Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 2).djvu/216

 they had reached a point whence they might command an entire view of the northern shore of the island, the side that had hitherto been concealed.

"There they are by all the truth of signs!" whispered the scout; "two canoes and a smoke! The knaves have'nthaven't [sic] yet got their eyes out of the mist, or we should hear the accursed whoop. Together, friends—we are leaving them and are already nearly out of whistle of a bullet."

The well known crack of a rifle, whose ball came skipping along the placid surface of the strait, and a shrill yell from the island, interrupted his speech, and announced that their passage was discovered. In another instant several savages were seen rushing into the canoes, which were soon dancing over the water in swift pursuit. These fearful precursors of a coming struggle produced no change in the countenances and movements of his three guides, so far as Duncan could discover, except that the strokes of their paddles were longer and more in unison, and caused the little bark to spring forward