The Flamingo Feather

by Kirk Munroe

  CHAPTER XV

  RENE IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES

  Well might Rene de Veaux feel that he had fallen into evil hands, as,upon awakening from his troubled slumber, he found himself bound handand foot, and gazed into the cruel face of Chitta, lighted by atriumphant but sneering smile. Nor did he gain any comfort by turninghis eyes to the sullen countenance of the huge Cat-sha. Neither pitynor mercy was expressed in the slightest degree by either of theSeminoles. Chitta thought of the revenge he was to enjoy for hishumiliating overthrow during the games at the Feast of Ripe Corn, whichhe fully believed he owed to the white lad. Cat-sha knew that Rene hadled the attack upon his band at the shell mound, and regarded him as abrave enemy whom he should take an exquisite delight in torturing.

  Loosening the bonds that encircled the boy's ankles, his captors forcedhim to walk to the foot of the bluff, where the rest of their band weregathered. These received the new prisoner with extravagantmanifestations of delight, and after all had examined him, and hisweapons had been taken from him, he was again tightly bound and throwninto the bottom of one of the canoes. Although he had caught a glimpseof the other white prisoners, he was not allowed to communicate withthem.

  As his captors desired to keep him well and strong, they gave him foodand water, both of which he at first thought of refusing, and thusbringing his sufferings to an end as quickly as possible. On secondthought, however, he decided that this course would be cowardly, andunworthy of his white blood. So he ate heartily all that was offeredto him, determined to keep up his strength, and to make a desperateeffort to escape should the slightest opportunity present itself.

  Having reached this decision, Rene felt much calmer and more hopeful,and as he was sadly in need of sleep, he determined to obtain as muchof that blessing as was possible. Shortly afterwards the Indians weregreatly astonished to find their new prisoner slumbering as quietly asthough no danger threatened him, and he had not an anxiety in the world.

  While daylight lasted the Seminoles remained in that spot, but atnightfall they launched their canoes, and set forth on their journey tothe great swamp of the Okeefenokee.

  An hour later a few shadows flitted through the darkness over theplacid waters, past the two French ships that still lay at anchor nearthe mouth of the river. Making no sound, they were unnoticed andunchallenged, and in a few minutes they had turned and vanished amidthe vast salt-marshes that bounded the river on the north. Thus Renede Veaux passed within a few rods of the uncle who was so anxiouslyawaiting his coming, and neither of them had the slightest suspicion ofthe other's presence.

  Lying in the bottom of a canoe, from which he was only taken when theIndians went into camp, Rene knew not whither he was being taken, norhad he any idea that he was making the very same journey that he andHas-se had taken together some months before. He was not allowed tocommunicate with, nor did he even see, the other white prisoners, forthey were carried in separate canoes, and at night all three were boundto trees situated at considerable distances from each other.

  Day after day the boy studied the faces of his captors attentively, butamong them all he found only one that betrayed the faintest evidence ofpity for his forlorn condition. Even his expression was only one ofsomewhat less ferocity than that of the others, and poor Rene imaginedthat it was owing to his youth, for this Indian was but a mere lad ofeven less years than himself. In fact he was the young Indian fromSeloy who had been captured by the Seminoles on the same day with Rene.Having unexpectedly obtained three instead of two white prisoners, andbeing in need of recruits, Cat-sha had offered to spare this lad's lifeand set him at liberty if he would become a Seminole and a member oftheir band. This the young Indian, whose name was E-chee (the Deer),had professed himself as willing to do, though he secretly determinedto make his escape at the very first opportunity.

  He had at once recognized Rene, though he was careful not to betray thefact, and was very glad that the white lad showed no sign of everhaving seen him. Only by an occasional pitying glance, when he couldgive it undetected by the others, did he attempt to convey his friendlyfeelings to the young prisoner. When it came his turn to stand guardover the captives, he treated them with greater harshness than any ofthe Seminoles, in order to allay any suspicion that might beentertained of his faithfulness. But always he watched for anopportunity to communicate with Rene, and make known to him that he wasa friend.

  At length such an opportunity offered itself. They had entered thegreat swamp, and even Rene, from the bottom of the canoe, seeing thetall cypresses meet overhead, began to suspect where they were. Duringa portion of an intensely dark night E-chee kept watch over theprisoners. While the guard whom he relieved was there to note theaction, he gave each of the three captives a kick with his moccasinedfoot. This, while it did not hurt them, expressed to the Seminole adegree of contempt that satisfied him that the new recruit hated thewhite men as cordially as he himself.

  When he had departed and all was quiet, E-chee approached the placewhere Rene lay bound to a tree, and lying down close beside him, hewhispered, "Ta-lah-lo-ko."

  Rene had fallen asleep, but he was instantly awakened by the sound ofthis familiar name, even though it was only whispered. Without moving,he waited to hear if the sound would be repeated, or whether he hadonly dreamed some one had called him.

  In a moment the whisper came again, "Ta-lah-lo-ko."

  "Who art thou?" asked Rene, in the Indian language.

  "I am E-chee from Seloy, where I saw thee when thou first set foot onthe land of my people. Dost thou not remember?"

  "Art thou not E-chee the Seminole?"

  "To all appearance I am become one of these runaways, but my heart isthat of a true man, and I seek only an opportunity to escape from themand to rejoin my own people. If indeed any of my people be leftalive," he added, bitterly.

  "Dost thou think an escape may be effected?" asked Rene, eagerly, a newhope dawning in his breast.

  "I know not, but I can try, and should I fail, death itself were betterthan life with these Seminole dogs."

  Then Rene asked where they were and what E-chee knew of Cat-sha's plans.

  He was told that they were in the great Okeefenokee swamp, even as hehad suspected. On the morrow they were to leave the canoes and find atrail that led to the Seminole village, hidden in its most impenetrabledepths. When they reached it E-chee believed, from fragments ofconversation he had overheard, that there was to be a great feast, andthat the prisoners were to be tortured.

  Then Rene told E-chee of the land of the Alachuas, and described to himhow he might reach it. This done, he asked the young Indian to reach ahand into the breast of his doublet, where, within its lining, he wouldfind a feather with a slender chain and pin attached to it. This, onaccount of his bonds, he could not get at with his own hands.

  When E-chee had secured the feather, which was the very FlamingoFeather given to Rene by Has-se, Rene told him to guard it with hislife; and, if he succeeded in escaping from the Seminoles, to convey itwith all speed to the land of the Alachuas. There he was to present itto any of Micco's tribe, but in particular to one named Has-se theBow-bearer, if he could discover him. He was to tell them of the sadplight of the prisoners, and beg of them to send a party to theirrescue.

  Hardly had he finished these instructions when the snapping of a twignear by caused E-chee to spring to his feet and pour out a torrent ofabuse upon Rene, at the same time giving him a kick that drew from theprostrate lad an exclamation of pain. It was quite as much a groan ofdespair; for he could not understand the action of the young Indian,and imagined him to be a vile traitor who had only gained hisconfidence in order to betray it.

  Directly, however, he heard the voice of Cat-sha demanding of E-cheewhy he thus abused the prisoners. To this the young Indian made answerthat he had discovered that this one, who was the most troublesome ofthe three, had nearly succeeded in loosening his bonds. This he woulddoubtless have accomplished had not he, E-chee, been possesse
d of theforethought to examine them as he made his rounds.

  Commending his vigilance, Cat-sha, who was in the habit of personallyassuring himself of the safety of the prisoners several times duringeach night, passed on. Then E-chee, after stooping to whisper to Reneto be of good cheer, also moved away.

  Before noon of the following day the canoes were run ashore, and Renewas allowed to rise and step from the one in the bottom of which he hadtravelled. As he did so, he at once knew the place as the head of thelittle lagoon, where he had been left to nurse his snake-bite, whileHas-se explored the trail that led away into the swamp. It was with aswelling heart that the lad contrasted his present position with theone he had occupied at that time, and it was with difficulty that heforced back the hot tears that his thoughts caused to stand ready toflow.

  The brave lad did not permit these signs of weakness to be seen, and hereceived some comfort by catching a kindly look from E-chee, andexchanging sympathetic glances with his fellow-prisoners, with whom,however, he was not allowed to speak. They were of the new arrivals,and on account of illness had been left in the fort when the fightingmen marched away to join Admiral Ribault.

  As soon as the canoes had been drawn from the water and carefullyconcealed, the Seminoles and their captives turned into the gloom ofthe shadowy cypresses, and made their way in single file along thenarrow trail that led away from the lagoon. It was often covered withwater, and a misstep on either side of its entire length would haveplunged the unfortunate who should make it into a bottomless morass.From it, without assistance, he would never be able to extricatehimself, but would only sink deeper and deeper, until he haddisappeared forever. It happened that one of the French prisoners didstep from the trail on this occasion. The brutal savages watched withpleasure his frantic struggles to regain a footing, but withoutoffering to aid him. He had very nearly drowned in the horriblemixture of black water and blacker mud before they hauled him out. Hewas in a pitiable plight, but they only greeted him with blows andjeers at his appearance, and forced him to resume the march, withoutallowing him to remove from his clothing any of the filth that clung toit.

  Rene was able to distinguish the point at which the trail they werefollowing branched off from that formerly taken by Has-se. He hopedthat E-chee would also note it, but had no chance of assuring himselfthat the young Indian had done so.

  It was nearly nightfall before they reached the Seminole village thatmarked their journey's end. Here they were received by its inhabitantswith the wildest demonstrations of savage joy. Rene was an especialobject of interest, for, as the "young white chief," his name wasalready well known to them, and his capture was regarded as the mostnoteworthy one ever made by the band.

  The squaws and children, and even the youths of his own age, crowdedclosely about him, taunting him with shrill voices, spitting on him,pulling his hair, and pushing him this way and that. For some timeRene bore all this patiently, feeling that to express annoyance wouldperhaps only subject him to greater abuses. He knew also that it wouldafford his tormentors the greatest delight and satisfaction, and thispleasure he was not inclined to give them.

  At length, however, his patience came to an end. Among the crowdsurrounding him was a lad somewhat taller than himself, and possessedof hideous features. When he began pricking Rene with the point of asharp knife, at the same time approaching his face close to that of hisvictim, and mocking him with frightful grimaces, the boy could stand itno longer. Regardless of what the consequences might be, he drew backa step, and raising his clinched and still bound hands, struck histormentor full in the face such a blow as felled him to the ground.

  A loud outcry arose at this unexpected exhibition of the prisoner'sspirit, and the young savage, regaining his feet, was so enraged thathe attempted to plunge his knife into Rene's heart. This was preventedby several warriors who had witnessed the scene, and who steppedquickly forward to his rescue. Pushing Rene's assailant aside, theyled him away to a palmetto-thatched hut that stood at a distance fromthe rest. Here, after so tightening the bonds of his ankles that hecould not stand, but could only sit or lie down, they closed theentrance and left him to his own sorrowful reflections.

  The Seminole village occupied an island the surface of which was raisedconsiderably above that of the surrounding swamp. It was of suchextent as to afford space for several large fields of maize, pumpkins,and starch root, besides the collection of huts, which numbered in allabout a hundred. These represented a population of about five hundredsouls, of whom about two hundred were warriors.

  On all sides of the island stretched to unknown distances the vastimpenetrable swamp, and only by the one narrow trail over which Renehad been brought could it be gained from the outside world. At thepoint where this trail joined the island a Seminole warrior kept watchnight and day, so that the place would seem to be absolutely safeagainst surprise, and proof against any attack that might be made uponit. Escape from it would also appear to be impossible.

  On the very night of the arrival of Cat-sha and his prisoners, thewarrior who kept guard at the end of the trail was startled by hearinga few wild notes of a death-song rise from a small thicket but a shortdistance from him.

  Then came a loud cry, and the words,

  "Thus does E-chee of Seloy defy the Seminole dogs and rejoin hispeople!"

  Directly afterwards, and before the astonished warrior could reach thespot, he heard a loud splash in the black waters that surrounded theisland, and then all was still.

  As the warrior gained the little thicket, he saw nothing save someripples on the surface of the water, and some bubbles rising from itsunknown depths. He was joined by others from the village, and allsearched the thicket for some trace of him who had uttered theremarkable cry. Finally they discovered in it the head-dress offeathers that the young Indian of Seloy had worn as a Seminole warrior,and were forced to conclude that he had drowned himself rather than tolive as one of them. Sneering at the want of taste he had thusdisplayed, and regretting that he had not been kept a prisoner, and assuch been tortured for their amusement, instead of being allowed tobecome a Seminole, they returned to the village. The sentinel resumedhis watch on the trail, and the incident of E-chee's disappearance wasthought of no more.

  When Rene overheard some Indians talking outside the hut in which helay, and laughingly telling each other of the method E-chee had takento rejoin his own people, his heart sank within him, and he felt thathe no longer had aught to hope for, now that his only friend amid allthese enemies was dead.

  On the following day preparations for the great feast of rejoicing wereactively begun. In the middle of a small mound just outside thevillage a stout post of green wood was set deep into the ground, andnear it was gathered a great pile of dry wood and fat pine splinters.This was the stake at which the prisoners were to suffer torture, andaround which the chief interest of the festivities was to centre. Thefeast was to continue for three days, according to the number ofprisoners on hand. One of them was, by his behavior under theingenious tortures devised especially for the occasion, to furnish theprincipal amusement for each day. At its close, if he were not alreadydead, he was to be sacrificed.

  It was generally understood that the most important of the prisoners,the young white chief, was to be reserved for the last and crowning dayof the feast, and for him an especial committee were inventing a seriesof new and peculiarly painful tortures.

  At all hours of the day crowds of women and children gathered about thehut in which Rene was confined, in the hope of catching a glimpse ofhim. Their delight knew no bounds when, occasionally, one of the moregood-natured of his guards would lift the mat of braided palmetto fibrethat hung before the entrance, and allow them to peep in at him, andtaunt him with hints of what he was to undergo.

  Wearily did the long hours pass with the unhappy boy as he lay thusfriendless among cruel enemies, helplessly awaiting the fate from whichhe shrank so fearfully, and yet from which he could conceive no mannerof escape.r />