Judith,
too, yielded to her softer feelings, and listened to the whole of
Hetty's artless narrative of what occurred after she landed. The
woods had few terrors for either of these girls, educated as they
had been, and accustomed as they were to look out daily at their
rich expanse or to wander beneath their dark shades; but the elder
sister felt that she would have hesitated about thus venturing
alone into an Iroquois camp. Concerning Hist, Hetty was not very
communicative. She spoke of her kindness and gentleness and of the
meeting in the forest; but the secret of Chingachgook was guarded
with a shrewdness and fidelity that many a sharper-witted girl
might have failed to display.
At length the several conferences were broken up by the reappearance
of Hutter on the platform. Here he assembled the whole party, and
communicated as much of his intentions as he deemed expedient. Of
the arrangement made by Deerslayer, to abandon the castle during
the night and to take refuge in the ark, he entirely approved.
It struck him as it had the others, as the only effectual means
of escaping destruction. Now that the savages had turned their
attention to the construction of rafts, no doubt could exist of
their at least making an attempt to carry the building, and the
message of the bloody sticks sufficiently showed their confidence
in their own success.
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