The Deerslayer (Barnes & Noble Classics) - James Fenimore Cooper [292]
“God bless you, dearest sister, for that brave and ready act,” murmured Judith, herself unnerved so much as to be incapable of exertion ; “Heaven itself has sent you on its holy errand.”
“‘Twas well meant, Judith,” rejoined the victim; “ ’twas excellently meant, and ’twas timely, though it may prove ontimely in the ind! What is to come to pass must come to pass soon, or ‘twill quickly be too late. Had I drawn in one mouthful of that flame in breathing, the power of man couldn’t save my life; and you see that this time they’ve so bound my forehead as not to leave my head the smallest chance. ’Twas well-meant; but it might have been more marciful to let the flames act their part.”
“Cruel, heartless Hurons!” exclaimed the still indignant Hetty; “would you burn a man and a Christian as you would burn a log of wood! Do you never read your Bibles? or do you think God will forget such things?”
A gesture from Rivenoak caused the scattered brands to be collected ; fresh wood was brought, even the women and children busying themselves eagerly in the gathering of dried sticks. The flame was just kindling a second time, when an Indian female pushed through the circle, advanced to the heap, and with her foot dashed aside the lighted twigs in time to prevent the conflagration. A yell followed this second disappointment; but when the offender turned towards the circle, and presented the countenance of Hist, it was succeeded by a common exclamation of pleasure and surprise. For a minute, all thought of pursuing the business in hand was forgotten, and young and old crowded around the girl, in haste to demand an explanation of her sudden and unlooked-for return. It was at this critical instant that Hist spoke to Judith in a low voice, placed some small object, unseen, in her hand, and then turned to meet the salutations of the Huron girls, with whom she was personally a great favorite. Judith recovered her self-possession and acted promptly. The small, keen-edged knife, that Hist had given to the other, was passed by the latter into the hands of Hetty, as the safest and least-suspected medium of transferring it to Deerslayer. But the feeble intellect of the last defeated the well-grounded hopes of all three. Instead of first cutting loose the hands of the victim, and then concealing the knife in his clothes, in readiness for action at the most available instant, she went to work herself, with earnestness and simplicity, to cut the thongs that bound his head, that he might not again be in danger of inhaling flames. Of course this deliberate procedure was seen, and the hands of Hetty were arrested ere she had more than liberated the upper portion of the captive’s body, not including his arms, below the elbows. This discovery at once pointed distrust towards Hist; and, to Judith’s surprise, when questioned on the subject, that spirited girl was not disposed to deny her agency in what had passed.
“Why should I not help the Deerslayer?” the girl demanded, in the tones of a firm-minded woman. “He is the brother of a Delaware chief; my heart is all Delaware. Come forth, miserable Briarthorn,1 and wash the Iroquois paint from your face; stand before the Hurons, the crow that you are; you would eat the carrion of your own dead rather than starve. Put him face to face with Deerslayer, chiefs and warriors; I will show you how great a knave you have been keeping in your tribe.”
This bold language, uttered in their own dialect, and with a manner full of confidence, produced a deep sensation among the