Chapter 20

    "Now all is done that man can do,
    And all is done in vain!  
    My love!  my native land, adieu 
    For I must cross the main, My dear,
    For I must cross the main."
    Robert Burns, "It was a' for our Rightfu' King," II.  7-12.

The last chapter we left the combatants breathing in their narrow
lists. Accustomed to the rude sports of wrestling and jumping,
then so common in America, more especially on the frontiers, Hurry
possessed an advantage, in addition to his prodigious strength,
that had rendered the struggle less unequal than it might otherwise
appear to be. This alone had enabled him to hold out so long,
against so many enemies, for the Indian is by no means remarkable
for his skill, or force, in athletic exercises. As yet, no one
had been seriously hurt, though several of the savages had received
severe falls, and he, in particular, who had been thrown bodily
upon the platform, might be said to be temporarily hors de combat.
Some of the rest were limping, and March himself had not entirely
escaped from bruises, though want of breath was the principal loss
that both sides wished to repair.

Under circumstances like those in which the parties were placed, a
truce, let it come from what cause it might, could not well be of
long continuance. The arena was too confined, and the distrust
of treachery too great, to admit of this. Contrary to what might
be expected in his situation, Hurry was the first to recommence
hostilities. Whether this proceeded from policy, an idea that he
might gain some advantage by making a sudden and unexpected assault,
or was the fruit of irritation and his undying hatred of an Indian,
it is impossible to say. His onset was furious, however, and at
first it carried all before it. He seized the nearest Huron by the
waist, raised him entirely from the platform, and hurled him into
the water, as if he had been a child. In half a minute, two more
were at his side, one of whom received a grave injury by the friend
who had just preceded him. But four enemies remained, and, in a
hand to hand conflict, in which no arms were used but those which
nature had furnished, Hurry believed himself fully able to cope
with that number of red-skins.

"Hurrah! Old Tom," he shouted - "The rascals are taking to the
lake, and I'll soon have 'em all swimming!" As these words were
uttered a violent kick in the face sent back the injured Indian,
who had caught at the edge of the platform, and was endeavoring
to raise himself to its level, helplessly and hopelessly into the
water. When the affray was over, his dark body was seen, through
the limpid element of the Glimmerglass, lying, with outstretched
arms, extended on the bottom of the shoal on which the Castle stood,
clinging to the sands and weeds, as if life were to be retained by
this frenzied grasp of death. A blow sent into the pit of another's
stomach doubled him up like a worm that had been trodden on, and
but two able bodied foes remained to be dealt with. One of these,
however, was not only the largest and strongest of the Hurons, but
he was also the most experienced of their warriors present, and that
one whose sinews were the best strung in fights, and by marches on
the warpath. This man fully appreciated the gigantic strength of
his opponent, and had carefully husbanded his own. He was also
equipped in the best manner for such a conflict, standing in nothing
but his breech-cloth, the model of a naked and beautiful statue of
agility and strength. To grasp him required additional dexterity
and unusual force. Still Hurry did not hesitate, but the kick that
had actually destroyed one fellow creature was no sooner given, than
he closed in with this formidable antagonist, endeavoring to force
him into the water, also. The struggle that succeeded was truly
frightful. So fierce did it immediately become, and so quick and
changeful were the evolutions of the athletes, that the remaining
savage had no chance for interfering, had he possessed the desire;
but wonder and apprehension held him spell bound. He was an
inexperienced youth, and his blood curdled as he witnessed the fell
strife of human passions, exhibited too, in an unaccustomed form.

Hurry first attempted to throw his antagonist. With this view he
seized him by the throat, and an arm, and tripped with the quickness
and force of an American borderer. The effect was frustrated by
the agile movements of the Huron, who had clothes to grasp by, and
whose feet avoided the attempt with a nimbleness equal to that with
which it was made. Then followed a sort of melee, if such a term
can be applied to a struggle between two in which no efforts were
strictly visible, the limbs and bodies of the combatants assuming
so many attitudes and contortions as to defeat observation. This
confused but fierce rally lasted less than a minute, however; when,
Hurry, furious at having his strength baffled by the agility and
nakedness of his foe, made a desperate effort, which sent the Huron
from him, hurling his body violently against the logs of the hut.
The concussion was so great as momentarily to confuse the latter's
faculties. The pain, too, extorted a deep groan; an unusual
concession to agony to escape a red man in the heat of battle.
Still he rushed forward again to meet his enemy, conscious that
his safety rested on it's resolution. Hurry now seized the other
by the waist, raised him bodily from the platform, and fell with
his own great weight on the form beneath. This additional shock
so stunned the sufferer, that his gigantic white opponent now had
him completely at his mercy. Passing his hands around the throat
of his victim, he compressed them with the strength of a vice, fairly
doubling the head of the Huron over the edge of the platform, until
the chin was uppermost, with the infernal strength he expended.
An instant sufficed to show the consequences. The eyes of the
sufferer seemed to start forward, his tongue protruded, and his
nostrils dilated nearly to splitting. At this instant a rope of
bark, having an eye, was passed dexterously within the two arms of
Hurry, the end threaded the eye, forming a noose, and his elbows
were drawn together behind his back, with a power that all his
gigantic strength could not resist. Reluctantly, even under such
circumstances, did the exasperated borderer see his hands drawn
from their deadly grasp, for all the evil passions were then in the
ascendant. Almost at the same instant a similar fastening secured
his ankles, and his body was rolled to the centre of the platform
as helplessly, and as cavalierly, as if it were a log of wood.
His rescued antagonist, however, did not rise, for while he began
again to breathe, his head still hung helplessly over the edge of
the logs, and it was thought at first that his neck was dislocated.
He recovered gradually only, and it was hours before he could walk.
Some fancied that neither his body, nor his mind, ever totally
recovered from this near approach to death.

Hurry owed his defeat and capture to the intensity with which
he had concentrated all his powers on his fallen foe. While thus
occupied, the two Indians he had hurled into the water mounted to
the heads of the piles, along which they passed, and joined their
companion on the platform. The latter had so far rallied his
faculties as to have gotten the ropes, which were in readiness for
use as the others appeared, and they were applied in the manner
related, as Hurry lay pressing his enemy down with his whole weight,
intent only on the horrible office of strangling him. Thus were
the tables turned, in a single moment; he who had been so near
achieving a victory that would have been renowned for ages, by means
of traditions, throughout all that region, lying helpless, bound
and a captive. So fearful had been the efforts of the pale-face,
and so prodigious the strength he exhibited, that even as he lay
tethered like a sheep before them, they regarded him with respect,
and not without dread. The helpless body of their stoutest warrior
was still stretched on the platform, and, as they cast their eyes
towards the lake, in quest of the comrade that had been hurled
into it so unceremoniously, and of whom they had lost sight in the
confusion of the fray, they perceived his lifeless form clinging
to the grass on the bottom, as already described. These several
circumstances contributed to render the victory of the Hurons almost
as astounding to themselves as a defeat.

Chingachgook and his betrothed witnessed the whole of this struggle
from the Ark. When the three Hurons were about to pass the cords
around the arms of the prostrate Hurry the Delaware sought his
rifle, but, before he could use it the white man was bound and
the mischief was done. He might still bring down an enemy, but to
obtain the scalp was impossible, and the young chief, who would so
freely risk his own life to obtain such a trophy, hesitated about
taking that of a foe without such an object in view. A glance
at Hist, and the recollection of what might follow, checked any
transient wish for revenge. The reader has been told that Chingachgook
could scarcely be said to know how to manage the oars of the Ark at
all, however expert he might be in the use of the paddle. Perhaps
there is no manual labor at which men are so bungling and awkward, as
in their first attempts to pull oar, even the experienced mariner,
or boat man, breaking down in his efforts to figure with the
celebrated rullock of the gondolier. In short it is, temporarily,
an impracticable thing for a new beginner to succeed with a single
oar, but in this case it was necessary to handle two at the same
time, and those of great size. Sweeps, or large oars, however,
are sooner rendered of use by the raw hand than lighter implements,
and this was the reason that the Delaware had succeeded in moving the
Ark as well as he did in a first trial. That trial, notwithstanding,
sufficed to produce distrust, and he was fully aware of the critical
situation in which Hist and himself were now placed, should the
Hurons take to the canoe that was still lying beneath the trap, and
come against them. At the moment he thought of putting Hist into
the canoe in his own possession, and of taking to the eastern
mountain in the hope of reaching the Delaware villages by direct
flight. But many considerations suggested themselves to put a
stop to this indiscreet step. It was almost certain that scouts
watched the lake on both sides, and no canoe could possibly approach
shore without being seen from the hills. Then a trail could not
be concealed from Indian eyes, and the strength of Hist was unequal
to a flight sufficiently sustained to outstrip the pursuit of
trained warriors. This was a part of America in which the Indians
did not know the use of horses, and everything would depend on
the physical energies of the fugitives. Last, but far from being
least, were the thoughts connected with the situation of Deerslayer,
a friend who was not to be deserted in his extremity.

Hist in some particulars reasoned, and even felt, differently though
she arrived at the same conclusions. Her own anger disturbed her
less than her concern for the two sisters, on whose behalf her
womanly sympathies were now strongly enlisted. The canoe of the
girls, by the time the struggle on the platform had ceased, was
within three hundred yards of the castle, and here Judith ceased
paddling, the evidences of strife first becoming apparent to the
eyes. She and Hetty were standing erect, anxiously endeavoring
to ascertain what had occurred, but unable to satisfy their doubts
from the circumstance that the building, in a great measure,
concealed the scene of action.

The parties in the Ark, and in the canoe, were indebted to the
ferocity of Hurry's attack for their momentary security. In any
ordinary case, the girls would have been immediately captured, a
measure easy of execution now the savages had a canoe, were it not
for the rude check the audacity of the Hurons had received in the
recent struggle. It required some little time to recover from the
effects of this violent scene, and this so much the more, because
the principal man of the party, in the way of personal prowess
at least, had been so great a sufferer. Still it was of the last
importance that Judith and her sister should seek immediate refuge
in the Ark, where the defences offered a temporary shelter at least,
and the first step was to devise the means of inducing them to do
so. Hist showed herself in the stern of the scow, and made many
gestures and signs, in vain, in order to induce the girls to make
a circuit to avoid the Castle, and to approach the Ark from the
eastward. But these signs were distrusted or misunderstood. It
is probable Judith was not yet sufficiently aware of the real state
of things to put full confidence in either party. Instead of doing
as desired, she rather kept more aloof, paddling slowly back to
the north, or into the broadest part of the lake, where she could
command the widest view, and had the fairest field for flight
before her. At this instant the sun appeared above the pines of
the eastern range of mountains and a light southerly breeze arose,
as was usual enough at that season and hour. Chingachgook lost no
time in hoisting the sail. Whatever might be in reserve for him,
there could be no question that it was every way desirable to get
the Ark at such a distance from the castle as to reduce his enemies
to the necessity of approaching the former in the canoe, which the
chances of war had so inopportunely, for his wishes and security,
thrown into their hands. The appearance of the opening duck seemed
first to arouse the Hurons from their apathy, and by the time
the head of the scow had fallen off before the wind, which it did
unfortunately in the wrong direction, bringing it within a few yards
of the platform, Hist found it necessary to warn her lover of the
importance of covering his person against the rifles of his foes.
This was a danger to be avoided under all circumstances, and so
much the more, because the Delaware found that Hist would not take
to the cover herself so long as he remained exposed. Accordingly,
Chingachgook abandoned the scow to its own movements, forced Hist
into the cabin, the doors of which he immediately secured, and then
he looked about him for the rifles. The situation of the parties
was now so singular as to merit a particular description. The Ark
was within sixty yards of the castle, a little to the southward,
or to windward of it, with its sail full, and the steering oar
abandoned. The latter, fortunately, was loose, so that it produced
no great influence on the crab like movements of the unwieldy craft.
The sail being as sailors term it, flying, or having no braces,
the air forced the yard forward, though both sheets were fast. The
effect was threefold on a boat with a bottom that was perfectly
flat, and which drew merely some three or four inches water. It
pressed the head slowly round to leeward, it forced the whole fabric
bodily in the same direction at the same time, and the water that
unavoidably gathered under the lee gave the scow also a forward
movement. All these changes were exceedingly slow, however, for
the wind was not only light, but it was baffling as usual, and
twice or thrice the sail shook. Once it was absolutely taken aback.

Had there been any keel to the Ark, it would inevitably have run
foul of the platform, bows on, when it is probable nothing could
have prevented the Hurons from carrying it; more particularly as
the sail would have enabled them to approach under cover. As it
was, the scow wore slowly round, barely clearing that part of the
building. The piles projecting several feet, they were not cleared,
but the head of the slow moving craft caught between two of them,
by one of its square corners, and hung. At this moment the Delaware
was vigilantly watching through a loop for an opportunity to fire,
while the Hurons kept within the building, similarly occupied.
The exhausted warrior reclined against the hut, there having been
no time to remove him, and Hurry lay, almost as helpless as a log,
tethered like a sheep on its way to the slaughter, near the middle
of the platform. Chingachgook could have slain the first, at any
moment, but his scalp would have been safe, and the young chief
disdained to strike a blow that could lead to neither honor nor
advantage.

"Run out one of the poles, Sarpent, if Sarpent you be," said Hurry,
amid the groans that the tightness of the ligatures was beginning
to extort from him - "run out one of the poles, and shove the head
of the scow off, and you'll drift clear of us - and, when you've
done that good turn for yourself just finish this gagging blackguard
for me."

The appeal of Hurry, however, had no other effect than to draw the
attention of Hist to his situation. This quick witted creature
comprehended it at a glance. His ankles were bound with several
turns of stout bark rope, and his arms, above the elbows, were
similarly secured behind his back; barely leaving him a little play
of the hands and wrists. Putting her mouth near a loop she said
in a low but distinct voice - "Why you don't roll here, and fall
in scow? Chingachgook shoot Huron, if he chase!"

"By the Lord, gal, that's a judgematical thought, and it shall be
tried, if the starn of your scow will come a little nearer. Put
a bed at the bottom, for me to fall on."

This was said at a happy moment, for, tired of waiting, all the
Indians made a rapid discharge of their rifles, almost simultaneously,
injuring no one; though several bullets passed through the loops.
Hist had heard part of Hurry's words, but most of what he said was
lost in the sharp reports of the firearms. She undid the bar of
the door that led to the stern of the scow, but did not dare to
expose her person. All this time, the head of the Ark hung, but
by a gradually decreasing hold as the other end swung slowly round,
nearer and nearer to the platform. Hurry, who now lay with his
face towards the Ark, occasionally writhing and turning over like
one in pain, evolutions he had performed ever since he was secured,
watched every change, and, at last, he saw that the whole vessel
was free, and was beginning to grate slowly along the sides of the
piles. The attempt was desperate, but it seemed to be the only
chance for escaping torture and death, and it suited the reckless
daring of the man's character. Waiting to the last moment, in order
that the stern of the scow might fairly rub against the platform,
he began to writhe again, as if in intolerable suffering, execrating
all Indians in general, and the Hurons in particular, and then he
suddenly and rapidly rolled over and over, taking the direction of
the stern of the scow. Unfortunately, Hurry's shoulders required
more space to revolve in than his feet, and by the time he reached the
edge of the platform his direction had so far changed as to carry
him clear of the Ark altogether, and the rapidity of his revolutions
and the emergency admitting of no delay, he fell into the water. At
this instant, Chingachgook, by an understanding with his betrothed,
drew the fire of the Hurons again, not a man of whom saw the
manner in which one whom they knew to be effectually tethered,
had disappeared. But Hist's feelings were strongly interested in
the success of so bold a scheme, and she watched the movements of
Hurry as the cat watches the mouse. The moment he was in motion
she foresaw the consequences, and this the more readily, as the scow
was now beginning to move with some steadiness, and she bethought
her of the means of saving him. With a sort of instinctive readiness,
she opened the door at the very moment the rifles were ringing in
her ears, and protected by the intervening cabin, she stepped into
the stem of the scow in time to witness the fall of Hurry into the
lake. Her foot was unconsciously placed on the end of one of the
sheets of the sail, which was fastened aft, and catching up all
the spare rope with the awkwardness, but also with the generous
resolution of a woman, she threw it in the direction of the helpless
Hurry. The line fell on the head and body of the sinking man and
he not only succeeded in grasping separate parts of it with his
hands, but he actually got a portion of it between his teeth. Hurry
was an expert swimmer, and tethered as he was he resorted to the
very expedient that philosophy and reflection would have suggested.
He had fallen on his back, and instead of floundering and drowning
himself by desperate efforts to walk on the water, he permitted his
body to sink as low as possible, and was already submerged, with
the exception of his face, when the line reached him. In this
situation he might possibly have remained until rescued by the
Hurons, using his hands as fishes use their fins, had he received
no other succour, but the movement of the Ark soon tightened the
rope, and of course he was dragged gently ahead holding even pace
with the scow. The motion aided in keeping his face above the surface
of the water, and it would have been possible for one accustomed
to endurance to have been towed a mile in this singular but simple
manner.

It has been said that the Hurons did not observe the sudden
disappearance of Hurry. In his present situation he was not only
hid from view by the platform, but, as the Ark drew slowly ahead,
impelled by a sail that was now filled, he received the same friendly
service from the piles. The Hurons, indeed, were too intent on
endeavoring to slay their Delaware foe, by sending a bullet through
some one of the loops or crevices of the cabin, to bethink them
at all of one whom they fancied so thoroughly tied. Their great
concern was the manner in which the Ark rubbed past the piles,
although its motion was lessened at least one half by the friction,
and they passed into the northern end of the castle in order to
catch opportunities of firing through the loops of that part of
the building. Chingachgook was similarly occupied, and remained
as ignorant as his enemies of the situation of Hurry. As the Ark
grated along the rifles sent their little clouds of smoke from
one cover to the other, but the eyes and movements of the opposing
parties were too quick to permit any injury to be done. At length
one side had the mortification and the other the pleasure of seeing
the scow swing clear of the piles altogether, when it immediately
moved away, with a materially accelerated motion, towards the north.

Chingachgook now first learned from Hist the critical condition
of Hurry. To have exposed either of their persons in the stern of
the scow would have been certain death, but fortunately the sheet
to which the man clung led forward to the foot of the sail. The
Delaware found means to unloosen it from the cleet aft, and Hist,
who was already forward for that purpose, immediately began to pull
upon the line. At this moment Hurry was towing fifty or sixty feet
astern, with nothing but his face above water. As he was dragged
out clear of the castle and the piles he was first perceived by the
Hurons, who raised a hideous yell and commenced a fire on, what may
very well be termed the floating mass. It was at the same instant
that Hist began to pull upon the line forward - a circumstance that
probably saved Hurry's life, aided by his own self-possession and
border readiness. The first bullet struck the water directly on the
spot where the broad chest of the young giant was visible through
the pure element, and might have pierced his heart had the angle
at which it was fired been less acute. Instead of penetrating the
lake, however, it glanced from its smooth surface, rose, and buried
itself in the logs of the cabin near the spot at which Chingachgook
had shown himself the minute before, while clearing the line from
the cleet. A second, and a third, and a fourth bullet followed,
all meeting with the same resistance of the water, though Hurry
sensibly felt the violence of the blows they struck upon the lake
so immediately above, and so near his breast. Discovering their
mistake, the Hurons now changed their plan, and aimed at the
uncovered face; but by this time Hist was pulling on the line, the
target advanced and the deadly missiles still fell upon the water.
In another moment the body was dragged past the end of the scow
and became concealed. As for the Delaware and Hist, they worked
perfectly covered by the cabin, and in less time than it requires
to tell it, they had hauled the huge frame of Harry to the place
they occupied. Chingachgook stood in readiness with his keen
knife, and bending over the side of the scow he soon severed the
bark that bound the limbs of the borderer. To raise him high enough
to reach the edge of the boat and to aid him in entering were less
easy, as Hurry's arms were still nearly useless, but both were
done in time, when the liberated man staggered forward and fell
exhausted and helpless into the bottom of the scow. Here we shall
leave him to recover his strength and the due circulation of his
blood, while we proceed with the narrative of events that crowd
upon us too fast to admit of any postponement. The moment the
Hurons lost sight of the body of Hurry they gave a common yell of
disappointment, and three of the most active of their number ran
to the trap and entered the canoe. It required some little delay,
however, to embark with their weapons, to find the paddles and,
if we may use a phrase so purely technical, "to get out of dock."
By this time Hurry was in the scow, and the Delaware had his rifles
again in readiness. As the Ark necessarily sailed before the wind,
it had got by this time quite two hundred yards from the castle,
and was sliding away each instant, farther and farther, though with
a motion so easy as scarcely to stir the water. The canoe of the
girls was quite a quarter of a mile distant from the Ark, obviously
keeping aloof, in ignorance of what had occurred, and in apprehension
of the consequences of venturing too near. They had taken the
direction of the eastern shore, endeavoring at the same time to get
to windward of the Ark, and in a manner between the two parties,
as if distrusting which was to be considered a friend, and which
an enemy. The girls, from long habit, used the paddles with great
dexterity, and Judith, in particular, had often sportively gained
races, in trials of speed with the youths that occasionally visited
the lake.

When the three Hurons emerged from behind the palisades, and found
themselves on the open lake, and under the necessity of advancing
unprotected on the Ark, if they persevered in the original design,
their ardor sensibly cooled. In a bark canoe they were totally
without cover, and Indian discretion was entirely opposed to such
a sacrifice of life as would most probably follow any attempt to
assault an enemy entrenched as effectually as the Delaware. Instead
of following the Ark, therefore, these three warriors inclined
towards the eastern shore, keeping at a safe distance from the
rifles of Chingachgook. But this manoeuvre rendered the position
of the girls exceedingly critical. It threatened to place them if
not between two fires, at least between two dangers, or what they
conceived to be dangers, and instead of permitting the Hurons to
enclose her, in what she fancied a sort of net, Judith immediately
commenced her retreat in a southern direction, at no very great
distance from the shore. She did not dare to land; if such an
expedient were to be resorted to at all, she could only venture on
it in the last extremity. At first the Indians paid little or no
attention to the other canoe, for, fully apprised of its contents,
they deemed its capture of comparatively little moment, while the
Ark, with its imaginary treasures, the persons of the Delaware and
of Hurry, and its means of movement on a large scale, was before
them. But this Ark had its dangers as well as its temptations, and
after wasting near an hour in vacillating evolutions, always at a
safe distance from the rifle, the Hurons seemed suddenly to take
their resolution, and began to display it by giving eager chase to
the girls.

When this last design was adopted, the circumstances of all parties,
as connected with their relative positions, were materially changed.
The Ark had sailed and drifted quite half a mile, and was nearly
that distance due north of the castle. As soon as the Delaware
perceived that the girls avoided him, unable to manage his unwieldy
craft, and knowing that flight from a bark canoe, in the event of
pursuit, would be a useless expedient if attempted, he had lowered
his sail, in the hope it might induce the sisters to change their
plan and to seek refuge in the scow. This demonstration produced
no other effect than to keep the Ark nearer to the scene of action,
and to enable those in her to become witnesses of the chase. The
canoe of Judith was about a quarter of a mile south of that of
the Hurons, a little nearer to the east shore, and about the same
distance to the southward of the castle as it was from the hostile
canoe, a circumstance which necessarily put the last nearly abreast
of Hutter's fortress. With the several parties thus situated the
chase commenced.

At the moment when the Hurons so suddenly changed their mode of
attack their canoe was not in the best possible racing trim. There
were but two paddles, and the third man so much extra and useless
cargo. Then the difference in weight between the sisters and the
other two men, more especially in vessels so extremely light, almost
neutralized any difference that might proceed from the greater
strength of the Hurons, and rendered the trial of speed far from
being as unequal as it might seem. Judith did not commence her
exertions until the near approach of the other canoe rendered the
object of the movement certain, and then she exhorted Hetty to aid
her with her utmost skill and strength.

"Why should we run, Judith?" asked the simple minded girl. "The
Hurons have never harmed me, nor do I think they ever will."

"That may be true as to you, Hetty, but it will prove very different
with me. Kneel down and say your prayer, and then rise and do your
utmost to help escape. Think of me, dear girl, too, as you pray."

Judith gave these directions from a mixed feeling; first because
she knew that her sister ever sought the support of her great ally
in trouble, and next because a sensation of feebleness and dependance
suddenly came over her own proud spirit, in that moment of apparent
desertion and trial. The prayer was quickly said, however, and the
canoe was soon in rapid motion. Still, neither party resorted to
their greatest exertions from the outset, both knowing that the
chase was likely to be arduous and long. Like two vessels of war
that are preparing for an encounter, they seemed desirous of first
ascertaining their respective rates of speed, in order that they
might know how to graduate their exertions, previously to the great
effort. A few minutes sufficed to show the Hurons that the girls
were expert, and that it would require all their skill and energies
to overtake them.

Judith had inclined towards the eastern shore at the commencement
of the chase, with a vague determination of landing and flying
to the woods as a last resort, but as she approached the land,
the certainty that scouts must be watching her movements made her
reluctance to adopt such an expedient unconquerable. Then she was
still fresh, and had sanguine hopes of being able to tire out her
pursuers. With such feelings she gave a sweep with her paddle,
and sheered off from the fringe of dark hemlocks beneath the shades
of which she was so near entering, and held her way again, more
towards the centre of the lake. This seemed the instant favorable
for the Hurons to make their push, as it gave them the entire
breadth of the sheet to do it in; and this too in the widest part,
as soon as they had got between the fugitives and the land. The
canoes now flew, Judith making up for what she wanted in strength
by her great dexterity and self command. For half a mile the
Indians gained no material advantage, but the continuance of so
great exertions for so many minutes sensibly affected all concerned.
Here the Indians resorted to an expedient that enabled them to give
one of their party time to breathe, by shifting their paddles from
hand to hand, and this too without sensibly relaxing their efforts.

Judith occasionally looked behind her, and she saw this expedient
practised. It caused her immediately to distrust the result, since
her powers of endurance were not likely to hold out against those
of men who had the means of relieving each other. Still she
persevered, allowing no very visible consequences immediately to
follow the change.

As yet the Indians had not been able to get nearer to the girls
than two hundred yards, though they were what seamen would term
"in their wake"; or in a direct line behind them, passing over the
same track of water. This made the pursuit what is technically
called a "stern chase", which is proverbially a "long chase": the
meaning of which is that, in consequence of the relative positions
of the parties, no change becomes apparent except that which is
a direct gain in the nearest possible approach. "Long" as this
species of chase is admitted to be, however, Judith was enabled to
perceive that the Hurons were sensibly drawing nearer and nearer,
before she had gained the centre of the lake. She was not a girl
to despair, but there was an instant when she thought of yielding,
with the wish of being carried to the camp where she knew the
Deerslayer to be a captive; but the considerations connected with
the means she hoped to be able to employ in order to procure his
release immediately interposed, in order to stimulate her to renewed
exertions. Had there been any one there to note the progress of
the two canoes, he would have seen that of Judith flying swiftly
away from its pursuers, as the girl gave it freshly impelled speed,
while her mind was thus dwelling on her own ardent and generous
schemes. So material, indeed, was the difference in the rate of
going between the two canoes for the next five minutes, that the
Hurons began to be convinced all their powers must be exerted or
they would suffer the disgrace of being baffled by women. Making
a furious effort under the mortification of such a conviction, one
of the strongest of their party broke his paddle at the very moment
when he had taken it from the hand of a comrade to relieve him.
This at once decided the matter, a canoe containing three men and
having but one paddle being utterly unable to overtake fugitives
like the daughters of Thomas Hutter.

"There, Judith!" exclaimed Hetty, who saw the accident, "I hope
now you will own, that praying is useful! The Hurons have broke
a paddle, and they never can overtake us."

"I never denied it, poor Hetty, and sometimes wish in bitterness of
spirit that I had prayed more myself, and thought less of my beauty!
As you say, we are now safe and need only go a little south and
take breath."

This was done; the enemy giving up the pursuit, as suddenly as
a ship that has lost an important spar, the instant the accident
occurred. Instead of following Judith's canoe, which was now lightly
skimming over the water towards the south, the Hurons turned their
bows towards the castle, where they soon arrived and landed. The
girls, fearful that some spare paddles might be found in or about
the buildings, continued on, nor did they stop until so distant
from their enemies as to give them every chance of escape, should
the chase be renewed. It would seem that the savages meditated
no such design, but at the end of an hour their canoe, filled with
men, was seen quitting the castle and steering towards the shore.
The girls were without food, and they now drew nearer to the
buildings and the Ark, having finally made up their minds from its
manoeuvres that the latter contained friends.

Notwithstanding the seeming desertion of the castle, Judith
approached it with extreme caution. The Ark was now quite a mile
to the northward, but sweeping up towards the buildings, and this,
too, with a regularity of motion that satisfied Judith a white
man was at the oars. When within a hundred yards of the building
the girls began to encircle it, in order to make sure that it was
empty. No canoe was nigh, and this emboldened them to draw nearer
and nearer, until they had gone round the piles and reached the
platform.

"Do you go into the house, Hetty," said Judith, "and see that the
savages are gone. They will not harm you, and if any of them are
still here you can give me the alarm. I do not think they will
fire on a poor defenceless girl, and I at least may escape, until
I shall be ready to go among them of my own accord."

Hetty did as desired, Judith retiring a few yards from the platform
the instant her sister landed, in readiness for flight. But the
last was unnecessary, not a minute elapsing before Hetty returned
to communicate that all was safe.

"I've been in all the rooms, Judith," said the latter earnestly,
"and they are empty, except father's; he is in his own chamber,
sleeping, though not as quietly as we could wish."

"Has any thing happened to father?" demanded Judith, as her foot
touched the platform; speaking quickly, for her nerves were in a
state to be easily alarmed.

Hetty seemed concerned, and she looked furtively about her as if
unwilling any one but a child should hear what she had to communicate,
and even that she should learn it abruptly.

"You know how it is with father sometimes, Judith," she said, "When
overtaken with liquor he doesn't always know what he says or does,
and he seems to be overtaken with liquor now."

"That is strange! Would the savages have drunk with him, and then
leave him behind? But 'tis a grievous sight to a child, Hetty,
to witness such a failing in a parent, and we will not go near him
'til he wakes."

A groan from the inner room, however, changed this resolution,
and the girls ventured near a parent whom it was no unusual thing
for them to find in a condition that lowers a man to the level of
brutes. He was seated, reclining in a corner of the narrow room
with his shoulders supported by the angle, and his head fallen
heavily on his chest. Judith moved forward with a sudden impulse,
and removed a canvass cap that was forced so low on his head as to
conceal his face, and indeed all but his shoulders. The instant
this obstacle was taken away, the quivering and raw flesh, the bared
veins and muscles, and all the other disgusting signs of mortality,
as they are revealed by tearing away the skin, showed he had been
scalped, though still living.