d on the enterprise. In a word, it was virtually the
maiden expedition of these two ambitious young forest soldiers; and
while one of them set forth impelled by sentiments that usually carry
men so far, both had all their feelings of pride and manhood enlisted in
their success.

Instead of steering in a direct line to the point, then distant from the
ark less than a quarter of a mile, Deerslayer laid the head of his
canoe diagonally towards the centre of the lake, with a view to obtain
a position from which he might approach the shore, having his enemies
in his front only. The spot where Hetty had landed, and where Hist had
promised to meet them, moreover, was on the upper side of the projection
rather than on the lower; and to reach it would have required the two
adventurers to double nearly the whole point, close in with the shore,
had not this preliminary step been taken. So well was the necessity for
this measure understood, that Chingachgook quietly paddled on, although
it was adopted without consulting him, and apparently was taking him in
a direction nearly opposite to that one might think he most wished to
go. A few minutes sufficed, however, to carry the canoe the necessary
distance, when both the young men ceased paddling as it were by
instinctive consent, and the boat became stationary. The darkness
increased rather than diminished, but it was still possible, from the
place where the adventurers lay, to distinguish the outlines of the
mountains. In vain did the Delaware turn his head eastward, to catch a
glimpse of the promised star; for, notwithstanding the clouds broke
a little near the horizon in that quarter of the heavens, the curtain
continued so far drawn as effectually to conceal all behind it. In
front, as was known by the formation of land above and behind it, lay
the point, at the distance of about a thousand feet. No signs of the
castle could be seen, nor could any movement in that quarter of the lake
reach the ear. The latter circumstance might have been equally owing to
the distance, which was several miles, or to the fact that nothing was
in motion. As for the ark, though scarcely farther from the canoe than
the point, it lay so completely buried in the shadows of the shore, that
it would not have been visible even had there been many degrees more of
light than actually existed.

The adventurers now held a conference in low voices, consulting together
as to the probable time. Deerslayer though