"
Rene had fallen asleep, but he was instantly awakened by the sound of
this familiar name, even though it was only whispered. Without moving,
he waited to hear if the sound would be repeated, or whether he had
only dreamed some one had called him.
In a moment the whisper came again, "Ta-lah-lo-ko."
"Who art thou?" asked Rene, in the Indian language.
"I am E-chee from Seloy, where I saw thee when thou first set foot on
the land of my people. Dost thou not remember?"
"Art thou not E-chee the Seminole?"
"To all appearance I am become one of these runaways, but my heart is
that of a true man, and I seek only an opportunity to escape from them
and to rejoin my own people. If indeed any of my people be left
alive," he added, bitterly.
"Dost thou think an escape may be effected?" asked Rene, eagerly, a new
hope dawning in his breast.
"I know not, but I can try, and should I fail, death itself were better
than life with these Seminole dogs."
Then Rene asked where they were and what E-chee knew of Cat-sha's plans.
He was told that they were in the great Okeefenokee swamp, even as he
had suspected. On the morrow they were to leave the canoes and find a
trail that led to the Seminole village, hidden in its most impenetrable
depths. When they reached it E-chee believed, from fragments of
conversation he had overheard, that there was to be a great feast, and
that the prisoners were to be tortured.
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