky terrace, he tore the bark from its body,\nand then returned whence he came without speaking.", "He was soon followed\nby another, who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked\nand blazed[28] trunk.", "A third colored the posts with stripes of a dark\nred paint; all which indications of a hostile design in the leaders of\nthe nation were received by the men without in a gloomy and ominous\nsilence.", "May not something be done for her instant\nrelief?\"", "Uncas looked earnestly at the scout, before he asked,--\n\n\"What says Hawkeye?\"", "\"Give me twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right, along the stream;\nand passing by the huts of the beaver, will join the Sagamore and the\ncolonel.", "You shall then hear the whoop from that quarter; with this wind\none may easily send it a mile.", "Then, Uncas, do you drive in their front;\nwhen they come within range of our pieces, we will give them a blow\nthat, I pledge the good name of an old frontiersman, shall make their\nline bend like an ashen bow.", "After which, we will carry their village,\nand take the woman from the cave; when the affair may be finished with\nthe tribe, according to a white man's battle, by a blow and a victory;\nor, in the Indian fashion, with dodge and cover.", "There may be no great\nlearning, major, in this plan, but with courage and patience it can all\nbe done.\"", "\"I like it much,\" cried Duncan, who saw the release of Cora was the\nprimary object in the mind of the scout; \"I like it much.", "Let it be\ninstantly attempted.\"", "After a short conference, the plan was matured, and rendered more\nintelligible to the several parties; the different signals were\nappointed, and the chiefs separated, each to his allotted station." ]

[ "\n \"But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,\n Till the great king, without a ransom paid,\n To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.\"", "POPE.", "During the time Uncas was making this disposition of his forces, the\nwoods were still, and, with the exception of those who had met in\ncouncil, apparently as much untenanted, as when they came fresh from the\nhands of their Almighty Creator.", "The eye could range, in every\ndirection, through the long and shadowed vistas of the trees; but\nnowhere was any object to be seen that did not properly belong to the\npeaceful and slumbering scenery.", "Here and there a bird was heard\nfluttering among the branches of the beeches, and occasionally a\nsquirrel dropped a nut, drawing the startled looks of the party, for a\nmoment, to the place; but the instant the casual interruption ceased,\nthe passing air was heard murmuring above their heads, along that\nverdant and undulating surface of forest, which spread itself unbroken,\nunless by stream or lake, over such a vast region of country.", "Across the\ntract of wilderness, which lay between the Delawares and the village of\ntheir enemies, it seemed as if the foot of man had never trodden, so\nbreathing and deep was the silence in which it lay.", "But Hawkeye, whose\nduty led him foremost in the adventure, knew the character of those with\nwhom he was about to contend too well to trust the treacherous quiet.", "When he saw his little band collected, the scout threw \"Killdeer\" into\nthe hollow of his arm, and making a silent signal that he would be\nfollowed, he led them many rods towards the rear, into the bed of a\nlittle brook which they had crossed in advancing.", "Here he halted; and\nafter waiting for the whole of his grave and attentive warriors to close\nabout him, he spoke in Delaware, demanding--\n\n\"Do any of my young men know whither this run will lead us?\"", "A Delaware stretched forth a hand, with the two fingers separated, and\nindicating the manner in which they were joined at the root, he\nanswered,--\n\n\"Before the sun could go his own length, the little water will be in\nthe big.\"", "Then he added, pointing in the direction of the place he\nmentioned, \"the two make enough for the beavers.\"", "\"I thought as much,\" returned the scout, glancing his eye upwards at the\nopening in the tree-tops, \"from the course it takes, and the bearings of\nthe mountains.", "Men, we will keep within the cover of its banks till we\nscent the Hurons.\"", "His companions gave the usual brief exclamation of assent, but\nperceiving that their leader was about to lead the way in person, one or\ntwo made signs that all was not as it should be.", "Hawkeye, who\ncomprehended their meaning glances, turned, and perceived that his party\nhad been followed thus far by the singing-master.", "\"Do you know, friend,\" asked the scout gravely, and perhaps with a\nlittle of the pride of conscious deserving in his manner, \"that this is\na band of rangers chosen for the most desperate service, and put under\nthe command of one who, though another might say it with a better face,\nwill not be apt to leave them idle.", "It may not be five, it cannot be\nthirty minutes before we tread on the body of a Huron, living or dead.\"", "\"Though not admonished of your intentions in words,\" returned David,\nwhose face was a little flushed, and whose ordinarily quiet and\nunmeaning eyes glimmered with an expression of unusual fire, \"your men\nhave reminded me of the children of Jacob going out to battle against\nthe Shechemites, for wickedly aspiring to wedlock with a woman of a race\nthat was favored of the Lord.", "Now, I have journeyed far, and sojourned\nmuch in good and evil with the maiden ye seek; and though not a man of\nwar, with my loins girded and my sword sharpened, yet would I gladly\nstrike a blow in her behalf.\"", "The scout hesitated, as if weighing the chances of such a strange\nenlistment in his mind before he answered,--\n\n\"You know not the use of any we'pon.", "You carry no rifle; and believe me,\nwhat the Mingos take they will freely give again.\"", "\"Though not a vaunting and bloodily disposed Goliath,\" returned David,\ndrawing a sling from beneath his parti-colored and uncouth attire, \"I\nhave not forgotten the example of the Jewish boy.", "With this ancient\ninstrument of war have I practised much in my youth, and peradventure\nthe skill has not entirely departed from me.\"", "\"Ay!\"", "said Hawkeye, considering the deer-skin thong and apron, with a\ncold and discouraging eye; \"the thing might do its work among arrows, or\neven knives; but these Mengwe have been furnished by the Frenchers with\na good grooved barrel a man.", "However, it seems to be your gift to go\nunharmed amid fire; and as you have hitherto been favored--major, you\nhave left your rifle at a cock; a single shot before the time would be\njust twenty scalps lost to no purpose--singer, you can follow; we may\nfind use for you in the shoutings.\"", "\"I thank you, friend,\" returned David, supplying himself, like his royal\nnamesake, from among the pebbles of the brook; \"though not given to the\ndesire to kill, had you sent me away my spirit would have been\ntroubled.\"", "\"Remember,\" added the scout, tapping his own head significantly on that\nspot where Gamut was yet sore, \"we come to fight, and not to musickate.", "Until the general whoop is given, nothing speaks but the rifle.\"", "David nodded, as much as to signify his acquiescence with the terms; and\nthen Hawkeye, casting another observant glance over his followers, made\nthe signal to proceed.", "Their route lay, for the distance of a mile, along the bed of the\nwater-course.", "Though protected from any great danger of observation by\nthe precipitous banks, and the thick shrubbery which skirted the stream,\nno precaution known to an Indian attack was neglected.", "A warrior rather\ncrawled than walked on each flank, so as to catch occasional glimpses\ninto the forest; and every few minutes the band came to a halt, and\nlistened for hostile sounds, with an acuteness of organs that would be\nscarcely conceivable to a man in a less natural state.", "Their march was,\nhowever, unmolested, and they reached the point where the lesser stream\nwas lost in the greater, without the smallest evidence that their\nprogress had been noted.", "Here the scout again halted, to consult the\nsigns of the forest.", "\"We are likely to have a good day for a fight,\" he said, in English,\naddressing Heyward, and glancing his eye upwards at the clouds, which\nbegan to move in broad sheets across the firmament; \"a bright sun and a\nglittering barrel are no friends to true sight.", "Everything is favorable;\nthey have the wind, which will bring down their noises and their smoke\ntoo, no little matter in itself; whereas, with us it will be first a\nshot, and then a clear view.", "But here is an end of our cover; the\nbeavers have had the range of this stream for hundreds of years, and\nwhat atween their food and their dams, there is, as you see, many a\ngirdled stub, but few living trees.\"", "Hawkeye had, in truth, in these few words, given no bad description of\nthe prospect that now lay in their front.", "The brook was irregular in its\nwidth, sometimes shooting through narrow fissures in the rocks, and at\nothers spreading over acres of bottom land, forming little areas that\nmight be termed ponds.", "Everywhere along its banks were the mouldering\nrelics of dead trees, in all the stages of decay, from those that\ngroaned on their tottering trunks to such as had recently been robbed of\nthose rugged coats that so mysteriously contain their principle of life.", "A few long, low, and moss-covered piles were scattered among them, like\nthe memorials of a former and long-departed generation.", "All these minute particulars were noted by the scout, with a gravity and\ninterest that they probably had never before attracted.", "He knew that the\nHuron encampment lay a short half mile up the brook; and, with the\ncharacteristic anxiety of one who dreaded a hidden danger, he was\ngreatly troubled at not finding the smallest trace of the presence of\nhis enemy.", "Once or twice he felt induced to give the order for a rush,\nand to attempt the village by surprise; but his experience quickly\nadmonished him of the danger of so useless an experiment.", "Then he\nlistened intently, and with painful uncertainty, for the sounds of\nhostility in the quarter where Uncas was left; but nothing was audible\nexcept the sighing of the wind, that began to sweep over the bosom of\nthe forest in gusts which threatened a tempest.", "At length, yielding\nrather to his unusual impatience than taking counsel from his knowledge,\nhe determined to bring matters to an issue, by unmasking his force, and\nproceeding cautiously, but steadily, up the stream.", "The scout had stood, while making his observations, sheltered by a\nbrake, and his companions still lay in the bed of the ravine, through\nwhich the smaller stream debouched; but on hearing his low, though\nintelligible signal, the whole party stole up the bank, like so many\ndark spectres, and silently arranged themselves around him.", "Pointing in\nthe direction he wished to proceed, Hawkeye advanced, the band breaking\noff in single files, and following so accurately in his footsteps, as if\nto leave it, if we except Heyward and David, the trail of but a single\nman.", "The party was, however, scarcely uncovered before a volley from a dozen\nrifles was heard in their rear; and a Delaware leaping high into the\nair, like a wounded deer, fell at his whole length, perfectly dead.", "\"Ah!", "I feared some deviltry like this!\"", "exclaimed the scout, in English;\nadding, with the quickness of thought, in his adopted tongue, \"To cover,\nmen, and charge!\"", "The band dispersed at the word, and before Heyward had well recovered\nfrom his surprise, he found himself standing alone with David.", "Luckily,\nthe Hurons had already fallen back, and he was safe from their fire.", "But\nthis state of things was evidently to be of short continuance; for the\nscout set the example of pressing on their retreat, by discharging his\nrifle, and darting from tree to tree, as his enemy slowly yielded\nground.", "It would seem that the assault had been made by a very small party of\nthe Hurons, which, however, continued to increase in numbers, as it\nretired on its friends, until the return fire was very nearly, if not\nquite, equal to that maintained by the advancing Delawares.", "Heyward\nthrew himself among the combatants, and imitating the necessary caution\nof his companions, he made quick discharges with his own rifle.", "The\ncontest now grew warm and stationary.", "Few were injured, as both parties\nkept their bodies as much protected as possible by the trees; never,\nindeed, exposing any part of their persons except in the act of taking\naim.", "But the chances were gradually growing unfavorable to Hawkeye and\nhis band.", "The quick-sighted scout perceived his danger, without knowing\nhow to remedy it.", "He saw it was more dangerous to retreat than to\nmaintain his ground; while he found his enemy throwing out men on his\nflank, which rendered the task of keeping themselves covered so very\ndifficult to the Delawares, as nearly to silence their fire.", "At this\nembarrassing moment, when they began to think the whole of the hostile\ntribe was gradually encircling them, they heard the yell of combatants,\nand the rattling of arms, echoing under the arches of the wood, at the\nplace where Uncas was posted; a bottom which, in a manner, lay beneath\nthe ground on which Hawkeye and his party were contending.", "The effects of this attack were instantaneous, and to the scout and his\nfriends greatly relieving.", "It would seem that, while his own surprise\nhad been anticipated, and had consequently failed, the enemy, in their\nturn, having been deceived in its object and in his numbers, had left\ntoo small a force to resist the impetuous onset of the young Mohican.", "This fact was doubly apparent, by the rapid manner in which the battle\nin the forest rolled upwards towards the village, and by an instant\nfalling off in the number of their assailants, who rushed to assist in\nmaintaining the front, and, as it now proved to be, the principal point\nof defence.", "Animating his followers by his voice, and his own example, Hawkeye then\ngave the word to bear down upon their foes.", "The charge, in that rude\nspecies of warfare, consisted merely in pushing from cover to cover,\nnigher to the enemy; and in this manoeuvre he was instantly and\nsuccessfully obeyed.", "The Hurons were compelled to withdraw, and the\nscene of the contest rapidly changed from the more open ground on which\nit had commenced, to a spot where the assailed found a thicket to rest\nupon.", "Here the struggle was protracted, arduous, and seemingly of\ndoubtful issue; the Delawares, though none of them fell, beginning to\nbleed freely, in consequence of the disadvantage at which they were\nheld.", "In this crisis, Hawkeye found means to get behind the same tree as that\nwhich served for a cover to Heyward; most of his own combatants being\nwithin call, a little on his right, where they maintained rapid, though\nfruitless, discharges on their sheltered enemies.", "\"You are a young man, major,\" said the scout, dropping the butt of\n\"Killdeer\" to the earth, and leaning on the barrel, a little fatigued\nwith his previous industry; \"and it may be your gift to lead armies at\nsome future day ag'in these imps the Mingos, You may here see the\nphilosophy of an Indian fight.", "It consists mainly in a ready hand, a\nquick eye, and a good cover.", "Now, if you had a company of the Royal\nAmericans here, in what manner would you set them to work in this\nbusiness?\"", "\"The bayonet would make a road.\"", "\"Ay, there is white reason in what you say; but a man must ask himself,\nin this wilderness, how many lives he can spare.", "No--horse,\"[29]\ncontinued the scout, shaking his head, like one who mused; \"horse, I am\nashamed to say, must, sooner or later, decide these scrimmages.", "The\nbrutes are better than men, and to horse must we come at last.", "Put a\nshodden hoof on the moccasin of a redskin; and if his rifle be once\nemptied, he will never stop to load it again.\"", "\"This is a subject that might better be discussed at another time,\"\nreturned Heyward; \"shall we charge?\"", "\"I see no contradiction to the gifts of any man, in passing his\nbreathing spells in useful reflections,\" the scout replied.", "\"As to a\nrush, I little relish such a measure; for a scalp or two must be thrown\naway in the attempt.", "And yet,\" he added, bending his head aside, to\ncatch the sounds of the distant combat, \"if we are to be of use to\nUncas, these knaves in our front must be got rid of!\"", "Then turning, with a prompt and decided air, he called aloud to his\nIndians, in their own language.", "His words were answered by a shout; and,\nat a given signal, each warrior made a swift movement around his\nparticular tree.", "The sight of so many dark bodies, glancing before their\neyes at the same instant, drew a hasty, and consequently an ineffectual\nfire from the Hurons.", "Without stopping to breathe, the Delawares leaped,\nin long bounds, towards the wood, like so many panthers springing upon\ntheir prey.", "Hawkeye was in front, brandishing his terrible rifle, and\nanimating his followers by his example.", "A few of the older and more\ncunning Hurons, who had not been deceived by the artifice which had been\npractised to draw their fire, now made a close and deadly discharge of\ntheir pieces, and justified the apprehensions of the scout, by felling\nthree of his foremost warriors.", "But the shock was insufficient to repel\nthe impetus of the charge.", "The Delawares broke into the cover with the\nferocity of their natures, and swept away every trace of resistance by\nthe fury of the onset.", "The combat endured only for an instant, hand to hand, and then the\nassailed yielded ground rapidly, until they reached the opposite margin\nof the thicket, where they clung to the cover, with the sort of\nobstinacy that is so often witnessed in hunted brutes.", "At this critical\nmoment, when the success of the struggle was again becoming doubtful,\nthe crack of the rifle was heard behind the Hurons, and a bullet came\nwhizzing from among some beaver lodges, which were situated in the\nclearing, in their rear, and was followed by the fierce and appalling\nyell of the war-whoop.", "\"There speaks the Sagamore!\"", "shouted Hawkeye, answering the cry with\nhis own stentorian voice; \"we have them now in face and back!\"", "The effect on the Hurons was instantaneous.", "Discouraged by an assault\nfrom a quarter that left them no opportunity for cover, their warriors\nuttered a common yell of disappointment, and breaking off in a body,\nthey spread themselves across the opening, heedless of every\nconsideration but flight.", "Many fell, in making the experiment, under the\nbullets and the blows of the pursuing Delawares.", "We shall not pause to detail the meeting between the scout and\nChingachgook, or the more touching interview that Duncan held with\nMunro.", "A few brief and hurried words served to explain the state of\nthings to both parties; and then Hawkeye pointing out the Sagamore to\nhis band, resigned the chief authority into the hands of the Mohican\nchief.", "Chingachgook assumed the station to which his birth and\nexperience gave him so distinguished a claim, with the grave dignity\nthat always gives force to the mandates of a native warrior.", "Following\nthe footsteps of the scout, he led the party back through the thicket,\nhis men scalping the fallen Hurons, and secreting the bodies of their\nown dead as they proceeded, until they gained a point where the former\nwas content to make a halt.", "The warriors, who had breathed themselves freely in the preceding\nstruggle, were now posted on a bit of level ground, sprinkled with trees\nin sufficient numbers to conceal them.", "The land fell away rather\nprecipitately in front, and beneath their eyes stretched, for several\nmiles, a narrow, dark, and wooded vale.", "It was through this dense and\ndark forest that Uncas was still contending with the main body of the\nHurons.", "The Mohican and his friends advanced to the brow of the hill, and\nlistened, with practised ears, to the sounds of the combat.", "A few birds\nhovered over the leafy bosom of the valley, frightened from their\nsecluded nests; and here and there a light vapory cloud, which seemed\nalready blending with the atmosphere, arose above the trees, and\nindicated some spot where the struggle had been fierce and stationary.", "\"The fight is coming up the ascent,\" said Duncan, pointing in the\ndirection of a new explosion of fire-arms; \"we are too much in the\ncentre of their line to be effective.\"", "\"They will incline into the hollow, where the cover is thicker,\" said\nthe scout, \"and that will leave us well on their flank.", "Go, Sagamore;\nyou will hardly be in time to give the whoop, and lead on the young men.", "I will fight this scrimmage with warriors of my own color.", "You know me,\nMohican; not a Huron of them all shall cross the swell, into your rear,\nwithout the notice of 'Killdeer.'\"", "The Indian chief paused another moment to consider the signs of the\ncontest, which was now rolling rapidly up the ascent, a certain evidence\nthat the Delawares triumphed; nor did he actually quit the place until\nadmonished of the proximity of his friends, as well as enemies, by the\nbullets of the former, which began to patter among the dried leaves on\nthe ground, like the bits of falling hail which precede the bursting of\nthe tempest.", "Hawkeye and his three companions withdrew a few paces to a\nshelter, and awaited the issue with calmness, that nothing but great\npractice could impart in such a scene.", "It was not long before the reports of the rifles began to lose the\nechoes of the woods, and to sound like weapons discharged in the open\nair.", "Then a warrior appeared, here and there, driven to the skirts of\nthe forest, and rallying as he entered the clearing, as at the place\nwhere the final stand was to be made.", "These were soon joined by the\nothers, until a long line of swarthy figures was to be seen clinging to\nthe cover with the obstinacy of desperation.", "Heyward began to grow\nimpatient, and turned his eyes anxiously in the direction of\nChingachgook.", "The chief was seated on a rock, with nothing visible but\nhis calm visage, considering the spectacle with an eye as deliberate as\nif he were posted there merely to view the struggle.", "\"The time is come for the Delawares to strike!\"", "said Duncan.", "\"Not so, not so,\" returned the scout; \"when he scents his friends, he\nwill let them know that he is here.", "See, see; the knaves are getting in\nthat clump of pines, like bees settling after their flight.", "By the Lord,\na squaw might put a bullet into the centre of such a knot of dark\nskins!\"", "At that instant the whoop was given, and a dozen Hurons fell by a\ndischarge from Chingachgook and his band.", "The shout that followed was\nanswered by a single war-cry from the forest, and a yell passed through\nthe air that sounded as if a thousand throats were united in a common\neffort.", "The Hurons staggered, deserting the centre of their line, and\nUncas issued from the forest through the opening they left, at the head\nof a hundred warriors.", "Waving his hands right and left, the young chief pointed out the enemy\nto his followers, who separated in pursuit.", "The war now divided, both\nwings of the broken Hurons seeking protection in the woods again, hotly\npressed by the victorious warriors of the Lenape.", "A minute might have\npassed, but the sounds were already receding in different directions,\nand gradually losing their distinctness beneath the echoing arches of\nthe woods.", "One little knot of Hurons, however, had disdained to seek a\ncover, and were retiring, like lions at bay, slowly and sullenly up the\nacclivity which Chingachgook and his band had just deserted, to mingle\nmore closely in the fray.", "Magua was conspicuous in this party, both by\nhis fierce and savage mien, and by the air of haughty authority he yet\nmaintained.", "In his eagerness to expedite the pursuit, Uncas had left himself nearly\nalone; but the moment his eyes caught the figure of Le Subtil, every\nother consideration was forgotten.", "Raising his cry of battle, which\nrecalled some six or seven warriors, and reckless of the disparity of\ntheir numbers, he rushed upon his enemy.", "Le Renard, who watched the\nmovement, paused to receive him with secret joy.", "But at the moment when\nhe thought the rashness of his impetuous young assailant had left him at\nhis mercy, another shout was given, and La Longue Carabine was seen\nrushing to the rescue, attended by all his white associates.", "The Huron\ninstantly turned, and commenced a rapid retreat up the ascent.", "There was no time for greetings or congratulations; for Uncas, though\nunconscious of the presence of his friends, continued the pursuit with\nthe velocity of the wind.", "In vain Hawkeye called to him to respect the\ncovers; the young Mohican braved the dangerous fire of his enemies, and\nsoon compelled them to a flight as swift as his own headlong speed.", "It\nwas fortunate that the race was of short continuance, and that the white\nmen were much favored by their position, or the Delaware would soon have\noutstripped all his companions, and fallen a victim to his own temerity.", "But ere such a calamity could happen, the pursuers and pursued entered\nthe Wyandot village, within striking distance of each other.", "Excited by the presence of their dwellings, and tired of the chase, the\nHurons now made a stand, and fought around their council-lodge with the\nfury of despair.", "The onset and the issue were like the passage and\ndestruction of a whirlwind.", "The tomahawk of Uncas, the blows of\nHawkeye, and even the still nervous arm of Munro, were all busy for that\npassing moment, and the ground was quickly strewed with their enemies.", "Still Magua, though daring and much exposed, escaped from every effort\nagainst his life, with that sort of fabled protection that was made to\noverlook the fortunes of favored heroes in the legends of ancient\npoetry.", "Raising a yell that spoke volumes of anger and disappointment,\nthe subtle chief, when he saw his comrades fallen, darted away from the\nplace, attended by his two only surviving friends, leaving the Delawares\nengaged in stripping the dead of the bloody trophies of their victory.", "But Uncas, who had vainly sought him in the _melee_ bounded forward in\npursuit; Hawkeye, Heyward, and David still pressing on his footsteps.", "The utmost that the scout could effect, was to keep the muzzle of his\nrifle a little in advance of his friend, to whom, however, it answered\nevery purpose of a charmed shield.", "Once Magua appeared disposed to make\nanother and a final effort to revenge his losses; but, abandoning his\nintention as soon as demonstrated, he leaped into a thicket of bushes,\nthrough which he was followed by his enemies, and suddenly entered the\nmouth of the cave already known to the reader.", "Hawkeye, who had only\nforborne to fire in tenderness to Uncas, raised a shout of success, and\nproclaimed aloud, that now they were certain of their game.", "The pursuers\ndashed into the long and narrow entrance, in time to catch a glimpse of\nthe retreating forms of the Hurons.", "Their passage through the natural\ngalleries and subterraneous apartments of the cavern was preceded by the\nshrieks and cries of hundreds of women and children.", "The place, seen by\nits dim and uncertain light, appeared like the shades of the infernal\nregions, across which unhappy ghosts and savage demons were flitting in\nmultitudes.", "Still Uncas kept his eye on Magua, as if life to him possessed but a\nsingle object.", "Heyward and the scout still pressed on his rear,\nactuated, though possibly in a less degree, by a common feeling.", "But\ntheir way was becoming intricate, in those dark and gloomy passages, and\nthe glimpses of the retiring warriors less distinct and frequent; and\nfor a moment the trace was believed to be lost, when a white robe was\nseen fluttering in the farther extremity of a passage that seemed to\nlead up the mountain.", "\"'Tis Cora!\"", "exclaimed Heyward, in a voice in which horror and delight\nwere wildly mingled.", "\"Cora!", "Cora!\"", "echoed Uncas, bending forward like a deer.", "\"'Tis the maiden!\"", "shouted the scout, \"Courage, lady; we come!--we\ncome!\"", "The chase was renewed with a diligence rendered tenfold encouraging by\nthis glimpse of the captive.", "But the way was rugged, broken, and in\nspots nearly impassable.", "Uncas abandoned his rifle, and leaped forward\nwith headlong precipitation.", "Heyward rashly imitated his example, though\nboth were, a moment afterwards, admonished of its madness, by hearing\nthe bellowing of a piece, that the Hurons found time to discharge down\nthe passage in the rocks, the bullet from which even gave the young\nMohican a slight wound.", "\"We must close!\"", "said the scout, passing his friends by a desperate\nleap; \"the knaves will pick us all off at this distance; and see, they\nhold the maiden so as to shield themselves!\"", "Though his words were unheeded, or rather unheard, his example was\nfollowed by his companions, who, by incredible exertions, got near\nenough to the fugitives to perceive that Cora was borne along between\nthe two warriors, while Magua prescribed the direction and manner of\ntheir flight.", "At this moment the forms of all four were strongly drawn\nagainst an opening in the sky, and they disappeared.", "Nearly frantic with\ndisappointment, Uncas and Heyward increased efforts that already seemed\nsuper-human, and they issued from the cavern on the side of the\nmountain, in time to note the route of the pursued.", "The course lay up\nthe ascent, and still continued hazardous and laborious.", "Encumbered by his rifle, and, perhaps, not sustained by so deep an\ninterest in the captive as his companions, the scout suffered the latter\nto precede him a little, Uncas, in his turn, taking the lead of Heyward.", "In this manner, rocks, precipices, and difficulties were surmounted in\nan incredibly short space, that at another time, and under other\ncircumstances, would have been deemed almost insuperable.", "But the\nimpetuous young men were rewarded, by finding that, encumbered with\nCora, the Hurons were losing ground in the race.", "\"Stay, dog of the Wyandots!\"", "exclaimed Uncas, shaking his bright\ntomahawk at Magua; \"a Delaware girl calls stay!\"", "\"I will go no farther,\" cried Cora, stepping unexpectedly on a ledge of\nrocks, that overhung a deep precipice, at no great distance from the\nsummit of the mountain.", "\"Kill me if thou wilt, detestable Huron; I will\ngo no farther.\"", "The supporters of the maiden raised their ready tomahawks with the\nimpious joy that fiends are thought to take in mischief, but Magua\nstayed the uplifted arms.", "The Huron chief, after casting the weapons he\nhad wrested from his companions over the rock, drew his knife, and\nturned to his captive, with a look in which conflicting passions\nfiercely contended.", "\"Woman,\" he said, \"choose; the wigwam or the knife of Le Subtil!\"", "Cora regarded him not, but dropping on her knees, she raised her eyes\nand stretched her arms towards heaven, saying, in a meek and yet\nconfiding voice,--\n\n\"I am thine!", "do with me as thou seest best!\"", "\"Woman,\" repeated Magua, hoarsely, and endeavoring in vain to catch a\nglance from her serene and beaming eye, \"choose!\"", "But Cora neither heard nor heeded his demand.", "The form of the Huron\ntrembled in every fibre, and he raised his arm on high, but dropped it\nagain with a bewildered air, like one who doubted.", "Once more he\nstruggled with himself and lifted the keen weapon again; but just then a\npiercing cry was heard above them, and Uncas appeared, leaping\nfrantically, from a fearful height, upon the ledge.", "Magua recoiled a\nstep; and one of his assistants, profiting by the chance, sheathed his\nown knife in the bosom of Cora.", "The Huron sprang like a tiger on his offending and already retreating\ncountryman, but the falling form of Uncas separated the unnatural\ncombatants.", "Diverted from his object by this interruption, and maddened\nby the murder he had just witnessed, Magua buried his weapon in the back\nof the prostrate Delaware, uttering an unearthly shout as he committed\nthe dastardly deed.", "But Uncas arose from the blow, as the wounded\npanther turns upon his foe, and struck the murderer of Cora to his feet,\nby an effort in which the last of his failing strength was expended.", "Then, with a stern and steady look, he turned to Le Subtil, and\nindicated by the expression of his eye, all that he would do, had not\nthe power deserted him.", "The latter seized the nerveless arm of the\nunresisting Delaware, and passed his knife into his bosom three several\ntimes, before his victim, still keeping his gaze riveted on his enemy\nwith a look of inextinguishable scorn, fell dead at his feet.", "\"Mercy!", "mercy!", "Huron,\" cried Heyward, from above, in tones nearly\nchoked by horror; \"give mercy, and thou shalt receive it!\"", "Whirling the bloody knife up at the imploring youth, the victorious\nMagua uttered a cry so fierce, so wild, and yet so joyous, that it\nconveyed the sounds of savage triumph to the ears of those who fought in\nthe valley, a thousand feet below.", "He was answered by a burst from the\nlips of the scout, whose tall person was just then seen moving swiftly\ntowards him, along those dangerous crags, with steps as bold and\nreckless as if he possessed the power to move in air.", "But when the\nhunter reached the scene of the ruthless massacre, the ledge was\ntenanted only by the dead.", "His keen eye took a single look at the victims, and then shot its\nglances over the difficulties of the ascent in his front.", "A form stood\nat the brow of the mountain, on the very edge of the giddy height, with\nuplifted arms, in an awful attitude of menace.", "Without stopping to\nconsider his person, the rifle of Hawkeye was raised; but a rock, which\nfell on the head of one of the fugitives below exposed the indignant and\nglowing countenance of the honest Gamut.", "Then Magua issued from a\ncrevice, and stepping with calm indifference over the body of the last\nof his associates, he leaped a wide fissure, and ascended the rocks at a\npoint where the arm of David could not reach him.", "A single bound would\ncarry him to the brow of the precipice, and assure his safety.", "Before\ntaking the leap, however, the Huron paused, and shaking his hand at the\nscout, he shouted,--\n\n\"The pale-faces are dogs!", "the Delawares women!", "Magua leaves them on the\nrocks, for the crows!\"", "Laughing hoarsely, he made a desperate leap, and fell short of his mark;\nthough his hand grasped a shrub on the verge of the height.", "The form of\nHawkeye had crouched like a beast about to take its spring, and his\nframe trembled so violently with eagerness, that the muzzle of the\nhalf-raised rifle played like a leaf fluttering in the wind.", "Without\nexhausting himself with fruitless efforts, the cunning Magua suffered\nhis body to drop to the length of his arms, and found a fragment for his\nfeet to rest on.", "Then summoning all his powers, he renewed the attempt,\nand so far succeeded, as to draw his knees on the edge of the mountain.", "It was now, when the body of his enemy was most collected together, that\nthe agitated weapon of the scout was drawn to his shoulder.", "The\nsurrounding rocks themselves were not steadier than the piece became,\nfor the single instant that it poured out its contents.", "The arms of the\nHuron relaxed, and his body fell back a little, while his knees still\nkept their position.", "Turning a relentless look on his enemy, he shook a\nhand in grim defiance.", "But his hold loosened, and his dark person was\nseen cutting the air with its head downwards, for a fleeting instant,\nuntil it glided past the fringe of shrubbery which clung to the\nmountain, in its rapid flight to destruction." ]

[ "The party was, however, scarcely uncovered before a volley from a dozen\nrifles was heard in their rear; and a Delaware leaping high into the\nair, like a wounded deer, fell at his whole length, perfectly dead.", "Many fell, in making the experiment, under the\nbullets and the blows of the pursuing Delawares.", "Following\nthe footsteps of the scout, he led the party back through the thicket,\nhis men scalping the fallen Hurons, and secreting the bodies of their\nown dead as they proceeded, until they gained a point where the former\nwas content to make a halt.", "The Mohican and his friends advanced to the brow of the hill, and\nlistened, with practised ears, to the sounds of the combat.", "Then a warrior appeared, here and there, driven to the skirts of\nthe forest, and rallying as he entered the clearing, as at the place\nwhere the final stand was to be made.", "The shout that followed was\nanswered by a single war-cry from the forest, and a yell passed through\nthe air that sounded as if a thousand throats were united in a common\neffort.", "But Uncas, who had vainly sought him in the _melee_ bounded forward in\npursuit; Hawkeye, Heyward, and David still pressing on his footsteps.", "echoed Uncas, bending forward like a deer.", "exclaimed Uncas, shaking his bright\ntomahawk at Magua; \"a Delaware girl calls stay!\"", "\"Woman,\" he said, \"choose; the wigwam or the knife of Le Subtil!\"" ]

[ "See, see; the knaves are getting in\nthat clump of pines, like bees settling after their flight.", "Without\nexhausting himself with fruitless efforts, the cunning Magua suffered\nhis body to drop to the length of his arms, and found a fragment for his\nfeet to rest on.", "\"We must close!\"", "Though his words were unheeded, or rather unheard, his example was\nfollowed by his companions, who, by incredible exertions, got near\nenough to the fugitives to perceive that Cora was borne along between\nthe two warriors, while Magua prescribed the direction and manner of\ntheir flight.", "\"Cora!", "Magua leaves them on the\nrocks, for the crows!\"", "But the chances were gradually growing unfavorable to Hawkeye and\nhis band.", "Once or twice he felt induced to give the order for a rush,\nand to attempt the village by surprise; but his experience quickly\nadmonished him of the danger of so useless an experiment.", "The Huron\ninstantly turned, and commenced a rapid retreat up the ascent.", "\"Mercy!" ]

[ "The land fell away rather\nprecipitately in front, and beneath their eyes stretched, for several\nmiles, a narrow, dark, and wooded vale.", "It was through this dense and\ndark forest that Uncas was still contending with the main body of the\nHurons.", "The Mohican and his friends advanced to the brow of the hill, and\nlistened, with practised ears, to the sounds of the combat.", "A few birds\nhovered over the leafy bosom of the valley, frightened from their\nsecluded nests; and here and there a light vapory cloud, which seemed\nalready blending with the atmosphere, arose above the trees, and\nindicated some spot where the struggle had been fierce and stationary.", "\"The fight is coming up the ascent,\" said Duncan, pointing in the\ndirection of a new explosion of fire-arms; \"we are too much in the\ncentre of their line to be effective.\"", "\"They will incline into the hollow, where the cover is thicker,\" said\nthe scout, \"and that will leave us well on their flank.", "Go, Sagamore;\nyou will hardly be in time to give the whoop, and lead on the young men.", "I will fight this scrimmage with warriors of my own color.", "You know me,\nMohican; not a Huron of them all shall cross the swell, into your rear,\nwithout the notice of 'Killdeer.'\"", "The Indian chief paused another moment to consider the signs of the\ncontest, which was now rolling rapidly up the ascent, a certain evidence\nthat the Delawares triumphed; nor did he actually quit the place until\nadmonished of the proximity of his friends, as well as enemies, by the\nbullets of the former, which began to patter among the dried leaves on\nthe ground, like the bits of falling hail which precede the bursting of\nthe tempest.", "Hawkeye and his three companions withdrew a few paces to a\nshelter, and awaited the issue with calmness, that nothing but great\npractice could impart in such a scene." ]

[ "\n \"But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,\n Till the great king, without a ransom paid,\n To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.\"", "POPE.", "During the time Uncas was making this disposition of his forces, the\nwoods were still, and, with the exception of those who had met in\ncouncil, apparently as much untenanted, as when they came fresh from the\nhands of their Almighty Creator.", "The eye could range, in every\ndirection, through the long and shadowed vistas of the trees; but\nnowhere was any object to be seen that did not properly belong to the\npeaceful and slumbering scenery.", "Here and there a bird was heard\nfluttering among the branches of the beeches, and occasionally a\nsquirrel dropped a nut, drawing the startled looks of the party, for a\nmoment, to the place; but the instant the casual interruption ceased,\nthe passing air was heard murmuring above their heads, along that\nverdant and undulating surface of forest, which spread itself unbroken,\nunless by stream or lake, over such a vast region of country.", "Across the\ntract of wilderness, which lay between the Delawares and the village of\ntheir enemies, it seemed as if the foot of man had never trodden, so\nbreathing and deep was the silence in which it lay.", "But Hawkeye, whose\nduty led him foremost in the adventure, knew the character of those with\nwhom he was about to contend too well to trust the treacherous quiet.", "When he saw his little band collected, the scout threw \"Killdeer\" into\nthe hollow of his arm, and making a silent signal that he would be\nfollowed, he led them many rods towards the rear, into the bed of a\nlittle brook which they had crossed in advancing.", "Here he halted; and\nafter waiting for the whole of his grave and attentive warriors to close\nabout him, he spoke in Delaware, demanding--\n\n\"Do any of my young men know whither this run will lead us?\"", "A Delaware stretched forth a hand, with the two fingers separated, and\nindicating the manner in which they were joined at the root, he\nanswered,--\n\n\"Before the sun could go his own length, the little water will be in\nthe big.\"", "Magua leaves them on the\nrocks, for the crows!\"", "Laughing hoarsely, he made a desperate leap, and fell short of his mark;\nthough his hand grasped a shrub on the verge of the height.", "The form of\nHawkeye had crouched like a beast about to take its spring, and his\nframe trembled so violently with eagerness, that the muzzle of the\nhalf-raised rifle played like a leaf fluttering in the wind.", "Without\nexhausting himself with fruitless efforts, the cunning Magua suffered\nhis body to drop to the length of his arms, and found a fragment for his\nfeet to rest on.", "Then summoning all his powers, he renewed the attempt,\nand so far succeeded, as to draw his knees on the edge of the mountain.", "It was now, when the body of his enemy was most collected together, that\nthe agitated weapon of the scout was drawn to his shoulder.", "The\nsurrounding rocks themselves were not steadier than the piece became,\nfor the single instant that it poured out its contents.", "The arms of the\nHuron relaxed, and his body fell back a little, while his knees still\nkept their position.", "Turning a relentless look on his enemy, he shook a\nhand in grim defiance.", "But his hold loosened, and his dark person was\nseen cutting the air with its head downwards, for a fleeting instant,\nuntil it glided past the fringe of shrubbery which clung to the\nmountain, in its rapid flight to destruction." ]

[ "\n \"They fought, like brave men, long and well,\n They piled that ground with Moslem slain,\n They conquered--but Bozzaris fell,\n Bleeding at every vein.", "His few surviving comrades saw\n His smile when rang their proud hurrah,\n And the red field was won;\n Then saw in death his eyelids close\n Calmly, as to a night's repose,\n Like flowers at set of sun.\"", "HALLECK.", "The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation of mourners.", "The sounds of the battle were over, and they had fed fat their ancient\ngrudge, and had avenged their recent quarrel with the Mengwe, by the\ndestruction of a whole community.", "The black and murky atmosphere that\nfloated around the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficiently\nannounced, of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe; while hundreds\nof ravens, that struggled above the bleak summits of the mountains, or\nswept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the woods, furnished a\nfrightful direction to the scene of the combat.", "In short, any eye, at\nall practised in the signs of a frontier warfare, might easily have\ntraced all those unerring evidences of the ruthless results which attend\nan Indian vengeance.", "Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners.", "No shouts of\nsuccess, no songs of triumph, were heard, in rejoicings for their\nvictory.", "The latest straggler had returned from his fell employment,\nonly to strip himself of the terrific emblems of his bloody calling, and\nto join in the lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people.", "Pride and exultation were supplanted by humility, and the fiercest of\nhuman passions was already succeeded by the most profound and\nunequivocal demonstrations of grief.", "The lodges were deserted; but a broad belt of earnest faces encircled a\nspot in their vicinity, whither everything possessing life had repaired,\nand where all were now collected, in deep and awful silence.", "Though\nbeings of every rank and age, of both sexes, and of all pursuits, had\nunited to form this breathing wall of bodies, they were influenced by a\nsingle emotion.", "Each eye was riveted on the centre of that ring, which\ncontained the objects of so much, and of so common, an interest.", "Six Delaware girls, with their long, dark, flowing tresses falling\nloosely across their bosoms, stood apart, and only gave proofs of their\nexistence as they occasionally strewed sweet-scented herbs and forest\nflowers on a litter of fragrant plants, that, under a pall of Indian\nrobes, supported all that now remained of the ardent, high-souled, and\ngenerous Cora.", "Her form was concealed in many wrappers of the same\nsimple manufacture, and her face was shut forever from the gaze of men.", "At her feet was seated the desolate Munro.", "His aged head was bowed\nnearly to the earth, in compelled submission to the stroke of\nProvidence; but a hidden anguish struggled about his furrowed brow, that\nwas only partially concealed by the careless locks of gray that had\nfallen, neglected, on his temples.", "Gamut stood at his side, his meek\nhead bared to the rays of the sun, while his eyes, wandering and\nconcerned, seemed to be equally divided between that little volume,\nwhich contained so many quaint but holy maxims, and the being in whose\nbehalf his soul yearned to administer consolation.", "Heyward was also\nnigh, supporting himself against a tree, and endeavoring to keep down\nthose sudden risings of sorrow that it required his utmost manhood to\nsubdue.", "But sad and melancholy as this group may easily be imagined, it was far\nless touching than another, that occupied the opposite space of the same\narea.", "Seated, as in life, with his form and limbs arranged in grave and\ndecent composure, Uncas appeared, arrayed in the most gorgeous ornaments\nthat the wealth of the tribe could furnish.", "Rich plumes nodded above his\nhead; wampum, gorgets, bracelets, and medals, adorned his person in\nprofusion; though his dull eye and vacant lineaments too strongly\ncontradicted the idle tale of pride they would convey.", "Directly in front of the corpse Chingachgook was placed, without arms,\npaint, or adornment of any sort, except the bright blue blazonry of his\nrace, that was indelibly impressed on his naked bosom.", "During the long\nperiod that the tribe had been thus collected, the Mohican warrior had\nkept a steady, anxious look on the cold and senseless countenance of his\nson.", "So riveted and intense had been that gaze, and so changeless his\nattitude, that a stranger might not have told the living from the dead,\nbut for the occasional gleamings of a troubled spirit that shot athwart\nthe dark visage of one, and the death-like calm that had forever settled\non the lineaments of the other.", "The scout was hard by, leaning in a pensive posture on his own fatal and\navenging weapon; while Tamenund, supported by the elders of his nation,\noccupied a high place at hand, whence he might look down on the mute and\nsorrowful assemblage of his people.", "Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in the\nmilitary attire of a strange nation; and without it was his war-horse,\nin the centre of a collection of mounted domestics, seemingly in\nreadiness to undertake some distant journey.", "The vestments of the\nstranger announced him to be one who held a responsible situation near\nthe person of the captain of the Canadas; and who, as it would now seem,\nfinding his errand of peace frustrated by the fierce impetuosity of his\nallies, was content to become a silent and sad spectator of the fruits\nof a contest that he had arrived too late to anticipate.", "The day was drawing to the close of its first quarter, and yet had the\nmultitude maintained its breathing stillness since its dawn.", "No sound\nlouder than a stifled sob had been heard among them, nor had even a limb\nbeen moved throughout that long and painful period, except to perform\nthe simple and touching offerings that were made, from time to time, in\ncommemoration of the dead.", "The patience and forbearance of Indian\nfortitude could alone support such an appearance of abstraction, as\nseemed now to have turned each dark and motionless figure into stone.", "At length, the sage of the Delawares stretched forth an arm, and leaning\non the shoulders of his attendants, he arose with an air as feeble as if\nanother age had already intervened between the man who had met his\nnation the preceding day, and him who now tottered on his elevated\nstand.", "\"Men of the Lenape!\"", "he said, in hollow tones that sounded like a voice\ncharged with some prophetic mission; \"the face of the Manitou is behind\na cloud!", "His eye is turned from you; His ears are shut; His tongue gives\nno answer.", "You see Him not; yet His judgments are before you.", "Let your\nhearts be open and your spirits tell no lie.", "Men of the Lenape!", "the face\nof the Manitou is behind a cloud.\"", "As this simple and yet terrible annunciation stole on the ears of the\nmultitude, a stillness as deep and awful succeeded as if the venerated\nspirit they worshipped had uttered the words without the aid of human\norgans; and even the inanimate Uncas appeared a being of life, compared\nwith the humbled and submissive throng by whom he was surrounded.", "As the\nimmediate effect, however, gradually passed away, a low murmur of voices\ncommenced a sort of chant in honor of the dead.", "The sounds were those of\nfemales, and were thrillingly soft and wailing.", "The words were connected\nby no regular continuation, but as one ceased another took up the\neulogy, or lamentation, whichever it might be called, and gave vent to\nher emotions in such language as was suggested by her feelings and the\noccasion.", "At intervals the speaker was interrupted by general and loud\nbursts of sorrow, during which the girls around the bier of Cora plucked\nthe plants and flowers blindly from her body, as if bewildered with\ngrief.", "But, in the milder moments of their plaint, these emblems of\npurity and sweetness were cast back to their places, with every sign of\ntenderness and regret.", "Though rendered less connected by many and\ngeneral interruptions and outbreakings, a translation of their language\nwould have contained a regular descant, which, in substance, might have\nproved to possess a train of consecutive ideas.", "A girl, selected for the task by her rank and qualifications, commenced\nby modest allusions to the qualities of the deceased warrior,\nembellishing her expressions with those oriental images that the Indians\nhave probably brought with them from the extremes of the other\ncontinent, and which form of themselves a link to connect the ancient\nhistories of the two worlds.", "She called him the \"panther of his tribe\";\nand described him as one whose moccasin left no trail on the dews; whose\nbound was like the leap of the young fawn; whose eye was brighter than a\nstar in the dark night; and whose voice, in battle, was loud as the\nthunder of the Manitou.", "She reminded him of the mother who bore him, and\ndwelt forcibly on the happiness she must feel in possessing such a son.", "She bade him tell her, when they met in the world of spirits, that the\nDelaware girls had shed tears above the grave of her child, and had\ncalled her blessed.", "Then, they who succeeded, changing their tones to a milder and still\nmore tender strain, alluded, with the delicacy and sensitiveness of\nwoman, to the stranger maiden, who had left the upper earth at a time so\nnear his own departure, as to render the will of the Great Spirit too\nmanifest to be disregarded.", "They admonished him to be kind to her, and\nto have consideration for her ignorance of those arts which were so\nnecessary to the comfort of a warrior like himself.", "They dwelt upon her\nmatchless beauty, and on her noble resolution, without the taint of\nenvy, and as angels may be thought to delight in a superior excellence;\nadding, that these endowments should prove more than equivalent for any\nlittle imperfections in her education.", "After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the maiden\nherself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and love.", "They exhorted\nher to be of cheerful mind, and to fear nothing for future welfare.", "A\nhunter would be her companion, who knew how to provide for her smallest\nwants; and a warrior was at her side who was able to protect her against\nevery danger.", "They promised that her path should be pleasant, and her\nburden light.", "They cautioned her against unavailing regrets for the\nfriends of her youth, and the scenes where her fathers had dwelt;\nassuring her that the \"blessed hunting-grounds of the Lenape\" contained\nvales as pleasant, streams as pure, and flowers as sweet, as the \"heaven\nof the pale-faces.\"", "They advised her to be attentive to the wants of her\ncompanion, and never to forget the distinction which the Manitou had so\nwisely established between them.", "Then, in a wild burst of their chant,\nthey sang with united voices the temper of the Mohican's mind.", "They\npronounced him noble, manly and generous; all that became a warrior, and\nall that a maid might love.", "Clothing their ideas in the most remote and\nsubtle images, they betrayed, that, in the short period of their\nintercourse, they had discovered, with the intuitive perception of their\nsex, the truant disposition of his inclinations.", "The Delaware girls had\nfound no favor in his eyes!", "He was of a race that had once been lords on\nthe shores of the salt lake, and his wishes had led him back to a people\nwho dwelt about the graves of his fathers.", "Why should not such a\npredilection be encouraged!", "That she was of a blood purer and richer\nthan the rest of her nation, any eye might have seen; that she was equal\nto the dangers and daring of a life in the woods, her conduct had\nproved; and now, they added, the \"wise one of the earth\" had\ntransplanted her to a place where she would find congenial spirits, and\nmight be forever happy.", "Then, with another transition in voice and subject, allusions were made\nto the virgin who wept in the adjacent lodge.", "They compared her to\nflakes of snow; as pure, as white, as brilliant, and as liable to melt\nin the fierce heats of summer, or congeal in the frosts of winter.", "They\ndoubted not that she was lovely in the eyes of the young chief, whose\nskin and whose sorrow seemed so like her own; but, though far from\nexpressing such a preference, it was evident they deemed her less\nexcellent than the maid they mourned.", "Still they denied her no meed her\nrare charms might properly claim.", "Her ringlets were compared to the\nexuberant tendrils of the vine, her eye to the blue vault of the\nheavens, and the most spotless cloud, with its glowing flush of the sun,\nwas admitted to be less attractive than her bloom.", "During these and similar songs nothing was audible but the murmurs of\nthe music; relieved, as it was, or rather rendered terrible, by those\noccasional bursts of grief which might be called its choruses.", "The\nDelawares themselves listened like charmed men; and it was very\napparent, by the variations of their speaking countenances, how deep and\ntrue was their sympathy.", "Even David was not reluctant to lend his ears\nto tones of voices so sweet; and long ere the chant was ended, his gaze\nannounced that his soul was enthralled.", "The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the words were\nintelligible, suffered himself to be a little aroused from his\nmeditative posture, and bent his face aside, to catch their meaning, as\nthe girls proceeded.", "But when they spoke of the future prospects of Cora\nand Uncas, he shook his head, like one who knew the error of their\nsimple creed, and resuming his reclining attitude, he maintained it\nuntil the ceremony--if that might be called a ceremony, in which feeling\nwas so deeply imbued--was finished.", "Happily for the self-command of both\nHeyward and Munro, they knew not the meaning of the wild sounds they\nheard.", "Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest manifested by the\nnative part of the audience.", "His look never changed throughout the whole\nof the scene, nor did a muscle move in his rigid countenance, even at\nthe wildest or the most pathetic parts of the lamentation.", "The cold and\nsenseless remains of his son was all to him, and every other sense but\nthat of sight seemed frozen, in order that his eyes might take their\nfinal gaze at those lineaments he had so long loved, and which were now\nabout to be closed forever from his view.", "In this stage of the funeral obsequies, a warrior much renowned for\ndeeds in arms, and more especially for services in the recent combat, a\nman of stern and grave demeanor, advanced slowly from the crowd, and\nplaced himself nigh the person of the dead.", "\"Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki?\"", "he said, addressing\nhimself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if the empty clay retained the\nfaculties of the animated man; \"thy time has been like that of the sun\nwhen in the trees; thy glory brighter than his light at noonday.", "Thou\nart gone, youthful warrior, but a hundred Wyandots are clearing the\nbriers from thy path to the world of spirits.", "Who that saw thee in\nbattle would believe that thou couldst die?", "Who before thee has ever\nshown Uttawa the way into the fight?", "Thy feet were like the wings of\neagles; thine arm heavier than falling branches from the pine; and thy\nvoice like the Manitou when he speaks in the clouds.", "The tongue of\nUttawa is weak,\" he added, looking about him with a melancholy gaze,\n\"and his heart exceeding heavy.", "Pride of the Wapanachki, why hast thou\nleft us?\"", "He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of the high and\ngifted men of the nation had sung or spoken their tribute of praise over\nthe _manes_ of the deceased chief.", "When each had ended, another deep and\nbreathing silence reigned in all the place.", "Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed accompaniment of\ndistant music, rising just high enough on the air to be audible, and yet\nso indistinctly, as to leave its character, and the place whence it\nproceeded, alike matters of conjecture.", "It was, however, succeeded by\nanother and another strain, each in a higher key, until they grew on the\near, first in long drawn and often repeated interjections, and finally\nin words.", "The lips of Chingachgook had so far parted, as to announce\nthat it was the monody of the father.", "Though not an eye was turned\ntowards him, nor the smallest sign of impatience exhibited, it was\napparent, by the manner in which the multitude elevated their heads to\nlisten, that they drank in the sounds with an intenseness of attention,\nthat none but Tamenund himself had ever before commanded.", "But they\nlistened in vain.", "The strains rose just so loud as to become\nintelligible, and then grew fainter and more trembling, until they\nfinally sank on the ear, as if borne away by a passing breath of wind.", "The lips of the Sagamore closed, and he remained silent in his seat,\nlooking, with his riveted eye and motionless form, like some creature\nthat had been turned from the Almighty hand with the form but without\nthe spirit of a man.", "The Delawares, who knew by these symptoms that the\nmind of their friend was not prepared for so mighty an effort of\nfortitude, relaxed in their attention; and, with an innate delicacy,\nseemed to bestow all their thoughts on the obsequies of the stranger\nmaiden.", "A signal was given, by one of the elder chiefs, to the women who crowded\nthat part of the circle near which the body of Cora lay.", "Obedient to the\nsign, the girls raised the bier to the elevation of their heads, and\nadvanced with slow and regulated steps, chanting, as they proceeded,\nanother wailing song in praise of the deceased.", "Gamut, who had been a\nclose observer of rites he deemed so heathenish, now bent his head over\nthe shoulder of the unconscious father, whispering,--\n\n\"They move with the remains of thy child; shall we not follow, and see\nthem interred with Christian burial?\"", "Munro started, as if the last trumpet had sounded in his ear, and\nbestowing one anxious and hurried glance around him, he arose and\nfollowed in the simple train, with the mien of a soldier, but bearing\nthe full burden of a parent's suffering.", "His friends pressed around him\nwith a sorrow that was too strong to be termed sympathy--even the young\nFrenchman joining in the procession, with the air of a man who was\nsensibly touched at the early and melancholy fate of one so lovely.", "But\nwhen the last and humblest female of the tribe had joined in the wild,\nand yet ordered array, the men of the Lenape contracted their circle,\nand formed again around the person of Uncas, as silent, as grave, and as\nmotionless as before.", "The place which had been chosen for the grave of Cora was a little\nknoll, where a cluster of young and healthful pines had taken root,\nforming of themselves a melancholy and appropriate shade over the spot.", "On reaching it the girls deposited their burden, and continued for many\nminutes waiting, with characteristic patience, and native timidity, for\nsome evidence that they whose feelings were most concerned were content\nwith the arrangement.", "At length the scout, who alone understood their\nhabits, said, in their own language,--\n\n\"My daughters have done well; the white men thank them.\"", "Satisfied with this testimony in their favor, the girls proceeded to\ndeposit the body in a shell, ingeniously, and not inelegantly,\nfabricated of the bark of the birch; after which they lowered it into\nits dark and final abode.", "The ceremony of covering the remains, and\nconcealing the marks of the fresh earth, by leaves and other natural\nand customary objects, was conducted with the same simple and silent\nforms.", "But when the labors of the kind beings who had performed these\nsad and friendly offices were so far completed, they hesitated, in a way\nto show that they knew not how much further they might proceed.", "It was\nin this stage of the rites that the scout again addressed them:--\n\n\"My young women have done enough,\" he said; \"the spirit of a pale-face\nhas no need of food or raiment, their gifts being according to the\nheaven of their color.", "I see,\" he added, glancing an eye at David, who\nwas preparing his book in a manner that indicated an intention to lead\nthe way in sacred song, \"that one who better knows the Christian\nfashions is about to speak.\"", "The females stood modestly aside, and, from having been the principal\nactors in the scene, they now became the meek and attentive observers of\nthat which followed.", "During the time David was occupied in pouring out\nthe pious feelings of his spirit in this manner, not a sign of surprise,\nnor a look of impatience, escaped them.", "They listened like those who\nknew the meaning of the strange words, and appeared as if they felt the\nmingled emotions of sorrow, hope, and resignation, they were intended to\nconvey.", "Excited by the scene he had just witnessed, and perhaps influenced by\nhis own secret emotions, the master of song exceeded his usual efforts.", "His full, rich voice was not found to suffer by a comparison with the\nsoft tones of the girls; and his more modulated strains possessed, at\nleast for the ears of those to whom they were peculiarly addressed, the\nadditional power of intelligence.", "He ended the anthem, as he had\ncommenced it, in the midst of a grave and solemn stillness.", "When, however, the closing cadence had fallen on the ears of his\nauditors, the secret, timorous glances of the eyes, and the general, and\nyet subdued movement of the assemblage, betrayed that something was\nexpected from the father of the deceased.", "Munro seemed sensible that the\ntime was come for him to exert what is, perhaps, the greatest effort of\nwhich human nature is capable.", "He bared his gray locks, and looked\naround the timid and quiet throng by which he was encircled with a firm\nand collected countenance.", "Then motioning with his hand for the scout to\nlisten, he said,--\n\n\"Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken and failing\nman returns them his thanks.", "Tell them, that the Being we all worship,\nunder different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that the\ntime shall not be distant when we may assemble around his throne without\ndistinction of sex, or rank, or color.\"", "The scout listened to the tremulous voice in which the veteran delivered\nthese words, and shook his head slowly when they were ended, as one who\ndoubted their efficacy.", "\"To tell them this,\" he said, \"would be to tell them that the snows come\nnot in the winter, or that the sun shines fiercest when the trees are\nstripped of their leaves.\"", "Then turning to the women, he made such a communication of the other's\ngratitude as he deemed most suited to the capacities of his listeners.", "The head of Munro had already sunk upon his chest, and he was again fast\nrelapsing into melancholy, when the young Frenchman before named\nventured to touch him lightly on the elbow.", "As soon as he had gained the\nattention of the mourning old man, he pointed towards a group of young\nIndians, who approached with a light but closely covered litter, and\nthen pointed upward towards the sun.", "\"I understand you, sir,\" returned Munro, with a voice of forced\nfirmness; \"I understand you.", "It is the will of Heaven, and I submit.", "Cora, my child!", "if the prayers of a heartbroken father could avail thee\nnow, how blessed shouldst thou be!", "Come, gentlemen,\" he added, looking\nabout him with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish that\nquivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be concealed,\n\"our duty here is ended; let us depart.\"", "Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a spot where, each\ninstant, he felt his self-control was about to desert him.", "While his\ncompanions were mounting, however, he found time to press the hand of\nthe scout, and to repeat the terms of an engagement they had made, to\nmeet again within the posts of the British army.", "Then gladly throwing\nhimself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side of the\nlitter, whence low and stifled sobs alone announced the presence of\nAlice.", "In this manner, the head of Munro again dropping on his bosom,\nwith Heyward and David following in sorrowing silence, and attended by\nthe aide of Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with the\nexception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of the Delawares, and\nwere soon buried in the vast forests of that region.", "But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united the\nfeelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the strangers who\nhad thus transiently visited them, was not so easily broken.", "Years\npassed away before the traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of the\nyoung warrior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights and\ntedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a desire\nfor vengeance.", "Neither were the secondary actors in these momentous\nincidents forgotten.", "Through the medium of the scout, who served for\nyears afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, they\nlearned, in answer to their inquiries, that the \"Gray Head\" was speedily\ngathered to his fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by his\nmilitary misfortunes; and that the \"Open Hand\" had conveyed his\nsurviving daughter far into the settlements of the \"pale-faces,\" where\nher tears had at last ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by the\nbright smiles which were better suited to her joyous nature.", "But these were events of a time later than that which concerns our tale.", "Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye returned to the spot where his own\nsympathies led him, with a force that no ideal bond of union could\nbestow.", "He was just in time to catch a parting look of the features of\nUncas, whom the Delawares were already inclosing in his last vestments\nof skins.", "They paused to permit the longing and lingering gaze of the\nsturdy woodsman, and when it was ended, the body was enveloped, never to\nbe unclosed again.", "Then came a procession like the other, and the whole\nnation was collected about the temporary grave of the chief--temporary,\nbecause it was proper that, at some future day, his bones should rest\namong those of his own people.", "The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and general.", "The\nsame grave expression of grief, the same rigid silence, and the same\ndeference to the principal mourner, were observed around the place of\ninterment as have been already described.", "The body was deposited in an\nattitude of repose, facing the rising sun, with the implements of war\nand of the chase at hand, in readiness for the final journey.", "An opening\nwas left in the shell, by which it was protected from the soil, for the\nspirit to communicate with its earthly tenement, when necessary; and the\nwhole was concealed from the instinct, and protected from the ravages of\nthe beasts of prey, with an ingenuity peculiar to the natives.", "The\nmanual rites then ceased, and all present reverted to the more spiritual\npart of the ceremonies.", "Chingachgook became once more the object of the common attention.", "He\nhad not yet spoken, and something consolatory and instructive was\nexpected from so renowned a chief on an occasion of such interest.", "Conscious of the wishes of the people, the stern and self-restrained\nwarrior raised his face, which had latterly been buried in his robe, and\nlooked about him with a steady eye.", "His firmly compressed and expressive\nlips then severed, and for the first time during the long ceremonies his\nvoice was distinctly audible.", "\"Why do my brothers mourn!\"", "he said, regarding the dark race of dejected\nwarriors by whom he was environed; \"why do my daughters weep!", "that a\nyoung man has gone to the happy hunting-grounds; that a chief has filled\nhis time with honor!", "He was good; he was dutiful; he was brave.", "Who can\ndeny it?", "The Manitou had need of such a warrior, and He has called him\naway.", "As for me, the son and the father of Uncas, I am a blazed pine, in\na clearing of the pale-faces.", "My race has gone from the shores of the\nsalt lake, and the hills of the Delawares.", "But who can say that the\nSerpent of his tribe has forgotten his wisdom?", "I am alone--\"\n\n\"No, no,\" cried Hawkeye, who had been gazing with a yearning look at the\nrigid features of his friend, with something like his own self-command,\nbut whose philosophy could endure no longer; \"no, Sagamore, not alone.", "The gifts of our colors may be different, but God has so placed us as to\njourney in the same path.", "I have no kin, and I may also say, like you,\nno people.", "He was your son, and a redskin by nature; and it may be that\nyour blood was nearer--but if ever I forget the lad who has so often\nfou't at my side in war, and slept at my side in peace, may He who made\nus all, whatever may be our color or our gifts, forget me!", "The boy has\nleft us for a time; but, Sagamore, you are not alone.\"", "Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth of feeling, the scout\nhad stretched across the fresh earth, and in that attitude of friendship\nthese two sturdy and intrepid woodsmen bowed their heads together, while\nscalding tears fell to their feet, watering the grave of Uncas like\ndrops of falling rain.", "In the midst of the awful stillness with which such a burst of feeling,\ncoming, as it did, from the two most renowned warriors of that region,\nwas received, Tamenund lifted his voice to disperse the multitude.", "\"It is enough,\" he said.", "\"Go, children of the Lenape, the anger of the\nManitou is not done.", "Why should Tamenund stay?", "The pale-faces are\nmasters of the earth, and the time of the redmen has not yet come again.", "My day has been too long.", "In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy\nand strong; and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to see the\nlast warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans.\"", "FOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] As each nation of the Indians had either its language or its\ndialect, they usually gave different names to the same places, though\nnearly all of their appellations were descriptive of the object.", "Thus, a\nliteral translation of the name of this beautiful sheet of water, used\nby the tribe that dwelt on its banks would be \"The Tail of the Lake.\"", "Lake George, as it is vulgarly, and now indeed legally called, forms a\nsort of tail to Lake Champlain, when viewed on the map.", "Hence the name.", "[2] Washington: who, after uselessly admonishing the European general of\nthe danger into which he was heedlessly running, saved the remnants of\nthe British army, on this occasion, by his decision and courage.", "The\nreputation earned by Washington in this battle was the principal cause\nof his being selected to command the American armies at a later day.", "It\nis a circumstance worthy of observation, that, while all America rang\nwith his well-merited reputation, his name does not occur in any\nEuropean account of the battle; at least, the author has searched for it\nwithout success.", "In this manner does the mother country absorb even the\nfame, under that system of rule.", "[3] There existed for a long time a confederation among the Indian\ntribes which occupied the northwestern part of the colony of New York,\nwhich was at first known as the \"Five Nations.\"", "At a later day it\nadmitted another tribe, when the appellation was changed to that of the\n\"Six Nations.\"", "The original confederation consisted of the Mohawks, the\nOneidas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Onondagas.", "The sixth tribe\nwas the Tuscaroras.", "There are remnants of all these people still living\non lands secured to them by the State; but they are daily disappearing,\neither by deaths or by removals to scenes more congenial to their\nhabits.", "In a short time there will be no remains of these extraordinary\npeople, in those regions in which they dwelt for centuries, but their\nnames.", "The State of New York has counties named after all of them but\nthe Mohawks and the Tuscaroras.", "The second river of that State is called\nthe Mohawk.", "[4] In the State of Rhode Island there is a bay called Narragansett, so\nnamed after a powerful tribe of Indians, which formerly dwelt on its\nbanks.", "Accident, or one of those unaccountable freaks which nature\nsometimes plays in the animal world, gave rise to a breed of horses\nwhich were once well known in America by the name of the Narragansetts.", "They were small, commonly of the color called sorrel in America, and\ndistinguished by their habit of pacing.", "Horses of this race were, and\nare still, in much request as saddle-horses, on account of their\nhardiness and the ease of their movements.", "As they were also sure of\nfoot, the Narragansetts were greatly sought for by females who were\nobliged to travel over the roots and holes in the \"new countries.\"", "[5] The North American warrior caused the hair to be plucked from his\nwhole body; a small tuft, only, was left on the crown of his head in\norder that his enemy might avail himself of it, in wrenching off the\nscalp in the event of his fall.", "The scalp was the only admissible trophy\nof victory.", "Thus, it was deemed more important to obtain the scalp than\nto kill the man.", "Some tribes lay great stress on the honor of striking a\ndead body.", "These practices have nearly disappeared among the Indians of\nthe Atlantic States.", "[6] The hunting-shirt is a picturesque smock frock, being shorter, and\nornamented with fringes and tassels.", "The colors are intended to imitate\nthe hues of the wood with a view to concealment.", "Many corps of American\nriflemen have been thus attired; and the dress is one of the most\nstriking of modern times.", "The hunting-shirt is frequently white.", "[7] The rifle of the army is short; that of the hunter is always long.", "[8] The Mississippi.", "The scout alludes to a tradition which is very\npopular among the tribes of the Atlantic States.", "Evidence of their\nAsiatic origin is deduced from the circumstances, though great\nuncertainty hangs over the whole history of the Indians.", "[9] The scene of this tale was in the 42d degree of latitude, where the\ntwilight is never of long continuance.", "[10] The reader will remember that New York was originally a colony of\nthe Dutch.", "[11] The principal villages of the Indians are still called \"castles\" by\nthe whites of New York.", "\"Oneida castle\" is no more than a scattered\nhamlet; but the name is in general use.", "[12] In vulgar parlance the condiments of a repast are called by the\nAmerican \"a relish,\" substituting the thing for its effect.", "These\nprovincial terms are frequently put in the mouths of the speakers,\naccording to their several conditions in life.", "Most of them are of local\nuse, and others quite peculiar to the particular class of men to which\nthe character belongs.", "In the present instance, the scout uses the word\nwith immediate reference to the salt, with which his own party was so\nfortunate as to be provided.", "[13] Glenn's Falls are on the Hudson, some forty or fifty miles above\nthe head of tide, or the place where that river becomes navigable for\nsloops.", "The description of this picturesque and remarkable little\ncataract, as given by the scout, is sufficiently correct, though the\napplication of the water to the uses of civilized life has materially\ninjured its beauties.", "The rocky island and the two caverns are well\nknown to every traveller, since the former sustains a pier of a bridge,\nwhich is now thrown across the river, immediately above the fall.", "In\nexplanation of the taste of Hawkeye, it should be remembered that men\nalways prize that most which is least enjoyed.", "Thus, in a new country,\nthe woods and other objects, which in an old country would be maintained\nat great cost, are got rid of, simply with a view of \"improving,\" as it\nis called.", "[14] The meaning of Indian words is much governed by the emphasis and\ntones.", "[15] Mingo was the Delaware term for the Five Nations.", "Maquas was the\nname given them by the Dutch.", "The French, from their first intercourse\nwith them, called them Iroquois.", "[16] It has long been a practice with the whites to conciliate the\nimportant men of the Indians, by presenting medals, which are worn in\nthe place of their own rude ornaments.", "Those given by the English\ngenerally bear the impression of the reigning king, and those given by\nthe Americans that of the president.", "[17] Many of the animals of the American forests resort to those spots\nwhere salt springs are found.", "These are called \"licks\" or \"salt licks,\"\nin the language of the country, from the circumstance that the quadruped\nis often obliged to lick the earth, in order to obtain the saline\nparticles.", "These licks are great places of resort with the hunters, who\nwaylay their game near the paths that lead to them.", "[18] The scene of the foregoing incidents is on the spot where the\nvillage of Ballston now stands; one of the two principal watering-places\nof America.", "[19] Some years since, the writer was shooting in the vicinity of the\nruins of Fort Oswego, which stands on the shores of Lake Ontario.", "His\ngame was deer, and his chase a forest that stretched with little\ninterruption, fifty miles inland.", "Unexpectedly he came upon six or eight\nladders lying in the woods within a short distance of each other.", "They\nwere rudely made, and much decayed.", "Wondering what could have assembled\nso many of these instruments in such a place, he sought an old man who\nresided near for the explanation.", "During the war of 1776 Fort Oswego was held by the British.", "An\nexpedition had been sent two hundred miles through the wilderness to\nsurprise the fort.", "It appears that the Americans, on reaching the spot\nnamed, which was within a mile or two of the fort, first learned that\nthey were expected, and in great danger of being cut off.", "They threw\naway their scaling-ladders, and made a rapid retreat.", "These ladders had\nlain unmolested thirty years, in the spot where they had thus been cast.", "[20] Baron Dieskau, a German, in the service of France.", "A few years\nprevious to the period of the tale, this officer was defeated by Sir\nWilliam Johnson of Johnstown, New York, on the shores of Lake George.", "See Appendix, Note H.\n\n[21] Evidently the late De Witt Clinton, who died governor of New York\nin 1828.", "[22] The powers of the American mocking-bird are generally known.", "But\nthe true mocking-bird is not found so far north as the State of New\nYork, where it has, however, two substitutes of inferior excellence; the\ncatbird, so often named by the scout, and the bird vulgarly called\nground-thresher.", "Either of these two last birds is superior to the\nnightingale, or the lark, though, in general, the American birds are\nless musical than those of Europe.", "[23] The beauties of Lake George are well known to every American\ntourist.", "In the height of the mountains which surround it, and in\nartificial accessories, it is inferior to the finest of the Swiss and\nItalian lakes, while in outline and purity of water it is fully their\nequal; and in the number and disposition of its isles and islets much\nsuperior to them all together.", "There are said to be some hundreds of\nislands in a sheet of water less than thirty miles long.", "The narrows\nwhich connect what may be called, in truth, two lakes, are crowded with\nislands to such a degree as to leave passages between them frequently of\nonly a few feet in width.", "The lake itself varies in breadth from one to\nthree miles.", "The State of New York is remarkable for the number and beauty of its\nlakes.", "One of its frontiers lies on the vast sheet of Ontario, while\nChamplain stretches nearly a hundred miles along another.", "Oneida,\nCayuga, Canandaigua, Seneca, and George, are all lakes of thirty miles\nin length, while those of a size smaller are without number.", "On most of\nthese lakes there are now beautiful villages, and on many of them\nsteamboats.", "[24] These harangues of the beasts are frequent among the Indians.", "They\noften address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice,\nor commending their resolution, as they may happen to exhibit fortitude,\nor the reverse in suffering.", "[25] A dish composed of cracked corn and beans.", "It is much used also by\nthe whites.", "By corn is meant maize.", "[26] William Penn was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as he never\nused violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation for\nprobity passed into a proverb.", "The American is justly proud of the\norigin of his nation, which is perhaps unequalled in the history of the\nworld; but the Pennsylvanian and Jerseyman have more reason to value\nthemselves in their ancestors than the natives of any other State, since\nno wrong was done the original owners of the soil.", "[27] Turtle.", "[28] A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is\nsaid, in the language of the country, to be \"blazed.\"", "The term is\nstrictly English; for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a white\nmark.", "[29] The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being\nlittle underbush, and few tangled brakes.", "The plan of Hawkeye is the one\nwhich has always proved the most successful in the battles between the\nwhites and the Indians.", "Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami,\nreceived the fire of his enemies in line; and then causing his dragoons\nto wheel round his flanks, the Indians were driven from their covers\nbefore they had time to load.", "One of the most conspicuous of the chiefs\nwho fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer, that the redmen\ncould not fight the warriors with \"long knives and leather-stockings\";\nmeaning the dragoons with their sabres and boots." ]

[ "HALLECK.", "So riveted and intense had been that gaze, and so changeless his\nattitude, that a stranger might not have told the living from the dead,\nbut for the occasional gleamings of a troubled spirit that shot athwart\nthe dark visage of one, and the death-like calm that had forever settled\non the lineaments of the other.", "After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the maiden\nherself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and love.", "The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the words were\nintelligible, suffered himself to be a little aroused from his\nmeditative posture, and bent his face aside, to catch their meaning, as\nthe girls proceeded.", "He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of the high and\ngifted men of the nation had sung or spoken their tribute of praise over\nthe _manes_ of the deceased chief.", "It was\nin this stage of the rites that the scout again addressed them:--\n\n\"My young women have done enough,\" he said; \"the spirit of a pale-face\nhas no need of food or raiment, their gifts being according to the\nheaven of their color.", "Tell them, that the Being we all worship,\nunder different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that the\ntime shall not be distant when we may assemble around his throne without\ndistinction of sex, or rank, or color.\"", "[12] In vulgar parlance the condiments of a repast are called by the\nAmerican \"a relish,\" substituting the thing for its effect.", "His\ngame was deer, and his chase a forest that stretched with little\ninterruption, fifty miles inland.", "By corn is meant maize." ]

[ "At a later day it\nadmitted another tribe, when the appellation was changed to that of the\n\"Six Nations.\"", "They\noften address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice,\nor commending their resolution, as they may happen to exhibit fortitude,\nor the reverse in suffering.", "Many corps of American\nriflemen have been thus attired; and the dress is one of the most\nstriking of modern times.", "But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united the\nfeelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the strangers who\nhad thus transiently visited them, was not so easily broken.", "Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed accompaniment of\ndistant music, rising just high enough on the air to be audible, and yet\nso indistinctly, as to leave its character, and the place whence it\nproceeded, alike matters of conjecture.", "[22] The powers of the American mocking-bird are generally known.", "he said, in hollow tones that sounded like a voice\ncharged with some prophetic mission; \"the face of the Manitou is behind\na cloud!", "The gifts of our colors may be different, but God has so placed us as to\njourney in the same path.", "The French, from their first intercourse\nwith them, called them Iroquois.", "Gamut stood at his side, his meek\nhead bared to the rays of the sun, while his eyes, wandering and\nconcerned, seemed to be equally divided between that little volume,\nwhich contained so many quaint but holy maxims, and the being in whose\nbehalf his soul yearned to administer consolation." ]

[ "Cora, my child!", "if the prayers of a heartbroken father could avail thee\nnow, how blessed shouldst thou be!", "Come, gentlemen,\" he added, looking\nabout him with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish that\nquivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be concealed,\n\"our duty here is ended; let us depart.\"", "Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a spot where, each\ninstant, he felt his self-control was about to desert him.", "While his\ncompanions were mounting, however, he found time to press the hand of\nthe scout, and to repeat the terms of an engagement they had made, to\nmeet again within the posts of the British army.", "Then gladly throwing\nhimself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side of the\nlitter, whence low and stifled sobs alone announced the presence of\nAlice.", "In this manner, the head of Munro again dropping on his bosom,\nwith Heyward and David following in sorrowing silence, and attended by\nthe aide of Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with the\nexception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of the Delawares, and\nwere soon buried in the vast forests of that region.", "But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united the\nfeelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the strangers who\nhad thus transiently visited them, was not so easily broken.", "Years\npassed away before the traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of the\nyoung warrior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights and\ntedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a desire\nfor vengeance.", "Neither were the secondary actors in these momentous\nincidents forgotten.", "Through the medium of the scout, who served for\nyears afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, they\nlearned, in answer to their inquiries, that the \"Gray Head\" was speedily\ngathered to his fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by his\nmilitary misfortunes; and that the \"Open Hand\" had conveyed his\nsurviving daughter far into the settlements of the \"pale-faces,\" where\nher tears had at last ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by the\nbright smiles which were better suited to her joyous nature." ]

[ "\n \"They fought, like brave men, long and well,\n They piled that ground with Moslem slain,\n They conquered--but Bozzaris fell,\n Bleeding at every vein.", "His few surviving comrades saw\n His smile when rang their proud hurrah,\n And the red field was won;\n Then saw in death his eyelids close\n Calmly, as to a night's repose,\n Like flowers at set of sun.\"", "HALLECK.", "The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation of mourners.", "The sounds of the battle were over, and they had fed fat their ancient\ngrudge, and had avenged their recent quarrel with the Mengwe, by the\ndestruction of a whole community.", "The black and murky atmosphere that\nfloated around the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficiently\nannounced, of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe; while hundreds\nof ravens, that struggled above the bleak summits of the mountains, or\nswept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the woods, furnished a\nfrightful direction to the scene of the combat.", "In short, any eye, at\nall practised in the signs of a frontier warfare, might easily have\ntraced all those unerring evidences of the ruthless results which attend\nan Indian vengeance.", "Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners.", "No shouts of\nsuccess, no songs of triumph, were heard, in rejoicings for their\nvictory.", "The latest straggler had returned from his fell employment,\nonly to strip himself of the terrific emblems of his bloody calling, and\nto join in the lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people.", "By corn is meant maize.", "[26] William Penn was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as he never\nused violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation for\nprobity passed into a proverb.", "The American is justly proud of the\norigin of his nation, which is perhaps unequalled in the history of the\nworld; but the Pennsylvanian and Jerseyman have more reason to value\nthemselves in their ancestors than the natives of any other State, since\nno wrong was done the original owners of the soil.", "[27] Turtle.", "[28] A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is\nsaid, in the language of the country, to be \"blazed.\"", "The term is\nstrictly English; for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a white\nmark.", "[29] The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being\nlittle underbush, and few tangled brakes.", "The plan of Hawkeye is the one\nwhich has always proved the most successful in the battles between the\nwhites and the Indians.", "Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami,\nreceived the fire of his enemies in line; and then causing his dragoons\nto wheel round his flanks, the Indians were driven from their covers\nbefore they had time to load.", "One of the most conspicuous of the chiefs\nwho fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer, that the redmen\ncould not fight the warriors with \"long knives and leather-stockings\";\nmeaning the dragoons with their sabres and boots." ]

[ "\n_3 May.", "Bistritz._--Left Munich at 8:35 P. M., on 1st May, arriving at\nVienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an\nhour late.", "Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I\ngot of it from the train and the little I could walk through the\nstreets.", "I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived\nlate and would start as near the correct time as possible.", "The\nimpression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the\nEast; the most western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is\nhere of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish\nrule.", "We left in pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh.", "Here I stopped for the night at the Hotel Royale.", "I had for dinner, or\nrather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was\nvery good but thirsty.", "(_Mem._, get recipe for Mina.)", "I asked the\nwaiter, and he said it was called \"paprika hendl,\" and that, as it was a\nnational dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the\nCarpathians.", "I found my smattering of German very useful here; indeed, I\ndon't know how I should be able to get on without it.", "Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the\nBritish Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library\nregarding Transylvania; it had struck me that some foreknowledge of the\ncountry could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a\nnobleman of that country.", "I find that the district he named is in the\nextreme east of the country, just on the borders of three states,\nTransylvania, Moldavia and Bukovina, in the midst of the Carpathian\nmountains; one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe.", "I was\nnot able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the\nCastle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare\nwith our own Ordnance Survey maps; but I found that Bistritz, the post\ntown named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well-known place.", "I shall enter\nhere some of my notes, as they may refresh my memory when I talk over my\ntravels with Mina.", "In the population of Transylvania there are four distinct nationalities:\nSaxons in the South, and mixed with them the Wallachs, who are the\ndescendants of the Dacians; Magyars in the West, and Szekelys in the\nEast and North.", "I am going among the latter, who claim to be descended\nfrom Attila and the Huns.", "This may be so, for when the Magyars conquered\nthe country in the eleventh century they found the Huns settled in it.", "I\nread that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the\nhorseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of\nimaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting.", "(_Mem._, I\nmust ask the Count all about them.)", "I did not sleep well, though my bed was comfortable enough, for I had\nall sorts of queer dreams.", "There was a dog howling all night under my\nwindow, which may have had something to do with it; or it may have been\nthe paprika, for I had to drink up all the water in my carafe, and was\nstill thirsty.", "Towards morning I slept and was wakened by the continuous\nknocking at my door, so I guess I must have been sleeping soundly then.", "I had for breakfast more paprika, and a sort of porridge of maize flour\nwhich they said was \"mamaliga,\" and egg-plant stuffed with forcemeat, a\nvery excellent dish, which they call \"impletata.\"", "(_Mem._, get recipe\nfor this also.)", "I had to hurry breakfast, for the train started a little\nbefore eight, or rather it ought to have done so, for after rushing to\nthe station at 7:30 I had to sit in the carriage for more than an hour\nbefore we began to move.", "It seems to me that the further east you go the\nmore unpunctual are the trains.", "What ought they to be in China?", "All day long we seemed to dawdle through a country which was full of\nbeauty of every kind.", "Sometimes we saw little towns or castles on the\ntop of steep hills such as we see in old missals; sometimes we ran by\nrivers and streams which seemed from the wide stony margin on each side\nof them to be subject to great floods.", "It takes a lot of water, and\nrunning strong, to sweep the outside edge of a river clear.", "At every\nstation there were groups of people, sometimes crowds, and in all sorts\nof attire.", "Some of them were just like the peasants at home or those I\nsaw coming through France and Germany, with short jackets and round hats\nand home-made trousers; but others were very picturesque.", "The women\nlooked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy\nabout the waist.", "They had all full white sleeves of some kind or other,\nand most of them had big belts with a lot of strips of something\nfluttering from them like the dresses in a ballet, but of course there\nwere petticoats under them.", "The strangest figures we saw were the\nSlovaks, who were more barbarian than the rest, with their big cow-boy\nhats, great baggy dirty-white trousers, white linen shirts, and enormous\nheavy leather belts, nearly a foot wide, all studded over with brass\nnails.", "They wore high boots, with their trousers tucked into them, and\nhad long black hair and heavy black moustaches.", "They are very\npicturesque, but do not look prepossessing.", "On the stage they would be\nset down at once as some old Oriental band of brigands.", "They are,\nhowever, I am told, very harmless and rather wanting in natural\nself-assertion.", "It was on the dark side of twilight when we got to Bistritz, which is a\nvery interesting old place.", "Being practically on the frontier--for the\nBorgo Pass leads from it into Bukovina--it has had a very stormy\nexistence, and it certainly shows marks of it.", "Fifty years ago a series\nof great fires took place, which made terrible havoc on five separate\noccasions.", "At the very beginning of the seventeenth century it underwent\na siege of three weeks and lost 13,000 people, the casualties of war\nproper being assisted by famine and disease.", "Count Dracula had directed me to go to the Golden Krone Hotel, which I\nfound, to my great delight, to be thoroughly old-fashioned, for of\ncourse I wanted to see all I could of the ways of the country.", "I was\nevidently expected, for when I got near the door I faced a\ncheery-looking elderly woman in the usual peasant dress--white\nundergarment with long double apron, front, and back, of coloured stuff\nfitting almost too tight for modesty.", "When I came close she bowed and\nsaid, \"The Herr Englishman?\"", "\"Yes,\" I said, \"Jonathan Harker.\"", "She\nsmiled, and gave some message to an elderly man in white shirt-sleeves,\nwho had followed her to the door.", "He went, but immediately returned with\na letter:--\n\n \"My Friend.--Welcome to the Carpathians.", "I am anxiously expecting\n you.", "Sleep well to-night.", "At three to-morrow the diligence will\n start for Bukovina; a place on it is kept for you.", "At the Borgo\n Pass my carriage will await you and will bring you to me.", "I trust\n that your journey from London has been a happy one, and that you\n will enjoy your stay in my beautiful land.", "\"Your friend,\n\n\"DRACULA.\"", "_4 May._--I found that my landlord had got a letter from the Count,\ndirecting him to secure the best place on the coach for me; but on\nmaking inquiries as to details he seemed somewhat reticent, and\npretended that he could not understand my German.", "This could not be\ntrue, because up to then he had understood it perfectly; at least, he\nanswered my questions exactly as if he did.", "He and his wife, the old\nlady who had received me, looked at each other in a frightened sort of\nway.", "He mumbled out that the money had been sent in a letter, and that\nwas all he knew.", "When I asked him if he knew Count Dracula, and could\ntell me anything of his castle, both he and his wife crossed themselves,\nand, saying that they knew nothing at all, simply refused to speak\nfurther.", "It was so near the time of starting that I had no time to ask\nany one else, for it was all very mysterious and not by any means\ncomforting.", "Just before I was leaving, the old lady came up to my room and said in a\nvery hysterical way:\n\n\"Must you go?", "Oh!", "young Herr, must you go?\"", "She was in such an excited\nstate that she seemed to have lost her grip of what German she knew, and\nmixed it all up with some other language which I did not know at all.", "I\nwas just able to follow her by asking many questions.", "When I told her\nthat I must go at once, and that I was engaged on important business,\nshe asked again:\n\n\"Do you know what day it is?\"", "I answered that it was the fourth of May.", "She shook her head as she said again:\n\n\"Oh, yes!", "I know that!", "I know that, but do you know what day it is?\"", "On\nmy saying that I did not understand, she went on:\n\n\"It is the eve of St. George's Day.", "Do you not know that to-night, when\nthe clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have\nfull sway?", "Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?\"", "She was in such evident distress that I tried to comfort her, but\nwithout effect.", "Finally she went down on her knees and implored me not\nto go; at least to wait a day or two before starting.", "It was all very\nridiculous but I did not feel comfortable.", "However, there was business\nto be done, and I could allow nothing to interfere with it.", "I therefore\ntried to raise her up, and said, as gravely as I could, that I thanked\nher, but my duty was imperative, and that I must go.", "She then rose and\ndried her eyes, and taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me.", "I\ndid not know what to do, for, as an English Churchman, I have been\ntaught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous, and yet it\nseemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a\nstate of mind.", "She saw, I suppose, the doubt in my face, for she put the\nrosary round my neck, and said, \"For your mother's sake,\" and went out\nof the room.", "I am writing up this part of the diary whilst I am waiting\nfor the coach, which is, of course, late; and the crucifix is still\nround my neck.", "Whether it is the old lady's fear, or the many ghostly\ntraditions of this place, or the crucifix itself, I do not know, but I\nam not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual.", "If this book should\never reach Mina before I do, let it bring my good-bye.", "Here comes the\ncoach!", "* * * * *\n\n_5 May.", "The Castle._--The grey of the morning has passed, and the sun is\nhigh over the distant horizon, which seems jagged, whether with trees or\nhills I know not, for it is so far off that big things and little are\nmixed.", "I am not sleepy, and, as I am not to be called till I awake,\nnaturally I write till sleep comes.", "There are many odd things to put\ndown, and, lest who reads them may fancy that I dined too well before I\nleft Bistritz, let me put down my dinner exactly.", "I dined on what they\ncalled \"robber steak\"--bits of bacon, onion, and beef, seasoned with red\npepper, and strung on sticks and roasted over the fire, in the simple\nstyle of the London cat's meat!", "The wine was Golden Mediasch, which\nproduces a queer sting on the tongue, which is, however, not\ndisagreeable.", "I had only a couple of glasses of this, and nothing else.", "When I got on the coach the driver had not taken his seat, and I saw him\ntalking with the landlady.", "They were evidently talking of me, for every\nnow and then they looked at me, and some of the people who were sitting\non the bench outside the door--which they call by a name meaning\n\"word-bearer\"--came and listened, and then looked at me, most of them\npityingly.", "I could hear a lot of words often repeated, queer words, for\nthere were many nationalities in the crowd; so I quietly got my polyglot\ndictionary from my bag and looked them out.", "I must say they were not\ncheering to me, for amongst them were \"Ordog\"--Satan, \"pokol\"--hell,\n\"stregoica\"--witch, \"vrolok\" and \"vlkoslak\"--both of which mean the same\nthing, one being Slovak and the other Servian for something that is\neither were-wolf or vampire.", "(_Mem._, I must ask the Count about these\nsuperstitions)\n\nWhen we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time\nswelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and\npointed two fingers towards me.", "With some difficulty I got a\nfellow-passenger to tell me what they meant; he would not answer at\nfirst, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a\ncharm or guard against the evil eye.", "This was not very pleasant for me,\njust starting for an unknown place to meet an unknown man; but every one\nseemed so kind-hearted, and so sorrowful, and so sympathetic that I\ncould not but be touched.", "I shall never forget the last glimpse which I\nhad of the inn-yard and its crowd of picturesque figures, all crossing\nthemselves, as they stood round the wide archway, with its background of\nrich foliage of oleander and orange trees in green tubs clustered in the\ncentre of the yard.", "Then our driver, whose wide linen drawers covered\nthe whole front of the box-seat--\"gotza\" they call them--cracked his big\nwhip over his four small horses, which ran abreast, and we set off on\nour journey.", "I soon lost sight and recollection of ghostly fears in the beauty of the\nscene as we drove along, although had I known the language, or rather\nlanguages, which my fellow-passengers were speaking, I might not have\nbeen able to throw them off so easily.", "Before us lay a green sloping\nland full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned\nwith clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the\nroad.", "There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom--apple,\nplum, pear, cherry; and as we drove by I could see the green grass under\nthe trees spangled with the fallen petals.", "In and out amongst these\ngreen hills of what they call here the \"Mittel Land\" ran the road,\nlosing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the\nstraggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the\nhillsides like tongues of flame.", "The road was rugged, but still we\nseemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.", "I could not understand then\nwhat the haste meant, but the driver was evidently bent on losing no\ntime in reaching Borgo Prund.", "I was told that this road is in summertime\nexcellent, but that it had not yet been put in order after the winter\nsnows.", "In this respect it is different from the general run of roads in\nthe Carpathians, for it is an old tradition that they are not to be kept\nin too good order.", "Of old the Hospadars would not repair them, lest the\nTurk should think that they were preparing to bring in foreign troops,\nand so hasten the war which was always really at loading point.", "Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes\nof forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves.", "Right\nand left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun falling full upon\nthem and bringing out all the glorious colours of this beautiful range,\ndeep blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, green and brown where\ngrass and rock mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged rock and\npointed crags, till these were themselves lost in the distance, where\nthe snowy peaks rose grandly.", "Here and there seemed mighty rifts in the\nmountains, through which, as the sun began to sink, we saw now and again\nthe white gleam of falling water.", "One of my companions touched my arm as\nwe swept round the base of a hill and opened up the lofty, snow-covered\npeak of a mountain, which seemed, as we wound on our serpentine way, to\nbe right before us:--\n\n\"Look!", "Isten szek!\"", "--\"God's seat!\"", "--and he crossed himself reverently.", "As we wound on our endless way, and the sun sank lower and lower behind\nus, the shadows of the evening began to creep round us.", "This was\nemphasised by the fact that the snowy mountain-top still held the\nsunset, and seemed to glow out with a delicate cool pink.", "Here and there\nwe passed Cszeks and Slovaks, all in picturesque attire, but I noticed\nthat goitre was painfully prevalent.", "By the roadside were many crosses,\nand as we swept by, my companions all crossed themselves.", "Here and there\nwas a peasant man or woman kneeling before a shrine, who did not even\nturn round as we approached, but seemed in the self-surrender of\ndevotion to have neither eyes nor ears for the outer world.", "There were\nmany things new to me: for instance, hay-ricks in the trees, and here\nand there very beautiful masses of weeping birch, their white stems\nshining like silver through the delicate green of the leaves.", "Now and\nagain we passed a leiter-wagon--the ordinary peasant's cart--with its\nlong, snake-like vertebra, calculated to suit the inequalities of the\nroad.", "On this were sure to be seated quite a group of home-coming\npeasants, the Cszeks with their white, and the Slovaks with their\ncoloured, sheepskins, the latter carrying lance-fashion their long\nstaves, with axe at end.", "As the evening fell it began to get very cold,\nand the growing twilight seemed to merge into one dark mistiness the\ngloom of the trees, oak, beech, and pine, though in the valleys which\nran deep between the spurs of the hills, as we ascended through the\nPass, the dark firs stood out here and there against the background of\nlate-lying snow.", "Sometimes, as the road was cut through the pine woods\nthat seemed in the darkness to be closing down upon us, great masses of\ngreyness, which here and there bestrewed the trees, produced a\npeculiarly weird and solemn effect, which carried on the thoughts and\ngrim fancies engendered earlier in the evening, when the falling sunset\nthrew into strange relief the ghost-like clouds which amongst the\nCarpathians seem to wind ceaselessly through the valleys.", "Sometimes the\nhills were so steep that, despite our driver's haste, the horses could\nonly go slowly.", "I wished to get down and walk up them, as we do at home,\nbut the driver would not hear of it.", "\"No, no,\" he said; \"you must not\nwalk here; the dogs are too fierce\"; and then he added, with what he\nevidently meant for grim pleasantry--for he looked round to catch the\napproving smile of the rest--\"and you may have enough of such matters\nbefore you go to sleep.\"", "The only stop he would make was a moment's\npause to light his lamps.", "When it grew dark there seemed to be some excitement amongst the\npassengers, and they kept speaking to him, one after the other, as\nthough urging him to further speed.", "He lashed the horses unmercifully\nwith his long whip, and with wild cries of encouragement urged them on\nto further exertions.", "Then through the darkness I could see a sort of\npatch of grey light ahead of us, as though there were a cleft in the\nhills.", "The excitement of the passengers grew greater; the crazy coach\nrocked on its great leather springs, and swayed like a boat tossed on a\nstormy sea.", "I had to hold on.", "The road grew more level, and we appeared\nto fly along.", "Then the mountains seemed to come nearer to us on each\nside and to frown down upon us; we were entering on the Borgo Pass.", "One\nby one several of the passengers offered me gifts, which they pressed\nupon me with an earnestness which would take no denial; these were\ncertainly of an odd and varied kind, but each was given in simple good\nfaith, with a kindly word, and a blessing, and that strange mixture of\nfear-meaning movements which I had seen outside the hotel at\nBistritz--the sign of the cross and the guard against the evil eye.", "Then, as we flew along, the driver leaned forward, and on each side the\npassengers, craning over the edge of the coach, peered eagerly into the\ndarkness.", "It was evident that something very exciting was either\nhappening or expected, but though I asked each passenger, no one would\ngive me the slightest explanation.", "This state of excitement kept on for\nsome little time; and at last we saw before us the Pass opening out on\nthe eastern side.", "There were dark, rolling clouds overhead, and in the\nair the heavy, oppressive sense of thunder.", "It seemed as though the\nmountain range had separated two atmospheres, and that now we had got\ninto the thunderous one.", "I was now myself looking out for the conveyance\nwhich was to take me to the Count.", "Each moment I expected to see the\nglare of lamps through the blackness; but all was dark.", "The only light\nwas the flickering rays of our own lamps, in which the steam from our\nhard-driven horses rose in a white cloud.", "We could see now the sandy\nroad lying white before us, but there was on it no sign of a vehicle.", "The passengers drew back with a sigh of gladness, which seemed to mock\nmy own disappointment.", "I was already thinking what I had best do, when\nthe driver, looking at his watch, said to the others something which I\ncould hardly hear, it was spoken so quietly and in so low a tone; I\nthought it was \"An hour less than the time.\"", "Then turning to me, he said\nin German worse than my own:--\n\n\"There is no carriage here.", "The Herr is not expected after all.", "He will\nnow come on to Bukovina, and return to-morrow or the next day; better\nthe next day.\"", "Whilst he was speaking the horses began to neigh and\nsnort and plunge wildly, so that the driver had to hold them up.", "Then,\namongst a chorus of screams from the peasants and a universal crossing\nof themselves, a caleche, with four horses, drove up behind us, overtook\nus, and drew up beside the coach.", "I could see from the flash of our\nlamps, as the rays fell on them, that the horses were coal-black and\nsplendid animals.", "They were driven by a tall man, with a long brown\nbeard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from us.", "I\ncould only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red\nin the lamplight, as he turned to us.", "He said to the driver:--\n\n\"You are early to-night, my friend.\"", "The man stammered in reply:--\n\n\"The English Herr was in a hurry,\" to which the stranger replied:--\n\n\"That is why, I suppose, you wished him to go on to Bukovina.", "You cannot\ndeceive me, my friend; I know too much, and my horses are swift.\"", "As he\nspoke he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with\nvery red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory.", "One of my\ncompanions whispered to another the line from Burger's \"Lenore\":--\n\n \"Denn die Todten reiten schnell\"--\n (\"For the dead travel fast.\")", "The strange driver evidently heard the words, for he looked up with a\ngleaming smile.", "The passenger turned his face away, at the same time\nputting out his two fingers and crossing himself.", "\"Give me the Herr's\nluggage,\" said the driver; and with exceeding alacrity my bags were\nhanded out and put in the caleche.", "Then I descended from the side of the\ncoach, as the caleche was close alongside, the driver helping me with a\nhand which caught my arm in a grip of steel; his strength must have been\nprodigious.", "Without a word he shook his reins, the horses turned, and we\nswept into the darkness of the Pass.", "As I looked back I saw the steam\nfrom the horses of the coach by the light of the lamps, and projected\nagainst it the figures of my late companions crossing themselves.", "Then\nthe driver cracked his whip and called to his horses, and off they swept\non their way to Bukovina.", "As they sank into the darkness I felt a\nstrange chill, and a lonely feeling came over me; but a cloak was thrown\nover my shoulders, and a rug across my knees, and the driver said in\nexcellent German:--\n\n\"The night is chill, mein Herr, and my master the Count bade me take all\ncare of you.", "There is a flask of slivovitz (the plum brandy of the\ncountry) underneath the seat, if you should require it.\"", "I did not take\nany, but it was a comfort to know it was there all the same.", "I felt a\nlittle strangely, and not a little frightened.", "I think had there been\nany alternative I should have taken it, instead of prosecuting that\nunknown night journey.", "The carriage went at a hard pace straight along,\nthen we made a complete turn and went along another straight road.", "It\nseemed to me that we were simply going over and over the same ground\nagain; and so I took note of some salient point, and found that this was\nso.", "I would have liked to have asked the driver what this all meant, but\nI really feared to do so, for I thought that, placed as I was, any\nprotest would have had no effect in case there had been an intention to\ndelay.", "By-and-by, however, as I was curious to know how time was\npassing, I struck a match, and by its flame looked at my watch; it was\nwithin a few minutes of midnight.", "This gave me a sort of shock, for I\nsuppose the general superstition about midnight was increased by my\nrecent experiences.", "I waited with a sick feeling of suspense.", "Then a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road--a\nlong, agonised wailing, as if from fear.", "The sound was taken up by\nanother dog, and then another and another, till, borne on the wind which\nnow sighed softly through the Pass, a wild howling began, which seemed\nto come from all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp\nit through the gloom of the night.", "At the first howl the horses began to\nstrain and rear, but the driver spoke to them soothingly, and they\nquieted down, but shivered and sweated as though after a runaway from\nsudden fright.", "Then, far off in the distance, from the mountains on each\nside of us began a louder and a sharper howling--that of wolves--which\naffected both the horses and myself in the same way--for I was minded to\njump from the caleche and run, whilst they reared again and plunged\nmadly, so that the driver had to use all his great strength to keep them\nfrom bolting.", "In a few minutes, however, my own ears got accustomed to\nthe sound, and the horses so far became quiet that the driver was able\nto descend and to stand before them.", "He petted and soothed them, and\nwhispered something in their ears, as I have heard of horse-tamers\ndoing, and with extraordinary effect, for under his caresses they became\nquite manageable again, though they still trembled.", "The driver again\ntook his seat, and shaking his reins, started off at a great pace.", "This\ntime, after going to the far side of the Pass, he suddenly turned down a\nnarrow roadway which ran sharply to the right.", "Soon we were hemmed in with trees, which in places arched right over the\nroadway till we passed as through a tunnel; and again great frowning\nrocks guarded us boldly on either side.", "Though we were in shelter, we\ncould hear the rising wind, for it moaned and whistled through the\nrocks, and the branches of the trees crashed together as we swept along.", "It grew colder and colder still, and fine, powdery snow began to fall,\nso that soon we and all around us were covered with a white blanket.", "The\nkeen wind still carried the howling of the dogs, though this grew\nfainter as we went on our way.", "The baying of the wolves sounded nearer\nand nearer, as though they were closing round on us from every side.", "I\ngrew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear.", "The driver,\nhowever, was not in the least disturbed; he kept turning his head to\nleft and right, but I could not see anything through the darkness.", "Suddenly, away on our left, I saw a faint flickering blue flame.", "The\ndriver saw it at the same moment; he at once checked the horses, and,\njumping to the ground, disappeared into the darkness.", "I did not know\nwhat to do, the less as the howling of the wolves grew closer; but while\nI wondered the driver suddenly appeared again, and without a word took\nhis seat, and we resumed our journey.", "I think I must have fallen asleep\nand kept dreaming of the incident, for it seemed to be repeated\nendlessly, and now looking back, it is like a sort of awful nightmare.", "Once the flame appeared so near the road, that even in the darkness\naround us I could watch the driver's motions.", "He went rapidly to where\nthe blue flame arose--it must have been very faint, for it did not seem\nto illumine the place around it at all--and gathering a few stones,\nformed them into some device.", "Once there appeared a strange optical\neffect: when he stood between me and the flame he did not obstruct it,\nfor I could see its ghostly flicker all the same.", "This startled me, but\nas the effect was only momentary, I took it that my eyes deceived me\nstraining through the darkness.", "Then for a time there were no blue\nflames, and we sped onwards through the gloom, with the howling of the\nwolves around us, as though they were following in a moving circle.", "At last there came a time when the driver went further afield than he\nhad yet gone, and during his absence, the horses began to tremble worse\nthan ever and to snort and scream with fright.", "I could not see any cause\nfor it, for the howling of the wolves had ceased altogether; but just\nthen the moon, sailing through the black clouds, appeared behind the\njagged crest of a beetling, pine-clad rock, and by its light I saw\naround us a ring of wolves, with white teeth and lolling red tongues,\nwith long, sinewy limbs and shaggy hair.", "They were a hundred times more\nterrible in the grim silence which held them than even when they howled.", "For myself, I felt a sort of paralysis of fear.", "It is only when a man\nfeels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand\ntheir true import.", "All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had had\nsome peculiar effect on them.", "The horses jumped about and reared, and\nlooked helplessly round with eyes that rolled in a way painful to see;\nbut the living ring of terror encompassed them on every side; and they\nhad perforce to remain within it.", "I called to the coachman to come, for\nit seemed to me that our only chance was to try to break out through the\nring and to aid his approach.", "I shouted and beat the side of the\ncaleche, hoping by the noise to scare the wolves from that side, so as\nto give him a chance of reaching the trap.", "How he came there, I know\nnot, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and\nlooking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway.", "As he swept his\nlong arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves\nfell back and back further still.", "Just then a heavy cloud passed across\nthe face of the moon, so that we were again in darkness.", "When I could see again the driver was climbing into the caleche, and the\nwolves had disappeared.", "This was all so strange and uncanny that a\ndreadful fear came upon me, and I was afraid to speak or move.", "The time\nseemed interminable as we swept on our way, now in almost complete\ndarkness, for the rolling clouds obscured the moon.", "We kept on\nascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main\nalways ascending.", "Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the\ndriver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a\nvast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light,\nand whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit\nsky." ]

[ "At every\nstation there were groups of people, sometimes crowds, and in all sorts\nof attire.", "They had all full white sleeves of some kind or other,\nand most of them had big belts with a lot of strips of something\nfluttering from them like the dresses in a ballet, but of course there\nwere petticoats under them.", "Oh!", "Isten szek!\"", "--and he crossed himself reverently.", "Then through the darkness I could see a sort of\npatch of grey light ahead of us, as though there were a cleft in the\nhills.", "It was evident that something very exciting was either\nhappening or expected, but though I asked each passenger, no one would\ngive me the slightest explanation.", "As I looked back I saw the steam\nfrom the horses of the coach by the light of the lamps, and projected\nagainst it the figures of my late companions crossing themselves.", "This startled me, but\nas the effect was only momentary, I took it that my eyes deceived me\nstraining through the darkness.", "As he swept his\nlong arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves\nfell back and back further still." ]

[ "All day long we seemed to dawdle through a country which was full of\nbeauty of every kind.", "I must say they were not\ncheering to me, for amongst them were \"Ordog\"--Satan, \"pokol\"--hell,\n\"stregoica\"--witch, \"vrolok\" and \"vlkoslak\"--both of which mean the same\nthing, one being Slovak and the other Servian for something that is\neither were-wolf or vampire.", "The passenger turned his face away, at the same time\nputting out his two fingers and crossing himself.", "It was so near the time of starting that I had no time to ask\nany one else, for it was all very mysterious and not by any means\ncomforting.", "He will\nnow come on to Bukovina, and return to-morrow or the next day; better\nthe next day.\"", "She was in such evident distress that I tried to comfort her, but\nwithout effect.", "_4 May._--I found that my landlord had got a letter from the Count,\ndirecting him to secure the best place on the coach for me; but on\nmaking inquiries as to details he seemed somewhat reticent, and\npretended that he could not understand my German.", "For myself, I felt a sort of paralysis of fear.", "This was not very pleasant for me,\njust starting for an unknown place to meet an unknown man; but every one\nseemed so kind-hearted, and so sorrowful, and so sympathetic that I\ncould not but be touched.", "I soon lost sight and recollection of ghostly fears in the beauty of the\nscene as we drove along, although had I known the language, or rather\nlanguages, which my fellow-passengers were speaking, I might not have\nbeen able to throw them off so easily." ]

[ "The road was rugged, but still we\nseemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.", "I could not understand then\nwhat the haste meant, but the driver was evidently bent on losing no\ntime in reaching Borgo Prund.", "I was told that this road is in summertime\nexcellent, but that it had not yet been put in order after the winter\nsnows.", "In this respect it is different from the general run of roads in\nthe Carpathians, for it is an old tradition that they are not to be kept\nin too good order.", "Of old the Hospadars would not repair them, lest the\nTurk should think that they were preparing to bring in foreign troops,\nand so hasten the war which was always really at loading point.", "Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes\nof forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves.", "Right\nand left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun falling full upon\nthem and bringing out all the glorious colours of this beautiful range,\ndeep blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, green and brown where\ngrass and rock mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged rock and\npointed crags, till these were themselves lost in the distance, where\nthe snowy peaks rose grandly.", "Here and there seemed mighty rifts in the\nmountains, through which, as the sun began to sink, we saw now and again\nthe white gleam of falling water.", "One of my companions touched my arm as\nwe swept round the base of a hill and opened up the lofty, snow-covered\npeak of a mountain, which seemed, as we wound on our serpentine way, to\nbe right before us:--\n\n\"Look!", "Isten szek!\"", "--\"God's seat!\"" ]

[ "\n_3 May.", "Bistritz._--Left Munich at 8:35 P. M., on 1st May, arriving at\nVienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an\nhour late.", "Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I\ngot of it from the train and the little I could walk through the\nstreets.", "I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived\nlate and would start as near the correct time as possible.", "The\nimpression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the\nEast; the most western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is\nhere of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish\nrule.", "We left in pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh.", "Here I stopped for the night at the Hotel Royale.", "I had for dinner, or\nrather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was\nvery good but thirsty.", "(_Mem._, get recipe for Mina.)", "I asked the\nwaiter, and he said it was called \"paprika hendl,\" and that, as it was a\nnational dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the\nCarpathians.", "I called to the coachman to come, for\nit seemed to me that our only chance was to try to break out through the\nring and to aid his approach.", "I shouted and beat the side of the\ncaleche, hoping by the noise to scare the wolves from that side, so as\nto give him a chance of reaching the trap.", "How he came there, I know\nnot, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and\nlooking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway.", "As he swept his\nlong arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves\nfell back and back further still.", "Just then a heavy cloud passed across\nthe face of the moon, so that we were again in darkness.", "When I could see again the driver was climbing into the caleche, and the\nwolves had disappeared.", "This was all so strange and uncanny that a\ndreadful fear came upon me, and I was afraid to speak or move.", "The time\nseemed interminable as we swept on our way, now in almost complete\ndarkness, for the rolling clouds obscured the moon.", "We kept on\nascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main\nalways ascending.", "Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the\ndriver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a\nvast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light,\nand whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit\nsky." ]

[ "\n\n_5 May._--I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had been fully\nawake I must have noticed the approach of such a remarkable place.", "In\nthe gloom the courtyard looked of considerable size, and as several dark\nways led from it under great round arches, it perhaps seemed bigger than\nit really is.", "I have not yet been able to see it by daylight.", "When the caleche stopped, the driver jumped down and held out his hand\nto assist me to alight.", "Again I could not but notice his prodigious\nstrength.", "His hand actually seemed like a steel vice that could have\ncrushed mine if he had chosen.", "Then he took out my traps, and placed\nthem on the ground beside me as I stood close to a great door, old and\nstudded with large iron nails, and set in a projecting doorway of\nmassive stone.", "I could see even in the dim light that the stone was\nmassively carved, but that the carving had been much worn by time and\nweather.", "As I stood, the driver jumped again into his seat and shook the\nreins; the horses started forward, and trap and all disappeared down one\nof the dark openings.", "I stood in silence where I was, for I did not know what to do.", "Of bell\nor knocker there was no sign; through these frowning walls and dark\nwindow openings it was not likely that my voice could penetrate.", "The\ntime I waited seemed endless, and I felt doubts and fears crowding upon\nme.", "What sort of place had I come to, and among what kind of people?", "What sort of grim adventure was it on which I had embarked?", "Was this a\ncustomary incident in the life of a solicitor's clerk sent out to\nexplain the purchase of a London estate to a foreigner?", "Solicitor's\nclerk!", "Mina would not like that.", "Solicitor--for just before leaving\nLondon I got word that my examination was successful; and I am now a\nfull-blown solicitor!", "I began to rub my eyes and pinch myself to see if\nI were awake.", "It all seemed like a horrible nightmare to me, and I\nexpected that I should suddenly awake, and find myself at home, with\nthe dawn struggling in through the windows, as I had now and again felt\nin the morning after a day of overwork.", "But my flesh answered the\npinching test, and my eyes were not to be deceived.", "I was indeed awake\nand among the Carpathians.", "All I could do now was to be patient, and to\nwait the coming of the morning.", "Just as I had come to this conclusion I heard a heavy step approaching\nbehind the great door, and saw through the chinks the gleam of a coming\nlight.", "Then there was the sound of rattling chains and the clanking of\nmassive bolts drawn back.", "A key was turned with the loud grating noise\nof long disuse, and the great door swung back.", "Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white\nmoustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck\nof colour about him anywhere.", "He held in his hand an antique silver\nlamp, in which the flame burned without chimney or globe of any kind,\nthrowing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the\nopen door.", "The old man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly\ngesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation:--\n\n\"Welcome to my house!", "Enter freely and of your own will!\"", "He made no\nmotion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue, as though his\ngesture of welcome had fixed him into stone.", "The instant, however, that\nI had stepped over the threshold, he moved impulsively forward, and\nholding out his hand grasped mine with a strength which made me wince,\nan effect which was not lessened by the fact that it seemed as cold as\nice--more like the hand of a dead than a living man.", "Again he said:--\n\n\"Welcome to my house.", "Come freely.", "Go safely; and leave something of the\nhappiness you bring!\"", "The strength of the handshake was so much akin to\nthat which I had noticed in the driver, whose face I had not seen, that\nfor a moment I doubted if it were not the same person to whom I was\nspeaking; so to make sure, I said interrogatively:--\n\n\"Count Dracula?\"", "He bowed in a courtly way as he replied:--\n\n\"I am Dracula; and I bid you welcome, Mr. Harker, to my house.", "Come in;\nthe night air is chill, and you must need to eat and rest.\"", "As he was\nspeaking, he put the lamp on a bracket on the wall, and stepping out,\ntook my luggage; he had carried it in before I could forestall him.", "I\nprotested but he insisted:--\n\n\"Nay, sir, you are my guest.", "It is late, and my people are not\navailable.", "Let me see to your comfort myself.\"", "He insisted on carrying\nmy traps along the passage, and then up a great winding stair, and\nalong another great passage, on whose stone floor our steps rang\nheavily.", "At the end of this he threw open a heavy door, and I rejoiced\nto see within a well-lit room in which a table was spread for supper,\nand on whose mighty hearth a great fire of logs, freshly replenished,\nflamed and flared.", "The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing\nthe room, opened another door, which led into a small octagonal room lit\nby a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort.", "Passing\nthrough this, he opened another door, and motioned me to enter.", "It was a\nwelcome sight; for here was a great bedroom well lighted and warmed with\nanother log fire,--also added to but lately, for the top logs were\nfresh--which sent a hollow roar up the wide chimney.", "The Count himself\nleft my luggage inside and withdrew, saying, before he closed the\ndoor:--\n\n\"You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself by making your\ntoilet.", "I trust you will find all you wish.", "When you are ready, come\ninto the other room, where you will find your supper prepared.\"", "The light and warmth and the Count's courteous welcome seemed to have\ndissipated all my doubts and fears.", "Having then reached my normal state,\nI discovered that I was half famished with hunger; so making a hasty\ntoilet, I went into the other room.", "I found supper already laid out.", "My host, who stood on one side of the\ngreat fireplace, leaning against the stonework, made a graceful wave of\nhis hand to the table, and said:--\n\n\"I pray you, be seated and sup how you please.", "You will, I trust, excuse\nme that I do not join you; but I have dined already, and I do not sup.\"", "I handed to him the sealed letter which Mr. Hawkins had entrusted to me.", "He opened it and read it gravely; then, with a charming smile, he handed\nit to me to read.", "One passage of it, at least, gave me a thrill of\npleasure.", "\"I must regret that an attack of gout, from which malady I am a constant\nsufferer, forbids absolutely any travelling on my part for some time to\ncome; but I am happy to say I can send a sufficient substitute, one in\nwhom I have every possible confidence.", "He is a young man, full of energy\nand talent in his own way, and of a very faithful disposition.", "He is\ndiscreet and silent, and has grown into manhood in my service.", "He shall\nbe ready to attend on you when you will during his stay, and shall take\nyour instructions in all matters.\"", "The Count himself came forward and took off the cover of a dish, and I\nfell to at once on an excellent roast chicken.", "This, with some cheese\nand a salad and a bottle of old Tokay, of which I had two glasses, was\nmy supper.", "During the time I was eating it the Count asked me many\nquestions as to my journey, and I told him by degrees all I had\nexperienced.", "By this time I had finished my supper, and by my host's desire had drawn\nup a chair by the fire and begun to smoke a cigar which he offered me,\nat the same time excusing himself that he did not smoke.", "I had now an\nopportunity of observing him, and found him of a very marked\nphysiognomy.", "His face was a strong--a very strong--aquiline, with high bridge of the\nthin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty domed forehead, and\nhair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere.", "His\neyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy\nhair that seemed to curl in its own profusion.", "The mouth, so far as I\ncould see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather\ncruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over\nthe lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a\nman of his years.", "For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops\nextremely pointed; the chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm\nthough thin.", "The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.", "Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they lay on his knees\nin the firelight, and they had seemed rather white and fine; but seeing\nthem now close to me, I could not but notice that they were rather\ncoarse--broad, with squat fingers.", "Strange to say, there were hairs in\nthe centre of the palm.", "The nails were long and fine, and cut to a sharp\npoint.", "As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me, I could not\nrepress a shudder.", "It may have been that his breath was rank, but a\nhorrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could\nnot conceal.", "The Count, evidently noticing it, drew back; and with a\ngrim sort of smile, which showed more than he had yet done his\nprotuberant teeth, sat himself down again on his own side of the\nfireplace.", "We were both silent for a while; and as I looked towards the\nwindow I saw the first dim streak of the coming dawn.", "There seemed a\nstrange stillness over everything; but as I listened I heard as if from\ndown below in the valley the howling of many wolves.", "The Count's eyes\ngleamed, and he said:--\n\n\"Listen to them--the children of the night.", "What music they make!\"", "Seeing, I suppose, some expression in my face strange to him, he\nadded:--\n\n\"Ah, sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the\nhunter.\"", "Then he rose and said:--\n\n\"But you must be tired.", "Your bedroom is all ready, and to-morrow you\nshall sleep as late as you will.", "I have to be away till the afternoon;\nso sleep well and dream well!\"", "With a courteous bow, he opened for me\nhimself the door to the octagonal room, and I entered my bedroom....", "I am all in a sea of wonders.", "I doubt; I fear; I think strange things,\nwhich I dare not confess to my own soul.", "God keep me, if only for the\nsake of those dear to me!", "* * * * *\n\n_7 May._--It is again early morning, but I have rested and enjoyed the\nlast twenty-four hours.", "I slept till late in the day, and awoke of my\nown accord.", "When I had dressed myself I went into the room where we had\nsupped, and found a cold breakfast laid out, with coffee kept hot by the\npot being placed on the hearth.", "There was a card on the table, on which\nwas written:--\n\n\"I have to be absent for a while.", "Do not wait for me.--D.\"", "I set to and\nenjoyed a hearty meal.", "When I had done, I looked for a bell, so that I\nmight let the servants know I had finished; but I could not find one.", "There are certainly odd deficiencies in the house, considering the\nextraordinary evidences of wealth which are round me.", "The table service\nis of gold, and so beautifully wrought that it must be of immense value.", "The curtains and upholstery of the chairs and sofas and the hangings of\nmy bed are of the costliest and most beautiful fabrics, and must have\nbeen of fabulous value when they were made, for they are centuries old,\nthough in excellent order.", "I saw something like them in Hampton Court,\nbut there they were worn and frayed and moth-eaten.", "But still in none of\nthe rooms is there a mirror.", "There is not even a toilet glass on my\ntable, and I had to get the little shaving glass from my bag before I\ncould either shave or brush my hair.", "I have not yet seen a servant\nanywhere, or heard a sound near the castle except the howling of wolves.", "Some time after I had finished my meal--I do not know whether to call it\nbreakfast or dinner, for it was between five and six o'clock when I had\nit--I looked about for something to read, for I did not like to go about\nthe castle until I had asked the Count's permission.", "There was\nabsolutely nothing in the room, book, newspaper, or even writing\nmaterials; so I opened another door in the room and found a sort of\nlibrary.", "The door opposite mine I tried, but found it locked.", "In the library I found, to my great delight, a vast number of English\nbooks, whole shelves full of them, and bound volumes of magazines and\nnewspapers.", "A table in the centre was littered with English magazines\nand newspapers, though none of them were of very recent date.", "The books\nwere of the most varied kind--history, geography, politics, political\neconomy, botany, geology, law--all relating to England and English life\nand customs and manners.", "There were even such books of reference as the\nLondon Directory, the \"Red\" and \"Blue\" books, Whitaker's Almanac, the\nArmy and Navy Lists, and--it somehow gladdened my heart to see it--the\nLaw List.", "Whilst I was looking at the books, the door opened, and the Count\nentered.", "He saluted me in a hearty way, and hoped that I had had a good\nnight's rest.", "Then he went on:--\n\n\"I am glad you found your way in here, for I am sure there is much that\nwill interest you.", "These companions\"--and he laid his hand on some of\nthe books--\"have been good friends to me, and for some years past, ever\nsince I had the idea of going to London, have given me many, many hours\nof pleasure.", "Through them I have come to know your great England; and to\nknow her is to love her.", "I long to go through the crowded streets of\nyour mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of\nhumanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes\nit what it is.", "But alas!", "as yet I only know your tongue through books.", "To you, my friend, I look that I know it to speak.\"", "\"But, Count,\" I said, \"you know and speak English thoroughly!\"", "He bowed\ngravely.", "\"I thank you, my friend, for your all too-flattering estimate, but yet I\nfear that I am but a little way on the road I would travel.", "True, I know\nthe grammar and the words, but yet I know not how to speak them.\"", "\"Indeed,\" I said, \"you speak excellently.\"", "\"Not so,\" he answered.", "\"Well, I know that, did I move and speak in your\nLondon, none there are who would not know me for a stranger.", "That is not\nenough for me.", "Here I am noble; I am _boyar_; the common people know me,\nand I am master.", "But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men\nknow him not--and to know not is to care not for.", "I am content if I am\nlike the rest, so that no man stops if he see me, or pause in his\nspeaking if he hear my words, 'Ha, ha!", "a stranger!'", "I have been so long\nmaster that I would be master still--or at least that none other should\nbe master of me.", "You come to me not alone as agent of my friend Peter\nHawkins, of Exeter, to tell me all about my new estate in London.", "You\nshall, I trust, rest here with me awhile, so that by our talking I may\nlearn the English intonation; and I would that you tell me when I make\nerror, even of the smallest, in my speaking.", "I am sorry that I had to be\naway so long to-day; but you will, I know, forgive one who has so many\nimportant affairs in hand.\"", "Of course I said all I could about being willing, and asked if I might\ncome into that room when I chose.", "He answered: \"Yes, certainly,\" and\nadded:--\n\n\"You may go anywhere you wish in the castle, except where the doors are\nlocked, where of course you will not wish to go.", "There is reason that\nall things are as they are, and did you see with my eyes and know with\nmy knowledge, you would perhaps better understand.\"", "I said I was sure of\nthis, and then he went on:--\n\n\"We are in Transylvania; and Transylvania is not England.", "Our ways are\nnot your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things.", "Nay, from\nwhat you have told me of your experiences already, you know something of\nwhat strange things there may be.\"", "This led to much conversation; and as it was evident that he wanted to\ntalk, if only for talking's sake, I asked him many questions regarding\nthings that had already happened to me or come within my notice.", "Sometimes he sheered off the subject, or turned the conversation by\npretending not to understand; but generally he answered all I asked most\nfrankly.", "Then as time went on, and I had got somewhat bolder, I asked\nhim of some of the strange things of the preceding night, as, for\ninstance, why the coachman went to the places where he had seen the blue\nflames.", "He then explained to me that it was commonly believed that on a\ncertain night of the year--last night, in fact, when all evil spirits\nare supposed to have unchecked sway--a blue flame is seen over any place\nwhere treasure has been concealed.", "\"That treasure has been hidden,\" he\nwent on, \"in the region through which you came last night, there can be\nbut little doubt; for it was the ground fought over for centuries by the\nWallachian, the Saxon, and the Turk.", "Why, there is hardly a foot of soil\nin all this region that has not been enriched by the blood of men,\npatriots or invaders.", "In old days there were stirring times, when the\nAustrian and the Hungarian came up in hordes, and the patriots went out\nto meet them--men and women, the aged and the children too--and waited\ntheir coming on the rocks above the passes, that they might sweep\ndestruction on them with their artificial avalanches.", "When the invader\nwas triumphant he found but little, for whatever there was had been\nsheltered in the friendly soil.\"", "\"But how,\" said I, \"can it have remained so long undiscovered, when\nthere is a sure index to it if men will but take the trouble to look?\"", "The Count smiled, and as his lips ran back over his gums, the long,\nsharp, canine teeth showed out strangely; he answered:--\n\n\"Because your peasant is at heart a coward and a fool!", "Those flames only\nappear on one night; and on that night no man of this land will, if he\ncan help it, stir without his doors.", "And, dear sir, even if he did he\nwould not know what to do.", "Why, even the peasant that you tell me of who\nmarked the place of the flame would not know where to look in daylight\neven for his own work.", "Even you would not, I dare be sworn, be able to\nfind these places again?\"", "\"There you are right,\" I said.", "\"I know no more than the dead where even\nto look for them.\"", "Then we drifted into other matters.", "\"Come,\" he said at last, \"tell me of London and of the house which you\nhave procured for me.\"", "With an apology for my remissness, I went into my\nown room to get the papers from my bag.", "Whilst I was placing them in\norder I heard a rattling of china and silver in the next room, and as I\npassed through, noticed that the table had been cleared and the lamp\nlit, for it was by this time deep into the dark.", "The lamps were also lit\nin the study or library, and I found the Count lying on the sofa,\nreading, of all things in the world, an English Bradshaw's Guide.", "When I\ncame in he cleared the books and papers from the table; and with him I\nwent into plans and deeds and figures of all sorts.", "He was interested in\neverything, and asked me a myriad questions about the place and its\nsurroundings.", "He clearly had studied beforehand all he could get on the\nsubject of the neighbourhood, for he evidently at the end knew very much\nmore than I did.", "When I remarked this, he answered:--\n\n\"Well, but, my friend, is it not needful that I should?", "When I go there\nI shall be all alone, and my friend Harker Jonathan--nay, pardon me, I\nfall into my country's habit of putting your patronymic first--my friend\nJonathan Harker will not be by my side to correct and aid me.", "He will be\nin Exeter, miles away, probably working at papers of the law with my\nother friend, Peter Hawkins.", "So!\"", "We went thoroughly into the business of the purchase of the estate at\nPurfleet.", "When I had told him the facts and got his signature to the\nnecessary papers, and had written a letter with them ready to post to\nMr. Hawkins, he began to ask me how I had come across so suitable a\nplace.", "I read to him the notes which I had made at the time, and which I\ninscribe here:--\n\n\"At Purfleet, on a by-road, I came across just such a place as seemed to\nbe required, and where was displayed a dilapidated notice that the place\nwas for sale.", "It is surrounded by a high wall, of ancient structure,\nbuilt of heavy stones, and has not been repaired for a large number of\nyears.", "The closed gates are of heavy old oak and iron, all eaten with\nrust.", "\"The estate is called Carfax, no doubt a corruption of the old _Quatre\nFace_, as the house is four-sided, agreeing with the cardinal points of\nthe compass.", "It contains in all some twenty acres, quite surrounded by\nthe solid stone wall above mentioned.", "There are many trees on it, which\nmake it in places gloomy, and there is a deep, dark-looking pond or\nsmall lake, evidently fed by some springs, as the water is clear and\nflows away in a fair-sized stream.", "The house is very large and of all\nperiods back, I should say, to mediaeval times, for one part is of stone\nimmensely thick, with only a few windows high up and heavily barred with\niron.", "It looks like part of a keep, and is close to an old chapel or\nchurch.", "I could not enter it, as I had not the key of the door leading\nto it from the house, but I have taken with my kodak views of it from\nvarious points.", "The house has been added to, but in a very straggling\nway, and I can only guess at the amount of ground it covers, which must\nbe very great.", "There are but few houses close at hand, one being a very\nlarge house only recently added to and formed into a private lunatic\nasylum.", "It is not, however, visible from the grounds.\"", "When I had finished, he said:--\n\n\"I am glad that it is old and big.", "I myself am of an old family, and to\nlive in a new house would kill me.", "A house cannot be made habitable in a\nday; and, after all, how few days go to make up a century.", "I rejoice\nalso that there is a chapel of old times.", "We Transylvanian nobles love\nnot to think that our bones may lie amongst the common dead.", "I seek not\ngaiety nor mirth, not the bright voluptuousness of much sunshine and\nsparkling waters which please the young and gay.", "I am no longer young;\nand my heart, through weary years of mourning over the dead, is not\nattuned to mirth.", "Moreover, the walls of my castle are broken; the\nshadows are many, and the wind breathes cold through the broken\nbattlements and casements.", "I love the shade and the shadow, and would\nbe alone with my thoughts when I may.\"", "Somehow his words and his look\ndid not seem to accord, or else it was that his cast of face made his\nsmile look malignant and saturnine.", "Presently, with an excuse, he left me, asking me to put all my papers\ntogether.", "He was some little time away, and I began to look at some of\nthe books around me.", "One was an atlas, which I found opened naturally at\nEngland, as if that map had been much used.", "On looking at it I found in\ncertain places little rings marked, and on examining these I noticed\nthat one was near London on the east side, manifestly where his new\nestate was situated; the other two were Exeter, and Whitby on the\nYorkshire coast.", "It was the better part of an hour when the Count returned.", "\"Aha!\"", "he\nsaid; \"still at your books?", "Good!", "But you must not work always.", "Come; I\nam informed that your supper is ready.\"", "He took my arm, and we went into\nthe next room, where I found an excellent supper ready on the table.", "The\nCount again excused himself, as he had dined out on his being away from\nhome.", "But he sat as on the previous night, and chatted whilst I ate.", "After supper I smoked, as on the last evening, and the Count stayed with\nme, chatting and asking questions on every conceivable subject, hour\nafter hour.", "I felt that it was getting very late indeed, but I did not\nsay anything, for I felt under obligation to meet my host's wishes in\nevery way.", "I was not sleepy, as the long sleep yesterday had fortified\nme; but I could not help experiencing that chill which comes over one at\nthe coming of the dawn, which is like, in its way, the turn of the tide.", "They say that people who are near death die generally at the change to\nthe dawn or at the turn of the tide; any one who has when tired, and\ntied as it were to his post, experienced this change in the atmosphere\ncan well believe it.", "All at once we heard the crow of a cock coming up\nwith preternatural shrillness through the clear morning air; Count\nDracula, jumping to his feet, said:--\n\n\"Why, there is the morning again!", "How remiss I am to let you stay up so\nlong.", "You must make your conversation regarding my dear new country of\nEngland less interesting, so that I may not forget how time flies by\nus,\" and, with a courtly bow, he quickly left me.", "I went into my own room and drew the curtains, but there was little to\nnotice; my window opened into the courtyard, all I could see was the\nwarm grey of quickening sky.", "So I pulled the curtains again, and have\nwritten of this day.", "* * * * *\n\n_8 May._--I began to fear as I wrote in this book that I was getting too\ndiffuse; but now I am glad that I went into detail from the first, for\nthere is something so strange about this place and all in it that I\ncannot but feel uneasy.", "I wish I were safe out of it, or that I had\nnever come.", "It may be that this strange night-existence is telling on\nme; but would that that were all!", "If there were any one to talk to I\ncould bear it, but there is no one.", "I have only the Count to speak with,\nand he!--I fear I am myself the only living soul within the place.", "Let\nme be prosaic so far as facts can be; it will help me to bear up, and\nimagination must not run riot with me.", "If it does I am lost.", "Let me say\nat once how I stand--or seem to.", "I only slept a few hours when I went to bed, and feeling that I could\nnot sleep any more, got up.", "I had hung my shaving glass by the window,\nand was just beginning to shave.", "Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder,\nand heard the Count's voice saying to me, \"Good-morning.\"", "I started, for\nit amazed me that I had not seen him, since the reflection of the glass\ncovered the whole room behind me.", "In starting I had cut myself slightly,\nbut did not notice it at the moment.", "Having answered the Count's\nsalutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken.", "This time there could be no error, for the man was close to me, and I\ncould see him over my shoulder.", "But there was no reflection of him in\nthe mirror!", "The whole room behind me was displayed; but there was no\nsign of a man in it, except myself.", "This was startling, and, coming on\nthe top of so many strange things, was beginning to increase that vague\nfeeling of uneasiness which I always have when the Count is near; but at\nthe instant I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was\ntrickling over my chin.", "I laid down the razor, turning as I did so half\nround to look for some sticking plaster.", "When the Count saw my face, his\neyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at\nmy throat.", "I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which\nheld the crucifix.", "It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed\nso quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there.", "\"Take care,\" he said, \"take care how you cut yourself.", "It is more\ndangerous than you think in this country.\"", "Then seizing the shaving\nglass, he went on: \"And this is the wretched thing that has done the\nmischief.", "It is a foul bauble of man's vanity.", "Away with it!\"", "and\nopening the heavy window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung\nout the glass, which was shattered into a thousand pieces on the stones\nof the courtyard far below.", "Then he withdrew without a word.", "It is very\nannoying, for I do not see how I am to shave, unless in my watch-case or\nthe bottom of the shaving-pot, which is fortunately of metal.", "When I went into the dining-room, breakfast was prepared; but I could\nnot find the Count anywhere.", "So I breakfasted alone.", "It is strange that\nas yet I have not seen the Count eat or drink.", "He must be a very\npeculiar man!", "After breakfast I did a little exploring in the castle.", "I\nwent out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the South.", "The\nview was magnificent, and from where I stood there was every opportunity\nof seeing it.", "The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice.", "A\nstone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without\ntouching anything!", "As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree\ntops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm.", "Here and\nthere are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through\nthe forests.", "But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I\nexplored further; doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and\nbolted.", "In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there\nan available exit.", "The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!" ]

[ "What music they make!\"", "\"Well, I know that, did I move and speak in your\nLondon, none there are who would not know me for a stranger.", "I have been so long\nmaster that I would be master still--or at least that none other should\nbe master of me.", "The lamps were also lit\nin the study or library, and I found the Count lying on the sofa,\nreading, of all things in the world, an English Bradshaw's Guide.", "It may be that this strange night-existence is telling on\nme; but would that that were all!", "Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder,\nand heard the Count's voice saying to me, \"Good-morning.\"", "In starting I had cut myself slightly,\nbut did not notice it at the moment.", "This time there could be no error, for the man was close to me, and I\ncould see him over my shoulder.", "and\nopening the heavy window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung\nout the glass, which was shattered into a thousand pieces on the stones\nof the courtyard far below.", "In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there\nan available exit." ]

[ "The lamps were also lit\nin the study or library, and I found the Count lying on the sofa,\nreading, of all things in the world, an English Bradshaw's Guide.", "I found supper already laid out.", "It is late, and my people are not\navailable.", "During the time I was eating it the Count asked me many\nquestions as to my journey, and I told him by degrees all I had\nexperienced.", "It is a foul bauble of man's vanity.", "\"There you are right,\" I said.", "Having answered the Count's\nsalutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken.", "There was\nabsolutely nothing in the room, book, newspaper, or even writing\nmaterials; so I opened another door in the room and found a sort of\nlibrary.", "The strength of the handshake was so much akin to\nthat which I had noticed in the driver, whose face I had not seen, that\nfor a moment I doubted if it were not the same person to whom I was\nspeaking; so to make sure, I said interrogatively:--\n\n\"Count Dracula?\"", "So I breakfasted alone." ]

[ "\"Not so,\" he answered.", "\"Well, I know that, did I move and speak in your\nLondon, none there are who would not know me for a stranger.", "That is not\nenough for me.", "Here I am noble; I am _boyar_; the common people know me,\nand I am master.", "But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men\nknow him not--and to know not is to care not for.", "I am content if I am\nlike the rest, so that no man stops if he see me, or pause in his\nspeaking if he hear my words, 'Ha, ha!", "a stranger!'", "I have been so long\nmaster that I would be master still--or at least that none other should\nbe master of me.", "You come to me not alone as agent of my friend Peter\nHawkins, of Exeter, to tell me all about my new estate in London.", "You\nshall, I trust, rest here with me awhile, so that by our talking I may\nlearn the English intonation; and I would that you tell me when I make\nerror, even of the smallest, in my speaking.", "I am sorry that I had to be\naway so long to-day; but you will, I know, forgive one who has so many\nimportant affairs in hand.\"" ]

[ "\n\n_5 May._--I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had been fully\nawake I must have noticed the approach of such a remarkable place.", "In\nthe gloom the courtyard looked of considerable size, and as several dark\nways led from it under great round arches, it perhaps seemed bigger than\nit really is.", "I have not yet been able to see it by daylight.", "When the caleche stopped, the driver jumped down and held out his hand\nto assist me to alight.", "Again I could not but notice his prodigious\nstrength.", "His hand actually seemed like a steel vice that could have\ncrushed mine if he had chosen.", "Then he took out my traps, and placed\nthem on the ground beside me as I stood close to a great door, old and\nstudded with large iron nails, and set in a projecting doorway of\nmassive stone.", "I could see even in the dim light that the stone was\nmassively carved, but that the carving had been much worn by time and\nweather.", "As I stood, the driver jumped again into his seat and shook the\nreins; the horses started forward, and trap and all disappeared down one\nof the dark openings.", "I stood in silence where I was, for I did not know what to do.", "After breakfast I did a little exploring in the castle.", "I\nwent out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the South.", "The\nview was magnificent, and from where I stood there was every opportunity\nof seeing it.", "The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice.", "A\nstone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without\ntouching anything!", "As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree\ntops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm.", "Here and\nthere are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through\nthe forests.", "But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I\nexplored further; doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and\nbolted.", "In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there\nan available exit.", "The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!" ]

[ "\nWhen I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me.", "I rushed up and down the stairs, trying every door and peering out of\nevery window I could find; but after a little the conviction of my\nhelplessness overpowered all other feelings.", "When I look back after a\nfew hours I think I must have been mad for the time, for I behaved much\nas a rat does in a trap.", "When, however, the conviction had come to me\nthat I was helpless I sat down quietly--as quietly as I have ever done\nanything in my life--and began to think over what was best to be done.", "I\nam thinking still, and as yet have come to no definite conclusion.", "Of\none thing only am I certain; that it is no use making my ideas known to\nthe Count.", "He knows well that I am imprisoned; and as he has done it\nhimself, and has doubtless his own motives for it, he would only deceive\nme if I trusted him fully with the facts.", "So far as I can see, my only\nplan will be to keep my knowledge and my fears to myself, and my eyes\nopen.", "I am, I know, either being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears,\nor else I am in desperate straits; and if the latter be so, I need, and\nshall need, all my brains to get through.", "I had hardly come to this conclusion when I heard the great door below\nshut, and knew that the Count had returned.", "He did not come at once into\nthe library, so I went cautiously to my own room and found him making\nthe bed.", "This was odd, but only confirmed what I had all along\nthought--that there were no servants in the house.", "When later I saw him\nthrough the chink of the hinges of the door laying the table in the\ndining-room, I was assured of it; for if he does himself all these\nmenial offices, surely it is proof that there is no one else to do them.", "This gave me a fright, for if there is no one else in the castle, it\nmust have been the Count himself who was the driver of the coach that\nbrought me here.", "This is a terrible thought; for if so, what does it\nmean that he could control the wolves, as he did, by only holding up his\nhand in silence.", "How was it that all the people at Bistritz and on the\ncoach had some terrible fear for me?", "What meant the giving of the\ncrucifix, of the garlic, of the wild rose, of the mountain ash?", "Bless\nthat good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck!", "for it is a\ncomfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it.", "It is odd that a thing\nwhich I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous\nshould in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help.", "Is it that there\nis something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium,\na tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort?", "Some\ntime, if it may be, I must examine this matter and try to make up my\nmind about it.", "In the meantime I must find out all I can about Count\nDracula, as it may help me to understand.", "To-night he may talk of\nhimself, if I turn the conversation that way.", "I must be very careful,\nhowever, not to awake his suspicion.", "* * * * *\n\n_Midnight._--I have had a long talk with the Count.", "I asked him a few\nquestions on Transylvania history, and he warmed up to the subject\nwonderfully.", "In his speaking of things and people, and especially of\nbattles, he spoke as if he had been present at them all.", "This he\nafterwards explained by saying that to a _boyar_ the pride of his house\nand name is his own pride, that their glory is his glory, that their\nfate is his fate.", "Whenever he spoke of his house he always said \"we,\"\nand spoke almost in the plural, like a king speaking.", "I wish I could put\ndown all he said exactly as he said it, for to me it was most\nfascinating.", "It seemed to have in it a whole history of the country.", "He\ngrew excited as he spoke, and walked about the room pulling his great\nwhite moustache and grasping anything on which he laid his hands as\nthough he would crush it by main strength.", "One thing he said which I\nshall put down as nearly as I can; for it tells in its way the story of\nhis race:--\n\n\"We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood\nof many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship.", "Here,\nin the whirlpool of European races, the Ugric tribe bore down from\nIceland the fighting spirit which Thor and Wodin gave them, which their\nBerserkers displayed to such fell intent on the seaboards of Europe, ay,\nand of Asia and Africa too, till the peoples thought that the\nwere-wolves themselves had come.", "Here, too, when they came, they found\nthe Huns, whose warlike fury had swept the earth like a living flame,\ntill the dying peoples held that in their veins ran the blood of those\nold witches, who, expelled from Scythia had mated with the devils in the\ndesert.", "Fools, fools!", "What devil or what witch was ever so great as\nAttila, whose blood is in these veins?\"", "He held up his arms.", "\"Is it a\nwonder that we were a conquering race; that we were proud; that when the\nMagyar, the Lombard, the Avar, the Bulgar, or the Turk poured his\nthousands on our frontiers, we drove them back?", "Is it strange that when\nArpad and his legions swept through the Hungarian fatherland he found us\nhere when he reached the frontier; that the Honfoglalas was completed\nthere?", "And when the Hungarian flood swept eastward, the Szekelys were\nclaimed as kindred by the victorious Magyars, and to us for centuries\nwas trusted the guarding of the frontier of Turkey-land; ay, and more\nthan that, endless duty of the frontier guard, for, as the Turks say,\n'water sleeps, and enemy is sleepless.'", "Who more gladly than we\nthroughout the Four Nations received the 'bloody sword,' or at its\nwarlike call flocked quicker to the standard of the King?", "When was\nredeemed that great shame of my nation, the shame of Cassova, when the\nflags of the Wallach and the Magyar went down beneath the Crescent?", "Who\nwas it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube and beat\nthe Turk on his own ground?", "This was a Dracula indeed!", "Woe was it that\nhis own unworthy brother, when he had fallen, sold his people to the\nTurk and brought the shame of slavery on them!", "Was it not this Dracula,\nindeed, who inspired that other of his race who in a later age again and\nagain brought his forces over the great river into Turkey-land; who,\nwhen he was beaten back, came again, and again, and again, though he had\nto come alone from the bloody field where his troops were being\nslaughtered, since he knew that he alone could ultimately triumph!", "They\nsaid that he thought only of himself.", "Bah!", "what good are peasants\nwithout a leader?", "Where ends the war without a brain and heart to\nconduct it?", "Again, when, after the battle of Mohacs, we threw off the\nHungarian yoke, we of the Dracula blood were amongst their leaders, for\nour spirit would not brook that we were not free.", "Ah, young sir, the\nSzekelys--and the Dracula as their heart's blood, their brains, and\ntheir swords--can boast a record that mushroom growths like the\nHapsburgs and the Romanoffs can never reach.", "The warlike days are over.", "Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace; and\nthe glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.\"", "It was by this time close on morning, and we went to bed.", "(_Mem._, this\ndiary seems horribly like the beginning of the \"Arabian Nights,\" for\neverything has to break off at cockcrow--or like the ghost of Hamlet's\nfather.)", "* * * * *\n\n_12 May._--Let me begin with facts--bare, meagre facts, verified by\nbooks and figures, and of which there can be no doubt.", "I must not\nconfuse them with experiences which will have to rest on my own\nobservation, or my memory of them.", "Last evening when the Count came from\nhis room he began by asking me questions on legal matters and on the\ndoing of certain kinds of business.", "I had spent the day wearily over\nbooks, and, simply to keep my mind occupied, went over some of the\nmatters I had been examined in at Lincoln's Inn.", "There was a certain\nmethod in the Count's inquiries, so I shall try to put them down in\nsequence; the knowledge may somehow or some time be useful to me.", "First, he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors or more.", "I\ntold him he might have a dozen if he wished, but that it would not be\nwise to have more than one solicitor engaged in one transaction, as only\none could act at a time, and that to change would be certain to militate\nagainst his interest.", "He seemed thoroughly to understand, and went on to\nask if there would be any practical difficulty in having one man to\nattend, say, to banking, and another to look after shipping, in case\nlocal help were needed in a place far from the home of the banking\nsolicitor.", "I asked him to explain more fully, so that I might not by any\nchance mislead him, so he said:--\n\n\"I shall illustrate.", "Your friend and mine, Mr. Peter Hawkins, from under\nthe shadow of your beautiful cathedral at Exeter, which is far from\nLondon, buys for me through your good self my place at London.", "Good!", "Now\nhere let me say frankly, lest you should think it strange that I have\nsought the services of one so far off from London instead of some one\nresident there, that my motive was that no local interest might be\nserved save my wish only; and as one of London residence might, perhaps,\nhave some purpose of himself or friend to serve, I went thus afield to\nseek my agent, whose labours should be only to my interest.", "Now, suppose\nI, who have much of affairs, wish to ship goods, say, to Newcastle, or\nDurham, or Harwich, or Dover, might it not be that it could with more\nease be done by consigning to one in these ports?\"", "I answered that\ncertainly it would be most easy, but that we solicitors had a system of\nagency one for the other, so that local work could be done locally on\ninstruction from any solicitor, so that the client, simply placing\nhimself in the hands of one man, could have his wishes carried out by\nhim without further trouble.", "\"But,\" said he, \"I could be at liberty to direct myself.", "Is it not so?\"", "\"Of course,\" I replied; and \"such is often done by men of business, who\ndo not like the whole of their affairs to be known by any one person.\"", "\"Good!\"", "he said, and then went on to ask about the means of making\nconsignments and the forms to be gone through, and of all sorts of\ndifficulties which might arise, but by forethought could be guarded\nagainst.", "I explained all these things to him to the best of my ability,\nand he certainly left me under the impression that he would have made a\nwonderful solicitor, for there was nothing that he did not think of or\nforesee.", "For a man who was never in the country, and who did not\nevidently do much in the way of business, his knowledge and acumen were\nwonderful.", "When he had satisfied himself on these points of which he had\nspoken, and I had verified all as well as I could by the books\navailable, he suddenly stood up and said:--\n\n\"Have you written since your first letter to our friend Mr. Peter\nHawkins, or to any other?\"", "It was with some bitterness in my heart that\nI answered that I had not, that as yet I had not seen any opportunity of\nsending letters to anybody.", "\"Then write now, my young friend,\" he said, laying a heavy hand on my\nshoulder: \"write to our friend and to any other; and say, if it will\nplease you, that you shall stay with me until a month from now.\"", "\"Do you wish me to stay so long?\"", "I asked, for my heart grew cold at the\nthought.", "\"I desire it much; nay, I will take no refusal.", "When your master,\nemployer, what you will, engaged that someone should come on his behalf,\nit was understood that my needs only were to be consulted.", "I have not\nstinted.", "Is it not so?\"", "What could I do but bow acceptance?", "It was Mr. Hawkins's interest, not\nmine, and I had to think of him, not myself; and besides, while Count\nDracula was speaking, there was that in his eyes and in his bearing\nwhich made me remember that I was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I\ncould have no choice.", "The Count saw his victory in my bow, and his\nmastery in the trouble of my face, for he began at once to use them, but\nin his own smooth, resistless way:--\n\n\"I pray you, my good young friend, that you will not discourse of things\nother than business in your letters.", "It will doubtless please your\nfriends to know that you are well, and that you look forward to getting\nhome to them.", "Is it not so?\"", "As he spoke he handed me three sheets of\nnote-paper and three envelopes.", "They were all of the thinnest foreign\npost, and looking at them, then at him, and noticing his quiet smile,\nwith the sharp, canine teeth lying over the red underlip, I understood\nas well as if he had spoken that I should be careful what I wrote, for\nhe would be able to read it.", "So I determined to write only formal notes\nnow, but to write fully to Mr. Hawkins in secret, and also to Mina, for\nto her I could write in shorthand, which would puzzle the Count, if he\ndid see it.", "When I had written my two letters I sat quiet, reading a\nbook whilst the Count wrote several notes, referring as he wrote them to\nsome books on his table.", "Then he took up my two and placed them with his\nown, and put by his writing materials, after which, the instant the door\nhad closed behind him, I leaned over and looked at the letters, which\nwere face down on the table.", "I felt no compunction in doing so, for\nunder the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself in every way\nI could.", "One of the letters was directed to Samuel F. Billington, No.", "7, The\nCrescent, Whitby, another to Herr Leutner, Varna; the third was to\nCoutts & Co., London, and the fourth to Herren Klopstock & Billreuth,\nbankers, Buda-Pesth.", "The second and fourth were unsealed.", "I was just\nabout to look at them when I saw the door-handle move.", "I sank back in my\nseat, having just had time to replace the letters as they had been and\nto resume my book before the Count, holding still another letter in his\nhand, entered the room.", "He took up the letters on the table and stamped\nthem carefully, and then turning to me, said:--\n\n\"I trust you will forgive me, but I have much work to do in private this\nevening.", "You will, I hope, find all things as you wish.\"", "At the door he\nturned, and after a moment's pause said:--\n\n\"Let me advise you, my dear young friend--nay, let me warn you with all\nseriousness, that should you leave these rooms you will not by any\nchance go to sleep in any other part of the castle.", "It is old, and has\nmany memories, and there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely.", "Be\nwarned!", "Should sleep now or ever overcome you, or be like to do, then\nhaste to your own chamber or to these rooms, for your rest will then be\nsafe.", "But if you be not careful in this respect, then\"--He finished his\nspeech in a gruesome way, for he motioned with his hands as if he were\nwashing them.", "I quite understood; my only doubt was as to whether any\ndream could be more terrible than the unnatural, horrible net of gloom\nand mystery which seemed closing around me.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--I endorse the last words written, but this time there is no\ndoubt in question.", "I shall not fear to sleep in any place where he is\nnot.", "I have placed the crucifix over the head of my bed--I imagine that\nmy rest is thus freer from dreams; and there it shall remain.", "When he left me I went to my room.", "After a little while, not hearing any\nsound, I came out and went up the stone stair to where I could look out\ntowards the South.", "There was some sense of freedom in the vast expanse,\ninaccessible though it was to me, as compared with the narrow darkness\nof the courtyard.", "Looking out on this, I felt that I was indeed in\nprison, and I seemed to want a breath of fresh air, though it were of\nthe night.", "I am beginning to feel this nocturnal existence tell on me.", "It is destroying my nerve.", "I start at my own shadow, and am full of all\nsorts of horrible imaginings.", "God knows that there is ground for my\nterrible fear in this accursed place!", "I looked out over the beautiful\nexpanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was almost as light as\nday.", "In the soft light the distant hills became melted, and the shadows\nin the valleys and gorges of velvety blackness.", "The mere beauty seemed\nto cheer me; there was peace and comfort in every breath I drew.", "As I\nleaned from the window my eye was caught by something moving a storey\nbelow me, and somewhat to my left, where I imagined, from the order of\nthe rooms, that the windows of the Count's own room would look out.", "The\nwindow at which I stood was tall and deep, stone-mullioned, and though\nweatherworn, was still complete; but it was evidently many a day since\nthe case had been there.", "I drew back behind the stonework, and looked\ncarefully out.", "What I saw was the Count's head coming out from the window.", "I did not\nsee the face, but I knew the man by the neck and the movement of his\nback and arms.", "In any case I could not mistake the hands which I had had\nso many opportunities of studying.", "I was at first interested and\nsomewhat amused, for it is wonderful how small a matter will interest\nand amuse a man when he is a prisoner.", "But my very feelings changed to\nrepulsion and terror when I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the\nwindow and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss,\n_face down_ with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings.", "At\nfirst I could not believe my eyes.", "I thought it was some trick of the\nmoonlight, some weird effect of shadow; but I kept looking, and it could\nbe no delusion.", "I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of the\nstones, worn clear of the mortar by the stress of years, and by thus\nusing every projection and inequality move downwards with considerable\nspeed, just as a lizard moves along a wall.", "What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the\nsemblance of man?", "I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering\nme; I am in fear--in awful fear--and there is no escape for me; I am\nencompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_15 May._--Once more have I seen the Count go out in his lizard fashion.", "He moved downwards in a sidelong way, some hundred feet down, and a good\ndeal to the left.", "He vanished into some hole or window.", "When his head\nhad disappeared, I leaned out to try and see more, but without\navail--the distance was too great to allow a proper angle of sight.", "I\nknew he had left the castle now, and thought to use the opportunity to\nexplore more than I had dared to do as yet.", "I went back to the room, and\ntaking a lamp, tried all the doors.", "They were all locked, as I had\nexpected, and the locks were comparatively new; but I went down the\nstone stairs to the hall where I had entered originally.", "I found I could\npull back the bolts easily enough and unhook the great chains; but the\ndoor was locked, and the key was gone!", "That key must be in the Count's\nroom; I must watch should his door be unlocked, so that I may get it and\nescape.", "I went on to make a thorough examination of the various stairs\nand passages, and to try the doors that opened from them.", "One or two\nsmall rooms near the hall were open, but there was nothing to see in\nthem except old furniture, dusty with age and moth-eaten.", "At last,\nhowever, I found one door at the top of the stairway which, though it\nseemed to be locked, gave a little under pressure.", "I tried it harder,\nand found that it was not really locked, but that the resistance came\nfrom the fact that the hinges had fallen somewhat, and the heavy door\nrested on the floor.", "Here was an opportunity which I might not have\nagain, so I exerted myself, and with many efforts forced it back so that\nI could enter.", "I was now in a wing of the castle further to the right\nthan the rooms I knew and a storey lower down.", "From the windows I could\nsee that the suite of rooms lay along to the south of the castle, the\nwindows of the end room looking out both west and south.", "On the latter\nside, as well as to the former, there was a great precipice.", "The castle\nwas built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was\nquite impregnable, and great windows were placed here where sling, or\nbow, or culverin could not reach, and consequently light and comfort,\nimpossible to a position which had to be guarded, were secured.", "To the\nwest was a great valley, and then, rising far away, great jagged\nmountain fastnesses, rising peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with\nmountain ash and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and\ncrannies of the stone.", "This was evidently the portion of the castle\noccupied by the ladies in bygone days, for the furniture had more air of\ncomfort than any I had seen.", "The windows were curtainless, and the\nyellow moonlight, flooding in through the diamond panes, enabled one to\nsee even colours, whilst it softened the wealth of dust which lay over\nall and disguised in some measure the ravages of time and the moth.", "My\nlamp seemed to be of little effect in the brilliant moonlight, but I was\nglad to have it with me, for there was a dread loneliness in the place\nwhich chilled my heart and made my nerves tremble.", "Still, it was better\nthan living alone in the rooms which I had come to hate from the\npresence of the Count, and after trying a little to school my nerves, I\nfound a soft quietude come over me.", "Here I am, sitting at a little oak\ntable where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much\nthought and many blushes, her ill-spelt love-letter, and writing in my\ndiary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last.", "It is\nnineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance.", "And yet, unless my\nsenses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own\nwhich mere \"modernity\" cannot kill.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later: the Morning of 16 May._--God preserve my sanity, for to this I\nam reduced.", "Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past.", "Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for, that I may not\ngo mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already.", "If I be sane, then surely it\nis maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in this\nhateful place the Count is the least dreadful to me; that to him alone I\ncan look for safety, even though this be only whilst I can serve his\npurpose.", "Great God!", "merciful God!", "Let me be calm, for out of that way\nlies madness indeed.", "I begin to get new lights on certain things which\nhave puzzled me.", "Up to now I never quite knew what Shakespeare meant\nwhen he made Hamlet say:--\n\n \"My tablets!", "quick, my tablets!", "'Tis meet that I put it down,\" etc.,\n\nfor now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock\nhad come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose.", "The habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me.", "The Count's mysterious warning frightened me at the time; it frightens\nme more now when I think of it, for in future he has a fearful hold upon\nme.", "I shall fear to doubt what he may say!", "When I had written in my diary and had fortunately replaced the book and\npen in my pocket I felt sleepy.", "The Count's warning came into my mind,\nbut I took a pleasure in disobeying it.", "The sense of sleep was upon me,\nand with it the obstinacy which sleep brings as outrider.", "The soft\nmoonlight soothed, and the wide expanse without gave a sense of freedom\nwhich refreshed me.", "I determined not to return to-night to the\ngloom-haunted rooms, but to sleep here, where, of old, ladies had sat\nand sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for\ntheir menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.", "I drew a great\ncouch out of its place near the corner, so that as I lay, I could look\nat the lovely view to east and south, and unthinking of and uncaring for\nthe dust, composed myself for sleep.", "I suppose I must have fallen\nasleep; I hope so, but I fear, for all that followed was startlingly\nreal--so real that now sitting here in the broad, full sunlight of the\nmorning, I cannot in the least believe that it was all sleep.", "I was not alone.", "The room was the same, unchanged in any way since I\ncame into it; I could see along the floor, in the brilliant moonlight,\nmy own footsteps marked where I had disturbed the long accumulation of\ndust.", "In the moonlight opposite me were three young women, ladies by\ntheir dress and manner.", "I thought at the time that I must be dreaming\nwhen I saw them, for, though the moonlight was behind them, they threw\nno shadow on the floor.", "They came close to me, and looked at me for some\ntime, and then whispered together.", "Two were dark, and had high aquiline\nnoses, like the Count, and great dark, piercing eyes that seemed to be\nalmost red when contrasted with the pale yellow moon.", "The other was\nfair, as fair as can be, with great wavy masses of golden hair and eyes\nlike pale sapphires.", "I seemed somehow to know her face, and to know it\nin connection with some dreamy fear, but I could not recollect at the\nmoment how or where.", "All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like\npearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips.", "There was something\nabout them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some\ndeadly fear.", "I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would\nkiss me with those red lips.", "It is not good to note this down, lest some\nday it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth.", "They whispered together, and then they all three laughed--such a\nsilvery, musical laugh, but as hard as though the sound never could have\ncome through the softness of human lips.", "It was like the intolerable,\ntingling sweetness of water-glasses when played on by a cunning hand.", "The fair girl shook her head coquettishly, and the other two urged her\non.", "One said:--\n\n\"Go on!", "You are first, and we shall follow; yours is the right to\nbegin.\"", "The other added:--\n\n\"He is young and strong; there are kisses for us all.\"", "I lay quiet,\nlooking out under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipation.", "The fair girl advanced and bent over me till I could feel the movement\nof her breath upon me.", "Sweet it was in one sense, honey-sweet, and sent\nthe same tingling through the nerves as her voice, but with a bitter\nunderlying the sweet, a bitter offensiveness, as one smells in blood.", "I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under\nthe lashes.", "The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply\ngloating.", "There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling\nand repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips\nlike an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining\non the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp\nteeth.", "Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of\nmy mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat.", "Then she\npaused, and I could hear the churning sound of her tongue as it licked\nher teeth and lips, and could feel the hot breath on my neck.", "Then the\nskin of my throat began to tingle as one's flesh does when the hand that\nis to tickle it approaches nearer--nearer.", "I could feel the soft,\nshivering touch of the lips on the super-sensitive skin of my throat,\nand the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there.", "I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited--waited with beating\nheart.", "But at that instant, another sensation swept through me as quick as\nlightning.", "I was conscious of the presence of the Count, and of his\nbeing as if lapped in a storm of fury.", "As my eyes opened involuntarily I\nsaw his strong hand grasp the slender neck of the fair woman and with\ngiant's power draw it back, the blue eyes transformed with fury, the\nwhite teeth champing with rage, and the fair cheeks blazing red with\npassion.", "But the Count!", "Never did I imagine such wrath and fury, even to\nthe demons of the pit.", "His eyes were positively blazing.", "The red light\nin them was lurid, as if the flames of hell-fire blazed behind them.", "His\nface was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires;\nthe thick eyebrows that met over the nose now seemed like a heaving bar\nof white-hot metal.", "With a fierce sweep of his arm, he hurled the woman\nfrom him, and then motioned to the others, as though he were beating\nthem back; it was the same imperious gesture that I had seen used to the\nwolves.", "In a voice which, though low and almost in a whisper seemed to\ncut through the air and then ring round the room he said:--\n\n\"How dare you touch him, any of you?", "How dare you cast eyes on him when\nI had forbidden it?", "Back, I tell you all!", "This man belongs to me!", "Beware\nhow you meddle with him, or you'll have to deal with me.\"", "The fair girl,\nwith a laugh of ribald coquetry, turned to answer him:--\n\n\"You yourself never loved; you never love!\"", "On this the other women\njoined, and such a mirthless, hard, soulless laughter rang through the\nroom that it almost made me faint to hear; it seemed like the pleasure\nof fiends.", "Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively,\nand said in a soft whisper:--\n\n\"Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past.", "Is it\nnot so?", "Well, now I promise you that when I am done with him you shall\nkiss him at your will.", "Now go!", "go!", "I must awaken him, for there is work\nto be done.\"", "\"Are we to have nothing to-night?\"", "said one of them, with a low laugh,\nas she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which\nmoved as though there were some living thing within it.", "For answer he\nnodded his head.", "One of the women jumped forward and opened it.", "If my\nears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a\nhalf-smothered child.", "The women closed round, whilst I was aghast with\nhorror; but as I looked they disappeared, and with them the dreadful\nbag.", "There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me\nwithout my noticing.", "They simply seemed to fade into the rays of the\nmoonlight and pass out through the window, for I could see outside the\ndim, shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away.", "Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down unconscious." ]

[ "I had spent the day wearily over\nbooks, and, simply to keep my mind occupied, went over some of the\nmatters I had been examined in at Lincoln's Inn.", "Now, suppose\nI, who have much of affairs, wish to ship goods, say, to Newcastle, or\nDurham, or Harwich, or Dover, might it not be that it could with more\nease be done by consigning to one in these ports?\"", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--I endorse the last words written, but this time there is no\ndoubt in question.", "In the soft light the distant hills became melted, and the shadows\nin the valleys and gorges of velvety blackness.", "But my very feelings changed to\nrepulsion and terror when I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the\nwindow and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss,\n_face down_ with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings.", "Still, it was better\nthan living alone in the rooms which I had come to hate from the\npresence of the Count, and after trying a little to school my nerves, I\nfound a soft quietude come over me.", "And yet, unless my\nsenses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own\nwhich mere \"modernity\" cannot kill.", "It is not good to note this down, lest some\nday it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth.", "The fair girl shook her head coquettishly, and the other two urged her\non.", "I was conscious of the presence of the Count, and of his\nbeing as if lapped in a storm of fury." ]

[ "Is it not so?\"", "He knows well that I am imprisoned; and as he has done it\nhimself, and has doubtless his own motives for it, he would only deceive\nme if I trusted him fully with the facts.", "I was just\nabout to look at them when I saw the door-handle move.", "Here, too, when they came, they found\nthe Huns, whose warlike fury had swept the earth like a living flame,\ntill the dying peoples held that in their veins ran the blood of those\nold witches, who, expelled from Scythia had mated with the devils in the\ndesert.", "I asked him a few\nquestions on Transylvania history, and he warmed up to the subject\nwonderfully.", "It was Mr. Hawkins's interest, not\nmine, and I had to think of him, not myself; and besides, while Count\nDracula was speaking, there was that in his eyes and in his bearing\nwhich made me remember that I was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I\ncould have no choice.", "Here,\nin the whirlpool of European races, the Ugric tribe bore down from\nIceland the fighting spirit which Thor and Wodin gave them, which their\nBerserkers displayed to such fell intent on the seaboards of Europe, ay,\nand of Asia and Africa too, till the peoples thought that the\nwere-wolves themselves had come.", "'Tis meet that I put it down,\" etc.,\n\nfor now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock\nhad come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose.", "The\nwindow at which I stood was tall and deep, stone-mullioned, and though\nweatherworn, was still complete; but it was evidently many a day since\nthe case had been there.", "Back, I tell you all!" ]

[ "There was some sense of freedom in the vast expanse,\ninaccessible though it was to me, as compared with the narrow darkness\nof the courtyard.", "Looking out on this, I felt that I was indeed in\nprison, and I seemed to want a breath of fresh air, though it were of\nthe night.", "I am beginning to feel this nocturnal existence tell on me.", "It is destroying my nerve.", "I start at my own shadow, and am full of all\nsorts of horrible imaginings.", "God knows that there is ground for my\nterrible fear in this accursed place!", "I looked out over the beautiful\nexpanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was almost as light as\nday.", "In the soft light the distant hills became melted, and the shadows\nin the valleys and gorges of velvety blackness.", "The mere beauty seemed\nto cheer me; there was peace and comfort in every breath I drew.", "As I\nleaned from the window my eye was caught by something moving a storey\nbelow me, and somewhat to my left, where I imagined, from the order of\nthe rooms, that the windows of the Count's own room would look out.", "The\nwindow at which I stood was tall and deep, stone-mullioned, and though\nweatherworn, was still complete; but it was evidently many a day since\nthe case had been there." ]

[ "\nWhen I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me.", "I rushed up and down the stairs, trying every door and peering out of\nevery window I could find; but after a little the conviction of my\nhelplessness overpowered all other feelings.", "When I look back after a\nfew hours I think I must have been mad for the time, for I behaved much\nas a rat does in a trap.", "When, however, the conviction had come to me\nthat I was helpless I sat down quietly--as quietly as I have ever done\nanything in my life--and began to think over what was best to be done.", "I\nam thinking still, and as yet have come to no definite conclusion.", "Of\none thing only am I certain; that it is no use making my ideas known to\nthe Count.", "He knows well that I am imprisoned; and as he has done it\nhimself, and has doubtless his own motives for it, he would only deceive\nme if I trusted him fully with the facts.", "So far as I can see, my only\nplan will be to keep my knowledge and my fears to myself, and my eyes\nopen.", "I am, I know, either being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears,\nor else I am in desperate straits; and if the latter be so, I need, and\nshall need, all my brains to get through.", "I had hardly come to this conclusion when I heard the great door below\nshut, and knew that the Count had returned.", "I must awaken him, for there is work\nto be done.\"", "\"Are we to have nothing to-night?\"", "said one of them, with a low laugh,\nas she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which\nmoved as though there were some living thing within it.", "For answer he\nnodded his head.", "One of the women jumped forward and opened it.", "If my\nears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a\nhalf-smothered child.", "The women closed round, whilst I was aghast with\nhorror; but as I looked they disappeared, and with them the dreadful\nbag.", "There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me\nwithout my noticing.", "They simply seemed to fade into the rays of the\nmoonlight and pass out through the window, for I could see outside the\ndim, shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away.", "Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down unconscious." ]

[ "\nI awoke in my own bed.", "If it be that I had not dreamt, the Count must\nhave carried me here.", "I tried to satisfy myself on the subject, but\ncould not arrive at any unquestionable result.", "To be sure, there were\ncertain small evidences, such as that my clothes were folded and laid by\nin a manner which was not my habit.", "My watch was still unwound, and I am\nrigorously accustomed to wind it the last thing before going to bed, and\nmany such details.", "But these things are no proof, for they may have been\nevidences that my mind was not as usual, and, from some cause or\nanother, I had certainly been much upset.", "I must watch for proof.", "Of one\nthing I am glad: if it was that the Count carried me here and undressed\nme, he must have been hurried in his task, for my pockets are intact.", "I\nam sure this diary would have been a mystery to him which he would not\nhave brooked.", "He would have taken or destroyed it.", "As I look round this\nroom, although it has been to me so full of fear, it is now a sort of\nsanctuary, for nothing can be more dreadful than those awful women, who\nwere--who _are_--waiting to suck my blood.", "* * * * *\n\n_18 May._--I have been down to look at that room again in daylight, for\nI _must_ know the truth.", "When I got to the doorway at the top of the\nstairs I found it closed.", "It had been so forcibly driven against the\njamb that part of the woodwork was splintered.", "I could see that the bolt\nof the lock had not been shot, but the door is fastened from the inside.", "I fear it was no dream, and must act on this surmise.", "* * * * *\n\n_19 May._--I am surely in the toils.", "Last night the Count asked me in\nthe suavest tones to write three letters, one saying that my work here\nwas nearly done, and that I should start for home within a few days,\nanother that I was starting on the next morning from the time of the\nletter, and the third that I had left the castle and arrived at\nBistritz.", "I would fain have rebelled, but felt that in the present state\nof things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I\nam so absolutely in his power; and to refuse would be to excite his\nsuspicion and to arouse his anger.", "He knows that I know too much, and\nthat I must not live, lest I be dangerous to him; my only chance is to\nprolong my opportunities.", "Something may occur which will give me a\nchance to escape.", "I saw in his eyes something of that gathering wrath\nwhich was manifest when he hurled that fair woman from him.", "He explained\nto me that posts were few and uncertain, and that my writing now would\nensure ease of mind to my friends; and he assured me with so much\nimpressiveness that he would countermand the later letters, which would\nbe held over at Bistritz until due time in case chance would admit of my\nprolonging my stay, that to oppose him would have been to create new\nsuspicion.", "I therefore pretended to fall in with his views, and asked\nhim what dates I should put on the letters.", "He calculated a minute, and\nthen said:--\n\n\"The first should be June 12, the second June 19, and the third June\n29.\"", "I know now the span of my life.", "God help me!", "* * * * *\n\n_28 May._--There is a chance of escape, or at any rate of being able to\nsend word home.", "A band of Szgany have come to the castle, and are\nencamped in the courtyard.", "These Szgany are gipsies; I have notes of\nthem in my book.", "They are peculiar to this part of the world, though\nallied to the ordinary gipsies all the world over.", "There are thousands\nof them in Hungary and Transylvania, who are almost outside all law.", "They attach themselves as a rule to some great noble or _boyar_, and\ncall themselves by his name.", "They are fearless and without religion,\nsave superstition, and they talk only their own varieties of the Romany\ntongue.", "I shall write some letters home, and shall try to get them to have them\nposted.", "I have already spoken them through my window to begin\nacquaintanceship.", "They took their hats off and made obeisance and many\nsigns, which, however, I could not understand any more than I could\ntheir spoken language....\n\n * * * * *\n\nI have written the letters.", "Mina's is in shorthand, and I simply ask Mr.\nHawkins to communicate with her.", "To her I have explained my situation,\nbut without the horrors which I may only surmise.", "It would shock and\nfrighten her to death were I to expose my heart to her.", "Should the\nletters not carry, then the Count shall not yet know my secret or the\nextent of my knowledge....\n\n * * * * *\n\nI have given the letters; I threw them through the bars of my window\nwith a gold piece, and made what signs I could to have them posted.", "The\nman who took them pressed them to his heart and bowed, and then put them\nin his cap.", "I could do no more.", "I stole back to the study, and began to\nread.", "As the Count did not come in, I have written here....\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Count has come.", "He sat down beside me, and said in his smoothest\nvoice as he opened two letters:--\n\n\"The Szgany has given me these, of which, though I know not whence they\ncome, I shall, of course, take care.", "See!\"", "--he must have looked at\nit--\"one is from you, and to my friend Peter Hawkins; the other\"--here\nhe caught sight of the strange symbols as he opened the envelope, and\nthe dark look came into his face, and his eyes blazed wickedly--\"the\nother is a vile thing, an outrage upon friendship and hospitality!", "It is\nnot signed.", "Well!", "so it cannot matter to us.\"", "And he calmly held letter\nand envelope in the flame of the lamp till they were consumed.", "Then he\nwent on:--\n\n\"The letter to Hawkins--that I shall, of course, send on, since it is\nyours.", "Your letters are sacred to me.", "Your pardon, my friend, that\nunknowingly I did break the seal.", "Will you not cover it again?\"", "He held\nout the letter to me, and with a courteous bow handed me a clean\nenvelope.", "I could only redirect it and hand it to him in silence.", "When\nhe went out of the room I could hear the key turn softly.", "A minute later\nI went over and tried it, and the door was locked.", "When, an hour or two after, the Count came quietly into the room, his\ncoming awakened me, for I had gone to sleep on the sofa.", "He was very\ncourteous and very cheery in his manner, and seeing that I had been\nsleeping, he said:--\n\n\"So, my friend, you are tired?", "Get to bed.", "There is the surest rest.", "I\nmay not have the pleasure to talk to-night, since there are many labours\nto me; but you will sleep, I pray.\"", "I passed to my room and went to bed,\nand, strange to say, slept without dreaming.", "Despair has its own calms.", "* * * * *\n\n_31 May._--This morning when I woke I thought I would provide myself\nwith some paper and envelopes from my bag and keep them in my pocket, so\nthat I might write in case I should get an opportunity, but again a\nsurprise, again a shock!", "Every scrap of paper was gone, and with it all my notes, my memoranda,\nrelating to railways and travel, my letter of credit, in fact all that\nmight be useful to me were I once outside the castle.", "I sat and pondered\nawhile, and then some thought occurred to me, and I made search of my\nportmanteau and in the wardrobe where I had placed my clothes.", "The suit in which I had travelled was gone, and also my overcoat and\nrug; I could find no trace of them anywhere.", "This looked like some new\nscheme of villainy....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_17 June._--This morning, as I was sitting on the edge of my bed\ncudgelling my brains, I heard without a cracking of whips and pounding\nand scraping of horses' feet up the rocky path beyond the courtyard.", "With joy I hurried to the window, and saw drive into the yard two great\nleiter-wagons, each drawn by eight sturdy horses, and at the head of\neach pair a Slovak, with his wide hat, great nail-studded belt, dirty\nsheepskin, and high boots.", "They had also their long staves in hand.", "I\nran to the door, intending to descend and try and join them through the\nmain hall, as I thought that way might be opened for them.", "Again a\nshock: my door was fastened on the outside.", "Then I ran to the window and cried to them.", "They looked up at me\nstupidly and pointed, but just then the \"hetman\" of the Szgany came out,\nand seeing them pointing to my window, said something, at which they\nlaughed.", "Henceforth no effort of mine, no piteous cry or agonised\nentreaty, would make them even look at me.", "They resolutely turned away.", "The leiter-wagons contained great, square boxes, with handles of thick\nrope; these were evidently empty by the ease with which the Slovaks\nhandled them, and by their resonance as they were roughly moved.", "When\nthey were all unloaded and packed in a great heap in one corner of the\nyard, the Slovaks were given some money by the Szgany, and spitting on\nit for luck, lazily went each to his horse's head.", "Shortly afterwards, I\nheard the cracking of their whips die away in the distance.", "* * * * *\n\n_24 June, before morning._--Last night the Count left me early, and\nlocked himself into his own room.", "As soon as I dared I ran up the\nwinding stair, and looked out of the window, which opened south.", "I\nthought I would watch for the Count, for there is something going on.", "The Szgany are quartered somewhere in the castle and are doing work of\nsome kind.", "I know it, for now and then I hear a far-away muffled sound\nas of mattock and spade, and, whatever it is, it must be the end of some\nruthless villainy.", "I had been at the window somewhat less than half an hour, when I saw\nsomething coming out of the Count's window.", "I drew back and watched\ncarefully, and saw the whole man emerge.", "It was a new shock to me to\nfind that he had on the suit of clothes which I had worn whilst\ntravelling here, and slung over his shoulder the terrible bag which I\nhad seen the women take away.", "There could be no doubt as to his quest,\nand in my garb, too!", "This, then, is his new scheme of evil: that he will\nallow others to see me, as they think, so that he may both leave\nevidence that I have been seen in the towns or villages posting my own\nletters, and that any wickedness which he may do shall by the local\npeople be attributed to me.", "It makes me rage to think that this can go on, and whilst I am shut up\nhere, a veritable prisoner, but without that protection of the law which\nis even a criminal's right and consolation.", "I thought I would watch for the Count's return, and for a long time sat\ndoggedly at the window.", "Then I began to notice that there were some\nquaint little specks floating in the rays of the moonlight.", "They were\nlike the tiniest grains of dust, and they whirled round and gathered in\nclusters in a nebulous sort of way.", "I watched them with a sense of\nsoothing, and a sort of calm stole over me.", "I leaned back in the\nembrasure in a more comfortable position, so that I could enjoy more\nfully the aerial gambolling.", "Something made me start up, a low, piteous howling of dogs somewhere far\nbelow in the valley, which was hidden from my sight.", "Louder it seemed to\nring in my ears, and the floating motes of dust to take new shapes to\nthe sound as they danced in the moonlight.", "I felt myself struggling to\nawake to some call of my instincts; nay, my very soul was struggling,\nand my half-remembered sensibilities were striving to answer the call.", "I\nwas becoming hypnotised!", "Quicker and quicker danced the dust; the\nmoonbeams seemed to quiver as they went by me into the mass of gloom\nbeyond.", "More and more they gathered till they seemed to take dim phantom\nshapes.", "And then I started, broad awake and in full possession of my\nsenses, and ran screaming from the place.", "The phantom shapes, which were\nbecoming gradually materialised from the moonbeams, were those of the\nthree ghostly women to whom I was doomed.", "I fled, and felt somewhat\nsafer in my own room, where there was no moonlight and where the lamp\nwas burning brightly.", "When a couple of hours had passed I heard something stirring in the\nCount's room, something like a sharp wail quickly suppressed; and then\nthere was silence, deep, awful silence, which chilled me.", "With a\nbeating heart, I tried the door; but I was locked in my prison, and\ncould do nothing.", "I sat down and simply cried.", "As I sat I heard a sound in the courtyard without--the agonised cry of a\nwoman.", "I rushed to the window, and throwing it up, peered out between\nthe bars.", "There, indeed, was a woman with dishevelled hair, holding her\nhands over her heart as one distressed with running.", "She was leaning\nagainst a corner of the gateway.", "When she saw my face at the window she\nthrew herself forward, and shouted in a voice laden with menace:--\n\n\"Monster, give me my child!\"", "She threw herself on her knees, and raising up her hands, cried the same\nwords in tones which wrung my heart.", "Then she tore her hair and beat her\nbreast, and abandoned herself to all the violences of extravagant\nemotion.", "Finally, she threw herself forward, and, though I could not see\nher, I could hear the beating of her naked hands against the door.", "Somewhere high overhead, probably on the tower, I heard the voice of the\nCount calling in his harsh, metallic whisper.", "His call seemed to be\nanswered from far and wide by the howling of wolves.", "Before many minutes\nhad passed a pack of them poured, like a pent-up dam when liberated,\nthrough the wide entrance into the courtyard.", "There was no cry from the woman, and the howling of the wolves was but\nshort.", "Before long they streamed away singly, licking their lips.", "I could not pity her, for I knew now what had become of her child, and\nshe was better dead.", "What shall I do?", "what can I do?", "How can I escape from this dreadful\nthing of night and gloom and fear?", "* * * * *\n\n_25 June, morning._--No man knows till he has suffered from the night\nhow sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.", "When the\nsun grew so high this morning that it struck the top of the great\ngateway opposite my window, the high spot which it touched seemed to me\nas if the dove from the ark had lighted there.", "My fear fell from me as\nif it had been a vaporous garment which dissolved in the warmth.", "I must\ntake action of some sort whilst the courage of the day is upon me.", "Last\nnight one of my post-dated letters went to post, the first of that fatal\nseries which is to blot out the very traces of my existence from the\nearth.", "Let me not think of it.", "Action!", "It has always been at night-time that I have been molested or\nthreatened, or in some way in danger or in fear.", "I have not yet seen the\nCount in the daylight.", "Can it be that he sleeps when others wake, that\nhe may be awake whilst they sleep?", "If I could only get into his room!", "But there is no possible way.", "The door is always locked, no way for me.", "Yes, there is a way, if one dares to take it.", "Where his body has gone\nwhy may not another body go?", "I have seen him myself crawl from his\nwindow.", "Why should not I imitate him, and go in by his window?", "The\nchances are desperate, but my need is more desperate still.", "I shall risk\nit.", "At the worst it can only be death; and a man's death is not a\ncalf's, and the dreaded Hereafter may still be open to me.", "God help me\nin my task!", "Good-bye, Mina, if I fail; good-bye, my faithful friend and\nsecond father; good-bye, all, and last of all Mina!", "* * * * *\n\n_Same day, later._--I have made the effort, and God, helping me, have\ncome safely back to this room.", "I must put down every detail in order.", "I\nwent whilst my courage was fresh straight to the window on the south\nside, and at once got outside on the narrow ledge of stone which runs\naround the building on this side.", "The stones are big and roughly cut,\nand the mortar has by process of time been washed away between them.", "I\ntook off my boots, and ventured out on the desperate way.", "I looked down\nonce, so as to make sure that a sudden glimpse of the awful depth would\nnot overcome me, but after that kept my eyes away from it.", "I knew pretty\nwell the direction and distance of the Count's window, and made for it\nas well as I could, having regard to the opportunities available.", "I did\nnot feel dizzy--I suppose I was too excited--and the time seemed\nridiculously short till I found myself standing on the window-sill and\ntrying to raise up the sash.", "I was filled with agitation, however, when\nI bent down and slid feet foremost in through the window.", "Then I looked\naround for the Count, but, with surprise and gladness, made a discovery.", "The room was empty!", "It was barely furnished with odd things, which\nseemed to have never been used; the furniture was something the same\nstyle as that in the south rooms, and was covered with dust.", "I looked\nfor the key, but it was not in the lock, and I could not find it\nanywhere.", "The only thing I found was a great heap of gold in one\ncorner--gold of all kinds, Roman, and British, and Austrian, and\nHungarian, and Greek and Turkish money, covered with a film of dust, as\nthough it had lain long in the ground.", "None of it that I noticed was\nless than three hundred years old.", "There were also chains and ornaments,\nsome jewelled, but all of them old and stained.", "At one corner of the room was a heavy door.", "I tried it, for, since I\ncould not find the key of the room or the key of the outer door, which\nwas the main object of my search, I must make further examination, or\nall my efforts would be in vain.", "It was open, and led through a stone\npassage to a circular stairway, which went steeply down.", "I descended,\nminding carefully where I went, for the stairs were dark, being only lit\nby loopholes in the heavy masonry.", "At the bottom there was a dark,\ntunnel-like passage, through which came a deathly, sickly odour, the\nodour of old earth newly turned.", "As I went through the passage the smell\ngrew closer and heavier.", "At last I pulled open a heavy door which stood\najar, and found myself in an old, ruined chapel, which had evidently\nbeen used as a graveyard.", "The roof was broken, and in two places were\nsteps leading to vaults, but the ground had recently been dug over, and\nthe earth placed in great wooden boxes, manifestly those which had been\nbrought by the Slovaks.", "There was nobody about, and I made search for\nany further outlet, but there was none.", "Then I went over every inch of\nthe ground, so as not to lose a chance.", "I went down even into the\nvaults, where the dim light struggled, although to do so was a dread to\nmy very soul.", "Into two of these I went, but saw nothing except fragments\nof old coffins and piles of dust; in the third, however, I made a\ndiscovery.", "There, in one of the great boxes, of which there were fifty in all, on a\npile of newly dug earth, lay the Count!", "He was either dead or asleep, I\ncould not say which--for the eyes were open and stony, but without the\nglassiness of death--and the cheeks had the warmth of life through all\ntheir pallor; the lips were as red as ever.", "But there was no sign of\nmovement, no pulse, no breath, no beating of the heart.", "I bent over him,\nand tried to find any sign of life, but in vain.", "He could not have lain\nthere long, for the earthy smell would have passed away in a few hours.", "By the side of the box was its cover, pierced with holes here and there.", "I thought he might have the keys on him, but when I went to search I saw\nthe dead eyes, and in them, dead though they were, such a look of hate,\nthough unconscious of me or my presence, that I fled from the place, and\nleaving the Count's room by the window, crawled again up the castle\nwall.", "Regaining my room, I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried\nto think....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_29 June._--To-day is the date of my last letter, and the Count has\ntaken steps to prove that it was genuine, for again I saw him leave the\ncastle by the same window, and in my clothes.", "As he went down the wall,\nlizard fashion, I wished I had a gun or some lethal weapon, that I might\ndestroy him; but I fear that no weapon wrought alone by man's hand would\nhave any effect on him.", "I dared not wait to see him return, for I feared\nto see those weird sisters.", "I came back to the library, and read there\ntill I fell asleep.", "I was awakened by the Count, who looked at me as grimly as a man can\nlook as he said:--\n\n\"To-morrow, my friend, we must part.", "You return to your beautiful\nEngland, I to some work which may have such an end that we may never\nmeet.", "Your letter home has been despatched; to-morrow I shall not be\nhere, but all shall be ready for your journey.", "In the morning come the\nSzgany, who have some labours of their own here, and also come some\nSlovaks.", "When they have gone, my carriage shall come for you, and shall\nbear you to the Borgo Pass to meet the diligence from Bukovina to\nBistritz.", "But I am in hopes that I shall see more of you at Castle\nDracula.\"", "I suspected him, and determined to test his sincerity.", "Sincerity!", "It seems like a profanation of the word to write it in\nconnection with such a monster, so asked him point-blank:--\n\n\"Why may I not go to-night?\"", "\"Because, dear sir, my coachman and horses are away on a mission.\"", "\"But I would walk with pleasure.", "I want to get away at once.\"", "He smiled,\nsuch a soft, smooth, diabolical smile that I knew there was some trick\nbehind his smoothness.", "He said:--\n\n\"And your baggage?\"", "\"I do not care about it.", "I can send for it some other time.\"", "The Count stood up, and said, with a sweet courtesy which made me rub my\neyes, it seemed so real:--\n\n\"You English have a saying which is close to my heart, for its spirit is\nthat which rules our _boyars_: 'Welcome the coming; speed the parting\nguest.'", "Come with me, my dear young friend.", "Not an hour shall you wait\nin my house against your will, though sad am I at your going, and that\nyou so suddenly desire it.", "Come!\"", "With a stately gravity, he, with the\nlamp, preceded me down the stairs and along the hall.", "Suddenly he\nstopped.", "\"Hark!\"", "Close at hand came the howling of many wolves.", "It was almost as if the\nsound sprang up at the rising of his hand, just as the music of a great\norchestra seems to leap under the baton of the conductor.", "After a pause\nof a moment, he proceeded, in his stately way, to the door, drew back\nthe ponderous bolts, unhooked the heavy chains, and began to draw it\nopen.", "To my intense astonishment I saw that it was unlocked.", "Suspiciously, I\nlooked all round, but could see no key of any kind.", "As the door began to open, the howling of the wolves without grew louder\nand angrier; their red jaws, with champing teeth, and their blunt-clawed\nfeet as they leaped, came in through the opening door.", "I knew then that\nto struggle at the moment against the Count was useless.", "With such\nallies as these at his command, I could do nothing.", "But still the door\ncontinued slowly to open, and only the Count's body stood in the gap.", "Suddenly it struck me that this might be the moment and means of my\ndoom; I was to be given to the wolves, and at my own instigation.", "There\nwas a diabolical wickedness in the idea great enough for the Count, and\nas a last chance I cried out:--\n\n\"Shut the door; I shall wait till morning!\"", "and covered my face with my\nhands to hide my tears of bitter disappointment.", "With one sweep of his\npowerful arm, the Count threw the door shut, and the great bolts clanged\nand echoed through the hall as they shot back into their places.", "In silence we returned to the library, and after a minute or two I went\nto my own room.", "The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand\nto me; with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that\nJudas in hell might be proud of.", "When I was in my room and about to lie down, I thought I heard a\nwhispering at my door.", "I went to it softly and listened.", "Unless my ears\ndeceived me, I heard the voice of the Count:--\n\n\"Back, back, to your own place!", "Your time is not yet come.", "Wait!", "Have\npatience!", "To-night is mine.", "To-morrow night is yours!\"", "There was a low,\nsweet ripple of laughter, and in a rage I threw open the door, and saw\nwithout the three terrible women licking their lips.", "As I appeared they\nall joined in a horrible laugh, and ran away.", "I came back to my room and threw myself on my knees.", "It is then so near\nthe end?", "To-morrow!", "to-morrow!", "Lord, help me, and those to whom I am\ndear!", "* * * * *\n\n_30 June, morning._--These may be the last words I ever write in this\ndiary.", "I slept till just before the dawn, and when I woke threw myself\non my knees, for I determined that if Death came he should find me\nready.", "At last I felt that subtle change in the air, and knew that the morning\nhad come.", "Then came the welcome cock-crow, and I felt that I was safe.", "With a glad heart, I opened my door and ran down to the hall.", "I had seen\nthat the door was unlocked, and now escape was before me.", "With hands\nthat trembled with eagerness, I unhooked the chains and drew back the\nmassive bolts.", "But the door would not move.", "Despair seized me.", "I pulled, and pulled, at\nthe door, and shook it till, massive as it was, it rattled in its\ncasement.", "I could see the bolt shot.", "It had been locked after I left the\nCount.", "Then a wild desire took me to obtain that key at any risk, and I\ndetermined then and there to scale the wall again and gain the Count's\nroom.", "He might kill me, but death now seemed the happier choice of\nevils.", "Without a pause I rushed up to the east window, and scrambled\ndown the wall, as before, into the Count's room.", "It was empty, but that\nwas as I expected.", "I could not see a key anywhere, but the heap of gold\nremained.", "I went through the door in the corner and down the winding\nstair and along the dark passage to the old chapel.", "I knew now well\nenough where to find the monster I sought.", "The great box was in the same place, close against the wall, but the lid\nwas laid on it, not fastened down, but with the nails ready in their\nplaces to be hammered home.", "I knew I must reach the body for the key, so\nI raised the lid, and laid it back against the wall; and then I saw\nsomething which filled my very soul with horror.", "There lay the Count,\nbut looking as if his youth had been half renewed, for the white hair\nand moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller,\nand the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than\never, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the\ncorners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck.", "Even the deep,\nburning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches\nunderneath were bloated.", "It seemed as if the whole awful creature were\nsimply gorged with blood.", "He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his\nrepletion.", "I shuddered as I bent over to touch him, and every sense in\nme revolted at the contact; but I had to search, or I was lost.", "The\ncoming night might see my own body a banquet in a similar way to those\nhorrid three.", "I felt all over the body, but no sign could I find of the\nkey.", "Then I stopped and looked at the Count.", "There was a mocking smile\non the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad.", "This was the being I\nwas helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come\nhe might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and\ncreate a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the\nhelpless.", "The very thought drove me mad.", "A terrible desire came upon me\nto rid the world of such a monster.", "There was no lethal weapon at hand,\nbut I seized a shovel which the workmen had been using to fill the\ncases, and lifting it high, struck, with the edge downward, at the\nhateful face.", "But as I did so the head turned, and the eyes fell full\nupon me, with all their blaze of basilisk horror.", "The sight seemed to\nparalyse me, and the shovel turned in my hand and glanced from the face,\nmerely making a deep gash above the forehead.", "The shovel fell from my\nhand across the box, and as I pulled it away the flange of the blade\ncaught the edge of the lid which fell over again, and hid the horrid\nthing from my sight.", "The last glimpse I had was of the bloated face,\nblood-stained and fixed with a grin of malice which would have held its\nown in the nethermost hell.", "I thought and thought what should be my next move, but my brain seemed\non fire, and I waited with a despairing feeling growing over me.", "As I\nwaited I heard in the distance a gipsy song sung by merry voices coming\ncloser, and through their song the rolling of heavy wheels and the\ncracking of whips; the Szgany and the Slovaks of whom the Count had\nspoken were coming.", "With a last look around and at the box which\ncontained the vile body, I ran from the place and gained the Count's\nroom, determined to rush out at the moment the door should be opened.", "With strained ears, I listened, and heard downstairs the grinding of the\nkey in the great lock and the falling back of the heavy door.", "There must\nhave been some other means of entry, or some one had a key for one of\nthe locked doors.", "Then there came the sound of many feet tramping and\ndying away in some passage which sent up a clanging echo.", "I turned to\nrun down again towards the vault, where I might find the new entrance;\nbut at the moment there seemed to come a violent puff of wind, and the\ndoor to the winding stair blew to with a shock that set the dust from\nthe lintels flying.", "When I ran to push it open, I found that it was\nhopelessly fast.", "I was again a prisoner, and the net of doom was closing\nround me more closely.", "As I write there is in the passage below a sound of many tramping feet\nand the crash of weights being set down heavily, doubtless the boxes,\nwith their freight of earth.", "There is a sound of hammering; it is the\nbox being nailed down.", "Now I can hear the heavy feet tramping again\nalong the hall, with many other idle feet coming behind them.", "The door is shut, and the chains rattle; there is a grinding of the key\nin the lock; I can hear the key withdraw: then another door opens and\nshuts; I hear the creaking of lock and bolt.", "Hark!", "in the courtyard and down the rocky way the roll of heavy wheels,\nthe crack of whips, and the chorus of the Szgany as they pass into the\ndistance.", "I am alone in the castle with those awful women.", "Faugh!", "Mina is a woman,\nand there is nought in common.", "They are devils of the Pit!", "I shall not remain alone with them; I shall try to scale the castle wall\nfarther than I have yet attempted.", "I shall take some of the gold with\nme, lest I want it later.", "I may find a way from this dreadful place.", "And then away for home!", "away to the quickest and nearest train!", "away\nfrom this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his\nchildren still walk with earthly feet!", "At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the\nprecipice is steep and high.", "At its foot a man may sleep--as a man.", "Good-bye, all!", "Mina!" ]

[ "It would shock and\nfrighten her to death were I to expose my heart to her.", "The\nman who took them pressed them to his heart and bowed, and then put them\nin his cap.", "The suit in which I had travelled was gone, and also my overcoat and\nrug; I could find no trace of them anywhere.", "They looked up at me\nstupidly and pointed, but just then the \"hetman\" of the Szgany came out,\nand seeing them pointing to my window, said something, at which they\nlaughed.", "His call seemed to be\nanswered from far and wide by the howling of wolves.", "But there is no possible way.", "I shall risk\nit.", "The only thing I found was a great heap of gold in one\ncorner--gold of all kinds, Roman, and British, and Austrian, and\nHungarian, and Greek and Turkish money, covered with a film of dust, as\nthough it had lain long in the ground.", "As I went through the passage the smell\ngrew closer and heavier.", "But as I did so the head turned, and the eyes fell full\nupon me, with all their blaze of basilisk horror." ]

[ "What shall I do?", "The sight seemed to\nparalyse me, and the shovel turned in my hand and glanced from the face,\nmerely making a deep gash above the forehead.", "As the Count did not come in, I have written here....\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Count has come.", "Regaining my room, I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried\nto think....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_29 June._--To-day is the date of my last letter, and the Count has\ntaken steps to prove that it was genuine, for again I saw him leave the\ncastle by the same window, and in my clothes.", "At last I pulled open a heavy door which stood\najar, and found myself in an old, ruined chapel, which had evidently\nbeen used as a graveyard.", "Come with me, my dear young friend.", "I was again a prisoner, and the net of doom was closing\nround me more closely.", "As I went through the passage the smell\ngrew closer and heavier.", "I was filled with agitation, however, when\nI bent down and slid feet foremost in through the window.", "I was awakened by the Count, who looked at me as grimly as a man can\nlook as he said:--\n\n\"To-morrow, my friend, we must part." ]

[ "Good-bye, Mina, if I fail; good-bye, my faithful friend and\nsecond father; good-bye, all, and last of all Mina!", "* * * * *\n\n_Same day, later._--I have made the effort, and God, helping me, have\ncome safely back to this room.", "I must put down every detail in order.", "I\nwent whilst my courage was fresh straight to the window on the south\nside, and at once got outside on the narrow ledge of stone which runs\naround the building on this side.", "The stones are big and roughly cut,\nand the mortar has by process of time been washed away between them.", "I\ntook off my boots, and ventured out on the desperate way.", "I looked down\nonce, so as to make sure that a sudden glimpse of the awful depth would\nnot overcome me, but after that kept my eyes away from it.", "I knew pretty\nwell the direction and distance of the Count's window, and made for it\nas well as I could, having regard to the opportunities available.", "I did\nnot feel dizzy--I suppose I was too excited--and the time seemed\nridiculously short till I found myself standing on the window-sill and\ntrying to raise up the sash.", "I was filled with agitation, however, when\nI bent down and slid feet foremost in through the window.", "Then I looked\naround for the Count, but, with surprise and gladness, made a discovery." ]

[ "\nI awoke in my own bed.", "If it be that I had not dreamt, the Count must\nhave carried me here.", "I tried to satisfy myself on the subject, but\ncould not arrive at any unquestionable result.", "To be sure, there were\ncertain small evidences, such as that my clothes were folded and laid by\nin a manner which was not my habit.", "My watch was still unwound, and I am\nrigorously accustomed to wind it the last thing before going to bed, and\nmany such details.", "But these things are no proof, for they may have been\nevidences that my mind was not as usual, and, from some cause or\nanother, I had certainly been much upset.", "I must watch for proof.", "Of one\nthing I am glad: if it was that the Count carried me here and undressed\nme, he must have been hurried in his task, for my pockets are intact.", "I\nam sure this diary would have been a mystery to him which he would not\nhave brooked.", "He would have taken or destroyed it.", "I shall not remain alone with them; I shall try to scale the castle wall\nfarther than I have yet attempted.", "I shall take some of the gold with\nme, lest I want it later.", "I may find a way from this dreadful place.", "And then away for home!", "away to the quickest and nearest train!", "away\nfrom this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his\nchildren still walk with earthly feet!", "At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the\nprecipice is steep and high.", "At its foot a man may sleep--as a man.", "Good-bye, all!", "Mina!" ]

[ "\n\n\"_9 May._\n\n\"My dearest Lucy,--\n\n\"Forgive my long delay in writing, but I have been simply overwhelmed\nwith work.", "The life of an assistant schoolmistress is sometimes trying.", "I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together\nfreely and build our castles in the air.", "I have been working very hard\nlately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan's studies, and I have\nbeen practising shorthand very assiduously.", "When we are married I shall\nbe able to be useful to Jonathan, and if I can stenograph well enough I\ncan take down what he wants to say in this way and write it out for\nhim on the typewriter, at which also I am practising very hard.", "He\nand I sometimes write letters in shorthand, and he is keeping a\nstenographic journal of his travels abroad.", "When I am with you I\nshall keep a diary in the same way.", "I don't mean one of those\ntwo-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries, but a\nsort of journal which I can write in whenever I feel inclined.", "I do not\nsuppose there will be much of interest to other people; but it is not\nintended for them.", "I may show it to Jonathan some day if there is in it\nanything worth sharing, but it is really an exercise book.", "I shall try\nto do what I see lady journalists do: interviewing and writing\ndescriptions and trying to remember conversations.", "I am told that, with\na little practice, one can remember all that goes on or that one hears\nsaid during a day.", "However, we shall see.", "I will tell you of my little\nplans when we meet.", "I have just had a few hurried lines from Jonathan\nfrom Transylvania.", "He is well, and will be returning in about a week.", "I\nam longing to hear all his news.", "It must be so nice to see strange\ncountries.", "I wonder if we--I mean Jonathan and I--shall ever see them\ntogether.", "There is the ten o'clock bell ringing.", "Good-bye.", "\"Your loving\n\n\"MINA.", "\"Tell me all the news when you write.", "You have not told me anything for\na long time.", "I hear rumours, and especially of a tall, handsome,\ncurly-haired man???\"", "_Letter, Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray_.", "\"_17, Chatham Street_,\n\n\"_Wednesday_.", "\"My dearest Mina,--\n\n\"I must say you tax me _very_ unfairly with being a bad correspondent.", "I\nwrote to you _twice_ since we parted, and your last letter was only your\n_second_.", "Besides, I have nothing to tell you.", "There is really nothing\nto interest you.", "Town is very pleasant just now, and we go a good deal\nto picture-galleries and for walks and rides in the park.", "As to the\ntall, curly-haired man, I suppose it was the one who was with me at the\nlast Pop.", "Some one has evidently been telling tales.", "That was Mr.\nHolmwood.", "He often comes to see us, and he and mamma get on very well\ntogether; they have so many things to talk about in common.", "We met some\ntime ago a man that would just _do for you_, if you were not already\nengaged to Jonathan.", "He is an excellent _parti_, being handsome, well\noff, and of good birth.", "He is a doctor and really clever.", "Just fancy!", "He\nis only nine-and-twenty, and he has an immense lunatic asylum all under\nhis own care.", "Mr. Holmwood introduced him to me, and he called here to\nsee us, and often comes now.", "I think he is one of the most resolute men\nI ever saw, and yet the most calm.", "He seems absolutely imperturbable.", "I\ncan fancy what a wonderful power he must have over his patients.", "He has\na curious habit of looking one straight in the face, as if trying to\nread one's thoughts.", "He tries this on very much with me, but I flatter\nmyself he has got a tough nut to crack.", "I know that from my glass.", "Do\nyou ever try to read your own face?", "_I do_, and I can tell you it is not\na bad study, and gives you more trouble than you can well fancy if you\nhave never tried it.", "He says that I afford him a curious psychological\nstudy, and I humbly think I do.", "I do not, as you know, take sufficient\ninterest in dress to be able to describe the new fashions.", "Dress is a\nbore.", "That is slang again, but never mind; Arthur says that every day.", "There, it is all out.", "Mina, we have told all our secrets to each other\nsince we were _children_; we have slept together and eaten together, and\nlaughed and cried together; and now, though I have spoken, I would like\nto speak more.", "Oh, Mina, couldn't you guess?", "I love him.", "I am blushing\nas I write, for although I _think_ he loves me, he has not told me so in\nwords.", "But oh, Mina, I love him; I love him; I love him!", "There, that\ndoes me good.", "I wish I were with you, dear, sitting by the fire\nundressing, as we used to sit; and I would try to tell you what I feel.", "I do not know how I am writing this even to you.", "I am afraid to stop,\nor I should tear up the letter, and I don't want to stop, for I _do_ so\nwant to tell you all.", "Let me hear from you _at once_, and tell me all\nthat you think about it.", "Mina, I must stop.", "Good-night.", "Bless me in your\nprayers; and, Mina, pray for my happiness.", "\"LUCY.", "\"P.S.--I need not tell you this is a secret.", "Good-night again.", "\"L.\"\n\n_Letter, Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray_.", "\"_24 May_.", "\"My dearest Mina,--\n\n\"Thanks, and thanks, and thanks again for your sweet letter.", "It was so\nnice to be able to tell you and to have your sympathy.", "\"My dear, it never rains but it pours.", "How true the old proverbs are.", "Here am I, who shall be twenty in September, and yet I never had a\nproposal till to-day, not a real proposal, and to-day I have had three.", "Just fancy!", "THREE proposals in one day!", "Isn't it awful!", "I feel sorry,\nreally and truly sorry, for two of the poor fellows.", "Oh, Mina, I am so\nhappy that I don't know what to do with myself.", "And three proposals!", "But, for goodness' sake, don't tell any of the girls, or they would be\ngetting all sorts of extravagant ideas and imagining themselves injured\nand slighted if in their very first day at home they did not get six at\nleast.", "Some girls are so vain!", "You and I, Mina dear, who are engaged and\nare going to settle down soon soberly into old married women, can\ndespise vanity.", "Well, I must tell you about the three, but you must keep\nit a secret, dear, from _every one_, except, of course, Jonathan.", "You\nwill tell him, because I would, if I were in your place, certainly tell\nArthur.", "A woman ought to tell her husband everything--don't you think\nso, dear?--and I must be fair.", "Men like women, certainly their wives, to\nbe quite as fair as they are; and women, I am afraid, are not always\nquite as fair as they should be.", "Well, my dear, number One came just\nbefore lunch.", "I told you of him, Dr. John Seward, the lunatic-asylum\nman, with the strong jaw and the good forehead.", "He was very cool\noutwardly, but was nervous all the same.", "He had evidently been schooling\nhimself as to all sorts of little things, and remembered them; but he\nalmost managed to sit down on his silk hat, which men don't generally do\nwhen they are cool, and then when he wanted to appear at ease he kept\nplaying with a lancet in a way that made me nearly scream.", "He spoke to\nme, Mina, very straightforwardly.", "He told me how dear I was to him,\nthough he had known me so little, and what his life would be with me to\nhelp and cheer him.", "He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be if I\ndid not care for him, but when he saw me cry he said that he was a brute\nand would not add to my present trouble.", "Then he broke off and asked if\nI could love him in time; and when I shook my head his hands trembled,\nand then with some hesitation he asked me if I cared already for any one\nelse.", "He put it very nicely, saying that he did not want to wring my\nconfidence from me, but only to know, because if a woman's heart was\nfree a man might have hope.", "And then, Mina, I felt a sort of duty to\ntell him that there was some one.", "I only told him that much, and then he\nstood up, and he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my\nhands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that if I ever\nwanted a friend I must count him one of my best.", "Oh, Mina dear, I can't\nhelp crying: and you must excuse this letter being all blotted.", "Being\nproposed to is all very nice and all that sort of thing, but it isn't at\nall a happy thing when you have to see a poor fellow, whom you know\nloves you honestly, going away and looking all broken-hearted, and to\nknow that, no matter what he may say at the moment, you are passing\nquite out of his life.", "My dear, I must stop here at present, I feel so\nmiserable, though I am so happy.", "\"_Evening._\n\n\"Arthur has just gone, and I feel in better spirits than when I left\noff, so I can go on telling you about the day.", "Well, my dear, number Two\ncame after lunch.", "He is such a nice fellow, an American from Texas, and\nhe looks so young and so fresh that it seems almost impossible that he\nhas been to so many places and has had such adventures.", "I sympathise\nwith poor Desdemona when she had such a dangerous stream poured in her\near, even by a black man.", "I suppose that we women are such cowards that\nwe think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him.", "I know now\nwhat I would do if I were a man and wanted to make a girl love me.", "No, I\ndon't, for there was Mr. Morris telling us his stories, and Arthur never\ntold any, and yet---- My dear, I am somewhat previous.", "Mr. Quincey P.\nMorris found me alone.", "It seems that a man always does find a girl\nalone.", "No, he doesn't, for Arthur tried twice to _make_ a chance, and I\nhelping him all I could; I am not ashamed to say it now.", "I must tell you\nbeforehand that Mr. Morris doesn't always speak slang--that is to say,\nhe never does so to strangers or before them, for he is really well\neducated and has exquisite manners--but he found out that it amused me\nto hear him talk American slang, and whenever I was present, and there\nwas no one to be shocked, he said such funny things.", "I am afraid, my\ndear, he has to invent it all, for it fits exactly into whatever else he\nhas to say.", "But this is a way slang has.", "I do not know myself if I shall\never speak slang; I do not know if Arthur likes it, as I have never\nheard him use any as yet.", "Well, Mr. Morris sat down beside me and looked\nas happy and jolly as he could, but I could see all the same that he was\nvery nervous.", "He took my hand in his, and said ever so sweetly:--\n\n\"'Miss Lucy, I know I ain't good enough to regulate the fixin's of your\nlittle shoes, but I guess if you wait till you find a man that is you\nwill go join them seven young women with the lamps when you quit.", "Won't\nyou just hitch up alongside of me and let us go down the long road\ntogether, driving in double harness?'", "\"Well, he did look so good-humoured and so jolly that it didn't seem\nhalf so hard to refuse him as it did poor Dr. Seward; so I said, as\nlightly as I could, that I did not know anything of hitching, and that I\nwasn't broken to harness at all yet.", "Then he said that he had spoken in\na light manner, and he hoped that if he had made a mistake in doing so\non so grave, so momentous, an occasion for him, I would forgive him.", "He\nreally did look serious when he was saying it, and I couldn't help\nfeeling a bit serious too--I know, Mina, you will think me a horrid\nflirt--though I couldn't help feeling a sort of exultation that he was\nnumber two in one day.", "And then, my dear, before I could say a word he\nbegan pouring out a perfect torrent of love-making, laying his very\nheart and soul at my feet.", "He looked so earnest over it that I shall\nnever again think that a man must be playful always, and never earnest,\nbecause he is merry at times.", "I suppose he saw something in my face\nwhich checked him, for he suddenly stopped, and said with a sort of\nmanly fervour that I could have loved him for if I had been free:--\n\n\"'Lucy, you are an honest-hearted girl, I know.", "I should not be here\nspeaking to you as I am now if I did not believe you clean grit, right\nthrough to the very depths of your soul.", "Tell me, like one good fellow\nto another, is there any one else that you care for?", "And if there is\nI'll never trouble you a hair's breadth again, but will be, if you will\nlet me, a very faithful friend.'", "\"My dear Mina, why are men so noble when we women are so little worthy\nof them?", "Here was I almost making fun of this great-hearted, true\ngentleman.", "I burst into tears--I am afraid, my dear, you will think\nthis a very sloppy letter in more ways than one--and I really felt very\nbadly.", "Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want\nher, and save all this trouble?", "But this is heresy, and I must not say\nit.", "I am glad to say that, though I was crying, I was able to look into\nMr. Morris's brave eyes, and I told him out straight:--\n\n\"'Yes, there is some one I love, though he has not told me yet that he\neven loves me.'", "I was right to speak to him so frankly, for quite a\nlight came into his face, and he put out both his hands and took mine--I\nthink I put them into his--and said in a hearty way:--\n\n\"'That's my brave girl.", "It's better worth being late for a chance of\nwinning you than being in time for any other girl in the world.", "Don't\ncry, my dear.", "If it's for me, I'm a hard nut to crack; and I take it\nstanding up.", "If that other fellow doesn't know his happiness, well, he'd\nbetter look for it soon, or he'll have to deal with me.", "Little girl,\nyour honesty and pluck have made me a friend, and that's rarer than a\nlover; it's more unselfish anyhow.", "My dear, I'm going to have a pretty\nlonely walk between this and Kingdom Come.", "Won't you give me one kiss?", "It'll be something to keep off the darkness now and then.", "You can, you\nknow, if you like, for that other good fellow--he must be a good fellow,\nmy dear, and a fine fellow, or you could not love him--hasn't spoken\nyet.'", "That quite won me, Mina, for it _was_ brave and sweet of him, and\nnoble, too, to a rival--wasn't it?--and he so sad; so I leant over and\nkissed him.", "He stood up with my two hands in his, and as he looked down\ninto my face--I am afraid I was blushing very much--he said:--\n\n\"'Little girl, I hold your hand, and you've kissed me, and if these\nthings don't make us friends nothing ever will.", "Thank you for your sweet\nhonesty to me, and good-bye.'", "He wrung my hand, and taking up his hat,\nwent straight out of the room without looking back, without a tear or a\nquiver or a pause; and I am crying like a baby.", "Oh, why must a man like\nthat be made unhappy when there are lots of girls about who would\nworship the very ground he trod on?", "I know I would if I were free--only\nI don't want to be free.", "My dear, this quite upset me, and I feel I\ncannot write of happiness just at once, after telling you of it; and I\ndon't wish to tell of the number three until it can be all happy.", "\"Ever your loving\n\n\"LUCY.", "\"P.S.--Oh, about number Three--I needn't tell you of number Three, need\nI?", "Besides, it was all so confused; it seemed only a moment from his\ncoming into the room till both his arms were round me, and he was\nkissing me.", "I am very, very happy, and I don't know what I have done to\ndeserve it.", "I must only try in the future to show that I am not\nungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a\nlover, such a husband, and such a friend.", "\"Good-bye.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n(Kept in phonograph)\n\n_25 May._--Ebb tide in appetite to-day.", "Cannot eat, cannot rest, so\ndiary instead.", "Since my rebuff of yesterday I have a sort of empty\nfeeling; nothing in the world seems of sufficient importance to be worth\nthe doing.... As I knew that the only cure for this sort of thing was\nwork, I went down amongst the patients.", "I picked out one who has\nafforded me a study of much interest.", "He is so quaint that I am\ndetermined to understand him as well as I can.", "To-day I seemed to get\nnearer than ever before to the heart of his mystery.", "I questioned him more fully than I had ever done, with a view to making\nmyself master of the facts of his hallucination.", "In my manner of doing\nit there was, I now see, something of cruelty.", "I seemed to wish to keep\nhim to the point of his madness--a thing which I avoid with the patients\nas I would the mouth of hell.", "(_Mem._, under what circumstances would I _not_ avoid the pit of hell?)", "_Omnia Romae venalia sunt._ Hell has its price!", "_verb.", "sap._ If there be\nanything behind this instinct it will be valuable to trace it afterwards\n_accurately_, so I had better commence to do so, therefore--\n\nR. M. Renfield, aetat 59.--Sanguine temperament; great physical strength;\nmorbidly excitable; periods of gloom, ending in some fixed idea which I\ncannot make out.", "I presume that the sanguine temperament itself and the\ndisturbing influence end in a mentally-accomplished finish; a possibly\ndangerous man, probably dangerous if unselfish.", "In selfish men caution\nis as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves.", "What I think of\non this point is, when self is the fixed point the centripetal force is\nbalanced with the centrifugal; when duty, a cause, etc., is the fixed\npoint, the latter force is paramount, and only accident or a series of\naccidents can balance it.", "_Letter, Quincey P. Morris to Hon.", "Arthur Holmwood._\n\n\"_25 May._\n\n\"My dear Art,--\n\n\"We've told yarns by the camp-fire in the prairies; and dressed one\nanother's wounds after trying a landing at the Marquesas; and drunk\nhealths on the shore of Titicaca.", "There are more yarns to be told, and\nother wounds to be healed, and another health to be drunk.", "Won't you let\nthis be at my camp-fire to-morrow night?", "I have no hesitation in asking\nyou, as I know a certain lady is engaged to a certain dinner-party, and\nthat you are free.", "There will only be one other, our old pal at the\nKorea, Jack Seward.", "He's coming, too, and we both want to mingle our\nweeps over the wine-cup, and to drink a health with all our hearts to\nthe happiest man in all the wide world, who has won the noblest heart\nthat God has made and the best worth winning.", "We promise you a hearty\nwelcome, and a loving greeting, and a health as true as your own right\nhand.", "We shall both swear to leave you at home if you drink too deep to\na certain pair of eyes.", "Come!", "\"Yours, as ever and always,\n\n\"QUINCEY P.", "MORRIS.\"", "_Telegram from Arthur Holmwood to Quincey P. Morris._\n\n\"_26 May._\n\n\"Count me in every time.", "I bear messages which will make both your ears\ntingle.", "\"ART.\"" ]

[ "I\nam longing to hear all his news.", "Just fancy!", "There, it is all out.", "But oh, Mina, I love him; I love him; I love him!", "But, for goodness' sake, don't tell any of the girls, or they would be\ngetting all sorts of extravagant ideas and imagining themselves injured\nand slighted if in their very first day at home they did not get six at\nleast.", "Then he broke off and asked if\nI could love him in time; and when I shook my head his hands trembled,\nand then with some hesitation he asked me if I cared already for any one\nelse.", "My dear, I must stop here at present, I feel so\nmiserable, though I am so happy.", "Well, my dear, number Two\ncame after lunch.", "_Letter, Quincey P. Morris to Hon.", "Won't you let\nthis be at my camp-fire to-morrow night?" ]

[ "I must tell you\nbeforehand that Mr. Morris doesn't always speak slang--that is to say,\nhe never does so to strangers or before them, for he is really well\neducated and has exquisite manners--but he found out that it amused me\nto hear him talk American slang, and whenever I was present, and there\nwas no one to be shocked, he said such funny things.", "We promise you a hearty\nwelcome, and a loving greeting, and a health as true as your own right\nhand.", "_Letter, Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray_.", "I suppose he saw something in my face\nwhich checked him, for he suddenly stopped, and said with a sort of\nmanly fervour that I could have loved him for if I had been free:--\n\n\"'Lucy, you are an honest-hearted girl, I know.", "I told you of him, Dr. John Seward, the lunatic-asylum\nman, with the strong jaw and the good forehead.", "He seems absolutely imperturbable.", "Oh, Mina dear, I can't\nhelp crying: and you must excuse this letter being all blotted.", "You have not told me anything for\na long time.", "\"P.S.--I need not tell you this is a secret.", "He\nis only nine-and-twenty, and he has an immense lunatic asylum all under\nhis own care." ]

[ "Well, my dear, number One came just\nbefore lunch.", "I told you of him, Dr. John Seward, the lunatic-asylum\nman, with the strong jaw and the good forehead.", "He was very cool\noutwardly, but was nervous all the same.", "He had evidently been schooling\nhimself as to all sorts of little things, and remembered them; but he\nalmost managed to sit down on his silk hat, which men don't generally do\nwhen they are cool, and then when he wanted to appear at ease he kept\nplaying with a lancet in a way that made me nearly scream.", "He spoke to\nme, Mina, very straightforwardly.", "He told me how dear I was to him,\nthough he had known me so little, and what his life would be with me to\nhelp and cheer him.", "He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be if I\ndid not care for him, but when he saw me cry he said that he was a brute\nand would not add to my present trouble.", "Then he broke off and asked if\nI could love him in time; and when I shook my head his hands trembled,\nand then with some hesitation he asked me if I cared already for any one\nelse.", "He put it very nicely, saying that he did not want to wring my\nconfidence from me, but only to know, because if a woman's heart was\nfree a man might have hope.", "And then, Mina, I felt a sort of duty to\ntell him that there was some one.", "I only told him that much, and then he\nstood up, and he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my\nhands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that if I ever\nwanted a friend I must count him one of my best." ]

[ "\n\n\"_9 May._\n\n\"My dearest Lucy,--\n\n\"Forgive my long delay in writing, but I have been simply overwhelmed\nwith work.", "The life of an assistant schoolmistress is sometimes trying.", "I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together\nfreely and build our castles in the air.", "I have been working very hard\nlately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan's studies, and I have\nbeen practising shorthand very assiduously.", "When we are married I shall\nbe able to be useful to Jonathan, and if I can stenograph well enough I\ncan take down what he wants to say in this way and write it out for\nhim on the typewriter, at which also I am practising very hard.", "He\nand I sometimes write letters in shorthand, and he is keeping a\nstenographic journal of his travels abroad.", "When I am with you I\nshall keep a diary in the same way.", "I don't mean one of those\ntwo-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries, but a\nsort of journal which I can write in whenever I feel inclined.", "I do not\nsuppose there will be much of interest to other people; but it is not\nintended for them.", "I may show it to Jonathan some day if there is in it\nanything worth sharing, but it is really an exercise book.", "There will only be one other, our old pal at the\nKorea, Jack Seward.", "He's coming, too, and we both want to mingle our\nweeps over the wine-cup, and to drink a health with all our hearts to\nthe happiest man in all the wide world, who has won the noblest heart\nthat God has made and the best worth winning.", "We promise you a hearty\nwelcome, and a loving greeting, and a health as true as your own right\nhand.", "We shall both swear to leave you at home if you drink too deep to\na certain pair of eyes.", "Come!", "\"Yours, as ever and always,\n\n\"QUINCEY P.", "MORRIS.\"", "_Telegram from Arthur Holmwood to Quincey P. Morris._\n\n\"_26 May._\n\n\"Count me in every time.", "I bear messages which will make both your ears\ntingle.", "\"ART.\"" ]

[ "\n_24 July.", "Whitby._--Lucy met me at the station, looking sweeter and\nlovelier than ever, and we drove up to the house at the Crescent in\nwhich they have rooms.", "This is a lovely place.", "The little river, the\nEsk, runs through a deep valley, which broadens out as it comes near the\nharbour.", "A great viaduct runs across, with high piers, through which the\nview seems somehow further away than it really is.", "The valley is\nbeautifully green, and it is so steep that when you are on the high land\non either side you look right across it, unless you are near enough to\nsee down.", "The houses of the old town--the side away from us--are all\nred-roofed, and seem piled up one over the other anyhow, like the\npictures we see of Nuremberg.", "Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby\nAbbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the scene of part of\n\"Marmion,\" where the girl was built up in the wall.", "It is a most noble\nruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits; there is\na legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows.", "Between it and\nthe town there is another church, the parish one, round which is a big\ngraveyard, all full of tombstones.", "This is to my mind the nicest spot in\nWhitby, for it lies right over the town, and has a full view of the\nharbour and all up the bay to where the headland called Kettleness\nstretches out into the sea.", "It descends so steeply over the harbour that\npart of the bank has fallen away, and some of the graves have been\ndestroyed.", "In one place part of the stonework of the graves stretches\nout over the sandy pathway far below.", "There are walks, with seats beside\nthem, through the churchyard; and people go and sit there all day long\nlooking at the beautiful view and enjoying the breeze.", "I shall come and\nsit here very often myself and work.", "Indeed, I am writing now, with my\nbook on my knee, and listening to the talk of three old men who are\nsitting beside me.", "They seem to do nothing all day but sit up here and\ntalk.", "The harbour lies below me, with, on the far side, one long granite wall\nstretching out into the sea, with a curve outwards at the end of it, in\nthe middle of which is a lighthouse.", "A heavy sea-wall runs along outside\nof it.", "On the near side, the sea-wall makes an elbow crooked inversely,\nand its end too has a lighthouse.", "Between the two piers there is a\nnarrow opening into the harbour, which then suddenly widens.", "It is nice at high water; but when the tide is out it shoals away to\nnothing, and there is merely the stream of the Esk, running between\nbanks of sand, with rocks here and there.", "Outside the harbour on this\nside there rises for about half a mile a great reef, the sharp edge of\nwhich runs straight out from behind the south lighthouse.", "At the end of\nit is a buoy with a bell, which swings in bad weather, and sends in a\nmournful sound on the wind.", "They have a legend here that when a ship is\nlost bells are heard out at sea.", "I must ask the old man about this; he\nis coming this way....", "He is a funny old man.", "He must be awfully old, for his face is all\ngnarled and twisted like the bark of a tree.", "He tells me that he is\nnearly a hundred, and that he was a sailor in the Greenland fishing\nfleet when Waterloo was fought.", "He is, I am afraid, a very sceptical\nperson, for when I asked him about the bells at sea and the White Lady\nat the abbey he said very brusquely:--\n\n\"I wouldn't fash masel' about them, miss.", "Them things be all wore out.", "Mind, I don't say that they never was, but I do say that they wasn't in\nmy time.", "They be all very well for comers and trippers, an' the like,\nbut not for a nice young lady like you.", "Them feet-folks from York and\nLeeds that be always eatin' cured herrin's an' drinkin' tea an' lookin'\nout to buy cheap jet would creed aught.", "I wonder masel' who'd be\nbothered tellin' lies to them--even the newspapers, which is full of\nfool-talk.\"", "I thought he would be a good person to learn interesting\nthings from, so I asked him if he would mind telling me something about\nthe whale-fishing in the old days.", "He was just settling himself to begin\nwhen the clock struck six, whereupon he laboured to get up, and said:--\n\n\"I must gang ageeanwards home now, miss.", "My grand-daughter doesn't like\nto be kept waitin' when the tea is ready, for it takes me time to\ncrammle aboon the grees, for there be a many of 'em; an', miss, I lack\nbelly-timber sairly by the clock.\"", "He hobbled away, and I could see him hurrying, as well as he could, down\nthe steps.", "The steps are a great feature on the place.", "They lead from\nthe town up to the church, there are hundreds of them--I do not know how\nmany--and they wind up in a delicate curve; the slope is so gentle that\na horse could easily walk up and down them.", "I think they must originally\nhave had something to do with the abbey.", "I shall go home too.", "Lucy went\nout visiting with her mother, and as they were only duty calls, I did\nnot go.", "They will be home by this.", "* * * * *\n\n_1 August._--I came up here an hour ago with Lucy, and we had a most\ninteresting talk with my old friend and the two others who always come\nand join him.", "He is evidently the Sir Oracle of them, and I should think\nmust have been in his time a most dictatorial person.", "He will not admit\nanything, and downfaces everybody.", "If he can't out-argue them he bullies\nthem, and then takes their silence for agreement with his views.", "Lucy\nwas looking sweetly pretty in her white lawn frock; she has got a\nbeautiful colour since she has been here.", "I noticed that the old men did\nnot lose any time in coming up and sitting near her when we sat down.", "She is so sweet with old people; I think they all fell in love with her\non the spot.", "Even my old man succumbed and did not contradict her, but\ngave me double share instead.", "I got him on the subject of the legends,\nand he went off at once into a sort of sermon.", "I must try to remember it\nand put it down:--\n\n\"It be all fool-talk, lock, stock, and barrel; that's what it be, an'\nnowt else.", "These bans an' wafts an' boh-ghosts an' barguests an' bogles\nan' all anent them is only fit to set bairns an' dizzy women\na-belderin'.", "They be nowt but air-blebs.", "They, an' all grims an' signs\nan' warnin's, be all invented by parsons an' illsome beuk-bodies an'\nrailway touters to skeer an' scunner hafflin's, an' to get folks to do\nsomethin' that they don't other incline to.", "It makes me ireful to think\no' them.", "Why, it's them that, not content with printin' lies on paper\nan' preachin' them out of pulpits, does want to be cuttin' them on the\ntombstones.", "Look here all around you in what airt ye will; all them\nsteans, holdin' up their heads as well as they can out of their pride,\nis acant--simply tumblin' down with the weight o' the lies wrote on\nthem, 'Here lies the body' or 'Sacred to the memory' wrote on all of\nthem, an' yet in nigh half of them there bean't no bodies at all; an'\nthe memories of them bean't cared a pinch of snuff about, much less\nsacred.", "Lies all of them, nothin' but lies of one kind or another!", "My\ngog, but it'll be a quare scowderment at the Day of Judgment when they\ncome tumblin' up in their death-sarks, all jouped together an' tryin' to\ndrag their tombsteans with them to prove how good they was; some of them\ntrimmlin' and ditherin', with their hands that dozzened an' slippy from\nlyin' in the sea that they can't even keep their grup o' them.\"", "I could see from the old fellow's self-satisfied air and the way in\nwhich he looked round for the approval of his cronies that he was\n\"showing off,\" so I put in a word to keep him going:--\n\n\"Oh, Mr. Swales, you can't be serious.", "Surely these tombstones are not\nall wrong?\"", "\"Yabblins!", "There may be a poorish few not wrong, savin' where they make\nout the people too good; for there be folk that do think a balm-bowl be\nlike the sea, if only it be their own.", "The whole thing be only lies.", "Now\nlook you here; you come here a stranger, an' you see this kirk-garth.\"", "I\nnodded, for I thought it better to assent, though I did not quite\nunderstand his dialect.", "I knew it had something to do with the church.", "He went on: \"And you consate that all these steans be aboon folk that be\nhapped here, snod an' snog?\"", "I assented again.", "\"Then that be just where\nthe lie comes in.", "Why, there be scores of these lay-beds that be toom as\nold Dun's 'bacca-box on Friday night.\"", "He nudged one of his companions,\nand they all laughed.", "\"And my gog!", "how could they be otherwise?", "Look at\nthat one, the aftest abaft the bier-bank: read it!\"", "I went over and\nread:--\n\n\"Edward Spencelagh, master mariner, murdered by pirates off the coast of\nAndres, April, 1854, aet.", "30.\"", "When I came back Mr. Swales went on:--\n\n\"Who brought him home, I wonder, to hap him here?", "Murdered off the coast\nof Andres!", "an' you consated his body lay under!", "Why, I could name ye a\ndozen whose bones lie in the Greenland seas above\"--he pointed\nnorthwards--\"or where the currents may have drifted them.", "There be the\nsteans around ye.", "Ye can, with your young eyes, read the small-print of\nthe lies from here.", "This Braithwaite Lowrey--I knew his father, lost in\nthe _Lively_ off Greenland in '20; or Andrew Woodhouse, drowned in the\nsame seas in 1777; or John Paxton, drowned off Cape Farewell a year\nlater; or old John Rawlings, whose grandfather sailed with me, drowned\nin the Gulf of Finland in '50.", "Do ye think that all these men will have\nto make a rush to Whitby when the trumpet sounds?", "I have me antherums\naboot it!", "I tell ye that when they got here they'd be jommlin' an'\njostlin' one another that way that it 'ud be like a fight up on the ice\nin the old days, when we'd be at one another from daylight to dark, an'\ntryin' to tie up our cuts by the light of the aurora borealis.\"", "This was\nevidently local pleasantry, for the old man cackled over it, and his\ncronies joined in with gusto.", "\"But,\" I said, \"surely you are not quite correct, for you start on the\nassumption that all the poor people, or their spirits, will have to\ntake their tombstones with them on the Day of Judgment.", "Do you think\nthat will be really necessary?\"", "\"Well, what else be they tombstones for?", "Answer me that, miss!\"", "\"To please their relatives, I suppose.\"", "\"To please their relatives, you suppose!\"", "This he said with intense\nscorn.", "\"How will it pleasure their relatives to know that lies is wrote\nover them, and that everybody in the place knows that they be lies?\"", "He\npointed to a stone at our feet which had been laid down as a slab, on\nwhich the seat was rested, close to the edge of the cliff.", "\"Read the\nlies on that thruff-stean,\" he said.", "The letters were upside down to me\nfrom where I sat, but Lucy was more opposite to them, so she leant over\nand read:--\n\n\"Sacred to the memory of George Canon, who died, in the hope of a\nglorious resurrection, on July, 29, 1873, falling from the rocks at\nKettleness.", "This tomb was erected by his sorrowing mother to her dearly\nbeloved son.", "'He was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.'", "Really, Mr. Swales, I don't see anything very funny in that!\"", "She spoke\nher comment very gravely and somewhat severely.", "\"Ye don't see aught funny!", "Ha!", "ha!", "But that's because ye don't gawm the\nsorrowin' mother was a hell-cat that hated him because he was\nacrewk'd--a regular lamiter he was--an' he hated her so that he\ncommitted suicide in order that she mightn't get an insurance she put on\nhis life.", "He blew nigh the top of his head off with an old musket that\nthey had for scarin' the crows with.", "'Twarn't for crows then, for it\nbrought the clegs and the dowps to him.", "That's the way he fell off the\nrocks.", "And, as to hopes of a glorious resurrection, I've often heard him\nsay masel' that he hoped he'd go to hell, for his mother was so pious\nthat she'd be sure to go to heaven, an' he didn't want to addle where\nshe was.", "Now isn't that stean at any rate\"--he hammered it with his\nstick as he spoke--\"a pack of lies?", "and won't it make Gabriel keckle\nwhen Geordie comes pantin' up the grees with the tombstean balanced on\nhis hump, and asks it to be took as evidence!\"", "I did not know what to say, but Lucy turned the conversation as she\nsaid, rising up:--\n\n\"Oh, why did you tell us of this?", "It is my favourite seat, and I cannot\nleave it; and now I find I must go on sitting over the grave of a\nsuicide.\"", "\"That won't harm ye, my pretty; an' it may make poor Geordie gladsome to\nhave so trim a lass sittin' on his lap.", "That won't hurt ye.", "Why, I've\nsat here off an' on for nigh twenty years past, an' it hasn't done me\nno harm.", "Don't ye fash about them as lies under ye, or that doesn' lie\nthere either!", "It'll be time for ye to be getting scart when ye see the\ntombsteans all run away with, and the place as bare as a stubble-field.", "There's the clock, an' I must gang.", "My service to ye, ladies!\"", "And off\nhe hobbled.", "Lucy and I sat awhile, and it was all so beautiful before us that we\ntook hands as we sat; and she told me all over again about Arthur and\ntheir coming marriage.", "That made me just a little heart-sick, for I\nhaven't heard from Jonathan for a whole month.", "* * * * *\n\n_The same day._ I came up here alone, for I am very sad.", "There was no\nletter for me.", "I hope there cannot be anything the matter with Jonathan.", "The clock has just struck nine.", "I see the lights scattered all over the\ntown, sometimes in rows where the streets are, and sometimes singly;\nthey run right up the Esk and die away in the curve of the valley.", "To my\nleft the view is cut off by a black line of roof of the old house next\nthe abbey.", "The sheep and lambs are bleating in the fields away behind\nme, and there is a clatter of a donkey's hoofs up the paved road below.", "The band on the pier is playing a harsh waltz in good time, and further\nalong the quay there is a Salvation Army meeting in a back street.", "Neither of the bands hears the other, but up here I hear and see them\nboth.", "I wonder where Jonathan is and if he is thinking of me!", "I wish he\nwere here.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_5 June._--The case of Renfield grows more interesting the more I get to\nunderstand the man.", "He has certain qualities very largely developed;\nselfishness, secrecy, and purpose.", "I wish I could get at what is the\nobject of the latter.", "He seems to have some settled scheme of his own,\nbut what it is I do not yet know.", "His redeeming quality is a love of\nanimals, though, indeed, he has such curious turns in it that I\nsometimes imagine he is only abnormally cruel.", "His pets are of odd\nsorts.", "Just now his hobby is catching flies.", "He has at present such a\nquantity that I have had myself to expostulate.", "To my astonishment, he\ndid not break out into a fury, as I expected, but took the matter in\nsimple seriousness.", "He thought for a moment, and then said: \"May I have\nthree days?", "I shall clear them away.\"", "Of course, I said that would do.", "I\nmust watch him.", "* * * * *\n\n_18 June._--He has turned his mind now to spiders, and has got several\nvery big fellows in a box.", "He keeps feeding them with his flies, and\nthe number of the latter is becoming sensibly diminished, although he\nhas used half his food in attracting more flies from outside to his\nroom.", "* * * * *\n\n_1 July._--His spiders are now becoming as great a nuisance as his\nflies, and to-day I told him that he must get rid of them.", "He looked\nvery sad at this, so I said that he must clear out some of them, at all\nevents.", "He cheerfully acquiesced in this, and I gave him the same time\nas before for reduction.", "He disgusted me much while with him, for when a\nhorrid blow-fly, bloated with some carrion food, buzzed into the room,\nhe caught it, held it exultantly for a few moments between his finger\nand thumb, and, before I knew what he was going to do, put it in his\nmouth and ate it.", "I scolded him for it, but he argued quietly that it\nwas very good and very wholesome; that it was life, strong life, and\ngave life to him.", "This gave me an idea, or the rudiment of one.", "I must\nwatch how he gets rid of his spiders.", "He has evidently some deep problem\nin his mind, for he keeps a little note-book in which he is always\njotting down something.", "Whole pages of it are filled with masses of\nfigures, generally single numbers added up in batches, and then the\ntotals added in batches again, as though he were \"focussing\" some\naccount, as the auditors put it.", "* * * * *\n\n_8 July._--There is a method in his madness, and the rudimentary idea in\nmy mind is growing.", "It will be a whole idea soon, and then, oh,\nunconscious cerebration!", "you will have to give the wall to your\nconscious brother.", "I kept away from my friend for a few days, so that I\nmight notice if there were any change.", "Things remain as they were except\nthat he has parted with some of his pets and got a new one.", "He has\nmanaged to get a sparrow, and has already partially tamed it.", "His means\nof taming is simple, for already the spiders have diminished.", "Those that\ndo remain, however, are well fed, for he still brings in the flies by\ntempting them with his food.", "* * * * *\n\n_19 July._--We are progressing.", "My friend has now a whole colony of\nsparrows, and his flies and spiders are almost obliterated.", "When I came\nin he ran to me and said he wanted to ask me a great favour--a very,\nvery great favour; and as he spoke he fawned on me like a dog.", "I asked\nhim what it was, and he said, with a sort of rapture in his voice and\nbearing:--\n\n\"A kitten, a nice little, sleek playful kitten, that I can play with,\nand teach, and feed--and feed--and feed!\"", "I was not unprepared for this\nrequest, for I had noticed how his pets went on increasing in size and\nvivacity, but I did not care that his pretty family of tame sparrows\nshould be wiped out in the same manner as the flies and the spiders; so\nI said I would see about it, and asked him if he would not rather have a\ncat than a kitten.", "His eagerness betrayed him as he answered:--\n\n\"Oh, yes, I would like a cat!", "I only asked for a kitten lest you should\nrefuse me a cat.", "No one would refuse me a kitten, would they?\"", "I shook\nmy head, and said that at present I feared it would not be possible, but\nthat I would see about it.", "His face fell, and I could see a warning of\ndanger in it, for there was a sudden fierce, sidelong look which meant\nkilling.", "The man is an undeveloped homicidal maniac.", "I shall test him\nwith his present craving and see how it will work out; then I shall know\nmore.", "* * * * *\n\n_10 p. m._--I have visited him again and found him sitting in a corner\nbrooding.", "When I came in he threw himself on his knees before me and\nimplored me to let him have a cat; that his salvation depended upon it.", "I was firm, however, and told him that he could not have it, whereupon\nhe went without a word, and sat down, gnawing his fingers, in the corner\nwhere I had found him.", "I shall see him in the morning early.", "* * * * *\n\n_20 July._--Visited Renfield very early, before the attendant went his\nrounds.", "Found him up and humming a tune.", "He was spreading out his sugar,\nwhich he had saved, in the window, and was manifestly beginning his\nfly-catching again; and beginning it cheerfully and with a good grace.", "I\nlooked around for his birds, and not seeing them, asked him where they\nwere.", "He replied, without turning round, that they had all flown away.", "There were a few feathers about the room and on his pillow a drop of\nblood.", "I said nothing, but went and told the keeper to report to me if\nthere were anything odd about him during the day.", "* * * * *\n\n_11 a. m._--The attendant has just been to me to say that Renfield has\nbeen very sick and has disgorged a whole lot of feathers.", "\"My belief is,\ndoctor,\" he said, \"that he has eaten his birds, and that he just took\nand ate them raw!\"", "* * * * *\n\n_11 p. m._--I gave Renfield a strong opiate to-night, enough to make\neven him sleep, and took away his pocket-book to look at it.", "The thought\nthat has been buzzing about my brain lately is complete, and the theory\nproved.", "My homicidal maniac is of a peculiar kind.", "I shall have to\ninvent a new classification for him, and call him a zooephagous\n(life-eating) maniac; what he desires is to absorb as many lives as he\ncan, and he has laid himself out to achieve it in a cumulative way.", "He\ngave many flies to one spider and many spiders to one bird, and then\nwanted a cat to eat the many birds.", "What would have been his later\nsteps?", "It would almost be worth while to complete the experiment.", "It\nmight be done if there were only a sufficient cause.", "Men sneered at\nvivisection, and yet look at its results to-day!", "Why not advance science\nin its most difficult and vital aspect--the knowledge of the brain?", "Had\nI even the secret of one such mind--did I hold the key to the fancy of\neven one lunatic--I might advance my own branch of science to a pitch\ncompared with which Burdon-Sanderson's physiology or Ferrier's\nbrain-knowledge would be as nothing.", "If only there were a sufficient\ncause!", "I must not think too much of this, or I may be tempted; a good\ncause might turn the scale with me, for may not I too be of an\nexceptional brain, congenitally?", "How well the man reasoned; lunatics always do within their own scope.", "I\nwonder at how many lives he values a man, or if at only one.", "He has\nclosed the account most accurately, and to-day begun a new record.", "How\nmany of us begin a new record with each day of our lives?", "To me it seems only yesterday that my whole life ended with my new hope,\nand that truly I began a new record.", "So it will be until the Great\nRecorder sums me up and closes my ledger account with a balance to\nprofit or loss.", "Oh, Lucy, Lucy, I cannot be angry with you, nor can I be\nangry with my friend whose happiness is yours; but I must only wait on\nhopeless and work.", "Work!", "work!", "If I only could have as strong a cause as my poor mad friend there--a\ngood, unselfish cause to make me work--that would be indeed happiness.", "_Mina Murray's Journal._\n\n_26 July._--I am anxious, and it soothes me to express myself here; it\nis like whispering to one's self and listening at the same time.", "And\nthere is also something about the shorthand symbols that makes it\ndifferent from writing.", "I am unhappy about Lucy and about Jonathan.", "I\nhad not heard from Jonathan for some time, and was very concerned; but\nyesterday dear Mr. Hawkins, who is always so kind, sent me a letter from\nhim.", "I had written asking him if he had heard, and he said the enclosed\nhad just been received.", "It is only a line dated from Castle Dracula,\nand says that he is just starting for home.", "That is not like Jonathan;\nI do not understand it, and it makes me uneasy.", "Then, too, Lucy,\nalthough she is so well, has lately taken to her old habit of walking in\nher sleep.", "Her mother has spoken to me about it, and we have decided\nthat I am to lock the door of our room every night.", "Mrs. Westenra has\ngot an idea that sleep-walkers always go out on roofs of houses and\nalong the edges of cliffs and then get suddenly wakened and fall over\nwith a despairing cry that echoes all over the place.", "Poor dear, she is\nnaturally anxious about Lucy, and she tells me that her husband, Lucy's\nfather, had the same habit; that he would get up in the night and dress\nhimself and go out, if he were not stopped.", "Lucy is to be married in the\nautumn, and she is already planning out her dresses and how her house is\nto be arranged.", "I sympathise with her, for I do the same, only Jonathan\nand I will start in life in a very simple way, and shall have to try to\nmake both ends meet.", "Mr. Holmwood--he is the Hon.", "Arthur Holmwood, only\nson of Lord Godalming--is coming up here very shortly--as soon as he can\nleave town, for his father is not very well, and I think dear Lucy is\ncounting the moments till he comes.", "She wants to take him up to the seat\non the churchyard cliff and show him the beauty of Whitby.", "I daresay it\nis the waiting which disturbs her; she will be all right when he\narrives.", "* * * * *\n\n_27 July._--No news from Jonathan.", "I am getting quite uneasy about him,\nthough why I should I do not know; but I do wish that he would write, if\nit were only a single line.", "Lucy walks more than ever, and each night I\nam awakened by her moving about the room.", "Fortunately, the weather is so\nhot that she cannot get cold; but still the anxiety and the perpetually\nbeing wakened is beginning to tell on me, and I am getting nervous and\nwakeful myself.", "Thank God, Lucy's health keeps up.", "Mr. Holmwood has been\nsuddenly called to Ring to see his father, who has been taken seriously\nill. Lucy frets at the postponement of seeing him, but it does not touch\nher looks; she is a trifle stouter, and her cheeks are a lovely\nrose-pink.", "She has lost that anaemic look which she had.", "I pray it will\nall last.", "* * * * *\n\n_3 August._--Another week gone, and no news from Jonathan, not even to\nMr. Hawkins, from whom I have heard.", "Oh, I do hope he is not ill.", "He\nsurely would have written.", "I look at that last letter of his, but\nsomehow it does not satisfy me.", "It does not read like him, and yet it is\nhis writing.", "There is no mistake of that.", "Lucy has not walked much in\nher sleep the last week, but there is an odd concentration about her\nwhich I do not understand; even in her sleep she seems to be watching\nme.", "She tries the door, and finding it locked, goes about the room\nsearching for the key.", "_6 August._--Another three days, and no news.", "This suspense is getting\ndreadful.", "If I only knew where to write to or where to go to, I should\nfeel easier; but no one has heard a word of Jonathan since that last\nletter.", "I must only pray to God for patience.", "Lucy is more excitable\nthan ever, but is otherwise well.", "Last night was very threatening, and\nthe fishermen say that we are in for a storm.", "I must try to watch it and\nlearn the weather signs.", "To-day is a grey day, and the sun as I write is\nhidden in thick clouds, high over Kettleness.", "Everything is grey--except\nthe green grass, which seems like emerald amongst it; grey earthy rock;\ngrey clouds, tinged with the sunburst at the far edge, hang over the\ngrey sea, into which the sand-points stretch like grey fingers.", "The sea\nis tumbling in over the shallows and the sandy flats with a roar,\nmuffled in the sea-mists drifting inland.", "The horizon is lost in a grey\nmist.", "All is vastness; the clouds are piled up like giant rocks, and\nthere is a \"brool\" over the sea that sounds like some presage of doom.", "Dark figures are on the beach here and there, sometimes half shrouded in\nthe mist, and seem \"men like trees walking.\"", "The fishing-boats are\nracing for home, and rise and dip in the ground swell as they sweep into\nthe harbour, bending to the scuppers.", "Here comes old Mr. Swales.", "He is\nmaking straight for me, and I can see, by the way he lifts his hat, that\nhe wants to talk....", "I have been quite touched by the change in the poor old man.", "When he sat\ndown beside me, he said in a very gentle way:--\n\n\"I want to say something to you, miss.\"", "I could see he was not at ease,\nso I took his poor old wrinkled hand in mine and asked him to speak\nfully; so he said, leaving his hand in mine:--\n\n\"I'm afraid, my deary, that I must have shocked you by all the wicked\nthings I've been sayin' about the dead, and such like, for weeks past;\nbut I didn't mean them, and I want ye to remember that when I'm gone.", "We\naud folks that be daffled, and with one foot abaft the krok-hooal, don't\naltogether like to think of it, and we don't want to feel scart of it;\nan' that's why I've took to makin' light of it, so that I'd cheer up my\nown heart a bit.", "But, Lord love ye, miss, I ain't afraid of dyin', not a\nbit; only I don't want to die if I can help it.", "My time must be nigh at\nhand now, for I be aud, and a hundred years is too much for any man to\nexpect; and I'm so nigh it that the Aud Man is already whettin' his\nscythe.", "Ye see, I can't get out o' the habit of caffin' about it all at\nonce; the chafts will wag as they be used to.", "Some day soon the Angel of\nDeath will sound his trumpet for me.", "But don't ye dooal an' greet, my\ndeary!\"", "--for he saw that I was crying--\"if he should come this very\nnight I'd not refuse to answer his call.", "For life be, after all, only a\nwaitin' for somethin' else than what we're doin'; and death be all that\nwe can rightly depend on.", "But I'm content, for it's comin' to me, my\ndeary, and comin' quick.", "It may be comin' while we be lookin' and\nwonderin'.", "Maybe it's in that wind out over the sea that's bringin' with\nit loss and wreck, and sore distress, and sad hearts.", "Look!", "look!\"", "he\ncried suddenly.", "\"There's something in that wind and in the hoast beyont\nthat sounds, and looks, and tastes, and smells like death.", "It's in the\nair; I feel it comin'.", "Lord, make me answer cheerful when my call\ncomes!\"", "He held up his arms devoutly, and raised his hat.", "His mouth\nmoved as though he were praying.", "After a few minutes' silence, he got\nup, shook hands with me, and blessed me, and said good-bye, and hobbled\noff.", "It all touched me, and upset me very much.", "I was glad when the coastguard came along, with his spy-glass under his\narm.", "He stopped to talk with me, as he always does, but all the time\nkept looking at a strange ship.", "\"I can't make her out,\" he said; \"she's a Russian, by the look of her;\nbut she's knocking about in the queerest way.", "She doesn't know her mind\na bit; she seems to see the storm coming, but can't decide whether to\nrun up north in the open, or to put in here.", "Look there again!", "She is\nsteered mighty strangely, for she doesn't mind the hand on the wheel;\nchanges about with every puff of wind.", "We'll hear more of her before\nthis time to-morrow.\"" ]

[ "This is to my mind the nicest spot in\nWhitby, for it lies right over the town, and has a full view of the\nharbour and all up the bay to where the headland called Kettleness\nstretches out into the sea.", "Mind, I don't say that they never was, but I do say that they wasn't in\nmy time.", "Really, Mr. Swales, I don't see anything very funny in that!\"", "The thought\nthat has been buzzing about my brain lately is complete, and the theory\nproved.", "I\nwonder at how many lives he values a man, or if at only one.", "To me it seems only yesterday that my whole life ended with my new hope,\nand that truly I began a new record.", "* * * * *\n\n_27 July._--No news from Jonathan.", "Some day soon the Angel of\nDeath will sound his trumpet for me.", "I was glad when the coastguard came along, with his spy-glass under his\narm.", "She is\nsteered mighty strangely, for she doesn't mind the hand on the wheel;\nchanges about with every puff of wind." ]

[ "Do you think\nthat will be really necessary?\"", "Between the two piers there is a\nnarrow opening into the harbour, which then suddenly widens.", "I had written asking him if he had heard, and he said the enclosed\nhad just been received.", "I must only pray to God for patience.", "Do ye think that all these men will have\nto make a rush to Whitby when the trumpet sounds?", "There is no mistake of that.", "That's the way he fell off the\nrocks.", "The harbour lies below me, with, on the far side, one long granite wall\nstretching out into the sea, with a curve outwards at the end of it, in\nthe middle of which is a lighthouse.", "She wants to take him up to the seat\non the churchyard cliff and show him the beauty of Whitby.", "how could they be otherwise?" ]

[ "His redeeming quality is a love of\nanimals, though, indeed, he has such curious turns in it that I\nsometimes imagine he is only abnormally cruel.", "His pets are of odd\nsorts.", "Just now his hobby is catching flies.", "He has at present such a\nquantity that I have had myself to expostulate.", "To my astonishment, he\ndid not break out into a fury, as I expected, but took the matter in\nsimple seriousness.", "He thought for a moment, and then said: \"May I have\nthree days?", "I shall clear them away.\"", "Of course, I said that would do.", "I\nmust watch him.", "* * * * *\n\n_18 June._--He has turned his mind now to spiders, and has got several\nvery big fellows in a box.", "He keeps feeding them with his flies, and\nthe number of the latter is becoming sensibly diminished, although he\nhas used half his food in attracting more flies from outside to his\nroom." ]

[ "\n_24 July.", "Whitby._--Lucy met me at the station, looking sweeter and\nlovelier than ever, and we drove up to the house at the Crescent in\nwhich they have rooms.", "This is a lovely place.", "The little river, the\nEsk, runs through a deep valley, which broadens out as it comes near the\nharbour.", "A great viaduct runs across, with high piers, through which the\nview seems somehow further away than it really is.", "The valley is\nbeautifully green, and it is so steep that when you are on the high land\non either side you look right across it, unless you are near enough to\nsee down.", "The houses of the old town--the side away from us--are all\nred-roofed, and seem piled up one over the other anyhow, like the\npictures we see of Nuremberg.", "Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby\nAbbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the scene of part of\n\"Marmion,\" where the girl was built up in the wall.", "It is a most noble\nruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits; there is\na legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows.", "Between it and\nthe town there is another church, the parish one, round which is a big\ngraveyard, all full of tombstones.", "His mouth\nmoved as though he were praying.", "After a few minutes' silence, he got\nup, shook hands with me, and blessed me, and said good-bye, and hobbled\noff.", "It all touched me, and upset me very much.", "I was glad when the coastguard came along, with his spy-glass under his\narm.", "He stopped to talk with me, as he always does, but all the time\nkept looking at a strange ship.", "\"I can't make her out,\" he said; \"she's a Russian, by the look of her;\nbut she's knocking about in the queerest way.", "She doesn't know her mind\na bit; she seems to see the storm coming, but can't decide whether to\nrun up north in the open, or to put in here.", "Look there again!", "She is\nsteered mighty strangely, for she doesn't mind the hand on the wheel;\nchanges about with every puff of wind.", "We'll hear more of her before\nthis time to-morrow.\"" ]

[ "\nFrom a Correspondent.", "_Whitby_.", "One of the greatest and suddenest storms on record has just been\nexperienced here, with results both strange and unique.", "The weather had\nbeen somewhat sultry, but not to any degree uncommon in the month of\nAugust.", "Saturday evening was as fine as was ever known, and the great\nbody of holiday-makers laid out yesterday for visits to Mulgrave Woods,\nRobin Hood's Bay, Rig Mill, Runswick, Staithes, and the various trips in\nthe neighbourhood of Whitby.", "The steamers _Emma_ and _Scarborough_ made\ntrips up and down the coast, and there was an unusual amount of\n\"tripping\" both to and from Whitby.", "The day was unusually fine till the\nafternoon, when some of the gossips who frequent the East Cliff\nchurchyard, and from that commanding eminence watch the wide sweep of\nsea visible to the north and east, called attention to a sudden show of\n\"mares'-tails\" high in the sky to the north-west.", "The wind was then\nblowing from the south-west in the mild degree which in barometrical\nlanguage is ranked \"No.", "2: light breeze.\"", "The coastguard on duty at once\nmade report, and one old fisherman, who for more than half a century has\nkept watch on weather signs from the East Cliff, foretold in an emphatic\nmanner the coming of a sudden storm.", "The approach of sunset was so very\nbeautiful, so grand in its masses of splendidly-coloured clouds, that\nthere was quite an assemblage on the walk along the cliff in the old\nchurchyard to enjoy the beauty.", "Before the sun dipped below the black\nmass of Kettleness, standing boldly athwart the western sky, its\ndownward way was marked by myriad clouds of every sunset-colour--flame,\npurple, pink, green, violet, and all the tints of gold; with here and\nthere masses not large, but of seemingly absolute blackness, in all\nsorts of shapes, as well outlined as colossal silhouettes.", "The\nexperience was not lost on the painters, and doubtless some of the\nsketches of the \"Prelude to the Great Storm\" will grace the R. A. and R.\nI. walls in May next.", "More than one captain made up his mind then and\nthere that his \"cobble\" or his \"mule,\" as they term the different\nclasses of boats, would remain in the harbour till the storm had passed.", "The wind fell away entirely during the evening, and at midnight there\nwas a dead calm, a sultry heat, and that prevailing intensity which, on\nthe approach of thunder, affects persons of a sensitive nature.", "There\nwere but few lights in sight at sea, for even the coasting steamers,\nwhich usually \"hug\" the shore so closely, kept well to seaward, and but\nfew fishing-boats were in sight.", "The only sail noticeable was a foreign\nschooner with all sails set, which was seemingly going westwards.", "The\nfoolhardiness or ignorance of her officers was a prolific theme for\ncomment whilst she remained in sight, and efforts were made to signal\nher to reduce sail in face of her danger.", "Before the night shut down she\nwas seen with sails idly flapping as she gently rolled on the undulating\nswell of the sea,\n\n \"As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.\"", "Shortly before ten o'clock the stillness of the air grew quite\noppressive, and the silence was so marked that the bleating of a sheep\ninland or the barking of a dog in the town was distinctly heard, and the\nband on the pier, with its lively French air, was like a discord in the\ngreat harmony of nature's silence.", "A little after midnight came a\nstrange sound from over the sea, and high overhead the air began to\ncarry a strange, faint, hollow booming.", "Then without warning the tempest broke.", "With a rapidity which, at the\ntime, seemed incredible, and even afterwards is impossible to realize,\nthe whole aspect of nature at once became convulsed.", "The waves rose in\ngrowing fury, each overtopping its fellow, till in a very few minutes\nthe lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring monster.", "White-crested waves beat madly on the level sands and rushed up the\nshelving cliffs; others broke over the piers, and with their spume swept\nthe lanthorns of the lighthouses which rise from the end of either pier\nof Whitby Harbour.", "The wind roared like thunder, and blew with such\nforce that it was with difficulty that even strong men kept their feet,\nor clung with grim clasp to the iron stanchions.", "It was found necessary\nto clear the entire piers from the mass of onlookers, or else the\nfatalities of the night would have been increased manifold.", "To add to\nthe difficulties and dangers of the time, masses of sea-fog came\ndrifting inland--white, wet clouds, which swept by in ghostly fashion,\nso dank and damp and cold that it needed but little effort of\nimagination to think that the spirits of those lost at sea were\ntouching their living brethren with the clammy hands of death, and many\na one shuddered as the wreaths of sea-mist swept by.", "At times the mist\ncleared, and the sea for some distance could be seen in the glare of the\nlightning, which now came thick and fast, followed by such sudden peals\nof thunder that the whole sky overhead seemed trembling under the shock\nof the footsteps of the storm.", "Some of the scenes thus revealed were of immeasurable grandeur and of\nabsorbing interest--the sea, running mountains high, threw skywards with\neach wave mighty masses of white foam, which the tempest seemed to\nsnatch at and whirl away into space; here and there a fishing-boat, with\na rag of sail, running madly for shelter before the blast; now and again\nthe white wings of a storm-tossed sea-bird.", "On the summit of the East\nCliff the new searchlight was ready for experiment, but had not yet been\ntried.", "The officers in charge of it got it into working order, and in\nthe pauses of the inrushing mist swept with it the surface of the sea.", "Once or twice its service was most effective, as when a fishing-boat,\nwith gunwale under water, rushed into the harbour, able, by the guidance\nof the sheltering light, to avoid the danger of dashing against the\npiers.", "As each boat achieved the safety of the port there was a shout of\njoy from the mass of people on shore, a shout which for a moment seemed\nto cleave the gale and was then swept away in its rush.", "Before long the searchlight discovered some distance away a schooner\nwith all sails set, apparently the same vessel which had been noticed\nearlier in the evening.", "The wind had by this time backed to the east,\nand there was a shudder amongst the watchers on the cliff as they\nrealized the terrible danger in which she now was.", "Between her and the\nport lay the great flat reef on which so many good ships have from time\nto time suffered, and, with the wind blowing from its present quarter,\nit would be quite impossible that she should fetch the entrance of the\nharbour.", "It was now nearly the hour of high tide, but the waves were so\ngreat that in their troughs the shallows of the shore were almost\nvisible, and the schooner, with all sails set, was rushing with such\nspeed that, in the words of one old salt, \"she must fetch up somewhere,\nif it was only in hell.\"", "Then came another rush of sea-fog, greater than\nany hitherto--a mass of dank mist, which seemed to close on all things\nlike a grey pall, and left available to men only the organ of hearing,\nfor the roar of the tempest, and the crash of the thunder, and the\nbooming of the mighty billows came through the damp oblivion even louder\nthan before.", "The rays of the searchlight were kept fixed on the harbour\nmouth across the East Pier, where the shock was expected, and men waited\nbreathless.", "The wind suddenly shifted to the north-east, and the remnant\nof the sea-fog melted in the blast; and then, _mirabile dictu_, between\nthe piers, leaping from wave to wave as it rushed at headlong speed,\nswept the strange schooner before the blast, with all sail set, and\ngained the safety of the harbour.", "The searchlight followed her, and a\nshudder ran through all who saw her, for lashed to the helm was a\ncorpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro at each\nmotion of the ship.", "No other form could be seen on deck at all.", "A great\nawe came on all as they realised that the ship, as if by a miracle, had\nfound the harbour, unsteered save by the hand of a dead man!", "However,\nall took place more quickly than it takes to write these words.", "The\nschooner paused not, but rushing across the harbour, pitched herself on\nthat accumulation of sand and gravel washed by many tides and many\nstorms into the south-east corner of the pier jutting under the East\nCliff, known locally as Tate Hill Pier.", "There was of course a considerable concussion as the vessel drove up on\nthe sand heap.", "Every spar, rope, and stay was strained, and some of the\n\"top-hammer\" came crashing down.", "But, strangest of all, the very instant\nthe shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below, as\nif shot up by the concussion, and running forward, jumped from the bow\non the sand.", "Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard\nhangs over the laneway to the East Pier so steeply that some of the flat\ntombstones--\"thruff-steans\" or \"through-stones,\" as they call them in\nthe Whitby vernacular--actually project over where the sustaining cliff\nhas fallen away, it disappeared in the darkness, which seemed\nintensified just beyond the focus of the searchlight.", "It so happened that there was no one at the moment on Tate Hill Pier, as\nall those whose houses are in close proximity were either in bed or were\nout on the heights above.", "Thus the coastguard on duty on the eastern\nside of the harbour, who at once ran down to the little pier, was the\nfirst to climb on board.", "The men working the searchlight, after scouring\nthe entrance of the harbour without seeing anything, then turned the\nlight on the derelict and kept it there.", "The coastguard ran aft, and\nwhen he came beside the wheel, bent over to examine it, and recoiled at\nonce as though under some sudden emotion.", "This seemed to pique general\ncuriosity, and quite a number of people began to run.", "It is a good way\nround from the West Cliff by the Drawbridge to Tate Hill Pier, but your\ncorrespondent is a fairly good runner, and came well ahead of the crowd.", "When I arrived, however, I found already assembled on the pier a crowd,\nwhom the coastguard and police refused to allow to come on board.", "By the\ncourtesy of the chief boatman, I was, as your correspondent, permitted\nto climb on deck, and was one of a small group who saw the dead seaman\nwhilst actually lashed to the wheel.", "It was no wonder that the coastguard was surprised, or even awed, for\nnot often can such a sight have been seen.", "The man was simply fastened\nby his hands, tied one over the other, to a spoke of the wheel.", "Between\nthe inner hand and the wood was a crucifix, the set of beads on which it\nwas fastened being around both wrists and wheel, and all kept fast by\nthe binding cords.", "The poor fellow may have been seated at one time, but\nthe flapping and buffeting of the sails had worked through the rudder of\nthe wheel and dragged him to and fro, so that the cords with which he\nwas tied had cut the flesh to the bone.", "Accurate note was made of the\nstate of things, and a doctor--Surgeon J. M. Caffyn, of 33, East Elliot\nPlace--who came immediately after me, declared, after making\nexamination, that the man must have been dead for quite two days.", "In his\npocket was a bottle, carefully corked, empty save for a little roll of\npaper, which proved to be the addendum to the log.", "The coastguard said\nthe man must have tied up his own hands, fastening the knots with his\nteeth.", "The fact that a coastguard was the first on board may save some\ncomplications, later on, in the Admiralty Court; for coastguards cannot\nclaim the salvage which is the right of the first civilian entering on a\nderelict.", "Already, however, the legal tongues are wagging, and one young\nlaw student is loudly asserting that the rights of the owner are already\ncompletely sacrificed, his property being held in contravention of the\nstatutes of mortmain, since the tiller, as emblemship, if not proof, of\ndelegated possession, is held in a _dead hand_.", "It is needless to say\nthat the dead steersman has been reverently removed from the place where\nhe held his honourable watch and ward till death--a steadfastness as\nnoble as that of the young Casabianca--and placed in the mortuary to\nawait inquest.", "Already the sudden storm is passing, and its fierceness is abating;\ncrowds are scattering homeward, and the sky is beginning to redden over\nthe Yorkshire wolds.", "I shall send, in time for your next issue, further\ndetails of the derelict ship which found her way so miraculously into\nharbour in the storm.", "_Whitby_\n\n_9 August._--The sequel to the strange arrival of the derelict in the\nstorm last night is almost more startling than the thing itself.", "It\nturns out that the schooner is a Russian from Varna, and is called the\n_Demeter_.", "She is almost entirely in ballast of silver sand, with only a\nsmall amount of cargo--a number of great wooden boxes filled with mould.", "This cargo was consigned to a Whitby solicitor, Mr. S. F. Billington, of\n7, The Crescent, who this morning went aboard and formally took\npossession of the goods consigned to him.", "The Russian consul, too,\nacting for the charter-party, took formal possession of the ship, and\npaid all harbour dues, etc.", "Nothing is talked about here to-day except\nthe strange coincidence; the officials of the Board of Trade have been\nmost exacting in seeing that every compliance has been made with\nexisting regulations.", "As the matter is to be a \"nine days' wonder,\" they\nare evidently determined that there shall be no cause of after\ncomplaint.", "A good deal of interest was abroad concerning the dog which\nlanded when the ship struck, and more than a few of the members of the\nS. P. C. A., which is very strong in Whitby, have tried to befriend the\nanimal.", "To the general disappointment, however, it was not to be found;\nit seems to have disappeared entirely from the town.", "It may be that it\nwas frightened and made its way on to the moors, where it is still\nhiding in terror.", "There are some who look with dread on such a\npossibility, lest later on it should in itself become a danger, for it\nis evidently a fierce brute.", "Early this morning a large dog, a half-bred\nmastiff belonging to a coal merchant close to Tate Hill Pier, was found\ndead in the roadway opposite to its master's yard.", "It had been fighting,\nand manifestly had had a savage opponent, for its throat was torn away,\nand its belly was slit open as if with a savage claw.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--By the kindness of the Board of Trade inspector, I have been\npermitted to look over the log-book of the _Demeter_, which was in order\nup to within three days, but contained nothing of special interest\nexcept as to facts of missing men.", "The greatest interest, however, is\nwith regard to the paper found in the bottle, which was to-day produced\nat the inquest; and a more strange narrative than the two between them\nunfold it has not been my lot to come across.", "As there is no motive for\nconcealment, I am permitted to use them, and accordingly send you a\nrescript, simply omitting technical details of seamanship and\nsupercargo.", "It almost seems as though the captain had been seized with\nsome kind of mania before he had got well into blue water, and that\nthis had developed persistently throughout the voyage.", "Of course my\nstatement must be taken _cum grano_, since I am writing from the\ndictation of a clerk of the Russian consul, who kindly translated for\nme, time being short.", "LOG OF THE \"DEMETER.\"", "_Varna to Whitby._\n\n_Written 18 July, things so strange happening, that I shall keep\naccurate note henceforth till we land._\n\n * * * * *\n\nOn 6 July we finished taking in cargo, silver sand and boxes of earth.", "At noon set sail.", "East wind, fresh.", "Crew, five hands ... two mates,\ncook, and myself (captain).", "* * * * *\n\nOn 11 July at dawn entered Bosphorus.", "Boarded by Turkish Customs\nofficers.", "Backsheesh.", "All correct.", "Under way at 4 p. m.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOn 12 July through Dardanelles.", "More Customs officers and flagboat of\nguarding squadron.", "Backsheesh again.", "Work of officers thorough, but\nquick.", "Want us off soon.", "At dark passed into Archipelago.", "* * * * *\n\nOn 13 July passed Cape Matapan.", "Crew dissatisfied about something.", "Seemed scared, but would not speak out.", "* * * * *\n\nOn 14 July was somewhat anxious about crew.", "Men all steady fellows, who\nsailed with me before.", "Mate could not make out what was wrong; they only\ntold him there was _something_, and crossed themselves.", "Mate lost temper\nwith one of them that day and struck him.", "Expected fierce quarrel, but\nall was quiet.", "* * * * *\n\nOn 16 July mate reported in the morning that one of crew, Petrofsky, was\nmissing.", "Could not account for it.", "Took larboard watch eight bells last\nnight; was relieved by Abramoff, but did not go to bunk.", "Men more\ndowncast than ever.", "All said they expected something of the kind, but\nwould not say more than there was _something_ aboard.", "Mate getting very\nimpatient with them; feared some trouble ahead.", "* * * * *\n\nOn 17 July, yesterday, one of the men, Olgaren, came to my cabin, and in\nan awestruck way confided to me that he thought there was a strange man\naboard the ship.", "He said that in his watch he had been sheltering\nbehind the deck-house, as there was a rain-storm, when he saw a tall,\nthin man, who was not like any of the crew, come up the companion-way,\nand go along the deck forward, and disappear.", "He followed cautiously,\nbut when he got to bows found no one, and the hatchways were all closed.", "He was in a panic of superstitious fear, and I am afraid the panic may\nspread.", "To allay it, I shall to-day search entire ship carefully from\nstem to stern.", "* * * * *\n\nLater in the day I got together the whole crew, and told them, as they\nevidently thought there was some one in the ship, we would search from\nstem to stern.", "First mate angry; said it was folly, and to yield to such\nfoolish ideas would demoralise the men; said he would engage to keep\nthem out of trouble with a handspike.", "I let him take the helm, while the\nrest began thorough search, all keeping abreast, with lanterns: we left\nno corner unsearched.", "As there were only the big wooden boxes, there\nwere no odd corners where a man could hide.", "Men much relieved when\nsearch over, and went back to work cheerfully.", "First mate scowled, but\nsaid nothing.", "* * * * *\n\n_22 July_.--Rough weather last three days, and all hands busy with\nsails--no time to be frightened.", "Men seem to have forgotten their dread.", "Mate cheerful again, and all on good terms.", "Praised men for work in bad\nweather.", "Passed Gibralter and out through Straits.", "All well.", "* * * * *\n\n_24 July_.--There seems some doom over this ship.", "Already a hand short,\nand entering on the Bay of Biscay with wild weather ahead, and yet last\nnight another man lost--disappeared.", "Like the first, he came off his\nwatch and was not seen again.", "Men all in a panic of fear; sent a round\nrobin, asking to have double watch, as they fear to be alone.", "Mate\nangry.", "Fear there will be some trouble, as either he or the men will do\nsome violence.", "* * * * *\n\n_28 July_.--Four days in hell, knocking about in a sort of maelstrom,\nand the wind a tempest.", "No sleep for any one.", "Men all worn out.", "Hardly\nknow how to set a watch, since no one fit to go on.", "Second mate\nvolunteered to steer and watch, and let men snatch a few hours' sleep.", "Wind abating; seas still terrific, but feel them less, as ship is\nsteadier.", "* * * * *\n\n_29 July_.--Another tragedy.", "Had single watch to-night, as crew too\ntired to double.", "When morning watch came on deck could find no one\nexcept steersman.", "Raised outcry, and all came on deck.", "Thorough search,\nbut no one found.", "Are now without second mate, and crew in a panic.", "Mate\nand I agreed to go armed henceforth and wait for any sign of cause.", "* * * * *\n\n_30 July_.--Last night.", "Rejoiced we are nearing England.", "Weather fine,\nall sails set.", "Retired worn out; slept soundly; awaked by mate telling\nme that both man of watch and steersman missing.", "Only self and mate and\ntwo hands left to work ship.", "* * * * *\n\n_1 August_.--Two days of fog, and not a sail sighted.", "Had hoped when in\nthe English Channel to be able to signal for help or get in somewhere.", "Not having power to work sails, have to run before wind.", "Dare not lower,\nas could not raise them again.", "We seem to be drifting to some terrible\ndoom.", "Mate now more demoralised than either of men.", "His stronger nature\nseems to have worked inwardly against himself.", "Men are beyond fear,\nworking stolidly and patiently, with minds made up to worst.", "They are\nRussian, he Roumanian.", "* * * * *\n\n_2 August, midnight_.--Woke up from few minutes' sleep by hearing a cry,\nseemingly outside my port.", "Could see nothing in fog.", "Rushed on deck, and\nran against mate.", "Tells me heard cry and ran, but no sign of man on\nwatch.", "One more gone.", "Lord, help us!", "Mate says we must be past Straits\nof Dover, as in a moment of fog lifting he saw North Foreland, just as\nhe heard the man cry out.", "If so we are now off in the North Sea, and\nonly God can guide us in the fog, which seems to move with us; and God\nseems to have deserted us.", "* * * * *\n\n_3 August_.--At midnight I went to relieve the man at the wheel, and\nwhen I got to it found no one there.", "The wind was steady, and as we ran\nbefore it there was no yawing.", "I dared not leave it, so shouted for the\nmate.", "After a few seconds he rushed up on deck in his flannels.", "He\nlooked wild-eyed and haggard, and I greatly fear his reason has given\nway.", "He came close to me and whispered hoarsely, with his mouth to my\near, as though fearing the very air might hear: \"_It_ is here; I know\nit, now.", "On the watch last night I saw It, like a man, tall and thin,\nand ghastly pale.", "It was in the bows, and looking out.", "I crept behind\nIt, and gave It my knife; but the knife went through It, empty as the\nair.\"", "And as he spoke he took his knife and drove it savagely into\nspace.", "Then he went on: \"But It is here, and I'll find It.", "It is in the\nhold, perhaps in one of those boxes.", "I'll unscrew them one by one and\nsee.", "You work the helm.\"", "And, with a warning look and his finger on his\nlip, he went below.", "There was springing up a choppy wind, and I could\nnot leave the helm.", "I saw him come out on deck again with a tool-chest\nand a lantern, and go down the forward hatchway.", "He is mad, stark,\nraving mad, and it's no use my trying to stop him.", "He can't hurt those\nbig boxes: they are invoiced as \"clay,\" and to pull them about is as\nharmless a thing as he can do.", "So here I stay, and mind the helm, and\nwrite these notes.", "I can only trust in God and wait till the fog clears.", "Then, if I can't steer to any harbour with the wind that is, I shall cut\ndown sails and lie by, and signal for help....\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt is nearly all over now.", "Just as I was beginning to hope that the mate\nwould come out calmer--for I heard him knocking away at something in the\nhold, and work is good for him--there came up the hatchway a sudden,\nstartled scream, which made my blood run cold, and up on the deck he\ncame as if shot from a gun--a raging madman, with his eyes rolling and\nhis face convulsed with fear.", "\"Save me!", "save me!\"", "he cried, and then\nlooked round on the blanket of fog.", "His horror turned to despair, and in\na steady voice he said: \"You had better come too, captain, before it is\ntoo late.", "_He_ is there.", "I know the secret now.", "The sea will save me\nfrom Him, and it is all that is left!\"", "Before I could say a word, or\nmove forward to seize him, he sprang on the bulwark and deliberately\nthrew himself into the sea.", "I suppose I know the secret too, now.", "It was\nthis madman who had got rid of the men one by one, and now he has\nfollowed them himself.", "God help me!", "How am I to account for all these\nhorrors when I get to port?", "_When_ I get to port!", "Will that ever be?", "* * * * *\n\n_4 August._--Still fog, which the sunrise cannot pierce.", "I know there is\nsunrise because I am a sailor, why else I know not.", "I dared not go\nbelow, I dared not leave the helm; so here all night I stayed, and in\nthe dimness of the night I saw It--Him!", "God forgive me, but the mate was\nright to jump overboard.", "It was better to die like a man; to die like a\nsailor in blue water no man can object.", "But I am captain, and I must not\nleave my ship.", "But I shall baffle this fiend or monster, for I shall tie\nmy hands to the wheel when my strength begins to fail, and along with\nthem I shall tie that which He--It!--dare not touch; and then, come good\nwind or foul, I shall save my soul, and my honour as a captain.", "I am\ngrowing weaker, and the night is coming on.", "If He can look me in the\nface again, I may not have time to act....", "If we are wrecked, mayhap\nthis bottle may be found, and those who find it may understand; if not,\n... well, then all men shall know that I have been true to my trust.", "God\nand the Blessed Virgin and the saints help a poor ignorant soul trying\nto do his duty....\n\n * * * * *\n\nOf course the verdict was an open one.", "There is no evidence to adduce;\nand whether or not the man himself committed the murders there is now\nnone to say.", "The folk here hold almost universally that the captain is\nsimply a hero, and he is to be given a public funeral.", "Already it is\narranged that his body is to be taken with a train of boats up the Esk\nfor a piece and then brought back to Tate Hill Pier and up the abbey\nsteps; for he is to be buried in the churchyard on the cliff.", "The owners\nof more than a hundred boats have already given in their names as\nwishing to follow him to the grave.", "No trace has ever been found of the great dog; at which there is much\nmourning, for, with public opinion in its present state, he would, I\nbelieve, be adopted by the town.", "To-morrow will see the funeral; and so\nwill end this one more \"mystery of the sea.\"", "_Mina Murray's Journal._\n\n_8 August._--Lucy was very restless all night, and I, too, could not\nsleep.", "The storm was fearful, and as it boomed loudly among the\nchimney-pots, it made me shudder.", "When a sharp puff came it seemed to be\nlike a distant gun.", "Strangely enough, Lucy did not wake; but she got up\ntwice and dressed herself.", "Fortunately, each time I awoke in time and\nmanaged to undress her without waking her, and got her back to bed.", "It\nis a very strange thing, this sleep-walking, for as soon as her will is\nthwarted in any physical way, her intention, if there be any,\ndisappears, and she yields herself almost exactly to the routine of her\nlife.", "Early in the morning we both got up and went down to the harbour to see\nif anything had happened in the night.", "There were very few people about,\nand though the sun was bright, and the air clear and fresh, the big,\ngrim-looking waves, that seemed dark themselves because the foam that\ntopped them was like snow, forced themselves in through the narrow mouth\nof the harbour--like a bullying man going through a crowd.", "Somehow I\nfelt glad that Jonathan was not on the sea last night, but on land.", "But,\noh, is he on land or sea?", "Where is he, and how?", "I am getting fearfully\nanxious about him.", "If I only knew what to do, and could do anything!", "* * * * *\n\n_10 August._--The funeral of the poor sea-captain to-day was most\ntouching.", "Every boat in the harbour seemed to be there, and the coffin\nwas carried by captains all the way from Tate Hill Pier up to the\nchurchyard.", "Lucy came with me, and we went early to our old seat, whilst\nthe cortege of boats went up the river to the Viaduct and came down\nagain.", "We had a lovely view, and saw the procession nearly all the way.", "The poor fellow was laid to rest quite near our seat so that we stood on\nit when the time came and saw everything.", "Poor Lucy seemed much upset.", "She was restless and uneasy all the time, and I cannot but think that\nher dreaming at night is telling on her.", "She is quite odd in one thing:\nshe will not admit to me that there is any cause for restlessness; or if\nthere be, she does not understand it herself.", "There is an additional\ncause in that poor old Mr. Swales was found dead this morning on our\nseat, his neck being broken.", "He had evidently, as the doctor said,\nfallen back in the seat in some sort of fright, for there was a look of\nfear and horror on his face that the men said made them shudder.", "Poor\ndear old man!", "Perhaps he had seen Death with his dying eyes!", "Lucy is so\nsweet and sensitive that she feels influences more acutely than other\npeople do.", "Just now she was quite upset by a little thing which I did\nnot much heed, though I am myself very fond of animals.", "One of the men\nwho came up here often to look for the boats was followed by his dog.", "The dog is always with him.", "They are both quiet persons, and I never saw\nthe man angry, nor heard the dog bark.", "During the service the dog would\nnot come to its master, who was on the seat with us, but kept a few\nyards off, barking and howling.", "Its master spoke to it gently, and then\nharshly, and then angrily; but it would neither come nor cease to make a\nnoise.", "It was in a sort of fury, with its eyes savage, and all its hairs\nbristling out like a cat's tail when puss is on the war-path.", "Finally\nthe man, too, got angry, and jumped down and kicked the dog, and then\ntook it by the scruff of the neck and half dragged and half threw it on\nthe tombstone on which the seat is fixed.", "The moment it touched the\nstone the poor thing became quiet and fell all into a tremble.", "It did\nnot try to get away, but crouched down, quivering and cowering, and was\nin such a pitiable state of terror that I tried, though without effect,\nto comfort it.", "Lucy was full of pity, too, but she did not attempt to\ntouch the dog, but looked at it in an agonised sort of way.", "I greatly\nfear that she is of too super-sensitive a nature to go through the world\nwithout trouble.", "She will be dreaming of this to-night, I am sure.", "The\nwhole agglomeration of things--the ship steered into port by a dead\nman; his attitude, tied to the wheel with a crucifix and beads; the\ntouching funeral; the dog, now furious and now in terror--will all\nafford material for her dreams.", "I think it will be best for her to go to bed tired out physically, so I\nshall take her for a long walk by the cliffs to Robin Hood's Bay and\nback.", "She ought not to have much inclination for sleep-walking then." ]

[ "The weather had\nbeen somewhat sultry, but not to any degree uncommon in the month of\nAugust.", "Could not account for it.", "Fear there will be some trouble, as either he or the men will do\nsome violence.", "Mate\nand I agreed to go armed henceforth and wait for any sign of cause.", "He came close to me and whispered hoarsely, with his mouth to my\near, as though fearing the very air might hear: \"_It_ is here; I know\nit, now.", "So here I stay, and mind the helm, and\nwrite these notes.", "save me!\"", "I dared not go\nbelow, I dared not leave the helm; so here all night I stayed, and in\nthe dimness of the night I saw It--Him!", "Lucy came with me, and we went early to our old seat, whilst\nthe cortege of boats went up the river to the Viaduct and came down\nagain.", "She is quite odd in one thing:\nshe will not admit to me that there is any cause for restlessness; or if\nthere be, she does not understand it herself." ]

[ "Nothing is talked about here to-day except\nthe strange coincidence; the officials of the Board of Trade have been\nmost exacting in seeing that every compliance has been made with\nexisting regulations.", "Shortly before ten o'clock the stillness of the air grew quite\noppressive, and the silence was so marked that the bleating of a sheep\ninland or the barking of a dog in the town was distinctly heard, and the\nband on the pier, with its lively French air, was like a discord in the\ngreat harmony of nature's silence.", "Fortunately, each time I awoke in time and\nmanaged to undress her without waking her, and got her back to bed.", "The coastguard on duty at once\nmade report, and one old fisherman, who for more than half a century has\nkept watch on weather signs from the East Cliff, foretold in an emphatic\nmanner the coming of a sudden storm.", "It was in the bows, and looking out.", "At dark passed into Archipelago.", "Men seem to have forgotten their dread.", "_Varna to Whitby._\n\n_Written 18 July, things so strange happening, that I shall keep\naccurate note henceforth till we land._\n\n * * * * *\n\nOn 6 July we finished taking in cargo, silver sand and boxes of earth.", "One of the greatest and suddenest storms on record has just been\nexperienced here, with results both strange and unique.", "It may be that it\nwas frightened and made its way on to the moors, where it is still\nhiding in terror." ]

[ "Mate cheerful again, and all on good terms.", "Praised men for work in bad\nweather.", "Passed Gibralter and out through Straits.", "All well.", "* * * * *\n\n_24 July_.--There seems some doom over this ship.", "Already a hand short,\nand entering on the Bay of Biscay with wild weather ahead, and yet last\nnight another man lost--disappeared.", "Like the first, he came off his\nwatch and was not seen again.", "Men all in a panic of fear; sent a round\nrobin, asking to have double watch, as they fear to be alone.", "Mate\nangry.", "Fear there will be some trouble, as either he or the men will do\nsome violence.", "* * * * *\n\n_28 July_.--Four days in hell, knocking about in a sort of maelstrom,\nand the wind a tempest." ]

[ "\nFrom a Correspondent.", "_Whitby_.", "One of the greatest and suddenest storms on record has just been\nexperienced here, with results both strange and unique.", "The weather had\nbeen somewhat sultry, but not to any degree uncommon in the month of\nAugust.", "Saturday evening was as fine as was ever known, and the great\nbody of holiday-makers laid out yesterday for visits to Mulgrave Woods,\nRobin Hood's Bay, Rig Mill, Runswick, Staithes, and the various trips in\nthe neighbourhood of Whitby.", "The steamers _Emma_ and _Scarborough_ made\ntrips up and down the coast, and there was an unusual amount of\n\"tripping\" both to and from Whitby.", "The day was unusually fine till the\nafternoon, when some of the gossips who frequent the East Cliff\nchurchyard, and from that commanding eminence watch the wide sweep of\nsea visible to the north and east, called attention to a sudden show of\n\"mares'-tails\" high in the sky to the north-west.", "The wind was then\nblowing from the south-west in the mild degree which in barometrical\nlanguage is ranked \"No.", "2: light breeze.\"", "The coastguard on duty at once\nmade report, and one old fisherman, who for more than half a century has\nkept watch on weather signs from the East Cliff, foretold in an emphatic\nmanner the coming of a sudden storm.", "It was in a sort of fury, with its eyes savage, and all its hairs\nbristling out like a cat's tail when puss is on the war-path.", "Finally\nthe man, too, got angry, and jumped down and kicked the dog, and then\ntook it by the scruff of the neck and half dragged and half threw it on\nthe tombstone on which the seat is fixed.", "The moment it touched the\nstone the poor thing became quiet and fell all into a tremble.", "It did\nnot try to get away, but crouched down, quivering and cowering, and was\nin such a pitiable state of terror that I tried, though without effect,\nto comfort it.", "Lucy was full of pity, too, but she did not attempt to\ntouch the dog, but looked at it in an agonised sort of way.", "I greatly\nfear that she is of too super-sensitive a nature to go through the world\nwithout trouble.", "She will be dreaming of this to-night, I am sure.", "The\nwhole agglomeration of things--the ship steered into port by a dead\nman; his attitude, tied to the wheel with a crucifix and beads; the\ntouching funeral; the dog, now furious and now in terror--will all\nafford material for her dreams.", "I think it will be best for her to go to bed tired out physically, so I\nshall take her for a long walk by the cliffs to Robin Hood's Bay and\nback.", "She ought not to have much inclination for sleep-walking then." ]

[ "\n\n_Same day, 11 o'clock p. m._--Oh, but I am tired!", "If it were not that I\nhad made my diary a duty I should not open it to-night.", "We had a lovely\nwalk.", "Lucy, after a while, was in gay spirits, owing, I think, to some\ndear cows who came nosing towards us in a field close to the lighthouse,\nand frightened the wits out of us.", "I believe we forgot everything\nexcept, of course, personal fear, and it seemed to wipe the slate clean\nand give us a fresh start.", "We had a capital \"severe tea\" at Robin Hood's\nBay in a sweet little old-fashioned inn, with a bow-window right over\nthe seaweed-covered rocks of the strand.", "I believe we should have\nshocked the \"New Woman\" with our appetites.", "Men are more tolerant, bless\nthem!", "Then we walked home with some, or rather many, stoppages to rest,\nand with our hearts full of a constant dread of wild bulls.", "Lucy was\nreally tired, and we intended to creep off to bed as soon as we could.", "The young curate came in, however, and Mrs. Westenra asked him to stay\nfor supper.", "Lucy and I had both a fight for it with the dusty miller; I\nknow it was a hard fight on my part, and I am quite heroic.", "I think that\nsome day the bishops must get together and see about breeding up a new\nclass of curates, who don't take supper, no matter how they may be\npressed to, and who will know when girls are tired.", "Lucy is asleep and\nbreathing softly.", "She has more colour in her cheeks than usual, and\nlooks, oh, so sweet.", "If Mr. Holmwood fell in love with her seeing her\nonly in the drawing-room, I wonder what he would say if he saw her now.", "Some of the \"New Women\" writers will some day start an idea that men and\nwomen should be allowed to see each other asleep before proposing or\naccepting.", "But I suppose the New Woman won't condescend in future to\naccept; she will do the proposing herself.", "And a nice job she will make\nof it, too!", "There's some consolation in that.", "I am so happy to-night,\nbecause dear Lucy seems better.", "I really believe she has turned the\ncorner, and that we are over her troubles with dreaming.", "I should be\nquite happy if I only knew if Jonathan.... God bless and keep him.", "_11 August, 3 a. m._--Diary again.", "No sleep now, so I may as well write.", "I am too agitated to sleep.", "We have had such an adventure, such an\nagonising experience.", "I fell asleep as soon as I had closed my diary....", "Suddenly I became broad awake, and sat up, with a horrible sense of fear\nupon me, and of some feeling of emptiness around me.", "The room was dark,\nso I could not see Lucy's bed; I stole across and felt for her.", "The bed\nwas empty.", "I lit a match and found that she was not in the room.", "The\ndoor was shut, but not locked, as I had left it.", "I feared to wake her\nmother, who has been more than usually ill lately, so threw on some\nclothes and got ready to look for her.", "As I was leaving the room it\nstruck me that the clothes she wore might give me some clue to her\ndreaming intention.", "Dressing-gown would mean house; dress, outside.", "Dressing-gown and dress were both in their places.", "\"Thank God,\" I said\nto myself, \"she cannot be far, as she is only in her nightdress.\"", "I ran\ndownstairs and looked in the sitting-room.", "Not there!", "Then I looked in\nall the other open rooms of the house, with an ever-growing fear\nchilling my heart.", "Finally I came to the hall door and found it open.", "It\nwas not wide open, but the catch of the lock had not caught.", "The people\nof the house are careful to lock the door every night, so I feared that\nLucy must have gone out as she was.", "There was no time to think of what\nmight happen; a vague, overmastering fear obscured all details.", "I took a\nbig, heavy shawl and ran out.", "The clock was striking one as I was in the\nCrescent, and there was not a soul in sight.", "I ran along the North\nTerrace, but could see no sign of the white figure which I expected.", "At\nthe edge of the West Cliff above the pier I looked across the harbour to\nthe East Cliff, in the hope or fear--I don't know which--of seeing Lucy\nin our favourite seat.", "There was a bright full moon, with heavy black,\ndriving clouds, which threw the whole scene into a fleeting diorama of\nlight and shade as they sailed across.", "For a moment or two I could see\nnothing, as the shadow of a cloud obscured St. Mary's Church and all\naround it.", "Then as the cloud passed I could see the ruins of the abbey\ncoming into view; and as the edge of a narrow band of light as sharp as\na sword-cut moved along, the church and the churchyard became gradually\nvisible.", "Whatever my expectation was, it was not disappointed, for\nthere, on our favourite seat, the silver light of the moon struck a\nhalf-reclining figure, snowy white.", "The coming of the cloud was too\nquick for me to see much, for shadow shut down on light almost\nimmediately; but it seemed to me as though something dark stood behind\nthe seat where the white figure shone, and bent over it.", "What it was,\nwhether man or beast, I could not tell; I did not wait to catch another\nglance, but flew down the steep steps to the pier and along by the\nfish-market to the bridge, which was the only way to reach the East\nCliff.", "The town seemed as dead, for not a soul did I see; I rejoiced\nthat it was so, for I wanted no witness of poor Lucy's condition.", "The\ntime and distance seemed endless, and my knees trembled and my breath\ncame laboured as I toiled up the endless steps to the abbey.", "I must have\ngone fast, and yet it seemed to me as if my feet were weighted with\nlead, and as though every joint in my body were rusty.", "When I got almost\nto the top I could see the seat and the white figure, for I was now\nclose enough to distinguish it even through the spells of shadow.", "There\nwas undoubtedly something, long and black, bending over the\nhalf-reclining white figure.", "I called in fright, \"Lucy!", "Lucy!\"", "and\nsomething raised a head, and from where I was I could see a white face\nand red, gleaming eyes.", "Lucy did not answer, and I ran on to the\nentrance of the churchyard.", "As I entered, the church was between me and\nthe seat, and for a minute or so I lost sight of her.", "When I came in\nview again the cloud had passed, and the moonlight struck so brilliantly\nthat I could see Lucy half reclining with her head lying over the back\nof the seat.", "She was quite alone, and there was not a sign of any living\nthing about.", "When I bent over her I could see that she was still asleep.", "Her lips\nwere parted, and she was breathing--not softly as usual with her, but in\nlong, heavy gasps, as though striving to get her lungs full at every\nbreath.", "As I came close, she put up her hand in her sleep and pulled the\ncollar of her nightdress close around her throat.", "Whilst she did so\nthere came a little shudder through her, as though she felt the cold.", "I\nflung the warm shawl over her, and drew the edges tight round her neck,\nfor I dreaded lest she should get some deadly chill from the night air,\nunclad as she was.", "I feared to wake her all at once, so, in order to\nhave my hands free that I might help her, I fastened the shawl at her\nthroat with a big safety-pin; but I must have been clumsy in my anxiety\nand pinched or pricked her with it, for by-and-by, when her breathing\nbecame quieter, she put her hand to her throat again and moaned.", "When I\nhad her carefully wrapped up I put my shoes on her feet and then began\nvery gently to wake her.", "At first she did not respond; but gradually she\nbecame more and more uneasy in her sleep, moaning and sighing\noccasionally.", "At last, as time was passing fast, and, for many other\nreasons, I wished to get her home at once, I shook her more forcibly,\ntill finally she opened her eyes and awoke.", "She did not seem surprised\nto see me, as, of course, she did not realise all at once where she was.", "Lucy always wakes prettily, and even at such a time, when her body must\nhave been chilled with cold, and her mind somewhat appalled at waking\nunclad in a churchyard at night, she did not lose her grace.", "She\ntrembled a little, and clung to me; when I told her to come at once with\nme home she rose without a word, with the obedience of a child.", "As we\npassed along, the gravel hurt my feet, and Lucy noticed me wince.", "She\nstopped and wanted to insist upon my taking my shoes; but I would not.", "However, when we got to the pathway outside the churchyard, where there\nwas a puddle of water, remaining from the storm, I daubed my feet with\nmud, using each foot in turn on the other, so that as we went home, no\none, in case we should meet any one, should notice my bare feet.", "Fortune favoured us, and we got home without meeting a soul.", "Once we saw\na man, who seemed not quite sober, passing along a street in front of\nus; but we hid in a door till he had disappeared up an opening such as\nthere are here, steep little closes, or \"wynds,\" as they call them in\nScotland.", "My heart beat so loud all the time that sometimes I thought I\nshould faint.", "I was filled with anxiety about Lucy, not only for her\nhealth, lest she should suffer from the exposure, but for her reputation\nin case the story should get wind.", "When we got in, and had washed our\nfeet, and had said a prayer of thankfulness together, I tucked her into\nbed.", "Before falling asleep she asked--even implored--me not to say a\nword to any one, even her mother, about her sleep-walking adventure.", "I\nhesitated at first to promise; but on thinking of the state of her\nmother's health, and how the knowledge of such a thing would fret her,\nand thinking, too, of how such a story might become distorted--nay,\ninfallibly would--in case it should leak out, I thought it wiser to do\nso.", "I hope I did right.", "I have locked the door, and the key is tied to\nmy wrist, so perhaps I shall not be again disturbed.", "Lucy is sleeping\nsoundly; the reflex of the dawn is high and far over the sea....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Same day, noon._--All goes well.", "Lucy slept till I woke her and seemed\nnot to have even changed her side.", "The adventure of the night does not\nseem to have harmed her; on the contrary, it has benefited her, for she\nlooks better this morning than she has done for weeks.", "I was sorry to\nnotice that my clumsiness with the safety-pin hurt her.", "Indeed, it might\nhave been serious, for the skin of her throat was pierced.", "I must have\npinched up a piece of loose skin and have transfixed it, for there are\ntwo little red points like pin-pricks, and on the band of her nightdress\nwas a drop of blood.", "When I apologised and was concerned about it, she\nlaughed and petted me, and said she did not even feel it.", "Fortunately it\ncannot leave a scar, as it is so tiny.", "* * * * *\n\n_Same day, night._--We passed a happy day.", "The air was clear, and the\nsun bright, and there was a cool breeze.", "We took our lunch to Mulgrave\nWoods, Mrs. Westenra driving by the road and Lucy and I walking by the\ncliff-path and joining her at the gate.", "I felt a little sad myself, for\nI could not but feel how _absolutely_ happy it would have been had\nJonathan been with me.", "But there!", "I must only be patient.", "In the evening\nwe strolled in the Casino Terrace, and heard some good music by Spohr\nand Mackenzie, and went to bed early.", "Lucy seems more restful than she\nhas been for some time, and fell asleep at once.", "I shall lock the door\nand secure the key the same as before, though I do not expect any\ntrouble to-night.", "* * * * *\n\n_12 August._--My expectations were wrong, for twice during the night I\nwas wakened by Lucy trying to get out.", "She seemed, even in her sleep, to\nbe a little impatient at finding the door shut, and went back to bed\nunder a sort of protest.", "I woke with the dawn, and heard the birds\nchirping outside of the window.", "Lucy woke, too, and, I was glad to see,\nwas even better than on the previous morning.", "All her old gaiety of\nmanner seemed to have come back, and she came and snuggled in beside me\nand told me all about Arthur.", "I told her how anxious I was about\nJonathan, and then she tried to comfort me.", "Well, she succeeded\nsomewhat, for, though sympathy can't alter facts, it can help to make\nthem more bearable.", "* * * * *\n\n_13 August._--Another quiet day, and to bed with the key on my wrist as\nbefore.", "Again I awoke in the night, and found Lucy sitting up in bed,\nstill asleep, pointing to the window.", "I got up quietly, and pulling\naside the blind, looked out.", "It was brilliant moonlight, and the soft\neffect of the light over the sea and sky--merged together in one great,\nsilent mystery--was beautiful beyond words.", "Between me and the moonlight\nflitted a great bat, coming and going in great whirling circles.", "Once or\ntwice it came quite close, but was, I suppose, frightened at seeing me,\nand flitted away across the harbour towards the abbey.", "When I came back\nfrom the window Lucy had lain down again, and was sleeping peacefully.", "She did not stir again all night.", "* * * * *\n\n_14 August._--On the East Cliff, reading and writing all day.", "Lucy seems\nto have become as much in love with the spot as I am, and it is hard to\nget her away from it when it is time to come home for lunch or tea or\ndinner.", "This afternoon she made a funny remark.", "We were coming home for\ndinner, and had come to the top of the steps up from the West Pier and\nstopped to look at the view, as we generally do.", "The setting sun, low\ndown in the sky, was just dropping behind Kettleness; the red light was\nthrown over on the East Cliff and the old abbey, and seemed to bathe\neverything in a beautiful rosy glow.", "We were silent for a while, and\nsuddenly Lucy murmured as if to herself:--\n\n\"His red eyes again!", "They are just the same.\"", "It was such an odd\nexpression, coming _apropos_ of nothing, that it quite startled me.", "I\nslewed round a little, so as to see Lucy well without seeming to stare\nat her, and saw that she was in a half-dreamy state, with an odd look on\nher face that I could not quite make out; so I said nothing, but\nfollowed her eyes.", "She appeared to be looking over at our own seat,\nwhereon was a dark figure seated alone.", "I was a little startled myself,\nfor it seemed for an instant as if the stranger had great eyes like\nburning flames; but a second look dispelled the illusion.", "The red\nsunlight was shining on the windows of St. Mary's Church behind our\nseat, and as the sun dipped there was just sufficient change in the\nrefraction and reflection to make it appear as if the light moved.", "I\ncalled Lucy's attention to the peculiar effect, and she became herself\nwith a start, but she looked sad all the same; it may have been that she\nwas thinking of that terrible night up there.", "We never refer to it; so I\nsaid nothing, and we went home to dinner.", "Lucy had a headache and went\nearly to bed.", "I saw her asleep, and went out for a little stroll myself;\nI walked along the cliffs to the westward, and was full of sweet\nsadness, for I was thinking of Jonathan.", "When coming home--it was then\nbright moonlight, so bright that, though the front of our part of the\nCrescent was in shadow, everything could be well seen--I threw a glance\nup at our window, and saw Lucy's head leaning out.", "I thought that\nperhaps she was looking out for me, so I opened my handkerchief and\nwaved it.", "She did not notice or make any movement whatever.", "Just then,\nthe moonlight crept round an angle of the building, and the light fell\non the window.", "There distinctly was Lucy with her head lying up against\nthe side of the window-sill and her eyes shut.", "She was fast asleep, and\nby her, seated on the window-sill, was something that looked like a\ngood-sized bird.", "I was afraid she might get a chill, so I ran upstairs,\nbut as I came into the room she was moving back to her bed, fast\nasleep, and breathing heavily; she was holding her hand to her throat,\nas though to protect it from cold.", "I did not wake her, but tucked her up warmly; I have taken care that the\ndoor is locked and the window securely fastened.", "She looks so sweet as she sleeps; but she is paler than is her wont, and\nthere is a drawn, haggard look under her eyes which I do not like.", "I\nfear she is fretting about something.", "I wish I could find out what it\nis.", "* * * * *\n\n_15 August._--Rose later than usual.", "Lucy was languid and tired, and\nslept on after we had been called.", "We had a happy surprise at breakfast.", "Arthur's father is better, and wants the marriage to come off soon.", "Lucy\nis full of quiet joy, and her mother is glad and sorry at once.", "Later on\nin the day she told me the cause.", "She is grieved to lose Lucy as her\nvery own, but she is rejoiced that she is soon to have some one to\nprotect her.", "Poor dear, sweet lady!", "She confided to me that she has got\nher death-warrant.", "She has not told Lucy, and made me promise secrecy;\nher doctor told her that within a few months, at most, she must die, for\nher heart is weakening.", "At any time, even now, a sudden shock would be\nalmost sure to kill her.", "Ah, we were wise to keep from her the affair of\nthe dreadful night of Lucy's sleep-walking.", "* * * * *\n\n_17 August._--No diary for two whole days.", "I have not had the heart to\nwrite.", "Some sort of shadowy pall seems to be coming over our happiness.", "No news from Jonathan, and Lucy seems to be growing weaker, whilst her\nmother's hours are numbering to a close.", "I do not understand Lucy's\nfading away as she is doing.", "She eats well and sleeps well, and enjoys\nthe fresh air; but all the time the roses in her cheeks are fading, and\nshe gets weaker and more languid day by day; at night I hear her gasping\nas if for air.", "I keep the key of our door always fastened to my wrist at\nnight, but she gets up and walks about the room, and sits at the open\nwindow.", "Last night I found her leaning out when I woke up, and when I\ntried to wake her I could not; she was in a faint.", "When I managed to\nrestore her she was as weak as water, and cried silently between long,\npainful struggles for breath.", "When I asked her how she came to be at the\nwindow she shook her head and turned away.", "I trust her feeling ill may\nnot be from that unlucky prick of the safety-pin.", "I looked at her throat\njust now as she lay asleep, and the tiny wounds seem not to have healed.", "They are still open, and, if anything, larger than before, and the\nedges of them are faintly white.", "They are like little white dots with\nred centres.", "Unless they heal within a day or two, I shall insist on the\ndoctor seeing about them.", "_Letter, Samuel F. Billington & Son, Solicitors, Whitby, to Messrs.\nCarter, Paterson & Co., London._\n\n\"_17 August._\n\n\"Dear Sirs,--\n\n\"Herewith please receive invoice of goods sent by Great Northern\nRailway.", "Same are to be delivered at Carfax, near Purfleet, immediately\non receipt at goods station King's Cross.", "The house is at present empty,\nbut enclosed please find keys, all of which are labelled.", "\"You will please deposit the boxes, fifty in number, which form the\nconsignment, in the partially ruined building forming part of the house\nand marked 'A' on rough diagram enclosed.", "Your agent will easily\nrecognise the locality, as it is the ancient chapel of the mansion.", "The\ngoods leave by the train at 9:30 to-night, and will be due at King's\nCross at 4:30 to-morrow afternoon.", "As our client wishes the delivery\nmade as soon as possible, we shall be obliged by your having teams ready\nat King's Cross at the time named and forthwith conveying the goods to\ndestination.", "In order to obviate any delays possible through any routine\nrequirements as to payment in your departments, we enclose cheque\nherewith for ten pounds (L10), receipt of which please acknowledge.", "Should the charge be less than this amount, you can return balance; if\ngreater, we shall at once send cheque for difference on hearing from\nyou.", "You are to leave the keys on coming away in the main hall of the\nhouse, where the proprietor may get them on his entering the house by\nmeans of his duplicate key.", "\"Pray do not take us as exceeding the bounds of business courtesy in\npressing you in all ways to use the utmost expedition.", "_\"We are, dear Sirs,\n\n\"Faithfully yours,\n\n\"SAMUEL F. BILLINGTON & SON.", "\"_\n\n\n_Letter, Messrs. Carter, Paterson & Co., London, to Messrs. Billington &\nSon, Whitby._\n\n\"_21 August._\n\n\"Dear Sirs,--\n\n\"We beg to acknowledge L10 received and to return cheque L1 17s.", "9d,\namount of overplus, as shown in receipted account herewith.", "Goods are\ndelivered in exact accordance with instructions, and keys left in parcel\nin main hall, as directed.", "\"We are, dear Sirs,\n\n\"Yours respectfully.", "\"_Pro_ CARTER, PATERSON & CO.\"\n\n\n_Mina Murray's Journal._\n\n_18 August._--I am happy to-day, and write sitting on the seat in the\nchurchyard.", "Lucy is ever so much better.", "Last night she slept well all\nnight, and did not disturb me once.", "The roses seem coming back already\nto her cheeks, though she is still sadly pale and wan-looking.", "If she\nwere in any way anaemic I could understand it, but she is not.", "She is in\ngay spirits and full of life and cheerfulness.", "All the morbid reticence\nseems to have passed from her, and she has just reminded me, as if I\nneeded any reminding, of _that_ night, and that it was here, on this\nvery seat, I found her asleep.", "As she told me she tapped playfully with\nthe heel of her boot on the stone slab and said:--\n\n\"My poor little feet didn't make much noise then!", "I daresay poor old Mr.\nSwales would have told me that it was because I didn't want to wake up\nGeordie.\"", "As she was in such a communicative humour, I asked her if she\nhad dreamed at all that night.", "Before she answered, that sweet, puckered\nlook came into her forehead, which Arthur--I call him Arthur from her\nhabit--says he loves; and, indeed, I don't wonder that he does.", "Then she\nwent on in a half-dreaming kind of way, as if trying to recall it to\nherself:--\n\n\"I didn't quite dream; but it all seemed to be real.", "I only wanted to be\nhere in this spot--I don't know why, for I was afraid of something--I\ndon't know what.", "I remember, though I suppose I was asleep, passing\nthrough the streets and over the bridge.", "A fish leaped as I went by, and\nI leaned over to look at it, and I heard a lot of dogs howling--the\nwhole town seemed as if it must be full of dogs all howling at once--as\nI went up the steps.", "Then I had a vague memory of something long and\ndark with red eyes, just as we saw in the sunset, and something very\nsweet and very bitter all around me at once; and then I seemed sinking\ninto deep green water, and there was a singing in my ears, as I have\nheard there is to drowning men; and then everything seemed passing away\nfrom me; my soul seemed to go out from my body and float about the air.", "I seem to remember that once the West Lighthouse was right under me,\nand then there was a sort of agonising feeling, as if I were in an\nearthquake, and I came back and found you shaking my body.", "I saw you do\nit before I felt you.\"", "Then she began to laugh.", "It seemed a little uncanny to me, and I\nlistened to her breathlessly.", "I did not quite like it, and thought it\nbetter not to keep her mind on the subject, so we drifted on to other\nsubjects, and Lucy was like her old self again.", "When we got home the\nfresh breeze had braced her up, and her pale cheeks were really more\nrosy.", "Her mother rejoiced when she saw her, and we all spent a very\nhappy evening together.", "* * * * *\n\n_19 August._--Joy, joy, joy!", "although not all joy.", "At last, news of\nJonathan.", "The dear fellow has been ill; that is why he did not write.", "I\nam not afraid to think it or say it, now that I know.", "Mr. Hawkins sent\nme on the letter, and wrote himself, oh, so kindly.", "I am to leave in the\nmorning and go over to Jonathan, and to help to nurse him if necessary,\nand to bring him home.", "Mr. Hawkins says it would not be a bad thing if\nwe were to be married out there.", "I have cried over the good Sister's\nletter till I can feel it wet against my bosom, where it lies.", "It is of\nJonathan, and must be next my heart, for he is _in_ my heart.", "My journey\nis all mapped out, and my luggage ready.", "I am only taking one change of\ndress; Lucy will bring my trunk to London and keep it till I send for\nit, for it may be that ...", "I must write no more; I must keep it to say\nto Jonathan, my husband.", "The letter that he has seen and touched must\ncomfort me till we meet.", "_Letter, Sister Agatha, Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste.", "Mary,\nBuda-Pesth, to Miss Wilhelmina Murray._\n\n\"_12 August._\n\n\"Dear Madam,--\n\n\"I write by desire of Mr. Jonathan Harker, who is himself not strong\nenough to write, though progressing well, thanks to God and St. Joseph\nand Ste.", "Mary.", "He has been under our care for nearly six weeks,\nsuffering from a violent brain fever.", "He wishes me to convey his love,\nand to say that by this post I write for him to Mr. Peter Hawkins,\nExeter, to say, with his dutiful respects, that he is sorry for his\ndelay, and that all of his work is completed.", "He will require some few\nweeks' rest in our sanatorium in the hills, but will then return.", "He\nwishes me to say that he has not sufficient money with him, and that he\nwould like to pay for his staying here, so that others who need shall\nnot be wanting for help.", "\"Believe me,\n\n\"Yours, with sympathy and all blessings,\n\n\"SISTER AGATHA.", "\"P. S.--My patient being asleep, I open this to let you know something\nmore.", "He has told me all about you, and that you are shortly to be his\nwife.", "All blessings to you both!", "He has had some fearful shock--so says\nour doctor--and in his delirium his ravings have been dreadful; of\nwolves and poison and blood; of ghosts and demons; and I fear to say of\nwhat.", "Be careful with him always that there may be nothing to excite him\nof this kind for a long time to come; the traces of such an illness as\nhis do not lightly die away.", "We should have written long ago, but we\nknew nothing of his friends, and there was on him nothing that any one\ncould understand.", "He came in the train from Klausenburg, and the guard\nwas told by the station-master there that he rushed into the station\nshouting for a ticket for home.", "Seeing from his violent demeanour that\nhe was English, they gave him a ticket for the furthest station on the\nway thither that the train reached.", "\"Be assured that he is well cared for.", "He has won all hearts by his\nsweetness and gentleness.", "He is truly getting on well, and I have no\ndoubt will in a few weeks be all himself.", "But be careful of him for\nsafety's sake.", "There are, I pray God and St. Joseph and Ste.", "Mary, many,\nmany, happy years for you both.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_19 August._--Strange and sudden change in Renfield last night.", "About\neight o'clock he began to get excited and sniff about as a dog does when\nsetting.", "The attendant was struck by his manner, and knowing my interest\nin him, encouraged him to talk.", "He is usually respectful to the\nattendant and at times servile; but to-night, the man tells me, he was\nquite haughty.", "Would not condescend to talk with him at all.", "All he\nwould say was:--\n\n \"I don't want to talk to you: you don't count now; the Master is at\n hand.\"", "The attendant thinks it is some sudden form of religious mania which has\nseized him.", "If so, we must look out for squalls, for a strong man with\nhomicidal and religious mania at once might be dangerous.", "The\ncombination is a dreadful one.", "At nine o'clock I visited him myself.", "His\nattitude to me was the same as that to the attendant; in his sublime\nself-feeling the difference between myself and attendant seemed to him\nas nothing.", "It looks like religious mania, and he will soon think that\nhe himself is God.", "These infinitesimal distinctions between man and man\nare too paltry for an Omnipotent Being.", "How these madmen give themselves\naway!", "The real God taketh heed lest a sparrow fall; but the God created\nfrom human vanity sees no difference between an eagle and a sparrow.", "Oh,\nif men only knew!", "For half an hour or more Renfield kept getting excited in greater and\ngreater degree.", "I did not pretend to be watching him, but I kept strict\nobservation all the same.", "All at once that shifty look came into his\neyes which we always see when a madman has seized an idea, and with it\nthe shifty movement of the head and back which asylum attendants come to\nknow so well.", "He became quite quiet, and went and sat on the edge of his\nbed resignedly, and looked into space with lack-lustre eyes.", "I thought I\nwould find out if his apathy were real or only assumed, and tried to\nlead him to talk of his pets, a theme which had never failed to excite\nhis attention.", "At first he made no reply, but at length said testily:--\n\n\"Bother them all!", "I don't care a pin about them.\"", "\"What?\"", "I said.", "\"You don't mean to tell me you don't care about\nspiders?\"", "(Spiders at present are his hobby and the note-book is filling\nup with columns of small figures.)", "To this he answered enigmatically:--\n\n\"The bride-maidens rejoice the eyes that wait the coming of the bride;\nbut when the bride draweth nigh, then the maidens shine not to the eyes\nthat are filled.\"", "He would not explain himself, but remained obstinately seated on his bed\nall the time I remained with him.", "I am weary to-night and low in spirits.", "I cannot but think of Lucy, and\nhow different things might have been.", "If I don't sleep at once, chloral,\nthe modern Morpheus--C_{2}HCl_{3}O. H_{2}O!", "I must be careful not to let\nit grow into a habit.", "No, I shall take none to-night!", "I have thought of\nLucy, and I shall not dishonour her by mixing the two.", "If need be,\nto-night shall be sleepless....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Later._--Glad I made the resolution; gladder that I kept to it.", "I had\nlain tossing about, and had heard the clock strike only twice, when the\nnight-watchman came to me, sent up from the ward, to say that Renfield\nhad escaped.", "I threw on my clothes and ran down at once; my patient is\ntoo dangerous a person to be roaming about.", "Those ideas of his might\nwork out dangerously with strangers.", "The attendant was waiting for me.", "He said he had seen him not ten minutes before, seemingly asleep in his\nbed, when he had looked through the observation-trap in the door.", "His\nattention was called by the sound of the window being wrenched out.", "He\nran back and saw his feet disappear through the window, and had at once\nsent up for me.", "He was only in his night-gear, and cannot be far off.", "The attendant thought it would be more useful to watch where he should\ngo than to follow him, as he might lose sight of him whilst getting out\nof the building by the door.", "He is a bulky man, and couldn't get through\nthe window.", "I am thin, so, with his aid, I got out, but feet foremost,\nand, as we were only a few feet above ground, landed unhurt.", "The\nattendant told me the patient had gone to the left, and had taken a\nstraight line, so I ran as quickly as I could.", "As I got through the belt\nof trees I saw a white figure scale the high wall which separates our\ngrounds from those of the deserted house.", "I ran back at once, told the watchman to get three or four men\nimmediately and follow me into the grounds of Carfax, in case our friend\nmight be dangerous.", "I got a ladder myself, and crossing the wall,\ndropped down on the other side.", "I could see Renfield's figure just\ndisappearing behind the angle of the house, so I ran after him.", "On the\nfar side of the house I found him pressed close against the old\nironbound oak door of the chapel.", "He was talking, apparently to some\none, but I was afraid to go near enough to hear what he was saying, lest\nI might frighten him, and he should run off.", "Chasing an errant swarm of\nbees is nothing to following a naked lunatic, when the fit of escaping\nis upon him!", "After a few minutes, however, I could see that he did not\ntake note of anything around him, and so ventured to draw nearer to\nhim--the more so as my men had now crossed the wall and were closing him\nin.", "I heard him say:--\n\n\"I am here to do Your bidding, Master.", "I am Your slave, and You will\nreward me, for I shall be faithful.", "I have worshipped You long and afar\noff.", "Now that You are near, I await Your commands, and You will not pass\nme by, will You, dear Master, in Your distribution of good things?\"", "He _is_ a selfish old beggar anyhow.", "He thinks of the loaves and fishes\neven when he believes he is in a Real Presence.", "His manias make a\nstartling combination.", "When we closed in on him he fought like a tiger.", "He is immensely strong, for he was more like a wild beast than a man.", "I\nnever saw a lunatic in such a paroxysm of rage before; and I hope I\nshall not again.", "It is a mercy that we have found out his strength and\nhis danger in good time.", "With strength and determination like his, he\nmight have done wild work before he was caged.", "He is safe now at any\nrate.", "Jack Sheppard himself couldn't get free from the strait-waistcoat\nthat keeps him restrained, and he's chained to the wall in the padded\nroom.", "His cries are at times awful, but the silences that follow are\nmore deadly still, for he means murder in every turn and movement.", "Just now he spoke coherent words for the first time:--\n\n\"I shall be patient, Master.", "It is coming--coming--coming!\"", "So I took the hint, and came too.", "I was too excited to sleep, but this\ndiary has quieted me, and I feel I shall get some sleep to-night." ]

[ "She has more colour in her cheeks than usual, and\nlooks, oh, so sweet.", "When I came in\nview again the cloud had passed, and the moonlight struck so brilliantly\nthat I could see Lucy half reclining with her head lying over the back\nof the seat.", "My heart beat so loud all the time that sometimes I thought I\nshould faint.", "I trust her feeling ill may\nnot be from that unlucky prick of the safety-pin.", "All the morbid reticence\nseems to have passed from her, and she has just reminded me, as if I\nneeded any reminding, of _that_ night, and that it was here, on this\nvery seat, I found her asleep.", "A fish leaped as I went by, and\nI leaned over to look at it, and I heard a lot of dogs howling--the\nwhole town seemed as if it must be full of dogs all howling at once--as\nI went up the steps.", "Mr. Hawkins says it would not be a bad thing if\nwe were to be married out there.", "He has told me all about you, and that you are shortly to be his\nwife.", "He is truly getting on well, and I have no\ndoubt will in a few weeks be all himself.", "I\nnever saw a lunatic in such a paroxysm of rage before; and I hope I\nshall not again." ]

[ "The dear fellow has been ill; that is why he did not write.", "Again I awoke in the night, and found Lucy sitting up in bed,\nstill asleep, pointing to the window.", "She was fast asleep, and\nby her, seated on the window-sill, was something that looked like a\ngood-sized bird.", "His cries are at times awful, but the silences that follow are\nmore deadly still, for he means murder in every turn and movement.", "His manias make a\nstartling combination.", "\"_Pro_ CARTER, PATERSON & CO.\"\n\n\n_Mina Murray's Journal._\n\n_18 August._--I am happy to-day, and write sitting on the seat in the\nchurchyard.", "I really believe she has turned the\ncorner, and that we are over her troubles with dreaming.", "There are, I pray God and St. Joseph and Ste.", "Lucy and I had both a fight for it with the dusty miller; I\nknow it was a hard fight on my part, and I am quite heroic.", "These infinitesimal distinctions between man and man\nare too paltry for an Omnipotent Being." ]

[ "She has not told Lucy, and made me promise secrecy;\nher doctor told her that within a few months, at most, she must die, for\nher heart is weakening.", "At any time, even now, a sudden shock would be\nalmost sure to kill her.", "Ah, we were wise to keep from her the affair of\nthe dreadful night of Lucy's sleep-walking.", "* * * * *\n\n_17 August._--No diary for two whole days.", "I have not had the heart to\nwrite.", "Some sort of shadowy pall seems to be coming over our happiness.", "No news from Jonathan, and Lucy seems to be growing weaker, whilst her\nmother's hours are numbering to a close.", "I do not understand Lucy's\nfading away as she is doing.", "She eats well and sleeps well, and enjoys\nthe fresh air; but all the time the roses in her cheeks are fading, and\nshe gets weaker and more languid day by day; at night I hear her gasping\nas if for air.", "I keep the key of our door always fastened to my wrist at\nnight, but she gets up and walks about the room, and sits at the open\nwindow.", "Last night I found her leaning out when I woke up, and when I\ntried to wake her I could not; she was in a faint." ]

[ "\n\n_Same day, 11 o'clock p. m._--Oh, but I am tired!", "If it were not that I\nhad made my diary a duty I should not open it to-night.", "We had a lovely\nwalk.", "Lucy, after a while, was in gay spirits, owing, I think, to some\ndear cows who came nosing towards us in a field close to the lighthouse,\nand frightened the wits out of us.", "I believe we forgot everything\nexcept, of course, personal fear, and it seemed to wipe the slate clean\nand give us a fresh start.", "We had a capital \"severe tea\" at Robin Hood's\nBay in a sweet little old-fashioned inn, with a bow-window right over\nthe seaweed-covered rocks of the strand.", "I believe we should have\nshocked the \"New Woman\" with our appetites.", "Men are more tolerant, bless\nthem!", "Then we walked home with some, or rather many, stoppages to rest,\nand with our hearts full of a constant dread of wild bulls.", "Lucy was\nreally tired, and we intended to creep off to bed as soon as we could.", "I\nnever saw a lunatic in such a paroxysm of rage before; and I hope I\nshall not again.", "It is a mercy that we have found out his strength and\nhis danger in good time.", "With strength and determination like his, he\nmight have done wild work before he was caged.", "He is safe now at any\nrate.", "Jack Sheppard himself couldn't get free from the strait-waistcoat\nthat keeps him restrained, and he's chained to the wall in the padded\nroom.", "His cries are at times awful, but the silences that follow are\nmore deadly still, for he means murder in every turn and movement.", "Just now he spoke coherent words for the first time:--\n\n\"I shall be patient, Master.", "It is coming--coming--coming!\"", "So I took the hint, and came too.", "I was too excited to sleep, but this\ndiary has quieted me, and I feel I shall get some sleep to-night." ]

[ "\n\"My dearest Lucy,--\n\n\"I know you will be anxious to hear all that has happened since we\nparted at the railway station at Whitby.", "Well, my dear, I got to Hull\nall right, and caught the boat to Hamburg, and then the train on here.", "I\nfeel that I can hardly recall anything of the journey, except that I\nknew I was coming to Jonathan, and, that as I should have to do some\nnursing, I had better get all the sleep I could....", "I found my dear one,\noh, so thin and pale and weak-looking.", "All the resolution has gone out\nof his dear eyes, and that quiet dignity which I told you was in his\nface has vanished.", "He is only a wreck of himself, and he does not\nremember anything that has happened to him for a long time past.", "At\nleast, he wants me to believe so, and I shall never ask.", "He has had some\nterrible shock, and I fear it might tax his poor brain if he were to try\nto recall it.", "Sister Agatha, who is a good creature and a born nurse,\ntells me that he raved of dreadful things whilst he was off his head.", "I\nwanted her to tell me what they were; but she would only cross herself,\nand say she would never tell; that the ravings of the sick were the\nsecrets of God, and that if a nurse through her vocation should hear\nthem, she should respect her trust.", "She is a sweet, good soul, and the\nnext day, when she saw I was troubled, she opened up the subject again,\nand after saying that she could never mention what my poor dear raved\nabout, added: 'I can tell you this much, my dear: that it was not about\nanything which he has done wrong himself; and you, as his wife to be,\nhave no cause to be concerned.", "He has not forgotten you or what he owes\nto you.", "His fear was of great and terrible things, which no mortal can\ntreat of.'", "I do believe the dear soul thought I might be jealous lest my\npoor dear should have fallen in love with any other girl.", "The idea of\n_my_ being jealous about Jonathan!", "And yet, my dear, let me whisper, I\nfelt a thrill of joy through me when I _knew_ that no other woman was a\ncause of trouble.", "I am now sitting by his bedside, where I can see his\nface while he sleeps.", "He is waking!...", "\"When he woke he asked me for his coat, as he wanted to get something\nfrom the pocket; I asked Sister Agatha, and she brought all his things.", "I saw that amongst them was his note-book, and was going to ask him to\nlet me look at it--for I knew then that I might find some clue to his\ntrouble--but I suppose he must have seen my wish in my eyes, for he sent\nme over to the window, saying he wanted to be quite alone for a moment.", "Then he called me back, and when I came he had his hand over the\nnote-book, and he said to me very solemnly:--\n\n\"'Wilhelmina'--I knew then that he was in deadly earnest, for he has\nnever called me by that name since he asked me to marry him--'you know,\ndear, my ideas of the trust between husband and wife: there should be no\nsecret, no concealment.", "I have had a great shock, and when I try to\nthink of what it is I feel my head spin round, and I do not know if it\nwas all real or the dreaming of a madman.", "You know I have had brain\nfever, and that is to be mad.", "The secret is here, and I do not want to\nknow it.", "I want to take up my life here, with our marriage.'", "For, my\ndear, we had decided to be married as soon as the formalities are\ncomplete.", "'Are you willing, Wilhelmina, to share my ignorance?", "Here is\nthe book.", "Take it and keep it, read it if you will, but never let me\nknow; unless, indeed, some solemn duty should come upon me to go back to\nthe bitter hours, asleep or awake, sane or mad, recorded here.'", "He fell\nback exhausted, and I put the book under his pillow, and kissed him.", "I\nhave asked Sister Agatha to beg the Superior to let our wedding be this\nafternoon, and am waiting her reply....\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"She has come and told me that the chaplain of the English mission\nchurch has been sent for.", "We are to be married in an hour, or as soon\nafter as Jonathan awakes....\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"Lucy, the time has come and gone.", "I feel very solemn, but very, very\nhappy.", "Jonathan woke a little after the hour, and all was ready, and he\nsat up in bed, propped up with pillows.", "He answered his 'I will' firmly\nand strongly.", "I could hardly speak; my heart was so full that even those\nwords seemed to choke me.", "The dear sisters were so kind.", "Please God, I\nshall never, never forget them, nor the grave and sweet responsibilities\nI have taken upon me.", "I must tell you of my wedding present.", "When the\nchaplain and the sisters had left me alone with my husband--oh, Lucy, it\nis the first time I have written the words 'my husband'--left me alone\nwith my husband, I took the book from under his pillow, and wrapped it\nup in white paper, and tied it with a little bit of pale blue ribbon\nwhich was round my neck, and sealed it over the knot with sealing-wax,\nand for my seal I used my wedding ring.", "Then I kissed it and showed it\nto my husband, and told him that I would keep it so, and then it would\nbe an outward and visible sign for us all our lives that we trusted each\nother; that I would never open it unless it were for his own dear sake\nor for the sake of some stern duty.", "Then he took my hand in his, and oh,\nLucy, it was the first time he took _his wife's_ hand, and said that it\nwas the dearest thing in all the wide world, and that he would go\nthrough all the past again to win it, if need be.", "The poor dear meant to\nhave said a part of the past, but he cannot think of time yet, and I\nshall not wonder if at first he mixes up not only the month, but the\nyear.", "\"Well, my dear, what could I say?", "I could only tell him that I was the\nhappiest woman in all the wide world, and that I had nothing to give him\nexcept myself, my life, and my trust, and that with these went my love\nand duty for all the days of my life.", "And, my dear, when he kissed me,\nand drew me to him with his poor weak hands, it was like a very solemn\npledge between us....\n\n\"Lucy dear, do you know why I tell you all this?", "It is not only because\nit is all sweet to me, but because you have been, and are, very dear to\nme.", "It was my privilege to be your friend and guide when you came from\nthe schoolroom to prepare for the world of life.", "I want you to see now,\nand with the eyes of a very happy wife, whither duty has led me; so that\nin your own married life you too may be all happy as I am.", "My dear,\nplease Almighty God, your life may be all it promises: a long day of\nsunshine, with no harsh wind, no forgetting duty, no distrust.", "I must\nnot wish you no pain, for that can never be; but I do hope you will be\n_always_ as happy as I am _now_.", "Good-bye, my dear.", "I shall post this at\nonce, and, perhaps, write you very soon again.", "I must stop, for Jonathan\nis waking--I must attend to my husband!", "\"Your ever-loving\n\n\"MINA HARKER.\"", "_Letter, Lucy Westenra to Mina Harker._\n\n\"_Whitby, 30 August._\n\n\"My dearest Mina,--\n\n\"Oceans of love and millions of kisses, and may you soon be in your own\nhome with your husband.", "I wish you could be coming home soon enough to\nstay with us here.", "The strong air would soon restore Jonathan; it has\nquite restored me.", "I have an appetite like a cormorant, am full of\nlife, and sleep well.", "You will be glad to know that I have quite given\nup walking in my sleep.", "I think I have not stirred out of my bed for a\nweek, that is when I once got into it at night.", "Arthur says I am getting\nfat.", "By the way, I forgot to tell you that Arthur is here.", "We have such\nwalks and drives, and rides, and rowing, and tennis, and fishing\ntogether; and I love him more than ever.", "He _tells_ me that he loves me\nmore, but I doubt that, for at first he told me that he couldn't love me\nmore than he did then.", "But this is nonsense.", "There he is, calling to me.", "So no more just at present from your loving\n\n\"LUCY.", "\"P. S.--Mother sends her love.", "She seems better, poor dear.", "\"P. P.\nS.--We are to be married on 28 September.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_20 August._--The case of Renfield grows even more interesting.", "He has\nnow so far quieted that there are spells of cessation from his passion.", "For the first week after his attack he was perpetually violent.", "Then one\nnight, just as the moon rose, he grew quiet, and kept murmuring to\nhimself: \"Now I can wait; now I can wait.\"", "The attendant came to tell\nme, so I ran down at once to have a look at him.", "He was still in the\nstrait-waistcoat and in the padded room, but the suffused look had gone\nfrom his face, and his eyes had something of their old pleading--I might\nalmost say, \"cringing\"--softness.", "I was satisfied with his present\ncondition, and directed him to be relieved.", "The attendants hesitated,\nbut finally carried out my wishes without protest.", "It was a strange\nthing that the patient had humour enough to see their distrust, for,\ncoming close to me, he said in a whisper, all the while looking\nfurtively at them:--\n\n\"They think I could hurt you!", "Fancy _me_ hurting _you_!", "The fools!\"", "It was soothing, somehow, to the feelings to find myself dissociated\neven in the mind of this poor madman from the others; but all the same I\ndo not follow his thought.", "Am I to take it that I have anything in\ncommon with him, so that we are, as it were, to stand together; or has\nhe to gain from me some good so stupendous that my well-being is needful\nto him?", "I must find out later on.", "To-night he will not speak.", "Even the\noffer of a kitten or even a full-grown cat will not tempt him.", "He will\nonly say: \"I don't take any stock in cats.", "I have more to think of now,\nand I can wait; I can wait.\"", "After a while I left him.", "The attendant tells me that he was quiet\nuntil just before dawn, and that then he began to get uneasy, and at\nlength violent, until at last he fell into a paroxysm which exhausted\nhim so that he swooned into a sort of coma.", "* * * * *\n\n... Three nights has the same thing happened--violent all day then quiet\nfrom moonrise to sunrise.", "I wish I could get some clue to the cause.", "It\nwould almost seem as if there was some influence which came and went.", "Happy thought!", "We shall to-night play sane wits against mad ones.", "He\nescaped before without our help; to-night he shall escape with it.", "We\nshall give him a chance, and have the men ready to follow in case they\nare required....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_23 August._--\"The unexpected always happens.\"", "How well Disraeli knew\nlife.", "Our bird when he found the cage open would not fly, so all our\nsubtle arrangements were for nought.", "At any rate, we have proved one\nthing; that the spells of quietness last a reasonable time.", "We shall in\nfuture be able to ease his bonds for a few hours each day.", "I have given\norders to the night attendant merely to shut him in the padded room,\nwhen once he is quiet, until an hour before sunrise.", "The poor soul's\nbody will enjoy the relief even if his mind cannot appreciate it.", "Hark!", "The unexpected again!", "I am called; the patient has once more escaped.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Another night adventure.", "Renfield artfully waited until the\nattendant was entering the room to inspect.", "Then he dashed out past him\nand flew down the passage.", "I sent word for the attendants to follow.", "Again he went into the grounds of the deserted house, and we found him\nin the same place, pressed against the old chapel door.", "When he saw me\nhe became furious, and had not the attendants seized him in time, he\nwould have tried to kill me.", "As we were holding him a strange thing\nhappened.", "He suddenly redoubled his efforts, and then as suddenly grew\ncalm.", "I looked round instinctively, but could see nothing.", "Then I caught\nthe patient's eye and followed it, but could trace nothing as it looked\ninto the moonlit sky except a big bat, which was flapping its silent and\nghostly way to the west.", "Bats usually wheel and flit about, but this one\nseemed to go straight on, as if it knew where it was bound for or had\nsome intention of its own.", "The patient grew calmer every instant, and\npresently said:--\n\n\"You needn't tie me; I shall go quietly!\"", "Without trouble we came back\nto the house.", "I feel there is something ominous in his calm, and shall\nnot forget this night....\n\n\n_Lucy Westenra's Diary_\n\n_Hillingham, 24 August._--I must imitate Mina, and keep writing things\ndown.", "Then we can have long talks when we do meet.", "I wonder when it will\nbe.", "I wish she were with me again, for I feel so unhappy.", "Last night I\nseemed to be dreaming again just as I was at Whitby.", "Perhaps it is the\nchange of air, or getting home again.", "It is all dark and horrid to me,\nfor I can remember nothing; but I am full of vague fear, and I feel so\nweak and worn out.", "When Arthur came to lunch he looked quite grieved\nwhen he saw me, and I hadn't the spirit to try to be cheerful.", "I wonder\nif I could sleep in mother's room to-night.", "I shall make an excuse and\ntry.", "* * * * *\n\n_25 August._--Another bad night.", "Mother did not seem to take to my\nproposal.", "She seems not too well herself, and doubtless she fears to\nworry me.", "I tried to keep awake, and succeeded for a while; but when the\nclock struck twelve it waked me from a doze, so I must have been falling\nasleep.", "There was a sort of scratching or flapping at the window, but I\ndid not mind it, and as I remember no more, I suppose I must then have\nfallen asleep.", "More bad dreams.", "I wish I could remember them.", "This\nmorning I am horribly weak.", "My face is ghastly pale, and my throat pains\nme.", "It must be something wrong with my lungs, for I don't seem ever to\nget air enough.", "I shall try to cheer up when Arthur comes, or else I\nknow he will be miserable to see me so.", "_Letter, Arthur Holmwood to Dr. Seward._\n\n\"_Albemarle Hotel, 31 August._\n\n\"My dear Jack,--\n\n\"I want you to do me a favour.", "Lucy is ill; that is, she has no special\ndisease, but she looks awful, and is getting worse every day.", "I have\nasked her if there is any cause; I do not dare to ask her mother, for to\ndisturb the poor lady's mind about her daughter in her present state of\nhealth would be fatal.", "Mrs. Westenra has confided to me that her doom is\nspoken--disease of the heart--though poor Lucy does not know it yet.", "I\nam sure that there is something preying on my dear girl's mind.", "I am\nalmost distracted when I think of her; to look at her gives me a pang.", "I\ntold her I should ask you to see her, and though she demurred at\nfirst--I know why, old fellow--she finally consented.", "It will be a\npainful task for you, I know, old friend, but it is for _her_ sake, and\nI must not hesitate to ask, or you to act.", "You are to come to lunch at\nHillingham to-morrow, two o'clock, so as not to arouse any suspicion in\nMrs. Westenra, and after lunch Lucy will take an opportunity of being\nalone with you.", "I shall come in for tea, and we can go away together; I\nam filled with anxiety, and want to consult with you alone as soon as I\ncan after you have seen her.", "Do not fail!", "\"ARTHUR.\"", "_Telegram, Arthur Holmwood to Seward._\n\n\"_1 September._\n\n\"Am summoned to see my father, who is worse.", "Am writing.", "Write me fully\nby to-night's post to Ring.", "Wire me if necessary.\"", "_Letter from Dr. Seward to Arthur Holmwood._\n\n\"_2 September._\n\n\"My dear old fellow,--\n\n\"With regard to Miss Westenra's health I hasten to let you know at once\nthat in my opinion there is not any functional disturbance or any malady\nthat I know of.", "At the same time, I am not by any means satisfied with\nher appearance; she is woefully different from what she was when I saw\nher last.", "Of course you must bear in mind that I did not have full\nopportunity of examination such as I should wish; our very friendship\nmakes a little difficulty which not even medical science or custom can\nbridge over.", "I had better tell you exactly what happened, leaving you to\ndraw, in a measure, your own conclusions.", "I shall then say what I have\ndone and propose doing.", "\"I found Miss Westenra in seemingly gay spirits.", "Her mother was present,\nand in a few seconds I made up my mind that she was trying all she knew\nto mislead her mother and prevent her from being anxious.", "I have no\ndoubt she guesses, if she does not know, what need of caution there is.", "We lunched alone, and as we all exerted ourselves to be cheerful, we\ngot, as some kind of reward for our labours, some real cheerfulness\namongst us.", "Then Mrs. Westenra went to lie down, and Lucy was left with\nme.", "We went into her boudoir, and till we got there her gaiety remained,\nfor the servants were coming and going.", "As soon as the door was closed,\nhowever, the mask fell from her face, and she sank down into a chair\nwith a great sigh, and hid her eyes with her hand.", "When I saw that her\nhigh spirits had failed, I at once took advantage of her reaction to\nmake a diagnosis.", "She said to me very sweetly:--\n\n\"'I cannot tell you how I loathe talking about myself.'", "I reminded her\nthat a doctor's confidence was sacred, but that you were grievously\nanxious about her.", "She caught on to my meaning at once, and settled that\nmatter in a word.", "'Tell Arthur everything you choose.", "I do not care for\nmyself, but all for him!'", "So I am quite free.", "\"I could easily see that she is somewhat bloodless, but I could not see\nthe usual anaemic signs, and by a chance I was actually able to test the\nquality of her blood, for in opening a window which was stiff a cord\ngave way, and she cut her hand slightly with broken glass.", "It was a\nslight matter in itself, but it gave me an evident chance, and I secured\na few drops of the blood and have analysed them.", "The qualitative\nanalysis gives a quite normal condition, and shows, I should infer, in\nitself a vigorous state of health.", "In other physical matters I was quite\nsatisfied that there is no need for anxiety; but as there must be a\ncause somewhere, I have come to the conclusion that it must be something\nmental.", "She complains of difficulty in breathing satisfactorily at\ntimes, and of heavy, lethargic sleep, with dreams that frighten her, but\nregarding which she can remember nothing.", "She says that as a child she\nused to walk in her sleep, and that when in Whitby the habit came back,\nand that once she walked out in the night and went to East Cliff, where\nMiss Murray found her; but she assures me that of late the habit has not\nreturned.", "I am in doubt, and so have done the best thing I know of; I\nhave written to my old friend and master, Professor Van Helsing, of\nAmsterdam, who knows as much about obscure diseases as any one in the\nworld.", "I have asked him to come over, and as you told me that all things\nwere to be at your charge, I have mentioned to him who you are and your\nrelations to Miss Westenra.", "This, my dear fellow, is in obedience to\nyour wishes, for I am only too proud and happy to do anything I can for\nher.", "Van Helsing would, I know, do anything for me for a personal\nreason, so, no matter on what ground he comes, we must accept his\nwishes.", "He is a seemingly arbitrary man, but this is because he knows\nwhat he is talking about better than any one else.", "He is a philosopher\nand a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day;\nand he has, I believe, an absolutely open mind.", "This, with an iron\nnerve, a temper of the ice-brook, an indomitable resolution,\nself-command, and toleration exalted from virtues to blessings, and the\nkindliest and truest heart that beats--these form his equipment for the\nnoble work that he is doing for mankind--work both in theory and\npractice, for his views are as wide as his all-embracing sympathy.", "I\ntell you these facts that you may know why I have such confidence in\nhim.", "I have asked him to come at once.", "I shall see Miss Westenra\nto-morrow again.", "She is to meet me at the Stores, so that I may not\nalarm her mother by too early a repetition of my call.", "\"Yours always,\n\n\"JOHN SEWARD.\"", "_Letter, Abraham Van Helsing, M. D., D.", "Ph., D.", "Lit., etc., etc., to Dr.\nSeward._\n\n\"_2 September._\n\n\"My good Friend,--\n\n\"When I have received your letter I am already coming to you.", "By good\nfortune I can leave just at once, without wrong to any of those who have\ntrusted me.", "Were fortune other, then it were bad for those who have\ntrusted, for I come to my friend when he call me to aid those he holds\ndear.", "Tell your friend that when that time you suck from my wound so\nswiftly the poison of the gangrene from that knife that our other\nfriend, too nervous, let slip, you did more for him when he wants my\naids and you call for them than all his great fortune could do.", "But it\nis pleasure added to do for him, your friend; it is to you that I come.", "Have then rooms for me at the Great Eastern Hotel, so that I may be near\nto hand, and please it so arrange that we may see the young lady not too\nlate on to-morrow, for it is likely that I may have to return here that\nnight.", "But if need be I shall come again in three days, and stay longer\nif it must.", "Till then good-bye, my friend John.", "\"VAN HELSING.\"", "_Letter, Dr. Seward to Hon.", "Arthur Holmwood._\n\n\"_3 September._\n\n\"My dear Art,--\n\n\"Van Helsing has come and gone.", "He came on with me to Hillingham, and\nfound that, by Lucy's discretion, her mother was lunching out, so that\nwe were alone with her.", "Van Helsing made a very careful examination of\nthe patient.", "He is to report to me, and I shall advise you, for of\ncourse I was not present all the time.", "He is, I fear, much concerned,\nbut says he must think.", "When I told him of our friendship and how you\ntrust to me in the matter, he said: 'You must tell him all you think.", "Tell him what I think, if you can guess it, if you will.", "Nay, I am not\njesting.", "This is no jest, but life and death, perhaps more.'", "I asked\nwhat he meant by that, for he was very serious.", "This was when we had\ncome back to town, and he was having a cup of tea before starting on his\nreturn to Amsterdam.", "He would not give me any further clue.", "You must not\nbe angry with me, Art, because his very reticence means that all his\nbrains are working for her good.", "He will speak plainly enough when the\ntime comes, be sure.", "So I told him I would simply write an account of\nour visit, just as if I were doing a descriptive special article for\n_The Daily Telegraph_.", "He seemed not to notice, but remarked that the\nsmuts in London were not quite so bad as they used to be when he was a\nstudent here.", "I am to get his report to-morrow if he can possibly make\nit.", "In any case I am to have a letter.", "\"Well, as to the visit.", "Lucy was more cheerful than on the day I first\nsaw her, and certainly looked better.", "She had lost something of the\nghastly look that so upset you, and her breathing was normal.", "She was\nvery sweet to the professor (as she always is), and tried to make him\nfeel at ease; though I could see that the poor girl was making a hard\nstruggle for it.", "I believe Van Helsing saw it, too, for I saw the quick\nlook under his bushy brows that I knew of old.", "Then he began to chat of\nall things except ourselves and diseases and with such an infinite\ngeniality that I could see poor Lucy's pretense of animation merge into\nreality.", "Then, without any seeming change, he brought the conversation\ngently round to his visit, and suavely said:--\n\n\"'My dear young miss, I have the so great pleasure because you are so\nmuch beloved.", "That is much, my dear, ever were there that which I do not\nsee.", "They told me you were down in the spirit, and that you were of a\nghastly pale.", "To them I say: \"Pouf!\"'", "And he snapped his fingers at me\nand went on: 'But you and I shall show them how wrong they are.", "How can\nhe'--and he pointed at me with the same look and gesture as that with\nwhich once he pointed me out to his class, on, or rather after, a\nparticular occasion which he never fails to remind me of--'know anything\nof a young ladies?", "He has his madams to play with, and to bring them\nback to happiness, and to those that love them.", "It is much to do, and,\noh, but there are rewards, in that we can bestow such happiness.", "But the\nyoung ladies!", "He has no wife nor daughter, and the young do not tell\nthemselves to the young, but to the old, like me, who have known so many\nsorrows and the causes of them.", "So, my dear, we will send him away to\nsmoke the cigarette in the garden, whiles you and I have little talk all\nto ourselves.'", "I took the hint, and strolled about, and presently the\nprofessor came to the window and called me in.", "He looked grave, but\nsaid: 'I have made careful examination, but there is no functional\ncause.", "With you I agree that there has been much blood lost; it has\nbeen, but is not.", "But the conditions of her are in no way anaemic.", "I have\nasked her to send me her maid, that I may ask just one or two question,\nthat so I may not chance to miss nothing.", "I know well what she will say.", "And yet there is cause; there is always cause for everything.", "I must go\nback home and think.", "You must send to me the telegram every day; and if\nthere be cause I shall come again.", "The disease--for not to be all well\nis a disease--interest me, and the sweet young dear, she interest me\ntoo.", "She charm me, and for her, if not for you or disease, I come.'", "\"As I tell you, he would not say a word more, even when we were alone.", "And so now, Art, you know all I know.", "I shall keep stern watch.", "I trust\nyour poor father is rallying.", "It must be a terrible thing to you, my\ndear old fellow, to be placed in such a position between two people who\nare both so dear to you.", "I know your idea of duty to your father, and\nyou are right to stick to it; but, if need be, I shall send you word to\ncome at once to Lucy; so do not be over-anxious unless you hear from\nme.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_4 September._--Zooephagous patient still keeps up our interest in him.", "He had only one outburst and that was yesterday at an unusual time.", "Just\nbefore the stroke of noon he began to grow restless.", "The attendant knew\nthe symptoms, and at once summoned aid.", "Fortunately the men came at a\nrun, and were just in time, for at the stroke of noon he became so\nviolent that it took all their strength to hold him.", "In about five\nminutes, however, he began to get more and more quiet, and finally sank\ninto a sort of melancholy, in which state he has remained up to now.", "The\nattendant tells me that his screams whilst in the paroxysm were really\nappalling; I found my hands full when I got in, attending to some of the\nother patients who were frightened by him.", "Indeed, I can quite\nunderstand the effect, for the sounds disturbed even me, though I was\nsome distance away.", "It is now after the dinner-hour of the asylum, and\nas yet my patient sits in a corner brooding, with a dull, sullen,\nwoe-begone look in his face, which seems rather to indicate than to show\nsomething directly.", "I cannot quite understand it.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Another change in my patient.", "At five o'clock I looked in on\nhim, and found him seemingly as happy and contented as he used to be.", "He\nwas catching flies and eating them, and was keeping note of his capture\nby making nail-marks on the edge of the door between the ridges of\npadding.", "When he saw me, he came over and apologised for his bad\nconduct, and asked me in a very humble, cringing way to be led back to\nhis own room and to have his note-book again.", "I thought it well to\nhumour him: so he is back in his room with the window open.", "He has the\nsugar of his tea spread out on the window-sill, and is reaping quite a\nharvest of flies.", "He is not now eating them, but putting them into a\nbox, as of old, and is already examining the corners of his room to find\na spider.", "I tried to get him to talk about the past few days, for any\nclue to his thoughts would be of immense help to me; but he would not\nrise.", "For a moment or two he looked very sad, and said in a sort of\nfar-away voice, as though saying it rather to himself than to me:--\n\n\"All over!", "all over!", "He has deserted me.", "No hope for me now unless I do\nit for myself!\"", "Then suddenly turning to me in a resolute way, he said:\n\"Doctor, won't you be very good to me and let me have a little more\nsugar?", "I think it would be good for me.\"", "\"And the flies?\"", "I said.", "\"Yes!", "The flies like it, too, and I like the flies; therefore I like\nit.\"", "And there are people who know so little as to think that madmen do\nnot argue.", "I procured him a double supply, and left him as happy a man\nas, I suppose, any in the world.", "I wish I could fathom his mind.", "* * * * *\n\n_Midnight._--Another change in him.", "I had been to see Miss Westenra,\nwhom I found much better, and had just returned, and was standing at our\nown gate looking at the sunset, when once more I heard him yelling.", "As\nhis room is on this side of the house, I could hear it better than in\nthe morning.", "It was a shock to me to turn from the wonderful smoky\nbeauty of a sunset over London, with its lurid lights and inky shadows\nand all the marvellous tints that come on foul clouds even as on foul\nwater, and to realise all the grim sternness of my own cold stone\nbuilding, with its wealth of breathing misery, and my own desolate heart\nto endure it all.", "I reached him just as the sun was going down, and from\nhis window saw the red disc sink.", "As it sank he became less and less\nfrenzied; and just as it dipped he slid from the hands that held him, an\ninert mass, on the floor.", "It is wonderful, however, what intellectual\nrecuperative power lunatics have, for within a few minutes he stood up\nquite calmly and looked around him.", "I signalled to the attendants not to\nhold him, for I was anxious to see what he would do.", "He went straight\nover to the window and brushed out the crumbs of sugar; then he took his\nfly-box, and emptied it outside, and threw away the box; then he shut\nthe window, and crossing over, sat down on his bed.", "All this surprised\nme, so I asked him: \"Are you not going to keep flies any more?\"", "\"No,\" said he; \"I am sick of all that rubbish!\"", "He certainly is a\nwonderfully interesting study.", "I wish I could get some glimpse of his\nmind or of the cause of his sudden passion.", "Stop; there may be a clue\nafter all, if we can find why to-day his paroxysms came on at high noon\nand at sunset.", "Can it be that there is a malign influence of the sun at\nperiods which affects certain natures--as at times the moon does others?", "We shall see.", "_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam._\n\n\"_4 September._--Patient still better to-day.\"", "_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam._\n\n\"_5 September._--Patient greatly improved.", "Good appetite; sleeps\nnaturally; good spirits; colour coming back.\"", "_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam._\n\n\"_6 September._--Terrible change for the worse.", "Come at once; do not\nlose an hour.", "I hold over telegram to Holmwood till have seen you.\"" ]

[ "I do believe the dear soul thought I might be jealous lest my\npoor dear should have fallen in love with any other girl.", "The poor dear meant to\nhave said a part of the past, but he cannot think of time yet, and I\nshall not wonder if at first he mixes up not only the month, but the\nyear.", "She seems better, poor dear.", "I wish I could get some clue to the cause.", "But it\nis pleasure added to do for him, your friend; it is to you that I come.", "You must not\nbe angry with me, Art, because his very reticence means that all his\nbrains are working for her good.", "How can\nhe'--and he pointed at me with the same look and gesture as that with\nwhich once he pointed me out to his class, on, or rather after, a\nparticular occasion which he never fails to remind me of--'know anything\nof a young ladies?", "When he saw me, he came over and apologised for his bad\nconduct, and asked me in a very humble, cringing way to be led back to\nhis own room and to have his note-book again.", "And there are people who know so little as to think that madmen do\nnot argue.", "I wish I could get some glimpse of his\nmind or of the cause of his sudden passion." ]

[ "We went into her boudoir, and till we got there her gaiety remained,\nfor the servants were coming and going.", "I must\nnot wish you no pain, for that can never be; but I do hope you will be\n_always_ as happy as I am _now_.", "\"No,\" said he; \"I am sick of all that rubbish!\"", "Do not fail!", "Then he took my hand in his, and oh,\nLucy, it was the first time he took _his wife's_ hand, and said that it\nwas the dearest thing in all the wide world, and that he would go\nthrough all the past again to win it, if need be.", "I must find out later on.", "I could only tell him that I was the\nhappiest woman in all the wide world, and that I had nothing to give him\nexcept myself, my life, and my trust, and that with these went my love\nand duty for all the days of my life.", "I saw that amongst them was his note-book, and was going to ask him to\nlet me look at it--for I knew then that I might find some clue to his\ntrouble--but I suppose he must have seen my wish in my eyes, for he sent\nme over to the window, saying he wanted to be quite alone for a moment.", "He suddenly redoubled his efforts, and then as suddenly grew\ncalm.", "By the way, I forgot to tell you that Arthur is here." ]

[ "I shall come in for tea, and we can go away together; I\nam filled with anxiety, and want to consult with you alone as soon as I\ncan after you have seen her.", "Do not fail!", "\"ARTHUR.\"", "_Telegram, Arthur Holmwood to Seward._\n\n\"_1 September._\n\n\"Am summoned to see my father, who is worse.", "Am writing.", "Write me fully\nby to-night's post to Ring.", "Wire me if necessary.\"", "_Letter from Dr. Seward to Arthur Holmwood._\n\n\"_2 September._\n\n\"My dear old fellow,--\n\n\"With regard to Miss Westenra's health I hasten to let you know at once\nthat in my opinion there is not any functional disturbance or any malady\nthat I know of.", "At the same time, I am not by any means satisfied with\nher appearance; she is woefully different from what she was when I saw\nher last.", "Of course you must bear in mind that I did not have full\nopportunity of examination such as I should wish; our very friendship\nmakes a little difficulty which not even medical science or custom can\nbridge over.", "I had better tell you exactly what happened, leaving you to\ndraw, in a measure, your own conclusions." ]

[ "\n\"My dearest Lucy,--\n\n\"I know you will be anxious to hear all that has happened since we\nparted at the railway station at Whitby.", "Well, my dear, I got to Hull\nall right, and caught the boat to Hamburg, and then the train on here.", "I\nfeel that I can hardly recall anything of the journey, except that I\nknew I was coming to Jonathan, and, that as I should have to do some\nnursing, I had better get all the sleep I could....", "I found my dear one,\noh, so thin and pale and weak-looking.", "All the resolution has gone out\nof his dear eyes, and that quiet dignity which I told you was in his\nface has vanished.", "He is only a wreck of himself, and he does not\nremember anything that has happened to him for a long time past.", "At\nleast, he wants me to believe so, and I shall never ask.", "He has had some\nterrible shock, and I fear it might tax his poor brain if he were to try\nto recall it.", "Sister Agatha, who is a good creature and a born nurse,\ntells me that he raved of dreadful things whilst he was off his head.", "I\nwanted her to tell me what they were; but she would only cross herself,\nand say she would never tell; that the ravings of the sick were the\nsecrets of God, and that if a nurse through her vocation should hear\nthem, she should respect her trust.", "I wish I could get some glimpse of his\nmind or of the cause of his sudden passion.", "Stop; there may be a clue\nafter all, if we can find why to-day his paroxysms came on at high noon\nand at sunset.", "Can it be that there is a malign influence of the sun at\nperiods which affects certain natures--as at times the moon does others?", "We shall see.", "_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam._\n\n\"_4 September._--Patient still better to-day.\"", "_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam._\n\n\"_5 September._--Patient greatly improved.", "Good appetite; sleeps\nnaturally; good spirits; colour coming back.\"", "_Telegram, Seward, London, to Van Helsing, Amsterdam._\n\n\"_6 September._--Terrible change for the worse.", "Come at once; do not\nlose an hour.", "I hold over telegram to Holmwood till have seen you.\"" ]

[ "\n\"_6 September._\n\n\"My dear Art,--\n\n\"My news to-day is not so good.", "Lucy this morning had gone back a bit.", "There is, however, one good thing which has arisen from it; Mrs.\nWestenra was naturally anxious concerning Lucy, and has consulted me\nprofessionally about her.", "I took advantage of the opportunity, and told\nher that my old master, Van Helsing, the great specialist, was coming to\nstay with me, and that I would put her in his charge conjointly with\nmyself; so now we can come and go without alarming her unduly, for a\nshock to her would mean sudden death, and this, in Lucy's weak\ncondition, might be disastrous to her.", "We are hedged in with\ndifficulties, all of us, my poor old fellow; but, please God, we shall\ncome through them all right.", "If any need I shall write, so that, if you\ndo not hear from me, take it for granted that I am simply waiting for\nnews.", "In haste\n\nYours ever,\n\n\"JOHN SEWARD.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_7 September._--The first thing Van Helsing said to me when we met at\nLiverpool Street was:--\n\n\"Have you said anything to our young friend the lover of her?\"", "\"No,\" I said.", "\"I waited till I had seen you, as I said in my telegram.", "I\nwrote him a letter simply telling him that you were coming, as Miss\nWestenra was not so well, and that I should let him know if need be.\"", "\"Right, my friend,\" he said, \"quite right!", "Better he not know as yet;\nperhaps he shall never know.", "I pray so; but if it be needed, then he\nshall know all.", "And, my good friend John, let me caution you.", "You deal\nwith the madmen.", "All men are mad in some way or the other; and inasmuch\nas you deal discreetly with your madmen, so deal with God's madmen,\ntoo--the rest of the world.", "You tell not your madmen what you do nor why\nyou do it; you tell them not what you think.", "So you shall keep knowledge\nin its place, where it may rest--where it may gather its kind around it\nand breed.", "You and I shall keep as yet what we know here, and here.\"", "He\ntouched me on the heart and on the forehead, and then touched himself\nthe same way.", "\"I have for myself thoughts at the present.", "Later I shall\nunfold to you.\"", "\"Why not now?\"", "I asked.", "\"It may do some good; we may arrive at some\ndecision.\"", "He stopped and looked at me, and said:--\n\n\"My friend John, when the corn is grown, even before it has\nripened--while the milk of its mother-earth is in him, and the sunshine\nhas not yet begun to paint him with his gold, the husbandman he pull the\near and rub him between his rough hands, and blow away the green chaff,\nand say to you: 'Look!", "he's good corn; he will make good crop when the\ntime comes.'\"", "I did not see the application, and told him so.", "For reply\nhe reached over and took my ear in his hand and pulled it playfully, as\nhe used long ago to do at lectures, and said: \"The good husbandman tell\nyou so then because he knows, but not till then.", "But you do not find the\ngood husbandman dig up his planted corn to see if he grow; that is for\nthe children who play at husbandry, and not for those who take it as of\nthe work of their life.", "See you now, friend John?", "I have sown my corn,\nand Nature has her work to do in making it sprout; if he sprout at all,\nthere's some promise; and I wait till the ear begins to swell.\"", "He broke\noff, for he evidently saw that I understood.", "Then he went on, and very\ngravely:--\n\n\"You were always a careful student, and your case-book was ever more\nfull than the rest.", "You were only student then; now you are master, and\nI trust that good habit have not fail.", "Remember, my friend, that\nknowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker.", "Even if you have not kept the good practise, let me tell you that this\ncase of our dear miss is one that may be--mind, I say _may be_--of such\ninterest to us and others that all the rest may not make him kick the\nbeam, as your peoples say.", "Take then good note of it.", "Nothing is too\nsmall.", "I counsel you, put down in record even your doubts and surmises.", "Hereafter it may be of interest to you to see how true you guess.", "We\nlearn from failure, not from success!\"", "When I described Lucy's symptoms--the same as before, but infinitely\nmore marked--he looked very grave, but said nothing.", "He took with him a\nbag in which were many instruments and drugs, \"the ghastly paraphernalia\nof our beneficial trade,\" as he once called, in one of his lectures, the\nequipment of a professor of the healing craft.", "When we were shown in,\nMrs. Westenra met us.", "She was alarmed, but not nearly so much as I\nexpected to find her.", "Nature in one of her beneficent moods has ordained\nthat even death has some antidote to its own terrors.", "Here, in a case\nwhere any shock may prove fatal, matters are so ordered that, from some\ncause or other, the things not personal--even the terrible change in her\ndaughter to whom she is so attached--do not seem to reach her.", "It is\nsomething like the way Dame Nature gathers round a foreign body an\nenvelope of some insensitive tissue which can protect from evil that\nwhich it would otherwise harm by contact.", "If this be an ordered\nselfishness, then we should pause before we condemn any one for the vice\nof egoism, for there may be deeper root for its causes than we have\nknowledge of.", "I used my knowledge of this phase of spiritual pathology, and laid down\na rule that she should not be present with Lucy or think of her illness\nmore than was absolutely required.", "She assented readily, so readily that\nI saw again the hand of Nature fighting for life.", "Van Helsing and I were\nshown up to Lucy's room.", "If I was shocked when I saw her yesterday, I\nwas horrified when I saw her to-day.", "She was ghastly, chalkily pale; the\nred seemed to have gone even from her lips and gums, and the bones of\nher face stood out prominently; her breathing was painful to see or\nhear.", "Van Helsing's face grew set as marble, and his eyebrows converged\ntill they almost touched over his nose.", "Lucy lay motionless, and did not\nseem to have strength to speak, so for a while we were all silent.", "Then\nVan Helsing beckoned to me, and we went gently out of the room.", "The\ninstant we had closed the door he stepped quickly along the passage to\nthe next door, which was open.", "Then he pulled me quickly in with him and\nclosed the door.", "\"My God!\"", "he said; \"this is dreadful.", "There is no time\nto be lost.", "She will die for sheer want of blood to keep the heart's\naction as it should be.", "There must be transfusion of blood at once.", "Is\nit you or me?\"", "\"I am younger and stronger, Professor.", "It must be me.\"", "\"Then get ready at once.", "I will bring up my bag.", "I am prepared.\"", "I went downstairs with him, and as we were going there was a knock at\nthe hall-door.", "When we reached the hall the maid had just opened the\ndoor, and Arthur was stepping quickly in.", "He rushed up to me, saying in\nan eager whisper:--\n\n\"Jack, I was so anxious.", "I read between the lines of your letter, and\nhave been in an agony.", "The dad was better, so I ran down here to see for\nmyself.", "Is not that gentleman Dr. Van Helsing?", "I am so thankful to you,\nsir, for coming.\"", "When first the Professor's eye had lit upon him he had\nbeen angry at his interruption at such a time; but now, as he took in\nhis stalwart proportions and recognised the strong young manhood which\nseemed to emanate from him, his eyes gleamed.", "Without a pause he said to\nhim gravely as he held out his hand:--\n\n\"Sir, you have come in time.", "You are the lover of our dear miss.", "She is\nbad, very, very bad.", "Nay, my child, do not go like that.\"", "For he\nsuddenly grew pale and sat down in a chair almost fainting.", "\"You are to\nhelp her.", "You can do more than any that live, and your courage is your\nbest help.\"", "\"What can I do?\"", "asked Arthur hoarsely.", "\"Tell me, and I shall do it.", "My\nlife is hers, and I would give the last drop of blood in my body for\nher.\"", "The Professor has a strongly humorous side, and I could from old\nknowledge detect a trace of its origin in his answer:--\n\n\"My young sir, I do not ask so much as that--not the last!\"", "\"What shall I do?\"", "There was fire in his eyes, and his open nostril\nquivered with intent.", "Van Helsing slapped him on the shoulder.", "\"Come!\"", "he said.", "\"You are a man, and it is a man we want.", "You are better than\nme, better than my friend John.\"", "Arthur looked bewildered, and the\nProfessor went on by explaining in a kindly way:--\n\n\"Young miss is bad, very bad.", "She wants blood, and blood she must have\nor die.", "My friend John and I have consulted; and we are about to perform\nwhat we call transfusion of blood--to transfer from full veins of one to\nthe empty veins which pine for him.", "John was to give his blood, as he is\nthe more young and strong than me\"--here Arthur took my hand and wrung\nit hard in silence--\"but, now you are here, you are more good than us,\nold or young, who toil much in the world of thought.", "Our nerves are not\nso calm and our blood not so bright than yours!\"", "Arthur turned to him\nand said:--\n\n\"If you only knew how gladly I would die for her you would\nunderstand----\"\n\nHe stopped, with a sort of choke in his voice.", "\"Good boy!\"", "said Van Helsing.", "\"In the not-so-far-off you will be happy\nthat you have done all for her you love.", "Come now and be silent.", "You\nshall kiss her once before it is done, but then you must go; and you\nmust leave at my sign.", "Say no word to Madame; you know how it is with\nher!", "There must be no shock; any knowledge of this would be one.", "Come!\"", "We all went up to Lucy's room.", "Arthur by direction remained outside.", "Lucy turned her head and looked at us, but said nothing.", "She was not\nasleep, but she was simply too weak to make the effort.", "Her eyes spoke\nto us; that was all.", "Van Helsing took some things from his bag and laid\nthem on a little table out of sight.", "Then he mixed a narcotic, and\ncoming over to the bed, said cheerily:--\n\n\"Now, little miss, here is your medicine.", "Drink it off, like a good\nchild.", "See, I lift you so that to swallow is easy.", "Yes.\"", "She had made\nthe effort with success.", "It astonished me how long the drug took to act.", "This, in fact, marked\nthe extent of her weakness.", "The time seemed endless until sleep began to\nflicker in her eyelids.", "At last, however, the narcotic began to manifest\nits potency; and she fell into a deep sleep.", "When the Professor was\nsatisfied he called Arthur into the room, and bade him strip off his\ncoat.", "Then he added: \"You may take that one little kiss whiles I bring\nover the table.", "Friend John, help to me!\"", "So neither of us looked whilst\nhe bent over her.", "Van Helsing turning to me, said:\n\n\"He is so young and strong and of blood so pure that we need not\ndefibrinate it.\"", "Then with swiftness, but with absolute method, Van Helsing performed the\noperation.", "As the transfusion went on something like life seemed to come\nback to poor Lucy's cheeks, and through Arthur's growing pallor the joy\nof his face seemed absolutely to shine.", "After a bit I began to grow\nanxious, for the loss of blood was telling on Arthur, strong man as he\nwas.", "It gave me an idea of what a terrible strain Lucy's system must\nhave undergone that what weakened Arthur only partially restored her.", "But the Professor's face was set, and he stood watch in hand and with\nhis eyes fixed now on the patient and now on Arthur.", "I could hear my own\nheart beat.", "Presently he said in a soft voice: \"Do not stir an instant.", "It is enough.", "You attend him; I will look to her.\"", "When all was over I\ncould see how much Arthur was weakened.", "I dressed the wound and took his\narm to bring him away, when Van Helsing spoke without turning round--the\nman seems to have eyes in the back of his head:--\n\n\"The brave lover, I think, deserve another kiss, which he shall have\npresently.\"", "And as he had now finished his operation, he adjusted the\npillow to the patient's head.", "As he did so the narrow black velvet band\nwhich she seems always to wear round her throat, buckled with an old\ndiamond buckle which her lover had given her, was dragged a little up,\nand showed a red mark on her throat.", "Arthur did not notice it, but I\ncould hear the deep hiss of indrawn breath which is one of Van Helsing's\nways of betraying emotion.", "He said nothing at the moment, but turned to\nme, saying: \"Now take down our brave young lover, give him of the port\nwine, and let him lie down a while.", "He must then go home and rest, sleep\nmuch and eat much, that he may be recruited of what he has so given to\nhis love.", "He must not stay here.", "Hold!", "a moment.", "I may take it, sir,\nthat you are anxious of result.", "Then bring it with you that in all ways\nthe operation is successful.", "You have saved her life this time, and you\ncan go home and rest easy in mind that all that can be is.", "I shall tell\nher all when she is well; she shall love you none the less for what you\nhave done.", "Good-bye.\"", "When Arthur had gone I went back to the room.", "Lucy was sleeping gently,\nbut her breathing was stronger; I could see the counterpane move as her\nbreast heaved.", "By the bedside sat Van Helsing, looking at her intently.", "The velvet band again covered the red mark.", "I asked the Professor in a\nwhisper:--\n\n\"What do you make of that mark on her throat?\"", "\"What do you make of it?\"", "\"I have not examined it yet,\" I answered, and then and there proceeded\nto loose the band.", "Just over the external jugular vein there were two\npunctures, not large, but not wholesome-looking.", "There was no sign of\ndisease, but the edges were white and worn-looking, as if by some\ntrituration.", "It at once occurred to me that this wound, or whatever it\nwas, might be the means of that manifest loss of blood; but I abandoned\nthe idea as soon as formed, for such a thing could not be.", "The whole bed\nwould have been drenched to a scarlet with the blood which the girl must\nhave lost to leave such a pallor as she had before the transfusion.", "\"Well?\"", "said Van Helsing.", "\"Well,\" said I, \"I can make nothing of it.\"", "The Professor stood up.", "\"I\nmust go back to Amsterdam to-night,\" he said.", "\"There are books and\nthings there which I want.", "You must remain here all the night, and you\nmust not let your sight pass from her.\"", "\"Shall I have a nurse?\"", "I asked.", "\"We are the best nurses, you and I.", "You keep watch all night; see that\nshe is well fed, and that nothing disturbs her.", "You must not sleep all\nthe night.", "Later on we can sleep, you and I. I shall be back as soon as\npossible.", "And then we may begin.\"", "\"May begin?\"", "I said.", "\"What on earth do you mean?\"", "\"We shall see!\"", "he answered, as he hurried out.", "He came back a moment\nlater and put his head inside the door and said with warning finger held\nup:--\n\n\"Remember, she is your charge.", "If you leave her, and harm befall, you\nshall not sleep easy hereafter!\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary--continued._\n\n_8 September._--I sat up all night with Lucy.", "The opiate worked itself\noff towards dusk, and she waked naturally; she looked a different being\nfrom what she had been before the operation.", "Her spirits even were good,\nand she was full of a happy vivacity, but I could see evidences of the\nabsolute prostration which she had undergone.", "When I told Mrs. Westenra\nthat Dr. Van Helsing had directed that I should sit up with her she\nalmost pooh-poohed the idea, pointing out her daughter's renewed\nstrength and excellent spirits.", "I was firm, however, and made\npreparations for my long vigil.", "When her maid had prepared her for the\nnight I came in, having in the meantime had supper, and took a seat by\nthe bedside.", "She did not in any way make objection, but looked at me\ngratefully whenever I caught her eye.", "After a long spell she seemed\nsinking off to sleep, but with an effort seemed to pull herself together\nand shook it off.", "This was repeated several times, with greater effort\nand with shorter pauses as the time moved on.", "It was apparent that she\ndid not want to sleep, so I tackled the subject at once:--\n\n\"You do not want to go to sleep?\"", "\"No; I am afraid.\"", "\"Afraid to go to sleep!", "Why so?", "It is the boon we all crave for.\"", "\"Ah, not if you were like me--if sleep was to you a presage of horror!\"", "\"A presage of horror!", "What on earth do you mean?\"", "\"I don't know; oh, I don't know.", "And that is what is so terrible.", "All\nthis weakness comes to me in sleep; until I dread the very thought.\"", "\"But, my dear girl, you may sleep to-night.", "I am here watching you, and\nI can promise that nothing will happen.\"", "\"Ah, I can trust you!\"", "I seized the opportunity, and said: \"I promise\nyou that if I see any evidence of bad dreams I will wake you at once.\"", "\"You will?", "Oh, will you really?", "How good you are to me.", "Then I will\nsleep!\"", "And almost at the word she gave a deep sigh of relief, and sank\nback, asleep.", "All night long I watched by her.", "She never stirred, but slept on and on\nin a deep, tranquil, life-giving, health-giving sleep.", "Her lips were\nslightly parted, and her breast rose and fell with the regularity of a\npendulum.", "There was a smile on her face, and it was evident that no bad\ndreams had come to disturb her peace of mind.", "In the early morning her maid came, and I left her in her care and took\nmyself back home, for I was anxious about many things.", "I sent a short\nwire to Van Helsing and to Arthur, telling them of the excellent result\nof the operation.", "My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all\nday to clear off; it was dark when I was able to inquire about my\nzooephagous patient.", "The report was good; he had been quite quiet for the\npast day and night.", "A telegram came from Van Helsing at Amsterdam whilst\nI was at dinner, suggesting that I should be at Hillingham to-night, as\nit might be well to be at hand, and stating that he was leaving by the\nnight mail and would join me early in the morning.", "* * * * *\n\n_9 September_.--I was pretty tired and worn out when I got to\nHillingham.", "For two nights I had hardly had a wink of sleep, and my\nbrain was beginning to feel that numbness which marks cerebral\nexhaustion.", "Lucy was up and in cheerful spirits.", "When she shook hands\nwith me she looked sharply in my face and said:--\n\n\"No sitting up to-night for you.", "You are worn out.", "I am quite well\nagain; indeed, I am; and if there is to be any sitting up, it is I who\nwill sit up with you.\"", "I would not argue the point, but went and had my\nsupper.", "Lucy came with me, and, enlivened by her charming presence, I\nmade an excellent meal, and had a couple of glasses of the more than\nexcellent port.", "Then Lucy took me upstairs, and showed me a room next\nher own, where a cozy fire was burning.", "\"Now,\" she said, \"you must stay\nhere.", "I shall leave this door open and my door too.", "You can lie on the\nsofa for I know that nothing would induce any of you doctors to go to\nbed whilst there is a patient above the horizon.", "If I want anything I\nshall call out, and you can come to me at once.\"", "I could not but\nacquiesce, for I was \"dog-tired,\" and could not have sat up had I tried.", "So, on her renewing her promise to call me if she should want anything,\nI lay on the sofa, and forgot all about everything.", "_Lucy Westenra's Diary._\n\n_9 September._--I feel so happy to-night.", "I have been so miserably weak,\nthat to be able to think and move about is like feeling sunshine after\na long spell of east wind out of a steel sky.", "Somehow Arthur feels very,\nvery close to me.", "I seem to feel his presence warm about me.", "I suppose\nit is that sickness and weakness are selfish things and turn our inner\neyes and sympathy on ourselves, whilst health and strength give Love\nrein, and in thought and feeling he can wander where he wills.", "I know\nwhere my thoughts are.", "If Arthur only knew!", "My dear, my dear, your ears\nmust tingle as you sleep, as mine do waking.", "Oh, the blissful rest of\nlast night!", "How I slept, with that dear, good Dr. Seward watching me.", "And to-night I shall not fear to sleep, since he is close at hand and\nwithin call.", "Thank everybody for being so good to me!", "Thank God!", "Good-night, Arthur.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_10 September._--I was conscious of the Professor's hand on my head, and\nstarted awake all in a second.", "That is one of the things that we learn\nin an asylum, at any rate.", "\"And how is our patient?\"", "\"Well, when I left her, or rather when she left me,\" I answered.", "\"Come, let us see,\" he said.", "And together we went into the room.", "The blind was down, and I went over to raise it gently, whilst Van\nHelsing stepped, with his soft, cat-like tread, over to the bed.", "As I raised the blind, and the morning sunlight flooded the room, I\nheard the Professor's low hiss of inspiration, and knowing its rarity, a\ndeadly fear shot through my heart.", "As I passed over he moved back, and\nhis exclamation of horror, \"Gott in Himmel!\"", "needed no enforcement from\nhis agonised face.", "He raised his hand and pointed to the bed, and his\niron face was drawn and ashen white.", "I felt my knees begin to tremble.", "There on the bed, seemingly in a swoon, lay poor Lucy, more horribly\nwhite and wan-looking than ever.", "Even the lips were white, and the gums\nseemed to have shrunken back from the teeth, as we sometimes see in a\ncorpse after a prolonged illness.", "Van Helsing raised his foot to stamp\nin anger, but the instinct of his life and all the long years of habit\nstood to him, and he put it down again softly.", "\"Quick!\"", "he said.", "\"Bring\nthe brandy.\"", "I flew to the dining-room, and returned with the decanter.", "He wetted the poor white lips with it, and together we rubbed palm and\nwrist and heart.", "He felt her heart, and after a few moments of agonising\nsuspense said:--\n\n\"It is not too late.", "It beats, though but feebly.", "All our work is\nundone; we must begin again.", "There is no young Arthur here now; I have\nto call on you yourself this time, friend John.\"", "As he spoke, he was\ndipping into his bag and producing the instruments for transfusion; I\nhad taken off my coat and rolled up my shirt-sleeve.", "There was no\npossibility of an opiate just at present, and no need of one; and so,\nwithout a moment's delay, we began the operation.", "After a time--it did\nnot seem a short time either, for the draining away of one's blood, no\nmatter how willingly it be given, is a terrible feeling--Van Helsing\nheld up a warning finger.", "\"Do not stir,\" he said, \"but I fear that with\ngrowing strength she may wake; and that would make danger, oh, so much\ndanger.", "But I shall precaution take.", "I shall give hypodermic injection\nof morphia.\"", "He proceeded then, swiftly and deftly, to carry out his\nintent.", "The effect on Lucy was not bad, for the faint seemed to merge\nsubtly into the narcotic sleep.", "It was with a feeling of personal pride\nthat I could see a faint tinge of colour steal back into the pallid\ncheeks and lips.", "No man knows, till he experiences it, what it is to\nfeel his own life-blood drawn away into the veins of the woman he loves.", "The Professor watched me critically.", "\"That will do,\" he said.", "\"Already?\"", "I remonstrated.", "\"You took a great deal more from Art.\"", "To which he\nsmiled a sad sort of smile as he replied:--\n\n\"He is her lover, her _fiance_.", "You have work, much work, to do for her\nand for others; and the present will suffice.\"", "When we stopped the operation, he attended to Lucy, whilst I applied\ndigital pressure to my own incision.", "I laid down, whilst I waited his\nleisure to attend to me, for I felt faint and a little sick.", "By-and-by\nhe bound up my wound, and sent me downstairs to get a glass of wine for\nmyself.", "As I was leaving the room, he came after me, and half\nwhispered:--\n\n\"Mind, nothing must be said of this.", "If our young lover should turn up\nunexpected, as before, no word to him.", "It would at once frighten him and\nenjealous him, too.", "There must be none.", "So!\"", "When I came back he looked at me carefully, and then said:--\n\n\"You are not much the worse.", "Go into the room, and lie on your sofa, and\nrest awhile; then have much breakfast, and come here to me.\"", "I followed out his orders, for I knew how right and wise they were.", "I\nhad done my part, and now my next duty was to keep up my strength.", "I\nfelt very weak, and in the weakness lost something of the amazement at\nwhat had occurred.", "I fell asleep on the sofa, however, wondering over\nand over again how Lucy had made such a retrograde movement, and how\nshe could have been drained of so much blood with no sign anywhere to\nshow for it.", "I think I must have continued my wonder in my dreams, for,\nsleeping and waking, my thoughts always came back to the little\npunctures in her throat and the ragged, exhausted appearance of their\nedges--tiny though they were.", "Lucy slept well into the day, and when she woke she was fairly well and\nstrong, though not nearly so much so as the day before.", "When Van Helsing\nhad seen her, he went out for a walk, leaving me in charge, with strict\ninjunctions that I was not to leave her for a moment.", "I could hear his\nvoice in the hall, asking the way to the nearest telegraph office.", "Lucy chatted with me freely, and seemed quite unconscious that anything\nhad happened.", "I tried to keep her amused and interested.", "When her mother\ncame up to see her, she did not seem to notice any change whatever, but\nsaid to me gratefully:--\n\n\"We owe you so much, Dr. Seward, for all you have done, but you really\nmust now take care not to overwork yourself.", "You are looking pale\nyourself.", "You want a wife to nurse and look after you a bit; that you\ndo!\"", "As she spoke, Lucy turned crimson, though it was only momentarily,\nfor her poor wasted veins could not stand for long such an unwonted\ndrain to the head.", "The reaction came in excessive pallor as she turned\nimploring eyes on me.", "I smiled and nodded, and laid my finger on my\nlips; with a sigh, she sank back amid her pillows.", "Van Helsing returned in a couple of hours, and presently said to me:\n\"Now you go home, and eat much and drink enough.", "Make yourself strong.", "I\nstay here to-night, and I shall sit up with little miss myself.", "You and\nI must watch the case, and we must have none other to know.", "I have grave\nreasons.", "No, do not ask them; think what you will.", "Do not fear to think\neven the most not-probable.", "Good-night.\"", "In the hall two of the maids came to me, and asked if they or either of\nthem might not sit up with Miss Lucy.", "They implored me to let them; and\nwhen I said it was Dr. Van Helsing's wish that either he or I should sit\nup, they asked me quite piteously to intercede with the \"foreign\ngentleman.\"", "I was much touched by their kindness.", "Perhaps it is because\nI am weak at present, and perhaps because it was on Lucy's account, that\ntheir devotion was manifested; for over and over again have I seen\nsimilar instances of woman's kindness.", "I got back here in time for a\nlate dinner; went my rounds--all well; and set this down whilst waiting\nfor sleep.", "It is coming.", "* * * * *\n\n_11 September._--This afternoon I went over to Hillingham.", "Found Van\nHelsing in excellent spirits, and Lucy much better.", "Shortly after I had\narrived, a big parcel from abroad came for the Professor.", "He opened it\nwith much impressment--assumed, of course--and showed a great bundle of\nwhite flowers.", "\"These are for you, Miss Lucy,\" he said.", "\"For me?", "Oh, Dr. Van Helsing!\"", "\"Yes, my dear, but not for you to play with.", "These are medicines.\"", "Here\nLucy made a wry face.", "\"Nay, but they are not to take in a decoction or\nin nauseous form, so you need not snub that so charming nose, or I shall\npoint out to my friend Arthur what woes he may have to endure in seeing\nso much beauty that he so loves so much distort.", "Aha, my pretty miss,\nthat bring the so nice nose all straight again.", "This is medicinal, but\nyou do not know how.", "I put him in your window, I make pretty wreath, and\nhang him round your neck, so that you sleep well.", "Oh yes!", "they, like the\nlotus flower, make your trouble forgotten.", "It smell so like the waters\nof Lethe, and of that fountain of youth that the Conquistadores sought\nfor in the Floridas, and find him all too late.\"", "Whilst he was speaking, Lucy had been examining the flowers and smelling\nthem.", "Now she threw them down, saying, with half-laughter, and\nhalf-disgust:--\n\n\"Oh, Professor, I believe you are only putting up a joke on me.", "Why,\nthese flowers are only common garlic.\"", "To my surprise, Van Helsing rose up and said with all his sternness, his\niron jaw set and his bushy eyebrows meeting:--\n\n\"No trifling with me!", "I never jest!", "There is grim purpose in all I do;\nand I warn you that you do not thwart me.", "Take care, for the sake of\nothers if not for your own.\"", "Then seeing poor Lucy scared, as she might\nwell be, he went on more gently: \"Oh, little miss, my dear, do not fear\nme.", "I only do for your good; but there is much virtue to you in those so\ncommon flowers.", "See, I place them myself in your room.", "I make myself the\nwreath that you are to wear.", "But hush!", "no telling to others that make so\ninquisitive questions.", "We must obey, and silence is a part of obedience;\nand obedience is to bring you strong and well into loving arms that wait\nfor you.", "Now sit still awhile.", "Come with me, friend John, and you shall\nhelp me deck the room with my garlic, which is all the way from Haarlem,\nwhere my friend Vanderpool raise herb in his glass-houses all the year.", "I had to telegraph yesterday, or they would not have been here.\"", "We went into the room, taking the flowers with us.", "The Professor's\nactions were certainly odd and not to be found in any pharmacopoeia\nthat I ever heard of.", "First he fastened up the windows and latched them\nsecurely; next, taking a handful of the flowers, he rubbed them all over\nthe sashes, as though to ensure that every whiff of air that might get\nin would be laden with the garlic smell.", "Then with the wisp he rubbed\nall over the jamb of the door, above, below, and at each side, and round\nthe fireplace in the same way.", "It all seemed grotesque to me, and\npresently I said:--\n\n\"Well, Professor, I know you always have a reason for what you do, but\nthis certainly puzzles me.", "It is well we have no sceptic here, or he\nwould say that you were working some spell to keep out an evil spirit.\"", "\"Perhaps I am!\"", "he answered quietly as he began to make the wreath which\nLucy was to wear round her neck.", "We then waited whilst Lucy made her toilet for the night, and when she\nwas in bed he came and himself fixed the wreath of garlic round her\nneck.", "The last words he said to her were:--\n\n\"Take care you do not disturb it; and even if the room feel close, do\nnot to-night open the window or the door.\"", "\"I promise,\" said Lucy, \"and thank you both a thousand times for all\nyour kindness to me!", "Oh, what have I done to be blessed with such\nfriends?\"", "As we left the house in my fly, which was waiting, Van Helsing said:--\n\n\"To-night I can sleep in peace, and sleep I want--two nights of travel,\nmuch reading in the day between, and much anxiety on the day to follow,\nand a night to sit up, without to wink.", "To-morrow in the morning early\nyou call for me, and we come together to see our pretty miss, so much\nmore strong for my 'spell' which I have work.", "Ho!", "ho!\"", "He seemed so confident that I, remembering my own confidence two nights\nbefore and with the baneful result, felt awe and vague terror.", "It must\nhave been my weakness that made me hesitate to tell it to my friend, but\nI felt it all the more, like unshed tears." ]

[ "I asked.", "\"In the not-so-far-off you will be happy\nthat you have done all for her you love.", "Van Helsing turning to me, said:\n\n\"He is so young and strong and of blood so pure that we need not\ndefibrinate it.\"", "You attend him; I will look to her.\"", "It at once occurred to me that this wound, or whatever it\nwas, might be the means of that manifest loss of blood; but I abandoned\nthe idea as soon as formed, for such a thing could not be.", "The Professor stood up.", "When I told Mrs. Westenra\nthat Dr. Van Helsing had directed that I should sit up with her she\nalmost pooh-poohed the idea, pointing out her daughter's renewed\nstrength and excellent spirits.", "When she shook hands\nwith me she looked sharply in my face and said:--\n\n\"No sitting up to-night for you.", "Oh, what have I done to be blessed with such\nfriends?\"", "ho!\"" ]

[ "The velvet band again covered the red mark.", "\"I have not examined it yet,\" I answered, and then and there proceeded\nto loose the band.", "\"Good boy!\"", "As he spoke, he was\ndipping into his bag and producing the instruments for transfusion; I\nhad taken off my coat and rolled up my shirt-sleeve.", "he said.", "She was ghastly, chalkily pale; the\nred seemed to have gone even from her lips and gums, and the bones of\nher face stood out prominently; her breathing was painful to see or\nhear.", "Her spirits even were good,\nand she was full of a happy vivacity, but I could see evidences of the\nabsolute prostration which she had undergone.", "The\ninstant we had closed the door he stepped quickly along the passage to\nthe next door, which was open.", "Later on we can sleep, you and I. I shall be back as soon as\npossible.", "Yes.\"" ]

[ "Seward's Diary--continued._\n\n_8 September._--I sat up all night with Lucy.", "The opiate worked itself\noff towards dusk, and she waked naturally; she looked a different being\nfrom what she had been before the operation.", "Her spirits even were good,\nand she was full of a happy vivacity, but I could see evidences of the\nabsolute prostration which she had undergone.", "When I told Mrs. Westenra\nthat Dr. Van Helsing had directed that I should sit up with her she\nalmost pooh-poohed the idea, pointing out her daughter's renewed\nstrength and excellent spirits.", "I was firm, however, and made\npreparations for my long vigil.", "When her maid had prepared her for the\nnight I came in, having in the meantime had supper, and took a seat by\nthe bedside.", "She did not in any way make objection, but looked at me\ngratefully whenever I caught her eye.", "After a long spell she seemed\nsinking off to sleep, but with an effort seemed to pull herself together\nand shook it off.", "This was repeated several times, with greater effort\nand with shorter pauses as the time moved on.", "It was apparent that she\ndid not want to sleep, so I tackled the subject at once:--\n\n\"You do not want to go to sleep?\"", "\"No; I am afraid.\"" ]

[ "\n\"_6 September._\n\n\"My dear Art,--\n\n\"My news to-day is not so good.", "Lucy this morning had gone back a bit.", "There is, however, one good thing which has arisen from it; Mrs.\nWestenra was naturally anxious concerning Lucy, and has consulted me\nprofessionally about her.", "I took advantage of the opportunity, and told\nher that my old master, Van Helsing, the great specialist, was coming to\nstay with me, and that I would put her in his charge conjointly with\nmyself; so now we can come and go without alarming her unduly, for a\nshock to her would mean sudden death, and this, in Lucy's weak\ncondition, might be disastrous to her.", "We are hedged in with\ndifficulties, all of us, my poor old fellow; but, please God, we shall\ncome through them all right.", "If any need I shall write, so that, if you\ndo not hear from me, take it for granted that I am simply waiting for\nnews.", "In haste\n\nYours ever,\n\n\"JOHN SEWARD.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_7 September._--The first thing Van Helsing said to me when we met at\nLiverpool Street was:--\n\n\"Have you said anything to our young friend the lover of her?\"", "\"No,\" I said.", "We then waited whilst Lucy made her toilet for the night, and when she\nwas in bed he came and himself fixed the wreath of garlic round her\nneck.", "The last words he said to her were:--\n\n\"Take care you do not disturb it; and even if the room feel close, do\nnot to-night open the window or the door.\"", "\"I promise,\" said Lucy, \"and thank you both a thousand times for all\nyour kindness to me!", "Oh, what have I done to be blessed with such\nfriends?\"", "As we left the house in my fly, which was waiting, Van Helsing said:--\n\n\"To-night I can sleep in peace, and sleep I want--two nights of travel,\nmuch reading in the day between, and much anxiety on the day to follow,\nand a night to sit up, without to wink.", "To-morrow in the morning early\nyou call for me, and we come together to see our pretty miss, so much\nmore strong for my 'spell' which I have work.", "Ho!", "ho!\"", "He seemed so confident that I, remembering my own confidence two nights\nbefore and with the baneful result, felt awe and vague terror.", "It must\nhave been my weakness that made me hesitate to tell it to my friend, but\nI felt it all the more, like unshed tears." ]

[ "\n_12 September._--How good they all are to me.", "I quite love that dear Dr.\nVan Helsing.", "I wonder why he was so anxious about these flowers.", "He\npositively frightened me, he was so fierce.", "And yet he must have been\nright, for I feel comfort from them already.", "Somehow, I do not dread\nbeing alone to-night, and I can go to sleep without fear.", "I shall not\nmind any flapping outside the window.", "Oh, the terrible struggle that I\nhave had against sleep so often of late; the pain of the sleeplessness,\nor the pain of the fear of sleep, with such unknown horrors as it has\nfor me!", "How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no\ndreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings\nnothing but sweet dreams.", "Well, here I am to-night, hoping for sleep,\nand lying like Ophelia in the play, with \"virgin crants and maiden\nstrewments.\"", "I never liked garlic before, but to-night it is delightful!", "There is peace in its smell; I feel sleep coming already.", "Good-night,\neverybody.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_13 September._--Called at the Berkeley and found Van Helsing, as usual,\nup to time.", "The carriage ordered from the hotel was waiting.", "The\nProfessor took his bag, which he always brings with him now.", "Let all be put down exactly.", "Van Helsing and I arrived at Hillingham at\neight o'clock.", "It was a lovely morning; the bright sunshine and all the\nfresh feeling of early autumn seemed like the completion of nature's\nannual work.", "The leaves were turning to all kinds of beautiful colours,\nbut had not yet begun to drop from the trees.", "When we entered we met\nMrs. Westenra coming out of the morning room.", "She is always an early\nriser.", "She greeted us warmly and said:--\n\n\"You will be glad to know that Lucy is better.", "The dear child is still\nasleep.", "I looked into her room and saw her, but did not go in, lest I\nshould disturb her.\"", "The Professor smiled, and looked quite jubilant.", "He\nrubbed his hands together, and said:--\n\n\"Aha!", "I thought I had diagnosed the case.", "My treatment is working,\" to\nwhich she answered:--\n\n\"You must not take all the credit to yourself, doctor.", "Lucy's state this\nmorning is due in part to me.\"", "\"How you do mean, ma'am?\"", "asked the Professor.", "\"Well, I was anxious about the dear child in the night, and went into\nher room.", "She was sleeping soundly--so soundly that even my coming did\nnot wake her.", "But the room was awfully stuffy.", "There were a lot of those\nhorrible, strong-smelling flowers about everywhere, and she had actually\na bunch of them round her neck.", "I feared that the heavy odour would be\ntoo much for the dear child in her weak state, so I took them all away\nand opened a bit of the window to let in a little fresh air.", "You will be\npleased with her, I am sure.\"", "She moved off into her boudoir, where she usually breakfasted early.", "As\nshe had spoken, I watched the Professor's face, and saw it turn ashen\ngrey.", "He had been able to retain his self-command whilst the poor lady\nwas present, for he knew her state and how mischievous a shock would be;\nhe actually smiled on her as he held open the door for her to pass into\nher room.", "But the instant she had disappeared he pulled me, suddenly and\nforcibly, into the dining-room and closed the door.", "Then, for the first time in my life, I saw Van Helsing break down.", "He\nraised his hands over his head in a sort of mute despair, and then beat\nhis palms together in a helpless way; finally he sat down on a chair,\nand putting his hands before his face, began to sob, with loud, dry sobs\nthat seemed to come from the very racking of his heart.", "Then he raised\nhis arms again, as though appealing to the whole universe.", "\"God!", "God!", "God!\"", "he said.", "\"What have we done, what has this poor thing done, that\nwe are so sore beset?", "Is there fate amongst us still, sent down from the\npagan world of old, that such things must be, and in such way?", "This poor\nmother, all unknowing, and all for the best as she think, does such\nthing as lose her daughter body and soul; and we must not tell her, we\nmust not even warn her, or she die, and then both die.", "Oh, how we are\nbeset!", "How are all the powers of the devils against us!\"", "Suddenly he\njumped to his feet.", "\"Come,\" he said, \"come, we must see and act.", "Devils\nor no devils, or all the devils at once, it matters not; we fight him\nall the same.\"", "He went to the hall-door for his bag; and together we\nwent up to Lucy's room.", "Once again I drew up the blind, whilst Van Helsing went towards the bed.", "This time he did not start as he looked on the poor face with the same\nawful, waxen pallor as before.", "He wore a look of stern sadness and\ninfinite pity.", "\"As I expected,\" he murmured, with that hissing inspiration of his which\nmeant so much.", "Without a word he went and locked the door, and then\nbegan to set out on the little table the instruments for yet another\noperation of transfusion of blood.", "I had long ago recognised the\nnecessity, and begun to take off my coat, but he stopped me with a\nwarning hand.", "\"No!\"", "he said.", "\"To-day you must operate.", "I shall provide.", "You are weakened already.\"", "As he spoke he took off his coat and rolled\nup his shirt-sleeve.", "Again the operation; again the narcotic; again some return of colour to\nthe ashy cheeks, and the regular breathing of healthy sleep.", "This time I\nwatched whilst Van Helsing recruited himself and rested.", "Presently he took an opportunity of telling Mrs. Westenra that she must\nnot remove anything from Lucy's room without consulting him; that the\nflowers were of medicinal value, and that the breathing of their odour\nwas a part of the system of cure.", "Then he took over the care of the case\nhimself, saying that he would watch this night and the next and would\nsend me word when to come.", "After another hour Lucy waked from her sleep, fresh and bright and\nseemingly not much the worse for her terrible ordeal.", "What does it all mean?", "I am beginning to wonder if my long habit of life\namongst the insane is beginning to tell upon my own brain.", "_Lucy Westenra's Diary._\n\n_17 September._--Four days and nights of peace.", "I am getting so strong\nagain that I hardly know myself.", "It is as if I had passed through some\nlong nightmare, and had just awakened to see the beautiful sunshine and\nfeel the fresh air of the morning around me.", "I have a dim\nhalf-remembrance of long, anxious times of waiting and fearing; darkness\nin which there was not even the pain of hope to make present distress\nmore poignant: and then long spells of oblivion, and the rising back to\nlife as a diver coming up through a great press of water.", "Since,\nhowever, Dr. Van Helsing has been with me, all this bad dreaming seems\nto have passed away; the noises that used to frighten me out of my\nwits--the flapping against the windows, the distant voices which seemed\nso close to me, the harsh sounds that came from I know not where and\ncommanded me to do I know not what--have all ceased.", "I go to bed now\nwithout any fear of sleep.", "I do not even try to keep awake.", "I have grown\nquite fond of the garlic, and a boxful arrives for me every day from\nHaarlem.", "To-night Dr. Van Helsing is going away, as he has to be for a\nday in Amsterdam.", "But I need not be watched; I am well enough to be left\nalone.", "Thank God for mother's sake, and dear Arthur's, and for all our\nfriends who have been so kind!", "I shall not even feel the change, for\nlast night Dr. Van Helsing slept in his chair a lot of the time.", "I found\nhim asleep twice when I awoke; but I did not fear to go to sleep again,\nalthough the boughs or bats or something napped almost angrily against\nthe window-panes.", "_\"The Pall Mall Gazette,\" 18 September._\n\n THE ESCAPED WOLF.", "PERILOUS ADVENTURE OF OUR INTERVIEWER.", "_Interview with the Keeper in the Zooelogical Gardens._\n\nAfter many inquiries and almost as many refusals, and perpetually using\nthe words \"Pall Mall Gazette\" as a sort of talisman, I managed to find\nthe keeper of the section of the Zooelogical Gardens in which the wolf\ndepartment is included.", "Thomas Bilder lives in one of the cottages in\nthe enclosure behind the elephant-house, and was just sitting down to\nhis tea when I found him.", "Thomas and his wife are hospitable folk,\nelderly, and without children, and if the specimen I enjoyed of their\nhospitality be of the average kind, their lives must be pretty\ncomfortable.", "The keeper would not enter on what he called \"business\"\nuntil the supper was over, and we were all satisfied.", "Then when the\ntable was cleared, and he had lit his pipe, he said:--\n\n\"Now, sir, you can go on and arsk me what you want.", "You'll excoose me\nrefoosin' to talk of perfeshunal subjects afore meals.", "I gives the\nwolves and the jackals and the hyenas in all our section their tea afore\nI begins to arsk them questions.\"", "\"How do you mean, ask them questions?\"", "I queried, wishful to get him\ninto a talkative humour.", "\"'Ittin' of them over the 'ead with a pole is one way; scratchin' of\ntheir hears is another, when gents as is flush wants a bit of a show-orf\nto their gals.", "I don't so much mind the fust--the 'ittin' with a pole\nafore I chucks in their dinner; but I waits till they've 'ad their\nsherry and kawffee, so to speak, afore I tries on with the\near-scratchin'.", "Mind you,\" he added philosophically, \"there's a deal of\nthe same nature in us as in them theer animiles.", "Here's you a-comin' and\narskin' of me questions about my business, and I that grumpy-like that\nonly for your bloomin' 'arf-quid I'd 'a' seen you blowed fust 'fore I'd\nanswer.", "Not even when you arsked me sarcastic-like if I'd like you to\narsk the Superintendent if you might arsk me questions.", "Without offence\ndid I tell yer to go to 'ell?\"", "\"You did.\"", "\"An' when you said you'd report me for usin' of obscene language that\nwas 'ittin' me over the 'ead; but the 'arf-quid made that all right.", "I\nweren't a-goin' to fight, so I waited for the food, and did with my 'owl\nas the wolves, and lions, and tigers does.", "But, Lor' love yer 'art, now\nthat the old 'ooman has stuck a chunk of her tea-cake in me, an' rinsed\nme out with her bloomin' old teapot, and I've lit hup, you may scratch\nmy ears for all you're worth, and won't git even a growl out of me.", "Drive along with your questions.", "I know what yer a-comin' at, that 'ere\nescaped wolf.\"", "\"Exactly.", "I want you to give me your view of it.", "Just tell me how it\nhappened; and when I know the facts I'll get you to say what you\nconsider was the cause of it, and how you think the whole affair will\nend.\"", "\"All right, guv'nor.", "This 'ere is about the 'ole story.", "That 'ere wolf\nwhat we called Bersicker was one of three grey ones that came from\nNorway to Jamrach's, which we bought off him four years ago.", "He was a\nnice well-behaved wolf, that never gave no trouble to talk of.", "I'm more\nsurprised at 'im for wantin' to get out nor any other animile in the\nplace.", "But, there, you can't trust wolves no more nor women.\"", "\"Don't you mind him, sir!\"", "broke in Mrs. Tom, with a cheery laugh.", "\"'E's\ngot mindin' the animiles so long that blest if he ain't like a old wolf\n'isself!", "But there ain't no 'arm in 'im.\"", "\"Well, sir, it was about two hours after feedin' yesterday when I first\nhear my disturbance.", "I was makin' up a litter in the monkey-house for a\nyoung puma which is ill; but when I heard the yelpin' and 'owlin' I kem\naway straight.", "There was Bersicker a-tearin' like a mad thing at the\nbars as if he wanted to get out.", "There wasn't much people about that\nday, and close at hand was only one man, a tall, thin chap, with a 'ook\nnose and a pointed beard, with a few white hairs runnin' through it.", "He\nhad a 'ard, cold look and red eyes, and I took a sort of mislike to him,\nfor it seemed as if it was 'im as they was hirritated at.", "He 'ad white\nkid gloves on 'is 'ands, and he pointed out the animiles to me and says:\n'Keeper, these wolves seem upset at something.'", "\"'Maybe it's you,' says I, for I did not like the airs as he give\n'isself.", "He didn't git angry, as I 'oped he would, but he smiled a kind\nof insolent smile, with a mouth full of white, sharp teeth.", "'Oh no, they\nwouldn't like me,' 'e says.", "\"'Ow yes, they would,' says I, a-imitatin' of him.", "'They always likes a\nbone or two to clean their teeth on about tea-time, which you 'as a\nbagful.'", "\"Well, it was a odd thing, but when the animiles see us a-talkin' they\nlay down, and when I went over to Bersicker he let me stroke his ears\nsame as ever.", "That there man kem over, and blessed but if he didn't put\nin his hand and stroke the old wolf's ears too!", "\"'Tyke care,' says I.", "'Bersicker is quick.'", "\"'Never mind,' he says.", "'I'm used to 'em!'", "\"'Are you in the business yourself?'", "I says, tyking off my 'at, for a\nman what trades in wolves, anceterer, is a good friend to keepers.", "\"'No' says he, 'not exactly in the business, but I 'ave made pets of\nseveral.'", "And with that he lifts his 'at as perlite as a lord, and walks\naway.", "Old Bersicker kep' a-lookin' arter 'im till 'e was out of sight,\nand then went and lay down in a corner and wouldn't come hout the 'ole\nhevening.", "Well, larst night, so soon as the moon was hup, the wolves\nhere all began a-'owling.", "There warn't nothing for them to 'owl at.", "There warn't no one near, except some one that was evidently a-callin' a\ndog somewheres out back of the gardings in the Park road.", "Once or twice\nI went out to see that all was right, and it was, and then the 'owling\nstopped.", "Just before twelve o'clock I just took a look round afore\nturnin' in, an', bust me, but when I kem opposite to old Bersicker's\ncage I see the rails broken and twisted about and the cage empty.", "And\nthat's all I know for certing.\"", "\"Did any one else see anything?\"", "\"One of our gard'ners was a-comin' 'ome about that time from a 'armony,\nwhen he sees a big grey dog comin' out through the garding 'edges.", "At\nleast, so he says, but I don't give much for it myself, for if he did 'e\nnever said a word about it to his missis when 'e got 'ome, and it was\nonly after the escape of the wolf was made known, and we had been up all\nnight-a-huntin' of the Park for Bersicker, that he remembered seein'\nanything.", "My own belief was that the 'armony 'ad got into his 'ead.\"", "\"Now, Mr. Bilder, can you account in any way for the escape of the\nwolf?\"", "\"Well, sir,\" he said, with a suspicious sort of modesty, \"I think I can;\nbut I don't know as 'ow you'd be satisfied with the theory.\"", "\"Certainly I shall.", "If a man like you, who knows the animals from\nexperience, can't hazard a good guess at any rate, who is even to try?\"", "\"Well then, sir, I accounts for it this way; it seems to me that 'ere\nwolf escaped--simply because he wanted to get out.\"", "From the hearty way that both Thomas and his wife laughed at the joke I\ncould see that it had done service before, and that the whole\nexplanation was simply an elaborate sell.", "I couldn't cope in badinage\nwith the worthy Thomas, but I thought I knew a surer way to his heart,\nso I said:--\n\n\"Now, Mr. Bilder, we'll consider that first half-sovereign worked off,\nand this brother of his is waiting to be claimed when you've told me\nwhat you think will happen.\"", "\"Right y'are, sir,\" he said briskly.", "\"Ye'll excoose me, I know, for\na-chaffin' of ye, but the old woman here winked at me, which was as much\nas telling me to go on.\"", "\"Well, I never!\"", "said the old lady.", "\"My opinion is this: that 'ere wolf is a-'idin' of, somewheres.", "The\ngard'ner wot didn't remember said he was a-gallopin' northward faster\nthan a horse could go; but I don't believe him, for, yer see, sir,\nwolves don't gallop no more nor dogs does, they not bein' built that\nway.", "Wolves is fine things in a storybook, and I dessay when they gets\nin packs and does be chivyin' somethin' that's more afeared than they is\nthey can make a devil of a noise and chop it up, whatever it is.", "But,\nLor' bless you, in real life a wolf is only a low creature, not half so\nclever or bold as a good dog; and not half a quarter so much fight in\n'im.", "This one ain't been used to fightin' or even to providin' for\nhisself, and more like he's somewhere round the Park a-'idin' an'\na-shiverin' of, and, if he thinks at all, wonderin' where he is to get\nhis breakfast from; or maybe he's got down some area and is in a\ncoal-cellar.", "My eye, won't some cook get a rum start when she sees his\ngreen eyes a-shining at her out of the dark!", "If he can't get food he's\nbound to look for it, and mayhap he may chance to light on a butcher's\nshop in time.", "If he doesn't, and some nursemaid goes a-walkin' orf with\na soldier, leavin' of the hinfant in the perambulator--well, then I\nshouldn't be surprised if the census is one babby the less.", "That's\nall.\"", "I was handing him the half-sovereign, when something came bobbing up\nagainst the window, and Mr. Bilder's face doubled its natural length\nwith surprise.", "\"God bless me!\"", "he said.", "\"If there ain't old Bersicker come back by\n'isself!\"", "He went to the door and opened it; a most unnecessary proceeding it\nseemed to me.", "I have always thought that a wild animal never looks so\nwell as when some obstacle of pronounced durability is between us; a\npersonal experience has intensified rather than diminished that idea.", "After all, however, there is nothing like custom, for neither Bilder nor\nhis wife thought any more of the wolf than I should of a dog.", "The animal\nitself was as peaceful and well-behaved as that father of all\npicture-wolves--Red Riding Hood's quondam friend, whilst moving her\nconfidence in masquerade.", "The whole scene was an unutterable mixture of comedy and pathos.", "The\nwicked wolf that for half a day had paralysed London and set all the\nchildren in the town shivering in their shoes, was there in a sort of\npenitent mood, and was received and petted like a sort of vulpine\nprodigal son.", "Old Bilder examined him all over with most tender\nsolicitude, and when he had finished with his penitent said:--\n\n\"There, I knew the poor old chap would get into some kind of trouble;\ndidn't I say it all along?", "Here's his head all cut and full of broken\nglass.", "'E's been a-gettin' over some bloomin' wall or other.", "It's a\nshyme that people are allowed to top their walls with broken bottles.", "This 'ere's what comes of it.", "Come along, Bersicker.\"", "He took the wolf and locked him up in a cage, with a piece of meat that\nsatisfied, in quantity at any rate, the elementary conditions of the\nfatted calf, and went off to report.", "I came off, too, to report the only exclusive information that is given\nto-day regarding the strange escapade at the Zoo.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_17 September._--I was engaged after dinner in my study posting up my\nbooks, which, through press of other work and the many visits to Lucy,\nhad fallen sadly into arrear.", "Suddenly the door was burst open, and in\nrushed my patient, with his face distorted with passion.", "I was\nthunderstruck, for such a thing as a patient getting of his own accord\ninto the Superintendent's study is almost unknown.", "Without an instant's\npause he made straight at me.", "He had a dinner-knife in his hand, and,\nas I saw he was dangerous, I tried to keep the table between us.", "He was\ntoo quick and too strong for me, however; for before I could get my\nbalance he had struck at me and cut my left wrist rather severely.", "Before he could strike again, however, I got in my right and he was\nsprawling on his back on the floor.", "My wrist bled freely, and quite a\nlittle pool trickled on to the carpet.", "I saw that my friend was not\nintent on further effort, and occupied myself binding up my wrist,\nkeeping a wary eye on the prostrate figure all the time.", "When the\nattendants rushed in, and we turned our attention to him, his employment\npositively sickened me.", "He was lying on his belly on the floor licking\nup, like a dog, the blood which had fallen from my wounded wrist.", "He was\neasily secured, and, to my surprise, went with the attendants quite\nplacidly, simply repeating over and over again: \"The blood is the life!", "The blood is the life!\"", "I cannot afford to lose blood just at present; I have lost too much of\nlate for my physical good, and then the prolonged strain of Lucy's\nillness and its horrible phases is telling on me.", "I am over-excited and\nweary, and I need rest, rest, rest.", "Happily Van Helsing has not summoned\nme, so I need not forego my sleep; to-night I could not well do without\nit.", "_Telegram, Van Helsing, Antwerp, to Seward, Carfax._\n\n(Sent to Carfax, Sussex, as no county given; delivered late by\ntwenty-two hours.)", "\"_17 September._--Do not fail to be at Hillingham to-night.", "If not\nwatching all the time frequently, visit and see that flowers are as\nplaced; very important; do not fail.", "Shall be with you as soon as\npossible after arrival.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_18 September._--Just off for train to London.", "The arrival of Van\nHelsing's telegram filled me with dismay.", "A whole night lost, and I know\nby bitter experience what may happen in a night.", "Of course it is\npossible that all may be well, but what _may_ have happened?", "Surely\nthere is some horrible doom hanging over us that every possible accident\nshould thwart us in all we try to do.", "I shall take this cylinder with\nme, and then I can complete my entry on Lucy's phonograph.", "_Memorandum left by Lucy Westenra._\n\n_17 September.", "Night._--I write this and leave it to be seen, so that no\none may by any chance get into trouble through me.", "This is an exact\nrecord of what took place to-night.", "I feel I am dying of weakness, and\nhave barely strength to write, but it must be done if I die in the\ndoing.", "I went to bed as usual, taking care that the flowers were placed as Dr.\nVan Helsing directed, and soon fell asleep.", "I was waked by the flapping at the window, which had begun after that\nsleep-walking on the cliff at Whitby when Mina saved me, and which now I\nknow so well.", "I was not afraid, but I did wish that Dr. Seward was in\nthe next room--as Dr. Van Helsing said he would be--so that I might have\ncalled him.", "I tried to go to sleep, but could not.", "Then there came to me\nthe old fear of sleep, and I determined to keep awake.", "Perversely sleep\nwould try to come then when I did not want it; so, as I feared to be\nalone, I opened my door and called out: \"Is there anybody there?\"", "There\nwas no answer.", "I was afraid to wake mother, and so closed my door again.", "Then outside in the shrubbery I heard a sort of howl like a dog's, but\nmore fierce and deeper.", "I went to the window and looked out, but could\nsee nothing, except a big bat, which had evidently been buffeting its\nwings against the window.", "So I went back to bed again, but determined\nnot to go to sleep.", "Presently the door opened, and mother looked in;\nseeing by my moving that I was not asleep, came in, and sat by me.", "She\nsaid to me even more sweetly and softly than her wont:--\n\n\"I was uneasy about you, darling, and came in to see that you were all\nright.\"", "I feared she might catch cold sitting there, and asked her to come in\nand sleep with me, so she came into bed, and lay down beside me; she did\nnot take off her dressing gown, for she said she would only stay a while\nand then go back to her own bed.", "As she lay there in my arms, and I in\nhers, the flapping and buffeting came to the window again.", "She was\nstartled and a little frightened, and cried out: \"What is that?\"", "I tried\nto pacify her, and at last succeeded, and she lay quiet; but I could\nhear her poor dear heart still beating terribly.", "After a while there was\nthe low howl again out in the shrubbery, and shortly after there was a\ncrash at the window, and a lot of broken glass was hurled on the floor.", "The window blind blew back with the wind that rushed in, and in the\naperture of the broken panes there was the head of a great, gaunt grey\nwolf.", "Mother cried out in a fright, and struggled up into a sitting\nposture, and clutched wildly at anything that would help her.", "Amongst\nother things, she clutched the wreath of flowers that Dr. Van Helsing\ninsisted on my wearing round my neck, and tore it away from me.", "For a\nsecond or two she sat up, pointing at the wolf, and there was a strange\nand horrible gurgling in her throat; then she fell over--as if struck\nwith lightning, and her head hit my forehead and made me dizzy for a\nmoment or two.", "The room and all round seemed to spin round.", "I kept my\neyes fixed on the window, but the wolf drew his head back, and a whole\nmyriad of little specks seemed to come blowing in through the broken\nwindow, and wheeling and circling round like the pillar of dust that\ntravellers describe when there is a simoon in the desert.", "I tried to\nstir, but there was some spell upon me, and dear mother's poor body,\nwhich seemed to grow cold already--for her dear heart had ceased to\nbeat--weighed me down; and I remembered no more for a while.", "The time did not seem long, but very, very awful, till I recovered\nconsciousness again.", "Somewhere near, a passing bell was tolling; the\ndogs all round the neighbourhood were howling; and in our shrubbery,\nseemingly just outside, a nightingale was singing.", "I was dazed and\nstupid with pain and terror and weakness, but the sound of the\nnightingale seemed like the voice of my dead mother come back to comfort\nme.", "The sounds seemed to have awakened the maids, too, for I could hear\ntheir bare feet pattering outside my door.", "I called to them, and they\ncame in, and when they saw what had happened, and what it was that lay\nover me on the bed, they screamed out.", "The wind rushed in through the\nbroken window, and the door slammed to.", "They lifted off the body of my\ndear mother, and laid her, covered up with a sheet, on the bed after I\nhad got up.", "They were all so frightened and nervous that I directed them\nto go to the dining-room and have each a glass of wine.", "The door flew\nopen for an instant and closed again.", "The maids shrieked, and then went\nin a body to the dining-room; and I laid what flowers I had on my dear\nmother's breast.", "When they were there I remembered what Dr. Van Helsing\nhad told me, but I didn't like to remove them, and, besides, I would\nhave some of the servants to sit up with me now.", "I was surprised that\nthe maids did not come back.", "I called them, but got no answer, so I went\nto the dining-room to look for them.", "My heart sank when I saw what had happened.", "They all four lay helpless\non the floor, breathing heavily.", "The decanter of sherry was on the table\nhalf full, but there was a queer, acrid smell about.", "I was suspicious,\nand examined the decanter.", "It smelt of laudanum, and looking on the\nsideboard, I found that the bottle which mother's doctor uses for\nher--oh!", "did use--was empty.", "What am I to do?", "what am I to do?", "I am back\nin the room with mother.", "I cannot leave her, and I am alone, save for\nthe sleeping servants, whom some one has drugged.", "Alone with the dead!", "I\ndare not go out, for I can hear the low howl of the wolf through the\nbroken window.", "The air seems full of specks, floating and circling in the draught from\nthe window, and the lights burn blue and dim.", "What am I to do?", "God\nshield me from harm this night!", "I shall hide this paper in my breast,\nwhere they shall find it when they come to lay me out.", "My dear mother\ngone!", "It is time that I go too.", "Good-bye, dear Arthur, if I should not\nsurvive this night.", "God keep you, dear, and God help me!" ]

[ "Well, here I am to-night, hoping for sleep,\nand lying like Ophelia in the play, with \"virgin crants and maiden\nstrewments.\"", "The Professor smiled, and looked quite jubilant.", "But the room was awfully stuffy.", "He had been able to retain his self-command whilst the poor lady\nwas present, for he knew her state and how mischievous a shock would be;\nhe actually smiled on her as he held open the door for her to pass into\nher room.", "\"Exactly.", "There was Bersicker a-tearin' like a mad thing at the\nbars as if he wanted to get out.", "I was handing him the half-sovereign, when something came bobbing up\nagainst the window, and Mr. Bilder's face doubled its natural length\nwith surprise.", "\"_17 September._--Do not fail to be at Hillingham to-night.", "Presently the door opened, and mother looked in;\nseeing by my moving that I was not asleep, came in, and sat by me.", "I cannot leave her, and I am alone, save for\nthe sleeping servants, whom some one has drugged." ]

[ "The leaves were turning to all kinds of beautiful colours,\nbut had not yet begun to drop from the trees.", "I was surprised that\nthe maids did not come back.", "I don't so much mind the fust--the 'ittin' with a pole\nafore I chucks in their dinner; but I waits till they've 'ad their\nsherry and kawffee, so to speak, afore I tries on with the\near-scratchin'.", "The dear child is still\nasleep.", "I go to bed now\nwithout any fear of sleep.", "Since,\nhowever, Dr. Van Helsing has been with me, all this bad dreaming seems\nto have passed away; the noises that used to frighten me out of my\nwits--the flapping against the windows, the distant voices which seemed\nso close to me, the harsh sounds that came from I know not where and\ncommanded me to do I know not what--have all ceased.", "Not even when you arsked me sarcastic-like if I'd like you to\narsk the Superintendent if you might arsk me questions.", "_Memorandum left by Lucy Westenra._\n\n_17 September.", "I tried\nto pacify her, and at last succeeded, and she lay quiet; but I could\nhear her poor dear heart still beating terribly.", "He was\neasily secured, and, to my surprise, went with the attendants quite\nplacidly, simply repeating over and over again: \"The blood is the life!" ]

[ "\"Well, it was a odd thing, but when the animiles see us a-talkin' they\nlay down, and when I went over to Bersicker he let me stroke his ears\nsame as ever.", "That there man kem over, and blessed but if he didn't put\nin his hand and stroke the old wolf's ears too!", "\"'Tyke care,' says I.", "'Bersicker is quick.'", "\"'Never mind,' he says.", "'I'm used to 'em!'", "\"'Are you in the business yourself?'", "I says, tyking off my 'at, for a\nman what trades in wolves, anceterer, is a good friend to keepers.", "\"'No' says he, 'not exactly in the business, but I 'ave made pets of\nseveral.'", "And with that he lifts his 'at as perlite as a lord, and walks\naway.", "Old Bersicker kep' a-lookin' arter 'im till 'e was out of sight,\nand then went and lay down in a corner and wouldn't come hout the 'ole\nhevening." ]

[ "\n_12 September._--How good they all are to me.", "I quite love that dear Dr.\nVan Helsing.", "I wonder why he was so anxious about these flowers.", "He\npositively frightened me, he was so fierce.", "And yet he must have been\nright, for I feel comfort from them already.", "Somehow, I do not dread\nbeing alone to-night, and I can go to sleep without fear.", "I shall not\nmind any flapping outside the window.", "Oh, the terrible struggle that I\nhave had against sleep so often of late; the pain of the sleeplessness,\nor the pain of the fear of sleep, with such unknown horrors as it has\nfor me!", "How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no\ndreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings\nnothing but sweet dreams.", "Well, here I am to-night, hoping for sleep,\nand lying like Ophelia in the play, with \"virgin crants and maiden\nstrewments.\"", "Alone with the dead!", "I\ndare not go out, for I can hear the low howl of the wolf through the\nbroken window.", "The air seems full of specks, floating and circling in the draught from\nthe window, and the lights burn blue and dim.", "What am I to do?", "God\nshield me from harm this night!", "I shall hide this paper in my breast,\nwhere they shall find it when they come to lay me out.", "My dear mother\ngone!", "It is time that I go too.", "Good-bye, dear Arthur, if I should not\nsurvive this night.", "God keep you, dear, and God help me!" ]

[ "\n_18 September._--I drove at once to Hillingham and arrived early.", "Keeping my cab at the gate, I went up the avenue alone.", "I knocked gently\nand rang as quietly as possible, for I feared to disturb Lucy or her\nmother, and hoped to only bring a servant to the door.", "After a while,\nfinding no response, I knocked and rang again; still no answer.", "I cursed\nthe laziness of the servants that they should lie abed at such an\nhour--for it was now ten o'clock--and so rang and knocked again, but\nmore impatiently, but still without response.", "Hitherto I had blamed only\nthe servants, but now a terrible fear began to assail me.", "Was this\ndesolation but another link in the chain of doom which seemed drawing\ntight around us?", "Was it indeed a house of death to which I had come, too\nlate?", "I knew that minutes, even seconds of delay, might mean hours of\ndanger to Lucy, if she had had again one of those frightful relapses;\nand I went round the house to try if I could find by chance an entry\nanywhere.", "I could find no means of ingress.", "Every window and door was fastened and\nlocked, and I returned baffled to the porch.", "As I did so, I heard the\nrapid pit-pat of a swiftly driven horse's feet.", "They stopped at the\ngate, and a few seconds later I met Van Helsing running up the avenue.", "When he saw me, he gasped out:--\n\n\"Then it was you, and just arrived.", "How is she?", "Are we too late?", "Did you\nnot get my telegram?\"", "I answered as quickly and coherently as I could that I had only got his\ntelegram early in the morning, and had not lost a minute in coming here,\nand that I could not make any one in the house hear me.", "He paused and\nraised his hat as he said solemnly:--\n\n\"Then I fear we are too late.", "God's will be done!\"", "With his usual\nrecuperative energy, he went on: \"Come.", "If there be no way open to get\nin, we must make one.", "Time is all in all to us now.\"", "We went round to the back of the house, where there was a kitchen\nwindow.", "The Professor took a small surgical saw from his case, and\nhanding it to me, pointed to the iron bars which guarded the window.", "I\nattacked them at once and had very soon cut through three of them.", "Then\nwith a long, thin knife we pushed back the fastening of the sashes and\nopened the window.", "I helped the Professor in, and followed him.", "There\nwas no one in the kitchen or in the servants' rooms, which were close at\nhand.", "We tried all the rooms as we went along, and in the dining-room,\ndimly lit by rays of light through the shutters, found four\nservant-women lying on the floor.", "There was no need to think them dead,\nfor their stertorous breathing and the acrid smell of laudanum in the\nroom left no doubt as to their condition.", "Van Helsing and I looked at\neach other, and as we moved away he said: \"We can attend to them later.\"", "Then we ascended to Lucy's room.", "For an instant or two we paused at the\ndoor to listen, but there was no sound that we could hear.", "With white\nfaces and trembling hands, we opened the door gently, and entered the\nroom.", "How shall I describe what we saw?", "On the bed lay two women, Lucy and her\nmother.", "The latter lay farthest in, and she was covered with a white\nsheet, the edge of which had been blown back by the draught through the\nbroken window, showing the drawn, white face, with a look of terror\nfixed upon it.", "By her side lay Lucy, with face white and still more\ndrawn.", "The flowers which had been round her neck we found upon her\nmother's bosom, and her throat was bare, showing the two little wounds\nwhich we had noticed before, but looking horribly white and mangled.", "Without a word the Professor bent over the bed, his head almost touching\npoor Lucy's breast; then he gave a quick turn of his head, as of one who\nlistens, and leaping to his feet, he cried out to me:--\n\n\"It is not yet too late!", "Quick!", "quick!", "Bring the brandy!\"", "I flew downstairs and returned with it, taking care to smell and taste\nit, lest it, too, were drugged like the decanter of sherry which I found\non the table.", "The maids were still breathing, but more restlessly, and I\nfancied that the narcotic was wearing off.", "I did not stay to make sure,\nbut returned to Van Helsing.", "He rubbed the brandy, as on another\noccasion, on her lips and gums and on her wrists and the palms of her\nhands.", "He said to me:--\n\n\"I can do this, all that can be at the present.", "You go wake those maids.", "Flick them in the face with a wet towel, and flick them hard.", "Make them\nget heat and fire and a warm bath.", "This poor soul is nearly as cold as\nthat beside her.", "She will need be heated before we can do anything\nmore.\"", "I went at once, and found little difficulty in waking three of the\nwomen.", "The fourth was only a young girl, and the drug had evidently\naffected her more strongly, so I lifted her on the sofa and let her\nsleep.", "The others were dazed at first, but as remembrance came back to\nthem they cried and sobbed in a hysterical manner.", "I was stern with\nthem, however, and would not let them talk.", "I told them that one life\nwas bad enough to lose, and that if they delayed they would sacrifice\nMiss Lucy.", "So, sobbing and crying, they went about their way, half clad\nas they were, and prepared fire and water.", "Fortunately, the kitchen and\nboiler fires were still alive, and there was no lack of hot water.", "We\ngot a bath and carried Lucy out as she was and placed her in it.", "Whilst\nwe were busy chafing her limbs there was a knock at the hall door.", "One\nof the maids ran off, hurried on some more clothes, and opened it.", "Then\nshe returned and whispered to us that there was a gentleman who had come\nwith a message from Mr. Holmwood.", "I bade her simply tell him that he\nmust wait, for we could see no one now.", "She went away with the message,\nand, engrossed with our work, I clean forgot all about him.", "I never saw in all my experience the Professor work in such deadly\nearnest.", "I knew--as he knew--that it was a stand-up fight with death,\nand in a pause told him so.", "He answered me in a way that I did not\nunderstand, but with the sternest look that his face could wear:--\n\n\"If that were all, I would stop here where we are now, and let her fade\naway into peace, for I see no light in life over her horizon.\"", "He went\non with his work with, if possible, renewed and more frenzied vigour.", "Presently we both began to be conscious that the heat was beginning to\nbe of some effect.", "Lucy's heart beat a trifle more audibly to the\nstethoscope, and her lungs had a perceptible movement.", "Van Helsing's\nface almost beamed, and as we lifted her from the bath and rolled her in\na hot sheet to dry her he said to me:--\n\n\"The first gain is ours!", "Check to the King!\"", "We took Lucy into another room, which had by now been prepared, and laid\nher in bed and forced a few drops of brandy down her throat.", "I noticed\nthat Van Helsing tied a soft silk handkerchief round her throat.", "She was\nstill unconscious, and was quite as bad as, if not worse than, we had\never seen her.", "Van Helsing called in one of the women, and told her to stay with her\nand not to take her eyes off her till we returned, and then beckoned me\nout of the room.", "\"We must consult as to what is to be done,\" he said as we descended the\nstairs.", "In the hall he opened the dining-room door, and we passed in, he\nclosing the door carefully behind him.", "The shutters had been opened, but\nthe blinds were already down, with that obedience to the etiquette of\ndeath which the British woman of the lower classes always rigidly\nobserves.", "The room was, therefore, dimly dark.", "It was, however, light\nenough for our purposes.", "Van Helsing's sternness was somewhat relieved\nby a look of perplexity.", "He was evidently torturing his mind about\nsomething, so I waited for an instant, and he spoke:--\n\n\"What are we to do now?", "Where are we to turn for help?", "We must have\nanother transfusion of blood, and that soon, or that poor girl's life\nwon't be worth an hour's purchase.", "You are exhausted already; I am\nexhausted too.", "I fear to trust those women, even if they would have\ncourage to submit.", "What are we to do for some one who will open his\nveins for her?\"", "\"What's the matter with me, anyhow?\"", "The voice came from the sofa across the room, and its tones brought\nrelief and joy to my heart, for they were those of Quincey Morris.", "Van\nHelsing started angrily at the first sound, but his face softened and a\nglad look came into his eyes as I cried out: \"Quincey Morris!\"", "and\nrushed towards him with outstretched hands.", "\"What brought you here?\"", "I cried as our hands met.", "\"I guess Art is the cause.\"", "He handed me a telegram:--\n\n\"Have not heard from Seward for three days, and am terribly anxious.", "Cannot leave.", "Father still in same condition.", "Send me word how Lucy is.", "Do not delay.--HOLMWOOD.\"", "\"I think I came just in the nick of time.", "You know you have only to tell\nme what to do.\"", "Van Helsing strode forward, and took his hand, looking him straight in\nthe eyes as he said:--\n\n\"A brave man's blood is the best thing on this earth when a woman is in\ntrouble.", "You're a man and no mistake.", "Well, the devil may work against\nus for all he's worth, but God sends us men when we want them.\"", "Once again we went through that ghastly operation.", "I have not the heart\nto go through with the details.", "Lucy had got a terrible shock and it\ntold on her more than before, for though plenty of blood went into her\nveins, her body did not respond to the treatment as well as on the other\noccasions.", "Her struggle back into life was something frightful to see\nand hear.", "However, the action of both heart and lungs improved, and Van\nHelsing made a subcutaneous injection of morphia, as before, and with\ngood effect.", "Her faint became a profound slumber.", "The Professor watched\nwhilst I went downstairs with Quincey Morris, and sent one of the maids\nto pay off one of the cabmen who were waiting.", "I left Quincey lying down\nafter having a glass of wine, and told the cook to get ready a good\nbreakfast.", "Then a thought struck me, and I went back to the room where\nLucy now was.", "When I came softly in, I found Van Helsing with a sheet or\ntwo of note-paper in his hand.", "He had evidently read it, and was\nthinking it over as he sat with his hand to his brow.", "There was a look\nof grim satisfaction in his face, as of one who has had a doubt solved.", "He handed me the paper saying only: \"It dropped from Lucy's breast when\nwe carried her to the bath.\"", "When I had read it, I stood looking at the Professor, and after a pause\nasked him: \"In God's name, what does it all mean?", "Was she, or is she,\nmad; or what sort of horrible danger is it?\"", "I was so bewildered that I\ndid not know what to say more.", "Van Helsing put out his hand and took the\npaper, saying:--\n\n\"Do not trouble about it now.", "Forget it for the present.", "You shall know\nand understand it all in good time; but it will be later.", "And now what\nis it that you came to me to say?\"", "This brought me back to fact, and I\nwas all myself again.", "\"I came to speak about the certificate of death.", "If we do not act\nproperly and wisely, there may be an inquest, and that paper would have\nto be produced.", "I am in hopes that we need have no inquest, for if we\nhad it would surely kill poor Lucy, if nothing else did.", "I know, and you\nknow, and the other doctor who attended her knows, that Mrs. Westenra\nhad disease of the heart, and we can certify that she died of it.", "Let us\nfill up the certificate at once, and I shall take it myself to the\nregistrar and go on to the undertaker.\"", "\"Good, oh my friend John!", "Well thought of!", "Truly Miss Lucy, if she be\nsad in the foes that beset her, is at least happy in the friends that\nlove her.", "One, two, three, all open their veins for her, besides one old\nman.", "Ah yes, I know, friend John; I am not blind!", "I love you all the\nmore for it!", "Now go.\"", "In the hall I met Quincey Morris, with a telegram for Arthur telling him\nthat Mrs. Westenra was dead; that Lucy also had been ill, but was now\ngoing on better; and that Van Helsing and I were with her.", "I told him\nwhere I was going, and he hurried me out, but as I was going said:--\n\n\"When you come back, Jack, may I have two words with you all to\nourselves?\"", "I nodded in reply and went out.", "I found no difficulty about\nthe registration, and arranged with the local undertaker to come up in\nthe evening to measure for the coffin and to make arrangements.", "When I got back Quincey was waiting for me.", "I told him I would see him\nas soon as I knew about Lucy, and went up to her room.", "She was still\nsleeping, and the Professor seemingly had not moved from his seat at her\nside.", "From his putting his finger to his lips, I gathered that he\nexpected her to wake before long and was afraid of forestalling nature.", "So I went down to Quincey and took him into the breakfast-room, where\nthe blinds were not drawn down, and which was a little more cheerful, or\nrather less cheerless, than the other rooms.", "When we were alone, he said\nto me:--\n\n\"Jack Seward, I don't want to shove myself in anywhere where I've no\nright to be; but this is no ordinary case.", "You know I loved that girl\nand wanted to marry her; but, although that's all past and gone, I can't\nhelp feeling anxious about her all the same.", "What is it that's wrong\nwith her?", "The Dutchman--and a fine old fellow he is; I can see\nthat--said, that time you two came into the room, that you must have\n_another_ transfusion of blood, and that both you and he were exhausted.", "Now I know well that you medical men speak _in camera_, and that a man\nmust not expect to know what they consult about in private.", "But this is\nno common matter, and, whatever it is, I have done my part.", "Is not that\nso?\"", "\"That's so,\" I said, and he went on:--\n\n\"I take it that both you and Van Helsing had done already what I did\nto-day.", "Is not that so?\"", "\"That's so.\"", "\"And I guess Art was in it too.", "When I saw him four days ago down at his\nown place he looked queer.", "I have not seen anything pulled down so quick\nsince I was on the Pampas and had a mare that I was fond of go to grass\nall in a night.", "One of those big bats that they call vampires had got at\nher in the night, and what with his gorge and the vein left open, there\nwasn't enough blood in her to let her stand up, and I had to put a\nbullet through her as she lay.", "Jack, if you may tell me without\nbetraying confidence, Arthur was the first, is not that so?\"", "As he spoke\nthe poor fellow looked terribly anxious.", "He was in a torture of suspense\nregarding the woman he loved, and his utter ignorance of the terrible\nmystery which seemed to surround her intensified his pain.", "His very\nheart was bleeding, and it took all the manhood of him--and there was a\nroyal lot of it, too--to keep him from breaking down.", "I paused before\nanswering, for I felt that I must not betray anything which the\nProfessor wished kept secret; but already he knew so much, and guessed\nso much, that there could be no reason for not answering, so I answered\nin the same phrase: \"That's so.\"", "\"And how long has this been going on?\"", "\"About ten days.\"", "\"Ten days!", "Then I guess, Jack Seward, that that poor pretty creature\nthat we all love has had put into her veins within that time the blood\nof four strong men.", "Man alive, her whole body wouldn't hold it.\"", "Then,\ncoming close to me, he spoke in a fierce half-whisper: \"What took it\nout?\"", "I shook my head.", "\"That,\" I said, \"is the crux.", "Van Helsing is simply\nfrantic about it, and I am at my wits' end.", "I can't even hazard a guess.", "There has been a series of little circumstances which have thrown out\nall our calculations as to Lucy being properly watched.", "But these shall\nnot occur again.", "Here we stay until all be well--or ill.\" Quincey held\nout his hand.", "\"Count me in,\" he said.", "\"You and the Dutchman will tell me\nwhat to do, and I'll do it.\"", "When she woke late in the afternoon, Lucy's first movement was to feel\nin her breast, and, to my surprise, produced the paper which Van Helsing\nhad given me to read.", "The careful Professor had replaced it where it had\ncome from, lest on waking she should be alarmed.", "Her eye then lit on Van\nHelsing and on me too, and gladdened.", "Then she looked around the room,\nand seeing where she was, shuddered; she gave a loud cry, and put her\npoor thin hands before her pale face.", "We both understood what that\nmeant--that she had realised to the full her mother's death; so we tried\nwhat we could to comfort her.", "Doubtless sympathy eased her somewhat, but\nshe was very low in thought and spirit, and wept silently and weakly for\na long time.", "We told her that either or both of us would now remain with\nher all the time, and that seemed to comfort her.", "Towards dusk she fell\ninto a doze.", "Here a very odd thing occurred.", "Whilst still asleep she\ntook the paper from her breast and tore it in two.", "Van Helsing stepped\nover and took the pieces from her.", "All the same, however, she went on\nwith the action of tearing, as though the material were still in her\nhands; finally she lifted her hands and opened them as though scattering\nthe fragments.", "Van Helsing seemed surprised, and his brows gathered as\nif in thought, but he said nothing.", "* * * * *\n\n_19 September._--All last night she slept fitfully, being always afraid\nto sleep, and something weaker when she woke from it.", "The Professor and\nI took it in turns to watch, and we never left her for a moment\nunattended.", "Quincey Morris said nothing about his intention, but I knew\nthat all night long he patrolled round and round the house.", "When the day came, its searching light showed the ravages in poor Lucy's\nstrength.", "She was hardly able to turn her head, and the little\nnourishment which she could take seemed to do her no good.", "At times she\nslept, and both Van Helsing and I noticed the difference in her, between\nsleeping and waking.", "Whilst asleep she looked stronger, although more\nhaggard, and her breathing was softer; her open mouth showed the pale\ngums drawn back from the teeth, which thus looked positively longer and\nsharper than usual; when she woke the softness of her eyes evidently\nchanged the expression, for she looked her own self, although a dying\none.", "In the afternoon she asked for Arthur, and we telegraphed for him.", "Quincey went off to meet him at the station.", "When he arrived it was nearly six o'clock, and the sun was setting full\nand warm, and the red light streamed in through the window and gave more\ncolour to the pale cheeks.", "When he saw her, Arthur was simply choking\nwith emotion, and none of us could speak.", "In the hours that had passed,\nthe fits of sleep, or the comatose condition that passed for it, had\ngrown more frequent, so that the pauses when conversation was possible\nwere shortened.", "Arthur's presence, however, seemed to act as a\nstimulant; she rallied a little, and spoke to him more brightly than she\nhad done since we arrived.", "He too pulled himself together, and spoke as\ncheerily as he could, so that the best was made of everything.", "It was now nearly one o'clock, and he and Van Helsing are sitting with\nher.", "I am to relieve them in a quarter of an hour, and I am entering\nthis on Lucy's phonograph.", "Until six o'clock they are to try to rest.", "I\nfear that to-morrow will end our watching, for the shock has been too\ngreat; the poor child cannot rally.", "God help us all.", "_Letter, Mina Harker to Lucy Westenra._\n\n(Unopened by her.)", "\"_17 September._\n\n\"My dearest Lucy,--\n\n\"It seems _an age_ since I heard from you, or indeed since I wrote.", "You\nwill pardon me, I know, for all my faults when you have read all my\nbudget of news.", "Well, I got my husband back all right; when we arrived\nat Exeter there was a carriage waiting for us, and in it, though he had\nan attack of gout, Mr. Hawkins.", "He took us to his house, where there\nwere rooms for us all nice and comfortable, and we dined together.", "After\ndinner Mr. Hawkins said:--\n\n\"'My dears, I want to drink your health and prosperity; and may every\nblessing attend you both.", "I know you both from children, and have, with\nlove and pride, seen you grow up.", "Now I want you to make your home here\nwith me.", "I have left to me neither chick nor child; all are gone, and in\nmy will I have left you everything.'", "I cried, Lucy dear, as Jonathan and\nthe old man clasped hands.", "Our evening was a very, very happy one.", "\"So here we are, installed in this beautiful old house, and from both my\nbedroom and the drawing-room I can see the great elms of the cathedral\nclose, with their great black stems standing out against the old yellow\nstone of the cathedral and I can hear the rooks overhead cawing and\ncawing and chattering and gossiping all day, after the manner of\nrooks--and humans.", "I am busy, I need not tell you, arranging things and\nhousekeeping.", "Jonathan and Mr. Hawkins are busy all day; for, now that\nJonathan is a partner, Mr. Hawkins wants to tell him all about the\nclients.", "\"How is your dear mother getting on?", "I wish I could run up to town for a\nday or two to see you, dear, but I dare not go yet, with so much on my\nshoulders; and Jonathan wants looking after still.", "He is beginning to\nput some flesh on his bones again, but he was terribly weakened by the\nlong illness; even now he sometimes starts out of his sleep in a sudden\nway and awakes all trembling until I can coax him back to his usual\nplacidity.", "However, thank God, these occasions grow less frequent as the\ndays go on, and they will in time pass away altogether, I trust.", "And now\nI have told you my news, let me ask yours.", "When are you to be married,\nand where, and who is to perform the ceremony, and what are you to wear,\nand is it to be a public or a private wedding?", "Tell me all about it,\ndear; tell me all about everything, for there is nothing which interests\nyou which will not be dear to me.", "Jonathan asks me to send his\n'respectful duty,' but I do not think that is good enough from the\njunior partner of the important firm Hawkins & Harker; and so, as you\nlove me, and he loves me, and I love you with all the moods and tenses\nof the verb, I send you simply his 'love' instead.", "Good-bye, my dearest\nLucy, and all blessings on you.", "\"Yours,\n\n\"MINA HARKER.\"", "_Report from Patrick Hennessey, M. D., M. R. C. S. L. K. Q. C. P. I.,\netc., etc., to John Seward, M. D._\n\n\"_20 September._\n\n\"My dear Sir,--\n\n\"In accordance with your wishes, I enclose report of the conditions of\neverything left in my charge.... With regard to patient, Renfield, there\nis more to say.", "He has had another outbreak, which might have had a\ndreadful ending, but which, as it fortunately happened, was unattended\nwith any unhappy results.", "This afternoon a carrier's cart with two men\nmade a call at the empty house whose grounds abut on ours--the house to\nwhich, you will remember, the patient twice ran away.", "The men stopped at\nour gate to ask the porter their way, as they were strangers.", "I was\nmyself looking out of the study window, having a smoke after dinner, and\nsaw one of them come up to the house.", "As he passed the window of\nRenfield's room, the patient began to rate him from within, and called\nhim all the foul names he could lay his tongue to.", "The man, who seemed a\ndecent fellow enough, contented himself by telling him to \"shut up for a\nfoul-mouthed beggar,\" whereon our man accused him of robbing him and\nwanting to murder him and said that he would hinder him if he were to\nswing for it.", "I opened the window and signed to the man not to notice,\nso he contented himself after looking the place over and making up his\nmind as to what kind of a place he had got to by saying: 'Lor' bless\nyer, sir, I wouldn't mind what was said to me in a bloomin' madhouse.", "I\npity ye and the guv'nor for havin' to live in the house with a wild\nbeast like that.'", "Then he asked his way civilly enough, and I told him\nwhere the gate of the empty house was; he went away, followed by threats\nand curses and revilings from our man.", "I went down to see if I could\nmake out any cause for his anger, since he is usually such a\nwell-behaved man, and except his violent fits nothing of the kind had\never occurred.", "I found him, to my astonishment, quite composed and most\ngenial in his manner.", "I tried to get him to talk of the incident, but he\nblandly asked me questions as to what I meant, and led me to believe\nthat he was completely oblivious of the affair.", "It was, I am sorry to\nsay, however, only another instance of his cunning, for within half an\nhour I heard of him again.", "This time he had broken out through the\nwindow of his room, and was running down the avenue.", "I called to the\nattendants to follow me, and ran after him, for I feared he was intent\non some mischief.", "My fear was justified when I saw the same cart which\nhad passed before coming down the road, having on it some great wooden\nboxes.", "The men were wiping their foreheads, and were flushed in the\nface, as if with violent exercise.", "Before I could get up to him the\npatient rushed at them, and pulling one of them off the cart, began to\nknock his head against the ground.", "If I had not seized him just at the\nmoment I believe he would have killed the man there and then.", "The other\nfellow jumped down and struck him over the head with the butt-end of his\nheavy whip.", "It was a terrible blow; but he did not seem to mind it, but\nseized him also, and struggled with the three of us, pulling us to and\nfro as if we were kittens.", "You know I am no light weight, and the others\nwere both burly men.", "At first he was silent in his fighting; but as we\nbegan to master him, and the attendants were putting a strait-waistcoat\non him, he began to shout: 'I'll frustrate them!", "They shan't rob me!", "they shan't murder me by inches!", "I'll fight for my Lord and Master!'", "and\nall sorts of similar incoherent ravings.", "It was with very considerable\ndifficulty that they got him back to the house and put him in the padded\nroom.", "One of the attendants, Hardy, had a finger broken.", "However, I set\nit all right; and he is going on well.", "\"The two carriers were at first loud in their threats of actions for\ndamages, and promised to rain all the penalties of the law on us.", "Their\nthreats were, however, mingled with some sort of indirect apology for\nthe defeat of the two of them by a feeble madman.", "They said that if it\nhad not been for the way their strength had been spent in carrying and\nraising the heavy boxes to the cart they would have made short work of\nhim.", "They gave as another reason for their defeat the extraordinary\nstate of drouth to which they had been reduced by the dusty nature of\ntheir occupation and the reprehensible distance from the scene of their\nlabours of any place of public entertainment.", "I quite understood their\ndrift, and after a stiff glass of grog, or rather more of the same, and\nwith each a sovereign in hand, they made light of the attack, and swore\nthat they would encounter a worse madman any day for the pleasure of\nmeeting so 'bloomin' good a bloke' as your correspondent.", "I took their\nnames and addresses, in case they might be needed.", "They are as\nfollows:--Jack Smollet, of Dudding's Rents, King George's Road, Great\nWalworth, and Thomas Snelling, Peter Farley's Row, Guide Court, Bethnal\nGreen.", "They are both in the employment of Harris & Sons, Moving and\nShipment Company, Orange Master's Yard, Soho.", "\"I shall report to you any matter of interest occurring here, and shall\nwire you at once if there is anything of importance.", "\"Believe me, dear Sir,\n\n\"Yours faithfully,\n\n\"PATRICK HENNESSEY.\"", "_Letter, Mina Harker to Lucy Westenra_.", "(Unopened by her.)", "\"_18 September._\n\n\"My dearest Lucy,--\n\n\"Such a sad blow has befallen us.", "Mr. Hawkins has died very suddenly.", "Some may not think it so sad for us, but we had both come to so love him\nthat it really seems as though we had lost a father.", "I never knew either\nfather or mother, so that the dear old man's death is a real blow to me.", "Jonathan is greatly distressed.", "It is not only that he feels sorrow,\ndeep sorrow, for the dear, good man who has befriended him all his life,\nand now at the end has treated him like his own son and left him a\nfortune which to people of our modest bringing up is wealth beyond the\ndream of avarice, but Jonathan feels it on another account.", "He says the\namount of responsibility which it puts upon him makes him nervous.", "He\nbegins to doubt himself.", "I try to cheer him up, and _my_ belief in _him_\nhelps him to have a belief in himself.", "But it is here that the grave\nshock that he experienced tells upon him the most.", "Oh, it is too hard\nthat a sweet, simple, noble, strong nature such as his--a nature which\nenabled him by our dear, good friend's aid to rise from clerk to master\nin a few years--should be so injured that the very essence of its\nstrength is gone.", "Forgive me, dear, if I worry you with my troubles in\nthe midst of your own happiness; but, Lucy dear, I must tell some one,\nfor the strain of keeping up a brave and cheerful appearance to Jonathan\ntries me, and I have no one here that I can confide in.", "I dread coming\nup to London, as we must do the day after to-morrow; for poor Mr.\nHawkins left in his will that he was to be buried in the grave with his\nfather.", "As there are no relations at all, Jonathan will have to be chief\nmourner.", "I shall try to run over to see you, dearest, if only for a few\nminutes.", "Forgive me for troubling you.", "With all blessings,\n\n\"Your loving\n\n\"MINA HARKER.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_20 September._--Only resolution and habit can let me make an entry\nto-night.", "I am too miserable, too low-spirited, too sick of the world\nand all in it, including life itself, that I would not care if I heard\nthis moment the flapping of the wings of the angel of death.", "And he has\nbeen flapping those grim wings to some purpose of late--Lucy's mother\nand Arthur's father, and now.... Let me get on with my work.", "I duly relieved Van Helsing in his watch over Lucy.", "We wanted Arthur to\ngo to rest also, but he refused at first.", "It was only when I told him\nthat we should want him to help us during the day, and that we must not\nall break down for want of rest, lest Lucy should suffer, that he agreed\nto go.", "Van Helsing was very kind to him.", "\"Come, my child,\" he said;\n\"come with me.", "You are sick and weak, and have had much sorrow and much\nmental pain, as well as that tax on your strength that we know of.", "You\nmust not be alone; for to be alone is to be full of fears and alarms.", "Come to the drawing-room, where there is a big fire, and there are two\nsofas.", "You shall lie on one, and I on the other, and our sympathy will\nbe comfort to each other, even though we do not speak, and even if we\nsleep.\"", "Arthur went off with him, casting back a longing look on Lucy's\nface, which lay in her pillow, almost whiter than the lawn.", "She lay\nquite still, and I looked round the room to see that all was as it\nshould be.", "I could see that the Professor had carried out in this room,\nas in the other, his purpose of using the garlic; the whole of the\nwindow-sashes reeked with it, and round Lucy's neck, over the silk\nhandkerchief which Van Helsing made her keep on, was a rough chaplet of\nthe same odorous flowers.", "Lucy was breathing somewhat stertorously, and\nher face was at its worst, for the open mouth showed the pale gums.", "Her\nteeth, in the dim, uncertain light, seemed longer and sharper than they\nhad been in the morning.", "In particular, by some trick of the light, the\ncanine teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest.", "I sat down by her,\nand presently she moved uneasily.", "At the same moment there came a sort\nof dull flapping or buffeting at the window.", "I went over to it softly,\nand peeped out by the corner of the blind.", "There was a full moonlight,\nand I could see that the noise was made by a great bat, which wheeled\nround--doubtless attracted by the light, although so dim--and every now\nand again struck the window with its wings.", "When I came back to my seat,\nI found that Lucy had moved slightly, and had torn away the garlic\nflowers from her throat.", "I replaced them as well as I could, and sat\nwatching her.", "Presently she woke, and I gave her food, as Van Helsing had prescribed.", "She took but a little, and that languidly.", "There did not seem to be with\nher now the unconscious struggle for life and strength that had hitherto\nso marked her illness.", "It struck me as curious that the moment she\nbecame conscious she pressed the garlic flowers close to her.", "It was\ncertainly odd that whenever she got into that lethargic state, with the\nstertorous breathing, she put the flowers from her; but that when she\nwaked she clutched them close.", "There was no possibility of making any\nmistake about this, for in the long hours that followed, she had many\nspells of sleeping and waking and repeated both actions many times.", "At six o'clock Van Helsing came to relieve me.", "Arthur had then fallen\ninto a doze, and he mercifully let him sleep on.", "When he saw Lucy's face\nI could hear the sissing indraw of his breath, and he said to me in a\nsharp whisper: \"Draw up the blind; I want light!\"", "Then he bent down,\nand, with his face almost touching Lucy's, examined her carefully.", "He\nremoved the flowers and lifted the silk handkerchief from her throat.", "As\nhe did so he started back, and I could hear his ejaculation, \"Mein\nGott!\"", "as it was smothered in his throat.", "I bent over and looked, too,\nand as I noticed some queer chill came over me.", "The wounds on the throat had absolutely disappeared.", "For fully five minutes Van Helsing stood looking at her, with his face\nat its sternest.", "Then he turned to me and said calmly:--\n\n\"She is dying.", "It will not be long now.", "It will be much difference, mark\nme, whether she dies conscious or in her sleep.", "Wake that poor boy, and\nlet him come and see the last; he trusts us, and we have promised him.\"", "I went to the dining-room and waked him.", "He was dazed for a moment, but\nwhen he saw the sunlight streaming in through the edges of the shutters\nhe thought he was late, and expressed his fear.", "I assured him that Lucy\nwas still asleep, but told him as gently as I could that both Van\nHelsing and I feared that the end was near.", "He covered his face with his\nhands, and slid down on his knees by the sofa, where he remained,\nperhaps a minute, with his head buried, praying, whilst his shoulders\nshook with grief.", "I took him by the hand and raised him up.", "\"Come,\" I\nsaid, \"my dear old fellow, summon all your fortitude: it will be best\nand easiest for her.\"", "When we came into Lucy's room I could see that Van Helsing had, with\nhis usual forethought, been putting matters straight and making\neverything look as pleasing as possible.", "He had even brushed Lucy's\nhair, so that it lay on the pillow in its usual sunny ripples.", "When we\ncame into the room she opened her eyes, and seeing him, whispered\nsoftly:--\n\n\"Arthur!", "Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come!\"", "He was stooping to\nkiss her, when Van Helsing motioned him back.", "\"No,\" he whispered, \"not\nyet!", "Hold her hand; it will comfort her more.\"", "So Arthur took her hand and knelt beside her, and she looked her best,\nwith all the soft lines matching the angelic beauty of her eyes.", "Then\ngradually her eyes closed, and she sank to sleep.", "For a little bit her\nbreast heaved softly, and her breath came and went like a tired child's.", "And then insensibly there came the strange change which I had noticed in\nthe night.", "Her breathing grew stertorous, the mouth opened, and the pale\ngums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than ever.", "In a\nsort of sleep-waking, vague, unconscious way she opened her eyes, which\nwere now dull and hard at once, and said in a soft, voluptuous voice,\nsuch as I had never heard from her lips:--\n\n\"Arthur!", "Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come!", "Kiss me!\"", "Arthur bent\neagerly over to kiss her; but at that instant Van Helsing, who, like me,\nhad been startled by her voice, swooped upon him, and catching him by\nthe neck with both hands, dragged him back with a fury of strength which\nI never thought he could have possessed, and actually hurled him almost\nacross the room.", "\"Not for your life!\"", "he said; \"not for your living soul and hers!\"", "And\nhe stood between them like a lion at bay.", "Arthur was so taken aback that he did not for a moment know what to do\nor say; and before any impulse of violence could seize him he realised\nthe place and the occasion, and stood silent, waiting.", "I kept my eyes fixed on Lucy, as did Van Helsing, and we saw a spasm as\nof rage flit like a shadow over her face; the sharp teeth champed\ntogether.", "Then her eyes closed, and she breathed heavily.", "Very shortly after she opened her eyes in all their softness, and\nputting out her poor, pale, thin hand, took Van Helsing's great brown\none; drawing it to her, she kissed it.", "\"My true friend,\" she said, in a\nfaint voice, but with untellable pathos, \"My true friend, and his!", "Oh,\nguard him, and give me peace!\"", "\"I swear it!\"", "he said solemnly, kneeling beside her and holding up his\nhand, as one who registers an oath.", "Then he turned to Arthur, and said\nto him: \"Come, my child, take her hand in yours, and kiss her on the\nforehead, and only once.\"", "Their eyes met instead of their lips; and so they parted.", "Lucy's eyes closed; and Van Helsing, who had been watching closely, took\nArthur's arm, and drew him away.", "And then Lucy's breathing became stertorous again, and all at once it\nceased.", "\"It is all over,\" said Van Helsing.", "\"She is dead!\"", "I took Arthur by the arm, and led him away to the drawing-room, where he\nsat down, and covered his face with his hands, sobbing in a way that\nnearly broke me down to see.", "I went back to the room, and found Van Helsing looking at poor Lucy, and\nhis face was sterner than ever.", "Some change had come over her body.", "Death had given back part of her beauty, for her brow and cheeks had\nrecovered some of their flowing lines; even the lips had lost their\ndeadly pallor.", "It was as if the blood, no longer needed for the working\nof the heart, had gone to make the harshness of death as little rude as\nmight be.", "\"We thought her dying whilst she slept,\n And sleeping when she died.\"", "I stood beside Van Helsing, and said:--\n\n\"Ah, well, poor girl, there is peace for her at last.", "It is the end!\"", "He turned to me, and said with grave solemnity:--\n\n\"Not so; alas!", "not so.", "It is only the beginning!\"", "When I asked him what he meant, he only shook his head and answered:--\n\n\"We can do nothing as yet.", "Wait and see.\"" ]

[ "Every window and door was fastened and\nlocked, and I returned baffled to the porch.", "Are we too late?", "With his usual\nrecuperative energy, he went on: \"Come.", "Van Helsing called in one of the women, and told her to stay with her\nand not to take her eyes off her till we returned, and then beckoned me\nout of the room.", "Do not delay.--HOLMWOOD.\"", "Was she, or is she,\nmad; or what sort of horrible danger is it?\"", "You shall know\nand understand it all in good time; but it will be later.", "In particular, by some trick of the light, the\ncanine teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest.", "When he saw Lucy's face\nI could hear the sissing indraw of his breath, and he said to me in a\nsharp whisper: \"Draw up the blind; I want light!\"", "Some change had come over her body." ]

[ "Is not that\nso?\"", "Truly Miss Lucy, if she be\nsad in the foes that beset her, is at least happy in the friends that\nlove her.", "\"I think I came just in the nick of time.", "In particular, by some trick of the light, the\ncanine teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest.", "He covered his face with his\nhands, and slid down on his knees by the sofa, where he remained,\nperhaps a minute, with his head buried, praying, whilst his shoulders\nshook with grief.", "There was a full moonlight,\nand I could see that the noise was made by a great bat, which wheeled\nround--doubtless attracted by the light, although so dim--and every now\nand again struck the window with its wings.", "He rubbed the brandy, as on another\noccasion, on her lips and gums and on her wrists and the palms of her\nhands.", "I fear to trust those women, even if they would have\ncourage to submit.", "After a while,\nfinding no response, I knocked and rang again; still no answer.", "And\nhe stood between them like a lion at bay." ]

[ "Whilst still asleep she\ntook the paper from her breast and tore it in two.", "Van Helsing stepped\nover and took the pieces from her.", "All the same, however, she went on\nwith the action of tearing, as though the material were still in her\nhands; finally she lifted her hands and opened them as though scattering\nthe fragments.", "Van Helsing seemed surprised, and his brows gathered as\nif in thought, but he said nothing.", "* * * * *\n\n_19 September._--All last night she slept fitfully, being always afraid\nto sleep, and something weaker when she woke from it.", "The Professor and\nI took it in turns to watch, and we never left her for a moment\nunattended.", "Quincey Morris said nothing about his intention, but I knew\nthat all night long he patrolled round and round the house.", "When the day came, its searching light showed the ravages in poor Lucy's\nstrength.", "She was hardly able to turn her head, and the little\nnourishment which she could take seemed to do her no good.", "At times she\nslept, and both Van Helsing and I noticed the difference in her, between\nsleeping and waking.", "Whilst asleep she looked stronger, although more\nhaggard, and her breathing was softer; her open mouth showed the pale\ngums drawn back from the teeth, which thus looked positively longer and\nsharper than usual; when she woke the softness of her eyes evidently\nchanged the expression, for she looked her own self, although a dying\none." ]

[ "\n_18 September._--I drove at once to Hillingham and arrived early.", "Keeping my cab at the gate, I went up the avenue alone.", "I knocked gently\nand rang as quietly as possible, for I feared to disturb Lucy or her\nmother, and hoped to only bring a servant to the door.", "After a while,\nfinding no response, I knocked and rang again; still no answer.", "I cursed\nthe laziness of the servants that they should lie abed at such an\nhour--for it was now ten o'clock--and so rang and knocked again, but\nmore impatiently, but still without response.", "Hitherto I had blamed only\nthe servants, but now a terrible fear began to assail me.", "Was this\ndesolation but another link in the chain of doom which seemed drawing\ntight around us?", "Was it indeed a house of death to which I had come, too\nlate?", "I knew that minutes, even seconds of delay, might mean hours of\ndanger to Lucy, if she had had again one of those frightful relapses;\nand I went round the house to try if I could find by chance an entry\nanywhere.", "I could find no means of ingress.", "Death had given back part of her beauty, for her brow and cheeks had\nrecovered some of their flowing lines; even the lips had lost their\ndeadly pallor.", "It was as if the blood, no longer needed for the working\nof the heart, had gone to make the harshness of death as little rude as\nmight be.", "\"We thought her dying whilst she slept,\n And sleeping when she died.\"", "I stood beside Van Helsing, and said:--\n\n\"Ah, well, poor girl, there is peace for her at last.", "It is the end!\"", "He turned to me, and said with grave solemnity:--\n\n\"Not so; alas!", "not so.", "It is only the beginning!\"", "When I asked him what he meant, he only shook his head and answered:--\n\n\"We can do nothing as yet.", "Wait and see.\"" ]

[ "\nThe funeral was arranged for the next succeeding day, so that Lucy and\nher mother might be buried together.", "I attended to all the ghastly\nformalities, and the urbane undertaker proved that his staff were\nafflicted--or blessed--with something of his own obsequious suavity.", "Even the woman who performed the last offices for the dead remarked to\nme, in a confidential, brother-professional way, when she had come out\nfrom the death-chamber:--\n\n\"She makes a very beautiful corpse, sir.", "It's quite a privilege to\nattend on her.", "It's not too much to say that she will do credit to our\nestablishment!\"", "I noticed that Van Helsing never kept far away.", "This was possible from\nthe disordered state of things in the household.", "There were no relatives\nat hand; and as Arthur had to be back the next day to attend at his\nfather's funeral, we were unable to notify any one who should have been\nbidden.", "Under the circumstances, Van Helsing and I took it upon\nourselves to examine papers, etc.", "He insisted upon looking over Lucy's\npapers himself.", "I asked him why, for I feared that he, being a\nforeigner, might not be quite aware of English legal requirements, and\nso might in ignorance make some unnecessary trouble.", "He answered me:--\n\n\"I know; I know.", "You forget that I am a lawyer as well as a doctor.", "But\nthis is not altogether for the law.", "You knew that, when you avoided the\ncoroner.", "I have more than him to avoid.", "There may be papers more--such\nas this.\"", "As he spoke he took from his pocket-book the memorandum which had been\nin Lucy's breast, and which she had torn in her sleep.", "\"When you find anything of the solicitor who is for the late Mrs.\nWestenra, seal all her papers, and write him to-night.", "For me, I watch\nhere in the room and in Miss Lucy's old room all night, and I myself\nsearch for what may be.", "It is not well that her very thoughts go into\nthe hands of strangers.\"", "I went on with my part of the work, and in another half hour had found\nthe name and address of Mrs. Westenra's solicitor and had written to\nhim.", "All the poor lady's papers were in order; explicit directions\nregarding the place of burial were given.", "I had hardly sealed the\nletter, when, to my surprise, Van Helsing walked into the room,\nsaying:--\n\n\"Can I help you, friend John?", "I am free, and if I may, my service is to\nyou.\"", "\"Have you got what you looked for?\"", "I asked, to which he replied:--\n\n\"I did not look for any specific thing.", "I only hoped to find, and find I\nhave, all that there was--only some letters and a few memoranda, and a\ndiary new begun.", "But I have them here, and we shall for the present say\nnothing of them.", "I shall see that poor lad to-morrow evening, and, with\nhis sanction, I shall use some.\"", "When we had finished the work in hand, he said to me:--\n\n\"And now, friend John, I think we may to bed.", "We want sleep, both you\nand I, and rest to recuperate.", "To-morrow we shall have much to do, but\nfor the to-night there is no need of us.", "Alas!\"", "Before turning in we went to look at poor Lucy.", "The undertaker had\ncertainly done his work well, for the room was turned into a small\n_chapelle ardente_.", "There was a wilderness of beautiful white flowers,\nand death was made as little repulsive as might be.", "The end of the\nwinding-sheet was laid over the face; when the Professor bent over and\nturned it gently back, we both started at the beauty before us, the tall\nwax candles showing a sufficient light to note it well.", "All Lucy's\nloveliness had come back to her in death, and the hours that had passed,\ninstead of leaving traces of \"decay's effacing fingers,\" had but\nrestored the beauty of life, till positively I could not believe my eyes\nthat I was looking at a corpse.", "The Professor looked sternly grave.", "He had not loved her as I had, and\nthere was no need for tears in his eyes.", "He said to me: \"Remain till I\nreturn,\" and left the room.", "He came back with a handful of wild garlic\nfrom the box waiting in the hall, but which had not been opened, and\nplaced the flowers amongst the others on and around the bed.", "Then he\ntook from his neck, inside his collar, a little gold crucifix, and\nplaced it over the mouth.", "He restored the sheet to its place, and we\ncame away.", "I was undressing in my own room, when, with a premonitory tap at the\ndoor, he entered, and at once began to speak:--\n\n\"To-morrow I want you to bring me, before night, a set of post-mortem\nknives.\"", "\"Must we make an autopsy?\"", "I asked.", "\"Yes and no.", "I want to operate, but not as you think.", "Let me tell you\nnow, but not a word to another.", "I want to cut off her head and take out\nher heart.", "Ah!", "you a surgeon, and so shocked!", "You, whom I have seen with\nno tremble of hand or heart, do operations of life and death that make\nthe rest shudder.", "Oh, but I must not forget, my dear friend John, that\nyou loved her; and I have not forgotten it, for it is I that shall\noperate, and you must only help.", "I would like to do it to-night, but for\nArthur I must not; he will be free after his father's funeral to-morrow,\nand he will want to see her--to see _it_.", "Then, when she is coffined\nready for the next day, you and I shall come when all sleep.", "We shall\nunscrew the coffin-lid, and shall do our operation: and then replace\nall, so that none know, save we alone.\"", "\"But why do it at all?", "The girl is dead.", "Why mutilate her poor body\nwithout need?", "And if there is no necessity for a post-mortem and nothing\nto gain by it--no good to her, to us, to science, to human\nknowledge--why do it?", "Without such it is monstrous.\"", "For answer he put his hand on my shoulder, and said, with infinite\ntenderness:--\n\n\"Friend John, I pity your poor bleeding heart; and I love you the more\nbecause it does so bleed.", "If I could, I would take on myself the burden\nthat you do bear.", "But there are things that you know not, but that you\nshall know, and bless me for knowing, though they are not pleasant\nthings.", "John, my child, you have been my friend now many years, and yet\ndid you ever know me to do any without good cause?", "I may err--I am but\nman; but I believe in all I do.", "Was it not for these causes that you\nsend for me when the great trouble came?", "Yes!", "Were you not amazed, nay\nhorrified, when I would not let Arthur kiss his love--though she was\ndying--and snatched him away by all my strength?", "Yes!", "And yet you saw\nhow she thanked me, with her so beautiful dying eyes, her voice, too, so\nweak, and she kiss my rough old hand and bless me?", "Yes!", "And did you not\nhear me swear promise to her, that so she closed her eyes grateful?", "Yes!", "\"Well, I have good reason now for all I want to do.", "You have for many\nyears trust me; you have believe me weeks past, when there be things so\nstrange that you might have well doubt.", "Believe me yet a little, friend\nJohn.", "If you trust me not, then I must tell what I think; and that is\nnot perhaps well.", "And if I work--as work I shall, no matter trust or no\ntrust--without my friend trust in me, I work with heavy heart and feel,\noh!", "so lonely when I want all help and courage that may be!\"", "He paused a\nmoment and went on solemnly: \"Friend John, there are strange and\nterrible days before us.", "Let us not be two, but one, that so we work to\na good end.", "Will you not have faith in me?\"", "I took his hand, and promised him.", "I held my door open as he went away,\nand watched him go into his room and close the door.", "As I stood without\nmoving, I saw one of the maids pass silently along the passage--she had\nher back towards me, so did not see me--and go into the room where Lucy\nlay.", "The sight touched me.", "Devotion is so rare, and we are so grateful\nto those who show it unasked to those we love.", "Here was a poor girl\nputting aside the terrors which she naturally had of death to go watch\nalone by the bier of the mistress whom she loved, so that the poor clay\nmight not be lonely till laid to eternal rest....\n\n * * * * *\n\nI must have slept long and soundly, for it was broad daylight when Van\nHelsing waked me by coming into my room.", "He came over to my bedside and\nsaid:--\n\n\"You need not trouble about the knives; we shall not do it.\"", "\"Why not?\"", "I asked.", "For his solemnity of the night before had greatly\nimpressed me.", "\"Because,\" he said sternly, \"it is too late--or too early.", "See!\"", "Here he\nheld up the little golden crucifix.", "\"This was stolen in the night.\"", "\"How, stolen,\" I asked in wonder, \"since you have it now?\"", "\"Because I get it back from the worthless wretch who stole it, from the\nwoman who robbed the dead and the living.", "Her punishment will surely\ncome, but not through me; she knew not altogether what she did and thus\nunknowing, she only stole.", "Now we must wait.\"", "He went away on the word, leaving me with a new mystery to think of, a\nnew puzzle to grapple with.", "The forenoon was a dreary time, but at noon the solicitor came: Mr.\nMarquand, of Wholeman, Sons, Marquand & Lidderdale.", "He was very genial\nand very appreciative of what we had done, and took off our hands all\ncares as to details.", "During lunch he told us that Mrs. Westenra had for\nsome time expected sudden death from her heart, and had put her affairs\nin absolute order; he informed us that, with the exception of a certain\nentailed property of Lucy's father's which now, in default of direct\nissue, went back to a distant branch of the family, the whole estate,\nreal and personal, was left absolutely to Arthur Holmwood.", "When he had\ntold us so much he went on:--\n\n\"Frankly we did our best to prevent such a testamentary disposition, and\npointed out certain contingencies that might leave her daughter either\npenniless or not so free as she should be to act regarding a matrimonial\nalliance.", "Indeed, we pressed the matter so far that we almost came into\ncollision, for she asked us if we were or were not prepared to carry out\nher wishes.", "Of course, we had then no alternative but to accept.", "We were\nright in principle, and ninety-nine times out of a hundred we should\nhave proved, by the logic of events, the accuracy of our judgment.", "Frankly, however, I must admit that in this case any other form of\ndisposition would have rendered impossible the carrying out of her\nwishes.", "For by her predeceasing her daughter the latter would have come\ninto possession of the property, and, even had she only survived her\nmother by five minutes, her property would, in case there were no\nwill--and a will was a practical impossibility in such a case--have been\ntreated at her decease as under intestacy.", "In which case Lord Godalming,\nthough so dear a friend, would have had no claim in the world; and the\ninheritors, being remote, would not be likely to abandon their just\nrights, for sentimental reasons regarding an entire stranger.", "I assure\nyou, my dear sirs, I am rejoiced at the result, perfectly rejoiced.\"", "He was a good fellow, but his rejoicing at the one little part--in which\nhe was officially interested--of so great a tragedy, was an\nobject-lesson in the limitations of sympathetic understanding.", "He did not remain long, but said he would look in later in the day and\nsee Lord Godalming.", "His coming, however, had been a certain comfort to\nus, since it assured us that we should not have to dread hostile\ncriticism as to any of our acts.", "Arthur was expected at five o'clock, so\na little before that time we visited the death-chamber.", "It was so in\nvery truth, for now both mother and daughter lay in it.", "The undertaker,\ntrue to his craft, had made the best display he could of his goods, and\nthere was a mortuary air about the place that lowered our spirits at\nonce.", "Van Helsing ordered the former arrangement to be adhered to,\nexplaining that, as Lord Godalming was coming very soon, it would be\nless harrowing to his feelings to see all that was left of his _fiancee_\nquite alone.", "The undertaker seemed shocked at his own stupidity and\nexerted himself to restore things to the condition in which we left them\nthe night before, so that when Arthur came such shocks to his feelings\nas we could avoid were saved.", "Poor fellow!", "He looked desperately sad and broken; even his stalwart\nmanhood seemed to have shrunk somewhat under the strain of his\nmuch-tried emotions.", "He had, I knew, been very genuinely and devotedly\nattached to his father; and to lose him, and at such a time, was a\nbitter blow to him.", "With me he was warm as ever, and to Van Helsing he\nwas sweetly courteous; but I could not help seeing that there was some\nconstraint with him.", "The Professor noticed it, too, and motioned me to\nbring him upstairs.", "I did so, and left him at the door of the room, as I\nfelt he would like to be quite alone with her, but he took my arm and\nled me in, saying huskily:--\n\n\"You loved her too, old fellow; she told me all about it, and there was\nno friend had a closer place in her heart than you.", "I don't know how to\nthank you for all you have done for her.", "I can't think yet....\"\n\nHere he suddenly broke down, and threw his arms round my shoulders and\nlaid his head on my breast, crying:--\n\n\"Oh, Jack!", "Jack!", "What shall I do!", "The whole of life seems gone from me\nall at once, and there is nothing in the wide world for me to live for.\"", "I comforted him as well as I could.", "In such cases men do not need much\nexpression.", "A grip of the hand, the tightening of an arm over the\nshoulder, a sob in unison, are expressions of sympathy dear to a man's\nheart.", "I stood still and silent till his sobs died away, and then I said\nsoftly to him:--\n\n\"Come and look at her.\"", "Together we moved over to the bed, and I lifted the lawn from her face.", "God!", "how beautiful she was.", "Every hour seemed to be enhancing her\nloveliness.", "It frightened and amazed me somewhat; and as for Arthur, he\nfell a-trembling, and finally was shaken with doubt as with an ague.", "At\nlast, after a long pause, he said to me in a faint whisper:--\n\n\"Jack, is she really dead?\"", "I assured him sadly that it was so, and went on to suggest--for I felt\nthat such a horrible doubt should not have life for a moment longer than\nI could help--that it often happened that after death faces became\nsoftened and even resolved into their youthful beauty; that this was\nespecially so when death had been preceded by any acute or prolonged\nsuffering.", "It seemed to quite do away with any doubt, and, after\nkneeling beside the couch for a while and looking at her lovingly and\nlong, he turned aside.", "I told him that that must be good-bye, as the\ncoffin had to be prepared; so he went back and took her dead hand in his\nand kissed it, and bent over and kissed her forehead.", "He came away,\nfondly looking back over his shoulder at her as he came.", "I left him in the drawing-room, and told Van Helsing that he had said\ngood-bye; so the latter went to the kitchen to tell the undertaker's men\nto proceed with the preparations and to screw up the coffin.", "When he\ncame out of the room again I told him of Arthur's question, and he\nreplied:--\n\n\"I am not surprised.", "Just now I doubted for a moment myself!\"", "We all dined together, and I could see that poor Art was trying to make\nthe best of things.", "Van Helsing had been silent all dinner-time; but\nwhen we had lit our cigars he said--\n\n\"Lord----\"; but Arthur interrupted him:--\n\n\"No, no, not that, for God's sake!", "not yet at any rate.", "Forgive me, sir:\nI did not mean to speak offensively; it is only because my loss is so\nrecent.\"", "The Professor answered very sweetly:--\n\n\"I only used that name because I was in doubt.", "I must not call you\n'Mr.,' and I have grown to love you--yes, my dear boy, to love you--as\nArthur.\"", "Arthur held out his hand, and took the old man's warmly.", "\"Call me what you will,\" he said.", "\"I hope I may always have the title of\na friend.", "And let me say that I am at a loss for words to thank you for\nyour goodness to my poor dear.\"", "He paused a moment, and went on: \"I know\nthat she understood your goodness even better than I do; and if I was\nrude or in any way wanting at that time you acted so--you remember\"--the\nProfessor nodded--\"you must forgive me.\"", "He answered with a grave kindness:--\n\n\"I know it was hard for you to quite trust me then, for to trust such\nviolence needs to understand; and I take it that you do not--that you\ncannot--trust me now, for you do not yet understand.", "And there may be\nmore times when I shall want you to trust when you cannot--and may\nnot--and must not yet understand.", "But the time will come when your trust\nshall be whole and complete in me, and when you shall understand as\nthough the sunlight himself shone through.", "Then you shall bless me from\nfirst to last for your own sake, and for the sake of others and for her\ndear sake to whom I swore to protect.\"", "\"And, indeed, indeed, sir,\" said Arthur warmly, \"I shall in all ways\ntrust you.", "I know and believe you have a very noble heart, and you are\nJack's friend, and you were hers.", "You shall do what you like.\"", "The Professor cleared his throat a couple of times, as though about to\nspeak, and finally said:--\n\n\"May I ask you something now?\"", "\"Certainly.\"", "\"You know that Mrs. Westenra left you all her property?\"", "\"No, poor dear; I never thought of it.\"", "\"And as it is all yours, you have a right to deal with it as you will.", "I\nwant you to give me permission to read all Miss Lucy's papers and\nletters.", "Believe me, it is no idle curiosity.", "I have a motive of which,\nbe sure, she would have approved.", "I have them all here.", "I took them\nbefore we knew that all was yours, so that no strange hand might touch\nthem--no strange eye look through words into her soul.", "I shall keep\nthem, if I may; even you may not see them yet, but I shall keep them\nsafe.", "No word shall be lost; and in the good time I shall give them back\nto you.", "It's a hard thing I ask, but you will do it, will you not, for\nLucy's sake?\"", "Arthur spoke out heartily, like his old self:--\n\n\"Dr. Van Helsing, you may do what you will.", "I feel that in saying this I\nam doing what my dear one would have approved.", "I shall not trouble you\nwith questions till the time comes.\"", "The old Professor stood up as he said solemnly:--\n\n\"And you are right.", "There will be pain for us all; but it will not be\nall pain, nor will this pain be the last.", "We and you too--you most of\nall, my dear boy--will have to pass through the bitter water before we\nreach the sweet.", "But we must be brave of heart and unselfish, and do our\nduty, and all will be well!\"", "I slept on a sofa in Arthur's room that night.", "Van Helsing did not go to\nbed at all.", "He went to and fro, as if patrolling the house, and was\nnever out of sight of the room where Lucy lay in her coffin, strewn with\nthe wild garlic flowers, which sent, through the odour of lily and rose,\na heavy, overpowering smell into the night.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_22 September._--In the train to Exeter.", "Jonathan sleeping.", "It seems only yesterday that the last entry was made, and yet how much\nbetween then, in Whitby and all the world before me, Jonathan away and\nno news of him; and now, married to Jonathan, Jonathan a solicitor, a\npartner, rich, master of his business, Mr. Hawkins dead and buried, and\nJonathan with another attack that may harm him.", "Some day he may ask me\nabout it.", "Down it all goes.", "I am rusty in my shorthand--see what\nunexpected prosperity does for us--so it may be as well to freshen it up\nagain with an exercise anyhow....", "The service was very simple and very solemn.", "There were only ourselves\nand the servants there, one or two old friends of his from Exeter, his\nLondon agent, and a gentleman representing Sir John Paxton, the\nPresident of the Incorporated Law Society.", "Jonathan and I stood hand in\nhand, and we felt that our best and dearest friend was gone from us....\n\nWe came back to town quietly, taking a 'bus to Hyde Park Corner.", "Jonathan thought it would interest me to go into the Row for a while, so\nwe sat down; but there were very few people there, and it was\nsad-looking and desolate to see so many empty chairs.", "It made us think\nof the empty chair at home; so we got up and walked down Piccadilly.", "Jonathan was holding me by the arm, the way he used to in old days\nbefore I went to school.", "I felt it very improper, for you can't go on\nfor some years teaching etiquette and decorum to other girls without the\npedantry of it biting into yourself a bit; but it was Jonathan, and he\nwas my husband, and we didn't know anybody who saw us--and we didn't\ncare if they did--so on we walked.", "I was looking at a very beautiful\ngirl, in a big cart-wheel hat, sitting in a victoria outside Guiliano's,\nwhen I felt Jonathan clutch my arm so tight that he hurt me, and he said\nunder his breath: \"My God!\"", "I am always anxious about Jonathan, for I\nfear that some nervous fit may upset him again; so I turned to him\nquickly, and asked him what it was that disturbed him.", "He was very pale, and his eyes seemed bulging out as, half in terror and\nhalf in amazement, he gazed at a tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and\nblack moustache and pointed beard, who was also observing the pretty\ngirl.", "He was looking at her so hard that he did not see either of us,\nand so I had a good view of him.", "His face was not a good face; it was\nhard, and cruel, and sensual, and his big white teeth, that looked all\nthe whiter because his lips were so red, were pointed like an animal's.", "Jonathan kept staring at him, till I was afraid he would notice.", "I\nfeared he might take it ill, he looked so fierce and nasty.", "I asked\nJonathan why he was disturbed, and he answered, evidently thinking that\nI knew as much about it as he did: \"Do you see who it is?\"", "\"No, dear,\" I said; \"I don't know him; who is it?\"", "His answer seemed to\nshock and thrill me, for it was said as if he did not know that it was\nto me, Mina, to whom he was speaking:--\n\n\"It is the man himself!\"", "The poor dear was evidently terrified at something--very greatly\nterrified; I do believe that if he had not had me to lean on and to\nsupport him he would have sunk down.", "He kept staring; a man came out of\nthe shop with a small parcel, and gave it to the lady, who then drove\noff.", "The dark man kept his eyes fixed on her, and when the carriage\nmoved up Piccadilly he followed in the same direction, and hailed a\nhansom.", "Jonathan kept looking after him, and said, as if to himself:--\n\n\"I believe it is the Count, but he has grown young.", "My God, if this be\nso!", "Oh, my God!", "my God!", "If I only knew!", "if I only knew!\"", "He was\ndistressing himself so much that I feared to keep his mind on the\nsubject by asking him any questions, so I remained silent.", "I drew him\naway quietly, and he, holding my arm, came easily.", "We walked a little\nfurther, and then went in and sat for a while in the Green Park.", "It was\na hot day for autumn, and there was a comfortable seat in a shady place.", "After a few minutes' staring at nothing, Jonathan's eyes closed, and he\nwent quietly into a sleep, with his head on my shoulder.", "I thought it\nwas the best thing for him, so did not disturb him.", "In about twenty\nminutes he woke up, and said to me quite cheerfully:--\n\n\"Why, Mina, have I been asleep!", "Oh, do forgive me for being so rude.", "Come, and we'll have a cup of tea somewhere.\"", "He had evidently forgotten\nall about the dark stranger, as in his illness he had forgotten all that\nthis episode had reminded him of.", "I don't like this lapsing into\nforgetfulness; it may make or continue some injury to the brain.", "I must\nnot ask him, for fear I shall do more harm than good; but I must somehow\nlearn the facts of his journey abroad.", "The time is come, I fear, when I\nmust open that parcel, and know what is written.", "Oh, Jonathan, you will,\nI know, forgive me if I do wrong, but it is for your own dear sake.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--A sad home-coming in every way--the house empty of the dear\nsoul who was so good to us; Jonathan still pale and dizzy under a slight\nrelapse of his malady; and now a telegram from Van Helsing, whoever he\nmay be:--\n\n\"You will be grieved to hear that Mrs. Westenra died five days ago, and\nthat Lucy died the day before yesterday.", "They were both buried to-day.\"", "Oh, what a wealth of sorrow in a few words!", "Poor Mrs. Westenra!", "poor\nLucy!", "Gone, gone, never to return to us!", "And poor, poor Arthur, to have\nlost such sweetness out of his life!", "God help us all to bear our\ntroubles.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_22 September._--It is all over.", "Arthur has gone back to Ring, and has\ntaken Quincey Morris with him.", "What a fine fellow is Quincey!", "I believe\nin my heart of hearts that he suffered as much about Lucy's death as any\nof us; but he bore himself through it like a moral Viking.", "If America\ncan go on breeding men like that, she will be a power in the world\nindeed.", "Van Helsing is lying down, having a rest preparatory to his\njourney.", "He goes over to Amsterdam to-night, but says he returns\nto-morrow night; that he only wants to make some arrangements which can\nonly be made personally.", "He is to stop with me then, if he can; he says\nhe has work to do in London which may take him some time.", "Poor old\nfellow!", "I fear that the strain of the past week has broken down even his\niron strength.", "All the time of the burial he was, I could see, putting\nsome terrible restraint on himself.", "When it was all over, we were\nstanding beside Arthur, who, poor fellow, was speaking of his part in\nthe operation where his blood had been transfused to his Lucy's veins; I\ncould see Van Helsing's face grow white and purple by turns.", "Arthur was\nsaying that he felt since then as if they two had been really married\nand that she was his wife in the sight of God.", "None of us said a word of\nthe other operations, and none of us ever shall.", "Arthur and Quincey went\naway together to the station, and Van Helsing and I came on here.", "The\nmoment we were alone in the carriage he gave way to a regular fit of\nhysterics.", "He has denied to me since that it was hysterics, and insisted\nthat it was only his sense of humour asserting itself under very\nterrible conditions.", "He laughed till he cried, and I had to draw down\nthe blinds lest any one should see us and misjudge; and then he cried,\ntill he laughed again; and laughed and cried together, just as a woman\ndoes.", "I tried to be stern with him, as one is to a woman under the\ncircumstances; but it had no effect.", "Men and women are so different in\nmanifestations of nervous strength or weakness!", "Then when his face grew\ngrave and stern again I asked him why his mirth, and why at such a time.", "His reply was in a way characteristic of him, for it was logical and\nforceful and mysterious.", "He said:--\n\n\"Ah, you don't comprehend, friend John.", "Do not think that I am not sad,\nthough I laugh.", "See, I have cried even when the laugh did choke me.", "But\nno more think that I am all sorry when I cry, for the laugh he come\njust the same.", "Keep it always with you that laughter who knock at your\ndoor and say, 'May I come in?'", "is not the true laughter.", "No!", "he is a\nking, and he come when and how he like.", "He ask no person; he choose no\ntime of suitability.", "He say, 'I am here.'", "Behold, in example I grieve my\nheart out for that so sweet young girl; I give my blood for her, though\nI am old and worn; I give my time, my skill, my sleep; I let my other\nsufferers want that so she may have all.", "And yet I can laugh at her very\ngrave--laugh when the clay from the spade of the sexton drop upon her\ncoffin and say 'Thud!", "thud!'", "to my heart, till it send back the blood\nfrom my cheek.", "My heart bleed for that poor boy--that dear boy, so of\nthe age of mine own boy had I been so blessed that he live, and with his\nhair and eyes the same.", "There, you know now why I love him so.", "And yet\nwhen he say things that touch my husband-heart to the quick, and make my\nfather-heart yearn to him as to no other man--not even to you, friend\nJohn, for we are more level in experiences than father and son--yet even\nat such moment King Laugh he come to me and shout and bellow in my ear,\n'Here I am!", "here I am!'", "till the blood come dance back and bring some of\nthe sunshine that he carry with him to my cheek.", "Oh, friend John, it is\na strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and\ntroubles; and yet when King Laugh come he make them all dance to the\ntune he play.", "Bleeding hearts, and dry bones of the churchyard, and\ntears that burn as they fall--all dance together to the music that he\nmake with that smileless mouth of him.", "And believe me, friend John, that\nhe is good to come, and kind.", "Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn\ntight with strain that pull us different ways.", "Then tears come; and,\nlike the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps the strain\nbecome too great, and we break.", "But King Laugh he come like the\nsunshine, and he ease off the strain again; and we bear to go on with\nour labour, what it may be.\"", "I did not like to wound him by pretending not to see his idea; but, as I\ndid not yet understand the cause of his laughter, I asked him.", "As he\nanswered me his face grew stern, and he said in quite a different\ntone:--\n\n\"Oh, it was the grim irony of it all--this so lovely lady garlanded with\nflowers, that looked so fair as life, till one by one we wondered if she\nwere truly dead; she laid in that so fine marble house in that lonely\nchurchyard, where rest so many of her kin, laid there with the mother\nwho loved her, and whom she loved; and that sacred bell going 'Toll!", "toll!", "toll!'", "so sad and slow; and those holy men, with the white\ngarments of the angel, pretending to read books, and yet all the time\ntheir eyes never on the page; and all of us with the bowed head.", "And all\nfor what?", "She is dead; so!", "Is it not?\"", "\"Well, for the life of me, Professor,\" I said, \"I can't see anything to\nlaugh at in all that.", "Why, your explanation makes it a harder puzzle\nthan before.", "But even if the burial service was comic, what about poor\nArt and his trouble?", "Why, his heart was simply breaking.\"", "\"Just so.", "Said he not that the transfusion of his blood to her veins had\nmade her truly his bride?\"", "\"Yes, and it was a sweet and comforting idea for him.\"", "\"Quite so.", "But there was a difficulty, friend John.", "If so that, then\nwhat about the others?", "Ho, ho!", "Then this so sweet maid is a polyandrist,\nand me, with my poor wife dead to me, but alive by Church's law, though\nno wits, all gone--even I, who am faithful husband to this now-no-wife,\nam bigamist.\"", "\"I don't see where the joke comes in there either!\"", "I said; and I did\nnot feel particularly pleased with him for saying such things.", "He laid\nhis hand on my arm, and said:--\n\n\"Friend John, forgive me if I pain.", "I showed not my feeling to others\nwhen it would wound, but only to you, my old friend, whom I can trust.", "If you could have looked into my very heart then when I want to laugh;\nif you could have done so when the laugh arrived; if you could do so\nnow, when King Laugh have pack up his crown, and all that is to him--for\nhe go far, far away from me, and for a long, long time--maybe you would\nperhaps pity me the most of all.\"", "I was touched by the tenderness of his tone, and asked why.", "\"Because I know!\"", "And now we are all scattered; and for many a long day loneliness will\nsit over our roofs with brooding wings.", "Lucy lies in the tomb of her\nkin, a lordly death-house in a lonely churchyard, away from teeming\nLondon; where the air is fresh, and the sun rises over Hampstead Hill,\nand where wild flowers grow of their own accord.", "So I can finish this diary; and God only knows if I shall ever begin\nanother.", "If I do, or if I even open this again, it will be to deal with\ndifferent people and different themes; for here at the end, where the\nromance of my life is told, ere I go back to take up the thread of my\nlife-work, I say sadly and without hope,\n\n \"FINIS.\"", "_\"The Westminster Gazette,\" 25 September._\n\n A HAMPSTEAD MYSTERY.", "The neighbourhood of Hampstead is just at present exercised with a\nseries of events which seem to run on lines parallel to those of what\nwas known to the writers of headlines as \"The Kensington Horror,\" or\n\"The Stabbing Woman,\" or \"The Woman in Black.\"", "During the past two or\nthree days several cases have occurred of young children straying from\nhome or neglecting to return from their playing on the Heath.", "In all\nthese cases the children were too young to give any properly\nintelligible account of themselves, but the consensus of their excuses\nis that they had been with a \"bloofer lady.\"", "It has always been late in\nthe evening when they have been missed, and on two occasions the\nchildren have not been found until early in the following morning.", "It is\ngenerally supposed in the neighbourhood that, as the first child missed\ngave as his reason for being away that a \"bloofer lady\" had asked him to\ncome for a walk, the others had picked up the phrase and used it as\noccasion served.", "This is the more natural as the favourite game of the\nlittle ones at present is luring each other away by wiles.", "A\ncorrespondent writes us that to see some of the tiny tots pretending to\nbe the \"bloofer lady\" is supremely funny.", "Some of our caricaturists\nmight, he says, take a lesson in the irony of grotesque by comparing the\nreality and the picture.", "It is only in accordance with general\nprinciples of human nature that the \"bloofer lady\" should be the popular\nrole at these _al fresco_ performances.", "Our correspondent naively says\nthat even Ellen Terry could not be so winningly attractive as some of\nthese grubby-faced little children pretend--and even imagine\nthemselves--to be.", "There is, however, possibly a serious side to the question, for some of\nthe children, indeed all who have been missed at night, have been\nslightly torn or wounded in the throat.", "The wounds seem such as might be\nmade by a rat or a small dog, and although of not much importance\nindividually, would tend to show that whatever animal inflicts them has\na system or method of its own.", "The police of the division have been\ninstructed to keep a sharp look-out for straying children, especially\nwhen very young, in and around Hampstead Heath, and for any stray dog\nwhich may be about.", "_\"The Westminster Gazette,\" 25 September._\n\n _Extra Special._\n\n THE HAMPSTEAD HORROR.", "ANOTHER CHILD INJURED.", "_The \"Bloofer Lady.", "\"_\n\nWe have just received intelligence that another child, missed last\nnight, was only discovered late in the morning under a furze bush at the\nShooter's Hill side of Hampstead Heath, which is, perhaps, less\nfrequented than the other parts.", "It has the same tiny wound in the\nthroat as has been noticed in other cases.", "It was terribly weak, and\nlooked quite emaciated.", "It too, when partially restored, had the common\nstory to tell of being lured away by the \"bloofer lady.\"" ]

[ "We shall\nunscrew the coffin-lid, and shall do our operation: and then replace\nall, so that none know, save we alone.\"", "For answer he put his hand on my shoulder, and said, with infinite\ntenderness:--\n\n\"Friend John, I pity your poor bleeding heart; and I love you the more\nbecause it does so bleed.", "Will you not have faith in me?\"", "We were\nright in principle, and ninety-nine times out of a hundred we should\nhave proved, by the logic of events, the accuracy of our judgment.", "I can't think yet....\"\n\nHere he suddenly broke down, and threw his arms round my shoulders and\nlaid his head on my breast, crying:--\n\n\"Oh, Jack!", "We and you too--you most of\nall, my dear boy--will have to pass through the bitter water before we\nreach the sweet.", "Oh, Jonathan, you will,\nI know, forgive me if I do wrong, but it is for your own dear sake.", "Poor Mrs. Westenra!", "till the blood come dance back and bring some of\nthe sunshine that he carry with him to my cheek.", "_The \"Bloofer Lady." ]

[ "And all\nfor what?", "It has always been late in\nthe evening when they have been missed, and on two occasions the\nchildren have not been found until early in the following morning.", "For answer he put his hand on my shoulder, and said, with infinite\ntenderness:--\n\n\"Friend John, I pity your poor bleeding heart; and I love you the more\nbecause it does so bleed.", "He was a good fellow, but his rejoicing at the one little part--in which\nhe was officially interested--of so great a tragedy, was an\nobject-lesson in the limitations of sympathetic understanding.", "It has the same tiny wound in the\nthroat as has been noticed in other cases.", "I thought it\nwas the best thing for him, so did not disturb him.", "Then, when she is coffined\nready for the next day, you and I shall come when all sleep.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_22 September._--It is all over.", "I am free, and if I may, my service is to\nyou.\"", "Frankly, however, I must admit that in this case any other form of\ndisposition would have rendered impossible the carrying out of her\nwishes." ]

[ "I know and believe you have a very noble heart, and you are\nJack's friend, and you were hers.", "You shall do what you like.\"", "The Professor cleared his throat a couple of times, as though about to\nspeak, and finally said:--\n\n\"May I ask you something now?\"", "\"Certainly.\"", "\"You know that Mrs. Westenra left you all her property?\"", "\"No, poor dear; I never thought of it.\"", "\"And as it is all yours, you have a right to deal with it as you will.", "I\nwant you to give me permission to read all Miss Lucy's papers and\nletters.", "Believe me, it is no idle curiosity.", "I have a motive of which,\nbe sure, she would have approved.", "I have them all here." ]

[ "\nThe funeral was arranged for the next succeeding day, so that Lucy and\nher mother might be buried together.", "I attended to all the ghastly\nformalities, and the urbane undertaker proved that his staff were\nafflicted--or blessed--with something of his own obsequious suavity.", "Even the woman who performed the last offices for the dead remarked to\nme, in a confidential, brother-professional way, when she had come out\nfrom the death-chamber:--\n\n\"She makes a very beautiful corpse, sir.", "It's quite a privilege to\nattend on her.", "It's not too much to say that she will do credit to our\nestablishment!\"", "I noticed that Van Helsing never kept far away.", "This was possible from\nthe disordered state of things in the household.", "There were no relatives\nat hand; and as Arthur had to be back the next day to attend at his\nfather's funeral, we were unable to notify any one who should have been\nbidden.", "Under the circumstances, Van Helsing and I took it upon\nourselves to examine papers, etc.", "He insisted upon looking over Lucy's\npapers himself.", "There is, however, possibly a serious side to the question, for some of\nthe children, indeed all who have been missed at night, have been\nslightly torn or wounded in the throat.", "The wounds seem such as might be\nmade by a rat or a small dog, and although of not much importance\nindividually, would tend to show that whatever animal inflicts them has\na system or method of its own.", "The police of the division have been\ninstructed to keep a sharp look-out for straying children, especially\nwhen very young, in and around Hampstead Heath, and for any stray dog\nwhich may be about.", "_\"The Westminster Gazette,\" 25 September._\n\n _Extra Special._\n\n THE HAMPSTEAD HORROR.", "ANOTHER CHILD INJURED.", "_The \"Bloofer Lady.", "\"_\n\nWe have just received intelligence that another child, missed last\nnight, was only discovered late in the morning under a furze bush at the\nShooter's Hill side of Hampstead Heath, which is, perhaps, less\nfrequented than the other parts.", "It has the same tiny wound in the\nthroat as has been noticed in other cases.", "It was terribly weak, and\nlooked quite emaciated.", "It too, when partially restored, had the common\nstory to tell of being lured away by the \"bloofer lady.\"" ]

[ "\n_23 September_.--Jonathan is better after a bad night.", "I am so glad that\nhe has plenty of work to do, for that keeps his mind off the terrible\nthings; and oh, I am rejoiced that he is not now weighed down with the\nresponsibility of his new position.", "I knew he would be true to himself,\nand now how proud I am to see my Jonathan rising to the height of his\nadvancement and keeping pace in all ways with the duties that come upon\nhim.", "He will be away all day till late, for he said he could not lunch\nat home.", "My household work is done, so I shall take his foreign journal,\nand lock myself up in my room and read it....\n\n\n_24 September_.--I hadn't the heart to write last night; that terrible\nrecord of Jonathan's upset me so.", "Poor dear!", "How he must have suffered,\nwhether it be true or only imagination.", "I wonder if there is any truth\nin it at all.", "Did he get his brain fever, and then write all those\nterrible things, or had he some cause for it all?", "I suppose I shall\nnever know, for I dare not open the subject to him.... And yet that man\nwe saw yesterday!", "He seemed quite certain of him.... Poor fellow!", "I\nsuppose it was the funeral upset him and sent his mind back on some\ntrain of thought....", "He believes it all himself.", "I remember how on our\nwedding-day he said: \"Unless some solemn duty come upon me to go back to\nthe bitter hours, asleep or awake, mad or sane.\"", "There seems to be\nthrough it all some thread of continuity.... That fearful Count was\ncoming to London....", "If it should be, and he came to London, with his\nteeming millions....", "There may be a solemn duty; and if it come we must\nnot shrink from it....", "I shall be prepared.", "I shall get my typewriter\nthis very hour and begin transcribing.", "Then we shall be ready for other\neyes if required.", "And if it be wanted; then, perhaps, if I am ready,\npoor Jonathan may not be upset, for I can speak for him and never let\nhim be troubled or worried with it at all.", "If ever Jonathan quite gets\nover the nervousness he may want to tell me of it all, and I can ask him\nquestions and find out things, and see how I may comfort him.", "_Letter, Van Helsing to Mrs. Harker._\n\n\"_24 September._\n\n(_Confidence_)\n\n\"Dear Madam,--\n\n\"I pray you to pardon my writing, in that I am so far friend as that I\nsent to you sad news of Miss Lucy Westenra's death.", "By the kindness of\nLord Godalming, I am empowered to read her letters and papers, for I am\ndeeply concerned about certain matters vitally important.", "In them I find\nsome letters from you, which show how great friends you were and how you\nlove her.", "Oh, Madam Mina, by that love, I implore you, help me.", "It is\nfor others' good that I ask--to redress great wrong, and to lift much\nand terrible troubles--that may be more great than you can know.", "May it\nbe that I see you?", "You can trust me.", "I am friend of Dr. John Seward and\nof Lord Godalming (that was Arthur of Miss Lucy).", "I must keep it private\nfor the present from all.", "I should come to Exeter to see you at once if\nyou tell me I am privilege to come, and where and when.", "I implore your\npardon, madam.", "I have read your letters to poor Lucy, and know how good\nyou are and how your husband suffer; so I pray you, if it may be,\nenlighten him not, lest it may harm.", "Again your pardon, and forgive me.", "\"VAN HELSING.\"", "_Telegram, Mrs. Harker to Van Helsing._\n\n\"_25 September._--Come to-day by quarter-past ten train if you can catch\nit.", "Can see you any time you call.", "\"WILHELMINA HARKER.\"", "MINA HARKER'S JOURNAL.", "_25 September._--I cannot help feeling terribly excited as the time\ndraws near for the visit of Dr. Van Helsing, for somehow I expect that\nit will throw some light upon Jonathan's sad experience; and as he\nattended poor dear Lucy in her last illness, he can tell me all about\nher.", "That is the reason of his coming; it is concerning Lucy and her\nsleep-walking, and not about Jonathan.", "Then I shall never know the real\ntruth now!", "How silly I am.", "That awful journal gets hold of my\nimagination and tinges everything with something of its own colour.", "Of\ncourse it is about Lucy.", "That habit came back to the poor dear, and that\nawful night on the cliff must have made her ill.", "I had almost forgotten\nin my own affairs how ill she was afterwards.", "She must have told him\nof her sleep-walking adventure on the cliff, and that I knew all about\nit; and now he wants me to tell him what she knows, so that he may\nunderstand.", "I hope I did right in not saying anything of it to Mrs.\nWestenra; I should never forgive myself if any act of mine, were it even\na negative one, brought harm on poor dear Lucy.", "I hope, too, Dr. Van\nHelsing will not blame me; I have had so much trouble and anxiety of\nlate that I feel I cannot bear more just at present.", "I suppose a cry does us all good at times--clears the air as other rain\ndoes.", "Perhaps it was reading the journal yesterday that upset me, and\nthen Jonathan went away this morning to stay away from me a whole day\nand night, the first time we have been parted since our marriage.", "I do\nhope the dear fellow will take care of himself, and that nothing will\noccur to upset him.", "It is two o'clock, and the doctor will be here soon\nnow.", "I shall say nothing of Jonathan's journal unless he asks me.", "I am\nso glad I have type-written out my own journal, so that, in case he asks\nabout Lucy, I can hand it to him; it will save much questioning.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--He has come and gone.", "Oh, what a strange meeting, and how it\nall makes my head whirl round!", "I feel like one in a dream.", "Can it be all\npossible, or even a part of it?", "If I had not read Jonathan's journal\nfirst, I should never have accepted even a possibility.", "Poor, poor, dear\nJonathan!", "How he must have suffered.", "Please the good God, all this may\nnot upset him again.", "I shall try to save him from it; but it may be even\na consolation and a help to him--terrible though it be and awful in its\nconsequences--to know for certain that his eyes and ears and brain did\nnot deceive him, and that it is all true.", "It may be that it is the doubt\nwhich haunts him; that when the doubt is removed, no matter\nwhich--waking or dreaming--may prove the truth, he will be more\nsatisfied and better able to bear the shock.", "Dr. Van Helsing must be a\ngood man as well as a clever one if he is Arthur's friend and Dr.\nSeward's, and if they brought him all the way from Holland to look after\nLucy.", "I feel from having seen him that he _is_ good and kind and of a\nnoble nature.", "When he comes to-morrow I shall ask him about Jonathan;\nand then, please God, all this sorrow and anxiety may lead to a good\nend.", "I used to think I would like to practise interviewing; Jonathan's\nfriend on \"The Exeter News\" told him that memory was everything in such\nwork--that you must be able to put down exactly almost every word\nspoken, even if you had to refine some of it afterwards.", "Here was a rare\ninterview; I shall try to record it _verbatim_.", "It was half-past two o'clock when the knock came.", "I took my courage _a\ndeux mains_ and waited.", "In a few minutes Mary opened the door, and\nannounced \"Dr. Van Helsing.\"", "I rose and bowed, and he came towards me; a man of medium weight,\nstrongly built, with his shoulders set back over a broad, deep chest and\na neck well balanced on the trunk as the head is on the neck.", "The poise\nof the head strikes one at once as indicative of thought and power; the\nhead is noble, well-sized, broad, and large behind the ears.", "The face,\nclean-shaven, shows a hard, square chin, a large, resolute, mobile\nmouth, a good-sized nose, rather straight, but with quick, sensitive\nnostrils, that seem to broaden as the big, bushy brows come down and the\nmouth tightens.", "The forehead is broad and fine, rising at first almost\nstraight and then sloping back above two bumps or ridges wide apart;\nsuch a forehead that the reddish hair cannot possibly tumble over it,\nbut falls naturally back and to the sides.", "Big, dark blue eyes are set\nwidely apart, and are quick and tender or stern with the man's moods.", "He\nsaid to me:--\n\n\"Mrs. Harker, is it not?\"", "I bowed assent.", "\"That was Miss Mina Murray?\"", "Again I assented.", "\"It is Mina Murray that I came to see that was friend of that poor dear\nchild Lucy Westenra.", "Madam Mina, it is on account of the dead I come.\"", "\"Sir,\" I said, \"you could have no better claim on me than that you were\na friend and helper of Lucy Westenra.\"", "And I held out my hand.", "He took\nit and said tenderly:--\n\n\"Oh, Madam Mina, I knew that the friend of that poor lily girl must be\ngood, but I had yet to learn----\" He finished his speech with a courtly\nbow.", "I asked him what it was that he wanted to see me about, so he at\nonce began:--\n\n\"I have read your letters to Miss Lucy.", "Forgive me, but I had to begin\nto inquire somewhere, and there was none to ask.", "I know that you were\nwith her at Whitby.", "She sometimes kept a diary--you need not look\nsurprised, Madam Mina; it was begun after you had left, and was in\nimitation of you--and in that diary she traces by inference certain\nthings to a sleep-walking in which she puts down that you saved her.", "In\ngreat perplexity then I come to you, and ask you out of your so much\nkindness to tell me all of it that you can remember.\"", "\"I can tell you, I think, Dr. Van Helsing, all about it.\"", "\"Ah, then you have good memory for facts, for details?", "It is not always\nso with young ladies.\"", "\"No, doctor, but I wrote it all down at the time.", "I can show it to you\nif you like.\"", "\"Oh, Madam Mina, I will be grateful; you will do me much favour.\"", "I\ncould not resist the temptation of mystifying him a bit--I suppose it is\nsome of the taste of the original apple that remains still in our\nmouths--so I handed him the shorthand diary.", "He took it with a grateful\nbow, and said:--\n\n\"May I read it?\"", "\"If you wish,\" I answered as demurely as I could.", "He opened it, and for\nan instant his face fell.", "Then he stood up and bowed.", "\"Oh, you so clever woman!\"", "he said.", "\"I knew long that Mr. Jonathan was a\nman of much thankfulness; but see, his wife have all the good things.", "And will you not so much honour me and so help me as to read it for me?", "Alas!", "I know not the shorthand.\"", "By this time my little joke was over,\nand I was almost ashamed; so I took the typewritten copy from my\nworkbasket and handed it to him.", "\"Forgive me,\" I said: \"I could not help it; but I had been thinking that\nit was of dear Lucy that you wished to ask, and so that you might not\nhave time to wait--not on my account, but because I know your time must\nbe precious--I have written it out on the typewriter for you.\"", "He took it and his eyes glistened.", "\"You are so good,\" he said.", "\"And may\nI read it now?", "I may want to ask you some things when I have read.\"", "\"By all means,\" I said, \"read it over whilst I order lunch; and then you\ncan ask me questions whilst we eat.\"", "He bowed and settled himself in a\nchair with his back to the light, and became absorbed in the papers,\nwhilst I went to see after lunch chiefly in order that he might not be\ndisturbed.", "When I came back, I found him walking hurriedly up and down\nthe room, his face all ablaze with excitement.", "He rushed up to me and\ntook me by both hands.", "\"Oh, Madam Mina,\" he said, \"how can I say what I owe to you?", "This paper\nis as sunshine.", "It opens the gate to me.", "I am daze, I am dazzle, with so\nmuch light, and yet clouds roll in behind the light every time.", "But that\nyou do not, cannot, comprehend.", "Oh, but I am grateful to you, you so\nclever woman.", "Madam\"--he said this very solemnly--\"if ever Abraham Van\nHelsing can do anything for you or yours, I trust you will let me know.", "It will be pleasure and delight if I may serve you as a friend; as a\nfriend, but all I have ever learned, all I can ever do, shall be for you\nand those you love.", "There are darknesses in life, and there are lights;\nyou are one of the lights.", "You will have happy life and good life, and\nyour husband will be blessed in you.\"", "\"But, doctor, you praise me too much, and--and you do not know me.\"", "\"Not know you--I, who am old, and who have studied all my life men and\nwomen; I, who have made my specialty the brain and all that belongs to\nhim and all that follow from him!", "And I have read your diary that you\nhave so goodly written for me, and which breathes out truth in every\nline.", "I, who have read your so sweet letter to poor Lucy of your\nmarriage and your trust, not know you!", "Oh, Madam Mina, good women tell\nall their lives, and by day and by hour and by minute, such things that\nangels can read; and we men who wish to know have in us something of\nangels' eyes.", "Your husband is noble nature, and you are noble too, for\nyou trust, and trust cannot be where there is mean nature.", "And your\nhusband--tell me of him.", "Is he quite well?", "Is all that fever gone, and\nis he strong and hearty?\"", "I saw here an opening to ask him about\nJonathan, so I said:--\n\n\"He was almost recovered, but he has been greatly upset by Mr. Hawkins's\ndeath.\"", "He interrupted:--\n\n\"Oh, yes, I know, I know.", "I have read your last two letters.\"", "I went\non:--\n\n\"I suppose this upset him, for when we were in town on Thursday last he\nhad a sort of shock.\"", "\"A shock, and after brain fever so soon!", "That was not good.", "What kind of\na shock was it?\"", "\"He thought he saw some one who recalled something terrible, something\nwhich led to his brain fever.\"", "And here the whole thing seemed to\noverwhelm me in a rush.", "The pity for Jonathan, the horror which he\nexperienced, the whole fearful mystery of his diary, and the fear that\nhas been brooding over me ever since, all came in a tumult.", "I suppose I\nwas hysterical, for I threw myself on my knees and held up my hands to\nhim, and implored him to make my husband well again.", "He took my hands\nand raised me up, and made me sit on the sofa, and sat by me; he held my\nhand in his, and said to me with, oh, such infinite sweetness:--\n\n\"My life is a barren and lonely one, and so full of work that I have not\nhad much time for friendships; but since I have been summoned to here by\nmy friend John Seward I have known so many good people and seen such\nnobility that I feel more than ever--and it has grown with my advancing\nyears--the loneliness of my life.", "Believe, me, then, that I come here\nfull of respect for you, and you have given me hope--hope, not in what I\nam seeking of, but that there are good women still left to make life\nhappy--good women, whose lives and whose truths may make good lesson for\nthe children that are to be.", "I am glad, glad, that I may here be of some\nuse to you; for if your husband suffer, he suffer within the range of my\nstudy and experience.", "I promise you that I will gladly do _all_ for him\nthat I can--all to make his life strong and manly, and your life a happy\none.", "Now you must eat.", "You are overwrought and perhaps over-anxious.", "Husband Jonathan would not like to see you so pale; and what he like not\nwhere he love, is not to his good.", "Therefore for his sake you must eat\nand smile.", "You have told me all about Lucy, and so now we shall not\nspeak of it, lest it distress.", "I shall stay in Exeter to-night, for I\nwant to think much over what you have told me, and when I have thought I\nwill ask you questions, if I may.", "And then, too, you will tell me of\nhusband Jonathan's trouble so far as you can, but not yet.", "You must eat\nnow; afterwards you shall tell me all.\"", "After lunch, when we went back to the drawing-room, he said to me:--\n\n\"And now tell me all about him.\"", "When it came to speaking to this great\nlearned man, I began to fear that he would think me a weak fool, and\nJonathan a madman--that journal is all so strange--and I hesitated to go\non.", "But he was so sweet and kind, and he had promised to help, and I\ntrusted him, so I said:--\n\n\"Dr. Van Helsing, what I have to tell you is so queer that you must not\nlaugh at me or at my husband.", "I have been since yesterday in a sort of\nfever of doubt; you must be kind to me, and not think me foolish that I\nhave even half believed some very strange things.\"", "He reassured me by\nhis manner as well as his words when he said:--\n\n\"Oh, my dear, if you only know how strange is the matter regarding which\nI am here, it is you who would laugh.", "I have learned not to think little\nof any one's belief, no matter how strange it be.", "I have tried to keep\nan open mind; and it is not the ordinary things of life that could close\nit, but the strange things, the extraordinary things, the things that\nmake one doubt if they be mad or sane.\"", "\"Thank you, thank you, a thousand times!", "You have taken a weight off my\nmind.", "If you will let me, I shall give you a paper to read.", "It is long,\nbut I have typewritten it out.", "It will tell you my trouble and\nJonathan's.", "It is the copy of his journal when abroad, and all that\nhappened.", "I dare not say anything of it; you will read for yourself and\njudge.", "And then when I see you, perhaps, you will be very kind and tell\nme what you think.\"", "\"I promise,\" he said as I gave him the papers; \"I shall in the morning,\nso soon as I can, come to see you and your husband, if I may.\"", "\"Jonathan will be here at half-past eleven, and you must come to lunch\nwith us and see him then; you could catch the quick 3:34 train, which\nwill leave you at Paddington before eight.\"", "He was surprised at my\nknowledge of the trains off-hand, but he does not know that I have made\nup all the trains to and from Exeter, so that I may help Jonathan in\ncase he is in a hurry.", "So he took the papers with him and went away, and I sit here\nthinking--thinking I don't know what.", "* * * * *\n\n_Letter (by hand), Van Helsing to Mrs. Harker._\n\n\"_25 September, 6 o'clock._\n\n\"Dear Madam Mina,--\n\n\"I have read your husband's so wonderful diary.", "You may sleep without\ndoubt.", "Strange and terrible as it is, it is _true_!", "I will pledge my\nlife on it.", "It may be worse for others; but for him and you there is no\ndread.", "He is a noble fellow; and let me tell you from experience of men,\nthat one who would do as he did in going down that wall and to that\nroom--ay, and going a second time--is not one to be injured in\npermanence by a shock.", "His brain and his heart are all right; this I\nswear, before I have even seen him; so be at rest.", "I shall have much to\nask him of other things.", "I am blessed that to-day I come to see you, for\nI have learn all at once so much that again I am dazzle--dazzle more\nthan ever, and I must think.", "\"Yours the most faithful,\n\n\"ABRAHAM VAN HELSING.\"", "_Letter, Mrs. Harker to Van Helsing._\n\n\"_25 September, 6:30 p. m._\n\n\"My dear Dr. Van Helsing,--\n\n\"A thousand thanks for your kind letter, which has taken a great weight\noff my mind.", "And yet, if it be true, what terrible things there are in\nthe world, and what an awful thing if that man, that monster, be really\nin London!", "I fear to think.", "I have this moment, whilst writing, had a\nwire from Jonathan, saying that he leaves by the 6:25 to-night from\nLaunceston and will be here at 10:18, so that I shall have no fear\nto-night.", "Will you, therefore, instead of lunching with us, please come\nto breakfast at eight o'clock, if this be not too early for you?", "You can\nget away, if you are in a hurry, by the 10:30 train, which will bring\nyou to Paddington by 2:35.", "Do not answer this, as I shall take it that,\nif I do not hear, you will come to breakfast.", "\"Believe me,\n\n\"Your faithful and grateful friend,\n\n\"MINA HARKER.\"", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_26 September._--I thought never to write in this diary again, but the\ntime has come.", "When I got home last night Mina had supper ready, and\nwhen we had supped she told me of Van Helsing's visit, and of her having\ngiven him the two diaries copied out, and of how anxious she has been\nabout me.", "She showed me in the doctor's letter that all I wrote down was\ntrue.", "It seems to have made a new man of me.", "It was the doubt as to the\nreality of the whole thing that knocked me over.", "I felt impotent, and in\nthe dark, and distrustful.", "But, now that I _know_, I am not afraid, even\nof the Count.", "He has succeeded after all, then, in his design in getting\nto London, and it was he I saw.", "He has got younger, and how?", "Van Helsing\nis the man to unmask him and hunt him out, if he is anything like what\nMina says.", "We sat late, and talked it all over.", "Mina is dressing, and I\nshall call at the hotel in a few minutes and bring him over....", "He was, I think, surprised to see me.", "When I came into the room where he\nwas, and introduced myself, he took me by the shoulder, and turned my\nface round to the light, and said, after a sharp scrutiny:--\n\n\"But Madam Mina told me you were ill, that you had had a shock.\"", "It was\nso funny to hear my wife called \"Madam Mina\" by this kindly,\nstrong-faced old man.", "I smiled, and said:--\n\n\"I _was_ ill, I _have_ had a shock; but you have cured me already.\"", "\"And how?\"", "\"By your letter to Mina last night.", "I was in doubt, and then everything\ntook a hue of unreality, and I did not know what to trust, even the\nevidence of my own senses.", "Not knowing what to trust, I did not know\nwhat to do; and so had only to keep on working in what had hitherto been\nthe groove of my life.", "The groove ceased to avail me, and I mistrusted\nmyself.", "Doctor, you don't know what it is to doubt everything, even\nyourself.", "No, you don't; you couldn't with eyebrows like yours.\"", "He\nseemed pleased, and laughed as he said:--\n\n\"So!", "You are physiognomist.", "I learn more here with each hour.", "I am with\nso much pleasure coming to you to breakfast; and, oh, sir, you will\npardon praise from an old man, but you are blessed in your wife.\"", "I\nwould listen to him go on praising Mina for a day, so I simply nodded\nand stood silent.", "\"She is one of God's women, fashioned by His own hand to show us men and\nother women that there is a heaven where we can enter, and that its\nlight can be here on earth.", "So true, so sweet, so noble, so little an\negoist--and that, let me tell you, is much in this age, so sceptical and\nselfish.", "And you, sir--I have read all the letters to poor Miss Lucy,\nand some of them speak of you, so I know you since some days from the\nknowing of others; but I have seen your true self since last night.", "You\nwill give me your hand, will you not?", "And let us be friends for all our\nlives.\"", "We shook hands, and he was so earnest and so kind that it made me quite\nchoky.", "\"And now,\" he said, \"may I ask you for some more help?", "I have a great\ntask to do, and at the beginning it is to know.", "You can help me here.", "Can you tell me what went before your going to Transylvania?", "Later on I\nmay ask more help, and of a different kind; but at first this will do.\"", "\"Look here, sir,\" I said, \"does what you have to do concern the Count?\"", "\"It does,\" he said solemnly.", "\"Then I am with you heart and soul.", "As you go by the 10:30 train, you\nwill not have time to read them; but I shall get the bundle of papers.", "You can take them with you and read them in the train.\"", "After breakfast I saw him to the station.", "When we were parting he\nsaid:--\n\n\"Perhaps you will come to town if I send to you, and take Madam Mina\ntoo.\"", "\"We shall both come when you will,\" I said.", "I had got him the morning papers and the London papers of the previous\nnight, and while we were talking at the carriage window, waiting for the\ntrain to start, he was turning them over.", "His eyes suddenly seemed to\ncatch something in one of them, \"The Westminster Gazette\"--I knew it by\nthe colour--and he grew quite white.", "He read something intently,\ngroaning to himself: \"Mein Gott!", "Mein Gott!", "So soon!", "so soon!\"", "I do not\nthink he remembered me at the moment.", "Just then the whistle blew, and\nthe train moved off.", "This recalled him to himself, and he leaned out of\nthe window and waved his hand, calling out: \"Love to Madam Mina; I shall\nwrite so soon as ever I can.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_26 September._--Truly there is no such thing as finality.", "Not a week\nsince I said \"Finis,\" and yet here I am starting fresh again, or rather\ngoing on with the same record.", "Until this afternoon I had no cause to\nthink of what is done.", "Renfield had become, to all intents, as sane as\nhe ever was.", "He was already well ahead with his fly business; and he had\njust started in the spider line also; so he had not been of any trouble\nto me.", "I had a letter from Arthur, written on Sunday, and from it I\ngather that he is bearing up wonderfully well.", "Quincey Morris is with\nhim, and that is much of a help, for he himself is a bubbling well of\ngood spirits.", "Quincey wrote me a line too, and from him I hear that\nArthur is beginning to recover something of his old buoyancy; so as to\nthem all my mind is at rest.", "As for myself, I was settling down to my\nwork with the enthusiasm which I used to have for it, so that I might\nfairly have said that the wound which poor Lucy left on me was becoming\ncicatrised.", "Everything is, however, now reopened; and what is to be the\nend God only knows.", "I have an idea that Van Helsing thinks he knows,\ntoo, but he will only let out enough at a time to whet curiosity.", "He\nwent to Exeter yesterday, and stayed there all night.", "To-day he came\nback, and almost bounded into the room at about half-past five o'clock,\nand thrust last night's \"Westminster Gazette\" into my hand.", "\"What do you think of that?\"", "he asked as he stood back and folded his\narms.", "I looked over the paper, for I really did not know what he meant; but he\ntook it from me and pointed out a paragraph about children being decoyed\naway at Hampstead.", "It did not convey much to me, until I reached a\npassage where it described small punctured wounds on their throats.", "An\nidea struck me, and I looked up.", "\"Well?\"", "he said.", "\"It is like poor Lucy's.\"", "\"And what do you make of it?\"", "\"Simply that there is some cause in common.", "Whatever it was that injured\nher has injured them.\"", "I did not quite understand his answer:--\n\n\"That is true indirectly, but not directly.\"", "\"How do you mean, Professor?\"", "I asked.", "I was a little inclined to take\nhis seriousness lightly--for, after all, four days of rest and freedom\nfrom burning, harrowing anxiety does help to restore one's spirits--but\nwhen I saw his face, it sobered me.", "Never, even in the midst of our\ndespair about poor Lucy, had he looked more stern.", "\"Tell me!\"", "I said.", "\"I can hazard no opinion.", "I do not know what to\nthink, and I have no data on which to found a conjecture.\"", "\"Do you mean to tell me, friend John, that you have no suspicion as to\nwhat poor Lucy died of; not after all the hints given, not only by\nevents, but by me?\"", "\"Of nervous prostration following on great loss or waste of blood.\"", "\"And how the blood lost or waste?\"", "I shook my head.", "He stepped over and\nsat down beside me, and went on:--\n\n\"You are clever man, friend John; you reason well, and your wit is bold;\nbut you are too prejudiced.", "You do not let your eyes see nor your ears\nhear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to\nyou.", "Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand,\nand yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?", "But\nthere are things old and new which must not be contemplate by men's\neyes, because they know--or think they know--some things which other men\nhave told them.", "Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to\nexplain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to\nexplain.", "But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs,\nwhich think themselves new; and which are yet but the old, which pretend\nto be young--like the fine ladies at the opera.", "I suppose now you do not\nbelieve in corporeal transference.", "No?", "Nor in materialisation.", "No?", "Nor\nin astral bodies.", "No?", "Nor in the reading of thought.", "No?", "Nor in\nhypnotism----\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I said.", "\"Charcot has proved that pretty well.\"", "He smiled as he\nwent on: \"Then you are satisfied as to it.", "Yes?", "And of course then you\nunderstand how it act, and can follow the mind of the great\nCharcot--alas that he is no more!--into the very soul of the patient\nthat he influence.", "No?", "Then, friend John, am I to take it that you\nsimply accept fact, and are satisfied to let from premise to conclusion\nbe a blank?", "No?", "Then tell me--for I am student of the brain--how you\naccept the hypnotism and reject the thought reading.", "Let me tell you, my\nfriend, that there are things done to-day in electrical science which\nwould have been deemed unholy by the very men who discovered\nelectricity--who would themselves not so long before have been burned\nas wizards.", "There are always mysteries in life.", "Why was it that\nMethuselah lived nine hundred years, and 'Old Parr' one hundred and\nsixty-nine, and yet that poor Lucy, with four men's blood in her poor\nveins, could not live even one day?", "For, had she live one more day, we\ncould have save her.", "Do you know all the mystery of life and death?", "Do\nyou know the altogether of comparative anatomy and can say wherefore the\nqualities of brutes are in some men, and not in others?", "Can you tell me\nwhy, when other spiders die small and soon, that one great spider lived\nfor centuries in the tower of the old Spanish church and grew and grew,\ntill, on descending, he could drink the oil of all the church lamps?", "Can\nyou tell me why in the Pampas, ay and elsewhere, there are bats that\ncome at night and open the veins of cattle and horses and suck dry their\nveins; how in some islands of the Western seas there are bats which hang\non the trees all day, and those who have seen describe as like giant\nnuts or pods, and that when the sailors sleep on the deck, because that\nit is hot, flit down on them, and then--and then in the morning are\nfound dead men, white as even Miss Lucy was?\"", "\"Good God, Professor!\"", "I said, starting up.", "\"Do you mean to tell me that\nLucy was bitten by such a bat; and that such a thing is here in London\nin the nineteenth century?\"", "He waved his hand for silence, and went\non:--\n\n\"Can you tell me why the tortoise lives more long than generations of\nmen; why the elephant goes on and on till he have seen dynasties; and\nwhy the parrot never die only of bite of cat or dog or other complaint?", "Can you tell me why men believe in all ages and places that there are\nsome few who live on always if they be permit; that there are men and\nwomen who cannot die?", "We all know--because science has vouched for the\nfact--that there have been toads shut up in rocks for thousands of\nyears, shut in one so small hole that only hold him since the youth of\nthe world.", "Can you tell me how the Indian fakir can make himself to die\nand have been buried, and his grave sealed and corn sowed on it, and the\ncorn reaped and be cut and sown and reaped and cut again, and then men\ncome and take away the unbroken seal and that there lie the Indian\nfakir, not dead, but that rise up and walk amongst them as before?\"", "Here\nI interrupted him.", "I was getting bewildered; he so crowded on my mind\nhis list of nature's eccentricities and possible impossibilities that my\nimagination was getting fired.", "I had a dim idea that he was teaching me\nsome lesson, as long ago he used to do in his study at Amsterdam; but\nhe used then to tell me the thing, so that I could have the object of\nthought in mind all the time.", "But now I was without this help, yet I\nwanted to follow him, so I said:--\n\n\"Professor, let me be your pet student again.", "Tell me the thesis, so\nthat I may apply your knowledge as you go on.", "At present I am going in\nmy mind from point to point as a mad man, and not a sane one, follows an\nidea.", "I feel like a novice lumbering through a bog in a mist, jumping\nfrom one tussock to another in the mere blind effort to move on without\nknowing where I am going.\"", "\"That is good image,\" he said.", "\"Well, I shall tell you.", "My thesis is\nthis: I want you to believe.\"", "\"To believe what?\"", "\"To believe in things that you cannot.", "Let me illustrate.", "I heard once\nof an American who so defined faith: 'that faculty which enables us to\nbelieve things which we know to be untrue.'", "For one, I follow that man.", "He meant that we shall have an open mind, and not let a little bit of\ntruth check the rush of a big truth, like a small rock does a railway\ntruck.", "We get the small truth first.", "Good!", "We keep him, and we value\nhim; but all the same we must not let him think himself all the truth in\nthe universe.\"", "\"Then you want me not to let some previous conviction injure the\nreceptivity of my mind with regard to some strange matter.", "Do I read\nyour lesson aright?\"", "\"Ah, you are my favourite pupil still.", "It is worth to teach you.", "Now\nthat you are willing to understand, you have taken the first step to\nunderstand.", "You think then that those so small holes in the children's\nthroats were made by the same that made the hole in Miss Lucy?\"", "\"I suppose so.\"", "He stood up and said solemnly:--\n\n\"Then you are wrong.", "Oh, would it were so!", "but alas!", "no.", "It is worse,\nfar, far worse.\"", "\"In God's name, Professor Van Helsing, what do you mean?\"", "I cried.", "He threw himself with a despairing gesture into a chair, and placed his\nelbows on the table, covering his face with his hands as he spoke:--\n\n\"They were made by Miss Lucy!\"" ]

[ "I remember how on our\nwedding-day he said: \"Unless some solemn duty come upon me to go back to\nthe bitter hours, asleep or awake, mad or sane.\"", "I shall say nothing of Jonathan's journal unless he asks me.", "Oh, what a strange meeting, and how it\nall makes my head whirl round!", "Again I assented.", "You have told me all about Lucy, and so now we shall not\nspeak of it, lest it distress.", "_Letter, Mrs. Harker to Van Helsing._\n\n\"_25 September, 6:30 p. m._\n\n\"My dear Dr. Van Helsing,--\n\n\"A thousand thanks for your kind letter, which has taken a great weight\noff my mind.", "He stepped over and\nsat down beside me, and went on:--\n\n\"You are clever man, friend John; you reason well, and your wit is bold;\nbut you are too prejudiced.", "Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand,\nand yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?", "He smiled as he\nwent on: \"Then you are satisfied as to it.", "For one, I follow that man." ]

[ "It may be worse for others; but for him and you there is no\ndread.", "\"A shock, and after brain fever so soon!", "Quincey Morris is with\nhim, and that is much of a help, for he himself is a bubbling well of\ngood spirits.", "He will be away all day till late, for he said he could not lunch\nat home.", "I had got him the morning papers and the London papers of the previous\nnight, and while we were talking at the carriage window, waiting for the\ntrain to start, he was turning them over.", "_Telegram, Mrs. Harker to Van Helsing._\n\n\"_25 September._--Come to-day by quarter-past ten train if you can catch\nit.", "But\nthere are things old and new which must not be contemplate by men's\neyes, because they know--or think they know--some things which other men\nhave told them.", "Why was it that\nMethuselah lived nine hundred years, and 'Old Parr' one hundred and\nsixty-nine, and yet that poor Lucy, with four men's blood in her poor\nveins, could not live even one day?", "No?", "He rushed up to me and\ntook me by both hands." ]

[ "\"I promise,\" he said as I gave him the papers; \"I shall in the morning,\nso soon as I can, come to see you and your husband, if I may.\"", "\"Jonathan will be here at half-past eleven, and you must come to lunch\nwith us and see him then; you could catch the quick 3:34 train, which\nwill leave you at Paddington before eight.\"", "He was surprised at my\nknowledge of the trains off-hand, but he does not know that I have made\nup all the trains to and from Exeter, so that I may help Jonathan in\ncase he is in a hurry.", "So he took the papers with him and went away, and I sit here\nthinking--thinking I don't know what.", "* * * * *\n\n_Letter (by hand), Van Helsing to Mrs. Harker._\n\n\"_25 September, 6 o'clock._\n\n\"Dear Madam Mina,--\n\n\"I have read your husband's so wonderful diary.", "You may sleep without\ndoubt.", "Strange and terrible as it is, it is _true_!", "I will pledge my\nlife on it.", "It may be worse for others; but for him and you there is no\ndread.", "He is a noble fellow; and let me tell you from experience of men,\nthat one who would do as he did in going down that wall and to that\nroom--ay, and going a second time--is not one to be injured in\npermanence by a shock.", "His brain and his heart are all right; this I\nswear, before I have even seen him; so be at rest." ]

[ "\n_23 September_.--Jonathan is better after a bad night.", "I am so glad that\nhe has plenty of work to do, for that keeps his mind off the terrible\nthings; and oh, I am rejoiced that he is not now weighed down with the\nresponsibility of his new position.", "I knew he would be true to himself,\nand now how proud I am to see my Jonathan rising to the height of his\nadvancement and keeping pace in all ways with the duties that come upon\nhim.", "He will be away all day till late, for he said he could not lunch\nat home.", "My household work is done, so I shall take his foreign journal,\nand lock myself up in my room and read it....\n\n\n_24 September_.--I hadn't the heart to write last night; that terrible\nrecord of Jonathan's upset me so.", "Poor dear!", "How he must have suffered,\nwhether it be true or only imagination.", "I wonder if there is any truth\nin it at all.", "Did he get his brain fever, and then write all those\nterrible things, or had he some cause for it all?", "I suppose I shall\nnever know, for I dare not open the subject to him.... And yet that man\nwe saw yesterday!", "You think then that those so small holes in the children's\nthroats were made by the same that made the hole in Miss Lucy?\"", "\"I suppose so.\"", "He stood up and said solemnly:--\n\n\"Then you are wrong.", "Oh, would it were so!", "but alas!", "no.", "It is worse,\nfar, far worse.\"", "\"In God's name, Professor Van Helsing, what do you mean?\"", "I cried.", "He threw himself with a despairing gesture into a chair, and placed his\nelbows on the table, covering his face with his hands as he spoke:--\n\n\"They were made by Miss Lucy!\"" ]

[ "\nFor a while sheer anger mastered me; it was as if he had during her life\nstruck Lucy on the face.", "I smote the table hard and rose up as I said to\nhim:--\n\n\"Dr. Van Helsing, are you mad?\"", "He raised his head and looked at me, and\nsomehow the tenderness of his face calmed me at once.", "\"Would I were!\"", "he\nsaid.", "\"Madness were easy to bear compared with truth like this.", "Oh, my\nfriend, why, think you, did I go so far round, why take so long to tell\nyou so simple a thing?", "Was it because I hate you and have hated you all\nmy life?", "Was it because I wished to give you pain?", "Was it that I wanted,\nnow so late, revenge for that time when you saved my life, and from a\nfearful death?", "Ah no!\"", "\"Forgive me,\" said I.", "He went on:--\n\n\"My friend, it was because I wished to be gentle in the breaking to you,\nfor I know you have loved that so sweet lady.", "But even yet I do not\nexpect you to believe.", "It is so hard to accept at once any abstract\ntruth, that we may doubt such to be possible when we have always\nbelieved the 'no' of it; it is more hard still to accept so sad a\nconcrete truth, and of such a one as Miss Lucy.", "To-night I go to prove\nit.", "Dare you come with me?\"", "This staggered me.", "A man does not like to prove such a truth; Byron\nexcepted from the category, jealousy.", "\"And prove the very truth he most abhorred.\"", "He saw my hesitation, and spoke:--\n\n\"The logic is simple, no madman's logic this time, jumping from tussock\nto tussock in a misty bog.", "If it be not true, then proof will be relief;\nat worst it will not harm.", "If it be true!", "Ah, there is the dread; yet\nvery dread should help my cause, for in it is some need of belief.", "Come,\nI tell you what I propose: first, that we go off now and see that child\nin the hospital.", "Dr. Vincent, of the North Hospital, where the papers\nsay the child is, is friend of mine, and I think of yours since you were\nin class at Amsterdam.", "He will let two scientists see his case, if he\nwill not let two friends.", "We shall tell him nothing, but only that we\nwish to learn.", "And then----\"\n\n\"And then?\"", "He took a key from his pocket and held it up.", "\"And then we\nspend the night, you and I, in the churchyard where Lucy lies.", "This is\nthe key that lock the tomb.", "I had it from the coffin-man to give to\nArthur.\"", "My heart sank within me, for I felt that there was some fearful\nordeal before us.", "I could do nothing, however, so I plucked up what\nheart I could and said that we had better hasten, as the afternoon was\npassing....\n\nWe found the child awake.", "It had had a sleep and taken some food, and\naltogether was going on well.", "Dr. Vincent took the bandage from its\nthroat, and showed us the punctures.", "There was no mistaking the\nsimilarity to those which had been on Lucy's throat.", "They were smaller,\nand the edges looked fresher; that was all.", "We asked Vincent to what he\nattributed them, and he replied that it must have been a bite of some\nanimal, perhaps a rat; but, for his own part, he was inclined to think\nthat it was one of the bats which are so numerous on the northern\nheights of London.", "\"Out of so many harmless ones,\" he said, \"there may\nbe some wild specimen from the South of a more malignant species.", "Some\nsailor may have brought one home, and it managed to escape; or even from\nthe Zooelogical Gardens a young one may have got loose, or one be bred\nthere from a vampire.", "These things do occur, you know.", "Only ten days ago\na wolf got out, and was, I believe, traced up in this direction.", "For a\nweek after, the children were playing nothing but Red Riding Hood on the\nHeath and in every alley in the place until this 'bloofer lady' scare\ncame along, since when it has been quite a gala-time with them.", "Even\nthis poor little mite, when he woke up to-day, asked the nurse if he\nmight go away.", "When she asked him why he wanted to go, he said he wanted\nto play with the 'bloofer lady.'\"", "\"I hope,\" said Van Helsing, \"that when you are sending the child home\nyou will caution its parents to keep strict watch over it.", "These fancies\nto stray are most dangerous; and if the child were to remain out another\nnight, it would probably be fatal.", "But in any case I suppose you will\nnot let it away for some days?\"", "\"Certainly not, not for a week at least; longer if the wound is not\nhealed.\"", "Our visit to the hospital took more time than we had reckoned on, and\nthe sun had dipped before we came out.", "When Van Helsing saw how dark it\nwas, he said:--\n\n\"There is no hurry.", "It is more late than I thought.", "Come, let us seek\nsomewhere that we may eat, and then we shall go on our way.\"", "We dined at \"Jack Straw's Castle\" along with a little crowd of\nbicyclists and others who were genially noisy.", "About ten o'clock we\nstarted from the inn.", "It was then very dark, and the scattered lamps\nmade the darkness greater when we were once outside their individual\nradius.", "The Professor had evidently noted the road we were to go, for he\nwent on unhesitatingly; but, as for me, I was in quite a mixup as to\nlocality.", "As we went further, we met fewer and fewer people, till at\nlast we were somewhat surprised when we met even the patrol of horse\npolice going their usual suburban round.", "At last we reached the wall of\nthe churchyard, which we climbed over.", "With some little difficulty--for\nit was very dark, and the whole place seemed so strange to us--we found\nthe Westenra tomb.", "The Professor took the key, opened the creaky door,\nand standing back, politely, but quite unconsciously, motioned me to\nprecede him.", "There was a delicious irony in the offer, in the\ncourtliness of giving preference on such a ghastly occasion.", "My\ncompanion followed me quickly, and cautiously drew the door to, after\ncarefully ascertaining that the lock was a falling, and not a spring,\none.", "In the latter case we should have been in a bad plight.", "Then he\nfumbled in his bag, and taking out a matchbox and a piece of candle,\nproceeded to make a light.", "The tomb in the day-time, and when wreathed\nwith fresh flowers, had looked grim and gruesome enough; but now, some\ndays afterwards, when the flowers hung lank and dead, their whites\nturning to rust and their greens to browns; when the spider and the\nbeetle had resumed their accustomed dominance; when time-discoloured\nstone, and dust-encrusted mortar, and rusty, dank iron, and tarnished\nbrass, and clouded silver-plating gave back the feeble glimmer of a\ncandle, the effect was more miserable and sordid than could have been\nimagined.", "It conveyed irresistibly the idea that life--animal life--was\nnot the only thing which could pass away.", "Van Helsing went about his work systematically.", "Holding his candle so\nthat he could read the coffin plates, and so holding it that the sperm\ndropped in white patches which congealed as they touched the metal, he\nmade assurance of Lucy's coffin.", "Another search in his bag, and he took\nout a turnscrew.", "\"What are you going to do?\"", "I asked.", "\"To open the coffin.", "You shall yet be convinced.\"", "Straightway he began\ntaking out the screws, and finally lifted off the lid, showing the\ncasing of lead beneath.", "The sight was almost too much for me.", "It seemed\nto be as much an affront to the dead as it would have been to have\nstripped off her clothing in her sleep whilst living; I actually took\nhold of his hand to stop him.", "He only said: \"You shall see,\" and again\nfumbling in his bag, took out a tiny fret-saw.", "Striking the turnscrew\nthrough the lead with a swift downward stab, which made me wince, he\nmade a small hole, which was, however, big enough to admit the point of\nthe saw.", "I had expected a rush of gas from the week-old corpse.", "We\ndoctors, who have had to study our dangers, have to become accustomed to\nsuch things, and I drew back towards the door.", "But the Professor never\nstopped for a moment; he sawed down a couple of feet along one side of\nthe lead coffin, and then across, and down the other side.", "Taking the\nedge of the loose flange, he bent it back towards the foot of the\ncoffin, and holding up the candle into the aperture, motioned to me to\nlook.", "I drew near and looked.", "The coffin was empty.", "It was certainly a surprise to me, and gave me a considerable shock, but\nVan Helsing was unmoved.", "He was now more sure than ever of his ground,\nand so emboldened to proceed in his task.", "\"Are you satisfied now, friend\nJohn?\"", "he asked.", "I felt all the dogged argumentativeness of my nature awake within me as\nI answered him:--\n\n\"I am satisfied that Lucy's body is not in that coffin; but that only\nproves one thing.\"", "\"And what is that, friend John?\"", "\"That it is not there.\"", "\"That is good logic,\" he said, \"so far as it goes.", "But how do you--how\ncan you--account for it not being there?\"", "\"Perhaps a body-snatcher,\" I suggested.", "\"Some of the undertaker's people\nmay have stolen it.\"", "I felt that I was speaking folly, and yet it was\nthe only real cause which I could suggest.", "The Professor sighed.", "\"Ah\nwell!\"", "he said, \"we must have more proof.", "Come with me.\"", "He put on the coffin-lid again, gathered up all his things and placed\nthem in the bag, blew out the light, and placed the candle also in the\nbag.", "We opened the door, and went out.", "Behind us he closed the door and\nlocked it.", "He handed me the key, saying: \"Will you keep it?", "You had\nbetter be assured.\"", "I laughed--it was not a very cheerful laugh, I am\nbound to say--as I motioned him to keep it.", "\"A key is nothing,\" I said;\n\"there may be duplicates; and anyhow it is not difficult to pick a lock\nof that kind.\"", "He said nothing, but put the key in his pocket.", "Then he\ntold me to watch at one side of the churchyard whilst he would watch at\nthe other.", "I took up my place behind a yew-tree, and I saw his dark\nfigure move until the intervening headstones and trees hid it from my\nsight.", "It was a lonely vigil.", "Just after I had taken my place I heard a distant\nclock strike twelve, and in time came one and two.", "I was chilled and\nunnerved, and angry with the Professor for taking me on such an errand\nand with myself for coming.", "I was too cold and too sleepy to be keenly\nobservant, and not sleepy enough to betray my trust so altogether I had\na dreary, miserable time.", "Suddenly, as I turned round, I thought I saw something like a white\nstreak, moving between two dark yew-trees at the side of the churchyard\nfarthest from the tomb; at the same time a dark mass moved from the\nProfessor's side of the ground, and hurriedly went towards it.", "Then I\ntoo moved; but I had to go round headstones and railed-off tombs, and I\nstumbled over graves.", "The sky was overcast, and somewhere far off an\nearly cock crew.", "A little way off, beyond a line of scattered\njuniper-trees, which marked the pathway to the church, a white, dim\nfigure flitted in the direction of the tomb.", "The tomb itself was hidden\nby trees, and I could not see where the figure disappeared.", "I heard the\nrustle of actual movement where I had first seen the white figure, and\ncoming over, found the Professor holding in his arms a tiny child.", "When\nhe saw me he held it out to me, and said:--\n\n\"Are you satisfied now?\"", "\"No,\" I said, in a way that I felt was aggressive.", "\"Do you not see the child?\"", "\"Yes, it is a child, but who brought it here?", "And is it wounded?\"", "I\nasked.", "\"We shall see,\" said the Professor, and with one impulse we took our way\nout of the churchyard, he carrying the sleeping child.", "When we had got some little distance away, we went into a clump of\ntrees, and struck a match, and looked at the child's throat.", "It was\nwithout a scratch or scar of any kind.", "\"Was I right?\"", "I asked triumphantly.", "\"We were just in time,\" said the Professor thankfully.", "We had now to decide what we were to do with the child, and so consulted\nabout it.", "If we were to take it to a police-station we should have to\ngive some account of our movements during the night; at least, we should\nhave had to make some statement as to how we had come to find the child.", "So finally we decided that we would take it to the Heath, and when we\nheard a policeman coming, would leave it where he could not fail to find\nit; we would then seek our way home as quickly as we could.", "All fell out\nwell.", "At the edge of Hampstead Heath we heard a policeman's heavy\ntramp, and laying the child on the pathway, we waited and watched until\nhe saw it as he flashed his lantern to and fro.", "We heard his exclamation\nof astonishment, and then we went away silently.", "By good chance we got a\ncab near the \"Spaniards,\" and drove to town.", "I cannot sleep, so I make this entry.", "But I must try to get a few hours'\nsleep, as Van Helsing is to call for me at noon.", "He insists that I shall\ngo with him on another expedition.", "* * * * *\n\n_27 September._--It was two o'clock before we found a suitable\nopportunity for our attempt.", "The funeral held at noon was all completed,\nand the last stragglers of the mourners had taken themselves lazily\naway, when, looking carefully from behind a clump of alder-trees, we saw\nthe sexton lock the gate after him.", "We knew then that we were safe till\nmorning did we desire it; but the Professor told me that we should not\nwant more than an hour at most.", "Again I felt that horrid sense of the\nreality of things, in which any effort of imagination seemed out of\nplace; and I realised distinctly the perils of the law which we were\nincurring in our unhallowed work.", "Besides, I felt it was all so useless.", "Outrageous as it was to open a leaden coffin, to see if a woman dead\nnearly a week were really dead, it now seemed the height of folly to\nopen the tomb again, when we knew, from the evidence of our own\neyesight, that the coffin was empty.", "I shrugged my shoulders, however,\nand rested silent, for Van Helsing had a way of going on his own road,\nno matter who remonstrated.", "He took the key, opened the vault, and again\ncourteously motioned me to precede.", "The place was not so gruesome as\nlast night, but oh, how unutterably mean-looking when the sunshine\nstreamed in.", "Van Helsing walked over to Lucy's coffin, and I followed.", "He bent over and again forced back the leaden flange; and then a shock\nof surprise and dismay shot through me.", "There lay Lucy, seemingly just as we had seen her the night before her\nfuneral.", "She was, if possible, more radiantly beautiful than ever; and I\ncould not believe that she was dead.", "The lips were red, nay redder than\nbefore; and on the cheeks was a delicate bloom.", "\"Is this a juggle?\"", "I said to him.", "\"Are you convinced now?\"", "said the Professor in response, and as he spoke\nhe put over his hand, and in a way that made me shudder, pulled back the\ndead lips and showed the white teeth.", "\"See,\" he went on, \"see, they are even sharper than before.", "With this\nand this\"--and he touched one of the canine teeth and that below\nit--\"the little children can be bitten.", "Are you of belief now, friend\nJohn?\"", "Once more, argumentative hostility woke within me.", "I _could_ not\naccept such an overwhelming idea as he suggested; so, with an attempt to\nargue of which I was even at the moment ashamed, I said:--\n\n\"She may have been placed here since last night.\"", "\"Indeed?", "That is so, and by whom?\"", "\"I do not know.", "Some one has done it.\"", "\"And yet she has been dead one week.", "Most peoples in that time would not\nlook so.\"", "I had no answer for this, so was silent.", "Van Helsing did not\nseem to notice my silence; at any rate, he showed neither chagrin nor\ntriumph.", "He was looking intently at the face of the dead woman, raising\nthe eyelids and looking at the eyes, and once more opening the lips and\nexamining the teeth.", "Then he turned to me and said:--\n\n\"Here, there is one thing which is different from all recorded; here is\nsome dual life that is not as the common.", "She was bitten by the vampire\nwhen she was in a trance, sleep-walking--oh, you start; you do not know\nthat, friend John, but you shall know it all later--and in trance could\nhe best come to take more blood.", "In trance she died, and in trance she\nis Un-Dead, too.", "So it is that she differ from all other.", "Usually when\nthe Un-Dead sleep at home\"--as he spoke he made a comprehensive sweep of\nhis arm to designate what to a vampire was \"home\"--\"their face show what\nthey are, but this so sweet that was when she not Un-Dead she go back to\nthe nothings of the common dead.", "There is no malign there, see, and so\nit make hard that I must kill her in her sleep.\"", "This turned my blood\ncold, and it began to dawn upon me that I was accepting Van Helsing's\ntheories; but if she were really dead, what was there of terror in the\nidea of killing her?", "He looked up at me, and evidently saw the change in\nmy face, for he said almost joyously:--\n\n\"Ah, you believe now?\"", "I answered: \"Do not press me too hard all at once.", "I am willing to\naccept.", "How will you do this bloody work?\"", "\"I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall\ndrive a stake through her body.\"", "It made me shudder to think of so\nmutilating the body of the woman whom I had loved.", "And yet the feeling\nwas not so strong as I had expected.", "I was, in fact, beginning to\nshudder at the presence of this being, this Un-Dead, as Van Helsing\ncalled it, and to loathe it.", "Is it possible that love is all subjective,\nor all objective?", "I waited a considerable time for Van Helsing to begin, but he stood as\nif wrapped in thought.", "Presently he closed the catch of his bag with a\nsnap, and said:--\n\n\"I have been thinking, and have made up my mind as to what is best.", "If I\ndid simply follow my inclining I would do now, at this moment, what is\nto be done; but there are other things to follow, and things that are\nthousand times more difficult in that them we do not know.", "This is\nsimple.", "She have yet no life taken, though that is of time; and to act\nnow would be to take danger from her for ever.", "But then we may have to\nwant Arthur, and how shall we tell him of this?", "If you, who saw the\nwounds on Lucy's throat, and saw the wounds so similar on the child's at\nthe hospital; if you, who saw the coffin empty last night and full\nto-day with a woman who have not change only to be more rose and more\nbeautiful in a whole week, after she die--if you know of this and know\nof the white figure last night that brought the child to the churchyard,\nand yet of your own senses you did not believe, how, then, can I expect\nArthur, who know none of those things, to believe?", "He doubted me when I\ntook him from her kiss when she was dying.", "I know he has forgiven me\nbecause in some mistaken idea I have done things that prevent him say\ngood-bye as he ought; and he may think that in some more mistaken idea\nthis woman was buried alive; and that in most mistake of all we have\nkilled her.", "He will then argue back that it is we, mistaken ones, that\nhave killed her by our ideas; and so he will be much unhappy always.", "Yet\nhe never can be sure; and that is the worst of all.", "And he will\nsometimes think that she he loved was buried alive, and that will paint\nhis dreams with horrors of what she must have suffered; and again, he\nwill think that we may be right, and that his so beloved was, after all,\nan Un-Dead.", "No!", "I told him once, and since then I learn much.", "Now, since\nI know it is all true, a hundred thousand times more do I know that he\nmust pass through the bitter waters to reach the sweet.", "He, poor fellow,\nmust have one hour that will make the very face of heaven grow black to\nhim; then we can act for good all round and send him peace.", "My mind is\nmade up.", "Let us go.", "You return home for to-night to your asylum, and see\nthat all be well.", "As for me, I shall spend the night here in this\nchurchyard in my own way.", "To-morrow night you will come to me to the\nBerkeley Hotel at ten of the clock.", "I shall send for Arthur to come too,\nand also that so fine young man of America that gave his blood.", "Later we\nshall all have work to do.", "I come with you so far as Piccadilly and\nthere dine, for I must be back here before the sun set.\"", "So we locked the tomb and came away, and got over the wall of the\nchurchyard, which was not much of a task, and drove back to Piccadilly.", "_Note left by Van Helsing in his portmanteau, Berkeley Hotel directed to\nJohn Seward, M. D._\n\n(Not delivered.)", "\"_27 September._\n\n\"Friend John,--\n\n\"I write this in case anything should happen.", "I go alone to watch in\nthat churchyard.", "It pleases me that the Un-Dead, Miss Lucy, shall not\nleave to-night, that so on the morrow night she may be more eager.", "Therefore I shall fix some things she like not--garlic and a\ncrucifix--and so seal up the door of the tomb.", "She is young as Un-Dead,\nand will heed.", "Moreover, these are only to prevent her coming out; they\nmay not prevail on her wanting to get in; for then the Un-Dead is\ndesperate, and must find the line of least resistance, whatsoever it may\nbe.", "I shall be at hand all the night from sunset till after the sunrise,\nand if there be aught that may be learned I shall learn it.", "For Miss\nLucy or from her, I have no fear; but that other to whom is there that\nshe is Un-Dead, he have now the power to seek her tomb and find shelter.", "He is cunning, as I know from Mr. Jonathan and from the way that all\nalong he have fooled us when he played with us for Miss Lucy's life, and\nwe lost; and in many ways the Un-Dead are strong.", "He have always the\nstrength in his hand of twenty men; even we four who gave our strength\nto Miss Lucy it also is all to him.", "Besides, he can summon his wolf and\nI know not what.", "So if it be that he come thither on this night he shall\nfind me; but none other shall--until it be too late.", "But it may be that\nhe will not attempt the place.", "There is no reason why he should; his\nhunting ground is more full of game than the churchyard where the\nUn-Dead woman sleep, and the one old man watch.", "\"Therefore I write this in case.... Take the papers that are with this,\nthe diaries of Harker and the rest, and read them, and then find this\ngreat Un-Dead, and cut off his head and burn his heart or drive a stake\nthrough it, so that the world may rest from him.", "\"If it be so, farewell.", "\"VAN HELSING.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_28 September._--It is wonderful what a good night's sleep will do for\none.", "Yesterday I was almost willing to accept Van Helsing's monstrous\nideas; but now they seem to start out lurid before me as outrages on\ncommon sense.", "I have no doubt that he believes it all.", "I wonder if his\nmind can have become in any way unhinged.", "Surely there must be _some_\nrational explanation of all these mysterious things.", "Is it possible that\nthe Professor can have done it himself?", "He is so abnormally clever that\nif he went off his head he would carry out his intent with regard to\nsome fixed idea in a wonderful way.", "I am loath to think it, and indeed\nit would be almost as great a marvel as the other to find that Van\nHelsing was mad; but anyhow I shall watch him carefully.", "I may get some\nlight on the mystery.", "* * * * *\n\n_29 September, morning._.... Last night, at a little before ten o'clock,\nArthur and Quincey came into Van Helsing's room; he told us all that he\nwanted us to do, but especially addressing himself to Arthur, as if all\nour wills were centred in his.", "He began by saying that he hoped we would\nall come with him too, \"for,\" he said, \"there is a grave duty to be done\nthere.", "You were doubtless surprised at my letter?\"", "This query was\ndirectly addressed to Lord Godalming.", "\"I was.", "It rather upset me for a bit.", "There has been so much trouble\naround my house of late that I could do without any more.", "I have been\ncurious, too, as to what you mean.", "Quincey and I talked it over; but the\nmore we talked, the more puzzled we got, till now I can say for myself\nthat I'm about up a tree as to any meaning about anything.\"", "\"Me too,\" said Quincey Morris laconically.", "\"Oh,\" said the Professor, \"then you are nearer the beginning, both of\nyou, than friend John here, who has to go a long way back before he can\neven get so far as to begin.\"", "It was evident that he recognised my return to my old doubting frame of\nmind without my saying a word.", "Then, turning to the other two, he said\nwith intense gravity:--\n\n\"I want your permission to do what I think good this night.", "It is, I\nknow, much to ask; and when you know what it is I propose to do you will\nknow, and only then, how much.", "Therefore may I ask that you promise me\nin the dark, so that afterwards, though you may be angry with me for a\ntime--I must not disguise from myself the possibility that such may\nbe--you shall not blame yourselves for anything.\"", "\"That's frank anyhow,\" broke in Quincey.", "\"I'll answer for the Professor.", "I don't quite see his drift, but I swear he's honest; and that's good\nenough for me.\"", "\"I thank you, sir,\" said Van Helsing proudly.", "\"I have done myself the\nhonour of counting you one trusting friend, and such endorsement is dear\nto me.\"", "He held out a hand, which Quincey took.", "Then Arthur spoke out:--\n\n\"Dr. Van Helsing, I don't quite like to 'buy a pig in a poke,' as they\nsay in Scotland, and if it be anything in which my honour as a gentleman\nor my faith as a Christian is concerned, I cannot make such a promise.", "If you can assure me that what you intend does not violate either of\nthese two, then I give my consent at once; though for the life of me, I\ncannot understand what you are driving at.\"", "\"I accept your limitation,\" said Van Helsing, \"and all I ask of you is\nthat if you feel it necessary to condemn any act of mine, you will first\nconsider it well and be satisfied that it does not violate your\nreservations.\"", "\"Agreed!\"", "said Arthur; \"that is only fair.", "And now that the\n_pourparlers_ are over, may I ask what it is we are to do?\"", "\"I want you to come with me, and to come in secret, to the churchyard at\nKingstead.\"", "Arthur's face fell as he said in an amazed sort of way:--\n\n\"Where poor Lucy is buried?\"", "The Professor bowed.", "Arthur went on: \"And\nwhen there?\"", "\"To enter the tomb!\"", "Arthur stood up.", "\"Professor, are you in earnest; or it is some monstrous joke?", "Pardon me,\nI see that you are in earnest.\"", "He sat down again, but I could see that\nhe sat firmly and proudly, as one who is on his dignity.", "There was\nsilence until he asked again:--\n\n\"And when in the tomb?\"", "\"To open the coffin.\"", "\"This is too much!\"", "he said, angrily rising again.", "\"I am willing to be\npatient in all things that are reasonable; but in this--this desecration\nof the grave--of one who----\" He fairly choked with indignation.", "The\nProfessor looked pityingly at him.", "\"If I could spare you one pang, my poor friend,\" he said, \"God knows I\nwould.", "But this night our feet must tread in thorny paths; or later, and\nfor ever, the feet you love must walk in paths of flame!\"", "Arthur looked up with set white face and said:--\n\n\"Take care, sir, take care!\"", "\"Would it not be well to hear what I have to say?\"", "said Van Helsing.", "\"And then you will at least know the limit of my purpose.", "Shall I go\non?\"", "\"That's fair enough,\" broke in Morris.", "After a pause Van Helsing went on, evidently with an effort:--\n\n\"Miss Lucy is dead; is it not so?", "Yes!", "Then there can be no wrong to\nher.", "But if she be not dead----\"\n\nArthur jumped to his feet.", "\"Good God!\"", "he cried.", "\"What do you mean?", "Has there been any mistake; has\nshe been buried alive?\"", "He groaned in anguish that not even hope could\nsoften.", "\"I did not say she was alive, my child; I did not think it.", "I go no\nfurther than to say that she might be Un-Dead.\"", "\"Un-Dead!", "Not alive!", "What do you mean?", "Is this all a nightmare, or what\nis it?\"", "\"There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they\nmay solve only in part.", "Believe me, we are now on the verge of one.", "But\nI have not done.", "May I cut off the head of dead Miss Lucy?\"", "\"Heavens and earth, no!\"", "cried Arthur in a storm of passion.", "\"Not for\nthe wide world will I consent to any mutilation of her dead body.", "Dr.\nVan Helsing, you try me too far.", "What have I done to you that you should\ntorture me so?", "What did that poor, sweet girl do that you should want to\ncast such dishonour on her grave?", "Are you mad that speak such things, or\nam I mad to listen to them?", "Don't dare to think more of such a\ndesecration; I shall not give my consent to anything you do.", "I have a\nduty to do in protecting her grave from outrage; and, by God, I shall do\nit!\"", "Van Helsing rose up from where he had all the time been seated, and\nsaid, gravely and sternly:--\n\n\"My Lord Godalming, I, too, have a duty to do, a duty to others, a duty\nto you, a duty to the dead; and, by God, I shall do it!", "All I ask you\nnow is that you come with me, that you look and listen; and if when\nlater I make the same request you do not be more eager for its\nfulfilment even than I am, then--then I shall do my duty, whatever it\nmay seem to me.", "And then, to follow of your Lordship's wishes I shall\nhold myself at your disposal to render an account to you, when and where\nyou will.\"", "His voice broke a little, and he went on with a voice full of\npity:--\n\n\"But, I beseech you, do not go forth in anger with me.", "In a long life of\nacts which were often not pleasant to do, and which sometimes did wring\nmy heart, I have never had so heavy a task as now.", "Believe me that if\nthe time comes for you to change your mind towards me, one look from\nyou will wipe away all this so sad hour, for I would do what a man can\nto save you from sorrow.", "Just think.", "For why should I give myself so\nmuch of labour and so much of sorrow?", "I have come here from my own land\nto do what I can of good; at the first to please my friend John, and\nthen to help a sweet young lady, whom, too, I came to love.", "For her--I\nam ashamed to say so much, but I say it in kindness--I gave what you\ngave; the blood of my veins; I gave it, I, who was not, like you, her\nlover, but only her physician and her friend.", "I gave to her my nights\nand days--before death, after death; and if my death can do her good\neven now, when she is the dead Un-Dead, she shall have it freely.\"", "He\nsaid this with a very grave, sweet pride, and Arthur was much affected\nby it.", "He took the old man's hand and said in a broken voice:--\n\n\"Oh, it is hard to think of it, and I cannot understand; but at least I\nshall go with you and wait.\"" ]

[ "They were smaller,\nand the edges looked fresher; that was all.", "When Van Helsing saw how dark it\nwas, he said:--\n\n\"There is no hurry.", "With some little difficulty--for\nit was very dark, and the whole place seemed so strange to us--we found\nthe Westenra tomb.", "he said, \"we must have more proof.", "\"No,\" I said, in a way that I felt was aggressive.", "Van Helsing walked over to Lucy's coffin, and I followed.", "Yet\nhe never can be sure; and that is the worst of all.", "Has there been any mistake; has\nshe been buried alive?\"", "\"Un-Dead!", "Are you mad that speak such things, or\nam I mad to listen to them?" ]

[ "The Professor took the key, opened the creaky door,\nand standing back, politely, but quite unconsciously, motioned me to\nprecede him.", "\"Not for\nthe wide world will I consent to any mutilation of her dead body.", "Yet\nhe never can be sure; and that is the worst of all.", "It was\nwithout a scratch or scar of any kind.", "\"And then we\nspend the night, you and I, in the churchyard where Lucy lies.", "I may get some\nlight on the mystery.", "This is\nsimple.", "It is so hard to accept at once any abstract\ntruth, that we may doubt such to be possible when we have always\nbelieved the 'no' of it; it is more hard still to accept so sad a\nconcrete truth, and of such a one as Miss Lucy.", "They were smaller,\nand the edges looked fresher; that was all.", "\"See,\" he went on, \"see, they are even sharper than before." ]

[ "\"See,\" he went on, \"see, they are even sharper than before.", "With this\nand this\"--and he touched one of the canine teeth and that below\nit--\"the little children can be bitten.", "Are you of belief now, friend\nJohn?\"", "Once more, argumentative hostility woke within me.", "I _could_ not\naccept such an overwhelming idea as he suggested; so, with an attempt to\nargue of which I was even at the moment ashamed, I said:--\n\n\"She may have been placed here since last night.\"", "\"Indeed?", "That is so, and by whom?\"", "\"I do not know.", "Some one has done it.\"", "\"And yet she has been dead one week.", "Most peoples in that time would not\nlook so.\"" ]

[ "\nFor a while sheer anger mastered me; it was as if he had during her life\nstruck Lucy on the face.", "I smote the table hard and rose up as I said to\nhim:--\n\n\"Dr. Van Helsing, are you mad?\"", "He raised his head and looked at me, and\nsomehow the tenderness of his face calmed me at once.", "\"Would I were!\"", "he\nsaid.", "\"Madness were easy to bear compared with truth like this.", "Oh, my\nfriend, why, think you, did I go so far round, why take so long to tell\nyou so simple a thing?", "Was it because I hate you and have hated you all\nmy life?", "Was it because I wished to give you pain?", "Was it that I wanted,\nnow so late, revenge for that time when you saved my life, and from a\nfearful death?", "His voice broke a little, and he went on with a voice full of\npity:--\n\n\"But, I beseech you, do not go forth in anger with me.", "In a long life of\nacts which were often not pleasant to do, and which sometimes did wring\nmy heart, I have never had so heavy a task as now.", "Believe me that if\nthe time comes for you to change your mind towards me, one look from\nyou will wipe away all this so sad hour, for I would do what a man can\nto save you from sorrow.", "Just think.", "For why should I give myself so\nmuch of labour and so much of sorrow?", "I have come here from my own land\nto do what I can of good; at the first to please my friend John, and\nthen to help a sweet young lady, whom, too, I came to love.", "For her--I\nam ashamed to say so much, but I say it in kindness--I gave what you\ngave; the blood of my veins; I gave it, I, who was not, like you, her\nlover, but only her physician and her friend.", "I gave to her my nights\nand days--before death, after death; and if my death can do her good\neven now, when she is the dead Un-Dead, she shall have it freely.\"", "He\nsaid this with a very grave, sweet pride, and Arthur was much affected\nby it.", "He took the old man's hand and said in a broken voice:--\n\n\"Oh, it is hard to think of it, and I cannot understand; but at least I\nshall go with you and wait.\"" ]

[ "\n\nIt was just a quarter before twelve o'clock when we got into the\nchurchyard over the low wall.", "The night was dark with occasional gleams\nof moonlight between the rents of the heavy clouds that scudded across\nthe sky.", "We all kept somehow close together, with Van Helsing slightly\nin front as he led the way.", "When we had come close to the tomb I looked\nwell at Arthur, for I feared that the proximity to a place laden with so\nsorrowful a memory would upset him; but he bore himself well.", "I took it\nthat the very mystery of the proceeding was in some way a counteractant\nto his grief.", "The Professor unlocked the door, and seeing a natural\nhesitation amongst us for various reasons, solved the difficulty by\nentering first himself.", "The rest of us followed, and he closed the door.", "He then lit a dark lantern and pointed to the coffin.", "Arthur stepped\nforward hesitatingly; Van Helsing said to me:--\n\n\"You were with me here yesterday.", "Was the body of Miss Lucy in that\ncoffin?\"", "\"It was.\"", "The Professor turned to the rest saying:--\n\n\"You hear; and yet there is no one who does not believe with me.\"", "He\ntook his screwdriver and again took off the lid of the coffin.", "Arthur\nlooked on, very pale but silent; when the lid was removed he stepped\nforward.", "He evidently did not know that there was a leaden coffin, or,\nat any rate, had not thought of it.", "When he saw the rent in the lead,\nthe blood rushed to his face for an instant, but as quickly fell away\nagain, so that he remained of a ghastly whiteness; he was still silent.", "Van Helsing forced back the leaden flange, and we all looked in and\nrecoiled.", "The coffin was empty!", "For several minutes no one spoke a word.", "The silence was broken by\nQuincey Morris:--\n\n\"Professor, I answered for you.", "Your word is all I want.", "I wouldn't ask\nsuch a thing ordinarily--I wouldn't so dishonour you as to imply a\ndoubt; but this is a mystery that goes beyond any honour or dishonour.", "Is this your doing?\"", "\"I swear to you by all that I hold sacred that I have not removed nor\ntouched her.", "What happened was this: Two nights ago my friend Seward and\nI came here--with good purpose, believe me.", "I opened that coffin, which\nwas then sealed up, and we found it, as now, empty.", "We then waited, and\nsaw something white come through the trees.", "The next day we came here in\nday-time, and she lay there.", "Did she not, friend John?\"", "\"Yes.\"", "\"That night we were just in time.", "One more so small child was missing,\nand we find it, thank God, unharmed amongst the graves.", "Yesterday I came\nhere before sundown, for at sundown the Un-Dead can move.", "I waited here\nall the night till the sun rose, but I saw nothing.", "It was most probable\nthat it was because I had laid over the clamps of those doors garlic,\nwhich the Un-Dead cannot bear, and other things which they shun.", "Last\nnight there was no exodus, so to-night before the sundown I took away my\ngarlic and other things.", "And so it is we find this coffin empty.", "But\nbear with me.", "So far there is much that is strange.", "Wait you with me\noutside, unseen and unheard, and things much stranger are yet to be.", "So\"--here he shut the dark slide of his lantern--\"now to the outside.\"", "He opened the door, and we filed out, he coming last and locking the\ndoor behind him.", "Oh!", "but it seemed fresh and pure in the night air after the terror of\nthat vault.", "How sweet it was to see the clouds race by, and the passing\ngleams of the moonlight between the scudding clouds crossing and\npassing--like the gladness and sorrow of a man's life; how sweet it was\nto breathe the fresh air, that had no taint of death and decay; how\nhumanising to see the red lighting of the sky beyond the hill, and to\nhear far away the muffled roar that marks the life of a great city.", "Each\nin his own way was solemn and overcome.", "Arthur was silent, and was, I\ncould see, striving to grasp the purpose and the inner meaning of the\nmystery.", "I was myself tolerably patient, and half inclined again to\nthrow aside doubt and to accept Van Helsing's conclusions.", "Quincey\nMorris was phlegmatic in the way of a man who accepts all things, and\naccepts them in the spirit of cool bravery, with hazard of all he has to\nstake.", "Not being able to smoke, he cut himself a good-sized plug of\ntobacco and began to chew.", "As to Van Helsing, he was employed in a\ndefinite way.", "First he took from his bag a mass of what looked like\nthin, wafer-like biscuit, which was carefully rolled up in a white\nnapkin; next he took out a double-handful of some whitish stuff, like\ndough or putty.", "He crumbled the wafer up fine and worked it into the\nmass between his hands.", "This he then took, and rolling it into thin\nstrips, began to lay them into the crevices between the door and its\nsetting in the tomb.", "I was somewhat puzzled at this, and being close,\nasked him what it was that he was doing.", "Arthur and Quincey drew near\nalso, as they too were curious.", "He answered:--\n\n\"I am closing the tomb, so that the Un-Dead may not enter.\"", "\"And is that stuff you have put there going to do it?\"", "asked Quincey.", "\"Great Scott!", "Is this a game?\"", "\"It is.\"", "\"What is that which you are using?\"", "This time the question was by\nArthur.", "Van Helsing reverently lifted his hat as he answered:--\n\n\"The Host.", "I brought it from Amsterdam.", "I have an Indulgence.\"", "It was an\nanswer that appalled the most sceptical of us, and we felt individually\nthat in the presence of such earnest purpose as the Professor's, a\npurpose which could thus use the to him most sacred of things, it was\nimpossible to distrust.", "In respectful silence we took the places\nassigned to us close round the tomb, but hidden from the sight of any\none approaching.", "I pitied the others, especially Arthur.", "I had myself\nbeen apprenticed by my former visits to this watching horror; and yet I,\nwho had up to an hour ago repudiated the proofs, felt my heart sink\nwithin me.", "Never did tombs look so ghastly white; never did cypress, or\nyew, or juniper so seem the embodiment of funereal gloom; never did tree\nor grass wave or rustle so ominously; never did bough creak so\nmysteriously; and never did the far-away howling of dogs send such a\nwoeful presage through the night.", "There was a long spell of silence, a big, aching void, and then from the\nProfessor a keen \"S-s-s-s!\"", "He pointed; and far down the avenue of yews\nwe saw a white figure advance--a dim white figure, which held something\ndark at its breast.", "The figure stopped, and at the moment a ray of\nmoonlight fell upon the masses of driving clouds and showed in startling\nprominence a dark-haired woman, dressed in the cerements of the grave.", "We could not see the face, for it was bent down over what we saw to be a\nfair-haired child.", "There was a pause and a sharp little cry, such as a\nchild gives in sleep, or a dog as it lies before the fire and dreams.", "We\nwere starting forward, but the Professor's warning hand, seen by us as\nhe stood behind a yew-tree, kept us back; and then as we looked the\nwhite figure moved forwards again.", "It was now near enough for us to see\nclearly, and the moonlight still held.", "My own heart grew cold as ice,\nand I could hear the gasp of Arthur, as we recognised the features of\nLucy Westenra.", "Lucy Westenra, but yet how changed.", "The sweetness was\nturned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous\nwantonness.", "Van Helsing stepped out, and, obedient to his gesture, we\nall advanced too; the four of us ranged in a line before the door of the\ntomb.", "Van Helsing raised his lantern and drew the slide; by the\nconcentrated light that fell on Lucy's face we could see that the lips\nwere crimson with fresh blood, and that the stream had trickled over her\nchin and stained the purity of her lawn death-robe.", "We shuddered with horror.", "I could see by the tremulous light that even\nVan Helsing's iron nerve had failed.", "Arthur was next to me, and if I had\nnot seized his arm and held him up, he would have fallen.", "When Lucy--I call the thing that was before us Lucy because it bore her\nshape--saw us she drew back with an angry snarl, such as a cat gives\nwhen taken unawares; then her eyes ranged over us.", "Lucy's eyes in form\nand colour; but Lucy's eyes unclean and full of hell-fire, instead of\nthe pure, gentle orbs we knew.", "At that moment the remnant of my love\npassed into hate and loathing; had she then to be killed, I could have\ndone it with savage delight.", "As she looked, her eyes blazed with unholy\nlight, and the face became wreathed with a voluptuous smile.", "Oh, God,\nhow it made me shudder to see it!", "With a careless motion, she flung to\nthe ground, callous as a devil, the child that up to now she had\nclutched strenuously to her breast, growling over it as a dog growls\nover a bone.", "The child gave a sharp cry, and lay there moaning.", "There\nwas a cold-bloodedness in the act which wrung a groan from Arthur; when\nshe advanced to him with outstretched arms and a wanton smile he fell\nback and hid his face in his hands.", "She still advanced, however, and with a languorous, voluptuous grace,\nsaid:--\n\n\"Come to me, Arthur.", "Leave these others and come to me.", "My arms are\nhungry for you.", "Come, and we can rest together.", "Come, my husband, come!\"", "There was something diabolically sweet in her tones--something of the\ntingling of glass when struck--which rang through the brains even of us\nwho heard the words addressed to another.", "As for Arthur, he seemed under\na spell; moving his hands from his face, he opened wide his arms.", "She\nwas leaping for them, when Van Helsing sprang forward and held between\nthem his little golden crucifix.", "She recoiled from it, and, with a\nsuddenly distorted face, full of rage, dashed past him as if to enter\nthe tomb.", "When within a foot or two of the door, however, she stopped, as if\narrested by some irresistible force.", "Then she turned, and her face was\nshown in the clear burst of moonlight and by the lamp, which had now no\nquiver from Van Helsing's iron nerves.", "Never did I see such baffled\nmalice on a face; and never, I trust, shall such ever be seen again by\nmortal eyes.", "The beautiful colour became livid, the eyes seemed to throw\nout sparks of hell-fire, the brows were wrinkled as though the folds of\nthe flesh were the coils of Medusa's snakes, and the lovely,\nblood-stained mouth grew to an open square, as in the passion masks of\nthe Greeks and Japanese.", "If ever a face meant death--if looks could\nkill--we saw it at that moment.", "And so for full half a minute, which seemed an eternity, she remained\nbetween the lifted crucifix and the sacred closing of her means of\nentry.", "Van Helsing broke the silence by asking Arthur:--\n\n\"Answer me, oh my friend!", "Am I to proceed in my work?\"", "Arthur threw himself on his knees, and hid his face in his hands, as he\nanswered:--\n\n\"Do as you will, friend; do as you will.", "There can be no horror like\nthis ever any more;\" and he groaned in spirit.", "Quincey and I\nsimultaneously moved towards him, and took his arms.", "We could hear the\nclick of the closing lantern as Van Helsing held it down; coming close\nto the tomb, he began to remove from the chinks some of the sacred\nemblem which he had placed there.", "We all looked on in horrified\namazement as we saw, when he stood back, the woman, with a corporeal\nbody as real at that moment as our own, pass in through the interstice\nwhere scarce a knife-blade could have gone.", "We all felt a glad sense of\nrelief when we saw the Professor calmly restoring the strings of putty\nto the edges of the door.", "When this was done, he lifted the child and said:\n\n\"Come now, my friends; we can do no more till to-morrow.", "There is a\nfuneral at noon, so here we shall all come before long after that.", "The\nfriends of the dead will all be gone by two, and when the sexton lock\nthe gate we shall remain.", "Then there is more to do; but not like this of\nto-night.", "As for this little one, he is not much harm, and by to-morrow\nnight he shall be well.", "We shall leave him where the police will find\nhim, as on the other night; and then to home.\"", "Coming close to Arthur,\nhe said:--\n\n\"My friend Arthur, you have had a sore trial; but after, when you look\nback, you will see how it was necessary.", "You are now in the bitter\nwaters, my child.", "By this time to-morrow you will, please God, have\npassed them, and have drunk of the sweet waters; so do not mourn\novermuch.", "Till then I shall not ask you to forgive me.\"", "Arthur and Quincey came home with me, and we tried to cheer each other\non the way.", "We had left the child in safety, and were tired; so we all\nslept with more or less reality of sleep.", "* * * * *\n\n_29 September, night._--A little before twelve o'clock we three--Arthur,\nQuincey Morris, and myself--called for the Professor.", "It was odd to\nnotice that by common consent we had all put on black clothes.", "Of\ncourse, Arthur wore black, for he was in deep mourning, but the rest of\nus wore it by instinct.", "We got to the churchyard by half-past one, and\nstrolled about, keeping out of official observation, so that when the\ngravediggers had completed their task and the sexton under the belief\nthat every one had gone, had locked the gate, we had the place all to\nourselves.", "Van Helsing, instead of his little black bag, had with him a\nlong leather one, something like a cricketing bag; it was manifestly of\nfair weight.", "When we were alone and had heard the last of the footsteps die out up\nthe road, we silently, and as if by ordered intention, followed the\nProfessor to the tomb.", "He unlocked the door, and we entered, closing it\nbehind us.", "Then he took from his bag the lantern, which he lit, and also\ntwo wax candles, which, when lighted, he stuck, by melting their own\nends, on other coffins, so that they might give light sufficient to work\nby.", "When he again lifted the lid off Lucy's coffin we all looked--Arthur\ntrembling like an aspen--and saw that the body lay there in all its\ndeath-beauty.", "But there was no love in my own heart, nothing but\nloathing for the foul Thing which had taken Lucy's shape without her\nsoul.", "I could see even Arthur's face grow hard as he looked.", "Presently\nhe said to Van Helsing:--\n\n\"Is this really Lucy's body, or only a demon in her shape?\"", "\"It is her body, and yet not it.", "But wait a while, and you all see her\nas she was, and is.\"", "She seemed like a nightmare of Lucy as she lay there; the pointed teeth,\nthe bloodstained, voluptuous mouth--which it made one shudder to\nsee--the whole carnal and unspiritual appearance, seeming like a\ndevilish mockery of Lucy's sweet purity.", "Van Helsing, with his usual\nmethodicalness, began taking the various contents from his bag and\nplacing them ready for use.", "First he took out a soldering iron and some\nplumbing solder, and then a small oil-lamp, which gave out, when lit in\na corner of the tomb, gas which burned at fierce heat with a blue\nflame; then his operating knives, which he placed to hand; and last a\nround wooden stake, some two and a half or three inches thick and about\nthree feet long.", "One end of it was hardened by charring in the fire, and\nwas sharpened to a fine point.", "With this stake came a heavy hammer, such\nas in households is used in the coal-cellar for breaking the lumps.", "To\nme, a doctor's preparations for work of any kind are stimulating and\nbracing, but the effect of these things on both Arthur and Quincey was\nto cause them a sort of consternation.", "They both, however, kept their\ncourage, and remained silent and quiet.", "When all was ready, Van Helsing said:--\n\n\"Before we do anything, let me tell you this; it is out of the lore and\nexperience of the ancients and of all those who have studied the powers\nof the Un-Dead.", "When they become such, there comes with the change the\ncurse of immortality; they cannot die, but must go on age after age\nadding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world; for all that\ndie from the preying of the Un-Dead becomes themselves Un-Dead, and prey\non their kind.", "And so the circle goes on ever widening, like as the\nripples from a stone thrown in the water.", "Friend Arthur, if you had met\nthat kiss which you know of before poor Lucy die; or again, last night\nwhen you open your arms to her, you would in time, when you had died,\nhave become _nosferatu_, as they call it in Eastern Europe, and would\nall time make more of those Un-Deads that so have fill us with horror.", "The career of this so unhappy dear lady is but just begun.", "Those\nchildren whose blood she suck are not as yet so much the worse; but if\nshe live on, Un-Dead, more and more they lose their blood and by her\npower over them they come to her; and so she draw their blood with that\nso wicked mouth.", "But if she die in truth, then all cease; the tiny\nwounds of the throats disappear, and they go back to their plays\nunknowing ever of what has been.", "But of the most blessed of all, when\nthis now Un-Dead be made to rest as true dead, then the soul of the poor\nlady whom we love shall again be free.", "Instead of working wickedness by\nnight and growing more debased in the assimilating of it by day, she\nshall take her place with the other Angels.", "So that, my friend, it will\nbe a blessed hand for her that shall strike the blow that sets her free.", "To this I am willing; but is there none amongst us who has a better\nright?", "Will it be no joy to think of hereafter in the silence of the\nnight when sleep is not: 'It was my hand that sent her to the stars; it\nwas the hand of him that loved her best; the hand that of all she would\nherself have chosen, had it been to her to choose?'", "Tell me if there be\nsuch a one amongst us?\"", "We all looked at Arthur.", "He saw, too, what we all did, the infinite\nkindness which suggested that his should be the hand which would restore\nLucy to us as a holy, and not an unholy, memory; he stepped forward and\nsaid bravely, though his hand trembled, and his face was as pale as\nsnow:--\n\n\"My true friend, from the bottom of my broken heart I thank you.", "Tell me\nwhat I am to do, and I shall not falter!\"", "Van Helsing laid a hand on his\nshoulder, and said:--\n\n\"Brave lad!", "A moment's courage, and it is done.", "This stake must be\ndriven through her.", "It will be a fearful ordeal--be not deceived in\nthat--but it will be only a short time, and you will then rejoice more\nthan your pain was great; from this grim tomb you will emerge as though\nyou tread on air.", "But you must not falter when once you have begun.", "Only\nthink that we, your true friends, are round you, and that we pray for\nyou all the time.\"", "\"Go on,\" said Arthur hoarsely.", "\"Tell me what I am to do.\"", "\"Take this stake in your left hand, ready to place the point over the\nheart, and the hammer in your right.", "Then when we begin our prayer for\nthe dead--I shall read him, I have here the book, and the others shall\nfollow--strike in God's name, that so all may be well with the dead that\nwe love and that the Un-Dead pass away.\"", "Arthur took the stake and the hammer, and when once his mind was set on\naction his hands never trembled nor even quivered.", "Van Helsing opened\nhis missal and began to read, and Quincey and I followed as well as we\ncould.", "Arthur placed the point over the heart, and as I looked I could\nsee its dint in the white flesh.", "Then he struck with all his might.", "The Thing in the coffin writhed; and a hideous, blood-curdling screech\ncame from the opened red lips.", "The body shook and quivered and twisted\nin wild contortions; the sharp white teeth champed together till the\nlips were cut, and the mouth was smeared with a crimson foam.", "But Arthur\nnever faltered.", "He looked like a figure of Thor as his untrembling arm\nrose and fell, driving deeper and deeper the mercy-bearing stake, whilst\nthe blood from the pierced heart welled and spurted up around it.", "His\nface was set, and high duty seemed to shine through it; the sight of it\ngave us courage so that our voices seemed to ring through the little\nvault.", "And then the writhing and quivering of the body became less, and the\nteeth seemed to champ, and the face to quiver.", "Finally it lay still.", "The\nterrible task was over.", "The hammer fell from Arthur's hand.", "He reeled and would have fallen had\nwe not caught him.", "The great drops of sweat sprang from his forehead,\nand his breath came in broken gasps.", "It had indeed been an awful strain\non him; and had he not been forced to his task by more than human\nconsiderations he could never have gone through with it.", "For a few\nminutes we were so taken up with him that we did not look towards the\ncoffin.", "When we did, however, a murmur of startled surprise ran from one\nto the other of us.", "We gazed so eagerly that Arthur rose, for he had\nbeen seated on the ground, and came and looked too; and then a glad,\nstrange light broke over his face and dispelled altogether the gloom of\nhorror that lay upon it.", "There, in the coffin lay no longer the foul Thing that we had so dreaded\nand grown to hate that the work of her destruction was yielded as a\nprivilege to the one best entitled to it, but Lucy as we had seen her in\nher life, with her face of unequalled sweetness and purity.", "True that\nthere were there, as we had seen them in life, the traces of care and\npain and waste; but these were all dear to us, for they marked her truth\nto what we knew.", "One and all we felt that the holy calm that lay like\nsunshine over the wasted face and form was only an earthly token and\nsymbol of the calm that was to reign for ever.", "Van Helsing came and laid his hand on Arthur's shoulder, and said to\nhim:--\n\n\"And now, Arthur my friend, dear lad, am I not forgiven?\"", "The reaction of the terrible strain came as he took the old man's hand\nin his, and raising it to his lips, pressed it, and said:--\n\n\"Forgiven!", "God bless you that you have given my dear one her soul again,\nand me peace.\"", "He put his hands on the Professor's shoulder, and laying\nhis head on his breast, cried for a while silently, whilst we stood\nunmoving.", "When he raised his head Van Helsing said to him:--\n\n\"And now, my child, you may kiss her.", "Kiss her dead lips if you will, as\nshe would have you to, if for her to choose.", "For she is not a grinning\ndevil now--not any more a foul Thing for all eternity.", "No longer she is\nthe devil's Un-Dead.", "She is God's true dead, whose soul is with Him!\"", "Arthur bent and kissed her, and then we sent him and Quincey out of the\ntomb; the Professor and I sawed the top off the stake, leaving the point\nof it in the body.", "Then we cut off the head and filled the mouth with\ngarlic.", "We soldered up the leaden coffin, screwed on the coffin-lid,\nand gathering up our belongings, came away.", "When the Professor locked\nthe door he gave the key to Arthur.", "Outside the air was sweet, the sun shone, and the birds sang, and it\nseemed as if all nature were tuned to a different pitch.", "There was\ngladness and mirth and peace everywhere, for we were at rest ourselves\non one account, and we were glad, though it was with a tempered joy.", "Before we moved away Van Helsing said:--\n\n\"Now, my friends, one step of our work is done, one the most harrowing\nto ourselves.", "But there remains a greater task: to find out the author\nof all this our sorrow and to stamp him out.", "I have clues which we can\nfollow; but it is a long task, and a difficult, and there is danger in\nit, and pain.", "Shall you not all help me?", "We have learned to believe, all\nof us--is it not so?", "And since so, do we not see our duty?", "Yes!", "And do\nwe not promise to go on to the bitter end?\"", "Each in turn, we took his hand, and the promise was made.", "Then said the\nProfessor as we moved off:--\n\n\"Two nights hence you shall meet with me and dine together at seven of\nthe clock with friend John.", "I shall entreat two others, two that you\nknow not as yet; and I shall be ready to all our work show and our plans\nunfold.", "Friend John, you come with me home, for I have much to consult\nabout, and you can help me.", "To-night I leave for Amsterdam, but shall\nreturn to-morrow night.", "And then begins our great quest.", "But first I\nshall have much to say, so that you may know what is to do and to dread.", "Then our promise shall be made to each other anew; for there is a\nterrible task before us, and once our feet are on the ploughshare we\nmust not draw back.\"" ]

[ "\"It was.\"", "The coffin was empty!", "Lucy's eyes in form\nand colour; but Lucy's eyes unclean and full of hell-fire, instead of\nthe pure, gentle orbs we knew.", "There\nwas a cold-bloodedness in the act which wrung a groan from Arthur; when\nshe advanced to him with outstretched arms and a wanton smile he fell\nback and hid his face in his hands.", "And so for full half a minute, which seemed an eternity, she remained\nbetween the lifted crucifix and the sacred closing of her means of\nentry.", "He unlocked the door, and we entered, closing it\nbehind us.", "She seemed like a nightmare of Lucy as she lay there; the pointed teeth,\nthe bloodstained, voluptuous mouth--which it made one shudder to\nsee--the whole carnal and unspiritual appearance, seeming like a\ndevilish mockery of Lucy's sweet purity.", "This stake must be\ndriven through her.", "The reaction of the terrible strain came as he took the old man's hand\nin his, and raising it to his lips, pressed it, and said:--\n\n\"Forgiven!", "When he raised his head Van Helsing said to him:--\n\n\"And now, my child, you may kiss her." ]

[ "\"Go on,\" said Arthur hoarsely.", "\"It was.\"", "The Professor unlocked the door, and seeing a natural\nhesitation amongst us for various reasons, solved the difficulty by\nentering first himself.", "It was now near enough for us to see\nclearly, and the moonlight still held.", "When we did, however, a murmur of startled surprise ran from one\nto the other of us.", "And then the writhing and quivering of the body became less, and the\nteeth seemed to champ, and the face to quiver.", "Van Helsing laid a hand on his\nshoulder, and said:--\n\n\"Brave lad!", "He answered:--\n\n\"I am closing the tomb, so that the Un-Dead may not enter.\"", "Van Helsing, instead of his little black bag, had with him a\nlong leather one, something like a cricketing bag; it was manifestly of\nfair weight.", "With a careless motion, she flung to\nthe ground, callous as a devil, the child that up to now she had\nclutched strenuously to her breast, growling over it as a dog growls\nover a bone." ]

[ "Van Helsing broke the silence by asking Arthur:--\n\n\"Answer me, oh my friend!", "Am I to proceed in my work?\"", "Arthur threw himself on his knees, and hid his face in his hands, as he\nanswered:--\n\n\"Do as you will, friend; do as you will.", "There can be no horror like\nthis ever any more;\" and he groaned in spirit.", "Quincey and I\nsimultaneously moved towards him, and took his arms.", "We could hear the\nclick of the closing lantern as Van Helsing held it down; coming close\nto the tomb, he began to remove from the chinks some of the sacred\nemblem which he had placed there.", "We all looked on in horrified\namazement as we saw, when he stood back, the woman, with a corporeal\nbody as real at that moment as our own, pass in through the interstice\nwhere scarce a knife-blade could have gone.", "We all felt a glad sense of\nrelief when we saw the Professor calmly restoring the strings of putty\nto the edges of the door.", "When this was done, he lifted the child and said:\n\n\"Come now, my friends; we can do no more till to-morrow.", "There is a\nfuneral at noon, so here we shall all come before long after that.", "The\nfriends of the dead will all be gone by two, and when the sexton lock\nthe gate we shall remain." ]

[ "\n\nIt was just a quarter before twelve o'clock when we got into the\nchurchyard over the low wall.", "The night was dark with occasional gleams\nof moonlight between the rents of the heavy clouds that scudded across\nthe sky.", "We all kept somehow close together, with Van Helsing slightly\nin front as he led the way.", "When we had come close to the tomb I looked\nwell at Arthur, for I feared that the proximity to a place laden with so\nsorrowful a memory would upset him; but he bore himself well.", "I took it\nthat the very mystery of the proceeding was in some way a counteractant\nto his grief.", "The Professor unlocked the door, and seeing a natural\nhesitation amongst us for various reasons, solved the difficulty by\nentering first himself.", "The rest of us followed, and he closed the door.", "He then lit a dark lantern and pointed to the coffin.", "Arthur stepped\nforward hesitatingly; Van Helsing said to me:--\n\n\"You were with me here yesterday.", "Was the body of Miss Lucy in that\ncoffin?\"", "Yes!", "And do\nwe not promise to go on to the bitter end?\"", "Each in turn, we took his hand, and the promise was made.", "Then said the\nProfessor as we moved off:--\n\n\"Two nights hence you shall meet with me and dine together at seven of\nthe clock with friend John.", "I shall entreat two others, two that you\nknow not as yet; and I shall be ready to all our work show and our plans\nunfold.", "Friend John, you come with me home, for I have much to consult\nabout, and you can help me.", "To-night I leave for Amsterdam, but shall\nreturn to-morrow night.", "And then begins our great quest.", "But first I\nshall have much to say, so that you may know what is to do and to dread.", "Then our promise shall be made to each other anew; for there is a\nterrible task before us, and once our feet are on the ploughshare we\nmust not draw back.\"" ]

[ "\n\nWhen we arrived at the Berkeley Hotel, Van Helsing found a telegram\nwaiting for him:--\n\n \"Am coming up by train.", "Jonathan at Whitby.", "Important news.--MINA\n HARKER.\"", "The Professor was delighted.", "\"Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina,\" he said,\n\"pearl among women!", "She arrive, but I cannot stay.", "She must go to your\nhouse, friend John.", "You must meet her at the station.", "Telegraph her _en\nroute_, so that she may be prepared.\"", "When the wire was despatched he had a cup of tea; over it he told me of\na diary kept by Jonathan Harker when abroad, and gave me a typewritten\ncopy of it, as also of Mrs. Harker's diary at Whitby.", "\"Take these,\" he\nsaid, \"and study them well.", "When I have returned you will be master of\nall the facts, and we can then better enter on our inquisition.", "Keep\nthem safe, for there is in them much of treasure.", "You will need all your\nfaith, even you who have had such an experience as that of to-day.", "What\nis here told,\" he laid his hand heavily and gravely on the packet of\npapers as he spoke, \"may be the beginning of the end to you and me and\nmany another; or it may sound the knell of the Un-Dead who walk the\nearth.", "Read all, I pray you, with the open mind; and if you can add in\nany way to the story here told do so, for it is all-important.", "You have\nkept diary of all these so strange things; is it not so?", "Yes!", "Then we\nshall go through all these together when we meet.\"", "He then made ready\nfor his departure, and shortly after drove off to Liverpool Street.", "I\ntook my way to Paddington, where I arrived about fifteen minutes before\nthe train came in.", "The crowd melted away, after the bustling fashion common to arrival\nplatforms; and I was beginning to feel uneasy, lest I might miss my\nguest, when a sweet-faced, dainty-looking girl stepped up to me, and,\nafter a quick glance, said: \"Dr. Seward, is it not?\"", "\"And you are Mrs.", "Harker!\"", "I answered at once; whereupon she held out\nher hand.", "\"I knew you from the description of poor dear Lucy; but----\" She stopped\nsuddenly, and a quick blush overspread her face.", "The blush that rose to my own cheeks somehow set us both at ease, for it\nwas a tacit answer to her own.", "I got her luggage, which included a\ntypewriter, and we took the Underground to Fenchurch Street, after I had\nsent a wire to my housekeeper to have a sitting-room and bedroom\nprepared at once for Mrs. Harker.", "In due time we arrived.", "She knew, of course, that the place was a\nlunatic asylum, but I could see that she was unable to repress a shudder\nwhen we entered.", "She told me that, if she might, she would come presently to my study, as\nshe had much to say.", "So here I am finishing my entry in my phonograph\ndiary whilst I await her.", "As yet I have not had the chance of looking at\nthe papers which Van Helsing left with me, though they lie open before\nme.", "I must get her interested in something, so that I may have an\nopportunity of reading them.", "She does not know how precious time is, or\nwhat a task we have in hand.", "I must be careful not to frighten her.", "Here\nshe is!", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_29 September._--After I had tidied myself, I went down to Dr. Seward's\nstudy.", "At the door I paused a moment, for I thought I heard him talking\nwith some one.", "As, however, he had pressed me to be quick, I knocked at\nthe door, and on his calling out, \"Come in,\" I entered.", "To my intense surprise, there was no one with him.", "He was quite alone,\nand on the table opposite him was what I knew at once from the\ndescription to be a phonograph.", "I had never seen one, and was much\ninterested.", "\"I hope I did not keep you waiting,\" I said; \"but I stayed at the door\nas I heard you talking, and thought there was some one with you.\"", "\"Oh,\" he replied with a smile, \"I was only entering my diary.\"", "\"Your diary?\"", "I asked him in surprise.", "\"Yes,\" he answered.", "\"I keep it in this.\"", "As he spoke he laid his hand on\nthe phonograph.", "I felt quite excited over it, and blurted out:--\n\n\"Why, this beats even shorthand!", "May I hear it say something?\"", "\"Certainly,\" he replied with alacrity, and stood up to put it in train\nfor speaking.", "Then he paused, and a troubled look overspread his face.", "\"The fact is,\" he began awkwardly, \"I only keep my diary in it; and as\nit is entirely--almost entirely--about my cases, it may be awkward--that\nis, I mean----\" He stopped, and I tried to help him out of his\nembarrassment:--\n\n\"You helped to attend dear Lucy at the end.", "Let me hear how she died;\nfor all that I know of her, I shall be very grateful.", "She was very, very\ndear to me.\"", "To my surprise, he answered, with a horrorstruck look in his face:--\n\n\"Tell you of her death?", "Not for the wide world!\"", "\"Why not?\"", "I asked, for some grave, terrible feeling was coming over me.", "Again he paused, and I could see that he was trying to invent an excuse.", "At length he stammered out:--\n\n\"You see, I do not know how to pick out any particular part of the\ndiary.\"", "Even while he was speaking an idea dawned upon him, and he said\nwith unconscious simplicity, in a different voice, and with the naivete\nof a child: \"That's quite true, upon my honour.", "Honest Indian!\"", "I could\nnot but smile, at which he grimaced.", "\"I gave myself away that time!\"", "he\nsaid.", "\"But do you know that, although I have kept the diary for months\npast, it never once struck me how I was going to find any particular\npart of it in case I wanted to look it up?\"", "By this time my mind was\nmade up that the diary of a doctor who attended Lucy might have\nsomething to add to the sum of our knowledge of that terrible Being, and\nI said boldly:--\n\n\"Then, Dr. Seward, you had better let me copy it out for you on my\ntypewriter.\"", "He grew to a positively deathly pallor as he said:--\n\n\"No!", "no!", "no!", "For all the world, I wouldn't let you know that terrible\nstory!\"", "Then it was terrible; my intuition was right!", "For a moment I thought,\nand as my eyes ranged the room, unconsciously looking for something or\nsome opportunity to aid me, they lit on a great batch of typewriting on\nthe table.", "His eyes caught the look in mine, and, without his thinking,\nfollowed their direction.", "As they saw the parcel he realised my meaning.", "\"You do not know me,\" I said.", "\"When you have read those papers--my own\ndiary and my husband's also, which I have typed--you will know me\nbetter.", "I have not faltered in giving every thought of my own heart in\nthis cause; but, of course, you do not know me--yet; and I must not\nexpect you to trust me so far.\"", "He is certainly a man of noble nature; poor dear Lucy was right about\nhim.", "He stood up and opened a large drawer, in which were arranged in\norder a number of hollow cylinders of metal covered with dark wax, and\nsaid:--\n\n\"You are quite right.", "I did not trust you because I did not know you.", "But I know you now; and let me say that I should have known you long\nago.", "I know that Lucy told you of me; she told me of you too.", "May I make\nthe only atonement in my power?", "Take the cylinders and hear them--the\nfirst half-dozen of them are personal to me, and they will not horrify\nyou; then you will know me better.", "Dinner will by then be ready.", "In the\nmeantime I shall read over some of these documents, and shall be better\nable to understand certain things.\"", "He carried the phonograph himself up\nto my sitting-room and adjusted it for me.", "Now I shall learn something\npleasant, I am sure; for it will tell me the other side of a true love\nepisode of which I know one side already....\n\n\n_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_29 September._--I was so absorbed in that wonderful diary of Jonathan\nHarker and that other of his wife that I let the time run on without\nthinking.", "Mrs. Harker was not down when the maid came to announce\ndinner, so I said: \"She is possibly tired; let dinner wait an hour,\" and\nI went on with my work.", "I had just finished Mrs. Harker's diary, when\nshe came in.", "She looked sweetly pretty, but very sad, and her eyes were\nflushed with crying.", "This somehow moved me much.", "Of late I have had\ncause for tears, God knows!", "but the relief of them was denied me; and\nnow the sight of those sweet eyes, brightened with recent tears, went\nstraight to my heart.", "So I said as gently as I could:--\n\n\"I greatly fear I have distressed you.\"", "\"Oh, no, not distressed me,\" she replied, \"but I have been more touched\nthan I can say by your grief.", "That is a wonderful machine, but it is\ncruelly true.", "It told me, in its very tones, the anguish of your heart.", "It was like a soul crying out to Almighty God.", "No one must hear them\nspoken ever again!", "See, I have tried to be useful.", "I have copied out the\nwords on my typewriter, and none other need now hear your heart beat, as\nI did.\"", "\"No one need ever know, shall ever know,\" I said in a low voice.", "She\nlaid her hand on mine and said very gravely:--\n\n\"Ah, but they must!\"", "\"Must!", "But why?\"", "I asked.", "\"Because it is a part of the terrible story, a part of poor dear Lucy's\ndeath and all that led to it; because in the struggle which we have\nbefore us to rid the earth of this terrible monster we must have all\nthe knowledge and all the help which we can get.", "I think that the\ncylinders which you gave me contained more than you intended me to know;\nbut I can see that there are in your record many lights to this dark\nmystery.", "You will let me help, will you not?", "I know all up to a certain\npoint; and I see already, though your diary only took me to 7 September,\nhow poor Lucy was beset, and how her terrible doom was being wrought\nout.", "Jonathan and I have been working day and night since Professor Van\nHelsing saw us.", "He is gone to Whitby to get more information, and he\nwill be here to-morrow to help us.", "We need have no secrets amongst us;\nworking together and with absolute trust, we can surely be stronger than\nif some of us were in the dark.\"", "She looked at me so appealingly, and at\nthe same time manifested such courage and resolution in her bearing,\nthat I gave in at once to her wishes.", "\"You shall,\" I said, \"do as you\nlike in the matter.", "God forgive me if I do wrong!", "There are terrible\nthings yet to learn of; but if you have so far travelled on the road to\npoor Lucy's death, you will not be content, I know, to remain in the\ndark.", "Nay, the end--the very end--may give you a gleam of peace.", "Come,\nthere is dinner.", "We must keep one another strong for what is before us;\nwe have a cruel and dreadful task.", "When you have eaten you shall learn\nthe rest, and I shall answer any questions you ask--if there be anything\nwhich you do not understand, though it was apparent to us who were\npresent.\"", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_29 September._--After dinner I came with Dr. Seward to his study.", "He\nbrought back the phonograph from my room, and I took my typewriter.", "He\nplaced me in a comfortable chair, and arranged the phonograph so that I\ncould touch it without getting up, and showed me how to stop it in case\nI should want to pause.", "Then he very thoughtfully took a chair, with his\nback to me, so that I might be as free as possible, and began to read.", "I\nput the forked metal to my ears and listened.", "When the terrible story of Lucy's death, and--and all that followed, was\ndone, I lay back in my chair powerless.", "Fortunately I am not of a\nfainting disposition.", "When Dr. Seward saw me he jumped up with a\nhorrified exclamation, and hurriedly taking a case-bottle from a\ncupboard, gave me some brandy, which in a few minutes somewhat restored\nme.", "My brain was all in a whirl, and only that there came through all\nthe multitude of horrors, the holy ray of light that my dear, dear Lucy\nwas at last at peace, I do not think I could have borne it without\nmaking a scene.", "It is all so wild, and mysterious, and strange that if I\nhad not known Jonathan's experience in Transylvania I could not have\nbelieved.", "As it was, I didn't know what to believe, and so got out of my\ndifficulty by attending to something else.", "I took the cover off my\ntypewriter, and said to Dr. Seward:--\n\n\"Let me write this all out now.", "We must be ready for Dr. Van Helsing\nwhen he comes.", "I have sent a telegram to Jonathan to come on here when\nhe arrives in London from Whitby.", "In this matter dates are everything,\nand I think that if we get all our material ready, and have every item\nput in chronological order, we shall have done much.", "You tell me that\nLord Godalming and Mr. Morris are coming too.", "Let us be able to tell him\nwhen they come.\"", "He accordingly set the phonograph at a slow pace, and I\nbegan to typewrite from the beginning of the seventh cylinder.", "I used\nmanifold, and so took three copies of the diary, just as I had done with\nall the rest.", "It was late when I got through, but Dr. Seward went about\nhis work of going his round of the patients; when he had finished he\ncame back and sat near me, reading, so that I did not feel too lonely\nwhilst I worked.", "How good and thoughtful he is; the world seems full of\ngood men--even if there _are_ monsters in it.", "Before I left him I\nremembered what Jonathan put in his diary of the Professor's\nperturbation at reading something in an evening paper at the station at\nExeter; so, seeing that Dr. Seward keeps his newspapers, I borrowed the\nfiles of \"The Westminster Gazette\" and \"The Pall Mall Gazette,\" and took\nthem to my room.", "I remember how much \"The Dailygraph\" and \"The Whitby\nGazette,\" of which I had made cuttings, helped us to understand the\nterrible events at Whitby when Count Dracula landed, so I shall look\nthrough the evening papers since then, and perhaps I shall get some new\nlight.", "I am not sleepy, and the work will help to keep me quiet.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_30 September._--Mr. Harker arrived at nine o'clock.", "He had got his\nwife's wire just before starting.", "He is uncommonly clever, if one can\njudge from his face, and full of energy.", "If this journal be true--and\njudging by one's own wonderful experiences, it must be--he is also a man\nof great nerve.", "That going down to the vault a second time was a\nremarkable piece of daring.", "After reading his account of it I was\nprepared to meet a good specimen of manhood, but hardly the quiet,\nbusiness-like gentleman who came here to-day.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--After lunch Harker and his wife went back to their own room,\nand as I passed a while ago I heard the click of the typewriter.", "They\nare hard at it.", "Mrs. Harker says that they are knitting together in\nchronological order every scrap of evidence they have.", "Harker has got\nthe letters between the consignee of the boxes at Whitby and the\ncarriers in London who took charge of them.", "He is now reading his wife's\ntypescript of my diary.", "I wonder what they make out of it.", "Here it\nis....", "Strange that it never struck me that the very next house might be\n the Count's hiding-place!", "Goodness knows that we had enough clues\n from the conduct of the patient Renfield!", "The bundle of letters\n relating to the purchase of the house were with the typescript.", "Oh,\n if we had only had them earlier we might have saved poor Lucy!", "Stop; that way madness lies!", "Harker has gone back, and is again\n collating his material.", "He says that by dinner-time they will be\n able to show a whole connected narrative.", "He thinks that in the\n meantime I should see Renfield, as hitherto he has been a sort of\n index to the coming and going of the Count.", "I hardly see this yet,\n but when I get at the dates I suppose I shall.", "What a good thing\n that Mrs. Harker put my cylinders into type!", "We never could have\n found the dates otherwise....", "I found Renfield sitting placidly in his room with his hands\n folded, smiling benignly.", "At the moment he seemed as sane as any\n one I ever saw.", "I sat down and talked with him on a lot of\n subjects, all of which he treated naturally.", "He then, of his own\n accord, spoke of going home, a subject he has never mentioned to my\n knowledge during his sojourn here.", "In fact, he spoke quite\n confidently of getting his discharge at once.", "I believe that, had I\n not had the chat with Harker and read the letters and the dates of\n his outbursts, I should have been prepared to sign for him after a\n brief time of observation.", "As it is, I am darkly suspicious.", "All\n those outbreaks were in some way linked with the proximity of the\n Count.", "What then does this absolute content mean?", "Can it be that\n his instinct is satisfied as to the vampire's ultimate triumph?", "Stay; he is himself zooephagous, and in his wild ravings outside the\n chapel door of the deserted house he always spoke of \"master.\"", "This\n all seems confirmation of our idea.", "However, after a while I came\n away; my friend is just a little too sane at present to make it\n safe to probe him too deep with questions.", "He might begin to think,\n and then--!", "So I came away.", "I mistrust these quiet moods of his; so\n I have given the attendant a hint to look closely after him, and to\n have a strait-waistcoat ready in case of need.", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_29 September, in train to London._--When I received Mr. Billington's\ncourteous message that he would give me any information in his power I\nthought it best to go down to Whitby and make, on the spot, such\ninquiries as I wanted.", "It was now my object to trace that horrid cargo\nof the Count's to its place in London.", "Later, we may be able to deal\nwith it.", "Billington junior, a nice lad, met me at the station, and\nbrought me to his father's house, where they had decided that I must\nstay the night.", "They are hospitable, with true Yorkshire hospitality:\ngive a guest everything, and leave him free to do as he likes.", "They all\nknew that I was busy, and that my stay was short, and Mr. Billington had\nready in his office all the papers concerning the consignment of boxes.", "It gave me almost a turn to see again one of the letters which I had\nseen on the Count's table before I knew of his diabolical plans.", "Everything had been carefully thought out, and done systematically and\nwith precision.", "He seemed to have been prepared for every obstacle which\nmight be placed by accident in the way of his intentions being carried\nout.", "To use an Americanism, he had \"taken no chances,\" and the absolute\naccuracy with which his instructions were fulfilled, was simply the\nlogical result of his care.", "I saw the invoice, and took note of it:\n\"Fifty cases of common earth, to be used for experimental purposes.\"", "Also the copy of letter to Carter Paterson, and their reply; of both of\nthese I got copies.", "This was all the information Mr. Billington could\ngive me, so I went down to the port and saw the coastguards, the Customs\nofficers and the harbour-master.", "They had all something to say of the\nstrange entry of the ship, which is already taking its place in local\ntradition; but no one could add to the simple description \"Fifty cases\nof common earth.\"", "I then saw the station-master, who kindly put me in\ncommunication with the men who had actually received the boxes.", "Their\ntally was exact with the list, and they had nothing to add except that\nthe boxes were \"main and mortal heavy,\" and that shifting them was dry\nwork.", "One of them added that it was hard lines that there wasn't any\ngentleman \"such-like as yourself, squire,\" to show some sort of\nappreciation of their efforts in a liquid form; another put in a rider\nthat the thirst then generated was such that even the time which had\nelapsed had not completely allayed it.", "Needless to add, I took care\nbefore leaving to lift, for ever and adequately, this source of\nreproach.", "* * * * *\n\n_30 September._--The station-master was good enough to give me a line to\nhis old companion the station-master at King's Cross, so that when I\narrived there in the morning I was able to ask him about the arrival of\nthe boxes.", "He, too, put me at once in communication with the proper\nofficials, and I saw that their tally was correct with the original\ninvoice.", "The opportunities of acquiring an abnormal thirst had been here\nlimited; a noble use of them had, however, been made, and again I was\ncompelled to deal with the result in an _ex post facto_ manner.", "From thence I went on to Carter Paterson's central office, where I met\nwith the utmost courtesy.", "They looked up the transaction in their\nday-book and letter-book, and at once telephoned to their King's Cross\noffice for more details.", "By good fortune, the men who did the teaming\nwere waiting for work, and the official at once sent them over, sending\nalso by one of them the way-bill and all the papers connected with the\ndelivery of the boxes at Carfax.", "Here again I found the tally agreeing\nexactly; the carriers' men were able to supplement the paucity of the\nwritten words with a few details.", "These were, I shortly found, connected\nalmost solely with the dusty nature of the job, and of the consequent\nthirst engendered in the operators.", "On my affording an opportunity,\nthrough the medium of the currency of the realm, of the allaying, at a\nlater period, this beneficial evil, one of the men remarked:--\n\n\"That 'ere 'ouse, guv'nor, is the rummiest I ever was in.", "Blyme!", "but it\nain't been touched sence a hundred years.", "There was dust that thick in\nthe place that you might have slep' on it without 'urtin' of yer bones;\nan' the place was that neglected that yer might 'ave smelled ole\nJerusalem in it.", "But the ole chapel--that took the cike, that did!", "Me\nand my mate, we thort we wouldn't never git out quick enough.", "Lor', I\nwouldn't take less nor a quid a moment to stay there arter dark.\"", "Having been in the house, I could well believe him; but if he knew what\nI know, he would, I think, have raised his terms.", "Of one thing I am now satisfied: that _all_ the boxes which arrived at\nWhitby from Varna in the _Demeter_ were safely deposited in the old\nchapel at Carfax.", "There should be fifty of them there, unless any have\nsince been removed--as from Dr. Seward's diary I fear.", "I shall try to see the carter who took away the boxes from Carfax when\nRenfield attacked them.", "By following up this clue we may learn a good\ndeal.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Mina and I have worked all day, and we have put all the papers\ninto order.", "_Mina Harker's Journal_\n\n_30 September._--I am so glad that I hardly know how to contain myself.", "It is, I suppose, the reaction from the haunting fear which I have had:\nthat this terrible affair and the reopening of his old wound might act\ndetrimentally on Jonathan.", "I saw him leave for Whitby with as brave a\nface as I could, but I was sick with apprehension.", "The effort has,\nhowever, done him good.", "He was never so resolute, never so strong, never\nso full of volcanic energy, as at present.", "It is just as that dear, good\nProfessor Van Helsing said: he is true grit, and he improves under\nstrain that would kill a weaker nature.", "He came back full of life and\nhope and determination; we have got everything in order for to-night.", "I\nfeel myself quite wild with excitement.", "I suppose one ought to pity any\nthing so hunted as is the Count.", "That is just it: this Thing is not\nhuman--not even beast.", "To read Dr. Seward's account of poor Lucy's\ndeath, and what followed, is enough to dry up the springs of pity in\none's heart.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Lord Godalming and Mr. Morris arrived earlier than we\nexpected.", "Dr. Seward was out on business, and had taken Jonathan with\nhim, so I had to see them.", "It was to me a painful meeting, for it\nbrought back all poor dear Lucy's hopes of only a few months ago.", "Of\ncourse they had heard Lucy speak of me, and it seemed that Dr. Van\nHelsing, too, has been quite \"blowing my trumpet,\" as Mr. Morris\nexpressed it.", "Poor fellows, neither of them is aware that I know all\nabout the proposals they made to Lucy.", "They did not quite know what to\nsay or do, as they were ignorant of the amount of my knowledge; so they\nhad to keep on neutral subjects.", "However, I thought the matter over, and\ncame to the conclusion that the best thing I could do would be to post\nthem in affairs right up to date.", "I knew from Dr. Seward's diary that\nthey had been at Lucy's death--her real death--and that I need not fear\nto betray any secret before the time.", "So I told them, as well as I\ncould, that I had read all the papers and diaries, and that my husband\nand I, having typewritten them, had just finished putting them in order.", "I gave them each a copy to read in the library.", "When Lord Godalming got\nhis and turned it over--it does make a pretty good pile--he said:--\n\n\"Did you write all this, Mrs.", "Harker?\"", "I nodded, and he went on:--\n\n\"I don't quite see the drift of it; but you people are all so good and\nkind, and have been working so earnestly and so energetically, that all\nI can do is to accept your ideas blindfold and try to help you.", "I have\nhad one lesson already in accepting facts that should make a man humble\nto the last hour of his life.", "Besides, I know you loved my poor Lucy--\"\nHere he turned away and covered his face with his hands.", "I could hear\nthe tears in his voice.", "Mr. Morris, with instinctive delicacy, just laid\na hand for a moment on his shoulder, and then walked quietly out of the\nroom.", "I suppose there is something in woman's nature that makes a man\nfree to break down before her and express his feelings on the tender or\nemotional side without feeling it derogatory to his manhood; for when\nLord Godalming found himself alone with me he sat down on the sofa and\ngave way utterly and openly.", "I sat down beside him and took his hand.", "I\nhope he didn't think it forward of me, and that if he ever thinks of it\nafterwards he never will have such a thought.", "There I wrong him; I\n_know_ he never will--he is too true a gentleman.", "I said to him, for I\ncould see that his heart was breaking:--\n\n\"I loved dear Lucy, and I know what she was to you, and what you were to\nher.", "She and I were like sisters; and now she is gone, will you not let\nme be like a sister to you in your trouble?", "I know what sorrows you have\nhad, though I cannot measure the depth of them.", "If sympathy and pity can\nhelp in your affliction, won't you let me be of some little service--for\nLucy's sake?\"", "In an instant the poor dear fellow was overwhelmed with grief.", "It seemed\nto me that all that he had of late been suffering in silence found a\nvent at once.", "He grew quite hysterical, and raising his open hands, beat\nhis palms together in a perfect agony of grief.", "He stood up and then sat\ndown again, and the tears rained down his cheeks.", "I felt an infinite\npity for him, and opened my arms unthinkingly.", "With a sob he laid his\nhead on my shoulder and cried like a wearied child, whilst he shook with\nemotion.", "We women have something of the mother in us that makes us rise above\nsmaller matters when the mother-spirit is invoked; I felt this big\nsorrowing man's head resting on me, as though it were that of the baby\nthat some day may lie on my bosom, and I stroked his hair as though he\nwere my own child.", "I never thought at the time how strange it all was.", "After a little bit his sobs ceased, and he raised himself with an\napology, though he made no disguise of his emotion.", "He told me that for\ndays and nights past--weary days and sleepless nights--he had been\nunable to speak with any one, as a man must speak in his time of\nsorrow.", "There was no woman whose sympathy could be given to him, or with\nwhom, owing to the terrible circumstance with which his sorrow was\nsurrounded, he could speak freely.", "\"I know now how I suffered,\" he said,\nas he dried his eyes, \"but I do not know even yet--and none other can\never know--how much your sweet sympathy has been to me to-day.", "I shall\nknow better in time; and believe me that, though I am not ungrateful\nnow, my gratitude will grow with my understanding.", "You will let me be\nlike a brother, will you not, for all our lives--for dear Lucy's sake?\"", "\"For dear Lucy's sake,\" I said as we clasped hands.", "\"Ay, and for your\nown sake,\" he added, \"for if a man's esteem and gratitude are ever worth\nthe winning, you have won mine to-day.", "If ever the future should bring\nto you a time when you need a man's help, believe me, you will not call\nin vain.", "God grant that no such time may ever come to you to break the\nsunshine of your life; but if it should ever come, promise me that you\nwill let me know.\"", "He was so earnest, and his sorrow was so fresh, that\nI felt it would comfort him, so I said:--\n\n\"I promise.\"", "As I came along the corridor I saw Mr. Morris looking out of a window.", "He turned as he heard my footsteps.", "\"How is Art?\"", "he said.", "Then noticing\nmy red eyes, he went on: \"Ah, I see you have been comforting him.", "Poor\nold fellow!", "he needs it.", "No one but a woman can help a man when he is in\ntrouble of the heart; and he had no one to comfort him.\"", "He bore his own trouble so bravely that my heart bled for him.", "I saw the\nmanuscript in his hand, and I knew that when he read it he would realise\nhow much I knew; so I said to him:--\n\n\"I wish I could comfort all who suffer from the heart.", "Will you let me\nbe your friend, and will you come to me for comfort if you need it?", "You\nwill know, later on, why I speak.\"", "He saw that I was in earnest, and\nstooping, took my hand, and raising it to his lips, kissed it.", "It seemed\nbut poor comfort to so brave and unselfish a soul, and impulsively I\nbent over and kissed him.", "The tears rose in his eyes, and there was a\nmomentary choking in his throat; he said quite calmly:--\n\n\"Little girl, you will never regret that true-hearted kindness, so long\nas ever you live!\"", "Then he went into the study to his friend.", "\"Little girl!\"", "--the very words he had used to Lucy, and oh, but he\nproved himself a friend!" ]

[ "She must go to your\nhouse, friend John.", "\"The fact is,\" he began awkwardly, \"I only keep my diary in it; and as\nit is entirely--almost entirely--about my cases, it may be awkward--that\nis, I mean----\" He stopped, and I tried to help him out of his\nembarrassment:--\n\n\"You helped to attend dear Lucy at the end.", "\"You do not know me,\" I said.", "What a good thing\n that Mrs. Harker put my cylinders into type!", "Can it be that\n his instinct is satisfied as to the vampire's ultimate triumph?", "By good fortune, the men who did the teaming\nwere waiting for work, and the official at once sent them over, sending\nalso by one of them the way-bill and all the papers connected with the\ndelivery of the boxes at Carfax.", "There was dust that thick in\nthe place that you might have slep' on it without 'urtin' of yer bones;\nan' the place was that neglected that yer might 'ave smelled ole\nJerusalem in it.", "He was never so resolute, never so strong, never\nso full of volcanic energy, as at present.", "So I told them, as well as I\ncould, that I had read all the papers and diaries, and that my husband\nand I, having typewritten them, had just finished putting them in order.", "I suppose there is something in woman's nature that makes a man\nfree to break down before her and express his feelings on the tender or\nemotional side without feeling it derogatory to his manhood; for when\nLord Godalming found himself alone with me he sat down on the sofa and\ngave way utterly and openly." ]

[ "Seward's Diary._\n\n_29 September._--I was so absorbed in that wonderful diary of Jonathan\nHarker and that other of his wife that I let the time run on without\nthinking.", "I know what sorrows you have\nhad, though I cannot measure the depth of them.", "They looked up the transaction in their\nday-book and letter-book, and at once telephoned to their King's Cross\noffice for more details.", "It seemed\nbut poor comfort to so brave and unselfish a soul, and impulsively I\nbent over and kissed him.", "\"Oh,\" he replied with a smile, \"I was only entering my diary.\"", "My brain was all in a whirl, and only that there came through all\nthe multitude of horrors, the holy ray of light that my dear, dear Lucy\nwas at last at peace, I do not think I could have borne it without\nmaking a scene.", "She was very, very\ndear to me.\"", "I have copied out the\nwords on my typewriter, and none other need now hear your heart beat, as\nI did.\"", "By this time my mind was\nmade up that the diary of a doctor who attended Lucy might have\nsomething to add to the sum of our knowledge of that terrible Being, and\nI said boldly:--\n\n\"Then, Dr. Seward, you had better let me copy it out for you on my\ntypewriter.\"", "They did not quite know what to\nsay or do, as they were ignorant of the amount of my knowledge; so they\nhad to keep on neutral subjects." ]

[ "How good and thoughtful he is; the world seems full of\ngood men--even if there _are_ monsters in it.", "Before I left him I\nremembered what Jonathan put in his diary of the Professor's\nperturbation at reading something in an evening paper at the station at\nExeter; so, seeing that Dr. Seward keeps his newspapers, I borrowed the\nfiles of \"The Westminster Gazette\" and \"The Pall Mall Gazette,\" and took\nthem to my room.", "I remember how much \"The Dailygraph\" and \"The Whitby\nGazette,\" of which I had made cuttings, helped us to understand the\nterrible events at Whitby when Count Dracula landed, so I shall look\nthrough the evening papers since then, and perhaps I shall get some new\nlight.", "I am not sleepy, and the work will help to keep me quiet.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_30 September._--Mr. Harker arrived at nine o'clock.", "He had got his\nwife's wire just before starting.", "He is uncommonly clever, if one can\njudge from his face, and full of energy.", "If this journal be true--and\njudging by one's own wonderful experiences, it must be--he is also a man\nof great nerve.", "That going down to the vault a second time was a\nremarkable piece of daring.", "After reading his account of it I was\nprepared to meet a good specimen of manhood, but hardly the quiet,\nbusiness-like gentleman who came here to-day." ]

[ "\n\nWhen we arrived at the Berkeley Hotel, Van Helsing found a telegram\nwaiting for him:--\n\n \"Am coming up by train.", "Jonathan at Whitby.", "Important news.--MINA\n HARKER.\"", "The Professor was delighted.", "\"Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina,\" he said,\n\"pearl among women!", "She arrive, but I cannot stay.", "She must go to your\nhouse, friend John.", "You must meet her at the station.", "Telegraph her _en\nroute_, so that she may be prepared.\"", "When the wire was despatched he had a cup of tea; over it he told me of\na diary kept by Jonathan Harker when abroad, and gave me a typewritten\ncopy of it, as also of Mrs. Harker's diary at Whitby.", "He bore his own trouble so bravely that my heart bled for him.", "I saw the\nmanuscript in his hand, and I knew that when he read it he would realise\nhow much I knew; so I said to him:--\n\n\"I wish I could comfort all who suffer from the heart.", "Will you let me\nbe your friend, and will you come to me for comfort if you need it?", "You\nwill know, later on, why I speak.\"", "He saw that I was in earnest, and\nstooping, took my hand, and raising it to his lips, kissed it.", "It seemed\nbut poor comfort to so brave and unselfish a soul, and impulsively I\nbent over and kissed him.", "The tears rose in his eyes, and there was a\nmomentary choking in his throat; he said quite calmly:--\n\n\"Little girl, you will never regret that true-hearted kindness, so long\nas ever you live!\"", "Then he went into the study to his friend.", "\"Little girl!\"", "--the very words he had used to Lucy, and oh, but he\nproved himself a friend!" ]

[ "\n\n_30 September._--I got home at five o'clock, and found that Godalming\nand Morris had not only arrived, but had already studied the transcript\nof the various diaries and letters which Harker and his wonderful wife\nhad made and arranged.", "Harker had not yet returned from his visit to the\ncarriers' men, of whom Dr. Hennessey had written to me.", "Mrs. Harker gave\nus a cup of tea, and I can honestly say that, for the first time since I\nhave lived in it, this old house seemed like _home_.", "When we had\nfinished, Mrs. Harker said:--\n\n\"Dr. Seward, may I ask a favour?", "I want to see your patient, Mr.\nRenfield.", "Do let me see him.", "What you have said of him in your diary\ninterests me so much!\"", "She looked so appealing and so pretty that I\ncould not refuse her, and there was no possible reason why I should; so\nI took her with me.", "When I went into the room, I told the man that a\nlady would like to see him; to which he simply answered: \"Why?\"", "\"She is going through the house, and wants to see every one in it,\" I\nanswered.", "\"Oh, very well,\" he said; \"let her come in, by all means; but\njust wait a minute till I tidy up the place.\"", "His method of tidying was\npeculiar: he simply swallowed all the flies and spiders in the boxes\nbefore I could stop him.", "It was quite evident that he feared, or was\njealous of, some interference.", "When he had got through his disgusting\ntask, he said cheerfully: \"Let the lady come in,\" and sat down on the\nedge of his bed with his head down, but with his eyelids raised so that\nhe could see her as she entered.", "For a moment I thought that he might\nhave some homicidal intent; I remembered how quiet he had been just\nbefore he attacked me in my own study, and I took care to stand where I\ncould seize him at once if he attempted to make a spring at her.", "She\ncame into the room with an easy gracefulness which would at once command\nthe respect of any lunatic--for easiness is one of the qualities mad\npeople most respect.", "She walked over to him, smiling pleasantly, and\nheld out her hand.", "\"Good-evening, Mr. Renfield,\" said she.", "\"You see, I know you, for Dr.\nSeward has told me of you.\"", "He made no immediate reply, but eyed her all\nover intently with a set frown on his face.", "This look gave way to one\nof wonder, which merged in doubt; then, to my intense astonishment, he\nsaid:--\n\n\"You're not the girl the doctor wanted to marry, are you?", "You can't be,\nyou know, for she's dead.\"", "Mrs. Harker smiled sweetly as she replied:--\n\n\"Oh no!", "I have a husband of my own, to whom I was married before I ever\nsaw Dr. Seward, or he me.", "I am Mrs.", "Harker.\"", "\"Then what are you doing here?\"", "\"My husband and I are staying on a visit with Dr.", "Seward.\"", "\"Then don't stay.\"", "\"But why not?\"", "I thought that this style of conversation might not be\npleasant to Mrs. Harker, any more than it was to me, so I joined in:--\n\n\"How did you know I wanted to marry any one?\"", "His reply was simply\ncontemptuous, given in a pause in which he turned his eyes from Mrs.\nHarker to me, instantly turning them back again:--\n\n\"What an asinine question!\"", "\"I don't see that at all, Mr. Renfield,\" said Mrs. Harker, at once\nchampioning me.", "He replied to her with as much courtesy and respect as\nhe had shown contempt to me:--\n\n\"You will, of course, understand, Mrs. Harker, that when a man is so\nloved and honoured as our host is, everything regarding him is of\ninterest in our little community.", "Dr. Seward is loved not only by his\nhousehold and his friends, but even by his patients, who, being some of\nthem hardly in mental equilibrium, are apt to distort causes and\neffects.", "Since I myself have been an inmate of a lunatic asylum, I\ncannot but notice that the sophistic tendencies of some of its inmates\nlean towards the errors of _non causa_ and _ignoratio elenchi_.\"", "I\npositively opened my eyes at this new development.", "Here was my own pet\nlunatic--the most pronounced of his type that I had ever met\nwith--talking elemental philosophy, and with the manner of a polished\ngentleman.", "I wonder if it was Mrs. Harker's presence which had touched\nsome chord in his memory.", "If this new phase was spontaneous, or in any\nway due to her unconscious influence, she must have some rare gift or\npower.", "We continued to talk for some time; and, seeing that he was seemingly\nquite reasonable, she ventured, looking at me questioningly as she\nbegan, to lead him to his favourite topic.", "I was again astonished, for\nhe addressed himself to the question with the impartiality of the\ncompletest sanity; he even took himself as an example when he mentioned\ncertain things.", "\"Why, I myself am an instance of a man who had a strange belief.", "Indeed,\nit was no wonder that my friends were alarmed, and insisted on my being\nput under control.", "I used to fancy that life was a positive and\nperpetual entity, and that by consuming a multitude of live things, no\nmatter how low in the scale of creation, one might indefinitely prolong\nlife.", "At times I held the belief so strongly that I actually tried to\ntake human life.", "The doctor here will bear me out that on one occasion I\ntried to kill him for the purpose of strengthening my vital powers by\nthe assimilation with my own body of his life through the medium of his\nblood--relying, of course, upon the Scriptural phrase, 'For the blood is\nthe life.'", "Though, indeed, the vendor of a certain nostrum has\nvulgarised the truism to the very point of contempt.", "Isn't that true,\ndoctor?\"", "I nodded assent, for I was so amazed that I hardly knew what to\neither think or say; it was hard to imagine that I had seen him eat up\nhis spiders and flies not five minutes before.", "Looking at my watch, I\nsaw that I should go to the station to meet Van Helsing, so I told Mrs.\nHarker that it was time to leave.", "She came at once, after saying\npleasantly to Mr. Renfield: \"Good-bye, and I hope I may see you often,\nunder auspices pleasanter to yourself,\" to which, to my astonishment, he\nreplied:--\n\n\"Good-bye, my dear.", "I pray God I may never see your sweet face again.", "May He bless and keep you!\"", "When I went to the station to meet Van Helsing I left the boys behind\nme.", "Poor Art seemed more cheerful than he has been since Lucy first took\nill, and Quincey is more like his own bright self than he has been for\nmany a long day.", "Van Helsing stepped from the carriage with the eager nimbleness of a\nboy.", "He saw me at once, and rushed up to me, saying:--\n\n\"Ah, friend John, how goes all?", "Well?", "So!", "I have been busy, for I come\nhere to stay if need be.", "All affairs are settled with me, and I have\nmuch to tell.", "Madam Mina is with you?", "Yes.", "And her so fine husband?", "And\nArthur and my friend Quincey, they are with you, too?", "Good!\"", "As I drove to the house I told him of what had passed, and of how my own\ndiary had come to be of some use through Mrs. Harker's suggestion; at\nwhich the Professor interrupted me:--\n\n\"Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina!", "She has man's brain--a brain that a man\nshould have were he much gifted--and a woman's heart.", "The good God\nfashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made that so good\ncombination.", "Friend John, up to now fortune has made that woman of help\nto us; after to-night she must not have to do with this so terrible\naffair.", "It is not good that she run a risk so great.", "We men are\ndetermined--nay, are we not pledged?--to destroy this monster; but it is\nno part for a woman.", "Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her\nin so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer--both in\nwaking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams.", "And, besides,\nshe is young woman and not so long married; there may be other things to\nthink of some time, if not now.", "You tell me she has wrote all, then she\nmust consult with us; but to-morrow she say good-bye to this work, and\nwe go alone.\"", "I agreed heartily with him, and then I told him what we\nhad found in his absence: that the house which Dracula had bought was\nthe very next one to my own.", "He was amazed, and a great concern seemed\nto come on him.", "\"Oh that we had known it before!\"", "he said, \"for then we\nmight have reached him in time to save poor Lucy.", "However, 'the milk\nthat is spilt cries not out afterwards,' as you say.", "We shall not think\nof that, but go on our way to the end.\"", "Then he fell into a silence that\nlasted till we entered my own gateway.", "Before we went to prepare for\ndinner he said to Mrs. Harker:--\n\n\"I am told, Madam Mina, by my friend John that you and your husband have\nput up in exact order all things that have been, up to this moment.\"", "\"Not up to this moment, Professor,\" she said impulsively, \"but up to\nthis morning.\"", "\"But why not up to now?", "We have seen hitherto how good light all the\nlittle things have made.", "We have told our secrets, and yet no one who\nhas told is the worse for it.\"", "Mrs. Harker began to blush, and taking a paper from her pockets, she\nsaid:--\n\n\"Dr. Van Helsing, will you read this, and tell me if it must go in.", "It\nis my record of to-day.", "I too have seen the need of putting down at\npresent everything, however trivial; but there is little in this except\nwhat is personal.", "Must it go in?\"", "The Professor read it over gravely,\nand handed it back, saying:--\n\n\"It need not go in if you do not wish it; but I pray that it may.", "It can\nbut make your husband love you the more, and all us, your friends, more\nhonour you--as well as more esteem and love.\"", "She took it back with\nanother blush and a bright smile.", "And so now, up to this very hour, all the records we have are complete\nand in order.", "The Professor took away one copy to study after dinner,\nand before our meeting, which is fixed for nine o'clock.", "The rest of us\nhave already read everything; so when we meet in the study we shall all\nbe informed as to facts, and can arrange our plan of battle with this\nterrible and mysterious enemy.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_30 September._--When we met in Dr. Seward's study two hours after\ndinner, which had been at six o'clock, we unconsciously formed a sort of\nboard or committee.", "Professor Van Helsing took the head of the table, to\nwhich Dr. Seward motioned him as he came into the room.", "He made me sit\nnext to him on his right, and asked me to act as secretary; Jonathan sat\nnext to me.", "Opposite us were Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, and Mr.\nMorris--Lord Godalming being next the Professor, and Dr. Seward in the\ncentre.", "The Professor said:--\n\n\"I may, I suppose, take it that we are all acquainted with the facts\nthat are in these papers.\"", "We all expressed assent, and he went on:--\n\n\"Then it were, I think good that I tell you something of the kind of\nenemy with which we have to deal.", "I shall then make known to you\nsomething of the history of this man, which has been ascertained for me.", "So we then can discuss how we shall act, and can take our measure\naccording.", "\"There are such beings as vampires; some of us have evidence that they\nexist.", "Even had we not the proof of our own unhappy experience, the\nteachings and the records of the past give proof enough for sane\npeoples.", "I admit that at the first I was sceptic.", "Were it not that\nthrough long years I have train myself to keep an open mind, I could not\nhave believe until such time as that fact thunder on my ear.", "'See!", "see!", "I prove; I prove.'", "Alas!", "Had I known at the first what now I know--nay,\nhad I even guess at him--one so precious life had been spared to many of\nus who did love her.", "But that is gone; and we must so work, that other\npoor souls perish not, whilst we can save.", "The _nosferatu_ do not die\nlike the bee when he sting once.", "He is only stronger; and being\nstronger, have yet more power to work evil.", "This vampire which is\namongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men; he is of\ncunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages; he have\nstill the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the\ndivination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are\nfor him at command; he is brute, and more than brute; he is devil in\ncallous, and the heart of him is not; he can, within limitations, appear\nat will when, and where, and in any of the forms that are to him; he\ncan, within his range, direct the elements; the storm, the fog, the\nthunder; he can command all the meaner things: the rat, and the owl, and\nthe bat--the moth, and the fox, and the wolf; he can grow and become\nsmall; and he can at times vanish and come unknown.", "How then are we to\nbegin our strike to destroy him?", "How shall we find his where; and having\nfound it, how can we destroy?", "My friends, this is much; it is a terrible\ntask that we undertake, and there may be consequence to make the brave\nshudder.", "For if we fail in this our fight he must surely win; and then\nwhere end we?", "Life is nothings; I heed him not.", "But to fail here, is not\nmere life or death.", "It is that we become as him; that we henceforward\nbecome foul things of the night like him--without heart or conscience,\npreying on the bodies and the souls of those we love best.", "To us for\never are the gates of heaven shut; for who shall open them to us again?", "We go on for all time abhorred by all; a blot on the face of God's\nsunshine; an arrow in the side of Him who died for man.", "But we are face\nto face with duty; and in such case must we shrink?", "For me, I say, no;\nbut then I am old, and life, with his sunshine, his fair places, his\nsong of birds, his music and his love, lie far behind.", "You others are\nyoung.", "Some have seen sorrow; but there are fair days yet in store.", "What\nsay you?\"", "Whilst he was speaking, Jonathan had taken my hand.", "I feared, oh so\nmuch, that the appalling nature of our danger was overcoming him when I\nsaw his hand stretch out; but it was life to me to feel its touch--so\nstrong, so self-reliant, so resolute.", "A brave man's hand can speak for\nitself; it does not even need a woman's love to hear its music.", "When the Professor had done speaking my husband looked in my eyes, and I\nin his; there was no need for speaking between us.", "\"I answer for Mina and myself,\" he said.", "\"Count me in, Professor,\" said Mr. Quincey Morris, laconically as usual.", "\"I am with you,\" said Lord Godalming, \"for Lucy's sake, if for no other\nreason.\"", "Dr. Seward simply nodded.", "The Professor stood up and, after laying his\ngolden crucifix on the table, held out his hand on either side.", "I took\nhis right hand, and Lord Godalming his left; Jonathan held my right with\nhis left and stretched across to Mr. Morris.", "So as we all took hands our\nsolemn compact was made.", "I felt my heart icy cold, but it did not even\noccur to me to draw back.", "We resumed our places, and Dr. Van Helsing\nwent on with a sort of cheerfulness which showed that the serious work\nhad begun.", "It was to be taken as gravely, and in as businesslike a way,\nas any other transaction of life:--\n\n\"Well, you know what we have to contend against; but we, too, are not\nwithout strength.", "We have on our side power of combination--a power\ndenied to the vampire kind; we have sources of science; we are free to\nact and think; and the hours of the day and the night are ours equally.", "In fact, so far as our powers extend, they are unfettered, and we are\nfree to use them.", "We have self-devotion in a cause, and an end to\nachieve which is not a selfish one.", "These things are much.", "\"Now let us see how far the general powers arrayed against us are\nrestrict, and how the individual cannot.", "In fine, let us consider the\nlimitations of the vampire in general, and of this one in particular.", "\"All we have to go upon are traditions and superstitions.", "These do not\nat the first appear much, when the matter is one of life and death--nay\nof more than either life or death.", "Yet must we be satisfied; in the\nfirst place because we have to be--no other means is at our control--and\nsecondly, because, after all, these things--tradition and\nsuperstition--are everything.", "Does not the belief in vampires rest for\nothers--though not, alas!", "for us--on them?", "A year ago which of us would\nhave received such a possibility, in the midst of our scientific,\nsceptical, matter-of-fact nineteenth century?", "We even scouted a belief\nthat we saw justified under our very eyes.", "Take it, then, that the\nvampire, and the belief in his limitations and his cure, rest for the\nmoment on the same base.", "For, let me tell you, he is known everywhere\nthat men have been.", "In old Greece, in old Rome; he flourish in Germany\nall over, in France, in India, even in the Chernosese; and in China, so\nfar from us in all ways, there even is he, and the peoples fear him at\nthis day.", "He have follow the wake of the berserker Icelander, the\ndevil-begotten Hun, the Slav, the Saxon, the Magyar.", "So far, then, we\nhave all we may act upon; and let me tell you that very much of the\nbeliefs are justified by what we have seen in our own so unhappy\nexperience.", "The vampire live on, and cannot die by mere passing of the\ntime; he can flourish when that he can fatten on the blood of the\nliving.", "Even more, we have seen amongst us that he can even grow\nyounger; that his vital faculties grow strenuous, and seem as though\nthey refresh themselves when his special pabulum is plenty.", "But he\ncannot flourish without this diet; he eat not as others.", "Even friend\nJonathan, who lived with him for weeks, did never see him to eat, never!", "He throws no shadow; he make in the mirror no reflect, as again\nJonathan observe.", "He has the strength of many of his hand--witness again\nJonathan when he shut the door against the wolfs, and when he help him\nfrom the diligence too.", "He can transform himself to wolf, as we gather\nfrom the ship arrival in Whitby, when he tear open the dog; he can be as\nbat, as Madam Mina saw him on the window at Whitby, and as friend John\nsaw him fly from this so near house, and as my friend Quincey saw him at\nthe window of Miss Lucy.", "He can come in mist which he create--that noble\nship's captain proved him of this; but, from what we know, the distance\nhe can make this mist is limited, and it can only be round himself.", "He\ncome on moonlight rays as elemental dust--as again Jonathan saw those\nsisters in the castle of Dracula.", "He become so small--we ourselves saw\nMiss Lucy, ere she was at peace, slip through a hairbreadth space at the\ntomb door.", "He can, when once he find his way, come out from anything or\ninto anything, no matter how close it be bound or even fused up with\nfire--solder you call it.", "He can see in the dark--no small power this,\nin a world which is one half shut from the light.", "Ah, but hear me\nthrough.", "He can do all these things, yet he is not free.", "Nay; he is even\nmore prisoner than the slave of the galley, than the madman in his cell.", "He cannot go where he lists; he who is not of nature has yet to obey\nsome of nature's laws--why we know not.", "He may not enter anywhere at the\nfirst, unless there be some one of the household who bid him to come;\nthough afterwards he can come as he please.", "His power ceases, as does\nthat of all evil things, at the coming of the day.", "Only at certain times\ncan he have limited freedom.", "If he be not at the place whither he is\nbound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset.", "These things are we told, and in this record of ours we have proof by\ninference.", "Thus, whereas he can do as he will within his limit, when he\nhave his earth-home, his coffin-home, his hell-home, the place\nunhallowed, as we saw when he went to the grave of the suicide at\nWhitby; still at other time he can only change when the time come.", "It is\nsaid, too, that he can only pass running water at the slack or the flood\nof the tide.", "Then there are things which so afflict him that he has no\npower, as the garlic that we know of; and as for things sacred, as this\nsymbol, my crucifix, that was amongst us even now when we resolve, to\nthem he is nothing, but in their presence he take his place far off and\nsilent with respect.", "There are others, too, which I shall tell you of,\nlest in our seeking we may need them.", "The branch of wild rose on his\ncoffin keep him that he move not from it; a sacred bullet fired into the\ncoffin kill him so that he be true dead; and as for the stake through\nhim, we know already of its peace; or the cut-off head that giveth rest.", "We have seen it with our eyes.", "\"Thus when we find the habitation of this man-that-was, we can confine\nhim to his coffin and destroy him, if we obey what we know.", "But he is\nclever.", "I have asked my friend Arminius, of Buda-Pesth University, to\nmake his record; and, from all the means that are, he tell me of what he\nhas been.", "He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his\nname against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of\nTurkey-land.", "If it be so, then was he no common man; for in that time,\nand for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most\ncunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the 'land beyond the\nforest.'", "That mighty brain and that iron resolution went with him to his\ngrave, and are even now arrayed against us.", "The Draculas were, says\nArminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who\nwere held by their coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One.", "They\nlearned his secrets in the Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake\nHermanstadt, where the devil claims the tenth scholar as his due.", "In the\nrecords are such words as 'stregoica'--witch, 'ordog,' and\n'pokol'--Satan and hell; and in one manuscript this very Dracula is\nspoken of as 'wampyr,' which we all understand too well.", "There have been\nfrom the loins of this very one great men and good women, and their\ngraves make sacred the earth where alone this foulness can dwell.", "For it\nis not the least of its terrors that this evil thing is rooted deep in\nall good; in soil barren of holy memories it cannot rest.\"", "Whilst they were talking Mr. Morris was looking steadily at the window,\nand he now got up quietly, and went out of the room.", "There was a little\npause, and then the Professor went on:--\n\n\"And now we must settle what we do.", "We have here much data, and we must\nproceed to lay out our campaign.", "We know from the inquiry of Jonathan\nthat from the castle to Whitby came fifty boxes of earth, all of which\nwere delivered at Carfax; we also know that at least some of these boxes\nhave been removed.", "It seems to me, that our first step should be to\nascertain whether all the rest remain in the house beyond that wall\nwhere we look to-day; or whether any more have been removed.", "If the\nlatter, we must trace----\"\n\nHere we were interrupted in a very startling way.", "Outside the house came\nthe sound of a pistol-shot; the glass of the window was shattered with a\nbullet, which, ricochetting from the top of the embrasure, struck the\nfar wall of the room.", "I am afraid I am at heart a coward, for I shrieked\nout.", "The men all jumped to their feet; Lord Godalming flew over to the\nwindow and threw up the sash.", "As he did so we heard Mr. Morris's voice\nwithout:--\n\n\"Sorry!", "I fear I have alarmed you.", "I shall come in and tell you about\nit.\"", "A minute later he came in and said:--\n\n\"It was an idiotic thing of me to do, and I ask your pardon, Mrs.\nHarker, most sincerely; I fear I must have frightened you terribly.", "But\nthe fact is that whilst the Professor was talking there came a big bat\nand sat on the window-sill.", "I have got such a horror of the damned\nbrutes from recent events that I cannot stand them, and I went out to\nhave a shot, as I have been doing of late of evenings, whenever I have\nseen one.", "You used to laugh at me for it then, Art.\"", "\"Did you hit it?\"", "asked Dr. Van Helsing.", "\"I don't know; I fancy not, for it flew away into the wood.\"", "Without\nsaying any more he took his seat, and the Professor began to resume his\nstatement:--\n\n\"We must trace each of these boxes; and when we are ready, we must\neither capture or kill this monster in his lair; or we must, so to\nspeak, sterilise the earth, so that no more he can seek safety in it.", "Thus in the end we may find him in his form of man between the hours of\nnoon and sunset, and so engage with him when he is at his most weak.", "\"And now for you, Madam Mina, this night is the end until all be well.", "You are too precious to us to have such risk.", "When we part to-night, you\nno more must question.", "We shall tell you all in good time.", "We are men\nand are able to bear; but you must be our star and our hope, and we\nshall act all the more free that you are not in the danger, such as we\nare.\"", "All the men, even Jonathan, seemed relieved; but it did not seem to me\ngood that they should brave danger and, perhaps, lessen their\nsafety--strength being the best safety--through care of me; but their\nminds were made up, and, though it was a bitter pill for me to swallow,\nI could say nothing, save to accept their chivalrous care of me.", "Mr. Morris resumed the discussion:--\n\n\"As there is no time to lose, I vote we have a look at his house right\nnow.", "Time is everything with him; and swift action on our part may save\nanother victim.\"", "I own that my heart began to fail me when the time for action came so\nclose, but I did not say anything, for I had a greater fear that if I\nappeared as a drag or a hindrance to their work, they might even leave\nme out of their counsels altogether.", "They have now gone off to Carfax,\nwith means to get into the house.", "Manlike, they had told me to go to bed and sleep; as if a woman can\nsleep when those she loves are in danger!", "I shall lie down and pretend\nto sleep, lest Jonathan have added anxiety about me when he returns.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_1 October, 4 a. m._--Just as we were about to leave the house, an\nurgent message was brought to me from Renfield to know if I would see\nhim at once, as he had something of the utmost importance to say to me.", "I told the messenger to say that I would attend to his wishes in the\nmorning; I was busy just at the moment.", "The attendant added:--\n\n\"He seems very importunate, sir.", "I have never seen him so eager.", "I don't\nknow but what, if you don't see him soon, he will have one of his\nviolent fits.\"", "I knew the man would not have said this without some\ncause, so I said: \"All right; I'll go now\"; and I asked the others to\nwait a few minutes for me, as I had to go and see my \"patient.\"", "\"Take me with you, friend John,\" said the Professor.", "\"His case in your\ndiary interest me much, and it had bearing, too, now and again on _our_\ncase.", "I should much like to see him, and especial when his mind is\ndisturbed.\"", "\"May I come also?\"", "asked Lord Godalming.", "\"Me too?\"", "said Quincey Morris.", "\"May I come?\"", "said Harker.", "I nodded, and\nwe all went down the passage together.", "We found him in a state of considerable excitement, but far more\nrational in his speech and manner than I had ever seen him.", "There was an\nunusual understanding of himself, which was unlike anything I had ever\nmet with in a lunatic; and he took it for granted that his reasons would\nprevail with others entirely sane.", "We all four went into the room, but\nnone of the others at first said anything.", "His request was that I would\nat once release him from the asylum and send him home.", "This he backed up\nwith arguments regarding his complete recovery, and adduced his own\nexisting sanity.", "\"I appeal to your friends,\" he said, \"they will,\nperhaps, not mind sitting in judgment on my case.", "By the way, you have\nnot introduced me.\"", "I was so much astonished, that the oddness of\nintroducing a madman in an asylum did not strike me at the moment; and,\nbesides, there was a certain dignity in the man's manner, so much of\nthe habit of equality, that I at once made the introduction: \"Lord\nGodalming; Professor Van Helsing; Mr. Quincey Morris, of Texas; Mr.", "Renfield.\"", "He shook hands with each of them, saying in turn:--\n\n\"Lord Godalming, I had the honour of seconding your father at the\nWindham; I grieve to know, by your holding the title, that he is no\nmore.", "He was a man loved and honoured by all who knew him; and in his\nyouth was, I have heard, the inventor of a burnt rum punch, much\npatronised on Derby night.", "Mr. Morris, you should be proud of your great\nstate.", "Its reception into the Union was a precedent which may have\nfar-reaching effects hereafter, when the Pole and the Tropics may hold\nalliance to the Stars and Stripes.", "The power of Treaty may yet prove a\nvast engine of enlargement, when the Monroe doctrine takes its true\nplace as a political fable.", "What shall any man say of his pleasure at\nmeeting Van Helsing?", "Sir, I make no apology for dropping all forms of\nconventional prefix.", "When an individual has revolutionised therapeutics\nby his discovery of the continuous evolution of brain-matter,\nconventional forms are unfitting, since they would seem to limit him to\none of a class.", "You, gentlemen, who by nationality, by heredity, or by\nthe possession of natural gifts, are fitted to hold your respective\nplaces in the moving world, I take to witness that I am as sane as at\nleast the majority of men who are in full possession of their liberties.", "And I am sure that you, Dr. Seward, humanitarian and medico-jurist as\nwell as scientist, will deem it a moral duty to deal with me as one to\nbe considered as under exceptional circumstances.\"", "He made this last\nappeal with a courtly air of conviction which was not without its own\ncharm.", "I think we were all staggered.", "For my own part, I was under the\nconviction, despite my knowledge of the man's character and history,\nthat his reason had been restored; and I felt under a strong impulse to\ntell him that I was satisfied as to his sanity, and would see about the\nnecessary formalities for his release in the morning.", "I thought it\nbetter to wait, however, before making so grave a statement, for of old\nI knew the sudden changes to which this particular patient was liable.", "So I contented myself with making a general statement that he appeared\nto be improving very rapidly; that I would have a longer chat with him\nin the morning, and would then see what I could do in the direction of\nmeeting his wishes.", "This did not at all satisfy him, for he said\nquickly:--\n\n\"But I fear, Dr. Seward, that you hardly apprehend my wish.", "I desire to\ngo at once--here--now--this very hour--this very moment, if I may.", "Time\npresses, and in our implied agreement with the old scytheman it is of\nthe essence of the contract.", "I am sure it is only necessary to put\nbefore so admirable a practitioner as Dr. Seward so simple, yet so\nmomentous a wish, to ensure its fulfilment.\"", "He looked at me keenly, and\nseeing the negative in my face, turned to the others, and scrutinised\nthem closely.", "Not meeting any sufficient response, he went on:--\n\n\"Is it possible that I have erred in my supposition?\"", "\"You have,\" I said frankly, but at the same time, as I felt, brutally.", "There was a considerable pause, and then he said slowly:--\n\n\"Then I suppose I must only shift my ground of request.", "Let me ask for\nthis concession--boon, privilege, what you will.", "I am content to implore\nin such a case, not on personal grounds, but for the sake of others.", "I\nam not at liberty to give you the whole of my reasons; but you may, I\nassure you, take it from me that they are good ones, sound and\nunselfish, and spring from the highest sense of duty.", "Could you look,\nsir, into my heart, you would approve to the full the sentiments which\nanimate me.", "Nay, more, you would count me amongst the best and truest of\nyour friends.\"", "Again he looked at us all keenly.", "I had a growing\nconviction that this sudden change of his entire intellectual method was\nbut yet another form or phase of his madness, and so determined to let\nhim go on a little longer, knowing from experience that he would, like\nall lunatics, give himself away in the end.", "Van Helsing was gazing at\nhim with a look of utmost intensity, his bushy eyebrows almost meeting\nwith the fixed concentration of his look.", "He said to Renfield in a tone\nwhich did not surprise me at the time, but only when I thought of it\nafterwards--for it was as of one addressing an equal:--\n\n\"Can you not tell frankly your real reason for wishing to be free\nto-night?", "I will undertake that if you will satisfy even me--a stranger,\nwithout prejudice, and with the habit of keeping an open mind--Dr.\nSeward will give you, at his own risk and on his own responsibility, the\nprivilege you seek.\"", "He shook his head sadly, and with a look of\npoignant regret on his face.", "The Professor went on:--\n\n\"Come, sir, bethink yourself.", "You claim the privilege of reason in the\nhighest degree, since you seek to impress us with your complete\nreasonableness.", "You do this, whose sanity we have reason to doubt, since\nyou are not yet released from medical treatment for this very defect.", "If\nyou will not help us in our effort to choose the wisest course, how can\nwe perform the duty which you yourself put upon us?", "Be wise, and help\nus; and if we can we shall aid you to achieve your wish.\"", "He still shook\nhis head as he said:--\n\n\"Dr. Van Helsing, I have nothing to say.", "Your argument is complete, and\nif I were free to speak I should not hesitate a moment; but I am not my\nown master in the matter.", "I can only ask you to trust me.", "If I am\nrefused, the responsibility does not rest with me.\"", "I thought it was now\ntime to end the scene, which was becoming too comically grave, so I went\ntowards the door, simply saying:--\n\n\"Come, my friends, we have work to do.", "Good-night.\"", "As, however, I got near the door, a new change came over the patient.", "He\nmoved towards me so quickly that for the moment I feared that he was\nabout to make another homicidal attack.", "My fears, however, were\ngroundless, for he held up his two hands imploringly, and made his\npetition in a moving manner.", "As he saw that the very excess of his\nemotion was militating against him, by restoring us more to our old\nrelations, he became still more demonstrative.", "I glanced at Van Helsing,\nand saw my conviction reflected in his eyes; so I became a little more\nfixed in my manner, if not more stern, and motioned to him that his\nefforts were unavailing.", "I had previously seen something of the same\nconstantly growing excitement in him when he had to make some request of\nwhich at the time he had thought much, such, for instance, as when he\nwanted a cat; and I was prepared to see the collapse into the same\nsullen acquiescence on this occasion.", "My expectation was not realised,\nfor, when he found that his appeal would not be successful, he got into\nquite a frantic condition.", "He threw himself on his knees, and held up\nhis hands, wringing them in plaintive supplication, and poured forth a\ntorrent of entreaty, with the tears rolling down his cheeks, and his\nwhole face and form expressive of the deepest emotion:--\n\n\"Let me entreat you, Dr. Seward, oh, let me implore you, to let me out\nof this house at once.", "Send me away how you will and where you will;\nsend keepers with me with whips and chains; let them take me in a\nstrait-waistcoat, manacled and leg-ironed, even to a gaol; but let me go\nout of this.", "You don't know what you do by keeping me here.", "I am\nspeaking from the depths of my heart--of my very soul.", "You don't know\nwhom you wrong, or how; and I may not tell.", "Woe is me!", "I may not tell.", "By all you hold sacred--by all you hold dear--by your love that is\nlost--by your hope that lives--for the sake of the Almighty, take me out\nof this and save my soul from guilt!", "Can't you hear me, man?", "Can't you\nunderstand?", "Will you never learn?", "Don't you know that I am sane and\nearnest now; that I am no lunatic in a mad fit, but a sane man fighting\nfor his soul?", "Oh, hear me!", "hear me!", "Let me go!", "let me go!", "let me go!\"", "I thought that the longer this went on the wilder he would get, and so\nwould bring on a fit; so I took him by the hand and raised him up.", "\"Come,\" I said sternly, \"no more of this; we have had quite enough\nalready.", "Get to your bed and try to behave more discreetly.\"", "He suddenly stopped and looked at me intently for several moments.", "Then,\nwithout a word, he rose and moving over, sat down on the side of the\nbed.", "The collapse had come, as on former occasion, just as I had\nexpected.", "When I was leaving the room, last of our party, he said to me in a\nquiet, well-bred voice:--\n\n\"You will, I trust, Dr. Seward, do me the justice to bear in mind, later\non, that I did what I could to convince you to-night.\"" ]

[ "It\nis my record of to-day.", "\"I answer for Mina and myself,\" he said.", "\"I don't know; I fancy not, for it flew away into the wood.\"", "Without\nsaying any more he took his seat, and the Professor began to resume his\nstatement:--\n\n\"We must trace each of these boxes; and when we are ready, we must\neither capture or kill this monster in his lair; or we must, so to\nspeak, sterilise the earth, so that no more he can seek safety in it.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_1 October, 4 a. m._--Just as we were about to leave the house, an\nurgent message was brought to me from Renfield to know if I would see\nhim at once, as he had something of the utmost importance to say to me.", "\"May I come also?\"", "The power of Treaty may yet prove a\nvast engine of enlargement, when the Monroe doctrine takes its true\nplace as a political fable.", "For my own part, I was under the\nconviction, despite my knowledge of the man's character and history,\nthat his reason had been restored; and I felt under a strong impulse to\ntell him that I was satisfied as to his sanity, and would see about the\nnecessary formalities for his release in the morning.", "He threw himself on his knees, and held up\nhis hands, wringing them in plaintive supplication, and poured forth a\ntorrent of entreaty, with the tears rolling down his cheeks, and his\nwhole face and form expressive of the deepest emotion:--\n\n\"Let me entreat you, Dr. Seward, oh, let me implore you, to let me out\nof this house at once.", "\"Come,\" I said sternly, \"no more of this; we have had quite enough\nalready." ]

[ "It was quite evident that he feared, or was\njealous of, some interference.", "These do not\nat the first appear much, when the matter is one of life and death--nay\nof more than either life or death.", "But to fail here, is not\nmere life or death.", "I thought it was now\ntime to end the scene, which was becoming too comically grave, so I went\ntowards the door, simply saying:--\n\n\"Come, my friends, we have work to do.", "I pray God I may never see your sweet face again.", "Thus in the end we may find him in his form of man between the hours of\nnoon and sunset, and so engage with him when he is at his most weak.", "You do this, whose sanity we have reason to doubt, since\nyou are not yet released from medical treatment for this very defect.", "Not meeting any sufficient response, he went on:--\n\n\"Is it possible that I have erred in my supposition?\"", "And so now, up to this very hour, all the records we have are complete\nand in order.", "He made no immediate reply, but eyed her all\nover intently with a set frown on his face." ]

[ "He have follow the wake of the berserker Icelander, the\ndevil-begotten Hun, the Slav, the Saxon, the Magyar.", "So far, then, we\nhave all we may act upon; and let me tell you that very much of the\nbeliefs are justified by what we have seen in our own so unhappy\nexperience.", "The vampire live on, and cannot die by mere passing of the\ntime; he can flourish when that he can fatten on the blood of the\nliving.", "Even more, we have seen amongst us that he can even grow\nyounger; that his vital faculties grow strenuous, and seem as though\nthey refresh themselves when his special pabulum is plenty.", "But he\ncannot flourish without this diet; he eat not as others.", "Even friend\nJonathan, who lived with him for weeks, did never see him to eat, never!", "He throws no shadow; he make in the mirror no reflect, as again\nJonathan observe.", "He has the strength of many of his hand--witness again\nJonathan when he shut the door against the wolfs, and when he help him\nfrom the diligence too.", "He can transform himself to wolf, as we gather\nfrom the ship arrival in Whitby, when he tear open the dog; he can be as\nbat, as Madam Mina saw him on the window at Whitby, and as friend John\nsaw him fly from this so near house, and as my friend Quincey saw him at\nthe window of Miss Lucy.", "He can come in mist which he create--that noble\nship's captain proved him of this; but, from what we know, the distance\nhe can make this mist is limited, and it can only be round himself.", "He\ncome on moonlight rays as elemental dust--as again Jonathan saw those\nsisters in the castle of Dracula." ]

[ "\n\n_30 September._--I got home at five o'clock, and found that Godalming\nand Morris had not only arrived, but had already studied the transcript\nof the various diaries and letters which Harker and his wonderful wife\nhad made and arranged.", "Harker had not yet returned from his visit to the\ncarriers' men, of whom Dr. Hennessey had written to me.", "Mrs. Harker gave\nus a cup of tea, and I can honestly say that, for the first time since I\nhave lived in it, this old house seemed like _home_.", "When we had\nfinished, Mrs. Harker said:--\n\n\"Dr. Seward, may I ask a favour?", "I want to see your patient, Mr.\nRenfield.", "Do let me see him.", "What you have said of him in your diary\ninterests me so much!\"", "She looked so appealing and so pretty that I\ncould not refuse her, and there was no possible reason why I should; so\nI took her with me.", "When I went into the room, I told the man that a\nlady would like to see him; to which he simply answered: \"Why?\"", "\"She is going through the house, and wants to see every one in it,\" I\nanswered.", "Let me go!", "let me go!", "let me go!\"", "I thought that the longer this went on the wilder he would get, and so\nwould bring on a fit; so I took him by the hand and raised him up.", "\"Come,\" I said sternly, \"no more of this; we have had quite enough\nalready.", "Get to your bed and try to behave more discreetly.\"", "He suddenly stopped and looked at me intently for several moments.", "Then,\nwithout a word, he rose and moving over, sat down on the side of the\nbed.", "The collapse had come, as on former occasion, just as I had\nexpected.", "When I was leaving the room, last of our party, he said to me in a\nquiet, well-bred voice:--\n\n\"You will, I trust, Dr. Seward, do me the justice to bear in mind, later\non, that I did what I could to convince you to-night.\"" ]

[ "\n_1 October, 5 a. m._--I went with the party to the search with an easy\nmind, for I think I never saw Mina so absolutely strong and well.", "I am\nso glad that she consented to hold back and let us men do the work.", "Somehow, it was a dread to me that she was in this fearful business at\nall; but now that her work is done, and that it is due to her energy and\nbrains and foresight that the whole story is put together in such a way\nthat every point tells, she may well feel that her part is finished, and\nthat she can henceforth leave the rest to us.", "We were, I think, all a\nlittle upset by the scene with Mr. Renfield.", "When we came away from his\nroom we were silent till we got back to the study.", "Then Mr. Morris said\nto Dr. Seward:--\n\n\"Say, Jack, if that man wasn't attempting a bluff, he is about the\nsanest lunatic I ever saw.", "I'm not sure, but I believe that he had some\nserious purpose, and if he had, it was pretty rough on him not to get a\nchance.\"", "Lord Godalming and I were silent, but Dr. Van Helsing added:--\n\n\"Friend John, you know more of lunatics than I do, and I'm glad of it,\nfor I fear that if it had been to me to decide I would before that last\nhysterical outburst have given him free.", "But we live and learn, and in\nour present task we must take no chance, as my friend Quincey would say.", "All is best as they are.\"", "Dr. Seward seemed to answer them both in a\ndreamy kind of way:--\n\n\"I don't know but that I agree with you.", "If that man had been an\nordinary lunatic I would have taken my chance of trusting him; but he\nseems so mixed up with the Count in an indexy kind of way that I am\nafraid of doing anything wrong by helping his fads.", "I can't forget how\nhe prayed with almost equal fervour for a cat, and then tried to tear my\nthroat out with his teeth.", "Besides, he called the Count 'lord and\nmaster,' and he may want to get out to help him in some diabolical way.", "That horrid thing has the wolves and the rats and his own kind to help\nhim, so I suppose he isn't above trying to use a respectable lunatic.", "He\ncertainly did seem earnest, though.", "I only hope we have done what is\nbest.", "These things, in conjunction with the wild work we have in hand,\nhelp to unnerve a man.\"", "The Professor stepped over, and laying his hand\non his shoulder, said in his grave, kindly way:--\n\n\"Friend John, have no fear.", "We are trying to do our duty in a very sad\nand terrible case; we can only do as we deem best.", "What else have we to\nhope for, except the pity of the good God?\"", "Lord Godalming had slipped\naway for a few minutes, but now he returned.", "He held up a little silver\nwhistle, as he remarked:--\n\n\"That old place may be full of rats, and if so, I've got an antidote on\ncall.\"", "Having passed the wall, we took our way to the house, taking care\nto keep in the shadows of the trees on the lawn when the moonlight shone\nout.", "When we got to the porch the Professor opened his bag and took out\na lot of things, which he laid on the step, sorting them into four\nlittle groups, evidently one for each.", "Then he spoke:--\n\n\"My friends, we are going into a terrible danger, and we need arms of\nmany kinds.", "Our enemy is not merely spiritual.", "Remember that he has the\nstrength of twenty men, and that, though our necks or our windpipes are\nof the common kind--and therefore breakable or crushable--his are not\namenable to mere strength.", "A stronger man, or a body of men more strong\nin all than him, can at certain times hold him; but they cannot hurt him\nas we can be hurt by him.", "We must, therefore, guard ourselves from his\ntouch.", "Keep this near your heart\"--as he spoke he lifted a little silver\ncrucifix and held it out to me, I being nearest to him--\"put these\nflowers round your neck\"--here he handed to me a wreath of withered\ngarlic blossoms--\"for other enemies more mundane, this revolver and this\nknife; and for aid in all, these so small electric lamps, which you can\nfasten to your breast; and for all, and above all at the last, this,\nwhich we must not desecrate needless.\"", "This was a portion of Sacred\nWafer, which he put in an envelope and handed to me.", "Each of the others\nwas similarly equipped.", "\"Now,\" he said, \"friend John, where are the\nskeleton keys?", "If so that we can open the door, we need not break house\nby the window, as before at Miss Lucy's.\"", "Dr. Seward tried one or two skeleton keys, his mechanical dexterity as a\nsurgeon standing him in good stead.", "Presently he got one to suit; after\na little play back and forward the bolt yielded, and, with a rusty\nclang, shot back.", "We pressed on the door, the rusty hinges creaked, and\nit slowly opened.", "It was startlingly like the image conveyed to me in\nDr. Seward's diary of the opening of Miss Westenra's tomb; I fancy that\nthe same idea seemed to strike the others, for with one accord they\nshrank back.", "The Professor was the first to move forward, and stepped\ninto the open door.", "\"_In manus tuas, Domine!_\" he said, crossing himself as he passed over\nthe threshold.", "We closed the door behind us, lest when we should have\nlit our lamps we should possibly attract attention from the road.", "The\nProfessor carefully tried the lock, lest we might not be able to open it\nfrom within should we be in a hurry making our exit.", "Then we all lit our\nlamps and proceeded on our search.", "The light from the tiny lamps fell in all sorts of odd forms, as the\nrays crossed each other, or the opacity of our bodies threw great\nshadows.", "I could not for my life get away from the feeling that there\nwas some one else amongst us.", "I suppose it was the recollection, so\npowerfully brought home to me by the grim surroundings, of that terrible\nexperience in Transylvania.", "I think the feeling was common to us all,\nfor I noticed that the others kept looking over their shoulders at every\nsound and every new shadow, just as I felt myself doing.", "The whole place was thick with dust.", "The floor was seemingly inches\ndeep, except where there were recent footsteps, in which on holding down\nmy lamp I could see marks of hobnails where the dust was cracked.", "The\nwalls were fluffy and heavy with dust, and in the corners were masses of\nspider's webs, whereon the dust had gathered till they looked like old\ntattered rags as the weight had torn them partly down.", "On a table in the\nhall was a great bunch of keys, with a time-yellowed label on each.", "They\nhad been used several times, for on the table were several similar rents\nin the blanket of dust, similar to that exposed when the Professor\nlifted them.", "He turned to me and said:--\n\n\"You know this place, Jonathan.", "You have copied maps of it, and you know\nit at least more than we do.", "Which is the way to the chapel?\"", "I had an\nidea of its direction, though on my former visit I had not been able to\nget admission to it; so I led the way, and after a few wrong turnings\nfound myself opposite a low, arched oaken door, ribbed with iron bands.", "\"This is the spot,\" said the Professor as he turned his lamp on a small\nmap of the house, copied from the file of my original correspondence\nregarding the purchase.", "With a little trouble we found the key on the\nbunch and opened the door.", "We were prepared for some unpleasantness, for\nas we were opening the door a faint, malodorous air seemed to exhale\nthrough the gaps, but none of us ever expected such an odour as we\nencountered.", "None of the others had met the Count at all at close\nquarters, and when I had seen him he was either in the fasting stage of\nhis existence in his rooms or, when he was gloated with fresh blood, in\na ruined building open to the air; but here the place was small and\nclose, and the long disuse had made the air stagnant and foul.", "There was\nan earthy smell, as of some dry miasma, which came through the fouler\nair.", "But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it?", "It was not\nalone that it was composed of all the ills of mortality and with the\npungent, acrid smell of blood, but it seemed as though corruption had\nbecome itself corrupt.", "Faugh!", "it sickens me to think of it.", "Every breath\nexhaled by that monster seemed to have clung to the place and\nintensified its loathsomeness.", "Under ordinary circumstances such a stench would have brought our\nenterprise to an end; but this was no ordinary case, and the high and\nterrible purpose in which we were involved gave us a strength which rose\nabove merely physical considerations.", "After the involuntary shrinking\nconsequent on the first nauseous whiff, we one and all set about our\nwork as though that loathsome place were a garden of roses.", "We made an accurate examination of the place, the Professor saying as we\nbegan:--\n\n\"The first thing is to see how many of the boxes are left; we must then\nexamine every hole and corner and cranny and see if we cannot get some\nclue as to what has become of the rest.\"", "A glance was sufficient to show\nhow many remained, for the great earth chests were bulky, and there was\nno mistaking them.", "There were only twenty-nine left out of the fifty!", "Once I got a fright,\nfor, seeing Lord Godalming suddenly turn and look out of the vaulted\ndoor into the dark passage beyond, I looked too, and for an instant my\nheart stood still.", "Somewhere, looking out from the shadow, I seemed to\nsee the high lights of the Count's evil face, the ridge of the nose, the\nred eyes, the red lips, the awful pallor.", "It was only for a moment, for,\nas Lord Godalming said, \"I thought I saw a face, but it was only the\nshadows,\" and resumed his inquiry, I turned my lamp in the direction,\nand stepped into the passage.", "There was no sign of any one; and as there\nwere no corners, no doors, no aperture of any kind, but only the solid\nwalls of the passage, there could be no hiding-place even for _him_.", "I\ntook it that fear had helped imagination, and said nothing.", "A few minutes later I saw Morris step suddenly back from a corner, which\nhe was examining.", "We all followed his movements with our eyes, for\nundoubtedly some nervousness was growing on us, and we saw a whole mass\nof phosphorescence, which twinkled like stars.", "We all instinctively drew\nback.", "The whole place was becoming alive with rats.", "For a moment or two we stood appalled, all save Lord Godalming, who was\nseemingly prepared for such an emergency.", "Rushing over to the great\niron-bound oaken door, which Dr. Seward had described from the outside,\nand which I had seen myself, he turned the key in the lock, drew the\nhuge bolts, and swung the door open.", "Then, taking his little silver\nwhistle from his pocket, he blew a low, shrill call.", "It was answered\nfrom behind Dr. Seward's house by the yelping of dogs, and after about a\nminute three terriers came dashing round the corner of the house.", "Unconsciously we had all moved towards the door, and as we moved I\nnoticed that the dust had been much disturbed: the boxes which had been\ntaken out had been brought this way.", "But even in the minute that had\nelapsed the number of the rats had vastly increased.", "They seemed to\nswarm over the place all at once, till the lamplight, shining on their\nmoving dark bodies and glittering, baleful eyes, made the place look\nlike a bank of earth set with fireflies.", "The dogs dashed on, but at the\nthreshold suddenly stopped and snarled, and then, simultaneously lifting\ntheir noses, began to howl in most lugubrious fashion.", "The rats were\nmultiplying in thousands, and we moved out.", "Lord Godalming lifted one of the dogs, and carrying him in, placed him\non the floor.", "The instant his feet touched the ground he seemed to\nrecover his courage, and rushed at his natural enemies.", "They fled before\nhim so fast that before he had shaken the life out of a score, the other\ndogs, who had by now been lifted in the same manner, had but small prey\nere the whole mass had vanished.", "With their going it seemed as if some evil presence had departed, for\nthe dogs frisked about and barked merrily as they made sudden darts at\ntheir prostrate foes, and turned them over and over and tossed them in\nthe air with vicious shakes.", "We all seemed to find our spirits rise.", "Whether it was the purifying of the deadly atmosphere by the opening of\nthe chapel door, or the relief which we experienced by finding ourselves\nin the open I know not; but most certainly the shadow of dread seemed to\nslip from us like a robe, and the occasion of our coming lost something\nof its grim significance, though we did not slacken a whit in our\nresolution.", "We closed the outer door and barred and locked it, and\nbringing the dogs with us, began our search of the house.", "We found\nnothing throughout except dust in extraordinary proportions, and all\nuntouched save for my own footsteps when I had made my first visit.", "Never once did the dogs exhibit any symptom of uneasiness, and even when\nwe returned to the chapel they frisked about as though they had been\nrabbit-hunting in a summer wood.", "The morning was quickening in the east when we emerged from the front.", "Dr. Van Helsing had taken the key of the hall-door from the bunch, and\nlocked the door in orthodox fashion, putting the key into his pocket\nwhen he had done.", "\"So far,\" he said, \"our night has been eminently successful.", "No harm has\ncome to us such as I feared might be and yet we have ascertained how\nmany boxes are missing.", "More than all do I rejoice that this, our\nfirst--and perhaps our most difficult and dangerous--step has been\naccomplished without the bringing thereinto our most sweet Madam Mina or\ntroubling her waking or sleeping thoughts with sights and sounds and\nsmells of horror which she might never forget.", "One lesson, too, we have\nlearned, if it be allowable to argue _a particulari_: that the brute\nbeasts which are to the Count's command are yet themselves not amenable\nto his spiritual power; for look, these rats that would come to his\ncall, just as from his castle top he summon the wolves to your going and\nto that poor mother's cry, though they come to him, they run pell-mell\nfrom the so little dogs of my friend Arthur.", "We have other matters\nbefore us, other dangers, other fears; and that monster--he has not used\nhis power over the brute world for the only or the last time to-night.", "So be it that he has gone elsewhere.", "Good!", "It has given us opportunity\nto cry 'check' in some ways in this chess game, which we play for the\nstake of human souls.", "And now let us go home.", "The dawn is close at hand,\nand we have reason to be content with our first night's work.", "It may be\nordained that we have many nights and days to follow, if full of peril;\nbut we must go on, and from no danger shall we shrink.\"", "The house was silent when we got back, save for some poor creature who\nwas screaming away in one of the distant wards, and a low, moaning sound\nfrom Renfield's room.", "The poor wretch was doubtless torturing himself,\nafter the manner of the insane, with needless thoughts of pain.", "I came tiptoe into our own room, and found Mina asleep, breathing so\nsoftly that I had to put my ear down to hear it.", "She looks paler than\nusual.", "I hope the meeting to-night has not upset her.", "I am truly\nthankful that she is to be left out of our future work, and even of our\ndeliberations.", "It is too great a strain for a woman to bear.", "I did not\nthink so at first, but I know better now.", "Therefore I am glad that it is\nsettled.", "There may be things which would frighten her to hear; and yet\nto conceal them from her might be worse than to tell her if once she\nsuspected that there was any concealment.", "Henceforth our work is to be a\nsealed book to her, till at least such time as we can tell her that all\nis finished, and the earth free from a monster of the nether world.", "I\ndaresay it will be difficult to begin to keep silence after such\nconfidence as ours; but I must be resolute, and to-morrow I shall keep\ndark over to-night's doings, and shall refuse to speak of anything that\nhas happened.", "I rest on the sofa, so as not to disturb her.", "* * * * *\n\n_1 October, later._--I suppose it was natural that we should have all\noverslept ourselves, for the day was a busy one, and the night had no\nrest at all.", "Even Mina must have felt its exhaustion, for though I slept\ntill the sun was high, I was awake before her, and had to call two or\nthree times before she awoke.", "Indeed, she was so sound asleep that for a\nfew seconds she did not recognize me, but looked at me with a sort of\nblank terror, as one looks who has been waked out of a bad dream.", "She\ncomplained a little of being tired, and I let her rest till later in the\nday.", "We now know of twenty-one boxes having been removed, and if it be\nthat several were taken in any of these removals we may be able to trace\nthem all.", "Such will, of course, immensely simplify our labour, and the\nsooner the matter is attended to the better.", "I shall look up Thomas\nSnelling to-day.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_1 October._--It was towards noon when I was awakened by the Professor\nwalking into my room.", "He was more jolly and cheerful than usual, and it\nis quite evident that last night's work has helped to take some of the\nbrooding weight off his mind.", "After going over the adventure of the\nnight he suddenly said:--\n\n\"Your patient interests me much.", "May it be that with you I visit him\nthis morning?", "Or if that you are too occupy, I can go alone if it may\nbe.", "It is a new experience to me to find a lunatic who talk philosophy,\nand reason so sound.\"", "I had some work to do which pressed, so I told him\nthat if he would go alone I would be glad, as then I should not have to\nkeep him waiting; so I called an attendant and gave him the necessary\ninstructions.", "Before the Professor left the room I cautioned him against\ngetting any false impression from my patient.", "\"But,\" he answered, \"I\nwant him to talk of himself and of his delusion as to consuming live\nthings.", "He said to Madam Mina, as I see in your diary of yesterday, that\nhe had once had such a belief.", "Why do you smile, friend John?\"", "\"Excuse me,\" I said, \"but the answer is here.\"", "I laid my hand on the\ntype-written matter.", "\"When our sane and learned lunatic made that very\nstatement of how he _used_ to consume life, his mouth was actually\nnauseous with the flies and spiders which he had eaten just before Mrs.\nHarker entered the room.\"", "Van Helsing smiled in turn.", "\"Good!\"", "he said.", "\"Your memory is true, friend John.", "I should have remembered.", "And yet it\nis this very obliquity of thought and memory which makes mental disease\nsuch a fascinating study.", "Perhaps I may gain more knowledge out of the\nfolly of this madman than I shall from the teaching of the most wise.", "Who knows?\"", "I went on with my work, and before long was through that in\nhand.", "It seemed that the time had been very short indeed, but there was\nVan Helsing back in the study.", "\"Do I interrupt?\"", "he asked politely as he\nstood at the door.", "\"Not at all,\" I answered.", "\"Come in.", "My work is finished, and I am free.", "I can go with you now, if you like.", "\"It is needless; I have seen him!\"", "\"Well?\"", "\"I fear that he does not appraise me at much.", "Our interview was short.", "When I entered his room he was sitting on a stool in the centre, with\nhis elbows on his knees, and his face was the picture of sullen\ndiscontent.", "I spoke to him as cheerfully as I could, and with such a\nmeasure of respect as I could assume.", "He made no reply whatever.", "\"Don't\nyou know me?\"", "I asked.", "His answer was not reassuring: \"I know you well\nenough; you are the old fool Van Helsing.", "I wish you would take yourself\nand your idiotic brain theories somewhere else.", "Damn all thick-headed\nDutchmen!\"", "Not a word more would he say, but sat in his implacable\nsullenness as indifferent to me as though I had not been in the room at\nall.", "Thus departed for this time my chance of much learning from this so\nclever lunatic; so I shall go, if I may, and cheer myself with a few\nhappy words with that sweet soul Madam Mina.", "Friend John, it does\nrejoice me unspeakable that she is no more to be pained, no more to be\nworried with our terrible things.", "Though we shall much miss her help, it\nis better so.\"", "\"I agree with you with all my heart,\" I answered earnestly, for I did\nnot want him to weaken in this matter.", "\"Mrs. Harker is better out of it.", "Things are quite bad enough for us, all men of the world, and who have\nbeen in many tight places in our time; but it is no place for a woman,\nand if she had remained in touch with the affair, it would in time\ninfallibly have wrecked her.\"", "So Van Helsing has gone to confer with Mrs. Harker and Harker; Quincey\nand Art are all out following up the clues as to the earth-boxes.", "I\nshall finish my round of work and we shall meet to-night.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_1 October._--It is strange to me to be kept in the dark as I am to-day;\nafter Jonathan's full confidence for so many years, to see him\nmanifestly avoid certain matters, and those the most vital of all.", "This\nmorning I slept late after the fatigues of yesterday, and though\nJonathan was late too, he was the earlier.", "He spoke to me before he went\nout, never more sweetly or tenderly, but he never mentioned a word of\nwhat had happened in the visit to the Count's house.", "And yet he must\nhave known how terribly anxious I was.", "Poor dear fellow!", "I suppose it\nmust have distressed him even more than it did me.", "They all agreed that\nit was best that I should not be drawn further into this awful work, and\nI acquiesced.", "But to think that he keeps anything from me!", "And now I am\ncrying like a silly fool, when I _know_ it comes from my husband's great\nlove and from the good, good wishes of those other strong men.", "That has done me good.", "Well, some day Jonathan will tell me all; and\nlest it should ever be that he should think for a moment that I kept\nanything from him, I still keep my journal as usual.", "Then if he has\nfeared of my trust I shall show it to him, with every thought of my\nheart put down for his dear eyes to read.", "I feel strangely sad and\nlow-spirited to-day.", "I suppose it is the reaction from the terrible\nexcitement.", "Last night I went to bed when the men had gone, simply because they told\nme to.", "I didn't feel sleepy, and I did feel full of devouring anxiety.", "I\nkept thinking over everything that has been ever since Jonathan came to\nsee me in London, and it all seems like a horrible tragedy, with fate\npressing on relentlessly to some destined end.", "Everything that one does\nseems, no matter how right it may be, to bring on the very thing which\nis most to be deplored.", "If I hadn't gone to Whitby, perhaps poor dear\nLucy would be with us now.", "She hadn't taken to visiting the churchyard\ntill I came, and if she hadn't come there in the day-time with me she\nwouldn't have walked there in her sleep; and if she hadn't gone there at\nnight and asleep, that monster couldn't have destroyed her as he did.", "Oh, why did I ever go to Whitby?", "There now, crying again!", "I wonder what\nhas come over me to-day.", "I must hide it from Jonathan, for if he knew\nthat I had been crying twice in one morning--I, who never cried on my\nown account, and whom he has never caused to shed a tear--the dear\nfellow would fret his heart out.", "I shall put a bold face on, and if I do\nfeel weepy, he shall never see it.", "I suppose it is one of the lessons\nthat we poor women have to learn....", "I can't quite remember how I fell asleep last night.", "I remember hearing\nthe sudden barking of the dogs and a lot of queer sounds, like praying\non a very tumultuous scale, from Mr. Renfield's room, which is somewhere\nunder this.", "And then there was silence over everything, silence so\nprofound that it startled me, and I got up and looked out of the window.", "All was dark and silent, the black shadows thrown by the moonlight\nseeming full of a silent mystery of their own.", "Not a thing seemed to be\nstirring, but all to be grim and fixed as death or fate; so that a thin\nstreak of white mist, that crept with almost imperceptible slowness\nacross the grass towards the house, seemed to have a sentience and a\nvitality of its own.", "I think that the digression of my thoughts must\nhave done me good, for when I got back to bed I found a lethargy\ncreeping over me.", "I lay a while, but could not quite sleep, so I got out\nand looked out of the window again.", "The mist was spreading, and was now\nclose up to the house, so that I could see it lying thick against the\nwall, as though it were stealing up to the windows.", "The poor man was\nmore loud than ever, and though I could not distinguish a word he said,\nI could in some way recognise in his tones some passionate entreaty on\nhis part.", "Then there was the sound of a struggle, and I knew that the\nattendants were dealing with him.", "I was so frightened that I crept into\nbed, and pulled the clothes over my head, putting my fingers in my ears.", "I was not then a bit sleepy, at least so I thought; but I must have\nfallen asleep, for, except dreams, I do not remember anything until the\nmorning, when Jonathan woke me.", "I think that it took me an effort and a\nlittle time to realise where I was, and that it was Jonathan who was\nbending over me.", "My dream was very peculiar, and was almost typical of\nthe way that waking thoughts become merged in, or continued in, dreams.", "I thought that I was asleep, and waiting for Jonathan to come back.", "I\nwas very anxious about him, and I was powerless to act; my feet, and my\nhands, and my brain were weighted, so that nothing could proceed at the\nusual pace.", "And so I slept uneasily and thought.", "Then it began to dawn\nupon me that the air was heavy, and dank, and cold.", "I put back the\nclothes from my face, and found, to my surprise, that all was dim\naround.", "The gaslight which I had left lit for Jonathan, but turned down,\ncame only like a tiny red spark through the fog, which had evidently\ngrown thicker and poured into the room.", "Then it occurred to me that I\nhad shut the window before I had come to bed.", "I would have got out to\nmake certain on the point, but some leaden lethargy seemed to chain my\nlimbs and even my will.", "I lay still and endured; that was all.", "I closed\nmy eyes, but could still see through my eyelids.", "(It is wonderful what\ntricks our dreams play us, and how conveniently we can imagine.)", "The\nmist grew thicker and thicker and I could see now how it came in, for I\ncould see it like smoke--or with the white energy of boiling\nwater--pouring in, not through the window, but through the joinings of\nthe door.", "It got thicker and thicker, till it seemed as if it became\nconcentrated into a sort of pillar of cloud in the room, through the top\nof which I could see the light of the gas shining like a red eye.", "Things\nbegan to whirl through my brain just as the cloudy column was now\nwhirling in the room, and through it all came the scriptural words \"a\npillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.\"", "Was it indeed some such\nspiritual guidance that was coming to me in my sleep?", "But the pillar was\ncomposed of both the day and the night-guiding, for the fire was in the\nred eye, which at the thought got a new fascination for me; till, as I\nlooked, the fire divided, and seemed to shine on me through the fog like\ntwo red eyes, such as Lucy told me of in her momentary mental wandering\nwhen, on the cliff, the dying sunlight struck the windows of St. Mary's\nChurch.", "Suddenly the horror burst upon me that it was thus that Jonathan\nhad seen those awful women growing into reality through the whirling mist\nin the moonlight, and in my dream I must have fainted, for all became\nblack darkness.", "The last conscious effort which imagination made was to\nshow me a livid white face bending over me out of the mist.", "I must be\ncareful of such dreams, for they would unseat one's reason if there were\ntoo much of them.", "I would get Dr. Van Helsing or Dr. Seward to prescribe\nsomething for me which would make me sleep, only that I fear to alarm\nthem.", "Such a dream at the present time would become woven into their\nfears for me.", "To-night I shall strive hard to sleep naturally.", "If I do\nnot, I shall to-morrow night get them to give me a dose of chloral; that\ncannot hurt me for once, and it will give me a good night's sleep.", "Last\nnight tired me more than if I had not slept at all.", "* * * * *\n\n_2 October 10 p. m._--Last night I slept, but did not dream.", "I must have\nslept soundly, for I was not waked by Jonathan coming to bed; but the\nsleep has not refreshed me, for to-day I feel terribly weak and\nspiritless.", "I spent all yesterday trying to read, or lying down dozing.", "In the afternoon Mr. Renfield asked if he might see me.", "Poor man, he was\nvery gentle, and when I came away he kissed my hand and bade God bless\nme.", "Some way it affected me much; I am crying when I think of him.", "This\nis a new weakness, of which I must be careful.", "Jonathan would be\nmiserable if he knew I had been crying.", "He and the others were out till\ndinner-time, and they all came in tired.", "I did what I could to brighten\nthem up, and I suppose that the effort did me good, for I forgot how\ntired I was.", "After dinner they sent me to bed, and all went off to smoke\ntogether, as they said, but I knew that they wanted to tell each other\nof what had occurred to each during the day; I could see from Jonathan's\nmanner that he had something important to communicate.", "I was not so\nsleepy as I should have been; so before they went I asked Dr. Seward to\ngive me a little opiate of some kind, as I had not slept well the night\nbefore.", "He very kindly made me up a sleeping draught, which he gave to\nme, telling me that it would do me no harm, as it was very mild....", "I\nhave taken it, and am waiting for sleep, which still keeps aloof.", "I hope\nI have not done wrong, for as sleep begins to flirt with me, a new fear\ncomes: that I may have been foolish in thus depriving myself of the\npower of waking.", "I might want it.", "Here comes sleep.", "Good-night." ]

[ "The light from the tiny lamps fell in all sorts of odd forms, as the\nrays crossed each other, or the opacity of our bodies threw great\nshadows.", "I rest on the sofa, so as not to disturb her.", "* * * * *\n\n_1 October, later._--I suppose it was natural that we should have all\noverslept ourselves, for the day was a busy one, and the night had no\nrest at all.", "Or if that you are too occupy, I can go alone if it may\nbe.", "He said to Madam Mina, as I see in your diary of yesterday, that\nhe had once had such a belief.", "\"I fear that he does not appraise me at much.", "His answer was not reassuring: \"I know you well\nenough; you are the old fool Van Helsing.", "Well, some day Jonathan will tell me all; and\nlest it should ever be that he should think for a moment that I kept\nanything from him, I still keep my journal as usual.", "Then it occurred to me that I\nhad shut the window before I had come to bed.", "Things\nbegan to whirl through my brain just as the cloudy column was now\nwhirling in the room, and through it all came the scriptural words \"a\npillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.\"" ]

[ "We closed the outer door and barred and locked it, and\nbringing the dogs with us, began our search of the house.", "Every breath\nexhaled by that monster seemed to have clung to the place and\nintensified its loathsomeness.", "So be it that he has gone elsewhere.", "They\nhad been used several times, for on the table were several similar rents\nin the blanket of dust, similar to that exposed when the Professor\nlifted them.", "But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it?", "When we got to the porch the Professor opened his bag and took out\na lot of things, which he laid on the step, sorting them into four\nlittle groups, evidently one for each.", "We have other matters\nbefore us, other dangers, other fears; and that monster--he has not used\nhis power over the brute world for the only or the last time to-night.", "He very kindly made me up a sleeping draught, which he gave to\nme, telling me that it would do me no harm, as it was very mild....", "The last conscious effort which imagination made was to\nshow me a livid white face bending over me out of the mist.", "I could not for my life get away from the feeling that there\nwas some one else amongst us." ]

[ "She\ncomplained a little of being tired, and I let her rest till later in the\nday.", "We now know of twenty-one boxes having been removed, and if it be\nthat several were taken in any of these removals we may be able to trace\nthem all.", "Such will, of course, immensely simplify our labour, and the\nsooner the matter is attended to the better.", "I shall look up Thomas\nSnelling to-day.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_1 October._--It was towards noon when I was awakened by the Professor\nwalking into my room.", "He was more jolly and cheerful than usual, and it\nis quite evident that last night's work has helped to take some of the\nbrooding weight off his mind.", "After going over the adventure of the\nnight he suddenly said:--\n\n\"Your patient interests me much.", "May it be that with you I visit him\nthis morning?", "Or if that you are too occupy, I can go alone if it may\nbe.", "It is a new experience to me to find a lunatic who talk philosophy,\nand reason so sound.\"" ]

[ "\n_1 October, 5 a. m._--I went with the party to the search with an easy\nmind, for I think I never saw Mina so absolutely strong and well.", "I am\nso glad that she consented to hold back and let us men do the work.", "Somehow, it was a dread to me that she was in this fearful business at\nall; but now that her work is done, and that it is due to her energy and\nbrains and foresight that the whole story is put together in such a way\nthat every point tells, she may well feel that her part is finished, and\nthat she can henceforth leave the rest to us.", "We were, I think, all a\nlittle upset by the scene with Mr. Renfield.", "When we came away from his\nroom we were silent till we got back to the study.", "Then Mr. Morris said\nto Dr. Seward:--\n\n\"Say, Jack, if that man wasn't attempting a bluff, he is about the\nsanest lunatic I ever saw.", "I'm not sure, but I believe that he had some\nserious purpose, and if he had, it was pretty rough on him not to get a\nchance.\"", "Lord Godalming and I were silent, but Dr. Van Helsing added:--\n\n\"Friend John, you know more of lunatics than I do, and I'm glad of it,\nfor I fear that if it had been to me to decide I would before that last\nhysterical outburst have given him free.", "But we live and learn, and in\nour present task we must take no chance, as my friend Quincey would say.", "All is best as they are.\"", "He and the others were out till\ndinner-time, and they all came in tired.", "I did what I could to brighten\nthem up, and I suppose that the effort did me good, for I forgot how\ntired I was.", "After dinner they sent me to bed, and all went off to smoke\ntogether, as they said, but I knew that they wanted to tell each other\nof what had occurred to each during the day; I could see from Jonathan's\nmanner that he had something important to communicate.", "I was not so\nsleepy as I should have been; so before they went I asked Dr. Seward to\ngive me a little opiate of some kind, as I had not slept well the night\nbefore.", "He very kindly made me up a sleeping draught, which he gave to\nme, telling me that it would do me no harm, as it was very mild....", "I\nhave taken it, and am waiting for sleep, which still keeps aloof.", "I hope\nI have not done wrong, for as sleep begins to flirt with me, a new fear\ncomes: that I may have been foolish in thus depriving myself of the\npower of waking.", "I might want it.", "Here comes sleep.", "Good-night." ]

[ "\n_1 October, evening._--I found Thomas Snelling in his house at Bethnal\nGreen, but unhappily he was not in a condition to remember anything.", "The\nvery prospect of beer which my expected coming had opened to him had\nproved too much, and he had begun too early on his expected debauch.", "I\nlearned, however, from his wife, who seemed a decent, poor soul, that he\nwas only the assistant to Smollet, who of the two mates was the\nresponsible person.", "So off I drove to Walworth, and found Mr. Joseph\nSmollet at home and in his shirtsleeves, taking a late tea out of a\nsaucer.", "He is a decent, intelligent fellow, distinctly a good, reliable\ntype of workman, and with a headpiece of his own.", "He remembered all\nabout the incident of the boxes, and from a wonderful dog's-eared\nnotebook, which he produced from some mysterious receptacle about the\nseat of his trousers, and which had hieroglyphical entries in thick,\nhalf-obliterated pencil, he gave me the destinations of the boxes.", "There\nwere, he said, six in the cartload which he took from Carfax and left at\n197, Chicksand Street, Mile End New Town, and another six which he\ndeposited at Jamaica Lane, Bermondsey.", "If then the Count meant to\nscatter these ghastly refuges of his over London, these places were\nchosen as the first of delivery, so that later he might distribute more\nfully.", "The systematic manner in which this was done made me think that\nhe could not mean to confine himself to two sides of London.", "He was now\nfixed on the far east of the northern shore, on the east of the southern\nshore, and on the south.", "The north and west were surely never meant to\nbe left out of his diabolical scheme--let alone the City itself and the\nvery heart of fashionable London in the south-west and west.", "I went back\nto Smollet, and asked him if he could tell us if any other boxes had\nbeen taken from Carfax.", "He replied:--\n\n\"Well, guv'nor, you've treated me wery 'an'some\"--I had given him half a\nsovereign--\"an' I'll tell yer all I know.", "I heard a man by the name of\nBloxam say four nights ago in the 'Are an' 'Ounds, in Pincher's Alley,\nas 'ow he an' his mate 'ad 'ad a rare dusty job in a old 'ouse at\nPurfect.", "There ain't a-many such jobs as this 'ere, an' I'm thinkin'\nthat maybe Sam Bloxam could tell ye summut.\"", "I asked if he could tell me\nwhere to find him.", "I told him that if he could get me the address it\nwould be worth another half-sovereign to him.", "So he gulped down the rest\nof his tea and stood up, saying that he was going to begin the search\nthen and there.", "At the door he stopped, and said:--\n\n\"Look 'ere, guv'nor, there ain't no sense in me a-keepin' you 'ere.", "I\nmay find Sam soon, or I mayn't; but anyhow he ain't like to be in a way\nto tell ye much to-night.", "Sam is a rare one when he starts on the booze.", "If you can give me a envelope with a stamp on it, and put yer address on\nit, I'll find out where Sam is to be found and post it ye to-night.", "But\nye'd better be up arter 'im soon in the mornin', or maybe ye won't ketch\n'im; for Sam gets off main early, never mind the booze the night afore.\"", "This was all practical, so one of the children went off with a penny to\nbuy an envelope and a sheet of paper, and to keep the change.", "When she\ncame back, I addressed the envelope and stamped it, and when Smollet had\nagain faithfully promised to post the address when found, I took my way\nto home.", "We're on the track anyhow.", "I am tired to-night, and want sleep.", "Mina is fast asleep, and looks a little too pale; her eyes look as\nthough she had been crying.", "Poor dear, I've no doubt it frets her to be\nkept in the dark, and it may make her doubly anxious about me and the\nothers.", "But it is best as it is.", "It is better to be disappointed and\nworried in such a way now than to have her nerve broken.", "The doctors\nwere quite right to insist on her being kept out of this dreadful\nbusiness.", "I must be firm, for on me this particular burden of silence\nmust rest.", "I shall not ever enter on the subject with her under any\ncircumstances.", "Indeed, it may not be a hard task, after all, for she\nherself has become reticent on the subject, and has not spoken of the\nCount or his doings ever since we told her of our decision.", "* * * * *\n\n_2 October, evening._--A long and trying and exciting day.", "By the first\npost I got my directed envelope with a dirty scrap of paper enclosed, on\nwhich was written with a carpenter's pencil in a sprawling hand:--\n\n\"Sam Bloxam, Korkrans, 4, Poters Cort, Bartel Street, Walworth.", "Arsk for\nthe depite.\"", "I got the letter in bed, and rose without waking Mina.", "She looked heavy\nand sleepy and pale, and far from well.", "I determined not to wake her,\nbut that, when I should return from this new search, I would arrange for\nher going back to Exeter.", "I think she would be happier in our own home,\nwith her daily tasks to interest her, than in being here amongst us and\nin ignorance.", "I only saw Dr. Seward for a moment, and told him where I\nwas off to, promising to come back and tell the rest so soon as I should\nhave found out anything.", "I drove to Walworth and found, with some\ndifficulty, Potter's Court.", "Mr. Smollet's spelling misled me, as I asked\nfor Poter's Court instead of Potter's Court.", "However, when I had found\nthe court, I had no difficulty in discovering Corcoran's lodging-house.", "When I asked the man who came to the door for the \"depite,\" he shook his\nhead, and said: \"I dunno 'im.", "There ain't no such a person 'ere; I never\n'eard of 'im in all my bloomin' days.", "Don't believe there ain't nobody\nof that kind livin' ere or anywheres.\"", "I took out Smollet's letter, and\nas I read it it seemed to me that the lesson of the spelling of the name\nof the court might guide me.", "\"What are you?\"", "I asked.", "\"I'm the depity,\" he answered.", "I saw at once that I was on the right\ntrack; phonetic spelling had again misled me.", "A half-crown tip put the\ndeputy's knowledge at my disposal, and I learned that Mr. Bloxam, who\nhad slept off the remains of his beer on the previous night at\nCorcoran's, had left for his work at Poplar at five o'clock that\nmorning.", "He could not tell me where the place of work was situated, but\nhe had a vague idea that it was some kind of a \"new-fangled ware'us\";\nand with this slender clue I had to start for Poplar.", "It was twelve\no'clock before I got any satisfactory hint of such a building, and this\nI got at a coffee-shop, where some workmen were having their dinner.", "One\nof these suggested that there was being erected at Cross Angel Street a\nnew \"cold storage\" building; and as this suited the condition of a\n\"new-fangled ware'us,\" I at once drove to it.", "An interview with a surly\ngatekeeper and a surlier foreman, both of whom were appeased with the\ncoin of the realm, put me on the track of Bloxam; he was sent for on my\nsuggesting that I was willing to pay his day's wages to his foreman for\nthe privilege of asking him a few questions on a private matter.", "He was\na smart enough fellow, though rough of speech and bearing.", "When I had\npromised to pay for his information and given him an earnest, he told me\nthat he had made two journeys between Carfax and a house in Piccadilly,\nand had taken from this house to the latter nine great boxes--\"main\nheavy ones\"--with a horse and cart hired by him for this purpose.", "I\nasked him if he could tell me the number of the house in Piccadilly, to\nwhich he replied:--\n\n\"Well, guv'nor, I forgits the number, but it was only a few doors from a\nbig white church or somethink of the kind, not long built.", "It was a\ndusty old 'ouse, too, though nothin' to the dustiness of the 'ouse we\ntooked the bloomin' boxes from.\"", "\"How did you get into the houses if they were both empty?\"", "\"There was the old party what engaged me a-waitin' in the 'ouse at\nPurfleet.", "He 'elped me to lift the boxes and put them in the dray.", "Curse\nme, but he was the strongest chap I ever struck, an' him a old feller,\nwith a white moustache, one that thin you would think he couldn't throw\na shadder.\"", "How this phrase thrilled through me!", "\"Why, 'e took up 'is end o' the boxes like they was pounds of tea, and\nme a-puffin' an' a-blowin' afore I could up-end mine anyhow--an' I'm no\nchicken, neither.\"", "\"How did you get into the house in Piccadilly?\"", "I asked.", "\"He was there too.", "He must 'a' started off and got there afore me, for\nwhen I rung of the bell he kem an' opened the door 'isself an' 'elped me\nto carry the boxes into the 'all.\"", "\"The whole nine?\"", "I asked.", "\"Yus; there was five in the first load an' four in the second.", "It was\nmain dry work, an' I don't so well remember 'ow I got 'ome.\"", "I\ninterrupted him:--\n\n\"Were the boxes left in the hall?\"", "\"Yus; it was a big 'all, an' there was nothin' else in it.\"", "I made one\nmore attempt to further matters:--\n\n\"You didn't have any key?\"", "\"Never used no key nor nothink.", "The old gent, he opened the door 'isself\nan' shut it again when I druv off.", "I don't remember the last time--but\nthat was the beer.\"", "\"And you can't remember the number of the house?\"", "\"No, sir.", "But ye needn't have no difficulty about that.", "It's a 'igh 'un\nwith a stone front with a bow on it, an' 'igh steps up to the door.", "I\nknow them steps, 'avin' 'ad to carry the boxes up with three loafers\nwhat come round to earn a copper.", "The old gent give them shillin's, an'\nthey seein' they got so much, they wanted more; but 'e took one of them\nby the shoulder and was like to throw 'im down the steps, till the lot\nof them went away cussin'.\"", "I thought that with this description I could\nfind the house, so, having paid my friend for his information, I started\noff for Piccadilly.", "I had gained a new painful experience; the Count\ncould, it was evident, handle the earth-boxes himself.", "If so, time was\nprecious; for, now that he had achieved a certain amount of\ndistribution, he could, by choosing his own time, complete the task\nunobserved.", "At Piccadilly Circus I discharged my cab, and walked\nwestward; beyond the Junior Constitutional I came across the house\ndescribed, and was satisfied that this was the next of the lairs\narranged by Dracula.", "The house looked as though it had been long\nuntenanted.", "The windows were encrusted with dust, and the shutters were\nup.", "All the framework was black with time, and from the iron the paint\nhad mostly scaled away.", "It was evident that up to lately there had been\na large notice-board in front of the balcony; it had, however, been\nroughly torn away, the uprights which had supported it still remaining.", "Behind the rails of the balcony I saw there were some loose boards,\nwhose raw edges looked white.", "I would have given a good deal to have\nbeen able to see the notice-board intact, as it would, perhaps, have\ngiven some clue to the ownership of the house.", "I remembered my\nexperience of the investigation and purchase of Carfax, and I could not\nbut feel that if I could find the former owner there might be some means\ndiscovered of gaining access to the house.", "There was at present nothing to be learned from the Piccadilly side, and\nnothing could be done; so I went round to the back to see if anything\ncould be gathered from this quarter.", "The mews were active, the\nPiccadilly houses being mostly in occupation.", "I asked one or two of the\ngrooms and helpers whom I saw around if they could tell me anything\nabout the empty house.", "One of them said that he heard it had lately been\ntaken, but he couldn't say from whom.", "He told me, however, that up to\nvery lately there had been a notice-board of \"For Sale\" up, and that\nperhaps Mitchell, Sons, & Candy, the house agents, could tell me\nsomething, as he thought he remembered seeing the name of that firm on\nthe board.", "I did not wish to seem too eager, or to let my informant know\nor guess too much, so, thanking him in the usual manner, I strolled\naway.", "It was now growing dusk, and the autumn night was closing in, so I\ndid not lose any time.", "Having learned the address of Mitchell, Sons, &\nCandy from a directory at the Berkeley, I was soon at their office in\nSackville Street.", "The gentleman who saw me was particularly suave in manner, but\nuncommunicative in equal proportion.", "Having once told me that the\nPiccadilly house--which throughout our interview he called a\n\"mansion\"--was sold, he considered my business as concluded.", "When I\nasked who had purchased it, he opened his eyes a thought wider, and\npaused a few seconds before replying:--\n\n\"It is sold, sir.\"", "\"Pardon me,\" I said, with equal politeness, \"but I have a special reason\nfor wishing to know who purchased it.\"", "Again he paused longer, and raised his eyebrows still more.", "\"It is sold,\nsir,\" was again his laconic reply.", "\"Surely,\" I said, \"you do not mind letting me know so much.\"", "\"But I do mind,\" he answered.", "\"The affairs of their clients are\nabsolutely safe in the hands of Mitchell, Sons, & Candy.\"", "This was\nmanifestly a prig of the first water, and there was no use arguing with\nhim.", "I thought I had best meet him on his own ground, so I said:--\n\n\"Your clients, sir, are happy in having so resolute a guardian of their\nconfidence.", "I am myself a professional man.\"", "Here I handed him my card.", "\"In this instance I am not prompted by curiosity; I act on the part of\nLord Godalming, who wishes to know something of the property which was,\nhe understood, lately for sale.\"", "These words put a different complexion\non affairs.", "He said:--\n\n\"I would like to oblige you if I could, Mr. Harker, and especially would\nI like to oblige his lordship.", "We once carried out a small matter of\nrenting some chambers for him when he was the Honourable Arthur\nHolmwood.", "If you will let me have his lordship's address I will consult\nthe House on the subject, and will, in any case, communicate with his\nlordship by to-night's post.", "It will be a pleasure if we can so far\ndeviate from our rules as to give the required information to his\nlordship.\"", "I wanted to secure a friend, and not to make an enemy, so I thanked him,\ngave the address at Dr. Seward's and came away.", "It was now dark, and I\nwas tired and hungry.", "I got a cup of tea at the Aerated Bread Company\nand came down to Purfleet by the next train.", "I found all the others at home.", "Mina was looking tired and pale, but she\nmade a gallant effort to be bright and cheerful, it wrung my heart to\nthink that I had had to keep anything from her and so caused her\ninquietude.", "Thank God, this will be the last night of her looking on at\nour conferences, and feeling the sting of our not showing our\nconfidence.", "It took all my courage to hold to the wise resolution of\nkeeping her out of our grim task.", "She seems somehow more reconciled; or\nelse the very subject seems to have become repugnant to her, for when\nany accidental allusion is made she actually shudders.", "I am glad we\nmade our resolution in time, as with such a feeling as this, our growing\nknowledge would be torture to her.", "I could not tell the others of the day's discovery till we were alone;\nso after dinner--followed by a little music to save appearances even\namongst ourselves--I took Mina to her room and left her to go to bed.", "The dear girl was more affectionate with me than ever, and clung to me\nas though she would detain me; but there was much to be talked of and I\ncame away.", "Thank God, the ceasing of telling things has made no\ndifference between us.", "When I came down again I found the others all gathered round the fire in\nthe study.", "In the train I had written my diary so far, and simply read\nit off to them as the best means of letting them get abreast of my own\ninformation; when I had finished Van Helsing said:--\n\n\"This has been a great day's work, friend Jonathan.", "Doubtless we are on\nthe track of the missing boxes.", "If we find them all in that house, then\nour work is near the end.", "But if there be some missing, we must search\nuntil we find them.", "Then shall we make our final _coup_, and hunt the\nwretch to his real death.\"", "We all sat silent awhile and all at once Mr.\nMorris spoke:--\n\n\"Say!", "how are we going to get into that house?\"", "\"We got into the other,\" answered Lord Godalming quickly.", "\"But, Art, this is different.", "We broke house at Carfax, but we had night\nand a walled park to protect us.", "It will be a mighty different thing to\ncommit burglary in Piccadilly, either by day or night.", "I confess I don't\nsee how we are going to get in unless that agency duck can find us a key\nof some sort; perhaps we shall know when you get his letter in the\nmorning.\"", "Lord Godalming's brows contracted, and he stood up and walked\nabout the room.", "By-and-by he stopped and said, turning from one to\nanother of us:--\n\n\"Quincey's head is level.", "This burglary business is getting serious; we\ngot off once all right; but we have now a rare job on hand--unless we\ncan find the Count's key basket.\"", "As nothing could well be done before morning, and as it would be at\nleast advisable to wait till Lord Godalming should hear from Mitchell's,\nwe decided not to take any active step before breakfast time.", "For a good\nwhile we sat and smoked, discussing the matter in its various lights and\nbearings; I took the opportunity of bringing this diary right up to the\nmoment.", "I am very sleepy and shall go to bed....\n\nJust a line.", "Mina sleeps soundly and her breathing is regular.", "Her\nforehead is puckered up into little wrinkles, as though she thinks even\nin her sleep.", "She is still too pale, but does not look so haggard as she\ndid this morning.", "To-morrow will, I hope, mend all this; she will be\nherself at home in Exeter.", "Oh, but I am sleepy!", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_1 October._--I am puzzled afresh about Renfield.", "His moods change so\nrapidly that I find it difficult to keep touch of them, and as they\nalways mean something more than his own well-being, they form a more\nthan interesting study.", "This morning, when I went to see him after his\nrepulse of Van Helsing, his manner was that of a man commanding destiny.", "He was, in fact, commanding destiny--subjectively.", "He did not really\ncare for any of the things of mere earth; he was in the clouds and\nlooked down on all the weaknesses and wants of us poor mortals.", "I\nthought I would improve the occasion and learn something, so I asked\nhim:--\n\n\"What about the flies these times?\"", "He smiled on me in quite a superior\nsort of way--such a smile as would have become the face of Malvolio--as\nhe answered me:--\n\n\"The fly, my dear sir, has one striking feature; its wings are typical\nof the aerial powers of the psychic faculties.", "The ancients did well\nwhen they typified the soul as a butterfly!\"", "I thought I would push his analogy to its utmost logically, so I said\nquickly:--\n\n\"Oh, it is a soul you are after now, is it?\"", "His madness foiled his\nreason, and a puzzled look spread over his face as, shaking his head\nwith a decision which I had but seldom seen in him, he said:--\n\n\"Oh, no, oh no!", "I want no souls.", "Life is all I want.\"", "Here he brightened\nup; \"I am pretty indifferent about it at present.", "Life is all right; I\nhave all I want.", "You must get a new patient, doctor, if you wish to\nstudy zooephagy!\"", "This puzzled me a little, so I drew him on:--\n\n\"Then you command life; you are a god, I suppose?\"", "He smiled with an\nineffably benign superiority.", "\"Oh no!", "Far be it from me to arrogate to myself the attributes of the\nDeity.", "I am not even concerned in His especially spiritual doings.", "If I\nmay state my intellectual position I am, so far as concerns things\npurely terrestrial, somewhat in the position which Enoch occupied\nspiritually!\"", "This was a poser to me.", "I could not at the moment recall\nEnoch's appositeness; so I had to ask a simple question, though I felt\nthat by so doing I was lowering myself in the eyes of the lunatic:--\n\n\"And why with Enoch?\"", "\"Because he walked with God.\"", "I could not see the analogy, but did not\nlike to admit it; so I harked back to what he had denied:--\n\n\"So you don't care about life and you don't want souls.", "Why not?\"", "I put\nmy question quickly and somewhat sternly, on purpose to disconcert him.", "The effort succeeded; for an instant he unconsciously relapsed into his\nold servile manner, bent low before me, and actually fawned upon me as\nhe replied:--\n\n\"I don't want any souls, indeed, indeed!", "I don't.", "I couldn't use them if\nI had them; they would be no manner of use to me.", "I couldn't eat them\nor----\" He suddenly stopped and the old cunning look spread over his\nface, like a wind-sweep on the surface of the water.", "\"And doctor, as to\nlife, what is it after all?", "When you've got all you require, and you\nknow that you will never want, that is all.", "I have friends--good\nfriends--like you, Dr. Seward\"; this was said with a leer of\ninexpressible cunning.", "\"I know that I shall never lack the means of\nlife!\"", "I think that through the cloudiness of his insanity he saw some\nantagonism in me, for he at once fell back on the last refuge of such as\nhe--a dogged silence.", "After a short time I saw that for the present it\nwas useless to speak to him.", "He was sulky, and so I came away.", "Later in the day he sent for me.", "Ordinarily I would not have come\nwithout special reason, but just at present I am so interested in him\nthat I would gladly make an effort.", "Besides, I am glad to have anything\nto help to pass the time.", "Harker is out, following up clues; and so are\nLord Godalming and Quincey.", "Van Helsing sits in my study poring over the\nrecord prepared by the Harkers; he seems to think that by accurate\nknowledge of all details he will light upon some clue.", "He does not wish\nto be disturbed in the work, without cause.", "I would have taken him with\nme to see the patient, only I thought that after his last repulse he\nmight not care to go again.", "There was also another reason: Renfield\nmight not speak so freely before a third person as when he and I were\nalone.", "I found him sitting out in the middle of the floor on his stool, a pose\nwhich is generally indicative of some mental energy on his part.", "When I\ncame in, he said at once, as though the question had been waiting on his\nlips:--\n\n\"What about souls?\"", "It was evident then that my surmise had been\ncorrect.", "Unconscious cerebration was doing its work, even with the\nlunatic.", "I determined to have the matter out.", "\"What about them\nyourself?\"", "I asked.", "He did not reply for a moment but looked all round\nhim, and up and down, as though he expected to find some inspiration for\nan answer.", "\"I don't want any souls!\"", "he said in a feeble, apologetic way.", "The\nmatter seemed preying on his mind, and so I determined to use it--to \"be\ncruel only to be kind.\"", "So I said:--\n\n\"You like life, and you want life?\"", "\"Oh yes!", "but that is all right; you needn't worry about that!\"", "\"But,\" I asked, \"how are we to get the life without getting the soul\nalso?\"", "This seemed to puzzle him, so I followed it up:--\n\n\"A nice time you'll have some time when you're flying out there, with\nthe souls of thousands of flies and spiders and birds and cats buzzing\nand twittering and miauing all round you.", "You've got their lives, you\nknow, and you must put up with their souls!\"", "Something seemed to affect\nhis imagination, for he put his fingers to his ears and shut his eyes,\nscrewing them up tightly just as a small boy does when his face is being\nsoaped.", "There was something pathetic in it that touched me; it also gave\nme a lesson, for it seemed that before me was a child--only a child,\nthough the features were worn, and the stubble on the jaws was white.", "It\nwas evident that he was undergoing some process of mental disturbance,\nand, knowing how his past moods had interpreted things seemingly foreign\nto himself, I thought I would enter into his mind as well as I could and\ngo with him.", "The first step was to restore confidence, so I asked him,\nspeaking pretty loud so that he would hear me through his closed ears:--\n\n\"Would you like some sugar to get your flies round again?\"", "He seemed to\nwake up all at once, and shook his head.", "With a laugh he replied:--\n\n\"Not much!", "flies are poor things, after all!\"", "After a pause he added,\n\"But I don't want their souls buzzing round me, all the same.\"", "\"Or spiders?\"", "I went on.", "\"Blow spiders!", "What's the use of spiders?", "There isn't anything in them\nto eat or\"--he stopped suddenly, as though reminded of a forbidden\ntopic.", "\"So, so!\"", "I thought to myself, \"this is the second time he has suddenly\nstopped at the word 'drink'; what does it mean?\"", "Renfield seemed himself\naware of having made a lapse, for he hurried on, as though to distract\nmy attention from it:--\n\n\"I don't take any stock at all in such matters.", "'Rats and mice and such\nsmall deer,' as Shakespeare has it, 'chicken-feed of the larder' they\nmight be called.", "I'm past all that sort of nonsense.", "You might as well\nask a man to eat molecules with a pair of chop-sticks, as to try to\ninterest me about the lesser carnivora, when I know of what is before\nme.\"", "\"I see,\" I said.", "\"You want big things that you can make your teeth meet\nin?", "How would you like to breakfast on elephant?\"", "\"What ridiculous nonsense you are talking!\"", "He was getting too wide\nawake, so I thought I would press him hard.", "\"I wonder,\" I said\nreflectively, \"what an elephant's soul is like!\"", "The effect I desired was obtained, for he at once fell from his\nhigh-horse and became a child again.", "\"I don't want an elephant's soul, or any soul at all!\"", "he said.", "For a\nfew moments he sat despondently.", "Suddenly he jumped to his feet, with\nhis eyes blazing and all the signs of intense cerebral excitement.", "\"To\nhell with you and your souls!\"", "he shouted.", "\"Why do you plague me about\nsouls?", "Haven't I got enough to worry, and pain, and distract me already,\nwithout thinking of souls!\"", "He looked so hostile that I thought he was\nin for another homicidal fit, so I blew my whistle.", "The instant,\nhowever, that I did so he became calm, and said apologetically:--\n\n\"Forgive me, Doctor; I forgot myself.", "You do not need any help.", "I am so\nworried in my mind that I am apt to be irritable.", "If you only knew the\nproblem I have to face, and that I am working out, you would pity, and\ntolerate, and pardon me.", "Pray do not put me in a strait-waistcoat.", "I\nwant to think and I cannot think freely when my body is confined.", "I am\nsure you will understand!\"", "He had evidently self-control; so when the\nattendants came I told them not to mind, and they withdrew.", "Renfield\nwatched them go; when the door was closed he said, with considerable\ndignity and sweetness:--\n\n\"Dr. Seward, you have been very considerate towards me.", "Believe me that\nI am very, very grateful to you!\"", "I thought it well to leave him in this\nmood, and so I came away.", "There is certainly something to ponder over in\nthis man's state.", "Several points seem to make what the American\ninterviewer calls \"a story,\" if one could only get them in proper order.", "Here they are:--\n\nWill not mention \"drinking.\"", "Fears the thought of being burdened with the \"soul\" of anything.", "Has no dread of wanting \"life\" in the future.", "Despises the meaner forms of life altogether, though he dreads being\nhaunted by their souls.", "Logically all these things point one way!", "he has assurance of some kind\nthat he will acquire some higher life.", "He dreads the consequence--the\nburden of a soul.", "Then it is a human life he looks to!", "And the assurance--?", "Merciful God!", "the Count has been to him, and there is some new scheme of\nterror afoot!", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--I went after my round to Van Helsing and told him my\nsuspicion.", "He grew very grave; and, after thinking the matter over for a\nwhile asked me to take him to Renfield.", "I did so.", "As we came to the door\nwe heard the lunatic within singing gaily, as he used to do in the time\nwhich now seems so long ago.", "When we entered we saw with amazement that\nhe had spread out his sugar as of old; the flies, lethargic with the\nautumn, were beginning to buzz into the room.", "We tried to make him talk\nof the subject of our previous conversation, but he would not attend.", "He\nwent on with his singing, just as though we had not been present.", "He had\ngot a scrap of paper and was folding it into a note-book.", "We had to come\naway as ignorant as we went in.", "His is a curious case indeed; we must watch him to-night.", "_Letter, Mitchell, Sons and Candy to Lord Godalming._\n\n_\"1 October._\n\n\"My Lord,\n\n\"We are at all times only too happy to meet your wishes.", "We beg, with\nregard to the desire of your Lordship, expressed by Mr. Harker on your\nbehalf, to supply the following information concerning the sale and\npurchase of No.", "347, Piccadilly.", "The original vendors are the executors\nof the late Mr. Archibald Winter-Suffield.", "The purchaser is a foreign\nnobleman, Count de Ville, who effected the purchase himself paying the\npurchase money in notes 'over the counter,' if your Lordship will pardon\nus using so vulgar an expression.", "Beyond this we know nothing whatever\nof him.", "\"We are, my Lord,\n\n\"Your Lordship's humble servants,\n\n\"MITCHELL, SONS & CANDY.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_2 October._--I placed a man in the corridor last night, and told him to\nmake an accurate note of any sound he might hear from Renfield's room,\nand gave him instructions that if there should be anything strange he\nwas to call me.", "After dinner, when we had all gathered round the fire\nin the study--Mrs. Harker having gone to bed--we discussed the attempts\nand discoveries of the day.", "Harker was the only one who had any result,\nand we are in great hopes that his clue may be an important one.", "Before going to bed I went round to the patient's room and looked in\nthrough the observation trap.", "He was sleeping soundly, and his heart\nrose and fell with regular respiration.", "This morning the man on duty reported to me that a little after midnight\nhe was restless and kept saying his prayers somewhat loudly.", "I asked him\nif that was all; he replied that it was all he heard.", "There was\nsomething about his manner so suspicious that I asked him point blank if\nhe had been asleep.", "He denied sleep, but admitted to having \"dozed\" for\na while.", "It is too bad that men cannot be trusted unless they are\nwatched.", "To-day Harker is out following up his clue, and Art and Quincey are\nlooking after horses.", "Godalming thinks that it will be well to have\nhorses always in readiness, for when we get the information which we\nseek there will be no time to lose.", "We must sterilise all the imported\nearth between sunrise and sunset; we shall thus catch the Count at his\nweakest, and without a refuge to fly to.", "Van Helsing is off to the\nBritish Museum looking up some authorities on ancient medicine.", "The old\nphysicians took account of things which their followers do not accept,\nand the Professor is searching for witch and demon cures which may be\nuseful to us later.", "I sometimes think we must be all mad and that we shall wake to sanity in\nstrait-waistcoats.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--We have met again.", "We seem at last to be on the track, and our\nwork of to-morrow may be the beginning of the end.", "I wonder if\nRenfield's quiet has anything to do with this.", "His moods have so\nfollowed the doings of the Count, that the coming destruction of the\nmonster may be carried to him in some subtle way.", "If we could only get\nsome hint as to what passed in his mind, between the time of my argument\nwith him to-day and his resumption of fly-catching, it might afford us a\nvaluable clue.", "He is now seemingly quiet for a spell.... Is he?---- That\nwild yell seemed to come from his room....\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe attendant came bursting into my room and told me that Renfield had\nsomehow met with some accident.", "He had heard him yell; and when he went\nto him found him lying on his face on the floor, all covered with blood.", "I must go at once...." ]

[ "There ain't a-many such jobs as this 'ere, an' I'm thinkin'\nthat maybe Sam Bloxam could tell ye summut.\"", "The house looked as though it had been long\nuntenanted.", "The gentleman who saw me was particularly suave in manner, but\nuncommunicative in equal proportion.", "Thank God, this will be the last night of her looking on at\nour conferences, and feeling the sting of our not showing our\nconfidence.", "But if there be some missing, we must search\nuntil we find them.", "This morning, when I went to see him after his\nrepulse of Van Helsing, his manner was that of a man commanding destiny.", "I want no souls.", "\"Oh no!", "\"What ridiculous nonsense you are talking!\"", "\"I don't want an elephant's soul, or any soul at all!\"" ]

[ "At Piccadilly Circus I discharged my cab, and walked\nwestward; beyond the Junior Constitutional I came across the house\ndescribed, and was satisfied that this was the next of the lairs\narranged by Dracula.", "He\nwent on with his singing, just as though we had not been present.", "This was a poser to me.", "I think that through the cloudiness of his insanity he saw some\nantagonism in me, for he at once fell back on the last refuge of such as\nhe--a dogged silence.", "To-morrow will, I hope, mend all this; she will be\nherself at home in Exeter.", "One of them said that he heard it had lately been\ntaken, but he couldn't say from whom.", "I could not at the moment recall\nEnoch's appositeness; so I had to ask a simple question, though I felt\nthat by so doing I was lowering myself in the eyes of the lunatic:--\n\n\"And why with Enoch?\"", "347, Piccadilly.", "\"What ridiculous nonsense you are talking!\"", "I\ninterrupted him:--\n\n\"Were the boxes left in the hall?\"" ]

[ "Her\nforehead is puckered up into little wrinkles, as though she thinks even\nin her sleep.", "She is still too pale, but does not look so haggard as she\ndid this morning.", "To-morrow will, I hope, mend all this; she will be\nherself at home in Exeter.", "Oh, but I am sleepy!", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_1 October._--I am puzzled afresh about Renfield.", "His moods change so\nrapidly that I find it difficult to keep touch of them, and as they\nalways mean something more than his own well-being, they form a more\nthan interesting study.", "This morning, when I went to see him after his\nrepulse of Van Helsing, his manner was that of a man commanding destiny.", "He was, in fact, commanding destiny--subjectively.", "He did not really\ncare for any of the things of mere earth; he was in the clouds and\nlooked down on all the weaknesses and wants of us poor mortals.", "I\nthought I would improve the occasion and learn something, so I asked\nhim:--\n\n\"What about the flies these times?\"" ]

[ "\n_1 October, evening._--I found Thomas Snelling in his house at Bethnal\nGreen, but unhappily he was not in a condition to remember anything.", "The\nvery prospect of beer which my expected coming had opened to him had\nproved too much, and he had begun too early on his expected debauch.", "I\nlearned, however, from his wife, who seemed a decent, poor soul, that he\nwas only the assistant to Smollet, who of the two mates was the\nresponsible person.", "So off I drove to Walworth, and found Mr. Joseph\nSmollet at home and in his shirtsleeves, taking a late tea out of a\nsaucer.", "He is a decent, intelligent fellow, distinctly a good, reliable\ntype of workman, and with a headpiece of his own.", "He remembered all\nabout the incident of the boxes, and from a wonderful dog's-eared\nnotebook, which he produced from some mysterious receptacle about the\nseat of his trousers, and which had hieroglyphical entries in thick,\nhalf-obliterated pencil, he gave me the destinations of the boxes.", "There\nwere, he said, six in the cartload which he took from Carfax and left at\n197, Chicksand Street, Mile End New Town, and another six which he\ndeposited at Jamaica Lane, Bermondsey.", "If then the Count meant to\nscatter these ghastly refuges of his over London, these places were\nchosen as the first of delivery, so that later he might distribute more\nfully.", "The systematic manner in which this was done made me think that\nhe could not mean to confine himself to two sides of London.", "He was now\nfixed on the far east of the northern shore, on the east of the southern\nshore, and on the south.", "The old\nphysicians took account of things which their followers do not accept,\nand the Professor is searching for witch and demon cures which may be\nuseful to us later.", "I sometimes think we must be all mad and that we shall wake to sanity in\nstrait-waistcoats.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--We have met again.", "We seem at last to be on the track, and our\nwork of to-morrow may be the beginning of the end.", "I wonder if\nRenfield's quiet has anything to do with this.", "His moods have so\nfollowed the doings of the Count, that the coming destruction of the\nmonster may be carried to him in some subtle way.", "If we could only get\nsome hint as to what passed in his mind, between the time of my argument\nwith him to-day and his resumption of fly-catching, it might afford us a\nvaluable clue.", "He is now seemingly quiet for a spell.... Is he?---- That\nwild yell seemed to come from his room....\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe attendant came bursting into my room and told me that Renfield had\nsomehow met with some accident.", "He had heard him yell; and when he went\nto him found him lying on his face on the floor, all covered with blood.", "I must go at once...." ]

[ "\n\n_3 October._--Let me put down with exactness all that happened, as well\nas I can remember it, since last I made an entry.", "Not a detail that I\ncan recall must be forgotten; in all calmness I must proceed.", "When I came to Renfield's room I found him lying on the floor on his\nleft side in a glittering pool of blood.", "When I went to move him, it\nbecame at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries;\nthere seemed none of that unity of purpose between the parts of the body\nwhich marks even lethargic sanity.", "As the face was exposed I could see\nthat it was horribly bruised, as though it had been beaten against the\nfloor--indeed it was from the face wounds that the pool of blood\noriginated.", "The attendant who was kneeling beside the body said to me as\nwe turned him over:--\n\n\"I think, sir, his back is broken.", "See, both his right arm and leg and\nthe whole side of his face are paralysed.\"", "How such a thing could have\nhappened puzzled the attendant beyond measure.", "He seemed quite\nbewildered, and his brows were gathered in as he said:--\n\n\"I can't understand the two things.", "He could mark his face like that by\nbeating his own head on the floor.", "I saw a young woman do it once at the\nEversfield Asylum before anyone could lay hands on her.", "And I suppose he\nmight have broke his neck by falling out of bed, if he got in an awkward\nkink.", "But for the life of me I can't imagine how the two things\noccurred.", "If his back was broke, he couldn't beat his head; and if his\nface was like that before the fall out of bed, there would be marks of\nit.\"", "I said to him:--\n\n\"Go to Dr. Van Helsing, and ask him to kindly come here at once.", "I want\nhim without an instant's delay.\"", "The man ran off, and within a few\nminutes the Professor, in his dressing gown and slippers, appeared.", "When\nhe saw Renfield on the ground, he looked keenly at him a moment, and\nthen turned to me.", "I think he recognised my thought in my eyes, for he\nsaid very quietly, manifestly for the ears of the attendant:--\n\n\"Ah, a sad accident!", "He will need very careful watching, and much\nattention.", "I shall stay with you myself; but I shall first dress myself.", "If you will remain I shall in a few minutes join you.\"", "The patient was now breathing stertorously and it was easy to see that\nhe had suffered some terrible injury.", "Van Helsing returned with\nextraordinary celerity, bearing with him a surgical case.", "He had\nevidently been thinking and had his mind made up; for, almost before he\nlooked at the patient, he whispered to me:--\n\n\"Send the attendant away.", "We must be alone with him when he becomes\nconscious, after the operation.\"", "So I said:--\n\n\"I think that will do now, Simmons.", "We have done all that we can at\npresent.", "You had better go your round, and Dr. Van Helsing will operate.", "Let me know instantly if there be anything unusual anywhere.\"", "The man withdrew, and we went into a strict examination of the patient.", "The wounds of the face was superficial; the real injury was a depressed\nfracture of the skull, extending right up through the motor area.", "The\nProfessor thought a moment and said:--\n\n\"We must reduce the pressure and get back to normal conditions, as far\nas can be; the rapidity of the suffusion shows the terrible nature of\nhis injury.", "The whole motor area seems affected.", "The suffusion of the\nbrain will increase quickly, so we must trephine at once or it may be\ntoo late.\"", "As he was speaking there was a soft tapping at the door.", "I\nwent over and opened it and found in the corridor without, Arthur and\nQuincey in pajamas and slippers: the former spoke:--\n\n\"I heard your man call up Dr. Van Helsing and tell him of an accident.", "So I woke Quincey or rather called for him as he was not asleep.", "Things\nare moving too quickly and too strangely for sound sleep for any of us\nthese times.", "I've been thinking that to-morrow night will not see things\nas they have been.", "We'll have to look back--and forward a little more\nthan we have done.", "May we come in?\"", "I nodded, and held the door open\ntill they had entered; then I closed it again.", "When Quincey saw the\nattitude and state of the patient, and noted the horrible pool on the\nfloor, he said softly:--\n\n\"My God!", "what has happened to him?", "Poor, poor devil!\"", "I told him\nbriefly, and added that we expected he would recover consciousness after\nthe operation--for a short time, at all events.", "He went at once and sat\ndown on the edge of the bed, with Godalming beside him; we all watched\nin patience.", "\"We shall wait,\" said Van Helsing, \"just long enough to fix the best\nspot for trephining, so that we may most quickly and perfectly remove\nthe blood clot; for it is evident that the haemorrhage is increasing.\"", "The minutes during which we waited passed with fearful slowness.", "I had a\nhorrible sinking in my heart, and from Van Helsing's face I gathered\nthat he felt some fear or apprehension as to what was to come.", "I dreaded\nthe words that Renfield might speak.", "I was positively afraid to think;\nbut the conviction of what was coming was on me, as I have read of men\nwho have heard the death-watch.", "The poor man's breathing came in\nuncertain gasps.", "Each instant he seemed as though he would open his eyes\nand speak; but then would follow a prolonged stertorous breath, and he\nwould relapse into a more fixed insensibility.", "Inured as I was to sick\nbeds and death, this suspense grew, and grew upon me.", "I could almost\nhear the beating of my own heart; and the blood surging through my\ntemples sounded like blows from a hammer.", "The silence finally became\nagonising.", "I looked at my companions, one after another, and saw from\ntheir flushed faces and damp brows that they were enduring equal\ntorture.", "There was a nervous suspense over us all, as though overhead\nsome dread bell would peal out powerfully when we should least expect\nit.", "At last there came a time when it was evident that the patient was\nsinking fast; he might die at any moment.", "I looked up at the Professor\nand caught his eyes fixed on mine.", "His face was sternly set as he\nspoke:--\n\n\"There is no time to lose.", "His words may be worth many lives; I have\nbeen thinking so, as I stood here.", "It may be there is a soul at stake!", "We shall operate just above the ear.\"", "Without another word he made the operation.", "For a few moments the\nbreathing continued to be stertorous.", "Then there came a breath so\nprolonged that it seemed as though it would tear open his chest.", "Suddenly his eyes opened, and became fixed in a wild, helpless stare.", "This was continued for a few moments; then it softened into a glad\nsurprise, and from the lips came a sigh of relief.", "He moved\nconvulsively, and as he did so, said:--\n\n\"I'll be quiet, Doctor.", "Tell them to take off the strait-waistcoat.", "I\nhave had a terrible dream, and it has left me so weak that I cannot\nmove.", "What's wrong with my face?", "it feels all swollen, and it smarts\ndreadfully.\"", "He tried to turn his head; but even with the effort his\neyes seemed to grow glassy again so I gently put it back.", "Then Van\nHelsing said in a quiet grave tone:--\n\n\"Tell us your dream, Mr.", "Renfield.\"", "As he heard the voice his face\nbrightened, through its mutilation, and he said:--\n\n\"That is Dr. Van Helsing.", "How good it is of you to be here.", "Give me some\nwater, my lips are dry; and I shall try to tell you.", "I dreamed\"--he\nstopped and seemed fainting, I called quietly to Quincey--\"The\nbrandy--it is in my study--quick!\"", "He flew and returned with a glass,\nthe decanter of brandy and a carafe of water.", "We moistened the parched\nlips, and the patient quickly revived.", "It seemed, however, that his poor\ninjured brain had been working in the interval, for, when he was quite\nconscious, he looked at me piercingly with an agonised confusion which I\nshall never forget, and said:--\n\n\"I must not deceive myself; it was no dream, but all a grim reality.\"", "Then his eyes roved round the room; as they caught sight of the two\nfigures sitting patiently on the edge of the bed he went on:--\n\n\"If I were not sure already, I would know from them.\"", "For an instant his\neyes closed--not with pain or sleep but voluntarily, as though he were\nbringing all his faculties to bear; when he opened them he said,\nhurriedly, and with more energy than he had yet displayed:--\n\n\"Quick, Doctor, quick.", "I am dying!", "I feel that I have but a few minutes;\nand then I must go back to death--or worse!", "Wet my lips with brandy\nagain.", "I have something that I must say before I die; or before my poor\ncrushed brain dies anyhow.", "Thank you!", "It was that night after you left\nme, when I implored you to let me go away.", "I couldn't speak then, for I\nfelt my tongue was tied; but I was as sane then, except in that way, as\nI am now.", "I was in an agony of despair for a long time after you left\nme; it seemed hours.", "Then there came a sudden peace to me.", "My brain\nseemed to become cool again, and I realised where I was.", "I heard the\ndogs bark behind our house, but not where He was!\"", "As he spoke, Van\nHelsing's eyes never blinked, but his hand came out and met mine and\ngripped it hard.", "He did not, however, betray himself; he nodded slightly\nand said: \"Go on,\" in a low voice.", "Renfield proceeded:--\n\n\"He came up to the window in the mist, as I had seen him often before;\nbut he was solid then--not a ghost, and his eyes were fierce like a\nman's when angry.", "He was laughing with his red mouth; the sharp white\nteeth glinted in the moonlight when he turned to look back over the belt\nof trees, to where the dogs were barking.", "I wouldn't ask him to come in\nat first, though I knew he wanted to--just as he had wanted all along.", "Then he began promising me things--not in words but by doing them.\"", "He\nwas interrupted by a word from the Professor:--\n\n\"How?\"", "\"By making them happen; just as he used to send in the flies when the\nsun was shining.", "Great big fat ones with steel and sapphire on their\nwings; and big moths, in the night, with skull and cross-bones on their\nbacks.\"", "Van Helsing nodded to him as he whispered to me unconsciously:--\n\n\"The _Acherontia Aitetropos of the Sphinges_--what you call the\n'Death's-head Moth'?\"", "The patient went on without stopping.", "\"Then he began to whisper: 'Rats, rats, rats!", "Hundreds, thousands,\nmillions of them, and every one a life; and dogs to eat them, and cats\ntoo.", "All lives!", "all red blood, with years of life in it; and not merely\nbuzzing flies!'", "I laughed at him, for I wanted to see what he could do.", "Then the dogs howled, away beyond the dark trees in His house.", "He\nbeckoned me to the window.", "I got up and looked out, and He raised his\nhands, and seemed to call out without using any words.", "A dark mass\nspread over the grass, coming on like the shape of a flame of fire; and\nthen He moved the mist to the right and left, and I could see that there\nwere thousands of rats with their eyes blazing red--like His, only\nsmaller.", "He held up his hand, and they all stopped; and I thought he\nseemed to be saying: 'All these lives will I give you, ay, and many more\nand greater, through countless ages, if you will fall down and worship\nme!'", "And then a red cloud, like the colour of blood, seemed to close\nover my eyes; and before I knew what I was doing, I found myself opening\nthe sash and saying to Him: 'Come in, Lord and Master!'", "The rats were\nall gone, but He slid into the room through the sash, though it was only\nopen an inch wide--just as the Moon herself has often come in through\nthe tiniest crack and has stood before me in all her size and\nsplendour.\"", "His voice was weaker, so I moistened his lips with the brandy again, and\nhe continued; but it seemed as though his memory had gone on working in\nthe interval for his story was further advanced.", "I was about to call him\nback to the point, but Van Helsing whispered to me: \"Let him go on.", "Do\nnot interrupt him; he cannot go back, and maybe could not proceed at all\nif once he lost the thread of his thought.\"", "He proceeded:--\n\n\"All day I waited to hear from him, but he did not send me anything, not\neven a blow-fly, and when the moon got up I was pretty angry with him.", "When he slid in through the window, though it was shut, and did not even\nknock, I got mad with him.", "He sneered at me, and his white face looked\nout of the mist with his red eyes gleaming, and he went on as though he\nowned the whole place, and I was no one.", "He didn't even smell the same\nas he went by me.", "I couldn't hold him.", "I thought that, somehow, Mrs.\nHarker had come into the room.\"", "The two men sitting on the bed stood up and came over, standing behind\nhim so that he could not see them, but where they could hear better.", "They were both silent, but the Professor started and quivered; his face,\nhowever, grew grimmer and sterner still.", "Renfield went on without\nnoticing:--\n\n\"When Mrs. Harker came in to see me this afternoon she wasn't the same;\nit was like tea after the teapot had been watered.\"", "Here we all moved,\nbut no one said a word; he went on:--\n\n\"I didn't know that she was here till she spoke; and she didn't look the\nsame.", "I don't care for the pale people; I like them with lots of blood\nin them, and hers had all seemed to have run out.", "I didn't think of it\nat the time; but when she went away I began to think, and it made me mad\nto know that He had been taking the life out of her.\"", "I could feel that\nthe rest quivered, as I did, but we remained otherwise still.", "\"So when\nHe came to-night I was ready for Him.", "I saw the mist stealing in, and I\ngrabbed it tight.", "I had heard that madmen have unnatural strength; and\nas I knew I was a madman--at times anyhow--I resolved to use my power.", "Ay, and He felt it too, for He had to come out of the mist to struggle\nwith me.", "I held tight; and I thought I was going to win, for I didn't\nmean Him to take any more of her life, till I saw His eyes.", "They burned\ninto me, and my strength became like water.", "He slipped through it, and\nwhen I tried to cling to Him, He raised me up and flung me down.", "There\nwas a red cloud before me, and a noise like thunder, and the mist seemed\nto steal away under the door.\"", "His voice was becoming fainter and his\nbreath more stertorous.", "Van Helsing stood up instinctively.", "\"We know the worst now,\" he said.", "\"He is here, and we know his purpose.", "It may not be too late.", "Let us be armed--the same as we were the other\nnight, but lose no time; there is not an instant to spare.\"", "There was no\nneed to put our fear, nay our conviction, into words--we shared them in\ncommon.", "We all hurried and took from our rooms the same things that we\nhad when we entered the Count's house.", "The Professor had his ready, and\nas we met in the corridor he pointed to them significantly as he said:--\n\n\"They never leave me; and they shall not till this unhappy business is\nover.", "Be wise also, my friends.", "It is no common enemy that we deal with.", "Alas!", "alas!", "that that dear Madam Mina should suffer!\"", "He stopped; his\nvoice was breaking, and I do not know if rage or terror predominated in\nmy own heart.", "Outside the Harkers' door we paused.", "Art and Quincey held back, and the\nlatter said:--\n\n\"Should we disturb her?\"", "\"We must,\" said Van Helsing grimly.", "\"If the door be locked, I shall\nbreak it in.\"", "\"May it not frighten her terribly?", "It is unusual to break into a lady's\nroom!\"", "Van Helsing said solemnly, \"You are always right; but this is life and\ndeath.", "All chambers are alike to the doctor; and even were they not they\nare all as one to me to-night.", "Friend John, when I turn the handle, if\nthe door does not open, do you put your shoulder down and shove; and you\ntoo, my friends.", "Now!\"", "He turned the handle as he spoke, but the door did not yield.", "We threw\nourselves against it; with a crash it burst open, and we almost fell\nheadlong into the room.", "The Professor did actually fall, and I saw\nacross him as he gathered himself up from hands and knees.", "What I saw\nappalled me.", "I felt my hair rise like bristles on the back of my neck,\nand my heart seemed to stand still.", "The moonlight was so bright that through the thick yellow blind the room\nwas light enough to see.", "On the bed beside the window lay Jonathan\nHarker, his face flushed and breathing heavily as though in a stupor.", "Kneeling on the near edge of the bed facing outwards was the white-clad\nfigure of his wife.", "By her side stood a tall, thin man, clad in black.", "His face was turned from us, but the instant we saw we all recognised\nthe Count--in every way, even to the scar on his forehead.", "With his left\nhand he held both Mrs. Harker's hands, keeping them away with her arms\nat full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck,\nforcing her face down on his bosom.", "Her white nightdress was smeared\nwith blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man's bare breast which\nwas shown by his torn-open dress.", "The attitude of the two had a terrible\nresemblance to a child forcing a kitten's nose into a saucer of milk to\ncompel it to drink.", "As we burst into the room, the Count turned his\nface, and the hellish look that I had heard described seemed to leap\ninto it.", "His eyes flamed red with devilish passion; the great nostrils\nof the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the edge; and the\nwhite sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping mouth,\nchamped together like those of a wild beast.", "With a wrench, which threw\nhis victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned\nand sprang at us.", "But by this time the Professor had gained his feet,\nand was holding towards him the envelope which contained the Sacred\nWafer.", "The Count suddenly stopped, just as poor Lucy had done outside\nthe tomb, and cowered back.", "Further and further back he cowered, as we,\nlifting our crucifixes, advanced.", "The moonlight suddenly failed, as a\ngreat black cloud sailed across the sky; and when the gaslight sprang up\nunder Quincey's match, we saw nothing but a faint vapour.", "This, as we\nlooked, trailed under the door, which with the recoil from its bursting\nopen, had swung back to its old position.", "Van Helsing, Art, and I moved\nforward to Mrs. Harker, who by this time had drawn her breath and with\nit had given a scream so wild, so ear-piercing, so despairing that it\nseems to me now that it will ring in my ears till my dying day.", "For a\nfew seconds she lay in her helpless attitude and disarray.", "Her face was\nghastly, with a pallor which was accentuated by the blood which smeared\nher lips and cheeks and chin; from her throat trickled a thin stream of\nblood; her eyes were mad with terror.", "Then she put before her face her\npoor crushed hands, which bore on their whiteness the red mark of the\nCount's terrible grip, and from behind them came a low desolate wail\nwhich made the terrible scream seem only the quick expression of an\nendless grief.", "Van Helsing stepped forward and drew the coverlet gently\nover her body, whilst Art, after looking at her face for an instant\ndespairingly, ran out of the room.", "Van Helsing whispered to me:--\n\n\"Jonathan is in a stupor such as we know the Vampire can produce.", "We can\ndo nothing with poor Madam Mina for a few moments till she recovers\nherself; I must wake him!\"", "He dipped the end of a towel in cold water\nand with it began to flick him on the face, his wife all the while\nholding her face between her hands and sobbing in a way that was\nheart-breaking to hear.", "I raised the blind, and looked out of the\nwindow.", "There was much moonshine; and as I looked I could see Quincey\nMorris run across the lawn and hide himself in the shadow of a great\nyew-tree.", "It puzzled me to think why he was doing this; but at the\ninstant I heard Harker's quick exclamation as he woke to partial\nconsciousness, and turned to the bed.", "On his face, as there might well\nbe, was a look of wild amazement.", "He seemed dazed for a few seconds, and\nthen full consciousness seemed to burst upon him all at once, and he\nstarted up.", "His wife was aroused by the quick movement, and turned to\nhim with her arms stretched out, as though to embrace him; instantly,\nhowever, she drew them in again, and putting her elbows together, held\nher hands before her face, and shuddered till the bed beneath her shook.", "\"In God's name what does this mean?\"", "Harker cried out.", "\"Dr. Seward, Dr.\nVan Helsing, what is it?", "What has happened?", "What is wrong?", "Mina, dear,\nwhat is it?", "What does that blood mean?", "My God, my God!", "has it come to\nthis!\"", "and, raising himself to his knees, he beat his hands wildly\ntogether.", "\"Good God help us!", "help her!", "oh, help her!\"", "With a quick\nmovement he jumped from bed, and began to pull on his clothes,--all the\nman in him awake at the need for instant exertion.", "\"What has happened?", "Tell me all about it!\"", "he cried without pausing.", "\"Dr. Van Helsing, you\nlove Mina, I know.", "Oh, do something to save her.", "It cannot have gone too\nfar yet.", "Guard her while I look for _him_!\"", "His wife, through her terror\nand horror and distress, saw some sure danger to him: instantly\nforgetting her own grief, she seized hold of him and cried out:--\n\n\"No!", "no!", "Jonathan, you must not leave me.", "I have suffered enough\nto-night, God knows, without the dread of his harming you.", "You must stay\nwith me.", "Stay with these friends who will watch over you!\"", "Her\nexpression became frantic as she spoke; and, he yielding to her, she\npulled him down sitting on the bed side, and clung to him fiercely.", "Van Helsing and I tried to calm them both.", "The Professor held up his\nlittle golden crucifix, and said with wonderful calmness:--\n\n\"Do not fear, my dear.", "We are here; and whilst this is close to you no\nfoul thing can approach.", "You are safe for to-night; and we must be calm\nand take counsel together.\"", "She shuddered and was silent, holding down\nher head on her husband's breast.", "When she raised it, his white\nnight-robe was stained with blood where her lips had touched, and where\nthe thin open wound in her neck had sent forth drops.", "The instant she\nsaw it she drew back, with a low wail, and whispered, amidst choking\nsobs:--\n\n\"Unclean, unclean!", "I must touch him or kiss him no more.", "Oh, that it\nshould be that it is I who am now his worst enemy, and whom he may have\nmost cause to fear.\"", "To this he spoke out resolutely:--\n\n\"Nonsense, Mina.", "It is a shame to me to hear such a word.", "I would not\nhear it of you; and I shall not hear it from you.", "May God judge me by my\ndeserts, and punish me with more bitter suffering than even this hour,\nif by any act or will of mine anything ever come between us!\"", "He put out\nhis arms and folded her to his breast; and for a while she lay there\nsobbing.", "He looked at us over her bowed head, with eyes that blinked\ndamply above his quivering nostrils; his mouth was set as steel.", "After a\nwhile her sobs became less frequent and more faint, and then he said to\nme, speaking with a studied calmness which I felt tried his nervous\npower to the utmost:--\n\n\"And now, Dr. Seward, tell me all about it.", "Too well I know the broad\nfact; tell me all that has been.\"", "I told him exactly what had happened,\nand he listened with seeming impassiveness; but his nostrils twitched\nand his eyes blazed as I told how the ruthless hands of the Count had\nheld his wife in that terrible and horrid position, with her mouth to\nthe open wound in his breast.", "It interested me, even at that moment, to\nsee, that, whilst the face of white set passion worked convulsively over\nthe bowed head, the hands tenderly and lovingly stroked the ruffled\nhair.", "Just as I had finished, Quincey and Godalming knocked at the door.", "They entered in obedience to our summons.", "Van Helsing looked at me\nquestioningly.", "I understood him to mean if we were to take advantage of\ntheir coming to divert if possible the thoughts of the unhappy husband\nand wife from each other and from themselves; so on nodding acquiescence\nto him he asked them what they had seen or done.", "To which Lord Godalming\nanswered:--\n\n\"I could not see him anywhere in the passage, or in any of our rooms.", "I\nlooked in the study but, though he had been there, he had gone.", "He had,\nhowever----\" He stopped suddenly, looking at the poor drooping figure on\nthe bed.", "Van Helsing said gravely:--\n\n\"Go on, friend Arthur.", "We want here no more concealments.", "Our hope now\nis in knowing all.", "Tell freely!\"", "So Art went on:--\n\n\"He had been there, and though it could only have been for a few\nseconds, he made rare hay of the place.", "All the manuscript had been\nburned, and the blue flames were flickering amongst the white ashes; the\ncylinders of your phonograph too were thrown on the fire, and the wax\nhad helped the flames.\"", "Here I interrupted.", "\"Thank God there is the\nother copy in the safe!\"", "His face lit for a moment, but fell again as he\nwent on: \"I ran downstairs then, but could see no sign of him.", "I looked\ninto Renfield's room; but there was no trace there except----!\"", "Again he\npaused.", "\"Go on,\" said Harker hoarsely; so he bowed his head and\nmoistening his lips with his tongue, added: \"except that the poor fellow\nis dead.\"", "Mrs. Harker raised her head, looking from one to the other of\nus she said solemnly:--\n\n\"God's will be done!\"", "I could not but feel that Art was keeping back\nsomething; but, as I took it that it was with a purpose, I said nothing.", "Van Helsing turned to Morris and asked:--\n\n\"And you, friend Quincey, have you any to tell?\"", "\"A little,\" he answered.", "\"It may be much eventually, but at present I\ncan't say.", "I thought it well to know if possible where the Count would\ngo when he left the house.", "I did not see him; but I saw a bat rise from\nRenfield's window, and flap westward.", "I expected to see him in some\nshape go back to Carfax; but he evidently sought some other lair.", "He\nwill not be back to-night; for the sky is reddening in the east, and the\ndawn is close.", "We must work to-morrow!\"", "He said the latter words through his shut teeth.", "For a space of perhaps\na couple of minutes there was silence, and I could fancy that I could\nhear the sound of our hearts beating; then Van Helsing said, placing his\nhand very tenderly on Mrs. Harker's head:--\n\n\"And now, Madam Mina--poor, dear, dear Madam Mina--tell us exactly what\nhappened.", "God knows that I do not want that you be pained; but it is\nneed that we know all.", "For now more than ever has all work to be done\nquick and sharp, and in deadly earnest.", "The day is close to us that must\nend all, if it may be so; and now is the chance that we may live and\nlearn.\"", "The poor, dear lady shivered, and I could see the tension of her nerves\nas she clasped her husband closer to her and bent her head lower and\nlower still on his breast.", "Then she raised her head proudly, and held\nout one hand to Van Helsing who took it in his, and, after stooping and\nkissing it reverently, held it fast.", "The other hand was locked in that\nof her husband, who held his other arm thrown round her protectingly.", "After a pause in which she was evidently ordering her thoughts, she\nbegan:--\n\n\"I took the sleeping draught which you had so kindly given me, but for a\nlong time it did not act.", "I seemed to become more wakeful, and myriads\nof horrible fancies began to crowd in upon my mind--all of them\nconnected with death, and vampires; with blood, and pain, and trouble.\"", "Her husband involuntarily groaned as she turned to him and said\nlovingly: \"Do not fret, dear.", "You must be brave and strong, and help me\nthrough the horrible task.", "If you only knew what an effort it is to me\nto tell of this fearful thing at all, you would understand how much I\nneed your help.", "Well, I saw I must try to help the medicine to its work\nwith my will, if it was to do me any good, so I resolutely set myself to\nsleep.", "Sure enough sleep must soon have come to me, for I remember no\nmore.", "Jonathan coming in had not waked me, for he lay by my side when\nnext I remember.", "There was in the room the same thin white mist that I\nhad before noticed.", "But I forget now if you know of this; you will find\nit in my diary which I shall show you later.", "I felt the same vague\nterror which had come to me before and the same sense of some presence.", "I turned to wake Jonathan, but found that he slept so soundly that it\nseemed as if it was he who had taken the sleeping draught, and not I. I\ntried, but I could not wake him.", "This caused me a great fear, and I\nlooked around terrified.", "Then indeed, my heart sank within me: beside\nthe bed, as if he had stepped out of the mist--or rather as if the mist\nhad turned into his figure, for it had entirely disappeared--stood a\ntall, thin man, all in black.", "I knew him at once from the description of\nthe others.", "The waxen face; the high aquiline nose, on which the light\nfell in a thin white line; the parted red lips, with the sharp white\nteeth showing between; and the red eyes that I had seemed to see in the\nsunset on the windows of St. Mary's Church at Whitby.", "I knew, too, the\nred scar on his forehead where Jonathan had struck him.", "For an instant\nmy heart stood still, and I would have screamed out, only that I was\nparalysed.", "In the pause he spoke in a sort of keen, cutting whisper,\npointing as he spoke to Jonathan:--\n\n\"'Silence!", "If you make a sound I shall take him and dash his brains out\nbefore your very eyes.'", "I was appalled and was too bewildered to do or\nsay anything.", "With a mocking smile, he placed one hand upon my shoulder\nand, holding me tight, bared my throat with the other, saying as he did\nso, 'First, a little refreshment to reward my exertions.", "You may as well\nbe quiet; it is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have\nappeased my thirst!'", "I was bewildered, and, strangely enough, I did not\nwant to hinder him.", "I suppose it is a part of the horrible curse that\nsuch is, when his touch is on his victim.", "And oh, my God, my God, pity\nme!", "He placed his reeking lips upon my throat!\"", "Her husband groaned\nagain.", "She clasped his hand harder, and looked at him pityingly, as if\nhe were the injured one, and went on:--\n\n\"I felt my strength fading away, and I was in a half swoon.", "How long\nthis horrible thing lasted I know not; but it seemed that a long time\nmust have passed before he took his foul, awful, sneering mouth away.", "I\nsaw it drip with the fresh blood!\"", "The remembrance seemed for a while to\noverpower her, and she drooped and would have sunk down but for her\nhusband's sustaining arm.", "With a great effort she recovered herself and\nwent on:--\n\n\"Then he spoke to me mockingly, 'And so you, like the others, would play\nyour brains against mine.", "You would help these men to hunt me and\nfrustrate me in my designs!", "You know now, and they know in part already,\nand will know in full before long, what it is to cross my path.", "They\nshould have kept their energies for use closer to home.", "Whilst they\nplayed wits against me--against me who commanded nations, and intrigued\nfor them, and fought for them, hundreds of years before they were\nborn--I was countermining them.", "And you, their best beloved one, are now\nto me, flesh of my flesh; blood of my blood; kin of my kin; my bountiful\nwine-press for a while; and shall be later on my companion and my\nhelper.", "You shall be avenged in turn; for not one of them but shall\nminister to your needs.", "But as yet you are to be punished for what you\nhave done.", "You have aided in thwarting me; now you shall come to my\ncall.", "When my brain says \"Come!\"", "to you, you shall cross land or sea to\ndo my bidding; and to that end this!'", "With that he pulled open his\nshirt, and with his long sharp nails opened a vein in his breast.", "When\nthe blood began to spurt out, he took my hands in one of his, holding\nthem tight, and with the other seized my neck and pressed my mouth to\nthe wound, so that I must either suffocate or swallow some of the---- Oh\nmy God!", "my God!", "what have I done?", "What have I done to deserve such a\nfate, I who have tried to walk in meekness and righteousness all my\ndays.", "God pity me!", "Look down on a poor soul in worse than mortal peril;\nand in mercy pity those to whom she is dear!\"", "Then she began to rub her\nlips as though to cleanse them from pollution.", "As she was telling her terrible story, the eastern sky began to quicken,\nand everything became more and more clear.", "Harker was still and quiet;\nbut over his face, as the awful narrative went on, came a grey look\nwhich deepened and deepened in the morning light, till when the first\nred streak of the coming dawn shot up, the flesh stood darkly out\nagainst the whitening hair.", "We have arranged that one of us is to stay within call of the unhappy\npair till we can meet together and arrange about taking action.", "Of this I am sure: the sun rises to-day on no more miserable house in\nall the great round of its daily course." ]

[ "The attendant who was kneeling beside the body said to me as\nwe turned him over:--\n\n\"I think, sir, his back is broken.", "When Quincey saw the\nattitude and state of the patient, and noted the horrible pool on the\nfloor, he said softly:--\n\n\"My God!", "My brain\nseemed to become cool again, and I realised where I was.", "I was about to call him\nback to the point, but Van Helsing whispered to me: \"Let him go on.", "Ay, and He felt it too, for He had to come out of the mist to struggle\nwith me.", "\"Dr. Seward, Dr.\nVan Helsing, what is it?", "Too well I know the broad\nfact; tell me all that has been.\"", "So Art went on:--\n\n\"He had been there, and though it could only have been for a few\nseconds, he made rare hay of the place.", "God knows that I do not want that you be pained; but it is\nneed that we know all.", "The waxen face; the high aquiline nose, on which the light\nfell in a thin white line; the parted red lips, with the sharp white\nteeth showing between; and the red eyes that I had seemed to see in the\nsunset on the windows of St. Mary's Church at Whitby." ]

[ "Sure enough sleep must soon have come to me, for I remember no\nmore.", "Van Helsing nodded to him as he whispered to me unconsciously:--\n\n\"The _Acherontia Aitetropos of the Sphinges_--what you call the\n'Death's-head Moth'?\"", "I\nwent over and opened it and found in the corridor without, Arthur and\nQuincey in pajamas and slippers: the former spoke:--\n\n\"I heard your man call up Dr. Van Helsing and tell him of an accident.", "It was that night after you left\nme, when I implored you to let me go away.", "what have I done?", "My brain\nseemed to become cool again, and I realised where I was.", "\"Good God help us!", "He had,\nhowever----\" He stopped suddenly, looking at the poor drooping figure on\nthe bed.", "This caused me a great fear, and I\nlooked around terrified.", "She clasped his hand harder, and looked at him pityingly, as if\nhe were the injured one, and went on:--\n\n\"I felt my strength fading away, and I was in a half swoon." ]

[ "Van Helsing said solemnly, \"You are always right; but this is life and\ndeath.", "All chambers are alike to the doctor; and even were they not they\nare all as one to me to-night.", "Friend John, when I turn the handle, if\nthe door does not open, do you put your shoulder down and shove; and you\ntoo, my friends.", "Now!\"", "He turned the handle as he spoke, but the door did not yield.", "We threw\nourselves against it; with a crash it burst open, and we almost fell\nheadlong into the room.", "The Professor did actually fall, and I saw\nacross him as he gathered himself up from hands and knees.", "What I saw\nappalled me.", "I felt my hair rise like bristles on the back of my neck,\nand my heart seemed to stand still.", "The moonlight was so bright that through the thick yellow blind the room\nwas light enough to see.", "On the bed beside the window lay Jonathan\nHarker, his face flushed and breathing heavily as though in a stupor." ]

[ "\n\n_3 October._--Let me put down with exactness all that happened, as well\nas I can remember it, since last I made an entry.", "Not a detail that I\ncan recall must be forgotten; in all calmness I must proceed.", "When I came to Renfield's room I found him lying on the floor on his\nleft side in a glittering pool of blood.", "When I went to move him, it\nbecame at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries;\nthere seemed none of that unity of purpose between the parts of the body\nwhich marks even lethargic sanity.", "As the face was exposed I could see\nthat it was horribly bruised, as though it had been beaten against the\nfloor--indeed it was from the face wounds that the pool of blood\noriginated.", "The attendant who was kneeling beside the body said to me as\nwe turned him over:--\n\n\"I think, sir, his back is broken.", "See, both his right arm and leg and\nthe whole side of his face are paralysed.\"", "How such a thing could have\nhappened puzzled the attendant beyond measure.", "He seemed quite\nbewildered, and his brows were gathered in as he said:--\n\n\"I can't understand the two things.", "He could mark his face like that by\nbeating his own head on the floor.", "my God!", "what have I done?", "What have I done to deserve such a\nfate, I who have tried to walk in meekness and righteousness all my\ndays.", "God pity me!", "Look down on a poor soul in worse than mortal peril;\nand in mercy pity those to whom she is dear!\"", "Then she began to rub her\nlips as though to cleanse them from pollution.", "As she was telling her terrible story, the eastern sky began to quicken,\nand everything became more and more clear.", "Harker was still and quiet;\nbut over his face, as the awful narrative went on, came a grey look\nwhich deepened and deepened in the morning light, till when the first\nred streak of the coming dawn shot up, the flesh stood darkly out\nagainst the whitening hair.", "We have arranged that one of us is to stay within call of the unhappy\npair till we can meet together and arrange about taking action.", "Of this I am sure: the sun rises to-day on no more miserable house in\nall the great round of its daily course." ]

[ "\n\n_3 October._--As I must do something or go mad, I write this diary.", "It\nis now six o'clock, and we are to meet in the study in half an hour and\ntake something to eat; for Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward are agreed\nthat if we do not eat we cannot work our best.", "Our best will be, God\nknows, required to-day.", "I must keep writing at every chance, for I dare\nnot stop to think.", "All, big and little, must go down; perhaps at the end\nthe little things may teach us most.", "The teaching, big or little, could\nnot have landed Mina or me anywhere worse than we are to-day.", "However,\nwe must trust and hope.", "Poor Mina told me just now, with the tears\nrunning down her dear cheeks, that it is in trouble and trial that our\nfaith is tested--that we must keep on trusting; and that God will aid us\nup to the end.", "The end!", "oh my God!", "what end?...", "To work!", "To work!", "When Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward had come back from seeing poor\nRenfield, we went gravely into what was to be done.", "First, Dr. Seward\ntold us that when he and Dr. Van Helsing had gone down to the room below\nthey had found Renfield lying on the floor, all in a heap.", "His face was\nall bruised and crushed in, and the bones of the neck were broken.", "Dr. Seward asked the attendant who was on duty in the passage if he had\nheard anything.", "He said that he had been sitting down--he confessed to\nhalf dozing--when he heard loud voices in the room, and then Renfield\nhad called out loudly several times, \"God!", "God!", "God!\"", "after that there\nwas a sound of falling, and when he entered the room he found him lying\non the floor, face down, just as the doctors had seen him.", "Van Helsing\nasked if he had heard \"voices\" or \"a voice,\" and he said he could not\nsay; that at first it had seemed to him as if there were two, but as\nthere was no one in the room it could have been only one.", "He could swear\nto it, if required, that the word \"God\" was spoken by the patient.", "Dr.\nSeward said to us, when we were alone, that he did not wish to go into\nthe matter; the question of an inquest had to be considered, and it\nwould never do to put forward the truth, as no one would believe it.", "As\nit was, he thought that on the attendant's evidence he could give a\ncertificate of death by misadventure in falling from bed.", "In case the\ncoroner should demand it, there would be a formal inquest, necessarily\nto the same result.", "When the question began to be discussed as to what should be our next\nstep, the very first thing we decided was that Mina should be in full\nconfidence; that nothing of any sort--no matter how painful--should be\nkept from her.", "She herself agreed as to its wisdom, and it was pitiful\nto see her so brave and yet so sorrowful, and in such a depth of\ndespair.", "\"There must be no concealment,\" she said, \"Alas!", "we have had\ntoo much already.", "And besides there is nothing in all the world that can\ngive me more pain than I have already endured--than I suffer now!", "Whatever may happen, it must be of new hope or of new courage to me!\"", "Van Helsing was looking at her fixedly as she spoke, and said, suddenly\nbut quietly:--\n\n\"But dear Madam Mina, are you not afraid; not for yourself, but for\nothers from yourself, after what has happened?\"", "Her face grew set in its\nlines, but her eyes shone with the devotion of a martyr as she\nanswered:--\n\n\"Ah no!", "for my mind is made up!\"", "\"To what?\"", "he asked gently, whilst we were all very still; for each in\nour own way we had a sort of vague idea of what she meant.", "Her answer\ncame with direct simplicity, as though she were simply stating a fact:--\n\n\"Because if I find in myself--and I shall watch keenly for it--a sign of\nharm to any that I love, I shall die!\"", "\"You would not kill yourself?\"", "he asked, hoarsely.", "\"I would; if there were no friend who loved me, who would save me such a\npain, and so desperate an effort!\"", "She looked at him meaningly as she\nspoke.", "He was sitting down; but now he rose and came close to her and\nput his hand on her head as he said solemnly:\n\n\"My child, there is such an one if it were for your good.", "For myself I\ncould hold it in my account with God to find such an euthanasia for you,\neven at this moment if it were best.", "Nay, were it safe!", "But my\nchild----\" For a moment he seemed choked, and a great sob rose in his\nthroat; he gulped it down and went on:--\n\n\"There are here some who would stand between you and death.", "You must not\ndie.", "You must not die by any hand; but least of all by your own.", "Until\nthe other, who has fouled your sweet life, is true dead you must not\ndie; for if he is still with the quick Un-Dead, your death would make\nyou even as he is.", "No, you must live!", "You must struggle and strive to\nlive, though death would seem a boon unspeakable.", "You must fight Death\nhimself, though he come to you in pain or in joy; by the day, or the\nnight; in safety or in peril!", "On your living soul I charge you that you\ndo not die--nay, nor think of death--till this great evil be past.\"", "The\npoor dear grew white as death, and shock and shivered, as I have seen a\nquicksand shake and shiver at the incoming of the tide.", "We were all\nsilent; we could do nothing.", "At length she grew more calm and turning to\nhim said, sweetly, but oh!", "so sorrowfully, as she held out her hand:--\n\n\"I promise you, my dear friend, that if God will let me live, I shall\nstrive to do so; till, if it may be in His good time, this horror may\nhave passed away from me.\"", "She was so good and brave that we all felt\nthat our hearts were strengthened to work and endure for her, and we\nbegan to discuss what we were to do.", "I told her that she was to have all\nthe papers in the safe, and all the papers or diaries and phonographs we\nmight hereafter use; and was to keep the record as she had done before.", "She was pleased with the prospect of anything to do--if \"pleased\" could\nbe used in connection with so grim an interest.", "As usual Van Helsing had thought ahead of everyone else, and was\nprepared with an exact ordering of our work.", "\"It is perhaps well,\" he said, \"that at our meeting after our visit to\nCarfax we decided not to do anything with the earth-boxes that lay\nthere.", "Had we done so, the Count must have guessed our purpose, and\nwould doubtless have taken measures in advance to frustrate such an\neffort with regard to the others; but now he does not know our\nintentions.", "Nay, more, in all probability, he does not know that such a\npower exists to us as can sterilise his lairs, so that he cannot use\nthem as of old.", "We are now so much further advanced in our knowledge as\nto their disposition that, when we have examined the house in\nPiccadilly, we may track the very last of them.", "To-day, then, is ours;\nand in it rests our hope.", "The sun that rose on our sorrow this morning\nguards us in its course.", "Until it sets to-night, that monster must\nretain whatever form he now has.", "He is confined within the limitations\nof his earthly envelope.", "He cannot melt into thin air nor disappear\nthrough cracks or chinks or crannies.", "If he go through a doorway, he\nmust open the door like a mortal.", "And so we have this day to hunt out\nall his lairs and sterilise them.", "So we shall, if we have not yet catch\nhim and destroy him, drive him to bay in some place where the catching\nand the destroying shall be, in time, sure.\"", "Here I started up for I\ncould not contain myself at the thought that the minutes and seconds so\npreciously laden with Mina's life and happiness were flying from us,\nsince whilst we talked action was impossible.", "But Van Helsing held up\nhis hand warningly.", "\"Nay, friend Jonathan,\" he said, \"in this, the\nquickest way home is the longest way, so your proverb say.", "We shall all\nact and act with desperate quick, when the time has come.", "But think, in\nall probable the key of the situation is in that house in Piccadilly.", "The Count may have many houses which he has bought.", "Of them he will have\ndeeds of purchase, keys and other things.", "He will have paper that he\nwrite on; he will have his book of cheques.", "There are many belongings\nthat he must have somewhere; why not in this place so central, so quiet,\nwhere he come and go by the front or the back at all hour, when in the\nvery vast of the traffic there is none to notice.", "We shall go there and\nsearch that house; and when we learn what it holds, then we do what our\nfriend Arthur call, in his phrases of hunt 'stop the earths' and so we\nrun down our old fox--so?", "is it not?\"", "\"Then let us come at once,\" I cried, \"we are wasting the precious,\nprecious time!\"", "The Professor did not move, but simply said:--\n\n\"And how are we to get into that house in Piccadilly?\"", "\"Any way!\"", "I cried.", "\"We shall break in if need be.\"", "\"And your police; where will they be, and what will they say?\"", "I was staggered; but I knew that if he wished to delay he had a good\nreason for it.", "So I said, as quietly as I could:--\n\n\"Don't wait more than need be; you know, I am sure, what torture I am\nin.\"", "\"Ah, my child, that I do; and indeed there is no wish of me to add to\nyour anguish.", "But just think, what can we do, until all the world be at\nmovement.", "Then will come our time.", "I have thought and thought, and it\nseems to me that the simplest way is the best of all.", "Now we wish to get\ninto the house, but we have no key; is it not so?\"", "I nodded.", "\"Now suppose that you were, in truth, the owner of that house, and could\nnot still get it; and think there was to you no conscience of the\nhousebreaker, what would you do?\"", "\"I should get a respectable locksmith, and set him to work to pick the\nlock for me.\"", "\"And your police, they would interfere, would they not?\"", "\"Oh, no!", "not if they knew the man was properly employed.\"", "\"Then,\" he looked at me as keenly as he spoke, \"all that is in doubt is\nthe conscience of the employer, and the belief of your policemen as to\nwhether or no that employer has a good conscience or a bad one.", "Your\npolice must indeed be zealous men and clever--oh, so clever!--in reading\nthe heart, that they trouble themselves in such matter.", "No, no, my\nfriend Jonathan, you go take the lock off a hundred empty house in this\nyour London, or of any city in the world; and if you do it as such\nthings are rightly done, and at the time such things are rightly done,\nno one will interfere.", "I have read of a gentleman who owned a so fine\nhouse in London, and when he went for months of summer to Switzerland\nand lock up his house, some burglar came and broke window at back and\ngot in.", "Then he went and made open the shutters in front and walk out\nand in through the door, before the very eyes of the police.", "Then he\nhave an auction in that house, and advertise it, and put up big notice;\nand when the day come he sell off by a great auctioneer all the goods of\nthat other man who own them.", "Then he go to a builder, and he sell him\nthat house, making an agreement that he pull it down and take all away\nwithin a certain time.", "And your police and other authority help him all\nthey can.", "And when that owner come back from his holiday in Switzerland\nhe find only an empty hole where his house had been.", "This was all done\n_en regle_; and in our work we shall be _en regle_ too.", "We shall not go\nso early that the policemen who have then little to think of, shall deem\nit strange; but we shall go after ten o'clock, when there are many\nabout, and such things would be done were we indeed owners of the\nhouse.\"", "I could not but see how right he was and the terrible despair of Mina's\nface became relaxed a thought; there was hope in such good counsel.", "Van\nHelsing went on:--\n\n\"When once within that house we may find more clues; at any rate some of\nus can remain there whilst the rest find the other places where there be\nmore earth-boxes--at Bermondsey and Mile End.\"", "Lord Godalming stood up.", "\"I can be of some use here,\" he said.", "\"I shall\nwire to my people to have horses and carriages where they will be most\nconvenient.\"", "\"Look here, old fellow,\" said Morris, \"it is a capital idea to have all\nready in case we want to go horsebacking; but don't you think that one\nof your snappy carriages with its heraldic adornments in a byway of\nWalworth or Mile End would attract too much attention for our purposes?", "It seems to me that we ought to take cabs when we go south or east; and\neven leave them somewhere near the neighbourhood we are going to.\"", "\"Friend Quincey is right!\"", "said the Professor.", "\"His head is what you\ncall in plane with the horizon.", "It is a difficult thing that we go to\ndo, and we do not want no peoples to watch us if so it may.\"", "Mina took a growing interest in everything and I was rejoiced to see\nthat the exigency of affairs was helping her to forget for a time the\nterrible experience of the night.", "She was very, very pale--almost\nghastly, and so thin that her lips were drawn away, showing her teeth in\nsomewhat of prominence.", "I did not mention this last, lest it should give\nher needless pain; but it made my blood run cold in my veins to think of\nwhat had occurred with poor Lucy when the Count had sucked her blood.", "As\nyet there was no sign of the teeth growing sharper; but the time as yet\nwas short, and there was time for fear.", "When we came to the discussion of the sequence of our efforts and of the\ndisposition of our forces, there were new sources of doubt.", "It was\nfinally agreed that before starting for Piccadilly we should destroy the\nCount's lair close at hand.", "In case he should find it out too soon, we\nshould thus be still ahead of him in our work of destruction; and his\npresence in his purely material shape, and at his weakest, might give us\nsome new clue.", "As to the disposal of forces, it was suggested by the Professor that,\nafter our visit to Carfax, we should all enter the house in Piccadilly;\nthat the two doctors and I should remain there, whilst Lord Godalming\nand Quincey found the lairs at Walworth and Mile End and destroyed them.", "It was possible, if not likely, the Professor urged, that the Count\nmight appear in Piccadilly during the day, and that if so we might be\nable to cope with him then and there.", "At any rate, we might be able to\nfollow him in force.", "To this plan I strenuously objected, and so far as\nmy going was concerned, for I said that I intended to stay and protect\nMina, I thought that my mind was made up on the subject; but Mina would\nnot listen to my objection.", "She said that there might be some law matter\nin which I could be useful; that amongst the Count's papers might be\nsome clue which I could understand out of my experience in Transylvania;\nand that, as it was, all the strength we could muster was required to\ncope with the Count's extraordinary power.", "I had to give in, for Mina's\nresolution was fixed; she said that it was the last hope for _her_ that\nwe should all work together.", "\"As for me,\" she said, \"I have no fear.", "Things have been as bad as they can be; and whatever may happen must\nhave in it some element of hope or comfort.", "Go, my husband!", "God can, if\nHe wishes it, guard me as well alone as with any one present.\"", "So I\nstarted up crying out: \"Then in God's name let us come at once, for we\nare losing time.", "The Count may come to Piccadilly earlier than we\nthink.\"", "\"Not so!\"", "said Van Helsing, holding up his hand.", "\"But why?\"", "I asked.", "\"Do you forget,\" he said, with actually a smile, \"that last night he\nbanqueted heavily, and will sleep late?\"", "Did I forget!", "shall I ever--can I ever!", "Can any of us ever forget that\nterrible scene!", "Mina struggled hard to keep her brave countenance; but\nthe pain overmastered her and she put her hands before her face, and\nshuddered whilst she moaned.", "Van Helsing had not intended to recall her\nfrightful experience.", "He had simply lost sight of her and her part in\nthe affair in his intellectual effort.", "When it struck him what he said,\nhe was horrified at his thoughtlessness and tried to comfort her.", "\"Oh,\nMadam Mina,\" he said, \"dear, dear Madam Mina, alas!", "that I of all who so\nreverence you should have said anything so forgetful.", "These stupid old\nlips of mine and this stupid old head do not deserve so; but you will\nforget it, will you not?\"", "He bent low beside her as he spoke; she took\nhis hand, and looking at him through her tears, said hoarsely:--\n\n\"No, I shall not forget, for it is well that I remember; and with it I\nhave so much in memory of you that is sweet, that I take it all\ntogether.", "Now, you must all be going soon.", "Breakfast is ready, and we\nmust all eat that we may be strong.\"", "Breakfast was a strange meal to us all.", "We tried to be cheerful and\nencourage each other, and Mina was the brightest and most cheerful of\nus.", "When it was over, Van Helsing stood up and said:--\n\n\"Now, my dear friends, we go forth to our terrible enterprise.", "Are we\nall armed, as we were on that night when first we visited our enemy's\nlair; armed against ghostly as well as carnal attack?\"", "We all assured\nhim.", "\"Then it is well.", "Now, Madam Mina, you are in any case _quite_ safe\nhere until the sunset; and before then we shall return--if---- We shall\nreturn!", "But before we go let me see you armed against personal attack.", "I\nhave myself, since you came down, prepared your chamber by the placing\nof things of which we know, so that He may not enter.", "Now let me guard\nyourself.", "On your forehead I touch this piece of Sacred Wafer in the\nname of the Father, the Son, and----\"\n\nThere was a fearful scream which almost froze our hearts to hear.", "As he\nhad placed the Wafer on Mina's forehead, it had seared it--had burned\ninto the flesh as though it had been a piece of white-hot metal.", "My poor\ndarling's brain had told her the significance of the fact as quickly as\nher nerves received the pain of it; and the two so overwhelmed her that\nher overwrought nature had its voice in that dreadful scream.", "But the\nwords to her thought came quickly; the echo of the scream had not ceased\nto ring on the air when there came the reaction, and she sank on her\nknees on the floor in an agony of abasement.", "Pulling her beautiful hair\nover her face, as the leper of old his mantle, she wailed out:--\n\n\"Unclean!", "Unclean!", "Even the Almighty shuns my polluted flesh!", "I must\nbear this mark of shame upon my forehead until the Judgment Day.\"", "They\nall paused.", "I had thrown myself beside her in an agony of helpless\ngrief, and putting my arms around held her tight.", "For a few minutes our\nsorrowful hearts beat together, whilst the friends around us turned away\ntheir eyes that ran tears silently.", "Then Van Helsing turned and said\ngravely; so gravely that I could not help feeling that he was in some\nway inspired, and was stating things outside himself:--\n\n\"It may be that you may have to bear that mark till God himself see fit,\nas He most surely shall, on the Judgment Day, to redress all wrongs of\nthe earth and of His children that He has placed thereon.", "And oh, Madam\nMina, my dear, my dear, may we who love you be there to see, when that\nred scar, the sign of God's knowledge of what has been, shall pass away,\nand leave your forehead as pure as the heart we know.", "For so surely as\nwe live, that scar shall pass away when God sees right to lift the\nburden that is hard upon us.", "Till then we bear our Cross, as His Son did\nin obedience to His Will.", "It may be that we are chosen instruments of\nHis good pleasure, and that we ascend to His bidding as that other\nthrough stripes and shame; through tears and blood; through doubts and\nfears, and all that makes the difference between God and man.\"", "There was hope in his words, and comfort; and they made for resignation.", "Mina and I both felt so, and simultaneously we each took one of the old\nman's hands and bent over and kissed it.", "Then without a word we all\nknelt down together, and, all holding hands, swore to be true to each\nother.", "We men pledged ourselves to raise the veil of sorrow from the\nhead of her whom, each in his own way, we loved; and we prayed for help\nand guidance in the terrible task which lay before us.", "It was then time to start.", "So I said farewell to Mina, a parting which\nneither of us shall forget to our dying day; and we set out.", "To one thing I have made up my mind: if we find out that Mina must be a\nvampire in the end, then she shall not go into that unknown and terrible\nland alone.", "I suppose it is thus that in old times one vampire meant\nmany; just as their hideous bodies could only rest in sacred earth, so\nthe holiest love was the recruiting sergeant for their ghastly ranks.", "We entered Carfax without trouble and found all things the same as on\nthe first occasion.", "It was hard to believe that amongst so prosaic\nsurroundings of neglect and dust and decay there was any ground for such\nfear as already we knew.", "Had not our minds been made up, and had there\nnot been terrible memories to spur us on, we could hardly have proceeded\nwith our task.", "We found no papers, or any sign of use in the house; and\nin the old chapel the great boxes looked just as we had seen them last.", "Dr. Van Helsing said to us solemnly as we stood before them:--\n\n\"And now, my friends, we have a duty here to do.", "We must sterilise this\nearth, so sacred of holy memories, that he has brought from a far\ndistant land for such fell use.", "He has chosen this earth because it has\nbeen holy.", "Thus we defeat him with his own weapon, for we make it more\nholy still.", "It was sanctified to such use of man, now we sanctify it to\nGod.\"", "As he spoke he took from his bag a screwdriver and a wrench, and\nvery soon the top of one of the cases was thrown open.", "The earth smelled\nmusty and close; but we did not somehow seem to mind, for our attention\nwas concentrated on the Professor.", "Taking from his box a piece of the\nSacred Wafer he laid it reverently on the earth, and then shutting down\nthe lid began to screw it home, we aiding him as he worked.", "One by one we treated in the same way each of the great boxes, and left\nthem as we had found them to all appearance; but in each was a portion\nof the Host.", "When we closed the door behind us, the Professor said solemnly:--\n\n\"So much is already done.", "If it may be that with all the others we can\nbe so successful, then the sunset of this evening may shine on Madam\nMina's forehead all white as ivory and with no stain!\"", "As we passed across the lawn on our way to the station to catch our\ntrain we could see the front of the asylum.", "I looked eagerly, and in the\nwindow of my own room saw Mina.", "I waved my hand to her, and nodded to\ntell that our work there was successfully accomplished.", "She nodded in\nreply to show that she understood.", "The last I saw, she was waving her\nhand in farewell.", "It was with a heavy heart that we sought the station\nand just caught the train, which was steaming in as we reached the\nplatform.", "I have written this in the train.", "* * * * *\n\n_Piccadilly, 12:30 o'clock._--Just before we reached Fenchurch Street\nLord Godalming said to me:--\n\n\"Quincey and I will find a locksmith.", "You had better not come with us in\ncase there should be any difficulty; for under the circumstances it\nwouldn't seem so bad for us to break into an empty house.", "But you are a\nsolicitor and the Incorporated Law Society might tell you that you\nshould have known better.\"", "I demurred as to my not sharing any danger\neven of odium, but he went on: \"Besides, it will attract less attention\nif there are not too many of us.", "My title will make it all right with\nthe locksmith, and with any policeman that may come along.", "You had\nbetter go with Jack and the Professor and stay in the Green Park,\nsomewhere in sight of the house; and when you see the door opened and\nthe smith has gone away, do you all come across.", "We shall be on the\nlookout for you, and shall let you in.\"", "\"The advice is good!\"", "said Van Helsing, so we said no more.", "Godalming\nand Morris hurried off in a cab, we following in another.", "At the corner\nof Arlington Street our contingent got out and strolled into the Green\nPark.", "My heart beat as I saw the house on which so much of our hope was\ncentred, looming up grim and silent in its deserted condition amongst\nits more lively and spruce-looking neighbours.", "We sat down on a bench\nwithin good view, and began to smoke cigars so as to attract as little\nattention as possible.", "The minutes seemed to pass with leaden feet as we\nwaited for the coming of the others.", "At length we saw a four-wheeler drive up.", "Out of it, in leisurely\nfashion, got Lord Godalming and Morris; and down from the box descended\na thick-set working man with his rush-woven basket of tools.", "Morris paid\nthe cabman, who touched his hat and drove away.", "Together the two\nascended the steps, and Lord Godalming pointed out what he wanted done.", "The workman took off his coat leisurely and hung it on one of the spikes\nof the rail, saying something to a policeman who just then sauntered\nalong.", "The policeman nodded acquiescence, and the man kneeling down\nplaced his bag beside him.", "After searching through it, he took out a\nselection of tools which he produced to lay beside him in orderly\nfashion.", "Then he stood up, looked into the keyhole, blew into it, and\nturning to his employers, made some remark.", "Lord Godalming smiled, and\nthe man lifted a good-sized bunch of keys; selecting one of them, he\nbegan to probe the lock, as if feeling his way with it.", "After fumbling\nabout for a bit he tried a second, and then a third.", "All at once the\ndoor opened under a slight push from him, and he and the two others\nentered the hall.", "We sat still; my own cigar burnt furiously, but Van\nHelsing's went cold altogether.", "We waited patiently as we saw the\nworkman come out and bring in his bag.", "Then he held the door partly\nopen, steadying it with his knees, whilst he fitted a key to the lock.", "This he finally handed to Lord Godalming, who took out his purse and\ngave him something.", "The man touched his hat, took his bag, put on his\ncoat and departed; not a soul took the slightest notice of the whole\ntransaction.", "When the man had fairly gone, we three crossed the street and knocked at\nthe door.", "It was immediately opened by Quincey Morris, beside whom stood\nLord Godalming lighting a cigar.", "\"The place smells so vilely,\" said the latter as we came in.", "It did\nindeed smell vilely--like the old chapel at Carfax--and with our\nprevious experience it was plain to us that the Count had been using the\nplace pretty freely.", "We moved to explore the house, all keeping together\nin case of attack; for we knew we had a strong and wily enemy to deal\nwith, and as yet we did not know whether the Count might not be in the\nhouse.", "In the dining-room, which lay at the back of the hall, we found\neight boxes of earth.", "Eight boxes only out of the nine, which we sought!", "Our work was not over, and would never be until we should have found the\nmissing box.", "First we opened the shutters of the window which looked out\nacross a narrow stone-flagged yard at the blank face of a stable,\npointed to look like the front of a miniature house.", "There were no\nwindows in it, so we were not afraid of being over-looked.", "We did not\nlose any time in examining the chests.", "With the tools which we had\nbrought with us we opened them, one by one, and treated them as we had\ntreated those others in the old chapel.", "It was evident to us that the\nCount was not at present in the house, and we proceeded to search for\nany of his effects.", "After a cursory glance at the rest of the rooms, from basement to attic,\nwe came to the conclusion that the dining-room contained any effects\nwhich might belong to the Count; and so we proceeded to minutely examine\nthem.", "They lay in a sort of orderly disorder on the great dining-room\ntable.", "There were title deeds of the Piccadilly house in a great bundle;\ndeeds of the purchase of the houses at Mile End and Bermondsey;\nnote-paper, envelopes, and pens and ink.", "All were covered up in thin\nwrapping paper to keep them from the dust.", "There were also a clothes\nbrush, a brush and comb, and a jug and basin--the latter containing\ndirty water which was reddened as if with blood.", "Last of all was a\nlittle heap of keys of all sorts and sizes, probably those belonging to\nthe other houses.", "When we had examined this last find, Lord Godalming\nand Quincey Morris taking accurate notes of the various addresses of the\nhouses in the East and the South, took with them the keys in a great\nbunch, and set out to destroy the boxes in these places.", "The rest of us\nare, with what patience we can, waiting their return--or the coming of\nthe Count." ]

[ "The end!", "You must not die by any hand; but least of all by your own.", "We shall not go\nso early that the policemen who have then little to think of, shall deem\nit strange; but we shall go after ten o'clock, when there are many\nabout, and such things would be done were we indeed owners of the\nhouse.\"", "\"His head is what you\ncall in plane with the horizon.", "It is a difficult thing that we go to\ndo, and we do not want no peoples to watch us if so it may.\"", "shall I ever--can I ever!", "Taking from his box a piece of the\nSacred Wafer he laid it reverently on the earth, and then shutting down\nthe lid began to screw it home, we aiding him as he worked.", "My heart beat as I saw the house on which so much of our hope was\ncentred, looming up grim and silent in its deserted condition amongst\nits more lively and spruce-looking neighbours.", "We sat still; my own cigar burnt furiously, but Van\nHelsing's went cold altogether.", "It did\nindeed smell vilely--like the old chapel at Carfax--and with our\nprevious experience it was plain to us that the Count had been using the\nplace pretty freely." ]

[ "The man touched his hat, took his bag, put on his\ncoat and departed; not a soul took the slightest notice of the whole\ntransaction.", "Now let me guard\nyourself.", "But you are a\nsolicitor and the Incorporated Law Society might tell you that you\nshould have known better.\"", "All were covered up in thin\nwrapping paper to keep them from the dust.", "It was sanctified to such use of man, now we sanctify it to\nGod.\"", "said Van Helsing, holding up his hand.", "It was immediately opened by Quincey Morris, beside whom stood\nLord Godalming lighting a cigar.", "Her answer\ncame with direct simplicity, as though she were simply stating a fact:--\n\n\"Because if I find in myself--and I shall watch keenly for it--a sign of\nharm to any that I love, I shall die!\"", "\"Not so!\"", "It was\nfinally agreed that before starting for Piccadilly we should destroy the\nCount's lair close at hand." ]

[ "When we came to the discussion of the sequence of our efforts and of the\ndisposition of our forces, there were new sources of doubt.", "It was\nfinally agreed that before starting for Piccadilly we should destroy the\nCount's lair close at hand.", "In case he should find it out too soon, we\nshould thus be still ahead of him in our work of destruction; and his\npresence in his purely material shape, and at his weakest, might give us\nsome new clue.", "As to the disposal of forces, it was suggested by the Professor that,\nafter our visit to Carfax, we should all enter the house in Piccadilly;\nthat the two doctors and I should remain there, whilst Lord Godalming\nand Quincey found the lairs at Walworth and Mile End and destroyed them.", "It was possible, if not likely, the Professor urged, that the Count\nmight appear in Piccadilly during the day, and that if so we might be\nable to cope with him then and there.", "At any rate, we might be able to\nfollow him in force.", "To this plan I strenuously objected, and so far as\nmy going was concerned, for I said that I intended to stay and protect\nMina, I thought that my mind was made up on the subject; but Mina would\nnot listen to my objection.", "She said that there might be some law matter\nin which I could be useful; that amongst the Count's papers might be\nsome clue which I could understand out of my experience in Transylvania;\nand that, as it was, all the strength we could muster was required to\ncope with the Count's extraordinary power.", "I had to give in, for Mina's\nresolution was fixed; she said that it was the last hope for _her_ that\nwe should all work together.", "\"As for me,\" she said, \"I have no fear.", "Things have been as bad as they can be; and whatever may happen must\nhave in it some element of hope or comfort." ]

[ "\n\n_3 October._--As I must do something or go mad, I write this diary.", "It\nis now six o'clock, and we are to meet in the study in half an hour and\ntake something to eat; for Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward are agreed\nthat if we do not eat we cannot work our best.", "Our best will be, God\nknows, required to-day.", "I must keep writing at every chance, for I dare\nnot stop to think.", "All, big and little, must go down; perhaps at the end\nthe little things may teach us most.", "The teaching, big or little, could\nnot have landed Mina or me anywhere worse than we are to-day.", "However,\nwe must trust and hope.", "Poor Mina told me just now, with the tears\nrunning down her dear cheeks, that it is in trouble and trial that our\nfaith is tested--that we must keep on trusting; and that God will aid us\nup to the end.", "The end!", "oh my God!", "With the tools which we had\nbrought with us we opened them, one by one, and treated them as we had\ntreated those others in the old chapel.", "It was evident to us that the\nCount was not at present in the house, and we proceeded to search for\nany of his effects.", "After a cursory glance at the rest of the rooms, from basement to attic,\nwe came to the conclusion that the dining-room contained any effects\nwhich might belong to the Count; and so we proceeded to minutely examine\nthem.", "They lay in a sort of orderly disorder on the great dining-room\ntable.", "There were title deeds of the Piccadilly house in a great bundle;\ndeeds of the purchase of the houses at Mile End and Bermondsey;\nnote-paper, envelopes, and pens and ink.", "All were covered up in thin\nwrapping paper to keep them from the dust.", "There were also a clothes\nbrush, a brush and comb, and a jug and basin--the latter containing\ndirty water which was reddened as if with blood.", "Last of all was a\nlittle heap of keys of all sorts and sizes, probably those belonging to\nthe other houses.", "When we had examined this last find, Lord Godalming\nand Quincey Morris taking accurate notes of the various addresses of the\nhouses in the East and the South, took with them the keys in a great\nbunch, and set out to destroy the boxes in these places.", "The rest of us\nare, with what patience we can, waiting their return--or the coming of\nthe Count." ]

[ "\n\n_3 October._--The time seemed terrible long whilst we were waiting for\nthe coming of Godalming and Quincey Morris.", "The Professor tried to keep\nour minds active by using them all the time.", "I could see his beneficent\npurpose, by the side glances which he threw from time to time at Harker.", "The poor fellow is overwhelmed in a misery that is appalling to see.", "Last night he was a frank, happy-looking man, with strong, youthful\nface, full of energy, and with dark brown hair.", "To-day he is a drawn,\nhaggard old man, whose white hair matches well with the hollow burning\neyes and grief-written lines of his face.", "His energy is still intact; in\nfact, he is like a living flame.", "This may yet be his salvation, for, if\nall go well, it will tide him over the despairing period; he will then,\nin a kind of way, wake again to the realities of life.", "Poor fellow, I\nthought my own trouble was bad enough, but his----!", "The Professor knows\nthis well enough, and is doing his best to keep his mind active.", "What he\nhas been saying was, under the circumstances, of absorbing interest.", "So\nwell as I can remember, here it is:--\n\n\"I have studied, over and over again since they came into my hands, all\nthe papers relating to this monster; and the more I have studied, the\ngreater seems the necessity to utterly stamp him out.", "All through there\nare signs of his advance; not only of his power, but of his knowledge of\nit.", "As I learned from the researches of my friend Arminus of Buda-Pesth,\nhe was in life a most wonderful man.", "Soldier, statesman, and\nalchemist--which latter was the highest development of the\nscience-knowledge of his time.", "He had a mighty brain, a learning beyond\ncompare, and a heart that knew no fear and no remorse.", "He dared even to\nattend the Scholomance, and there was no branch of knowledge of his time\nthat he did not essay.", "Well, in him the brain powers survived the\nphysical death; though it would seem that memory was not all complete.", "In some faculties of mind he has been, and is, only a child; but he is\ngrowing, and some things that were childish at the first are now of\nman's stature.", "He is experimenting, and doing it well; and if it had not\nbeen that we have crossed his path he would be yet--he may be yet if we\nfail--the father or furtherer of a new order of beings, whose road must\nlead through Death, not Life.\"", "Harker groaned and said, \"And this is all arrayed against my darling!", "But how is he experimenting?", "The knowledge may help us to defeat him!\"", "\"He has all along, since his coming, been trying his power, slowly but\nsurely; that big child-brain of his is working.", "Well for us, it is, as\nyet, a child-brain; for had he dared, at the first, to attempt certain\nthings he would long ago have been beyond our power.", "However, he means\nto succeed, and a man who has centuries before him can afford to wait\nand to go slow.", "_Festina lente_ may well be his motto.\"", "\"I fail to understand,\" said Harker wearily.", "\"Oh, do be more plain to\nme!", "Perhaps grief and trouble are dulling my brain.\"", "The Professor laid his hand tenderly on his shoulder as he spoke:--\n\n\"Ah, my child, I will be plain.", "Do you not see how, of late, this\nmonster has been creeping into knowledge experimentally.", "How he has been\nmaking use of the zooephagous patient to effect his entry into friend\nJohn's home; for your Vampire, though in all afterwards he can come when\nand how he will, must at the first make entry only when asked thereto by\nan inmate.", "But these are not his most important experiments.", "Do we not\nsee how at the first all these so great boxes were moved by others.", "He\nknew not then but that must be so.", "But all the time that so great\nchild-brain of his was growing, and he began to consider whether he\nmight not himself move the box.", "So he began to help; and then, when he\nfound that this be all-right, he try to move them all alone.", "And so he\nprogress, and he scatter these graves of him; and none but he know where\nthey are hidden.", "He may have intend to bury them deep in the ground.", "So\nthat he only use them in the night, or at such time as he can change his\nform, they do him equal well; and none may know these are his\nhiding-place!", "But, my child, do not despair; this knowledge come to him\njust too late!", "Already all of his lairs but one be sterilise as for him;\nand before the sunset this shall be so.", "Then he have no place where he\ncan move and hide.", "I delayed this morning that so we might be sure.", "Is\nthere not more at stake for us than for him?", "Then why we not be even\nmore careful than him?", "By my clock it is one hour and already, if all be\nwell, friend Arthur and Quincey are on their way to us.", "To-day is our\nday, and we must go sure, if slow, and lose no chance.", "See!", "there are\nfive of us when those absent ones return.\"", "Whilst he was speaking we were startled by a knock at the hall door, the\ndouble postman's knock of the telegraph boy.", "We all moved out to the\nhall with one impulse, and Van Helsing, holding up his hand to us to\nkeep silence, stepped to the door and opened it.", "The boy handed in a\ndespatch.", "The Professor closed the door again, and, after looking at the\ndirection, opened it and read aloud.", "\"Look out for D. He has just now, 12:45, come from Carfax hurriedly and\nhastened towards the South.", "He seems to be going the round and may want\nto see you: Mina.\"", "There was a pause, broken by Jonathan Harker's voice:--\n\n\"Now, God be thanked, we shall soon meet!\"", "Van Helsing turned to him\nquickly and said:--\n\n\"God will act in His own way and time.", "Do not fear, and do not rejoice\nas yet; for what we wish for at the moment may be our undoings.\"", "\"I care for nothing now,\" he answered hotly, \"except to wipe out this\nbrute from the face of creation.", "I would sell my soul to do it!\"", "\"Oh, hush, hush, my child!\"", "said Van Helsing.", "\"God does not purchase\nsouls in this wise; and the Devil, though he may purchase, does not keep\nfaith.", "But God is merciful and just, and knows your pain and your\ndevotion to that dear Madam Mina.", "Think you, how her pain would be\ndoubled, did she but hear your wild words.", "Do not fear any of us, we are\nall devoted to this cause, and to-day shall see the end.", "The time is\ncoming for action; to-day this Vampire is limit to the powers of man,\nand till sunset he may not change.", "It will take him time to arrive\nhere--see, it is twenty minutes past one--and there are yet some times\nbefore he can hither come, be he never so quick.", "What we must hope for\nis that my Lord Arthur and Quincey arrive first.\"", "About half an hour after we had received Mrs. Harker's telegram, there\ncame a quiet, resolute knock at the hall door.", "It was just an ordinary\nknock, such as is given hourly by thousands of gentlemen, but it made\nthe Professor's heart and mine beat loudly.", "We looked at each other, and\ntogether moved out into the hall; we each held ready to use our various\narmaments--the spiritual in the left hand, the mortal in the right.", "Van\nHelsing pulled back the latch, and, holding the door half open, stood\nback, having both hands ready for action.", "The gladness of our hearts\nmust have shown upon our faces when on the step, close to the door, we\nsaw Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris.", "They came quickly in and closed\nthe door behind them, the former saying, as they moved along the\nhall:--\n\n\"It is all right.", "We found both places; six boxes in each and we\ndestroyed them all!\"", "\"Destroyed?\"", "asked the Professor.", "\"For him!\"", "We were silent for a minute, and then Quincey said:--\n\n\"There's nothing to do but to wait here.", "If, however, he doesn't turn up\nby five o'clock, we must start off; for it won't do to leave Mrs. Harker\nalone after sunset.\"", "\"He will be here before long now,\" said Van Helsing, who had been\nconsulting his pocket-book.", "\"_Nota bene_, in Madam's telegram he went\nsouth from Carfax, that means he went to cross the river, and he could\nonly do so at slack of tide, which should be something before one\no'clock.", "That he went south has a meaning for us.", "He is as yet only\nsuspicious; and he went from Carfax first to the place where he would\nsuspect interference least.", "You must have been at Bermondsey only a\nshort time before him.", "That he is not here already shows that he went to\nMile End next.", "This took him some time; for he would then have to be\ncarried over the river in some way.", "Believe me, my friends, we shall not\nhave long to wait now.", "We should have ready some plan of attack, so that\nwe may throw away no chance.", "Hush, there is no time now.", "Have all your\narms!", "Be ready!\"", "He held up a warning hand as he spoke, for we all could\nhear a key softly inserted in the lock of the hall door.", "I could not but admire, even at such a moment, the way in which a\ndominant spirit asserted itself.", "In all our hunting parties and\nadventures in different parts of the world, Quincey Morris had always\nbeen the one to arrange the plan of action, and Arthur and I had been\naccustomed to obey him implicitly.", "Now, the old habit seemed to be\nrenewed instinctively.", "With a swift glance around the room, he at once\nlaid out our plan of attack, and, without speaking a word, with a\ngesture, placed us each in position.", "Van Helsing, Harker, and I were\njust behind the door, so that when it was opened the Professor could\nguard it whilst we two stepped between the incomer and the door.", "Godalming behind and Quincey in front stood just out of sight ready to\nmove in front of the window.", "We waited in a suspense that made the\nseconds pass with nightmare slowness.", "The slow, careful steps came along\nthe hall; the Count was evidently prepared for some surprise--at least\nhe feared it.", "Suddenly with a single bound he leaped into the room, winning a way past\nus before any of us could raise a hand to stay him.", "There was something\nso panther-like in the movement--something so unhuman, that it seemed\nto sober us all from the shock of his coming.", "The first to act was\nHarker, who, with a quick movement, threw himself before the door\nleading into the room in the front of the house.", "As the Count saw us, a\nhorrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing the eye-teeth long\nand pointed; but the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold stare of\nlion-like disdain.", "His expression again changed as, with a single\nimpulse, we all advanced upon him.", "It was a pity that we had not some\nbetter organised plan of attack, for even at the moment I wondered what\nwe were to do.", "I did not myself know whether our lethal weapons would\navail us anything.", "Harker evidently meant to try the matter, for he had\nready his great Kukri knife and made a fierce and sudden cut at him.", "The\nblow was a powerful one; only the diabolical quickness of the Count's\nleap back saved him.", "A second less and the trenchant blade had shorne\nthrough his heart.", "As it was, the point just cut the cloth of his coat,\nmaking a wide gap whence a bundle of bank-notes and a stream of gold\nfell out.", "The expression of the Count's face was so hellish, that for a\nmoment I feared for Harker, though I saw him throw the terrible knife\naloft again for another stroke.", "Instinctively I moved forward with a\nprotective impulse, holding the Crucifix and Wafer in my left hand.", "I\nfelt a mighty power fly along my arm; and it was without surprise that I\nsaw the monster cower back before a similar movement made spontaneously\nby each one of us.", "It would be impossible to describe the expression of\nhate and baffled malignity--of anger and hellish rage--which came over\nthe Count's face.", "His waxen hue became greenish-yellow by the contrast\nof his burning eyes, and the red scar on the forehead showed on the\npallid skin like a palpitating wound.", "The next instant, with a sinuous\ndive he swept under Harker's arm, ere his blow could fall, and, grasping\na handful of the money from the floor, dashed across the room, threw\nhimself at the window.", "Amid the crash and glitter of the falling glass,\nhe tumbled into the flagged area below.", "Through the sound of the\nshivering glass I could hear the \"ting\" of the gold, as some of the\nsovereigns fell on the flagging.", "We ran over and saw him spring unhurt from the ground.", "He, rushing up\nthe steps, crossed the flagged yard, and pushed open the stable door.", "There he turned and spoke to us:--\n\n\"You think to baffle me, you--with your pale faces all in a row, like\nsheep in a butcher's.", "You shall be sorry yet, each one of you!", "You think\nyou have left me without a place to rest; but I have more.", "My revenge is\njust begun!", "I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side.", "Your\ngirls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and\nothers shall yet be mine--my creatures, to do my bidding and to be my\njackals when I want to feed.", "Bah!\"", "With a contemptuous sneer, he passed\nquickly through the door, and we heard the rusty bolt creak as he\nfastened it behind him.", "A door beyond opened and shut.", "The first of us\nto speak was the Professor, as, realising the difficulty of following\nhim through the stable, we moved toward the hall.", "\"We have learnt something--much!", "Notwithstanding his brave words, he\nfears us; he fear time, he fear want!", "For if not, why he hurry so?", "His\nvery tone betray him, or my ears deceive.", "Why take that money?", "You\nfollow quick.", "You are hunters of wild beast, and understand it so.", "For\nme, I make sure that nothing here may be of use to him, if so that he\nreturn.\"", "As he spoke he put the money remaining into his pocket; took\nthe title-deeds in the bundle as Harker had left them, and swept the\nremaining things into the open fireplace, where he set fire to them with\na match.", "Godalming and Morris had rushed out into the yard, and Harker had\nlowered himself from the window to follow the Count.", "He had, however,\nbolted the stable door; and by the time they had forced it open there\nwas no sign of him.", "Van Helsing and I tried to make inquiry at the back\nof the house; but the mews was deserted and no one had seen him depart.", "It was now late in the afternoon, and sunset was not far off.", "We had to\nrecognise that our game was up; with heavy hearts we agreed with the\nProfessor when he said:--\n\n\"Let us go back to Madam Mina--poor, poor dear Madam Mina.", "All we can do\njust now is done; and we can there, at least, protect her.", "But we need\nnot despair.", "There is but one more earth-box, and we must try to find\nit; when that is done all may yet be well.\"", "I could see that he spoke as\nbravely as he could to comfort Harker.", "The poor fellow was quite broken\ndown; now and again he gave a low groan which he could not suppress--he\nwas thinking of his wife.", "With sad hearts we came back to my house, where we found Mrs. Harker\nwaiting us, with an appearance of cheerfulness which did honour to her\nbravery and unselfishness.", "When she saw our faces, her own became as\npale as death: for a second or two her eyes were closed as if she were\nin secret prayer; and then she said cheerfully:--\n\n\"I can never thank you all enough.", "Oh, my poor darling!\"", "As she spoke,\nshe took her husband's grey head in her hands and kissed it--\"Lay your\npoor head here and rest it.", "All will yet be well, dear!", "God will protect\nus if He so will it in His good intent.\"", "The poor fellow groaned.", "There\nwas no place for words in his sublime misery.", "We had a sort of perfunctory supper together, and I think it cheered us\nall up somewhat.", "It was, perhaps, the mere animal heat of food to hungry\npeople--for none of us had eaten anything since breakfast--or the sense\nof companionship may have helped us; but anyhow we were all less\nmiserable, and saw the morrow as not altogether without hope.", "True to\nour promise, we told Mrs. Harker everything which had passed; and\nalthough she grew snowy white at times when danger had seemed to\nthreaten her husband, and red at others when his devotion to her was\nmanifested, she listened bravely and with calmness.", "When we came to the\npart where Harker had rushed at the Count so recklessly, she clung to\nher husband's arm, and held it tight as though her clinging could\nprotect him from any harm that might come.", "She said nothing, however,\ntill the narration was all done, and matters had been brought right up\nto the present time.", "Then without letting go her husband's hand she\nstood up amongst us and spoke.", "Oh, that I could give any idea of the\nscene; of that sweet, sweet, good, good woman in all the radiant beauty\nof her youth and animation, with the red scar on her forehead, of which\nshe was conscious, and which we saw with grinding of our\nteeth--remembering whence and how it came; her loving kindness against\nour grim hate; her tender faith against all our fears and doubting; and\nwe, knowing that so far as symbols went, she with all her goodness and\npurity and faith, was outcast from God.", "\"Jonathan,\" she said, and the word sounded like music on her lips it was\nso full of love and tenderness, \"Jonathan dear, and you all my true,\ntrue friends, I want you to bear something in mind through all this\ndreadful time.", "I know that you must fight--that you must destroy even as\nyou destroyed the false Lucy so that the true Lucy might live hereafter;\nbut it is not a work of hate.", "That poor soul who has wrought all this\nmisery is the saddest case of all.", "Just think what will be his joy when\nhe, too, is destroyed in his worser part that his better part may have\nspiritual immortality.", "You must be pitiful to him, too, though it may\nnot hold your hands from his destruction.\"", "As she spoke I could see her husband's face darken and draw together, as\nthough the passion in him were shrivelling his being to its core.", "Instinctively the clasp on his wife's hand grew closer, till his\nknuckles looked white.", "She did not flinch from the pain which I knew she\nmust have suffered, but looked at him with eyes that were more appealing\nthan ever.", "As she stopped speaking he leaped to his feet, almost tearing\nhis hand from hers as he spoke:--\n\n\"May God give him into my hand just for long enough to destroy that\nearthly life of him which we are aiming at.", "If beyond it I could send\nhis soul for ever and ever to burning hell I would do it!\"", "\"Oh, hush!", "oh, hush!", "in the name of the good God.", "Don't say such things,\nJonathan, my husband; or you will crush me with fear and horror.", "Just\nthink, my dear--I have been thinking all this long, long day of it--that\n... perhaps ... some day ...", "I, too, may need such pity; and that some\nother like you--and with equal cause for anger--may deny it to me!", "Oh,\nmy husband!", "my husband, indeed I would have spared you such a thought\nhad there been another way; but I pray that God may not have treasured\nyour wild words, except as the heart-broken wail of a very loving and\nsorely stricken man.", "Oh, God, let these poor white hairs go in evidence\nof what he has suffered, who all his life has done no wrong, and on whom\nso many sorrows have come.\"", "We men were all in tears now.", "There was no resisting them, and we wept\nopenly.", "She wept, too, to see that her sweeter counsels had prevailed.", "Her husband flung himself on his knees beside her, and putting his arms\nround her, hid his face in the folds of her dress.", "Van Helsing beckoned\nto us and we stole out of the room, leaving the two loving hearts alone\nwith their God.", "Before they retired the Professor fixed up the room against any coming\nof the Vampire, and assured Mrs. Harker that she might rest in peace.", "She tried to school herself to the belief, and, manifestly for her\nhusband's sake, tried to seem content.", "It was a brave struggle; and was,\nI think and believe, not without its reward.", "Van Helsing had placed at\nhand a bell which either of them was to sound in case of any emergency.", "When they had retired, Quincey, Godalming, and I arranged that we should\nsit up, dividing the night between us, and watch over the safety of the\npoor stricken lady.", "The first watch falls to Quincey, so the rest of us\nshall be off to bed as soon as we can.", "Godalming has already turned in,\nfor his is the second watch.", "Now that my work is done I, too, shall go\nto bed.", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_3-4 October, close to midnight._--I thought yesterday would never end.", "There was over me a yearning for sleep, in some sort of blind belief\nthat to wake would be to find things changed, and that any change must\nnow be for the better.", "Before we parted, we discussed what our next step\nwas to be, but we could arrive at no result.", "All we knew was that one\nearth-box remained, and that the Count alone knew where it was.", "If he\nchooses to lie hidden, he may baffle us for years; and in the\nmeantime!--the thought is too horrible, I dare not think of it even now.", "This I know: that if ever there was a woman who was all perfection, that\none is my poor wronged darling.", "I love her a thousand times more for her\nsweet pity of last night, a pity that made my own hate of the monster\nseem despicable.", "Surely God will not permit the world to be the poorer\nby the loss of such a creature.", "This is hope to me.", "We are all drifting\nreefwards now, and faith is our only anchor.", "Thank God!", "Mina is\nsleeping, and sleeping without dreams.", "I fear what her dreams might be\nlike, with such terrible memories to ground them in.", "She has not been so\ncalm, within my seeing, since the sunset.", "Then, for a while, there came\nover her face a repose which was like spring after the blasts of March.", "I thought at the time that it was the softness of the red sunset on her\nface, but somehow now I think it has a deeper meaning.", "I am not sleepy\nmyself, though I am weary--weary to death.", "However, I must try to sleep;\nfor there is to-morrow to think of, and there is no rest for me\nuntil....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Later._--I must have fallen asleep, for I was awaked by Mina, who was\nsitting up in bed, with a startled look on her face.", "I could see easily,\nfor we did not leave the room in darkness; she had placed a warning hand\nover my mouth, and now she whispered in my ear:--\n\n\"Hush!", "there is someone in the corridor!\"", "I got up softly, and crossing\nthe room, gently opened the door.", "Just outside, stretched on a mattress, lay Mr. Morris, wide awake.", "He\nraised a warning hand for silence as he whispered to me:--\n\n\"Hush!", "go back to bed; it is all right.", "One of us will be here all\nnight.", "We don't mean to take any chances!\"", "His look and gesture forbade discussion, so I came back and told Mina.", "She sighed and positively a shadow of a smile stole over her poor, pale\nface as she put her arms round me and said softly:--\n\n\"Oh, thank God for good brave men!\"", "With a sigh she sank back again to\nsleep.", "I write this now as I am not sleepy, though I must try again.", "* * * * *\n\n_4 October, morning._--Once again during the night I was wakened by\nMina.", "This time we had all had a good sleep, for the grey of the coming\ndawn was making the windows into sharp oblongs, and the gas flame was\nlike a speck rather than a disc of light.", "She said to me hurriedly:--\n\n\"Go, call the Professor.", "I want to see him at once.\"", "\"Why?\"", "I asked.", "\"I have an idea.", "I suppose it must have come in the night, and matured\nwithout my knowing it.", "He must hypnotise me before the dawn, and then I\nshall be able to speak.", "Go quick, dearest; the time is getting close.\"", "I\nwent to the door.", "Dr. Seward was resting on the mattress, and, seeing\nme, he sprang to his feet.", "\"Is anything wrong?\"", "he asked, in alarm.", "\"No,\" I replied; \"but Mina wants to see Dr. Van Helsing at once.\"", "\"I will go,\" he said, and hurried into the Professor's room.", "In two or three minutes later Van Helsing was in the room in his\ndressing-gown, and Mr. Morris and Lord Godalming were with Dr. Seward at\nthe door asking questions.", "When the Professor saw Mina a smile--a\npositive smile ousted the anxiety of his face; he rubbed his hands as he\nsaid:--\n\n\"Oh, my dear Madam Mina, this is indeed a change.", "See!", "friend Jonathan,\nwe have got our dear Madam Mina, as of old, back to us to-day!\"", "Then\nturning to her, he said, cheerfully: \"And what am I do for you?", "For at\nthis hour you do not want me for nothings.\"", "\"I want you to hypnotise me!\"", "she said.", "\"Do it before the dawn, for I\nfeel that then I can speak, and speak freely.", "Be quick, for the time is\nshort!\"", "Without a word he motioned her to sit up in bed.", "Looking fixedly at her, he commenced to make passes in front of her,\nfrom over the top of her head downward, with each hand in turn.", "Mina\ngazed at him fixedly for a few minutes, during which my own heart beat\nlike a trip hammer, for I felt that some crisis was at hand.", "Gradually\nher eyes closed, and she sat, stock still; only by the gentle heaving of\nher bosom could one know that she was alive.", "The Professor made a few\nmore passes and then stopped, and I could see that his forehead was\ncovered with great beads of perspiration.", "Mina opened her eyes; but she\ndid not seem the same woman.", "There was a far-away look in her eyes, and\nher voice had a sad dreaminess which was new to me.", "Raising his hand to\nimpose silence, the Professor motioned to me to bring the others in.", "They came on tip-toe, closing the door behind them, and stood at the\nfoot of the bed, looking on.", "Mina appeared not to see them.", "The\nstillness was broken by Van Helsing's voice speaking in a low level tone\nwhich would not break the current of her thoughts:--\n\n\"Where are you?\"", "The answer came in a neutral way:--\n\n\"I do not know.", "Sleep has no place it can call its own.\"", "For several\nminutes there was silence.", "Mina sat rigid, and the Professor stood\nstaring at her fixedly; the rest of us hardly dared to breathe.", "The room\nwas growing lighter; without taking his eyes from Mina's face, Dr. Van\nHelsing motioned me to pull up the blind.", "I did so, and the day seemed\njust upon us.", "A red streak shot up, and a rosy light seemed to diffuse\nitself through the room.", "On the instant the Professor spoke again:--\n\n\"Where are you now?\"", "The answer came dreamily, but with intention; it\nwere as though she were interpreting something.", "I have heard her use the\nsame tone when reading her shorthand notes.", "\"I do not know.", "It is all strange to me!\"", "\"What do you see?\"", "\"I can see nothing; it is all dark.\"", "\"What do you hear?\"", "I could detect the strain in the Professor's patient\nvoice.", "\"The lapping of water.", "It is gurgling by, and little waves leap.", "I can\nhear them on the outside.\"", "\"Then you are on a ship?\"", "We all looked at each other, trying to glean\nsomething each from the other.", "We were afraid to think.", "The answer came\nquick:--\n\n\"Oh, yes!\"", "\"What else do you hear?\"", "\"The sound of men stamping overhead as they run about.", "There is the\ncreaking of a chain, and the loud tinkle as the check of the capstan\nfalls into the rachet.\"", "\"What are you doing?\"", "\"I am still--oh, so still.", "It is like death!\"", "The voice faded away into\na deep breath as of one sleeping, and the open eyes closed again.", "By this time the sun had risen, and we were all in the full light of\nday.", "Dr. Van Helsing placed his hands on Mina's shoulders, and laid her\nhead down softly on her pillow.", "She lay like a sleeping child for a few\nmoments, and then, with a long sigh, awoke and stared in wonder to see\nus all around her.", "\"Have I been talking in my sleep?\"", "was all she said.", "She seemed, however, to know the situation without telling, though she\nwas eager to know what she had told.", "The Professor repeated the\nconversation, and she said:--\n\n\"Then there is not a moment to lose: it may not be yet too late!\"", "Mr.\nMorris and Lord Godalming started for the door but the Professor's calm\nvoice called them back:--\n\n\"Stay, my friends.", "That ship, wherever it was, was weighing anchor\nwhilst she spoke.", "There are many ships weighing anchor at the moment in\nyour so great Port of London.", "Which of them is it that you seek?", "God be\nthanked that we have once again a clue, though whither it may lead us we\nknow not.", "We have been blind somewhat; blind after the manner of men,\nsince when we can look back we see what we might have seen looking\nforward if we had been able to see what we might have seen!", "Alas, but\nthat sentence is a puddle; is it not?", "We can know now what was in the\nCount's mind, when he seize that money, though Jonathan's so fierce\nknife put him in the danger that even he dread.", "He meant escape.", "Hear\nme, ESCAPE!", "He saw that with but one earth-box left, and a pack of men\nfollowing like dogs after a fox, this London was no place for him.", "He\nhave take his last earth-box on board a ship, and he leave the land.", "He\nthink to escape, but no!", "we follow him.", "Tally Ho!", "as friend Arthur would\nsay when he put on his red frock!", "Our old fox is wily; oh!", "so wily, and\nwe must follow with wile.", "I, too, am wily and I think his mind in a\nlittle while.", "In meantime we may rest and in peace, for there are waters\nbetween us which he do not want to pass, and which he could not if he\nwould--unless the ship were to touch the land, and then only at full or\nslack tide.", "See, and the sun is just rose, and all day to sunset is to\nus.", "Let us take bath, and dress, and have breakfast which we all need,\nand which we can eat comfortably since he be not in the same land with\nus.\"", "Mina looked at him appealingly as she asked:--\n\n\"But why need we seek him further, when he is gone away from us?\"", "He\ntook her hand and patted it as he replied:--\n\n\"Ask me nothings as yet.", "When we have breakfast, then I answer all\nquestions.\"", "He would say no more, and we separated to dress.", "After breakfast Mina repeated her question.", "He looked at her gravely for\na minute and then said sorrowfully:--\n\n\"Because my dear, dear Madam Mina, now more than ever must we find him\neven if we have to follow him to the jaws of Hell!\"", "She grew paler as\nshe asked faintly:--\n\n\"Why?\"", "\"Because,\" he answered solemnly, \"he can live for centuries, and you are\nbut mortal woman.", "Time is now to be dreaded--since once he put that mark\nupon your throat.\"", "I was just in time to catch her as she fell forward in a faint." ]

[ "Oh, my poor darling!\"", "\"Jonathan,\" she said, and the word sounded like music on her lips it was\nso full of love and tenderness, \"Jonathan dear, and you all my true,\ntrue friends, I want you to bear something in mind through all this\ndreadful time.", "She did not flinch from the pain which I knew she\nmust have suffered, but looked at him with eyes that were more appealing\nthan ever.", "We men were all in tears now.", "I am not sleepy\nmyself, though I am weary--weary to death.", "Dr. Seward was resting on the mattress, and, seeing\nme, he sprang to his feet.", "Mina sat rigid, and the Professor stood\nstaring at her fixedly; the rest of us hardly dared to breathe.", "\"I can see nothing; it is all dark.\"", "I could detect the strain in the Professor's patient\nvoice.", "The voice faded away into\na deep breath as of one sleeping, and the open eyes closed again." ]

[ "God be\nthanked that we have once again a clue, though whither it may lead us we\nknow not.", "go back to bed; it is all right.", "As he spoke he put the money remaining into his pocket; took\nthe title-deeds in the bundle as Harker had left them, and swept the\nremaining things into the open fireplace, where he set fire to them with\na match.", "Now that my work is done I, too, shall go\nto bed.", "\"What else do you hear?\"", "\"_Nota bene_, in Madam's telegram he went\nsouth from Carfax, that means he went to cross the river, and he could\nonly do so at slack of tide, which should be something before one\no'clock.", "You think\nyou have left me without a place to rest; but I have more.", "I want to see him at once.\"", "Before we parted, we discussed what our next step\nwas to be, but we could arrive at no result.", "All through there\nare signs of his advance; not only of his power, but of his knowledge of\nit." ]

[ "It was, perhaps, the mere animal heat of food to hungry\npeople--for none of us had eaten anything since breakfast--or the sense\nof companionship may have helped us; but anyhow we were all less\nmiserable, and saw the morrow as not altogether without hope.", "True to\nour promise, we told Mrs. Harker everything which had passed; and\nalthough she grew snowy white at times when danger had seemed to\nthreaten her husband, and red at others when his devotion to her was\nmanifested, she listened bravely and with calmness.", "When we came to the\npart where Harker had rushed at the Count so recklessly, she clung to\nher husband's arm, and held it tight as though her clinging could\nprotect him from any harm that might come.", "She said nothing, however,\ntill the narration was all done, and matters had been brought right up\nto the present time.", "Then without letting go her husband's hand she\nstood up amongst us and spoke.", "Oh, that I could give any idea of the\nscene; of that sweet, sweet, good, good woman in all the radiant beauty\nof her youth and animation, with the red scar on her forehead, of which\nshe was conscious, and which we saw with grinding of our\nteeth--remembering whence and how it came; her loving kindness against\nour grim hate; her tender faith against all our fears and doubting; and\nwe, knowing that so far as symbols went, she with all her goodness and\npurity and faith, was outcast from God.", "\"Jonathan,\" she said, and the word sounded like music on her lips it was\nso full of love and tenderness, \"Jonathan dear, and you all my true,\ntrue friends, I want you to bear something in mind through all this\ndreadful time.", "I know that you must fight--that you must destroy even as\nyou destroyed the false Lucy so that the true Lucy might live hereafter;\nbut it is not a work of hate.", "That poor soul who has wrought all this\nmisery is the saddest case of all.", "Just think what will be his joy when\nhe, too, is destroyed in his worser part that his better part may have\nspiritual immortality.", "You must be pitiful to him, too, though it may\nnot hold your hands from his destruction.\"" ]

[ "\n\n_3 October._--The time seemed terrible long whilst we were waiting for\nthe coming of Godalming and Quincey Morris.", "The Professor tried to keep\nour minds active by using them all the time.", "I could see his beneficent\npurpose, by the side glances which he threw from time to time at Harker.", "The poor fellow is overwhelmed in a misery that is appalling to see.", "Last night he was a frank, happy-looking man, with strong, youthful\nface, full of energy, and with dark brown hair.", "To-day he is a drawn,\nhaggard old man, whose white hair matches well with the hollow burning\neyes and grief-written lines of his face.", "His energy is still intact; in\nfact, he is like a living flame.", "This may yet be his salvation, for, if\nall go well, it will tide him over the despairing period; he will then,\nin a kind of way, wake again to the realities of life.", "Poor fellow, I\nthought my own trouble was bad enough, but his----!", "The Professor knows\nthis well enough, and is doing his best to keep his mind active.", "Mina looked at him appealingly as she asked:--\n\n\"But why need we seek him further, when he is gone away from us?\"", "He\ntook her hand and patted it as he replied:--\n\n\"Ask me nothings as yet.", "When we have breakfast, then I answer all\nquestions.\"", "He would say no more, and we separated to dress.", "After breakfast Mina repeated her question.", "He looked at her gravely for\na minute and then said sorrowfully:--\n\n\"Because my dear, dear Madam Mina, now more than ever must we find him\neven if we have to follow him to the jaws of Hell!\"", "She grew paler as\nshe asked faintly:--\n\n\"Why?\"", "\"Because,\" he answered solemnly, \"he can live for centuries, and you are\nbut mortal woman.", "Time is now to be dreaded--since once he put that mark\nupon your throat.\"", "I was just in time to catch her as she fell forward in a faint." ]

[ "\nThis to Jonathan Harker.", "You are to stay with your dear Madam Mina.", "We shall go to make our\nsearch--if I can call it so, for it is not search but knowing, and we\nseek confirmation only.", "But do you stay and take care of her to-day.", "This is your best and most holiest office.", "This day nothing can find him\nhere.", "Let me tell you that so you will know what we four know already,\nfor I have tell them.", "He, our enemy, have gone away; he have gone back\nto his Castle in Transylvania.", "I know it so well, as if a great hand of\nfire wrote it on the wall.", "He have prepare for this in some way, and\nthat last earth-box was ready to ship somewheres.", "For this he took the\nmoney; for this he hurry at the last, lest we catch him before the sun\ngo down.", "It was his last hope, save that he might hide in the tomb that\nhe think poor Miss Lucy, being as he thought like him, keep open to him.", "But there was not of time.", "When that fail he make straight for his last\nresource--his last earth-work I might say did I wish _double entente_.", "He is clever, oh, so clever!", "he know that his game here was finish; and\nso he decide he go back home.", "He find ship going by the route he came,\nand he go in it.", "We go off now to find what ship, and whither bound;\nwhen we have discover that, we come back and tell you all.", "Then we will\ncomfort you and poor dear Madam Mina with new hope.", "For it will be hope\nwhen you think it over: that all is not lost.", "This very creature that we\npursue, he take hundreds of years to get so far as London; and yet in\none day, when we know of the disposal of him we drive him out.", "He is\nfinite, though he is powerful to do much harm and suffers not as we do.", "But we are strong, each in our purpose; and we are all more strong\ntogether.", "Take heart afresh, dear husband of Madam Mina.", "This battle is\nbut begun, and in the end we shall win--so sure as that God sits on high\nto watch over His children.", "Therefore be of much comfort till we return.", "VAN HELSING.", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_4 October._--When I read to Mina, Van Helsing's message in the\nphonograph, the poor girl brightened up considerably.", "Already the\ncertainty that the Count is out of the country has given her comfort;\nand comfort is strength to her.", "For my own part, now that his horrible\ndanger is not face to face with us, it seems almost impossible to\nbelieve in it.", "Even my own terrible experiences in Castle Dracula seem\nlike a long-forgotten dream.", "Here in the crisp autumn air in the bright\nsunlight----\n\nAlas!", "how can I disbelieve!", "In the midst of my thought my eye fell on\nthe red scar on my poor darling's white forehead.", "Whilst that lasts,\nthere can be no disbelief.", "And afterwards the very memory of it will\nkeep faith crystal clear.", "Mina and I fear to be idle, so we have been\nover all the diaries again and again.", "Somehow, although the reality\nseems greater each time, the pain and the fear seem less.", "There is\nsomething of a guiding purpose manifest throughout, which is comforting.", "Mina says that perhaps we are the instruments of ultimate good.", "It may\nbe!", "I shall try to think as she does.", "We have never spoken to each other\nyet of the future.", "It is better to wait till we see the Professor and\nthe others after their investigations.", "The day is running by more quickly than I ever thought a day could run\nfor me again.", "It is now three o'clock.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_5 October, 5 p. m._--Our meeting for report.", "Present: Professor Van\nHelsing, Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, Mr. Quincey Morris, Jonathan\nHarker, Mina Harker.", "Dr. Van Helsing described what steps were taken during the day to\ndiscover on what boat and whither bound Count Dracula made his escape:--\n\n\"As I knew that he wanted to get back to Transylvania, I felt sure that\nhe must go by the Danube mouth; or by somewhere in the Black Sea, since\nby that way he come.", "It was a dreary blank that was before us.", "_Omne\nignotum pro magnifico_; and so with heavy hearts we start to find what\nships leave for the Black Sea last night.", "He was in sailing ship, since\nMadam Mina tell of sails being set.", "These not so important as to go in\nyour list of the shipping in the _Times_, and so we go, by suggestion of\nLord Godalming, to your Lloyd's, where are note of all ships that sail,\nhowever so small.", "There we find that only one Black-Sea-bound ship go\nout with the tide.", "She is the _Czarina Catherine_, and she sail from\nDoolittle's Wharf for Varna, and thence on to other parts and up the\nDanube.", "'Soh!'", "said I, 'this is the ship whereon is the Count.'", "So off\nwe go to Doolittle's Wharf, and there we find a man in an office of wood\nso small that the man look bigger than the office.", "From him we inquire\nof the goings of the _Czarina Catherine_.", "He swear much, and he red face\nand loud of voice, but he good fellow all the same; and when Quincey\ngive him something from his pocket which crackle as he roll it up, and\nput it in a so small bag which he have hid deep in his clothing, he\nstill better fellow and humble servant to us.", "He come with us, and ask\nmany men who are rough and hot; these be better fellows too when they\nhave been no more thirsty.", "They say much of blood and bloom, and of\nothers which I comprehend not, though I guess what they mean; but\nnevertheless they tell us all things which we want to know.", "\"They make known to us among them, how last afternoon at about five\no'clock comes a man so hurry.", "A tall man, thin and pale, with high nose\nand teeth so white, and eyes that seem to be burning.", "That he be all in\nblack, except that he have a hat of straw which suit not him or the\ntime.", "That he scatter his money in making quick inquiry as to what ship\nsails for the Black Sea and for where.", "Some took him to the office and\nthen to the ship, where he will not go aboard but halt at shore end of\ngang-plank, and ask that the captain come to him.", "The captain come, when\ntold that he will be pay well; and though he swear much at the first he\nagree to term.", "Then the thin man go and some one tell him where horse\nand cart can be hired.", "He go there and soon he come again, himself\ndriving cart on which a great box; this he himself lift down, though it\ntake several to put it on truck for the ship.", "He give much talk to\ncaptain as to how and where his box is to be place; but the captain like\nit not and swear at him in many tongues, and tell him that if he like he\ncan come and see where it shall be.", "But he say 'no'; that he come not\nyet, for that he have much to do.", "Whereupon the captain tell him that he\nhad better be quick--with blood--for that his ship will leave the\nplace--of blood--before the turn of the tide--with blood.", "Then the thin\nman smile and say that of course he must go when he think fit; but he\nwill be surprise if he go quite so soon.", "The captain swear again,\npolyglot, and the thin man make him bow, and thank him, and say that he\nwill so far intrude on his kindness as to come aboard before the\nsailing.", "Final the captain, more red than ever, and in more tongues tell\nhim that he doesn't want no Frenchmen--with bloom upon them and also\nwith blood--in his ship--with blood on her also.", "And so, after asking\nwhere there might be close at hand a ship where he might purchase ship\nforms, he departed.", "\"No one knew where he went 'or bloomin' well cared,' as they said, for\nthey had something else to think of--well with blood again; for it soon\nbecame apparent to all that the _Czarina Catherine_ would not sail as\nwas expected.", "A thin mist began to creep up from the river, and it grew,\nand grew; till soon a dense fog enveloped the ship and all around her.", "The captain swore polyglot--very polyglot--polyglot with bloom and\nblood; but he could do nothing.", "The water rose and rose; and he began to\nfear that he would lose the tide altogether.", "He was in no friendly mood,\nwhen just at full tide, the thin man came up the gang-plank again and\nasked to see where his box had been stowed.", "Then the captain replied\nthat he wished that he and his box--old and with much bloom and\nblood--were in hell.", "But the thin man did not be offend, and went down\nwith the mate and saw where it was place, and came up and stood awhile\non deck in fog.", "He must have come off by himself, for none notice him.", "Indeed they thought not of him; for soon the fog begin to melt away, and\nall was clear again.", "My friends of the thirst and the language that was\nof bloom and blood laughed, as they told how the captain's swears\nexceeded even his usual polyglot, and was more than ever full of\npicturesque, when on questioning other mariners who were on movement up\nand down on the river that hour, he found that few of them had seen any\nof fog at all, except where it lay round the wharf.", "However, the ship\nwent out on the ebb tide; and was doubtless by morning far down the\nriver mouth.", "She was by then, when they told us, well out to sea.", "\"And so, my dear Madam Mina, it is that we have to rest for a time, for\nour enemy is on the sea, with the fog at his command, on his way to the\nDanube mouth.", "To sail a ship takes time, go she never so quick; and when\nwe start we go on land more quick, and we meet him there.", "Our best hope\nis to come on him when in the box between sunrise and sunset; for then\nhe can make no struggle, and we may deal with him as we should.", "There\nare days for us, in which we can make ready our plan.", "We know all about\nwhere he go; for we have seen the owner of the ship, who have shown us\ninvoices and all papers that can be.", "The box we seek is to be landed in\nVarna, and to be given to an agent, one Ristics who will there present\nhis credentials; and so our merchant friend will have done his part.", "When he ask if there be any wrong, for that so, he can telegraph and\nhave inquiry made at Varna, we say 'no'; for what is to be done is not\nfor police or of the customs.", "It must be done by us alone and in our own\nway.\"", "When Dr. Van Helsing had done speaking, I asked him if he were certain\nthat the Count had remained on board the ship.", "He replied: \"We have the\nbest proof of that: your own evidence, when in the hypnotic trance this\nmorning.\"", "I asked him again if it were really necessary that they should\npursue the Count, for oh!", "I dread Jonathan leaving me, and I know that\nhe would surely go if the others went.", "He answered in growing passion,\nat first quietly.", "As he went on, however, he grew more angry and more\nforceful, till in the end we could not but see wherein was at least some\nof that personal dominance which made him so long a master amongst\nmen:--\n\n\"Yes, it is necessary--necessary--necessary!", "For your sake in the first,\nand then for the sake of humanity.", "This monster has done much harm\nalready, in the narrow scope where he find himself, and in the short\ntime when as yet he was only as a body groping his so small measure in\ndarkness and not knowing.", "All this have I told these others; you, my\ndear Madam Mina, will learn it in the phonograph of my friend John, or\nin that of your husband.", "I have told them how the measure of leaving his\nown barren land--barren of peoples--and coming to a new land where life\nof man teems till they are like the multitude of standing corn, was the\nwork of centuries.", "Were another of the Un-Dead, like him, to try to do\nwhat he has done, perhaps not all the centuries of the world that have\nbeen, or that will be, could aid him.", "With this one, all the forces of\nnature that are occult and deep and strong must have worked together in\nsome wondrous way.", "The very place, where he have been alive, Un-Dead for\nall these centuries, is full of strangeness of the geologic and chemical\nworld.", "There are deep caverns and fissures that reach none know whither.", "There have been volcanoes, some of whose openings still send out waters\nof strange properties, and gases that kill or make to vivify.", "Doubtless,\nthere is something magnetic or electric in some of these combinations of\noccult forces which work for physical life in strange way; and in\nhimself were from the first some great qualities.", "In a hard and warlike\ntime he was celebrate that he have more iron nerve, more subtle brain,\nmore braver heart, than any man.", "In him some vital principle have in\nstrange way found their utmost; and as his body keep strong and grow and\nthrive, so his brain grow too.", "All this without that diabolic aid which\nis surely to him; for it have to yield to the powers that come from,\nand are, symbolic of good.", "And now this is what he is to us.", "He have\ninfect you--oh, forgive me, my dear, that I must say such; but it is for\ngood of you that I speak.", "He infect you in such wise, that even if he do\nno more, you have only to live--to live in your own old, sweet way; and\nso in time, death, which is of man's common lot and with God's sanction,\nshall make you like to him.", "This must not be!", "We have sworn together\nthat it must not.", "Thus are we ministers of God's own wish: that the\nworld, and men for whom His Son die, will not be given over to monsters,\nwhose very existence would defame Him.", "He have allowed us to redeem one\nsoul already, and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem\nmore.", "Like them we shall travel towards the sunrise; and like them, if\nwe fall, we fall in good cause.\"", "He paused and I said:--\n\n\"But will not the Count take his rebuff wisely?", "Since he has been driven\nfrom England, will he not avoid it, as a tiger does the village from\nwhich he has been hunted?\"", "\"Aha!\"", "he said, \"your simile of the tiger good, for me, and I shall\nadopt him.", "Your man-eater, as they of India call the tiger who has once\ntasted blood of the human, care no more for the other prey, but prowl\nunceasing till he get him.", "This that we hunt from our village is a\ntiger, too, a man-eater, and he never cease to prowl.", "Nay, in himself he\nis not one to retire and stay afar.", "In his life, his living life, he go\nover the Turkey frontier and attack his enemy on his own ground; he be\nbeaten back, but did he stay?", "No!", "He come again, and again, and again.", "Look at his persistence and endurance.", "With the child-brain that was to\nhim he have long since conceive the idea of coming to a great city.", "What\ndoes he do?", "He find out the place of all the world most of promise for\nhim.", "Then he deliberately set himself down to prepare for the task.", "He\nfind in patience just how is his strength, and what are his powers.", "He\nstudy new tongues.", "He learn new social life; new environment of old\nways, the politic, the law, the finance, the science, the habit of a new\nland and a new people who have come to be since he was.", "His glimpse that\nhe have had, whet his appetite only and enkeen his desire.", "Nay, it help\nhim to grow as to his brain; for it all prove to him how right he was at\nthe first in his surmises.", "He have done this alone; all alone!", "from a\nruin tomb in a forgotten land.", "What more may he not do when the greater\nworld of thought is open to him.", "He that can smile at death, as we know\nhim; who can flourish in the midst of diseases that kill off whole\npeoples.", "Oh, if such an one was to come from God, and not the Devil,\nwhat a force for good might he not be in this old world of ours.", "But we\nare pledged to set the world free.", "Our toil must be in silence, and our\nefforts all in secret; for in this enlightened age, when men believe not\neven what they see, the doubting of wise men would be his greatest\nstrength.", "It would be at once his sheath and his armour, and his weapons\nto destroy us, his enemies, who are willing to peril even our own souls\nfor the safety of one we love--for the good of mankind, and for the\nhonour and glory of God.\"", "After a general discussion it was determined that for to-night nothing\nbe definitely settled; that we should all sleep on the facts, and try to\nthink out the proper conclusions.", "To-morrow, at breakfast, we are to\nmeet again, and, after making our conclusions known to one another, we\nshall decide on some definite cause of action.", "* * * * *\n\nI feel a wonderful peace and rest to-night.", "It is as if some haunting\npresence were removed from me.", "Perhaps ...\n\nMy surmise was not finished, could not be; for I caught sight in the\nmirror of the red mark upon my forehead; and I knew that I was still\nunclean.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_5 October._--We all rose early, and I think that sleep did much for\neach and all of us.", "When we met at early breakfast there was more\ngeneral cheerfulness than any of us had ever expected to experience\nagain.", "It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature.", "Let\nany obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way--even by\ndeath--and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment.", "More\nthan once as we sat around the table, my eyes opened in wonder whether\nthe whole of the past days had not been a dream.", "It was only when I\ncaught sight of the red blotch on Mrs. Harker's forehead that I was\nbrought back to reality.", "Even now, when I am gravely revolving the\nmatter, it is almost impossible to realise that the cause of all our\ntrouble is still existent.", "Even Mrs. Harker seems to lose sight of her\ntrouble for whole spells; it is only now and again, when something\nrecalls it to her mind, that she thinks of her terrible scar.", "We are to\nmeet here in my study in half an hour and decide on our course of\naction.", "I see only one immediate difficulty, I know it by instinct\nrather than reason: we shall all have to speak frankly; and yet I fear\nthat in some mysterious way poor Mrs. Harker's tongue is tied.", "I _know_\nthat she forms conclusions of her own, and from all that has been I can\nguess how brilliant and how true they must be; but she will not, or\ncannot, give them utterance.", "I have mentioned this to Van Helsing, and\nhe and I are to talk it over when we are alone.", "I suppose it is some of\nthat horrid poison which has got into her veins beginning to work.", "The\nCount had his own purposes when he gave her what Van Helsing called \"the\nVampire's baptism of blood.\"", "Well, there may be a poison that distils\nitself out of good things; in an age when the existence of ptomaines is\na mystery we should not wonder at anything!", "One thing I know: that if my\ninstinct be true regarding poor Mrs. Harker's silences, then there is a\nterrible difficulty--an unknown danger--in the work before us.", "The same\npower that compels her silence may compel her speech.", "I dare not think\nfurther; for so I should in my thoughts dishonour a noble woman!", "Van Helsing is coming to my study a little before the others.", "I shall\ntry to open the subject with him.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--When the Professor came in, we talked over the state of\nthings.", "I could see that he had something on his mind which he wanted to\nsay, but felt some hesitancy about broaching the subject.", "After beating\nabout the bush a little, he said suddenly:--\n\n\"Friend John, there is something that you and I must talk of alone, just\nat the first at any rate.", "Later, we may have to take the others into our\nconfidence\"; then he stopped, so I waited; he went on:--\n\n\"Madam Mina, our poor, dear Madam Mina is changing.\"", "A cold shiver ran\nthrough me to find my worst fears thus endorsed.", "Van Helsing\ncontinued:--\n\n\"With the sad experience of Miss Lucy, we must this time be warned\nbefore things go too far.", "Our task is now in reality more difficult than\never, and this new trouble makes every hour of the direst importance.", "I\ncan see the characteristics of the vampire coming in her face.", "It is now\nbut very, very slight; but it is to be seen if we have eyes to notice\nwithout to prejudge.", "Her teeth are some sharper, and at times her eyes\nare more hard.", "But these are not all, there is to her the silence now\noften; as so it was with Miss Lucy.", "She did not speak, even when she\nwrote that which she wished to be known later.", "Now my fear is this.", "If\nit be that she can, by our hypnotic trance, tell what the Count see and\nhear, is it not more true that he who have hypnotise her first, and who\nhave drink of her very blood and make her drink of his, should, if he\nwill, compel her mind to disclose to him that which she know?\"", "I nodded\nacquiescence; he went on:--\n\n\"Then, what we must do is to prevent this; we must keep her ignorant of\nour intent, and so she cannot tell what she know not.", "This is a painful\ntask!", "Oh, so painful that it heart-break me to think of; but it must be.", "When to-day we meet, I must tell her that for reason which we will not\nto speak she must not more be of our council, but be simply guarded by\nus.\"", "He wiped his forehead, which had broken out in profuse perspiration\nat the thought of the pain which he might have to inflict upon the poor\nsoul already so tortured.", "I knew that it would be some sort of comfort\nto him if I told him that I also had come to the same conclusion; for at\nany rate it would take away the pain of doubt.", "I told him, and the\neffect was as I expected.", "It is now close to the time of our general gathering.", "Van Helsing has\ngone away to prepare for the meeting, and his painful part of it.", "I\nreally believe his purpose is to be able to pray alone.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--At the very outset of our meeting a great personal relief was\nexperienced by both Van Helsing and myself.", "Mrs. Harker had sent a\nmessage by her husband to say that she would not join us at present, as\nshe thought it better that we should be free to discuss our movements\nwithout her presence to embarrass us.", "The Professor and I looked at each\nother for an instant, and somehow we both seemed relieved.", "For my own\npart, I thought that if Mrs. Harker realised the danger herself, it was\nmuch pain as well as much danger averted.", "Under the circumstances we\nagreed, by a questioning look and answer, with finger on lip, to\npreserve silence in our suspicions, until we should have been able to\nconfer alone again.", "We went at once into our Plan of Campaign.", "Van\nHelsing roughly put the facts before us first:--\n\n\"The _Czarina Catherine_ left the Thames yesterday morning.", "It will take\nher at the quickest speed she has ever made at least three weeks to\nreach Varna; but we can travel overland to the same place in three days.", "Now, if we allow for two days less for the ship's voyage, owing to such\nweather influences as we know that the Count can bring to bear; and if\nwe allow a whole day and night for any delays which may occur to us,\nthen we have a margin of nearly two weeks.", "Thus, in order to be quite\nsafe, we must leave here on 17th at latest.", "Then we shall at any rate\nbe in Varna a day before the ship arrives, and able to make such\npreparations as may be necessary.", "Of course we shall all go armed--armed\nagainst evil things, spiritual as well as physical.\"", "Here Quincey Morris\nadded:--\n\n\"I understand that the Count comes from a wolf country, and it may be\nthat he shall get there before us.", "I propose that we add Winchesters to\nour armament.", "I have a kind of belief in a Winchester when there is any\ntrouble of that sort around.", "Do you remember, Art, when we had the pack\nafter us at Tobolsk?", "What wouldn't we have given then for a repeater\napiece!\"", "\"Good!\"", "said Van Helsing, \"Winchesters it shall be.", "Quincey's head is\nlevel at all times, but most so when there is to hunt, metaphor be more\ndishonour to science than wolves be of danger to man.", "In the meantime we\ncan do nothing here; and as I think that Varna is not familiar to any of\nus, why not go there more soon?", "It is as long to wait here as there.", "To-night and to-morrow we can get ready, and then, if all be well, we\nfour can set out on our journey.\"", "\"We four?\"", "said Harker interrogatively, looking from one to another of\nus.", "\"Of course!\"", "answered the Professor quickly, \"you must remain to take\ncare of your so sweet wife!\"", "Harker was silent for awhile and then said\nin a hollow voice:--\n\n\"Let us talk of that part of it in the morning.", "I want to consult with\nMina.\"", "I thought that now was the time for Van Helsing to warn him not\nto disclose our plans to her; but he took no notice.", "I looked at him\nsignificantly and coughed.", "For answer he put his finger on his lips and\nturned away.", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_5 October, afternoon._--For some time after our meeting this morning I\ncould not think.", "The new phases of things leave my mind in a state of\nwonder which allows no room for active thought.", "Mina's determination not\nto take any part in the discussion set me thinking; and as I could not\nargue the matter with her, I could only guess.", "I am as far as ever from\na solution now.", "The way the others received it, too, puzzled me; the\nlast time we talked of the subject we agreed that there was to be no\nmore concealment of anything amongst us.", "Mina is sleeping now, calmly\nand sweetly like a little child.", "Her lips are curved and her face beams\nwith happiness.", "Thank God, there are such moments still for her.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--How strange it all is.", "I sat watching Mina's happy sleep, and\ncame as near to being happy myself as I suppose I shall ever be.", "As the\nevening drew on, and the earth took its shadows from the sun sinking\nlower, the silence of the room grew more and more solemn to me.", "All at\nonce Mina opened her eyes, and looking at me tenderly, said:--\n\n\"Jonathan, I want you to promise me something on your word of honour.", "A\npromise made to me, but made holily in God's hearing, and not to be\nbroken though I should go down on my knees and implore you with bitter\ntears.", "Quick, you must make it to me at once.\"", "\"Mina,\" I said, \"a promise like that, I cannot make at once.", "I may have\nno right to make it.\"", "\"But, dear one,\" she said, with such spiritual intensity that her eyes\nwere like pole stars, \"it is I who wish it; and it is not for myself.", "You can ask Dr. Van Helsing if I am not right; if he disagrees you may\ndo as you will.", "Nay, more, if you all agree, later, you are absolved\nfrom the promise.\"", "\"I promise!\"", "I said, and for a moment she looked supremely happy; though\nto me all happiness for her was denied by the red scar on her forehead.", "She said:--\n\n\"Promise me that you will not tell me anything of the plans formed for\nthe campaign against the Count.", "Not by word, or inference, or\nimplication; not at any time whilst this remains to me!\"", "and she\nsolemnly pointed to the scar.", "I saw that she was in earnest, and said\nsolemnly:--\n\n\"I promise!\"", "and as I said it I felt that from that instant a door had\nbeen shut between us.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later, midnight._--Mina has been bright and cheerful all the evening.", "So much so that all the rest seemed to take courage, as if infected\nsomewhat with her gaiety; as a result even I myself felt as if the pall\nof gloom which weighs us down were somewhat lifted.", "We all retired\nearly.", "Mina is now sleeping like a little child; it is a wonderful thing\nthat her faculty of sleep remains to her in the midst of her terrible\ntrouble.", "Thank God for it, for then at least she can forget her care.", "Perhaps her example may affect me as her gaiety did to-night.", "I shall\ntry it.", "Oh!", "for a dreamless sleep.", "* * * * *\n\n_6 October, morning._--Another surprise.", "Mina woke me early, about the\nsame time as yesterday, and asked me to bring Dr. Van Helsing.", "I thought\nthat it was another occasion for hypnotism, and without question went\nfor the Professor.", "He had evidently expected some such call, for I found\nhim dressed in his room.", "His door was ajar, so that he could hear the\nopening of the door of our room.", "He came at once; as he passed into the\nroom, he asked Mina if the others might come, too.", "\"No,\" she said quite simply, \"it will not be necessary.", "You can tell\nthem just as well.", "I must go with you on your journey.\"", "Dr. Van Helsing was as startled as I was.", "After a moment's pause he\nasked:--\n\n\"But why?\"", "\"You must take me with you.", "I am safer with you, and you shall be safer,\ntoo.\"", "\"But why, dear Madam Mina?", "You know that your safety is our solemnest\nduty.", "We go into danger, to which you are, or may be, more liable than\nany of us from--from circumstances--things that have been.\"", "He paused,\nembarrassed.", "As she replied, she raised her finger and pointed to her forehead:--\n\n\"I know.", "That is why I must go.", "I can tell you now, whilst the sun is\ncoming up; I may not be able again.", "I know that when the Count wills me\nI must go.", "I know that if he tells me to come in secret, I must come by\nwile; by any device to hoodwink--even Jonathan.\"", "God saw the look that\nshe turned on me as she spoke, and if there be indeed a Recording Angel\nthat look is noted to her everlasting honour.", "I could only clasp her\nhand.", "I could not speak; my emotion was too great for even the relief of\ntears.", "She went on:--\n\n\"You men are brave and strong.", "You are strong in your numbers, for you\ncan defy that which would break down the human endurance of one who had\nto guard alone.", "Besides, I may be of service, since you can hypnotise me\nand so learn that which even I myself do not know.\"", "Dr. Van Helsing said\nvery gravely:--\n\n\"Madam Mina, you are, as always, most wise.", "You shall with us come; and\ntogether we shall do that which we go forth to achieve.\"", "When he had\nspoken, Mina's long spell of silence made me look at her.", "She had fallen\nback on her pillow asleep; she did not even wake when I had pulled up\nthe blind and let in the sunlight which flooded the room.", "Van Helsing\nmotioned to me to come with him quietly.", "We went to his room, and within\na minute Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, and Mr. Morris were with us also.", "He told them what Mina had said, and went on:--\n\n\"In the morning we shall leave for Varna.", "We have now to deal with a\nnew factor: Madam Mina.", "Oh, but her soul is true.", "It is to her an agony\nto tell us so much as she has done; but it is most right, and we are\nwarned in time.", "There must be no chance lost, and in Varna we must be\nready to act the instant when that ship arrives.\"", "\"What shall we do exactly?\"", "asked Mr. Morris laconically.", "The Professor\npaused before replying:--\n\n\"We shall at the first board that ship; then, when we have identified\nthe box, we shall place a branch of the wild rose on it.", "This we shall\nfasten, for when it is there none can emerge; so at least says the\nsuperstition.", "And to superstition must we trust at the first; it was\nman's faith in the early, and it have its root in faith still.", "Then,\nwhen we get the opportunity that we seek, when none are near to see, we\nshall open the box, and--and all will be well.\"", "\"I shall not wait for any opportunity,\" said Morris.", "\"When I see the box\nI shall open it and destroy the monster, though there were a thousand\nmen looking on, and if I am to be wiped out for it the next moment!\"", "I\ngrasped his hand instinctively and found it as firm as a piece of steel.", "I think he understood my look; I hope he did.", "\"Good boy,\" said Dr. Van Helsing.", "\"Brave boy.", "Quincey is all man.", "God\nbless him for it.", "My child, believe me none of us shall lag behind or\npause from any fear.", "I do but say what we may do--what we must do.", "But,\nindeed, indeed we cannot say what we shall do.", "There are so many things\nwhich may happen, and their ways and their ends are so various that\nuntil the moment we may not say.", "We shall all be armed, in all ways; and\nwhen the time for the end has come, our effort shall not be lack.", "Now\nlet us to-day put all our affairs in order.", "Let all things which touch\non others dear to us, and who on us depend, be complete; for none of us\ncan tell what, or when, or how, the end may be.", "As for me, my own\naffairs are regulate; and as I have nothing else to do, I shall go make\narrangements for the travel.", "I shall have all tickets and so forth for\nour journey.\"", "There was nothing further to be said, and we parted.", "I shall now settle\nup all my affairs of earth, and be ready for whatever may come....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Later._--It is all done; my will is made, and all complete.", "Mina if she\nsurvive is my sole heir.", "If it should not be so, then the others who\nhave been so good to us shall have remainder.", "It is now drawing towards the sunset; Mina's uneasiness calls my\nattention to it.", "I am sure that there is something on her mind which the\ntime of exact sunset will reveal.", "These occasions are becoming harrowing\ntimes for us all, for each sunrise and sunset opens up some new\ndanger--some new pain, which, however, may in God's will be means to a\ngood end.", "I write all these things in the diary since my darling must\nnot hear them now; but if it may be that she can see them again, they\nshall be ready.", "She is calling to me." ]

[ "They say much of blood and bloom, and of\nothers which I comprehend not, though I guess what they mean; but\nnevertheless they tell us all things which we want to know.", "He replied: \"We have the\nbest proof of that: your own evidence, when in the hypnotic trance this\nmorning.\"", "He infect you in such wise, that even if he do\nno more, you have only to live--to live in your own old, sweet way; and\nso in time, death, which is of man's common lot and with God's sanction,\nshall make you like to him.", "Your man-eater, as they of India call the tiger who has once\ntasted blood of the human, care no more for the other prey, but prowl\nunceasing till he get him.", "Then he deliberately set himself down to prepare for the task.", "Perhaps ...\n\nMy surmise was not finished, could not be; for I caught sight in the\nmirror of the red mark upon my forehead; and I knew that I was still\nunclean.", "Let\nany obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way--even by\ndeath--and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment.", "After beating\nabout the bush a little, he said suddenly:--\n\n\"Friend John, there is something that you and I must talk of alone, just\nat the first at any rate.", "I looked at him\nsignificantly and coughed.", "He came at once; as he passed into the\nroom, he asked Mina if the others might come, too." ]

[ "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_5 October, 5 p. m._--Our meeting for report.", "I said, and for a moment she looked supremely happy; though\nto me all happiness for her was denied by the red scar on her forehead.", "\"I shall not wait for any opportunity,\" said Morris.", "Perhaps ...\n\nMy surmise was not finished, could not be; for I caught sight in the\nmirror of the red mark upon my forehead; and I knew that I was still\nunclean.", "He paused and I said:--\n\n\"But will not the Count take his rebuff wisely?", "Look at his persistence and endurance.", "All this without that diabolic aid which\nis surely to him; for it have to yield to the powers that come from,\nand are, symbolic of good.", "Were another of the Un-Dead, like him, to try to do\nwhat he has done, perhaps not all the centuries of the world that have\nbeen, or that will be, could aid him.", "\"I promise!\"", "\"No,\" she said quite simply, \"it will not be necessary." ]

[ "Even Mrs. Harker seems to lose sight of her\ntrouble for whole spells; it is only now and again, when something\nrecalls it to her mind, that she thinks of her terrible scar.", "We are to\nmeet here in my study in half an hour and decide on our course of\naction.", "I see only one immediate difficulty, I know it by instinct\nrather than reason: we shall all have to speak frankly; and yet I fear\nthat in some mysterious way poor Mrs. Harker's tongue is tied.", "I _know_\nthat she forms conclusions of her own, and from all that has been I can\nguess how brilliant and how true they must be; but she will not, or\ncannot, give them utterance.", "I have mentioned this to Van Helsing, and\nhe and I are to talk it over when we are alone.", "I suppose it is some of\nthat horrid poison which has got into her veins beginning to work.", "The\nCount had his own purposes when he gave her what Van Helsing called \"the\nVampire's baptism of blood.\"", "Well, there may be a poison that distils\nitself out of good things; in an age when the existence of ptomaines is\na mystery we should not wonder at anything!", "One thing I know: that if my\ninstinct be true regarding poor Mrs. Harker's silences, then there is a\nterrible difficulty--an unknown danger--in the work before us.", "The same\npower that compels her silence may compel her speech.", "I dare not think\nfurther; for so I should in my thoughts dishonour a noble woman!" ]

[ "\nThis to Jonathan Harker.", "You are to stay with your dear Madam Mina.", "We shall go to make our\nsearch--if I can call it so, for it is not search but knowing, and we\nseek confirmation only.", "But do you stay and take care of her to-day.", "This is your best and most holiest office.", "This day nothing can find him\nhere.", "Let me tell you that so you will know what we four know already,\nfor I have tell them.", "He, our enemy, have gone away; he have gone back\nto his Castle in Transylvania.", "I know it so well, as if a great hand of\nfire wrote it on the wall.", "He have prepare for this in some way, and\nthat last earth-box was ready to ship somewheres.", "I shall have all tickets and so forth for\nour journey.\"", "There was nothing further to be said, and we parted.", "I shall now settle\nup all my affairs of earth, and be ready for whatever may come....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Later._--It is all done; my will is made, and all complete.", "Mina if she\nsurvive is my sole heir.", "If it should not be so, then the others who\nhave been so good to us shall have remainder.", "It is now drawing towards the sunset; Mina's uneasiness calls my\nattention to it.", "I am sure that there is something on her mind which the\ntime of exact sunset will reveal.", "These occasions are becoming harrowing\ntimes for us all, for each sunrise and sunset opens up some new\ndanger--some new pain, which, however, may in God's will be means to a\ngood end.", "I write all these things in the diary since my darling must\nnot hear them now; but if it may be that she can see them again, they\nshall be ready.", "She is calling to me." ]

[ "\n_11 October, Evening._--Jonathan Harker has asked me to note this, as he\nsays he is hardly equal to the task, and he wants an exact record kept.", "I think that none of us were surprised when we were asked to see Mrs.\nHarker a little before the time of sunset.", "We have of late come to\nunderstand that sunrise and sunset are to her times of peculiar freedom;\nwhen her old self can be manifest without any controlling force subduing\nor restraining her, or inciting her to action.", "This mood or condition\nbegins some half hour or more before actual sunrise or sunset, and lasts\ntill either the sun is high, or whilst the clouds are still aglow with\nthe rays streaming above the horizon.", "At first there is a sort of\nnegative condition, as if some tie were loosened, and then the absolute\nfreedom quickly follows; when, however, the freedom ceases the\nchange-back or relapse comes quickly, preceded only by a spell of\nwarning silence.", "To-night, when we met, she was somewhat constrained, and bore all the\nsigns of an internal struggle.", "I put it down myself to her making a\nviolent effort at the earliest instant she could do so.", "A very few\nminutes, however, gave her complete control of herself; then, motioning\nher husband to sit beside her on the sofa where she was half reclining,\nshe made the rest of us bring chairs up close.", "Taking her husband's hand\nin hers began:--\n\n\"We are all here together in freedom, for perhaps the last time!", "I know,\ndear; I know that you will always be with me to the end.\"", "This was to\nher husband whose hand had, as we could see, tightened upon hers.", "\"In\nthe morning we go out upon our task, and God alone knows what may be in\nstore for any of us.", "You are going to be so good to me as to take me\nwith you.", "I know that all that brave earnest men can do for a poor weak\nwoman, whose soul perhaps is lost--no, no, not yet, but is at any rate\nat stake--you will do.", "But you must remember that I am not as you are.", "There is a poison in my blood, in my soul, which may destroy me; which\nmust destroy me, unless some relief comes to us.", "Oh, my friends, you\nknow as well as I do, that my soul is at stake; and though I know there\nis one way out for me, you must not and I must not take it!\"", "She looked\nappealingly to us all in turn, beginning and ending with her husband.", "\"What is that way?\"", "asked Van Helsing in a hoarse voice.", "\"What is that\nway, which we must not--may not--take?\"", "\"That I may die now, either by my own hand or that of another, before\nthe greater evil is entirely wrought.", "I know, and you know, that were I\nonce dead you could and would set free my immortal spirit, even as you\ndid my poor Lucy's.", "Were death, or the fear of death, the only thing\nthat stood in the way I would not shrink to die here, now, amidst the\nfriends who love me.", "But death is not all.", "I cannot believe that to die\nin such a case, when there is hope before us and a bitter task to be\ndone, is God's will.", "Therefore, I, on my part, give up here the\ncertainty of eternal rest, and go out into the dark where may be the\nblackest things that the world or the nether world holds!\"", "We were all\nsilent, for we knew instinctively that this was only a prelude.", "The\nfaces of the others were set and Harker's grew ashen grey; perhaps he\nguessed better than any of us what was coming.", "She continued:--\n\n\"This is what I can give into the hotch-pot.\"", "I could not but note the\nquaint legal phrase which she used in such a place, and with all\nseriousness.", "\"What will each of you give?", "Your lives I know,\" she went\non quickly, \"that is easy for brave men.", "Your lives are God's, and you\ncan give them back to Him; but what will you give to me?\"", "She looked\nagain questioningly, but this time avoided her husband's face.", "Quincey\nseemed to understand; he nodded, and her face lit up.", "\"Then I shall tell\nyou plainly what I want, for there must be no doubtful matter in this\nconnection between us now.", "You must promise me, one and all--even you,\nmy beloved husband--that, should the time come, you will kill me.\"", "\"What is that time?\"", "The voice was Quincey's, but it was low and\nstrained.", "\"When you shall be convinced that I am so changed that it is better that\nI die that I may live.", "When I am thus dead in the flesh, then you will,\nwithout a moment's delay, drive a stake through me and cut off my head;\nor do whatever else may be wanting to give me rest!\"", "Quincey was the first to rise after the pause.", "He knelt down before her\nand taking her hand in his said solemnly:--\n\n\"I'm only a rough fellow, who hasn't, perhaps, lived as a man should to\nwin such a distinction, but I swear to you by all that I hold sacred and\ndear that, should the time ever come, I shall not flinch from the duty\nthat you have set us.", "And I promise you, too, that I shall make all\ncertain, for if I am only doubtful I shall take it that the time has\ncome!\"", "\"My true friend!\"", "was all she could say amid her fast-falling tears, as,\nbending over, she kissed his hand.", "\"I swear the same, my dear Madam Mina!\"", "said Van Helsing.", "\"And I!\"", "said Lord Godalming, each of them in turn kneeling to her to\ntake the oath.", "I followed, myself.", "Then her husband turned to her\nwan-eyed and with a greenish pallor which subdued the snowy whiteness of\nhis hair, and asked:--\n\n\"And must I, too, make such a promise, oh, my wife?\"", "\"You too, my dearest,\" she said, with infinite yearning of pity in her\nvoice and eyes.", "\"You must not shrink.", "You are nearest and dearest and\nall the world to me; our souls are knit into one, for all life and all\ntime.", "Think, dear, that there have been times when brave men have killed\ntheir wives and their womenkind, to keep them from falling into the\nhands of the enemy.", "Their hands did not falter any the more because\nthose that they loved implored them to slay them.", "It is men's duty\ntowards those whom they love, in such times of sore trial!", "And oh, my\ndear, if it is to be that I must meet death at any hand, let it be at\nthe hand of him that loves me best.", "Dr. Van Helsing, I have not\nforgotten your mercy in poor Lucy's case to him who loved\"--she stopped\nwith a flying blush, and changed her phrase--\"to him who had best right\nto give her peace.", "If that time shall come again, I look to you to make\nit a happy memory of my husband's life that it was his loving hand which\nset me free from the awful thrall upon me.\"", "\"Again I swear!\"", "came the Professor's resonant voice.", "Mrs. Harker\nsmiled, positively smiled, as with a sigh of relief she leaned back and\nsaid:--\n\n\"And now one word of warning, a warning which you must never forget:\nthis time, if it ever come, may come quickly and unexpectedly, and in\nsuch case you must lose no time in using your opportunity.", "At such a\ntime I myself might be--nay!", "if the time ever comes, _shall be_--leagued\nwith your enemy against you.\"", "\"One more request;\" she became very solemn as she said this, \"it is not\nvital and necessary like the other, but I want you to do one thing for\nme, if you will.\"", "We all acquiesced, but no one spoke; there was no need\nto speak:--\n\n\"I want you to read the Burial Service.\"", "She was interrupted by a deep\ngroan from her husband; taking his hand in hers, she held it over her\nheart, and continued: \"You must read it over me some day.", "Whatever may\nbe the issue of all this fearful state of things, it will be a sweet\nthought to all or some of us.", "You, my dearest, will I hope read it, for\nthen it will be in your voice in my memory for ever--come what may!\"", "\"But oh, my dear one,\" he pleaded, \"death is afar off from you.\"", "\"Nay,\" she said, holding up a warning hand.", "\"I am deeper in death at\nthis moment than if the weight of an earthly grave lay heavy upon me!\"", "\"Oh, my wife, must I read it?\"", "he said, before he began.", "\"It would comfort me, my husband!\"", "was all she said; and he began to\nread when she had got the book ready.", "\"How can I--how could any one--tell of that strange scene, its\nsolemnity, its gloom, its sadness, its horror; and, withal, its\nsweetness.", "Even a sceptic, who can see nothing but a travesty of bitter\ntruth in anything holy or emotional, would have been melted to the heart\nhad he seen that little group of loving and devoted friends kneeling\nround that stricken and sorrowing lady; or heard the tender passion of\nher husband's voice, as in tones so broken with emotion that often he\nhad to pause, he read the simple and beautiful service from the Burial\nof the Dead.", "I--I cannot go on--words--and--v-voice--f-fail m-me!\"", "* * * * *\n\nShe was right in her instinct.", "Strange as it all was, bizarre as it may\nhereafter seem even to us who felt its potent influence at the time, it\ncomforted us much; and the silence, which showed Mrs. Harker's coming\nrelapse from her freedom of soul, did not seem so full of despair to any\nof us as we had dreaded.", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_15 October, Varna._--We left Charing Cross on the morning of the 12th,\ngot to Paris the same night, and took the places secured for us in the\nOrient Express.", "We travelled night and day, arriving here at about five\no'clock.", "Lord Godalming went to the Consulate to see if any telegram had\narrived for him, whilst the rest of us came on to this hotel--\"the\nOdessus.\"", "The journey may have had incidents; I was, however, too eager\nto get on, to care for them.", "Until the _Czarina Catherine_ comes into\nport there will be no interest for me in anything in the wide world.", "Thank God!", "Mina is well, and looks to be getting stronger; her colour is\ncoming back.", "She sleeps a great deal; throughout the journey she slept\nnearly all the time.", "Before sunrise and sunset, however, she is very\nwakeful and alert; and it has become a habit for Van Helsing to\nhypnotise her at such times.", "At first, some effort was needed, and he\nhad to make many passes; but now, she seems to yield at once, as if by\nhabit, and scarcely any action is needed.", "He seems to have power at\nthese particular moments to simply will, and her thoughts obey him.", "He\nalways asks her what she can see and hear.", "She answers to the first:--\n\n\"Nothing; all is dark.\"", "And to the second:--\n\n\"I can hear the waves lapping against the ship, and the water rushing\nby.", "Canvas and cordage strain and masts and yards creak.", "The wind is\nhigh--I can hear it in the shrouds, and the bow throws back the foam.\"", "It is evident that the _Czarina Catherine_ is still at sea, hastening on\nher way to Varna.", "Lord Godalming has just returned.", "He had four\ntelegrams, one each day since we started, and all to the same effect:\nthat the _Czarina Catherine_ had not been reported to Lloyd's from\nanywhere.", "He had arranged before leaving London that his agent should\nsend him every day a telegram saying if the ship had been reported.", "He\nwas to have a message even if she were not reported, so that he might be\nsure that there was a watch being kept at the other end of the wire.", "We had dinner and went to bed early.", "To-morrow we are to see the\nVice-Consul, and to arrange, if we can, about getting on board the ship\nas soon as she arrives.", "Van Helsing says that our chance will be to get\non the boat between sunrise and sunset.", "The Count, even if he takes the\nform of a bat, cannot cross the running water of his own volition, and\nso cannot leave the ship.", "As he dare not change to man's form without\nsuspicion--which he evidently wishes to avoid--he must remain in the\nbox.", "If, then, we can come on board after sunrise, he is at our mercy;\nfor we can open the box and make sure of him, as we did of poor Lucy,\nbefore he wakes.", "What mercy he shall get from us will not count for\nmuch.", "We think that we shall not have much trouble with officials or the\nseamen.", "Thank God!", "this is the country where bribery can do anything,\nand we are well supplied with money.", "We have only to make sure that the\nship cannot come into port between sunset and sunrise without our being\nwarned, and we shall be safe.", "Judge Moneybag will settle this case, I\nthink!", "* * * * *\n\n_16 October._--Mina's report still the same: lapping waves and rushing\nwater, darkness and favouring winds.", "We are evidently in good time, and\nwhen we hear of the _Czarina Catherine_ we shall be ready.", "As she must\npass the Dardanelles we are sure to have some report.", "* * * * *\n\n_17 October._--Everything is pretty well fixed now, I think, to welcome\nthe Count on his return from his tour.", "Godalming told the shippers that\nhe fancied that the box sent aboard might contain something stolen from\na friend of his, and got a half consent that he might open it at his own\nrisk.", "The owner gave him a paper telling the Captain to give him every\nfacility in doing whatever he chose on board the ship, and also a\nsimilar authorisation to his agent at Varna.", "We have seen the agent, who\nwas much impressed with Godalming's kindly manner to him, and we are all\nsatisfied that whatever he can do to aid our wishes will be done.", "We\nhave already arranged what to do in case we get the box open.", "If the\nCount is there, Van Helsing and Seward will cut off his head at once and\ndrive a stake through his heart.", "Morris and Godalming and I shall\nprevent interference, even if we have to use the arms which we shall\nhave ready.", "The Professor says that if we can so treat the Count's body,\nit will soon after fall into dust.", "In such case there would be no\nevidence against us, in case any suspicion of murder were aroused.", "But\neven if it were not, we should stand or fall by our act, and perhaps\nsome day this very script may be evidence to come between some of us and\na rope.", "For myself, I should take the chance only too thankfully if it\nwere to come.", "We mean to leave no stone unturned to carry out our\nintent.", "We have arranged with certain officials that the instant the\n_Czarina Catherine_ is seen, we are to be informed by a special\nmessenger.", "* * * * *\n\n_24 October._--A whole week of waiting.", "Daily telegrams to Godalming,\nbut only the same story: \"Not yet reported.\"", "Mina's morning and evening\nhypnotic answer is unvaried: lapping waves, rushing water, and creaking\nmasts.", "_Telegram, October 24th._\n\n_Rufus Smith, Lloyd's, London, to Lord Godalming, care of H. B. M.\nVice-Consul, Varna._\n\n\"_Czarina Catherine_ reported this morning from Dardanelles.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_25 October._--How I miss my phonograph!", "To write diary with a pen is\nirksome to me; but Van Helsing says I must.", "We were all wild with\nexcitement yesterday when Godalming got his telegram from Lloyd's.", "I\nknow now what men feel in battle when the call to action is heard.", "Mrs.\nHarker, alone of our party, did not show any signs of emotion.", "After\nall, it is not strange that she did not; for we took special care not to\nlet her know anything about it, and we all tried not to show any\nexcitement when we were in her presence.", "In old days she would, I am\nsure, have noticed, no matter how we might have tried to conceal it; but\nin this way she is greatly changed during the past three weeks.", "The\nlethargy grows upon her, and though she seems strong and well, and is\ngetting back some of her colour, Van Helsing and I are not satisfied.", "We\ntalk of her often; we have not, however, said a word to the others.", "It\nwould break poor Harker's heart--certainly his nerve--if he knew that we\nhad even a suspicion on the subject.", "Van Helsing examines, he tells me,\nher teeth very carefully, whilst she is in the hypnotic condition, for\nhe says that so long as they do not begin to sharpen there is no active\ndanger of a change in her.", "If this change should come, it would be\nnecessary to take steps!...", "We both know what those steps would have to\nbe, though we do not mention our thoughts to each other.", "We should\nneither of us shrink from the task--awful though it be to contemplate.", "\"Euthanasia\" is an excellent and a comforting word!", "I am grateful to\nwhoever invented it.", "It is only about 24 hours' sail from the Dardanelles to here, at the\nrate the _Czarina Catherine_ has come from London.", "She should therefore\narrive some time in the morning; but as she cannot possibly get in\nbefore then, we are all about to retire early.", "We shall get up at one\no'clock, so as to be ready.", "* * * * *\n\n_25 October, Noon_.--No news yet of the ship's arrival.", "Mrs. Harker's\nhypnotic report this morning was the same as usual, so it is possible\nthat we may get news at any moment.", "We men are all in a fever of\nexcitement, except Harker, who is calm; his hands are cold as ice, and\nan hour ago I found him whetting the edge of the great Ghoorka knife\nwhich he now always carries with him.", "It will be a bad lookout for the\nCount if the edge of that \"Kukri\" ever touches his throat, driven by\nthat stern, ice-cold hand!", "Van Helsing and I were a little alarmed about Mrs. Harker to-day.", "About\nnoon she got into a sort of lethargy which we did not like; although we\nkept silence to the others, we were neither of us happy about it.", "She\nhad been restless all the morning, so that we were at first glad to know\nthat she was sleeping.", "When, however, her husband mentioned casually\nthat she was sleeping so soundly that he could not wake her, we went to\nher room to see for ourselves.", "She was breathing naturally and looked so\nwell and peaceful that we agreed that the sleep was better for her than\nanything else.", "Poor girl, she has so much to forget that it is no wonder\nthat sleep, if it brings oblivion to her, does her good.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Our opinion was justified, for when after a refreshing sleep\nof some hours she woke up, she seemed brighter and better than she had\nbeen for days.", "At sunset she made the usual hypnotic report.", "Wherever he\nmay be in the Black Sea, the Count is hurrying to his destination.", "To\nhis doom, I trust!", "* * * * *\n\n_26 October._--Another day and no tidings of the _Czarina Catherine_.", "She ought to be here by now.", "That she is still journeying _somewhere_ is\napparent, for Mrs. Harker's hypnotic report at sunrise was still the\nsame.", "It is possible that the vessel may be lying by, at times, for fog;\nsome of the steamers which came in last evening reported patches of fog\nboth to north and south of the port.", "We must continue our watching, as\nthe ship may now be signalled any moment.", "* * * * *\n\n_27 October, Noon._--Most strange; no news yet of the ship we wait for.", "Mrs. Harker reported last night and this morning as usual: \"lapping\nwaves and rushing water,\" though she added that \"the waves were very\nfaint.\"", "The telegrams from London have been the same: \"no further\nreport.\"", "Van Helsing is terribly anxious, and told me just now that he\nfears the Count is escaping us.", "He added significantly:--\n\n\"I did not like that lethargy of Madam Mina's.", "Souls and memories can do\nstrange things during trance.\"", "I was about to ask him more, but Harker\njust then came in, and he held up a warning hand.", "We must try to-night\nat sunset to make her speak more fully when in her hypnotic state.", "* * * * *\n\n _28 October._--Telegram.", "_Rufus Smith, London, to Lord Godalming,\n care H. B. M. Vice Consul, Varna._\n\n \"_Czarina Catherine_ reported entering Galatz at one o'clock\n to-day.\"", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_28 October._--When the telegram came announcing the arrival in Galatz I\ndo not think it was such a shock to any of us as might have been\nexpected.", "True, we did not know whence, or how, or when, the bolt would\ncome; but I think we all expected that something strange would happen.", "The delay of arrival at Varna made us individually satisfied that things\nwould not be just as we had expected; we only waited to learn where the\nchange would occur.", "None the less, however, was it a surprise.", "I suppose\nthat nature works on such a hopeful basis that we believe against\nourselves that things will be as they ought to be, not as we should know\nthat they will be.", "Transcendentalism is a beacon to the angels, even if\nit be a will-o'-the-wisp to man.", "It was an odd experience and we all\ntook it differently.", "Van Helsing raised his hand over his head for a\nmoment, as though in remonstrance with the Almighty; but he said not a\nword, and in a few seconds stood up with his face sternly set.", "Lord\nGodalming grew very pale, and sat breathing heavily.", "I was myself half\nstunned and looked in wonder at one after another.", "Quincey Morris\ntightened his belt with that quick movement which I knew so well; in our\nold wandering days it meant \"action.\"", "Mrs. Harker grew ghastly white, so\nthat the scar on her forehead seemed to burn, but she folded her hands\nmeekly and looked up in prayer.", "Harker smiled--actually smiled--the\ndark, bitter smile of one who is without hope; but at the same time his\naction belied his words, for his hands instinctively sought the hilt of\nthe great Kukri knife and rested there.", "\"When does the next train start\nfor Galatz?\"", "said Van Helsing to us generally.", "\"At 6:30 to-morrow morning!\"", "We all started, for the answer came from\nMrs. Harker.", "\"How on earth do you know?\"", "said Art.", "\"You forget--or perhaps you do not know, though Jonathan does and so\ndoes Dr. Van Helsing--that I am the train fiend.", "At home in Exeter I\nalways used to make up the time-tables, so as to be helpful to my\nhusband.", "I found it so useful sometimes, that I always make a study of\nthe time-tables now.", "I knew that if anything were to take us to Castle\nDracula we should go by Galatz, or at any rate through Bucharest, so I\nlearned the times very carefully.", "Unhappily there are not many to learn,\nas the only train to-morrow leaves as I say.\"", "\"Wonderful woman!\"", "murmured the Professor.", "\"Can't we get a special?\"", "asked Lord Godalming.", "Van Helsing shook his\nhead: \"I fear not.", "This land is very different from yours or mine; even\nif we did have a special, it would probably not arrive as soon as our\nregular train.", "Moreover, we have something to prepare.", "We must think.", "Now let us organize.", "You, friend Arthur, go to the train and get the\ntickets and arrange that all be ready for us to go in the morning.", "Do\nyou, friend Jonathan, go to the agent of the ship and get from him\nletters to the agent in Galatz, with authority to make search the ship\njust as it was here.", "Morris Quincey, you see the Vice-Consul, and get\nhis aid with his fellow in Galatz and all he can do to make our way\nsmooth, so that no times be lost when over the Danube.", "John will stay\nwith Madam Mina and me, and we shall consult.", "For so if time be long you\nmay be delayed; and it will not matter when the sun set, since I am here\nwith Madam to make report.\"", "\"And I,\" said Mrs. Harker brightly, and more like her old self than she\nhad been for many a long day, \"shall try to be of use in all ways, and\nshall think and write for you as I used to do.", "Something is shifting\nfrom me in some strange way, and I feel freer than I have been of late!\"", "The three younger men looked happier at the moment as they seemed to\nrealise the significance of her words; but Van Helsing and I, turning to\neach other, met each a grave and troubled glance.", "We said nothing at the\ntime, however.", "When the three men had gone out to their tasks Van Helsing asked Mrs.\nHarker to look up the copy of the diaries and find him the part of\nHarker's journal at the Castle.", "She went away to get it; when the door\nwas shut upon her he said to me:--\n\n\"We mean the same!", "speak out!\"", "\"There is some change.", "It is a hope that makes me sick, for it may\ndeceive us.\"", "\"Quite so.", "Do you know why I asked her to get the manuscript?\"", "\"No!\"", "said I, \"unless it was to get an opportunity of seeing me alone.\"", "\"You are in part right, friend John, but only in part.", "I want to tell\nyou something.", "And oh, my friend, I am taking a great--a terrible--risk;\nbut I believe it is right.", "In the moment when Madam Mina said those\nwords that arrest both our understanding, an inspiration came to me.", "In\nthe trance of three days ago the Count sent her his spirit to read her\nmind; or more like he took her to see him in his earth-box in the ship\nwith water rushing, just as it go free at rise and set of sun.", "He learn\nthen that we are here; for she have more to tell in her open life with\neyes to see and ears to hear than he, shut, as he is, in his coffin-box.", "Now he make his most effort to escape us.", "At present he want her not.", "\"He is sure with his so great knowledge that she will come at his call;\nbut he cut her off--take her, as he can do, out of his own power, that\nso she come not to him.", "Ah!", "there I have hope that our man-brains that\nhave been of man so long and that have not lost the grace of God, will\ncome higher than his child-brain that lie in his tomb for centuries,\nthat grow not yet to our stature, and that do only work selfish and\ntherefore small.", "Here comes Madam Mina; not a word to her of her trance!", "She know it not; and it would overwhelm her and make despair just when\nwe want all her hope, all her courage; when most we want all her great\nbrain which is trained like man's brain, but is of sweet woman and have\na special power which the Count give her, and which he may not take away\naltogether--though he think not so.", "Hush!", "let me speak, and you shall\nlearn.", "Oh, John, my friend, we are in awful straits.", "I fear, as I never\nfeared before.", "We can only trust the good God.", "Silence!", "here she comes!\"", "I thought that the Professor was going to break down and have hysterics,\njust as he had when Lucy died, but with a great effort he controlled\nhimself and was at perfect nervous poise when Mrs. Harker tripped into\nthe room, bright and happy-looking and, in the doing of work, seemingly\nforgetful of her misery.", "As she came in, she handed a number of sheets\nof typewriting to Van Helsing.", "He looked over them gravely, his face\nbrightening up as he read.", "Then holding the pages between his finger and\nthumb he said:--\n\n\"Friend John, to you with so much of experience already--and you, too,\ndear Madam Mina, that are young--here is a lesson: do not fear ever to\nthink.", "A half-thought has been buzzing often in my brain, but I fear to\nlet him loose his wings.", "Here now, with more knowledge, I go back to\nwhere that half-thought come from and I find that he be no half-thought\nat all; that be a whole thought, though so young that he is not yet\nstrong to use his little wings.", "Nay, like the \"Ugly Duck\" of my friend\nHans Andersen, he be no duck-thought at all, but a big swan-thought that\nsail nobly on big wings, when the time come for him to try them.", "See I\nread here what Jonathan have written:--\n\n\"That other of his race who, in a later age, again and again, brought\nhis forces over The Great River into Turkey Land; who, when he was\nbeaten back, came again, and again, and again, though he had to come\nalone from the bloody field where his troops were being slaughtered,\nsince he knew that he alone could ultimately triumph.\"", "\"What does this tell us?", "Not much?", "no!", "The Count's child-thought see\nnothing; therefore he speak so free.", "Your man-thought see nothing; my\nman-thought see nothing, till just now.", "No!", "But there comes another word\nfrom some one who speak without thought because she, too, know not what\nit mean--what it _might_ mean.", "Just as there are elements which rest,\nyet when in nature's course they move on their way and they touch--then\npouf!", "and there comes a flash of light, heaven wide, that blind and kill\nand destroy some; but that show up all earth below for leagues and\nleagues.", "Is it not so?", "Well, I shall explain.", "To begin, have you ever\nstudy the philosophy of crime?", "'Yes' and 'No.'", "You, John, yes; for it is\na study of insanity.", "You, no, Madam Mina; for crime touch you not--not\nbut once.", "Still, your mind works true, and argues not _a particulari ad\nuniversale_.", "There is this peculiarity in criminals.", "It is so constant,\nin all countries and at all times, that even police, who know not much\nfrom philosophy, come to know it empirically, that _it is_.", "That is to\nbe empiric.", "The criminal always work at one crime--that is the true\ncriminal who seems predestinate to crime, and who will of none other.", "This criminal has not full man-brain.", "He is clever and cunning and\nresourceful; but he be not of man-stature as to brain.", "He be of\nchild-brain in much.", "Now this criminal of ours is predestinate to crime\nalso; he, too, have child-brain, and it is of the child to do what he\nhave done.", "The little bird, the little fish, the little animal learn not\nby principle, but empirically; and when he learn to do, then there is to\nhim the ground to start from to do more.", "'_Dos pou sto_,' said\nArchimedes.", "'Give me a fulcrum, and I shall move the world!'", "To do once,\nis the fulcrum whereby child-brain become man-brain; and until he have\nthe purpose to do more, he continue to do the same again every time,\njust as he have done before!", "Oh, my dear, I see that your eyes are\nopened, and that to you the lightning flash show all the leagues,\" for\nMrs. Harker began to clap her hands and her eyes sparkled.", "He went on:--\n\n\"Now you shall speak.", "Tell us two dry men of science what you see with\nthose so bright eyes.\"", "He took her hand and held it whilst she spoke.", "His finger and thumb closed on her pulse, as I thought instinctively and\nunconsciously, as she spoke:--\n\n\"The Count is a criminal and of criminal type.", "Nordau and Lombroso would\nso classify him, and _qua_ criminal he is of imperfectly formed mind.", "Thus, in a difficulty he has to seek resource in habit.", "His past is a\nclue, and the one page of it that we know--and that from his own\nlips--tells that once before, when in what Mr. Morris would call a\n'tight place,' he went back to his own country from the land he had\ntried to invade, and thence, without losing purpose, prepared himself\nfor a new effort.", "He came again better equipped for his work; and won.", "So he came to London to invade a new land.", "He was beaten, and when all\nhope of success was lost, and his existence in danger, he fled back over\nthe sea to his home; just as formerly he had fled back over the Danube\nfrom Turkey Land.\"", "\"Good, good!", "oh, you so clever lady!\"", "said Van Helsing,\nenthusiastically, as he stooped and kissed her hand.", "A moment later he\nsaid to me, as calmly as though we had been having a sick-room\nconsultation:--\n\n\"Seventy-two only; and in all this excitement.", "I have hope.\"", "Turning to\nher again, he said with keen expectation:--\n\n\"But go on.", "Go on!", "there is more to tell if you will.", "Be not afraid;\nJohn and I know.", "I do in any case, and shall tell you if you are right.", "Speak, without fear!\"", "\"I will try to; but you will forgive me if I seem egotistical.\"", "\"Nay!", "fear not, you must be egotist, for it is of you that we think.\"", "\"Then, as he is criminal he is selfish; and as his intellect is small\nand his action is based on selfishness, he confines himself to one\npurpose.", "That purpose is remorseless.", "As he fled back over the Danube,\nleaving his forces to be cut to pieces, so now he is intent on being\nsafe, careless of all.", "So his own selfishness frees my soul somewhat\nfrom the terrible power which he acquired over me on that dreadful\nnight.", "I felt it!", "Oh, I felt it!", "Thank God, for His great mercy!", "My soul\nis freer than it has been since that awful hour; and all that haunts me\nis a fear lest in some trance or dream he may have used my knowledge for\nhis ends.\"", "The Professor stood up:--\n\n\"He has so used your mind; and by it he has left us here in Varna,\nwhilst the ship that carried him rushed through enveloping fog up to\nGalatz, where, doubtless, he had made preparation for escaping from us.", "But his child-mind only saw so far; and it may be that, as ever is in\nGod's Providence, the very thing that the evil-doer most reckoned on for\nhis selfish good, turns out to be his chiefest harm.", "The hunter is taken\nin his own snare, as the great Psalmist says.", "For now that he think he\nis free from every trace of us all, and that he has escaped us with so\nmany hours to him, then his selfish child-brain will whisper him to\nsleep.", "He think, too, that as he cut himself off from knowing your mind,\nthere can be no knowledge of him to you; there is where he fail!", "That\nterrible baptism of blood which he give you makes you free to go to him\nin spirit, as you have as yet done in your times of freedom, when the\nsun rise and set.", "At such times you go by my volition and not by his;\nand this power to good of you and others, as you have won from your\nsuffering at his hands.", "This is now all the more precious that he know\nit not, and to guard himself have even cut himself off from his\nknowledge of our where.", "We, however, are not selfish, and we believe\nthat God is with us through all this blackness, and these many dark\nhours.", "We shall follow him; and we shall not flinch; even if we peril\nourselves that we become like him.", "Friend John, this has been a great\nhour; and it have done much to advance us on our way.", "You must be scribe\nand write him all down, so that when the others return from their work\nyou can give it to them; then they shall know as we do.\"", "And so I have written it whilst we wait their return, and Mrs. Harker\nhas written with her typewriter all since she brought the MS. to us." ]

[ "I followed, myself.", "He seems to have power at\nthese particular moments to simply will, and her thoughts obey him.", "Canvas and cordage strain and masts and yards creak.", "If, then, we can come on board after sunrise, he is at our mercy;\nfor we can open the box and make sure of him, as we did of poor Lucy,\nbefore he wakes.", "I\nknow now what men feel in battle when the call to action is heard.", "In old days she would, I am\nsure, have noticed, no matter how we might have tried to conceal it; but\nin this way she is greatly changed during the past three weeks.", "Ah!", "no!", "His past is a\nclue, and the one page of it that we know--and that from his own\nlips--tells that once before, when in what Mr. Morris would call a\n'tight place,' he went back to his own country from the land he had\ntried to invade, and thence, without losing purpose, prepared himself\nfor a new effort.", "\"Good, good!" ]

[ "A very few\nminutes, however, gave her complete control of herself; then, motioning\nher husband to sit beside her on the sofa where she was half reclining,\nshe made the rest of us bring chairs up close.", "_Dr.", "Just as there are elements which rest,\nyet when in nature's course they move on their way and they touch--then\npouf!", "His finger and thumb closed on her pulse, as I thought instinctively and\nunconsciously, as she spoke:--\n\n\"The Count is a criminal and of criminal type.", "\n_11 October, Evening._--Jonathan Harker has asked me to note this, as he\nsays he is hardly equal to the task, and he wants an exact record kept.", "When the three men had gone out to their tasks Van Helsing asked Mrs.\nHarker to look up the copy of the diaries and find him the part of\nHarker's journal at the Castle.", "\"Nay,\" she said, holding up a warning hand.", "He was beaten, and when all\nhope of success was lost, and his existence in danger, he fled back over\nthe sea to his home; just as formerly he had fled back over the Danube\nfrom Turkey Land.\"", "Van Helsing says that our chance will be to get\non the boat between sunrise and sunset.", "You are nearest and dearest and\nall the world to me; our souls are knit into one, for all life and all\ntime." ]

[ "She was breathing naturally and looked so\nwell and peaceful that we agreed that the sleep was better for her than\nanything else.", "Poor girl, she has so much to forget that it is no wonder\nthat sleep, if it brings oblivion to her, does her good.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Our opinion was justified, for when after a refreshing sleep\nof some hours she woke up, she seemed brighter and better than she had\nbeen for days.", "At sunset she made the usual hypnotic report.", "Wherever he\nmay be in the Black Sea, the Count is hurrying to his destination.", "To\nhis doom, I trust!", "* * * * *\n\n_26 October._--Another day and no tidings of the _Czarina Catherine_.", "She ought to be here by now.", "That she is still journeying _somewhere_ is\napparent, for Mrs. Harker's hypnotic report at sunrise was still the\nsame.", "It is possible that the vessel may be lying by, at times, for fog;\nsome of the steamers which came in last evening reported patches of fog\nboth to north and south of the port.", "We must continue our watching, as\nthe ship may now be signalled any moment." ]

[ "\n_11 October, Evening._--Jonathan Harker has asked me to note this, as he\nsays he is hardly equal to the task, and he wants an exact record kept.", "I think that none of us were surprised when we were asked to see Mrs.\nHarker a little before the time of sunset.", "We have of late come to\nunderstand that sunrise and sunset are to her times of peculiar freedom;\nwhen her old self can be manifest without any controlling force subduing\nor restraining her, or inciting her to action.", "This mood or condition\nbegins some half hour or more before actual sunrise or sunset, and lasts\ntill either the sun is high, or whilst the clouds are still aglow with\nthe rays streaming above the horizon.", "At first there is a sort of\nnegative condition, as if some tie were loosened, and then the absolute\nfreedom quickly follows; when, however, the freedom ceases the\nchange-back or relapse comes quickly, preceded only by a spell of\nwarning silence.", "To-night, when we met, she was somewhat constrained, and bore all the\nsigns of an internal struggle.", "I put it down myself to her making a\nviolent effort at the earliest instant she could do so.", "A very few\nminutes, however, gave her complete control of herself; then, motioning\nher husband to sit beside her on the sofa where she was half reclining,\nshe made the rest of us bring chairs up close.", "Taking her husband's hand\nin hers began:--\n\n\"We are all here together in freedom, for perhaps the last time!", "I know,\ndear; I know that you will always be with me to the end.\"", "For now that he think he\nis free from every trace of us all, and that he has escaped us with so\nmany hours to him, then his selfish child-brain will whisper him to\nsleep.", "He think, too, that as he cut himself off from knowing your mind,\nthere can be no knowledge of him to you; there is where he fail!", "That\nterrible baptism of blood which he give you makes you free to go to him\nin spirit, as you have as yet done in your times of freedom, when the\nsun rise and set.", "At such times you go by my volition and not by his;\nand this power to good of you and others, as you have won from your\nsuffering at his hands.", "This is now all the more precious that he know\nit not, and to guard himself have even cut himself off from his\nknowledge of our where.", "We, however, are not selfish, and we believe\nthat God is with us through all this blackness, and these many dark\nhours.", "We shall follow him; and we shall not flinch; even if we peril\nourselves that we become like him.", "Friend John, this has been a great\nhour; and it have done much to advance us on our way.", "You must be scribe\nand write him all down, so that when the others return from their work\nyou can give it to them; then they shall know as we do.\"", "And so I have written it whilst we wait their return, and Mrs. Harker\nhas written with her typewriter all since she brought the MS. to us." ]

[ "\n\n_29 October._--This is written in the train from Varna to Galatz.", "Last\nnight we all assembled a little before the time of sunset.", "Each of us\nhad done his work as well as he could; so far as thought, and endeavour,\nand opportunity go, we are prepared for the whole of our journey, and\nfor our work when we get to Galatz.", "When the usual time came round Mrs.\nHarker prepared herself for her hypnotic effort; and after a longer and\nmore serious effort on the part of Van Helsing than has been usually\nnecessary, she sank into the trance.", "Usually she speaks on a hint; but\nthis time the Professor had to ask her questions, and to ask them pretty\nresolutely, before we could learn anything; at last her answer came:--\n\n\"I can see nothing; we are still; there are no waves lapping, but only a\nsteady swirl of water softly running against the hawser.", "I can hear\nmen's voices calling, near and far, and the roll and creak of oars in\nthe rowlocks.", "A gun is fired somewhere; the echo of it seems far away.", "There is tramping of feet overhead, and ropes and chains are dragged\nalong.", "What is this?", "There is a gleam of light; I can feel the air\nblowing upon me.\"", "Here she stopped.", "She had risen, as if impulsively, from where she lay\non the sofa, and raised both her hands, palms upwards, as if lifting a\nweight.", "Van Helsing and I looked at each other with understanding.", "Quincey raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her intently, whilst\nHarker's hand instinctively closed round the hilt of his Kukri.", "There\nwas a long pause.", "We all knew that the time when she could speak was\npassing; but we felt that it was useless to say anything.", "Suddenly she\nsat up, and, as she opened her eyes, said sweetly:--\n\n\"Would none of you like a cup of tea?", "You must all be so tired!\"", "We\ncould only make her happy, and so acquiesced.", "She bustled off to get\ntea; when she had gone Van Helsing said:--\n\n\"You see, my friends.", "_He_ is close to land: he has left his\nearth-chest.", "But he has yet to get on shore.", "In the night he may lie\nhidden somewhere; but if he be not carried on shore, or if the ship do\nnot touch it, he cannot achieve the land.", "In such case he can, if it be\nin the night, change his form and can jump or fly on shore, as he did\nat Whitby.", "But if the day come before he get on shore, then, unless he\nbe carried he cannot escape.", "And if he be carried, then the customs men\nmay discover what the box contain.", "Thus, in fine, if he escape not on\nshore to-night, or before dawn, there will be the whole day lost to him.", "We may then arrive in time; for if he escape not at night we shall come\non him in daytime, boxed up and at our mercy; for he dare not be his\ntrue self, awake and visible, lest he be discovered.\"", "There was no more to be said, so we waited in patience until the dawn;\nat which time we might learn more from Mrs. Harker.", "Early this morning we listened, with breathless anxiety, for her\nresponse in her trance.", "The hypnotic stage was even longer in coming\nthan before; and when it came the time remaining until full sunrise was\nso short that we began to despair.", "Van Helsing seemed to throw his whole\nsoul into the effort; at last, in obedience to his will she made\nreply:--\n\n\"All is dark.", "I hear lapping water, level with me, and some creaking as\nof wood on wood.\"", "She paused, and the red sun shot up.", "We must wait till\nto-night.", "And so it is that we are travelling towards Galatz in an agony of\nexpectation.", "We are due to arrive between two and three in the morning;\nbut already, at Bucharest, we are three hours late, so we cannot\npossibly get in till well after sun-up.", "Thus we shall have two more\nhypnotic messages from Mrs. Harker; either or both may possibly throw\nmore light on what is happening.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Sunset has come and gone.", "Fortunately it came at a time when\nthere was no distraction; for had it occurred whilst we were at a\nstation, we might not have secured the necessary calm and isolation.", "Mrs. Harker yielded to the hypnotic influence even less readily than\nthis morning.", "I am in fear that her power of reading the Count's\nsensations may die away, just when we want it most.", "It seems to me that\nher imagination is beginning to work.", "Whilst she has been in the trance\nhitherto she has confined herself to the simplest of facts.", "If this goes\non it may ultimately mislead us.", "If I thought that the Count's power\nover her would die away equally with her power of knowledge it would be\na happy thought; but I am afraid that it may not be so.", "When she did\nspeak, her words were enigmatical:--\n\n\"Something is going out; I can feel it pass me like a cold wind.", "I can\nhear, far off, confused sounds--as of men talking in strange tongues,\nfierce-falling water, and the howling of wolves.\"", "She stopped and a\nshudder ran through her, increasing in intensity for a few seconds,\ntill, at the end, she shook as though in a palsy.", "She said no more, even\nin answer to the Professor's imperative questioning.", "When she woke from\nthe trance, she was cold, and exhausted, and languid; but her mind was\nall alert.", "She could not remember anything, but asked what she had said;\nwhen she was told, she pondered over it deeply for a long time and in\nsilence.", "* * * * *\n\n_30 October, 7 a. m._--We are near Galatz now, and I may not have time\nto write later.", "Sunrise this morning was anxiously looked for by us all.", "Knowing of the increasing difficulty of procuring the hypnotic trance,\nVan Helsing began his passes earlier than usual.", "They produced no\neffect, however, until the regular time, when she yielded with a still\ngreater difficulty, only a minute before the sun rose.", "The Professor\nlost no time in his questioning; her answer came with equal quickness:--\n\n\"All is dark.", "I hear water swirling by, level with my ears, and the\ncreaking of wood on wood.", "Cattle low far off.", "There is another sound, a\nqueer one like----\" She stopped and grew white, and whiter still.", "\"Go on; go on!", "Speak, I command you!\"", "said Van Helsing in an agonised\nvoice.", "At the same time there was despair in his eyes, for the risen sun\nwas reddening even Mrs. Harker's pale face.", "She opened her eyes, and we\nall started as she said, sweetly and seemingly with the utmost\nunconcern:--\n\n\"Oh, Professor, why ask me to do what you know I can't?", "I don't remember\nanything.\"", "Then, seeing the look of amazement on our faces, she said,\nturning from one to the other with a troubled look:--\n\n\"What have I said?", "What have I done?", "I know nothing, only that I was\nlying here, half asleep, and heard you say go on!", "speak, I command you!'", "It seemed so funny to hear you order me about, as if I were a bad\nchild!\"", "\"Oh, Madam Mina,\" he said, sadly, \"it is proof, if proof be needed, of\nhow I love and honour you, when a word for your good, spoken more\nearnest than ever, can seem so strange because it is to order her whom I\nam proud to obey!\"", "The whistles are sounding; we are nearing Galatz.", "We are on fire with\nanxiety and eagerness.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_30 October._--Mr. Morris took me to the hotel where our rooms had been\nordered by telegraph, he being the one who could best be spared, since\nhe does not speak any foreign language.", "The forces were distributed\nmuch as they had been at Varna, except that Lord Godalming went to the\nVice-Consul, as his rank might serve as an immediate guarantee of some\nsort to the official, we being in extreme hurry.", "Jonathan and the two\ndoctors went to the shipping agent to learn particulars of the arrival\nof the _Czarina Catherine_.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Lord Godalming has returned.", "The Consul is away, and the\nVice-Consul sick; so the routine work has been attended to by a clerk.", "He was very obliging, and offered to do anything in his power.", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_30 October._--At nine o'clock Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and I called\non Messrs. Mackenzie & Steinkoff, the agents of the London firm of\nHapgood.", "They had received a wire from London, in answer to Lord\nGodalming's telegraphed request, asking us to show them any civility in\ntheir power.", "They were more than kind and courteous, and took us at once\non board the _Czarina Catherine_, which lay at anchor out in the river\nharbour.", "There we saw the Captain, Donelson by name, who told us of his\nvoyage.", "He said that in all his life he had never had so favourable a\nrun.", "\"Man!\"", "he said, \"but it made us afeard, for we expeckit that we should\nhave to pay for it wi' some rare piece o' ill luck, so as to keep up the\naverage.", "It's no canny to run frae London to the Black Sea wi' a wind\nahint ye, as though the Deil himself were blawin' on yer sail for his\nain purpose.", "An' a' the time we could no speer a thing.", "Gin we were nigh\na ship, or a port, or a headland, a fog fell on us and travelled wi' us,\ntill when after it had lifted and we looked out, the deil a thing could\nwe see.", "We ran by Gibraltar wi'oot bein' able to signal; an' till we\ncame to the Dardanelles and had to wait to get our permit to pass, we\nnever were within hail o' aught.", "At first I inclined to slack off sail\nand beat about till the fog was lifted; but whiles, I thocht that if the\nDeil was minded to get us into the Black Sea quick, he was like to do it\nwhether we would or no.", "If we had a quick voyage it would be no to our\nmiscredit wi' the owners, or no hurt to our traffic; an' the Old Mon who\nhad served his ain purpose wad be decently grateful to us for no\nhinderin' him.\"", "This mixture of simplicity and cunning, of superstition\nand commercial reasoning, aroused Van Helsing, who said:--\n\n\"Mine friend, that Devil is more clever than he is thought by some; and\nhe know when he meet his match!\"", "The skipper was not displeased with the\ncompliment, and went on:--\n\n\"When we got past the Bosphorus the men began to grumble; some o' them,\nthe Roumanians, came and asked me to heave overboard a big box which had\nbeen put on board by a queer lookin' old man just before we had started\nfrae London.", "I had seen them speer at the fellow, and put out their twa\nfingers when they saw him, to guard against the evil eye.", "Man!", "but the\nsupersteetion of foreigners is pairfectly rideeculous!", "I sent them aboot\ntheir business pretty quick; but as just after a fog closed in on us I\nfelt a wee bit as they did anent something, though I wouldn't say it was\nagin the big box.", "Well, on we went, and as the fog didn't let up for\nfive days I joost let the wind carry us; for if the Deil wanted to get\nsomewheres--well, he would fetch it up a'reet.", "An' if he didn't, well,\nwe'd keep a sharp lookout anyhow.", "Sure eneuch, we had a fair way and\ndeep water all the time; and two days ago, when the mornin' sun came\nthrough the fog, we found ourselves just in the river opposite Galatz.", "The Roumanians were wild, and wanted me right or wrong to take out the\nbox and fling it in the river.", "I had to argy wi' them aboot it wi' a\nhandspike; an' when the last o' them rose off the deck wi' his head in\nhis hand, I had convinced them that, evil eye or no evil eye, the\nproperty and the trust of my owners were better in my hands than in the\nriver Danube.", "They had, mind ye, taken the box on the deck ready to\nfling in, and as it was marked Galatz _via_ Varna, I thocht I'd let it\nlie till we discharged in the port an' get rid o't althegither.", "We\ndidn't do much clearin' that day, an' had to remain the nicht at anchor;\nbut in the mornin', braw an' airly, an hour before sun-up, a man came\naboard wi' an order, written to him from England, to receive a box\nmarked for one Count Dracula.", "Sure eneuch the matter was one ready to\nhis hand.", "He had his papers a' reet, an' glad I was to be rid o' the\ndam' thing, for I was beginnin' masel' to feel uneasy at it.", "If the Deil\ndid have any luggage aboord the ship, I'm thinkin' it was nane ither\nthan that same!\"", "\"What was the name of the man who took it?\"", "asked Dr. Van Helsing with\nrestrained eagerness.", "\"I'll be tellin' ye quick!\"", "he answered, and, stepping down to his\ncabin, produced a receipt signed \"Immanuel Hildesheim.\"", "Burgen-strasse\n16 was the address.", "We found out that this was all the Captain knew; so\nwith thanks we came away.", "We found Hildesheim in his office, a Hebrew of rather the Adelphi\nTheatre type, with a nose like a sheep, and a fez.", "His arguments were\npointed with specie--we doing the punctuation--and with a little\nbargaining he told us what he knew.", "This turned out to be simple but\nimportant.", "He had received a letter from Mr. de Ville of London, telling\nhim to receive, if possible before sunrise so as to avoid customs, a box\nwhich would arrive at Galatz in the _Czarina Catherine_.", "This he was to\ngive in charge to a certain Petrof Skinsky, who dealt with the Slovaks\nwho traded down the river to the port.", "He had been paid for his work by\nan English bank note, which had been duly cashed for gold at the Danube\nInternational Bank.", "When Skinsky had come to him, he had taken him to\nthe ship and handed over the box, so as to save porterage.", "That was all\nhe knew.", "We then sought for Skinsky, but were unable to find him.", "One of his\nneighbours, who did not seem to bear him any affection, said that he had\ngone away two days before, no one knew whither.", "This was corroborated by\nhis landlord, who had received by messenger the key of the house\ntogether with the rent due, in English money.", "This had been between ten\nand eleven o'clock last night.", "We were at a standstill again.", "Whilst we were talking one came running and breathlessly gasped out that\nthe body of Skinsky had been found inside the wall of the churchyard of\nSt. Peter, and that the throat had been torn open as if by some wild\nanimal.", "Those we had been speaking with ran off to see the horror, the\nwomen crying out \"This is the work of a Slovak!\"", "We hurried away lest we\nshould have been in some way drawn into the affair, and so detained.", "As we came home we could arrive at no definite conclusion.", "We were all\nconvinced that the box was on its way, by water, to somewhere; but where\nthat might be we would have to discover.", "With heavy hearts we came home\nto the hotel to Mina.", "When we met together, the first thing was to consult as to taking Mina\nagain into our confidence.", "Things are getting desperate, and it is at\nleast a chance, though a hazardous one.", "As a preliminary step, I was\nreleased from my promise to her.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_30 October, evening._--They were so tired and worn out and dispirited\nthat there was nothing to be done till they had some rest; so I asked\nthem all to lie down for half an hour whilst I should enter everything\nup to the moment.", "I feel so grateful to the man who invented the\n\"Traveller's\" typewriter, and to Mr. Morris for getting this one for\nme.", "I should have felt quite; astray doing the work if I had to write\nwith a pen....", "It is all done; poor dear, dear Jonathan, what he must have suffered,\nwhat must he be suffering now.", "He lies on the sofa hardly seeming to\nbreathe, and his whole body appears in collapse.", "His brows are knit; his\nface is drawn with pain.", "Poor fellow, maybe he is thinking, and I can\nsee his face all wrinkled up with the concentration of his thoughts.", "Oh!", "if I could only help at all....", "I shall do what I can.", "I have asked Dr. Van Helsing, and he has got me all the papers that I\nhave not yet seen.... Whilst they are resting, I shall go over all\ncarefully, and perhaps I may arrive at some conclusion.", "I shall try to\nfollow the Professor's example, and think without prejudice on the facts\nbefore me....\n\n * * * * *\n\nI do believe that under God's providence I have made a discovery.", "I\nshall get the maps and look over them....\n\n * * * * *\n\nI am more than ever sure that I am right.", "My new conclusion is ready, so\nI shall get our party together and read it.", "They can judge it; it is\nwell to be accurate, and every minute is precious.", "_Mina Harker's Memorandum._\n\n(Entered in her Journal.)", "_Ground of inquiry._--Count Dracula's problem is to get back to his own\nplace.", "(_a_) He must be _brought back_ by some one.", "This is evident; for had he\npower to move himself as he wished he could go either as man, or wolf,\nor bat, or in some other way.", "He evidently fears discovery or\ninterference, in the state of helplessness in which he must be--confined\nas he is between dawn and sunset in his wooden box.", "(_b_) _How is he to be taken?_--Here a process of exclusions may help\nus.", "By road, by rail, by water?", "1.", "_By Road._--There are endless difficulties, especially in leaving the\ncity.", "(_x_) There are people; and people are curious, and investigate.", "A hint,\na surmise, a doubt as to what might be in the box, would destroy him.", "(_y_) There are, or there may be, customs and octroi officers to pass.", "(_z_) His pursuers might follow.", "This is his highest fear; and in order\nto prevent his being betrayed he has repelled, so far as he can, even\nhis victim--me!", "2.", "_By Rail._--There is no one in charge of the box.", "It would have to\ntake its chance of being delayed; and delay would be fatal, with enemies\non the track.", "True, he might escape at night; but what would he be, if\nleft in a strange place with no refuge that he could fly to?", "This is not\nwhat he intends; and he does not mean to risk it.", "3.", "_By Water._--Here is the safest way, in one respect, but with most\ndanger in another.", "On the water he is powerless except at night; even\nthen he can only summon fog and storm and snow and his wolves.", "But were\nhe wrecked, the living water would engulf him, helpless; and he would\nindeed be lost.", "He could have the vessel drive to land; but if it were\nunfriendly land, wherein he was not free to move, his position would\nstill be desperate.", "We know from the record that he was on the water; so what we have to do\nis to ascertain _what_ water.", "The first thing is to realise exactly what he has done as yet; we may,\nthen, get a light on what his later task is to be.", "_Firstly._--We must differentiate between what he did in London as part\nof his general plan of action, when he was pressed for moments and had\nto arrange as best he could.", "_Secondly_ we must see, as well as we can surmise it from the facts we\nknow of, what he has done here.", "As to the first, he evidently intended to arrive at Galatz, and sent\ninvoice to Varna to deceive us lest we should ascertain his means of\nexit from England; his immediate and sole purpose then was to escape.", "The proof of this, is the letter of instructions sent to Immanuel\nHildesheim to clear and take away the box _before sunrise_.", "There is\nalso the instruction to Petrof Skinsky.", "These we must only guess at; but\nthere must have been some letter or message, since Skinsky came to\nHildesheim.", "That, so far, his plans were successful we know.", "The _Czarina Catherine_\nmade a phenomenally quick journey--so much so that Captain Donelson's\nsuspicions were aroused; but his superstition united with his canniness\nplayed the Count's game for him, and he ran with his favouring wind\nthrough fogs and all till he brought up blindfold at Galatz.", "That the\nCount's arrangements were well made, has been proved.", "Hildesheim cleared\nthe box, took it off, and gave it to Skinsky.", "Skinsky took it--and here\nwe lose the trail.", "We only know that the box is somewhere on the water,\nmoving along.", "The customs and the octroi, if there be any, have been\navoided.", "Now we come to what the Count must have done after his arrival--_on\nland_, at Galatz.", "The box was given to Skinsky before sunrise.", "At sunrise the Count could\nappear in his own form.", "Here, we ask why Skinsky was chosen at all to\naid in the work?", "In my husband's diary, Skinsky is mentioned as dealing\nwith the Slovaks who trade down the river to the port; and the man's\nremark, that the murder was the work of a Slovak, showed the general\nfeeling against his class.", "The Count wanted isolation.", "My surmise is, this: that in London the Count decided to get back to his\ncastle by water, as the most safe and secret way.", "He was brought from\nthe castle by Szgany, and probably they delivered their cargo to Slovaks\nwho took the boxes to Varna, for there they were shipped for London.", "Thus the Count had knowledge of the persons who could arrange this\nservice.", "When the box was on land, before sunrise or after sunset, he\ncame out from his box, met Skinsky and instructed him what to do as to\narranging the carriage of the box up some river.", "When this was done, and\nhe knew that all was in train, he blotted out his traces, as he thought,\nby murdering his agent.", "I have examined the map and find that the river most suitable for the\nSlovaks to have ascended is either the Pruth or the Sereth.", "I read in\nthe typescript that in my trance I heard cows low and water swirling\nlevel with my ears and the creaking of wood.", "The Count in his box, then,\nwas on a river in an open boat--propelled probably either by oars or\npoles, for the banks are near and it is working against stream.", "There\nwould be no such sound if floating down stream.", "Of course it may not be either the Sereth or the Pruth, but we may\npossibly investigate further.", "Now of these two, the Pruth is the more\neasily navigated, but the Sereth is, at Fundu, joined by the Bistritza\nwhich runs up round the Borgo Pass.", "The loop it makes is manifestly as\nclose to Dracula's castle as can be got by water.", "_Mina Harker's Journal--continued._\n\nWhen I had done reading, Jonathan took me in his arms and kissed me.", "The\nothers kept shaking me by both hands, and Dr. Van Helsing said:--\n\n\"Our dear Madam Mina is once more our teacher.", "Her eyes have been where\nwe were blinded.", "Now we are on the track once again, and this time we\nmay succeed.", "Our enemy is at his most helpless; and if we can come on\nhim by day, on the water, our task will be over.", "He has a start, but he\nis powerless to hasten, as he may not leave his box lest those who carry\nhim may suspect; for them to suspect would be to prompt them to throw\nhim in the stream where he perish.", "This he knows, and will not.", "Now men,\nto our Council of War; for, here and now, we must plan what each and all\nshall do.\"", "\"I shall get a steam launch and follow him,\" said Lord Godalming.", "\"And I, horses to follow on the bank lest by chance he land,\" said Mr.\nMorris.", "\"Good!\"", "said the Professor, \"both good.", "But neither must go alone.", "There\nmust be force to overcome force if need be; the Slovak is strong and\nrough, and he carries rude arms.\"", "All the men smiled, for amongst them\nthey carried a small arsenal.", "Said Mr. Morris:--\n\n\"I have brought some Winchesters; they are pretty handy in a crowd, and\nthere may be wolves.", "The Count, if you remember, took some other\nprecautions; he made some requisitions on others that Mrs. Harker could\nnot quite hear or understand.", "We must be ready at all points.\"", "Dr.\nSeward said:--\n\n\"I think I had better go with Quincey.", "We have been accustomed to hunt\ntogether, and we two, well armed, will be a match for whatever may come\nalong.", "You must not be alone, Art.", "It may be necessary to fight the\nSlovaks, and a chance thrust--for I don't suppose these fellows carry\nguns--would undo all our plans.", "There must be no chances, this time; we\nshall, not rest until the Count's head and body have been separated, and\nwe are sure that he cannot re-incarnate.\"", "He looked at Jonathan as he\nspoke, and Jonathan looked at me.", "I could see that the poor dear was\ntorn about in his mind.", "Of course he wanted to be with me; but then the\nboat service would, most likely, be the one which would destroy the ...\nthe ... the ... Vampire.", "(Why did I hesitate to write the word?)", "He was\nsilent awhile, and during his silence Dr. Van Helsing spoke:--\n\n\"Friend Jonathan, this is to you for twice reasons.", "First, because you\nare young and brave and can fight, and all energies may be needed at the\nlast; and again that it is your right to destroy him--that--which has\nwrought such woe to you and yours.", "Be not afraid for Madam Mina; she\nwill be my care, if I may.", "I am old.", "My legs are not so quick to run as\nonce; and I am not used to ride so long or to pursue as need be, or to\nfight with lethal weapons.", "But I can be of other service; I can fight in\nother way.", "And I can die, if need be, as well as younger men.", "Now let\nme say that what I would is this: while you, my Lord Godalming and\nfriend Jonathan go in your so swift little steamboat up the river, and\nwhilst John and Quincey guard the bank where perchance he might be\nlanded, I will take Madam Mina right into the heart of the enemy's\ncountry.", "Whilst the old fox is tied in his box, floating on the running\nstream whence he cannot escape to land--where he dares not raise the lid\nof his coffin-box lest his Slovak carriers should in fear leave him to\nperish--we shall go in the track where Jonathan went,--from Bistritz\nover the Borgo, and find our way to the Castle of Dracula.", "Here, Madam\nMina's hypnotic power will surely help, and we shall find our way--all\ndark and unknown otherwise--after the first sunrise when we are near\nthat fateful place.", "There is much to be done, and other places to be\nmade sanctify, so that that nest of vipers be obliterated.\"", "Here\nJonathan interrupted him hotly:--\n\n\"Do you mean to say, Professor Van Helsing, that you would bring Mina,\nin her sad case and tainted as she is with that devil's illness, right\ninto the jaws of his death-trap?", "Not for the world!", "Not for Heaven or\nHell!\"", "He became almost speechless for a minute, and then went on:--\n\n\"Do you know what the place is?", "Have you seen that awful den of hellish\ninfamy--with the very moonlight alive with grisly shapes, and every\nspeck of dust that whirls in the wind a devouring monster in embryo?", "Have you felt the Vampire's lips upon your throat?\"", "Here he turned to\nme, and as his eyes lit on my forehead he threw up his arms with a cry:\n\"Oh, my God, what have we done to have this terror upon us!\"", "and he sank\ndown on the sofa in a collapse of misery.", "The Professor's voice, as he\nspoke in clear, sweet tones, which seemed to vibrate in the air, calmed\nus all:--\n\n\"Oh, my friend, it is because I would save Madam Mina from that awful\nplace that I would go.", "God forbid that I should take her into that\nplace.", "There is work--wild work--to be done there, that her eyes may not\nsee.", "We men here, all save Jonathan, have seen with their own eyes what\nis to be done before that place can be purify.", "Remember that we are in\nterrible straits.", "If the Count escape us this time--and he is strong and\nsubtle and cunning--he may choose to sleep him for a century, and then\nin time our dear one\"--he took my hand--\"would come to him to keep him\ncompany, and would be as those others that you, Jonathan, saw.", "You have\ntold us of their gloating lips; you heard their ribald laugh as they\nclutched the moving bag that the Count threw to them.", "You shudder; and\nwell may it be.", "Forgive me that I make you so much pain, but it is\nnecessary.", "My friend, is it not a dire need for the which I am giving,\npossibly my life?", "If it were that any one went into that place to stay,\nit is I who would have to go to keep them company.\"", "\"Do as you will,\" said Jonathan, with a sob that shook him all over, \"we\nare in the hands of God!\"", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--Oh, it did me good to see the way that these brave men worked.", "How can women help loving men when they are so earnest, and so true, and\nso brave!", "And, too, it made me think of the wonderful power of money!", "What can it not do when it is properly applied; and what might it do\nwhen basely used.", "I felt so thankful that Lord Godalming is rich, and\nthat both he and Mr. Morris, who also has plenty of money, are willing\nto spend it so freely.", "For if they did not, our little expedition could\nnot start, either so promptly or so well equipped, as it will within\nanother hour.", "It is not three hours since it was arranged what part each\nof us was to do; and now Lord Godalming and Jonathan have a lovely steam\nlaunch, with steam up ready to start at a moment's notice.", "Dr. Seward\nand Mr. Morris have half a dozen good horses, well appointed.", "We have\nall the maps and appliances of various kinds that can be had.", "Professor\nVan Helsing and I are to leave by the 11:40 train to-night for Veresti,\nwhere we are to get a carriage to drive to the Borgo Pass.", "We are\nbringing a good deal of ready money, as we are to buy a carriage and\nhorses.", "We shall drive ourselves, for we have no one whom we can trust\nin the matter.", "The Professor knows something of a great many languages,\nso we shall get on all right.", "We have all got arms, even for me a\nlarge-bore revolver; Jonathan would not be happy unless I was armed like\nthe rest.", "Alas!", "I cannot carry one arm that the rest do; the scar on my\nforehead forbids that.", "Dear Dr. Van Helsing comforts me by telling me\nthat I am fully armed as there may be wolves; the weather is getting\ncolder every hour, and there are snow-flurries which come and go as\nwarnings.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--It took all my courage to say good-bye to my darling.", "We may\nnever meet again.", "Courage, Mina!", "the Professor is looking at you keenly;\nhis look is a warning.", "There must be no tears now--unless it may be that\nGod will let them fall in gladness.", "_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_October 30.", "Night._--I am writing this in the light from the furnace\ndoor of the steam launch: Lord Godalming is firing up.", "He is an\nexperienced hand at the work, as he has had for years a launch of his\nown on the Thames, and another on the Norfolk Broads.", "Regarding our\nplans, we finally decided that Mina's guess was correct, and that if any\nwaterway was chosen for the Count's escape back to his Castle, the\nSereth and then the Bistritza at its junction, would be the one.", "We took\nit, that somewhere about the 47th degree, north latitude, would be the\nplace chosen for the crossing the country between the river and the\nCarpathians.", "We have no fear in running at good speed up the river at\nnight; there is plenty of water, and the banks are wide enough apart to\nmake steaming, even in the dark, easy enough.", "Lord Godalming tells me to\nsleep for a while, as it is enough for the present for one to be on\nwatch.", "But I cannot sleep--how can I with the terrible danger hanging\nover my darling, and her going out into that awful place.... My only\ncomfort is that we are in the hands of God.", "Only for that faith it would\nbe easier to die than to live, and so be quit of all the trouble.", "Mr.\nMorris and Dr. Seward were off on their long ride before we started;\nthey are to keep up the right bank, far enough off to get on higher\nlands where they can see a good stretch of river and avoid the following\nof its curves.", "They have, for the first stages, two men to ride and lead\ntheir spare horses--four in all, so as not to excite curiosity.", "When\nthey dismiss the men, which shall be shortly, they shall themselves look\nafter the horses.", "It may be necessary for us to join forces; if so they\ncan mount our whole party.", "One of the saddles has a movable horn, and\ncan be easily adapted for Mina, if required.", "It is a wild adventure we are on.", "Here, as we are rushing along through\nthe darkness, with the cold from the river seeming to rise up and strike\nus; with all the mysterious voices of the night around us, it all comes\nhome.", "We seem to be drifting into unknown places and unknown ways; into\na whole world of dark and dreadful things.", "Godalming is shutting the\nfurnace door....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_31 October._--Still hurrying along.", "The day has come, and Godalming is\nsleeping.", "I am on watch.", "The morning is bitterly cold; the furnace heat\nis grateful, though we have heavy fur coats.", "As yet we have passed only\na few open boats, but none of them had on board any box or package of\nanything like the size of the one we seek.", "The men were scared every\ntime we turned our electric lamp on them, and fell on their knees and\nprayed.", "* * * * *\n\n_1 November, evening._--No news all day; we have found nothing of the\nkind we seek.", "We have now passed into the Bistritza; and if we are wrong\nin our surmise our chance is gone.", "We have over-hauled every boat, big\nand little.", "Early this morning, one crew took us for a Government boat,\nand treated us accordingly.", "We saw in this a way of smoothing matters,\nso at Fundu, where the Bistritza runs into the Sereth, we got a\nRoumanian flag which we now fly conspicuously.", "With every boat which we\nhave over-hauled since then this trick has succeeded; we have had every\ndeference shown to us, and not once any objection to whatever we chose\nto ask or do.", "Some of the Slovaks tell us that a big boat passed them,\ngoing at more than usual speed as she had a double crew on board.", "This\nwas before they came to Fundu, so they could not tell us whether the\nboat turned into the Bistritza or continued on up the Sereth.", "At Fundu\nwe could not hear of any such boat, so she must have passed there in the\nnight.", "I am feeling very sleepy; the cold is perhaps beginning to tell\nupon me, and nature must have rest some time.", "Godalming insists that he\nshall keep the first watch.", "God bless him for all his goodness to poor\ndear Mina and me.", "* * * * *\n\n_2 November, morning._--It is broad daylight.", "That good fellow would not\nwake me.", "He says it would have been a sin to, for I slept peacefully and\nwas forgetting my trouble.", "It seems brutally selfish to me to have slept\nso long, and let him watch all night; but he was quite right.", "I am a new\nman this morning; and, as I sit here and watch him sleeping, I can do\nall that is necessary both as to minding the engine, steering, and\nkeeping watch.", "I can feel that my strength and energy are coming back to\nme.", "I wonder where Mina is now, and Van Helsing.", "They should have got to\nVeresti about noon on Wednesday.", "It would take them some time to get the\ncarriage and horses; so if they had started and travelled hard, they\nwould be about now at the Borgo Pass.", "God guide and help them!", "I am\nafraid to think what may happen.", "If we could only go faster!", "but we\ncannot; the engines are throbbing and doing their utmost.", "I wonder how\nDr. Seward and Mr. Morris are getting on.", "There seem to be endless\nstreams running down the mountains into this river, but as none of them\nare very large--at present, at all events, though they are terrible\ndoubtless in winter and when the snow melts--the horsemen may not have\nmet much obstruction.", "I hope that before we get to Strasba we may see\nthem; for if by that time we have not overtaken the Count, it may be\nnecessary to take counsel together what to do next.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_2 November._--Three days on the road.", "No news, and no time to write it\nif there had been, for every moment is precious.", "We have had only the\nrest needful for the horses; but we are both bearing it wonderfully.", "Those adventurous days of ours are turning up useful.", "We must push on;\nwe shall never feel happy till we get the launch in sight again.", "* * * * *\n\n_3 November._--We heard at Fundu that the launch had gone up the\nBistritza.", "I wish it wasn't so cold.", "There are signs of snow coming; and\nif it falls heavy it will stop us.", "In such case we must get a sledge and\ngo on, Russian fashion.", "* * * * *\n\n_4 November._--To-day we heard of the launch having been detained by an\naccident when trying to force a way up the rapids.", "The Slovak boats get\nup all right, by aid of a rope and steering with knowledge.", "Some went up\nonly a few hours before.", "Godalming is an amateur fitter himself, and\nevidently it was he who put the launch in trim again.", "Finally, they got\nup the rapids all right, with local help, and are off on the chase\nafresh.", "I fear that the boat is not any better for the accident; the\npeasantry tell us that after she got upon smooth water again, she kept\nstopping every now and again so long as she was in sight.", "We must push\non harder than ever; our help may be wanted soon.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_31 October._--Arrived at Veresti at noon.", "The Professor tells me that\nthis morning at dawn he could hardly hypnotise me at all, and that all I\ncould say was: \"dark and quiet.\"", "He is off now buying a carriage and\nhorses.", "He says that he will later on try to buy additional horses, so\nthat we may be able to change them on the way.", "We have something more\nthan 70 miles before us.", "The country is lovely, and most interesting; if\nonly we were under different conditions, how delightful it would be to\nsee it all.", "If Jonathan and I were driving through it alone what a\npleasure it would be.", "To stop and see people, and learn something of\ntheir life, and to fill our minds and memories with all the colour and\npicturesqueness of the whole wild, beautiful country and the quaint\npeople!", "But, alas!--\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Later._--Dr. Van Helsing has returned.", "He has got the carriage and\nhorses; we are to have some dinner, and to start in an hour.", "The\nlandlady is putting us up a huge basket of provisions; it seems enough\nfor a company of soldiers.", "The Professor encourages her, and whispers to\nme that it may be a week before we can get any good food again.", "He has\nbeen shopping too, and has sent home such a wonderful lot of fur coats\nand wraps, and all sorts of warm things.", "There will not be any chance of\nour being cold.", "* * * * *\n\nWe shall soon be off.", "I am afraid to think what may happen to us.", "We are\ntruly in the hands of God.", "He alone knows what may be, and I pray Him,\nwith all the strength of my sad and humble soul, that He will watch over\nmy beloved husband; that whatever may happen, Jonathan may know that I\nloved him and honoured him more than I can say, and that my latest and\ntruest thought will be always for him." ]

[ "There is tramping of feet overhead, and ropes and chains are dragged\nalong.", "She opened her eyes, and we\nall started as she said, sweetly and seemingly with the utmost\nunconcern:--\n\n\"Oh, Professor, why ask me to do what you know I can't?", "At first I inclined to slack off sail\nand beat about till the fog was lifted; but whiles, I thocht that if the\nDeil was minded to get us into the Black Sea quick, he was like to do it\nwhether we would or no.", "Well, on we went, and as the fog didn't let up for\nfive days I joost let the wind carry us; for if the Deil wanted to get\nsomewheres--well, he would fetch it up a'reet.", "His arguments were\npointed with specie--we doing the punctuation--and with a little\nbargaining he told us what he knew.", "They can judge it; it is\nwell to be accurate, and every minute is precious.", "(_a_) He must be _brought back_ by some one.", "That, so far, his plans were successful we know.", "It is not three hours since it was arranged what part each\nof us was to do; and now Lord Godalming and Jonathan have a lovely steam\nlaunch, with steam up ready to start at a moment's notice.", "The country is lovely, and most interesting; if\nonly we were under different conditions, how delightful it would be to\nsee it all." ]

[ "We are\ntruly in the hands of God.", "The forces were distributed\nmuch as they had been at Varna, except that Lord Godalming went to the\nVice-Consul, as his rank might serve as an immediate guarantee of some\nsort to the official, we being in extreme hurry.", "The Consul is away, and the\nVice-Consul sick; so the routine work has been attended to by a clerk.", "God forbid that I should take her into that\nplace.", "The Count wanted isolation.", "We may\nnever meet again.", "If the Deil\ndid have any luggage aboord the ship, I'm thinkin' it was nane ither\nthan that same!\"", "(_x_) There are people; and people are curious, and investigate.", "When she did\nspeak, her words were enigmatical:--\n\n\"Something is going out; I can feel it pass me like a cold wind.", "The whistles are sounding; we are nearing Galatz." ]

[ "There is\nalso the instruction to Petrof Skinsky.", "These we must only guess at; but\nthere must have been some letter or message, since Skinsky came to\nHildesheim.", "That, so far, his plans were successful we know.", "The _Czarina Catherine_\nmade a phenomenally quick journey--so much so that Captain Donelson's\nsuspicions were aroused; but his superstition united with his canniness\nplayed the Count's game for him, and he ran with his favouring wind\nthrough fogs and all till he brought up blindfold at Galatz.", "That the\nCount's arrangements were well made, has been proved.", "Hildesheim cleared\nthe box, took it off, and gave it to Skinsky.", "Skinsky took it--and here\nwe lose the trail.", "We only know that the box is somewhere on the water,\nmoving along.", "The customs and the octroi, if there be any, have been\navoided.", "Now we come to what the Count must have done after his arrival--_on\nland_, at Galatz.", "The box was given to Skinsky before sunrise." ]

[ "\n\n_29 October._--This is written in the train from Varna to Galatz.", "Last\nnight we all assembled a little before the time of sunset.", "Each of us\nhad done his work as well as he could; so far as thought, and endeavour,\nand opportunity go, we are prepared for the whole of our journey, and\nfor our work when we get to Galatz.", "When the usual time came round Mrs.\nHarker prepared herself for her hypnotic effort; and after a longer and\nmore serious effort on the part of Van Helsing than has been usually\nnecessary, she sank into the trance.", "Usually she speaks on a hint; but\nthis time the Professor had to ask her questions, and to ask them pretty\nresolutely, before we could learn anything; at last her answer came:--\n\n\"I can see nothing; we are still; there are no waves lapping, but only a\nsteady swirl of water softly running against the hawser.", "I can hear\nmen's voices calling, near and far, and the roll and creak of oars in\nthe rowlocks.", "A gun is fired somewhere; the echo of it seems far away.", "There is tramping of feet overhead, and ropes and chains are dragged\nalong.", "What is this?", "There is a gleam of light; I can feel the air\nblowing upon me.\"", "But, alas!--\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Later._--Dr. Van Helsing has returned.", "He has got the carriage and\nhorses; we are to have some dinner, and to start in an hour.", "The\nlandlady is putting us up a huge basket of provisions; it seems enough\nfor a company of soldiers.", "The Professor encourages her, and whispers to\nme that it may be a week before we can get any good food again.", "He has\nbeen shopping too, and has sent home such a wonderful lot of fur coats\nand wraps, and all sorts of warm things.", "There will not be any chance of\nour being cold.", "* * * * *\n\nWe shall soon be off.", "I am afraid to think what may happen to us.", "We are\ntruly in the hands of God.", "He alone knows what may be, and I pray Him,\nwith all the strength of my sad and humble soul, that He will watch over\nmy beloved husband; that whatever may happen, Jonathan may know that I\nloved him and honoured him more than I can say, and that my latest and\ntruest thought will be always for him." ]

[ "\n_1 November._--All day long we have travelled, and at a good speed.", "The\nhorses seem to know that they are being kindly treated, for they go\nwillingly their full stage at best speed.", "We have now had so many\nchanges and find the same thing so constantly that we are encouraged to\nthink that the journey will be an easy one.", "Dr. Van Helsing is laconic;\nhe tells the farmers that he is hurrying to Bistritz, and pays them well\nto make the exchange of horses.", "We get hot soup, or coffee, or tea; and\noff we go.", "It is a lovely country; full of beauties of all imaginable\nkinds, and the people are brave, and strong, and simple, and seem full\nof nice qualities.", "They are _very, very_ superstitious.", "In the first\nhouse where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the scar on my\nforehead, she crossed herself and put out two fingers towards me, to\nkeep off the evil eye.", "I believe they went to the trouble of putting an\nextra amount of garlic into our food; and I can't abide garlic.", "Ever\nsince then I have taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have\nescaped their suspicions.", "We are travelling fast, and as we have no\ndriver with us to carry tales, we go ahead of scandal; but I daresay\nthat fear of the evil eye will follow hard behind us all the way.", "The\nProfessor seems tireless; all day he would not take any rest, though he\nmade me sleep for a long spell.", "At sunset time he hypnotised me, and he\nsays that I answered as usual \"darkness, lapping water and creaking\nwood\"; so our enemy is still on the river.", "I am afraid to think of\nJonathan, but somehow I have now no fear for him, or for myself.", "I write\nthis whilst we wait in a farmhouse for the horses to be got ready.", "Dr.\nVan Helsing is sleeping, Poor dear, he looks very tired and old and\ngrey, but his mouth is set as firmly as a conqueror's; even in his sleep\nhe is instinct with resolution.", "When we have well started I must make\nhim rest whilst I drive.", "I shall tell him that we have days before us,\nand we must not break down when most of all his strength will be\nneeded.... All is ready; we are off shortly.", "* * * * *\n\n_2 November, morning._--I was successful, and we took turns driving all\nnight; now the day is on us, bright though cold.", "There is a strange\nheaviness in the air--I say heaviness for want of a better word; I mean\nthat it oppresses us both.", "It is very cold, and only our warm furs keep\nus comfortable.", "At dawn Van Helsing hypnotised me; he says I answered\n\"darkness, creaking wood and roaring water,\" so the river is changing as\nthey ascend.", "I do hope that my darling will not run any chance of\ndanger--more than need be; but we are in God's hands.", "* * * * *\n\n_2 November, night._--All day long driving.", "The country gets wilder as\nwe go, and the great spurs of the Carpathians, which at Veresti seemed\nso far from us and so low on the horizon, now seem to gather round us\nand tower in front.", "We both seem in good spirits; I think we make an\neffort each to cheer the other; in the doing so we cheer ourselves.", "Dr.\nVan Helsing says that by morning we shall reach the Borgo Pass.", "The\nhouses are very few here now, and the Professor says that the last horse\nwe got will have to go on with us, as we may not be able to change.", "He\ngot two in addition to the two we changed, so that now we have a rude\nfour-in-hand.", "The dear horses are patient and good, and they give us no\ntrouble.", "We are not worried with other travellers, and so even I can\ndrive.", "We shall get to the Pass in daylight; we do not want to arrive\nbefore.", "So we take it easy, and have each a long rest in turn.", "Oh, what\nwill to-morrow bring to us?", "We go to seek the place where my poor\ndarling suffered so much.", "God grant that we may be guided aright, and\nthat He will deign to watch over my husband and those dear to us both,\nand who are in such deadly peril.", "As for me, I am not worthy in His\nsight.", "Alas!", "I am unclean to His eyes, and shall be until He may deign\nto let me stand forth in His sight as one of those who have not incurred\nHis wrath.", "_Memorandum by Abraham Van Helsing._\n\n_4 November._--This to my old and true friend John Seward, M.D., of\nPurfleet, London, in case I may not see him.", "It may explain.", "It is\nmorning, and I write by a fire which all the night I have kept\nalive--Madam Mina aiding me.", "It is cold, cold; so cold that the grey\nheavy sky is full of snow, which when it falls will settle for all\nwinter as the ground is hardening to receive it.", "It seems to have\naffected Madam Mina; she has been so heavy of head all day that she was\nnot like herself.", "She sleeps, and sleeps, and sleeps!", "She who is usual\nso alert, have done literally nothing all the day; she even have lost\nher appetite.", "She make no entry into her little diary, she who write so\nfaithful at every pause.", "Something whisper to me that all is not well.", "However, to-night she is more _vif_.", "Her long sleep all day have refresh\nand restore her, for now she is all sweet and bright as ever.", "At sunset\nI try to hypnotise her, but alas!", "with no effect; the power has grown\nless and less with each day, and to-night it fail me altogether.", "Well,\nGod's will be done--whatever it may be, and whithersoever it may lead!", "Now to the historical, for as Madam Mina write not in her stenography, I\nmust, in my cumbrous old fashion, that so each day of us may not go\nunrecorded.", "We got to the Borgo Pass just after sunrise yesterday morning.", "When I\nsaw the signs of the dawn I got ready for the hypnotism.", "We stopped our\ncarriage, and got down so that there might be no disturbance.", "I made a\ncouch with furs, and Madam Mina, lying down, yield herself as usual, but\nmore slow and more short time than ever, to the hypnotic sleep.", "As\nbefore, came the answer: \"darkness and the swirling of water.\"", "Then she\nwoke, bright and radiant and we go on our way and soon reach the Pass.", "At this time and place, she become all on fire with zeal; some new\nguiding power be in her manifested, for she point to a road and say:--\n\n\"This is the way.\"", "\"How know you it?\"", "I ask.", "\"Of course I know it,\" she answer, and with a pause, add: \"Have not my\nJonathan travelled it and wrote of his travel?\"", "At first I think somewhat strange, but soon I see that there be only one\nsuch by-road.", "It is used but little, and very different from the coach\nroad from the Bukovina to Bistritz, which is more wide and hard, and\nmore of use.", "So we came down this road; when we meet other ways--not always were we\nsure that they were roads at all, for they be neglect and light snow\nhave fallen--the horses know and they only.", "I give rein to them, and\nthey go on so patient.", "By-and-by we find all the things which Jonathan\nhave note in that wonderful diary of him.", "Then we go on for long, long\nhours and hours.", "At the first, I tell Madam Mina to sleep; she try, and\nshe succeed.", "She sleep all the time; till at the last, I feel myself to\nsuspicious grow, and attempt to wake her.", "But she sleep on, and I may\nnot wake her though I try.", "I do not wish to try too hard lest I harm\nher; for I know that she have suffer much, and sleep at times be\nall-in-all to her.", "I think I drowse myself, for all of sudden I feel\nguilt, as though I have done something; I find myself bolt up, with the\nreins in my hand, and the good horses go along jog, jog, just as ever.", "I\nlook down and find Madam Mina still sleep.", "It is now not far off sunset\ntime, and over the snow the light of the sun flow in big yellow flood,\nso that we throw great long shadow on where the mountain rise so steep.", "For we are going up, and up; and all is oh!", "so wild and rocky, as though\nit were the end of the world.", "Then I arouse Madam Mina.", "This time she wake with not much trouble, and\nthen I try to put her to hypnotic sleep.", "But she sleep not, being as\nthough I were not.", "Still I try and try, till all at once I find her and\nmyself in dark; so I look round, and find that the sun have gone down.", "Madam Mina laugh, and I turn and look at her.", "She is now quite awake,\nand look so well as I never saw her since that night at Carfax when we\nfirst enter the Count's house.", "I am amaze, and not at ease then; but she\nis so bright and tender and thoughtful for me that I forget all fear.", "I\nlight a fire, for we have brought supply of wood with us, and she\nprepare food while I undo the horses and set them, tethered in shelter,\nto feed.", "Then when I return to the fire she have my supper ready.", "I go\nto help her; but she smile, and tell me that she have eat already--that\nshe was so hungry that she would not wait.", "I like it not, and I have\ngrave doubts; but I fear to affright her, and so I am silent of it.", "She\nhelp me and I eat alone; and then we wrap in fur and lie beside the\nfire, and I tell her to sleep while I watch.", "But presently I forget all\nof watching; and when I sudden remember that I watch, I find her lying\nquiet, but awake, and looking at me with so bright eyes.", "Once, twice\nmore the same occur, and I get much sleep till before morning.", "When I\nwake I try to hypnotise her; but alas!", "though she shut her eyes\nobedient, she may not sleep.", "The sun rise up, and up, and up; and then\nsleep come to her too late, but so heavy that she will not wake.", "I have\nto lift her up, and place her sleeping in the carriage when I have\nharnessed the horses and made all ready.", "Madam still sleep, and she look\nin her sleep more healthy and more redder than before.", "And I like it\nnot.", "And I am afraid, afraid, afraid!--I am afraid of all things--even\nto think but I must go on my way.", "The stake we play for is life and\ndeath, or more than these, and we must not flinch.", "* * * * *\n\n_5 November, morning._--Let me be accurate in everything, for though you\nand I have seen some strange things together, you may at the first think\nthat I, Van Helsing, am mad--that the many horrors and the so long\nstrain on nerves has at the last turn my brain.", "All yesterday we travel, ever getting closer to the mountains, and\nmoving into a more and more wild and desert land.", "There are great,\nfrowning precipices and much falling water, and Nature seem to have held\nsometime her carnival.", "Madam Mina still sleep and sleep; and though I\ndid have hunger and appeased it, I could not waken her--even for food.", "I\nbegan to fear that the fatal spell of the place was upon her, tainted as\nshe is with that Vampire baptism.", "\"Well,\" said I to myself, \"if it be\nthat she sleep all the day, it shall also be that I do not sleep at\nnight.\"", "As we travel on the rough road, for a road of an ancient and\nimperfect kind there was, I held down my head and slept.", "Again I waked\nwith a sense of guilt and of time passed, and found Madam Mina still\nsleeping, and the sun low down.", "But all was indeed changed; the frowning\nmountains seemed further away, and we were near the top of a\nsteep-rising hill, on summit of which was such a castle as Jonathan tell\nof in his diary.", "At once I exulted and feared; for now, for good or ill,\nthe end was near.", "I woke Madam Mina, and again tried to hypnotise her; but alas!", "unavailing till too late.", "Then, ere the great dark came upon us--for\neven after down-sun the heavens reflected the gone sun on the snow, and\nall was for a time in a great twilight--I took out the horses and fed\nthem in what shelter I could.", "Then I make a fire; and near it I make\nMadam Mina, now awake and more charming than ever, sit comfortable amid\nher rugs.", "I got ready food: but she would not eat, simply saying that\nshe had not hunger.", "I did not press her, knowing her unavailingness.", "But\nI myself eat, for I must needs now be strong for all.", "Then, with the\nfear on me of what might be, I drew a ring so big for her comfort, round\nwhere Madam Mina sat; and over the ring I passed some of the wafer, and\nI broke it fine so that all was well guarded.", "She sat still all the\ntime--so still as one dead; and she grew whiter and ever whiter till the\nsnow was not more pale; and no word she said.", "But when I drew near, she\nclung to me, and I could know that the poor soul shook her from head to\nfeet with a tremor that was pain to feel.", "I said to her presently, when\nshe had grown more quiet:--\n\n\"Will you not come over to the fire?\"", "for I wished to make a test of\nwhat she could.", "She rose obedient, but when she have made a step she\nstopped, and stood as one stricken.", "\"Why not go on?\"", "I asked.", "She shook her head, and, coming back, sat\ndown in her place.", "Then, looking at me with open eyes, as of one waked\nfrom sleep, she said simply:--\n\n\"I cannot!\"", "and remained silent.", "I rejoiced, for I knew that what she\ncould not, none of those that we dreaded could.", "Though there might be\ndanger to her body, yet her soul was safe!", "Presently the horses began to scream, and tore at their tethers till I\ncame to them and quieted them.", "When they did feel my hands on them, they\nwhinnied low as in joy, and licked at my hands and were quiet for a\ntime.", "Many times through the night did I come to them, till it arrive to\nthe cold hour when all nature is at lowest; and every time my coming was\nwith quiet of them.", "In the cold hour the fire began to die, and I was\nabout stepping forth to replenish it, for now the snow came in flying\nsweeps and with it a chill mist.", "Even in the dark there was a light of\nsome kind, as there ever is over snow; and it seemed as though the\nsnow-flurries and the wreaths of mist took shape as of women with\ntrailing garments.", "All was in dead, grim silence only that the horses\nwhinnied and cowered, as if in terror of the worst.", "I began to\nfear--horrible fears; but then came to me the sense of safety in that\nring wherein I stood.", "I began, too, to think that my imaginings were of\nthe night, and the gloom, and the unrest that I have gone through, and\nall the terrible anxiety.", "It was as though my memories of all Jonathan's\nhorrid experience were befooling me; for the snow flakes and the mist\nbegan to wheel and circle round, till I could get as though a shadowy\nglimpse of those women that would have kissed him.", "And then the horses\ncowered lower and lower, and moaned in terror as men do in pain.", "Even\nthe madness of fright was not to them, so that they could break away.", "I\nfeared for my dear Madam Mina when these weird figures drew near and\ncircled round.", "I looked at her, but she sat calm, and smiled at me; when\nI would have stepped to the fire to replenish it, she caught me and held\nme back, and whispered, like a voice that one hears in a dream, so low\nit was:--\n\n\"No!", "No!", "Do not go without.", "Here you are safe!\"", "I turned to her, and\nlooking in her eyes, said:--\n\n\"But you?", "It is for you that I fear!\"", "whereat she laughed--a laugh, low\nand unreal, and said:--\n\n\"Fear for _me_!", "Why fear for me?", "None safer in all the world from them\nthan I am,\" and as I wondered at the meaning of her words, a puff of\nwind made the flame leap up, and I see the red scar on her forehead.", "Then, alas!", "I knew.", "Did I not, I would soon have learned, for the\nwheeling figures of mist and snow came closer, but keeping ever without\nthe Holy circle.", "Then they began to materialise till--if God have not\ntake away my reason, for I saw it through my eyes--there were before me\nin actual flesh the same three women that Jonathan saw in the room, when\nthey would have kissed his throat.", "I knew the swaying round forms, the\nbright hard eyes, the white teeth, the ruddy colour, the voluptuous\nlips.", "They smiled ever at poor dear Madam Mina; and as their laugh came\nthrough the silence of the night, they twined their arms and pointed to\nher, and said in those so sweet tingling tones that Jonathan said were\nof the intolerable sweetness of the water-glasses:--\n\n\"Come, sister.", "Come to us.", "Come!", "Come!\"", "In fear I turned to my poor\nMadam Mina, and my heart with gladness leapt like flame; for oh!", "the\nterror in her sweet eyes, the repulsion, the horror, told a story to my\nheart that was all of hope.", "God be thanked she was not, yet, of them.", "I\nseized some of the firewood which was by me, and holding out some of the\nWafer, advanced on them towards the fire.", "They drew back before me, and\nlaughed their low horrid laugh.", "I fed the fire, and feared them not; for\nI knew that we were safe within our protections.", "They could not\napproach, me, whilst so armed, nor Madam Mina whilst she remained within\nthe ring, which she could not leave no more than they could enter.", "The\nhorses had ceased to moan, and lay still on the ground; the snow fell on\nthem softly, and they grew whiter.", "I knew that there was for the poor\nbeasts no more of terror.", "And so we remained till the red of the dawn to fall through the\nsnow-gloom.", "I was desolate and afraid, and full of woe and terror; but\nwhen that beautiful sun began to climb the horizon life was to me again.", "At the first coming of the dawn the horrid figures melted in the\nwhirling mist and snow; the wreaths of transparent gloom moved away\ntowards the castle, and were lost.", "Instinctively, with the dawn coming, I turned to Madam Mina, intending\nto hypnotise her; but she lay in a deep and sudden sleep, from which I\ncould not wake her.", "I tried to hypnotise through her sleep, but she made\nno response, none at all; and the day broke.", "I fear yet to stir.", "I have\nmade my fire and have seen the horses, they are all dead.", "To-day I have\nmuch to do here, and I keep waiting till the sun is up high; for there\nmay be places where I must go, where that sunlight, though snow and mist\nobscure it, will be to me a safety.", "I will strengthen me with breakfast, and then I will to my terrible\nwork.", "Madam Mina still sleeps; and, God be thanked!", "she is calm in her\nsleep....\n\n\n_Jonathan Harker's Journal._\n\n_4 November, evening._--The accident to the launch has been a terrible\nthing for us.", "Only for it we should have overtaken the boat long ago;\nand by now my dear Mina would have been free.", "I fear to think of her,\noff on the wolds near that horrid place.", "We have got horses, and we\nfollow on the track.", "I note this whilst Godalming is getting ready.", "We\nhave our arms.", "The Szgany must look out if they mean fight.", "Oh, if only\nMorris and Seward were with us.", "We must only hope!", "If I write no more\nGood-bye, Mina!", "God bless and keep you.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_5 November._--With the dawn we saw the body of Szgany before us dashing\naway from the river with their leiter-wagon.", "They surrounded it in a\ncluster, and hurried along as though beset.", "The snow is falling lightly\nand there is a strange excitement in the air.", "It may be our own\nfeelings, but the depression is strange.", "Far off I hear the howling of\nwolves; the snow brings them down from the mountains, and there are\ndangers to all of us, and from all sides.", "The horses are nearly ready,\nand we are soon off.", "We ride to death of some one.", "God alone knows who,\nor where, or what, or when, or how it may be....\n\n\n_Dr.", "Van Helsing's Memorandum._\n\n_5 November, afternoon._--I am at least sane.", "Thank God for that mercy\nat all events, though the proving it has been dreadful.", "When I left\nMadam Mina sleeping within the Holy circle, I took my way to the castle.", "The blacksmith hammer which I took in the carriage from Veresti was\nuseful; though the doors were all open I broke them off the rusty\nhinges, lest some ill-intent or ill-chance should close them, so that\nbeing entered I might not get out.", "Jonathan's bitter experience served\nme here.", "By memory of his diary I found my way to the old chapel, for I\nknew that here my work lay.", "The air was oppressive; it seemed as if\nthere was some sulphurous fume, which at times made me dizzy.", "Either\nthere was a roaring in my ears or I heard afar off the howl of wolves.", "Then I bethought me of my dear Madam Mina, and I was in terrible plight.", "The dilemma had me between his horns.", "Her, I had not dare to take into this place, but left safe from the\nVampire in that Holy circle; and yet even there would be the wolf!", "I\nresolve me that my work lay here, and that as to the wolves we must\nsubmit, if it were God's will.", "At any rate it was only death and\nfreedom beyond.", "So did I choose for her.", "Had it but been for myself the\nchoice had been easy, the maw of the wolf were better to rest in than\nthe grave of the Vampire!", "So I make my choice to go on with my work.", "I knew that there were at least three graves to find--graves that are\ninhabit; so I search, and search, and I find one of them.", "She lay in her\nVampire sleep, so full of life and voluptuous beauty that I shudder as\nthough I have come to do murder.", "Ah, I doubt not that in old time, when\nsuch things were, many a man who set forth to do such a task as mine,\nfound at the last his heart fail him, and then his nerve.", "So he delay,\nand delay, and delay, till the mere beauty and the fascination of the\nwanton Un-Dead have hypnotise him; and he remain on and on, till sunset\ncome, and the Vampire sleep be over.", "Then the beautiful eyes of the fair\nwoman open and look love, and the voluptuous mouth present to a\nkiss--and man is weak.", "And there remain one more victim in the Vampire\nfold; one more to swell the grim and grisly ranks of the Un-Dead!...", "There is some fascination, surely, when I am moved by the mere presence\nof such an one, even lying as she lay in a tomb fretted with age and\nheavy with the dust of centuries, though there be that horrid odour such\nas the lairs of the Count have had.", "Yes, I was moved--I, Van Helsing,\nwith all my purpose and with my motive for hate--I was moved to a\nyearning for delay which seemed to paralyse my faculties and to clog my\nvery soul.", "It may have been that the need of natural sleep, and the\nstrange oppression of the air were beginning to overcome me.", "Certain it\nwas that I was lapsing into sleep, the open-eyed sleep of one who yields\nto a sweet fascination, when there came through the snow-stilled air a\nlong, low wail, so full of woe and pity that it woke me like the sound\nof a clarion.", "For it was the voice of my dear Madam Mina that I heard.", "Then I braced myself again to my horrid task, and found by wrenching\naway tomb-tops one other of the sisters, the other dark one.", "I dared not\npause to look on her as I had on her sister, lest once more I should\nbegin to be enthrall; but I go on searching until, presently, I find in\na high great tomb as if made to one much beloved that other fair sister\nwhich, like Jonathan I had seen to gather herself out of the atoms of\nthe mist.", "She was so fair to look on, so radiantly beautiful, so\nexquisitely voluptuous, that the very instinct of man in me, which calls\nsome of my sex to love and to protect one of hers, made my head whirl\nwith new emotion.", "But God be thanked, that soul-wail of my dear Madam\nMina had not died out of my ears; and, before the spell could be wrought\nfurther upon me, I had nerved myself to my wild work.", "By this time I had\nsearched all the tombs in the chapel, so far as I could tell; and as\nthere had been only three of these Un-Dead phantoms around us in the\nnight, I took it that there were no more of active Un-Dead existent.", "There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest; huge it was, and\nnobly proportioned.", "On it was but one word\n\n DRACULA.", "This then was the Un-Dead home of the King-Vampire, to whom so many more\nwere due.", "Its emptiness spoke eloquent to make certain what I knew.", "Before I began to restore these women to their dead selves through my\nawful work, I laid in Dracula's tomb some of the Wafer, and so banished\nhim from it, Un-Dead, for ever.", "Then began my terrible task, and I dreaded it.", "Had it been but one, it\nhad been easy, comparative.", "But three!", "To begin twice more after I had\nbeen through a deed of horror; for if it was terrible with the sweet\nMiss Lucy, what would it not be with these strange ones who had survived\nthrough centuries, and who had been strengthened by the passing of the\nyears; who would, if they could, have fought for their foul lives....\n\nOh, my friend John, but it was butcher work; had I not been nerved by\nthoughts of other dead, and of the living over whom hung such a pall of\nfear, I could not have gone on.", "I tremble and tremble even yet, though\ntill all was over, God be thanked, my nerve did stand.", "Had I not seen\nthe repose in the first place, and the gladness that stole over it just\nere the final dissolution came, as realisation that the soul had been\nwon, I could not have gone further with my butchery.", "I could not have\nendured the horrid screeching as the stake drove home; the plunging of\nwrithing form, and lips of bloody foam.", "I should have fled in terror and\nleft my work undone.", "But it is over!", "And the poor souls, I can pity them\nnow and weep, as I think of them placid each in her full sleep of death\nfor a short moment ere fading.", "For, friend John, hardly had my knife\nsevered the head of each, before the whole body began to melt away and\ncrumble in to its native dust, as though the death that should have come\ncenturies agone had at last assert himself and say at once and loud \"I\nam here!\"", "Before I left the castle I so fixed its entrances that never more can\nthe Count enter there Un-Dead.", "When I stepped into the circle where Madam Mina slept, she woke from her\nsleep, and, seeing, me, cried out in pain that I had endured too much.", "\"Come!\"", "she said, \"come away from this awful place!", "Let us go to meet my\nhusband who is, I know, coming towards us.\"", "She was looking thin and\npale and weak; but her eyes were pure and glowed with fervour.", "I was\nglad to see her paleness and her illness, for my mind was full of the\nfresh horror of that ruddy vampire sleep.", "And so with trust and hope, and yet full of fear, we go eastward to meet\nour friends--and _him_--whom Madam Mina tell me that she _know_ are\ncoming to meet us.", "_Mina Harker's Journal._\n\n_6 November._--It was late in the afternoon when the Professor and I\ntook our way towards the east whence I knew Jonathan was coming.", "We did\nnot go fast, though the way was steeply downhill, for we had to take\nheavy rugs and wraps with us; we dared not face the possibility of being\nleft without warmth in the cold and the snow.", "We had to take some of our\nprovisions, too, for we were in a perfect desolation, and, so far as we\ncould see through the snowfall, there was not even the sign of\nhabitation.", "When we had gone about a mile, I was tired with the heavy\nwalking and sat down to rest.", "Then we looked back and saw where the\nclear line of Dracula's castle cut the sky; for we were so deep under\nthe hill whereon it was set that the angle of perspective of the\nCarpathian mountains was far below it.", "We saw it in all its grandeur,\nperched a thousand feet on the summit of a sheer precipice, and with\nseemingly a great gap between it and the steep of the adjacent mountain\non any side.", "There was something wild and uncanny about the place.", "We\ncould hear the distant howling of wolves.", "They were far off, but the\nsound, even though coming muffled through the deadening snowfall, was\nfull of terror.", "I knew from the way Dr. Van Helsing was searching about\nthat he was trying to seek some strategic point, where we would be less\nexposed in case of attack.", "The rough roadway still led downwards; we\ncould trace it through the drifted snow.", "In a little while the Professor signalled to me, so I got up and joined\nhim.", "He had found a wonderful spot, a sort of natural hollow in a rock,\nwith an entrance like a doorway between two boulders.", "He took me by the\nhand and drew me in: \"See!\"", "he said, \"here you will be in shelter; and\nif the wolves do come I can meet them one by one.\"", "He brought in our\nfurs, and made a snug nest for me, and got out some provisions and\nforced them upon me.", "But I could not eat; to even try to do so was\nrepulsive to me, and, much as I would have liked to please him, I could\nnot bring myself to the attempt.", "He looked very sad, but did not\nreproach me.", "Taking his field-glasses from the case, he stood on the top\nof the rock, and began to search the horizon.", "Suddenly he called out:--\n\n\"Look!", "Madam Mina, look!", "look!\"", "I sprang up and stood beside him on the\nrock; he handed me his glasses and pointed.", "The snow was now falling\nmore heavily, and swirled about fiercely, for a high wind was beginning\nto blow.", "However, there were times when there were pauses between the\nsnow flurries and I could see a long way round.", "From the height where we\nwere it was possible to see a great distance; and far off, beyond the\nwhite waste of snow, I could see the river lying like a black ribbon in\nkinks and curls as it wound its way.", "Straight in front of us and not far\noff--in fact, so near that I wondered we had not noticed before--came a\ngroup of mounted men hurrying along.", "In the midst of them was a cart, a\nlong leiter-wagon which swept from side to side, like a dog's tail\nwagging, with each stern inequality of the road.", "Outlined against the\nsnow as they were, I could see from the men's clothes that they were\npeasants or gypsies of some kind.", "On the cart was a great square chest.", "My heart leaped as I saw it, for I\nfelt that the end was coming.", "The evening was now drawing close, and\nwell I knew that at sunset the Thing, which was till then imprisoned\nthere, would take new freedom and could in any of many forms elude all\npursuit.", "In fear I turned to the Professor; to my consternation,\nhowever, he was not there.", "An instant later, I saw him below me.", "Round\nthe rock he had drawn a circle, such as we had found shelter in last\nnight.", "When he had completed it he stood beside me again, saying:--\n\n\"At least you shall be safe here from _him_!\"", "He took the glasses from\nme, and at the next lull of the snow swept the whole space below us.", "\"See,\" he said, \"they come quickly; they are flogging the horses, and\ngalloping as hard as they can.\"", "He paused and went on in a hollow\nvoice:--\n\n\"They are racing for the sunset.", "We may be too late.", "God's will be\ndone!\"", "Down came another blinding rush of driving snow, and the whole\nlandscape was blotted out.", "It soon passed, however, and once more his\nglasses were fixed on the plain.", "Then came a sudden cry:--\n\n\"Look!", "Look!", "Look!", "See, two horsemen follow fast, coming up from the\nsouth.", "It must be Quincey and John.", "Take the glass.", "Look before the snow\nblots it all out!\"", "I took it and looked.", "The two men might be Dr. Seward\nand Mr. Morris.", "I knew at all events that neither of them was Jonathan.", "At the same time I _knew_ that Jonathan was not far off; looking around\nI saw on the north side of the coming party two other men, riding at\nbreak-neck speed.", "One of them I knew was Jonathan, and the other I took,\nof course, to be Lord Godalming.", "They, too, were pursuing the party with\nthe cart.", "When I told the Professor he shouted in glee like a schoolboy,\nand, after looking intently till a snow fall made sight impossible, he\nlaid his Winchester rifle ready for use against the boulder at the\nopening of our shelter.", "\"They are all converging,\" he said.", "\"When the\ntime comes we shall have gypsies on all sides.\"", "I got out my revolver\nready to hand, for whilst we were speaking the howling of wolves came\nlouder and closer.", "When the snow storm abated a moment we looked again.", "It was strange to see the snow falling in such heavy flakes close to us,\nand beyond, the sun shining more and more brightly as it sank down\ntowards the far mountain tops.", "Sweeping the glass all around us I could\nsee here and there dots moving singly and in twos and threes and larger\nnumbers--the wolves were gathering for their prey.", "Every instant seemed an age whilst we waited.", "The wind came now in\nfierce bursts, and the snow was driven with fury as it swept upon us in\ncircling eddies.", "At times we could not see an arm's length before us;\nbut at others, as the hollow-sounding wind swept by us, it seemed to\nclear the air-space around us so that we could see afar off.", "We had of\nlate been so accustomed to watch for sunrise and sunset, that we knew\nwith fair accuracy when it would be; and we knew that before long the\nsun would set.", "It was hard to believe that by our watches it was less\nthan an hour that we waited in that rocky shelter before the various\nbodies began to converge close upon us.", "The wind came now with fiercer\nand more bitter sweeps, and more steadily from the north.", "It seemingly\nhad driven the snow clouds from us, for, with only occasional bursts,\nthe snow fell.", "We could distinguish clearly the individuals of each\nparty, the pursued and the pursuers.", "Strangely enough those pursued did\nnot seem to realise, or at least to care, that they were pursued; they\nseemed, however, to hasten with redoubled speed as the sun dropped lower\nand lower on the mountain tops.", "Closer and closer they drew.", "The Professor and I crouched down behind\nour rock, and held our weapons ready; I could see that he was determined\nthat they should not pass.", "One and all were quite unaware of our\npresence.", "All at once two voices shouted out to: \"Halt!\"", "One was my Jonathan's,\nraised in a high key of passion; the other Mr. Morris' strong resolute\ntone of quiet command.", "The gypsies may not have known the language, but\nthere was no mistaking the tone, in whatever tongue the words were\nspoken.", "Instinctively they reined in, and at the instant Lord Godalming\nand Jonathan dashed up at one side and Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris on the\nother.", "The leader of the gypsies, a splendid-looking fellow who sat his\nhorse like a centaur, waved them back, and in a fierce voice gave to his\ncompanions some word to proceed.", "They lashed the horses which sprang\nforward; but the four men raised their Winchester rifles, and in an\nunmistakable way commanded them to stop.", "At the same moment Dr. Van\nHelsing and I rose behind the rock and pointed our weapons at them.", "Seeing that they were surrounded the men tightened their reins and drew\nup.", "The leader turned to them and gave a word at which every man of the\ngypsy party drew what weapon he carried, knife or pistol, and held\nhimself in readiness to attack.", "Issue was joined in an instant.", "The leader, with a quick movement of his rein, threw his horse out in\nfront, and pointing first to the sun--now close down on the hill\ntops--and then to the castle, said something which I did not understand.", "For answer, all four men of our party threw themselves from their horses\nand dashed towards the cart.", "I should have felt terrible fear at seeing\nJonathan in such danger, but that the ardour of battle must have been\nupon me as well as the rest of them; I felt no fear, but only a wild,\nsurging desire to do something.", "Seeing the quick movement of our\nparties, the leader of the gypsies gave a command; his men instantly\nformed round the cart in a sort of undisciplined endeavour, each one\nshouldering and pushing the other in his eagerness to carry out the\norder.", "In the midst of this I could see that Jonathan on one side of the ring\nof men, and Quincey on the other, were forcing a way to the cart; it was\nevident that they were bent on finishing their task before the sun\nshould set.", "Nothing seemed to stop or even to hinder them.", "Neither the\nlevelled weapons nor the flashing knives of the gypsies in front, nor\nthe howling of the wolves behind, appeared to even attract their\nattention.", "Jonathan's impetuosity, and the manifest singleness of his\npurpose, seemed to overawe those in front of him; instinctively they\ncowered, aside and let him pass.", "In an instant he had jumped upon the\ncart, and, with a strength which seemed incredible, raised the great\nbox, and flung it over the wheel to the ground.", "In the meantime, Mr.\nMorris had had to use force to pass through his side of the ring of\nSzgany.", "All the time I had been breathlessly watching Jonathan I had,\nwith the tail of my eye, seen him pressing desperately forward, and had\nseen the knives of the gypsies flash as he won a way through them, and\nthey cut at him.", "He had parried with his great bowie knife, and at first\nI thought that he too had come through in safety; but as he sprang\nbeside Jonathan, who had by now jumped from the cart, I could see that\nwith his left hand he was clutching at his side, and that the blood was\nspurting through his fingers.", "He did not delay notwithstanding this, for\nas Jonathan, with desperate energy, attacked one end of the chest,\nattempting to prize off the lid with his great Kukri knife, he attacked\nthe other frantically with his bowie.", "Under the efforts of both men the\nlid began to yield; the nails drew with a quick screeching sound, and\nthe top of the box was thrown back.", "By this time the gypsies, seeing themselves covered by the Winchesters,\nand at the mercy of Lord Godalming and Dr. Seward, had given in and made\nno resistance.", "The sun was almost down on the mountain tops, and the\nshadows of the whole group fell long upon the snow.", "I saw the Count\nlying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from\nthe cart had scattered over him.", "He was deathly pale, just like a waxen\nimage, and the red eyes glared with the horrible vindictive look which I\nknew too well.", "As I looked, the eyes saw the sinking sun, and the look of hate in them\nturned to triumph.", "But, on the instant, came the sweep and flash of Jonathan's great knife.", "I shrieked as I saw it shear through the throat; whilst at the same\nmoment Mr. Morris's bowie knife plunged into the heart.", "It was like a miracle; but before our very eyes, and almost in the\ndrawing of a breath, the whole body crumble into dust and passed from\nour sight.", "I shall be glad as long as I live that even in that moment of final\ndissolution, there was in the face a look of peace, such as I never\ncould have imagined might have rested there.", "The Castle of Dracula now stood out against the red sky, and every stone\nof its broken battlements was articulated against the light of the\nsetting sun.", "The gypsies, taking us as in some way the cause of the extraordinary\ndisappearance of the dead man, turned, without a word, and rode away as\nif for their lives.", "Those who were unmounted jumped upon the\nleiter-wagon and shouted to the horsemen not to desert them.", "The wolves,\nwhich had withdrawn to a safe distance, followed in their wake, leaving\nus alone.", "Mr. Morris, who had sunk to the ground, leaned on his elbow, holding his\nhand pressed to his side; the blood still gushed through his fingers.", "I\nflew to him, for the Holy circle did not now keep me back; so did the\ntwo doctors.", "Jonathan knelt behind him and the wounded man laid back his\nhead on his shoulder.", "With a sigh he took, with a feeble effort, my hand\nin that of his own which was unstained.", "He must have seen the anguish of\nmy heart in my face, for he smiled at me and said:--\n\n\"I am only too happy to have been of any service!", "Oh, God!\"", "he cried\nsuddenly, struggling up to a sitting posture and pointing to me, \"It was\nworth for this to die!", "Look!", "look!\"", "The sun was now right down upon the mountain top, and the red gleams\nfell upon my face, so that it was bathed in rosy light.", "With one impulse\nthe men sank on their knees and a deep and earnest \"Amen\" broke from all\nas their eyes followed the pointing of his finger.", "The dying man\nspoke:--\n\n\"Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain!", "See!", "the snow is not\nmore stainless than her forehead!", "The curse has passed away!\"", "And, to our bitter grief, with a smile and in silence, he died, a\ngallant gentleman." ]

[ "* * * * *\n\n_2 November, night._--All day long driving.", "The\nhouses are very few here now, and the Professor says that the last horse\nwe got will have to go on with us, as we may not be able to change.", "Well,\nGod's will be done--whatever it may be, and whithersoever it may lead!", "At first I think somewhat strange, but soon I see that there be only one\nsuch by-road.", "And then the horses\ncowered lower and lower, and moaned in terror as men do in pain.", "whereat she laughed--a laugh, low\nand unreal, and said:--\n\n\"Fear for _me_!", "she said, \"come away from this awful place!", "In the midst of them was a cart, a\nlong leiter-wagon which swept from side to side, like a dog's tail\nwagging, with each stern inequality of the road.", "We could distinguish clearly the individuals of each\nparty, the pursued and the pursuers.", "I saw the Count\nlying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from\nthe cart had scattered over him." ]

[ "We have now had so many\nchanges and find the same thing so constantly that we are encouraged to\nthink that the journey will be an easy one.", "One and all were quite unaware of our\npresence.", "Though there might be\ndanger to her body, yet her soul was safe!", "With one impulse\nthe men sank on their knees and a deep and earnest \"Amen\" broke from all\nas their eyes followed the pointing of his finger.", "Neither the\nlevelled weapons nor the flashing knives of the gypsies in front, nor\nthe howling of the wolves behind, appeared to even attract their\nattention.", "But she sleep not, being as\nthough I were not.", "If I write no more\nGood-bye, Mina!", "So I make my choice to go on with my work.", "\"Why not go on?\"", "Did I not, I would soon have learned, for the\nwheeling figures of mist and snow came closer, but keeping ever without\nthe Holy circle." ]

[ "Oh, if only\nMorris and Seward were with us.", "We must only hope!", "If I write no more\nGood-bye, Mina!", "God bless and keep you.", "_Dr.", "Seward's Diary._\n\n_5 November._--With the dawn we saw the body of Szgany before us dashing\naway from the river with their leiter-wagon.", "They surrounded it in a\ncluster, and hurried along as though beset.", "The snow is falling lightly\nand there is a strange excitement in the air.", "It may be our own\nfeelings, but the depression is strange.", "Far off I hear the howling of\nwolves; the snow brings them down from the mountains, and there are\ndangers to all of us, and from all sides.", "The horses are nearly ready,\nand we are soon off." ]

[ "\n_1 November._--All day long we have travelled, and at a good speed.", "The\nhorses seem to know that they are being kindly treated, for they go\nwillingly their full stage at best speed.", "We have now had so many\nchanges and find the same thing so constantly that we are encouraged to\nthink that the journey will be an easy one.", "Dr. Van Helsing is laconic;\nhe tells the farmers that he is hurrying to Bistritz, and pays them well\nto make the exchange of horses.", "We get hot soup, or coffee, or tea; and\noff we go.", "It is a lovely country; full of beauties of all imaginable\nkinds, and the people are brave, and strong, and simple, and seem full\nof nice qualities.", "They are _very, very_ superstitious.", "In the first\nhouse where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the scar on my\nforehead, she crossed herself and put out two fingers towards me, to\nkeep off the evil eye.", "I believe they went to the trouble of putting an\nextra amount of garlic into our food; and I can't abide garlic.", "Ever\nsince then I have taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have\nescaped their suspicions.", "he cried\nsuddenly, struggling up to a sitting posture and pointing to me, \"It was\nworth for this to die!", "Look!", "look!\"", "The sun was now right down upon the mountain top, and the red gleams\nfell upon my face, so that it was bathed in rosy light.", "With one impulse\nthe men sank on their knees and a deep and earnest \"Amen\" broke from all\nas their eyes followed the pointing of his finger.", "The dying man\nspoke:--\n\n\"Now God be thanked that all has not been in vain!", "See!", "the snow is not\nmore stainless than her forehead!", "The curse has passed away!\"", "And, to our bitter grief, with a smile and in silence, he died, a\ngallant gentleman." ]

[ "\n_3 May.", "Bistritz._--Left Munich at 8:35 P. M., on 1st May, arriving at\nVienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an\nhour late.", "Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I\ngot of it from the train and the little I could walk through the\nstreets.", "I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived\nlate and would start as near the correct time as possible.", "The\nimpression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the\nEast; the most western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is\nhere of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish\nrule.", "We left in pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh.", "Here I stopped for the night at the Hotel Royale.", "I had for dinner, or\nrather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was\nvery good but thirsty.", "(_Mem._, get recipe for Mina.)", "I asked the\nwaiter, and he said it was called \"paprika hendl,\" and that, as it was a\nnational dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the\nCarpathians.", "I found my smattering of German very useful here; indeed, I\ndon't know how I should be able to get on without it.", "Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the\nBritish Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library\nregarding Transylvania; it had struck me that some foreknowledge of the\ncountry could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a\nnobleman of that country.", "I find that the district he named is in the\nextreme east of the country, just on the borders of three states,\nTransylvania, Moldavia and Bukovina, in the midst of the Carpathian\nmountains; one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe.", "I was\nnot able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the\nCastle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare\nwith our own Ordnance Survey maps; but I found that Bistritz, the post\ntown named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well-known place.", "I shall enter\nhere some of my notes, as they may refresh my memory when I talk over my\ntravels with Mina.", "In the population of Transylvania there are four distinct nationalities:\nSaxons in the South, and mixed with them the Wallachs, who are the\ndescendants of the Dacians; Magyars in the West, and Szekelys in the\nEast and North.", "I am going among the latter, who claim to be descended\nfrom Attila and the Huns.", "This may be so, for when the Magyars conquered\nthe country in the eleventh century they found the Huns settled in it.", "I\nread that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the\nhorseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of\nimaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting.", "(_Mem._, I\nmust ask the Count all about them.)", "I did not sleep well, though my bed was comfortable enough, for I had\nall sorts of queer dreams.", "There was a dog howling all night under my\nwindow, which may have had something to do with it; or it may have been\nthe paprika, for I had to drink up all the water in my carafe, and was\nstill thirsty.", "Towards morning I slept and was wakened by the continuous\nknocking at my door, so I guess I must have been sleeping soundly then.", "I had for breakfast more paprika, and a sort of porridge of maize flour\nwhich they said was \"mamaliga,\" and egg-plant stuffed with forcemeat, a\nvery excellent dish, which they call \"impletata.\"", "(_Mem._, get recipe\nfor this also.)", "I had to hurry breakfast, for the train started a little\nbefore eight, or rather it ought to have done so, for after rushing to\nthe station at 7:30 I had to sit in the carriage for more than an hour\nbefore we began to move.", "It seems to me that the further east you go the\nmore unpunctual are the trains.", "What ought they to be in China?", "All day long we seemed to dawdle through a country which was full of\nbeauty of every kind.", "Sometimes we saw little towns or castles on the\ntop of steep hills such as we see in old missals; sometimes we ran by\nrivers and streams which seemed from the wide stony margin on each side\nof them to be subject to great floods.", "It takes a lot of water, and\nrunning strong, to sweep the outside edge of a river clear.", "At every\nstation there were groups of people, sometimes crowds, and in all sorts\nof attire.", "Some of them were just like the peasants at home or those I\nsaw coming through France and Germany, with short jackets and round hats\nand home-made trousers; but others were very picturesque.", "The women\nlooked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy\nabout the waist.", "They had all full white sleeves of some kind or other,\nand most of them had big belts with a lot of strips of something\nfluttering from them like the dresses in a ballet, but of course there\nwere petticoats under them.", "The strangest figures we saw were the\nSlovaks, who were more barbarian than the rest, with their big cow-boy\nhats, great baggy dirty-white trousers, white linen shirts, and enormous\nheavy leather belts, nearly a foot wide, all studded over with brass\nnails.", "They wore high boots, with their trousers tucked into them, and\nhad long black hair and heavy black moustaches.", "They are very\npicturesque, but do not look prepossessing.", "On the stage they would be\nset down at once as some old Oriental band of brigands.", "They are,\nhowever, I am told, very harmless and rather wanting in natural\nself-assertion.", "It was on the dark side of twilight when we got to Bistritz, which is a\nvery interesting old place.", "Being practically on the frontier--for the\nBorgo Pass leads from it into Bukovina--it has had a very stormy\nexistence, and it certainly shows marks of it.", "Fifty years ago a series\nof great fires took place, which made terrible havoc on five separate\noccasions.", "At the very beginning of the seventeenth century it underwent\na siege of three weeks and lost 13,000 people, the casualties of war\nproper being assisted by famine and disease.", "Count Dracula had directed me to go to the Golden Krone Hotel, which I\nfound, to my great delight, to be thoroughly old-fashioned, for of\ncourse I wanted to see all I could of the ways of the country.", "I was\nevidently expected, for when I got near the door I faced a\ncheery-looking elderly woman in the usual peasant dress--white\nundergarment with long double apron, front, and back, of coloured stuff\nfitting almost too tight for modesty.", "When I came close she bowed and\nsaid, \"The Herr Englishman?\"", "\"Yes,\" I said, \"Jonathan Harker.\"", "She\nsmiled, and gave some message to an elderly man in white shirt-sleeves,\nwho had followed her to the door.", "He went, but immediately returned with\na letter:--\n\n \"My Friend.--Welcome to the Carpathians.", "I am anxiously expecting\n you.", "Sleep well to-night.", "At three to-morrow the diligence will\n start for Bukovina; a place on it is kept for you.", "At the Borgo\n Pass my carriage will await you and will bring you to me.", "I trust\n that your journey from London has been a happy one, and that you\n will enjoy your stay in my beautiful land.", "\"Your friend,\n\n\"DRACULA.\"", "_4 May._--I found that my landlord had got a letter from the Count,\ndirecting him to secure the best place on the coach for me; but on\nmaking inquiries as to details he seemed somewhat reticent, and\npretended that he could not understand my German.", "This could not be\ntrue, because up to then he had understood it perfectly; at least, he\nanswered my questions exactly as if he did.", "He and his wife, the old\nlady who had received me, looked at each other in a frightened sort of\nway.", "He mumbled out that the money had been sent in a letter, and that\nwas all he knew.", "When I asked him if he knew Count Dracula, and could\ntell me anything of his castle, both he and his wife crossed themselves,\nand, saying that they knew nothing at all, simply refused to speak\nfurther.", "It was so near the time of starting that I had no time to ask\nany one else, for it was all very mysterious and not by any means\ncomforting.", "Just before I was leaving, the old lady came up to my room and said in a\nvery hysterical way:\n\n\"Must you go?", "Oh!", "young Herr, must you go?\"", "She was in such an excited\nstate that she seemed to have lost her grip of what German she knew, and\nmixed it all up with some other language which I did not know at all.", "I\nwas just able to follow her by asking many questions.", "When I told her\nthat I must go at once, and that I was engaged on important business,\nshe asked again:\n\n\"Do you know what day it is?\"", "I answered that it was the fourth of May.", "She shook her head as she said again:\n\n\"Oh, yes!", "I know that!", "I know that, but do you know what day it is?\"", "On\nmy saying that I did not understand, she went on:\n\n\"It is the eve of St. George's Day.", "Do you not know that to-night, when\nthe clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have\nfull sway?", "Do you know where you are going, and what you are going to?\"", "She was in such evident distress that I tried to comfort her, but\nwithout effect.", "Finally she went down on her knees and implored me not\nto go; at least to wait a day or two before starting.", "It was all very\nridiculous but I did not feel comfortable.", "However, there was business\nto be done, and I could allow nothing to interfere with it.", "I therefore\ntried to raise her up, and said, as gravely as I could, that I thanked\nher, but my duty was imperative, and that I must go.", "She then rose and\ndried her eyes, and taking a crucifix from her neck offered it to me.", "I\ndid not know what to do, for, as an English Churchman, I have been\ntaught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous, and yet it\nseemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a\nstate of mind.", "She saw, I suppose, the doubt in my face, for she put the\nrosary round my neck, and said, \"For your mother's sake,\" and went out\nof the room.", "I am writing up this part of the diary whilst I am waiting\nfor the coach, which is, of course, late; and the crucifix is still\nround my neck.", "Whether it is the old lady's fear, or the many ghostly\ntraditions of this place, or the crucifix itself, I do not know, but I\nam not feeling nearly as easy in my mind as usual.", "If this book should\never reach Mina before I do, let it bring my good-bye.", "Here comes the\ncoach!", "* * * * *\n\n_5 May.", "The Castle._--The grey of the morning has passed, and the sun is\nhigh over the distant horizon, which seems jagged, whether with trees or\nhills I know not, for it is so far off that big things and little are\nmixed.", "I am not sleepy, and, as I am not to be called till I awake,\nnaturally I write till sleep comes.", "There are many odd things to put\ndown, and, lest who reads them may fancy that I dined too well before I\nleft Bistritz, let me put down my dinner exactly.", "I dined on what they\ncalled \"robber steak\"--bits of bacon, onion, and beef, seasoned with red\npepper, and strung on sticks and roasted over the fire, in the simple\nstyle of the London cat's meat!", "The wine was Golden Mediasch, which\nproduces a queer sting on the tongue, which is, however, not\ndisagreeable.", "I had only a couple of glasses of this, and nothing else.", "When I got on the coach the driver had not taken his seat, and I saw him\ntalking with the landlady.", "They were evidently talking of me, for every\nnow and then they looked at me, and some of the people who were sitting\non the bench outside the door--which they call by a name meaning\n\"word-bearer\"--came and listened, and then looked at me, most of them\npityingly.", "I could hear a lot of words often repeated, queer words, for\nthere were many nationalities in the crowd; so I quietly got my polyglot\ndictionary from my bag and looked them out.", "I must say they were not\ncheering to me, for amongst them were \"Ordog\"--Satan, \"pokol\"--hell,\n\"stregoica\"--witch, \"vrolok\" and \"vlkoslak\"--both of which mean the same\nthing, one being Slovak and the other Servian for something that is\neither were-wolf or vampire.", "(_Mem._, I must ask the Count about these\nsuperstitions)\n\nWhen we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time\nswelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and\npointed two fingers towards me.", "With some difficulty I got a\nfellow-passenger to tell me what they meant; he would not answer at\nfirst, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a\ncharm or guard against the evil eye.", "This was not very pleasant for me,\njust starting for an unknown place to meet an unknown man; but every one\nseemed so kind-hearted, and so sorrowful, and so sympathetic that I\ncould not but be touched.", "I shall never forget the last glimpse which I\nhad of the inn-yard and its crowd of picturesque figures, all crossing\nthemselves, as they stood round the wide archway, with its background of\nrich foliage of oleander and orange trees in green tubs clustered in the\ncentre of the yard.", "Then our driver, whose wide linen drawers covered\nthe whole front of the box-seat--\"gotza\" they call them--cracked his big\nwhip over his four small horses, which ran abreast, and we set off on\nour journey.", "I soon lost sight and recollection of ghostly fears in the beauty of the\nscene as we drove along, although had I known the language, or rather\nlanguages, which my fellow-passengers were speaking, I might not have\nbeen able to throw them off so easily.", "Before us lay a green sloping\nland full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned\nwith clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the\nroad.", "There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom--apple,\nplum, pear, cherry; and as we drove by I could see the green grass under\nthe trees spangled with the fallen petals.", "In and out amongst these\ngreen hills of what they call here the \"Mittel Land\" ran the road,\nlosing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the\nstraggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the\nhillsides like tongues of flame.", "The road was rugged, but still we\nseemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.", "I could not understand then\nwhat the haste meant, but the driver was evidently bent on losing no\ntime in reaching Borgo Prund.", "I was told that this road is in summertime\nexcellent, but that it had not yet been put in order after the winter\nsnows.", "In this respect it is different from the general run of roads in\nthe Carpathians, for it is an old tradition that they are not to be kept\nin too good order.", "Of old the Hospadars would not repair them, lest the\nTurk should think that they were preparing to bring in foreign troops,\nand so hasten the war which was always really at loading point.", "Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes\nof forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves.", "Right\nand left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun falling full upon\nthem and bringing out all the glorious colours of this beautiful range,\ndeep blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, green and brown where\ngrass and rock mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged rock and\npointed crags, till these were themselves lost in the distance, where\nthe snowy peaks rose grandly.", "Here and there seemed mighty rifts in the\nmountains, through which, as the sun began to sink, we saw now and again\nthe white gleam of falling water.", "One of my companions touched my arm as\nwe swept round the base of a hill and opened up the lofty, snow-covered\npeak of a mountain, which seemed, as we wound on our serpentine way, to\nbe right before us:--\n\n\"Look!", "Isten szek!\"", "--\"God's seat!\"", "--and he crossed himself reverently.", "As we wound on our endless way, and the sun sank lower and lower behind\nus, the shadows of the evening began to creep round us.", "This was\nemphasised by the fact that the snowy mountain-top still held the\nsunset, and seemed to glow out with a delicate cool pink.", "Here and there\nwe passed Cszeks and Slovaks, all in picturesque attire, but I noticed\nthat goitre was painfully prevalent.", "By the roadside were many crosses,\nand as we swept by, my companions all crossed themselves.", "Here and there\nwas a peasant man or woman kneeling before a shrine, who did not even\nturn round as we approached, but seemed in the self-surrender of\ndevotion to have neither eyes nor ears for the outer world.", "There were\nmany things new to me: for instance, hay-ricks in the trees, and here\nand there very beautiful masses of weeping birch, their white stems\nshining like silver through the delicate green of the leaves.", "Now and\nagain we passed a leiter-wagon--the ordinary peasant's cart--with its\nlong, snake-like vertebra, calculated to suit the inequalities of the\nroad.", "On this were sure to be seated quite a group of home-coming\npeasants, the Cszeks with their white, and the Slovaks with their\ncoloured, sheepskins, the latter carrying lance-fashion their long\nstaves, with axe at end.", "As the evening fell it began to get very cold,\nand the growing twilight seemed to merge into one dark mistiness the\ngloom of the trees, oak, beech, and pine, though in the valleys which\nran deep between the spurs of the hills, as we ascended through the\nPass, the dark firs stood out here and there against the background of\nlate-lying snow.", "Sometimes, as the road was cut through the pine woods\nthat seemed in the darkness to be closing down upon us, great masses of\ngreyness, which here and there bestrewed the trees, produced a\npeculiarly weird and solemn effect, which carried on the thoughts and\ngrim fancies engendered earlier in the evening, when the falling sunset\nthrew into strange relief the ghost-like clouds which amongst the\nCarpathians seem to wind ceaselessly through the valleys.", "Sometimes the\nhills were so steep that, despite our driver's haste, the horses could\nonly go slowly.", "I wished to get down and walk up them, as we do at home,\nbut the driver would not hear of it.", "\"No, no,\" he said; \"you must not\nwalk here; the dogs are too fierce\"; and then he added, with what he\nevidently meant for grim pleasantry--for he looked round to catch the\napproving smile of the rest--\"and you may have enough of such matters\nbefore you go to sleep.\"", "The only stop he would make was a moment's\npause to light his lamps.", "When it grew dark there seemed to be some excitement amongst the\npassengers, and they kept speaking to him, one after the other, as\nthough urging him to further speed.", "He lashed the horses unmercifully\nwith his long whip, and with wild cries of encouragement urged them on\nto further exertions.", "Then through the darkness I could see a sort of\npatch of grey light ahead of us, as though there were a cleft in the\nhills.", "The excitement of the passengers grew greater; the crazy coach\nrocked on its great leather springs, and swayed like a boat tossed on a\nstormy sea.", "I had to hold on.", "The road grew more level, and we appeared\nto fly along.", "Then the mountains seemed to come nearer to us on each\nside and to frown down upon us; we were entering on the Borgo Pass.", "One\nby one several of the passengers offered me gifts, which they pressed\nupon me with an earnestness which would take no denial; these were\ncertainly of an odd and varied kind, but each was given in simple good\nfaith, with a kindly word, and a blessing, and that strange mixture of\nfear-meaning movements which I had seen outside the hotel at\nBistritz--the sign of the cross and the guard against the evil eye.", "Then, as we flew along, the driver leaned forward, and on each side the\npassengers, craning over the edge of the coach, peered eagerly into the\ndarkness.", "It was evident that something very exciting was either\nhappening or expected, but though I asked each passenger, no one would\ngive me the slightest explanation.", "This state of excitement kept on for\nsome little time; and at last we saw before us the Pass opening out on\nthe eastern side.", "There were dark, rolling clouds overhead, and in the\nair the heavy, oppressive sense of thunder.", "It seemed as though the\nmountain range had separated two atmospheres, and that now we had got\ninto the thunderous one.", "I was now myself looking out for the conveyance\nwhich was to take me to the Count.", "Each moment I expected to see the\nglare of lamps through the blackness; but all was dark.", "The only light\nwas the flickering rays of our own lamps, in which the steam from our\nhard-driven horses rose in a white cloud.", "We could see now the sandy\nroad lying white before us, but there was on it no sign of a vehicle.", "The passengers drew back with a sigh of gladness, which seemed to mock\nmy own disappointment.", "I was already thinking what I had best do, when\nthe driver, looking at his watch, said to the others something which I\ncould hardly hear, it was spoken so quietly and in so low a tone; I\nthought it was \"An hour less than the time.\"", "Then turning to me, he said\nin German worse than my own:--\n\n\"There is no carriage here.", "The Herr is not expected after all.", "He will\nnow come on to Bukovina, and return to-morrow or the next day; better\nthe next day.\"", "Whilst he was speaking the horses began to neigh and\nsnort and plunge wildly, so that the driver had to hold them up.", "Then,\namongst a chorus of screams from the peasants and a universal crossing\nof themselves, a caleche, with four horses, drove up behind us, overtook\nus, and drew up beside the coach.", "I could see from the flash of our\nlamps, as the rays fell on them, that the horses were coal-black and\nsplendid animals.", "They were driven by a tall man, with a long brown\nbeard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from us.", "I\ncould only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red\nin the lamplight, as he turned to us.", "He said to the driver:--\n\n\"You are early to-night, my friend.\"", "The man stammered in reply:--\n\n\"The English Herr was in a hurry,\" to which the stranger replied:--\n\n\"That is why, I suppose, you wished him to go on to Bukovina.", "You cannot\ndeceive me, my friend; I know too much, and my horses are swift.\"", "As he\nspoke he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with\nvery red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory.", "One of my\ncompanions whispered to another the line from Burger's \"Lenore\":--\n\n \"Denn die Todten reiten schnell\"--\n (\"For the dead travel fast.\")", "The strange driver evidently heard the words, for he looked up with a\ngleaming smile.", "The passenger turned his face away, at the same time\nputting out his two fingers and crossing himself.", "\"Give me the Herr's\nluggage,\" said the driver; and with exceeding alacrity my bags were\nhanded out and put in the caleche.", "Then I descended from the side of the\ncoach, as the caleche was close alongside, the driver helping me with a\nhand which caught my arm in a grip of steel; his strength must have been\nprodigious.", "Without a word he shook his reins, the horses turned, and we\nswept into the darkness of the Pass.", "As I looked back I saw the steam\nfrom the horses of the coach by the light of the lamps, and projected\nagainst it the figures of my late companions crossing themselves.", "Then\nthe driver cracked his whip and called to his horses, and off they swept\non their way to Bukovina.", "As they sank into the darkness I felt a\nstrange chill, and a lonely feeling came over me; but a cloak was thrown\nover my shoulders, and a rug across my knees, and the driver said in\nexcellent German:--\n\n\"The night is chill, mein Herr, and my master the Count bade me take all\ncare of you.", "There is a flask of slivovitz (the plum brandy of the\ncountry) underneath the seat, if you should require it.\"", "I did not take\nany, but it was a comfort to know it was there all the same.", "I felt a\nlittle strangely, and not a little frightened.", "I think had there been\nany alternative I should have taken it, instead of prosecuting that\nunknown night journey.", "The carriage went at a hard pace straight along,\nthen we made a complete turn and went along another straight road.", "It\nseemed to me that we were simply going over and over the same ground\nagain; and so I took note of some salient point, and found that this was\nso.", "I would have liked to have asked the driver what this all meant, but\nI really feared to do so, for I thought that, placed as I was, any\nprotest would have had no effect in case there had been an intention to\ndelay.", "By-and-by, however, as I was curious to know how time was\npassing, I struck a match, and by its flame looked at my watch; it was\nwithin a few minutes of midnight.", "This gave me a sort of shock, for I\nsuppose the general superstition about midnight was increased by my\nrecent experiences.", "I waited with a sick feeling of suspense.", "Then a dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road--a\nlong, agonised wailing, as if from fear.", "The sound was taken up by\nanother dog, and then another and another, till, borne on the wind which\nnow sighed softly through the Pass, a wild howling began, which seemed\nto come from all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp\nit through the gloom of the night.", "At the first howl the horses began to\nstrain and rear, but the driver spoke to them soothingly, and they\nquieted down, but shivered and sweated as though after a runaway from\nsudden fright.", "Then, far off in the distance, from the mountains on each\nside of us began a louder and a sharper howling--that of wolves--which\naffected both the horses and myself in the same way--for I was minded to\njump from the caleche and run, whilst they reared again and plunged\nmadly, so that the driver had to use all his great strength to keep them\nfrom bolting.", "In a few minutes, however, my own ears got accustomed to\nthe sound, and the horses so far became quiet that the driver was able\nto descend and to stand before them.", "He petted and soothed them, and\nwhispered something in their ears, as I have heard of horse-tamers\ndoing, and with extraordinary effect, for under his caresses they became\nquite manageable again, though they still trembled.", "The driver again\ntook his seat, and shaking his reins, started off at a great pace.", "This\ntime, after going to the far side of the Pass, he suddenly turned down a\nnarrow roadway which ran sharply to the right.", "Soon we were hemmed in with trees, which in places arched right over the\nroadway till we passed as through a tunnel; and again great frowning\nrocks guarded us boldly on either side.", "Though we were in shelter, we\ncould hear the rising wind, for it moaned and whistled through the\nrocks, and the branches of the trees crashed together as we swept along.", "It grew colder and colder still, and fine, powdery snow began to fall,\nso that soon we and all around us were covered with a white blanket.", "The\nkeen wind still carried the howling of the dogs, though this grew\nfainter as we went on our way.", "The baying of the wolves sounded nearer\nand nearer, as though they were closing round on us from every side.", "I\ngrew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear.", "The driver,\nhowever, was not in the least disturbed; he kept turning his head to\nleft and right, but I could not see anything through the darkness.", "Suddenly, away on our left, I saw a faint flickering blue flame.", "The\ndriver saw it at the same moment; he at once checked the horses, and,\njumping to the ground, disappeared into the darkness.", "I did not know\nwhat to do, the less as the howling of the wolves grew closer; but while\nI wondered the driver suddenly appeared again, and without a word took\nhis seat, and we resumed our journey.", "I think I must have fallen asleep\nand kept dreaming of the incident, for it seemed to be repeated\nendlessly, and now looking back, it is like a sort of awful nightmare.", "Once the flame appeared so near the road, that even in the darkness\naround us I could watch the driver's motions.", "He went rapidly to where\nthe blue flame arose--it must have been very faint, for it did not seem\nto illumine the place around it at all--and gathering a few stones,\nformed them into some device.", "Once there appeared a strange optical\neffect: when he stood between me and the flame he did not obstruct it,\nfor I could see its ghostly flicker all the same.", "This startled me, but\nas the effect was only momentary, I took it that my eyes deceived me\nstraining through the darkness.", "Then for a time there were no blue\nflames, and we sped onwards through the gloom, with the howling of the\nwolves around us, as though they were following in a moving circle.", "At last there came a time when the driver went further afield than he\nhad yet gone, and during his absence, the horses began to tremble worse\nthan ever and to snort and scream with fright.", "I could not see any cause\nfor it, for the howling of the wolves had ceased altogether; but just\nthen the moon, sailing through the black clouds, appeared behind the\njagged crest of a beetling, pine-clad rock, and by its light I saw\naround us a ring of wolves, with white teeth and lolling red tongues,\nwith long, sinewy limbs and shaggy hair.", "They were a hundred times more\nterrible in the grim silence which held them than even when they howled.", "For myself, I felt a sort of paralysis of fear.", "It is only when a man\nfeels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand\ntheir true import.", "All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had had\nsome peculiar effect on them.", "The horses jumped about and reared, and\nlooked helplessly round with eyes that rolled in a way painful to see;\nbut the living ring of terror encompassed them on every side; and they\nhad perforce to remain within it.", "I called to the coachman to come, for\nit seemed to me that our only chance was to try to break out through the\nring and to aid his approach.", "I shouted and beat the side of the\ncaleche, hoping by the noise to scare the wolves from that side, so as\nto give him a chance of reaching the trap.", "How he came there, I know\nnot, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and\nlooking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway.", "As he swept his\nlong arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves\nfell back and back further still.", "Just then a heavy cloud passed across\nthe face of the moon, so that we were again in darkness.", "When I could see again the driver was climbing into the caleche, and the\nwolves had disappeared.", "This was all so strange and uncanny that a\ndreadful fear came upon me, and I was afraid to speak or move.", "The time\nseemed interminable as we swept on our way, now in almost complete\ndarkness, for the rolling clouds obscured the moon.", "We kept on\nascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main\nalways ascending.", "Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the\ndriver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a\nvast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light,\nand whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit\nsky." ]

[ "I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived\nlate and would start as near the correct time as possible.", "I was\nnot able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the\nCastle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare\nwith our own Ordnance Survey maps; but I found that Bistritz, the post\ntown named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well-known place.", "\"Yes,\" I said, \"Jonathan Harker.\"", "On\nmy saying that I did not understand, she went on:\n\n\"It is the eve of St. George's Day.", "* * * * *\n\n_5 May.", "Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes\nof forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves.", "This was\nemphasised by the fact that the snowy mountain-top still held the\nsunset, and seemed to glow out with a delicate cool pink.", "By the roadside were many crosses,\nand as we swept by, my companions all crossed themselves.", "I was now myself looking out for the conveyance\nwhich was to take me to the Count.", "Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the\ndriver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a\nvast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light,\nand whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit\nsky." ]

[ "It was all very\nridiculous but I did not feel comfortable.", "He went, but immediately returned with\na letter:--\n\n \"My Friend.--Welcome to the Carpathians.", "The\ndriver saw it at the same moment; he at once checked the horses, and,\njumping to the ground, disappeared into the darkness.", "I am going among the latter, who claim to be descended\nfrom Attila and the Huns.", "\"Yes,\" I said, \"Jonathan Harker.\"", "It takes a lot of water, and\nrunning strong, to sweep the outside edge of a river clear.", "By-and-by, however, as I was curious to know how time was\npassing, I struck a match, and by its flame looked at my watch; it was\nwithin a few minutes of midnight.", "I called to the coachman to come, for\nit seemed to me that our only chance was to try to break out through the\nring and to aid his approach.", "I could not understand then\nwhat the haste meant, but the driver was evidently bent on losing no\ntime in reaching Borgo Prund.", "We could see now the sandy\nroad lying white before us, but there was on it no sign of a vehicle." ]

[ "The road was rugged, but still we\nseemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.", "I could not understand then\nwhat the haste meant, but the driver was evidently bent on losing no\ntime in reaching Borgo Prund.", "I was told that this road is in summertime\nexcellent, but that it had not yet been put in order after the winter\nsnows.", "In this respect it is different from the general run of roads in\nthe Carpathians, for it is an old tradition that they are not to be kept\nin too good order.", "Of old the Hospadars would not repair them, lest the\nTurk should think that they were preparing to bring in foreign troops,\nand so hasten the war which was always really at loading point.", "Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes\nof forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves.", "Right\nand left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun falling full upon\nthem and bringing out all the glorious colours of this beautiful range,\ndeep blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, green and brown where\ngrass and rock mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged rock and\npointed crags, till these were themselves lost in the distance, where\nthe snowy peaks rose grandly.", "Here and there seemed mighty rifts in the\nmountains, through which, as the sun began to sink, we saw now and again\nthe white gleam of falling water.", "One of my companions touched my arm as\nwe swept round the base of a hill and opened up the lofty, snow-covered\npeak of a mountain, which seemed, as we wound on our serpentine way, to\nbe right before us:--\n\n\"Look!", "Isten szek!\"", "--\"God's seat!\"" ]

[ "\n_3 May.", "Bistritz._--Left Munich at 8:35 P. M., on 1st May, arriving at\nVienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an\nhour late.", "Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I\ngot of it from the train and the little I could walk through the\nstreets.", "I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived\nlate and would start as near the correct time as possible.", "The\nimpression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the\nEast; the most western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is\nhere of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish\nrule.", "We left in pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh.", "Here I stopped for the night at the Hotel Royale.", "I had for dinner, or\nrather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was\nvery good but thirsty.", "(_Mem._, get recipe for Mina.)", "I asked the\nwaiter, and he said it was called \"paprika hendl,\" and that, as it was a\nnational dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the\nCarpathians.", "I called to the coachman to come, for\nit seemed to me that our only chance was to try to break out through the\nring and to aid his approach.", "I shouted and beat the side of the\ncaleche, hoping by the noise to scare the wolves from that side, so as\nto give him a chance of reaching the trap.", "How he came there, I know\nnot, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and\nlooking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway.", "As he swept his\nlong arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves\nfell back and back further still.", "Just then a heavy cloud passed across\nthe face of the moon, so that we were again in darkness.", "When I could see again the driver was climbing into the caleche, and the\nwolves had disappeared.", "This was all so strange and uncanny that a\ndreadful fear came upon me, and I was afraid to speak or move.", "The time\nseemed interminable as we swept on our way, now in almost complete\ndarkness, for the rolling clouds obscured the moon.", "We kept on\nascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main\nalways ascending.", "Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the\ndriver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a\nvast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light,\nand whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit\nsky." ]

[ "\n\n_5 May._--I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had been fully\nawake I must have noticed the approach of such a remarkable place.", "In\nthe gloom the courtyard looked of considerable size, and as several dark\nways led from it under great round arches, it perhaps seemed bigger than\nit really is.", "I have not yet been able to see it by daylight.", "When the caleche stopped, the driver jumped down and held out his hand\nto assist me to alight.", "Again I could not but notice his prodigious\nstrength.", "His hand actually seemed like a steel vice that could have\ncrushed mine if he had chosen.", "Then he took out my traps, and placed\nthem on the ground beside me as I stood close to a great door, old and\nstudded with large iron nails, and set in a projecting doorway of\nmassive stone.", "I could see even in the dim light that the stone was\nmassively carved, but that the carving had been much worn by time and\nweather.", "As I stood, the driver jumped again into his seat and shook the\nreins; the horses started forward, and trap and all disappeared down one\nof the dark openings.", "I stood in silence where I was, for I did not know what to do.", "Of bell\nor knocker there was no sign; through these frowning walls and dark\nwindow openings it was not likely that my voice could penetrate.", "The\ntime I waited seemed endless, and I felt doubts and fears crowding upon\nme.", "What sort of place had I come to, and among what kind of people?", "What sort of grim adventure was it on which I had embarked?", "Was this a\ncustomary incident in the life of a solicitor's clerk sent out to\nexplain the purchase of a London estate to a foreigner?", "Solicitor's\nclerk!", "Mina would not like that.", "Solicitor--for just before leaving\nLondon I got word that my examination was successful; and I am now a\nfull-blown solicitor!", "I began to rub my eyes and pinch myself to see if\nI were awake.", "It all seemed like a horrible nightmare to me, and I\nexpected that I should suddenly awake, and find myself at home, with\nthe dawn struggling in through the windows, as I had now and again felt\nin the morning after a day of overwork.", "But my flesh answered the\npinching test, and my eyes were not to be deceived.", "I was indeed awake\nand among the Carpathians.", "All I could do now was to be patient, and to\nwait the coming of the morning.", "Just as I had come to this conclusion I heard a heavy step approaching\nbehind the great door, and saw through the chinks the gleam of a coming\nlight.", "Then there was the sound of rattling chains and the clanking of\nmassive bolts drawn back.", "A key was turned with the loud grating noise\nof long disuse, and the great door swung back.", "Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white\nmoustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck\nof colour about him anywhere.", "He held in his hand an antique silver\nlamp, in which the flame burned without chimney or globe of any kind,\nthrowing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the\nopen door.", "The old man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly\ngesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation:--\n\n\"Welcome to my house!", "Enter freely and of your own will!\"", "He made no\nmotion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue, as though his\ngesture of welcome had fixed him into stone.", "The instant, however, that\nI had stepped over the threshold, he moved impulsively forward, and\nholding out his hand grasped mine with a strength which made me wince,\nan effect which was not lessened by the fact that it seemed as cold as\nice--more like the hand of a dead than a living man.", "Again he said:--\n\n\"Welcome to my house.", "Come freely.", "Go safely; and leave something of the\nhappiness you bring!\"", "The strength of the handshake was so much akin to\nthat which I had noticed in the driver, whose face I had not seen, that\nfor a moment I doubted if it were not the same person to whom I was\nspeaking; so to make sure, I said interrogatively:--\n\n\"Count Dracula?\"", "He bowed in a courtly way as he replied:--\n\n\"I am Dracula; and I bid you welcome, Mr. Harker, to my house.", "Come in;\nthe night air is chill, and you must need to eat and rest.\"", "As he was\nspeaking, he put the lamp on a bracket on the wall, and stepping out,\ntook my luggage; he had carried it in before I could forestall him.", "I\nprotested but he insisted:--\n\n\"Nay, sir, you are my guest.", "It is late, and my people are not\navailable.", "Let me see to your comfort myself.\"", "He insisted on carrying\nmy traps along the passage, and then up a great winding stair, and\nalong another great passage, on whose stone floor our steps rang\nheavily.", "At the end of this he threw open a heavy door, and I rejoiced\nto see within a well-lit room in which a table was spread for supper,\nand on whose mighty hearth a great fire of logs, freshly replenished,\nflamed and flared.", "The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door, and crossing\nthe room, opened another door, which led into a small octagonal room lit\nby a single lamp, and seemingly without a window of any sort.", "Passing\nthrough this, he opened another door, and motioned me to enter.", "It was a\nwelcome sight; for here was a great bedroom well lighted and warmed with\nanother log fire,--also added to but lately, for the top logs were\nfresh--which sent a hollow roar up the wide chimney.", "The Count himself\nleft my luggage inside and withdrew, saying, before he closed the\ndoor:--\n\n\"You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself by making your\ntoilet.", "I trust you will find all you wish.", "When you are ready, come\ninto the other room, where you will find your supper prepared.\"", "The light and warmth and the Count's courteous welcome seemed to have\ndissipated all my doubts and fears.", "Having then reached my normal state,\nI discovered that I was half famished with hunger; so making a hasty\ntoilet, I went into the other room.", "I found supper already laid out.", "My host, who stood on one side of the\ngreat fireplace, leaning against the stonework, made a graceful wave of\nhis hand to the table, and said:--\n\n\"I pray you, be seated and sup how you please.", "You will, I trust, excuse\nme that I do not join you; but I have dined already, and I do not sup.\"", "I handed to him the sealed letter which Mr. Hawkins had entrusted to me.", "He opened it and read it gravely; then, with a charming smile, he handed\nit to me to read.", "One passage of it, at least, gave me a thrill of\npleasure.", "\"I must regret that an attack of gout, from which malady I am a constant\nsufferer, forbids absolutely any travelling on my part for some time to\ncome; but I am happy to say I can send a sufficient substitute, one in\nwhom I have every possible confidence.", "He is a young man, full of energy\nand talent in his own way, and of a very faithful disposition.", "He is\ndiscreet and silent, and has grown into manhood in my service.", "He shall\nbe ready to attend on you when you will during his stay, and shall take\nyour instructions in all matters.\"", "The Count himself came forward and took off the cover of a dish, and I\nfell to at once on an excellent roast chicken.", "This, with some cheese\nand a salad and a bottle of old Tokay, of which I had two glasses, was\nmy supper.", "During the time I was eating it the Count asked me many\nquestions as to my journey, and I told him by degrees all I had\nexperienced.", "By this time I had finished my supper, and by my host's desire had drawn\nup a chair by the fire and begun to smoke a cigar which he offered me,\nat the same time excusing himself that he did not smoke.", "I had now an\nopportunity of observing him, and found him of a very marked\nphysiognomy.", "His face was a strong--a very strong--aquiline, with high bridge of the\nthin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty domed forehead, and\nhair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere.", "His\neyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy\nhair that seemed to curl in its own profusion.", "The mouth, so far as I\ncould see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather\ncruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over\nthe lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a\nman of his years.", "For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops\nextremely pointed; the chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm\nthough thin.", "The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.", "Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they lay on his knees\nin the firelight, and they had seemed rather white and fine; but seeing\nthem now close to me, I could not but notice that they were rather\ncoarse--broad, with squat fingers.", "Strange to say, there were hairs in\nthe centre of the palm.", "The nails were long and fine, and cut to a sharp\npoint.", "As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me, I could not\nrepress a shudder.", "It may have been that his breath was rank, but a\nhorrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could\nnot conceal.", "The Count, evidently noticing it, drew back; and with a\ngrim sort of smile, which showed more than he had yet done his\nprotuberant teeth, sat himself down again on his own side of the\nfireplace.", "We were both silent for a while; and as I looked towards the\nwindow I saw the first dim streak of the coming dawn.", "There seemed a\nstrange stillness over everything; but as I listened I heard as if from\ndown below in the valley the howling of many wolves.", "The Count's eyes\ngleamed, and he said:--\n\n\"Listen to them--the children of the night.", "What music they make!\"", "Seeing, I suppose, some expression in my face strange to him, he\nadded:--\n\n\"Ah, sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the\nhunter.\"", "Then he rose and said:--\n\n\"But you must be tired.", "Your bedroom is all ready, and to-morrow you\nshall sleep as late as you will.", "I have to be away till the afternoon;\nso sleep well and dream well!\"", "With a courteous bow, he opened for me\nhimself the door to the octagonal room, and I entered my bedroom....", "I am all in a sea of wonders.", "I doubt; I fear; I think strange things,\nwhich I dare not confess to my own soul.", "God keep me, if only for the\nsake of those dear to me!", "* * * * *\n\n_7 May._--It is again early morning, but I have rested and enjoyed the\nlast twenty-four hours.", "I slept till late in the day, and awoke of my\nown accord.", "When I had dressed myself I went into the room where we had\nsupped, and found a cold breakfast laid out, with coffee kept hot by the\npot being placed on the hearth.", "There was a card on the table, on which\nwas written:--\n\n\"I have to be absent for a while.", "Do not wait for me.--D.\"", "I set to and\nenjoyed a hearty meal.", "When I had done, I looked for a bell, so that I\nmight let the servants know I had finished; but I could not find one.", "There are certainly odd deficiencies in the house, considering the\nextraordinary evidences of wealth which are round me.", "The table service\nis of gold, and so beautifully wrought that it must be of immense value.", "The curtains and upholstery of the chairs and sofas and the hangings of\nmy bed are of the costliest and most beautiful fabrics, and must have\nbeen of fabulous value when they were made, for they are centuries old,\nthough in excellent order.", "I saw something like them in Hampton Court,\nbut there they were worn and frayed and moth-eaten.", "But still in none of\nthe rooms is there a mirror.", "There is not even a toilet glass on my\ntable, and I had to get the little shaving glass from my bag before I\ncould either shave or brush my hair.", "I have not yet seen a servant\nanywhere, or heard a sound near the castle except the howling of wolves.", "Some time after I had finished my meal--I do not know whether to call it\nbreakfast or dinner, for it was between five and six o'clock when I had\nit--I looked about for something to read, for I did not like to go about\nthe castle until I had asked the Count's permission.", "There was\nabsolutely nothing in the room, book, newspaper, or even writing\nmaterials; so I opened another door in the room and found a sort of\nlibrary.", "The door opposite mine I tried, but found it locked.", "In the library I found, to my great delight, a vast number of English\nbooks, whole shelves full of them, and bound volumes of magazines and\nnewspapers.", "A table in the centre was littered with English magazines\nand newspapers, though none of them were of very recent date.", "The books\nwere of the most varied kind--history, geography, politics, political\neconomy, botany, geology, law--all relating to England and English life\nand customs and manners.", "There were even such books of reference as the\nLondon Directory, the \"Red\" and \"Blue\" books, Whitaker's Almanac, the\nArmy and Navy Lists, and--it somehow gladdened my heart to see it--the\nLaw List.", "Whilst I was looking at the books, the door opened, and the Count\nentered.", "He saluted me in a hearty way, and hoped that I had had a good\nnight's rest.", "Then he went on:--\n\n\"I am glad you found your way in here, for I am sure there is much that\nwill interest you.", "These companions\"--and he laid his hand on some of\nthe books--\"have been good friends to me, and for some years past, ever\nsince I had the idea of going to London, have given me many, many hours\nof pleasure.", "Through them I have come to know your great England; and to\nknow her is to love her.", "I long to go through the crowded streets of\nyour mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of\nhumanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes\nit what it is.", "But alas!", "as yet I only know your tongue through books.", "To you, my friend, I look that I know it to speak.\"", "\"But, Count,\" I said, \"you know and speak English thoroughly!\"", "He bowed\ngravely.", "\"I thank you, my friend, for your all too-flattering estimate, but yet I\nfear that I am but a little way on the road I would travel.", "True, I know\nthe grammar and the words, but yet I know not how to speak them.\"", "\"Indeed,\" I said, \"you speak excellently.\"", "\"Not so,\" he answered.", "\"Well, I know that, did I move and speak in your\nLondon, none there are who would not know me for a stranger.", "That is not\nenough for me.", "Here I am noble; I am _boyar_; the common people know me,\nand I am master.", "But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men\nknow him not--and to know not is to care not for.", "I am content if I am\nlike the rest, so that no man stops if he see me, or pause in his\nspeaking if he hear my words, 'Ha, ha!", "a stranger!'", "I have been so long\nmaster that I would be master still--or at least that none other should\nbe master of me.", "You come to me not alone as agent of my friend Peter\nHawkins, of Exeter, to tell me all about my new estate in London.", "You\nshall, I trust, rest here with me awhile, so that by our talking I may\nlearn the English intonation; and I would that you tell me when I make\nerror, even of the smallest, in my speaking.", "I am sorry that I had to be\naway so long to-day; but you will, I know, forgive one who has so many\nimportant affairs in hand.\"", "Of course I said all I could about being willing, and asked if I might\ncome into that room when I chose.", "He answered: \"Yes, certainly,\" and\nadded:--\n\n\"You may go anywhere you wish in the castle, except where the doors are\nlocked, where of course you will not wish to go.", "There is reason that\nall things are as they are, and did you see with my eyes and know with\nmy knowledge, you would perhaps better understand.\"", "I said I was sure of\nthis, and then he went on:--\n\n\"We are in Transylvania; and Transylvania is not England.", "Our ways are\nnot your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things.", "Nay, from\nwhat you have told me of your experiences already, you know something of\nwhat strange things there may be.\"", "This led to much conversation; and as it was evident that he wanted to\ntalk, if only for talking's sake, I asked him many questions regarding\nthings that had already happened to me or come within my notice.", "Sometimes he sheered off the subject, or turned the conversation by\npretending not to understand; but generally he answered all I asked most\nfrankly.", "Then as time went on, and I had got somewhat bolder, I asked\nhim of some of the strange things of the preceding night, as, for\ninstance, why the coachman went to the places where he had seen the blue\nflames.", "He then explained to me that it was commonly believed that on a\ncertain night of the year--last night, in fact, when all evil spirits\nare supposed to have unchecked sway--a blue flame is seen over any place\nwhere treasure has been concealed.", "\"That treasure has been hidden,\" he\nwent on, \"in the region through which you came last night, there can be\nbut little doubt; for it was the ground fought over for centuries by the\nWallachian, the Saxon, and the Turk.", "Why, there is hardly a foot of soil\nin all this region that has not been enriched by the blood of men,\npatriots or invaders.", "In old days there were stirring times, when the\nAustrian and the Hungarian came up in hordes, and the patriots went out\nto meet them--men and women, the aged and the children too--and waited\ntheir coming on the rocks above the passes, that they might sweep\ndestruction on them with their artificial avalanches.", "When the invader\nwas triumphant he found but little, for whatever there was had been\nsheltered in the friendly soil.\"", "\"But how,\" said I, \"can it have remained so long undiscovered, when\nthere is a sure index to it if men will but take the trouble to look?\"", "The Count smiled, and as his lips ran back over his gums, the long,\nsharp, canine teeth showed out strangely; he answered:--\n\n\"Because your peasant is at heart a coward and a fool!", "Those flames only\nappear on one night; and on that night no man of this land will, if he\ncan help it, stir without his doors.", "And, dear sir, even if he did he\nwould not know what to do.", "Why, even the peasant that you tell me of who\nmarked the place of the flame would not know where to look in daylight\neven for his own work.", "Even you would not, I dare be sworn, be able to\nfind these places again?\"", "\"There you are right,\" I said.", "\"I know no more than the dead where even\nto look for them.\"", "Then we drifted into other matters.", "\"Come,\" he said at last, \"tell me of London and of the house which you\nhave procured for me.\"", "With an apology for my remissness, I went into my\nown room to get the papers from my bag.", "Whilst I was placing them in\norder I heard a rattling of china and silver in the next room, and as I\npassed through, noticed that the table had been cleared and the lamp\nlit, for it was by this time deep into the dark.", "The lamps were also lit\nin the study or library, and I found the Count lying on the sofa,\nreading, of all things in the world, an English Bradshaw's Guide.", "When I\ncame in he cleared the books and papers from the table; and with him I\nwent into plans and deeds and figures of all sorts.", "He was interested in\neverything, and asked me a myriad questions about the place and its\nsurroundings.", "He clearly had studied beforehand all he could get on the\nsubject of the neighbourhood, for he evidently at the end knew very much\nmore than I did.", "When I remarked this, he answered:--\n\n\"Well, but, my friend, is it not needful that I should?", "When I go there\nI shall be all alone, and my friend Harker Jonathan--nay, pardon me, I\nfall into my country's habit of putting your patronymic first--my friend\nJonathan Harker will not be by my side to correct and aid me.", "He will be\nin Exeter, miles away, probably working at papers of the law with my\nother friend, Peter Hawkins.", "So!\"", "We went thoroughly into the business of the purchase of the estate at\nPurfleet.", "When I had told him the facts and got his signature to the\nnecessary papers, and had written a letter with them ready to post to\nMr. Hawkins, he began to ask me how I had come across so suitable a\nplace.", "I read to him the notes which I had made at the time, and which I\ninscribe here:--\n\n\"At Purfleet, on a by-road, I came across just such a place as seemed to\nbe required, and where was displayed a dilapidated notice that the place\nwas for sale.", "It is surrounded by a high wall, of ancient structure,\nbuilt of heavy stones, and has not been repaired for a large number of\nyears.", "The closed gates are of heavy old oak and iron, all eaten with\nrust.", "\"The estate is called Carfax, no doubt a corruption of the old _Quatre\nFace_, as the house is four-sided, agreeing with the cardinal points of\nthe compass.", "It contains in all some twenty acres, quite surrounded by\nthe solid stone wall above mentioned.", "There are many trees on it, which\nmake it in places gloomy, and there is a deep, dark-looking pond or\nsmall lake, evidently fed by some springs, as the water is clear and\nflows away in a fair-sized stream.", "The house is very large and of all\nperiods back, I should say, to mediaeval times, for one part is of stone\nimmensely thick, with only a few windows high up and heavily barred with\niron.", "It looks like part of a keep, and is close to an old chapel or\nchurch.", "I could not enter it, as I had not the key of the door leading\nto it from the house, but I have taken with my kodak views of it from\nvarious points.", "The house has been added to, but in a very straggling\nway, and I can only guess at the amount of ground it covers, which must\nbe very great.", "There are but few houses close at hand, one being a very\nlarge house only recently added to and formed into a private lunatic\nasylum.", "It is not, however, visible from the grounds.\"", "When I had finished, he said:--\n\n\"I am glad that it is old and big.", "I myself am of an old family, and to\nlive in a new house would kill me.", "A house cannot be made habitable in a\nday; and, after all, how few days go to make up a century.", "I rejoice\nalso that there is a chapel of old times.", "We Transylvanian nobles love\nnot to think that our bones may lie amongst the common dead.", "I seek not\ngaiety nor mirth, not the bright voluptuousness of much sunshine and\nsparkling waters which please the young and gay.", "I am no longer young;\nand my heart, through weary years of mourning over the dead, is not\nattuned to mirth.", "Moreover, the walls of my castle are broken; the\nshadows are many, and the wind breathes cold through the broken\nbattlements and casements.", "I love the shade and the shadow, and would\nbe alone with my thoughts when I may.\"", "Somehow his words and his look\ndid not seem to accord, or else it was that his cast of face made his\nsmile look malignant and saturnine.", "Presently, with an excuse, he left me, asking me to put all my papers\ntogether.", "He was some little time away, and I began to look at some of\nthe books around me.", "One was an atlas, which I found opened naturally at\nEngland, as if that map had been much used.", "On looking at it I found in\ncertain places little rings marked, and on examining these I noticed\nthat one was near London on the east side, manifestly where his new\nestate was situated; the other two were Exeter, and Whitby on the\nYorkshire coast.", "It was the better part of an hour when the Count returned.", "\"Aha!\"", "he\nsaid; \"still at your books?", "Good!", "But you must not work always.", "Come; I\nam informed that your supper is ready.\"", "He took my arm, and we went into\nthe next room, where I found an excellent supper ready on the table.", "The\nCount again excused himself, as he had dined out on his being away from\nhome.", "But he sat as on the previous night, and chatted whilst I ate.", "After supper I smoked, as on the last evening, and the Count stayed with\nme, chatting and asking questions on every conceivable subject, hour\nafter hour.", "I felt that it was getting very late indeed, but I did not\nsay anything, for I felt under obligation to meet my host's wishes in\nevery way.", "I was not sleepy, as the long sleep yesterday had fortified\nme; but I could not help experiencing that chill which comes over one at\nthe coming of the dawn, which is like, in its way, the turn of the tide.", "They say that people who are near death die generally at the change to\nthe dawn or at the turn of the tide; any one who has when tired, and\ntied as it were to his post, experienced this change in the atmosphere\ncan well believe it.", "All at once we heard the crow of a cock coming up\nwith preternatural shrillness through the clear morning air; Count\nDracula, jumping to his feet, said:--\n\n\"Why, there is the morning again!", "How remiss I am to let you stay up so\nlong.", "You must make your conversation regarding my dear new country of\nEngland less interesting, so that I may not forget how time flies by\nus,\" and, with a courtly bow, he quickly left me.", "I went into my own room and drew the curtains, but there was little to\nnotice; my window opened into the courtyard, all I could see was the\nwarm grey of quickening sky.", "So I pulled the curtains again, and have\nwritten of this day.", "* * * * *\n\n_8 May._--I began to fear as I wrote in this book that I was getting too\ndiffuse; but now I am glad that I went into detail from the first, for\nthere is something so strange about this place and all in it that I\ncannot but feel uneasy.", "I wish I were safe out of it, or that I had\nnever come.", "It may be that this strange night-existence is telling on\nme; but would that that were all!", "If there were any one to talk to I\ncould bear it, but there is no one.", "I have only the Count to speak with,\nand he!--I fear I am myself the only living soul within the place.", "Let\nme be prosaic so far as facts can be; it will help me to bear up, and\nimagination must not run riot with me.", "If it does I am lost.", "Let me say\nat once how I stand--or seem to.", "I only slept a few hours when I went to bed, and feeling that I could\nnot sleep any more, got up.", "I had hung my shaving glass by the window,\nand was just beginning to shave.", "Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder,\nand heard the Count's voice saying to me, \"Good-morning.\"", "I started, for\nit amazed me that I had not seen him, since the reflection of the glass\ncovered the whole room behind me.", "In starting I had cut myself slightly,\nbut did not notice it at the moment.", "Having answered the Count's\nsalutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken.", "This time there could be no error, for the man was close to me, and I\ncould see him over my shoulder.", "But there was no reflection of him in\nthe mirror!", "The whole room behind me was displayed; but there was no\nsign of a man in it, except myself.", "This was startling, and, coming on\nthe top of so many strange things, was beginning to increase that vague\nfeeling of uneasiness which I always have when the Count is near; but at\nthe instant I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was\ntrickling over my chin.", "I laid down the razor, turning as I did so half\nround to look for some sticking plaster.", "When the Count saw my face, his\neyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at\nmy throat.", "I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which\nheld the crucifix.", "It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed\nso quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there.", "\"Take care,\" he said, \"take care how you cut yourself.", "It is more\ndangerous than you think in this country.\"", "Then seizing the shaving\nglass, he went on: \"And this is the wretched thing that has done the\nmischief.", "It is a foul bauble of man's vanity.", "Away with it!\"", "and\nopening the heavy window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung\nout the glass, which was shattered into a thousand pieces on the stones\nof the courtyard far below.", "Then he withdrew without a word.", "It is very\nannoying, for I do not see how I am to shave, unless in my watch-case or\nthe bottom of the shaving-pot, which is fortunately of metal.", "When I went into the dining-room, breakfast was prepared; but I could\nnot find the Count anywhere.", "So I breakfasted alone.", "It is strange that\nas yet I have not seen the Count eat or drink.", "He must be a very\npeculiar man!", "After breakfast I did a little exploring in the castle.", "I\nwent out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the South.", "The\nview was magnificent, and from where I stood there was every opportunity\nof seeing it.", "The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice.", "A\nstone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without\ntouching anything!", "As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree\ntops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm.", "Here and\nthere are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through\nthe forests.", "But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I\nexplored further; doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and\nbolted.", "In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there\nan available exit.", "The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!" ]

[ "He held in his hand an antique silver\nlamp, in which the flame burned without chimney or globe of any kind,\nthrowing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the\nopen door.", "Come freely.", "Come in;\nthe night air is chill, and you must need to eat and rest.\"", "\"I must regret that an attack of gout, from which malady I am a constant\nsufferer, forbids absolutely any travelling on my part for some time to\ncome; but I am happy to say I can send a sufficient substitute, one in\nwhom I have every possible confidence.", "It may have been that his breath was rank, but a\nhorrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could\nnot conceal.", "The Count, evidently noticing it, drew back; and with a\ngrim sort of smile, which showed more than he had yet done his\nprotuberant teeth, sat himself down again on his own side of the\nfireplace.", "But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men\nknow him not--and to know not is to care not for.", "The\nCount again excused himself, as he had dined out on his being away from\nhome.", "Then he withdrew without a word.", "I\nwent out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the South." ]

[ "What sort of grim adventure was it on which I had embarked?", "He made no\nmotion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue, as though his\ngesture of welcome had fixed him into stone.", "I drew away, and his hand touched the string of beads which\nheld the crucifix.", "I saw something like them in Hampton Court,\nbut there they were worn and frayed and moth-eaten.", "\"Aha!\"", "Solicitor's\nclerk!", "But you must not work always.", "We were both silent for a while; and as I looked towards the\nwindow I saw the first dim streak of the coming dawn.", "When the Count saw my face, his\neyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at\nmy throat.", "Of bell\nor knocker there was no sign; through these frowning walls and dark\nwindow openings it was not likely that my voice could penetrate." ]

[ "\"Not so,\" he answered.", "\"Well, I know that, did I move and speak in your\nLondon, none there are who would not know me for a stranger.", "That is not\nenough for me.", "Here I am noble; I am _boyar_; the common people know me,\nand I am master.", "But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one; men\nknow him not--and to know not is to care not for.", "I am content if I am\nlike the rest, so that no man stops if he see me, or pause in his\nspeaking if he hear my words, 'Ha, ha!", "a stranger!'", "I have been so long\nmaster that I would be master still--or at least that none other should\nbe master of me.", "You come to me not alone as agent of my friend Peter\nHawkins, of Exeter, to tell me all about my new estate in London.", "You\nshall, I trust, rest here with me awhile, so that by our talking I may\nlearn the English intonation; and I would that you tell me when I make\nerror, even of the smallest, in my speaking.", "I am sorry that I had to be\naway so long to-day; but you will, I know, forgive one who has so many\nimportant affairs in hand.\"" ]

[ "\n\n_5 May._--I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had been fully\nawake I must have noticed the approach of such a remarkable place.", "In\nthe gloom the courtyard looked of considerable size, and as several dark\nways led from it under great round arches, it perhaps seemed bigger than\nit really is.", "I have not yet been able to see it by daylight.", "When the caleche stopped, the driver jumped down and held out his hand\nto assist me to alight.", "Again I could not but notice his prodigious\nstrength.", "His hand actually seemed like a steel vice that could have\ncrushed mine if he had chosen.", "Then he took out my traps, and placed\nthem on the ground beside me as I stood close to a great door, old and\nstudded with large iron nails, and set in a projecting doorway of\nmassive stone.", "I could see even in the dim light that the stone was\nmassively carved, but that the carving had been much worn by time and\nweather.", "As I stood, the driver jumped again into his seat and shook the\nreins; the horses started forward, and trap and all disappeared down one\nof the dark openings.", "I stood in silence where I was, for I did not know what to do.", "After breakfast I did a little exploring in the castle.", "I\nwent out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the South.", "The\nview was magnificent, and from where I stood there was every opportunity\nof seeing it.", "The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice.", "A\nstone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without\ntouching anything!", "As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree\ntops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm.", "Here and\nthere are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through\nthe forests.", "But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I\nexplored further; doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and\nbolted.", "In no place save from the windows in the castle walls is there\nan available exit.", "The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!" ]

[ "\nWhen I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me.", "I rushed up and down the stairs, trying every door and peering out of\nevery window I could find; but after a little the conviction of my\nhelplessness overpowered all other feelings.", "When I look back after a\nfew hours I think I must have been mad for the time, for I behaved much\nas a rat does in a trap.", "When, however, the conviction had come to me\nthat I was helpless I sat down quietly--as quietly as I have ever done\nanything in my life--and began to think over what was best to be done.", "I\nam thinking still, and as yet have come to no definite conclusion.", "Of\none thing only am I certain; that it is no use making my ideas known to\nthe Count.", "He knows well that I am imprisoned; and as he has done it\nhimself, and has doubtless his own motives for it, he would only deceive\nme if I trusted him fully with the facts.", "So far as I can see, my only\nplan will be to keep my knowledge and my fears to myself, and my eyes\nopen.", "I am, I know, either being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears,\nor else I am in desperate straits; and if the latter be so, I need, and\nshall need, all my brains to get through.", "I had hardly come to this conclusion when I heard the great door below\nshut, and knew that the Count had returned.", "He did not come at once into\nthe library, so I went cautiously to my own room and found him making\nthe bed.", "This was odd, but only confirmed what I had all along\nthought--that there were no servants in the house.", "When later I saw him\nthrough the chink of the hinges of the door laying the table in the\ndining-room, I was assured of it; for if he does himself all these\nmenial offices, surely it is proof that there is no one else to do them.", "This gave me a fright, for if there is no one else in the castle, it\nmust have been the Count himself who was the driver of the coach that\nbrought me here.", "This is a terrible thought; for if so, what does it\nmean that he could control the wolves, as he did, by only holding up his\nhand in silence.", "How was it that all the people at Bistritz and on the\ncoach had some terrible fear for me?", "What meant the giving of the\ncrucifix, of the garlic, of the wild rose, of the mountain ash?", "Bless\nthat good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck!", "for it is a\ncomfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it.", "It is odd that a thing\nwhich I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous\nshould in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help.", "Is it that there\nis something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium,\na tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort?", "Some\ntime, if it may be, I must examine this matter and try to make up my\nmind about it.", "In the meantime I must find out all I can about Count\nDracula, as it may help me to understand.", "To-night he may talk of\nhimself, if I turn the conversation that way.", "I must be very careful,\nhowever, not to awake his suspicion.", "* * * * *\n\n_Midnight._--I have had a long talk with the Count.", "I asked him a few\nquestions on Transylvania history, and he warmed up to the subject\nwonderfully.", "In his speaking of things and people, and especially of\nbattles, he spoke as if he had been present at them all.", "This he\nafterwards explained by saying that to a _boyar_ the pride of his house\nand name is his own pride, that their glory is his glory, that their\nfate is his fate.", "Whenever he spoke of his house he always said \"we,\"\nand spoke almost in the plural, like a king speaking.", "I wish I could put\ndown all he said exactly as he said it, for to me it was most\nfascinating.", "It seemed to have in it a whole history of the country.", "He\ngrew excited as he spoke, and walked about the room pulling his great\nwhite moustache and grasping anything on which he laid his hands as\nthough he would crush it by main strength.", "One thing he said which I\nshall put down as nearly as I can; for it tells in its way the story of\nhis race:--\n\n\"We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood\nof many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship.", "Here,\nin the whirlpool of European races, the Ugric tribe bore down from\nIceland the fighting spirit which Thor and Wodin gave them, which their\nBerserkers displayed to such fell intent on the seaboards of Europe, ay,\nand of Asia and Africa too, till the peoples thought that the\nwere-wolves themselves had come.", "Here, too, when they came, they found\nthe Huns, whose warlike fury had swept the earth like a living flame,\ntill the dying peoples held that in their veins ran the blood of those\nold witches, who, expelled from Scythia had mated with the devils in the\ndesert.", "Fools, fools!", "What devil or what witch was ever so great as\nAttila, whose blood is in these veins?\"", "He held up his arms.", "\"Is it a\nwonder that we were a conquering race; that we were proud; that when the\nMagyar, the Lombard, the Avar, the Bulgar, or the Turk poured his\nthousands on our frontiers, we drove them back?", "Is it strange that when\nArpad and his legions swept through the Hungarian fatherland he found us\nhere when he reached the frontier; that the Honfoglalas was completed\nthere?", "And when the Hungarian flood swept eastward, the Szekelys were\nclaimed as kindred by the victorious Magyars, and to us for centuries\nwas trusted the guarding of the frontier of Turkey-land; ay, and more\nthan that, endless duty of the frontier guard, for, as the Turks say,\n'water sleeps, and enemy is sleepless.'", "Who more gladly than we\nthroughout the Four Nations received the 'bloody sword,' or at its\nwarlike call flocked quicker to the standard of the King?", "When was\nredeemed that great shame of my nation, the shame of Cassova, when the\nflags of the Wallach and the Magyar went down beneath the Crescent?", "Who\nwas it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube and beat\nthe Turk on his own ground?", "This was a Dracula indeed!", "Woe was it that\nhis own unworthy brother, when he had fallen, sold his people to the\nTurk and brought the shame of slavery on them!", "Was it not this Dracula,\nindeed, who inspired that other of his race who in a later age again and\nagain brought his forces over the great river into Turkey-land; who,\nwhen he was beaten back, came again, and again, and again, though he had\nto come alone from the bloody field where his troops were being\nslaughtered, since he knew that he alone could ultimately triumph!", "They\nsaid that he thought only of himself.", "Bah!", "what good are peasants\nwithout a leader?", "Where ends the war without a brain and heart to\nconduct it?", "Again, when, after the battle of Mohacs, we threw off the\nHungarian yoke, we of the Dracula blood were amongst their leaders, for\nour spirit would not brook that we were not free.", "Ah, young sir, the\nSzekelys--and the Dracula as their heart's blood, their brains, and\ntheir swords--can boast a record that mushroom growths like the\nHapsburgs and the Romanoffs can never reach.", "The warlike days are over.", "Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace; and\nthe glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.\"", "It was by this time close on morning, and we went to bed.", "(_Mem._, this\ndiary seems horribly like the beginning of the \"Arabian Nights,\" for\neverything has to break off at cockcrow--or like the ghost of Hamlet's\nfather.)", "* * * * *\n\n_12 May._--Let me begin with facts--bare, meagre facts, verified by\nbooks and figures, and of which there can be no doubt.", "I must not\nconfuse them with experiences which will have to rest on my own\nobservation, or my memory of them.", "Last evening when the Count came from\nhis room he began by asking me questions on legal matters and on the\ndoing of certain kinds of business.", "I had spent the day wearily over\nbooks, and, simply to keep my mind occupied, went over some of the\nmatters I had been examined in at Lincoln's Inn.", "There was a certain\nmethod in the Count's inquiries, so I shall try to put them down in\nsequence; the knowledge may somehow or some time be useful to me.", "First, he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors or more.", "I\ntold him he might have a dozen if he wished, but that it would not be\nwise to have more than one solicitor engaged in one transaction, as only\none could act at a time, and that to change would be certain to militate\nagainst his interest.", "He seemed thoroughly to understand, and went on to\nask if there would be any practical difficulty in having one man to\nattend, say, to banking, and another to look after shipping, in case\nlocal help were needed in a place far from the home of the banking\nsolicitor.", "I asked him to explain more fully, so that I might not by any\nchance mislead him, so he said:--\n\n\"I shall illustrate.", "Your friend and mine, Mr. Peter Hawkins, from under\nthe shadow of your beautiful cathedral at Exeter, which is far from\nLondon, buys for me through your good self my place at London.", "Good!", "Now\nhere let me say frankly, lest you should think it strange that I have\nsought the services of one so far off from London instead of some one\nresident there, that my motive was that no local interest might be\nserved save my wish only; and as one of London residence might, perhaps,\nhave some purpose of himself or friend to serve, I went thus afield to\nseek my agent, whose labours should be only to my interest.", "Now, suppose\nI, who have much of affairs, wish to ship goods, say, to Newcastle, or\nDurham, or Harwich, or Dover, might it not be that it could with more\nease be done by consigning to one in these ports?\"", "I answered that\ncertainly it would be most easy, but that we solicitors had a system of\nagency one for the other, so that local work could be done locally on\ninstruction from any solicitor, so that the client, simply placing\nhimself in the hands of one man, could have his wishes carried out by\nhim without further trouble.", "\"But,\" said he, \"I could be at liberty to direct myself.", "Is it not so?\"", "\"Of course,\" I replied; and \"such is often done by men of business, who\ndo not like the whole of their affairs to be known by any one person.\"", "\"Good!\"", "he said, and then went on to ask about the means of making\nconsignments and the forms to be gone through, and of all sorts of\ndifficulties which might arise, but by forethought could be guarded\nagainst.", "I explained all these things to him to the best of my ability,\nand he certainly left me under the impression that he would have made a\nwonderful solicitor, for there was nothing that he did not think of or\nforesee.", "For a man who was never in the country, and who did not\nevidently do much in the way of business, his knowledge and acumen were\nwonderful.", "When he had satisfied himself on these points of which he had\nspoken, and I had verified all as well as I could by the books\navailable, he suddenly stood up and said:--\n\n\"Have you written since your first letter to our friend Mr. Peter\nHawkins, or to any other?\"", "It was with some bitterness in my heart that\nI answered that I had not, that as yet I had not seen any opportunity of\nsending letters to anybody.", "\"Then write now, my young friend,\" he said, laying a heavy hand on my\nshoulder: \"write to our friend and to any other; and say, if it will\nplease you, that you shall stay with me until a month from now.\"", "\"Do you wish me to stay so long?\"", "I asked, for my heart grew cold at the\nthought.", "\"I desire it much; nay, I will take no refusal.", "When your master,\nemployer, what you will, engaged that someone should come on his behalf,\nit was understood that my needs only were to be consulted.", "I have not\nstinted.", "Is it not so?\"", "What could I do but bow acceptance?", "It was Mr. Hawkins's interest, not\nmine, and I had to think of him, not myself; and besides, while Count\nDracula was speaking, there was that in his eyes and in his bearing\nwhich made me remember that I was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I\ncould have no choice.", "The Count saw his victory in my bow, and his\nmastery in the trouble of my face, for he began at once to use them, but\nin his own smooth, resistless way:--\n\n\"I pray you, my good young friend, that you will not discourse of things\nother than business in your letters.", "It will doubtless please your\nfriends to know that you are well, and that you look forward to getting\nhome to them.", "Is it not so?\"", "As he spoke he handed me three sheets of\nnote-paper and three envelopes.", "They were all of the thinnest foreign\npost, and looking at them, then at him, and noticing his quiet smile,\nwith the sharp, canine teeth lying over the red underlip, I understood\nas well as if he had spoken that I should be careful what I wrote, for\nhe would be able to read it.", "So I determined to write only formal notes\nnow, but to write fully to Mr. Hawkins in secret, and also to Mina, for\nto her I could write in shorthand, which would puzzle the Count, if he\ndid see it.", "When I had written my two letters I sat quiet, reading a\nbook whilst the Count wrote several notes, referring as he wrote them to\nsome books on his table.", "Then he took up my two and placed them with his\nown, and put by his writing materials, after which, the instant the door\nhad closed behind him, I leaned over and looked at the letters, which\nwere face down on the table.", "I felt no compunction in doing so, for\nunder the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself in every way\nI could.", "One of the letters was directed to Samuel F. Billington, No.", "7, The\nCrescent, Whitby, another to Herr Leutner, Varna; the third was to\nCoutts & Co., London, and the fourth to Herren Klopstock & Billreuth,\nbankers, Buda-Pesth.", "The second and fourth were unsealed.", "I was just\nabout to look at them when I saw the door-handle move.", "I sank back in my\nseat, having just had time to replace the letters as they had been and\nto resume my book before the Count, holding still another letter in his\nhand, entered the room.", "He took up the letters on the table and stamped\nthem carefully, and then turning to me, said:--\n\n\"I trust you will forgive me, but I have much work to do in private this\nevening.", "You will, I hope, find all things as you wish.\"", "At the door he\nturned, and after a moment's pause said:--\n\n\"Let me advise you, my dear young friend--nay, let me warn you with all\nseriousness, that should you leave these rooms you will not by any\nchance go to sleep in any other part of the castle.", "It is old, and has\nmany memories, and there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely.", "Be\nwarned!", "Should sleep now or ever overcome you, or be like to do, then\nhaste to your own chamber or to these rooms, for your rest will then be\nsafe.", "But if you be not careful in this respect, then\"--He finished his\nspeech in a gruesome way, for he motioned with his hands as if he were\nwashing them.", "I quite understood; my only doubt was as to whether any\ndream could be more terrible than the unnatural, horrible net of gloom\nand mystery which seemed closing around me.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later._--I endorse the last words written, but this time there is no\ndoubt in question.", "I shall not fear to sleep in any place where he is\nnot.", "I have placed the crucifix over the head of my bed--I imagine that\nmy rest is thus freer from dreams; and there it shall remain.", "When he left me I went to my room.", "After a little while, not hearing any\nsound, I came out and went up the stone stair to where I could look out\ntowards the South.", "There was some sense of freedom in the vast expanse,\ninaccessible though it was to me, as compared with the narrow darkness\nof the courtyard.", "Looking out on this, I felt that I was indeed in\nprison, and I seemed to want a breath of fresh air, though it were of\nthe night.", "I am beginning to feel this nocturnal existence tell on me.", "It is destroying my nerve.", "I start at my own shadow, and am full of all\nsorts of horrible imaginings.", "God knows that there is ground for my\nterrible fear in this accursed place!", "I looked out over the beautiful\nexpanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was almost as light as\nday.", "In the soft light the distant hills became melted, and the shadows\nin the valleys and gorges of velvety blackness.", "The mere beauty seemed\nto cheer me; there was peace and comfort in every breath I drew.", "As I\nleaned from the window my eye was caught by something moving a storey\nbelow me, and somewhat to my left, where I imagined, from the order of\nthe rooms, that the windows of the Count's own room would look out.", "The\nwindow at which I stood was tall and deep, stone-mullioned, and though\nweatherworn, was still complete; but it was evidently many a day since\nthe case had been there.", "I drew back behind the stonework, and looked\ncarefully out.", "What I saw was the Count's head coming out from the window.", "I did not\nsee the face, but I knew the man by the neck and the movement of his\nback and arms.", "In any case I could not mistake the hands which I had had\nso many opportunities of studying.", "I was at first interested and\nsomewhat amused, for it is wonderful how small a matter will interest\nand amuse a man when he is a prisoner.", "But my very feelings changed to\nrepulsion and terror when I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the\nwindow and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss,\n_face down_ with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings.", "At\nfirst I could not believe my eyes.", "I thought it was some trick of the\nmoonlight, some weird effect of shadow; but I kept looking, and it could\nbe no delusion.", "I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of the\nstones, worn clear of the mortar by the stress of years, and by thus\nusing every projection and inequality move downwards with considerable\nspeed, just as a lizard moves along a wall.", "What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the\nsemblance of man?", "I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering\nme; I am in fear--in awful fear--and there is no escape for me; I am\nencompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_15 May._--Once more have I seen the Count go out in his lizard fashion.", "He moved downwards in a sidelong way, some hundred feet down, and a good\ndeal to the left.", "He vanished into some hole or window.", "When his head\nhad disappeared, I leaned out to try and see more, but without\navail--the distance was too great to allow a proper angle of sight.", "I\nknew he had left the castle now, and thought to use the opportunity to\nexplore more than I had dared to do as yet.", "I went back to the room, and\ntaking a lamp, tried all the doors.", "They were all locked, as I had\nexpected, and the locks were comparatively new; but I went down the\nstone stairs to the hall where I had entered originally.", "I found I could\npull back the bolts easily enough and unhook the great chains; but the\ndoor was locked, and the key was gone!", "That key must be in the Count's\nroom; I must watch should his door be unlocked, so that I may get it and\nescape.", "I went on to make a thorough examination of the various stairs\nand passages, and to try the doors that opened from them.", "One or two\nsmall rooms near the hall were open, but there was nothing to see in\nthem except old furniture, dusty with age and moth-eaten.", "At last,\nhowever, I found one door at the top of the stairway which, though it\nseemed to be locked, gave a little under pressure.", "I tried it harder,\nand found that it was not really locked, but that the resistance came\nfrom the fact that the hinges had fallen somewhat, and the heavy door\nrested on the floor.", "Here was an opportunity which I might not have\nagain, so I exerted myself, and with many efforts forced it back so that\nI could enter.", "I was now in a wing of the castle further to the right\nthan the rooms I knew and a storey lower down.", "From the windows I could\nsee that the suite of rooms lay along to the south of the castle, the\nwindows of the end room looking out both west and south.", "On the latter\nside, as well as to the former, there was a great precipice.", "The castle\nwas built on the corner of a great rock, so that on three sides it was\nquite impregnable, and great windows were placed here where sling, or\nbow, or culverin could not reach, and consequently light and comfort,\nimpossible to a position which had to be guarded, were secured.", "To the\nwest was a great valley, and then, rising far away, great jagged\nmountain fastnesses, rising peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with\nmountain ash and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and\ncrannies of the stone.", "This was evidently the portion of the castle\noccupied by the ladies in bygone days, for the furniture had more air of\ncomfort than any I had seen.", "The windows were curtainless, and the\nyellow moonlight, flooding in through the diamond panes, enabled one to\nsee even colours, whilst it softened the wealth of dust which lay over\nall and disguised in some measure the ravages of time and the moth.", "My\nlamp seemed to be of little effect in the brilliant moonlight, but I was\nglad to have it with me, for there was a dread loneliness in the place\nwhich chilled my heart and made my nerves tremble.", "Still, it was better\nthan living alone in the rooms which I had come to hate from the\npresence of the Count, and after trying a little to school my nerves, I\nfound a soft quietude come over me.", "Here I am, sitting at a little oak\ntable where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much\nthought and many blushes, her ill-spelt love-letter, and writing in my\ndiary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last.", "It is\nnineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance.", "And yet, unless my\nsenses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own\nwhich mere \"modernity\" cannot kill.", "* * * * *\n\n_Later: the Morning of 16 May._--God preserve my sanity, for to this I\nam reduced.", "Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past.", "Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for, that I may not\ngo mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already.", "If I be sane, then surely it\nis maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in this\nhateful place the Count is the least dreadful to me; that to him alone I\ncan look for safety, even though this be only whilst I can serve his\npurpose.", "Great God!", "merciful God!", "Let me be calm, for out of that way\nlies madness indeed.", "I begin to get new lights on certain things which\nhave puzzled me.", "Up to now I never quite knew what Shakespeare meant\nwhen he made Hamlet say:--\n\n \"My tablets!", "quick, my tablets!", "'Tis meet that I put it down,\" etc.,\n\nfor now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock\nhad come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for repose.", "The habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me.", "The Count's mysterious warning frightened me at the time; it frightens\nme more now when I think of it, for in future he has a fearful hold upon\nme.", "I shall fear to doubt what he may say!", "When I had written in my diary and had fortunately replaced the book and\npen in my pocket I felt sleepy.", "The Count's warning came into my mind,\nbut I took a pleasure in disobeying it.", "The sense of sleep was upon me,\nand with it the obstinacy which sleep brings as outrider.", "The soft\nmoonlight soothed, and the wide expanse without gave a sense of freedom\nwhich refreshed me.", "I determined not to return to-night to the\ngloom-haunted rooms, but to sleep here, where, of old, ladies had sat\nand sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for\ntheir menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.", "I drew a great\ncouch out of its place near the corner, so that as I lay, I could look\nat the lovely view to east and south, and unthinking of and uncaring for\nthe dust, composed myself for sleep.", "I suppose I must have fallen\nasleep; I hope so, but I fear, for all that followed was startlingly\nreal--so real that now sitting here in the broad, full sunlight of the\nmorning, I cannot in the least believe that it was all sleep.", "I was not alone.", "The room was the same, unchanged in any way since I\ncame into it; I could see along the floor, in the brilliant moonlight,\nmy own footsteps marked where I had disturbed the long accumulation of\ndust.", "In the moonlight opposite me were three young women, ladies by\ntheir dress and manner.", "I thought at the time that I must be dreaming\nwhen I saw them, for, though the moonlight was behind them, they threw\nno shadow on the floor.", "They came close to me, and looked at me for some\ntime, and then whispered together.", "Two were dark, and had high aquiline\nnoses, like the Count, and great dark, piercing eyes that seemed to be\nalmost red when contrasted with the pale yellow moon.", "The other was\nfair, as fair as can be, with great wavy masses of golden hair and eyes\nlike pale sapphires.", "I seemed somehow to know her face, and to know it\nin connection with some dreamy fear, but I could not recollect at the\nmoment how or where.", "All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like\npearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips.", "There was something\nabout them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some\ndeadly fear.", "I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would\nkiss me with those red lips.", "It is not good to note this down, lest some\nday it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth.", "They whispered together, and then they all three laughed--such a\nsilvery, musical laugh, but as hard as though the sound never could have\ncome through the softness of human lips.", "It was like the intolerable,\ntingling sweetness of water-glasses when played on by a cunning hand.", "The fair girl shook her head coquettishly, and the other two urged her\non.", "One said:--\n\n\"Go on!", "You are first, and we shall follow; yours is the right to\nbegin.\"", "The other added:--\n\n\"He is young and strong; there are kisses for us all.\"", "I lay quiet,\nlooking out under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipation.", "The fair girl advanced and bent over me till I could feel the movement\nof her breath upon me.", "Sweet it was in one sense, honey-sweet, and sent\nthe same tingling through the nerves as her voice, but with a bitter\nunderlying the sweet, a bitter offensiveness, as one smells in blood.", "I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under\nthe lashes.", "The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply\ngloating.", "There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling\nand repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips\nlike an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining\non the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp\nteeth.", "Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of\nmy mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat.", "Then she\npaused, and I could hear the churning sound of her tongue as it licked\nher teeth and lips, and could feel the hot breath on my neck.", "Then the\nskin of my throat began to tingle as one's flesh does when the hand that\nis to tickle it approaches nearer--nearer.", "I could feel the soft,\nshivering touch of the lips on the super-sensitive skin of my throat,\nand the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there.", "I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited--waited with beating\nheart.", "But at that instant, another sensation swept through me as quick as\nlightning.", "I was conscious of the presence of the Count, and of his\nbeing as if lapped in a storm of fury.", "As my eyes opened involuntarily I\nsaw his strong hand grasp the slender neck of the fair woman and with\ngiant's power draw it back, the blue eyes transformed with fury, the\nwhite teeth champing with rage, and the fair cheeks blazing red with\npassion.", "But the Count!", "Never did I imagine such wrath and fury, even to\nthe demons of the pit.", "His eyes were positively blazing.", "The red light\nin them was lurid, as if the flames of hell-fire blazed behind them.", "His\nface was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires;\nthe thick eyebrows that met over the nose now seemed like a heaving bar\nof white-hot metal.", "With a fierce sweep of his arm, he hurled the woman\nfrom him, and then motioned to the others, as though he were beating\nthem back; it was the same imperious gesture that I had seen used to the\nwolves.", "In a voice which, though low and almost in a whisper seemed to\ncut through the air and then ring round the room he said:--\n\n\"How dare you touch him, any of you?", "How dare you cast eyes on him when\nI had forbidden it?", "Back, I tell you all!", "This man belongs to me!", "Beware\nhow you meddle with him, or you'll have to deal with me.\"", "The fair girl,\nwith a laugh of ribald coquetry, turned to answer him:--\n\n\"You yourself never loved; you never love!\"", "On this the other women\njoined, and such a mirthless, hard, soulless laughter rang through the\nroom that it almost made me faint to hear; it seemed like the pleasure\nof fiends.", "Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively,\nand said in a soft whisper:--\n\n\"Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past.", "Is it\nnot so?", "Well, now I promise you that when I am done with him you shall\nkiss him at your will.", "Now go!", "go!", "I must awaken him, for there is work\nto be done.\"", "\"Are we to have nothing to-night?\"", "said one of them, with a low laugh,\nas she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which\nmoved as though there were some living thing within it.", "For answer he\nnodded his head.", "One of the women jumped forward and opened it.", "If my\nears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a\nhalf-smothered child.", "The women closed round, whilst I was aghast with\nhorror; but as I looked they disappeared, and with them the dreadful\nbag.", "There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me\nwithout my noticing.", "They simply seemed to fade into the rays of the\nmoonlight and pass out through the window, for I could see outside the\ndim, shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away.", "Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down unconscious." ]

[ "Some\ntime, if it may be, I must examine this matter and try to make up my\nmind about it.", "I wish I could put\ndown all he said exactly as he said it, for to me it was most\nfascinating.", "First, he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors or more.", "I explained all these things to him to the best of my ability,\nand he certainly left me under the impression that he would have made a\nwonderful solicitor, for there was nothing that he did not think of or\nforesee.", "At the door he\nturned, and after a moment's pause said:--\n\n\"Let me advise you, my dear young friend--nay, let me warn you with all\nseriousness, that should you leave these rooms you will not by any\nchance go to sleep in any other part of the castle.", "I\nknew he had left the castle now, and thought to use the opportunity to\nexplore more than I had dared to do as yet.", "They were all locked, as I had\nexpected, and the locks were comparatively new; but I went down the\nstone stairs to the hall where I had entered originally.", "I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would\nkiss me with those red lips.", "The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply\ngloating.", "There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me\nwithout my noticing." ]

[ "I\nam thinking still, and as yet have come to no definite conclusion.", "With a fierce sweep of his arm, he hurled the woman\nfrom him, and then motioned to the others, as though he were beating\nthem back; it was the same imperious gesture that I had seen used to the\nwolves.", "I shall fear to doubt what he may say!", "I looked out over the beautiful\nexpanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was almost as light as\nday.", "7, The\nCrescent, Whitby, another to Herr Leutner, Varna; the third was to\nCoutts & Co., London, and the fourth to Herren Klopstock & Billreuth,\nbankers, Buda-Pesth.", "Who\nwas it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube and beat\nthe Turk on his own ground?", "When your master,\nemployer, what you will, engaged that someone should come on his behalf,\nit was understood that my needs only were to be consulted.", "I went on to make a thorough examination of the various stairs\nand passages, and to try the doors that opened from them.", "To the\nwest was a great valley, and then, rising far away, great jagged\nmountain fastnesses, rising peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with\nmountain ash and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and\ncrannies of the stone.", "I must awaken him, for there is work\nto be done.\"" ]

[ "There was some sense of freedom in the vast expanse,\ninaccessible though it was to me, as compared with the narrow darkness\nof the courtyard.", "Looking out on this, I felt that I was indeed in\nprison, and I seemed to want a breath of fresh air, though it were of\nthe night.", "I am beginning to feel this nocturnal existence tell on me.", "It is destroying my nerve.", "I start at my own shadow, and am full of all\nsorts of horrible imaginings.", "God knows that there is ground for my\nterrible fear in this accursed place!", "I looked out over the beautiful\nexpanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was almost as light as\nday.", "In the soft light the distant hills became melted, and the shadows\nin the valleys and gorges of velvety blackness.", "The mere beauty seemed\nto cheer me; there was peace and comfort in every breath I drew.", "As I\nleaned from the window my eye was caught by something moving a storey\nbelow me, and somewhat to my left, where I imagined, from the order of\nthe rooms, that the windows of the Count's own room would look out.", "The\nwindow at which I stood was tall and deep, stone-mullioned, and though\nweatherworn, was still complete; but it was evidently many a day since\nthe case had been there." ]

[ "\nWhen I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me.", "I rushed up and down the stairs, trying every door and peering out of\nevery window I could find; but after a little the conviction of my\nhelplessness overpowered all other feelings.", "When I look back after a\nfew hours I think I must have been mad for the time, for I behaved much\nas a rat does in a trap.", "When, however, the conviction had come to me\nthat I was helpless I sat down quietly--as quietly as I have ever done\nanything in my life--and began to think over what was best to be done.", "I\nam thinking still, and as yet have come to no definite conclusion.", "Of\none thing only am I certain; that it is no use making my ideas known to\nthe Count.", "He knows well that I am imprisoned; and as he has done it\nhimself, and has doubtless his own motives for it, he would only deceive\nme if I trusted him fully with the facts.", "So far as I can see, my only\nplan will be to keep my knowledge and my fears to myself, and my eyes\nopen.", "I am, I know, either being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears,\nor else I am in desperate straits; and if the latter be so, I need, and\nshall need, all my brains to get through.", "I had hardly come to this conclusion when I heard the great door below\nshut, and knew that the Count had returned.", "I must awaken him, for there is work\nto be done.\"", "\"Are we to have nothing to-night?\"", "said one of them, with a low laugh,\nas she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which\nmoved as though there were some living thing within it.", "For answer he\nnodded his head.", "One of the women jumped forward and opened it.", "If my\nears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a\nhalf-smothered child.", "The women closed round, whilst I was aghast with\nhorror; but as I looked they disappeared, and with them the dreadful\nbag.", "There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me\nwithout my noticing.", "They simply seemed to fade into the rays of the\nmoonlight and pass out through the window, for I could see outside the\ndim, shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away.", "Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down unconscious." ]

[ "\nI awoke in my own bed.", "If it be that I had not dreamt, the Count must\nhave carried me here.", "I tried to satisfy myself on the subject, but\ncould not arrive at any unquestionable result.", "To be sure, there were\ncertain small evidences, such as that my clothes were folded and laid by\nin a manner which was not my habit.", "My watch was still unwound, and I am\nrigorously accustomed to wind it the last thing before going to bed, and\nmany such details.", "But these things are no proof, for they may have been\nevidences that my mind was not as usual, and, from some cause or\nanother, I had certainly been much upset.", "I must watch for proof.", "Of one\nthing I am glad: if it was that the Count carried me here and undressed\nme, he must have been hurried in his task, for my pockets are intact.", "I\nam sure this diary would have been a mystery to him which he would not\nhave brooked.", "He would have taken or destroyed it.", "As I look round this\nroom, although it has been to me so full of fear, it is now a sort of\nsanctuary, for nothing can be more dreadful than those awful women, who\nwere--who _are_--waiting to suck my blood.", "* * * * *\n\n_18 May._--I have been down to look at that room again in daylight, for\nI _must_ know the truth.", "When I got to the doorway at the top of the\nstairs I found it closed.", "It had been so forcibly driven against the\njamb that part of the woodwork was splintered.", "I could see that the bolt\nof the lock had not been shot, but the door is fastened from the inside.", "I fear it was no dream, and must act on this surmise.", "* * * * *\n\n_19 May._--I am surely in the toils.", "Last night the Count asked me in\nthe suavest tones to write three letters, one saying that my work here\nwas nearly done, and that I should start for home within a few days,\nanother that I was starting on the next morning from the time of the\nletter, and the third that I had left the castle and arrived at\nBistritz.", "I would fain have rebelled, but felt that in the present state\nof things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I\nam so absolutely in his power; and to refuse would be to excite his\nsuspicion and to arouse his anger.", "He knows that I know too much, and\nthat I must not live, lest I be dangerous to him; my only chance is to\nprolong my opportunities.", "Something may occur which will give me a\nchance to escape.", "I saw in his eyes something of that gathering wrath\nwhich was manifest when he hurled that fair woman from him.", "He explained\nto me that posts were few and uncertain, and that my writing now would\nensure ease of mind to my friends; and he assured me with so much\nimpressiveness that he would countermand the later letters, which would\nbe held over at Bistritz until due time in case chance would admit of my\nprolonging my stay, that to oppose him would have been to create new\nsuspicion.", "I therefore pretended to fall in with his views, and asked\nhim what dates I should put on the letters.", "He calculated a minute, and\nthen said:--\n\n\"The first should be June 12, the second June 19, and the third June\n29.\"", "I know now the span of my life.", "God help me!", "* * * * *\n\n_28 May._--There is a chance of escape, or at any rate of being able to\nsend word home.", "A band of Szgany have come to the castle, and are\nencamped in the courtyard.", "These Szgany are gipsies; I have notes of\nthem in my book.", "They are peculiar to this part of the world, though\nallied to the ordinary gipsies all the world over.", "There are thousands\nof them in Hungary and Transylvania, who are almost outside all law.", "They attach themselves as a rule to some great noble or _boyar_, and\ncall themselves by his name.", "They are fearless and without religion,\nsave superstition, and they talk only their own varieties of the Romany\ntongue.", "I shall write some letters home, and shall try to get them to have them\nposted.", "I have already spoken them through my window to begin\nacquaintanceship.", "They took their hats off and made obeisance and many\nsigns, which, however, I could not understand any more than I could\ntheir spoken language....\n\n * * * * *\n\nI have written the letters.", "Mina's is in shorthand, and I simply ask Mr.\nHawkins to communicate with her.", "To her I have explained my situation,\nbut without the horrors which I may only surmise.", "It would shock and\nfrighten her to death were I to expose my heart to her.", "Should the\nletters not carry, then the Count shall not yet know my secret or the\nextent of my knowledge....\n\n * * * * *\n\nI have given the letters; I threw them through the bars of my window\nwith a gold piece, and made what signs I could to have them posted.", "The\nman who took them pressed them to his heart and bowed, and then put them\nin his cap.", "I could do no more.", "I stole back to the study, and began to\nread.", "As the Count did not come in, I have written here....\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Count has come.", "He sat down beside me, and said in his smoothest\nvoice as he opened two letters:--\n\n\"The Szgany has given me these, of which, though I know not whence they\ncome, I shall, of course, take care.", "See!\"", "--he must have looked at\nit--\"one is from you, and to my friend Peter Hawkins; the other\"--here\nhe caught sight of the strange symbols as he opened the envelope, and\nthe dark look came into his face, and his eyes blazed wickedly--\"the\nother is a vile thing, an outrage upon friendship and hospitality!", "It is\nnot signed.", "Well!", "so it cannot matter to us.\"", "And he calmly held letter\nand envelope in the flame of the lamp till they were consumed.", "Then he\nwent on:--\n\n\"The letter to Hawkins--that I shall, of course, send on, since it is\nyours.", "Your letters are sacred to me.", "Your pardon, my friend, that\nunknowingly I did break the seal.", "Will you not cover it again?\"", "He held\nout the letter to me, and with a courteous bow handed me a clean\nenvelope.", "I could only redirect it and hand it to him in silence.", "When\nhe went out of the room I could hear the key turn softly.", "A minute later\nI went over and tried it, and the door was locked.", "When, an hour or two after, the Count came quietly into the room, his\ncoming awakened me, for I had gone to sleep on the sofa.", "He was very\ncourteous and very cheery in his manner, and seeing that I had been\nsleeping, he said:--\n\n\"So, my friend, you are tired?", "Get to bed.", "There is the surest rest.", "I\nmay not have the pleasure to talk to-night, since there are many labours\nto me; but you will sleep, I pray.\"", "I passed to my room and went to bed,\nand, strange to say, slept without dreaming.", "Despair has its own calms.", "* * * * *\n\n_31 May._--This morning when I woke I thought I would provide myself\nwith some paper and envelopes from my bag and keep them in my pocket, so\nthat I might write in case I should get an opportunity, but again a\nsurprise, again a shock!", "Every scrap of paper was gone, and with it all my notes, my memoranda,\nrelating to railways and travel, my letter of credit, in fact all that\nmight be useful to me were I once outside the castle.", "I sat and pondered\nawhile, and then some thought occurred to me, and I made search of my\nportmanteau and in the wardrobe where I had placed my clothes.", "The suit in which I had travelled was gone, and also my overcoat and\nrug; I could find no trace of them anywhere.", "This looked like some new\nscheme of villainy....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_17 June._--This morning, as I was sitting on the edge of my bed\ncudgelling my brains, I heard without a cracking of whips and pounding\nand scraping of horses' feet up the rocky path beyond the courtyard.", "With joy I hurried to the window, and saw drive into the yard two great\nleiter-wagons, each drawn by eight sturdy horses, and at the head of\neach pair a Slovak, with his wide hat, great nail-studded belt, dirty\nsheepskin, and high boots.", "They had also their long staves in hand.", "I\nran to the door, intending to descend and try and join them through the\nmain hall, as I thought that way might be opened for them.", "Again a\nshock: my door was fastened on the outside.", "Then I ran to the window and cried to them.", "They looked up at me\nstupidly and pointed, but just then the \"hetman\" of the Szgany came out,\nand seeing them pointing to my window, said something, at which they\nlaughed.", "Henceforth no effort of mine, no piteous cry or agonised\nentreaty, would make them even look at me.", "They resolutely turned away.", "The leiter-wagons contained great, square boxes, with handles of thick\nrope; these were evidently empty by the ease with which the Slovaks\nhandled them, and by their resonance as they were roughly moved.", "When\nthey were all unloaded and packed in a great heap in one corner of the\nyard, the Slovaks were given some money by the Szgany, and spitting on\nit for luck, lazily went each to his horse's head.", "Shortly afterwards, I\nheard the cracking of their whips die away in the distance.", "* * * * *\n\n_24 June, before morning._--Last night the Count left me early, and\nlocked himself into his own room.", "As soon as I dared I ran up the\nwinding stair, and looked out of the window, which opened south.", "I\nthought I would watch for the Count, for there is something going on.", "The Szgany are quartered somewhere in the castle and are doing work of\nsome kind.", "I know it, for now and then I hear a far-away muffled sound\nas of mattock and spade, and, whatever it is, it must be the end of some\nruthless villainy.", "I had been at the window somewhat less than half an hour, when I saw\nsomething coming out of the Count's window.", "I drew back and watched\ncarefully, and saw the whole man emerge.", "It was a new shock to me to\nfind that he had on the suit of clothes which I had worn whilst\ntravelling here, and slung over his shoulder the terrible bag which I\nhad seen the women take away.", "There could be no doubt as to his quest,\nand in my garb, too!", "This, then, is his new scheme of evil: that he will\nallow others to see me, as they think, so that he may both leave\nevidence that I have been seen in the towns or villages posting my own\nletters, and that any wickedness which he may do shall by the local\npeople be attributed to me.", "It makes me rage to think that this can go on, and whilst I am shut up\nhere, a veritable prisoner, but without that protection of the law which\nis even a criminal's right and consolation.", "I thought I would watch for the Count's return, and for a long time sat\ndoggedly at the window.", "Then I began to notice that there were some\nquaint little specks floating in the rays of the moonlight.", "They were\nlike the tiniest grains of dust, and they whirled round and gathered in\nclusters in a nebulous sort of way.", "I watched them with a sense of\nsoothing, and a sort of calm stole over me.", "I leaned back in the\nembrasure in a more comfortable position, so that I could enjoy more\nfully the aerial gambolling.", "Something made me start up, a low, piteous howling of dogs somewhere far\nbelow in the valley, which was hidden from my sight.", "Louder it seemed to\nring in my ears, and the floating motes of dust to take new shapes to\nthe sound as they danced in the moonlight.", "I felt myself struggling to\nawake to some call of my instincts; nay, my very soul was struggling,\nand my half-remembered sensibilities were striving to answer the call.", "I\nwas becoming hypnotised!", "Quicker and quicker danced the dust; the\nmoonbeams seemed to quiver as they went by me into the mass of gloom\nbeyond.", "More and more they gathered till they seemed to take dim phantom\nshapes.", "And then I started, broad awake and in full possession of my\nsenses, and ran screaming from the place.", "The phantom shapes, which were\nbecoming gradually materialised from the moonbeams, were those of the\nthree ghostly women to whom I was doomed.", "I fled, and felt somewhat\nsafer in my own room, where there was no moonlight and where the lamp\nwas burning brightly.", "When a couple of hours had passed I heard something stirring in the\nCount's room, something like a sharp wail quickly suppressed; and then\nthere was silence, deep, awful silence, which chilled me.", "With a\nbeating heart, I tried the door; but I was locked in my prison, and\ncould do nothing.", "I sat down and simply cried.", "As I sat I heard a sound in the courtyard without--the agonised cry of a\nwoman.", "I rushed to the window, and throwing it up, peered out between\nthe bars.", "There, indeed, was a woman with dishevelled hair, holding her\nhands over her heart as one distressed with running.", "She was leaning\nagainst a corner of the gateway.", "When she saw my face at the window she\nthrew herself forward, and shouted in a voice laden with menace:--\n\n\"Monster, give me my child!\"", "She threw herself on her knees, and raising up her hands, cried the same\nwords in tones which wrung my heart.", "Then she tore her hair and beat her\nbreast, and abandoned herself to all the violences of extravagant\nemotion.", "Finally, she threw herself forward, and, though I could not see\nher, I could hear the beating of her naked hands against the door.", "Somewhere high overhead, probably on the tower, I heard the voice of the\nCount calling in his harsh, metallic whisper.", "His call seemed to be\nanswered from far and wide by the howling of wolves.", "Before many minutes\nhad passed a pack of them poured, like a pent-up dam when liberated,\nthrough the wide entrance into the courtyard.", "There was no cry from the woman, and the howling of the wolves was but\nshort.", "Before long they streamed away singly, licking their lips.", "I could not pity her, for I knew now what had become of her child, and\nshe was better dead.", "What shall I do?", "what can I do?", "How can I escape from this dreadful\nthing of night and gloom and fear?", "* * * * *\n\n_25 June, morning._--No man knows till he has suffered from the night\nhow sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.", "When the\nsun grew so high this morning that it struck the top of the great\ngateway opposite my window, the high spot which it touched seemed to me\nas if the dove from the ark had lighted there.", "My fear fell from me as\nif it had been a vaporous garment which dissolved in the warmth.", "I must\ntake action of some sort whilst the courage of the day is upon me.", "Last\nnight one of my post-dated letters went to post, the first of that fatal\nseries which is to blot out the very traces of my existence from the\nearth.", "Let me not think of it.", "Action!", "It has always been at night-time that I have been molested or\nthreatened, or in some way in danger or in fear.", "I have not yet seen the\nCount in the daylight.", "Can it be that he sleeps when others wake, that\nhe may be awake whilst they sleep?", "If I could only get into his room!", "But there is no possible way.", "The door is always locked, no way for me.", "Yes, there is a way, if one dares to take it.", "Where his body has gone\nwhy may not another body go?", "I have seen him myself crawl from his\nwindow.", "Why should not I imitate him, and go in by his window?", "The\nchances are desperate, but my need is more desperate still.", "I shall risk\nit.", "At the worst it can only be death; and a man's death is not a\ncalf's, and the dreaded Hereafter may still be open to me.", "God help me\nin my task!", "Good-bye, Mina, if I fail; good-bye, my faithful friend and\nsecond father; good-bye, all, and last of all Mina!", "* * * * *\n\n_Same day, later._--I have made the effort, and God, helping me, have\ncome safely back to this room.", "I must put down every detail in order.", "I\nwent whilst my courage was fresh straight to the window on the south\nside, and at once got outside on the narrow ledge of stone which runs\naround the building on this side.", "The stones are big and roughly cut,\nand the mortar has by process of time been washed away between them.", "I\ntook off my boots, and ventured out on the desperate way.", "I looked down\nonce, so as to make sure that a sudden glimpse of the awful depth would\nnot overcome me, but after that kept my eyes away from it.", "I knew pretty\nwell the direction and distance of the Count's window, and made for it\nas well as I could, having regard to the opportunities available.", "I did\nnot feel dizzy--I suppose I was too excited--and the time seemed\nridiculously short till I found myself standing on the window-sill and\ntrying to raise up the sash.", "I was filled with agitation, however, when\nI bent down and slid feet foremost in through the window.", "Then I looked\naround for the Count, but, with surprise and gladness, made a discovery.", "The room was empty!", "It was barely furnished with odd things, which\nseemed to have never been used; the furniture was something the same\nstyle as that in the south rooms, and was covered with dust.", "I looked\nfor the key, but it was not in the lock, and I could not find it\nanywhere.", "The only thing I found was a great heap of gold in one\ncorner--gold of all kinds, Roman, and British, and Austrian, and\nHungarian, and Greek and Turkish money, covered with a film of dust, as\nthough it had lain long in the ground.", "None of it that I noticed was\nless than three hundred years old.", "There were also chains and ornaments,\nsome jewelled, but all of them old and stained.", "At one corner of the room was a heavy door.", "I tried it, for, since I\ncould not find the key of the room or the key of the outer door, which\nwas the main object of my search, I must make further examination, or\nall my efforts would be in vain.", "It was open, and led through a stone\npassage to a circular stairway, which went steeply down.", "I descended,\nminding carefully where I went, for the stairs were dark, being only lit\nby loopholes in the heavy masonry.", "At the bottom there was a dark,\ntunnel-like passage, through which came a deathly, sickly odour, the\nodour of old earth newly turned.", "As I went through the passage the smell\ngrew closer and heavier.", "At last I pulled open a heavy door which stood\najar, and found myself in an old, ruined chapel, which had evidently\nbeen used as a graveyard.", "The roof was broken, and in two places were\nsteps leading to vaults, but the ground had recently been dug over, and\nthe earth placed in great wooden boxes, manifestly those which had been\nbrought by the Slovaks.", "There was nobody about, and I made search for\nany further outlet, but there was none.", "Then I went over every inch of\nthe ground, so as not to lose a chance.", "I went down even into the\nvaults, where the dim light struggled, although to do so was a dread to\nmy very soul.", "Into two of these I went, but saw nothing except fragments\nof old coffins and piles of dust; in the third, however, I made a\ndiscovery.", "There, in one of the great boxes, of which there were fifty in all, on a\npile of newly dug earth, lay the Count!", "He was either dead or asleep, I\ncould not say which--for the eyes were open and stony, but without the\nglassiness of death--and the cheeks had the warmth of life through all\ntheir pallor; the lips were as red as ever.", "But there was no sign of\nmovement, no pulse, no breath, no beating of the heart.", "I bent over him,\nand tried to find any sign of life, but in vain.", "He could not have lain\nthere long, for the earthy smell would have passed away in a few hours.", "By the side of the box was its cover, pierced with holes here and there.", "I thought he might have the keys on him, but when I went to search I saw\nthe dead eyes, and in them, dead though they were, such a look of hate,\nthough unconscious of me or my presence, that I fled from the place, and\nleaving the Count's room by the window, crawled again up the castle\nwall.", "Regaining my room, I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried\nto think....\n\n * * * * *\n\n_29 June._--To-day is the date of my last letter, and the Count has\ntaken steps to prove that it was genuine, for again I saw him leave the\ncastle by the same window, and in my clothes.", "As he went down the wall,\nlizard fashion, I wished I had a gun or some lethal weapon, that I might\ndestroy him; but I fear that no weapon wrought alone by man's hand would\nhave any effect on him.", "I dared not wait to see him return, for I feared\nto see those weird sisters.", "I came back to the library, and read there\ntill I fell asleep.", "I was awakened by the Count, who looked at me as grimly as a man can\nlook as he said:--\n\n\"To-morrow, my friend, we must part.", "You return to your beautiful\nEngland, I to some work which may have such an end that we may never\nmeet.", "Your letter home has been despatched; to-morrow I shall not be\nhere, but all shall be ready for your journey.", "In the morning come the\nSzgany, who have some labours of their own here, and also come some\nSlovaks.", "When they have gone, my carriage shall come for you, and shall\nbear you to the Borgo Pass to meet the diligence from Bukovina to\nBistritz.", "But I am in hopes that I shall see more of you at Castle\nDracula.\"", "I suspected him, and determined to test his sincerity.", "Sincerity!", "It seems like a profanation of the word to write it in\nconnection with such a monster, so asked him point-blank:--\n\n\"Why may I not go to-night?\"", "\"Because, dear sir, my coachman and horses are away on a mission.\"", "\"But I would walk with pleasure.", "I want to get away at once.\"", "He smiled,\nsuch a soft, smooth, diabolical smile that I knew there was some trick\nbehind his smoothness.", "He said:--\n\n\"And your baggage?\"", "\"I do not care about it.", "I can send for it some other time.\"", "The Count stood up, and said, with a sweet courtesy which made me rub my\neyes, it seemed so real:--\n\n\"You English have a saying which is close to my heart, for its spirit is\nthat which rules our _boyars_: 'Welcome the coming; speed the parting\nguest.'", "Come with me, my dear young friend.", "Not an hour shall you wait\nin my house against your will, though sad am I at your going, and that\nyou so suddenly desire it.", "Come!\"", "With a stately gravity, he, with the\nlamp, preceded me down the stairs and along the hall.", "Suddenly he\nstopped.", "\"Hark!\"", "Close at hand came the howling of many wolves.", "It was almost as if the\nsound sprang up at the rising of his hand, just as the music of a great\norchestra seems to leap under the baton of the conductor.", "After a pause\nof a moment, he proceeded, in his stately way, to the door, drew back\nthe ponderous bolts, unhooked the heavy chains, and began to draw it\nopen.", "To my intense astonishment I saw that it was unlocked.", "Suspiciously, I\nlooked all round, but could see no key of any kind.", "As the door began to open, the howling of the wolves without grew louder\nand angrier; their red jaws, with champing teeth, and their blunt-clawed\nfeet as they leaped, came in through the opening door.", "I knew then that\nto struggle at the moment against the Count was useless.", "With such\nallies as these at his command, I could do nothing.", "But still the door\ncontinued slowly to open, and only the Count's body stood in the gap.", "Suddenly it struck me that this might be the moment and means of my\ndoom; I was to be given to the wolves, and at my own instigation.", "There\nwas a diabolical wickedness in the idea great enough for the Count, and\nas a last chance I cried out:--\n\n\"Shut the door; I shall wait till morning!\"", "and covered my face with my\nhands to hide my tears of bitter disappointment.", "With one sweep of his\npowerful arm, the Count threw the door shut, and the great bolts clanged\nand echoed through the hall as they shot back into their places.", "In silence we returned to the library, and after a minute or two I went\nto my own room.", "The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand\nto me; with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that\nJudas in hell might be proud of.", "When I was in my room and about to lie down, I thought I heard a\nwhispering at my door.", "I went to it softly and listened.", "Unless my ears\ndeceived me, I heard the voice of the Count:--\n\n\"Back, back, to your own place!", "Your time is not yet come.", "Wait!", "Have\npatience!", "To-night is mine.", "To-morrow night is yours!\"", "There was a low,\nsweet ripple of laughter, and in a rage I threw open the door, and saw\nwithout the three terrible women licking their lips.", "As I appeared they\nall joined in a horrible laugh, and ran away.", "I came back to my room and threw myself on my knees.", "It is then so near\nthe end?", "To-morrow!", "to-morrow!", "Lord, help me, and those to whom I am\ndear!", "* * * * *\n\n_30 June, morning._--These may be the last words I ever write in this\ndiary.", "I slept till just before the dawn, and when I woke threw myself\non my knees, for I determined that if Death came he should find me\nready.", "At last I felt that subtle change in the air, and knew that the morning\nhad come.", "Then came the welcome cock-crow, and I felt that I was safe.", "With a glad heart, I opened my door and ran down to the hall.", "I had seen\nthat the door was unlocked, and now escape was before me.", "With hands\nthat trembled with eagerness, I unhooked the chains and drew back the\nmassive bolts.", "But the door would not move.", "Despair seized me.", "I pulled, and pulled, at\nthe door, and shook it till, massive as it was, it rattled in its\ncasement.", "I could see the bolt shot.", "It had been locked after I left the\nCount.", "Then a wild desire took me to obtain that key at any risk, and I\ndetermined then and there to scale the wall again and gain the Count's\nroom.", "He might kill me, but death now seemed the happier choice of\nevils.", "Without a pause I rushed up to the east window, and scrambled\ndown the wall, as before, into the Count's room.", "It was empty, but that\nwas as I expected.", "I could not see a key anywhere, but the heap of gold\nremained.", "I went through the door in the corner and down the winding\nstair and along the dark passage to the old chapel.", "I knew now well\nenough where to find the monster I sought.", "The great box was in the same place, close against the wall, but the lid\nwas laid on it, not fastened down, but with the nails ready in their\nplaces to be hammered home.", "I knew I must reach the body for the key, so\nI raised the lid, and laid it back against the wall; and then I saw\nsomething which filled my very soul with horror.", "There lay the Count,\nbut looking as if his youth had been half renewed, for the white hair\nand moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller,\nand the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than\never, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the\ncorners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck.", "Even the deep,\nburning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches\nunderneath were bloated.", "It seemed as if the whole awful creature were\nsimply gorged with blood.", "He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his\nrepletion.", "I shuddered as I bent over to touch him, and every sense in\nme revolted at the contact; but I had to search, or I was lost.", "The\ncoming night might see my own body a banquet in a similar way to those\nhorrid three.", "I felt all over the body, but no sign could I find of the\nkey.", "Then I stopped and looked at the Count.", "There was a mocking smile\non the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad.", "This was the being I\nwas helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come\nhe might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and\ncreate a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the\nhelpless.", "The very thought drove me mad.", "A terrible desire came upon me\nto rid the world of such a monster.", "There was no lethal weapon at hand,\nbut I seized a shovel which the workmen had been using to fill the\ncases, and lifting it high, struck, with the edge downward, at the\nhateful face.", "But as I did so the head turned, and the eyes fell full\nupon me, with all their blaze of basilisk horror.", "The sight seemed to\nparalyse me, and the shovel turned in my hand and glanced from the face,\nmerely making a deep gash above the forehead.", "The shovel fell from my\nhand across the box, and as I pulled it away the flange of the blade\ncaught the edge of the lid which fell over again, and hid the horrid\nthing from my sight.", "The last glimpse I had was of the bloated face,\nblood-stained and fixed with a grin of malice which would have held its\nown in the nethermost hell.", "I thought and thought what should be my next move, but my brain seemed\non fire, and I waited with a despairing feeling growing over me.", "As I\nwaited I heard in the distance a gipsy song sung by merry voices coming\ncloser, and through their song the rolling of heavy wheels and the\ncracking of whips; the Szgany and the Slovaks of whom the Count had\nspoken were coming.", "With a last look around and at the box which\ncontained the vile body, I ran from the place and gained the Count's\nroom, determined to rush out at the moment the door should be opened.", "With strained ears, I listened, and heard downstairs the grinding of the\nkey in the great lock and the falling back of the heavy door.", "There must\nhave been some other means of entry, or some one had a key for one of\nthe locked doors.", "Then there came the sound of many feet tramping and\ndying away in some passage which sent up a clanging echo.", "I turned to\nrun down again towards the vault, where I might find the new entrance;\nbut at the moment there seemed to come a violent puff of wind, and the\ndoor to the winding stair blew to with a shock that set the dust from\nthe lintels flying.", "When I ran to push it open, I found that it was\nhopelessly fast.", "I was again a prisoner, and the net of doom was closing\nround me more closely.", "As I write there is in the passage below a sound of many tramping feet\nand the crash of weights being set down heavily, doubtless the boxes,\nwith their freight of earth.", "There is a sound of hammering; it is the\nbox being nailed down.", "Now I can hear the heavy feet tramping again\nalong the hall, with many other idle feet coming behind them.", "The door is shut, and the chains rattle; there is a grinding of the key\nin the lock; I can hear the key withdraw: then another door opens and\nshuts; I hear the creaking of lock and bolt.", "Hark!", "in the courtyard and down the rocky way the roll of heavy wheels,\nthe crack of whips, and the chorus of the Szgany as they pass into the\ndistance.", "I am alone in the castle with those awful women.", "Faugh!", "Mina is a woman,\nand there is nought in common.", "They are devils of the Pit!", "I shall not remain alone with them; I shall try to scale the castle wall\nfarther than I have yet attempted.", "I shall take some of the gold with\nme, lest I want it later.", "I may find a way from this dreadful place.", "And then away for home!", "away to the quickest and nearest train!", "away\nfrom this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his\nchildren still walk with earthly feet!", "At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the\nprecipice is steep and high.", "At its foot a man may sleep--as a man.", "Good-bye, all!", "Mina!" ]

[ "When she saw my face at the window she\nthrew herself forward, and shouted in a voice laden with menace:--\n\n\"Monster, give me my child!\"", "I\nwent whilst my courage was fresh straight to the window on the south\nside, and at once got outside on the narrow ledge of stone which runs\naround the building on this side.", "I knew pretty\nwell the direction and distance of the Count's window, and made for it\nas well as I could, having regard to the opportunities available.", "But I am in hopes that I shall see more of you at Castle\nDracula.\"", "With such\nallies as these at his command, I could do nothing.", "The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand\nto me; with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that\nJudas in hell might be proud of.", "Your time is not yet come.", "I shuddered as I bent over to touch him, and every sense in\nme revolted at the contact; but I had to search, or I was lost.", "I may find a way from this dreadful place.", "At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the\nprecipice is steep and high." ]