ssing. Where are the fingers? Two have
been cut off by this pale-face; my Hurons wish to see if he did this by
means of a stout heart, or by treachery. Like a skulking fox, or like a
leaping panther."

"You know yourself, Huron, how one of them fell. I saw it, and you all
saw it, too. 'Twas too bloody to look at; but it was not Deerslayer's
fault. Your warrior sought his life, and he defended himself. I don't
know whether this good book says that it was right, but all men will
do that. Come, if you want to know which of you can shoot best, give
Deerslayer a rifle, and then you will find how much more expert he is
than any of your warriors; yes, than all of them together!"

Could one have looked upon such a scene with indifference, he would
have been amused at the gravity with which the savages listened to the
translation of this unusual request. No taunt, no smile mingled with
their surprise, for Hetty had a character and a manner too saintly to
subject her infirmity to the mockings of the rude and ferocious. On the
contrary, she was answered with respectful attention.

"My daughter does not always talk like a chief at a Council Fire,"
returned Rivenoak, "or she would not have said this. Two of my warriors
have fallen by the blows of our prisoner; their grave is too small to
hold a third. The Hurons do not like to crowd their dead. If there is
another spirit about to set out for the far off world, it must not
be the spirit of a Huron; it must be the spirit of a pale-face. Go,
daughter, and sit by Sumach, who is in grief; let the Huron warriors
show how well they can shoot; let the pale-face show how little he cares
for their bullets."

Hetty's mind was unequal to a sustained discussion, and accustomed to
defer to the directions of her seniors she did as told, seating herself
passively on a log by the side of the Sumach, and averting her face from
the painful scene that was occurring within the circle.

The warriors, as soon as this interruption had ceased, resumed their
places, and again prepared to exhibit their skill. As there was a double
object in view, that of putting the constancy of the captive to the
proof, and that of showing how steady were the hands of the marksmen
under circumstances of excitement, the distance was small, and, in one
sense, safe. But in diminishing the distance taken by the tormentors,
the trial to the nerves of the captive was essentially increased. The
face of Deerslayer, indeed, was