Hawkeye saves Virginia merchant William Shields and his wife when they're ambushed by hostile Indians on their way to open a trading post at Fort Bennington, but then Shields is captured by the French through the machinations of his treacherous brother, an officer at the fort.

The French have laid siege to the British fort, and rumor has it that they are bringing up an enormous cannon.

Hawkeye and Chingachgook conspire to help two runaway slaves being returned to their owner by a ""gentleman"" from Virginia.

An enigmatic French prisoner intrigues Hawkeye, who begins to believe that the soldier may not be what he seems.

Hawkeye fumes when Taylor grants a pardon to a recalcitrant soldier in exchange for crucial information about the French.

Elizabeth's husband returns from captivity, but while she struggles to make a decision about her future, Chingachgook questions William's association with a shaman who practices ""black arts.""