Chapter XXVII.

by James Fenimore Cooper

　　"Oft in the full descending flood he triesTo lose the scent, and lave his burning sides."--Thomson.

　　"I knowed it--I knowed it!" cried Natty, when both deer and hounds werein full view; " the buck has gone by them with the wind, and it hasbeen too much for the poor rogues; but I must break them of thesetricks, or theyll give me a deal of trouble. He-ere, he-ere--shore.with you, rascals--shore with you--will ye? Oh! off with you, oldHector, or I'll hackle your hide with my ramrod when I get ye."

　　The dogs knew their masters voice, and after swimming in a circle, asif reluctant to give over the chase, and yet afraid to persevere, theyfinally obeyed, and returned to the land, where they filled the airwith their cries.

　　In the mean time the deer, urged by his fears, had swum over half thedistance between the shore and the boats, before his terror permittedhim to see the new danger. But at the sounds of Nattys voice, heturned short in his course and for a few moments seemed about to rushback again, and brave the dogs. His retreat in this direction was,however, effectually cut off, and, turning a second time, he urged hiscourse obliquely for the centre of the lake, with an intention oflanding on the western shore. As the buck swam by the fishermen,raising his nose high into the air, curling the water before his slimneck like the beak of a galley, the Leather-Stocking began to sit veryuneasy in his canoe.

　　"Tis a noble creatur!" he exclaimed; "what a pair of horns! a manmight hang up all his garments on the branches. Let me see--July isthe last month, and the flesh must be getting good." While he wastalking, Natty had instinctively employed himself in fastening theinner end of the bark rope, that served him for a cable, to a paddle,and, rising suddenly on his legs, he cast this buoy away. and cried;"Strike out, John! let her go. The creaturs a fool to tempt a man inthis way.

　　Mohegan threw the fastening of the youths boat from the canoe, andwith one stroke of his paddle sent the light bark over the water likea meteor.

　　"Hold!" exclaimed Edwards. " Remember the law, my old friends. Youare in plain sight of the village, and I know that Judge Temple isdetermined to prosecute all, indiscriminately, who kill deer out ofseason."

　　The remonstrance came too late; the canoe was already far from theskiff, and the two hunters were too much engaged in the pursuit tolisten to his voice.

　　The buck was now within fifty yards of his pursuers, cutting the watergallantly, and snorting at each breath with terror and his exertions,while the canoe seemed to dance over the waves as it rose and fellwith the undulations made by its own motion. Leather-Stocking raisedhis rifle and freshened the priming, but stood in suspense whether toslay his victim or not.

　　"Shall I, John or no?" he said. "It seems but a poor advantage totake of the dumb thing, too. I wont; it has taken to the water onits own natur, which is the reason that God has given to a deer, andIll give it the lake play; so, John, lay out your arm, and mind theturn of the buck; its easy to catch them, but theyll turn like asnake."

　　The Indian laughed at the conceit of his friend, but continued to sendthe canoe forward with a velocity that proceeded much more from skillthan his strength. Both of the old men now used the language of theDelawares when they spoke.

　　"Hugh!" exclaimed Mohegan; "the deer turns his head. Hawk-eye, liftyour spear."

　　Natty never moved abroad without taking with him every implement thatmight, by possibility, be of service in his pursuits. From his riflehe never parted; and although intending to fish with the line, thecanoe was invariably furnished with all of its utensils, even to itsgrate This precaution grew out of the habits of the hunter, who wasoften led, by his necessities or his sports, far beyond the limits ofhis original destination. A few years earlier than the date of ourtale, the Leather-Stocking had left his hut on the shores of theOtsego, with his rifle and his hounds, for a few days hunting in thehills; but before he returned he had seen the waters of Ontario. One,two, or even three hundred miles had once been nothing to his sinews,which were now a little stiffened by age. The hunter did as Moheganadvised, and prepared to strike a blow with the barbed weapon into theneck of the buck.

　　"Lay her more to the left, John," he cried, "lay her more to the left;another stroke of the paddle and I have him."

　　While speaking he raised the spear, and darted it front him like anarrow. At that instant the buck turned, the long pole glanced by him,the iron striking against his horn, and buried itself harmlessly inthe lake.

　　"Back water," cried Natty, as the canoe glided over the place wherethe spear had fallen; "hold water, John."

　　The pole soon reappeared, shooting up from the lake, and, as thehunter seized it in his hand, the Indian whirled the light canoeround, and renewed the chase. But this evolution gave the buck agreat advantage; and it also allowed time for Edwards to approach thescene of action.

　　"Hold your hand, Natty!" cried the youth, "hold your hand; remember itis out of season."

　　This remonstrance was made as the batteau arrived close to the placewhere the deer was struggling with the water, his back now rising tothe surface, now sinking beneath it, as the waves curled from hisneck, the animal still sustaining itself nobly against the odds,

　　"Hurrah!" shouted Edwards, inflamed beyond prudence at the sight;"mind him as he doubles--mind him as he doubles; sheer more to theright, Mohegan, more to the right, and Ill have him by the horns;I'll throw the rope over his antlers."

　　The dark eye of the old warrior was dancing in his head with a wildanimation, and the sluggish repose in which his aged frame had beenresting in the canoe was now changed to all the rapid inflections ofpracticed agility. The canoe whirled with each cunning evolution ofthe chase, like a bubble floating in a whirlpool; and when thedirection of the pursuit admitted of a straight course the little barkskimmed the lake with a velocity that urged the deer to seek itssafety in some new turn.

　　It was the frequency of these circuitous movements that, by confiningthe action to so small a compass, enabled the youth to keep near hiscompanions. More than twenty times both the pursued and the pursuerglided by him, just without the reach of his oars, until he thoughtthe best way to view the sport was to remain stationary, and, bywatching a favorable opportunity, assist as much as he could in takingthe victim.

　　He was not required to wait long, for no sooner had he adopted thisresolution, and risen in the boat, than he saw the deer coming bravelytoward him, with an apparent intention of pushing for a point of landat some distance from the hounds, who were still barking and howlingon the shore. Edwards caught the painter of his skiff, and, making anoose, cast it from him with all his force, and luckily succeeded indrawing its knot close around one of the antlers of the buck.

　　For one instant the skiff was drawn through the water, but in the nextthe canoe glided before it, and Natty, bending low, passed his knifeacross the throat of the animal, whose blood followed the wound,dyeing the waters. The short time that was passed in the laststruggles of the animal was spent by the hunters in bringing theirboats together and securing them in that position, when Leather-Stocking drew the deer from the water and laid its lifeless form inthe bottom of the canoe. He placed his hands on the ribs, and ondifferent parts of the body of his prize, and then, raising his head,he laughed in his peculiar manner.

　　"So much for Marmaduke Temple's law!" he said, "This warms a bodysblood, old John: I havent killed a buck in the lake afore this, sinmany a year. I call that good venison, lad: and I know them that willrelish the creaturs steaks for all the betterments in the land."

　　The Indian had long been drooping with his years, and perhaps underthe calamities of his race, but this invigorating and exciting sportcaused a gleam of sunshine to cross his swarthy face that had longbeen absent from his features. it was evident the old man enjoyed thechase more as a memorial of his youthful sports and deeds than withany expectation of profiting by the success. He felt the deer,however, lightly, his hand already trembling with the reaction of hisunusual exertions, and smiled with a nod of approbation, as he said,in the emphatic and sententious manner of his people:

　　"Good."

　　"I am afraid, Natty," said Edwards, when the heat of the moment hadpassed, and his blood began to cool, "that we have all been equallytransgressors of the law. But keep your own counsel, and there arenone here to betray us. Yet how came those dogs at large? I left themsecurely fastened, I know, for I felt the thongs and examined theknots when I was at the hunt."

　　"It has been too much for the poor things," said Natty, "to have sucha buck take the wind of them. See, lad, the pieces of the buckskinare hanging from their necks yet. Let us paddle up, John, and I willcall them in and look a little into the matter."

　　When the old hunter landed and examined the thongs that were yet fastto the hounds, his countenance sensibly changed, and he shook his headdoubtingly.

　　"Here has been a knife at work," he said; "this skin was never torn,nor is this the mark of a hounds tooth. No, no--Hector is not infault, as I feared."

　　"Has the leather been cut?" cried Edwards.

　　"No, no--I didnt say it had been cut, lad; but this is a mark that wasnever made by a jump or a bite."

　　"Could that rascally carpenter have dared!"

　　"Ay! he durst do anything when there is no danger," said Natty; "he isa curious body, and loves to be helping other people on with theirconsarns. But he had best not harbor so much near the wigwam!"

　　In the mean time, Mohegan had been examining, with an Indianssagacity, the place where the leather thong had been separated. Afterscrutinizing it closely, he said, in Delaware:

　　"It was cut with a knife--a sharp blade and a long handle--the man wasafraid of the dogs."

　　"How is this, Mohegan?" exclaimed Edwards; "you saw it not! how canyou know these facts?"

　　"Listen, son," said the warrior. "The knife was sharp, for the cutwas smooth; the handle was long, for a mans arm would not reach fromthis gash to the cut that did not go through the skin; he was acoward, or he would have cut the thongs around the necks of thehounds."On my life," cried Natty, "John is on the scent! It was the carpenter;and he has got on the rock back of the kennel and let the dogs looseby fastening his knife to a stick. It would be an easy matter to doit where a man is so minded."

　　"And why should he do so?" asked Edwards; "who has done him wrong,that he should trouble two old men like you?"

　　"Its a hard matter, lad, to know mens ways, I find, since thesettlers have brought in their new fashions, But is there nothing tobe found out in the place? and maybe he is troubled with his longingsafter other peoples business, as he often is"

　　"Your suspicions are just. Give me the canoe; I am young and strong.and will get down there yet, perhaps, in time to interrupt his plans.Heaven forbid that we should be at the mercy of such a man!"

　　His proposal was accepted, the deer being placed in the skiff in orderto lighten the canoe, and in less than five minutes the little vesselof bark was gilding over the glassy lake, and was soon hid by thepoints of land as it shot close along the shore.

　　Mohegan followed slowly with the skiff, while Natty called his houndsto him, bade them keep close, and, shouldering his rifle, he ascendedthe mountain, with an intention of going to the hut by land.