that he was
not a successful fugitive, and a few sententious words sufficed to
let them comprehend the nature of what their friend had termed his
'furlough.' Chingachgook immediately became thoughtful, while Hist,
as usual, had no better mode of expressing her sympathy than by those
little attentions which mark the affectionate manner of woman.

In a few minutes, however, something like a general plan for the
proceedings of the night was adopted, and to the eye of an uninstructed
observer things would be thought to move in their ordinary train. It was
now getting to be dark, and it was decided to sweep the Ark up to the
castle, and secure it in its ordinary berth. This decision was come to,
in some measure on account of the fact that all the canoes were again
in the possession of their proper owners, but principally, from the
security that was created by the representations of Deerslayer. He had
examined the state of things among the Hurons, and felt satisfied that
they meditated no further hostilities during the night, the loss they
had met having indisposed them to further exertions for the moment.
Then, he had a proposition to make; the object of his visit; and, if
this were accepted, the war would at once terminate between the parties;
and it was improbable that the Hurons would anticipate the failure of a
project on which their chiefs had apparently set their hearts, by having
recourse to violence previously to the return of their messenger. As
soon as the Ark was properly secured, the different members of the party
occupied themselves in their several peculiar manners, haste in council,
or in decision, no more characterizing the proceedings of these border
whites, than it did those of their red neighbors. The women busied
themselves in preparations for the evening meal, sad and silent, but
ever attentive to the first wants of nature. Hurry set about repairing
his moccasins, by the light of a blazing knot; Chingachgook seated
himself in gloomy thought, while Deerslayer proceeded, in a manner
equally free from affectation and concern, to examine 'Killdeer', the
rifle of Hutter that has been already mentioned, and which subsequently
became so celebrated, in the hands of the individual who was now making
a survey of its merits. The piece was a little longer than usual, and
had evidently been turned out from the work shops of some manufacturer
of a superior order. It had a few silver ornaments, though, on the
whole, it