Home › The Last of the Mohicans › The Last of the Mohicans: Indian

The Last of the Mohicans: Indian

As the unsuspecting travelers pressed through the thick forests, a savage face glared at them from a thicket. Magua was leading the party into a trap. Two men sat by the banks of a small stream about an hour's journey from Fort Edward. One, a magnificent specimen of Indian manhood, had a terrifying emblem of death painted upon his naked breast. The other, tall, with the lithe muscles of the woodsman, was white. "Listen, Hawkeye," said the Indian, "we Mohicans came and made this land ours. Then came the Dutch, and gave my people the fire-water. Then they parted with their land. Now I, a chief and a sagamore, have never seen the sun shine except through the trees, and have never visited the graves of my fathers. And my son, Uncas, the last of the tribe, is the last of the Mohicans." As his name was mentioned, Uncas slipped into view and seated himself gravely by the side of his father, Chingachgook.

Almost immediately the little cavalcade from Fort Edward came into view. Heyward, addressing Hawkeye, inquired as to their whereabouts, explaining that their Indian guide had lost his way. "An Indian lost in the woods?" said the scout in perplexity. "I should like to look at the creature."

He crept stealthily into the thicket, to return after a moment, his suspicions fully confirmed. Explaining to Heyward that the Indian had tried to trap the party, he outlined a plan for the capture of the traitor. But, as they stole upon him, Magua divined their plan and vanished in the thick woods. Hawkeye realized the serious plight of the little party and volunteered to help them. They set off up the river in a canoe, bound for a cave where none but the scout and his Indian companions had ever set foot. This haven they reached in safety, although pursued by a band of Indians as they crossed the lake.