The Last of the Mohicans Page #19

HEYWARD:

Munro is expecting him to be the

good soldier in defense of British

military interests.

At the same time...

CORA:

examines him with a cool, level stare.

HEYWARD:

looks at Munro. More French rounds detonate O.S. What if

Webb gets here and they need to launch a counter-attack?

They need every man they have. It's his moment of decision...

HEYWARD:

(to Munro)

I saw nothing that would lead me to

the conclusion it was other than a

raid by savages bent on thievery.

Jack Winthrop grabs Nathaniel.

HAWKEYE:

You're a liar!

CORA'S

saddened. Heyward's stature has fallen irrevocably in her

eyes.

HEYWARD:

can't help it. He turns to look at Cora...

HEYWARD'S POV:
DOORWAY

She's gone.

HEYWARD:

suffused with an inner sadness, turns to Hawkeye.

HAWKEYE:

And the blood is on your hands!

Heyward reaches for his sword.

MUNRO:

(to Heyward)

I'll have none of that!

(to colonials)

Montcalm is a soldier and a gentleman.

Not a butcher.

HAWKEYE:

Easy for you to suppose. While it is

their women and children, not yours,

alone in their farms!

MUNRO:

(exploding)

You forget yourself!

JACK:

We are not forgettin' Webb's promise!

MUNRO:

British promises are honored. And

the militia will not be released.

Because I need more definite proof

than this man's word!

JACK:

Nathaniel's word been good on the

frontier a long time before you got

here!

MUNRO:

This interview's over! The militia

stays!

JACK:

(to Munro)

Does the rule of English law no longer

govern? Has it been replaced by

absolutism?

This is very dangerous talk.

HAWKEYE:

And if English law cannot be trusted,

maybe these people would do better

makin' a peace with the French!

HEYWARD:

That is sedition! Treason!

HAWKEYE:

That is the truth!

HEYWARD:

(restaining himself)

I ought to have you whipped from

this fort!

HAWKEYE:

Major!

(changes down)

Some day I think you and I are gonna

have a serious disagreement.

MUNRO:

(steel)

Anyone fomenting or advocating leaving

Fort William Henry will be hung for

sedition.

Anyone leaving will be shot for

desertion.

(pause)

My decision is final. Get out.

Hawkeye and the others are not intimidated. Their rage

smolders. The look on Hawkeye's face says this is not over.

CUT TO:

EXT. FORT, PARADE GROUND - NIGHT

BONFIRE:

sparks shower skyward. Impromptu music. Some Celtic proto-

bluegrass played on fiddle & drums. It's stirring.

ANOTHER ANGLE:
SOME WOMEN

laundresses, dance from soldier to soldier - English foot

and American Rangers. A few people lit by the firelight are

solemn. Most are stirred to lift their morale for a while.

THEIR FACES:

underlit by the red firelight. They are a disposable people,

a diverse plurality stuck in a postage stamp-size fort in an

ocean of forest, locked into mortal deadly conflict because

of the policies of cold and distant European monarchs.

A PLACE A LITTLE DISTANT FROM THE FIRE

We can barely make out the eyes and faces of a number of men

behind logs, crates and new wreckage from the day's

bombardment.

HAWKEYE:

(low)

... got no kin in the settlements.

If I did, I'd be long gone.

IAN:

You didn't think it right to be here

in the first place.

HAWKEYE:

By my light that's how I saw it then

and I see it that way now...

IAN:

(low)

But we are under English military

authority.

JACK:

(low)

I believe if they set aside their

law as and when they wish, their law

no longer has rightful authority

over us. All they have over us is

tyranny, then. And I'll stay here no

longer. No force on earth will keep

me here... Anyone caught leavin' the

fort could be shot. So each man make

your own decision... Those who are

goin', be back here in an hour.

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