n, was
obliged to comply, for Magua instantly left the spot, and approached his
gluttonous comrades. Heyward flew to the side of the agitated female,
and demanded the result of a dialogue that he had watched at a distance
with so much interest. But, unwilling to alarm the fears of Alice, she
evaded a direct reply, betraying only by her anxious looks fastened on
the slightest movements of her captors. To the reiterated and earnest
questions of her sister concerning their probable destination, she
made no other answer than by pointing toward the dark group, with an
agitation she could not control, and murmuring as she folded Alice to
her bosom.

"There, there; read our fortunes in their faces; we shall see; we shall
see!"

The action, and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke more impressively
than any words, and quickly drew the attention of her companions on that
spot where her own was riveted with an intenseness that nothing but the
importance of the stake could create.

When Magua reached the cluster of lolling savages, who, gorged with
their disgusting meal, lay stretched on the earth in brutal indulgence,
he commenced speaking with the dignity of an Indian chief. The first
syllables he uttered had the effect to cause his listeners to raise
themselves in attitudes of respectful attention. As the Huron used
his native language, the prisoners, notwithstanding the caution of the
natives had kept them within the swing of their tomahawks, could only
conjecture the substance of his harangue from the nature of those
significant gestures with which an Indian always illustrates his
eloquence.

At first, the language, as well as the action of Magua, appeared calm
and deliberative. When he had succeeded in sufficiently awakening
the attention of his comrades, Heyward fancied, by his pointing so
frequently toward the direction of the great lakes, that he spoke of the
land of their fathers, and of their distant tribe. Frequent indications
of applause escaped the listeners, who, as they uttered the expressive
"Hugh!" looked at each other in commendation of the speaker. Le Renard
was too skillful to neglect his advantage. He now spoke of the long and
painful route by which they had left those spacious grounds and happy
villages, to come and battle against the enemies of their Canadian
fathers. He enumerated the warriors of the party; their several merits;
their frequent services to the nation; their wounds, and the number of
th