The Cask of Amontillado Poe may have borrowed Montresor's family motto "Nemo me impune lacessit" from James Fenimore Cooper, who used the line in "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826). Poe wrote his tale, however, as a response to his personal rival Thomas Dunn English. Poe and English had several confrontations, usually revolving around literary caricatures of one another. Poe thought that one of English's writings went a bit too far, and successfully sued the other man's editors at "The New York Mirror" for libel in 1846. That year English published a revenge-based novel called "1844, or, The Power of the S.F." Its plot
The Last of the Mohicans of British prisoners is attacked by 2000 Huron warriors; in the ensuing massacre, Magua kidnaps Cora and Alice, and he leads them toward the Huron village. David Gamut follows them. After the massacre, Hawk-eye, the Mohicans, Heyward, and Colonel Munro head into the ruins of the fort to plan their next move. The next morning they set out to follow Magua, and cross a lake to intercept his trail. They encounter a band of Hurons by the lakeshore who spot the travelers. A canoe chase ensues, in which the rescuers reach land before the Hurons can kill them, and eventually