When Le Moyne returned to the soldiers with this answer, Simon, still
acting as spokesman for the rest, said,
"Thy message from the commandant is much as we expected it would be,
Master Le Moyne, and in return thou wilt kindly take to him word again
that for the preservation of our lives we shall certainly exert
ourselves to repel any attack that may be made against the fort. At
the same time we shall as certainly take active measures to insure our
own and his speedy departure from this unhappy country, in which we
have thus far gained naught but ill."
With this speech, and once more giving Le Moyne a stiff military
salute, the old soldier turned and marched away, followed by the rest
of the mutineers.
As soon as he was once more alone, Le Moyne made his report to
Laudonniere, and so excited did the sick man become on hearing it that
his fever took a sudden turn for the worse, and he was soon raving
deliriously, and calling upon Rene de Veaux not to desert him for his
enemies the Indians.
Meantime matters proceeded so rapidly outside that the keel of a small
vessel in which the mutineers hoped to cross the ocean to their own
country was laid that very day, and the labor of collecting suitable
material for ship-building was entered upon with the fierce energy of
men who believed they were working to save their lives.
So actively did this work proceed that in less than a month the hull of
the little vessel was completed, and she stood ready for launching.
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