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Page 41
Breathlessly creeping beneath the building, R�n� reached the
underground passage in safety, and deposited within it the papers for
which he had dared so much. After drawing the slab of bark carefully
over the entrance above his head, he removed all the books and papers
to the very middle of the tunnel, where they nearly blocked the narrow
way and rendered it impassable. With the other things, he had brought
away a small iron box, banded and locked, and this he took especial
pains to effectually conceal.
While he was thus working like a mole beneath the ground, the baffled
Spaniards above his head were becoming more and more enraged and
perplexed. Their thorough search of the building into which they had
seen 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 of
books and papers which they had collected for the purpose of burning.
Finally they became convinced that the building contained some secret
chamber that they were unable to detect, and by order of Menendez
himself it was set on fire and burned to the ground. Thus the
Spaniards felt sure that they had destroyed not only the books and
papers, but the unknown enemy who had so daringly risked his life to
recover and save them. At the same time they were greatly astonished
that he should have quietly permitted the fire to destroy him without
making an effort to escape, or allowing a single cry of pain or anguish
to betray his presence. After much consideration of the matter they
finally concluded that so many of the Huguenots had suffered martyrdom
at the stake that they had all learned to endure the torture of burning
in silence.
When R�n� had finished storing the books and papers as carefully as the
circumstances would permit, he at last found time to consider his own
safety. Going to the end of the tunnel, and peering cautiously out to
make sure that he was not observed, he replaced the bark door beneath
its curtain of vines, and began to work his way very slowly and with
many a backward glance down the river. It was now broad daylight, and
for fear of being seen from the fort, he crept close under shelter of
the bank, sometimes crawling on his hands and knees, and often wading
in water up to his waist.
At length, by several hours' hard labor, which, coming after his
exertions of the preceding night, completely exhausted him, he reached
the high bluff which has already been described as commanding a view of
several miles both up and down the river. Wearily the tired boy
climbed to its summit, from which, as he gazed up the river, he saw
with a heavy heart the yellow banner of Spain flaunting itself above
the walls of Fort Caroline. As its folds glistened in the bright
sunshine, for the storm of the past four days had passed away with the
night, 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 only
representatives of the power of France now left in the New World. On
these he placed all his hopes of escape, of future happiness, and of
life itself.
Anxious as he was to reach the ships and to rejoin his uncle, the poor
lad's exhausted frame could withstand the terrible strain upon it no
longer. It pleaded for a rest so effectually that R�n� flung himself
upon a pile of wet moss, determined to snatch an hour's sleep before
attempting to proceed farther.
As the boy slept he was visited by troublous dreams that caused him to
toss his arms and moan pitifully; and no wonder, after the horrid
scenes 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 of
Indians, who, appearing on the edge of the forest, made their way
directly towards the bluff. It was a party of Seminole warriors, led
by their chief the gigantic Cat-sha. With him was Chitta the Snake,
and behind them walked three bound prisoners. Two of these were
Frenchmen, and the third was an Indian lad who had escaped with his
chief from the doomed village of Seloy, only to share the fate of the
equally doomed fort in which he had sought shelter. These had thrown
themselves from the walls of the fort upon its capture by the
Spaniards, and had reached the forest unharmed.
There they had fallen into the hands of these Seminoles who had not
fled from this part of the country upon the return of the French, as
the latter had supposed, but had lingered in the hope of capturing any
white men who might incautiously stray beyond the protecting walls.
They desired to capture these that their tortures might form part of
the festivities with which they proposed to celebrate their return to
their stronghold in the great swamp, and to which the rest of the band,
bearing the plunder taken from Fort Caroline after it was abandoned,
had already gone. The Seminoles, rejoicing greatly over the fortune
that had thrown three victims thus easily into their hands, were now on
their way to their canoes, which they had hidden near the foot of this
high bluff.
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