llections
of colonial history, and which are in appropriate keeping with the
gloomy character of the surrounding scenery.[19] The roof of bark had
long since fallen, and mingled with the soil; but the huge logs of pine,
which had been hastily thrown together, still preserved their relative
positions, though one angle of the work had given way under the
pressure, and threatened a speedy downfall to the remainder of the
rustic edifice. While Heyward and his companions hesitated to approach a
building so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians entered within the low
walls, not only without fear, but with obvious interest. While the
former surveyed the ruins, both internally and externally, with the
curiosity of one whose recollections were reviving at each moment,
Chingachgook related to his son, in the language of the Delawares, and
with the pride of a conqueror, the brief history of the skirmish which
had been fought, in his youth, in that secluded spot. A strain of
melancholy, however, blended with his triumph, rendering his voice, as
usual, soft and musical.

In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted, and prepared to enjoy
their halt in the coolness of the evening, and in a security which they
believed nothing but the beasts of the forest could invade.

"Would not our resting-place have been more retired, my worthy friend,"
demanded the more vigilant Duncan, perceiving that the scout had already
finished his short survey, "had we chosen a spot less known, and one
more rarely visited than this?"

"Few live who know the block-house was ever raised," was the slow and
musing answer; "'tis not often that books are made, and narratives
written, of such a scrimmage as was here fou't atween the Mohicans and
the Mohawks, in a war of their own waging. I was then a younker, and
went out with the Delawares, because I know'd they were a scandalized
and wronged race. Forty days and forty nights did the imps crave our
blood around this pile of logs, which I designed and partly reared,
being, as you'll remember, no Indian myself, but a man without a cross.
The Delawares lent themselves to the work, and we made it good, ten to
twenty, until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we sallied out
upon the hounds, and not a man of them ever got back to tell the fate of
his party. Yes, yes; I was then young, and new to the sight of blood;
and not relishing the thought that creatures who had spirits like myself
should lay on the naked grou