by Kirk Munroe
CHAPTER XIV
A NIGHT OF TERROR
Immediately after landing Menendez and his soldiers, with theirsupplies, at San Augustin, the ships of the fleet, which on account oftheir size had been unable to enter the river, sailed away for Spain,leaving only a few small vessels at anchor inside the bar. Thusapparently all was favorable to the bold enterprise of Admiral Ribault,who, with his six ships, and all the troops from Fort Caroline, haddetermined to attack, and if possible to destroy, the newly foundedcity before it could be fortified.
When he arrived off the mouth of the river the tide was so low on thebar that his ships could not pass it. So they stood off and on,waiting for it to rise, and the Spaniards on shore, seeing them, werefilled with great consternation. Of a sudden, almost without warning,there came a terrible blast of wind out of the north-east. It wasfollowed by another and another, until such a gale was raging as hadnever been seen by white men on that coast. In vain did the Frenchships struggle against it, and against the huge billows that towered ashigh as their tallest masts. They could do nothing against its fury,and soon the Spaniards were filled with joy at seeing them drifthelplessly down the coast towards certain wreck and destruction.
Then Menendez made up his mind, in spite of the terrible gale, to marchoverland to the attack of Fort Caroline, thus deprived of itsdefenders. Followed by five hundred picked men, he set forth, and forthree days, beaten and drenched by the pitiless storm, he wanderedthrough over-flowed swamps and tangled forests. He had compelledseveral of the Seloy Indians to go with him and act as guides; butfinally, believing that they were purposely leading him astray, he putthem to death with great cruelty, and trusted to his own knowledge tolead him to the great river. At length he reached it, and followingits course, came during the night to a high bluff, from which he lookeddown upon the few twinkling lights of Fort Caroline beneath him.
Meantime the raging of the elements had caused the greatest anxiety tothose who remained within the fort, for they were fearful of its effectupon the ships of Admiral Ribault; and though they of course knewnothing of their fate, they were already beginning to regard them aslost.
Under Simon, the armorer, as captain of the guard, Rene de Veaux haddone duty with the few old men and invalids who were pressed intoservice as sentinels, and he had manfully shouldered his cross-bow, andpaced the walls through many long hours of storm, rain, and darkness.Although, in his pride at thus performing the duties of a real soldier,the boy allowed no word of complaint to escape him, he felt what theothers expressed openly--that this guard duty, now that the Spaniardsand savages had departed, and in the midst of a storm so terrible thatit did not seem possible for mortals to face it, was an unnecessaryhardship. So when, towards morning of the fourth night, after twohours of wearily pacing the walls in the cold, drenching rain, he wasrelieved, and flung himself, all wet as he was, upon a couch in his ownquarters, he determined to remonstrate with Simon upon the subject.
In spite of his feelings, Rene had been absolutely faithful to hisduty, which, alas! the soldier who relieved him was not. After a fewturns upon the parapet, during which he neither saw nor heard anythingto disquiet him, this sentinel sought shelter from the beatings of thestorm in an angle of the walls, where he soon fell into a doze.
Even then the Spaniards were at the gates, awaiting the signal to makean attack. It was given, and Rene had hardly dropped into a troubledsleep when he was rudely awakened by a crash, a rending of wood, thewild scream of agony with which the unfaithful sentinel yielded up hislife, and the triumphant yells of the enemy, who had forced an entrancethrough the little unguarded postern-gate.
Rene sprang to the door, and for an instant stood motionless, petrifiedby terror at the awful sights that greeted his gaze. Already flameswere bursting from many of the tents and barracks, and by the lightthus given he saw men, women, and children, almost naked as they hadsprung from their beds, flying in every direction before the pitilessSpaniards. Wherever they turned the fugitives were met by long pikes,gleaming swords, and keen daggers, and above the howlings of the stormrose their shrill screams of terror and quickly stifled cries of mortalagony.
For an instant only did Rene gaze upon these awful scenes, and then,remembering his uncle, he rushed to the commandant's dwelling which theSpaniards had not yet reached. He found, Laudonniere, pale andtrembling, but as calm and collected as becomes the brave soldier evenin the presence of death, standing beside his bed, while the faithfulLe Moyne endeavored to assist him into his armor.
Breathlessly Rene explained that there was no time to lose, and no hopeof saving the fort. "All is lost!" he cried, "and if ye would saveyour own lives, follow me without an instant's delay. I, and I alone,know of a way of escape."
It was only then that Rene had bethought himself of the undergroundpassage of which Has-se had taught him the secret.
Reassured by his confident words, the two men followed him out of thehouse, and to their great surprise were led beneath it among the stonepiers of its foundations. They were not a moment too soon, for as theydisappeared, some Spanish soldiers, who had learned that this was thedwelling of the commandant, burst into it with savage cries, andproceeded to search its every corner in the hope of capturing thegreatest prize of all in the person of the Huguenot leader.
Their hour of triumph was imbittered by not finding him, for even asthey searched his chamber he, preceded by Rene de Veaux and followed byLe Moyne, the artist, was making his way through the narrow tunnelbeneath them towards the river-bank beyond the walls of the fort.
So surprised was Laudonniere at this underground passage leading intothe very heart of his fort, of the existence of which he had neveruntil that moment even dreamed, that when they emerged on theriver-bank he forgot all else in his curiosity concerning it.
"Whence comes this passage that has proved of such wonderful service tous, and how came thou by a knowledge of it?" he asked of his nephew.
Even then Rene would not betray the solemn promise of secrecy given toHas-se, but answered,
"Let us not now stop to talk of these matters, I pray thee, oh mineuncle. Thy precious life is still in great danger. Let us firstperfect thy escape, and another time I will answer thee concerning thissecret passage. For the present I beg of thee to make thy way,accompanied by the good Master Le Moyne, as speedily and secretly asmay be, down the river to its mouth, where do still lie the two smallships left behind by Admiral Ribault. Let me, who am young, strong,and active, tarry here for a short time, that perchance I may aidothers of our people to effect an escape by means of this same tunnel.I will delay but shortly, and will overtake and rejoin thee long erethy feebleness shall have permitted thee to reach the river's mouth."
Although Laudonniere was most reluctant to part with his nephew at sucha time, he deemed that it would be an exhibition of selfishness on hispart to compel his attendance upon himself when it was possible that byremaining he might save the lives of some of the unfortunates withinthe fort. Therefore he reluctantly gave his consent that Rene shouldremain behind for a short time, but charged him not to unnecessarilyexpose himself to danger. Then both men embraced the lad fervently,gave him their blessing, and departed, full of the hope of speedilymeeting with him again--a hope that was destined to be sadly deferred.
After their departure Rene again entered the tunnel and made his wayback to its inner terminus. There he cautiously drew himself up fromits mouth, crept to the edge of the building beneath which it lay, andwatched and listened for what he might discover.
He had not been there a minute when he was startled by hearing asmothered groan close at hand. Listening attentively, he heard itagain; and feeling confident that he who uttered it must be one of hisown countrymen, he began to creep carefully, and without betraying hispresence by the slightest sound, in the direction from which itproceeded. At length he heard a third groan, so close to him that heinstinctively drew back for fear of coming into contact with the personwho uttered it. Then, in the
lightest of whispers, he inquired,
"Who is there? I am Rene de Veaux."
For answer came the whisper, "Heaven help thee, Master Rene, if thouart in like plight with myself! I am thy old friend Simon, sorelywounded, and with no hope save that of falling into the hands of thesefiends of Spaniards when daylight shall enable them to make a thoroughsearch of the premises."
"Cheer up, good Simon, and speak not thus dolefully," whispered Rene."If thou canst walk, or even crawl, I can save thee. Where lies thywound?"
"Not so that it interferes with my crawling or even walking; for thoughit seems to lie in several portions of my body at once, it affects notmy legs. If thou hast knowledge of a chance of escape, howeverslender, lead on, and I will gladly follow thee, for hopes I have nonein remaining here."
So Rene guided Simon very slowly and cautiously to the mouth of thetunnel. Through it the old man forced his way, and with muchdifficulty and many groans, until he too reached the river-bank insafety, and was sent on to join Laudonniere and Le Moyne, and with themto make an effort to reach the ships.
Then once more did the brave lad make his way back through the narrowtunnel and to the outer edge of the house above its inner entrance.Here, as before, he listened and awaited in the hope of discoveringother unfortunates whom he might aid to escape.
As he lay there watching, he listened with a swelling heart to thetriumphant songs and shouts of the Spaniards, and the cries of thevictims, whose hiding-places were still occasionally discovered, andwho were instantly put to death. Suddenly the smouldering embers of afire near by were fanned into a momentary blaze that caused him towithdraw hastily beneath the building lest he should be discovered. Ashe did so his eye lighted on a pile of books and papers that had beentossed from the windows of the building beneath which he was concealed.Even in that glance he recognized them as belonging to his uncle, andbeing the same that he had helped to pack when the fort was abandoned.
Realizing their importance, and despairing of being able to affordfurther aid to any of the recent occupants of the fort, Rene determinedto attempt to save these papers. It was a bold undertaking, for toreach them he was obliged to leave the shelter of the building andadvance some distance into the open, where at any moment he might berevealed to his enemies by flashes of firelight from the smoulderingtimbers near by. Fully realizing the risk he ran, but undismayed byit, the brave boy made several trips to and from the pile of books andpapers. He had removed nearly all of them to the tunnel, which he feltto be the only safe place for them, when he suddenly became aware thatmorning was near at hand, and that the rapidly increasing light of dayhad made his task doubly dangerous.
Knowing, however, that all that were left could be carried on one moretrip, he determined to make it. Just as he gathered into his arms thelast of the papers to save which he was risking his life, a yell ofdelight announced that he was discovered. A quick glance revealed twoSpanish soldiers rushing towards him with levelled pikes, and gleamingeyes that were red and bloodshot as those of the tiger who has tastedblood.
With a rare presence of mind, and without dropping his precious bundle,Rene darted, not under the house, but into it through the mainentrance. Running through the long hall, which was still shrouded incomplete darkness, he sprang out of an open window at its rear end. Ashe did so he heard his pursuers enter the house and begin an eagersearch of its rooms, at the same time calling others of their comradesto their assistance.
Breathlessly creeping beneath the building, Rene reached theunderground passage in safety, and deposited within it the papers forwhich he had dared so much. After drawing the slab of bark carefullyover the entrance above his head, he removed all the books and papersto the very middle of the tunnel, where they nearly blocked the narrowway and rendered it impassable. With the other things, he had broughtaway a small iron box, banded and locked, and this he took especialpains to effectually conceal.
While he was thus working like a mole beneath the ground, the baffledSpaniards above his head were becoming more and more enraged andperplexed. Their thorough search of the building into which they hadseen their would-be victim enter, but which no one had seen him leave,failed to discover not only him, but any traces of the great pile ofbooks and papers which they had collected for the purpose of burning.
Finally they became convinced that the building contained some secretchamber that they were unable to detect, and by order of Menendezhimself it was set on fire and burned to the ground. Thus theSpaniards felt sure that they had destroyed not only the books andpapers, but the unknown enemy who had so daringly risked his life torecover and save them. At the same time they were greatly astonishedthat he should have quietly permitted the fire to destroy him withoutmaking an effort to escape, or allowing a single cry of pain or anguishto betray his presence. After much consideration of the matter theyfinally concluded that so many of the Huguenots had suffered martyrdomat the stake that they had all learned to endure the torture of burningin silence.
When Rene had finished storing the books and papers as carefully as thecircumstances would permit, he at last found time to consider his ownsafety. Going to the end of the tunnel, and peering cautiously out tomake sure that he was not observed, he replaced the bark door beneathits curtain of vines, and began to work his way very slowly and withmany a backward glance down the river. It was now broad daylight, andfor fear of being seen from the fort, he crept close under shelter ofthe bank, sometimes crawling on his hands and knees, and often wadingin water up to his waist.
At length, by several hours' hard labor, which, coming after hisexertions of the preceding night, completely exhausted him, he reachedthe high bluff which has already been described as commanding a view ofseveral miles both up and down the river. Wearily the tired boyclimbed to its summit, from which, as he gazed up the river, he sawwith a heavy heart the yellow banner of Spain flaunting itself abovethe walls of Fort Caroline. As its folds glistened in the brightsunshine, for the storm of the past four days had passed away with thenight, they seemed to him like those of some huge and venomous serpent,and he turned from the sight with a shudder.
On the other hand, in the far distance, he saw, still lying at anchor,the two small ships which he believed to be, as they were, the onlyrepresentatives of the power of France now left in the New World. Onthese he placed all his hopes of escape, of future happiness, and oflife itself.
Anxious as he was to reach the ships and to rejoin his uncle, the poorlad's exhausted frame could withstand the terrible strain upon it nolonger. It pleaded for a rest so effectually that Rene flung himselfupon a pile of wet moss, determined to snatch an hour's sleep beforeattempting to proceed farther.
As the boy slept he was visited by troublous dreams that caused him totoss his arms and moan pitifully; and no wonder, after the horridscenes of which he had so recently been a spectator; no wonder, too,when new and terrible dangers threatened him closely even as he slept.Had he been awake he would have noticed the approach of a small band ofIndians, who, appearing on the edge of the forest, made their waydirectly towards the bluff. It was a party of Seminole warriors, ledby their chief the gigantic Cat-sha. With him was Chitta the Snake,and behind them walked three bound prisoners. Two of these wereFrenchmen, and the third was an Indian lad who had escaped with hischief from the doomed village of Seloy, only to share the fate of theequally doomed fort in which he had sought shelter. These had thrownthemselves from the walls of the fort upon its capture by theSpaniards, and had reached the forest unharmed.
There they had fallen into the hands of these Seminoles who had notfled from this part of the country upon the return of the French, asthe latter had supposed, but had lingered in the hope of capturing anywhite men who might incautiously stray beyond the protecting walls.They desired to capture these that their tortures might form part ofthe festivities with which they proposed to celebrate their return totheir stronghold in the great swamp, and to which the rest of the band,bearing the plunder taken from Fort C
aroline after it was abandoned,had already gone. The Seminoles, rejoicing greatly over the fortunethat had thrown three victims thus easily into their hands, were now ontheir way to their canoes, which they had hidden near the foot of thishigh bluff.
Directing the others to proceed to where the canoes lay, Cat-sha,accompanied by Chitta, ascended the eminence for the purpose of takinga sweeping view of the river and the surrounding country. As theygained the summit Rene's moanings warned them of his presence.Stealing to the spot where he lay with the noiseless footfalls of wildbeasts, the two Indians stood for a moment gloating over theunconscious lad. They fully realized the value of this unexpected andwelcome prize, for both of them recognized the young white chief themoment their eyes lighted upon him. In another minute the poor lad hadawakened with a wild cry of terror, to find himself bound hand andfoot, and lying at the mercy of those whom he knew to be his bitterestand most unrelenting enemies.