, at the same moment, the sun sank from view, amid the
unspeakable glories of the western sky.

[Illustration: Death of Has-se.]

Very tenderly they lifted the lifeless form, and carefully laying it in
the bottom of a canoe, resumed that journey towards the land of the
Alachuas which had been thus sorrowfully interrupted.

The withdrawal of the arrow that had pierced Has-se's body had caused
him the most intolerable agony; but he had borne it without a murmur,
and only his drawn features and clinched hands had indicated his
sufferings. A stream of his life's blood that could not be wholly
checked had followed the arrow upon its removal, and the same day that
witnessed his receipt of the wound also witnessed his death.

He never knew whose hand had sped the shaft upon its deadly flight;
but, when it was withdrawn from his body, the others had noted, rudely
cut upon it, the form of a serpent, which was the token of Chitta (the
Snake). Thus had the Snake gained a bitter revenge for his overthrow,
months before, in the games at the Feast of Ripe Corn.

Sad indeed was the return of Yah-chi-la-ne and his party to the
pleasant village beside the great spring, in the land of the Alachuas.
The sight of the rescued captive was indeed greeted with joyous shouts
of welcome; but they were hushed, almost ere they were uttered, as
those assembled on the river bank noted the black paint with which, in
token of mourning, the returning warriors had covered their faces.

In heavy-hearted silence did his comrades carry their dead back into
the circle of lodges, from which he had departed so bravely and loyally
to the rescue of his friend. As they bore it into the lodge of Micco,
his father, the old warrior sat as though all hope and joy had departed
from his life forever; while outside, the air was rent by the wailings
and bitter lamentations of women.

They laid him to rest, after the manner of his people, in a tomb built
of great tree-trunks, so cunningly fashioned that no wild beast should
ever disturb its contents. Beside him they laid whatever he had
possessed of value, and the things he had prized most highly. The
young girls of the tribe threw over the sleeping form great handfuls of
sweet-scented wild flowers; and, ere the tomb was closed, Rene de Veaux
placed in the calmly folded hands the scarlet feather, with the slender
gold chain and pin attached to it, that had been a token between them.

As they finished the sim