ten o'clock
We did not use it , fearing an ambush . The Mohican led us ; I followed him ; the last Oneida marked the trees for a new and better trail , and a straighter one not following every bend in the river . And so , in silence we moved southward over gently sloping ground which our wagons and artillery might easily follow while the batteaux fell down the river and our infantry marched on either bank , using the path where it existed . Toward ten o'clock we came within sound of the river again , its softly rushing roar filling the woods ; and after a while , far through the forest dusk , we saw the thin , golden streak of sunlight marking its lonely course . The trail that the Mohican now selected swung ever nearer to the river , and at last , we could see low willows gilded by the sun , and a patch of blue above , and a bird flying . Treading in file , rifles at trail , and knife and hatchet loosened , we moved on swiftly just within that strip of dusk that divides the forest from the river shrub ; and I saw the silver water flowing deep and smooth , where batteaux as well as canoes might pass with unvexed keels ; and , over my right shoulder , above the trees , a baby peak , azure and amethyst in a cobalt sky ; and a high eagle soaring all alone . The Mohican had halted ; an Oneida ran down to the sandy shore and waded out into mid-stream ; another Oneida was peeling a square of bark from a towering pine .