wood, at the
place where Uncas was posted; a bottom which, in a manner, lay beneath
the ground on which Hawkeye and his party were contending.

The effects of this attack were instantaneous, and to the scout and his
friends greatly relieving. It would seem that, while his own surprise
had been anticipated, and had consequently failed, the enemy, in their
turn, having been deceived in its object and in his numbers, had left
too small a force to resist the impetuous onset of the young Mohican.
This fact was doubly apparent, by the rapid manner in which the battle
in the forest rolled upwards towards the village, and by an instant
falling off in the number of their assailants, who rushed to assist in
maintaining the front, and, as it now proved to be, the principal point
of defence.

Animating his followers by his voice, and his own example, Hawkeye then
gave the word to bear down upon their foes. The charge, in that rude
species of warfare, consisted merely in pushing from cover to cover,
nigher to the enemy; and in this manoeuvre he was instantly and
successfully obeyed. The Hurons were compelled to withdraw, and the
scene of the contest rapidly changed from the more open ground on which
it had commenced, to a spot where the assailed found a thicket to rest
upon. Here the struggle was protracted, arduous, and seemingly of
doubtful issue; the Delawares, though none of them fell, beginning to
bleed freely, in consequence of the disadvantage at which they were
held.

In this crisis, Hawkeye found means to get behind the same tree as that
which served for a cover to Heyward; most of his own combatants being
within call, a little on his right, where they maintained rapid, though
fruitless, discharges on their sheltered enemies.

"You are a young man, major," said the scout, dropping the butt of
"Killdeer" to the earth, and leaning on the barrel, a little fatigued
with his previous industry; "and it may be your gift to lead armies at
some future day ag'in these imps the Mingos, You may here see the
philosophy of an Indian fight. It consists mainly in a ready hand, a
quick eye, and a good cover. Now, if you had a company of the Royal
Americans here, in what manner would you set them to work in this
business?"

"The bayonet would make a road."

"Ay, there is white reason in what you say; but a man must ask himself,
in this wilderness, how many lives he can spare. No--horse,"[29]
continued the scout, shaking his head, li