Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 2).djvu/166

 with the air of a man who beheld a disgusting serpent.

"Here is the palpable impression of the footstep of a man!" cried Heyward, bending over the indicated spot; "he has trod in the margin of this pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken. They are captives!"

"Better so than left to starve in the wilderness," returned the scout; "and they will leave a wider trail. I would wager fifty beaver skins to as many flints, that the Mohicans and I enter their wigwams within the month! Stoop to it, Uncas, and try what you can make of that moccasin; for moccasin it plainly is, and no shoe."

The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing the scattered leaves from around the place, he examined it with much of that sort of scrutiny that a money-dealer, in these days of pecuniary doubts, would bestow on a suspected due-bill. At length, he arose from his knees, as if satisfied with the result of the examination.

"Well, boy," demanded the attentive scout, "what does it say? can you make any thing of the tell-tale?"