Conanchet started,
and it seemed as if he were about to plunge forward; but, recovering
himself by a desperate effort, his body sunk back against the tree, and he
fell in the attitude of a chief seated in council. There was a smile of
fierce triumph on his face, and his lips evidently moved. Uncas did not
breathe, as he bent forward to listen:--
"Mohican, I die before my heart is soft!" uttered firmly, but with a
struggle, reached his ears. Then came two long and heavy respirations. One
was the returning breath of Uncas, and the other the dying sigh of the
last Sachem of the broken and dispersed tribe of the Narragansetts.
Chapter XXXII.
"Each lonely scene shall thee restore;
For thee the tear be duly shed:
Beloved till life could charm no more,
And mourn'd till pity's self be dead."
Collins.
An hour later, and the principal actors in the foregoing scene had
disappeared. There remained only the widowed Narra-mattah, with Dudley,
the divine, and Whittal Ring.
The body of Conanchet still continued, where he had died, seated like a
chief in council.
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