12 The Chase Begins

CHAPTER 12 The Chase Begins The sky was still heavy with stars when Hawkeye woke everyone up. "Let's go," he said. "And be careful. Don't step on anything but stone or wood. That is a trail nothing but a nose can follow! Not like grass, which shows all footprints." When they reached the sandy shores of the lake, Hawkeye said, "We must be quick to meet the tide, which will wash away all sign of us." Duncan did not say a word as they paddled

away. When they were safely on the water, he said, "With enemies both behind and in front of us, it's sure to be dangerous." Hawkeye smiled. "If we can stay ahead of them, we might have a chance." Chingachgook and Uncas led the canoe through small streams and between little islands. They traveled for some time, until Uncas lifted up his paddle and pointed it toward the forest. "I don't see anything!" Duncan said. "Look carefully," Hawkeye whispered. "There is smoke near that fog. Someone has lit a fire." "Well, let's go," Duncan said. "There can't be that many of them. What if they have Cora and Alice?" "There is no way to tell from that fire how many men are over there," Hawkeye said. "We don't want to rush into anything. We could land the canoe and go up through the mountains. What do you think, Uncas?" The younger Mohican did not reply. Instead,

he dipped his paddle deep into the water. Hawkeye knew this was his answer: they moved faster and faster to shore. "There!" Hawkeye said. "They've got two canoes to go with that smoke." He pointed to the brush, where two canoes were concealed. "We've found them!" Duncan shouted. Just then, they heard a loud whoop. Someone had seen them! Men on the shore jumped into their canoes and started to chase Duncan and the others. Uncas and Chingachgook paddled with all their might. "Keep them at that distance," Hawkeye said. "There is no way they can catch up then." Just as they had almost outrun the other canoes, Uncas shouted. Another canoe was approaching them from a different direction. Hawkeye picked up his paddle and plunged it into the water.

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"Make for the rocks," General Munro shouted. "We can fight them on land!" It was a race of speed: who could make it to shore faster? The Hurons were gaining on them. The closer they came, the harder Uncas, Chingachgook, and Hawkeye pushed their paddles into the water. The lake grew wider. Finally the distance between their canoe and that of their enemies grew larger. They pressed hard toward land. But instead of landing on the western shore of the island, Hawkeye steered the canoe away. The other canoes had given up and turned back, but Hawkeye insisted they keep going. They paddled for many more hours, until they reached a bay close to the north end of the lake. Finally they landed the canoe on the beach, and Hawkeye and Duncan went up on a bluff to look around. "See," Hawkeye pointed, "over there—that's a canoe. The Hurons will be on our trail the minute it gets dark. They will want to surprise us—to try

to catch us off guard." They climbed back down, and Hawkeye told Uncas and Chingachgook what he had seen. They would have to move quickly. The men picked up their canoe and started walking along a wide trail. They crossed a stream and came to a bit of rocks. Here, Hawkeye, Uncas, and Chingachgook walked carefully backwards to create a false trail. The men came to another little stream that led to the lake and got back into the canoe. Thick bushes hung on top of them, hiding the men from sight. They paddled until Hawkeye thought it was safe enough to land, and then they rested until it was dark. When the sun set, they pushed back toward the western shore. They hid the canoe on the shore and set off. It was time to find Cora and Alice.