fore the traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of the
young warrior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights and
tedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a desire
for vengeance. Neither were the secondary actors in these momentous
incidents forgotten. Through the medium of the scout, who served for
years afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, they
learned, in answer to their inquiries, that the "Gray Head" was speedily
gathered to his fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by his
military misfortunes; and that the "Open Hand" had conveyed his
surviving daughter far into the settlements of the "pale-faces," where
her tears had at last ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by the
bright smiles which were better suited to her joyous nature.

But these were events of a time later than that which concerns our tale.
Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye returned to the spot where his own
sympathies led him, with a force that no ideal bond of union could
bestow. He was just in time to catch a parting look of the features of
Uncas, whom the Delawares were already inclosing in his last vestments
of skins. They paused to permit the longing and lingering gaze of the
sturdy woodsman, and when it was ended, the body was enveloped, never to
be unclosed again. Then came a procession like the other, and the whole
nation was collected about the temporary grave of the chief--temporary,
because it was proper that, at some future day, his bones should rest
among those of his own people.

The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and general. The
same grave expression of grief, the same rigid silence, and the same
deference to the principal mourner, were observed around the place of
interment as have been already described. The body was deposited in an
attitude of repose, facing the rising sun, with the implements of war
and of the chase at hand, in readiness for the final journey. An opening
was left in the shell, by which it was protected from the soil, for the
spirit to communicate with its earthly tenement, when necessary; and the
whole was concealed from the instinct, and protected from the ravages of
the beasts of prey, with an ingenuity peculiar to the natives. The
manual rites then ceased, and all present reverted to the more spiritual
part of the ceremonies.

Chingachgook became once more the object of the common attention. He
had not yet spoken, and someth