arm, he grasped his knife and rifle, and darted
through the door of the wigwam. A discharge of musketry greeted his
appearance. The chief felt his left arm pierced by a ball; he trembled,
and a slight shudder came over him. "Canondah!" cried he, in a hoarse
tone, leaping the hedges like a wounded deer, and hurrying towards the
forest; "Canondah, fear nothing--you are in the arms of El Sol!"

She answered not; her head had sunk upon her breast, her body writhed
with a convulsive spasm, and then again stretched itself out. For one
moment a horrible thought paralysed the very soul of her husband;--but
no--it was impossible; his arm had received the bullet, her silence was
the result of sudden terror, the blood that flowed over him was from his
own wound. He was still flying from his treacherous and invisible foe,
when his howling warriors came almost instinctively to join him; and,
before he reached the forest, he found himself surrounded by the most
trusty of his followers. "It is the pirate," he whispered to his wife;
and then, pressing a kiss upon her lips, he laid her softly upon the
grass, stepped forward into the midst of his warriors, and uttered his
terrible war-cry. "Behold," cried he, pointing to the blazing cottages,
"the faith of the white thief!"

It was a wildly beautiful, almost an awful sight. Already more than
thirty huts were converted into blazing piles, lighting up the whole of
that glorious shore, reflected in ruddy brilliancy from the still
surface of the water, and illuminating the avenues of cypress and
mangroves with long streaks of flame. Scattered shots were still heard,
and after each report another hut began to blaze. In the group of
Indians assembled round El Sol a deep silence now reigned, only broken
by the tardy arrival of some yelling Pawnee or Oconee, who, roused out
of his drunken slumber, was scarcely even yet aware of the cause of the
uproar.

"Where is the Miko?" fifty voices suddenly demanded.

There was no reply. Just then a woman's scream was heard, proceeding
from the brink of the water. El Sol had stood silent, his eyes fixed
upon the burning huts, beyond which, near to the crest of the shore, the
polished musket-barrels of the pirates gleamed in the firelight. Not
more than five minutes had elapsed since the first yell proclaimed the
presence of a foe, but already the young warrior had combined his plan,
and he now gave his orders in a short decided tone, betraying the habit