Aye, 'twas judgmatical and like themselves; though we were too expart to 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 ashamed to own; to the judgment
of the young Mohican, in matters which I should know better than he, but which I can now hardly believe
to be true, 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 ones
, continued Hawkeye, glancing
his eyes, not without curious interest, on the fillies of the ladies,
planted the legs of one side on the
ground at the same time, which is contrary to the movements of all trotting four-footed animals of my
knowledge, except the bear. And yet here are horses that always journey in this manner, as my own
eyes have seen, and as their trail has shown for twenty long miles
.
'Tis the merit of the animal! They come from the shores of Narrangansett Bay, in the small province of
Providence Plantations, and are celebrated for their hardihood, and the ease of this peculiar movement; though
other horses are not unfrequently trained to the same
.
It may be - it may be
, said Hawkeye, who had listened with singular attention to this explanation;
though
I am a man who has the full blood of the whites, my judgment in deer and beaver is greater than in
beasts of burden. Major Effingham has many noble chargers, but I have never seen one travel after
such a sidling 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 with the burdens it is often destined to bear
.
The Mohicans had suspended their operations about the glimmering fire to listen; and, when Duncan had done, they looked at each other significantly, the father uttering the never-failing exclamation of surprise. The scout ruminated, like a man digesting his newly-acquired knowledge, and once more stole a glance at the horses.
I dare to say there are even stranger sights to be seen in the settlements
! he said, at length
natur' is
sadly abused by man, when he once gets the mastery. But, go sidling or go straight, Uncas had seen
the movement, and their trail led us on to the broken bush. The outer branch, near the prints of one of
the horses, was bent upward, as a lady breaks a flower from its stem, but all the rest were ragged and
broken down, as if the strong hand of a man had been tearing them! So I concluded that the cunning
varments had seen the twig bent, and had torn the rest, to make us believe a buck had been feeling the
boughs with his antlers
.
I do believe your sagacity did not deceive you; for some such thing occurred
!
That was easy to see
, added the scout, in no degree conscious of having exhibited any extraordinary
sagacity;
and a very different matter it was from a waddling horse! It then struck me the Mingoes would
push for this spring, for the knaves well know the vartue of its waters
!
Is it, then, so famous
? demanded Heyward, examining, with a more curious eye, the secluded dell, with
its bubbling fountain, surrounded, as it was, by earth of a deep, dingy brown.
Few red-skins, who travel south and east of the great lakes but have heard of its qualities. Will you taste
for yourself
?
Heyward took the gourd, and after swallowing a little of the water, threw it aside with grimaces of discontent. The scout laughed in his silent but heartfelt manner, and shook his head with vast satisfaction.