ape, the attempt would not have been delayed a minute. But the case
seem'd desperate. He was aware of the line of sentinels, and felt
the difficulty of breaking through it, unharmed. The lake offered
no advantages, as the canoe would have given his foes the greatest
facilities for overtaking him; else would he have found it no difficult
task to swim as far as the castle. As he walked about the point, he even
examined the spot to ascertain if it offered no place of concealment,
but its openness, its size, and the hundred watchful glances that were
turned towards him, even while those who made them affected not to
see him, prevented any such expedient from succeeding. The dread and
disgrace of failure had no influence on Deerslayer, who deemed it even
a point of honor to reason and feel like a white man, rather than as an
Indian, and who felt it a sort of duty to do all he could that did not
involve a dereliction from principle, in order to save his life. Still
he hesitated about making the effort, for he also felt that he ought to
see the chance of success before he committed himself.

In the mean time the business of the camp appeared to proceed in its
regular train. The chiefs consulted apart, admitting no one but the
Sumach to their councils, for she, the widow of the fallen warrior,
had an exclusive right to be heard on such an occasion. The young men
strolled about in indolent listlessness, awaiting the result with Indian
patience, while the females prepared the feast that was to celebrate the
termination of the affair, whether it proved fortunate or otherwise for
our hero. No one betrayed feeling, and an indifferent observer, beyond
the extreme watchfulness of the sentinels, would have detected no
extraordinary movement or sensation to denote the real state of things.
Two or three old women put their heads together, and it appeared
unfavorably to the prospects of Deerslayer, by their scowling looks, and
angry gestures; but a group of Indian girls were evidently animated by a
different impulse, as was apparent by stolen glances that expressed pity
and regret. In this condition of the camp, an hour soon glided away.

Suspense is perhaps the feeling of all others that is most difficult to
be supported. When Deerslayer landed, he fully expected in the course of
a few minutes to undergo the tortures of an Indian revenge, and he
was prepared to meet his fate manfully; but, the delay proved far more
trying than the nearer