When he explained to his followers the nature of the weapon
this enemy had attempted to use against them, they were filled with
rage, and would have instantly slain the wretch, but Rene bade them
spare his life.
"I know him," he said, "and he is too vile a being to be worthy to meet
death at your hands. Besides, if he be now released, a lifetime of
blindness will prove even a greater punishment than any you can
inflict. Lead him far out upon the trail, and there leave him. Others
must have accompanied him, and they will doubtless find and care for
their own."
So it was done as Rene had ordered, and on the following day no trace
of the wounded man could be found; but the imprint of other moccasined
feet, near where he had been left, showed that his friends had
discovered and borne him away.
When Rene was afterwards questioned as to who he was, he answered,
"Chitta, the Seminole."
CHAPTER XVIII
THE FRENCH HAVE COME AGAIN
Three years had passed from the time the Spaniards established their
power in this part of the New World, by their fearful massacres of the
French at Fort Caroline and among the sand dunes of the coast, below
San Augustin. They were years of cruelty and injustice on the part of
the Spaniards, and of great suffering to those nations who fell into
their hands; but to the dwellers in the distant land of the Alachuas,
among whom Rene de Veaux had taken up his abode, they were years of
peace, prosperity, and contentment.
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