f the scout; "I like it much. Let it
be instantly attempted."

After a short conference, the plan was matured, and rendered more
intelligible to the several parties; the different signals were
appointed, and the chiefs separated, each to his allotted station.

CHAPTER 32

"But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,
Till the great king, without a ransom paid,
To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid."
--Pope.

During the time Uncas was making this disposition of his forces, the
woods were as still, and, with the exception of those who had met in
council, apparently as much untenanted as when they came fresh from
the hands of their Almighty Creator. The eye could range, in every
direction, through the long and shadowed vistas of the trees; but
nowhere was any object to be seen that did not properly belong to the
peaceful and slumbering scenery.

Here and there a bird was heard fluttering among the branches of the
beeches, and occasionally a squirrel dropped a nut, drawing the startled
looks of the party for a moment to the place; but the instant the casual
interruption ceased, the passing air was heard murmuring above their
heads, along that verdant and undulating surface of forest, which spread
itself unbroken, unless by stream or lake, over such a vast region of
country. Across the tract of wilderness which lay between the Delawares
and the village of their enemies, it seemed as if the foot of man had
never trodden, so breathing and deep was the silence in which it lay.
But Hawkeye, whose duty led him foremost in the adventure, knew the
character of those with whom he was about to contend too well to trust
the treacherous quiet.

When he saw his little band collected, the scout threw "killdeer" into
the hollow of his arm, and making a silent signal that he would be
followed, he led them many rods toward the rear, into the bed of a
little brook which they had crossed in advancing. Here he halted, and
after waiting for the whole of his grave and attentive warriors to close
about him, he spoke in Delaware, demanding:

"Do any of my young men know whither this run will lead us?"

A Delaware stretched forth a hand, with the two fingers separated,
and indicating the manner in which they were joined at the root, he
answered:

"Before the sun could go his own length, the little water will be in
the big." Then he added, pointing in the direction of the place he
mentioned, "the