"
A smile passed over the face of the dying lad, and there came into it
such a look of great joy and perfect peace that it was glorified in the
eyes of those who saw him. Then Rene felt once more the gentle
pressure of his hand and heard one soft sigh.
With its utterance the brave soul of Has-se (the Sunbeam) took its
flight, and, at the same moment, the sun sank from view, amid the
unspeakable glories of the western sky.
[Illustration: Death of Has-se.]
Very tenderly they lifted the lifeless form, and carefully laying it in
the bottom of a canoe, resumed that journey towards the land of the
Alachuas which had been thus sorrowfully interrupted.
The withdrawal of the arrow that had pierced Has-se's body had caused
him the most intolerable agony; but he had borne it without a murmur,
and only his drawn features and clinched hands had indicated his
sufferings. A stream of his life's blood that could not be wholly
checked had followed the arrow upon its removal, and the same day that
witnessed his receipt of the wound also witnessed his death.
He never knew whose hand had sped the shaft upon its deadly flight;
but, when it was withdrawn from his body, the others had noted, rudely
cut upon it, the form of a serpent, which was the token of Chitta (the
Snake). Thus had the Snake gained a bitter revenge for his overthrow,
months before, in the games at the Feast of Ripe Corn.
Sad indeed was the return of Yah-chi-la-ne and his party to the
pleasant village beside the great spring, in the land of the Alachuas.
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