 Huntly mourns the fact that he had to take human life, however, later in the book he learns that one of the Indians he had slain might have been responsible for killing Waldegrave, and this knowledge comforts his conscience.Huntly's justification of killing is similar to Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov's justification in "Crime and Punishment".They both see their actions as fulfilling a higher and more noble purpose.