The visible evidences of the existence
of the camp, or of the fire could not be detected from the spot
where the canoe lay, and he was compelled to depend on the sense of
hearing alone. He did not feel impatient, for the lessons he had
heard taught him the virtue of patience, and, most of all, inculcated
the necessity of wariness in conducting any covert assault on the
Indians. Once he thought he heard the cracking of a dried twig, but
expectation was so intense it might mislead him. In this manner
minute after minute passed, until the whole time since he left
his companions was extended to quite an hour. Deerslayer knew not
whether to rejoice in or to mourn over this cautious delay, for,
if it augured security to his associates, it foretold destruction
to the feeble and innocent.
It might have been an hour and a half after his companions and he
had parted, when Deerslayer was aroused by a sound that filled him
equally with concern and surprise. The quavering call of a loon
arose from the opposite side of the lake, evidently at no great
distance from its outlet. There was no mistaking the note of
this bird, which is so familiar to all who know the sounds of the
American lakes.
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