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Page 50
While E-chee kept watch, Yah-chi-la-ne and Has-se, with the knives
given them by R�n�, attempted to cut an entrance to the hut through the
thick thatch at its rear. Fortunately the rain, which beat upon them
in torrents, prevented any slight sounds they might make from being
heard, and also moistened the palmetto leaves so that they did not
crackle, as they would have done had they been dry. Thus, though they
worked but slowly, they worked silently, and gradually cut their way
into the interior.
Upon returning to his prison, after the trying ordeal of being
subjected to the taunts and stares of the whole village, R�n� threw
himself upon the ground to gain what rest he might. Supposing that
this was his last night of life, his mental sufferings kept him long
awake, but at length he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Suddenly he
found himself sitting bolt-upright, as wide-awake as ever in his life.
At first he supposed his sudden awakening to have been caused by a
terrific burst of thunder that crashed overhead, but in the deep
silence that followed he heard his own name pronounced in a whisper--
"Ta-lah-lo-ko!"
Could he be dreaming? No; it came again--
"Ta-lah-lo-ko!"
Truly he was called, and he whispered in reply, "I am here."
A slight rustling followed, and then the captive boy, whose wildly
beating heart seemed like to burst from his breast, knew that a friend
was beside him, cutting the bonds from his wrists and ankles, and
whispering,
"It is Has-se, and thou art saved, oh my brother!"
Then tremblingly, and guided by the gentle hand of the Indian lad, R�n�
crept through the opening made by the keen knives of his friends. In
spite of all precautions, his passage through the leaves rustled them
so loudly that only a violent thunder-clap coming at the same moment
prevented the noise from being heard.
Without a word being spoken, the four made their way as swiftly as
might be to where the trail left the island.
The guard at this point was suddenly petrified by superstitious fear at
the sight of E-chee, whom he supposed to have been drowned. The figure
stood in front of him, and, as revealed by a flash of lightning, was
haggard and dripping, as though it had just risen from a watery grave.
Ere the frightened warrior could give an alarm, a stunning blow from
behind felled him to the wet earth, where he lay motionless and
apparently devoid of life.
CHAPTER XVII
DEATH OF HAS-SE (THE SUNBEAM)
On this night of storm and escape, Cat-sha, the Seminole chief, was
more than usually restless. He tossed and turned on his couch of
robes, but found it impossible to sleep. Finally he determined to make
one of his customary midnight visits of inspection to the several
guards, and to his sole remaining prisoner, the "young white chief."
As he left his lodge Cat-sha bowed his head to the bitter storm, and
drew his robe more closely about him.
On approaching the hut, in which he imagined the prisoner to be
spending his last hours of life, he found the guard standing before it,
motionless, but wide-awake, and with one corner of his robe drawn over
his head to protect it somewhat from the pelting rain. Cat-sha
questioned him as to the safety of the prisoner, and the warrior
answered that he had looked in upon him just as the storm began, and
found him quietly sleeping and securely bound.
The rain had extinguished the watch-fire, which it was customary to
keep burning in the middle of the village during the night, and thus it
would be somewhat difficult for the Seminole chief to procure a light
with which to examine for himself into the condition of the prisoner.
He therefore accepted the assurance of the guard that he was still
safely confined within the hut; for, indeed, how could it be otherwise?
Such a thing as escaping seemed too utterly impossible to be worthy a
thought.
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