The Flamingo Feather Read online

  Produced by Al Haines

  [Frontispiece: Arrival of Admiral Ribault's Fleet]

  THE FLAMINGO FEATHER

  BY

  KIRK MUNROE

  Author of "SNOWSHOES AND SLEDGES," "THE PAINTED DESERT," "WAKULLA," ETC.

  ILLUSTRATED

  HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

  NEW YORK AND LONDON

  THE FLAMINGO FEATHER

  COPYRIGHT, 1887, BY HARPER & BROTHERS

  COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY KIRK MUNROE

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  L-Y

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I. RENE DE VEAUX II. A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE III. CHITTA'S REVENGE IV. HAS-SE IS HELD PRISONER V. THE ESCAPE OF HAS-SE AND RENE VI. THE JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF FOOD VII. CHITTA BECOMES A SEMINOLE VIII. ON THE TRAIL IX. A TRAP AVOIDED AND FRIENDS DISCOVERED X. MUTINY AT FORT CAROLINE XI. RENE'S RETURN XII. ABANDONING THE FORT XIII. ARRIVAL OF JEAN RIBAULT XIV. A NIGHT OF TERROR XV. RENE IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES XVI. HAS-SE RECEIVES THE TOKEN XVII. DEATH OF HAS-SE (THE SUNBEAM) XVIII. THE FRENCH HAVE COME AGAIN XIX. THE OLD WORLD ONCE MORE

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  ARRIVAL OF ADMIRAL RIBAULT'S FLEET . . . Frontispiece

  RENE SLIPPED QUICKLY THROUGH THE GATE

  "FAREWELL, TA-LAH-LO-KO!"

  THE DEATH OF HAS-SE

  The Flamingo Feather

  CHAPTER I

  RENE DE VEAUX

  On a dreary winter's day, early in the year 1564, young Rene de Veaux,who had just passed his sixteenth birthday, left the dear old chateauwhere he had spent his happy and careless boyhood, and started for Paris.Less than a month before both his noble father and his gentle mother hadbeen taken from him by a terrible fever that had swept over the country,and Rene their only child, was left without a relative in the worldexcept his uncle the Chevalier Rene de Laudonniere, after whom he wasnamed. In those days of tedious travel it seemed a weary time to thelonely lad before the messenger who had gone to Paris with a lettertelling his uncle of his sad position could return. When at length hecame again, bringing a kind message that bade him come immediately toParis and be a son to his equally lonely uncle, Rene lost no time inobeying.

  He travelled like a young prince, riding a spirited steed, and followedby a party of servants, mounted and armed to protect him against robbersand other perils of the way. Behind him rode old Francois, who had beenhis father's valet and was now his sole friend and protector. The bigtears rolled down the boy's cheeks as he turned for a last look at hishome; but as it was shut from view by the trees of the park surroundingit, he brushed them away resolutely, and turning to his companion, said,

  "Thou hast seen the last of my tears, Francois, and with them goes myboyhood; for hereafter I am to be a man, and men know not how to weep."

  "Well spoken, my young master," replied the old servant, greatly pleasedat the brave words of the lad. "Thou art already a man in feeling, andthine Uncle Laudonniere will presently make thee one in fact, if thetales that come to us of his valorous deeds be true, and there is naughtto disprove them."

  "Tell me of him, Francois; for though he is my only uncle, I have butlittle knowledge of him or his deeds. Of what nature are they?"

  "Well, then, he is a mighty navigator, and 'tis but little more than ayear since he returned from the New World, whither he sailed in companywith his Excellency Admiral Jean Ribault. He brings strange tales ofthose wonderful lands beyond the sea, and rumor has it that he is shortlyto set forth again for them with a noble company, who will establishthere a sanctuary for our blessed Protestant faith."

  The boy's interest was thoroughly aroused by this, and he plied the oldservant with questions concerning his uncle and the New World. Francoisanswered these to the best of his ability, and even drew largely upon hisimagination to aid his glowing descriptions of those distant lands ofwhich the men of that day held such vague knowledge.

  With such talk they beguiled much of the tedious journey, that occupied aweek ere it was ended and they entered Paris. Here they were finally setdown before a modest dwelling near the King's palace, in whichLaudonniere was lodged.

  Upon meeting his nephew, the chevalier embraced him warmly, and thenholding him forth at arm's-length to gain a better view of him,exclaimed, "In good sooth, Rene, thou'rt a likely lad; and if thy heartbe as true and bold as thy face promises, we'll soon make a man of theesuch as even thy noble father would approve."

  That evening uncle and nephew talked long and earnestly togetherconcerning the latter's future; and ere they slept it was fully decidedthat, in spite of his youth, he should make one of the expedition that,even as Francois had reported, Laudonniere was fitting out for the NewWorld.

  The next three months were occupied in busy preparation for the longvoyage, not unmixed with vexatious delays and grievous disappointments,in all of which young Rene de Veaux bore manfully his share. He becameeach day more useful to his uncle, who intrusted him with many importantcommissions, and who, stern old soldier as he was, learned in this timeto love the boy as though he had been his own son.

  At length all was in readiness. The stores and munitions of war had beenplaced on board the three ships that formed the little fleet, the lastcolonist had embarked, and Laudonniere had taken leave of his King andAdmiral Jean Ribault, who was to follow him in a few months with a stilllarger company. On a bright May morning uncle and nephew reached thelittle seaport town before which lay their ships, and hastened to embarkand take advantage of the favorable wind that promised them a fair starton their long and perilous voyage.

  As Laudonniere stepped on board his flagship his broad pennant was flungto the breeze from the mainmast-head, the _fleur-de-lis_ of Francefloated proudly from the mizzen, and amid the booming of cannon and theloud acclamations of the throngs assembled on the quay to bid themGodspeed, the ships moved slowly down the harbor towards the broad oceanand the New World that lay beyond.

  For many weeks they sailed ever westward, seeing no ship save their own,and becoming every day more weary of the vast, endless expanse of sea andsky. It is no wonder, then, that when on the morning of the 22d of Junethe welcome cry of "Land, ho!" rang through the flag-ship every soul onboard rushed on deck with joyous exclamations to catch once more aglimpse of the blessed land. The cry that had brought them such pleasurehad come from the mast-head, and it was some time before those on deckcould detect the dim blue cloud, low-lying in the west, that was said tobe land. Even then one man, who was known as Simon the Armorer, washeard to mutter that it might be land and then again it might not; forhis part, he believed the whole world had been drowned in a flood, as inthe days of Noah, and that the only land they should ever see would be atthe bottom of the ocean.

  As the day wore on, and before a light breeze the ships were waftedtowards the blue cloud, it was proved beyond a doubt to be land, for somepalm-trees and tall pines became distinguishable, and above all othersounds came, faint but distinct, the heavy, regular boom of surf.

  By noon the ships had approached as near to the coast as was deemedprudent, and for the first time since leaving France their anchors weredropped and their sails were furled.

  They had come to anchor off the mouth of an inlet, before which extendeda bar upon which the great seas were breaking and roaring so frightfullythat no passage for the ships among them seemed to offer itself.Laudonniere thought he recognized the inlet as one leading into a broadriver, on the opposite side of which was located an Indian village calledSeloy. This place he had visited two years before in company withAdmiral Ribault, and he determined to reassure himself as to thelocality; therefore, bidding Rene accompany him, he entered a small boat,and ordering another, f
ull of soldiers, to follow them, he gave the wordto pull straight for the breakers.

  Just as Rene thought the boat was to be swallowed by the raging seas, hisuncle guided her, with great skill, into a narrow passage that opened intheir very midst. After a few minutes of suspense, during which Renedared hardly to breathe, they shot into smooth waters, rounded a point ofland, and saw before them the village of which they were in search. Onthe beach in front of it a crowd of savage figures, nearly naked, weredancing wildly, and brandishing bows and spears.

  Meanwhile, the village that the boats were now approaching had beenthrown into a state of the greatest excitement by the appearance of theships, which had been discovered while yet so distant that their sailsresembled the wings of the white sea-gull. Upon the first alarm all thewarriors had been collected on the beach, and the women had left theirwork in the fields of maize and hurried with the children to the securityof the forest depths. When, however, the fleet came to anchor and theIndians could distinguish the meaning of their banners, their alarm waschanged to joy; for they had learned to love the French--who, upon theirprevious visit, had treated them with kindness--as much as they hated thecruel Spaniards, whose ships had also visited that coast. Then the womenand children were recalled from the forest, the warriors washed thewar-paint from their faces, and preparations for feasting were begun.

  As the small boats approached, the men ran down to the beach to meetthem, dancing and waving their weapons in their joy, and when theyrecognized Laudonniere standing in the stern of the leading boat, theyraised a great cry of welcome that caused the forest to ring with itsechoes. As the pious leader of the expedition stepped on shore, he tookRene by the hand, and both kneeling on the sands, gave thanks to Him whoguided them thus far in safety in their perilous wanderings. Though thesimple-minded Indians could not understand what Laudonniere said or wasdoing, they were so anxious to show their respect and love for him thatall knelt when he did and maintained a deep silence while he prayed.

  When Laudonniere arose to his feet the Indians crowded about him withshouts and gestures of welcome; but they readily made way for him when,still holding Rene's hand, he began to walk towards the lodge of theirchief. He was as anxious as his followers to welcome the white men, buthis dignity had not permitted him to rush with them down to the beach.

  As they walked, Rene stared in astonishment at the waving palms withrichly plumaged birds flitting among their leaves, the palmetto-thatchedhuts of the Indians, the shining and inflated fish-bladders that the menwore suspended from their ears, the moss-woven kirtles of the women, andabove all, at the mighty antlered stag that, stuffed and mounted on atall pole, with head proudly turned towards the rising sun, rose from themiddle of the village.

  He in turn was an object of astonishment and curious interest to thenatives; for, although they had become familiar with the appearance ofbearded white men, they had never before seen a white boy, Rene being thefirst to set foot in this land. The Indians had thought that all whitemen were born with beards, and that their closely cropped hair never grewany longer; so that this smooth-faced boy, whose golden hair hung inringlets over his shoulders, was a much greater curiosity to them thanthey were to him. The old chief took an immediate fancy to him, and ashe had given to Laudonniere the Indian name of Ta-lah (a palm) upon theoccasion of his previous visit to Seloy, he now called Rene Ta-lah-lo-ko(the palmetto, or little palm), a name ever afterwards used by all theIndians in their intercourse with him.

  The chief entreated Laudonniere to tarry many days in Seloy; but thelatter answered that the orders of his own great chief were for him toproceed without delay to the river known as the River of May, and thereerect a fort and found his colony. So, after an exchange of presents,they parted, and taking to their boats, the white men regained theirship. As they left, Rene gave many a backward glance at the pleasantlittle village of Seloy, and would have loved to linger there among itssimple and kindly people.

  As they crossed the bar, in going again to the ships, their boats weresurrounded by a number of what they called dolphins, but what are todaycalled porpoises, sporting in the great billows; and on their accountLaudonniere named the river they had just left the River of Dolphins.

  Spreading their white wings, the ships sailed northward forty milesduring the night, and daylight found them standing off and on at themouth of the great River of May. By the aid of a chart, made by AdmiralRibault two years before, they crossed its dangerous bar, and sailed upits broad channel.

  Short as was the time since they had been discovered off Seloy, swiftrunners had already conveyed the great tidings of their coming to Micco,the chief of this part of the country, and he and his people were thusprepared to greet them upon their arrival. When Rene and his uncle,followed by a company from the ships, landed, they were received withshouts and extravagant gestures of joy by the friendly Indians, andconducted by them to the top of a hill upon which Admiral Ribault had seta pillar of stone engraved with the French coat of arms. They found ittwined with wreaths of flowers, and surrounded by baskets of maize,quivers of arrows, and many other things that the kindly Indians tookthis means of offering to their white friends.

  Not far from this point Laudonniere selected the site of his fort, andwork upon it was immediately begun. He named it Fort Caroline, in honorof King Charles IX of France, and about it he hoped to see in time aflourishing colony of French Huguenots.

  After all the stores and munitions had been landed from the ships, theysailed for France, leaving the little company of white men the only onesof their race in all that vast unknown wilderness. As Laudonniereremained in command of Fort Caroline, Rene de Veaux of course remainedwith him, and thus became the hero of the surprising adventures that willbe related in the chapters that follow.