Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 3).djvu/7

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THE

LAST OF THE MOHICANS.



CHAPTER I.

—"But though the beast of game

The privilege of chase may claim;

Though space and law the stag we lend,

Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend;

Whoever recked, where, how, or when,

The prowling fox was trapped or slain."—Lady of the Lake.

It is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like those of the more instructed whites, guarded by the presence of armed men. Well informed of the approach of every danger, while it is yet at a distance, the Indian generally rests secure under his knowledge of the signs of the forest, and the long and difficult paths that separate

VOL. III.
B