The Flamingo Feather by Kirk Munroe

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[Frontispiece: Arrival of Admiral Ribault's Fleet]

THE FLAMINGO FEATHER

BY

KIRK MUNROE

Author of "SNOWSHOES AND SLEDGES," "THE PAINTED DESERT," "WAKULLA," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

NEW YORK AND LONDON

THE FLAMINGO FEATHER

COPYRIGHT, 1887, BY HARPER & BROTHERS

COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY KIRK MUNROE

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

L-Y

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. RENE DE VEAUX
II. A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE
III. CHITTA'S REVENGE
IV. HAS-SE IS HELD PRISONER
V. THE ESCAPE OF HAS-SE AND RENE
VI. THE JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF FOOD
VII. CHITTA BECOMES A SEMINOLE
VIII. ON THE TRAIL
IX. A TRAP AVOIDED AND FRIENDS DISCOVERED
X. MUTINY AT FORT CAROLINE
XI. RENE'S RETURN
XII. ABANDONING THE FORT
XIII. ARRIVAL OF JEAN RIBAULT
XIV. A NIGHT OF TERROR
XV. RENE IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES
XVI. HAS-SE RECEIVES THE TOKEN
XVII. DEATH OF HAS-SE (THE SUNBEAM)
XVIII. THE FRENCH HAVE COME AGAIN
XIX. THE OLD WORLD ONCE MORE

ILLUSTRATIONS

ARRIVAL OF ADMIRAL RIBAULT'S FLEET . . . Frontispiece

RENE SLIPPED QUICKLY THROUGH THE GATE

"FAREWELL, TA-LAH-LO-KO!"

THE DEATH OF HAS-SE

The Flamingo Feather

CHAPTER I

RENE DE VEAUX

On a dreary winter's day, early in the year 1564, young Rene de Veaux,
who had just passed his sixteenth birthday, left the dear old chateau
where he had spent his happy and careless boyhood, and started for Paris.
Less than a month before both his noble father and his gentle mother had
been taken from him by a terrible fever that had swept over the country,
and Rene their only child, was left without a relative in the world
except his uncle the Chevalier Rene de Laudonniere, after whom he was
named. In those days of tedious travel it seemed a weary time to the
lonely lad before the messenger who had gone to Paris with a letter
telling his uncle of his sad position could return. When at length he
came again, bringing a kind message that bade him come immediately to
Paris and be a son to his equally lonely uncle, Rene lost no time in
obeying.

He travelled like a young prince, riding a spirited steed, and followed
by a party of servants, mounted and armed to protect him against robbers
and other perils of the way. Behind him rode old Francois, who had been
his father's valet and was now his sole friend and protector. The big
tears rolled down the boy's cheeks as he turned for a last look at his
home; but as it was shut from view by the trees of the park surrounding
it, he brushed them away resolutely, and turning to his companion, said,

"Thou hast seen the last of my tears, Francois, and with them goes my
boyhood; for hereafter I am to be a man, and men know not how to weep."

"Well spoken, my young master," replied the old servant, greatly pleased
at the brave words of the lad. "Thou art already a man in feeling, and
thine Uncle Laudonniere will presently make thee one in fact, if the
tales that come to us of his valorous deeds be true, and there is naught
to disprove them."

"Tell me of him, Francois; for though he is my only uncle, I have but
little knowledge of him or his deeds. Of what nature are they?"

"Well, then, he is a mighty navigator, and 'tis but little more than a
year since he returned from the New World, whither he sailed in company
with his Excellency Admiral Jean Ribault. He brings strange tales of
those wonderful lands beyond the sea, and rumor has it that he is shortly
to set forth again for them with a noble company, who will establish
there a sanctuary for our blessed Protestant faith."

The boy's interest was thoroughly aroused by this, and he plied the old
servant with questions concerning his uncle and the New World. Francois
answered these to the best of his ability, and even drew largely upon his
imagination to aid his glowing descriptions of those distant lands of
which the men of that day held such vague knowledge.

With such talk they beguiled much of the tedious journey, that occupied a
week ere it was ended and they entered Paris. Here they were finally set
down before a modest dwelling near the King's palace, in which
Laudonniere was lodged.

Upon meeting his nephew, the chevalier embraced him warmly, and then
holding him forth at arm's-length to gain a better view of him,
exclaimed, "In good sooth, Rene, thou'rt a likely lad; and if thy heart
be as true and bold as thy face promises, we'll soon make a man of thee
such as even thy noble father would approve."

That evening uncle and nephew talked long and earnestly together
concerning the latter's future; and ere they slept it was fully decided
that, in spite of his youth, he should make one of the expedition that,
even as Francois had reported, Laudonniere was fitting out for the New
World.

The next three months were occupied in busy preparation for the long
voyage, not unmixed with vexatious delays and grievous disappointments,
in all of which young Rene de Veaux bore manfully his share. He became
each day more useful to his uncle, who intrusted him with many important
commissions, and who, stern old soldier as he was, learned in this time
to love the boy as though he had been his own son.

At length all was in readiness. The stores and munitions of war had been
placed on board the three ships that formed the little fleet, the last
colonist had embarked, and Laudonniere had taken leave of his King and
Admiral Jean Ribault, who was to follow him in a few months with a still
larger company. On a bright May morning uncle and nephew reached the
little seaport town before which lay their ships, and hastened to embark
and take advantage of the favorable wind that promised them a fair start
on their long and perilous voyage.

As Laudonniere stepped on board his flagship his broad pennant was flung
to the breeze from the mainmast-head, the _fleur-de-lis_ of France
floated proudly from the mizzen, and amid the booming of cannon and the
loud acclamations of the throngs assembled on the quay to bid them
Godspeed, the ships moved slowly down the harbor towards the broad ocean
and the New World that lay beyond.

For many weeks they sailed ever westward, seeing no ship save their own,
and becoming every day more weary of the vast, endless expanse of sea and
sky. It is no wonder, then, that when on the morning of the 22d of June
the welcome cry of "Land, ho!" rang through the flag-ship every soul on
board rushed on deck with joyous exclamations to catch once more a
glimpse of the blessed land. The cry that had brought them such pleasure
had come from the mast-head, and it was some time before those on deck
could detect the dim blue cloud, low-lying in the west, that was said to
be land. Even then one man, who was known as Simon the Armorer, was
heard to mutter that it might be land and then again it might not; for
his part, he believed the whole world had been drowned in a flood, as in
the days of Noah, and that the only land they should ever see would be at
the bottom of the ocean.

As the day wore on, and before a light breeze the ships were wafted
towards the blue cloud, it was proved beyond a doubt to be land, for some
palm-trees and tall pines became distinguishable, and above all other
sounds came, faint but distinct, the heavy, regular boom of surf.

By noon the ships had approached as near to the coast as was deemed
prudent, and for the first time since leaving France their anchors were
dropped and their sails were furled.

They had come to anchor off the mouth of an inlet, before which extended
a bar upon which the great seas were breaking and roaring so frightfully
that no passage for the ships among them seemed to offer itself.
Laudonniere thought he recognized the inlet as one leading into a broad
river, on the opposite side of which was located an Indian village called
Seloy. This place he had visited two years before in company with
Admiral Ribault, and he determined to reassure himself as to the
locality; therefore, bidding Rene accompany him, he entered a small boat,
and ordering another, full of soldiers, to follow them, he gave the word
to pull straight for the breakers.

Just as Rene thought the boat was to be swallowed by the raging seas, his
uncle guided her, with great skill, into a narrow passage that opened in
their very midst. After a few minutes of suspense, during which Rene
dared hardly to breathe, they shot into smooth waters, rounded a point of
land, and saw before them the village of which they were in search. On
the beach in front of it a crowd of savage figures, nearly naked, were
dancing wildly, and brandishing bows and spears.

Meanwhile, the village that the boats were now approaching had been
thrown into a state of the greatest excitement by the appearance of the
ships, which had been discovered while yet so distant that their sails
resembled the wings of the white sea-gull. Upon the first alarm all the
warriors had been collected on the beach, and the women had left their
work in the fields of maize and hurried with the children to the security
of the forest depths. When, however, the fleet came to anchor and the
Indians could distinguish the meaning of their banners, their alarm was
changed to joy; for they had learned to love the French--who, upon their
previous visit, had treated them with kindness--as much as they hated the
cruel Spaniards, whose ships had also visited that coast. Then the women
and children were recalled from the forest, the warriors washed the
war-paint from their faces, and preparations for feasting were begun.

As the small boats approached, the men ran down to the beach to meet
them, dancing and waving their weapons in their joy, and when they
recognized Laudonniere standing in the stern of the leading boat, they
raised a great cry of welcome that caused the forest to ring with its
echoes. As the pious leader of the expedition stepped on shore, he took
Rene by the hand, and both kneeling on the sands, gave thanks to Him who
guided them thus far in safety in their perilous wanderings. Though the
simple-minded Indians could not understand what Laudonniere said or was
doing, they were so anxious to show their respect and love for him that
all knelt when he did and maintained a deep silence while he prayed.

When Laudonniere arose to his feet the Indians crowded about him with
shouts and gestures of welcome; but they readily made way for him when,
still holding Rene's hand, he began to walk towards the lodge of their
chief. He was as anxious as his followers to welcome the white men, but
his dignity had not permitted him to rush with them down to the beach.

As they walked, Rene stared in astonishment at the waving palms with
richly plumaged birds flitting among their leaves, the palmetto-thatched
huts of the Indians, the shining and inflated fish-bladders that the men
wore suspended from their ears, the moss-woven kirtles of the women, and
above all, at the mighty antlered stag that, stuffed and mounted on a
tall pole, with head proudly turned towards the rising sun, rose from the
middle of the village.

He in turn was an object of astonishment and curious interest to the
natives; for, although they had become familiar with the appearance of
bearded white men, they had never before seen a white boy, Rene being the
first to set foot in this land. The Indians had thought that all white
men were born with beards, and that their closely cropped hair never grew
any longer; so that this smooth-faced boy, whose golden hair hung in
ringlets over his shoulders, was a much greater curiosity to them than
they were to him. The old chief took an immediate fancy to him, and as
he had given to Laudonniere the Indian name of Ta-lah (a palm) upon the
occasion of his previous visit to Seloy, he now called Rene Ta-lah-lo-ko
(the palmetto, or little palm), a name ever afterwards used by all the
Indians in their intercourse with him.

The chief entreated Laudonniere to tarry many days in Seloy; but the
latter answered that the orders of his own great chief were for him to
proceed without delay to the river known as the River of May, and there
erect a fort and found his colony. So, after an exchange of presents,
they parted, and taking to their boats, the white men regained their
ship. As they left, Rene gave many a backward glance at the pleasant
little village of Seloy, and would have loved to linger there among its
simple and kindly people.

As they crossed the bar, in going again to the ships, their boats were
surrounded by a number of what they called dolphins, but what are today
called porpoises, sporting in the great billows; and on their account
Laudonniere named the river they had just left the River of Dolphins.

Spreading their white wings, the ships sailed northward forty miles
during the night, and daylight found them standing off and on at the
mouth of the great River of May. By the aid of a chart, made by Admiral
Ribault two years before, they crossed its dangerous bar, and sailed up
its broad channel.

Short as was the time since they had been discovered off Seloy, swift
runners had already conveyed the great tidings of their coming to Micco,
the chief of this part of the country, and he and his people were thus
prepared to greet them upon their arrival. When Rene and his uncle,
followed by a company from the ships, landed, they were received with
shouts and extravagant gestures of joy by the friendly Indians, and
conducted by them to the top of a hill upon which Admiral Ribault had set
a pillar of stone engraved with the French coat of arms. They found it
twined with wreaths of flowers, and surrounded by baskets of maize,
quivers of arrows, and many other things that the kindly Indians took
this means of offering to their white friends.

Not far from this point Laudonniere selected the site of his fort, and
work upon it was immediately begun. He named it Fort Caroline, in honor
of King Charles IX of France, and about it he hoped to see in time a
flourishing colony of French Huguenots.

After all the stores and munitions had been landed from the ships, they
sailed for France, leaving the little company of white men the only ones
of their race in all that vast unknown wilderness. As Laudonniere
remained in command of Fort Caroline, Rene de Veaux of course remained
with him, and thus became the hero of the surprising adventures that will
be related in the chapters that follow.

CHAPTER II

A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE

The building of Fort Caroline occupied about three months; and during
this time the friendly Indians willingly aided in the work of preparing
the tree-trunks which, set on end, were let deep into the earth close
beside one another, and in digging the wide moat that surrounded the
whole. A heavy embankment of earth was thrown up on the inner side of
the palisade of tree-trunks, and upon this were mounted a number of great
guns.

During the time thus occupied, Rene de Veaux became acquainted with
Micco's son, a young Indian of about his own age, named Has-se, which
means a sunbeam, and a strong friendship was speedily cemented between
them. They saw each other daily, and each learned the language of the
other.

After the ships had sailed away Rene's uncle found time, even in the
midst of his pressing duties, to attend to the lad's education; and every
morning was devoted to lessons in fencing, shooting the cross-bow, and in
military engineering. The evenings were passed with the good Jacques Le
Moyne the artist, who was a very learned man, and who taught Rene Latin,
and how to draw.

Although his mornings and evenings were thus occupied, Rene had his
afternoons to himself, and these he spent in company with his friend
Has-se, who instructed him in the mysteries of Indian woodcraft. Now it
happened that while Has-se was a merry, lovable lad, he had one bitter
enemy in the village. This was a young man somewhat older than himself,
named Chitta, which means the snake. Their quarrel was one of long
standing, and nobody seemed to know how it had begun; but everybody said
that Chitta was such a cross, ugly fellow that he must needs quarrel with
somebody, and had chosen Has-se for an enemy because everybody else loved
him.

One afternoon Has-se asked Rene to go out on the river with him in his
canoe, as he had that to tell him which he did not wish to run any risk
of being overheard by others. Rene willingly agreed to go with him, and
taking his cross-bow and a couple of steel-tipped bolts, he seated
himself in the bow of the light craft, which Has-se paddled from the
stern. Going for some distance down the river, they turned into a small
stream from the banks of which huge, moss-hung oaks and rustling
palm-trees cast a pleasant shade over the dark waters. Here the canoe
was allowed to drift while Has-se unburdened his mind to his friend.

It seemed that the day of the Ripe Corn Dance, the great feast day of his
tribe, was set for that of the next full moon. On this day there was to
be a series of contests among the lads of the village to decide which of
them was most worthy to become Bow-bearer to Micco, their chief and his
father. This was considered a most honorable position to occupy, and he
who succeeded in winning it and filling it satisfactorily for a year was,
at the expiration of that time, granted all the privileges of a warrior.
The contests were to be in shooting with bows and arrows, hurling the
javelin, running, and wrestling. Has-se had set his heart upon obtaining
this position, and had long been in training for the contests. His most
dreaded rival was Chitta; and, while Has-se felt ready to meet the snake
in the games of running, shooting, and hurling the javelin, he feared
that with his greater weight the latter would prove more than a match for
him in wrestling. Could Ta-lah-lo-ko advise and help him in this matter?

"Ay, that can I, Has-se, my lad," cried Rene; "thou couldst not have hit
upon a happier expedient than that of asking advice of me. 'Tis but a
week since I removed a cinder from the eye of Simon the Armorer, and in
return for the favor he taught me a trick of wrestling that surpasses
aught of the kind that ever I saw. I have practised it daily since, and
would now confidently take issue with any who know it not without regard
to their superior size or weight. I will show it thee if thou wilt
promise to keep it secret. Ha!"

As they talked the canoe had drifted close in to the shore, until it lay
directly beneath the gigantic limb of a tree that extended far out over
the water, and from which hung a mesh of stout vines. As he uttered the
exclamation that finished his last sentence. Rene seized hold of a stout
vine, and with a quick jerk drew the light craft in which they were
seated a few feet forward. At the same instant a tawny body was launched
like a shot from the overhanging limb and dashed into the water exactly
at the spot over which, but an instant before, Has-se had sat.

The animal that made this fierce plunge was a panther of the largest
size; and if Rene had not chanced to catch sight of its nervously
twitching tail as it drew itself together for the spring, it would have
alighted squarely upon the naked shoulders of the unsuspecting Indian
lad. Rene's prompt action had, however, caused the animal to plunge into
the water, though it only missed the canoe by a few feet; and when it
rose to the surface it was close beside them.

Has-se seized his paddle, and with a powerful stroke forced the canoe
ahead, but directly into the mesh of trailing vines, in which it became
so entangled that they could not extricate it before the beast had
recovered from his surprise, and had begun to swim towards them.

A bolt was hurriedly fitted to Rene's cross-bow and hastily fired at the
approaching animal. It struck him near the fore-shoulder, and served to
check his progress for a moment, as with a snarl of rage he bit savagely
at the wound, from which the blood flowed freely, crimsoning the water
around him. Then he again turned towards the canoe, and seemed to leap
rather than swim, in his eagerness to reach it. A second bolt, fired
with even greater haste than the first, missed the panther entirely, and
the boys were about to plunge from the opposite side of the canoe into
the water, in their despair, when an almost unheard-of thing occurred to
effect their deliverance.

Just as one more leap would have brought the panther within reach of the
canoe, a huge, dark form rose from the red waters behind him, and a pair
of horrid jaws opened, and then closed like a vice upon one of his
hind-quarters. The panther uttered a wild yell, made a convulsive spring
forward, his claws rattled against the side of the canoe, and then the
waters closed above his head, and he was dragged down into the dark
depths of the stream, to the slimy home of the great alligator, who had
thus delivered the boys from their peril. A few bubbles coming up
through the crimson waters told of the terrible struggle going on beneath
them, and then all was still, and the stream flowed on as undisturbed as
before. For a few moments the boys sat gazing in silent amazement at the
place of the sudden disappearance of their enemy, hardly believing that
he would not again return to the attack.

When they had regained the fort, Laudonniere heard with horror Rene's
story of their adventure with the tiger and the crocodile, as he named
panthers and alligators, and bade him be very careful in the future how
he wandered in the wilderness. He did not forbid his nephew to associate
with Has-se, for he was most anxious to preserve a friendship with the
Indians, upon whom his little colony was largely dependent for
provisions, and he considered Rene's influence with the Indian lad who
was the son of the chief very important.

On the afternoon following that of their adventure, Has-se came into the
fort in search of Rene, and anxious to acquire the promised trick of
wrestling. After securing his promise never to impart the trick to
another, Rene led him into a room where they would not be observed, and
taught it to him. It was a very simple trick, being merely a feint of
giving way, followed quickly by a peculiar inside twist of the leg; but
it was irresistible, and the opponent who knew it not was certain to be
overcome by it. Has-se quickly acquired it, and though he found few
words to express his feelings, there was a look in his face when he left
Rene that showed plainly his gratitude.

When next the silver sickle of the new moon shone in the western sky,
active preparations were begun among the Indians for their great Dance of
Ripe Corn. The race-course was laid out, and carefully cleared; clay was
mixed with its sand, and it was trampled hard and smooth by many
moccasined feet. A large booth, or shelter from the hot sun, under which
the chiefs and distinguished visitors might sit and witness the games,
was constructed of boughs and palm leaves. Bows were carefully tested
and fitted with new strings of twisted deer-sinew. Those who had been
fortunate enough to obtain from the white men bits of steel and iron,
ground them to sharp points, and with them replaced their arrow-heads of
flint. Has-se, with great pride, displayed to Rene his javelin or light
spear, the tough bamboo shaft of which was tipped with a keen-edged
splinter of milk-white quartz, obtained from some far northern tribe.
Guests began to arrive, coming from Seloy and other coast villages from
the north, and from the broad savannas of the fertile Alachua land, until
many hundred of them were encamped within a few miles of Fort Caroline.

At length the day of feasting broke bright and beautiful, and soon after
breakfast Laudonniere, accompanied by Rene de Veaux and half the garrison
of Fort Caroline, marched out to the scene of the games. Here they were
warmly welcomed by Micco and his people, and invited to occupy seats of
honor in the great booth. Upon their arrival the signal was given for
the games to begin.

First of all came the races for wives, for at this feast only of all the
year could the young men of the tribe get married. Even now they were
obliged to run after their sweethearts, who were allowed so great a start
in the race that if they chose they could reach the goal first and thus
escape all further attentions from their pursuers. They generally
allowed themselves to be caught, however, and thus became blushing
brides. Thus, on this occasion, and in this manner, Yah-chi-la-ne (the
Eagle), a young Alachua chief, gained the hand of Has-se's beautiful
sister Nethla, which means the Day-star.

The contests among the boys to decide who of them should be Bow-bearer to
their chief for the ensuing year followed, and as the great drum,
Kas-a-lal-ki, rolled forth its hollow, booming notes, twenty slender
youths stepped forward, of whom the handsomest was Has-se the Sunbeam,
and the tallest was dark-faced Chitta the Snake. All were stripped to
the skin, and wore only girdles about their loins and moccasins on their
feet; but Has-se, as the son of the chief, had the scarlet feather of a
flamingo braided into his dark hair.

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