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Page 56
The runner stared at him for a moment in amazement and then answered,
"I bring word that the French have come again. With the new moon three
great thunder canoes, bearing the banner of lilies, reached the end of
the salt-waters. It is thought there will soon be fighting between
those who come in them and the bad white men who already hold the land.
The dwellers of the country of sunrise, by the great river, send a
prayer to the chief of the Alachuas. It is that he will come, and with
his wisdom aid these white men, and then tear down and tread in the
sands the yellow banner of death and bondage."
"Ay, that will I, and right gladly, not only with my wisdom, which is
but little, but with a hundred warriors, which is more to the purpose!"
exclaimed R�n� in a tone of such excitement as greatly to astonish the
runner once more. Springing to his feet, the white chief ordered his
bow-bearer, who was in attendance, to summon to him, without delay, all
the principal men of the tribe, and in particular the chief
Yah-chi-la-ne. He was also to issue orders to his own war-party of a
hundred picked braves to prepare themselves, with all possible
despatch, for a forced journey to the great river of sunrise.
These messages from their chief caused the greatest excitement and
commotion among the Alachuas. They were obeyed without hesitation, and
while the braves of his own war-party restrung their bows, or secured
new heads of keenest flint to their lances, the principal men, with
Yah-chi-la-ne among them, repaired to his lodge.
No word was spoken until all were seated and their stone pipes were
well alight, when R�n�, standing in their midst, addressed them and
said,
"Wise men of the Alachuas: it is now many moons since thou didst
receive Ta-lah-lo-ko into thy tribe, and open wide thy hearts to him.
In all this time he has been as one with thee in everything. Now he
would go. His own people, the pale-faces who dwell beyond the land of
sunrise, and beyond the great salt-waters, have come again. The heart
of Ta-lah-lo-ko sings for joy within him at the thought of seeing them
once more. The pledge of the Flamingo Feather holds him no longer, for
the old man to whom it was given has passed away. But the singing and
gladness of his heart is turned to sighing and to sadness by the
thought that he may never again see the land of the Alachuas. This may
not be; for if it is possible for him, he will come again from beyond
the great waters. Now he must go to his own people, who have many
wrongs to set right, and must do much fighting before they turn again
towards the sunrise. They call for help from the brave Alachuas.
Ta-lah-lo-ko and his own war-party will hasten to them. When the
fighting is done, they will return; but he must go first to the land of
the pale-faces. Until he comes, the brave and wise Yah-chi-la-ne will
guide your councils, and lead you on the war-path. Ta-lah-lo-ko has
spoken."
As R�n� sat down, Yah-chi-la-ne and others sprang to their feet, and
begged him not to leave them. Yah-chi-la-ne declared that as he had
taken the place of Has-se (the Sunbeam), so he had become a flood of
sunlight to them, and that in losing him they would be buried in
darkness.
These appeals stirred his feelings deeply, but could not alter his
fixed purpose; and when they saw that he was determined to leave them,
they opposed him no longer, but only begged of him that he would
speedily return.
So R�n� de Veaux, at the head of his own war-party of picked Alachua
braves, set forth once more on the same journey that he had now made so
many times, and under such different circumstances.
As the canoe which bore him shot out from the shore into the middle of
the river, and was headed up against the current, there arose from the
multitude collected on the bank a mighty cry of lamentation for the
young chief who was departing from them. For answer R�n�, standing up
so that all might see him, took the Flamingo Feather that was entwined
in his hair, waved it above his head, and replaced it. This was a sign
that, though he was leaving them, he would return again, and by it they
were greatly comforted.
Once started, the party moved with the greatest speed, those who plied
the paddles being frequently relieved by fresh men, and never before
had R�n� accomplished the journey so quickly. At its various stages he
received many reminders of former passages over the same waters, and of
the brave and loyal Has-se who had accompanied him on most of them.
Here was the point where his loving and beloved friend had so
peacefully breathed his last, and there, at the edge of the great
swamp, the place where Chitta had met with his self-inflicted
punishment. Now they passed the mouth of the little lagoon, from the
head of which the trail led away through the dark mazes of the swamp to
the Seminole island, rising from its slimy waters; and soon they were
gliding swiftly down with the current of that other river, that flowed
eastward to the coast.
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