Deerslayer (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by James Fenimore Cooper

  The girl made no answer; but placing herself at a window, she summoned her sister to her side. When the question was put to Hetty, her simpleminded and affectionate nature cheerfully assented to the proposal to confer on Deerslayer a full right of ownership to the much-coveted rifle. The latter now seemed perfectly happy, for the time being, at least; and after again examining and reexamining his prize, he expressed a determination to put its merits to a practical test before he left the spot. No boy could have been more eager to exhibit the qualities of his trumpet or his crossbow, than this simple forester was to prove those of his rifle. Returning to the platform, he first took the Delaware aside and informed him that this celebrated piece was to become his property, in the event of anything serious befalling himself.

  “This is a new reason why you should be wary, Sarpent, and not run into any oncalculated danger,” the hunter added, “for it will be victory of itself, to a tribe, to own such a piece as this. The Mingos will turn green with envy; and, what is more, they will not ventur’ heedlessly near a village where it is known to be kept. So look well to it, Delaware, and remember that you’ve now to watch over a thing that has all the valie of a creatur’, without its failin’s. Hist may be, and should be precious to you, but Killdeer will have the love and veneration of your whole people.”

  “One rifle like another, Deerslayer,” returned the Indian, in English, the language used by the other, a little hurt at his friend’s lowering his betrothed to the level of a gun. “All kill; all wood and iron. Wife dear to heart; rifle good to shoot.”

  “And what is a man in the woods, without something to shoot with?—a miserable trapper, or a forlorn broom and basketmaker, at the best. Such a man may hoe corn, and keep soul and body together, but he can never know the savory morsels of venison, or tell a bear’s ham from a hog’s. Come, my fri‘nd, such another occasion may never offer ag’in, and I feel a strong craving for a trial with this celebrated piece. You shall bring out your own rifle, and I will just sight Killdeer in a careless way, in order that we may know a few of its secret vartues.”

  As this proposition served to relieve the thoughts of the whole party, by giving them a new direction, while it was likely to produce no unpleasant result, every one was willing to enter into it; the girls bringing forth the firearms with an alacrity bordering on cheerful-ness. Hutter’s armory was well supplied, possessing several rifles, all of which were habitually kept loaded, in readiness to meet any sudden demand for their use. On the present occasion, it only remained to freshen the primings, and each piece was in a state for service. This was soon done, as all assisted in it, the females being as expert in this part of the system of defence, as their male companions.

  “Now, Sarpent, we’ll begin in a humble way, using old Tom’s commoners first, and coming to your we‘pon and Killdeer as the winding-up observations,” said Deerslayer, delighted to be again, weapon in hand, ready to display his skill. “Here’s birds in abundance, some in, and some over the lake, and they keep at just a good range, hovering round the hut. Speak your mind, Delaware, and p’int out the creatur’ you wish to alarm. Here’s a diver, nearest in, off to the eastward, and that’s a creatur’ that buries itself at the flash, and will be like enough to try both piece and powder.”

  Chingachgook was a man of few words. No sooner was the bird pointed out to him than he took his aim and fired. The duck dived at the flash, as had been expected, and the bullet skipped harmlessly along the surface of the lake, first striking the water within a few inches of the spot where the bird had so lately swam. Deerslayer laughed cordially and naturally; but at the same time he threw himself into an attitude of preparation, and stood keenly watching the sheet of placid water. Presently a dark spot appeared, and then the duck arose to breathe, and shook its wings. While in this act, a bullet passed directly through its breast, actually turning it over lifeless, on its back. At the next moment, Deerslayer stood with the breach of his rifle on the platform, as tranquil as if nothing had happened, though laughing in his own peculiar manner.

  “There’s no great trial of the pieces in that!” he said, as if anxious to prevent a false impression of his own merit. “No, that proof’s neither for nor ag‘in the rifles, seeing it was all quickness of hand and eye. I took the bird at a disadvantage, or he might have got under ag’in, afore the bullet reached him. But the Sarpent is too wise to mind such tricks, having long been used to them. Do you remember the time, chief, when you thought yourself sartain of the wild goose, and I took him out of your very eyes, as it might be, with a little smoke? Howsever, such things pass for nothing atween fri’nds, and young folk will have their fun, Judith. Ay, here’s just the bird we want, for it’s as good for the fire as it is for the aim, and nothing should be lost that can be turned to just account. There, farther north, Delaware.”

  The latter looked in the required direction, and he soon saw a large black duck, floating in stately repose on the water. At that distant day, when so few men were present to derange the harmony of the wilderness, all the smaller lakes with which the interior of New York so abounds, were places of resort for the migratory aquatic birds; and this sheet, like the others, had once been much frequented by all the varieties of the duck, by the goose, the gull, and the loon. On the appearance of Hutter, the spot was comparatively deserted for other sheets, more retired and remote, though some of each species continued to resort thither, as indeed they do to the present hour. At that instant, a hundred birds were visible from the castle, sleeping on the water, or laving their feathers in the limpid element, though no other offered so favorable a mark as that Deerslayer had just pointed out to his friend. Chingachgook, as usual, spared his words, and proceeded to execution. This time his aim was more careful than before, and his success in proportion. The bird had a wing crippled, and fluttered along the water screaming, materially increasing its distance from its enemies.

  “That bird must be put out of pain,” exclaimed Deerslayer, the moment the animal endeavored to rise on the wing; “and this is the rifle and the eye to do it.”

  The duck was still floundering along, when the fatal bullet overtook it, severing the head from the neck, as neatly as if it had been done with an axe. Hist had indulged in a low cry of delight, at the success of the young Indian; but now she affected to frown and resent the greater skill of his friend. The chief, on the contrary, uttered the usual exclamation of pleasure, and his smile proved how much he admired, and how little he envied.

  “Never mind the gal, Sarpent; never mind Hist’s feelin‘s, which will neither choke nor drown, slay nor beautify,” said Deerslayer, laughing. “ ’Tis nat‘ral for women to enter into their husband’s victories and defeats, and you are as good as man and wife, so far as prejudice and fri’ndship go. Here is a bird overhead will put the pieces to the proof; I challenge you to an upward aim, with a flying target. That’s a ra’al proof, and one that needs sartain rifles, as well as sartain eyes.”

  The species of eagle that frequents the water, and lives on fish, was also present, and one was hovering at a considerable height above the hut, greedily watching for an opportunity to make a swoop; its hungry young elevating their heads from a nest that was in sight, in the naked summit of a dead pine. Chingachgook silently turned a new piece against this bird, and after carefully watching his time, fired. A wider circuit than common, denoted that the messenger had passed through the air at no great distance from the bird, though it missed its object. Deerslayer, whose aim was not more true than it was quick, fired as soon as it was certain his friend had missed, and the deep swoop that followed left it momentarily doubtful whether the eagle was hit or not. The marksman himself, however, proclaimed his own want of success, calling on his friend to seize another rifle, for he saw signs on the part of the bird of an intention to quit the spot.

  “I made him wink, Sarpent; I do think his feathers were ruffled, but no blood has yet been drawn, nor is that old piece fit for so nice and quick a sight. Quick, Delaware; you’ve now a bette
r rifle, and Judith, bring out Killdeer, for this is the occasion to try his merits, if he has ’em!”

  A general movement followed, each of the competitors got ready, and the girls stood in eager expectation of the result. The eagle had made a wide circuit after his low swoop, and fanning his way upward, once more hovered nearly over the hut, at a distance even greater than before Chingachgook gazed at him, and then expressed his opinion of the impossibility of striking a bird at that great height, and while he was so nearly perpendicular, as to the range. But a low murmur from Hist produced a sudden impulse, and he fired. The result showed how well he had calculated, the eagle not even varying his flight, sailing round and round in his airy circle, and looking down, as if in contempt, at his foes.

  “Now, Judith,” cried Deerslayer, laughing, with glistening and delighted eyes, “we’ll see if Killdeer isn’t Killeagle too! Give me room, Sarpent, and watch the reason of the aim, for by reason anything may be l’arned.”

  A careful sight followed, and was repeated again and again, the bird continuing to rise higher and higher. Then followed the flash and the report. The swift messenger sped upwards, and, at the next instant, the bird turned on its side, and came swooping down, now struggling with one wing and then with the other, sometimes whirling in a circuit, next fanning desperately as if conscious of its injury, until, having described several complete circles around the spot, it fell heavily into the end of the ark. On examining the body, it was found that the bullet had pierced it about halfway between one of its wings and the breastbone.

  CHAPTER XXVI

  “Upon two stony tables, spread before her,

  She leaned her bosom, more than stony hard;

  There slept the impartial judge, and strict restorer

  Of wrong or right, with pain or with reward;

  There hung the score of all our debts, the card

  Where good, and bad, and life, and death, were painted;

  Was never heart of mortal so untainted,

  But when the roll was read, with thousand terrors fainted.”

  Giles Fletcher

  “WE’VE DONE AN ONTHOUGHTFUL thing, Sarpent—yes, Judith, we’ve done an onthoughtful thing in taking life with an object no better than vanity!” exclaimed Deerslayer, when the Delaware held up the enormous bird, by its wings, and exhibited the dying eyes riveted on its enemies with the gaze that the helpless ever fasten on their destroyers. “ ’Twas more becomin’ two boys to gratify their feelin’s in this onthoughtful manner, than two warriors on a warpath, even though it be their first. Ah’s me! well, as a punishment I’ll quit you at once, and when I find myself alone with them bloody-minded Mingos, it’s more than like I’ll have occasion to remember that life is sweet, even to the beasts of the woods and the fowls of the air. Here, Judith; there’s Killdeer; take him back ag’in, and keep him for some hand that’s more desarving to own such a piece.”

  “I know of none as deserving as your own, Deerslayer,” answered the girl in haste; “none but yours shall keep the rifle.”

  “If it depended on skill, you might be right enough, gal, but we should know when to use firearms as well as how to use ‘em. I haven’t l’arnt the first duty yet, it seems; so keep the piece till I have. The sight of a dyin’ and distressed creatur‘, even though it be only a bird, brings wholesome thoughts to a man who don’t know how soon his own time may come, and who is pretty sartain that it will come afore the sun sets; I’d give back all my vain feelin’s and rej’icin’s in hand and eye, if that poor eagle was only on its nest ag’in with its young, praisin’ the Lord, for anything that we can know about the matter, for health and strength! ”

  The listeners were confounded with this proof of sudden repentance in the hunter, and that, too, for an indulgence so very common, that men seldom stop to weigh its consequences, or the physical suf fering it may bring on the unoffending and helpless. The Delaware understood what was said, though he scarce understood the feelings which had prompted the words, and by way of disposing of the dif ficulty, he drew his keen knife and severed the head of the sufferer from its body.

  “What a thing is power!” continued the hunter, “and what a thing it is to have it, and not to know how to use it! It’s no wonder, Judith, that the great so often fail of their duties, when even the little and the humble find it so hard to do what’s right, and not to do what’s wrong. Then, how one evil act brings others a‘ter it! Now, wasn’t it for this furlough of mine, which must soon take me back to the Mingos, I’d find this creatur’s nest, if I traveled the woods a fortnight—though an eagle’s nest is soon found by them that understands the bird’s natur’—but I’d travel a fortnight rather than not find it, just to put the young, too, out of their pain.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say this, Deerslayer,” observed Hetty, “and God will be more apt to remember your sorrow for what you’ve done, than the wickedness itself. I thought how wicked it was to kill harmless birds while you were shooting, and meant to tell you so; but, I don’t know how it happened—I was so curious to see if you could hit an eagle at so great a height, that I forgot altogether to speak till the mischief was done.”

  “That’s it; that’s just it, my good Hetty. We can see our faults and mistakes when it’s too late to help them! Howsever, I’m glad you didn’t speak, for I don’t think a word or two would have stopped me just at that moment; and so the sin stands in its nakedness, and not aggravated by any unheeded calls to forbear. Well, well, bitter thoughts are hard to be borne at all times, but there’s times when they’re harder than at others.”

  Little did Deerslayer know, while thus indulging in feelings that were natural to the man, and so strictly in accordance with his own unsophisticated and just principles, that, in the course of the inscrutable Providence which so uniformly and yet so mysteriously covers all events with its mantle, the very fault he was disposed so severely to censure, was to be made the means of determining his own earthly fate. The mode and the moment in which he was to feel the influence of this interference, it would be premature to relate, but both will appear in the course of the succeeding chapters. As for the young man, he now slowly left the ark, like one sorrowing for his misdeeds, and seated himself in silence on the platform. By this time the sun had ascended to some height, and its appearance, taken in connection with his present feelings, induced him to prepare to depart. The Delaware got the canoe ready for his friend as soon as apprised of his intention, while Hist busied herself in making the few arrangements that were thought necessary to his comfort. All this was done without ostentation, but in a way that left Deerslayer fully acquainted with, and equally disposed to appreciate the motive. When all was ready, both returned to the side of Judith and Hetty—neither of whom had moved from the spot where the young hunter sat.

  “The best fri‘nds must often part,” the last began, when he saw the whole party grouped around him. “Yes, fri’ndship can’t alter the ways of Providence; and let our feelin’s be as they may, we must part. I’ve often thought there’s moments when our words dwell longer on the mind than common, and when advice is remembered, just because the mouth that gives it isn’t likely to give it ag‘in. No one knows what will happen in the world; and therefore it may be well, when fri’nds separate under a likelihood that the parting may be long, to say a few words in kindness, as a sort of keepsakes. If all but one will go into the ark, I’ll talk to each in turn, and what is more, I’ll listen to what you may have to say back ag’in; for it’s a poor counselor that won’t take as well as give.”

  As the meaning of the speaker was understood, the two Indians immediately withdrew as desired, leaving the sisters, however, still standing at the young man’s side. A look of Deerslayer’s induced Judith to explain.

  “You can advise Hetty as you land,” she said, hastily; “I intend that she shall accompany you to the shore.”

  “Is this wise, Judith? It’s true that, under common sarcumstances, a feeble mind is a great protection among redskins; but when their f
eelin’s are up, and they’re bent on revenge, it’s hard to say what may come to pass. Besides—”

  “What were you about to say, Deerslayer?” asked Judith, whose gentleness of voice and manner amounted nearly to tenderness, though she struggled hard to keep her emotions and apprehensions in subjection.

  “Why, simply that there are sights and doin’s that one even as little gifted with reason and memory as Hetty, here, might better not witness. So, Judith, you would do well to let me land alone, and to keep your sister back.”

  “Never fear for me, Deerslayer,” put in Hetty, who comprehended enough of the discourse to know its general drift; “I’m feebleminded, and that, they say, is an excuse for going anywhere; and what that won’t excuse will be overlooked on account of the Bible I always carry. It is wonderful, Judith, how all sorts of men, the trappers as well as the hunters, redmen as well as white, Mingos as well as Delawares, do reverence and fear the Bible!”

  “I think you have not the least ground to fear any injury, Hetty,” answered the sister, “and therefore I shall insist on your going to the Huron camp with our friend. Your being there can do no harm, not even to yourself, and may do great good to Deerslayer.”

  “This is not a moment, Judith, to dispute; and so have the matter your own way,” returned the young man. “Get yourself ready, Hetty, and go into the canoe, for I’ve a few parting words to say to your sister, which can do you no good.”

  Judith and her companion continued silent, until Hetty had so far complied as to leave them alone, when Deerslayer took up the subject as if it had been interrupted by some ordinary occurrence, and in a very matter-of-fact way.