The Flamingo Feather

ee the moccasin glide away through the water. He also noted the spot of blood o

ged with it the minute wound made by the fangs of the snake, until the blood flowed freely from it; then raising the hand to his own mouth, he

rection from which they had come. He paddled back to a small lagoon that emptied into the stream, and in which he had noticed a peculiar species of water-lily growing as they passed it on their way down.

on of the bruised lily-root acted so like a charm that Réné's face show

It is but the remedy of my people for such

il there is a remedy close at hand, and that wherever poisonous serpents are found there also grows a plant that will render

bringing with thee a few of these samples and thy knowledge of their applicatio

ead and smiled at this

by, from the head of this lagoon, there runs a narrow trail by which a great bend in the stream is cut off, and a point much lower down upon it is reached. If thou wilt re

r the brave old soldier who had so promptly assumed the part of a father towards him; and had he not been restrained by the consciousness of the vital importance of the mission he had undertaken, he would have been inclined to return at once and share whatever trials were besetting the chevalier. From him the boy's thoughts sped to France and the old

mouth of the little lagoon in which his own craft was concealed, of another canoe, in which were seated two Indians. It was headed up-stream, but its occupants had paused in their paddling, and from their gest

m. He was fully conscious that upon the result of the conversation the two were holding, in such low tones that he could not distinguish a word, depended his own fate. He kn

nd, and the strange canoe continue on its course up-stream. It disappeared in the direction from which he and Has-se had come before encounter

appear. Thus he was not looking when his friend emerged from the forest, and did not hear the light tread of his moccasined feet. Nor was he aw

"glad am I to see thee once more. Chitta is in pursuit of us, and with him

e appearance of the strange canoe, to wh

own the river, on the side opposite the end of the trail, he heard the so

the stream, will not Chitta

ves swifter than Hu-la-lah" (the wind) "to catch us before we reach

ntil now. Thanks to thy application, the pain a

tta, we will see if we cannot render his sting

from the lagoon, and headed it down the narrow rive

er on their good-fortune, when suddenly a wild scream, such as is made by an

"For the Snake, with the Tiger to aid him, we are no match. If those white ar

ssed through the water, and flew past the gray, motionless columns of the cypresses. Not far behind came their p

t. From the very trail taken by Has-se there branched another, which led to the distant Seminole fastness in the heart of the great swamp. Cat-sha at first thought they would do well to examine this trail; for if it should prove to be some of his own band of whose canoe he had caught a glimpse, he would surely discover traces of them here. Chitta

ught sight of the two boys just leaving the lagoon, and that

o Feather braided in Has-se's hair, and had also recognized the peculia

Cat-sha, kept pace with it from the outset, and at length began slowly to gain upon it. Foot by foot, closer and closer, it came, and as the labored breath of the panting boys came shorter and

ing a hand to his mouth, uttered a long, tremulous cry, so wil

owed the other canoe to be fearfully near them, when his cry was answer

ir, and passing on, it buried itself in Réné's shoulder. At the same instant a canoe filled with Micco's warrior