The size of the lake brought
all within the reach of human senses, while it displayed so much
of the imposing scene at a single view, giving up, as it might be,
at a glance, a sufficiency to produce the deepest impressions. As
has been said, this was the first lake Deerslayer had ever seen.
Hitherto, his experience had been limited to the courses of rivers
and smaller streams, and never before had he seen so much of
that wilderness, which he so well loved, spread before his gaze.
Accustomed to the forest, however, his mind was capable of portraying
all its hidden mysteries, as he looked upon its leafy surface. This
was also the first time he had been on a trail where human lives
depended on the issue. His ears had often drunk in the traditions
of frontier warfare, but he had never yet been confronted with an
enemy.
The reader will readily understand, therefore, how intense must have
been the expectation of the young man, as be sat in his solitary
canoe, endeavoring to catch the smallest sound that might denote
the course of things on shore. His training had been perfect, so
far as theory could go, and his self-possession, notwithstanding
the high excitement, that was the fruit of novelty, would have
done credit to a veteran.
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