this
tale, we shall continue to call the young hunter by the name under which he has
been first introduced to the reader. Nor was the Iroquois less struck with the
vaunt of the white man. He knew of the death of his comrade, and had no
difficulty in understanding the allusion, the intercourse between the conqueror
and his victim on that occasion, having been seen by several savages on the
shore of the lake, who had been stationed at different points just within the
margin of bushes to watch the drifting canoes, and who had not time to reach the
scene of action, ere the victor had retired. The effect on this rude being of
the forest, was an exclamation of surprise; then such a smile of courtesy, and
wave of the hand, succeeded, as would have done credit to Asiatic diplomacy. The
two Iroquois spoke to each other, in low tones, and both drew near the end of
the raft that was closest to the platform.
    »My brother, Hawkeye, has sent a message to the Hurons,« resumed Rivenoak,
»and it has made their hearts very glad. They hear he has images of beasts with
two tails! Will he show them to his friends.«
    »Inimies would be truer,« returned Deerslayer, »but sound is n't sense, and
does little harm. Here is one of the images; I toss it to you under faith of
treaties. If it's not returned, the rifle will settle the p'int atween us.«
    The Iroquois seemed to acquiesce in the conditions, and Deerslayer arose and
prepared to toss one of the elephants to the raft, both parties using all the
precaution that was necessary to prevent its loss. As practice renders men
expert in such things, the little piece of ivory was soon successfully
transferred from one hand to the other, and then followed another scene on the
raft, in which astonishment and delight got the mastery of Indian stoicism.
These two grim old warriors manifested even more feeling, as they examined the
curiously wrought chess-man, than had been betrayed by the boy; for, in the case
of the latter, recent schooling had interposed its influence; while the men,
like all who are sustained by well established characters, were not ashamed to
let some of their emotions be discovered. For a few minutes they apparently lost
the consciousness of their situation, in the intense scrutiny they bestowed on a
material so fine, work so highly wrought, and an animal so extraordinary. The
lip of the moose is, perhaps, the nearest approach to the trunk