Cooper makes us realize that
the life of the pioneer was not without its elemental spirit of poetry. We
may feel something of this spirit in the reply of Leatherstocking to the
trembling Cora, when she asked him at midnight what caused a certain
fearful sound:--
"'Lady,' returned the scout, solemnly, 'I have listened to all the sounds
of the woods for thirty years, as a man will listen, whose life and death
depend so often on the quickness of his ears. There is no whine of the
panther, no whistle of the catbird, nor any invention of the devilish
Mingos, that can cheat me. I have heard the forest moan like mortal men
in their affliction; often and again have I listened to the wind playing
its music in the branches of the girdled trees; and I have heard the
lightning cracking in the air, like the snapping of blazing brush, as it
spitted forth sparks and forked flames; but never have I thought that I
heard more than the pleasure of him, who sported with the things of his
hand. But neither the Mohicans, nor I, who am a white man without a
cross, can explain the cry just heard.'"
In addition to the five _Leatherstocking Tales_, three other romances show
special power.
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