rks fell
among gunpowder. The combustible French nature burst into flame. The
enthusiasm of the soldiers rose to such a pitch that Gourgues had much
ado to make them wait till the moon was full before tempting the perils
of the Bahama Channel. His time came at length. The moon rode high above
the lonely sea, and, silvered in its light, the ships of the avenger
held their course.

But how, meanwhile, had it fared with the Spaniards in Florida? The
good-will of the Indians had vanished. The French had been obtrusive and
vexatious guests; but their worst trespasses had been mercy and
tenderness, to the daily outrage of the new-comers. Friendship had
changed to aversion, aversion to hatred, hatred to open war. The
forest-paths were beset; stragglers were cut off; and woe to the
Spaniard who should venture after nightfall beyond call of the outposts!
Menendez, however, had strengthened himself in his new conquest. St.
Augustine was well fortified; Fort Caroline, now Fort San Mateo, was
repaired; and two redoubts were thrown up to guard the mouth of the
River of May. Thence, on an afternoon in April, the Spaniards saw three
sail steering northward. Unsuspicious of an enemy, their batteries
boomed a salute. Gourgues's ships replied, then stood out to sea, and
were lost in the shades of evening.

They kept their course all night, and, as day broke, anchored at the
mouth of a river, the St. Mary's or the Santilla, by their reckoning
fifteen leagues north of the River of May. Here, as it grew light,
Gourgues saw the borders of the sea thronged with savages, armed and
plumed for war. They, too, had mistaken the strangers for Spaniards, and
mustered to meet their tyrants at the landing. But in the French ships
there was a trumpeter who had been long in Florida, and knew the Indians
well. He went towards them in a boat, with many gestures of friendship;
and no sooner was he recognized than the naked crowd, with yelps of
delight, danced for joy about the sands. Why had he ever left them? they
asked; and why had he not returned before? The intercourse thus
auspiciously begun was actively kept up. Gourgues told the principal
chief--who was no other than Satouriona, of old the ally of the
French--that he had come to visit them, make friendship with them, and
bring them presents. At this last announcement, so grateful to Indian
ears, the dancing was renewed with double zeal. The next morning was
named for a grand council. Satouriona se