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Three days had passed. Fort William Henry had burnt down.
The French soldiers had gone. The Indians had gone. The bodies
of many English soldiers, women and children lay on the ground.
In the evening, five men walked through the forest. Munro,
Duncan, Hawk-eye, Chingachgook and Uncas were looking for
Cora and Alice. They found the dead bodies of many English
people. The five men were sad and angry.
Suddenly, Uncas shouted to the others, 'Look!'
He had a small piece of cloth in his hand.
'That is a piece of Cora's dress!' said Munro.
Uncas found footprints on the ground, near a tree.
'Three people and a horse have stood here,' he said.
Then Chingachgook found Alice's necklace. And he found another
piece of Cora's dress. Duncan took the necklace. He smiled.
'Alice is alive,' he said.
'Miss Cora has left a trail,' said Hawk-eye. 'She has left
pieces of her dress. We can follow this trail. But we must
go quietly. Magua is with them.'
'But it is late,' said Hawk-eye. 'We will eat some food. We
will sleep here tonight. Tomorrow we will follow Miss Cora's
trail.'
Very early the next morning, Hawk-eye woke the English officers
and the Mohicans. The five men followed Cora's trail. It led
them to Lake Horican. Uncas and Chingachgook found a canoe
in the grass near the lake. The five men got into the canoe.
The Mohicans paddled it along the lake. After half an hour,
Uncas spoke quietly.
'Smoke,' he said.
He was looking at a small island in front of them.
'Smoke from a fire,' said Hawk-eye. 'And there are two canoes.'
Suddenly, some Hurons ran from the trees on the island. They
got into the two canoes.
'They are following us,' said Duncan. 'Paddle faster!'
'No! Stop paddling, Chingachgook,' said Hawk-eye. 'I will
shoot them.'And he lifted his long gun. He fired. A Huron
in the first canoe fell into the lake. The Hurons stopped
their two canoes. They did not follow. Chingachgook and Uncas
started paddling again. The five men went on. They went north,
up the lake
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