"At least, he has been faithful to his trust," said Heyward; "and Cora and Alice are not without a friend."
"Yes," said Hawkeye, dropping his rifle, and leaning on it with an air of visible contempt, "he will do their singing. Can he slay a buck for their dinner; journey by the moss on the beeches, or cut the throat of a Huron? If not, the first catbird[22] he meets is the cleverest of the two. Well, boy, any signs of such a foundation?"
"Here is something like the footstep of one who has worn a shoe; can it be that of our friend?"
"Touch the leaves lightly, or you'll disconsart the formation. That! that is the print of a foot, but 'tis the dark-hair's; and small it is, too, for one of such a noble height and grand appearance. The singer would cover it with his heel."
"Where! let me look on the footsteps of my child," said Munro, shoving the bushes aside, and bending fondly over the nearly obliterated impression. Though the tread, which had left the mark, had been light and rapid, it was still plainly visible. The aged soldier examined it with eyes that grew dim as he gazed; nor did he rise from his stooping posture until Heyward saw that he had watered the trace of his daughter's passage with a scalding tear. Willing to divert a distress which threatened each moment to break through the restraint of appearances, by giving the veteran something to do, the young man said to the scout,—
"As we now possess these infallible signs, let us commence our march. A moment, at such a time, will appear an age to the captives."
"It is not the swiftest leaping deer that gives the longest chase," returned Hawkeye, without moving his eyes from the different marks that had come under his view; "we know that the rampaging Huron has passed,—and the dark hair,—and the singer,—but where is she of the yellow locks and blue eyes? Though little, and far from being as bold as her sister, she is fair to the view, and pleasant in discourse. Has she no friend, that none care for her?"
"God forbid she should ever want hundreds! Are we not now in her pursuit? for one, I will never cease the search till she be found."
"In that case we may have to journey by different paths; for here she has not passed, light and little as her footstep would be."