our number. The time
will come when we shall have increased to a great and powerful tribe,
and when the name given us by our enemies shall be honored of all men.
Let us go."

CHAPTER VIII

ON THE TRAIL

Cat-sha, the Seminole chief, rejoiced greatly at having gained to his
band so promising a young warrior as Chitta, who had so incurred the
enmity of both the white men and his own people as to be obliged to fly
from them for his life.

After eating together a meal of dried venison that the elder produced
from his wallet, the two Seminoles sat, concealed behind a thick
cluster of cactus, watching the river for any signs of pursuit, and
forming plans for future action. Cat-sha told Chitta that he had left
his band in their most inaccessible stronghold among the bayous and
deep morasses of the great Okeefenokee Swamp. He also said that, were
it not for the presence of so large a number of friendly Indians in the
immediate vicinity of Fort Caroline, he should bring his warriors to
attack it; for he had decided that the chances were in favor of his
success in so doing.

"Ha!" exclaimed Chitta, interrupting his chief at this point, "I may,
in that case, be of service to thee, though I am as yet untried in
battle." Then he told Cat-sha a secret that was known to but few of
his people, and which he himself had only discovered by accident. It
was the same that Has-se had declined to confide to Rene when the
latter questioned him as to the manner of his escape from the fort, and
it was indeed a secret of the utmost value to enemies of the white men.

Cat-sha listened attentively, and when Chitta had finished he
exclaimed, "Well done, my young brave! Thy serpent's wisdom is already
proving of value to us. What thou hast just told me makes clear our
plan of attack upon this nest of pale-faces, and removes one of the
chief difficulties in our way. Having this information, I regard the
fort and all that it contains as already in our power. We have only to
bide our time. Well may the white man tremble; for ere many days the
tiger, guided by the serpent, will spring at his throat."

As they talked, their attention was directed to a dark moving mass
floating down the river, close under its bank. Cat-sha soon pronounced
it to be a fleet of canoes filled with people, and they watched them
with eager curiosity.

It was, indeed, the tribe from which Chitta had fled, moving, under the
leadership of their chief, Mi