Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 3).djvu/228

 and in another moment he appeared, flying across the narrow opening that skirted the base of the terrace on which the village stood, with the velocity of an arrow, and bearing one of his prizes in each hand. He had actually gained the crags, and was leaping up their sides with incredible activity, when a shot from the woods showed how accurate had been the judgment of the scout. The boy answered it with a feeble, but contemptuous shout, and immediately a second bullet was sent after him, from another part of the cover. At the next instant he appeared on the level above, elevating his guns in triumph, while he moved, with the air of a conqueror, towards the renowned hunter, who had honoured him by so glorious a commission.

Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawk-eye had taken in the fate of his messenger, he received "kill-deer" with a satisfaction that, momentarily, drove all other recollections from his mind. After examining the piece with a keen and intelligent eye, and opening and shutting the pan some ten or fifteen times, and trying sundry other