This was no sooner done, than he started up, and looked about
him with the eagerness of one who suddenly felt the importance of
accurately ascertaining his precise position. His rest had been
deep and undisturbed; and when he awoke, it was with a clearness of
intellect and a readiness of resources that were very much needed
at that particular moment. The sun had not risen, it is true, but
the vault of heaven was rich with the winning softness that "brings
and shuts the day," while the whole air was filled with the carols
of birds, the hymns of the feathered tribe. These sounds first told
Deerslayer the risks he ran. The air, for wind it could scarce be
called, was still light, it is true, but it had increased a little
in the course of the night, and as the canoes were feathers on
the water, they had drifted twice the expected distance; and, what
was still more dangerous, had approached so near the base of the
mountain that here rose precipitously from the eastern shore, as
to render the carols of the birds plainly audible. This was not
the worst. The third canoe had taken the same direction, and was
slowly drifting towards a point where it must inevitably touch,
unless turned aside by a shift of wind, or human hands.
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