Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 2).djvu/112

 preter," returned the politic Montcalm, suddenly extending an open letter towards Munro, as he spoke; "you will there learn, monsieur, that his movements are not likely to prove embarrassing to my army."

The veteran seized the offered paper without waiting for Duncan to translate the speech, and with an eagerness that be trayed how important he deemed its contents. As his eye passed heavily over the words, his countenance gradually changed from its look of military pride, to one of deep chagrin; his lip began to quiver; and, as he suffered the paper to fall from his hand, his head dropped upon his chest, like that of a man whose hopes were all withered at a single blow. Duncan caught the letter from the ground, and without apology for the liberty he took, he read, at a glance, its cruel purport. Their common superior, so far from encouraging them to resist, advised a speedy surrender, urging, in the plainest language, as a reason, the utter impossibility of his sending a single man to their rescue.