THE DEERSLAYER Annotated and Illustrated Edition by JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

Book excerpt: The Deerslayer is the last entry in what has become known as the Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper. This final look back at the story at the title character actually named Natty Bumppo (but more often referred to as Hawkeye) and his Mohican comrade Chingachgook takes place in the familiar environs of the wilderness territory in New York. The narrative surrounds an exciting showdown with members of the Huron tribe who have abducted a young woman from Delaware to whom Chingachgook is engaged. The cast is rounded out by what might well be interpreted as a prescient precursor to the stereotype of the grizzled old prospector-grizzled old trapper Thomas Hutter-and his two stepdaughters: the simple-minded Hetty and her haughty sister Judith.