or seized with a sudden illness. Still he might have
also received a blow from the hand of an enemy, and the mere thought
that such might have gained access to the island, and even now be
lurking within its limits, made the chief hot with anger.

His first thought was for the safety of the prisoner; and leaving the
unconscious warrior where he lay, he hurried back to the hut he had
just left, determined to trust only the evidence of his own eyes as to
the condition of its occupant. Having after considerable delay
procured a torch, he entered the hut, where a single glance revealed
the startling truth. It was empty, and the severed bonds lying on the
ground, and the hole cut in the rear wall, at once told the whole
story. The prisoner of whom he had been so proud, the young white
chief for whose torture such elaborate preparations had been made, and
whom he had thought to be so safely secured, had escaped. He could not
have done so unaided; and who had thus boldly penetrated the very heart
of the village to save him? Such a thing was unheard of, and the
knowledge that it had been successfully accomplished so angered the
black-browed chief that he rushed from the hut in a terrible passion.
As he passed the warrior who stood guard at the entrance, and who was
still unconscious that anything had gone amiss, the angry chief struck
him a staggering blow in the face as a punishment for his negligence,
and then aroused the village.

While most of the angry and excited Seminoles searched the island and
the village itself, in hopes that the escaped captive would be found
somewhere in the vicinity of his late prison-house, Cat-sha followed
another plan. Hastily gathering together a small band of his best
warriors, he placed himself at their head, and they left the island by
the trail. This they followed at the top of their speed, hoping that,
had the fugitive and those who aided him taken it, they might be caught
before they reached the canoes at the head of the little lagoon. With
these went Chitta (the Snake), whose every instinct had by this time
become that of the outlaws whose fortunes he had joined, and who was
rapidly gaining the reputation of being the most cruel and vindictive
member of their band.

Although these pursuers exerted themselves to speed, they would have
made still greater efforts could they have known that those whom they
sought had passed that way but a quarter of an hour before, and were
even