Glenn Falls Siege

The siege of the rocky island at Glenn's Falls turns a temporary refuge into a trap: Hawkeye, Chingachgook, and Uncas hold off a pursuing Huron party long enough for their companions to escape, but the loss of their canoe forces the allies to abandon the island by water.

The island as refuge and trap

After leading the frightened horses into the river, the party secures them among shrubs growing in cracks in the rocks, leaving them in the water overnight. Hawkeye puts Duncan Heyward and the other distressed travelers at the front of the canoe and takes the rear himself. He propels the fragile craft into the turbulent current, where the crossing becomes a prolonged struggle against the water. The island offers concealment and a defensible position, but its isolation also makes escape dependent on the canoe.

The attack and defense

The danger becomes unmistakable when cries fill the woods around the party. David Gamut rises during the tumult and is struck down by gunfire from the opposite banks. The fighting then moves close to the island, with neither side exposing itself freely. Hawkeye warns that the attackers know the defenders' numbers and are unlikely to abandon the pursuit; the Hurons have also swum downriver and reached the island's head.

As the pursuers cross the rocks, Hawkeye fires from cover, stopping the foremost attacker. The defense then breaks into close encounters: Hawkeye grapples with one opponent while Heyward faces another. Uncas intervenes when Heyward is in immediate danger and pulls him back from the edge. The episode shows the companions' survival depending not on a single stand but on coordinated action among the three defenders.

Loss of the canoe and retreat

The canoe reappears moving across the eddy under an unseen guide. A Huron rises from its shelter and signals success as the craft glides downstream. With their means of escape gone and the attackers still near, Hawkeye tells Chingachgook that their fight together may be over and that the Hurons could triumph. His assessment marks the island defense as a lost position rather than a victory.

Chingachgook answers Hawkeye's proposal in Delaware, then silently enters the river from a concealed side of the rock. Hawkeye gives Cora an affectionate farewell, sets his rifle aside, and follows; he regrets that their ammunition has run out. Uncas hesitates briefly, then also enters the current. His companions see him surface farther downstream before he disappears from view.

Significance

The island episode reverses the promise of the earlier canoe crossing. The water first carries the travelers through danger, but once the canoe is taken, the same river becomes the defenders' only route away from the island. The three allies' separate departures preserve the possibility of survival while breaking up the group: the defense ends not with secure escape, but with the companions left behind and the defenders scattered into the current.