y call to us
for aid, though our ears are not open; they say, 'Forget us not.' When
they see the spirit of this Mohican toiling after them with his burden,
they will know we are of that mind. Then will they go on happy; and our
children will say, 'So did our fathers to their friends, so must we do
to them.' What is a Yengee? we have slain many, but the earth is still
pale. A stain on the name of Huron can only be hid by blood that comes
from the veins of an Indian. Let this Delaware die."

The effect of such an harangue, delivered in the nervous language and
with the emphatic manner of a Huron orator, could scarcely be mistaken.
Magua had so artfully blended the natural sympathies with the religious
superstition of his auditors, that their minds, already prepared by
custom to sacrifice a victim to the manes of their countrymen, lost
every vestige of humanity in a wish for revenge. One warrior in
particular, a man of wild and ferocious mien, had been conspicuous for
the attention he had given to the words of the speaker. His countenance
had changed with each passing emotion, until it settled into a look
of deadly malice. As Magua ended he arose and, uttering the yell of a
demon, his polished little axe was seen glancing in the torchlight as
he whirled it above his head. The motion and the cry were too sudden
for words to interrupt his bloody intention. It appeared as if a bright
gleam shot from his hand, which was crossed at the same moment by a
dark and powerful line. The former was the tomahawk in its passage; the
latter the arm that Magua darted forward to divert its aim. The quick
and ready motion of the chief was not entirely too late. The keen weapon
cut the war plume from the scalping tuft of Uncas, and passed through
the frail wall of the lodge as though it were hurled from some
formidable engine.

Duncan had seen the threatening action, and sprang upon his feet, with
a heart which, while it leaped into his throat, swelled with the most
generous resolution in behalf of his friend. A glance told him that the
blow had failed, and terror changed to admiration. Uncas stood still,
looking his enemy in the eye with features that seemed superior to
emotion. Marble could not be colder, calmer, or steadier than the
countenance he put upon this sudden and vindictive attack. Then, as if
pitying a want of skill which had proved so fortunate to himself, he
smiled, and muttered a few words of contempt in his own tongue.

"N