Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 1).djvu/257

 and murmuring, as she folded Alice to her bosom—

"There, there; read our fortunes in their faces; we shall see! we shall see!"

The action and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke more impressively than any words, and quickly drew the attention of her companions on that spot, where her own was riveted with an intenseness that nothing but the importance of the stake could create.

When Magua reached the cluster of lolling savages, who, gorged with their disgusting meal, lay stretched on the earth in a sort of brutal indulgence, he commenced speaking with the utmost dignity of an Indian chief. The first syllables he uttered had the effect to cause his listeners to raise themselves in attitudes of respectful attention. As the Huron used his native language, the prisoners, notwithstanding the caution of the natives had kept them within the swing of their tomahawks, could only conjecture the substance of his harangue from the nature of those