The repeated summons
to surrender, which Paul uttered in a voice that he intended should
strike terror in their young bosoms, were as little heeded as were the
calls of the trapper to abandon a resistance, which might prove fatal to
some among them, without offering the smallest probability of eventual
success. Encouraging each other to persevere, they poised the fragments
of rocks, prepared the lighter missiles for immediate service, and
thrust forward the barrels of the muskets with a business-like air, and
a coolness, that would have done credit to men practised in warfare.

"Keep under the ledge," said the trapper, pointing out to Paul the
manner in which he should proceed; "keep in your foot more, lad--ah! you
see the warning was not amiss! had the stone struck it, the bees would
have had the prairies to themselves. Now, namesake of my friend; Uncas,
in name and spirit! now, if you have the activity of Le Cerf Agile, you
may make a far leap to the right, and gain twenty feet, without danger.
Beware the bush--beware the bush! 'twill prove a treacherous hold! Ah!
he has done it; safely and bravely has he done it! Your turn comes next,
friend; that follows the fruits of natur'. Push you to the left, and
divide the attention of the children. Nay, girls, fire,--my old ears
are used to the whistling of lead; and little reason have I to prove a
doe-heart, with fourscore years on my back." He shook his head with
a melancholy smile, but without flinching in a muscle, as the bullet,
which the exasperated Hetty fired, passed innocently at no great
distance from the spot where he stood. "It is safer keeping in your
track than dodging when a weak finger pulls the trigger," he continued
"but it is a solemn sight to witness how much human natur' is inclined
to evil, in one so young! Well done, my man of beasts and plants!
Another such leap, and you may laugh at all the squatter's bars and
walls. The Doctor has got his temper up! I see it in his eye, and
something good will come of him! Keep closer, man--keep closer."

The trapper, though he was not deceived as to the state of Dr. Battius'
mind, was, however, greatly in error as to the exciting cause. While
imitating the movements of his companions, and toiling his way upward
with the utmost caution, and not without great inward tribulation, the
eye of the naturalist had caught a glimpse of an unknown plant, a few
yards above his head, and in a situation more than commonly expose