Perceiving that the attempt was a complete
failure, the warriors interfered to put a stop to this scene, and
this so much the more because preparations were now seriously making
for the commencement of the real tortures, or that which would put
the fortitude of the sufferer to the test of severe bodily pain. A
sudden and unlooked for announcement, that proceeded from one of the
look-outs, a boy ten or twelve years old, however, put a momentary
check to the whole proceedings. As this interruption has a close
connection with the d?nouemnent of our story, it shall be given in
a separate chapter.
Chapter XXX.
"So deem'st thou - so each mortal deems
Of that which is from that which seems;
But other harvest here
Than that which peasant's scythe demands,
Was gather'd in by sterner hands,
With bayonet, blade, and spear."
Scott, "The Field of Waterloo," V.i-6.
It exceeded Deerslayer's power to ascertain what had produced the
sudden pause in the movements of his enemies, until the fact was
revealed in the due course of events. He perceived that much agitation
prevailed among the women in particular, while the warriors rested
on their arms in a sort of dignified expectation.
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