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Page 23
Although R�n� watched anxiously for Has-se, he also cast frequent
glances towards the stream, fearful lest Chitta and his companion
should again appear. Thus he was not looking when his friend emerged
from the forest, and did not hear the light tread of his moccasined
feet. Nor was he aware of any presence near him, until a low laugh,
which so startled him that he almost upset the canoe, gave the first
hint of his friend's return.
"Oh, Has-se!" he exclaimed, in a whisper rendered hoarse by his
excitement, "glad am I to see thee once more. Chitta is in pursuit of
us, and with him is as evil-looking an Indian as ever I saw, but large
and powerful withal."
Then he related the whole incident of the appearance of the strange
canoe, to which Has-se listened with grave attention.
When R�n� had finished he said, "Has-se also has something to tell.
Far down the river, on the side opposite the end of the trail, he heard
the sound of many voices, and he knows his people are there. Let us go
to them."
"But if we venture out into the stream, will not Chitta and the one
with him see us?"
"If they do not until we float on the river, they must prove themselves
swifter than Hu-la-lah" (the wind) "to catch us before we reach
friends. How is thy hand? Is the sting of Chitta-wewa still painful?"
"Oh! my hand? Why, no; I had no thought of it until now. Thanks to
thy application, the pain and the swelling seem alike to have been
removed."
"Then let us go, and if it comes to meeting Chitta, we will see if we
cannot render his sting as harmless as that of his namesake
Chitta-wewa."
Very cautiously the two boys paddled their canoe out from the lagoon,
and headed it down the narrow river towards the place where they hoped
to find friends.
Having reached the stream in safety, they were about to congratulate
each other on their good-fortune, when suddenly a wild scream, such as
is made by an enraged panther, came ringing down through the dark
forest glade behind them.
"It is the yell of Cat-sha the Tiger, chief of the Seminoles!" cried
Has-se. "For the Snake, with the Tiger to aid him, we are no match.
If those white arms of thine have strength in them, now is the time to
prove it, Ta-lah-lo-ko."
With this the two boys bent over their paddles, and plied them with
such energy that their light craft fairly hissed through the water, and
flew past the gray, motionless columns of the cypresses. Not far
behind came their pursuers, also straining every muscle, and already
exulting over the prize that was so nearly within their grasp.
Cat-sha and Chitta had become impatient of waiting in their ambush for
those who failed to come, but who they knew had been following them,
and they finally decided to cautiously retrace their course in order to
learn, what had become of them. At the mouth of the lagoon in which
R�n� had awaited Has-se's return they paused, undecided, for a moment.
From the very trail taken by Has-se there branched another, which led
to the distant Seminole fastness in the heart of the great swamp.
Cat-sha at first thought they would do well to examine this trail; for
if it should prove to be some of his own band of whose canoe he had
caught a glimpse, he would surely discover traces of them here.
Chitta, however, said that those who had followed them might chance to
pass on unnoticed while they were in the lagoon. It would be time
enough to examine the trail after they had been back as far as the
bayou, and made certain that nobody was between them and it. Happily
for R�n� de Veaux, this counsel had prevailed, and they had gone on up
the stream.
It was while on their return from the bayou that they had caught sight
of the two boys just leaving the lagoon, and that Cat-sha had uttered
his war-cry with such startling effect.
Even at the distance they were, both he and Chitta had seen the
Flamingo Feather braided in Has-se's hair, and had also recognized the
peculiar costume worn by him whom they knew as the son of the great
white chief.
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