In the book "The Last of the Mohicans" Hawkeye says several times that "he is a man without a cross." What does that mean?

"To the group and to the reader, Hawkeye inspires confidence. Whenever he is questioned, the scout provides a reasonable explanation for his daring actions. He appears to be that daring, though, because he is "a man without a cross," a phrase we might interpret as lack of belief in religion, and subsequently less fear of the unknown."


http://www.mohicanpress.com/wwwboard/messages1/7156.html

Yet another take:

"P. 78: "What might appear proper in a red skin," Hawkeye says, "may be sinful in a man who has not even a cross in blood to plead for his ignorance." (Man without a cross): A MAN, not an Indian, without a cross. Indians are not real men, even though they are admirable."


http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/teaching/stauffer.html