Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 2).djvu/169

 hither the thing you see dangling from yonder thorn-bush."

When the youthful Indian warrior had complied, the scout received the prize, and holding it on high, he laughed in his silent but heartfelt manner, before he said—

" 'Tis the tooting we'pon of the singer! now we shall have a trail a priest might travel. Uncas, look for the marks of a shoe that is long enough to uphold six feet two of tottering human flesh. I begin to have some hopes of the fellow, since he has given up squalling to follow, perhaps, some better trade."

"At least, he has been faithful to his trust," said Heyward; "and Cora and Alice are not without a friend."

"Yes," said Hawk-eye, dropping his rifle, and leaning on it with an air of visible contempt, "he will do their singing! Can he slay a buck for their dinner; journey by the moss on the beeches, or cut the throat of a Huron? If not, the first cat-bird he meets is the cleverest fellow of the two. Well, boy, any signs of such a foundation?"