On the other hand, there
was a general but suppressed murmur of admiration at the steadiness
with which the captive stood the trial. The head was the only
part he could move, and this had been purposely left free, that
the tormentors might have the amusement, and the tormented endure
the shame, of his dodging, and otherwise attempting to avoid the
blows. Deerslayer disappointed these hopes by a command of nerve
that rendered his whole body as immovable as the tree to which he
was bound. Nor did he even adopt the natural and usual expedient
of shutting his eyes, the firmest and oldest warrior of the red-men
never having more disdainfully denied himself this advantage under
similar circumstances.
The Raven had no sooner made his unsuccessful and puerile effort,
than he was succeeded by le Daim-Mose, or the Moose; a middle aged
warrior who was particularly skilful in the use of the tomahawk,
and from whose attempt the spectators confidently looked for
gratification. This man had none of the good nature of the Raven,
but he would gladly have sacrificed the captive to his hatred
of the pale-faces generally, were it not for the greater interest
he felt in his own success as one particularly skilled in the use
of this weapon.
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