e waiting, and Chingachgook must hasten."

The Indian then joined his two co-adventurers, and first lowering the
sail, they all three entered the canoe, and left the side of the ark.
Neither Hutter nor March spoke to Deerslayer concerning their object, or
the probable length of their absence. All this had been confided to
the Indian, who had acquitted himself of the trust with characteristic
brevity. As soon as the canoe was out of sight, and that occurred
ere the paddles had given a dozen strokes, Deerslayer made the best
dispositions he could to keep the ark as nearly stationary as possible;
and then he sat down in the end of the scow, to chew the cud of his own
bitter reflections. It was not long, however, before he was joined by
Judith, who sought every occasion to be near him, managing her attack on
his affections with the address that was suggested by native coquetry,
aided by no little practice, but which received much of its most
dangerous power from the touch of feeling that threw around her manner,
voice, accents, thoughts, and acts, the indescribable witchery of
natural tenderness. Leaving the young hunter exposed to these dangerous
assailants, it has become our more immediate business to follow the
party in the canoe to the shore.

The controlling influence that led Hutter and Hurry to repeat their
experiment against the camp was precisely that which had induced the
first attempt, a little heightened, perhaps, by the desire of revenge.
But neither of these two rude beings, so ruthless in all things that
touched the rights and interests of the red man, thought possessing
veins of human feeling on other matters, was much actuated by any other
desire than a heartless longing for profit. Hurry had felt angered at
his sufferings, when first liberated, it is true, but that emotion
soon disappeared in the habitual love of gold, which he sought with the
reckless avidity of a needy spendthrift, rather than with the ceaseless
longings of a miser. In short, the motive that urged them both so soon
to go against the Hurons, was an habitual contempt of their enemy,
acting on the unceasing cupidity of prodigality. The additional chances
of success, however, had their place in the formation of the second
enterprise. It was known that a large portion of the warriors-perhaps
all--were encamped for the night abreast of the castle, and it was hoped
that the scalps of helpless victims would be the consequence. To confess
the tr