The rain had extinguished the watch-fire, which it was customary to
keep burning in the middle of the village during the night, and thus it
would be somewhat difficult for the Seminole chief to procure a light
with which to examine for himself into the condition of the prisoner.
He therefore accepted the assurance of the guard that he was still
safely confined within the hut; for, indeed, how could it be otherwise?
Such a thing as escaping seemed too utterly impossible to be worthy a
thought.
So Cat-sha passed on, and bent his steps in the direction of the
sentinel who kept watch at the end of the trail. At first he was not
to be discovered, nor did he answer when challenged, and Cat-sha was
rapidly becoming both angry and surprised, when all at once he
stumbled, and almost fell over the prostrate form of him whom he
sought. The warrior was still unconscious, for the terrible blow that
felled him had been delivered but a few minutes before Cat-sha's
discovery of his condition.
At this state of affairs, the wily Seminole at once took an alarm. To
be sure, he reflected that the sentinel might have been struck by a
lightning-flash or seized with a sudden illness. Still he might have
also received a blow from the hand of an enemy, and the mere thought
that such might have gained access to the island, and even now be
lurking within its limits, made the chief hot with anger.
His first thought was for the safety of the prisoner; and leaving the
unconscious warrior where he lay, he hurried back to the hut he had
just left, determined to trust only the evidence of his own eyes as to
the condition of its occupant.
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