The Last of the Mohicans

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"You are not well, dearest Miss Munro!" he exclaimed; "we have trifled
while you are in suffering!"

"'Tis nothing," she answered, refusing his support with feminine
reserve. "That I cannot see the sunny side of the picture of life, like
this artless but ardent enthusiast," she added, laying her hand lightly,
but affectionately, on the arm of her sister, "is the penalty of
experience, and, perhaps, the misfortune of my nature. See," she
continued, as if determined to shake off infirmity, in a sense of duty;
"look around you, Major Heyward, and tell me what a prospect is this for
the daughter of a soldier whose greatest happiness is his honor and his
military renown."

"Neither ought nor shall be tarnished by circumstances over which he has
had no control," Duncan warmly replied. "But your words recall me to my
own duty. I go now to your gallant father, to hear his determination
in matters of the last moment to the defense. God bless you in every
fortune, noble--Cora--I may and must call you." She frankly gave him her
hand, though her lip quivered, and her cheeks gradually became of ashly
paleness. "In every fortune, I know you will be an ornament and honor
to your sex. Alice, adieu"--his voice changed from admiration to
tenderness--"adieu, Alice; we shall soon meet again; as conquerors, I
trust, and amid rejoicings!"

Without waiting for an answer from either, the young man threw himself
down the grassy steps of the bastion, and moving rapidly across the
parade, he was quickly in the presence of their father. Munro was pacing
his narrow apartment with a disturbed air and gigantic strides as Duncan
entered.

"You have anticipated my wishes, Major Heyward," he said; "I was about
to request this favor."

"I am sorry to see, sir, that the messenger I so warmly recommended has
returned in custody of the French! I hope there is no reason to distrust
his fidelity?"

"The fidelity of 'The Long Rifle' is well known to me," returned Munro,
"and is above suspicion; though his usual good fortune seems, at last,
to have failed. Montcalm has got him, and with the accursed politeness
of his nation, he has sent him in with a doleful tale, of 'knowing how
I valued the fellow, he could not think of retaining him.' A Jesuitical
way that, Major Duncan Heyward, of telling a man of his misfortunes!"

"But the general and his succor?"

"Did ye look to the south as ye entered, and could ye not see them?"
said the old soldier, laughing bitterly.

"Hoot! hoot! you're an impatient boy, sir, and cannot give the gentlemen
leisure for their march!"

"They are coming, then? The scout has said as much?"

"When? and by what path? for the dunce has omitted to tell me this.
There is a letter, it would seem, too; and that is the only agreeable
part of the matter. For the customary attentions of your Marquis of
Montcalm--I warrant me, Duncan, that he of Lothian would buy a dozen
such marquisates--but if the news of the letter were bad, the gentility
of this French monsieur would certainly compel him to let us know it."

"He keeps the letter, then, while he releases the messenger?"

"Ay, that does he, and all for the sake of what you call your
'bonhommie' I would venture, if the truth was known, the fellow's
grandfather taught the noble science of dancing."

"But what says the scout? he has eyes and ears, and a tongue. What
verbal report does he make?"

"Oh! sir, he is not wanting in natural organs, and he is free to tell
all that he has seen and heard. The whole amount is this; there is a
fort of his majesty's on the banks of the Hudson, called Edward, in
honor of his gracious highness of York, you'll know; and it is well
filled with armed men, as such a work should be."

"But was there no movement, no signs of any intention to advance to our
relief?"

"There were the morning and evening parades; and when one of the
provincial loons--you'll know, Duncan, you're half a Scotsman
yourself--when one of them dropped his powder over his porretch, if it
touched the coals, it just burned!" Then, suddenly changing his bitter,
ironical manner, to one more grave and thoughtful, he continued: "and
yet there might, and must be, something in that letter which it would be
well to know!"

"Our decision should be speedy," said Duncan, gladly availing himself
of this change of humor, to press the more important objects of their
interview; "I cannot conceal from you, sir, that the camp will not be
much longer tenable; and I am sorry to add, that things appear no better
in the fort; more than half the guns are bursted."

"And how should it be otherwise? Some were fished from the bottom of
the lake; some have been rusting in woods since the discovery of
the country; and some were never guns at all--mere privateersmen's
playthings! Do you think, sir, you can have Woolwich Warren in the midst
of a wilderness, three thousand miles from Great Britain?"

"The walls are crumbling about our ears, and provisions begin to fail
us," continued Heyward, without regarding the new burst of indignation;
"even the men show signs of discontent and alarm."

"Major Heyward," said Munro, turning to his youthful associate with
the dignity of his years and superior rank; "I should have served his
majesty for half a century, and earned these gray hairs in vain, were
I ignorant of all you say, and of the pressing nature of our
circumstances; still, there is everything due to the honor of the king's
arms, and something to ourselves. While there is hope of succor, this
fortress will I defend, though it be to be done with pebbles gathered
on the lake shore. It is a sight of the letter, therefore, that we want,
that we may know the intentions of the man the earl of Loudon has left
among us as his substitute."

"And can I be of service in the matter?"

"Sir, you can; the marquis of Montcalm has, in addition to his other
civilities, invited me to a personal interview between the works and his
own camp; in order, as he says, to impart some additional information.
Now, I think it would not be wise to show any undue solicitude to meet
him, and I would employ you, an officer of rank, as my substitute; for
it would but ill comport with the honor of Scotland to let it be said
one of her gentlemen was outdone in civility by a native of any other
country on earth."

Without assuming the supererogatory task of entering into a discussion
of the comparative merits of national courtesy, Duncan cheerfully
assented to supply the place of the veteran in the approaching
interview. A long and confidential communication now succeeded, during
which the young man received some additional insight into his duty,
from the experience and native acuteness of his commander, and then the
former took his leave.

As Duncan could only act as the representative of the commandant of the
fort, the ceremonies which should have accompanied a meeting between the
heads of the adverse forces were, of course, dispensed with. The truce
still existed, and with a roll and beat of the drum, and covered by a
little white flag, Duncan left the sally-port, within ten minutes after
his instructions were ended. He was received by the French officer in
advance with the usual formalities, and immediately accompanied to a
distant marquee of the renowned soldier who led the forces of France.

The general of the enemy received the youthful messenger, surrounded by
his principal officers, and by a swarthy band of the native chiefs,
who had followed him to the field, with the warriors of their several
tribes. Heyward paused short, when, in glancing his eyes rapidly over
the dark group of the latter, he beheld the malignant countenance of
Magua, regarding him with the calm but sullen attention which marked the
expression of that subtle savage. A slight exclamation of surprise even
burst from the lips of the young man, but instantly, recollecting
his errand, and the presence in which he stood, he suppressed every
appearance of emotion, and turned to the hostile leader, who had already
advanced a step to receive him.

The marquis of Montcalm was, at the period of which we write, in the
flower of his age, and, it may be added, in the zenith of his fortunes.
But even in that enviable situation, he was affable, and distinguished
as much for his attention to the forms of courtesy, as for that
chivalrous courage which, only two short years afterward, induced him
to throw away his life on the plains of Abraham. Duncan, in turning his
eyes from the malign expression of Magua, suffered them to rest with
pleasure on the smiling and polished features, and the noble military
air, of the French general.

"Monsieur," said the latter, "j'ai beaucoup de plaisir a--bah!--ou est
cet interprete?"

"Je crois, monsieur, qu'il ne sear pas necessaire," Heyward modestly
replied; "je parle un peu francais."

"Ah! j'en suis bien aise," said Montcalm, taking Duncan familiarly by
the arm, and leading him deep into the marquee, a little out of earshot;
"je deteste ces fripons-la; on ne sait jamais sur quel pie on est avec
eux. Eh, bien! monsieur," he continued still speaking in French; "though
I should have been proud of receiving your commandant, I am very happy
that he has seen proper to employ an officer so distinguished, and who,
I am sure, is so amiable, as yourself."

Duncan bowed low, pleased with the compliment, in spite of a most heroic
determination to suffer no artifice to allure him into forgetfulness of
the interest of his prince; and Montcalm, after a pause of a moment, as
if to collect his thoughts, proceeded:

"Your commandant is a brave man, and well qualified to repel my
assault. Mais, monsieur, is it not time to begin to take more counsel
of humanity, and less of your courage? The one as strongly characterizes
the hero as the other."

"We consider the qualities as inseparable," returned Duncan, smiling;
"but while we find in the vigor of your excellency every motive to
stimulate the one, we can, as yet, see no particular call for the
exercise of the other."

Montcalm, in his turn, slightly bowed, but it was with the air of a
man too practised to remember the language of flattery. After musing a
moment, he added:

"It is possible my glasses have deceived me, and that your works resist
our cannon better than I had supposed. You know our force?"

"Our accounts vary," said Duncan, carelessly; "the highest, however, has
not exceeded twenty thousand men."

The Frenchman bit his lip, and fastened his eyes keenly on the other as
if to read his thoughts; then, with a readiness peculiar to himself, he
continued, as if assenting to the truth of an enumeration which quite
doubled his army:

"It is a poor compliment to the vigilance of us soldiers, monsieur,
that, do what we will, we never can conceal our numbers. If it were
to be done at all, one would believe it might succeed in these woods.
Though you think it too soon to listen to the calls of humanity," he
added, smiling archly, "I may be permitted to believe that gallantry
is not forgotten by one so young as yourself. The daughters of the
commandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it was invested?"

"It is true, monsieur; but, so far from weakening our efforts, they
set us an example of courage in their own fortitude. Were nothing
but resolution necessary to repel so accomplished a soldier as M. de
Montcalm, I would gladly trust the defense of William Henry to the elder
of those ladies."

"We have a wise ordinance in our Salique laws, which says, 'The crown
of France shall never degrade the lance to the distaff'," said Montcalm,
dryly, and with a little hauteur; but instantly adding, with his former
frank and easy air: "as all the nobler qualities are hereditary, I can
easily credit you; though, as I said before, courage has its limits, and
humanity must not be forgotten. I trust, monsieur, you come authorized
to treat for the surrender of the place?"

"Has your excellency found our defense so feeble as to believe the
measure necessary?"

"I should be sorry to have the defense protracted in such a manner as to
irritate my red friends there," continued Montcalm, glancing his eyes
at the group of grave and attentive Indians, without attending to the
other's questions; "I find it difficult, even now, to limit them to the
usages of war."

Heyward was silent; for a painful recollection of the dangers he had so
recently escaped came over his mind, and recalled the images of those
defenseless beings who had shared in all his sufferings.

"Ces messieurs-la," said Montcalm, following up the advantage which he
conceived he had gained, "are most formidable when baffled; and it is
unnecessary to tell you with what difficulty they are restrained in
their anger. Eh bien, monsieur! shall we speak of the terms?"

"I fear your excellency has been deceived as to the strength of William
Henry, and the resources of its garrison!"

"I have not sat down before Quebec, but an earthen work, that is
defended by twenty-three hundred gallant men," was the laconic reply.

"Our mounds are earthen, certainly--nor are they seated on the rocks of
Cape Diamond; but they stand on that shore which proved so destructive
to Dieskau and his army. There is also a powerful force within a few
hours' march of us, which we account upon as a part of our means."

"Some six or eight thousand men," returned Montcalm, with much apparent
indifference, "whom their leader wisely judges to be safer in their
works than in the field."

It was now Heyward's turn to bite his lip with vexation as the other so
coolly alluded to a force which the young man knew to be overrated. Both
mused a little while in silence, when Montcalm renewed the conversation,
in a way that showed he believed the visit of his guest was solely to
propose terms of capitulation. On the other hand, Heyward began to
throw sundry inducements in the way of the French general, to betray the
discoveries he had made through the intercepted letter. The artifice
of neither, however, succeeded; and after a protracted and fruitless
interview, Duncan took his leave, favorably impressed with an opinion of
the courtesy and talents of the enemy's captain, but as ignorant of what
he came to learn as when he arrived. Montcalm followed him as far as the
entrance of the marquee, renewing his invitations to the commandant of
the fort to give him an immediate meeting in the open ground between the
two armies.

There they separated, and Duncan returned to the advanced post of the
French, accompanied as before; whence he instantly proceeded to the
fort, and to the quarters of his own commander.




CHAPTER 16

"EDG.--Before you fight the battle ope this letter."
--Lear

Major Heyward found Munro attended only by his daughters. Alice sat upon
his knee, parting the gray hairs on the forehead of the old man with
her delicate fingers; and whenever he affected to frown on her trifling,
appeasing his assumed anger by pressing her ruby lips fondly on his
wrinkled brow. Cora was seated nigh them, a calm and amused looker-on;
regarding the wayward movements of her more youthful sister with that
species of maternal fondness which characterized her love for Alice. Not
only the dangers through which they had passed, but those which still
impended above them, appeared to be momentarily forgotten, in the
soothing indulgence of such a family meeting. It seemed as if they had
profited by the short truce, to devote an instant to the purest and best
affection; the daughters forgetting their fears, and the veteran his
cares, in the security of the moment. Of this scene, Duncan, who, in
his eagerness to report his arrival, had entered unannounced, stood
many moments an unobserved and a delighted spectator. But the quick and
dancing eyes of Alice soon caught a glimpse of his figure reflected
from a glass, and she sprang blushing from her father's knee, exclaiming
aloud:

"Major Heyward!"

"What of the lad?" demanded her father; "I have sent him to crack a
little with the Frenchman. Ha, sir, you are young, and you're nimble!
Away with you, ye baggage; as if there were not troubles enough for a
soldier, without having his camp filled with such prattling hussies as
yourself!"

Alice laughingly followed her sister, who instantly led the way from an
apartment where she perceived their presence was no longer desirable.
Munro, instead of demanding the result of the young man's mission, paced
the room for a few moments, with his hands behind his back, and his
head inclined toward the floor, like a man lost in thought. At length he
raised his eyes, glistening with a father's fondness, and exclaimed:

"They are a pair of excellent girls, Heyward, and such as any one may
boast of."

"You are not now to learn my opinion of your daughters, Colonel Munro."

"True, lad, true," interrupted the impatient old man; "you were about
opening your mind more fully on that matter the day you got in, but I
did not think it becoming in an old soldier to be talking of nuptial
blessings and wedding jokes when the enemies of his king were likely
to be unbidden guests at the feast. But I was wrong, Duncan, boy, I was
wrong there; and I am now ready to hear what you have to say."

"Notwithstanding the pleasure your assurance gives me, dear sir, I have
just now, a message from Montcalm--"

"Let the Frenchman and all his host go to the devil, sir!" exclaimed the
hasty veteran. "He is not yet master of William Henry, nor shall he
ever be, provided Webb proves himself the man he should. No, sir, thank
Heaven we are not yet in such a strait that it can be said Munro is too
much pressed to discharge the little domestic duties of his own family.
Your mother was the only child of my bosom friend, Duncan; and I'll just
give you a hearing, though all the knights of St. Louis were in a body
at the sally-port, with the French saint at their head, crying to speak
a word under favor. A pretty degree of knighthood, sir, is that which
can be bought with sugar hogsheads! and then your twopenny marquisates.
The thistle is the order for dignity and antiquity; the veritable
'nemo me impune lacessit' of chivalry. Ye had ancestors in that degree,
Duncan, and they were an ornament to the nobles of Scotland."

Heyward, who perceived that his superior took a malicious pleasure in
exhibiting his contempt for the message of the French general, was
fain to humor a spleen that he knew would be short-lived; he therefore,
replied with as much indifference as he could assume on such a subject:

"My request, as you know, sir, went so far as to presume to the honor of
being your son."

"Ay, boy, you found words to make yourself very plainly comprehended.
But, let me ask ye, sir, have you been as intelligible to the girl?"

"On my honor, no," exclaimed Duncan, warmly; "there would have been an
abuse of a confided trust, had I taken advantage of my situation for
such a purpose."

"Your notions are those of a gentleman, Major Heyward, and well enough
in their place. But Cora Munro is a maiden too discreet, and of a mind
too elevated and improved, to need the guardianship even of a father."

"Cora!"

"Ay--Cora! we are talking of your pretensions to Miss Munro, are we not,
sir?"

"I--I--I was not conscious of having mentioned her name," said Duncan,
stammering.

"And to marry whom, then, did you wish my consent, Major Heyward?"
demanded the old soldier, erecting himself in the dignity of offended
feeling.

"You have another, and not less lovely child."

"Alice!" exclaimed the father, in an astonishment equal to that with
which Duncan had just repeated the name of her sister.

"Such was the direction of my wishes, sir."

The young man awaited in silence the result of the extraordinary
effect produced by a communication, which, as it now appeared, was so
unexpected. For several minutes Munro paced the chamber with long
and rapid strides, his rigid features working convulsively, and every
faculty seemingly absorbed in the musings of his own mind. At length, he
paused directly in front of Heyward, and riveting his eyes upon those of
the other, he said, with a lip that quivered violently:

"Duncan Heyward, I have loved you for the sake of him whose blood is
in your veins; I have loved you for your own good qualities; and I have
loved you, because I thought you would contribute to the happiness of my
child. But all this love would turn to hatred, were I assured that what
I so much apprehend is true."

"God forbid that any act or thought of mine should lead to such a
change!" exclaimed the young man, whose eye never quailed under the
penetrating look it encountered. Without adverting to the impossibility
of the other's comprehending those feelings which were hid in his
own bosom, Munro suffered himself to be appeased by the unaltered
countenance he met, and with a voice sensibly softened, he continued:

"You would be my son, Duncan, and you're ignorant of the history of the
man you wish to call your father. Sit ye down, young man, and I will
open to you the wounds of a seared heart, in as few words as may be
suitable."

By this time, the message of Montcalm was as much forgotten by him who
bore it as by the man for whose ears it was intended. Each drew a chair,
and while the veteran communed a few moments with his own thoughts,
apparently in sadness, the youth suppressed his impatience in a look and
attitude of respectful attention. At length, the former spoke:

"You'll know, already, Major Heyward, that my family was both ancient
and honorable," commenced the Scotsman; "though it might not altogether
be endowed with that amount of wealth that should correspond with its
degree. I was, maybe, such an one as yourself when I plighted my faith
to Alice Graham, the only child of a neighboring laird of some estate.
But the connection was disagreeable to her father, on more accounts than
my poverty. I did, therefore, what an honest man should--restored the
maiden her troth, and departed the country in the service of my king.
I had seen many regions, and had shed much blood in different lands,
before duty called me to the islands of the West Indies. There it was
my lot to form a connection with one who in time became my wife, and the
mother of Cora. She was the daughter of a gentleman of those isles, by
a lady whose misfortune it was, if you will," said the old man, proudly,
"to be descended, remotely, from that unfortunate class who are so
basely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxurious people. Ay,
sir, that is a curse, entailed on Scotland by her unnatural union with a
foreign and trading people. But could I find a man among them who would
dare to reflect on my child, he should feel the weight of a father's
anger! Ha! Major Heyward, you are yourself born at the south, where
these unfortunate beings are considered of a race inferior to your own."

"'Tis most unfortunately true, sir," said Duncan, unable any longer to
prevent his eyes from sinking to the floor in embarrassment.

"And you cast it on my child as a reproach! You scorn to mingle the
blood of the Heywards with one so degraded--lovely and virtuous though
she be?" fiercely demanded the jealous parent.

"Heaven protect me from a prejudice so unworthy of my reason!" returned
Duncan, at the same time conscious of such a feeling, and that as deeply
rooted as if it had been ingrafted in his nature. "The sweetness, the
beauty, the witchery of your younger daughter, Colonel Munro, might
explain my motives without imputing to me this injustice."

"Ye are right, sir," returned the old man, again changing his tones to
those of gentleness, or rather softness; "the girl is the image of what
her mother was at her years, and before she had become acquainted
with grief. When death deprived me of my wife I returned to Scotland,
enriched by the marriage; and, would you think it, Duncan! the suffering
angel had remained in the heartless state of celibacy twenty long years,
and that for the sake of a man who could forget her! She did more,
sir; she overlooked my want of faith, and, all difficulties being now
removed, she took me for her husband."

"And became the mother of Alice?" exclaimed Duncan, with an eagerness
that might have proved dangerous at a moment when the thoughts of Munro
were less occupied that at present.

"She did, indeed," said the old man, "and dearly did she pay for the
blessing she bestowed. But she is a saint in heaven, sir; and it ill
becomes one whose foot rests on the grave to mourn a lot so blessed. I
had her but a single year, though; a short term of happiness for one who
had seen her youth fade in hopeless pining."

There was something so commanding in the distress of the old man, that
Heyward did not dare to venture a syllable of consolation. Munro sat
utterly unconscious of the other's presence, his features exposed and
working with the anguish of his regrets, while heavy tears fell from
his eyes, and rolled unheeded from his cheeks to the floor. At length
he moved, and as if suddenly recovering his recollection; when he arose,
and taking a single turn across the room, he approached his companion
with an air of military grandeur, and demanded: