Summary: Chapter XVIII
On the third day after the surprise attack, Hawkeye, the
Mohicans, Munro, and Heyward approach the besieged ramparts, which
still smoke with fire and smell of death. Cora and Alice remain
missing, and the men desperately seek for signs of life. They find
no apparent signals or codes. When they begin looking for a trail,
Uncas discovers part of Cora’s green riding veil. Other clues lead
the men to the former location of the horses, and they conclude
that the girls, accompanied by Magua and Gamut, have gone into the
wilderness. Heyward wants to pursue them immediately, but Hawkeye
insists upon careful deliberation and planning. Munro, depressed
by his daughters’ disappearance, is apathetic.
Summary: Chapter XIX
The group spends the night around a fire in the desolate
ruins of the fort. They eat bear meat for dinner. Looking out at
the lake, Heyward hears noises. Uncas explain that wolves are prowling
nearby. Hawkeye is pondering the meaning of paradise when he hears another
sound. Uncas goes to investigate, and the group hears a rifle shot.
Chingachgook follows his son, and those left behind hear a splash
of water and another rifle shot. Chingachgook and Uncas return calmly.
When Heyward asks what happened, Uncas shows him the scalp of an
Oneida. After discussing the plan for the next day, the group falls
asleep.
Summary: Chapter XX
Hawkeye convinces the others to head north across a lake.
As they travel across the lake in a light canoe, they are spotted
and soon tailed by Huron canoes. The group’s superior
paddling tactics enable them to outpace their enemies, and Hawkeye
manages to wound one pursuer with Killdeer, his long-range rifle.
Upon reaching the northern shore, the men move eastward in an attempt
to deceive the enemy. Carrying the canoe on their shoulders, they
leave an obvious trail through the woods and end up at a large rock.
Then they retrace their steps, stepping in their own footprints
until they reach the brook and paddle to safety on the western shore.
They hide the canoe and rest for the pursuit that will continue
the next day.
Summary: Chapter XXI
Uncas finds a trail, and the men follow it, hoping it
will lead them to the women. The trail peters out and the party
nearly gives up hope, but Uncas manages to divert the course of
a small stream, revealing a hidden footprint in the sand bed. According
to Hawkeye, the footprint indicates that Magua abandoned the horses
upon reaching Huron territory. The men reluctantly enter
the enemy territory and travel past a beaver pond, whose dams Heyward
mistakes for Indian wigwams. An Indian appears in the forest. Ready
for battle, Hawkeye nearly kills the Indian but soon recognizes
the stranger as Gamut, painted as an Indian with only a scalping
tuft of hair on his head.
Summary: Chapter XXII
As Hawkeye laughs at Gamut’s Indian paint and shaved head,
the psalmodist tells the men that Magua recently separated Alice
and Cora. Magua has sent Alice to a Huron camp and Cora to a Delaware
settlement; he has released Gamut only because the Indians thought
he was insane after they heard his religious singing. Gamut and
Heyward decide to secretly inform the women that they will soon
be rescued. Chingachgook disguises Heyward as a clown, since Heyward’s
knowledge of French can help him to pass as a juggler from Ticonderoga.
Heyward and Gamut proceed to the camp of the Hurons, while Uncas
and Hawkeye travel to find Cora in the Delaware camp. At the Huron
camp, Gamut and Heyward see strange forms rising from the grass.
When they approach the tents, they realize the strange forms are
just children at play.
Summary: Chapter XXIII
The village usually has no guards, but the whooping of
the children draws the attention of the warriors. Heyward pretends
to be a French doctor and attempts to pacify the Hurons, who believe
the French forces abandoned them. A group of Hurons returns with
a prisoner and several human scalps. The Huron elders force the
prisoner to run a race against the tribe’s warriors in order to
escape. Though the prisoner runs speedily, the Hurons outnumber
him, and he wins only because Heyward trips one of his pursuers.
Suddenly, Heyward recognizes the breathless prisoner as Uncas. Meanwhile, in
the main lodge, the father of the man who captured Uncas condemns
his son for cowardice and stabs him in the heart.
