James Fenimore Cooper The Deerslayer Or The First Warpath, Volume 2

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Hurons again, not a man of whom saw the manner in which one, whom they knew to
be effectually tethered, had disappeared. But Hist s feelings were strongly
interested in the success of so bold a scheme, and she watched the movements
of Hurry as the cat watches the mouse. The moment he was in motion she foresaw
the consequences, and this the more readily, as the scow was now beginning to
move with some steadiness, and she bethought her of the means of saving him.
With a sort of instinctive readiness, she opened the door at the very moment
the rifles were ringing in her ears, and, protected by the intervening cabin,
she stepped into the stern of the scow in time to witness the fall of Hurry
into the lake. Her foot was unconsciously placed on the end of one of the
sheets of the sail, which was fastened aft, and catching up all the spare
rope, with the awkwardness, but also with the generous resolution, of a woman,
she threw it in the direction of the helpless Hurry. The line fell on the head
and body of the sinking man, and he not only succeeded in grasping separate
parts of it with his hands, but he actually got a portion of it between his
teeth. Hurry was an expert swimmer, and, tethered as he was, he resorted to
the very expedient that philosophy and reflection would have suggested. He had
fallen on his back, and instead of floundering and drowning himself by
desperate efforts to walk on the water, he permitted his body to sink as low
as possible, and was already submerged, with the exception of his face, when
the line reached him. In this situation he might possibly have remained until
rescued by the Hurons, using his hands as fishes use their fins, had he
received no other succour; but the movement of the ark soon tightened the
rope, and of course he was dragged gently ahead, holding even pace with the
scow. The motion aided in keeping his face above the surface of the water, and
it would have been possible for one accustomed to endurance to have been towed
a mile in this singular but simple manner.
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It has been said that the Hurons did not observe the sudden disappearance of
Hurry. In his present situation, he was not only hid from view by the
platform, but, as the ark drew slowly ahead, impelled by a sail that was now
filled, he received the same friendly service from the piles. The Hurons,
indeed, were too intent on endeavouring to slay their Delaware foe, by sending
a bullet through some one of the loops or crevices of the cabin, to bethink
them at all, of one whom they fancied so thoroughly tied. Their great concern
was, the manner in which the ark rubbed past the piles, although its motion
was lessened at least one-half by the friction, and they passed into the
northern end of the castle, in order to catch opportunities of firing through
the loops of that part of the building. Chingachgook was similarly occupied,
and remained as ignorant as his enemies, of the situation of Hurry. As the ark
grated along, the rifles sent their little clouds of smoke from one cover to
the other, but the eyes and movements of the opposing parties were too quick
to permit any injury to be done. At length one side had the mortification, and
the other the pleasure, of seeing the scow swing clear of the piles
altogether, when it immediately moved away, with a materially accelerated
motion, towards the north.
Chingachgook now first learned from Hist, the critical condition of Hurry. To
have exposed either of their persons in the stern of the scow, would have been
certain death; but, fortunately, the sheet to which the man clung, led forward
to the foot of the sail. The Delaware found means to unloosen it from the
cleet aft; and Hist, who was already forward for that purpose, immediately
began to pull upon the line. At this moment Hurry was towing fifty or sixty
feet astern, with nothing but his face above water. As he was dragged out
clear of the castle and the piles, he was first perceived by the Hurons, who
raised a hideous yell, and commenced a fire on, what may very well be termed,
the floating mass. It was at the same instant, that Hist began to pull upon
the line forward--a circumstance that probably saved Hurry s life, aided by
his own self-possession and border readiness. The first bullet struck the
water directly on the spot where the broad chest of the young giant was
visible through the pure element, and might have pierced his heart, had the
angle at which it was fired been less acute. Instead of penetrating the lake,
however, it glanced from its smooth surface, rose, and actually buried itself
in the logs of the cabin, near the spot at which Chingachgook had shown
himself the minute before, while clearing the line from the cleet. A second,
and a third, and a fourth bullet followed, all meeting with the same
resistance from the surface of the water; though Hurry sensibly felt the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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