|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 12
The next morning Has-se had disappeared, and was nowhere to be found.
With a troubled countenance the sergeant of the guard reported to
Laudonniere that he had looked in on the prisoner at midnight, and
found him quietly sleeping. He had visited the room again at sunrise,
and it was empty. The sentinels at the gates, and those who paced the
walls, had been closely questioned, but declared they had seen nobody,
nor had they heard any unusual sound. For his part he believed there
was magic in it, and that some of the old Indian witches had spirited
the prisoner up the chimney, and flown away with him on a broomstick.
Although troubled to find that his prisoners could thus easily escape
from the fort, Laudonniere was relieved that the disposal of Has-se's
fate had thus been taken from his hands. He said to R�n�, "I am glad
that thy friend has escaped, though I like not the manner of his going,
and I trust he may come to no harm. I would, however, that we had been
able to send a company, or even one man, with him to this land of the
Alachuas of which he told thee, for mayhap we might thus have obtained
provision; but without a guide, I know not how it could be discovered."
"Could I have gone, uncle?" inquired R�n�, eagerly.
"Thou, lad? No, thou art too young and tender to be sent on such a
perilous mission. It should be one of double thy years and experience.
Let no such foolish thoughts fill thy head yet a while."
CHAPTER V
THE ESCAPE OF HAS-SE AND RENE
This speech from his uncle both pleased and troubled R�n�. He was glad
to learn that it was deemed advisable for some one from the fort to
visit the land of the Alachuas, and troubled to find that if he went
with Has-se, he must do so without permission from his uncle.
Nevertheless he felt certain that he, being Has-se's friend, and also
regarded by the Indians as the son of the great chief of the white men,
could undertake the mission with a greater chance of safety and success
than any one else. He would have urged this view of the case upon his
uncle's attention, but feared that speaking of the subject a second
time would only result in his being absolutely forbidden to leave the
fort on any pretence. The lad felt himself to be truly a man, now that
he was nearly seventeen years old, and like all manly, high-spirited
boys of his age, he was most anxious to enter upon any adventure that
promised novelty and excitement.
R�n�'s appearance at this time was very different from that of the boy
who, less than a year before, had left the old chateau of his fathers
with tear-stained cheeks. His long curls had fallen under the shears,
and his closely cropped hair showed to advantage his well-formed head.
He was tall for his age, his muscles had hardened with constant
exercise, and his face, neck, and hands were tanned to a ruddy brown by
the hot suns beneath which he had spent so many months. His brown eyes
held a merry twinkle, but at the same time there was an expression of
pride and fixed purpose in his face that well became it.
At this time he wore a small plumed cap, a leathern jacket,
knee-breeches, stockings of stout yarn, and short boots, the legs of
which fitted closely to his ankles. Simon, the armorer, had made for
him a light steel corselet, that he wore over his leathern jacket
whenever he went beyond the walls of the fort. Upon all such
excursions he was armed with his well-tried cross-bow (for which he
carried a score of steel-tipped bolts) and a small, but keen-edged,
dagger that hung at his belt.
After considering Has-se's proposal all the morning, R�n� finally
decided to accept it, and, without notifying any person in the fort of
his intention, to accompany the young Indian to the land of the
Alachuas.
In accordance with this plan he gathered together a number of trinkets,
such as he knew would be acceptable to the Indians, and during the
afternoon he conveyed these to the forest beyond the fort, where he
bound them into a compact package and carefully hid them.
R�n� could not account, any more than the others, for Has-se's
disappearance, nor imagine how his escape had been effected; but he
felt certain that the young Indian would be true to his word, and await
his coming at the appointed place of meeting when the moon rose above
the pine-tree tops.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|