Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 3).djvu/187

 "We follow none; we covet nothing," answered the ardent Cora. "Captives, against our wills, have we been brought amongst you; and we ask but permission to depart to our own, in peace. Art thou not Tamenund—the father—the judge—I had almost said, the prophet—of this people?"

"I am Tamenund, of many days."

" 'Tis now some seven years that one of thy people was at the mercy of a white chief, on the borders of this province. He claimed to be of the blood of the good and just Tamenund. 'Go,' said the white man, 'for thy parent's sake, thou art free.' Dost thou remember the name of that English warrior?"

"I remember, that when a laughing boy," returned the patriarch, with the peculiar recollection of vast age, "I stood upon the sands of the sea-shore, and saw a big canoe, with wings whiter than the swan's and wider than many eagles, come from the rising sun—"

"Nay, nay; I speak not of a time so very distant; but of favour shown to thy kindred