Here are no dead, sadi Heyward; the storm seems not to have passed this way.
That's manifest; and clearer than the heavens above our heads, returned the undisturbed scout; but either
she, or they that have robbed her, have passed the bush; for I remember the rag she wore to hide a face
that all did love to look upon. Uncas, you are right; the dark-hair has been here, and she has fled like
a frightened fawn, to the wood; none who could fly would remain to be murdered. Let us search for the
marks she left; for, to Indian eyes, I sometimes think a humming-bird leaves his trail in the air.
The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and the scout had hardly done speaking, before the
former raised a cry of success from the margin of the forest. On reaching the spot, the anxious party
perceived another portion of the veil fluttering on the lower branch of a beech.
Softly, softly, said the scout, extending his long rifle in front of the eager Heyward; we now know our
work, but the beauty of the trail must not be deformed. A step too soon may give us hours of trouble.
We have them, though; that much is beyond denial.
Bless ye, bless ye, worthy man! exclaimed Munro; whither then, have they fled, and where are my babes?
The path they have taken depends on many chances. If they have gone alone, they are quite as likely
to move in a circle as straight, and they may be within a dozen miles of us; but if the Hurons, or any of
the French Indians, have laid hands on them, 'tis probably they are now near the borders of the Canadas.
But what matters that? continued the deliberate scout, observing the powerful anxiety and disappointment
the listeners exhibited; here are the Mohicans and I on one end of the trail, and, rely on it, we find the
other, though they should be a hundred leagues asunder! Gently, gently, Uncas, you are as impatient as
a man in the settlements; you forget that light feet leave but faint marks!
Hugh! exclaimed Chingachgook, who had been occupied in examining an opening that had been evidently
made through the low underbrush which skirted the forest; and who now stood erect, as he pointed downward,
in the 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 Heyward, bending over the indicated
spot; he has trod in the margin of this pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken. They are captives.
Better so than left to starve in the wilderness, returned the scout; and they will leave a wider trail. I would
wager fifty beaver skins against as many flints, that the Mohicans and I enter their wigwams within the
month! Stoop to it, Uncas, and try what you can make of the moccasin; for moccasin it plainly is, and no
shoe.
The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing the scattered leaves from around the place, he
examined it with much of that sort of scrutiny that a money dealer, in these days of pecuniary doubts,
would bestow on a suspected due-bill. At length he arose from his knees, satisfied with the result of the
examination.
Well, boy, demanded the attentive scout; what does it say? Can you make anything of the tell-tale?
Le Renard Subtil!
Ha! that rampaging devil again! there will never be an end of his loping till killdeer has said a friendly
word to him.
Heyward reluctantly admitted the truth of this intelligence, and now expressed rather his hopes than his
doubts by saying:
One moccasin is so much like another, it is probable there is some mistake.