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Mingos raging for our blood, in the great thoroughfare round and about Ty!"

"It may not be the Serpent, after all, Pathfinder; I can see no feature that I remember."

"Featur'! Who looks for featur's in an Injin? No, no, boy; 'tis the paint that speaks, and none but a Delaware would wear that paint. Them are his colors, Jasper, just as your craft on the lake wears St. George's Cross,1 and the Frenchers set their tablecloths to fluttering in the wind, with all the stains of fish-bones and venison steaks upon them. Now you see the eye, lad, and it is the eye of a chief. But, Eau-douce, fierce as it is in battle, and glassy as it looks from among the leaves," here the Pathfinder laid his finger lightly but impressively on his companion's arm, "I have seen it shed tears like rain. There is a soul and a heart under that red skin, rely on it; although they are a soul and a heart with gifts different from our own."

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"No one who is acquainted with the chief ever doubted that."

"I know it," returned the other, proudly, "for I have consorted with him in sorrow and in joy; in one I have found him a man, however stricken; in the other, chief who knows that the women of his tribe are the most seemly in light merriment. But hist! It is too much like the people of the settlements to pour soft speeches into another's ear; and the Sarpent has keen senses. He knows I love him, and that I speak well of him behind his back; but a Delaware has modesty in his inmost natur', though he will brag like a sinner when tied to a stake."

The Serpent now reached the shore, directly in the front of his two comrades, with whose precise position he must have been acquainted before leaving the eastern side of the river, and rising from the water he shook himself like a dog, and made the usual exclamation, "Hugh!"

1 [The old flag of England; a red cross on a white field.]

CHAPTER VI.

These, as they change, Almighty Father, these
Are but the varied God.

JAMES THOMSON: Hymn.

As the chief landed he was met by the Pathfinder, who addressed him in the language of the warrior's people.

"Was it well done, Chingachgook," he said, reproachfully, "to ambush a dozen Mingos alone! Killdeer seldom fails me, it is true; but the Oswego makes a distant mark, and that miscreant showed little more than his head and shoulders above the bushes, and an onpractyced hand and eye might have failed. You should have thought of this, chief-you should have thought of this!"

"The Great Serpent is a Mohican warrior; he sees only his enemies, when he is on the warpath, and his fathers have struck the Mingos from behind, since the waters began to run!"

"I know your gifts I know your gifts, and respect them, too. No man shall hear me complain that a redskin obsarved redskin natur', but prudence as much becomes a warrior as valor; and had not the Iroquois devils been looking after their friends who were in the water, a hot trail they would have made of your'n!"

66 What is the Delaware about to do?" exclaimed Jasper, who observed at that moment that the chief suddenly left the Pathfinder and advanced to the water's edge, apparently with an intention of again entering the river. "He will not be so mad as to return to the other shore for any trifle he may have forgotten!"

"Not he not he; he is as prudent as he is brave, in the main, though so forgetful of himself in the late ambushment. Harkee, Jasper," leading the other a little aside just as they heard the Indian's plunge into the water; "harkee, lad; Chingachgook is not a Christian. white man like ourselves, but a Mohican chief, who has his gifts and traditions to tell him what he ought to do;

and he who consorts with them that are not strictly and altogether of his own kind had better leave natur' and use to govern his comrades. A king's soldier will swear, and he will drink, and it is of little use to try to prevent him; a gentleman likes his delicacies and a lady her feathers, and it does not avail much to struggle agin either; whereas an Indian's natur' and gifts are much stronger than these, and no doubt were bestowed by the Lord for wise ends, though neither you nor me can' follow them in all their windings."

"What does this mean? See, the Delaware is swimming towards the body that is lodged on the rock. does he risk this?"

Why

"For honor and glory and renown, as great gentlemen quit their quiet homes beyond seas, where, as they tell me, heart has nothing left to wish for, that is, such hearts as can be satisfied in a clearin', to come hither to live on game and fight the Frenchers."

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"I understand you; your friend has gone to secure the scalp."

“'Tis his gift, and let him enjoy it. We are white men, and cannot mangle a dead enemy; but it is honor in the eyes of a redskin to do so. It may seem singular to you, Eau-douce, but I've known white men of great name and character manifest as remarkable ideas consarning their honor, I have."

66 A savage will be a savage, Pathfinder, let him keep what company he may."

or to

"It is well for us to say so, lad, but, as I tell you, white honor will not always conform to reason the will of God. I have passed days thinking of them matters, out in the silent woods, and I have come to the opinion, boy, that, as Providence rules all things, no gift is bestowed without some wise and reasonable end. If Injins are of no use, Injins would not have been created; and I do suppose, could one dive to the bottom of things, it would be found that even the Mingo tribes were produced for some rational and proper purpose, though I confess it surpasses my means to say what it is."

"The Serpent greatly exposes himself to the enemy, in order to get his scalp! This may lose us the day.” "Not in his mind, Jasper. That one scalp has more honor in it, according to the Sarpent's notions of warfare, than a field covered with slain that kept the hair on their heads. Now, there was the fine young captain of the 60th that threw away his life. in trying to bring off a three-pounder from among the Frenchers, in the last scrimmage we had; he thought he was sarving honor; and I have known a young ensign wrap himself up in his colors, and go to sleep in his blood, fancying that he was lying on something softer even than buffalo-skins!"

"Yes, yes; one can understand the merit of not hauling down an ensign."

"And these are Chingachgook's colors; he will keep them to show his children's children ". Here the Pathfinder interrupted himself, shook his head in melancholy, and slowly added, "Ah 's me! no shoot of the old Mohican stem remains! He has no children to delight with his trophies, no tribe to honor by his deeds; he is a lone man in this world, and yet he stands true to his training and his gifts! There is something honest and respectable in these, you must allow, Jasper; yes, there is something decent in that.

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Here a great outcry from among the Iroquois was succeeded by the quick reports of their rifles; and so eager did the enemy become, in the desire to drive the Delaware back from his victim, that a dozen rushed into the river, several of whom even advanced near a hundred feet into the foaming current, as if they actually meditated a serious sortie. But Chingachgook continued as unmoved as he remained unhurt by the missiles, accomplishing his task with the dexterity of long habit. Flourishing his reeking trophy, he gave the war-whoop in its most frightful intonations, and for a minute the arches of the silent woods, and the deep vista formed by the course of the river, echoed with cries so terrific that Mabel bowed her head in irrepressible fear, while her uncle for a single instant actually meditated flight.

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"This surpasses all I have heard from the wretches, Jasper exclaimed, stopping his ears, equally in horror and disgust.

"'Tis their music, boy,- their drum and fife, their trumpets and clarions. No doubt they love them sounds, for they stir up in them fierce feelings and a desire for blood," returned the Pathfinder, totally unmoved. "I thought them rather frightful when a mere youngster, but they have got to be like the whistle of the whippoorwill, or the song of the catbird in my ear now. All the screeching riptyles that could stand atween the falls. and the garrison would have no effect on my narves at this time of day. I say it not in boasting, Jasper, for the man that lets in cowardice through the ears must have but a weak heart, at the best; sounds and outcries being more intended to alarm women and children than such as scout the forest and face the foe. I hope the Sarpent is now satisfied, for here he comes with the scalp at his belt."

Jasper turned away his head as the Delaware rose from the water, in pure disgust at his late errand, but the Pathfinder regarded his friend with the philosophical coolness of one who had made up his mind to be indifferent to things he deemed immaterial. As the Delaware passed deeper into the bushes, with a view to wring his trifling calico dress and to prepare his rifle for service, he gave one glance of triumph at his companions, and then all emotion connected with the recent exploit seemed to cease.

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'Jasper," resumed the guide, "step down to the station of Master Cap, and ask him to join us; we have little time for a council, and yet our plans must be laid quickly, for it will not be long before them Mingos will be plotting our ruin."

The young man complied, and in a few minutes the four were assembled near the shore, completely concealed from the view of their enemies, while they kept a vigilant watch over the proceedings of the latter, in order to consult on their own future movements.

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