Adventure Books
31 - The Last Of The Mohicans - James Cooper
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- Duration:
- 24m
- Broadcast on:
- 16 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
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Whether you're a lifelong learner, a parent seeking bedtime stories for your children, or someone looking to unwind after a long day, we have something just for you. We invite you to try SolgoodMedia free for one month. Explore our extensive collection and find the perfect audio content that resonates with you. Join our community of passionate listeners and unlock a world of knowledge, relaxation, and inspiration. Visit SolgoodMedia.com today and start your free trial. That's S-O-L-G-O-O-D-M-E-D-I-A . CHAPTER 31 Quote, "Flu, kill the poise and the luggage, 'tis expressly against the law of arms, 'tis an errant a piece of navery. Mark you now, as can be offered in the earl." From King Henry V. So long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the multitude remained motionless as beings charmed to the place by some power that was friendly to the Iran. But the instant he disappeared, it became tossed and agitated by fierce and powerful passion. Ankhus maintained his elevated stand, keeping his eyes on the form of Khora until the colors of her dress were blended with the foliage of the forest. When he descended and, moving silently through the throng, he disappeared in that lodge from which he had so recently ensued. A few of the graver and more attentive warriors who caught the gleams of anger that shot from the eyes of the young chief in passing followed him to the place he had selected for his meditations, after which Tamanun and Alice were removed and the women and the children were ordered to disperse. During the momentous hour that seceded, the encampment resembled a hive of troubled bees who only awaited the appearance and example of their leader to take some distance and momentous flight. A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Ankhus, and, moving deliberately with a sort of grave march toward a dwarf pine that grew in the crevices of the rocky terrace, he tore the bark from its body and then turned once he came without speaking. He was soon followed by another who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked and blazed trunk. A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is said in the language of the country to be blazed. The term is strictly English, for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a white mark. A third colored the post with stripes of a dark red paint, all which indications of a hostile design in the leaders of the nation were received by the men without in a gloomy and ominous silence. Finally the Mohican himself reappeared, divested of all his attire, except his girdle and leggings, and with one half of his fine features hid under a cloud of threatening black. Ankhus moved with a slow and dignified tread toward the post, which he immediately commenced encircling with a measured step, not unlike an ancient dance, raising his voice at the same time in the wild and irregular chant of his war song. The notes were in the extremes of human sounds, being sometimes melancholy and exquisitely plaintive, even rivalling the melody of birds, and then, by sudden and startling transition, causing the auditors to tremble by their depth and energy. The words were few and often repeated, preceding gradually from a sort of invocation or hymn to the deity, to an intimation of the warrior's object, and terminating as they commenced with an acknowledgement of his own dependence on the great spirit. If it were possible to translate the comprehensive and melodious language in which he spoke, the ode might read something like the following. "Manito, manito, manito, thou art great, thou art good, thou art wise, manito, manito, thou art just, in the heavens, in the clouds. O, I see many spots, many dark, many red, in the heavens, oh, I see many clouds. In the woods, in the air, oh, I hear the hoop, the long yell, and this cry, in the woods, oh, I hear the loud hoop. Manito, manito, manito, I am weak, thou art strong, I am slow, manito, manito, give me aid. At the end of what might be called each verse he made a pause by raising a note louder and longer than common, that was peculiarly suited to the sentiment just expressed. The first close was solemn and intended to convey the idea of veneration. The second descriptive, bordering on the alarming, and the third was the well-known and terrific war hoop which burst from the lips of the young warrior like a combination of the frightful sounds of battle. The last was like the first, humble and imploring. Three times did he repeat this song and as often did he encircle the post in his dance. At the close of the first turn, a grave and highly esteemed chief of the Lenape followed his example, singing words of his own, however, to music of similar character. Warrior after warrior enlisted in the dance until all of any renowned and authority were numbered in its mazes. The spectacle now became wildly terrific, the fierce-looking and menacing visages of the chiefs, receiving additional power from the appalling strains in which they mingled their guttural tones. Just then, UNKUS struck his tomahawk deep into the post and raised his voice in a shout which might be termed his own battle cry. The act announced that he had assumed the chief authority in the intended expedition. It was a signal that awakened all the slumbering passions of the nation. A hundred youths who had hereto been restrained by the diffidence of their years rushed in a frantic body on the fancied emblem of their enemy and severed it asunder splinter by splinter until nothing remained of the trunk but its roots in the earth. During this moment of tumult the ruthless deeds of war were performed on the fragments of the tree, with as much apparent ferocity as if they were the living victims of their cruelty. Some were scalped, some received the keen and trembling acts, and others suffered thrust from the fatal knife. In short, the manifestations of zeal and fierce delight were so great and unequivocal that the expedition was declared to be a war of the nation. The instant UNKUS had struck the blow, he moved out of the circle and cast his eyes up to the sun, which was just gaining the point when the truce with Mokwa was to end. The fact was soon announced by a significant gesture accompanied by a corresponding cry, and the whole of the excited multitude abandoned their mimic warfare with shrill yells of pleasure to prepare for the more hazardous experiment of the reality. The whole face of the encampment was instantly changed. The warriors who were already armed and painted became still as if they were incapable of any uncommon burst of emotion. On the other hand, the women broke out of the lodges with songs of joy and those of lamentation, so strangely mixed that it might have been difficult to have said which passion preponderated. None, however, was idle. Some bore their choicest articles, others their young, and some their aged and infirm into the forest, which spread itself like a verdant carpet of bright cream against the side of the mountain. Thither, Tamanund, also retired, with calm composure after a short and touching interview with UNKUS, from whom the sage separated with the reluctance that a parent would quit a long lost and just recovered child. In the meantime, Duncan saw Alice to a place of safety, and then sought the scout with accountants that denoted how eagerly he also panted for the approaching contest. But Hawkeye was too much accustomed to the war song and the enlistments of the natives to betray any interest in the passing scene. He merely cast an occasional look at the number and quality of the warriors, who, from time to time, signified their readiness to accompany UNKUS through the field. In this particular, he was soon satisfied, for, as has been already seen, the power of the young chief quickly embraced every fighting man in the nation. After this material point was so satisfactorily decided, he dispatched an Indian boy in quest of kill-deer and the rifle of UNKUS through the place where they had deposited their weapons on approaching the camp of the Delaware's. A measure of double policy in as much to protect the arms from their own fate if detained as prisoners and gave them the advantage of appearing among the strangers rather as sufferers than as men provided with means of defense and substance. In selecting another to perform the office of reclaiming his highly prized rifle, the scout had lost sight of none of his habitual caution. He knew that Magua had not come unattended, and he also knew that Huron spies watched the movements of their new enemies along the whole boundary of the woods. It would therefore have been fatal to himself to have attempted the experiment. A warrior would have fared no better, but the danger of a boy would not be likely to commence until after his object was discovered. When Hayward joined him, the scout was coolly awaiting the result of this experiment. The boy, who had been well instructed and was sufficiently crafty, proceeded with a bosom that was swelling with the pride of such a confidence and all the hopes of young ambition, carelessly across the clearing to the wood, which he entered at a point at some little distance from the place where the guns were secreted. The instant, however, he was concealed by the foliage of the bushes. His dusky form was to be seen gliding like that of a serpent toward the desired treasure. He was successful, and in another moment he appeared flying across the narrow opening that skirted the base of the terrace on which the village stood, with the velocity of an arrow and bearing a prize in each hand. He had actually gained the craze and was leaping up their sides with incredible activity when a shot from the wood showed how accurate had been the judgment of the scout. The boy answered it with a feeble but contemptuous shout, and immediately a second bullet was sent after him from another part of the cover. At the next instant he appeared on the level above, elevating his guns in triumph, while he moved with the air of a conquer toward the renowned hunter who had honoured him by so glorious a commission. Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawkeye had taken in the fate of his messenger, he received Kildir with a satisfaction that momentarily drove all other recollections from his mind. After examining the piece with an intelligent eye, an opening and shutting the pan for some ten or fifteen times, and trying sundry other equally important experiments on the lock, he turned to the boy and demanded with great manifestations of kindness if he was hurt. The urchin looked proudly up in his face, but made no reply. "Oh, I see lad, the naves have barked your arm," added the scout, taking up the limb of the patient sufferer, across which a deep flesh wound had been made by one of the bullets. But a little bruised altar will act like a charm. In the meantime I will wrap it in a bandage of wampum. You have commenced the business of a warrior early, my brave boy, and are likely to bear up plenty of honourable scars to your grave. I know many young men that have taken scalps that cannot show such a mark as this. Go! Having bound up the arm, you will be a chief." The lad departed, prouder of his flowing blood than the venous courtier could be of his blunishing ribbon, and stalked among the fellows of his age an object of general admiration and envy. But in a moment of so many serious and important duties, this single act of juvenile fortitude did not attract the general notice, and commendation it would have received under milder auspices. It had, however, served to apprise the Delaware's of the position and intentions of their enemies. Accordingly, a party of adventurers better suited to the task than the weeks though Spirit had boy, was ordered to dislodge the skullkers. The duty was soon performed, for most of the Hurons retired of themselves when they found they had been discovered. The Delaware's followed to a sufficient distance from their own encampment, and then halted for orders, apprehensive of being led into an ambush. As both parties secreted themselves, the woods were again as still and quiet as a mild summer morning and deep solitude could render them. The calm, but still impatient, uncles, now collected his chiefs and divided his power. He presented Hawkeye as a warrior, often tried and always found deserving of confidence. When he found his friend met with a favorable reception, he bestowed on him the command of twenty men like himself, active, skillful, and resolute. He gave the Delaware's to understand the rank of Hayward among the troops of the Angas, and then tended to him a trust of equal authority. But Duncan declined the charge, professing his readiness to serve as a volunteer by the side of the scout. After this disposition, the young Mohican appointed various native chiefs to fill the different situations of responsibility. And the time pressing, he gave forth the word to march. He was cheerfully but silently obeyed by more than two hundred men. Their entrance into the forest was perfectly unmolested, nor did they encounter any living objects which could either give the alarm or furnish the intelligence they needed until they came upon the layers of their own scouts. Here a halt was ordered, and the chiefs were assembled to hold a whispering council. At this meeting, the verse plans of operation were suggested, though none of a character to meet the wishes of their ardent leader. Had Duncan's followed the promptings of his own inclinations, he would have led his followers to the charge without a moment's delay, and put the conflict to the hazard of an instant issue. But such of course would have been in opposition to all the received practices and opinions of his countrymen. He was therefore feigned to adopt the caution that in the present temper of his mind he extricated, and to listen to advice at which his fiery spirit chafed, under the vivid recollection of Cora's danger and Machua's insolence. After at an unsatisfactory conference of many minutes, a solitary individual was seen advancing from the side of the enemy, with such apparent haste as to induce the belief he might be a messenger charged with Pacific overtures. When within a hundred yards, however, of the cover behind which the Delaware Council had assembled, the stranger hesitated, appeared uncertain what course to take, and finally halted. All eyes were turned now on uncles, as if seeking directions how to proceed. "Hokai," said the young chief in a low voice, "he must never speak to the heroines again." "His time has come," said the laconic scout, thrusting the long barrel of his rifle through the leaves and taking his deliberate and fatal aim. But instead of pulling the trigger, he lowered the muzzle again and indulged himself in a fit of his peculiar mirth. "I took the infra-mingo as I'm a miserable sinner," he said. "But when my eye ranged along his ribs for a place to get the bullet in, would you think it, Enchus?" "I saw the musicianers blower, and so, after all, it is the man they call gamut. Whose death can profit no one, and whose life, if this tongue can do anything but sing, may be made serviceable to our own ends. If sounds have not lost their virtue, I'll soon have a discourse with the honest fellow, and that in a voice he'll find more agreeable than the speech of killed ere." So saying, Hawkeye laid aside his rifle, and crawling through the bushes until with him hearing of David, he attempted to repeat the musical effort which had conducted himself with so much safety and he clot through the Huron encampment. The exquisite organs of gamut could not readily be deceived, and to say the truth it would have been difficult for any other than Hawkeye to produce a similar noise. And consequently, having once before heard the sounds, he now knew whence they proceeded. The poor fellow appeared relieved from a state of great embarrassment, for pursuing the direction of the voice, a task that to him was not much less arduous than it would have been to have gone up in the face of a battery. He soon discovered the hidden songster. "I wonder what the Hurons will think of that," said the scout, laughing, as he took his companion by the arm and urged him toward the rear. "If the naves lie within earshot, they will say there are two non-composers instead of one. But here we are safe," he added, pointing to Onkis and his associates. "Now, give us the history of the Mingo inventions in natural English, and without any ups and downs of voice." David gazed about him at the fierce and wild-looking chiefs in mute wonder. But assured by the presence of faces that he knew, he soon rallied his faculties so far as to make an intelligent reply. "The heathen are abroad in goodly numbers," said David, "and I fear with evil intent. There has been much howling and ungodly revelry together with such sounds as it is profanity the utter, in their habitations within the past hour so much so, in truth, that I have fled to the Delaware's in search of peace." "Your ears might not have profited much by the exchange had you been quicker afoot," returned the scout a little dryly. "But let that be as it may, where are the Hurons?" "They lie hid in the forest, between this spot in their village, in such forest that prudence would teach you instantly to return." Anka's cast a glance along the range of trees which concealed his own band, and mentioned the name of Machwa. "He is among them. He brought in the maiden that had sojourned with the Delaware's, and leaving her in the cave has put himself like a raging wolf at the head of his savages. I know not what has troubled his spirit so great. He has left her, you say, in the cave," interrupted Hayward. "Tis well that we know that its situation may not something be done for her instant relief." Anka's looked earnestly at the scout before he asked. "What says Hawkeye?" "Give me twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right along the stream, and passing by the huts of the beaver will join the Sagmore and the Colonel. You shall then hear the hoop from that quarter. With this wind one may easily send it a mile. Then, Anka's, do you drive in the front? When they come within range of our pieces we will give them a blow that I pledge the good name of an old frontiersman shall make their line bend like an ash and bow. After which we will carry the village and take the woman from the cave. When the affair may be finished with the tribe according to a white man's battle, by a blow and a victory, or in the Indian fashion with dodge and cover. There may be no great learning major in this plan, but with courage and patience it can all be done." "I like it very much," cried Duncan, who saw that the release of Korra was the primary object in the mind of the scout. "I like it much. Let it be instantly attempted." After a short conference, the plan was matured and rendered more intelligible to the several parties. The different signals were appointed and the chiefs separated, each to his allotted station. End of chapter 31 With the Lucky Land Sluts, you can get lucky just about anywhere. "This is your captain speaking. 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