In consequence of this change in the position of the scow, which was effected before Hutter had succeeded in opening the gate of his dock, the Ark and the Castle lay, as sailors would express it, yard-arm and yard-arm, kept asunder some ten or twelve feet by means of the piles.
As the scow pressed close against the latter, their tops formed a species of breast work that rose to the height of a man's head, covering in a certain degree the parts of the scow that were not protected by the cabin.
The Delaware surveyed this arrangement with great satisfaction and, as the canoe of Hutter passed through the gate into the dock, he thought that he might defend his position against any garrison in the castle, for a sufficient time, could he but have had the helping arm of his friend Deerslayer.
As it was, he felt comparatively secure, and no longer suffered the keen apprehensions he had lately experienced in behalf of Hist.
A single shove sent the canoe from the gate to the trap beneath the castle.
Here Hutter found all fast, neither padlock nor chain nor bar having been molested.
The key was produced, the locks removed, the chain loosened, and the trap pushed upward.
Hurry now thrust his head in at the opening; the arms followed, and the colossal legs rose without any apparent effort.
At the next instant, his heavy foot was heard stamping in the passage above; that which separated the chambers of the father and daughters, and into which the trap opened.
He then gave a shout of triumph.
"Come on, old Tom," the reckless woodsman called out from within the building - "here's your tenement, safe and sound; ay, and as empty as a nut that has passed half an hour in the paws of a squirrel!
The Delaware brags of being able to see silence; let him come here, and he may feel it, in the bargain."
"Any silence where you are, Hurry Harry," returned Hutter, thrusting his head in at the hole as he uttered the last word, which instantly caused his voice to sound smothered to those without - "Any silence where you are, ought to be both seen and felt, for it's unlike any other silence."
"Come, come, old fellow; hoist yourself up, and we'll open doors and windows and let in the fresh air to brighten up matters.
Few words in troublesome times, make men the best fri'nds. Your darter Judith is what I call a misbehaving young woman, and the hold of the whole family on me is so much weakened by her late conduct, that it wouldn't take a speech as long as the ten commandments to send me off to the river, leaving you and your traps, your Ark and your children, your man servants and your maid servants, your oxen and your asses, to fight this battle with the Iroquois by yourselves.
Open that window, Floating Tom, and I'll blunder through and do the same job to the front door."
A moment of silence succeeded, and a noise like that produced by the fall of a heavy body followed.
A deep execration from Hurry succeeded, and then the whole interior of the building seemed alive.
The noises that now so suddenly, and we may add so unexpectedly even to the Delaware, broke the stillness within, could not be mistaken.
They resembled those that would be produced by a struggle between tigers in a cage.
Once or twice the Indian yell was given, but it seemed smothered, and as if it proceeded from exhausted or compressed throats, and, in a single instance, a deep and another shockingly revolting execration came from the throat of Hurry.
It appeared as if bodies were constantly thrown upon the floor with violence, as often rising to renew the struggle.
Chingachgook felt greatly at a loss what to do.
He had all the arms in the Ark, Hutter and Hurry having proceeded without their rifles, but there was no means of using them, or of passing them to the hands of their owners.
The combatants were literally caged, rendering it almost as impossible under the circumstances to get out, as to get into the building.
Then there was Hist to embarrass his movements, and to cripple his efforts.
With a view to relieve himself from this disadvantage, he told the girl to take the remaining canoe and to join Hutter's daughters, who were incautiously but deliberately approaching, in order to save herself, and to warn the others of their danger.
But the girl positively and firmly refused to comply.
At that moment no human power, short of an exercise of superior physical force, could have induced her to quit the Ark.
The exigency of the moment did not admit of delay, and the Delaware seeing no possibility of serving his friends, cut the line and by a strong shove forced the scow some twenty feet clear of the piles.
Here he took the sweeps and succeeded in getting a short distance to windward, if any direction could be thus termed in so light an air, but neither the time, nor his skill at the oars, allowed the distance to be great.
When he ceased rowing, the Ark might have been a hundred yards from the platform, and half that distance to the southward of it, the sail being lowered.
Judith and Hetty had now discovered that something was wrong, and were stationary a thousand feet farther north.
All this while the furious struggle continued within the house.
In scenes like these, events thicken in less time than they can be related.
From the moment when the first fall was heard within the building to that when the Delaware ceased his awkward attempts to row, it might have been three or four minutes, but it had evidently served to weaken the combatants.
The oaths and execrations of Hurry were no longer heard, and even the struggles had lost some of their force and fury.
Nevertheless they still continued with unabated perseverance.
At this instant the door flew open, and the fight was transferred to the platform, the light and the open air.
A Huron had undone the fastenings of the door, and three or four of his tribe rushed after him upon the narrow space, as if glad to escape from some terrible scene within.
The body of another followed, pitched headlong through the door with terrific violence.
Then March appeared, raging like a lion at bay, and for an instant freed from his numerous enemies.
Hutter was already a captive and bound.
There was now a pause in the struggle, which resembled a lull in a tempest.
The necessity of breathing was common to all, and the combatants stood watching each other, like mastiffs that have been driven from their holds, and are waiting for a favorable opportunity of renewing them.
We shall profit by this pause to relate the manner in which the Indians had obtained possession of the castle, and this the more willingly because it may be necessary to explain to the reader why a conflict which had been so close and fierce, should have also been so comparatively bloodless.
Rivenoak and his companion, particularly the latter who had appeared to be a subordinate and occupied solely with his raft, had made the closest observations in their visits to the castle.
Even the boy had brought away minute and valuable information.
By these means the Hurons obtained a general idea of the manner in which the place was constructed and secured, as well as of details that enabled them to act intelligently in the dark.
Notwithstanding the care that Hutter had taken to drop the Ark on the east side of the building when he was in the act of transferring the furniture from the former to the latter, he had been watched in a way to render the precaution useless.