Page 670 - THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

The Last of the Mohicans

‘‘Tis Cora!’ exclaimed Heyward, in a voice in which
horror and delight were wildly mingled.
‘Cora! Cora!’ echoed Uncas, bounding forward like a
deer.

‘‘Tis the maiden!’ shouted the scout. ‘Courage, lady;
we come! we come!’
The chase was renewed with a diligence rendered
tenfold encouraging by this glimpse of the captive. But the
way was rugged, broken, and in spots nearly impassable.
Uncas abandoned his rifle, and leaped forward with
headlong precipitation. Heyward rashly imitated his
example, though both were, a moment afterward,
admonished of his madness by hearing the bellowing of a
piece, that the Hurons found time to discharge down the
passage in the rocks, the bullet from which even gave the
young Mohican a slight wound.
‘We must close!’ said the scout, passing his friends by a
desperate leap; ‘the knaves will pick us all off at this
distance; and see, they hold the maiden so as to shield
themselves!’
Though his words were unheeded, or rather unheard,
his example was followed by his companions, who, by
incredible exertions, got near enough to the fugitives to
perceive that Cora was borne along between the two

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