
an interest in both, that, at such a moment of intense uncertainty, scarcely
knew a preponderance in favour of her whom he most loved. Hawk-eye had placed
himself a little in the rear, with a deference to the superior rank of his
companions, that no similarity in the state of their present fortunes could
induce him to forget. Uncas was not there.
    When perfect silence was again restored, and after the usual, long,
impressive pause, one of the two aged chiefs, who sate at the side of the
patriarch, arose, and demanded aloud, in very intelligible English -
    »Which of my prisoners is la Longue Carabine?«
    Neither Duncan nor the scout answered. The former, however, glanced his eyes
around the dark and silent assembly, and recoiled a pace, when they fell on the
malignant visage of Magua. He saw, at once, that this wily savage had some
secret agency in their present arraignment before the nation, and determined to
throw every possible impediment in the way of the execution of his sinister
plans. He had witnessed one instance of the summary punishments of the Indians,
and now dreaded that his companion was to be selected for a second. In this
dilemma, with little or no time for reflection, he suddenly determined to cloak
his invaluable friend, at any or every hazard to himself. Before he had time,
however, to speak, the question was repeated in a louder voice, and with a
clearer utterance.
    »Give us arms,« the young man haughtily replied, »and place us in yonder
woods. Our deeds shall speak for us!«
    »This is the warrior whose name has filled our ears!« returned the chief,
regarding Heyward with that sort of curious interest, which seems inseparable
from man, when first beholding one of his fellows, to whom merit or accident,
virtue or crime, has given notoriety. »What has brought the white man into the
camp of the Delawares?«
    »My necessities. I come for food, shelter, and friends.«
    »It cannot be. The woods are full of game. The head of a warrior needs no
other shelter than a sky without clouds, and the Delawares are the enemies, and
not the friends, of the Yengeese. Go - the mouth has spoken, while the heart
said nothing.«
    Duncan, a little at a loss in what manner to proceed, remained silent; but
the scout, who had listened attentively to all that passed, now advanced
steadily to the front.
    »That I did not answer to the call for
