The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER XV

  "Then go we in, to know his embassy; Which I could, with ready guess, declare, Before the Frenchman speak a word of it."

  _King Henry V._

  A few succeeding days were passed amid the privations, the uproar, andthe dangers of the siege, which was vigorously pressed by a poweragainst whose approaches Munro possessed no competent means ofresistance. It appeared as if Webb, with his army, which lay slumberingon the banks of the Hudson, had utterly forgotten the strait to whichhis countrymen were reduced. Montcalm had filled the woods of theportage with his savages, every yell and whoop from whom rang throughthe British encampment, chilling the hearts of men who were already buttoo much disposed to magnify the danger.

  Not so, however, with the besieged. Animated by the words, andstimulated by the examples, of their leaders, they had found theircourage, and maintained their ancient reputation, with zeal that didjustice to the stern character of their commander. As if satisfied withthe toil of marching through the wilderness to encounter his enemy, theFrench general, though of approved skill, had neglected to seize theadjacent mountains; whence the besieged might have been exterminatedwith impunity, and which, in the more modern warfare of the country,would not have been neglected for a single hour. This sort of contemptfor eminences, or rather dread of the labor of ascending them, mighthave been termed the besetting weakness of the warfare of the period. Itoriginated in the simplicity of the Indian contests, in which, from thenature of the combats, and the density of the forests, fortresses wererare, and artillery next to useless. The carelessness engendered bythese usages descended even to the war of the Revolution, and lost theStates the important fortress of Ticonderoga, opening a way for the armyof Burgoyne into what was then the bosom of the country. We look back atthis ignorance, or infatuation, whichever it may be called, with wonder,knowing that the neglect of an eminence, whose difficulties, like thoseof Mount Defiance, have been so greatly exaggerated, would, at thepresent time, prove fatal to the reputation of the engineer who hadplanned the works at their base, or to that of the general whose lot itwas to defend them.

  The tourist, the valetudinarian, or the amateur of the beauties ofnature, who, in the train of his four-in-hand, now rolls through thescenes we have attempted to describe, in quest of information, health,or pleasure, or floats steadily towards his object on those artificialwaters which have sprung up under the administration of a statesman[21]who has dared to stake his political character on the hazardous issue,is not to suppose that his ancestors traversed those hills, or struggledwith the same currents with equal facility. The transportation of asingle heavy gun was often considered equal to a victory gained; if,happily, the difficulties of the passage had not so far separated itfrom its necessary concomitant, the ammunition, as to render it no morethan an useless tube of unwieldy iron.

  The evils of this state of things pressed heavily on the fortunes of theresolute Scotsman who now defended William Henry. Though his adversaryneglected the hills, he had planted his batteries with judgment on theplain, and caused them to be served with vigor and skill. Against thisassault, the besieged could only oppose the imperfect and hastypreparations of a fortress in the wilderness.

  It was in the afternoon of the fifth day of the siege, and the fourth ofhis own service in it, that Major Heyward profited by a parley that hadjust been beaten, by repairing to the ramparts of one of the waterbastions, to breathe the cool air from the lake, and to take a survey ofthe progress of the siege. He was alone, if the solitary sentinel whopaced the mound be excepted; for the artillerists had hastened also toprofit by the temporary suspension of their arduous duties. The eveningwas delightfully calm, and the light air from the limpid water fresh andsoothing. It seemed as if, with the termination to the roar of artilleryand the plunging of shot, nature had also seized the moment to assumeher mildest and most captivating form. The sun poured down his partingglory on the scene, without the oppression of those fierce rays thatbelong to the climate and the season. The mountains looked green andfresh and lovely; tempered with the milder light, or softened in shadow,as thin vapors floated between them and the sun. The numerous islandsrested on the bosom of the Horican, some low and sunken, as if imbeddedin the waters, and others appearing to hover above the element, inlittle hillocks of green velvet; among which the fishermen of thebeleaguering army peacefully rowed their skiffs, or floated at rest onthe glassy mirror, in quiet pursuit of their employment.

  The scene was at once animated and still. All that pertained to naturewas sweet, or simply grand; while those parts which depended on thetemper and movements of man were lively and playful.

  Two little spotless flags were abroad, the one on a salient angle of thefort, and the other on the advanced battery of the besiegers; emblems ofthe truce which existed, not only to the acts, but it would seem, also,to the enmity of the combatants.

  Behind these, again, swung, heavily opening and closing in silken folds,the rival standards of England and France.

  A hundred gay and thoughtless young Frenchmen were drawing a net to thepebbly beach, within dangerous proximity to the sullen but silent cannonof the fort, while the eastern mountain was sending back the loud shoutsand gay merriment that attended their sport. Some were rushing eagerlyto enjoy the aquatic games of the lake, and others were already toilingtheir way up the neighboring hills, with the restless curiosity of theirnation. To all these sports and pursuits, those of the enemy who watchedthe besieged, and the besieged themselves, were, however, merely theidle, though sympathizing spectators. Here and there a picket had,indeed, raised a song, or mingled in a dance, which had drawn the duskysavages around them, from their lairs in the forest. In short,everything wore rather the appearance of a day of pleasure, than of anhour stolen from the dangers and toil of a bloody and vindictivewarfare.

  Duncan had stood in a musing attitude, contemplating this scene a fewminutes, when his eyes were directed to the glacis in front of thesally-port already mentioned, by the sounds of approaching footsteps. Hewalked to an angle of the bastion, and beheld the scout advancing, underthe custody of a French officer, to the body of the fort. Thecountenance of Hawkeye was haggard and careworn, and his air dejected,as though he felt the deepest degradation at having fallen into thepower of his enemies. He was without his favorite weapon, and his armswere even bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of a deer. Thearrival of flags, to cover the messengers of summons, had occurred sooften of late, that when Heyward first threw his careless glance on thisgroup, he expected to see another of the officers of the enemy, chargedwith a similar office; but the instant he recognized the tall person,and still sturdy, though downcast features of his friend the woodsman,he started with surprise, and turned to descend from the bastion intothe bosom of the work.

  The sounds of other voices, however, caught his attention, and for amoment caused him to forget his purpose. At the inner angle of the moundhe met the sisters, walking along the parapet in search, like himself,of air and relief from confinement. They had not met from that painfulmoment when he deserted them on the plain, only to assure their safety.He had parted from them worn with care, and jaded with fatigue; he nowsaw them refreshed and blooming, though timid and anxious. Under such aninducement, it will cause no surprise that the young man lost sight, fora time, of other objects in order to address them. He was, however,anticipated by the voice of the ingenuous and youthful Alice.

  "Ah! thou truant! thou recreant knight! he who abandons his damsels inthe very lists!" she cried; "here have we been days, nay, ages,expecting you at our feet, imploring mercy and forgetfulness of yourcraven backsliding, or, I should rather say, back-running--for verilyyou fled in a manner that no stricken deer, as our worthy friend thescout would say, could equal!"

  "You know that Alice means our thanks and our blessings," added thegraver and more thoughtful Cora. "In truth, we have a little wonderedwhy you should so rigidly absent yourself from a place where thegratitude of the daughters might receive the support of a p
arent'sthanks."

  "Your father himself could tell you, that though absent from yourpresence, I have not been altogether forgetful of your safety," returnedthe young man; "the mastery of yonder village of huts," pointing to theneighboring entrenched camp, "has been keenly disputed; and he who holdsit is sure to be possessed of this fort, and that which it contains. Mydays and my nights have all been passed there since we separated,because I thought that duty called me thither. But," he added with anair of chagrin, which he endeavored, though unsuccessfully, to conceal,"had I been aware that what I then believed a soldier's conduct could sobe construed, shame would have been added to the list of reasons."

  "Heyward!--Duncan!" exclaimed Alice, bending forward to read hishalf-averted countenance, until a lock of her golden hair rested on herflushed cheek, and nearly concealed the tear that had started to hereye; "did I think this idle tongue of mine had pained you, I wouldsilence it forever, Cora can say, if Cora would, how justly we haveprized your services, and how deep--I had almost said, how fervent--isour gratitude."

  "And will Cora attest the truth of this?" cried Duncan, suffering thecloud to be chased from his countenance by a smile of open pleasure."What says our graver sister? Will she find an excuse for the neglect ofthe knight in the duty of a soldier?"

  Cora made no immediate answer, but turned her face towards the water, asif looking on the sheet of the Horican. When she did bend her dark eyeson the young man, they were yet filled with an expression of anguishthat at once drove every thought but that of kind solicitude from hismind.

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

  "'Tis nothing," she answered, refusing his offered support with femininereserve. "That I cannot see the sunny side of the picture of life, likethis artless but ardent enthusiast," she added, laying her hand lightly,but affectionately, on the arm of her sister, "is the penalty ofexperience, and, perhaps, the misfortune of my nature. See," shecontinued, 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 forthe daughter of a soldier whose greatest happiness is his honor and hismilitary renown."

  "Neither ought nor shall be tarnished by circumstances over which he hashad no control," Duncan warmly replied. "But your words recall me to myown duty. I go now to your gallant father, to hear his determination inmatters of the last moment to the defence. God bless you in everyfortune, noble--Cora--I may and must call you." She frankly gave him herhand, though her lip quivered, and her cheeks gradually became of anashy paleness. "In every fortune, I know you will be an ornament andhonor to your sex. Alice, adieu"--his tone changed from admiration totenderness--"adieu, Alice; we shall soon meet again; as conquerors, Itrust, and amid rejoicings!"

  Without waiting for an answer from either, the young man threw himselfdown the grassy steps of the bastion, and moving rapidly across theparade, he was quickly in the presence of their father. Munro waspacing his narrow apartment with a disturbed air and gigantic strides asDuncan entered.

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

  "I am sorry to see, sir, that the messenger I so warmly recommended hasreturned in custody of the French! I hope there is no reason to distrusthis 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 politenessof his nation, he has sent him in with a doleful tale, of 'knowing how Ivalued the fellow, he could not think of retaining him.' A Jesuiticalway, 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 animpatient boy, sir, and cannot give the gentlemen leisure for theirmarch!"

  "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 agreeablepart of the matter. For the customary attentions of your Marquis ofMontcalm--I warrant me, Duncan, that he of Lothian would buy a dozensuch marquisates--but, if the news of the letter were bad, the gentilityof 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'sgrandfather taught the noble science of dancing."

  "But what says the scout? he has eyes and ears, and a tongue: whatverbal report does he make?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

  "Major Heyward," said Munro, turning to his youthful associate with thedignity of his years and superior rank; "I should have served hismajesty for half a century, and earned these gray hairs, in vain, were Iignorant of all you say, and of the pressing nature of ourcircumstances; still, there is everything due to the honor of the king'sarms and something to ourselves. While there is hope of succor, thisfortress will I defend, though it be to be done with pebbles gathered onthe 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 leftamong 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 othercivilities, invited me to a personal interview between the works and hisown 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 meethim, and I would employ you, an officer of rank, as my substitute; forit would but ill comport with the honor of Scotland to let it be saidone of her gentlemen was outdone in civility by a native of any othercountry on earth."

  Without assuming the supererogatory task of entering into a discussionof the comparative merits of national courtesy, Duncan cheerfullyassented to supply the place of the veteran in the approachinginterview. A long and confidential communication now succeeded, duringwhich the young man received some additional insight into his duty, fromthe experience and native acuteness of his commander, and then theformer took his leave.

  As Duncan could only act as the representative of the commandant of thefort, the ceremonies which should have accompanied a meeting between theheads o
f the adverse forces were of course dispensed with. The trucestill existed, and with a roll and beat of the drum, and covered by alittle white flag, Duncan left the sally-port, within ten minutes afterhis instructions were ended. He was received by the French officer inadvance with the usual formalities, and immediately accompanied to adistant marquee of the renowned soldier who led the forces of France.

  The general of the enemy received the youthful messenger, surrounded byhis principal officers, and by a swarthy band of the native chiefs, whohad followed him to the field, with the warriors of their severaltribes. Heyward paused short, when, in glancing his eyes rapidly overthe dark group of the latter, he beheld the malignant countenance ofMagua, regarding him with the calm but sullen attention which marked theexpression of that subtle savage. A slight exclamation of surprise evenburst from the lips of the young man; but instantly recollecting hiserrand, and the presence in which he stood, he suppressed everyappearance of emotion, and turned to the hostile leader, who had alreadyadvanced a step to receive him.

  The Marquis of Montcalm was, at the period of which we write, in theflower of his age, and, it may be added, in the zenith of his fortunes.But, even in that enviable situation, he was affable, and distinguishedas much for his attention to the forms of courtesy, as for thatchivalrous courage which, only two short years afterwards, induced himto throw away his life on the plains of Abraham. Duncan, in turning hiseyes from the malign expression of Magua, suffered them to rest withpleasure on the smiling and polished features, and the noble militaryair, of the French general.

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

  "Je crois, monsieur, qu'il ne sera pas necessaire," Heyward modestlyreplied; "je parle un peu Francais."

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

  Duncan bowed low, pleased with the compliment, in spite of a most heroicdetermination to suffer no artifice to allure him into forgetfulness ofthe interest of his prince; and Montcalm, after a pause of a moment, asif to recollect 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 ofhumanity, and less of your courage? The one as strongly characterizesthe 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 tostimulate the one, we can, as yet, see no particular call for theexercise of the other."

  Montcalm, in his turn, slightly bowed, but it was with the air of a mantoo practised to remember the language of flattery. After musing amoment, he added,--

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

  "Our accounts vary," said Duncan, carelessly; "the highest, however, hasnot exceeded twenty thousand men."

  The Frenchman bit his lip, and fastened his eyes keenly on the other asif to read his thoughts; then, with a readiness peculiar to himself, hecontinued, as if assenting to the truth of an enumeration which quitedoubled 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 tobe 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," headded, smiling archly, "I may be permitted to believe that gallantry isnot forgotten by one so young as yourself. The daughters of thecommandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it was invested?"

  "It is true, monsieur; but, so far from weakening our efforts, they setus an example of courage in their own fortitude. Were nothing butresolution necessary to repel so accomplished a soldier as M. deMontcalm, I would gladly trust the defence of William Henry to the elderof those ladies."

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

  "Has your excellency found our defence so feeble as to believe themeasure necessary?"

  "I should be sorry to have the defence protracted in such a manner as toirritate my red friends there," continued Montcalm, glancing his eyes atthe group of grave and attentive Indians, without attending to theother's question; "I find it difficult, even now, to limit them to theusages of war."

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

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

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

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

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

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

  It was now Heyward's turn to bite his lip with vexation, as the other socoolly alluded to a force which the young man knew to be overrated. Bothmused a little while in silence, when Montcalm renewed the conversation,in a way that showed he believed the visit of his guest was solely topropose terms of capitulation. On the other hand, Heyward began to throwsundry inducements in the way of the French general, to betray thediscoveries he had made through the intercepted letter. The artifice ofneither, however, succeeded; and after a protracted and fruitlessinterview, Duncan took his leave, favorably impressed with an opinion ofthe courtesy and talents of the enemy's captain, but as ignorant of whathe came to learn as when he arrived. Montcalm followed him as far as theentrance of the marquee, renewing his invitations to the commandant ofthe fort to give him an immediate meeting in the open ground, betweenthe two armies.

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