le destination, she made no other
answer than by pointing towards the dark group, with an agitation she
could not control, and murmuring, as she folded Alice to her bosom--

"There, there; read our fortunes in their faces; we shall see; we shall
see!"

The action, and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke more impressively
than any words, and quickly drew the attention of her companions on that
spot where her own was riveted with an intenseness that nothing but the
importance of the stake could create.

When Magua reached the cluster of lolling savages, who, gorged with
their disgusting meal, lay stretched on the earth in brutal indulgence,
he commenced speaking with the dignity of an Indian chief. The first
syllables he uttered had the effect to cause his listeners to raise
themselves in attitudes of respectful attention. As the Huron used his
native language, the prisoners, notwithstanding the caution of the
natives had kept them within the swing of their tomahawks, could only
conjecture the substance of his harrangue, from the nature of those
significant gestures with which an Indian always illustrates his
eloquence.

At first, the language, as well as the action of Magua, appeared calm
and deliberate. When he had succeeded in sufficiently awakening the
attention of his comrades, Heyward fancied, by his pointing so
frequently towards the direction of the great lakes, that he spoke of
the land of their fathers, and of their distant tribe. Frequent
indications of applause escaped the listeners, who, as they uttered the
expressive "Hugh!" looked at each other in commendation of the speaker.
Le Renard was too skilful to neglect his advantage. He now spoke of the
long and painful route by which they had left those spacious grounds and
happy villages, to come and battle against the enemies of their
Canadian fathers. He enumerated the warriors of the party; their
several merits; their frequent services to the nation; their wounds, and
the number of the scalps they had taken. Whenever he alluded to any
present (and the subtle Indian neglected none), the dark countenance of
the flattered individual gleamed with exultation, nor did he even
hesitate to assert the truth of the words, by gestures of applause and
confirmation. Then the voice of the speaker fell, and lost the loud,
animated tones of triumph with which he had enumerated their deeds of
success and victory. He described the cataract of Glenn's; the
impregnable posi