CHAPTER VI
THE JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF FOOD
As the paddles flashed brightly in the moonshine, and the light craftin which Rene and Has-se were seated moved swiftly and silently downthe broad river, the former related to his companion all theparticulars of his leaving the fort, and the delays that had detainedhim past their appointed time of meeting. As he concluded his story,Has-se, who until then had remained silent, said,
"Thou hast done well, Ta-lah-lo-ko, and thy success at the outset isproof to me that the Great Spirit favors our undertaking."
Rene was not so convinced of this as his companion, for he was not atall certain that he was acting rightly; but he did not seek to disturbthe other's confidence, and only said,
"Now tell me of thy escape, Has-se; for I must confess that I wouldhave deemed it impossible, and am not a little concerned to find FortCaroline such a sieve as thy easy leave-taking would seem to prove it."
Has-se was silent for some minutes, and then he said,
"I would have no secrets from thee, my brother, and would gladly tellthee that thou askest; but I may not now, though at another time mytongue may be loosed. For the present I am bound not to reveal thatwhich must needs be known were the manner of my escape described tothee."
Rene felt somewhat hurt at this answer, which seemed to imply a want ofconfidence in him; but he knew his friend's character too well to pressthe subject further, and so, smothering his curiosity, he turned theconversation to other things.
After they had travelled for several miles down the river, Has-seturned the bow of the canoe into a sluggish bayou, that wound, withinnumerable turnings, amid vast limitless expanses of salt-marsh. Thisstream led into others that formed such a maze that it seemed to Reneimpossible that they should ever discover a way out of it.
As Has-se kept the canoe to its course, never for an instant hesitatingas to which way he should turn, they startled from their resting-placesmyriads of water-fowl and strange birds, that flew away with harshnotes of alarm. These were answered from the distant forest by themelancholy howlings of wolves and the cries of other night-prowlingwild beasts, that sounded very fearful to Rene's unaccustomed ears.
At length their craft was run ashore at the foot of a small shell moundthat formed quite an elevation amid the wide levels of the marshes, andHas-se said they would rest there until sunrise. After hauling thecanoe well up out of the water, he led the way to a small hut, thatchedwith palmetto-leaves, that stood half-way up the side of the mound. Init was piled a quantity of long gray moss, that formed a mostacceptable bed to the tired boys; and throwing themselves down on it,they were in a few minutes fast asleep.
It seemed to Rene that he had but just fallen asleep when he wasawakened by a light touch upon his forehead. Springing to his feet, hefound Has-se standing smiling beside him, and saw that the sun hadalready risen. Running down to the beach, he bathed his face in thecool salt-water, used a handful of moss as a towel, and turned to thebreakfast that Has-se had spent an hour in preparing.
When Rene saw what a luxurious repast the ingenuity of the young Indianhad provided, he opened his eyes wide in astonishment. He knew that abag of parched corn and several gourds of fresh water had been broughtalong, and upon this simple fare he had expected to break his fast.Now, in addition to the parched corn, he saw fish, oysters, eggs, and avegetable, all smoking hot, cooked to a nicety, and temptingly spreadon some freshly cut palm-leaves.
The fish were mullet, that Has-se had speared from the canoe as theyswam in the clear water. He had cleaned them, wrapped them in fresh,damp leaves, raked aside a portion of the fire that he had kindled whenhe first arose, buried them in the hot sand beneath it, and covered thespot with live coals.
The oysters had also come from the water, in a great bunch that Has-sehad just been able to lift and carry to the fire. To cook them he hadsimply placed the entire bunch on the coals, where they had roasted intheir shells, which now gaped wide open, offering their contents to beeaten.
The eggs were plover's eggs, of which Has-se had discovered severalnests among the tall marsh grass. They also had been roasted in thehot sand, from which the fire had been raked one side.
The vegetable puzzled Rene considerably, for he had never seen itslike, and knew not what to make of it. When he asked Has-se what itwas, the latter laughed, with the soft, musical laugh, peculiar to hispeople, and answered,
"Dost thou not know thy namesake, Ta-lah-lo-ko? It is the leaf bud ofa young palm-tree, and with us Indians it takes the place of bread whenwe have neither a-chee" (the maize) "nor koonti-katki" (thestarch-root).
It was indeed the tender leaf bud of the cabbage-palm, roasted in itsown husk, and to Rene it tasted much like roasted chestnuts.
From the shells on the beach he obtained a small quantity of salt, thathad been left in them by the evaporated water of some former high tide.This he wanted for both his fish and his eggs. Then the two boys satdown to their feast, and ate and laughed and chatted, and enjoyed it sothoroughly that one of them at least thought nothing had ever tasted sogood to him before.
After breakfast, as there were no dishes to be washed, and nothing tobe packed to carry with them, they were able to resume their journey atonce. Until nearly noon they were hemmed in by the monotonoussalt-marshes; then they crossed a wide sheet of open water, and enteredthe mouth of a wild, dark river that flowed into it from the west. Therest of that day and most of the next was occupied in the ascent ofthis river, which ever grew darker and narrower as they neared itssource. They worked incessantly at the paddles, and made such speedthat Has-se said they must certainly overtake his people before theyreached the land of the Alachuas.
Several times during these two days he ran the canoe ashore at placesthat his keen vision noted as having been the landing-places of othercanoes. At each of these places he found the ashes and charred sticksthat denoted recent camp-fires, and each time after making such adiscovery he returned to Rene with a puzzled and thoughtful expressionon his face. His companion noticed this, and finally inquired thecause.
"What troubles thee, my Has-se?" he asked. "Thy looks betoken aworriment of some kind. May I not share it with thee?"
For a few minutes Has-se plied his paddle vigorously and in silence;then he said, more as if thinking aloud than in answer to Rene'squestion, "Others besides ourselves are in pursuit of my people, and Ifear they are enemies."
"What is thy reason for thus thinking?"
"Because I find that each halting-place of Micco's band has beencarefully examined after their departure. I have also found theremains of several small but recent camp-fires on opposite sides of theriver from theirs, and around them I find the traces of but two men.One of these men is very large, and he wears moccasins that were nevermade by my people. I fear they are enemies."
"But why should they be enemies?" asked Rene. "May they not be some ofthy band left behind like thyself. Or may not one of them be of thytribe, and the other be one of the guests who attended the Feast ofRipe Corn?"
"That is easily answered," replied the young Indian. "If they werefriends who for some reason had been left behind, and were now anxiousto rejoin those whom they follow, they could have done so long since.Their fires burned at the same time with those of my people, and theyhave visited Micco's camps before the ashes of his fires grew cold.Besides, in each case their own fires were carefully hidden, so thatthey could not by any chance be seen by those who were in advance ofthem."
"Who, then, can be following so large a band, and for what purpose?Surely two cannot harm so many."
"That I know not, but I fear them to be of the outlawed Seminoles.[1]If so, they are following my people for the purpose of picking upplunder, or of snatching the prize of a scalp--a thing they could onlygain by a cowardly attack upon one defenceless, for they dare not seekit in open fight. Or it may be that one of them is he who hasconceived a bitter enmity against those who never treated him withaught save kindness, and that he has
joined with him another equallybase."
At this thought Has-se's bright face became clouded, and for some timehe remained silent. Finally the silence was again broken by Rene, whoasked,
"Who are these Seminoles of whom thou dost speak thus contemptuously?"
"Seminole, in my language, signifies a run-away. They are a band ofthieves, murderers, and other bad Indians, who have been driven out ofmy tribe and other tribes on the north. They have gradually increasedin numbers, until now they call themselves a tribe. They are always atwar with all men, and against them my people have declared a fightforever."
"And who is he of whom thou speakest so vaguely as having conceived anenmity unjustly against those who have harmed him not?"
"One who should be well known to thee, Ta-lah-lo-ko. I speak of Chittathe Snake, whom I hope we may not encounter."
"It will be the worse for him if we do encounter him, and he venturesto interfere with us," replied Rene, hotly.
"Nay, Ta-lah-lo-ko. I have a feeling within me which warns me that ameeting with the Snake will be a sad one for us," answered Has-se, who,though as brave as a young lion, was inclined to be superstitious, aswere all of his race.
During this conversation the course of the canoe had been through amere thread of a stream, and Rene now noticed that they were traversingthe mazes of a dark swamp. The little stream connected a series ofstagnant pools or bayous, and just as they came into the open water ofone of these they caught a glimpse of another canoe leaving it on theopposite side. Even as they sighted it, it shot in among the trunks ofa dense cypress forest, and disappeared.
[1]Before the Seminoles became the powerful tribe into which theyfinally grew they were a band of outlaws, composed of those who, forsome good reason, had fled or been driven from the Creeks, Cherokees,Choctaws, Chickasaws, and other tribes of the South.--K. M.