by some waggish
officer, stood in the open lake, at a distance of fully a quarter of a
mile from the nearest shore. On every other side the water extended much
farther, the precise position being distant about two miles from the
northern end of the sheet, and near, if not quite, a mile from its
eastern shore. As there was not the smallest appearance of any island,
but the house stood on piles, with the water flowing beneath it, and
Deerslayer had already discovered that the lake was of a great depth,
he was fain to ask an explanation of this singular circumstance. Hurry
solved the difficulty by telling him that on this spot alone, a long,
narrow shoal, which extended for a few hundred yards in a north and
south direction, rose within six or eight feet of the surface of
the lake, and that Hutter had driven piles into it, and placed his
habitation on them, for the purpose of security.

"The old fellow was burnt out three times, atween the Indians and the
hunters; and in one affray with the red-skins he lost his only son,
since which time he has taken to the water for safety. No one can attack
him here, without coming in a boat, and the plunder and scalps would
scarce be worth the trouble of digging out canoes. Then it's by no
means sartain which would whip in such a scrimmage, for old Tom is well
supplied with arms and ammunition, and the castle, as you may see, is a
tight breastwork ag'in light shot."

Deerslayer had some theoretical knowledge of frontier warfare, though
he had never yet been called on to raise his hand in anger against a
fellow-creature. He saw that Hurry did not overrate the strength of
this position in a military point of view, since it would not be easy to
attack it without exposing the assailants to the fire of the besieged.
A good deal of art had also been manifested in the disposition of
the timber of which the building was constructed and which afforded a
protection much greater than was usual to the ordinary log-cabins of the
frontier. The sides and ends were composed of the trunks of large pines,
cut about nine feet long, and placed upright, instead of being laid
horizontally, as was the practice of the country. These logs were
squared on three sides, and had large tenons on each end. Massive sills
were secured on the heads of the piles, with suitable grooves dug out
of their upper surfaces, which had been squared for the purpose, and the
lower tenons of the upright pieces were placed in thes