norance of the localities
of the surrounding woods. More than once he halted to consult with his
confederates, the Mohicans, pointing upward at the moon, and examining
the barks of the trees with care. In these brief pauses, Heyward and the
sisters listened, with senses rendered doubly acute by the danger, to
detect any symptoms which might announce the proximity of their foes.
At such moments, it seemed as if a vast range of country lay buried in
eternal sleep; not the least sound arising from the forest, unless it
was the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a water-course. Birds,
beasts, and man, appeared to slumber alike, if, indeed, any of the
latter were to be found in that wide tract of wilderness. But the sounds
of the rivulet, feeble and murmuring as they were, relieved the guides
at once from no trifling embarrassment, and toward it they immediately
held their way.

When the banks of the little stream were gained, Hawkeye made another
halt; and taking the moccasins from his feet, he invited Heyward and
Gamut to follow his example. He then entered the water, and for near an
hour they traveled in the bed of the brook, leaving no trail. The
moon had already sunk into an immense pile of black clouds, which lay
impending above the western horizon, when they issued from the low and
devious water-course to rise again to the light and level of the sandy
but wooded plain. Here the scout seemed to be once more at home, for he
held on this way with the certainty and diligence of a man who moved in
the security of his own knowledge. The path soon became more uneven, and
the travelers could plainly perceive that the mountains drew nigher to
them on each hand, and that they were, in truth, about entering one of
their gorges. Suddenly, Hawkeye made a pause, and, waiting until he
was joined by the whole party, he spoke, though in tones so low and
cautious, that they added to the solemnity of his words, in the quiet
and darkness of the place.

"It is easy to know the pathways, and to find the licks and
water-courses of the wilderness," he said; "but who that saw this spot
could venture to say, that a mighty army was at rest among yonder silent
trees and barren mountains?"

"We are, then, at no great distance from William Henry?" said Heyward,
advancing nigher to the scout.

"It is yet a long and weary path, and when and where to strike it is
now our greatest difficulty. See," he said, pointing through the trees
toward