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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Prisoners of Chance, by Randall Parrish
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Prisoners of Chance
+       The Story of What Befell Geoffrey Benteen, Borderman,
+       through His Love for a Lady of France
+
+Author: Randall Parrish
+
+Illustrator: The Kinneys
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #17856]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISONERS OF CHANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: I could merely clasp the hands she gave so unreservedly
+into my keeping, gaze into the depths of her dark eyes, and murmur a
+few broken words of confidence and farewell.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PRISONERS OF CHANCE
+
+THE STORY OF WHAT BEFELL GEOFFREY BENTEEN, BORDERMAN, THROUGH HIS LOVE
+FOR A LADY OF FRANCE
+
+
+
+BY
+
+RANDALL PARRISH
+
+
+
+
+
+Author of "When Wilderness was King," "My Lady of the North," "Bob
+Hampton of Placer," etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATED IN FULL COLOR BY THE KINNEYS
+
+
+
+
+CHICAGO
+
+A. C. McCLURG & CO.
+
+1908
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT
+
+A. C. McCLURG & CO.
+
+1908
+
+
+
+Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
+
+
+All rights reserved
+
+
+Published March 28, 1908
+
+
+
+THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+      I  THE REQUEST FOR AID
+     II  A PERILOUS VENTURE
+    III  A VISIT TO THE FLAG-SHIP
+     IV  WE HOLD A COUNCIL OF WAR
+      V  ON THE DECK OF THE "SANTA MARIA"
+     VI  THE ROLE OF PÈRE CASSATI
+    VII  THE CHEVALIER DE NOYAN
+   VIII  FAVORED OF THE GODS
+     IX  THE BIRTH OF THE DEATH-DAWN
+      X  A COVERT IN THE CANE
+     XI  A NIGHT IN THE BOAT
+    XII  WE LAND AN ODD FISH
+   XIII  WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT
+    XIV  THE MOUTH OF THE ARKANSAS
+     XV  A PASSAGE AT ARMS
+    XVI  WE CHANGE OUR COURSE
+   XVII  WE MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT
+  XVIII  A HARD DAY'S MARCH
+    XIX  DEMON, OR WHAT?
+     XX  BACKS TO THE WALL
+    XXI  THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ
+   XXII  PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE
+  XXIII  THE VOTE OF DEATH
+   XXIV  THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN
+    XXV  A VISITANT FROM THE SUN
+   XXVI  THE CHRONICLES OF THE NATCHEZ
+  XXVII  A VENTURE IN THE DARK
+ XXVIII  SPEECH WITH NALADI
+   XXIX  IN AND OUT THE SHADOW
+    XXX  UNDERGROUND
+   XXXI  WE MOUNT THE CLIFF
+  XXXII  CHIEF PRIEST OF THE SUN
+ XXXIII  PERE ANDRÉ LAFOSSIER
+  XXXIV  THE TALE OF THE PRIEST
+   XXXV  NIGHT AND THE SAVAGES
+  XXXVI  THE INTERFERENCE OF THE JESUIT
+ XXXVII  THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+I could merely clasp the hands she gave so unreservedly into my
+keeping, gaze into the depths of her dark eyes, and murmur a few broken
+words of confidence and farewell. . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+Had I ventured upon a smile at his predicament he would have popped
+instantly forth again.
+
+"I am the Daughter of the Sun.  These are my children, given unto me by
+the great Sun-god. . . .  None of white blood may set foot in this
+valley and live."
+
+The woman stood gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to her
+feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric followers
+cast their light full upon her.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+The manuscript of this tale has been in my possession several years.
+It reached me through natural lines of inheritance, but remained nearly
+forgotten, until a chance reading revealed a certain historic basis;
+then, making note of correspondences in minor details, I realized that
+what I had cast aside as mere fiction might possess a substantial
+foundation of fact.  Impelled by this conviction, I now submit the
+narrative to public inspection, that others, better fitted than I, may
+judge as to the worth of this Geoffrey Benteen.
+
+According to the earlier records of Louisiana Province, Geoffrey
+Benteen was, during his later years, a resident of La Petite Rocher, a
+man of note and character among his fellows.  There he died in old age,
+leaving no indication of the extent of his knowledge, other than what
+is to be found in the yellowed pages of his manuscript; and these
+afford no evidence that this "Gentleman Adventurer" possessed any
+information derived from books regarding those relics of a prehistoric
+people, which are widely scattered throughout the Middle and Southern
+States of the Union and constitute the grounds on which our century has
+applied to the race the term "Mound Builders."
+
+Apparently in all simplicity and faithfulness he recorded merely what
+he saw and heard.  Later research, antedating his death, has seemingly
+proven that in the extinct Natchez tribe was to be found the last
+remnant of that mysterious and unfortunate race.
+
+Who were the Mound Builders?  No living man may answer.  Their
+history--strange, weird, mysterious--stretches backward into the dim
+twilight before tradition, its sole remaining record graven upon the
+surface of the earth, vaguely guessed at by those who study graves;
+their pathetic ending has long been pictured in our country's story as
+occurring amid the shadows of that dreadful midnight upon the banks of
+the Ocatahoola, when vengeful Frenchmen put them to the sword.  Whence
+they came, whether from fabled Atlantis, or the extinct Aztec empire of
+the South, no living tongue can tell; whither fled their remnant,--if
+remnant there was left to flee,--and what proved its ultimate fate, no
+previous pen has written.  Out from the darkness of the unknown,
+scarcely more than spectral figures, they came, wrote their single line
+upon the earth's surface, and vanished, kings and people alike sinking
+into speechless oblivion.
+
+That Geoffrey Benteen witnessed the tragic ending of this strange
+people I no longer question; for I have compared his narrative with all
+we moderns have learned regarding them, as recorded in the pages of
+Parkman, Charlevoix, Du Pratz, and Duponceau, discovering nothing to
+awaken the slightest suspicion that he dealt with other than what he
+saw.  More, I have traced with exactitude the route these fugitives
+followed in their flight northward, and, although the features of the
+country are greatly altered by settlements of nearly two hundred years,
+one may easily discern evidence of this man's honesty.  For me it is
+enough to feel that I have stood beside the massive tomb of this
+mysterious people--a people once opulent and powerful, the warriors of
+forgotten battle-fields, the builders of lost civilizations, the
+masters of that imperial domain stretching from the Red River of the
+North to the sea-coast of the Carolinas; a people swept backward as by
+the wrath of the Infinite, scourged by famine, decimated by pestilence,
+warred against by flame, stricken by storm, torn asunder by vengeful
+enemies, until a weakened remnant, harassed by the French sword, fled
+northward in the night to fulfil the fate ordained of God, and finally
+perished amid the gloomy shadows of the grim Ozarks, bequeathing to the
+curious future neither a language nor a name.
+
+But this I leave with Geoffrey Benteen, and turn to my own simpler
+task, a review of the peculiar circumstances leading up to this
+narrative, involving a brief chapter from the records of our Southwest.
+
+The early history of the Province of Louisiana is so complicated by
+rapid changes in government as to confuse the student, rendering it
+extremely difficult to comprehend correctly the varied and conflicting
+interests--aristocratic, official, and commercial--actuating her
+pioneer colonists.  The written records, so far as translated and
+published, afford only a faint reflection of the varied characteristics
+of her peculiar, changing population.  The blue-eyed Arcadian of her
+western plateaus, yet dreaming upon his more northern freedom; the
+royalist planter of the Mississippi bottoms, proud of those broad acres
+granted him by letters-patent of the King; the gay, volatile,
+passionate Creole of the town, one day a thoughtless lover of pleasure,
+the next a truculent wielder of the sword; the daring smugglers of
+Barataria, already rapidly drifting into open defiance of all legal
+restraint; together with the quiet market gardeners of the
+_Côte-des-Allemands_, formed a heterogeneous population impossible to
+please and extremely difficult to control.
+
+Varied as were these types, yet there were others, easy to name, but
+far more difficult to classify in their political relationships--such
+as priests of the Capuchin order; scattered representatives of Britain;
+sailors from ships ever swinging to the current beside the levee;
+sinewy backwoodsmen from the wilds of the Blue Ridge; naked savages
+from Indian villages north and east; raftsmen from the distant waters
+of the Ohio and Illinois, scarcely less barbarian than those with
+redder skin; Spaniards from the Gulf islands, together with a negro
+population, part slave, part free, nearly equal in point of numbers to
+all the rest.
+
+And over all who was the master?
+
+It would have been difficult at times to tell, so swiftly did change
+follow change--Crozat, Law, Louis the Fifteenth, Charles the Third,
+each had his turn; flag succeeded flag upon the high staff which, ever
+since the days of Bienville, had ornamented the Place d'Armes, while
+great merchants of Europe played the occupants of thrones for the
+bauble of this far western province, whose heart, nevertheless,
+remained forever faithful to sunny France.
+
+As late as 1768 New Orleans contained scarcely more than three thousand
+two hundred persons, a third of these being black slaves.  Sixty-three
+years previously Bienville had founded Louisiana Province, making
+choice of the city site, but in 1763 it suited the schemes of him, who
+ruled the destinies of the mother country, to convey the yet struggling
+colony into the control of the King of Spain.  It was fully two years
+later before word of this unwelcome transfer reached the distant
+province, while as much more time elapsed ere Don Antonio de Ulloa, the
+newly appointed Spanish governor, landed at New Orleans, and, under
+guard of but two companies of infantry, took unto himself the reins.
+Unrest was already in the air,--petitions and delegations laden with
+vehement protests crossed the Atlantic.  Both were alike returned,
+disregarded by the French King.  Where it is probable that a single
+word of wise counsel, even of kindly explanation, might have calmed the
+rising tumult, silence and contempt merely served to aggravate it.
+
+It has been written by conscientious historians that commercial
+interests, not loyalty to French traditions, were the real cause of
+this struggle of 1768.  Be that as it may, its leaders were found in
+the Superior Council, a body of governors older even than New Orleans,
+of which the patriotic Lafrénière was then the presiding officer, and
+whose membership contained such representative citizens as Foucault,
+Jean and Joseph Milhet, Caresse, Petit, Poupet, a prominent lawyer.
+Marquis, a Swiss captain, with Bathasar de Masan, Hardy de Boisblanc,
+and Joseph Villere, planters of the upper Mississippi, as well as two
+nephews of the great Bienville, Charles de Noyan, a young ex-captain of
+cavalry, lately married to the only daughter of Lafrénière, and his
+younger brother, a lieutenant in the navy.
+
+On the twenty-seventh of October, 1768, every Frenchman in Louisiana
+Province was marching toward New Orleans.  That same night the guns at
+the Tehoupitoulas Gate--the upper river corner--were spiked; while yet
+farther away, along a narrow road bordering the great stream, armed
+with fowling pieces, muskets, even axes, the Arcadians, and the aroused
+inhabitants of the German coast, came sweeping down to unite with the
+impatient Creoles of the town.  In the dull gray of early morning they
+pushed past the spiked and useless cannon, and, with De Noyan and
+Villere at their head, forced the other gates and noisily paraded the
+streets under the _fleur de lis_.  The people rose _en masse_ to greet
+them, until, utterly unable to resist the rising tide of popular
+enthusiasm, Ulloa retired on board the Spanish frigate, which slipped
+her cables, and came to anchor far out in the stream.  Two days later,
+hurried no doubt by demands of the council, the governor set sail for
+the West Indies, leaving the fair province under control of what was
+little better than a headless mob.
+
+For now, having achieved success, the strange listlessness of the
+Southern nature reasserted itself, and from that moment no apparent
+effort was made to strengthen their position--no government was
+established, no basis of credit effected, no diplomatic relations were
+assumed.  They had battled for results like men, yet were content to
+play with them like children.  For more than seven months they thus
+enjoyed a false security, as delightful as their sunny summer-time.
+Then suddenly, as breaks an ocean storm, that slumbering community was
+rudely aroused from its siestas and day-dreaming by the report that
+Spaniards were at the mouth of the river in overwhelming force.
+
+Confusion reigned on every hand; scarcely a hundred men rallied to
+defend the town; yet no one fled.  The Spanish fleet consisted of
+twenty-four vessels.  For more than three weeks they felt their
+uncertain way around the bends of the Mississippi, and on the
+eighteenth of August, 1769, furled their canvas before the silent
+batteries.  Firing a single gun from the deck of his flag-ship, the
+frigate "Santa Maria," Don Alexandro O'Reilly, accompanied by
+twenty-six hundred chosen Spanish troops and fifty pieces of artillery,
+landed, amid all the pomp of Continental war, taking formal possession
+of the province.  That night his soldiers patrolled the streets, and
+his cannon swept the river front, while not a Frenchman ventured to
+stray beyond the doorway of his home.
+
+Within the narrow space of two days the iron hand of Spain's new
+Captain-General had closed upon the leaders of the bloodless
+insurrection, his judgments falling with such severity as to earn for
+him in the annals of Louisiana the title of "Cruel O'Reilly."  Among
+those of the revolutionists before mentioned, Petit, Masan, Doucet,
+Boisblanc, Jean Milhet, and Poupet were consigned to Moro Castle,
+Havana, where they remained a year, and then were stripped of their
+property and forbidden ever again to enter the province of Louisiana.
+The younger Bienville escaped with the loss of his fortune.  Foucault
+met his fate resisting the guard on board the "Santa Maria," where he
+was held prisoner; while Lafrénière, De Noyan, Caresse, Marquis, and
+Joseph Milhet were condemned to be publicly hanged.  The earnest
+supplication, both of colonists and Spanish officials, shocked by the
+unjust severity of this sentence, sufficed to save them from the
+disgrace of the gallows, but fated them to fall before the volley of a
+file of grenadiers.
+
+With the firing of the sunset gun the evening of their last earthly
+day, the post-captain visited the condemned men, and spoke with each in
+turn; they numbered five.  All through the dark hours of that night
+heavily armed sentries stood in the narrow passageway before
+nail-studded doors, while each hour, as the ship's bell struck, the
+Commandant of Marine peered within each lighted apartment where rested
+five plainly outlined forms.  With the first gray of the dawn the
+unfortunate prisoners were mustered upon deck, but they numbered only
+four.  And four only, white faced, yet firm of step and clear of eye,
+stood an hour later with backs to the rising sun and hearts to the
+levelled rifles, and when the single volley had echoed and reechoed
+across the wide river, the white smoke slowly lifting and blown away
+above the trees, only four lifeless bodies lay closely pressed against
+the red-brick wall--the fifth condemned man was not there: _Chevalier
+Charles de Noyan had escaped his fate_.  Like a spirit had he vanished
+during those mysterious hours between midnight and dawn, leaving no
+trace of his going save a newly severed rope which hung dangling from a
+foreyard.
+
+But had he escaped?
+
+That morning--as we learn from private letters sent home by officers of
+the Spanish fleet--there came to the puzzled O'Reilly a report that in
+the dense blackness of that starless night a single boat sought to slip
+silently past beneath the deep shadows of the upper battery.  Unhalting
+in response to a hail of the sentry, a volley was hastily fired toward
+its uncertain outline, and, in the flare of the guns, the officer of
+the guard noted the black figure of a man leap high into air, and
+disappear beneath the dark surface of the river.  So it was the
+Captain-General wrote also the name "Charles de Noyan" with those of
+the other four, endorsing it with the same terse military record, "Shot
+at sunrise."
+
+Nor since that fateful hour has the world known otherwise, for,
+although strange rumors floated down the great river to be whispered
+about from lip to lip, and New Orleans wondered many a long month
+whither had vanished the fair young wife, the daughter of Lafrénière,
+yet no authentic message found its way out of the vast northern
+wilderness.  For nearly one hundred and fifty years history has
+accepted without question the testimony of the Spanish records.  The
+man who alone could tell the strange story was in old age impelled to
+do so by a feeling of sacred duty to the dead; and his papers,
+disarranged, ill-written, already yellowed by years, have fallen to my
+keeping.  I submit them without comment or change, save only as to the
+subdivision into chapters, with an occasional substitution for some
+old-time phrase of its more modern equivalent.  He who calls himself
+"Geoffrey Benteen, Gentleman Adventurer," shall tell his own tale.
+
+R. P.
+
+
+
+
+Prisoners of Chance
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE REQUEST FOR AID
+
+I am Geoffrey Benteen, Gentleman Adventurer, with much experience upon
+the border, where I have passed my life.  My father was that Robert
+Benteen, merchant in furs, the first of the English race to make
+permanent settlement in New Orleans.  Here he established a highly
+profitable trade with the Indians, his bateaux voyaging as far
+northward as the falls of the Ohio, while his influence among the
+tribesmen extended to the eastern mountains.  My mother was of Spanish
+blood, a native of Saint Augustine, so I grew up fairly proficient in
+three languages, and to them I later added an odd medley of tribal
+tongues which often stood me in excellent stead amid the vicissitudes
+of the frontier.  The early death of my mother compelled me to become
+companion to my father in his wanderings, so that before I was
+seventeen the dim forest trails, the sombre rivers, and the dark lodges
+of savages had grown as familiar to me as were the streets and houses
+of my native town.  Hence it happened, that when my father fell the
+victim of a treacherous blow, although he left to my care considerable
+property and a widely scattered trade, I could not easily content
+myself with the sameness of New Orleans; there I felt almost a
+stranger, ever hungering for the woods and the free life of the
+mountains.
+
+Yet I held myself to the work in hand until successful in straightening
+out the tangled threads, and might have remained engaged in peaceful
+traffic until the end of life, had it not been for a misunderstanding
+with her who held my heart in captivity to her slightest whim.  It
+matters little now the cause of the quarrel, or where rested the
+greater blame; enough that its occurrence drove me forth reckless of
+everything, desirous only to leave all of my own race, and seek amid
+savage environment and excitement forgetfulness of the past.
+
+It was in September of the year 1769--just forty-eight years ago as I
+write--that I found myself once again in New Orleans, feeling almost a
+stranger to the town, except for the few rough flatboat-men in company
+with whom I had floated down the great river.  Five years previously,
+heartsick and utterly careless of life, I had plunged into the
+trackless wilderness stretching in almost unbroken virginity to north
+and east, desiring merely to be left alone, that I might in solitude
+fight out my first grim battle with despair, saying to myself in all
+bitterness of soul that never again would I turn face to southward or
+enter the boundaries of Louisiana Province.  During those years, beyond
+reach of news and the tongue of gossip, I wandered aimlessly from
+village to village, ever certain of welcome within the lodges of Creeks
+and Shawnees, or farther away amid those little French border towns
+dotting the Ohio and the Illinois, constantly feeling how little the
+world held of value since both my parents were gone, and this last blow
+had fallen.  I loved the free, wild life of the warriors with whom I
+hunted, and the _voyageurs_ beside whom I camped, and had learned to
+distrust my own race; yet no sooner did I chance to stand again beside
+the sweeping current of the broad Mississippi, than I was gripped by
+the old irresistible yearning, and, although uninspired by either hope
+or purpose, drifted downward to the hated Creole town.
+
+I had left it a typical frontier French city, touched alike by the
+glamour of reflected civilization and the barbarism of savagery, yet
+ever alive with the gayety of that lively, changeable people; I
+returned, after those five years of burial in forest depths, to
+discover it under the harsh rule of Spain, and outwardly so quiet as to
+appear fairly deserted of inhabitants.  The Spanish ships of war--I
+counted nineteen--lay anchored in the broad river, their prows up
+stream, and the gloomy, black muzzles of their guns depressed so as to
+command the landing, while scarcely a French face greeted me along the
+streets, whose rough stone pavements echoed to the constant tread of
+armed soldiers.
+
+Spanish sentries were on guard at nearly every corner.  Not a few
+halted me with rough questioning, and once I was haled before an
+officer, who, hearing my story, and possibly impressed by my
+proficiency in his language, was kind enough to provide me with a pass
+good within the lines.  Yet it proved far from pleasant loitering
+about, as drunken soldiers, dressed in every variety of uniform,
+staggered along the narrow walks, ready to pick a quarrel with any
+stranger chancing their way, while groups of officers, gorgeous in
+white coats and gold lace, lounged in shaded corners, greeting each
+passer-by with jokes that stung.  Every tavern was crowded to the
+threshold with roistering blades whose drunken curses, directed against
+both French and English, quickly taught me the discretion of keeping
+well away from their company, so there was little left but to move on,
+never halting long enough in one place to become involved in useless
+controversy.
+
+It all appeared so unnatural that I felt strangely saddened by the
+change, and continued aimlessly drifting about the town as curiosity
+led, resolved to leave its confines at the earliest opportunity.  I
+stared long at the strange vessels of war, whose like I had never
+before seen, and finally, as I now remember, paused upon the ragged
+grass of the Place d'Armes, watching the evolutions of a battery of
+artillery.  This was all new to me, representing as it did a line of
+service seldom met with in the wilderness; and soon quite a number of
+curious loiterers gathered likewise along the edge of the parade.
+Among them I could distinguish a few French faces, with here and there
+a woman of the lower orders, ill clad and coarse of speech.  A party of
+soldiers, boisterous and quarrelsome from liquor, pressed me so closely
+that, hopeful of avoiding trouble, I drew farther back toward the curb,
+and standing thus, well away from others, enjoyed an unobstructed view
+across the entire field.
+
+The battery had hitched up preparatory to returning to their quarters
+before I lost interest in the spectacle and reluctantly turned away
+with the slowly dispersing crowd.  Just then I became aware of the
+close proximity of a well-dressed negro, apparently the favored servant
+in some family of quality.  The fellow was observing me with an
+intentness which aroused my suspicion.  That was a time and place for
+exercising extreme caution, so that instinctively I turned away, moving
+directly across the vacated field.  Scarcely had I taken ten steps
+before I saw that he was following, and as I wheeled to front him the
+fellow made a painful effort to address me in English.
+
+"Mornin', sah," he said, making a deep salutation with his entire body.
+"Am you dat Englisher Massa Benteen from up de ribber?"
+
+Leaning upon my rifle, I gazed directly at him in astonishment.  How,
+by all that was miraculous, did this strange black know my name and
+nationality?  His was a round face, filled with good humor; nothing in
+it surely to mistrust, yet totally unknown to me.
+
+"You speak correctly," I made reply, surprise evident in the tones of
+my voice.  "I have no reason to deny my name, which is held an honest
+one here in New Orleans.  How you learned it, however, remains a
+mystery, for I never looked upon your face before."
+
+"No, sah; I s'pects not, sah, 'cause I nebber yet hab been in dem dere
+parts, sah.  I was sent yere wid a most 'portant message fer Massa
+Benteen, an' I done reckon as how dat am you, sah."
+
+"An important message for me?  Surely, boy, you either mistake, or are
+crazy.  Yet stay!  Does it come from Nick Burton, the flatboat-man?"
+
+"No, sah; it am a lady wat sent me yere."
+
+He was excessively polite, exhibiting an earnestness which caused me to
+suspect his mission a grave one.
+
+"A lady?"
+
+I echoed the unexpected word, scarcely capable of believing the
+testimony of my own ears.  Yet as I did so my heart almost ceased its
+throbbing, while I felt the hot blood rush to my face.  That was an age
+of social gallantry; yet I was no gay courtier of the town, but a
+hunter of the woods, attired in rough habiliments, little fitted to
+attract the attention of womanly eyes amid the military glitter all
+about.
+
+A lady!  In the name of all the gods, what lady?  Even in the old days
+I enjoyed but a limited circle of acquaintance among women.  Indeed, I
+recalled only one in all the wide province of Louisiana who might
+justly be accorded so high an appellation even by a negro slave, and
+certainly she knew nothing of my presence in New Orleans, nor would she
+dream of sending for me if she did.  Convinced of this, I dismissed the
+thought upon the instant, with a smile.  The black must have made a
+mistake, or else some old-time acquaintance of our family, a forgotten
+friend of my mother perhaps, had chanced to hear of my return.
+Meanwhile the negro stood gazing at me with open mouth, and the sight
+of him partially restored my presence of mind.
+
+"Is she English, boy?"
+
+"No, sah, she am a French lady, sah, if ebber dar was one in dis hyar
+province.  She libs ober yonder in de Rue Dumaine, an' she said to me,
+'Yah, Alphonse, you follow dat dar young feller wid de long rifle under
+his arm an' de coon-skin cap, an' fotch him hyar to me!'  Dem am de
+bery words wat she done said, sah, when you went by our house a
+half-hour ago."
+
+"Is your mistress young or old?"
+
+The black chuckled, his round face assuming a good-natured grin.
+
+"Fo' de Lawd, Massa, but dat am jest de way wid all you white folks!"
+he ejaculated.  "If she was ol', an' wrinkled, an' fat, den dat settle
+de whole ting.  Jest don't want to know no mor'."
+
+"Well," I interrupted impatiently, "keep your moralizing to yourself
+until we become better acquainted, and answer my question--Is the woman
+young?"
+
+My tone was sufficiently stern to sober him, his black face
+straightening out as if it had been ironed.
+
+"Now, don't you go an' git cross, Massa Benteen, case a laugh don't
+nebber do nobody no hurt," he cried, shrinking back as if expecting a
+blow.  "But dat's jest wat she am, sah, an' a heap sweeter dan de
+vi'lets in de springtime, sah."
+
+"And she actually told you my name?"
+
+"Yas, sah, she did dat fer suah--'Massa Geoffrey Benteen, an Englisher
+from up de ribber,' dem was her bery words; but somehow I done
+disremember jest persactly de place."
+
+For another moment I hesitated, scarcely daring to utter the one vital
+question trembling on my lips.
+
+"But who is the lady?  What is her name?"  As I put the simple query I
+felt my voice tremble in spite of every effort to hold it firm.
+
+"Madame de Noyan, sah; one ob de bery first famblies.  Massa de Noyan
+am one ob de Bienvilles, sah."
+
+"De Noyan?  De Noyan?" I repeated the unfamiliar name over slowly, with
+a feeling of relief.  "Most certainly I never before heard other."
+
+"I dunno nothin' 'tall 'bout dat, Massa, but suah's you born dat am her
+name and Massa's; an' you is de bery man she done sent me after, fer I
+nebber onct took my eyes off you all dis time."
+
+There remained no reasonable doubt as to the fellow's sincerity.  His
+face was a picture of disinterested earnestness as he fronted me; yet I
+hesitated, eying him closely, half inclined to think him the
+unsuspecting representative of some rogue.  That was a time and place
+where one of my birth needed to practise caution; racial rivalry ran so
+high throughout all the sparsely settled province that any
+misunderstanding between an English stranger and either Frenchman or
+Spaniard was certain to involve serious results.  We of Northern blood
+were bitterly envied because of commercial supremacy.  I had, during my
+brief residence in New Orleans, witnessed jealous treachery on every
+hand.  This had taught me that enemies of my race were numerous, while,
+it was probable, not more than a dozen fellow-countrymen were then in
+New Orleans.  They would prove powerless were I to become involved in
+any quarrel.  Extreme caution under such conditions became a paramount
+duty, and it can scarcely be wondered at that I hesitated to trust the
+black, continuing to study the real purpose of his mysterious message.
+Yet the rare good-humor and simple interest of his face tended to
+reassure me.  A lady, he said--well, surely no great harm would result
+from such an interview; and if, as was probable, it should prove a mere
+case of mistaken identity, a correction could easily follow, and I
+should then be free to go my way.  On the other hand, if some friend
+really needed me, a question of duty was involved, which--God
+helping--I was never one to shun; for who could know in how brief a
+space I might also be asking assistance of some countryman.  This
+mysterious stranger, this Madame de Noyan of whom I had never heard,
+knew my name--possibly had learned it from another, some wandering
+Englishman, perchance, whom she would aid in trouble, some old-time
+friend in danger, who, afraid to reveal himself, now appealed through
+her instrumentality for help in a strange land.  Deciding to brave the
+doubt and solve the mystery by action, I flung the long rifle across my
+shoulder and stood erect.
+
+"All right, boy, lead on," I said shortly.  "I intend to learn what is
+behind this, and who it is that sends for me in New Orleans."
+
+Far from satisfied with the situation, yet determined now to probe the
+mystery to the bottom, I silently followed the black, attentive to his
+slightest movement.  It was a brief walk down one of the narrow streets
+leading directly back from the river front, so that within less than
+five minutes I was being silently shown into the small reception room
+of a tasty cottage, whose picturesque front was half concealed by a
+brilliant mass of trailing vines.  The heavy shades being closely drawn
+at the windows, the interior was in such gloom that for the moment
+after my entrance from the outside glare I was unable to distinguish
+one object from another.  Then slowly my eyes adjusted themselves to
+the change, and, taking one uncertain step forward, I came suddenly
+face to face with a Capuchin priest appearing almost ghastly with his
+long, pale, ascetic countenance, and ghostly gray robe sweeping to the
+floor.
+
+Startled by this unexpected apparition, and experiencing an American
+borderer's dislike and distrust for his class, I made a hasty move back
+toward where, with unusual carelessness, I had deposited my rifle
+against the wall.  Yet as I placed hand upon it I had sufficiently
+recovered to laugh silently at my fears.
+
+"Thou hast responded with much promptitude, my son," the priest said in
+gentle voice, speaking the purest of French, and apparently not
+choosing to notice my momentary confusion.  "It is indeed an excellent
+trait--one long inculcated by our Order."
+
+"And one not unknown to mine--free rangers of the woods, sir priest," I
+replied coldly, resolving not to be outdone in bluntness of speech.  "I
+suppose you are the 'lady' desiring speech with me; I note you come
+dressed in character.  And now I am here, what may the message be?"
+
+There was neither smile nor resentment visible on his pale face,
+although he slightly uplifted one slender hand as if in silent rebuke
+of my rude words.
+
+"Nay, nay, my son," he said gravely.  "Be not over-hasty in speech.  It
+is indeed a serious matter which doth require thy presence in this
+house, and the question of life or death for a human being can never be
+fit subject for jesting.  She who despatched the messenger will be here
+directly to make clear her need."
+
+"In truth it was a woman, then?"
+
+"Yes, a woman, and--ah! she cometh now."
+
+Even as he gave utterance to the words, I turned, attracted by the soft
+rustle of a silken skirt at my very side, stole one quick, startled
+glance into a young, sweet face, lightened by dark, dreamy eyes, and
+within the instant was warmly clasping two outstretched hands, totally
+oblivious of all else save her.
+
+"Eloise!" I exclaimed in astonishment.  "Eloise--Mademoiselle
+Lafrénière--can this indeed be you?  Have you sent for me?"
+
+It seemed for that one moment as if the world held but the two of us,
+and there was a glad confidence in her brimming eyes quickly
+dissipating all mists of the past.  Yet only for that one weak,
+thoughtless instant did she yield to what appeared real joy at my
+presence.
+
+"Yes, dear friend, it is Eloise," she answered, gazing anxiously into
+my face, and clinging to my strong hands as though fearful lest I might
+tear them away when she spoke those hard words which must follow.  "Yet
+surely you know, Geoffrey Benteen, that I am Mademoiselle Lafrénière no
+longer?"
+
+It seemed to me my very heart stopped beating, so intense was the pain
+which overswept it.  Yet I held to the soft hands, for there was such a
+pitiful look of suffering upon her upturned face as to steady me.
+
+"No, I knew it not," I answered brokenly.  "I--I have been buried in
+the forest all these years since we parted, where few rumors of the
+town have reached me.  But let that pass; it--it is easy to see you are
+now in great sorrow.  Was it because of this--in search of help, in
+need, perchance--that you have sent for me?"
+
+She bowed her head; a tear fell upon my broad hand and glistened there.
+
+"Yes, Geoffrey."
+
+The words were scarcely more than a whisper; then the low voice seemed
+to strengthen with return of confidence, her dark eyes anxiously
+searching my face.
+
+"I sent for you, Geoffrey, because of deep trouble; because I am left
+alone, without friends, saving only the _père_.  I know well your
+faithfulness.  In spite of the wrong, the misunderstanding between
+us--and for it I take all the blame--I have ever trusted in your word,
+your honor; and now, when I can turn nowhere else for earthly aid, the
+good God has guided you back to New Orleans.  Geoffrey Benteen, do not
+gaze at me so!  It breaks my heart to see that look in your eyes; but,
+my friend, my dearest friend, do you still recall what you said to me
+so bravely the night you went away?"
+
+Did I remember!  God knew I did; ay! each word of that interview had
+been burned into my life, had been repeated again and again in the
+silence of my heart amid the loneliness of the woods; nothing in all
+those years had for one moment obliterated her face or speech from
+memory.
+
+"I remember, Eloise," I answered more calmly.  "The words you mean
+were: 'If ever you have need of one on whom you may rely for any
+service, however desperate (and in New Orleans such necessity might
+arise at any moment), one who would gladly yield his very life to serve
+you, then, wherever he may be, send for Geoffrey Benteen.'  My poor
+girl, has that moment come?"
+
+The brown head drooped until it rested in unconsciousness against my
+arm, while I could feel the sobs which shook her form and choked her
+utterance.
+
+"It has come," she whispered at last; "I am trusting in your promise."
+
+"Nor in vain; my life is at your command."
+
+She stopped my passionate utterance with quick, impulsive gesture.
+
+"No! pledge not yourself again until you hear my words, and ponder
+them," she cried, with return to that imperiousness of manner I had
+loved so well.  "This is no ordinary matter.  It will try your utmost
+love; perchance place your life in such deadly peril as you never faced
+before.  For I must ask of you what no one else would ever venture to
+require--nor can I hold out before you the slightest reward, save my
+deepest gratitude."
+
+I gazed fixedly at her flushed face, scarcely comprehending the strange
+words she spoke.
+
+"What may all this be that you require--this sacrifice so vast that you
+doubt me?  Surely I have never stood a coward, a dastard in your sight?"
+
+She stood erect, facing me, proudly confident in her power, with tears
+still clinging to her long lashes.
+
+"No! you wrong me uttering such a thought.  I doubt you not, although I
+might well doubt any other walking this earth.  But listen, and you can
+no longer question my words; this which I dare ask of you--because I
+trust you--is _to save my husband_."
+
+"Your husband?"  The very utterance of the word choked me.  "Your
+husband?  Save him from what?  Where is he?"
+
+"A prisoner to the Spaniards; condemned to die to-morrow at sunrise."
+
+"His name?"
+
+"Chevalier Charles de Noyan."
+
+"Where confined?"
+
+"Upon the flag-ship in the river."
+
+I turned away and stood with my back to them both.  I could no longer
+bear to gaze upon her agonized face uplifted in such eager pleading,
+such confiding trust; that one sweet face I loved as nothing else on
+earth.
+
+Save her husband!  For the moment it seemed as if a thousand emotions
+swayed me.  What might it not mean if this man should die?  His living
+could only add infinitely to my pain; his death might insure my
+happiness--at least he alone, as far as I knew, stood in the way.  "To
+die to-morrow!"  The very words sounded sweet in my ears, and it would
+be such an easy thing for me to promise her, to appear to do my very
+best--and fail.  "To die to-morrow!"  The perspiration gathered in
+drops upon my forehead as I wavered an instant to the tempting thought.
+Then I shook the foul temptation from me.  Merciful God! could I dream
+of being such a dastard?  Why not attempt what she asked?  After all,
+what was left for me in life, except to give her happiness?
+
+The sound of a faint sob reached me, and wheeling instantly I stood at
+her side.
+
+"Madame de Noyan," I said with forced calmness, surprising myself, "I
+will redeem my pledge, and either save your husband, or meet my fate at
+his side."
+
+Before I could prevent her action she had flung herself at my feet, and
+was kissing my hand.
+
+"God bless you, Geoffrey Benteen!  God bless you!" she sobbed
+impulsively; and then from out the dense shadows of the farther wall,
+solemnly as though he stood at altar service, the watchful Capuchin
+said:
+
+"Amen!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A PERILOUS VENTURE
+
+Any call to action, of either hazard or pleasure, steadies my nerves.
+To realize necessity for doing renders me a new man, clear of brain,
+quick of decision.  Possibly this comes from that active life I have
+always led in the open.  Be the cause what it may, I was the first to
+recover speech.
+
+"I hope to show myself worthy your trust, Madame," I said somewhat
+stiffly, for it hurt to realize that this emotion arose from her
+husband's peril.  "At best I am only an adventurer, and rely upon those
+means with which life upon the border renders me familiar.  Such may
+prove useless where I have soldiers of skill to deal with.  However, we
+have need of these minutes flying past so rapidly; they might be put to
+better use than tears, or words of gratitude."
+
+She looked upward at me with wet eyes.
+
+"You are right; I am a child, it seems.  Tell me your desire, and I
+will endeavor to act the woman."
+
+"First, I must comprehend more clearly the nature of the work before
+me.  The Chevalier de Noyan is already under sentence of death; the
+hour of execution to-morrow at sunrise?"
+
+She bent her head in quiet acquiescence, her anxious eyes never leaving
+my face.
+
+"It is now already approaching noon, leaving us barely eighteen hours
+in which to effect his rescue.  Faith! 't is short space for action."
+
+I glanced uneasily aside at the silently observant priest, now
+standing, a slender gray figure, close beside the door.  He was not of
+an Order I greatly loved.
+
+"You need have no fear," she exclaimed, hastily interpreting my
+thought.  "Father Petreni can be fully trusted.  He is more than my
+religious confessor; he has been my friend from childhood."
+
+"Yes, Monsieur," he interposed sadly, yet with a grave smile lighting
+his thin white face.  "I shall be able to accomplish little in your
+aid, for my trade is not that of arms, yet, within my physical
+limitations, I am freely at your service."
+
+"That is well," I responded heartily, words and tone yielding me fresh
+confidence in the man.  "This is likely to prove a night when comrades
+will need to know each other.  Now a few questions, after which I will
+look over the ground before attempting to outline any plan of action.
+You say, Madame, that your--Chevalier de Noyan is a prisoner on the
+fleet in the river.  Upon which ship is he confined?"
+
+"The 'Santa Maria.'"
+
+"The 'Santa Maria'?--if memory serve, the largest of them all?"
+
+"Yes! the flag-ship."
+
+"She lies, as I remember, for I stood on the levee two hours ago
+watching the strange spectacle, close in toward the shore, beside the
+old sugar warehouse of Bomanceaux et fils."
+
+"You are correct," returned the Capuchin soberly, the lady hesitating.
+"The ship swingeth by her cable scarce thirty feet from the bank."
+
+"That, at least, has sound of good fortune," I thought, revolving
+rapidly a sudden inspiration from his answer, "yet it will prove a
+desperate trick to try."
+
+Then I spoke aloud once more.
+
+"She appeared a veritable monster of the sea to my backwoods eyes;
+enough to pluck the heart out of a man.  Has either of you stepped
+aboard her?"
+
+The priest shook his shaven head despondently.
+
+"Nay; never any Frenchman, except as prisoner in shackles, has found
+foothold upon that deck since O'Reilly came.  It is reported no negro
+boatmen are permitted to approach her side with cargoes of fruit and
+vegetables, so closely is she guarded against all chances of treachery."
+
+"Faith! it must be an important crime to bring such extremity of
+vigilance.  With what is De Noyan charged?"
+
+"He, with others, is held for treason against the King of Spain."
+
+"There are more than one, then?"
+
+"Five."  He lowered his voice almost to a whisper.  "Madame de Noyan's
+father is among them."
+
+"Lafrénière?" I uttered the name in astonishment.  "Then why am I not
+asked to assist him?"
+
+The thoughtless exclamation cut her deeply with its seeming implication
+of neglect, yet the words she strove to speak failed to come.  The
+priest rebuked me gravely:
+
+"Thou doest great injustice by such inconsiderate speech, my son.
+There are hearts loyal to France in this province, who would count
+living a crime if it were won at the cost of Lafrénière.  He hath been
+already offered liberty, yet deliberately chooseth to remain and meet
+his fate.  Holy Mother! we can do no more."
+
+I bent, taking her moist hands gently between my own.
+
+"I beg you pardon me, Madame; I am not yet wholly myself, and intended
+no such offence as my hasty words would seem to imply.  One's manners
+do not improve with long dwelling among savages."
+
+She met my stumbling apology with a radiant smile.
+
+"I know your heart too well to misjudge.  Yet it hurt me to feel you
+could deem me thoughtless toward my father."
+
+"You have seen him since his arrest?"
+
+"Once only--at the Captain-General's office, before they were condemned
+and taken aboard the flag-ship."
+
+"But the prisoners are Catholics; surely they are permitted the offices
+of the Church at such a time?"
+
+A hard look swept across the Capuchin's pale, ascetic face.
+
+"Oh, ay!  I had quite forgotten," he explained bitterly.  "They enjoy
+the ministrations of Father Cassati, of our Order, as representative of
+Holy Church."
+
+"Pouf!" I muttered gloomily.  "It is bad to have the guard-lines drawn
+so closely.  Besides, I know little about the way of ships; how they
+are arranged within, or even along the open decks.  We meet them not in
+the backwoods, so this is an adventure little to my taste.  It would
+hardly be prudent, even could I obtain safe footing there, to attempt
+following a trail in the dark when I knew not where it led.  I must
+either see the path I am to travel by good daylight, or else procure a
+guide.  This Father Cassati might answer.  Is he one to trust?"
+
+The priest turned his head away with a quick gesture of indignant
+dissent.
+
+"Nay!" he exclaimed emphatically.  "He must never be approached upon
+such a matter.  He can be sweet enough with all men to their faces; the
+words of his mouth are as honey; yet he would be true to none.  It is
+not according to the canons of our Order for me thus to speak, yet I
+only give utterance to truth as I know it in the sight of God.  Not
+even the Spaniards themselves have faith in him.  He has not been
+permitted to set foot upon shore since first he went aboard."
+
+"And you have no plan, no suggestion to offer for my guidance?"
+
+"Mon Dieu, no!" he cried dramatically.  "I cannot think the first
+thing."
+
+"And you, Madame?"
+
+She was kneeling close beside a large chair, her fine dark eyes eagerly
+searching my face.
+
+"It rests wholly with you," she said solemnly, "and God."
+
+Twice, three times, I paced slowly across the floor in anxious
+reflection; each time, as I turned, I gazed again into her trustful,
+appealing eyes.  It was love calling to me in silent language far more
+effective than speech; at last, I paused and faced her.
+
+"Madame de Noyan," I said deliberately, my voice seeming to falter with
+the intensity of my feelings, "I beg you do not expect too much from
+me.  Your appeal has been made to a simple frontiersman, unskilled in
+war except with savages, and it is hardly probable I shall be able to
+outwit the trained guardsmen of Spain.  Yet this I will say: I have
+determined to venture all at your desire.  As I possess small skill or
+knowledge to aid me, I shall put audacity to the front, permitting
+sheer daring either to succeed or fail.  But it would be wrong, Madame,
+for me to encourage you with false expectation.  I deem it best to be
+perfectly frank, and I do not clearly see how this rescue is to be
+accomplished.  I can form no definite plan of action; all I even hope
+for is, that the good God will open up a path, showing me how such
+desperate purpose may be accomplished.  If this prove true--and I beg
+you pray fervently to that end--you may trust me to accept the
+guidance, let the personal danger be what it may.  But I cannot plan,
+cannot promise--I can only go forward blindly, seeking some opening not
+now apparent.  This alone I know, to remain here in conversation is
+useless.  I must discover means by which I may reach the 'Santa Maria'
+and penetrate below her deck if possible.  That is my first object, and
+it alone presents a problem sufficient to tax my poor wits to the
+uttermost.  So all I dare say now, Madame, is, that I will use my
+utmost endeavor to save your hus--the Chevalier de Noyan.  I request
+you both remain here--it would be well in prayer--ready to receive, and
+obey at once, any message I may need to send.  If possible I will visit
+you again in person before nightfall, but in any case, and whatever
+happens, try to believe that I am doing all I can with such brains as I
+possess, and that I count my own life nothing in your service."
+
+However they may sound now, there was no spirit of boasting in these
+words.  Conceit is not of my nature, and, indeed, at that time I had
+small enough faith in myself.  I merely sought to encourage the poor
+girl with what little hope I possessed, and knew she read the truth
+behind those utterances which sounded so brave.  Even as I finished she
+arose to her feet, standing erect before me, looking a very queen.
+
+"Never will I doubt that, Geoffrey Benteen," she declared impulsively.
+"I have seen you in danger, and never forgotten it.  If it is any
+encouragement to hear it spoken from my lips, know, even as you go
+forth from here, that never did woman trust man as I trust you."
+
+The hot blood surged into my face with a madness I retained barely
+sufficient strength to conquer.
+
+"I--I accept your words in the same spirit with which they are
+offered," I stammered, hardly aware of what I said.  "They are of
+greatest worth to me."
+
+I bowed low above the white hand resting so confidingly within mine,
+anxious to escape from the room before my love gave utterance to some
+foolish speech.  Yet even as I turned hastily toward the door, I paused
+with a final question.
+
+"The negro who guided me here, Madame; is he one in whom I may repose
+confidence?"
+
+"In all things," she answered gravely.  "He has been with the De Noyan
+family from a child, and is devoted to his master."
+
+"Then I take him with me for use should I chance to require a
+messenger."
+
+With a swift backward glance into her earnest dark eyes, an indulgence
+I could not deny myself, I bowed my way forth from the room, and
+discovering Alphonse upon the porch, where he evidently felt himself on
+guard, and bidding him it was the will of his mistress that he follow,
+I flung my rifle across my shoulder, and strode straight ahead until I
+came out upon the river bank.  Turning to the right I worked my way
+rapidly up the stream, passing numerous groups of lounging soldiers,
+who made little effort to bar my passage, beyond some idle chaffing,
+until I found myself opposite the anchorage of the Spanish fleet.
+
+In the character of an unsophisticated frontiersman, I felt no danger
+in joining others of my class, lounging listlessly about in small
+groups discussing the situation, and gazing with awe upon those strange
+ships of war, swinging by their cables in the broad stream.  It was a
+motley crew among whom I foregathered, one to awaken interest at any
+other time--French _voyageurs_ from the far-off Illinois country, as
+barbarian in dress and actions as the native denizens of those northern
+plains, commingling freely with Creole hunters freshly arrived from the
+bayous of the swamp lands; sunburnt fishermen from the sandy beaches of
+Barataria, long-haired flatboat-men, their northern skin faintly
+visible through the tan and dirt acquired in the long voyage from the
+upper Ohio; here and there some stolid Indian brave, resplendent in
+paint and feathers, and not a few drunken soldiers temporarily escaped
+from their commands.  Yet I gave these little thought, except to push
+my way through them to where I could obtain unobstructed view of the
+great ships.
+
+The largest of these, a grim monster to my eyes, with bulging sides
+towering high above the water, and masts uplifting heavy spars far into
+the blue sky, rendered especially formidable by gaping muzzles of
+numerous black cannon visible through her open ports, floated just
+beyond the landing.  I measured carefully the apparent distance between
+the flat roof of the sugar warehouse, against the corner of which I
+leaned in seeming listlessness, and the lower yards of her forward
+mast--it was no farther than I had often cast a riata, yet it would be
+a skilful toss on a black night.
+
+However, I received small comfort from the thought, for there was that
+about this great gloomy war-ship--frigate those about me called
+her--which awed and depressed my spirits; all appeared so ponderously
+sullen, so massive with concealed power, so mysteriously silent.  My
+eyes, searching for each visible object, detected scarcely a stir of
+life aboard, except as some head would arise for an instant above the
+rail, or my glance fell upon the motionless figure of a sentry,
+standing at the top of the narrow steps leading downward to the water,
+a huge burly fellow, whose side-arms glistened ominously in the sun.
+These were the sole signs of human presence; yet, from snatches of
+conversation, I learned that hidden away in the heart of that black
+floating monster of wood and iron, were nearly four hundred men, and
+the mere knowledge made the sombre silence more impressive than ever.
+
+Except for gossiping spectators lining the shore, nothing living
+appeared about the entire scene, if I except a dozen or more small
+boats, propelled by lusty black oarsmen, deeply laden with produce,
+busily plying back and forth between various vessels, seeking market
+for their wares.  Even these, as the priest told me, had apparently
+been warned away from the flag-ship, as I observed how carefully they
+avoided any approach to her boarding-ladder.  The longer I remained,
+the more thoroughly hopeless appeared any prospect of success.  Nor
+could I conjure up a practical--nay! even possible--method of placing
+so much as a foot on board the "Santa Maria."  Surely never was
+prison-ship guarded with more jealous care, and never did man face more
+hopeless quest than this confronting me.  The longer I gazed upon that
+grim, black, sullen mass of wood and iron--that floating fortress of
+despotic Spanish power--the more desperate appeared my mission; the
+darker grew every possibility of plucking a victim from out that
+monster's tightly closed jaws.  Yet I was not one to forego an
+enterprise lightly because of difficulty or danger, so with dogged
+persistency I clung to the water front, knowing nowhere else to go, and
+blindly trusting that some happening might open to me a door of
+opportunity.
+
+It frequently seems that when a man once comes, in a just cause, to
+such mind as this, when he trusts God rather than himself, there is a
+divinity which aids him.  Surely it was well I waited in patience, for
+suddenly another produce boat, evidently new to the trade, deeply laden
+with fruit and roots, bore down the river, the two negroes at the oars
+pointing its blunt nose directly toward the flag-ship, attracted no
+doubt by its superior size.  Instantly noting their course I awaited
+their reception with interest, an interest intensified by a drawling
+English voice from amid the crowd about me, saying:
+
+"I reckon thar'll be some dead niggers in thet thar bumboat if they
+don't sheer off almighty soon."
+
+Scarcely were these prophetic words uttered, when the soldier statue at
+the head of the boarding-stairs swung his musket forward into position,
+and hailed in emphatic Spanish, a language which, thanks to my mother,
+I knew fairly well.  There followed a moment of angry controversy,
+during which the startled negroes rested upon their oars, while the
+enraged guard threatened to fire if they drifted a yard closer.  In the
+midst of this hubbub a head suddenly popped up above the rail.  Then a
+tall, ungainly figure, clad in a faded, ill-fitting uniform, raised
+itself slowly, leaning far out over the side, a pair of weak eyes,
+shadowed by colored glasses, gazing down inquiringly into the small
+boat.
+
+"Vat ees it you say you have zare?" he asked in an attempt at French,
+which I may only pretend to reproduce in English.  "Vat ees ze cargo of
+ze leetle boat?"
+
+Instantly the two hucksters gave voice, fairly running over each other
+in their confused jargon, during which I managed to distinguish native
+names for potatoes, yams, sweet corn, peaches, apples, and I know not
+what else.
+
+The Spaniard perched high on the rail waved his long arms in
+unmitigated disgust.
+
+"_Caramba_!" he cried the moment he could make his voice distinguished
+above the uproar.  "I vant none of zos zings; Saint Cristoval, non!
+non!  Ze Capitaine he tole me get him some of ze olif--haf you no olif
+in ze leetle boat?"
+
+The darkies shook their heads, instantly starting in again to call
+their wares, but the fellow on the rail waved them back.
+
+"Zen ve don't vant you here!" he cried shrilly.  "Go vay dam quick, or
+else ze soldier shoot."  As if in obedience to an order the stolid
+guard brought his weapon menacingly to the shoulder.
+
+How the episode terminated I did not remain to learn.  At that moment I
+only clearly comprehended this--I had a way opened, an exceedingly
+slight one to be sure, of doubtful utility, yet still a way, which
+might lead me into the guarded mystery of that ship.  The time for
+action had arrived, and that was like a draught of wine to me.  Eagerly
+I slipped back through the increasing crowd of gaping countrymen, to
+where the negro had found a spot of comfort in the sun.
+
+"Alphonse!" I called, careful to modulate my voice.  "Wake up, you
+black sleepy-head!  Ay!  I have you at last in the world again.  Now
+stop blinking, and pay heed to what I say.  Do you chance to know
+where, for love, money, or any consideration, you could lay hands on
+olives in this town?"
+
+The fellow, scarcely awake, rolled up the whites of his eyes for a
+moment, and scratched his woolly pate, as if seeking vainly to conjure
+up some long-neglected memory.  Then his naturally good-humored
+countenance relaxed into a broad grin.
+
+"Fo' de Lord, yas sah!  I'se your man dis time suah 'nough.  Dat fat
+ol' Dutchman, down by de Tehoupitoulas Gate, suah as you're born had a
+whole barrel ob dem yesterday.  I done disremember fer de minute, boss,
+jist whar I done saw dem olibs, but I reckon as how de money 'd fotch
+'em all right."
+
+I drew forth a handful of French coins.
+
+"Then run for it, lad!" I exclaimed in some excitement.  "Your master's
+life hangs upon your speed--hold, wait! do you remember that old
+tumble-down shed we passed on our way here; the one which had once been
+a farrier's shop?"
+
+The negro nodded, his eyes filled with awakened interest.
+
+"Good; then first of all bring me a suit of the worst looking old
+clothes you can scare up in the negro quarters of this town.  Leave
+them there.  Then go directly to this Dutchman's, buy every olive he
+has for sale at any price, load them into a boat--a common huckster's
+boat, mind you, and remain there with them until I come.  Do you
+understand all that?"
+
+"Yas, Massa; I reckon as how I kin do dat all right 'nough."  The
+fellow grinned, every white ivory showing between his thick red lips.
+
+"Don't stop to speak to any one, black or white.  Now trot along
+lively, and may the Lord have mercy on you if you fail me, for I pledge
+you I shall have none."
+
+I watched him disappear up the street in a sort of swinging dog-trot,
+took one more glance backward at the huge war-ship, now swinging by her
+cable silent and mysterious as ever, and turned away from the river
+front, my brain teeming with a scheme upon the final issue of which
+hung life or death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A VISIT TO THE FLAG-SHIP
+
+I had seldom assumed disguise, except when wearing Indian garb upon the
+war-trail.  Yet in boyhood I had occasionally masqueraded as a negro so
+successfully as to deceive even my own family.  With this in mind the
+resolve was taken that in no other guise than that of a foolish,
+huckstering darky could I hope to attain the guarded deck of that
+Spanish frigate.  This offered only the barest chance of success, yet
+such chances had previously served me well, and must be trusted now.
+Opportunity frequently opens to the push of a venturesome shoulder.
+
+Once determined upon this I set to work, perfecting each detail which
+might aid in the hazardous undertaking.  Much was to be accomplished,
+and consequently it was late in the afternoon before the two of us,
+myself as much a negro to outward appearance as my sable companion,
+floated anxiously down the broad river in a battered old scow heaped
+high with every variety of country produce obtainable.  Drifting with
+the current, I kept the blunt nose pointed directly toward the bulging
+side of the "Santa Maria," yet without venturing to glance in that
+direction, until a sharp challenge of the vigilant sentinel warned us
+to sheer off.
+
+Slowly shipping the heavy steering oar, finding it difficult even in
+that moment of suspense to suppress a smile at the expression of terror
+on Alphonse's black face, I stood up, awed by the solemn massiveness of
+the vast bulk towering above me, now barely thirty feet away.  For the
+first time I realized fully the desperation of my task, and my heart
+sank.  But the gesticulations of the wrathful guard could no longer be
+ignored, and, smothering an exclamation of disgust at my momentary
+weakness, I nerved myself for the play.
+
+"_Caramba_!" the fellow shouted roughly in his native tongue.  "Stop
+there, you lazy niggers; don't let that boat drift any closer.  Come,
+sheer off, or, by all the saints, I 'll blow a hole clear through the
+black hide of one of you!"
+
+"Hold her back, boy!" I muttered hurriedly to the willing slave.  "That
+soldier means to shoot."
+
+Then I held up a handful of our choicest fruit into view.
+
+"I have got plenty vegetables, an' lot fruit fer sell," I shouted
+eagerly in negro French, putting all the volume possible into my voice,
+hopeful my words might penetrate the hidden deck above.  "Plenty
+'tatoes, peaches, olibs--eberyting fer de oppercers."
+
+"Don't want them--pull away, and be lively about it."
+
+It was a moment of despair, every hope suspended in the balance; my
+heart beating like a trip-hammer with suspense.  The thoroughly enraged
+guard lifted his gun to the shoulder; there was threat in his eyes, yet
+I ventured a desperate chance of one more word.
+
+"I got de only _olibs_ on dis ribber."
+
+"_Bastenade_!" yelled the infuriated fellow.  "I 'll give you a shot to
+pay for your insolence."
+
+Even as he spoke, fumbling the lock of his gun, that same head observed
+before suddenly popped over the high rail like Punch at a pantomime.
+
+"Vat zat you say, nigger?" its owner cried doubtingly.  "Vas it ze olif
+you haf zare in ze leetle boat?"
+
+I eagerly held up into view a choice handful of green fruit, my eyes
+hopeful.
+
+"Oui, Señor Oppercer--fresh olibs; same as ob your lan'."
+
+The Spaniard was standing upright on the rail by this time, clinging
+fast to a rope dangling from above, leaning far over, no slight
+interest depicted upon his pinched, sallow countenance.
+
+"It's all right, sentry," he said sharply to the soldier, who lowered
+his gun with a scowl indicating his real desire.  My newly found friend
+lifted his squeaking voice again in unfamiliar speech.
+
+"Bring ze leetle boat along ze side of ze sheep, you black fellar, an'
+come up here wiz ze olif fer ze Capitaine."
+
+"Scull in close against those steps, Alphonse," I muttered, overjoyed
+at this rare stroke of good fortune.  "Then pull out a few strokes; but
+stay alongside until I come back.  Don't let any one get aboard, and
+keep a quiet tongue yourself."
+
+The whites of his eyes alone answered me, he being too badly frightened
+for speech.  The situation was one to grate upon any nerves
+unaccustomed to danger, yet, trusting the long training of the slave
+would hold him obedient, I turned away, and, in another moment, had
+scrambled up the rope ladder, plunging awkwardly over the high rail on
+to the hitherto concealed deck.  My pulses throbbed with excitement
+over the desperate game fronting me, yet, with a coolness surprising to
+myself, I lost at that instant every sensation of personal fear, in
+determination to act thoroughly my assumed character.  More lives than
+one hung in the balance, and, with tightly clenched teeth, I swore to
+prove equal to the venture.  The very touch of those deck planks to my
+bare feet put new recklessness into my blood, causing me to marvel at
+the perfection of my own fool play.
+
+The gaunt Spaniard commanding my presence stood waiting, hardly more
+than five paces from where I landed, yet so intense became my immediate
+interest in the strange scene--an interest partly real, but largely
+simulated for the occasion--that he contented himself watching my
+confused antics with much apparent amusement, and without addressing
+me.  Even to this hour that scene lies distinct before my eyes.
+Possessed I skill with pencil I could sketch each small detail from the
+retina of memory--the solitary sentinel beside the rail, his well-worn
+uniform of blue and white dingy in the sun; another farther forward,
+where a great opening yawned; with yet a third, standing rigid before a
+closed door of the after cabin.  An officer, his coat richly decorated
+with gold braid, wearing epaulets, and having a short sword dangling at
+his side, paced back and forth across the top of a little house near
+the stern.  I heard him utter some command to a sailor near the wheel,
+but he never so much as glanced toward me.  Perhaps thirty or more
+seamen, bronzed of face, and oddly bedecked as to hair, lounged idly
+amid the shadows opposite, while, more closely at hand, that gaunt,
+cadaverous Spaniard, at whose invitation I was present, leaned against
+a big gun, puffing nonchalantly at a cigarette, held between lean,
+saffron-colored fingers.  The deck was white as the snows of a northern
+Winter, while the brass work along the railings and about the cannon
+glittered brilliantly in the sunshine.  There was a gaudy
+yellow-and-white striped canopy stretched above a portion of the deck
+aft; the huge masts seemed to pierce into the blue of the skies; while
+on every side were ranged grim guns of brass and iron.
+
+My role was that of an ignorant, green, half-frightened darky, and I
+presume I both appeared and acted the natural-born idiot, if I might
+judge from the expression upon the Spaniard's face, and the broad grin
+lighting up the fierce countenance of the sentry at the gangway.  Yet
+back of this mask there was grim determination and fixed purpose, so
+that no article of furniture was along that broad deck which I did not
+mentally photograph, so as to know its whereabouts if ever I chanced
+that way again.  Ay! even to a little cuddy door beside the cookhouse,
+apparently opening directly into the mysterious regions below, and a
+great chest lashed hard against the rail, within which I distinguished
+the bright colors of numerous flags.  I noticed also the odd manner in
+which queer rope ladders led up from either side of the broad deck to
+the vast spars high above, rising tier on tier until my head grew dazed
+with gazing at them.
+
+"Vel, Sambo, my black fellow," grinned the officer, whose eyes were
+still lazily following my erratic movements as I peered innocently into
+the muzzle of a brass carronade in apparent hope of discovering the
+ball, "zis vus ze first time you vus ever on ze war-sheep, I sink
+likely.  How you like stop here, hey, an' fight wis dos sings?"  And he
+rested his yellow hand caressingly upon the breech of the gun.
+
+I shook my head energetically, rendering as prominent as possible the
+whites of my eyes, at which he grinned wider than ever.
+
+"No, sah, Mister Oppercer Man; you don't git dis hyer nigger into no
+fought, sah," I protested with vehemence.  "I done fought wid de Injuns
+onct, sah, an' I done don't want no mo'."
+
+"Veil, you not vorry, boy; you voud be no good on ze war-sheep.  But
+now you come wis me to ze Capitaine--bring ze olif."
+
+Bearing a tempting sample of the Spaniard's favorite fruit tightly
+clutched in my black hand, and pulling my battered straw hat lower in
+concealment of my telltale hair, I made awkward attempt to shuffle
+along behind him, as he carelessly advanced toward the after part of
+the vessel.  But I loitered along our passage to examine so many
+objects of curiosity, asking such a multitude of extremely absurd
+questions, that we consumed considerable time in traversing even the
+comparatively short distance to where the rigid sentinel fronted us
+before the cabin door.  My queries were simple enough to have birth in
+the brain of a fool, yet my guide was of rare good humor, and evidently
+so amused at my ignorant curiosity that his patience withstood the
+strain.  On my part none were blindly asked, but were intended to open
+a way toward others of the utmost importance.  My sole purpose at that
+moment was to lull suspicion to rest; when that had been accomplished,
+then I might confidently hope to pump my trustful victim of such
+information as I imperatively required.  The ignorant questions of an
+imbecile will oftentimes be frankly responded to, where a wise man
+might ask in vain, and my first play was to establish my character as a
+fool.  That I had succeeded was already evident.
+
+The statuesque guard before the cabin brought his musket up at our
+approach with so smart a snap as to startle me into a moment's apparent
+terror.  To the officer's request that we be admitted to the presence
+of the Captain, he responded briefly that that officer had gone forward
+half an hour before.  My guide glanced about as if uncertain where he
+had better turn in search.
+
+"Did he go down the hatch?" he queried shortly.
+
+"I know not, Señor Gonzales," was the respectful reply.  "But I believe
+he may be with the prisoners' guard below."
+
+The officer promptly started forward, and, awaiting no formal
+invitation, I shambled briskly after, keeping as close as possible to
+his heels.  Could I gain a brief glimpse below the deck it would be
+worth more to me than any amount of blind questioning, and my heart
+thumped painfully in remembrance of what hung upon his movements.  With
+a single sharp word to the sentry at the hatch he swung himself
+carelessly over the edge, mysteriously disappearing into the gloom
+beneath.  That was no time for hesitancy, and I was already preparing
+to do likewise, when the guard, a surly-looking brute, promptly
+inserted the point of his bayonet into my ragged garment, accompanying
+this kindly act with a stern order to remain where I was.
+
+"An' what fo' yo' do dat, Señor Sojer?" I cried, in unaffected anguish,
+rubbing the injured part tenderly, yet speaking loud so that my words
+should be distinctly audible below.  "Dat oppercer man he done tol' me
+to foller him to de Captain.  What fo' yo' stop me wid dat toastin'
+fork?"
+
+"It's all right, Manuel," sung out a voice in Spanish from the lower
+darkness.  "Let the fool nigger come down."
+
+The thoroughly disgusted soldier muttered something about his orders,
+that his lieutenant had not ever authorized him to pass fools.
+Overlooking this personal allusion, and fearing more serious opposition
+from some one higher in authority, I took advantage of his momentary
+doubt, promptly swung my legs over the edge of the hatch opening,
+groped blindly about with my bare feet until they struck the rungs of a
+narrow ladder, and went scrambling down into the semi-darkness of
+between-decks, managing awkwardly to miss my final footing, thus
+flopping in a ragged heap at the bottom.
+
+"Holy Mother! you make more noise zan a sheep in action," grumbled the
+startled officer, as I landed at his feet.  "Vat for you come down ze
+ladder zat vay?"
+
+Rubbing my numerous bruises energetically, I contented myself with
+staring up at him as if completely dazed by my fall.  Reading in his
+amused countenance no symptom of awakening suspicion I ventured a quick
+glance at my new surroundings.  We were in what appeared a large
+unfurnished room, with doors of all sizes opening in every direction,
+while I could perceive a narrow entry, or passageway, extending toward
+the after part of the vessel.  The roof, formed of the upper deck, was
+low, upheld by immense timbers, and the apartment, nearly square, was
+dimly flooded by the sparse light sifting down through the single
+hatch-opening above, so that, in spite of its large dimensions, it had
+a cramped and stuffy appearance.  The vast butt of the mainmast arose
+directly in front of me, and, upon a narrow bench surrounding it, a
+dozen soldiers were lounging, while near the entrance to the
+passageway, scarcely more than a shadow in that dimness, stood a
+sentry, stiff and erect, with musket at his shoulder.  They were mostly
+slightly built, dark-featured men, attired in blue and white uniforms,
+the worse for wear, and were all laughing at my crazy entrance.  No
+doubt my coming afforded some relief to their tiresome, dull routine.
+While lying there, apparently breathless from my fall, my brains
+effectively muddled, a young officer advanced hastily from out the
+gloom to inquire into so unusual an uproar.
+
+"What is all this noise about?" he questioned sharply, striding toward
+us.  "Ah, Gonzales; whom have you here?  Another bird to add to our
+fine collection?"
+
+"If so, it must be a rare blackbird, Señor Francisco," returned my
+friend, vainly endeavoring to recover his customary gravity.  "By Saint
+Cristobal!  I have not laughed so heartily for a year past as at this
+poor black fool.  Faith, I sought to enlist him in the service of His
+Most Christian Majesty, yet his method of coming down a companion
+ladder convinced me he sadly lacks the necessary qualifications for a
+sailor.  Hast seen aught of the Captain here below?"
+
+"Ay, comrade, thou wilt find him aft.  He hath just had speech once
+more with the chief rebel, the graybeard they call Lafrénière, and was
+in raging temper when last we met.  _Caramba_! he even called me an
+ass, for no more serious fault, forsooth, than that I made the round of
+my guard unattended.  Hath your darky news for him?"
+
+"Nay; the fellow possesseth not sufficient sense to be a messenger,
+except it may be a message for his stomach to make his humor better,"
+was the reply.  "Come, trot along now, boy, and mind where you put down
+those big feet in the passage."
+
+I struggled upright in response to his order, assisted by the sharp tap
+of a boot accompanying it, tripped over a gun barrel one of the guard
+facetiously inserted between my legs, and went down once more, uttering
+such howl of terror as could be only partially drowned beneath the
+uproarious laughter of my merry tormentors.  It developed into a
+gantlet, yet I ran the line with little damage, and, after much ducking
+and pleading, managed to regain my position close to the heels of Señor
+Gonzales before he turned into the passageway, which, as I now
+perceived, was dimly illumined by means of a single lantern, hung to a
+blackened upper beam.
+
+"Well, good luck to both of you," called out the young officer of the
+guard laughingly as we disappeared.  "Yet I 'd hate to have the
+steering of such a crazy craft as follows in your wake, Gonzales, and I
+warn you again the Señor Captain will be found in beastly humor."
+
+"I fear nothing," returned my guide, his lean yellow face turned
+backward over his shoulder.  "I have what will bring him greater
+happiness than a decoration from the King."
+
+Shambling awkwardly forward, simulating all the uncouthness possible, I
+retained my wits sufficiently to note our surroundings--the long,
+narrow passage, scarcely exceeding a yard in width, with numerous doors
+opening on either side.  Several of these stood ajar, and I perceived
+berths within, marking them as sleeping apartments, although one upon
+the right was evidently being utilized as a linen closet, while yet
+another, just beyond, and considerably larger, seemed littered with a
+medley of boxes, barrels, and great bags.  This apartment appeared so
+much lighter than those others, even a stray ray of sunshine pouring
+directly down into it from above, that I instinctively connected it in
+my mind with the cook-house on the upper deck, and the open cuddy door
+I had chanced to notice.
+
+As we approached the farther end this passage suddenly widened into a
+half circle, sufficiently extended to accommodate the huge butt of the
+mizzenmast, which was completely surrounded by an arm-rack crowded with
+short-swords, together with all manner of small arms.  A grimly silent
+guard stood at either side, and I perceived the dark shadow of a third
+still farther beyond, while the half-dozen cabins close at hand had
+their doors tightly closed, and fastened with iron bars.
+
+Instinctively I felt that here were confined those French prisoners,
+the knowledge of whose exact whereabouts I sought amid such
+surroundings of personal peril, and my heart bounded from sudden
+excitement.  In simulated awkwardness, I unfortunately overdid my part.
+Shuffling forward, more eager than ever to keep at the heels of my
+protector, yet with eyes wandering in search of any opening, my bare
+feet struck against a projecting ring-bolt in the deck, and over I
+went, striving vainly to regain my balance.  Before that human statue
+on guard could even lower his gun to repel boarders, my head struck him
+soundly in the stomach, sending him crashing back against one of those
+tightly closed doors.  Tangled up with the surprised soldier, who
+promptly clinched his unexpected antagonist, and, with shocking
+profanity, strove to throttle me, I yet chanced to take note of the
+number "18" painted upon the white wood just above us.  Then the door
+itself was hurled hastily open, and with fierce exclamation of rage a
+gray-hooded Capuchin monk bounded forth like a rubber ball, and
+instantly began kicking vigorously right and left at our struggling
+figures.  It gives me pleasure to record that the Spaniard, being on
+top, received by far the worst of it, yet I might also bear testimony
+to the vigor of the priest's legs, while we shared equally in the
+volubility of his tongue.
+
+"_Sacre_!" he screamed in French, punctuating each sentence with a
+fresh blow.  "Get away from here, you drunken, quarrelling brutes!  Has
+it come to this, that a respectable priest of Holy Church may not hold
+private converse with the condemned without a brawl at the very door?
+Mother of God! what meaneth the fracas?  Where is the guard?  Why don't
+some of them jab their steel in the blasphemous ragamuffins who thus
+make mock of the holy offices of religion?  Take that, you black,
+sprawling beast!"
+
+He aimed a vicious stroke at my head, which I ducked in the nick of
+time to permit of its landing with full force in my companion's ribs.
+I heard him grunt in acknowledgment of its receipt.
+
+"Where is the guard, I say!  If they come not I will strangle the dogs
+with my own consecrated hands to the glory of God.  By the sainted
+Benedine! was ever one of our Order so basely treated before?  Get
+away, I tell you!  'Tis a disgrace to the true faith, and just as I was
+about to bring the Chevalier to his knees in confession of his sins!"
+
+Gonzales was fairly doubled up with laughter at the ludicrous incident,
+choking so that speech had become an utter impossibility.  By this time
+the aroused guards began hurrying forward on a run down the passageway
+to rescue their imperilled comrade, yet, before the foremost succeeded
+in laying hands upon me, a newcomer, resplendent in glittering uniform,
+with an inflamed, almost purple face, leaped madly forth from the
+opposite side of the mast and began laying about him vigorously with an
+iron pin, making use meanwhile of a vocabulary of choice Spanish
+epithets such as I never heard equalled.
+
+"By the shrine of Saint Gracia!" shouted this new arrival hoarsely,
+glaring about in the dim light as if half awakened from a bad dream.
+"What meaneth this aboard my ship?  _Caramba_! is this a travelling
+show--a place for mountebanks and gypsies?  Shut the door, you
+shrieking gray-back of a monk, or I 'll have you cat-o'-nine-tailed by
+the guard, in spite of your robe.  Get up, you drunken brute!"
+
+The crestfallen soldier to whom these last affectionate words were
+addressed limped painfully away, and then the justly irate commander of
+His Christian Majesty's flag-ship "Santa Maria" glowered down on me
+with an astonishment that for the moment held him dumb.
+
+"Where did this dirty nigger come from?" he roared at last, applying
+one of his heavy sea-boots to me with vehemence.  "Who is the villain
+who dared bring such cattle on board my ship?"
+
+Gonzales, now thoroughly sobered by the seriousness of the situation,
+attempted to account for my presence, but before he had fairly begun
+his story, the Captain, who by this time was beyond all reason, burst
+roaring forth again:
+
+"Oh, so you brought him!  You did, hey?  Well, did n't I tell you to
+let no lazy, loafing bumboat-man set foot on board?  Do you laugh at my
+orders, you good-for-nothing scum of the sea?  And above all things why
+did you ever drag such a creature as this down between decks to
+disgrace the whole of His Majesty's navy?  Get up, you bundle of rags!"
+
+I scrambled to my feet, seeking to shuffle to one side out of his
+immediate sight, but a heavy hand closed instantly on my ragged collar
+and held me fronting him.  For a moment I thought he meant to strike
+me, but I appeared such a miserable, dejected specimen of humanity that
+the fierce anger died slowly out of his eyes.
+
+"Francisco," he called sternly, "heave this thing overboard, and be
+lively about it!  Saints of Mercy! he smells like a butcher-boat in the
+tropics."
+
+Hustled, dragged, cuffed, mercilessly kicked, the fellows got me out
+upon the open deck at last; I caught one fleeting glimpse of the great
+masts, the white, gleaming planks under foot, the horrified, upturned,
+face of Alphonse in the little boat beneath, and then, with a heave and
+a curse, over I went, sprawling down from rail to river, as terrified a
+darky as ever made hasty departure from a man-of-war.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WE HOLD A COUNCIL OF WAR
+
+The last object I remember seeing was the white face of the Capuchin
+monk peering at me over the rail, and my earliest thought as I arose to
+the surface, was that as the water had probably cleansed my skin it
+would be wise to keep well out of sight from the deck.  Fortunately the
+boat floated close at hand.  Laying hasty grasp upon it, but remaining
+well immersed in the river, I bade the thoroughly frightened black
+paddle with diligence out of that neighborhood.  This was a task he was
+not slow in accomplishing, fear lending strength to trained muscles,
+and we soon had the good fortune to discover a safe landing-place
+beneath the lee of a long molasses shed, where our plight was
+unobserved by any one.
+
+Remaining hidden here myself, feeling reasonably secure from prying
+eyes, I despatched Alphonse after dry clothing, meanwhile tramping back
+and forth across the packed earthen floor to keep chilled blood in
+circulation, seeking eagerly to evolve out of the confused events of
+the afternoon some programme for future guidance.  This task was no
+light one.  The closer I faced the desperate work remaining
+unaccomplished the less I enjoyed the outlook, the more improbable
+appeared success.  Getting aboard the "Santa Maria" was now, to my
+mind, the simplest part of the adventure, but beyond the accomplishment
+of that feat I could perceive little to encourage me.  What must
+necessarily follow my safe gaining of that guarded deck, during the
+dark hours of the night, depended so largely upon the occurrence of
+helpful circumstances, any definite plan of action arranged beforehand
+became simply an impossibility.  Still, striving to make allowances for
+the unexpected, I managed to put together a chain of details, trusting,
+with the blind faith of a fatalist, that these would somehow fall into
+line when the hour came.  If they failed, as was likely, I determined
+to shift them about in any way possible as each fresh emergency arose.
+I realized how small a part any preliminary survey holds in such an
+enterprise as now fronted me, an enterprise to be worked out amid
+darkness and grave personal peril, where any bungling act or false move
+might overturn everything in an instant; yet it is always well--or at
+least so I have found it--to trace some outline of procedure, rather
+than trust wholly to the intuitions of the moment.  God's aid seems
+usually granted to those doing most for themselves.
+
+I felt little confidence by the time Alphonse returned, yet my firm
+determination to make the effort had in no way abated.  Indeed, had
+failure been an absolute certainty I should have gone forward exactly
+the same, for I was bound to it by my pledge to Eloise de Noyan.  I
+have reason to suppose dogged determination a part of my nature, but
+then something far more compelling than this inherited tendency drove
+me irresistibly forward to my fate.  This is no story of the rescue of
+a prisoner of war, but rather of how love impelled an ordinary man to
+the accomplishment of deeds which seemed impossible.
+
+It was evening, already quite dark, it fortunately proving a night of
+cloud and threatened storm, when I ventured to steal into the little
+cottage on the Rue Dumaine, and found there, even as I had left them,
+Madame de Noyan and the _père_ awaiting me.  How anxious a day she had
+been compelled to pass since the hour of my departure was plainly
+imprinted upon her beautiful face, gently touched by the softened light
+from a shaded candle near which she rested; nor was the naturally pale,
+emaciated countenance of her spiritual adviser entirely free from
+outward marks of care impressed upon it by his patient vigil.
+
+I recall still, a pang tugging at my old heart, with what unspeakable
+gentleness Eloise came forward, holding forth both white hands in
+greeting, while unrestrained tears glistened upon the long lashes
+partly veiling the eager glow of soft eyes searching my face.  She
+uttered never a word of questioning relative to the result of my
+mission; merely stood there silent, her warm hands in mine, her gaze
+fastened upon me, as if within my eyes she sought to read everything
+unasked.  Perhaps she did, yet to me it seemed the perfect abandon of
+trust, and often since have I thought upon it as illustrative of her
+unswerving confidence in my honor.
+
+"I do so thank you, Geoffrey Benteen," she said in all simplicity, "for
+thus coming to us once more."
+
+"I returned the earliest moment possible, Madame," I replied quietly,
+although all my heart must have leaped responsive into my eyes,
+contradicting such coolness of speech.  Be that as it may, my sweet
+mistress never glanced aside, nor drew back her hands from mine.  It
+was the gravely observant priest, standing behind within the shadows,
+whose natural impatience caused him to interrupt our greeting, although
+he spoke not unkindly.
+
+"My son," he said, deep anxiety evident in the tone of his soft speech,
+"we have remained in solemn prayer ever since the hour of thy
+departure, and, while we doubt not our petitions have found favor of
+both Mother and Child, yet the flesh sorroweth, and we yearn greatly to
+know all from thine own lips as to the fortunes of this day.  Tell us,
+I beg thee, hast thou discovered aught of comfort or help for the
+condemned?"
+
+His words brought me back to earth with sudden rush.  Releasing the
+soft hands I had been clasping so tightly in momentary forgetfulness, I
+led the lady to a seat, even finding another myself before venturing
+upon reply.
+
+"I thank you heartily for your prayers, Sir Priest.  Often have I heard
+my father say the prayer of the righteous availeth much, and although I
+be not of Holy Church--for those to whom I looked in earlier years for
+guidance were of the dissenting breed--yet I yield respect to all true
+religion; and even in the woods, where men grow rough, giving small
+thought to the voice of their souls, I have discovered much to tell me
+of God, and to make me thankful for His mercies.  But you ask a
+difficult question.  The day has not been ill spent nor wasted.  This
+much, at least, I may say--I have discovered one weak spot in the
+Spanish guard-line, and intend to make the best possible use of it.
+Yet the venture is bound to prove a desperate one, and nothing except
+the overruling care of Him who guides us all can secure the desired
+outcome."
+
+He piously crossed himself, his thin lips moving silently above the
+silver crucifix resting in his white fingers, but Eloise only leaned
+more eagerly forward, her dark eyes anxiously scanning my face.
+
+"Have you seen my--the Chevalier de Noyan?" she questioned tremblingly.
+
+"No, Madame, yet I have been aboard the 'Santa Maria,'--though in truth
+'twas not altogether an enjoyable experience,--and now know precisely
+where the prisoners are confined, even to the room of the Chevalier.
+If you will listen patiently I will briefly relate the story; then we
+can outline together our further plans for the night.  Are we alone?"
+
+Both nodded, far too eager to waste time in words, and as rapidly as
+possible I described those incidents already narrated.  At the close
+Eloise simply thanked me in silence with an appreciative glance, but
+the priest proved more demonstrative.
+
+"Thou hast, indeed, accomplished much, my son," he exclaimed
+impulsively, clasping and unclasping the slender fingers of his white
+hands nervously.  "Surely but for our fervent prayers the good Lord
+would never have led you amid such imminent and deadly peril.  Yet to
+me the venture appeareth even more hopeless than before.  You made
+mention of plans; shall we not discuss such at once, for the rapidly
+speeding time must greatly press us.  The great Apostle once said, in
+connection with the work of the Spirit, 'Brethren, the time is short';
+it seemeth a fit text for us even now."
+
+"It is too early for action," I replied thoughtfully.  "I require food,
+and it will be best to delay until a late hour before moving in such a
+scheme as mine.  As to plans--faith, the word was ill-chosen if I used
+it, for excepting the mode already outlined for attaining the deck, I
+have none.  Yet there are certain matters I require to have arranged
+before I depart.  Madame de Noyan, can you furnish me with a strong
+boat and two stout oarsmen?  They must be men to trust, who will care
+little where they go."
+
+"It shall be done," she answered promptly, her eyes brightening.
+"Alphonse will gladly go, and he can select another from among the
+slaves."
+
+"The Chevalier, can he swim if occasion arise?"
+
+"He is perfectly at home in the water."
+
+"Good; then we need run no extra risk by keeping a boat beside the
+frigate.  Let it await our coming beneath the darkest shadows of the
+cotton sheds near the North Gate.  Have them place within it my rifle
+and ammunition, together with whatever weapons of war your husband may
+be accustomed to use; see that the boat be well provisioned for a long
+voyage, as it will require much travel before we get beyond Spanish
+reach, and we go not into a region of settlements.  Bid the men exhibit
+no light, nor converse above whispers.  My word to them will be
+'Virginia'; they are to pay heed to no other.  You understand all this?"
+
+"It is engraven upon my heart," she responded gravely.  "You need have
+no fear."
+
+"That I think will be all you can do to aid success--nay, wait!
+instruct them also, if we have not arrived before the dawn to bide no
+longer; it will be useless."
+
+"Oh, say not so, Geoffrey Benteen," she cried, a sudden sob evidencing
+the strain upon her.  "Surely the good God will aid us now."
+
+"It is upon Him I rely," I responded, not knowing how best to minister
+to her deep distress.  "We will do all we can, Madame, to win His
+favor; beyond that nothing remains but to submit to His will."
+
+She hid her face in her arms upon the table, the light of the candle
+streaming almost golden in the heavy masses of her hair.  Instinctively
+I rested my hand caressingly upon it.
+
+"Nay, Madame, this is time for strength, not weakness.  Afterwards we
+may have opportunity to weep; to-night there is call for action."
+
+She glanced up with a quick, impulsive gesture, and I saw her eyes were
+dry of tears.
+
+"You think me unduly nervous and unstrung," she said quietly, and I
+could detect a touch of indignation in the tone.  "It is merely my
+nature, for the impatient blood of the South has place in my veins, yet
+whatsoever a lady of France may do, you can trust me to accomplish,
+Monsieur."
+
+Faith! but she had a way with her which ever left me helpless, and no
+doubt my face exhibited how abashed I felt at the regal manner in which
+she fronted me.  At least I spoke no word, yet the proud look faded
+from her eyes, and I felt her hand touch mine.
+
+"Forgive me, Geoffrey," she whispered softly.  "We do not doubt each
+other, yet I was over hasty of speech with one who has proven so loyal
+a friend."
+
+"Nor have I aught to forgive, Madame, or more to say, except that my
+words meant no injustice," I responded.  Then to avoid longer facing
+her I turned to where the watchful Capuchin stood.
+
+"And now, Sir Priest, I propose being perfectly frank with you, as I
+do not believe this a time for mincing of words.  I am of Protestant
+blood; those of my line have ridden at Cromwell's back, and one of my
+name stood unrepentant at the stake when Laud turned Scotland into a
+slaughter-house.  So 't is safe to say I admire neither your robe nor
+your Order.  Yet the events of this day have gone far toward convincing
+me that at heart you are a man in spite of the woman's garb you wear.
+So now, what say you--will you be comrade with me this night?"
+
+At the brutal bluntness of my speech and question--for I fear I took
+out upon him those feelings I ventured not to exploit with Madame,
+recalling how this same difference of faith had come between us two
+with its dread shadow--a red flush sprang into the priest's thin,
+wasted cheeks, and I could see how tightly his hands clinched about the
+crucifix at his girdle.
+
+"As to my Order, it hath little to fear from thy dislike, young man, as
+that is born from early prejudice, and lack of proper learning," he
+returned gravely, meeting I my eyes fairly with his own.  "Yet,
+speaking as frankly as yourself, I doubt if I would prove of much
+assistance upon a ship's deck; such effort as you propose for this
+night would be wholly foreign to my habit of life."
+
+"Spoken truly; nor would I make choice of one with muscles so inert
+from disuse were this to be an onset, where men give and take hard
+blows.  I ask you not upon the ship's deck at all, my friend, nor shall
+I require your company one step farther than the roof of the great
+sugar warehouse of Bomanceaux et fils.  Still, it will require steady
+nerve to do even what little I require, and, if you doubt your courage,
+say so now, and I will seek among the slaves for stouter heart and
+readier hand."
+
+That my words touched his pride I could read instantly in his uplifted
+face.
+
+"Nay, thou needest seek no further," he announced briefly, his thin
+lips tightly pressed together.  "I will go, Monsieur."  I knew
+instantly by the bold ring of the words that henceforward I might trust
+him to the death.
+
+"I thought you would.  Now a question more, and then I must have food.
+Can you prepare for my use one of your robes?"
+
+"Easily, Monsieur; Father Cassati left one behind at the chapter-house
+when he went aboard ship, and you do not greatly differ in point of
+size.  But is it possible thou proposest to turn priest, and of our
+Order?"
+
+"In outward vesture merely, and that not for long.  It would afford me
+greater liberty of movement on the 'Santa Maria' than my own garb, and
+may spare me some unpleasant questioning.  Yet, perchance, there may be
+danger of my overdoing the priestly character, as well as of
+overestimating the privileges granted the clergy on board."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders, nettled somewhat by my words and manner.
+
+"I have indeed reason for gravely distrusting your naturalness in the
+wearing of a robe dedicated to religion," he made answer.  "But as for
+the other matter, there can be little danger of your overstepping the
+mark.  Father Cassati is of a somewhat roistering disposition,
+over-fond of the bottle, in truth,--although it giveth me pain to speak
+thus of one of my own Order,--and I have been informed, moveth at his
+own will about the ship.  He is of the sort to be 'hail fellow, well
+met' with those roistering Spaniards, who care little for God or man,
+as he possesseth few scruples of his own."
+
+"Bear I sufficient resemblance to pass in his stead?"
+
+"You are not unlike as to height and build; as to face, you are far the
+better featured.  With the cowl up it might be reasonably safe in a dim
+light."
+
+"My beauty has always been my undoing," I ventured, in awakened good
+humor.  "Nevertheless I shall be compelled to venture it this time;
+moreover, I am pleased to learn that things aboard are as you describe,
+for such a state of affairs may greatly serve our purpose."
+
+I turned away from him to recross the room and murmur a few words of
+brighter hope into the ear of Eloise, where she sat in white-faced
+silence amid the deeper shadows of the portiere.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ON THE DECK OF THE "SANTA MARIA"
+
+The Spanish sentries on the Place d'Armes were calling the hour of
+midnight when the priest and I stole silently past amid the shadows of
+overhanging trees.  I find it impossible, even now, after the lapse of
+years, to dwell upon my parting with her who despatched me on so
+strange an errand.  My reluctant pen halts, while the tears, dimming my
+old eyes, bid me turn to other scenes.  However, under God, the venture
+of that night might terminate, I firmly believed I was gazing into her
+dear face for the last time; yet, honor sealed my lips, holding back
+unspoken those passionate utterances which burned upon my tongue.  I
+could merely clasp for one brief moment those hands she gave so
+unreservedly into my keeping, gaze into the unfathomed depths of her
+dark eyes, and murmur a few broken words of confidence and farewell.
+Then, half blinded from emotion, I tore myself away from her beloved
+presence, and went forth into night and peril for her dear sake.
+
+However my heart throbbed with hidden anguish as I stepped forth from
+that fateful house, the nature of the adventure upon which we were now
+fairly launched was sufficient to cool my brain, so that long before we
+skirted the guard-lines drawn around the camp of Spanish artillery, I
+had become once more the cool, resourceful adventurer, as befitted my
+nature and training.
+
+"Sentries are stationed only along the open side of the square, I
+think?" I whispered to my companion questioningly, striving vainly to
+penetrate the intense darkness in our front.
+
+"True," he responded in so low a voice I could scarcely catch the
+words, a slight falter betraying that the strange conditions preyed
+upon his unaccustomed nerves.  "It was thus they were posted last
+night."
+
+"Then we will assume the risk of finding clear passage.  Keep close,
+and venture no speech, whatever happens."
+
+It proved slow work at the best, as it would never do to have a Spanish
+spy dogging our footsteps.  I doubt not it tested good Father Petreni
+to the uttermost, yet I thought the better of him for the determined
+way in which he clung to my heels through the darkness.  As for myself,
+such dodging, twisting, climbing of walls, and skulking amid shadows,
+merely sufficed to warm the blood, and yielded greater zest for the
+more serious work to follow.  I claim small credit for courage in such
+matters; they have ever been so much a portion of life to me that their
+excitement became scarcely more than a draught of heady wine.  He was
+the truly brave man who, without any such incentive as I possessed,
+left his books and quiet cell that night to follow me abroad.
+
+At last we ran across the great deserted market-place, and paused,
+crouching breathlessly in the dense shadows of the huge warehouse
+standing upon the very brink of the broad river.  As we rested thus we
+could hear soft lapping of running water along the further wall, while
+occasionally some vagrant puff of air brought to our strained ears the
+distant creaking of chains, as the great war-vessels swung by their
+cables against the swift current.  Beyond this the night was intensely
+still, black, unfathomable, mysterious.  It seemed fairly to weigh down
+upon us with its noiseless burden of gloom.
+
+"Are you acquainted with the interior arrangement of this building?" I
+asked the priest in some anxiety.
+
+"I was within it only once, and observed little of its features.  I was
+called there in haste to speak words of peace to a sorely injured man."
+
+"Could you guide to the ladder leading up to the second floor in the
+dark?"
+
+I thought he gave a gesture of dissent, yet so dense was the night I
+could barely note the movement.
+
+"I am not certain, my son, yet to my remembrance it leadeth up near the
+centre upon the river side.  The building is doubtless empty of all its
+cotton at this time of year, and we should be able to feel our way
+across if only once within.  How do you purpose gaining entrance?"
+
+"Pah! that is the simplest portion of the whole venture," I said
+confidently.  "I am not likely to overlook such a point.  The third
+window from here has a loosened shutter; I brought this stick to pry it
+apart.  Then the interior will be ours, unless they keep a watchman
+stationed within."
+
+"Thou needst have small fear of that at this late season, and the
+building empty."
+
+We crept cautiously forward, myself in the lead, and feeling blindly in
+the darkness for the loosened shutter previously located.  At last my
+groping hand touched it, and drawing the bottom outward as far as
+possible by mere grip of the fingers, I inserted the stout oaken bar
+within the aperture, and, after listening intently to detect any
+presence close at hand, exerted my strength upon the rude lever.  There
+followed a slight rasping, as if a wire dragged along a nail,--a
+penetrating shrillness there was to it which sent a tingle to the
+nerves,--then the heavy shutter swung outward, leaving ample space for
+the passage of a man's body.  I lifted myself by my hands and peered
+cautiously within.  Everywhere was impenetrable blackness, while the
+silence was so profound as to give a sudden strange throb to my heart.
+Waiting no longer, I drew myself up on to the narrow ledge; then hung
+downward until my groping feet touched the floor.  Once safely landed I
+leaned forth again, and in another moment the priest stood beside me,
+the shutter tightly drawn behind us.  With a feeling of relief I faced
+that black interior.  Now, at least, we were beyond chance of discovery
+by any prowling Spanish guard, and could advance more freely.
+
+"Lead on," I commanded shortly, resting my hand upon his shoulder to
+make sure of his presence.  "I will keep hold upon your robe, so we
+shall not part company in the darkness."
+
+Very slowly we felt uncertain passage across the uneven floor.  It
+appeared littered with innumerable articles of the box and barrel
+order, with here and there a pile of loose lumber, altogether making
+such a jumble of obstruction that keeping our direction became simply
+impossible in that intense darkness which seemed to fairly swallow us.
+We did well to proceed at all, and escape creating a racket by
+stumbling over some of the many unseen obstacles in our path.  As to
+myself, I became so thoroughly confused by constant turning and
+climbing as to grow completely lost, but fortunately the priest kept a
+somewhat clearer brain, and, after groping blindly for some time,
+pausing occasionally as though he would smell his way like a dog,
+managed to put hand at last upon the object of his patient search.
+
+"'T is here," he whispered.  "Shall I go up?"
+
+"Ay!" I returned hopefully, glad I had restrained the impatience of my
+tongue.  "But try each rung before you venture stepping on it; they may
+prove rotten and give way beneath your weight."
+
+He swung himself up, after carefully tucking in his robe about the
+waist, but the ladder creaked so alarmingly beneath his tread I durst
+not venture my heavier weight upon it until he had safely reached the
+top.  Finally the noise of his climbing ceased, and I could hear a
+board move high above me.
+
+"Are you up safe?" I questioned in a low voice.
+
+"All safe, praise be to God," came the cautious response; "but thou
+wilt do well, friend, to exercise grave care, as the way is bad."
+
+It required brief exploration to convince us that this second story
+possessed a strong, firm floor, although there remained some danger of
+there being traps in it for the hoisting of cotton, while the boards
+might not extend over the entire surface.  By this time, however, our
+eyes had grown somewhat accustomed to the intense blackness enveloping
+us, so the slightest change in the prevailing gloom became quickly
+apparent.  The air was so fresh and pure, with such a taste of the
+night in it, I became convinced there must be an opening somewhere
+close at hand, and whispered the suggestion to my companion.  He proved
+keener of vision than I, for even as we thus spoke he plucked my sleeve
+and pointed upward.
+
+"Then surely it will be yonder," he exclaimed, with more eagerness of
+voice than I had before marked in him.  "There is certainly a lightness
+to the atmosphere overhead, as if it came from a direct opening to the
+sky."
+
+It appeared true even to me, now that he had pointed out the spot.
+
+"It must be the roof hatch uplifted.  Now if we discover a ladder
+leading thereto I shall accept it as proof that God guideth us this
+night, and feel new courage."
+
+"Our work is of God," said the _père_ solemnly, "or I should never be
+here with you, and engaged upon it."
+
+"Nor have I ever doubted it, father," I made haste to answer, creeping
+cautiously forward across the ill-matched flooring.  "Yet you have been
+a luckier man than I if never you found yourself in the wrong when you
+believed it to be right."
+
+There was a ladder there spliced with bits of rope, as we discovered,
+yet proving of sufficient strength to up-bear us one at a time.  Thus
+we were soon out upon the great flat roof, lying prone at the edge,
+whither we had crept silently, peering cautiously forth upon the black
+river.  That is, we gazed into the silent mystery where we knew the
+river must be, yet it was like peering into an impenetrable bank of
+cloud.  There was something awesome about it, for out yonder, within a
+few yards of us, swung twenty great vessels of war, manned by thousands
+of fighting men, while not a sound reached us, except the slight
+creaking of strained cables, or the occasional dash of a wave against
+some obstruction in the stream; nor could anything be seen, if I except
+flitting sparks of light glimmering here and there like lost stars,
+serving to locate the positions of the various ships in their night
+anchorage.
+
+I felt, rather than saw, the devout priest at my side piously cross
+himself, and there was a mumbling of his lips in prayer, but I
+contented myself with searching through the gloom for a glimpse of the
+towering masts of the "Santa Maria," which must be close at hand.  They
+remained invisible, shrouded behind the mist cloud.  For one moment I
+cursed the intense blackness of the night, losing confidence in our
+venture.  Yet, even as hope failed me, the dull creaking of a nearby
+cable sounded farther up stream.  Guided by this I crept cautiously
+along the edge of the roof, aware as I proceeded that Father Petreni,
+imitating my example, pressed closely behind.
+
+Near the northern extremity of the long building we came to a halt,
+and, leaning well over the roof edge, I peered anxiously into the
+enveloping fog.  A deeper density of shadow showed directly in front,
+which I felt convinced could be caused only by one of those vast spars
+around which canvas had been rolled, as noted that afternoon from the
+ship's deck.  Vainly endeavoring to pierce the thick mist, I
+distinguished the steady tramping of some one pacing far beneath us.
+The sound came from farther out in the stream, where I might reasonably
+suppose the stern of the vessel to lie.  I drew back, and placed my
+lips close to the priest's ear.
+
+"Can you distinguish any outline yonder?" I queried eagerly, pointing
+as I spoke, and feeling fearful lest my eyes had been deceived by
+fleeting night shadows.
+
+Resting upon his breast, one hand shading his eyes, he peered long in
+the direction indicated before venturing to reply.
+
+"There is a shade of something yonder," he admitted at last.  "It rises
+a trifle above us, and almost directly out from this edge.  'T is hard
+to say of what it consists, yet 'tis of a peculiar shape, causing me to
+think of the foreyard of a big ship."
+
+"Exactly what I name it," I replied, set at ease by his prompt
+decision.  "How far would you suppose the thing to lie from where we
+are?"
+
+He studied the barely visible object long and carefully, shading his
+eyes again with his hands the better to concentrate his gaze upon that
+misty blot.
+
+"It is like a jump in the dark, my son, to attempt guessing at so
+visionary a thing.  At times it seemeth to fade away altogether, yet
+back it cometh once more into the same spot; from where I lie it might
+be twenty, or it might be forty, feet."
+
+"Saint Giles! not so bad a guess either.  I figured it at thirty this
+afternoon from the bank below, nor am I apt to prove far wrong in such
+judgment.  Truss up this confounded skirt of mine, while I uncoil the
+rope for a toss."
+
+He opened his eyes wide in amazement.
+
+"Do you hope to cast the loop over the end of the spar?"
+
+"Ay, that offers the only opening to get aboard unobserved," I replied,
+loosening as I spoke the slender rope coil from about my waist.  "Nor
+would it be any trick if the light were a trifle better.  As it is, I
+may miss a throw or two in getting firm hold.  It would prove risky
+business attempting to pass across a line insecure at one end.  Lie
+down now, _père_, and keep as quiet as if you were dead."
+
+In instant obedience to my words the priest stretched himself at full
+length behind the low wooden gutter.  Rising cautiously to my feet, I
+passed the cord with utmost care through my fingers, testing its
+strands again, making certain it remained perfectly free for the toss.
+For a moment I stood thus, swaying forward at the very edge of the
+roof, my eyes measuring again and again the hazy, uncertain distance
+stretching away toward that slight undulating shadow.  It was
+practically impossible to determine where the extreme end of the spar
+terminated in air, yet as nearly as possible I made selection for my
+point of aim, and, with three noiseless circles about my head to give
+it impetus, shot the rope forth into the dense gloom.  I heard the
+opening noose strike something which rattled sharply in the intense
+silence.  Then the line slipped, hung limp, and finally fell dangling
+down over the edge of the roof.  It had failed to catch, and I crouched
+low, making no effort to draw the loose end back.  With the first sound
+of the blow against the spar the steady tramping across the deck
+ceased.  A moment, and a gruff voice hailed in vigorous Spanish from
+out the darkness:
+
+"Aloft there!  Who is on the foreyard?"
+
+For a brief space there came no answer, although we were made aware of
+other movements more directly below us.  Then some one answered:
+
+"The watch are all here on the forecastle, Señor.  It must have been a
+loose block that rattled."
+
+"Two of you jump into the foretop, and make all fast."
+
+The steady tramping was resumed, while a moment later we became aware
+of the approach of men climbing through the darkness toward us.  We
+were unable to perceive their shadows, yet their muttered conversation,
+as they lay out upon the yard, served to fix its actual position more
+clearly in my mind.  I believed I knew where I had so grievously
+overshot the mark.
+
+"_Boca del Dragon_!" grumbled one of the fellows hoarsely, seemingly in
+our very ears.  "The Captain is as nervous over those cursed
+frog-eaters down between decks as if we were anchored off Paree."
+
+"Think you that is the trouble, José?" returned the other in the
+sprightly voice of a younger man.  "I tell thee, comrade, 'tis only
+that bloody demon of an O'Reilly he is fearful of.  I have sailed with
+the 'old man' in many seas since first I left Sargon, and never expect
+to see him affrighted of any Johnny Frenchman.  But I heard the Admiral
+say two days agone, as I hung over his boat in the main chains, that if
+the Captain lost so much as a single prisoner it should cost him his
+ship.  That, I make it, comrade, is why he has n't taken so much as a
+glass of wine since first they were put aboard of us.  _Bastante_! but
+he must have acquired a thirst by this time to make his temper red-hot."
+
+The other laughed sourly.
+
+"Poh!  I know even a better reason for his going dry than that, Juan.
+He does n't have chance for a drink alongside of that gray-bellied
+French priest below.  _Caramba_! it takes him to polish off the red
+liquor."
+
+"How know you that?"
+
+"Saint Christopher! how know I?  Did I not just meet him at the main
+hatch so drunk he fell over the coamings.  The sojer on guard set him
+up against the butt of the foremast to sober off in the night air."
+
+I experienced difficulty in repressing a laugh at the words, but the
+two fellows were going down by this time, grumbling in their beards
+because they had discovered nothing wrong as reward for their trip
+aloft, so I contented myself by silently pressing my companion's arm,
+although doubtless he had comprehended no word of the conversation.
+
+We rested there motionless, with no attempt at speech, for fully twenty
+minutes before I ventured to haul in the line which dangled downward
+from my hand.  Everything remained quiet below, and, coiling it
+carefully over my arm, I noiselessly arose to my feet once more,
+poising myself to essay a second cast.  As straight this time as an
+arrow from the taut string of a bow the noose sped silently away into
+the darkness.  I felt a thrill of delight tingle through me as the end
+settled softly over the end of the vague, distant spar.  I drew the
+cord taut and firm, not a sound breaking the intense stillness closing
+us in like a wall.  A heavy wooden post, with a pulley attachment,
+stood behind where we rested, probably fitted there for hauling up
+heavy bales of cotton.  Creeping back, I wound the slack of the rope
+about its base, drawing it as tight as possible, and then placed the
+end in the hands of the observant and wondering priest, who continued
+to creep after me like a shadow.
+
+"Now all I expect of you is to hold hard on this rope until I get
+across on to the spar," I whispered.  "When I give three distinct jerks
+on the cord, then let loose of your end; but drop it slowly, mind you,
+_père_, so I can draw it in without noise.  You had better creep to the
+edge of the roof with it before you release your hold.  Do you
+understand?"
+
+He nodded silently, his eyes gazing unwaveringly into mine.  I held
+forth my hand to him, moved by the sudden impulse of such a movement.
+As he gave me his own in response it felt as cold as ice, yet I marked
+his grip was strong.
+
+"As soon as I coil in the rope you had better creep down and go home,"
+I explained, speaking slowly, for somehow I felt it strangely hard to
+part with this last tie between the present and the uncertain future.
+"You can be no further use to me; Madame will be anxious to hear your
+report, while it might prove exceedingly awkward for one of your cloth
+to be trapped here after this night's work is discovered by the Dons.
+So now good-bye; you are a man of nerve, even if you are a priest, and
+I am glad to have been comrade with you."
+
+I heard him answer something as I slowly crept down to the edge,
+testing again the feel of the rope before venturing to swing off upon
+it.  I was not unaccustomed to those adventures incident to rough life
+on the frontier; my nerves were not easily jarred by strange
+experiences, yet I hold it no pleasant sensation to swing out on a
+thirty-foot line at that height, amid utter darkness, especially when
+you feel uncertain as to its secure fastening at the farther end.
+Moreover, the priest's robe hampered my movements sadly, while, being
+no light-weight, the strands of the small cord cut my hands.  I durst
+not hurry, but took the passage inch by inch, gritting my teeth as I
+hung suspended above the abyss, lest I might emit a cry.  In truth I
+thought my arms would pull out of the sockets before I finally came
+alongside the spar.  Yet, thanks be to God, the rope held nobly, though
+it required every pound of remaining strength to haul my dangling body
+up, that I could rest across the wood before I felt after the standing
+rope beneath.  I clung there weak as a child, trembling like a
+frightened woman, the cold perspiration standing in drops upon my face.
+
+I have been in far happier situations than that--lying bent nearly
+double across the yard of an enemy's ship on a black night, but at the
+moment, so sincerely rejoiced was I to be off that sagging rope, I felt
+like humming a tune.  Yet I contented myself with sliding along the
+smooth spar until I discovered a firm strand of rope beneath my feet,
+ventured then to stand upright, and clung for support to the cloth of
+the sail.  At last I gave our signal, and, as the line slackened to my
+hand, drew it cautiously in, coiling it as it came, until all was once
+again in my possession.  Waiting a moment, to give the _père_
+opportunity to begin his retreat, I undid the noose yet wound about the
+small end of the spar, and, with much care, feeling my uncertain way
+through the darkness, worked myself slowly along, inward bound toward
+the mast.  Finally, close beside it I again made fast the end of my
+cord, lowering it, paying out the long coil inch by inch, until I felt
+convinced from its limpness it must extend to the deck.
+
+I acknowledge it was several minutes before I mustered sufficient
+courage to slip down into that intense blackness.  It was not so much
+fear of men which deterred me, but the oppressive silence, the mystery
+of what awaited me below, rested heavily upon the nerves, binding me to
+the spar, intently gazing and listening for either sight or sound.  It
+was recollection of that last, trustful look within the dark eyes of
+Eloise which finally aroused me to action.  Muttering an imprecation
+upon my faint-heartedness, I instantly swung off on to the dangling
+rope, slipping silently downward through the shadows to meet whatsoever
+fate might lurk below.
+
+It was a confused tangle of ropes I was compelled to traverse, yet none
+greatly interfered with my progress, except to render it slower, and
+the consequent strain harder upon the arms.  The huge foremast, close
+against which I swung, grew bulkier as I descended.  Suddenly my feet
+touched the solid deck.  I discovered myself between the foremast and
+the rail, so dropping upon hands and knees I crept silently around,
+hoping thus to gain clearer view forward.  As I circled the vast butt
+of the mast I came suddenly face to face with the friar, sitting upon
+the deck and blinking at me with drunken gravity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE ROLE OF PÈRE CASSATI
+
+I have no knowledge as to what the surprised priest thought regarding
+the astounding apparition thus bursting upon him.  Perchance he mistook
+me for the ghost of some ancient Father Superior visiting him in
+warning of his sins.  However, I permitted him small space for any
+reflection.  I have ever been swift in action; was awake then with the
+excitement of my venture, and little accustomed to hesitancy at such a
+time.  Moreover, I despised the fellow, and was not loath to be the
+instrument of punishment to him, and I never struck any man a deadlier
+blow with the bare fist than that I put in just back of his ear.  My
+posture was not the best for such exercise; nevertheless it permitted
+me to do the work, and he went over without word or groan, even as I
+have seen a buck fall to the rifle when the ball sang straight to the
+heart.
+
+Indeed, so limp did he drop upon his side, with not a sigh to relieve
+the sickening impression, I feared at first I had killed him--for it is
+a wicked blow, such as has caused death more than once.  I was
+reassured, however, by listening intently at his heart, and, not
+knowing how soon he might revive in the cool night air, took
+precautions to keep him dumb before venturing to leave him huddled
+against the butt of the great mast, and proceed forth on my own mission.
+
+To lower the long gray skirt of my monk's robe until it touched the
+deck planks, loosening as I did so the hunting knife securely hidden
+within my waist-belt, and to draw up the coarse, ample hood, thus
+better to conceal my features, after the same manner I was pleased to
+note Cassati wore his, were my first duties.  The way of procedure had
+been made clear; fate had seemingly solved that problem.  My sole
+prospect of attaining the guarded space between decks, of reaching the
+cell of the man I sought, lay in careful impersonation of the drunken
+French priest, now lying insensible at my feet.  Nor in this imposture
+did I anticipate serious difficulty.  Everything thus far had developed
+so favorably I became hopeful of the outcome--the inspiration of
+success brought with it renewed courage and confidence.  The exciting
+incidents of the night had awakened me to the humor of the venture, and
+I smiled grimly at the rare conceit of the contemplated masquerade.
+Nor did it promise an especially difficult part to play.  We were of
+similar size, broad-shouldered, stocky men, with smoothly shaven faces,
+the difference therein hardly likely to be observed by careless eyes,
+beneath dimly burning lights.  I knew enough regarding his
+peculiarities of voice and manner to imitate both fairly well, so only
+an accident, or some careless slip of the tongue, would be apt to
+reveal the fraud.  In short, I was armed with audacity, doubting little
+that I should safely pass the guards.  Anyway, there was nothing else
+for it; 'twas a moment when one must cast timidity to the winds.
+
+Yet I found it difficult to essay the first step in so desperate an
+enterprise.  For several moments I waited, hanging back within the
+shadow of the mast, gathering my wits together for the chances of the
+play, while endeavoring to pick out details of the situation along
+those silent, gloomy decks.  Owing to the mass of over-hanging cordage
+and the high wooden bulwarks on either side, the night appeared even
+darker than when I was above, perched on the dizzy yard.  Occasionally
+some deeper shadow, or the noise of voice or footfall, made apparent to
+me the life on board.  Toward the stern that steady tramping back and
+forth of the officer on watch continued uninterrupted, as he paced
+steadily from rail to rail.  I could even distinguish the dim outlines
+of his lower limbs as he passed and repassed before the single gleaming
+point of light on board.  I was also assured as to a group of seamen
+forward, hard against a steeper rise of the deck; once I heard the
+officer aft call out some unintelligible order, when one of the group
+detached himself from among those others and passed along the opposite
+side of the mast from where I lay, yet so close I could have touched
+him with extended hand.  I felt convinced a sentinel stood beside the
+hatch, and imagined I could distinguish the faint outlines of another
+farther back, near the rail.  Trusting to avoid interference from this
+latter soldier,--for I sought no risk of accident which might be
+escaped,--I crept around upon the opposite side of the deck from where
+I had been crouching so long.  Getting my new bearings as well as
+possible amid such confusing darkness, I finally set my teeth to it,
+rose, and bore directly down upon the hatchway, lurching somewhat
+heavily and unsteadily upon my feet.
+
+Whatever vestige of doubt lingered as to the nature of my reception on
+board the "Santa Maria" was quickly out to rest.  In return there came
+to me, from that first experience, a measure of confidence in my
+assumed character that enabled me to impersonate my drunken priestly
+predecessor with a degree of cool perfection that surprised myself.
+Faith, 't is always so; life is like the teetering-board of children,
+ever up or down.  Evidently the father in his night migrations had
+passed that way before, as the sentry--he appeared a burly fellow in
+the gloom,--after making certain as to the identity of his unsteady
+visitor, asked no unpleasant questions, merely contenting himself with
+gruff, good-natured warning to the _padre_ to be more careful this time
+and not fall down the ladder.
+
+"Holy saints!" he added soothingly, "your worship's head must be
+ringing yet with the blow it got."
+
+To this uncharitable remark I maintained dignified silence, and,
+flinging my somewhat uncertain limbs over the coamings, went scrambling
+down, leaving him to his solitary meditations.
+
+There was no light burning in the big square room below, merely a faint
+yellow reflection stealing forth from that passageway leading aft.  For
+this blessing of Providence I was profoundly thankful.  A good
+half-dozen of the night guard, wearing similar uniform with those I had
+met on duty during the afternoon, were idly lounging about the butt of
+the mainmast, evidently awaiting turn on sentry post, and ready enough
+to welcome any diversion chancing their way which would help to break
+the dull tedium of the night.  I observed likewise, as I made a drunken
+pause at the foot of the ladder in an apparently vain endeavor to
+steady myself, that these roisterers of the night-watch were a set of
+jolly dogs, and had been opening numerous bottles of red wine with
+which to pass lagging hours more pleasantly.  They were already in that
+gay, thoughtless spirit of badinage which comes of fair allowance.
+Good humor had laid careless hand on duty, until, the stern restraint
+of discipline noticeably relaxing, good fellowship had become king.
+Their officer lay outstretched at full length upon three camp stools, a
+fellow long of limb, with face as dark as a Moor.  He made no effort to
+arise from his undignified position, yet hailed me as though I had been
+a boon companion of his revel.
+
+"Ha!" he exclaimed gleefully, tapping as he spoke an empty glass
+against the deck.  "Comrades, 't is as I prophesied; we are not long
+robbed of the Church.  See, the most reverend Father hath already
+returned unto his own.  Truly art thou welcome, _padre_, for I fear thy
+flock were about to go astray without a shepherd.  Ho, Alva! seest thou
+not the coming of thine own liege lord? or art thou already so blinded
+by good liquor thou would'st dare neglect the very Pope himself, did he
+honor us with his company?  Alva, I say, you roistering hound, you
+drunken blade, bring hither a stool for the worthy confessor!  Faith!
+doth he not bear the sins of us all, and must he not be greatly aweary
+with so vast a load.  Saint Theresa! 't is fortunate there is yet a
+bottle left uncracked for the good _padre_!" I gathered the heavy hood
+closer about my face, so as better to muffle voice as well as conceal
+features; made an apparent effort to stand firm, but with such poor
+success I noticed the grins expand on the faces watching me.
+
+"Peace, my son," I hiccoughed, with an assumption of drunken gravity,
+uplifting my disengaged arm as if in priestly benediction of the
+impious crew.  "Tempt me not to turn aside from the solemn path of duty
+by offerings of that foul fiend which doth so corrupt and despoil men.
+Know you, I am now on my way to perform the sweet offices of our most
+holy religion, and need greatly to permit my mind to dwell in peace
+upon more soulful things than that which lieth in the wine pot.  You
+are mere beasts of the field, sons of Belial, children of wrath, every
+one of you, doomed to death, even as it is written, 'He that taketh the
+sword shall perish by the sword.'  Laugh, will you, you drunken scum of
+the sea!" I shouted, glaring about savagely on the grimacing faces.
+"'T is truth out of Holy Writ I speak, but I waste the precious word in
+such company--'t is casting pearls before swine--for there be none here
+who comprehend the things of the Spirit."
+
+"The spirit say you, _padre_?" interrupted the officer, evidently in
+rare good humor.  "_Bastinade_! thou doest wrong to all this worshipful
+company by so grievous a slur.  The spirit we know right well, although
+I confess thou art ever a full bottle in advance of the most of us."
+
+I cast upon him a withering glance of scorn as rebuke to his unseemly
+levity, venturing to lurch a step nearer.
+
+"Hush such vain and impious speech, thou man of war," I commanded
+thickly, indignation apparent even through my drunkenness.  "Thou
+makest mock of the sacred teachings of Holy Church, and art from
+henceforth accursed by virtue of my office.  I pause here, holding
+converse no longer with such mocking tongue, nor linger in presence of
+this blasphemous crew.  There resteth upon me the eternal destiny of a
+human, unshriven soul, and I bid thee permit my passage; 't is the
+final night of earth for some upon this ship, and I have until now
+neglected to perform my priestly duty with one of the condemned.  'T is
+upon this holy mission I would pass thee now."
+
+"I truly think, _padre_," exclaimed one of the group, with a careless
+laugh, "if you had another drink of red wine beneath your cassock you
+could never tell a prayer from a song; so for the sake of those poor
+devils yonder we ought to pass you this time without demanding toll."
+
+"To whom do you go at such unseemly hour with ghostly consolations?"
+inquired the Commandant, negligently rolling a cigarette between his
+long fingers, and resting back his head in supreme content.
+
+"I give absolution unto De Noyan."  In spite of my utmost endeavors my
+voice trembled mentioning the name.  I watched the fellow's face
+narrowly, yet read nothing save reckless indifference.
+
+"Ah! the gay Chevalier.  Faith, I doubt not he hath grave need of thee
+and thy paternosters ere he find peace.  Yet surely, _padre_, 'twas
+with him you were this very afternoon, while I was on guard before.  I
+marvel greatly he should care for your company so much.  Saints, he
+seems scarcely of the kidney to take kindly to so many prayers."
+
+I felt a chill sweep across me even at this slight check.  Had I dared
+too much?  Had I ventured too far?  I knew not, yet spoke my next words
+boldly, realizing that any retreat now would be impossible.
+
+"Thou knowest little of men at such a moment; even careless hearts
+learn fear of God as they face the end.  Holy Mother! but 't would even
+pale your black face, and put a stopper on that ribald tongue, were
+grim Death stalking at your very heels.  You may smile now, making
+reckless mock of the sacraments, but that hour will come when you will
+be as a child at the knee of Mother Church.  Ay, I was with the
+Chevalier to-day; 'twas the coming of that negro huckster which took me
+from his side before, and I seek now to complete the gracious work
+which then had well begun.  Surely thou wilt not stand between a dying
+man and his last confession!"
+
+"Nay; not I.  Let the poor devil have his chance, as may the good Lord
+grant me mine.  But, _padre_, I have only just returned from my last
+round among the prisoners, and am greatly wearied, nor will I journey
+that way again with you.  In truth, 'tis all I can well do to guide my
+own footsteps, without helping along a priest of thy weight.  So here,
+_padre_, take the key, and, mind ye, have it safely back in my hands
+before the ship's bell soundeth the half hour."
+
+Hastily snatching the bit of iron he flung rattling on the deck at my
+feet, I paused merely long enough to favor the company with parting
+admonition on their probable future.  Then, glad enough to be thus
+easily rid of them, I lurched heavily forward into the narrow
+passageway.  Some coarse joke launched at my expense attracted the
+attention of those behindhand speeded me onward.
+
+My heart throbbed in anxious anticipation of what unknown trial was at
+hand.  Such rare fortune as had thus far attended my efforts, seemed
+too remarkable to endure; nor was it impossible that, through some
+unforeseen mischance, the cup of success might yet be stricken from my
+very lips.  So far at least I had made no mistake; evidently this Père
+Cassati was "hail fellow, well met" among these riotous guards aboard
+the "Santa Maria," and I had played the part to their complete undoing.
+But now I was facing a new experience, and stiffened myself to meet it
+boldly, uncertain still what trick fate might have in store.
+
+The sentinel, whom I discovered facing forward, hardly more than two
+paces from that door having the figures "18" painted upon it, quickly
+lowered his gun as I lurched unsteadily into sight.  Greatly to my
+relief, as soon as he obtained distinct view of his unexpected visitor,
+he returned the piece carelessly to his shoulder, and leaned back, his
+elbow against the arm-rack.  He was a good-natured-looking fellow, with
+round, boyish face, upon which streamed the full glare of a
+swinging-lamp suspended from a chain fastened to an upper beam.  His
+unsuspicious appearance served greatly to reassure me.
+
+"I give thee peace of Holy Church, my son," I muttered solemnly,
+leaning heavily against the jamb of the door, uplifting my hand in
+benediction.  "May the presence of the Mother and Child guard thee in
+time of battle."
+
+The face of the young soldier grew sober, and he withdrew one hand from
+its grasp on the shining musket piously to make the sign of the cross.
+
+"I thank thee, _padre_, for thy blessing," he returned gratefully.  "It
+will be in accord with the prayers of those I left at home in Spain."
+
+Whether or not guards on duty in the corridor had orders to pass the
+father unquestioned, this lad, at least, made no effort to prevent my
+inserting the great iron key within the lock of the door.  Doubtless my
+possession of it was accepted as evidence of my right to its use;
+anyway he remained there in that same careless posture, a pleased smile
+on his face, watching me curiously.  The heavy nail-studded door swung
+noiselessly ajar; with single questioning glance backward at the
+motionless sentry, I stepped within, closed it behind me, and stood, my
+heart throbbing fiercely, face to face with her husband--the man to
+whom had been given the woman I loved,--Chevalier Charles de Noyan,
+condemned to die at sunrise.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE CHEVALIER DE NOYAN
+
+It seems strange any man should deliberately venture life for one he
+had never seen; one whom, moreover, he hated with an intensity of
+passion seldom experienced between man and man.  I have not been of
+revengeful disposition, nor often indulged in grave personal dislike,
+yet it would be wrong in this simple narrative for me to attempt
+concealment of my own impulses.  So it is impossible to deny that, from
+the first moment when she called Charles de Noyan husband, I felt
+toward him a degree of animosity deeper than I had before supposed it
+possible for me to entertain relative to any human being.  It was
+bitter memory of the past, a belief that I had once won the heart of
+this fair girl, only to be balked of reward by spectral hands of
+religion, which swayed me thus strongly.  To my thought this stranger
+was one who had purchased, from priests at the altar, what was mine by
+divine decree; what would remain mine forever from the mandate of love
+unchangeable, eternally sealed by higher power than any priestly ritual.
+
+Yet I had already passed through a day and night of intense excitement,
+of grave peril, endeavoring to preserve the life of this man whom I
+would more gladly see die than any one I ever knew.  I stood now in the
+open jaws of my own destruction, where the slightest false movement, or
+ill-judged word, upon his part or my own, must mean betrayal; where an
+awakening of suspicion in the simple mind of the sentry without, or of
+his captain in the corridor; the return to consciousness, or chance
+discovery, of the bound priest upon the upper deck, would ruin every
+hope, sentencing me to a fate no less speedy or certain than that which
+now awaited him I sought to serve.  All this had I risked that I might
+aid in the escape of the one and only man in all the wide world who
+stood between me and the woman I loved.
+
+It was an odd position, a heartless caprice of fate.  I felt the full
+measure of its strangeness, yet the thought never occurred to me of
+shrinking back from duty, nor slightest dream of realizing a personal
+victory through any act of baseness.  I was not there for his sake, or
+my own, but to redeem my pledged word to her whose slightest wish was
+law, whose pleading face forever rose before me.  Nevertheless, as I
+stood fronting him for the first time, there was little except bitter
+hatred in my heart--hatred which, no doubt, burned for the instant
+within my eyes,--but a hatred which never returned, to curse my memory,
+from that day unto this.  I may have found much to test my patience,
+much to dislike about him in those weary weeks which followed, much of
+weakness and of fickle spirit, but naught ever gave birth anew to the
+deep resentment I buried there.
+
+The room in which I found myself was long and narrow, dimly lighted by
+an oil lamp screwed fast into a blackened beam overhead.  Along one
+side was the bare wall, unrelieved in its plain planking except for a
+small cracked mirror and a highly colored picture of the Virgin in a
+rude frame.  Opposite, two berths were arranged one above the other,
+both partially concealed by a dingy red curtain extending from ceiling
+to floor.  The only other furniture I noted in my hasty survey
+consisted of a rough stool chair, and a huge iron-bound, wooden
+sea-chest, the last so bulky as almost completely to block the narrow
+space between the lower berth and the opposite wall.  Seated upon the
+stool, which was tilted back upon two legs, his shoulders resting
+comfortably on a pillow pressed against the wall, his long limbs
+extended in posture of supreme contentment and laziness, upon the
+chest, was the man of my desperate search, the gallant soldier of
+France, the leader of rebellion, condemned to die before the rifles
+within four short hours.
+
+I have never greatly feared death, have witnessed it often and in many
+hideous forms, yet always believed it would test my nerves to the
+uttermost to face it as a certainty under guard of enemies.  Yet here
+was one, young in years, strong of limb, vigorous of hope, with all the
+joy of life just opening before him; a man of wealth, of fashion, and
+of ease, who was seemingly awaiting the inevitable hour of his doom
+with as calm indifference as if it meant no more than the pleasant
+summons to a Creole ball.  With one glance I made a mental picture of
+him--a young, high-bred face, marred somewhat by dissipation and late
+hours, yet beneath that dim light appearing almost boyishly fresh, and
+bearing upon its every feature the plain impress of reckless humor, and
+indolent content.  It was the face of a youth rather than a man; of one
+more accustomed to looking upon gay companions at the club than on the
+horrors of a battlefield; one who could justly be expected to boast of
+fair conquests, yet who might prove somewhat slow at drawing sword to
+front a warrior of mettle, unless his blood were heated with wine.
+
+Such were my first impressions, until I noted a certain manliness
+imparted thereto by the heavy moustaches adorning the upper lip, almost
+yellow in color, curled sharply upward, so heavily waxed at the ends as
+nearly to reach the ears, or rather to lose themselves amid the
+luxuriant growth of hair.  This latter, of the same unusual tinge,
+swept low over the shoulders, and was trimmed squarely across the
+forehead according to a fashion then prevalent among young French
+cavaliers.  His dress was not a uniform, but that of the latest mode in
+the province, somewhat exaggerated, I thought, as to length of the
+bronze shoes and glaring color of the waistcoat.  All these details I
+noted, as he turned somewhat indolently in my direction, calmly
+flipping the ash from off a cigarette, and permitting a spiral of thin
+blue smoke to curl slowly upward from his lips into the air.
+
+"So it is you, you miserable, drunken reprobate!" he exclaimed, a touch
+of temper tingling in a voice I felt must naturally be soft and low.
+"Have you dared come back to pester me with your abominable
+consolations?  Sacre! did I not bid you this afternoon to let me alone?
+I care nothing for your tipsy paternosters.  Faith, man, it will be
+pleasanter to face that firing squad to-morrow than your drunken
+prayers to-night.  Come, get out of the room before I lay unregenerate
+hands upon your shaven poll.  I am but giving you fair warning, priest,
+for I am quick of blow when my blood is heated, nor care I greatly for
+the curses of Mother Church."
+
+I stepped quickly forward, coming as directly before him as the great
+sea-chest would permit, fearful lest his loud words might be
+distinguishable beyond the closed door.  Then, with silent gesture of
+warning, I flung aside the heavy cowl which had concealed my features.
+
+"You, I presume, are Charles de Noyan," I said gravely.  "I am not
+Father Cassati, nor drunken priest of any Order of Holy Church."
+
+The prisoner was thoroughly astounded.  This I could perceive by the
+sudden gleam leaping into his eyes, but that he retained marvellous
+control over every muscle was abundantly proven by the fact that no
+change of attitude, or of voice, gave slightest evidence of emotion.
+
+"Well, Mother of God preserve me!" he exclaimed, with a short, reckless
+laugh.  "'Tis some small comfort to know even that much.  Yet may I
+politely inquire who the devil you are, to invade thus coolly the
+bedchamber of a gentleman, without so much as asking leave, at this
+unholy hour of the morning?  _Pardieu_, man, are you aware that this is
+the last night on earth I have?"
+
+He was staring at me through blue rings of tobacco smoke, very much as
+one might observe some peculiar animal seen for the first time.
+
+"Had it been otherwise you might rest assured I should never have
+troubled you," I replied, some constraint in my voice, his boyish
+bravado of speech rasping harshly upon my nerves.  "But time presses,
+Chevalier; there remains small space for useless exchange of
+compliment, nor does indifference appear becoming to those in such
+grave peril as you and I."
+
+"_Sacre_! are you also one of us?  Surely, I have no recollection of
+your face."
+
+"I am one in so far as I now face the same fate at the hands of the
+Spaniards, although, it is true, I had no part in your uprising.  I am
+not of your race."
+
+He laughed easily, passing one slender, white hand carelessly through
+his long hair.
+
+"Pah! you scarcely need tell me that, for the taste of the French
+tongue seems ill-suited to your lips.  Yet I would have you speak out
+more plainly!  I play not easily into the hands of strangers."
+
+"Why not?  You could hardly be worse off than you are now."
+
+"_Pardieu_! you are not so far wrong in your philosophy, friend.  Still
+I stick to my text, and if you care to hold further speech with me it
+will be well to declare yourself.  I have ever been a bit careful as to
+my associates."
+
+"It makes small odds, Chevalier, who I am; nor will it greatly aid you
+to learn my name, which is plain Geoffrey Benteen, without even a
+handle of any kind to it, nor repute, save that of an honest hunter
+along the upper river.  I say who I am makes small odds, for I come not
+with application for membership into your social circle, nor with card
+of introduction from some mutual friend."
+
+His expressive eyebrows uplifted in surprise.
+
+"Then, Monsieur, pray relieve my natural curiosity, and tell me why I
+am thus honored by your presence?"
+
+"To aid your escape from this hole, God willing.  That is, provided you
+rouse up from lethargy, and bear your part as becomes a man."
+
+I spoke with heat, for his indifference irritated me; yet I failed to
+note that my words made the slightest impression on him, for I did
+merely mark a slight shrugging of the shoulders, while he crossed his
+legs more comfortably, rolling some fresh tobacco, before he took
+trouble to reply.
+
+"You are evidently of a choleric temper, friend Benteen.  Great
+Heavens, what names have you English!" he exclaimed.  "And you need
+greatly to practise better control over yourself, as such weakness is
+apt to lead one into just such scrapes as this of ours.  _Sacre_! it
+hath been my failing also, otherwise would I now be a fat Major of the
+Line instead of a poor devil condemned to the volley, for no worse
+crime than an over-hot head.  But seriously, Monsieur, and I am truly
+of a most grave disposition, it is not so easy to accomplish that which
+you propose with so glib a tongue.  Imagine you I have lain here, under
+tender Spanish care, all these weeks, where, as I do most solemnly
+affirm, not so much as a glass of decent wine has found way down my
+throat, nor have I possessed a bit of pomade for the proper arrangement
+of my locks--which will account for their present dishevelment--Saint
+Cecilia! but that moon-faced Moor who commands the guard merely laughed
+at me when I did request a comb;--think you, I say, I have been through
+all this without calculating chances for escape?  But, _pardieu_! what
+use?  A man of sense will not dream such fool dreams.  This I know,
+there are three sentries yonder in the passageway, a good dozen more
+under arms in the guard-room beyond, with still others vigilantly
+pacing the deck above.  What use, I say, for did not poor Villere try
+it, and, before he had covered twenty feet, had three bullets in his
+brain?  Nay, Master Benteen, to endeavor running such a gantlet would
+only give me my fill of Spanish lead before the hour set, which, they
+tell me, comes with the sunrise."
+
+He arose languidly to his feet, paused a moment in front of the cracked
+mirror to recurl his long moustaches, and then, turning about, extended
+a white hand toward me, smiling pleasantly as he did so.
+
+"Faith, I fear I shall not look my best when it is all over, but if so
+it will be the fault of the Dons--they seem most careless as to
+requirements of the toilet.  Yet I would not have you deem me
+ungrateful, and I thank you heartily, Monsieur.  But if it be my turn
+to die, and I doubt it not,--for who ever heard of mercy in the black
+heart of a Spaniard?--then it is best I front it as becomes a gentleman
+of France, not with a bullet in my back, as though I fled from fate
+with the faint heart of a coward.  Nay, good friend, if death is to be
+my portion, I prefer meeting it with a smile, and thus prove, at the
+ending, worthy of my race."
+
+There was a certain dignified manliness in his speech and manner which
+for the moment caused me to doubt my earlier reading of his character.
+There might be steel beneath the velvet glove of this fair courtier.
+
+"Do you mean you deliberately choose to remain here, rather than accept
+the chance I offer you?"
+
+"Sacre!  I have as yet heard of no chance," he replied easily, sinking
+indolently back into his old seat against the wall.  "I shall be fairly
+comfortable here for the while, though I must say I have used a better
+grade of tobacco than this furnished me."
+
+For the moment I was in despair as to the outcome of my mission, nor
+did I accept the proffered hand of the prisoner.  Here was a totally
+different order of man from what had ever come my way before, nor did I
+know how best to meet him.  How much of his vain and reckless speech
+came from the heart, and how much of it was merely a mask with which to
+test my purpose, I could not determine, yet I remained resolute
+regarding my own duty, and accordingly sat coolly down upon the chest,
+determined to play out his own game with him to the bitter end.
+
+"Quite true, Chevalier," I said, smiling pleasantly, as if I entered
+fully into his reckless spirit.  "Doubtless you are right--needs must
+when the devil drives.  Could you spare me a morsel of that same
+tobacco, until I test the quality of which you complain?"  I produced a
+pipe from the recesses of my monk's habit, knocking the ashes out
+carelessly against the chest.
+
+He passed over his pouch in silence.
+
+"When one resteth between His Satanic Majesty and the deep sea it makes
+small odds at the best which direction he turns.  It becomes merely a
+matter of taste.  Death," I continued musingly as I deliberately rammed
+home a charge into the bowl, "must be about the same to one man as to
+another, except for matter of temperament; so if you can afford to sit
+here and welcome its coming, so can I."
+
+"Do you mean you are sufficiently crazy to remain deliberately and die
+with me?"
+
+"Certainly.  I pledged your devoted wife I would rescue you, or never
+return alive myself.  As you stubbornly refuse to listen to reason,
+this seems to be all that is left me.  Opinions might differ as to
+which was crazed, but as to that we will probably neither of us ever
+know.  May I trouble you for a light?"
+
+I leaned forward, coolly helping myself to the burning cigarette he
+held forth doubtingly between his fingers, and, puffing vigorously,
+silently resumed my seat.
+
+"My wife, say you?"  A fresh interest appeared to sweep over him at the
+word, overcoming his indifference.  "Did Eloise de Noyan send you here
+seeking to succor me?"
+
+"It was at her request I came; at her wish I stay," I answered firmly.
+
+"You knew her?"
+
+"Several years since, when she was scarcely more than a girl; yet she
+retained sufficient faith to call upon me in extremity."
+
+He sat staring at me as if he would like to question further.
+
+"The Lord love us, you are a cool fish," he finally exclaimed, bringing
+his hand down upon his knee, and speaking with fresh animation in his
+soft voice.  "What is more, I rather like you.  So Eloise really wishes
+me to desert the Dons?  Queer choice that, for she would make a lovely
+widow.  Oh, well, what's the odds?  'Tis only the question of a ball in
+the back to-night, or a ball in the front to-morrow.  If you chance to
+have a tuck ready for my hand, friend, I 'll try a dash at the deck
+just for the sport of it."
+
+I shook my head emphatically.
+
+"We will attempt passage without flashing of weapons, or not at all.  I
+grant a quick stroke might win us the open, yet would only serve to
+rouse the ship; neither of us would ever lift head above the river
+surface without a bullet in the brain."
+
+"It is the only way fit for a gentleman."
+
+"Confound your gentlemen!" I cried, now thoroughly aroused at this
+ill-chosen trifling with time.  "Either you do as I bid you, or else we
+settle down without any more ado, to wait the file to-morrow.  How
+often does the Commandant look in?"
+
+"On the stroke of the ship's bell."
+
+"Then, Monsieur, the sooner you arrive at some decision the better.  If
+indifference is your game, I play it out with you to the end."  As I
+spoke I leaned carelessly back against the lower bunk, puffing away at
+my pipe to get it fairly alight once more.
+
+I could note from the corner of my eye he was watching me closely, and
+with no slight degree of aroused interest, but I would have rested
+there without further speech until the guard came, had he not first
+broken silence.
+
+"And she sent you?"
+
+"So I said."
+
+"To me, not Lafrénière, her father?"
+
+"There was a possible chance to save one, not two."
+
+"_Sacre_! yes, I understand that; yet it doth puzzle me why she should
+have chosen as she did.  Know you just why it was De Noyan instead of
+Lafrénière?"
+
+"Madame selected me for action, not advice," I answered shortly, now
+thoroughly tired of his questioning.  "Lafrénière, I understood,
+positively refused opportunity to escape, from scruples of conscience.
+Besides, the father must be near the end of his days, while you were
+yet young, with long life before you.  No doubt this also had weight
+with her decision.  As for myself I sincerely wish it might have been
+some other, so I could have brought my aid to a man of sense."
+
+He rose up, shrugging his shoulders.
+
+"You are not especially choice in speech, yet your purpose harmonizes
+somewhat with my present humor.  I will risk the effort; so now tell me
+your plan?"
+
+I permitted no sign of pleasure at his decision to appear in my face.
+
+"I did intend dressing you in this cassock so you might play priest,
+and slip safely past the guard beneath its gray cover," I said quietly.
+"I purposed remaining behind, arranging for myself as best I might; but
+now that we have met, to be perfectly frank about it, I retain no
+confidence in your discretion which will warrant the risk.  I therefore
+decide we had better abide together until this venture be done."
+
+He smiled, apparently in rare good humor at my words.
+
+"No doubt it will prove best, my friend.  Your wider knowledge should
+supplement my boyish enthusiasm," he responded with mocking bow.  "I
+rather suspect, from outward appearance, you may be some years my
+junior, yet in life experience I readily yield you the palm.  So lead
+on, most noble Captain; from henceforth command me as your devoted
+follower.  And now, your excellency, I trust you will pardon if I
+venture the inquiry, what would you have your humble servant do?"
+
+I permitted him to ramble along as he pleased.  Now I had won his
+pledge I cared little for the nature of his raillery.  While he talked
+I flung open the great chest upon which I had been sitting, and
+discovering it packed with clothing, hastily dragged the various
+articles forth, flinging them into the lower berth, covering the pile
+with blankets in such a manner that they resembled the sleeping figure
+of a man.  Then I turned toward him.
+
+"My first order, Monsieur, is that you get in here."
+
+"_Sacre_! not I--"
+
+There came a quick, firm footstep sounding along the passageway
+without; then a hand fell heavily upon the latch of the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FAVORED OF THE GODS
+
+It seemed as if my heart must choke me at sound of those steady
+footsteps approaching down the passageway.  I heard the sharp click of
+a gun-barrel in the sentry's hand as he presented arms, then the noise
+of the uplifting latch, yet remained so paralyzed by the suddenness of
+it as to be fairly helpless, unable to move from my position.  De Noyan
+merely smiled lazily, as though this new act formed part of the play,
+beginning calmly to roll another cigarette.
+
+"The devil came likewise," he murmured lightly, sinking back upon his
+stool.  "Begin your paternosters, friend Benteen, or he will fly away
+with both of us."
+
+Fortunately these mocking words brought me to my senses quickly enough
+to permit dropping upon my knees with back to the door before it swung
+wide open.  Nor did I trust myself to do aught save mumble inarticulate
+and mongrel Latin, until it had been safely closed again.  Had I sought
+to exercise my wits on this occasion, my companion permitted small
+opportunity for words.
+
+"Ah! so it is you, you black-faced Arab?" he exclaimed sneeringly, as
+the Commandant of the guard peered curiously in.  "Not content to wait
+the striking of the ship's bell, you must even interrupt my prayers.
+Nice treatment of a gentleman his last night on earth, to push yourself
+in between him and the consolations of the holy father.  _Sacre_! had I
+only a small sword at my side I would write a message across your black
+Spanish heart which would teach your master how to guard a French
+cavalier safely, and still be decent about it."
+
+It is doubtful whether the officer comprehended this tirade.  It was
+voiced in French, yet tone and manner must have conveyed much of its
+import, for I distinguished a muttered word or so regarding the
+unpleasant duty of a soldier, and the length of time the priest had
+retained the key, ere the intruder finally backed out closing the door
+behind him.  I clung to my knees, however, until his retreating
+footsteps had died entirely away in the distance; even until De Noyan
+addressed me again in his exasperating drawl.
+
+"So, Father, you must now realize, if never before, how highly I value
+your ministrations.  Faith! never until this hour have I truly enjoyed
+the prayers of any _padre_; I knew not what I missed.  Still there is
+limit even to such pleasure, and it is time now to conclude; I have
+heard better Latin in my day, while your provincial accent rasps
+painfully upon the ears."
+
+"You made your play quite well, Monsieur," I said shortly, somewhat
+mortified he should thus take the leadership out of my hands at the
+first symptom of danger.  "But there must be something besides
+play-acting for us to-night if we get free of this ship.  So come now;
+do you get into the box?"
+
+He looked down at it doubtfully, with a shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"_Pardieu_!  I would ask certain questions first," he said with greater
+show of seriousness.  "For how long a time? for what sort of a passage?
+It will prove somewhat cramped, I take it, for a man of my length of
+limb."
+
+"I hope both may prove short," I returned, continuing to hold up the
+lid for him to enter.  "Yet I know of no other possible means whereby
+you can leave this room without being halted by the guard at the door.
+There is no certainty in this, yet there is a chance, Chevalier, and
+that ought always to be invitation to a brave man.  Beyond this it is
+God's affair."
+
+The soldier twisted his long moustaches reflectively, a new light
+gleaming in the eyes that fronted me.
+
+"_Sacre_, man!" he said at last stepping forward in sudden resolution.
+"As you say it may be worth trying, but it's not unlike climbing into a
+coffin three sizes too small for the deceased.  Still I 'll bide
+therein for a while, only, I warn you, you better be easy when you put
+me down, or the corpse may furnish a sudden resurrection."
+
+It proved truly no easy task to stow him safely in that contracted
+space.  At any other time I should have laughed outright, marking the
+final result of our combined efforts, especially at the expression,
+half ludicrous, half pathetic, upon his face as he gazed up at me just
+before the lid was closed.
+
+"Now mind, Chevalier," I said gravely, for had I ventured upon a smile
+at his predicament he would have popped instantly forth again, "you are
+to make no movement of any kind until left alone.  When certain of that
+you may venture out of the chest, but remain quiet until you hear from
+me again."
+
+[Illustration: Had I ventured upon a smile at his predicament he would
+have popped instantly forth again.]
+
+"You believe you know a way?"
+
+"Under God's guidance yes, if you will only bear your part."
+
+Without pausing for his answer I dropped the heavy cover over him, and
+gave vent to a sigh of relief.
+
+So far, at least I had won; thus far the gods had favored me.  In spite
+of the obstacle of temperament I had found means to attain my end, to
+work my will, yet I realized well De Noyan would never bear such
+uncomfortable posture long; whatever was to be accomplished must be
+done quickly.  Fortunately my plan, dim and doubtful as it was, had
+already taken outline.  I had determined what to endeavor; it must be
+attempted at once, with bold heart, or the opportunity would be gone
+forever.  Pulling the hood across my face, I partially opened the door,
+glancing out upon the curious sentry.  To my relief he was alone.
+
+"I suppose the Commandant told you to give me a lift out with this
+box?" I asked in Spanish.
+
+"No, señor _padre_."
+
+The man was exceedingly good-natured, evidently one who had profound
+respect for the cloth.
+
+"_Caramba_!" I growled angrily, using the Spanish tongue so he might
+not miss my meaning.  "He promised it only a moment ago, when he looked
+in.  He must have forgotten.  There is no sense in having such a great
+chest lumbering up the entire room.  Know you how it ever came there?"
+
+"It was the señor Lieutenant's state-room, _padre_, before the
+prisoners were brought aboard.  I think it might be his sea-chest."
+
+"Well, the Commandant said it could be removed, so out it goes.  It
+leaves no space for us to kneel in prayer."
+
+I bent down as I spoke, exerting all my strength, and succeeded in
+dragging the heavy, iron-bound chest forward, across the threshold.  My
+heart beat fiercely in misgiving lest the guard might feel moved to
+interfere, but he never stirred; merely gazed at my movements in stolid
+wonder.  Concealing from him all the interior possible with my body, I
+spoke a brief word of farewell to the prisoner, supposed to be safely
+within, then closed and locked the door.
+
+"Here," I said authoratively, my cheeks flushed with delight at so
+successful an issue, "lay hold on one end of this, and give me a lift."
+
+Obligingly, and apparently without a moment's reflection as to his
+duty, the soldier, young in years and doubtless a new recruit, leaned
+his gun against the mast, bending down with hand upon the rope handle.
+
+"Where to, señor _padre_?"
+
+"The Commandant said it might be placed in the store-room.  'Twill stow
+away safely enough there, and bother nobody.  Know you where that is?"
+
+"Ay; only a step this way."
+
+"Lead on then, yet Saint Cecilia! it makes no light load.  The
+Lieutenant must have kept his stock of wine within."
+
+I durst not venture bearing the thing farther, fearful lest we might
+run afoul of others of the guard who would prove more suspicious than
+this honest fellow, besides, all my hasty plan of escape hung now upon
+the faith retained, that the half-open cuddy door had direct
+communication with the provisions stored below.  Surely they could
+never be loaded and unloaded by means of the distant hatch-ladder.  So
+dull and unintelligent in the dim light appeared the face of the fellow
+opposite, as we strained forward beneath the weight of the chest, I
+ventured upon a question.
+
+"How does the cook get out all that provender from here?"
+
+"I know not, señor _padre_; but I think there will be opening from the
+store-room to the upper deck.  They were at work there yesterday while
+I was on guard."
+
+By good fortune the room sought was only three doors down the
+passageway.  As it was, my forehead was wet with perspiration for fear
+De Noyan would lose what little stock of patience he possessed before
+we reached there, or that the Spaniard would begin to wonder at the
+surprising weight.  Dropping the chest with good will amid the raffle
+littering up the floor space, we came forth together, the soldier to
+pick up his gun, while, mopping my face vigorously, I proceeded forth
+into the guard-room for the purpose of delivering up the key.
+
+This was a task I approached with dread.  Even now some slight slip of
+tongue, or action, could easily ruin everything accomplished, yet I
+durst not omit the precaution, lest the missing key awaken suspicion
+and lead to immediate pursuit.  Here, again, fortune played strangely
+into my hands, as I discovered the officer dozing in his chair, and,
+stepping softly, so as not to arouse him, I gladly handed that
+important bit of iron over to the care of one of the guard, himself too
+drowsy from potations to trouble me with questioning.  Relieved of this
+duty, my heart filled with gratitude for all the mercies of the night,
+I betook myself up the ladder unmolested, and a moment later stood in
+comparative freedom upon the open deck.
+
+I could scent the coming dawn in the fresh morning air the moment I
+arose through the hatch opening, yet there was no sign of it in the
+sky; indeed I felt there must be fog in the atmosphere, it rendered it
+so thick, although not sufficiently heavy to drip in moisture.  It
+required only a moment to locate all life present along the forward
+deck, and I became convinced few wakeful eyes remained among them at
+this sleepiest of all hours of the night.  Trusting to this, as well as
+the garb I wore for concealment, I walked boldly back as far as the
+mainmast, meeting no one.  Then, fearful of observation from the
+officer still pacing the poop, I skulked stealthily along in the black
+shadow of the cook's galley, until I reached the cuddy door, quaking
+with fear lest it fail me.  It opened instantly to the touch of the
+hand, and with heart throbbing wildly, for now all that had been
+accomplished hung in the balance of this last experiment, I groped
+about within seeking to solve the mystery of that gloomy interior.  The
+place had the feel of a big, square box; by stretching out across the
+edge I could barely reach the farther side, but could touch no bottom,
+nor did I feel the rungs of any ladder leading down.  It resembled a
+well, and the thought immediately took possession of me that the crew
+hauled up their provisions by use of ropes, yet I could discover no
+hoisting apparatus of any kind.  With head projected far below the deck
+level I ventured a soft whisper into the darkness:
+
+"Are you there, Chevalier?"
+
+There was a slight movement beneath, as if he drew closer to where I
+was.
+
+"Yes, it is all right," he returned, his voice so modulated as to be
+barely audible.  "But I discover nothing in this darkness to aid in
+reaching the deck.  Know you where a rope can be secured?"
+
+"Ay; lie quiet until I return."
+
+It was a bit ticklish, yet required doing.  A trip to the foremast put
+in my possession quite a section of line sliced from off the rope's end
+previously left dangling from the upper yard.  Incidentally as I passed
+back and forth I revisited Father Cassati, still resting easily in his
+bonds, but now peacefully sleeping off his earlier potations
+undiscovered upon the hard deck.  Returning with my treasure, I payed
+it out into the intense blackness of the cuddy hole, and anxiously
+awaited developments below.
+
+Nor had I long to wait--there came a touch on the line followed by a
+firmer pull, as if the party below tested its strength.  For a moment
+the cord wiggled about as if the man was working with his end to some
+purpose, then there followed three sharp jerks which I interpreted to
+mean to hoist away.  I promptly put my full strength to it, bracing
+both feet firmly against a heavy cross-piece of timber, evidently
+nailed there for that very purpose.  The rope ran over a small roller
+set close against the coaming, which I had failed to observe in my
+hasty search, so I found the strain less than expected, although a
+heavy weight was evidently attached to the other end.  But I uplifted
+this, for I was vain of my strength in those days, and the distance was
+not so great but that shortly his hands managed to grip hold upon the
+deck planks, and a moment later he stood beside me, complacent and
+debonair as ever, in the dense shadows of the galley.
+
+"_Sacre_! 'tis a most scurvy trick we are playing on the Dons, friend
+Benteen," he murmured smiling easily, while peering about him in the
+darkness.  "And now, what is the next act in this midnight melodrama,
+most cautious youth?"
+
+"The keeping of a still tongue until we are both overboard," I replied
+somewhat roughly.  "Follow me closely, and keep quiet about it, if you
+retain the slightest care for your life."
+
+It was not much of a trick, the rest of it, and within five minutes we
+were silently floating down the great river, through the darkness,
+seeking after some quiet landing-place below the fleet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE BIRTH OF THE DEATH-DAWN
+
+We durst not swim to the nearest landing, just beyond the bow of the
+big flag-ship we had so unceremoniously quitted, fearing our efforts to
+stem the current might attract the attention of some watcher on board.
+So permitting myself to drift silently beneath the vessel's stern,
+without the stir of a limb to disturb the water, I was soon well away
+from the great black shadow.  Without a word De Noyan followed.  Yet
+time was far too precious to permit long drifting, and at the earliest
+moment I dared the venture we turned aside, striking out boldly for the
+shore.
+
+"We must move rapidly, Chevalier, to make up lost time," I cautioned
+briefly, wading out, dripping, upon the bank.
+
+"Are the streets patrolled by the Dons?"
+
+"Ay! although not as thoroughly as when the Spaniards first landed.  We
+shall require to exercise caution."
+
+"Where do you take me?  There can be no safe hiding spot in New
+Orleans?"
+
+"I know none.  We go to the rear of a long row of tobacco sheds near
+the North Gate.  A boat thoroughly stocked, with two oar men, awaits
+us."
+
+"I mind the place," he said eagerly, "I outfitted there for hunting
+more than once.  It is best for me to lead, as I know well every inch
+of the path, and have grown interested in the play."
+
+He certainly proved his familiarity with that labyrinth of sombre
+streets and alleys.  Selecting a devious course, stooping low beneath
+the black shadows of walls and fences, he yet set so swift a gait with
+his confounded long legs it kept me puffing to follow.  But we found
+clear passage, seeing no one close enough to interfere with our rapid
+progress, while no challenge sounded, until we crept, silently as
+possible, around the dilapidated end of the old tobacco shed, and a
+black figure, scarcely distinguishable in the gloom, suddenly arose,
+uttering no word, yet with threatening gesture, barring further passage
+toward the river.
+
+"Virginia," I gasped, breathless from the hard run.
+
+"Bless de Lawd, Massa Benteen," returned a darky voice.  "An' Massa
+Charlie, as I 'm a sinner.  I tell you, sah, we done 'bout gib you both
+up fo' suah."
+
+"Stop talking just now, Alphonse, and lead along lively," said De
+Noyan, with returning authority.  "We can converse later, in
+surroundings more congenial."
+
+Another moment and we were in the boat, the Chevalier pushing it clear
+of the bank, then lightly clambering in over the stern.
+
+"Benteen," he exclaimed, panting heavily, "I confess I'm about useless
+from lack of wind.  _Sacre_!  I 've been housed so long I am weak as an
+invalid, yet I can steer the craft if you inform me where 'tis best to
+go."
+
+"Up country is our only chance," I gasped, grasping an oar, vaguely
+noting a second figure huddled within the bow.  "All the lower water is
+patrolled by the fleet, but above there are plenty of hiding places.
+Lay down to it hard, you black rascals; you are pulling for your lives."
+
+De Noyan extended his hand toward the east.
+
+"It will be dawn in about an hour," he said, a tone of earnestness
+creeping into his soft voice.  "We can never pull against this stiff
+current so as to get any distance in that time.  This east shore is
+flat as a board for leagues.  I 'm for heading straight across.  If we
+gain the west bank within an hour, or even two, the Devil himself would
+have a hard job to find us."
+
+"Go on," I muttered, bending grimly to my task.  "You know this country
+better than I.  When we reach upper waters it will be my turn to guide."
+
+As I uttered these words, a bit impatiently, there sounded a quick step
+on the low bank at our right.  A sharp voice cleaved the darkness.
+
+"Halt there!  Halt that boat, or I put a ball through you."
+
+"Sheer off lively, lads," I whispered.  "Swing her head out, Chevalier."
+
+There was a rush of feet down the steep embankment.  Then a second
+voice questioned eagerly:
+
+"What was it you saw, Sanchez?"
+
+"Nothing, Señor; I heard voices out yonder.  Listen!  As the saints
+watch, 't is the dip of oars."
+
+"Halt that boat, or we shoot!"
+
+There followed a moment's painful pause.  An oar in our bow slipped,
+making an awkward splash in the water.  "_Caramba_! you will not?  Take
+aim, men--fire."
+
+A jagged flash of flame cleaved the night.  It lit the steep bank,
+flinging a bright glare across the dark waters.  In that instant I saw,
+my face set shoreward, a dozen black figures clustered in a bunch.  One
+ball crashed into the planking close beside my hand, hurling a splinter
+of wood against my face.  The boat gave a sudden tremor, and, with a
+quick, sharp cry of pain, the negro next me leaped into the air, and
+went plunging overboard.  I flung forth a hand in vain effort to
+grapple his body, yet never touched it, and everything about became
+black once more.
+
+"The poor devil's gone," muttered De Noyan.  "The rest of you lay down
+to your oars, before they have time to load again."
+
+So quickly did this occur I do not believe we lost more than a stroke
+or two, and were already well out into the stream, nothing except our
+narrow stern pointing toward the bank, where some of the soldiers--we
+judged from their voices--were reloading for a second volley, the
+others searching the shore after some boat in which to begin the
+pursuit.  It was a hard pull, especially upon my part, as I chanced to
+sit on the lower side, having full sweep of the current tugging against
+my oar, while De Noyan headed the boat as directly as possible for the
+western shore.  The soldiers, completely swallowed in the gloom, made
+no further attempt to fire; possibly, having seen the fall of the
+black, they believed their work done.  Nor did other sounds reach us
+evidencing pursuit; for that moment at least we were free.  It was then
+I watched the coming of the dawn.
+
+There was a slight, scarcely perceptible, shading into a lighter tinge
+of the clinging black shadows that veiled the eastern sky, dimly
+revealing misty outlines of white, fleecy clouds extending above the
+faint horizon line, until they assumed a spectral brightness, causing
+me to dream of the fairies' dwellings which my mother pictured to me in
+childhood.  Gently the delicate awakening spread along the wider
+expanse of sky, which became bluish gray, gradually expanding and
+reflecting its glow along the water, until this also became a portion
+of the vast arch, while the darker borderland, now far astern, formed
+merely a distant shade, a background to the majestic picture.  The east
+became gradually a lighter, more pronounced gray; rosy streaks shot
+upward through the cloud masses, driving them higher into an
+ever-deepening upper blue like a flock of frightened birds, until at
+last the whole eastern horizon blushed like a red rose, while above the
+black line of distant, shadowy trees, the blazing rim of the sun itself
+uplifted, casting a wide bar of dazzling gold along our wake.  Gazing
+thus, every thought of our surroundings, our dangers, and fatigue
+passed from memory.  Bending to the oar, my soul was far away upon a
+voyage of its own.
+
+Some unusual movement served to attract attention from this
+day-dreaming, my eyes falling suddenly upon De Noyan.  His face, turned
+partially away from the rising sun, was gray with anxiety, and I noted
+he shivered in his wet clothes.  Yet his smile and speech seemed
+jauntily unconcerned as ever.
+
+"Yonder was to have been my last sunrise," he remarked grimly, nodding
+backward across his shoulder.  "'Tis about the hour now for those in
+the hands of the Dons to have their backs against the wall."
+
+I caught a sound as of a partially suppressed sob behind me, but before
+I could turn sufficiently to ascertain the cause, the Chevalier sprang
+past, rocking the little boat furiously, and my ears overheard that
+which caused me to keep my face set the other way.
+
+"Eloise!" he exclaimed exultantly.  "Are you here, little wife?  Mon
+Dieu!  I dreamed it not; yet should have known you would never leave
+such duty to the slaves."
+
+"I was simply compelled to come," she answered, and I could mark her
+voice falter.  "Do not be angry with me.  What have I now left except
+you?  The rising of the sun sealed my father's fate."
+
+"True," he admitted soberly, lifting his hat in grave gesture.  "I feel
+like a condemned coward, my name a byword for the rabble, being here in
+such comparative safety, when, in honor, I should be lying beside my
+comrades."
+
+"Nay; say not that!  You are young; much of life, of usefulness, lies
+before you.  I knew that at the best only one destined victim might be
+plucked from the Spaniard's vengeance.  It was at his approval I made
+choice of you.  My father is robbed of but few years, while you are too
+young to die.  Somewhere--God guiding--we shall find a home again, and
+days of peace."
+
+"Ay! you were ever of brave heart, Eloise.  But let us not forget we
+yet remain in reach of Spanish claws, and they are merciless.  Go back
+to the tiller a while, and let me lay hold upon this oar; 'tis heavy
+work for such soft hands as yours.  Point the course direct for the
+cane island--you must remember it; you were there once with me."
+
+I fail to recall even glancing into her face as she sat fronting me,
+her hands upon the tiller bar.  I durst not, fearing some telltale
+expression within my eyes might bring her added pain.  So I sat with
+glance downcast upon the planks, while tugging doggedly at the oar with
+all my strength, feeling that same sunrise had brought with it my own
+death warrant.  So dull and heavy grew my heart with lonely weariness,
+I cannot guess how long we pulled before the boat's nose ran up upon
+the shore, and De Noyan, springing overboard, dragged it well beyond
+view among the thick cane.
+
+"We shall be safe enough here," he exclaimed lightly, gazing about with
+approval.  "Come, Eloise, step on this dry sand, for you must be
+greatly cramped from so tedious a passage."
+
+As I arose, the more easily to permit her passing me in the narrow
+space, she suddenly grasped both my hands within her own; then my eyes
+glanced up once more to meet hers, dark with unshed tears.
+
+"Do not think, Geoffrey Benteen," she said brokenly, her voice
+vibrating with emotion, "that I fail to realize what this means to you.
+Your troubled face has been a silent accuser of me this hour past.  But
+I thank you; you have proven yourself a man, such a man as I have ever
+believed you to be.  May the good God bless you and bring you peace."
+
+"Ay!" chimed in her husband, apparently in good humor.  "He's the
+nerviest fellow ever I met, Eloise.  _Sacre_! had you hunted this
+province over you could never have found one to perform better work
+this night.  I wonder how it was you chanced upon him?"
+
+Without venturing a word in reply to either of them, I helped her
+gravely over the boat's side, within grasp of his outstretched hand,
+all about us the warm sunshine piercing the thick canes with golden
+light.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A COVERT IN THE CANE
+
+Our boat was securely hidden amid a thick growth of reeds, which
+extended their domain far down the shore, even out into the river
+shallows.  These reeds sprang quickly back into position as we pressed
+through, leaving no trail for pursuers to follow.  Nevertheless, making
+all secure on board, and removing from the locker a quantity of biscuit
+and some smoked meat, we took the further precaution of covering the
+boat with rushes so as thoroughly to disguise its presence from prying
+eyes.  Satisfied with the result of these efforts, we clambered up the
+slight ridge to where we found a small open space, carpeted with soft
+grass, and sufficiently elevated to permit our looking about above the
+level of the cane, while remaining concealed ourselves.
+
+Our lodgment was upon a small island, a stream of languidly flowing
+water extending between us and the main west shore.  This, so far as my
+eyes could distinguish, did not differ in appearance from our present
+abiding place, being composed of low, swampy land, thickly covered with
+a heavy growth of cane, and exhibiting no sign of human habitation.
+The sole break to this dull monotony of outline was a narrow fringe of
+trees situated farther back, where doubtless firmer soil gave spread to
+their roots.
+
+Northward the eye might trace the slight curve of the bank for miles.
+It appeared irregular and low, slightly diversified by small, marshy
+islands, similar to this we occupied, possibly cloven from the mainland
+by some eccentricity of current.  Occasionally I distinguished openings
+into lagoons, such passages into the low-lying mainland being evidenced
+by the deeper green of the vegetation bordering them, as well as by
+wind-twisted trees clinging despairingly to the crooked banks.  East
+and south swept the river, so broad our eyes could barely trace the dim
+presence of a distant shore.  Below, that majestic yellow flood poured
+downward unbroken, although De Noyan imagined he perceived distant
+spars of the Spanish fleet outlined against the blue background of the
+southern sky.  This may have been possible, yet to my eyes all was
+blank, although I could mark pretty accurately where they should have
+been.
+
+We indulged in little conversation, reclining on the short grass,
+partaking of our cold meal.  The Chevalier attempted a sorry jest or
+two, yet soon subsided, discovering so unresponsive an audience.  It
+was plain to my mind the reflections of Madame were altogether with her
+father--lying dead before this hour--and this sad memory darkened even
+the delight of her husband's safety.  His affected gayety of manner,
+and reckless speech, jarred more harshly upon her in this hour than
+perhaps ever before in her life.  Yet she made a pathetically brave
+effort to appear of good cheer, managing to eat with us, although it
+was easy to perceive the food choked her, while her eyes were blurred
+with tears resolutely held in restraint.  It was plain, I say, yet this
+is but my thought, for I question whether De Noyan, in his careless
+mood, observed her depression.  He was of a nature reflecting slightly
+on any save himself; past sorrow being quickly forgotten in any present
+gleam of sun.  As we thus ended this silent meal it occurred to me they
+might require slumber more than I, and I expressed my willingness to
+stand guard while they sought rest.  Perhaps my face told a tale of
+weariness easily read, for this proposal met immediate resistance.
+
+"No, no, Geoffrey Benteen," exclaimed Madame impulsively, "what have I
+done except sit quietly in a boat, waiting the passing of the hours?
+You have been through strain and labor which wears out life.  It is you
+who will lie here upon my wrap, trusting me to call should need arise."
+
+"Hush, both of you," impatiently burst in De Noyan, rising to his feet,
+and gazing across the sparkling water.  "A watch would have small
+value.  There is no safer spot on all the lower river than this; if the
+Dons discover it, no way of escape exists even were we all awake and
+ready.  To remain quiet is all we can do, and how can we accomplish
+that better than by going to sleep?  _Sacre_!  I am a soldier, and not
+apt to make light of a guard, yet," and he stifled a yawn, "I see no
+necessity here, nor could I be more completely played after a night of
+dancing at a Creole ball."
+
+Thus the matter was agreed upon, not altogether to my liking, but I
+yielded owing to too great weariness to argue.  At first Madame
+protested she could not sleep, yet finally consented to lie down.  As
+to myself my head had scarcely pressed the soft pillow of grass before
+I was lost in slumber.
+
+A blessing of youth lies in the fact that sleep then truly gives rest.
+The tired body responds so thoroughly to the gentle touch of slumber
+that the latter becomes a magician capable of restoring every faculty
+to complete power.  It was thus I rested motionless, and it was nearly
+evening before I stirred, although the sun must have been streaming
+directly across my upturned face for hours.  I awoke to perfect
+consciousness of our situation, as naturally as ever in a bed at home.
+Dimly impressed that some unusual noise had aroused me, I immediately
+sat upright.  This change of posture brought my eyes on a level with
+the tops of the cane on either side, and, my face being turned
+southward, there was outspread before me the full, broad sweep of the
+Mississippi, glinting under the westering sun, so that for a moment it
+dazzled eyes yet clogged with the heaviness of sleep.  Then I perceived
+what afforded me so severe a shock that I ducked hastily down into my
+covert, every faculty instantly alert.  Close in against the reeds, as
+though skirting the low line of the shore, loomed the black outline of
+a large boat.
+
+Coming bow on toward the place of our concealment, every eye in her
+would naturally be scanning the spot where we lay hidden, and I durst
+not raise my head again until assured they had passed by.  I rolled
+partially over to gain view of the others of our own party.  Both were
+slumbering heavily, Eloise near the western edge of the little grass
+plot, wrapped within a great shawl so as to leave not even her head
+visible, while De Noyan rested within easy reach of my outstretched
+arm, breathing so heavily I felt it safer to arouse him, before that
+strange boat should come abreast.  It required severe shaking, his
+sleep being that of sheer exhaustion, yet he proved sufficiently a
+trained soldier to obey instantly my signal for silence.  Nor were
+words needed to explain the reason, as by this time the sound of oars
+was clearly audible.  Suddenly some one spoke, apparently at our very
+side.  Lying as I was I noticed the shawl pushed hastily down from
+Madame's face, her brown eyes gazing questioningly across into my own;
+yet, with rare self-control, not so much as a limb quivered.
+
+"I tell you, _padre_, there's nothing along this cursed cane-marsh,"
+growled a deep rumbling voice in Spanish.  "It is a mere bog, in which
+a man would sink to his armpits, were he to venture outside the boat."
+
+"Bog it may be," retorted a sharper, petulant voice, the sound of which
+was oddly familiar, "but I tell you this, Señor, 'tis on this very
+shore French gallants come hunting from New Orleans.  There is dry land
+in plenty beyond the fringe of reeds."
+
+"_Saprista_! there may be, as there may be water in Hell, but I 'll
+never tangle my boat amid that mass of cane to make its discovery.  Let
+the frog-eaters have it, say I; the saints bless them.  Come, pull away
+sharply, lads, and we'll see what the shore-line looks like above."
+
+The sound of dipping oars instantly increased in rapidity.
+
+"You are one pig-headed fool of an officer, Señor," snarled the sharp
+voice contemptuously.
+
+"Mother of God!" roared the other, enraged.  "Speak so again, you dog
+of a French priest, and even your gray robe will not save you from
+tasting the mud at the bottom.  Do you want to know what I think of
+you?  Well, I 'll tell you, you snivelling, drunken singer of
+paternosters--you did more to help that fellow escape than you 'd care
+to have known.  Now you 're trying to hold us back until he has time to
+get safely away up the river.  That's my opinion of you, you snarling
+gray-back, and if you dare breathe another word, I 'll give orders to
+chuck you overboard."
+
+"Where do you purpose going?" ventured the cowed priest, in a subdued
+tone.
+
+"Straight up the stream.  That's where your cursed Frenchman has
+disappeared so swiftly, unless the guard at the North Gate shot him, as
+they swear to O'Reilly.  So sit there quiet, and hold your tongue--you
+may command the Devil, for all I care, but I 'm in charge of this boat."
+
+The sound of angry controversy died away in the distance.  Cautiously I
+lifted my eyes to the level of the cane, and peered over.  The Spanish
+boat, a large one propelled by the vigorous sweep of twelve oars, was
+already a hundred yards above, swiftly stemming the current.  From
+their gestures I judged the debate yet raged between the gray-robe
+crouched in the stern, and the big, burly fellow, resplendent in gold
+lace, standing up and urging his oarsmen to greater exertion.  Within
+ten minutes they rounded the upper point, and when they again appeared
+within vision, the boat was a mere dot floating in the midst of the
+golden sunshine, where the setting sun gave a good-night kiss to the
+vast, sombre river.
+
+De Noyan's boyish face was aglow with unconcealed amusement as I turned
+toward him.
+
+"Well, Benteen," he asked, twirling his moustache, and staring after
+them, "what was it the Dons said?  _Peste_!  I could not make out a
+word of their lingo, except when the fellows swore."
+
+I repeated to him the conversation, and he burst into a hearty laugh.
+
+"Indeed, a sweet-scented Frenchman, that Capuchin priest," he said
+carelessly.  "I wonder what has so set the drunken fool against me?"
+
+"It is not you, Chevalier," I acknowledged, feeling a touch of his
+spirit; "it is rather that lad who landed so heavily behind his ear
+last night, and who ran such a merry masquerade in monk's robe as never
+Spanish war-ship saw before.  I warrant it is I the holy father seeks
+so savagely.  Faith, it would be pleasant to know how he got out of the
+pickle in which I left him.  'T is odd the Dons did not use him in your
+place."
+
+"Ay, that will be the cause, for I did nothing to anger the fellow,
+except it was to laugh at his prayers, with a joke at the quality of
+his Latin.  But Dieu protect you, Monsieur, if ever he gets whip-hand.
+A revengeful priest is more to be feared than a rabid dog.  I stirred
+one of his breed once at the Cathedral by some wild prank, and carry
+the scar of it still.  But come, it becomes dusk.  Let's break our
+fast, and while eating consider the best plan for the night.  Eloise,
+do you awaken refreshed?"
+
+She came quickly forward, a smile for us both, looking dainty and
+sweet, although the heavy mass of brown hair appeared somewhat
+dishevelled from her unaccustomed pillow.
+
+"I must have been exceedingly tired," she confessed pleasantly, "for I
+slept with never a dream, and this is my first experience of lying
+without the covering of a roof.  It was all strange and solemn at
+first, with never a sound except the dismal whispering of wind through
+the cane, and the dull murmur of the river.  The very, stillness, no
+doubt, lulled me to slumber.  Nay!" and she sprang hastily forward,
+taking from my hands the few provisions I was bearing.  "That is to be
+my part of the work, Geoffrey Benteen, not yours.  You will find hard
+enough task before morning, while there remains so little for me that I
+refuse to be robbed of any rights."
+
+I realized, watching her prepare our scant meal, that she was bravely
+endeavoring to appear gay, while her heart remained heavy from memory
+of her father.  Whether this assumed levity deceived De Noyan I cannot
+say--he was of a volatile nature, easily swayed by either smile or
+tear, and instantly joined responsive to her seeming mood.  I left them
+thus, engaged in pleasant badinage, while seeking some spot where I
+might bathe my heated face.  It was no small hardship to watch them
+thus together.
+
+Seated upon the grass, lingering over the rude repast, we discussed our
+situation, seeking to outline vaguely our future plans.  De Noyan was
+for keeping close against the western bank as we progressed northward.
+He had hunted amid the marshes, and remembered sufficiently the
+formation of the shore-line to be aware that for several leagues it
+remained thickly skirted by small islands, while numerous bayous
+offered secure hiding-places.  In this choice I acquiesced, urging also
+that the downward flow of the current would sweep with greater force
+along the opposite shore; besides which the search-boat, just passing
+us on the way up-stream, would be more likely to return along the
+eastern bank.
+
+"There is no reason," I continued, "why we should delay departure
+longer.  We can keep the boat beneath the shadows of the bank, and even
+if the Dons stop to make camp, they would hardly do so without building
+a fire, which would afford ample warning to sheer out into the stream.
+If they return along this shore--as is unlikely--we should hear the
+heavy strokes of their oars before they caught the sound of our lighter
+ones.  I am for embarking at once."
+
+This agreed upon, within a half-hour we were pushing slow passage
+through the thick cane, soon finding ourselves once again afloat upon
+the broad water, the prow of our boat turned up-stream, while here and
+there a dim star winked down upon us between scurrying clouds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A NIGHT IN THE BOAT
+
+This was one of many nights we passed in the narrow confines of the
+boat during our flight northward.  Yet its incidents remain in memory
+with peculiar distinctness of detail.  I do not recall exactly how it
+occurred, but my duty during that first night chanced to place me at
+the after oar.  In consequence I sat directly facing Madame de Noyan,
+operating the rudder bar.  It was so warm, merely a delicate, fragrant
+breeze blowing from the south, she had felt no necessity for drawing up
+her hood, and the soft light of distant stars, glimmering along the
+bosom of the river, reflected back into her face, illumining it until I
+could almost note the changing expression within her dark eyes.
+
+It was a sadder, graver face than the one I associated with her
+girlhood.  Yet I could scarce forbear an impression that it was now a
+sweeter one, more womanly, faint lines beginning to mark its satin
+smoothness with impress of sorrow.  To my thought a new, higher
+womanhood had found birth within, during weary days and nights of
+suspense and suffering.  It was yet torture to me constantly beholding
+these two together, but, as I observed her then, I thanked the good God
+who had permitted me to be near her in time of trial.  In patience I
+would serve, even though I must suffer.  Tears were clinging to her
+long lashes, and occasionally one would glitter an instant upon her
+white cheek, as she leaned her face upon one hand, from which the loose
+sleeve fell away, revealing an arm like chiselled marble.  She made no
+effort at concealing these evidences of emotion, doubtless believing
+them sufficiently hidden by the gloomy shadows.  Nor did she appear to
+glance at me, keeping her own gaze directly ahead, where the dark,
+swirling waters merged into the mystery of the North.
+
+We were none of us in talkative mood--although I heard De Noyan, behind
+me, humming a light French air, as though perfectly free from
+trouble--and I have no recollection of exchanging a word for more than
+an hour.  We merely continued to pull sturdily against the downward
+rush of the stream, the deep silence of the night broken only by the
+dripping of uplifted blades, or the occasional far-off hooting of an
+owl upon the bank to our left.  The pressure of the river's current was
+scarcely perceptible close against the shore, so we made fair progress.
+Yet it was hard work, neither of us being accustomed to such exercise,
+the heavy oars feeling awkward to the hand.  The grim uncertainty of
+the future, coupled with our solitary surroundings, exercised a
+depressing influence upon the spirits of each, although differing
+widely in degree, according to our several natures.  Undoubtedly this
+same sense of dreariness led De Noyan to sing, caused me such painful
+restlessness under that same singing, and left Eloise saddened in her
+lonely thoughts.
+
+Every occurrence impressed me that night as unusual.  Perchance this
+was because both heart and head were sadly out of tune.  Yet, at best,
+it was a lonesome journey, and remains a grewsome memory, haunting with
+many a spectre, as weird as the shadows of delirium.  The few stars,
+peeping shyly forth between scurrying black cloud masses, were so far
+away they merely silvered the cloud edges, leaving them as though
+carven from granite.  The low shore, often within reach of our oar
+blades, appeared gloomy and inhospitable, the spectral rushes creeping
+far out upon the water like living things, seeming to grasp after us as
+the wind swept them, and we glided past in phantom silence.  Beyond,
+like a great black wall, arose higher ground, occasionally jutting into
+bare bluffs outlined against the lighter sky; again diversified by
+gaunt dead trees, their fleshless limbs extended upward toward ghostly
+pillars of vapor ever floating from off the river's surface.
+Occasionally, jaggedly uneven, close-set trunks of forest growth would
+appear, spectral in solemn ugliness, a veritable hedge, impenetrable
+and grim.
+
+If, with a shudder of disgust, I turned away from that lorn, dead line
+of shore, my eyes swept a waste of waters slipping solemnly past, while
+farther out, where sky and stream met and mingled in wild riot, the
+surging river swirled and leaped, its white-capped waves evidencing
+resistless volume.  It was a sight to awe one, that immense mass
+pouring forth from the upper darkness, flashing an instant beneath the
+star-gleam, only to disappear, a restless, relentless flood, black,
+unpitying, impenetrable, mysterious, a savage monster, beyond whose
+outstretched claws we crept, yet who at any moment might clutch us
+helpless in a horrible embrace.  It was a sight to stun, that brutal
+flood, gliding ever downward, while, far as eye could see, stretched
+the same drear expanse of cruel waters.
+
+From out that mystery would suddenly emerge, rolling toward us, as if
+born of the shadows, some grim apparition, a wildly tossing figure,
+with gaunt, uplifted arms beating the air, to startle for an instant,
+then fade from our ken into the dimness below.  Well I knew it was only
+driftwood, the gnarled trunk of uprooted tree made sport with by mad
+waves, yet more than once I shrank backward, my unstrung nerves
+tingling, as such shapeless, uncanny thing was hurled past like an
+arrow.  Nor were the noises that broke the silence less fearsome.  Bred
+to the wilderness, I little minded loneliness when in the depths of the
+backwoods, but this was different.  I cared nothing for the honk of
+wild fowl overhead, nor those sounds of varied animal life borne to us
+from off the black land; but that strange, dull roar, caused by great
+logs grinding together in the swirl of the current, and the groaning of
+bits of undermined shore as they gave way and dropped heavily into the
+water, racked my nerves.
+
+The peace I found lay in that sweet face, turned partially away, yet
+appearing fairer than ever beneath the protecting hood, drawn up as the
+night air grew chill.  Whether similar sense of strangeness and
+timidity rested upon her, I could not determine, yet I believed her
+thoughts so far away that our present surroundings were no more to her
+than the vaguest dream.  She scarcely stirred during all the hours I
+watched her; only once did she glance up, to smile as she met my eyes
+before I could withdraw them from her face.  Had she read aright their
+message, perchance this story might never have been written; yet purer,
+truer love no man ever gave to woman.  We must have continued thus,
+pulling silently, for hours before De Noyan broke the oppressive
+silence with impatient speech.  Indeed, not the least impressive
+feature of the grewsome night was his continued stillness.
+
+"_Le Diable_!" he exclaimed uneasily, shifting in his seat.  "If the
+Styx be more gloomy than this accursed stream, then Jesu pity its
+voyagers.  Never have I put in so miserable a night, to say nothing of
+a strained back, and a pair of sore hands.  What are those black,
+crawling things yonder?  _Mon Dieu_!  I have seen a thousand hideous
+demons since we left the cane."
+
+I glanced across my shoulder in the direction he pointed, glad enough
+to hear once again the sound of a voice.
+
+"Only the fire-seared branch of a tree tossed on the current--the night
+rests heavily upon your nerves."
+
+"Heavily?  _Parbleu_! it has unmanned me with hideous silence, with
+creeping, ghostly mystery, until I am half mad, scarcely daring to
+whisper, in fear of my own voice.  Eloise, are you there? or have the
+spectres of this haunted journey flown away with you?"
+
+"Angels or demons, they would have naught of me," she replied in
+seeming unconsciousness of his mood.  "My thoughts, I fear, have been
+sufficiently sad to accord well with the gloom, only my shadows are
+within, not without."
+
+"_Sacre_! mine are all yonder," he exclaimed, indicating with a gesture
+the vast extent of angry water.  "Why should I bear heavy heart, except
+for brooding phantoms of the night?  Life is still mine in all its
+sweetness.  Not that I greatly valued it, to be sure, yet 'tis somewhat
+better than I once thought, and there is always pleasure left in the
+world for the young.  From whence springs your mood of sadness, Eloise?"
+
+"My thought was with my father."
+
+"'Tis not strange it should be.  Yet, it might be better if you dwelt
+upon the brighter view of our own future.  He is at rest; no tears can
+be of aid.  But we can look forward to dreams of happiness.  'Tis my
+plan to cross the great ocean, seeking better fortune on the Continent.
+France, they say, has ever a vacant place for a good sword, nor is the
+king likely to refuse service to a nephew of Bienville.  You and I,
+Eloise, shall yet tread the Paris streets, nor shall we go as beggars."
+
+I marked her quick smile, but thought it not wholly untouched by
+sadness, as she attempted answer.
+
+"We will hope for the best; yet, Monsieur, we are still deeply buried
+in the wilderness.  Ay! worse--in the country of our enemies.  You may
+not comprehend the full truth of this, but Spain lays claim now to all
+this great river, with the country bordering it.  O'Reilly has already
+despatched soldiers as high as the mouth of the Ohio, to guard its
+passage; so there is peril lurking before us, as well as behind."
+
+"O'Reilly has sent soldiers northward?  How know you this, Eloise?"
+
+"It was common talk in the town.  I saw with my own eyes the departure
+of one expedition.  It was composed of a captain, with twelve soldiers,
+destined for the Ohio.  I have heard that twice since others have been
+despatched northward, although to what points was unknown."
+
+"The saints defend us! 'tis indeed serious.  I supposed the boat which
+passed contained all the Dons on the upper river, but if this be true
+we may have to desert the stream, and take to the eastern trail on
+foot.  _Sacre_!  I like it not!  What say you, you sphinx of an English
+borderman?  Knew you this all along?"
+
+"It is news to me," I answered soberly.  "But if three expeditions have
+already been despatched north, there is little hope the land routes
+have been forgotten.  Beyond doubt every trail, white or Indian,
+leading toward French or English settlements, is by now patrolled by
+the Dons.  Nor can we hope to gain passage by surprise.  That
+man-of-war boat will spread far the rumor of your escape, so every
+Spaniard between here and the Ohio will be on the lookout for our
+coming."
+
+I imagine the same thought stole into the mind of both, how easily we
+two, travelling light, might press our way through that scattered line
+of guard, and attain the upper Ohio; how easily, only for the danger
+and distress to which so desperate an attempt would expose her.  She
+alone ventured to give the idea utterance.
+
+"Messieurs," she said earnestly, her calm brown eyes uplifted to our
+faces, "I have been considering this for an hour past.  I know you
+would experience small trouble eluding the Spaniards, or even cutting
+your way through them, were I not with you.  Yet this is not beyond
+remedy.  I had sincerely hoped to prove of service when I usurped the
+slave's place in the boat; instead, I am an encumbrance, a weakling
+whom you must protect at the risk of your own lives.  Fortunately it is
+not yet too late to leave you free; it cannot be many miles back to New
+Orleans, and the current would bear me swiftly downward.  I have loyal
+friends in the town to hide the daughter of Lafrénière, should the
+Spaniards wage war against a woman, and surely some means would open
+whereby I might make the shores of France.  Perhaps I should be there
+in advance of you.  What say you, Messieurs, to such proposal?  Would
+it not be best?"
+
+The indignant feeling which swept me as I listened to this speech
+hardly needs dwelling upon.  Yet I held my tongue.  It was the
+privilege of De Noyan to make answer.
+
+"_Parbleu_!" he cried, seemingly forgetful of caution in instant
+enthusiasm.  "You have as good a head as heart, Eloise.  _Sacre_! never
+before did I realize the treasure in my keeping.  You gauge well the
+wishes of a soldier; 't is not pleasant to one of my blood and training
+to lurk thus in the shadows like a skulking spy.  _Bish_! nor do I love
+this toll at the oars--'tis the work of slaves.  I would prefer
+trusting all to the rapier, writing with its point a Frenchman's
+message of defiance.  Holy saints!  I am already half inclined to say
+yes to your proposal; yet Benteen, what word have you to speak
+regarding this plan?"
+
+"That if she goes back to New Orleans, I make the town in the same
+boat," I answered shortly, angered by his flippant words and tone.
+"'Tis a plan not to be seriously considered a moment, Chevalier.  If
+carried out it would merely place Madame de Noyan in the power of Cruel
+O'Reilly.  I doubt if the sacrifice would preserve our worthless lives.
+She can only return by means of the boat; with that gone, we should be
+compelled to plunge, unprovisioned, into a trackless wilderness,
+feeling our way blindly for hundreds of leagues through unknown, savage
+tribes.  If we survived their cruelty we should be crazed with hunger
+and fatigue long before our eyes were gladdened at sight of the upper
+Ohio.  I do not say such a journey could not be made, but I retain
+vivid memory of one such trip, nor will I lightly seek another.  I
+imagine, Captain, you have small conception of the horrors of the black
+forests, when you choose recklessly to plunge into their depths."
+
+"I served against the Creeks," he announced somewhat sullenly.
+
+"So I heard, yet that was mostly boys' play; armored men pitted against
+naked savages.  You would discover different foemen among the mountain
+tribes to the north and east.  Do not suppose I question your courage,
+but I realize the dangers, as you cannot from your town life, while as
+to Madame de Noyan, she will be safer here with us than with those
+black brutes in New Orleans."
+
+"You refuse to be comrade with me then?"
+
+"Ay, if such comradeship involve the desertion of your wife."
+
+"Desertion!"  The term stung him.  "_Sacre_! 'tis not a word to be
+lightly flung in the face of a French cavalier.  Did I not already owe
+you the debt of life, Monsieur, I might endeavor to teach you a lesson
+in etiquette."
+
+"I permit your overlooking all obligations, if you desire to indulge in
+such an experiment," I retorted, no wise unwilling.  "I am no brawling
+roisterer, but have never been above giving and receiving blows."
+
+I judged from the glint of his eyes, and the manner in which he juggled
+his sword hilt, he had grave purpose of backing up his pretty words.  I
+should rather have enjoyed giving the doughty gentleman a sudden bath
+alongside, had not Madame hastily calmed our hot blood with sober
+speech other own.
+
+"Hush, Messieurs," she commanded quietly, her eyes upon my face,
+instantly shaming me.  "It is not meet you should quarrel.  There are
+better ways in which to strike blows for me than that.  As to my going
+on with you, or returning alone, that may all be discussed when we make
+camp again at daylight.  Then we will settle the matter coolly, not in
+the heat of anger.  You are both my friends, nor would I awaken between
+you any cause for controversy."
+
+De Noyan laughed.
+
+"_Sacre_! 'tis the accursed night got into our blood," he exclaimed.
+"The very air seems poisoned with horror, while my back aches so with
+pulling this oar, I would esteem it relief to fight with my best
+friend.  It was hard fortune that the boy Alphonse happened in track of
+that Spaniard's bullet.  With three in the boat there would be some
+rest from the toll."
+
+"I see solid ground yonder," I said, pointing as I spoke to the shadowy
+bank ahead.  "We might run the boat's nose in, and stretch our cramped
+limbs on shore.  There is little to be gained endeavoring to work with
+wearied muscles."
+
+"_San Juan_!" he returned, brightening instantly to the suggestion.
+"'Tis the first word of good sense reaching my ears this cursed night
+of folly.  Head her in under the shade of yonder bush, Eloise, until I
+see if I can stand upright once more."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+WE LAND AN ODD FISH
+
+After brief respite Madame steered as closely beside the bank as
+possible, thus avoiding the swift current, yet it was no small task to
+win our way upward through the lagging hours.  More and more frequently
+tired muscles drove us to the shore for intervals of relaxation.
+Still, in spite of much time thus lost, we made steady progress, so
+before morning dawned I was confident many a mile had been placed
+behind, although the low shore we skirted remained so similar in
+outline as to afford few landmarks with which to gauge our passage.
+
+De Noyan grew more cheerful toward the end, his sullen mood changing to
+a gay semblance of reckless abandon.  To me, however, he appeared
+scarcely more engaging in snatches of ribald song, and careless speech,
+freely interspersed with French oaths and much complaint at unwonted
+toll, than in his former moody silence; yet his cheerfulness had effect
+upon Madame, who contrived to rally from her mental depression,
+becoming in turn a veritable sunburst in the gloom.  I experienced a
+glow of pleasure listening to her merry banter, and, once or twice, to
+a low-voiced French song, sounding sweetly enough as it echoed back
+from off the black water.
+
+In spite of such efforts to appear light-hearted, the nature of our
+work, coupled with the sombre surroundings of the night, rested heavily
+upon the spirits, and long before morning broke, we had all subsided
+into disheartening silence, holding grimly to our onward course through
+sheer force of will.  With wearied eyes I marked the slow coming of
+dawn above that desolation; the faint gray light creeping like some
+living thing across the swirling waters, leaving more ghastly than
+before the immense flood sweeping past.  It was a sombre sight, yet
+became more heartsome as crimson light streaked the sky, flashing forth
+over the wide river, reddening the heaving surface, until the waters
+blazed like burnished metal, and our blinded eyes could hardly gaze
+upon it.
+
+We were at this time approaching a vast curve in the shore-line,
+appearing to the eye as if it might prove the mouth of some important
+tributary stream.  Beyond, perhaps a hundred feet out in the main
+river, appeared a low island, a mere rock as it fronted us, yet thickly
+covered by small trees and bushes, growing close to the water's edge.
+No sign of life was apparent anywhere.  The mainland, so far as the
+sweep of vision extended, bore the same marshy and inhospitable look,
+and I immediately determined upon the island as the more suitable
+camping spot.
+
+"Turn the prow of the canoe toward the upper end of that rock, Madame,"
+I said, resuming my place at the oar.  "It appears the most promising
+halting place hereabout, and should afford us excellent vantage of view
+both up and down the river."
+
+"It will prove vantage of sleep for me," grumbled the Chevalier
+gruffly.  "I take it I should have been resting better had I remained
+with the Dons."
+
+I noticed the sudden uplifting of his wife's face, and seeing a pained
+expression upon it, I replied:
+
+"Such words bespeak little appreciation, Monsieur, of our efforts to
+pluck you from a fate which has befallen your companions.  Surely your
+work is no harder than that of others, while you have more at issue."
+
+He glanced from her face to mine in apparent surprise, but replied
+readily:
+
+"Those knowing me best, friend Benteen, pay least heed to my words.
+When I bark I seldom bite, and when I intend biting I waste small time
+on the bark.  But, _parbleu_! how can I feel life worth living, if it
+is all toil?  There may be those who enjoy such existence, but I
+discover no pleasure in it.  _Sacre_!  I love not hard hands and poor
+fare, nor will I make pretence of what I do not feel."
+
+We were then two-thirds of the distance between the mainland and the
+island, in the full sweep of the raging current.  It struck us
+sidelong, with such force as to require all our combined strength to
+afford the laboring boat headway.  Suddenly Eloise startled us with an
+outcry.
+
+"What is that yonder?" she questioned excitedly, pointing directly
+up-stream.  "It looks the strangest red thing ever I saw on water.  I
+believed it moved but now, as if alive."
+
+Keeping my oar in motion, lest we should drift backward, I made shift
+to glance across my shoulder in the direction indicated.  The river had
+us completely in its grasp, tossing the light boat in a majestic flood
+of angry water, whitened by foam, and beaten into waves, where it
+rounded the rocky edge of the island.  Across this tumbling surge
+streamed the glorious sunlight, gilding each billow into beauty, while
+in the midst of it, bearing swiftly down toward us, came that strange
+thing that had so startled Madame.  What in the name of nature it might
+prove to be, I could not hazard--it had the appearance of some queer,
+shaggy animal, rolled tight into the form of a ball, having fur so
+radiantly red as to flash and burn in the sunshine.  It bobbed crazily
+about, barely above the surface of the river, like some living
+creature, while now and then I marked a glimmer of light behind, as if
+the water was being vigorously churned by some species of swimming
+apparatus in the monster's tail.
+
+"Stand by with your small sword, De Noyan," I commanded uneasily, "for,
+hang me if I ever before set eyes on such a creature!  Move, quick, and
+pass me over your oar so you may have both hands free for the onset."
+
+The beast was being swept along rapidly, now appearing to my eyes
+somewhat whiter on top, although the surrounding red was so glaringly
+prominent as to obscure everything else.  Suddenly the creature gave a
+kick and whirled over, turning the white expanse directly toward us.
+At the same moment De Noyan dropped the point of his rapier against the
+side of the boat, with a loud guffaw.
+
+"May the saints absolve me," he grinned, choking from merriment, "if
+it's not the red-headedest man ever my eyes looked upon."
+
+Forcing back his laughter, he hailed the swimmer, who, perceiving us
+for the first time, began sheering off, as if frightened by our
+presence, and intent upon escape.
+
+"Hold there a moment, Master Red-Cap!  If in truth you are not a fish,
+come on board."
+
+The fellow heard him plainly enough, for I distinguished a muttered
+English exclamation, but he made no pause in urging a peculiar
+sidestroke of the arms which threatened to bear him past us like a wild
+thing.
+
+"Hold your hands!" I roared in English, thinking, perhaps, he had not
+comprehended the other tongue.  "Come in here, sirrah, or, the Lord
+help you, we 'll turn and run you down."
+
+At sound of these words he ceased his efforts, and turned a peculiar
+wrinkled face, creased like long-folded parchment, and as yellow,
+directly toward us.  Even at that distance I imagined I could detect a
+twinkle of delight in the shrewd gray eyes.
+
+"Thy words of greeting are as manna fallen from heaven," boomed a deep,
+resonant voice, surprising in its volume.  "I take heart anew, young
+man, for surely thou art not the spawn of the scarlet woman, but,
+verily, one of the chosen people of our own God."
+
+"I fail to grasp your meaning, friend," I retorted, nettled to be held
+at the oars so long in that current.  "We are honest voyagers, glad to
+be of aid to any one in such distress as you seem to be."
+
+"Nay; I am not especially uncomfortable, unless my tobacco is soaked,
+and if such disaster hath overtaken me, it shall yet go hard with those
+blaspheming idolaters who cast me overboard.  But thy language is that
+of modern Israel, so I will join you in the boat.  'Tis the more
+readily done as I have not tasted food since yesternoon, and possess a
+hollowness within my physical temple which demandeth attention.  The
+spirit yieldeth to the craving of the flesh."
+
+"Catch hold upon the side," I ordered, as he drew near.  "We will have
+you ashore in a dozen strokes."
+
+The stranger did as I bade him, and it was truly a wondrous sight to
+observe how his head glowed in the sun as the drops of moisture dried,
+and brought out the full, ornate color of it.  His face had a pinched
+look, with thousands of little wrinkles leading away from the corners
+of the wide mouth, and about the narrow, glinting gray eyes.  But there
+was a sly gleam of humor about the expression of it, which, taken in
+connection with that fiery headpiece, nearly caused me a fit of
+laughter.  I noticed, however, that Madame drew slightly away from his
+side of the boat, as if close proximity to the fellow were repugnant to
+her.
+
+"Well, friend," said I, as we drew up in shoal water under lee of the
+rock, and I noted his short legs and stocky chest, "no doubt you are
+well water-logged, and a little healthful exercise will help to warm
+your blood, especially as we dare not light a fire for such purpose.
+So bend that broad back of yours, and aid us in lifting the boat to
+cover."
+
+He performed his portion of the work well, bearing with apparent ease
+fully one-half the burden, while De Noyan and I staggered beneath the
+remainder, until together we sank the boat well out of sight behind the
+thick brush.
+
+"And why not a fire?" the stranger questioned abruptly, noticing Eloise
+spreading forth our stock of provisions on the grass.  "It was in hope
+of thus warming the inner man that I consented to come ashore and
+companion with you.  Are you refugees, fleeing from danger?"
+
+I glanced aside at De Noyan and muttered hastily in French, "It will be
+best to tell him our story--'tis not likely he will prove an emissary
+of Spain."
+
+"As you please; he is more of your class than mine," he returned
+indifferently, and, with a shrug of the shoulders, strolled away.
+
+"You have made fairly correct guess," I said to our new acquaintance;
+"so we may as well understand each other first as last.  We have
+escaped with our lives from New Orleans, and are now seeking refuge on
+the Ohio."
+
+He nodded, his shrewd gray eyes fastened intently on my face, his own
+countenance expressionless.
+
+"Who holdeth New Orleans?" he asked in a tone of interest.
+
+"The Spanish, under O'Reilly."
+
+"'Tis what they told me above, yet I believed they lied.  Those with
+you are French?"
+
+"Ay."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"Of Louisiana birth and English blood; five years I have been a hunter
+in the Illinois country."
+
+He groaned as though the mention of the word awoke unpleasant memories.
+
+"'Tis an unholy land, no fit abiding place for the elect, as I learned,
+having passed through its settlements seeking prayerfully to bear an
+evangel unto that stiff-necked people.  Friend, thou hast an honest
+face, and I will say in confidence I have been ofttimes blessed of the
+Spirit in the conversion of souls; yet this people laughed at my
+unctuous speech, making merry regarding that head-covering with which
+the Almighty chose to adorn his servant.  Dost thou know the French
+settlement on the Kaskaskia?"
+
+"I have been there often."
+
+"Ah! 'tis verily a stronghold of popish superstition.  Recall you the
+humble cabin of Gabriel La Motte, the Huguenot, close by the ravine?
+It was there I abode in much spiritual and temporal comfort with that
+godly man, until certain mad roisterers took offence at plain gospel
+speech, driving me forth into the wilderness, even as Jehovah's
+prophets of old.  Since that hour I have been a wanderer on the face of
+the earth, finding small comfort in this life; yet Ezekiel Cairnes is
+merely the poor servant of the Lord, the chief of sinners, and must
+abide in travail until He cometh."
+
+He cast up his eyes in pious affectation, his lips moving as though he
+meditated in prayer.
+
+"Then your name is Cairnes?"
+
+"Ezekiel Cairnes, late of the Connecticut colony, and am permitted by
+the Lord's mercy to write Reverend before my unworthy appellation."
+
+"A Puritan preacher!" I exclaimed in some disgust.  "I have heard of
+your sort before, yet have been spared a meeting until now.  Where do
+you propose going?"
+
+"The Lord leadeth His anointed, young man.  Even as Jonah abode in the
+belly of the whale, so doth the water bear me onward as the Almighty
+willeth."
+
+His wandering eyes rested thoughtfully upon my companion, now returning
+toward us, sauntering listlessly along the sandy shore.
+
+"I know not, friend, who you may be, save as you have seen fit to
+reveal," he said shrewdly.  "Yet I would venture a guess as to yonder
+gayly attired cavalier."
+
+"A guess?" I echoed, taken completely by surprise.  "It is small chance
+you would hit right--what might your guess be?"
+
+"Chevalier Charles de Noyan."
+
+"How know you that?"
+
+He chuckled grimly, evidently well pleased at my astonishment.
+
+"'Tis no work of the evil one, friend.  I am but just escaped also from
+the hands of the Philistines," he explained, becoming angry at the
+thought, and ducking his red head vehemently.  "While in their
+unhallowed company, a gray-bellied son of Belial questioned me much
+regarding yonder fine gentleman, ere he waxed exceedingly wroth at my
+plain speech in matters of the spirit, bidding his jabbering crew of
+papists to heave me overboard."
+
+"How far away did this occur?" I asked, looking anxiously up the river.
+
+"Oh, mayhap some such matter as twenty leagues," he returned
+indifferently, his gaze idly following mine.  "Let me reflect; it was
+at the hour for sunset prayer I fell in with their party.  I have heard
+it said this stream hereabout hath a sweep of seven or more miles the
+hour, and I kept well in the current of it."
+
+"Do you mean you have been swimming since sunset yesterday?"
+
+"Nay, friend; I beg be not over-hasty in conclusions.  I merely reposed
+easily upon my back, with only enough straightening out of the legs to
+keep my nose fairly up-tilted above the stream.  'T was thus I made the
+passage with much comfort of body, and relaxation of mind.  'T is no
+serious trick for one unafraid of the water although it might bring on
+cramps were I to keep on as far as New Orleans."
+
+I stared at him with an astonishment which for the moment precluded
+speech.  Before I found voice with which to express doubt of his story,
+Madame called, bidding us join her upon the grass, where our rude meal
+waited.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT
+
+There could be no doubt regarding the complete emptiness of the
+Reverend Ezekiel Cairnes, if the breakfast he devoured from our stock
+of cold provisions was evidence.  I have been commonly blessed with
+robust appetite, yet where that man found space within his ribs to
+store away all he ate in that hour remains a mystery.  Nothing, except
+total inability to address him in intelligible language, held De Noyan
+quiet as our limited supply steadily diminished before the Puritan's
+onslaught, and long before the latter heaved a sigh of profound
+satisfaction the gallant soldier had fallen fast asleep.  But Madame
+remained in her place opposite, apparently fascinated by that vivid red
+crop of hair, now thoroughly dried in the sun, and standing erect above
+his odd, pear-shaped head.  I had whispered in her ear what the fellow
+claimed for himself, and being a most devout Catholic, and he the first
+specimen of his class she had ever met, she studied him with no small
+amount of curiosity and abhorrence.
+
+I can clearly recall the picture, as these two, so widely different,
+sat facing each other in silence, the golden sunshine checkered over
+them through an arch of limbs, the broad river shining away to the
+southward, and De Noyan resting upon his back, with face turned up
+toward the clear blue sky.  The woman, with her soft silken hair
+smoothed back from the wide, white brow, her intelligent face lighted
+by eyes of deepest brown, looking, what in truth she was, the
+aristocratic daughter of a gentleman of France, one whose home had ever
+been amid refinements of civilization, and whose surroundings those of
+love and courtesy.  Even there, in the heart of that wilderness, the
+social training of years remained paramount, and she sat silent, toying
+with untasted food, out of respect to this stranger guest.  And he,
+with shoulders so abnormally broad as to appear deformed, clad in sober
+Puritan garb, ate serenely on, unconscious of her glances, making use
+of both his huge hands in the operation, his little gimlet eyes
+twinkling greedily, his head, oddly resembling a cone, blazing like a
+fire whenever a ray of sun chanced to fall across it.  I noticed he
+occasionally stole shy glances at her, nor could I wonder, for, in
+spite of fatigue and exposure, Madame remained a winsome sight, to do
+the heart of any man good to look upon.
+
+"The Lord God of Hosts be praised; ay! with harps, cymbals, and
+instruments of many strings, will I give praise unto His holy name," he
+exclaimed fervently, wiping his wide mouth upon his sleeve, while
+casting a look of regret over the debris in his front.  "Once again
+hath He abundantly supplied His elect with that which upbuildeth and
+giveth strength to the flesh.  Now my bodily requirements have been
+duly attended to, it behooves me to minister likewise unto the
+spiritual, and then seek repose.  Friends, will you not both join with
+me at the throne of grace?  It hath been said that I possess much
+unction in prayer."
+
+"No," I answered, not unwilling to be left alone with Eloise; "you are
+welcome to put up petitions in our behalf, but this lady is not of your
+faith, while as for myself, I have known little about such matters
+since childhood.  One thing, however,--if you propose making use of
+that bull voice of yours, I advise that you select the farther
+extremity of the island for the scene of your devotions, lest you
+arouse the Chevalier."
+
+He cast upon me a glance not altogether pleasant, but tramped off
+through the bushes without reply, and for several moments we heard the
+sturdy rise and fall of his earnest supplications, frequently
+interspersed with hearty groans, as of one in all the agony of deep
+remorse.
+
+"'Tis an odd fish we've hooked out of the stream," I said, turning my
+head toward the dismal sounds.  "Yet he has strong arms, and may be of
+considerable use, if he will consent to voyage with us."
+
+"I scarcely know what to make of the man," Madame admitted candidly.
+"He is unlike any I have ever met.  Yet I think he may prove honest and
+of good heart, although his exterior is far from attractive."
+
+"And his appetite hardly suggestive of economy," I added.
+
+The bright look I always loved to see leaped into her clear eyes.
+
+"Have you faith his labor will offset his eating?" she replied,
+laughing.
+
+"Possibly not; yet it is not labor alone I would select him for.  We
+may have to fight before we attain a place of safety.  For that purpose
+I would rank this fellow highly.  Never yet have I met a red-headed man
+averse to a quarrel.  Faith! by that token, this one should be worth a
+company if we ever come to blows."
+
+"But he is a priest, you told me, a preacher of the Protestants."
+
+"Ay! and the better for it.  I have heard my father say the Puritan
+breed makes the stoutest men-at-arms; that nothing has been found to
+stiffen a battle-line equal to a good text.  Give this fellow a pike,
+pit him against a boatload of Spanish papists, and, I 'll warrant, he
+'ll crack more heads than any two of us.  Besides, he controls a
+perfect tornado of a voice, fit to frighten the crew of a frigate on a
+dark night."
+
+She was sitting, her back pressed against a small tree, her hands
+clasped lightly about one knee, with dark eves gazing afar where the
+broad river danced away into the golden sheen.
+
+"Geoffrey Benteen," she asked soberly, never glancing toward me, "is it
+true you do not desire my return to New Orleans?"
+
+"It is true."
+
+"Would you honestly tell me why?" and she turned her eyes, looking
+searchingly into mine.
+
+"I have mentioned sufficient reasons," I ventured, resolutely facing
+her, determined to speak frankly and abide the result.  "All I need add
+is, to my judgment it will prove better for you to remain with your
+husband."
+
+She glanced aside at him where he lay, the quick blood flushing her
+clear cheek.
+
+"You do not like him?" the question fell faltering from her lips.
+
+"That I am not prepared to declare.  He is changeable, somewhat
+overbearing in speech, not as sober of mind as I am accustomed to find
+men, yet it is not true I dislike him.  I merely believe that he will
+do better, be truer to his manhood, with you near him, than with you
+absent."
+
+"He is French," she explained gently, "by nature of birth different
+from your race.  Besides, he has led a life filled with the dissipation
+of the town."
+
+"True! for that reason I forbear judging his words and actions by any
+standard of my own people.  Yet this I cannot be blind to, Madame; he
+is of quick temper, hasty in action, easily influenced by others, and
+might become careless at times, and under strong temptation, unless
+some moral firmness hold him in check.  You alone possess the power to
+become his good angel."
+
+She bowed her head, her gaze again far off upon the river, the
+deepening surge of color rising upon either cheek.
+
+"You cannot be angry," I continued gravely, after pausing vainly for a
+reply.  "Surely I have said no more than you already knew, and I spoke
+merely in answer to your questioning."
+
+"No, I am not angry.  But it is not a pleasant reflection underlying
+the things mentioned, and I cannot assert your judgment of the
+Chevalier false.  Still I would press you further.  Is this your only
+reason for desiring me to remain?"
+
+"You wish me to answer frankly?"
+
+"Otherwise I should not ask."
+
+I felt the quick flush mount even to my hair, yet gripped my breath,
+making effort to respond boldly.
+
+"I had other reason.  To deny it would be merely uttering a lie to no
+purpose.  Madame de Noyan, we are not strangers--we could never be
+after that night when we parted beneath the olives of Monsieur
+Beaujen's garden.  You are wife to a chevalier of France; I, a homeless
+adventurer.  Yet I have no higher ambition than to prove of service to
+you.  Whatever I have accomplished has been entirely for your sake, not
+for his.  Now we are together, the daily opportunity to serve you is
+mine; here I can work for you, perchance die for you, should such
+sacrifice promise you happiness.  But if you decide to go back yonder,
+directly into danger as desperate as any confronting us to the
+northward, then I must determine for myself where I can serve you best.
+Knowing my heart as you must, you can easily judge whether I would
+plunge deeper into the wilderness with your husband, or return to New
+Orleans with you.  There is a sentence in the Bible about the
+impossibility of serving two masters, hence I trust I may not be
+compelled to choose between, until the hour when you are both safe."
+
+She listened silently, and I almost feared I had ventured upon too
+plain speaking.  Yet now, as she turned again toward me, her eyes were
+moist with tears.
+
+"You are a strange man, Geoffrey Benteen," she said gently, and, I know
+not how, yet both her hands found way to mine.  "I scarcely comprehend
+your nature, or gauge your purposes--you are so unlike all others I
+have known.  Yet this I am assured; you are of honest heart, and I
+trust you wholly."
+
+"You will not return to the town?"
+
+"I abide with you, and with my husband."  Her voice faltered to that
+last word, yet she spoke it bravely.
+
+"It will be better so," I assented.  "Better for us all."
+
+We slept late, undisturbed, in secure retreat among the trees, the vast
+river chanting its endless song on either side of us.  During the
+evening meal, partaken of amid the gathering shadows of twilight, our
+newly discovered friend again evidenced his power as a trencherman.
+
+"_Sacre_!" ejaculated De Noyan in dismay.  "I supposed his breakfast
+was intended to last the week.  We shall need a fleet of boats to
+provision the fellow if he keep us company long.  How is it, friend
+Benteen, are we to enjoy the pleasure of associating with this human
+alligator, or do we now part company?"
+
+"That is not yet determined," I replied, smiling at the look of
+consternation with which he regarded him.  "I will sound the man on the
+subject, while he appears in good humor."
+
+I crossed the narrow plat of grass to where our guest sat facing the
+remains of his late feast, a look of satisfaction visible upon his
+withered countenance.
+
+"My good friend," he exclaimed, observing my approach, "there seems an
+over-preponderance of spices in this cured meat; otherwise it meets my
+cordial approbation, although your Southern cookery has a peculiarly
+greasy flavor to one of my taste in food."
+
+"I failed to observe your refraining from any on account of that
+objection," I retorted, deeply amused by his words.  "But if you are
+completely satisfied, you may be willing to turn a moment to matters of
+business, and inform us what you propose doing.  In brief, will you
+resume your voyage, or is it your desire to cast your lot with us?"
+
+He meditatively stroked the thin red stubble adorning his chin,
+contemplating me steadily.
+
+"Doth that which assisteth to nourish and sustain the inner man bid
+fair to hold out?" he finally questioned in a tone of anxiety.  "I have
+need of sufficient food, both temporal and spiritual, and would not
+lightly assume any burden of suffering, unless it appear clearly as the
+will of God."
+
+"I know not how long we can withstand such onslaughts as those you have
+already made," I returned honestly.  "We are fairly well provisioned
+for present needs, and when farther up the river will feel free to seek
+fresh game."
+
+"Ah! you have guns in the party?  You will shoot deer--deer!"  He
+smacked his thin lips greedily.  "A nice, fat, juicy steak would not go
+bad even now.  'Tis strange how the mind runneth upon such carnal
+matters--it remindeth us the flesh is weak.  Deer--'tis best turned
+upon a spit, with live coats not quite touching it.  I would one might
+wander before your gun this very night.  Young man, did I not hear you
+name the destination of your party as the Ohio?"
+
+"I so stated."
+
+"Then let me warn you, friend," he crossed his legs more comfortably,
+resting back at ease, "that what you propose may not prove so easy as
+you dream.  The Amalekites and heathen, together with the worshippers
+of Baal, are everywhere along the upper waters.  By the memory of Old
+Noll, I have seen more black-faced papists in the past two weeks than I
+ever before laid eyes on."
+
+"You do not enjoy the prospect of a fight?"
+
+"Nay; it is not that, friend.  I am, indeed, a preacher of
+righteousness, a man of peace, yet I might, upon occasion, strike right
+lustily for the Lord and Gideon.  I am not altogether unaccustomed to
+feeling carnal weapons of strife, but with yonder fair specimen of
+womanhood in our care, I should not deem it best to force a struggle,
+provided passage might be secured through other means."
+
+"Have you some plan?"
+
+"Nay; it has not been revealed unto me, although I besought it of the
+Lord with great earnestness after the morning meal.  I will again
+wrestle in prayer before the throne, and no doubt it shall all be made
+plain in due season, if we faint not."
+
+"I take it, then, you propose forming one of our company?"
+
+"Such seemeth the will of the Lord," he responded soberly, "and I ever
+hearken unto His voice.  Thou didst state there would be plenty of
+food, so I abide with you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MOUTH OF THE ARKANSAS
+
+I do not recall how many leagues we pushed our way up the stream, nor
+could I name the length of time required for our journey, before we
+arrived where a large river, bearing a muddier current, led toward the
+north and west.  Those were neither days nor miles that imprinted
+themselves on memory; they left only vague impressions, as one
+sometimes beholds objects through the dense haze of early morning.  I
+remember merely the low, flat line of shore, stretching away to a
+darker green of the heavy forest behind, and the ever-moving flood of
+changeless water, no sign of life appearing along its surface.
+
+Nor was there any happening within our boat to reflect upon, excepting
+that our new comrade proved himself a stanch man at the oars, thus
+commending himself to me, in spite of a choleric temper apt to burst
+forth over trifles.  He and De Noyan would have quarrelled many times a
+day, only neither comprehended the language of the other.  The greatest
+cause I found for criticism was his interminable prayers, and the bull
+voice in which he offered them.  I have never made mock of religion,
+coming of a line of godly ancestors, yet I felt there could be no
+necessity for making such noise over it morning, noon, and night.  Yet
+neither entreaty nor threat moved him to desist, so I came to the
+conclusion that he either considered the Almighty deaf, or else was
+totally unconscious of his own lung power.  As to his appetite--but
+there are things of which one may not justly write, so I content myself
+by saying that, all in all, he was not so bad a comrade.
+
+De Noyan kept to his nature, and I liked him none the worse for it,
+although it is not pleasant to have at your side a gay cavalier one
+moment and a peevish woman the next.  You never know which may be
+uppermost.  Yet he performed his full share of toil like a man, and,
+when not curling his long moustachios, or swearing in provincial
+French, was mostly what he should be, a careless soldier of fortune, to
+whom life appealed more as a play than a stern duty.  He was of that
+spirit most severely tried by such drudgery, and, looking back upon it,
+I can only wonder he bore the burden as cheerfully as he did.  Beneath
+his reckless, grumbling exterior, the metal of the man was not of such
+poor quality.
+
+However continual labor and enforced companionship told upon the rest,
+Madame retained her sweetness through it all, hushing our lips from
+many a sharp retort that had threatened to disrupt our party long
+before this time.  She had merely to glance toward us to silence any
+rising strife, for no man having a true heart beneath his doublet could
+find spirit to quarrel before the disapproving glance of her dark eyes.
+It was thus we toiled forward, until one frosty morning our boat
+arrived where this great stream poured forth from the west, forcing its
+reddish, muddy current far out into the wide river against which we had
+struggled so long.  Slowly rounding the low, marshy promontory, and
+beginning to feel the fierce tug of down-pouring waters against our
+bow, I observed the old Puritan suddenly cock up his ears, like some
+suspicious watch-dog, twisting his little glittering eyes from side to
+side, as though the spot looked familiar.
+
+"Do you suspect anything wrong, my pious friend," I questioned
+curiously, "that you indulge in such sniffing of the air?"
+
+"'Tis a spot I know well, now it looms fairly into view," he answered
+solemnly, continuing to peer about like one suddenly aroused from
+sleep.  "It was near here the Philistines made camp as I passed down
+the river, but I perceive no signs now of human presence in the
+neighborhood."
+
+His words startled me, and I began looking anxiously about us.  The low
+shores consisted of the merest bog, overgrown heavily with stunted
+bushes and brown cane, but some distance beyond rose the crest of a
+pine forest, evidencing firmer soil.  The opposite side of the stream
+was no whit more inviting, except that the marsh appeared less in
+extent, with a few outcropping rocks visible, one rising sheer from the
+water's edge, so crowded with bushes as scarcely to expose the rock
+surface to the eye.
+
+"I discover no evidences of life," I answered at last, reassured by my
+careful survey.  "Nor, for the matter of that, Master Cairnes, can I
+see any spot dry enough to camp upon."
+
+"Up the stream a few strokes the Spaniards had camp; not so bad a
+place, either, when once reached, although the current will prove
+difficult to overcome as we turn."
+
+Following his guidance we deflected the boat's head, and, by hard toil
+at the oars, slowly effected a passage up the swift stream, keeping as
+close as possible along the southern shore, until, having compassed
+something like five hundred yards, we found before us a low-lying bank,
+protected by rushes, dry and thickly carpeted with grass.
+
+"What is the stream?" I questioned, marvelling at the red tinge of the
+water.
+
+"The Spaniards named it the Arkansas."
+
+"Oh, ay!  I remember, although I passed this way along the other shore.
+It was here some of La Salle's men made settlement near a hundred years
+ago, I 'm told.  The stream has trend northward."
+
+"So the Spaniards claimed to my questioning; they knew little of its
+upper waters, yet possessed a map placing its source a few leagues from
+where the Ohio joins the great river.  It was yonder they were encamped
+when I was here before."
+
+He pointed toward a ridge of higher ground, where two trees hung like
+sentinels above the bank.  Madame immediately turned the prow that way,
+and, bending our heads low, we shot beneath their trailing branches,
+grounding softly on the red clay of the bank.  A brief search disclosed
+remains of camp-fires, testimony to the Puritan's remembrance of the
+spot.  Evidently the place had been frequently occupied, and by sizable
+parties, yet the marks were all ancient; we discovered no signs that
+any one had been there lately.
+
+It was barely daylight, although the sun was above the horizon.  A vast
+bank of cloud hung so dense across the eastern sky as to leave the
+whole scene in shadow, making the hour appear much earlier.  I felt, as
+we searched the camp-fires, a strange uneasiness, for which I could not
+account--it was a premonition of approaching peril.  This sense is the
+gift of many accustomed to border life, and compelled to rely for
+safety upon minute signs scarcely observable to the eyes of others.  I
+had noticed a broken reed near where we turned into this new stream, so
+freshly severed as to show green from sap yet flowing, while the soft
+mud about the base of the big rock bore evidence of having been
+tramped, although the distance was so great the nature of the marks was
+not discernible.  To be sure, native denizens of the forest might
+account for this, yet the sight aroused suspicion and a determination
+to examine more closely, while the fear of prowling enemies made me
+strenuous in objecting to the building of any fire with which to cook
+our morning meal.
+
+The eating came to a conclusion at last, although not without
+grumbling, in both French and English, at being obliged to subsist on
+cold fare.  By use of threats I succeeded in inducing the Rev. Mr.
+Cairnes to retire without indulging in his usual devotional exercise.
+Discovering De Noyan comfortably settled against a tree-trunk, pipe in
+mouth, already beginning to look sleepy about the eyes, I muttered in
+his hearing a word or two regarding a fishing trip into deeper water
+along the opposite shore, and, quietly leaving him to unsuspicious
+repose, slipped down to where our boat was tied beneath the tree
+shadows.  As I bent, loosening the rope, I felt rather than perceived
+the presence of Madame upon the bank above.  Turning as she addressed
+me, I glanced up, holding the untied rope in my hand.
+
+"You fear Spaniards may be near," she said quickly, as if she had
+deciphered my hidden thought.
+
+"No, Madame," I replied, scarcely able to conceal astonishment at her
+penetration, yet eager to quiet alarm, particularly as I had no
+occasion for uneasiness.  "I merely feel a curiosity to examine that
+odd rock beside the entrance--the one we passed on the right."
+
+"Geoffrey Benteen," she said firmly, stepping down the sloping bank
+until she stood beside me, "there is no occasion for your attempting
+deceit with me.  Besides, you are too open-hearted a man to deceive any
+one.  I have noticed your glances, and interpreted your thoughts, ever
+since we turned into this stream.  I am certain you fear at this moment
+we have been beguiled into a trap.  Tell me, is this not true?"
+
+Her clear, questioning eyes gazed so directly into my own, and were so
+honestly courageous, I up and told her what I had observed, and where I
+was then bound.
+
+"It is better to trust me," she commented simply, as I ended my
+recital.  "My eyes have not been altogether idle, although I am no
+borderer to observe such faint signs.  There were several reeds bent
+low in the water a hundred yards back; their sides scraped as if a
+large boat had been dragged through them.  I thought nothing of it,
+until I observed how intently you were studying each mark left by man.
+While you are gone yonder, what would you wish me to do?"
+
+I looked at her attentively, noting how heavy her eyes were from
+weariness.
+
+"You are too tired to remain on guard, Eloise," I said, forgetting I
+should not use that name, "or I might bid you watch here, and, if any
+misfortune befall me, call the others.  Besides, if there are enemies
+at hand there is no knowing from what direction they may chance upon
+us.  However, all we have observed were probably old marks, or made by
+roving beasts, and I shall soon return to fling myself on the ground,
+seeking sleep also.  So go and rest those weary eyes, while I scout to
+satisfy myself.  It is only the doubt of a suspicious man."
+
+"I shall not sleep until your safe return," she replied firmly.  "You
+shall not go forth thus without one to pray for your safe return.  I
+beg you, exercise care."
+
+"Have no fear, Madame, I am no reckless hot-head at such work, and
+shall continue to guard my life while it remains of value to you and
+yours.  Try to rest at ease, for I will soon return, with a laugh at my
+foolish suspicions."
+
+I forced the boat into the swollen stream, and, using one oar as a
+paddle, silently and swiftly propelled it directly across.  Discovering
+a spot seemingly fit for travel, I pushed the prow through the long
+marsh grass, and stepped ashore.  She still stood in the tree shadow of
+the opposite bank, and waving a hand in reassurance, I drew forth my
+long rifle from beneath the seat.  Advancing silently, I pressed
+forward into the thick bed of cane, thinking more of Eloise de Noyan
+than of the task before me.  It proved a hard passage, so extremely
+difficult as to call back my mind from foolish day-dreams to save
+myself an ugly fall, for the grass under-foot was matted and tangled,
+interspersed with marshy pools of brackish water, amid which
+innumerable projecting roots spread snares for the feet.  The sun, now
+well advanced, gave me the points of the compass, and, holding the
+rifle-stock before my face, I cleared a path through the dense growth,
+and emerged from the low marsh land upon smooth turf, where some brush
+found foothold, yet not so thickly as to impede the walking.
+
+I discovered myself near the bottom of a steep bank, which, curving
+with the line of the shore, extended forward for probably fifty feet,
+crowned along its ridge with numerous stunted trees.  Trusting thus to
+obtain a firmer foothold and more extended view, I breasted the steep
+ascent and found the summit a narrow plateau, only a few yards in
+width, with a still more extensive morass upon the opposite side, which
+stretched away some distance in a desolate sea of cane and drooping
+grass.  Fortunately it proved easy travelling along the ridge, which
+appeared of stone formation, probably having a terminus at the big
+rock, toward which I proposed extending my investigation.
+
+I moved forward slowly and with caution, not because I expected to meet
+enemies in this lonely spot, but rather from an instinct of long
+frontier training.  I had advanced possibly a hundred yards, when I
+approached a small clump of stunted evergreens, so closely woven
+together I could not wedge a passage between.  Rounding their outer
+edge, my footsteps noiseless on ground thickly strewn with their soft
+needles, I came to a sudden halt within five paces of a man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A PASSAGE AT ARMS
+
+He stood motionless, one hand grasping the limb of a tree, leaning far
+out so as to gaze up the river, totally unconscious of my approach.
+The fellow was tall, yet heavily built, wearing a great leather helmet
+with brass facings, his body encased in a slashed doublet, the strap
+fastenings of a steel breastplate showing at waist and shoulders, while
+high boots of yellow cordovan leather extended above his knees.  I
+noticed also the upward curve of a huge gray moustache against the
+stern profile of his face, while a long straight sword dangled at his
+side.  Evidently the stranger was a soldier, and one not to be despised
+in feats at arms, although in what service I might merely conjecture,
+as his dress was not distinctive.  Yet it was small likelihood any
+other nation than Spain had armed men in those parts.
+
+That he had discovered and was watching our camp, I entertained no
+doubt, yet for the moment the surprise of seeing him was so great I was
+unable to choose my safer course,--should I withdraw silently as I
+came, or make quick attack?  If the first, he would certainly see me
+recross the river, and suspect my mission.  Nor was the other
+alternative more promising.  If I sprang upon him (and he looked a
+burly antagonist), such combat could not be noiseless, and surely the
+fellow was not alone in this wilderness.  How close at hand lurked his
+companions was beyond guessing, yet, if the sound of struggle aroused
+that band of wolves, my life would not be worth the snapping of a
+finger.  I felt cold chills creep up my spine as I stood hesitating,
+one foot uplifted, my eyes staring at that motionless figure.
+
+I waited too long, until every vantage left me.  Suddenly the soldier
+swung back from his lookout on to firmer ground, wheeled, and faced me.
+I marked his start of surprise, noting his right hand drop, with
+soldierly instinct, upon the sword hilt, half drawing the blade before
+recovering from that first impulse.  Then curiosity usurped the place
+of fear.  He took one step backward, still upon guard, surveying me
+carefully with one glinting gray eye, for the other had been closed by
+a slashing cut, which left an ugly white scar extending half-way down
+his cheek.  Except for this deformity, he was a man of fair appearance,
+having a stern, clearly chiselled face, with a certain arrogant manner,
+telling of long authority in scenes of war.  A half smile of contempt
+played across his features as he ran me down from head to foot,
+evidently with the thought I was little worthy of his steel.  It was
+then I recognized him.  There had been familiarity about his great bulk
+from the first, yet now, as I faced him fairly, marking the haughty
+sneer curl his lips, I knew him instantly as that officer who passed us
+in the boat with the priest.
+
+"By the true cross!" he exclaimed at last, as if his breath had barely
+returned, "you gave me a start such as I have not often had in all my
+soldiering.  Yet you are no ghost; your aspect is altogether too
+healthful for one condemned to exist upon air.  _Saprista_! you must
+have a light foot to steal thus on me unheard.  Who are you, fellow?
+What do you here upon this soil of Spain?"
+
+I leaned lightly on my rifle, so that I might swing it easily if
+occasion warranted, determined now not to fire unless it proved
+necessary to save my life, and made careless answer, using the same
+tongue in which I had been addressed.
+
+"Nor are you more surprised, Señor, at my presence, than was I a moment
+back to stumble upon you when I supposed our party alone here in this
+wilderness.  Who did you say held dominion over this country?"
+
+"His most gracious Christian Majesty, Charles the Third, of Spain," he
+replied shortly.  "As his officer, I require that you give proper heed
+and direct answer to my questioning.  Who are you, and where are you
+going?"
+
+The man's domineering manner amused me, yet I replied civilly to his
+words.
+
+"A wandering hunter, Señor, from the Illinois country, homeward bound.
+I was not aware this territory had fallen into Spanish hands, supposing
+it still to be under French control.  You are then a soldier of Spain?"
+
+"Ay," he returned ungraciously, eying me in his irritating way, "of the
+battalion of Grenada."
+
+He was evidently in doubt whether to believe my word, and I rejoiced to
+mark such indecision, accepting it as proof he had not gained a glimpse
+of De Noyan, for whom he was in eager search.
+
+"It may be, fellow," he consented to say at last, "you speak truth, and
+it may be your tongue is false as hell.  These are times of grave
+suspicion, yet there are means of discovery open to men of action.  I
+just noted the position of your camp yonder, and have sufficient men
+within easy reach of my voice to make it mine if need arise.  So I warn
+you to deal fairly, or accept the consequences.  The Marquis de Serrato
+is not one given to speaking twice in such quest.  I have a soft tongue
+in ladies' bowers, but my hand is hard enough in camp and field."
+
+He uttered these words in fierce threat, his one evil eye glaring full
+at me as though to terrify.  Before I could answer, he shot forth a
+question, direct as a bullet from a gun.
+
+"I beheld the flap of a dress yonder amid those trees; what means it?
+Women are not common in these parts--have you one in your company?"
+
+"We have, my lord," I replied, holding myself to calmness, striving to
+speak with apparent respect for his rank.  "We are four, altogether;
+one has his wife along to cook for us."
+
+"You are voyaging from New Orleans?"
+
+"Nay; from the savannahs of Red River, where we enjoyed a good season
+of sport."
+
+"You are French?"
+
+"A natural guess, yet a wrong one, Señor.  I am of English blood."
+
+"_Saprista_! 't is a beast of a nation!  I like not that such as you
+should be here.  I will call some of my men and visit your camp."  He
+spoke sternly, taking a step backward as if about to seek his
+companions.  "The tale you tell may be true enough, yet these are
+troublous days along the river, and my orders are strict against
+permitting any to pass unsearched."
+
+My hands clinched hard around the gun-barrel for a swing, while I
+braced my body for a leap forward, yet held back from such desperate
+action, making hazard of one more effort to draw him out.
+
+"I have met soldiers of Spain before, my lord," I said, speaking the
+words with deference, yet managing to inject sufficient tinge of
+sarcasm to the tone, "yet never previously found them so fearful of a
+stray hunter's camp as not to dare approach it without a guard of armed
+men.  My companions yonder are asleep, excepting the woman; we are only
+three, and of peaceful life.  You would discover nothing except warm
+welcome at our fire."
+
+I caught the quick responsive smile lighting his hard, thin face,
+observing how suddenly awakened pride and contempt combined to curl his
+upturned moustache.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed gayly, with a derisive wave of the hand, "so you
+suppose it is from fear I proposed calling others to accompany me!
+_Caramba_! 'tis well you put your suspicion in no stronger words.  But
+stay; I trust not altogether the truth of your tale.  Saints' love! a
+soldier can place faith only in what he sees--yet your face is frank
+and simple enough, and, as you say, there are but three of you, besides
+the woman.  I did mark that much from yonder tree.  It will be small
+risk to one of my experience in arms, and my men sleep in weariness.
+Lead on, fellow, yet do not forget I wear this sword for use, not show."
+
+With muttered thanksgiving at my possessing so honest a countenance,
+and a blessing on the Spaniard's pride, I turned back, beginning to
+retrace my steps along the narrow ridge, never deigning to glance
+across my shoulder, yet confident he was close behind.  Every
+additional step I inveigled him from his camp was to my advantage, nor
+would I permit him to feel suspicion on my part, as fearlessness was
+certain to beget confidence, and my final plan of action was already
+made.  We thus passed the spot where I had climbed the steep bank, and
+were, to the best of my memory, some twenty yards beyond the
+hiding-place of my boat, when the ridge widened, a thick fringe of
+low-growing trees completely shutting out all view of the water.  It
+was a likely spot enough, having firm ground under-foot, with
+sufficient room for a royal struggle, and here I determined to try a
+passage-at-arms with my burly antagonist.  It was useless to hope for
+surprise.  He was an old soldier dogging my steps, doubtless eying my
+every motion, his own hand hard gripping his sword hilt, ready to cut
+me down did slightest need arise.  No; it must be foot to foot, eye to
+eye, a club of steel against the dancing blade; yet I felt the strange
+contest would not prove unfair, for he was a man not as agile as in
+years agone, while his armor of proof, valuable as it might be in the
+turning of a sword thrust, would be more burden than protection against
+my rifle-stock.
+
+"Señor," I said, in studied courtesy, stopping suddenly and confronting
+him, "I have hunted across this wilderness more than one season, and
+dislike greatly being estopped now by Spanish decree.  Nor do I
+comprehend your right in this matter.  Have you warrant for opposing
+our peaceful passage to the Ohio?"
+
+He stared at me in undisguised amazement at my boldness, a grim smile
+on his hard, set face.
+
+"Ay!  I have, fellow," he finally retorted angrily, tapping his hilt.
+"'Tis in this scabbard at my side."
+
+"Then draw it, Señor," I exclaimed, throwing forward my long rifle
+menacingly.  "And may God stand with the better man."
+
+I have a conception that at the moment he believed he was being fronted
+by a crazed man, yet there was in my face an expression quickly
+teaching him otherwise, and, with a swift twist, he flashed his sword
+forth into the sunlight, standing on guard.
+
+"_Por Baco_!" he growled savagely, "you must be little better than a
+fool to hoist that club.  It will give me pleasure to teach you better
+manners toward a grandee of Spain."
+
+"Grandee, or not," I retorted, angered at his implied contempt, "I may
+teach you a trick, Señor, with that same club, never learned in your
+Spanish fencing-schools."
+
+It was swift, intense fighting from the word, he proving past-master of
+his weapon, yet my stiff rifle-barrel was no mean defence against his
+lighter blade, with a reach preventing his point touching my body, and
+sufficient weight to bear down the thin, murderous steel whenever the
+two came into contact.  It had been long practice with me, having
+picked up the pretty trick from a French zouave when I was a boy, so I
+swung the iron as if it were a single-stick; and, in truth, I know of
+no better fence against the stroke of a straight sword, although
+fencing-masters, I have heard, make light of it.  Nevertheless it was
+new experience to this Spaniard, and it did me good to note how it
+angered the fellow to be held back by such a weapon.  He made such
+stress to press in behind my guard that he began to pant like a man
+running a hard race.  Nor did I venture to strike a blow in return,
+for, in simple truth, this soldier kept me busier with parry and feint
+than any swordsman before, while he tried every trick of his trade, not
+a few of them strange to me.  So I bided my time, confident he must
+make an opening for fit return if he kept up such furious attack, and
+thus, with retreat and advance, hack and guard, thrust and parry, we
+tramped up a wide bit of ground, while there was no sound of the
+struggle, except our hard breathing, with now and then a fierce curse
+from him as his flashing steel nicked on my gun-barrel, or flew off
+into thin air just as he thought to send its deadly point home.
+
+Such fighting is wearing even to seasoned nerves, and the dazzle of the
+sun bothered my eyes, yet he had pressed me back scarcely more than a
+couple of yards when his dancing blade slipped stealthily up my brown
+barrel, suddenly nipping the loose sleeve of my doublet.  As it pricked
+into the cloth, scraping the skin of my forearm, I let the fellow have
+the end of the muzzle full in the side.  It was not the best spot for
+such a thrust, nor could I give it proper force, yet I think it cracked
+a rib, from the way the Spaniard drew back, and the sudden pallor of
+his face; indeed, so ghastly white he got, I thought him done for, and
+lowered my barrel carelessly.  He was more of a man than I had reckoned
+on, or else his pride made him averse to accepting defeat, for with one
+quick spring, like a wounded tiger, he was inside my guard, his ugly
+point rasping into me just beneath the shoulder.  Saint Andrew!  It was
+an awkward touch, especially as the tough steel held, the punctured
+flesh burning like fire; but fortunately the fellow was in too great
+pain himself to press his advantage, and, as we clinched and went down
+together, I chanced to be on top, throttling him with right good-will.
+
+That which followed was but a small matter, yet I left him there,
+waiting the discovery of his comrades, in as comfortable a posture as
+possible, confident he could give no alarm.  That Spaniard was a brave
+man, and I have ever had respect for such.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+WE CHANGE OUR COURSE
+
+My attempt to recross the river proved difficult.  I had lost no small
+amount of blood from my wound, which, besides weakening me, had so
+stiffened my right shoulder as to render any strain upon the oars a
+constant pain.  Yet the excitement nerved me to the effort, and,
+crushing down weakness by sheer force of will, I drove the heavy boat
+straight through the low, overhanging bushes on to the soft mud of the
+bank.  Before I could arise to my feet Madame was standing beside the
+dripping prow, her great eyes staring at the blood stains discoloring
+my doublet.
+
+"You are hurt!" she exclaimed, her lips white with apprehension.  "I
+beg you tell me, is it a serious wound?"
+
+"Nay, the merest scratch, Madame," I answered hastily, for it added to
+my pain to mark such anxiety in her face.  "Not worthy your thought,
+but I will ask you to call the others at once, and have them load
+everything into the boat without delay.  I will await you here, as I
+find myself weak from loss of blood."
+
+She stood gazing intently at me, as if she read my most secret
+thoughts; and no doubt my face was sufficiently white to alarm her, yet
+I smiled back into her eyes, and she turned away, running lightly up
+the bank.  Nor was she long away, or noisy in her mission, scarcely a
+minute having elapsed before the three came trooping down to the
+water-side, their hands laden with camp utensils, De Noyan wide awake
+enough, and filled with intense interest in my adventures, but the
+Puritan yet cock-eyed from sleep, stumbling as he walked like a man in
+a dream.
+
+"Take the oars, both of you," I said quietly, totally ignoring the
+question in the eyes of the Chevalier.  "I have tasted a sword point,
+and am weakened from loss of blood.  Pull up the stream, and be swift
+and quiet about it."
+
+"Hast thou been smitten of the Philistine, friend Benteen?" loudly
+questioned Cairnes, stumbling noisily across the seats.
+
+"Time enough to tell my story when we are beyond danger," I returned
+tartly, annoyed by his awkwardness.  "If you utter another word before
+we are around yonder headland, I will have De Noyan hoist you
+overboard."
+
+I saw him glance askance at the unconscious Chevalier as if mentally
+calculating his ability to perform the feat.  Then his glinting gray
+eyes swept the sodden shore as though vaguely wondering what it was we
+fled from in such unseemly haste.  Nor did I long withdraw my own
+anxious gaze from that north bank, until we rounded the bend in the
+stream, and were safely removed from view of any one below.  I was able
+to mark no sign of life along the ridge, my faith reviving that the
+Spanish sailors yet slept soundly, while as to their irate commander, I
+had trussed him with a thoroughness which left me confident.  Feeling
+reassured I finally yielded to Eloise's entreaties, laying bare my
+breast and permitting Madame to wash away the clotted blood and apply
+such bandages as might easily be procured.  She was extremely gentle
+about it; but I marvelled somewhat at the trembling of her white
+fingers and the pallor of her face, for it was not a bad wound, De
+Noyan hesitating not to make light of it, although he acknowledged it
+was a strong wrist which drove the tuck in.  Anyway, what with the
+reaction and the loss of blood, I lay back quite spent, telling over
+briefly those incidents that had occurred to me while they slept.
+
+"And now," I said, addressing the Puritan, who was seated at the
+bow-oar, where I could see nothing of him except the bobbing of his red
+crop, "how do you know this stream makes a circuit and approaches the
+mouth of the Ohio?  It beareth a little to the west of north here."
+
+"It was the Spanish captain camping here as I passed down," he
+answered, speaking abominably through his nose.  "They called him
+Castellane, a little fellow, with pop-eyes, who pretended to light his
+pipe from my hair.  He pointed it out upon a map some black-frocked
+papist had drawn.  It was plain enough to the eye, but 'tis likely they
+lied, for they were all spawns of Satan."
+
+"True or false," I commented coolly, "we seem likely to find out.  I
+have also heard somewhere--no doubt in the Illinois country--about a
+northern trend to this stream, and one thing is certain, there is no
+hope for us otherwise; there can be no running those guard-lines back
+yonder."
+
+"Do you mean we push on up this river?" broke in De Noyan, who had
+managed to make something out of our conversation, especially as the
+Puritan illustrated his knowledge by rudely tracing with a stumped
+forefinger a map on the board where he sat.  "_Sacre_! 'tis the
+dirtiest red slough ever I navigated.  Why not try the other thing?  A
+brush with those gentlemen below would be more to my taste."
+
+"Ay, Master Benteen," boomed Cairnes with pious emphasis, reading the
+meaning of the other through his French gestures.  "Methinks the Lord
+of Hosts would assuredly strengthen the hearts of His servants for such
+a fray.  How many, friend, do you suppose they number, those unwashed
+sons of Belial?"
+
+"I can only guess.  There were twelve oars in the boat passing us on
+the lower river, while four others sat with guns in their hands;
+besides these are the Marquis de Serrato and the Capuchin priest,
+making a total of eighteen, all of whom we must reckon upon as being
+fighting men at a pinch."
+
+"Faith, merely enough to make the affair of interest," muttered De
+Noyan, as I explained my words to him.  "Hardly enough even by your
+count, as the officer nurses a cracked rib, while the priest would
+prove of small moment when it came to blows.  I am for bearing down
+upon the knaves in sudden onset; it will require but a crack or two ere
+the villains let us by."
+
+"May the God of Battles place me within fair stroke of that accursed
+gray-backed emissary of Rome," snorted the Puritan, his red hair erect.
+"I promise, Master Benteen, to smite as did David at Goliath."
+
+I gazed uneasily about from where I lay at the feet of Madame, only to
+perceive her eyes resting upon me as if she waited anxiously my
+decision.
+
+"Do not suppose," she said quickly as our glances met, "that I shall
+shrink from the peril of encounter.  If it is best, you may trust me to
+do whatsoever may become a daughter of France."
+
+"Nor do we question it, Madame," I returned warmly, noting the
+unrestrained flash of pride leaping into the careless eyes of her
+husband at these brave words.  "But to invite such conflict in our
+present condition would be sheer madness.  There are only two men among
+us, for I am but half a man, the rapier thrust has robbed me of so
+large an amount of blood; nor do we possess fit weapons to wage battle
+against so well-armed a company as blocks our passage.  De Noyan sports
+his straight sword, which would be well wielded at close quarters; I
+possess my rifle, with small store of powder and ball, all of which are
+likely to be needed to save us from starving in this wilderness; while
+Cairnes here might indeed prove a strong arm with the tuck I brought
+back with me, yet probably knows nothing of the secrets of thrust and
+parry.  Pish! 'tis not worth thinking about.  Pit such an outfit as
+this against eighteen well-armed men,--for the Marquis can shoot for
+all his cracked rib, nor do I doubt the fighting qualities of the
+priest,--and the venture becomes too difficult for parley.  Nay,"
+warming up as I noted the hot-headed gallant preparing for speech, "nor
+is this all we should have to contend with.  Above, along the upper
+river, there are at least three other expeditions of Spanish soldiery.
+They are warned of De Noyan's escape, already guarding every junction.
+Suppose we succeeded--which in itself would be a miracle--in cutting
+our way out from here, could we hope to distance a twelve-oared boat
+racing against the current, or escape a clash with those others?  I
+know the difference between a bold dash and the utter foolhardiness
+such a hopeless venture as this would be."
+
+"_Sacre_! you appear strangely over-cautious all at once," and I
+detected a covert sneer in the Chevalier's low, drawling tone.  "The
+Spaniard's blade must have let out the best of your blood.  Were you a
+soldier, now, instead of a mere forest rover, the odds you mention
+would only serve to stir you into action."
+
+"Pardon, Monsieur," I said quietly, holding my temper, "it may be I
+have seen harder service than some who boast loudly their soldiership.
+It requires more than a gay dress, with some skill in the
+fencing-schools, to make a soldier in my country, nor do I believe you
+will ever find me lagging when a proper time comes to strike blows."
+
+"So I supposed until now; yet 'tis evident you would have us continue
+toiling for weeks against this foul current rather than strike one
+quick blow, and be free from the mess."
+
+"Nay, Monsieur," my voice coming stern in rebuke of his rashness, "you
+are wrong.  You know perfectly well, De Noyan, I risk my life readily
+as any man in a good cause.  I have ranged the woods since boyhood,
+long accustomed to border broil and battle--there is scarcely an Indian
+trail between the Great Lakes and the country of the Creeks I have not
+followed either in peace or war.  I have faced savage foemen in battle,
+and crossed steel with those of your own school, and although I may
+wear no glittering gold lace, nor sport a title with which to dazzle
+the imagination of a girl, yet the man venturing to sneer at my
+courage, either amid the wilderness, or in the town, makes answer for
+the speech, whenever I come to my strength again."
+
+"Always at your service, Monsieur," he murmured gently, "with the
+greatest pleasure."
+
+"Very well then," I went on, barely noting his words, yet marking the
+look of distress on the face of his young wife, and despising him for
+it.  "Understand this, Monsieur--we make no battle here, whether it
+suit your hot-brained desires or not.  I dragged you from the jaws of
+death at the request of her who sits in silence yonder.  I will never
+consent that your rashness now draw her into the peril of such a
+_mêlée_ as the attempt to run that gantlet.  Cairnes,"--I turned to
+face the Puritan, sitting all this time with open mouth listening to
+our quarrel, yet scarcely comprehending a word that passed,--"this gay
+French cockerel would throw us against those eighteen men below, to
+fight our way from here to the Ohio, as if the Spaniards between were
+so many buzzing mosquitoes, and you are not greatly averse to trying
+that same experiment."
+
+"It would be a godly and pious service to smite so black and Papist a
+crew."
+
+"No doubt of that; yet, Master Cairnes, you are scarcely the sort who
+would involve a lady in such broil, when, if we escaped at first, the
+chances are we should have wounded to care for, or, perchance, be
+prisoners borne southward under Spanish guard--a contingency not
+over-pleasant, I imagine, to a preacher of your faith."
+
+I saw him twist his little eyes as if in petition for guidance, while
+he ran his hand nervously through his red hair before venturing a reply.
+
+"It must ever be as the Lord wills, friend Benteen," he returned
+soberly, De Noyan surveying the fellow as he might some strange animal
+whose ways he did not understand.  "I am not one to draw back my hand
+once upon the plough.  Yet I have found you of a level and cool head in
+matters of judgment, and it is meet we exercise due care over this rare
+flower of womanhood who shares our dangers.  I like not the hard pull
+up this swift current," he cast anxious eyes at the swirling stream.
+"It is not clear into what additional peril it may lead, nor do I feel
+gifted at the oars, now the provisions bid fair to become somewhat
+scant."
+
+I waited for no more.
+
+"The Puritan sufficiently agrees with me," I announced to De Noyan
+firmly.  "We will pull on up this stream until we learn its true trend,
+and are beyond Spanish overhauling.  It will be best to lose no time in
+placing a good stretch of water behind us."
+
+During this controversy our boat had drifted against the southern bank,
+its side softly scraping the mud, its bow entangled amid the roots of
+an overhanging bush.  To my surprise the Chevalier, instead of picking
+up his oar, grasped a bit of the projecting root, and, sword dangling
+after him, coolly stepped forth upon dry land.
+
+"You and your cursed canting preacher can do as you please," he
+announced carelessly, staring down at us, "but if you desire to retain
+me as one of this interesting party, you will wait until I return."
+
+"Surely, man, you do not propose attacking the Spaniards single-handed?
+This is sheer madness."
+
+He laughed lightly at the look of consternation on my face, twisting
+his moustache between his white fingers, his good humor instantly
+restored.
+
+"Nay, most valiant hunter of game," he returned gayly.  "_Le diable_!
+you appear as horrified as your hellfire friend yonder at sight of a
+crucifix.  _Sacre_!  I am not such a fool.  I know when the odds are
+too great, even although I wear a uniform.  Still, should I chance to
+meet obstruction during my ramble, it is not likely I shall run from it
+without a pass or two.  I merely return to our camp, and will be back
+presently, if naught unpleasant occur."
+
+"Our camp?  You deliberately venture your life, and ours as well, from
+mere bravado?"
+
+"_Bravado_!  _Sacre_! you do wrong to use such term.  'T is of far
+greater moment than that--I seek the curling iron I have just missed
+from out my toilet-bag.  I mind me now I laid it beside the tree while
+I slept."
+
+Before I could recover speech to stay him, he vanished into the thick
+cane.  It was a difficult task to make the practical-headed old Puritan
+comprehend the nature of his quest, and when it slowly dawned upon him
+for what trivial matter the Frenchman undertook so desperate a journey,
+there came across his seamed and withered face so odd a look of
+complete disgust, I laughed outright in my nervousness, discovering
+some slight response in the amused eyes or Madame.  It proved a good
+hour before the Chevalier returned, somewhat bedraggled of attire, yet
+with his prize dangling at the belt, and dropped wearily upon a seat
+within the boat.
+
+"'Tis time to move," he answered, responding to my look of inquiry.
+"They were at the camp when I left; and appeared in ill humor, from
+what little I could understand of their Spanish mouthings.  They had
+just released the noble Marquis from where you trussed him upon the
+rock, and his language has given me a headache."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+WE MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT
+
+I find it poor work transcribing so much regarding myself in recounting
+these small adventures, yet how else may I tell the story rightly?
+This all occurred so long ago the young man of whom I write seems
+hardly the same old man who puts pen to paper.  The impression grows
+upon me that I merely narrate incidents which befell a friend I once
+knew, but who has long since passed from my vision.
+
+It was wearying work, toiling up the muddy Arkansas, and in the end
+disastrous.  Occasionally, for miles at a stretch, our hearts were
+gladdened by a curve toward the northward, yet we drew westerly so much
+we became fearful lest the Jesuit had made false report on the main
+course of the stream.  Every league plunged us deeper into strange,
+desolate country, until we penetrated regions perhaps never before
+looked upon by men of our race.  The land became more attractive, the
+sickly marsh giving place to wide, undulating plains richly decorated
+with wild grasses, abloom with flowers, bordered by a thick fringe of
+wood.  Toward the end of our journeying by boat, after we had passed
+two cliffs upreared above the water, the higher rising sheer for two
+hundred feet, we perceived to the northward vast chains of hills rising
+in dull brown ridges against the sky-line, seemingly crowned with rare
+forest growth to their very summits.  During all these days and nights
+in only two things could we deem ourselves fortunate--we discovered no
+signs of roving savages, while wild animals were sufficiently numerous
+to supply all our needs.
+
+Three days' journey beyond the great cliff--for we voyaged now during
+the daylight, making camp at nightfall--I became convinced of the utter
+futility of further effort.  By this time I had recovered sufficiently
+from my wound to assume a share of labor at the oars, and was pulling
+that afternoon, so my eyes could glance past the fiery red crop of the
+Puritan, who held the after-oar, to where the Captain and Madame rested
+in the stern.  I remarked De Noyan's dissatisfied stare along the
+featureless shore we skirted, and the lines of care and trouble
+becoming daily more manifest upon Madame's face.  Thus studying the
+two, I cast about in my own mind for some possible plan of escape.
+
+They had been conversing together in low tones, so low, indeed, no
+words reached me, while the preacher knew nothing of the language
+employed.  Nevertheless I could guess its purport.  It was sufficiently
+clear to all of us that we merely wasted strength longer breasting the
+swift current of this river, and were constantly drawing farther from
+our goal.  Yet I was of proud spirit in those days, finding it not easy
+to swallow my hastily spoken words, so I continued to pull steadily at
+the heavy oars, not seeing clearly how best to conquer myself, confess
+my former mistake, and advise retreat.  Fortunately a stronger
+influence than false pride urged me to action.  Marking again how sadly
+Eloise drooped her sobered face above the water, it put the heart of a
+man in me to acknowledge my error, offering such amends as were still
+possible.
+
+It seems simple enough, yet it was not so small a struggle, nor did I
+fully win the battle over stubbornness until the gray of evening began
+wrapping about us hazy folds of cloud, the time coming when we must
+seek suitable night camp.  It was then I found tongue, even while
+glancing across my shoulder, through the shadows, searching for a
+landing-place.  As if all this were yesterday, I recall the scene.
+Everything swam in the gray haze, which, settling across the water,
+shut off from view much of the land.  We were nearly abreast of where a
+smaller stream came leaping down from the right to hurl its clear
+current far out into the muddy river.  So rapid was this discharge, the
+waters about us were thrown into turmoil, tossing our boat like a cork,
+causing Madame to grasp the rail nervously.  Its narrow mouth was
+partially concealed by overhanging shrubbery, so we were well within
+the sweep of its invading waters before I could conjecture the force
+with which it came.  Through the dim light, confusing to the eyes, I
+sought to peer ahead.  The hills, huddled much closer to the shore,
+appeared rough in their rocky outlines, while the heavy underbrush,
+clinging tightly to the water-side, offered nothing in the way of a
+suitable camping-spot.  Beyond the tumultuous sweep of this northern
+tributary, however, I discovered a considerable patch of grass,
+overshadowed by giant trees, and there I made selection of the spot
+which should complete our upward voyage.
+
+"Steer us in toward yonder green bank, Madame," I called to Eloise,
+"where you see that group of trees through the fog.  God willing, it
+shall prove our last camp before we turn east and south once more."
+
+It did my heart good to observe the sudden brightening of her face at
+these words of promise, as if they came in direct answer to prayer.  I
+understood then how weary she was with our toll, how cruel I had been
+to hold her so long at it.  She had given utterance to no complaint;
+even now, it was not her voice which welcomed my decision.  It was the
+Chevalier, seldom failing in ready speech, whose careless tongue rasped
+me with quick retort.
+
+"Ah, so you have really come to your senses, Benteen," he cried
+eagerly.  "I thought it would not be much longer after you were able to
+get grip upon an oar.  Our red-headed friend has slow tongue of late,
+yet I warrant he has little love for such man-killing work; so a
+turn-about will be the vote of us all.  Saint Anne! 'tis the happiest
+word to ring in my ears since this cursed trip began."
+
+Nothing tests the innate quality of a man like the wilderness.  However
+bold of heart, if every utterance is a complaint he will prove a
+constant hardship.  I doubted not both De Noyan and the Puritan would
+show themselves true men if emergency confronted us; but in the daily
+plodding routine of travel the Chevalier gave way to little worries,
+jerking along in the harness of necessity like an ill-broken colt;
+while Cairnes, who pulled steadily in sullen discontent, was much the
+better comrade of the two.
+
+"Call it what you please," I answered shortly, never removing my gaze
+from the pleased face of Madame, thus keeping better control over my
+tongue.  "I have become convinced the map of the Jesuit priest lied,
+and this stream runs not northward.  It is useless pushing any farther."
+
+"Where, then?"
+
+"Back, of course.  To drift down-stream will be easy now we know
+something of the current.  We return to the junction of the rivers,
+where we left the Spaniards--'tis hardly probable they are still there;
+but if they are, then we must trust to our stout arms, and have faith
+in the right.------  By heavens!  Cairnes, what mean you?  Damme, man,
+would you overturn the boat?"
+
+This hasty word of expostulation had hardly left my lips before the
+Puritan scuttled clumsily overboard, his red hair cropping out of the
+seething water like a rare growth of fungus.  Another instant, and the
+full shock of that racing current struck our bow, hurling it about as
+if the trembling boat were an eggshell.  Over him we went, his pudgy
+fingers digging vainly for some holding-place along the slippery
+planks, his eyes staring up in terror.
+
+"For God's sake, cling tight, Eloise!"
+
+I heard this shout of warning from De Noyan as he fell backward into
+the water, which, luckily, was scarcely above his waist.  Helpless to
+prevent the plunge, I joined company at the bow, going down well over
+my head without finding footing, and coming to the surface face to face
+with the Puritan, who was spluttering out river water and scraps of
+Calvinistic speech, striving madly to lay hold on some portion of the
+boat, now spinning away on the swift flood.  It was no time to seek
+explanation from any man wrathful as Cairnes appeared to be, so I
+devoted my attention to doing the one thing left us,--keeping the crazy
+craft upright to save Madame and the cargo.  Nor was this an easy task.
+Seldom have I breasted such angry, boiling surge as beat against
+us--there was no fronting it for those of us beyond our depths, while
+even De Noyan, making a manful struggle, was forced slowly back into
+deeper water, where he floundered helpless as the rest.  It spun us
+about like so many tops, until I heard a great crunching of timbers,
+accompanied by a peculiar rasping which caused my heart to stop its
+pulsation.  All at once the heavy bow swung around.  Caught by it, I
+was hurled flat against the face of a black rock, and squeezed so
+tightly between stone and planking I thought my ribs must crack.
+
+It was then I noted Cairnes, struggling just beyond me, reaching
+backward with his foot until he found purchase against the stone, then
+lifting his great crop to gaze about, sweeping the moisture from his
+eyes.  He braced one mighty shoulder against the boat's side, with such
+a heave as I never supposed lay in the muscles of any man; swung that
+whole dead weight free of the rock, and ere the dancing craft, we
+clinging desperately to it, had made two circles in the mad boiling, I
+felt my feet strike bottom, and stood upright, ready to do my share
+again.
+
+"Are you safe, Madame?" I questioned anxiously, for I could see no
+signs of her presence from where I stood, and she uttered no sound.
+
+"I am uninjured," she returned, "but the boat takes water freely.  I
+fear a plank has given way."
+
+"_Parbleu_!" sputtered De Noyan, with a great sound of coughing.  "So
+have I taken water freely.  _Sacre_!  I have gulped down enough of the
+stuff to last me the remainder of life."
+
+"Hold your wit until we are safe ashore, Monsieur," I commented
+shortly, for as I stood the strain was heavy on my arms.  "Push toward
+the right, both of you, or the boat will sink before we can beach her;
+she takes water like a sieve."
+
+We slowly won our way backward, the effort requiring every pound of our
+combined strength, De Noyan and I tugging breathlessly at the stern,
+the sectary doing yeoman service at the bow.  Yet the effort told,
+bringing us into quieter water, although we upbore the entire weight of
+the boat on our shoulders after we made firm footing.  The water poured
+in so rapidly Madame was for going overboard also, but we persuaded her
+to remain.  Anyway, we drove the prow against the bank at last, and, as
+I rested, panting from exertion, I observed the others dragging
+themselves wearily ashore, Cairnes was a sight, with his great mat of
+red hair soaked with black mud, which had oozed down over his face, so
+as to leave it almost unrecognizable.  He shook himself like a shaggy
+water-dog after a bath, flinging himself down full length with a growl.
+De Noyan fared somewhat better, coming ashore with a smile, even
+trolling the snatch of a song as he climbed the bank, but his gay
+military cap, without which, jauntily perched upon one side of his
+head, I had scarcely before seen him, had gone floating down-stream,
+and the fierce upward curl of his long moustachios had vanished.  They
+hung now limp, leaving so little _à la militaire_ in his appearance
+that I had to smile, noting the look of surprise in Madame's eyes as he
+gallantly assisted her to the dry grass, before flinging himself flat
+for a breathing spell.
+
+"God guide us!" I exclaimed, so soon as I could trust myself to speak.
+"This is a hard ending to all our toil, nor do I understand how it came
+about."
+
+"_Sacre_!" commented De Noyan, glancing across at the fellow.  "It
+looked to me as if yonder canting preacher either was taken with a fit,
+or sought to make ending here of two papists."
+
+I turned to face the grim-faced sectary, still too thoroughly winded by
+his late exertions to try the lift of a Psalm.
+
+"See here, sirrah," I began angrily in English, "perhaps you will
+explain what sort of a Connecticut trick you attempted to play there in
+the current?"
+
+He twisted his narrow eyes in my direction, apparently studying the
+full meaning of my words before venturing an answer.
+
+"I know not what you mean, friend," he returned at last, in that deep
+booming voice of his.  "Did I not perform my work with the best of ye?"
+
+"Ay, you were man enough after we went overboard, but why, in the name
+of all the fiends, did you make so foul a leap, bringing us into such
+imminent peril?"  The gleam of his eyes was no longer visible, but I
+marked the rise of his great shoulders, his voice rumbling angrily,
+like distant thunder, as he made reply.
+
+"Why did I make the leap, you unregenerated infidel, you thick-headed
+heretic?  Why did I?  Better were I to ask why you ran the boat's nose
+into that bubbling hell.  Why did I?  What else saved us losing every
+pound we carried, together with the woman, you cock-eyed spawn of the
+devil, only that Ezekiel Cairnes possessed sufficient sense to throw
+himself in the way, upbearing the bulk of the strain?  The water was
+somewhat deeper than I supposed, and my feet found no bottom, yet 't
+was the best thing to do, and the only hope of steadying the boat.
+Better for you and that grinning papist yonder to be on your knees
+thanking the Almighty He sent you a man this day, than lie there like
+so many hooked cods, gasping for breath with which to abuse one of the
+Lord's anointed.  Yet 'tis but righteous judgment visited upon me for
+consorting with papists and unbelievers."
+
+Feeling the possible justice of his claim I hastened to make amends to
+the wrathful and worthy man.
+
+"You may be right," I admitted slowly.  "Certainly we will return
+thanks for deliverance each in his own way.  As for me, I greatly
+regret having mistrusted your act.  Perhaps it was best, yet I think we
+have small chance ever to use this boat again.  It appears badly
+injured.  However, we must await daylight to note the damage.  In the
+meantime, let us make shift to camp; a hot fire will dry our limbs and
+clothing, and put us in better humor for the morrow."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A HARD DAY'S MARCH
+
+The dawn came with rosy promise of a fair day, a frost lying white over
+the grass-land, sufficient nip in the air to stir the blood.  Before
+the others were aroused I examined the boat, which rested high in the
+mud where we had heaved it the evening previous.  The cruel rent in the
+solid planking was such as to afford little hope of our ever being able
+to repair it.  How the accident occurred I did not rightly comprehend,
+but we had been cast ashore on the western bank of that swift
+maelstrom.  In the light of dawn, I gazed forth upon the whirlpool
+extending between the rock against which we had struck and the bank
+where I stood, in speechless wonder at the miracle of our rescue.
+Standing there in silence broken only by the wild tumult of the waters,
+I thought of Eloise tossed helpless in their merciless grip, and bowed
+my head humbly above the shattered boat, offering up a heartfelt
+petition.  I was not in those days a man of prayer, yet the germ of my
+father's robust faith was ever in my blood, and love teaches many a
+good lesson.  Certainly I felt better within my own heart for that
+instant of communion under the paling stars.
+
+My head was yet bowed over the gunwale when the heavy footsteps of the
+Puritan sounded close at hand.  I could not fail to remark a softness
+in his deep voice as he spoke, resting one hand upon my shoulder.
+
+"Thou knowest not, friend Benteen, how it gladdens my old heart to find
+thee before the throne of grace.  I fear thou art not greatly
+accustomed to look up unto God in time of trouble, yet doing so can
+never weaken thy arm for the moment of trial.  Acknowledge the Lord of
+Hosts, nor dream thou wilt ever prove less of a man because thy heart
+responds to His many mercies."
+
+"You speak truly," I returned soberly, feeling a new respect for him in
+that hour.  "There is no better way in which to start the day; and,
+unless my eyes deceive me, this bids fair to prove a day of sore trial.
+Have you looked to the damage done the boat?"
+
+"Nay," he returned earnestly, bending low to examine the rent.  "I
+slept like a man in drink, and even now am scarcely well awakened.  'T
+is, indeed, a serious break, friend; one, I fear, which will prove
+beyond our remedying."
+
+"Have you skill with tools?"
+
+"It is one of my gifts; yet of what use in the wilderness where tools
+are not to be found?  However, I will see what may be done, after we
+break our fast--there is little accomplished working on an empty
+stomach."
+
+It was a morning of sorrowful labor; from the beginning a perfectly
+hopeless one.  The planking had been so badly crushed that a portion
+was actually ground into powder, leaving a great gaping hole.  To patch
+this we possessed no tool to shape the wood properly, or, indeed, any
+wood to shape, except the seats of the oarsmen.  Nor did we possess
+nails.  More than one expedient was resorted to with bits of canvas,
+wooden pegs, or whatsoever else we could lay hands upon, but our
+efforts resulted each time in sickening failure.  At last, long before
+the sun had attained the zenith, the old preacher looked up,
+disappointment written on every line of his rough face, to say grimly:
+
+"We waste toil, friends; the boat floats no more for all our labors.
+Nor do I deem it the will of the Lord we longer continue to wear
+ourselves out in vain effort to undo His work."
+
+He wiped the beads of perspiration from his low forehead, pushing his
+hand through his matted hair.
+
+"Were it not for the woman," he added more cheerfully, "the accident
+would not be so bad either.  I am cramped by long boat service, and
+would welcome a stiff tramp to loosen out the joints of my legs."
+
+I glanced across uneasily at Madame, for we were all seated on the
+grass in the sunshine, but could perceive nothing except encouragement
+in the clear depths of her brave eyes.
+
+"Fear nothing on my account," she said quietly, instantly reading my
+thoughts as if my face were an open book.  "I am strong, and shall not
+greatly mind the walking."
+
+"At least you are strong of heart," I returned gravely.  "But such a
+trip as now lies before us will test your power of endurance greatly.
+Yet what must be done is best done quickly, and there are unpleasant
+memories clustering about this spot, making me anxious to leave it
+before another night.  Let each one speak frankly his thought as to our
+future course, so we may choose the route aright.  De Noyan, you are a
+soldier, accustomed to places of difficulty and peril.  What would you
+suggest?"
+
+He was lying flat upon his back, hands clasped beneath his head, puffs
+of white smoke from his pipe curling lazily up into the blue sky; nor
+did he remove the stem from between his lips as he made easy answer.
+
+"Faith, man, my service on campaign has ever been with the horse; nor
+am I fond of using my own limbs for travelling.  It would be far
+easier, I think, to knock up the old boat here; then, with whatsoever
+else we might find in this God-forsaken wilderness, construct some sort
+of raft to upbear our company, and so drift down with the stream.
+_Parbleu_! it would be a relief from those cursed oars.  If the load be
+too heavy, the preacher can be left behind; 't would be small loss."
+
+"Your plan sounds bravely in words, Chevalier, but were we to attempt
+it, we should soon find ourselves in more serious stress than now,--ay!
+before we had covered the first day's journey.  My Calvinistic friend,
+what advice have you for our guidance?"
+
+The sectary's eyes were fastened upon the ragged line of hills at our
+back, and for the moment he made no response, his seamed face grave
+with thought.
+
+"How far, Master Benteen," he queried finally, "do you make it from
+here to the mouth of this river?"
+
+"Not much short of sixty leagues," I answered, after a bit of thinking.
+"The stream bends and twists so it is difficult to judge the true
+distance."
+
+"It was a grievous journey," he admitted with a groan, "one I care not
+to travel again, unless it be revealed plainly to me as the will of the
+Lord.  I name the distance full seventy leagues.  What has been the
+main direction of our course?"
+
+"To north of west."
+
+"Ay!  Are we, think you, thirty leagues to northward of where we left
+the Spaniards?"
+
+"I should say yes, maybe ten leagues more."
+
+"I doubt the extra ten, but even at thirty it would be foolishness to
+retrace all that hard-won distance merely for the sake of keeping in
+sight of this muddy stream, the very water of which is unfit for
+Christian stomach, and of no value otherwise.  'Tis my vote we strike
+directly east and north, following as straight a trail as possible
+until we find the great river.  It should be as easy travelling as
+along this bank, and will bring us out above the Spanish lines of
+guard."
+
+I know not how long I sat there gazing silently into his impassive
+leathern face, turning over within my own mind the argument of his
+words.  He was neither woodsman nor mountaineer, yet possessed some
+judgment.  Thus considering, I saw but one possible objection to his
+plan--lack of water or of game along the unknown route to be traversed.
+But serious scarcity of either was hardly to be expected at this season
+among the mountains, while the weary leagues of southing thus saved
+would make no small difference in the length and time of our journey.
+
+"It appears to me our best hope," I admitted candidly.  "It will
+involve clambering over rocks, yet yonder range does not appear high,
+nor of a width to keep us long in its shadow; besides, the lower
+reaches of this river are marshy leagues upon leagues, and to my mind
+walking will be easier if we take higher ground.  It is all guesswork
+at the best.  We know how impassable the trail will be below, and, even
+if we retrace our steps down the river, we shall have to make a wide
+detour to cross this mad stream.  But wait; we have heard no word from
+Madame de Noyan."
+
+She also was looking upon those cool, blue hills, apparently close at
+hand, but turned instantly at my addressing her, making quick and
+confident answer.
+
+"My word is only this, Geoffrey Benteen: you are a woodsman, better
+capable of such decision than any woman whose life has been lived
+within the town.  I go cheerfully wheresoever your choice lies."
+
+It has ever been a source of strength to me to be thoroughly trusted by
+some other, and I instantly arose to my feet, feeling a new man under
+the inspiration of these heartsome words.
+
+"Then that matter is decided," I announced, a ring of confidence in my
+voice.  "We will break bread once more, and then commence our journey."
+
+"_Sacre_!" ejaculated the Captain, yet lolling upon his back, "if it be
+like that same biscuit I had an hour since, breaking it will prove no
+small matter."
+
+The blazing sun stood an hour low in the west when we divided our small
+stock of necessaries so as to transport them, and, with merely a last
+regretful glance at the damaged boat which had been our home so long,
+turned our faces hopefully toward those northern hills, commencing a
+journey destined to prove for more than one a trip unto death.  God's
+way is best, and there is a noble purpose in it all; for had we that
+day been enabled to view the future, not a single step would we have
+taken, nor should I have had in my memory a tale worthy of being
+written down.
+
+I led the little company, bearing rifle in hand, keeping vigilant
+outlook for game; De Noyan followed, where he might easily afford aid
+to his wife if she required the strength of his arm along the rough
+path; while the old Puritan, grumbling ever to himself, lumbered along
+well in the rear, although we were careful to keep within speaking
+distance of each other.  We traversed a gently rising slope of grass
+land, with numerous rocks scattered over its surface, keeping as close
+as possible along the bank of the brawling stream, that we might make
+use of its narrow valley through the rocky bluffs, which threatened to
+bar our passage.  These were no great distance away, so a steady
+gait--I set the pace slow not to distress Madame, who was cramped from
+long sitting within the boat--brought us in an hour to where our
+narrowing path was overhung and darkened by the closing in of gloomy
+mountain heights upon either side.  It had an awesome look, like the
+yawning mouth of a cave, opening to intense darkness and mysterious
+danger.  I saw a look almost of terror in Madame's eyes as she gazed,
+yet her lips uttered no protest, and I flung aside a desire to shrink
+back, with a muttered curse at my own folly.  Saint Andrew! it is odd
+how superstition grips the best of us.  Those rock walls, binding us
+within their scant confines as in a prison, were not particularly
+precipitous or high, yet our way was sufficiently perilous, leading
+along a contracted defile, the merest chasm, indeed, steep cliffs
+rising sheer on either side, merely the raging stream and a ribbonlike
+path between.  The slight expanse of sky above was blue and clear, but
+it was sombre and gloomy enough down in that black hollow, where we
+made difficult progress amid loose bowlders.
+
+Where this snake-like ravine widened out slightly we made choice for
+our first camp.  We reached there near the sunset hour, although the
+sun itself had utterly vanished from our view long before, and we moved
+forward amid a semi-darkness most depressing.  On the spot selected the
+towering wall of rock on our side of the little river overhung
+sufficiently to form a comfortable shelter at its base.  I had a goodly
+supply of fresh pine boughs strewn so as to form a soft bed, while the
+Puritan busied himself gathering together ample materials for a fire,
+the reflected light of which caused the deep chasm where we rested to
+appear more gloomy than before, while scurrying night clouds closed us
+in as if imprisoned within a grave.
+
+That evening was not devoted to much conversation.  We were alike
+wearied from our long tramp, heavy-hearted, and strangely depressed by
+the desolate gloom of the rock cavern in which we lay.  Even De Noyan
+yielded to this spirit of brooding and, after a faint effort at forced
+gayety, crept silently to his sleeping-place.  The other two were not
+long in following him.  I was thus left alone to keep the first watch
+of the night.  Four lonelier, more miserable hours I do not remember
+serving at the call of duty.  The round moon crept slowly through the
+black sky, until its soft, silvery beams rested, brighter than daylight
+had been in that gorge, in glowing radiance along the surface of the
+smooth, gleaming wall opposite, yet merely succeeded in rendering more
+weird and uncanny the sombre desolation.  The night wind arose, causing
+the shadows of clinging pines to sway back and forth like spectral
+figures, while a solemn silence, awesome in its intensity, brooded over
+all, broken only by the noise of tumbling water, with occasional
+rasping of boughs against the face of the cliff.  The fire died away
+into a few red embers, occasionally fanned into uncertain flame by
+breaths of air sucked up the gorge.  By the time my guard ended I was
+so thoroughly unstrung that each flitting glimpse of deeper shadow
+tempted me to fire.
+
+It was at midnight, or as close to that hour as I was capable of
+judging, when I aroused De Noyan and crawled into his place on the bed
+of boughs.  I lay there watching him a brief space, as he walked over
+to the stream and plunged his face into the cool water.  The last I
+recall previous to dropping off into deep slumber was how large his
+shadow loomed, silhouetted in the bright moonshine against a huge black
+bowlder directly in my front.
+
+I know not the hour, yet I noted, even in awakening, that the moon had
+already passed from out the narrow ribbon of sky above, although still
+fringing in silver beauty the sharp summit of the crest, when a quick,
+nervous pressure upon my arm awoke me with a start of alarm.  Lying at
+full length, his head uplifted, was De Noyan.
+
+"Keep still, Benteen," he whispered, his voice vibrant with excitement,
+"and look yonder.  In the name of all the fiends, what is that?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+DEMON, OR WHAT?
+
+I have been free from superstitious terror as most men, yet there were
+few in those days who did not yield to the sway of the supernatural.
+Occasionally, among those of higher education, there may have been
+leaders of thought who had shaken off these ghostly chains of the dark
+ages, seeking amid the laws of nature a solution for all the seeming
+mysteries in human life.  Yet it could scarcely be expected a plain
+wood-ranger should rise altogether above the popular spell which still
+made of the Devil a very potent personality.
+
+Consequently, as my anxious eyes uplifted toward the spot where De
+Noyan pointed, it need be no occasion for wonder that my blood turned
+to ice in my veins, and I felt convinced I looked upon His Satanic
+Majesty.  The vast wall of rock, arising a sheer hundred feet directly
+opposite to where we lay, appeared densely black now in the shadow, but
+as my glance swept higher along its irregularity, the upper edge,
+jagged from outcropping stones, stood clearly revealed in the full
+silver sheen of the moon, each exposed line, carven as from marble,
+standing distinctly forth in delicate tracery against the background of
+the night sky.
+
+Appearing to my affrighted eyes the gigantic form of two men strangely
+merged into one, there uprose on that summit a figure so odd, weird,
+and grimly fantastic, it was small wonder I gazed, never thinking it
+could be other than the Evil One.  It was unclothed from head to heel,
+and, gleaming ghastly white beneath the moonbeams, it brought no Indian
+suggestion to mind.  High above the head, causing the latter to appear
+hideously deformed, arose something the nature of which I could not
+rightly judge.  It reminded me of a vast mat of hair sticking directly
+upward, ever waving back and forth to the breath of the night wind.
+Nor did this horrid figure remain one moment still.  There upon the
+very edge of the precipice, it would leap high into the air, flinging
+aloft long gaunt arms, even appearing to float bodily forth into the
+space above us, to disappear instantly, like some phantom of
+imagination, amid the shrouding gloom of those rock shadows--flitting
+swiftly, and as upon wings, along the crest; now showing directly in
+our front, looming like a threatening giant, mocking with wild, furious
+gestures; then dancing far to right or left, a vague shade in the
+sheen, a mere nothing in the shadow, yet ever returning, the same
+weird, unnatural, spectral figure, wildly gyrating upon the air,
+leering down upon our speechless misery.
+
+My eyes, wide-opened by terror, followed these movements, marking this
+ghastly shape.  I listened vainly for the slightest sound to connect it
+with aught human.  The mantle of the night's solemn silence, the dread
+stillness of wilderness solitudes, rested everywhere.  I heard the
+mournful sighing of the wind amid jagged rocks and among the swaying
+branches of the cedars; the dull roar of the little river, even the
+stentorian breathing of the Puritan lying asleep behind us, but that
+was all.  That hideous apparition dancing so madly along the cliff
+summit emitted no sound of foot or voice--yet there it hung, foreboding
+evil, gesticulating in mockery; a being too hideous for earth, ever
+playing the mad antics of a fiend.
+
+My gaze rested questioningly upon De Noyan's upturned face, and saw it
+ghost-like in lack of color, drawn and haggard.  Mine no doubt was the
+same, for never have I felt such uncontrollable horror as that which,
+for the moment, fairly paralyzed me in brain and limb.  It is the
+mysterious that appals brave men, for who of earth might hope to
+struggle against the very fiends of the air?
+
+"_Mon Dieu_!" whispered my comrade, his voice shaking as if from an
+ague fit.  "Is it not Old Nick himself?"
+
+"If not," I answered, my words scarce steadier, "then some one must
+tell me what; never before did I gaze on such a sight.  Has it been
+there long?"
+
+"I know not whence it came, or how.  I was not watching the crest.
+After I bathed at the stream to open my eyes better, I began
+overhauling the commissary for a bite with which to refresh the inner
+man.  I was sitting yonder, my back against the big stone, munching
+away contentedly, humming the words of a song to keep me awake, when I
+chanced to glance up to mark the position of the moon, and there that
+hell's imp danced in the sheen as he has been dancing ever since.
+_Sacre_! it was the bravest deed of my life to crawl here and awaken
+you; the devilish thing did charm me as a snake does a bird."
+
+The mere sound of human speech put new heart into me, yet I found it
+difficult to avert my eyes from that fantastic figure.
+
+"If that is the Devil," I said more composedly, still enthralled by the
+baleful presence, "surely we have neither of us done so much evil as to
+make us especially his victims."
+
+As I concluded these words, my courage creeping back, a sudden rustling
+among the pines at our back startled us to glance around.  Out of the
+gloom of the rock shelter a figure uplifted itself on all fours, and
+the faint light of a star glimmered directly down upon an upraised,
+terror-stricken face.  Before either De Noyan or myself could mutter a
+hasty warning, the half-awakened preacher sent his great, gruff voice
+booming out into the air:
+
+"O Lord God of Israel deliver Thy servant from destruction and the
+clutch of the Evil One.  O Lord God of----"
+
+I flung myself on him, clutching his brawny throat, throttling his
+speech into a vain gurgle.  The fellow made so fierce a struggle,
+mistaking me for an assistant of the fiend, my fierce hold was jerked
+loose, and I was hurled heavily backward at full length upon the
+stones, striking with no pleasant force upon my shoulder.
+
+"Verily have I overcome the Devil by Thy strength, O Lord!" he began
+fervently.
+
+"Be still, you red-headed Connecticut fool," I commanded sharply, now
+thoroughly aroused.  "Stop, or I 'll drive into you a leaden slug to
+silence that blundering tongue of yours for good and all.  Get up from
+your knees there, and play the man.  If needs be you must pray, keep
+grip on that bull voice of yours."
+
+"It makes small odds now," chimed in De Noyan with easier tone.  "The
+Devil, or what, has disappeared from the rock."
+
+I glanced up at his words, to find them true.  The sky was assuming a
+faint grayish tinge, as if the dawn were near.  The vanishing of that
+spectral figure relieved us greatly, while the steady coming of
+daylight revived those spirits upon which the haunted night had rested
+grimly.  Nevertheless I felt it incumbent to speak somewhat harshly to
+the yet sulking sectary for such untimely uproar.
+
+"Did you mistake this for a conventicle, Master Cairnes," I asked
+grimly, "an assembly of crop-eared worshippers, that you venture to
+lift your voice in such a howl when you wake?  It will be better if you
+learn to keep still at such a time, if you hope to companion long with
+me."
+
+"You!" he scarcely deigned to lift his eyes to regard me.  "You are but
+an unbelieving and damned heretic.  Had it not been in all the
+earnestness of a contrite spirit I besought the Lord in prayer,
+wrestling even as did David of old, 'tis not likely the foul fiend I
+beheld on yonder crest would have departed so easily.  I tell you, you
+unregenerated son of iniquity, it is naught save the faith of the
+elect, the prayer of the redeemed, which overcomes the wiles of the
+Devil, and relieves the children of God from his snares."
+
+It was useless arguing with the fanatic; yet much of my previous
+superstitious terror at our unwelcome visitant had already vanished,
+there growing upon my mind a firm conviction that the apparition was
+not a denizen of the sulphurous regions of the damned, but was composed
+of flesh and blood, even as ourselves.  I think Madame had been awake
+through the greater part of the commotion, as I noted her stir slightly
+even when De Noyan first informed me of the strange presence.  Yet she
+spoke not a word.  Realizing her judgment was ever clearer than that of
+either of my male companions, I turned to awaken her to some expression.
+
+"And do you also, Madame, believe that we have been honored by a visit
+from His Satanic Majesty in person?" I asked, wondering as I spoke that
+she should appear so undisturbed in midst of our turmoil.
+
+"It would be less terrifying to me could I so believe," she replied
+gravely, her eyes questioning my face, as if to read therein what
+answer I desired.  "I have that about my person," and I marked that her
+fingers toyed with the beads of a rosary at her throat, "which would
+protect me from his touch."
+
+"What then did you make of that fantastic figure?  I was so gravely
+startled myself by the apparition I saw double, scarcely retaining
+sufficient strength for the uplifting of a hand.  So speak, Madame, and
+plainly, for our comforting,--was that flesh and blood, or was it some
+ghastly visitant from the unknown?"
+
+"I believe," she answered firmly, "it was human.  To my eyes a wild
+man, partially arrayed in white skins, decorated with a multitude of
+great feathers, appearing ghastly tall, and weirdly distorted in the
+moonlight--a fiend, indeed, yet not of the upper air."
+
+"An Indian?"
+
+"I know not what other name to choose.  A savage surely, yet possessing
+a skin strangely fair in the sheen for one of the red race."
+
+My roving, unsatisfied eyes met those of De Noyan.
+
+"Blessed Mother!" he ejaculated with a short, uneasy laugh.  "I never
+would have thought it in the night.  Holy Saints preserve me, if I was
+ever more a child!  Yet now the dawn brings me new heart of courage,
+and I would not swear but Eloise may be right."
+
+"And you, friend Cairnes?"  In a few, brief English sentences I retold
+to the sectary this opinion expressed by Madame.  "Does your mind agree
+with ours?"
+
+He stared at me gloomily, his hands knotting into each other, and his
+lips moving oddly ere he found speech.
+
+"Nay," he muttered at last, "you know little about such matters.  I
+tell you again that it was the Devil my eyes saw.  Twice have I looked
+upon him, and each time, in response to prayer, has the good Lord
+delivered His servant from the bondage of sin, the snares of the
+fowler.  Not by carnal weapons of the flesh are we bidden to overcome,
+but by spiritual wrestling; even as did he of old wrestle with the
+angel, are we to master the adversary of souls."
+
+"Madame possesses that also," and I pointed to the rosary at her white
+throat, "by which she is able to resist the contamination of evil."
+
+He sniffed disdainfully, his coarse red hair appearing to bristle all
+over his bullet head.
+
+"'T is a foul device designed to rob men of the true power of prayer,"
+he declared angrily.  "I say to you, it was the voice of prayer which
+caused that foul fiend to fly away to his own.  The prayer of the
+righteous availeth much."
+
+"True, friend," I admitted as he paused for breath, amused to behold a
+man thus played upon.  "If it is a comfort to you, we all confess it
+was your voice which put an end to the dancing.  Yet if there is a time
+for prayer, so there is time also for action, and the latter must be
+here now.  Whatever adventure awaits us before nightfall, we shall meet
+it no less bravely if we first have food.  So let us break our fast,
+and depart from this accursed spot."
+
+It was not a cheerful meal, our nerves being still at high tension, and
+we partook more from duty than any feeling of enjoyment.  I must except
+the old Puritan, however, who would have eaten, I believe, had that
+same figure been dancing at his elbow.  Many anxious looks were cast
+upward at the rock crest, every unwonted sound causing us to start and
+glance about in nervous terror.  It seems to me now Eloise remained the
+most self-controlled among us, and I have felt sincerely ashamed at
+yielding to my weaker nature in thus betraying nervousness before that
+company.  Yet had she been in safety I would have proven more of a man,
+as by this time no haunting superstition remained to burden my heart.
+I realized we were leaguered by flesh and blood, not by demons of the
+air, and had never counted my life specially valuable in Indian
+campaign.  But to be compelled to look into her fair face, to feel
+constantly the trustful gaze of her brown eyes, knowing well what would
+be her certain fate should she fall into savage hands, operated in
+breaking down all the manliness within me, leaving me like a helpless
+child, ready to start at the slightest sound.  De Noyan barely touched
+the food placed in front of him, and, long before Cairnes had completed
+his meal, the Chevalier was restlessly pacing the rocks beside the
+stream, casting impatient glances in our direction.
+
+"_Mon Dieu_!" he ejaculated at last, "it is not the nature of a
+Frenchman to remain longer cooped in such a hole.  I beg you, Benteen,
+bid that gluttonous English animal cease stuffing himself like an
+anaconda, and let us get away; each moment I am compelled to bide here
+is torture."
+
+Experiencing the same tension, I persuaded the Puritan to suspend his
+onslaught, and, undisturbed by sight or sound, we began a slow advance,
+clambering across the bowlders strewing the narrow way, discovering as
+we moved forward that those towering cliffs on either side were
+becoming lower, although no possibility of scaling them became
+apparent.  We travelled thus upwards of a quarter of a mile, our
+progress being necessarily slow, when a dull roar stole gradually upon
+our hearing.  A moment later, rounding a sharp edge of projecting rock,
+and picking our way cautiously along a narrow slab of stone extending
+out above the swirling water, we came forth in full view of a vast
+cliff, with unbroken front extending from wall to wall across the
+gorge, while over it plunged the stream in a magnificent leap of fully
+one hundred and fifty feet.  It was a scene of rare, romantic beauty,
+the boiling stream surging and dancing madly away from its foot, and
+the multicolored mists rising up like a gauzy veil between us and the
+column of greenish-blue water.  Yet it pleased us little then, for it
+barred our progress northward as completely as would a hostile army.
+
+Our depth of disappointment at facing this barrier was beyond
+expression.  We could but stand in silence, gazing upon the broad,
+impassable sheet of water, blocking further advance.  De Noyan was
+earliest to recover power of speech.
+
+"_Le Diable_!" he swore, half unconsciously.  "This cursed place is
+surely damned!  Yet it has some consolation to my mind, for that will
+drive us backward into the lowlands, out of this demon-haunted defile."
+
+"Your judgment is right," I returned gravely enough, not unrelieved
+myself by the thought.  "There is no other course open to us.  We shall
+be compelled to retrace our steps, and if we desire to reach the open
+before another night, we need be at it.  May the good God grant us free
+passage, with no skulking enemies in ambuscade, for never saw I poorer
+spot for defence than along this narrow shelf."
+
+Fortunately, the way proved easier travelling as we proceeded downward,
+and we were not long in passing beyond our haunted camp of the previous
+night.  Below this spot--which was passed in painful anxiety--we
+entered into that narrower, gloomy gorge leading directly toward the
+plain beyond.  The little river foamed and leaped in deep black waves
+upon our left, the rocks encroaching so near that we were compelled to
+pass in single file, picking a way with extreme caution lest we slip
+upon the wet stones, and having neither time nor breath for speech.
+The Puritan led, bearing the Spaniard's naked rapier in his hand.
+Suddenly, from where I brought up the rear, his voice sounded so
+noisily I made haste forward fearing he had been attacked.
+
+He stood halted, staring like a demented man at a massive rock, a huge
+monster with sheer, precipitous front, filling every foot of space from
+the cliff wall to the river, completely closing, as by a wall of
+masonry, the narrow foot-path along which we had advanced unhindered
+the day before.  It was easy to see from whence that rock mass came;
+the great fresh scar on the overhanging cliff summit high above told
+the fatal story of its detachment.  Yet how had it fallen so suddenly
+and with such deadly accuracy across the path?  Was it a strange
+accident, a caprice of fate, or was it rather the hellish work of
+design?
+
+None knew at that moment; yet we stood there stupefied, staring into
+each others' despairing faces, feeling we were hopeless prisoners
+doomed to perish miserably within the gloom confines of that ghastly,
+haunted hell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+BACKS TO THE WALL
+
+"This is Indian treachery," I said decisively, my eyes searching the
+cliffs, "nor will they remain long inactive now they have fairly caught
+us in their trap.  Let us get back out of this narrow way; there may be
+other loosened rocks where this one came from."
+
+"Back where?"
+
+"To some spot where we can defend ourselves in case of attack.  These
+will prove different from any savages I have ever known if we fail to
+hear from them as soon as we are ready."
+
+"But," protested De Noyan, as we scrambled retreating up the slope, "if
+there is no way leading from this pit of death, how are those devils
+going to get in?  Will it not be more likely they will be content to
+starve us?"
+
+"'Tis not Indian nature to hide in patience after having trapped their
+victims.  Although there is no apparent way out to our eyes, nor time
+to search for one, yet we may put confidence in this: they never
+bottled us here without knowing some means whereby they might complete
+their work."
+
+"It is likely to be a fight, then?"
+
+"Either that or a massacre; God knoweth."
+
+"If, friend Benteen," boomed Cairnes, now well in our front, and
+prodigal of voice as ever, "you expect a stand-up battle with the
+devils, 'tis my judgment you will find few spots better adapted for
+defence than yonder--there where the rock juts out so far; 'tis like a
+sloping roof to protect us from above."
+
+It was as he described, a place fitted by nature for such a contest,
+the upper stratum of rock projecting so far forward as almost to form a
+cave beneath, while, partially blocking the centre of this darkened
+opening, uprose a great square slab of stone, forming of itself no
+small protection to a party crouching in its shadow.  Moreover the
+ground fell away sharply, the higher point being twenty feet above the
+water level; and this at the widest part of the gorge, the entire slope
+thickly strewn with bowlders of varying size.
+
+"You have made soldierly choice," I acknowledged heartily, after a
+hasty survey.  "It would be difficult to discover a more proper spot
+for purposes of defence.  St. Andrew! but three of us ought to hold
+that mound against quite a party."
+
+De Noyan broke in, perfectly at his ease with actual fighting in
+prospect.  "Somewhat open as yet, but that can be remedied by use of
+those scattered stones.  Upbuild the circle here, leaving in front of
+the great bowlder room enough for the three of us to battle at ease,
+with ample space in which to swing our sword-arms, the solid rock at
+our backs.  Saint Anne! but it is beautiful!  Bring the stones here so
+I may place them to the best purpose for such defence."  And he drew a
+rapid half-circle about the mouth of the shallow cave, his eyes
+brightening with interest.
+
+"Pah! your doughty Frenchman appears overly anxious to be killed,"
+began Cairnes, casting an eager glance toward the provisions dropped
+upon the ground.  "To my mind we had better break our fast before
+commencing such labor.  It may happen we shall have no other chance to
+eat, and it would go hard against my nature to waste that pickled meat
+on naked savages.  Ecod! it would try Job himself to stand by helpless,
+watching a clouted heathen gorge himself on what should be lying
+comfortable in our own stomachs.  What say ye, Master Benteen?"
+
+"That our first effort be with the stones," I returned with decision.
+"After that, we can partake of food.  The latter can be made ready
+while we work, if Madame will spread it here at the mouth of the
+cave--a bit farther back would prove better, under the protection of
+that slab of rock."
+
+Rejoicing at thus inducing our fair companion to seek safety under
+shelter, the three of us fell to work with energy.  Under the direction
+of De Noyan, the scattered bowlders were rolled up the steep and piled
+in a solid wall, reaching nearly waist high, completely circling the
+open front of the cave, its centre somewhat advanced from the stone
+slab, with either flank resting solidly against the face of the cliff.
+It did me good to listen while De Noyan issued energetic orders,
+swearing at us ardently in army French as if we were of his own
+squadron of chasseurs.
+
+It required the greater part of an hour to get our rude rock rampart in
+such condition as to satisfy the military taste of the Chevalier even
+measurably, and during that time we toiled as men must when their lives
+are soon to depend upon the result of their labor.
+
+"_Saprista_!" he commented at last, wiping his streaming brow, and
+gazing about him critically.  "It will answer fairly well, I think,
+although another row might strengthen the curves.  Still, 'tis not
+likely we shall be called upon to battle against gun or pike, and if
+too high the stones might interfere with proper thrust of the sword.
+So let us lunch.  Egad! the sight of that hungry preacher haunts me
+every time I turn around; besides, whatever resting-spell we get ere
+the ball opens will serve to steady our nerves for the onset.  Have you
+spread forth a rare feast for our comrades, Eloise?"
+
+She stood within the shadow, leaning lightly against the great stone,
+smiling at us.
+
+"All I have awaits your pleasure, gentlemen," she returned bravely,
+"and I trust you may consider it a pleasant duty to do full justice to
+my skill."
+
+It has lingered a unique memory of those days, the outward carelessness
+with which we chattered away during that strange meal.  Surely no
+company of wanderers was ever in more desperate stress than we at that
+moment.  It was the merest chance of fate if one among us all lived to
+see the peaceful setting of the sun, now blazing high overhead.  Yet
+that simple noonday repast, partaken of beneath the shadow of the
+overhanging rock, remains in memory as more redundant with merriment of
+tongue and face than any since we made departure from New Orleans.
+Were I not writing truthful narrative, I might hesitate at setting this
+down, yet there are doubtless others living to bear witness with me
+that there is often experienced an odd relief in discovering the
+presence of actual danger; that uncertainty and mystery try most
+severely the temper of men.
+
+It certainly proved so with us that day, and De Noyan's high spirits
+found echo even in the grim Puritan, who, being at last convinced that
+he was not called upon to wrestle with demons from the pit, was as full
+of manly fight as the best of us.  Eloise added her gentle speech,
+while even I relaxed my anxiety, though I was careful enough to select
+a seat from which I could keep watch both up and down the ravine,
+convinced that our time of trial was not far away.  In consequence of
+this chosen vantage of position I was the first to note those stealthy
+nude figures silently stealing from rock to rock, like so many flitting
+shadows, making their way down toward our position from the north.  How
+they attained entrance to the gorge I could not conjecture; my eyes
+first detected their movement when their leaders stole noiselessly as
+phantoms about the great shelf of rock higher up the gorge.  More than
+this fleeting glimpse I was unable to perceive from where I sat, our
+rude rampart somewhat obstructing the view, nor did I call the
+attention of the others to their approach.  Nothing could be gained by
+exposing ourselves before need arose.  Indeed, De Noyan chanced to
+observe their presence before I ventured upon speech at all.
+
+"Ha, my masters!" he exclaimed suddenly, rising to peer above the low
+breastworks.  "What have we here?  By my soul, the ball is about to
+open, gentlemen; the enemy creeps forward as though uncertain of our
+whereabouts, yet hardly as if greatly fearing our numbers.  What do you
+make of the fellows, Master Benteen?"
+
+"Beyond doubt savages, but not of any tribe within my knowledge."
+
+"Saint Denis! nor mine," he acknowledged gravely, staring at them.  "At
+this distance they seem to be of strangely whitish skin, and I am not
+over pleased with their mode of advance; it has the steadiness of a
+drilled column, such as I never before witnessed in Indian campaign.
+_Sacre_! note yonder how that tall fellow on the right guides them with
+his gestures.  They take intervals as firmly as French grenadiers.
+Eloise," he turned hastily toward his wife, more tenderness in his
+manner than I had ever before remarked, "it is going to be a hard
+battle, or I mistake greatly the temper of yonder warriors.  Take this
+pistol; it is all I have of the kind.  I will trust my fortune on the
+blade.  You know how best to use it should things go wrong with us at
+the front."
+
+"I know," she answered calmly, "I have lived all my life within hearing
+of Indian tales; yet could I not prove some aid beside you?"
+
+"Nay, little woman; there is scarcely room for three of us to stand at
+the wall; we shall fight with freer hand knowing you are safe from
+savage blow behind the rock.  Come, my lady, it is full time you were
+there now."
+
+She shook hands with us in turn, giving to each man a lightsome,
+hopeful word ere she drew back out of sight, and never before did I
+have such incentive to battle as I read within the depths of her dark
+eyes as she came to me the last of all.  For a moment after she
+regretfully withdrew her hands from my clasp I remained motionless,
+absolutely forgetful of all else, until De Noyan's voice, harsh now
+with excitement of approaching combat, recalled me to myself and my
+post of duty.
+
+"It is time we took our positions, Messieurs," he said, bowing with the
+rare French courtesy of battle.  "Let Monsieur Cairnes find place upon
+my right, while Master Benteen, do you keep the left.  It will be
+better to crouch low until I speak the word, and then God give you both
+strong arms and hearts."
+
+From behind the roughly piled bowlders in my front I had a fair view up
+the valley, and was enabled to mark clearly the attacking party as it
+advanced cautiously toward our position.  It was composed of some
+thirty members, well-appearing fellows for savages, naked from the
+waist up, their exposed bodies quite light in color, and unpainted as
+is the usual Indian custom for war.  Their leader was a tall fellow,
+having a head of matted coarse hair, which stood almost erect, thus
+yielding him a peculiarly ferocious aspect.  The entire band moved
+forward, as if in response to prearranged signals, which must have been
+conveyed by motion, as I could distinguish not the slightest sound of
+speech.  However, it was a relief to note they bore no weapons in their
+hands excepting the spear and the war-club, clear evidence that they
+had limited, if any, trade intercourse with Europeans.  Yet they came
+on with such steadiness of purpose, amid such impressive silence, I
+instinctively felt we stood opposed to no tribe of cowards, whatever
+their name.
+
+As they crept, rather than walked, forward into the open space in our
+front, their restless, searching eyes were not long in perceiving the
+irregular outlines of our rude barricade, nor were they dilatory in
+deciding that behind that pile of rock were to be discovered those they
+sought.  No attacking party operating upon the eastern continent,
+guided by all the strategy of civilized war, could have acted more
+promptly, or to better purpose.  The old chief made a quick, peculiar
+gesture from left to right, and in instant response his clustered bunch
+of warriors spread out in regulated intervals, assuming positions not
+unlike the sticks of a fan such as the Creoles use, until they formed a
+complete semicircle, their flanks close in against the cliff, and their
+centre well back upon the bank of the stream.  It was a pretty
+movement, executed with the precision of long discipline, and De Noyan
+brought his hand down applauding upon his knee.
+
+"_Parbleu_!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm.  "'Twas as well done as by
+troops of the line.  I look for a warm time presently, when we cross
+arms with those fellows."
+
+Even as he spoke, I observed the old chief passing rapidly from man to
+man, speaking briefly to each in turn and pointing toward us, as though
+giving special directions for the coming assault.
+
+"Chevalier," I whispered, "would it not be well to try a shot at that
+tall-haired fellow?"
+
+"It appears too great a distance to my eye."
+
+"I have dropped a buck through forest limbs fifty feet farther."
+
+"Then try your fortune," he said eagerly.  "It may be those fellows
+have never heard the crack of a gun.  The sound and sudden death might
+terrorize them."
+
+I took careful aim above the wall, resting my long rifle-barrel in a
+groove between the stones, and fired.  Ever since, it has seemed to me
+that God, for some mysterious purpose of His own, deflected the
+speeding ball, for never before or since did I miss such aim.  Yet miss
+I did, for while the old chief leaped wildly backward, his cheek fanned
+by the bullet, it was the savage he conversed with who sprang high into
+air, coming down dead.  Nor did a single warrior make a movement to
+flee.  Instead of frightening, it enraged, driving them into savage
+fury as they stared at the stiffening body of their comrade.  Scarcely
+had the smoke of the discharge drifted upward when, all their former
+impressive silence broken, and yelling like fiends incarnate, they made
+an impetuous rush for the hill.
+
+"_Français_!  _Français_!"
+
+I was certain they used the word, fairly hissing it forth as if in
+bitter hatred, yet I had short enough time in which to listen as I
+hastily rammed home a second charge with which to greet them as they
+came.
+
+"It will be best to draw, Messieurs," spoke De Noyan in a cool,
+drawling voice.  "Ah, that was better, Master Benteen!" as two of the
+advancing mob went stumbling to the bullet.  "It leaves but
+twenty-seven to the three of us; not such bad odds!  Now, friends,
+yield no step backward, and strike as you never struck before."
+
+I enjoyed little space in which to glance behind where I knew Eloise
+crouched beneath the protecting shadow of the great stone, yet I am
+certain I felt the full magic of her eyes upon me.  As I wheeled, newly
+armed for strife, my hands clutched hard about the rifle-barrel, our
+fierce assailants came surging up against the stone wall.  It was no
+time to note what others did; one realizes little at such a supreme
+moment except the flashing in his eyes where menacing weapons play
+across his front; the swift blows continually threatening to crush his
+guard; the fierce, cruel faces glaring at him eye to eye, and his own
+desperate efforts to drive and kill.  It all abides in fevered memory
+not unlike those pictures of horror coming of a dark night when
+lightning leaps from the black void.  I mind the first man to reach me,
+a burly ruffian, whose shining spear-point missed my throat by so
+narrow a margin it tasted blood ere my rifle-stock crushed the side of
+his head and sent him backward, a reeling corpse into the mass at his
+heels.  Then all was confusion, a riot of leaping figures, frantic
+shouting, and clanging weapons, and I know not what was done, except
+that I struck out like a crazed man, heedless of what might be aimed at
+me, but letting drive at every savage head within range, until, at
+last, there seemed no others in my front.  Then, as I paused,
+breathless and uncertain, passing my hand across my eyes to clear them
+from the blood and hair which half blinded me, I heard De Noyan's
+drawling tone.
+
+"Most beautifully done, Master Benteen, and as for our red-headed
+preacher, by the memory of Jeanne d'Arc, the like of him as fighting
+man I have never seen."
+
+I leaned back heavily against the stones, now the strain of battle had
+relaxed, feeling strangely weakened by my exertions as well as the loss
+of blood, and glanced about me.  The discomfited savages had fallen
+sullenly back to the bank of the stream, where they bunched together as
+if in council, and I noted more than one wounded man among them.  De
+Noyan sat recklessly upon the stone wall, dangling his long legs, and,
+back turned contemptuously upon our foe, was carefully examining the
+edge of his sword.
+
+"I was fool enough to attempt a down cut," he explained, observing my
+eyes upon him.  "I tried it on that savage who lies yonder, and it was
+rather a neat stroke, yet has sorely nicked the blade."
+
+"Where is the Puritan?" I asked, not seeing him.
+
+"Stretched yonder at rest; he did needlessly exhaust himself, not
+knowing how best to wield his weapon.  _Sacre_! he struck hard blows,
+and will have two savages for whom to make answer in the Day of
+Judgment."
+
+"What loss did the fellows sustain?" I questioned, the cut at the edge
+of my hair half blinding me with dripping blood.
+
+"We dropped seven between us, counting those who fell to your fire, and
+there are others who hardly appear in condition for further fighting.
+As to the garrison, you seem to possess a flesh wound or two, the head
+of the Puritan rings merrily yet from the tap of a war-club, while I
+boast a boot full of blood; 'tis none of it serious."
+
+"They will attack again?"
+
+"Ay! those lads are not of the breed to let up with one bite; and mark
+you, man, it is going to be the next turn that will test our mettle."
+
+He deliberately changed his posture, glancing carelessly across his
+shoulder.
+
+"Do you know aught regarding those devils, Master Benteen?"
+
+"They are strange to me; no kin, I think, to any tribe east of the
+great river."
+
+He sat in silent contemplation a long moment, his eyes fastened upon
+the savage group.
+
+"Did you chance to notice," he asked at last, speaking more
+thoughtfully, "how they hissed that word 'Français,' when they first
+rushed up the hill upon us?  It somehow recalled to memory an odd tale
+told me long ago by old Major Duponceau, who was out with the troops in
+1729, about a strange people they warred against down on the
+Ocatahoola.  These must be either the same savages--although he swore
+they were put to the sword--or else of the same stock, and have felt
+the taste of French steel."
+
+"What did he call them?"
+
+"Natchez; although I remember now he referred to them once as 'White
+Apples,' saying they were of fair skin.  He told me, but I recall
+little of it, many a strange story of their habits and appearance, to
+illustrate how greatly they differed from other tribes of savages with
+whom he had met.  They worshipped the sun."
+
+"'T is true of the Creeks."
+
+"Ay! they play at it, but with the Natchez 't is a real religion; they
+had a priesthood and altars of sacrifice, on which the fires were never
+quenched.  Their victims died with all the ardor of fanaticism, and in
+peace and war the sun was their god, ever demanding offering of blood.
+But see, the moment comes when we must front those fiends again."
+
+The afternoon sun had lowered so that its glaring rays no longer
+brightened the depths of the canyon, all upon our side of the stream
+lying quiet in the shadow.  The Indians began their advance toward us
+in much the same formation as before, but more cautiously, with less
+noisy demonstration, permitting me to note they had slung their weapons
+to their backs, bearing in their hands ugly fragments of rock.  The old
+matted-hair savage, who had received a severe slash upon his shoulder
+during our last _mêlée_, hung well to the rear, contenting himself with
+giving encouragement to the others.
+
+"Stand stoutly to the work, friend Cairnes," I called across to him,
+feeling the heartsome sound of English speech might prove welcome.  "If
+we drive them this time, they will hardly seek more at our hands."
+
+"It will be even according to the will of the Lord of Hosts," he
+returned piously.  "Yet I greatly fear lest my sword-blade be not sound
+within its hilt."
+
+"Stoop low for the volley of rocks," commanded De Noyan, hastily, "then
+stand up to it with all the strength you have."
+
+Halfway up the little hill they let fly a vicious volley, the hard
+missiles crashing against the face of the rock, and showering down on
+backs and heads, some of them with painful force.  As we sprang to our
+posts of defence once more, the savages were already nearly within
+spear-length of us, and, to our disastrous surprise, delivered a second
+volley of stones directly into our faces.  One jagged rock glanced from
+off my rifle-barrel, striking me on the side of the head with
+sufficient force to send me staggering back against the stone slab.
+Before I could regain place the Indians swarmed over the low wall, two
+of them, in spite of fierce struggles, bearing me backward to the
+ground.  Through a half-blinding mist of blood I beheld a carven
+war-club uplifted in the air, noted the face, distorted by passion, of
+the naked giant wielding it; yet, before I could close my eyes to the
+swift blow, there came a sudden flash of fire mingled with a sharp
+report.  As if stricken by a lightning-bolt the huge fellow plunged
+forward, his body across my feet.  Involuntarily I gave vent to a groan
+of despair, realizing that Madame, in an effort to preserve my life,
+had thrown away her sole chance to escape torture, or an existence
+worse than death.
+
+The knowledge nerved me to renewed struggle, but ere I could rid myself
+of that body pinning me fast, others hurled themselves upon us,
+striking and snarling like a pack of hounds who had overtaken their
+quarry.  It would have been over in another minute; I already felt the
+grind of a stone knife-point at my throat, able to gain only a poor
+grip on the fellow's wrist, when suddenly, sounding clear as a bell
+above that hellish uproar, a single voice uttered an imperative command.
+
+Instantly each Indian's face was upturned toward where such unexpected
+summons came, and, lying as I did flat upon my back, my eyes gazed
+across the narrow valley, to the summit of the cliff on the farther
+side.  There, solitary, a carven statue full in the glow of the
+westering sun, turning her garments golden, and lightening her rich
+profusion of hair into radiant beauty, stood a young woman of white
+face and slender, stately figure.  It was no time to note dress, yet I
+could not fail to observe the flowing white robe, draped from shoulders
+to feet, gracefully falling away from an extended arm, as she stood
+thus in regal poise looking down upon us.  There was a suggestion of
+despotic power in both face and posture, and the ring of stern
+authority spoke in the sound of her voice.
+
+Twice she addressed our savage captors in brief sentences strange to my
+ears, once pointing directly at us, once with sweeping gesture up the
+valley.  A moment longer she remained motionless, bending slightly
+forward, permitting the rich, reddish gold of her hair to flash and
+shimmer in the sunshine; then she stepped swiftly back from the dizzy
+summit, vanishing instantly, as if dissolved in the haze.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ
+
+We were hopelessly prisoners.  On my part further struggle had become
+impossible, nor elsewhere did any effort last long, although Cairnes
+had to be knocked insensible before the heathen finally mastered him.
+I believed the obstinate fellow dead, so ghastly white appeared his
+usually florid face as the victorious savages dragged him roughly past
+where I lay, flinging his heavy body down like carrion upon the rocks.
+De Noyan appeared badly cut, his gallant clothing clinging to him in
+fluttering rags, silent witnesses to the manliness of his struggle.
+Yet the Chevalier was far from done.
+
+"Let me sit up, you villains!" he cried, vigorously kicking at a
+passing shin.  "'T is not my custom to lie with head so low.  Ah,
+Benteen," he smiled pleasantly across at me, his eyes kindling at the
+recollection, "that was the noblest fighting that ever came my way, yet
+'tis likely we shall pay well for our fun.  _Sacre_! 't is no pleasant
+face, that of their grim war-chief, nor one to inspire a man with hope
+as he makes plea for mercy."
+
+"Marry, no," I replied, determined on exhibiting no greater outward
+concern than he.  "Nor will the ugly clip on his shoulder leave his
+humor happier."
+
+The Chevalier's eyes danced at the recollection.
+
+"'T was our preacher friend who sheared him.  I hold it a
+master-stroke; but for a spear-butt on the way it would have cleft the
+fellow into two equal parts.  Have you seen aught of Eloise since the
+fight?"
+
+"She lies yonder against the wall at my left, and remains unhurt, I
+think.  I will make effort to turn over, and have speech with her."
+
+So securely had I been bound with coarse grass rope, I found it no
+small task to change the position of my body sufficiently to peer about
+the corner of intervening rock, and clearly perceive my lady.  She was
+reclining in a half sitting posture well within the darker shadow,
+bound as were the rest of us.
+
+"You remain uninjured, I trust, Madame?" I asked gently, and it
+heartened me to observe the smile with which she instantly glanced up
+at sound of my voice.
+
+"No blow has touched me," was her immediate response, "yet I suffer
+noticing the stains of blood disfiguring both you and my husband.  Are
+the wounds serious ones?"
+
+"Nay, mere scratches of the flesh, to heal in a week.  Why did you
+waste your last shot on that savage who would have struck me?  It was
+not the will of De Noyan that it be expended thus."
+
+"You must have formed a poor conception of me, Geoffrey Benteen," she
+answered, as if my words pained her, "if you suppose I value my life
+more highly than your own.  But for my solicitation you would never
+have been in such stress, and, whatever else may be true, Eloise de
+Noyan is not one accustomed to deserting her friends."
+
+"Yet there are fates possible to a woman more to be dreaded than death."
+
+"Ay, and frontier bred, I know it well, yet none so bad as would have
+been the knowledge that I was guilty of ingratitude.  My life, my
+honor, are in the care of God, Geoffrey, and if I remain grateful for
+aught this day, it is that my shot proved timely, saving you from that
+blow.  Tell me, was it not a woman at whose command the combat ceased?"
+
+"It was; a white woman at that, unless my eyes deceived me.  She stood
+on yonder point of rock, appearing a veritable queen in the sunshine."
+
+"So I thought, a fair face enough, yet not devoid of savage cruelty.
+Her presence brings me some rays of hope, making me feel I may have
+less to fear in the future than you.  If a woman, however debased and
+barbarous, rules these savages, she will not be altogether without
+heart to the supplications of a woman."
+
+I felt less assured of this, yet it was better she be buoyed up by all
+possible hope, so ventured upon no answer.  There was that in the
+Queen's face as she gazed down upon us that made me doubt her
+womanliness; doubt if behind that countenance of wild beauty there did
+not lurk a soul as savage and untamed as any among her barbarous
+followers.  What but a spirit of insatiate cruelty could animate and
+control such fierce warriors in their battle rage?  Thinking of this,
+my eyes on Madame, a movement occurred among our captors quickly
+challenging my attention.  Fresh shouts and cries evidenced new
+arrivals.  These came swarming down the ravine, and in another moment
+began crawling noisily about us, chattering with our surly captors, or
+scowling into our faces with savage eyes boding no good.  It would be
+unjust were I to write that these fellows were a brutal lot, as such
+words would be void of that truth I seek to convey.  I lived to learn
+that many among them had the stuff of which true men are made; yet,
+nevertheless, they were savages, scarcely touched by the virtues or
+vices of civilization, a people nursing within their memory a great
+wrong, and inflamed by the fierce passions of battle.  Gazing about on
+the stiffening forms of their stricken warriors, all alike exhibited in
+eyes and gestures how eagerly they longed for the hour of vengeance,
+when implacable hate might have full vent in the unutterable agony of
+their victims.  I gazed up into their scowling, distorted faces,
+imagining a final moment of reckoning was at hand; yet some authority,
+either of chief or tribal custom, restrained their pitiless hatred,
+reserving us for longer, more intense suffering.
+
+But the wild thirst for blood was mirrored in those fierce eyes glaring
+down into mine, and echoed in the shrill cries with which they marked
+us yet alive for their barbaric ingenuity to practise upon at leisure.
+Even as I observed this, realizing from my knowledge of Indian nature
+that our ultimate fate would be infinitely worse than merciful death in
+battle, I could not remain blind to the wide difference between these
+naked warriors and those other savages with whom my wandering border
+life had made me familiar.  My awakened memory dwelt upon the peculiar
+tribal characteristics of the Mingoes north of the Ohio, the Kaskaskias
+in the Illinois country, the Shawnees, the Cherokees, even the Creeks,
+in whose villages I had dwelt as a friend, and beside whose young men I
+had hunted as a brother.  Yet here was surely a distinct race, one less
+clearly marked with those features peculiarly Indian,--the cheek-bones
+not prominent, the form of nose more varied, the skin decidedly
+lighter, the heads better shapen, and the figures more thoroughly
+developed.  More, their language had little of the guttural so
+universal among Eastern tribes, but had a peculiar, sharp, hissing
+sound; so, although the faces peering into mine were wild and ferocious
+enough to leave no doubt as to their barbarous nature, or our probable
+fate, yet these peculiarities, with the total absence of paint, such as
+disfigures and renders grotesquely hideous other Indians upon the
+war-path, were sufficient to stamp these savages as members of a
+distinct race.
+
+"Natchez?" I ventured to inquire of the burly brute who stood over me
+grasping spear and war-club.
+
+"_Sa_," he grinned savagely.  "_Français, Français_."
+
+I shook my head and tried him again, but soon desisted on discovering
+that these two words marked the full extent of our common language, and
+so was obliged to be content with silently contemplating the crowds of
+curious, naked heathen swarming on the hill.
+
+Fortunately, it was not long we were doomed to wait, uncomfortably
+trussed with our ropes of plaited grass.  The old chief who had led the
+assault gave his order, and, in immediate obedience, we were roughly
+dragged forth, the bonds about our lower limbs severed, and, under
+zealous guards, despatched up the canyon, the entire party promptly
+falling in at the rear, bearing with them their wounded and dead.  De
+Noyan and I, thus released from our cramped, painful position on the
+rocks, were jerked rudely upon our feet, and, in obedience to
+threatening gestures, driven rapidly forward like dumb beasts; but
+Madame and the Puritan, the latter not yet having regained
+consciousness, were swung aloft in hammocks of coarsely woven cloth,
+and thus borne upon the shoulders of four stout carriers.  In this way
+we advanced northward, not moving as slowly as I desired, for I was
+sore and aching from head to foot, besides being weakened by loss of
+blood.  Yet there was no hope of escape, no evidence of mercy.  If we
+ventured to lag, the vigilant guard promptly quickened our movements by
+the vigorous application of spear-points, so we soon learned the
+necessity of keeping fully abreast of our assigned position in the
+column.
+
+Coming nearer to that great cataract which had effectually dammed our
+progress up the valley, the leaders swerved toward the left, passing so
+closely beside the leaping, foaming flood as to be enveloped in the
+spray as if in a cloud of mist.  Almost beneath the fall, the water
+crashing on the rocks within reach of an outstretched hand, we
+commenced a toilsome climb, along a deep, rocky gully completely
+shrouded by overhanging bushes, as if we traversed a tunnel dug by the
+hands of men.  Indeed, I have little doubt that this peculiar
+passageway had been constructed by artificial means.  Every now and
+then, when a faint light from without straggled through the interlaced
+boughs overhead, I caught a glimpse of the evidences of human labor.
+This odd passage, crooked and intricate, at times so steep as to
+require the chiselling of steps in the solid rock, wound in and out
+along the side of the cliff, then ran back into the very face of the
+precipice, for more than a hundred and fifty yards.  Suddenly we
+emerged, fifty yards back from the crest, in the heart of a great
+circular hole resembling the crater of a burned-out volcano, having
+great ragged points of rock, blackened as if incased with lava, jutting
+up upon every side, and forming as desolate and barren a picture as
+ever eyes looked upon.
+
+I was completely fagged by this time, the climb being a heavy one, and
+I noticed De Noyan was ghastly of face, his body trembling like that of
+a palsied man.  But our relentless drivers permitted no halting to
+recruit strength.  The Chevalier was evidently in greater distress than
+I, so from pity I bade him lean on my shoulder; but as he sought to
+draw near, the merciless brute on guard struck him savagely, and there
+was such shaking of spears and fierce uproar on the part of our escort,
+we could do naught else than set our teeth to it, and go staggering on.
+The slight path, if it might be named a path, led in and out among the
+black lava cones in such labyrinthine fashion that no man could hope to
+retain memory of its course, while the floor being of irregular stone,
+the passing feet left no trail for future guidance.  We travelled
+blindly, and reckless through suffering and exhaustion, some distance,
+until, perhaps a mile above the spot where we had surmounted the cliff,
+a sudden twist was made to the right, our company creeping on all fours
+through a narrow opening, having a great tree-trunk on one side and a
+huge black bowlder on the other.  We came forth high in air above the
+swift, deep water, footing the insecure bark of a rude tree-bridge
+spanning the current.  Once safe on the other bank, our path merely a
+narrow shelf of stone, we wormed around a sharp projection of the
+cliff, rising to even greater height than in the gorge below.  A dense
+mass of interlaced and overshadowing cedars was partially pressed
+aside, partially crawled under, and from this we finally emerged into
+an open space, containing, I imagine, not far from five hundred acres
+of land, having vast towering precipices of black frowning rock on
+every side, with no outlet apparent, save to one blessed with wings.
+Saint Andrew! 'twas an awesome place, yet oddly beautiful, so soft and
+green below, with those massive walls completely shutting out all the
+rest of the world, and shadowing the little valley with impregnable
+grandeur.
+
+I had but a moment in which to view the impressive scene.  Scarcely had
+the head of our column entered this natural prison when it was greeted
+with wild shouts of triumph, immediately succeeded by shrieks of
+distress, while there streamed forward to meet us a tumultuous band of
+savages, a large proportion of whom were women and children.  The
+children were absolutely nude and peculiarly white of skin, while the
+former wore rude skirts of coarsely woven cloth fastened about the
+waist, their long hair in many instances trailing upon the ground,
+yielding them a wildness of aspect beyond description; yet withal they
+were not uncomely of features.  These newcomers thronged about us with
+scowling faces, and, when sternly forced back by the lowered weapons of
+the guard, either joined the procession, or else trooped alongside,
+yelling and jeering.
+
+Pressed forward, although by now so utterly spent I could barely
+stagger rapidly enough to escape those pitiless thrusts, I mechanically
+noted enough of our surroundings to understand that we traversed ground
+which had been cultivated; that low fences, here and there encountered,
+divided the land into small sections, even as in more civilized regions
+farmers protect their fields.  What their crops may have been I could
+not determine, the season of harvest being already past, yet I
+distinguished what I supposed must be evidences of garden culture,
+observing also a considerable ditch, certainly four feet in width,
+filled with clear running water, which seemed to encircle the entire
+basin, the deeper green of vegetation marking its course close up
+against the farther rock wall.
+
+The view directly in advance was at first obscured by the leaping
+figures of the exultant savages leading the way, whooping with
+excitement, and wildly brandishing their war-clubs.  These at length
+fell back along either side, our guards hurrying us across the ditch,
+spanned by the great trunk of a tree, and thus on into the village.
+This town resembled no other encampment of savages on which my eyes had
+ever looked.  I saw a wide open space, a blackened stake set in the
+middle of it, the ground bare of vegetation, and tramped hard as if by
+countless feet.  Beyond, circling this plaza upon two sides, were
+several rows of houses, all facing the same direction.  It reminded me
+of pictures I had seen of Hebrew camps in my father's great Bible, only
+the houses were built of sun-dried clay, such as peons use in the far
+Southwest on the Brazos, square in shape, of but a single story, having
+dome-shaped roofs, heavily thatched with cane.  They were windowless,
+with one narrow opening for a door, protected by a heavy matting of
+grass.  Behind these, perhaps a hundred yards or more, and within a
+short distance of the steep cliffs bounding the upper extremity of the
+valley, there arose from the surface of the plain two immense rounded
+mounds of earth, each fully a hundred paces wide at its base, sloping
+sharply upward.  Considerable vacant space lay between the two, while
+on the apex of each stood buildings of sun-baked clay, resembling in
+form those below, yet much larger, and, because of their elevation,
+appearing spacious and imposing.  Above one were posed three rudely
+carven figures bearing a slight resemblance to giant eagles, their
+wings outspread as if for flight.  The other was surmounted by a
+hideous, grotesque figure, blackened as by fire, with distorted face
+daubed a glaring yellow, and long hair glittering from red pigment.
+Here the grass curtain had been drawn aside, while before the entrance,
+their faces striped with disfiguring black lines, their dull vestments
+trailing to the ground and gaudily trimmed with fanciful trappings,
+their coarse hair so trained as to stand almost erect, were two aged
+men, who, with wild gesticulations, and solemn chanting, were
+apparently paying adoration to the setting sun, the last beams
+streaming over them through a rift in the western wall.
+
+Directly past these priests we were driven like cattle, finding
+ourselves plunged into a vast square gloomy apartment, having an
+earthen floor, but utterly devoid of either furnishings or ornament.
+There was another mat-draped opening at the farther side, and in the
+centre a huge log smouldered, resting upon what bore the appearance of
+a rudely chipped altar of rock.  About this were ranged numerous
+fancifully painted statues of wood, grotesque and hideous, while a
+third figure, attired as were the aged priests without, lay prone upon
+the earth moaning as if in agony.  The walls were hung thickly with
+undressed skins of wild animals, and at the back stood a slightly
+upraised platform of logs, cut in halves by a narrow passageway leading
+toward the second curtained door.  It was in the midst of this we
+halted, still under strict surveillance of our brutal guards.  These,
+however, permitted us to sink down exhausted on the hard floor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE
+
+A fear of impending danger will not always prove sufficiently strong to
+prevent yielding to the demands of fatigue.  I realized the desperation
+of our position, feeling no doubt regarding our ultimate fate.  I read
+it plainly in our surroundings, as well as within those vengeful,
+scowling faces, yet so dulled was every physical sense from excessive
+weariness that I had passed through much already described like a man
+in a dream.  The brief repose of the previous night, broken by nervous,
+superstitious terrors, the anxious effort to escape from the haunted
+canyon, the hurried labor on our rude defences, the two fierce combats
+with the savages, my numerous wounds, none dangerous yet weakening me
+by loss of blood, together with the rapid marching and the difficult
+climb up the cliff, combined to exhaust my vitality so completely that,
+the moment we halted within the sacred precincts of this temple, I
+flung myself full length upon the floor.  I remember the sun had
+already disappeared behind the western heights.  I retain some slight
+memory of a tender hand resting softly on my forehead, of a familiar
+voice questioning me, yet if I made response, it must have been in the
+unconsciousness of sleep, as these faint remembrances were my last.
+
+I had no means of telling how long I lay thus, close against the north
+wall of the building in that very posture in which I had first fallen.
+It must have been after hours of unconsciousness I was at last
+partially aroused by the reviving touch of cool water with which my
+face was being bathed.  As I slowly unclosed my heavy eyes the huge
+smouldering log in the centre of the room burst into sudden flame,
+lighting the interior, casting weird, dancing shadows along the black
+walls, its red radiance falling upon the face bending above me, and
+permitting me to look into the dark, troubled eyes of Eloise de Noyan.
+
+"There is no necessity for moving," she explained softly.  "Nothing of
+moment has occurred since you fell asleep, except that the savages
+brought us food."
+
+"Have you been watching over me all this time without rest?"
+
+"Nay; at least no more over you than the others," she answered with a
+smile, "yet you appeared in greatest stress.  The others have been some
+time awake and have partaken of food while you remained in stupor.  Do
+not look at me like that!  I am not tired; I was borne all the way upon
+a litter, never once placing foot upon the ground."
+
+"Have you knowledge as to the hour?"
+
+"Only that it must be well into the night."
+
+I lifted my body into a more erect posture, finding myself stiff and
+sore from head to foot, and glanced curiously around our prison-house.
+In the centre was the blazing log, the sole bit of color my eyes could
+perceive.  Kneeling upon either side were the motionless figures of
+four priests, robed from head to foot in black, their faces, darkened
+by some pigment, appearing ghastly and repulsive under the flickering
+flame.  Their lips muttered in monotonous chant a weird incantation
+which sent to my heart a chill of superstitious dread.  High above the
+altar, blackened by the constantly ascending cloud of smoke, swayed
+uneasily a peculiar graven image of wood, hideous in disfigurement of
+form and diabolical of visage, appearing to float upon outspread wings,
+and gloating down upon us through eyes glittering ominously in the fire
+sheen.  At either extremity of the apartment, where I supposed were the
+entrance and exit previously noted, stood those savages remaining on
+guard, grim, naked fellows, whose restless eyes, gleaming in the glow,
+followed our slightest movements, and whose weapons were constantly
+uplifted as though they longed for some excuse to strike.  It composed
+a grewsome scene, savage, cruel, devilish, exhibiting within its gloomy
+outlines small promise for the morrow.
+
+The old Puritan was leaning heavily against a small stake driven into
+the earth, resting his aching head upon one hand as he peered at me
+from beneath thatched brows.
+
+"You have a white face, Master Benteen," he ventured, wondrously soft
+spoken for him, "yet if the heart remain strong and at peace with God,
+the body will mend itself."
+
+"The heart has never yet failed me," I returned, striving to speak
+cheerfully, feeling that he would like to hear hearty English words
+again.  "I am glad to behold you safely recovered, friend; that was a
+hard crack they landed on your skull."
+
+"'T is not the will of the Almighty that I ignominiously perish at the
+hands of the heathen," he responded in his old manner, and as his voice
+roared out, not unlike a clap of thunder in that silence, I observed
+how the savages about us started.  "Again, and yet again hath He
+miraculously delivered his servant from the mouth of the lion.  Surely
+He must yet have labor for me in His vineyard; perchance the bearing
+unto these children of Amalek the message of peace."
+
+"Do you propose preaching unto them?"
+
+"Ay, why not?  Inspired thereunto by the Spirit, I have already sought
+serious converse with yonder priest of Baal, kneeling at this side of
+that accursed shrine of idolatry.  Yet so wedded is he to idols of wood
+and stone, he merely chattered back at me in unintelligible speech, and
+when I laid hand upon him to compel him to listen, the brown savage
+beyond grievously thrust me with a spear.  But I retain faith that the
+Lord, in His own time, will open up a way unto their rebellious and
+sinful hearts."
+
+"Such way may be opened, yet I fear these savages will only take
+unkindly your efforts at ministry, even if they permit opportunity for
+the carrying on of such work."
+
+"I should be overjoyed to minister unto them with the sharp edge of a
+steel blade," interposed De Noyan decidedly, and I noticed him for the
+first time, lying beyond his wife.  "What do you expect, Master
+Benteen, these villains will do to us?"
+
+"I read no sign of mercy in any face yet seen," I answered cautiously.
+"It would be against all savage nature to forgive the loss of those
+warriors sent home this day."
+
+"You look for death?"
+
+"I expect nothing less, and by torture; still they may permit us the
+slight chance of the gantlet, although I know not the war customs of
+the tribe."
+
+He subsided into silence, as though my words merely echoed his own
+gloomy thought, and for a few moments no sound arose except the dismal
+droning of the priests about the altar.  Then Cairnes silently pushed
+over toward me what remained of their evening meal, and I forgot gloomy
+forebodings in a new realization of hunger.  It was while thus busily
+engaged Madame spoke to me, whispering her words softly, so that they
+could not reach the ears of the others.
+
+"If the end prove according to our fears, could you outline my probable
+fate?"
+
+No lack of courage prompted the question, I could perceive that in her
+eyes as they looked into my own, and some way their expression yielded
+me boldness to answer truthfully.
+
+"I am afraid, Madame, you may be spared," I said gravely.
+
+Her hands closed down tightly about each other.
+
+"That is what renders my heart so heavy in this peril, Geoffrey
+Benteen.  I could die easily, without tremor, beside you; nor would I
+shrink back from torture, did it of necessity come to me, for I possess
+a faith in Christ which would sustain me in such an ordeal.  But
+this--O God!--it is too much!  The thought that I may be reserved for a
+worse fate than death, may be compelled to live for months, perhaps
+years, as the humiliated companion of these murderous savages--I, a
+lady of France!  It is more than I can bear."
+
+I saw tears shining in her eyes, and my hand, seeking her own, closed
+over it with sympathetic pressure.
+
+"God grant there be some escape," I said earnestly; it was all that
+came to my lips.
+
+"But I feel there is none.  I have not lived upon the border of this
+vast wilderness all my life without learning something regarding the
+customs of savages.  If they spare a woman from stake or knife it is
+that they may doom her to a fate more horrible, making of her their
+degraded slave.  I know this, and have read the truth anew in those
+faces glaring upon me to-day.  There remains but one faint hope--that
+woman who seems to exercise control over them may incline the savages
+to mercy."
+
+"I cannot encourage you to place much trust in such tenderness," I
+confessed sadly.  "'T is not likely, despite her white face, and
+certain graces bespeaking knowledge of civilization, she will prove any
+less a savage than those she governs.  She would not be here, able to
+control so wild a brood of wolves, if she were not of their breed in
+heart; nor do women chiefs have much choice against the vote of the
+tribe.  I do not trust her, Madame; I studied her face--a fair one, I
+grant--as she stood in the sun upon the rock summit.  It was hard set,
+and savage with the scent of blood and battle.  No mercy led her to
+protect us then; like a great cat she prefers playing with her mice
+before killing.  Has she been here while I slept?"
+
+"No one has visited us excepting the old chief who led the assault; he
+did nothing but strike the Puritan, who sought speech with him."
+
+She paused a moment, her head bent low; then she lifted her face to
+mine again, and I read within it the quick determination of her soul.
+
+"Geoffrey Benteen, listen.  What would you do to save her who was
+Eloise Lafrénière from such a fate of horror as now overhangs her?"
+
+"Anything within the power of a man," I answered instantly, a painful
+throbbing at the heart.  "I would even drive the saving steel into your
+heart to keep you unsoiled from the clutch of such foul hands.  Ay!
+hard as the task must prove, yet I could do it, believing I performed
+the will of God as I struck the blow.  But even for that I am helpless,
+as I possess no weapon."
+
+I felt her hands touch mine, something cold being pressed against my
+flesh.
+
+"I thank thee, Father, there is one whom I may trust even unto death,"
+she sobbed prayerfully.  "Take this knife, Geoffrey Benteen.  The
+Indians did not think to search a woman for such weapons of war.  If
+the moment comes when all hope is gone, when naught else is left, I
+pray you, as a helpless woman utterly dependent upon your aid, let that
+sharp point save me endless shame and agony.  Have I your promise?"
+
+"But--but why not ask this of your husband?" I questioned, shrinking,
+in spite of my belief in its righteousness, from the committal of so
+dreadful a deed.
+
+"Surely he would better make answer for the necessity of so desperate a
+sacrifice."
+
+Her dark eyes never wavered from my face, nor did her hands relax their
+confident grasp of mine.
+
+"Not because I believe he would refuse, but he is of a temper
+changeable as the winds of Spring.  I must rest in peace, not in
+perpetual doubting.  You I trust implicitly; your word, once gravely
+given, will be kept to the death; nay, surely this is no time in which
+to practise deceit with each other, or act parts like mummers upon the
+stage.  I know you love me even as of old.  I know this, Geoffrey
+Benteen, and will abide in my extremity with no other promise than your
+own."
+
+"Eloise," I answered, strangely calmed and strengthened by her faith,
+"it shall be as you wish.  I thank you for the words, and am better for
+them.  When the last faint hope flees, and dishonor or death alone is
+left, I will strike that blow which sets free your soul."
+
+I felt her kisses and tears commingled on my roughened hands, but
+before further words might be uttered, the heavy mat concealing the
+western entrance was suddenly lifted, and in from the dark night there
+stalked in solemn silence and dignity a long line of stalwart savages.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE VOTE OF DEATH
+
+I have already written that I was never easily affected by supernatural
+fears, yet something about that grim entrance chilled the very blood.
+There was no cessation of the monotonous, dismal chanting of the
+priests, as these newcomers,--whose sinister purpose no one could
+doubt,--moving with the silence of spectres, their bodies draped in
+shapeless robes of skin, appearing ghostlike beneath the uncertain
+flickering of flame, moved forward like a great writhing snake, passed
+along the southern wall beneath the face of the flying dragon overhead,
+until they found seats on the hard floor between altar and platform;
+two or three, evidently superior chiefs, by their richer trappings,
+ascended the raised logs and solemnly squatted thereon, so as to face
+us.  How many composed this uncanny company I cannot say, having failed
+to count as they filed past, yet they completely filled the great room
+with scowling, upturned faces, and were probably all the available
+warriors of the tribe.
+
+This was accomplished in stealthy silence, as wild animals creep upon
+their prey, nor did any among them take seats until the old
+war-chief--he who had led the assault in the gulch--made signal to that
+end.  Responding to a second gesture, we were driven roughly forward by
+our guard, until permitted to sink down once more, directly in their
+front, within full focus of their cruel eyes.
+
+It was a fearful spot to be in.  That dark interior, dimly lighted by
+fitful bursts of flame, seemed more the abode of the damned than a
+place of human habitation, nor was there anything to remind us of mercy
+in that savage company gloating over our desperate plight.  No one of
+us doubted what fate dwelt in the decision of that grewsome gathering,
+and in those faces we saw nothing except eagerness for revenge.  It was
+their speechless silence, their stolid imperturbability, which rested
+heaviest upon me.  It told plainly that we were helpless victims of
+their cruel pleasure.  Deliberately, as if desirous of prolonging the
+agony of our uncertainty, for more than an hour--to us it seemed an
+age--they sat thus, unmoved as so many statues, except for their
+restless eyes, while the four ministering priests, robed in black from
+throat to sandals, slaughtered animals beneath the frowning shadow of
+the huge winged dragon, pouring warm blood over the stones of the
+altar, or smearing it upon their faces.  Then, appearing fiendishly
+hideous, ghastlier than words can fitly picture, these revolting
+figures began with wild chanting to make offerings to their gods,
+dancing and capering before the flame to an accompaniment of dismal
+music, burning some incense which polluted the air.
+
+It was a hellish scene, arousing every sleeping devil within those
+savage hearts; it preyed upon our strained nerves, and the Puritan lost
+all control, roaring out objurgations on the foul, idolatrous crowd
+until he was silenced by the sharp tap of a guard's club on his bushy
+pate.  Nor was it easy for De Noyan to remain quiet, while Madame hid
+her shocked white face in her hands, venturing not to glance up while
+the sound of these rites continued.  Whatever this religious
+ceremony--for such I supposed it to be--may have symbolized, it was
+finally concluded by the entire party uniting in a fierce chant.  As
+grim silence settled once more throughout the black interior, the old
+war-chief, appearing taller than ever in the weird light, and rendered
+peculiarly repulsive by the bandages wrapping his wounds, rose to his
+feet, commencing an impassioned address.
+
+No word spoken was intelligible to us, yet I knew so well the nature
+and customs of savages as to experience little difficulty in deciding
+the purpose of this harangue.  Without doubt the fellow demanded an
+immediate sacrifice in payment for the loss inflicted on their tribe.
+With this conception as guide I noted his continually pointing toward
+us, one after another, as if singling us out as special subjects for
+denunciation, perhaps for torture, as with each he seemed to associate
+a peculiar term, repeating it again and again with changing cadence, as
+if thus to force its dread significance more firmly home into the minds
+of his listeners.  The word I distinguished most frequently had the
+sound "_ca-tah_," which became associated in my thought as some special
+form of torture to which he desired us sentenced.  Nor did I fail to
+remark in this connection, my every faculty alert and strained to grasp
+the slightest revealment, that, whenever the orator's baleful glance
+rested upon the shrinking woman, his lips uttered another word, his
+silent audience nodding as though in assent to each demand.
+
+One followed another, no doubt in accordance with rank.  Those chiefs
+upon the platform spoke first, each in turn seeming to pronounce
+against us in favor of that same unknown fate, making use of those two
+words, gesticulating toward us as they gave judgment.  Nowhere amid all
+that vengeful black circle did I discern a single face not set in
+savage hatred, while slowly at first, but gathering force as it
+proceeded, there passed from lip to lip the sullen murmur of that dread
+word "_ca-tah_."  As it was pronounced each voter pointed at us, three
+times making repetition of the word, until the last warrior had spoken,
+and we knew that our doom had been formally pronounced by a tribunal
+knowing no mercy, from whose decision there was no appeal.
+
+No hapless prisoner confined, as I have read they were in olden times,
+within a dungeon whose walls slowly closed to crush him into pulp,
+could have seen the coming of death, resistless and horrible, with
+clearer vision than was ours as that group of savages pronounced our
+doom.  It was by exercising the greatest effort of will that I
+conquered the dread sense of utter hopelessness which seemed to numb my
+every faculty; for, although I was to be tortured to the end, and
+perish at last in utmost physical agony, yet before that moment came
+there still remained a duty to be performed for one I loved.  For that
+I must retain mind and strength to act like a man.
+
+Slowly, cautiously, moving inch by inch across the small space
+intervening, so as not to attract the attention of our guard, I crept
+forward, pausing at last close beside Madame.  Even as I reached her
+the final warrior cast his useless vote with the others, the excited
+concourse voicing appreciation in noisy acclaim.  I bent low, trembling
+from weakness, until my lips were close to her ear.
+
+"Eloise," I whispered softly, forgetting at the awful moment that she
+possessed another name, "it has been voted that three of us perish by
+torture, but you are not in the list; you are named for a different
+fate.  Is it still your wish that I fulfil the pledge?"
+
+As she glanced up, the old war-chief pointed directly toward her.  I
+could perceive the baleful gleam of his eyes, and noted with what quick
+aversion she shrank back until her shoulder pressed my own.
+
+"Yes, Geoffrey Benteen," she made immediate, resolute answer.  "It will
+be mercy.  I beg you strike."
+
+"You forgive the blow?"
+
+"Forgive!"  An instant her clear eyes, unfrightened, looked directly
+into mine, a message in their depths I had never seen there before.
+"More, I love the heart and hand which speed it."
+
+My hands were bound tightly together, but my arms remained free, the
+hilt of the knife resting firmly between the palms.  Although I drew my
+body somewhat back in readiness for the stroke, I delayed the terrible
+deed until the last possible moment, the perspiration standing in great
+beads upon my face.  Oh, how I loved her then! how my half-blinded eyes
+feasted upon her sweet, sad face, the flames casting a ruddy glow upon
+it, and playing fitfully amid the masses of her dark, tangled hair!
+There swept across my mind every memory of our past, and she was again
+with me in her girlhood, before sorrow had stamped her with its seal,
+and she had turned me away tenderly as ever a woman could.  And now she
+was doomed to death by my hand; with one blow I was to blot out the
+life I loved a thousand times better than my own.  Merciful God! what a
+trick had fate played me!  Nor durst I speak to her again, for her
+fingers toyed with the rosary at her throat, the beads glowing dully in
+the flame, and I knew she was in prayer, expecting with each instant
+the coming of that stroke which should send her trusting soul to God.
+I, who have seen much of conflict and peril, much of suffering and
+atrocity, look back on no moment in all my life so fraught with agony
+as this, when, grasping that deadly knife in both hands, I watched
+every threatening movement of the savage arbiters of her fate, praying
+unto God for strength with which to perform my duty.
+
+At last the chiefs stood erect.  In response to their gestures of
+command, the massed warriors below sprang to their feet, flocking
+eagerly toward us, giving utterance to one deep vengeful cry.  Already
+their clutches were upon the struggling Puritan, when I swung high the
+gleaming knife in both my hands.  For one terrible second I met her
+unflinching gaze, a glance which will abide with me until my dying
+day--then the keen steel fell, barely deflected from the heart,
+slashing open the bosom of her dress, yet--thanks be to a kind
+God!--finding harmless sheath, not within her quivering flesh but in
+the hard-packed earth.  It was scarcely less than a miracle that I was
+thus able to turn the blow, but, even as I aimed it, putting to the
+hilt my full strength that I might send it surely home, there came into
+my vision a sudden flash of bright color against the dark, skin-draped
+wall, and I knew the Queen had come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN
+
+At first my dimmed eyes beheld her through a mist, my hands shaking as
+if stricken by palsy, nor did I retain sufficient strength of body to
+uplift myself from the spot where I had fallen with the force of my
+blow.  Nevertheless I shall forever retain the vivid picture imprinted
+on memory.  Before us stood a tall, fair-skinned woman, having dignity
+of command in every movement, her face thin, strong, dominant, with
+large, dark, passionate eyes, flashing in scornful beauty over the
+excited warriors at her feet.  Pride, power, imperious will, a scarcely
+hidden tigerish cruelty, were in every line of her features; yet she
+remained strikingly handsome, with that rare beauty which drives men
+mad and laughs mockingly at its victims.  She was robed completely in
+red, the brilliant color harmonizing strangely with her countenance,
+the single outer garment extending, devoid of ornament, from throat to
+heel, loosely gathered at the waist, and resembling in form and drapery
+those pictures I have seen of Roman togas, while her magnificent wealth
+of hair, of richest reddish gold, appeared to shimmer and glow in the
+sparkle of leaping flames as if she wore a tiara of rubies.
+
+With quick, passionate speech she poured forth her purpose, and I saw
+the savage throng shrink before her, as if they knew and dreaded the
+outburst of her anger.  Yet, as she paused breathless, the old
+war-chief ventured to face her, returning a stern reply.  This
+disregard of her temper so imparted courage to the others that they
+rallied about their leader as one man, numerous hoarse voices
+supplementing his protest, until it was plain to be seen that the woman
+remained alone and unsupported against the savage crew.  Yet the lines
+of determination but deepened in her face, her lips curled in scorn,
+and she turned from them to look down where we were huddled in despair.
+A moment her flashing eyes swept across our upturned faces, the howls
+of her opponents growing fiercer on every side.  With one imperious
+gesture she commanded silence, and, as the gruff voices died away in
+muttered discontent, the woman addressed us, speaking a clear, pure
+Spanish, making use now and then of words unknown to me.
+
+"Prisoners, can any among you interpret my speech?"
+
+I caught my breath in glad surprise, struggling to my feet, and making
+haste to answer.
+
+"If you speak slowly," I said, "I shall be able to understand."
+
+"'Tis well, as it is a tongue unknown to these Indians," her eyes
+lighting up with cunning.  "Then, Señor, mark with care what I say,
+and, if the meaning of any escape your ears, bid me speak again, so no
+mistake be made."
+
+"It will give me great pleasure, O Queen."
+
+"I am the Daughter of the Sun," she interposed proudly, as if
+correcting my mode of address.  "These are my children, given unto me
+by the great Sun-god.  For what purpose have you of white skin dared
+invade the land of the Sun?"
+
+"We knew nothing of your presence here, merely seeking a passage
+through these mountains northward."
+
+"But you killed the warriors of our nation; you have stricken the
+people of the Sun."
+
+"True, Daughter of the Sun; yet it was done only in self-defence.  When
+attacked we struck hard blows."
+
+Her eyes glowed angrily, her face becoming cruelly hard.
+
+"None of white blood may set foot in this valley and live.  It is the
+land of the Sun," she said haughtily.  "None have ever before ventured
+to do so, and found safe way back to their own.  Are you French?"
+
+[Illustration: "I am the Daughter of the Sun.  These are my children,
+given unto me by the great Sun-god. . . .  None of white blood may set
+foot in this valley and live."]
+
+"Not all,--the lady and yonder cavalier are of French blood, I am a
+hunter of the Ohio country, while he who crouches beyond also calls
+himself American."
+
+"I know nothing of your Ohio, nor what may be an American," she replied
+with an impatient stamp of the foot, "but it is bad any among you
+should prove French.  What does the woman do here?"
+
+In a few brief sentences I told our story, marking as I spoke that she
+followed my words with care.  As I concluded she merely gazed more
+closely into Madame's upturned face, speaking as though communing with
+herself.
+
+"She has the appearance of a fair woman; we need no such here."  She
+raised her voice slightly, addressing me in cold reserve.
+
+"Your story sounds well.  True or false, it makes small odds.  We
+attacked your party, believing you French, whom the children of the Sun
+have good reason to hate.  You have cost us the lives of many warriors,
+and the Sun calls for vengeance.  Already has the tribe solemnly voted
+your death by fire.  Now mark me closely.  'Tis not often I interfere
+in such affairs as this, nor do I now for any higher object than my own
+gratification.  The Daughter of the Sun is no angel, nor ambitious to
+become one.  I have looked on unmoved at the torture of the stake more
+than once, so 'tis no weak sentimentality that leads me to try to avert
+your fate.  Nor am I sure I can, whatever my motive be.  I possess no
+power to overturn the united vote of these warriors--they are all
+children of the Sun.  I can think of but one method by which I can even
+hope to encompass your escape from immediate torture.  If by some
+subterfuge I can delay action until day-dawn, I may be able to control
+these savages.  The children of the Sun do not light their fires in the
+presence of their Father.  There is but one possible way to that
+end,--does yonder red-headed man comprehend the Spanish tongue?"
+
+"He does not."
+
+"That is bad," her brows contracting.  "Still he must be used, as no
+other among you will answer my purpose.  Bid him advance to my side on
+the platform; bid him pretend to hold converse with me, and, above all
+else, have him attend my every gesture and obey.  Will he do your
+bidding?"
+
+"I know not," I replied honestly.  "He is of a bull-headed breed, yet I
+may be able to drive into him a moment of sense."
+
+"Do your part thoroughly, nor be too long about it.  The chiefs grow
+restless at our talk, and may yet take affairs into their own hands."
+
+I turned doubtfully toward the Puritan, who was glaring up at the woman
+from beneath his shaggy brows, much as he might have looked upon some
+wild animal seen for the first time.  I presume the fiery red drapery
+caused him to deem her that veritable scarlet woman about whom he
+prated so much.  He appeared far from being a promising subject for my
+overtures, especially as his great head must have ached still from
+contact with the club, which had alone beaten him into sullen silence.
+Yet she commanding the attempt was so desperately in earnest that I
+determined to do my part.
+
+"Watch carefully my words," I said sternly in English, "and bear in
+mind the preservation of all our lives depends on the part you play.
+The woman chief has made choice of you to help in winning mercy from
+these savages.  I know not why you are the one thus chosen, yet I
+suspect that fiery crop of hair may have something to do with the
+honor.  The main point is, are you in a humor to do her bidding?"
+
+"Nay!" he replied, gazing at me stubbornly.
+
+"You refuse to assist in saving your own life, and the lives of your
+comrades?"
+
+"I touch not the accursed abominations of this place," he answered,
+hoarse with anger, "nor will I have aught to do with yonder shameless
+creature."
+
+"Sirrah!" I cried, thoroughly aroused by his mulishness, "do you
+deliberately choose to sacrifice the life of this lady to your
+bull-headed fanaticism?  Do you refuse to unbend your miserable
+Connecticut sectarianism, your Puritan cant, although by so doing you
+might keep your comrades from the horrors of the stake?  If this is
+what you mean, I denounce you as unworthy to be called a man, and I
+name your loud protestations of religion no more than a hissing and a
+byword before the ungodly you profess to despise.  You are no better
+than a Pharisee, full of loud-mouthed prayers and vain conceit of
+righteousness, a false prophet, haggling over formalism when the
+slightest sacrifice of what you hold the letter of the law would result
+in the salvation of human life.  You call yourself a Christian, a
+follower of that Nazarene who died for sinners on the cross, deeming
+yourself better than those who cling to other creed.  You sneer at that
+rosary in Madame's fingers, yet do you suppose it possible she would
+not endeavor to pluck your life from the jaws of death if it lay in her
+power?  Ay! and never waste speech about abominations in the path."
+
+"The spirit is of greater value than the body," he persisted doggedly.
+"Yea, 'tis better the flesh perish miserably in the flame than
+surrender up the soul unto the devil."
+
+"That is no issue here; you seek to deceive yourself by false words.  I
+denounce you openly as a false follower, for if I read rightly the
+language of Holy Writ, it was He whom you so delight to term Master who
+gave his life freely for His friends.  But you--you are all words, a
+charnel-house of dead men's bones."
+
+Had he been free I might have rued my hasty words, for his eyes were
+hot with anger, and he strained fiercely at his bonds in effort to
+break free.  Yet I felt safe enough beyond the sweep of his great arm,
+rejoicing that my tongue was sharp enough to penetrate so thick a hide,
+and make the man squirm beneath his outer vestment of piety.
+
+"You speak falsely," he bellowed, nearly beside himself.  "Satan puts
+those foul words upon your lips tempting me to do evil."
+
+"Nay; the words are true," I went on, determined to drive him by
+taunts.  "They are neither foul nor false, and right glad I am to
+discover your real character even at this eleventh hour.  I make no
+loud boasting of my religion, dinning it into the ears of all I meet as
+if I were the only righteous man on earth, but I do thank God from the
+depths of my heart I have never yet basely deserted a friend in time of
+trouble.  I did consider you a good comrade, but I know now you are
+nothing but a whited sepulchre, a miserable hypocrite, a Judas
+betraying his master with a kiss.  Pah! go your way, you are unclean;
+nor ever hope again for word of fellowship from lips of honest men.  I
+shall die having performed my duty to the extent of my knowledge, but
+you as a dog, a traitor to your comrades, the betrayer of a woman in
+time of peril."
+
+"'Tis false, I say; I would yield life gladly to aid her."
+
+"Zounds! that sounds good from such lips.  Why, you have just refused
+much less."
+
+"Yonder is an emissary of the Evil One."
+
+"Keep your cowardly excuses to yourself.  Whatever the woman may be,
+she offers us a chance for our lives, provided only you will perform
+her will in sundry matters."
+
+He hesitated, his uncertain eyes shifting from her face to mine.
+
+"What does this scarlet priestess of Baal require that I do?" he
+questioned sullenly.
+
+"Good lack, 'tis little enough even to satisfy your conscience.  Merely
+that you stand beside her on the platform, pretending converse, marking
+carefully her every signal, and obeying it."
+
+"I play no idolatrous mummery with her."
+
+"Then may the devil fly away with you," I retorted, so enraged by this
+time I could scarcely refrain from grappling him with my hands.  "I go
+to tell Madame of the fool you are."
+
+He gave vent to a deep groan, rolling his eyes as was his habit in time
+of trial, yet never removing his gaze from that red figure, standing
+motionless as a statue, impatiently awaiting his decision.
+
+"In the name of the holy prophets of Israel!" he snorted desperately at
+last.  "'T is, indeed, a grievous trial like unto that which befell
+Daniel in the den of the lions.  If I go upon yonder sinful platform
+before these hosts of Satan, it will be only as led by the Almighty,
+and that I may wrestle mightily in prayer for the redemption of the
+heathen."
+
+"I care not, man, so you go.  Pray loud as you please, yet give heed to
+the signals of the woman if you value your own life or ours."
+
+Odds! it was a picture to see the fellow start on his unwelcome
+mission, slouching through the ranks of the surprised savages with as
+hangdog a look on his mournful countenance as though he mounted the
+gallows.  It was with faint hope as to the result that I watched him
+lumber onto the platform, doubting not he would perform some crazy
+trick to offset any good he might endeavor.  I could scarce restrain a
+smile as the two actors faced each other, marking the look of
+undisguised horror on his leathern face, and how he shrank back as her
+hand extended to touch him.  The wild, discordant cries of the grouped
+savages ceased in wonderment at this unanticipated scene; even the
+perpetual incantations of the priests died away, every eye gazing
+curiously on the strange spectacle.  The Puritan had appropriated one
+of De Noyan's hats, broad of brim, and so ample of crown the high
+peaked head of the worthy sectary was almost lost within its capacious
+interior.  No sooner, however, did he attain her side than the woman
+grasped it in her white fingers, flinging it disdainfully upon the
+floor, and, like a flash of unexpected color in the dancing light of
+the fire, there blazed forth before us his flaming covering with a
+brilliancy which startled even me.  Saint Andrew! it was a glow to make
+the eyes blink.
+
+The sudden effect of this disclosure upon the thronging warriors was
+beyond words of mine.  There followed a hush so painful in intensity I
+could distinguish the quick throbbing of my own heart.  I saw the woman
+point at the fellow, giving eager utterance to a single word, her eyes
+sweeping the faces below.  Then came an irregular rush forward,
+inarticulate cries pierced the air, war weapons were dashed clanging
+upon the earthen floor, while numerous torches, grasped from off the
+sacred altar, were waved aloft by excited hands, all serving to form as
+demoniacal a scene as was ever witnessed this side of hell.
+
+The full truth flashed across my mind--our comrade had in that moment
+been changed from a helpless, beaten prisoner into an object of
+superstitious worship.  By the magic of a word, the alchemy of a
+thought, he had become to these superstitious savages a mysterious
+visitant from the Sun, and for once, at least, he might fervently bless
+Nature, who had bestowed upon him so rich a coloring of hair.  Whether
+or not the fellow comprehended the meaning of that uproar, of those
+wildly dancing figures in his front, I could never determine; but,
+before the woman could in any way interfere, the sectary plumped down
+upon his knees, and, with head bent so low that every separate hair
+caught the reflection of the ruddy flames, began pouring forth a
+petition in sturdy English, and with a volume of voice that shook the
+whole interior.  It was not such a bad play, I take it, although he was
+desperately in earnest.  Very plainly he compared his worshipping
+auditory to certain scriptural characters, in a way that would not have
+proven flattering to them could they have interpreted his language.
+
+"Oh, Lord God!" he roared, rolling his eyes upward and interjecting
+many a deep groan after each sentence.  "Infinite Jehovah, for some
+just reason of Thy own, Thou hast seen fit to lead Thy most humble
+servant into this den of iniquity.  Thou hast placed me in the fiery
+furnace of tribulation, it may be in the test of that faith which was
+delivered unto the saints, yet will I not bow down in the tents of the
+idolaters, nor profane Thy Holy Name by the worship of their false
+gods.  Here in the midst of the ravening lions I uplift my eyes unto
+Jerusalem, and my lips unto the throne of grace, beseeching Thee to
+give unto me the salvation of these heathen, even as brands plucked
+from the burning.  Quench the fire on this altar of Baal, O Lord, by
+the outpouring of Thy Spirit, and give unto this people a manifestation
+of Thy mighty power, redeeming them from their manifold sins.  Yea,
+Lord, give ear unto the words of my petition, and as of old times thou
+didst send a message of fire unto Thy prophet Elijah, so come down even
+now to visit these unbelieving and mocking hearts with the terror of
+Thy just wrath.  Make bare Thy arm of infinite power that this
+abomination of heathendom may be purged of its vain idolatry, and that
+Thy Israel may triumph over the hosts of the sinful.  Even as Thou
+didst scatter the forces of the Egyptians in the waters of the Red Sea,
+even so, O Lord, visit now Thy wrath upon those who mock Thee and
+degrade Thy image.  Save us from the snare of this scarlet woman, this
+proud harlot of Babylon, and forgive Thy servant for thus seeming to
+obey her will.  Thou knowest, O Lord, that it is only that I may the
+better serve Thee, and thus overcome the wiles of the Wicked One.  Give
+unto me in this hour the strength of Samson that I may overturn the
+pillars of this temple of abominations, even though we all perish in
+its destruction.  Yea, visit us with power and righteousness, and
+scatter Thy enemies over the face of the earth.  O Lord!  I am as
+nothing, a mere worm of the dust: smite me if Thou wilt, yet I but
+wrestle with Thee in prayer that through me the heathen may be brought
+low, and led to see the error of their way."
+
+There was no halting him, yet even as he continued to pour forth
+fervent supplication, the warriors drew back from the dense circle
+pressing against the platform, taking solemn counsel together.  Then
+the old war-chief advanced to the centre, pointing maliciously toward
+De Noyan and myself.  I observed the Queen wave her hand in a gesture
+of apparent carelessness, and before I could clearly conjecture the
+full meaning of it, strong hands clutched us, and, in spite of
+struggles, we were dragged roughly back toward the shrouded entrance of
+the lodge.  There was no shouting, no din of any kind to disturb the
+devotions of the Puritan, who prayed on with closed eyes and a vigor of
+utterance making mock of all other sound.  Silently as they moved, it
+was nevertheless plain to be read in the grim, savage faces closing
+about us, that we were being driven forth to no scene of pleasure.
+Harshly did their gripping hands hustle us forward.  The heavy mat
+shading the entrance was flung aside, and like the unexpected flight of
+an arrow, into the black gloom of the lodge, weirdly lighting up the
+wild faces, streamed the clear, white light of the dawn.  Far off upon
+the highest summit of the yellow cliff there already rested the first
+rosy reflection of the rising sun.  One shout rang discordant from the
+surprised throats of our captors; the brutal hands released their
+grasp, and De Noyan and myself sank back helpless upon the ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A VISITANT FROM THE SUN
+
+As by magic the uproar of the infuriated savages died away.  Gazing up
+from where I lay, my eyes beheld every face turned outward, every eye
+fastened upon that distant wall of rock.  Suddenly a strange cry arose,
+each throat giving utterance to the same sound as if in trained
+obedience to some recognized signal, and immediately every Indian lay
+prostrate, his face in the dust.  Gazing toward the spot they had
+watched so intently, I could perceive how the rose tints of the early
+sun flecked the upper extremity of the precipitous rock with spots of
+color, checkers of red and gold, while just below its lofty crest,
+seemingly touching the deep blue of the morning sky, hardly more than
+dim specks against the dull background of gray rock, appeared several
+moving black figures, and I could distinguish a series of flashes as if
+they waved blazing torches in welcome to the King of Day.
+
+"_Sacre_! 'tis an uncanny sight," muttered my companion uneasily.
+"Have yonder foul priests been given wings whereby they mount the very
+rock in their devil worship?"
+
+"Hardly that," I returned tersely.  "There will be a footpath leading
+to the spot either from above or below."
+
+"True, perchance; yet 'tis not from above.  Of that I am certain, as
+the crest of the rock overhangs; you may perceive the deep shadow of it
+even from here."
+
+Before I could distinguish clearly the peculiarity pointed out, the
+woman chief came forth through the open entrance, appearing more fair
+and white of skin than ever in the clear light of the dawn.  Scarcely
+glancing toward either the prostrate tribesmen or those distant
+signalling priests, she advanced directly toward where we lay helpless
+in our bonds.  There was a flush upon her cheeks, a light of animation
+in her eyes, yet she stood looking down upon me much as she might have
+viewed an insensate stone.
+
+"Señor," she said coldly, still speaking the Spanish tongue, "it did
+please my humor but now to play a small trick upon these innocent
+children of nature, knowing their faith and tribal customs.  For the
+time being I won, and it is you who benefit.  You, and these others,
+are for the present delivered from that torture to which you were
+condemned: the rising of yonder Sun has saved you; 'tis the law of the
+Natchez.  Nay, thank me not," as I sought to express my words of
+gratitude.  "I told you before it was not from any desire to show
+mercy, but for a purpose of my own.  Yet if you would continue to
+profit through my strange whim--and surely I have seldom been thus
+swayed to action--then it will be well to give heed unto my words.  I
+bid you proceed at once to that second hut yonder, nor dare venture
+forth again until I send.  The children of the Sun bow now to the
+commands of their ancient faith, yet are of temper hard to control."
+
+"You fear they may yet demand us in sacrifice?"
+
+"Not to-day, unless you do that which shall arouse their passions
+beyond my power of restraint.  While the sun dominates the sky your
+lives are preserved from violence, but if you would live longer it must
+be through careful guarding of speech and action.  I promise nothing
+beyond the present day.  But now," she bent over, severing my bonds
+with a flint blade, "go; do exactly as I bade you, and no longer bandy
+words with me."
+
+"But the lady within the lodge?" I ventured anxiously, as I struggled
+to my feet, standing erect before her.
+
+"She bides elsewhere."
+
+"It will be hard for her alone--"
+
+"What is all that to you, sirrah?" she interrupted haughtily.
+"According to the tale told, you are not her husband.  He who might
+have right to question separation has made no complaint."
+
+"He does not comprehend your speech.  For that reason he remains dumb."
+
+"Mean you it is he who inspires your objection?" she asked scornfully.
+
+"No; yet I doubt not 'tis in his heart even as upon my lips."
+
+She turned aside, an incredulous smile curling her lips, looking
+curiously down upon him, and their eyes met.  She stooped swiftly,
+severing the thongs of grass binding his arms, and with her own hands
+assisted him to rise.
+
+"A fair and noble gallant," she said softly, reluctantly turning back
+from him to me.  "Not of hard, stern visage like yours, but with the
+bearing of a gentleman, the smile of a courtier.  Pish! he will not
+miss her over-much, or else I read not rightly the challenge of his
+eyes.  But come, hunter, I bade you go in haste, nor is it well for any
+one to wait my bidding twice."
+
+"'T is no more than just we should be told the destiny of our
+companions," I persisted, determined not to desert them thus.  "May not
+both the Puritan and the woman abide with us?"
+
+Her eyes flashed in uncontrolled anger, her lips giving vent to a low,
+cruel laugh.
+
+"I tell you no, and understand once for all my word is law.  You are
+not standing before a French court to haggle over trifles, and dispute
+about your rights.  Bah! you have no rights; you live from day to day
+merely by my whim.  The red-headed man tarries where he is as long as
+it remains my pleasure; while as to yon dainty creature, she shall meet
+no harm.  Forsooth, it will not greatly hurt her to be beyond your
+sight for a space."
+
+"Does she bide with you?"
+
+"If I so will it, yes; if not, no.  Who are you, hunter, to dare
+question Naladi after she bids you cease?" she exclaimed, her cheeks
+crimsoning.  "Now go; go ere I am tempted to show you I possess power
+to enforce my will.  Another word, and you will long regret it."
+
+She was a tigress now, her eyes burning into mine with the fierceness
+of a wild animal scenting blood.  It would have been sheer madness to
+attempt more, with those scowling, savage faces lowering at us from
+every side, their possessors only too eager to spring forward in cruel
+obedience to a gesture of their Queen.  A single word from her red lips
+would, in spite of all superstition, cause them to rend us limb from
+limb, so I bade De Noyan follow me, feeling relief when once beyond her
+sight in the cool depths of the sheltering hut.
+
+"Well, Master Benteen," remarked my comrade easily, finding a soft
+bearskin upon which to rest his aching limbs, "this is an odd company
+among whom you have piloted us; one not altogether appealing to my
+taste in its masculine elements.  Yet, damme, but you possess rare
+advantage over the rest of us in holding converse with these people,
+while I must remain dumb as an oyster, save for a glance of the eye.
+Perhaps, now that we have time for it, you will kindly explain the
+meaning of all this mummery with which we passed the night, for, by all
+the gods of Rome, it was weird enough to turn my hair gray, yet I
+understood neither word nor deed.  How came that grim preacher to
+attain such honor, taking position beside their peerless Queen?"
+
+His idiotic lightness of speech and manner jarred unpleasantly upon my
+humor.  I was heavy-hearted from what had passed, retaining little
+confidence in the future, yet I told him the story as best I could,
+trusting the recital might serve to sober him, so we could counsel
+together regarding our plans.
+
+"_Pardieu_! 'twas rather a pretty trick of the lady," he exclaimed
+laughingly, as I ended the tale.  "She would do honor to a more
+pretentious court with her wit as well as beauty.  What did you call
+the title she bore?"
+
+"'Daughter of the Sun' was the name given in the altar-house yonder;
+later she made use of the word Naladi."
+
+"Ay! that was it.  'T is a name fitting her well to my taste, and I
+boast of some experience with the sex.  _Sacre_!  I trust not to have
+seen the last of so fair a vision as this Queen Naladi."
+
+He was twirling his moustache, such a look of complacency upon his
+features I could only stare at him in bewildered surprise.
+
+"You appear reconciled to our situation with marvellous good grace," I
+managed to say at last, in a tone which made no attempt to conceal my
+disgust at his coxcombry.  "For myself I can see very little to hope
+for."
+
+"Tut, tut, man," stretching himself negligently into a posture of
+greater ease, "an old soldier learns to take things as they come,
+without complaint; to extract sweets from every flower.  Surely here is
+a rare rose we have uncovered blooming in the wilderness; nor am I
+blind to its beauty, or unmindful of my privileges.  Besides, lad, what
+is there greatly to worry about?  We are preserved, you tell me, from
+torture; food will undoubtedly be supplied in plenty, while the lady is
+surely fair enough to promise pleasant companionship in exile--provided
+I ever learn to have private speech with her.  What was the tongue?"
+
+"We conversed in Spanish."
+
+"I thought as much; there were certain familiar words.  But, as I said,
+why complain of fate, with all these blessings showered upon us.
+_Pardieu_! it would prove us ungrateful wretches.  Surely 'tis better
+than the tender mercy of O'Reilly, ay, or the hardship and starvation
+of the trail."
+
+"You have forgotten your wife."
+
+"Forgotten?  _Sacre_!  I should say not, Master Benteen; nor is that
+likely to occur.  Yet what cause have I to worry regarding her present
+comfort.  Did you not say that the Queen pledged her safety and good
+care?  What more could I accomplish for her than that, even were we
+back in New Orleans, beneath French protection?  Saint Denis! you are
+of a complaining breed, inclined to act as conscience for your betters.
+True, there are some few things I greatly miss, that would minister to
+comfort.  I was ever careful in my toilet, and choice as to my wines in
+town; still, if these savages have not lost my soaps and brushes, I
+will strive to exist even here, and be content until a way opens toward
+that which is better."
+
+"I greatly admire your patience."
+
+"Pah! 'tis but the long practice of a soldier.  Yet I am somewhat weary
+from the night, and, if you have talked enough, will seek rest to dream
+of Naladi, trusting she may send for me ere long.  Did you note the
+beauty of her eyes?"
+
+"I marked their cruelty."
+
+"_Le Diable_!  I ever admired spirit in a woman; 'tis the greater
+pleasure to watch them take on softer light.  In such orbs love shines
+the clearer, once awakened."
+
+I sat there some time in silence until he fell asleep.  Then, realizing
+how useless it was for me, wearily as my eyelids drooped, to strive
+longer in thought, I sought another robe to rest upon, and was soon
+happily unconscious also.
+
+I presume some unusual noise aroused me, for as I awoke and stared
+about, unable at the moment to comprehend my situation, I noticed, by
+evidence of the sun shining through the entrance of the hut, it was
+already past the noon hour.  Consciousness becoming more acute, I
+perceived, standing barely within the shadows of the interior, the
+dusky figure of a warrior, unarmed, and motionless except for a gesture
+of the hand which seemed to command my following him.  Retaining
+concealed within my doublet the sharp knife intrusted to me by Madame,
+I felt little trepidation at the fellow's presence, nor was there
+anything about his countenance to foster alarm, he appearing the least
+ferocious of aspect of all I had observed among the tribe.  A moment I
+hesitated, then believing him a messenger from the Queen, I followed
+his retreating figure out into the sunlight.
+
+The village reposed in loneliness and silence, nor did I see even child
+or dog playing before the square huts as we passed them.  As we mounted
+higher along the slope and began climbing the strangely rounded hill on
+the summit of which perched the altar-house, I glanced back curiously
+over the plain outspread below.  Little clusters of dark figures were
+scattered here and there throughout the pleasant valley, many of them
+congregated along the greener banks of the circling water-course,
+others scattered more widely afield, yet all earnestly engaged in
+cultivation of the ground.  This quiet, pastoral scene was so foreign
+to all my previous conception of Indian nature that for the moment I
+paused amazed, gazing upon this picture of peaceful agriculture in the
+heart of the wilderness.  Surely, cruel, revengeful savages though they
+were, yet here was a people retaining traditions of a higher life than
+that of the wild chase and desert war.  I could perceive no guards
+stationed anywhere, yet felt no doubt that every entrance leading into
+this hidden paradise, this rock-barricaded basin amid the hills, would
+be amply protected by armed and vigilant warriors, confining us as
+securely within its narrow limits as if a dozen savages followed our
+every footfall.  My silent guide, after one glance across his naked
+shoulder, to assure himself that I followed, led straight forward up
+the hill on a dog-trot, soon placing him far in advance.  At the
+entrance of the altar-house he paused, showing disinclination to enter.
+In obedience to a gesture I passed within, leaving him standing there,
+as if awaiting my return, a silent statue in light bronze, the glow of
+the sunshine upon him.
+
+Wondering what my mission might be, I remained a moment motionless
+slightly within the entrance, my eyes almost totally blinded by the
+sudden transition from the garish day to that dull interior.  Slowly
+the scene within resolved itself into clearer detail.  I began to
+perceive the crawling red flames licking with hungry tongues along the
+sides of the huge log resting upon the altar block, and later
+distinguished the black figure of a priest moving silently from point
+to point amid the shadows, engaged upon the grewsome functions of his
+office, his presence ever manifested by the dismal crooning with which
+he worked his magic spells.  Beyond these vague suggestions of
+life--for they seemed scarcely more--it was like endeavoring to sound
+the depths of a cavern, so black, still, and void was all within and
+about.  Yet, even as I stood thus, peering uneasily into the gloom, I
+was thoroughly startled at the sudden booming forth of a voice,
+apparently issuing from the darkest corner.
+
+"May the Lord God forgive ye, Master Benteen, and be merciful unto ye,
+for thus placing His minister in such stress.  'T is I, Ezekiel
+Cairnes, who hath become an abomination unto Israel."
+
+There was a tone of such utter depression in the great roaring voice, I
+feared some serious mishap had befallen him, and hastened to cross the
+room, heading toward the corner whence the sound came.  As I attained
+the outer edge of the platform, groping my passage through the dense
+gloom, I was halted in the midst of a dozen or more savages, lying
+prone upon the hard floor, evidently in adoration of that grotesque
+figure perched above, and now clearly revealed by a blazing up of the
+charred log.  Not one among them stirred from his prostrate position at
+my approach.  Forgetting them instantly, my whole attention became
+riveted upon the marvellous transformation presented by my old Puritan
+comrade.  Odds! what a sight!  He sat bolt upright, as though bound in
+that stiff posture, occupying a low dais, almost at the edge of the
+platform.  This latter had been covered with a glaring crimson cloth,
+roughly woven, presumably of native manufacture, peculiarly brilliant
+in its coloring, and hence of rare beauty to Indian eyes.  At my
+approach he began straining at the cords which held him helpless, and I
+soon saw that his entire body was wrapped about with ropes of grass in
+such a manner as to render vain any hope of escape.  His oddly shapen
+figure, with the wide, square shoulders and short legs, was
+likewise-draped in red, above which flared his fiery shock of
+dishevelled hair, while a face fairly distorted with rage, gray from
+loss of sleep, and rendered ludicrous by its little snapping eyes,
+glared down upon me.
+
+"Memory of Beelzebub!  It would be no matter of laughter for ye, Master
+Benteen," he snorted savagely, straining at his cords, "could I burst
+these accursed strings, and lay my hands to your throat.  Ay! nor would
+yonder idolatrous swine lie there long if I once got free among them.
+Imagine not, vain and presumptuous unbeliever that the Lord God
+Almighty--He who rideth in the chariot of the whirlwind--will long
+permit the heathen to profane His holy places, or triumph in the misery
+of one of the elect.  There cometh the Day of Judgment, when the wicked
+shall be scattered as chaff."
+
+"You are in a most unpleasant condition, friend," I replied,
+endeavoring to speak so as to calm his temper.  "It is in sorrow, not
+pleasure, I behold you thus."
+
+"I am entangled in the snare of the Evil One, Master Benteen.  But I
+continue manfully to war against the adversary even as becomes my high
+station."
+
+"Have you been long in so pitiful a state?  I dreamed not it would ever
+come to this."
+
+"It may be true you were ignorant of the wiles of that emissary of
+Satan who doth encompass us," he acknowledged, a trifle mollified by my
+sympathy.  "I would not be guilty of evil thought even toward an
+unregenerated heretic.  Yet I have sat thus, wrapped like a mummy of
+the Egyptians, since early dawn.  Ay, verily have I been sore oppressed
+both of body and spirit.  Nor has there been any surcease, when the
+heathen have not lain thus at my feet.  What means such action?"
+
+"They mistake you for a god, and prostrate themselves in worship.  You
+are unto them a mysterious visitant from the Sun--so the Queen named
+you, inspired by the color of your hair."
+
+He groaned aloud, his chin dropping dejectedly upon his breast.
+
+"I feared as much, and the thought greatly oppressed me.  'T is as if I
+were a golden calf set aloft in the wilderness to mock the true God.
+It resteth heavy on my spirit to abide as a vain idol in the tents of
+these idolaters.  When first they draped me with this foul livery of
+Satan," he touched the scarlet robe gingerly with his chin, "I made so
+vigorous a protest two of the black imps went down before me, but the
+others overpowered my struggles, binding me fast, as you see.  But,
+verily, I have delivered unto them the whole truth as revealed unto the
+saints; have struck and spared not--ay! the very language of the
+scriptures have I poured forth unstinted upon them, and drawn before
+their eyes that fiery hell over which they dangle in their sins.  It
+must be their understandings are darkened, for they hearken not unto my
+exhortations, only lie thus, or dance before me by the hour in unholy
+worship, snapping their fingers and shouting strange words, while twice
+yonder black emissary of false religion held his smoking torch so
+closely to my face the flame scorched the skin.  Nor have my most
+fervent prayers availed to drive them hence, or ease the prickings of
+the spirit.  'T is as if the ear of the Lord had been turned aside from
+the supplications of His servant; yea, verily, as if the vials of His
+wrath were being poured forth upon my head, because, in a moment of
+weakness, I yielded to the machinations of that scarlet woman."
+
+"Have you again seen her?" I questioned anxiously, as he paused for
+breath.
+
+"Seen her!--the accursed of God, the moral leper who rules this foul
+nest?  Ay; I have, and may the Lord forgive my ever casting eyes upon
+such a shameless creature.  'T was she who brought me this disgrace.
+She stood by with mocking smile, bidding her savage minions bind me
+fast.  She is the chief imp of Satan in spite of her fair face, and
+shall yet be stricken low by the avenging arm of the Almighty.  'Tis no
+gleam of mercy cometh to me from her taunts, nor in the harlot blood
+flowing through her veins.  I tell you, Master Benteen, she is the
+worst devil, for all her softness, in all this heathen crew; and if she
+spared our lives from the torture, it was done through some dark
+project born of the demon within her soul.  Nothing good can come forth
+from such as she.  Marked you the eyes she cast on De Noyan?"
+
+"I paid no heed," I answered, wondering he had observed so much.  "Have
+you supposed we may owe our escape unto him?"
+
+"Ay! she has marked him victim to her snare, nor do I doubt the full
+success of her venture.  'T is small stock of virtue which bedecks
+itself in such Punchinello dress as that gay gallant wears.  Amalekite
+is written upon his raiment, and he is ever attired as becomes a
+bridegroom to the shameless harlot ruling this devils' den.  Marry, he
+may be good enough wielding a sword, yet will prove the undoing of all
+who company with him in this adventure."
+
+"You are unjustly angry," I insisted, striving to make light of his
+words.  "I value not the mercy of the woman, yet she used the only
+means she had for restraining her savage followers.  It was stern
+necessity driving her to reliance on the magic of your red hair with
+which to save us all.  No doubt she intends giving you early release
+from so painful a situation."
+
+"You also are bewitched by her vain fleshly beauty," he bellowed
+stoutly.  "'Tis a carnal generation.  I tell you, Master Benteen, I am
+an old man, uplifted by communion of the Spirit above all fleshly
+lusts.  I have faithfully preached the word of salvation to civilized
+and savage more than forty years, and am not likely to be led astray by
+a glimpse of a fair face tempting me hellward.  I speak you truth, as
+delivered of God, so surely as were the tablets of the law delivered
+unto Moses, when I say that she who, by some wile of the Devil, rules
+this tribe and holds our lives in her hands, is an incarnate fiend, who
+will yet mock our agony whenever her own accursed lust shall be
+satisfied.  'T is not only that she jeered at me with cruel smiles, and
+affronted a preacher of the Word by so ribald a covering; she did as
+clearly reveal the hideous sin of her heart unto that sweet lady we
+have in our keeping."
+
+"Madame de Noyan?" I cried in awakened interest.  "Mean you this woman
+dared do wrong by her?"
+
+"I report only what my eyes beheld, for I can make nothing out of their
+heathen gibberish.  Yet she who journeyed with us, ever proving herself
+a modest, high-bred lady in times of sore trial, begged upon her knees,
+with tears hot upon her cheeks, to be permitted to accompany you and
+her husband.  What result?  Why, this good Queen; this charming
+creature, stood there, like an insensate stone, gazing down upon her;
+and later, when the poor lady would not walk voluntarily, that painted
+harlot ordered two lecherous warriors to drag her forth, and laughed
+like a fiend at the scene."
+
+"Where did they take her?"
+
+"I know not; beyond the entrance she made no outcry that reached my
+ears, while that red-draped witch came back smiling to work her will on
+me."
+
+This comprised all he knew, and, no matter what depth of sympathy I may
+have then felt for Master Cairnes in his unfortunate predicament, it
+was equally clear I could do nothing to aid him.  My heart was so
+heavily laden by the plight of Eloise, I retained no other desire than
+a longing to return at once to the hut and hold consultation with De
+Noyan.  That same silent spectre accompanied me along the brief
+journey, leaving me unguarded at the entrance.  I entered hastily only
+to find the room vacant, my comrade gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE CHRONICLES OF THE NATCHEZ
+
+These pages have been poorly written if he who reads has not discovered
+that I am of a nature not easily discouraged by events, or disheartened
+by misfortune.  God had sufficiently armored me with hope; so that in
+the midst of much darkness I sought for whatever light of guidance
+there might be, making the most of it.  Yet the intense, unanticipated
+loneliness of that bare hut chilled my blood, and I scarcely recall a
+more wretched time than while I waited, stung and tortured by fears,
+for the return of De Noyan.
+
+In truth the rough conclusions voiced by the angry sectary merely
+confirmed my own fear.  I had marked within the eyes of Naladi--dreamy
+as they appeared beneath the shading of long lashes--no promise of
+tenderness of heart.  I believed it was seldom she inclined to mercy,
+seldom she would step between her warriors and their revenge.  I
+acknowledge freely I felt to some degree the strange spell of her
+power, the magic influence of her soft, sinuous beauty, which I doubt
+if any man could utterly resist.  Yet I recognized her from the first,
+even as she stood wrapped in the sun's rays on the rock summit, as one
+who, by instinct and nature, was scarce less a savage than her most
+desperate follower, although she possessed the rare gift of masking her
+cruelty beneath the pleasing smile of a woman not entirely unacquainted
+with the courtesies of refinement.
+
+I marvelled greatly who she could be, thus sporting the polite graces
+of a reception-room in the midst of these squalid huts.  What was her
+strange life-story?  How ever came such a woman, with charm of face,
+and grace of manner, to be acknowledged leader over such a people?  It
+was not so odd that a clever, resourceful woman, driven perhaps by
+necessity, should have made unscrupulous use of their dominant
+superstitions, and, by naming herself "Daughter of the Sun," have
+obtained supreme power.  The perfect acting of such an assumed
+character would not prove difficult to her, while their servile worship
+of the protesting Puritan, whose red hair alone had elevated him to
+sainthood, proved how easily these savages might be deceived, and led
+slaves by subtle magic.  Yet who was the woman?  Whence came she?  Why
+should she ever have chosen such a life?
+
+And Eloise!  Through what misfortune had she already attained the
+undisguised dislike of this Amazon?  To what fate would this unmerited
+disfavor condemn her?  It is a terrible thing to remain chained and
+helpless at such a time, to realize that cruel wrong, possibly torture,
+is being visited upon another, upon one you know and love, and yet be
+unable to uplift hand or voice in warning.  I am by nature cool in
+action, yet there are few who fret more grievously when held in leash,
+compelled to await in uncertainty the coming of the unknown.
+
+All I could do that day was to pace the hard earthen floor, vainly
+endeavoring to quiet the wild throbbing of my heart with every hope I
+might conjure up, now and then approaching the unguarded entrance of
+the lodge to search anxiously for some ground of hope.  It was thus the
+long afternoon wore away, until the deepening shadows of sun-setting
+rested heavily along the western cliffs, and the workers in the fields
+began trooping through the village, their shouts of greeting shrill and
+discordant, while the grim priests found place before the draped
+entrance to their dread altar-house, with blazing fagots signalling
+their distant brethren on the dizzy summit.  It was then De Noyan
+finally returned and found me raging from wall to wall like one
+distracted.
+
+It required but a glance to note the subtile change the afternoon had
+wrought in his personal appearance, yet at the time I did not greatly
+marvel at it.  The stains of battle and exposure, that had so decidedly
+disfigured him, had disappeared before the magic of new raiment, which
+had about it the color and cut of French fashion; so it was now a fair
+and prosperous gallant of the court, powdered of hair, waxen of
+moustache, who came jauntily forward with his greetings.
+
+"What said I, Master Benteen?" he questioned cheerily to my stare of
+surprise.  "Did I not boldly contend that this would yet prove a
+pleasant resting-place to relieve the tedium of a journey?  Can you
+gaze upon this gay attire, longer doubting the verity of my dreams?
+But no happiness finds reflection in your face; 'tis gloomy as a day of
+rain.  Prithie, the afternoon must have been passed by you far less
+pleasantly than its hours sped with me."
+
+"I have been conversing with good Master Cairnes," I responded gravely.
+"I found him in no state of mind or body to bring me pleasant thought."
+
+"_Parbleu_!  I warrant not from all I hear of that worthy servant," the
+Chevalier laughed gayly.  "'T is told me the grim-faced old hypocrite
+sits in worshipful state, a veritable god, trussed like a bronze idol
+or some mummy of the Egyptians.  By my faith, I should enjoy gazing on
+his solemn face, and listening to his words withal."
+
+"'T is an unhappy experience for a Christian."
+
+"Ay! a pity; yet it should do the canting preacher good to play heathen
+god a while.  She pictured to me most vividly his struggles to escape a
+fit draping with which to match his hair.  _Sacre_!  I have not laughed
+so heartily since leaving New Orleans."
+
+"She?" I exclaimed in new interest.  "Have you been with your wife?"
+
+He stroked his moustache, gazing at me in apparent surprise.
+
+"Nay, friend Benteen; you must be the very soul of innocence to make
+such hasty guess.  I rested beneath the same roof with her, so I was
+informed, yet she who spake thus regarding the plight of the Puritan
+chanced to be the fair Queen, Naladi."
+
+"Naladi?  But you speak no Spanish,--how could you hold converse with
+her?"
+
+"There are always ways, if the lady be fair.  The hands, eyes, lips can
+all be made into messengers of speech.  But in this case she brought
+forth a black boy--a most mischievous imp--who managed to convey her
+words in my own tongue.  Still it was difficult to do justice in such a
+way to so charming a woman; much came to my lips which I hesitated to
+utter through the medium of that interpreter."
+
+I looked at him in speechless amazement at this revelation of his
+supreme conceit, his reckless vanity.  Anxiety alone prompted me to
+smother my resentment, hoping thus to obtain information.
+
+"But your wife, Madame de Noyan?  You say she was beneath the same
+roof, and yet you saw her not?  Do you mean you made no effort to
+obtain speech with her?"
+
+He leaned back against the wall of the hut, crossing his long limbs
+negligently over the soft fur of the robe beneath, drawing from his
+pocket a small mirror.
+
+"Ay, I mentioned it; but _la reine Naladi_ appeared not overly well
+pleased with the suggestion, so I concluded not to press the matter
+unduly.  One never gains by being ungallant at such a time.  Besides,
+there is no doubt Eloise is well attended; the Queen referred to her
+most kindly."
+
+"The preacher told me," I broke forth indignantly, determined to test
+him to the full, "that this same sweet Naladi compelled her savage
+minions to drag Madame harshly forth from the altar-house, despite her
+pleadings.  Perchance this tender-spoken Queen has little of the angel
+beneath her fairness of skin."
+
+"_Sacre_!  I hope not.  I opine an angel would prove wearisome to
+company with for long.  My own taste inclines toward flesh and blood.
+You say Master Cairnes told you this sad tale?"
+
+"Ay, adding that the pitiful Naladi only laughed at the sobs of Madame."
+
+"Pish! between the two, her word has most weight with me.  No doubt
+'twas a vision born of his own temper.  The Queen assured me most
+graciously of the welfare and contentment of Eloise.  It would have
+been boorish to question her further.  Besides, she took my thought
+from other things, repeating to me the strange tale of these savages,
+although the black made poor enough work with her words."
+
+It was abundantly evident the man was fairly crazed with conceit,
+already well entangled in the web of this designing creature.  For the
+hour, at least, all serious consideration of her who should rightfully
+claim his attention had been completely blotted out.  He had become a
+willing victim to a will infinitely stronger than his own, his
+conscience deadened by the poison of beauty; so, while my blood rioted
+in protest to his simpering French vanity, I could perceive no means by
+which I might arouse him to more manly action.  To cross such a man
+only invites to the surface the worst elements of his nature; besides,
+were I to stir him by strong protest, it might be doubtful if he
+comprehended the nature of my scruples in the matter.  Any such
+misunderstanding would result in the exchange of hard words, and in my
+making an enemy where now I possessed a friend.  Not that the Chevalier
+was a particularly valuable ally, yet he wielded a good sword upon
+occasion, and would prove more useful in friendship than in enmity.  I
+might despise him, yet he remained the husband of Madame, and I durst
+pick no quarrel with him.  To do so would raise a barrier between us,
+rendering our situation among the savages darker than ever.  As to the
+moral side of the affair, it would be sheer waste of words to broach
+it, as De Noyan could form no clearer conception of such an issue than
+a babe unborn.  He swung as the wind blew, and in all his pampered life
+had probably never dreamed of denying himself a liberty.  Saint Andrew!
+it was a knotty problem for such a head as mine to solve.  I believe I
+chose the better course in assuming the role of a neutral, as I sat
+staring at the fellow while he twisted his moustaches into their
+old-time curl, gazing at himself in the pocket mirror, utterly
+oblivious of my presence.
+
+"So this beauty of a Queen told you the tale of her people," I remarked
+at last, determining to humor his mood.  "It would interest me to hear
+the story.  Those I have thus far seen differ widely from any other
+order of savages with whom I have come in contact."
+
+"Your judgment is right.  As she tells the story, they are not of
+Indian blood, but belong to a far older race.  She says they are the
+remnant of a master people--although regarding their exact lineage she
+spoke but little--who once, hundreds of years ago no doubt, held
+undisputed dominion from the banks of a great red river flowing through
+the prairies far to the northward, down to the salted sea bounding the
+land upon the east.  She said their ancestors mined in the rocks, and
+cultivated the rich land of the valleys.  They were ruled over by five
+kings; and when one of these died all their wives were burned above the
+grave, and a hundred slaves sacrificed to the Sun, which they
+worshipped, and called Elagabalus.  These were all buried around the
+body of the king, whose tomb was of rock, and a huge mound of earth
+erected over them by the labor of thousands of slaves taken in battle.
+Yet their chief king, in the day of their great power, she called
+Palenque, placing his capital to north and east of this place, a land
+journey of thirty days.  Here was built a great city of wood and stone,
+surrounded by an immense wall of earth, to which all the smaller kings
+journeyed in state once each year to make account of their kingdoms,
+and offer up slaves on the altar of the great temple in sacrifice to
+the Sun.  They would gather thus from noon to noon, and thousands of
+captives would be slaughtered before the altar by the priests.  She
+told me they once possessed vast store of yellow metal and flashing
+stones, with other treasures.  Cities were set apart under guard to
+have special care over them.  Some of these have descended even unto
+the present, but are kept hidden away by the priests, though she
+promised later to let me view them secretly.  And she related a most
+strange tale of destiny--of a long, barbarous war, filled with the
+names of warriors and towns sounding most uncouth to my ears; a war
+lasting many years, during which the Chichimes--for so she named the
+wild hordes sweeping down upon them from the northward--drove their
+fathers backward from city to city, beginning far away in the kingdom
+named Talapa, and pillaging clear to the banks of the great river where
+Palenque reigned.  Their ancestors erected vast forts of earth, thus
+managing to hold their own against the invaders, so long as their
+slaves remained loyal.  But at last these also rose in revolt, and,
+when all supplies had been cut off, the hopeless remnant of defenders
+fell back down the broad river, bearing with them much of their most
+valued treasure, never permitting the sacred flame, which was the gift
+of the Sun, to die out upon their altars.  Like flies they died in the
+preservation of this symbol of their religion; for 'tis their faith,
+that if it be kept burning undimmed, there will yet come to them a
+great leader from the Sun to restore their lost glories.  She described
+to me the arts of that past, the many beautiful things the race had
+made, those wondrous cities protected by high walls, the vast mounds of
+earth moulded into strange figures of extinct animals, uplifted as
+altars, and sometimes utilized for the burial of their dead and their
+treasure.  _Sacre_!  I can recall a portion of the story, yet it was a
+weird, fascinating tale as she told it slowly, and with all
+seriousness, although the black boy stammered so badly in his words I
+got only dim pictures here and there."
+
+"But how came they here?" I questioned.
+
+"I was coming to that.  It was some trouble with the French in
+Bienville's day.  Only a few escaped, and they were driven into these
+hills; yet 't is said they saved a considerable amount of treasure
+which had come to them from their fathers, together with some of the
+mummified bodies of their kings.  It is forty years since they
+discovered this dell, and only the older men have any memory of the
+discovery."
+
+"What do they call themselves?"
+
+"'Nalmas' was the word the Queen used, but they are that same people
+whom we knew about in New Orleans as 'Natchez'; their old country was
+called Tlapalan."
+
+I sat silent, pondering upon his words, but before I thought out
+further questioning, a warrior, bearing food, entered the hut.  Setting
+this down upon the ground before us, he drew back into the gathering
+night shadows without uttering a word.  That which I had just heard
+caused me to gaze upon the fellow--a tall, stalwart savage--with newly
+awakened interest, and I could not help observing again how widely the
+type differed from those Indian tribes with whom my wandering border
+life had rendered me familiar.  Not only was this man of fairer,
+clearer complexion, but his cheek-bones were not in the least
+prominent, his nose was wide at the base and somewhat flattened, while
+his forehead sloped sharply backward in such peculiar form as to
+warrant the opinion that the deformity arose from a compression of the
+frontal bone in infancy.  The hair, although worn long and flowing down
+the back, was decidedly wavy, and not coarse; the color was a ruddy
+brown.  The eyes of these Indians were bold, cruel, crafty, yet in many
+instances the coloring was so light as to be startling; the average
+stature was greater than that of those other Indians that I knew.  In
+short, they impressed me as being all that was claimed, a distinct
+race, with characteristics more nearly allied to the Ethiopian and the
+Mongolian than to the surrounding red races.  As I figured this out
+somewhat slowly, De Noyan busted himself with the meal, and, thus
+engrossed, apparently forgot the topic of our conversation.
+
+"And did this Queen Naladi claim to belong to this old race?" I
+questioned, thinking thus to test his observation.
+
+"Why not?" he asked in return, suspending operations, and glancing up
+at me in surprise.  "She referred to herself as the 'Daughter of the
+Sun,' once saying that her ancestors ruled over this people for a
+thousand years."
+
+"She told you that?"
+
+"At least so the black interpreted her words.  Why question it?"
+
+"Doubtless to your thought there exists small cause for questioning the
+word of so fair a woman," I acknowledged dryly.  "Yet to my vision, not
+wholly blinded by her charms, she possesses more of the Caucasian in
+face and manner than any other of the race.  If she is not of European
+birth I am a poor judge, Monsieur, and 't is my belief, if she told you
+she was not, the woman lied."
+
+I was scarcely prepared for the result of my words upon him; his face
+flushed, a sudden glow of anger sweeping into his eyes.
+
+"You are, indeed, of bold heart," he exclaimed scornfully, "to malign a
+woman in her absence."
+
+"There are women no words can malign," I retorted sharply, stung by his
+tone, "I opine this Queen of savages belongs to that class.  To my mind
+it would be better were you to wax indignant over the wrongs of your
+wife rather than over a just picturing of this harlot."
+
+Before I could move to draw aside, he was upon his feet, and I felt the
+stinging blow of his hand across my lips.
+
+"_Sacre_!" he cried, transported by sudden rage, "Charles de Noyan
+takes such affront from no man.  I denounce you as a cowardly vilifier
+of an absent woman."
+
+I know not why I failed to strike the fellow down.  My hand was hard on
+the knife hilt within my doublet, yet I drew it not as we stood there
+eye to eye.  There was that between us--the dim, shadowy face of a
+woman--which held me as by a chain.  It seemed to me then as if my
+knife point would have to pass through her before it touched his heart,
+and, feeling thus, God gave me power to choke back the hot resentment,
+and restrain my hand.
+
+"Monsieur," I said sternly, "never has the hand of man touched me
+before in anger without my making full return for the blow.  Yet now I
+strike you not.  The time may come when I shall wipe out this insult,
+but here and now you stand safe from my arm."
+
+"Safe!" he sneered.  "_Parbleu_! you are a cowardly hound to talk thus.
+Safe! think you I have anything to fear at your hands?"
+
+"I bid you restrain your tongue, Chevalier," I said, my voice unsteady.
+"God being my witness, never before did you stand so close to death as
+now.  Look," and I held up the keen blade before his eyes.  "This steel
+thirsts for your blood; only one thought has intervened to save you."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+"The fact that you are the husband of one who was once Eloise
+Lafrénière."
+
+I know not how much of the truth he suspected, but for a moment we
+stood thus, I half imagining he contemplated a leap at my throat.  Then
+his eyes fell, and he drew back with a short laugh.
+
+"_Le Diable_! 'tis easy for some people to discover excuses at such a
+time.  Still, Monsieur, as you refuse to fight I may as well lie down;
+having been early awake I am somewhat weary."
+
+I watched him silently while he arranged his robes for the night.
+
+"Before you sleep," I ventured, "it would please my curiosity to know
+where this pure and peerless Queen of yours makes her abode."
+
+"Ah! would you pay her a visit?" he asked suspiciously.
+
+"Far from it; rather that I may avoid her.  Yet we are not in specially
+pleasant surroundings, and such information might not come amiss."
+
+He sulked a moment over his answer, but finally relented.
+
+"In that large hut upon the second mound."
+
+"You spoke as if Madame de Noyan were beneath the same roof, yet you
+saw her not.  Does the hut differ from this in being divided into
+rooms?"
+
+"A partition runs through it from roof to floor.  Naladi holds court in
+the south room, which is decorated most lavishly with things of beauty."
+
+"Then Madame occupies the northern portion?"
+
+"So I understood," with a sleepy yawn.  "I asked little in detail;
+'twas enough for me to be assured she was well."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+A VENTURE IN THE DARK
+
+It is occasion for deep regret that I was so blind to my opportunities
+for learning much relative to this strange people.  During those hours
+of trial my thoughts were so occupied with our own dangers, it was
+merely incidentally I considered anything else.  No small temptation
+now assails me to record many things I believe true, things I remember
+vaguely; but I pass the temptation by, determined to write only what I
+may vouch for as of my own observation.
+
+I remained silent, leaning against the wall and making vigorous use of
+my pipe, a long time after De Noyan fell peacefully asleep.  While the
+fast fading daylight clung dimly to the interior, my eyes were fastened
+upon his upturned face, almost boyish in the unconsciousness of repose,
+and I began to feel pity for his weakness, my anger against him fading
+away.  As the darkness became pronounced I remained there still, my
+sleepless eyes paying small heed to night, the scenes I saw being of
+the brain, memory awakening to paint with glowing colors across the
+black screen.  The evening was quiet,--within, no more was heard than
+the regular breathing of my companion; without, an occasional savage
+outcry, mingled with the low moaning of the night wind.
+
+It became a lonely vigil, my thoughts unhappy.  I had much to reflect
+upon.  The extreme difficulty of our present situation, encompassed and
+separated as we were: De Noyan was bewitched by a siren who had already
+bound him by silken cords to any nefarious scheme her unscrupulous
+desires might compass; Cairnes was as helplessly entangled in her
+power, although held to his fate by ropes of a different nature; while
+Madame was scarcely less a prisoner, powerless to escape the ruthless
+grasp of a false-hearted woman whose jealousy might at any instant lead
+to measures of extremity.  I alone of all our little company remained
+somewhat my own master.  My hands and heart at least were free from all
+visible bonds.  Yet what hideous mockery was such freedom!  I realized
+that I could venture no step beyond the door of the lodge without
+becoming the focus of spying eyes; that all about was evidence of the
+despotic power of this renegade white queen, who deigned to spare me
+merely because she deemed I was utterly powerless to interfere with her
+cruel purposes.  Saint Andrew! it was an environment of evil to chill
+the blood of any man, nor amid its gathering gloom could I distinguish
+any gleam promising dawn.  About us watched impatiently a horde of
+ruthless savages, eager to make us victims of their torture, held back
+temporarily only by the imperious will of this self-styled "Daughter of
+the Sun," who ruled through appeal to their grossest superstitions.
+She, I believed, in spite of fair face and evidences of culture, was as
+vindictive, barbarous, and relentless as the wildest in that savage
+band.
+
+Over and over I turned such unhappy thoughts in my seething brain,
+until the faintest sound from without had died away.  I may have spent
+hours thus, while De Noyan slept on peacefully as a tired child.  At
+last a wild desire for action overcame my lassitude, conquered all
+lingering discretion.  There arose before me, clearly as a painted
+picture, the pleading face of her I loved.  I knew that to no other was
+she looking for aid in her despair.  There might be little I could
+accomplish for her succor, yet it would bring her new courage even to
+exchange a brief word with some faithful friend, as proof that she was
+not forgotten.  Besides, I longed, as no expression can make clear, to
+gaze again, if only for an instant, into her clear gray eyes, to listen
+to the gentle murmur of her trustful voice.  In brief, I was in the
+mood for a desperate venture.
+
+I crept to the open door, peering cautiously forth into the darkness.
+It was a heavy night, the little basin was wrapped in shadow, and not
+even a star peeped forth from the rifts of low-scudding clouds.  In no
+direction could I distinguish any twinkling of lights except a single
+fitful flash from off the altar, where black-robed priests guarded the
+sacred fire or worshipped before the Puritan.  Encouraged by the
+darkness I crept along the outer wall, unchallenged by the skulking
+guard, and finally attained the upper corner.  Here I observed a second
+glimmer, which I instantly recognized as coming from the other great
+house upon the summit of the mound--that house in which I understood
+dwelt Queen Naladi, and where De Noyan said his wife remained prisoner.
+
+I scarcely know what I hoped to accomplish by such a move, yet helpful
+circumstances are apt to develop when one attempts boldly to do his own
+part the best he may.  It was in blind faith I crept forward through
+the dry grass, drawing ever closer toward that beckoning light.  It was
+a long journey and a slow one, as the tribe would guard vigilantly the
+dwelling-place of their Queen.  At every rustle in the grass, every
+flap of wing overhead, I paused, listening to the pounding of my heart.
+
+I clasped closely in one hand the knife, my sole weapon of defence,
+and, as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom and could distinguish
+some things more clearly, I paused often, with uplifted head, to study
+some indistinct object in the darkness.  Thus advancing inch by inch,
+avoiding with care the least rustling of dry grass, I wriggled
+snake-like forward, until I began breasting the steeper incline of the
+mound, its summit now outlined against the lighter space of overarching
+sky.
+
+All my rage deserted me when again in the open, actually attempting to
+achieve a purpose.  My brain cleared as by magic, every nerve steadying
+itself to meet whatsoever peril might be lurking along the path.
+Half-way up the mound I lay close to the earth, peering steadily
+through the gloom.  There was no cover to crouch behind, the slope
+being totally bare of vegetation except for the short, dry grass, yet I
+felt reasonably secure from observation unless I entered that bar of
+light.  Unable to do more than guess, I concluded that the single
+flame, splitting the night like the shining blade of a sword, came from
+the northern compartment, while the southern half remained wrapped in
+silent darkness.  Outwardly this Queen's residence was constructed much
+like the building used by the priests as a temple.  In the latter I
+recalled two entrances opening respectively toward east and west.  Were
+a partition run between, as in this private dwelling, the eastern door
+would open into the southern apartment.  It was the west door through
+which the light streamed, and, daring approach it no closer, my only
+recourse lay in trying my fortune on the opposite side.
+
+I began a winding advance along the sloping side of the hill, but sank
+suddenly to earth as a spectral figure moved forth from the darkness,
+stood a moment in the bright glare, and then strode past, vanishing
+within the gloom like a shadow.  It was an Indian, spear in hand, one
+of the body-guard of the Queen.  With renewed caution, my imminent
+danger being manifest, I barely lifted my head from the level of the
+grass, and began to work onward, reaching out until I got firm grasp on
+a bunch of grass, then drawing my body forward the full extent of my
+arms.  The progress was slow, involving much labor, and it required a
+full half-hour to attain the other side of the mound.  I could now look
+above, perceiving nothing except the black shadow of the house.  If
+Eloise was within, and if this door led to her prison, it was scarcely
+possible that it was unguarded.  Naladi had special reasons for looking
+carefully after the safe keeping of this captive, and was not likely to
+forget.  I discovered no outward signs of life, but was too thoroughly
+versed in wilderness ways to count upon that, knowing that each dark
+shadow along the wall might conceal some crouching stealthy figure,
+ready to pounce forth.  With utmost care, anxiously scanning the silent
+hillside, I drew myself forward, hardly venturing upon a full breath,
+until I finally rested on my breast barely three paces from where I
+believed the entrance must be.
+
+I dreaded any attempt to advance into the unknown, yet I had no
+intention of withdrawing until I had accomplished that end for which I
+came.  To retreat was foreign to my nature; indeed, I was now so close
+to Eloise, it required an effort of will to restrain a desire to rush
+blindly forward.  But long training overcame this rash impulse.  I
+rested there, silent as a savage, seeking to trace each detail of what
+was barely beyond my hand.  It was little enough I could distinguish,
+straining my eyes to the utmost; and finally, despairing of learning
+more, I advanced my hands, silently groping for something to grasp,
+when I was instantly frozen into a recumbent statue by a slight
+movement of something directly in front.  This was so faint that, had
+not my every nerve been tense, I should scarcely have noted it at all.
+Yet there could be no doubt--some one had given a slight shiver, as
+though from the chill of the night air; whoever it might be, the person
+was not three paces from my out-stretched hands, and, as near as I
+could judge, must be sitting on the very threshold of the entrance.
+
+I was in an awkward position.  How I had succeeded in arriving there
+without attracting attention was little short of miraculous.  I durst
+not venture on any retrograde movement; I even pressed my mouth against
+the hard earth, the better to deaden the sound of breathing.  I know
+not how long I remained thus; it was until my strained muscles appeared
+to cord themselves, and I could scarcely keep back a moan of pain.  Yet
+no other sound came from that mysterious presence.  Intently as I
+listened, not so much as the faint sound of breathing reached me.
+Still I could not have been deceived; there assuredly had been
+movement; I distinctly felt a consciousness of other presence, so that
+every nerve tingled, and it required the utmost self-control to hold me
+still.  I fairly throbbed with insane impulses to leap forward and
+solve the mystery.
+
+Who could be lurking there in such silence?  It must assuredly be an
+enemy, a guard stationed to watch over the fair prisoner within;
+doubtless, he would remain until relieved by some other.  What hope for
+successful advance held me in such agony of mind and body?  I felt that
+I must relieve my cramped limbs or else scream aloud in spite of every
+effort at control.  Slowly I drew back, my outspread hands searching
+for some hummock of grass against which I might press, to force my body
+silently downward, but discovered none.  Then there sounded, slightly
+to my left, the soft rustle of a moccasoned foot, and a low, guttural
+voice muttered some indistinct sentences.  The lurking form in my front
+appeared to rise, and there was a brief grunt as if in response to
+command.  Then a huge warrior stalked past so close that his moccasoned
+foot planted itself fairly between my outstretched arms.  Instantly he
+faded away within the enveloping gloom, and with hardly the hesitation
+of a moment I was on hands and knees creeping toward my goal.  With
+groping fingers I touched the riven trunk that formed the threshold,
+and, reaching upward, noted with a thrill of delight that merely a
+heavy curtain of woven straw guarded the interior.  There was no time
+for hesitancy; at any instant the savage guard might return to his
+deserted post.  Pushing the slight barrier noiselessly aside, I gained
+the interior, dropped the mat behind me, and, for the first time,
+ventured to pause and survey my surroundings.
+
+The single partition did not extend to the roof by a foot or more, so
+sufficient light found passage through the narrow aperture to render
+dimly visible the principal features of this apartment into which I had
+ventured.  It was evidently a sleeping-chamber, handsomely furnished in
+barbaric fashion, the faint light gleaming on numerous burnished
+ornaments, while a carpet of soft skins concealed the floor.  To this I
+gave brief attention, my anxious glance falling almost instantly upon
+the draped figure of a woman, vaguely defined in the dimness, lying
+outstretched on a slightly raised cushioned couch, her face concealed
+by the denser shadows of the wall, sound asleep.
+
+Cautiously I crept forward, hesitating to touch her lest so sudden an
+awakening might cause alarm.  It seemed safer to trust in speech, as
+then she would recognize at once who was by her side.
+
+"Madame," I whispered softly, my lips as close as possible to her tiny
+ear, "I seek brief word with you to-night."
+
+She must have slept lightly, for at my faint whisper I perceived that
+her wide-opened eyes were scrutinizing my face.
+
+"'Tis I, Madame, Geoffrey Benteen.  I beg you make no noise."
+
+"You need have no fear," returned a soft voice in purest Spanish.  "You
+do me honor by so unexpected a visit; I bid you welcome, Geoffrey
+Benteen."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+SPEECH WITH NALADI
+
+If you were ever rudely aroused from pleasant dreams by a sudden dash
+of cold water in your face, you may partially comprehend my emotions
+upon hearing these words of greeting, and realizing that I was looking
+into the beautiful, pitiless eyes of the Daughter of the Sun, now
+sitting upright on the couch, happily smiling at my embarrassment.
+
+"Nay, Geoffrey Benteen," she exclaimed, significantly waving her white
+hand as she noted my swift glance backward, "retire not thus suddenly.
+You must be a marvellous woodsman to have attained this place through
+the watchful cordon of my guards, but 'tis not likely you would so
+safely run the gantlet of return.  You are not so fair of visage as
+your gay companion the Chevalier, yet now you are here I will enjoy a
+short time with you.  Yet first let us understand each other.  For what
+purpose do you invade my apartment so boldly?"
+
+"I came," I replied, believing frankness would prove my best play in
+this crisis, "expecting to find not you, but your prisoner."
+
+"Ah! you are honest, if not complimentary," a quick flash of
+understanding in her bright eyes.  "So it was another woman for whose
+sake you came creeping recklessly through the night!  God's mercy!  I
+even ventured to dream my charms had pierced the dull armor of your
+cold English heart, yet here you merely stand and laugh at me,--would
+even flee my presence as though pestilence were upon my breath.  Why, I
+wonder? am I not also fair?  Why then flout me thus disdainfully?
+Naladi has not been accustomed to such harsh treatment at the hands of
+your sex."
+
+"You are, indeed, beautiful both in form and face," I answered, seeking
+to avoid quarrel, "but it is not for a mere adventurer of the woods to
+utter words of love to such as you."
+
+Her lips curled in sarcastic smile.
+
+"Pish! you grow marvellously modest all at once.  I bid you note that
+the passion of love cares nothing for a registry of birth--it looks to
+flesh and blood, not records.  There is more hidden in your secret
+heart to-night than finds utterance upon the lips.  You have the soft
+speech of a diplomat, full of guile and cunning.  Come, I bid you tell
+me the whole truth.  Do you think me an untutored savage, that you deny
+me in such disdain?"
+
+"I know not how it may prove regarding your heart," I said boldly, not
+hesitating to meet her questioning eyes, "but in manner and graces you
+exhibit the gloss of courts."
+
+She smiled mockingly, rising to her feet and saluting me with a low
+curtsy.
+
+"Ah! very prettily said, señor.  I perceive your objection then: you
+think me fairer without than within.  I dare not contend you are
+altogether wrong in such conjecture.  Faith, why not, señor?  It would
+be strange otherwise.  All lives do not flow gently amid prosaic
+routine, and my ship has been often enough upon the rocks.  I have
+learned reasons of deceit and cruelty in the hard school of experience.
+If, in years of trial, I have grown hard of judgment, reckless of
+action, it is because others have been harsh with me.  Power is
+naturally tyrannical.  But then what use for us to dwell upon the past?
+So you came to-night to meet another?  'T is strange the risks a man
+will run for so infinitesimal a reward.  Yet, Mother of God, it gives
+me a pleasant tale to pour into the ears of him you call De Noyan when
+we meet again to-morrow.  If I mistake not, the one you seek in secret
+bears the name of that gay gallant.  At least, she masquerades in this
+wilderness under the title of Madame de Noyan.  But 'tis you, not he,
+her reputed husband, forsooth, who seeks her chamber in the midnight.
+Truly 'tis a pretty tale of romance."
+
+It flashed upon me, as she thus lightly spoke, what infernal use an
+unscrupulous woman might easily make of this.  The imputation lurking
+in her words aroused me to defiant anger, yet before I could collect my
+thought to make reply, she marked my hesitancy and continued with
+bitter sarcasm.
+
+"Madame possesses so sweetly innocent a face I should never have
+suspected her of being an immodest wanton, were it not for the evidence
+of my own eyes.  'T is a strange world, señor.  Yet I have often heard
+this is the way with these _grandes dames_ of France."
+
+"It is only your own foulness of thought which places such construction
+upon my coming here," I broke forth, determined I would face her down
+at every hazard.  "You know well my purpose; I came seeking to aid one
+you held prisoner.  It is all because of your sin, not ours.  You have
+robbed this Chevalier de Noyan of all his manhood by your cursed smiles
+and honeyed speech.  You have made him forget his sworn duty unto her
+who is his wife."
+
+"How interesting you grow," she interrupted, her lips curling, her eyes
+hardening.  "Señor, you grow almost handsome when your eyes flash.  So
+you felt called upon to devote yourself to this poor, misused,
+neglected wife?  I trust you have not found it an unpleasant service,
+or entirely without reward?"
+
+"I felt called upon to aid her in escaping from your grip."
+
+"Ah, indeed?  Would you kindly, señor, tell me how you proposed
+performing such a miracle?  It remains in my memory some such effort at
+release has been made before," her eyes hardening like diamonds.  "Down
+yonder stands a blackened post which tells how Naladi deals with those
+daring to mock her will."
+
+"You may spare threats," I retorted, gathering courage from rising
+anger, "as I care nothing for your good will, nor shall I swerve an
+inch in the hope of escaping your savage vengeance.  Madame de Noyan is
+so far above you in every attribute of unsullied womanhood that no
+words of yours can ever besmirch her reputation; while, as to myself, I
+remain so certain of my own rectitude in the action of this night, I
+challenge you to do your worst."
+
+"No doubt the Chevalier will also feel confidence in all you say," she
+added maliciously.  "I understand it is the way with the French."
+
+"With whom your previous acquaintance seems to have rendered you most
+familiar."
+
+It was a wild, chance shot, for firing which I had no reason excepting
+that twice she had openly sneered at that people, and once had spoken
+of ships in a way strange to an inland savage.  It was worth trying,
+however, and I marked her slight start of surprise at my insinuating
+tone, and the dark shadow sweeping across her face.
+
+"Think you so, señor?  It is passing strange, then, that I should be
+ignorant of the tongue."
+
+"Yes, were it true," I made quick reply, encouraged by her manner,
+determined now to press this guessing home, and abide results.  "But
+you had small difficulty comprehending the language a moment back.
+Permit me to remind you that it chanced to be French I spoke when first
+kneeling at your bedside."
+
+She savagely bit her red lips in rage at my words; yet more, I thought,
+at her own forgetfulness.
+
+"Pish! perhaps so;" and she stamped her foot angrily on the stone slabs
+of the floor.  "What does that prove to my discredit for you to harp
+upon?"
+
+Why my accidental words should thus worry her I could not even guess.
+Yet, clearly enough, there lay hidden some secret here--a hideous
+secret I had harshly probed.  Believing this, I felt that I could
+enhance my power over her by pressing it relentlessly home with
+whatsoever directness of speech I dared to venture.  With me, at such a
+crisis, decision meant action, and I advanced a step nearer, looking
+her directly in the eyes.  A single moment she met me with a haughty
+stare; then defiance faded away into pleading, and her glance wavered.
+Whatever the cause, she was clearly afraid.
+
+"Who--who are you?" she faltered.  "Surely we have never met before?"
+
+"As you know already, I am Geoffrey Benteen.  I only regret that your
+memory is so faulty."
+
+"What is it you know of me?"
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing, Madame," and I threw into the utterance of these
+words all the irony possible.  "It is not altogether strange Madame
+should forget acquaintances of other days, even her native tongue,
+living so long in the wilderness."
+
+It was a reckless shot, but somehow it struck the mark.
+
+"I am a Toltec!" she cried wildly.  "You speak to the Daughter of the
+Sun."
+
+"No doubt; 'tis a neat superstition with which to overawe savages, yet
+there was one once across the water greatly resembling you,--a bit
+younger, perhaps,--yet who was content then with a title not nearly so
+high-sounding, until--oh, well, what need to tell the rest?  Of course,
+it was not you?"
+
+I would never have believed so sudden a change could come over the
+countenance of a human being, had I not witnessed it with these eyes.
+She had sunk back against the couch, her hands pressing her breast as
+if to still the wild throbbing of the heart, her great eyes staring at
+me in silent horror.  Twice her lips moved as if attempting speech, yet
+no articulated sound issued from between them.
+
+"Are you a fiend from hell?" she sobbed at last.  "Why have you pursued
+me here?"
+
+"You do me far too great an honor."  I made her a low bow, thoroughly
+confident I held the whip hand, provided only I did not overplay my
+part.  "It is the merest accident of fate which has thus thrown me
+again across your path.  Nor have I the slightest desire to cause you
+trouble, only that through your power may come our safety."
+
+"You--you have not followed me, then?"
+
+"No."
+
+I saw she was diligently studying my face in the dim light, vainly
+endeavoring to recall where, under what circumstances, we had met
+before.
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"Bah! what difference can a name make?  Surely you are careless enough
+about your own to be lenient with another choosing to forget."
+
+"You also are a fugitive?"  I caught the sudden ring of hope in her
+voice, saw a new light flash into her eyes.
+
+"I have fled the Spaniards," I answered carelessly enough.  "What odds
+is that, so long as what I did has been for France?  Still, as I say, I
+have no desire to play you harm provided you deal justly with us all."
+
+"Harm?  You?  How could you harm me?" she questioned, evidently more at
+ease from the change in my tone of speech.  "You presume, señor; surely
+you forget you address the Queen of the Nahuacs; that even in our
+remnant there remain more than a hundred warriors to do my bidding!  I
+can laugh at threats, señor."
+
+I stared at her coldly.
+
+"As you please, Madame _la reine_ Naladi, Daughter of the Sun, formerly
+woman of--ah! so you do not care for me to speak that accursed word?
+Well, I thought you might not, so I spare you the shame.  'T is nothing
+to me your past, yet I would have you remember there is a people we
+both know to whom your miserable horde of savages would be but a
+mouthful.  This tribe has already tested the sharpness of the French
+sword."
+
+Her troubled eyes fell before mine, the last faint gleam of defiance
+dying from her face.  She glanced about the apartment, evidently
+meditating retreat from my presence, or the swift summoning of her
+guards.  Whichever it might have been, she as evidently thought better
+of it, turning toward me once more, no longer a frightened, angry
+Amazon, but instead a smiling, pleasant-faced woman.
+
+"We have surely jested long enough, señor," she exclaimed with apparent
+lightness of demeanor.  "It can never be best for us to be other than
+good friends.  I doubt not you are a bold man, loyal to those trusting
+you, and I honor you for it.  Take me, also, into that charmed circle,
+yet never forget I am a woman capable of doing great harm if I choose,
+for I have those at my command here who would die gladly at my bidding.
+The threat of French vengeance moves me little, señor; France is
+strong, cruel, relentless; but France is not here."
+
+"Quite true," I replied, feeling best now to permit her to enjoy her
+own way.  "But France never forgets, never pardons, and France
+possesses arms which reach across the seas, even into this wilderness.
+All she needs is a guide, and I could become that.  Yet if you grant my
+request I pledge that no words of mine shall result in your injury."
+
+"Your half threat does not greatly trouble me, señor.  I am no frail
+reed fearing a puff of air.  I merely seek that duty which seems most
+fair to all concerned.  Pray tell me then what it is you would ask at
+my hands.  Nay, wait; before we go into this business be seated here,
+so we may more easily converse together."
+
+It was a low stool beside the couch she indicated, and I could do no
+less than silently accept her courtesy, the soft, mysterious charm of
+the woman blunting my prejudice.
+
+"Now, señor," an engaging smile rendering more beautiful the face
+turned toward me.  "I pray you trust me fully, and state frankly your
+demands upon Naladi."
+
+If slightest sarcasm lurked in these softly spoken words I acknowledge
+total oblivion to it.  Her fair face was the picture of earnestness,
+her eyes gazed frankly into mine.
+
+"Our release, Madame."
+
+She lifted her white hands in a sudden gesture of expostulation.
+
+"Why ask that?  It is utterly beyond my power, señor--at least, at
+once," in a tone of despair, convincing me she spoke truly.  "We have
+our laws, which must be obeyed.  It was the tribe who in battle took
+you prisoners, not I; it would cost me my position did I endeavor to
+give you immediate release."
+
+"Could it be accomplished later?"
+
+"Possibly it might."
+
+"Will you promise me it shall?"
+
+She hesitated, her eyes downcast, her bosom rising and falling to
+tumultuous breathing.
+
+"Yes," at last slowly, as if she had weighed the problem with care.  "I
+will pledge you my utmost help to that end."
+
+"There is one thing more, Queen Naladi," I contended earnestly.  "It is
+that Madame de Noyan be permitted meanwhile to abide with her husband."
+
+The fair face darkened ominously.  Instead of immediately answering she
+stepped across the room; returning, she held in her hands a small box
+in which I perceived papers.
+
+"One moment, señor; move your stool here; yes, a trifle to the left
+where we may have clearer light shed upon these documents."
+
+I drew it unsuspectingly to the spot indicated by her gesture, bending
+forward, wondering what it might be of importance she held in her hands.
+
+"This, señor," she began calmly, slightly unrolling a written sheet,
+"is, as you will easily comprehend, the very document causing my
+unfortunate exile in this wilderness.  You will take notice--"
+
+As she spoke, I felt myself falling.  She sprang hastily back, barely
+in time to escape my frenzied clutch upon her draperies; for one
+instant I clung to the stone slab of the floor desperately.  Then she
+laughed, her heel crunched on my gripping fingers, and, with one
+muffled cry of despair, I went plunging down into the blackness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+IN AND OUT THE SHADOW
+
+It is strange I remember so little from that instant when my tortured
+hands released their frantic grasp on the stone slab of the floor.  I
+recall the sharp pain, as that fair-faced fiend stamped upon my
+clutching fingers; I heard the echo of sneering laughter with which she
+mocked my last upward look of agony, but, with the plunge downward into
+that black, unknown abyss, all clear recollection ceased--I even retain
+no memory of the severe shock which must have occurred as my fall
+ended.  Whether excess of fear paralyzed the brain, or what may have
+been the cause for such a phenomenon, I know not.  I merely state the
+fact.
+
+I awoke--how much later God alone knows--lying upon the rough stone
+bottom of an awful well, huddled in its blackness.  When I finally made
+attempt at straightening my cramped limbs it seemed as if each separate
+muscle had been beaten and bruised, and it required no little
+manipulation before I even recovered sufficient strength to stand
+upright and endeavor to ascertain the nature of my grewsome
+prison-house.  My stiffness caused me to believe that I must have lain
+motionless for several hours in the same cramped position into which I
+fell, before even regaining consciousness.  Another evidence of this
+was the blood which, having flowed copiously from a severe cut upon the
+back of my head, had so thoroughly hardened as to stanch the ugly
+wound, thus, perhaps, preserving my life.
+
+Slowly I returned to a clear realization of my position, for my eyes
+opened upon such intense darkness I could scarcely comprehend in my
+weakened, dazed condition that it was not all a dream from which I was
+yet to awaken.  Little by little the mind began asserting itself,
+vaguely feeling here and there, putting scrap with scrap, until
+returning memory poured in upon me like a flood, and I grasped the
+terrible truth that I was buried alive.  The knowledge was a deathlike
+blow, with which I struggled desperately, seeking to regain control
+over my shattered nerves.  I recall yet the frenzied laugh bursting
+from my lips--seemingly the lips of a stranger--ringing wild and
+hollow, not unlike the laughter of the insane; I remember tearing wide
+open the front of my doublet, feeling I must surely choke from the
+suffocating pressure upon my chest; I retain memory of glaring
+violently into the darkness; how I fondled the sharp edge of the
+hunting knife, crying and shouting impotent curses, which I trust God
+has long ago forgiven, at that incarnate devil who had hurled me down
+to such living death.  Terror dominated my brain, pulsed like molten
+fire through my blood, until, as the desperation of my situation became
+more clearly defined, I tottered upon the very verge of insanity,
+feeling I should soon become a helpless, gibbering imbecile.
+
+Yet, as I succeeded in staggering weakly to my feet, the movement and
+exertion served to quiet my apprehensions, while hope came faintly
+back, bringing with it, as though newly born, a determination never to
+yield without one manly struggle.  I possessed a knife; perchance there
+might be discovered some opportunity for using it.  With outspread
+hands, and groping feet, I attempted to advance, but found I had fallen
+so close to the centre of the well that I had to make several steps
+before my extended fingers touched the cold wall.  This I followed
+slowly, passing exploring hands with utmost care over each inch, from
+the floor to as high as I could reach on tiptoe, until confident I had
+made the complete circuit.  It was all the same, vast slabs of flat
+stone, welded together by some rude yet effective masonry, the mortar
+between impervious to the sharp probing of the knife.  Again and again
+I made that circuit, testing each crack, sounding every separate stone
+in the hope of discovering some slight fault in construction by which I
+might profit.  Everywhere I was confronted by the same dull, dead wall
+of cold, hard rock, against which I exerted strength and skill
+uselessly.  Finally I dropped upon my knees, creeping inch by inch
+across the floor, but with no better result.  It likewise was composed
+of great slabs of stone, one having an irregular crack running through
+it from corner to corner, but all alike solid and immovable.
+
+Then the last faint flicker of hope deserted me.  Yet the exercise of
+that fruitless search had restored some measure of manhood; my brain no
+longer throbbed with dull agony, nor did my veins burn as with liquid
+fire.  I felt convinced this black vault was destined to become my
+grave; here in after years, perhaps, some straying hunter might uncover
+my mouldering bones, wondering idly at my unknown story, for here I was
+surely doomed to face all that was mysterious and terrible in death.
+Well, that end must come to me some time, as to all men; I had seen
+many die, and, although fate faced me in far more horrid guise than any
+of these others, yet after all it was merely death, and I had no more
+cause to fear it here in the dark than yonder in the sunshine.
+Besides, I retained the keen knife-blade; if worse came to worse that
+was available for release.  I passed it caressingly through my fingers,
+wondering would God forgive its use if the moment came when I must
+choose between insanity and death.
+
+Merciful Heaven! how time dragged!  What awful conceptions were formed
+in my fevered brain!  What leering, sardonic faces pictured themselves
+against the black wall; what demon voices spoke and laughed in the void
+above!  At times I stood in a cave thronged with jeering devils, some
+with the savage countenance of the heathen, some yet more satanic; yet
+ever in the midst of their maddest orgies, the cruel mockery of the
+infamous Naladi appeared more hellish than that of the rest.  She
+leered down upon me from every side until I seemed to stare into a
+thousand faces, each wearing her hateful, sardonic smile.
+
+I paced the floor with feverish impatience, counting my steps from wall
+to wall, hoping by this means to retain control of my brain.
+Experiencing the sharp pangs of hunger, I slashed a bit of leather from
+my belt, and chewed it savagely as a dog might chew a dry bone.  In my
+despair, I danced, snapping my fingers, and hurling bitter taunts at
+the unseen upper world.  Exhausted by such useless frenzy, I would sink
+prone to the floor, every nerve unstrung, lying there panting in
+helplessness until returning strength again sent me back and forth in
+that awful tramp from wall to wall.  I perceived that the strain of
+that horrible haunted silence was driving me mad.  There was no escape,
+no hope, no peace.  Again and again did I break from incoherent ravings
+to sink upon my knees, beseeching God for mercy.  Yet I arose without
+rest, without peace.  At last I sank weakly down against the wall and
+lay trembling in every limb, staring blindly with wide-open, unseeing
+eyes.
+
+I had come to the very end--to that moment when my limbs refused longer
+to support my swaying body, when my tortured brain was picturing scenes
+of hellish ingenuity.  Ah! look! see! yonder comes now another to
+torment my soul.  O God!  Mark that grim, gray face floating against
+the wall!  Away, you foul fiend!  I am not yet your prey!  But see! see
+how the ghastly horror grows!  It is as large as a man; and mark those
+long, gaunt arms reaching up until they meet overhead.  Suddenly it
+seemed to shed a strange, unnatural radiance over the cave.  I imagined
+I saw things about me.  What, Mother of Mercies, can it be?  Daylight!
+Oh, good God! do my eyes actually look upon the day once more--the
+sweet, sweet, blessed day?  Surely it is but a dream; yet no! it must
+truly be light streaming down from above.
+
+I staggered to my feet, trembling so that I was compelled to clutch the
+wall for support.  Swinging and swaying down toward me through the dim
+light, now in the radiance, anon in the shadow, twisting and turning
+like a great snake, a grass rope steadily dropped ring by ring until
+its loosened end coiled on the stone floor.  I saw it, never believing
+the testimony of my own eyes, until my trembling hand had actually
+closed upon it.  Then, with the touch in my fingers, the hot tears
+gushed from my blinded eyes, the tension on my brain gave way, and I
+was Geoffrey Benteen once more.  A cautious whisper pierced the silence.
+
+"If you remain alive, have you strength to mount the rope quickly?"
+
+So parched and swollen were my lips I could not answer, yet managed to
+take stronger grasp upon the cord, and, finding it firmly held above,
+made earnest effort to climb.  'Twas a desperate undertaking for one
+who had passed through the strain which had befallen me; but now, the
+trembling having somewhat passed, I found myself not entirely devoid of
+strength, while an intense desire to escape from that hell made me
+willing to venture.  I was dimly conscious of a face gazing intently
+down through the small aperture, yet, with the swaying of that loosened
+rope, the slipperiness of its grassy strands between my fingers, I
+found little opportunity for glancing upward while slowly winning
+toilsome way toward the light.  It was as hard a struggle for life as I
+ever made, my heart almost ceasing to hope, when I finally felt a hand
+close firmly upon the collar of my jacket.  With that help, I struggled
+on, until, panting and exhausted, I sank upon the skin-carpeted floor
+of the apartment from whence I had been hurled into that living tomb.
+
+Half turning as I fell, I gazed into the face of my rescuer,
+endeavoring to smile as my glad eyes met those of Eloise de Noyan.
+
+"Oh, hush!" she sobbed.  "Do not speak of what you have suffered, for I
+read it all in your eyes.  Oh, my poor, poor boy!  I thank the merciful
+Christ you are still alive.  Yet I know not how long that demon in form
+of woman may be absent; besides, her savage guards are everywhere.  The
+slightest sound might bring one to the door, and it will be better that
+she believe you her victim, buried forever in that foul grave."
+
+I could but gaze at her, my breath coming in sobs of pain.
+
+"How chanced it, Madame, you knew I was thus entombed?" and my hand,
+yet bleeding from contact with the rope, ventured to touch her own.
+She looked into my eyes bravely, a red flush in either cheek.
+
+"I overheard those bold words you spoke to her last night across the
+partition."
+
+"Last night?  Rather a week since."
+
+She smiled, her hand-clasp tightening.
+
+"Ah, no, Geoffrey.  It has seemed that long even to me waiting
+opportunity for service, yet 'tis scarcely eight hours since you were
+hurled into yonder hole.  See; the sun in the sky tells the story
+truly.  But every moment we delay only serves to increase our peril of
+discovery.  Assist me, if you have strength, to relay this stone slab.
+It tested my muscles sorely to drag it aside.  No doubt there is a
+cunning spring somewhere, by use of which it moves easily, yet I sought
+after it in vain."
+
+Toiling together we finally succeeded in returning the flat cover to
+its proper position in the flooring, and spread over it a thick skin.
+Seeing everything was left exactly as when she entered, Madame, who had
+become a new woman to my eyes, capable and alert, silently led me
+through a narrow curtained recess to the second apartment.  This had
+evidently been designed as the Queen's reception room, being fairly
+gorgeous in coloring, the low walls covered with shields of beaten
+copper, while burnished bits of the same metal, mingled with duller
+tones of gold and iron, were scattered everywhere in strange profusion.
+Varied tinted stones and sea-shells had been built into a raised
+platform, on which stood a couch hidden beneath rich robes of skin, and
+draped about with multicolored cloth of rude design and texture.
+Altogether it was an interior of rich barbaric splendor, savage in its
+unusual beauty, yet possessing here and there an odd touch of
+civilization almost startling by contrast.  You must understand that I
+enjoyed little opportunity to gaze about and note such details, for
+Madame was impatient of delay, hurrying me forward until we entered
+together a partially concealed passage behind where the couch stood.
+Here my fair guide paused, thrusting into my hands a quantity of food
+hastily appropriated from a long shelf, concealed by a curtain of
+scarlet cloth.
+
+"Eat heartily," she commanded quickly, "for you seem very weak.
+Meanwhile I will stand here, keeping watch lest we be taken by
+surprise.  Should I give a signal, lift yonder red curtain at its
+farther end, and hide there in silence until I come again."
+
+I partook of the coarse food eagerly enough, yet my eyes were ever upon
+her, my lips even finding time for speech.
+
+"Have you some plan, Madame?" I questioned anxiously.  "You said but
+now this house was held under heavy guard."
+
+"I spoke truly.  I may not step forth into the air but some savage is
+at my side driving me back again.  Oftentimes they peer within when the
+Queen is absent, to assure themselves that I am safely caged."
+
+"And this Naladi--does she treat you well?"
+
+The swift color mounted into her clear cheeks.
+
+"Not ill, so far, at least, as relates to the physical," she responded
+gravely.  "No hand has been angrily laid upon me since I was dragged
+forth from the altar-house.  Yet there are other forms of torture; and
+she constantly mocks me with my helplessness, and, I believe, even
+hates me for no better reason than that I stand between her and the
+Chevalier."
+
+"You have seen him?"
+
+"No; but have heard his voice while he held private converse with her,
+the shameless wanton; have listened to words ill suited to the ears of
+a wife.  She is a witch, and the slumbering devil in her has made snare
+for his weakness."
+
+"I greatly fear there may be truth in this," I returned, scarcely
+knowing how best to speak at such a time, marking the agitation of her
+breathing.  "Naladi is a fair woman, softly spoken and seductive when
+it is her purpose to please.  There are not many men who could resist
+her wiles.  Yet possibly, Madame, were you to have converse with the
+Chevalier your plea might break the spell."
+
+She turned toward me with proud, impetuous gesture, and I was surprised
+at the sudden indignant light glowing within her dark eyes.
+
+"No, Geoffrey Benteen, that will never be.  I am this man's wife.  He
+has vowed himself to me before the sacred altar of Holy Church.  Think
+you that I, a lady born of France, would abase myself to beseech his
+loyalty?  Not though life or death hung upon the issue!  If he can cast
+me aside for the caresses of this savage harlot, he may forever go his
+way; never will my hand halt him, or my voice claim his allegiance.  I
+am his wife before God; to the end I will be true unto my solemn
+pledges to Holy Church; yet I hope never to look again upon the false
+face of Charles de Noyan."
+
+"Are you not over-hasty in such decision?" I ventured, conscious of a
+gladness in my own heart at her impulsive speech.  "Possibly this is a
+mere passing whim, an idle fancy; he may yet emerge from the craze
+purified by trial."
+
+She looked hard at me, as if seeking to penetrate the flimsy mask I
+wore, and I beheld a pride in her uplifted face such as had never been
+visible there before.
+
+"Such might be the way with some women," she returned firmly.  "I am of
+a race to whom honor is everything.  My father gave his life for no
+less, and I hold him right in his choice.  I may forgive much of
+wrong--ay! have forgiven--yet the stain of dishonor now rests upon the
+proud name I bear, and that can never be forgiven.  Whether in New
+Orleans, or the heart of this wilderness, I am still Eloise Lafrénière,
+the daughter of a gentleman of France.  I would die by the torture of
+these savages before I would surrender the honor due my race."
+
+There was that in her proud speech silencing my tongue from further
+expostulation, even had I believed De Noyan deserved a defender.  He
+had deliberately chosen his path, now let him follow it; any man who
+would thus lightly tread on the heart of such a woman was clearly
+outside the radius of human sympathy, deserving to be.  Certainly I
+felt no call to stand between him and his fate.
+
+"I may not comprehend the claims of family pride, Madame," I responded
+finally, for want of something better.  "Of that I know little.  Yet I
+cannot contend that your decision is wrong.  However, let us talk of
+other things, permitting this disagreement to adjust itself.  You have
+not stated how I am to escape from this present predicament.  It surely
+looks a problem not easily solved."
+
+"Nor is it clear even in my mind," she admitted, evidently relieved by
+the change of topic, "because I do not know the ending of a certain
+passage underground.  Yet I have a plan.  Behind the curtain, yonder, a
+concealed opening leads downward into an underground gallery.  I have
+ventured to explore it for only a brief distance, but trust it may end
+under the open sky.  At least our only hope is that you may discover
+some such ending.  If not, you can only return to me, and we wilt seek
+other means for escape, if, indeed, there are any."
+
+"I am to understand you do not flee with me?"
+
+She shook her head gravely, her cheeks flushed, her dark eyes lowered.
+
+"No; I deem such move not best after those words the Queen spoke to you
+last night," she answered simply.  "Besides, our best efforts at escape
+would be futile should she suspect you have not perished where she
+entombed you.  I am safe here, for the present at least, while you can
+accomplish much more for all of us if she believes you dead and takes
+no precautions to guard against you."
+
+I could scarcely bear the thought of her remaining in the power of that
+half-savage creature, who wielded such despotic power over her wild
+tribesmen.  Inspired by fear of the result I begged reconsideration,
+urging her to accompany me in flight; but she was firm in refusal.
+
+"No; urge it no longer, good friend.  I know you speak from the heart,
+yet it is not best.  You cannot know to what depths of peril, or
+disappointment, this passage may lead, while, by remaining behind, I
+can help to hide your trail, and possibly open to you some way of
+retreat.  But hush!"  She held up her hand.  "It is the Queen
+returning; neither of us must be discovered here."
+
+I took a step forward, gaining undisputed possession of the uplifted
+palm.
+
+"I depart at your wish, Madame," I said brokenly; "but may the merciful
+God bring us to each other again."
+
+For a breathless instant, even while the sounds without drew nearer,
+her eyes looked confidingly into mine.
+
+"All must be as God wills," she replied gravely.  "Here or hereafter,
+Geoffrey Benteen, I believe it shall be.  Until then, continue to prove
+the same true man you have ever been, doubting not the trust of her who
+now bids you speed."
+
+There were voices lightly conversing at the entrance, and I
+distinguished clearly the senseless laughter of De Noyan.  Lower I bent
+above the white hand reposing in my rough grasp, until my lips pressed
+the soft flesh; nor was it withdrawn from the caress.
+
+"Good-bye, Eloise," I whispered, and, sweeping aside the heavy folds of
+curtain, vanished from her sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+UNDERGROUND
+
+A slight radiance found passage through the coarsely woven curtain,
+proving sufficient, as my eyes became more accustomed to the gloom, to
+reveal, rude steps excavated from the earth, leading down into lower
+darkness.  Pausing merely to assure myself that the meeting between
+Naladi and Madame was outwardly courteous, while De Noyan seemed shamed
+into silence by the presence of his wife, I began the descent, quickly
+finding myself in an apartment, rounded in outline, not greatly
+dissimilar to that other from which I had been so lately rescued.
+This, however, was smaller, the floor littered with various articles,
+the nature of which I found it difficult to determine in such dim
+light.  Nor did I pause for close inspection, but, so soon as search
+revealed an opening into a narrow passageway beyond, I pressed forward
+amid dense gloom, feeling my way, fearful lest I meet some pitfall.  It
+was a low, contracted gallery, so extremely irregular in excavation
+that I sometimes stood erect, unable to reach the roof with extended
+fingers, yet a moment later was compelled to creep on hands and knees
+in order to progress at all.  Had it led through solid rock I should
+have accepted this as evidence of natural origin, but sides, floor, and
+roof were of earth, while every few feet, rendering progress uncertain
+and perilous, were huge posts of wood, usually roughly hewn tree
+trunks, each topped by a flat piece of stone, supporting the sagging
+roof.
+
+Altogether it was a surprising excavation, exhibiting some degree of
+engineering skill on the part of these savages.  I wondered whether the
+conception originated within the brain of their alien Queen, or was
+another of the unique inheritances of their race.  Perhaps I may be
+permitted to add here some information which reached me later, that
+abundant evidences of the existence of similar passages have been noted
+elsewhere in the old homes of this people beside the Mississippi.
+While at Petite Rocher River, I met lately a Jesuit, who had travelled
+widely and read many books, and he gravely assured me that in the vast
+cities of the Aztecs, far to the south in Mexico, their temples and
+palaces were connected by means of such long, secret, covered ways.
+Hence I incline to the belief that this excavation was largely the
+labor of slaves; for these Nahuacs had many such, some of negro, others
+of Indian blood, and that the earth thus removed had been utilized in
+constructing those mounds above, the entire method of building merely a
+tradition from the past.
+
+Let that be as it may, here the tunnel extended stretching its
+snake-like course before me.  Along it I carefully felt a passage,
+nervously gripping the knife hilt, and vainly seeking to distinguish
+definite outlines amid the darkness.  My groping feet encountered
+numerous obstructions along the path--here a pile of loosened earth
+over which I plunged headlong, or a flat stone dropped by the rotting
+away of its supporting prop, or some sharp declivity, as though softer
+earth had yielded to rude implements; yet it became evident from the
+start that the tunnel level rapidly descended, boring deeper and deeper
+into the bosom of the earth.  Finally, my fingers came into contact
+with small fragments of rock strewing the side walls, and I
+comprehended I must already be beneath the base of that rounded mound
+upon the summit of which the house of Naladi stood.  What worried me
+most was to what end this tunnel was made.  Such vast labor had surely
+never been performed without adequate purpose.  Besides, completed, the
+passage was well cared for.  I met frequently in my blind groping with
+evidences of comparatively recent labor.  Yet for what purpose was it
+designed?  Where did it lead?  To my bewildered judgment the general
+trend appeared northward; but that would carry it directly across the
+broadest portion of the upper basin.  To have an unconcealed entrance
+in the centre of that unprotected, open plain would be foreign to
+savage nature; while to imagine that such a tunnel as this, from which
+a vast amount of earth had been borne upon the backs of workmen, could
+extend below the full extent of that valley, was beyond conception.
+Besides, the air was light and pure, as sweet to inhale as if it blew
+directly upon me from the open sky; itself proof positive that some
+opening could not be far distant.
+
+Thus questioning, I groped slowly forward.  To one accustomed to living
+in the open there is something peculiarly oppressive in being cooped
+within the confines of such narrow entries, and being compelled to
+reflect upon the immense mass of rock and earth resting above, and
+prevented from crushing him down into everlasting silence only by
+insignificant props of wood, whose melancholy groaning in the darkness
+bore evidence of the vast weight they upheld.  There was nothing for me
+but to struggle onward, although I do not claim that it was without
+quaking heart, or many a start at odd noises echoing and re-echoing
+along that grim gallery.  It is comparatively easy to be courageous
+where the peril is of a nature to which we have long accustomed
+ourselves, but many a trained nerve gives way before little ventures
+amid the unknown.  I am told that soldiers coming to these
+colonies--veterans who had faced unflinchingly the flames of
+battle--will tremble and shrink like frightened girls at the slightest
+sign of a storm at sea; and there was once a famous war-chief of the
+Shawnees, who had fought fiercely with tomahawk and knife, yet who fell
+dead at the first crash of a field gun, although the piece was
+uncharged with ball.  So I conceive that physical courage is not so
+high a virtue after all, and am not greatly ashamed to acknowledge I
+went timidly forward down that black slope, and with a wild inclination
+to fly backward at every sound.  Nor do I boast of keeping on, for it
+was largely because I knew well what reception would await me; the look
+of scorn with which Madame would discover that a faint heart had made
+me afraid of the dark.  So it was love, or pride, I scarce know which,
+that kept my reluctant feet moving; and, possibly, both of these are
+the true sponsors for most of the courage in the world, except that
+engendered by excitement.
+
+Finally, when, with many a quaking of the heart I thought there must be
+above me a full hundred feet of earth, I perceived a flickering ray of
+light stealing along the floor.  It grew more pronounced with each
+advancing step and soon crimsoned the upper walls.  I dropped
+cautiously upon hands and knees, and crept slowly forward, beside the
+dancing shadows, taking concealment behind every irregularity.  Thus
+approaching, I discovered the flaring beacon to be a huge pine knot
+stuck into the earth wall, blazing right merrily.  Lying at full
+length, with head outstretched from behind the tree trunk that
+concealed my body, I gazed forward into a small room, possibly a dozen
+feet in width, the walls concealed by grotesquely pictured bark, its
+floor covered with a rude matting, dyed in fanciful colors.  Somewhat
+to the left of where I lay uprose a huge, grim figure, roughly shapen
+from wood, having two uplifted wings pressing the roof, while directly
+in front reposed numerous dishes of untasted food.  This idol, for such
+I conceived it to be, was a most hideous, repulsive object, colored
+lavishly with strange pigments, the face and head decorated in crimson,
+while the huge right hand, grasping a club, was uplifted as if about to
+strike down an approaching enemy.  The flaring light of the pine knot
+glittered on great staring eyes which appeared to sparkle as if
+composed of precious stones; while about neck, zone, and ankles shone
+the duller gleam of gold, with the shimmer of some brighter metal.
+
+It was a grewsome sight to approach in such a place, especially as the
+peculiar eyes appeared to follow my slightest movement.  Yet only for a
+breathless moment did I experience doubt as to its nature, then laughed
+grimly at myself for a superstitious fool.  The remaining portion of
+this dimly revealed underground apartment appeared bare, except for a
+gayly decorated skin or two, and the figure of a man, garbed in the
+gloomy attire of a priest, lying fast asleep at the very feet of the
+statue.  Beyond showed a dark opening where the tunnel continued onward
+into the earth.
+
+It required brief observation to note these outlines, nor did they
+greatly serve to delay my advance.  I paused merely long enough to
+become thoroughly convinced of the reality of the priest's slumber, and
+then crept silently past, keeping close as possible within the shadow
+of the eastern wall, until once again safely swallowed within the
+blackness of the passage.  Oddly enough the mere sight of that fellow
+lying there unconscious served to yield me new courage, robbing the
+cave of its loneliness, and I plunged directly ahead.
+
+The passage I now followed rose with a sharp pitch, evidently inclining
+toward the surface, the opening not far distant.  It was like mounting
+a hill, so marked was the incline, yet I covered a distance fully
+equalling that of my previous descent before becoming aware of a
+steadily increasing gray tingeing the side walls.  Halting in this
+faint illumination I was suddenly startled by the sound of vigorous
+English speech.  I advanced cautiously.  The words were so confused by
+the echoes that little could be made of them until I reached a coarsely
+matted curtain, through which dimly sifted the welcome daylight.  Here
+I paused, listening intently, striving to discover what mystery lay
+hidden beyond.
+
+For some moments nothing reached me, excepting a low, dull murmur, as
+if voices chanted in muffled monotone, the sound commingling with a
+sharp crackling of flames, and an occasional doleful beating upon some
+surface resembling the taut parchment of a drum.  Suddenly a deep voice
+close at hand roared out hoarsely, and my heart leaped in excitement,
+although I at once recognized it.
+
+"You black-faced son of Belial," came a savage snort, "do you give all
+that food unto a dumb idol, when a Christian man, a ministering servant
+of the Most High, lies groaning with a stomach which has n't tasted
+food for four and twenty hours?  Possess you no bowels of compassion
+for the long sufferings of a fellow-man?  Come now, give me just a bite
+of the white meat, and yonder grinning wooden image will never miss it.
+You won't, you spawn of Baal, yet I marked plain enough how you filled
+your own lean belly with the best there was."
+
+The straining of cords, together with sound of struggle, bore evidence
+that the Reverend Mr. Cairnes was making heroic effort to attain unto
+that food offered before idols.  That such strenuous effort was vain
+was soon proven by the bursting forth of his voice once more.
+
+"Oh, gracious Lord," he cried, in a tone evidencing more anger than
+spiritual exaltation, "surely thy ancient servant Job never bowed
+before greater affliction than this now visited upon me.  Verily 't is
+even as the experiences of the Apostle Paul, yet without his reward in
+the flesh.  I beseech Thee from the depth of humiliation--even as did
+Daniel from the lions' den--loosen my arms that I may smite as with Thy
+wrath this profaner of Thy most holy name, thus bringing peace unto the
+smitten heart of Thy faithful servant.  O Lord, what have I done to be
+deserted in this hour of extremity?  As Elijah called down fire from
+Heaven, so I call upon Thee to smite with the terror of Thy might the
+ranks of these foul idolaters.  He who hath boldly proclaimed Thy truth
+in the wilderness, who hath proven a faithful witness unto these
+savages, through many years of trial and tribulation, doth now call
+upon Thee in dire distress.  Shall it be in vain, that he thus uplifts
+his voice supplicating in the wilderness?"
+
+His deep rumbling died away until I could distinguish little except
+those moans with which he punctuated the conclusion of each sentence.
+Finally, hearing no other sound to restrain me, I ventured to slightly
+uplift one corner of the heavy curtain, and peer into the room.  The
+entrance opened upon the back of the rude platform, my position being
+within less than three paces from the famine-stricken Puritan, who,
+with low-bowed head and hidden face, was still wrestling in fervent
+prayer.  I was unable, from where I hid, to distinguish the form of the
+crouching priest, yet knew he could not be far distant, and therefore I
+durst not speak above a whisper lest the sound awaken his suspicion.
+
+"Cairnes," I said softly, "hush that unseemly racket, man, and give
+heed to my words."
+
+Three times I was compelled to repeat this warning before I noticed him
+lift his head, in evidence that the faint sound had finally reached his
+ears.  Unable to turn, he rolled his eyes inquiringly upward.
+
+"What is it, O Lord?" he questioned, with such unbounded faith in a
+celestial visitant I found it hard to restrain a laugh.
+
+"Don't be a fool," I whispered back hastily.  "The Almighty may have
+guided me here, but 'tis a man in the flesh who speaks."
+
+The sectary made hard efforts to glance behind, but the cords held too
+firmly, so I merely gained a glimpse of the side of his face.
+
+"Merciful Jehovah! 'tis the voice of Master Benteen," he exclaimed
+joyfully.  "I know not how you could come there unless you descended
+from the sky."
+
+"From the opposite quarter, my friend," I replied, awake to the humor.
+"Pray speak with less noise, and pay heed to what I say.  Tell me where
+the priest stands; you are so confounded broad of shoulder I can see
+nothing beyond."
+
+"He kneels to the right of the altar, the crawling spawn of hell, where
+he has good chance to fill his lean body with food he makes pretence to
+feed unto that foul figure of wood.  He is a full imp of Satan, the
+black-faced idolater."
+
+"I care little as to that.  Are there others present?"
+
+"None, save the guard, a naked savage.  He leans in the doorway,
+looking without."
+
+"Then be quiet while I cut your bonds; afterwards move back toward me.
+But mark well you tread lightly along the floor, with no sound to
+attract attention."
+
+He chuckled grimly.
+
+"Fathers of Israel! it will astound those fellows to discover this
+place empty--'t is likely they will imagine me gone back to the Sun."
+
+Making no response to this natural conceit, I stretched myself forward
+the full length of my body, quickly drew the keen knife edge across his
+bonds, severing them with one stroke, thus setting free his arms.  As
+the sundered cords dropped noiselessly to the floor I drew back into
+hiding, leaving him to rid himself of whatever might remain.  A moment
+later he joined me, silently as a great shadow, and I cordially
+extended my hand to him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+WE MOUNT THE CLIFF
+
+"May the gracious blessing of the Lord rest upon you, Geoffrey
+Benteen," exclaimed the old Puritan fervently, as we faced each other
+in that gloomy passage, and it somehow heartened me to note tears in
+his gray eyes.  There was heart, then, under all his crabbedness.  "I
+have suffered much of late both in spirit and flesh, and the very sight
+of you is as a gift of mercy unto me.  No angel with healing in his
+wings could prove more welcome, yet I dislike leaving yonder food for
+the sustenance of that foul idolater."
+
+"You hunger then?" I questioned, amused at the regret with which he
+glanced backward.
+
+"Is it hungered you call a man who has had but two dry bones to pick
+since yester-noon?" he groaned, pressing both hands upon his stomach.
+"I am lean as the Egyptian kine, and fain would welcome even locusts
+and wild honey."
+
+"Well, friend," I insisted firmly, "if you follow, within fifteen
+minutes you shall partake of a meal equalling that left behind.  I
+myself know well what a long fast means."
+
+"'T is truly a grievous affliction, difficult to sustain in meekness of
+spirit," he admitted, yet ever keeping me close company through the
+increasing darkness of descent; "yet more am I distressed by the loss
+of all spiritual nurture amid these wild heathen.  Perchance, Master
+Benteen, you might be led to unite with me in a moment's fervent
+supplication before the throne of grace?"
+
+"Ay; when the right time comes I will gladly join, yet I warn you now
+not to send your bull voice roaring through these passages, or you will
+have small opportunity for another meal."
+
+"A time to work and a time to pray has ever been my motto, most worthy
+youth, but my soul is so filled with gratitude at my providential
+deliverance from pagan bondage--even as was Daniel from the lions'
+den--I long to pour forth my joy in songs of praise.  Patience, but
+were I out of here, verily would I venture to uplift a psalm of Zion."
+
+He spoke in such ecstasy I feared lest his zeal might conquer his
+prudence, although in truth this latter virtue was one never apparent
+in his composition, and I determined once for all to nip in the bud all
+such inclination.  So I halted in the darkness, and, as he lumbered
+past, laid a restraining hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Now hark you, Ezekiel Cairnes," I muttered sternly, "I admire your
+piety, but this is no conventicle of the elect we are in; rather a
+place where your life, and those of others, depend on our caution.  The
+echoing of that bull voice along these galleries might cause the
+blocking of our passage, caging us in here like rats in a hole.  So
+hold quiet, Master Preacher, and let me hear no more about either
+prayers or psalms."
+
+The grave determination in my voice served to sober him.
+
+"'T is in my blood," he admitted doggedly, "to fight and work better to
+the holy songs of Israel.  It would bring renewed peace to my soul
+merely to uplift a paean of victory over the discomfiture of my
+enemies.  But I seek no quarrel here, and hence bide in silence until a
+proper moment to unseal my lips."
+
+"'Twill be well you do.  Now follow close at my heels, and I 'll
+promise a swift diversion to your thoughts."
+
+Thus cautiously we crept toward the distant flickering of the torch,
+the unsteady light from which already began to yellow the packed earth
+about us, until we finally emerged into its full glare.  I had crawled
+forth, perhaps half my length beyond the concealment of the wooden
+pillar, and, knife in hand, was stealthily drawing in toward the
+motionless form of the still slumbering priest, when the roving eyes of
+Cairnes encountered the idol, with its flashing gems and widely
+outspread wings, towering above like an avenging demon.  I doubt not
+the sight was startling to the fellow, terrorized by the underground
+gloom, and he gave utterance to one gruff cry:
+
+"'T is Beelzebub!"
+
+The sleeping priest leaped to his feet, glaring about in bewilderment.
+Where I lay outstretched it required an instant to gather myself for
+action, and, before I could place restraining grip upon him, the fellow
+saw us both, and, with echoing scream of terror, fled frantically up
+the dark entry to the right.  I made desperate effort to halt him, but
+my swift-flung knife found bloodless sheath within the soft earth of
+the wall.
+
+"Zounds! are you a screeching woman with no control over your tongue?"
+I exclaimed angrily, panting for breath.  "'T is likely that priest
+will rouse the tribe, and we shall have a run for it.  What caused you
+to make such an uproar?"
+
+"Saints of Israel!" he said, repentantly enough, his glinting eyes
+still roving over the silent, leering image, "never before did I behold
+such monster as that.  For the moment, I believed it Satan himself.
+But, for the love of the prophets, what is this?"  He began eagerly
+sniffing the air with his great nose like a pointer dog.  "'T is food I
+scent; that which will stay a famished stomach.  I beg you, friend,
+pause shortly while I satisfy in some measure the yearnings of the
+body.  Then shall I be better fitted to withstand the temptations of
+the world."
+
+"Odds, man, I hope so," I responded gloomily, watching his eager attack
+upon the supply outspread before the idol.  "So far you have acted like
+a lunkhead, and I begin to regret making you comrade in this adventure.
+If a full stomach inspires to a man's duty, it would be policy always
+to bear food about with you."
+
+"Ay, 'tis strange, indeed," he mumbled, his mouth too full for clear
+speech, "that one who ever strives to live in spiritual exercise should
+be so completely the bound slave of mere bodily indulgence.  Yet I did
+inherit all such ungodly tendency from my mother who was of Dutch
+blood, as round of form as a Holland churn, while my father was spare
+of build, and throve marvellously upon the water of life."
+
+Leaving the engrossed sectary to refresh himself to the full of his
+capacity, I anxiously set to work searching after some species of
+cross-tunnel, shrewdly guessing this underground altar masked a
+junction point, from whence some such branch passageway would lead
+toward the open air.  With diligent care I passed along the walls,
+testing each separate section, yet discovering nothing to reward my
+efforts, until, finally creeping between the spreading feet of the
+effigy, which appeared to sway unsteadily, I lifted the crimson drapery
+hanging down its back, thus disclosing an opening, barely sufficient to
+permit the easy passage of a small man while lying flat.
+
+"Most noble scavenger," I said, feeling in better humor from this
+chance discovery of the means of escape, "are the wants of nature
+finally satisfied?  For if so, I have found a path which will lead us
+from this hole of iniquity."
+
+"Nay, call it not so while it offers such excellent bodily nurture," he
+replied with fervor, cocking one eye up at me, yet keeping both hands
+busily employed in crowding his pockets full of eatables.  "Say rather
+the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, or a well of water in
+desert places.  I shall be ready to accompany you upon a journey after
+I lay in these few necessaries.  The Lord hath given me manna in the
+wilderness--even as the ravens fed Elijah so hath He succored me--and
+'twould be sin to make mock of His mercy."
+
+"Very well; only hurry and follow my lead."
+
+"Will you not carry the torch to help guide?" he questioned, peering
+doubtfully into the yawning black opening.
+
+"No; the light would serve to betray us to any spying eyes.  Perhaps
+that frightened priest may deem us spirits, and muster courage to come
+creeping back.  If so, it will be best for him to find things here
+unchanged, although in faith he will scarcely doubt we possess earthly
+appetites when he notes your onslaught on the sacred food.  Come, man,
+enough of stuffing; your pockets can hold no more, so press on with me."
+
+"It grieves me sorely to leave behind so much good pabulum," he
+explained, eying still the few morsels left.  "It would be well, to my
+judgment, did you pack the rest of this providential supply."
+
+Never pausing to answer, I crept between the spreading wooden limbs,
+and, with the expenditure of no small effort, succeeded in wriggling
+into the narrow hole beyond.  It was a cramped passage for a man of my
+girth, yet, by digging in firmly with both hands and feet, I managed to
+advance, until I finally emerged, within space of perhaps a yard, into
+a much larger excavation, resembling the tunnel we had previously
+traversed.
+
+"Now, Master Cairnes," I spoke back encouragingly, "it is only a short
+distance to good footing; so take fresh breath and come on."
+
+His massive head completely shut out the faint light of the narrow
+opening, and I heard heavy breathing as the fellow squeezed his broad
+shoulders through the hole.  There followed sounds of violent struggle
+during his slow and painful advance.
+
+"By all the prophets and the patriarchs," he groaned wearily, "'tis not
+in me to make it!  Had I endeavored this before eating I could have
+slipped through, scarcely touching either side.  But now I am scraped
+like a pig for the feast.  Baste me, friend Benteen, but I can move
+neither forward nor back in this accursed place; I am full aground in
+the centre, and can never hope to progress without aid."
+
+I reached down until I laid firm hold upon his groping fingers.
+
+"Find some projection to push against with your feet," I advised
+disgustedly.
+
+"Fervently will I endeavor to dig in, and thus render all assistance in
+my power, yet I feel little to encourage me here in good works.  Would
+it not be wise to test the potency of prayer?  Verily the prayer of the
+righteous availeth much."
+
+"I try earthly power first," I returned testily.  "So lay to it, and we
+will have you out."
+
+I braced my knees against the firm wall, exerting all the strength I
+possessed.  There followed a series of moans and heated expostulations,
+then the sound of rending cloth, and the disgruntled Puritan came forth
+with a suddenness of exit which landed us both in a heap on the floor.
+
+"May all the spawn of hell be your playmates," he roared in mad anger.
+"By the bones of Moses! you have scraped every bit of skin off me, and
+half my coat is ripped loose and left behind.  Thou art an ungodly,
+blaspheming--"
+
+He gasped wildly for breath as I throttled him, but the grip of my
+hands stilled his speech.
+
+"It was only that you gorged like a bear preparing for Winter, or you
+would have passed through even as I did," I muttered, heedless of his
+effort to release my clutch.  "Lie still now, or, by all the devils in
+the pit, I 'll shut down harder on your throat.  Ah, so you can keep
+quiet, friend?  Then I will let you go, for I would be free to explore
+this passage."
+
+I could perceive, by means of the faint light streaming through the
+narrow opening, that he was busily engaged in rubbing his sorely
+lacerated sides, and I noted his brown jerkin had been fairly wrenched
+off his shoulders.
+
+"Where did you leave your coat?"
+
+"Yonder in that accursed hole!  It has store of provisions in its
+pockets.  Lord save me, but was there ever such a time!"
+
+He turned, groping anxiously about in the scene of his late adventure
+until he finally brought forth the missing garment.  Carefully testing
+the pockets to see their contents remained intact, a smile lit up his
+leathern face, and he flung it across his shoulders, like a pair of
+well-filled saddle-bags.  I reached in also, lowered the drapery, and
+then led down the dark tunnel as rapidly as the grim uncertainty of the
+way would permit.
+
+The passage proved long and tedious; at least so it seemed to us
+compelled to grope slowly onward through the darkness.  However, it ran
+straight and upon a level, although the numerous supports of the roof
+gave us occasional foul blows, and proved so confusing we were
+considerable time in traversing its distance.  All I have already
+pictured as occurring since I departed from the presence of Madame, and
+first plunged blindly into the underground labyrinths, had required
+several hours, and it must have been close upon sunset when we emerged
+from the gloom of the tunnel into the fresh sweet air.
+
+The passage traversed so long terminated abruptly, and with a sheer
+turn to the left, coming forth between two huge rocks.  To all
+appearances, it ended at the high bank of a noisy stream, and was
+partly hidden by the overhanging cliff.  The latter, devoid of path or
+chasm, now barred our progress, towering aloft until its ragged summit
+appeared to press the blue sky.  At first view I thought the way ended
+here, but Cairnes pointed silently toward the right, and then I
+perceived where a path led upward, along the merest narrow, jagged
+shelf, skirting the boiling water, yet ever rising higher above it,
+until, as my eyes followed its serpentine windings from terrace to
+terrace, I grew dizzy contemplating the possibilities of so mad a climb.
+
+"I suppose it must be tried," I admitted soberly, "for there is
+apparently no other passage.  Doubtless it leads straight to the top of
+the cliff."
+
+"Ay," with more of indifference than I had expected, "and it will be no
+easy trick in the night."
+
+"The night?"
+
+"Surely, yes; when else could we expect to compass the path?  Is it not
+plain, friend, that before we rose fifty feet we should be in full view
+of every eye in the valley with the sun bright upon us?  I tell you we
+must foot yonder rocks amid the night shadows, or else it will be safer
+to lie hidden here."
+
+I perceived the truth of his words and I confess to a sinking of the
+heart, as I contemplated the work before us.  I was never an adept in
+clambering, it addles my head; and, bad as it appeared by day, surely
+doubly bad would it prove by night.  Yet there was little help for it,
+and I made shift to win back my oozing courage by more cheerful speech.
+"Odds, but that is no such trip as I would seek after, yet needs must
+if the devil drives," I said.  "So, now, brother Cairnes, if you wilt
+consent to divide your store of food, we shall both front our night's
+work with stronger bodies."
+
+"Saints' rest! and if we go over the edge," he replied, cheerfully
+emptying his bulging pockets on the rock, "it will be a comfort to bear
+loaded stomachs with us.  It was ever against my pleasure to die half
+filled."
+
+We lingered as long as possible over our meal, conversing in such a way
+as to encourage each other and indulging in frequent draughts from the
+clear stream.  Nothing occurred to disturb us, and, finally, both
+yielded to the soothing influence of the drowsy evening, and, resting
+back upon the rocks, dropped asleep.  I know not the hour of my
+awakening, yet it greatly heartened me to be greeted by the sight of a
+nearly full moon, and to observe how the clear silvery light flooded
+the rocks, revealing the winding path leading upward.  To arouse
+Cairnes was no easy task, but at last we advanced on our path.  The
+huge rocks overhead appeared to arch us in, while, with utmost caution,
+we crept along the narrow, irregular ledge, which at times was level,
+and anon rose abruptly like the steps of a stair; occasionally it wound
+about projecting rocks and over vast, unknown depths, until my brain
+whirled, while I hugged the smooth rock wall at my right, and felt
+cautiously forward for solid foothold.
+
+I imagine we had progressed thus for upwards of three or four hundred
+yards, and were elevated so far above the stream that scarcely an echo
+of its noise assailed our ears even in the silence of the night, when
+suddenly we came to the end of our path.  The rocky shelf was so narrow
+the very conception of turning about smote me with terror.  Directly in
+front, extending to the very edge, stretched a solid wall of rock.  My
+eyes sank to the shelf on which I stood.  Lying close against the sheer
+cliff was the root of a tree, its trunk, perhaps a foot or more in
+diameter, stretching over the abyss, whose depth I durst not guess.  I
+stooped cautiously, my heart throbbing, and ran my fingers along the
+bark.
+
+"Oak," I announced soberly, "and feels solid and strong.  No doubt
+those Indians must cross here, but it is a bridge to rack the nerves."
+
+"Will you adventure the passage?" questioned Cairnes, striving to peer
+across my shoulder.  "As for me I would rather attempt the Red Sea."
+
+"Odds, man, the choice is not given.  'T is either turn and go back, or
+foot the tree; of the two the attempt at turning would addle me worse."
+
+I leaned out over the edge as far as I dared, clinging desperately to
+the root, and gazed down.  It was like peering into the mouth of a
+great well.  Then I nerved myself for the ordeal, and the next moment
+was fairly launched over the abyss, hanging on grimly to the log, my
+brain reeling as if with drunkenness.  Yet I kept moving inch by inch,
+for there was now no stopping, and soon felt solid rock once more
+beneath my groping feet.  With prayer on lips I crouched, sick and
+dizzy, close in against the wall, watching Cairnes where he followed
+along the same perilous path.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+CHIEF PRIEST OF THE SUN
+
+The rock shelf we followed became gradually somewhat wider, so I moved
+forward with greater freedom.  The path continued to ascend, winding
+unevenly along the precipitous face of the cliff, until we must have
+climbed nearly to the summit of the mighty bluff.  But the overhanging
+crest rendered it impossible for us to do more than guess the
+situation.  We were but ants clinging to a wall and unable to see more
+than a few yards ahead.  Finally we attained a point where the cliff
+bulged outward in a wide curve, not unlike the rounded bow of a ship,
+and were compelled to move with renewed caution along the narrowed
+shelf, which was seemingly unsupported.  Creeping fearfully forward on
+hands and knees around the sharp corner I found myself before the
+yawning entrance to a cavern.  I realized that here was the ending of
+our toilsome climb, for I could see nothing beyond, excepting a
+precipitous wall of stone.  If the path had continuation, it must pass
+through the cave.
+
+"Yonder yawns a gloomy-looking hole, Master Benteen," muttered the
+Puritan, lying at full length beside me, and staring ahead.  "Yet my
+eyes see no sign of life to alarm us."
+
+"The front is unguarded surely," I admitted gravely, "but do not feel
+confident that there are no occupants within.  If I mistake not, we
+have stumbled upon the very spot whence the priests signal down to the
+valley the rising and setting of the sun."
+
+"I never witnessed such ceremony, yet to my mind it would be far
+pleasanter going forward than lying here on the hard rock."
+
+Realizing the truth of his comment, yet muttering over my shoulder a
+word of caution, I began crawling forward into the interior.  No sign
+of human presence appeared, and I ventured to stand upright.  The
+cavern possessed a wide opening, with a broad platform of rock
+extending well out beyond the face of the cliff.  Along the edge I
+could observe the rather dim outlines of an immense altar, built of
+detached stones, rising to a considerable height, and partially
+blocking the entrance.  From below it might serve to conceal the mouth
+of the cave.  This obstruction shut off much of the moon's light,
+rendering the interior intensely dark.  We were compelled to grope our
+way forward with hands pressed against the walls.  I had not advanced
+more than thirty feet, my every nerve tingling, when I saw the ruddy
+reflection of a fire, hitherto completely concealed by a sharp turn in
+the tunnel.  Rounding this abrupt point we found ourselves in a large
+room capable of containing upwards of three hundred persons.  This
+chamber was partly natural in formation, but, as I discovered later,
+had been considerably enlarged by artificial means.  So high was it
+that, in the dim light, I could scarcely distinguish its vaulted roof,
+while its length was hidden in the darkness.  In the very centre of
+this apartment arose a great pile of irregular rock, flattened and
+hollowed along the top, where was burning a vast log, the smoke
+ascending straight upward, evidently finding outlet above.  The light,
+red and yellow, flared and flickered upon the surrounding bare gray
+walls, nothing else arresting the eye except a second wide rock
+platform close to where we crouched.  This was partially concealed by a
+great mat of coarsely woven scarlet cloth, which brought to me a
+conjecture that here, perhaps, the Queen was throned.
+
+Wherever there was fire burning there must, of necessity, be attendants
+to feed the flame, but I could detect no sign of life, no sign of any
+kind, other than the crackling of the blazing log, and the heavy
+breathing of my companion.  The silence oppressed me.
+
+"Go to the right," I advised at last, nervous from inaction, "I will
+try the left, until we meet again.  Keep close against the wall, and
+move with care."
+
+"'Tis not wholly unlike a visit to hell," he muttered gloomily, "but I
+am weary of lying shivering here."
+
+I watched the fellow creep forward on his knees, his brilliant
+head-covering revealed in the glare like a flame.  Then I took up my
+own part of this work of exploration.  I had compassed half my distance
+amid profound stillness, perceiving nothing strange, and constantly
+feeling more intensely the solemn loneliness of the place, which by
+now, to my awakened imagination, appeared peopled with bloodless
+victims of heathen superstition.  I felt no doubt this was a torture
+chamber; that many a hapless slave, or shrieking captive, had yielded
+up life in agony upon the summit of the gloomy pile, and the haunting
+spectres seemed to grin at me with distorted faces from every crevice
+along the walls.  I was weakly yielding to such weird dreams, when a
+wild, shrill scream rang forth from the darkness in front.  The cry
+contained such note of affright that, for an instant, I connected it
+with the fantasies which thronged my brain.  I stood still, rooted to
+the spot, the blood curdling in my veins, my eyes straining in vain
+effort to pierce the darkness.  Then there arose a roar not unlike that
+of an angry lion; the sound of a fierce struggle; the dull thud of a
+blow, and Cairnes's deep voice boomed forth.
+
+"Ye black-faced villain!  'T is the strength of the righteous you have
+felt this day.  Blessed be the name of the Lord, who hath given me the
+victory!  Lie there in your sins, and no longer affront your Maker."
+
+I sprang eagerly forward, but at my first step came into contact with a
+fleeing figure, which rounded the end of the altar in such blind terror
+as nearly to hurl me from my feet.  I grasped at the floating robe, but
+missed, and the next instant was rushing blindly after the fellow down
+the dark passage toward where the moonlight silvered the outer rocks.
+Fright gave him wings, but desperate determination lightened my feet,
+and I was nearly upon him when the fleeing man rounded the great rock.
+One instant he paused, glancing behind.  What he saw, or imagined he
+saw, I have no means of knowing; perchance some shrieking victim of his
+foul rites risen from the dead.  With one wild, echoing cry, which rang
+in my ears like the scream of a lost soul, he gave a mad leap out into
+the air, and went plunging down to the jagged rocks at the base.  Sick
+and pulseless I drew back.  Trembling in every limb, even in the
+silence which followed I could detect no sound of his body as it struck
+the earth.  I crept to the edge, lying prone upon my face, and looked
+over.  The moonlight ended a hundred feet beneath me; beyond its line
+there was nothing but a black void.  There could be no question as to
+what had occurred--the man was dead.  I made my way back into the cave
+seeking to discover what had befallen the Puritan.  I found him at the
+farther extremity of the great altar, calmly enjoying a quantity of
+cold meat he had discovered.  He was squatting upon the floor, in close
+proximity to the motionless, extended figure of a savage arrayed in the
+black garments of the priesthood.  They formed a picture so startlingly
+grotesque I could but stare in amazement.
+
+"Jerked venison," he explained, glowering up at me, as I came into the
+firelight.  "'T is of a peculiar flavor not altogether to my taste, yet
+not a food to be despised in the wilderness.  Did you lay hands upon
+the heathen who fled?"
+
+"No, he escaped me, but only to leap over the outer rock.  He lies dead
+below.  Have you slain this man?"
+
+He turned the huddled up body over contemptuously with his foot, and I
+perceived the wrinkled countenance of an aged man, the eyes bright, the
+thick hair on his head long and nearly white.  The face, thin and
+emaciated, was so sinister I involuntarily drew back.
+
+"A snake is not so easily killed," he answered in indifference.  "I
+struck but once, and not very hard as I rank blows, yet the fellow has
+not stirred since.  'T is well for him to remain quiet until I finish
+this repast, for I am of a merciful disposition when my carnal
+requirements are properly ministered unto.  Faith, had my eyes not
+fallen on the food I might have got both the fellows."
+
+Paying slight heed to his gossip I bent over the priest, rubbing his
+limbs until the blood began to circulate.  Before the testy sectary had
+ended his munching, the old savage was sitting up, his back propped
+against a rock, the firelight playing over his wrinkled face, as he
+gazed at us, yet dazed and frightened.  This was one whom I had never
+before seen; there was something of distinction about him, both as
+regards face and costume, which instantly convinced me he held high
+rank in the tribe--no doubt the chief priest.  His sharp, black,
+malicious eyes wandered unsteadily from the Puritan to myself, as if he
+sought to regain his scattered senses.  Finally he ventured a single
+word of inquiry:
+
+"_Français_?"
+
+"No," I answered shortly, speaking deliberately in French, hopeful he
+might know something of the tongue.  "We are not of that people, yet I
+speak the language."
+
+"I glad you not _Français_," he said brokenly, yet intelligibly, his
+tone gruff, his accent guttural; "but I talk you some in that tongue."
+
+"How come you to speak French?"
+
+His lean face hardened.  As he bent forward, his fingers clinched
+convulsively.  At first I thought he would not answer.
+
+"'T was much time since I learn; when I was young man," he answered
+slowly, recalling the unfamiliar words.  "Then no snow in hair, no lame
+in leg, and my people dwell beside the great river toward the
+sun-rising.  We were a great nation, with slaves to work our land,
+warriors to fight our battles, and priests to make sacrifice.  Then we
+had much of treasure from our fathers."  He bowed his head, mumbling
+indistinctly; then continued, as if talking to himself, after the
+fashion of the aged: "Long time before that there came to our village
+men in canoes, floating down the great river out of the north.  They
+were of white face, and wore shining things on their bodies and heads,
+and bore in their hands that which spouted fire and death.  This was
+before I was born, yet I was told it often of my fathers.  My people
+believed them children of the Sun, because of their white faces and
+light hair; they were made welcome, taken into the house of the altar,
+fed, warmed, and loved.  I know not who they were, or whence they came,
+yet they spoke this tongue, did point at themselves and say
+'_Français_,' and told of a mighty King away off, and worshipped before
+a cross-piece of wood.  My people knew not what to make of them; yet
+they were not afraid, and treated the strangers with kindness, and
+there was no war between them.  He who seemed their leader had one hard
+hand of metal, and they named him 'Tonty.'  Know you such a man of your
+color?"
+
+"No," I answered, already deeply interested in his simple story.  "That
+was all before my time, nor do I even remember hearing the name till
+now, yet there were Frenchmen upon the great river full a hundred years
+ago, I have been told.  'Twas most likely they who came to your people.
+Did they do harm to your fathers?"
+
+"They passed away in peace," he continued, using the language with
+greater ease as he proceeded, "for we were then strong, and of courage
+in battle; the fire bright on our altars.  Nor did we look again upon
+any white face for so long a time that this visit became no more than a
+tradition among the people.  More and more did the fathers believe this
+Tonty was a visitant from the Sun--many there were who worshipped him
+as a god.  When he left he said he would come again, and with every
+sunrise the eyes of my people were turned in watching up the river.
+Then, when I was but a child, there came to our village canoes from
+below, from the way of the salt water.  They did land, unmolested of
+our people, who supposed Tonty had come back; fair-faced men with
+yellow hair and beards and dressed in shining metal from head to heel.
+I was at the shore with the others when they came, and heard them speak
+in this tongue, and call themselves _Français_.  Others of that race
+followed, and we welcomed and fed them all, even as our fathers had
+done to Tonty.  Some were warriors with swords, and fire-sticks, but
+with these were also some strange, black-robed men, who sought to tell
+us of another God, greater than the Sun our fathers worshipped.  They
+had pictures, and crosses of wood, and prayed to these as we to the
+Sun.  But we believed not in their God, and tried to drive them away
+from our village when they put out our fires, for they made much
+trouble among our people, so that the priests came to hate them--the
+black-robes.  Some among them went, but one would not go, and so we
+made offering of him in sacrifice to the Sun.  Then we thought we were
+rid of the black-robes, and could again live as we had been taught of
+our fathers."
+
+He stopped speaking, his head bent low on his breast, his eyes on the
+altar name.  I waited without a word.
+
+"But they were of strong heart," he went on at last, never looking at
+me, "and returned again, until finally war arose between my people and
+these white-faced _Français_.  Many came up the great river from the
+salt water in big boats, and drove us forth from our village, the home
+of our fathers, and gave it up to fire, after killing many warriors.
+We could not fight against their fire-sticks, yet we saved much that we
+valued, and wandered far toward the sunset, bearing along with us the
+bodies of our chiefs, and the sacred fire from our altar.  The
+_Français_ lost us in the wilderness.  We came to a little river which
+flowed down to greet us from out the sunset.  Here we stopped once
+more, built our village, erecting about it a great wall of earth such
+as our fathers did in those days when we were strong and mighty.  We
+dwelt there in peace for three seasons of sun and cold, having little
+trouble with those tribes that roamed about us, until one day there
+came into our new village another _Français_, a black-robe.  How he got
+there I know not, but we laid hands upon him,--remembering the
+past,--bound him before our altar-house, and made of him a sacrifice
+unto our god, the Sun.  Yet it was not well.  Even that very night,
+while we worshipped before the fire which had consumed him, there came
+upon us many _Français_ out from the dark woods, with fire-sticks and
+sharp knives, so that only few of our people escaped, and got away to
+the north.  I was one, bearing ever with me the sacred fire, which I
+was sworn to guard.  We travelled across many rivers, suffering much
+from want, until those who lived wandered to this place, and here set
+up once more our fathers' ancient altars.  'T was thus I learned the
+words of the tongue, this accursed _Français_, and learned also to hate
+those with white faces and black hearts who speak it."
+
+His voice ceased, and his chin sank wearily upon his breast.  My ear
+caught the heavy breathing of Cairnes, and I turned to mark him lying
+at full length upon the stone floor sound asleep.  Admiring his
+indifference to surroundings, I was yet so deeply engrossed in this
+tale of the old priest as to be myself insensible of fatigue.
+
+"You are indeed of an old race," I said, hoping to make him talk
+further, "if the traditions of your people extend to those first
+Frenchmen who came floating south along the great river."
+
+The old eyes, now scanning my face, gleamed with awakened pride.
+
+"'T is no more than a page out of our history I have related," he
+exclaimed hastily, evidently aroused by my interest.  "We are the
+oldest and greatest people of the earth.  Ay, more; we are children of
+the Sun, and, ages ago, when our fathers were true to their faith and
+their God, there were none who could contend against us.  We had our
+great altars on every hilltop, and our villages were in every valley.
+Our kings ruled from far above the great fresh water down to where the
+salt sea kisses the white sand; our slaves toiled in the fields to
+produce us food, and in the rocks to give us store of metal for the
+chase and war.  It was then the Sun shone warm upon his children, and
+there were none among men who dared to face our warriors in battle.  We
+were masters of all the land we trod; we feared no people, for we were
+blessed of the Sun."
+
+"How came the end?"
+
+"It was a curse upon us--curse because we made mock of the Sun.  The
+sacred fire died out on our altars, while recreant priests slept, and
+so there came upon the nation a breath of pestilence from the sky which
+swept away the people as if by fire.  It has been told to me that our
+dead lay everywhere; that whole villages were destroyed in a single
+night; that those who survived wandered in the woods foodless, until
+only a pitiful remnant of those who were once so powerful lived in that
+tainted air, poisoned by decaying bodies.  Then the surviving slaves
+banded themselves together, fell upon their wandering masters, driving
+and killing, until the few who were left drew together on the banks of
+the great river.  Here, by lighting the sacred fire again, they made
+peace and were saved.  It was there I was born."
+
+I fail utterly to picture the true solemnity of the scene, as the aged
+priest, white-haired and evil-eyed, slowly mumbled it forth in his
+broken, halting French, leaning with his back against the rough stones
+of the great altar, on the summit of which flamed the sacred fire he
+had passed his life in guarding.  'T was like a voice speaking from a
+forgotten past, which looked forth from sunken eyes, and became visible
+in snow-white hair.  A grave yawned to give me a glimpse of all which
+that grave contained--the hopes, the struggles, the death of a once
+powerful tribe.  Yet it all stands forth perfectly clear to my memory
+as I write--the vast black chamber lying in shadow and flame; the dark
+figure of the bulky Puritan outstretched upon the stones at our feet;
+the ghastly, corpse-like face of the savage old priest, whose eyes
+gleamed so fiercely, as he dreamed once again of the vanished glories
+of his race.
+
+"But the woman who now rules over you?" I questioned, waiting vainly
+for him to resume.  "Is she not white?"
+
+He did not answer; apparently he did not hear.
+
+"I ask regarding Queen Naladi--is she also of your people?"
+
+"We are alike children of the Sun," he responded, his tone more sullen.
+"She is of the Sun and was sent to rule; sent by the Sun to lead us
+once again unto our own."
+
+"She told you this?"
+
+"We know it by signs, by the prophecy of our fathers; we were long
+looking for her coming; she was promised us by the Sun.  In the hour of
+deepest need, a woman fair of face with hair of reddish gold, a goddess
+in earthly form, was to be sent to guide us.  She came out of the
+mystery, and we wait her will."
+
+"Then she is not of your race?"
+
+"I have answered--she came to our people from the Sun."
+
+I have not often felt too secure while in any position of danger, but
+this feeble old savage rested so helplessly back against the base of
+the altar, I lost all thought of him as an enemy against whom I needed
+to guard.  Sunk in contemplation of his story, I sat carelessly, my
+head somewhat lowered as I mentally viewed the picture drawn.  Cairnes
+moved uneasily in his sleep, muttering something indistinctly, and I
+turned partially so that I might look at him.  Instantly, with the leap
+of a tiger, the priest hurled himself upon me.  I flung up one arm,
+barely in time to intercept a jagged stone aimed full at my head.  As
+we clinched and went down, the incarnate fiend buried his yellow teeth
+in my hand, and, in spite of his weight of years, I found myself hard
+pressed in a death struggle.  A very demon seemed to possess him; his
+grip was satanic in its hate.  In truth it was Cairnes who seized him
+by the throat, dragging him off me.  He struggled insanely against the
+two of us, until we bound him so securely that nothing except his eyes
+could move.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+PÈRE ANDRÉ LAFOSSIER
+
+"You treacherous, white-headed old villain," I exclaimed angrily, "I am
+half inclined to kill you for so savage a trick.  Odds! but my arm
+feels as if it were broken."
+
+The fellow grinned at me, showing his yellow fangs.
+
+"I care not if you kill," he answered, with true Indian stoicism.  "I
+am old, and have served the Sun long.  Kill, but I will not be
+unavenged of my people; for, whether I live or die, it matters
+not--there is no escape for you."
+
+He spoke with such confidence as to stun me.
+
+"No escape?  Why?"
+
+His lips curled with undisguised contempt.
+
+"So my words sting.  Well, they are true, nor am I unwilling to tell
+you.  You are trapped here.  There is no path you can travel, either by
+night or day, unseen of our people.  You have already climbed along the
+only passage leading here, and you dare not go back.  This way you have
+reached the end.  Behind is the village; here the altar of
+sacrifice--choose either, and you die like the _Français_ dogs you are."
+
+"Who is here to touch us?" I asked derisively.  "There is food in
+plenty; we can wait our chance."
+
+"Ay, you have grace of this day in which to make ready," his wrinkled
+face lighting maliciously.  "When yonder moon becomes round it will be
+the night of sacrifice.  Know you what will happen then?" he licked his
+thin lips greedily.  "I may not be here to see, but it will be the
+same.  Up that path of rocks will swarm all of my race, and what then
+can save you from the altar?  How they will welcome the victims waiting
+their pleasure--white-faced _Français_."
+
+His old, deeply sunken eyes gleamed so with hatred, I drew
+involuntarily back, my blood chilled with a conviction that he did not
+lie.
+
+"Here?  Do you tell me the tribe comes here?"
+
+"Ay, here, _Français_,--here to make sacrifice of blood, that they may
+go forth once more, and conquer the land of their fathers."
+
+"'T is your custom to kill slaves?"
+
+"When there be none better, but now we have other victims sent us by
+the Sun, all _Français_, and you two cooped up here to be added to the
+others.  'T will be a sweet sacrifice, and I should like to live to
+hear your cries for mercy, and drink of the warm blood."
+
+I stared at him, unable to deny our helplessness.
+
+"You would make us believe there is no upper entrance to this accursed
+hole!"
+
+"Seek as you please--there is none.  You are trapped beyond struggle;
+you cannot escape the vengeance of the Sun."
+
+I pointed, still incredulous, toward the great burning log.
+
+"Did you grow yonder tree in this cavern? or was it borne here on the
+back of a slave?"
+
+"It was lowered from above, over the edge of the cliff, by grass ropes."
+
+"I believe you lie," I cried, now thoroughly shaken by his surly
+contempt; but the fellow only leered at me, and I strode across the
+great room, where I might reflect beyond sight of his eyes.  As I
+passed to the other side of the altar I observed a little gray daylight
+flooding the mouth of the cave.  The sight recalled to mind another
+possible danger.
+
+"Cairnes," I called, "it is about the hour of sunrise.  Down in the
+village I have noticed that whenever the sun touches the crest of these
+rocks the priests up here go forth, waving a flame into the air from
+yonder platform.  I fear if it were missed, the savages below would
+come swarming up to discover the cause.  Take a light from the pile,
+and wave it yonder."
+
+The stubborn preacher grimly shook his head.
+
+"Nay," he replied.  "I have borne part enough in their heathen orgies
+already; it will take a lifetime to purge my soul.  I bow down to Baal
+no more."
+
+It was useless to argue with such as he, nor had I spirit to do it.
+
+"Then keep close guard over the priest," I retorted; and, grasping a
+torch from among the burning mass upon the altar, made haste toward the
+outer stone.
+
+My eyes have seldom gazed upon a grander view of nature than that which
+greeted me, as I crept around the great rock, and peered over the edge
+down into that beautiful basin wherein the remnant of the Natchez had
+established their home.  The early sun had not as yet illumined the
+lower levels, and all beneath my dizzy perch remained wrapped in the
+sombre gray of promised dawn; the slightly rolling valley was dotted
+with numerous square-topped huts of yellow straw, surrounded by
+ponderous walls of gray stone or dun-colored earth, and the irregular
+green fields were intersected by a silvery ribbon of running water: the
+whole composed such a fair picture of restful, peaceful beauty, that
+for the moment it held me at the edge in silent contemplation.  It
+appeared impossible that so sweet, secluded a spot could be the
+habitation of savages, vengeful and cruel.  Yet those black, moving
+dots down yonder, clustering in front of the various lodges, I knew
+were naked heathen, blood-thirsty and vindictive.  Now that the
+earliest rays of sunlight were beginning to tinge with gold the crest
+above me, every expectant face in the tribe would be upturned toward my
+perch, wondering at the slightest delay in their morning signal.  My
+eyes becoming accustomed to the distance, could even distinguish those
+faint sparks of light where the priests below gathered before the great
+altar-house to wave back response.  If we would live for even another
+day there must be no failure now.  Nerving myself for the task, I
+stepped forth on to the narrow shelf--no more than the merest black dot
+to the watching eyes beneath--and flung forth the flaming torch in
+fiery welcome to the Sun.  A shrill cry from the throats far below
+reached my ears in the merest thread of sound, yet before I drew back
+from the edge, I witnessed a responsive signal of flame from the mound
+summit, and inferred that no suspicion had been aroused in the minds of
+the guardians of these heathen rites.  Satisfied of our present safety
+I walked back to the great chamber, and beheld the old priest and
+Cairnes glaring angrily at each other, while the latter nursed his leg
+so tenderly as to make me apprehensive of further trouble having arisen
+between them.
+
+"What now, brother Cairnes?" I questioned in some anxiety, noting as I
+came nearer stains of fresh blood on his hose.
+
+"Yonder black-faced cannibal buried his teeth in my calf," he growled
+gloomily.  "Saints of Israel!  I did merely lean over seeking another
+bit of meat, when he fastened on to me in that fashion, and hung there
+like a bull-dog until I choked him loose.  'Tis my vote we kill the
+ungodly man-eater, who has already feasted off your hand and my leg."
+
+The energetic movement of his red head clearly evidenced the sincerity
+of his feelings, yet it was not in my heart to avenge our wrongs upon a
+helpless prisoner.
+
+"No, friend; we are white, not red.  The pain will pass presently, and
+it would not be a Christian act to dispose thus of one bound in our
+hands.  I will give him other food to chew upon, then make fast his
+mouth while we go together and search out the secrets of this hole.  It
+will be best to discover early whether this varlet speaks true or false
+as to the chances of escape.  Hand over here the meat and water."
+
+I endeavored to question the fellow further while he sullenly partook
+of the food offered, but he gave back merely short, uncivil answers,
+and those of little value.  Finally, despairing of learning more from
+such a source, we securely bucked the sullen fool, rolled his body
+close against the wall out of sight of any chance visitant, and then
+made preparation to explore our prison-house and discover for ourselves
+the mystery of this gloomy cave.  The dense blackness showing directly
+ahead seemed to promise an extension of passageway into the rock; so,
+lighting a pine knot at the altar fire, and bidding Cairnes follow me
+closely, I led forward down the narrow tunnel.  The floor was uneven,
+while so irregular and rough appeared roof and walls as to convince me
+this was a natural excavation, probably the run-way for some ancient
+watercourse.  Yet, as I tested the nature of the stone with the point
+of my hunting knife, it proved easily workable with tools, and
+apparently revealed softer material the deeper we progressed into the
+hill.  Slightly beyond the entrance leading from the main chamber,
+several rudely fashioned steps led into a sort of gallery.  This was of
+considerable proportions, elevated perhaps ten or more feet above the
+main floor, its outer parapet formed of loose stones, through the
+chinks of which one might command unseen a wide view of the cavern and
+its altar.  But, to our rather hasty inspection, this gallery contained
+nothing except bare rock, and, after a single curious glance about we
+drew back and moved on cautiously in exploration of the lower tunnel.
+This curved gradually toward the left, and held a rather steep pitch
+downward.  It was not above three feet in width until we had traversed
+fully fifty paces, when it suddenly broadened, and the fitful glare of
+the torch, which I held over my head, flashed back rays of light from
+two horribly gleaming green eyes.  For an instant I believed we had
+invaded the lair of some wild animal, and drew back quickly, my hand on
+the knife hilt.
+
+"Hell's kitchen!" I exclaimed nervously, "but the den has an occupant
+already."
+
+"Ay, and of a kind common enough in these hills, but nothing fit to
+affright a servant of the true God," echoed Cairnes, striding past me.
+"I am not wont to fear heathen idols, Master Benteen, nor will I bear
+back now before those green eyes."
+
+As he spoke he laid rough hand on the thing, and I heard a sharp rattle
+of metal against wood.
+
+"Come hither friend," he called, with a laugh, "'tis no worse than
+another painted devil we are called to face.  Surely it is you who have
+the faint heart now."
+
+"The glow of the torch blinded me to all except the green stones," I
+explained, coming forward and throwing the radiance of the flame full
+upon the hideous object.  "Saint George! 't is of no beauty to my sight
+even now, and, as you say, of small fear to Christian heart.  The
+saints defend us!  What was that?  As I live, I heard English speech!"
+
+He was earnestly engaged in an endeavor to detach a bit of dull metal
+from the throat of the image, and scarcely deigned to glance around.
+
+"Nay, there was no sound other than the chattering of your own tongue.
+This shining thing is gold, I believe."
+
+"Let it be; 't is of small value here.  I tell you I heard a strange
+voice; so hold still and listen."
+
+For a minute or more we waited in almost breathless suspense, no
+unusual sound greeting our ears.  Then the Puritan sniffed disdainfully.
+
+"You grow childish, Master Benteen," he growled roughly, turning back
+to his labor.  "The dark has overstrained your nerves--"
+
+"I bespeak help of de Englishmen for de sake of God!"
+
+There was no mistaking the truth this time--a strange voice was
+speaking broken English almost at our very feet.  Cairnes clattered to
+the floor with a rough exclamation of surprise, while I stared vainly
+at the idol, from which the sound apparently came.
+
+"In Heaven's name, who are you?" I asked earnestly, "and where are you
+who make appeal to us?"
+
+"I am André Lafossier, native of France, for two months past a prisoner
+to these savages.  If you are Christian men I beseech assistance."
+
+"Nor do you ask vainly.  Are you behind the wooden image?"
+
+"Ay, in a small room hollowed out from the rock."
+
+"Except for that are you free to aid us in your escape?"
+
+"No, Monsieur; I am lamed in limb, and fastened to the stone by a metal
+band."
+
+A hoarse growl of rage burst from the throat of the Puritan.  "Prophets
+of God!" he roared.  "Surely we are the selected instruments of the
+Lord sent hither for the salvation of this worthy man; we are the
+soldiers of Gideon, the chosen of the Most High."
+
+Before I could lift hand or voice in interference he had braced his
+massive shoulder against the towering figure of wood, and, with a
+mighty heave sent the monster crashing over upon the rock floor,
+himself sprawling beside it as it fell.  As they came down together in
+a cloud of dust, an opening was revealed behind the stone pedestal on
+which the idol had stood.  Torch in hand I instantly crept forward.  I
+found myself in what was little more than the merest cell, yet dimly
+illumined by a single beam of light streaming downward as if
+penetrating through some slight crevice in the rock.  The narrow hole,
+for it was hardly more, was bare of all furnishing; both walls and
+floor were damp, but there were remnants of coarse food and a pannikin
+of water.
+
+Its sole occupant sat cross-legged on the hard floor, bound about the
+waist with a band of metal.  One end of this was attached to the wall
+in such a manner that the prisoner could neither rise to his feet nor
+lie down.  Never have these wandering eyes of mine looked upon a figure
+more pathetic.  For an instant I stood there, swaying upon my feet as
+though from sickness, staring at him incredulously.  His thin, pale,
+effeminate face was rendered wonderfully piteous by the depth of
+suffering so plainly revealed within the great, black, appealing eyes.
+So peculiarly delicate were the features, so slender the fragile form,
+about which a frayed and rusty robe clung loosely, that for a moment I
+actually believed I was looking upon a young girl.  So strong was this
+impression that I drew back, almost abashed.  This slight pause enabled
+Cairnes to regain his feet and press past me.  As his eager glance fell
+upon that slender, crouching figure, I observed how suddenly his eyes
+hardened, his whole expression changed.
+
+"You are a priest of Rome!" he exclaimed harshly, staring down.
+
+The white, girlish face brightened instantly, the two thin hands
+plucking forth from some fold in the tattered robe a small silver
+crucifix.  At sight of this the stern-mouthed Puritan drew sharply
+back, as if he feared contamination from the symbol.
+
+"_Oui, Monsieur_," answered the soft voice, with an odd note of joy in
+it.  "I am of the Society of Jesus."
+
+"'T is plain to see.  What do you here?"
+
+The priest smiled gently, his eyes dimming with tears fixed upon the
+cross.
+
+"'Tis strange question.  Surely Monsieur knoweth little of our Order,
+or he would not need to ask.  We are soldiers of Christ, commissioned
+for war, even to life or death.  We ask nothing but the privilege of
+service, and the command of our superior.  I am named missionary unto
+the savage tribes of this river.  It has been the will of God that I
+suffer in order that through me some souls born into heathendom may
+thus be redeemed from the torments of the damned."
+
+The sectary's rough, gray face reddened until it was nearly the color
+of his hair.
+
+"'Tis false!" he growled, smiting one hand hard upon the other in
+anger.  "You only lead the way straight to hell with your false
+doctrine.  Have you made any converts to the Roman harlot in this
+tribe?"
+
+"Nay, Monsieur, I cannot lay claim to such reward."  His eyes slowly
+uplifted to the face of his questioner.  "Jesu hath not as yet opened
+before my understanding the way which leadeth to their hearts.  I can
+but work, and pray for guidance.  I have only baptised one who was
+dying of a fever, and sprinkled with holy water an infant, unknown to
+its mother.  It is not much, yet I bless the good Mary for the
+salvation of those precious souls."
+
+"Saints of Israel! do you think that mummery saved them?"
+
+"Surely yes, Monsieur; is it not so taught of our Order?"
+
+I shall never forget the look upon Cairnes's face.  At the moment I
+believed him wrestling with temptation to strike the helpless man, so
+irritated was he by these confident words of Romish faith.  Determined
+to prevent discussion, I elbowed him aside, and bent down over the
+fastenings of the Jesuit.
+
+"Enough of this," I said sternly, barely glancing at Cairnes.  "Keep
+the rest of your Puritanical sermonizing for a conventicle.  We have
+here a fellow-Christian to be rescued from the savages; this is no time
+to jangle over creeds."
+
+"A fellow-Christian!  I hold no fellowship with such; he is but an
+emissary of a false religion, a slave to the Evil One."
+
+"Enough, I say," and I rose to my feet fronting him.  "I care little
+which is right in doctrine, you or he.  Here is a man begging aid of us
+in extremity.  Surely the priest has suffered for the sake of Christ,
+regarding whom you speak so freely.  So have done with dogma, and play
+the man a while--press here with your strength on this knife-blade
+until I bend back the metal and set him free."
+
+He yielded, ungraciously enough, to my command, giving so good a turn
+to the steel with his vice-like fingers that in another moment the
+Jesuit was released from the wall.  Slowly and painfully, clinging fast
+to my hand for aid, the man arose and stood before us, swaying wearily,
+his thin lips pressed tightly together as if he would stifle a cry of
+pain.
+
+"Are you suffering?" I asked, greatly moved by the expression of agony
+imprinted on his pallid face.
+
+"It will pass, Monsieur," he answered bravely, trying to smile at me.
+"'Tis strange the spirit of man is so enslaved to the flesh that one
+cannot wholly master a bit of physical pain.  No doubt I am somewhat
+cramped from my long imprisonment, and, perchance, my wounds have not
+rightly healed."
+
+"Are you wounded?  I beg you permit me to attend to that.  I possess
+some small skill in the bandaging and dressing of cuts."
+
+His eyes rested upon me with all the tenderness of a woman.
+
+"I truly thank you, Monsieur, but it is beyond your skill to aid me,
+even were you of the school of Paris.  They be of a savage nature,
+which God alone may beautify."
+
+He slightly lifted his long black robe as he spoke, and may the
+merciful Father forgive the oath which sprang to my lips as I gazed in
+horror at the disfiguration--two fleshless limbs, one without even the
+semblance of a foot, merely a blackened, charred stump rested on the
+rock floor.
+
+"Mother of God!" I sobbed, "it has been burned off!"
+
+"Ay," he returned, in all gentleness, covering the awful sight.  "Yet
+were they gladly given for Christ's sake."
+
+"I doubt that not," gazing in wonder at his girlish face.  "But tell
+me, who were guilty of such fiendish cruelty--the savages of this
+tribe?"
+
+"Two months ago it was done in the valley below, in the village of the
+Natchez," his eyes again upon the crucifix.  "Yet dwell not upon it,
+Monsieur, for it is so little I can hope to do for the glory of God.
+It may be I am not even worthy of martyrdom."
+
+"So the Natchez did that!" the breath hissing between my teeth.  "Where
+was their gentle-hearted Queen?"
+
+"I know not, Monsieur, if they have a Queen.  I saw none exercising
+authority excepting priests of their strange worship.  It was the chief
+priest who held me in the flame."
+
+I crushed back the hot, useless words burning on my lips, and turned to
+look at the Puritan.  We had conversed in English, and he must have
+comprehended every word, yet there was no softening in the glint of his
+hard, gray eyes.
+
+"Hear you the priest's story, sirrah?" I asked, feeling strong
+inclination to vent my spleen on him for such bull-headedness.  "Is he
+not one to honor rather than pick a quarrel with in such place as this?"
+
+"'T is no quarrel I seek, nor am I like to question the fanatical
+courage of a Jesuit.  But I tell you his teaching is false, an outrage
+on the true religion of the saints, and I am of a strain which can
+never companion with any of that black-robed breed.  Call me what ye
+please, Master Benteen, but I am too old a man, too long indoctrined in
+the faith, ever to acknowledge brotherhood with hirelings of the Romish
+church."
+
+"Companion with whom you please," I retorted savagely.  "But I tell you
+this, preacher, and once for all,--you 'll bear yourself like a human
+being to this poor lad while I 'm with you, or else make answer to me.
+Is that plain?  I care nothing for your dogma, or your hair-splitting,
+but I know what fair play is between man and man,--ay, and mean to have
+it here, even if it costs you a split head."
+
+"I beg you will both be at peace, Messieurs," broke in the soft,
+caressing voice at my elbow.  "There can be no cause for comrades
+quarrelling over me.  I am not worthy a ruptured friendship.  Yet I
+fail to understand any occasion for your seeming trouble; has the older
+man some reason to distrust my robe?"
+
+"Reason!  Saint George! 'tis precious little that ever bothers him.
+The fellow is a Puritan preacher--of the same breed as the
+Huguenots--and possesses a head as hard as an oaken plank."
+
+I nearly laughed at the unrestrained expression of aversion which swept
+the girlish face.  An instant the black eyes lost their gentleness, the
+thin fingers clutched the silver cross.
+
+"Mother of God! a heretic! a preacher of that doctrine!  Never before
+have I met his kind, nor do I care now to make close acquaintance.  A
+Puritan!  _Sainte Marie_, have mercy!  Yet surely in such stress as
+this we may for the time overlook our differences in faith, and be as
+men together?  Is it not God's will?  But I know little of conditions.
+Is there some path open for escape from here?  Then will I let this
+Puritan be, save for a prayer to the Virgin."
+
+"I fear there is none, unless you know of some back opening to this
+rock hole."
+
+He shook his head sadly, his gaze still on Cairnes.
+
+"None, Monsieur; the passage endeth here."
+
+"Then the three of us are safely cooped for those savages to work their
+will upon.  No pleasant thought that, yet little good can arise from
+losing hope.  For one, I fight it out, and let others do the praying.
+Let us retrace our way to the big room, where we can hold council in
+more comfort; perchance we may find yet some opening to the upper air.
+Cairnes, lay hold upon the other side, and help to bear back this lamed
+man to the altar."
+
+I doubted greatly his compliance with my order, and determined to
+settle this affair between us without more delay.  But he came forward,
+unwillingly enough and muttering.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+THE TALE OF THE PRIEST
+
+With all possible tenderness we bore the slender form of the helpless
+priest along the dark, crooked passage, until we found a comfortable
+resting-place for him against the altar.
+
+"I thank you much, Messieurs," he said simply, the depth of his
+gratitude apparent in uplifted dark eyes, glistening in the light of
+the fire.  "Members of our Order are more accustomed to blows than
+kindness, so I have no words with which to express thanks for your
+care."
+
+"Think nothing of it," I returned hastily, and then, observing how the
+Puritan drew back from beside him, added, "Master Cairnes, you might
+busy yourself hunting more food--it will be exactly in your line--while
+I attempt to bathe the limbs of the priest, and see what little may be
+done toward alleviating his pain."
+
+The mere thought of eating was sufficient to put the Puritan in good
+humor, and he was soon diligently scouring nooks and corners with scent
+for provender as keen as that of a pointer dog.  I noticed with
+curiosity how the motionless Jesuit followed the movements of his
+hulking figure as he passed back and forth amid the shadows, his dark
+eyes filled with wonder and aversion.
+
+"'Tis truly a strange thing, Monsieur," the latter remarked soberly,
+"to meet with one pretending love for Christ, yet who hateth Mother
+Church, and dares make open mock of Her most holy offices.  Thou didst
+name thy comrade Puritan?"
+
+"Ay, of the same breed as the Huguenots of your country, rebels against
+the Pope."
+
+He made the sign of the Cross.
+
+"The curse of Holy Church is upon them all; they are condemned to
+hell," he exclaimed with fervor.  "A vile pestilence to be stamped out;
+yet it would afford me joy beyond words could I save this man's soul
+from eternal torture, and lead him back into the true faith.  Mother of
+God! what was it moved yonder?"
+
+I glanced quickly about toward where he pointed, seeing the shadowed
+figure of our forgotten prisoner.
+
+"'Tis only one of the savages we have captured and bound.  He guarded
+this altar, ministering to the superstition of the tribe; an old man,
+perchance the very chief priest who held you in the flame."
+
+I anticipated seeing the light of revenge leap into his eyes, but,
+instead, a rush of pity softened them, and before I could extend my
+hand to interfere, he crept across the intervening space, and bent over
+the fellow.
+
+"A most cruel turn on the rope, Monsieur," he exclaimed, busying
+himself at the knot.  "Surely the man will rest easier, and no less
+safely, with back propped against the rock.  Nay, have no fear; I will
+keep him tied fast if that be your wish, yet I seek to relieve his pain
+so I may profitably converse with him upon the needs of his soul."
+
+"With him!  Saint George! he had small enough mercy on you."
+
+"That is of the past, and abideth not in memory," and the white hands
+held up the crucifix into the light.  "He who died on this Cross
+prayed, 'Father forgive, they know not what they do,' and who is André
+Lafossier, to be harsher than his Master?"
+
+Not until after he had prayed long and earnestly, holding the silver
+cross ever before the wicked eyes of the unrepentant savage, did he
+permit me to bathe his disfigured limbs, dressing them as best I could
+with what rude materials I found at hand.  Even while I worked he
+seemingly thought nothing of himself, but, oblivious to pain, his face
+was ever turned to the prisoner, his lips moving in petition for his
+soul.  I caught but scattered sentences.
+
+"Oh, Christ, this one--unworthy, yet I beseech Thee--Be merciful, O
+Virgin--out of the wilderness ariseth the voice of Thy servant--purge
+the soul of all past iniquity--yield me this one brand plucked from the
+burning--Thine be the glory forever--let my life be given for this
+soul--this one precious reward for my ministry."
+
+A little later the three of us partook, although largely in silence, of
+the sustaining food which Cairnes furnished in abundance.  Throughout
+the meal I felt it necessary to be ever watchful to prevent the two
+zealots, who were now my comrades, from clashing.  Again and again the
+priest sought to lead the sectary to his way of thinking, but the gray
+face only hardened ominously, his bull voice denouncing bitterly all
+Romish deeds.
+
+"Come, be at peace, you two," I commanded at last, thoroughly tired and
+angry.  "Hold your tongues over those questions, at least while I am
+with you.  Odds!  I care nothing as to your Catholic or Protestant,
+your popes or preachers.  Be done, and bear yourselves like men.  I
+will no longer have you vexing the air with controversy while our very
+lives are hanging by a thread.  There are other things to talk about
+just now.  So, Cairnes, if you cannot bide quietly in our company, then
+stay here alone while I take the Jesuit out into the sunlight, where we
+can hold sensible counsel together."
+
+Leaving the fellow growling to himself over the remnants of the meal, I
+bore the priest along the short passage, until we discovered a secure,
+comfortable resting-place outside, where our eyes could sweep the full
+extent of the wide valley.  It was a quietly beautiful scene at this
+hour, the glow of the sun over all.  We could distinguish gangs of
+slaves toiling in the fields, and a group of warriors, their spears
+glistening, clustered together before the gloomy altar-house.  Yet my
+eyes barely rested upon either scene, for there, close beside the open
+door of the Queen's dwelling, my glance, sharpened by love, perceived
+the movements of a woman's apparel, and from the faint color of it,
+distinguishable, even at that distance in the sun glare, I knew I
+looked once more upon Eloise.  It would be difficult to express in
+prosaic English with what intense relief I realized, through the
+evidence of my own eyes, her continued safety.  It seemed years already
+since our last parting, when she had chosen to remain prisoner in those
+savage hands.  Father of all! how I loved her then; how I yearned to
+have word with her, to read again the silent message of her pure eyes.
+
+The priest was gazing silently far away up the valley.  Busied with my
+own thoughts, forgetting him utterly, I kept my eyes eagerly, hungrily
+upon that single, far-off figure, until, finally, I saw her arise and
+disappear within the open door.  I growled forth a bitter curse,
+observing the cause for retreat--a man and a woman slowly climbing the
+mound together.  There was no doubt in my mind as to the identity of
+the Queen and De Noyan.  Faith! but it would have pleased me then to
+put hand upon the false coxcomb and choke him back to decency and duty.
+The look of it was in my face, no doubt, as I stared down upon them in
+helplessness, for the Jesuit rested his fingers gently upon my arm, as
+though he would restrain my passion.
+
+"There seemeth something below which angers you, my friend," he said
+softly.  "'Tis a battle-light flaming in your eyes."
+
+"'Tis the shame of it all which crazes me," I responded, trembling with
+passion, yet yielding to the influence of his presence.  "You have not
+yet heard the story, so cannot rightly judge our position here."
+
+As briefly as possible I reviewed the adventures of our little party
+since leaving New Orleans, and it was good to observe with what growing
+interest he followed the simple story, interrupting with but few
+questions until I reached the end.  Then his soft hand closed warmly
+over mine, his eyes upon my face.
+
+"It is a brave tale," he said kindly, "one not unworthy the days of
+knighthood.  Yet, good friend, it is scarcely well for you to think
+thus tenderly regarding the wife of another.  'T is against the laws of
+Holy Church, and can only lead to harm and suffering.  But, Mother of
+God!  who am I to pass judgment?--I, who am also guilty of this sin."
+
+He had uplifted his crucifix, sitting with bowed head before it, with
+so sad a face I could not forbear questioning.
+
+"Have you, then, such another tale in your life?"
+
+He did not look at me, yet hesitated not in reply.
+
+"Ay, 'tis true, yet not so pure a one.  I like not to dwell upon it
+even in thought; but you have trusted me, and we are here together as
+men of a common race in face of death.  Perchance our hearts may better
+comprehend each other through such confidences.  Do you care to hear my
+tale?"
+
+"I listen gladly, for in truth I know of nothing better to do," I
+returned uneasily.  "Pish! but I feel as if we were locked in a cell
+awaiting the headsman."
+
+"Yet God can open the doors even as He did for Peter," he said
+solemnly, fastening his eyes on the blue sky.  For a moment neither
+spoke; then the gentle voice took up the story, as if telling it over
+to himself.
+
+"I was not always of the black robe; only six years since I wore the
+blue and gold of a soldier of France in the dragoon regiment of
+Auvergne.  I came of good family, and was even known and trusted of the
+King.  But let that pass.  We were stationed at Saint-Rienes, in the
+south country, as fair a spot, Monsieur, as this world holds, yet
+strangely inhabited by those discontented under the faith of Holy
+Church.  But we rode rough shod over all such in those days, for it was
+the will of the King to crush out heresy.  'Tis a pleasure to see the
+shrinking of a heretic before the wrath of God.  Yet this tale has
+little to do with this service, however I love to dwell upon it.  As I
+said, we were quartered in garrison at Saint-Rienes, and it was there I
+first met Marie Fousard, the girl wife of a Captain in His Majesty's
+Guard.  She was a creature of beauty, Monsieur, with clear cheeks, lips
+of the rose, and great trustful eyes.  I was but a boy then, she not
+much older in years, but with that knowledge of the world and of men
+which enabled her to make poor, blinded fool--her helpless slave for
+evil.  Merciful Mary! how I did worship her!  To me she was as an
+angel; divinity lurked in her smile and found utterance upon her lips.
+I could have died at her word, happy to know it was her pleasure.  Yet,
+as I know now, all the love-making between us was no more than play to
+her; she merely sought to amuse herself with my passion through a dull
+season.  No, not quite all, for back of her smiles lurked a purpose so
+dark, so diabolical, 'twas not strange I failed to fathom it.  'Tis
+hard to associate crime with such young womanhood, to feel that evil
+thoughts lurk behind eyes soft with love and lips breathing tenderness.
+Yet behind the outer angel of Marie Fousard there was a devil
+incarnate.  I was blind, crazed, helpless to resist an evil I failed to
+perceive.  I loved her; in that passion all else was lost.  She had
+confessed love for me; in that was all the heaven I desired.  Little by
+little she fanned within my heart a hatred for the man whose wife she
+was, my comrade in arms.  I cannot relate the details, the stories of
+wrong, the lies, the upbraidings which turned my blood to flame,
+picturing him ever to me as a monster.  Ah, it means much, Monsieur,
+when such things are told with tears, when every sob rings in the ears
+as though crying for vengeance.  I listened, believing it all, until
+deep in my heart hate was born.  Once she showed me her shoulder, the
+white flesh discolored as if by a blow, swearing that he did it.  The
+sight maddened me to action.  I left her to seek him at the inn,
+cursing in my teeth, and caring not what happened, so I killed him.
+What boots now the insult offered which forced him to the field?  I can
+see his face yet, full of wonder at my words, doubting my very sanity;
+yet I saw only her and that bruised shoulder.  I would kill him, and I
+did, running my sword through his body, and gazing down remorselessly
+into his glazing eyes.  What cared I for aught but her?  It was a duel,
+fairly fought, and I was safe from censure.  God! in that hour it never
+came to me that it was foul murder; that I had stricken down an
+innocent man at the word of a harlot."
+
+He stopped, his white face buried in his hands, his slender form
+trembling.  I remained motionless.  With an effort he resumed.
+
+"I went back to her at our trysting-place, intoxicated by my deed,
+confident she would come to my arms in gratitude.  Instead she laughed,
+tore from her face the mask of innocence, called me fool, boasted that
+she had merely used me for her own vile purposes.  I shrank away,
+horrified by my deed, despising her, my love stricken dead.  In that
+moment my life was changed; I cared for nothing except to get away from
+my fellows, to expiate my sin in the sight of God.  I felt no interest
+in what became of her; I neither smiled nor wept, when, three days
+later, she married the prefect of that village.  All was over; the fire
+within me had become ashes."
+
+"But the woman? this Marie Fousard?"
+
+"She went her way, the broad road leading to destruction.  We met never
+again, yet I heard, for there were those eager to tell such things.  A
+year, and the prefect was dead of poison, but, before the gendarmes
+learned the truth, the widow fled by night taking much property.  One
+D'Anse was her paramour, a sub-lieutenant of hussars.  'T is all I
+know; they took ship together at Marseilles.  Mother of Mercy! wherever
+she lives it will be under the spell of the Evil One.  To my heart God
+hath brought peace, but for such as she there can be no peace; she hath
+been damned already."
+
+I know not how long we sat there motionless, our eyes on the sunlit
+valley, our thoughts on past years.  The father ran the beads swiftly
+through his white fingers, his lips moving noiselessly; but I found no
+such help, no such consolation in my struggle.  His story was forever
+ended; mine was not, the very scene beneath bringing home to me anew
+the desperate burden.  Oh, Eloise!  Eloise! what of fate awaited us in
+the coming night shadows?  What sacrifice of mine could bring to you
+life and liberty?  It is one thing to rush headlong into danger; a
+vastly different one to sit awaiting disaster which it is impossible to
+avert.  The desire to act, to attempt something, became an imperative
+passion, and I sprang to my feet.
+
+"Come, _père_," I broke forth impatiently, "let us get back inside.
+Before we are aware it will be night, and we must learn first if there
+is any chance for escape.  We can dream no longer over the past.  Saint
+George! the present holds sufficient work for us to do."
+
+I bore him back in my arms and left him lying beside the savage priest,
+testing again on him the efficacy of prayer, while Cairnes and I fared
+forth to explore.  We sought long and painfully, trying the walls for
+some concealed opening, groping in the corners, and squirming through
+narrow crevices.  The effort was useless, except to convince us that
+the cavern had but the single entrance.  All we discovered was an
+assortment of odd weapons, war-clubs and stone-tipped spears, collected
+in one corner of the gallery.  Everywhere else were bare walls.
+Feeling like rats in a trap we dragged tired limbs back to the
+altar-room, our sole remaining hope a possible escape down the rocks
+under the early shadows of the night.  This might be accomplished if
+sufficient time were granted us, and if the good Lord guided.  It was a
+hope, a cheer to the spirits of the others, yet in, my own heart I
+counted little upon it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+NIGHT AND THE SAVAGES
+
+The hours of waiting dragged terribly.  We conversed little, all alike
+nervous, irritable under the strain of our desperate situation.  The
+Jesuit was much in prayer; but Cairnes fell asleep and twisted about
+uneasily, his head pillowed on his arm.  I could only pace the rock
+floor, harassed by bitter, useless thoughts.  What a memory picture it
+is!--the great bare cavern, with black interior only partially revealed
+by the gleam of the altar flame; the old savage huddled in his bonds,
+his baleful eyes glowing in the firelight as he watched every movement;
+the slender _père_ close beside him upon his knees, his frayed black
+gown rendering more conspicuous the rapt, upraised face, his white
+fingers clasping the crucifix; beyond, Cairnes outstretched on the hard
+stone, his bulky figure motionless but for nervous twitching, his red
+hair glaring like a spot of paint.  I rejoiced that the fellow slept,
+for he rasped me with his ceaseless, senseless attacks on the Roman
+Church.  Yet the gentle-voiced priest had tamed his open hatred
+somewhat; so before he lay down the sectary sat long in moody silence
+staring at the other with glinting eyes, as though fit speech failed
+him.
+
+As the sun sank to the horizon I went forth again upon the platform,
+waving a blazing signal torch to the expectant groups below.  The sky
+overhead was blue, but to the north and east, as far as I could see for
+overhanging cliff, great masses of black cloud were showing ominously,
+their ragged edges emitting lightning flashes, although too distant for
+me to distinguish the thunder.  Below, in the valley, the approaching
+storm would not yet be visible; but from my aerie I prayed for a dark
+night, the swift approach of a battle of the elements.
+
+Arousing Cairnes, who was already awake but lying glowering at the
+unconscious priest, I despatched him to the jutting platform, with
+instructions to keep close watch on all movements in the village.  Then
+I busied myself with final preparations for our desperate sortie.  The
+earliest shades of evening would have to be utilized, for then only
+could we hope for a clear path.  Before those wild fanatics swarmed
+upward to their monthly sacrifice, we must traverse that narrow cliff
+path and penetrate the tunnel beyond as far as the underground altar.
+Nowhere between the cave entrance and that spot could I recall any
+place of concealment.  Inspired by this necessity, so soon as darkness
+began to blot the mouth of the cave, I bore the priest that way in my
+arms, although he begged earnestly to be left behind, saying he was a
+useless burden.  The slowly advancing clouds had not yet mounted high
+enough to obscure the moon, but hung densely massed across half the
+sky, low thunder echoing among the rocks, and jagged streaks of
+lightning tearing the gloom asunder.  The burly Puritan lay, a black
+silhouette against the silvered rocks, leaning far over, staring down
+into the void.  As I touched him, he turned his face toward me,
+pointing below with one hand.
+
+"We are securely blocked, Master Benteen," he asserted gruffly.  "A fit
+reward for associating with papists."
+
+"Blocked?" failing to comprehend.  "How?  Are the savages already
+astir?"
+
+"Look for yourself.  See yonder; lights are on the pathway as high as
+the tree-bridge."
+
+I dropped upon my knees, clinging to a bowlder, and peered over.  He
+spoke truth, and my heart rose choking into my throat.  Resembling
+innumerable fireflies tiny flames were gleaming along the entire front
+of the cliff--torches borne by human hands.  Breathless the three of us
+clung there staring down, each realizing the utter futility of our
+efforts at escape, yet none reckless enough to give the thought
+utterance.  The Puritan first found speech.
+
+"The spawn of hell!" he growled savagely, shaking his great fist,
+remembering the indignities of the altar-house.  "Good Lord, deliver us
+from this iniquity; lead us through the waters dry-shod, even as Thou
+didst Thy people of old from the land of Egypt."
+
+"Come," I said, "we must seek whatever hiding-place is within, and
+trust God for it."
+
+The priest looked at me pleadingly, his eyes like stars.
+
+"I would at such an hour you were of my faith, Monsieur."
+
+"I might do worse," I admitted, watching intently the lights on the
+cliff-path, "but it was not the teaching of my childhood.  There is one
+below whose prayers are as yours."
+
+"Madame de Noyan?"
+
+I bowed my head in gesture of reverence.
+
+"Yes, Monsieur, and whatever she loves is not far from my heart.  But
+come, we have scant time for preparation; no, do not endeavor to walk;
+your weight is nothing to my arms."
+
+There was no spot within where, even for a short period, we might hope
+to avoid discovery, except the rock gallery.  Here, crouching behind
+the parapet, we could see without being seen, unless some savage
+chanced to stray that way.  At my order the sullen, psalm-quoting
+preacher dragged the helpless old chief priest after him, and so we
+went groping forward through the darkness of the short passage, until
+we attained the stone steps.  Stumbling blindly upward, our hearts
+throbbing in realization of the peril that was closing us in, we flung
+our bodies flat behind the concealing rocks, peering fearfully forth
+into the great deserted chamber.  Even amid that lonely silence it was
+a sight to chill the heart; and to us, comprehending something of what
+it would soon reveal of savage orgy.  It was like gazing down into the
+mouth of the Pit.  The single touch of color in the drear picture came
+from the crimson drapery hanging over the edge of the raised platform.
+Seeing all this at one glance my anxious eyes sought the deeper gloom
+shrouding the tunnel leading toward the entrance.  As I stared that way
+a sudden flash of fierce lightning illumined it.  So brilliant it burst
+forth from the opaque night, I hid my blinded eyes, every nerve of my
+body quivering.
+
+"Great God!" burst forth Cairnes, his voice so close as to startle me.
+"'T is like the end of the world!"
+
+"Be still," I commanded hastily, pressing him flat, "there they come."
+
+A dozen flaming torches rounded the rock projection the lights
+glistening over the half-naked bodies of the bearers.  Saint Andrew! it
+was a weird sight, one to strike terror to the soul!  With gritted
+teeth, my heart pounding, I looked out upon it.  The leader was a
+priest, black from head to heel, his face showing devilish in the torch
+flare, his coarse hair matted high in horrid resemblance to some wild
+beast.  Behind surged a mob of warriors, women, and children, half-nude
+bodies striped with red and yellow, a malignant demoniacal crew,
+yelling and pushing under the flaming lights, rushing tumultuously
+forward to fling themselves prostrate before the altar.  It seemed they
+would never cease pouring forth from the narrow tunnel, a struggling,
+gesticulating stream.  Behind them lightning played in jagged streaks
+across the little patch of sky, and the black smoke of the torches
+curled upward to the roof.  Their appearance was not human, but that of
+demons incarnate; some ran upon all fours like wolves, gnashing their
+teeth and howling; many yelped in fiendish chorus; others brandished
+weapons aloft in the yellow flame, or lay, writhing like glistening
+snakes on the rock floor.  It was a pandemonium, a babel, an
+unspeakable hell.  To count was impossible, but the great room was
+filled with bodies, and rang with guttural, inarticulate cries.  The
+busily flitting priests stirred up the wood until the blaze leaped
+nearly to the roof, mumbling as they worked, the incessant moaning of
+the tribesmen deepening into a weird chant.  The frenzied singers leapt
+into the air, flinging their limbs about in wild contortion, their
+movements increasing in violence, their grotesquely painted faces
+becoming hellish from awakening passion.  They became brutes, fiends,
+whose only thought was cruelty.  I saw them strike each other with
+stone knives, slashing the flesh till blood ran.  Heartsick and
+trembling, I glanced aside at my companions.  The _père_ lay clasping
+the stone, his eyes wide with horror, his countenance death-like;
+Cairnes was upon his knees, his great hands gripped, staring straight
+down like some animal crouching for a spring.
+
+It was when I turned back, loathing the sight yet unable to resist
+facing it, that I beheld for the first time those I sought--Eloise, De
+Noyan, and the Queen Naladi.  An instant I blinded my eyes with
+uplifted arm, half believing that the horror had turned my brain, that
+all this was vision.  Yet, as I ventured to look again, they were there
+before me in the flesh--Naladi all in red, a wondrous figure amid that
+spectral glow, tall, straight, with proud, imperious face, crowned by
+the brilliant hair, radiant and sparkling in the flame.  Beside her
+loitered De Noyan, like one who enjoyed a spectacle arranged for his
+pleasure, his face darkening somewhat as though the sight were not
+altogether to his liking, yet debonair and careless, his waxed
+moustaches standing forth conspicuous, his fingers in his waist-belt.
+About the two were ranged a fringe of warriors, their flint-headed
+spears rising an impenetrable wall, while farther behind, separated and
+alone, the light of the fire barely revealing her presence, stood
+Eloise, a savage guard on either side of her.  I caught the outline of
+her face, imprinted with horror, the lips moving as if in supplication;
+then I perceived something else--_her hands were bound_!  Smothering an
+oath, I crept back to the pile of weapons in the corner, gripped a
+war-club, and, returning as silently, thrust a second into the
+unconscious hands of Cairnes.  Our eyes met, the sectary nodding
+grimly, his jaws set like a steel trap.  If need should arise we would
+die fighting like cornered rats.
+
+Their yells reverberating to the vaulted roof, the smoking torches
+gyrating wildly above them, the throng of crazed fanatics were now upon
+their feet, crowding toward the platform, every tongue clamoring in
+incessant demand.  All was confusion, a medley of noise and motion,
+tossing arms, and painted faces.  Finally, I caught a glimpse of
+Naladi's red robe scarcely ten feet away, and behind her the
+countenance of De Noyan, still contemptuously smiling at that shrieking
+rabble.  God! my face burned, my grasp tightened on the club.  Yet I
+lay motionless, knowing well the time of sacrifice was not yet.
+
+The woman stood at the edge of the rock platform, gazing intently down,
+a silent, motionless statue, her red robe sweeping to her feet, and
+below her the crimson drapery; the flaring torches in the hands of her
+barbaric followers cast their light full upon her.  I stared at the
+strange creature, comprehending something of the power of passion such
+as she could exercise over De Noyan, causing him to forget all honor in
+her presence.  Saint Andrew! she was a witch, a hell-cat, whose smile
+was death.  Ay! and she was smiling then, a smile of cruel, unrelenting
+triumph, gazing down upon the howling slaves who should do her
+pleasure.  She knew them well, every superstition, every wild impulse,
+and she played contemptuously on their savagery.  Not fear, but
+command, was stamped upon her features; she ruled by legerdemain, by
+lie and trick, and she stood, the supreme she-devil, the master spirit
+in that raging hell.  It seemed to me my heart would burst as I waited,
+seeing nothing then of Eloise amid the crush, and compelled to gaze on
+that dominant scarlet figure.
+
+[Illustration: The woman gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to
+her feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric
+followers cast their light full upon her.]
+
+The cries of the multitude ceased, and a black-draped priest shouted
+unintelligible words.  Naladi listened, extending one hand.  Then her
+thin lips spoke a single sentence in the sharp tone of command.
+Instantly burst forth a fierce roar of disapproval; war-clubs pounded
+the floor, spears rattled as they were brandished overhead, while above
+the din I caught, again and again, the shriek, "_Français_!
+_Français_!"  The Queen shook her head, her fair face darkening, and
+glanced aside into the questioning eyes of De Noyan.  Below them the
+tumult increased, the mass surging forward and staring upward, every
+voice yelping that one term of hate, "_Français_!"  There was no
+doubting the dread menace--they were demanding French victims for the
+torture of sacrifice; they clamored for white blood with which to
+sprinkle the altar.  I could dimly perceive now a dozen crouching
+slaves against the farther wall, the whites of their eyes showing in
+terror, and--oh, God!--there, to the right of them, alone, except for
+her burly guards, kneeling on the rock floor, with face hidden in her
+hands, was Eloise.  I half rose to my feet, my whole body pulsating
+with agony.  What was to be the ending?  What was that mad woman's
+purpose?  Could she control the fierce blood-lust of those savage
+fanatics?  If she cared to do so, would she dare test her power in so
+desperate a game?  If one must be sacrificed which would she spare, De
+Noyan or his hapless wife?  Looking at her, cold, cynical, lustful, her
+eyes still turned on his face, I felt no doubt.  Let the foul fiend
+choose! by all the gods, Cairnes should brain her where she stood, and,
+Heaven helping me to do the deed, the one I loved should never die by
+torture!
+
+She took her own time for decision, indifferently ignoring the howls of
+rage, her thin lips curling in contemptuous smile, her glance yet upon
+the startled Chevalier.  Laying her hand upon his sleeve, she said in
+French:
+
+"You hear the wolves howl, Monsieur?  They are mad for French blood."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders, staring into her expressionless face, then
+down upon the surging mob below.
+
+"Saint Giles! give them sufficient of something else," he replied,
+striving to pretend indifference, yet with a falter in his voice.  "You
+pledged us safety if we would accompany you here."
+
+"I pledged _you_ safety, Monsieur," she corrected haughtily.  "I gave
+no word of promise as to others.  Yet circumstances have changed.  I
+supposed then we had enough of victims to appease even such blood-lust
+as yelps yonder."
+
+"You mean the preacher and Benteen?"
+
+"Ay; they would suffice, with plenty of slaves for good measure.  But
+now, only two remain from which to choose.  _Sacre_! there are times
+when those dogs break away even from my control, and mock me.  I know
+not now whether one alone will glut their desire, yet I am of a mind to
+try the experiment before the wolves drag me to hell also.  Heard you
+ever such yelping of wild beasts?"
+
+"You would sacrifice me?" his face whitening from horror.  "You would
+give me to the knife and fire?  _Mon Dieu_! is this the end of all your
+vows?"
+
+She smiled, a cold, cruel smile, her eyes burning.
+
+"I did not say you," tauntingly.  "There is another here."
+
+He drew away from her grasp, lips ashen, eyes unbelieving.
+
+"Eloise!  _Mon Dieu_! not Eloise?"
+
+"And if not Eloise, what then, Monsieur?"  The low voice hardened,
+becoming oddly metallic.  "The wolves cry for blood--French blood.  Is
+it your wish to die together?  _Pardi_! if it be between you two, am I
+to have no choice which one I deliver?  Why should you shrink back like
+a baby at first sight of blood?  I thought you a soldier, a man.  Did
+you not tell me you loved her no longer? did you not swear it with your
+lips to mine?"
+
+He made no response, staring at her with eyes full of unbelief, the
+hideous uproar clanging about them in ceaseless volume.  Naladi's face
+flushed with rising anger.
+
+"Yet you do!  _Mon Dieu_, you do!" she panted, the tiger within
+breaking loose.  "Your words were a lie!  Here, look at me," extending
+her arms, the white flesh of her bosom clearly revealed in the parting
+of her drapery.  "Am I such as she? will I shrink like a coward,
+mumbling prayer and fingering rosary?  Am I afraid to work my will?  Am
+I not worth being loved?  Am I the kind you think to play with?  God's
+mercy!  I am minded to throw you both to the beasts.  No, no, not that;
+you dare not front me!  I make my own choice of who shall die and who
+live."  She laughed mockingly.  "Bah!  I know your sort, Monsieur--'tis
+as the wind blows; you love to-day, and forget to-morrow.  Yet I keep
+you for a plaything--I have no use for her.  I care no longer how the
+wolves tear her dainty limbs.  Before this I have tasted vengeance and
+found it sweet."
+
+He shrank before her fury, all conceit and audacity fled, and words
+failed him.  Not even yet could he believe it true, but she permitted
+no recovery.
+
+"You think I lie.  You think I threaten, but dare not act.  You think
+me a soft-hearted fool because I listened to your words of love.  By
+the gods! you shall learn better.  I have heard love words before; none
+ever spoke them to my ears without paying the price of deceit.  _Mon
+Dieu_! and shall you escape?  I can hate as well as love; strike as
+well as caress.  So you played with me, Monsieur? used me to pass a
+dull hour in the wilderness?  _Sacre_! 't is now my chance to sport
+with you.  You forget who I am--I, Naladi, Daughter of the Sun, Queen
+of the Natchez.  Look down! there are hands waiting to rend at my word.
+I will give them the girl-face for their blood-lust.  Seek to stop me
+if you dare!"
+
+Never can I forget the expression on De Noyan's face as he listened.
+Incredulity changed to loathing, then to despair.  As though the woman
+had snatched a mask from off her features he gazed now upon the demon
+soul revealed in all its hideousness.  Instantly all that was
+physically beautiful became loathsome from the foulness within.  He
+endeavored to speak, to protest, but all his recklessness had deserted
+him and he trembled like a leaf.  Already the gesticulating priests,
+thinking themselves cheated of their victims, were half way up the rude
+steps of stone; behind them surged the mob, screaming "_Français_,"
+their torches waving madly.  Naladi laughed.
+
+"So your nerve fails, Monsieur," she sneered coldly.  "'Tis well it
+does, for you need expect no mercy from me.  I also hate the French."
+
+She turned from him, her arms outspread, the crimson drapery extended
+like wings.  The glare of a hundred torches reflected on her face, and
+her lips spoke one word of stern command.  Every voice ceased its
+howling, every form became motionless, the silence so sudden it was
+painful.  The woman stood above them, dominant; every eye was fastened
+upon her; the priests were prostrate on the stair.  I saw De Noyan
+leaning forward, his teeth clinched, his face death-like.  From wall to
+wall Naladi's gaze wandered; once she looked into his eyes, then down
+again upon the mob of savages.  Like the sharp hiss of a snake a single
+sentence leaped from her thin lips.  The effect was magical.  I
+scarcely realized the transformation, so rapidly was it accomplished.
+Confusion filled the chamber, yet out of the tumult I caught sight of
+Madame being driven toward the altar, her white face full of pleading,
+her hands, now freed, clasping her rosary.  De Noyan must have beheld
+her at the same instant.  With shout of rage he leaped recklessly
+forward, hurled aside the scarlet figure, and, uttering an oath, sprang
+on the parapet.
+
+"By God! you foul fiend of hell!" he screamed madly.  "I 'll fight for
+it; fight like a gentleman of France!"
+
+I leaped to my feet, Cairnes beside me.  Desperate as the chance was,
+we would be with him on that floor, with him smiting to the death.  Yet
+even as he poised for the leap downward the woman's scarlet arms
+struck, and he went over like a stone, crashing into a huddled heap on
+the rock floor.  Naladi laughed, leaning far out to look down, like a
+gloating devil.
+
+"Fight, you poor fool!" she exclaimed in French.  "_Sacre_! who struck
+hardest?"
+
+Sick, trembling like a frightened child, I dragged the dazed Puritan
+down again, crouching behind the stones.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+THE INTERFERENCE OF THE JESUIT
+
+I could look no longer on that hellish scene.  It seemed as if all
+strength, all manhood, had deserted me before the utter helplessness of
+our position.  There was nothing left except useless sacrifice--a
+moment's hopeless struggle, the sole reward death under the war-club or
+by torture.  God knows it was not myself I considered, but Eloise.  It
+was thought of her which so unnerved me, so paralyzed body and mind.
+The Puritan dropped his heavy hand on my shoulder.
+
+"Great Jehovah," he muttered, "look there!"
+
+How he ever made it I know not; how he ever crept on tortured stumps
+down those rude steps, and along the dark, rocky tunnel; how he ever
+succeeded in penetrating unscathed that howling mob of savages--yet
+there, in the very midst of them, fully revealed in the torch glare,
+his pallid, girlish face uplifted, but concealed beneath the shadow of
+his cowl, the silver cross gleaming in the light, beside Eloise, knelt
+the black-robed Jesuit.  Amid the sudden hush of surprise I overheard
+his voice, fearless, calm, unfaltering, as he gave the weeping woman
+sacrament of the Church.  A great brute struck at him; the frail figure
+reeled sideways to the force of the blow, but the words of prayer did
+not cease, nor his grasp on her hand relax.  Rallying from their
+astonishment, the warriors crowded in upon them, and a fanatical priest
+hurled the _père_ headlong to the floor.  I saw a brandishing of clubs,
+a glitter of spears, yet the poor fellow came erect once more, his arm
+resting for support on the woman's shoulder.  It was all in a flash of
+time, like some swift transformation on the stage we could scarcely
+comprehend.  At the instant a voice spoke, ringing above the babel,
+which ceased suddenly.  I glanced involuntarily toward Naladi.  She
+stood leaning forward, her hands gripping the stone parapet,
+conflicting emotions playing across her face.
+
+As the torches, uplifted, gleamed brighter upon the motionless Queen,
+they revealed a look of perplexity, almost fear, in her cold eyes.
+What held her speechless?  Was it remembrance of another life, when the
+stern word of the Church had been law? or was she merely troubled by so
+mysterious an appearance, her guilty soul swayed by superstitious
+terror?  She was all too strange a riddle for my reading, but some
+occult power held her helpless, silent.  The vengeful cries of her
+savage followers died away into threatening murmurs; the _père_
+remained motionless, one hand on Eloise's bowed head, his white face
+shadowed by the hood, calmly fronting her who had commanded quiet.
+Slowly he lifted one arm, the loose sleeve lending dignity and power to
+the simple gesture, his white extended hand seeming to have in it the
+authority of command.  A moment, heedless of the scowling, painted
+faces all about, the slight figure stood erect and firm, the dark eyes
+bearing witness to his earnestness, and never wavering from Naladi's
+scornful face.
+
+"Woman," he said calmly, even as I imagine Christ may have spoken of
+old, "release this prisoner, and make thy peace with God."
+
+She endeavored to laugh mockingly, yet only a hollow semblance came
+from between her white lips.  "Pah!" she cried nervously, "you speak
+bravely; pray, who gave you authority to give orders to the Daughter of
+the Sun?"
+
+"One greater than the Sun, woman," he answered.  "I speak to you in the
+name of Jesus of Nazareth, and by authority of the Holy Catholic
+Church."
+
+She leaned yet farther forward, as though seeking to penetrate the
+shadow concealing his face, a perceptible tremor apparent in her voice.
+
+"Who are you?  Answer me!"
+
+"I am called Father Ignatius, a priest of the Order of Jesuits."
+
+"And what do you suppose I care for your Romish orders?  They have no
+power here; a single wave of my hand would condemn you to the place of
+yonder slaves."  Her color rose in the wave of passion, sweeping fear
+aside.  "I have nothing but hatred for your black robe, and your
+interference only intensifies my purpose.  Mark you now what I say; if
+it be the will of my people to put this cringing French woman to the
+torture, I lift not so much as a finger to change her fate.  More,
+because of your insolence I give you also into their hands.  We take no
+orders from the Church of Rome."
+
+"Your people!" the words rang forth with such clearness as almost to
+bring me to my feet.  "You foul fiend of hell, do you think thus to
+impose your vile imposture on me?  I fear neither your power nor the
+cruelty of your savage satellites.  My life is in the hands of my
+Master, who will give me strength to mock your torture.  Two months ago
+I was bound to a stake in the valley below.  Ask these fiends, who do
+your bidding, whether I shrank back in terror, or made outcry as the
+flame ate into my flesh.  Gaze on these stumps blackened by fire, and
+learn how I value your threats.  Peace, woman, and no longer mock the
+faith of your childhood."
+
+"My childhood?  You know nothing of that!"
+
+"Do I not?  Look upon my face, and judge."
+
+He flung back his cowl, and the light fell full upon his countenance.
+Upon the silence broke a sharp cry, in which fear and surprise were
+strangely blended:
+
+"André Lafossier!"
+
+"Right, woman; you have not forgotten.  Sunk as you are in shame and
+evil deeds, conscience yet lives and haunts you.  What do I know of
+you?  Enough to justify calling you joint heir with all the fiends of
+hell, unless, like the thief on the Cross, repentance make white your
+black soul.  Yet, 'tis in my heart that yours is the sin against the
+Spirit for which there is no forgiveness.  Nothing in your face tells
+me of an awakening soul.  You are a Queen, you say?  Ay, of evil, of
+devils incarnate.  I would rather be this poor woman bound to the stake
+than you upon a throne.  Do your worst with us, but know that André
+Lafossier has nothing for you save disgust; still, as priest of Holy
+Church, I hold open the door of salvation through Jesus Christ."
+
+Evidences of struggle marked Naladi's face, yet by now she had
+outwardly conquered the first shock of recognition, and stood a cold,
+stately statue, with glittering eyes on the slender figure of the
+priest.
+
+"I care as little for your Romish mummery," she said sneeringly, "as I
+do for the senseless rites of these savages.  But I am glad it is you I
+have in my power.  If I am the queen of devils, they serve me well.
+You are to die, André Lafossier.  I might have spared you had you kept
+your tongue, but after those words you die.  I shall stand here and
+mock you to the last breath.  You say I have no soul; to-night you
+shall know it true while I laugh at your agony."
+
+She paused as if seeking to mark the effect of her words, but the
+_père_ merely stooped slightly, whispering some message of comfort into
+the ear of Eloise.  Then he stood erect again.
+
+"As you will, woman; to die for Christ is gain."
+
+The face of Naladi, which had been pale and drawn, flushed, her eyes
+fairly blazing.
+
+"So you dare mock me, you hireling priest!" she hissed.  "'T is not for
+long; I am no snivelling French girl, afraid of blood.  And now I give
+you a taste of my power."
+
+As the words fell from her thin lips, she flung up one hand, exhibiting
+with a peculiar gesture a glittering metallic substance shining in the
+light.  It must have been a signal for unrestrained sacrifice, for it
+was greeted with fierce howls of delight, the savage herd pressing in
+upon the prisoners, so that I lost sight of them an instant in the
+crush.
+
+"Wait, woman!" rose the priest's voice above the uproar.  "I admit your
+power here to take physical life; I expect no mercy from such as you.
+But, if you be not lost to all shame, grant me one favor, Marie
+Fousard."
+
+"What?"
+
+"A moment of time in which I may give absolution to this child of God
+before we die."
+
+"Pish! is that all?  Go on with your fool mummery.  I will hold back
+the savages till that be done, though the sight of it will but anger
+them."
+
+Eloise had sunk down against the altar, with face buried in her hands.
+The _père_ dropped upon his knees beside her.  About them surged the
+glistening forms of the savages, maddened with blood-lust, but Naladi
+clapped her hands, with voice and gesture bidding them wait her further
+word.  An instant they swayed passionately back and forth, their
+fanatical priests clamoring in opposition to this halting of vengeance.
+Then Naladi shook loose her hair, permitting its wealth to fall in a
+golden-red shower, until it veiled her from head to foot.  The silenced
+crowd stared as if in worship of the supernatural.  I know not what she
+said, uplifting her white arms from out that red-gold canopy, yet I can
+guess.
+
+"Natchez, I dare you to disobey the Daughter of the Sun!"
+
+Swept by a superstition stronger than hate, they flung themselves at
+her feet, prostrating their faces to the rock, grovelling like worms,
+heedless of all except her presence and her supremacy.  She was a
+goddess, one whose will was destruction.  Gazing down upon them,
+conscious of her power, her thin lips smiled in contempt.  'T was so I
+saw her last; so I shall always picture her in memory--a motionless,
+statuesque figure, covered with a veil of red-gold hair, her eyes like
+diamonds, her bare, white arms gleaming, her lips curved in proud
+disdain; a queen of savages, a high priestess of Hell.
+
+The sudden cessation of noise was awesome, uncanny.  It rendered
+manifest the ceaseless roar of thunder without.  Directly in front of
+me yawned the cave entrance, plainly illuminated by vivid lightning.
+Dreadful as was the spectacle, it yielded me a flash of hope--here
+opportunity pointed a path of escape.  With no pause for thought I
+whirled to arouse the Puritan, every nerve a-tingle with desperation.
+His deep-set eyes glowed like two coals, his square jaw projecting like
+that of a fighting bulldog.
+
+"Cairnes," I muttered, almost heedless of what I said in the necessity
+for haste.  "If we could attain the tree-bridge, we might hold the
+devils.  See! the way is clear!  What say you to the trial?  Will you
+bear the priest?"
+
+His grip tightened about the war-club, as he half rose to his feet like
+a maddened bear.
+
+"Saints of Israel! yes," he growled, "the Jesuit is a man."
+
+"Then come!"
+
+With one leap I was upon the floor; almost at the same second he landed
+beside me.  Twice I struck savagely at some obstructing figure, and in
+five strides was at the side of Eloise.  One shrill cry of warning from
+the lips of Naladi echoed through the chamber, and was answered by the
+yell of the warriors.  I was already clasping Eloise against my breast,
+and speeding toward the opening.  Not a savage stood between, and now,
+all hope centred upon the desperate race, I dashed forward down the
+rocky path, rendered hideous by the lightning.  All the fires of hell
+seemed swirling about us, writhing serpents of flame leaping from the
+sky, while fierce crashes of thunder echoed from rock to rock.  I
+scarcely heard or saw.  Below yawned the abyss, black with night; above
+stretched solid, overhanging stone, painted by green and yellow flames.
+I realized nothing except that ribbon of a path, the need of haste, the
+white, upturned face in my arms.  God! was ever such a race as that run
+before?  Did ever men dash headlong over such a path of death?  No one
+need ask how it was done; how speeding feet clung to the narrow rock.
+I know not; I never knew.  Twice I stumbled, sobbing in despair, yet
+ran on like a madman.  Under the glare of the lightning I leaped
+downward where I had crept in climbing; protruding splinters of rock
+tore my clothes, bruised my body; my forehead dripped with
+perspiration, my breath came panting, yet I ran still, her form crushed
+against my breast.  I shudder now in the recollection; then I scarcely
+knew.  Ahead loomed black the tree-bridge; but I recall no shrinking
+fear, only exultation, as I bore down recklessly upon it.  It must be
+crossed, upright, swiftly, with no thought of the yawning depth.  If
+death came we should go down together.
+
+"Eloise, steady me with hand against the cliff," I panted, and stepped
+forth boldly upon the trunk.  My moccasoned feet gripped the rough bark
+firmly, yet I swayed horribly under my burden, as I footed the
+treacherous way.  Again and again I felt myself swaying wildly, yet
+some power held us, until, at last, I stood on solid rock, utterly
+unable to essay another yard.  Panting for breath, my arms yet clasping
+the motionless figure of Eloise, I glanced backward in apprehension.  I
+could perceive Cairnes footing the log, the head of the priest showing
+black and distinct above his broad shoulder; beyond, a medley of dark
+figures appeared to dance dizzily along the cliff face.  I staggered to
+my knees.  With a growl of relief the Puritan dropped his burden.  The
+next instant he had one great shoulder under the tree root.  Heaving
+with all his mighty strength he slowly moved the great trunk, and I saw
+it topple over into the abyss; I saw his burly figure tottering on the
+very brink--then one awful flash lit up the sky, so blinding me that I
+sank face downward on the rock.  The cliff shook as if riven from crest
+to valley, a single peal of thunder reverberating like the report of a
+thousand guns.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD
+
+I may have lost consciousness; I do not know.  That awful glare, the
+thunderous report, the speechless terror of feeling myself a mere pygmy
+in the midst of such tremendous convulsions of nature, shocked me into
+momentary insensibility.  I lay huddled against the rock like a man
+dead, one arm yet clasping the motionless form of Eloise.  Stunned,
+unable to move a muscle, I believed death had overtaken us all; that
+out from the very heavens a bolt had stricken us down.  I struggled
+painfully to arouse myself, every nerve in my body appearing paralyzed.
+At first I could not even see, but light came back gradually to my
+blinded eyes, and I staggered to my feet, slowly adjusting my mind to
+the situation.
+
+I began to understand then what had happened--that deadly bolt had
+smitten the cliff as by the wrath of God, yet I was spared.  I still
+lived, as by a miracle.  I stared across the chasm and up the steep
+ascent beyond, still clearly revealed in the lightning flashes.  It was
+vacant; not a human form stood where those pursuing savages had been.
+A cry burst from my lips as I gazed--a vast, irregular gash showed
+clearly in the cliff face, but where the entrance to the cave had
+yawned was a solid front of rock.  I staggered with the shock, reeling
+on the very edge of the path, and barely saved myself by dropping to my
+knees.  Again I looked, half believing my brain crazed, that I beheld
+visions.  As God guards me, it was true!  Out of the very heavens He
+had struck, sealing those fiends into a living tomb.  Trembling like a
+frightened child, I bowed my face and sobbed as I prayed for mercy.
+
+I know not how long I lay unable for either thought or action.  But at
+last I was upon my knees again, creeping forward to where a black
+figure lay at the very edge of the chasm, one arm dangling over the
+brink.  I drew the inert body back to safety, peering down into the
+white face of the priest.  My touch seemed to arouse him into
+consciousness, his dark eyes staring up into my face.  I helped him to
+sit up and lean back against the wall.  An instant he gazed about
+wildly, like one suddenly awakened from sound sleep, then hid his face
+in his hands.
+
+"The Puritan--" I questioned--"the man who bore you here--what happened
+to him?"
+
+He shuddered, and pointed into the black abyss.
+
+"'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
+his friends,'" he quoted solemnly.
+
+"He went down?"
+
+He bowed his head silently, his fingers searching for his crucifix.  I
+sat staring at him, crushed into helplessness.
+
+In a few moments I felt the pressure of his fingers.
+
+"The Lord hath preserved us as by fire," he said in low, solemn tone,
+"He hath ridden upon the flaming skies in his chariot, accompanied by
+angels and archangels.  'T is ours to bless His holy name."
+
+I gazed into the rapt, boyish face, and said:
+
+"On my knees have I already acknowledged His mercy.  I am not
+ungrateful."
+
+The troubled countenance brightened with a quick smile.
+
+"God is most good," he murmured; "He hath spared us that we may
+continue to honor Him, and do His work.  The woman--does she also live?"
+
+The question brought me instantly to my feet, wondering how I could
+have neglected her so long.  But before I could advance to where she
+lay, she sat partially up, her face turned toward us.
+
+"Eloise," I cried, the heart joy apparent in my voice.  "Good God!  I
+had forgotten."
+
+She held forth her hand, her eyes smiling.
+
+"I hold that not strange," she answered, the soft voice faltering
+slightly.  "I saw you groping like a blind man, yet could neither move
+nor speak.  I lay helpless as if paralyzed.  Tell me what has happened."
+
+I held her hand, falling upon my knees beside her, my eyes searching
+her sweet face.
+
+"A lightning bolt smote the cliff," I explained rapidly, "rending the
+solid rock.  Master Cairnes was hurled headlong into the chasm, and our
+pursuers were swept from the path.  The very mouth of the cavern has
+been forever sealed."
+
+"The cavern?" as if stifled, her eyes opening wide.  "They--they are
+buried alive?"
+
+"I doubt if any lived to know," I answered soberly.  "'T is likely
+those within were crushed to death."
+
+She dropped her face into her hands, sobbing hysterically.  Unable to
+speak, I bowed my head until it touched her shoulder.  The crippled
+priest crept toward us, forgetful of his own pain in the call of duty.
+
+"Daughter," he said tenderly, stroking her brown hair with his slender
+fingers, "to live or die is as Christ wills.  The Lord gave, the Lord
+hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Be of good comfort,
+remembering these words of promise, 'Lo!  I am with you alway, even
+unto the end of the world.'"
+
+She looked up through the mist of her tears, first into his face, then
+into mine.
+
+"I have passed through much," she confessed simply, "yet 'tis not the
+spirit but the body which has become weakened.  Forgive me, both of
+you."
+
+"Brave heart!" I echoed, caring nothing for the presence of the father.
+"No woman ever upbore grievous burden better.  If we rest first, you
+will regain courage to go on."
+
+Both her hands were resting trustfully in my own.
+
+"With you," she acknowledged softly.  "In all confidence with you."
+
+We sat there until the coming of dawn, speaking only seldom, our very
+thoughts holding us silent.  Occasionally I could feel Eloise's hand
+touch mine as if she sought thus to be reassured of my presence, and I
+could distinguish an inarticulate murmur from the priest's lips, as if
+he continually counted his beads in prayer.  The glare of lightning
+gradually ceased, the storm passing away to the westward with distant
+reverberations.  Yet clouds overcast the skies, leaving the early
+morning hours dark and cheerless.  With the first faint glow of day
+lighting the pathway, I stood up, dizzy at viewing the awful abyss
+below our narrow shelf.  We could perceive now more plainly the
+terrific havoc wrought above, but our eyes turned away from it in
+horror.  We must linger there no longer, but press forward with
+whatever of courage remained.
+
+"I must ask you to attempt to walk alone, Eloise," I said regretfully,
+"as I must bear the _père_, whose limbs are crippled."
+
+Her startled eyes were filled with womanly sympathy.
+
+"Crippled?  Was it done last night in the storm?"
+
+"No, a month ago; he was tortured at the stake in the village below.
+Ever since then he has been held prisoner for sacrifice."
+
+"Do not worry, daughter; my wounds are not worthy your tears," broke in
+the soft voice; "they are but a small part of my debt to Him who
+perished upon the cross.  Yet I think I might manage to walk, Monsieur,
+without assistance.  Surely, with God's help, I can master the pain."
+
+"Make no attempt," I said; "your slight figure will prove no burden to
+me.  It was of Eloise I thought."
+
+"Then do so in that way no longer," she burst forth eagerly.  "I have
+been trouble enough to you, Geoffrey.  I will not consent to remain
+helpless.  See!  I can stand alone--ay, and walk; even this great
+height does not render my head dizzy."
+
+We advanced slowly and cautiously down the path, feeling yet the
+exhaustion of the night.  The way proved less difficult than we
+expected.  The tunnel was by far the hardest portion, as we were
+compelled to grope the entire distance through intense darkness,
+guiding ourselves with hands against the wall.  Having little fear that
+any of the tribe remained to dispute our passage, we conversed freely
+and cheerfully, avoiding all unnecessary reference to the recent
+tragedy.  We emerged from the dark hole somewhat before noon, making
+use of the entrance leading through the altar-house.  The sight of the
+deserted platform reminded us of the Puritan, and as I glanced aside at
+Eloise, her gray eyes were filled with tears.  A fire smouldered on the
+altar, waiting replenishment from hands that would labor no more; and
+we gladly hurried from the gloomy interior to the sunlit slope without.
+
+The desolate, deserted village presented a scene of loneliness
+impossible to describe; not a figure was moving among the huts, no sign
+of life anywhere.  We discovered an abundance of food, and partook of
+it in the open.  Eloise appeared unwilling to accompany me, so I went
+alone to explore the mystery of Naladi's house, leaving her assiduously
+ministering to the needs of the priest.  My search was rewarded by the
+discovery of my lost rifle, with what remained of ammunition, together
+with a variety of feminine garments with which to replace those sadly
+soiled and tattered ones Madame wore.  The desire was in the hearts of
+us all to get away as soon as possible, to put behind us that desolate
+spot, those deserted houses, and the haunting cliff.  The _père_ had
+constructed, during my absence, a pair of rude crutches for his use;
+and, so soon as Eloise had more becomingly clothed herself, we
+departed, bearing such provisions as we could conveniently carry.  With
+the gun in my possession, I expected no great shortness in the food
+supply.  Madame carried it at first, however, as we made swifter
+progress by my taking the father on my shoulder.  He was no great
+burden, his weight scarcely more than that of a child.
+
+In this manner we tramped steadily forward through the bright sunshine,
+along canals filled with clear, cool water, and across fields no longer
+tilled by slaves, until we discovered the secret path which led forth
+from this death valley.  A moment we paused, glancing back toward the
+village, and up at the frowning front of rock, the tomb of the Natchez.
+Then silently, soberly, as befitted those who had witnessed an act of
+God, we pressed on into the labyrinth, shutting out forever that scene,
+except as a hideous memory.  To me the change was like entering upon a
+new world; I was a prisoner released, breathing once again the clear
+air of hope and manhood.  Burdened as we were, the passage through the
+tangled cedars to where the stream flowed down the canyon proved one of
+severe exertion.  When we finally attained the outer rocks, with the
+sullen roar of the falls just below, I was breathing heavily from
+exhaustion, and a flush had come back into Eloise's pale cheeks.  Very
+gladly I deposited the priest in a position of comfort, and the three
+of us rested in silence, gazing about upon the wilderness scene.  We
+had spoken little to each other regarding the future; under the
+depressing influence of that dread valley we felt incapable of thought,
+our minds yet dazed by the tragic events we had experienced.  Even now
+I constantly saw before me the faces of Cairnes and De Noyan, scarcely
+able to banish their memory long enough to face intelligently the
+requirements of the present.  Yet now it must be done.  The _père_ sat,
+with crutches lying across his rusty black robe, his girlish features
+softened by a look of infinite peace; Eloise leaned against the rock in
+a posture of weariness, her bosom rising and falling with tumultuous
+breathing.  I recalled to mind the leagues of desolate wilderness yet
+to be traversed.  Possibly I indulged unconsciously in outward
+expression, for the priest gazed across at me.
+
+"The sun is still sufficiently high for considerable travel, my son,"
+he remarked quietly, "and you will require daylight for the earlier
+part of your journey."
+
+"It was upon my mind, but I scarcely knew how best to proceed."
+
+"Possibly my experience may guide you.  The way should not prove unduly
+fatiguing after you pass the falls," with a wave of the hand downward,
+and a slight smile.  "I wandered here alone up that valley, seeking the
+Indian village somewhat blindly, discovering much of interest on the
+way.  Would that my own future path led me through such ease; but 'tis
+mine to go whithersoever the Lord wills.  However, my discoveries will
+be of value.  Slightly below the falls, concealed beneath an
+outcropping rock, you will find several stanch Indian boats.  The
+lightest one will transport safely the two of you, together with what
+provisions you require.  The current runs swiftly, yet a strong,
+skilful hand on the steering oar should bring you through without
+mishap."
+
+We both stared at him, greatly puzzled by his strange speech.  Eloise
+was first to speak in protest.
+
+"What do you mean by two of us?  Do you deem us dastards enough to
+leave you here alone?"
+
+He smiled into her face with the tender smile of a woman, and held up
+his shining silver crucifix.
+
+"Daughter," he said modestly, "my work is not yet done.  Upon this
+symbol I took solemn oath to live and die in faithful service to the
+heathen tribes of this river.  Would you have me retreat in cowardice?
+Would you have me false to the vows of my Order? to the voice of the
+Master?"
+
+"But you are crippled, helpless, in continual pain!"  She crossed
+hastily to him, dropping upon her knees at his side.  "Oh, _père_, we
+cannot leave you; it would mean death."
+
+His slender fingers stroked her brown hair, his eyes alight with the
+fire of enthusiasm.
+
+"Whether or not I am worthy of martyrdom, God knows.  All I see is my
+plain duty, and the beckoning hand of the bleeding Christ.  Daughter,
+you are a child of the true Church; your pleading should never retard
+the labor of the priesthood.  My suffering is nothing, my life nothing,
+if only through such sacrifice souls may be rescued from the consuming
+flames of hell."
+
+She could not speak, but sobbed, her face hidden.
+
+"Where do you go seeking other tribes?" I asked hoarsely, scarcely
+believing his words.
+
+He arose with difficulty to his feet, holding himself erect on the rude
+crutches.  I noticed now, for the first time, a bag of woven grass
+hanging at his girdle.
+
+"Yonder, Monsieur, to the westward," a new dignity in his manner as he
+pointed up the narrow canyon.  "There are tribes a few days' journey
+away.  I have learned of them, without being told their names.  To
+such, under God, I bear my message of salvation."
+
+"But you will starve on the journey."
+
+"I carry food here," touching the bag.  "It will suffice; if not, there
+are berries and roots in abundance.  My Master has always fed me in the
+wilderness."
+
+What more could I say or do to change his purpose?  It was a girlish
+face fronting me, yet the thin lips were pressed tightly together, the
+dark eyes fearless and resolute.  I laid my hand on Eloise's shoulder.
+
+"It must be as he says," I acknowledged regretfully.  "We can but
+depart."
+
+She arose slowly to her feet, her eyes still sadly pleading.  The
+_père_ gazed questioningly into both our faces, the rigid lines of his
+mouth softening.
+
+"My daughter," he said, in calm dignity, "we of a desert priesthood are
+ordained unto strange duties, and unusual privileges.  Do you love this
+man?"
+
+A wave of color surged into her cheeks, as she gave one rapid glance
+aside into my face.  Then she answered in all simplicity:
+
+"Yes, _père_, from childhood."
+
+Resting upon his crutch, he touched her with his hand.
+
+"Yet he who perished yonder was your husband.  How came you thus to
+marry, with your heart elsewhere?"
+
+"It was the desire of my father, and the will of the Church."
+
+He bowed his head, his lips moving in silent prayer for guidance.
+
+"Then the will of the Church hath been done," he said humbly.  "Here in
+the wilderness we perform the will of God, untrammelled by the councils
+of men.  'T is my dispensation to bury the dead, baptize the living,
+and join in marriage those of one heart.  It is not meet that you two
+journey together except with the solemn sanction of Holy Church."
+
+My pulses throbbed, yet I could only look at her, as she stood
+trembling, her eyes downcast, her cheeks burning.
+
+"But--but, _père_, will it be right?" she faltered faintly.
+
+"Let the dead past bury its dead," he answered gravely.  "I hold it
+right in the name of Christ, from whom I derive authority.  Geoffrey
+Benteen, take within your own the hand of this woman."
+
+'T is but a dream, our standing there together in the sun; a dream,
+those words of the marriage rite spoken by him in the desolation and
+silence of the desert.  We knelt together upon the stones, hand
+clasping hand, while above our bowed heads were uplifted the priest's
+thin, white hands in benediction.  Whether or not in that hour André
+Lafossier exceeded his authority I cannot tell.  In heart we were
+joined of God; our union has never been questioned of man.
+
+We stood there watching, longing to prevent the sacrifice, as he moved
+away from us slowly upon his crutches.  It was a pitiful sight, that
+slender figure, in frayed, tattered black robe, going forward alone,
+and in agony, to death or torture.  It was in my heart to cry after
+him, but she understood far better the mighty motive of his sacrifice,
+and restrained me with uplifted hand.  Far up the canyon, he paused a
+moment and glanced back.  The distance already veiled his face, but up
+into the sunlight he lifted the silver crucifix.  Then he
+disappeared--to endure his fate in Christ's name.  Then, hand in hand
+and heart to heart, our voices silent, Eloise and I went down into the
+valley to where the boats lay.  The dead past was behind us; the future
+was our own.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Prisoners of Chance, by Randall Parrish
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Prisoners of Chance, by Randall Parrish
+</TITLE>
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Prisoners of Chance, by Randall Parrish
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Prisoners of Chance
+       The Story of What Befell Geoffrey Benteen, Borderman,
+              through His Love for a Lady of France
+
+Author: Randall Parrish
+
+Illustrator: The Kinneys
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #17856]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISONERS OF CHANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="I could merely clasp the hands she gave so unreservedly into my keeping, gaze into the depths of her dark eyes, and murmur a
+few broken words of confidence and farewell." BORDER="2" WIDTH="471" HEIGHT="743">
+<H4>
+[Frontispiece: I could merely clasp the hands she gave so unreservedly<BR>
+into my keeping, gaze into the depths of her dark eyes, and murmur a<BR>
+few broken words of confidence and farewell.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+PRISONERS OF CHANCE
+</H1>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE STORY OF WHAT BEFELL GEOFFREY BENTEEN, <BR>
+BORDERMAN, THROUGH HIS LOVE<BR>
+FOR A LADY OF FRANCE
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+BY
+</H4>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+RANDALL PARRISH
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+Author of "When Wilderness was King," "My Lady of the North," "Bob
+Hampton of Placer," etc.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATED IN FULL COLOR BY THE KINNEYS
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+CHICAGO
+<BR><BR>
+A. C. McCLURG &amp; CO.
+<BR><BR>
+1908
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+COPYRIGHT
+<BR>
+A. C. McCLURG &amp; CO.
+<<BR>
+1908
+<BR><BR>
+Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
+<BR><BR>
+All rights reserved
+<BR><BR>
+Published March 28, 1908
+<BR><BR><BR>
+THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CONTENTS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<CENTER>
+
+<TABLE WIDTH="80%">
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap00b">FOREWORD</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap01">THE REQUEST FOR AID</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap02">A PERILOUS VENTURE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap03">A VISIT TO THE FLAG-SHIP</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap04">WE HOLD A COUNCIL OF WAR</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap05">ON THE DECK OF THE "SANTA MARIA"</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap06">THE ROLE OF PÈRE CASSATI</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap07">THE CHEVALIER DE NOYAN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap08">FAVORED OF THE GODS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap09">THE BIRTH OF THE DEATH-DAWN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap10">A COVERT IN THE CANE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap11">A NIGHT IN THE BOAT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap12">WE LAND AN ODD FISH</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap13">WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap14">THE MOUTH OF THE ARKANSAS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap15">A PASSAGE AT ARMS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap16">WE CHANGE OUR COURSE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap17">WE MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap18">A HARD DAY'S MARCH</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap19">DEMON, OR WHAT?</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap20">BACKS TO THE WALL</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap21">THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap22">PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap23">THE VOTE OF DEATH</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap24">THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap25">A VISITANT FROM THE SUN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap26">THE CHRONICLES OF THE NATCHEZ</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap27">A VENTURE IN THE DARK</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap28">SPEECH WITH NALADI</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap29">IN AND OUT THE SHADOW</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap30">UNDERGROUND</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap31">WE MOUNT THE CLIFF</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap32">CHIEF PRIEST OF THE SUN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap33">PERE ANDRÉ LAFOSSIER</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap34">THE TALE OF THE PRIEST</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap35">NIGHT AND THE SAVAGES</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap36">THE INTERFERENCE OF THE JESUIT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap37">THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+</TABLE>
+
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-front">
+I could merely clasp the hands she gave so unreservedly into my
+keeping, gaze into the depths of her dark eyes, and murmur a few broken
+words of confidence and farewell.&#8230;&#8230; <I>Frontispiece</I>
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-110">
+Had I ventured upon a smile at his predicament he would have popped
+instantly forth again.
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-262">
+"I am the Daughter of the Sun.  These are my children, given unto me by
+the great Sun-god.&#8230;  None of white blood may set foot in this
+valley and live."
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-396">
+The woman stood gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to her
+feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric followers
+cast their light full upon her.
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap00b"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+FOREWORD
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The manuscript of this tale has been in my possession several years.
+It reached me through natural lines of inheritance, but remained nearly
+forgotten, until a chance reading revealed a certain historic basis;
+then, making note of correspondences in minor details, I realized that
+what I had cast aside as mere fiction might possess a substantial
+foundation of fact.  Impelled by this conviction, I now submit the
+narrative to public inspection, that others, better fitted than I, may
+judge as to the worth of this Geoffrey Benteen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+According to the earlier records of Louisiana Province, Geoffrey
+Benteen was, during his later years, a resident of La Petite Rocher, a
+man of note and character among his fellows.  There he died in old age,
+leaving no indication of the extent of his knowledge, other than what
+is to be found in the yellowed pages of his manuscript; and these
+afford no evidence that this "Gentleman Adventurer" possessed any
+information derived from books regarding those relics of a prehistoric
+people, which are widely scattered throughout the Middle and Southern
+States of the Union and constitute the grounds on which our century has
+applied to the race the term "Mound Builders."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Apparently in all simplicity and faithfulness he recorded merely what
+he saw and heard.  Later research, antedating his death, has seemingly
+proven that in the extinct Natchez tribe was to be found the last
+remnant of that mysterious and unfortunate race.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Who were the Mound Builders?  No living man may answer.  Their
+history&mdash;strange, weird, mysterious&mdash;stretches backward into the dim
+twilight before tradition, its sole remaining record graven upon the
+surface of the earth, vaguely guessed at by those who study graves;
+their pathetic ending has long been pictured in our country's story as
+occurring amid the shadows of that dreadful midnight upon the banks of
+the Ocatahoola, when vengeful Frenchmen put them to the sword.  Whence
+they came, whether from fabled Atlantis, or the extinct Aztec empire of
+the South, no living tongue can tell; whither fled their remnant,&mdash;if
+remnant there was left to flee,&mdash;and what proved its ultimate fate, no
+previous pen has written.  Out from the darkness of the unknown,
+scarcely more than spectral figures, they came, wrote their single line
+upon the earth's surface, and vanished, kings and people alike sinking
+into speechless oblivion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That Geoffrey Benteen witnessed the tragic ending of this strange
+people I no longer question; for I have compared his narrative with all
+we moderns have learned regarding them, as recorded in the pages of
+Parkman, Charlevoix, Du Pratz, and Duponceau, discovering nothing to
+awaken the slightest suspicion that he dealt with other than what he
+saw.  More, I have traced with exactitude the route these fugitives
+followed in their flight northward, and, although the features of the
+country are greatly altered by settlements of nearly two hundred years,
+one may easily discern evidence of this man's honesty.  For me it is
+enough to feel that I have stood beside the massive tomb of this
+mysterious people&mdash;a people once opulent and powerful, the warriors of
+forgotten battle-fields, the builders of lost civilizations, the
+masters of that imperial domain stretching from the Red River of the
+North to the sea-coast of the Carolinas; a people swept backward as by
+the wrath of the Infinite, scourged by famine, decimated by pestilence,
+warred against by flame, stricken by storm, torn asunder by vengeful
+enemies, until a weakened remnant, harassed by the French sword, fled
+northward in the night to fulfil the fate ordained of God, and finally
+perished amid the gloomy shadows of the grim Ozarks, bequeathing to the
+curious future neither a language nor a name.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But this I leave with Geoffrey Benteen, and turn to my own simpler
+task, a review of the peculiar circumstances leading up to this
+narrative, involving a brief chapter from the records of our Southwest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The early history of the Province of Louisiana is so complicated by
+rapid changes in government as to confuse the student, rendering it
+extremely difficult to comprehend correctly the varied and conflicting
+interests&mdash;aristocratic, official, and commercial&mdash;actuating her
+pioneer colonists.  The written records, so far as translated and
+published, afford only a faint reflection of the varied characteristics
+of her peculiar, changing population.  The blue-eyed Arcadian of her
+western plateaus, yet dreaming upon his more northern freedom; the
+royalist planter of the Mississippi bottoms, proud of those broad acres
+granted him by letters-patent of the King; the gay, volatile,
+passionate Creole of the town, one day a thoughtless lover of pleasure,
+the next a truculent wielder of the sword; the daring smugglers of
+Barataria, already rapidly drifting into open defiance of all legal
+restraint; together with the quiet market gardeners of the
+<I>Côte-des-Allemands</I>, formed a heterogeneous population impossible to
+please and extremely difficult to control.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Varied as were these types, yet there were others, easy to name, but
+far more difficult to classify in their political relationships&mdash;such
+as priests of the Capuchin order; scattered representatives of Britain;
+sailors from ships ever swinging to the current beside the levee;
+sinewy backwoodsmen from the wilds of the Blue Ridge; naked savages
+from Indian villages north and east; raftsmen from the distant waters
+of the Ohio and Illinois, scarcely less barbarian than those with
+redder skin; Spaniards from the Gulf islands, together with a negro
+population, part slave, part free, nearly equal in point of numbers to
+all the rest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And over all who was the master?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It would have been difficult at times to tell, so swiftly did change
+follow change&mdash;Crozat, Law, Louis the Fifteenth, Charles the Third,
+each had his turn; flag succeeded flag upon the high staff which, ever
+since the days of Bienville, had ornamented the Place d'Armes, while
+great merchants of Europe played the occupants of thrones for the
+bauble of this far western province, whose heart, nevertheless,
+remained forever faithful to sunny France.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As late as 1768 New Orleans contained scarcely more than three thousand
+two hundred persons, a third of these being black slaves.  Sixty-three
+years previously Bienville had founded Louisiana Province, making
+choice of the city site, but in 1763 it suited the schemes of him, who
+ruled the destinies of the mother country, to convey the yet struggling
+colony into the control of the King of Spain.  It was fully two years
+later before word of this unwelcome transfer reached the distant
+province, while as much more time elapsed ere Don Antonio de Ulloa, the
+newly appointed Spanish governor, landed at New Orleans, and, under
+guard of but two companies of infantry, took unto himself the reins.
+Unrest was already in the air,&mdash;petitions and delegations laden with
+vehement protests crossed the Atlantic.  Both were alike returned,
+disregarded by the French King.  Where it is probable that a single
+word of wise counsel, even of kindly explanation, might have calmed the
+rising tumult, silence and contempt merely served to aggravate it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It has been written by conscientious historians that commercial
+interests, not loyalty to French traditions, were the real cause of
+this struggle of 1768.  Be that as it may, its leaders were found in
+the Superior Council, a body of governors older even than New Orleans,
+of which the patriotic Lafrénière was then the presiding officer, and
+whose membership contained such representative citizens as Foucault,
+Jean and Joseph Milhet, Caresse, Petit, Poupet, a prominent lawyer.
+Marquis, a Swiss captain, with Bathasar de Masan, Hardy de Boisblanc,
+and Joseph Villere, planters of the upper Mississippi, as well as two
+nephews of the great Bienville, Charles de Noyan, a young ex-captain of
+cavalry, lately married to the only daughter of Lafrénière, and his
+younger brother, a lieutenant in the navy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the twenty-seventh of October, 1768, every Frenchman in Louisiana
+Province was marching toward New Orleans.  That same night the guns at
+the Tehoupitoulas Gate&mdash;the upper river corner&mdash;were spiked; while yet
+farther away, along a narrow road bordering the great stream, armed
+with fowling pieces, muskets, even axes, the Arcadians, and the aroused
+inhabitants of the German coast, came sweeping down to unite with the
+impatient Creoles of the town.  In the dull gray of early morning they
+pushed past the spiked and useless cannon, and, with De Noyan and
+Villere at their head, forced the other gates and noisily paraded the
+streets under the <I>fleur de lis</I>.  The people rose <I>en masse</I> to greet
+them, until, utterly unable to resist the rising tide of popular
+enthusiasm, Ulloa retired on board the Spanish frigate, which slipped
+her cables, and came to anchor far out in the stream.  Two days later,
+hurried no doubt by demands of the council, the governor set sail for
+the West Indies, leaving the fair province under control of what was
+little better than a headless mob.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For now, having achieved success, the strange listlessness of the
+Southern nature reasserted itself, and from that moment no apparent
+effort was made to strengthen their position&mdash;no government was
+established, no basis of credit effected, no diplomatic relations were
+assumed.  They had battled for results like men, yet were content to
+play with them like children.  For more than seven months they thus
+enjoyed a false security, as delightful as their sunny summer-time.
+Then suddenly, as breaks an ocean storm, that slumbering community was
+rudely aroused from its siestas and day-dreaming by the report that
+Spaniards were at the mouth of the river in overwhelming force.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Confusion reigned on every hand; scarcely a hundred men rallied to
+defend the town; yet no one fled.  The Spanish fleet consisted of
+twenty-four vessels.  For more than three weeks they felt their
+uncertain way around the bends of the Mississippi, and on the
+eighteenth of August, 1769, furled their canvas before the silent
+batteries.  Firing a single gun from the deck of his flag-ship, the
+frigate "Santa Maria," Don Alexandro O'Reilly, accompanied by
+twenty-six hundred chosen Spanish troops and fifty pieces of artillery,
+landed, amid all the pomp of Continental war, taking formal possession
+of the province.  That night his soldiers patrolled the streets, and
+his cannon swept the river front, while not a Frenchman ventured to
+stray beyond the doorway of his home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Within the narrow space of two days the iron hand of Spain's new
+Captain-General had closed upon the leaders of the bloodless
+insurrection, his judgments falling with such severity as to earn for
+him in the annals of Louisiana the title of "Cruel O'Reilly."  Among
+those of the revolutionists before mentioned, Petit, Masan, Doucet,
+Boisblanc, Jean Milhet, and Poupet were consigned to Moro Castle,
+Havana, where they remained a year, and then were stripped of their
+property and forbidden ever again to enter the province of Louisiana.
+The younger Bienville escaped with the loss of his fortune.  Foucault
+met his fate resisting the guard on board the "Santa Maria," where he
+was held prisoner; while Lafrénière, De Noyan, Caresse, Marquis, and
+Joseph Milhet were condemned to be publicly hanged.  The earnest
+supplication, both of colonists and Spanish officials, shocked by the
+unjust severity of this sentence, sufficed to save them from the
+disgrace of the gallows, but fated them to fall before the volley of a
+file of grenadiers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the firing of the sunset gun the evening of their last earthly
+day, the post-captain visited the condemned men, and spoke with each in
+turn; they numbered five.  All through the dark hours of that night
+heavily armed sentries stood in the narrow passageway before
+nail-studded doors, while each hour, as the ship's bell struck, the
+Commandant of Marine peered within each lighted apartment where rested
+five plainly outlined forms.  With the first gray of the dawn the
+unfortunate prisoners were mustered upon deck, but they numbered only
+four.  And four only, white faced, yet firm of step and clear of eye,
+stood an hour later with backs to the rising sun and hearts to the
+levelled rifles, and when the single volley had echoed and reechoed
+across the wide river, the white smoke slowly lifting and blown away
+above the trees, only four lifeless bodies lay closely pressed against
+the red-brick wall&mdash;the fifth condemned man was not there: <I>Chevalier
+Charles de Noyan had escaped his fate</I>.  Like a spirit had he vanished
+during those mysterious hours between midnight and dawn, leaving no
+trace of his going save a newly severed rope which hung dangling from a
+foreyard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But had he escaped?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That morning&mdash;as we learn from private letters sent home by officers of
+the Spanish fleet&mdash;there came to the puzzled O'Reilly a report that in
+the dense blackness of that starless night a single boat sought to slip
+silently past beneath the deep shadows of the upper battery.  Unhalting
+in response to a hail of the sentry, a volley was hastily fired toward
+its uncertain outline, and, in the flare of the guns, the officer of
+the guard noted the black figure of a man leap high into air, and
+disappear beneath the dark surface of the river.  So it was the
+Captain-General wrote also the name "Charles de Noyan" with those of
+the other four, endorsing it with the same terse military record, "Shot
+at sunrise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nor since that fateful hour has the world known otherwise, for,
+although strange rumors floated down the great river to be whispered
+about from lip to lip, and New Orleans wondered many a long month
+whither had vanished the fair young wife, the daughter of Lafrénière,
+yet no authentic message found its way out of the vast northern
+wilderness.  For nearly one hundred and fifty years history has
+accepted without question the testimony of the Spanish records.  The
+man who alone could tell the strange story was in old age impelled to
+do so by a feeling of sacred duty to the dead; and his papers,
+disarranged, ill-written, already yellowed by years, have fallen to my
+keeping.  I submit them without comment or change, save only as to the
+subdivision into chapters, with an occasional substitution for some
+old-time phrase of its more modern equivalent.  He who calls himself
+"Geoffrey Benteen, Gentleman Adventurer," shall tell his own tale.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+R. P.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+Prisoners of Chance
+</H1>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER I
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE REQUEST FOR AID
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+I am Geoffrey Benteen, Gentleman Adventurer, with much experience upon
+the border, where I have passed my life.  My father was that Robert
+Benteen, merchant in furs, the first of the English race to make
+permanent settlement in New Orleans.  Here he established a highly
+profitable trade with the Indians, his bateaux voyaging as far
+northward as the falls of the Ohio, while his influence among the
+tribesmen extended to the eastern mountains.  My mother was of Spanish
+blood, a native of Saint Augustine, so I grew up fairly proficient in
+three languages, and to them I later added an odd medley of tribal
+tongues which often stood me in excellent stead amid the vicissitudes
+of the frontier.  The early death of my mother compelled me to become
+companion to my father in his wanderings, so that before I was
+seventeen the dim forest trails, the sombre rivers, and the dark lodges
+of savages had grown as familiar to me as were the streets and houses
+of my native town.  Hence it happened, that when my father fell the
+victim of a treacherous blow, although he left to my care considerable
+property and a widely scattered trade, I could not easily content
+myself with the sameness of New Orleans; there I felt almost a
+stranger, ever hungering for the woods and the free life of the
+mountains.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yet I held myself to the work in hand until successful in straightening
+out the tangled threads, and might have remained engaged in peaceful
+traffic until the end of life, had it not been for a misunderstanding
+with her who held my heart in captivity to her slightest whim.  It
+matters little now the cause of the quarrel, or where rested the
+greater blame; enough that its occurrence drove me forth reckless of
+everything, desirous only to leave all of my own race, and seek amid
+savage environment and excitement forgetfulness of the past.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was in September of the year 1769&mdash;just forty-eight years ago as I
+write&mdash;that I found myself once again in New Orleans, feeling almost a
+stranger to the town, except for the few rough flatboat-men in company
+with whom I had floated down the great river.  Five years previously,
+heartsick and utterly careless of life, I had plunged into the
+trackless wilderness stretching in almost unbroken virginity to north
+and east, desiring merely to be left alone, that I might in solitude
+fight out my first grim battle with despair, saying to myself in all
+bitterness of soul that never again would I turn face to southward or
+enter the boundaries of Louisiana Province.  During those years, beyond
+reach of news and the tongue of gossip, I wandered aimlessly from
+village to village, ever certain of welcome within the lodges of Creeks
+and Shawnees, or farther away amid those little French border towns
+dotting the Ohio and the Illinois, constantly feeling how little the
+world held of value since both my parents were gone, and this last blow
+had fallen.  I loved the free, wild life of the warriors with whom I
+hunted, and the <I>voyageurs</I> beside whom I camped, and had learned to
+distrust my own race; yet no sooner did I chance to stand again beside
+the sweeping current of the broad Mississippi, than I was gripped by
+the old irresistible yearning, and, although uninspired by either hope
+or purpose, drifted downward to the hated Creole town.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I had left it a typical frontier French city, touched alike by the
+glamour of reflected civilization and the barbarism of savagery, yet
+ever alive with the gayety of that lively, changeable people; I
+returned, after those five years of burial in forest depths, to
+discover it under the harsh rule of Spain, and outwardly so quiet as to
+appear fairly deserted of inhabitants.  The Spanish ships of war&mdash;I
+counted nineteen&mdash;lay anchored in the broad river, their prows up
+stream, and the gloomy, black muzzles of their guns depressed so as to
+command the landing, while scarcely a French face greeted me along the
+streets, whose rough stone pavements echoed to the constant tread of
+armed soldiers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Spanish sentries were on guard at nearly every corner.  Not a few
+halted me with rough questioning, and once I was haled before an
+officer, who, hearing my story, and possibly impressed by my
+proficiency in his language, was kind enough to provide me with a pass
+good within the lines.  Yet it proved far from pleasant loitering
+about, as drunken soldiers, dressed in every variety of uniform,
+staggered along the narrow walks, ready to pick a quarrel with any
+stranger chancing their way, while groups of officers, gorgeous in
+white coats and gold lace, lounged in shaded corners, greeting each
+passer-by with jokes that stung.  Every tavern was crowded to the
+threshold with roistering blades whose drunken curses, directed against
+both French and English, quickly taught me the discretion of keeping
+well away from their company, so there was little left but to move on,
+never halting long enough in one place to become involved in useless
+controversy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It all appeared so unnatural that I felt strangely saddened by the
+change, and continued aimlessly drifting about the town as curiosity
+led, resolved to leave its confines at the earliest opportunity.  I
+stared long at the strange vessels of war, whose like I had never
+before seen, and finally, as I now remember, paused upon the ragged
+grass of the Place d'Armes, watching the evolutions of a battery of
+artillery.  This was all new to me, representing as it did a line of
+service seldom met with in the wilderness; and soon quite a number of
+curious loiterers gathered likewise along the edge of the parade.
+Among them I could distinguish a few French faces, with here and there
+a woman of the lower orders, ill clad and coarse of speech.  A party of
+soldiers, boisterous and quarrelsome from liquor, pressed me so closely
+that, hopeful of avoiding trouble, I drew farther back toward the curb,
+and standing thus, well away from others, enjoyed an unobstructed view
+across the entire field.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The battery had hitched up preparatory to returning to their quarters
+before I lost interest in the spectacle and reluctantly turned away
+with the slowly dispersing crowd.  Just then I became aware of the
+close proximity of a well-dressed negro, apparently the favored servant
+in some family of quality.  The fellow was observing me with an
+intentness which aroused my suspicion.  That was a time and place for
+exercising extreme caution, so that instinctively I turned away, moving
+directly across the vacated field.  Scarcely had I taken ten steps
+before I saw that he was following, and as I wheeled to front him the
+fellow made a painful effort to address me in English.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mornin', sah," he said, making a deep salutation with his entire body.
+"Am you dat Englisher Massa Benteen from up de ribber?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaning upon my rifle, I gazed directly at him in astonishment.  How,
+by all that was miraculous, did this strange black know my name and
+nationality?  His was a round face, filled with good humor; nothing in
+it surely to mistrust, yet totally unknown to me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You speak correctly," I made reply, surprise evident in the tones of
+my voice.  "I have no reason to deny my name, which is held an honest
+one here in New Orleans.  How you learned it, however, remains a
+mystery, for I never looked upon your face before."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sah; I s'pects not, sah, 'cause I nebber yet hab been in dem dere
+parts, sah.  I was sent yere wid a most 'portant message fer Massa
+Benteen, an' I done reckon as how dat am you, sah."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An important message for me?  Surely, boy, you either mistake, or are
+crazy.  Yet stay!  Does it come from Nick Burton, the flatboat-man?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sah; it am a lady wat sent me yere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was excessively polite, exhibiting an earnestness which caused me to
+suspect his mission a grave one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A lady?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I echoed the unexpected word, scarcely capable of believing the
+testimony of my own ears.  Yet as I did so my heart almost ceased its
+throbbing, while I felt the hot blood rush to my face.  That was an age
+of social gallantry; yet I was no gay courtier of the town, but a
+hunter of the woods, attired in rough habiliments, little fitted to
+attract the attention of womanly eyes amid the military glitter all
+about.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A lady!  In the name of all the gods, what lady?  Even in the old days
+I enjoyed but a limited circle of acquaintance among women.  Indeed, I
+recalled only one in all the wide province of Louisiana who might
+justly be accorded so high an appellation even by a negro slave, and
+certainly she knew nothing of my presence in New Orleans, nor would she
+dream of sending for me if she did.  Convinced of this, I dismissed the
+thought upon the instant, with a smile.  The black must have made a
+mistake, or else some old-time acquaintance of our family, a forgotten
+friend of my mother perhaps, had chanced to hear of my return.
+Meanwhile the negro stood gazing at me with open mouth, and the sight
+of him partially restored my presence of mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is she English, boy?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sah, she am a French lady, sah, if ebber dar was one in dis hyar
+province.  She libs ober yonder in de Rue Dumaine, an' she said to me,
+'Yah, Alphonse, you follow dat dar young feller wid de long rifle under
+his arm an' de coon-skin cap, an' fotch him hyar to me!'  Dem am de
+bery words wat she done said, sah, when you went by our house a
+half-hour ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is your mistress young or old?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The black chuckled, his round face assuming a good-natured grin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fo' de Lawd, Massa, but dat am jest de way wid all you white folks!"
+he ejaculated.  "If she was ol', an' wrinkled, an' fat, den dat settle
+de whole ting.  Jest don't want to know no mor'."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well," I interrupted impatiently, "keep your moralizing to yourself
+until we become better acquainted, and answer my question&mdash;Is the woman
+young?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My tone was sufficiently stern to sober him, his black face
+straightening out as if it had been ironed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, don't you go an' git cross, Massa Benteen, case a laugh don't
+nebber do nobody no hurt," he cried, shrinking back as if expecting a
+blow.  "But dat's jest wat she am, sah, an' a heap sweeter dan de
+vi'lets in de springtime, sah."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And she actually told you my name?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yas, sah, she did dat fer suah&mdash;'Massa Geoffrey Benteen, an Englisher
+from up de ribber,' dem was her bery words; but somehow I done
+disremember jest persactly de place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For another moment I hesitated, scarcely daring to utter the one vital
+question trembling on my lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But who is the lady?  What is her name?"  As I put the simple query I
+felt my voice tremble in spite of every effort to hold it firm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame de Noyan, sah; one ob de bery first famblies.  Massa de Noyan
+am one ob de Bienvilles, sah."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"De Noyan?  De Noyan?" I repeated the unfamiliar name over slowly, with
+a feeling of relief.  "Most certainly I never before heard other."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I dunno nothin' 'tall 'bout dat, Massa, but suah's you born dat am her
+name and Massa's; an' you is de bery man she done sent me after, fer I
+nebber onct took my eyes off you all dis time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There remained no reasonable doubt as to the fellow's sincerity.  His
+face was a picture of disinterested earnestness as he fronted me; yet I
+hesitated, eying him closely, half inclined to think him the
+unsuspecting representative of some rogue.  That was a time and place
+where one of my birth needed to practise caution; racial rivalry ran so
+high throughout all the sparsely settled province that any
+misunderstanding between an English stranger and either Frenchman or
+Spaniard was certain to involve serious results.  We of Northern blood
+were bitterly envied because of commercial supremacy.  I had, during my
+brief residence in New Orleans, witnessed jealous treachery on every
+hand.  This had taught me that enemies of my race were numerous, while,
+it was probable, not more than a dozen fellow-countrymen were then in
+New Orleans.  They would prove powerless were I to become involved in
+any quarrel.  Extreme caution under such conditions became a paramount
+duty, and it can scarcely be wondered at that I hesitated to trust the
+black, continuing to study the real purpose of his mysterious message.
+Yet the rare good-humor and simple interest of his face tended to
+reassure me.  A lady, he said&mdash;well, surely no great harm would result
+from such an interview; and if, as was probable, it should prove a mere
+case of mistaken identity, a correction could easily follow, and I
+should then be free to go my way.  On the other hand, if some friend
+really needed me, a question of duty was involved, which&mdash;God
+helping&mdash;I was never one to shun; for who could know in how brief a
+space I might also be asking assistance of some countryman.  This
+mysterious stranger, this Madame de Noyan of whom I had never heard,
+knew my name&mdash;possibly had learned it from another, some wandering
+Englishman, perchance, whom she would aid in trouble, some old-time
+friend in danger, who, afraid to reveal himself, now appealed through
+her instrumentality for help in a strange land.  Deciding to brave the
+doubt and solve the mystery by action, I flung the long rifle across my
+shoulder and stood erect.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right, boy, lead on," I said shortly.  "I intend to learn what is
+behind this, and who it is that sends for me in New Orleans."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Far from satisfied with the situation, yet determined now to probe the
+mystery to the bottom, I silently followed the black, attentive to his
+slightest movement.  It was a brief walk down one of the narrow streets
+leading directly back from the river front, so that within less than
+five minutes I was being silently shown into the small reception room
+of a tasty cottage, whose picturesque front was half concealed by a
+brilliant mass of trailing vines.  The heavy shades being closely drawn
+at the windows, the interior was in such gloom that for the moment
+after my entrance from the outside glare I was unable to distinguish
+one object from another.  Then slowly my eyes adjusted themselves to
+the change, and, taking one uncertain step forward, I came suddenly
+face to face with a Capuchin priest appearing almost ghastly with his
+long, pale, ascetic countenance, and ghostly gray robe sweeping to the
+floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Startled by this unexpected apparition, and experiencing an American
+borderer's dislike and distrust for his class, I made a hasty move back
+toward where, with unusual carelessness, I had deposited my rifle
+against the wall.  Yet as I placed hand upon it I had sufficiently
+recovered to laugh silently at my fears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thou hast responded with much promptitude, my son," the priest said in
+gentle voice, speaking the purest of French, and apparently not
+choosing to notice my momentary confusion.  "It is indeed an excellent
+trait&mdash;one long inculcated by our Order."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And one not unknown to mine&mdash;free rangers of the woods, sir priest," I
+replied coldly, resolving not to be outdone in bluntness of speech.  "I
+suppose you are the 'lady' desiring speech with me; I note you come
+dressed in character.  And now I am here, what may the message be?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was neither smile nor resentment visible on his pale face,
+although he slightly uplifted one slender hand as if in silent rebuke
+of my rude words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, nay, my son," he said gravely.  "Be not over-hasty in speech.  It
+is indeed a serious matter which doth require thy presence in this
+house, and the question of life or death for a human being can never be
+fit subject for jesting.  She who despatched the messenger will be here
+directly to make clear her need."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In truth it was a woman, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, a woman, and&mdash;ah! she cometh now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even as he gave utterance to the words, I turned, attracted by the soft
+rustle of a silken skirt at my very side, stole one quick, startled
+glance into a young, sweet face, lightened by dark, dreamy eyes, and
+within the instant was warmly clasping two outstretched hands, totally
+oblivious of all else save her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eloise!" I exclaimed in astonishment.  "Eloise&mdash;Mademoiselle
+Lafrénière&mdash;can this indeed be you?  Have you sent for me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It seemed for that one moment as if the world held but the two of us,
+and there was a glad confidence in her brimming eyes quickly
+dissipating all mists of the past.  Yet only for that one weak,
+thoughtless instant did she yield to what appeared real joy at my
+presence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, dear friend, it is Eloise," she answered, gazing anxiously into
+my face, and clinging to my strong hands as though fearful lest I might
+tear them away when she spoke those hard words which must follow.  "Yet
+surely you know, Geoffrey Benteen, that I am Mademoiselle Lafrénière no
+longer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It seemed to me my very heart stopped beating, so intense was the pain
+which overswept it.  Yet I held to the soft hands, for there was such a
+pitiful look of suffering upon her upturned face as to steady me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I knew it not," I answered brokenly.  "I&mdash;I have been buried in
+the forest all these years since we parted, where few rumors of the
+town have reached me.  But let that pass; it&mdash;it is easy to see you are
+now in great sorrow.  Was it because of this&mdash;in search of help, in
+need, perchance&mdash;that you have sent for me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She bowed her head; a tear fell upon my broad hand and glistened there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Geoffrey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The words were scarcely more than a whisper; then the low voice seemed
+to strengthen with return of confidence, her dark eyes anxiously
+searching my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I sent for you, Geoffrey, because of deep trouble; because I am left
+alone, without friends, saving only the <I>père</I>.  I know well your
+faithfulness.  In spite of the wrong, the misunderstanding between
+us&mdash;and for it I take all the blame&mdash;I have ever trusted in your word,
+your honor; and now, when I can turn nowhere else for earthly aid, the
+good God has guided you back to New Orleans.  Geoffrey Benteen, do not
+gaze at me so!  It breaks my heart to see that look in your eyes; but,
+my friend, my dearest friend, do you still recall what you said to me
+so bravely the night you went away?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Did I remember!  God knew I did; ay! each word of that interview had
+been burned into my life, had been repeated again and again in the
+silence of my heart amid the loneliness of the woods; nothing in all
+those years had for one moment obliterated her face or speech from
+memory.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I remember, Eloise," I answered more calmly.  "The words you mean
+were: 'If ever you have need of one on whom you may rely for any
+service, however desperate (and in New Orleans such necessity might
+arise at any moment), one who would gladly yield his very life to serve
+you, then, wherever he may be, send for Geoffrey Benteen.'  My poor
+girl, has that moment come?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The brown head drooped until it rested in unconsciousness against my
+arm, while I could feel the sobs which shook her form and choked her
+utterance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It has come," she whispered at last; "I am trusting in your promise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor in vain; my life is at your command."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stopped my passionate utterance with quick, impulsive gesture.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No! pledge not yourself again until you hear my words, and ponder
+them," she cried, with return to that imperiousness of manner I had
+loved so well.  "This is no ordinary matter.  It will try your utmost
+love; perchance place your life in such deadly peril as you never faced
+before.  For I must ask of you what no one else would ever venture to
+require&mdash;nor can I hold out before you the slightest reward, save my
+deepest gratitude."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I gazed fixedly at her flushed face, scarcely comprehending the strange
+words she spoke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What may all this be that you require&mdash;this sacrifice so vast that you
+doubt me?  Surely I have never stood a coward, a dastard in your sight?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stood erect, facing me, proudly confident in her power, with tears
+still clinging to her long lashes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No! you wrong me uttering such a thought.  I doubt you not, although I
+might well doubt any other walking this earth.  But listen, and you can
+no longer question my words; this which I dare ask of you&mdash;because I
+trust you&mdash;is <I>to save my husband</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your husband?"  The very utterance of the word choked me.  "Your
+husband?  Save him from what?  Where is he?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A prisoner to the Spaniards; condemned to die to-morrow at sunrise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"His name?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Chevalier Charles de Noyan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where confined?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Upon the flag-ship in the river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I turned away and stood with my back to them both.  I could no longer
+bear to gaze upon her agonized face uplifted in such eager pleading,
+such confiding trust; that one sweet face I loved as nothing else on
+earth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Save her husband!  For the moment it seemed as if a thousand emotions
+swayed me.  What might it not mean if this man should die?  His living
+could only add infinitely to my pain; his death might insure my
+happiness&mdash;at least he alone, as far as I knew, stood in the way.  "To
+die to-morrow!"  The very words sounded sweet in my ears, and it would
+be such an easy thing for me to promise her, to appear to do my very
+best&mdash;and fail.  "To die to-morrow!"  The perspiration gathered in
+drops upon my forehead as I wavered an instant to the tempting thought.
+Then I shook the foul temptation from me.  Merciful God! could I dream
+of being such a dastard?  Why not attempt what she asked?  After all,
+what was left for me in life, except to give her happiness?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sound of a faint sob reached me, and wheeling instantly I stood at
+her side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame de Noyan," I said with forced calmness, surprising myself, "I
+will redeem my pledge, and either save your husband, or meet my fate at
+his side."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before I could prevent her action she had flung herself at my feet, and
+was kissing my hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"God bless you, Geoffrey Benteen!  God bless you!" she sobbed
+impulsively; and then from out the dense shadows of the farther wall,
+solemnly as though he stood at altar service, the watchful Capuchin
+said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Amen!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap02"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER II
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A PERILOUS VENTURE
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Any call to action, of either hazard or pleasure, steadies my nerves.
+To realize necessity for doing renders me a new man, clear of brain,
+quick of decision.  Possibly this comes from that active life I have
+always led in the open.  Be the cause what it may, I was the first to
+recover speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope to show myself worthy your trust, Madame," I said somewhat
+stiffly, for it hurt to realize that this emotion arose from her
+husband's peril.  "At best I am only an adventurer, and rely upon those
+means with which life upon the border renders me familiar.  Such may
+prove useless where I have soldiers of skill to deal with.  However, we
+have need of these minutes flying past so rapidly; they might be put to
+better use than tears, or words of gratitude."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked upward at me with wet eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are right; I am a child, it seems.  Tell me your desire, and I
+will endeavor to act the woman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"First, I must comprehend more clearly the nature of the work before
+me.  The Chevalier de Noyan is already under sentence of death; the
+hour of execution to-morrow at sunrise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She bent her head in quiet acquiescence, her anxious eyes never leaving
+my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is now already approaching noon, leaving us barely eighteen hours
+in which to effect his rescue.  Faith! 't is short space for action."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced uneasily aside at the silently observant priest, now
+standing, a slender gray figure, close beside the door.  He was not of
+an Order I greatly loved.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You need have no fear," she exclaimed, hastily interpreting my
+thought.  "Father Petreni can be fully trusted.  He is more than my
+religious confessor; he has been my friend from childhood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Monsieur," he interposed sadly, yet with a grave smile lighting
+his thin white face.  "I shall be able to accomplish little in your
+aid, for my trade is not that of arms, yet, within my physical
+limitations, I am freely at your service."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is well," I responded heartily, words and tone yielding me fresh
+confidence in the man.  "This is likely to prove a night when comrades
+will need to know each other.  Now a few questions, after which I will
+look over the ground before attempting to outline any plan of action.
+You say, Madame, that your&mdash;Chevalier de Noyan is a prisoner on the
+fleet in the river.  Upon which ship is he confined?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The 'Santa Maria.'"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The 'Santa Maria'?&mdash;if memory serve, the largest of them all?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes! the flag-ship."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She lies, as I remember, for I stood on the levee two hours ago
+watching the strange spectacle, close in toward the shore, beside the
+old sugar warehouse of Bomanceaux et fils."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are correct," returned the Capuchin soberly, the lady hesitating.
+"The ship swingeth by her cable scarce thirty feet from the bank."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That, at least, has sound of good fortune," I thought, revolving
+rapidly a sudden inspiration from his answer, "yet it will prove a
+desperate trick to try."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then I spoke aloud once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She appeared a veritable monster of the sea to my backwoods eyes;
+enough to pluck the heart out of a man.  Has either of you stepped
+aboard her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The priest shook his shaven head despondently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; never any Frenchman, except as prisoner in shackles, has found
+foothold upon that deck since O'Reilly came.  It is reported no negro
+boatmen are permitted to approach her side with cargoes of fruit and
+vegetables, so closely is she guarded against all chances of treachery."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Faith! it must be an important crime to bring such extremity of
+vigilance.  With what is De Noyan charged?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He, with others, is held for treason against the King of Spain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are more than one, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Five."  He lowered his voice almost to a whisper.  "Madame de Noyan's
+father is among them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lafrénière?" I uttered the name in astonishment.  "Then why am I not
+asked to assist him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The thoughtless exclamation cut her deeply with its seeming implication
+of neglect, yet the words she strove to speak failed to come.  The
+priest rebuked me gravely:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thou doest great injustice by such inconsiderate speech, my son.
+There are hearts loyal to France in this province, who would count
+living a crime if it were won at the cost of Lafrénière.  He hath been
+already offered liberty, yet deliberately chooseth to remain and meet
+his fate.  Holy Mother! we can do no more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I bent, taking her moist hands gently between my own.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I beg you pardon me, Madame; I am not yet wholly myself, and intended
+no such offence as my hasty words would seem to imply.  One's manners
+do not improve with long dwelling among savages."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She met my stumbling apology with a radiant smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know your heart too well to misjudge.  Yet it hurt me to feel you
+could deem me thoughtless toward my father."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have seen him since his arrest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Once only&mdash;at the Captain-General's office, before they were condemned
+and taken aboard the flag-ship."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the prisoners are Catholics; surely they are permitted the offices
+of the Church at such a time?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A hard look swept across the Capuchin's pale, ascetic face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, ay!  I had quite forgotten," he explained bitterly.  "They enjoy
+the ministrations of Father Cassati, of our Order, as representative of
+Holy Church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pouf!" I muttered gloomily.  "It is bad to have the guard-lines drawn
+so closely.  Besides, I know little about the way of ships; how they
+are arranged within, or even along the open decks.  We meet them not in
+the backwoods, so this is an adventure little to my taste.  It would
+hardly be prudent, even could I obtain safe footing there, to attempt
+following a trail in the dark when I knew not where it led.  I must
+either see the path I am to travel by good daylight, or else procure a
+guide.  This Father Cassati might answer.  Is he one to trust?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The priest turned his head away with a quick gesture of indignant
+dissent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay!" he exclaimed emphatically.  "He must never be approached upon
+such a matter.  He can be sweet enough with all men to their faces; the
+words of his mouth are as honey; yet he would be true to none.  It is
+not according to the canons of our Order for me thus to speak, yet I
+only give utterance to truth as I know it in the sight of God.  Not
+even the Spaniards themselves have faith in him.  He has not been
+permitted to set foot upon shore since first he went aboard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you have no plan, no suggestion to offer for my guidance?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mon Dieu, no!" he cried dramatically.  "I cannot think the first
+thing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you, Madame?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was kneeling close beside a large chair, her fine dark eyes eagerly
+searching my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It rests wholly with you," she said solemnly, "and God."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Twice, three times, I paced slowly across the floor in anxious
+reflection; each time, as I turned, I gazed again into her trustful,
+appealing eyes.  It was love calling to me in silent language far more
+effective than speech; at last, I paused and faced her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame de Noyan," I said deliberately, my voice seeming to falter with
+the intensity of my feelings, "I beg you do not expect too much from
+me.  Your appeal has been made to a simple frontiersman, unskilled in
+war except with savages, and it is hardly probable I shall be able to
+outwit the trained guardsmen of Spain.  Yet this I will say: I have
+determined to venture all at your desire.  As I possess small skill or
+knowledge to aid me, I shall put audacity to the front, permitting
+sheer daring either to succeed or fail.  But it would be wrong, Madame,
+for me to encourage you with false expectation.  I deem it best to be
+perfectly frank, and I do not clearly see how this rescue is to be
+accomplished.  I can form no definite plan of action; all I even hope
+for is, that the good God will open up a path, showing me how such
+desperate purpose may be accomplished.  If this prove true&mdash;and I beg
+you pray fervently to that end&mdash;you may trust me to accept the
+guidance, let the personal danger be what it may.  But I cannot plan,
+cannot promise&mdash;I can only go forward blindly, seeking some opening not
+now apparent.  This alone I know, to remain here in conversation is
+useless.  I must discover means by which I may reach the 'Santa Maria'
+and penetrate below her deck if possible.  That is my first object, and
+it alone presents a problem sufficient to tax my poor wits to the
+uttermost.  So all I dare say now, Madame, is, that I will use my
+utmost endeavor to save your hus&mdash;the Chevalier de Noyan.  I request
+you both remain here&mdash;it would be well in prayer&mdash;ready to receive, and
+obey at once, any message I may need to send.  If possible I will visit
+you again in person before nightfall, but in any case, and whatever
+happens, try to believe that I am doing all I can with such brains as I
+possess, and that I count my own life nothing in your service."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+However they may sound now, there was no spirit of boasting in these
+words.  Conceit is not of my nature, and, indeed, at that time I had
+small enough faith in myself.  I merely sought to encourage the poor
+girl with what little hope I possessed, and knew she read the truth
+behind those utterances which sounded so brave.  Even as I finished she
+arose to her feet, standing erect before me, looking a very queen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never will I doubt that, Geoffrey Benteen," she declared impulsively.
+"I have seen you in danger, and never forgotten it.  If it is any
+encouragement to hear it spoken from my lips, know, even as you go
+forth from here, that never did woman trust man as I trust you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hot blood surged into my face with a madness I retained barely
+sufficient strength to conquer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I&mdash;I accept your words in the same spirit with which they are
+offered," I stammered, hardly aware of what I said.  "They are of
+greatest worth to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I bowed low above the white hand resting so confidingly within mine,
+anxious to escape from the room before my love gave utterance to some
+foolish speech.  Yet even as I turned hastily toward the door, I paused
+with a final question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The negro who guided me here, Madame; is he one in whom I may repose
+confidence?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In all things," she answered gravely.  "He has been with the De Noyan
+family from a child, and is devoted to his master."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I take him with me for use should I chance to require a
+messenger."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a swift backward glance into her earnest dark eyes, an indulgence
+I could not deny myself, I bowed my way forth from the room, and
+discovering Alphonse upon the porch, where he evidently felt himself on
+guard, and bidding him it was the will of his mistress that he follow,
+I flung my rifle across my shoulder, and strode straight ahead until I
+came out upon the river bank.  Turning to the right I worked my way
+rapidly up the stream, passing numerous groups of lounging soldiers,
+who made little effort to bar my passage, beyond some idle chaffing,
+until I found myself opposite the anchorage of the Spanish fleet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the character of an unsophisticated frontiersman, I felt no danger
+in joining others of my class, lounging listlessly about in small
+groups discussing the situation, and gazing with awe upon those strange
+ships of war, swinging by their cables in the broad stream.  It was a
+motley crew among whom I foregathered, one to awaken interest at any
+other time&mdash;French <I>voyageurs</I> from the far-off Illinois country, as
+barbarian in dress and actions as the native denizens of those northern
+plains, commingling freely with Creole hunters freshly arrived from the
+bayous of the swamp lands; sunburnt fishermen from the sandy beaches of
+Barataria, long-haired flatboat-men, their northern skin faintly
+visible through the tan and dirt acquired in the long voyage from the
+upper Ohio; here and there some stolid Indian brave, resplendent in
+paint and feathers, and not a few drunken soldiers temporarily escaped
+from their commands.  Yet I gave these little thought, except to push
+my way through them to where I could obtain unobstructed view of the
+great ships.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The largest of these, a grim monster to my eyes, with bulging sides
+towering high above the water, and masts uplifting heavy spars far into
+the blue sky, rendered especially formidable by gaping muzzles of
+numerous black cannon visible through her open ports, floated just
+beyond the landing.  I measured carefully the apparent distance between
+the flat roof of the sugar warehouse, against the corner of which I
+leaned in seeming listlessness, and the lower yards of her forward
+mast&mdash;it was no farther than I had often cast a riata, yet it would be
+a skilful toss on a black night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+However, I received small comfort from the thought, for there was that
+about this great gloomy war-ship&mdash;frigate those about me called
+her&mdash;which awed and depressed my spirits; all appeared so ponderously
+sullen, so massive with concealed power, so mysteriously silent.  My
+eyes, searching for each visible object, detected scarcely a stir of
+life aboard, except as some head would arise for an instant above the
+rail, or my glance fell upon the motionless figure of a sentry,
+standing at the top of the narrow steps leading downward to the water,
+a huge burly fellow, whose side-arms glistened ominously in the sun.
+These were the sole signs of human presence; yet, from snatches of
+conversation, I learned that hidden away in the heart of that black
+floating monster of wood and iron, were nearly four hundred men, and
+the mere knowledge made the sombre silence more impressive than ever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Except for gossiping spectators lining the shore, nothing living
+appeared about the entire scene, if I except a dozen or more small
+boats, propelled by lusty black oarsmen, deeply laden with produce,
+busily plying back and forth between various vessels, seeking market
+for their wares.  Even these, as the priest told me, had apparently
+been warned away from the flag-ship, as I observed how carefully they
+avoided any approach to her boarding-ladder.  The longer I remained,
+the more thoroughly hopeless appeared any prospect of success.  Nor
+could I conjure up a practical&mdash;nay! even possible&mdash;method of placing
+so much as a foot on board the "Santa Maria."  Surely never was
+prison-ship guarded with more jealous care, and never did man face more
+hopeless quest than this confronting me.  The longer I gazed upon that
+grim, black, sullen mass of wood and iron&mdash;that floating fortress of
+despotic Spanish power&mdash;the more desperate appeared my mission; the
+darker grew every possibility of plucking a victim from out that
+monster's tightly closed jaws.  Yet I was not one to forego an
+enterprise lightly because of difficulty or danger, so with dogged
+persistency I clung to the water front, knowing nowhere else to go, and
+blindly trusting that some happening might open to me a door of
+opportunity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It frequently seems that when a man once comes, in a just cause, to
+such mind as this, when he trusts God rather than himself, there is a
+divinity which aids him.  Surely it was well I waited in patience, for
+suddenly another produce boat, evidently new to the trade, deeply laden
+with fruit and roots, bore down the river, the two negroes at the oars
+pointing its blunt nose directly toward the flag-ship, attracted no
+doubt by its superior size.  Instantly noting their course I awaited
+their reception with interest, an interest intensified by a drawling
+English voice from amid the crowd about me, saying:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I reckon thar'll be some dead niggers in thet thar bumboat if they
+don't sheer off almighty soon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Scarcely were these prophetic words uttered, when the soldier statue at
+the head of the boarding-stairs swung his musket forward into position,
+and hailed in emphatic Spanish, a language which, thanks to my mother,
+I knew fairly well.  There followed a moment of angry controversy,
+during which the startled negroes rested upon their oars, while the
+enraged guard threatened to fire if they drifted a yard closer.  In the
+midst of this hubbub a head suddenly popped up above the rail.  Then a
+tall, ungainly figure, clad in a faded, ill-fitting uniform, raised
+itself slowly, leaning far out over the side, a pair of weak eyes,
+shadowed by colored glasses, gazing down inquiringly into the small
+boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Vat ees it you say you have zare?" he asked in an attempt at French,
+which I may only pretend to reproduce in English.  "Vat ees ze cargo of
+ze leetle boat?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instantly the two hucksters gave voice, fairly running over each other
+in their confused jargon, during which I managed to distinguish native
+names for potatoes, yams, sweet corn, peaches, apples, and I know not
+what else.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Spaniard perched high on the rail waved his long arms in
+unmitigated disgust.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Caramba</I>!" he cried the moment he could make his voice distinguished
+above the uproar.  "I vant none of zos zings; Saint Cristoval, non!
+non!  Ze Capitaine he tole me get him some of ze olif&mdash;haf you no olif
+in ze leetle boat?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The darkies shook their heads, instantly starting in again to call
+their wares, but the fellow on the rail waved them back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zen ve don't vant you here!" he cried shrilly.  "Go vay dam quick, or
+else ze soldier shoot."  As if in obedience to an order the stolid
+guard brought his weapon menacingly to the shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How the episode terminated I did not remain to learn.  At that moment I
+only clearly comprehended this&mdash;I had a way opened, an exceedingly
+slight one to be sure, of doubtful utility, yet still a way, which
+might lead me into the guarded mystery of that ship.  The time for
+action had arrived, and that was like a draught of wine to me.  Eagerly
+I slipped back through the increasing crowd of gaping countrymen, to
+where the negro had found a spot of comfort in the sun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Alphonse!" I called, careful to modulate my voice.  "Wake up, you
+black sleepy-head!  Ay!  I have you at last in the world again.  Now
+stop blinking, and pay heed to what I say.  Do you chance to know
+where, for love, money, or any consideration, you could lay hands on
+olives in this town?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fellow, scarcely awake, rolled up the whites of his eyes for a
+moment, and scratched his woolly pate, as if seeking vainly to conjure
+up some long-neglected memory.  Then his naturally good-humored
+countenance relaxed into a broad grin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fo' de Lord, yas sah!  I'se your man dis time suah 'nough.  Dat fat
+ol' Dutchman, down by de Tehoupitoulas Gate, suah as you're born had a
+whole barrel ob dem yesterday.  I done disremember fer de minute, boss,
+jist whar I done saw dem olibs, but I reckon as how de money 'd fotch
+'em all right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I drew forth a handful of French coins.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then run for it, lad!" I exclaimed in some excitement.  "Your master's
+life hangs upon your speed&mdash;hold, wait! do you remember that old
+tumble-down shed we passed on our way here; the one which had once been
+a farrier's shop?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The negro nodded, his eyes filled with awakened interest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good; then first of all bring me a suit of the worst looking old
+clothes you can scare up in the negro quarters of this town.  Leave
+them there.  Then go directly to this Dutchman's, buy every olive he
+has for sale at any price, load them into a boat&mdash;a common huckster's
+boat, mind you, and remain there with them until I come.  Do you
+understand all that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yas, Massa; I reckon as how I kin do dat all right 'nough."  The
+fellow grinned, every white ivory showing between his thick red lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't stop to speak to any one, black or white.  Now trot along
+lively, and may the Lord have mercy on you if you fail me, for I pledge
+you I shall have none."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I watched him disappear up the street in a sort of swinging dog-trot,
+took one more glance backward at the huge war-ship, now swinging by her
+cable silent and mysterious as ever, and turned away from the river
+front, my brain teeming with a scheme upon the final issue of which
+hung life or death.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap03"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER III
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A VISIT TO THE FLAG-SHIP
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I had seldom assumed disguise, except when wearing Indian garb upon the
+war-trail.  Yet in boyhood I had occasionally masqueraded as a negro so
+successfully as to deceive even my own family.  With this in mind the
+resolve was taken that in no other guise than that of a foolish,
+huckstering darky could I hope to attain the guarded deck of that
+Spanish frigate.  This offered only the barest chance of success, yet
+such chances had previously served me well, and must be trusted now.
+Opportunity frequently opens to the push of a venturesome shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once determined upon this I set to work, perfecting each detail which
+might aid in the hazardous undertaking.  Much was to be accomplished,
+and consequently it was late in the afternoon before the two of us,
+myself as much a negro to outward appearance as my sable companion,
+floated anxiously down the broad river in a battered old scow heaped
+high with every variety of country produce obtainable.  Drifting with
+the current, I kept the blunt nose pointed directly toward the bulging
+side of the "Santa Maria," yet without venturing to glance in that
+direction, until a sharp challenge of the vigilant sentinel warned us
+to sheer off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly shipping the heavy steering oar, finding it difficult even in
+that moment of suspense to suppress a smile at the expression of terror
+on Alphonse's black face, I stood up, awed by the solemn massiveness of
+the vast bulk towering above me, now barely thirty feet away.  For the
+first time I realized fully the desperation of my task, and my heart
+sank.  But the gesticulations of the wrathful guard could no longer be
+ignored, and, smothering an exclamation of disgust at my momentary
+weakness, I nerved myself for the play.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Caramba</I>!" the fellow shouted roughly in his native tongue.  "Stop
+there, you lazy niggers; don't let that boat drift any closer.  Come,
+sheer off, or, by all the saints, I 'll blow a hole clear through the
+black hide of one of you!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold her back, boy!" I muttered hurriedly to the willing slave.  "That
+soldier means to shoot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then I held up a handful of our choicest fruit into view.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have got plenty vegetables, an' lot fruit fer sell," I shouted
+eagerly in negro French, putting all the volume possible into my voice,
+hopeful my words might penetrate the hidden deck above.  "Plenty
+'tatoes, peaches, olibs&mdash;eberyting fer de oppercers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't want them&mdash;pull away, and be lively about it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a moment of despair, every hope suspended in the balance; my
+heart beating like a trip-hammer with suspense.  The thoroughly enraged
+guard lifted his gun to the shoulder; there was threat in his eyes, yet
+I ventured a desperate chance of one more word.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I got de only <I>olibs</I> on dis ribber."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Bastenade</I>!" yelled the infuriated fellow.  "I 'll give you a shot to
+pay for your insolence."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even as he spoke, fumbling the lock of his gun, that same head observed
+before suddenly popped over the high rail like Punch at a pantomime.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Vat zat you say, nigger?" its owner cried doubtingly.  "Vas it ze olif
+you haf zare in ze leetle boat?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I eagerly held up into view a choice handful of green fruit, my eyes
+hopeful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oui, Señor Oppercer&mdash;fresh olibs; same as ob your lan'."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Spaniard was standing upright on the rail by this time, clinging
+fast to a rope dangling from above, leaning far over, no slight
+interest depicted upon his pinched, sallow countenance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right, sentry," he said sharply to the soldier, who lowered
+his gun with a scowl indicating his real desire.  My newly found friend
+lifted his squeaking voice again in unfamiliar speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bring ze leetle boat along ze side of ze sheep, you black fellar, an'
+come up here wiz ze olif fer ze Capitaine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Scull in close against those steps, Alphonse," I muttered, overjoyed
+at this rare stroke of good fortune.  "Then pull out a few strokes; but
+stay alongside until I come back.  Don't let any one get aboard, and
+keep a quiet tongue yourself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The whites of his eyes alone answered me, he being too badly frightened
+for speech.  The situation was one to grate upon any nerves
+unaccustomed to danger, yet, trusting the long training of the slave
+would hold him obedient, I turned away, and, in another moment, had
+scrambled up the rope ladder, plunging awkwardly over the high rail on
+to the hitherto concealed deck.  My pulses throbbed with excitement
+over the desperate game fronting me, yet, with a coolness surprising to
+myself, I lost at that instant every sensation of personal fear, in
+determination to act thoroughly my assumed character.  More lives than
+one hung in the balance, and, with tightly clenched teeth, I swore to
+prove equal to the venture.  The very touch of those deck planks to my
+bare feet put new recklessness into my blood, causing me to marvel at
+the perfection of my own fool play.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The gaunt Spaniard commanding my presence stood waiting, hardly more
+than five paces from where I landed, yet so intense became my immediate
+interest in the strange scene&mdash;an interest partly real, but largely
+simulated for the occasion&mdash;that he contented himself watching my
+confused antics with much apparent amusement, and without addressing
+me.  Even to this hour that scene lies distinct before my eyes.
+Possessed I skill with pencil I could sketch each small detail from the
+retina of memory&mdash;the solitary sentinel beside the rail, his well-worn
+uniform of blue and white dingy in the sun; another farther forward,
+where a great opening yawned; with yet a third, standing rigid before a
+closed door of the after cabin.  An officer, his coat richly decorated
+with gold braid, wearing epaulets, and having a short sword dangling at
+his side, paced back and forth across the top of a little house near
+the stern.  I heard him utter some command to a sailor near the wheel,
+but he never so much as glanced toward me.  Perhaps thirty or more
+seamen, bronzed of face, and oddly bedecked as to hair, lounged idly
+amid the shadows opposite, while, more closely at hand, that gaunt,
+cadaverous Spaniard, at whose invitation I was present, leaned against
+a big gun, puffing nonchalantly at a cigarette, held between lean,
+saffron-colored fingers.  The deck was white as the snows of a northern
+Winter, while the brass work along the railings and about the cannon
+glittered brilliantly in the sunshine.  There was a gaudy
+yellow-and-white striped canopy stretched above a portion of the deck
+aft; the huge masts seemed to pierce into the blue of the skies; while
+on every side were ranged grim guns of brass and iron.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My role was that of an ignorant, green, half-frightened darky, and I
+presume I both appeared and acted the natural-born idiot, if I might
+judge from the expression upon the Spaniard's face, and the broad grin
+lighting up the fierce countenance of the sentry at the gangway.  Yet
+back of this mask there was grim determination and fixed purpose, so
+that no article of furniture was along that broad deck which I did not
+mentally photograph, so as to know its whereabouts if ever I chanced
+that way again.  Ay! even to a little cuddy door beside the cookhouse,
+apparently opening directly into the mysterious regions below, and a
+great chest lashed hard against the rail, within which I distinguished
+the bright colors of numerous flags.  I noticed also the odd manner in
+which queer rope ladders led up from either side of the broad deck to
+the vast spars high above, rising tier on tier until my head grew dazed
+with gazing at them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Vel, Sambo, my black fellow," grinned the officer, whose eyes were
+still lazily following my erratic movements as I peered innocently into
+the muzzle of a brass carronade in apparent hope of discovering the
+ball, "zis vus ze first time you vus ever on ze war-sheep, I sink
+likely.  How you like stop here, hey, an' fight wis dos sings?"  And he
+rested his yellow hand caressingly upon the breech of the gun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I shook my head energetically, rendering as prominent as possible the
+whites of my eyes, at which he grinned wider than ever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sah, Mister Oppercer Man; you don't git dis hyer nigger into no
+fought, sah," I protested with vehemence.  "I done fought wid de Injuns
+onct, sah, an' I done don't want no mo'."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Veil, you not vorry, boy; you voud be no good on ze war-sheep.  But
+now you come wis me to ze Capitaine&mdash;bring ze olif."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bearing a tempting sample of the Spaniard's favorite fruit tightly
+clutched in my black hand, and pulling my battered straw hat lower in
+concealment of my telltale hair, I made awkward attempt to shuffle
+along behind him, as he carelessly advanced toward the after part of
+the vessel.  But I loitered along our passage to examine so many
+objects of curiosity, asking such a multitude of extremely absurd
+questions, that we consumed considerable time in traversing even the
+comparatively short distance to where the rigid sentinel fronted us
+before the cabin door.  My queries were simple enough to have birth in
+the brain of a fool, yet my guide was of rare good humor, and evidently
+so amused at my ignorant curiosity that his patience withstood the
+strain.  On my part none were blindly asked, but were intended to open
+a way toward others of the utmost importance.  My sole purpose at that
+moment was to lull suspicion to rest; when that had been accomplished,
+then I might confidently hope to pump my trustful victim of such
+information as I imperatively required.  The ignorant questions of an
+imbecile will oftentimes be frankly responded to, where a wise man
+might ask in vain, and my first play was to establish my character as a
+fool.  That I had succeeded was already evident.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The statuesque guard before the cabin brought his musket up at our
+approach with so smart a snap as to startle me into a moment's apparent
+terror.  To the officer's request that we be admitted to the presence
+of the Captain, he responded briefly that that officer had gone forward
+half an hour before.  My guide glanced about as if uncertain where he
+had better turn in search.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did he go down the hatch?" he queried shortly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not, Señor Gonzales," was the respectful reply.  "But I believe
+he may be with the prisoners' guard below."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The officer promptly started forward, and, awaiting no formal
+invitation, I shambled briskly after, keeping as close as possible to
+his heels.  Could I gain a brief glimpse below the deck it would be
+worth more to me than any amount of blind questioning, and my heart
+thumped painfully in remembrance of what hung upon his movements.  With
+a single sharp word to the sentry at the hatch he swung himself
+carelessly over the edge, mysteriously disappearing into the gloom
+beneath.  That was no time for hesitancy, and I was already preparing
+to do likewise, when the guard, a surly-looking brute, promptly
+inserted the point of his bayonet into my ragged garment, accompanying
+this kindly act with a stern order to remain where I was.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An' what fo' yo' do dat, Señor Sojer?" I cried, in unaffected anguish,
+rubbing the injured part tenderly, yet speaking loud so that my words
+should be distinctly audible below.  "Dat oppercer man he done tol' me
+to foller him to de Captain.  What fo' yo' stop me wid dat toastin'
+fork?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right, Manuel," sung out a voice in Spanish from the lower
+darkness.  "Let the fool nigger come down."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The thoroughly disgusted soldier muttered something about his orders,
+that his lieutenant had not ever authorized him to pass fools.
+Overlooking this personal allusion, and fearing more serious opposition
+from some one higher in authority, I took advantage of his momentary
+doubt, promptly swung my legs over the edge of the hatch opening,
+groped blindly about with my bare feet until they struck the rungs of a
+narrow ladder, and went scrambling down into the semi-darkness of
+between-decks, managing awkwardly to miss my final footing, thus
+flopping in a ragged heap at the bottom.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Holy Mother! you make more noise zan a sheep in action," grumbled the
+startled officer, as I landed at his feet.  "Vat for you come down ze
+ladder zat vay?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rubbing my numerous bruises energetically, I contented myself with
+staring up at him as if completely dazed by my fall.  Reading in his
+amused countenance no symptom of awakening suspicion I ventured a quick
+glance at my new surroundings.  We were in what appeared a large
+unfurnished room, with doors of all sizes opening in every direction,
+while I could perceive a narrow entry, or passageway, extending toward
+the after part of the vessel.  The roof, formed of the upper deck, was
+low, upheld by immense timbers, and the apartment, nearly square, was
+dimly flooded by the sparse light sifting down through the single
+hatch-opening above, so that, in spite of its large dimensions, it had
+a cramped and stuffy appearance.  The vast butt of the mainmast arose
+directly in front of me, and, upon a narrow bench surrounding it, a
+dozen soldiers were lounging, while near the entrance to the
+passageway, scarcely more than a shadow in that dimness, stood a
+sentry, stiff and erect, with musket at his shoulder.  They were mostly
+slightly built, dark-featured men, attired in blue and white uniforms,
+the worse for wear, and were all laughing at my crazy entrance.  No
+doubt my coming afforded some relief to their tiresome, dull routine.
+While lying there, apparently breathless from my fall, my brains
+effectively muddled, a young officer advanced hastily from out the
+gloom to inquire into so unusual an uproar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is all this noise about?" he questioned sharply, striding toward
+us.  "Ah, Gonzales; whom have you here?  Another bird to add to our
+fine collection?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If so, it must be a rare blackbird, Señor Francisco," returned my
+friend, vainly endeavoring to recover his customary gravity.  "By Saint
+Cristobal!  I have not laughed so heartily for a year past as at this
+poor black fool.  Faith, I sought to enlist him in the service of His
+Most Christian Majesty, yet his method of coming down a companion
+ladder convinced me he sadly lacks the necessary qualifications for a
+sailor.  Hast seen aught of the Captain here below?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, comrade, thou wilt find him aft.  He hath just had speech once
+more with the chief rebel, the graybeard they call Lafrénière, and was
+in raging temper when last we met.  <I>Caramba</I>! he even called me an
+ass, for no more serious fault, forsooth, than that I made the round of
+my guard unattended.  Hath your darky news for him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; the fellow possesseth not sufficient sense to be a messenger,
+except it may be a message for his stomach to make his humor better,"
+was the reply.  "Come, trot along now, boy, and mind where you put down
+those big feet in the passage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I struggled upright in response to his order, assisted by the sharp tap
+of a boot accompanying it, tripped over a gun barrel one of the guard
+facetiously inserted between my legs, and went down once more, uttering
+such howl of terror as could be only partially drowned beneath the
+uproarious laughter of my merry tormentors.  It developed into a
+gantlet, yet I ran the line with little damage, and, after much ducking
+and pleading, managed to regain my position close to the heels of Señor
+Gonzales before he turned into the passageway, which, as I now
+perceived, was dimly illumined by means of a single lantern, hung to a
+blackened upper beam.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, good luck to both of you," called out the young officer of the
+guard laughingly as we disappeared.  "Yet I 'd hate to have the
+steering of such a crazy craft as follows in your wake, Gonzales, and I
+warn you again the Señor Captain will be found in beastly humor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I fear nothing," returned my guide, his lean yellow face turned
+backward over his shoulder.  "I have what will bring him greater
+happiness than a decoration from the King."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shambling awkwardly forward, simulating all the uncouthness possible, I
+retained my wits sufficiently to note our surroundings&mdash;the long,
+narrow passage, scarcely exceeding a yard in width, with numerous doors
+opening on either side.  Several of these stood ajar, and I perceived
+berths within, marking them as sleeping apartments, although one upon
+the right was evidently being utilized as a linen closet, while yet
+another, just beyond, and considerably larger, seemed littered with a
+medley of boxes, barrels, and great bags.  This apartment appeared so
+much lighter than those others, even a stray ray of sunshine pouring
+directly down into it from above, that I instinctively connected it in
+my mind with the cook-house on the upper deck, and the open cuddy door
+I had chanced to notice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As we approached the farther end this passage suddenly widened into a
+half circle, sufficiently extended to accommodate the huge butt of the
+mizzenmast, which was completely surrounded by an arm-rack crowded with
+short-swords, together with all manner of small arms.  A grimly silent
+guard stood at either side, and I perceived the dark shadow of a third
+still farther beyond, while the half-dozen cabins close at hand had
+their doors tightly closed, and fastened with iron bars.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instinctively I felt that here were confined those French prisoners,
+the knowledge of whose exact whereabouts I sought amid such
+surroundings of personal peril, and my heart bounded from sudden
+excitement.  In simulated awkwardness, I unfortunately overdid my part.
+Shuffling forward, more eager than ever to keep at the heels of my
+protector, yet with eyes wandering in search of any opening, my bare
+feet struck against a projecting ring-bolt in the deck, and over I
+went, striving vainly to regain my balance.  Before that human statue
+on guard could even lower his gun to repel boarders, my head struck him
+soundly in the stomach, sending him crashing back against one of those
+tightly closed doors.  Tangled up with the surprised soldier, who
+promptly clinched his unexpected antagonist, and, with shocking
+profanity, strove to throttle me, I yet chanced to take note of the
+number "18" painted upon the white wood just above us.  Then the door
+itself was hurled hastily open, and with fierce exclamation of rage a
+gray-hooded Capuchin monk bounded forth like a rubber ball, and
+instantly began kicking vigorously right and left at our struggling
+figures.  It gives me pleasure to record that the Spaniard, being on
+top, received by far the worst of it, yet I might also bear testimony
+to the vigor of the priest's legs, while we shared equally in the
+volubility of his tongue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>!" he screamed in French, punctuating each sentence with a
+fresh blow.  "Get away from here, you drunken, quarrelling brutes!  Has
+it come to this, that a respectable priest of Holy Church may not hold
+private converse with the condemned without a brawl at the very door?
+Mother of God! what meaneth the fracas?  Where is the guard?  Why don't
+some of them jab their steel in the blasphemous ragamuffins who thus
+make mock of the holy offices of religion?  Take that, you black,
+sprawling beast!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He aimed a vicious stroke at my head, which I ducked in the nick of
+time to permit of its landing with full force in my companion's ribs.
+I heard him grunt in acknowledgment of its receipt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is the guard, I say!  If they come not I will strangle the dogs
+with my own consecrated hands to the glory of God.  By the sainted
+Benedine! was ever one of our Order so basely treated before?  Get
+away, I tell you!  'Tis a disgrace to the true faith, and just as I was
+about to bring the Chevalier to his knees in confession of his sins!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Gonzales was fairly doubled up with laughter at the ludicrous incident,
+choking so that speech had become an utter impossibility.  By this time
+the aroused guards began hurrying forward on a run down the passageway
+to rescue their imperilled comrade, yet, before the foremost succeeded
+in laying hands upon me, a newcomer, resplendent in glittering uniform,
+with an inflamed, almost purple face, leaped madly forth from the
+opposite side of the mast and began laying about him vigorously with an
+iron pin, making use meanwhile of a vocabulary of choice Spanish
+epithets such as I never heard equalled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By the shrine of Saint Gracia!" shouted this new arrival hoarsely,
+glaring about in the dim light as if half awakened from a bad dream.
+"What meaneth this aboard my ship?  <I>Caramba</I>! is this a travelling
+show&mdash;a place for mountebanks and gypsies?  Shut the door, you
+shrieking gray-back of a monk, or I 'll have you cat-o'-nine-tailed by
+the guard, in spite of your robe.  Get up, you drunken brute!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The crestfallen soldier to whom these last affectionate words were
+addressed limped painfully away, and then the justly irate commander of
+His Christian Majesty's flag-ship "Santa Maria" glowered down on me
+with an astonishment that for the moment held him dumb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where did this dirty nigger come from?" he roared at last, applying
+one of his heavy sea-boots to me with vehemence.  "Who is the villain
+who dared bring such cattle on board my ship?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Gonzales, now thoroughly sobered by the seriousness of the situation,
+attempted to account for my presence, but before he had fairly begun
+his story, the Captain, who by this time was beyond all reason, burst
+roaring forth again:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, so you brought him!  You did, hey?  Well, did n't I tell you to
+let no lazy, loafing bumboat-man set foot on board?  Do you laugh at my
+orders, you good-for-nothing scum of the sea?  And above all things why
+did you ever drag such a creature as this down between decks to
+disgrace the whole of His Majesty's navy?  Get up, you bundle of rags!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I scrambled to my feet, seeking to shuffle to one side out of his
+immediate sight, but a heavy hand closed instantly on my ragged collar
+and held me fronting him.  For a moment I thought he meant to strike
+me, but I appeared such a miserable, dejected specimen of humanity that
+the fierce anger died slowly out of his eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Francisco," he called sternly, "heave this thing overboard, and be
+lively about it!  Saints of Mercy! he smells like a butcher-boat in the
+tropics."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hustled, dragged, cuffed, mercilessly kicked, the fellows got me out
+upon the open deck at last; I caught one fleeting glimpse of the great
+masts, the white, gleaming planks under foot, the horrified, upturned,
+face of Alphonse in the little boat beneath, and then, with a heave and
+a curse, over I went, sprawling down from rail to river, as terrified a
+darky as ever made hasty departure from a man-of-war.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap04"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WE HOLD A COUNCIL OF WAR
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The last object I remember seeing was the white face of the Capuchin
+monk peering at me over the rail, and my earliest thought as I arose to
+the surface, was that as the water had probably cleansed my skin it
+would be wise to keep well out of sight from the deck.  Fortunately the
+boat floated close at hand.  Laying hasty grasp upon it, but remaining
+well immersed in the river, I bade the thoroughly frightened black
+paddle with diligence out of that neighborhood.  This was a task he was
+not slow in accomplishing, fear lending strength to trained muscles,
+and we soon had the good fortune to discover a safe landing-place
+beneath the lee of a long molasses shed, where our plight was
+unobserved by any one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Remaining hidden here myself, feeling reasonably secure from prying
+eyes, I despatched Alphonse after dry clothing, meanwhile tramping back
+and forth across the packed earthen floor to keep chilled blood in
+circulation, seeking eagerly to evolve out of the confused events of
+the afternoon some programme for future guidance.  This task was no
+light one.  The closer I faced the desperate work remaining
+unaccomplished the less I enjoyed the outlook, the more improbable
+appeared success.  Getting aboard the "Santa Maria" was now, to my
+mind, the simplest part of the adventure, but beyond the accomplishment
+of that feat I could perceive little to encourage me.  What must
+necessarily follow my safe gaining of that guarded deck, during the
+dark hours of the night, depended so largely upon the occurrence of
+helpful circumstances, any definite plan of action arranged beforehand
+became simply an impossibility.  Still, striving to make allowances for
+the unexpected, I managed to put together a chain of details, trusting,
+with the blind faith of a fatalist, that these would somehow fall into
+line when the hour came.  If they failed, as was likely, I determined
+to shift them about in any way possible as each fresh emergency arose.
+I realized how small a part any preliminary survey holds in such an
+enterprise as now fronted me, an enterprise to be worked out amid
+darkness and grave personal peril, where any bungling act or false move
+might overturn everything in an instant; yet it is always well&mdash;or at
+least so I have found it&mdash;to trace some outline of procedure, rather
+than trust wholly to the intuitions of the moment.  God's aid seems
+usually granted to those doing most for themselves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I felt little confidence by the time Alphonse returned, yet my firm
+determination to make the effort had in no way abated.  Indeed, had
+failure been an absolute certainty I should have gone forward exactly
+the same, for I was bound to it by my pledge to Eloise de Noyan.  I
+have reason to suppose dogged determination a part of my nature, but
+then something far more compelling than this inherited tendency drove
+me irresistibly forward to my fate.  This is no story of the rescue of
+a prisoner of war, but rather of how love impelled an ordinary man to
+the accomplishment of deeds which seemed impossible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was evening, already quite dark, it fortunately proving a night of
+cloud and threatened storm, when I ventured to steal into the little
+cottage on the Rue Dumaine, and found there, even as I had left them,
+Madame de Noyan and the <I>père</I> awaiting me.  How anxious a day she had
+been compelled to pass since the hour of my departure was plainly
+imprinted upon her beautiful face, gently touched by the softened light
+from a shaded candle near which she rested; nor was the naturally pale,
+emaciated countenance of her spiritual adviser entirely free from
+outward marks of care impressed upon it by his patient vigil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I recall still, a pang tugging at my old heart, with what unspeakable
+gentleness Eloise came forward, holding forth both white hands in
+greeting, while unrestrained tears glistened upon the long lashes
+partly veiling the eager glow of soft eyes searching my face.  She
+uttered never a word of questioning relative to the result of my
+mission; merely stood there silent, her warm hands in mine, her gaze
+fastened upon me, as if within my eyes she sought to read everything
+unasked.  Perhaps she did, yet to me it seemed the perfect abandon of
+trust, and often since have I thought upon it as illustrative of her
+unswerving confidence in my honor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do so thank you, Geoffrey Benteen," she said in all simplicity, "for
+thus coming to us once more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I returned the earliest moment possible, Madame," I replied quietly,
+although all my heart must have leaped responsive into my eyes,
+contradicting such coolness of speech.  Be that as it may, my sweet
+mistress never glanced aside, nor drew back her hands from mine.  It
+was the gravely observant priest, standing behind within the shadows,
+whose natural impatience caused him to interrupt our greeting, although
+he spoke not unkindly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son," he said, deep anxiety evident in the tone of his soft speech,
+"we have remained in solemn prayer ever since the hour of thy
+departure, and, while we doubt not our petitions have found favor of
+both Mother and Child, yet the flesh sorroweth, and we yearn greatly to
+know all from thine own lips as to the fortunes of this day.  Tell us,
+I beg thee, hast thou discovered aught of comfort or help for the
+condemned?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His words brought me back to earth with sudden rush.  Releasing the
+soft hands I had been clasping so tightly in momentary forgetfulness, I
+led the lady to a seat, even finding another myself before venturing
+upon reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thank you heartily for your prayers, Sir Priest.  Often have I heard
+my father say the prayer of the righteous availeth much, and although I
+be not of Holy Church&mdash;for those to whom I looked in earlier years for
+guidance were of the dissenting breed&mdash;yet I yield respect to all true
+religion; and even in the woods, where men grow rough, giving small
+thought to the voice of their souls, I have discovered much to tell me
+of God, and to make me thankful for His mercies.  But you ask a
+difficult question.  The day has not been ill spent nor wasted.  This
+much, at least, I may say&mdash;I have discovered one weak spot in the
+Spanish guard-line, and intend to make the best possible use of it.
+Yet the venture is bound to prove a desperate one, and nothing except
+the overruling care of Him who guides us all can secure the desired
+outcome."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He piously crossed himself, his thin lips moving silently above the
+silver crucifix resting in his white fingers, but Eloise only leaned
+more eagerly forward, her dark eyes anxiously scanning my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you seen my&mdash;the Chevalier de Noyan?" she questioned tremblingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Madame, yet I have been aboard the 'Santa Maria,'&mdash;though in truth
+'twas not altogether an enjoyable experience,&mdash;and now know precisely
+where the prisoners are confined, even to the room of the Chevalier.
+If you will listen patiently I will briefly relate the story; then we
+can outline together our further plans for the night.  Are we alone?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Both nodded, far too eager to waste time in words, and as rapidly as
+possible I described those incidents already narrated.  At the close
+Eloise simply thanked me in silence with an appreciative glance, but
+the priest proved more demonstrative.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thou hast, indeed, accomplished much, my son," he exclaimed
+impulsively, clasping and unclasping the slender fingers of his white
+hands nervously.  "Surely but for our fervent prayers the good Lord
+would never have led you amid such imminent and deadly peril.  Yet to
+me the venture appeareth even more hopeless than before.  You made
+mention of plans; shall we not discuss such at once, for the rapidly
+speeding time must greatly press us.  The great Apostle once said, in
+connection with the work of the Spirit, 'Brethren, the time is short';
+it seemeth a fit text for us even now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is too early for action," I replied thoughtfully.  "I require food,
+and it will be best to delay until a late hour before moving in such a
+scheme as mine.  As to plans&mdash;faith, the word was ill-chosen if I used
+it, for excepting the mode already outlined for attaining the deck, I
+have none.  Yet there are certain matters I require to have arranged
+before I depart.  Madame de Noyan, can you furnish me with a strong
+boat and two stout oarsmen?  They must be men to trust, who will care
+little where they go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It shall be done," she answered promptly, her eyes brightening.
+"Alphonse will gladly go, and he can select another from among the
+slaves."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Chevalier, can he swim if occasion arise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is perfectly at home in the water."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good; then we need run no extra risk by keeping a boat beside the
+frigate.  Let it await our coming beneath the darkest shadows of the
+cotton sheds near the North Gate.  Have them place within it my rifle
+and ammunition, together with whatever weapons of war your husband may
+be accustomed to use; see that the boat be well provisioned for a long
+voyage, as it will require much travel before we get beyond Spanish
+reach, and we go not into a region of settlements.  Bid the men exhibit
+no light, nor converse above whispers.  My word to them will be
+'Virginia'; they are to pay heed to no other.  You understand all this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is engraven upon my heart," she responded gravely.  "You need have
+no fear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That I think will be all you can do to aid success&mdash;nay, wait!
+instruct them also, if we have not arrived before the dawn to bide no
+longer; it will be useless."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, say not so, Geoffrey Benteen," she cried, a sudden sob evidencing
+the strain upon her.  "Surely the good God will aid us now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is upon Him I rely," I responded, not knowing how best to minister
+to her deep distress.  "We will do all we can, Madame, to win His
+favor; beyond that nothing remains but to submit to His will."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hid her face in her arms upon the table, the light of the candle
+streaming almost golden in the heavy masses of her hair.  Instinctively
+I rested my hand caressingly upon it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, Madame, this is time for strength, not weakness.  Afterwards we
+may have opportunity to weep; to-night there is call for action."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She glanced up with a quick, impulsive gesture, and I saw her eyes were
+dry of tears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You think me unduly nervous and unstrung," she said quietly, and I
+could detect a touch of indignation in the tone.  "It is merely my
+nature, for the impatient blood of the South has place in my veins, yet
+whatsoever a lady of France may do, you can trust me to accomplish,
+Monsieur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Faith! but she had a way with her which ever left me helpless, and no
+doubt my face exhibited how abashed I felt at the regal manner in which
+she fronted me.  At least I spoke no word, yet the proud look faded
+from her eyes, and I felt her hand touch mine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me, Geoffrey," she whispered softly.  "We do not doubt each
+other, yet I was over hasty of speech with one who has proven so loyal
+a friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor have I aught to forgive, Madame, or more to say, except that my
+words meant no injustice," I responded.  Then to avoid longer facing
+her I turned to where the watchful Capuchin stood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And now, Sir Priest, I propose being perfectly frank with you, as I
+do not believe this a time for mincing of words.  I am of Protestant
+blood; those of my line have ridden at Cromwell's back, and one of my
+name stood unrepentant at the stake when Laud turned Scotland into a
+slaughter-house.  So 't is safe to say I admire neither your robe nor
+your Order.  Yet the events of this day have gone far toward convincing
+me that at heart you are a man in spite of the woman's garb you wear.
+So now, what say you&mdash;will you be comrade with me this night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the brutal bluntness of my speech and question&mdash;for I fear I took
+out upon him those feelings I ventured not to exploit with Madame,
+recalling how this same difference of faith had come between us two
+with its dread shadow&mdash;a red flush sprang into the priest's thin,
+wasted cheeks, and I could see how tightly his hands clinched about the
+crucifix at his girdle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As to my Order, it hath little to fear from thy dislike, young man, as
+that is born from early prejudice, and lack of proper learning," he
+returned gravely, meeting I my eyes fairly with his own.  "Yet,
+speaking as frankly as yourself, I doubt if I would prove of much
+assistance upon a ship's deck; such effort as you propose for this
+night would be wholly foreign to my habit of life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Spoken truly; nor would I make choice of one with muscles so inert
+from disuse were this to be an onset, where men give and take hard
+blows.  I ask you not upon the ship's deck at all, my friend, nor shall
+I require your company one step farther than the roof of the great
+sugar warehouse of Bomanceaux et fils.  Still, it will require steady
+nerve to do even what little I require, and, if you doubt your courage,
+say so now, and I will seek among the slaves for stouter heart and
+readier hand."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That my words touched his pride I could read instantly in his uplifted
+face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, thou needest seek no further," he announced briefly, his thin
+lips tightly pressed together.  "I will go, Monsieur."  I knew
+instantly by the bold ring of the words that henceforward I might trust
+him to the death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought you would.  Now a question more, and then I must have food.
+Can you prepare for my use one of your robes?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Easily, Monsieur; Father Cassati left one behind at the chapter-house
+when he went aboard ship, and you do not greatly differ in point of
+size.  But is it possible thou proposest to turn priest, and of our
+Order?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In outward vesture merely, and that not for long.  It would afford me
+greater liberty of movement on the 'Santa Maria' than my own garb, and
+may spare me some unpleasant questioning.  Yet, perchance, there may be
+danger of my overdoing the priestly character, as well as of
+overestimating the privileges granted the clergy on board."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shrugged his shoulders, nettled somewhat by my words and manner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have indeed reason for gravely distrusting your naturalness in the
+wearing of a robe dedicated to religion," he made answer.  "But as for
+the other matter, there can be little danger of your overstepping the
+mark.  Father Cassati is of a somewhat roistering disposition,
+over-fond of the bottle, in truth,&mdash;although it giveth me pain to speak
+thus of one of my own Order,&mdash;and I have been informed, moveth at his
+own will about the ship.  He is of the sort to be 'hail fellow, well
+met' with those roistering Spaniards, who care little for God or man,
+as he possesseth few scruples of his own."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bear I sufficient resemblance to pass in his stead?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not unlike as to height and build; as to face, you are far the
+better featured.  With the cowl up it might be reasonably safe in a dim
+light."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My beauty has always been my undoing," I ventured, in awakened good
+humor.  "Nevertheless I shall be compelled to venture it this time;
+moreover, I am pleased to learn that things aboard are as you describe,
+for such a state of affairs may greatly serve our purpose."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I turned away from him to recross the room and murmur a few words of
+brighter hope into the ear of Eloise, where she sat in white-faced
+silence amid the deeper shadows of the portiere.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER V
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ON THE DECK OF THE "SANTA MARIA"
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The Spanish sentries on the Place d'Armes were calling the hour of
+midnight when the priest and I stole silently past amid the shadows of
+overhanging trees.  I find it impossible, even now, after the lapse of
+years, to dwell upon my parting with her who despatched me on so
+strange an errand.  My reluctant pen halts, while the tears, dimming my
+old eyes, bid me turn to other scenes.  However, under God, the venture
+of that night might terminate, I firmly believed I was gazing into her
+dear face for the last time; yet, honor sealed my lips, holding back
+unspoken those passionate utterances which burned upon my tongue.  I
+could merely clasp for one brief moment those hands she gave so
+unreservedly into my keeping, gaze into the unfathomed depths of her
+dark eyes, and murmur a few broken words of confidence and farewell.
+Then, half blinded from emotion, I tore myself away from her beloved
+presence, and went forth into night and peril for her dear sake.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+However my heart throbbed with hidden anguish as I stepped forth from
+that fateful house, the nature of the adventure upon which we were now
+fairly launched was sufficient to cool my brain, so that long before we
+skirted the guard-lines drawn around the camp of Spanish artillery, I
+had become once more the cool, resourceful adventurer, as befitted my
+nature and training.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sentries are stationed only along the open side of the square, I
+think?" I whispered to my companion questioningly, striving vainly to
+penetrate the intense darkness in our front.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True," he responded in so low a voice I could scarcely catch the
+words, a slight falter betraying that the strange conditions preyed
+upon his unaccustomed nerves.  "It was thus they were posted last
+night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then we will assume the risk of finding clear passage.  Keep close,
+and venture no speech, whatever happens."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It proved slow work at the best, as it would never do to have a Spanish
+spy dogging our footsteps.  I doubt not it tested good Father Petreni
+to the uttermost, yet I thought the better of him for the determined
+way in which he clung to my heels through the darkness.  As for myself,
+such dodging, twisting, climbing of walls, and skulking amid shadows,
+merely sufficed to warm the blood, and yielded greater zest for the
+more serious work to follow.  I claim small credit for courage in such
+matters; they have ever been so much a portion of life to me that their
+excitement became scarcely more than a draught of heady wine.  He was
+the truly brave man who, without any such incentive as I possessed,
+left his books and quiet cell that night to follow me abroad.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last we ran across the great deserted market-place, and paused,
+crouching breathlessly in the dense shadows of the huge warehouse
+standing upon the very brink of the broad river.  As we rested thus we
+could hear soft lapping of running water along the further wall, while
+occasionally some vagrant puff of air brought to our strained ears the
+distant creaking of chains, as the great war-vessels swung by their
+cables against the swift current.  Beyond this the night was intensely
+still, black, unfathomable, mysterious.  It seemed fairly to weigh down
+upon us with its noiseless burden of gloom.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you acquainted with the interior arrangement of this building?" I
+asked the priest in some anxiety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was within it only once, and observed little of its features.  I was
+called there in haste to speak words of peace to a sorely injured man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Could you guide to the ladder leading up to the second floor in the
+dark?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I thought he gave a gesture of dissent, yet so dense was the night I
+could barely note the movement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not certain, my son, yet to my remembrance it leadeth up near the
+centre upon the river side.  The building is doubtless empty of all its
+cotton at this time of year, and we should be able to feel our way
+across if only once within.  How do you purpose gaining entrance?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pah! that is the simplest portion of the whole venture," I said
+confidently.  "I am not likely to overlook such a point.  The third
+window from here has a loosened shutter; I brought this stick to pry it
+apart.  Then the interior will be ours, unless they keep a watchman
+stationed within."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thou needst have small fear of that at this late season, and the
+building empty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We crept cautiously forward, myself in the lead, and feeling blindly in
+the darkness for the loosened shutter previously located.  At last my
+groping hand touched it, and drawing the bottom outward as far as
+possible by mere grip of the fingers, I inserted the stout oaken bar
+within the aperture, and, after listening intently to detect any
+presence close at hand, exerted my strength upon the rude lever.  There
+followed a slight rasping, as if a wire dragged along a nail,&mdash;a
+penetrating shrillness there was to it which sent a tingle to the
+nerves,&mdash;then the heavy shutter swung outward, leaving ample space for
+the passage of a man's body.  I lifted myself by my hands and peered
+cautiously within.  Everywhere was impenetrable blackness, while the
+silence was so profound as to give a sudden strange throb to my heart.
+Waiting no longer, I drew myself up on to the narrow ledge; then hung
+downward until my groping feet touched the floor.  Once safely landed I
+leaned forth again, and in another moment the priest stood beside me,
+the shutter tightly drawn behind us.  With a feeling of relief I faced
+that black interior.  Now, at least, we were beyond chance of discovery
+by any prowling Spanish guard, and could advance more freely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lead on," I commanded shortly, resting my hand upon his shoulder to
+make sure of his presence.  "I will keep hold upon your robe, so we
+shall not part company in the darkness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Very slowly we felt uncertain passage across the uneven floor.  It
+appeared littered with innumerable articles of the box and barrel
+order, with here and there a pile of loose lumber, altogether making
+such a jumble of obstruction that keeping our direction became simply
+impossible in that intense darkness which seemed to fairly swallow us.
+We did well to proceed at all, and escape creating a racket by
+stumbling over some of the many unseen obstacles in our path.  As to
+myself, I became so thoroughly confused by constant turning and
+climbing as to grow completely lost, but fortunately the priest kept a
+somewhat clearer brain, and, after groping blindly for some time,
+pausing occasionally as though he would smell his way like a dog,
+managed to put hand at last upon the object of his patient search.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is here," he whispered.  "Shall I go up?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay!" I returned hopefully, glad I had restrained the impatience of my
+tongue.  "But try each rung before you venture stepping on it; they may
+prove rotten and give way beneath your weight."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He swung himself up, after carefully tucking in his robe about the
+waist, but the ladder creaked so alarmingly beneath his tread I durst
+not venture my heavier weight upon it until he had safely reached the
+top.  Finally the noise of his climbing ceased, and I could hear a
+board move high above me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you up safe?" I questioned in a low voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All safe, praise be to God," came the cautious response; "but thou
+wilt do well, friend, to exercise grave care, as the way is bad."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It required brief exploration to convince us that this second story
+possessed a strong, firm floor, although there remained some danger of
+there being traps in it for the hoisting of cotton, while the boards
+might not extend over the entire surface.  By this time, however, our
+eyes had grown somewhat accustomed to the intense blackness enveloping
+us, so the slightest change in the prevailing gloom became quickly
+apparent.  The air was so fresh and pure, with such a taste of the
+night in it, I became convinced there must be an opening somewhere
+close at hand, and whispered the suggestion to my companion.  He proved
+keener of vision than I, for even as we thus spoke he plucked my sleeve
+and pointed upward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then surely it will be yonder," he exclaimed, with more eagerness of
+voice than I had before marked in him.  "There is certainly a lightness
+to the atmosphere overhead, as if it came from a direct opening to the
+sky."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It appeared true even to me, now that he had pointed out the spot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It must be the roof hatch uplifted.  Now if we discover a ladder
+leading thereto I shall accept it as proof that God guideth us this
+night, and feel new courage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our work is of God," said the <I>père</I> solemnly, "or I should never be
+here with you, and engaged upon it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor have I ever doubted it, father," I made haste to answer, creeping
+cautiously forward across the ill-matched flooring.  "Yet you have been
+a luckier man than I if never you found yourself in the wrong when you
+believed it to be right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a ladder there spliced with bits of rope, as we discovered,
+yet proving of sufficient strength to up-bear us one at a time.  Thus
+we were soon out upon the great flat roof, lying prone at the edge,
+whither we had crept silently, peering cautiously forth upon the black
+river.  That is, we gazed into the silent mystery where we knew the
+river must be, yet it was like peering into an impenetrable bank of
+cloud.  There was something awesome about it, for out yonder, within a
+few yards of us, swung twenty great vessels of war, manned by thousands
+of fighting men, while not a sound reached us, except the slight
+creaking of strained cables, or the occasional dash of a wave against
+some obstruction in the stream; nor could anything be seen, if I except
+flitting sparks of light glimmering here and there like lost stars,
+serving to locate the positions of the various ships in their night
+anchorage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I felt, rather than saw, the devout priest at my side piously cross
+himself, and there was a mumbling of his lips in prayer, but I
+contented myself with searching through the gloom for a glimpse of the
+towering masts of the "Santa Maria," which must be close at hand.  They
+remained invisible, shrouded behind the mist cloud.  For one moment I
+cursed the intense blackness of the night, losing confidence in our
+venture.  Yet, even as hope failed me, the dull creaking of a nearby
+cable sounded farther up stream.  Guided by this I crept cautiously
+along the edge of the roof, aware as I proceeded that Father Petreni,
+imitating my example, pressed closely behind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Near the northern extremity of the long building we came to a halt,
+and, leaning well over the roof edge, I peered anxiously into the
+enveloping fog.  A deeper density of shadow showed directly in front,
+which I felt convinced could be caused only by one of those vast spars
+around which canvas had been rolled, as noted that afternoon from the
+ship's deck.  Vainly endeavoring to pierce the thick mist, I
+distinguished the steady tramping of some one pacing far beneath us.
+The sound came from farther out in the stream, where I might reasonably
+suppose the stern of the vessel to lie.  I drew back, and placed my
+lips close to the priest's ear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you distinguish any outline yonder?" I queried eagerly, pointing
+as I spoke, and feeling fearful lest my eyes had been deceived by
+fleeting night shadows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Resting upon his breast, one hand shading his eyes, he peered long in
+the direction indicated before venturing to reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a shade of something yonder," he admitted at last.  "It rises
+a trifle above us, and almost directly out from this edge.  'T is hard
+to say of what it consists, yet 'tis of a peculiar shape, causing me to
+think of the foreyard of a big ship."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Exactly what I name it," I replied, set at ease by his prompt
+decision.  "How far would you suppose the thing to lie from where we
+are?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He studied the barely visible object long and carefully, shading his
+eyes again with his hands the better to concentrate his gaze upon that
+misty blot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is like a jump in the dark, my son, to attempt guessing at so
+visionary a thing.  At times it seemeth to fade away altogether, yet
+back it cometh once more into the same spot; from where I lie it might
+be twenty, or it might be forty, feet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saint Giles! not so bad a guess either.  I figured it at thirty this
+afternoon from the bank below, nor am I apt to prove far wrong in such
+judgment.  Truss up this confounded skirt of mine, while I uncoil the
+rope for a toss."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He opened his eyes wide in amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you hope to cast the loop over the end of the spar?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, that offers the only opening to get aboard unobserved," I replied,
+loosening as I spoke the slender rope coil from about my waist.  "Nor
+would it be any trick if the light were a trifle better.  As it is, I
+may miss a throw or two in getting firm hold.  It would prove risky
+business attempting to pass across a line insecure at one end.  Lie
+down now, <I>père</I>, and keep as quiet as if you were dead."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In instant obedience to my words the priest stretched himself at full
+length behind the low wooden gutter.  Rising cautiously to my feet, I
+passed the cord with utmost care through my fingers, testing its
+strands again, making certain it remained perfectly free for the toss.
+For a moment I stood thus, swaying forward at the very edge of the
+roof, my eyes measuring again and again the hazy, uncertain distance
+stretching away toward that slight undulating shadow.  It was
+practically impossible to determine where the extreme end of the spar
+terminated in air, yet as nearly as possible I made selection for my
+point of aim, and, with three noiseless circles about my head to give
+it impetus, shot the rope forth into the dense gloom.  I heard the
+opening noose strike something which rattled sharply in the intense
+silence.  Then the line slipped, hung limp, and finally fell dangling
+down over the edge of the roof.  It had failed to catch, and I crouched
+low, making no effort to draw the loose end back.  With the first sound
+of the blow against the spar the steady tramping across the deck
+ceased.  A moment, and a gruff voice hailed in vigorous Spanish from
+out the darkness:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Aloft there!  Who is on the foreyard?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a brief space there came no answer, although we were made aware of
+other movements more directly below us.  Then some one answered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The watch are all here on the forecastle, Señor.  It must have been a
+loose block that rattled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two of you jump into the foretop, and make all fast."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The steady tramping was resumed, while a moment later we became aware
+of the approach of men climbing through the darkness toward us.  We
+were unable to perceive their shadows, yet their muttered conversation,
+as they lay out upon the yard, served to fix its actual position more
+clearly in my mind.  I believed I knew where I had so grievously
+overshot the mark.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Boca del Dragon</I>!" grumbled one of the fellows hoarsely, seemingly in
+our very ears.  "The Captain is as nervous over those cursed
+frog-eaters down between decks as if we were anchored off Paree."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Think you that is the trouble, José?" returned the other in the
+sprightly voice of a younger man.  "I tell thee, comrade, 'tis only
+that bloody demon of an O'Reilly he is fearful of.  I have sailed with
+the 'old man' in many seas since first I left Sargon, and never expect
+to see him affrighted of any Johnny Frenchman.  But I heard the Admiral
+say two days agone, as I hung over his boat in the main chains, that if
+the Captain lost so much as a single prisoner it should cost him his
+ship.  That, I make it, comrade, is why he has n't taken so much as a
+glass of wine since first they were put aboard of us.  <I>Bastante</I>! but
+he must have acquired a thirst by this time to make his temper red-hot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The other laughed sourly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poh!  I know even a better reason for his going dry than that, Juan.
+He does n't have chance for a drink alongside of that gray-bellied
+French priest below.  <I>Caramba</I>! it takes him to polish off the red
+liquor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How know you that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saint Christopher! how know I?  Did I not just meet him at the main
+hatch so drunk he fell over the coamings.  The sojer on guard set him
+up against the butt of the foremast to sober off in the night air."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I experienced difficulty in repressing a laugh at the words, but the
+two fellows were going down by this time, grumbling in their beards
+because they had discovered nothing wrong as reward for their trip
+aloft, so I contented myself by silently pressing my companion's arm,
+although doubtless he had comprehended no word of the conversation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We rested there motionless, with no attempt at speech, for fully twenty
+minutes before I ventured to haul in the line which dangled downward
+from my hand.  Everything remained quiet below, and, coiling it
+carefully over my arm, I noiselessly arose to my feet once more,
+poising myself to essay a second cast.  As straight this time as an
+arrow from the taut string of a bow the noose sped silently away into
+the darkness.  I felt a thrill of delight tingle through me as the end
+settled softly over the end of the vague, distant spar.  I drew the
+cord taut and firm, not a sound breaking the intense stillness closing
+us in like a wall.  A heavy wooden post, with a pulley attachment,
+stood behind where we rested, probably fitted there for hauling up
+heavy bales of cotton.  Creeping back, I wound the slack of the rope
+about its base, drawing it as tight as possible, and then placed the
+end in the hands of the observant and wondering priest, who continued
+to creep after me like a shadow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now all I expect of you is to hold hard on this rope until I get
+across on to the spar," I whispered.  "When I give three distinct jerks
+on the cord, then let loose of your end; but drop it slowly, mind you,
+<I>père</I>, so I can draw it in without noise.  You had better creep to the
+edge of the roof with it before you release your hold.  Do you
+understand?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He nodded silently, his eyes gazing unwaveringly into mine.  I held
+forth my hand to him, moved by the sudden impulse of such a movement.
+As he gave me his own in response it felt as cold as ice, yet I marked
+his grip was strong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As soon as I coil in the rope you had better creep down and go home,"
+I explained, speaking slowly, for somehow I felt it strangely hard to
+part with this last tie between the present and the uncertain future.
+"You can be no further use to me; Madame will be anxious to hear your
+report, while it might prove exceedingly awkward for one of your cloth
+to be trapped here after this night's work is discovered by the Dons.
+So now good-bye; you are a man of nerve, even if you are a priest, and
+I am glad to have been comrade with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I heard him answer something as I slowly crept down to the edge,
+testing again the feel of the rope before venturing to swing off upon
+it.  I was not unaccustomed to those adventures incident to rough life
+on the frontier; my nerves were not easily jarred by strange
+experiences, yet I hold it no pleasant sensation to swing out on a
+thirty-foot line at that height, amid utter darkness, especially when
+you feel uncertain as to its secure fastening at the farther end.
+Moreover, the priest's robe hampered my movements sadly, while, being
+no light-weight, the strands of the small cord cut my hands.  I durst
+not hurry, but took the passage inch by inch, gritting my teeth as I
+hung suspended above the abyss, lest I might emit a cry.  In truth I
+thought my arms would pull out of the sockets before I finally came
+alongside the spar.  Yet, thanks be to God, the rope held nobly, though
+it required every pound of remaining strength to haul my dangling body
+up, that I could rest across the wood before I felt after the standing
+rope beneath.  I clung there weak as a child, trembling like a
+frightened woman, the cold perspiration standing in drops upon my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I have been in far happier situations than that&mdash;lying bent nearly
+double across the yard of an enemy's ship on a black night, but at the
+moment, so sincerely rejoiced was I to be off that sagging rope, I felt
+like humming a tune.  Yet I contented myself with sliding along the
+smooth spar until I discovered a firm strand of rope beneath my feet,
+ventured then to stand upright, and clung for support to the cloth of
+the sail.  At last I gave our signal, and, as the line slackened to my
+hand, drew it cautiously in, coiling it as it came, until all was once
+again in my possession.  Waiting a moment, to give the <I>père</I>
+opportunity to begin his retreat, I undid the noose yet wound about the
+small end of the spar, and, with much care, feeling my uncertain way
+through the darkness, worked myself slowly along, inward bound toward
+the mast.  Finally, close beside it I again made fast the end of my
+cord, lowering it, paying out the long coil inch by inch, until I felt
+convinced from its limpness it must extend to the deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I acknowledge it was several minutes before I mustered sufficient
+courage to slip down into that intense blackness.  It was not so much
+fear of men which deterred me, but the oppressive silence, the mystery
+of what awaited me below, rested heavily upon the nerves, binding me to
+the spar, intently gazing and listening for either sight or sound.  It
+was recollection of that last, trustful look within the dark eyes of
+Eloise which finally aroused me to action.  Muttering an imprecation
+upon my faint-heartedness, I instantly swung off on to the dangling
+rope, slipping silently downward through the shadows to meet whatsoever
+fate might lurk below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a confused tangle of ropes I was compelled to traverse, yet none
+greatly interfered with my progress, except to render it slower, and
+the consequent strain harder upon the arms.  The huge foremast, close
+against which I swung, grew bulkier as I descended.  Suddenly my feet
+touched the solid deck.  I discovered myself between the foremast and
+the rail, so dropping upon hands and knees I crept silently around,
+hoping thus to gain clearer view forward.  As I circled the vast butt
+of the mast I came suddenly face to face with the friar, sitting upon
+the deck and blinking at me with drunken gravity.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap06"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE ROLE OF PÈRE CASSATI
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I have no knowledge as to what the surprised priest thought regarding
+the astounding apparition thus bursting upon him.  Perchance he mistook
+me for the ghost of some ancient Father Superior visiting him in
+warning of his sins.  However, I permitted him small space for any
+reflection.  I have ever been swift in action; was awake then with the
+excitement of my venture, and little accustomed to hesitancy at such a
+time.  Moreover, I despised the fellow, and was not loath to be the
+instrument of punishment to him, and I never struck any man a deadlier
+blow with the bare fist than that I put in just back of his ear.  My
+posture was not the best for such exercise; nevertheless it permitted
+me to do the work, and he went over without word or groan, even as I
+have seen a buck fall to the rifle when the ball sang straight to the
+heart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Indeed, so limp did he drop upon his side, with not a sigh to relieve
+the sickening impression, I feared at first I had killed him&mdash;for it is
+a wicked blow, such as has caused death more than once.  I was
+reassured, however, by listening intently at his heart, and, not
+knowing how soon he might revive in the cool night air, took
+precautions to keep him dumb before venturing to leave him huddled
+against the butt of the great mast, and proceed forth on my own mission.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To lower the long gray skirt of my monk's robe until it touched the
+deck planks, loosening as I did so the hunting knife securely hidden
+within my waist-belt, and to draw up the coarse, ample hood, thus
+better to conceal my features, after the same manner I was pleased to
+note Cassati wore his, were my first duties.  The way of procedure had
+been made clear; fate had seemingly solved that problem.  My sole
+prospect of attaining the guarded space between decks, of reaching the
+cell of the man I sought, lay in careful impersonation of the drunken
+French priest, now lying insensible at my feet.  Nor in this imposture
+did I anticipate serious difficulty.  Everything thus far had developed
+so favorably I became hopeful of the outcome&mdash;the inspiration of
+success brought with it renewed courage and confidence.  The exciting
+incidents of the night had awakened me to the humor of the venture, and
+I smiled grimly at the rare conceit of the contemplated masquerade.
+Nor did it promise an especially difficult part to play.  We were of
+similar size, broad-shouldered, stocky men, with smoothly shaven faces,
+the difference therein hardly likely to be observed by careless eyes,
+beneath dimly burning lights.  I knew enough regarding his
+peculiarities of voice and manner to imitate both fairly well, so only
+an accident, or some careless slip of the tongue, would be apt to
+reveal the fraud.  In short, I was armed with audacity, doubting little
+that I should safely pass the guards.  Anyway, there was nothing else
+for it; 'twas a moment when one must cast timidity to the winds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yet I found it difficult to essay the first step in so desperate an
+enterprise.  For several moments I waited, hanging back within the
+shadow of the mast, gathering my wits together for the chances of the
+play, while endeavoring to pick out details of the situation along
+those silent, gloomy decks.  Owing to the mass of over-hanging cordage
+and the high wooden bulwarks on either side, the night appeared even
+darker than when I was above, perched on the dizzy yard.  Occasionally
+some deeper shadow, or the noise of voice or footfall, made apparent to
+me the life on board.  Toward the stern that steady tramping back and
+forth of the officer on watch continued uninterrupted, as he paced
+steadily from rail to rail.  I could even distinguish the dim outlines
+of his lower limbs as he passed and repassed before the single gleaming
+point of light on board.  I was also assured as to a group of seamen
+forward, hard against a steeper rise of the deck; once I heard the
+officer aft call out some unintelligible order, when one of the group
+detached himself from among those others and passed along the opposite
+side of the mast from where I lay, yet so close I could have touched
+him with extended hand.  I felt convinced a sentinel stood beside the
+hatch, and imagined I could distinguish the faint outlines of another
+farther back, near the rail.  Trusting to avoid interference from this
+latter soldier,&mdash;for I sought no risk of accident which might be
+escaped,&mdash;I crept around upon the opposite side of the deck from where
+I had been crouching so long.  Getting my new bearings as well as
+possible amid such confusing darkness, I finally set my teeth to it,
+rose, and bore directly down upon the hatchway, lurching somewhat
+heavily and unsteadily upon my feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Whatever vestige of doubt lingered as to the nature of my reception on
+board the "Santa Maria" was quickly out to rest.  In return there came
+to me, from that first experience, a measure of confidence in my
+assumed character that enabled me to impersonate my drunken priestly
+predecessor with a degree of cool perfection that surprised myself.
+Faith, 't is always so; life is like the teetering-board of children,
+ever up or down.  Evidently the father in his night migrations had
+passed that way before, as the sentry&mdash;he appeared a burly fellow in
+the gloom,&mdash;after making certain as to the identity of his unsteady
+visitor, asked no unpleasant questions, merely contenting himself with
+gruff, good-natured warning to the <I>padre</I> to be more careful this time
+and not fall down the ladder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Holy saints!" he added soothingly, "your worship's head must be
+ringing yet with the blow it got."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To this uncharitable remark I maintained dignified silence, and,
+flinging my somewhat uncertain limbs over the coamings, went scrambling
+down, leaving him to his solitary meditations.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no light burning in the big square room below, merely a faint
+yellow reflection stealing forth from that passageway leading aft.  For
+this blessing of Providence I was profoundly thankful.  A good
+half-dozen of the night guard, wearing similar uniform with those I had
+met on duty during the afternoon, were idly lounging about the butt of
+the mainmast, evidently awaiting turn on sentry post, and ready enough
+to welcome any diversion chancing their way which would help to break
+the dull tedium of the night.  I observed likewise, as I made a drunken
+pause at the foot of the ladder in an apparently vain endeavor to
+steady myself, that these roisterers of the night-watch were a set of
+jolly dogs, and had been opening numerous bottles of red wine with
+which to pass lagging hours more pleasantly.  They were already in that
+gay, thoughtless spirit of badinage which comes of fair allowance.
+Good humor had laid careless hand on duty, until, the stern restraint
+of discipline noticeably relaxing, good fellowship had become king.
+Their officer lay outstretched at full length upon three camp stools, a
+fellow long of limb, with face as dark as a Moor.  He made no effort to
+arise from his undignified position, yet hailed me as though I had been
+a boon companion of his revel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ha!" he exclaimed gleefully, tapping as he spoke an empty glass
+against the deck.  "Comrades, 't is as I prophesied; we are not long
+robbed of the Church.  See, the most reverend Father hath already
+returned unto his own.  Truly art thou welcome, <I>padre</I>, for I fear thy
+flock were about to go astray without a shepherd.  Ho, Alva! seest thou
+not the coming of thine own liege lord? or art thou already so blinded
+by good liquor thou would'st dare neglect the very Pope himself, did he
+honor us with his company?  Alva, I say, you roistering hound, you
+drunken blade, bring hither a stool for the worthy confessor!  Faith!
+doth he not bear the sins of us all, and must he not be greatly aweary
+with so vast a load.  Saint Theresa! 't is fortunate there is yet a
+bottle left uncracked for the good <I>padre</I>!" I gathered the heavy hood
+closer about my face, so as better to muffle voice as well as conceal
+features; made an apparent effort to stand firm, but with such poor
+success I noticed the grins expand on the faces watching me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Peace, my son," I hiccoughed, with an assumption of drunken gravity,
+uplifting my disengaged arm as if in priestly benediction of the
+impious crew.  "Tempt me not to turn aside from the solemn path of duty
+by offerings of that foul fiend which doth so corrupt and despoil men.
+Know you, I am now on my way to perform the sweet offices of our most
+holy religion, and need greatly to permit my mind to dwell in peace
+upon more soulful things than that which lieth in the wine pot.  You
+are mere beasts of the field, sons of Belial, children of wrath, every
+one of you, doomed to death, even as it is written, 'He that taketh the
+sword shall perish by the sword.'  Laugh, will you, you drunken scum of
+the sea!" I shouted, glaring about savagely on the grimacing faces.
+"'T is truth out of Holy Writ I speak, but I waste the precious word in
+such company&mdash;'t is casting pearls before swine&mdash;for there be none here
+who comprehend the things of the Spirit."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The spirit say you, <I>padre</I>?" interrupted the officer, evidently in
+rare good humor.  "<I>Bastinade</I>! thou doest wrong to all this worshipful
+company by so grievous a slur.  The spirit we know right well, although
+I confess thou art ever a full bottle in advance of the most of us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I cast upon him a withering glance of scorn as rebuke to his unseemly
+levity, venturing to lurch a step nearer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hush such vain and impious speech, thou man of war," I commanded
+thickly, indignation apparent even through my drunkenness.  "Thou
+makest mock of the sacred teachings of Holy Church, and art from
+henceforth accursed by virtue of my office.  I pause here, holding
+converse no longer with such mocking tongue, nor linger in presence of
+this blasphemous crew.  There resteth upon me the eternal destiny of a
+human, unshriven soul, and I bid thee permit my passage; 't is the
+final night of earth for some upon this ship, and I have until now
+neglected to perform my priestly duty with one of the condemned.  'T is
+upon this holy mission I would pass thee now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I truly think, <I>padre</I>," exclaimed one of the group, with a careless
+laugh, "if you had another drink of red wine beneath your cassock you
+could never tell a prayer from a song; so for the sake of those poor
+devils yonder we ought to pass you this time without demanding toll."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To whom do you go at such unseemly hour with ghostly consolations?"
+inquired the Commandant, negligently rolling a cigarette between his
+long fingers, and resting back his head in supreme content.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I give absolution unto De Noyan."  In spite of my utmost endeavors my
+voice trembled mentioning the name.  I watched the fellow's face
+narrowly, yet read nothing save reckless indifference.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! the gay Chevalier.  Faith, I doubt not he hath grave need of thee
+and thy paternosters ere he find peace.  Yet surely, <I>padre</I>, 'twas
+with him you were this very afternoon, while I was on guard before.  I
+marvel greatly he should care for your company so much.  Saints, he
+seems scarcely of the kidney to take kindly to so many prayers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I felt a chill sweep across me even at this slight check.  Had I dared
+too much?  Had I ventured too far?  I knew not, yet spoke my next words
+boldly, realizing that any retreat now would be impossible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thou knowest little of men at such a moment; even careless hearts
+learn fear of God as they face the end.  Holy Mother! but 't would even
+pale your black face, and put a stopper on that ribald tongue, were
+grim Death stalking at your very heels.  You may smile now, making
+reckless mock of the sacraments, but that hour will come when you will
+be as a child at the knee of Mother Church.  Ay, I was with the
+Chevalier to-day; 'twas the coming of that negro huckster which took me
+from his side before, and I seek now to complete the gracious work
+which then had well begun.  Surely thou wilt not stand between a dying
+man and his last confession!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; not I.  Let the poor devil have his chance, as may the good Lord
+grant me mine.  But, <I>padre</I>, I have only just returned from my last
+round among the prisoners, and am greatly wearied, nor will I journey
+that way again with you.  In truth, 'tis all I can well do to guide my
+own footsteps, without helping along a priest of thy weight.  So here,
+<I>padre</I>, take the key, and, mind ye, have it safely back in my hands
+before the ship's bell soundeth the half hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hastily snatching the bit of iron he flung rattling on the deck at my
+feet, I paused merely long enough to favor the company with parting
+admonition on their probable future.  Then, glad enough to be thus
+easily rid of them, I lurched heavily forward into the narrow
+passageway.  Some coarse joke launched at my expense attracted the
+attention of those behindhand speeded me onward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My heart throbbed in anxious anticipation of what unknown trial was at
+hand.  Such rare fortune as had thus far attended my efforts, seemed
+too remarkable to endure; nor was it impossible that, through some
+unforeseen mischance, the cup of success might yet be stricken from my
+very lips.  So far at least I had made no mistake; evidently this Père
+Cassati was "hail fellow, well met" among these riotous guards aboard
+the "Santa Maria," and I had played the part to their complete undoing.
+But now I was facing a new experience, and stiffened myself to meet it
+boldly, uncertain still what trick fate might have in store.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sentinel, whom I discovered facing forward, hardly more than two
+paces from that door having the figures "18" painted upon it, quickly
+lowered his gun as I lurched unsteadily into sight.  Greatly to my
+relief, as soon as he obtained distinct view of his unexpected visitor,
+he returned the piece carelessly to his shoulder, and leaned back, his
+elbow against the arm-rack.  He was a good-natured-looking fellow, with
+round, boyish face, upon which streamed the full glare of a
+swinging-lamp suspended from a chain fastened to an upper beam.  His
+unsuspicious appearance served greatly to reassure me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I give thee peace of Holy Church, my son," I muttered solemnly,
+leaning heavily against the jamb of the door, uplifting my hand in
+benediction.  "May the presence of the Mother and Child guard thee in
+time of battle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The face of the young soldier grew sober, and he withdrew one hand from
+its grasp on the shining musket piously to make the sign of the cross.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thank thee, <I>padre</I>, for thy blessing," he returned gratefully.  "It
+will be in accord with the prayers of those I left at home in Spain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Whether or not guards on duty in the corridor had orders to pass the
+father unquestioned, this lad, at least, made no effort to prevent my
+inserting the great iron key within the lock of the door.  Doubtless my
+possession of it was accepted as evidence of my right to its use;
+anyway he remained there in that same careless posture, a pleased smile
+on his face, watching me curiously.  The heavy nail-studded door swung
+noiselessly ajar; with single questioning glance backward at the
+motionless sentry, I stepped within, closed it behind me, and stood, my
+heart throbbing fiercely, face to face with her husband&mdash;the man to
+whom had been given the woman I loved,&mdash;Chevalier Charles de Noyan,
+condemned to die at sunrise.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap07"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE CHEVALIER DE NOYAN
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+It seems strange any man should deliberately venture life for one he
+had never seen; one whom, moreover, he hated with an intensity of
+passion seldom experienced between man and man.  I have not been of
+revengeful disposition, nor often indulged in grave personal dislike,
+yet it would be wrong in this simple narrative for me to attempt
+concealment of my own impulses.  So it is impossible to deny that, from
+the first moment when she called Charles de Noyan husband, I felt
+toward him a degree of animosity deeper than I had before supposed it
+possible for me to entertain relative to any human being.  It was
+bitter memory of the past, a belief that I had once won the heart of
+this fair girl, only to be balked of reward by spectral hands of
+religion, which swayed me thus strongly.  To my thought this stranger
+was one who had purchased, from priests at the altar, what was mine by
+divine decree; what would remain mine forever from the mandate of love
+unchangeable, eternally sealed by higher power than any priestly ritual.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yet I had already passed through a day and night of intense excitement,
+of grave peril, endeavoring to preserve the life of this man whom I
+would more gladly see die than any one I ever knew.  I stood now in the
+open jaws of my own destruction, where the slightest false movement, or
+ill-judged word, upon his part or my own, must mean betrayal; where an
+awakening of suspicion in the simple mind of the sentry without, or of
+his captain in the corridor; the return to consciousness, or chance
+discovery, of the bound priest upon the upper deck, would ruin every
+hope, sentencing me to a fate no less speedy or certain than that which
+now awaited him I sought to serve.  All this had I risked that I might
+aid in the escape of the one and only man in all the wide world who
+stood between me and the woman I loved.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was an odd position, a heartless caprice of fate.  I felt the full
+measure of its strangeness, yet the thought never occurred to me of
+shrinking back from duty, nor slightest dream of realizing a personal
+victory through any act of baseness.  I was not there for his sake, or
+my own, but to redeem my pledged word to her whose slightest wish was
+law, whose pleading face forever rose before me.  Nevertheless, as I
+stood fronting him for the first time, there was little except bitter
+hatred in my heart&mdash;hatred which, no doubt, burned for the instant
+within my eyes,&mdash;but a hatred which never returned, to curse my memory,
+from that day unto this.  I may have found much to test my patience,
+much to dislike about him in those weary weeks which followed, much of
+weakness and of fickle spirit, but naught ever gave birth anew to the
+deep resentment I buried there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The room in which I found myself was long and narrow, dimly lighted by
+an oil lamp screwed fast into a blackened beam overhead.  Along one
+side was the bare wall, unrelieved in its plain planking except for a
+small cracked mirror and a highly colored picture of the Virgin in a
+rude frame.  Opposite, two berths were arranged one above the other,
+both partially concealed by a dingy red curtain extending from ceiling
+to floor.  The only other furniture I noted in my hasty survey
+consisted of a rough stool chair, and a huge iron-bound, wooden
+sea-chest, the last so bulky as almost completely to block the narrow
+space between the lower berth and the opposite wall.  Seated upon the
+stool, which was tilted back upon two legs, his shoulders resting
+comfortably on a pillow pressed against the wall, his long limbs
+extended in posture of supreme contentment and laziness, upon the
+chest, was the man of my desperate search, the gallant soldier of
+France, the leader of rebellion, condemned to die before the rifles
+within four short hours.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I have never greatly feared death, have witnessed it often and in many
+hideous forms, yet always believed it would test my nerves to the
+uttermost to face it as a certainty under guard of enemies.  Yet here
+was one, young in years, strong of limb, vigorous of hope, with all the
+joy of life just opening before him; a man of wealth, of fashion, and
+of ease, who was seemingly awaiting the inevitable hour of his doom
+with as calm indifference as if it meant no more than the pleasant
+summons to a Creole ball.  With one glance I made a mental picture of
+him&mdash;a young, high-bred face, marred somewhat by dissipation and late
+hours, yet beneath that dim light appearing almost boyishly fresh, and
+bearing upon its every feature the plain impress of reckless humor, and
+indolent content.  It was the face of a youth rather than a man; of one
+more accustomed to looking upon gay companions at the club than on the
+horrors of a battlefield; one who could justly be expected to boast of
+fair conquests, yet who might prove somewhat slow at drawing sword to
+front a warrior of mettle, unless his blood were heated with wine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Such were my first impressions, until I noted a certain manliness
+imparted thereto by the heavy moustaches adorning the upper lip, almost
+yellow in color, curled sharply upward, so heavily waxed at the ends as
+nearly to reach the ears, or rather to lose themselves amid the
+luxuriant growth of hair.  This latter, of the same unusual tinge,
+swept low over the shoulders, and was trimmed squarely across the
+forehead according to a fashion then prevalent among young French
+cavaliers.  His dress was not a uniform, but that of the latest mode in
+the province, somewhat exaggerated, I thought, as to length of the
+bronze shoes and glaring color of the waistcoat.  All these details I
+noted, as he turned somewhat indolently in my direction, calmly
+flipping the ash from off a cigarette, and permitting a spiral of thin
+blue smoke to curl slowly upward from his lips into the air.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So it is you, you miserable, drunken reprobate!" he exclaimed, a touch
+of temper tingling in a voice I felt must naturally be soft and low.
+"Have you dared come back to pester me with your abominable
+consolations?  Sacre! did I not bid you this afternoon to let me alone?
+I care nothing for your tipsy paternosters.  Faith, man, it will be
+pleasanter to face that firing squad to-morrow than your drunken
+prayers to-night.  Come, get out of the room before I lay unregenerate
+hands upon your shaven poll.  I am but giving you fair warning, priest,
+for I am quick of blow when my blood is heated, nor care I greatly for
+the curses of Mother Church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I stepped quickly forward, coming as directly before him as the great
+sea-chest would permit, fearful lest his loud words might be
+distinguishable beyond the closed door.  Then, with silent gesture of
+warning, I flung aside the heavy cowl which had concealed my features.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You, I presume, are Charles de Noyan," I said gravely.  "I am not
+Father Cassati, nor drunken priest of any Order of Holy Church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The prisoner was thoroughly astounded.  This I could perceive by the
+sudden gleam leaping into his eyes, but that he retained marvellous
+control over every muscle was abundantly proven by the fact that no
+change of attitude, or of voice, gave slightest evidence of emotion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, Mother of God preserve me!" he exclaimed, with a short, reckless
+laugh.  "'Tis some small comfort to know even that much.  Yet may I
+politely inquire who the devil you are, to invade thus coolly the
+bedchamber of a gentleman, without so much as asking leave, at this
+unholy hour of the morning?  <I>Pardieu</I>, man, are you aware that this is
+the last night on earth I have?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was staring at me through blue rings of tobacco smoke, very much as
+one might observe some peculiar animal seen for the first time.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Had it been otherwise you might rest assured I should never have
+troubled you," I replied, some constraint in my voice, his boyish
+bravado of speech rasping harshly upon my nerves.  "But time presses,
+Chevalier; there remains small space for useless exchange of
+compliment, nor does indifference appear becoming to those in such
+grave peril as you and I."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! are you also one of us?  Surely, I have no recollection of
+your face."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am one in so far as I now face the same fate at the hands of the
+Spaniards, although, it is true, I had no part in your uprising.  I am
+not of your race."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed easily, passing one slender, white hand carelessly through
+his long hair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pah! you scarcely need tell me that, for the taste of the French
+tongue seems ill-suited to your lips.  Yet I would have you speak out
+more plainly!  I play not easily into the hands of strangers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?  You could hardly be worse off than you are now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Pardieu</I>! you are not so far wrong in your philosophy, friend.  Still
+I stick to my text, and if you care to hold further speech with me it
+will be well to declare yourself.  I have ever been a bit careful as to
+my associates."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It makes small odds, Chevalier, who I am; nor will it greatly aid you
+to learn my name, which is plain Geoffrey Benteen, without even a
+handle of any kind to it, nor repute, save that of an honest hunter
+along the upper river.  I say who I am makes small odds, for I come not
+with application for membership into your social circle, nor with card
+of introduction from some mutual friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His expressive eyebrows uplifted in surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, Monsieur, pray relieve my natural curiosity, and tell me why I
+am thus honored by your presence?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To aid your escape from this hole, God willing.  That is, provided you
+rouse up from lethargy, and bear your part as becomes a man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I spoke with heat, for his indifference irritated me; yet I failed to
+note that my words made the slightest impression on him, for I did
+merely mark a slight shrugging of the shoulders, while he crossed his
+legs more comfortably, rolling some fresh tobacco, before he took
+trouble to reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are evidently of a choleric temper, friend Benteen.  Great
+Heavens, what names have you English!" he exclaimed.  "And you need
+greatly to practise better control over yourself, as such weakness is
+apt to lead one into just such scrapes as this of ours.  <I>Sacre</I>! it
+hath been my failing also, otherwise would I now be a fat Major of the
+Line instead of a poor devil condemned to the volley, for no worse
+crime than an over-hot head.  But seriously, Monsieur, and I am truly
+of a most grave disposition, it is not so easy to accomplish that which
+you propose with so glib a tongue.  Imagine you I have lain here, under
+tender Spanish care, all these weeks, where, as I do most solemnly
+affirm, not so much as a glass of decent wine has found way down my
+throat, nor have I possessed a bit of pomade for the proper arrangement
+of my locks&mdash;which will account for their present dishevelment&mdash;Saint
+Cecilia! but that moon-faced Moor who commands the guard merely laughed
+at me when I did request a comb;&mdash;think you, I say, I have been through
+all this without calculating chances for escape?  But, <I>pardieu</I>! what
+use?  A man of sense will not dream such fool dreams.  This I know,
+there are three sentries yonder in the passageway, a good dozen more
+under arms in the guard-room beyond, with still others vigilantly
+pacing the deck above.  What use, I say, for did not poor Villere try
+it, and, before he had covered twenty feet, had three bullets in his
+brain?  Nay, Master Benteen, to endeavor running such a gantlet would
+only give me my fill of Spanish lead before the hour set, which, they
+tell me, comes with the sunrise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He arose languidly to his feet, paused a moment in front of the cracked
+mirror to recurl his long moustaches, and then, turning about, extended
+a white hand toward me, smiling pleasantly as he did so.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Faith, I fear I shall not look my best when it is all over, but if so
+it will be the fault of the Dons&mdash;they seem most careless as to
+requirements of the toilet.  Yet I would not have you deem me
+ungrateful, and I thank you heartily, Monsieur.  But if it be my turn
+to die, and I doubt it not,&mdash;for who ever heard of mercy in the black
+heart of a Spaniard?&mdash;then it is best I front it as becomes a gentleman
+of France, not with a bullet in my back, as though I fled from fate
+with the faint heart of a coward.  Nay, good friend, if death is to be
+my portion, I prefer meeting it with a smile, and thus prove, at the
+ending, worthy of my race."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a certain dignified manliness in his speech and manner which
+for the moment caused me to doubt my earlier reading of his character.
+There might be steel beneath the velvet glove of this fair courtier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean you deliberately choose to remain here, rather than accept
+the chance I offer you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sacre!  I have as yet heard of no chance," he replied easily, sinking
+indolently back into his old seat against the wall.  "I shall be fairly
+comfortable here for the while, though I must say I have used a better
+grade of tobacco than this furnished me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the moment I was in despair as to the outcome of my mission, nor
+did I accept the proffered hand of the prisoner.  Here was a totally
+different order of man from what had ever come my way before, nor did I
+know how best to meet him.  How much of his vain and reckless speech
+came from the heart, and how much of it was merely a mask with which to
+test my purpose, I could not determine, yet I remained resolute
+regarding my own duty, and accordingly sat coolly down upon the chest,
+determined to play out his own game with him to the bitter end.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite true, Chevalier," I said, smiling pleasantly, as if I entered
+fully into his reckless spirit.  "Doubtless you are right&mdash;needs must
+when the devil drives.  Could you spare me a morsel of that same
+tobacco, until I test the quality of which you complain?"  I produced a
+pipe from the recesses of my monk's habit, knocking the ashes out
+carelessly against the chest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He passed over his pouch in silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When one resteth between His Satanic Majesty and the deep sea it makes
+small odds at the best which direction he turns.  It becomes merely a
+matter of taste.  Death," I continued musingly as I deliberately rammed
+home a charge into the bowl, "must be about the same to one man as to
+another, except for matter of temperament; so if you can afford to sit
+here and welcome its coming, so can I."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean you are sufficiently crazy to remain deliberately and die
+with me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly.  I pledged your devoted wife I would rescue you, or never
+return alive myself.  As you stubbornly refuse to listen to reason,
+this seems to be all that is left me.  Opinions might differ as to
+which was crazed, but as to that we will probably neither of us ever
+know.  May I trouble you for a light?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I leaned forward, coolly helping myself to the burning cigarette he
+held forth doubtingly between his fingers, and, puffing vigorously,
+silently resumed my seat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My wife, say you?"  A fresh interest appeared to sweep over him at the
+word, overcoming his indifference.  "Did Eloise de Noyan send you here
+seeking to succor me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was at her request I came; at her wish I stay," I answered firmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You knew her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Several years since, when she was scarcely more than a girl; yet she
+retained sufficient faith to call upon me in extremity."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He sat staring at me as if he would like to question further.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Lord love us, you are a cool fish," he finally exclaimed, bringing
+his hand down upon his knee, and speaking with fresh animation in his
+soft voice.  "What is more, I rather like you.  So Eloise really wishes
+me to desert the Dons?  Queer choice that, for she would make a lovely
+widow.  Oh, well, what's the odds?  'Tis only the question of a ball in
+the back to-night, or a ball in the front to-morrow.  If you chance to
+have a tuck ready for my hand, friend, I 'll try a dash at the deck
+just for the sport of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I shook my head emphatically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We will attempt passage without flashing of weapons, or not at all.  I
+grant a quick stroke might win us the open, yet would only serve to
+rouse the ship; neither of us would ever lift head above the river
+surface without a bullet in the brain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is the only way fit for a gentleman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Confound your gentlemen!" I cried, now thoroughly aroused at this
+ill-chosen trifling with time.  "Either you do as I bid you, or else we
+settle down without any more ado, to wait the file to-morrow.  How
+often does the Commandant look in?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the stroke of the ship's bell."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, Monsieur, the sooner you arrive at some decision the better.  If
+indifference is your game, I play it out with you to the end."  As I
+spoke I leaned carelessly back against the lower bunk, puffing away at
+my pipe to get it fairly alight once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I could note from the corner of my eye he was watching me closely, and
+with no slight degree of aroused interest, but I would have rested
+there without further speech until the guard came, had he not first
+broken silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And she sent you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I said."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To me, not Lafrénière, her father?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There was a possible chance to save one, not two."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! yes, I understand that; yet it doth puzzle me why she should
+have chosen as she did.  Know you just why it was De Noyan instead of
+Lafrénière?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame selected me for action, not advice," I answered shortly, now
+thoroughly tired of his questioning.  "Lafrénière, I understood,
+positively refused opportunity to escape, from scruples of conscience.
+Besides, the father must be near the end of his days, while you were
+yet young, with long life before you.  No doubt this also had weight
+with her decision.  As for myself I sincerely wish it might have been
+some other, so I could have brought my aid to a man of sense."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He rose up, shrugging his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are not especially choice in speech, yet your purpose harmonizes
+somewhat with my present humor.  I will risk the effort; so now tell me
+your plan?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I permitted no sign of pleasure at his decision to appear in my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did intend dressing you in this cassock so you might play priest,
+and slip safely past the guard beneath its gray cover," I said quietly.
+"I purposed remaining behind, arranging for myself as best I might; but
+now that we have met, to be perfectly frank about it, I retain no
+confidence in your discretion which will warrant the risk.  I therefore
+decide we had better abide together until this venture be done."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He smiled, apparently in rare good humor at my words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No doubt it will prove best, my friend.  Your wider knowledge should
+supplement my boyish enthusiasm," he responded with mocking bow.  "I
+rather suspect, from outward appearance, you may be some years my
+junior, yet in life experience I readily yield you the palm.  So lead
+on, most noble Captain; from henceforth command me as your devoted
+follower.  And now, your excellency, I trust you will pardon if I
+venture the inquiry, what would you have your humble servant do?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I permitted him to ramble along as he pleased.  Now I had won his
+pledge I cared little for the nature of his raillery.  While he talked
+I flung open the great chest upon which I had been sitting, and
+discovering it packed with clothing, hastily dragged the various
+articles forth, flinging them into the lower berth, covering the pile
+with blankets in such a manner that they resembled the sleeping figure
+of a man.  Then I turned toward him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My first order, Monsieur, is that you get in here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! not I&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There came a quick, firm footstep sounding along the passageway
+without; then a hand fell heavily upon the latch of the door.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap08"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+FAVORED OF THE GODS
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+It seemed as if my heart must choke me at sound of those steady
+footsteps approaching down the passageway.  I heard the sharp click of
+a gun-barrel in the sentry's hand as he presented arms, then the noise
+of the uplifting latch, yet remained so paralyzed by the suddenness of
+it as to be fairly helpless, unable to move from my position.  De Noyan
+merely smiled lazily, as though this new act formed part of the play,
+beginning calmly to roll another cigarette.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The devil came likewise," he murmured lightly, sinking back upon his
+stool.  "Begin your paternosters, friend Benteen, or he will fly away
+with both of us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fortunately these mocking words brought me to my senses quickly enough
+to permit dropping upon my knees with back to the door before it swung
+wide open.  Nor did I trust myself to do aught save mumble inarticulate
+and mongrel Latin, until it had been safely closed again.  Had I sought
+to exercise my wits on this occasion, my companion permitted small
+opportunity for words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! so it is you, you black-faced Arab?" he exclaimed sneeringly, as
+the Commandant of the guard peered curiously in.  "Not content to wait
+the striking of the ship's bell, you must even interrupt my prayers.
+Nice treatment of a gentleman his last night on earth, to push yourself
+in between him and the consolations of the holy father.  <I>Sacre</I>! had I
+only a small sword at my side I would write a message across your black
+Spanish heart which would teach your master how to guard a French
+cavalier safely, and still be decent about it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It is doubtful whether the officer comprehended this tirade.  It was
+voiced in French, yet tone and manner must have conveyed much of its
+import, for I distinguished a muttered word or so regarding the
+unpleasant duty of a soldier, and the length of time the priest had
+retained the key, ere the intruder finally backed out closing the door
+behind him.  I clung to my knees, however, until his retreating
+footsteps had died entirely away in the distance; even until De Noyan
+addressed me again in his exasperating drawl.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So, Father, you must now realize, if never before, how highly I value
+your ministrations.  Faith! never until this hour have I truly enjoyed
+the prayers of any <I>padre</I>; I knew not what I missed.  Still there is
+limit even to such pleasure, and it is time now to conclude; I have
+heard better Latin in my day, while your provincial accent rasps
+painfully upon the ears."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You made your play quite well, Monsieur," I said shortly, somewhat
+mortified he should thus take the leadership out of my hands at the
+first symptom of danger.  "But there must be something besides
+play-acting for us to-night if we get free of this ship.  So come now;
+do you get into the box?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He looked down at it doubtfully, with a shrug of the shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Pardieu</I>!  I would ask certain questions first," he said with greater
+show of seriousness.  "For how long a time? for what sort of a passage?
+It will prove somewhat cramped, I take it, for a man of my length of
+limb."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope both may prove short," I returned, continuing to hold up the
+lid for him to enter.  "Yet I know of no other possible means whereby
+you can leave this room without being halted by the guard at the door.
+There is no certainty in this, yet there is a chance, Chevalier, and
+that ought always to be invitation to a brave man.  Beyond this it is
+God's affair."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier twisted his long moustaches reflectively, a new light
+gleaming in the eyes that fronted me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>, man!" he said at last stepping forward in sudden resolution.
+"As you say it may be worth trying, but it's not unlike climbing into a
+coffin three sizes too small for the deceased.  Still I 'll bide
+therein for a while, only, I warn you, you better be easy when you put
+me down, or the corpse may furnish a sudden resurrection."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It proved truly no easy task to stow him safely in that contracted
+space.  At any other time I should have laughed outright, marking the
+final result of our combined efforts, especially at the expression,
+half ludicrous, half pathetic, upon his face as he gazed up at me just
+before the lid was closed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now mind, Chevalier," I said gravely, for had I ventured upon a smile
+at his predicament he would have popped instantly forth again, "you are
+to make no movement of any kind until left alone.  When certain of that
+you may venture out of the chest, but remain quiet until you hear from
+me again."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-110"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-110.jpg" ALT="Had I ventured upon a smile at his predicament he would have popped instantly forth again." BORDER="2" WIDTH="471" HEIGHT="726">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Had I ventured upon a smile at his predicament <BR>
+he would have popped instantly forth again.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"You believe you know a way?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Under God's guidance yes, if you will only bear your part."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without pausing for his answer I dropped the heavy cover over him, and
+gave vent to a sigh of relief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So far, at least I had won; thus far the gods had favored me.  In spite
+of the obstacle of temperament I had found means to attain my end, to
+work my will, yet I realized well De Noyan would never bear such
+uncomfortable posture long; whatever was to be accomplished must be
+done quickly.  Fortunately my plan, dim and doubtful as it was, had
+already taken outline.  I had determined what to endeavor; it must be
+attempted at once, with bold heart, or the opportunity would be gone
+forever.  Pulling the hood across my face, I partially opened the door,
+glancing out upon the curious sentry.  To my relief he was alone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose the Commandant told you to give me a lift out with this
+box?" I asked in Spanish.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, señor <I>padre</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man was exceedingly good-natured, evidently one who had profound
+respect for the cloth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Caramba</I>!" I growled angrily, using the Spanish tongue so he might
+not miss my meaning.  "He promised it only a moment ago, when he looked
+in.  He must have forgotten.  There is no sense in having such a great
+chest lumbering up the entire room.  Know you how it ever came there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was the señor Lieutenant's state-room, <I>padre</I>, before the
+prisoners were brought aboard.  I think it might be his sea-chest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, the Commandant said it could be removed, so out it goes.  It
+leaves no space for us to kneel in prayer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I bent down as I spoke, exerting all my strength, and succeeded in
+dragging the heavy, iron-bound chest forward, across the threshold.  My
+heart beat fiercely in misgiving lest the guard might feel moved to
+interfere, but he never stirred; merely gazed at my movements in stolid
+wonder.  Concealing from him all the interior possible with my body, I
+spoke a brief word of farewell to the prisoner, supposed to be safely
+within, then closed and locked the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here," I said authoratively, my cheeks flushed with delight at so
+successful an issue, "lay hold on one end of this, and give me a lift."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Obligingly, and apparently without a moment's reflection as to his
+duty, the soldier, young in years and doubtless a new recruit, leaned
+his gun against the mast, bending down with hand upon the rope handle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where to, señor <I>padre</I>?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Commandant said it might be placed in the store-room.  'Twill stow
+away safely enough there, and bother nobody.  Know you where that is?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay; only a step this way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lead on then, yet Saint Cecilia! it makes no light load.  The
+Lieutenant must have kept his stock of wine within."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I durst not venture bearing the thing farther, fearful lest we might
+run afoul of others of the guard who would prove more suspicious than
+this honest fellow, besides, all my hasty plan of escape hung now upon
+the faith retained, that the half-open cuddy door had direct
+communication with the provisions stored below.  Surely they could
+never be loaded and unloaded by means of the distant hatch-ladder.  So
+dull and unintelligent in the dim light appeared the face of the fellow
+opposite, as we strained forward beneath the weight of the chest, I
+ventured upon a question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How does the cook get out all that provender from here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not, señor <I>padre</I>; but I think there will be opening from the
+store-room to the upper deck.  They were at work there yesterday while
+I was on guard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By good fortune the room sought was only three doors down the
+passageway.  As it was, my forehead was wet with perspiration for fear
+De Noyan would lose what little stock of patience he possessed before
+we reached there, or that the Spaniard would begin to wonder at the
+surprising weight.  Dropping the chest with good will amid the raffle
+littering up the floor space, we came forth together, the soldier to
+pick up his gun, while, mopping my face vigorously, I proceeded forth
+into the guard-room for the purpose of delivering up the key.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This was a task I approached with dread.  Even now some slight slip of
+tongue, or action, could easily ruin everything accomplished, yet I
+durst not omit the precaution, lest the missing key awaken suspicion
+and lead to immediate pursuit.  Here, again, fortune played strangely
+into my hands, as I discovered the officer dozing in his chair, and,
+stepping softly, so as not to arouse him, I gladly handed that
+important bit of iron over to the care of one of the guard, himself too
+drowsy from potations to trouble me with questioning.  Relieved of this
+duty, my heart filled with gratitude for all the mercies of the night,
+I betook myself up the ladder unmolested, and a moment later stood in
+comparative freedom upon the open deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I could scent the coming dawn in the fresh morning air the moment I
+arose through the hatch opening, yet there was no sign of it in the
+sky; indeed I felt there must be fog in the atmosphere, it rendered it
+so thick, although not sufficiently heavy to drip in moisture.  It
+required only a moment to locate all life present along the forward
+deck, and I became convinced few wakeful eyes remained among them at
+this sleepiest of all hours of the night.  Trusting to this, as well as
+the garb I wore for concealment, I walked boldly back as far as the
+mainmast, meeting no one.  Then, fearful of observation from the
+officer still pacing the poop, I skulked stealthily along in the black
+shadow of the cook's galley, until I reached the cuddy door, quaking
+with fear lest it fail me.  It opened instantly to the touch of the
+hand, and with heart throbbing wildly, for now all that had been
+accomplished hung in the balance of this last experiment, I groped
+about within seeking to solve the mystery of that gloomy interior.  The
+place had the feel of a big, square box; by stretching out across the
+edge I could barely reach the farther side, but could touch no bottom,
+nor did I feel the rungs of any ladder leading down.  It resembled a
+well, and the thought immediately took possession of me that the crew
+hauled up their provisions by use of ropes, yet I could discover no
+hoisting apparatus of any kind.  With head projected far below the deck
+level I ventured a soft whisper into the darkness:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you there, Chevalier?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a slight movement beneath, as if he drew closer to where I
+was.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, it is all right," he returned, his voice so modulated as to be
+barely audible.  "But I discover nothing in this darkness to aid in
+reaching the deck.  Know you where a rope can be secured?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay; lie quiet until I return."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a bit ticklish, yet required doing.  A trip to the foremast put
+in my possession quite a section of line sliced from off the rope's end
+previously left dangling from the upper yard.  Incidentally as I passed
+back and forth I revisited Father Cassati, still resting easily in his
+bonds, but now peacefully sleeping off his earlier potations
+undiscovered upon the hard deck.  Returning with my treasure, I payed
+it out into the intense blackness of the cuddy hole, and anxiously
+awaited developments below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nor had I long to wait&mdash;there came a touch on the line followed by a
+firmer pull, as if the party below tested its strength.  For a moment
+the cord wiggled about as if the man was working with his end to some
+purpose, then there followed three sharp jerks which I interpreted to
+mean to hoist away.  I promptly put my full strength to it, bracing
+both feet firmly against a heavy cross-piece of timber, evidently
+nailed there for that very purpose.  The rope ran over a small roller
+set close against the coaming, which I had failed to observe in my
+hasty search, so I found the strain less than expected, although a
+heavy weight was evidently attached to the other end.  But I uplifted
+this, for I was vain of my strength in those days, and the distance was
+not so great but that shortly his hands managed to grip hold upon the
+deck planks, and a moment later he stood beside me, complacent and
+debonair as ever, in the dense shadows of the galley.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! 'tis a most scurvy trick we are playing on the Dons, friend
+Benteen," he murmured smiling easily, while peering about him in the
+darkness.  "And now, what is the next act in this midnight melodrama,
+most cautious youth?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The keeping of a still tongue until we are both overboard," I replied
+somewhat roughly.  "Follow me closely, and keep quiet about it, if you
+retain the slightest care for your life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not much of a trick, the rest of it, and within five minutes we
+were silently floating down the great river, through the darkness,
+seeking after some quiet landing-place below the fleet.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap09"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BIRTH OF THE DEATH-DAWN
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+We durst not swim to the nearest landing, just beyond the bow of the
+big flag-ship we had so unceremoniously quitted, fearing our efforts to
+stem the current might attract the attention of some watcher on board.
+So permitting myself to drift silently beneath the vessel's stern,
+without the stir of a limb to disturb the water, I was soon well away
+from the great black shadow.  Without a word De Noyan followed.  Yet
+time was far too precious to permit long drifting, and at the earliest
+moment I dared the venture we turned aside, striking out boldly for the
+shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must move rapidly, Chevalier, to make up lost time," I cautioned
+briefly, wading out, dripping, upon the bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are the streets patrolled by the Dons?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! although not as thoroughly as when the Spaniards first landed.  We
+shall require to exercise caution."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where do you take me?  There can be no safe hiding spot in New
+Orleans?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know none.  We go to the rear of a long row of tobacco sheds near
+the North Gate.  A boat thoroughly stocked, with two oar men, awaits
+us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I mind the place," he said eagerly, "I outfitted there for hunting
+more than once.  It is best for me to lead, as I know well every inch
+of the path, and have grown interested in the play."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He certainly proved his familiarity with that labyrinth of sombre
+streets and alleys.  Selecting a devious course, stooping low beneath
+the black shadows of walls and fences, he yet set so swift a gait with
+his confounded long legs it kept me puffing to follow.  But we found
+clear passage, seeing no one close enough to interfere with our rapid
+progress, while no challenge sounded, until we crept, silently as
+possible, around the dilapidated end of the old tobacco shed, and a
+black figure, scarcely distinguishable in the gloom, suddenly arose,
+uttering no word, yet with threatening gesture, barring further passage
+toward the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Virginia," I gasped, breathless from the hard run.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bless de Lawd, Massa Benteen," returned a darky voice.  "An' Massa
+Charlie, as I 'm a sinner.  I tell you, sah, we done 'bout gib you both
+up fo' suah."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stop talking just now, Alphonse, and lead along lively," said De
+Noyan, with returning authority.  "We can converse later, in
+surroundings more congenial."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another moment and we were in the boat, the Chevalier pushing it clear
+of the bank, then lightly clambering in over the stern.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Benteen," he exclaimed, panting heavily, "I confess I'm about useless
+from lack of wind.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I 've been housed so long I am weak as an
+invalid, yet I can steer the craft if you inform me where 'tis best to
+go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Up country is our only chance," I gasped, grasping an oar, vaguely
+noting a second figure huddled within the bow.  "All the lower water is
+patrolled by the fleet, but above there are plenty of hiding places.
+Lay down to it hard, you black rascals; you are pulling for your lives."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Noyan extended his hand toward the east.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be dawn in about an hour," he said, a tone of earnestness
+creeping into his soft voice.  "We can never pull against this stiff
+current so as to get any distance in that time.  This east shore is
+flat as a board for leagues.  I 'm for heading straight across.  If we
+gain the west bank within an hour, or even two, the Devil himself would
+have a hard job to find us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on," I muttered, bending grimly to my task.  "You know this country
+better than I.  When we reach upper waters it will be my turn to guide."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As I uttered these words, a bit impatiently, there sounded a quick step
+on the low bank at our right.  A sharp voice cleaved the darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Halt there!  Halt that boat, or I put a ball through you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sheer off lively, lads," I whispered.  "Swing her head out, Chevalier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a rush of feet down the steep embankment.  Then a second
+voice questioned eagerly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What was it you saw, Sanchez?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing, Señor; I heard voices out yonder.  Listen!  As the saints
+watch, 't is the dip of oars."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Halt that boat, or we shoot!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There followed a moment's painful pause.  An oar in our bow slipped,
+making an awkward splash in the water.  "<I>Caramba</I>! you will not?  Take
+aim, men&mdash;fire."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A jagged flash of flame cleaved the night.  It lit the steep bank,
+flinging a bright glare across the dark waters.  In that instant I saw,
+my face set shoreward, a dozen black figures clustered in a bunch.  One
+ball crashed into the planking close beside my hand, hurling a splinter
+of wood against my face.  The boat gave a sudden tremor, and, with a
+quick, sharp cry of pain, the negro next me leaped into the air, and
+went plunging overboard.  I flung forth a hand in vain effort to
+grapple his body, yet never touched it, and everything about became
+black once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The poor devil's gone," muttered De Noyan.  "The rest of you lay down
+to your oars, before they have time to load again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So quickly did this occur I do not believe we lost more than a stroke
+or two, and were already well out into the stream, nothing except our
+narrow stern pointing toward the bank, where some of the soldiers&mdash;we
+judged from their voices&mdash;were reloading for a second volley, the
+others searching the shore after some boat in which to begin the
+pursuit.  It was a hard pull, especially upon my part, as I chanced to
+sit on the lower side, having full sweep of the current tugging against
+my oar, while De Noyan headed the boat as directly as possible for the
+western shore.  The soldiers, completely swallowed in the gloom, made
+no further attempt to fire; possibly, having seen the fall of the
+black, they believed their work done.  Nor did other sounds reach us
+evidencing pursuit; for that moment at least we were free.  It was then
+I watched the coming of the dawn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a slight, scarcely perceptible, shading into a lighter tinge
+of the clinging black shadows that veiled the eastern sky, dimly
+revealing misty outlines of white, fleecy clouds extending above the
+faint horizon line, until they assumed a spectral brightness, causing
+me to dream of the fairies' dwellings which my mother pictured to me in
+childhood.  Gently the delicate awakening spread along the wider
+expanse of sky, which became bluish gray, gradually expanding and
+reflecting its glow along the water, until this also became a portion
+of the vast arch, while the darker borderland, now far astern, formed
+merely a distant shade, a background to the majestic picture.  The east
+became gradually a lighter, more pronounced gray; rosy streaks shot
+upward through the cloud masses, driving them higher into an
+ever-deepening upper blue like a flock of frightened birds, until at
+last the whole eastern horizon blushed like a red rose, while above the
+black line of distant, shadowy trees, the blazing rim of the sun itself
+uplifted, casting a wide bar of dazzling gold along our wake.  Gazing
+thus, every thought of our surroundings, our dangers, and fatigue
+passed from memory.  Bending to the oar, my soul was far away upon a
+voyage of its own.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some unusual movement served to attract attention from this
+day-dreaming, my eyes falling suddenly upon De Noyan.  His face, turned
+partially away from the rising sun, was gray with anxiety, and I noted
+he shivered in his wet clothes.  Yet his smile and speech seemed
+jauntily unconcerned as ever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yonder was to have been my last sunrise," he remarked grimly, nodding
+backward across his shoulder.  "'Tis about the hour now for those in
+the hands of the Dons to have their backs against the wall."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I caught a sound as of a partially suppressed sob behind me, but before
+I could turn sufficiently to ascertain the cause, the Chevalier sprang
+past, rocking the little boat furiously, and my ears overheard that
+which caused me to keep my face set the other way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eloise!" he exclaimed exultantly.  "Are you here, little wife?  Mon
+Dieu!  I dreamed it not; yet should have known you would never leave
+such duty to the slaves."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was simply compelled to come," she answered, and I could mark her
+voice falter.  "Do not be angry with me.  What have I now left except
+you?  The rising of the sun sealed my father's fate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True," he admitted soberly, lifting his hat in grave gesture.  "I feel
+like a condemned coward, my name a byword for the rabble, being here in
+such comparative safety, when, in honor, I should be lying beside my
+comrades."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; say not that!  You are young; much of life, of usefulness, lies
+before you.  I knew that at the best only one destined victim might be
+plucked from the Spaniard's vengeance.  It was at his approval I made
+choice of you.  My father is robbed of but few years, while you are too
+young to die.  Somewhere&mdash;God guiding&mdash;we shall find a home again, and
+days of peace."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! you were ever of brave heart, Eloise.  But let us not forget we
+yet remain in reach of Spanish claws, and they are merciless.  Go back
+to the tiller a while, and let me lay hold upon this oar; 'tis heavy
+work for such soft hands as yours.  Point the course direct for the
+cane island&mdash;you must remember it; you were there once with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I fail to recall even glancing into her face as she sat fronting me,
+her hands upon the tiller bar.  I durst not, fearing some telltale
+expression within my eyes might bring her added pain.  So I sat with
+glance downcast upon the planks, while tugging doggedly at the oar with
+all my strength, feeling that same sunrise had brought with it my own
+death warrant.  So dull and heavy grew my heart with lonely weariness,
+I cannot guess how long we pulled before the boat's nose ran up upon
+the shore, and De Noyan, springing overboard, dragged it well beyond
+view among the thick cane.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We shall be safe enough here," he exclaimed lightly, gazing about with
+approval.  "Come, Eloise, step on this dry sand, for you must be
+greatly cramped from so tedious a passage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As I arose, the more easily to permit her passing me in the narrow
+space, she suddenly grasped both my hands within her own; then my eyes
+glanced up once more to meet hers, dark with unshed tears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not think, Geoffrey Benteen," she said brokenly, her voice
+vibrating with emotion, "that I fail to realize what this means to you.
+Your troubled face has been a silent accuser of me this hour past.  But
+I thank you; you have proven yourself a man, such a man as I have ever
+believed you to be.  May the good God bless you and bring you peace."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay!" chimed in her husband, apparently in good humor.  "He's the
+nerviest fellow ever I met, Eloise.  <I>Sacre</I>! had you hunted this
+province over you could never have found one to perform better work
+this night.  I wonder how it was you chanced upon him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without venturing a word in reply to either of them, I helped her
+gravely over the boat's side, within grasp of his outstretched hand,
+all about us the warm sunshine piercing the thick canes with golden
+light.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap10"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER X
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A COVERT IN THE CANE
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Our boat was securely hidden amid a thick growth of reeds, which
+extended their domain far down the shore, even out into the river
+shallows.  These reeds sprang quickly back into position as we pressed
+through, leaving no trail for pursuers to follow.  Nevertheless, making
+all secure on board, and removing from the locker a quantity of biscuit
+and some smoked meat, we took the further precaution of covering the
+boat with rushes so as thoroughly to disguise its presence from prying
+eyes.  Satisfied with the result of these efforts, we clambered up the
+slight ridge to where we found a small open space, carpeted with soft
+grass, and sufficiently elevated to permit our looking about above the
+level of the cane, while remaining concealed ourselves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Our lodgment was upon a small island, a stream of languidly flowing
+water extending between us and the main west shore.  This, so far as my
+eyes could distinguish, did not differ in appearance from our present
+abiding place, being composed of low, swampy land, thickly covered with
+a heavy growth of cane, and exhibiting no sign of human habitation.
+The sole break to this dull monotony of outline was a narrow fringe of
+trees situated farther back, where doubtless firmer soil gave spread to
+their roots.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Northward the eye might trace the slight curve of the bank for miles.
+It appeared irregular and low, slightly diversified by small, marshy
+islands, similar to this we occupied, possibly cloven from the mainland
+by some eccentricity of current.  Occasionally I distinguished openings
+into lagoons, such passages into the low-lying mainland being evidenced
+by the deeper green of the vegetation bordering them, as well as by
+wind-twisted trees clinging despairingly to the crooked banks.  East
+and south swept the river, so broad our eyes could barely trace the dim
+presence of a distant shore.  Below, that majestic yellow flood poured
+downward unbroken, although De Noyan imagined he perceived distant
+spars of the Spanish fleet outlined against the blue background of the
+southern sky.  This may have been possible, yet to my eyes all was
+blank, although I could mark pretty accurately where they should have
+been.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We indulged in little conversation, reclining on the short grass,
+partaking of our cold meal.  The Chevalier attempted a sorry jest or
+two, yet soon subsided, discovering so unresponsive an audience.  It
+was plain to my mind the reflections of Madame were altogether with her
+father&mdash;lying dead before this hour&mdash;and this sad memory darkened even
+the delight of her husband's safety.  His affected gayety of manner,
+and reckless speech, jarred more harshly upon her in this hour than
+perhaps ever before in her life.  Yet she made a pathetically brave
+effort to appear of good cheer, managing to eat with us, although it
+was easy to perceive the food choked her, while her eyes were blurred
+with tears resolutely held in restraint.  It was plain, I say, yet this
+is but my thought, for I question whether De Noyan, in his careless
+mood, observed her depression.  He was of a nature reflecting slightly
+on any save himself; past sorrow being quickly forgotten in any present
+gleam of sun.  As we thus ended this silent meal it occurred to me they
+might require slumber more than I, and I expressed my willingness to
+stand guard while they sought rest.  Perhaps my face told a tale of
+weariness easily read, for this proposal met immediate resistance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no, Geoffrey Benteen," exclaimed Madame impulsively, "what have I
+done except sit quietly in a boat, waiting the passing of the hours?
+You have been through strain and labor which wears out life.  It is you
+who will lie here upon my wrap, trusting me to call should need arise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hush, both of you," impatiently burst in De Noyan, rising to his feet,
+and gazing across the sparkling water.  "A watch would have small
+value.  There is no safer spot on all the lower river than this; if the
+Dons discover it, no way of escape exists even were we all awake and
+ready.  To remain quiet is all we can do, and how can we accomplish
+that better than by going to sleep?  <I>Sacre</I>!  I am a soldier, and not
+apt to make light of a guard, yet," and he stifled a yawn, "I see no
+necessity here, nor could I be more completely played after a night of
+dancing at a Creole ball."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus the matter was agreed upon, not altogether to my liking, but I
+yielded owing to too great weariness to argue.  At first Madame
+protested she could not sleep, yet finally consented to lie down.  As
+to myself my head had scarcely pressed the soft pillow of grass before
+I was lost in slumber.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A blessing of youth lies in the fact that sleep then truly gives rest.
+The tired body responds so thoroughly to the gentle touch of slumber
+that the latter becomes a magician capable of restoring every faculty
+to complete power.  It was thus I rested motionless, and it was nearly
+evening before I stirred, although the sun must have been streaming
+directly across my upturned face for hours.  I awoke to perfect
+consciousness of our situation, as naturally as ever in a bed at home.
+Dimly impressed that some unusual noise had aroused me, I immediately
+sat upright.  This change of posture brought my eyes on a level with
+the tops of the cane on either side, and, my face being turned
+southward, there was outspread before me the full, broad sweep of the
+Mississippi, glinting under the westering sun, so that for a moment it
+dazzled eyes yet clogged with the heaviness of sleep.  Then I perceived
+what afforded me so severe a shock that I ducked hastily down into my
+covert, every faculty instantly alert.  Close in against the reeds, as
+though skirting the low line of the shore, loomed the black outline of
+a large boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coming bow on toward the place of our concealment, every eye in her
+would naturally be scanning the spot where we lay hidden, and I durst
+not raise my head again until assured they had passed by.  I rolled
+partially over to gain view of the others of our own party.  Both were
+slumbering heavily, Eloise near the western edge of the little grass
+plot, wrapped within a great shawl so as to leave not even her head
+visible, while De Noyan rested within easy reach of my outstretched
+arm, breathing so heavily I felt it safer to arouse him, before that
+strange boat should come abreast.  It required severe shaking, his
+sleep being that of sheer exhaustion, yet he proved sufficiently a
+trained soldier to obey instantly my signal for silence.  Nor were
+words needed to explain the reason, as by this time the sound of oars
+was clearly audible.  Suddenly some one spoke, apparently at our very
+side.  Lying as I was I noticed the shawl pushed hastily down from
+Madame's face, her brown eyes gazing questioningly across into my own;
+yet, with rare self-control, not so much as a limb quivered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I tell you, <I>padre</I>, there's nothing along this cursed cane-marsh,"
+growled a deep rumbling voice in Spanish.  "It is a mere bog, in which
+a man would sink to his armpits, were he to venture outside the boat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bog it may be," retorted a sharper, petulant voice, the sound of which
+was oddly familiar, "but I tell you this, Señor, 'tis on this very
+shore French gallants come hunting from New Orleans.  There is dry land
+in plenty beyond the fringe of reeds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Saprista</I>! there may be, as there may be water in Hell, but I 'll
+never tangle my boat amid that mass of cane to make its discovery.  Let
+the frog-eaters have it, say I; the saints bless them.  Come, pull away
+sharply, lads, and we'll see what the shore-line looks like above."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sound of dipping oars instantly increased in rapidity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are one pig-headed fool of an officer, Señor," snarled the sharp
+voice contemptuously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mother of God!" roared the other, enraged.  "Speak so again, you dog
+of a French priest, and even your gray robe will not save you from
+tasting the mud at the bottom.  Do you want to know what I think of
+you?  Well, I 'll tell you, you snivelling, drunken singer of
+paternosters&mdash;you did more to help that fellow escape than you 'd care
+to have known.  Now you 're trying to hold us back until he has time to
+get safely away up the river.  That's my opinion of you, you snarling
+gray-back, and if you dare breathe another word, I 'll give orders to
+chuck you overboard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where do you purpose going?" ventured the cowed priest, in a subdued
+tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Straight up the stream.  That's where your cursed Frenchman has
+disappeared so swiftly, unless the guard at the North Gate shot him, as
+they swear to O'Reilly.  So sit there quiet, and hold your tongue&mdash;you
+may command the Devil, for all I care, but I 'm in charge of this boat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sound of angry controversy died away in the distance.  Cautiously I
+lifted my eyes to the level of the cane, and peered over.  The Spanish
+boat, a large one propelled by the vigorous sweep of twelve oars, was
+already a hundred yards above, swiftly stemming the current.  From
+their gestures I judged the debate yet raged between the gray-robe
+crouched in the stern, and the big, burly fellow, resplendent in gold
+lace, standing up and urging his oarsmen to greater exertion.  Within
+ten minutes they rounded the upper point, and when they again appeared
+within vision, the boat was a mere dot floating in the midst of the
+golden sunshine, where the setting sun gave a good-night kiss to the
+vast, sombre river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Noyan's boyish face was aglow with unconcealed amusement as I turned
+toward him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, Benteen," he asked, twirling his moustache, and staring after
+them, "what was it the Dons said?  <I>Peste</I>!  I could not make out a
+word of their lingo, except when the fellows swore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I repeated to him the conversation, and he burst into a hearty laugh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Indeed, a sweet-scented Frenchman, that Capuchin priest," he said
+carelessly.  "I wonder what has so set the drunken fool against me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not you, Chevalier," I acknowledged, feeling a touch of his
+spirit; "it is rather that lad who landed so heavily behind his ear
+last night, and who ran such a merry masquerade in monk's robe as never
+Spanish war-ship saw before.  I warrant it is I the holy father seeks
+so savagely.  Faith, it would be pleasant to know how he got out of the
+pickle in which I left him.  'T is odd the Dons did not use him in your
+place."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, that will be the cause, for I did nothing to anger the fellow,
+except it was to laugh at his prayers, with a joke at the quality of
+his Latin.  But Dieu protect you, Monsieur, if ever he gets whip-hand.
+A revengeful priest is more to be feared than a rabid dog.  I stirred
+one of his breed once at the Cathedral by some wild prank, and carry
+the scar of it still.  But come, it becomes dusk.  Let's break our
+fast, and while eating consider the best plan for the night.  Eloise,
+do you awaken refreshed?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She came quickly forward, a smile for us both, looking dainty and
+sweet, although the heavy mass of brown hair appeared somewhat
+dishevelled from her unaccustomed pillow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must have been exceedingly tired," she confessed pleasantly, "for I
+slept with never a dream, and this is my first experience of lying
+without the covering of a roof.  It was all strange and solemn at
+first, with never a sound except the dismal whispering of wind through
+the cane, and the dull murmur of the river.  The very, stillness, no
+doubt, lulled me to slumber.  Nay!" and she sprang hastily forward,
+taking from my hands the few provisions I was bearing.  "That is to be
+my part of the work, Geoffrey Benteen, not yours.  You will find hard
+enough task before morning, while there remains so little for me that I
+refuse to be robbed of any rights."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I realized, watching her prepare our scant meal, that she was bravely
+endeavoring to appear gay, while her heart remained heavy from memory
+of her father.  Whether this assumed levity deceived De Noyan I cannot
+say&mdash;he was of a volatile nature, easily swayed by either smile or
+tear, and instantly joined responsive to her seeming mood.  I left them
+thus, engaged in pleasant badinage, while seeking some spot where I
+might bathe my heated face.  It was no small hardship to watch them
+thus together.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seated upon the grass, lingering over the rude repast, we discussed our
+situation, seeking to outline vaguely our future plans.  De Noyan was
+for keeping close against the western bank as we progressed northward.
+He had hunted amid the marshes, and remembered sufficiently the
+formation of the shore-line to be aware that for several leagues it
+remained thickly skirted by small islands, while numerous bayous
+offered secure hiding-places.  In this choice I acquiesced, urging also
+that the downward flow of the current would sweep with greater force
+along the opposite shore; besides which the search-boat, just passing
+us on the way up-stream, would be more likely to return along the
+eastern bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no reason," I continued, "why we should delay departure
+longer.  We can keep the boat beneath the shadows of the bank, and even
+if the Dons stop to make camp, they would hardly do so without building
+a fire, which would afford ample warning to sheer out into the stream.
+If they return along this shore&mdash;as is unlikely&mdash;we should hear the
+heavy strokes of their oars before they caught the sound of our lighter
+ones.  I am for embarking at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This agreed upon, within a half-hour we were pushing slow passage
+through the thick cane, soon finding ourselves once again afloat upon
+the broad water, the prow of our boat turned up-stream, while here and
+there a dim star winked down upon us between scurrying clouds.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap11"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A NIGHT IN THE BOAT
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+This was one of many nights we passed in the narrow confines of the
+boat during our flight northward.  Yet its incidents remain in memory
+with peculiar distinctness of detail.  I do not recall exactly how it
+occurred, but my duty during that first night chanced to place me at
+the after oar.  In consequence I sat directly facing Madame de Noyan,
+operating the rudder bar.  It was so warm, merely a delicate, fragrant
+breeze blowing from the south, she had felt no necessity for drawing up
+her hood, and the soft light of distant stars, glimmering along the
+bosom of the river, reflected back into her face, illumining it until I
+could almost note the changing expression within her dark eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a sadder, graver face than the one I associated with her
+girlhood.  Yet I could scarce forbear an impression that it was now a
+sweeter one, more womanly, faint lines beginning to mark its satin
+smoothness with impress of sorrow.  To my thought a new, higher
+womanhood had found birth within, during weary days and nights of
+suspense and suffering.  It was yet torture to me constantly beholding
+these two together, but, as I observed her then, I thanked the good God
+who had permitted me to be near her in time of trial.  In patience I
+would serve, even though I must suffer.  Tears were clinging to her
+long lashes, and occasionally one would glitter an instant upon her
+white cheek, as she leaned her face upon one hand, from which the loose
+sleeve fell away, revealing an arm like chiselled marble.  She made no
+effort at concealing these evidences of emotion, doubtless believing
+them sufficiently hidden by the gloomy shadows.  Nor did she appear to
+glance at me, keeping her own gaze directly ahead, where the dark,
+swirling waters merged into the mystery of the North.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We were none of us in talkative mood&mdash;although I heard De Noyan, behind
+me, humming a light French air, as though perfectly free from
+trouble&mdash;and I have no recollection of exchanging a word for more than
+an hour.  We merely continued to pull sturdily against the downward
+rush of the stream, the deep silence of the night broken only by the
+dripping of uplifted blades, or the occasional far-off hooting of an
+owl upon the bank to our left.  The pressure of the river's current was
+scarcely perceptible close against the shore, so we made fair progress.
+Yet it was hard work, neither of us being accustomed to such exercise,
+the heavy oars feeling awkward to the hand.  The grim uncertainty of
+the future, coupled with our solitary surroundings, exercised a
+depressing influence upon the spirits of each, although differing
+widely in degree, according to our several natures.  Undoubtedly this
+same sense of dreariness led De Noyan to sing, caused me such painful
+restlessness under that same singing, and left Eloise saddened in her
+lonely thoughts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Every occurrence impressed me that night as unusual.  Perchance this
+was because both heart and head were sadly out of tune.  Yet, at best,
+it was a lonesome journey, and remains a grewsome memory, haunting with
+many a spectre, as weird as the shadows of delirium.  The few stars,
+peeping shyly forth between scurrying black cloud masses, were so far
+away they merely silvered the cloud edges, leaving them as though
+carven from granite.  The low shore, often within reach of our oar
+blades, appeared gloomy and inhospitable, the spectral rushes creeping
+far out upon the water like living things, seeming to grasp after us as
+the wind swept them, and we glided past in phantom silence.  Beyond,
+like a great black wall, arose higher ground, occasionally jutting into
+bare bluffs outlined against the lighter sky; again diversified by
+gaunt dead trees, their fleshless limbs extended upward toward ghostly
+pillars of vapor ever floating from off the river's surface.
+Occasionally, jaggedly uneven, close-set trunks of forest growth would
+appear, spectral in solemn ugliness, a veritable hedge, impenetrable
+and grim.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If, with a shudder of disgust, I turned away from that lorn, dead line
+of shore, my eyes swept a waste of waters slipping solemnly past, while
+farther out, where sky and stream met and mingled in wild riot, the
+surging river swirled and leaped, its white-capped waves evidencing
+resistless volume.  It was a sight to awe one, that immense mass
+pouring forth from the upper darkness, flashing an instant beneath the
+star-gleam, only to disappear, a restless, relentless flood, black,
+unpitying, impenetrable, mysterious, a savage monster, beyond whose
+outstretched claws we crept, yet who at any moment might clutch us
+helpless in a horrible embrace.  It was a sight to stun, that brutal
+flood, gliding ever downward, while, far as eye could see, stretched
+the same drear expanse of cruel waters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From out that mystery would suddenly emerge, rolling toward us, as if
+born of the shadows, some grim apparition, a wildly tossing figure,
+with gaunt, uplifted arms beating the air, to startle for an instant,
+then fade from our ken into the dimness below.  Well I knew it was only
+driftwood, the gnarled trunk of uprooted tree made sport with by mad
+waves, yet more than once I shrank backward, my unstrung nerves
+tingling, as such shapeless, uncanny thing was hurled past like an
+arrow.  Nor were the noises that broke the silence less fearsome.  Bred
+to the wilderness, I little minded loneliness when in the depths of the
+backwoods, but this was different.  I cared nothing for the honk of
+wild fowl overhead, nor those sounds of varied animal life borne to us
+from off the black land; but that strange, dull roar, caused by great
+logs grinding together in the swirl of the current, and the groaning of
+bits of undermined shore as they gave way and dropped heavily into the
+water, racked my nerves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The peace I found lay in that sweet face, turned partially away, yet
+appearing fairer than ever beneath the protecting hood, drawn up as the
+night air grew chill.  Whether similar sense of strangeness and
+timidity rested upon her, I could not determine, yet I believed her
+thoughts so far away that our present surroundings were no more to her
+than the vaguest dream.  She scarcely stirred during all the hours I
+watched her; only once did she glance up, to smile as she met my eyes
+before I could withdraw them from her face.  Had she read aright their
+message, perchance this story might never have been written; yet purer,
+truer love no man ever gave to woman.  We must have continued thus,
+pulling silently, for hours before De Noyan broke the oppressive
+silence with impatient speech.  Indeed, not the least impressive
+feature of the grewsome night was his continued stillness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Le Diable</I>!" he exclaimed uneasily, shifting in his seat.  "If the
+Styx be more gloomy than this accursed stream, then Jesu pity its
+voyagers.  Never have I put in so miserable a night, to say nothing of
+a strained back, and a pair of sore hands.  What are those black,
+crawling things yonder?  <I>Mon Dieu</I>!  I have seen a thousand hideous
+demons since we left the cane."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced across my shoulder in the direction he pointed, glad enough
+to hear once again the sound of a voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only the fire-seared branch of a tree tossed on the current&mdash;the night
+rests heavily upon your nerves."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Heavily?  <I>Parbleu</I>! it has unmanned me with hideous silence, with
+creeping, ghostly mystery, until I am half mad, scarcely daring to
+whisper, in fear of my own voice.  Eloise, are you there? or have the
+spectres of this haunted journey flown away with you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Angels or demons, they would have naught of me," she replied in
+seeming unconsciousness of his mood.  "My thoughts, I fear, have been
+sufficiently sad to accord well with the gloom, only my shadows are
+within, not without."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! mine are all yonder," he exclaimed, indicating with a gesture
+the vast extent of angry water.  "Why should I bear heavy heart, except
+for brooding phantoms of the night?  Life is still mine in all its
+sweetness.  Not that I greatly valued it, to be sure, yet 'tis somewhat
+better than I once thought, and there is always pleasure left in the
+world for the young.  From whence springs your mood of sadness, Eloise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My thought was with my father."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis not strange it should be.  Yet, it might be better if you dwelt
+upon the brighter view of our own future.  He is at rest; no tears can
+be of aid.  But we can look forward to dreams of happiness.  'Tis my
+plan to cross the great ocean, seeking better fortune on the Continent.
+France, they say, has ever a vacant place for a good sword, nor is the
+king likely to refuse service to a nephew of Bienville.  You and I,
+Eloise, shall yet tread the Paris streets, nor shall we go as beggars."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I marked her quick smile, but thought it not wholly untouched by
+sadness, as she attempted answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We will hope for the best; yet, Monsieur, we are still deeply buried
+in the wilderness.  Ay! worse&mdash;in the country of our enemies.  You may
+not comprehend the full truth of this, but Spain lays claim now to all
+this great river, with the country bordering it.  O'Reilly has already
+despatched soldiers as high as the mouth of the Ohio, to guard its
+passage; so there is peril lurking before us, as well as behind."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"O'Reilly has sent soldiers northward?  How know you this, Eloise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was common talk in the town.  I saw with my own eyes the departure
+of one expedition.  It was composed of a captain, with twelve soldiers,
+destined for the Ohio.  I have heard that twice since others have been
+despatched northward, although to what points was unknown."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The saints defend us! 'tis indeed serious.  I supposed the boat which
+passed contained all the Dons on the upper river, but if this be true
+we may have to desert the stream, and take to the eastern trail on
+foot.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I like it not!  What say you, you sphinx of an English
+borderman?  Knew you this all along?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is news to me," I answered soberly.  "But if three expeditions have
+already been despatched north, there is little hope the land routes
+have been forgotten.  Beyond doubt every trail, white or Indian,
+leading toward French or English settlements, is by now patrolled by
+the Dons.  Nor can we hope to gain passage by surprise.  That
+man-of-war boat will spread far the rumor of your escape, so every
+Spaniard between here and the Ohio will be on the lookout for our
+coming."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I imagine the same thought stole into the mind of both, how easily we
+two, travelling light, might press our way through that scattered line
+of guard, and attain the upper Ohio; how easily, only for the danger
+and distress to which so desperate an attempt would expose her.  She
+alone ventured to give the idea utterance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Messieurs," she said earnestly, her calm brown eyes uplifted to our
+faces, "I have been considering this for an hour past.  I know you
+would experience small trouble eluding the Spaniards, or even cutting
+your way through them, were I not with you.  Yet this is not beyond
+remedy.  I had sincerely hoped to prove of service when I usurped the
+slave's place in the boat; instead, I am an encumbrance, a weakling
+whom you must protect at the risk of your own lives.  Fortunately it is
+not yet too late to leave you free; it cannot be many miles back to New
+Orleans, and the current would bear me swiftly downward.  I have loyal
+friends in the town to hide the daughter of Lafrénière, should the
+Spaniards wage war against a woman, and surely some means would open
+whereby I might make the shores of France.  Perhaps I should be there
+in advance of you.  What say you, Messieurs, to such proposal?  Would
+it not be best?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The indignant feeling which swept me as I listened to this speech
+hardly needs dwelling upon.  Yet I held my tongue.  It was the
+privilege of De Noyan to make answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Parbleu</I>!" he cried, seemingly forgetful of caution in instant
+enthusiasm.  "You have as good a head as heart, Eloise.  <I>Sacre</I>! never
+before did I realize the treasure in my keeping.  You gauge well the
+wishes of a soldier; 't is not pleasant to one of my blood and training
+to lurk thus in the shadows like a skulking spy.  <I>Bish</I>! nor do I love
+this toll at the oars&mdash;'tis the work of slaves.  I would prefer
+trusting all to the rapier, writing with its point a Frenchman's
+message of defiance.  Holy saints!  I am already half inclined to say
+yes to your proposal; yet Benteen, what word have you to speak
+regarding this plan?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That if she goes back to New Orleans, I make the town in the same
+boat," I answered shortly, angered by his flippant words and tone.
+"'Tis a plan not to be seriously considered a moment, Chevalier.  If
+carried out it would merely place Madame de Noyan in the power of Cruel
+O'Reilly.  I doubt if the sacrifice would preserve our worthless lives.
+She can only return by means of the boat; with that gone, we should be
+compelled to plunge, unprovisioned, into a trackless wilderness,
+feeling our way blindly for hundreds of leagues through unknown, savage
+tribes.  If we survived their cruelty we should be crazed with hunger
+and fatigue long before our eyes were gladdened at sight of the upper
+Ohio.  I do not say such a journey could not be made, but I retain
+vivid memory of one such trip, nor will I lightly seek another.  I
+imagine, Captain, you have small conception of the horrors of the black
+forests, when you choose recklessly to plunge into their depths."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I served against the Creeks," he announced somewhat sullenly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I heard, yet that was mostly boys' play; armored men pitted against
+naked savages.  You would discover different foemen among the mountain
+tribes to the north and east.  Do not suppose I question your courage,
+but I realize the dangers, as you cannot from your town life, while as
+to Madame de Noyan, she will be safer here with us than with those
+black brutes in New Orleans."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You refuse to be comrade with me then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, if such comradeship involve the desertion of your wife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Desertion!"  The term stung him.  "<I>Sacre</I>! 'tis not a word to be
+lightly flung in the face of a French cavalier.  Did I not already owe
+you the debt of life, Monsieur, I might endeavor to teach you a lesson
+in etiquette."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I permit your overlooking all obligations, if you desire to indulge in
+such an experiment," I retorted, no wise unwilling.  "I am no brawling
+roisterer, but have never been above giving and receiving blows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I judged from the glint of his eyes, and the manner in which he juggled
+his sword hilt, he had grave purpose of backing up his pretty words.  I
+should rather have enjoyed giving the doughty gentleman a sudden bath
+alongside, had not Madame hastily calmed our hot blood with sober
+speech other own.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hush, Messieurs," she commanded quietly, her eyes upon my face,
+instantly shaming me.  "It is not meet you should quarrel.  There are
+better ways in which to strike blows for me than that.  As to my going
+on with you, or returning alone, that may all be discussed when we make
+camp again at daylight.  Then we will settle the matter coolly, not in
+the heat of anger.  You are both my friends, nor would I awaken between
+you any cause for controversy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Noyan laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! 'tis the accursed night got into our blood," he exclaimed.
+"The very air seems poisoned with horror, while my back aches so with
+pulling this oar, I would esteem it relief to fight with my best
+friend.  It was hard fortune that the boy Alphonse happened in track of
+that Spaniard's bullet.  With three in the boat there would be some
+rest from the toll."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I see solid ground yonder," I said, pointing as I spoke to the shadowy
+bank ahead.  "We might run the boat's nose in, and stretch our cramped
+limbs on shore.  There is little to be gained endeavoring to work with
+wearied muscles."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>San Juan</I>!" he returned, brightening instantly to the suggestion.
+"'Tis the first word of good sense reaching my ears this cursed night
+of folly.  Head her in under the shade of yonder bush, Eloise, until I
+see if I can stand upright once more."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap12"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WE LAND AN ODD FISH
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+After brief respite Madame steered as closely beside the bank as
+possible, thus avoiding the swift current, yet it was no small task to
+win our way upward through the lagging hours.  More and more frequently
+tired muscles drove us to the shore for intervals of relaxation.
+Still, in spite of much time thus lost, we made steady progress, so
+before morning dawned I was confident many a mile had been placed
+behind, although the low shore we skirted remained so similar in
+outline as to afford few landmarks with which to gauge our passage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Noyan grew more cheerful toward the end, his sullen mood changing to
+a gay semblance of reckless abandon.  To me, however, he appeared
+scarcely more engaging in snatches of ribald song, and careless speech,
+freely interspersed with French oaths and much complaint at unwonted
+toll, than in his former moody silence; yet his cheerfulness had effect
+upon Madame, who contrived to rally from her mental depression,
+becoming in turn a veritable sunburst in the gloom.  I experienced a
+glow of pleasure listening to her merry banter, and, once or twice, to
+a low-voiced French song, sounding sweetly enough as it echoed back
+from off the black water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In spite of such efforts to appear light-hearted, the nature of our
+work, coupled with the sombre surroundings of the night, rested heavily
+upon the spirits, and long before morning broke, we had all subsided
+into disheartening silence, holding grimly to our onward course through
+sheer force of will.  With wearied eyes I marked the slow coming of
+dawn above that desolation; the faint gray light creeping like some
+living thing across the swirling waters, leaving more ghastly than
+before the immense flood sweeping past.  It was a sombre sight, yet
+became more heartsome as crimson light streaked the sky, flashing forth
+over the wide river, reddening the heaving surface, until the waters
+blazed like burnished metal, and our blinded eyes could hardly gaze
+upon it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We were at this time approaching a vast curve in the shore-line,
+appearing to the eye as if it might prove the mouth of some important
+tributary stream.  Beyond, perhaps a hundred feet out in the main
+river, appeared a low island, a mere rock as it fronted us, yet thickly
+covered by small trees and bushes, growing close to the water's edge.
+No sign of life was apparent anywhere.  The mainland, so far as the
+sweep of vision extended, bore the same marshy and inhospitable look,
+and I immediately determined upon the island as the more suitable
+camping spot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Turn the prow of the canoe toward the upper end of that rock, Madame,"
+I said, resuming my place at the oar.  "It appears the most promising
+halting place hereabout, and should afford us excellent vantage of view
+both up and down the river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will prove vantage of sleep for me," grumbled the Chevalier
+gruffly.  "I take it I should have been resting better had I remained
+with the Dons."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I noticed the sudden uplifting of his wife's face, and seeing a pained
+expression upon it, I replied:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such words bespeak little appreciation, Monsieur, of our efforts to
+pluck you from a fate which has befallen your companions.  Surely your
+work is no harder than that of others, while you have more at issue."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He glanced from her face to mine in apparent surprise, but replied
+readily:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those knowing me best, friend Benteen, pay least heed to my words.
+When I bark I seldom bite, and when I intend biting I waste small time
+on the bark.  But, <I>parbleu</I>! how can I feel life worth living, if it
+is all toil?  There may be those who enjoy such existence, but I
+discover no pleasure in it.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I love not hard hands and poor
+fare, nor will I make pretence of what I do not feel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We were then two-thirds of the distance between the mainland and the
+island, in the full sweep of the raging current.  It struck us
+sidelong, with such force as to require all our combined strength to
+afford the laboring boat headway.  Suddenly Eloise startled us with an
+outcry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is that yonder?" she questioned excitedly, pointing directly
+up-stream.  "It looks the strangest red thing ever I saw on water.  I
+believed it moved but now, as if alive."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Keeping my oar in motion, lest we should drift backward, I made shift
+to glance across my shoulder in the direction indicated.  The river had
+us completely in its grasp, tossing the light boat in a majestic flood
+of angry water, whitened by foam, and beaten into waves, where it
+rounded the rocky edge of the island.  Across this tumbling surge
+streamed the glorious sunlight, gilding each billow into beauty, while
+in the midst of it, bearing swiftly down toward us, came that strange
+thing that had so startled Madame.  What in the name of nature it might
+prove to be, I could not hazard&mdash;it had the appearance of some queer,
+shaggy animal, rolled tight into the form of a ball, having fur so
+radiantly red as to flash and burn in the sunshine.  It bobbed crazily
+about, barely above the surface of the river, like some living
+creature, while now and then I marked a glimmer of light behind, as if
+the water was being vigorously churned by some species of swimming
+apparatus in the monster's tail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stand by with your small sword, De Noyan," I commanded uneasily, "for,
+hang me if I ever before set eyes on such a creature!  Move, quick, and
+pass me over your oar so you may have both hands free for the onset."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The beast was being swept along rapidly, now appearing to my eyes
+somewhat whiter on top, although the surrounding red was so glaringly
+prominent as to obscure everything else.  Suddenly the creature gave a
+kick and whirled over, turning the white expanse directly toward us.
+At the same moment De Noyan dropped the point of his rapier against the
+side of the boat, with a loud guffaw.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May the saints absolve me," he grinned, choking from merriment, "if
+it's not the red-headedest man ever my eyes looked upon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Forcing back his laughter, he hailed the swimmer, who, perceiving us
+for the first time, began sheering off, as if frightened by our
+presence, and intent upon escape.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold there a moment, Master Red-Cap!  If in truth you are not a fish,
+come on board."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fellow heard him plainly enough, for I distinguished a muttered
+English exclamation, but he made no pause in urging a peculiar
+sidestroke of the arms which threatened to bear him past us like a wild
+thing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold your hands!" I roared in English, thinking, perhaps, he had not
+comprehended the other tongue.  "Come in here, sirrah, or, the Lord
+help you, we 'll turn and run you down."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At sound of these words he ceased his efforts, and turned a peculiar
+wrinkled face, creased like long-folded parchment, and as yellow,
+directly toward us.  Even at that distance I imagined I could detect a
+twinkle of delight in the shrewd gray eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thy words of greeting are as manna fallen from heaven," boomed a deep,
+resonant voice, surprising in its volume.  "I take heart anew, young
+man, for surely thou art not the spawn of the scarlet woman, but,
+verily, one of the chosen people of our own God."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I fail to grasp your meaning, friend," I retorted, nettled to be held
+at the oars so long in that current.  "We are honest voyagers, glad to
+be of aid to any one in such distress as you seem to be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; I am not especially uncomfortable, unless my tobacco is soaked,
+and if such disaster hath overtaken me, it shall yet go hard with those
+blaspheming idolaters who cast me overboard.  But thy language is that
+of modern Israel, so I will join you in the boat.  'Tis the more
+readily done as I have not tasted food since yesternoon, and possess a
+hollowness within my physical temple which demandeth attention.  The
+spirit yieldeth to the craving of the flesh."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Catch hold upon the side," I ordered, as he drew near.  "We will have
+you ashore in a dozen strokes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The stranger did as I bade him, and it was truly a wondrous sight to
+observe how his head glowed in the sun as the drops of moisture dried,
+and brought out the full, ornate color of it.  His face had a pinched
+look, with thousands of little wrinkles leading away from the corners
+of the wide mouth, and about the narrow, glinting gray eyes.  But there
+was a sly gleam of humor about the expression of it, which, taken in
+connection with that fiery headpiece, nearly caused me a fit of
+laughter.  I noticed, however, that Madame drew slightly away from his
+side of the boat, as if close proximity to the fellow were repugnant to
+her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, friend," said I, as we drew up in shoal water under lee of the
+rock, and I noted his short legs and stocky chest, "no doubt you are
+well water-logged, and a little healthful exercise will help to warm
+your blood, especially as we dare not light a fire for such purpose.
+So bend that broad back of yours, and aid us in lifting the boat to
+cover."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He performed his portion of the work well, bearing with apparent ease
+fully one-half the burden, while De Noyan and I staggered beneath the
+remainder, until together we sank the boat well out of sight behind the
+thick brush.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And why not a fire?" the stranger questioned abruptly, noticing Eloise
+spreading forth our stock of provisions on the grass.  "It was in hope
+of thus warming the inner man that I consented to come ashore and
+companion with you.  Are you refugees, fleeing from danger?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced aside at De Noyan and muttered hastily in French, "It will be
+best to tell him our story&mdash;'tis not likely he will prove an emissary
+of Spain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you please; he is more of your class than mine," he returned
+indifferently, and, with a shrug of the shoulders, strolled away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have made fairly correct guess," I said to our new acquaintance;
+"so we may as well understand each other first as last.  We have
+escaped with our lives from New Orleans, and are now seeking refuge on
+the Ohio."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He nodded, his shrewd gray eyes fastened intently on my face, his own
+countenance expressionless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who holdeth New Orleans?" he asked in a tone of interest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Spanish, under O'Reilly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis what they told me above, yet I believed they lied.  Those with
+you are French?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of Louisiana birth and English blood; five years I have been a hunter
+in the Illinois country."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He groaned as though the mention of the word awoke unpleasant memories.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis an unholy land, no fit abiding place for the elect, as I learned,
+having passed through its settlements seeking prayerfully to bear an
+evangel unto that stiff-necked people.  Friend, thou hast an honest
+face, and I will say in confidence I have been ofttimes blessed of the
+Spirit in the conversion of souls; yet this people laughed at my
+unctuous speech, making merry regarding that head-covering with which
+the Almighty chose to adorn his servant.  Dost thou know the French
+settlement on the Kaskaskia?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have been there often."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! 'tis verily a stronghold of popish superstition.  Recall you the
+humble cabin of Gabriel La Motte, the Huguenot, close by the ravine?
+It was there I abode in much spiritual and temporal comfort with that
+godly man, until certain mad roisterers took offence at plain gospel
+speech, driving me forth into the wilderness, even as Jehovah's
+prophets of old.  Since that hour I have been a wanderer on the face of
+the earth, finding small comfort in this life; yet Ezekiel Cairnes is
+merely the poor servant of the Lord, the chief of sinners, and must
+abide in travail until He cometh."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He cast up his eyes in pious affectation, his lips moving as though he
+meditated in prayer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then your name is Cairnes?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ezekiel Cairnes, late of the Connecticut colony, and am permitted by
+the Lord's mercy to write Reverend before my unworthy appellation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A Puritan preacher!" I exclaimed in some disgust.  "I have heard of
+your sort before, yet have been spared a meeting until now.  Where do
+you propose going?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Lord leadeth His anointed, young man.  Even as Jonah abode in the
+belly of the whale, so doth the water bear me onward as the Almighty
+willeth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His wandering eyes rested thoughtfully upon my companion, now returning
+toward us, sauntering listlessly along the sandy shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not, friend, who you may be, save as you have seen fit to
+reveal," he said shrewdly.  "Yet I would venture a guess as to yonder
+gayly attired cavalier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A guess?" I echoed, taken completely by surprise.  "It is small chance
+you would hit right&mdash;what might your guess be?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Chevalier Charles de Noyan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How know you that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He chuckled grimly, evidently well pleased at my astonishment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis no work of the evil one, friend.  I am but just escaped also from
+the hands of the Philistines," he explained, becoming angry at the
+thought, and ducking his red head vehemently.  "While in their
+unhallowed company, a gray-bellied son of Belial questioned me much
+regarding yonder fine gentleman, ere he waxed exceedingly wroth at my
+plain speech in matters of the spirit, bidding his jabbering crew of
+papists to heave me overboard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How far away did this occur?" I asked, looking anxiously up the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, mayhap some such matter as twenty leagues," he returned
+indifferently, his gaze idly following mine.  "Let me reflect; it was
+at the hour for sunset prayer I fell in with their party.  I have heard
+it said this stream hereabout hath a sweep of seven or more miles the
+hour, and I kept well in the current of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean you have been swimming since sunset yesterday?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, friend; I beg be not over-hasty in conclusions.  I merely reposed
+easily upon my back, with only enough straightening out of the legs to
+keep my nose fairly up-tilted above the stream.  'T was thus I made the
+passage with much comfort of body, and relaxation of mind.  'T is no
+serious trick for one unafraid of the water although it might bring on
+cramps were I to keep on as far as New Orleans."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I stared at him with an astonishment which for the moment precluded
+speech.  Before I found voice with which to express doubt of his story,
+Madame called, bidding us join her upon the grass, where our rude meal
+waited.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap13"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+There could be no doubt regarding the complete emptiness of the
+Reverend Ezekiel Cairnes, if the breakfast he devoured from our stock
+of cold provisions was evidence.  I have been commonly blessed with
+robust appetite, yet where that man found space within his ribs to
+store away all he ate in that hour remains a mystery.  Nothing, except
+total inability to address him in intelligible language, held De Noyan
+quiet as our limited supply steadily diminished before the Puritan's
+onslaught, and long before the latter heaved a sigh of profound
+satisfaction the gallant soldier had fallen fast asleep.  But Madame
+remained in her place opposite, apparently fascinated by that vivid red
+crop of hair, now thoroughly dried in the sun, and standing erect above
+his odd, pear-shaped head.  I had whispered in her ear what the fellow
+claimed for himself, and being a most devout Catholic, and he the first
+specimen of his class she had ever met, she studied him with no small
+amount of curiosity and abhorrence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I can clearly recall the picture, as these two, so widely different,
+sat facing each other in silence, the golden sunshine checkered over
+them through an arch of limbs, the broad river shining away to the
+southward, and De Noyan resting upon his back, with face turned up
+toward the clear blue sky.  The woman, with her soft silken hair
+smoothed back from the wide, white brow, her intelligent face lighted
+by eyes of deepest brown, looking, what in truth she was, the
+aristocratic daughter of a gentleman of France, one whose home had ever
+been amid refinements of civilization, and whose surroundings those of
+love and courtesy.  Even there, in the heart of that wilderness, the
+social training of years remained paramount, and she sat silent, toying
+with untasted food, out of respect to this stranger guest.  And he,
+with shoulders so abnormally broad as to appear deformed, clad in sober
+Puritan garb, ate serenely on, unconscious of her glances, making use
+of both his huge hands in the operation, his little gimlet eyes
+twinkling greedily, his head, oddly resembling a cone, blazing like a
+fire whenever a ray of sun chanced to fall across it.  I noticed he
+occasionally stole shy glances at her, nor could I wonder, for, in
+spite of fatigue and exposure, Madame remained a winsome sight, to do
+the heart of any man good to look upon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Lord God of Hosts be praised; ay! with harps, cymbals, and
+instruments of many strings, will I give praise unto His holy name," he
+exclaimed fervently, wiping his wide mouth upon his sleeve, while
+casting a look of regret over the debris in his front.  "Once again
+hath He abundantly supplied His elect with that which upbuildeth and
+giveth strength to the flesh.  Now my bodily requirements have been
+duly attended to, it behooves me to minister likewise unto the
+spiritual, and then seek repose.  Friends, will you not both join with
+me at the throne of grace?  It hath been said that I possess much
+unction in prayer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," I answered, not unwilling to be left alone with Eloise; "you are
+welcome to put up petitions in our behalf, but this lady is not of your
+faith, while as for myself, I have known little about such matters
+since childhood.  One thing, however,&mdash;if you propose making use of
+that bull voice of yours, I advise that you select the farther
+extremity of the island for the scene of your devotions, lest you
+arouse the Chevalier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He cast upon me a glance not altogether pleasant, but tramped off
+through the bushes without reply, and for several moments we heard the
+sturdy rise and fall of his earnest supplications, frequently
+interspersed with hearty groans, as of one in all the agony of deep
+remorse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis an odd fish we've hooked out of the stream," I said, turning my
+head toward the dismal sounds.  "Yet he has strong arms, and may be of
+considerable use, if he will consent to voyage with us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I scarcely know what to make of the man," Madame admitted candidly.
+"He is unlike any I have ever met.  Yet I think he may prove honest and
+of good heart, although his exterior is far from attractive."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And his appetite hardly suggestive of economy," I added.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bright look I always loved to see leaped into her clear eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you faith his labor will offset his eating?" she replied,
+laughing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly not; yet it is not labor alone I would select him for.  We
+may have to fight before we attain a place of safety.  For that purpose
+I would rank this fellow highly.  Never yet have I met a red-headed man
+averse to a quarrel.  Faith! by that token, this one should be worth a
+company if we ever come to blows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But he is a priest, you told me, a preacher of the Protestants."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! and the better for it.  I have heard my father say the Puritan
+breed makes the stoutest men-at-arms; that nothing has been found to
+stiffen a battle-line equal to a good text.  Give this fellow a pike,
+pit him against a boatload of Spanish papists, and, I 'll warrant, he
+'ll crack more heads than any two of us.  Besides, he controls a
+perfect tornado of a voice, fit to frighten the crew of a frigate on a
+dark night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was sitting, her back pressed against a small tree, her hands
+clasped lightly about one knee, with dark eves gazing afar where the
+broad river danced away into the golden sheen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Geoffrey Benteen," she asked soberly, never glancing toward me, "is it
+true you do not desire my return to New Orleans?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is true."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would you honestly tell me why?" and she turned her eyes, looking
+searchingly into mine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have mentioned sufficient reasons," I ventured, resolutely facing
+her, determined to speak frankly and abide the result.  "All I need add
+is, to my judgment it will prove better for you to remain with your
+husband."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She glanced aside at him where he lay, the quick blood flushing her
+clear cheek.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do not like him?" the question fell faltering from her lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That I am not prepared to declare.  He is changeable, somewhat
+overbearing in speech, not as sober of mind as I am accustomed to find
+men, yet it is not true I dislike him.  I merely believe that he will
+do better, be truer to his manhood, with you near him, than with you
+absent."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is French," she explained gently, "by nature of birth different
+from your race.  Besides, he has led a life filled with the dissipation
+of the town."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True! for that reason I forbear judging his words and actions by any
+standard of my own people.  Yet this I cannot be blind to, Madame; he
+is of quick temper, hasty in action, easily influenced by others, and
+might become careless at times, and under strong temptation, unless
+some moral firmness hold him in check.  You alone possess the power to
+become his good angel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She bowed her head, her gaze again far off upon the river, the
+deepening surge of color rising upon either cheek.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You cannot be angry," I continued gravely, after pausing vainly for a
+reply.  "Surely I have said no more than you already knew, and I spoke
+merely in answer to your questioning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I am not angry.  But it is not a pleasant reflection underlying
+the things mentioned, and I cannot assert your judgment of the
+Chevalier false.  Still I would press you further.  Is this your only
+reason for desiring me to remain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You wish me to answer frankly?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Otherwise I should not ask."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I felt the quick flush mount even to my hair, yet gripped my breath,
+making effort to respond boldly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I had other reason.  To deny it would be merely uttering a lie to no
+purpose.  Madame de Noyan, we are not strangers&mdash;we could never be
+after that night when we parted beneath the olives of Monsieur
+Beaujen's garden.  You are wife to a chevalier of France; I, a homeless
+adventurer.  Yet I have no higher ambition than to prove of service to
+you.  Whatever I have accomplished has been entirely for your sake, not
+for his.  Now we are together, the daily opportunity to serve you is
+mine; here I can work for you, perchance die for you, should such
+sacrifice promise you happiness.  But if you decide to go back yonder,
+directly into danger as desperate as any confronting us to the
+northward, then I must determine for myself where I can serve you best.
+Knowing my heart as you must, you can easily judge whether I would
+plunge deeper into the wilderness with your husband, or return to New
+Orleans with you.  There is a sentence in the Bible about the
+impossibility of serving two masters, hence I trust I may not be
+compelled to choose between, until the hour when you are both safe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She listened silently, and I almost feared I had ventured upon too
+plain speaking.  Yet now, as she turned again toward me, her eyes were
+moist with tears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a strange man, Geoffrey Benteen," she said gently, and, I know
+not how, yet both her hands found way to mine.  "I scarcely comprehend
+your nature, or gauge your purposes&mdash;you are so unlike all others I
+have known.  Yet this I am assured; you are of honest heart, and I
+trust you wholly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will not return to the town?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I abide with you, and with my husband."  Her voice faltered to that
+last word, yet she spoke it bravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be better so," I assented.  "Better for us all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We slept late, undisturbed, in secure retreat among the trees, the vast
+river chanting its endless song on either side of us.  During the
+evening meal, partaken of amid the gathering shadows of twilight, our
+newly discovered friend again evidenced his power as a trencherman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>!" ejaculated De Noyan in dismay.  "I supposed his breakfast
+was intended to last the week.  We shall need a fleet of boats to
+provision the fellow if he keep us company long.  How is it, friend
+Benteen, are we to enjoy the pleasure of associating with this human
+alligator, or do we now part company?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is not yet determined," I replied, smiling at the look of
+consternation with which he regarded him.  "I will sound the man on the
+subject, while he appears in good humor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I crossed the narrow plat of grass to where our guest sat facing the
+remains of his late feast, a look of satisfaction visible upon his
+withered countenance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My good friend," he exclaimed, observing my approach, "there seems an
+over-preponderance of spices in this cured meat; otherwise it meets my
+cordial approbation, although your Southern cookery has a peculiarly
+greasy flavor to one of my taste in food."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I failed to observe your refraining from any on account of that
+objection," I retorted, deeply amused by his words.  "But if you are
+completely satisfied, you may be willing to turn a moment to matters of
+business, and inform us what you propose doing.  In brief, will you
+resume your voyage, or is it your desire to cast your lot with us?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He meditatively stroked the thin red stubble adorning his chin,
+contemplating me steadily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Doth that which assisteth to nourish and sustain the inner man bid
+fair to hold out?" he finally questioned in a tone of anxiety.  "I have
+need of sufficient food, both temporal and spiritual, and would not
+lightly assume any burden of suffering, unless it appear clearly as the
+will of God."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not how long we can withstand such onslaughts as those you have
+already made," I returned honestly.  "We are fairly well provisioned
+for present needs, and when farther up the river will feel free to seek
+fresh game."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! you have guns in the party?  You will shoot deer&mdash;deer!"  He
+smacked his thin lips greedily.  "A nice, fat, juicy steak would not go
+bad even now.  'Tis strange how the mind runneth upon such carnal
+matters&mdash;it remindeth us the flesh is weak.  Deer&mdash;'tis best turned
+upon a spit, with live coats not quite touching it.  I would one might
+wander before your gun this very night.  Young man, did I not hear you
+name the destination of your party as the Ohio?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I so stated."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then let me warn you, friend," he crossed his legs more comfortably,
+resting back at ease, "that what you propose may not prove so easy as
+you dream.  The Amalekites and heathen, together with the worshippers
+of Baal, are everywhere along the upper waters.  By the memory of Old
+Noll, I have seen more black-faced papists in the past two weeks than I
+ever before laid eyes on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do not enjoy the prospect of a fight?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; it is not that, friend.  I am, indeed, a preacher of
+righteousness, a man of peace, yet I might, upon occasion, strike right
+lustily for the Lord and Gideon.  I am not altogether unaccustomed to
+feeling carnal weapons of strife, but with yonder fair specimen of
+womanhood in our care, I should not deem it best to force a struggle,
+provided passage might be secured through other means."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you some plan?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; it has not been revealed unto me, although I besought it of the
+Lord with great earnestness after the morning meal.  I will again
+wrestle in prayer before the throne, and no doubt it shall all be made
+plain in due season, if we faint not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I take it, then, you propose forming one of our company?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such seemeth the will of the Lord," he responded soberly, "and I ever
+hearken unto His voice.  Thou didst state there would be plenty of
+food, so I abide with you."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap14"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE MOUTH OF THE ARKANSAS
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I do not recall how many leagues we pushed our way up the stream, nor
+could I name the length of time required for our journey, before we
+arrived where a large river, bearing a muddier current, led toward the
+north and west.  Those were neither days nor miles that imprinted
+themselves on memory; they left only vague impressions, as one
+sometimes beholds objects through the dense haze of early morning.  I
+remember merely the low, flat line of shore, stretching away to a
+darker green of the heavy forest behind, and the ever-moving flood of
+changeless water, no sign of life appearing along its surface.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nor was there any happening within our boat to reflect upon, excepting
+that our new comrade proved himself a stanch man at the oars, thus
+commending himself to me, in spite of a choleric temper apt to burst
+forth over trifles.  He and De Noyan would have quarrelled many times a
+day, only neither comprehended the language of the other.  The greatest
+cause I found for criticism was his interminable prayers, and the bull
+voice in which he offered them.  I have never made mock of religion,
+coming of a line of godly ancestors, yet I felt there could be no
+necessity for making such noise over it morning, noon, and night.  Yet
+neither entreaty nor threat moved him to desist, so I came to the
+conclusion that he either considered the Almighty deaf, or else was
+totally unconscious of his own lung power.  As to his appetite&mdash;but
+there are things of which one may not justly write, so I content myself
+by saying that, all in all, he was not so bad a comrade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Noyan kept to his nature, and I liked him none the worse for it,
+although it is not pleasant to have at your side a gay cavalier one
+moment and a peevish woman the next.  You never know which may be
+uppermost.  Yet he performed his full share of toil like a man, and,
+when not curling his long moustachios, or swearing in provincial
+French, was mostly what he should be, a careless soldier of fortune, to
+whom life appealed more as a play than a stern duty.  He was of that
+spirit most severely tried by such drudgery, and, looking back upon it,
+I can only wonder he bore the burden as cheerfully as he did.  Beneath
+his reckless, grumbling exterior, the metal of the man was not of such
+poor quality.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+However continual labor and enforced companionship told upon the rest,
+Madame retained her sweetness through it all, hushing our lips from
+many a sharp retort that had threatened to disrupt our party long
+before this time.  She had merely to glance toward us to silence any
+rising strife, for no man having a true heart beneath his doublet could
+find spirit to quarrel before the disapproving glance of her dark eyes.
+It was thus we toiled forward, until one frosty morning our boat
+arrived where this great stream poured forth from the west, forcing its
+reddish, muddy current far out into the wide river against which we had
+struggled so long.  Slowly rounding the low, marshy promontory, and
+beginning to feel the fierce tug of down-pouring waters against our
+bow, I observed the old Puritan suddenly cock up his ears, like some
+suspicious watch-dog, twisting his little glittering eyes from side to
+side, as though the spot looked familiar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you suspect anything wrong, my pious friend," I questioned
+curiously, "that you indulge in such sniffing of the air?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis a spot I know well, now it looms fairly into view," he answered
+solemnly, continuing to peer about like one suddenly aroused from
+sleep.  "It was near here the Philistines made camp as I passed down
+the river, but I perceive no signs now of human presence in the
+neighborhood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His words startled me, and I began looking anxiously about us.  The low
+shores consisted of the merest bog, overgrown heavily with stunted
+bushes and brown cane, but some distance beyond rose the crest of a
+pine forest, evidencing firmer soil.  The opposite side of the stream
+was no whit more inviting, except that the marsh appeared less in
+extent, with a few outcropping rocks visible, one rising sheer from the
+water's edge, so crowded with bushes as scarcely to expose the rock
+surface to the eye.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I discover no evidences of life," I answered at last, reassured by my
+careful survey.  "Nor, for the matter of that, Master Cairnes, can I
+see any spot dry enough to camp upon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Up the stream a few strokes the Spaniards had camp; not so bad a
+place, either, when once reached, although the current will prove
+difficult to overcome as we turn."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Following his guidance we deflected the boat's head, and, by hard toil
+at the oars, slowly effected a passage up the swift stream, keeping as
+close as possible along the southern shore, until, having compassed
+something like five hundred yards, we found before us a low-lying bank,
+protected by rushes, dry and thickly carpeted with grass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is the stream?" I questioned, marvelling at the red tinge of the
+water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Spaniards named it the Arkansas."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, ay!  I remember, although I passed this way along the other shore.
+It was here some of La Salle's men made settlement near a hundred years
+ago, I 'm told.  The stream has trend northward."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So the Spaniards claimed to my questioning; they knew little of its
+upper waters, yet possessed a map placing its source a few leagues from
+where the Ohio joins the great river.  It was yonder they were encamped
+when I was here before."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He pointed toward a ridge of higher ground, where two trees hung like
+sentinels above the bank.  Madame immediately turned the prow that way,
+and, bending our heads low, we shot beneath their trailing branches,
+grounding softly on the red clay of the bank.  A brief search disclosed
+remains of camp-fires, testimony to the Puritan's remembrance of the
+spot.  Evidently the place had been frequently occupied, and by sizable
+parties, yet the marks were all ancient; we discovered no signs that
+any one had been there lately.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was barely daylight, although the sun was above the horizon.  A vast
+bank of cloud hung so dense across the eastern sky as to leave the
+whole scene in shadow, making the hour appear much earlier.  I felt, as
+we searched the camp-fires, a strange uneasiness, for which I could not
+account&mdash;it was a premonition of approaching peril.  This sense is the
+gift of many accustomed to border life, and compelled to rely for
+safety upon minute signs scarcely observable to the eyes of others.  I
+had noticed a broken reed near where we turned into this new stream, so
+freshly severed as to show green from sap yet flowing, while the soft
+mud about the base of the big rock bore evidence of having been
+tramped, although the distance was so great the nature of the marks was
+not discernible.  To be sure, native denizens of the forest might
+account for this, yet the sight aroused suspicion and a determination
+to examine more closely, while the fear of prowling enemies made me
+strenuous in objecting to the building of any fire with which to cook
+our morning meal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The eating came to a conclusion at last, although not without
+grumbling, in both French and English, at being obliged to subsist on
+cold fare.  By use of threats I succeeded in inducing the Rev. Mr.
+Cairnes to retire without indulging in his usual devotional exercise.
+Discovering De Noyan comfortably settled against a tree-trunk, pipe in
+mouth, already beginning to look sleepy about the eyes, I muttered in
+his hearing a word or two regarding a fishing trip into deeper water
+along the opposite shore, and, quietly leaving him to unsuspicious
+repose, slipped down to where our boat was tied beneath the tree
+shadows.  As I bent, loosening the rope, I felt rather than perceived
+the presence of Madame upon the bank above.  Turning as she addressed
+me, I glanced up, holding the untied rope in my hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You fear Spaniards may be near," she said quickly, as if she had
+deciphered my hidden thought.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Madame," I replied, scarcely able to conceal astonishment at her
+penetration, yet eager to quiet alarm, particularly as I had no
+occasion for uneasiness.  "I merely feel a curiosity to examine that
+odd rock beside the entrance&mdash;the one we passed on the right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Geoffrey Benteen," she said firmly, stepping down the sloping bank
+until she stood beside me, "there is no occasion for your attempting
+deceit with me.  Besides, you are too open-hearted a man to deceive any
+one.  I have noticed your glances, and interpreted your thoughts, ever
+since we turned into this stream.  I am certain you fear at this moment
+we have been beguiled into a trap.  Tell me, is this not true?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her clear, questioning eyes gazed so directly into my own, and were so
+honestly courageous, I up and told her what I had observed, and where I
+was then bound.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is better to trust me," she commented simply, as I ended my
+recital.  "My eyes have not been altogether idle, although I am no
+borderer to observe such faint signs.  There were several reeds bent
+low in the water a hundred yards back; their sides scraped as if a
+large boat had been dragged through them.  I thought nothing of it,
+until I observed how intently you were studying each mark left by man.
+While you are gone yonder, what would you wish me to do?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I looked at her attentively, noting how heavy her eyes were from
+weariness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are too tired to remain on guard, Eloise," I said, forgetting I
+should not use that name, "or I might bid you watch here, and, if any
+misfortune befall me, call the others.  Besides, if there are enemies
+at hand there is no knowing from what direction they may chance upon
+us.  However, all we have observed were probably old marks, or made by
+roving beasts, and I shall soon return to fling myself on the ground,
+seeking sleep also.  So go and rest those weary eyes, while I scout to
+satisfy myself.  It is only the doubt of a suspicious man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall not sleep until your safe return," she replied firmly.  "You
+shall not go forth thus without one to pray for your safe return.  I
+beg you, exercise care."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have no fear, Madame, I am no reckless hot-head at such work, and
+shall continue to guard my life while it remains of value to you and
+yours.  Try to rest at ease, for I will soon return, with a laugh at my
+foolish suspicions."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I forced the boat into the swollen stream, and, using one oar as a
+paddle, silently and swiftly propelled it directly across.  Discovering
+a spot seemingly fit for travel, I pushed the prow through the long
+marsh grass, and stepped ashore.  She still stood in the tree shadow of
+the opposite bank, and waving a hand in reassurance, I drew forth my
+long rifle from beneath the seat.  Advancing silently, I pressed
+forward into the thick bed of cane, thinking more of Eloise de Noyan
+than of the task before me.  It proved a hard passage, so extremely
+difficult as to call back my mind from foolish day-dreams to save
+myself an ugly fall, for the grass under-foot was matted and tangled,
+interspersed with marshy pools of brackish water, amid which
+innumerable projecting roots spread snares for the feet.  The sun, now
+well advanced, gave me the points of the compass, and, holding the
+rifle-stock before my face, I cleared a path through the dense growth,
+and emerged from the low marsh land upon smooth turf, where some brush
+found foothold, yet not so thickly as to impede the walking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I discovered myself near the bottom of a steep bank, which, curving
+with the line of the shore, extended forward for probably fifty feet,
+crowned along its ridge with numerous stunted trees.  Trusting thus to
+obtain a firmer foothold and more extended view, I breasted the steep
+ascent and found the summit a narrow plateau, only a few yards in
+width, with a still more extensive morass upon the opposite side, which
+stretched away some distance in a desolate sea of cane and drooping
+grass.  Fortunately it proved easy travelling along the ridge, which
+appeared of stone formation, probably having a terminus at the big
+rock, toward which I proposed extending my investigation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I moved forward slowly and with caution, not because I expected to meet
+enemies in this lonely spot, but rather from an instinct of long
+frontier training.  I had advanced possibly a hundred yards, when I
+approached a small clump of stunted evergreens, so closely woven
+together I could not wedge a passage between.  Rounding their outer
+edge, my footsteps noiseless on ground thickly strewn with their soft
+needles, I came to a sudden halt within five paces of a man.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap15"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A PASSAGE AT ARMS
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+He stood motionless, one hand grasping the limb of a tree, leaning far
+out so as to gaze up the river, totally unconscious of my approach.
+The fellow was tall, yet heavily built, wearing a great leather helmet
+with brass facings, his body encased in a slashed doublet, the strap
+fastenings of a steel breastplate showing at waist and shoulders, while
+high boots of yellow cordovan leather extended above his knees.  I
+noticed also the upward curve of a huge gray moustache against the
+stern profile of his face, while a long straight sword dangled at his
+side.  Evidently the stranger was a soldier, and one not to be despised
+in feats at arms, although in what service I might merely conjecture,
+as his dress was not distinctive.  Yet it was small likelihood any
+other nation than Spain had armed men in those parts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That he had discovered and was watching our camp, I entertained no
+doubt, yet for the moment the surprise of seeing him was so great I was
+unable to choose my safer course,&mdash;should I withdraw silently as I
+came, or make quick attack?  If the first, he would certainly see me
+recross the river, and suspect my mission.  Nor was the other
+alternative more promising.  If I sprang upon him (and he looked a
+burly antagonist), such combat could not be noiseless, and surely the
+fellow was not alone in this wilderness.  How close at hand lurked his
+companions was beyond guessing, yet, if the sound of struggle aroused
+that band of wolves, my life would not be worth the snapping of a
+finger.  I felt cold chills creep up my spine as I stood hesitating,
+one foot uplifted, my eyes staring at that motionless figure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I waited too long, until every vantage left me.  Suddenly the soldier
+swung back from his lookout on to firmer ground, wheeled, and faced me.
+I marked his start of surprise, noting his right hand drop, with
+soldierly instinct, upon the sword hilt, half drawing the blade before
+recovering from that first impulse.  Then curiosity usurped the place
+of fear.  He took one step backward, still upon guard, surveying me
+carefully with one glinting gray eye, for the other had been closed by
+a slashing cut, which left an ugly white scar extending half-way down
+his cheek.  Except for this deformity, he was a man of fair appearance,
+having a stern, clearly chiselled face, with a certain arrogant manner,
+telling of long authority in scenes of war.  A half smile of contempt
+played across his features as he ran me down from head to foot,
+evidently with the thought I was little worthy of his steel.  It was
+then I recognized him.  There had been familiarity about his great bulk
+from the first, yet now, as I faced him fairly, marking the haughty
+sneer curl his lips, I knew him instantly as that officer who passed us
+in the boat with the priest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By the true cross!" he exclaimed at last, as if his breath had barely
+returned, "you gave me a start such as I have not often had in all my
+soldiering.  Yet you are no ghost; your aspect is altogether too
+healthful for one condemned to exist upon air.  <I>Saprista</I>! you must
+have a light foot to steal thus on me unheard.  Who are you, fellow?
+What do you here upon this soil of Spain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I leaned lightly on my rifle, so that I might swing it easily if
+occasion warranted, determined now not to fire unless it proved
+necessary to save my life, and made careless answer, using the same
+tongue in which I had been addressed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor are you more surprised, Señor, at my presence, than was I a moment
+back to stumble upon you when I supposed our party alone here in this
+wilderness.  Who did you say held dominion over this country?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"His most gracious Christian Majesty, Charles the Third, of Spain," he
+replied shortly.  "As his officer, I require that you give proper heed
+and direct answer to my questioning.  Who are you, and where are you
+going?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man's domineering manner amused me, yet I replied civilly to his
+words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A wandering hunter, Señor, from the Illinois country, homeward bound.
+I was not aware this territory had fallen into Spanish hands, supposing
+it still to be under French control.  You are then a soldier of Spain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay," he returned ungraciously, eying me in his irritating way, "of the
+battalion of Grenada."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was evidently in doubt whether to believe my word, and I rejoiced to
+mark such indecision, accepting it as proof he had not gained a glimpse
+of De Noyan, for whom he was in eager search.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It may be, fellow," he consented to say at last, "you speak truth, and
+it may be your tongue is false as hell.  These are times of grave
+suspicion, yet there are means of discovery open to men of action.  I
+just noted the position of your camp yonder, and have sufficient men
+within easy reach of my voice to make it mine if need arise.  So I warn
+you to deal fairly, or accept the consequences.  The Marquis de Serrato
+is not one given to speaking twice in such quest.  I have a soft tongue
+in ladies' bowers, but my hand is hard enough in camp and field."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He uttered these words in fierce threat, his one evil eye glaring full
+at me as though to terrify.  Before I could answer, he shot forth a
+question, direct as a bullet from a gun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I beheld the flap of a dress yonder amid those trees; what means it?
+Women are not common in these parts&mdash;have you one in your company?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have, my lord," I replied, holding myself to calmness, striving to
+speak with apparent respect for his rank.  "We are four, altogether;
+one has his wife along to cook for us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are voyaging from New Orleans?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; from the savannahs of Red River, where we enjoyed a good season
+of sport."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are French?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A natural guess, yet a wrong one, Señor.  I am of English blood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Saprista</I>! 't is a beast of a nation!  I like not that such as you
+should be here.  I will call some of my men and visit your camp."  He
+spoke sternly, taking a step backward as if about to seek his
+companions.  "The tale you tell may be true enough, yet these are
+troublous days along the river, and my orders are strict against
+permitting any to pass unsearched."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My hands clinched hard around the gun-barrel for a swing, while I
+braced my body for a leap forward, yet held back from such desperate
+action, making hazard of one more effort to draw him out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have met soldiers of Spain before, my lord," I said, speaking the
+words with deference, yet managing to inject sufficient tinge of
+sarcasm to the tone, "yet never previously found them so fearful of a
+stray hunter's camp as not to dare approach it without a guard of armed
+men.  My companions yonder are asleep, excepting the woman; we are only
+three, and of peaceful life.  You would discover nothing except warm
+welcome at our fire."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I caught the quick responsive smile lighting his hard, thin face,
+observing how suddenly awakened pride and contempt combined to curl his
+upturned moustache.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah!" he exclaimed gayly, with a derisive wave of the hand, "so you
+suppose it is from fear I proposed calling others to accompany me!
+<I>Caramba</I>! 'tis well you put your suspicion in no stronger words.  But
+stay; I trust not altogether the truth of your tale.  Saints' love! a
+soldier can place faith only in what he sees&mdash;yet your face is frank
+and simple enough, and, as you say, there are but three of you, besides
+the woman.  I did mark that much from yonder tree.  It will be small
+risk to one of my experience in arms, and my men sleep in weariness.
+Lead on, fellow, yet do not forget I wear this sword for use, not show."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With muttered thanksgiving at my possessing so honest a countenance,
+and a blessing on the Spaniard's pride, I turned back, beginning to
+retrace my steps along the narrow ridge, never deigning to glance
+across my shoulder, yet confident he was close behind.  Every
+additional step I inveigled him from his camp was to my advantage, nor
+would I permit him to feel suspicion on my part, as fearlessness was
+certain to beget confidence, and my final plan of action was already
+made.  We thus passed the spot where I had climbed the steep bank, and
+were, to the best of my memory, some twenty yards beyond the
+hiding-place of my boat, when the ridge widened, a thick fringe of
+low-growing trees completely shutting out all view of the water.  It
+was a likely spot enough, having firm ground under-foot, with
+sufficient room for a royal struggle, and here I determined to try a
+passage-at-arms with my burly antagonist.  It was useless to hope for
+surprise.  He was an old soldier dogging my steps, doubtless eying my
+every motion, his own hand hard gripping his sword hilt, ready to cut
+me down did slightest need arise.  No; it must be foot to foot, eye to
+eye, a club of steel against the dancing blade; yet I felt the strange
+contest would not prove unfair, for he was a man not as agile as in
+years agone, while his armor of proof, valuable as it might be in the
+turning of a sword thrust, would be more burden than protection against
+my rifle-stock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Señor," I said, in studied courtesy, stopping suddenly and confronting
+him, "I have hunted across this wilderness more than one season, and
+dislike greatly being estopped now by Spanish decree.  Nor do I
+comprehend your right in this matter.  Have you warrant for opposing
+our peaceful passage to the Ohio?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stared at me in undisguised amazement at my boldness, a grim smile
+on his hard, set face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay!  I have, fellow," he finally retorted angrily, tapping his hilt.
+"'Tis in this scabbard at my side."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then draw it, Señor," I exclaimed, throwing forward my long rifle
+menacingly.  "And may God stand with the better man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I have a conception that at the moment he believed he was being fronted
+by a crazed man, yet there was in my face an expression quickly
+teaching him otherwise, and, with a swift twist, he flashed his sword
+forth into the sunlight, standing on guard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Por Baco</I>!" he growled savagely, "you must be little better than a
+fool to hoist that club.  It will give me pleasure to teach you better
+manners toward a grandee of Spain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Grandee, or not," I retorted, angered at his implied contempt, "I may
+teach you a trick, Señor, with that same club, never learned in your
+Spanish fencing-schools."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was swift, intense fighting from the word, he proving past-master of
+his weapon, yet my stiff rifle-barrel was no mean defence against his
+lighter blade, with a reach preventing his point touching my body, and
+sufficient weight to bear down the thin, murderous steel whenever the
+two came into contact.  It had been long practice with me, having
+picked up the pretty trick from a French zouave when I was a boy, so I
+swung the iron as if it were a single-stick; and, in truth, I know of
+no better fence against the stroke of a straight sword, although
+fencing-masters, I have heard, make light of it.  Nevertheless it was
+new experience to this Spaniard, and it did me good to note how it
+angered the fellow to be held back by such a weapon.  He made such
+stress to press in behind my guard that he began to pant like a man
+running a hard race.  Nor did I venture to strike a blow in return,
+for, in simple truth, this soldier kept me busier with parry and feint
+than any swordsman before, while he tried every trick of his trade, not
+a few of them strange to me.  So I bided my time, confident he must
+make an opening for fit return if he kept up such furious attack, and
+thus, with retreat and advance, hack and guard, thrust and parry, we
+tramped up a wide bit of ground, while there was no sound of the
+struggle, except our hard breathing, with now and then a fierce curse
+from him as his flashing steel nicked on my gun-barrel, or flew off
+into thin air just as he thought to send its deadly point home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Such fighting is wearing even to seasoned nerves, and the dazzle of the
+sun bothered my eyes, yet he had pressed me back scarcely more than a
+couple of yards when his dancing blade slipped stealthily up my brown
+barrel, suddenly nipping the loose sleeve of my doublet.  As it pricked
+into the cloth, scraping the skin of my forearm, I let the fellow have
+the end of the muzzle full in the side.  It was not the best spot for
+such a thrust, nor could I give it proper force, yet I think it cracked
+a rib, from the way the Spaniard drew back, and the sudden pallor of
+his face; indeed, so ghastly white he got, I thought him done for, and
+lowered my barrel carelessly.  He was more of a man than I had reckoned
+on, or else his pride made him averse to accepting defeat, for with one
+quick spring, like a wounded tiger, he was inside my guard, his ugly
+point rasping into me just beneath the shoulder.  Saint Andrew!  It was
+an awkward touch, especially as the tough steel held, the punctured
+flesh burning like fire; but fortunately the fellow was in too great
+pain himself to press his advantage, and, as we clinched and went down
+together, I chanced to be on top, throttling him with right good-will.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That which followed was but a small matter, yet I left him there,
+waiting the discovery of his comrades, in as comfortable a posture as
+possible, confident he could give no alarm.  That Spaniard was a brave
+man, and I have ever had respect for such.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap16"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WE CHANGE OUR COURSE
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+My attempt to recross the river proved difficult.  I had lost no small
+amount of blood from my wound, which, besides weakening me, had so
+stiffened my right shoulder as to render any strain upon the oars a
+constant pain.  Yet the excitement nerved me to the effort, and,
+crushing down weakness by sheer force of will, I drove the heavy boat
+straight through the low, overhanging bushes on to the soft mud of the
+bank.  Before I could arise to my feet Madame was standing beside the
+dripping prow, her great eyes staring at the blood stains discoloring
+my doublet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are hurt!" she exclaimed, her lips white with apprehension.  "I
+beg you tell me, is it a serious wound?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, the merest scratch, Madame," I answered hastily, for it added to
+my pain to mark such anxiety in her face.  "Not worthy your thought,
+but I will ask you to call the others at once, and have them load
+everything into the boat without delay.  I will await you here, as I
+find myself weak from loss of blood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stood gazing intently at me, as if she read my most secret
+thoughts; and no doubt my face was sufficiently white to alarm her, yet
+I smiled back into her eyes, and she turned away, running lightly up
+the bank.  Nor was she long away, or noisy in her mission, scarcely a
+minute having elapsed before the three came trooping down to the
+water-side, their hands laden with camp utensils, De Noyan wide awake
+enough, and filled with intense interest in my adventures, but the
+Puritan yet cock-eyed from sleep, stumbling as he walked like a man in
+a dream.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Take the oars, both of you," I said quietly, totally ignoring the
+question in the eyes of the Chevalier.  "I have tasted a sword point,
+and am weakened from loss of blood.  Pull up the stream, and be swift
+and quiet about it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hast thou been smitten of the Philistine, friend Benteen?" loudly
+questioned Cairnes, stumbling noisily across the seats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Time enough to tell my story when we are beyond danger," I returned
+tartly, annoyed by his awkwardness.  "If you utter another word before
+we are around yonder headland, I will have De Noyan hoist you
+overboard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I saw him glance askance at the unconscious Chevalier as if mentally
+calculating his ability to perform the feat.  Then his glinting gray
+eyes swept the sodden shore as though vaguely wondering what it was we
+fled from in such unseemly haste.  Nor did I long withdraw my own
+anxious gaze from that north bank, until we rounded the bend in the
+stream, and were safely removed from view of any one below.  I was able
+to mark no sign of life along the ridge, my faith reviving that the
+Spanish sailors yet slept soundly, while as to their irate commander, I
+had trussed him with a thoroughness which left me confident.  Feeling
+reassured I finally yielded to Eloise's entreaties, laying bare my
+breast and permitting Madame to wash away the clotted blood and apply
+such bandages as might easily be procured.  She was extremely gentle
+about it; but I marvelled somewhat at the trembling of her white
+fingers and the pallor of her face, for it was not a bad wound, De
+Noyan hesitating not to make light of it, although he acknowledged it
+was a strong wrist which drove the tuck in.  Anyway, what with the
+reaction and the loss of blood, I lay back quite spent, telling over
+briefly those incidents that had occurred to me while they slept.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And now," I said, addressing the Puritan, who was seated at the
+bow-oar, where I could see nothing of him except the bobbing of his red
+crop, "how do you know this stream makes a circuit and approaches the
+mouth of the Ohio?  It beareth a little to the west of north here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was the Spanish captain camping here as I passed down," he
+answered, speaking abominably through his nose.  "They called him
+Castellane, a little fellow, with pop-eyes, who pretended to light his
+pipe from my hair.  He pointed it out upon a map some black-frocked
+papist had drawn.  It was plain enough to the eye, but 'tis likely they
+lied, for they were all spawns of Satan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True or false," I commented coolly, "we seem likely to find out.  I
+have also heard somewhere&mdash;no doubt in the Illinois country&mdash;about a
+northern trend to this stream, and one thing is certain, there is no
+hope for us otherwise; there can be no running those guard-lines back
+yonder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you mean we push on up this river?" broke in De Noyan, who had
+managed to make something out of our conversation, especially as the
+Puritan illustrated his knowledge by rudely tracing with a stumped
+forefinger a map on the board where he sat.  "<I>Sacre</I>! 'tis the
+dirtiest red slough ever I navigated.  Why not try the other thing?  A
+brush with those gentlemen below would be more to my taste."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, Master Benteen," boomed Cairnes with pious emphasis, reading the
+meaning of the other through his French gestures.  "Methinks the Lord
+of Hosts would assuredly strengthen the hearts of His servants for such
+a fray.  How many, friend, do you suppose they number, those unwashed
+sons of Belial?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can only guess.  There were twelve oars in the boat passing us on
+the lower river, while four others sat with guns in their hands;
+besides these are the Marquis de Serrato and the Capuchin priest,
+making a total of eighteen, all of whom we must reckon upon as being
+fighting men at a pinch."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Faith, merely enough to make the affair of interest," muttered De
+Noyan, as I explained my words to him.  "Hardly enough even by your
+count, as the officer nurses a cracked rib, while the priest would
+prove of small moment when it came to blows.  I am for bearing down
+upon the knaves in sudden onset; it will require but a crack or two ere
+the villains let us by."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May the God of Battles place me within fair stroke of that accursed
+gray-backed emissary of Rome," snorted the Puritan, his red hair erect.
+"I promise, Master Benteen, to smite as did David at Goliath."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I gazed uneasily about from where I lay at the feet of Madame, only to
+perceive her eyes resting upon me as if she waited anxiously my
+decision.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not suppose," she said quickly as our glances met, "that I shall
+shrink from the peril of encounter.  If it is best, you may trust me to
+do whatsoever may become a daughter of France."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor do we question it, Madame," I returned warmly, noting the
+unrestrained flash of pride leaping into the careless eyes of her
+husband at these brave words.  "But to invite such conflict in our
+present condition would be sheer madness.  There are only two men among
+us, for I am but half a man, the rapier thrust has robbed me of so
+large an amount of blood; nor do we possess fit weapons to wage battle
+against so well-armed a company as blocks our passage.  De Noyan sports
+his straight sword, which would be well wielded at close quarters; I
+possess my rifle, with small store of powder and ball, all of which are
+likely to be needed to save us from starving in this wilderness; while
+Cairnes here might indeed prove a strong arm with the tuck I brought
+back with me, yet probably knows nothing of the secrets of thrust and
+parry.  Pish! 'tis not worth thinking about.  Pit such an outfit as
+this against eighteen well-armed men,&mdash;for the Marquis can shoot for
+all his cracked rib, nor do I doubt the fighting qualities of the
+priest,&mdash;and the venture becomes too difficult for parley.  Nay,"
+warming up as I noted the hot-headed gallant preparing for speech, "nor
+is this all we should have to contend with.  Above, along the upper
+river, there are at least three other expeditions of Spanish soldiery.
+They are warned of De Noyan's escape, already guarding every junction.
+Suppose we succeeded&mdash;which in itself would be a miracle&mdash;in cutting
+our way out from here, could we hope to distance a twelve-oared boat
+racing against the current, or escape a clash with those others?  I
+know the difference between a bold dash and the utter foolhardiness
+such a hopeless venture as this would be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! you appear strangely over-cautious all at once," and I
+detected a covert sneer in the Chevalier's low, drawling tone.  "The
+Spaniard's blade must have let out the best of your blood.  Were you a
+soldier, now, instead of a mere forest rover, the odds you mention
+would only serve to stir you into action."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pardon, Monsieur," I said quietly, holding my temper, "it may be I
+have seen harder service than some who boast loudly their soldiership.
+It requires more than a gay dress, with some skill in the
+fencing-schools, to make a soldier in my country, nor do I believe you
+will ever find me lagging when a proper time comes to strike blows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I supposed until now; yet 'tis evident you would have us continue
+toiling for weeks against this foul current rather than strike one
+quick blow, and be free from the mess."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, Monsieur," my voice coming stern in rebuke of his rashness, "you
+are wrong.  You know perfectly well, De Noyan, I risk my life readily
+as any man in a good cause.  I have ranged the woods since boyhood,
+long accustomed to border broil and battle&mdash;there is scarcely an Indian
+trail between the Great Lakes and the country of the Creeks I have not
+followed either in peace or war.  I have faced savage foemen in battle,
+and crossed steel with those of your own school, and although I may
+wear no glittering gold lace, nor sport a title with which to dazzle
+the imagination of a girl, yet the man venturing to sneer at my
+courage, either amid the wilderness, or in the town, makes answer for
+the speech, whenever I come to my strength again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Always at your service, Monsieur," he murmured gently, "with the
+greatest pleasure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well then," I went on, barely noting his words, yet marking the
+look of distress on the face of his young wife, and despising him for
+it.  "Understand this, Monsieur&mdash;we make no battle here, whether it
+suit your hot-brained desires or not.  I dragged you from the jaws of
+death at the request of her who sits in silence yonder.  I will never
+consent that your rashness now draw her into the peril of such a
+<I>mêlée</I> as the attempt to run that gantlet.  Cairnes,"&mdash;I turned to
+face the Puritan, sitting all this time with open mouth listening to
+our quarrel, yet scarcely comprehending a word that passed,&mdash;"this gay
+French cockerel would throw us against those eighteen men below, to
+fight our way from here to the Ohio, as if the Spaniards between were
+so many buzzing mosquitoes, and you are not greatly averse to trying
+that same experiment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It would be a godly and pious service to smite so black and Papist a
+crew."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No doubt of that; yet, Master Cairnes, you are scarcely the sort who
+would involve a lady in such broil, when, if we escaped at first, the
+chances are we should have wounded to care for, or, perchance, be
+prisoners borne southward under Spanish guard&mdash;a contingency not
+over-pleasant, I imagine, to a preacher of your faith."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I saw him twist his little eyes as if in petition for guidance, while
+he ran his hand nervously through his red hair before venturing a reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It must ever be as the Lord wills, friend Benteen," he returned
+soberly, De Noyan surveying the fellow as he might some strange animal
+whose ways he did not understand.  "I am not one to draw back my hand
+once upon the plough.  Yet I have found you of a level and cool head in
+matters of judgment, and it is meet we exercise due care over this rare
+flower of womanhood who shares our dangers.  I like not the hard pull
+up this swift current," he cast anxious eyes at the swirling stream.
+"It is not clear into what additional peril it may lead, nor do I feel
+gifted at the oars, now the provisions bid fair to become somewhat
+scant."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I waited for no more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Puritan sufficiently agrees with me," I announced to De Noyan
+firmly.  "We will pull on up this stream until we learn its true trend,
+and are beyond Spanish overhauling.  It will be best to lose no time in
+placing a good stretch of water behind us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During this controversy our boat had drifted against the southern bank,
+its side softly scraping the mud, its bow entangled amid the roots of
+an overhanging bush.  To my surprise the Chevalier, instead of picking
+up his oar, grasped a bit of the projecting root, and, sword dangling
+after him, coolly stepped forth upon dry land.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You and your cursed canting preacher can do as you please," he
+announced carelessly, staring down at us, "but if you desire to retain
+me as one of this interesting party, you will wait until I return."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Surely, man, you do not propose attacking the Spaniards single-handed?
+This is sheer madness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He laughed lightly at the look of consternation on my face, twisting
+his moustache between his white fingers, his good humor instantly
+restored.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, most valiant hunter of game," he returned gayly.  "<I>Le diable</I>!
+you appear as horrified as your hellfire friend yonder at sight of a
+crucifix.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I am not such a fool.  I know when the odds are
+too great, even although I wear a uniform.  Still, should I chance to
+meet obstruction during my ramble, it is not likely I shall run from it
+without a pass or two.  I merely return to our camp, and will be back
+presently, if naught unpleasant occur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our camp?  You deliberately venture your life, and ours as well, from
+mere bravado?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Bravado</I>!  <I>Sacre</I>! you do wrong to use such term.  'T is of far
+greater moment than that&mdash;I seek the curling iron I have just missed
+from out my toilet-bag.  I mind me now I laid it beside the tree while
+I slept."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before I could recover speech to stay him, he vanished into the thick
+cane.  It was a difficult task to make the practical-headed old Puritan
+comprehend the nature of his quest, and when it slowly dawned upon him
+for what trivial matter the Frenchman undertook so desperate a journey,
+there came across his seamed and withered face so odd a look of
+complete disgust, I laughed outright in my nervousness, discovering
+some slight response in the amused eyes or Madame.  It proved a good
+hour before the Chevalier returned, somewhat bedraggled of attire, yet
+with his prize dangling at the belt, and dropped wearily upon a seat
+within the boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis time to move," he answered, responding to my look of inquiry.
+"They were at the camp when I left; and appeared in ill humor, from
+what little I could understand of their Spanish mouthings.  They had
+just released the noble Marquis from where you trussed him upon the
+rock, and his language has given me a headache."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap17"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WE MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I find it poor work transcribing so much regarding myself in recounting
+these small adventures, yet how else may I tell the story rightly?
+This all occurred so long ago the young man of whom I write seems
+hardly the same old man who puts pen to paper.  The impression grows
+upon me that I merely narrate incidents which befell a friend I once
+knew, but who has long since passed from my vision.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was wearying work, toiling up the muddy Arkansas, and in the end
+disastrous.  Occasionally, for miles at a stretch, our hearts were
+gladdened by a curve toward the northward, yet we drew westerly so much
+we became fearful lest the Jesuit had made false report on the main
+course of the stream.  Every league plunged us deeper into strange,
+desolate country, until we penetrated regions perhaps never before
+looked upon by men of our race.  The land became more attractive, the
+sickly marsh giving place to wide, undulating plains richly decorated
+with wild grasses, abloom with flowers, bordered by a thick fringe of
+wood.  Toward the end of our journeying by boat, after we had passed
+two cliffs upreared above the water, the higher rising sheer for two
+hundred feet, we perceived to the northward vast chains of hills rising
+in dull brown ridges against the sky-line, seemingly crowned with rare
+forest growth to their very summits.  During all these days and nights
+in only two things could we deem ourselves fortunate&mdash;we discovered no
+signs of roving savages, while wild animals were sufficiently numerous
+to supply all our needs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Three days' journey beyond the great cliff&mdash;for we voyaged now during
+the daylight, making camp at nightfall&mdash;I became convinced of the utter
+futility of further effort.  By this time I had recovered sufficiently
+from my wound to assume a share of labor at the oars, and was pulling
+that afternoon, so my eyes could glance past the fiery red crop of the
+Puritan, who held the after-oar, to where the Captain and Madame rested
+in the stern.  I remarked De Noyan's dissatisfied stare along the
+featureless shore we skirted, and the lines of care and trouble
+becoming daily more manifest upon Madame's face.  Thus studying the
+two, I cast about in my own mind for some possible plan of escape.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They had been conversing together in low tones, so low, indeed, no
+words reached me, while the preacher knew nothing of the language
+employed.  Nevertheless I could guess its purport.  It was sufficiently
+clear to all of us that we merely wasted strength longer breasting the
+swift current of this river, and were constantly drawing farther from
+our goal.  Yet I was of proud spirit in those days, finding it not easy
+to swallow my hastily spoken words, so I continued to pull steadily at
+the heavy oars, not seeing clearly how best to conquer myself, confess
+my former mistake, and advise retreat.  Fortunately a stronger
+influence than false pride urged me to action.  Marking again how sadly
+Eloise drooped her sobered face above the water, it put the heart of a
+man in me to acknowledge my error, offering such amends as were still
+possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It seems simple enough, yet it was not so small a struggle, nor did I
+fully win the battle over stubbornness until the gray of evening began
+wrapping about us hazy folds of cloud, the time coming when we must
+seek suitable night camp.  It was then I found tongue, even while
+glancing across my shoulder, through the shadows, searching for a
+landing-place.  As if all this were yesterday, I recall the scene.
+Everything swam in the gray haze, which, settling across the water,
+shut off from view much of the land.  We were nearly abreast of where a
+smaller stream came leaping down from the right to hurl its clear
+current far out into the muddy river.  So rapid was this discharge, the
+waters about us were thrown into turmoil, tossing our boat like a cork,
+causing Madame to grasp the rail nervously.  Its narrow mouth was
+partially concealed by overhanging shrubbery, so we were well within
+the sweep of its invading waters before I could conjecture the force
+with which it came.  Through the dim light, confusing to the eyes, I
+sought to peer ahead.  The hills, huddled much closer to the shore,
+appeared rough in their rocky outlines, while the heavy underbrush,
+clinging tightly to the water-side, offered nothing in the way of a
+suitable camping-spot.  Beyond the tumultuous sweep of this northern
+tributary, however, I discovered a considerable patch of grass,
+overshadowed by giant trees, and there I made selection of the spot
+which should complete our upward voyage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steer us in toward yonder green bank, Madame," I called to Eloise,
+"where you see that group of trees through the fog.  God willing, it
+shall prove our last camp before we turn east and south once more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It did my heart good to observe the sudden brightening of her face at
+these words of promise, as if they came in direct answer to prayer.  I
+understood then how weary she was with our toll, how cruel I had been
+to hold her so long at it.  She had given utterance to no complaint;
+even now, it was not her voice which welcomed my decision.  It was the
+Chevalier, seldom failing in ready speech, whose careless tongue rasped
+me with quick retort.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, so you have really come to your senses, Benteen," he cried
+eagerly.  "I thought it would not be much longer after you were able to
+get grip upon an oar.  Our red-headed friend has slow tongue of late,
+yet I warrant he has little love for such man-killing work; so a
+turn-about will be the vote of us all.  Saint Anne! 'tis the happiest
+word to ring in my ears since this cursed trip began."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nothing tests the innate quality of a man like the wilderness.  However
+bold of heart, if every utterance is a complaint he will prove a
+constant hardship.  I doubted not both De Noyan and the Puritan would
+show themselves true men if emergency confronted us; but in the daily
+plodding routine of travel the Chevalier gave way to little worries,
+jerking along in the harness of necessity like an ill-broken colt;
+while Cairnes, who pulled steadily in sullen discontent, was much the
+better comrade of the two.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Call it what you please," I answered shortly, never removing my gaze
+from the pleased face of Madame, thus keeping better control over my
+tongue.  "I have become convinced the map of the Jesuit priest lied,
+and this stream runs not northward.  It is useless pushing any farther."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Back, of course.  To drift down-stream will be easy now we know
+something of the current.  We return to the junction of the rivers,
+where we left the Spaniards&mdash;'tis hardly probable they are still there;
+but if they are, then we must trust to our stout arms, and have faith
+in the right.&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;  By heavens!  Cairnes, what mean you?  Damme, man,
+would you overturn the boat?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This hasty word of expostulation had hardly left my lips before the
+Puritan scuttled clumsily overboard, his red hair cropping out of the
+seething water like a rare growth of fungus.  Another instant, and the
+full shock of that racing current struck our bow, hurling it about as
+if the trembling boat were an eggshell.  Over him we went, his pudgy
+fingers digging vainly for some holding-place along the slippery
+planks, his eyes staring up in terror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For God's sake, cling tight, Eloise!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I heard this shout of warning from De Noyan as he fell backward into
+the water, which, luckily, was scarcely above his waist.  Helpless to
+prevent the plunge, I joined company at the bow, going down well over
+my head without finding footing, and coming to the surface face to face
+with the Puritan, who was spluttering out river water and scraps of
+Calvinistic speech, striving madly to lay hold on some portion of the
+boat, now spinning away on the swift flood.  It was no time to seek
+explanation from any man wrathful as Cairnes appeared to be, so I
+devoted my attention to doing the one thing left us,&mdash;keeping the crazy
+craft upright to save Madame and the cargo.  Nor was this an easy task.
+Seldom have I breasted such angry, boiling surge as beat against
+us&mdash;there was no fronting it for those of us beyond our depths, while
+even De Noyan, making a manful struggle, was forced slowly back into
+deeper water, where he floundered helpless as the rest.  It spun us
+about like so many tops, until I heard a great crunching of timbers,
+accompanied by a peculiar rasping which caused my heart to stop its
+pulsation.  All at once the heavy bow swung around.  Caught by it, I
+was hurled flat against the face of a black rock, and squeezed so
+tightly between stone and planking I thought my ribs must crack.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was then I noted Cairnes, struggling just beyond me, reaching
+backward with his foot until he found purchase against the stone, then
+lifting his great crop to gaze about, sweeping the moisture from his
+eyes.  He braced one mighty shoulder against the boat's side, with such
+a heave as I never supposed lay in the muscles of any man; swung that
+whole dead weight free of the rock, and ere the dancing craft, we
+clinging desperately to it, had made two circles in the mad boiling, I
+felt my feet strike bottom, and stood upright, ready to do my share
+again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you safe, Madame?" I questioned anxiously, for I could see no
+signs of her presence from where I stood, and she uttered no sound.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am uninjured," she returned, "but the boat takes water freely.  I
+fear a plank has given way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Parbleu</I>!" sputtered De Noyan, with a great sound of coughing.  "So
+have I taken water freely.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I have gulped down enough of the
+stuff to last me the remainder of life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold your wit until we are safe ashore, Monsieur," I commented
+shortly, for as I stood the strain was heavy on my arms.  "Push toward
+the right, both of you, or the boat will sink before we can beach her;
+she takes water like a sieve."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We slowly won our way backward, the effort requiring every pound of our
+combined strength, De Noyan and I tugging breathlessly at the stern,
+the sectary doing yeoman service at the bow.  Yet the effort told,
+bringing us into quieter water, although we upbore the entire weight of
+the boat on our shoulders after we made firm footing.  The water poured
+in so rapidly Madame was for going overboard also, but we persuaded her
+to remain.  Anyway, we drove the prow against the bank at last, and, as
+I rested, panting from exertion, I observed the others dragging
+themselves wearily ashore, Cairnes was a sight, with his great mat of
+red hair soaked with black mud, which had oozed down over his face, so
+as to leave it almost unrecognizable.  He shook himself like a shaggy
+water-dog after a bath, flinging himself down full length with a growl.
+De Noyan fared somewhat better, coming ashore with a smile, even
+trolling the snatch of a song as he climbed the bank, but his gay
+military cap, without which, jauntily perched upon one side of his
+head, I had scarcely before seen him, had gone floating down-stream,
+and the fierce upward curl of his long moustachios had vanished.  They
+hung now limp, leaving so little <I>à la militaire</I> in his appearance
+that I had to smile, noting the look of surprise in Madame's eyes as he
+gallantly assisted her to the dry grass, before flinging himself flat
+for a breathing spell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"God guide us!" I exclaimed, so soon as I could trust myself to speak.
+"This is a hard ending to all our toil, nor do I understand how it came
+about."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>!" commented De Noyan, glancing across at the fellow.  "It
+looked to me as if yonder canting preacher either was taken with a fit,
+or sought to make ending here of two papists."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I turned to face the grim-faced sectary, still too thoroughly winded by
+his late exertions to try the lift of a Psalm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See here, sirrah," I began angrily in English, "perhaps you will
+explain what sort of a Connecticut trick you attempted to play there in
+the current?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He twisted his narrow eyes in my direction, apparently studying the
+full meaning of my words before venturing an answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not what you mean, friend," he returned at last, in that deep
+booming voice of his.  "Did I not perform my work with the best of ye?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, you were man enough after we went overboard, but why, in the name
+of all the fiends, did you make so foul a leap, bringing us into such
+imminent peril?"  The gleam of his eyes was no longer visible, but I
+marked the rise of his great shoulders, his voice rumbling angrily,
+like distant thunder, as he made reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why did I make the leap, you unregenerated infidel, you thick-headed
+heretic?  Why did I?  Better were I to ask why you ran the boat's nose
+into that bubbling hell.  Why did I?  What else saved us losing every
+pound we carried, together with the woman, you cock-eyed spawn of the
+devil, only that Ezekiel Cairnes possessed sufficient sense to throw
+himself in the way, upbearing the bulk of the strain?  The water was
+somewhat deeper than I supposed, and my feet found no bottom, yet 't
+was the best thing to do, and the only hope of steadying the boat.
+Better for you and that grinning papist yonder to be on your knees
+thanking the Almighty He sent you a man this day, than lie there like
+so many hooked cods, gasping for breath with which to abuse one of the
+Lord's anointed.  Yet 'tis but righteous judgment visited upon me for
+consorting with papists and unbelievers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Feeling the possible justice of his claim I hastened to make amends to
+the wrathful and worthy man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may be right," I admitted slowly.  "Certainly we will return
+thanks for deliverance each in his own way.  As for me, I greatly
+regret having mistrusted your act.  Perhaps it was best, yet I think we
+have small chance ever to use this boat again.  It appears badly
+injured.  However, we must await daylight to note the damage.  In the
+meantime, let us make shift to camp; a hot fire will dry our limbs and
+clothing, and put us in better humor for the morrow."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap18"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A HARD DAY'S MARCH
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The dawn came with rosy promise of a fair day, a frost lying white over
+the grass-land, sufficient nip in the air to stir the blood.  Before
+the others were aroused I examined the boat, which rested high in the
+mud where we had heaved it the evening previous.  The cruel rent in the
+solid planking was such as to afford little hope of our ever being able
+to repair it.  How the accident occurred I did not rightly comprehend,
+but we had been cast ashore on the western bank of that swift
+maelstrom.  In the light of dawn, I gazed forth upon the whirlpool
+extending between the rock against which we had struck and the bank
+where I stood, in speechless wonder at the miracle of our rescue.
+Standing there in silence broken only by the wild tumult of the waters,
+I thought of Eloise tossed helpless in their merciless grip, and bowed
+my head humbly above the shattered boat, offering up a heartfelt
+petition.  I was not in those days a man of prayer, yet the germ of my
+father's robust faith was ever in my blood, and love teaches many a
+good lesson.  Certainly I felt better within my own heart for that
+instant of communion under the paling stars.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My head was yet bowed over the gunwale when the heavy footsteps of the
+Puritan sounded close at hand.  I could not fail to remark a softness
+in his deep voice as he spoke, resting one hand upon my shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thou knowest not, friend Benteen, how it gladdens my old heart to find
+thee before the throne of grace.  I fear thou art not greatly
+accustomed to look up unto God in time of trouble, yet doing so can
+never weaken thy arm for the moment of trial.  Acknowledge the Lord of
+Hosts, nor dream thou wilt ever prove less of a man because thy heart
+responds to His many mercies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You speak truly," I returned soberly, feeling a new respect for him in
+that hour.  "There is no better way in which to start the day; and,
+unless my eyes deceive me, this bids fair to prove a day of sore trial.
+Have you looked to the damage done the boat?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay," he returned earnestly, bending low to examine the rent.  "I
+slept like a man in drink, and even now am scarcely well awakened.  'T
+is, indeed, a serious break, friend; one, I fear, which will prove
+beyond our remedying."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you skill with tools?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is one of my gifts; yet of what use in the wilderness where tools
+are not to be found?  However, I will see what may be done, after we
+break our fast&mdash;there is little accomplished working on an empty
+stomach."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a morning of sorrowful labor; from the beginning a perfectly
+hopeless one.  The planking had been so badly crushed that a portion
+was actually ground into powder, leaving a great gaping hole.  To patch
+this we possessed no tool to shape the wood properly, or, indeed, any
+wood to shape, except the seats of the oarsmen.  Nor did we possess
+nails.  More than one expedient was resorted to with bits of canvas,
+wooden pegs, or whatsoever else we could lay hands upon, but our
+efforts resulted each time in sickening failure.  At last, long before
+the sun had attained the zenith, the old preacher looked up,
+disappointment written on every line of his rough face, to say grimly:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We waste toil, friends; the boat floats no more for all our labors.
+Nor do I deem it the will of the Lord we longer continue to wear
+ourselves out in vain effort to undo His work."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He wiped the beads of perspiration from his low forehead, pushing his
+hand through his matted hair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Were it not for the woman," he added more cheerfully, "the accident
+would not be so bad either.  I am cramped by long boat service, and
+would welcome a stiff tramp to loosen out the joints of my legs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced across uneasily at Madame, for we were all seated on the
+grass in the sunshine, but could perceive nothing except encouragement
+in the clear depths of her brave eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fear nothing on my account," she said quietly, instantly reading my
+thoughts as if my face were an open book.  "I am strong, and shall not
+greatly mind the walking."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At least you are strong of heart," I returned gravely.  "But such a
+trip as now lies before us will test your power of endurance greatly.
+Yet what must be done is best done quickly, and there are unpleasant
+memories clustering about this spot, making me anxious to leave it
+before another night.  Let each one speak frankly his thought as to our
+future course, so we may choose the route aright.  De Noyan, you are a
+soldier, accustomed to places of difficulty and peril.  What would you
+suggest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was lying flat upon his back, hands clasped beneath his head, puffs
+of white smoke from his pipe curling lazily up into the blue sky; nor
+did he remove the stem from between his lips as he made easy answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Faith, man, my service on campaign has ever been with the horse; nor
+am I fond of using my own limbs for travelling.  It would be far
+easier, I think, to knock up the old boat here; then, with whatsoever
+else we might find in this God-forsaken wilderness, construct some sort
+of raft to upbear our company, and so drift down with the stream.
+<I>Parbleu</I>! it would be a relief from those cursed oars.  If the load be
+too heavy, the preacher can be left behind; 't would be small loss."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your plan sounds bravely in words, Chevalier, but were we to attempt
+it, we should soon find ourselves in more serious stress than now,&mdash;ay!
+before we had covered the first day's journey.  My Calvinistic friend,
+what advice have you for our guidance?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sectary's eyes were fastened upon the ragged line of hills at our
+back, and for the moment he made no response, his seamed face grave
+with thought.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How far, Master Benteen," he queried finally, "do you make it from
+here to the mouth of this river?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not much short of sixty leagues," I answered, after a bit of thinking.
+"The stream bends and twists so it is difficult to judge the true
+distance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was a grievous journey," he admitted with a groan, "one I care not
+to travel again, unless it be revealed plainly to me as the will of the
+Lord.  I name the distance full seventy leagues.  What has been the
+main direction of our course?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To north of west."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay!  Are we, think you, thirty leagues to northward of where we left
+the Spaniards?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should say yes, maybe ten leagues more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I doubt the extra ten, but even at thirty it would be foolishness to
+retrace all that hard-won distance merely for the sake of keeping in
+sight of this muddy stream, the very water of which is unfit for
+Christian stomach, and of no value otherwise.  'Tis my vote we strike
+directly east and north, following as straight a trail as possible
+until we find the great river.  It should be as easy travelling as
+along this bank, and will bring us out above the Spanish lines of
+guard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I know not how long I sat there gazing silently into his impassive
+leathern face, turning over within my own mind the argument of his
+words.  He was neither woodsman nor mountaineer, yet possessed some
+judgment.  Thus considering, I saw but one possible objection to his
+plan&mdash;lack of water or of game along the unknown route to be traversed.
+But serious scarcity of either was hardly to be expected at this season
+among the mountains, while the weary leagues of southing thus saved
+would make no small difference in the length and time of our journey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It appears to me our best hope," I admitted candidly.  "It will
+involve clambering over rocks, yet yonder range does not appear high,
+nor of a width to keep us long in its shadow; besides, the lower
+reaches of this river are marshy leagues upon leagues, and to my mind
+walking will be easier if we take higher ground.  It is all guesswork
+at the best.  We know how impassable the trail will be below, and, even
+if we retrace our steps down the river, we shall have to make a wide
+detour to cross this mad stream.  But wait; we have heard no word from
+Madame de Noyan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She also was looking upon those cool, blue hills, apparently close at
+hand, but turned instantly at my addressing her, making quick and
+confident answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My word is only this, Geoffrey Benteen: you are a woodsman, better
+capable of such decision than any woman whose life has been lived
+within the town.  I go cheerfully wheresoever your choice lies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It has ever been a source of strength to me to be thoroughly trusted by
+some other, and I instantly arose to my feet, feeling a new man under
+the inspiration of these heartsome words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then that matter is decided," I announced, a ring of confidence in my
+voice.  "We will break bread once more, and then commence our journey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>!" ejaculated the Captain, yet lolling upon his back, "if it be
+like that same biscuit I had an hour since, breaking it will prove no
+small matter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The blazing sun stood an hour low in the west when we divided our small
+stock of necessaries so as to transport them, and, with merely a last
+regretful glance at the damaged boat which had been our home so long,
+turned our faces hopefully toward those northern hills, commencing a
+journey destined to prove for more than one a trip unto death.  God's
+way is best, and there is a noble purpose in it all; for had we that
+day been enabled to view the future, not a single step would we have
+taken, nor should I have had in my memory a tale worthy of being
+written down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I led the little company, bearing rifle in hand, keeping vigilant
+outlook for game; De Noyan followed, where he might easily afford aid
+to his wife if she required the strength of his arm along the rough
+path; while the old Puritan, grumbling ever to himself, lumbered along
+well in the rear, although we were careful to keep within speaking
+distance of each other.  We traversed a gently rising slope of grass
+land, with numerous rocks scattered over its surface, keeping as close
+as possible along the bank of the brawling stream, that we might make
+use of its narrow valley through the rocky bluffs, which threatened to
+bar our passage.  These were no great distance away, so a steady
+gait&mdash;I set the pace slow not to distress Madame, who was cramped from
+long sitting within the boat&mdash;brought us in an hour to where our
+narrowing path was overhung and darkened by the closing in of gloomy
+mountain heights upon either side.  It had an awesome look, like the
+yawning mouth of a cave, opening to intense darkness and mysterious
+danger.  I saw a look almost of terror in Madame's eyes as she gazed,
+yet her lips uttered no protest, and I flung aside a desire to shrink
+back, with a muttered curse at my own folly.  Saint Andrew! it is odd
+how superstition grips the best of us.  Those rock walls, binding us
+within their scant confines as in a prison, were not particularly
+precipitous or high, yet our way was sufficiently perilous, leading
+along a contracted defile, the merest chasm, indeed, steep cliffs
+rising sheer on either side, merely the raging stream and a ribbonlike
+path between.  The slight expanse of sky above was blue and clear, but
+it was sombre and gloomy enough down in that black hollow, where we
+made difficult progress amid loose bowlders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Where this snake-like ravine widened out slightly we made choice for
+our first camp.  We reached there near the sunset hour, although the
+sun itself had utterly vanished from our view long before, and we moved
+forward amid a semi-darkness most depressing.  On the spot selected the
+towering wall of rock on our side of the little river overhung
+sufficiently to form a comfortable shelter at its base.  I had a goodly
+supply of fresh pine boughs strewn so as to form a soft bed, while the
+Puritan busied himself gathering together ample materials for a fire,
+the reflected light of which caused the deep chasm where we rested to
+appear more gloomy than before, while scurrying night clouds closed us
+in as if imprisoned within a grave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That evening was not devoted to much conversation.  We were alike
+wearied from our long tramp, heavy-hearted, and strangely depressed by
+the desolate gloom of the rock cavern in which we lay.  Even De Noyan
+yielded to this spirit of brooding and, after a faint effort at forced
+gayety, crept silently to his sleeping-place.  The other two were not
+long in following him.  I was thus left alone to keep the first watch
+of the night.  Four lonelier, more miserable hours I do not remember
+serving at the call of duty.  The round moon crept slowly through the
+black sky, until its soft, silvery beams rested, brighter than daylight
+had been in that gorge, in glowing radiance along the surface of the
+smooth, gleaming wall opposite, yet merely succeeded in rendering more
+weird and uncanny the sombre desolation.  The night wind arose, causing
+the shadows of clinging pines to sway back and forth like spectral
+figures, while a solemn silence, awesome in its intensity, brooded over
+all, broken only by the noise of tumbling water, with occasional
+rasping of boughs against the face of the cliff.  The fire died away
+into a few red embers, occasionally fanned into uncertain flame by
+breaths of air sucked up the gorge.  By the time my guard ended I was
+so thoroughly unstrung that each flitting glimpse of deeper shadow
+tempted me to fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was at midnight, or as close to that hour as I was capable of
+judging, when I aroused De Noyan and crawled into his place on the bed
+of boughs.  I lay there watching him a brief space, as he walked over
+to the stream and plunged his face into the cool water.  The last I
+recall previous to dropping off into deep slumber was how large his
+shadow loomed, silhouetted in the bright moonshine against a huge black
+bowlder directly in my front.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I know not the hour, yet I noted, even in awakening, that the moon had
+already passed from out the narrow ribbon of sky above, although still
+fringing in silver beauty the sharp summit of the crest, when a quick,
+nervous pressure upon my arm awoke me with a start of alarm.  Lying at
+full length, his head uplifted, was De Noyan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Keep still, Benteen," he whispered, his voice vibrant with excitement,
+"and look yonder.  In the name of all the fiends, what is that?"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap19"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+DEMON, OR WHAT?
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I have been free from superstitious terror as most men, yet there were
+few in those days who did not yield to the sway of the supernatural.
+Occasionally, among those of higher education, there may have been
+leaders of thought who had shaken off these ghostly chains of the dark
+ages, seeking amid the laws of nature a solution for all the seeming
+mysteries in human life.  Yet it could scarcely be expected a plain
+wood-ranger should rise altogether above the popular spell which still
+made of the Devil a very potent personality.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Consequently, as my anxious eyes uplifted toward the spot where De
+Noyan pointed, it need be no occasion for wonder that my blood turned
+to ice in my veins, and I felt convinced I looked upon His Satanic
+Majesty.  The vast wall of rock, arising a sheer hundred feet directly
+opposite to where we lay, appeared densely black now in the shadow, but
+as my glance swept higher along its irregularity, the upper edge,
+jagged from outcropping stones, stood clearly revealed in the full
+silver sheen of the moon, each exposed line, carven as from marble,
+standing distinctly forth in delicate tracery against the background of
+the night sky.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Appearing to my affrighted eyes the gigantic form of two men strangely
+merged into one, there uprose on that summit a figure so odd, weird,
+and grimly fantastic, it was small wonder I gazed, never thinking it
+could be other than the Evil One.  It was unclothed from head to heel,
+and, gleaming ghastly white beneath the moonbeams, it brought no Indian
+suggestion to mind.  High above the head, causing the latter to appear
+hideously deformed, arose something the nature of which I could not
+rightly judge.  It reminded me of a vast mat of hair sticking directly
+upward, ever waving back and forth to the breath of the night wind.
+Nor did this horrid figure remain one moment still.  There upon the
+very edge of the precipice, it would leap high into the air, flinging
+aloft long gaunt arms, even appearing to float bodily forth into the
+space above us, to disappear instantly, like some phantom of
+imagination, amid the shrouding gloom of those rock shadows&mdash;flitting
+swiftly, and as upon wings, along the crest; now showing directly in
+our front, looming like a threatening giant, mocking with wild, furious
+gestures; then dancing far to right or left, a vague shade in the
+sheen, a mere nothing in the shadow, yet ever returning, the same
+weird, unnatural, spectral figure, wildly gyrating upon the air,
+leering down upon our speechless misery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My eyes, wide-opened by terror, followed these movements, marking this
+ghastly shape.  I listened vainly for the slightest sound to connect it
+with aught human.  The mantle of the night's solemn silence, the dread
+stillness of wilderness solitudes, rested everywhere.  I heard the
+mournful sighing of the wind amid jagged rocks and among the swaying
+branches of the cedars; the dull roar of the little river, even the
+stentorian breathing of the Puritan lying asleep behind us, but that
+was all.  That hideous apparition dancing so madly along the cliff
+summit emitted no sound of foot or voice&mdash;yet there it hung, foreboding
+evil, gesticulating in mockery; a being too hideous for earth, ever
+playing the mad antics of a fiend.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My gaze rested questioningly upon De Noyan's upturned face, and saw it
+ghost-like in lack of color, drawn and haggard.  Mine no doubt was the
+same, for never have I felt such uncontrollable horror as that which,
+for the moment, fairly paralyzed me in brain and limb.  It is the
+mysterious that appals brave men, for who of earth might hope to
+struggle against the very fiends of the air?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Mon Dieu</I>!" whispered my comrade, his voice shaking as if from an
+ague fit.  "Is it not Old Nick himself?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If not," I answered, my words scarce steadier, "then some one must
+tell me what; never before did I gaze on such a sight.  Has it been
+there long?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not whence it came, or how.  I was not watching the crest.
+After I bathed at the stream to open my eyes better, I began
+overhauling the commissary for a bite with which to refresh the inner
+man.  I was sitting yonder, my back against the big stone, munching
+away contentedly, humming the words of a song to keep me awake, when I
+chanced to glance up to mark the position of the moon, and there that
+hell's imp danced in the sheen as he has been dancing ever since.
+<I>Sacre</I>! it was the bravest deed of my life to crawl here and awaken
+you; the devilish thing did charm me as a snake does a bird."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mere sound of human speech put new heart into me, yet I found it
+difficult to avert my eyes from that fantastic figure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If that is the Devil," I said more composedly, still enthralled by the
+baleful presence, "surely we have neither of us done so much evil as to
+make us especially his victims."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As I concluded these words, my courage creeping back, a sudden rustling
+among the pines at our back startled us to glance around.  Out of the
+gloom of the rock shelter a figure uplifted itself on all fours, and
+the faint light of a star glimmered directly down upon an upraised,
+terror-stricken face.  Before either De Noyan or myself could mutter a
+hasty warning, the half-awakened preacher sent his great, gruff voice
+booming out into the air:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"O Lord God of Israel deliver Thy servant from destruction and the
+clutch of the Evil One.  O Lord God of&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I flung myself on him, clutching his brawny throat, throttling his
+speech into a vain gurgle.  The fellow made so fierce a struggle,
+mistaking me for an assistant of the fiend, my fierce hold was jerked
+loose, and I was hurled heavily backward at full length upon the
+stones, striking with no pleasant force upon my shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Verily have I overcome the Devil by Thy strength, O Lord!" he began
+fervently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be still, you red-headed Connecticut fool," I commanded sharply, now
+thoroughly aroused.  "Stop, or I 'll drive into you a leaden slug to
+silence that blundering tongue of yours for good and all.  Get up from
+your knees there, and play the man.  If needs be you must pray, keep
+grip on that bull voice of yours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It makes small odds now," chimed in De Noyan with easier tone.  "The
+Devil, or what, has disappeared from the rock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced up at his words, to find them true.  The sky was assuming a
+faint grayish tinge, as if the dawn were near.  The vanishing of that
+spectral figure relieved us greatly, while the steady coming of
+daylight revived those spirits upon which the haunted night had rested
+grimly.  Nevertheless I felt it incumbent to speak somewhat harshly to
+the yet sulking sectary for such untimely uproar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you mistake this for a conventicle, Master Cairnes," I asked
+grimly, "an assembly of crop-eared worshippers, that you venture to
+lift your voice in such a howl when you wake?  It will be better if you
+learn to keep still at such a time, if you hope to companion long with
+me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You!" he scarcely deigned to lift his eyes to regard me.  "You are but
+an unbelieving and damned heretic.  Had it not been in all the
+earnestness of a contrite spirit I besought the Lord in prayer,
+wrestling even as did David of old, 'tis not likely the foul fiend I
+beheld on yonder crest would have departed so easily.  I tell you, you
+unregenerated son of iniquity, it is naught save the faith of the
+elect, the prayer of the redeemed, which overcomes the wiles of the
+Devil, and relieves the children of God from his snares."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was useless arguing with the fanatic; yet much of my previous
+superstitious terror at our unwelcome visitant had already vanished,
+there growing upon my mind a firm conviction that the apparition was
+not a denizen of the sulphurous regions of the damned, but was composed
+of flesh and blood, even as ourselves.  I think Madame had been awake
+through the greater part of the commotion, as I noted her stir slightly
+even when De Noyan first informed me of the strange presence.  Yet she
+spoke not a word.  Realizing her judgment was ever clearer than that of
+either of my male companions, I turned to awaken her to some expression.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And do you also, Madame, believe that we have been honored by a visit
+from His Satanic Majesty in person?" I asked, wondering as I spoke that
+she should appear so undisturbed in midst of our turmoil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It would be less terrifying to me could I so believe," she replied
+gravely, her eyes questioning my face, as if to read therein what
+answer I desired.  "I have that about my person," and I marked that her
+fingers toyed with the beads of a rosary at her throat, "which would
+protect me from his touch."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What then did you make of that fantastic figure?  I was so gravely
+startled myself by the apparition I saw double, scarcely retaining
+sufficient strength for the uplifting of a hand.  So speak, Madame, and
+plainly, for our comforting,&mdash;was that flesh and blood, or was it some
+ghastly visitant from the unknown?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe," she answered firmly, "it was human.  To my eyes a wild
+man, partially arrayed in white skins, decorated with a multitude of
+great feathers, appearing ghastly tall, and weirdly distorted in the
+moonlight&mdash;a fiend, indeed, yet not of the upper air."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An Indian?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not what other name to choose.  A savage surely, yet possessing
+a skin strangely fair in the sheen for one of the red race."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My roving, unsatisfied eyes met those of De Noyan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Blessed Mother!" he ejaculated with a short, uneasy laugh.  "I never
+would have thought it in the night.  Holy Saints preserve me, if I was
+ever more a child!  Yet now the dawn brings me new heart of courage,
+and I would not swear but Eloise may be right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And you, friend Cairnes?"  In a few, brief English sentences I retold
+to the sectary this opinion expressed by Madame.  "Does your mind agree
+with ours?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stared at me gloomily, his hands knotting into each other, and his
+lips moving oddly ere he found speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay," he muttered at last, "you know little about such matters.  I
+tell you again that it was the Devil my eyes saw.  Twice have I looked
+upon him, and each time, in response to prayer, has the good Lord
+delivered His servant from the bondage of sin, the snares of the
+fowler.  Not by carnal weapons of the flesh are we bidden to overcome,
+but by spiritual wrestling; even as did he of old wrestle with the
+angel, are we to master the adversary of souls."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame possesses that also," and I pointed to the rosary at her white
+throat, "by which she is able to resist the contamination of evil."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He sniffed disdainfully, his coarse red hair appearing to bristle all
+over his bullet head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is a foul device designed to rob men of the true power of prayer,"
+he declared angrily.  "I say to you, it was the voice of prayer which
+caused that foul fiend to fly away to his own.  The prayer of the
+righteous availeth much."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True, friend," I admitted as he paused for breath, amused to behold a
+man thus played upon.  "If it is a comfort to you, we all confess it
+was your voice which put an end to the dancing.  Yet if there is a time
+for prayer, so there is time also for action, and the latter must be
+here now.  Whatever adventure awaits us before nightfall, we shall meet
+it no less bravely if we first have food.  So let us break our fast,
+and depart from this accursed spot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not a cheerful meal, our nerves being still at high tension, and
+we partook more from duty than any feeling of enjoyment.  I must except
+the old Puritan, however, who would have eaten, I believe, had that
+same figure been dancing at his elbow.  Many anxious looks were cast
+upward at the rock crest, every unwonted sound causing us to start and
+glance about in nervous terror.  It seems to me now Eloise remained the
+most self-controlled among us, and I have felt sincerely ashamed at
+yielding to my weaker nature in thus betraying nervousness before that
+company.  Yet had she been in safety I would have proven more of a man,
+as by this time no haunting superstition remained to burden my heart.
+I realized we were leaguered by flesh and blood, not by demons of the
+air, and had never counted my life specially valuable in Indian
+campaign.  But to be compelled to look into her fair face, to feel
+constantly the trustful gaze of her brown eyes, knowing well what would
+be her certain fate should she fall into savage hands, operated in
+breaking down all the manliness within me, leaving me like a helpless
+child, ready to start at the slightest sound.  De Noyan barely touched
+the food placed in front of him, and, long before Cairnes had completed
+his meal, the Chevalier was restlessly pacing the rocks beside the
+stream, casting impatient glances in our direction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Mon Dieu</I>!" he ejaculated at last, "it is not the nature of a
+Frenchman to remain longer cooped in such a hole.  I beg you, Benteen,
+bid that gluttonous English animal cease stuffing himself like an
+anaconda, and let us get away; each moment I am compelled to bide here
+is torture."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Experiencing the same tension, I persuaded the Puritan to suspend his
+onslaught, and, undisturbed by sight or sound, we began a slow advance,
+clambering across the bowlders strewing the narrow way, discovering as
+we moved forward that those towering cliffs on either side were
+becoming lower, although no possibility of scaling them became
+apparent.  We travelled thus upwards of a quarter of a mile, our
+progress being necessarily slow, when a dull roar stole gradually upon
+our hearing.  A moment later, rounding a sharp edge of projecting rock,
+and picking our way cautiously along a narrow slab of stone extending
+out above the swirling water, we came forth in full view of a vast
+cliff, with unbroken front extending from wall to wall across the
+gorge, while over it plunged the stream in a magnificent leap of fully
+one hundred and fifty feet.  It was a scene of rare, romantic beauty,
+the boiling stream surging and dancing madly away from its foot, and
+the multicolored mists rising up like a gauzy veil between us and the
+column of greenish-blue water.  Yet it pleased us little then, for it
+barred our progress northward as completely as would a hostile army.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Our depth of disappointment at facing this barrier was beyond
+expression.  We could but stand in silence, gazing upon the broad,
+impassable sheet of water, blocking further advance.  De Noyan was
+earliest to recover power of speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Le Diable</I>!" he swore, half unconsciously.  "This cursed place is
+surely damned!  Yet it has some consolation to my mind, for that will
+drive us backward into the lowlands, out of this demon-haunted defile."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your judgment is right," I returned gravely enough, not unrelieved
+myself by the thought.  "There is no other course open to us.  We shall
+be compelled to retrace our steps, and if we desire to reach the open
+before another night, we need be at it.  May the good God grant us free
+passage, with no skulking enemies in ambuscade, for never saw I poorer
+spot for defence than along this narrow shelf."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fortunately, the way proved easier travelling as we proceeded downward,
+and we were not long in passing beyond our haunted camp of the previous
+night.  Below this spot&mdash;which was passed in painful anxiety&mdash;we
+entered into that narrower, gloomy gorge leading directly toward the
+plain beyond.  The little river foamed and leaped in deep black waves
+upon our left, the rocks encroaching so near that we were compelled to
+pass in single file, picking a way with extreme caution lest we slip
+upon the wet stones, and having neither time nor breath for speech.
+The Puritan led, bearing the Spaniard's naked rapier in his hand.
+Suddenly, from where I brought up the rear, his voice sounded so
+noisily I made haste forward fearing he had been attacked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stood halted, staring like a demented man at a massive rock, a huge
+monster with sheer, precipitous front, filling every foot of space from
+the cliff wall to the river, completely closing, as by a wall of
+masonry, the narrow foot-path along which we had advanced unhindered
+the day before.  It was easy to see from whence that rock mass came;
+the great fresh scar on the overhanging cliff summit high above told
+the fatal story of its detachment.  Yet how had it fallen so suddenly
+and with such deadly accuracy across the path?  Was it a strange
+accident, a caprice of fate, or was it rather the hellish work of
+design?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+None knew at that moment; yet we stood there stupefied, staring into
+each others' despairing faces, feeling we were hopeless prisoners
+doomed to perish miserably within the gloom confines of that ghastly,
+haunted hell.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap20"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BACKS TO THE WALL
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"This is Indian treachery," I said decisively, my eyes searching the
+cliffs, "nor will they remain long inactive now they have fairly caught
+us in their trap.  Let us get back out of this narrow way; there may be
+other loosened rocks where this one came from."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Back where?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To some spot where we can defend ourselves in case of attack.  These
+will prove different from any savages I have ever known if we fail to
+hear from them as soon as we are ready."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But," protested De Noyan, as we scrambled retreating up the slope, "if
+there is no way leading from this pit of death, how are those devils
+going to get in?  Will it not be more likely they will be content to
+starve us?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis not Indian nature to hide in patience after having trapped their
+victims.  Although there is no apparent way out to our eyes, nor time
+to search for one, yet we may put confidence in this: they never
+bottled us here without knowing some means whereby they might complete
+their work."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is likely to be a fight, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Either that or a massacre; God knoweth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If, friend Benteen," boomed Cairnes, now well in our front, and
+prodigal of voice as ever, "you expect a stand-up battle with the
+devils, 'tis my judgment you will find few spots better adapted for
+defence than yonder&mdash;there where the rock juts out so far; 'tis like a
+sloping roof to protect us from above."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was as he described, a place fitted by nature for such a contest,
+the upper stratum of rock projecting so far forward as almost to form a
+cave beneath, while, partially blocking the centre of this darkened
+opening, uprose a great square slab of stone, forming of itself no
+small protection to a party crouching in its shadow.  Moreover the
+ground fell away sharply, the higher point being twenty feet above the
+water level; and this at the widest part of the gorge, the entire slope
+thickly strewn with bowlders of varying size.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have made soldierly choice," I acknowledged heartily, after a
+hasty survey.  "It would be difficult to discover a more proper spot
+for purposes of defence.  St. Andrew! but three of us ought to hold
+that mound against quite a party."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+De Noyan broke in, perfectly at his ease with actual fighting in
+prospect.  "Somewhat open as yet, but that can be remedied by use of
+those scattered stones.  Upbuild the circle here, leaving in front of
+the great bowlder room enough for the three of us to battle at ease,
+with ample space in which to swing our sword-arms, the solid rock at
+our backs.  Saint Anne! but it is beautiful!  Bring the stones here so
+I may place them to the best purpose for such defence."  And he drew a
+rapid half-circle about the mouth of the shallow cave, his eyes
+brightening with interest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pah! your doughty Frenchman appears overly anxious to be killed,"
+began Cairnes, casting an eager glance toward the provisions dropped
+upon the ground.  "To my mind we had better break our fast before
+commencing such labor.  It may happen we shall have no other chance to
+eat, and it would go hard against my nature to waste that pickled meat
+on naked savages.  Ecod! it would try Job himself to stand by helpless,
+watching a clouted heathen gorge himself on what should be lying
+comfortable in our own stomachs.  What say ye, Master Benteen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That our first effort be with the stones," I returned with decision.
+"After that, we can partake of food.  The latter can be made ready
+while we work, if Madame will spread it here at the mouth of the
+cave&mdash;a bit farther back would prove better, under the protection of
+that slab of rock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rejoicing at thus inducing our fair companion to seek safety under
+shelter, the three of us fell to work with energy.  Under the direction
+of De Noyan, the scattered bowlders were rolled up the steep and piled
+in a solid wall, reaching nearly waist high, completely circling the
+open front of the cave, its centre somewhat advanced from the stone
+slab, with either flank resting solidly against the face of the cliff.
+It did me good to listen while De Noyan issued energetic orders,
+swearing at us ardently in army French as if we were of his own
+squadron of chasseurs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It required the greater part of an hour to get our rude rock rampart in
+such condition as to satisfy the military taste of the Chevalier even
+measurably, and during that time we toiled as men must when their lives
+are soon to depend upon the result of their labor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Saprista</I>!" he commented at last, wiping his streaming brow, and
+gazing about him critically.  "It will answer fairly well, I think,
+although another row might strengthen the curves.  Still, 'tis not
+likely we shall be called upon to battle against gun or pike, and if
+too high the stones might interfere with proper thrust of the sword.
+So let us lunch.  Egad! the sight of that hungry preacher haunts me
+every time I turn around; besides, whatever resting-spell we get ere
+the ball opens will serve to steady our nerves for the onset.  Have you
+spread forth a rare feast for our comrades, Eloise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stood within the shadow, leaning lightly against the great stone,
+smiling at us.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All I have awaits your pleasure, gentlemen," she returned bravely,
+"and I trust you may consider it a pleasant duty to do full justice to
+my skill."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It has lingered a unique memory of those days, the outward carelessness
+with which we chattered away during that strange meal.  Surely no
+company of wanderers was ever in more desperate stress than we at that
+moment.  It was the merest chance of fate if one among us all lived to
+see the peaceful setting of the sun, now blazing high overhead.  Yet
+that simple noonday repast, partaken of beneath the shadow of the
+overhanging rock, remains in memory as more redundant with merriment of
+tongue and face than any since we made departure from New Orleans.
+Were I not writing truthful narrative, I might hesitate at setting this
+down, yet there are doubtless others living to bear witness with me
+that there is often experienced an odd relief in discovering the
+presence of actual danger; that uncertainty and mystery try most
+severely the temper of men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It certainly proved so with us that day, and De Noyan's high spirits
+found echo even in the grim Puritan, who, being at last convinced that
+he was not called upon to wrestle with demons from the pit, was as full
+of manly fight as the best of us.  Eloise added her gentle speech,
+while even I relaxed my anxiety, though I was careful enough to select
+a seat from which I could keep watch both up and down the ravine,
+convinced that our time of trial was not far away.  In consequence of
+this chosen vantage of position I was the first to note those stealthy
+nude figures silently stealing from rock to rock, like so many flitting
+shadows, making their way down toward our position from the north.  How
+they attained entrance to the gorge I could not conjecture; my eyes
+first detected their movement when their leaders stole noiselessly as
+phantoms about the great shelf of rock higher up the gorge.  More than
+this fleeting glimpse I was unable to perceive from where I sat, our
+rude rampart somewhat obstructing the view, nor did I call the
+attention of the others to their approach.  Nothing could be gained by
+exposing ourselves before need arose.  Indeed, De Noyan chanced to
+observe their presence before I ventured upon speech at all.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ha, my masters!" he exclaimed suddenly, rising to peer above the low
+breastworks.  "What have we here?  By my soul, the ball is about to
+open, gentlemen; the enemy creeps forward as though uncertain of our
+whereabouts, yet hardly as if greatly fearing our numbers.  What do you
+make of the fellows, Master Benteen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beyond doubt savages, but not of any tribe within my knowledge."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saint Denis! nor mine," he acknowledged gravely, staring at them.  "At
+this distance they seem to be of strangely whitish skin, and I am not
+over pleased with their mode of advance; it has the steadiness of a
+drilled column, such as I never before witnessed in Indian campaign.
+<I>Sacre</I>! note yonder how that tall fellow on the right guides them with
+his gestures.  They take intervals as firmly as French grenadiers.
+Eloise," he turned hastily toward his wife, more tenderness in his
+manner than I had ever before remarked, "it is going to be a hard
+battle, or I mistake greatly the temper of yonder warriors.  Take this
+pistol; it is all I have of the kind.  I will trust my fortune on the
+blade.  You know how best to use it should things go wrong with us at
+the front."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know," she answered calmly, "I have lived all my life within hearing
+of Indian tales; yet could I not prove some aid beside you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, little woman; there is scarcely room for three of us to stand at
+the wall; we shall fight with freer hand knowing you are safe from
+savage blow behind the rock.  Come, my lady, it is full time you were
+there now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook hands with us in turn, giving to each man a lightsome,
+hopeful word ere she drew back out of sight, and never before did I
+have such incentive to battle as I read within the depths of her dark
+eyes as she came to me the last of all.  For a moment after she
+regretfully withdrew her hands from my clasp I remained motionless,
+absolutely forgetful of all else, until De Noyan's voice, harsh now
+with excitement of approaching combat, recalled me to myself and my
+post of duty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is time we took our positions, Messieurs," he said, bowing with the
+rare French courtesy of battle.  "Let Monsieur Cairnes find place upon
+my right, while Master Benteen, do you keep the left.  It will be
+better to crouch low until I speak the word, and then God give you both
+strong arms and hearts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From behind the roughly piled bowlders in my front I had a fair view up
+the valley, and was enabled to mark clearly the attacking party as it
+advanced cautiously toward our position.  It was composed of some
+thirty members, well-appearing fellows for savages, naked from the
+waist up, their exposed bodies quite light in color, and unpainted as
+is the usual Indian custom for war.  Their leader was a tall fellow,
+having a head of matted coarse hair, which stood almost erect, thus
+yielding him a peculiarly ferocious aspect.  The entire band moved
+forward, as if in response to prearranged signals, which must have been
+conveyed by motion, as I could distinguish not the slightest sound of
+speech.  However, it was a relief to note they bore no weapons in their
+hands excepting the spear and the war-club, clear evidence that they
+had limited, if any, trade intercourse with Europeans.  Yet they came
+on with such steadiness of purpose, amid such impressive silence, I
+instinctively felt we stood opposed to no tribe of cowards, whatever
+their name.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they crept, rather than walked, forward into the open space in our
+front, their restless, searching eyes were not long in perceiving the
+irregular outlines of our rude barricade, nor were they dilatory in
+deciding that behind that pile of rock were to be discovered those they
+sought.  No attacking party operating upon the eastern continent,
+guided by all the strategy of civilized war, could have acted more
+promptly, or to better purpose.  The old chief made a quick, peculiar
+gesture from left to right, and in instant response his clustered bunch
+of warriors spread out in regulated intervals, assuming positions not
+unlike the sticks of a fan such as the Creoles use, until they formed a
+complete semicircle, their flanks close in against the cliff, and their
+centre well back upon the bank of the stream.  It was a pretty
+movement, executed with the precision of long discipline, and De Noyan
+brought his hand down applauding upon his knee.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Parbleu</I>!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm.  "'Twas as well done as by
+troops of the line.  I look for a warm time presently, when we cross
+arms with those fellows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even as he spoke, I observed the old chief passing rapidly from man to
+man, speaking briefly to each in turn and pointing toward us, as though
+giving special directions for the coming assault.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Chevalier," I whispered, "would it not be well to try a shot at that
+tall-haired fellow?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It appears too great a distance to my eye."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have dropped a buck through forest limbs fifty feet farther."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then try your fortune," he said eagerly.  "It may be those fellows
+have never heard the crack of a gun.  The sound and sudden death might
+terrorize them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I took careful aim above the wall, resting my long rifle-barrel in a
+groove between the stones, and fired.  Ever since, it has seemed to me
+that God, for some mysterious purpose of His own, deflected the
+speeding ball, for never before or since did I miss such aim.  Yet miss
+I did, for while the old chief leaped wildly backward, his cheek fanned
+by the bullet, it was the savage he conversed with who sprang high into
+air, coming down dead.  Nor did a single warrior make a movement to
+flee.  Instead of frightening, it enraged, driving them into savage
+fury as they stared at the stiffening body of their comrade.  Scarcely
+had the smoke of the discharge drifted upward when, all their former
+impressive silence broken, and yelling like fiends incarnate, they made
+an impetuous rush for the hill.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Français</I>!  <I>Français</I>!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I was certain they used the word, fairly hissing it forth as if in
+bitter hatred, yet I had short enough time in which to listen as I
+hastily rammed home a second charge with which to greet them as they
+came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be best to draw, Messieurs," spoke De Noyan in a cool,
+drawling voice.  "Ah, that was better, Master Benteen!" as two of the
+advancing mob went stumbling to the bullet.  "It leaves but
+twenty-seven to the three of us; not such bad odds!  Now, friends,
+yield no step backward, and strike as you never struck before."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I enjoyed little space in which to glance behind where I knew Eloise
+crouched beneath the protecting shadow of the great stone, yet I am
+certain I felt the full magic of her eyes upon me.  As I wheeled, newly
+armed for strife, my hands clutched hard about the rifle-barrel, our
+fierce assailants came surging up against the stone wall.  It was no
+time to note what others did; one realizes little at such a supreme
+moment except the flashing in his eyes where menacing weapons play
+across his front; the swift blows continually threatening to crush his
+guard; the fierce, cruel faces glaring at him eye to eye, and his own
+desperate efforts to drive and kill.  It all abides in fevered memory
+not unlike those pictures of horror coming of a dark night when
+lightning leaps from the black void.  I mind the first man to reach me,
+a burly ruffian, whose shining spear-point missed my throat by so
+narrow a margin it tasted blood ere my rifle-stock crushed the side of
+his head and sent him backward, a reeling corpse into the mass at his
+heels.  Then all was confusion, a riot of leaping figures, frantic
+shouting, and clanging weapons, and I know not what was done, except
+that I struck out like a crazed man, heedless of what might be aimed at
+me, but letting drive at every savage head within range, until, at
+last, there seemed no others in my front.  Then, as I paused,
+breathless and uncertain, passing my hand across my eyes to clear them
+from the blood and hair which half blinded me, I heard De Noyan's
+drawling tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Most beautifully done, Master Benteen, and as for our red-headed
+preacher, by the memory of Jeanne d'Arc, the like of him as fighting
+man I have never seen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I leaned back heavily against the stones, now the strain of battle had
+relaxed, feeling strangely weakened by my exertions as well as the loss
+of blood, and glanced about me.  The discomfited savages had fallen
+sullenly back to the bank of the stream, where they bunched together as
+if in council, and I noted more than one wounded man among them.  De
+Noyan sat recklessly upon the stone wall, dangling his long legs, and,
+back turned contemptuously upon our foe, was carefully examining the
+edge of his sword.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was fool enough to attempt a down cut," he explained, observing my
+eyes upon him.  "I tried it on that savage who lies yonder, and it was
+rather a neat stroke, yet has sorely nicked the blade."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is the Puritan?" I asked, not seeing him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stretched yonder at rest; he did needlessly exhaust himself, not
+knowing how best to wield his weapon.  <I>Sacre</I>! he struck hard blows,
+and will have two savages for whom to make answer in the Day of
+Judgment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What loss did the fellows sustain?" I questioned, the cut at the edge
+of my hair half blinding me with dripping blood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We dropped seven between us, counting those who fell to your fire, and
+there are others who hardly appear in condition for further fighting.
+As to the garrison, you seem to possess a flesh wound or two, the head
+of the Puritan rings merrily yet from the tap of a war-club, while I
+boast a boot full of blood; 'tis none of it serious."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They will attack again?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! those lads are not of the breed to let up with one bite; and mark
+you, man, it is going to be the next turn that will test our mettle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He deliberately changed his posture, glancing carelessly across his
+shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know aught regarding those devils, Master Benteen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are strange to me; no kin, I think, to any tribe east of the
+great river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He sat in silent contemplation a long moment, his eyes fastened upon
+the savage group.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you chance to notice," he asked at last, speaking more
+thoughtfully, "how they hissed that word 'Français,' when they first
+rushed up the hill upon us?  It somehow recalled to memory an odd tale
+told me long ago by old Major Duponceau, who was out with the troops in
+1729, about a strange people they warred against down on the
+Ocatahoola.  These must be either the same savages&mdash;although he swore
+they were put to the sword&mdash;or else of the same stock, and have felt
+the taste of French steel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What did he call them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Natchez; although I remember now he referred to them once as 'White
+Apples,' saying they were of fair skin.  He told me, but I recall
+little of it, many a strange story of their habits and appearance, to
+illustrate how greatly they differed from other tribes of savages with
+whom he had met.  They worshipped the sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is true of the Creeks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! they play at it, but with the Natchez 't is a real religion; they
+had a priesthood and altars of sacrifice, on which the fires were never
+quenched.  Their victims died with all the ardor of fanaticism, and in
+peace and war the sun was their god, ever demanding offering of blood.
+But see, the moment comes when we must front those fiends again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The afternoon sun had lowered so that its glaring rays no longer
+brightened the depths of the canyon, all upon our side of the stream
+lying quiet in the shadow.  The Indians began their advance toward us
+in much the same formation as before, but more cautiously, with less
+noisy demonstration, permitting me to note they had slung their weapons
+to their backs, bearing in their hands ugly fragments of rock.  The old
+matted-hair savage, who had received a severe slash upon his shoulder
+during our last <I>mêlée</I>, hung well to the rear, contenting himself with
+giving encouragement to the others.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stand stoutly to the work, friend Cairnes," I called across to him,
+feeling the heartsome sound of English speech might prove welcome.  "If
+we drive them this time, they will hardly seek more at our hands."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be even according to the will of the Lord of Hosts," he
+returned piously.  "Yet I greatly fear lest my sword-blade be not sound
+within its hilt."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stoop low for the volley of rocks," commanded De Noyan, hastily, "then
+stand up to it with all the strength you have."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Halfway up the little hill they let fly a vicious volley, the hard
+missiles crashing against the face of the rock, and showering down on
+backs and heads, some of them with painful force.  As we sprang to our
+posts of defence once more, the savages were already nearly within
+spear-length of us, and, to our disastrous surprise, delivered a second
+volley of stones directly into our faces.  One jagged rock glanced from
+off my rifle-barrel, striking me on the side of the head with
+sufficient force to send me staggering back against the stone slab.
+Before I could regain place the Indians swarmed over the low wall, two
+of them, in spite of fierce struggles, bearing me backward to the
+ground.  Through a half-blinding mist of blood I beheld a carven
+war-club uplifted in the air, noted the face, distorted by passion, of
+the naked giant wielding it; yet, before I could close my eyes to the
+swift blow, there came a sudden flash of fire mingled with a sharp
+report.  As if stricken by a lightning-bolt the huge fellow plunged
+forward, his body across my feet.  Involuntarily I gave vent to a groan
+of despair, realizing that Madame, in an effort to preserve my life,
+had thrown away her sole chance to escape torture, or an existence
+worse than death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The knowledge nerved me to renewed struggle, but ere I could rid myself
+of that body pinning me fast, others hurled themselves upon us,
+striking and snarling like a pack of hounds who had overtaken their
+quarry.  It would have been over in another minute; I already felt the
+grind of a stone knife-point at my throat, able to gain only a poor
+grip on the fellow's wrist, when suddenly, sounding clear as a bell
+above that hellish uproar, a single voice uttered an imperative command.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instantly each Indian's face was upturned toward where such unexpected
+summons came, and, lying as I did flat upon my back, my eyes gazed
+across the narrow valley, to the summit of the cliff on the farther
+side.  There, solitary, a carven statue full in the glow of the
+westering sun, turning her garments golden, and lightening her rich
+profusion of hair into radiant beauty, stood a young woman of white
+face and slender, stately figure.  It was no time to note dress, yet I
+could not fail to observe the flowing white robe, draped from shoulders
+to feet, gracefully falling away from an extended arm, as she stood
+thus in regal poise looking down upon us.  There was a suggestion of
+despotic power in both face and posture, and the ring of stern
+authority spoke in the sound of her voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Twice she addressed our savage captors in brief sentences strange to my
+ears, once pointing directly at us, once with sweeping gesture up the
+valley.  A moment longer she remained motionless, bending slightly
+forward, permitting the rich, reddish gold of her hair to flash and
+shimmer in the sunshine; then she stepped swiftly back from the dizzy
+summit, vanishing instantly, as if dissolved in the haze.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap21"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+We were hopelessly prisoners.  On my part further struggle had become
+impossible, nor elsewhere did any effort last long, although Cairnes
+had to be knocked insensible before the heathen finally mastered him.
+I believed the obstinate fellow dead, so ghastly white appeared his
+usually florid face as the victorious savages dragged him roughly past
+where I lay, flinging his heavy body down like carrion upon the rocks.
+De Noyan appeared badly cut, his gallant clothing clinging to him in
+fluttering rags, silent witnesses to the manliness of his struggle.
+Yet the Chevalier was far from done.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let me sit up, you villains!" he cried, vigorously kicking at a
+passing shin.  "'T is not my custom to lie with head so low.  Ah,
+Benteen," he smiled pleasantly across at me, his eyes kindling at the
+recollection, "that was the noblest fighting that ever came my way, yet
+'tis likely we shall pay well for our fun.  <I>Sacre</I>! 't is no pleasant
+face, that of their grim war-chief, nor one to inspire a man with hope
+as he makes plea for mercy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Marry, no," I replied, determined on exhibiting no greater outward
+concern than he.  "Nor will the ugly clip on his shoulder leave his
+humor happier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Chevalier's eyes danced at the recollection.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T was our preacher friend who sheared him.  I hold it a
+master-stroke; but for a spear-butt on the way it would have cleft the
+fellow into two equal parts.  Have you seen aught of Eloise since the
+fight?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She lies yonder against the wall at my left, and remains unhurt, I
+think.  I will make effort to turn over, and have speech with her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So securely had I been bound with coarse grass rope, I found it no
+small task to change the position of my body sufficiently to peer about
+the corner of intervening rock, and clearly perceive my lady.  She was
+reclining in a half sitting posture well within the darker shadow,
+bound as were the rest of us.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You remain uninjured, I trust, Madame?" I asked gently, and it
+heartened me to observe the smile with which she instantly glanced up
+at sound of my voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No blow has touched me," was her immediate response, "yet I suffer
+noticing the stains of blood disfiguring both you and my husband.  Are
+the wounds serious ones?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, mere scratches of the flesh, to heal in a week.  Why did you
+waste your last shot on that savage who would have struck me?  It was
+not the will of De Noyan that it be expended thus."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must have formed a poor conception of me, Geoffrey Benteen," she
+answered, as if my words pained her, "if you suppose I value my life
+more highly than your own.  But for my solicitation you would never
+have been in such stress, and, whatever else may be true, Eloise de
+Noyan is not one accustomed to deserting her friends."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet there are fates possible to a woman more to be dreaded than death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, and frontier bred, I know it well, yet none so bad as would have
+been the knowledge that I was guilty of ingratitude.  My life, my
+honor, are in the care of God, Geoffrey, and if I remain grateful for
+aught this day, it is that my shot proved timely, saving you from that
+blow.  Tell me, was it not a woman at whose command the combat ceased?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was; a white woman at that, unless my eyes deceived me.  She stood
+on yonder point of rock, appearing a veritable queen in the sunshine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I thought, a fair face enough, yet not devoid of savage cruelty.
+Her presence brings me some rays of hope, making me feel I may have
+less to fear in the future than you.  If a woman, however debased and
+barbarous, rules these savages, she will not be altogether without
+heart to the supplications of a woman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I felt less assured of this, yet it was better she be buoyed up by all
+possible hope, so ventured upon no answer.  There was that in the
+Queen's face as she gazed down upon us that made me doubt her
+womanliness; doubt if behind that countenance of wild beauty there did
+not lurk a soul as savage and untamed as any among her barbarous
+followers.  What but a spirit of insatiate cruelty could animate and
+control such fierce warriors in their battle rage?  Thinking of this,
+my eyes on Madame, a movement occurred among our captors quickly
+challenging my attention.  Fresh shouts and cries evidenced new
+arrivals.  These came swarming down the ravine, and in another moment
+began crawling noisily about us, chattering with our surly captors, or
+scowling into our faces with savage eyes boding no good.  It would be
+unjust were I to write that these fellows were a brutal lot, as such
+words would be void of that truth I seek to convey.  I lived to learn
+that many among them had the stuff of which true men are made; yet,
+nevertheless, they were savages, scarcely touched by the virtues or
+vices of civilization, a people nursing within their memory a great
+wrong, and inflamed by the fierce passions of battle.  Gazing about on
+the stiffening forms of their stricken warriors, all alike exhibited in
+eyes and gestures how eagerly they longed for the hour of vengeance,
+when implacable hate might have full vent in the unutterable agony of
+their victims.  I gazed up into their scowling, distorted faces,
+imagining a final moment of reckoning was at hand; yet some authority,
+either of chief or tribal custom, restrained their pitiless hatred,
+reserving us for longer, more intense suffering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the wild thirst for blood was mirrored in those fierce eyes glaring
+down into mine, and echoed in the shrill cries with which they marked
+us yet alive for their barbaric ingenuity to practise upon at leisure.
+Even as I observed this, realizing from my knowledge of Indian nature
+that our ultimate fate would be infinitely worse than merciful death in
+battle, I could not remain blind to the wide difference between these
+naked warriors and those other savages with whom my wandering border
+life had made me familiar.  My awakened memory dwelt upon the peculiar
+tribal characteristics of the Mingoes north of the Ohio, the Kaskaskias
+in the Illinois country, the Shawnees, the Cherokees, even the Creeks,
+in whose villages I had dwelt as a friend, and beside whose young men I
+had hunted as a brother.  Yet here was surely a distinct race, one less
+clearly marked with those features peculiarly Indian,&mdash;the cheek-bones
+not prominent, the form of nose more varied, the skin decidedly
+lighter, the heads better shapen, and the figures more thoroughly
+developed.  More, their language had little of the guttural so
+universal among Eastern tribes, but had a peculiar, sharp, hissing
+sound; so, although the faces peering into mine were wild and ferocious
+enough to leave no doubt as to their barbarous nature, or our probable
+fate, yet these peculiarities, with the total absence of paint, such as
+disfigures and renders grotesquely hideous other Indians upon the
+war-path, were sufficient to stamp these savages as members of a
+distinct race.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Natchez?" I ventured to inquire of the burly brute who stood over me
+grasping spear and war-club.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sa</I>," he grinned savagely.  "<I>Français, Français</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I shook my head and tried him again, but soon desisted on discovering
+that these two words marked the full extent of our common language, and
+so was obliged to be content with silently contemplating the crowds of
+curious, naked heathen swarming on the hill.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fortunately, it was not long we were doomed to wait, uncomfortably
+trussed with our ropes of plaited grass.  The old chief who had led the
+assault gave his order, and, in immediate obedience, we were roughly
+dragged forth, the bonds about our lower limbs severed, and, under
+zealous guards, despatched up the canyon, the entire party promptly
+falling in at the rear, bearing with them their wounded and dead.  De
+Noyan and I, thus released from our cramped, painful position on the
+rocks, were jerked rudely upon our feet, and, in obedience to
+threatening gestures, driven rapidly forward like dumb beasts; but
+Madame and the Puritan, the latter not yet having regained
+consciousness, were swung aloft in hammocks of coarsely woven cloth,
+and thus borne upon the shoulders of four stout carriers.  In this way
+we advanced northward, not moving as slowly as I desired, for I was
+sore and aching from head to foot, besides being weakened by loss of
+blood.  Yet there was no hope of escape, no evidence of mercy.  If we
+ventured to lag, the vigilant guard promptly quickened our movements by
+the vigorous application of spear-points, so we soon learned the
+necessity of keeping fully abreast of our assigned position in the
+column.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coming nearer to that great cataract which had effectually dammed our
+progress up the valley, the leaders swerved toward the left, passing so
+closely beside the leaping, foaming flood as to be enveloped in the
+spray as if in a cloud of mist.  Almost beneath the fall, the water
+crashing on the rocks within reach of an outstretched hand, we
+commenced a toilsome climb, along a deep, rocky gully completely
+shrouded by overhanging bushes, as if we traversed a tunnel dug by the
+hands of men.  Indeed, I have little doubt that this peculiar
+passageway had been constructed by artificial means.  Every now and
+then, when a faint light from without straggled through the interlaced
+boughs overhead, I caught a glimpse of the evidences of human labor.
+This odd passage, crooked and intricate, at times so steep as to
+require the chiselling of steps in the solid rock, wound in and out
+along the side of the cliff, then ran back into the very face of the
+precipice, for more than a hundred and fifty yards.  Suddenly we
+emerged, fifty yards back from the crest, in the heart of a great
+circular hole resembling the crater of a burned-out volcano, having
+great ragged points of rock, blackened as if incased with lava, jutting
+up upon every side, and forming as desolate and barren a picture as
+ever eyes looked upon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I was completely fagged by this time, the climb being a heavy one, and
+I noticed De Noyan was ghastly of face, his body trembling like that of
+a palsied man.  But our relentless drivers permitted no halting to
+recruit strength.  The Chevalier was evidently in greater distress than
+I, so from pity I bade him lean on my shoulder; but as he sought to
+draw near, the merciless brute on guard struck him savagely, and there
+was such shaking of spears and fierce uproar on the part of our escort,
+we could do naught else than set our teeth to it, and go staggering on.
+The slight path, if it might be named a path, led in and out among the
+black lava cones in such labyrinthine fashion that no man could hope to
+retain memory of its course, while the floor being of irregular stone,
+the passing feet left no trail for future guidance.  We travelled
+blindly, and reckless through suffering and exhaustion, some distance,
+until, perhaps a mile above the spot where we had surmounted the cliff,
+a sudden twist was made to the right, our company creeping on all fours
+through a narrow opening, having a great tree-trunk on one side and a
+huge black bowlder on the other.  We came forth high in air above the
+swift, deep water, footing the insecure bark of a rude tree-bridge
+spanning the current.  Once safe on the other bank, our path merely a
+narrow shelf of stone, we wormed around a sharp projection of the
+cliff, rising to even greater height than in the gorge below.  A dense
+mass of interlaced and overshadowing cedars was partially pressed
+aside, partially crawled under, and from this we finally emerged into
+an open space, containing, I imagine, not far from five hundred acres
+of land, having vast towering precipices of black frowning rock on
+every side, with no outlet apparent, save to one blessed with wings.
+Saint Andrew! 'twas an awesome place, yet oddly beautiful, so soft and
+green below, with those massive walls completely shutting out all the
+rest of the world, and shadowing the little valley with impregnable
+grandeur.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I had but a moment in which to view the impressive scene.  Scarcely had
+the head of our column entered this natural prison when it was greeted
+with wild shouts of triumph, immediately succeeded by shrieks of
+distress, while there streamed forward to meet us a tumultuous band of
+savages, a large proportion of whom were women and children.  The
+children were absolutely nude and peculiarly white of skin, while the
+former wore rude skirts of coarsely woven cloth fastened about the
+waist, their long hair in many instances trailing upon the ground,
+yielding them a wildness of aspect beyond description; yet withal they
+were not uncomely of features.  These newcomers thronged about us with
+scowling faces, and, when sternly forced back by the lowered weapons of
+the guard, either joined the procession, or else trooped alongside,
+yelling and jeering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Pressed forward, although by now so utterly spent I could barely
+stagger rapidly enough to escape those pitiless thrusts, I mechanically
+noted enough of our surroundings to understand that we traversed ground
+which had been cultivated; that low fences, here and there encountered,
+divided the land into small sections, even as in more civilized regions
+farmers protect their fields.  What their crops may have been I could
+not determine, the season of harvest being already past, yet I
+distinguished what I supposed must be evidences of garden culture,
+observing also a considerable ditch, certainly four feet in width,
+filled with clear running water, which seemed to encircle the entire
+basin, the deeper green of vegetation marking its course close up
+against the farther rock wall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The view directly in advance was at first obscured by the leaping
+figures of the exultant savages leading the way, whooping with
+excitement, and wildly brandishing their war-clubs.  These at length
+fell back along either side, our guards hurrying us across the ditch,
+spanned by the great trunk of a tree, and thus on into the village.
+This town resembled no other encampment of savages on which my eyes had
+ever looked.  I saw a wide open space, a blackened stake set in the
+middle of it, the ground bare of vegetation, and tramped hard as if by
+countless feet.  Beyond, circling this plaza upon two sides, were
+several rows of houses, all facing the same direction.  It reminded me
+of pictures I had seen of Hebrew camps in my father's great Bible, only
+the houses were built of sun-dried clay, such as peons use in the far
+Southwest on the Brazos, square in shape, of but a single story, having
+dome-shaped roofs, heavily thatched with cane.  They were windowless,
+with one narrow opening for a door, protected by a heavy matting of
+grass.  Behind these, perhaps a hundred yards or more, and within a
+short distance of the steep cliffs bounding the upper extremity of the
+valley, there arose from the surface of the plain two immense rounded
+mounds of earth, each fully a hundred paces wide at its base, sloping
+sharply upward.  Considerable vacant space lay between the two, while
+on the apex of each stood buildings of sun-baked clay, resembling in
+form those below, yet much larger, and, because of their elevation,
+appearing spacious and imposing.  Above one were posed three rudely
+carven figures bearing a slight resemblance to giant eagles, their
+wings outspread as if for flight.  The other was surmounted by a
+hideous, grotesque figure, blackened as by fire, with distorted face
+daubed a glaring yellow, and long hair glittering from red pigment.
+Here the grass curtain had been drawn aside, while before the entrance,
+their faces striped with disfiguring black lines, their dull vestments
+trailing to the ground and gaudily trimmed with fanciful trappings,
+their coarse hair so trained as to stand almost erect, were two aged
+men, who, with wild gesticulations, and solemn chanting, were
+apparently paying adoration to the setting sun, the last beams
+streaming over them through a rift in the western wall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Directly past these priests we were driven like cattle, finding
+ourselves plunged into a vast square gloomy apartment, having an
+earthen floor, but utterly devoid of either furnishings or ornament.
+There was another mat-draped opening at the farther side, and in the
+centre a huge log smouldered, resting upon what bore the appearance of
+a rudely chipped altar of rock.  About this were ranged numerous
+fancifully painted statues of wood, grotesque and hideous, while a
+third figure, attired as were the aged priests without, lay prone upon
+the earth moaning as if in agony.  The walls were hung thickly with
+undressed skins of wild animals, and at the back stood a slightly
+upraised platform of logs, cut in halves by a narrow passageway leading
+toward the second curtained door.  It was in the midst of this we
+halted, still under strict surveillance of our brutal guards.  These,
+however, permitted us to sink down exhausted on the hard floor.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap22"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+A fear of impending danger will not always prove sufficiently strong to
+prevent yielding to the demands of fatigue.  I realized the desperation
+of our position, feeling no doubt regarding our ultimate fate.  I read
+it plainly in our surroundings, as well as within those vengeful,
+scowling faces, yet so dulled was every physical sense from excessive
+weariness that I had passed through much already described like a man
+in a dream.  The brief repose of the previous night, broken by nervous,
+superstitious terrors, the anxious effort to escape from the haunted
+canyon, the hurried labor on our rude defences, the two fierce combats
+with the savages, my numerous wounds, none dangerous yet weakening me
+by loss of blood, together with the rapid marching and the difficult
+climb up the cliff, combined to exhaust my vitality so completely that,
+the moment we halted within the sacred precincts of this temple, I
+flung myself full length upon the floor.  I remember the sun had
+already disappeared behind the western heights.  I retain some slight
+memory of a tender hand resting softly on my forehead, of a familiar
+voice questioning me, yet if I made response, it must have been in the
+unconsciousness of sleep, as these faint remembrances were my last.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I had no means of telling how long I lay thus, close against the north
+wall of the building in that very posture in which I had first fallen.
+It must have been after hours of unconsciousness I was at last
+partially aroused by the reviving touch of cool water with which my
+face was being bathed.  As I slowly unclosed my heavy eyes the huge
+smouldering log in the centre of the room burst into sudden flame,
+lighting the interior, casting weird, dancing shadows along the black
+walls, its red radiance falling upon the face bending above me, and
+permitting me to look into the dark, troubled eyes of Eloise de Noyan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is no necessity for moving," she explained softly.  "Nothing of
+moment has occurred since you fell asleep, except that the savages
+brought us food."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you been watching over me all this time without rest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; at least no more over you than the others," she answered with a
+smile, "yet you appeared in greatest stress.  The others have been some
+time awake and have partaken of food while you remained in stupor.  Do
+not look at me like that!  I am not tired; I was borne all the way upon
+a litter, never once placing foot upon the ground."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you knowledge as to the hour?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only that it must be well into the night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I lifted my body into a more erect posture, finding myself stiff and
+sore from head to foot, and glanced curiously around our prison-house.
+In the centre was the blazing log, the sole bit of color my eyes could
+perceive.  Kneeling upon either side were the motionless figures of
+four priests, robed from head to foot in black, their faces, darkened
+by some pigment, appearing ghastly and repulsive under the flickering
+flame.  Their lips muttered in monotonous chant a weird incantation
+which sent to my heart a chill of superstitious dread.  High above the
+altar, blackened by the constantly ascending cloud of smoke, swayed
+uneasily a peculiar graven image of wood, hideous in disfigurement of
+form and diabolical of visage, appearing to float upon outspread wings,
+and gloating down upon us through eyes glittering ominously in the fire
+sheen.  At either extremity of the apartment, where I supposed were the
+entrance and exit previously noted, stood those savages remaining on
+guard, grim, naked fellows, whose restless eyes, gleaming in the glow,
+followed our slightest movements, and whose weapons were constantly
+uplifted as though they longed for some excuse to strike.  It composed
+a grewsome scene, savage, cruel, devilish, exhibiting within its gloomy
+outlines small promise for the morrow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The old Puritan was leaning heavily against a small stake driven into
+the earth, resting his aching head upon one hand as he peered at me
+from beneath thatched brows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have a white face, Master Benteen," he ventured, wondrously soft
+spoken for him, "yet if the heart remain strong and at peace with God,
+the body will mend itself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The heart has never yet failed me," I returned, striving to speak
+cheerfully, feeling that he would like to hear hearty English words
+again.  "I am glad to behold you safely recovered, friend; that was a
+hard crack they landed on your skull."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is not the will of the Almighty that I ignominiously perish at the
+hands of the heathen," he responded in his old manner, and as his voice
+roared out, not unlike a clap of thunder in that silence, I observed
+how the savages about us started.  "Again, and yet again hath He
+miraculously delivered his servant from the mouth of the lion.  Surely
+He must yet have labor for me in His vineyard; perchance the bearing
+unto these children of Amalek the message of peace."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you propose preaching unto them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, why not?  Inspired thereunto by the Spirit, I have already sought
+serious converse with yonder priest of Baal, kneeling at this side of
+that accursed shrine of idolatry.  Yet so wedded is he to idols of wood
+and stone, he merely chattered back at me in unintelligible speech, and
+when I laid hand upon him to compel him to listen, the brown savage
+beyond grievously thrust me with a spear.  But I retain faith that the
+Lord, in His own time, will open up a way unto their rebellious and
+sinful hearts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such way may be opened, yet I fear these savages will only take
+unkindly your efforts at ministry, even if they permit opportunity for
+the carrying on of such work."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should be overjoyed to minister unto them with the sharp edge of a
+steel blade," interposed De Noyan decidedly, and I noticed him for the
+first time, lying beyond his wife.  "What do you expect, Master
+Benteen, these villains will do to us?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I read no sign of mercy in any face yet seen," I answered cautiously.
+"It would be against all savage nature to forgive the loss of those
+warriors sent home this day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You look for death?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I expect nothing less, and by torture; still they may permit us the
+slight chance of the gantlet, although I know not the war customs of
+the tribe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He subsided into silence, as though my words merely echoed his own
+gloomy thought, and for a few moments no sound arose except the dismal
+droning of the priests about the altar.  Then Cairnes silently pushed
+over toward me what remained of their evening meal, and I forgot gloomy
+forebodings in a new realization of hunger.  It was while thus busily
+engaged Madame spoke to me, whispering her words softly, so that they
+could not reach the ears of the others.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If the end prove according to our fears, could you outline my probable
+fate?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No lack of courage prompted the question, I could perceive that in her
+eyes as they looked into my own, and some way their expression yielded
+me boldness to answer truthfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid, Madame, you may be spared," I said gravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her hands closed down tightly about each other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is what renders my heart so heavy in this peril, Geoffrey
+Benteen.  I could die easily, without tremor, beside you; nor would I
+shrink back from torture, did it of necessity come to me, for I possess
+a faith in Christ which would sustain me in such an ordeal.  But
+this&mdash;O God!&mdash;it is too much!  The thought that I may be reserved for a
+worse fate than death, may be compelled to live for months, perhaps
+years, as the humiliated companion of these murderous savages&mdash;I, a
+lady of France!  It is more than I can bear."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I saw tears shining in her eyes, and my hand, seeking her own, closed
+over it with sympathetic pressure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"God grant there be some escape," I said earnestly; it was all that
+came to my lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I feel there is none.  I have not lived upon the border of this
+vast wilderness all my life without learning something regarding the
+customs of savages.  If they spare a woman from stake or knife it is
+that they may doom her to a fate more horrible, making of her their
+degraded slave.  I know this, and have read the truth anew in those
+faces glaring upon me to-day.  There remains but one faint hope&mdash;that
+woman who seems to exercise control over them may incline the savages
+to mercy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot encourage you to place much trust in such tenderness," I
+confessed sadly.  "'T is not likely, despite her white face, and
+certain graces bespeaking knowledge of civilization, she will prove any
+less a savage than those she governs.  She would not be here, able to
+control so wild a brood of wolves, if she were not of their breed in
+heart; nor do women chiefs have much choice against the vote of the
+tribe.  I do not trust her, Madame; I studied her face&mdash;a fair one, I
+grant&mdash;as she stood in the sun upon the rock summit.  It was hard set,
+and savage with the scent of blood and battle.  No mercy led her to
+protect us then; like a great cat she prefers playing with her mice
+before killing.  Has she been here while I slept?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No one has visited us excepting the old chief who led the assault; he
+did nothing but strike the Puritan, who sought speech with him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She paused a moment, her head bent low; then she lifted her face to
+mine again, and I read within it the quick determination of her soul.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Geoffrey Benteen, listen.  What would you do to save her who was
+Eloise Lafrénière from such a fate of horror as now overhangs her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anything within the power of a man," I answered instantly, a painful
+throbbing at the heart.  "I would even drive the saving steel into your
+heart to keep you unsoiled from the clutch of such foul hands.  Ay!
+hard as the task must prove, yet I could do it, believing I performed
+the will of God as I struck the blow.  But even for that I am helpless,
+as I possess no weapon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I felt her hands touch mine, something cold being pressed against my
+flesh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thank thee, Father, there is one whom I may trust even unto death,"
+she sobbed prayerfully.  "Take this knife, Geoffrey Benteen.  The
+Indians did not think to search a woman for such weapons of war.  If
+the moment comes when all hope is gone, when naught else is left, I
+pray you, as a helpless woman utterly dependent upon your aid, let that
+sharp point save me endless shame and agony.  Have I your promise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But&mdash;but why not ask this of your husband?" I questioned, shrinking,
+in spite of my belief in its righteousness, from the committal of so
+dreadful a deed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Surely he would better make answer for the necessity of so desperate a
+sacrifice."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her dark eyes never wavered from my face, nor did her hands relax their
+confident grasp of mine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not because I believe he would refuse, but he is of a temper
+changeable as the winds of Spring.  I must rest in peace, not in
+perpetual doubting.  You I trust implicitly; your word, once gravely
+given, will be kept to the death; nay, surely this is no time in which
+to practise deceit with each other, or act parts like mummers upon the
+stage.  I know you love me even as of old.  I know this, Geoffrey
+Benteen, and will abide in my extremity with no other promise than your
+own."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eloise," I answered, strangely calmed and strengthened by her faith,
+"it shall be as you wish.  I thank you for the words, and am better for
+them.  When the last faint hope flees, and dishonor or death alone is
+left, I will strike that blow which sets free your soul."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I felt her kisses and tears commingled on my roughened hands, but
+before further words might be uttered, the heavy mat concealing the
+western entrance was suddenly lifted, and in from the dark night there
+stalked in solemn silence and dignity a long line of stalwart savages.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap23"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE VOTE OF DEATH
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I have already written that I was never easily affected by supernatural
+fears, yet something about that grim entrance chilled the very blood.
+There was no cessation of the monotonous, dismal chanting of the
+priests, as these newcomers,&mdash;whose sinister purpose no one could
+doubt,&mdash;moving with the silence of spectres, their bodies draped in
+shapeless robes of skin, appearing ghostlike beneath the uncertain
+flickering of flame, moved forward like a great writhing snake, passed
+along the southern wall beneath the face of the flying dragon overhead,
+until they found seats on the hard floor between altar and platform;
+two or three, evidently superior chiefs, by their richer trappings,
+ascended the raised logs and solemnly squatted thereon, so as to face
+us.  How many composed this uncanny company I cannot say, having failed
+to count as they filed past, yet they completely filled the great room
+with scowling, upturned faces, and were probably all the available
+warriors of the tribe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This was accomplished in stealthy silence, as wild animals creep upon
+their prey, nor did any among them take seats until the old
+war-chief&mdash;he who had led the assault in the gulch&mdash;made signal to that
+end.  Responding to a second gesture, we were driven roughly forward by
+our guard, until permitted to sink down once more, directly in their
+front, within full focus of their cruel eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a fearful spot to be in.  That dark interior, dimly lighted by
+fitful bursts of flame, seemed more the abode of the damned than a
+place of human habitation, nor was there anything to remind us of mercy
+in that savage company gloating over our desperate plight.  No one of
+us doubted what fate dwelt in the decision of that grewsome gathering,
+and in those faces we saw nothing except eagerness for revenge.  It was
+their speechless silence, their stolid imperturbability, which rested
+heaviest upon me.  It told plainly that we were helpless victims of
+their cruel pleasure.  Deliberately, as if desirous of prolonging the
+agony of our uncertainty, for more than an hour&mdash;to us it seemed an
+age&mdash;they sat thus, unmoved as so many statues, except for their
+restless eyes, while the four ministering priests, robed in black from
+throat to sandals, slaughtered animals beneath the frowning shadow of
+the huge winged dragon, pouring warm blood over the stones of the
+altar, or smearing it upon their faces.  Then, appearing fiendishly
+hideous, ghastlier than words can fitly picture, these revolting
+figures began with wild chanting to make offerings to their gods,
+dancing and capering before the flame to an accompaniment of dismal
+music, burning some incense which polluted the air.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a hellish scene, arousing every sleeping devil within those
+savage hearts; it preyed upon our strained nerves, and the Puritan lost
+all control, roaring out objurgations on the foul, idolatrous crowd
+until he was silenced by the sharp tap of a guard's club on his bushy
+pate.  Nor was it easy for De Noyan to remain quiet, while Madame hid
+her shocked white face in her hands, venturing not to glance up while
+the sound of these rites continued.  Whatever this religious
+ceremony&mdash;for such I supposed it to be&mdash;may have symbolized, it was
+finally concluded by the entire party uniting in a fierce chant.  As
+grim silence settled once more throughout the black interior, the old
+war-chief, appearing taller than ever in the weird light, and rendered
+peculiarly repulsive by the bandages wrapping his wounds, rose to his
+feet, commencing an impassioned address.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No word spoken was intelligible to us, yet I knew so well the nature
+and customs of savages as to experience little difficulty in deciding
+the purpose of this harangue.  Without doubt the fellow demanded an
+immediate sacrifice in payment for the loss inflicted on their tribe.
+With this conception as guide I noted his continually pointing toward
+us, one after another, as if singling us out as special subjects for
+denunciation, perhaps for torture, as with each he seemed to associate
+a peculiar term, repeating it again and again with changing cadence, as
+if thus to force its dread significance more firmly home into the minds
+of his listeners.  The word I distinguished most frequently had the
+sound "<I>ca-tah</I>," which became associated in my thought as some special
+form of torture to which he desired us sentenced.  Nor did I fail to
+remark in this connection, my every faculty alert and strained to grasp
+the slightest revealment, that, whenever the orator's baleful glance
+rested upon the shrinking woman, his lips uttered another word, his
+silent audience nodding as though in assent to each demand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One followed another, no doubt in accordance with rank.  Those chiefs
+upon the platform spoke first, each in turn seeming to pronounce
+against us in favor of that same unknown fate, making use of those two
+words, gesticulating toward us as they gave judgment.  Nowhere amid all
+that vengeful black circle did I discern a single face not set in
+savage hatred, while slowly at first, but gathering force as it
+proceeded, there passed from lip to lip the sullen murmur of that dread
+word "<I>ca-tah</I>."  As it was pronounced each voter pointed at us, three
+times making repetition of the word, until the last warrior had spoken,
+and we knew that our doom had been formally pronounced by a tribunal
+knowing no mercy, from whose decision there was no appeal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No hapless prisoner confined, as I have read they were in olden times,
+within a dungeon whose walls slowly closed to crush him into pulp,
+could have seen the coming of death, resistless and horrible, with
+clearer vision than was ours as that group of savages pronounced our
+doom.  It was by exercising the greatest effort of will that I
+conquered the dread sense of utter hopelessness which seemed to numb my
+every faculty; for, although I was to be tortured to the end, and
+perish at last in utmost physical agony, yet before that moment came
+there still remained a duty to be performed for one I loved.  For that
+I must retain mind and strength to act like a man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly, cautiously, moving inch by inch across the small space
+intervening, so as not to attract the attention of our guard, I crept
+forward, pausing at last close beside Madame.  Even as I reached her
+the final warrior cast his useless vote with the others, the excited
+concourse voicing appreciation in noisy acclaim.  I bent low, trembling
+from weakness, until my lips were close to her ear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eloise," I whispered softly, forgetting at the awful moment that she
+possessed another name, "it has been voted that three of us perish by
+torture, but you are not in the list; you are named for a different
+fate.  Is it still your wish that I fulfil the pledge?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As she glanced up, the old war-chief pointed directly toward her.  I
+could perceive the baleful gleam of his eyes, and noted with what quick
+aversion she shrank back until her shoulder pressed my own.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Geoffrey Benteen," she made immediate, resolute answer.  "It will
+be mercy.  I beg you strike."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You forgive the blow?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive!"  An instant her clear eyes, unfrightened, looked directly
+into mine, a message in their depths I had never seen there before.
+"More, I love the heart and hand which speed it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My hands were bound tightly together, but my arms remained free, the
+hilt of the knife resting firmly between the palms.  Although I drew my
+body somewhat back in readiness for the stroke, I delayed the terrible
+deed until the last possible moment, the perspiration standing in great
+beads upon my face.  Oh, how I loved her then! how my half-blinded eyes
+feasted upon her sweet, sad face, the flames casting a ruddy glow upon
+it, and playing fitfully amid the masses of her dark, tangled hair!
+There swept across my mind every memory of our past, and she was again
+with me in her girlhood, before sorrow had stamped her with its seal,
+and she had turned me away tenderly as ever a woman could.  And now she
+was doomed to death by my hand; with one blow I was to blot out the
+life I loved a thousand times better than my own.  Merciful God! what a
+trick had fate played me!  Nor durst I speak to her again, for her
+fingers toyed with the rosary at her throat, the beads glowing dully in
+the flame, and I knew she was in prayer, expecting with each instant
+the coming of that stroke which should send her trusting soul to God.
+I, who have seen much of conflict and peril, much of suffering and
+atrocity, look back on no moment in all my life so fraught with agony
+as this, when, grasping that deadly knife in both hands, I watched
+every threatening movement of the savage arbiters of her fate, praying
+unto God for strength with which to perform my duty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last the chiefs stood erect.  In response to their gestures of
+command, the massed warriors below sprang to their feet, flocking
+eagerly toward us, giving utterance to one deep vengeful cry.  Already
+their clutches were upon the struggling Puritan, when I swung high the
+gleaming knife in both my hands.  For one terrible second I met her
+unflinching gaze, a glance which will abide with me until my dying
+day&mdash;then the keen steel fell, barely deflected from the heart,
+slashing open the bosom of her dress, yet&mdash;thanks be to a kind
+God!&mdash;finding harmless sheath, not within her quivering flesh but in
+the hard-packed earth.  It was scarcely less than a miracle that I was
+thus able to turn the blow, but, even as I aimed it, putting to the
+hilt my full strength that I might send it surely home, there came into
+my vision a sudden flash of bright color against the dark, skin-draped
+wall, and I knew the Queen had come.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap24"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+At first my dimmed eyes beheld her through a mist, my hands shaking as
+if stricken by palsy, nor did I retain sufficient strength of body to
+uplift myself from the spot where I had fallen with the force of my
+blow.  Nevertheless I shall forever retain the vivid picture imprinted
+on memory.  Before us stood a tall, fair-skinned woman, having dignity
+of command in every movement, her face thin, strong, dominant, with
+large, dark, passionate eyes, flashing in scornful beauty over the
+excited warriors at her feet.  Pride, power, imperious will, a scarcely
+hidden tigerish cruelty, were in every line of her features; yet she
+remained strikingly handsome, with that rare beauty which drives men
+mad and laughs mockingly at its victims.  She was robed completely in
+red, the brilliant color harmonizing strangely with her countenance,
+the single outer garment extending, devoid of ornament, from throat to
+heel, loosely gathered at the waist, and resembling in form and drapery
+those pictures I have seen of Roman togas, while her magnificent wealth
+of hair, of richest reddish gold, appeared to shimmer and glow in the
+sparkle of leaping flames as if she wore a tiara of rubies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With quick, passionate speech she poured forth her purpose, and I saw
+the savage throng shrink before her, as if they knew and dreaded the
+outburst of her anger.  Yet, as she paused breathless, the old
+war-chief ventured to face her, returning a stern reply.  This
+disregard of her temper so imparted courage to the others that they
+rallied about their leader as one man, numerous hoarse voices
+supplementing his protest, until it was plain to be seen that the woman
+remained alone and unsupported against the savage crew.  Yet the lines
+of determination but deepened in her face, her lips curled in scorn,
+and she turned from them to look down where we were huddled in despair.
+A moment her flashing eyes swept across our upturned faces, the howls
+of her opponents growing fiercer on every side.  With one imperious
+gesture she commanded silence, and, as the gruff voices died away in
+muttered discontent, the woman addressed us, speaking a clear, pure
+Spanish, making use now and then of words unknown to me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Prisoners, can any among you interpret my speech?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I caught my breath in glad surprise, struggling to my feet, and making
+haste to answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you speak slowly," I said, "I shall be able to understand."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis well, as it is a tongue unknown to these Indians," her eyes
+lighting up with cunning.  "Then, Señor, mark with care what I say,
+and, if the meaning of any escape your ears, bid me speak again, so no
+mistake be made."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will give me great pleasure, O Queen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am the Daughter of the Sun," she interposed proudly, as if
+correcting my mode of address.  "These are my children, given unto me
+by the great Sun-god.  For what purpose have you of white skin dared
+invade the land of the Sun?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We knew nothing of your presence here, merely seeking a passage
+through these mountains northward."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you killed the warriors of our nation; you have stricken the
+people of the Sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True, Daughter of the Sun; yet it was done only in self-defence.  When
+attacked we struck hard blows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes glowed angrily, her face becoming cruelly hard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"None of white blood may set foot in this valley and live.  It is the
+land of the Sun," she said haughtily.  "None have ever before ventured
+to do so, and found safe way back to their own.  Are you French?"
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-262"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-262.jpg" ALT="&quot;I am the Daughter of the Sun.  These are my children, given unto me by the great Sun-god....  None of white blood may set
+foot in this valley and live.&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="478" HEIGHT="736">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: "I am the Daughter of the Sun.  These are my children,<BR>
+given unto me by the great Sun-god.&#8230;  None of white blood may set<BR>
+foot in this valley and live."]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"Not all,&mdash;the lady and yonder cavalier are of French blood, I am a
+hunter of the Ohio country, while he who crouches beyond also calls
+himself American."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know nothing of your Ohio, nor what may be an American," she replied
+with an impatient stamp of the foot, "but it is bad any among you
+should prove French.  What does the woman do here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a few brief sentences I told our story, marking as I spoke that she
+followed my words with care.  As I concluded she merely gazed more
+closely into Madame's upturned face, speaking as though communing with
+herself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She has the appearance of a fair woman; we need no such here."  She
+raised her voice slightly, addressing me in cold reserve.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your story sounds well.  True or false, it makes small odds.  We
+attacked your party, believing you French, whom the children of the Sun
+have good reason to hate.  You have cost us the lives of many warriors,
+and the Sun calls for vengeance.  Already has the tribe solemnly voted
+your death by fire.  Now mark me closely.  'Tis not often I interfere
+in such affairs as this, nor do I now for any higher object than my own
+gratification.  The Daughter of the Sun is no angel, nor ambitious to
+become one.  I have looked on unmoved at the torture of the stake more
+than once, so 'tis no weak sentimentality that leads me to try to avert
+your fate.  Nor am I sure I can, whatever my motive be.  I possess no
+power to overturn the united vote of these warriors&mdash;they are all
+children of the Sun.  I can think of but one method by which I can even
+hope to encompass your escape from immediate torture.  If by some
+subterfuge I can delay action until day-dawn, I may be able to control
+these savages.  The children of the Sun do not light their fires in the
+presence of their Father.  There is but one possible way to that
+end,&mdash;does yonder red-headed man comprehend the Spanish tongue?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He does not."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is bad," her brows contracting.  "Still he must be used, as no
+other among you will answer my purpose.  Bid him advance to my side on
+the platform; bid him pretend to hold converse with me, and, above all
+else, have him attend my every gesture and obey.  Will he do your
+bidding?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not," I replied honestly.  "He is of a bull-headed breed, yet I
+may be able to drive into him a moment of sense."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do your part thoroughly, nor be too long about it.  The chiefs grow
+restless at our talk, and may yet take affairs into their own hands."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I turned doubtfully toward the Puritan, who was glaring up at the woman
+from beneath his shaggy brows, much as he might have looked upon some
+wild animal seen for the first time.  I presume the fiery red drapery
+caused him to deem her that veritable scarlet woman about whom he
+prated so much.  He appeared far from being a promising subject for my
+overtures, especially as his great head must have ached still from
+contact with the club, which had alone beaten him into sullen silence.
+Yet she commanding the attempt was so desperately in earnest that I
+determined to do my part.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Watch carefully my words," I said sternly in English, "and bear in
+mind the preservation of all our lives depends on the part you play.
+The woman chief has made choice of you to help in winning mercy from
+these savages.  I know not why you are the one thus chosen, yet I
+suspect that fiery crop of hair may have something to do with the
+honor.  The main point is, are you in a humor to do her bidding?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay!" he replied, gazing at me stubbornly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You refuse to assist in saving your own life, and the lives of your
+comrades?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I touch not the accursed abominations of this place," he answered,
+hoarse with anger, "nor will I have aught to do with yonder shameless
+creature."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sirrah!" I cried, thoroughly aroused by his mulishness, "do you
+deliberately choose to sacrifice the life of this lady to your
+bull-headed fanaticism?  Do you refuse to unbend your miserable
+Connecticut sectarianism, your Puritan cant, although by so doing you
+might keep your comrades from the horrors of the stake?  If this is
+what you mean, I denounce you as unworthy to be called a man, and I
+name your loud protestations of religion no more than a hissing and a
+byword before the ungodly you profess to despise.  You are no better
+than a Pharisee, full of loud-mouthed prayers and vain conceit of
+righteousness, a false prophet, haggling over formalism when the
+slightest sacrifice of what you hold the letter of the law would result
+in the salvation of human life.  You call yourself a Christian, a
+follower of that Nazarene who died for sinners on the cross, deeming
+yourself better than those who cling to other creed.  You sneer at that
+rosary in Madame's fingers, yet do you suppose it possible she would
+not endeavor to pluck your life from the jaws of death if it lay in her
+power?  Ay! and never waste speech about abominations in the path."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The spirit is of greater value than the body," he persisted doggedly.
+"Yea, 'tis better the flesh perish miserably in the flame than
+surrender up the soul unto the devil."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is no issue here; you seek to deceive yourself by false words.  I
+denounce you openly as a false follower, for if I read rightly the
+language of Holy Writ, it was He whom you so delight to term Master who
+gave his life freely for His friends.  But you&mdash;you are all words, a
+charnel-house of dead men's bones."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Had he been free I might have rued my hasty words, for his eyes were
+hot with anger, and he strained fiercely at his bonds in effort to
+break free.  Yet I felt safe enough beyond the sweep of his great arm,
+rejoicing that my tongue was sharp enough to penetrate so thick a hide,
+and make the man squirm beneath his outer vestment of piety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You speak falsely," he bellowed, nearly beside himself.  "Satan puts
+those foul words upon your lips tempting me to do evil."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay; the words are true," I went on, determined to drive him by
+taunts.  "They are neither foul nor false, and right glad I am to
+discover your real character even at this eleventh hour.  I make no
+loud boasting of my religion, dinning it into the ears of all I meet as
+if I were the only righteous man on earth, but I do thank God from the
+depths of my heart I have never yet basely deserted a friend in time of
+trouble.  I did consider you a good comrade, but I know now you are
+nothing but a whited sepulchre, a miserable hypocrite, a Judas
+betraying his master with a kiss.  Pah! go your way, you are unclean;
+nor ever hope again for word of fellowship from lips of honest men.  I
+shall die having performed my duty to the extent of my knowledge, but
+you as a dog, a traitor to your comrades, the betrayer of a woman in
+time of peril."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis false, I say; I would yield life gladly to aid her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zounds! that sounds good from such lips.  Why, you have just refused
+much less."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yonder is an emissary of the Evil One."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Keep your cowardly excuses to yourself.  Whatever the woman may be,
+she offers us a chance for our lives, provided only you will perform
+her will in sundry matters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He hesitated, his uncertain eyes shifting from her face to mine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What does this scarlet priestess of Baal require that I do?" he
+questioned sullenly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good lack, 'tis little enough even to satisfy your conscience.  Merely
+that you stand beside her on the platform, pretending converse, marking
+carefully her every signal, and obeying it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I play no idolatrous mummery with her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then may the devil fly away with you," I retorted, so enraged by this
+time I could scarcely refrain from grappling him with my hands.  "I go
+to tell Madame of the fool you are."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He gave vent to a deep groan, rolling his eyes as was his habit in time
+of trial, yet never removing his gaze from that red figure, standing
+motionless as a statue, impatiently awaiting his decision.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In the name of the holy prophets of Israel!" he snorted desperately at
+last.  "'T is, indeed, a grievous trial like unto that which befell
+Daniel in the den of the lions.  If I go upon yonder sinful platform
+before these hosts of Satan, it will be only as led by the Almighty,
+and that I may wrestle mightily in prayer for the redemption of the
+heathen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I care not, man, so you go.  Pray loud as you please, yet give heed to
+the signals of the woman if you value your own life or ours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Odds! it was a picture to see the fellow start on his unwelcome
+mission, slouching through the ranks of the surprised savages with as
+hangdog a look on his mournful countenance as though he mounted the
+gallows.  It was with faint hope as to the result that I watched him
+lumber onto the platform, doubting not he would perform some crazy
+trick to offset any good he might endeavor.  I could scarce restrain a
+smile as the two actors faced each other, marking the look of
+undisguised horror on his leathern face, and how he shrank back as her
+hand extended to touch him.  The wild, discordant cries of the grouped
+savages ceased in wonderment at this unanticipated scene; even the
+perpetual incantations of the priests died away, every eye gazing
+curiously on the strange spectacle.  The Puritan had appropriated one
+of De Noyan's hats, broad of brim, and so ample of crown the high
+peaked head of the worthy sectary was almost lost within its capacious
+interior.  No sooner, however, did he attain her side than the woman
+grasped it in her white fingers, flinging it disdainfully upon the
+floor, and, like a flash of unexpected color in the dancing light of
+the fire, there blazed forth before us his flaming covering with a
+brilliancy which startled even me.  Saint Andrew! it was a glow to make
+the eyes blink.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sudden effect of this disclosure upon the thronging warriors was
+beyond words of mine.  There followed a hush so painful in intensity I
+could distinguish the quick throbbing of my own heart.  I saw the woman
+point at the fellow, giving eager utterance to a single word, her eyes
+sweeping the faces below.  Then came an irregular rush forward,
+inarticulate cries pierced the air, war weapons were dashed clanging
+upon the earthen floor, while numerous torches, grasped from off the
+sacred altar, were waved aloft by excited hands, all serving to form as
+demoniacal a scene as was ever witnessed this side of hell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The full truth flashed across my mind&mdash;our comrade had in that moment
+been changed from a helpless, beaten prisoner into an object of
+superstitious worship.  By the magic of a word, the alchemy of a
+thought, he had become to these superstitious savages a mysterious
+visitant from the Sun, and for once, at least, he might fervently bless
+Nature, who had bestowed upon him so rich a coloring of hair.  Whether
+or not the fellow comprehended the meaning of that uproar, of those
+wildly dancing figures in his front, I could never determine; but,
+before the woman could in any way interfere, the sectary plumped down
+upon his knees, and, with head bent so low that every separate hair
+caught the reflection of the ruddy flames, began pouring forth a
+petition in sturdy English, and with a volume of voice that shook the
+whole interior.  It was not such a bad play, I take it, although he was
+desperately in earnest.  Very plainly he compared his worshipping
+auditory to certain scriptural characters, in a way that would not have
+proven flattering to them could they have interpreted his language.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Lord God!" he roared, rolling his eyes upward and interjecting
+many a deep groan after each sentence.  "Infinite Jehovah, for some
+just reason of Thy own, Thou hast seen fit to lead Thy most humble
+servant into this den of iniquity.  Thou hast placed me in the fiery
+furnace of tribulation, it may be in the test of that faith which was
+delivered unto the saints, yet will I not bow down in the tents of the
+idolaters, nor profane Thy Holy Name by the worship of their false
+gods.  Here in the midst of the ravening lions I uplift my eyes unto
+Jerusalem, and my lips unto the throne of grace, beseeching Thee to
+give unto me the salvation of these heathen, even as brands plucked
+from the burning.  Quench the fire on this altar of Baal, O Lord, by
+the outpouring of Thy Spirit, and give unto this people a manifestation
+of Thy mighty power, redeeming them from their manifold sins.  Yea,
+Lord, give ear unto the words of my petition, and as of old times thou
+didst send a message of fire unto Thy prophet Elijah, so come down even
+now to visit these unbelieving and mocking hearts with the terror of
+Thy just wrath.  Make bare Thy arm of infinite power that this
+abomination of heathendom may be purged of its vain idolatry, and that
+Thy Israel may triumph over the hosts of the sinful.  Even as Thou
+didst scatter the forces of the Egyptians in the waters of the Red Sea,
+even so, O Lord, visit now Thy wrath upon those who mock Thee and
+degrade Thy image.  Save us from the snare of this scarlet woman, this
+proud harlot of Babylon, and forgive Thy servant for thus seeming to
+obey her will.  Thou knowest, O Lord, that it is only that I may the
+better serve Thee, and thus overcome the wiles of the Wicked One.  Give
+unto me in this hour the strength of Samson that I may overturn the
+pillars of this temple of abominations, even though we all perish in
+its destruction.  Yea, visit us with power and righteousness, and
+scatter Thy enemies over the face of the earth.  O Lord!  I am as
+nothing, a mere worm of the dust: smite me if Thou wilt, yet I but
+wrestle with Thee in prayer that through me the heathen may be brought
+low, and led to see the error of their way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no halting him, yet even as he continued to pour forth
+fervent supplication, the warriors drew back from the dense circle
+pressing against the platform, taking solemn counsel together.  Then
+the old war-chief advanced to the centre, pointing maliciously toward
+De Noyan and myself.  I observed the Queen wave her hand in a gesture
+of apparent carelessness, and before I could clearly conjecture the
+full meaning of it, strong hands clutched us, and, in spite of
+struggles, we were dragged roughly back toward the shrouded entrance of
+the lodge.  There was no shouting, no din of any kind to disturb the
+devotions of the Puritan, who prayed on with closed eyes and a vigor of
+utterance making mock of all other sound.  Silently as they moved, it
+was nevertheless plain to be read in the grim, savage faces closing
+about us, that we were being driven forth to no scene of pleasure.
+Harshly did their gripping hands hustle us forward.  The heavy mat
+shading the entrance was flung aside, and like the unexpected flight of
+an arrow, into the black gloom of the lodge, weirdly lighting up the
+wild faces, streamed the clear, white light of the dawn.  Far off upon
+the highest summit of the yellow cliff there already rested the first
+rosy reflection of the rising sun.  One shout rang discordant from the
+surprised throats of our captors; the brutal hands released their
+grasp, and De Noyan and myself sank back helpless upon the ground.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap25"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A VISITANT FROM THE SUN
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+As by magic the uproar of the infuriated savages died away.  Gazing up
+from where I lay, my eyes beheld every face turned outward, every eye
+fastened upon that distant wall of rock.  Suddenly a strange cry arose,
+each throat giving utterance to the same sound as if in trained
+obedience to some recognized signal, and immediately every Indian lay
+prostrate, his face in the dust.  Gazing toward the spot they had
+watched so intently, I could perceive how the rose tints of the early
+sun flecked the upper extremity of the precipitous rock with spots of
+color, checkers of red and gold, while just below its lofty crest,
+seemingly touching the deep blue of the morning sky, hardly more than
+dim specks against the dull background of gray rock, appeared several
+moving black figures, and I could distinguish a series of flashes as if
+they waved blazing torches in welcome to the King of Day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>! 'tis an uncanny sight," muttered my companion uneasily.
+"Have yonder foul priests been given wings whereby they mount the very
+rock in their devil worship?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hardly that," I returned tersely.  "There will be a footpath leading
+to the spot either from above or below."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True, perchance; yet 'tis not from above.  Of that I am certain, as
+the crest of the rock overhangs; you may perceive the deep shadow of it
+even from here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before I could distinguish clearly the peculiarity pointed out, the
+woman chief came forth through the open entrance, appearing more fair
+and white of skin than ever in the clear light of the dawn.  Scarcely
+glancing toward either the prostrate tribesmen or those distant
+signalling priests, she advanced directly toward where we lay helpless
+in our bonds.  There was a flush upon her cheeks, a light of animation
+in her eyes, yet she stood looking down upon me much as she might have
+viewed an insensate stone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Señor," she said coldly, still speaking the Spanish tongue, "it did
+please my humor but now to play a small trick upon these innocent
+children of nature, knowing their faith and tribal customs.  For the
+time being I won, and it is you who benefit.  You, and these others,
+are for the present delivered from that torture to which you were
+condemned: the rising of yonder Sun has saved you; 'tis the law of the
+Natchez.  Nay, thank me not," as I sought to express my words of
+gratitude.  "I told you before it was not from any desire to show
+mercy, but for a purpose of my own.  Yet if you would continue to
+profit through my strange whim&mdash;and surely I have seldom been thus
+swayed to action&mdash;then it will be well to give heed unto my words.  I
+bid you proceed at once to that second hut yonder, nor dare venture
+forth again until I send.  The children of the Sun bow now to the
+commands of their ancient faith, yet are of temper hard to control."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You fear they may yet demand us in sacrifice?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not to-day, unless you do that which shall arouse their passions
+beyond my power of restraint.  While the sun dominates the sky your
+lives are preserved from violence, but if you would live longer it must
+be through careful guarding of speech and action.  I promise nothing
+beyond the present day.  But now," she bent over, severing my bonds
+with a flint blade, "go; do exactly as I bade you, and no longer bandy
+words with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the lady within the lodge?" I ventured anxiously, as I struggled
+to my feet, standing erect before her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She bides elsewhere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be hard for her alone&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is all that to you, sirrah?" she interrupted haughtily.
+"According to the tale told, you are not her husband.  He who might
+have right to question separation has made no complaint."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He does not comprehend your speech.  For that reason he remains dumb."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mean you it is he who inspires your objection?" she asked scornfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No; yet I doubt not 'tis in his heart even as upon my lips."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned aside, an incredulous smile curling her lips, looking
+curiously down upon him, and their eyes met.  She stooped swiftly,
+severing the thongs of grass binding his arms, and with her own hands
+assisted him to rise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A fair and noble gallant," she said softly, reluctantly turning back
+from him to me.  "Not of hard, stern visage like yours, but with the
+bearing of a gentleman, the smile of a courtier.  Pish! he will not
+miss her over-much, or else I read not rightly the challenge of his
+eyes.  But come, hunter, I bade you go in haste, nor is it well for any
+one to wait my bidding twice."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is no more than just we should be told the destiny of our
+companions," I persisted, determined not to desert them thus.  "May not
+both the Puritan and the woman abide with us?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes flashed in uncontrolled anger, her lips giving vent to a low,
+cruel laugh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I tell you no, and understand once for all my word is law.  You are
+not standing before a French court to haggle over trifles, and dispute
+about your rights.  Bah! you have no rights; you live from day to day
+merely by my whim.  The red-headed man tarries where he is as long as
+it remains my pleasure; while as to yon dainty creature, she shall meet
+no harm.  Forsooth, it will not greatly hurt her to be beyond your
+sight for a space."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Does she bide with you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I so will it, yes; if not, no.  Who are you, hunter, to dare
+question Naladi after she bids you cease?" she exclaimed, her cheeks
+crimsoning.  "Now go; go ere I am tempted to show you I possess power
+to enforce my will.  Another word, and you will long regret it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was a tigress now, her eyes burning into mine with the fierceness
+of a wild animal scenting blood.  It would have been sheer madness to
+attempt more, with those scowling, savage faces lowering at us from
+every side, their possessors only too eager to spring forward in cruel
+obedience to a gesture of their Queen.  A single word from her red lips
+would, in spite of all superstition, cause them to rend us limb from
+limb, so I bade De Noyan follow me, feeling relief when once beyond her
+sight in the cool depths of the sheltering hut.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, Master Benteen," remarked my comrade easily, finding a soft
+bearskin upon which to rest his aching limbs, "this is an odd company
+among whom you have piloted us; one not altogether appealing to my
+taste in its masculine elements.  Yet, damme, but you possess rare
+advantage over the rest of us in holding converse with these people,
+while I must remain dumb as an oyster, save for a glance of the eye.
+Perhaps, now that we have time for it, you will kindly explain the
+meaning of all this mummery with which we passed the night, for, by all
+the gods of Rome, it was weird enough to turn my hair gray, yet I
+understood neither word nor deed.  How came that grim preacher to
+attain such honor, taking position beside their peerless Queen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His idiotic lightness of speech and manner jarred unpleasantly upon my
+humor.  I was heavy-hearted from what had passed, retaining little
+confidence in the future, yet I told him the story as best I could,
+trusting the recital might serve to sober him, so we could counsel
+together regarding our plans.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Pardieu</I>! 'twas rather a pretty trick of the lady," he exclaimed
+laughingly, as I ended the tale.  "She would do honor to a more
+pretentious court with her wit as well as beauty.  What did you call
+the title she bore?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Daughter of the Sun' was the name given in the altar-house yonder;
+later she made use of the word Naladi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! that was it.  'T is a name fitting her well to my taste, and I
+boast of some experience with the sex.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I trust not to have
+seen the last of so fair a vision as this Queen Naladi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was twirling his moustache, such a look of complacency upon his
+features I could only stare at him in bewildered surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You appear reconciled to our situation with marvellous good grace," I
+managed to say at last, in a tone which made no attempt to conceal my
+disgust at his coxcombry.  "For myself I can see very little to hope
+for."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tut, tut, man," stretching himself negligently into a posture of
+greater ease, "an old soldier learns to take things as they come,
+without complaint; to extract sweets from every flower.  Surely here is
+a rare rose we have uncovered blooming in the wilderness; nor am I
+blind to its beauty, or unmindful of my privileges.  Besides, lad, what
+is there greatly to worry about?  We are preserved, you tell me, from
+torture; food will undoubtedly be supplied in plenty, while the lady is
+surely fair enough to promise pleasant companionship in exile&mdash;provided
+I ever learn to have private speech with her.  What was the tongue?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We conversed in Spanish."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought as much; there were certain familiar words.  But, as I said,
+why complain of fate, with all these blessings showered upon us.
+<I>Pardieu</I>! it would prove us ungrateful wretches.  Surely 'tis better
+than the tender mercy of O'Reilly, ay, or the hardship and starvation
+of the trail."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have forgotten your wife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgotten?  <I>Sacre</I>!  I should say not, Master Benteen; nor is that
+likely to occur.  Yet what cause have I to worry regarding her present
+comfort.  Did you not say that the Queen pledged her safety and good
+care?  What more could I accomplish for her than that, even were we
+back in New Orleans, beneath French protection?  Saint Denis! you are
+of a complaining breed, inclined to act as conscience for your betters.
+True, there are some few things I greatly miss, that would minister to
+comfort.  I was ever careful in my toilet, and choice as to my wines in
+town; still, if these savages have not lost my soaps and brushes, I
+will strive to exist even here, and be content until a way opens toward
+that which is better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I greatly admire your patience."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pah! 'tis but the long practice of a soldier.  Yet I am somewhat weary
+from the night, and, if you have talked enough, will seek rest to dream
+of Naladi, trusting she may send for me ere long.  Did you note the
+beauty of her eyes?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I marked their cruelty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Le Diable</I>!  I ever admired spirit in a woman; 'tis the greater
+pleasure to watch them take on softer light.  In such orbs love shines
+the clearer, once awakened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I sat there some time in silence until he fell asleep.  Then, realizing
+how useless it was for me, wearily as my eyelids drooped, to strive
+longer in thought, I sought another robe to rest upon, and was soon
+happily unconscious also.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I presume some unusual noise aroused me, for as I awoke and stared
+about, unable at the moment to comprehend my situation, I noticed, by
+evidence of the sun shining through the entrance of the hut, it was
+already past the noon hour.  Consciousness becoming more acute, I
+perceived, standing barely within the shadows of the interior, the
+dusky figure of a warrior, unarmed, and motionless except for a gesture
+of the hand which seemed to command my following him.  Retaining
+concealed within my doublet the sharp knife intrusted to me by Madame,
+I felt little trepidation at the fellow's presence, nor was there
+anything about his countenance to foster alarm, he appearing the least
+ferocious of aspect of all I had observed among the tribe.  A moment I
+hesitated, then believing him a messenger from the Queen, I followed
+his retreating figure out into the sunlight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The village reposed in loneliness and silence, nor did I see even child
+or dog playing before the square huts as we passed them.  As we mounted
+higher along the slope and began climbing the strangely rounded hill on
+the summit of which perched the altar-house, I glanced back curiously
+over the plain outspread below.  Little clusters of dark figures were
+scattered here and there throughout the pleasant valley, many of them
+congregated along the greener banks of the circling water-course,
+others scattered more widely afield, yet all earnestly engaged in
+cultivation of the ground.  This quiet, pastoral scene was so foreign
+to all my previous conception of Indian nature that for the moment I
+paused amazed, gazing upon this picture of peaceful agriculture in the
+heart of the wilderness.  Surely, cruel, revengeful savages though they
+were, yet here was a people retaining traditions of a higher life than
+that of the wild chase and desert war.  I could perceive no guards
+stationed anywhere, yet felt no doubt that every entrance leading into
+this hidden paradise, this rock-barricaded basin amid the hills, would
+be amply protected by armed and vigilant warriors, confining us as
+securely within its narrow limits as if a dozen savages followed our
+every footfall.  My silent guide, after one glance across his naked
+shoulder, to assure himself that I followed, led straight forward up
+the hill on a dog-trot, soon placing him far in advance.  At the
+entrance of the altar-house he paused, showing disinclination to enter.
+In obedience to a gesture I passed within, leaving him standing there,
+as if awaiting my return, a silent statue in light bronze, the glow of
+the sunshine upon him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Wondering what my mission might be, I remained a moment motionless
+slightly within the entrance, my eyes almost totally blinded by the
+sudden transition from the garish day to that dull interior.  Slowly
+the scene within resolved itself into clearer detail.  I began to
+perceive the crawling red flames licking with hungry tongues along the
+sides of the huge log resting upon the altar block, and later
+distinguished the black figure of a priest moving silently from point
+to point amid the shadows, engaged upon the grewsome functions of his
+office, his presence ever manifested by the dismal crooning with which
+he worked his magic spells.  Beyond these vague suggestions of
+life&mdash;for they seemed scarcely more&mdash;it was like endeavoring to sound
+the depths of a cavern, so black, still, and void was all within and
+about.  Yet, even as I stood thus, peering uneasily into the gloom, I
+was thoroughly startled at the sudden booming forth of a voice,
+apparently issuing from the darkest corner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May the Lord God forgive ye, Master Benteen, and be merciful unto ye,
+for thus placing His minister in such stress.  'T is I, Ezekiel
+Cairnes, who hath become an abomination unto Israel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a tone of such utter depression in the great roaring voice, I
+feared some serious mishap had befallen him, and hastened to cross the
+room, heading toward the corner whence the sound came.  As I attained
+the outer edge of the platform, groping my passage through the dense
+gloom, I was halted in the midst of a dozen or more savages, lying
+prone upon the hard floor, evidently in adoration of that grotesque
+figure perched above, and now clearly revealed by a blazing up of the
+charred log.  Not one among them stirred from his prostrate position at
+my approach.  Forgetting them instantly, my whole attention became
+riveted upon the marvellous transformation presented by my old Puritan
+comrade.  Odds! what a sight!  He sat bolt upright, as though bound in
+that stiff posture, occupying a low dais, almost at the edge of the
+platform.  This latter had been covered with a glaring crimson cloth,
+roughly woven, presumably of native manufacture, peculiarly brilliant
+in its coloring, and hence of rare beauty to Indian eyes.  At my
+approach he began straining at the cords which held him helpless, and I
+soon saw that his entire body was wrapped about with ropes of grass in
+such a manner as to render vain any hope of escape.  His oddly shapen
+figure, with the wide, square shoulders and short legs, was
+likewise-draped in red, above which flared his fiery shock of
+dishevelled hair, while a face fairly distorted with rage, gray from
+loss of sleep, and rendered ludicrous by its little snapping eyes,
+glared down upon me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Memory of Beelzebub!  It would be no matter of laughter for ye, Master
+Benteen," he snorted savagely, straining at his cords, "could I burst
+these accursed strings, and lay my hands to your throat.  Ay! nor would
+yonder idolatrous swine lie there long if I once got free among them.
+Imagine not, vain and presumptuous unbeliever that the Lord God
+Almighty&mdash;He who rideth in the chariot of the whirlwind&mdash;will long
+permit the heathen to profane His holy places, or triumph in the misery
+of one of the elect.  There cometh the Day of Judgment, when the wicked
+shall be scattered as chaff."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are in a most unpleasant condition, friend," I replied,
+endeavoring to speak so as to calm his temper.  "It is in sorrow, not
+pleasure, I behold you thus."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am entangled in the snare of the Evil One, Master Benteen.  But I
+continue manfully to war against the adversary even as becomes my high
+station."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you been long in so pitiful a state?  I dreamed not it would ever
+come to this."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It may be true you were ignorant of the wiles of that emissary of
+Satan who doth encompass us," he acknowledged, a trifle mollified by my
+sympathy.  "I would not be guilty of evil thought even toward an
+unregenerated heretic.  Yet I have sat thus, wrapped like a mummy of
+the Egyptians, since early dawn.  Ay, verily have I been sore oppressed
+both of body and spirit.  Nor has there been any surcease, when the
+heathen have not lain thus at my feet.  What means such action?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They mistake you for a god, and prostrate themselves in worship.  You
+are unto them a mysterious visitant from the Sun&mdash;so the Queen named
+you, inspired by the color of your hair."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He groaned aloud, his chin dropping dejectedly upon his breast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I feared as much, and the thought greatly oppressed me.  'T is as if I
+were a golden calf set aloft in the wilderness to mock the true God.
+It resteth heavy on my spirit to abide as a vain idol in the tents of
+these idolaters.  When first they draped me with this foul livery of
+Satan," he touched the scarlet robe gingerly with his chin, "I made so
+vigorous a protest two of the black imps went down before me, but the
+others overpowered my struggles, binding me fast, as you see.  But,
+verily, I have delivered unto them the whole truth as revealed unto the
+saints; have struck and spared not&mdash;ay! the very language of the
+scriptures have I poured forth unstinted upon them, and drawn before
+their eyes that fiery hell over which they dangle in their sins.  It
+must be their understandings are darkened, for they hearken not unto my
+exhortations, only lie thus, or dance before me by the hour in unholy
+worship, snapping their fingers and shouting strange words, while twice
+yonder black emissary of false religion held his smoking torch so
+closely to my face the flame scorched the skin.  Nor have my most
+fervent prayers availed to drive them hence, or ease the prickings of
+the spirit.  'T is as if the ear of the Lord had been turned aside from
+the supplications of His servant; yea, verily, as if the vials of His
+wrath were being poured forth upon my head, because, in a moment of
+weakness, I yielded to the machinations of that scarlet woman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you again seen her?" I questioned anxiously, as he paused for
+breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Seen her!&mdash;the accursed of God, the moral leper who rules this foul
+nest?  Ay; I have, and may the Lord forgive my ever casting eyes upon
+such a shameless creature.  'T was she who brought me this disgrace.
+She stood by with mocking smile, bidding her savage minions bind me
+fast.  She is the chief imp of Satan in spite of her fair face, and
+shall yet be stricken low by the avenging arm of the Almighty.  'Tis no
+gleam of mercy cometh to me from her taunts, nor in the harlot blood
+flowing through her veins.  I tell you, Master Benteen, she is the
+worst devil, for all her softness, in all this heathen crew; and if she
+spared our lives from the torture, it was done through some dark
+project born of the demon within her soul.  Nothing good can come forth
+from such as she.  Marked you the eyes she cast on De Noyan?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I paid no heed," I answered, wondering he had observed so much.  "Have
+you supposed we may owe our escape unto him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! she has marked him victim to her snare, nor do I doubt the full
+success of her venture.  'T is small stock of virtue which bedecks
+itself in such Punchinello dress as that gay gallant wears.  Amalekite
+is written upon his raiment, and he is ever attired as becomes a
+bridegroom to the shameless harlot ruling this devils' den.  Marry, he
+may be good enough wielding a sword, yet will prove the undoing of all
+who company with him in this adventure."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are unjustly angry," I insisted, striving to make light of his
+words.  "I value not the mercy of the woman, yet she used the only
+means she had for restraining her savage followers.  It was stern
+necessity driving her to reliance on the magic of your red hair with
+which to save us all.  No doubt she intends giving you early release
+from so painful a situation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You also are bewitched by her vain fleshly beauty," he bellowed
+stoutly.  "'Tis a carnal generation.  I tell you, Master Benteen, I am
+an old man, uplifted by communion of the Spirit above all fleshly
+lusts.  I have faithfully preached the word of salvation to civilized
+and savage more than forty years, and am not likely to be led astray by
+a glimpse of a fair face tempting me hellward.  I speak you truth, as
+delivered of God, so surely as were the tablets of the law delivered
+unto Moses, when I say that she who, by some wile of the Devil, rules
+this tribe and holds our lives in her hands, is an incarnate fiend, who
+will yet mock our agony whenever her own accursed lust shall be
+satisfied.  'T is not only that she jeered at me with cruel smiles, and
+affronted a preacher of the Word by so ribald a covering; she did as
+clearly reveal the hideous sin of her heart unto that sweet lady we
+have in our keeping."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame de Noyan?" I cried in awakened interest.  "Mean you this woman
+dared do wrong by her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I report only what my eyes beheld, for I can make nothing out of their
+heathen gibberish.  Yet she who journeyed with us, ever proving herself
+a modest, high-bred lady in times of sore trial, begged upon her knees,
+with tears hot upon her cheeks, to be permitted to accompany you and
+her husband.  What result?  Why, this good Queen; this charming
+creature, stood there, like an insensate stone, gazing down upon her;
+and later, when the poor lady would not walk voluntarily, that painted
+harlot ordered two lecherous warriors to drag her forth, and laughed
+like a fiend at the scene."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where did they take her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not; beyond the entrance she made no outcry that reached my
+ears, while that red-draped witch came back smiling to work her will on
+me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This comprised all he knew, and, no matter what depth of sympathy I may
+have then felt for Master Cairnes in his unfortunate predicament, it
+was equally clear I could do nothing to aid him.  My heart was so
+heavily laden by the plight of Eloise, I retained no other desire than
+a longing to return at once to the hut and hold consultation with De
+Noyan.  That same silent spectre accompanied me along the brief
+journey, leaving me unguarded at the entrance.  I entered hastily only
+to find the room vacant, my comrade gone.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap26"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE CHRONICLES OF THE NATCHEZ
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+These pages have been poorly written if he who reads has not discovered
+that I am of a nature not easily discouraged by events, or disheartened
+by misfortune.  God had sufficiently armored me with hope; so that in
+the midst of much darkness I sought for whatever light of guidance
+there might be, making the most of it.  Yet the intense, unanticipated
+loneliness of that bare hut chilled my blood, and I scarcely recall a
+more wretched time than while I waited, stung and tortured by fears,
+for the return of De Noyan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In truth the rough conclusions voiced by the angry sectary merely
+confirmed my own fear.  I had marked within the eyes of Naladi&mdash;dreamy
+as they appeared beneath the shading of long lashes&mdash;no promise of
+tenderness of heart.  I believed it was seldom she inclined to mercy,
+seldom she would step between her warriors and their revenge.  I
+acknowledge freely I felt to some degree the strange spell of her
+power, the magic influence of her soft, sinuous beauty, which I doubt
+if any man could utterly resist.  Yet I recognized her from the first,
+even as she stood wrapped in the sun's rays on the rock summit, as one
+who, by instinct and nature, was scarce less a savage than her most
+desperate follower, although she possessed the rare gift of masking her
+cruelty beneath the pleasing smile of a woman not entirely unacquainted
+with the courtesies of refinement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I marvelled greatly who she could be, thus sporting the polite graces
+of a reception-room in the midst of these squalid huts.  What was her
+strange life-story?  How ever came such a woman, with charm of face,
+and grace of manner, to be acknowledged leader over such a people?  It
+was not so odd that a clever, resourceful woman, driven perhaps by
+necessity, should have made unscrupulous use of their dominant
+superstitions, and, by naming herself "Daughter of the Sun," have
+obtained supreme power.  The perfect acting of such an assumed
+character would not prove difficult to her, while their servile worship
+of the protesting Puritan, whose red hair alone had elevated him to
+sainthood, proved how easily these savages might be deceived, and led
+slaves by subtle magic.  Yet who was the woman?  Whence came she?  Why
+should she ever have chosen such a life?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Eloise!  Through what misfortune had she already attained the
+undisguised dislike of this Amazon?  To what fate would this unmerited
+disfavor condemn her?  It is a terrible thing to remain chained and
+helpless at such a time, to realize that cruel wrong, possibly torture,
+is being visited upon another, upon one you know and love, and yet be
+unable to uplift hand or voice in warning.  I am by nature cool in
+action, yet there are few who fret more grievously when held in leash,
+compelled to await in uncertainty the coming of the unknown.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All I could do that day was to pace the hard earthen floor, vainly
+endeavoring to quiet the wild throbbing of my heart with every hope I
+might conjure up, now and then approaching the unguarded entrance of
+the lodge to search anxiously for some ground of hope.  It was thus the
+long afternoon wore away, until the deepening shadows of sun-setting
+rested heavily along the western cliffs, and the workers in the fields
+began trooping through the village, their shouts of greeting shrill and
+discordant, while the grim priests found place before the draped
+entrance to their dread altar-house, with blazing fagots signalling
+their distant brethren on the dizzy summit.  It was then De Noyan
+finally returned and found me raging from wall to wall like one
+distracted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It required but a glance to note the subtile change the afternoon had
+wrought in his personal appearance, yet at the time I did not greatly
+marvel at it.  The stains of battle and exposure, that had so decidedly
+disfigured him, had disappeared before the magic of new raiment, which
+had about it the color and cut of French fashion; so it was now a fair
+and prosperous gallant of the court, powdered of hair, waxen of
+moustache, who came jauntily forward with his greetings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What said I, Master Benteen?" he questioned cheerily to my stare of
+surprise.  "Did I not boldly contend that this would yet prove a
+pleasant resting-place to relieve the tedium of a journey?  Can you
+gaze upon this gay attire, longer doubting the verity of my dreams?
+But no happiness finds reflection in your face; 'tis gloomy as a day of
+rain.  Prithie, the afternoon must have been passed by you far less
+pleasantly than its hours sped with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have been conversing with good Master Cairnes," I responded gravely.
+"I found him in no state of mind or body to bring me pleasant thought."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Parbleu</I>!  I warrant not from all I hear of that worthy servant," the
+Chevalier laughed gayly.  "'T is told me the grim-faced old hypocrite
+sits in worshipful state, a veritable god, trussed like a bronze idol
+or some mummy of the Egyptians.  By my faith, I should enjoy gazing on
+his solemn face, and listening to his words withal."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is an unhappy experience for a Christian."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay! a pity; yet it should do the canting preacher good to play heathen
+god a while.  She pictured to me most vividly his struggles to escape a
+fit draping with which to match his hair.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I have not laughed
+so heartily since leaving New Orleans."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She?" I exclaimed in new interest.  "Have you been with your wife?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stroked his moustache, gazing at me in apparent surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, friend Benteen; you must be the very soul of innocence to make
+such hasty guess.  I rested beneath the same roof with her, so I was
+informed, yet she who spake thus regarding the plight of the Puritan
+chanced to be the fair Queen, Naladi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naladi?  But you speak no Spanish,&mdash;how could you hold converse with
+her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are always ways, if the lady be fair.  The hands, eyes, lips can
+all be made into messengers of speech.  But in this case she brought
+forth a black boy&mdash;a most mischievous imp&mdash;who managed to convey her
+words in my own tongue.  Still it was difficult to do justice in such a
+way to so charming a woman; much came to my lips which I hesitated to
+utter through the medium of that interpreter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I looked at him in speechless amazement at this revelation of his
+supreme conceit, his reckless vanity.  Anxiety alone prompted me to
+smother my resentment, hoping thus to obtain information.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But your wife, Madame de Noyan?  You say she was beneath the same
+roof, and yet you saw her not?  Do you mean you made no effort to
+obtain speech with her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He leaned back against the wall of the hut, crossing his long limbs
+negligently over the soft fur of the robe beneath, drawing from his
+pocket a small mirror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, I mentioned it; but <I>la reine Naladi</I> appeared not overly well
+pleased with the suggestion, so I concluded not to press the matter
+unduly.  One never gains by being ungallant at such a time.  Besides,
+there is no doubt Eloise is well attended; the Queen referred to her
+most kindly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The preacher told me," I broke forth indignantly, determined to test
+him to the full, "that this same sweet Naladi compelled her savage
+minions to drag Madame harshly forth from the altar-house, despite her
+pleadings.  Perchance this tender-spoken Queen has little of the angel
+beneath her fairness of skin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>!  I hope not.  I opine an angel would prove wearisome to
+company with for long.  My own taste inclines toward flesh and blood.
+You say Master Cairnes told you this sad tale?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, adding that the pitiful Naladi only laughed at the sobs of Madame."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pish! between the two, her word has most weight with me.  No doubt
+'twas a vision born of his own temper.  The Queen assured me most
+graciously of the welfare and contentment of Eloise.  It would have
+been boorish to question her further.  Besides, she took my thought
+from other things, repeating to me the strange tale of these savages,
+although the black made poor enough work with her words."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was abundantly evident the man was fairly crazed with conceit,
+already well entangled in the web of this designing creature.  For the
+hour, at least, all serious consideration of her who should rightfully
+claim his attention had been completely blotted out.  He had become a
+willing victim to a will infinitely stronger than his own, his
+conscience deadened by the poison of beauty; so, while my blood rioted
+in protest to his simpering French vanity, I could perceive no means by
+which I might arouse him to more manly action.  To cross such a man
+only invites to the surface the worst elements of his nature; besides,
+were I to stir him by strong protest, it might be doubtful if he
+comprehended the nature of my scruples in the matter.  Any such
+misunderstanding would result in the exchange of hard words, and in my
+making an enemy where now I possessed a friend.  Not that the Chevalier
+was a particularly valuable ally, yet he wielded a good sword upon
+occasion, and would prove more useful in friendship than in enmity.  I
+might despise him, yet he remained the husband of Madame, and I durst
+pick no quarrel with him.  To do so would raise a barrier between us,
+rendering our situation among the savages darker than ever.  As to the
+moral side of the affair, it would be sheer waste of words to broach
+it, as De Noyan could form no clearer conception of such an issue than
+a babe unborn.  He swung as the wind blew, and in all his pampered life
+had probably never dreamed of denying himself a liberty.  Saint Andrew!
+it was a knotty problem for such a head as mine to solve.  I believe I
+chose the better course in assuming the role of a neutral, as I sat
+staring at the fellow while he twisted his moustaches into their
+old-time curl, gazing at himself in the pocket mirror, utterly
+oblivious of my presence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So this beauty of a Queen told you the tale of her people," I remarked
+at last, determining to humor his mood.  "It would interest me to hear
+the story.  Those I have thus far seen differ widely from any other
+order of savages with whom I have come in contact."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your judgment is right.  As she tells the story, they are not of
+Indian blood, but belong to a far older race.  She says they are the
+remnant of a master people&mdash;although regarding their exact lineage she
+spoke but little&mdash;who once, hundreds of years ago no doubt, held
+undisputed dominion from the banks of a great red river flowing through
+the prairies far to the northward, down to the salted sea bounding the
+land upon the east.  She said their ancestors mined in the rocks, and
+cultivated the rich land of the valleys.  They were ruled over by five
+kings; and when one of these died all their wives were burned above the
+grave, and a hundred slaves sacrificed to the Sun, which they
+worshipped, and called Elagabalus.  These were all buried around the
+body of the king, whose tomb was of rock, and a huge mound of earth
+erected over them by the labor of thousands of slaves taken in battle.
+Yet their chief king, in the day of their great power, she called
+Palenque, placing his capital to north and east of this place, a land
+journey of thirty days.  Here was built a great city of wood and stone,
+surrounded by an immense wall of earth, to which all the smaller kings
+journeyed in state once each year to make account of their kingdoms,
+and offer up slaves on the altar of the great temple in sacrifice to
+the Sun.  They would gather thus from noon to noon, and thousands of
+captives would be slaughtered before the altar by the priests.  She
+told me they once possessed vast store of yellow metal and flashing
+stones, with other treasures.  Cities were set apart under guard to
+have special care over them.  Some of these have descended even unto
+the present, but are kept hidden away by the priests, though she
+promised later to let me view them secretly.  And she related a most
+strange tale of destiny&mdash;of a long, barbarous war, filled with the
+names of warriors and towns sounding most uncouth to my ears; a war
+lasting many years, during which the Chichimes&mdash;for so she named the
+wild hordes sweeping down upon them from the northward&mdash;drove their
+fathers backward from city to city, beginning far away in the kingdom
+named Talapa, and pillaging clear to the banks of the great river where
+Palenque reigned.  Their ancestors erected vast forts of earth, thus
+managing to hold their own against the invaders, so long as their
+slaves remained loyal.  But at last these also rose in revolt, and,
+when all supplies had been cut off, the hopeless remnant of defenders
+fell back down the broad river, bearing with them much of their most
+valued treasure, never permitting the sacred flame, which was the gift
+of the Sun, to die out upon their altars.  Like flies they died in the
+preservation of this symbol of their religion; for 'tis their faith,
+that if it be kept burning undimmed, there will yet come to them a
+great leader from the Sun to restore their lost glories.  She described
+to me the arts of that past, the many beautiful things the race had
+made, those wondrous cities protected by high walls, the vast mounds of
+earth moulded into strange figures of extinct animals, uplifted as
+altars, and sometimes utilized for the burial of their dead and their
+treasure.  <I>Sacre</I>!  I can recall a portion of the story, yet it was a
+weird, fascinating tale as she told it slowly, and with all
+seriousness, although the black boy stammered so badly in his words I
+got only dim pictures here and there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But how came they here?" I questioned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was coming to that.  It was some trouble with the French in
+Bienville's day.  Only a few escaped, and they were driven into these
+hills; yet 't is said they saved a considerable amount of treasure
+which had come to them from their fathers, together with some of the
+mummified bodies of their kings.  It is forty years since they
+discovered this dell, and only the older men have any memory of the
+discovery."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do they call themselves?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Nalmas' was the word the Queen used, but they are that same people
+whom we knew about in New Orleans as 'Natchez'; their old country was
+called Tlapalan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I sat silent, pondering upon his words, but before I thought out
+further questioning, a warrior, bearing food, entered the hut.  Setting
+this down upon the ground before us, he drew back into the gathering
+night shadows without uttering a word.  That which I had just heard
+caused me to gaze upon the fellow&mdash;a tall, stalwart savage&mdash;with newly
+awakened interest, and I could not help observing again how widely the
+type differed from those Indian tribes with whom my wandering border
+life had rendered me familiar.  Not only was this man of fairer,
+clearer complexion, but his cheek-bones were not in the least
+prominent, his nose was wide at the base and somewhat flattened, while
+his forehead sloped sharply backward in such peculiar form as to
+warrant the opinion that the deformity arose from a compression of the
+frontal bone in infancy.  The hair, although worn long and flowing down
+the back, was decidedly wavy, and not coarse; the color was a ruddy
+brown.  The eyes of these Indians were bold, cruel, crafty, yet in many
+instances the coloring was so light as to be startling; the average
+stature was greater than that of those other Indians that I knew.  In
+short, they impressed me as being all that was claimed, a distinct
+race, with characteristics more nearly allied to the Ethiopian and the
+Mongolian than to the surrounding red races.  As I figured this out
+somewhat slowly, De Noyan busted himself with the meal, and, thus
+engrossed, apparently forgot the topic of our conversation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And did this Queen Naladi claim to belong to this old race?" I
+questioned, thinking thus to test his observation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?" he asked in return, suspending operations, and glancing up
+at me in surprise.  "She referred to herself as the 'Daughter of the
+Sun,' once saying that her ancestors ruled over this people for a
+thousand years."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She told you that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At least so the black interpreted her words.  Why question it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Doubtless to your thought there exists small cause for questioning the
+word of so fair a woman," I acknowledged dryly.  "Yet to my vision, not
+wholly blinded by her charms, she possesses more of the Caucasian in
+face and manner than any other of the race.  If she is not of European
+birth I am a poor judge, Monsieur, and 't is my belief, if she told you
+she was not, the woman lied."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I was scarcely prepared for the result of my words upon him; his face
+flushed, a sudden glow of anger sweeping into his eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are, indeed, of bold heart," he exclaimed scornfully, "to malign a
+woman in her absence."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are women no words can malign," I retorted sharply, stung by his
+tone, "I opine this Queen of savages belongs to that class.  To my mind
+it would be better were you to wax indignant over the wrongs of your
+wife rather than over a just picturing of this harlot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before I could move to draw aside, he was upon his feet, and I felt the
+stinging blow of his hand across my lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Sacre</I>!" he cried, transported by sudden rage, "Charles de Noyan
+takes such affront from no man.  I denounce you as a cowardly vilifier
+of an absent woman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I know not why I failed to strike the fellow down.  My hand was hard on
+the knife hilt within my doublet, yet I drew it not as we stood there
+eye to eye.  There was that between us&mdash;the dim, shadowy face of a
+woman&mdash;which held me as by a chain.  It seemed to me then as if my
+knife point would have to pass through her before it touched his heart,
+and, feeling thus, God gave me power to choke back the hot resentment,
+and restrain my hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Monsieur," I said sternly, "never has the hand of man touched me
+before in anger without my making full return for the blow.  Yet now I
+strike you not.  The time may come when I shall wipe out this insult,
+but here and now you stand safe from my arm."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Safe!" he sneered.  "<I>Parbleu</I>! you are a cowardly hound to talk thus.
+Safe! think you I have anything to fear at your hands?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I bid you restrain your tongue, Chevalier," I said, my voice unsteady.
+"God being my witness, never before did you stand so close to death as
+now.  Look," and I held up the keen blade before his eyes.  "This steel
+thirsts for your blood; only one thought has intervened to save you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What was that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The fact that you are the husband of one who was once Eloise
+Lafrénière."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I know not how much of the truth he suspected, but for a moment we
+stood thus, I half imagining he contemplated a leap at my throat.  Then
+his eyes fell, and he drew back with a short laugh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Le Diable</I>! 'tis easy for some people to discover excuses at such a
+time.  Still, Monsieur, as you refuse to fight I may as well lie down;
+having been early awake I am somewhat weary."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I watched him silently while he arranged his robes for the night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Before you sleep," I ventured, "it would please my curiosity to know
+where this pure and peerless Queen of yours makes her abode."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! would you pay her a visit?" he asked suspiciously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Far from it; rather that I may avoid her.  Yet we are not in specially
+pleasant surroundings, and such information might not come amiss."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He sulked a moment over his answer, but finally relented.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In that large hut upon the second mound."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You spoke as if Madame de Noyan were beneath the same roof, yet you
+saw her not.  Does the hut differ from this in being divided into
+rooms?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A partition runs through it from roof to floor.  Naladi holds court in
+the south room, which is decorated most lavishly with things of beauty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then Madame occupies the northern portion?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I understood," with a sleepy yawn.  "I asked little in detail;
+'twas enough for me to be assured she was well."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap27"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A VENTURE IN THE DARK
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+It is occasion for deep regret that I was so blind to my opportunities
+for learning much relative to this strange people.  During those hours
+of trial my thoughts were so occupied with our own dangers, it was
+merely incidentally I considered anything else.  No small temptation
+now assails me to record many things I believe true, things I remember
+vaguely; but I pass the temptation by, determined to write only what I
+may vouch for as of my own observation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I remained silent, leaning against the wall and making vigorous use of
+my pipe, a long time after De Noyan fell peacefully asleep.  While the
+fast fading daylight clung dimly to the interior, my eyes were fastened
+upon his upturned face, almost boyish in the unconsciousness of repose,
+and I began to feel pity for his weakness, my anger against him fading
+away.  As the darkness became pronounced I remained there still, my
+sleepless eyes paying small heed to night, the scenes I saw being of
+the brain, memory awakening to paint with glowing colors across the
+black screen.  The evening was quiet,&mdash;within, no more was heard than
+the regular breathing of my companion; without, an occasional savage
+outcry, mingled with the low moaning of the night wind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It became a lonely vigil, my thoughts unhappy.  I had much to reflect
+upon.  The extreme difficulty of our present situation, encompassed and
+separated as we were: De Noyan was bewitched by a siren who had already
+bound him by silken cords to any nefarious scheme her unscrupulous
+desires might compass; Cairnes was as helplessly entangled in her
+power, although held to his fate by ropes of a different nature; while
+Madame was scarcely less a prisoner, powerless to escape the ruthless
+grasp of a false-hearted woman whose jealousy might at any instant lead
+to measures of extremity.  I alone of all our little company remained
+somewhat my own master.  My hands and heart at least were free from all
+visible bonds.  Yet what hideous mockery was such freedom!  I realized
+that I could venture no step beyond the door of the lodge without
+becoming the focus of spying eyes; that all about was evidence of the
+despotic power of this renegade white queen, who deigned to spare me
+merely because she deemed I was utterly powerless to interfere with her
+cruel purposes.  Saint Andrew! it was an environment of evil to chill
+the blood of any man, nor amid its gathering gloom could I distinguish
+any gleam promising dawn.  About us watched impatiently a horde of
+ruthless savages, eager to make us victims of their torture, held back
+temporarily only by the imperious will of this self-styled "Daughter of
+the Sun," who ruled through appeal to their grossest superstitions.
+She, I believed, in spite of fair face and evidences of culture, was as
+vindictive, barbarous, and relentless as the wildest in that savage
+band.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Over and over I turned such unhappy thoughts in my seething brain,
+until the faintest sound from without had died away.  I may have spent
+hours thus, while De Noyan slept on peacefully as a tired child.  At
+last a wild desire for action overcame my lassitude, conquered all
+lingering discretion.  There arose before me, clearly as a painted
+picture, the pleading face of her I loved.  I knew that to no other was
+she looking for aid in her despair.  There might be little I could
+accomplish for her succor, yet it would bring her new courage even to
+exchange a brief word with some faithful friend, as proof that she was
+not forgotten.  Besides, I longed, as no expression can make clear, to
+gaze again, if only for an instant, into her clear gray eyes, to listen
+to the gentle murmur of her trustful voice.  In brief, I was in the
+mood for a desperate venture.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I crept to the open door, peering cautiously forth into the darkness.
+It was a heavy night, the little basin was wrapped in shadow, and not
+even a star peeped forth from the rifts of low-scudding clouds.  In no
+direction could I distinguish any twinkling of lights except a single
+fitful flash from off the altar, where black-robed priests guarded the
+sacred fire or worshipped before the Puritan.  Encouraged by the
+darkness I crept along the outer wall, unchallenged by the skulking
+guard, and finally attained the upper corner.  Here I observed a second
+glimmer, which I instantly recognized as coming from the other great
+house upon the summit of the mound&mdash;that house in which I understood
+dwelt Queen Naladi, and where De Noyan said his wife remained prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I scarcely know what I hoped to accomplish by such a move, yet helpful
+circumstances are apt to develop when one attempts boldly to do his own
+part the best he may.  It was in blind faith I crept forward through
+the dry grass, drawing ever closer toward that beckoning light.  It was
+a long journey and a slow one, as the tribe would guard vigilantly the
+dwelling-place of their Queen.  At every rustle in the grass, every
+flap of wing overhead, I paused, listening to the pounding of my heart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I clasped closely in one hand the knife, my sole weapon of defence,
+and, as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom and could distinguish
+some things more clearly, I paused often, with uplifted head, to study
+some indistinct object in the darkness.  Thus advancing inch by inch,
+avoiding with care the least rustling of dry grass, I wriggled
+snake-like forward, until I began breasting the steeper incline of the
+mound, its summit now outlined against the lighter space of overarching
+sky.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All my rage deserted me when again in the open, actually attempting to
+achieve a purpose.  My brain cleared as by magic, every nerve steadying
+itself to meet whatsoever peril might be lurking along the path.
+Half-way up the mound I lay close to the earth, peering steadily
+through the gloom.  There was no cover to crouch behind, the slope
+being totally bare of vegetation except for the short, dry grass, yet I
+felt reasonably secure from observation unless I entered that bar of
+light.  Unable to do more than guess, I concluded that the single
+flame, splitting the night like the shining blade of a sword, came from
+the northern compartment, while the southern half remained wrapped in
+silent darkness.  Outwardly this Queen's residence was constructed much
+like the building used by the priests as a temple.  In the latter I
+recalled two entrances opening respectively toward east and west.  Were
+a partition run between, as in this private dwelling, the eastern door
+would open into the southern apartment.  It was the west door through
+which the light streamed, and, daring approach it no closer, my only
+recourse lay in trying my fortune on the opposite side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I began a winding advance along the sloping side of the hill, but sank
+suddenly to earth as a spectral figure moved forth from the darkness,
+stood a moment in the bright glare, and then strode past, vanishing
+within the gloom like a shadow.  It was an Indian, spear in hand, one
+of the body-guard of the Queen.  With renewed caution, my imminent
+danger being manifest, I barely lifted my head from the level of the
+grass, and began to work onward, reaching out until I got firm grasp on
+a bunch of grass, then drawing my body forward the full extent of my
+arms.  The progress was slow, involving much labor, and it required a
+full half-hour to attain the other side of the mound.  I could now look
+above, perceiving nothing except the black shadow of the house.  If
+Eloise was within, and if this door led to her prison, it was scarcely
+possible that it was unguarded.  Naladi had special reasons for looking
+carefully after the safe keeping of this captive, and was not likely to
+forget.  I discovered no outward signs of life, but was too thoroughly
+versed in wilderness ways to count upon that, knowing that each dark
+shadow along the wall might conceal some crouching stealthy figure,
+ready to pounce forth.  With utmost care, anxiously scanning the silent
+hillside, I drew myself forward, hardly venturing upon a full breath,
+until I finally rested on my breast barely three paces from where I
+believed the entrance must be.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I dreaded any attempt to advance into the unknown, yet I had no
+intention of withdrawing until I had accomplished that end for which I
+came.  To retreat was foreign to my nature; indeed, I was now so close
+to Eloise, it required an effort of will to restrain a desire to rush
+blindly forward.  But long training overcame this rash impulse.  I
+rested there, silent as a savage, seeking to trace each detail of what
+was barely beyond my hand.  It was little enough I could distinguish,
+straining my eyes to the utmost; and finally, despairing of learning
+more, I advanced my hands, silently groping for something to grasp,
+when I was instantly frozen into a recumbent statue by a slight
+movement of something directly in front.  This was so faint that, had
+not my every nerve been tense, I should scarcely have noted it at all.
+Yet there could be no doubt&mdash;some one had given a slight shiver, as
+though from the chill of the night air; whoever it might be, the person
+was not three paces from my out-stretched hands, and, as near as I
+could judge, must be sitting on the very threshold of the entrance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I was in an awkward position.  How I had succeeded in arriving there
+without attracting attention was little short of miraculous.  I durst
+not venture on any retrograde movement; I even pressed my mouth against
+the hard earth, the better to deaden the sound of breathing.  I know
+not how long I remained thus; it was until my strained muscles appeared
+to cord themselves, and I could scarcely keep back a moan of pain.  Yet
+no other sound came from that mysterious presence.  Intently as I
+listened, not so much as the faint sound of breathing reached me.
+Still I could not have been deceived; there assuredly had been
+movement; I distinctly felt a consciousness of other presence, so that
+every nerve tingled, and it required the utmost self-control to hold me
+still.  I fairly throbbed with insane impulses to leap forward and
+solve the mystery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Who could be lurking there in such silence?  It must assuredly be an
+enemy, a guard stationed to watch over the fair prisoner within;
+doubtless, he would remain until relieved by some other.  What hope for
+successful advance held me in such agony of mind and body?  I felt that
+I must relieve my cramped limbs or else scream aloud in spite of every
+effort at control.  Slowly I drew back, my outspread hands searching
+for some hummock of grass against which I might press, to force my body
+silently downward, but discovered none.  Then there sounded, slightly
+to my left, the soft rustle of a moccasoned foot, and a low, guttural
+voice muttered some indistinct sentences.  The lurking form in my front
+appeared to rise, and there was a brief grunt as if in response to
+command.  Then a huge warrior stalked past so close that his moccasoned
+foot planted itself fairly between my outstretched arms.  Instantly he
+faded away within the enveloping gloom, and with hardly the hesitation
+of a moment I was on hands and knees creeping toward my goal.  With
+groping fingers I touched the riven trunk that formed the threshold,
+and, reaching upward, noted with a thrill of delight that merely a
+heavy curtain of woven straw guarded the interior.  There was no time
+for hesitancy; at any instant the savage guard might return to his
+deserted post.  Pushing the slight barrier noiselessly aside, I gained
+the interior, dropped the mat behind me, and, for the first time,
+ventured to pause and survey my surroundings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The single partition did not extend to the roof by a foot or more, so
+sufficient light found passage through the narrow aperture to render
+dimly visible the principal features of this apartment into which I had
+ventured.  It was evidently a sleeping-chamber, handsomely furnished in
+barbaric fashion, the faint light gleaming on numerous burnished
+ornaments, while a carpet of soft skins concealed the floor.  To this I
+gave brief attention, my anxious glance falling almost instantly upon
+the draped figure of a woman, vaguely defined in the dimness, lying
+outstretched on a slightly raised cushioned couch, her face concealed
+by the denser shadows of the wall, sound asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cautiously I crept forward, hesitating to touch her lest so sudden an
+awakening might cause alarm.  It seemed safer to trust in speech, as
+then she would recognize at once who was by her side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame," I whispered softly, my lips as close as possible to her tiny
+ear, "I seek brief word with you to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She must have slept lightly, for at my faint whisper I perceived that
+her wide-opened eyes were scrutinizing my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis I, Madame, Geoffrey Benteen.  I beg you make no noise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You need have no fear," returned a soft voice in purest Spanish.  "You
+do me honor by so unexpected a visit; I bid you welcome, Geoffrey
+Benteen."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap28"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+SPEECH WITH NALADI
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+If you were ever rudely aroused from pleasant dreams by a sudden dash
+of cold water in your face, you may partially comprehend my emotions
+upon hearing these words of greeting, and realizing that I was looking
+into the beautiful, pitiless eyes of the Daughter of the Sun, now
+sitting upright on the couch, happily smiling at my embarrassment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, Geoffrey Benteen," she exclaimed, significantly waving her white
+hand as she noted my swift glance backward, "retire not thus suddenly.
+You must be a marvellous woodsman to have attained this place through
+the watchful cordon of my guards, but 'tis not likely you would so
+safely run the gantlet of return.  You are not so fair of visage as
+your gay companion the Chevalier, yet now you are here I will enjoy a
+short time with you.  Yet first let us understand each other.  For what
+purpose do you invade my apartment so boldly?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I came," I replied, believing frankness would prove my best play in
+this crisis, "expecting to find not you, but your prisoner."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! you are honest, if not complimentary," a quick flash of
+understanding in her bright eyes.  "So it was another woman for whose
+sake you came creeping recklessly through the night!  God's mercy!  I
+even ventured to dream my charms had pierced the dull armor of your
+cold English heart, yet here you merely stand and laugh at me,&mdash;would
+even flee my presence as though pestilence were upon my breath.  Why, I
+wonder? am I not also fair?  Why then flout me thus disdainfully?
+Naladi has not been accustomed to such harsh treatment at the hands of
+your sex."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are, indeed, beautiful both in form and face," I answered, seeking
+to avoid quarrel, "but it is not for a mere adventurer of the woods to
+utter words of love to such as you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her lips curled in sarcastic smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pish! you grow marvellously modest all at once.  I bid you note that
+the passion of love cares nothing for a registry of birth&mdash;it looks to
+flesh and blood, not records.  There is more hidden in your secret
+heart to-night than finds utterance upon the lips.  You have the soft
+speech of a diplomat, full of guile and cunning.  Come, I bid you tell
+me the whole truth.  Do you think me an untutored savage, that you deny
+me in such disdain?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not how it may prove regarding your heart," I said boldly, not
+hesitating to meet her questioning eyes, "but in manner and graces you
+exhibit the gloss of courts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled mockingly, rising to her feet and saluting me with a low
+curtsy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah! very prettily said, señor.  I perceive your objection then: you
+think me fairer without than within.  I dare not contend you are
+altogether wrong in such conjecture.  Faith, why not, señor?  It would
+be strange otherwise.  All lives do not flow gently amid prosaic
+routine, and my ship has been often enough upon the rocks.  I have
+learned reasons of deceit and cruelty in the hard school of experience.
+If, in years of trial, I have grown hard of judgment, reckless of
+action, it is because others have been harsh with me.  Power is
+naturally tyrannical.  But then what use for us to dwell upon the past?
+So you came to-night to meet another?  'T is strange the risks a man
+will run for so infinitesimal a reward.  Yet, Mother of God, it gives
+me a pleasant tale to pour into the ears of him you call De Noyan when
+we meet again to-morrow.  If I mistake not, the one you seek in secret
+bears the name of that gay gallant.  At least, she masquerades in this
+wilderness under the title of Madame de Noyan.  But 'tis you, not he,
+her reputed husband, forsooth, who seeks her chamber in the midnight.
+Truly 'tis a pretty tale of romance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It flashed upon me, as she thus lightly spoke, what infernal use an
+unscrupulous woman might easily make of this.  The imputation lurking
+in her words aroused me to defiant anger, yet before I could collect my
+thought to make reply, she marked my hesitancy and continued with
+bitter sarcasm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame possesses so sweetly innocent a face I should never have
+suspected her of being an immodest wanton, were it not for the evidence
+of my own eyes.  'T is a strange world, señor.  Yet I have often heard
+this is the way with these <I>grandes dames</I> of France."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is only your own foulness of thought which places such construction
+upon my coming here," I broke forth, determined I would face her down
+at every hazard.  "You know well my purpose; I came seeking to aid one
+you held prisoner.  It is all because of your sin, not ours.  You have
+robbed this Chevalier de Noyan of all his manhood by your cursed smiles
+and honeyed speech.  You have made him forget his sworn duty unto her
+who is his wife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How interesting you grow," she interrupted, her lips curling, her eyes
+hardening.  "Señor, you grow almost handsome when your eyes flash.  So
+you felt called upon to devote yourself to this poor, misused,
+neglected wife?  I trust you have not found it an unpleasant service,
+or entirely without reward?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I felt called upon to aid her in escaping from your grip."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, indeed?  Would you kindly, señor, tell me how you proposed
+performing such a miracle?  It remains in my memory some such effort at
+release has been made before," her eyes hardening like diamonds.  "Down
+yonder stands a blackened post which tells how Naladi deals with those
+daring to mock her will."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may spare threats," I retorted, gathering courage from rising
+anger, "as I care nothing for your good will, nor shall I swerve an
+inch in the hope of escaping your savage vengeance.  Madame de Noyan is
+so far above you in every attribute of unsullied womanhood that no
+words of yours can ever besmirch her reputation; while, as to myself, I
+remain so certain of my own rectitude in the action of this night, I
+challenge you to do your worst."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No doubt the Chevalier will also feel confidence in all you say," she
+added maliciously.  "I understand it is the way with the French."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With whom your previous acquaintance seems to have rendered you most
+familiar."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a wild, chance shot, for firing which I had no reason excepting
+that twice she had openly sneered at that people, and once had spoken
+of ships in a way strange to an inland savage.  It was worth trying,
+however, and I marked her slight start of surprise at my insinuating
+tone, and the dark shadow sweeping across her face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Think you so, señor?  It is passing strange, then, that I should be
+ignorant of the tongue."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, were it true," I made quick reply, encouraged by her manner,
+determined now to press this guessing home, and abide results.  "But
+you had small difficulty comprehending the language a moment back.
+Permit me to remind you that it chanced to be French I spoke when first
+kneeling at your bedside."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She savagely bit her red lips in rage at my words; yet more, I thought,
+at her own forgetfulness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pish! perhaps so;" and she stamped her foot angrily on the stone slabs
+of the floor.  "What does that prove to my discredit for you to harp
+upon?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Why my accidental words should thus worry her I could not even guess.
+Yet, clearly enough, there lay hidden some secret here&mdash;a hideous
+secret I had harshly probed.  Believing this, I felt that I could
+enhance my power over her by pressing it relentlessly home with
+whatsoever directness of speech I dared to venture.  With me, at such a
+crisis, decision meant action, and I advanced a step nearer, looking
+her directly in the eyes.  A single moment she met me with a haughty
+stare; then defiance faded away into pleading, and her glance wavered.
+Whatever the cause, she was clearly afraid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who&mdash;who are you?" she faltered.  "Surely we have never met before?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you know already, I am Geoffrey Benteen.  I only regret that your
+memory is so faulty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it you know of me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, nothing, nothing, Madame," and I threw into the utterance of these
+words all the irony possible.  "It is not altogether strange Madame
+should forget acquaintances of other days, even her native tongue,
+living so long in the wilderness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a reckless shot, but somehow it struck the mark.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am a Toltec!" she cried wildly.  "You speak to the Daughter of the
+Sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No doubt; 'tis a neat superstition with which to overawe savages, yet
+there was one once across the water greatly resembling you,&mdash;a bit
+younger, perhaps,&mdash;yet who was content then with a title not nearly so
+high-sounding, until&mdash;oh, well, what need to tell the rest?  Of course,
+it was not you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I would never have believed so sudden a change could come over the
+countenance of a human being, had I not witnessed it with these eyes.
+She had sunk back against the couch, her hands pressing her breast as
+if to still the wild throbbing of the heart, her great eyes staring at
+me in silent horror.  Twice her lips moved as if attempting speech, yet
+no articulated sound issued from between them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you a fiend from hell?" she sobbed at last.  "Why have you pursued
+me here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do me far too great an honor."  I made her a low bow, thoroughly
+confident I held the whip hand, provided only I did not overplay my
+part.  "It is the merest accident of fate which has thus thrown me
+again across your path.  Nor have I the slightest desire to cause you
+trouble, only that through your power may come our safety."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You&mdash;you have not followed me, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I saw she was diligently studying my face in the dim light, vainly
+endeavoring to recall where, under what circumstances, we had met
+before.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bah! what difference can a name make?  Surely you are careless enough
+about your own to be lenient with another choosing to forget."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You also are a fugitive?"  I caught the sudden ring of hope in her
+voice, saw a new light flash into her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have fled the Spaniards," I answered carelessly enough.  "What odds
+is that, so long as what I did has been for France?  Still, as I say, I
+have no desire to play you harm provided you deal justly with us all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Harm?  You?  How could you harm me?" she questioned, evidently more at
+ease from the change in my tone of speech.  "You presume, señor; surely
+you forget you address the Queen of the Nahuacs; that even in our
+remnant there remain more than a hundred warriors to do my bidding!  I
+can laugh at threats, señor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I stared at her coldly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you please, Madame <I>la reine</I> Naladi, Daughter of the Sun, formerly
+woman of&mdash;ah! so you do not care for me to speak that accursed word?
+Well, I thought you might not, so I spare you the shame.  'T is nothing
+to me your past, yet I would have you remember there is a people we
+both know to whom your miserable horde of savages would be but a
+mouthful.  This tribe has already tested the sharpness of the French
+sword."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her troubled eyes fell before mine, the last faint gleam of defiance
+dying from her face.  She glanced about the apartment, evidently
+meditating retreat from my presence, or the swift summoning of her
+guards.  Whichever it might have been, she as evidently thought better
+of it, turning toward me once more, no longer a frightened, angry
+Amazon, but instead a smiling, pleasant-faced woman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have surely jested long enough, señor," she exclaimed with apparent
+lightness of demeanor.  "It can never be best for us to be other than
+good friends.  I doubt not you are a bold man, loyal to those trusting
+you, and I honor you for it.  Take me, also, into that charmed circle,
+yet never forget I am a woman capable of doing great harm if I choose,
+for I have those at my command here who would die gladly at my bidding.
+The threat of French vengeance moves me little, señor; France is
+strong, cruel, relentless; but France is not here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Quite true," I replied, feeling best now to permit her to enjoy her
+own way.  "But France never forgets, never pardons, and France
+possesses arms which reach across the seas, even into this wilderness.
+All she needs is a guide, and I could become that.  Yet if you grant my
+request I pledge that no words of mine shall result in your injury."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your half threat does not greatly trouble me, señor.  I am no frail
+reed fearing a puff of air.  I merely seek that duty which seems most
+fair to all concerned.  Pray tell me then what it is you would ask at
+my hands.  Nay, wait; before we go into this business be seated here,
+so we may more easily converse together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a low stool beside the couch she indicated, and I could do no
+less than silently accept her courtesy, the soft, mysterious charm of
+the woman blunting my prejudice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, señor," an engaging smile rendering more beautiful the face
+turned toward me.  "I pray you trust me fully, and state frankly your
+demands upon Naladi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If slightest sarcasm lurked in these softly spoken words I acknowledge
+total oblivion to it.  Her fair face was the picture of earnestness,
+her eyes gazed frankly into mine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our release, Madame."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She lifted her white hands in a sudden gesture of expostulation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why ask that?  It is utterly beyond my power, señor&mdash;at least, at
+once," in a tone of despair, convincing me she spoke truly.  "We have
+our laws, which must be obeyed.  It was the tribe who in battle took
+you prisoners, not I; it would cost me my position did I endeavor to
+give you immediate release."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Could it be accomplished later?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly it might."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you promise me it shall?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hesitated, her eyes downcast, her bosom rising and falling to
+tumultuous breathing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," at last slowly, as if she had weighed the problem with care.  "I
+will pledge you my utmost help to that end."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is one thing more, Queen Naladi," I contended earnestly.  "It is
+that Madame de Noyan be permitted meanwhile to abide with her husband."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fair face darkened ominously.  Instead of immediately answering she
+stepped across the room; returning, she held in her hands a small box
+in which I perceived papers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One moment, señor; move your stool here; yes, a trifle to the left
+where we may have clearer light shed upon these documents."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I drew it unsuspectingly to the spot indicated by her gesture, bending
+forward, wondering what it might be of importance she held in her hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This, señor," she began calmly, slightly unrolling a written sheet,
+"is, as you will easily comprehend, the very document causing my
+unfortunate exile in this wilderness.  You will take notice&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As she spoke, I felt myself falling.  She sprang hastily back, barely
+in time to escape my frenzied clutch upon her draperies; for one
+instant I clung to the stone slab of the floor desperately.  Then she
+laughed, her heel crunched on my gripping fingers, and, with one
+muffled cry of despair, I went plunging down into the blackness.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap29"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+IN AND OUT THE SHADOW
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+It is strange I remember so little from that instant when my tortured
+hands released their frantic grasp on the stone slab of the floor.  I
+recall the sharp pain, as that fair-faced fiend stamped upon my
+clutching fingers; I heard the echo of sneering laughter with which she
+mocked my last upward look of agony, but, with the plunge downward into
+that black, unknown abyss, all clear recollection ceased&mdash;I even retain
+no memory of the severe shock which must have occurred as my fall
+ended.  Whether excess of fear paralyzed the brain, or what may have
+been the cause for such a phenomenon, I know not.  I merely state the
+fact.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I awoke&mdash;how much later God alone knows&mdash;lying upon the rough stone
+bottom of an awful well, huddled in its blackness.  When I finally made
+attempt at straightening my cramped limbs it seemed as if each separate
+muscle had been beaten and bruised, and it required no little
+manipulation before I even recovered sufficient strength to stand
+upright and endeavor to ascertain the nature of my grewsome
+prison-house.  My stiffness caused me to believe that I must have lain
+motionless for several hours in the same cramped position into which I
+fell, before even regaining consciousness.  Another evidence of this
+was the blood which, having flowed copiously from a severe cut upon the
+back of my head, had so thoroughly hardened as to stanch the ugly
+wound, thus, perhaps, preserving my life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly I returned to a clear realization of my position, for my eyes
+opened upon such intense darkness I could scarcely comprehend in my
+weakened, dazed condition that it was not all a dream from which I was
+yet to awaken.  Little by little the mind began asserting itself,
+vaguely feeling here and there, putting scrap with scrap, until
+returning memory poured in upon me like a flood, and I grasped the
+terrible truth that I was buried alive.  The knowledge was a deathlike
+blow, with which I struggled desperately, seeking to regain control
+over my shattered nerves.  I recall yet the frenzied laugh bursting
+from my lips&mdash;seemingly the lips of a stranger&mdash;ringing wild and
+hollow, not unlike the laughter of the insane; I remember tearing wide
+open the front of my doublet, feeling I must surely choke from the
+suffocating pressure upon my chest; I retain memory of glaring
+violently into the darkness; how I fondled the sharp edge of the
+hunting knife, crying and shouting impotent curses, which I trust God
+has long ago forgiven, at that incarnate devil who had hurled me down
+to such living death.  Terror dominated my brain, pulsed like molten
+fire through my blood, until, as the desperation of my situation became
+more clearly defined, I tottered upon the very verge of insanity,
+feeling I should soon become a helpless, gibbering imbecile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yet, as I succeeded in staggering weakly to my feet, the movement and
+exertion served to quiet my apprehensions, while hope came faintly
+back, bringing with it, as though newly born, a determination never to
+yield without one manly struggle.  I possessed a knife; perchance there
+might be discovered some opportunity for using it.  With outspread
+hands, and groping feet, I attempted to advance, but found I had fallen
+so close to the centre of the well that I had to make several steps
+before my extended fingers touched the cold wall.  This I followed
+slowly, passing exploring hands with utmost care over each inch, from
+the floor to as high as I could reach on tiptoe, until confident I had
+made the complete circuit.  It was all the same, vast slabs of flat
+stone, welded together by some rude yet effective masonry, the mortar
+between impervious to the sharp probing of the knife.  Again and again
+I made that circuit, testing each crack, sounding every separate stone
+in the hope of discovering some slight fault in construction by which I
+might profit.  Everywhere I was confronted by the same dull, dead wall
+of cold, hard rock, against which I exerted strength and skill
+uselessly.  Finally I dropped upon my knees, creeping inch by inch
+across the floor, but with no better result.  It likewise was composed
+of great slabs of stone, one having an irregular crack running through
+it from corner to corner, but all alike solid and immovable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the last faint flicker of hope deserted me.  Yet the exercise of
+that fruitless search had restored some measure of manhood; my brain no
+longer throbbed with dull agony, nor did my veins burn as with liquid
+fire.  I felt convinced this black vault was destined to become my
+grave; here in after years, perhaps, some straying hunter might uncover
+my mouldering bones, wondering idly at my unknown story, for here I was
+surely doomed to face all that was mysterious and terrible in death.
+Well, that end must come to me some time, as to all men; I had seen
+many die, and, although fate faced me in far more horrid guise than any
+of these others, yet after all it was merely death, and I had no more
+cause to fear it here in the dark than yonder in the sunshine.
+Besides, I retained the keen knife-blade; if worse came to worse that
+was available for release.  I passed it caressingly through my fingers,
+wondering would God forgive its use if the moment came when I must
+choose between insanity and death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Merciful Heaven! how time dragged!  What awful conceptions were formed
+in my fevered brain!  What leering, sardonic faces pictured themselves
+against the black wall; what demon voices spoke and laughed in the void
+above!  At times I stood in a cave thronged with jeering devils, some
+with the savage countenance of the heathen, some yet more satanic; yet
+ever in the midst of their maddest orgies, the cruel mockery of the
+infamous Naladi appeared more hellish than that of the rest.  She
+leered down upon me from every side until I seemed to stare into a
+thousand faces, each wearing her hateful, sardonic smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I paced the floor with feverish impatience, counting my steps from wall
+to wall, hoping by this means to retain control of my brain.
+Experiencing the sharp pangs of hunger, I slashed a bit of leather from
+my belt, and chewed it savagely as a dog might chew a dry bone.  In my
+despair, I danced, snapping my fingers, and hurling bitter taunts at
+the unseen upper world.  Exhausted by such useless frenzy, I would sink
+prone to the floor, every nerve unstrung, lying there panting in
+helplessness until returning strength again sent me back and forth in
+that awful tramp from wall to wall.  I perceived that the strain of
+that horrible haunted silence was driving me mad.  There was no escape,
+no hope, no peace.  Again and again did I break from incoherent ravings
+to sink upon my knees, beseeching God for mercy.  Yet I arose without
+rest, without peace.  At last I sank weakly down against the wall and
+lay trembling in every limb, staring blindly with wide-open, unseeing
+eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I had come to the very end&mdash;to that moment when my limbs refused longer
+to support my swaying body, when my tortured brain was picturing scenes
+of hellish ingenuity.  Ah! look! see! yonder comes now another to
+torment my soul.  O God!  Mark that grim, gray face floating against
+the wall!  Away, you foul fiend!  I am not yet your prey!  But see! see
+how the ghastly horror grows!  It is as large as a man; and mark those
+long, gaunt arms reaching up until they meet overhead.  Suddenly it
+seemed to shed a strange, unnatural radiance over the cave.  I imagined
+I saw things about me.  What, Mother of Mercies, can it be?  Daylight!
+Oh, good God! do my eyes actually look upon the day once more&mdash;the
+sweet, sweet, blessed day?  Surely it is but a dream; yet no! it must
+truly be light streaming down from above.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I staggered to my feet, trembling so that I was compelled to clutch the
+wall for support.  Swinging and swaying down toward me through the dim
+light, now in the radiance, anon in the shadow, twisting and turning
+like a great snake, a grass rope steadily dropped ring by ring until
+its loosened end coiled on the stone floor.  I saw it, never believing
+the testimony of my own eyes, until my trembling hand had actually
+closed upon it.  Then, with the touch in my fingers, the hot tears
+gushed from my blinded eyes, the tension on my brain gave way, and I
+was Geoffrey Benteen once more.  A cautious whisper pierced the silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you remain alive, have you strength to mount the rope quickly?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So parched and swollen were my lips I could not answer, yet managed to
+take stronger grasp upon the cord, and, finding it firmly held above,
+made earnest effort to climb.  'Twas a desperate undertaking for one
+who had passed through the strain which had befallen me; but now, the
+trembling having somewhat passed, I found myself not entirely devoid of
+strength, while an intense desire to escape from that hell made me
+willing to venture.  I was dimly conscious of a face gazing intently
+down through the small aperture, yet, with the swaying of that loosened
+rope, the slipperiness of its grassy strands between my fingers, I
+found little opportunity for glancing upward while slowly winning
+toilsome way toward the light.  It was as hard a struggle for life as I
+ever made, my heart almost ceasing to hope, when I finally felt a hand
+close firmly upon the collar of my jacket.  With that help, I struggled
+on, until, panting and exhausted, I sank upon the skin-carpeted floor
+of the apartment from whence I had been hurled into that living tomb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half turning as I fell, I gazed into the face of my rescuer,
+endeavoring to smile as my glad eyes met those of Eloise de Noyan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, hush!" she sobbed.  "Do not speak of what you have suffered, for I
+read it all in your eyes.  Oh, my poor, poor boy!  I thank the merciful
+Christ you are still alive.  Yet I know not how long that demon in form
+of woman may be absent; besides, her savage guards are everywhere.  The
+slightest sound might bring one to the door, and it will be better that
+she believe you her victim, buried forever in that foul grave."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I could but gaze at her, my breath coming in sobs of pain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How chanced it, Madame, you knew I was thus entombed?" and my hand,
+yet bleeding from contact with the rope, ventured to touch her own.
+She looked into my eyes bravely, a red flush in either cheek.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I overheard those bold words you spoke to her last night across the
+partition."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Last night?  Rather a week since."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled, her hand-clasp tightening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, no, Geoffrey.  It has seemed that long even to me waiting
+opportunity for service, yet 'tis scarcely eight hours since you were
+hurled into yonder hole.  See; the sun in the sky tells the story
+truly.  But every moment we delay only serves to increase our peril of
+discovery.  Assist me, if you have strength, to relay this stone slab.
+It tested my muscles sorely to drag it aside.  No doubt there is a
+cunning spring somewhere, by use of which it moves easily, yet I sought
+after it in vain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Toiling together we finally succeeded in returning the flat cover to
+its proper position in the flooring, and spread over it a thick skin.
+Seeing everything was left exactly as when she entered, Madame, who had
+become a new woman to my eyes, capable and alert, silently led me
+through a narrow curtained recess to the second apartment.  This had
+evidently been designed as the Queen's reception room, being fairly
+gorgeous in coloring, the low walls covered with shields of beaten
+copper, while burnished bits of the same metal, mingled with duller
+tones of gold and iron, were scattered everywhere in strange profusion.
+Varied tinted stones and sea-shells had been built into a raised
+platform, on which stood a couch hidden beneath rich robes of skin, and
+draped about with multicolored cloth of rude design and texture.
+Altogether it was an interior of rich barbaric splendor, savage in its
+unusual beauty, yet possessing here and there an odd touch of
+civilization almost startling by contrast.  You must understand that I
+enjoyed little opportunity to gaze about and note such details, for
+Madame was impatient of delay, hurrying me forward until we entered
+together a partially concealed passage behind where the couch stood.
+Here my fair guide paused, thrusting into my hands a quantity of food
+hastily appropriated from a long shelf, concealed by a curtain of
+scarlet cloth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eat heartily," she commanded quickly, "for you seem very weak.
+Meanwhile I will stand here, keeping watch lest we be taken by
+surprise.  Should I give a signal, lift yonder red curtain at its
+farther end, and hide there in silence until I come again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I partook of the coarse food eagerly enough, yet my eyes were ever upon
+her, my lips even finding time for speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you some plan, Madame?" I questioned anxiously.  "You said but
+now this house was held under heavy guard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I spoke truly.  I may not step forth into the air but some savage is
+at my side driving me back again.  Oftentimes they peer within when the
+Queen is absent, to assure themselves that I am safely caged."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And this Naladi&mdash;does she treat you well?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The swift color mounted into her clear cheeks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not ill, so far, at least, as relates to the physical," she responded
+gravely.  "No hand has been angrily laid upon me since I was dragged
+forth from the altar-house.  Yet there are other forms of torture; and
+she constantly mocks me with my helplessness, and, I believe, even
+hates me for no better reason than that I stand between her and the
+Chevalier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have seen him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No; but have heard his voice while he held private converse with her,
+the shameless wanton; have listened to words ill suited to the ears of
+a wife.  She is a witch, and the slumbering devil in her has made snare
+for his weakness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I greatly fear there may be truth in this," I returned, scarcely
+knowing how best to speak at such a time, marking the agitation of her
+breathing.  "Naladi is a fair woman, softly spoken and seductive when
+it is her purpose to please.  There are not many men who could resist
+her wiles.  Yet possibly, Madame, were you to have converse with the
+Chevalier your plea might break the spell."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned toward me with proud, impetuous gesture, and I was surprised
+at the sudden indignant light glowing within her dark eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Geoffrey Benteen, that will never be.  I am this man's wife.  He
+has vowed himself to me before the sacred altar of Holy Church.  Think
+you that I, a lady born of France, would abase myself to beseech his
+loyalty?  Not though life or death hung upon the issue!  If he can cast
+me aside for the caresses of this savage harlot, he may forever go his
+way; never will my hand halt him, or my voice claim his allegiance.  I
+am his wife before God; to the end I will be true unto my solemn
+pledges to Holy Church; yet I hope never to look again upon the false
+face of Charles de Noyan."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you not over-hasty in such decision?" I ventured, conscious of a
+gladness in my own heart at her impulsive speech.  "Possibly this is a
+mere passing whim, an idle fancy; he may yet emerge from the craze
+purified by trial."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked hard at me, as if seeking to penetrate the flimsy mask I
+wore, and I beheld a pride in her uplifted face such as had never been
+visible there before.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such might be the way with some women," she returned firmly.  "I am of
+a race to whom honor is everything.  My father gave his life for no
+less, and I hold him right in his choice.  I may forgive much of
+wrong&mdash;ay! have forgiven&mdash;yet the stain of dishonor now rests upon the
+proud name I bear, and that can never be forgiven.  Whether in New
+Orleans, or the heart of this wilderness, I am still Eloise Lafrénière,
+the daughter of a gentleman of France.  I would die by the torture of
+these savages before I would surrender the honor due my race."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was that in her proud speech silencing my tongue from further
+expostulation, even had I believed De Noyan deserved a defender.  He
+had deliberately chosen his path, now let him follow it; any man who
+would thus lightly tread on the heart of such a woman was clearly
+outside the radius of human sympathy, deserving to be.  Certainly I
+felt no call to stand between him and his fate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I may not comprehend the claims of family pride, Madame," I responded
+finally, for want of something better.  "Of that I know little.  Yet I
+cannot contend that your decision is wrong.  However, let us talk of
+other things, permitting this disagreement to adjust itself.  You have
+not stated how I am to escape from this present predicament.  It surely
+looks a problem not easily solved."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor is it clear even in my mind," she admitted, evidently relieved by
+the change of topic, "because I do not know the ending of a certain
+passage underground.  Yet I have a plan.  Behind the curtain, yonder, a
+concealed opening leads downward into an underground gallery.  I have
+ventured to explore it for only a brief distance, but trust it may end
+under the open sky.  At least our only hope is that you may discover
+some such ending.  If not, you can only return to me, and we wilt seek
+other means for escape, if, indeed, there are any."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am to understand you do not flee with me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She shook her head gravely, her cheeks flushed, her dark eyes lowered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No; I deem such move not best after those words the Queen spoke to you
+last night," she answered simply.  "Besides, our best efforts at escape
+would be futile should she suspect you have not perished where she
+entombed you.  I am safe here, for the present at least, while you can
+accomplish much more for all of us if she believes you dead and takes
+no precautions to guard against you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I could scarcely bear the thought of her remaining in the power of that
+half-savage creature, who wielded such despotic power over her wild
+tribesmen.  Inspired by fear of the result I begged reconsideration,
+urging her to accompany me in flight; but she was firm in refusal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No; urge it no longer, good friend.  I know you speak from the heart,
+yet it is not best.  You cannot know to what depths of peril, or
+disappointment, this passage may lead, while, by remaining behind, I
+can help to hide your trail, and possibly open to you some way of
+retreat.  But hush!"  She held up her hand.  "It is the Queen
+returning; neither of us must be discovered here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I took a step forward, gaining undisputed possession of the uplifted
+palm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I depart at your wish, Madame," I said brokenly; "but may the merciful
+God bring us to each other again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a breathless instant, even while the sounds without drew nearer,
+her eyes looked confidingly into mine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All must be as God wills," she replied gravely.  "Here or hereafter,
+Geoffrey Benteen, I believe it shall be.  Until then, continue to prove
+the same true man you have ever been, doubting not the trust of her who
+now bids you speed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There were voices lightly conversing at the entrance, and I
+distinguished clearly the senseless laughter of De Noyan.  Lower I bent
+above the white hand reposing in my rough grasp, until my lips pressed
+the soft flesh; nor was it withdrawn from the caress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good-bye, Eloise," I whispered, and, sweeping aside the heavy folds of
+curtain, vanished from her sight.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap30"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+UNDERGROUND
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+A slight radiance found passage through the coarsely woven curtain,
+proving sufficient, as my eyes became more accustomed to the gloom, to
+reveal, rude steps excavated from the earth, leading down into lower
+darkness.  Pausing merely to assure myself that the meeting between
+Naladi and Madame was outwardly courteous, while De Noyan seemed shamed
+into silence by the presence of his wife, I began the descent, quickly
+finding myself in an apartment, rounded in outline, not greatly
+dissimilar to that other from which I had been so lately rescued.
+This, however, was smaller, the floor littered with various articles,
+the nature of which I found it difficult to determine in such dim
+light.  Nor did I pause for close inspection, but, so soon as search
+revealed an opening into a narrow passageway beyond, I pressed forward
+amid dense gloom, feeling my way, fearful lest I meet some pitfall.  It
+was a low, contracted gallery, so extremely irregular in excavation
+that I sometimes stood erect, unable to reach the roof with extended
+fingers, yet a moment later was compelled to creep on hands and knees
+in order to progress at all.  Had it led through solid rock I should
+have accepted this as evidence of natural origin, but sides, floor, and
+roof were of earth, while every few feet, rendering progress uncertain
+and perilous, were huge posts of wood, usually roughly hewn tree
+trunks, each topped by a flat piece of stone, supporting the sagging
+roof.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Altogether it was a surprising excavation, exhibiting some degree of
+engineering skill on the part of these savages.  I wondered whether the
+conception originated within the brain of their alien Queen, or was
+another of the unique inheritances of their race.  Perhaps I may be
+permitted to add here some information which reached me later, that
+abundant evidences of the existence of similar passages have been noted
+elsewhere in the old homes of this people beside the Mississippi.
+While at Petite Rocher River, I met lately a Jesuit, who had travelled
+widely and read many books, and he gravely assured me that in the vast
+cities of the Aztecs, far to the south in Mexico, their temples and
+palaces were connected by means of such long, secret, covered ways.
+Hence I incline to the belief that this excavation was largely the
+labor of slaves; for these Nahuacs had many such, some of negro, others
+of Indian blood, and that the earth thus removed had been utilized in
+constructing those mounds above, the entire method of building merely a
+tradition from the past.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Let that be as it may, here the tunnel extended stretching its
+snake-like course before me.  Along it I carefully felt a passage,
+nervously gripping the knife hilt, and vainly seeking to distinguish
+definite outlines amid the darkness.  My groping feet encountered
+numerous obstructions along the path&mdash;here a pile of loosened earth
+over which I plunged headlong, or a flat stone dropped by the rotting
+away of its supporting prop, or some sharp declivity, as though softer
+earth had yielded to rude implements; yet it became evident from the
+start that the tunnel level rapidly descended, boring deeper and deeper
+into the bosom of the earth.  Finally, my fingers came into contact
+with small fragments of rock strewing the side walls, and I
+comprehended I must already be beneath the base of that rounded mound
+upon the summit of which the house of Naladi stood.  What worried me
+most was to what end this tunnel was made.  Such vast labor had surely
+never been performed without adequate purpose.  Besides, completed, the
+passage was well cared for.  I met frequently in my blind groping with
+evidences of comparatively recent labor.  Yet for what purpose was it
+designed?  Where did it lead?  To my bewildered judgment the general
+trend appeared northward; but that would carry it directly across the
+broadest portion of the upper basin.  To have an unconcealed entrance
+in the centre of that unprotected, open plain would be foreign to
+savage nature; while to imagine that such a tunnel as this, from which
+a vast amount of earth had been borne upon the backs of workmen, could
+extend below the full extent of that valley, was beyond conception.
+Besides, the air was light and pure, as sweet to inhale as if it blew
+directly upon me from the open sky; itself proof positive that some
+opening could not be far distant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus questioning, I groped slowly forward.  To one accustomed to living
+in the open there is something peculiarly oppressive in being cooped
+within the confines of such narrow entries, and being compelled to
+reflect upon the immense mass of rock and earth resting above, and
+prevented from crushing him down into everlasting silence only by
+insignificant props of wood, whose melancholy groaning in the darkness
+bore evidence of the vast weight they upheld.  There was nothing for me
+but to struggle onward, although I do not claim that it was without
+quaking heart, or many a start at odd noises echoing and re-echoing
+along that grim gallery.  It is comparatively easy to be courageous
+where the peril is of a nature to which we have long accustomed
+ourselves, but many a trained nerve gives way before little ventures
+amid the unknown.  I am told that soldiers coming to these
+colonies&mdash;veterans who had faced unflinchingly the flames of
+battle&mdash;will tremble and shrink like frightened girls at the slightest
+sign of a storm at sea; and there was once a famous war-chief of the
+Shawnees, who had fought fiercely with tomahawk and knife, yet who fell
+dead at the first crash of a field gun, although the piece was
+uncharged with ball.  So I conceive that physical courage is not so
+high a virtue after all, and am not greatly ashamed to acknowledge I
+went timidly forward down that black slope, and with a wild inclination
+to fly backward at every sound.  Nor do I boast of keeping on, for it
+was largely because I knew well what reception would await me; the look
+of scorn with which Madame would discover that a faint heart had made
+me afraid of the dark.  So it was love, or pride, I scarce know which,
+that kept my reluctant feet moving; and, possibly, both of these are
+the true sponsors for most of the courage in the world, except that
+engendered by excitement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Finally, when, with many a quaking of the heart I thought there must be
+above me a full hundred feet of earth, I perceived a flickering ray of
+light stealing along the floor.  It grew more pronounced with each
+advancing step and soon crimsoned the upper walls.  I dropped
+cautiously upon hands and knees, and crept slowly forward, beside the
+dancing shadows, taking concealment behind every irregularity.  Thus
+approaching, I discovered the flaring beacon to be a huge pine knot
+stuck into the earth wall, blazing right merrily.  Lying at full
+length, with head outstretched from behind the tree trunk that
+concealed my body, I gazed forward into a small room, possibly a dozen
+feet in width, the walls concealed by grotesquely pictured bark, its
+floor covered with a rude matting, dyed in fanciful colors.  Somewhat
+to the left of where I lay uprose a huge, grim figure, roughly shapen
+from wood, having two uplifted wings pressing the roof, while directly
+in front reposed numerous dishes of untasted food.  This idol, for such
+I conceived it to be, was a most hideous, repulsive object, colored
+lavishly with strange pigments, the face and head decorated in crimson,
+while the huge right hand, grasping a club, was uplifted as if about to
+strike down an approaching enemy.  The flaring light of the pine knot
+glittered on great staring eyes which appeared to sparkle as if
+composed of precious stones; while about neck, zone, and ankles shone
+the duller gleam of gold, with the shimmer of some brighter metal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a grewsome sight to approach in such a place, especially as the
+peculiar eyes appeared to follow my slightest movement.  Yet only for a
+breathless moment did I experience doubt as to its nature, then laughed
+grimly at myself for a superstitious fool.  The remaining portion of
+this dimly revealed underground apartment appeared bare, except for a
+gayly decorated skin or two, and the figure of a man, garbed in the
+gloomy attire of a priest, lying fast asleep at the very feet of the
+statue.  Beyond showed a dark opening where the tunnel continued onward
+into the earth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It required brief observation to note these outlines, nor did they
+greatly serve to delay my advance.  I paused merely long enough to
+become thoroughly convinced of the reality of the priest's slumber, and
+then crept silently past, keeping close as possible within the shadow
+of the eastern wall, until once again safely swallowed within the
+blackness of the passage.  Oddly enough the mere sight of that fellow
+lying there unconscious served to yield me new courage, robbing the
+cave of its loneliness, and I plunged directly ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The passage I now followed rose with a sharp pitch, evidently inclining
+toward the surface, the opening not far distant.  It was like mounting
+a hill, so marked was the incline, yet I covered a distance fully
+equalling that of my previous descent before becoming aware of a
+steadily increasing gray tingeing the side walls.  Halting in this
+faint illumination I was suddenly startled by the sound of vigorous
+English speech.  I advanced cautiously.  The words were so confused by
+the echoes that little could be made of them until I reached a coarsely
+matted curtain, through which dimly sifted the welcome daylight.  Here
+I paused, listening intently, striving to discover what mystery lay
+hidden beyond.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For some moments nothing reached me, excepting a low, dull murmur, as
+if voices chanted in muffled monotone, the sound commingling with a
+sharp crackling of flames, and an occasional doleful beating upon some
+surface resembling the taut parchment of a drum.  Suddenly a deep voice
+close at hand roared out hoarsely, and my heart leaped in excitement,
+although I at once recognized it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You black-faced son of Belial," came a savage snort, "do you give all
+that food unto a dumb idol, when a Christian man, a ministering servant
+of the Most High, lies groaning with a stomach which has n't tasted
+food for four and twenty hours?  Possess you no bowels of compassion
+for the long sufferings of a fellow-man?  Come now, give me just a bite
+of the white meat, and yonder grinning wooden image will never miss it.
+You won't, you spawn of Baal, yet I marked plain enough how you filled
+your own lean belly with the best there was."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The straining of cords, together with sound of struggle, bore evidence
+that the Reverend Mr. Cairnes was making heroic effort to attain unto
+that food offered before idols.  That such strenuous effort was vain
+was soon proven by the bursting forth of his voice once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, gracious Lord," he cried, in a tone evidencing more anger than
+spiritual exaltation, "surely thy ancient servant Job never bowed
+before greater affliction than this now visited upon me.  Verily 't is
+even as the experiences of the Apostle Paul, yet without his reward in
+the flesh.  I beseech Thee from the depth of humiliation&mdash;even as did
+Daniel from the lions' den&mdash;loosen my arms that I may smite as with Thy
+wrath this profaner of Thy most holy name, thus bringing peace unto the
+smitten heart of Thy faithful servant.  O Lord, what have I done to be
+deserted in this hour of extremity?  As Elijah called down fire from
+Heaven, so I call upon Thee to smite with the terror of Thy might the
+ranks of these foul idolaters.  He who hath boldly proclaimed Thy truth
+in the wilderness, who hath proven a faithful witness unto these
+savages, through many years of trial and tribulation, doth now call
+upon Thee in dire distress.  Shall it be in vain, that he thus uplifts
+his voice supplicating in the wilderness?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His deep rumbling died away until I could distinguish little except
+those moans with which he punctuated the conclusion of each sentence.
+Finally, hearing no other sound to restrain me, I ventured to slightly
+uplift one corner of the heavy curtain, and peer into the room.  The
+entrance opened upon the back of the rude platform, my position being
+within less than three paces from the famine-stricken Puritan, who,
+with low-bowed head and hidden face, was still wrestling in fervent
+prayer.  I was unable, from where I hid, to distinguish the form of the
+crouching priest, yet knew he could not be far distant, and therefore I
+durst not speak above a whisper lest the sound awaken his suspicion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Cairnes," I said softly, "hush that unseemly racket, man, and give
+heed to my words."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Three times I was compelled to repeat this warning before I noticed him
+lift his head, in evidence that the faint sound had finally reached his
+ears.  Unable to turn, he rolled his eyes inquiringly upward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it, O Lord?" he questioned, with such unbounded faith in a
+celestial visitant I found it hard to restrain a laugh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't be a fool," I whispered back hastily.  "The Almighty may have
+guided me here, but 'tis a man in the flesh who speaks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sectary made hard efforts to glance behind, but the cords held too
+firmly, so I merely gained a glimpse of the side of his face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Merciful Jehovah! 'tis the voice of Master Benteen," he exclaimed
+joyfully.  "I know not how you could come there unless you descended
+from the sky."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"From the opposite quarter, my friend," I replied, awake to the humor.
+"Pray speak with less noise, and pay heed to what I say.  Tell me where
+the priest stands; you are so confounded broad of shoulder I can see
+nothing beyond."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He kneels to the right of the altar, the crawling spawn of hell, where
+he has good chance to fill his lean body with food he makes pretence to
+feed unto that foul figure of wood.  He is a full imp of Satan, the
+black-faced idolater."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I care little as to that.  Are there others present?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"None, save the guard, a naked savage.  He leans in the doorway,
+looking without."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then be quiet while I cut your bonds; afterwards move back toward me.
+But mark well you tread lightly along the floor, with no sound to
+attract attention."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He chuckled grimly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fathers of Israel! it will astound those fellows to discover this
+place empty&mdash;'t is likely they will imagine me gone back to the Sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Making no response to this natural conceit, I stretched myself forward
+the full length of my body, quickly drew the keen knife edge across his
+bonds, severing them with one stroke, thus setting free his arms.  As
+the sundered cords dropped noiselessly to the floor I drew back into
+hiding, leaving him to rid himself of whatever might remain.  A moment
+later he joined me, silently as a great shadow, and I cordially
+extended my hand to him.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap31"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WE MOUNT THE CLIFF
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"May the gracious blessing of the Lord rest upon you, Geoffrey
+Benteen," exclaimed the old Puritan fervently, as we faced each other
+in that gloomy passage, and it somehow heartened me to note tears in
+his gray eyes.  There was heart, then, under all his crabbedness.  "I
+have suffered much of late both in spirit and flesh, and the very sight
+of you is as a gift of mercy unto me.  No angel with healing in his
+wings could prove more welcome, yet I dislike leaving yonder food for
+the sustenance of that foul idolater."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You hunger then?" I questioned, amused at the regret with which he
+glanced backward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it hungered you call a man who has had but two dry bones to pick
+since yester-noon?" he groaned, pressing both hands upon his stomach.
+"I am lean as the Egyptian kine, and fain would welcome even locusts
+and wild honey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, friend," I insisted firmly, "if you follow, within fifteen
+minutes you shall partake of a meal equalling that left behind.  I
+myself know well what a long fast means."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is truly a grievous affliction, difficult to sustain in meekness of
+spirit," he admitted, yet ever keeping me close company through the
+increasing darkness of descent; "yet more am I distressed by the loss
+of all spiritual nurture amid these wild heathen.  Perchance, Master
+Benteen, you might be led to unite with me in a moment's fervent
+supplication before the throne of grace?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay; when the right time comes I will gladly join, yet I warn you now
+not to send your bull voice roaring through these passages, or you will
+have small opportunity for another meal."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A time to work and a time to pray has ever been my motto, most worthy
+youth, but my soul is so filled with gratitude at my providential
+deliverance from pagan bondage&mdash;even as was Daniel from the lions'
+den&mdash;I long to pour forth my joy in songs of praise.  Patience, but
+were I out of here, verily would I venture to uplift a psalm of Zion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He spoke in such ecstasy I feared lest his zeal might conquer his
+prudence, although in truth this latter virtue was one never apparent
+in his composition, and I determined once for all to nip in the bud all
+such inclination.  So I halted in the darkness, and, as he lumbered
+past, laid a restraining hand upon his shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now hark you, Ezekiel Cairnes," I muttered sternly, "I admire your
+piety, but this is no conventicle of the elect we are in; rather a
+place where your life, and those of others, depend on our caution.  The
+echoing of that bull voice along these galleries might cause the
+blocking of our passage, caging us in here like rats in a hole.  So
+hold quiet, Master Preacher, and let me hear no more about either
+prayers or psalms."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The grave determination in my voice served to sober him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is in my blood," he admitted doggedly, "to fight and work better to
+the holy songs of Israel.  It would bring renewed peace to my soul
+merely to uplift a paean of victory over the discomfiture of my
+enemies.  But I seek no quarrel here, and hence bide in silence until a
+proper moment to unseal my lips."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Twill be well you do.  Now follow close at my heels, and I 'll
+promise a swift diversion to your thoughts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus cautiously we crept toward the distant flickering of the torch,
+the unsteady light from which already began to yellow the packed earth
+about us, until we finally emerged into its full glare.  I had crawled
+forth, perhaps half my length beyond the concealment of the wooden
+pillar, and, knife in hand, was stealthily drawing in toward the
+motionless form of the still slumbering priest, when the roving eyes of
+Cairnes encountered the idol, with its flashing gems and widely
+outspread wings, towering above like an avenging demon.  I doubt not
+the sight was startling to the fellow, terrorized by the underground
+gloom, and he gave utterance to one gruff cry:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is Beelzebub!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sleeping priest leaped to his feet, glaring about in bewilderment.
+Where I lay outstretched it required an instant to gather myself for
+action, and, before I could place restraining grip upon him, the fellow
+saw us both, and, with echoing scream of terror, fled frantically up
+the dark entry to the right.  I made desperate effort to halt him, but
+my swift-flung knife found bloodless sheath within the soft earth of
+the wall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Zounds! are you a screeching woman with no control over your tongue?"
+I exclaimed angrily, panting for breath.  "'T is likely that priest
+will rouse the tribe, and we shall have a run for it.  What caused you
+to make such an uproar?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saints of Israel!" he said, repentantly enough, his glinting eyes
+still roving over the silent, leering image, "never before did I behold
+such monster as that.  For the moment, I believed it Satan himself.
+But, for the love of the prophets, what is this?"  He began eagerly
+sniffing the air with his great nose like a pointer dog.  "'T is food I
+scent; that which will stay a famished stomach.  I beg you, friend,
+pause shortly while I satisfy in some measure the yearnings of the
+body.  Then shall I be better fitted to withstand the temptations of
+the world."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Odds, man, I hope so," I responded gloomily, watching his eager attack
+upon the supply outspread before the idol.  "So far you have acted like
+a lunkhead, and I begin to regret making you comrade in this adventure.
+If a full stomach inspires to a man's duty, it would be policy always
+to bear food about with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, 'tis strange, indeed," he mumbled, his mouth too full for clear
+speech, "that one who ever strives to live in spiritual exercise should
+be so completely the bound slave of mere bodily indulgence.  Yet I did
+inherit all such ungodly tendency from my mother who was of Dutch
+blood, as round of form as a Holland churn, while my father was spare
+of build, and throve marvellously upon the water of life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaving the engrossed sectary to refresh himself to the full of his
+capacity, I anxiously set to work searching after some species of
+cross-tunnel, shrewdly guessing this underground altar masked a
+junction point, from whence some such branch passageway would lead
+toward the open air.  With diligent care I passed along the walls,
+testing each separate section, yet discovering nothing to reward my
+efforts, until, finally creeping between the spreading feet of the
+effigy, which appeared to sway unsteadily, I lifted the crimson drapery
+hanging down its back, thus disclosing an opening, barely sufficient to
+permit the easy passage of a small man while lying flat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Most noble scavenger," I said, feeling in better humor from this
+chance discovery of the means of escape, "are the wants of nature
+finally satisfied?  For if so, I have found a path which will lead us
+from this hole of iniquity."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, call it not so while it offers such excellent bodily nurture," he
+replied with fervor, cocking one eye up at me, yet keeping both hands
+busily employed in crowding his pockets full of eatables.  "Say rather
+the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, or a well of water in
+desert places.  I shall be ready to accompany you upon a journey after
+I lay in these few necessaries.  The Lord hath given me manna in the
+wilderness&mdash;even as the ravens fed Elijah so hath He succored me&mdash;and
+'twould be sin to make mock of His mercy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well; only hurry and follow my lead."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you not carry the torch to help guide?" he questioned, peering
+doubtfully into the yawning black opening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No; the light would serve to betray us to any spying eyes.  Perhaps
+that frightened priest may deem us spirits, and muster courage to come
+creeping back.  If so, it will be best for him to find things here
+unchanged, although in faith he will scarcely doubt we possess earthly
+appetites when he notes your onslaught on the sacred food.  Come, man,
+enough of stuffing; your pockets can hold no more, so press on with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It grieves me sorely to leave behind so much good pabulum," he
+explained, eying still the few morsels left.  "It would be well, to my
+judgment, did you pack the rest of this providential supply."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Never pausing to answer, I crept between the spreading wooden limbs,
+and, with the expenditure of no small effort, succeeded in wriggling
+into the narrow hole beyond.  It was a cramped passage for a man of my
+girth, yet, by digging in firmly with both hands and feet, I managed to
+advance, until I finally emerged, within space of perhaps a yard, into
+a much larger excavation, resembling the tunnel we had previously
+traversed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, Master Cairnes," I spoke back encouragingly, "it is only a short
+distance to good footing; so take fresh breath and come on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His massive head completely shut out the faint light of the narrow
+opening, and I heard heavy breathing as the fellow squeezed his broad
+shoulders through the hole.  There followed sounds of violent struggle
+during his slow and painful advance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By all the prophets and the patriarchs," he groaned wearily, "'tis not
+in me to make it!  Had I endeavored this before eating I could have
+slipped through, scarcely touching either side.  But now I am scraped
+like a pig for the feast.  Baste me, friend Benteen, but I can move
+neither forward nor back in this accursed place; I am full aground in
+the centre, and can never hope to progress without aid."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I reached down until I laid firm hold upon his groping fingers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Find some projection to push against with your feet," I advised
+disgustedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fervently will I endeavor to dig in, and thus render all assistance in
+my power, yet I feel little to encourage me here in good works.  Would
+it not be wise to test the potency of prayer?  Verily the prayer of the
+righteous availeth much."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I try earthly power first," I returned testily.  "So lay to it, and we
+will have you out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I braced my knees against the firm wall, exerting all the strength I
+possessed.  There followed a series of moans and heated expostulations,
+then the sound of rending cloth, and the disgruntled Puritan came forth
+with a suddenness of exit which landed us both in a heap on the floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May all the spawn of hell be your playmates," he roared in mad anger.
+"By the bones of Moses! you have scraped every bit of skin off me, and
+half my coat is ripped loose and left behind.  Thou art an ungodly,
+blaspheming&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He gasped wildly for breath as I throttled him, but the grip of my
+hands stilled his speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was only that you gorged like a bear preparing for Winter, or you
+would have passed through even as I did," I muttered, heedless of his
+effort to release my clutch.  "Lie still now, or, by all the devils in
+the pit, I 'll shut down harder on your throat.  Ah, so you can keep
+quiet, friend?  Then I will let you go, for I would be free to explore
+this passage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I could perceive, by means of the faint light streaming through the
+narrow opening, that he was busily engaged in rubbing his sorely
+lacerated sides, and I noted his brown jerkin had been fairly wrenched
+off his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where did you leave your coat?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yonder in that accursed hole!  It has store of provisions in its
+pockets.  Lord save me, but was there ever such a time!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned, groping anxiously about in the scene of his late adventure
+until he finally brought forth the missing garment.  Carefully testing
+the pockets to see their contents remained intact, a smile lit up his
+leathern face, and he flung it across his shoulders, like a pair of
+well-filled saddle-bags.  I reached in also, lowered the drapery, and
+then led down the dark tunnel as rapidly as the grim uncertainty of the
+way would permit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The passage proved long and tedious; at least so it seemed to us
+compelled to grope slowly onward through the darkness.  However, it ran
+straight and upon a level, although the numerous supports of the roof
+gave us occasional foul blows, and proved so confusing we were
+considerable time in traversing its distance.  All I have already
+pictured as occurring since I departed from the presence of Madame, and
+first plunged blindly into the underground labyrinths, had required
+several hours, and it must have been close upon sunset when we emerged
+from the gloom of the tunnel into the fresh sweet air.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The passage traversed so long terminated abruptly, and with a sheer
+turn to the left, coming forth between two huge rocks.  To all
+appearances, it ended at the high bank of a noisy stream, and was
+partly hidden by the overhanging cliff.  The latter, devoid of path or
+chasm, now barred our progress, towering aloft until its ragged summit
+appeared to press the blue sky.  At first view I thought the way ended
+here, but Cairnes pointed silently toward the right, and then I
+perceived where a path led upward, along the merest narrow, jagged
+shelf, skirting the boiling water, yet ever rising higher above it,
+until, as my eyes followed its serpentine windings from terrace to
+terrace, I grew dizzy contemplating the possibilities of so mad a climb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose it must be tried," I admitted soberly, "for there is
+apparently no other passage.  Doubtless it leads straight to the top of
+the cliff."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay," with more of indifference than I had expected, "and it will be no
+easy trick in the night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Surely, yes; when else could we expect to compass the path?  Is it not
+plain, friend, that before we rose fifty feet we should be in full view
+of every eye in the valley with the sun bright upon us?  I tell you we
+must foot yonder rocks amid the night shadows, or else it will be safer
+to lie hidden here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I perceived the truth of his words and I confess to a sinking of the
+heart, as I contemplated the work before us.  I was never an adept in
+clambering, it addles my head; and, bad as it appeared by day, surely
+doubly bad would it prove by night.  Yet there was little help for it,
+and I made shift to win back my oozing courage by more cheerful speech.
+"Odds, but that is no such trip as I would seek after, yet needs must
+if the devil drives," I said.  "So, now, brother Cairnes, if you wilt
+consent to divide your store of food, we shall both front our night's
+work with stronger bodies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saints' rest! and if we go over the edge," he replied, cheerfully
+emptying his bulging pockets on the rock, "it will be a comfort to bear
+loaded stomachs with us.  It was ever against my pleasure to die half
+filled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We lingered as long as possible over our meal, conversing in such a way
+as to encourage each other and indulging in frequent draughts from the
+clear stream.  Nothing occurred to disturb us, and, finally, both
+yielded to the soothing influence of the drowsy evening, and, resting
+back upon the rocks, dropped asleep.  I know not the hour of my
+awakening, yet it greatly heartened me to be greeted by the sight of a
+nearly full moon, and to observe how the clear silvery light flooded
+the rocks, revealing the winding path leading upward.  To arouse
+Cairnes was no easy task, but at last we advanced on our path.  The
+huge rocks overhead appeared to arch us in, while, with utmost caution,
+we crept along the narrow, irregular ledge, which at times was level,
+and anon rose abruptly like the steps of a stair; occasionally it wound
+about projecting rocks and over vast, unknown depths, until my brain
+whirled, while I hugged the smooth rock wall at my right, and felt
+cautiously forward for solid foothold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I imagine we had progressed thus for upwards of three or four hundred
+yards, and were elevated so far above the stream that scarcely an echo
+of its noise assailed our ears even in the silence of the night, when
+suddenly we came to the end of our path.  The rocky shelf was so narrow
+the very conception of turning about smote me with terror.  Directly in
+front, extending to the very edge, stretched a solid wall of rock.  My
+eyes sank to the shelf on which I stood.  Lying close against the sheer
+cliff was the root of a tree, its trunk, perhaps a foot or more in
+diameter, stretching over the abyss, whose depth I durst not guess.  I
+stooped cautiously, my heart throbbing, and ran my fingers along the
+bark.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oak," I announced soberly, "and feels solid and strong.  No doubt
+those Indians must cross here, but it is a bridge to rack the nerves."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Will you adventure the passage?" questioned Cairnes, striving to peer
+across my shoulder.  "As for me I would rather attempt the Red Sea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Odds, man, the choice is not given.  'T is either turn and go back, or
+foot the tree; of the two the attempt at turning would addle me worse."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I leaned out over the edge as far as I dared, clinging desperately to
+the root, and gazed down.  It was like peering into the mouth of a
+great well.  Then I nerved myself for the ordeal, and the next moment
+was fairly launched over the abyss, hanging on grimly to the log, my
+brain reeling as if with drunkenness.  Yet I kept moving inch by inch,
+for there was now no stopping, and soon felt solid rock once more
+beneath my groping feet.  With prayer on lips I crouched, sick and
+dizzy, close in against the wall, watching Cairnes where he followed
+along the same perilous path.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap32"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHIEF PRIEST OF THE SUN
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The rock shelf we followed became gradually somewhat wider, so I moved
+forward with greater freedom.  The path continued to ascend, winding
+unevenly along the precipitous face of the cliff, until we must have
+climbed nearly to the summit of the mighty bluff.  But the overhanging
+crest rendered it impossible for us to do more than guess the
+situation.  We were but ants clinging to a wall and unable to see more
+than a few yards ahead.  Finally we attained a point where the cliff
+bulged outward in a wide curve, not unlike the rounded bow of a ship,
+and were compelled to move with renewed caution along the narrowed
+shelf, which was seemingly unsupported.  Creeping fearfully forward on
+hands and knees around the sharp corner I found myself before the
+yawning entrance to a cavern.  I realized that here was the ending of
+our toilsome climb, for I could see nothing beyond, excepting a
+precipitous wall of stone.  If the path had continuation, it must pass
+through the cave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yonder yawns a gloomy-looking hole, Master Benteen," muttered the
+Puritan, lying at full length beside me, and staring ahead.  "Yet my
+eyes see no sign of life to alarm us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The front is unguarded surely," I admitted gravely, "but do not feel
+confident that there are no occupants within.  If I mistake not, we
+have stumbled upon the very spot whence the priests signal down to the
+valley the rising and setting of the sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I never witnessed such ceremony, yet to my mind it would be far
+pleasanter going forward than lying here on the hard rock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Realizing the truth of his comment, yet muttering over my shoulder a
+word of caution, I began crawling forward into the interior.  No sign
+of human presence appeared, and I ventured to stand upright.  The
+cavern possessed a wide opening, with a broad platform of rock
+extending well out beyond the face of the cliff.  Along the edge I
+could observe the rather dim outlines of an immense altar, built of
+detached stones, rising to a considerable height, and partially
+blocking the entrance.  From below it might serve to conceal the mouth
+of the cave.  This obstruction shut off much of the moon's light,
+rendering the interior intensely dark.  We were compelled to grope our
+way forward with hands pressed against the walls.  I had not advanced
+more than thirty feet, my every nerve tingling, when I saw the ruddy
+reflection of a fire, hitherto completely concealed by a sharp turn in
+the tunnel.  Rounding this abrupt point we found ourselves in a large
+room capable of containing upwards of three hundred persons.  This
+chamber was partly natural in formation, but, as I discovered later,
+had been considerably enlarged by artificial means.  So high was it
+that, in the dim light, I could scarcely distinguish its vaulted roof,
+while its length was hidden in the darkness.  In the very centre of
+this apartment arose a great pile of irregular rock, flattened and
+hollowed along the top, where was burning a vast log, the smoke
+ascending straight upward, evidently finding outlet above.  The light,
+red and yellow, flared and flickered upon the surrounding bare gray
+walls, nothing else arresting the eye except a second wide rock
+platform close to where we crouched.  This was partially concealed by a
+great mat of coarsely woven scarlet cloth, which brought to me a
+conjecture that here, perhaps, the Queen was throned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Wherever there was fire burning there must, of necessity, be attendants
+to feed the flame, but I could detect no sign of life, no sign of any
+kind, other than the crackling of the blazing log, and the heavy
+breathing of my companion.  The silence oppressed me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go to the right," I advised at last, nervous from inaction, "I will
+try the left, until we meet again.  Keep close against the wall, and
+move with care."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis not wholly unlike a visit to hell," he muttered gloomily, "but I
+am weary of lying shivering here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I watched the fellow creep forward on his knees, his brilliant
+head-covering revealed in the glare like a flame.  Then I took up my
+own part of this work of exploration.  I had compassed half my distance
+amid profound stillness, perceiving nothing strange, and constantly
+feeling more intensely the solemn loneliness of the place, which by
+now, to my awakened imagination, appeared peopled with bloodless
+victims of heathen superstition.  I felt no doubt this was a torture
+chamber; that many a hapless slave, or shrieking captive, had yielded
+up life in agony upon the summit of the gloomy pile, and the haunting
+spectres seemed to grin at me with distorted faces from every crevice
+along the walls.  I was weakly yielding to such weird dreams, when a
+wild, shrill scream rang forth from the darkness in front.  The cry
+contained such note of affright that, for an instant, I connected it
+with the fantasies which thronged my brain.  I stood still, rooted to
+the spot, the blood curdling in my veins, my eyes straining in vain
+effort to pierce the darkness.  Then there arose a roar not unlike that
+of an angry lion; the sound of a fierce struggle; the dull thud of a
+blow, and Cairnes's deep voice boomed forth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ye black-faced villain!  'T is the strength of the righteous you have
+felt this day.  Blessed be the name of the Lord, who hath given me the
+victory!  Lie there in your sins, and no longer affront your Maker."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I sprang eagerly forward, but at my first step came into contact with a
+fleeing figure, which rounded the end of the altar in such blind terror
+as nearly to hurl me from my feet.  I grasped at the floating robe, but
+missed, and the next instant was rushing blindly after the fellow down
+the dark passage toward where the moonlight silvered the outer rocks.
+Fright gave him wings, but desperate determination lightened my feet,
+and I was nearly upon him when the fleeing man rounded the great rock.
+One instant he paused, glancing behind.  What he saw, or imagined he
+saw, I have no means of knowing; perchance some shrieking victim of his
+foul rites risen from the dead.  With one wild, echoing cry, which rang
+in my ears like the scream of a lost soul, he gave a mad leap out into
+the air, and went plunging down to the jagged rocks at the base.  Sick
+and pulseless I drew back.  Trembling in every limb, even in the
+silence which followed I could detect no sound of his body as it struck
+the earth.  I crept to the edge, lying prone upon my face, and looked
+over.  The moonlight ended a hundred feet beneath me; beyond its line
+there was nothing but a black void.  There could be no question as to
+what had occurred&mdash;the man was dead.  I made my way back into the cave
+seeking to discover what had befallen the Puritan.  I found him at the
+farther extremity of the great altar, calmly enjoying a quantity of
+cold meat he had discovered.  He was squatting upon the floor, in close
+proximity to the motionless, extended figure of a savage arrayed in the
+black garments of the priesthood.  They formed a picture so startlingly
+grotesque I could but stare in amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Jerked venison," he explained, glowering up at me, as I came into the
+firelight.  "'T is of a peculiar flavor not altogether to my taste, yet
+not a food to be despised in the wilderness.  Did you lay hands upon
+the heathen who fled?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, he escaped me, but only to leap over the outer rock.  He lies dead
+below.  Have you slain this man?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned the huddled up body over contemptuously with his foot, and I
+perceived the wrinkled countenance of an aged man, the eyes bright, the
+thick hair on his head long and nearly white.  The face, thin and
+emaciated, was so sinister I involuntarily drew back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A snake is not so easily killed," he answered in indifference.  "I
+struck but once, and not very hard as I rank blows, yet the fellow has
+not stirred since.  'T is well for him to remain quiet until I finish
+this repast, for I am of a merciful disposition when my carnal
+requirements are properly ministered unto.  Faith, had my eyes not
+fallen on the food I might have got both the fellows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Paying slight heed to his gossip I bent over the priest, rubbing his
+limbs until the blood began to circulate.  Before the testy sectary had
+ended his munching, the old savage was sitting up, his back propped
+against a rock, the firelight playing over his wrinkled face, as he
+gazed at us, yet dazed and frightened.  This was one whom I had never
+before seen; there was something of distinction about him, both as
+regards face and costume, which instantly convinced me he held high
+rank in the tribe&mdash;no doubt the chief priest.  His sharp, black,
+malicious eyes wandered unsteadily from the Puritan to myself, as if he
+sought to regain his scattered senses.  Finally he ventured a single
+word of inquiry:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Français</I>?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," I answered shortly, speaking deliberately in French, hopeful he
+might know something of the tongue.  "We are not of that people, yet I
+speak the language."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I glad you not <I>Français</I>," he said brokenly, yet intelligibly, his
+tone gruff, his accent guttural; "but I talk you some in that tongue."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How come you to speak French?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His lean face hardened.  As he bent forward, his fingers clinched
+convulsively.  At first I thought he would not answer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T was much time since I learn; when I was young man," he answered
+slowly, recalling the unfamiliar words.  "Then no snow in hair, no lame
+in leg, and my people dwell beside the great river toward the
+sun-rising.  We were a great nation, with slaves to work our land,
+warriors to fight our battles, and priests to make sacrifice.  Then we
+had much of treasure from our fathers."  He bowed his head, mumbling
+indistinctly; then continued, as if talking to himself, after the
+fashion of the aged: "Long time before that there came to our village
+men in canoes, floating down the great river out of the north.  They
+were of white face, and wore shining things on their bodies and heads,
+and bore in their hands that which spouted fire and death.  This was
+before I was born, yet I was told it often of my fathers.  My people
+believed them children of the Sun, because of their white faces and
+light hair; they were made welcome, taken into the house of the altar,
+fed, warmed, and loved.  I know not who they were, or whence they came,
+yet they spoke this tongue, did point at themselves and say
+'<I>Français</I>,' and told of a mighty King away off, and worshipped before
+a cross-piece of wood.  My people knew not what to make of them; yet
+they were not afraid, and treated the strangers with kindness, and
+there was no war between them.  He who seemed their leader had one hard
+hand of metal, and they named him 'Tonty.'  Know you such a man of your
+color?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," I answered, already deeply interested in his simple story.  "That
+was all before my time, nor do I even remember hearing the name till
+now, yet there were Frenchmen upon the great river full a hundred years
+ago, I have been told.  'Twas most likely they who came to your people.
+Did they do harm to your fathers?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They passed away in peace," he continued, using the language with
+greater ease as he proceeded, "for we were then strong, and of courage
+in battle; the fire bright on our altars.  Nor did we look again upon
+any white face for so long a time that this visit became no more than a
+tradition among the people.  More and more did the fathers believe this
+Tonty was a visitant from the Sun&mdash;many there were who worshipped him
+as a god.  When he left he said he would come again, and with every
+sunrise the eyes of my people were turned in watching up the river.
+Then, when I was but a child, there came to our village canoes from
+below, from the way of the salt water.  They did land, unmolested of
+our people, who supposed Tonty had come back; fair-faced men with
+yellow hair and beards and dressed in shining metal from head to heel.
+I was at the shore with the others when they came, and heard them speak
+in this tongue, and call themselves <I>Français</I>.  Others of that race
+followed, and we welcomed and fed them all, even as our fathers had
+done to Tonty.  Some were warriors with swords, and fire-sticks, but
+with these were also some strange, black-robed men, who sought to tell
+us of another God, greater than the Sun our fathers worshipped.  They
+had pictures, and crosses of wood, and prayed to these as we to the
+Sun.  But we believed not in their God, and tried to drive them away
+from our village when they put out our fires, for they made much
+trouble among our people, so that the priests came to hate them&mdash;the
+black-robes.  Some among them went, but one would not go, and so we
+made offering of him in sacrifice to the Sun.  Then we thought we were
+rid of the black-robes, and could again live as we had been taught of
+our fathers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stopped speaking, his head bent low on his breast, his eyes on the
+altar name.  I waited without a word.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But they were of strong heart," he went on at last, never looking at
+me, "and returned again, until finally war arose between my people and
+these white-faced <I>Français</I>.  Many came up the great river from the
+salt water in big boats, and drove us forth from our village, the home
+of our fathers, and gave it up to fire, after killing many warriors.
+We could not fight against their fire-sticks, yet we saved much that we
+valued, and wandered far toward the sunset, bearing along with us the
+bodies of our chiefs, and the sacred fire from our altar.  The
+<I>Français</I> lost us in the wilderness.  We came to a little river which
+flowed down to greet us from out the sunset.  Here we stopped once
+more, built our village, erecting about it a great wall of earth such
+as our fathers did in those days when we were strong and mighty.  We
+dwelt there in peace for three seasons of sun and cold, having little
+trouble with those tribes that roamed about us, until one day there
+came into our new village another <I>Français</I>, a black-robe.  How he got
+there I know not, but we laid hands upon him,&mdash;remembering the
+past,&mdash;bound him before our altar-house, and made of him a sacrifice
+unto our god, the Sun.  Yet it was not well.  Even that very night,
+while we worshipped before the fire which had consumed him, there came
+upon us many <I>Français</I> out from the dark woods, with fire-sticks and
+sharp knives, so that only few of our people escaped, and got away to
+the north.  I was one, bearing ever with me the sacred fire, which I
+was sworn to guard.  We travelled across many rivers, suffering much
+from want, until those who lived wandered to this place, and here set
+up once more our fathers' ancient altars.  'T was thus I learned the
+words of the tongue, this accursed <I>Français</I>, and learned also to hate
+those with white faces and black hearts who speak it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His voice ceased, and his chin sank wearily upon his breast.  My ear
+caught the heavy breathing of Cairnes, and I turned to mark him lying
+at full length upon the stone floor sound asleep.  Admiring his
+indifference to surroundings, I was yet so deeply engrossed in this
+tale of the old priest as to be myself insensible of fatigue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are indeed of an old race," I said, hoping to make him talk
+further, "if the traditions of your people extend to those first
+Frenchmen who came floating south along the great river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The old eyes, now scanning my face, gleamed with awakened pride.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is no more than a page out of our history I have related," he
+exclaimed hastily, evidently aroused by my interest.  "We are the
+oldest and greatest people of the earth.  Ay, more; we are children of
+the Sun, and, ages ago, when our fathers were true to their faith and
+their God, there were none who could contend against us.  We had our
+great altars on every hilltop, and our villages were in every valley.
+Our kings ruled from far above the great fresh water down to where the
+salt sea kisses the white sand; our slaves toiled in the fields to
+produce us food, and in the rocks to give us store of metal for the
+chase and war.  It was then the Sun shone warm upon his children, and
+there were none among men who dared to face our warriors in battle.  We
+were masters of all the land we trod; we feared no people, for we were
+blessed of the Sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How came the end?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was a curse upon us&mdash;curse because we made mock of the Sun.  The
+sacred fire died out on our altars, while recreant priests slept, and
+so there came upon the nation a breath of pestilence from the sky which
+swept away the people as if by fire.  It has been told to me that our
+dead lay everywhere; that whole villages were destroyed in a single
+night; that those who survived wandered in the woods foodless, until
+only a pitiful remnant of those who were once so powerful lived in that
+tainted air, poisoned by decaying bodies.  Then the surviving slaves
+banded themselves together, fell upon their wandering masters, driving
+and killing, until the few who were left drew together on the banks of
+the great river.  Here, by lighting the sacred fire again, they made
+peace and were saved.  It was there I was born."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I fail utterly to picture the true solemnity of the scene, as the aged
+priest, white-haired and evil-eyed, slowly mumbled it forth in his
+broken, halting French, leaning with his back against the rough stones
+of the great altar, on the summit of which flamed the sacred fire he
+had passed his life in guarding.  'T was like a voice speaking from a
+forgotten past, which looked forth from sunken eyes, and became visible
+in snow-white hair.  A grave yawned to give me a glimpse of all which
+that grave contained&mdash;the hopes, the struggles, the death of a once
+powerful tribe.  Yet it all stands forth perfectly clear to my memory
+as I write&mdash;the vast black chamber lying in shadow and flame; the dark
+figure of the bulky Puritan outstretched upon the stones at our feet;
+the ghastly, corpse-like face of the savage old priest, whose eyes
+gleamed so fiercely, as he dreamed once again of the vanished glories
+of his race.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the woman who now rules over you?" I questioned, waiting vainly
+for him to resume.  "Is she not white?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He did not answer; apparently he did not hear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I ask regarding Queen Naladi&mdash;is she also of your people?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are alike children of the Sun," he responded, his tone more sullen.
+"She is of the Sun and was sent to rule; sent by the Sun to lead us
+once again unto our own."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She told you this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We know it by signs, by the prophecy of our fathers; we were long
+looking for her coming; she was promised us by the Sun.  In the hour of
+deepest need, a woman fair of face with hair of reddish gold, a goddess
+in earthly form, was to be sent to guide us.  She came out of the
+mystery, and we wait her will."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then she is not of your race?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have answered&mdash;she came to our people from the Sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I have not often felt too secure while in any position of danger, but
+this feeble old savage rested so helplessly back against the base of
+the altar, I lost all thought of him as an enemy against whom I needed
+to guard.  Sunk in contemplation of his story, I sat carelessly, my
+head somewhat lowered as I mentally viewed the picture drawn.  Cairnes
+moved uneasily in his sleep, muttering something indistinctly, and I
+turned partially so that I might look at him.  Instantly, with the leap
+of a tiger, the priest hurled himself upon me.  I flung up one arm,
+barely in time to intercept a jagged stone aimed full at my head.  As
+we clinched and went down, the incarnate fiend buried his yellow teeth
+in my hand, and, in spite of his weight of years, I found myself hard
+pressed in a death struggle.  A very demon seemed to possess him; his
+grip was satanic in its hate.  In truth it was Cairnes who seized him
+by the throat, dragging him off me.  He struggled insanely against the
+two of us, until we bound him so securely that nothing except his eyes
+could move.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap33"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+PÈRE ANDRÉ LAFOSSIER
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"You treacherous, white-headed old villain," I exclaimed angrily, "I am
+half inclined to kill you for so savage a trick.  Odds! but my arm
+feels as if it were broken."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fellow grinned at me, showing his yellow fangs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I care not if you kill," he answered, with true Indian stoicism.  "I
+am old, and have served the Sun long.  Kill, but I will not be
+unavenged of my people; for, whether I live or die, it matters
+not&mdash;there is no escape for you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He spoke with such confidence as to stun me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No escape?  Why?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His lips curled with undisguised contempt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So my words sting.  Well, they are true, nor am I unwilling to tell
+you.  You are trapped here.  There is no path you can travel, either by
+night or day, unseen of our people.  You have already climbed along the
+only passage leading here, and you dare not go back.  This way you have
+reached the end.  Behind is the village; here the altar of
+sacrifice&mdash;choose either, and you die like the <I>Français</I> dogs you are."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who is here to touch us?" I asked derisively.  "There is food in
+plenty; we can wait our chance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, you have grace of this day in which to make ready," his wrinkled
+face lighting maliciously.  "When yonder moon becomes round it will be
+the night of sacrifice.  Know you what will happen then?" he licked his
+thin lips greedily.  "I may not be here to see, but it will be the
+same.  Up that path of rocks will swarm all of my race, and what then
+can save you from the altar?  How they will welcome the victims waiting
+their pleasure&mdash;white-faced <I>Français</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His old, deeply sunken eyes gleamed so with hatred, I drew
+involuntarily back, my blood chilled with a conviction that he did not
+lie.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here?  Do you tell me the tribe comes here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, here, <I>Français</I>,&mdash;here to make sacrifice of blood, that they may
+go forth once more, and conquer the land of their fathers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is your custom to kill slaves?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When there be none better, but now we have other victims sent us by
+the Sun, all <I>Français</I>, and you two cooped up here to be added to the
+others.  'T will be a sweet sacrifice, and I should like to live to
+hear your cries for mercy, and drink of the warm blood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I stared at him, unable to deny our helplessness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You would make us believe there is no upper entrance to this accursed
+hole!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Seek as you please&mdash;there is none.  You are trapped beyond struggle;
+you cannot escape the vengeance of the Sun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I pointed, still incredulous, toward the great burning log.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you grow yonder tree in this cavern? or was it borne here on the
+back of a slave?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was lowered from above, over the edge of the cliff, by grass ropes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe you lie," I cried, now thoroughly shaken by his surly
+contempt; but the fellow only leered at me, and I strode across the
+great room, where I might reflect beyond sight of his eyes.  As I
+passed to the other side of the altar I observed a little gray daylight
+flooding the mouth of the cave.  The sight recalled to mind another
+possible danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Cairnes," I called, "it is about the hour of sunrise.  Down in the
+village I have noticed that whenever the sun touches the crest of these
+rocks the priests up here go forth, waving a flame into the air from
+yonder platform.  I fear if it were missed, the savages below would
+come swarming up to discover the cause.  Take a light from the pile,
+and wave it yonder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The stubborn preacher grimly shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay," he replied.  "I have borne part enough in their heathen orgies
+already; it will take a lifetime to purge my soul.  I bow down to Baal
+no more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was useless to argue with such as he, nor had I spirit to do it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then keep close guard over the priest," I retorted; and, grasping a
+torch from among the burning mass upon the altar, made haste toward the
+outer stone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My eyes have seldom gazed upon a grander view of nature than that which
+greeted me, as I crept around the great rock, and peered over the edge
+down into that beautiful basin wherein the remnant of the Natchez had
+established their home.  The early sun had not as yet illumined the
+lower levels, and all beneath my dizzy perch remained wrapped in the
+sombre gray of promised dawn; the slightly rolling valley was dotted
+with numerous square-topped huts of yellow straw, surrounded by
+ponderous walls of gray stone or dun-colored earth, and the irregular
+green fields were intersected by a silvery ribbon of running water: the
+whole composed such a fair picture of restful, peaceful beauty, that
+for the moment it held me at the edge in silent contemplation.  It
+appeared impossible that so sweet, secluded a spot could be the
+habitation of savages, vengeful and cruel.  Yet those black, moving
+dots down yonder, clustering in front of the various lodges, I knew
+were naked heathen, blood-thirsty and vindictive.  Now that the
+earliest rays of sunlight were beginning to tinge with gold the crest
+above me, every expectant face in the tribe would be upturned toward my
+perch, wondering at the slightest delay in their morning signal.  My
+eyes becoming accustomed to the distance, could even distinguish those
+faint sparks of light where the priests below gathered before the great
+altar-house to wave back response.  If we would live for even another
+day there must be no failure now.  Nerving myself for the task, I
+stepped forth on to the narrow shelf&mdash;no more than the merest black dot
+to the watching eyes beneath&mdash;and flung forth the flaming torch in
+fiery welcome to the Sun.  A shrill cry from the throats far below
+reached my ears in the merest thread of sound, yet before I drew back
+from the edge, I witnessed a responsive signal of flame from the mound
+summit, and inferred that no suspicion had been aroused in the minds of
+the guardians of these heathen rites.  Satisfied of our present safety
+I walked back to the great chamber, and beheld the old priest and
+Cairnes glaring angrily at each other, while the latter nursed his leg
+so tenderly as to make me apprehensive of further trouble having arisen
+between them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What now, brother Cairnes?" I questioned in some anxiety, noting as I
+came nearer stains of fresh blood on his hose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yonder black-faced cannibal buried his teeth in my calf," he growled
+gloomily.  "Saints of Israel!  I did merely lean over seeking another
+bit of meat, when he fastened on to me in that fashion, and hung there
+like a bull-dog until I choked him loose.  'Tis my vote we kill the
+ungodly man-eater, who has already feasted off your hand and my leg."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The energetic movement of his red head clearly evidenced the sincerity
+of his feelings, yet it was not in my heart to avenge our wrongs upon a
+helpless prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, friend; we are white, not red.  The pain will pass presently, and
+it would not be a Christian act to dispose thus of one bound in our
+hands.  I will give him other food to chew upon, then make fast his
+mouth while we go together and search out the secrets of this hole.  It
+will be best to discover early whether this varlet speaks true or false
+as to the chances of escape.  Hand over here the meat and water."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I endeavored to question the fellow further while he sullenly partook
+of the food offered, but he gave back merely short, uncivil answers,
+and those of little value.  Finally, despairing of learning more from
+such a source, we securely bucked the sullen fool, rolled his body
+close against the wall out of sight of any chance visitant, and then
+made preparation to explore our prison-house and discover for ourselves
+the mystery of this gloomy cave.  The dense blackness showing directly
+ahead seemed to promise an extension of passageway into the rock; so,
+lighting a pine knot at the altar fire, and bidding Cairnes follow me
+closely, I led forward down the narrow tunnel.  The floor was uneven,
+while so irregular and rough appeared roof and walls as to convince me
+this was a natural excavation, probably the run-way for some ancient
+watercourse.  Yet, as I tested the nature of the stone with the point
+of my hunting knife, it proved easily workable with tools, and
+apparently revealed softer material the deeper we progressed into the
+hill.  Slightly beyond the entrance leading from the main chamber,
+several rudely fashioned steps led into a sort of gallery.  This was of
+considerable proportions, elevated perhaps ten or more feet above the
+main floor, its outer parapet formed of loose stones, through the
+chinks of which one might command unseen a wide view of the cavern and
+its altar.  But, to our rather hasty inspection, this gallery contained
+nothing except bare rock, and, after a single curious glance about we
+drew back and moved on cautiously in exploration of the lower tunnel.
+This curved gradually toward the left, and held a rather steep pitch
+downward.  It was not above three feet in width until we had traversed
+fully fifty paces, when it suddenly broadened, and the fitful glare of
+the torch, which I held over my head, flashed back rays of light from
+two horribly gleaming green eyes.  For an instant I believed we had
+invaded the lair of some wild animal, and drew back quickly, my hand on
+the knife hilt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hell's kitchen!" I exclaimed nervously, "but the den has an occupant
+already."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, and of a kind common enough in these hills, but nothing fit to
+affright a servant of the true God," echoed Cairnes, striding past me.
+"I am not wont to fear heathen idols, Master Benteen, nor will I bear
+back now before those green eyes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As he spoke he laid rough hand on the thing, and I heard a sharp rattle
+of metal against wood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come hither friend," he called, with a laugh, "'tis no worse than
+another painted devil we are called to face.  Surely it is you who have
+the faint heart now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The glow of the torch blinded me to all except the green stones," I
+explained, coming forward and throwing the radiance of the flame full
+upon the hideous object.  "Saint George! 't is of no beauty to my sight
+even now, and, as you say, of small fear to Christian heart.  The
+saints defend us!  What was that?  As I live, I heard English speech!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was earnestly engaged in an endeavor to detach a bit of dull metal
+from the throat of the image, and scarcely deigned to glance around.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, there was no sound other than the chattering of your own tongue.
+This shining thing is gold, I believe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let it be; 't is of small value here.  I tell you I heard a strange
+voice; so hold still and listen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a minute or more we waited in almost breathless suspense, no
+unusual sound greeting our ears.  Then the Puritan sniffed disdainfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You grow childish, Master Benteen," he growled roughly, turning back
+to his labor.  "The dark has overstrained your nerves&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I bespeak help of de Englishmen for de sake of God!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no mistaking the truth this time&mdash;a strange voice was
+speaking broken English almost at our very feet.  Cairnes clattered to
+the floor with a rough exclamation of surprise, while I stared vainly
+at the idol, from which the sound apparently came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In Heaven's name, who are you?" I asked earnestly, "and where are you
+who make appeal to us?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am André Lafossier, native of France, for two months past a prisoner
+to these savages.  If you are Christian men I beseech assistance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor do you ask vainly.  Are you behind the wooden image?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, in a small room hollowed out from the rock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Except for that are you free to aid us in your escape?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Monsieur; I am lamed in limb, and fastened to the stone by a metal
+band."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A hoarse growl of rage burst from the throat of the Puritan.  "Prophets
+of God!" he roared.  "Surely we are the selected instruments of the
+Lord sent hither for the salvation of this worthy man; we are the
+soldiers of Gideon, the chosen of the Most High."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before I could lift hand or voice in interference he had braced his
+massive shoulder against the towering figure of wood, and, with a
+mighty heave sent the monster crashing over upon the rock floor,
+himself sprawling beside it as it fell.  As they came down together in
+a cloud of dust, an opening was revealed behind the stone pedestal on
+which the idol had stood.  Torch in hand I instantly crept forward.  I
+found myself in what was little more than the merest cell, yet dimly
+illumined by a single beam of light streaming downward as if
+penetrating through some slight crevice in the rock.  The narrow hole,
+for it was hardly more, was bare of all furnishing; both walls and
+floor were damp, but there were remnants of coarse food and a pannikin
+of water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Its sole occupant sat cross-legged on the hard floor, bound about the
+waist with a band of metal.  One end of this was attached to the wall
+in such a manner that the prisoner could neither rise to his feet nor
+lie down.  Never have these wandering eyes of mine looked upon a figure
+more pathetic.  For an instant I stood there, swaying upon my feet as
+though from sickness, staring at him incredulously.  His thin, pale,
+effeminate face was rendered wonderfully piteous by the depth of
+suffering so plainly revealed within the great, black, appealing eyes.
+So peculiarly delicate were the features, so slender the fragile form,
+about which a frayed and rusty robe clung loosely, that for a moment I
+actually believed I was looking upon a young girl.  So strong was this
+impression that I drew back, almost abashed.  This slight pause enabled
+Cairnes to regain his feet and press past me.  As his eager glance fell
+upon that slender, crouching figure, I observed how suddenly his eyes
+hardened, his whole expression changed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a priest of Rome!" he exclaimed harshly, staring down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The white, girlish face brightened instantly, the two thin hands
+plucking forth from some fold in the tattered robe a small silver
+crucifix.  At sight of this the stern-mouthed Puritan drew sharply
+back, as if he feared contamination from the symbol.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Oui, Monsieur</I>," answered the soft voice, with an odd note of joy in
+it.  "I am of the Society of Jesus."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is plain to see.  What do you here?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The priest smiled gently, his eyes dimming with tears fixed upon the
+cross.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis strange question.  Surely Monsieur knoweth little of our Order,
+or he would not need to ask.  We are soldiers of Christ, commissioned
+for war, even to life or death.  We ask nothing but the privilege of
+service, and the command of our superior.  I am named missionary unto
+the savage tribes of this river.  It has been the will of God that I
+suffer in order that through me some souls born into heathendom may
+thus be redeemed from the torments of the damned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sectary's rough, gray face reddened until it was nearly the color
+of his hair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis false!" he growled, smiting one hand hard upon the other in
+anger.  "You only lead the way straight to hell with your false
+doctrine.  Have you made any converts to the Roman harlot in this
+tribe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nay, Monsieur, I cannot lay claim to such reward."  His eyes slowly
+uplifted to the face of his questioner.  "Jesu hath not as yet opened
+before my understanding the way which leadeth to their hearts.  I can
+but work, and pray for guidance.  I have only baptised one who was
+dying of a fever, and sprinkled with holy water an infant, unknown to
+its mother.  It is not much, yet I bless the good Mary for the
+salvation of those precious souls."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saints of Israel! do you think that mummery saved them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Surely yes, Monsieur; is it not so taught of our Order?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I shall never forget the look upon Cairnes's face.  At the moment I
+believed him wrestling with temptation to strike the helpless man, so
+irritated was he by these confident words of Romish faith.  Determined
+to prevent discussion, I elbowed him aside, and bent down over the
+fastenings of the Jesuit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Enough of this," I said sternly, barely glancing at Cairnes.  "Keep
+the rest of your Puritanical sermonizing for a conventicle.  We have
+here a fellow-Christian to be rescued from the savages; this is no time
+to jangle over creeds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A fellow-Christian!  I hold no fellowship with such; he is but an
+emissary of a false religion, a slave to the Evil One."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Enough, I say," and I rose to my feet fronting him.  "I care little
+which is right in doctrine, you or he.  Here is a man begging aid of us
+in extremity.  Surely the priest has suffered for the sake of Christ,
+regarding whom you speak so freely.  So have done with dogma, and play
+the man a while&mdash;press here with your strength on this knife-blade
+until I bend back the metal and set him free."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He yielded, ungraciously enough, to my command, giving so good a turn
+to the steel with his vice-like fingers that in another moment the
+Jesuit was released from the wall.  Slowly and painfully, clinging fast
+to my hand for aid, the man arose and stood before us, swaying wearily,
+his thin lips pressed tightly together as if he would stifle a cry of
+pain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you suffering?" I asked, greatly moved by the expression of agony
+imprinted on his pallid face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will pass, Monsieur," he answered bravely, trying to smile at me.
+"'Tis strange the spirit of man is so enslaved to the flesh that one
+cannot wholly master a bit of physical pain.  No doubt I am somewhat
+cramped from my long imprisonment, and, perchance, my wounds have not
+rightly healed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you wounded?  I beg you permit me to attend to that.  I possess
+some small skill in the bandaging and dressing of cuts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His eyes rested upon me with all the tenderness of a woman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I truly thank you, Monsieur, but it is beyond your skill to aid me,
+even were you of the school of Paris.  They be of a savage nature,
+which God alone may beautify."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He slightly lifted his long black robe as he spoke, and may the
+merciful Father forgive the oath which sprang to my lips as I gazed in
+horror at the disfiguration&mdash;two fleshless limbs, one without even the
+semblance of a foot, merely a blackened, charred stump rested on the
+rock floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mother of God!" I sobbed, "it has been burned off!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay," he returned, in all gentleness, covering the awful sight.  "Yet
+were they gladly given for Christ's sake."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I doubt that not," gazing in wonder at his girlish face.  "But tell
+me, who were guilty of such fiendish cruelty&mdash;the savages of this
+tribe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two months ago it was done in the valley below, in the village of the
+Natchez," his eyes again upon the crucifix.  "Yet dwell not upon it,
+Monsieur, for it is so little I can hope to do for the glory of God.
+It may be I am not even worthy of martyrdom."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So the Natchez did that!" the breath hissing between my teeth.  "Where
+was their gentle-hearted Queen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know not, Monsieur, if they have a Queen.  I saw none exercising
+authority excepting priests of their strange worship.  It was the chief
+priest who held me in the flame."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I crushed back the hot, useless words burning on my lips, and turned to
+look at the Puritan.  We had conversed in English, and he must have
+comprehended every word, yet there was no softening in the glint of his
+hard, gray eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hear you the priest's story, sirrah?" I asked, feeling strong
+inclination to vent my spleen on him for such bull-headedness.  "Is he
+not one to honor rather than pick a quarrel with in such place as this?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'T is no quarrel I seek, nor am I like to question the fanatical
+courage of a Jesuit.  But I tell you his teaching is false, an outrage
+on the true religion of the saints, and I am of a strain which can
+never companion with any of that black-robed breed.  Call me what ye
+please, Master Benteen, but I am too old a man, too long indoctrined in
+the faith, ever to acknowledge brotherhood with hirelings of the Romish
+church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Companion with whom you please," I retorted savagely.  "But I tell you
+this, preacher, and once for all,&mdash;you 'll bear yourself like a human
+being to this poor lad while I 'm with you, or else make answer to me.
+Is that plain?  I care nothing for your dogma, or your hair-splitting,
+but I know what fair play is between man and man,&mdash;ay, and mean to have
+it here, even if it costs you a split head."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I beg you will both be at peace, Messieurs," broke in the soft,
+caressing voice at my elbow.  "There can be no cause for comrades
+quarrelling over me.  I am not worthy a ruptured friendship.  Yet I
+fail to understand any occasion for your seeming trouble; has the older
+man some reason to distrust my robe?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Reason!  Saint George! 'tis precious little that ever bothers him.
+The fellow is a Puritan preacher&mdash;of the same breed as the
+Huguenots&mdash;and possesses a head as hard as an oaken plank."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I nearly laughed at the unrestrained expression of aversion which swept
+the girlish face.  An instant the black eyes lost their gentleness, the
+thin fingers clutched the silver cross.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mother of God! a heretic! a preacher of that doctrine!  Never before
+have I met his kind, nor do I care now to make close acquaintance.  A
+Puritan!  <I>Sainte Marie</I>, have mercy!  Yet surely in such stress as
+this we may for the time overlook our differences in faith, and be as
+men together?  Is it not God's will?  But I know little of conditions.
+Is there some path open for escape from here?  Then will I let this
+Puritan be, save for a prayer to the Virgin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I fear there is none, unless you know of some back opening to this
+rock hole."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shook his head sadly, his gaze still on Cairnes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"None, Monsieur; the passage endeth here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then the three of us are safely cooped for those savages to work their
+will upon.  No pleasant thought that, yet little good can arise from
+losing hope.  For one, I fight it out, and let others do the praying.
+Let us retrace our way to the big room, where we can hold council in
+more comfort; perchance we may find yet some opening to the upper air.
+Cairnes, lay hold upon the other side, and help to bear back this lamed
+man to the altar."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I doubted greatly his compliance with my order, and determined to
+settle this affair between us without more delay.  But he came forward,
+unwillingly enough and muttering.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap34"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE TALE OF THE PRIEST
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+With all possible tenderness we bore the slender form of the helpless
+priest along the dark, crooked passage, until we found a comfortable
+resting-place for him against the altar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thank you much, Messieurs," he said simply, the depth of his
+gratitude apparent in uplifted dark eyes, glistening in the light of
+the fire.  "Members of our Order are more accustomed to blows than
+kindness, so I have no words with which to express thanks for your
+care."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Think nothing of it," I returned hastily, and then, observing how the
+Puritan drew back from beside him, added, "Master Cairnes, you might
+busy yourself hunting more food&mdash;it will be exactly in your line&mdash;while
+I attempt to bathe the limbs of the priest, and see what little may be
+done toward alleviating his pain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mere thought of eating was sufficient to put the Puritan in good
+humor, and he was soon diligently scouring nooks and corners with scent
+for provender as keen as that of a pointer dog.  I noticed with
+curiosity how the motionless Jesuit followed the movements of his
+hulking figure as he passed back and forth amid the shadows, his dark
+eyes filled with wonder and aversion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis truly a strange thing, Monsieur," the latter remarked soberly,
+"to meet with one pretending love for Christ, yet who hateth Mother
+Church, and dares make open mock of Her most holy offices.  Thou didst
+name thy comrade Puritan?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, of the same breed as the Huguenots of your country, rebels against
+the Pope."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He made the sign of the Cross.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The curse of Holy Church is upon them all; they are condemned to
+hell," he exclaimed with fervor.  "A vile pestilence to be stamped out;
+yet it would afford me joy beyond words could I save this man's soul
+from eternal torture, and lead him back into the true faith.  Mother of
+God! what was it moved yonder?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced quickly about toward where he pointed, seeing the shadowed
+figure of our forgotten prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis only one of the savages we have captured and bound.  He guarded
+this altar, ministering to the superstition of the tribe; an old man,
+perchance the very chief priest who held you in the flame."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I anticipated seeing the light of revenge leap into his eyes, but,
+instead, a rush of pity softened them, and before I could extend my
+hand to interfere, he crept across the intervening space, and bent over
+the fellow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A most cruel turn on the rope, Monsieur," he exclaimed, busying
+himself at the knot.  "Surely the man will rest easier, and no less
+safely, with back propped against the rock.  Nay, have no fear; I will
+keep him tied fast if that be your wish, yet I seek to relieve his pain
+so I may profitably converse with him upon the needs of his soul."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With him!  Saint George! he had small enough mercy on you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is of the past, and abideth not in memory," and the white hands
+held up the crucifix into the light.  "He who died on this Cross
+prayed, 'Father forgive, they know not what they do,' and who is André
+Lafossier, to be harsher than his Master?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Not until after he had prayed long and earnestly, holding the silver
+cross ever before the wicked eyes of the unrepentant savage, did he
+permit me to bathe his disfigured limbs, dressing them as best I could
+with what rude materials I found at hand.  Even while I worked he
+seemingly thought nothing of himself, but, oblivious to pain, his face
+was ever turned to the prisoner, his lips moving in petition for his
+soul.  I caught but scattered sentences.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Christ, this one&mdash;unworthy, yet I beseech Thee&mdash;Be merciful, O
+Virgin&mdash;out of the wilderness ariseth the voice of Thy servant&mdash;purge
+the soul of all past iniquity&mdash;yield me this one brand plucked from the
+burning&mdash;Thine be the glory forever&mdash;let my life be given for this
+soul&mdash;this one precious reward for my ministry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A little later the three of us partook, although largely in silence, of
+the sustaining food which Cairnes furnished in abundance.  Throughout
+the meal I felt it necessary to be ever watchful to prevent the two
+zealots, who were now my comrades, from clashing.  Again and again the
+priest sought to lead the sectary to his way of thinking, but the gray
+face only hardened ominously, his bull voice denouncing bitterly all
+Romish deeds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, be at peace, you two," I commanded at last, thoroughly tired and
+angry.  "Hold your tongues over those questions, at least while I am
+with you.  Odds!  I care nothing as to your Catholic or Protestant,
+your popes or preachers.  Be done, and bear yourselves like men.  I
+will no longer have you vexing the air with controversy while our very
+lives are hanging by a thread.  There are other things to talk about
+just now.  So, Cairnes, if you cannot bide quietly in our company, then
+stay here alone while I take the Jesuit out into the sunlight, where we
+can hold sensible counsel together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaving the fellow growling to himself over the remnants of the meal, I
+bore the priest along the short passage, until we discovered a secure,
+comfortable resting-place outside, where our eyes could sweep the full
+extent of the wide valley.  It was a quietly beautiful scene at this
+hour, the glow of the sun over all.  We could distinguish gangs of
+slaves toiling in the fields, and a group of warriors, their spears
+glistening, clustered together before the gloomy altar-house.  Yet my
+eyes barely rested upon either scene, for there, close beside the open
+door of the Queen's dwelling, my glance, sharpened by love, perceived
+the movements of a woman's apparel, and from the faint color of it,
+distinguishable, even at that distance in the sun glare, I knew I
+looked once more upon Eloise.  It would be difficult to express in
+prosaic English with what intense relief I realized, through the
+evidence of my own eyes, her continued safety.  It seemed years already
+since our last parting, when she had chosen to remain prisoner in those
+savage hands.  Father of all! how I loved her then; how I yearned to
+have word with her, to read again the silent message of her pure eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The priest was gazing silently far away up the valley.  Busied with my
+own thoughts, forgetting him utterly, I kept my eyes eagerly, hungrily
+upon that single, far-off figure, until, finally, I saw her arise and
+disappear within the open door.  I growled forth a bitter curse,
+observing the cause for retreat&mdash;a man and a woman slowly climbing the
+mound together.  There was no doubt in my mind as to the identity of
+the Queen and De Noyan.  Faith! but it would have pleased me then to
+put hand upon the false coxcomb and choke him back to decency and duty.
+The look of it was in my face, no doubt, as I stared down upon them in
+helplessness, for the Jesuit rested his fingers gently upon my arm, as
+though he would restrain my passion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There seemeth something below which angers you, my friend," he said
+softly.  "'Tis a battle-light flaming in your eyes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Tis the shame of it all which crazes me," I responded, trembling with
+passion, yet yielding to the influence of his presence.  "You have not
+yet heard the story, so cannot rightly judge our position here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As briefly as possible I reviewed the adventures of our little party
+since leaving New Orleans, and it was good to observe with what growing
+interest he followed the simple story, interrupting with but few
+questions until I reached the end.  Then his soft hand closed warmly
+over mine, his eyes upon my face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a brave tale," he said kindly, "one not unworthy the days of
+knighthood.  Yet, good friend, it is scarcely well for you to think
+thus tenderly regarding the wife of another.  'T is against the laws of
+Holy Church, and can only lead to harm and suffering.  But, Mother of
+God!  who am I to pass judgment?&mdash;I, who am also guilty of this sin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had uplifted his crucifix, sitting with bowed head before it, with
+so sad a face I could not forbear questioning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you, then, such another tale in your life?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He did not look at me, yet hesitated not in reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay, 'tis true, yet not so pure a one.  I like not to dwell upon it
+even in thought; but you have trusted me, and we are here together as
+men of a common race in face of death.  Perchance our hearts may better
+comprehend each other through such confidences.  Do you care to hear my
+tale?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I listen gladly, for in truth I know of nothing better to do," I
+returned uneasily.  "Pish! but I feel as if we were locked in a cell
+awaiting the headsman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet God can open the doors even as He did for Peter," he said
+solemnly, fastening his eyes on the blue sky.  For a moment neither
+spoke; then the gentle voice took up the story, as if telling it over
+to himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was not always of the black robe; only six years since I wore the
+blue and gold of a soldier of France in the dragoon regiment of
+Auvergne.  I came of good family, and was even known and trusted of the
+King.  But let that pass.  We were stationed at Saint-Rienes, in the
+south country, as fair a spot, Monsieur, as this world holds, yet
+strangely inhabited by those discontented under the faith of Holy
+Church.  But we rode rough shod over all such in those days, for it was
+the will of the King to crush out heresy.  'Tis a pleasure to see the
+shrinking of a heretic before the wrath of God.  Yet this tale has
+little to do with this service, however I love to dwell upon it.  As I
+said, we were quartered in garrison at Saint-Rienes, and it was there I
+first met Marie Fousard, the girl wife of a Captain in His Majesty's
+Guard.  She was a creature of beauty, Monsieur, with clear cheeks, lips
+of the rose, and great trustful eyes.  I was but a boy then, she not
+much older in years, but with that knowledge of the world and of men
+which enabled her to make poor, blinded fool&mdash;her helpless slave for
+evil.  Merciful Mary! how I did worship her!  To me she was as an
+angel; divinity lurked in her smile and found utterance upon her lips.
+I could have died at her word, happy to know it was her pleasure.  Yet,
+as I know now, all the love-making between us was no more than play to
+her; she merely sought to amuse herself with my passion through a dull
+season.  No, not quite all, for back of her smiles lurked a purpose so
+dark, so diabolical, 'twas not strange I failed to fathom it.  'Tis
+hard to associate crime with such young womanhood, to feel that evil
+thoughts lurk behind eyes soft with love and lips breathing tenderness.
+Yet behind the outer angel of Marie Fousard there was a devil
+incarnate.  I was blind, crazed, helpless to resist an evil I failed to
+perceive.  I loved her; in that passion all else was lost.  She had
+confessed love for me; in that was all the heaven I desired.  Little by
+little she fanned within my heart a hatred for the man whose wife she
+was, my comrade in arms.  I cannot relate the details, the stories of
+wrong, the lies, the upbraidings which turned my blood to flame,
+picturing him ever to me as a monster.  Ah, it means much, Monsieur,
+when such things are told with tears, when every sob rings in the ears
+as though crying for vengeance.  I listened, believing it all, until
+deep in my heart hate was born.  Once she showed me her shoulder, the
+white flesh discolored as if by a blow, swearing that he did it.  The
+sight maddened me to action.  I left her to seek him at the inn,
+cursing in my teeth, and caring not what happened, so I killed him.
+What boots now the insult offered which forced him to the field?  I can
+see his face yet, full of wonder at my words, doubting my very sanity;
+yet I saw only her and that bruised shoulder.  I would kill him, and I
+did, running my sword through his body, and gazing down remorselessly
+into his glazing eyes.  What cared I for aught but her?  It was a duel,
+fairly fought, and I was safe from censure.  God! in that hour it never
+came to me that it was foul murder; that I had stricken down an
+innocent man at the word of a harlot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stopped, his white face buried in his hands, his slender form
+trembling.  I remained motionless.  With an effort he resumed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I went back to her at our trysting-place, intoxicated by my deed,
+confident she would come to my arms in gratitude.  Instead she laughed,
+tore from her face the mask of innocence, called me fool, boasted that
+she had merely used me for her own vile purposes.  I shrank away,
+horrified by my deed, despising her, my love stricken dead.  In that
+moment my life was changed; I cared for nothing except to get away from
+my fellows, to expiate my sin in the sight of God.  I felt no interest
+in what became of her; I neither smiled nor wept, when, three days
+later, she married the prefect of that village.  All was over; the fire
+within me had become ashes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the woman? this Marie Fousard?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She went her way, the broad road leading to destruction.  We met never
+again, yet I heard, for there were those eager to tell such things.  A
+year, and the prefect was dead of poison, but, before the gendarmes
+learned the truth, the widow fled by night taking much property.  One
+D'Anse was her paramour, a sub-lieutenant of hussars.  'T is all I
+know; they took ship together at Marseilles.  Mother of Mercy! wherever
+she lives it will be under the spell of the Evil One.  To my heart God
+hath brought peace, but for such as she there can be no peace; she hath
+been damned already."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I know not how long we sat there motionless, our eyes on the sunlit
+valley, our thoughts on past years.  The father ran the beads swiftly
+through his white fingers, his lips moving noiselessly; but I found no
+such help, no such consolation in my struggle.  His story was forever
+ended; mine was not, the very scene beneath bringing home to me anew
+the desperate burden.  Oh, Eloise!  Eloise! what of fate awaited us in
+the coming night shadows?  What sacrifice of mine could bring to you
+life and liberty?  It is one thing to rush headlong into danger; a
+vastly different one to sit awaiting disaster which it is impossible to
+avert.  The desire to act, to attempt something, became an imperative
+passion, and I sprang to my feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, <I>père</I>," I broke forth impatiently, "let us get back inside.
+Before we are aware it will be night, and we must learn first if there
+is any chance for escape.  We can dream no longer over the past.  Saint
+George! the present holds sufficient work for us to do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I bore him back in my arms and left him lying beside the savage priest,
+testing again on him the efficacy of prayer, while Cairnes and I fared
+forth to explore.  We sought long and painfully, trying the walls for
+some concealed opening, groping in the corners, and squirming through
+narrow crevices.  The effort was useless, except to convince us that
+the cavern had but the single entrance.  All we discovered was an
+assortment of odd weapons, war-clubs and stone-tipped spears, collected
+in one corner of the gallery.  Everywhere else were bare walls.
+Feeling like rats in a trap we dragged tired limbs back to the
+altar-room, our sole remaining hope a possible escape down the rocks
+under the early shadows of the night.  This might be accomplished if
+sufficient time were granted us, and if the good Lord guided.  It was a
+hope, a cheer to the spirits of the others, yet in, my own heart I
+counted little upon it.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap35"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NIGHT AND THE SAVAGES
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The hours of waiting dragged terribly.  We conversed little, all alike
+nervous, irritable under the strain of our desperate situation.  The
+Jesuit was much in prayer; but Cairnes fell asleep and twisted about
+uneasily, his head pillowed on his arm.  I could only pace the rock
+floor, harassed by bitter, useless thoughts.  What a memory picture it
+is!&mdash;the great bare cavern, with black interior only partially revealed
+by the gleam of the altar flame; the old savage huddled in his bonds,
+his baleful eyes glowing in the firelight as he watched every movement;
+the slender <I>père</I> close beside him upon his knees, his frayed black
+gown rendering more conspicuous the rapt, upraised face, his white
+fingers clasping the crucifix; beyond, Cairnes outstretched on the hard
+stone, his bulky figure motionless but for nervous twitching, his red
+hair glaring like a spot of paint.  I rejoiced that the fellow slept,
+for he rasped me with his ceaseless, senseless attacks on the Roman
+Church.  Yet the gentle-voiced priest had tamed his open hatred
+somewhat; so before he lay down the sectary sat long in moody silence
+staring at the other with glinting eyes, as though fit speech failed
+him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the sun sank to the horizon I went forth again upon the platform,
+waving a blazing signal torch to the expectant groups below.  The sky
+overhead was blue, but to the north and east, as far as I could see for
+overhanging cliff, great masses of black cloud were showing ominously,
+their ragged edges emitting lightning flashes, although too distant for
+me to distinguish the thunder.  Below, in the valley, the approaching
+storm would not yet be visible; but from my aerie I prayed for a dark
+night, the swift approach of a battle of the elements.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Arousing Cairnes, who was already awake but lying glowering at the
+unconscious priest, I despatched him to the jutting platform, with
+instructions to keep close watch on all movements in the village.  Then
+I busied myself with final preparations for our desperate sortie.  The
+earliest shades of evening would have to be utilized, for then only
+could we hope for a clear path.  Before those wild fanatics swarmed
+upward to their monthly sacrifice, we must traverse that narrow cliff
+path and penetrate the tunnel beyond as far as the underground altar.
+Nowhere between the cave entrance and that spot could I recall any
+place of concealment.  Inspired by this necessity, so soon as darkness
+began to blot the mouth of the cave, I bore the priest that way in my
+arms, although he begged earnestly to be left behind, saying he was a
+useless burden.  The slowly advancing clouds had not yet mounted high
+enough to obscure the moon, but hung densely massed across half the
+sky, low thunder echoing among the rocks, and jagged streaks of
+lightning tearing the gloom asunder.  The burly Puritan lay, a black
+silhouette against the silvered rocks, leaning far over, staring down
+into the void.  As I touched him, he turned his face toward me,
+pointing below with one hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are securely blocked, Master Benteen," he asserted gruffly.  "A fit
+reward for associating with papists."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Blocked?" failing to comprehend.  "How?  Are the savages already
+astir?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look for yourself.  See yonder; lights are on the pathway as high as
+the tree-bridge."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I dropped upon my knees, clinging to a bowlder, and peered over.  He
+spoke truth, and my heart rose choking into my throat.  Resembling
+innumerable fireflies tiny flames were gleaming along the entire front
+of the cliff&mdash;torches borne by human hands.  Breathless the three of us
+clung there staring down, each realizing the utter futility of our
+efforts at escape, yet none reckless enough to give the thought
+utterance.  The Puritan first found speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The spawn of hell!" he growled savagely, shaking his great fist,
+remembering the indignities of the altar-house.  "Good Lord, deliver us
+from this iniquity; lead us through the waters dry-shod, even as Thou
+didst Thy people of old from the land of Egypt."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come," I said, "we must seek whatever hiding-place is within, and
+trust God for it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The priest looked at me pleadingly, his eyes like stars.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I would at such an hour you were of my faith, Monsieur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I might do worse," I admitted, watching intently the lights on the
+cliff-path, "but it was not the teaching of my childhood.  There is one
+below whose prayers are as yours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Madame de Noyan?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I bowed my head in gesture of reverence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Monsieur, and whatever she loves is not far from my heart.  But
+come, we have scant time for preparation; no, do not endeavor to walk;
+your weight is nothing to my arms."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no spot within where, even for a short period, we might hope
+to avoid discovery, except the rock gallery.  Here, crouching behind
+the parapet, we could see without being seen, unless some savage
+chanced to stray that way.  At my order the sullen, psalm-quoting
+preacher dragged the helpless old chief priest after him, and so we
+went groping forward through the darkness of the short passage, until
+we attained the stone steps.  Stumbling blindly upward, our hearts
+throbbing in realization of the peril that was closing us in, we flung
+our bodies flat behind the concealing rocks, peering fearfully forth
+into the great deserted chamber.  Even amid that lonely silence it was
+a sight to chill the heart; and to us, comprehending something of what
+it would soon reveal of savage orgy.  It was like gazing down into the
+mouth of the Pit.  The single touch of color in the drear picture came
+from the crimson drapery hanging over the edge of the raised platform.
+Seeing all this at one glance my anxious eyes sought the deeper gloom
+shrouding the tunnel leading toward the entrance.  As I stared that way
+a sudden flash of fierce lightning illumined it.  So brilliant it burst
+forth from the opaque night, I hid my blinded eyes, every nerve of my
+body quivering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Great God!" burst forth Cairnes, his voice so close as to startle me.
+"'T is like the end of the world!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be still," I commanded hastily, pressing him flat, "there they come."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A dozen flaming torches rounded the rock projection the lights
+glistening over the half-naked bodies of the bearers.  Saint Andrew! it
+was a weird sight, one to strike terror to the soul!  With gritted
+teeth, my heart pounding, I looked out upon it.  The leader was a
+priest, black from head to heel, his face showing devilish in the torch
+flare, his coarse hair matted high in horrid resemblance to some wild
+beast.  Behind surged a mob of warriors, women, and children, half-nude
+bodies striped with red and yellow, a malignant demoniacal crew,
+yelling and pushing under the flaming lights, rushing tumultuously
+forward to fling themselves prostrate before the altar.  It seemed they
+would never cease pouring forth from the narrow tunnel, a struggling,
+gesticulating stream.  Behind them lightning played in jagged streaks
+across the little patch of sky, and the black smoke of the torches
+curled upward to the roof.  Their appearance was not human, but that of
+demons incarnate; some ran upon all fours like wolves, gnashing their
+teeth and howling; many yelped in fiendish chorus; others brandished
+weapons aloft in the yellow flame, or lay, writhing like glistening
+snakes on the rock floor.  It was a pandemonium, a babel, an
+unspeakable hell.  To count was impossible, but the great room was
+filled with bodies, and rang with guttural, inarticulate cries.  The
+busily flitting priests stirred up the wood until the blaze leaped
+nearly to the roof, mumbling as they worked, the incessant moaning of
+the tribesmen deepening into a weird chant.  The frenzied singers leapt
+into the air, flinging their limbs about in wild contortion, their
+movements increasing in violence, their grotesquely painted faces
+becoming hellish from awakening passion.  They became brutes, fiends,
+whose only thought was cruelty.  I saw them strike each other with
+stone knives, slashing the flesh till blood ran.  Heartsick and
+trembling, I glanced aside at my companions.  The <I>père</I> lay clasping
+the stone, his eyes wide with horror, his countenance death-like;
+Cairnes was upon his knees, his great hands gripped, staring straight
+down like some animal crouching for a spring.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was when I turned back, loathing the sight yet unable to resist
+facing it, that I beheld for the first time those I sought&mdash;Eloise, De
+Noyan, and the Queen Naladi.  An instant I blinded my eyes with
+uplifted arm, half believing that the horror had turned my brain, that
+all this was vision.  Yet, as I ventured to look again, they were there
+before me in the flesh&mdash;Naladi all in red, a wondrous figure amid that
+spectral glow, tall, straight, with proud, imperious face, crowned by
+the brilliant hair, radiant and sparkling in the flame.  Beside her
+loitered De Noyan, like one who enjoyed a spectacle arranged for his
+pleasure, his face darkening somewhat as though the sight were not
+altogether to his liking, yet debonair and careless, his waxed
+moustaches standing forth conspicuous, his fingers in his waist-belt.
+About the two were ranged a fringe of warriors, their flint-headed
+spears rising an impenetrable wall, while farther behind, separated and
+alone, the light of the fire barely revealing her presence, stood
+Eloise, a savage guard on either side of her.  I caught the outline of
+her face, imprinted with horror, the lips moving as if in supplication;
+then I perceived something else&mdash;<I>her hands were bound</I>!  Smothering an
+oath, I crept back to the pile of weapons in the corner, gripped a
+war-club, and, returning as silently, thrust a second into the
+unconscious hands of Cairnes.  Our eyes met, the sectary nodding
+grimly, his jaws set like a steel trap.  If need should arise we would
+die fighting like cornered rats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Their yells reverberating to the vaulted roof, the smoking torches
+gyrating wildly above them, the throng of crazed fanatics were now upon
+their feet, crowding toward the platform, every tongue clamoring in
+incessant demand.  All was confusion, a medley of noise and motion,
+tossing arms, and painted faces.  Finally, I caught a glimpse of
+Naladi's red robe scarcely ten feet away, and behind her the
+countenance of De Noyan, still contemptuously smiling at that shrieking
+rabble.  God! my face burned, my grasp tightened on the club.  Yet I
+lay motionless, knowing well the time of sacrifice was not yet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The woman stood at the edge of the rock platform, gazing intently down,
+a silent, motionless statue, her red robe sweeping to her feet, and
+below her the crimson drapery; the flaring torches in the hands of her
+barbaric followers cast their light full upon her.  I stared at the
+strange creature, comprehending something of the power of passion such
+as she could exercise over De Noyan, causing him to forget all honor in
+her presence.  Saint Andrew! she was a witch, a hell-cat, whose smile
+was death.  Ay! and she was smiling then, a smile of cruel, unrelenting
+triumph, gazing down upon the howling slaves who should do her
+pleasure.  She knew them well, every superstition, every wild impulse,
+and she played contemptuously on their savagery.  Not fear, but
+command, was stamped upon her features; she ruled by legerdemain, by
+lie and trick, and she stood, the supreme she-devil, the master spirit
+in that raging hell.  It seemed to me my heart would burst as I waited,
+seeing nothing then of Eloise amid the crush, and compelled to gaze on
+that dominant scarlet figure.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-396"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-396.jpg" ALT="The woman gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to her feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric
+followers cast their light full upon her." BORDER="2" WIDTH="471" HEIGHT="740">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: The woman gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to<BR>
+her feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric<BR>
+followers cast their light full upon her.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+The cries of the multitude ceased, and a black-draped priest shouted
+unintelligible words.  Naladi listened, extending one hand.  Then her
+thin lips spoke a single sentence in the sharp tone of command.
+Instantly burst forth a fierce roar of disapproval; war-clubs pounded
+the floor, spears rattled as they were brandished overhead, while above
+the din I caught, again and again, the shriek, "<I>Français</I>!
+<I>Français</I>!"  The Queen shook her head, her fair face darkening, and
+glanced aside into the questioning eyes of De Noyan.  Below them the
+tumult increased, the mass surging forward and staring upward, every
+voice yelping that one term of hate, "<I>Français</I>!"  There was no
+doubting the dread menace&mdash;they were demanding French victims for the
+torture of sacrifice; they clamored for white blood with which to
+sprinkle the altar.  I could dimly perceive now a dozen crouching
+slaves against the farther wall, the whites of their eyes showing in
+terror, and&mdash;oh, God!&mdash;there, to the right of them, alone, except for
+her burly guards, kneeling on the rock floor, with face hidden in her
+hands, was Eloise.  I half rose to my feet, my whole body pulsating
+with agony.  What was to be the ending?  What was that mad woman's
+purpose?  Could she control the fierce blood-lust of those savage
+fanatics?  If she cared to do so, would she dare test her power in so
+desperate a game?  If one must be sacrificed which would she spare, De
+Noyan or his hapless wife?  Looking at her, cold, cynical, lustful, her
+eyes still turned on his face, I felt no doubt.  Let the foul fiend
+choose! by all the gods, Cairnes should brain her where she stood, and,
+Heaven helping me to do the deed, the one I loved should never die by
+torture!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took her own time for decision, indifferently ignoring the howls of
+rage, her thin lips curling in contemptuous smile, her glance yet upon
+the startled Chevalier.  Laying her hand upon his sleeve, she said in
+French:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You hear the wolves howl, Monsieur?  They are mad for French blood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shrugged his shoulders, staring into her expressionless face, then
+down upon the surging mob below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saint Giles! give them sufficient of something else," he replied,
+striving to pretend indifference, yet with a falter in his voice.  "You
+pledged us safety if we would accompany you here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I pledged <I>you</I> safety, Monsieur," she corrected haughtily.  "I gave
+no word of promise as to others.  Yet circumstances have changed.  I
+supposed then we had enough of victims to appease even such blood-lust
+as yelps yonder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You mean the preacher and Benteen?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ay; they would suffice, with plenty of slaves for good measure.  But
+now, only two remain from which to choose.  <I>Sacre</I>! there are times
+when those dogs break away even from my control, and mock me.  I know
+not now whether one alone will glut their desire, yet I am of a mind to
+try the experiment before the wolves drag me to hell also.  Heard you
+ever such yelping of wild beasts?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You would sacrifice me?" his face whitening from horror.  "You would
+give me to the knife and fire?  <I>Mon Dieu</I>! is this the end of all your
+vows?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She smiled, a cold, cruel smile, her eyes burning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I did not say you," tauntingly.  "There is another here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He drew away from her grasp, lips ashen, eyes unbelieving.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eloise!  <I>Mon Dieu</I>! not Eloise?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And if not Eloise, what then, Monsieur?"  The low voice hardened,
+becoming oddly metallic.  "The wolves cry for blood&mdash;French blood.  Is
+it your wish to die together?  <I>Pardi</I>! if it be between you two, am I
+to have no choice which one I deliver?  Why should you shrink back like
+a baby at first sight of blood?  I thought you a soldier, a man.  Did
+you not tell me you loved her no longer? did you not swear it with your
+lips to mine?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He made no response, staring at her with eyes full of unbelief, the
+hideous uproar clanging about them in ceaseless volume.  Naladi's face
+flushed with rising anger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet you do!  <I>Mon Dieu</I>, you do!" she panted, the tiger within
+breaking loose.  "Your words were a lie!  Here, look at me," extending
+her arms, the white flesh of her bosom clearly revealed in the parting
+of her drapery.  "Am I such as she? will I shrink like a coward,
+mumbling prayer and fingering rosary?  Am I afraid to work my will?  Am
+I not worth being loved?  Am I the kind you think to play with?  God's
+mercy!  I am minded to throw you both to the beasts.  No, no, not that;
+you dare not front me!  I make my own choice of who shall die and who
+live."  She laughed mockingly.  "Bah!  I know your sort, Monsieur&mdash;'tis
+as the wind blows; you love to-day, and forget to-morrow.  Yet I keep
+you for a plaything&mdash;I have no use for her.  I care no longer how the
+wolves tear her dainty limbs.  Before this I have tasted vengeance and
+found it sweet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shrank before her fury, all conceit and audacity fled, and words
+failed him.  Not even yet could he believe it true, but she permitted
+no recovery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You think I lie.  You think I threaten, but dare not act.  You think
+me a soft-hearted fool because I listened to your words of love.  By
+the gods! you shall learn better.  I have heard love words before; none
+ever spoke them to my ears without paying the price of deceit.  <I>Mon
+Dieu</I>! and shall you escape?  I can hate as well as love; strike as
+well as caress.  So you played with me, Monsieur? used me to pass a
+dull hour in the wilderness?  <I>Sacre</I>! 't is now my chance to sport
+with you.  You forget who I am&mdash;I, Naladi, Daughter of the Sun, Queen
+of the Natchez.  Look down! there are hands waiting to rend at my word.
+I will give them the girl-face for their blood-lust.  Seek to stop me
+if you dare!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Never can I forget the expression on De Noyan's face as he listened.
+Incredulity changed to loathing, then to despair.  As though the woman
+had snatched a mask from off her features he gazed now upon the demon
+soul revealed in all its hideousness.  Instantly all that was
+physically beautiful became loathsome from the foulness within.  He
+endeavored to speak, to protest, but all his recklessness had deserted
+him and he trembled like a leaf.  Already the gesticulating priests,
+thinking themselves cheated of their victims, were half way up the rude
+steps of stone; behind them surged the mob, screaming "<I>Français</I>,"
+their torches waving madly.  Naladi laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So your nerve fails, Monsieur," she sneered coldly.  "'Tis well it
+does, for you need expect no mercy from me.  I also hate the French."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned from him, her arms outspread, the crimson drapery extended
+like wings.  The glare of a hundred torches reflected on her face, and
+her lips spoke one word of stern command.  Every voice ceased its
+howling, every form became motionless, the silence so sudden it was
+painful.  The woman stood above them, dominant; every eye was fastened
+upon her; the priests were prostrate on the stair.  I saw De Noyan
+leaning forward, his teeth clinched, his face death-like.  From wall to
+wall Naladi's gaze wandered; once she looked into his eyes, then down
+again upon the mob of savages.  Like the sharp hiss of a snake a single
+sentence leaped from her thin lips.  The effect was magical.  I
+scarcely realized the transformation, so rapidly was it accomplished.
+Confusion filled the chamber, yet out of the tumult I caught sight of
+Madame being driven toward the altar, her white face full of pleading,
+her hands, now freed, clasping her rosary.  De Noyan must have beheld
+her at the same instant.  With shout of rage he leaped recklessly
+forward, hurled aside the scarlet figure, and, uttering an oath, sprang
+on the parapet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By God! you foul fiend of hell!" he screamed madly.  "I 'll fight for
+it; fight like a gentleman of France!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I leaped to my feet, Cairnes beside me.  Desperate as the chance was,
+we would be with him on that floor, with him smiting to the death.  Yet
+even as he poised for the leap downward the woman's scarlet arms
+struck, and he went over like a stone, crashing into a huddled heap on
+the rock floor.  Naladi laughed, leaning far out to look down, like a
+gloating devil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fight, you poor fool!" she exclaimed in French.  "<I>Sacre</I>! who struck
+hardest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sick, trembling like a frightened child, I dragged the dazed Puritan
+down again, crouching behind the stones.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap36"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE INTERFERENCE OF THE JESUIT
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I could look no longer on that hellish scene.  It seemed as if all
+strength, all manhood, had deserted me before the utter helplessness of
+our position.  There was nothing left except useless sacrifice&mdash;a
+moment's hopeless struggle, the sole reward death under the war-club or
+by torture.  God knows it was not myself I considered, but Eloise.  It
+was thought of her which so unnerved me, so paralyzed body and mind.
+The Puritan dropped his heavy hand on my shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Great Jehovah," he muttered, "look there!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How he ever made it I know not; how he ever crept on tortured stumps
+down those rude steps, and along the dark, rocky tunnel; how he ever
+succeeded in penetrating unscathed that howling mob of savages&mdash;yet
+there, in the very midst of them, fully revealed in the torch glare,
+his pallid, girlish face uplifted, but concealed beneath the shadow of
+his cowl, the silver cross gleaming in the light, beside Eloise, knelt
+the black-robed Jesuit.  Amid the sudden hush of surprise I overheard
+his voice, fearless, calm, unfaltering, as he gave the weeping woman
+sacrament of the Church.  A great brute struck at him; the frail figure
+reeled sideways to the force of the blow, but the words of prayer did
+not cease, nor his grasp on her hand relax.  Rallying from their
+astonishment, the warriors crowded in upon them, and a fanatical priest
+hurled the <I>père</I> headlong to the floor.  I saw a brandishing of clubs,
+a glitter of spears, yet the poor fellow came erect once more, his arm
+resting for support on the woman's shoulder.  It was all in a flash of
+time, like some swift transformation on the stage we could scarcely
+comprehend.  At the instant a voice spoke, ringing above the babel,
+which ceased suddenly.  I glanced involuntarily toward Naladi.  She
+stood leaning forward, her hands gripping the stone parapet,
+conflicting emotions playing across her face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the torches, uplifted, gleamed brighter upon the motionless Queen,
+they revealed a look of perplexity, almost fear, in her cold eyes.
+What held her speechless?  Was it remembrance of another life, when the
+stern word of the Church had been law? or was she merely troubled by so
+mysterious an appearance, her guilty soul swayed by superstitious
+terror?  She was all too strange a riddle for my reading, but some
+occult power held her helpless, silent.  The vengeful cries of her
+savage followers died away into threatening murmurs; the <I>père</I>
+remained motionless, one hand on Eloise's bowed head, his white face
+shadowed by the hood, calmly fronting her who had commanded quiet.
+Slowly he lifted one arm, the loose sleeve lending dignity and power to
+the simple gesture, his white extended hand seeming to have in it the
+authority of command.  A moment, heedless of the scowling, painted
+faces all about, the slight figure stood erect and firm, the dark eyes
+bearing witness to his earnestness, and never wavering from Naladi's
+scornful face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Woman," he said calmly, even as I imagine Christ may have spoken of
+old, "release this prisoner, and make thy peace with God."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She endeavored to laugh mockingly, yet only a hollow semblance came
+from between her white lips.  "Pah!" she cried nervously, "you speak
+bravely; pray, who gave you authority to give orders to the Daughter of
+the Sun?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One greater than the Sun, woman," he answered.  "I speak to you in the
+name of Jesus of Nazareth, and by authority of the Holy Catholic
+Church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She leaned yet farther forward, as though seeking to penetrate the
+shadow concealing his face, a perceptible tremor apparent in her voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who are you?  Answer me!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am called Father Ignatius, a priest of the Order of Jesuits."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what do you suppose I care for your Romish orders?  They have no
+power here; a single wave of my hand would condemn you to the place of
+yonder slaves."  Her color rose in the wave of passion, sweeping fear
+aside.  "I have nothing but hatred for your black robe, and your
+interference only intensifies my purpose.  Mark you now what I say; if
+it be the will of my people to put this cringing French woman to the
+torture, I lift not so much as a finger to change her fate.  More,
+because of your insolence I give you also into their hands.  We take no
+orders from the Church of Rome."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your people!" the words rang forth with such clearness as almost to
+bring me to my feet.  "You foul fiend of hell, do you think thus to
+impose your vile imposture on me?  I fear neither your power nor the
+cruelty of your savage satellites.  My life is in the hands of my
+Master, who will give me strength to mock your torture.  Two months ago
+I was bound to a stake in the valley below.  Ask these fiends, who do
+your bidding, whether I shrank back in terror, or made outcry as the
+flame ate into my flesh.  Gaze on these stumps blackened by fire, and
+learn how I value your threats.  Peace, woman, and no longer mock the
+faith of your childhood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My childhood?  You know nothing of that!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do I not?  Look upon my face, and judge."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He flung back his cowl, and the light fell full upon his countenance.
+Upon the silence broke a sharp cry, in which fear and surprise were
+strangely blended:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"André Lafossier!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Right, woman; you have not forgotten.  Sunk as you are in shame and
+evil deeds, conscience yet lives and haunts you.  What do I know of
+you?  Enough to justify calling you joint heir with all the fiends of
+hell, unless, like the thief on the Cross, repentance make white your
+black soul.  Yet, 'tis in my heart that yours is the sin against the
+Spirit for which there is no forgiveness.  Nothing in your face tells
+me of an awakening soul.  You are a Queen, you say?  Ay, of evil, of
+devils incarnate.  I would rather be this poor woman bound to the stake
+than you upon a throne.  Do your worst with us, but know that André
+Lafossier has nothing for you save disgust; still, as priest of Holy
+Church, I hold open the door of salvation through Jesus Christ."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Evidences of struggle marked Naladi's face, yet by now she had
+outwardly conquered the first shock of recognition, and stood a cold,
+stately statue, with glittering eyes on the slender figure of the
+priest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I care as little for your Romish mummery," she said sneeringly, "as I
+do for the senseless rites of these savages.  But I am glad it is you I
+have in my power.  If I am the queen of devils, they serve me well.
+You are to die, André Lafossier.  I might have spared you had you kept
+your tongue, but after those words you die.  I shall stand here and
+mock you to the last breath.  You say I have no soul; to-night you
+shall know it true while I laugh at your agony."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She paused as if seeking to mark the effect of her words, but the
+<I>père</I> merely stooped slightly, whispering some message of comfort into
+the ear of Eloise.  Then he stood erect again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you will, woman; to die for Christ is gain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The face of Naladi, which had been pale and drawn, flushed, her eyes
+fairly blazing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So you dare mock me, you hireling priest!" she hissed.  "'T is not for
+long; I am no snivelling French girl, afraid of blood.  And now I give
+you a taste of my power."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the words fell from her thin lips, she flung up one hand, exhibiting
+with a peculiar gesture a glittering metallic substance shining in the
+light.  It must have been a signal for unrestrained sacrifice, for it
+was greeted with fierce howls of delight, the savage herd pressing in
+upon the prisoners, so that I lost sight of them an instant in the
+crush.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wait, woman!" rose the priest's voice above the uproar.  "I admit your
+power here to take physical life; I expect no mercy from such as you.
+But, if you be not lost to all shame, grant me one favor, Marie
+Fousard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A moment of time in which I may give absolution to this child of God
+before we die."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pish! is that all?  Go on with your fool mummery.  I will hold back
+the savages till that be done, though the sight of it will but anger
+them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Eloise had sunk down against the altar, with face buried in her hands.
+The <I>père</I> dropped upon his knees beside her.  About them surged the
+glistening forms of the savages, maddened with blood-lust, but Naladi
+clapped her hands, with voice and gesture bidding them wait her further
+word.  An instant they swayed passionately back and forth, their
+fanatical priests clamoring in opposition to this halting of vengeance.
+Then Naladi shook loose her hair, permitting its wealth to fall in a
+golden-red shower, until it veiled her from head to foot.  The silenced
+crowd stared as if in worship of the supernatural.  I know not what she
+said, uplifting her white arms from out that red-gold canopy, yet I can
+guess.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Natchez, I dare you to disobey the Daughter of the Sun!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Swept by a superstition stronger than hate, they flung themselves at
+her feet, prostrating their faces to the rock, grovelling like worms,
+heedless of all except her presence and her supremacy.  She was a
+goddess, one whose will was destruction.  Gazing down upon them,
+conscious of her power, her thin lips smiled in contempt.  'T was so I
+saw her last; so I shall always picture her in memory&mdash;a motionless,
+statuesque figure, covered with a veil of red-gold hair, her eyes like
+diamonds, her bare, white arms gleaming, her lips curved in proud
+disdain; a queen of savages, a high priestess of Hell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sudden cessation of noise was awesome, uncanny.  It rendered
+manifest the ceaseless roar of thunder without.  Directly in front of
+me yawned the cave entrance, plainly illuminated by vivid lightning.
+Dreadful as was the spectacle, it yielded me a flash of hope&mdash;here
+opportunity pointed a path of escape.  With no pause for thought I
+whirled to arouse the Puritan, every nerve a-tingle with desperation.
+His deep-set eyes glowed like two coals, his square jaw projecting like
+that of a fighting bulldog.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Cairnes," I muttered, almost heedless of what I said in the necessity
+for haste.  "If we could attain the tree-bridge, we might hold the
+devils.  See! the way is clear!  What say you to the trial?  Will you
+bear the priest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His grip tightened about the war-club, as he half rose to his feet like
+a maddened bear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saints of Israel! yes," he growled, "the Jesuit is a man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then come!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With one leap I was upon the floor; almost at the same second he landed
+beside me.  Twice I struck savagely at some obstructing figure, and in
+five strides was at the side of Eloise.  One shrill cry of warning from
+the lips of Naladi echoed through the chamber, and was answered by the
+yell of the warriors.  I was already clasping Eloise against my breast,
+and speeding toward the opening.  Not a savage stood between, and now,
+all hope centred upon the desperate race, I dashed forward down the
+rocky path, rendered hideous by the lightning.  All the fires of hell
+seemed swirling about us, writhing serpents of flame leaping from the
+sky, while fierce crashes of thunder echoed from rock to rock.  I
+scarcely heard or saw.  Below yawned the abyss, black with night; above
+stretched solid, overhanging stone, painted by green and yellow flames.
+I realized nothing except that ribbon of a path, the need of haste, the
+white, upturned face in my arms.  God! was ever such a race as that run
+before?  Did ever men dash headlong over such a path of death?  No one
+need ask how it was done; how speeding feet clung to the narrow rock.
+I know not; I never knew.  Twice I stumbled, sobbing in despair, yet
+ran on like a madman.  Under the glare of the lightning I leaped
+downward where I had crept in climbing; protruding splinters of rock
+tore my clothes, bruised my body; my forehead dripped with
+perspiration, my breath came panting, yet I ran still, her form crushed
+against my breast.  I shudder now in the recollection; then I scarcely
+knew.  Ahead loomed black the tree-bridge; but I recall no shrinking
+fear, only exultation, as I bore down recklessly upon it.  It must be
+crossed, upright, swiftly, with no thought of the yawning depth.  If
+death came we should go down together.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eloise, steady me with hand against the cliff," I panted, and stepped
+forth boldly upon the trunk.  My moccasoned feet gripped the rough bark
+firmly, yet I swayed horribly under my burden, as I footed the
+treacherous way.  Again and again I felt myself swaying wildly, yet
+some power held us, until, at last, I stood on solid rock, utterly
+unable to essay another yard.  Panting for breath, my arms yet clasping
+the motionless figure of Eloise, I glanced backward in apprehension.  I
+could perceive Cairnes footing the log, the head of the priest showing
+black and distinct above his broad shoulder; beyond, a medley of dark
+figures appeared to dance dizzily along the cliff face.  I staggered to
+my knees.  With a growl of relief the Puritan dropped his burden.  The
+next instant he had one great shoulder under the tree root.  Heaving
+with all his mighty strength he slowly moved the great trunk, and I saw
+it topple over into the abyss; I saw his burly figure tottering on the
+very brink&mdash;then one awful flash lit up the sky, so blinding me that I
+sank face downward on the rock.  The cliff shook as if riven from crest
+to valley, a single peal of thunder reverberating like the report of a
+thousand guns.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap37"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+I may have lost consciousness; I do not know.  That awful glare, the
+thunderous report, the speechless terror of feeling myself a mere pygmy
+in the midst of such tremendous convulsions of nature, shocked me into
+momentary insensibility.  I lay huddled against the rock like a man
+dead, one arm yet clasping the motionless form of Eloise.  Stunned,
+unable to move a muscle, I believed death had overtaken us all; that
+out from the very heavens a bolt had stricken us down.  I struggled
+painfully to arouse myself, every nerve in my body appearing paralyzed.
+At first I could not even see, but light came back gradually to my
+blinded eyes, and I staggered to my feet, slowly adjusting my mind to
+the situation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I began to understand then what had happened&mdash;that deadly bolt had
+smitten the cliff as by the wrath of God, yet I was spared.  I still
+lived, as by a miracle.  I stared across the chasm and up the steep
+ascent beyond, still clearly revealed in the lightning flashes.  It was
+vacant; not a human form stood where those pursuing savages had been.
+A cry burst from my lips as I gazed&mdash;a vast, irregular gash showed
+clearly in the cliff face, but where the entrance to the cave had
+yawned was a solid front of rock.  I staggered with the shock, reeling
+on the very edge of the path, and barely saved myself by dropping to my
+knees.  Again I looked, half believing my brain crazed, that I beheld
+visions.  As God guards me, it was true!  Out of the very heavens He
+had struck, sealing those fiends into a living tomb.  Trembling like a
+frightened child, I bowed my face and sobbed as I prayed for mercy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I know not how long I lay unable for either thought or action.  But at
+last I was upon my knees again, creeping forward to where a black
+figure lay at the very edge of the chasm, one arm dangling over the
+brink.  I drew the inert body back to safety, peering down into the
+white face of the priest.  My touch seemed to arouse him into
+consciousness, his dark eyes staring up into my face.  I helped him to
+sit up and lean back against the wall.  An instant he gazed about
+wildly, like one suddenly awakened from sound sleep, then hid his face
+in his hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Puritan&mdash;" I questioned&mdash;"the man who bore you here&mdash;what happened
+to him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shuddered, and pointed into the black abyss.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
+his friends,'" he quoted solemnly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He went down?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He bowed his head silently, his fingers searching for his crucifix.  I
+sat staring at him, crushed into helplessness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a few moments I felt the pressure of his fingers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Lord hath preserved us as by fire," he said in low, solemn tone,
+"He hath ridden upon the flaming skies in his chariot, accompanied by
+angels and archangels.  'T is ours to bless His holy name."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I gazed into the rapt, boyish face, and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On my knees have I already acknowledged His mercy.  I am not
+ungrateful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The troubled countenance brightened with a quick smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"God is most good," he murmured; "He hath spared us that we may
+continue to honor Him, and do His work.  The woman&mdash;does she also live?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The question brought me instantly to my feet, wondering how I could
+have neglected her so long.  But before I could advance to where she
+lay, she sat partially up, her face turned toward us.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eloise," I cried, the heart joy apparent in my voice.  "Good God!  I
+had forgotten."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She held forth her hand, her eyes smiling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hold that not strange," she answered, the soft voice faltering
+slightly.  "I saw you groping like a blind man, yet could neither move
+nor speak.  I lay helpless as if paralyzed.  Tell me what has happened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I held her hand, falling upon my knees beside her, my eyes searching
+her sweet face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A lightning bolt smote the cliff," I explained rapidly, "rending the
+solid rock.  Master Cairnes was hurled headlong into the chasm, and our
+pursuers were swept from the path.  The very mouth of the cavern has
+been forever sealed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The cavern?" as if stifled, her eyes opening wide.  "They&mdash;they are
+buried alive?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I doubt if any lived to know," I answered soberly.  "'T is likely
+those within were crushed to death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She dropped her face into her hands, sobbing hysterically.  Unable to
+speak, I bowed my head until it touched her shoulder.  The crippled
+priest crept toward us, forgetful of his own pain in the call of duty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Daughter," he said tenderly, stroking her brown hair with his slender
+fingers, "to live or die is as Christ wills.  The Lord gave, the Lord
+hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Be of good comfort,
+remembering these words of promise, 'Lo!  I am with you alway, even
+unto the end of the world.'"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked up through the mist of her tears, first into his face, then
+into mine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have passed through much," she confessed simply, "yet 'tis not the
+spirit but the body which has become weakened.  Forgive me, both of
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Brave heart!" I echoed, caring nothing for the presence of the father.
+"No woman ever upbore grievous burden better.  If we rest first, you
+will regain courage to go on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Both her hands were resting trustfully in my own.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With you," she acknowledged softly.  "In all confidence with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We sat there until the coming of dawn, speaking only seldom, our very
+thoughts holding us silent.  Occasionally I could feel Eloise's hand
+touch mine as if she sought thus to be reassured of my presence, and I
+could distinguish an inarticulate murmur from the priest's lips, as if
+he continually counted his beads in prayer.  The glare of lightning
+gradually ceased, the storm passing away to the westward with distant
+reverberations.  Yet clouds overcast the skies, leaving the early
+morning hours dark and cheerless.  With the first faint glow of day
+lighting the pathway, I stood up, dizzy at viewing the awful abyss
+below our narrow shelf.  We could perceive now more plainly the
+terrific havoc wrought above, but our eyes turned away from it in
+horror.  We must linger there no longer, but press forward with
+whatever of courage remained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must ask you to attempt to walk alone, Eloise," I said regretfully,
+"as I must bear the <I>père</I>, whose limbs are crippled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her startled eyes were filled with womanly sympathy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Crippled?  Was it done last night in the storm?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, a month ago; he was tortured at the stake in the village below.
+Ever since then he has been held prisoner for sacrifice."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not worry, daughter; my wounds are not worthy your tears," broke in
+the soft voice; "they are but a small part of my debt to Him who
+perished upon the cross.  Yet I think I might manage to walk, Monsieur,
+without assistance.  Surely, with God's help, I can master the pain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Make no attempt," I said; "your slight figure will prove no burden to
+me.  It was of Eloise I thought."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then do so in that way no longer," she burst forth eagerly.  "I have
+been trouble enough to you, Geoffrey.  I will not consent to remain
+helpless.  See!  I can stand alone&mdash;ay, and walk; even this great
+height does not render my head dizzy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We advanced slowly and cautiously down the path, feeling yet the
+exhaustion of the night.  The way proved less difficult than we
+expected.  The tunnel was by far the hardest portion, as we were
+compelled to grope the entire distance through intense darkness,
+guiding ourselves with hands against the wall.  Having little fear that
+any of the tribe remained to dispute our passage, we conversed freely
+and cheerfully, avoiding all unnecessary reference to the recent
+tragedy.  We emerged from the dark hole somewhat before noon, making
+use of the entrance leading through the altar-house.  The sight of the
+deserted platform reminded us of the Puritan, and as I glanced aside at
+Eloise, her gray eyes were filled with tears.  A fire smouldered on the
+altar, waiting replenishment from hands that would labor no more; and
+we gladly hurried from the gloomy interior to the sunlit slope without.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The desolate, deserted village presented a scene of loneliness
+impossible to describe; not a figure was moving among the huts, no sign
+of life anywhere.  We discovered an abundance of food, and partook of
+it in the open.  Eloise appeared unwilling to accompany me, so I went
+alone to explore the mystery of Naladi's house, leaving her assiduously
+ministering to the needs of the priest.  My search was rewarded by the
+discovery of my lost rifle, with what remained of ammunition, together
+with a variety of feminine garments with which to replace those sadly
+soiled and tattered ones Madame wore.  The desire was in the hearts of
+us all to get away as soon as possible, to put behind us that desolate
+spot, those deserted houses, and the haunting cliff.  The <I>père</I> had
+constructed, during my absence, a pair of rude crutches for his use;
+and, so soon as Eloise had more becomingly clothed herself, we
+departed, bearing such provisions as we could conveniently carry.  With
+the gun in my possession, I expected no great shortness in the food
+supply.  Madame carried it at first, however, as we made swifter
+progress by my taking the father on my shoulder.  He was no great
+burden, his weight scarcely more than that of a child.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In this manner we tramped steadily forward through the bright sunshine,
+along canals filled with clear, cool water, and across fields no longer
+tilled by slaves, until we discovered the secret path which led forth
+from this death valley.  A moment we paused, glancing back toward the
+village, and up at the frowning front of rock, the tomb of the Natchez.
+Then silently, soberly, as befitted those who had witnessed an act of
+God, we pressed on into the labyrinth, shutting out forever that scene,
+except as a hideous memory.  To me the change was like entering upon a
+new world; I was a prisoner released, breathing once again the clear
+air of hope and manhood.  Burdened as we were, the passage through the
+tangled cedars to where the stream flowed down the canyon proved one of
+severe exertion.  When we finally attained the outer rocks, with the
+sullen roar of the falls just below, I was breathing heavily from
+exhaustion, and a flush had come back into Eloise's pale cheeks.  Very
+gladly I deposited the priest in a position of comfort, and the three
+of us rested in silence, gazing about upon the wilderness scene.  We
+had spoken little to each other regarding the future; under the
+depressing influence of that dread valley we felt incapable of thought,
+our minds yet dazed by the tragic events we had experienced.  Even now
+I constantly saw before me the faces of Cairnes and De Noyan, scarcely
+able to banish their memory long enough to face intelligently the
+requirements of the present.  Yet now it must be done.  The <I>père</I> sat,
+with crutches lying across his rusty black robe, his girlish features
+softened by a look of infinite peace; Eloise leaned against the rock in
+a posture of weariness, her bosom rising and falling with tumultuous
+breathing.  I recalled to mind the leagues of desolate wilderness yet
+to be traversed.  Possibly I indulged unconsciously in outward
+expression, for the priest gazed across at me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The sun is still sufficiently high for considerable travel, my son,"
+he remarked quietly, "and you will require daylight for the earlier
+part of your journey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was upon my mind, but I scarcely knew how best to proceed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly my experience may guide you.  The way should not prove unduly
+fatiguing after you pass the falls," with a wave of the hand downward,
+and a slight smile.  "I wandered here alone up that valley, seeking the
+Indian village somewhat blindly, discovering much of interest on the
+way.  Would that my own future path led me through such ease; but 'tis
+mine to go whithersoever the Lord wills.  However, my discoveries will
+be of value.  Slightly below the falls, concealed beneath an
+outcropping rock, you will find several stanch Indian boats.  The
+lightest one will transport safely the two of you, together with what
+provisions you require.  The current runs swiftly, yet a strong,
+skilful hand on the steering oar should bring you through without
+mishap."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We both stared at him, greatly puzzled by his strange speech.  Eloise
+was first to speak in protest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean by two of us?  Do you deem us dastards enough to
+leave you here alone?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He smiled into her face with the tender smile of a woman, and held up
+his shining silver crucifix.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Daughter," he said modestly, "my work is not yet done.  Upon this
+symbol I took solemn oath to live and die in faithful service to the
+heathen tribes of this river.  Would you have me retreat in cowardice?
+Would you have me false to the vows of my Order? to the voice of the
+Master?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you are crippled, helpless, in continual pain!"  She crossed
+hastily to him, dropping upon her knees at his side.  "Oh, <I>père</I>, we
+cannot leave you; it would mean death."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His slender fingers stroked her brown hair, his eyes alight with the
+fire of enthusiasm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Whether or not I am worthy of martyrdom, God knows.  All I see is my
+plain duty, and the beckoning hand of the bleeding Christ.  Daughter,
+you are a child of the true Church; your pleading should never retard
+the labor of the priesthood.  My suffering is nothing, my life nothing,
+if only through such sacrifice souls may be rescued from the consuming
+flames of hell."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She could not speak, but sobbed, her face hidden.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where do you go seeking other tribes?" I asked hoarsely, scarcely
+believing his words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He arose with difficulty to his feet, holding himself erect on the rude
+crutches.  I noticed now, for the first time, a bag of woven grass
+hanging at his girdle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yonder, Monsieur, to the westward," a new dignity in his manner as he
+pointed up the narrow canyon.  "There are tribes a few days' journey
+away.  I have learned of them, without being told their names.  To
+such, under God, I bear my message of salvation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you will starve on the journey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I carry food here," touching the bag.  "It will suffice; if not, there
+are berries and roots in abundance.  My Master has always fed me in the
+wilderness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+What more could I say or do to change his purpose?  It was a girlish
+face fronting me, yet the thin lips were pressed tightly together, the
+dark eyes fearless and resolute.  I laid my hand on Eloise's shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It must be as he says," I acknowledged regretfully.  "We can but
+depart."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She arose slowly to her feet, her eyes still sadly pleading.  The
+<I>père</I> gazed questioningly into both our faces, the rigid lines of his
+mouth softening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My daughter," he said, in calm dignity, "we of a desert priesthood are
+ordained unto strange duties, and unusual privileges.  Do you love this
+man?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A wave of color surged into her cheeks, as she gave one rapid glance
+aside into my face.  Then she answered in all simplicity:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, <I>père</I>, from childhood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Resting upon his crutch, he touched her with his hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yet he who perished yonder was your husband.  How came you thus to
+marry, with your heart elsewhere?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was the desire of my father, and the will of the Church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He bowed his head, his lips moving in silent prayer for guidance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then the will of the Church hath been done," he said humbly.  "Here in
+the wilderness we perform the will of God, untrammelled by the councils
+of men.  'T is my dispensation to bury the dead, baptize the living,
+and join in marriage those of one heart.  It is not meet that you two
+journey together except with the solemn sanction of Holy Church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My pulses throbbed, yet I could only look at her, as she stood
+trembling, her eyes downcast, her cheeks burning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But&mdash;but, <I>père</I>, will it be right?" she faltered faintly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let the dead past bury its dead," he answered gravely.  "I hold it
+right in the name of Christ, from whom I derive authority.  Geoffrey
+Benteen, take within your own the hand of this woman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+'T is but a dream, our standing there together in the sun; a dream,
+those words of the marriage rite spoken by him in the desolation and
+silence of the desert.  We knelt together upon the stones, hand
+clasping hand, while above our bowed heads were uplifted the priest's
+thin, white hands in benediction.  Whether or not in that hour André
+Lafossier exceeded his authority I cannot tell.  In heart we were
+joined of God; our union has never been questioned of man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We stood there watching, longing to prevent the sacrifice, as he moved
+away from us slowly upon his crutches.  It was a pitiful sight, that
+slender figure, in frayed, tattered black robe, going forward alone,
+and in agony, to death or torture.  It was in my heart to cry after
+him, but she understood far better the mighty motive of his sacrifice,
+and restrained me with uplifted hand.  Far up the canyon, he paused a
+moment and glanced back.  The distance already veiled his face, but up
+into the sunlight he lifted the silver crucifix.  Then he
+disappeared&mdash;to endure his fate in Christ's name.  Then, hand in hand
+and heart to heart, our voices silent, Eloise and I went down into the
+valley to where the boats lay.  The dead past was behind us; the future
+was our own.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+THE END
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Prisoners of Chance, by Randall Parrish
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Prisoners of Chance, by Randall Parrish
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Prisoners of Chance
+       The Story of What Befell Geoffrey Benteen, Borderman,
+       through His Love for a Lady of France
+
+Author: Randall Parrish
+
+Illustrator: The Kinneys
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #17856]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISONERS OF CHANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: I could merely clasp the hands she gave so unreservedly
+into my keeping, gaze into the depths of her dark eyes, and murmur a
+few broken words of confidence and farewell.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PRISONERS OF CHANCE
+
+THE STORY OF WHAT BEFELL GEOFFREY BENTEEN, BORDERMAN, THROUGH HIS LOVE
+FOR A LADY OF FRANCE
+
+
+
+BY
+
+RANDALL PARRISH
+
+
+
+
+
+Author of "When Wilderness was King," "My Lady of the North," "Bob
+Hampton of Placer," etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATED IN FULL COLOR BY THE KINNEYS
+
+
+
+
+CHICAGO
+
+A. C. McCLURG & CO.
+
+1908
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT
+
+A. C. McCLURG & CO.
+
+1908
+
+
+
+Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
+
+
+All rights reserved
+
+
+Published March 28, 1908
+
+
+
+THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+      I  THE REQUEST FOR AID
+     II  A PERILOUS VENTURE
+    III  A VISIT TO THE FLAG-SHIP
+     IV  WE HOLD A COUNCIL OF WAR
+      V  ON THE DECK OF THE "SANTA MARIA"
+     VI  THE ROLE OF PERE CASSATI
+    VII  THE CHEVALIER DE NOYAN
+   VIII  FAVORED OF THE GODS
+     IX  THE BIRTH OF THE DEATH-DAWN
+      X  A COVERT IN THE CANE
+     XI  A NIGHT IN THE BOAT
+    XII  WE LAND AN ODD FISH
+   XIII  WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT
+    XIV  THE MOUTH OF THE ARKANSAS
+     XV  A PASSAGE AT ARMS
+    XVI  WE CHANGE OUR COURSE
+   XVII  WE MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT
+  XVIII  A HARD DAY'S MARCH
+    XIX  DEMON, OR WHAT?
+     XX  BACKS TO THE WALL
+    XXI  THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ
+   XXII  PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE
+  XXIII  THE VOTE OF DEATH
+   XXIV  THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN
+    XXV  A VISITANT FROM THE SUN
+   XXVI  THE CHRONICLES OF THE NATCHEZ
+  XXVII  A VENTURE IN THE DARK
+ XXVIII  SPEECH WITH NALADI
+   XXIX  IN AND OUT THE SHADOW
+    XXX  UNDERGROUND
+   XXXI  WE MOUNT THE CLIFF
+  XXXII  CHIEF PRIEST OF THE SUN
+ XXXIII  PERE ANDRE LAFOSSIER
+  XXXIV  THE TALE OF THE PRIEST
+   XXXV  NIGHT AND THE SAVAGES
+  XXXVI  THE INTERFERENCE OF THE JESUIT
+ XXXVII  THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+I could merely clasp the hands she gave so unreservedly into my
+keeping, gaze into the depths of her dark eyes, and murmur a few broken
+words of confidence and farewell. . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+Had I ventured upon a smile at his predicament he would have popped
+instantly forth again.
+
+"I am the Daughter of the Sun.  These are my children, given unto me by
+the great Sun-god. . . .  None of white blood may set foot in this
+valley and live."
+
+The woman stood gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to her
+feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric followers
+cast their light full upon her.
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+The manuscript of this tale has been in my possession several years.
+It reached me through natural lines of inheritance, but remained nearly
+forgotten, until a chance reading revealed a certain historic basis;
+then, making note of correspondences in minor details, I realized that
+what I had cast aside as mere fiction might possess a substantial
+foundation of fact.  Impelled by this conviction, I now submit the
+narrative to public inspection, that others, better fitted than I, may
+judge as to the worth of this Geoffrey Benteen.
+
+According to the earlier records of Louisiana Province, Geoffrey
+Benteen was, during his later years, a resident of La Petite Rocher, a
+man of note and character among his fellows.  There he died in old age,
+leaving no indication of the extent of his knowledge, other than what
+is to be found in the yellowed pages of his manuscript; and these
+afford no evidence that this "Gentleman Adventurer" possessed any
+information derived from books regarding those relics of a prehistoric
+people, which are widely scattered throughout the Middle and Southern
+States of the Union and constitute the grounds on which our century has
+applied to the race the term "Mound Builders."
+
+Apparently in all simplicity and faithfulness he recorded merely what
+he saw and heard.  Later research, antedating his death, has seemingly
+proven that in the extinct Natchez tribe was to be found the last
+remnant of that mysterious and unfortunate race.
+
+Who were the Mound Builders?  No living man may answer.  Their
+history--strange, weird, mysterious--stretches backward into the dim
+twilight before tradition, its sole remaining record graven upon the
+surface of the earth, vaguely guessed at by those who study graves;
+their pathetic ending has long been pictured in our country's story as
+occurring amid the shadows of that dreadful midnight upon the banks of
+the Ocatahoola, when vengeful Frenchmen put them to the sword.  Whence
+they came, whether from fabled Atlantis, or the extinct Aztec empire of
+the South, no living tongue can tell; whither fled their remnant,--if
+remnant there was left to flee,--and what proved its ultimate fate, no
+previous pen has written.  Out from the darkness of the unknown,
+scarcely more than spectral figures, they came, wrote their single line
+upon the earth's surface, and vanished, kings and people alike sinking
+into speechless oblivion.
+
+That Geoffrey Benteen witnessed the tragic ending of this strange
+people I no longer question; for I have compared his narrative with all
+we moderns have learned regarding them, as recorded in the pages of
+Parkman, Charlevoix, Du Pratz, and Duponceau, discovering nothing to
+awaken the slightest suspicion that he dealt with other than what he
+saw.  More, I have traced with exactitude the route these fugitives
+followed in their flight northward, and, although the features of the
+country are greatly altered by settlements of nearly two hundred years,
+one may easily discern evidence of this man's honesty.  For me it is
+enough to feel that I have stood beside the massive tomb of this
+mysterious people--a people once opulent and powerful, the warriors of
+forgotten battle-fields, the builders of lost civilizations, the
+masters of that imperial domain stretching from the Red River of the
+North to the sea-coast of the Carolinas; a people swept backward as by
+the wrath of the Infinite, scourged by famine, decimated by pestilence,
+warred against by flame, stricken by storm, torn asunder by vengeful
+enemies, until a weakened remnant, harassed by the French sword, fled
+northward in the night to fulfil the fate ordained of God, and finally
+perished amid the gloomy shadows of the grim Ozarks, bequeathing to the
+curious future neither a language nor a name.
+
+But this I leave with Geoffrey Benteen, and turn to my own simpler
+task, a review of the peculiar circumstances leading up to this
+narrative, involving a brief chapter from the records of our Southwest.
+
+The early history of the Province of Louisiana is so complicated by
+rapid changes in government as to confuse the student, rendering it
+extremely difficult to comprehend correctly the varied and conflicting
+interests--aristocratic, official, and commercial--actuating her
+pioneer colonists.  The written records, so far as translated and
+published, afford only a faint reflection of the varied characteristics
+of her peculiar, changing population.  The blue-eyed Arcadian of her
+western plateaus, yet dreaming upon his more northern freedom; the
+royalist planter of the Mississippi bottoms, proud of those broad acres
+granted him by letters-patent of the King; the gay, volatile,
+passionate Creole of the town, one day a thoughtless lover of pleasure,
+the next a truculent wielder of the sword; the daring smugglers of
+Barataria, already rapidly drifting into open defiance of all legal
+restraint; together with the quiet market gardeners of the
+_Cote-des-Allemands_, formed a heterogeneous population impossible to
+please and extremely difficult to control.
+
+Varied as were these types, yet there were others, easy to name, but
+far more difficult to classify in their political relationships--such
+as priests of the Capuchin order; scattered representatives of Britain;
+sailors from ships ever swinging to the current beside the levee;
+sinewy backwoodsmen from the wilds of the Blue Ridge; naked savages
+from Indian villages north and east; raftsmen from the distant waters
+of the Ohio and Illinois, scarcely less barbarian than those with
+redder skin; Spaniards from the Gulf islands, together with a negro
+population, part slave, part free, nearly equal in point of numbers to
+all the rest.
+
+And over all who was the master?
+
+It would have been difficult at times to tell, so swiftly did change
+follow change--Crozat, Law, Louis the Fifteenth, Charles the Third,
+each had his turn; flag succeeded flag upon the high staff which, ever
+since the days of Bienville, had ornamented the Place d'Armes, while
+great merchants of Europe played the occupants of thrones for the
+bauble of this far western province, whose heart, nevertheless,
+remained forever faithful to sunny France.
+
+As late as 1768 New Orleans contained scarcely more than three thousand
+two hundred persons, a third of these being black slaves.  Sixty-three
+years previously Bienville had founded Louisiana Province, making
+choice of the city site, but in 1763 it suited the schemes of him, who
+ruled the destinies of the mother country, to convey the yet struggling
+colony into the control of the King of Spain.  It was fully two years
+later before word of this unwelcome transfer reached the distant
+province, while as much more time elapsed ere Don Antonio de Ulloa, the
+newly appointed Spanish governor, landed at New Orleans, and, under
+guard of but two companies of infantry, took unto himself the reins.
+Unrest was already in the air,--petitions and delegations laden with
+vehement protests crossed the Atlantic.  Both were alike returned,
+disregarded by the French King.  Where it is probable that a single
+word of wise counsel, even of kindly explanation, might have calmed the
+rising tumult, silence and contempt merely served to aggravate it.
+
+It has been written by conscientious historians that commercial
+interests, not loyalty to French traditions, were the real cause of
+this struggle of 1768.  Be that as it may, its leaders were found in
+the Superior Council, a body of governors older even than New Orleans,
+of which the patriotic Lafreniere was then the presiding officer, and
+whose membership contained such representative citizens as Foucault,
+Jean and Joseph Milhet, Caresse, Petit, Poupet, a prominent lawyer.
+Marquis, a Swiss captain, with Bathasar de Masan, Hardy de Boisblanc,
+and Joseph Villere, planters of the upper Mississippi, as well as two
+nephews of the great Bienville, Charles de Noyan, a young ex-captain of
+cavalry, lately married to the only daughter of Lafreniere, and his
+younger brother, a lieutenant in the navy.
+
+On the twenty-seventh of October, 1768, every Frenchman in Louisiana
+Province was marching toward New Orleans.  That same night the guns at
+the Tehoupitoulas Gate--the upper river corner--were spiked; while yet
+farther away, along a narrow road bordering the great stream, armed
+with fowling pieces, muskets, even axes, the Arcadians, and the aroused
+inhabitants of the German coast, came sweeping down to unite with the
+impatient Creoles of the town.  In the dull gray of early morning they
+pushed past the spiked and useless cannon, and, with De Noyan and
+Villere at their head, forced the other gates and noisily paraded the
+streets under the _fleur de lis_.  The people rose _en masse_ to greet
+them, until, utterly unable to resist the rising tide of popular
+enthusiasm, Ulloa retired on board the Spanish frigate, which slipped
+her cables, and came to anchor far out in the stream.  Two days later,
+hurried no doubt by demands of the council, the governor set sail for
+the West Indies, leaving the fair province under control of what was
+little better than a headless mob.
+
+For now, having achieved success, the strange listlessness of the
+Southern nature reasserted itself, and from that moment no apparent
+effort was made to strengthen their position--no government was
+established, no basis of credit effected, no diplomatic relations were
+assumed.  They had battled for results like men, yet were content to
+play with them like children.  For more than seven months they thus
+enjoyed a false security, as delightful as their sunny summer-time.
+Then suddenly, as breaks an ocean storm, that slumbering community was
+rudely aroused from its siestas and day-dreaming by the report that
+Spaniards were at the mouth of the river in overwhelming force.
+
+Confusion reigned on every hand; scarcely a hundred men rallied to
+defend the town; yet no one fled.  The Spanish fleet consisted of
+twenty-four vessels.  For more than three weeks they felt their
+uncertain way around the bends of the Mississippi, and on the
+eighteenth of August, 1769, furled their canvas before the silent
+batteries.  Firing a single gun from the deck of his flag-ship, the
+frigate "Santa Maria," Don Alexandro O'Reilly, accompanied by
+twenty-six hundred chosen Spanish troops and fifty pieces of artillery,
+landed, amid all the pomp of Continental war, taking formal possession
+of the province.  That night his soldiers patrolled the streets, and
+his cannon swept the river front, while not a Frenchman ventured to
+stray beyond the doorway of his home.
+
+Within the narrow space of two days the iron hand of Spain's new
+Captain-General had closed upon the leaders of the bloodless
+insurrection, his judgments falling with such severity as to earn for
+him in the annals of Louisiana the title of "Cruel O'Reilly."  Among
+those of the revolutionists before mentioned, Petit, Masan, Doucet,
+Boisblanc, Jean Milhet, and Poupet were consigned to Moro Castle,
+Havana, where they remained a year, and then were stripped of their
+property and forbidden ever again to enter the province of Louisiana.
+The younger Bienville escaped with the loss of his fortune.  Foucault
+met his fate resisting the guard on board the "Santa Maria," where he
+was held prisoner; while Lafreniere, De Noyan, Caresse, Marquis, and
+Joseph Milhet were condemned to be publicly hanged.  The earnest
+supplication, both of colonists and Spanish officials, shocked by the
+unjust severity of this sentence, sufficed to save them from the
+disgrace of the gallows, but fated them to fall before the volley of a
+file of grenadiers.
+
+With the firing of the sunset gun the evening of their last earthly
+day, the post-captain visited the condemned men, and spoke with each in
+turn; they numbered five.  All through the dark hours of that night
+heavily armed sentries stood in the narrow passageway before
+nail-studded doors, while each hour, as the ship's bell struck, the
+Commandant of Marine peered within each lighted apartment where rested
+five plainly outlined forms.  With the first gray of the dawn the
+unfortunate prisoners were mustered upon deck, but they numbered only
+four.  And four only, white faced, yet firm of step and clear of eye,
+stood an hour later with backs to the rising sun and hearts to the
+levelled rifles, and when the single volley had echoed and reechoed
+across the wide river, the white smoke slowly lifting and blown away
+above the trees, only four lifeless bodies lay closely pressed against
+the red-brick wall--the fifth condemned man was not there: _Chevalier
+Charles de Noyan had escaped his fate_.  Like a spirit had he vanished
+during those mysterious hours between midnight and dawn, leaving no
+trace of his going save a newly severed rope which hung dangling from a
+foreyard.
+
+But had he escaped?
+
+That morning--as we learn from private letters sent home by officers of
+the Spanish fleet--there came to the puzzled O'Reilly a report that in
+the dense blackness of that starless night a single boat sought to slip
+silently past beneath the deep shadows of the upper battery.  Unhalting
+in response to a hail of the sentry, a volley was hastily fired toward
+its uncertain outline, and, in the flare of the guns, the officer of
+the guard noted the black figure of a man leap high into air, and
+disappear beneath the dark surface of the river.  So it was the
+Captain-General wrote also the name "Charles de Noyan" with those of
+the other four, endorsing it with the same terse military record, "Shot
+at sunrise."
+
+Nor since that fateful hour has the world known otherwise, for,
+although strange rumors floated down the great river to be whispered
+about from lip to lip, and New Orleans wondered many a long month
+whither had vanished the fair young wife, the daughter of Lafreniere,
+yet no authentic message found its way out of the vast northern
+wilderness.  For nearly one hundred and fifty years history has
+accepted without question the testimony of the Spanish records.  The
+man who alone could tell the strange story was in old age impelled to
+do so by a feeling of sacred duty to the dead; and his papers,
+disarranged, ill-written, already yellowed by years, have fallen to my
+keeping.  I submit them without comment or change, save only as to the
+subdivision into chapters, with an occasional substitution for some
+old-time phrase of its more modern equivalent.  He who calls himself
+"Geoffrey Benteen, Gentleman Adventurer," shall tell his own tale.
+
+R. P.
+
+
+
+
+Prisoners of Chance
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE REQUEST FOR AID
+
+I am Geoffrey Benteen, Gentleman Adventurer, with much experience upon
+the border, where I have passed my life.  My father was that Robert
+Benteen, merchant in furs, the first of the English race to make
+permanent settlement in New Orleans.  Here he established a highly
+profitable trade with the Indians, his bateaux voyaging as far
+northward as the falls of the Ohio, while his influence among the
+tribesmen extended to the eastern mountains.  My mother was of Spanish
+blood, a native of Saint Augustine, so I grew up fairly proficient in
+three languages, and to them I later added an odd medley of tribal
+tongues which often stood me in excellent stead amid the vicissitudes
+of the frontier.  The early death of my mother compelled me to become
+companion to my father in his wanderings, so that before I was
+seventeen the dim forest trails, the sombre rivers, and the dark lodges
+of savages had grown as familiar to me as were the streets and houses
+of my native town.  Hence it happened, that when my father fell the
+victim of a treacherous blow, although he left to my care considerable
+property and a widely scattered trade, I could not easily content
+myself with the sameness of New Orleans; there I felt almost a
+stranger, ever hungering for the woods and the free life of the
+mountains.
+
+Yet I held myself to the work in hand until successful in straightening
+out the tangled threads, and might have remained engaged in peaceful
+traffic until the end of life, had it not been for a misunderstanding
+with her who held my heart in captivity to her slightest whim.  It
+matters little now the cause of the quarrel, or where rested the
+greater blame; enough that its occurrence drove me forth reckless of
+everything, desirous only to leave all of my own race, and seek amid
+savage environment and excitement forgetfulness of the past.
+
+It was in September of the year 1769--just forty-eight years ago as I
+write--that I found myself once again in New Orleans, feeling almost a
+stranger to the town, except for the few rough flatboat-men in company
+with whom I had floated down the great river.  Five years previously,
+heartsick and utterly careless of life, I had plunged into the
+trackless wilderness stretching in almost unbroken virginity to north
+and east, desiring merely to be left alone, that I might in solitude
+fight out my first grim battle with despair, saying to myself in all
+bitterness of soul that never again would I turn face to southward or
+enter the boundaries of Louisiana Province.  During those years, beyond
+reach of news and the tongue of gossip, I wandered aimlessly from
+village to village, ever certain of welcome within the lodges of Creeks
+and Shawnees, or farther away amid those little French border towns
+dotting the Ohio and the Illinois, constantly feeling how little the
+world held of value since both my parents were gone, and this last blow
+had fallen.  I loved the free, wild life of the warriors with whom I
+hunted, and the _voyageurs_ beside whom I camped, and had learned to
+distrust my own race; yet no sooner did I chance to stand again beside
+the sweeping current of the broad Mississippi, than I was gripped by
+the old irresistible yearning, and, although uninspired by either hope
+or purpose, drifted downward to the hated Creole town.
+
+I had left it a typical frontier French city, touched alike by the
+glamour of reflected civilization and the barbarism of savagery, yet
+ever alive with the gayety of that lively, changeable people; I
+returned, after those five years of burial in forest depths, to
+discover it under the harsh rule of Spain, and outwardly so quiet as to
+appear fairly deserted of inhabitants.  The Spanish ships of war--I
+counted nineteen--lay anchored in the broad river, their prows up
+stream, and the gloomy, black muzzles of their guns depressed so as to
+command the landing, while scarcely a French face greeted me along the
+streets, whose rough stone pavements echoed to the constant tread of
+armed soldiers.
+
+Spanish sentries were on guard at nearly every corner.  Not a few
+halted me with rough questioning, and once I was haled before an
+officer, who, hearing my story, and possibly impressed by my
+proficiency in his language, was kind enough to provide me with a pass
+good within the lines.  Yet it proved far from pleasant loitering
+about, as drunken soldiers, dressed in every variety of uniform,
+staggered along the narrow walks, ready to pick a quarrel with any
+stranger chancing their way, while groups of officers, gorgeous in
+white coats and gold lace, lounged in shaded corners, greeting each
+passer-by with jokes that stung.  Every tavern was crowded to the
+threshold with roistering blades whose drunken curses, directed against
+both French and English, quickly taught me the discretion of keeping
+well away from their company, so there was little left but to move on,
+never halting long enough in one place to become involved in useless
+controversy.
+
+It all appeared so unnatural that I felt strangely saddened by the
+change, and continued aimlessly drifting about the town as curiosity
+led, resolved to leave its confines at the earliest opportunity.  I
+stared long at the strange vessels of war, whose like I had never
+before seen, and finally, as I now remember, paused upon the ragged
+grass of the Place d'Armes, watching the evolutions of a battery of
+artillery.  This was all new to me, representing as it did a line of
+service seldom met with in the wilderness; and soon quite a number of
+curious loiterers gathered likewise along the edge of the parade.
+Among them I could distinguish a few French faces, with here and there
+a woman of the lower orders, ill clad and coarse of speech.  A party of
+soldiers, boisterous and quarrelsome from liquor, pressed me so closely
+that, hopeful of avoiding trouble, I drew farther back toward the curb,
+and standing thus, well away from others, enjoyed an unobstructed view
+across the entire field.
+
+The battery had hitched up preparatory to returning to their quarters
+before I lost interest in the spectacle and reluctantly turned away
+with the slowly dispersing crowd.  Just then I became aware of the
+close proximity of a well-dressed negro, apparently the favored servant
+in some family of quality.  The fellow was observing me with an
+intentness which aroused my suspicion.  That was a time and place for
+exercising extreme caution, so that instinctively I turned away, moving
+directly across the vacated field.  Scarcely had I taken ten steps
+before I saw that he was following, and as I wheeled to front him the
+fellow made a painful effort to address me in English.
+
+"Mornin', sah," he said, making a deep salutation with his entire body.
+"Am you dat Englisher Massa Benteen from up de ribber?"
+
+Leaning upon my rifle, I gazed directly at him in astonishment.  How,
+by all that was miraculous, did this strange black know my name and
+nationality?  His was a round face, filled with good humor; nothing in
+it surely to mistrust, yet totally unknown to me.
+
+"You speak correctly," I made reply, surprise evident in the tones of
+my voice.  "I have no reason to deny my name, which is held an honest
+one here in New Orleans.  How you learned it, however, remains a
+mystery, for I never looked upon your face before."
+
+"No, sah; I s'pects not, sah, 'cause I nebber yet hab been in dem dere
+parts, sah.  I was sent yere wid a most 'portant message fer Massa
+Benteen, an' I done reckon as how dat am you, sah."
+
+"An important message for me?  Surely, boy, you either mistake, or are
+crazy.  Yet stay!  Does it come from Nick Burton, the flatboat-man?"
+
+"No, sah; it am a lady wat sent me yere."
+
+He was excessively polite, exhibiting an earnestness which caused me to
+suspect his mission a grave one.
+
+"A lady?"
+
+I echoed the unexpected word, scarcely capable of believing the
+testimony of my own ears.  Yet as I did so my heart almost ceased its
+throbbing, while I felt the hot blood rush to my face.  That was an age
+of social gallantry; yet I was no gay courtier of the town, but a
+hunter of the woods, attired in rough habiliments, little fitted to
+attract the attention of womanly eyes amid the military glitter all
+about.
+
+A lady!  In the name of all the gods, what lady?  Even in the old days
+I enjoyed but a limited circle of acquaintance among women.  Indeed, I
+recalled only one in all the wide province of Louisiana who might
+justly be accorded so high an appellation even by a negro slave, and
+certainly she knew nothing of my presence in New Orleans, nor would she
+dream of sending for me if she did.  Convinced of this, I dismissed the
+thought upon the instant, with a smile.  The black must have made a
+mistake, or else some old-time acquaintance of our family, a forgotten
+friend of my mother perhaps, had chanced to hear of my return.
+Meanwhile the negro stood gazing at me with open mouth, and the sight
+of him partially restored my presence of mind.
+
+"Is she English, boy?"
+
+"No, sah, she am a French lady, sah, if ebber dar was one in dis hyar
+province.  She libs ober yonder in de Rue Dumaine, an' she said to me,
+'Yah, Alphonse, you follow dat dar young feller wid de long rifle under
+his arm an' de coon-skin cap, an' fotch him hyar to me!'  Dem am de
+bery words wat she done said, sah, when you went by our house a
+half-hour ago."
+
+"Is your mistress young or old?"
+
+The black chuckled, his round face assuming a good-natured grin.
+
+"Fo' de Lawd, Massa, but dat am jest de way wid all you white folks!"
+he ejaculated.  "If she was ol', an' wrinkled, an' fat, den dat settle
+de whole ting.  Jest don't want to know no mor'."
+
+"Well," I interrupted impatiently, "keep your moralizing to yourself
+until we become better acquainted, and answer my question--Is the woman
+young?"
+
+My tone was sufficiently stern to sober him, his black face
+straightening out as if it had been ironed.
+
+"Now, don't you go an' git cross, Massa Benteen, case a laugh don't
+nebber do nobody no hurt," he cried, shrinking back as if expecting a
+blow.  "But dat's jest wat she am, sah, an' a heap sweeter dan de
+vi'lets in de springtime, sah."
+
+"And she actually told you my name?"
+
+"Yas, sah, she did dat fer suah--'Massa Geoffrey Benteen, an Englisher
+from up de ribber,' dem was her bery words; but somehow I done
+disremember jest persactly de place."
+
+For another moment I hesitated, scarcely daring to utter the one vital
+question trembling on my lips.
+
+"But who is the lady?  What is her name?"  As I put the simple query I
+felt my voice tremble in spite of every effort to hold it firm.
+
+"Madame de Noyan, sah; one ob de bery first famblies.  Massa de Noyan
+am one ob de Bienvilles, sah."
+
+"De Noyan?  De Noyan?" I repeated the unfamiliar name over slowly, with
+a feeling of relief.  "Most certainly I never before heard other."
+
+"I dunno nothin' 'tall 'bout dat, Massa, but suah's you born dat am her
+name and Massa's; an' you is de bery man she done sent me after, fer I
+nebber onct took my eyes off you all dis time."
+
+There remained no reasonable doubt as to the fellow's sincerity.  His
+face was a picture of disinterested earnestness as he fronted me; yet I
+hesitated, eying him closely, half inclined to think him the
+unsuspecting representative of some rogue.  That was a time and place
+where one of my birth needed to practise caution; racial rivalry ran so
+high throughout all the sparsely settled province that any
+misunderstanding between an English stranger and either Frenchman or
+Spaniard was certain to involve serious results.  We of Northern blood
+were bitterly envied because of commercial supremacy.  I had, during my
+brief residence in New Orleans, witnessed jealous treachery on every
+hand.  This had taught me that enemies of my race were numerous, while,
+it was probable, not more than a dozen fellow-countrymen were then in
+New Orleans.  They would prove powerless were I to become involved in
+any quarrel.  Extreme caution under such conditions became a paramount
+duty, and it can scarcely be wondered at that I hesitated to trust the
+black, continuing to study the real purpose of his mysterious message.
+Yet the rare good-humor and simple interest of his face tended to
+reassure me.  A lady, he said--well, surely no great harm would result
+from such an interview; and if, as was probable, it should prove a mere
+case of mistaken identity, a correction could easily follow, and I
+should then be free to go my way.  On the other hand, if some friend
+really needed me, a question of duty was involved, which--God
+helping--I was never one to shun; for who could know in how brief a
+space I might also be asking assistance of some countryman.  This
+mysterious stranger, this Madame de Noyan of whom I had never heard,
+knew my name--possibly had learned it from another, some wandering
+Englishman, perchance, whom she would aid in trouble, some old-time
+friend in danger, who, afraid to reveal himself, now appealed through
+her instrumentality for help in a strange land.  Deciding to brave the
+doubt and solve the mystery by action, I flung the long rifle across my
+shoulder and stood erect.
+
+"All right, boy, lead on," I said shortly.  "I intend to learn what is
+behind this, and who it is that sends for me in New Orleans."
+
+Far from satisfied with the situation, yet determined now to probe the
+mystery to the bottom, I silently followed the black, attentive to his
+slightest movement.  It was a brief walk down one of the narrow streets
+leading directly back from the river front, so that within less than
+five minutes I was being silently shown into the small reception room
+of a tasty cottage, whose picturesque front was half concealed by a
+brilliant mass of trailing vines.  The heavy shades being closely drawn
+at the windows, the interior was in such gloom that for the moment
+after my entrance from the outside glare I was unable to distinguish
+one object from another.  Then slowly my eyes adjusted themselves to
+the change, and, taking one uncertain step forward, I came suddenly
+face to face with a Capuchin priest appearing almost ghastly with his
+long, pale, ascetic countenance, and ghostly gray robe sweeping to the
+floor.
+
+Startled by this unexpected apparition, and experiencing an American
+borderer's dislike and distrust for his class, I made a hasty move back
+toward where, with unusual carelessness, I had deposited my rifle
+against the wall.  Yet as I placed hand upon it I had sufficiently
+recovered to laugh silently at my fears.
+
+"Thou hast responded with much promptitude, my son," the priest said in
+gentle voice, speaking the purest of French, and apparently not
+choosing to notice my momentary confusion.  "It is indeed an excellent
+trait--one long inculcated by our Order."
+
+"And one not unknown to mine--free rangers of the woods, sir priest," I
+replied coldly, resolving not to be outdone in bluntness of speech.  "I
+suppose you are the 'lady' desiring speech with me; I note you come
+dressed in character.  And now I am here, what may the message be?"
+
+There was neither smile nor resentment visible on his pale face,
+although he slightly uplifted one slender hand as if in silent rebuke
+of my rude words.
+
+"Nay, nay, my son," he said gravely.  "Be not over-hasty in speech.  It
+is indeed a serious matter which doth require thy presence in this
+house, and the question of life or death for a human being can never be
+fit subject for jesting.  She who despatched the messenger will be here
+directly to make clear her need."
+
+"In truth it was a woman, then?"
+
+"Yes, a woman, and--ah! she cometh now."
+
+Even as he gave utterance to the words, I turned, attracted by the soft
+rustle of a silken skirt at my very side, stole one quick, startled
+glance into a young, sweet face, lightened by dark, dreamy eyes, and
+within the instant was warmly clasping two outstretched hands, totally
+oblivious of all else save her.
+
+"Eloise!" I exclaimed in astonishment.  "Eloise--Mademoiselle
+Lafreniere--can this indeed be you?  Have you sent for me?"
+
+It seemed for that one moment as if the world held but the two of us,
+and there was a glad confidence in her brimming eyes quickly
+dissipating all mists of the past.  Yet only for that one weak,
+thoughtless instant did she yield to what appeared real joy at my
+presence.
+
+"Yes, dear friend, it is Eloise," she answered, gazing anxiously into
+my face, and clinging to my strong hands as though fearful lest I might
+tear them away when she spoke those hard words which must follow.  "Yet
+surely you know, Geoffrey Benteen, that I am Mademoiselle Lafreniere no
+longer?"
+
+It seemed to me my very heart stopped beating, so intense was the pain
+which overswept it.  Yet I held to the soft hands, for there was such a
+pitiful look of suffering upon her upturned face as to steady me.
+
+"No, I knew it not," I answered brokenly.  "I--I have been buried in
+the forest all these years since we parted, where few rumors of the
+town have reached me.  But let that pass; it--it is easy to see you are
+now in great sorrow.  Was it because of this--in search of help, in
+need, perchance--that you have sent for me?"
+
+She bowed her head; a tear fell upon my broad hand and glistened there.
+
+"Yes, Geoffrey."
+
+The words were scarcely more than a whisper; then the low voice seemed
+to strengthen with return of confidence, her dark eyes anxiously
+searching my face.
+
+"I sent for you, Geoffrey, because of deep trouble; because I am left
+alone, without friends, saving only the _pere_.  I know well your
+faithfulness.  In spite of the wrong, the misunderstanding between
+us--and for it I take all the blame--I have ever trusted in your word,
+your honor; and now, when I can turn nowhere else for earthly aid, the
+good God has guided you back to New Orleans.  Geoffrey Benteen, do not
+gaze at me so!  It breaks my heart to see that look in your eyes; but,
+my friend, my dearest friend, do you still recall what you said to me
+so bravely the night you went away?"
+
+Did I remember!  God knew I did; ay! each word of that interview had
+been burned into my life, had been repeated again and again in the
+silence of my heart amid the loneliness of the woods; nothing in all
+those years had for one moment obliterated her face or speech from
+memory.
+
+"I remember, Eloise," I answered more calmly.  "The words you mean
+were: 'If ever you have need of one on whom you may rely for any
+service, however desperate (and in New Orleans such necessity might
+arise at any moment), one who would gladly yield his very life to serve
+you, then, wherever he may be, send for Geoffrey Benteen.'  My poor
+girl, has that moment come?"
+
+The brown head drooped until it rested in unconsciousness against my
+arm, while I could feel the sobs which shook her form and choked her
+utterance.
+
+"It has come," she whispered at last; "I am trusting in your promise."
+
+"Nor in vain; my life is at your command."
+
+She stopped my passionate utterance with quick, impulsive gesture.
+
+"No! pledge not yourself again until you hear my words, and ponder
+them," she cried, with return to that imperiousness of manner I had
+loved so well.  "This is no ordinary matter.  It will try your utmost
+love; perchance place your life in such deadly peril as you never faced
+before.  For I must ask of you what no one else would ever venture to
+require--nor can I hold out before you the slightest reward, save my
+deepest gratitude."
+
+I gazed fixedly at her flushed face, scarcely comprehending the strange
+words she spoke.
+
+"What may all this be that you require--this sacrifice so vast that you
+doubt me?  Surely I have never stood a coward, a dastard in your sight?"
+
+She stood erect, facing me, proudly confident in her power, with tears
+still clinging to her long lashes.
+
+"No! you wrong me uttering such a thought.  I doubt you not, although I
+might well doubt any other walking this earth.  But listen, and you can
+no longer question my words; this which I dare ask of you--because I
+trust you--is _to save my husband_."
+
+"Your husband?"  The very utterance of the word choked me.  "Your
+husband?  Save him from what?  Where is he?"
+
+"A prisoner to the Spaniards; condemned to die to-morrow at sunrise."
+
+"His name?"
+
+"Chevalier Charles de Noyan."
+
+"Where confined?"
+
+"Upon the flag-ship in the river."
+
+I turned away and stood with my back to them both.  I could no longer
+bear to gaze upon her agonized face uplifted in such eager pleading,
+such confiding trust; that one sweet face I loved as nothing else on
+earth.
+
+Save her husband!  For the moment it seemed as if a thousand emotions
+swayed me.  What might it not mean if this man should die?  His living
+could only add infinitely to my pain; his death might insure my
+happiness--at least he alone, as far as I knew, stood in the way.  "To
+die to-morrow!"  The very words sounded sweet in my ears, and it would
+be such an easy thing for me to promise her, to appear to do my very
+best--and fail.  "To die to-morrow!"  The perspiration gathered in
+drops upon my forehead as I wavered an instant to the tempting thought.
+Then I shook the foul temptation from me.  Merciful God! could I dream
+of being such a dastard?  Why not attempt what she asked?  After all,
+what was left for me in life, except to give her happiness?
+
+The sound of a faint sob reached me, and wheeling instantly I stood at
+her side.
+
+"Madame de Noyan," I said with forced calmness, surprising myself, "I
+will redeem my pledge, and either save your husband, or meet my fate at
+his side."
+
+Before I could prevent her action she had flung herself at my feet, and
+was kissing my hand.
+
+"God bless you, Geoffrey Benteen!  God bless you!" she sobbed
+impulsively; and then from out the dense shadows of the farther wall,
+solemnly as though he stood at altar service, the watchful Capuchin
+said:
+
+"Amen!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A PERILOUS VENTURE
+
+Any call to action, of either hazard or pleasure, steadies my nerves.
+To realize necessity for doing renders me a new man, clear of brain,
+quick of decision.  Possibly this comes from that active life I have
+always led in the open.  Be the cause what it may, I was the first to
+recover speech.
+
+"I hope to show myself worthy your trust, Madame," I said somewhat
+stiffly, for it hurt to realize that this emotion arose from her
+husband's peril.  "At best I am only an adventurer, and rely upon those
+means with which life upon the border renders me familiar.  Such may
+prove useless where I have soldiers of skill to deal with.  However, we
+have need of these minutes flying past so rapidly; they might be put to
+better use than tears, or words of gratitude."
+
+She looked upward at me with wet eyes.
+
+"You are right; I am a child, it seems.  Tell me your desire, and I
+will endeavor to act the woman."
+
+"First, I must comprehend more clearly the nature of the work before
+me.  The Chevalier de Noyan is already under sentence of death; the
+hour of execution to-morrow at sunrise?"
+
+She bent her head in quiet acquiescence, her anxious eyes never leaving
+my face.
+
+"It is now already approaching noon, leaving us barely eighteen hours
+in which to effect his rescue.  Faith! 't is short space for action."
+
+I glanced uneasily aside at the silently observant priest, now
+standing, a slender gray figure, close beside the door.  He was not of
+an Order I greatly loved.
+
+"You need have no fear," she exclaimed, hastily interpreting my
+thought.  "Father Petreni can be fully trusted.  He is more than my
+religious confessor; he has been my friend from childhood."
+
+"Yes, Monsieur," he interposed sadly, yet with a grave smile lighting
+his thin white face.  "I shall be able to accomplish little in your
+aid, for my trade is not that of arms, yet, within my physical
+limitations, I am freely at your service."
+
+"That is well," I responded heartily, words and tone yielding me fresh
+confidence in the man.  "This is likely to prove a night when comrades
+will need to know each other.  Now a few questions, after which I will
+look over the ground before attempting to outline any plan of action.
+You say, Madame, that your--Chevalier de Noyan is a prisoner on the
+fleet in the river.  Upon which ship is he confined?"
+
+"The 'Santa Maria.'"
+
+"The 'Santa Maria'?--if memory serve, the largest of them all?"
+
+"Yes! the flag-ship."
+
+"She lies, as I remember, for I stood on the levee two hours ago
+watching the strange spectacle, close in toward the shore, beside the
+old sugar warehouse of Bomanceaux et fils."
+
+"You are correct," returned the Capuchin soberly, the lady hesitating.
+"The ship swingeth by her cable scarce thirty feet from the bank."
+
+"That, at least, has sound of good fortune," I thought, revolving
+rapidly a sudden inspiration from his answer, "yet it will prove a
+desperate trick to try."
+
+Then I spoke aloud once more.
+
+"She appeared a veritable monster of the sea to my backwoods eyes;
+enough to pluck the heart out of a man.  Has either of you stepped
+aboard her?"
+
+The priest shook his shaven head despondently.
+
+"Nay; never any Frenchman, except as prisoner in shackles, has found
+foothold upon that deck since O'Reilly came.  It is reported no negro
+boatmen are permitted to approach her side with cargoes of fruit and
+vegetables, so closely is she guarded against all chances of treachery."
+
+"Faith! it must be an important crime to bring such extremity of
+vigilance.  With what is De Noyan charged?"
+
+"He, with others, is held for treason against the King of Spain."
+
+"There are more than one, then?"
+
+"Five."  He lowered his voice almost to a whisper.  "Madame de Noyan's
+father is among them."
+
+"Lafreniere?" I uttered the name in astonishment.  "Then why am I not
+asked to assist him?"
+
+The thoughtless exclamation cut her deeply with its seeming implication
+of neglect, yet the words she strove to speak failed to come.  The
+priest rebuked me gravely:
+
+"Thou doest great injustice by such inconsiderate speech, my son.
+There are hearts loyal to France in this province, who would count
+living a crime if it were won at the cost of Lafreniere.  He hath been
+already offered liberty, yet deliberately chooseth to remain and meet
+his fate.  Holy Mother! we can do no more."
+
+I bent, taking her moist hands gently between my own.
+
+"I beg you pardon me, Madame; I am not yet wholly myself, and intended
+no such offence as my hasty words would seem to imply.  One's manners
+do not improve with long dwelling among savages."
+
+She met my stumbling apology with a radiant smile.
+
+"I know your heart too well to misjudge.  Yet it hurt me to feel you
+could deem me thoughtless toward my father."
+
+"You have seen him since his arrest?"
+
+"Once only--at the Captain-General's office, before they were condemned
+and taken aboard the flag-ship."
+
+"But the prisoners are Catholics; surely they are permitted the offices
+of the Church at such a time?"
+
+A hard look swept across the Capuchin's pale, ascetic face.
+
+"Oh, ay!  I had quite forgotten," he explained bitterly.  "They enjoy
+the ministrations of Father Cassati, of our Order, as representative of
+Holy Church."
+
+"Pouf!" I muttered gloomily.  "It is bad to have the guard-lines drawn
+so closely.  Besides, I know little about the way of ships; how they
+are arranged within, or even along the open decks.  We meet them not in
+the backwoods, so this is an adventure little to my taste.  It would
+hardly be prudent, even could I obtain safe footing there, to attempt
+following a trail in the dark when I knew not where it led.  I must
+either see the path I am to travel by good daylight, or else procure a
+guide.  This Father Cassati might answer.  Is he one to trust?"
+
+The priest turned his head away with a quick gesture of indignant
+dissent.
+
+"Nay!" he exclaimed emphatically.  "He must never be approached upon
+such a matter.  He can be sweet enough with all men to their faces; the
+words of his mouth are as honey; yet he would be true to none.  It is
+not according to the canons of our Order for me thus to speak, yet I
+only give utterance to truth as I know it in the sight of God.  Not
+even the Spaniards themselves have faith in him.  He has not been
+permitted to set foot upon shore since first he went aboard."
+
+"And you have no plan, no suggestion to offer for my guidance?"
+
+"Mon Dieu, no!" he cried dramatically.  "I cannot think the first
+thing."
+
+"And you, Madame?"
+
+She was kneeling close beside a large chair, her fine dark eyes eagerly
+searching my face.
+
+"It rests wholly with you," she said solemnly, "and God."
+
+Twice, three times, I paced slowly across the floor in anxious
+reflection; each time, as I turned, I gazed again into her trustful,
+appealing eyes.  It was love calling to me in silent language far more
+effective than speech; at last, I paused and faced her.
+
+"Madame de Noyan," I said deliberately, my voice seeming to falter with
+the intensity of my feelings, "I beg you do not expect too much from
+me.  Your appeal has been made to a simple frontiersman, unskilled in
+war except with savages, and it is hardly probable I shall be able to
+outwit the trained guardsmen of Spain.  Yet this I will say: I have
+determined to venture all at your desire.  As I possess small skill or
+knowledge to aid me, I shall put audacity to the front, permitting
+sheer daring either to succeed or fail.  But it would be wrong, Madame,
+for me to encourage you with false expectation.  I deem it best to be
+perfectly frank, and I do not clearly see how this rescue is to be
+accomplished.  I can form no definite plan of action; all I even hope
+for is, that the good God will open up a path, showing me how such
+desperate purpose may be accomplished.  If this prove true--and I beg
+you pray fervently to that end--you may trust me to accept the
+guidance, let the personal danger be what it may.  But I cannot plan,
+cannot promise--I can only go forward blindly, seeking some opening not
+now apparent.  This alone I know, to remain here in conversation is
+useless.  I must discover means by which I may reach the 'Santa Maria'
+and penetrate below her deck if possible.  That is my first object, and
+it alone presents a problem sufficient to tax my poor wits to the
+uttermost.  So all I dare say now, Madame, is, that I will use my
+utmost endeavor to save your hus--the Chevalier de Noyan.  I request
+you both remain here--it would be well in prayer--ready to receive, and
+obey at once, any message I may need to send.  If possible I will visit
+you again in person before nightfall, but in any case, and whatever
+happens, try to believe that I am doing all I can with such brains as I
+possess, and that I count my own life nothing in your service."
+
+However they may sound now, there was no spirit of boasting in these
+words.  Conceit is not of my nature, and, indeed, at that time I had
+small enough faith in myself.  I merely sought to encourage the poor
+girl with what little hope I possessed, and knew she read the truth
+behind those utterances which sounded so brave.  Even as I finished she
+arose to her feet, standing erect before me, looking a very queen.
+
+"Never will I doubt that, Geoffrey Benteen," she declared impulsively.
+"I have seen you in danger, and never forgotten it.  If it is any
+encouragement to hear it spoken from my lips, know, even as you go
+forth from here, that never did woman trust man as I trust you."
+
+The hot blood surged into my face with a madness I retained barely
+sufficient strength to conquer.
+
+"I--I accept your words in the same spirit with which they are
+offered," I stammered, hardly aware of what I said.  "They are of
+greatest worth to me."
+
+I bowed low above the white hand resting so confidingly within mine,
+anxious to escape from the room before my love gave utterance to some
+foolish speech.  Yet even as I turned hastily toward the door, I paused
+with a final question.
+
+"The negro who guided me here, Madame; is he one in whom I may repose
+confidence?"
+
+"In all things," she answered gravely.  "He has been with the De Noyan
+family from a child, and is devoted to his master."
+
+"Then I take him with me for use should I chance to require a
+messenger."
+
+With a swift backward glance into her earnest dark eyes, an indulgence
+I could not deny myself, I bowed my way forth from the room, and
+discovering Alphonse upon the porch, where he evidently felt himself on
+guard, and bidding him it was the will of his mistress that he follow,
+I flung my rifle across my shoulder, and strode straight ahead until I
+came out upon the river bank.  Turning to the right I worked my way
+rapidly up the stream, passing numerous groups of lounging soldiers,
+who made little effort to bar my passage, beyond some idle chaffing,
+until I found myself opposite the anchorage of the Spanish fleet.
+
+In the character of an unsophisticated frontiersman, I felt no danger
+in joining others of my class, lounging listlessly about in small
+groups discussing the situation, and gazing with awe upon those strange
+ships of war, swinging by their cables in the broad stream.  It was a
+motley crew among whom I foregathered, one to awaken interest at any
+other time--French _voyageurs_ from the far-off Illinois country, as
+barbarian in dress and actions as the native denizens of those northern
+plains, commingling freely with Creole hunters freshly arrived from the
+bayous of the swamp lands; sunburnt fishermen from the sandy beaches of
+Barataria, long-haired flatboat-men, their northern skin faintly
+visible through the tan and dirt acquired in the long voyage from the
+upper Ohio; here and there some stolid Indian brave, resplendent in
+paint and feathers, and not a few drunken soldiers temporarily escaped
+from their commands.  Yet I gave these little thought, except to push
+my way through them to where I could obtain unobstructed view of the
+great ships.
+
+The largest of these, a grim monster to my eyes, with bulging sides
+towering high above the water, and masts uplifting heavy spars far into
+the blue sky, rendered especially formidable by gaping muzzles of
+numerous black cannon visible through her open ports, floated just
+beyond the landing.  I measured carefully the apparent distance between
+the flat roof of the sugar warehouse, against the corner of which I
+leaned in seeming listlessness, and the lower yards of her forward
+mast--it was no farther than I had often cast a riata, yet it would be
+a skilful toss on a black night.
+
+However, I received small comfort from the thought, for there was that
+about this great gloomy war-ship--frigate those about me called
+her--which awed and depressed my spirits; all appeared so ponderously
+sullen, so massive with concealed power, so mysteriously silent.  My
+eyes, searching for each visible object, detected scarcely a stir of
+life aboard, except as some head would arise for an instant above the
+rail, or my glance fell upon the motionless figure of a sentry,
+standing at the top of the narrow steps leading downward to the water,
+a huge burly fellow, whose side-arms glistened ominously in the sun.
+These were the sole signs of human presence; yet, from snatches of
+conversation, I learned that hidden away in the heart of that black
+floating monster of wood and iron, were nearly four hundred men, and
+the mere knowledge made the sombre silence more impressive than ever.
+
+Except for gossiping spectators lining the shore, nothing living
+appeared about the entire scene, if I except a dozen or more small
+boats, propelled by lusty black oarsmen, deeply laden with produce,
+busily plying back and forth between various vessels, seeking market
+for their wares.  Even these, as the priest told me, had apparently
+been warned away from the flag-ship, as I observed how carefully they
+avoided any approach to her boarding-ladder.  The longer I remained,
+the more thoroughly hopeless appeared any prospect of success.  Nor
+could I conjure up a practical--nay! even possible--method of placing
+so much as a foot on board the "Santa Maria."  Surely never was
+prison-ship guarded with more jealous care, and never did man face more
+hopeless quest than this confronting me.  The longer I gazed upon that
+grim, black, sullen mass of wood and iron--that floating fortress of
+despotic Spanish power--the more desperate appeared my mission; the
+darker grew every possibility of plucking a victim from out that
+monster's tightly closed jaws.  Yet I was not one to forego an
+enterprise lightly because of difficulty or danger, so with dogged
+persistency I clung to the water front, knowing nowhere else to go, and
+blindly trusting that some happening might open to me a door of
+opportunity.
+
+It frequently seems that when a man once comes, in a just cause, to
+such mind as this, when he trusts God rather than himself, there is a
+divinity which aids him.  Surely it was well I waited in patience, for
+suddenly another produce boat, evidently new to the trade, deeply laden
+with fruit and roots, bore down the river, the two negroes at the oars
+pointing its blunt nose directly toward the flag-ship, attracted no
+doubt by its superior size.  Instantly noting their course I awaited
+their reception with interest, an interest intensified by a drawling
+English voice from amid the crowd about me, saying:
+
+"I reckon thar'll be some dead niggers in thet thar bumboat if they
+don't sheer off almighty soon."
+
+Scarcely were these prophetic words uttered, when the soldier statue at
+the head of the boarding-stairs swung his musket forward into position,
+and hailed in emphatic Spanish, a language which, thanks to my mother,
+I knew fairly well.  There followed a moment of angry controversy,
+during which the startled negroes rested upon their oars, while the
+enraged guard threatened to fire if they drifted a yard closer.  In the
+midst of this hubbub a head suddenly popped up above the rail.  Then a
+tall, ungainly figure, clad in a faded, ill-fitting uniform, raised
+itself slowly, leaning far out over the side, a pair of weak eyes,
+shadowed by colored glasses, gazing down inquiringly into the small
+boat.
+
+"Vat ees it you say you have zare?" he asked in an attempt at French,
+which I may only pretend to reproduce in English.  "Vat ees ze cargo of
+ze leetle boat?"
+
+Instantly the two hucksters gave voice, fairly running over each other
+in their confused jargon, during which I managed to distinguish native
+names for potatoes, yams, sweet corn, peaches, apples, and I know not
+what else.
+
+The Spaniard perched high on the rail waved his long arms in
+unmitigated disgust.
+
+"_Caramba_!" he cried the moment he could make his voice distinguished
+above the uproar.  "I vant none of zos zings; Saint Cristoval, non!
+non!  Ze Capitaine he tole me get him some of ze olif--haf you no olif
+in ze leetle boat?"
+
+The darkies shook their heads, instantly starting in again to call
+their wares, but the fellow on the rail waved them back.
+
+"Zen ve don't vant you here!" he cried shrilly.  "Go vay dam quick, or
+else ze soldier shoot."  As if in obedience to an order the stolid
+guard brought his weapon menacingly to the shoulder.
+
+How the episode terminated I did not remain to learn.  At that moment I
+only clearly comprehended this--I had a way opened, an exceedingly
+slight one to be sure, of doubtful utility, yet still a way, which
+might lead me into the guarded mystery of that ship.  The time for
+action had arrived, and that was like a draught of wine to me.  Eagerly
+I slipped back through the increasing crowd of gaping countrymen, to
+where the negro had found a spot of comfort in the sun.
+
+"Alphonse!" I called, careful to modulate my voice.  "Wake up, you
+black sleepy-head!  Ay!  I have you at last in the world again.  Now
+stop blinking, and pay heed to what I say.  Do you chance to know
+where, for love, money, or any consideration, you could lay hands on
+olives in this town?"
+
+The fellow, scarcely awake, rolled up the whites of his eyes for a
+moment, and scratched his woolly pate, as if seeking vainly to conjure
+up some long-neglected memory.  Then his naturally good-humored
+countenance relaxed into a broad grin.
+
+"Fo' de Lord, yas sah!  I'se your man dis time suah 'nough.  Dat fat
+ol' Dutchman, down by de Tehoupitoulas Gate, suah as you're born had a
+whole barrel ob dem yesterday.  I done disremember fer de minute, boss,
+jist whar I done saw dem olibs, but I reckon as how de money 'd fotch
+'em all right."
+
+I drew forth a handful of French coins.
+
+"Then run for it, lad!" I exclaimed in some excitement.  "Your master's
+life hangs upon your speed--hold, wait! do you remember that old
+tumble-down shed we passed on our way here; the one which had once been
+a farrier's shop?"
+
+The negro nodded, his eyes filled with awakened interest.
+
+"Good; then first of all bring me a suit of the worst looking old
+clothes you can scare up in the negro quarters of this town.  Leave
+them there.  Then go directly to this Dutchman's, buy every olive he
+has for sale at any price, load them into a boat--a common huckster's
+boat, mind you, and remain there with them until I come.  Do you
+understand all that?"
+
+"Yas, Massa; I reckon as how I kin do dat all right 'nough."  The
+fellow grinned, every white ivory showing between his thick red lips.
+
+"Don't stop to speak to any one, black or white.  Now trot along
+lively, and may the Lord have mercy on you if you fail me, for I pledge
+you I shall have none."
+
+I watched him disappear up the street in a sort of swinging dog-trot,
+took one more glance backward at the huge war-ship, now swinging by her
+cable silent and mysterious as ever, and turned away from the river
+front, my brain teeming with a scheme upon the final issue of which
+hung life or death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A VISIT TO THE FLAG-SHIP
+
+I had seldom assumed disguise, except when wearing Indian garb upon the
+war-trail.  Yet in boyhood I had occasionally masqueraded as a negro so
+successfully as to deceive even my own family.  With this in mind the
+resolve was taken that in no other guise than that of a foolish,
+huckstering darky could I hope to attain the guarded deck of that
+Spanish frigate.  This offered only the barest chance of success, yet
+such chances had previously served me well, and must be trusted now.
+Opportunity frequently opens to the push of a venturesome shoulder.
+
+Once determined upon this I set to work, perfecting each detail which
+might aid in the hazardous undertaking.  Much was to be accomplished,
+and consequently it was late in the afternoon before the two of us,
+myself as much a negro to outward appearance as my sable companion,
+floated anxiously down the broad river in a battered old scow heaped
+high with every variety of country produce obtainable.  Drifting with
+the current, I kept the blunt nose pointed directly toward the bulging
+side of the "Santa Maria," yet without venturing to glance in that
+direction, until a sharp challenge of the vigilant sentinel warned us
+to sheer off.
+
+Slowly shipping the heavy steering oar, finding it difficult even in
+that moment of suspense to suppress a smile at the expression of terror
+on Alphonse's black face, I stood up, awed by the solemn massiveness of
+the vast bulk towering above me, now barely thirty feet away.  For the
+first time I realized fully the desperation of my task, and my heart
+sank.  But the gesticulations of the wrathful guard could no longer be
+ignored, and, smothering an exclamation of disgust at my momentary
+weakness, I nerved myself for the play.
+
+"_Caramba_!" the fellow shouted roughly in his native tongue.  "Stop
+there, you lazy niggers; don't let that boat drift any closer.  Come,
+sheer off, or, by all the saints, I 'll blow a hole clear through the
+black hide of one of you!"
+
+"Hold her back, boy!" I muttered hurriedly to the willing slave.  "That
+soldier means to shoot."
+
+Then I held up a handful of our choicest fruit into view.
+
+"I have got plenty vegetables, an' lot fruit fer sell," I shouted
+eagerly in negro French, putting all the volume possible into my voice,
+hopeful my words might penetrate the hidden deck above.  "Plenty
+'tatoes, peaches, olibs--eberyting fer de oppercers."
+
+"Don't want them--pull away, and be lively about it."
+
+It was a moment of despair, every hope suspended in the balance; my
+heart beating like a trip-hammer with suspense.  The thoroughly enraged
+guard lifted his gun to the shoulder; there was threat in his eyes, yet
+I ventured a desperate chance of one more word.
+
+"I got de only _olibs_ on dis ribber."
+
+"_Bastenade_!" yelled the infuriated fellow.  "I 'll give you a shot to
+pay for your insolence."
+
+Even as he spoke, fumbling the lock of his gun, that same head observed
+before suddenly popped over the high rail like Punch at a pantomime.
+
+"Vat zat you say, nigger?" its owner cried doubtingly.  "Vas it ze olif
+you haf zare in ze leetle boat?"
+
+I eagerly held up into view a choice handful of green fruit, my eyes
+hopeful.
+
+"Oui, Senor Oppercer--fresh olibs; same as ob your lan'."
+
+The Spaniard was standing upright on the rail by this time, clinging
+fast to a rope dangling from above, leaning far over, no slight
+interest depicted upon his pinched, sallow countenance.
+
+"It's all right, sentry," he said sharply to the soldier, who lowered
+his gun with a scowl indicating his real desire.  My newly found friend
+lifted his squeaking voice again in unfamiliar speech.
+
+"Bring ze leetle boat along ze side of ze sheep, you black fellar, an'
+come up here wiz ze olif fer ze Capitaine."
+
+"Scull in close against those steps, Alphonse," I muttered, overjoyed
+at this rare stroke of good fortune.  "Then pull out a few strokes; but
+stay alongside until I come back.  Don't let any one get aboard, and
+keep a quiet tongue yourself."
+
+The whites of his eyes alone answered me, he being too badly frightened
+for speech.  The situation was one to grate upon any nerves
+unaccustomed to danger, yet, trusting the long training of the slave
+would hold him obedient, I turned away, and, in another moment, had
+scrambled up the rope ladder, plunging awkwardly over the high rail on
+to the hitherto concealed deck.  My pulses throbbed with excitement
+over the desperate game fronting me, yet, with a coolness surprising to
+myself, I lost at that instant every sensation of personal fear, in
+determination to act thoroughly my assumed character.  More lives than
+one hung in the balance, and, with tightly clenched teeth, I swore to
+prove equal to the venture.  The very touch of those deck planks to my
+bare feet put new recklessness into my blood, causing me to marvel at
+the perfection of my own fool play.
+
+The gaunt Spaniard commanding my presence stood waiting, hardly more
+than five paces from where I landed, yet so intense became my immediate
+interest in the strange scene--an interest partly real, but largely
+simulated for the occasion--that he contented himself watching my
+confused antics with much apparent amusement, and without addressing
+me.  Even to this hour that scene lies distinct before my eyes.
+Possessed I skill with pencil I could sketch each small detail from the
+retina of memory--the solitary sentinel beside the rail, his well-worn
+uniform of blue and white dingy in the sun; another farther forward,
+where a great opening yawned; with yet a third, standing rigid before a
+closed door of the after cabin.  An officer, his coat richly decorated
+with gold braid, wearing epaulets, and having a short sword dangling at
+his side, paced back and forth across the top of a little house near
+the stern.  I heard him utter some command to a sailor near the wheel,
+but he never so much as glanced toward me.  Perhaps thirty or more
+seamen, bronzed of face, and oddly bedecked as to hair, lounged idly
+amid the shadows opposite, while, more closely at hand, that gaunt,
+cadaverous Spaniard, at whose invitation I was present, leaned against
+a big gun, puffing nonchalantly at a cigarette, held between lean,
+saffron-colored fingers.  The deck was white as the snows of a northern
+Winter, while the brass work along the railings and about the cannon
+glittered brilliantly in the sunshine.  There was a gaudy
+yellow-and-white striped canopy stretched above a portion of the deck
+aft; the huge masts seemed to pierce into the blue of the skies; while
+on every side were ranged grim guns of brass and iron.
+
+My role was that of an ignorant, green, half-frightened darky, and I
+presume I both appeared and acted the natural-born idiot, if I might
+judge from the expression upon the Spaniard's face, and the broad grin
+lighting up the fierce countenance of the sentry at the gangway.  Yet
+back of this mask there was grim determination and fixed purpose, so
+that no article of furniture was along that broad deck which I did not
+mentally photograph, so as to know its whereabouts if ever I chanced
+that way again.  Ay! even to a little cuddy door beside the cookhouse,
+apparently opening directly into the mysterious regions below, and a
+great chest lashed hard against the rail, within which I distinguished
+the bright colors of numerous flags.  I noticed also the odd manner in
+which queer rope ladders led up from either side of the broad deck to
+the vast spars high above, rising tier on tier until my head grew dazed
+with gazing at them.
+
+"Vel, Sambo, my black fellow," grinned the officer, whose eyes were
+still lazily following my erratic movements as I peered innocently into
+the muzzle of a brass carronade in apparent hope of discovering the
+ball, "zis vus ze first time you vus ever on ze war-sheep, I sink
+likely.  How you like stop here, hey, an' fight wis dos sings?"  And he
+rested his yellow hand caressingly upon the breech of the gun.
+
+I shook my head energetically, rendering as prominent as possible the
+whites of my eyes, at which he grinned wider than ever.
+
+"No, sah, Mister Oppercer Man; you don't git dis hyer nigger into no
+fought, sah," I protested with vehemence.  "I done fought wid de Injuns
+onct, sah, an' I done don't want no mo'."
+
+"Veil, you not vorry, boy; you voud be no good on ze war-sheep.  But
+now you come wis me to ze Capitaine--bring ze olif."
+
+Bearing a tempting sample of the Spaniard's favorite fruit tightly
+clutched in my black hand, and pulling my battered straw hat lower in
+concealment of my telltale hair, I made awkward attempt to shuffle
+along behind him, as he carelessly advanced toward the after part of
+the vessel.  But I loitered along our passage to examine so many
+objects of curiosity, asking such a multitude of extremely absurd
+questions, that we consumed considerable time in traversing even the
+comparatively short distance to where the rigid sentinel fronted us
+before the cabin door.  My queries were simple enough to have birth in
+the brain of a fool, yet my guide was of rare good humor, and evidently
+so amused at my ignorant curiosity that his patience withstood the
+strain.  On my part none were blindly asked, but were intended to open
+a way toward others of the utmost importance.  My sole purpose at that
+moment was to lull suspicion to rest; when that had been accomplished,
+then I might confidently hope to pump my trustful victim of such
+information as I imperatively required.  The ignorant questions of an
+imbecile will oftentimes be frankly responded to, where a wise man
+might ask in vain, and my first play was to establish my character as a
+fool.  That I had succeeded was already evident.
+
+The statuesque guard before the cabin brought his musket up at our
+approach with so smart a snap as to startle me into a moment's apparent
+terror.  To the officer's request that we be admitted to the presence
+of the Captain, he responded briefly that that officer had gone forward
+half an hour before.  My guide glanced about as if uncertain where he
+had better turn in search.
+
+"Did he go down the hatch?" he queried shortly.
+
+"I know not, Senor Gonzales," was the respectful reply.  "But I believe
+he may be with the prisoners' guard below."
+
+The officer promptly started forward, and, awaiting no formal
+invitation, I shambled briskly after, keeping as close as possible to
+his heels.  Could I gain a brief glimpse below the deck it would be
+worth more to me than any amount of blind questioning, and my heart
+thumped painfully in remembrance of what hung upon his movements.  With
+a single sharp word to the sentry at the hatch he swung himself
+carelessly over the edge, mysteriously disappearing into the gloom
+beneath.  That was no time for hesitancy, and I was already preparing
+to do likewise, when the guard, a surly-looking brute, promptly
+inserted the point of his bayonet into my ragged garment, accompanying
+this kindly act with a stern order to remain where I was.
+
+"An' what fo' yo' do dat, Senor Sojer?" I cried, in unaffected anguish,
+rubbing the injured part tenderly, yet speaking loud so that my words
+should be distinctly audible below.  "Dat oppercer man he done tol' me
+to foller him to de Captain.  What fo' yo' stop me wid dat toastin'
+fork?"
+
+"It's all right, Manuel," sung out a voice in Spanish from the lower
+darkness.  "Let the fool nigger come down."
+
+The thoroughly disgusted soldier muttered something about his orders,
+that his lieutenant had not ever authorized him to pass fools.
+Overlooking this personal allusion, and fearing more serious opposition
+from some one higher in authority, I took advantage of his momentary
+doubt, promptly swung my legs over the edge of the hatch opening,
+groped blindly about with my bare feet until they struck the rungs of a
+narrow ladder, and went scrambling down into the semi-darkness of
+between-decks, managing awkwardly to miss my final footing, thus
+flopping in a ragged heap at the bottom.
+
+"Holy Mother! you make more noise zan a sheep in action," grumbled the
+startled officer, as I landed at his feet.  "Vat for you come down ze
+ladder zat vay?"
+
+Rubbing my numerous bruises energetically, I contented myself with
+staring up at him as if completely dazed by my fall.  Reading in his
+amused countenance no symptom of awakening suspicion I ventured a quick
+glance at my new surroundings.  We were in what appeared a large
+unfurnished room, with doors of all sizes opening in every direction,
+while I could perceive a narrow entry, or passageway, extending toward
+the after part of the vessel.  The roof, formed of the upper deck, was
+low, upheld by immense timbers, and the apartment, nearly square, was
+dimly flooded by the sparse light sifting down through the single
+hatch-opening above, so that, in spite of its large dimensions, it had
+a cramped and stuffy appearance.  The vast butt of the mainmast arose
+directly in front of me, and, upon a narrow bench surrounding it, a
+dozen soldiers were lounging, while near the entrance to the
+passageway, scarcely more than a shadow in that dimness, stood a
+sentry, stiff and erect, with musket at his shoulder.  They were mostly
+slightly built, dark-featured men, attired in blue and white uniforms,
+the worse for wear, and were all laughing at my crazy entrance.  No
+doubt my coming afforded some relief to their tiresome, dull routine.
+While lying there, apparently breathless from my fall, my brains
+effectively muddled, a young officer advanced hastily from out the
+gloom to inquire into so unusual an uproar.
+
+"What is all this noise about?" he questioned sharply, striding toward
+us.  "Ah, Gonzales; whom have you here?  Another bird to add to our
+fine collection?"
+
+"If so, it must be a rare blackbird, Senor Francisco," returned my
+friend, vainly endeavoring to recover his customary gravity.  "By Saint
+Cristobal!  I have not laughed so heartily for a year past as at this
+poor black fool.  Faith, I sought to enlist him in the service of His
+Most Christian Majesty, yet his method of coming down a companion
+ladder convinced me he sadly lacks the necessary qualifications for a
+sailor.  Hast seen aught of the Captain here below?"
+
+"Ay, comrade, thou wilt find him aft.  He hath just had speech once
+more with the chief rebel, the graybeard they call Lafreniere, and was
+in raging temper when last we met.  _Caramba_! he even called me an
+ass, for no more serious fault, forsooth, than that I made the round of
+my guard unattended.  Hath your darky news for him?"
+
+"Nay; the fellow possesseth not sufficient sense to be a messenger,
+except it may be a message for his stomach to make his humor better,"
+was the reply.  "Come, trot along now, boy, and mind where you put down
+those big feet in the passage."
+
+I struggled upright in response to his order, assisted by the sharp tap
+of a boot accompanying it, tripped over a gun barrel one of the guard
+facetiously inserted between my legs, and went down once more, uttering
+such howl of terror as could be only partially drowned beneath the
+uproarious laughter of my merry tormentors.  It developed into a
+gantlet, yet I ran the line with little damage, and, after much ducking
+and pleading, managed to regain my position close to the heels of Senor
+Gonzales before he turned into the passageway, which, as I now
+perceived, was dimly illumined by means of a single lantern, hung to a
+blackened upper beam.
+
+"Well, good luck to both of you," called out the young officer of the
+guard laughingly as we disappeared.  "Yet I 'd hate to have the
+steering of such a crazy craft as follows in your wake, Gonzales, and I
+warn you again the Senor Captain will be found in beastly humor."
+
+"I fear nothing," returned my guide, his lean yellow face turned
+backward over his shoulder.  "I have what will bring him greater
+happiness than a decoration from the King."
+
+Shambling awkwardly forward, simulating all the uncouthness possible, I
+retained my wits sufficiently to note our surroundings--the long,
+narrow passage, scarcely exceeding a yard in width, with numerous doors
+opening on either side.  Several of these stood ajar, and I perceived
+berths within, marking them as sleeping apartments, although one upon
+the right was evidently being utilized as a linen closet, while yet
+another, just beyond, and considerably larger, seemed littered with a
+medley of boxes, barrels, and great bags.  This apartment appeared so
+much lighter than those others, even a stray ray of sunshine pouring
+directly down into it from above, that I instinctively connected it in
+my mind with the cook-house on the upper deck, and the open cuddy door
+I had chanced to notice.
+
+As we approached the farther end this passage suddenly widened into a
+half circle, sufficiently extended to accommodate the huge butt of the
+mizzenmast, which was completely surrounded by an arm-rack crowded with
+short-swords, together with all manner of small arms.  A grimly silent
+guard stood at either side, and I perceived the dark shadow of a third
+still farther beyond, while the half-dozen cabins close at hand had
+their doors tightly closed, and fastened with iron bars.
+
+Instinctively I felt that here were confined those French prisoners,
+the knowledge of whose exact whereabouts I sought amid such
+surroundings of personal peril, and my heart bounded from sudden
+excitement.  In simulated awkwardness, I unfortunately overdid my part.
+Shuffling forward, more eager than ever to keep at the heels of my
+protector, yet with eyes wandering in search of any opening, my bare
+feet struck against a projecting ring-bolt in the deck, and over I
+went, striving vainly to regain my balance.  Before that human statue
+on guard could even lower his gun to repel boarders, my head struck him
+soundly in the stomach, sending him crashing back against one of those
+tightly closed doors.  Tangled up with the surprised soldier, who
+promptly clinched his unexpected antagonist, and, with shocking
+profanity, strove to throttle me, I yet chanced to take note of the
+number "18" painted upon the white wood just above us.  Then the door
+itself was hurled hastily open, and with fierce exclamation of rage a
+gray-hooded Capuchin monk bounded forth like a rubber ball, and
+instantly began kicking vigorously right and left at our struggling
+figures.  It gives me pleasure to record that the Spaniard, being on
+top, received by far the worst of it, yet I might also bear testimony
+to the vigor of the priest's legs, while we shared equally in the
+volubility of his tongue.
+
+"_Sacre_!" he screamed in French, punctuating each sentence with a
+fresh blow.  "Get away from here, you drunken, quarrelling brutes!  Has
+it come to this, that a respectable priest of Holy Church may not hold
+private converse with the condemned without a brawl at the very door?
+Mother of God! what meaneth the fracas?  Where is the guard?  Why don't
+some of them jab their steel in the blasphemous ragamuffins who thus
+make mock of the holy offices of religion?  Take that, you black,
+sprawling beast!"
+
+He aimed a vicious stroke at my head, which I ducked in the nick of
+time to permit of its landing with full force in my companion's ribs.
+I heard him grunt in acknowledgment of its receipt.
+
+"Where is the guard, I say!  If they come not I will strangle the dogs
+with my own consecrated hands to the glory of God.  By the sainted
+Benedine! was ever one of our Order so basely treated before?  Get
+away, I tell you!  'Tis a disgrace to the true faith, and just as I was
+about to bring the Chevalier to his knees in confession of his sins!"
+
+Gonzales was fairly doubled up with laughter at the ludicrous incident,
+choking so that speech had become an utter impossibility.  By this time
+the aroused guards began hurrying forward on a run down the passageway
+to rescue their imperilled comrade, yet, before the foremost succeeded
+in laying hands upon me, a newcomer, resplendent in glittering uniform,
+with an inflamed, almost purple face, leaped madly forth from the
+opposite side of the mast and began laying about him vigorously with an
+iron pin, making use meanwhile of a vocabulary of choice Spanish
+epithets such as I never heard equalled.
+
+"By the shrine of Saint Gracia!" shouted this new arrival hoarsely,
+glaring about in the dim light as if half awakened from a bad dream.
+"What meaneth this aboard my ship?  _Caramba_! is this a travelling
+show--a place for mountebanks and gypsies?  Shut the door, you
+shrieking gray-back of a monk, or I 'll have you cat-o'-nine-tailed by
+the guard, in spite of your robe.  Get up, you drunken brute!"
+
+The crestfallen soldier to whom these last affectionate words were
+addressed limped painfully away, and then the justly irate commander of
+His Christian Majesty's flag-ship "Santa Maria" glowered down on me
+with an astonishment that for the moment held him dumb.
+
+"Where did this dirty nigger come from?" he roared at last, applying
+one of his heavy sea-boots to me with vehemence.  "Who is the villain
+who dared bring such cattle on board my ship?"
+
+Gonzales, now thoroughly sobered by the seriousness of the situation,
+attempted to account for my presence, but before he had fairly begun
+his story, the Captain, who by this time was beyond all reason, burst
+roaring forth again:
+
+"Oh, so you brought him!  You did, hey?  Well, did n't I tell you to
+let no lazy, loafing bumboat-man set foot on board?  Do you laugh at my
+orders, you good-for-nothing scum of the sea?  And above all things why
+did you ever drag such a creature as this down between decks to
+disgrace the whole of His Majesty's navy?  Get up, you bundle of rags!"
+
+I scrambled to my feet, seeking to shuffle to one side out of his
+immediate sight, but a heavy hand closed instantly on my ragged collar
+and held me fronting him.  For a moment I thought he meant to strike
+me, but I appeared such a miserable, dejected specimen of humanity that
+the fierce anger died slowly out of his eyes.
+
+"Francisco," he called sternly, "heave this thing overboard, and be
+lively about it!  Saints of Mercy! he smells like a butcher-boat in the
+tropics."
+
+Hustled, dragged, cuffed, mercilessly kicked, the fellows got me out
+upon the open deck at last; I caught one fleeting glimpse of the great
+masts, the white, gleaming planks under foot, the horrified, upturned,
+face of Alphonse in the little boat beneath, and then, with a heave and
+a curse, over I went, sprawling down from rail to river, as terrified a
+darky as ever made hasty departure from a man-of-war.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WE HOLD A COUNCIL OF WAR
+
+The last object I remember seeing was the white face of the Capuchin
+monk peering at me over the rail, and my earliest thought as I arose to
+the surface, was that as the water had probably cleansed my skin it
+would be wise to keep well out of sight from the deck.  Fortunately the
+boat floated close at hand.  Laying hasty grasp upon it, but remaining
+well immersed in the river, I bade the thoroughly frightened black
+paddle with diligence out of that neighborhood.  This was a task he was
+not slow in accomplishing, fear lending strength to trained muscles,
+and we soon had the good fortune to discover a safe landing-place
+beneath the lee of a long molasses shed, where our plight was
+unobserved by any one.
+
+Remaining hidden here myself, feeling reasonably secure from prying
+eyes, I despatched Alphonse after dry clothing, meanwhile tramping back
+and forth across the packed earthen floor to keep chilled blood in
+circulation, seeking eagerly to evolve out of the confused events of
+the afternoon some programme for future guidance.  This task was no
+light one.  The closer I faced the desperate work remaining
+unaccomplished the less I enjoyed the outlook, the more improbable
+appeared success.  Getting aboard the "Santa Maria" was now, to my
+mind, the simplest part of the adventure, but beyond the accomplishment
+of that feat I could perceive little to encourage me.  What must
+necessarily follow my safe gaining of that guarded deck, during the
+dark hours of the night, depended so largely upon the occurrence of
+helpful circumstances, any definite plan of action arranged beforehand
+became simply an impossibility.  Still, striving to make allowances for
+the unexpected, I managed to put together a chain of details, trusting,
+with the blind faith of a fatalist, that these would somehow fall into
+line when the hour came.  If they failed, as was likely, I determined
+to shift them about in any way possible as each fresh emergency arose.
+I realized how small a part any preliminary survey holds in such an
+enterprise as now fronted me, an enterprise to be worked out amid
+darkness and grave personal peril, where any bungling act or false move
+might overturn everything in an instant; yet it is always well--or at
+least so I have found it--to trace some outline of procedure, rather
+than trust wholly to the intuitions of the moment.  God's aid seems
+usually granted to those doing most for themselves.
+
+I felt little confidence by the time Alphonse returned, yet my firm
+determination to make the effort had in no way abated.  Indeed, had
+failure been an absolute certainty I should have gone forward exactly
+the same, for I was bound to it by my pledge to Eloise de Noyan.  I
+have reason to suppose dogged determination a part of my nature, but
+then something far more compelling than this inherited tendency drove
+me irresistibly forward to my fate.  This is no story of the rescue of
+a prisoner of war, but rather of how love impelled an ordinary man to
+the accomplishment of deeds which seemed impossible.
+
+It was evening, already quite dark, it fortunately proving a night of
+cloud and threatened storm, when I ventured to steal into the little
+cottage on the Rue Dumaine, and found there, even as I had left them,
+Madame de Noyan and the _pere_ awaiting me.  How anxious a day she had
+been compelled to pass since the hour of my departure was plainly
+imprinted upon her beautiful face, gently touched by the softened light
+from a shaded candle near which she rested; nor was the naturally pale,
+emaciated countenance of her spiritual adviser entirely free from
+outward marks of care impressed upon it by his patient vigil.
+
+I recall still, a pang tugging at my old heart, with what unspeakable
+gentleness Eloise came forward, holding forth both white hands in
+greeting, while unrestrained tears glistened upon the long lashes
+partly veiling the eager glow of soft eyes searching my face.  She
+uttered never a word of questioning relative to the result of my
+mission; merely stood there silent, her warm hands in mine, her gaze
+fastened upon me, as if within my eyes she sought to read everything
+unasked.  Perhaps she did, yet to me it seemed the perfect abandon of
+trust, and often since have I thought upon it as illustrative of her
+unswerving confidence in my honor.
+
+"I do so thank you, Geoffrey Benteen," she said in all simplicity, "for
+thus coming to us once more."
+
+"I returned the earliest moment possible, Madame," I replied quietly,
+although all my heart must have leaped responsive into my eyes,
+contradicting such coolness of speech.  Be that as it may, my sweet
+mistress never glanced aside, nor drew back her hands from mine.  It
+was the gravely observant priest, standing behind within the shadows,
+whose natural impatience caused him to interrupt our greeting, although
+he spoke not unkindly.
+
+"My son," he said, deep anxiety evident in the tone of his soft speech,
+"we have remained in solemn prayer ever since the hour of thy
+departure, and, while we doubt not our petitions have found favor of
+both Mother and Child, yet the flesh sorroweth, and we yearn greatly to
+know all from thine own lips as to the fortunes of this day.  Tell us,
+I beg thee, hast thou discovered aught of comfort or help for the
+condemned?"
+
+His words brought me back to earth with sudden rush.  Releasing the
+soft hands I had been clasping so tightly in momentary forgetfulness, I
+led the lady to a seat, even finding another myself before venturing
+upon reply.
+
+"I thank you heartily for your prayers, Sir Priest.  Often have I heard
+my father say the prayer of the righteous availeth much, and although I
+be not of Holy Church--for those to whom I looked in earlier years for
+guidance were of the dissenting breed--yet I yield respect to all true
+religion; and even in the woods, where men grow rough, giving small
+thought to the voice of their souls, I have discovered much to tell me
+of God, and to make me thankful for His mercies.  But you ask a
+difficult question.  The day has not been ill spent nor wasted.  This
+much, at least, I may say--I have discovered one weak spot in the
+Spanish guard-line, and intend to make the best possible use of it.
+Yet the venture is bound to prove a desperate one, and nothing except
+the overruling care of Him who guides us all can secure the desired
+outcome."
+
+He piously crossed himself, his thin lips moving silently above the
+silver crucifix resting in his white fingers, but Eloise only leaned
+more eagerly forward, her dark eyes anxiously scanning my face.
+
+"Have you seen my--the Chevalier de Noyan?" she questioned tremblingly.
+
+"No, Madame, yet I have been aboard the 'Santa Maria,'--though in truth
+'twas not altogether an enjoyable experience,--and now know precisely
+where the prisoners are confined, even to the room of the Chevalier.
+If you will listen patiently I will briefly relate the story; then we
+can outline together our further plans for the night.  Are we alone?"
+
+Both nodded, far too eager to waste time in words, and as rapidly as
+possible I described those incidents already narrated.  At the close
+Eloise simply thanked me in silence with an appreciative glance, but
+the priest proved more demonstrative.
+
+"Thou hast, indeed, accomplished much, my son," he exclaimed
+impulsively, clasping and unclasping the slender fingers of his white
+hands nervously.  "Surely but for our fervent prayers the good Lord
+would never have led you amid such imminent and deadly peril.  Yet to
+me the venture appeareth even more hopeless than before.  You made
+mention of plans; shall we not discuss such at once, for the rapidly
+speeding time must greatly press us.  The great Apostle once said, in
+connection with the work of the Spirit, 'Brethren, the time is short';
+it seemeth a fit text for us even now."
+
+"It is too early for action," I replied thoughtfully.  "I require food,
+and it will be best to delay until a late hour before moving in such a
+scheme as mine.  As to plans--faith, the word was ill-chosen if I used
+it, for excepting the mode already outlined for attaining the deck, I
+have none.  Yet there are certain matters I require to have arranged
+before I depart.  Madame de Noyan, can you furnish me with a strong
+boat and two stout oarsmen?  They must be men to trust, who will care
+little where they go."
+
+"It shall be done," she answered promptly, her eyes brightening.
+"Alphonse will gladly go, and he can select another from among the
+slaves."
+
+"The Chevalier, can he swim if occasion arise?"
+
+"He is perfectly at home in the water."
+
+"Good; then we need run no extra risk by keeping a boat beside the
+frigate.  Let it await our coming beneath the darkest shadows of the
+cotton sheds near the North Gate.  Have them place within it my rifle
+and ammunition, together with whatever weapons of war your husband may
+be accustomed to use; see that the boat be well provisioned for a long
+voyage, as it will require much travel before we get beyond Spanish
+reach, and we go not into a region of settlements.  Bid the men exhibit
+no light, nor converse above whispers.  My word to them will be
+'Virginia'; they are to pay heed to no other.  You understand all this?"
+
+"It is engraven upon my heart," she responded gravely.  "You need have
+no fear."
+
+"That I think will be all you can do to aid success--nay, wait!
+instruct them also, if we have not arrived before the dawn to bide no
+longer; it will be useless."
+
+"Oh, say not so, Geoffrey Benteen," she cried, a sudden sob evidencing
+the strain upon her.  "Surely the good God will aid us now."
+
+"It is upon Him I rely," I responded, not knowing how best to minister
+to her deep distress.  "We will do all we can, Madame, to win His
+favor; beyond that nothing remains but to submit to His will."
+
+She hid her face in her arms upon the table, the light of the candle
+streaming almost golden in the heavy masses of her hair.  Instinctively
+I rested my hand caressingly upon it.
+
+"Nay, Madame, this is time for strength, not weakness.  Afterwards we
+may have opportunity to weep; to-night there is call for action."
+
+She glanced up with a quick, impulsive gesture, and I saw her eyes were
+dry of tears.
+
+"You think me unduly nervous and unstrung," she said quietly, and I
+could detect a touch of indignation in the tone.  "It is merely my
+nature, for the impatient blood of the South has place in my veins, yet
+whatsoever a lady of France may do, you can trust me to accomplish,
+Monsieur."
+
+Faith! but she had a way with her which ever left me helpless, and no
+doubt my face exhibited how abashed I felt at the regal manner in which
+she fronted me.  At least I spoke no word, yet the proud look faded
+from her eyes, and I felt her hand touch mine.
+
+"Forgive me, Geoffrey," she whispered softly.  "We do not doubt each
+other, yet I was over hasty of speech with one who has proven so loyal
+a friend."
+
+"Nor have I aught to forgive, Madame, or more to say, except that my
+words meant no injustice," I responded.  Then to avoid longer facing
+her I turned to where the watchful Capuchin stood.
+
+"And now, Sir Priest, I propose being perfectly frank with you, as I
+do not believe this a time for mincing of words.  I am of Protestant
+blood; those of my line have ridden at Cromwell's back, and one of my
+name stood unrepentant at the stake when Laud turned Scotland into a
+slaughter-house.  So 't is safe to say I admire neither your robe nor
+your Order.  Yet the events of this day have gone far toward convincing
+me that at heart you are a man in spite of the woman's garb you wear.
+So now, what say you--will you be comrade with me this night?"
+
+At the brutal bluntness of my speech and question--for I fear I took
+out upon him those feelings I ventured not to exploit with Madame,
+recalling how this same difference of faith had come between us two
+with its dread shadow--a red flush sprang into the priest's thin,
+wasted cheeks, and I could see how tightly his hands clinched about the
+crucifix at his girdle.
+
+"As to my Order, it hath little to fear from thy dislike, young man, as
+that is born from early prejudice, and lack of proper learning," he
+returned gravely, meeting I my eyes fairly with his own.  "Yet,
+speaking as frankly as yourself, I doubt if I would prove of much
+assistance upon a ship's deck; such effort as you propose for this
+night would be wholly foreign to my habit of life."
+
+"Spoken truly; nor would I make choice of one with muscles so inert
+from disuse were this to be an onset, where men give and take hard
+blows.  I ask you not upon the ship's deck at all, my friend, nor shall
+I require your company one step farther than the roof of the great
+sugar warehouse of Bomanceaux et fils.  Still, it will require steady
+nerve to do even what little I require, and, if you doubt your courage,
+say so now, and I will seek among the slaves for stouter heart and
+readier hand."
+
+That my words touched his pride I could read instantly in his uplifted
+face.
+
+"Nay, thou needest seek no further," he announced briefly, his thin
+lips tightly pressed together.  "I will go, Monsieur."  I knew
+instantly by the bold ring of the words that henceforward I might trust
+him to the death.
+
+"I thought you would.  Now a question more, and then I must have food.
+Can you prepare for my use one of your robes?"
+
+"Easily, Monsieur; Father Cassati left one behind at the chapter-house
+when he went aboard ship, and you do not greatly differ in point of
+size.  But is it possible thou proposest to turn priest, and of our
+Order?"
+
+"In outward vesture merely, and that not for long.  It would afford me
+greater liberty of movement on the 'Santa Maria' than my own garb, and
+may spare me some unpleasant questioning.  Yet, perchance, there may be
+danger of my overdoing the priestly character, as well as of
+overestimating the privileges granted the clergy on board."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders, nettled somewhat by my words and manner.
+
+"I have indeed reason for gravely distrusting your naturalness in the
+wearing of a robe dedicated to religion," he made answer.  "But as for
+the other matter, there can be little danger of your overstepping the
+mark.  Father Cassati is of a somewhat roistering disposition,
+over-fond of the bottle, in truth,--although it giveth me pain to speak
+thus of one of my own Order,--and I have been informed, moveth at his
+own will about the ship.  He is of the sort to be 'hail fellow, well
+met' with those roistering Spaniards, who care little for God or man,
+as he possesseth few scruples of his own."
+
+"Bear I sufficient resemblance to pass in his stead?"
+
+"You are not unlike as to height and build; as to face, you are far the
+better featured.  With the cowl up it might be reasonably safe in a dim
+light."
+
+"My beauty has always been my undoing," I ventured, in awakened good
+humor.  "Nevertheless I shall be compelled to venture it this time;
+moreover, I am pleased to learn that things aboard are as you describe,
+for such a state of affairs may greatly serve our purpose."
+
+I turned away from him to recross the room and murmur a few words of
+brighter hope into the ear of Eloise, where she sat in white-faced
+silence amid the deeper shadows of the portiere.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ON THE DECK OF THE "SANTA MARIA"
+
+The Spanish sentries on the Place d'Armes were calling the hour of
+midnight when the priest and I stole silently past amid the shadows of
+overhanging trees.  I find it impossible, even now, after the lapse of
+years, to dwell upon my parting with her who despatched me on so
+strange an errand.  My reluctant pen halts, while the tears, dimming my
+old eyes, bid me turn to other scenes.  However, under God, the venture
+of that night might terminate, I firmly believed I was gazing into her
+dear face for the last time; yet, honor sealed my lips, holding back
+unspoken those passionate utterances which burned upon my tongue.  I
+could merely clasp for one brief moment those hands she gave so
+unreservedly into my keeping, gaze into the unfathomed depths of her
+dark eyes, and murmur a few broken words of confidence and farewell.
+Then, half blinded from emotion, I tore myself away from her beloved
+presence, and went forth into night and peril for her dear sake.
+
+However my heart throbbed with hidden anguish as I stepped forth from
+that fateful house, the nature of the adventure upon which we were now
+fairly launched was sufficient to cool my brain, so that long before we
+skirted the guard-lines drawn around the camp of Spanish artillery, I
+had become once more the cool, resourceful adventurer, as befitted my
+nature and training.
+
+"Sentries are stationed only along the open side of the square, I
+think?" I whispered to my companion questioningly, striving vainly to
+penetrate the intense darkness in our front.
+
+"True," he responded in so low a voice I could scarcely catch the
+words, a slight falter betraying that the strange conditions preyed
+upon his unaccustomed nerves.  "It was thus they were posted last
+night."
+
+"Then we will assume the risk of finding clear passage.  Keep close,
+and venture no speech, whatever happens."
+
+It proved slow work at the best, as it would never do to have a Spanish
+spy dogging our footsteps.  I doubt not it tested good Father Petreni
+to the uttermost, yet I thought the better of him for the determined
+way in which he clung to my heels through the darkness.  As for myself,
+such dodging, twisting, climbing of walls, and skulking amid shadows,
+merely sufficed to warm the blood, and yielded greater zest for the
+more serious work to follow.  I claim small credit for courage in such
+matters; they have ever been so much a portion of life to me that their
+excitement became scarcely more than a draught of heady wine.  He was
+the truly brave man who, without any such incentive as I possessed,
+left his books and quiet cell that night to follow me abroad.
+
+At last we ran across the great deserted market-place, and paused,
+crouching breathlessly in the dense shadows of the huge warehouse
+standing upon the very brink of the broad river.  As we rested thus we
+could hear soft lapping of running water along the further wall, while
+occasionally some vagrant puff of air brought to our strained ears the
+distant creaking of chains, as the great war-vessels swung by their
+cables against the swift current.  Beyond this the night was intensely
+still, black, unfathomable, mysterious.  It seemed fairly to weigh down
+upon us with its noiseless burden of gloom.
+
+"Are you acquainted with the interior arrangement of this building?" I
+asked the priest in some anxiety.
+
+"I was within it only once, and observed little of its features.  I was
+called there in haste to speak words of peace to a sorely injured man."
+
+"Could you guide to the ladder leading up to the second floor in the
+dark?"
+
+I thought he gave a gesture of dissent, yet so dense was the night I
+could barely note the movement.
+
+"I am not certain, my son, yet to my remembrance it leadeth up near the
+centre upon the river side.  The building is doubtless empty of all its
+cotton at this time of year, and we should be able to feel our way
+across if only once within.  How do you purpose gaining entrance?"
+
+"Pah! that is the simplest portion of the whole venture," I said
+confidently.  "I am not likely to overlook such a point.  The third
+window from here has a loosened shutter; I brought this stick to pry it
+apart.  Then the interior will be ours, unless they keep a watchman
+stationed within."
+
+"Thou needst have small fear of that at this late season, and the
+building empty."
+
+We crept cautiously forward, myself in the lead, and feeling blindly in
+the darkness for the loosened shutter previously located.  At last my
+groping hand touched it, and drawing the bottom outward as far as
+possible by mere grip of the fingers, I inserted the stout oaken bar
+within the aperture, and, after listening intently to detect any
+presence close at hand, exerted my strength upon the rude lever.  There
+followed a slight rasping, as if a wire dragged along a nail,--a
+penetrating shrillness there was to it which sent a tingle to the
+nerves,--then the heavy shutter swung outward, leaving ample space for
+the passage of a man's body.  I lifted myself by my hands and peered
+cautiously within.  Everywhere was impenetrable blackness, while the
+silence was so profound as to give a sudden strange throb to my heart.
+Waiting no longer, I drew myself up on to the narrow ledge; then hung
+downward until my groping feet touched the floor.  Once safely landed I
+leaned forth again, and in another moment the priest stood beside me,
+the shutter tightly drawn behind us.  With a feeling of relief I faced
+that black interior.  Now, at least, we were beyond chance of discovery
+by any prowling Spanish guard, and could advance more freely.
+
+"Lead on," I commanded shortly, resting my hand upon his shoulder to
+make sure of his presence.  "I will keep hold upon your robe, so we
+shall not part company in the darkness."
+
+Very slowly we felt uncertain passage across the uneven floor.  It
+appeared littered with innumerable articles of the box and barrel
+order, with here and there a pile of loose lumber, altogether making
+such a jumble of obstruction that keeping our direction became simply
+impossible in that intense darkness which seemed to fairly swallow us.
+We did well to proceed at all, and escape creating a racket by
+stumbling over some of the many unseen obstacles in our path.  As to
+myself, I became so thoroughly confused by constant turning and
+climbing as to grow completely lost, but fortunately the priest kept a
+somewhat clearer brain, and, after groping blindly for some time,
+pausing occasionally as though he would smell his way like a dog,
+managed to put hand at last upon the object of his patient search.
+
+"'T is here," he whispered.  "Shall I go up?"
+
+"Ay!" I returned hopefully, glad I had restrained the impatience of my
+tongue.  "But try each rung before you venture stepping on it; they may
+prove rotten and give way beneath your weight."
+
+He swung himself up, after carefully tucking in his robe about the
+waist, but the ladder creaked so alarmingly beneath his tread I durst
+not venture my heavier weight upon it until he had safely reached the
+top.  Finally the noise of his climbing ceased, and I could hear a
+board move high above me.
+
+"Are you up safe?" I questioned in a low voice.
+
+"All safe, praise be to God," came the cautious response; "but thou
+wilt do well, friend, to exercise grave care, as the way is bad."
+
+It required brief exploration to convince us that this second story
+possessed a strong, firm floor, although there remained some danger of
+there being traps in it for the hoisting of cotton, while the boards
+might not extend over the entire surface.  By this time, however, our
+eyes had grown somewhat accustomed to the intense blackness enveloping
+us, so the slightest change in the prevailing gloom became quickly
+apparent.  The air was so fresh and pure, with such a taste of the
+night in it, I became convinced there must be an opening somewhere
+close at hand, and whispered the suggestion to my companion.  He proved
+keener of vision than I, for even as we thus spoke he plucked my sleeve
+and pointed upward.
+
+"Then surely it will be yonder," he exclaimed, with more eagerness of
+voice than I had before marked in him.  "There is certainly a lightness
+to the atmosphere overhead, as if it came from a direct opening to the
+sky."
+
+It appeared true even to me, now that he had pointed out the spot.
+
+"It must be the roof hatch uplifted.  Now if we discover a ladder
+leading thereto I shall accept it as proof that God guideth us this
+night, and feel new courage."
+
+"Our work is of God," said the _pere_ solemnly, "or I should never be
+here with you, and engaged upon it."
+
+"Nor have I ever doubted it, father," I made haste to answer, creeping
+cautiously forward across the ill-matched flooring.  "Yet you have been
+a luckier man than I if never you found yourself in the wrong when you
+believed it to be right."
+
+There was a ladder there spliced with bits of rope, as we discovered,
+yet proving of sufficient strength to up-bear us one at a time.  Thus
+we were soon out upon the great flat roof, lying prone at the edge,
+whither we had crept silently, peering cautiously forth upon the black
+river.  That is, we gazed into the silent mystery where we knew the
+river must be, yet it was like peering into an impenetrable bank of
+cloud.  There was something awesome about it, for out yonder, within a
+few yards of us, swung twenty great vessels of war, manned by thousands
+of fighting men, while not a sound reached us, except the slight
+creaking of strained cables, or the occasional dash of a wave against
+some obstruction in the stream; nor could anything be seen, if I except
+flitting sparks of light glimmering here and there like lost stars,
+serving to locate the positions of the various ships in their night
+anchorage.
+
+I felt, rather than saw, the devout priest at my side piously cross
+himself, and there was a mumbling of his lips in prayer, but I
+contented myself with searching through the gloom for a glimpse of the
+towering masts of the "Santa Maria," which must be close at hand.  They
+remained invisible, shrouded behind the mist cloud.  For one moment I
+cursed the intense blackness of the night, losing confidence in our
+venture.  Yet, even as hope failed me, the dull creaking of a nearby
+cable sounded farther up stream.  Guided by this I crept cautiously
+along the edge of the roof, aware as I proceeded that Father Petreni,
+imitating my example, pressed closely behind.
+
+Near the northern extremity of the long building we came to a halt,
+and, leaning well over the roof edge, I peered anxiously into the
+enveloping fog.  A deeper density of shadow showed directly in front,
+which I felt convinced could be caused only by one of those vast spars
+around which canvas had been rolled, as noted that afternoon from the
+ship's deck.  Vainly endeavoring to pierce the thick mist, I
+distinguished the steady tramping of some one pacing far beneath us.
+The sound came from farther out in the stream, where I might reasonably
+suppose the stern of the vessel to lie.  I drew back, and placed my
+lips close to the priest's ear.
+
+"Can you distinguish any outline yonder?" I queried eagerly, pointing
+as I spoke, and feeling fearful lest my eyes had been deceived by
+fleeting night shadows.
+
+Resting upon his breast, one hand shading his eyes, he peered long in
+the direction indicated before venturing to reply.
+
+"There is a shade of something yonder," he admitted at last.  "It rises
+a trifle above us, and almost directly out from this edge.  'T is hard
+to say of what it consists, yet 'tis of a peculiar shape, causing me to
+think of the foreyard of a big ship."
+
+"Exactly what I name it," I replied, set at ease by his prompt
+decision.  "How far would you suppose the thing to lie from where we
+are?"
+
+He studied the barely visible object long and carefully, shading his
+eyes again with his hands the better to concentrate his gaze upon that
+misty blot.
+
+"It is like a jump in the dark, my son, to attempt guessing at so
+visionary a thing.  At times it seemeth to fade away altogether, yet
+back it cometh once more into the same spot; from where I lie it might
+be twenty, or it might be forty, feet."
+
+"Saint Giles! not so bad a guess either.  I figured it at thirty this
+afternoon from the bank below, nor am I apt to prove far wrong in such
+judgment.  Truss up this confounded skirt of mine, while I uncoil the
+rope for a toss."
+
+He opened his eyes wide in amazement.
+
+"Do you hope to cast the loop over the end of the spar?"
+
+"Ay, that offers the only opening to get aboard unobserved," I replied,
+loosening as I spoke the slender rope coil from about my waist.  "Nor
+would it be any trick if the light were a trifle better.  As it is, I
+may miss a throw or two in getting firm hold.  It would prove risky
+business attempting to pass across a line insecure at one end.  Lie
+down now, _pere_, and keep as quiet as if you were dead."
+
+In instant obedience to my words the priest stretched himself at full
+length behind the low wooden gutter.  Rising cautiously to my feet, I
+passed the cord with utmost care through my fingers, testing its
+strands again, making certain it remained perfectly free for the toss.
+For a moment I stood thus, swaying forward at the very edge of the
+roof, my eyes measuring again and again the hazy, uncertain distance
+stretching away toward that slight undulating shadow.  It was
+practically impossible to determine where the extreme end of the spar
+terminated in air, yet as nearly as possible I made selection for my
+point of aim, and, with three noiseless circles about my head to give
+it impetus, shot the rope forth into the dense gloom.  I heard the
+opening noose strike something which rattled sharply in the intense
+silence.  Then the line slipped, hung limp, and finally fell dangling
+down over the edge of the roof.  It had failed to catch, and I crouched
+low, making no effort to draw the loose end back.  With the first sound
+of the blow against the spar the steady tramping across the deck
+ceased.  A moment, and a gruff voice hailed in vigorous Spanish from
+out the darkness:
+
+"Aloft there!  Who is on the foreyard?"
+
+For a brief space there came no answer, although we were made aware of
+other movements more directly below us.  Then some one answered:
+
+"The watch are all here on the forecastle, Senor.  It must have been a
+loose block that rattled."
+
+"Two of you jump into the foretop, and make all fast."
+
+The steady tramping was resumed, while a moment later we became aware
+of the approach of men climbing through the darkness toward us.  We
+were unable to perceive their shadows, yet their muttered conversation,
+as they lay out upon the yard, served to fix its actual position more
+clearly in my mind.  I believed I knew where I had so grievously
+overshot the mark.
+
+"_Boca del Dragon_!" grumbled one of the fellows hoarsely, seemingly in
+our very ears.  "The Captain is as nervous over those cursed
+frog-eaters down between decks as if we were anchored off Paree."
+
+"Think you that is the trouble, Jose?" returned the other in the
+sprightly voice of a younger man.  "I tell thee, comrade, 'tis only
+that bloody demon of an O'Reilly he is fearful of.  I have sailed with
+the 'old man' in many seas since first I left Sargon, and never expect
+to see him affrighted of any Johnny Frenchman.  But I heard the Admiral
+say two days agone, as I hung over his boat in the main chains, that if
+the Captain lost so much as a single prisoner it should cost him his
+ship.  That, I make it, comrade, is why he has n't taken so much as a
+glass of wine since first they were put aboard of us.  _Bastante_! but
+he must have acquired a thirst by this time to make his temper red-hot."
+
+The other laughed sourly.
+
+"Poh!  I know even a better reason for his going dry than that, Juan.
+He does n't have chance for a drink alongside of that gray-bellied
+French priest below.  _Caramba_! it takes him to polish off the red
+liquor."
+
+"How know you that?"
+
+"Saint Christopher! how know I?  Did I not just meet him at the main
+hatch so drunk he fell over the coamings.  The sojer on guard set him
+up against the butt of the foremast to sober off in the night air."
+
+I experienced difficulty in repressing a laugh at the words, but the
+two fellows were going down by this time, grumbling in their beards
+because they had discovered nothing wrong as reward for their trip
+aloft, so I contented myself by silently pressing my companion's arm,
+although doubtless he had comprehended no word of the conversation.
+
+We rested there motionless, with no attempt at speech, for fully twenty
+minutes before I ventured to haul in the line which dangled downward
+from my hand.  Everything remained quiet below, and, coiling it
+carefully over my arm, I noiselessly arose to my feet once more,
+poising myself to essay a second cast.  As straight this time as an
+arrow from the taut string of a bow the noose sped silently away into
+the darkness.  I felt a thrill of delight tingle through me as the end
+settled softly over the end of the vague, distant spar.  I drew the
+cord taut and firm, not a sound breaking the intense stillness closing
+us in like a wall.  A heavy wooden post, with a pulley attachment,
+stood behind where we rested, probably fitted there for hauling up
+heavy bales of cotton.  Creeping back, I wound the slack of the rope
+about its base, drawing it as tight as possible, and then placed the
+end in the hands of the observant and wondering priest, who continued
+to creep after me like a shadow.
+
+"Now all I expect of you is to hold hard on this rope until I get
+across on to the spar," I whispered.  "When I give three distinct jerks
+on the cord, then let loose of your end; but drop it slowly, mind you,
+_pere_, so I can draw it in without noise.  You had better creep to the
+edge of the roof with it before you release your hold.  Do you
+understand?"
+
+He nodded silently, his eyes gazing unwaveringly into mine.  I held
+forth my hand to him, moved by the sudden impulse of such a movement.
+As he gave me his own in response it felt as cold as ice, yet I marked
+his grip was strong.
+
+"As soon as I coil in the rope you had better creep down and go home,"
+I explained, speaking slowly, for somehow I felt it strangely hard to
+part with this last tie between the present and the uncertain future.
+"You can be no further use to me; Madame will be anxious to hear your
+report, while it might prove exceedingly awkward for one of your cloth
+to be trapped here after this night's work is discovered by the Dons.
+So now good-bye; you are a man of nerve, even if you are a priest, and
+I am glad to have been comrade with you."
+
+I heard him answer something as I slowly crept down to the edge,
+testing again the feel of the rope before venturing to swing off upon
+it.  I was not unaccustomed to those adventures incident to rough life
+on the frontier; my nerves were not easily jarred by strange
+experiences, yet I hold it no pleasant sensation to swing out on a
+thirty-foot line at that height, amid utter darkness, especially when
+you feel uncertain as to its secure fastening at the farther end.
+Moreover, the priest's robe hampered my movements sadly, while, being
+no light-weight, the strands of the small cord cut my hands.  I durst
+not hurry, but took the passage inch by inch, gritting my teeth as I
+hung suspended above the abyss, lest I might emit a cry.  In truth I
+thought my arms would pull out of the sockets before I finally came
+alongside the spar.  Yet, thanks be to God, the rope held nobly, though
+it required every pound of remaining strength to haul my dangling body
+up, that I could rest across the wood before I felt after the standing
+rope beneath.  I clung there weak as a child, trembling like a
+frightened woman, the cold perspiration standing in drops upon my face.
+
+I have been in far happier situations than that--lying bent nearly
+double across the yard of an enemy's ship on a black night, but at the
+moment, so sincerely rejoiced was I to be off that sagging rope, I felt
+like humming a tune.  Yet I contented myself with sliding along the
+smooth spar until I discovered a firm strand of rope beneath my feet,
+ventured then to stand upright, and clung for support to the cloth of
+the sail.  At last I gave our signal, and, as the line slackened to my
+hand, drew it cautiously in, coiling it as it came, until all was once
+again in my possession.  Waiting a moment, to give the _pere_
+opportunity to begin his retreat, I undid the noose yet wound about the
+small end of the spar, and, with much care, feeling my uncertain way
+through the darkness, worked myself slowly along, inward bound toward
+the mast.  Finally, close beside it I again made fast the end of my
+cord, lowering it, paying out the long coil inch by inch, until I felt
+convinced from its limpness it must extend to the deck.
+
+I acknowledge it was several minutes before I mustered sufficient
+courage to slip down into that intense blackness.  It was not so much
+fear of men which deterred me, but the oppressive silence, the mystery
+of what awaited me below, rested heavily upon the nerves, binding me to
+the spar, intently gazing and listening for either sight or sound.  It
+was recollection of that last, trustful look within the dark eyes of
+Eloise which finally aroused me to action.  Muttering an imprecation
+upon my faint-heartedness, I instantly swung off on to the dangling
+rope, slipping silently downward through the shadows to meet whatsoever
+fate might lurk below.
+
+It was a confused tangle of ropes I was compelled to traverse, yet none
+greatly interfered with my progress, except to render it slower, and
+the consequent strain harder upon the arms.  The huge foremast, close
+against which I swung, grew bulkier as I descended.  Suddenly my feet
+touched the solid deck.  I discovered myself between the foremast and
+the rail, so dropping upon hands and knees I crept silently around,
+hoping thus to gain clearer view forward.  As I circled the vast butt
+of the mast I came suddenly face to face with the friar, sitting upon
+the deck and blinking at me with drunken gravity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE ROLE OF PERE CASSATI
+
+I have no knowledge as to what the surprised priest thought regarding
+the astounding apparition thus bursting upon him.  Perchance he mistook
+me for the ghost of some ancient Father Superior visiting him in
+warning of his sins.  However, I permitted him small space for any
+reflection.  I have ever been swift in action; was awake then with the
+excitement of my venture, and little accustomed to hesitancy at such a
+time.  Moreover, I despised the fellow, and was not loath to be the
+instrument of punishment to him, and I never struck any man a deadlier
+blow with the bare fist than that I put in just back of his ear.  My
+posture was not the best for such exercise; nevertheless it permitted
+me to do the work, and he went over without word or groan, even as I
+have seen a buck fall to the rifle when the ball sang straight to the
+heart.
+
+Indeed, so limp did he drop upon his side, with not a sigh to relieve
+the sickening impression, I feared at first I had killed him--for it is
+a wicked blow, such as has caused death more than once.  I was
+reassured, however, by listening intently at his heart, and, not
+knowing how soon he might revive in the cool night air, took
+precautions to keep him dumb before venturing to leave him huddled
+against the butt of the great mast, and proceed forth on my own mission.
+
+To lower the long gray skirt of my monk's robe until it touched the
+deck planks, loosening as I did so the hunting knife securely hidden
+within my waist-belt, and to draw up the coarse, ample hood, thus
+better to conceal my features, after the same manner I was pleased to
+note Cassati wore his, were my first duties.  The way of procedure had
+been made clear; fate had seemingly solved that problem.  My sole
+prospect of attaining the guarded space between decks, of reaching the
+cell of the man I sought, lay in careful impersonation of the drunken
+French priest, now lying insensible at my feet.  Nor in this imposture
+did I anticipate serious difficulty.  Everything thus far had developed
+so favorably I became hopeful of the outcome--the inspiration of
+success brought with it renewed courage and confidence.  The exciting
+incidents of the night had awakened me to the humor of the venture, and
+I smiled grimly at the rare conceit of the contemplated masquerade.
+Nor did it promise an especially difficult part to play.  We were of
+similar size, broad-shouldered, stocky men, with smoothly shaven faces,
+the difference therein hardly likely to be observed by careless eyes,
+beneath dimly burning lights.  I knew enough regarding his
+peculiarities of voice and manner to imitate both fairly well, so only
+an accident, or some careless slip of the tongue, would be apt to
+reveal the fraud.  In short, I was armed with audacity, doubting little
+that I should safely pass the guards.  Anyway, there was nothing else
+for it; 'twas a moment when one must cast timidity to the winds.
+
+Yet I found it difficult to essay the first step in so desperate an
+enterprise.  For several moments I waited, hanging back within the
+shadow of the mast, gathering my wits together for the chances of the
+play, while endeavoring to pick out details of the situation along
+those silent, gloomy decks.  Owing to the mass of over-hanging cordage
+and the high wooden bulwarks on either side, the night appeared even
+darker than when I was above, perched on the dizzy yard.  Occasionally
+some deeper shadow, or the noise of voice or footfall, made apparent to
+me the life on board.  Toward the stern that steady tramping back and
+forth of the officer on watch continued uninterrupted, as he paced
+steadily from rail to rail.  I could even distinguish the dim outlines
+of his lower limbs as he passed and repassed before the single gleaming
+point of light on board.  I was also assured as to a group of seamen
+forward, hard against a steeper rise of the deck; once I heard the
+officer aft call out some unintelligible order, when one of the group
+detached himself from among those others and passed along the opposite
+side of the mast from where I lay, yet so close I could have touched
+him with extended hand.  I felt convinced a sentinel stood beside the
+hatch, and imagined I could distinguish the faint outlines of another
+farther back, near the rail.  Trusting to avoid interference from this
+latter soldier,--for I sought no risk of accident which might be
+escaped,--I crept around upon the opposite side of the deck from where
+I had been crouching so long.  Getting my new bearings as well as
+possible amid such confusing darkness, I finally set my teeth to it,
+rose, and bore directly down upon the hatchway, lurching somewhat
+heavily and unsteadily upon my feet.
+
+Whatever vestige of doubt lingered as to the nature of my reception on
+board the "Santa Maria" was quickly out to rest.  In return there came
+to me, from that first experience, a measure of confidence in my
+assumed character that enabled me to impersonate my drunken priestly
+predecessor with a degree of cool perfection that surprised myself.
+Faith, 't is always so; life is like the teetering-board of children,
+ever up or down.  Evidently the father in his night migrations had
+passed that way before, as the sentry--he appeared a burly fellow in
+the gloom,--after making certain as to the identity of his unsteady
+visitor, asked no unpleasant questions, merely contenting himself with
+gruff, good-natured warning to the _padre_ to be more careful this time
+and not fall down the ladder.
+
+"Holy saints!" he added soothingly, "your worship's head must be
+ringing yet with the blow it got."
+
+To this uncharitable remark I maintained dignified silence, and,
+flinging my somewhat uncertain limbs over the coamings, went scrambling
+down, leaving him to his solitary meditations.
+
+There was no light burning in the big square room below, merely a faint
+yellow reflection stealing forth from that passageway leading aft.  For
+this blessing of Providence I was profoundly thankful.  A good
+half-dozen of the night guard, wearing similar uniform with those I had
+met on duty during the afternoon, were idly lounging about the butt of
+the mainmast, evidently awaiting turn on sentry post, and ready enough
+to welcome any diversion chancing their way which would help to break
+the dull tedium of the night.  I observed likewise, as I made a drunken
+pause at the foot of the ladder in an apparently vain endeavor to
+steady myself, that these roisterers of the night-watch were a set of
+jolly dogs, and had been opening numerous bottles of red wine with
+which to pass lagging hours more pleasantly.  They were already in that
+gay, thoughtless spirit of badinage which comes of fair allowance.
+Good humor had laid careless hand on duty, until, the stern restraint
+of discipline noticeably relaxing, good fellowship had become king.
+Their officer lay outstretched at full length upon three camp stools, a
+fellow long of limb, with face as dark as a Moor.  He made no effort to
+arise from his undignified position, yet hailed me as though I had been
+a boon companion of his revel.
+
+"Ha!" he exclaimed gleefully, tapping as he spoke an empty glass
+against the deck.  "Comrades, 't is as I prophesied; we are not long
+robbed of the Church.  See, the most reverend Father hath already
+returned unto his own.  Truly art thou welcome, _padre_, for I fear thy
+flock were about to go astray without a shepherd.  Ho, Alva! seest thou
+not the coming of thine own liege lord? or art thou already so blinded
+by good liquor thou would'st dare neglect the very Pope himself, did he
+honor us with his company?  Alva, I say, you roistering hound, you
+drunken blade, bring hither a stool for the worthy confessor!  Faith!
+doth he not bear the sins of us all, and must he not be greatly aweary
+with so vast a load.  Saint Theresa! 't is fortunate there is yet a
+bottle left uncracked for the good _padre_!" I gathered the heavy hood
+closer about my face, so as better to muffle voice as well as conceal
+features; made an apparent effort to stand firm, but with such poor
+success I noticed the grins expand on the faces watching me.
+
+"Peace, my son," I hiccoughed, with an assumption of drunken gravity,
+uplifting my disengaged arm as if in priestly benediction of the
+impious crew.  "Tempt me not to turn aside from the solemn path of duty
+by offerings of that foul fiend which doth so corrupt and despoil men.
+Know you, I am now on my way to perform the sweet offices of our most
+holy religion, and need greatly to permit my mind to dwell in peace
+upon more soulful things than that which lieth in the wine pot.  You
+are mere beasts of the field, sons of Belial, children of wrath, every
+one of you, doomed to death, even as it is written, 'He that taketh the
+sword shall perish by the sword.'  Laugh, will you, you drunken scum of
+the sea!" I shouted, glaring about savagely on the grimacing faces.
+"'T is truth out of Holy Writ I speak, but I waste the precious word in
+such company--'t is casting pearls before swine--for there be none here
+who comprehend the things of the Spirit."
+
+"The spirit say you, _padre_?" interrupted the officer, evidently in
+rare good humor.  "_Bastinade_! thou doest wrong to all this worshipful
+company by so grievous a slur.  The spirit we know right well, although
+I confess thou art ever a full bottle in advance of the most of us."
+
+I cast upon him a withering glance of scorn as rebuke to his unseemly
+levity, venturing to lurch a step nearer.
+
+"Hush such vain and impious speech, thou man of war," I commanded
+thickly, indignation apparent even through my drunkenness.  "Thou
+makest mock of the sacred teachings of Holy Church, and art from
+henceforth accursed by virtue of my office.  I pause here, holding
+converse no longer with such mocking tongue, nor linger in presence of
+this blasphemous crew.  There resteth upon me the eternal destiny of a
+human, unshriven soul, and I bid thee permit my passage; 't is the
+final night of earth for some upon this ship, and I have until now
+neglected to perform my priestly duty with one of the condemned.  'T is
+upon this holy mission I would pass thee now."
+
+"I truly think, _padre_," exclaimed one of the group, with a careless
+laugh, "if you had another drink of red wine beneath your cassock you
+could never tell a prayer from a song; so for the sake of those poor
+devils yonder we ought to pass you this time without demanding toll."
+
+"To whom do you go at such unseemly hour with ghostly consolations?"
+inquired the Commandant, negligently rolling a cigarette between his
+long fingers, and resting back his head in supreme content.
+
+"I give absolution unto De Noyan."  In spite of my utmost endeavors my
+voice trembled mentioning the name.  I watched the fellow's face
+narrowly, yet read nothing save reckless indifference.
+
+"Ah! the gay Chevalier.  Faith, I doubt not he hath grave need of thee
+and thy paternosters ere he find peace.  Yet surely, _padre_, 'twas
+with him you were this very afternoon, while I was on guard before.  I
+marvel greatly he should care for your company so much.  Saints, he
+seems scarcely of the kidney to take kindly to so many prayers."
+
+I felt a chill sweep across me even at this slight check.  Had I dared
+too much?  Had I ventured too far?  I knew not, yet spoke my next words
+boldly, realizing that any retreat now would be impossible.
+
+"Thou knowest little of men at such a moment; even careless hearts
+learn fear of God as they face the end.  Holy Mother! but 't would even
+pale your black face, and put a stopper on that ribald tongue, were
+grim Death stalking at your very heels.  You may smile now, making
+reckless mock of the sacraments, but that hour will come when you will
+be as a child at the knee of Mother Church.  Ay, I was with the
+Chevalier to-day; 'twas the coming of that negro huckster which took me
+from his side before, and I seek now to complete the gracious work
+which then had well begun.  Surely thou wilt not stand between a dying
+man and his last confession!"
+
+"Nay; not I.  Let the poor devil have his chance, as may the good Lord
+grant me mine.  But, _padre_, I have only just returned from my last
+round among the prisoners, and am greatly wearied, nor will I journey
+that way again with you.  In truth, 'tis all I can well do to guide my
+own footsteps, without helping along a priest of thy weight.  So here,
+_padre_, take the key, and, mind ye, have it safely back in my hands
+before the ship's bell soundeth the half hour."
+
+Hastily snatching the bit of iron he flung rattling on the deck at my
+feet, I paused merely long enough to favor the company with parting
+admonition on their probable future.  Then, glad enough to be thus
+easily rid of them, I lurched heavily forward into the narrow
+passageway.  Some coarse joke launched at my expense attracted the
+attention of those behindhand speeded me onward.
+
+My heart throbbed in anxious anticipation of what unknown trial was at
+hand.  Such rare fortune as had thus far attended my efforts, seemed
+too remarkable to endure; nor was it impossible that, through some
+unforeseen mischance, the cup of success might yet be stricken from my
+very lips.  So far at least I had made no mistake; evidently this Pere
+Cassati was "hail fellow, well met" among these riotous guards aboard
+the "Santa Maria," and I had played the part to their complete undoing.
+But now I was facing a new experience, and stiffened myself to meet it
+boldly, uncertain still what trick fate might have in store.
+
+The sentinel, whom I discovered facing forward, hardly more than two
+paces from that door having the figures "18" painted upon it, quickly
+lowered his gun as I lurched unsteadily into sight.  Greatly to my
+relief, as soon as he obtained distinct view of his unexpected visitor,
+he returned the piece carelessly to his shoulder, and leaned back, his
+elbow against the arm-rack.  He was a good-natured-looking fellow, with
+round, boyish face, upon which streamed the full glare of a
+swinging-lamp suspended from a chain fastened to an upper beam.  His
+unsuspicious appearance served greatly to reassure me.
+
+"I give thee peace of Holy Church, my son," I muttered solemnly,
+leaning heavily against the jamb of the door, uplifting my hand in
+benediction.  "May the presence of the Mother and Child guard thee in
+time of battle."
+
+The face of the young soldier grew sober, and he withdrew one hand from
+its grasp on the shining musket piously to make the sign of the cross.
+
+"I thank thee, _padre_, for thy blessing," he returned gratefully.  "It
+will be in accord with the prayers of those I left at home in Spain."
+
+Whether or not guards on duty in the corridor had orders to pass the
+father unquestioned, this lad, at least, made no effort to prevent my
+inserting the great iron key within the lock of the door.  Doubtless my
+possession of it was accepted as evidence of my right to its use;
+anyway he remained there in that same careless posture, a pleased smile
+on his face, watching me curiously.  The heavy nail-studded door swung
+noiselessly ajar; with single questioning glance backward at the
+motionless sentry, I stepped within, closed it behind me, and stood, my
+heart throbbing fiercely, face to face with her husband--the man to
+whom had been given the woman I loved,--Chevalier Charles de Noyan,
+condemned to die at sunrise.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE CHEVALIER DE NOYAN
+
+It seems strange any man should deliberately venture life for one he
+had never seen; one whom, moreover, he hated with an intensity of
+passion seldom experienced between man and man.  I have not been of
+revengeful disposition, nor often indulged in grave personal dislike,
+yet it would be wrong in this simple narrative for me to attempt
+concealment of my own impulses.  So it is impossible to deny that, from
+the first moment when she called Charles de Noyan husband, I felt
+toward him a degree of animosity deeper than I had before supposed it
+possible for me to entertain relative to any human being.  It was
+bitter memory of the past, a belief that I had once won the heart of
+this fair girl, only to be balked of reward by spectral hands of
+religion, which swayed me thus strongly.  To my thought this stranger
+was one who had purchased, from priests at the altar, what was mine by
+divine decree; what would remain mine forever from the mandate of love
+unchangeable, eternally sealed by higher power than any priestly ritual.
+
+Yet I had already passed through a day and night of intense excitement,
+of grave peril, endeavoring to preserve the life of this man whom I
+would more gladly see die than any one I ever knew.  I stood now in the
+open jaws of my own destruction, where the slightest false movement, or
+ill-judged word, upon his part or my own, must mean betrayal; where an
+awakening of suspicion in the simple mind of the sentry without, or of
+his captain in the corridor; the return to consciousness, or chance
+discovery, of the bound priest upon the upper deck, would ruin every
+hope, sentencing me to a fate no less speedy or certain than that which
+now awaited him I sought to serve.  All this had I risked that I might
+aid in the escape of the one and only man in all the wide world who
+stood between me and the woman I loved.
+
+It was an odd position, a heartless caprice of fate.  I felt the full
+measure of its strangeness, yet the thought never occurred to me of
+shrinking back from duty, nor slightest dream of realizing a personal
+victory through any act of baseness.  I was not there for his sake, or
+my own, but to redeem my pledged word to her whose slightest wish was
+law, whose pleading face forever rose before me.  Nevertheless, as I
+stood fronting him for the first time, there was little except bitter
+hatred in my heart--hatred which, no doubt, burned for the instant
+within my eyes,--but a hatred which never returned, to curse my memory,
+from that day unto this.  I may have found much to test my patience,
+much to dislike about him in those weary weeks which followed, much of
+weakness and of fickle spirit, but naught ever gave birth anew to the
+deep resentment I buried there.
+
+The room in which I found myself was long and narrow, dimly lighted by
+an oil lamp screwed fast into a blackened beam overhead.  Along one
+side was the bare wall, unrelieved in its plain planking except for a
+small cracked mirror and a highly colored picture of the Virgin in a
+rude frame.  Opposite, two berths were arranged one above the other,
+both partially concealed by a dingy red curtain extending from ceiling
+to floor.  The only other furniture I noted in my hasty survey
+consisted of a rough stool chair, and a huge iron-bound, wooden
+sea-chest, the last so bulky as almost completely to block the narrow
+space between the lower berth and the opposite wall.  Seated upon the
+stool, which was tilted back upon two legs, his shoulders resting
+comfortably on a pillow pressed against the wall, his long limbs
+extended in posture of supreme contentment and laziness, upon the
+chest, was the man of my desperate search, the gallant soldier of
+France, the leader of rebellion, condemned to die before the rifles
+within four short hours.
+
+I have never greatly feared death, have witnessed it often and in many
+hideous forms, yet always believed it would test my nerves to the
+uttermost to face it as a certainty under guard of enemies.  Yet here
+was one, young in years, strong of limb, vigorous of hope, with all the
+joy of life just opening before him; a man of wealth, of fashion, and
+of ease, who was seemingly awaiting the inevitable hour of his doom
+with as calm indifference as if it meant no more than the pleasant
+summons to a Creole ball.  With one glance I made a mental picture of
+him--a young, high-bred face, marred somewhat by dissipation and late
+hours, yet beneath that dim light appearing almost boyishly fresh, and
+bearing upon its every feature the plain impress of reckless humor, and
+indolent content.  It was the face of a youth rather than a man; of one
+more accustomed to looking upon gay companions at the club than on the
+horrors of a battlefield; one who could justly be expected to boast of
+fair conquests, yet who might prove somewhat slow at drawing sword to
+front a warrior of mettle, unless his blood were heated with wine.
+
+Such were my first impressions, until I noted a certain manliness
+imparted thereto by the heavy moustaches adorning the upper lip, almost
+yellow in color, curled sharply upward, so heavily waxed at the ends as
+nearly to reach the ears, or rather to lose themselves amid the
+luxuriant growth of hair.  This latter, of the same unusual tinge,
+swept low over the shoulders, and was trimmed squarely across the
+forehead according to a fashion then prevalent among young French
+cavaliers.  His dress was not a uniform, but that of the latest mode in
+the province, somewhat exaggerated, I thought, as to length of the
+bronze shoes and glaring color of the waistcoat.  All these details I
+noted, as he turned somewhat indolently in my direction, calmly
+flipping the ash from off a cigarette, and permitting a spiral of thin
+blue smoke to curl slowly upward from his lips into the air.
+
+"So it is you, you miserable, drunken reprobate!" he exclaimed, a touch
+of temper tingling in a voice I felt must naturally be soft and low.
+"Have you dared come back to pester me with your abominable
+consolations?  Sacre! did I not bid you this afternoon to let me alone?
+I care nothing for your tipsy paternosters.  Faith, man, it will be
+pleasanter to face that firing squad to-morrow than your drunken
+prayers to-night.  Come, get out of the room before I lay unregenerate
+hands upon your shaven poll.  I am but giving you fair warning, priest,
+for I am quick of blow when my blood is heated, nor care I greatly for
+the curses of Mother Church."
+
+I stepped quickly forward, coming as directly before him as the great
+sea-chest would permit, fearful lest his loud words might be
+distinguishable beyond the closed door.  Then, with silent gesture of
+warning, I flung aside the heavy cowl which had concealed my features.
+
+"You, I presume, are Charles de Noyan," I said gravely.  "I am not
+Father Cassati, nor drunken priest of any Order of Holy Church."
+
+The prisoner was thoroughly astounded.  This I could perceive by the
+sudden gleam leaping into his eyes, but that he retained marvellous
+control over every muscle was abundantly proven by the fact that no
+change of attitude, or of voice, gave slightest evidence of emotion.
+
+"Well, Mother of God preserve me!" he exclaimed, with a short, reckless
+laugh.  "'Tis some small comfort to know even that much.  Yet may I
+politely inquire who the devil you are, to invade thus coolly the
+bedchamber of a gentleman, without so much as asking leave, at this
+unholy hour of the morning?  _Pardieu_, man, are you aware that this is
+the last night on earth I have?"
+
+He was staring at me through blue rings of tobacco smoke, very much as
+one might observe some peculiar animal seen for the first time.
+
+"Had it been otherwise you might rest assured I should never have
+troubled you," I replied, some constraint in my voice, his boyish
+bravado of speech rasping harshly upon my nerves.  "But time presses,
+Chevalier; there remains small space for useless exchange of
+compliment, nor does indifference appear becoming to those in such
+grave peril as you and I."
+
+"_Sacre_! are you also one of us?  Surely, I have no recollection of
+your face."
+
+"I am one in so far as I now face the same fate at the hands of the
+Spaniards, although, it is true, I had no part in your uprising.  I am
+not of your race."
+
+He laughed easily, passing one slender, white hand carelessly through
+his long hair.
+
+"Pah! you scarcely need tell me that, for the taste of the French
+tongue seems ill-suited to your lips.  Yet I would have you speak out
+more plainly!  I play not easily into the hands of strangers."
+
+"Why not?  You could hardly be worse off than you are now."
+
+"_Pardieu_! you are not so far wrong in your philosophy, friend.  Still
+I stick to my text, and if you care to hold further speech with me it
+will be well to declare yourself.  I have ever been a bit careful as to
+my associates."
+
+"It makes small odds, Chevalier, who I am; nor will it greatly aid you
+to learn my name, which is plain Geoffrey Benteen, without even a
+handle of any kind to it, nor repute, save that of an honest hunter
+along the upper river.  I say who I am makes small odds, for I come not
+with application for membership into your social circle, nor with card
+of introduction from some mutual friend."
+
+His expressive eyebrows uplifted in surprise.
+
+"Then, Monsieur, pray relieve my natural curiosity, and tell me why I
+am thus honored by your presence?"
+
+"To aid your escape from this hole, God willing.  That is, provided you
+rouse up from lethargy, and bear your part as becomes a man."
+
+I spoke with heat, for his indifference irritated me; yet I failed to
+note that my words made the slightest impression on him, for I did
+merely mark a slight shrugging of the shoulders, while he crossed his
+legs more comfortably, rolling some fresh tobacco, before he took
+trouble to reply.
+
+"You are evidently of a choleric temper, friend Benteen.  Great
+Heavens, what names have you English!" he exclaimed.  "And you need
+greatly to practise better control over yourself, as such weakness is
+apt to lead one into just such scrapes as this of ours.  _Sacre_! it
+hath been my failing also, otherwise would I now be a fat Major of the
+Line instead of a poor devil condemned to the volley, for no worse
+crime than an over-hot head.  But seriously, Monsieur, and I am truly
+of a most grave disposition, it is not so easy to accomplish that which
+you propose with so glib a tongue.  Imagine you I have lain here, under
+tender Spanish care, all these weeks, where, as I do most solemnly
+affirm, not so much as a glass of decent wine has found way down my
+throat, nor have I possessed a bit of pomade for the proper arrangement
+of my locks--which will account for their present dishevelment--Saint
+Cecilia! but that moon-faced Moor who commands the guard merely laughed
+at me when I did request a comb;--think you, I say, I have been through
+all this without calculating chances for escape?  But, _pardieu_! what
+use?  A man of sense will not dream such fool dreams.  This I know,
+there are three sentries yonder in the passageway, a good dozen more
+under arms in the guard-room beyond, with still others vigilantly
+pacing the deck above.  What use, I say, for did not poor Villere try
+it, and, before he had covered twenty feet, had three bullets in his
+brain?  Nay, Master Benteen, to endeavor running such a gantlet would
+only give me my fill of Spanish lead before the hour set, which, they
+tell me, comes with the sunrise."
+
+He arose languidly to his feet, paused a moment in front of the cracked
+mirror to recurl his long moustaches, and then, turning about, extended
+a white hand toward me, smiling pleasantly as he did so.
+
+"Faith, I fear I shall not look my best when it is all over, but if so
+it will be the fault of the Dons--they seem most careless as to
+requirements of the toilet.  Yet I would not have you deem me
+ungrateful, and I thank you heartily, Monsieur.  But if it be my turn
+to die, and I doubt it not,--for who ever heard of mercy in the black
+heart of a Spaniard?--then it is best I front it as becomes a gentleman
+of France, not with a bullet in my back, as though I fled from fate
+with the faint heart of a coward.  Nay, good friend, if death is to be
+my portion, I prefer meeting it with a smile, and thus prove, at the
+ending, worthy of my race."
+
+There was a certain dignified manliness in his speech and manner which
+for the moment caused me to doubt my earlier reading of his character.
+There might be steel beneath the velvet glove of this fair courtier.
+
+"Do you mean you deliberately choose to remain here, rather than accept
+the chance I offer you?"
+
+"Sacre!  I have as yet heard of no chance," he replied easily, sinking
+indolently back into his old seat against the wall.  "I shall be fairly
+comfortable here for the while, though I must say I have used a better
+grade of tobacco than this furnished me."
+
+For the moment I was in despair as to the outcome of my mission, nor
+did I accept the proffered hand of the prisoner.  Here was a totally
+different order of man from what had ever come my way before, nor did I
+know how best to meet him.  How much of his vain and reckless speech
+came from the heart, and how much of it was merely a mask with which to
+test my purpose, I could not determine, yet I remained resolute
+regarding my own duty, and accordingly sat coolly down upon the chest,
+determined to play out his own game with him to the bitter end.
+
+"Quite true, Chevalier," I said, smiling pleasantly, as if I entered
+fully into his reckless spirit.  "Doubtless you are right--needs must
+when the devil drives.  Could you spare me a morsel of that same
+tobacco, until I test the quality of which you complain?"  I produced a
+pipe from the recesses of my monk's habit, knocking the ashes out
+carelessly against the chest.
+
+He passed over his pouch in silence.
+
+"When one resteth between His Satanic Majesty and the deep sea it makes
+small odds at the best which direction he turns.  It becomes merely a
+matter of taste.  Death," I continued musingly as I deliberately rammed
+home a charge into the bowl, "must be about the same to one man as to
+another, except for matter of temperament; so if you can afford to sit
+here and welcome its coming, so can I."
+
+"Do you mean you are sufficiently crazy to remain deliberately and die
+with me?"
+
+"Certainly.  I pledged your devoted wife I would rescue you, or never
+return alive myself.  As you stubbornly refuse to listen to reason,
+this seems to be all that is left me.  Opinions might differ as to
+which was crazed, but as to that we will probably neither of us ever
+know.  May I trouble you for a light?"
+
+I leaned forward, coolly helping myself to the burning cigarette he
+held forth doubtingly between his fingers, and, puffing vigorously,
+silently resumed my seat.
+
+"My wife, say you?"  A fresh interest appeared to sweep over him at the
+word, overcoming his indifference.  "Did Eloise de Noyan send you here
+seeking to succor me?"
+
+"It was at her request I came; at her wish I stay," I answered firmly.
+
+"You knew her?"
+
+"Several years since, when she was scarcely more than a girl; yet she
+retained sufficient faith to call upon me in extremity."
+
+He sat staring at me as if he would like to question further.
+
+"The Lord love us, you are a cool fish," he finally exclaimed, bringing
+his hand down upon his knee, and speaking with fresh animation in his
+soft voice.  "What is more, I rather like you.  So Eloise really wishes
+me to desert the Dons?  Queer choice that, for she would make a lovely
+widow.  Oh, well, what's the odds?  'Tis only the question of a ball in
+the back to-night, or a ball in the front to-morrow.  If you chance to
+have a tuck ready for my hand, friend, I 'll try a dash at the deck
+just for the sport of it."
+
+I shook my head emphatically.
+
+"We will attempt passage without flashing of weapons, or not at all.  I
+grant a quick stroke might win us the open, yet would only serve to
+rouse the ship; neither of us would ever lift head above the river
+surface without a bullet in the brain."
+
+"It is the only way fit for a gentleman."
+
+"Confound your gentlemen!" I cried, now thoroughly aroused at this
+ill-chosen trifling with time.  "Either you do as I bid you, or else we
+settle down without any more ado, to wait the file to-morrow.  How
+often does the Commandant look in?"
+
+"On the stroke of the ship's bell."
+
+"Then, Monsieur, the sooner you arrive at some decision the better.  If
+indifference is your game, I play it out with you to the end."  As I
+spoke I leaned carelessly back against the lower bunk, puffing away at
+my pipe to get it fairly alight once more.
+
+I could note from the corner of my eye he was watching me closely, and
+with no slight degree of aroused interest, but I would have rested
+there without further speech until the guard came, had he not first
+broken silence.
+
+"And she sent you?"
+
+"So I said."
+
+"To me, not Lafreniere, her father?"
+
+"There was a possible chance to save one, not two."
+
+"_Sacre_! yes, I understand that; yet it doth puzzle me why she should
+have chosen as she did.  Know you just why it was De Noyan instead of
+Lafreniere?"
+
+"Madame selected me for action, not advice," I answered shortly, now
+thoroughly tired of his questioning.  "Lafreniere, I understood,
+positively refused opportunity to escape, from scruples of conscience.
+Besides, the father must be near the end of his days, while you were
+yet young, with long life before you.  No doubt this also had weight
+with her decision.  As for myself I sincerely wish it might have been
+some other, so I could have brought my aid to a man of sense."
+
+He rose up, shrugging his shoulders.
+
+"You are not especially choice in speech, yet your purpose harmonizes
+somewhat with my present humor.  I will risk the effort; so now tell me
+your plan?"
+
+I permitted no sign of pleasure at his decision to appear in my face.
+
+"I did intend dressing you in this cassock so you might play priest,
+and slip safely past the guard beneath its gray cover," I said quietly.
+"I purposed remaining behind, arranging for myself as best I might; but
+now that we have met, to be perfectly frank about it, I retain no
+confidence in your discretion which will warrant the risk.  I therefore
+decide we had better abide together until this venture be done."
+
+He smiled, apparently in rare good humor at my words.
+
+"No doubt it will prove best, my friend.  Your wider knowledge should
+supplement my boyish enthusiasm," he responded with mocking bow.  "I
+rather suspect, from outward appearance, you may be some years my
+junior, yet in life experience I readily yield you the palm.  So lead
+on, most noble Captain; from henceforth command me as your devoted
+follower.  And now, your excellency, I trust you will pardon if I
+venture the inquiry, what would you have your humble servant do?"
+
+I permitted him to ramble along as he pleased.  Now I had won his
+pledge I cared little for the nature of his raillery.  While he talked
+I flung open the great chest upon which I had been sitting, and
+discovering it packed with clothing, hastily dragged the various
+articles forth, flinging them into the lower berth, covering the pile
+with blankets in such a manner that they resembled the sleeping figure
+of a man.  Then I turned toward him.
+
+"My first order, Monsieur, is that you get in here."
+
+"_Sacre_! not I--"
+
+There came a quick, firm footstep sounding along the passageway
+without; then a hand fell heavily upon the latch of the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FAVORED OF THE GODS
+
+It seemed as if my heart must choke me at sound of those steady
+footsteps approaching down the passageway.  I heard the sharp click of
+a gun-barrel in the sentry's hand as he presented arms, then the noise
+of the uplifting latch, yet remained so paralyzed by the suddenness of
+it as to be fairly helpless, unable to move from my position.  De Noyan
+merely smiled lazily, as though this new act formed part of the play,
+beginning calmly to roll another cigarette.
+
+"The devil came likewise," he murmured lightly, sinking back upon his
+stool.  "Begin your paternosters, friend Benteen, or he will fly away
+with both of us."
+
+Fortunately these mocking words brought me to my senses quickly enough
+to permit dropping upon my knees with back to the door before it swung
+wide open.  Nor did I trust myself to do aught save mumble inarticulate
+and mongrel Latin, until it had been safely closed again.  Had I sought
+to exercise my wits on this occasion, my companion permitted small
+opportunity for words.
+
+"Ah! so it is you, you black-faced Arab?" he exclaimed sneeringly, as
+the Commandant of the guard peered curiously in.  "Not content to wait
+the striking of the ship's bell, you must even interrupt my prayers.
+Nice treatment of a gentleman his last night on earth, to push yourself
+in between him and the consolations of the holy father.  _Sacre_! had I
+only a small sword at my side I would write a message across your black
+Spanish heart which would teach your master how to guard a French
+cavalier safely, and still be decent about it."
+
+It is doubtful whether the officer comprehended this tirade.  It was
+voiced in French, yet tone and manner must have conveyed much of its
+import, for I distinguished a muttered word or so regarding the
+unpleasant duty of a soldier, and the length of time the priest had
+retained the key, ere the intruder finally backed out closing the door
+behind him.  I clung to my knees, however, until his retreating
+footsteps had died entirely away in the distance; even until De Noyan
+addressed me again in his exasperating drawl.
+
+"So, Father, you must now realize, if never before, how highly I value
+your ministrations.  Faith! never until this hour have I truly enjoyed
+the prayers of any _padre_; I knew not what I missed.  Still there is
+limit even to such pleasure, and it is time now to conclude; I have
+heard better Latin in my day, while your provincial accent rasps
+painfully upon the ears."
+
+"You made your play quite well, Monsieur," I said shortly, somewhat
+mortified he should thus take the leadership out of my hands at the
+first symptom of danger.  "But there must be something besides
+play-acting for us to-night if we get free of this ship.  So come now;
+do you get into the box?"
+
+He looked down at it doubtfully, with a shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"_Pardieu_!  I would ask certain questions first," he said with greater
+show of seriousness.  "For how long a time? for what sort of a passage?
+It will prove somewhat cramped, I take it, for a man of my length of
+limb."
+
+"I hope both may prove short," I returned, continuing to hold up the
+lid for him to enter.  "Yet I know of no other possible means whereby
+you can leave this room without being halted by the guard at the door.
+There is no certainty in this, yet there is a chance, Chevalier, and
+that ought always to be invitation to a brave man.  Beyond this it is
+God's affair."
+
+The soldier twisted his long moustaches reflectively, a new light
+gleaming in the eyes that fronted me.
+
+"_Sacre_, man!" he said at last stepping forward in sudden resolution.
+"As you say it may be worth trying, but it's not unlike climbing into a
+coffin three sizes too small for the deceased.  Still I 'll bide
+therein for a while, only, I warn you, you better be easy when you put
+me down, or the corpse may furnish a sudden resurrection."
+
+It proved truly no easy task to stow him safely in that contracted
+space.  At any other time I should have laughed outright, marking the
+final result of our combined efforts, especially at the expression,
+half ludicrous, half pathetic, upon his face as he gazed up at me just
+before the lid was closed.
+
+"Now mind, Chevalier," I said gravely, for had I ventured upon a smile
+at his predicament he would have popped instantly forth again, "you are
+to make no movement of any kind until left alone.  When certain of that
+you may venture out of the chest, but remain quiet until you hear from
+me again."
+
+[Illustration: Had I ventured upon a smile at his predicament he would
+have popped instantly forth again.]
+
+"You believe you know a way?"
+
+"Under God's guidance yes, if you will only bear your part."
+
+Without pausing for his answer I dropped the heavy cover over him, and
+gave vent to a sigh of relief.
+
+So far, at least I had won; thus far the gods had favored me.  In spite
+of the obstacle of temperament I had found means to attain my end, to
+work my will, yet I realized well De Noyan would never bear such
+uncomfortable posture long; whatever was to be accomplished must be
+done quickly.  Fortunately my plan, dim and doubtful as it was, had
+already taken outline.  I had determined what to endeavor; it must be
+attempted at once, with bold heart, or the opportunity would be gone
+forever.  Pulling the hood across my face, I partially opened the door,
+glancing out upon the curious sentry.  To my relief he was alone.
+
+"I suppose the Commandant told you to give me a lift out with this
+box?" I asked in Spanish.
+
+"No, senor _padre_."
+
+The man was exceedingly good-natured, evidently one who had profound
+respect for the cloth.
+
+"_Caramba_!" I growled angrily, using the Spanish tongue so he might
+not miss my meaning.  "He promised it only a moment ago, when he looked
+in.  He must have forgotten.  There is no sense in having such a great
+chest lumbering up the entire room.  Know you how it ever came there?"
+
+"It was the senor Lieutenant's state-room, _padre_, before the
+prisoners were brought aboard.  I think it might be his sea-chest."
+
+"Well, the Commandant said it could be removed, so out it goes.  It
+leaves no space for us to kneel in prayer."
+
+I bent down as I spoke, exerting all my strength, and succeeded in
+dragging the heavy, iron-bound chest forward, across the threshold.  My
+heart beat fiercely in misgiving lest the guard might feel moved to
+interfere, but he never stirred; merely gazed at my movements in stolid
+wonder.  Concealing from him all the interior possible with my body, I
+spoke a brief word of farewell to the prisoner, supposed to be safely
+within, then closed and locked the door.
+
+"Here," I said authoratively, my cheeks flushed with delight at so
+successful an issue, "lay hold on one end of this, and give me a lift."
+
+Obligingly, and apparently without a moment's reflection as to his
+duty, the soldier, young in years and doubtless a new recruit, leaned
+his gun against the mast, bending down with hand upon the rope handle.
+
+"Where to, senor _padre_?"
+
+"The Commandant said it might be placed in the store-room.  'Twill stow
+away safely enough there, and bother nobody.  Know you where that is?"
+
+"Ay; only a step this way."
+
+"Lead on then, yet Saint Cecilia! it makes no light load.  The
+Lieutenant must have kept his stock of wine within."
+
+I durst not venture bearing the thing farther, fearful lest we might
+run afoul of others of the guard who would prove more suspicious than
+this honest fellow, besides, all my hasty plan of escape hung now upon
+the faith retained, that the half-open cuddy door had direct
+communication with the provisions stored below.  Surely they could
+never be loaded and unloaded by means of the distant hatch-ladder.  So
+dull and unintelligent in the dim light appeared the face of the fellow
+opposite, as we strained forward beneath the weight of the chest, I
+ventured upon a question.
+
+"How does the cook get out all that provender from here?"
+
+"I know not, senor _padre_; but I think there will be opening from the
+store-room to the upper deck.  They were at work there yesterday while
+I was on guard."
+
+By good fortune the room sought was only three doors down the
+passageway.  As it was, my forehead was wet with perspiration for fear
+De Noyan would lose what little stock of patience he possessed before
+we reached there, or that the Spaniard would begin to wonder at the
+surprising weight.  Dropping the chest with good will amid the raffle
+littering up the floor space, we came forth together, the soldier to
+pick up his gun, while, mopping my face vigorously, I proceeded forth
+into the guard-room for the purpose of delivering up the key.
+
+This was a task I approached with dread.  Even now some slight slip of
+tongue, or action, could easily ruin everything accomplished, yet I
+durst not omit the precaution, lest the missing key awaken suspicion
+and lead to immediate pursuit.  Here, again, fortune played strangely
+into my hands, as I discovered the officer dozing in his chair, and,
+stepping softly, so as not to arouse him, I gladly handed that
+important bit of iron over to the care of one of the guard, himself too
+drowsy from potations to trouble me with questioning.  Relieved of this
+duty, my heart filled with gratitude for all the mercies of the night,
+I betook myself up the ladder unmolested, and a moment later stood in
+comparative freedom upon the open deck.
+
+I could scent the coming dawn in the fresh morning air the moment I
+arose through the hatch opening, yet there was no sign of it in the
+sky; indeed I felt there must be fog in the atmosphere, it rendered it
+so thick, although not sufficiently heavy to drip in moisture.  It
+required only a moment to locate all life present along the forward
+deck, and I became convinced few wakeful eyes remained among them at
+this sleepiest of all hours of the night.  Trusting to this, as well as
+the garb I wore for concealment, I walked boldly back as far as the
+mainmast, meeting no one.  Then, fearful of observation from the
+officer still pacing the poop, I skulked stealthily along in the black
+shadow of the cook's galley, until I reached the cuddy door, quaking
+with fear lest it fail me.  It opened instantly to the touch of the
+hand, and with heart throbbing wildly, for now all that had been
+accomplished hung in the balance of this last experiment, I groped
+about within seeking to solve the mystery of that gloomy interior.  The
+place had the feel of a big, square box; by stretching out across the
+edge I could barely reach the farther side, but could touch no bottom,
+nor did I feel the rungs of any ladder leading down.  It resembled a
+well, and the thought immediately took possession of me that the crew
+hauled up their provisions by use of ropes, yet I could discover no
+hoisting apparatus of any kind.  With head projected far below the deck
+level I ventured a soft whisper into the darkness:
+
+"Are you there, Chevalier?"
+
+There was a slight movement beneath, as if he drew closer to where I
+was.
+
+"Yes, it is all right," he returned, his voice so modulated as to be
+barely audible.  "But I discover nothing in this darkness to aid in
+reaching the deck.  Know you where a rope can be secured?"
+
+"Ay; lie quiet until I return."
+
+It was a bit ticklish, yet required doing.  A trip to the foremast put
+in my possession quite a section of line sliced from off the rope's end
+previously left dangling from the upper yard.  Incidentally as I passed
+back and forth I revisited Father Cassati, still resting easily in his
+bonds, but now peacefully sleeping off his earlier potations
+undiscovered upon the hard deck.  Returning with my treasure, I payed
+it out into the intense blackness of the cuddy hole, and anxiously
+awaited developments below.
+
+Nor had I long to wait--there came a touch on the line followed by a
+firmer pull, as if the party below tested its strength.  For a moment
+the cord wiggled about as if the man was working with his end to some
+purpose, then there followed three sharp jerks which I interpreted to
+mean to hoist away.  I promptly put my full strength to it, bracing
+both feet firmly against a heavy cross-piece of timber, evidently
+nailed there for that very purpose.  The rope ran over a small roller
+set close against the coaming, which I had failed to observe in my
+hasty search, so I found the strain less than expected, although a
+heavy weight was evidently attached to the other end.  But I uplifted
+this, for I was vain of my strength in those days, and the distance was
+not so great but that shortly his hands managed to grip hold upon the
+deck planks, and a moment later he stood beside me, complacent and
+debonair as ever, in the dense shadows of the galley.
+
+"_Sacre_! 'tis a most scurvy trick we are playing on the Dons, friend
+Benteen," he murmured smiling easily, while peering about him in the
+darkness.  "And now, what is the next act in this midnight melodrama,
+most cautious youth?"
+
+"The keeping of a still tongue until we are both overboard," I replied
+somewhat roughly.  "Follow me closely, and keep quiet about it, if you
+retain the slightest care for your life."
+
+It was not much of a trick, the rest of it, and within five minutes we
+were silently floating down the great river, through the darkness,
+seeking after some quiet landing-place below the fleet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE BIRTH OF THE DEATH-DAWN
+
+We durst not swim to the nearest landing, just beyond the bow of the
+big flag-ship we had so unceremoniously quitted, fearing our efforts to
+stem the current might attract the attention of some watcher on board.
+So permitting myself to drift silently beneath the vessel's stern,
+without the stir of a limb to disturb the water, I was soon well away
+from the great black shadow.  Without a word De Noyan followed.  Yet
+time was far too precious to permit long drifting, and at the earliest
+moment I dared the venture we turned aside, striking out boldly for the
+shore.
+
+"We must move rapidly, Chevalier, to make up lost time," I cautioned
+briefly, wading out, dripping, upon the bank.
+
+"Are the streets patrolled by the Dons?"
+
+"Ay! although not as thoroughly as when the Spaniards first landed.  We
+shall require to exercise caution."
+
+"Where do you take me?  There can be no safe hiding spot in New
+Orleans?"
+
+"I know none.  We go to the rear of a long row of tobacco sheds near
+the North Gate.  A boat thoroughly stocked, with two oar men, awaits
+us."
+
+"I mind the place," he said eagerly, "I outfitted there for hunting
+more than once.  It is best for me to lead, as I know well every inch
+of the path, and have grown interested in the play."
+
+He certainly proved his familiarity with that labyrinth of sombre
+streets and alleys.  Selecting a devious course, stooping low beneath
+the black shadows of walls and fences, he yet set so swift a gait with
+his confounded long legs it kept me puffing to follow.  But we found
+clear passage, seeing no one close enough to interfere with our rapid
+progress, while no challenge sounded, until we crept, silently as
+possible, around the dilapidated end of the old tobacco shed, and a
+black figure, scarcely distinguishable in the gloom, suddenly arose,
+uttering no word, yet with threatening gesture, barring further passage
+toward the river.
+
+"Virginia," I gasped, breathless from the hard run.
+
+"Bless de Lawd, Massa Benteen," returned a darky voice.  "An' Massa
+Charlie, as I 'm a sinner.  I tell you, sah, we done 'bout gib you both
+up fo' suah."
+
+"Stop talking just now, Alphonse, and lead along lively," said De
+Noyan, with returning authority.  "We can converse later, in
+surroundings more congenial."
+
+Another moment and we were in the boat, the Chevalier pushing it clear
+of the bank, then lightly clambering in over the stern.
+
+"Benteen," he exclaimed, panting heavily, "I confess I'm about useless
+from lack of wind.  _Sacre_!  I 've been housed so long I am weak as an
+invalid, yet I can steer the craft if you inform me where 'tis best to
+go."
+
+"Up country is our only chance," I gasped, grasping an oar, vaguely
+noting a second figure huddled within the bow.  "All the lower water is
+patrolled by the fleet, but above there are plenty of hiding places.
+Lay down to it hard, you black rascals; you are pulling for your lives."
+
+De Noyan extended his hand toward the east.
+
+"It will be dawn in about an hour," he said, a tone of earnestness
+creeping into his soft voice.  "We can never pull against this stiff
+current so as to get any distance in that time.  This east shore is
+flat as a board for leagues.  I 'm for heading straight across.  If we
+gain the west bank within an hour, or even two, the Devil himself would
+have a hard job to find us."
+
+"Go on," I muttered, bending grimly to my task.  "You know this country
+better than I.  When we reach upper waters it will be my turn to guide."
+
+As I uttered these words, a bit impatiently, there sounded a quick step
+on the low bank at our right.  A sharp voice cleaved the darkness.
+
+"Halt there!  Halt that boat, or I put a ball through you."
+
+"Sheer off lively, lads," I whispered.  "Swing her head out, Chevalier."
+
+There was a rush of feet down the steep embankment.  Then a second
+voice questioned eagerly:
+
+"What was it you saw, Sanchez?"
+
+"Nothing, Senor; I heard voices out yonder.  Listen!  As the saints
+watch, 't is the dip of oars."
+
+"Halt that boat, or we shoot!"
+
+There followed a moment's painful pause.  An oar in our bow slipped,
+making an awkward splash in the water.  "_Caramba_! you will not?  Take
+aim, men--fire."
+
+A jagged flash of flame cleaved the night.  It lit the steep bank,
+flinging a bright glare across the dark waters.  In that instant I saw,
+my face set shoreward, a dozen black figures clustered in a bunch.  One
+ball crashed into the planking close beside my hand, hurling a splinter
+of wood against my face.  The boat gave a sudden tremor, and, with a
+quick, sharp cry of pain, the negro next me leaped into the air, and
+went plunging overboard.  I flung forth a hand in vain effort to
+grapple his body, yet never touched it, and everything about became
+black once more.
+
+"The poor devil's gone," muttered De Noyan.  "The rest of you lay down
+to your oars, before they have time to load again."
+
+So quickly did this occur I do not believe we lost more than a stroke
+or two, and were already well out into the stream, nothing except our
+narrow stern pointing toward the bank, where some of the soldiers--we
+judged from their voices--were reloading for a second volley, the
+others searching the shore after some boat in which to begin the
+pursuit.  It was a hard pull, especially upon my part, as I chanced to
+sit on the lower side, having full sweep of the current tugging against
+my oar, while De Noyan headed the boat as directly as possible for the
+western shore.  The soldiers, completely swallowed in the gloom, made
+no further attempt to fire; possibly, having seen the fall of the
+black, they believed their work done.  Nor did other sounds reach us
+evidencing pursuit; for that moment at least we were free.  It was then
+I watched the coming of the dawn.
+
+There was a slight, scarcely perceptible, shading into a lighter tinge
+of the clinging black shadows that veiled the eastern sky, dimly
+revealing misty outlines of white, fleecy clouds extending above the
+faint horizon line, until they assumed a spectral brightness, causing
+me to dream of the fairies' dwellings which my mother pictured to me in
+childhood.  Gently the delicate awakening spread along the wider
+expanse of sky, which became bluish gray, gradually expanding and
+reflecting its glow along the water, until this also became a portion
+of the vast arch, while the darker borderland, now far astern, formed
+merely a distant shade, a background to the majestic picture.  The east
+became gradually a lighter, more pronounced gray; rosy streaks shot
+upward through the cloud masses, driving them higher into an
+ever-deepening upper blue like a flock of frightened birds, until at
+last the whole eastern horizon blushed like a red rose, while above the
+black line of distant, shadowy trees, the blazing rim of the sun itself
+uplifted, casting a wide bar of dazzling gold along our wake.  Gazing
+thus, every thought of our surroundings, our dangers, and fatigue
+passed from memory.  Bending to the oar, my soul was far away upon a
+voyage of its own.
+
+Some unusual movement served to attract attention from this
+day-dreaming, my eyes falling suddenly upon De Noyan.  His face, turned
+partially away from the rising sun, was gray with anxiety, and I noted
+he shivered in his wet clothes.  Yet his smile and speech seemed
+jauntily unconcerned as ever.
+
+"Yonder was to have been my last sunrise," he remarked grimly, nodding
+backward across his shoulder.  "'Tis about the hour now for those in
+the hands of the Dons to have their backs against the wall."
+
+I caught a sound as of a partially suppressed sob behind me, but before
+I could turn sufficiently to ascertain the cause, the Chevalier sprang
+past, rocking the little boat furiously, and my ears overheard that
+which caused me to keep my face set the other way.
+
+"Eloise!" he exclaimed exultantly.  "Are you here, little wife?  Mon
+Dieu!  I dreamed it not; yet should have known you would never leave
+such duty to the slaves."
+
+"I was simply compelled to come," she answered, and I could mark her
+voice falter.  "Do not be angry with me.  What have I now left except
+you?  The rising of the sun sealed my father's fate."
+
+"True," he admitted soberly, lifting his hat in grave gesture.  "I feel
+like a condemned coward, my name a byword for the rabble, being here in
+such comparative safety, when, in honor, I should be lying beside my
+comrades."
+
+"Nay; say not that!  You are young; much of life, of usefulness, lies
+before you.  I knew that at the best only one destined victim might be
+plucked from the Spaniard's vengeance.  It was at his approval I made
+choice of you.  My father is robbed of but few years, while you are too
+young to die.  Somewhere--God guiding--we shall find a home again, and
+days of peace."
+
+"Ay! you were ever of brave heart, Eloise.  But let us not forget we
+yet remain in reach of Spanish claws, and they are merciless.  Go back
+to the tiller a while, and let me lay hold upon this oar; 'tis heavy
+work for such soft hands as yours.  Point the course direct for the
+cane island--you must remember it; you were there once with me."
+
+I fail to recall even glancing into her face as she sat fronting me,
+her hands upon the tiller bar.  I durst not, fearing some telltale
+expression within my eyes might bring her added pain.  So I sat with
+glance downcast upon the planks, while tugging doggedly at the oar with
+all my strength, feeling that same sunrise had brought with it my own
+death warrant.  So dull and heavy grew my heart with lonely weariness,
+I cannot guess how long we pulled before the boat's nose ran up upon
+the shore, and De Noyan, springing overboard, dragged it well beyond
+view among the thick cane.
+
+"We shall be safe enough here," he exclaimed lightly, gazing about with
+approval.  "Come, Eloise, step on this dry sand, for you must be
+greatly cramped from so tedious a passage."
+
+As I arose, the more easily to permit her passing me in the narrow
+space, she suddenly grasped both my hands within her own; then my eyes
+glanced up once more to meet hers, dark with unshed tears.
+
+"Do not think, Geoffrey Benteen," she said brokenly, her voice
+vibrating with emotion, "that I fail to realize what this means to you.
+Your troubled face has been a silent accuser of me this hour past.  But
+I thank you; you have proven yourself a man, such a man as I have ever
+believed you to be.  May the good God bless you and bring you peace."
+
+"Ay!" chimed in her husband, apparently in good humor.  "He's the
+nerviest fellow ever I met, Eloise.  _Sacre_! had you hunted this
+province over you could never have found one to perform better work
+this night.  I wonder how it was you chanced upon him?"
+
+Without venturing a word in reply to either of them, I helped her
+gravely over the boat's side, within grasp of his outstretched hand,
+all about us the warm sunshine piercing the thick canes with golden
+light.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A COVERT IN THE CANE
+
+Our boat was securely hidden amid a thick growth of reeds, which
+extended their domain far down the shore, even out into the river
+shallows.  These reeds sprang quickly back into position as we pressed
+through, leaving no trail for pursuers to follow.  Nevertheless, making
+all secure on board, and removing from the locker a quantity of biscuit
+and some smoked meat, we took the further precaution of covering the
+boat with rushes so as thoroughly to disguise its presence from prying
+eyes.  Satisfied with the result of these efforts, we clambered up the
+slight ridge to where we found a small open space, carpeted with soft
+grass, and sufficiently elevated to permit our looking about above the
+level of the cane, while remaining concealed ourselves.
+
+Our lodgment was upon a small island, a stream of languidly flowing
+water extending between us and the main west shore.  This, so far as my
+eyes could distinguish, did not differ in appearance from our present
+abiding place, being composed of low, swampy land, thickly covered with
+a heavy growth of cane, and exhibiting no sign of human habitation.
+The sole break to this dull monotony of outline was a narrow fringe of
+trees situated farther back, where doubtless firmer soil gave spread to
+their roots.
+
+Northward the eye might trace the slight curve of the bank for miles.
+It appeared irregular and low, slightly diversified by small, marshy
+islands, similar to this we occupied, possibly cloven from the mainland
+by some eccentricity of current.  Occasionally I distinguished openings
+into lagoons, such passages into the low-lying mainland being evidenced
+by the deeper green of the vegetation bordering them, as well as by
+wind-twisted trees clinging despairingly to the crooked banks.  East
+and south swept the river, so broad our eyes could barely trace the dim
+presence of a distant shore.  Below, that majestic yellow flood poured
+downward unbroken, although De Noyan imagined he perceived distant
+spars of the Spanish fleet outlined against the blue background of the
+southern sky.  This may have been possible, yet to my eyes all was
+blank, although I could mark pretty accurately where they should have
+been.
+
+We indulged in little conversation, reclining on the short grass,
+partaking of our cold meal.  The Chevalier attempted a sorry jest or
+two, yet soon subsided, discovering so unresponsive an audience.  It
+was plain to my mind the reflections of Madame were altogether with her
+father--lying dead before this hour--and this sad memory darkened even
+the delight of her husband's safety.  His affected gayety of manner,
+and reckless speech, jarred more harshly upon her in this hour than
+perhaps ever before in her life.  Yet she made a pathetically brave
+effort to appear of good cheer, managing to eat with us, although it
+was easy to perceive the food choked her, while her eyes were blurred
+with tears resolutely held in restraint.  It was plain, I say, yet this
+is but my thought, for I question whether De Noyan, in his careless
+mood, observed her depression.  He was of a nature reflecting slightly
+on any save himself; past sorrow being quickly forgotten in any present
+gleam of sun.  As we thus ended this silent meal it occurred to me they
+might require slumber more than I, and I expressed my willingness to
+stand guard while they sought rest.  Perhaps my face told a tale of
+weariness easily read, for this proposal met immediate resistance.
+
+"No, no, Geoffrey Benteen," exclaimed Madame impulsively, "what have I
+done except sit quietly in a boat, waiting the passing of the hours?
+You have been through strain and labor which wears out life.  It is you
+who will lie here upon my wrap, trusting me to call should need arise."
+
+"Hush, both of you," impatiently burst in De Noyan, rising to his feet,
+and gazing across the sparkling water.  "A watch would have small
+value.  There is no safer spot on all the lower river than this; if the
+Dons discover it, no way of escape exists even were we all awake and
+ready.  To remain quiet is all we can do, and how can we accomplish
+that better than by going to sleep?  _Sacre_!  I am a soldier, and not
+apt to make light of a guard, yet," and he stifled a yawn, "I see no
+necessity here, nor could I be more completely played after a night of
+dancing at a Creole ball."
+
+Thus the matter was agreed upon, not altogether to my liking, but I
+yielded owing to too great weariness to argue.  At first Madame
+protested she could not sleep, yet finally consented to lie down.  As
+to myself my head had scarcely pressed the soft pillow of grass before
+I was lost in slumber.
+
+A blessing of youth lies in the fact that sleep then truly gives rest.
+The tired body responds so thoroughly to the gentle touch of slumber
+that the latter becomes a magician capable of restoring every faculty
+to complete power.  It was thus I rested motionless, and it was nearly
+evening before I stirred, although the sun must have been streaming
+directly across my upturned face for hours.  I awoke to perfect
+consciousness of our situation, as naturally as ever in a bed at home.
+Dimly impressed that some unusual noise had aroused me, I immediately
+sat upright.  This change of posture brought my eyes on a level with
+the tops of the cane on either side, and, my face being turned
+southward, there was outspread before me the full, broad sweep of the
+Mississippi, glinting under the westering sun, so that for a moment it
+dazzled eyes yet clogged with the heaviness of sleep.  Then I perceived
+what afforded me so severe a shock that I ducked hastily down into my
+covert, every faculty instantly alert.  Close in against the reeds, as
+though skirting the low line of the shore, loomed the black outline of
+a large boat.
+
+Coming bow on toward the place of our concealment, every eye in her
+would naturally be scanning the spot where we lay hidden, and I durst
+not raise my head again until assured they had passed by.  I rolled
+partially over to gain view of the others of our own party.  Both were
+slumbering heavily, Eloise near the western edge of the little grass
+plot, wrapped within a great shawl so as to leave not even her head
+visible, while De Noyan rested within easy reach of my outstretched
+arm, breathing so heavily I felt it safer to arouse him, before that
+strange boat should come abreast.  It required severe shaking, his
+sleep being that of sheer exhaustion, yet he proved sufficiently a
+trained soldier to obey instantly my signal for silence.  Nor were
+words needed to explain the reason, as by this time the sound of oars
+was clearly audible.  Suddenly some one spoke, apparently at our very
+side.  Lying as I was I noticed the shawl pushed hastily down from
+Madame's face, her brown eyes gazing questioningly across into my own;
+yet, with rare self-control, not so much as a limb quivered.
+
+"I tell you, _padre_, there's nothing along this cursed cane-marsh,"
+growled a deep rumbling voice in Spanish.  "It is a mere bog, in which
+a man would sink to his armpits, were he to venture outside the boat."
+
+"Bog it may be," retorted a sharper, petulant voice, the sound of which
+was oddly familiar, "but I tell you this, Senor, 'tis on this very
+shore French gallants come hunting from New Orleans.  There is dry land
+in plenty beyond the fringe of reeds."
+
+"_Saprista_! there may be, as there may be water in Hell, but I 'll
+never tangle my boat amid that mass of cane to make its discovery.  Let
+the frog-eaters have it, say I; the saints bless them.  Come, pull away
+sharply, lads, and we'll see what the shore-line looks like above."
+
+The sound of dipping oars instantly increased in rapidity.
+
+"You are one pig-headed fool of an officer, Senor," snarled the sharp
+voice contemptuously.
+
+"Mother of God!" roared the other, enraged.  "Speak so again, you dog
+of a French priest, and even your gray robe will not save you from
+tasting the mud at the bottom.  Do you want to know what I think of
+you?  Well, I 'll tell you, you snivelling, drunken singer of
+paternosters--you did more to help that fellow escape than you 'd care
+to have known.  Now you 're trying to hold us back until he has time to
+get safely away up the river.  That's my opinion of you, you snarling
+gray-back, and if you dare breathe another word, I 'll give orders to
+chuck you overboard."
+
+"Where do you purpose going?" ventured the cowed priest, in a subdued
+tone.
+
+"Straight up the stream.  That's where your cursed Frenchman has
+disappeared so swiftly, unless the guard at the North Gate shot him, as
+they swear to O'Reilly.  So sit there quiet, and hold your tongue--you
+may command the Devil, for all I care, but I 'm in charge of this boat."
+
+The sound of angry controversy died away in the distance.  Cautiously I
+lifted my eyes to the level of the cane, and peered over.  The Spanish
+boat, a large one propelled by the vigorous sweep of twelve oars, was
+already a hundred yards above, swiftly stemming the current.  From
+their gestures I judged the debate yet raged between the gray-robe
+crouched in the stern, and the big, burly fellow, resplendent in gold
+lace, standing up and urging his oarsmen to greater exertion.  Within
+ten minutes they rounded the upper point, and when they again appeared
+within vision, the boat was a mere dot floating in the midst of the
+golden sunshine, where the setting sun gave a good-night kiss to the
+vast, sombre river.
+
+De Noyan's boyish face was aglow with unconcealed amusement as I turned
+toward him.
+
+"Well, Benteen," he asked, twirling his moustache, and staring after
+them, "what was it the Dons said?  _Peste_!  I could not make out a
+word of their lingo, except when the fellows swore."
+
+I repeated to him the conversation, and he burst into a hearty laugh.
+
+"Indeed, a sweet-scented Frenchman, that Capuchin priest," he said
+carelessly.  "I wonder what has so set the drunken fool against me?"
+
+"It is not you, Chevalier," I acknowledged, feeling a touch of his
+spirit; "it is rather that lad who landed so heavily behind his ear
+last night, and who ran such a merry masquerade in monk's robe as never
+Spanish war-ship saw before.  I warrant it is I the holy father seeks
+so savagely.  Faith, it would be pleasant to know how he got out of the
+pickle in which I left him.  'T is odd the Dons did not use him in your
+place."
+
+"Ay, that will be the cause, for I did nothing to anger the fellow,
+except it was to laugh at his prayers, with a joke at the quality of
+his Latin.  But Dieu protect you, Monsieur, if ever he gets whip-hand.
+A revengeful priest is more to be feared than a rabid dog.  I stirred
+one of his breed once at the Cathedral by some wild prank, and carry
+the scar of it still.  But come, it becomes dusk.  Let's break our
+fast, and while eating consider the best plan for the night.  Eloise,
+do you awaken refreshed?"
+
+She came quickly forward, a smile for us both, looking dainty and
+sweet, although the heavy mass of brown hair appeared somewhat
+dishevelled from her unaccustomed pillow.
+
+"I must have been exceedingly tired," she confessed pleasantly, "for I
+slept with never a dream, and this is my first experience of lying
+without the covering of a roof.  It was all strange and solemn at
+first, with never a sound except the dismal whispering of wind through
+the cane, and the dull murmur of the river.  The very, stillness, no
+doubt, lulled me to slumber.  Nay!" and she sprang hastily forward,
+taking from my hands the few provisions I was bearing.  "That is to be
+my part of the work, Geoffrey Benteen, not yours.  You will find hard
+enough task before morning, while there remains so little for me that I
+refuse to be robbed of any rights."
+
+I realized, watching her prepare our scant meal, that she was bravely
+endeavoring to appear gay, while her heart remained heavy from memory
+of her father.  Whether this assumed levity deceived De Noyan I cannot
+say--he was of a volatile nature, easily swayed by either smile or
+tear, and instantly joined responsive to her seeming mood.  I left them
+thus, engaged in pleasant badinage, while seeking some spot where I
+might bathe my heated face.  It was no small hardship to watch them
+thus together.
+
+Seated upon the grass, lingering over the rude repast, we discussed our
+situation, seeking to outline vaguely our future plans.  De Noyan was
+for keeping close against the western bank as we progressed northward.
+He had hunted amid the marshes, and remembered sufficiently the
+formation of the shore-line to be aware that for several leagues it
+remained thickly skirted by small islands, while numerous bayous
+offered secure hiding-places.  In this choice I acquiesced, urging also
+that the downward flow of the current would sweep with greater force
+along the opposite shore; besides which the search-boat, just passing
+us on the way up-stream, would be more likely to return along the
+eastern bank.
+
+"There is no reason," I continued, "why we should delay departure
+longer.  We can keep the boat beneath the shadows of the bank, and even
+if the Dons stop to make camp, they would hardly do so without building
+a fire, which would afford ample warning to sheer out into the stream.
+If they return along this shore--as is unlikely--we should hear the
+heavy strokes of their oars before they caught the sound of our lighter
+ones.  I am for embarking at once."
+
+This agreed upon, within a half-hour we were pushing slow passage
+through the thick cane, soon finding ourselves once again afloat upon
+the broad water, the prow of our boat turned up-stream, while here and
+there a dim star winked down upon us between scurrying clouds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A NIGHT IN THE BOAT
+
+This was one of many nights we passed in the narrow confines of the
+boat during our flight northward.  Yet its incidents remain in memory
+with peculiar distinctness of detail.  I do not recall exactly how it
+occurred, but my duty during that first night chanced to place me at
+the after oar.  In consequence I sat directly facing Madame de Noyan,
+operating the rudder bar.  It was so warm, merely a delicate, fragrant
+breeze blowing from the south, she had felt no necessity for drawing up
+her hood, and the soft light of distant stars, glimmering along the
+bosom of the river, reflected back into her face, illumining it until I
+could almost note the changing expression within her dark eyes.
+
+It was a sadder, graver face than the one I associated with her
+girlhood.  Yet I could scarce forbear an impression that it was now a
+sweeter one, more womanly, faint lines beginning to mark its satin
+smoothness with impress of sorrow.  To my thought a new, higher
+womanhood had found birth within, during weary days and nights of
+suspense and suffering.  It was yet torture to me constantly beholding
+these two together, but, as I observed her then, I thanked the good God
+who had permitted me to be near her in time of trial.  In patience I
+would serve, even though I must suffer.  Tears were clinging to her
+long lashes, and occasionally one would glitter an instant upon her
+white cheek, as she leaned her face upon one hand, from which the loose
+sleeve fell away, revealing an arm like chiselled marble.  She made no
+effort at concealing these evidences of emotion, doubtless believing
+them sufficiently hidden by the gloomy shadows.  Nor did she appear to
+glance at me, keeping her own gaze directly ahead, where the dark,
+swirling waters merged into the mystery of the North.
+
+We were none of us in talkative mood--although I heard De Noyan, behind
+me, humming a light French air, as though perfectly free from
+trouble--and I have no recollection of exchanging a word for more than
+an hour.  We merely continued to pull sturdily against the downward
+rush of the stream, the deep silence of the night broken only by the
+dripping of uplifted blades, or the occasional far-off hooting of an
+owl upon the bank to our left.  The pressure of the river's current was
+scarcely perceptible close against the shore, so we made fair progress.
+Yet it was hard work, neither of us being accustomed to such exercise,
+the heavy oars feeling awkward to the hand.  The grim uncertainty of
+the future, coupled with our solitary surroundings, exercised a
+depressing influence upon the spirits of each, although differing
+widely in degree, according to our several natures.  Undoubtedly this
+same sense of dreariness led De Noyan to sing, caused me such painful
+restlessness under that same singing, and left Eloise saddened in her
+lonely thoughts.
+
+Every occurrence impressed me that night as unusual.  Perchance this
+was because both heart and head were sadly out of tune.  Yet, at best,
+it was a lonesome journey, and remains a grewsome memory, haunting with
+many a spectre, as weird as the shadows of delirium.  The few stars,
+peeping shyly forth between scurrying black cloud masses, were so far
+away they merely silvered the cloud edges, leaving them as though
+carven from granite.  The low shore, often within reach of our oar
+blades, appeared gloomy and inhospitable, the spectral rushes creeping
+far out upon the water like living things, seeming to grasp after us as
+the wind swept them, and we glided past in phantom silence.  Beyond,
+like a great black wall, arose higher ground, occasionally jutting into
+bare bluffs outlined against the lighter sky; again diversified by
+gaunt dead trees, their fleshless limbs extended upward toward ghostly
+pillars of vapor ever floating from off the river's surface.
+Occasionally, jaggedly uneven, close-set trunks of forest growth would
+appear, spectral in solemn ugliness, a veritable hedge, impenetrable
+and grim.
+
+If, with a shudder of disgust, I turned away from that lorn, dead line
+of shore, my eyes swept a waste of waters slipping solemnly past, while
+farther out, where sky and stream met and mingled in wild riot, the
+surging river swirled and leaped, its white-capped waves evidencing
+resistless volume.  It was a sight to awe one, that immense mass
+pouring forth from the upper darkness, flashing an instant beneath the
+star-gleam, only to disappear, a restless, relentless flood, black,
+unpitying, impenetrable, mysterious, a savage monster, beyond whose
+outstretched claws we crept, yet who at any moment might clutch us
+helpless in a horrible embrace.  It was a sight to stun, that brutal
+flood, gliding ever downward, while, far as eye could see, stretched
+the same drear expanse of cruel waters.
+
+From out that mystery would suddenly emerge, rolling toward us, as if
+born of the shadows, some grim apparition, a wildly tossing figure,
+with gaunt, uplifted arms beating the air, to startle for an instant,
+then fade from our ken into the dimness below.  Well I knew it was only
+driftwood, the gnarled trunk of uprooted tree made sport with by mad
+waves, yet more than once I shrank backward, my unstrung nerves
+tingling, as such shapeless, uncanny thing was hurled past like an
+arrow.  Nor were the noises that broke the silence less fearsome.  Bred
+to the wilderness, I little minded loneliness when in the depths of the
+backwoods, but this was different.  I cared nothing for the honk of
+wild fowl overhead, nor those sounds of varied animal life borne to us
+from off the black land; but that strange, dull roar, caused by great
+logs grinding together in the swirl of the current, and the groaning of
+bits of undermined shore as they gave way and dropped heavily into the
+water, racked my nerves.
+
+The peace I found lay in that sweet face, turned partially away, yet
+appearing fairer than ever beneath the protecting hood, drawn up as the
+night air grew chill.  Whether similar sense of strangeness and
+timidity rested upon her, I could not determine, yet I believed her
+thoughts so far away that our present surroundings were no more to her
+than the vaguest dream.  She scarcely stirred during all the hours I
+watched her; only once did she glance up, to smile as she met my eyes
+before I could withdraw them from her face.  Had she read aright their
+message, perchance this story might never have been written; yet purer,
+truer love no man ever gave to woman.  We must have continued thus,
+pulling silently, for hours before De Noyan broke the oppressive
+silence with impatient speech.  Indeed, not the least impressive
+feature of the grewsome night was his continued stillness.
+
+"_Le Diable_!" he exclaimed uneasily, shifting in his seat.  "If the
+Styx be more gloomy than this accursed stream, then Jesu pity its
+voyagers.  Never have I put in so miserable a night, to say nothing of
+a strained back, and a pair of sore hands.  What are those black,
+crawling things yonder?  _Mon Dieu_!  I have seen a thousand hideous
+demons since we left the cane."
+
+I glanced across my shoulder in the direction he pointed, glad enough
+to hear once again the sound of a voice.
+
+"Only the fire-seared branch of a tree tossed on the current--the night
+rests heavily upon your nerves."
+
+"Heavily?  _Parbleu_! it has unmanned me with hideous silence, with
+creeping, ghostly mystery, until I am half mad, scarcely daring to
+whisper, in fear of my own voice.  Eloise, are you there? or have the
+spectres of this haunted journey flown away with you?"
+
+"Angels or demons, they would have naught of me," she replied in
+seeming unconsciousness of his mood.  "My thoughts, I fear, have been
+sufficiently sad to accord well with the gloom, only my shadows are
+within, not without."
+
+"_Sacre_! mine are all yonder," he exclaimed, indicating with a gesture
+the vast extent of angry water.  "Why should I bear heavy heart, except
+for brooding phantoms of the night?  Life is still mine in all its
+sweetness.  Not that I greatly valued it, to be sure, yet 'tis somewhat
+better than I once thought, and there is always pleasure left in the
+world for the young.  From whence springs your mood of sadness, Eloise?"
+
+"My thought was with my father."
+
+"'Tis not strange it should be.  Yet, it might be better if you dwelt
+upon the brighter view of our own future.  He is at rest; no tears can
+be of aid.  But we can look forward to dreams of happiness.  'Tis my
+plan to cross the great ocean, seeking better fortune on the Continent.
+France, they say, has ever a vacant place for a good sword, nor is the
+king likely to refuse service to a nephew of Bienville.  You and I,
+Eloise, shall yet tread the Paris streets, nor shall we go as beggars."
+
+I marked her quick smile, but thought it not wholly untouched by
+sadness, as she attempted answer.
+
+"We will hope for the best; yet, Monsieur, we are still deeply buried
+in the wilderness.  Ay! worse--in the country of our enemies.  You may
+not comprehend the full truth of this, but Spain lays claim now to all
+this great river, with the country bordering it.  O'Reilly has already
+despatched soldiers as high as the mouth of the Ohio, to guard its
+passage; so there is peril lurking before us, as well as behind."
+
+"O'Reilly has sent soldiers northward?  How know you this, Eloise?"
+
+"It was common talk in the town.  I saw with my own eyes the departure
+of one expedition.  It was composed of a captain, with twelve soldiers,
+destined for the Ohio.  I have heard that twice since others have been
+despatched northward, although to what points was unknown."
+
+"The saints defend us! 'tis indeed serious.  I supposed the boat which
+passed contained all the Dons on the upper river, but if this be true
+we may have to desert the stream, and take to the eastern trail on
+foot.  _Sacre_!  I like it not!  What say you, you sphinx of an English
+borderman?  Knew you this all along?"
+
+"It is news to me," I answered soberly.  "But if three expeditions have
+already been despatched north, there is little hope the land routes
+have been forgotten.  Beyond doubt every trail, white or Indian,
+leading toward French or English settlements, is by now patrolled by
+the Dons.  Nor can we hope to gain passage by surprise.  That
+man-of-war boat will spread far the rumor of your escape, so every
+Spaniard between here and the Ohio will be on the lookout for our
+coming."
+
+I imagine the same thought stole into the mind of both, how easily we
+two, travelling light, might press our way through that scattered line
+of guard, and attain the upper Ohio; how easily, only for the danger
+and distress to which so desperate an attempt would expose her.  She
+alone ventured to give the idea utterance.
+
+"Messieurs," she said earnestly, her calm brown eyes uplifted to our
+faces, "I have been considering this for an hour past.  I know you
+would experience small trouble eluding the Spaniards, or even cutting
+your way through them, were I not with you.  Yet this is not beyond
+remedy.  I had sincerely hoped to prove of service when I usurped the
+slave's place in the boat; instead, I am an encumbrance, a weakling
+whom you must protect at the risk of your own lives.  Fortunately it is
+not yet too late to leave you free; it cannot be many miles back to New
+Orleans, and the current would bear me swiftly downward.  I have loyal
+friends in the town to hide the daughter of Lafreniere, should the
+Spaniards wage war against a woman, and surely some means would open
+whereby I might make the shores of France.  Perhaps I should be there
+in advance of you.  What say you, Messieurs, to such proposal?  Would
+it not be best?"
+
+The indignant feeling which swept me as I listened to this speech
+hardly needs dwelling upon.  Yet I held my tongue.  It was the
+privilege of De Noyan to make answer.
+
+"_Parbleu_!" he cried, seemingly forgetful of caution in instant
+enthusiasm.  "You have as good a head as heart, Eloise.  _Sacre_! never
+before did I realize the treasure in my keeping.  You gauge well the
+wishes of a soldier; 't is not pleasant to one of my blood and training
+to lurk thus in the shadows like a skulking spy.  _Bish_! nor do I love
+this toll at the oars--'tis the work of slaves.  I would prefer
+trusting all to the rapier, writing with its point a Frenchman's
+message of defiance.  Holy saints!  I am already half inclined to say
+yes to your proposal; yet Benteen, what word have you to speak
+regarding this plan?"
+
+"That if she goes back to New Orleans, I make the town in the same
+boat," I answered shortly, angered by his flippant words and tone.
+"'Tis a plan not to be seriously considered a moment, Chevalier.  If
+carried out it would merely place Madame de Noyan in the power of Cruel
+O'Reilly.  I doubt if the sacrifice would preserve our worthless lives.
+She can only return by means of the boat; with that gone, we should be
+compelled to plunge, unprovisioned, into a trackless wilderness,
+feeling our way blindly for hundreds of leagues through unknown, savage
+tribes.  If we survived their cruelty we should be crazed with hunger
+and fatigue long before our eyes were gladdened at sight of the upper
+Ohio.  I do not say such a journey could not be made, but I retain
+vivid memory of one such trip, nor will I lightly seek another.  I
+imagine, Captain, you have small conception of the horrors of the black
+forests, when you choose recklessly to plunge into their depths."
+
+"I served against the Creeks," he announced somewhat sullenly.
+
+"So I heard, yet that was mostly boys' play; armored men pitted against
+naked savages.  You would discover different foemen among the mountain
+tribes to the north and east.  Do not suppose I question your courage,
+but I realize the dangers, as you cannot from your town life, while as
+to Madame de Noyan, she will be safer here with us than with those
+black brutes in New Orleans."
+
+"You refuse to be comrade with me then?"
+
+"Ay, if such comradeship involve the desertion of your wife."
+
+"Desertion!"  The term stung him.  "_Sacre_! 'tis not a word to be
+lightly flung in the face of a French cavalier.  Did I not already owe
+you the debt of life, Monsieur, I might endeavor to teach you a lesson
+in etiquette."
+
+"I permit your overlooking all obligations, if you desire to indulge in
+such an experiment," I retorted, no wise unwilling.  "I am no brawling
+roisterer, but have never been above giving and receiving blows."
+
+I judged from the glint of his eyes, and the manner in which he juggled
+his sword hilt, he had grave purpose of backing up his pretty words.  I
+should rather have enjoyed giving the doughty gentleman a sudden bath
+alongside, had not Madame hastily calmed our hot blood with sober
+speech other own.
+
+"Hush, Messieurs," she commanded quietly, her eyes upon my face,
+instantly shaming me.  "It is not meet you should quarrel.  There are
+better ways in which to strike blows for me than that.  As to my going
+on with you, or returning alone, that may all be discussed when we make
+camp again at daylight.  Then we will settle the matter coolly, not in
+the heat of anger.  You are both my friends, nor would I awaken between
+you any cause for controversy."
+
+De Noyan laughed.
+
+"_Sacre_! 'tis the accursed night got into our blood," he exclaimed.
+"The very air seems poisoned with horror, while my back aches so with
+pulling this oar, I would esteem it relief to fight with my best
+friend.  It was hard fortune that the boy Alphonse happened in track of
+that Spaniard's bullet.  With three in the boat there would be some
+rest from the toll."
+
+"I see solid ground yonder," I said, pointing as I spoke to the shadowy
+bank ahead.  "We might run the boat's nose in, and stretch our cramped
+limbs on shore.  There is little to be gained endeavoring to work with
+wearied muscles."
+
+"_San Juan_!" he returned, brightening instantly to the suggestion.
+"'Tis the first word of good sense reaching my ears this cursed night
+of folly.  Head her in under the shade of yonder bush, Eloise, until I
+see if I can stand upright once more."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+WE LAND AN ODD FISH
+
+After brief respite Madame steered as closely beside the bank as
+possible, thus avoiding the swift current, yet it was no small task to
+win our way upward through the lagging hours.  More and more frequently
+tired muscles drove us to the shore for intervals of relaxation.
+Still, in spite of much time thus lost, we made steady progress, so
+before morning dawned I was confident many a mile had been placed
+behind, although the low shore we skirted remained so similar in
+outline as to afford few landmarks with which to gauge our passage.
+
+De Noyan grew more cheerful toward the end, his sullen mood changing to
+a gay semblance of reckless abandon.  To me, however, he appeared
+scarcely more engaging in snatches of ribald song, and careless speech,
+freely interspersed with French oaths and much complaint at unwonted
+toll, than in his former moody silence; yet his cheerfulness had effect
+upon Madame, who contrived to rally from her mental depression,
+becoming in turn a veritable sunburst in the gloom.  I experienced a
+glow of pleasure listening to her merry banter, and, once or twice, to
+a low-voiced French song, sounding sweetly enough as it echoed back
+from off the black water.
+
+In spite of such efforts to appear light-hearted, the nature of our
+work, coupled with the sombre surroundings of the night, rested heavily
+upon the spirits, and long before morning broke, we had all subsided
+into disheartening silence, holding grimly to our onward course through
+sheer force of will.  With wearied eyes I marked the slow coming of
+dawn above that desolation; the faint gray light creeping like some
+living thing across the swirling waters, leaving more ghastly than
+before the immense flood sweeping past.  It was a sombre sight, yet
+became more heartsome as crimson light streaked the sky, flashing forth
+over the wide river, reddening the heaving surface, until the waters
+blazed like burnished metal, and our blinded eyes could hardly gaze
+upon it.
+
+We were at this time approaching a vast curve in the shore-line,
+appearing to the eye as if it might prove the mouth of some important
+tributary stream.  Beyond, perhaps a hundred feet out in the main
+river, appeared a low island, a mere rock as it fronted us, yet thickly
+covered by small trees and bushes, growing close to the water's edge.
+No sign of life was apparent anywhere.  The mainland, so far as the
+sweep of vision extended, bore the same marshy and inhospitable look,
+and I immediately determined upon the island as the more suitable
+camping spot.
+
+"Turn the prow of the canoe toward the upper end of that rock, Madame,"
+I said, resuming my place at the oar.  "It appears the most promising
+halting place hereabout, and should afford us excellent vantage of view
+both up and down the river."
+
+"It will prove vantage of sleep for me," grumbled the Chevalier
+gruffly.  "I take it I should have been resting better had I remained
+with the Dons."
+
+I noticed the sudden uplifting of his wife's face, and seeing a pained
+expression upon it, I replied:
+
+"Such words bespeak little appreciation, Monsieur, of our efforts to
+pluck you from a fate which has befallen your companions.  Surely your
+work is no harder than that of others, while you have more at issue."
+
+He glanced from her face to mine in apparent surprise, but replied
+readily:
+
+"Those knowing me best, friend Benteen, pay least heed to my words.
+When I bark I seldom bite, and when I intend biting I waste small time
+on the bark.  But, _parbleu_! how can I feel life worth living, if it
+is all toil?  There may be those who enjoy such existence, but I
+discover no pleasure in it.  _Sacre_!  I love not hard hands and poor
+fare, nor will I make pretence of what I do not feel."
+
+We were then two-thirds of the distance between the mainland and the
+island, in the full sweep of the raging current.  It struck us
+sidelong, with such force as to require all our combined strength to
+afford the laboring boat headway.  Suddenly Eloise startled us with an
+outcry.
+
+"What is that yonder?" she questioned excitedly, pointing directly
+up-stream.  "It looks the strangest red thing ever I saw on water.  I
+believed it moved but now, as if alive."
+
+Keeping my oar in motion, lest we should drift backward, I made shift
+to glance across my shoulder in the direction indicated.  The river had
+us completely in its grasp, tossing the light boat in a majestic flood
+of angry water, whitened by foam, and beaten into waves, where it
+rounded the rocky edge of the island.  Across this tumbling surge
+streamed the glorious sunlight, gilding each billow into beauty, while
+in the midst of it, bearing swiftly down toward us, came that strange
+thing that had so startled Madame.  What in the name of nature it might
+prove to be, I could not hazard--it had the appearance of some queer,
+shaggy animal, rolled tight into the form of a ball, having fur so
+radiantly red as to flash and burn in the sunshine.  It bobbed crazily
+about, barely above the surface of the river, like some living
+creature, while now and then I marked a glimmer of light behind, as if
+the water was being vigorously churned by some species of swimming
+apparatus in the monster's tail.
+
+"Stand by with your small sword, De Noyan," I commanded uneasily, "for,
+hang me if I ever before set eyes on such a creature!  Move, quick, and
+pass me over your oar so you may have both hands free for the onset."
+
+The beast was being swept along rapidly, now appearing to my eyes
+somewhat whiter on top, although the surrounding red was so glaringly
+prominent as to obscure everything else.  Suddenly the creature gave a
+kick and whirled over, turning the white expanse directly toward us.
+At the same moment De Noyan dropped the point of his rapier against the
+side of the boat, with a loud guffaw.
+
+"May the saints absolve me," he grinned, choking from merriment, "if
+it's not the red-headedest man ever my eyes looked upon."
+
+Forcing back his laughter, he hailed the swimmer, who, perceiving us
+for the first time, began sheering off, as if frightened by our
+presence, and intent upon escape.
+
+"Hold there a moment, Master Red-Cap!  If in truth you are not a fish,
+come on board."
+
+The fellow heard him plainly enough, for I distinguished a muttered
+English exclamation, but he made no pause in urging a peculiar
+sidestroke of the arms which threatened to bear him past us like a wild
+thing.
+
+"Hold your hands!" I roared in English, thinking, perhaps, he had not
+comprehended the other tongue.  "Come in here, sirrah, or, the Lord
+help you, we 'll turn and run you down."
+
+At sound of these words he ceased his efforts, and turned a peculiar
+wrinkled face, creased like long-folded parchment, and as yellow,
+directly toward us.  Even at that distance I imagined I could detect a
+twinkle of delight in the shrewd gray eyes.
+
+"Thy words of greeting are as manna fallen from heaven," boomed a deep,
+resonant voice, surprising in its volume.  "I take heart anew, young
+man, for surely thou art not the spawn of the scarlet woman, but,
+verily, one of the chosen people of our own God."
+
+"I fail to grasp your meaning, friend," I retorted, nettled to be held
+at the oars so long in that current.  "We are honest voyagers, glad to
+be of aid to any one in such distress as you seem to be."
+
+"Nay; I am not especially uncomfortable, unless my tobacco is soaked,
+and if such disaster hath overtaken me, it shall yet go hard with those
+blaspheming idolaters who cast me overboard.  But thy language is that
+of modern Israel, so I will join you in the boat.  'Tis the more
+readily done as I have not tasted food since yesternoon, and possess a
+hollowness within my physical temple which demandeth attention.  The
+spirit yieldeth to the craving of the flesh."
+
+"Catch hold upon the side," I ordered, as he drew near.  "We will have
+you ashore in a dozen strokes."
+
+The stranger did as I bade him, and it was truly a wondrous sight to
+observe how his head glowed in the sun as the drops of moisture dried,
+and brought out the full, ornate color of it.  His face had a pinched
+look, with thousands of little wrinkles leading away from the corners
+of the wide mouth, and about the narrow, glinting gray eyes.  But there
+was a sly gleam of humor about the expression of it, which, taken in
+connection with that fiery headpiece, nearly caused me a fit of
+laughter.  I noticed, however, that Madame drew slightly away from his
+side of the boat, as if close proximity to the fellow were repugnant to
+her.
+
+"Well, friend," said I, as we drew up in shoal water under lee of the
+rock, and I noted his short legs and stocky chest, "no doubt you are
+well water-logged, and a little healthful exercise will help to warm
+your blood, especially as we dare not light a fire for such purpose.
+So bend that broad back of yours, and aid us in lifting the boat to
+cover."
+
+He performed his portion of the work well, bearing with apparent ease
+fully one-half the burden, while De Noyan and I staggered beneath the
+remainder, until together we sank the boat well out of sight behind the
+thick brush.
+
+"And why not a fire?" the stranger questioned abruptly, noticing Eloise
+spreading forth our stock of provisions on the grass.  "It was in hope
+of thus warming the inner man that I consented to come ashore and
+companion with you.  Are you refugees, fleeing from danger?"
+
+I glanced aside at De Noyan and muttered hastily in French, "It will be
+best to tell him our story--'tis not likely he will prove an emissary
+of Spain."
+
+"As you please; he is more of your class than mine," he returned
+indifferently, and, with a shrug of the shoulders, strolled away.
+
+"You have made fairly correct guess," I said to our new acquaintance;
+"so we may as well understand each other first as last.  We have
+escaped with our lives from New Orleans, and are now seeking refuge on
+the Ohio."
+
+He nodded, his shrewd gray eyes fastened intently on my face, his own
+countenance expressionless.
+
+"Who holdeth New Orleans?" he asked in a tone of interest.
+
+"The Spanish, under O'Reilly."
+
+"'Tis what they told me above, yet I believed they lied.  Those with
+you are French?"
+
+"Ay."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"Of Louisiana birth and English blood; five years I have been a hunter
+in the Illinois country."
+
+He groaned as though the mention of the word awoke unpleasant memories.
+
+"'Tis an unholy land, no fit abiding place for the elect, as I learned,
+having passed through its settlements seeking prayerfully to bear an
+evangel unto that stiff-necked people.  Friend, thou hast an honest
+face, and I will say in confidence I have been ofttimes blessed of the
+Spirit in the conversion of souls; yet this people laughed at my
+unctuous speech, making merry regarding that head-covering with which
+the Almighty chose to adorn his servant.  Dost thou know the French
+settlement on the Kaskaskia?"
+
+"I have been there often."
+
+"Ah! 'tis verily a stronghold of popish superstition.  Recall you the
+humble cabin of Gabriel La Motte, the Huguenot, close by the ravine?
+It was there I abode in much spiritual and temporal comfort with that
+godly man, until certain mad roisterers took offence at plain gospel
+speech, driving me forth into the wilderness, even as Jehovah's
+prophets of old.  Since that hour I have been a wanderer on the face of
+the earth, finding small comfort in this life; yet Ezekiel Cairnes is
+merely the poor servant of the Lord, the chief of sinners, and must
+abide in travail until He cometh."
+
+He cast up his eyes in pious affectation, his lips moving as though he
+meditated in prayer.
+
+"Then your name is Cairnes?"
+
+"Ezekiel Cairnes, late of the Connecticut colony, and am permitted by
+the Lord's mercy to write Reverend before my unworthy appellation."
+
+"A Puritan preacher!" I exclaimed in some disgust.  "I have heard of
+your sort before, yet have been spared a meeting until now.  Where do
+you propose going?"
+
+"The Lord leadeth His anointed, young man.  Even as Jonah abode in the
+belly of the whale, so doth the water bear me onward as the Almighty
+willeth."
+
+His wandering eyes rested thoughtfully upon my companion, now returning
+toward us, sauntering listlessly along the sandy shore.
+
+"I know not, friend, who you may be, save as you have seen fit to
+reveal," he said shrewdly.  "Yet I would venture a guess as to yonder
+gayly attired cavalier."
+
+"A guess?" I echoed, taken completely by surprise.  "It is small chance
+you would hit right--what might your guess be?"
+
+"Chevalier Charles de Noyan."
+
+"How know you that?"
+
+He chuckled grimly, evidently well pleased at my astonishment.
+
+"'Tis no work of the evil one, friend.  I am but just escaped also from
+the hands of the Philistines," he explained, becoming angry at the
+thought, and ducking his red head vehemently.  "While in their
+unhallowed company, a gray-bellied son of Belial questioned me much
+regarding yonder fine gentleman, ere he waxed exceedingly wroth at my
+plain speech in matters of the spirit, bidding his jabbering crew of
+papists to heave me overboard."
+
+"How far away did this occur?" I asked, looking anxiously up the river.
+
+"Oh, mayhap some such matter as twenty leagues," he returned
+indifferently, his gaze idly following mine.  "Let me reflect; it was
+at the hour for sunset prayer I fell in with their party.  I have heard
+it said this stream hereabout hath a sweep of seven or more miles the
+hour, and I kept well in the current of it."
+
+"Do you mean you have been swimming since sunset yesterday?"
+
+"Nay, friend; I beg be not over-hasty in conclusions.  I merely reposed
+easily upon my back, with only enough straightening out of the legs to
+keep my nose fairly up-tilted above the stream.  'T was thus I made the
+passage with much comfort of body, and relaxation of mind.  'T is no
+serious trick for one unafraid of the water although it might bring on
+cramps were I to keep on as far as New Orleans."
+
+I stared at him with an astonishment which for the moment precluded
+speech.  Before I found voice with which to express doubt of his story,
+Madame called, bidding us join her upon the grass, where our rude meal
+waited.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT
+
+There could be no doubt regarding the complete emptiness of the
+Reverend Ezekiel Cairnes, if the breakfast he devoured from our stock
+of cold provisions was evidence.  I have been commonly blessed with
+robust appetite, yet where that man found space within his ribs to
+store away all he ate in that hour remains a mystery.  Nothing, except
+total inability to address him in intelligible language, held De Noyan
+quiet as our limited supply steadily diminished before the Puritan's
+onslaught, and long before the latter heaved a sigh of profound
+satisfaction the gallant soldier had fallen fast asleep.  But Madame
+remained in her place opposite, apparently fascinated by that vivid red
+crop of hair, now thoroughly dried in the sun, and standing erect above
+his odd, pear-shaped head.  I had whispered in her ear what the fellow
+claimed for himself, and being a most devout Catholic, and he the first
+specimen of his class she had ever met, she studied him with no small
+amount of curiosity and abhorrence.
+
+I can clearly recall the picture, as these two, so widely different,
+sat facing each other in silence, the golden sunshine checkered over
+them through an arch of limbs, the broad river shining away to the
+southward, and De Noyan resting upon his back, with face turned up
+toward the clear blue sky.  The woman, with her soft silken hair
+smoothed back from the wide, white brow, her intelligent face lighted
+by eyes of deepest brown, looking, what in truth she was, the
+aristocratic daughter of a gentleman of France, one whose home had ever
+been amid refinements of civilization, and whose surroundings those of
+love and courtesy.  Even there, in the heart of that wilderness, the
+social training of years remained paramount, and she sat silent, toying
+with untasted food, out of respect to this stranger guest.  And he,
+with shoulders so abnormally broad as to appear deformed, clad in sober
+Puritan garb, ate serenely on, unconscious of her glances, making use
+of both his huge hands in the operation, his little gimlet eyes
+twinkling greedily, his head, oddly resembling a cone, blazing like a
+fire whenever a ray of sun chanced to fall across it.  I noticed he
+occasionally stole shy glances at her, nor could I wonder, for, in
+spite of fatigue and exposure, Madame remained a winsome sight, to do
+the heart of any man good to look upon.
+
+"The Lord God of Hosts be praised; ay! with harps, cymbals, and
+instruments of many strings, will I give praise unto His holy name," he
+exclaimed fervently, wiping his wide mouth upon his sleeve, while
+casting a look of regret over the debris in his front.  "Once again
+hath He abundantly supplied His elect with that which upbuildeth and
+giveth strength to the flesh.  Now my bodily requirements have been
+duly attended to, it behooves me to minister likewise unto the
+spiritual, and then seek repose.  Friends, will you not both join with
+me at the throne of grace?  It hath been said that I possess much
+unction in prayer."
+
+"No," I answered, not unwilling to be left alone with Eloise; "you are
+welcome to put up petitions in our behalf, but this lady is not of your
+faith, while as for myself, I have known little about such matters
+since childhood.  One thing, however,--if you propose making use of
+that bull voice of yours, I advise that you select the farther
+extremity of the island for the scene of your devotions, lest you
+arouse the Chevalier."
+
+He cast upon me a glance not altogether pleasant, but tramped off
+through the bushes without reply, and for several moments we heard the
+sturdy rise and fall of his earnest supplications, frequently
+interspersed with hearty groans, as of one in all the agony of deep
+remorse.
+
+"'Tis an odd fish we've hooked out of the stream," I said, turning my
+head toward the dismal sounds.  "Yet he has strong arms, and may be of
+considerable use, if he will consent to voyage with us."
+
+"I scarcely know what to make of the man," Madame admitted candidly.
+"He is unlike any I have ever met.  Yet I think he may prove honest and
+of good heart, although his exterior is far from attractive."
+
+"And his appetite hardly suggestive of economy," I added.
+
+The bright look I always loved to see leaped into her clear eyes.
+
+"Have you faith his labor will offset his eating?" she replied,
+laughing.
+
+"Possibly not; yet it is not labor alone I would select him for.  We
+may have to fight before we attain a place of safety.  For that purpose
+I would rank this fellow highly.  Never yet have I met a red-headed man
+averse to a quarrel.  Faith! by that token, this one should be worth a
+company if we ever come to blows."
+
+"But he is a priest, you told me, a preacher of the Protestants."
+
+"Ay! and the better for it.  I have heard my father say the Puritan
+breed makes the stoutest men-at-arms; that nothing has been found to
+stiffen a battle-line equal to a good text.  Give this fellow a pike,
+pit him against a boatload of Spanish papists, and, I 'll warrant, he
+'ll crack more heads than any two of us.  Besides, he controls a
+perfect tornado of a voice, fit to frighten the crew of a frigate on a
+dark night."
+
+She was sitting, her back pressed against a small tree, her hands
+clasped lightly about one knee, with dark eves gazing afar where the
+broad river danced away into the golden sheen.
+
+"Geoffrey Benteen," she asked soberly, never glancing toward me, "is it
+true you do not desire my return to New Orleans?"
+
+"It is true."
+
+"Would you honestly tell me why?" and she turned her eyes, looking
+searchingly into mine.
+
+"I have mentioned sufficient reasons," I ventured, resolutely facing
+her, determined to speak frankly and abide the result.  "All I need add
+is, to my judgment it will prove better for you to remain with your
+husband."
+
+She glanced aside at him where he lay, the quick blood flushing her
+clear cheek.
+
+"You do not like him?" the question fell faltering from her lips.
+
+"That I am not prepared to declare.  He is changeable, somewhat
+overbearing in speech, not as sober of mind as I am accustomed to find
+men, yet it is not true I dislike him.  I merely believe that he will
+do better, be truer to his manhood, with you near him, than with you
+absent."
+
+"He is French," she explained gently, "by nature of birth different
+from your race.  Besides, he has led a life filled with the dissipation
+of the town."
+
+"True! for that reason I forbear judging his words and actions by any
+standard of my own people.  Yet this I cannot be blind to, Madame; he
+is of quick temper, hasty in action, easily influenced by others, and
+might become careless at times, and under strong temptation, unless
+some moral firmness hold him in check.  You alone possess the power to
+become his good angel."
+
+She bowed her head, her gaze again far off upon the river, the
+deepening surge of color rising upon either cheek.
+
+"You cannot be angry," I continued gravely, after pausing vainly for a
+reply.  "Surely I have said no more than you already knew, and I spoke
+merely in answer to your questioning."
+
+"No, I am not angry.  But it is not a pleasant reflection underlying
+the things mentioned, and I cannot assert your judgment of the
+Chevalier false.  Still I would press you further.  Is this your only
+reason for desiring me to remain?"
+
+"You wish me to answer frankly?"
+
+"Otherwise I should not ask."
+
+I felt the quick flush mount even to my hair, yet gripped my breath,
+making effort to respond boldly.
+
+"I had other reason.  To deny it would be merely uttering a lie to no
+purpose.  Madame de Noyan, we are not strangers--we could never be
+after that night when we parted beneath the olives of Monsieur
+Beaujen's garden.  You are wife to a chevalier of France; I, a homeless
+adventurer.  Yet I have no higher ambition than to prove of service to
+you.  Whatever I have accomplished has been entirely for your sake, not
+for his.  Now we are together, the daily opportunity to serve you is
+mine; here I can work for you, perchance die for you, should such
+sacrifice promise you happiness.  But if you decide to go back yonder,
+directly into danger as desperate as any confronting us to the
+northward, then I must determine for myself where I can serve you best.
+Knowing my heart as you must, you can easily judge whether I would
+plunge deeper into the wilderness with your husband, or return to New
+Orleans with you.  There is a sentence in the Bible about the
+impossibility of serving two masters, hence I trust I may not be
+compelled to choose between, until the hour when you are both safe."
+
+She listened silently, and I almost feared I had ventured upon too
+plain speaking.  Yet now, as she turned again toward me, her eyes were
+moist with tears.
+
+"You are a strange man, Geoffrey Benteen," she said gently, and, I know
+not how, yet both her hands found way to mine.  "I scarcely comprehend
+your nature, or gauge your purposes--you are so unlike all others I
+have known.  Yet this I am assured; you are of honest heart, and I
+trust you wholly."
+
+"You will not return to the town?"
+
+"I abide with you, and with my husband."  Her voice faltered to that
+last word, yet she spoke it bravely.
+
+"It will be better so," I assented.  "Better for us all."
+
+We slept late, undisturbed, in secure retreat among the trees, the vast
+river chanting its endless song on either side of us.  During the
+evening meal, partaken of amid the gathering shadows of twilight, our
+newly discovered friend again evidenced his power as a trencherman.
+
+"_Sacre_!" ejaculated De Noyan in dismay.  "I supposed his breakfast
+was intended to last the week.  We shall need a fleet of boats to
+provision the fellow if he keep us company long.  How is it, friend
+Benteen, are we to enjoy the pleasure of associating with this human
+alligator, or do we now part company?"
+
+"That is not yet determined," I replied, smiling at the look of
+consternation with which he regarded him.  "I will sound the man on the
+subject, while he appears in good humor."
+
+I crossed the narrow plat of grass to where our guest sat facing the
+remains of his late feast, a look of satisfaction visible upon his
+withered countenance.
+
+"My good friend," he exclaimed, observing my approach, "there seems an
+over-preponderance of spices in this cured meat; otherwise it meets my
+cordial approbation, although your Southern cookery has a peculiarly
+greasy flavor to one of my taste in food."
+
+"I failed to observe your refraining from any on account of that
+objection," I retorted, deeply amused by his words.  "But if you are
+completely satisfied, you may be willing to turn a moment to matters of
+business, and inform us what you propose doing.  In brief, will you
+resume your voyage, or is it your desire to cast your lot with us?"
+
+He meditatively stroked the thin red stubble adorning his chin,
+contemplating me steadily.
+
+"Doth that which assisteth to nourish and sustain the inner man bid
+fair to hold out?" he finally questioned in a tone of anxiety.  "I have
+need of sufficient food, both temporal and spiritual, and would not
+lightly assume any burden of suffering, unless it appear clearly as the
+will of God."
+
+"I know not how long we can withstand such onslaughts as those you have
+already made," I returned honestly.  "We are fairly well provisioned
+for present needs, and when farther up the river will feel free to seek
+fresh game."
+
+"Ah! you have guns in the party?  You will shoot deer--deer!"  He
+smacked his thin lips greedily.  "A nice, fat, juicy steak would not go
+bad even now.  'Tis strange how the mind runneth upon such carnal
+matters--it remindeth us the flesh is weak.  Deer--'tis best turned
+upon a spit, with live coats not quite touching it.  I would one might
+wander before your gun this very night.  Young man, did I not hear you
+name the destination of your party as the Ohio?"
+
+"I so stated."
+
+"Then let me warn you, friend," he crossed his legs more comfortably,
+resting back at ease, "that what you propose may not prove so easy as
+you dream.  The Amalekites and heathen, together with the worshippers
+of Baal, are everywhere along the upper waters.  By the memory of Old
+Noll, I have seen more black-faced papists in the past two weeks than I
+ever before laid eyes on."
+
+"You do not enjoy the prospect of a fight?"
+
+"Nay; it is not that, friend.  I am, indeed, a preacher of
+righteousness, a man of peace, yet I might, upon occasion, strike right
+lustily for the Lord and Gideon.  I am not altogether unaccustomed to
+feeling carnal weapons of strife, but with yonder fair specimen of
+womanhood in our care, I should not deem it best to force a struggle,
+provided passage might be secured through other means."
+
+"Have you some plan?"
+
+"Nay; it has not been revealed unto me, although I besought it of the
+Lord with great earnestness after the morning meal.  I will again
+wrestle in prayer before the throne, and no doubt it shall all be made
+plain in due season, if we faint not."
+
+"I take it, then, you propose forming one of our company?"
+
+"Such seemeth the will of the Lord," he responded soberly, "and I ever
+hearken unto His voice.  Thou didst state there would be plenty of
+food, so I abide with you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MOUTH OF THE ARKANSAS
+
+I do not recall how many leagues we pushed our way up the stream, nor
+could I name the length of time required for our journey, before we
+arrived where a large river, bearing a muddier current, led toward the
+north and west.  Those were neither days nor miles that imprinted
+themselves on memory; they left only vague impressions, as one
+sometimes beholds objects through the dense haze of early morning.  I
+remember merely the low, flat line of shore, stretching away to a
+darker green of the heavy forest behind, and the ever-moving flood of
+changeless water, no sign of life appearing along its surface.
+
+Nor was there any happening within our boat to reflect upon, excepting
+that our new comrade proved himself a stanch man at the oars, thus
+commending himself to me, in spite of a choleric temper apt to burst
+forth over trifles.  He and De Noyan would have quarrelled many times a
+day, only neither comprehended the language of the other.  The greatest
+cause I found for criticism was his interminable prayers, and the bull
+voice in which he offered them.  I have never made mock of religion,
+coming of a line of godly ancestors, yet I felt there could be no
+necessity for making such noise over it morning, noon, and night.  Yet
+neither entreaty nor threat moved him to desist, so I came to the
+conclusion that he either considered the Almighty deaf, or else was
+totally unconscious of his own lung power.  As to his appetite--but
+there are things of which one may not justly write, so I content myself
+by saying that, all in all, he was not so bad a comrade.
+
+De Noyan kept to his nature, and I liked him none the worse for it,
+although it is not pleasant to have at your side a gay cavalier one
+moment and a peevish woman the next.  You never know which may be
+uppermost.  Yet he performed his full share of toil like a man, and,
+when not curling his long moustachios, or swearing in provincial
+French, was mostly what he should be, a careless soldier of fortune, to
+whom life appealed more as a play than a stern duty.  He was of that
+spirit most severely tried by such drudgery, and, looking back upon it,
+I can only wonder he bore the burden as cheerfully as he did.  Beneath
+his reckless, grumbling exterior, the metal of the man was not of such
+poor quality.
+
+However continual labor and enforced companionship told upon the rest,
+Madame retained her sweetness through it all, hushing our lips from
+many a sharp retort that had threatened to disrupt our party long
+before this time.  She had merely to glance toward us to silence any
+rising strife, for no man having a true heart beneath his doublet could
+find spirit to quarrel before the disapproving glance of her dark eyes.
+It was thus we toiled forward, until one frosty morning our boat
+arrived where this great stream poured forth from the west, forcing its
+reddish, muddy current far out into the wide river against which we had
+struggled so long.  Slowly rounding the low, marshy promontory, and
+beginning to feel the fierce tug of down-pouring waters against our
+bow, I observed the old Puritan suddenly cock up his ears, like some
+suspicious watch-dog, twisting his little glittering eyes from side to
+side, as though the spot looked familiar.
+
+"Do you suspect anything wrong, my pious friend," I questioned
+curiously, "that you indulge in such sniffing of the air?"
+
+"'Tis a spot I know well, now it looms fairly into view," he answered
+solemnly, continuing to peer about like one suddenly aroused from
+sleep.  "It was near here the Philistines made camp as I passed down
+the river, but I perceive no signs now of human presence in the
+neighborhood."
+
+His words startled me, and I began looking anxiously about us.  The low
+shores consisted of the merest bog, overgrown heavily with stunted
+bushes and brown cane, but some distance beyond rose the crest of a
+pine forest, evidencing firmer soil.  The opposite side of the stream
+was no whit more inviting, except that the marsh appeared less in
+extent, with a few outcropping rocks visible, one rising sheer from the
+water's edge, so crowded with bushes as scarcely to expose the rock
+surface to the eye.
+
+"I discover no evidences of life," I answered at last, reassured by my
+careful survey.  "Nor, for the matter of that, Master Cairnes, can I
+see any spot dry enough to camp upon."
+
+"Up the stream a few strokes the Spaniards had camp; not so bad a
+place, either, when once reached, although the current will prove
+difficult to overcome as we turn."
+
+Following his guidance we deflected the boat's head, and, by hard toil
+at the oars, slowly effected a passage up the swift stream, keeping as
+close as possible along the southern shore, until, having compassed
+something like five hundred yards, we found before us a low-lying bank,
+protected by rushes, dry and thickly carpeted with grass.
+
+"What is the stream?" I questioned, marvelling at the red tinge of the
+water.
+
+"The Spaniards named it the Arkansas."
+
+"Oh, ay!  I remember, although I passed this way along the other shore.
+It was here some of La Salle's men made settlement near a hundred years
+ago, I 'm told.  The stream has trend northward."
+
+"So the Spaniards claimed to my questioning; they knew little of its
+upper waters, yet possessed a map placing its source a few leagues from
+where the Ohio joins the great river.  It was yonder they were encamped
+when I was here before."
+
+He pointed toward a ridge of higher ground, where two trees hung like
+sentinels above the bank.  Madame immediately turned the prow that way,
+and, bending our heads low, we shot beneath their trailing branches,
+grounding softly on the red clay of the bank.  A brief search disclosed
+remains of camp-fires, testimony to the Puritan's remembrance of the
+spot.  Evidently the place had been frequently occupied, and by sizable
+parties, yet the marks were all ancient; we discovered no signs that
+any one had been there lately.
+
+It was barely daylight, although the sun was above the horizon.  A vast
+bank of cloud hung so dense across the eastern sky as to leave the
+whole scene in shadow, making the hour appear much earlier.  I felt, as
+we searched the camp-fires, a strange uneasiness, for which I could not
+account--it was a premonition of approaching peril.  This sense is the
+gift of many accustomed to border life, and compelled to rely for
+safety upon minute signs scarcely observable to the eyes of others.  I
+had noticed a broken reed near where we turned into this new stream, so
+freshly severed as to show green from sap yet flowing, while the soft
+mud about the base of the big rock bore evidence of having been
+tramped, although the distance was so great the nature of the marks was
+not discernible.  To be sure, native denizens of the forest might
+account for this, yet the sight aroused suspicion and a determination
+to examine more closely, while the fear of prowling enemies made me
+strenuous in objecting to the building of any fire with which to cook
+our morning meal.
+
+The eating came to a conclusion at last, although not without
+grumbling, in both French and English, at being obliged to subsist on
+cold fare.  By use of threats I succeeded in inducing the Rev. Mr.
+Cairnes to retire without indulging in his usual devotional exercise.
+Discovering De Noyan comfortably settled against a tree-trunk, pipe in
+mouth, already beginning to look sleepy about the eyes, I muttered in
+his hearing a word or two regarding a fishing trip into deeper water
+along the opposite shore, and, quietly leaving him to unsuspicious
+repose, slipped down to where our boat was tied beneath the tree
+shadows.  As I bent, loosening the rope, I felt rather than perceived
+the presence of Madame upon the bank above.  Turning as she addressed
+me, I glanced up, holding the untied rope in my hand.
+
+"You fear Spaniards may be near," she said quickly, as if she had
+deciphered my hidden thought.
+
+"No, Madame," I replied, scarcely able to conceal astonishment at her
+penetration, yet eager to quiet alarm, particularly as I had no
+occasion for uneasiness.  "I merely feel a curiosity to examine that
+odd rock beside the entrance--the one we passed on the right."
+
+"Geoffrey Benteen," she said firmly, stepping down the sloping bank
+until she stood beside me, "there is no occasion for your attempting
+deceit with me.  Besides, you are too open-hearted a man to deceive any
+one.  I have noticed your glances, and interpreted your thoughts, ever
+since we turned into this stream.  I am certain you fear at this moment
+we have been beguiled into a trap.  Tell me, is this not true?"
+
+Her clear, questioning eyes gazed so directly into my own, and were so
+honestly courageous, I up and told her what I had observed, and where I
+was then bound.
+
+"It is better to trust me," she commented simply, as I ended my
+recital.  "My eyes have not been altogether idle, although I am no
+borderer to observe such faint signs.  There were several reeds bent
+low in the water a hundred yards back; their sides scraped as if a
+large boat had been dragged through them.  I thought nothing of it,
+until I observed how intently you were studying each mark left by man.
+While you are gone yonder, what would you wish me to do?"
+
+I looked at her attentively, noting how heavy her eyes were from
+weariness.
+
+"You are too tired to remain on guard, Eloise," I said, forgetting I
+should not use that name, "or I might bid you watch here, and, if any
+misfortune befall me, call the others.  Besides, if there are enemies
+at hand there is no knowing from what direction they may chance upon
+us.  However, all we have observed were probably old marks, or made by
+roving beasts, and I shall soon return to fling myself on the ground,
+seeking sleep also.  So go and rest those weary eyes, while I scout to
+satisfy myself.  It is only the doubt of a suspicious man."
+
+"I shall not sleep until your safe return," she replied firmly.  "You
+shall not go forth thus without one to pray for your safe return.  I
+beg you, exercise care."
+
+"Have no fear, Madame, I am no reckless hot-head at such work, and
+shall continue to guard my life while it remains of value to you and
+yours.  Try to rest at ease, for I will soon return, with a laugh at my
+foolish suspicions."
+
+I forced the boat into the swollen stream, and, using one oar as a
+paddle, silently and swiftly propelled it directly across.  Discovering
+a spot seemingly fit for travel, I pushed the prow through the long
+marsh grass, and stepped ashore.  She still stood in the tree shadow of
+the opposite bank, and waving a hand in reassurance, I drew forth my
+long rifle from beneath the seat.  Advancing silently, I pressed
+forward into the thick bed of cane, thinking more of Eloise de Noyan
+than of the task before me.  It proved a hard passage, so extremely
+difficult as to call back my mind from foolish day-dreams to save
+myself an ugly fall, for the grass under-foot was matted and tangled,
+interspersed with marshy pools of brackish water, amid which
+innumerable projecting roots spread snares for the feet.  The sun, now
+well advanced, gave me the points of the compass, and, holding the
+rifle-stock before my face, I cleared a path through the dense growth,
+and emerged from the low marsh land upon smooth turf, where some brush
+found foothold, yet not so thickly as to impede the walking.
+
+I discovered myself near the bottom of a steep bank, which, curving
+with the line of the shore, extended forward for probably fifty feet,
+crowned along its ridge with numerous stunted trees.  Trusting thus to
+obtain a firmer foothold and more extended view, I breasted the steep
+ascent and found the summit a narrow plateau, only a few yards in
+width, with a still more extensive morass upon the opposite side, which
+stretched away some distance in a desolate sea of cane and drooping
+grass.  Fortunately it proved easy travelling along the ridge, which
+appeared of stone formation, probably having a terminus at the big
+rock, toward which I proposed extending my investigation.
+
+I moved forward slowly and with caution, not because I expected to meet
+enemies in this lonely spot, but rather from an instinct of long
+frontier training.  I had advanced possibly a hundred yards, when I
+approached a small clump of stunted evergreens, so closely woven
+together I could not wedge a passage between.  Rounding their outer
+edge, my footsteps noiseless on ground thickly strewn with their soft
+needles, I came to a sudden halt within five paces of a man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A PASSAGE AT ARMS
+
+He stood motionless, one hand grasping the limb of a tree, leaning far
+out so as to gaze up the river, totally unconscious of my approach.
+The fellow was tall, yet heavily built, wearing a great leather helmet
+with brass facings, his body encased in a slashed doublet, the strap
+fastenings of a steel breastplate showing at waist and shoulders, while
+high boots of yellow cordovan leather extended above his knees.  I
+noticed also the upward curve of a huge gray moustache against the
+stern profile of his face, while a long straight sword dangled at his
+side.  Evidently the stranger was a soldier, and one not to be despised
+in feats at arms, although in what service I might merely conjecture,
+as his dress was not distinctive.  Yet it was small likelihood any
+other nation than Spain had armed men in those parts.
+
+That he had discovered and was watching our camp, I entertained no
+doubt, yet for the moment the surprise of seeing him was so great I was
+unable to choose my safer course,--should I withdraw silently as I
+came, or make quick attack?  If the first, he would certainly see me
+recross the river, and suspect my mission.  Nor was the other
+alternative more promising.  If I sprang upon him (and he looked a
+burly antagonist), such combat could not be noiseless, and surely the
+fellow was not alone in this wilderness.  How close at hand lurked his
+companions was beyond guessing, yet, if the sound of struggle aroused
+that band of wolves, my life would not be worth the snapping of a
+finger.  I felt cold chills creep up my spine as I stood hesitating,
+one foot uplifted, my eyes staring at that motionless figure.
+
+I waited too long, until every vantage left me.  Suddenly the soldier
+swung back from his lookout on to firmer ground, wheeled, and faced me.
+I marked his start of surprise, noting his right hand drop, with
+soldierly instinct, upon the sword hilt, half drawing the blade before
+recovering from that first impulse.  Then curiosity usurped the place
+of fear.  He took one step backward, still upon guard, surveying me
+carefully with one glinting gray eye, for the other had been closed by
+a slashing cut, which left an ugly white scar extending half-way down
+his cheek.  Except for this deformity, he was a man of fair appearance,
+having a stern, clearly chiselled face, with a certain arrogant manner,
+telling of long authority in scenes of war.  A half smile of contempt
+played across his features as he ran me down from head to foot,
+evidently with the thought I was little worthy of his steel.  It was
+then I recognized him.  There had been familiarity about his great bulk
+from the first, yet now, as I faced him fairly, marking the haughty
+sneer curl his lips, I knew him instantly as that officer who passed us
+in the boat with the priest.
+
+"By the true cross!" he exclaimed at last, as if his breath had barely
+returned, "you gave me a start such as I have not often had in all my
+soldiering.  Yet you are no ghost; your aspect is altogether too
+healthful for one condemned to exist upon air.  _Saprista_! you must
+have a light foot to steal thus on me unheard.  Who are you, fellow?
+What do you here upon this soil of Spain?"
+
+I leaned lightly on my rifle, so that I might swing it easily if
+occasion warranted, determined now not to fire unless it proved
+necessary to save my life, and made careless answer, using the same
+tongue in which I had been addressed.
+
+"Nor are you more surprised, Senor, at my presence, than was I a moment
+back to stumble upon you when I supposed our party alone here in this
+wilderness.  Who did you say held dominion over this country?"
+
+"His most gracious Christian Majesty, Charles the Third, of Spain," he
+replied shortly.  "As his officer, I require that you give proper heed
+and direct answer to my questioning.  Who are you, and where are you
+going?"
+
+The man's domineering manner amused me, yet I replied civilly to his
+words.
+
+"A wandering hunter, Senor, from the Illinois country, homeward bound.
+I was not aware this territory had fallen into Spanish hands, supposing
+it still to be under French control.  You are then a soldier of Spain?"
+
+"Ay," he returned ungraciously, eying me in his irritating way, "of the
+battalion of Grenada."
+
+He was evidently in doubt whether to believe my word, and I rejoiced to
+mark such indecision, accepting it as proof he had not gained a glimpse
+of De Noyan, for whom he was in eager search.
+
+"It may be, fellow," he consented to say at last, "you speak truth, and
+it may be your tongue is false as hell.  These are times of grave
+suspicion, yet there are means of discovery open to men of action.  I
+just noted the position of your camp yonder, and have sufficient men
+within easy reach of my voice to make it mine if need arise.  So I warn
+you to deal fairly, or accept the consequences.  The Marquis de Serrato
+is not one given to speaking twice in such quest.  I have a soft tongue
+in ladies' bowers, but my hand is hard enough in camp and field."
+
+He uttered these words in fierce threat, his one evil eye glaring full
+at me as though to terrify.  Before I could answer, he shot forth a
+question, direct as a bullet from a gun.
+
+"I beheld the flap of a dress yonder amid those trees; what means it?
+Women are not common in these parts--have you one in your company?"
+
+"We have, my lord," I replied, holding myself to calmness, striving to
+speak with apparent respect for his rank.  "We are four, altogether;
+one has his wife along to cook for us."
+
+"You are voyaging from New Orleans?"
+
+"Nay; from the savannahs of Red River, where we enjoyed a good season
+of sport."
+
+"You are French?"
+
+"A natural guess, yet a wrong one, Senor.  I am of English blood."
+
+"_Saprista_! 't is a beast of a nation!  I like not that such as you
+should be here.  I will call some of my men and visit your camp."  He
+spoke sternly, taking a step backward as if about to seek his
+companions.  "The tale you tell may be true enough, yet these are
+troublous days along the river, and my orders are strict against
+permitting any to pass unsearched."
+
+My hands clinched hard around the gun-barrel for a swing, while I
+braced my body for a leap forward, yet held back from such desperate
+action, making hazard of one more effort to draw him out.
+
+"I have met soldiers of Spain before, my lord," I said, speaking the
+words with deference, yet managing to inject sufficient tinge of
+sarcasm to the tone, "yet never previously found them so fearful of a
+stray hunter's camp as not to dare approach it without a guard of armed
+men.  My companions yonder are asleep, excepting the woman; we are only
+three, and of peaceful life.  You would discover nothing except warm
+welcome at our fire."
+
+I caught the quick responsive smile lighting his hard, thin face,
+observing how suddenly awakened pride and contempt combined to curl his
+upturned moustache.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed gayly, with a derisive wave of the hand, "so you
+suppose it is from fear I proposed calling others to accompany me!
+_Caramba_! 'tis well you put your suspicion in no stronger words.  But
+stay; I trust not altogether the truth of your tale.  Saints' love! a
+soldier can place faith only in what he sees--yet your face is frank
+and simple enough, and, as you say, there are but three of you, besides
+the woman.  I did mark that much from yonder tree.  It will be small
+risk to one of my experience in arms, and my men sleep in weariness.
+Lead on, fellow, yet do not forget I wear this sword for use, not show."
+
+With muttered thanksgiving at my possessing so honest a countenance,
+and a blessing on the Spaniard's pride, I turned back, beginning to
+retrace my steps along the narrow ridge, never deigning to glance
+across my shoulder, yet confident he was close behind.  Every
+additional step I inveigled him from his camp was to my advantage, nor
+would I permit him to feel suspicion on my part, as fearlessness was
+certain to beget confidence, and my final plan of action was already
+made.  We thus passed the spot where I had climbed the steep bank, and
+were, to the best of my memory, some twenty yards beyond the
+hiding-place of my boat, when the ridge widened, a thick fringe of
+low-growing trees completely shutting out all view of the water.  It
+was a likely spot enough, having firm ground under-foot, with
+sufficient room for a royal struggle, and here I determined to try a
+passage-at-arms with my burly antagonist.  It was useless to hope for
+surprise.  He was an old soldier dogging my steps, doubtless eying my
+every motion, his own hand hard gripping his sword hilt, ready to cut
+me down did slightest need arise.  No; it must be foot to foot, eye to
+eye, a club of steel against the dancing blade; yet I felt the strange
+contest would not prove unfair, for he was a man not as agile as in
+years agone, while his armor of proof, valuable as it might be in the
+turning of a sword thrust, would be more burden than protection against
+my rifle-stock.
+
+"Senor," I said, in studied courtesy, stopping suddenly and confronting
+him, "I have hunted across this wilderness more than one season, and
+dislike greatly being estopped now by Spanish decree.  Nor do I
+comprehend your right in this matter.  Have you warrant for opposing
+our peaceful passage to the Ohio?"
+
+He stared at me in undisguised amazement at my boldness, a grim smile
+on his hard, set face.
+
+"Ay!  I have, fellow," he finally retorted angrily, tapping his hilt.
+"'Tis in this scabbard at my side."
+
+"Then draw it, Senor," I exclaimed, throwing forward my long rifle
+menacingly.  "And may God stand with the better man."
+
+I have a conception that at the moment he believed he was being fronted
+by a crazed man, yet there was in my face an expression quickly
+teaching him otherwise, and, with a swift twist, he flashed his sword
+forth into the sunlight, standing on guard.
+
+"_Por Baco_!" he growled savagely, "you must be little better than a
+fool to hoist that club.  It will give me pleasure to teach you better
+manners toward a grandee of Spain."
+
+"Grandee, or not," I retorted, angered at his implied contempt, "I may
+teach you a trick, Senor, with that same club, never learned in your
+Spanish fencing-schools."
+
+It was swift, intense fighting from the word, he proving past-master of
+his weapon, yet my stiff rifle-barrel was no mean defence against his
+lighter blade, with a reach preventing his point touching my body, and
+sufficient weight to bear down the thin, murderous steel whenever the
+two came into contact.  It had been long practice with me, having
+picked up the pretty trick from a French zouave when I was a boy, so I
+swung the iron as if it were a single-stick; and, in truth, I know of
+no better fence against the stroke of a straight sword, although
+fencing-masters, I have heard, make light of it.  Nevertheless it was
+new experience to this Spaniard, and it did me good to note how it
+angered the fellow to be held back by such a weapon.  He made such
+stress to press in behind my guard that he began to pant like a man
+running a hard race.  Nor did I venture to strike a blow in return,
+for, in simple truth, this soldier kept me busier with parry and feint
+than any swordsman before, while he tried every trick of his trade, not
+a few of them strange to me.  So I bided my time, confident he must
+make an opening for fit return if he kept up such furious attack, and
+thus, with retreat and advance, hack and guard, thrust and parry, we
+tramped up a wide bit of ground, while there was no sound of the
+struggle, except our hard breathing, with now and then a fierce curse
+from him as his flashing steel nicked on my gun-barrel, or flew off
+into thin air just as he thought to send its deadly point home.
+
+Such fighting is wearing even to seasoned nerves, and the dazzle of the
+sun bothered my eyes, yet he had pressed me back scarcely more than a
+couple of yards when his dancing blade slipped stealthily up my brown
+barrel, suddenly nipping the loose sleeve of my doublet.  As it pricked
+into the cloth, scraping the skin of my forearm, I let the fellow have
+the end of the muzzle full in the side.  It was not the best spot for
+such a thrust, nor could I give it proper force, yet I think it cracked
+a rib, from the way the Spaniard drew back, and the sudden pallor of
+his face; indeed, so ghastly white he got, I thought him done for, and
+lowered my barrel carelessly.  He was more of a man than I had reckoned
+on, or else his pride made him averse to accepting defeat, for with one
+quick spring, like a wounded tiger, he was inside my guard, his ugly
+point rasping into me just beneath the shoulder.  Saint Andrew!  It was
+an awkward touch, especially as the tough steel held, the punctured
+flesh burning like fire; but fortunately the fellow was in too great
+pain himself to press his advantage, and, as we clinched and went down
+together, I chanced to be on top, throttling him with right good-will.
+
+That which followed was but a small matter, yet I left him there,
+waiting the discovery of his comrades, in as comfortable a posture as
+possible, confident he could give no alarm.  That Spaniard was a brave
+man, and I have ever had respect for such.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+WE CHANGE OUR COURSE
+
+My attempt to recross the river proved difficult.  I had lost no small
+amount of blood from my wound, which, besides weakening me, had so
+stiffened my right shoulder as to render any strain upon the oars a
+constant pain.  Yet the excitement nerved me to the effort, and,
+crushing down weakness by sheer force of will, I drove the heavy boat
+straight through the low, overhanging bushes on to the soft mud of the
+bank.  Before I could arise to my feet Madame was standing beside the
+dripping prow, her great eyes staring at the blood stains discoloring
+my doublet.
+
+"You are hurt!" she exclaimed, her lips white with apprehension.  "I
+beg you tell me, is it a serious wound?"
+
+"Nay, the merest scratch, Madame," I answered hastily, for it added to
+my pain to mark such anxiety in her face.  "Not worthy your thought,
+but I will ask you to call the others at once, and have them load
+everything into the boat without delay.  I will await you here, as I
+find myself weak from loss of blood."
+
+She stood gazing intently at me, as if she read my most secret
+thoughts; and no doubt my face was sufficiently white to alarm her, yet
+I smiled back into her eyes, and she turned away, running lightly up
+the bank.  Nor was she long away, or noisy in her mission, scarcely a
+minute having elapsed before the three came trooping down to the
+water-side, their hands laden with camp utensils, De Noyan wide awake
+enough, and filled with intense interest in my adventures, but the
+Puritan yet cock-eyed from sleep, stumbling as he walked like a man in
+a dream.
+
+"Take the oars, both of you," I said quietly, totally ignoring the
+question in the eyes of the Chevalier.  "I have tasted a sword point,
+and am weakened from loss of blood.  Pull up the stream, and be swift
+and quiet about it."
+
+"Hast thou been smitten of the Philistine, friend Benteen?" loudly
+questioned Cairnes, stumbling noisily across the seats.
+
+"Time enough to tell my story when we are beyond danger," I returned
+tartly, annoyed by his awkwardness.  "If you utter another word before
+we are around yonder headland, I will have De Noyan hoist you
+overboard."
+
+I saw him glance askance at the unconscious Chevalier as if mentally
+calculating his ability to perform the feat.  Then his glinting gray
+eyes swept the sodden shore as though vaguely wondering what it was we
+fled from in such unseemly haste.  Nor did I long withdraw my own
+anxious gaze from that north bank, until we rounded the bend in the
+stream, and were safely removed from view of any one below.  I was able
+to mark no sign of life along the ridge, my faith reviving that the
+Spanish sailors yet slept soundly, while as to their irate commander, I
+had trussed him with a thoroughness which left me confident.  Feeling
+reassured I finally yielded to Eloise's entreaties, laying bare my
+breast and permitting Madame to wash away the clotted blood and apply
+such bandages as might easily be procured.  She was extremely gentle
+about it; but I marvelled somewhat at the trembling of her white
+fingers and the pallor of her face, for it was not a bad wound, De
+Noyan hesitating not to make light of it, although he acknowledged it
+was a strong wrist which drove the tuck in.  Anyway, what with the
+reaction and the loss of blood, I lay back quite spent, telling over
+briefly those incidents that had occurred to me while they slept.
+
+"And now," I said, addressing the Puritan, who was seated at the
+bow-oar, where I could see nothing of him except the bobbing of his red
+crop, "how do you know this stream makes a circuit and approaches the
+mouth of the Ohio?  It beareth a little to the west of north here."
+
+"It was the Spanish captain camping here as I passed down," he
+answered, speaking abominably through his nose.  "They called him
+Castellane, a little fellow, with pop-eyes, who pretended to light his
+pipe from my hair.  He pointed it out upon a map some black-frocked
+papist had drawn.  It was plain enough to the eye, but 'tis likely they
+lied, for they were all spawns of Satan."
+
+"True or false," I commented coolly, "we seem likely to find out.  I
+have also heard somewhere--no doubt in the Illinois country--about a
+northern trend to this stream, and one thing is certain, there is no
+hope for us otherwise; there can be no running those guard-lines back
+yonder."
+
+"Do you mean we push on up this river?" broke in De Noyan, who had
+managed to make something out of our conversation, especially as the
+Puritan illustrated his knowledge by rudely tracing with a stumped
+forefinger a map on the board where he sat.  "_Sacre_! 'tis the
+dirtiest red slough ever I navigated.  Why not try the other thing?  A
+brush with those gentlemen below would be more to my taste."
+
+"Ay, Master Benteen," boomed Cairnes with pious emphasis, reading the
+meaning of the other through his French gestures.  "Methinks the Lord
+of Hosts would assuredly strengthen the hearts of His servants for such
+a fray.  How many, friend, do you suppose they number, those unwashed
+sons of Belial?"
+
+"I can only guess.  There were twelve oars in the boat passing us on
+the lower river, while four others sat with guns in their hands;
+besides these are the Marquis de Serrato and the Capuchin priest,
+making a total of eighteen, all of whom we must reckon upon as being
+fighting men at a pinch."
+
+"Faith, merely enough to make the affair of interest," muttered De
+Noyan, as I explained my words to him.  "Hardly enough even by your
+count, as the officer nurses a cracked rib, while the priest would
+prove of small moment when it came to blows.  I am for bearing down
+upon the knaves in sudden onset; it will require but a crack or two ere
+the villains let us by."
+
+"May the God of Battles place me within fair stroke of that accursed
+gray-backed emissary of Rome," snorted the Puritan, his red hair erect.
+"I promise, Master Benteen, to smite as did David at Goliath."
+
+I gazed uneasily about from where I lay at the feet of Madame, only to
+perceive her eyes resting upon me as if she waited anxiously my
+decision.
+
+"Do not suppose," she said quickly as our glances met, "that I shall
+shrink from the peril of encounter.  If it is best, you may trust me to
+do whatsoever may become a daughter of France."
+
+"Nor do we question it, Madame," I returned warmly, noting the
+unrestrained flash of pride leaping into the careless eyes of her
+husband at these brave words.  "But to invite such conflict in our
+present condition would be sheer madness.  There are only two men among
+us, for I am but half a man, the rapier thrust has robbed me of so
+large an amount of blood; nor do we possess fit weapons to wage battle
+against so well-armed a company as blocks our passage.  De Noyan sports
+his straight sword, which would be well wielded at close quarters; I
+possess my rifle, with small store of powder and ball, all of which are
+likely to be needed to save us from starving in this wilderness; while
+Cairnes here might indeed prove a strong arm with the tuck I brought
+back with me, yet probably knows nothing of the secrets of thrust and
+parry.  Pish! 'tis not worth thinking about.  Pit such an outfit as
+this against eighteen well-armed men,--for the Marquis can shoot for
+all his cracked rib, nor do I doubt the fighting qualities of the
+priest,--and the venture becomes too difficult for parley.  Nay,"
+warming up as I noted the hot-headed gallant preparing for speech, "nor
+is this all we should have to contend with.  Above, along the upper
+river, there are at least three other expeditions of Spanish soldiery.
+They are warned of De Noyan's escape, already guarding every junction.
+Suppose we succeeded--which in itself would be a miracle--in cutting
+our way out from here, could we hope to distance a twelve-oared boat
+racing against the current, or escape a clash with those others?  I
+know the difference between a bold dash and the utter foolhardiness
+such a hopeless venture as this would be."
+
+"_Sacre_! you appear strangely over-cautious all at once," and I
+detected a covert sneer in the Chevalier's low, drawling tone.  "The
+Spaniard's blade must have let out the best of your blood.  Were you a
+soldier, now, instead of a mere forest rover, the odds you mention
+would only serve to stir you into action."
+
+"Pardon, Monsieur," I said quietly, holding my temper, "it may be I
+have seen harder service than some who boast loudly their soldiership.
+It requires more than a gay dress, with some skill in the
+fencing-schools, to make a soldier in my country, nor do I believe you
+will ever find me lagging when a proper time comes to strike blows."
+
+"So I supposed until now; yet 'tis evident you would have us continue
+toiling for weeks against this foul current rather than strike one
+quick blow, and be free from the mess."
+
+"Nay, Monsieur," my voice coming stern in rebuke of his rashness, "you
+are wrong.  You know perfectly well, De Noyan, I risk my life readily
+as any man in a good cause.  I have ranged the woods since boyhood,
+long accustomed to border broil and battle--there is scarcely an Indian
+trail between the Great Lakes and the country of the Creeks I have not
+followed either in peace or war.  I have faced savage foemen in battle,
+and crossed steel with those of your own school, and although I may
+wear no glittering gold lace, nor sport a title with which to dazzle
+the imagination of a girl, yet the man venturing to sneer at my
+courage, either amid the wilderness, or in the town, makes answer for
+the speech, whenever I come to my strength again."
+
+"Always at your service, Monsieur," he murmured gently, "with the
+greatest pleasure."
+
+"Very well then," I went on, barely noting his words, yet marking the
+look of distress on the face of his young wife, and despising him for
+it.  "Understand this, Monsieur--we make no battle here, whether it
+suit your hot-brained desires or not.  I dragged you from the jaws of
+death at the request of her who sits in silence yonder.  I will never
+consent that your rashness now draw her into the peril of such a
+_melee_ as the attempt to run that gantlet.  Cairnes,"--I turned to
+face the Puritan, sitting all this time with open mouth listening to
+our quarrel, yet scarcely comprehending a word that passed,--"this gay
+French cockerel would throw us against those eighteen men below, to
+fight our way from here to the Ohio, as if the Spaniards between were
+so many buzzing mosquitoes, and you are not greatly averse to trying
+that same experiment."
+
+"It would be a godly and pious service to smite so black and Papist a
+crew."
+
+"No doubt of that; yet, Master Cairnes, you are scarcely the sort who
+would involve a lady in such broil, when, if we escaped at first, the
+chances are we should have wounded to care for, or, perchance, be
+prisoners borne southward under Spanish guard--a contingency not
+over-pleasant, I imagine, to a preacher of your faith."
+
+I saw him twist his little eyes as if in petition for guidance, while
+he ran his hand nervously through his red hair before venturing a reply.
+
+"It must ever be as the Lord wills, friend Benteen," he returned
+soberly, De Noyan surveying the fellow as he might some strange animal
+whose ways he did not understand.  "I am not one to draw back my hand
+once upon the plough.  Yet I have found you of a level and cool head in
+matters of judgment, and it is meet we exercise due care over this rare
+flower of womanhood who shares our dangers.  I like not the hard pull
+up this swift current," he cast anxious eyes at the swirling stream.
+"It is not clear into what additional peril it may lead, nor do I feel
+gifted at the oars, now the provisions bid fair to become somewhat
+scant."
+
+I waited for no more.
+
+"The Puritan sufficiently agrees with me," I announced to De Noyan
+firmly.  "We will pull on up this stream until we learn its true trend,
+and are beyond Spanish overhauling.  It will be best to lose no time in
+placing a good stretch of water behind us."
+
+During this controversy our boat had drifted against the southern bank,
+its side softly scraping the mud, its bow entangled amid the roots of
+an overhanging bush.  To my surprise the Chevalier, instead of picking
+up his oar, grasped a bit of the projecting root, and, sword dangling
+after him, coolly stepped forth upon dry land.
+
+"You and your cursed canting preacher can do as you please," he
+announced carelessly, staring down at us, "but if you desire to retain
+me as one of this interesting party, you will wait until I return."
+
+"Surely, man, you do not propose attacking the Spaniards single-handed?
+This is sheer madness."
+
+He laughed lightly at the look of consternation on my face, twisting
+his moustache between his white fingers, his good humor instantly
+restored.
+
+"Nay, most valiant hunter of game," he returned gayly.  "_Le diable_!
+you appear as horrified as your hellfire friend yonder at sight of a
+crucifix.  _Sacre_!  I am not such a fool.  I know when the odds are
+too great, even although I wear a uniform.  Still, should I chance to
+meet obstruction during my ramble, it is not likely I shall run from it
+without a pass or two.  I merely return to our camp, and will be back
+presently, if naught unpleasant occur."
+
+"Our camp?  You deliberately venture your life, and ours as well, from
+mere bravado?"
+
+"_Bravado_!  _Sacre_! you do wrong to use such term.  'T is of far
+greater moment than that--I seek the curling iron I have just missed
+from out my toilet-bag.  I mind me now I laid it beside the tree while
+I slept."
+
+Before I could recover speech to stay him, he vanished into the thick
+cane.  It was a difficult task to make the practical-headed old Puritan
+comprehend the nature of his quest, and when it slowly dawned upon him
+for what trivial matter the Frenchman undertook so desperate a journey,
+there came across his seamed and withered face so odd a look of
+complete disgust, I laughed outright in my nervousness, discovering
+some slight response in the amused eyes or Madame.  It proved a good
+hour before the Chevalier returned, somewhat bedraggled of attire, yet
+with his prize dangling at the belt, and dropped wearily upon a seat
+within the boat.
+
+"'Tis time to move," he answered, responding to my look of inquiry.
+"They were at the camp when I left; and appeared in ill humor, from
+what little I could understand of their Spanish mouthings.  They had
+just released the noble Marquis from where you trussed him upon the
+rock, and his language has given me a headache."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+WE MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT
+
+I find it poor work transcribing so much regarding myself in recounting
+these small adventures, yet how else may I tell the story rightly?
+This all occurred so long ago the young man of whom I write seems
+hardly the same old man who puts pen to paper.  The impression grows
+upon me that I merely narrate incidents which befell a friend I once
+knew, but who has long since passed from my vision.
+
+It was wearying work, toiling up the muddy Arkansas, and in the end
+disastrous.  Occasionally, for miles at a stretch, our hearts were
+gladdened by a curve toward the northward, yet we drew westerly so much
+we became fearful lest the Jesuit had made false report on the main
+course of the stream.  Every league plunged us deeper into strange,
+desolate country, until we penetrated regions perhaps never before
+looked upon by men of our race.  The land became more attractive, the
+sickly marsh giving place to wide, undulating plains richly decorated
+with wild grasses, abloom with flowers, bordered by a thick fringe of
+wood.  Toward the end of our journeying by boat, after we had passed
+two cliffs upreared above the water, the higher rising sheer for two
+hundred feet, we perceived to the northward vast chains of hills rising
+in dull brown ridges against the sky-line, seemingly crowned with rare
+forest growth to their very summits.  During all these days and nights
+in only two things could we deem ourselves fortunate--we discovered no
+signs of roving savages, while wild animals were sufficiently numerous
+to supply all our needs.
+
+Three days' journey beyond the great cliff--for we voyaged now during
+the daylight, making camp at nightfall--I became convinced of the utter
+futility of further effort.  By this time I had recovered sufficiently
+from my wound to assume a share of labor at the oars, and was pulling
+that afternoon, so my eyes could glance past the fiery red crop of the
+Puritan, who held the after-oar, to where the Captain and Madame rested
+in the stern.  I remarked De Noyan's dissatisfied stare along the
+featureless shore we skirted, and the lines of care and trouble
+becoming daily more manifest upon Madame's face.  Thus studying the
+two, I cast about in my own mind for some possible plan of escape.
+
+They had been conversing together in low tones, so low, indeed, no
+words reached me, while the preacher knew nothing of the language
+employed.  Nevertheless I could guess its purport.  It was sufficiently
+clear to all of us that we merely wasted strength longer breasting the
+swift current of this river, and were constantly drawing farther from
+our goal.  Yet I was of proud spirit in those days, finding it not easy
+to swallow my hastily spoken words, so I continued to pull steadily at
+the heavy oars, not seeing clearly how best to conquer myself, confess
+my former mistake, and advise retreat.  Fortunately a stronger
+influence than false pride urged me to action.  Marking again how sadly
+Eloise drooped her sobered face above the water, it put the heart of a
+man in me to acknowledge my error, offering such amends as were still
+possible.
+
+It seems simple enough, yet it was not so small a struggle, nor did I
+fully win the battle over stubbornness until the gray of evening began
+wrapping about us hazy folds of cloud, the time coming when we must
+seek suitable night camp.  It was then I found tongue, even while
+glancing across my shoulder, through the shadows, searching for a
+landing-place.  As if all this were yesterday, I recall the scene.
+Everything swam in the gray haze, which, settling across the water,
+shut off from view much of the land.  We were nearly abreast of where a
+smaller stream came leaping down from the right to hurl its clear
+current far out into the muddy river.  So rapid was this discharge, the
+waters about us were thrown into turmoil, tossing our boat like a cork,
+causing Madame to grasp the rail nervously.  Its narrow mouth was
+partially concealed by overhanging shrubbery, so we were well within
+the sweep of its invading waters before I could conjecture the force
+with which it came.  Through the dim light, confusing to the eyes, I
+sought to peer ahead.  The hills, huddled much closer to the shore,
+appeared rough in their rocky outlines, while the heavy underbrush,
+clinging tightly to the water-side, offered nothing in the way of a
+suitable camping-spot.  Beyond the tumultuous sweep of this northern
+tributary, however, I discovered a considerable patch of grass,
+overshadowed by giant trees, and there I made selection of the spot
+which should complete our upward voyage.
+
+"Steer us in toward yonder green bank, Madame," I called to Eloise,
+"where you see that group of trees through the fog.  God willing, it
+shall prove our last camp before we turn east and south once more."
+
+It did my heart good to observe the sudden brightening of her face at
+these words of promise, as if they came in direct answer to prayer.  I
+understood then how weary she was with our toll, how cruel I had been
+to hold her so long at it.  She had given utterance to no complaint;
+even now, it was not her voice which welcomed my decision.  It was the
+Chevalier, seldom failing in ready speech, whose careless tongue rasped
+me with quick retort.
+
+"Ah, so you have really come to your senses, Benteen," he cried
+eagerly.  "I thought it would not be much longer after you were able to
+get grip upon an oar.  Our red-headed friend has slow tongue of late,
+yet I warrant he has little love for such man-killing work; so a
+turn-about will be the vote of us all.  Saint Anne! 'tis the happiest
+word to ring in my ears since this cursed trip began."
+
+Nothing tests the innate quality of a man like the wilderness.  However
+bold of heart, if every utterance is a complaint he will prove a
+constant hardship.  I doubted not both De Noyan and the Puritan would
+show themselves true men if emergency confronted us; but in the daily
+plodding routine of travel the Chevalier gave way to little worries,
+jerking along in the harness of necessity like an ill-broken colt;
+while Cairnes, who pulled steadily in sullen discontent, was much the
+better comrade of the two.
+
+"Call it what you please," I answered shortly, never removing my gaze
+from the pleased face of Madame, thus keeping better control over my
+tongue.  "I have become convinced the map of the Jesuit priest lied,
+and this stream runs not northward.  It is useless pushing any farther."
+
+"Where, then?"
+
+"Back, of course.  To drift down-stream will be easy now we know
+something of the current.  We return to the junction of the rivers,
+where we left the Spaniards--'tis hardly probable they are still there;
+but if they are, then we must trust to our stout arms, and have faith
+in the right.------  By heavens!  Cairnes, what mean you?  Damme, man,
+would you overturn the boat?"
+
+This hasty word of expostulation had hardly left my lips before the
+Puritan scuttled clumsily overboard, his red hair cropping out of the
+seething water like a rare growth of fungus.  Another instant, and the
+full shock of that racing current struck our bow, hurling it about as
+if the trembling boat were an eggshell.  Over him we went, his pudgy
+fingers digging vainly for some holding-place along the slippery
+planks, his eyes staring up in terror.
+
+"For God's sake, cling tight, Eloise!"
+
+I heard this shout of warning from De Noyan as he fell backward into
+the water, which, luckily, was scarcely above his waist.  Helpless to
+prevent the plunge, I joined company at the bow, going down well over
+my head without finding footing, and coming to the surface face to face
+with the Puritan, who was spluttering out river water and scraps of
+Calvinistic speech, striving madly to lay hold on some portion of the
+boat, now spinning away on the swift flood.  It was no time to seek
+explanation from any man wrathful as Cairnes appeared to be, so I
+devoted my attention to doing the one thing left us,--keeping the crazy
+craft upright to save Madame and the cargo.  Nor was this an easy task.
+Seldom have I breasted such angry, boiling surge as beat against
+us--there was no fronting it for those of us beyond our depths, while
+even De Noyan, making a manful struggle, was forced slowly back into
+deeper water, where he floundered helpless as the rest.  It spun us
+about like so many tops, until I heard a great crunching of timbers,
+accompanied by a peculiar rasping which caused my heart to stop its
+pulsation.  All at once the heavy bow swung around.  Caught by it, I
+was hurled flat against the face of a black rock, and squeezed so
+tightly between stone and planking I thought my ribs must crack.
+
+It was then I noted Cairnes, struggling just beyond me, reaching
+backward with his foot until he found purchase against the stone, then
+lifting his great crop to gaze about, sweeping the moisture from his
+eyes.  He braced one mighty shoulder against the boat's side, with such
+a heave as I never supposed lay in the muscles of any man; swung that
+whole dead weight free of the rock, and ere the dancing craft, we
+clinging desperately to it, had made two circles in the mad boiling, I
+felt my feet strike bottom, and stood upright, ready to do my share
+again.
+
+"Are you safe, Madame?" I questioned anxiously, for I could see no
+signs of her presence from where I stood, and she uttered no sound.
+
+"I am uninjured," she returned, "but the boat takes water freely.  I
+fear a plank has given way."
+
+"_Parbleu_!" sputtered De Noyan, with a great sound of coughing.  "So
+have I taken water freely.  _Sacre_!  I have gulped down enough of the
+stuff to last me the remainder of life."
+
+"Hold your wit until we are safe ashore, Monsieur," I commented
+shortly, for as I stood the strain was heavy on my arms.  "Push toward
+the right, both of you, or the boat will sink before we can beach her;
+she takes water like a sieve."
+
+We slowly won our way backward, the effort requiring every pound of our
+combined strength, De Noyan and I tugging breathlessly at the stern,
+the sectary doing yeoman service at the bow.  Yet the effort told,
+bringing us into quieter water, although we upbore the entire weight of
+the boat on our shoulders after we made firm footing.  The water poured
+in so rapidly Madame was for going overboard also, but we persuaded her
+to remain.  Anyway, we drove the prow against the bank at last, and, as
+I rested, panting from exertion, I observed the others dragging
+themselves wearily ashore, Cairnes was a sight, with his great mat of
+red hair soaked with black mud, which had oozed down over his face, so
+as to leave it almost unrecognizable.  He shook himself like a shaggy
+water-dog after a bath, flinging himself down full length with a growl.
+De Noyan fared somewhat better, coming ashore with a smile, even
+trolling the snatch of a song as he climbed the bank, but his gay
+military cap, without which, jauntily perched upon one side of his
+head, I had scarcely before seen him, had gone floating down-stream,
+and the fierce upward curl of his long moustachios had vanished.  They
+hung now limp, leaving so little _a la militaire_ in his appearance
+that I had to smile, noting the look of surprise in Madame's eyes as he
+gallantly assisted her to the dry grass, before flinging himself flat
+for a breathing spell.
+
+"God guide us!" I exclaimed, so soon as I could trust myself to speak.
+"This is a hard ending to all our toil, nor do I understand how it came
+about."
+
+"_Sacre_!" commented De Noyan, glancing across at the fellow.  "It
+looked to me as if yonder canting preacher either was taken with a fit,
+or sought to make ending here of two papists."
+
+I turned to face the grim-faced sectary, still too thoroughly winded by
+his late exertions to try the lift of a Psalm.
+
+"See here, sirrah," I began angrily in English, "perhaps you will
+explain what sort of a Connecticut trick you attempted to play there in
+the current?"
+
+He twisted his narrow eyes in my direction, apparently studying the
+full meaning of my words before venturing an answer.
+
+"I know not what you mean, friend," he returned at last, in that deep
+booming voice of his.  "Did I not perform my work with the best of ye?"
+
+"Ay, you were man enough after we went overboard, but why, in the name
+of all the fiends, did you make so foul a leap, bringing us into such
+imminent peril?"  The gleam of his eyes was no longer visible, but I
+marked the rise of his great shoulders, his voice rumbling angrily,
+like distant thunder, as he made reply.
+
+"Why did I make the leap, you unregenerated infidel, you thick-headed
+heretic?  Why did I?  Better were I to ask why you ran the boat's nose
+into that bubbling hell.  Why did I?  What else saved us losing every
+pound we carried, together with the woman, you cock-eyed spawn of the
+devil, only that Ezekiel Cairnes possessed sufficient sense to throw
+himself in the way, upbearing the bulk of the strain?  The water was
+somewhat deeper than I supposed, and my feet found no bottom, yet 't
+was the best thing to do, and the only hope of steadying the boat.
+Better for you and that grinning papist yonder to be on your knees
+thanking the Almighty He sent you a man this day, than lie there like
+so many hooked cods, gasping for breath with which to abuse one of the
+Lord's anointed.  Yet 'tis but righteous judgment visited upon me for
+consorting with papists and unbelievers."
+
+Feeling the possible justice of his claim I hastened to make amends to
+the wrathful and worthy man.
+
+"You may be right," I admitted slowly.  "Certainly we will return
+thanks for deliverance each in his own way.  As for me, I greatly
+regret having mistrusted your act.  Perhaps it was best, yet I think we
+have small chance ever to use this boat again.  It appears badly
+injured.  However, we must await daylight to note the damage.  In the
+meantime, let us make shift to camp; a hot fire will dry our limbs and
+clothing, and put us in better humor for the morrow."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A HARD DAY'S MARCH
+
+The dawn came with rosy promise of a fair day, a frost lying white over
+the grass-land, sufficient nip in the air to stir the blood.  Before
+the others were aroused I examined the boat, which rested high in the
+mud where we had heaved it the evening previous.  The cruel rent in the
+solid planking was such as to afford little hope of our ever being able
+to repair it.  How the accident occurred I did not rightly comprehend,
+but we had been cast ashore on the western bank of that swift
+maelstrom.  In the light of dawn, I gazed forth upon the whirlpool
+extending between the rock against which we had struck and the bank
+where I stood, in speechless wonder at the miracle of our rescue.
+Standing there in silence broken only by the wild tumult of the waters,
+I thought of Eloise tossed helpless in their merciless grip, and bowed
+my head humbly above the shattered boat, offering up a heartfelt
+petition.  I was not in those days a man of prayer, yet the germ of my
+father's robust faith was ever in my blood, and love teaches many a
+good lesson.  Certainly I felt better within my own heart for that
+instant of communion under the paling stars.
+
+My head was yet bowed over the gunwale when the heavy footsteps of the
+Puritan sounded close at hand.  I could not fail to remark a softness
+in his deep voice as he spoke, resting one hand upon my shoulder.
+
+"Thou knowest not, friend Benteen, how it gladdens my old heart to find
+thee before the throne of grace.  I fear thou art not greatly
+accustomed to look up unto God in time of trouble, yet doing so can
+never weaken thy arm for the moment of trial.  Acknowledge the Lord of
+Hosts, nor dream thou wilt ever prove less of a man because thy heart
+responds to His many mercies."
+
+"You speak truly," I returned soberly, feeling a new respect for him in
+that hour.  "There is no better way in which to start the day; and,
+unless my eyes deceive me, this bids fair to prove a day of sore trial.
+Have you looked to the damage done the boat?"
+
+"Nay," he returned earnestly, bending low to examine the rent.  "I
+slept like a man in drink, and even now am scarcely well awakened.  'T
+is, indeed, a serious break, friend; one, I fear, which will prove
+beyond our remedying."
+
+"Have you skill with tools?"
+
+"It is one of my gifts; yet of what use in the wilderness where tools
+are not to be found?  However, I will see what may be done, after we
+break our fast--there is little accomplished working on an empty
+stomach."
+
+It was a morning of sorrowful labor; from the beginning a perfectly
+hopeless one.  The planking had been so badly crushed that a portion
+was actually ground into powder, leaving a great gaping hole.  To patch
+this we possessed no tool to shape the wood properly, or, indeed, any
+wood to shape, except the seats of the oarsmen.  Nor did we possess
+nails.  More than one expedient was resorted to with bits of canvas,
+wooden pegs, or whatsoever else we could lay hands upon, but our
+efforts resulted each time in sickening failure.  At last, long before
+the sun had attained the zenith, the old preacher looked up,
+disappointment written on every line of his rough face, to say grimly:
+
+"We waste toil, friends; the boat floats no more for all our labors.
+Nor do I deem it the will of the Lord we longer continue to wear
+ourselves out in vain effort to undo His work."
+
+He wiped the beads of perspiration from his low forehead, pushing his
+hand through his matted hair.
+
+"Were it not for the woman," he added more cheerfully, "the accident
+would not be so bad either.  I am cramped by long boat service, and
+would welcome a stiff tramp to loosen out the joints of my legs."
+
+I glanced across uneasily at Madame, for we were all seated on the
+grass in the sunshine, but could perceive nothing except encouragement
+in the clear depths of her brave eyes.
+
+"Fear nothing on my account," she said quietly, instantly reading my
+thoughts as if my face were an open book.  "I am strong, and shall not
+greatly mind the walking."
+
+"At least you are strong of heart," I returned gravely.  "But such a
+trip as now lies before us will test your power of endurance greatly.
+Yet what must be done is best done quickly, and there are unpleasant
+memories clustering about this spot, making me anxious to leave it
+before another night.  Let each one speak frankly his thought as to our
+future course, so we may choose the route aright.  De Noyan, you are a
+soldier, accustomed to places of difficulty and peril.  What would you
+suggest?"
+
+He was lying flat upon his back, hands clasped beneath his head, puffs
+of white smoke from his pipe curling lazily up into the blue sky; nor
+did he remove the stem from between his lips as he made easy answer.
+
+"Faith, man, my service on campaign has ever been with the horse; nor
+am I fond of using my own limbs for travelling.  It would be far
+easier, I think, to knock up the old boat here; then, with whatsoever
+else we might find in this God-forsaken wilderness, construct some sort
+of raft to upbear our company, and so drift down with the stream.
+_Parbleu_! it would be a relief from those cursed oars.  If the load be
+too heavy, the preacher can be left behind; 't would be small loss."
+
+"Your plan sounds bravely in words, Chevalier, but were we to attempt
+it, we should soon find ourselves in more serious stress than now,--ay!
+before we had covered the first day's journey.  My Calvinistic friend,
+what advice have you for our guidance?"
+
+The sectary's eyes were fastened upon the ragged line of hills at our
+back, and for the moment he made no response, his seamed face grave
+with thought.
+
+"How far, Master Benteen," he queried finally, "do you make it from
+here to the mouth of this river?"
+
+"Not much short of sixty leagues," I answered, after a bit of thinking.
+"The stream bends and twists so it is difficult to judge the true
+distance."
+
+"It was a grievous journey," he admitted with a groan, "one I care not
+to travel again, unless it be revealed plainly to me as the will of the
+Lord.  I name the distance full seventy leagues.  What has been the
+main direction of our course?"
+
+"To north of west."
+
+"Ay!  Are we, think you, thirty leagues to northward of where we left
+the Spaniards?"
+
+"I should say yes, maybe ten leagues more."
+
+"I doubt the extra ten, but even at thirty it would be foolishness to
+retrace all that hard-won distance merely for the sake of keeping in
+sight of this muddy stream, the very water of which is unfit for
+Christian stomach, and of no value otherwise.  'Tis my vote we strike
+directly east and north, following as straight a trail as possible
+until we find the great river.  It should be as easy travelling as
+along this bank, and will bring us out above the Spanish lines of
+guard."
+
+I know not how long I sat there gazing silently into his impassive
+leathern face, turning over within my own mind the argument of his
+words.  He was neither woodsman nor mountaineer, yet possessed some
+judgment.  Thus considering, I saw but one possible objection to his
+plan--lack of water or of game along the unknown route to be traversed.
+But serious scarcity of either was hardly to be expected at this season
+among the mountains, while the weary leagues of southing thus saved
+would make no small difference in the length and time of our journey.
+
+"It appears to me our best hope," I admitted candidly.  "It will
+involve clambering over rocks, yet yonder range does not appear high,
+nor of a width to keep us long in its shadow; besides, the lower
+reaches of this river are marshy leagues upon leagues, and to my mind
+walking will be easier if we take higher ground.  It is all guesswork
+at the best.  We know how impassable the trail will be below, and, even
+if we retrace our steps down the river, we shall have to make a wide
+detour to cross this mad stream.  But wait; we have heard no word from
+Madame de Noyan."
+
+She also was looking upon those cool, blue hills, apparently close at
+hand, but turned instantly at my addressing her, making quick and
+confident answer.
+
+"My word is only this, Geoffrey Benteen: you are a woodsman, better
+capable of such decision than any woman whose life has been lived
+within the town.  I go cheerfully wheresoever your choice lies."
+
+It has ever been a source of strength to me to be thoroughly trusted by
+some other, and I instantly arose to my feet, feeling a new man under
+the inspiration of these heartsome words.
+
+"Then that matter is decided," I announced, a ring of confidence in my
+voice.  "We will break bread once more, and then commence our journey."
+
+"_Sacre_!" ejaculated the Captain, yet lolling upon his back, "if it be
+like that same biscuit I had an hour since, breaking it will prove no
+small matter."
+
+The blazing sun stood an hour low in the west when we divided our small
+stock of necessaries so as to transport them, and, with merely a last
+regretful glance at the damaged boat which had been our home so long,
+turned our faces hopefully toward those northern hills, commencing a
+journey destined to prove for more than one a trip unto death.  God's
+way is best, and there is a noble purpose in it all; for had we that
+day been enabled to view the future, not a single step would we have
+taken, nor should I have had in my memory a tale worthy of being
+written down.
+
+I led the little company, bearing rifle in hand, keeping vigilant
+outlook for game; De Noyan followed, where he might easily afford aid
+to his wife if she required the strength of his arm along the rough
+path; while the old Puritan, grumbling ever to himself, lumbered along
+well in the rear, although we were careful to keep within speaking
+distance of each other.  We traversed a gently rising slope of grass
+land, with numerous rocks scattered over its surface, keeping as close
+as possible along the bank of the brawling stream, that we might make
+use of its narrow valley through the rocky bluffs, which threatened to
+bar our passage.  These were no great distance away, so a steady
+gait--I set the pace slow not to distress Madame, who was cramped from
+long sitting within the boat--brought us in an hour to where our
+narrowing path was overhung and darkened by the closing in of gloomy
+mountain heights upon either side.  It had an awesome look, like the
+yawning mouth of a cave, opening to intense darkness and mysterious
+danger.  I saw a look almost of terror in Madame's eyes as she gazed,
+yet her lips uttered no protest, and I flung aside a desire to shrink
+back, with a muttered curse at my own folly.  Saint Andrew! it is odd
+how superstition grips the best of us.  Those rock walls, binding us
+within their scant confines as in a prison, were not particularly
+precipitous or high, yet our way was sufficiently perilous, leading
+along a contracted defile, the merest chasm, indeed, steep cliffs
+rising sheer on either side, merely the raging stream and a ribbonlike
+path between.  The slight expanse of sky above was blue and clear, but
+it was sombre and gloomy enough down in that black hollow, where we
+made difficult progress amid loose bowlders.
+
+Where this snake-like ravine widened out slightly we made choice for
+our first camp.  We reached there near the sunset hour, although the
+sun itself had utterly vanished from our view long before, and we moved
+forward amid a semi-darkness most depressing.  On the spot selected the
+towering wall of rock on our side of the little river overhung
+sufficiently to form a comfortable shelter at its base.  I had a goodly
+supply of fresh pine boughs strewn so as to form a soft bed, while the
+Puritan busied himself gathering together ample materials for a fire,
+the reflected light of which caused the deep chasm where we rested to
+appear more gloomy than before, while scurrying night clouds closed us
+in as if imprisoned within a grave.
+
+That evening was not devoted to much conversation.  We were alike
+wearied from our long tramp, heavy-hearted, and strangely depressed by
+the desolate gloom of the rock cavern in which we lay.  Even De Noyan
+yielded to this spirit of brooding and, after a faint effort at forced
+gayety, crept silently to his sleeping-place.  The other two were not
+long in following him.  I was thus left alone to keep the first watch
+of the night.  Four lonelier, more miserable hours I do not remember
+serving at the call of duty.  The round moon crept slowly through the
+black sky, until its soft, silvery beams rested, brighter than daylight
+had been in that gorge, in glowing radiance along the surface of the
+smooth, gleaming wall opposite, yet merely succeeded in rendering more
+weird and uncanny the sombre desolation.  The night wind arose, causing
+the shadows of clinging pines to sway back and forth like spectral
+figures, while a solemn silence, awesome in its intensity, brooded over
+all, broken only by the noise of tumbling water, with occasional
+rasping of boughs against the face of the cliff.  The fire died away
+into a few red embers, occasionally fanned into uncertain flame by
+breaths of air sucked up the gorge.  By the time my guard ended I was
+so thoroughly unstrung that each flitting glimpse of deeper shadow
+tempted me to fire.
+
+It was at midnight, or as close to that hour as I was capable of
+judging, when I aroused De Noyan and crawled into his place on the bed
+of boughs.  I lay there watching him a brief space, as he walked over
+to the stream and plunged his face into the cool water.  The last I
+recall previous to dropping off into deep slumber was how large his
+shadow loomed, silhouetted in the bright moonshine against a huge black
+bowlder directly in my front.
+
+I know not the hour, yet I noted, even in awakening, that the moon had
+already passed from out the narrow ribbon of sky above, although still
+fringing in silver beauty the sharp summit of the crest, when a quick,
+nervous pressure upon my arm awoke me with a start of alarm.  Lying at
+full length, his head uplifted, was De Noyan.
+
+"Keep still, Benteen," he whispered, his voice vibrant with excitement,
+"and look yonder.  In the name of all the fiends, what is that?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+DEMON, OR WHAT?
+
+I have been free from superstitious terror as most men, yet there were
+few in those days who did not yield to the sway of the supernatural.
+Occasionally, among those of higher education, there may have been
+leaders of thought who had shaken off these ghostly chains of the dark
+ages, seeking amid the laws of nature a solution for all the seeming
+mysteries in human life.  Yet it could scarcely be expected a plain
+wood-ranger should rise altogether above the popular spell which still
+made of the Devil a very potent personality.
+
+Consequently, as my anxious eyes uplifted toward the spot where De
+Noyan pointed, it need be no occasion for wonder that my blood turned
+to ice in my veins, and I felt convinced I looked upon His Satanic
+Majesty.  The vast wall of rock, arising a sheer hundred feet directly
+opposite to where we lay, appeared densely black now in the shadow, but
+as my glance swept higher along its irregularity, the upper edge,
+jagged from outcropping stones, stood clearly revealed in the full
+silver sheen of the moon, each exposed line, carven as from marble,
+standing distinctly forth in delicate tracery against the background of
+the night sky.
+
+Appearing to my affrighted eyes the gigantic form of two men strangely
+merged into one, there uprose on that summit a figure so odd, weird,
+and grimly fantastic, it was small wonder I gazed, never thinking it
+could be other than the Evil One.  It was unclothed from head to heel,
+and, gleaming ghastly white beneath the moonbeams, it brought no Indian
+suggestion to mind.  High above the head, causing the latter to appear
+hideously deformed, arose something the nature of which I could not
+rightly judge.  It reminded me of a vast mat of hair sticking directly
+upward, ever waving back and forth to the breath of the night wind.
+Nor did this horrid figure remain one moment still.  There upon the
+very edge of the precipice, it would leap high into the air, flinging
+aloft long gaunt arms, even appearing to float bodily forth into the
+space above us, to disappear instantly, like some phantom of
+imagination, amid the shrouding gloom of those rock shadows--flitting
+swiftly, and as upon wings, along the crest; now showing directly in
+our front, looming like a threatening giant, mocking with wild, furious
+gestures; then dancing far to right or left, a vague shade in the
+sheen, a mere nothing in the shadow, yet ever returning, the same
+weird, unnatural, spectral figure, wildly gyrating upon the air,
+leering down upon our speechless misery.
+
+My eyes, wide-opened by terror, followed these movements, marking this
+ghastly shape.  I listened vainly for the slightest sound to connect it
+with aught human.  The mantle of the night's solemn silence, the dread
+stillness of wilderness solitudes, rested everywhere.  I heard the
+mournful sighing of the wind amid jagged rocks and among the swaying
+branches of the cedars; the dull roar of the little river, even the
+stentorian breathing of the Puritan lying asleep behind us, but that
+was all.  That hideous apparition dancing so madly along the cliff
+summit emitted no sound of foot or voice--yet there it hung, foreboding
+evil, gesticulating in mockery; a being too hideous for earth, ever
+playing the mad antics of a fiend.
+
+My gaze rested questioningly upon De Noyan's upturned face, and saw it
+ghost-like in lack of color, drawn and haggard.  Mine no doubt was the
+same, for never have I felt such uncontrollable horror as that which,
+for the moment, fairly paralyzed me in brain and limb.  It is the
+mysterious that appals brave men, for who of earth might hope to
+struggle against the very fiends of the air?
+
+"_Mon Dieu_!" whispered my comrade, his voice shaking as if from an
+ague fit.  "Is it not Old Nick himself?"
+
+"If not," I answered, my words scarce steadier, "then some one must
+tell me what; never before did I gaze on such a sight.  Has it been
+there long?"
+
+"I know not whence it came, or how.  I was not watching the crest.
+After I bathed at the stream to open my eyes better, I began
+overhauling the commissary for a bite with which to refresh the inner
+man.  I was sitting yonder, my back against the big stone, munching
+away contentedly, humming the words of a song to keep me awake, when I
+chanced to glance up to mark the position of the moon, and there that
+hell's imp danced in the sheen as he has been dancing ever since.
+_Sacre_! it was the bravest deed of my life to crawl here and awaken
+you; the devilish thing did charm me as a snake does a bird."
+
+The mere sound of human speech put new heart into me, yet I found it
+difficult to avert my eyes from that fantastic figure.
+
+"If that is the Devil," I said more composedly, still enthralled by the
+baleful presence, "surely we have neither of us done so much evil as to
+make us especially his victims."
+
+As I concluded these words, my courage creeping back, a sudden rustling
+among the pines at our back startled us to glance around.  Out of the
+gloom of the rock shelter a figure uplifted itself on all fours, and
+the faint light of a star glimmered directly down upon an upraised,
+terror-stricken face.  Before either De Noyan or myself could mutter a
+hasty warning, the half-awakened preacher sent his great, gruff voice
+booming out into the air:
+
+"O Lord God of Israel deliver Thy servant from destruction and the
+clutch of the Evil One.  O Lord God of----"
+
+I flung myself on him, clutching his brawny throat, throttling his
+speech into a vain gurgle.  The fellow made so fierce a struggle,
+mistaking me for an assistant of the fiend, my fierce hold was jerked
+loose, and I was hurled heavily backward at full length upon the
+stones, striking with no pleasant force upon my shoulder.
+
+"Verily have I overcome the Devil by Thy strength, O Lord!" he began
+fervently.
+
+"Be still, you red-headed Connecticut fool," I commanded sharply, now
+thoroughly aroused.  "Stop, or I 'll drive into you a leaden slug to
+silence that blundering tongue of yours for good and all.  Get up from
+your knees there, and play the man.  If needs be you must pray, keep
+grip on that bull voice of yours."
+
+"It makes small odds now," chimed in De Noyan with easier tone.  "The
+Devil, or what, has disappeared from the rock."
+
+I glanced up at his words, to find them true.  The sky was assuming a
+faint grayish tinge, as if the dawn were near.  The vanishing of that
+spectral figure relieved us greatly, while the steady coming of
+daylight revived those spirits upon which the haunted night had rested
+grimly.  Nevertheless I felt it incumbent to speak somewhat harshly to
+the yet sulking sectary for such untimely uproar.
+
+"Did you mistake this for a conventicle, Master Cairnes," I asked
+grimly, "an assembly of crop-eared worshippers, that you venture to
+lift your voice in such a howl when you wake?  It will be better if you
+learn to keep still at such a time, if you hope to companion long with
+me."
+
+"You!" he scarcely deigned to lift his eyes to regard me.  "You are but
+an unbelieving and damned heretic.  Had it not been in all the
+earnestness of a contrite spirit I besought the Lord in prayer,
+wrestling even as did David of old, 'tis not likely the foul fiend I
+beheld on yonder crest would have departed so easily.  I tell you, you
+unregenerated son of iniquity, it is naught save the faith of the
+elect, the prayer of the redeemed, which overcomes the wiles of the
+Devil, and relieves the children of God from his snares."
+
+It was useless arguing with the fanatic; yet much of my previous
+superstitious terror at our unwelcome visitant had already vanished,
+there growing upon my mind a firm conviction that the apparition was
+not a denizen of the sulphurous regions of the damned, but was composed
+of flesh and blood, even as ourselves.  I think Madame had been awake
+through the greater part of the commotion, as I noted her stir slightly
+even when De Noyan first informed me of the strange presence.  Yet she
+spoke not a word.  Realizing her judgment was ever clearer than that of
+either of my male companions, I turned to awaken her to some expression.
+
+"And do you also, Madame, believe that we have been honored by a visit
+from His Satanic Majesty in person?" I asked, wondering as I spoke that
+she should appear so undisturbed in midst of our turmoil.
+
+"It would be less terrifying to me could I so believe," she replied
+gravely, her eyes questioning my face, as if to read therein what
+answer I desired.  "I have that about my person," and I marked that her
+fingers toyed with the beads of a rosary at her throat, "which would
+protect me from his touch."
+
+"What then did you make of that fantastic figure?  I was so gravely
+startled myself by the apparition I saw double, scarcely retaining
+sufficient strength for the uplifting of a hand.  So speak, Madame, and
+plainly, for our comforting,--was that flesh and blood, or was it some
+ghastly visitant from the unknown?"
+
+"I believe," she answered firmly, "it was human.  To my eyes a wild
+man, partially arrayed in white skins, decorated with a multitude of
+great feathers, appearing ghastly tall, and weirdly distorted in the
+moonlight--a fiend, indeed, yet not of the upper air."
+
+"An Indian?"
+
+"I know not what other name to choose.  A savage surely, yet possessing
+a skin strangely fair in the sheen for one of the red race."
+
+My roving, unsatisfied eyes met those of De Noyan.
+
+"Blessed Mother!" he ejaculated with a short, uneasy laugh.  "I never
+would have thought it in the night.  Holy Saints preserve me, if I was
+ever more a child!  Yet now the dawn brings me new heart of courage,
+and I would not swear but Eloise may be right."
+
+"And you, friend Cairnes?"  In a few, brief English sentences I retold
+to the sectary this opinion expressed by Madame.  "Does your mind agree
+with ours?"
+
+He stared at me gloomily, his hands knotting into each other, and his
+lips moving oddly ere he found speech.
+
+"Nay," he muttered at last, "you know little about such matters.  I
+tell you again that it was the Devil my eyes saw.  Twice have I looked
+upon him, and each time, in response to prayer, has the good Lord
+delivered His servant from the bondage of sin, the snares of the
+fowler.  Not by carnal weapons of the flesh are we bidden to overcome,
+but by spiritual wrestling; even as did he of old wrestle with the
+angel, are we to master the adversary of souls."
+
+"Madame possesses that also," and I pointed to the rosary at her white
+throat, "by which she is able to resist the contamination of evil."
+
+He sniffed disdainfully, his coarse red hair appearing to bristle all
+over his bullet head.
+
+"'T is a foul device designed to rob men of the true power of prayer,"
+he declared angrily.  "I say to you, it was the voice of prayer which
+caused that foul fiend to fly away to his own.  The prayer of the
+righteous availeth much."
+
+"True, friend," I admitted as he paused for breath, amused to behold a
+man thus played upon.  "If it is a comfort to you, we all confess it
+was your voice which put an end to the dancing.  Yet if there is a time
+for prayer, so there is time also for action, and the latter must be
+here now.  Whatever adventure awaits us before nightfall, we shall meet
+it no less bravely if we first have food.  So let us break our fast,
+and depart from this accursed spot."
+
+It was not a cheerful meal, our nerves being still at high tension, and
+we partook more from duty than any feeling of enjoyment.  I must except
+the old Puritan, however, who would have eaten, I believe, had that
+same figure been dancing at his elbow.  Many anxious looks were cast
+upward at the rock crest, every unwonted sound causing us to start and
+glance about in nervous terror.  It seems to me now Eloise remained the
+most self-controlled among us, and I have felt sincerely ashamed at
+yielding to my weaker nature in thus betraying nervousness before that
+company.  Yet had she been in safety I would have proven more of a man,
+as by this time no haunting superstition remained to burden my heart.
+I realized we were leaguered by flesh and blood, not by demons of the
+air, and had never counted my life specially valuable in Indian
+campaign.  But to be compelled to look into her fair face, to feel
+constantly the trustful gaze of her brown eyes, knowing well what would
+be her certain fate should she fall into savage hands, operated in
+breaking down all the manliness within me, leaving me like a helpless
+child, ready to start at the slightest sound.  De Noyan barely touched
+the food placed in front of him, and, long before Cairnes had completed
+his meal, the Chevalier was restlessly pacing the rocks beside the
+stream, casting impatient glances in our direction.
+
+"_Mon Dieu_!" he ejaculated at last, "it is not the nature of a
+Frenchman to remain longer cooped in such a hole.  I beg you, Benteen,
+bid that gluttonous English animal cease stuffing himself like an
+anaconda, and let us get away; each moment I am compelled to bide here
+is torture."
+
+Experiencing the same tension, I persuaded the Puritan to suspend his
+onslaught, and, undisturbed by sight or sound, we began a slow advance,
+clambering across the bowlders strewing the narrow way, discovering as
+we moved forward that those towering cliffs on either side were
+becoming lower, although no possibility of scaling them became
+apparent.  We travelled thus upwards of a quarter of a mile, our
+progress being necessarily slow, when a dull roar stole gradually upon
+our hearing.  A moment later, rounding a sharp edge of projecting rock,
+and picking our way cautiously along a narrow slab of stone extending
+out above the swirling water, we came forth in full view of a vast
+cliff, with unbroken front extending from wall to wall across the
+gorge, while over it plunged the stream in a magnificent leap of fully
+one hundred and fifty feet.  It was a scene of rare, romantic beauty,
+the boiling stream surging and dancing madly away from its foot, and
+the multicolored mists rising up like a gauzy veil between us and the
+column of greenish-blue water.  Yet it pleased us little then, for it
+barred our progress northward as completely as would a hostile army.
+
+Our depth of disappointment at facing this barrier was beyond
+expression.  We could but stand in silence, gazing upon the broad,
+impassable sheet of water, blocking further advance.  De Noyan was
+earliest to recover power of speech.
+
+"_Le Diable_!" he swore, half unconsciously.  "This cursed place is
+surely damned!  Yet it has some consolation to my mind, for that will
+drive us backward into the lowlands, out of this demon-haunted defile."
+
+"Your judgment is right," I returned gravely enough, not unrelieved
+myself by the thought.  "There is no other course open to us.  We shall
+be compelled to retrace our steps, and if we desire to reach the open
+before another night, we need be at it.  May the good God grant us free
+passage, with no skulking enemies in ambuscade, for never saw I poorer
+spot for defence than along this narrow shelf."
+
+Fortunately, the way proved easier travelling as we proceeded downward,
+and we were not long in passing beyond our haunted camp of the previous
+night.  Below this spot--which was passed in painful anxiety--we
+entered into that narrower, gloomy gorge leading directly toward the
+plain beyond.  The little river foamed and leaped in deep black waves
+upon our left, the rocks encroaching so near that we were compelled to
+pass in single file, picking a way with extreme caution lest we slip
+upon the wet stones, and having neither time nor breath for speech.
+The Puritan led, bearing the Spaniard's naked rapier in his hand.
+Suddenly, from where I brought up the rear, his voice sounded so
+noisily I made haste forward fearing he had been attacked.
+
+He stood halted, staring like a demented man at a massive rock, a huge
+monster with sheer, precipitous front, filling every foot of space from
+the cliff wall to the river, completely closing, as by a wall of
+masonry, the narrow foot-path along which we had advanced unhindered
+the day before.  It was easy to see from whence that rock mass came;
+the great fresh scar on the overhanging cliff summit high above told
+the fatal story of its detachment.  Yet how had it fallen so suddenly
+and with such deadly accuracy across the path?  Was it a strange
+accident, a caprice of fate, or was it rather the hellish work of
+design?
+
+None knew at that moment; yet we stood there stupefied, staring into
+each others' despairing faces, feeling we were hopeless prisoners
+doomed to perish miserably within the gloom confines of that ghastly,
+haunted hell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+BACKS TO THE WALL
+
+"This is Indian treachery," I said decisively, my eyes searching the
+cliffs, "nor will they remain long inactive now they have fairly caught
+us in their trap.  Let us get back out of this narrow way; there may be
+other loosened rocks where this one came from."
+
+"Back where?"
+
+"To some spot where we can defend ourselves in case of attack.  These
+will prove different from any savages I have ever known if we fail to
+hear from them as soon as we are ready."
+
+"But," protested De Noyan, as we scrambled retreating up the slope, "if
+there is no way leading from this pit of death, how are those devils
+going to get in?  Will it not be more likely they will be content to
+starve us?"
+
+"'Tis not Indian nature to hide in patience after having trapped their
+victims.  Although there is no apparent way out to our eyes, nor time
+to search for one, yet we may put confidence in this: they never
+bottled us here without knowing some means whereby they might complete
+their work."
+
+"It is likely to be a fight, then?"
+
+"Either that or a massacre; God knoweth."
+
+"If, friend Benteen," boomed Cairnes, now well in our front, and
+prodigal of voice as ever, "you expect a stand-up battle with the
+devils, 'tis my judgment you will find few spots better adapted for
+defence than yonder--there where the rock juts out so far; 'tis like a
+sloping roof to protect us from above."
+
+It was as he described, a place fitted by nature for such a contest,
+the upper stratum of rock projecting so far forward as almost to form a
+cave beneath, while, partially blocking the centre of this darkened
+opening, uprose a great square slab of stone, forming of itself no
+small protection to a party crouching in its shadow.  Moreover the
+ground fell away sharply, the higher point being twenty feet above the
+water level; and this at the widest part of the gorge, the entire slope
+thickly strewn with bowlders of varying size.
+
+"You have made soldierly choice," I acknowledged heartily, after a
+hasty survey.  "It would be difficult to discover a more proper spot
+for purposes of defence.  St. Andrew! but three of us ought to hold
+that mound against quite a party."
+
+De Noyan broke in, perfectly at his ease with actual fighting in
+prospect.  "Somewhat open as yet, but that can be remedied by use of
+those scattered stones.  Upbuild the circle here, leaving in front of
+the great bowlder room enough for the three of us to battle at ease,
+with ample space in which to swing our sword-arms, the solid rock at
+our backs.  Saint Anne! but it is beautiful!  Bring the stones here so
+I may place them to the best purpose for such defence."  And he drew a
+rapid half-circle about the mouth of the shallow cave, his eyes
+brightening with interest.
+
+"Pah! your doughty Frenchman appears overly anxious to be killed,"
+began Cairnes, casting an eager glance toward the provisions dropped
+upon the ground.  "To my mind we had better break our fast before
+commencing such labor.  It may happen we shall have no other chance to
+eat, and it would go hard against my nature to waste that pickled meat
+on naked savages.  Ecod! it would try Job himself to stand by helpless,
+watching a clouted heathen gorge himself on what should be lying
+comfortable in our own stomachs.  What say ye, Master Benteen?"
+
+"That our first effort be with the stones," I returned with decision.
+"After that, we can partake of food.  The latter can be made ready
+while we work, if Madame will spread it here at the mouth of the
+cave--a bit farther back would prove better, under the protection of
+that slab of rock."
+
+Rejoicing at thus inducing our fair companion to seek safety under
+shelter, the three of us fell to work with energy.  Under the direction
+of De Noyan, the scattered bowlders were rolled up the steep and piled
+in a solid wall, reaching nearly waist high, completely circling the
+open front of the cave, its centre somewhat advanced from the stone
+slab, with either flank resting solidly against the face of the cliff.
+It did me good to listen while De Noyan issued energetic orders,
+swearing at us ardently in army French as if we were of his own
+squadron of chasseurs.
+
+It required the greater part of an hour to get our rude rock rampart in
+such condition as to satisfy the military taste of the Chevalier even
+measurably, and during that time we toiled as men must when their lives
+are soon to depend upon the result of their labor.
+
+"_Saprista_!" he commented at last, wiping his streaming brow, and
+gazing about him critically.  "It will answer fairly well, I think,
+although another row might strengthen the curves.  Still, 'tis not
+likely we shall be called upon to battle against gun or pike, and if
+too high the stones might interfere with proper thrust of the sword.
+So let us lunch.  Egad! the sight of that hungry preacher haunts me
+every time I turn around; besides, whatever resting-spell we get ere
+the ball opens will serve to steady our nerves for the onset.  Have you
+spread forth a rare feast for our comrades, Eloise?"
+
+She stood within the shadow, leaning lightly against the great stone,
+smiling at us.
+
+"All I have awaits your pleasure, gentlemen," she returned bravely,
+"and I trust you may consider it a pleasant duty to do full justice to
+my skill."
+
+It has lingered a unique memory of those days, the outward carelessness
+with which we chattered away during that strange meal.  Surely no
+company of wanderers was ever in more desperate stress than we at that
+moment.  It was the merest chance of fate if one among us all lived to
+see the peaceful setting of the sun, now blazing high overhead.  Yet
+that simple noonday repast, partaken of beneath the shadow of the
+overhanging rock, remains in memory as more redundant with merriment of
+tongue and face than any since we made departure from New Orleans.
+Were I not writing truthful narrative, I might hesitate at setting this
+down, yet there are doubtless others living to bear witness with me
+that there is often experienced an odd relief in discovering the
+presence of actual danger; that uncertainty and mystery try most
+severely the temper of men.
+
+It certainly proved so with us that day, and De Noyan's high spirits
+found echo even in the grim Puritan, who, being at last convinced that
+he was not called upon to wrestle with demons from the pit, was as full
+of manly fight as the best of us.  Eloise added her gentle speech,
+while even I relaxed my anxiety, though I was careful enough to select
+a seat from which I could keep watch both up and down the ravine,
+convinced that our time of trial was not far away.  In consequence of
+this chosen vantage of position I was the first to note those stealthy
+nude figures silently stealing from rock to rock, like so many flitting
+shadows, making their way down toward our position from the north.  How
+they attained entrance to the gorge I could not conjecture; my eyes
+first detected their movement when their leaders stole noiselessly as
+phantoms about the great shelf of rock higher up the gorge.  More than
+this fleeting glimpse I was unable to perceive from where I sat, our
+rude rampart somewhat obstructing the view, nor did I call the
+attention of the others to their approach.  Nothing could be gained by
+exposing ourselves before need arose.  Indeed, De Noyan chanced to
+observe their presence before I ventured upon speech at all.
+
+"Ha, my masters!" he exclaimed suddenly, rising to peer above the low
+breastworks.  "What have we here?  By my soul, the ball is about to
+open, gentlemen; the enemy creeps forward as though uncertain of our
+whereabouts, yet hardly as if greatly fearing our numbers.  What do you
+make of the fellows, Master Benteen?"
+
+"Beyond doubt savages, but not of any tribe within my knowledge."
+
+"Saint Denis! nor mine," he acknowledged gravely, staring at them.  "At
+this distance they seem to be of strangely whitish skin, and I am not
+over pleased with their mode of advance; it has the steadiness of a
+drilled column, such as I never before witnessed in Indian campaign.
+_Sacre_! note yonder how that tall fellow on the right guides them with
+his gestures.  They take intervals as firmly as French grenadiers.
+Eloise," he turned hastily toward his wife, more tenderness in his
+manner than I had ever before remarked, "it is going to be a hard
+battle, or I mistake greatly the temper of yonder warriors.  Take this
+pistol; it is all I have of the kind.  I will trust my fortune on the
+blade.  You know how best to use it should things go wrong with us at
+the front."
+
+"I know," she answered calmly, "I have lived all my life within hearing
+of Indian tales; yet could I not prove some aid beside you?"
+
+"Nay, little woman; there is scarcely room for three of us to stand at
+the wall; we shall fight with freer hand knowing you are safe from
+savage blow behind the rock.  Come, my lady, it is full time you were
+there now."
+
+She shook hands with us in turn, giving to each man a lightsome,
+hopeful word ere she drew back out of sight, and never before did I
+have such incentive to battle as I read within the depths of her dark
+eyes as she came to me the last of all.  For a moment after she
+regretfully withdrew her hands from my clasp I remained motionless,
+absolutely forgetful of all else, until De Noyan's voice, harsh now
+with excitement of approaching combat, recalled me to myself and my
+post of duty.
+
+"It is time we took our positions, Messieurs," he said, bowing with the
+rare French courtesy of battle.  "Let Monsieur Cairnes find place upon
+my right, while Master Benteen, do you keep the left.  It will be
+better to crouch low until I speak the word, and then God give you both
+strong arms and hearts."
+
+From behind the roughly piled bowlders in my front I had a fair view up
+the valley, and was enabled to mark clearly the attacking party as it
+advanced cautiously toward our position.  It was composed of some
+thirty members, well-appearing fellows for savages, naked from the
+waist up, their exposed bodies quite light in color, and unpainted as
+is the usual Indian custom for war.  Their leader was a tall fellow,
+having a head of matted coarse hair, which stood almost erect, thus
+yielding him a peculiarly ferocious aspect.  The entire band moved
+forward, as if in response to prearranged signals, which must have been
+conveyed by motion, as I could distinguish not the slightest sound of
+speech.  However, it was a relief to note they bore no weapons in their
+hands excepting the spear and the war-club, clear evidence that they
+had limited, if any, trade intercourse with Europeans.  Yet they came
+on with such steadiness of purpose, amid such impressive silence, I
+instinctively felt we stood opposed to no tribe of cowards, whatever
+their name.
+
+As they crept, rather than walked, forward into the open space in our
+front, their restless, searching eyes were not long in perceiving the
+irregular outlines of our rude barricade, nor were they dilatory in
+deciding that behind that pile of rock were to be discovered those they
+sought.  No attacking party operating upon the eastern continent,
+guided by all the strategy of civilized war, could have acted more
+promptly, or to better purpose.  The old chief made a quick, peculiar
+gesture from left to right, and in instant response his clustered bunch
+of warriors spread out in regulated intervals, assuming positions not
+unlike the sticks of a fan such as the Creoles use, until they formed a
+complete semicircle, their flanks close in against the cliff, and their
+centre well back upon the bank of the stream.  It was a pretty
+movement, executed with the precision of long discipline, and De Noyan
+brought his hand down applauding upon his knee.
+
+"_Parbleu_!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm.  "'Twas as well done as by
+troops of the line.  I look for a warm time presently, when we cross
+arms with those fellows."
+
+Even as he spoke, I observed the old chief passing rapidly from man to
+man, speaking briefly to each in turn and pointing toward us, as though
+giving special directions for the coming assault.
+
+"Chevalier," I whispered, "would it not be well to try a shot at that
+tall-haired fellow?"
+
+"It appears too great a distance to my eye."
+
+"I have dropped a buck through forest limbs fifty feet farther."
+
+"Then try your fortune," he said eagerly.  "It may be those fellows
+have never heard the crack of a gun.  The sound and sudden death might
+terrorize them."
+
+I took careful aim above the wall, resting my long rifle-barrel in a
+groove between the stones, and fired.  Ever since, it has seemed to me
+that God, for some mysterious purpose of His own, deflected the
+speeding ball, for never before or since did I miss such aim.  Yet miss
+I did, for while the old chief leaped wildly backward, his cheek fanned
+by the bullet, it was the savage he conversed with who sprang high into
+air, coming down dead.  Nor did a single warrior make a movement to
+flee.  Instead of frightening, it enraged, driving them into savage
+fury as they stared at the stiffening body of their comrade.  Scarcely
+had the smoke of the discharge drifted upward when, all their former
+impressive silence broken, and yelling like fiends incarnate, they made
+an impetuous rush for the hill.
+
+"_Francais_!  _Francais_!"
+
+I was certain they used the word, fairly hissing it forth as if in
+bitter hatred, yet I had short enough time in which to listen as I
+hastily rammed home a second charge with which to greet them as they
+came.
+
+"It will be best to draw, Messieurs," spoke De Noyan in a cool,
+drawling voice.  "Ah, that was better, Master Benteen!" as two of the
+advancing mob went stumbling to the bullet.  "It leaves but
+twenty-seven to the three of us; not such bad odds!  Now, friends,
+yield no step backward, and strike as you never struck before."
+
+I enjoyed little space in which to glance behind where I knew Eloise
+crouched beneath the protecting shadow of the great stone, yet I am
+certain I felt the full magic of her eyes upon me.  As I wheeled, newly
+armed for strife, my hands clutched hard about the rifle-barrel, our
+fierce assailants came surging up against the stone wall.  It was no
+time to note what others did; one realizes little at such a supreme
+moment except the flashing in his eyes where menacing weapons play
+across his front; the swift blows continually threatening to crush his
+guard; the fierce, cruel faces glaring at him eye to eye, and his own
+desperate efforts to drive and kill.  It all abides in fevered memory
+not unlike those pictures of horror coming of a dark night when
+lightning leaps from the black void.  I mind the first man to reach me,
+a burly ruffian, whose shining spear-point missed my throat by so
+narrow a margin it tasted blood ere my rifle-stock crushed the side of
+his head and sent him backward, a reeling corpse into the mass at his
+heels.  Then all was confusion, a riot of leaping figures, frantic
+shouting, and clanging weapons, and I know not what was done, except
+that I struck out like a crazed man, heedless of what might be aimed at
+me, but letting drive at every savage head within range, until, at
+last, there seemed no others in my front.  Then, as I paused,
+breathless and uncertain, passing my hand across my eyes to clear them
+from the blood and hair which half blinded me, I heard De Noyan's
+drawling tone.
+
+"Most beautifully done, Master Benteen, and as for our red-headed
+preacher, by the memory of Jeanne d'Arc, the like of him as fighting
+man I have never seen."
+
+I leaned back heavily against the stones, now the strain of battle had
+relaxed, feeling strangely weakened by my exertions as well as the loss
+of blood, and glanced about me.  The discomfited savages had fallen
+sullenly back to the bank of the stream, where they bunched together as
+if in council, and I noted more than one wounded man among them.  De
+Noyan sat recklessly upon the stone wall, dangling his long legs, and,
+back turned contemptuously upon our foe, was carefully examining the
+edge of his sword.
+
+"I was fool enough to attempt a down cut," he explained, observing my
+eyes upon him.  "I tried it on that savage who lies yonder, and it was
+rather a neat stroke, yet has sorely nicked the blade."
+
+"Where is the Puritan?" I asked, not seeing him.
+
+"Stretched yonder at rest; he did needlessly exhaust himself, not
+knowing how best to wield his weapon.  _Sacre_! he struck hard blows,
+and will have two savages for whom to make answer in the Day of
+Judgment."
+
+"What loss did the fellows sustain?" I questioned, the cut at the edge
+of my hair half blinding me with dripping blood.
+
+"We dropped seven between us, counting those who fell to your fire, and
+there are others who hardly appear in condition for further fighting.
+As to the garrison, you seem to possess a flesh wound or two, the head
+of the Puritan rings merrily yet from the tap of a war-club, while I
+boast a boot full of blood; 'tis none of it serious."
+
+"They will attack again?"
+
+"Ay! those lads are not of the breed to let up with one bite; and mark
+you, man, it is going to be the next turn that will test our mettle."
+
+He deliberately changed his posture, glancing carelessly across his
+shoulder.
+
+"Do you know aught regarding those devils, Master Benteen?"
+
+"They are strange to me; no kin, I think, to any tribe east of the
+great river."
+
+He sat in silent contemplation a long moment, his eyes fastened upon
+the savage group.
+
+"Did you chance to notice," he asked at last, speaking more
+thoughtfully, "how they hissed that word 'Francais,' when they first
+rushed up the hill upon us?  It somehow recalled to memory an odd tale
+told me long ago by old Major Duponceau, who was out with the troops in
+1729, about a strange people they warred against down on the
+Ocatahoola.  These must be either the same savages--although he swore
+they were put to the sword--or else of the same stock, and have felt
+the taste of French steel."
+
+"What did he call them?"
+
+"Natchez; although I remember now he referred to them once as 'White
+Apples,' saying they were of fair skin.  He told me, but I recall
+little of it, many a strange story of their habits and appearance, to
+illustrate how greatly they differed from other tribes of savages with
+whom he had met.  They worshipped the sun."
+
+"'T is true of the Creeks."
+
+"Ay! they play at it, but with the Natchez 't is a real religion; they
+had a priesthood and altars of sacrifice, on which the fires were never
+quenched.  Their victims died with all the ardor of fanaticism, and in
+peace and war the sun was their god, ever demanding offering of blood.
+But see, the moment comes when we must front those fiends again."
+
+The afternoon sun had lowered so that its glaring rays no longer
+brightened the depths of the canyon, all upon our side of the stream
+lying quiet in the shadow.  The Indians began their advance toward us
+in much the same formation as before, but more cautiously, with less
+noisy demonstration, permitting me to note they had slung their weapons
+to their backs, bearing in their hands ugly fragments of rock.  The old
+matted-hair savage, who had received a severe slash upon his shoulder
+during our last _melee_, hung well to the rear, contenting himself with
+giving encouragement to the others.
+
+"Stand stoutly to the work, friend Cairnes," I called across to him,
+feeling the heartsome sound of English speech might prove welcome.  "If
+we drive them this time, they will hardly seek more at our hands."
+
+"It will be even according to the will of the Lord of Hosts," he
+returned piously.  "Yet I greatly fear lest my sword-blade be not sound
+within its hilt."
+
+"Stoop low for the volley of rocks," commanded De Noyan, hastily, "then
+stand up to it with all the strength you have."
+
+Halfway up the little hill they let fly a vicious volley, the hard
+missiles crashing against the face of the rock, and showering down on
+backs and heads, some of them with painful force.  As we sprang to our
+posts of defence once more, the savages were already nearly within
+spear-length of us, and, to our disastrous surprise, delivered a second
+volley of stones directly into our faces.  One jagged rock glanced from
+off my rifle-barrel, striking me on the side of the head with
+sufficient force to send me staggering back against the stone slab.
+Before I could regain place the Indians swarmed over the low wall, two
+of them, in spite of fierce struggles, bearing me backward to the
+ground.  Through a half-blinding mist of blood I beheld a carven
+war-club uplifted in the air, noted the face, distorted by passion, of
+the naked giant wielding it; yet, before I could close my eyes to the
+swift blow, there came a sudden flash of fire mingled with a sharp
+report.  As if stricken by a lightning-bolt the huge fellow plunged
+forward, his body across my feet.  Involuntarily I gave vent to a groan
+of despair, realizing that Madame, in an effort to preserve my life,
+had thrown away her sole chance to escape torture, or an existence
+worse than death.
+
+The knowledge nerved me to renewed struggle, but ere I could rid myself
+of that body pinning me fast, others hurled themselves upon us,
+striking and snarling like a pack of hounds who had overtaken their
+quarry.  It would have been over in another minute; I already felt the
+grind of a stone knife-point at my throat, able to gain only a poor
+grip on the fellow's wrist, when suddenly, sounding clear as a bell
+above that hellish uproar, a single voice uttered an imperative command.
+
+Instantly each Indian's face was upturned toward where such unexpected
+summons came, and, lying as I did flat upon my back, my eyes gazed
+across the narrow valley, to the summit of the cliff on the farther
+side.  There, solitary, a carven statue full in the glow of the
+westering sun, turning her garments golden, and lightening her rich
+profusion of hair into radiant beauty, stood a young woman of white
+face and slender, stately figure.  It was no time to note dress, yet I
+could not fail to observe the flowing white robe, draped from shoulders
+to feet, gracefully falling away from an extended arm, as she stood
+thus in regal poise looking down upon us.  There was a suggestion of
+despotic power in both face and posture, and the ring of stern
+authority spoke in the sound of her voice.
+
+Twice she addressed our savage captors in brief sentences strange to my
+ears, once pointing directly at us, once with sweeping gesture up the
+valley.  A moment longer she remained motionless, bending slightly
+forward, permitting the rich, reddish gold of her hair to flash and
+shimmer in the sunshine; then she stepped swiftly back from the dizzy
+summit, vanishing instantly, as if dissolved in the haze.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ
+
+We were hopelessly prisoners.  On my part further struggle had become
+impossible, nor elsewhere did any effort last long, although Cairnes
+had to be knocked insensible before the heathen finally mastered him.
+I believed the obstinate fellow dead, so ghastly white appeared his
+usually florid face as the victorious savages dragged him roughly past
+where I lay, flinging his heavy body down like carrion upon the rocks.
+De Noyan appeared badly cut, his gallant clothing clinging to him in
+fluttering rags, silent witnesses to the manliness of his struggle.
+Yet the Chevalier was far from done.
+
+"Let me sit up, you villains!" he cried, vigorously kicking at a
+passing shin.  "'T is not my custom to lie with head so low.  Ah,
+Benteen," he smiled pleasantly across at me, his eyes kindling at the
+recollection, "that was the noblest fighting that ever came my way, yet
+'tis likely we shall pay well for our fun.  _Sacre_! 't is no pleasant
+face, that of their grim war-chief, nor one to inspire a man with hope
+as he makes plea for mercy."
+
+"Marry, no," I replied, determined on exhibiting no greater outward
+concern than he.  "Nor will the ugly clip on his shoulder leave his
+humor happier."
+
+The Chevalier's eyes danced at the recollection.
+
+"'T was our preacher friend who sheared him.  I hold it a
+master-stroke; but for a spear-butt on the way it would have cleft the
+fellow into two equal parts.  Have you seen aught of Eloise since the
+fight?"
+
+"She lies yonder against the wall at my left, and remains unhurt, I
+think.  I will make effort to turn over, and have speech with her."
+
+So securely had I been bound with coarse grass rope, I found it no
+small task to change the position of my body sufficiently to peer about
+the corner of intervening rock, and clearly perceive my lady.  She was
+reclining in a half sitting posture well within the darker shadow,
+bound as were the rest of us.
+
+"You remain uninjured, I trust, Madame?" I asked gently, and it
+heartened me to observe the smile with which she instantly glanced up
+at sound of my voice.
+
+"No blow has touched me," was her immediate response, "yet I suffer
+noticing the stains of blood disfiguring both you and my husband.  Are
+the wounds serious ones?"
+
+"Nay, mere scratches of the flesh, to heal in a week.  Why did you
+waste your last shot on that savage who would have struck me?  It was
+not the will of De Noyan that it be expended thus."
+
+"You must have formed a poor conception of me, Geoffrey Benteen," she
+answered, as if my words pained her, "if you suppose I value my life
+more highly than your own.  But for my solicitation you would never
+have been in such stress, and, whatever else may be true, Eloise de
+Noyan is not one accustomed to deserting her friends."
+
+"Yet there are fates possible to a woman more to be dreaded than death."
+
+"Ay, and frontier bred, I know it well, yet none so bad as would have
+been the knowledge that I was guilty of ingratitude.  My life, my
+honor, are in the care of God, Geoffrey, and if I remain grateful for
+aught this day, it is that my shot proved timely, saving you from that
+blow.  Tell me, was it not a woman at whose command the combat ceased?"
+
+"It was; a white woman at that, unless my eyes deceived me.  She stood
+on yonder point of rock, appearing a veritable queen in the sunshine."
+
+"So I thought, a fair face enough, yet not devoid of savage cruelty.
+Her presence brings me some rays of hope, making me feel I may have
+less to fear in the future than you.  If a woman, however debased and
+barbarous, rules these savages, she will not be altogether without
+heart to the supplications of a woman."
+
+I felt less assured of this, yet it was better she be buoyed up by all
+possible hope, so ventured upon no answer.  There was that in the
+Queen's face as she gazed down upon us that made me doubt her
+womanliness; doubt if behind that countenance of wild beauty there did
+not lurk a soul as savage and untamed as any among her barbarous
+followers.  What but a spirit of insatiate cruelty could animate and
+control such fierce warriors in their battle rage?  Thinking of this,
+my eyes on Madame, a movement occurred among our captors quickly
+challenging my attention.  Fresh shouts and cries evidenced new
+arrivals.  These came swarming down the ravine, and in another moment
+began crawling noisily about us, chattering with our surly captors, or
+scowling into our faces with savage eyes boding no good.  It would be
+unjust were I to write that these fellows were a brutal lot, as such
+words would be void of that truth I seek to convey.  I lived to learn
+that many among them had the stuff of which true men are made; yet,
+nevertheless, they were savages, scarcely touched by the virtues or
+vices of civilization, a people nursing within their memory a great
+wrong, and inflamed by the fierce passions of battle.  Gazing about on
+the stiffening forms of their stricken warriors, all alike exhibited in
+eyes and gestures how eagerly they longed for the hour of vengeance,
+when implacable hate might have full vent in the unutterable agony of
+their victims.  I gazed up into their scowling, distorted faces,
+imagining a final moment of reckoning was at hand; yet some authority,
+either of chief or tribal custom, restrained their pitiless hatred,
+reserving us for longer, more intense suffering.
+
+But the wild thirst for blood was mirrored in those fierce eyes glaring
+down into mine, and echoed in the shrill cries with which they marked
+us yet alive for their barbaric ingenuity to practise upon at leisure.
+Even as I observed this, realizing from my knowledge of Indian nature
+that our ultimate fate would be infinitely worse than merciful death in
+battle, I could not remain blind to the wide difference between these
+naked warriors and those other savages with whom my wandering border
+life had made me familiar.  My awakened memory dwelt upon the peculiar
+tribal characteristics of the Mingoes north of the Ohio, the Kaskaskias
+in the Illinois country, the Shawnees, the Cherokees, even the Creeks,
+in whose villages I had dwelt as a friend, and beside whose young men I
+had hunted as a brother.  Yet here was surely a distinct race, one less
+clearly marked with those features peculiarly Indian,--the cheek-bones
+not prominent, the form of nose more varied, the skin decidedly
+lighter, the heads better shapen, and the figures more thoroughly
+developed.  More, their language had little of the guttural so
+universal among Eastern tribes, but had a peculiar, sharp, hissing
+sound; so, although the faces peering into mine were wild and ferocious
+enough to leave no doubt as to their barbarous nature, or our probable
+fate, yet these peculiarities, with the total absence of paint, such as
+disfigures and renders grotesquely hideous other Indians upon the
+war-path, were sufficient to stamp these savages as members of a
+distinct race.
+
+"Natchez?" I ventured to inquire of the burly brute who stood over me
+grasping spear and war-club.
+
+"_Sa_," he grinned savagely.  "_Francais, Francais_."
+
+I shook my head and tried him again, but soon desisted on discovering
+that these two words marked the full extent of our common language, and
+so was obliged to be content with silently contemplating the crowds of
+curious, naked heathen swarming on the hill.
+
+Fortunately, it was not long we were doomed to wait, uncomfortably
+trussed with our ropes of plaited grass.  The old chief who had led the
+assault gave his order, and, in immediate obedience, we were roughly
+dragged forth, the bonds about our lower limbs severed, and, under
+zealous guards, despatched up the canyon, the entire party promptly
+falling in at the rear, bearing with them their wounded and dead.  De
+Noyan and I, thus released from our cramped, painful position on the
+rocks, were jerked rudely upon our feet, and, in obedience to
+threatening gestures, driven rapidly forward like dumb beasts; but
+Madame and the Puritan, the latter not yet having regained
+consciousness, were swung aloft in hammocks of coarsely woven cloth,
+and thus borne upon the shoulders of four stout carriers.  In this way
+we advanced northward, not moving as slowly as I desired, for I was
+sore and aching from head to foot, besides being weakened by loss of
+blood.  Yet there was no hope of escape, no evidence of mercy.  If we
+ventured to lag, the vigilant guard promptly quickened our movements by
+the vigorous application of spear-points, so we soon learned the
+necessity of keeping fully abreast of our assigned position in the
+column.
+
+Coming nearer to that great cataract which had effectually dammed our
+progress up the valley, the leaders swerved toward the left, passing so
+closely beside the leaping, foaming flood as to be enveloped in the
+spray as if in a cloud of mist.  Almost beneath the fall, the water
+crashing on the rocks within reach of an outstretched hand, we
+commenced a toilsome climb, along a deep, rocky gully completely
+shrouded by overhanging bushes, as if we traversed a tunnel dug by the
+hands of men.  Indeed, I have little doubt that this peculiar
+passageway had been constructed by artificial means.  Every now and
+then, when a faint light from without straggled through the interlaced
+boughs overhead, I caught a glimpse of the evidences of human labor.
+This odd passage, crooked and intricate, at times so steep as to
+require the chiselling of steps in the solid rock, wound in and out
+along the side of the cliff, then ran back into the very face of the
+precipice, for more than a hundred and fifty yards.  Suddenly we
+emerged, fifty yards back from the crest, in the heart of a great
+circular hole resembling the crater of a burned-out volcano, having
+great ragged points of rock, blackened as if incased with lava, jutting
+up upon every side, and forming as desolate and barren a picture as
+ever eyes looked upon.
+
+I was completely fagged by this time, the climb being a heavy one, and
+I noticed De Noyan was ghastly of face, his body trembling like that of
+a palsied man.  But our relentless drivers permitted no halting to
+recruit strength.  The Chevalier was evidently in greater distress than
+I, so from pity I bade him lean on my shoulder; but as he sought to
+draw near, the merciless brute on guard struck him savagely, and there
+was such shaking of spears and fierce uproar on the part of our escort,
+we could do naught else than set our teeth to it, and go staggering on.
+The slight path, if it might be named a path, led in and out among the
+black lava cones in such labyrinthine fashion that no man could hope to
+retain memory of its course, while the floor being of irregular stone,
+the passing feet left no trail for future guidance.  We travelled
+blindly, and reckless through suffering and exhaustion, some distance,
+until, perhaps a mile above the spot where we had surmounted the cliff,
+a sudden twist was made to the right, our company creeping on all fours
+through a narrow opening, having a great tree-trunk on one side and a
+huge black bowlder on the other.  We came forth high in air above the
+swift, deep water, footing the insecure bark of a rude tree-bridge
+spanning the current.  Once safe on the other bank, our path merely a
+narrow shelf of stone, we wormed around a sharp projection of the
+cliff, rising to even greater height than in the gorge below.  A dense
+mass of interlaced and overshadowing cedars was partially pressed
+aside, partially crawled under, and from this we finally emerged into
+an open space, containing, I imagine, not far from five hundred acres
+of land, having vast towering precipices of black frowning rock on
+every side, with no outlet apparent, save to one blessed with wings.
+Saint Andrew! 'twas an awesome place, yet oddly beautiful, so soft and
+green below, with those massive walls completely shutting out all the
+rest of the world, and shadowing the little valley with impregnable
+grandeur.
+
+I had but a moment in which to view the impressive scene.  Scarcely had
+the head of our column entered this natural prison when it was greeted
+with wild shouts of triumph, immediately succeeded by shrieks of
+distress, while there streamed forward to meet us a tumultuous band of
+savages, a large proportion of whom were women and children.  The
+children were absolutely nude and peculiarly white of skin, while the
+former wore rude skirts of coarsely woven cloth fastened about the
+waist, their long hair in many instances trailing upon the ground,
+yielding them a wildness of aspect beyond description; yet withal they
+were not uncomely of features.  These newcomers thronged about us with
+scowling faces, and, when sternly forced back by the lowered weapons of
+the guard, either joined the procession, or else trooped alongside,
+yelling and jeering.
+
+Pressed forward, although by now so utterly spent I could barely
+stagger rapidly enough to escape those pitiless thrusts, I mechanically
+noted enough of our surroundings to understand that we traversed ground
+which had been cultivated; that low fences, here and there encountered,
+divided the land into small sections, even as in more civilized regions
+farmers protect their fields.  What their crops may have been I could
+not determine, the season of harvest being already past, yet I
+distinguished what I supposed must be evidences of garden culture,
+observing also a considerable ditch, certainly four feet in width,
+filled with clear running water, which seemed to encircle the entire
+basin, the deeper green of vegetation marking its course close up
+against the farther rock wall.
+
+The view directly in advance was at first obscured by the leaping
+figures of the exultant savages leading the way, whooping with
+excitement, and wildly brandishing their war-clubs.  These at length
+fell back along either side, our guards hurrying us across the ditch,
+spanned by the great trunk of a tree, and thus on into the village.
+This town resembled no other encampment of savages on which my eyes had
+ever looked.  I saw a wide open space, a blackened stake set in the
+middle of it, the ground bare of vegetation, and tramped hard as if by
+countless feet.  Beyond, circling this plaza upon two sides, were
+several rows of houses, all facing the same direction.  It reminded me
+of pictures I had seen of Hebrew camps in my father's great Bible, only
+the houses were built of sun-dried clay, such as peons use in the far
+Southwest on the Brazos, square in shape, of but a single story, having
+dome-shaped roofs, heavily thatched with cane.  They were windowless,
+with one narrow opening for a door, protected by a heavy matting of
+grass.  Behind these, perhaps a hundred yards or more, and within a
+short distance of the steep cliffs bounding the upper extremity of the
+valley, there arose from the surface of the plain two immense rounded
+mounds of earth, each fully a hundred paces wide at its base, sloping
+sharply upward.  Considerable vacant space lay between the two, while
+on the apex of each stood buildings of sun-baked clay, resembling in
+form those below, yet much larger, and, because of their elevation,
+appearing spacious and imposing.  Above one were posed three rudely
+carven figures bearing a slight resemblance to giant eagles, their
+wings outspread as if for flight.  The other was surmounted by a
+hideous, grotesque figure, blackened as by fire, with distorted face
+daubed a glaring yellow, and long hair glittering from red pigment.
+Here the grass curtain had been drawn aside, while before the entrance,
+their faces striped with disfiguring black lines, their dull vestments
+trailing to the ground and gaudily trimmed with fanciful trappings,
+their coarse hair so trained as to stand almost erect, were two aged
+men, who, with wild gesticulations, and solemn chanting, were
+apparently paying adoration to the setting sun, the last beams
+streaming over them through a rift in the western wall.
+
+Directly past these priests we were driven like cattle, finding
+ourselves plunged into a vast square gloomy apartment, having an
+earthen floor, but utterly devoid of either furnishings or ornament.
+There was another mat-draped opening at the farther side, and in the
+centre a huge log smouldered, resting upon what bore the appearance of
+a rudely chipped altar of rock.  About this were ranged numerous
+fancifully painted statues of wood, grotesque and hideous, while a
+third figure, attired as were the aged priests without, lay prone upon
+the earth moaning as if in agony.  The walls were hung thickly with
+undressed skins of wild animals, and at the back stood a slightly
+upraised platform of logs, cut in halves by a narrow passageway leading
+toward the second curtained door.  It was in the midst of this we
+halted, still under strict surveillance of our brutal guards.  These,
+however, permitted us to sink down exhausted on the hard floor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE
+
+A fear of impending danger will not always prove sufficiently strong to
+prevent yielding to the demands of fatigue.  I realized the desperation
+of our position, feeling no doubt regarding our ultimate fate.  I read
+it plainly in our surroundings, as well as within those vengeful,
+scowling faces, yet so dulled was every physical sense from excessive
+weariness that I had passed through much already described like a man
+in a dream.  The brief repose of the previous night, broken by nervous,
+superstitious terrors, the anxious effort to escape from the haunted
+canyon, the hurried labor on our rude defences, the two fierce combats
+with the savages, my numerous wounds, none dangerous yet weakening me
+by loss of blood, together with the rapid marching and the difficult
+climb up the cliff, combined to exhaust my vitality so completely that,
+the moment we halted within the sacred precincts of this temple, I
+flung myself full length upon the floor.  I remember the sun had
+already disappeared behind the western heights.  I retain some slight
+memory of a tender hand resting softly on my forehead, of a familiar
+voice questioning me, yet if I made response, it must have been in the
+unconsciousness of sleep, as these faint remembrances were my last.
+
+I had no means of telling how long I lay thus, close against the north
+wall of the building in that very posture in which I had first fallen.
+It must have been after hours of unconsciousness I was at last
+partially aroused by the reviving touch of cool water with which my
+face was being bathed.  As I slowly unclosed my heavy eyes the huge
+smouldering log in the centre of the room burst into sudden flame,
+lighting the interior, casting weird, dancing shadows along the black
+walls, its red radiance falling upon the face bending above me, and
+permitting me to look into the dark, troubled eyes of Eloise de Noyan.
+
+"There is no necessity for moving," she explained softly.  "Nothing of
+moment has occurred since you fell asleep, except that the savages
+brought us food."
+
+"Have you been watching over me all this time without rest?"
+
+"Nay; at least no more over you than the others," she answered with a
+smile, "yet you appeared in greatest stress.  The others have been some
+time awake and have partaken of food while you remained in stupor.  Do
+not look at me like that!  I am not tired; I was borne all the way upon
+a litter, never once placing foot upon the ground."
+
+"Have you knowledge as to the hour?"
+
+"Only that it must be well into the night."
+
+I lifted my body into a more erect posture, finding myself stiff and
+sore from head to foot, and glanced curiously around our prison-house.
+In the centre was the blazing log, the sole bit of color my eyes could
+perceive.  Kneeling upon either side were the motionless figures of
+four priests, robed from head to foot in black, their faces, darkened
+by some pigment, appearing ghastly and repulsive under the flickering
+flame.  Their lips muttered in monotonous chant a weird incantation
+which sent to my heart a chill of superstitious dread.  High above the
+altar, blackened by the constantly ascending cloud of smoke, swayed
+uneasily a peculiar graven image of wood, hideous in disfigurement of
+form and diabolical of visage, appearing to float upon outspread wings,
+and gloating down upon us through eyes glittering ominously in the fire
+sheen.  At either extremity of the apartment, where I supposed were the
+entrance and exit previously noted, stood those savages remaining on
+guard, grim, naked fellows, whose restless eyes, gleaming in the glow,
+followed our slightest movements, and whose weapons were constantly
+uplifted as though they longed for some excuse to strike.  It composed
+a grewsome scene, savage, cruel, devilish, exhibiting within its gloomy
+outlines small promise for the morrow.
+
+The old Puritan was leaning heavily against a small stake driven into
+the earth, resting his aching head upon one hand as he peered at me
+from beneath thatched brows.
+
+"You have a white face, Master Benteen," he ventured, wondrously soft
+spoken for him, "yet if the heart remain strong and at peace with God,
+the body will mend itself."
+
+"The heart has never yet failed me," I returned, striving to speak
+cheerfully, feeling that he would like to hear hearty English words
+again.  "I am glad to behold you safely recovered, friend; that was a
+hard crack they landed on your skull."
+
+"'T is not the will of the Almighty that I ignominiously perish at the
+hands of the heathen," he responded in his old manner, and as his voice
+roared out, not unlike a clap of thunder in that silence, I observed
+how the savages about us started.  "Again, and yet again hath He
+miraculously delivered his servant from the mouth of the lion.  Surely
+He must yet have labor for me in His vineyard; perchance the bearing
+unto these children of Amalek the message of peace."
+
+"Do you propose preaching unto them?"
+
+"Ay, why not?  Inspired thereunto by the Spirit, I have already sought
+serious converse with yonder priest of Baal, kneeling at this side of
+that accursed shrine of idolatry.  Yet so wedded is he to idols of wood
+and stone, he merely chattered back at me in unintelligible speech, and
+when I laid hand upon him to compel him to listen, the brown savage
+beyond grievously thrust me with a spear.  But I retain faith that the
+Lord, in His own time, will open up a way unto their rebellious and
+sinful hearts."
+
+"Such way may be opened, yet I fear these savages will only take
+unkindly your efforts at ministry, even if they permit opportunity for
+the carrying on of such work."
+
+"I should be overjoyed to minister unto them with the sharp edge of a
+steel blade," interposed De Noyan decidedly, and I noticed him for the
+first time, lying beyond his wife.  "What do you expect, Master
+Benteen, these villains will do to us?"
+
+"I read no sign of mercy in any face yet seen," I answered cautiously.
+"It would be against all savage nature to forgive the loss of those
+warriors sent home this day."
+
+"You look for death?"
+
+"I expect nothing less, and by torture; still they may permit us the
+slight chance of the gantlet, although I know not the war customs of
+the tribe."
+
+He subsided into silence, as though my words merely echoed his own
+gloomy thought, and for a few moments no sound arose except the dismal
+droning of the priests about the altar.  Then Cairnes silently pushed
+over toward me what remained of their evening meal, and I forgot gloomy
+forebodings in a new realization of hunger.  It was while thus busily
+engaged Madame spoke to me, whispering her words softly, so that they
+could not reach the ears of the others.
+
+"If the end prove according to our fears, could you outline my probable
+fate?"
+
+No lack of courage prompted the question, I could perceive that in her
+eyes as they looked into my own, and some way their expression yielded
+me boldness to answer truthfully.
+
+"I am afraid, Madame, you may be spared," I said gravely.
+
+Her hands closed down tightly about each other.
+
+"That is what renders my heart so heavy in this peril, Geoffrey
+Benteen.  I could die easily, without tremor, beside you; nor would I
+shrink back from torture, did it of necessity come to me, for I possess
+a faith in Christ which would sustain me in such an ordeal.  But
+this--O God!--it is too much!  The thought that I may be reserved for a
+worse fate than death, may be compelled to live for months, perhaps
+years, as the humiliated companion of these murderous savages--I, a
+lady of France!  It is more than I can bear."
+
+I saw tears shining in her eyes, and my hand, seeking her own, closed
+over it with sympathetic pressure.
+
+"God grant there be some escape," I said earnestly; it was all that
+came to my lips.
+
+"But I feel there is none.  I have not lived upon the border of this
+vast wilderness all my life without learning something regarding the
+customs of savages.  If they spare a woman from stake or knife it is
+that they may doom her to a fate more horrible, making of her their
+degraded slave.  I know this, and have read the truth anew in those
+faces glaring upon me to-day.  There remains but one faint hope--that
+woman who seems to exercise control over them may incline the savages
+to mercy."
+
+"I cannot encourage you to place much trust in such tenderness," I
+confessed sadly.  "'T is not likely, despite her white face, and
+certain graces bespeaking knowledge of civilization, she will prove any
+less a savage than those she governs.  She would not be here, able to
+control so wild a brood of wolves, if she were not of their breed in
+heart; nor do women chiefs have much choice against the vote of the
+tribe.  I do not trust her, Madame; I studied her face--a fair one, I
+grant--as she stood in the sun upon the rock summit.  It was hard set,
+and savage with the scent of blood and battle.  No mercy led her to
+protect us then; like a great cat she prefers playing with her mice
+before killing.  Has she been here while I slept?"
+
+"No one has visited us excepting the old chief who led the assault; he
+did nothing but strike the Puritan, who sought speech with him."
+
+She paused a moment, her head bent low; then she lifted her face to
+mine again, and I read within it the quick determination of her soul.
+
+"Geoffrey Benteen, listen.  What would you do to save her who was
+Eloise Lafreniere from such a fate of horror as now overhangs her?"
+
+"Anything within the power of a man," I answered instantly, a painful
+throbbing at the heart.  "I would even drive the saving steel into your
+heart to keep you unsoiled from the clutch of such foul hands.  Ay!
+hard as the task must prove, yet I could do it, believing I performed
+the will of God as I struck the blow.  But even for that I am helpless,
+as I possess no weapon."
+
+I felt her hands touch mine, something cold being pressed against my
+flesh.
+
+"I thank thee, Father, there is one whom I may trust even unto death,"
+she sobbed prayerfully.  "Take this knife, Geoffrey Benteen.  The
+Indians did not think to search a woman for such weapons of war.  If
+the moment comes when all hope is gone, when naught else is left, I
+pray you, as a helpless woman utterly dependent upon your aid, let that
+sharp point save me endless shame and agony.  Have I your promise?"
+
+"But--but why not ask this of your husband?" I questioned, shrinking,
+in spite of my belief in its righteousness, from the committal of so
+dreadful a deed.
+
+"Surely he would better make answer for the necessity of so desperate a
+sacrifice."
+
+Her dark eyes never wavered from my face, nor did her hands relax their
+confident grasp of mine.
+
+"Not because I believe he would refuse, but he is of a temper
+changeable as the winds of Spring.  I must rest in peace, not in
+perpetual doubting.  You I trust implicitly; your word, once gravely
+given, will be kept to the death; nay, surely this is no time in which
+to practise deceit with each other, or act parts like mummers upon the
+stage.  I know you love me even as of old.  I know this, Geoffrey
+Benteen, and will abide in my extremity with no other promise than your
+own."
+
+"Eloise," I answered, strangely calmed and strengthened by her faith,
+"it shall be as you wish.  I thank you for the words, and am better for
+them.  When the last faint hope flees, and dishonor or death alone is
+left, I will strike that blow which sets free your soul."
+
+I felt her kisses and tears commingled on my roughened hands, but
+before further words might be uttered, the heavy mat concealing the
+western entrance was suddenly lifted, and in from the dark night there
+stalked in solemn silence and dignity a long line of stalwart savages.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE VOTE OF DEATH
+
+I have already written that I was never easily affected by supernatural
+fears, yet something about that grim entrance chilled the very blood.
+There was no cessation of the monotonous, dismal chanting of the
+priests, as these newcomers,--whose sinister purpose no one could
+doubt,--moving with the silence of spectres, their bodies draped in
+shapeless robes of skin, appearing ghostlike beneath the uncertain
+flickering of flame, moved forward like a great writhing snake, passed
+along the southern wall beneath the face of the flying dragon overhead,
+until they found seats on the hard floor between altar and platform;
+two or three, evidently superior chiefs, by their richer trappings,
+ascended the raised logs and solemnly squatted thereon, so as to face
+us.  How many composed this uncanny company I cannot say, having failed
+to count as they filed past, yet they completely filled the great room
+with scowling, upturned faces, and were probably all the available
+warriors of the tribe.
+
+This was accomplished in stealthy silence, as wild animals creep upon
+their prey, nor did any among them take seats until the old
+war-chief--he who had led the assault in the gulch--made signal to that
+end.  Responding to a second gesture, we were driven roughly forward by
+our guard, until permitted to sink down once more, directly in their
+front, within full focus of their cruel eyes.
+
+It was a fearful spot to be in.  That dark interior, dimly lighted by
+fitful bursts of flame, seemed more the abode of the damned than a
+place of human habitation, nor was there anything to remind us of mercy
+in that savage company gloating over our desperate plight.  No one of
+us doubted what fate dwelt in the decision of that grewsome gathering,
+and in those faces we saw nothing except eagerness for revenge.  It was
+their speechless silence, their stolid imperturbability, which rested
+heaviest upon me.  It told plainly that we were helpless victims of
+their cruel pleasure.  Deliberately, as if desirous of prolonging the
+agony of our uncertainty, for more than an hour--to us it seemed an
+age--they sat thus, unmoved as so many statues, except for their
+restless eyes, while the four ministering priests, robed in black from
+throat to sandals, slaughtered animals beneath the frowning shadow of
+the huge winged dragon, pouring warm blood over the stones of the
+altar, or smearing it upon their faces.  Then, appearing fiendishly
+hideous, ghastlier than words can fitly picture, these revolting
+figures began with wild chanting to make offerings to their gods,
+dancing and capering before the flame to an accompaniment of dismal
+music, burning some incense which polluted the air.
+
+It was a hellish scene, arousing every sleeping devil within those
+savage hearts; it preyed upon our strained nerves, and the Puritan lost
+all control, roaring out objurgations on the foul, idolatrous crowd
+until he was silenced by the sharp tap of a guard's club on his bushy
+pate.  Nor was it easy for De Noyan to remain quiet, while Madame hid
+her shocked white face in her hands, venturing not to glance up while
+the sound of these rites continued.  Whatever this religious
+ceremony--for such I supposed it to be--may have symbolized, it was
+finally concluded by the entire party uniting in a fierce chant.  As
+grim silence settled once more throughout the black interior, the old
+war-chief, appearing taller than ever in the weird light, and rendered
+peculiarly repulsive by the bandages wrapping his wounds, rose to his
+feet, commencing an impassioned address.
+
+No word spoken was intelligible to us, yet I knew so well the nature
+and customs of savages as to experience little difficulty in deciding
+the purpose of this harangue.  Without doubt the fellow demanded an
+immediate sacrifice in payment for the loss inflicted on their tribe.
+With this conception as guide I noted his continually pointing toward
+us, one after another, as if singling us out as special subjects for
+denunciation, perhaps for torture, as with each he seemed to associate
+a peculiar term, repeating it again and again with changing cadence, as
+if thus to force its dread significance more firmly home into the minds
+of his listeners.  The word I distinguished most frequently had the
+sound "_ca-tah_," which became associated in my thought as some special
+form of torture to which he desired us sentenced.  Nor did I fail to
+remark in this connection, my every faculty alert and strained to grasp
+the slightest revealment, that, whenever the orator's baleful glance
+rested upon the shrinking woman, his lips uttered another word, his
+silent audience nodding as though in assent to each demand.
+
+One followed another, no doubt in accordance with rank.  Those chiefs
+upon the platform spoke first, each in turn seeming to pronounce
+against us in favor of that same unknown fate, making use of those two
+words, gesticulating toward us as they gave judgment.  Nowhere amid all
+that vengeful black circle did I discern a single face not set in
+savage hatred, while slowly at first, but gathering force as it
+proceeded, there passed from lip to lip the sullen murmur of that dread
+word "_ca-tah_."  As it was pronounced each voter pointed at us, three
+times making repetition of the word, until the last warrior had spoken,
+and we knew that our doom had been formally pronounced by a tribunal
+knowing no mercy, from whose decision there was no appeal.
+
+No hapless prisoner confined, as I have read they were in olden times,
+within a dungeon whose walls slowly closed to crush him into pulp,
+could have seen the coming of death, resistless and horrible, with
+clearer vision than was ours as that group of savages pronounced our
+doom.  It was by exercising the greatest effort of will that I
+conquered the dread sense of utter hopelessness which seemed to numb my
+every faculty; for, although I was to be tortured to the end, and
+perish at last in utmost physical agony, yet before that moment came
+there still remained a duty to be performed for one I loved.  For that
+I must retain mind and strength to act like a man.
+
+Slowly, cautiously, moving inch by inch across the small space
+intervening, so as not to attract the attention of our guard, I crept
+forward, pausing at last close beside Madame.  Even as I reached her
+the final warrior cast his useless vote with the others, the excited
+concourse voicing appreciation in noisy acclaim.  I bent low, trembling
+from weakness, until my lips were close to her ear.
+
+"Eloise," I whispered softly, forgetting at the awful moment that she
+possessed another name, "it has been voted that three of us perish by
+torture, but you are not in the list; you are named for a different
+fate.  Is it still your wish that I fulfil the pledge?"
+
+As she glanced up, the old war-chief pointed directly toward her.  I
+could perceive the baleful gleam of his eyes, and noted with what quick
+aversion she shrank back until her shoulder pressed my own.
+
+"Yes, Geoffrey Benteen," she made immediate, resolute answer.  "It will
+be mercy.  I beg you strike."
+
+"You forgive the blow?"
+
+"Forgive!"  An instant her clear eyes, unfrightened, looked directly
+into mine, a message in their depths I had never seen there before.
+"More, I love the heart and hand which speed it."
+
+My hands were bound tightly together, but my arms remained free, the
+hilt of the knife resting firmly between the palms.  Although I drew my
+body somewhat back in readiness for the stroke, I delayed the terrible
+deed until the last possible moment, the perspiration standing in great
+beads upon my face.  Oh, how I loved her then! how my half-blinded eyes
+feasted upon her sweet, sad face, the flames casting a ruddy glow upon
+it, and playing fitfully amid the masses of her dark, tangled hair!
+There swept across my mind every memory of our past, and she was again
+with me in her girlhood, before sorrow had stamped her with its seal,
+and she had turned me away tenderly as ever a woman could.  And now she
+was doomed to death by my hand; with one blow I was to blot out the
+life I loved a thousand times better than my own.  Merciful God! what a
+trick had fate played me!  Nor durst I speak to her again, for her
+fingers toyed with the rosary at her throat, the beads glowing dully in
+the flame, and I knew she was in prayer, expecting with each instant
+the coming of that stroke which should send her trusting soul to God.
+I, who have seen much of conflict and peril, much of suffering and
+atrocity, look back on no moment in all my life so fraught with agony
+as this, when, grasping that deadly knife in both hands, I watched
+every threatening movement of the savage arbiters of her fate, praying
+unto God for strength with which to perform my duty.
+
+At last the chiefs stood erect.  In response to their gestures of
+command, the massed warriors below sprang to their feet, flocking
+eagerly toward us, giving utterance to one deep vengeful cry.  Already
+their clutches were upon the struggling Puritan, when I swung high the
+gleaming knife in both my hands.  For one terrible second I met her
+unflinching gaze, a glance which will abide with me until my dying
+day--then the keen steel fell, barely deflected from the heart,
+slashing open the bosom of her dress, yet--thanks be to a kind
+God!--finding harmless sheath, not within her quivering flesh but in
+the hard-packed earth.  It was scarcely less than a miracle that I was
+thus able to turn the blow, but, even as I aimed it, putting to the
+hilt my full strength that I might send it surely home, there came into
+my vision a sudden flash of bright color against the dark, skin-draped
+wall, and I knew the Queen had come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN
+
+At first my dimmed eyes beheld her through a mist, my hands shaking as
+if stricken by palsy, nor did I retain sufficient strength of body to
+uplift myself from the spot where I had fallen with the force of my
+blow.  Nevertheless I shall forever retain the vivid picture imprinted
+on memory.  Before us stood a tall, fair-skinned woman, having dignity
+of command in every movement, her face thin, strong, dominant, with
+large, dark, passionate eyes, flashing in scornful beauty over the
+excited warriors at her feet.  Pride, power, imperious will, a scarcely
+hidden tigerish cruelty, were in every line of her features; yet she
+remained strikingly handsome, with that rare beauty which drives men
+mad and laughs mockingly at its victims.  She was robed completely in
+red, the brilliant color harmonizing strangely with her countenance,
+the single outer garment extending, devoid of ornament, from throat to
+heel, loosely gathered at the waist, and resembling in form and drapery
+those pictures I have seen of Roman togas, while her magnificent wealth
+of hair, of richest reddish gold, appeared to shimmer and glow in the
+sparkle of leaping flames as if she wore a tiara of rubies.
+
+With quick, passionate speech she poured forth her purpose, and I saw
+the savage throng shrink before her, as if they knew and dreaded the
+outburst of her anger.  Yet, as she paused breathless, the old
+war-chief ventured to face her, returning a stern reply.  This
+disregard of her temper so imparted courage to the others that they
+rallied about their leader as one man, numerous hoarse voices
+supplementing his protest, until it was plain to be seen that the woman
+remained alone and unsupported against the savage crew.  Yet the lines
+of determination but deepened in her face, her lips curled in scorn,
+and she turned from them to look down where we were huddled in despair.
+A moment her flashing eyes swept across our upturned faces, the howls
+of her opponents growing fiercer on every side.  With one imperious
+gesture she commanded silence, and, as the gruff voices died away in
+muttered discontent, the woman addressed us, speaking a clear, pure
+Spanish, making use now and then of words unknown to me.
+
+"Prisoners, can any among you interpret my speech?"
+
+I caught my breath in glad surprise, struggling to my feet, and making
+haste to answer.
+
+"If you speak slowly," I said, "I shall be able to understand."
+
+"'Tis well, as it is a tongue unknown to these Indians," her eyes
+lighting up with cunning.  "Then, Senor, mark with care what I say,
+and, if the meaning of any escape your ears, bid me speak again, so no
+mistake be made."
+
+"It will give me great pleasure, O Queen."
+
+"I am the Daughter of the Sun," she interposed proudly, as if
+correcting my mode of address.  "These are my children, given unto me
+by the great Sun-god.  For what purpose have you of white skin dared
+invade the land of the Sun?"
+
+"We knew nothing of your presence here, merely seeking a passage
+through these mountains northward."
+
+"But you killed the warriors of our nation; you have stricken the
+people of the Sun."
+
+"True, Daughter of the Sun; yet it was done only in self-defence.  When
+attacked we struck hard blows."
+
+Her eyes glowed angrily, her face becoming cruelly hard.
+
+"None of white blood may set foot in this valley and live.  It is the
+land of the Sun," she said haughtily.  "None have ever before ventured
+to do so, and found safe way back to their own.  Are you French?"
+
+[Illustration: "I am the Daughter of the Sun.  These are my children,
+given unto me by the great Sun-god. . . .  None of white blood may set
+foot in this valley and live."]
+
+"Not all,--the lady and yonder cavalier are of French blood, I am a
+hunter of the Ohio country, while he who crouches beyond also calls
+himself American."
+
+"I know nothing of your Ohio, nor what may be an American," she replied
+with an impatient stamp of the foot, "but it is bad any among you
+should prove French.  What does the woman do here?"
+
+In a few brief sentences I told our story, marking as I spoke that she
+followed my words with care.  As I concluded she merely gazed more
+closely into Madame's upturned face, speaking as though communing with
+herself.
+
+"She has the appearance of a fair woman; we need no such here."  She
+raised her voice slightly, addressing me in cold reserve.
+
+"Your story sounds well.  True or false, it makes small odds.  We
+attacked your party, believing you French, whom the children of the Sun
+have good reason to hate.  You have cost us the lives of many warriors,
+and the Sun calls for vengeance.  Already has the tribe solemnly voted
+your death by fire.  Now mark me closely.  'Tis not often I interfere
+in such affairs as this, nor do I now for any higher object than my own
+gratification.  The Daughter of the Sun is no angel, nor ambitious to
+become one.  I have looked on unmoved at the torture of the stake more
+than once, so 'tis no weak sentimentality that leads me to try to avert
+your fate.  Nor am I sure I can, whatever my motive be.  I possess no
+power to overturn the united vote of these warriors--they are all
+children of the Sun.  I can think of but one method by which I can even
+hope to encompass your escape from immediate torture.  If by some
+subterfuge I can delay action until day-dawn, I may be able to control
+these savages.  The children of the Sun do not light their fires in the
+presence of their Father.  There is but one possible way to that
+end,--does yonder red-headed man comprehend the Spanish tongue?"
+
+"He does not."
+
+"That is bad," her brows contracting.  "Still he must be used, as no
+other among you will answer my purpose.  Bid him advance to my side on
+the platform; bid him pretend to hold converse with me, and, above all
+else, have him attend my every gesture and obey.  Will he do your
+bidding?"
+
+"I know not," I replied honestly.  "He is of a bull-headed breed, yet I
+may be able to drive into him a moment of sense."
+
+"Do your part thoroughly, nor be too long about it.  The chiefs grow
+restless at our talk, and may yet take affairs into their own hands."
+
+I turned doubtfully toward the Puritan, who was glaring up at the woman
+from beneath his shaggy brows, much as he might have looked upon some
+wild animal seen for the first time.  I presume the fiery red drapery
+caused him to deem her that veritable scarlet woman about whom he
+prated so much.  He appeared far from being a promising subject for my
+overtures, especially as his great head must have ached still from
+contact with the club, which had alone beaten him into sullen silence.
+Yet she commanding the attempt was so desperately in earnest that I
+determined to do my part.
+
+"Watch carefully my words," I said sternly in English, "and bear in
+mind the preservation of all our lives depends on the part you play.
+The woman chief has made choice of you to help in winning mercy from
+these savages.  I know not why you are the one thus chosen, yet I
+suspect that fiery crop of hair may have something to do with the
+honor.  The main point is, are you in a humor to do her bidding?"
+
+"Nay!" he replied, gazing at me stubbornly.
+
+"You refuse to assist in saving your own life, and the lives of your
+comrades?"
+
+"I touch not the accursed abominations of this place," he answered,
+hoarse with anger, "nor will I have aught to do with yonder shameless
+creature."
+
+"Sirrah!" I cried, thoroughly aroused by his mulishness, "do you
+deliberately choose to sacrifice the life of this lady to your
+bull-headed fanaticism?  Do you refuse to unbend your miserable
+Connecticut sectarianism, your Puritan cant, although by so doing you
+might keep your comrades from the horrors of the stake?  If this is
+what you mean, I denounce you as unworthy to be called a man, and I
+name your loud protestations of religion no more than a hissing and a
+byword before the ungodly you profess to despise.  You are no better
+than a Pharisee, full of loud-mouthed prayers and vain conceit of
+righteousness, a false prophet, haggling over formalism when the
+slightest sacrifice of what you hold the letter of the law would result
+in the salvation of human life.  You call yourself a Christian, a
+follower of that Nazarene who died for sinners on the cross, deeming
+yourself better than those who cling to other creed.  You sneer at that
+rosary in Madame's fingers, yet do you suppose it possible she would
+not endeavor to pluck your life from the jaws of death if it lay in her
+power?  Ay! and never waste speech about abominations in the path."
+
+"The spirit is of greater value than the body," he persisted doggedly.
+"Yea, 'tis better the flesh perish miserably in the flame than
+surrender up the soul unto the devil."
+
+"That is no issue here; you seek to deceive yourself by false words.  I
+denounce you openly as a false follower, for if I read rightly the
+language of Holy Writ, it was He whom you so delight to term Master who
+gave his life freely for His friends.  But you--you are all words, a
+charnel-house of dead men's bones."
+
+Had he been free I might have rued my hasty words, for his eyes were
+hot with anger, and he strained fiercely at his bonds in effort to
+break free.  Yet I felt safe enough beyond the sweep of his great arm,
+rejoicing that my tongue was sharp enough to penetrate so thick a hide,
+and make the man squirm beneath his outer vestment of piety.
+
+"You speak falsely," he bellowed, nearly beside himself.  "Satan puts
+those foul words upon your lips tempting me to do evil."
+
+"Nay; the words are true," I went on, determined to drive him by
+taunts.  "They are neither foul nor false, and right glad I am to
+discover your real character even at this eleventh hour.  I make no
+loud boasting of my religion, dinning it into the ears of all I meet as
+if I were the only righteous man on earth, but I do thank God from the
+depths of my heart I have never yet basely deserted a friend in time of
+trouble.  I did consider you a good comrade, but I know now you are
+nothing but a whited sepulchre, a miserable hypocrite, a Judas
+betraying his master with a kiss.  Pah! go your way, you are unclean;
+nor ever hope again for word of fellowship from lips of honest men.  I
+shall die having performed my duty to the extent of my knowledge, but
+you as a dog, a traitor to your comrades, the betrayer of a woman in
+time of peril."
+
+"'Tis false, I say; I would yield life gladly to aid her."
+
+"Zounds! that sounds good from such lips.  Why, you have just refused
+much less."
+
+"Yonder is an emissary of the Evil One."
+
+"Keep your cowardly excuses to yourself.  Whatever the woman may be,
+she offers us a chance for our lives, provided only you will perform
+her will in sundry matters."
+
+He hesitated, his uncertain eyes shifting from her face to mine.
+
+"What does this scarlet priestess of Baal require that I do?" he
+questioned sullenly.
+
+"Good lack, 'tis little enough even to satisfy your conscience.  Merely
+that you stand beside her on the platform, pretending converse, marking
+carefully her every signal, and obeying it."
+
+"I play no idolatrous mummery with her."
+
+"Then may the devil fly away with you," I retorted, so enraged by this
+time I could scarcely refrain from grappling him with my hands.  "I go
+to tell Madame of the fool you are."
+
+He gave vent to a deep groan, rolling his eyes as was his habit in time
+of trial, yet never removing his gaze from that red figure, standing
+motionless as a statue, impatiently awaiting his decision.
+
+"In the name of the holy prophets of Israel!" he snorted desperately at
+last.  "'T is, indeed, a grievous trial like unto that which befell
+Daniel in the den of the lions.  If I go upon yonder sinful platform
+before these hosts of Satan, it will be only as led by the Almighty,
+and that I may wrestle mightily in prayer for the redemption of the
+heathen."
+
+"I care not, man, so you go.  Pray loud as you please, yet give heed to
+the signals of the woman if you value your own life or ours."
+
+Odds! it was a picture to see the fellow start on his unwelcome
+mission, slouching through the ranks of the surprised savages with as
+hangdog a look on his mournful countenance as though he mounted the
+gallows.  It was with faint hope as to the result that I watched him
+lumber onto the platform, doubting not he would perform some crazy
+trick to offset any good he might endeavor.  I could scarce restrain a
+smile as the two actors faced each other, marking the look of
+undisguised horror on his leathern face, and how he shrank back as her
+hand extended to touch him.  The wild, discordant cries of the grouped
+savages ceased in wonderment at this unanticipated scene; even the
+perpetual incantations of the priests died away, every eye gazing
+curiously on the strange spectacle.  The Puritan had appropriated one
+of De Noyan's hats, broad of brim, and so ample of crown the high
+peaked head of the worthy sectary was almost lost within its capacious
+interior.  No sooner, however, did he attain her side than the woman
+grasped it in her white fingers, flinging it disdainfully upon the
+floor, and, like a flash of unexpected color in the dancing light of
+the fire, there blazed forth before us his flaming covering with a
+brilliancy which startled even me.  Saint Andrew! it was a glow to make
+the eyes blink.
+
+The sudden effect of this disclosure upon the thronging warriors was
+beyond words of mine.  There followed a hush so painful in intensity I
+could distinguish the quick throbbing of my own heart.  I saw the woman
+point at the fellow, giving eager utterance to a single word, her eyes
+sweeping the faces below.  Then came an irregular rush forward,
+inarticulate cries pierced the air, war weapons were dashed clanging
+upon the earthen floor, while numerous torches, grasped from off the
+sacred altar, were waved aloft by excited hands, all serving to form as
+demoniacal a scene as was ever witnessed this side of hell.
+
+The full truth flashed across my mind--our comrade had in that moment
+been changed from a helpless, beaten prisoner into an object of
+superstitious worship.  By the magic of a word, the alchemy of a
+thought, he had become to these superstitious savages a mysterious
+visitant from the Sun, and for once, at least, he might fervently bless
+Nature, who had bestowed upon him so rich a coloring of hair.  Whether
+or not the fellow comprehended the meaning of that uproar, of those
+wildly dancing figures in his front, I could never determine; but,
+before the woman could in any way interfere, the sectary plumped down
+upon his knees, and, with head bent so low that every separate hair
+caught the reflection of the ruddy flames, began pouring forth a
+petition in sturdy English, and with a volume of voice that shook the
+whole interior.  It was not such a bad play, I take it, although he was
+desperately in earnest.  Very plainly he compared his worshipping
+auditory to certain scriptural characters, in a way that would not have
+proven flattering to them could they have interpreted his language.
+
+"Oh, Lord God!" he roared, rolling his eyes upward and interjecting
+many a deep groan after each sentence.  "Infinite Jehovah, for some
+just reason of Thy own, Thou hast seen fit to lead Thy most humble
+servant into this den of iniquity.  Thou hast placed me in the fiery
+furnace of tribulation, it may be in the test of that faith which was
+delivered unto the saints, yet will I not bow down in the tents of the
+idolaters, nor profane Thy Holy Name by the worship of their false
+gods.  Here in the midst of the ravening lions I uplift my eyes unto
+Jerusalem, and my lips unto the throne of grace, beseeching Thee to
+give unto me the salvation of these heathen, even as brands plucked
+from the burning.  Quench the fire on this altar of Baal, O Lord, by
+the outpouring of Thy Spirit, and give unto this people a manifestation
+of Thy mighty power, redeeming them from their manifold sins.  Yea,
+Lord, give ear unto the words of my petition, and as of old times thou
+didst send a message of fire unto Thy prophet Elijah, so come down even
+now to visit these unbelieving and mocking hearts with the terror of
+Thy just wrath.  Make bare Thy arm of infinite power that this
+abomination of heathendom may be purged of its vain idolatry, and that
+Thy Israel may triumph over the hosts of the sinful.  Even as Thou
+didst scatter the forces of the Egyptians in the waters of the Red Sea,
+even so, O Lord, visit now Thy wrath upon those who mock Thee and
+degrade Thy image.  Save us from the snare of this scarlet woman, this
+proud harlot of Babylon, and forgive Thy servant for thus seeming to
+obey her will.  Thou knowest, O Lord, that it is only that I may the
+better serve Thee, and thus overcome the wiles of the Wicked One.  Give
+unto me in this hour the strength of Samson that I may overturn the
+pillars of this temple of abominations, even though we all perish in
+its destruction.  Yea, visit us with power and righteousness, and
+scatter Thy enemies over the face of the earth.  O Lord!  I am as
+nothing, a mere worm of the dust: smite me if Thou wilt, yet I but
+wrestle with Thee in prayer that through me the heathen may be brought
+low, and led to see the error of their way."
+
+There was no halting him, yet even as he continued to pour forth
+fervent supplication, the warriors drew back from the dense circle
+pressing against the platform, taking solemn counsel together.  Then
+the old war-chief advanced to the centre, pointing maliciously toward
+De Noyan and myself.  I observed the Queen wave her hand in a gesture
+of apparent carelessness, and before I could clearly conjecture the
+full meaning of it, strong hands clutched us, and, in spite of
+struggles, we were dragged roughly back toward the shrouded entrance of
+the lodge.  There was no shouting, no din of any kind to disturb the
+devotions of the Puritan, who prayed on with closed eyes and a vigor of
+utterance making mock of all other sound.  Silently as they moved, it
+was nevertheless plain to be read in the grim, savage faces closing
+about us, that we were being driven forth to no scene of pleasure.
+Harshly did their gripping hands hustle us forward.  The heavy mat
+shading the entrance was flung aside, and like the unexpected flight of
+an arrow, into the black gloom of the lodge, weirdly lighting up the
+wild faces, streamed the clear, white light of the dawn.  Far off upon
+the highest summit of the yellow cliff there already rested the first
+rosy reflection of the rising sun.  One shout rang discordant from the
+surprised throats of our captors; the brutal hands released their
+grasp, and De Noyan and myself sank back helpless upon the ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A VISITANT FROM THE SUN
+
+As by magic the uproar of the infuriated savages died away.  Gazing up
+from where I lay, my eyes beheld every face turned outward, every eye
+fastened upon that distant wall of rock.  Suddenly a strange cry arose,
+each throat giving utterance to the same sound as if in trained
+obedience to some recognized signal, and immediately every Indian lay
+prostrate, his face in the dust.  Gazing toward the spot they had
+watched so intently, I could perceive how the rose tints of the early
+sun flecked the upper extremity of the precipitous rock with spots of
+color, checkers of red and gold, while just below its lofty crest,
+seemingly touching the deep blue of the morning sky, hardly more than
+dim specks against the dull background of gray rock, appeared several
+moving black figures, and I could distinguish a series of flashes as if
+they waved blazing torches in welcome to the King of Day.
+
+"_Sacre_! 'tis an uncanny sight," muttered my companion uneasily.
+"Have yonder foul priests been given wings whereby they mount the very
+rock in their devil worship?"
+
+"Hardly that," I returned tersely.  "There will be a footpath leading
+to the spot either from above or below."
+
+"True, perchance; yet 'tis not from above.  Of that I am certain, as
+the crest of the rock overhangs; you may perceive the deep shadow of it
+even from here."
+
+Before I could distinguish clearly the peculiarity pointed out, the
+woman chief came forth through the open entrance, appearing more fair
+and white of skin than ever in the clear light of the dawn.  Scarcely
+glancing toward either the prostrate tribesmen or those distant
+signalling priests, she advanced directly toward where we lay helpless
+in our bonds.  There was a flush upon her cheeks, a light of animation
+in her eyes, yet she stood looking down upon me much as she might have
+viewed an insensate stone.
+
+"Senor," she said coldly, still speaking the Spanish tongue, "it did
+please my humor but now to play a small trick upon these innocent
+children of nature, knowing their faith and tribal customs.  For the
+time being I won, and it is you who benefit.  You, and these others,
+are for the present delivered from that torture to which you were
+condemned: the rising of yonder Sun has saved you; 'tis the law of the
+Natchez.  Nay, thank me not," as I sought to express my words of
+gratitude.  "I told you before it was not from any desire to show
+mercy, but for a purpose of my own.  Yet if you would continue to
+profit through my strange whim--and surely I have seldom been thus
+swayed to action--then it will be well to give heed unto my words.  I
+bid you proceed at once to that second hut yonder, nor dare venture
+forth again until I send.  The children of the Sun bow now to the
+commands of their ancient faith, yet are of temper hard to control."
+
+"You fear they may yet demand us in sacrifice?"
+
+"Not to-day, unless you do that which shall arouse their passions
+beyond my power of restraint.  While the sun dominates the sky your
+lives are preserved from violence, but if you would live longer it must
+be through careful guarding of speech and action.  I promise nothing
+beyond the present day.  But now," she bent over, severing my bonds
+with a flint blade, "go; do exactly as I bade you, and no longer bandy
+words with me."
+
+"But the lady within the lodge?" I ventured anxiously, as I struggled
+to my feet, standing erect before her.
+
+"She bides elsewhere."
+
+"It will be hard for her alone--"
+
+"What is all that to you, sirrah?" she interrupted haughtily.
+"According to the tale told, you are not her husband.  He who might
+have right to question separation has made no complaint."
+
+"He does not comprehend your speech.  For that reason he remains dumb."
+
+"Mean you it is he who inspires your objection?" she asked scornfully.
+
+"No; yet I doubt not 'tis in his heart even as upon my lips."
+
+She turned aside, an incredulous smile curling her lips, looking
+curiously down upon him, and their eyes met.  She stooped swiftly,
+severing the thongs of grass binding his arms, and with her own hands
+assisted him to rise.
+
+"A fair and noble gallant," she said softly, reluctantly turning back
+from him to me.  "Not of hard, stern visage like yours, but with the
+bearing of a gentleman, the smile of a courtier.  Pish! he will not
+miss her over-much, or else I read not rightly the challenge of his
+eyes.  But come, hunter, I bade you go in haste, nor is it well for any
+one to wait my bidding twice."
+
+"'T is no more than just we should be told the destiny of our
+companions," I persisted, determined not to desert them thus.  "May not
+both the Puritan and the woman abide with us?"
+
+Her eyes flashed in uncontrolled anger, her lips giving vent to a low,
+cruel laugh.
+
+"I tell you no, and understand once for all my word is law.  You are
+not standing before a French court to haggle over trifles, and dispute
+about your rights.  Bah! you have no rights; you live from day to day
+merely by my whim.  The red-headed man tarries where he is as long as
+it remains my pleasure; while as to yon dainty creature, she shall meet
+no harm.  Forsooth, it will not greatly hurt her to be beyond your
+sight for a space."
+
+"Does she bide with you?"
+
+"If I so will it, yes; if not, no.  Who are you, hunter, to dare
+question Naladi after she bids you cease?" she exclaimed, her cheeks
+crimsoning.  "Now go; go ere I am tempted to show you I possess power
+to enforce my will.  Another word, and you will long regret it."
+
+She was a tigress now, her eyes burning into mine with the fierceness
+of a wild animal scenting blood.  It would have been sheer madness to
+attempt more, with those scowling, savage faces lowering at us from
+every side, their possessors only too eager to spring forward in cruel
+obedience to a gesture of their Queen.  A single word from her red lips
+would, in spite of all superstition, cause them to rend us limb from
+limb, so I bade De Noyan follow me, feeling relief when once beyond her
+sight in the cool depths of the sheltering hut.
+
+"Well, Master Benteen," remarked my comrade easily, finding a soft
+bearskin upon which to rest his aching limbs, "this is an odd company
+among whom you have piloted us; one not altogether appealing to my
+taste in its masculine elements.  Yet, damme, but you possess rare
+advantage over the rest of us in holding converse with these people,
+while I must remain dumb as an oyster, save for a glance of the eye.
+Perhaps, now that we have time for it, you will kindly explain the
+meaning of all this mummery with which we passed the night, for, by all
+the gods of Rome, it was weird enough to turn my hair gray, yet I
+understood neither word nor deed.  How came that grim preacher to
+attain such honor, taking position beside their peerless Queen?"
+
+His idiotic lightness of speech and manner jarred unpleasantly upon my
+humor.  I was heavy-hearted from what had passed, retaining little
+confidence in the future, yet I told him the story as best I could,
+trusting the recital might serve to sober him, so we could counsel
+together regarding our plans.
+
+"_Pardieu_! 'twas rather a pretty trick of the lady," he exclaimed
+laughingly, as I ended the tale.  "She would do honor to a more
+pretentious court with her wit as well as beauty.  What did you call
+the title she bore?"
+
+"'Daughter of the Sun' was the name given in the altar-house yonder;
+later she made use of the word Naladi."
+
+"Ay! that was it.  'T is a name fitting her well to my taste, and I
+boast of some experience with the sex.  _Sacre_!  I trust not to have
+seen the last of so fair a vision as this Queen Naladi."
+
+He was twirling his moustache, such a look of complacency upon his
+features I could only stare at him in bewildered surprise.
+
+"You appear reconciled to our situation with marvellous good grace," I
+managed to say at last, in a tone which made no attempt to conceal my
+disgust at his coxcombry.  "For myself I can see very little to hope
+for."
+
+"Tut, tut, man," stretching himself negligently into a posture of
+greater ease, "an old soldier learns to take things as they come,
+without complaint; to extract sweets from every flower.  Surely here is
+a rare rose we have uncovered blooming in the wilderness; nor am I
+blind to its beauty, or unmindful of my privileges.  Besides, lad, what
+is there greatly to worry about?  We are preserved, you tell me, from
+torture; food will undoubtedly be supplied in plenty, while the lady is
+surely fair enough to promise pleasant companionship in exile--provided
+I ever learn to have private speech with her.  What was the tongue?"
+
+"We conversed in Spanish."
+
+"I thought as much; there were certain familiar words.  But, as I said,
+why complain of fate, with all these blessings showered upon us.
+_Pardieu_! it would prove us ungrateful wretches.  Surely 'tis better
+than the tender mercy of O'Reilly, ay, or the hardship and starvation
+of the trail."
+
+"You have forgotten your wife."
+
+"Forgotten?  _Sacre_!  I should say not, Master Benteen; nor is that
+likely to occur.  Yet what cause have I to worry regarding her present
+comfort.  Did you not say that the Queen pledged her safety and good
+care?  What more could I accomplish for her than that, even were we
+back in New Orleans, beneath French protection?  Saint Denis! you are
+of a complaining breed, inclined to act as conscience for your betters.
+True, there are some few things I greatly miss, that would minister to
+comfort.  I was ever careful in my toilet, and choice as to my wines in
+town; still, if these savages have not lost my soaps and brushes, I
+will strive to exist even here, and be content until a way opens toward
+that which is better."
+
+"I greatly admire your patience."
+
+"Pah! 'tis but the long practice of a soldier.  Yet I am somewhat weary
+from the night, and, if you have talked enough, will seek rest to dream
+of Naladi, trusting she may send for me ere long.  Did you note the
+beauty of her eyes?"
+
+"I marked their cruelty."
+
+"_Le Diable_!  I ever admired spirit in a woman; 'tis the greater
+pleasure to watch them take on softer light.  In such orbs love shines
+the clearer, once awakened."
+
+I sat there some time in silence until he fell asleep.  Then, realizing
+how useless it was for me, wearily as my eyelids drooped, to strive
+longer in thought, I sought another robe to rest upon, and was soon
+happily unconscious also.
+
+I presume some unusual noise aroused me, for as I awoke and stared
+about, unable at the moment to comprehend my situation, I noticed, by
+evidence of the sun shining through the entrance of the hut, it was
+already past the noon hour.  Consciousness becoming more acute, I
+perceived, standing barely within the shadows of the interior, the
+dusky figure of a warrior, unarmed, and motionless except for a gesture
+of the hand which seemed to command my following him.  Retaining
+concealed within my doublet the sharp knife intrusted to me by Madame,
+I felt little trepidation at the fellow's presence, nor was there
+anything about his countenance to foster alarm, he appearing the least
+ferocious of aspect of all I had observed among the tribe.  A moment I
+hesitated, then believing him a messenger from the Queen, I followed
+his retreating figure out into the sunlight.
+
+The village reposed in loneliness and silence, nor did I see even child
+or dog playing before the square huts as we passed them.  As we mounted
+higher along the slope and began climbing the strangely rounded hill on
+the summit of which perched the altar-house, I glanced back curiously
+over the plain outspread below.  Little clusters of dark figures were
+scattered here and there throughout the pleasant valley, many of them
+congregated along the greener banks of the circling water-course,
+others scattered more widely afield, yet all earnestly engaged in
+cultivation of the ground.  This quiet, pastoral scene was so foreign
+to all my previous conception of Indian nature that for the moment I
+paused amazed, gazing upon this picture of peaceful agriculture in the
+heart of the wilderness.  Surely, cruel, revengeful savages though they
+were, yet here was a people retaining traditions of a higher life than
+that of the wild chase and desert war.  I could perceive no guards
+stationed anywhere, yet felt no doubt that every entrance leading into
+this hidden paradise, this rock-barricaded basin amid the hills, would
+be amply protected by armed and vigilant warriors, confining us as
+securely within its narrow limits as if a dozen savages followed our
+every footfall.  My silent guide, after one glance across his naked
+shoulder, to assure himself that I followed, led straight forward up
+the hill on a dog-trot, soon placing him far in advance.  At the
+entrance of the altar-house he paused, showing disinclination to enter.
+In obedience to a gesture I passed within, leaving him standing there,
+as if awaiting my return, a silent statue in light bronze, the glow of
+the sunshine upon him.
+
+Wondering what my mission might be, I remained a moment motionless
+slightly within the entrance, my eyes almost totally blinded by the
+sudden transition from the garish day to that dull interior.  Slowly
+the scene within resolved itself into clearer detail.  I began to
+perceive the crawling red flames licking with hungry tongues along the
+sides of the huge log resting upon the altar block, and later
+distinguished the black figure of a priest moving silently from point
+to point amid the shadows, engaged upon the grewsome functions of his
+office, his presence ever manifested by the dismal crooning with which
+he worked his magic spells.  Beyond these vague suggestions of
+life--for they seemed scarcely more--it was like endeavoring to sound
+the depths of a cavern, so black, still, and void was all within and
+about.  Yet, even as I stood thus, peering uneasily into the gloom, I
+was thoroughly startled at the sudden booming forth of a voice,
+apparently issuing from the darkest corner.
+
+"May the Lord God forgive ye, Master Benteen, and be merciful unto ye,
+for thus placing His minister in such stress.  'T is I, Ezekiel
+Cairnes, who hath become an abomination unto Israel."
+
+There was a tone of such utter depression in the great roaring voice, I
+feared some serious mishap had befallen him, and hastened to cross the
+room, heading toward the corner whence the sound came.  As I attained
+the outer edge of the platform, groping my passage through the dense
+gloom, I was halted in the midst of a dozen or more savages, lying
+prone upon the hard floor, evidently in adoration of that grotesque
+figure perched above, and now clearly revealed by a blazing up of the
+charred log.  Not one among them stirred from his prostrate position at
+my approach.  Forgetting them instantly, my whole attention became
+riveted upon the marvellous transformation presented by my old Puritan
+comrade.  Odds! what a sight!  He sat bolt upright, as though bound in
+that stiff posture, occupying a low dais, almost at the edge of the
+platform.  This latter had been covered with a glaring crimson cloth,
+roughly woven, presumably of native manufacture, peculiarly brilliant
+in its coloring, and hence of rare beauty to Indian eyes.  At my
+approach he began straining at the cords which held him helpless, and I
+soon saw that his entire body was wrapped about with ropes of grass in
+such a manner as to render vain any hope of escape.  His oddly shapen
+figure, with the wide, square shoulders and short legs, was
+likewise-draped in red, above which flared his fiery shock of
+dishevelled hair, while a face fairly distorted with rage, gray from
+loss of sleep, and rendered ludicrous by its little snapping eyes,
+glared down upon me.
+
+"Memory of Beelzebub!  It would be no matter of laughter for ye, Master
+Benteen," he snorted savagely, straining at his cords, "could I burst
+these accursed strings, and lay my hands to your throat.  Ay! nor would
+yonder idolatrous swine lie there long if I once got free among them.
+Imagine not, vain and presumptuous unbeliever that the Lord God
+Almighty--He who rideth in the chariot of the whirlwind--will long
+permit the heathen to profane His holy places, or triumph in the misery
+of one of the elect.  There cometh the Day of Judgment, when the wicked
+shall be scattered as chaff."
+
+"You are in a most unpleasant condition, friend," I replied,
+endeavoring to speak so as to calm his temper.  "It is in sorrow, not
+pleasure, I behold you thus."
+
+"I am entangled in the snare of the Evil One, Master Benteen.  But I
+continue manfully to war against the adversary even as becomes my high
+station."
+
+"Have you been long in so pitiful a state?  I dreamed not it would ever
+come to this."
+
+"It may be true you were ignorant of the wiles of that emissary of
+Satan who doth encompass us," he acknowledged, a trifle mollified by my
+sympathy.  "I would not be guilty of evil thought even toward an
+unregenerated heretic.  Yet I have sat thus, wrapped like a mummy of
+the Egyptians, since early dawn.  Ay, verily have I been sore oppressed
+both of body and spirit.  Nor has there been any surcease, when the
+heathen have not lain thus at my feet.  What means such action?"
+
+"They mistake you for a god, and prostrate themselves in worship.  You
+are unto them a mysterious visitant from the Sun--so the Queen named
+you, inspired by the color of your hair."
+
+He groaned aloud, his chin dropping dejectedly upon his breast.
+
+"I feared as much, and the thought greatly oppressed me.  'T is as if I
+were a golden calf set aloft in the wilderness to mock the true God.
+It resteth heavy on my spirit to abide as a vain idol in the tents of
+these idolaters.  When first they draped me with this foul livery of
+Satan," he touched the scarlet robe gingerly with his chin, "I made so
+vigorous a protest two of the black imps went down before me, but the
+others overpowered my struggles, binding me fast, as you see.  But,
+verily, I have delivered unto them the whole truth as revealed unto the
+saints; have struck and spared not--ay! the very language of the
+scriptures have I poured forth unstinted upon them, and drawn before
+their eyes that fiery hell over which they dangle in their sins.  It
+must be their understandings are darkened, for they hearken not unto my
+exhortations, only lie thus, or dance before me by the hour in unholy
+worship, snapping their fingers and shouting strange words, while twice
+yonder black emissary of false religion held his smoking torch so
+closely to my face the flame scorched the skin.  Nor have my most
+fervent prayers availed to drive them hence, or ease the prickings of
+the spirit.  'T is as if the ear of the Lord had been turned aside from
+the supplications of His servant; yea, verily, as if the vials of His
+wrath were being poured forth upon my head, because, in a moment of
+weakness, I yielded to the machinations of that scarlet woman."
+
+"Have you again seen her?" I questioned anxiously, as he paused for
+breath.
+
+"Seen her!--the accursed of God, the moral leper who rules this foul
+nest?  Ay; I have, and may the Lord forgive my ever casting eyes upon
+such a shameless creature.  'T was she who brought me this disgrace.
+She stood by with mocking smile, bidding her savage minions bind me
+fast.  She is the chief imp of Satan in spite of her fair face, and
+shall yet be stricken low by the avenging arm of the Almighty.  'Tis no
+gleam of mercy cometh to me from her taunts, nor in the harlot blood
+flowing through her veins.  I tell you, Master Benteen, she is the
+worst devil, for all her softness, in all this heathen crew; and if she
+spared our lives from the torture, it was done through some dark
+project born of the demon within her soul.  Nothing good can come forth
+from such as she.  Marked you the eyes she cast on De Noyan?"
+
+"I paid no heed," I answered, wondering he had observed so much.  "Have
+you supposed we may owe our escape unto him?"
+
+"Ay! she has marked him victim to her snare, nor do I doubt the full
+success of her venture.  'T is small stock of virtue which bedecks
+itself in such Punchinello dress as that gay gallant wears.  Amalekite
+is written upon his raiment, and he is ever attired as becomes a
+bridegroom to the shameless harlot ruling this devils' den.  Marry, he
+may be good enough wielding a sword, yet will prove the undoing of all
+who company with him in this adventure."
+
+"You are unjustly angry," I insisted, striving to make light of his
+words.  "I value not the mercy of the woman, yet she used the only
+means she had for restraining her savage followers.  It was stern
+necessity driving her to reliance on the magic of your red hair with
+which to save us all.  No doubt she intends giving you early release
+from so painful a situation."
+
+"You also are bewitched by her vain fleshly beauty," he bellowed
+stoutly.  "'Tis a carnal generation.  I tell you, Master Benteen, I am
+an old man, uplifted by communion of the Spirit above all fleshly
+lusts.  I have faithfully preached the word of salvation to civilized
+and savage more than forty years, and am not likely to be led astray by
+a glimpse of a fair face tempting me hellward.  I speak you truth, as
+delivered of God, so surely as were the tablets of the law delivered
+unto Moses, when I say that she who, by some wile of the Devil, rules
+this tribe and holds our lives in her hands, is an incarnate fiend, who
+will yet mock our agony whenever her own accursed lust shall be
+satisfied.  'T is not only that she jeered at me with cruel smiles, and
+affronted a preacher of the Word by so ribald a covering; she did as
+clearly reveal the hideous sin of her heart unto that sweet lady we
+have in our keeping."
+
+"Madame de Noyan?" I cried in awakened interest.  "Mean you this woman
+dared do wrong by her?"
+
+"I report only what my eyes beheld, for I can make nothing out of their
+heathen gibberish.  Yet she who journeyed with us, ever proving herself
+a modest, high-bred lady in times of sore trial, begged upon her knees,
+with tears hot upon her cheeks, to be permitted to accompany you and
+her husband.  What result?  Why, this good Queen; this charming
+creature, stood there, like an insensate stone, gazing down upon her;
+and later, when the poor lady would not walk voluntarily, that painted
+harlot ordered two lecherous warriors to drag her forth, and laughed
+like a fiend at the scene."
+
+"Where did they take her?"
+
+"I know not; beyond the entrance she made no outcry that reached my
+ears, while that red-draped witch came back smiling to work her will on
+me."
+
+This comprised all he knew, and, no matter what depth of sympathy I may
+have then felt for Master Cairnes in his unfortunate predicament, it
+was equally clear I could do nothing to aid him.  My heart was so
+heavily laden by the plight of Eloise, I retained no other desire than
+a longing to return at once to the hut and hold consultation with De
+Noyan.  That same silent spectre accompanied me along the brief
+journey, leaving me unguarded at the entrance.  I entered hastily only
+to find the room vacant, my comrade gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE CHRONICLES OF THE NATCHEZ
+
+These pages have been poorly written if he who reads has not discovered
+that I am of a nature not easily discouraged by events, or disheartened
+by misfortune.  God had sufficiently armored me with hope; so that in
+the midst of much darkness I sought for whatever light of guidance
+there might be, making the most of it.  Yet the intense, unanticipated
+loneliness of that bare hut chilled my blood, and I scarcely recall a
+more wretched time than while I waited, stung and tortured by fears,
+for the return of De Noyan.
+
+In truth the rough conclusions voiced by the angry sectary merely
+confirmed my own fear.  I had marked within the eyes of Naladi--dreamy
+as they appeared beneath the shading of long lashes--no promise of
+tenderness of heart.  I believed it was seldom she inclined to mercy,
+seldom she would step between her warriors and their revenge.  I
+acknowledge freely I felt to some degree the strange spell of her
+power, the magic influence of her soft, sinuous beauty, which I doubt
+if any man could utterly resist.  Yet I recognized her from the first,
+even as she stood wrapped in the sun's rays on the rock summit, as one
+who, by instinct and nature, was scarce less a savage than her most
+desperate follower, although she possessed the rare gift of masking her
+cruelty beneath the pleasing smile of a woman not entirely unacquainted
+with the courtesies of refinement.
+
+I marvelled greatly who she could be, thus sporting the polite graces
+of a reception-room in the midst of these squalid huts.  What was her
+strange life-story?  How ever came such a woman, with charm of face,
+and grace of manner, to be acknowledged leader over such a people?  It
+was not so odd that a clever, resourceful woman, driven perhaps by
+necessity, should have made unscrupulous use of their dominant
+superstitions, and, by naming herself "Daughter of the Sun," have
+obtained supreme power.  The perfect acting of such an assumed
+character would not prove difficult to her, while their servile worship
+of the protesting Puritan, whose red hair alone had elevated him to
+sainthood, proved how easily these savages might be deceived, and led
+slaves by subtle magic.  Yet who was the woman?  Whence came she?  Why
+should she ever have chosen such a life?
+
+And Eloise!  Through what misfortune had she already attained the
+undisguised dislike of this Amazon?  To what fate would this unmerited
+disfavor condemn her?  It is a terrible thing to remain chained and
+helpless at such a time, to realize that cruel wrong, possibly torture,
+is being visited upon another, upon one you know and love, and yet be
+unable to uplift hand or voice in warning.  I am by nature cool in
+action, yet there are few who fret more grievously when held in leash,
+compelled to await in uncertainty the coming of the unknown.
+
+All I could do that day was to pace the hard earthen floor, vainly
+endeavoring to quiet the wild throbbing of my heart with every hope I
+might conjure up, now and then approaching the unguarded entrance of
+the lodge to search anxiously for some ground of hope.  It was thus the
+long afternoon wore away, until the deepening shadows of sun-setting
+rested heavily along the western cliffs, and the workers in the fields
+began trooping through the village, their shouts of greeting shrill and
+discordant, while the grim priests found place before the draped
+entrance to their dread altar-house, with blazing fagots signalling
+their distant brethren on the dizzy summit.  It was then De Noyan
+finally returned and found me raging from wall to wall like one
+distracted.
+
+It required but a glance to note the subtile change the afternoon had
+wrought in his personal appearance, yet at the time I did not greatly
+marvel at it.  The stains of battle and exposure, that had so decidedly
+disfigured him, had disappeared before the magic of new raiment, which
+had about it the color and cut of French fashion; so it was now a fair
+and prosperous gallant of the court, powdered of hair, waxen of
+moustache, who came jauntily forward with his greetings.
+
+"What said I, Master Benteen?" he questioned cheerily to my stare of
+surprise.  "Did I not boldly contend that this would yet prove a
+pleasant resting-place to relieve the tedium of a journey?  Can you
+gaze upon this gay attire, longer doubting the verity of my dreams?
+But no happiness finds reflection in your face; 'tis gloomy as a day of
+rain.  Prithie, the afternoon must have been passed by you far less
+pleasantly than its hours sped with me."
+
+"I have been conversing with good Master Cairnes," I responded gravely.
+"I found him in no state of mind or body to bring me pleasant thought."
+
+"_Parbleu_!  I warrant not from all I hear of that worthy servant," the
+Chevalier laughed gayly.  "'T is told me the grim-faced old hypocrite
+sits in worshipful state, a veritable god, trussed like a bronze idol
+or some mummy of the Egyptians.  By my faith, I should enjoy gazing on
+his solemn face, and listening to his words withal."
+
+"'T is an unhappy experience for a Christian."
+
+"Ay! a pity; yet it should do the canting preacher good to play heathen
+god a while.  She pictured to me most vividly his struggles to escape a
+fit draping with which to match his hair.  _Sacre_!  I have not laughed
+so heartily since leaving New Orleans."
+
+"She?" I exclaimed in new interest.  "Have you been with your wife?"
+
+He stroked his moustache, gazing at me in apparent surprise.
+
+"Nay, friend Benteen; you must be the very soul of innocence to make
+such hasty guess.  I rested beneath the same roof with her, so I was
+informed, yet she who spake thus regarding the plight of the Puritan
+chanced to be the fair Queen, Naladi."
+
+"Naladi?  But you speak no Spanish,--how could you hold converse with
+her?"
+
+"There are always ways, if the lady be fair.  The hands, eyes, lips can
+all be made into messengers of speech.  But in this case she brought
+forth a black boy--a most mischievous imp--who managed to convey her
+words in my own tongue.  Still it was difficult to do justice in such a
+way to so charming a woman; much came to my lips which I hesitated to
+utter through the medium of that interpreter."
+
+I looked at him in speechless amazement at this revelation of his
+supreme conceit, his reckless vanity.  Anxiety alone prompted me to
+smother my resentment, hoping thus to obtain information.
+
+"But your wife, Madame de Noyan?  You say she was beneath the same
+roof, and yet you saw her not?  Do you mean you made no effort to
+obtain speech with her?"
+
+He leaned back against the wall of the hut, crossing his long limbs
+negligently over the soft fur of the robe beneath, drawing from his
+pocket a small mirror.
+
+"Ay, I mentioned it; but _la reine Naladi_ appeared not overly well
+pleased with the suggestion, so I concluded not to press the matter
+unduly.  One never gains by being ungallant at such a time.  Besides,
+there is no doubt Eloise is well attended; the Queen referred to her
+most kindly."
+
+"The preacher told me," I broke forth indignantly, determined to test
+him to the full, "that this same sweet Naladi compelled her savage
+minions to drag Madame harshly forth from the altar-house, despite her
+pleadings.  Perchance this tender-spoken Queen has little of the angel
+beneath her fairness of skin."
+
+"_Sacre_!  I hope not.  I opine an angel would prove wearisome to
+company with for long.  My own taste inclines toward flesh and blood.
+You say Master Cairnes told you this sad tale?"
+
+"Ay, adding that the pitiful Naladi only laughed at the sobs of Madame."
+
+"Pish! between the two, her word has most weight with me.  No doubt
+'twas a vision born of his own temper.  The Queen assured me most
+graciously of the welfare and contentment of Eloise.  It would have
+been boorish to question her further.  Besides, she took my thought
+from other things, repeating to me the strange tale of these savages,
+although the black made poor enough work with her words."
+
+It was abundantly evident the man was fairly crazed with conceit,
+already well entangled in the web of this designing creature.  For the
+hour, at least, all serious consideration of her who should rightfully
+claim his attention had been completely blotted out.  He had become a
+willing victim to a will infinitely stronger than his own, his
+conscience deadened by the poison of beauty; so, while my blood rioted
+in protest to his simpering French vanity, I could perceive no means by
+which I might arouse him to more manly action.  To cross such a man
+only invites to the surface the worst elements of his nature; besides,
+were I to stir him by strong protest, it might be doubtful if he
+comprehended the nature of my scruples in the matter.  Any such
+misunderstanding would result in the exchange of hard words, and in my
+making an enemy where now I possessed a friend.  Not that the Chevalier
+was a particularly valuable ally, yet he wielded a good sword upon
+occasion, and would prove more useful in friendship than in enmity.  I
+might despise him, yet he remained the husband of Madame, and I durst
+pick no quarrel with him.  To do so would raise a barrier between us,
+rendering our situation among the savages darker than ever.  As to the
+moral side of the affair, it would be sheer waste of words to broach
+it, as De Noyan could form no clearer conception of such an issue than
+a babe unborn.  He swung as the wind blew, and in all his pampered life
+had probably never dreamed of denying himself a liberty.  Saint Andrew!
+it was a knotty problem for such a head as mine to solve.  I believe I
+chose the better course in assuming the role of a neutral, as I sat
+staring at the fellow while he twisted his moustaches into their
+old-time curl, gazing at himself in the pocket mirror, utterly
+oblivious of my presence.
+
+"So this beauty of a Queen told you the tale of her people," I remarked
+at last, determining to humor his mood.  "It would interest me to hear
+the story.  Those I have thus far seen differ widely from any other
+order of savages with whom I have come in contact."
+
+"Your judgment is right.  As she tells the story, they are not of
+Indian blood, but belong to a far older race.  She says they are the
+remnant of a master people--although regarding their exact lineage she
+spoke but little--who once, hundreds of years ago no doubt, held
+undisputed dominion from the banks of a great red river flowing through
+the prairies far to the northward, down to the salted sea bounding the
+land upon the east.  She said their ancestors mined in the rocks, and
+cultivated the rich land of the valleys.  They were ruled over by five
+kings; and when one of these died all their wives were burned above the
+grave, and a hundred slaves sacrificed to the Sun, which they
+worshipped, and called Elagabalus.  These were all buried around the
+body of the king, whose tomb was of rock, and a huge mound of earth
+erected over them by the labor of thousands of slaves taken in battle.
+Yet their chief king, in the day of their great power, she called
+Palenque, placing his capital to north and east of this place, a land
+journey of thirty days.  Here was built a great city of wood and stone,
+surrounded by an immense wall of earth, to which all the smaller kings
+journeyed in state once each year to make account of their kingdoms,
+and offer up slaves on the altar of the great temple in sacrifice to
+the Sun.  They would gather thus from noon to noon, and thousands of
+captives would be slaughtered before the altar by the priests.  She
+told me they once possessed vast store of yellow metal and flashing
+stones, with other treasures.  Cities were set apart under guard to
+have special care over them.  Some of these have descended even unto
+the present, but are kept hidden away by the priests, though she
+promised later to let me view them secretly.  And she related a most
+strange tale of destiny--of a long, barbarous war, filled with the
+names of warriors and towns sounding most uncouth to my ears; a war
+lasting many years, during which the Chichimes--for so she named the
+wild hordes sweeping down upon them from the northward--drove their
+fathers backward from city to city, beginning far away in the kingdom
+named Talapa, and pillaging clear to the banks of the great river where
+Palenque reigned.  Their ancestors erected vast forts of earth, thus
+managing to hold their own against the invaders, so long as their
+slaves remained loyal.  But at last these also rose in revolt, and,
+when all supplies had been cut off, the hopeless remnant of defenders
+fell back down the broad river, bearing with them much of their most
+valued treasure, never permitting the sacred flame, which was the gift
+of the Sun, to die out upon their altars.  Like flies they died in the
+preservation of this symbol of their religion; for 'tis their faith,
+that if it be kept burning undimmed, there will yet come to them a
+great leader from the Sun to restore their lost glories.  She described
+to me the arts of that past, the many beautiful things the race had
+made, those wondrous cities protected by high walls, the vast mounds of
+earth moulded into strange figures of extinct animals, uplifted as
+altars, and sometimes utilized for the burial of their dead and their
+treasure.  _Sacre_!  I can recall a portion of the story, yet it was a
+weird, fascinating tale as she told it slowly, and with all
+seriousness, although the black boy stammered so badly in his words I
+got only dim pictures here and there."
+
+"But how came they here?" I questioned.
+
+"I was coming to that.  It was some trouble with the French in
+Bienville's day.  Only a few escaped, and they were driven into these
+hills; yet 't is said they saved a considerable amount of treasure
+which had come to them from their fathers, together with some of the
+mummified bodies of their kings.  It is forty years since they
+discovered this dell, and only the older men have any memory of the
+discovery."
+
+"What do they call themselves?"
+
+"'Nalmas' was the word the Queen used, but they are that same people
+whom we knew about in New Orleans as 'Natchez'; their old country was
+called Tlapalan."
+
+I sat silent, pondering upon his words, but before I thought out
+further questioning, a warrior, bearing food, entered the hut.  Setting
+this down upon the ground before us, he drew back into the gathering
+night shadows without uttering a word.  That which I had just heard
+caused me to gaze upon the fellow--a tall, stalwart savage--with newly
+awakened interest, and I could not help observing again how widely the
+type differed from those Indian tribes with whom my wandering border
+life had rendered me familiar.  Not only was this man of fairer,
+clearer complexion, but his cheek-bones were not in the least
+prominent, his nose was wide at the base and somewhat flattened, while
+his forehead sloped sharply backward in such peculiar form as to
+warrant the opinion that the deformity arose from a compression of the
+frontal bone in infancy.  The hair, although worn long and flowing down
+the back, was decidedly wavy, and not coarse; the color was a ruddy
+brown.  The eyes of these Indians were bold, cruel, crafty, yet in many
+instances the coloring was so light as to be startling; the average
+stature was greater than that of those other Indians that I knew.  In
+short, they impressed me as being all that was claimed, a distinct
+race, with characteristics more nearly allied to the Ethiopian and the
+Mongolian than to the surrounding red races.  As I figured this out
+somewhat slowly, De Noyan busted himself with the meal, and, thus
+engrossed, apparently forgot the topic of our conversation.
+
+"And did this Queen Naladi claim to belong to this old race?" I
+questioned, thinking thus to test his observation.
+
+"Why not?" he asked in return, suspending operations, and glancing up
+at me in surprise.  "She referred to herself as the 'Daughter of the
+Sun,' once saying that her ancestors ruled over this people for a
+thousand years."
+
+"She told you that?"
+
+"At least so the black interpreted her words.  Why question it?"
+
+"Doubtless to your thought there exists small cause for questioning the
+word of so fair a woman," I acknowledged dryly.  "Yet to my vision, not
+wholly blinded by her charms, she possesses more of the Caucasian in
+face and manner than any other of the race.  If she is not of European
+birth I am a poor judge, Monsieur, and 't is my belief, if she told you
+she was not, the woman lied."
+
+I was scarcely prepared for the result of my words upon him; his face
+flushed, a sudden glow of anger sweeping into his eyes.
+
+"You are, indeed, of bold heart," he exclaimed scornfully, "to malign a
+woman in her absence."
+
+"There are women no words can malign," I retorted sharply, stung by his
+tone, "I opine this Queen of savages belongs to that class.  To my mind
+it would be better were you to wax indignant over the wrongs of your
+wife rather than over a just picturing of this harlot."
+
+Before I could move to draw aside, he was upon his feet, and I felt the
+stinging blow of his hand across my lips.
+
+"_Sacre_!" he cried, transported by sudden rage, "Charles de Noyan
+takes such affront from no man.  I denounce you as a cowardly vilifier
+of an absent woman."
+
+I know not why I failed to strike the fellow down.  My hand was hard on
+the knife hilt within my doublet, yet I drew it not as we stood there
+eye to eye.  There was that between us--the dim, shadowy face of a
+woman--which held me as by a chain.  It seemed to me then as if my
+knife point would have to pass through her before it touched his heart,
+and, feeling thus, God gave me power to choke back the hot resentment,
+and restrain my hand.
+
+"Monsieur," I said sternly, "never has the hand of man touched me
+before in anger without my making full return for the blow.  Yet now I
+strike you not.  The time may come when I shall wipe out this insult,
+but here and now you stand safe from my arm."
+
+"Safe!" he sneered.  "_Parbleu_! you are a cowardly hound to talk thus.
+Safe! think you I have anything to fear at your hands?"
+
+"I bid you restrain your tongue, Chevalier," I said, my voice unsteady.
+"God being my witness, never before did you stand so close to death as
+now.  Look," and I held up the keen blade before his eyes.  "This steel
+thirsts for your blood; only one thought has intervened to save you."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+"The fact that you are the husband of one who was once Eloise
+Lafreniere."
+
+I know not how much of the truth he suspected, but for a moment we
+stood thus, I half imagining he contemplated a leap at my throat.  Then
+his eyes fell, and he drew back with a short laugh.
+
+"_Le Diable_! 'tis easy for some people to discover excuses at such a
+time.  Still, Monsieur, as you refuse to fight I may as well lie down;
+having been early awake I am somewhat weary."
+
+I watched him silently while he arranged his robes for the night.
+
+"Before you sleep," I ventured, "it would please my curiosity to know
+where this pure and peerless Queen of yours makes her abode."
+
+"Ah! would you pay her a visit?" he asked suspiciously.
+
+"Far from it; rather that I may avoid her.  Yet we are not in specially
+pleasant surroundings, and such information might not come amiss."
+
+He sulked a moment over his answer, but finally relented.
+
+"In that large hut upon the second mound."
+
+"You spoke as if Madame de Noyan were beneath the same roof, yet you
+saw her not.  Does the hut differ from this in being divided into
+rooms?"
+
+"A partition runs through it from roof to floor.  Naladi holds court in
+the south room, which is decorated most lavishly with things of beauty."
+
+"Then Madame occupies the northern portion?"
+
+"So I understood," with a sleepy yawn.  "I asked little in detail;
+'twas enough for me to be assured she was well."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+A VENTURE IN THE DARK
+
+It is occasion for deep regret that I was so blind to my opportunities
+for learning much relative to this strange people.  During those hours
+of trial my thoughts were so occupied with our own dangers, it was
+merely incidentally I considered anything else.  No small temptation
+now assails me to record many things I believe true, things I remember
+vaguely; but I pass the temptation by, determined to write only what I
+may vouch for as of my own observation.
+
+I remained silent, leaning against the wall and making vigorous use of
+my pipe, a long time after De Noyan fell peacefully asleep.  While the
+fast fading daylight clung dimly to the interior, my eyes were fastened
+upon his upturned face, almost boyish in the unconsciousness of repose,
+and I began to feel pity for his weakness, my anger against him fading
+away.  As the darkness became pronounced I remained there still, my
+sleepless eyes paying small heed to night, the scenes I saw being of
+the brain, memory awakening to paint with glowing colors across the
+black screen.  The evening was quiet,--within, no more was heard than
+the regular breathing of my companion; without, an occasional savage
+outcry, mingled with the low moaning of the night wind.
+
+It became a lonely vigil, my thoughts unhappy.  I had much to reflect
+upon.  The extreme difficulty of our present situation, encompassed and
+separated as we were: De Noyan was bewitched by a siren who had already
+bound him by silken cords to any nefarious scheme her unscrupulous
+desires might compass; Cairnes was as helplessly entangled in her
+power, although held to his fate by ropes of a different nature; while
+Madame was scarcely less a prisoner, powerless to escape the ruthless
+grasp of a false-hearted woman whose jealousy might at any instant lead
+to measures of extremity.  I alone of all our little company remained
+somewhat my own master.  My hands and heart at least were free from all
+visible bonds.  Yet what hideous mockery was such freedom!  I realized
+that I could venture no step beyond the door of the lodge without
+becoming the focus of spying eyes; that all about was evidence of the
+despotic power of this renegade white queen, who deigned to spare me
+merely because she deemed I was utterly powerless to interfere with her
+cruel purposes.  Saint Andrew! it was an environment of evil to chill
+the blood of any man, nor amid its gathering gloom could I distinguish
+any gleam promising dawn.  About us watched impatiently a horde of
+ruthless savages, eager to make us victims of their torture, held back
+temporarily only by the imperious will of this self-styled "Daughter of
+the Sun," who ruled through appeal to their grossest superstitions.
+She, I believed, in spite of fair face and evidences of culture, was as
+vindictive, barbarous, and relentless as the wildest in that savage
+band.
+
+Over and over I turned such unhappy thoughts in my seething brain,
+until the faintest sound from without had died away.  I may have spent
+hours thus, while De Noyan slept on peacefully as a tired child.  At
+last a wild desire for action overcame my lassitude, conquered all
+lingering discretion.  There arose before me, clearly as a painted
+picture, the pleading face of her I loved.  I knew that to no other was
+she looking for aid in her despair.  There might be little I could
+accomplish for her succor, yet it would bring her new courage even to
+exchange a brief word with some faithful friend, as proof that she was
+not forgotten.  Besides, I longed, as no expression can make clear, to
+gaze again, if only for an instant, into her clear gray eyes, to listen
+to the gentle murmur of her trustful voice.  In brief, I was in the
+mood for a desperate venture.
+
+I crept to the open door, peering cautiously forth into the darkness.
+It was a heavy night, the little basin was wrapped in shadow, and not
+even a star peeped forth from the rifts of low-scudding clouds.  In no
+direction could I distinguish any twinkling of lights except a single
+fitful flash from off the altar, where black-robed priests guarded the
+sacred fire or worshipped before the Puritan.  Encouraged by the
+darkness I crept along the outer wall, unchallenged by the skulking
+guard, and finally attained the upper corner.  Here I observed a second
+glimmer, which I instantly recognized as coming from the other great
+house upon the summit of the mound--that house in which I understood
+dwelt Queen Naladi, and where De Noyan said his wife remained prisoner.
+
+I scarcely know what I hoped to accomplish by such a move, yet helpful
+circumstances are apt to develop when one attempts boldly to do his own
+part the best he may.  It was in blind faith I crept forward through
+the dry grass, drawing ever closer toward that beckoning light.  It was
+a long journey and a slow one, as the tribe would guard vigilantly the
+dwelling-place of their Queen.  At every rustle in the grass, every
+flap of wing overhead, I paused, listening to the pounding of my heart.
+
+I clasped closely in one hand the knife, my sole weapon of defence,
+and, as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom and could distinguish
+some things more clearly, I paused often, with uplifted head, to study
+some indistinct object in the darkness.  Thus advancing inch by inch,
+avoiding with care the least rustling of dry grass, I wriggled
+snake-like forward, until I began breasting the steeper incline of the
+mound, its summit now outlined against the lighter space of overarching
+sky.
+
+All my rage deserted me when again in the open, actually attempting to
+achieve a purpose.  My brain cleared as by magic, every nerve steadying
+itself to meet whatsoever peril might be lurking along the path.
+Half-way up the mound I lay close to the earth, peering steadily
+through the gloom.  There was no cover to crouch behind, the slope
+being totally bare of vegetation except for the short, dry grass, yet I
+felt reasonably secure from observation unless I entered that bar of
+light.  Unable to do more than guess, I concluded that the single
+flame, splitting the night like the shining blade of a sword, came from
+the northern compartment, while the southern half remained wrapped in
+silent darkness.  Outwardly this Queen's residence was constructed much
+like the building used by the priests as a temple.  In the latter I
+recalled two entrances opening respectively toward east and west.  Were
+a partition run between, as in this private dwelling, the eastern door
+would open into the southern apartment.  It was the west door through
+which the light streamed, and, daring approach it no closer, my only
+recourse lay in trying my fortune on the opposite side.
+
+I began a winding advance along the sloping side of the hill, but sank
+suddenly to earth as a spectral figure moved forth from the darkness,
+stood a moment in the bright glare, and then strode past, vanishing
+within the gloom like a shadow.  It was an Indian, spear in hand, one
+of the body-guard of the Queen.  With renewed caution, my imminent
+danger being manifest, I barely lifted my head from the level of the
+grass, and began to work onward, reaching out until I got firm grasp on
+a bunch of grass, then drawing my body forward the full extent of my
+arms.  The progress was slow, involving much labor, and it required a
+full half-hour to attain the other side of the mound.  I could now look
+above, perceiving nothing except the black shadow of the house.  If
+Eloise was within, and if this door led to her prison, it was scarcely
+possible that it was unguarded.  Naladi had special reasons for looking
+carefully after the safe keeping of this captive, and was not likely to
+forget.  I discovered no outward signs of life, but was too thoroughly
+versed in wilderness ways to count upon that, knowing that each dark
+shadow along the wall might conceal some crouching stealthy figure,
+ready to pounce forth.  With utmost care, anxiously scanning the silent
+hillside, I drew myself forward, hardly venturing upon a full breath,
+until I finally rested on my breast barely three paces from where I
+believed the entrance must be.
+
+I dreaded any attempt to advance into the unknown, yet I had no
+intention of withdrawing until I had accomplished that end for which I
+came.  To retreat was foreign to my nature; indeed, I was now so close
+to Eloise, it required an effort of will to restrain a desire to rush
+blindly forward.  But long training overcame this rash impulse.  I
+rested there, silent as a savage, seeking to trace each detail of what
+was barely beyond my hand.  It was little enough I could distinguish,
+straining my eyes to the utmost; and finally, despairing of learning
+more, I advanced my hands, silently groping for something to grasp,
+when I was instantly frozen into a recumbent statue by a slight
+movement of something directly in front.  This was so faint that, had
+not my every nerve been tense, I should scarcely have noted it at all.
+Yet there could be no doubt--some one had given a slight shiver, as
+though from the chill of the night air; whoever it might be, the person
+was not three paces from my out-stretched hands, and, as near as I
+could judge, must be sitting on the very threshold of the entrance.
+
+I was in an awkward position.  How I had succeeded in arriving there
+without attracting attention was little short of miraculous.  I durst
+not venture on any retrograde movement; I even pressed my mouth against
+the hard earth, the better to deaden the sound of breathing.  I know
+not how long I remained thus; it was until my strained muscles appeared
+to cord themselves, and I could scarcely keep back a moan of pain.  Yet
+no other sound came from that mysterious presence.  Intently as I
+listened, not so much as the faint sound of breathing reached me.
+Still I could not have been deceived; there assuredly had been
+movement; I distinctly felt a consciousness of other presence, so that
+every nerve tingled, and it required the utmost self-control to hold me
+still.  I fairly throbbed with insane impulses to leap forward and
+solve the mystery.
+
+Who could be lurking there in such silence?  It must assuredly be an
+enemy, a guard stationed to watch over the fair prisoner within;
+doubtless, he would remain until relieved by some other.  What hope for
+successful advance held me in such agony of mind and body?  I felt that
+I must relieve my cramped limbs or else scream aloud in spite of every
+effort at control.  Slowly I drew back, my outspread hands searching
+for some hummock of grass against which I might press, to force my body
+silently downward, but discovered none.  Then there sounded, slightly
+to my left, the soft rustle of a moccasoned foot, and a low, guttural
+voice muttered some indistinct sentences.  The lurking form in my front
+appeared to rise, and there was a brief grunt as if in response to
+command.  Then a huge warrior stalked past so close that his moccasoned
+foot planted itself fairly between my outstretched arms.  Instantly he
+faded away within the enveloping gloom, and with hardly the hesitation
+of a moment I was on hands and knees creeping toward my goal.  With
+groping fingers I touched the riven trunk that formed the threshold,
+and, reaching upward, noted with a thrill of delight that merely a
+heavy curtain of woven straw guarded the interior.  There was no time
+for hesitancy; at any instant the savage guard might return to his
+deserted post.  Pushing the slight barrier noiselessly aside, I gained
+the interior, dropped the mat behind me, and, for the first time,
+ventured to pause and survey my surroundings.
+
+The single partition did not extend to the roof by a foot or more, so
+sufficient light found passage through the narrow aperture to render
+dimly visible the principal features of this apartment into which I had
+ventured.  It was evidently a sleeping-chamber, handsomely furnished in
+barbaric fashion, the faint light gleaming on numerous burnished
+ornaments, while a carpet of soft skins concealed the floor.  To this I
+gave brief attention, my anxious glance falling almost instantly upon
+the draped figure of a woman, vaguely defined in the dimness, lying
+outstretched on a slightly raised cushioned couch, her face concealed
+by the denser shadows of the wall, sound asleep.
+
+Cautiously I crept forward, hesitating to touch her lest so sudden an
+awakening might cause alarm.  It seemed safer to trust in speech, as
+then she would recognize at once who was by her side.
+
+"Madame," I whispered softly, my lips as close as possible to her tiny
+ear, "I seek brief word with you to-night."
+
+She must have slept lightly, for at my faint whisper I perceived that
+her wide-opened eyes were scrutinizing my face.
+
+"'Tis I, Madame, Geoffrey Benteen.  I beg you make no noise."
+
+"You need have no fear," returned a soft voice in purest Spanish.  "You
+do me honor by so unexpected a visit; I bid you welcome, Geoffrey
+Benteen."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+SPEECH WITH NALADI
+
+If you were ever rudely aroused from pleasant dreams by a sudden dash
+of cold water in your face, you may partially comprehend my emotions
+upon hearing these words of greeting, and realizing that I was looking
+into the beautiful, pitiless eyes of the Daughter of the Sun, now
+sitting upright on the couch, happily smiling at my embarrassment.
+
+"Nay, Geoffrey Benteen," she exclaimed, significantly waving her white
+hand as she noted my swift glance backward, "retire not thus suddenly.
+You must be a marvellous woodsman to have attained this place through
+the watchful cordon of my guards, but 'tis not likely you would so
+safely run the gantlet of return.  You are not so fair of visage as
+your gay companion the Chevalier, yet now you are here I will enjoy a
+short time with you.  Yet first let us understand each other.  For what
+purpose do you invade my apartment so boldly?"
+
+"I came," I replied, believing frankness would prove my best play in
+this crisis, "expecting to find not you, but your prisoner."
+
+"Ah! you are honest, if not complimentary," a quick flash of
+understanding in her bright eyes.  "So it was another woman for whose
+sake you came creeping recklessly through the night!  God's mercy!  I
+even ventured to dream my charms had pierced the dull armor of your
+cold English heart, yet here you merely stand and laugh at me,--would
+even flee my presence as though pestilence were upon my breath.  Why, I
+wonder? am I not also fair?  Why then flout me thus disdainfully?
+Naladi has not been accustomed to such harsh treatment at the hands of
+your sex."
+
+"You are, indeed, beautiful both in form and face," I answered, seeking
+to avoid quarrel, "but it is not for a mere adventurer of the woods to
+utter words of love to such as you."
+
+Her lips curled in sarcastic smile.
+
+"Pish! you grow marvellously modest all at once.  I bid you note that
+the passion of love cares nothing for a registry of birth--it looks to
+flesh and blood, not records.  There is more hidden in your secret
+heart to-night than finds utterance upon the lips.  You have the soft
+speech of a diplomat, full of guile and cunning.  Come, I bid you tell
+me the whole truth.  Do you think me an untutored savage, that you deny
+me in such disdain?"
+
+"I know not how it may prove regarding your heart," I said boldly, not
+hesitating to meet her questioning eyes, "but in manner and graces you
+exhibit the gloss of courts."
+
+She smiled mockingly, rising to her feet and saluting me with a low
+curtsy.
+
+"Ah! very prettily said, senor.  I perceive your objection then: you
+think me fairer without than within.  I dare not contend you are
+altogether wrong in such conjecture.  Faith, why not, senor?  It would
+be strange otherwise.  All lives do not flow gently amid prosaic
+routine, and my ship has been often enough upon the rocks.  I have
+learned reasons of deceit and cruelty in the hard school of experience.
+If, in years of trial, I have grown hard of judgment, reckless of
+action, it is because others have been harsh with me.  Power is
+naturally tyrannical.  But then what use for us to dwell upon the past?
+So you came to-night to meet another?  'T is strange the risks a man
+will run for so infinitesimal a reward.  Yet, Mother of God, it gives
+me a pleasant tale to pour into the ears of him you call De Noyan when
+we meet again to-morrow.  If I mistake not, the one you seek in secret
+bears the name of that gay gallant.  At least, she masquerades in this
+wilderness under the title of Madame de Noyan.  But 'tis you, not he,
+her reputed husband, forsooth, who seeks her chamber in the midnight.
+Truly 'tis a pretty tale of romance."
+
+It flashed upon me, as she thus lightly spoke, what infernal use an
+unscrupulous woman might easily make of this.  The imputation lurking
+in her words aroused me to defiant anger, yet before I could collect my
+thought to make reply, she marked my hesitancy and continued with
+bitter sarcasm.
+
+"Madame possesses so sweetly innocent a face I should never have
+suspected her of being an immodest wanton, were it not for the evidence
+of my own eyes.  'T is a strange world, senor.  Yet I have often heard
+this is the way with these _grandes dames_ of France."
+
+"It is only your own foulness of thought which places such construction
+upon my coming here," I broke forth, determined I would face her down
+at every hazard.  "You know well my purpose; I came seeking to aid one
+you held prisoner.  It is all because of your sin, not ours.  You have
+robbed this Chevalier de Noyan of all his manhood by your cursed smiles
+and honeyed speech.  You have made him forget his sworn duty unto her
+who is his wife."
+
+"How interesting you grow," she interrupted, her lips curling, her eyes
+hardening.  "Senor, you grow almost handsome when your eyes flash.  So
+you felt called upon to devote yourself to this poor, misused,
+neglected wife?  I trust you have not found it an unpleasant service,
+or entirely without reward?"
+
+"I felt called upon to aid her in escaping from your grip."
+
+"Ah, indeed?  Would you kindly, senor, tell me how you proposed
+performing such a miracle?  It remains in my memory some such effort at
+release has been made before," her eyes hardening like diamonds.  "Down
+yonder stands a blackened post which tells how Naladi deals with those
+daring to mock her will."
+
+"You may spare threats," I retorted, gathering courage from rising
+anger, "as I care nothing for your good will, nor shall I swerve an
+inch in the hope of escaping your savage vengeance.  Madame de Noyan is
+so far above you in every attribute of unsullied womanhood that no
+words of yours can ever besmirch her reputation; while, as to myself, I
+remain so certain of my own rectitude in the action of this night, I
+challenge you to do your worst."
+
+"No doubt the Chevalier will also feel confidence in all you say," she
+added maliciously.  "I understand it is the way with the French."
+
+"With whom your previous acquaintance seems to have rendered you most
+familiar."
+
+It was a wild, chance shot, for firing which I had no reason excepting
+that twice she had openly sneered at that people, and once had spoken
+of ships in a way strange to an inland savage.  It was worth trying,
+however, and I marked her slight start of surprise at my insinuating
+tone, and the dark shadow sweeping across her face.
+
+"Think you so, senor?  It is passing strange, then, that I should be
+ignorant of the tongue."
+
+"Yes, were it true," I made quick reply, encouraged by her manner,
+determined now to press this guessing home, and abide results.  "But
+you had small difficulty comprehending the language a moment back.
+Permit me to remind you that it chanced to be French I spoke when first
+kneeling at your bedside."
+
+She savagely bit her red lips in rage at my words; yet more, I thought,
+at her own forgetfulness.
+
+"Pish! perhaps so;" and she stamped her foot angrily on the stone slabs
+of the floor.  "What does that prove to my discredit for you to harp
+upon?"
+
+Why my accidental words should thus worry her I could not even guess.
+Yet, clearly enough, there lay hidden some secret here--a hideous
+secret I had harshly probed.  Believing this, I felt that I could
+enhance my power over her by pressing it relentlessly home with
+whatsoever directness of speech I dared to venture.  With me, at such a
+crisis, decision meant action, and I advanced a step nearer, looking
+her directly in the eyes.  A single moment she met me with a haughty
+stare; then defiance faded away into pleading, and her glance wavered.
+Whatever the cause, she was clearly afraid.
+
+"Who--who are you?" she faltered.  "Surely we have never met before?"
+
+"As you know already, I am Geoffrey Benteen.  I only regret that your
+memory is so faulty."
+
+"What is it you know of me?"
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing, Madame," and I threw into the utterance of these
+words all the irony possible.  "It is not altogether strange Madame
+should forget acquaintances of other days, even her native tongue,
+living so long in the wilderness."
+
+It was a reckless shot, but somehow it struck the mark.
+
+"I am a Toltec!" she cried wildly.  "You speak to the Daughter of the
+Sun."
+
+"No doubt; 'tis a neat superstition with which to overawe savages, yet
+there was one once across the water greatly resembling you,--a bit
+younger, perhaps,--yet who was content then with a title not nearly so
+high-sounding, until--oh, well, what need to tell the rest?  Of course,
+it was not you?"
+
+I would never have believed so sudden a change could come over the
+countenance of a human being, had I not witnessed it with these eyes.
+She had sunk back against the couch, her hands pressing her breast as
+if to still the wild throbbing of the heart, her great eyes staring at
+me in silent horror.  Twice her lips moved as if attempting speech, yet
+no articulated sound issued from between them.
+
+"Are you a fiend from hell?" she sobbed at last.  "Why have you pursued
+me here?"
+
+"You do me far too great an honor."  I made her a low bow, thoroughly
+confident I held the whip hand, provided only I did not overplay my
+part.  "It is the merest accident of fate which has thus thrown me
+again across your path.  Nor have I the slightest desire to cause you
+trouble, only that through your power may come our safety."
+
+"You--you have not followed me, then?"
+
+"No."
+
+I saw she was diligently studying my face in the dim light, vainly
+endeavoring to recall where, under what circumstances, we had met
+before.
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"Bah! what difference can a name make?  Surely you are careless enough
+about your own to be lenient with another choosing to forget."
+
+"You also are a fugitive?"  I caught the sudden ring of hope in her
+voice, saw a new light flash into her eyes.
+
+"I have fled the Spaniards," I answered carelessly enough.  "What odds
+is that, so long as what I did has been for France?  Still, as I say, I
+have no desire to play you harm provided you deal justly with us all."
+
+"Harm?  You?  How could you harm me?" she questioned, evidently more at
+ease from the change in my tone of speech.  "You presume, senor; surely
+you forget you address the Queen of the Nahuacs; that even in our
+remnant there remain more than a hundred warriors to do my bidding!  I
+can laugh at threats, senor."
+
+I stared at her coldly.
+
+"As you please, Madame _la reine_ Naladi, Daughter of the Sun, formerly
+woman of--ah! so you do not care for me to speak that accursed word?
+Well, I thought you might not, so I spare you the shame.  'T is nothing
+to me your past, yet I would have you remember there is a people we
+both know to whom your miserable horde of savages would be but a
+mouthful.  This tribe has already tested the sharpness of the French
+sword."
+
+Her troubled eyes fell before mine, the last faint gleam of defiance
+dying from her face.  She glanced about the apartment, evidently
+meditating retreat from my presence, or the swift summoning of her
+guards.  Whichever it might have been, she as evidently thought better
+of it, turning toward me once more, no longer a frightened, angry
+Amazon, but instead a smiling, pleasant-faced woman.
+
+"We have surely jested long enough, senor," she exclaimed with apparent
+lightness of demeanor.  "It can never be best for us to be other than
+good friends.  I doubt not you are a bold man, loyal to those trusting
+you, and I honor you for it.  Take me, also, into that charmed circle,
+yet never forget I am a woman capable of doing great harm if I choose,
+for I have those at my command here who would die gladly at my bidding.
+The threat of French vengeance moves me little, senor; France is
+strong, cruel, relentless; but France is not here."
+
+"Quite true," I replied, feeling best now to permit her to enjoy her
+own way.  "But France never forgets, never pardons, and France
+possesses arms which reach across the seas, even into this wilderness.
+All she needs is a guide, and I could become that.  Yet if you grant my
+request I pledge that no words of mine shall result in your injury."
+
+"Your half threat does not greatly trouble me, senor.  I am no frail
+reed fearing a puff of air.  I merely seek that duty which seems most
+fair to all concerned.  Pray tell me then what it is you would ask at
+my hands.  Nay, wait; before we go into this business be seated here,
+so we may more easily converse together."
+
+It was a low stool beside the couch she indicated, and I could do no
+less than silently accept her courtesy, the soft, mysterious charm of
+the woman blunting my prejudice.
+
+"Now, senor," an engaging smile rendering more beautiful the face
+turned toward me.  "I pray you trust me fully, and state frankly your
+demands upon Naladi."
+
+If slightest sarcasm lurked in these softly spoken words I acknowledge
+total oblivion to it.  Her fair face was the picture of earnestness,
+her eyes gazed frankly into mine.
+
+"Our release, Madame."
+
+She lifted her white hands in a sudden gesture of expostulation.
+
+"Why ask that?  It is utterly beyond my power, senor--at least, at
+once," in a tone of despair, convincing me she spoke truly.  "We have
+our laws, which must be obeyed.  It was the tribe who in battle took
+you prisoners, not I; it would cost me my position did I endeavor to
+give you immediate release."
+
+"Could it be accomplished later?"
+
+"Possibly it might."
+
+"Will you promise me it shall?"
+
+She hesitated, her eyes downcast, her bosom rising and falling to
+tumultuous breathing.
+
+"Yes," at last slowly, as if she had weighed the problem with care.  "I
+will pledge you my utmost help to that end."
+
+"There is one thing more, Queen Naladi," I contended earnestly.  "It is
+that Madame de Noyan be permitted meanwhile to abide with her husband."
+
+The fair face darkened ominously.  Instead of immediately answering she
+stepped across the room; returning, she held in her hands a small box
+in which I perceived papers.
+
+"One moment, senor; move your stool here; yes, a trifle to the left
+where we may have clearer light shed upon these documents."
+
+I drew it unsuspectingly to the spot indicated by her gesture, bending
+forward, wondering what it might be of importance she held in her hands.
+
+"This, senor," she began calmly, slightly unrolling a written sheet,
+"is, as you will easily comprehend, the very document causing my
+unfortunate exile in this wilderness.  You will take notice--"
+
+As she spoke, I felt myself falling.  She sprang hastily back, barely
+in time to escape my frenzied clutch upon her draperies; for one
+instant I clung to the stone slab of the floor desperately.  Then she
+laughed, her heel crunched on my gripping fingers, and, with one
+muffled cry of despair, I went plunging down into the blackness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+IN AND OUT THE SHADOW
+
+It is strange I remember so little from that instant when my tortured
+hands released their frantic grasp on the stone slab of the floor.  I
+recall the sharp pain, as that fair-faced fiend stamped upon my
+clutching fingers; I heard the echo of sneering laughter with which she
+mocked my last upward look of agony, but, with the plunge downward into
+that black, unknown abyss, all clear recollection ceased--I even retain
+no memory of the severe shock which must have occurred as my fall
+ended.  Whether excess of fear paralyzed the brain, or what may have
+been the cause for such a phenomenon, I know not.  I merely state the
+fact.
+
+I awoke--how much later God alone knows--lying upon the rough stone
+bottom of an awful well, huddled in its blackness.  When I finally made
+attempt at straightening my cramped limbs it seemed as if each separate
+muscle had been beaten and bruised, and it required no little
+manipulation before I even recovered sufficient strength to stand
+upright and endeavor to ascertain the nature of my grewsome
+prison-house.  My stiffness caused me to believe that I must have lain
+motionless for several hours in the same cramped position into which I
+fell, before even regaining consciousness.  Another evidence of this
+was the blood which, having flowed copiously from a severe cut upon the
+back of my head, had so thoroughly hardened as to stanch the ugly
+wound, thus, perhaps, preserving my life.
+
+Slowly I returned to a clear realization of my position, for my eyes
+opened upon such intense darkness I could scarcely comprehend in my
+weakened, dazed condition that it was not all a dream from which I was
+yet to awaken.  Little by little the mind began asserting itself,
+vaguely feeling here and there, putting scrap with scrap, until
+returning memory poured in upon me like a flood, and I grasped the
+terrible truth that I was buried alive.  The knowledge was a deathlike
+blow, with which I struggled desperately, seeking to regain control
+over my shattered nerves.  I recall yet the frenzied laugh bursting
+from my lips--seemingly the lips of a stranger--ringing wild and
+hollow, not unlike the laughter of the insane; I remember tearing wide
+open the front of my doublet, feeling I must surely choke from the
+suffocating pressure upon my chest; I retain memory of glaring
+violently into the darkness; how I fondled the sharp edge of the
+hunting knife, crying and shouting impotent curses, which I trust God
+has long ago forgiven, at that incarnate devil who had hurled me down
+to such living death.  Terror dominated my brain, pulsed like molten
+fire through my blood, until, as the desperation of my situation became
+more clearly defined, I tottered upon the very verge of insanity,
+feeling I should soon become a helpless, gibbering imbecile.
+
+Yet, as I succeeded in staggering weakly to my feet, the movement and
+exertion served to quiet my apprehensions, while hope came faintly
+back, bringing with it, as though newly born, a determination never to
+yield without one manly struggle.  I possessed a knife; perchance there
+might be discovered some opportunity for using it.  With outspread
+hands, and groping feet, I attempted to advance, but found I had fallen
+so close to the centre of the well that I had to make several steps
+before my extended fingers touched the cold wall.  This I followed
+slowly, passing exploring hands with utmost care over each inch, from
+the floor to as high as I could reach on tiptoe, until confident I had
+made the complete circuit.  It was all the same, vast slabs of flat
+stone, welded together by some rude yet effective masonry, the mortar
+between impervious to the sharp probing of the knife.  Again and again
+I made that circuit, testing each crack, sounding every separate stone
+in the hope of discovering some slight fault in construction by which I
+might profit.  Everywhere I was confronted by the same dull, dead wall
+of cold, hard rock, against which I exerted strength and skill
+uselessly.  Finally I dropped upon my knees, creeping inch by inch
+across the floor, but with no better result.  It likewise was composed
+of great slabs of stone, one having an irregular crack running through
+it from corner to corner, but all alike solid and immovable.
+
+Then the last faint flicker of hope deserted me.  Yet the exercise of
+that fruitless search had restored some measure of manhood; my brain no
+longer throbbed with dull agony, nor did my veins burn as with liquid
+fire.  I felt convinced this black vault was destined to become my
+grave; here in after years, perhaps, some straying hunter might uncover
+my mouldering bones, wondering idly at my unknown story, for here I was
+surely doomed to face all that was mysterious and terrible in death.
+Well, that end must come to me some time, as to all men; I had seen
+many die, and, although fate faced me in far more horrid guise than any
+of these others, yet after all it was merely death, and I had no more
+cause to fear it here in the dark than yonder in the sunshine.
+Besides, I retained the keen knife-blade; if worse came to worse that
+was available for release.  I passed it caressingly through my fingers,
+wondering would God forgive its use if the moment came when I must
+choose between insanity and death.
+
+Merciful Heaven! how time dragged!  What awful conceptions were formed
+in my fevered brain!  What leering, sardonic faces pictured themselves
+against the black wall; what demon voices spoke and laughed in the void
+above!  At times I stood in a cave thronged with jeering devils, some
+with the savage countenance of the heathen, some yet more satanic; yet
+ever in the midst of their maddest orgies, the cruel mockery of the
+infamous Naladi appeared more hellish than that of the rest.  She
+leered down upon me from every side until I seemed to stare into a
+thousand faces, each wearing her hateful, sardonic smile.
+
+I paced the floor with feverish impatience, counting my steps from wall
+to wall, hoping by this means to retain control of my brain.
+Experiencing the sharp pangs of hunger, I slashed a bit of leather from
+my belt, and chewed it savagely as a dog might chew a dry bone.  In my
+despair, I danced, snapping my fingers, and hurling bitter taunts at
+the unseen upper world.  Exhausted by such useless frenzy, I would sink
+prone to the floor, every nerve unstrung, lying there panting in
+helplessness until returning strength again sent me back and forth in
+that awful tramp from wall to wall.  I perceived that the strain of
+that horrible haunted silence was driving me mad.  There was no escape,
+no hope, no peace.  Again and again did I break from incoherent ravings
+to sink upon my knees, beseeching God for mercy.  Yet I arose without
+rest, without peace.  At last I sank weakly down against the wall and
+lay trembling in every limb, staring blindly with wide-open, unseeing
+eyes.
+
+I had come to the very end--to that moment when my limbs refused longer
+to support my swaying body, when my tortured brain was picturing scenes
+of hellish ingenuity.  Ah! look! see! yonder comes now another to
+torment my soul.  O God!  Mark that grim, gray face floating against
+the wall!  Away, you foul fiend!  I am not yet your prey!  But see! see
+how the ghastly horror grows!  It is as large as a man; and mark those
+long, gaunt arms reaching up until they meet overhead.  Suddenly it
+seemed to shed a strange, unnatural radiance over the cave.  I imagined
+I saw things about me.  What, Mother of Mercies, can it be?  Daylight!
+Oh, good God! do my eyes actually look upon the day once more--the
+sweet, sweet, blessed day?  Surely it is but a dream; yet no! it must
+truly be light streaming down from above.
+
+I staggered to my feet, trembling so that I was compelled to clutch the
+wall for support.  Swinging and swaying down toward me through the dim
+light, now in the radiance, anon in the shadow, twisting and turning
+like a great snake, a grass rope steadily dropped ring by ring until
+its loosened end coiled on the stone floor.  I saw it, never believing
+the testimony of my own eyes, until my trembling hand had actually
+closed upon it.  Then, with the touch in my fingers, the hot tears
+gushed from my blinded eyes, the tension on my brain gave way, and I
+was Geoffrey Benteen once more.  A cautious whisper pierced the silence.
+
+"If you remain alive, have you strength to mount the rope quickly?"
+
+So parched and swollen were my lips I could not answer, yet managed to
+take stronger grasp upon the cord, and, finding it firmly held above,
+made earnest effort to climb.  'Twas a desperate undertaking for one
+who had passed through the strain which had befallen me; but now, the
+trembling having somewhat passed, I found myself not entirely devoid of
+strength, while an intense desire to escape from that hell made me
+willing to venture.  I was dimly conscious of a face gazing intently
+down through the small aperture, yet, with the swaying of that loosened
+rope, the slipperiness of its grassy strands between my fingers, I
+found little opportunity for glancing upward while slowly winning
+toilsome way toward the light.  It was as hard a struggle for life as I
+ever made, my heart almost ceasing to hope, when I finally felt a hand
+close firmly upon the collar of my jacket.  With that help, I struggled
+on, until, panting and exhausted, I sank upon the skin-carpeted floor
+of the apartment from whence I had been hurled into that living tomb.
+
+Half turning as I fell, I gazed into the face of my rescuer,
+endeavoring to smile as my glad eyes met those of Eloise de Noyan.
+
+"Oh, hush!" she sobbed.  "Do not speak of what you have suffered, for I
+read it all in your eyes.  Oh, my poor, poor boy!  I thank the merciful
+Christ you are still alive.  Yet I know not how long that demon in form
+of woman may be absent; besides, her savage guards are everywhere.  The
+slightest sound might bring one to the door, and it will be better that
+she believe you her victim, buried forever in that foul grave."
+
+I could but gaze at her, my breath coming in sobs of pain.
+
+"How chanced it, Madame, you knew I was thus entombed?" and my hand,
+yet bleeding from contact with the rope, ventured to touch her own.
+She looked into my eyes bravely, a red flush in either cheek.
+
+"I overheard those bold words you spoke to her last night across the
+partition."
+
+"Last night?  Rather a week since."
+
+She smiled, her hand-clasp tightening.
+
+"Ah, no, Geoffrey.  It has seemed that long even to me waiting
+opportunity for service, yet 'tis scarcely eight hours since you were
+hurled into yonder hole.  See; the sun in the sky tells the story
+truly.  But every moment we delay only serves to increase our peril of
+discovery.  Assist me, if you have strength, to relay this stone slab.
+It tested my muscles sorely to drag it aside.  No doubt there is a
+cunning spring somewhere, by use of which it moves easily, yet I sought
+after it in vain."
+
+Toiling together we finally succeeded in returning the flat cover to
+its proper position in the flooring, and spread over it a thick skin.
+Seeing everything was left exactly as when she entered, Madame, who had
+become a new woman to my eyes, capable and alert, silently led me
+through a narrow curtained recess to the second apartment.  This had
+evidently been designed as the Queen's reception room, being fairly
+gorgeous in coloring, the low walls covered with shields of beaten
+copper, while burnished bits of the same metal, mingled with duller
+tones of gold and iron, were scattered everywhere in strange profusion.
+Varied tinted stones and sea-shells had been built into a raised
+platform, on which stood a couch hidden beneath rich robes of skin, and
+draped about with multicolored cloth of rude design and texture.
+Altogether it was an interior of rich barbaric splendor, savage in its
+unusual beauty, yet possessing here and there an odd touch of
+civilization almost startling by contrast.  You must understand that I
+enjoyed little opportunity to gaze about and note such details, for
+Madame was impatient of delay, hurrying me forward until we entered
+together a partially concealed passage behind where the couch stood.
+Here my fair guide paused, thrusting into my hands a quantity of food
+hastily appropriated from a long shelf, concealed by a curtain of
+scarlet cloth.
+
+"Eat heartily," she commanded quickly, "for you seem very weak.
+Meanwhile I will stand here, keeping watch lest we be taken by
+surprise.  Should I give a signal, lift yonder red curtain at its
+farther end, and hide there in silence until I come again."
+
+I partook of the coarse food eagerly enough, yet my eyes were ever upon
+her, my lips even finding time for speech.
+
+"Have you some plan, Madame?" I questioned anxiously.  "You said but
+now this house was held under heavy guard."
+
+"I spoke truly.  I may not step forth into the air but some savage is
+at my side driving me back again.  Oftentimes they peer within when the
+Queen is absent, to assure themselves that I am safely caged."
+
+"And this Naladi--does she treat you well?"
+
+The swift color mounted into her clear cheeks.
+
+"Not ill, so far, at least, as relates to the physical," she responded
+gravely.  "No hand has been angrily laid upon me since I was dragged
+forth from the altar-house.  Yet there are other forms of torture; and
+she constantly mocks me with my helplessness, and, I believe, even
+hates me for no better reason than that I stand between her and the
+Chevalier."
+
+"You have seen him?"
+
+"No; but have heard his voice while he held private converse with her,
+the shameless wanton; have listened to words ill suited to the ears of
+a wife.  She is a witch, and the slumbering devil in her has made snare
+for his weakness."
+
+"I greatly fear there may be truth in this," I returned, scarcely
+knowing how best to speak at such a time, marking the agitation of her
+breathing.  "Naladi is a fair woman, softly spoken and seductive when
+it is her purpose to please.  There are not many men who could resist
+her wiles.  Yet possibly, Madame, were you to have converse with the
+Chevalier your plea might break the spell."
+
+She turned toward me with proud, impetuous gesture, and I was surprised
+at the sudden indignant light glowing within her dark eyes.
+
+"No, Geoffrey Benteen, that will never be.  I am this man's wife.  He
+has vowed himself to me before the sacred altar of Holy Church.  Think
+you that I, a lady born of France, would abase myself to beseech his
+loyalty?  Not though life or death hung upon the issue!  If he can cast
+me aside for the caresses of this savage harlot, he may forever go his
+way; never will my hand halt him, or my voice claim his allegiance.  I
+am his wife before God; to the end I will be true unto my solemn
+pledges to Holy Church; yet I hope never to look again upon the false
+face of Charles de Noyan."
+
+"Are you not over-hasty in such decision?" I ventured, conscious of a
+gladness in my own heart at her impulsive speech.  "Possibly this is a
+mere passing whim, an idle fancy; he may yet emerge from the craze
+purified by trial."
+
+She looked hard at me, as if seeking to penetrate the flimsy mask I
+wore, and I beheld a pride in her uplifted face such as had never been
+visible there before.
+
+"Such might be the way with some women," she returned firmly.  "I am of
+a race to whom honor is everything.  My father gave his life for no
+less, and I hold him right in his choice.  I may forgive much of
+wrong--ay! have forgiven--yet the stain of dishonor now rests upon the
+proud name I bear, and that can never be forgiven.  Whether in New
+Orleans, or the heart of this wilderness, I am still Eloise Lafreniere,
+the daughter of a gentleman of France.  I would die by the torture of
+these savages before I would surrender the honor due my race."
+
+There was that in her proud speech silencing my tongue from further
+expostulation, even had I believed De Noyan deserved a defender.  He
+had deliberately chosen his path, now let him follow it; any man who
+would thus lightly tread on the heart of such a woman was clearly
+outside the radius of human sympathy, deserving to be.  Certainly I
+felt no call to stand between him and his fate.
+
+"I may not comprehend the claims of family pride, Madame," I responded
+finally, for want of something better.  "Of that I know little.  Yet I
+cannot contend that your decision is wrong.  However, let us talk of
+other things, permitting this disagreement to adjust itself.  You have
+not stated how I am to escape from this present predicament.  It surely
+looks a problem not easily solved."
+
+"Nor is it clear even in my mind," she admitted, evidently relieved by
+the change of topic, "because I do not know the ending of a certain
+passage underground.  Yet I have a plan.  Behind the curtain, yonder, a
+concealed opening leads downward into an underground gallery.  I have
+ventured to explore it for only a brief distance, but trust it may end
+under the open sky.  At least our only hope is that you may discover
+some such ending.  If not, you can only return to me, and we wilt seek
+other means for escape, if, indeed, there are any."
+
+"I am to understand you do not flee with me?"
+
+She shook her head gravely, her cheeks flushed, her dark eyes lowered.
+
+"No; I deem such move not best after those words the Queen spoke to you
+last night," she answered simply.  "Besides, our best efforts at escape
+would be futile should she suspect you have not perished where she
+entombed you.  I am safe here, for the present at least, while you can
+accomplish much more for all of us if she believes you dead and takes
+no precautions to guard against you."
+
+I could scarcely bear the thought of her remaining in the power of that
+half-savage creature, who wielded such despotic power over her wild
+tribesmen.  Inspired by fear of the result I begged reconsideration,
+urging her to accompany me in flight; but she was firm in refusal.
+
+"No; urge it no longer, good friend.  I know you speak from the heart,
+yet it is not best.  You cannot know to what depths of peril, or
+disappointment, this passage may lead, while, by remaining behind, I
+can help to hide your trail, and possibly open to you some way of
+retreat.  But hush!"  She held up her hand.  "It is the Queen
+returning; neither of us must be discovered here."
+
+I took a step forward, gaining undisputed possession of the uplifted
+palm.
+
+"I depart at your wish, Madame," I said brokenly; "but may the merciful
+God bring us to each other again."
+
+For a breathless instant, even while the sounds without drew nearer,
+her eyes looked confidingly into mine.
+
+"All must be as God wills," she replied gravely.  "Here or hereafter,
+Geoffrey Benteen, I believe it shall be.  Until then, continue to prove
+the same true man you have ever been, doubting not the trust of her who
+now bids you speed."
+
+There were voices lightly conversing at the entrance, and I
+distinguished clearly the senseless laughter of De Noyan.  Lower I bent
+above the white hand reposing in my rough grasp, until my lips pressed
+the soft flesh; nor was it withdrawn from the caress.
+
+"Good-bye, Eloise," I whispered, and, sweeping aside the heavy folds of
+curtain, vanished from her sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+UNDERGROUND
+
+A slight radiance found passage through the coarsely woven curtain,
+proving sufficient, as my eyes became more accustomed to the gloom, to
+reveal, rude steps excavated from the earth, leading down into lower
+darkness.  Pausing merely to assure myself that the meeting between
+Naladi and Madame was outwardly courteous, while De Noyan seemed shamed
+into silence by the presence of his wife, I began the descent, quickly
+finding myself in an apartment, rounded in outline, not greatly
+dissimilar to that other from which I had been so lately rescued.
+This, however, was smaller, the floor littered with various articles,
+the nature of which I found it difficult to determine in such dim
+light.  Nor did I pause for close inspection, but, so soon as search
+revealed an opening into a narrow passageway beyond, I pressed forward
+amid dense gloom, feeling my way, fearful lest I meet some pitfall.  It
+was a low, contracted gallery, so extremely irregular in excavation
+that I sometimes stood erect, unable to reach the roof with extended
+fingers, yet a moment later was compelled to creep on hands and knees
+in order to progress at all.  Had it led through solid rock I should
+have accepted this as evidence of natural origin, but sides, floor, and
+roof were of earth, while every few feet, rendering progress uncertain
+and perilous, were huge posts of wood, usually roughly hewn tree
+trunks, each topped by a flat piece of stone, supporting the sagging
+roof.
+
+Altogether it was a surprising excavation, exhibiting some degree of
+engineering skill on the part of these savages.  I wondered whether the
+conception originated within the brain of their alien Queen, or was
+another of the unique inheritances of their race.  Perhaps I may be
+permitted to add here some information which reached me later, that
+abundant evidences of the existence of similar passages have been noted
+elsewhere in the old homes of this people beside the Mississippi.
+While at Petite Rocher River, I met lately a Jesuit, who had travelled
+widely and read many books, and he gravely assured me that in the vast
+cities of the Aztecs, far to the south in Mexico, their temples and
+palaces were connected by means of such long, secret, covered ways.
+Hence I incline to the belief that this excavation was largely the
+labor of slaves; for these Nahuacs had many such, some of negro, others
+of Indian blood, and that the earth thus removed had been utilized in
+constructing those mounds above, the entire method of building merely a
+tradition from the past.
+
+Let that be as it may, here the tunnel extended stretching its
+snake-like course before me.  Along it I carefully felt a passage,
+nervously gripping the knife hilt, and vainly seeking to distinguish
+definite outlines amid the darkness.  My groping feet encountered
+numerous obstructions along the path--here a pile of loosened earth
+over which I plunged headlong, or a flat stone dropped by the rotting
+away of its supporting prop, or some sharp declivity, as though softer
+earth had yielded to rude implements; yet it became evident from the
+start that the tunnel level rapidly descended, boring deeper and deeper
+into the bosom of the earth.  Finally, my fingers came into contact
+with small fragments of rock strewing the side walls, and I
+comprehended I must already be beneath the base of that rounded mound
+upon the summit of which the house of Naladi stood.  What worried me
+most was to what end this tunnel was made.  Such vast labor had surely
+never been performed without adequate purpose.  Besides, completed, the
+passage was well cared for.  I met frequently in my blind groping with
+evidences of comparatively recent labor.  Yet for what purpose was it
+designed?  Where did it lead?  To my bewildered judgment the general
+trend appeared northward; but that would carry it directly across the
+broadest portion of the upper basin.  To have an unconcealed entrance
+in the centre of that unprotected, open plain would be foreign to
+savage nature; while to imagine that such a tunnel as this, from which
+a vast amount of earth had been borne upon the backs of workmen, could
+extend below the full extent of that valley, was beyond conception.
+Besides, the air was light and pure, as sweet to inhale as if it blew
+directly upon me from the open sky; itself proof positive that some
+opening could not be far distant.
+
+Thus questioning, I groped slowly forward.  To one accustomed to living
+in the open there is something peculiarly oppressive in being cooped
+within the confines of such narrow entries, and being compelled to
+reflect upon the immense mass of rock and earth resting above, and
+prevented from crushing him down into everlasting silence only by
+insignificant props of wood, whose melancholy groaning in the darkness
+bore evidence of the vast weight they upheld.  There was nothing for me
+but to struggle onward, although I do not claim that it was without
+quaking heart, or many a start at odd noises echoing and re-echoing
+along that grim gallery.  It is comparatively easy to be courageous
+where the peril is of a nature to which we have long accustomed
+ourselves, but many a trained nerve gives way before little ventures
+amid the unknown.  I am told that soldiers coming to these
+colonies--veterans who had faced unflinchingly the flames of
+battle--will tremble and shrink like frightened girls at the slightest
+sign of a storm at sea; and there was once a famous war-chief of the
+Shawnees, who had fought fiercely with tomahawk and knife, yet who fell
+dead at the first crash of a field gun, although the piece was
+uncharged with ball.  So I conceive that physical courage is not so
+high a virtue after all, and am not greatly ashamed to acknowledge I
+went timidly forward down that black slope, and with a wild inclination
+to fly backward at every sound.  Nor do I boast of keeping on, for it
+was largely because I knew well what reception would await me; the look
+of scorn with which Madame would discover that a faint heart had made
+me afraid of the dark.  So it was love, or pride, I scarce know which,
+that kept my reluctant feet moving; and, possibly, both of these are
+the true sponsors for most of the courage in the world, except that
+engendered by excitement.
+
+Finally, when, with many a quaking of the heart I thought there must be
+above me a full hundred feet of earth, I perceived a flickering ray of
+light stealing along the floor.  It grew more pronounced with each
+advancing step and soon crimsoned the upper walls.  I dropped
+cautiously upon hands and knees, and crept slowly forward, beside the
+dancing shadows, taking concealment behind every irregularity.  Thus
+approaching, I discovered the flaring beacon to be a huge pine knot
+stuck into the earth wall, blazing right merrily.  Lying at full
+length, with head outstretched from behind the tree trunk that
+concealed my body, I gazed forward into a small room, possibly a dozen
+feet in width, the walls concealed by grotesquely pictured bark, its
+floor covered with a rude matting, dyed in fanciful colors.  Somewhat
+to the left of where I lay uprose a huge, grim figure, roughly shapen
+from wood, having two uplifted wings pressing the roof, while directly
+in front reposed numerous dishes of untasted food.  This idol, for such
+I conceived it to be, was a most hideous, repulsive object, colored
+lavishly with strange pigments, the face and head decorated in crimson,
+while the huge right hand, grasping a club, was uplifted as if about to
+strike down an approaching enemy.  The flaring light of the pine knot
+glittered on great staring eyes which appeared to sparkle as if
+composed of precious stones; while about neck, zone, and ankles shone
+the duller gleam of gold, with the shimmer of some brighter metal.
+
+It was a grewsome sight to approach in such a place, especially as the
+peculiar eyes appeared to follow my slightest movement.  Yet only for a
+breathless moment did I experience doubt as to its nature, then laughed
+grimly at myself for a superstitious fool.  The remaining portion of
+this dimly revealed underground apartment appeared bare, except for a
+gayly decorated skin or two, and the figure of a man, garbed in the
+gloomy attire of a priest, lying fast asleep at the very feet of the
+statue.  Beyond showed a dark opening where the tunnel continued onward
+into the earth.
+
+It required brief observation to note these outlines, nor did they
+greatly serve to delay my advance.  I paused merely long enough to
+become thoroughly convinced of the reality of the priest's slumber, and
+then crept silently past, keeping close as possible within the shadow
+of the eastern wall, until once again safely swallowed within the
+blackness of the passage.  Oddly enough the mere sight of that fellow
+lying there unconscious served to yield me new courage, robbing the
+cave of its loneliness, and I plunged directly ahead.
+
+The passage I now followed rose with a sharp pitch, evidently inclining
+toward the surface, the opening not far distant.  It was like mounting
+a hill, so marked was the incline, yet I covered a distance fully
+equalling that of my previous descent before becoming aware of a
+steadily increasing gray tingeing the side walls.  Halting in this
+faint illumination I was suddenly startled by the sound of vigorous
+English speech.  I advanced cautiously.  The words were so confused by
+the echoes that little could be made of them until I reached a coarsely
+matted curtain, through which dimly sifted the welcome daylight.  Here
+I paused, listening intently, striving to discover what mystery lay
+hidden beyond.
+
+For some moments nothing reached me, excepting a low, dull murmur, as
+if voices chanted in muffled monotone, the sound commingling with a
+sharp crackling of flames, and an occasional doleful beating upon some
+surface resembling the taut parchment of a drum.  Suddenly a deep voice
+close at hand roared out hoarsely, and my heart leaped in excitement,
+although I at once recognized it.
+
+"You black-faced son of Belial," came a savage snort, "do you give all
+that food unto a dumb idol, when a Christian man, a ministering servant
+of the Most High, lies groaning with a stomach which has n't tasted
+food for four and twenty hours?  Possess you no bowels of compassion
+for the long sufferings of a fellow-man?  Come now, give me just a bite
+of the white meat, and yonder grinning wooden image will never miss it.
+You won't, you spawn of Baal, yet I marked plain enough how you filled
+your own lean belly with the best there was."
+
+The straining of cords, together with sound of struggle, bore evidence
+that the Reverend Mr. Cairnes was making heroic effort to attain unto
+that food offered before idols.  That such strenuous effort was vain
+was soon proven by the bursting forth of his voice once more.
+
+"Oh, gracious Lord," he cried, in a tone evidencing more anger than
+spiritual exaltation, "surely thy ancient servant Job never bowed
+before greater affliction than this now visited upon me.  Verily 't is
+even as the experiences of the Apostle Paul, yet without his reward in
+the flesh.  I beseech Thee from the depth of humiliation--even as did
+Daniel from the lions' den--loosen my arms that I may smite as with Thy
+wrath this profaner of Thy most holy name, thus bringing peace unto the
+smitten heart of Thy faithful servant.  O Lord, what have I done to be
+deserted in this hour of extremity?  As Elijah called down fire from
+Heaven, so I call upon Thee to smite with the terror of Thy might the
+ranks of these foul idolaters.  He who hath boldly proclaimed Thy truth
+in the wilderness, who hath proven a faithful witness unto these
+savages, through many years of trial and tribulation, doth now call
+upon Thee in dire distress.  Shall it be in vain, that he thus uplifts
+his voice supplicating in the wilderness?"
+
+His deep rumbling died away until I could distinguish little except
+those moans with which he punctuated the conclusion of each sentence.
+Finally, hearing no other sound to restrain me, I ventured to slightly
+uplift one corner of the heavy curtain, and peer into the room.  The
+entrance opened upon the back of the rude platform, my position being
+within less than three paces from the famine-stricken Puritan, who,
+with low-bowed head and hidden face, was still wrestling in fervent
+prayer.  I was unable, from where I hid, to distinguish the form of the
+crouching priest, yet knew he could not be far distant, and therefore I
+durst not speak above a whisper lest the sound awaken his suspicion.
+
+"Cairnes," I said softly, "hush that unseemly racket, man, and give
+heed to my words."
+
+Three times I was compelled to repeat this warning before I noticed him
+lift his head, in evidence that the faint sound had finally reached his
+ears.  Unable to turn, he rolled his eyes inquiringly upward.
+
+"What is it, O Lord?" he questioned, with such unbounded faith in a
+celestial visitant I found it hard to restrain a laugh.
+
+"Don't be a fool," I whispered back hastily.  "The Almighty may have
+guided me here, but 'tis a man in the flesh who speaks."
+
+The sectary made hard efforts to glance behind, but the cords held too
+firmly, so I merely gained a glimpse of the side of his face.
+
+"Merciful Jehovah! 'tis the voice of Master Benteen," he exclaimed
+joyfully.  "I know not how you could come there unless you descended
+from the sky."
+
+"From the opposite quarter, my friend," I replied, awake to the humor.
+"Pray speak with less noise, and pay heed to what I say.  Tell me where
+the priest stands; you are so confounded broad of shoulder I can see
+nothing beyond."
+
+"He kneels to the right of the altar, the crawling spawn of hell, where
+he has good chance to fill his lean body with food he makes pretence to
+feed unto that foul figure of wood.  He is a full imp of Satan, the
+black-faced idolater."
+
+"I care little as to that.  Are there others present?"
+
+"None, save the guard, a naked savage.  He leans in the doorway,
+looking without."
+
+"Then be quiet while I cut your bonds; afterwards move back toward me.
+But mark well you tread lightly along the floor, with no sound to
+attract attention."
+
+He chuckled grimly.
+
+"Fathers of Israel! it will astound those fellows to discover this
+place empty--'t is likely they will imagine me gone back to the Sun."
+
+Making no response to this natural conceit, I stretched myself forward
+the full length of my body, quickly drew the keen knife edge across his
+bonds, severing them with one stroke, thus setting free his arms.  As
+the sundered cords dropped noiselessly to the floor I drew back into
+hiding, leaving him to rid himself of whatever might remain.  A moment
+later he joined me, silently as a great shadow, and I cordially
+extended my hand to him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+WE MOUNT THE CLIFF
+
+"May the gracious blessing of the Lord rest upon you, Geoffrey
+Benteen," exclaimed the old Puritan fervently, as we faced each other
+in that gloomy passage, and it somehow heartened me to note tears in
+his gray eyes.  There was heart, then, under all his crabbedness.  "I
+have suffered much of late both in spirit and flesh, and the very sight
+of you is as a gift of mercy unto me.  No angel with healing in his
+wings could prove more welcome, yet I dislike leaving yonder food for
+the sustenance of that foul idolater."
+
+"You hunger then?" I questioned, amused at the regret with which he
+glanced backward.
+
+"Is it hungered you call a man who has had but two dry bones to pick
+since yester-noon?" he groaned, pressing both hands upon his stomach.
+"I am lean as the Egyptian kine, and fain would welcome even locusts
+and wild honey."
+
+"Well, friend," I insisted firmly, "if you follow, within fifteen
+minutes you shall partake of a meal equalling that left behind.  I
+myself know well what a long fast means."
+
+"'T is truly a grievous affliction, difficult to sustain in meekness of
+spirit," he admitted, yet ever keeping me close company through the
+increasing darkness of descent; "yet more am I distressed by the loss
+of all spiritual nurture amid these wild heathen.  Perchance, Master
+Benteen, you might be led to unite with me in a moment's fervent
+supplication before the throne of grace?"
+
+"Ay; when the right time comes I will gladly join, yet I warn you now
+not to send your bull voice roaring through these passages, or you will
+have small opportunity for another meal."
+
+"A time to work and a time to pray has ever been my motto, most worthy
+youth, but my soul is so filled with gratitude at my providential
+deliverance from pagan bondage--even as was Daniel from the lions'
+den--I long to pour forth my joy in songs of praise.  Patience, but
+were I out of here, verily would I venture to uplift a psalm of Zion."
+
+He spoke in such ecstasy I feared lest his zeal might conquer his
+prudence, although in truth this latter virtue was one never apparent
+in his composition, and I determined once for all to nip in the bud all
+such inclination.  So I halted in the darkness, and, as he lumbered
+past, laid a restraining hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Now hark you, Ezekiel Cairnes," I muttered sternly, "I admire your
+piety, but this is no conventicle of the elect we are in; rather a
+place where your life, and those of others, depend on our caution.  The
+echoing of that bull voice along these galleries might cause the
+blocking of our passage, caging us in here like rats in a hole.  So
+hold quiet, Master Preacher, and let me hear no more about either
+prayers or psalms."
+
+The grave determination in my voice served to sober him.
+
+"'T is in my blood," he admitted doggedly, "to fight and work better to
+the holy songs of Israel.  It would bring renewed peace to my soul
+merely to uplift a paean of victory over the discomfiture of my
+enemies.  But I seek no quarrel here, and hence bide in silence until a
+proper moment to unseal my lips."
+
+"'Twill be well you do.  Now follow close at my heels, and I 'll
+promise a swift diversion to your thoughts."
+
+Thus cautiously we crept toward the distant flickering of the torch,
+the unsteady light from which already began to yellow the packed earth
+about us, until we finally emerged into its full glare.  I had crawled
+forth, perhaps half my length beyond the concealment of the wooden
+pillar, and, knife in hand, was stealthily drawing in toward the
+motionless form of the still slumbering priest, when the roving eyes of
+Cairnes encountered the idol, with its flashing gems and widely
+outspread wings, towering above like an avenging demon.  I doubt not
+the sight was startling to the fellow, terrorized by the underground
+gloom, and he gave utterance to one gruff cry:
+
+"'T is Beelzebub!"
+
+The sleeping priest leaped to his feet, glaring about in bewilderment.
+Where I lay outstretched it required an instant to gather myself for
+action, and, before I could place restraining grip upon him, the fellow
+saw us both, and, with echoing scream of terror, fled frantically up
+the dark entry to the right.  I made desperate effort to halt him, but
+my swift-flung knife found bloodless sheath within the soft earth of
+the wall.
+
+"Zounds! are you a screeching woman with no control over your tongue?"
+I exclaimed angrily, panting for breath.  "'T is likely that priest
+will rouse the tribe, and we shall have a run for it.  What caused you
+to make such an uproar?"
+
+"Saints of Israel!" he said, repentantly enough, his glinting eyes
+still roving over the silent, leering image, "never before did I behold
+such monster as that.  For the moment, I believed it Satan himself.
+But, for the love of the prophets, what is this?"  He began eagerly
+sniffing the air with his great nose like a pointer dog.  "'T is food I
+scent; that which will stay a famished stomach.  I beg you, friend,
+pause shortly while I satisfy in some measure the yearnings of the
+body.  Then shall I be better fitted to withstand the temptations of
+the world."
+
+"Odds, man, I hope so," I responded gloomily, watching his eager attack
+upon the supply outspread before the idol.  "So far you have acted like
+a lunkhead, and I begin to regret making you comrade in this adventure.
+If a full stomach inspires to a man's duty, it would be policy always
+to bear food about with you."
+
+"Ay, 'tis strange, indeed," he mumbled, his mouth too full for clear
+speech, "that one who ever strives to live in spiritual exercise should
+be so completely the bound slave of mere bodily indulgence.  Yet I did
+inherit all such ungodly tendency from my mother who was of Dutch
+blood, as round of form as a Holland churn, while my father was spare
+of build, and throve marvellously upon the water of life."
+
+Leaving the engrossed sectary to refresh himself to the full of his
+capacity, I anxiously set to work searching after some species of
+cross-tunnel, shrewdly guessing this underground altar masked a
+junction point, from whence some such branch passageway would lead
+toward the open air.  With diligent care I passed along the walls,
+testing each separate section, yet discovering nothing to reward my
+efforts, until, finally creeping between the spreading feet of the
+effigy, which appeared to sway unsteadily, I lifted the crimson drapery
+hanging down its back, thus disclosing an opening, barely sufficient to
+permit the easy passage of a small man while lying flat.
+
+"Most noble scavenger," I said, feeling in better humor from this
+chance discovery of the means of escape, "are the wants of nature
+finally satisfied?  For if so, I have found a path which will lead us
+from this hole of iniquity."
+
+"Nay, call it not so while it offers such excellent bodily nurture," he
+replied with fervor, cocking one eye up at me, yet keeping both hands
+busily employed in crowding his pockets full of eatables.  "Say rather
+the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, or a well of water in
+desert places.  I shall be ready to accompany you upon a journey after
+I lay in these few necessaries.  The Lord hath given me manna in the
+wilderness--even as the ravens fed Elijah so hath He succored me--and
+'twould be sin to make mock of His mercy."
+
+"Very well; only hurry and follow my lead."
+
+"Will you not carry the torch to help guide?" he questioned, peering
+doubtfully into the yawning black opening.
+
+"No; the light would serve to betray us to any spying eyes.  Perhaps
+that frightened priest may deem us spirits, and muster courage to come
+creeping back.  If so, it will be best for him to find things here
+unchanged, although in faith he will scarcely doubt we possess earthly
+appetites when he notes your onslaught on the sacred food.  Come, man,
+enough of stuffing; your pockets can hold no more, so press on with me."
+
+"It grieves me sorely to leave behind so much good pabulum," he
+explained, eying still the few morsels left.  "It would be well, to my
+judgment, did you pack the rest of this providential supply."
+
+Never pausing to answer, I crept between the spreading wooden limbs,
+and, with the expenditure of no small effort, succeeded in wriggling
+into the narrow hole beyond.  It was a cramped passage for a man of my
+girth, yet, by digging in firmly with both hands and feet, I managed to
+advance, until I finally emerged, within space of perhaps a yard, into
+a much larger excavation, resembling the tunnel we had previously
+traversed.
+
+"Now, Master Cairnes," I spoke back encouragingly, "it is only a short
+distance to good footing; so take fresh breath and come on."
+
+His massive head completely shut out the faint light of the narrow
+opening, and I heard heavy breathing as the fellow squeezed his broad
+shoulders through the hole.  There followed sounds of violent struggle
+during his slow and painful advance.
+
+"By all the prophets and the patriarchs," he groaned wearily, "'tis not
+in me to make it!  Had I endeavored this before eating I could have
+slipped through, scarcely touching either side.  But now I am scraped
+like a pig for the feast.  Baste me, friend Benteen, but I can move
+neither forward nor back in this accursed place; I am full aground in
+the centre, and can never hope to progress without aid."
+
+I reached down until I laid firm hold upon his groping fingers.
+
+"Find some projection to push against with your feet," I advised
+disgustedly.
+
+"Fervently will I endeavor to dig in, and thus render all assistance in
+my power, yet I feel little to encourage me here in good works.  Would
+it not be wise to test the potency of prayer?  Verily the prayer of the
+righteous availeth much."
+
+"I try earthly power first," I returned testily.  "So lay to it, and we
+will have you out."
+
+I braced my knees against the firm wall, exerting all the strength I
+possessed.  There followed a series of moans and heated expostulations,
+then the sound of rending cloth, and the disgruntled Puritan came forth
+with a suddenness of exit which landed us both in a heap on the floor.
+
+"May all the spawn of hell be your playmates," he roared in mad anger.
+"By the bones of Moses! you have scraped every bit of skin off me, and
+half my coat is ripped loose and left behind.  Thou art an ungodly,
+blaspheming--"
+
+He gasped wildly for breath as I throttled him, but the grip of my
+hands stilled his speech.
+
+"It was only that you gorged like a bear preparing for Winter, or you
+would have passed through even as I did," I muttered, heedless of his
+effort to release my clutch.  "Lie still now, or, by all the devils in
+the pit, I 'll shut down harder on your throat.  Ah, so you can keep
+quiet, friend?  Then I will let you go, for I would be free to explore
+this passage."
+
+I could perceive, by means of the faint light streaming through the
+narrow opening, that he was busily engaged in rubbing his sorely
+lacerated sides, and I noted his brown jerkin had been fairly wrenched
+off his shoulders.
+
+"Where did you leave your coat?"
+
+"Yonder in that accursed hole!  It has store of provisions in its
+pockets.  Lord save me, but was there ever such a time!"
+
+He turned, groping anxiously about in the scene of his late adventure
+until he finally brought forth the missing garment.  Carefully testing
+the pockets to see their contents remained intact, a smile lit up his
+leathern face, and he flung it across his shoulders, like a pair of
+well-filled saddle-bags.  I reached in also, lowered the drapery, and
+then led down the dark tunnel as rapidly as the grim uncertainty of the
+way would permit.
+
+The passage proved long and tedious; at least so it seemed to us
+compelled to grope slowly onward through the darkness.  However, it ran
+straight and upon a level, although the numerous supports of the roof
+gave us occasional foul blows, and proved so confusing we were
+considerable time in traversing its distance.  All I have already
+pictured as occurring since I departed from the presence of Madame, and
+first plunged blindly into the underground labyrinths, had required
+several hours, and it must have been close upon sunset when we emerged
+from the gloom of the tunnel into the fresh sweet air.
+
+The passage traversed so long terminated abruptly, and with a sheer
+turn to the left, coming forth between two huge rocks.  To all
+appearances, it ended at the high bank of a noisy stream, and was
+partly hidden by the overhanging cliff.  The latter, devoid of path or
+chasm, now barred our progress, towering aloft until its ragged summit
+appeared to press the blue sky.  At first view I thought the way ended
+here, but Cairnes pointed silently toward the right, and then I
+perceived where a path led upward, along the merest narrow, jagged
+shelf, skirting the boiling water, yet ever rising higher above it,
+until, as my eyes followed its serpentine windings from terrace to
+terrace, I grew dizzy contemplating the possibilities of so mad a climb.
+
+"I suppose it must be tried," I admitted soberly, "for there is
+apparently no other passage.  Doubtless it leads straight to the top of
+the cliff."
+
+"Ay," with more of indifference than I had expected, "and it will be no
+easy trick in the night."
+
+"The night?"
+
+"Surely, yes; when else could we expect to compass the path?  Is it not
+plain, friend, that before we rose fifty feet we should be in full view
+of every eye in the valley with the sun bright upon us?  I tell you we
+must foot yonder rocks amid the night shadows, or else it will be safer
+to lie hidden here."
+
+I perceived the truth of his words and I confess to a sinking of the
+heart, as I contemplated the work before us.  I was never an adept in
+clambering, it addles my head; and, bad as it appeared by day, surely
+doubly bad would it prove by night.  Yet there was little help for it,
+and I made shift to win back my oozing courage by more cheerful speech.
+"Odds, but that is no such trip as I would seek after, yet needs must
+if the devil drives," I said.  "So, now, brother Cairnes, if you wilt
+consent to divide your store of food, we shall both front our night's
+work with stronger bodies."
+
+"Saints' rest! and if we go over the edge," he replied, cheerfully
+emptying his bulging pockets on the rock, "it will be a comfort to bear
+loaded stomachs with us.  It was ever against my pleasure to die half
+filled."
+
+We lingered as long as possible over our meal, conversing in such a way
+as to encourage each other and indulging in frequent draughts from the
+clear stream.  Nothing occurred to disturb us, and, finally, both
+yielded to the soothing influence of the drowsy evening, and, resting
+back upon the rocks, dropped asleep.  I know not the hour of my
+awakening, yet it greatly heartened me to be greeted by the sight of a
+nearly full moon, and to observe how the clear silvery light flooded
+the rocks, revealing the winding path leading upward.  To arouse
+Cairnes was no easy task, but at last we advanced on our path.  The
+huge rocks overhead appeared to arch us in, while, with utmost caution,
+we crept along the narrow, irregular ledge, which at times was level,
+and anon rose abruptly like the steps of a stair; occasionally it wound
+about projecting rocks and over vast, unknown depths, until my brain
+whirled, while I hugged the smooth rock wall at my right, and felt
+cautiously forward for solid foothold.
+
+I imagine we had progressed thus for upwards of three or four hundred
+yards, and were elevated so far above the stream that scarcely an echo
+of its noise assailed our ears even in the silence of the night, when
+suddenly we came to the end of our path.  The rocky shelf was so narrow
+the very conception of turning about smote me with terror.  Directly in
+front, extending to the very edge, stretched a solid wall of rock.  My
+eyes sank to the shelf on which I stood.  Lying close against the sheer
+cliff was the root of a tree, its trunk, perhaps a foot or more in
+diameter, stretching over the abyss, whose depth I durst not guess.  I
+stooped cautiously, my heart throbbing, and ran my fingers along the
+bark.
+
+"Oak," I announced soberly, "and feels solid and strong.  No doubt
+those Indians must cross here, but it is a bridge to rack the nerves."
+
+"Will you adventure the passage?" questioned Cairnes, striving to peer
+across my shoulder.  "As for me I would rather attempt the Red Sea."
+
+"Odds, man, the choice is not given.  'T is either turn and go back, or
+foot the tree; of the two the attempt at turning would addle me worse."
+
+I leaned out over the edge as far as I dared, clinging desperately to
+the root, and gazed down.  It was like peering into the mouth of a
+great well.  Then I nerved myself for the ordeal, and the next moment
+was fairly launched over the abyss, hanging on grimly to the log, my
+brain reeling as if with drunkenness.  Yet I kept moving inch by inch,
+for there was now no stopping, and soon felt solid rock once more
+beneath my groping feet.  With prayer on lips I crouched, sick and
+dizzy, close in against the wall, watching Cairnes where he followed
+along the same perilous path.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+CHIEF PRIEST OF THE SUN
+
+The rock shelf we followed became gradually somewhat wider, so I moved
+forward with greater freedom.  The path continued to ascend, winding
+unevenly along the precipitous face of the cliff, until we must have
+climbed nearly to the summit of the mighty bluff.  But the overhanging
+crest rendered it impossible for us to do more than guess the
+situation.  We were but ants clinging to a wall and unable to see more
+than a few yards ahead.  Finally we attained a point where the cliff
+bulged outward in a wide curve, not unlike the rounded bow of a ship,
+and were compelled to move with renewed caution along the narrowed
+shelf, which was seemingly unsupported.  Creeping fearfully forward on
+hands and knees around the sharp corner I found myself before the
+yawning entrance to a cavern.  I realized that here was the ending of
+our toilsome climb, for I could see nothing beyond, excepting a
+precipitous wall of stone.  If the path had continuation, it must pass
+through the cave.
+
+"Yonder yawns a gloomy-looking hole, Master Benteen," muttered the
+Puritan, lying at full length beside me, and staring ahead.  "Yet my
+eyes see no sign of life to alarm us."
+
+"The front is unguarded surely," I admitted gravely, "but do not feel
+confident that there are no occupants within.  If I mistake not, we
+have stumbled upon the very spot whence the priests signal down to the
+valley the rising and setting of the sun."
+
+"I never witnessed such ceremony, yet to my mind it would be far
+pleasanter going forward than lying here on the hard rock."
+
+Realizing the truth of his comment, yet muttering over my shoulder a
+word of caution, I began crawling forward into the interior.  No sign
+of human presence appeared, and I ventured to stand upright.  The
+cavern possessed a wide opening, with a broad platform of rock
+extending well out beyond the face of the cliff.  Along the edge I
+could observe the rather dim outlines of an immense altar, built of
+detached stones, rising to a considerable height, and partially
+blocking the entrance.  From below it might serve to conceal the mouth
+of the cave.  This obstruction shut off much of the moon's light,
+rendering the interior intensely dark.  We were compelled to grope our
+way forward with hands pressed against the walls.  I had not advanced
+more than thirty feet, my every nerve tingling, when I saw the ruddy
+reflection of a fire, hitherto completely concealed by a sharp turn in
+the tunnel.  Rounding this abrupt point we found ourselves in a large
+room capable of containing upwards of three hundred persons.  This
+chamber was partly natural in formation, but, as I discovered later,
+had been considerably enlarged by artificial means.  So high was it
+that, in the dim light, I could scarcely distinguish its vaulted roof,
+while its length was hidden in the darkness.  In the very centre of
+this apartment arose a great pile of irregular rock, flattened and
+hollowed along the top, where was burning a vast log, the smoke
+ascending straight upward, evidently finding outlet above.  The light,
+red and yellow, flared and flickered upon the surrounding bare gray
+walls, nothing else arresting the eye except a second wide rock
+platform close to where we crouched.  This was partially concealed by a
+great mat of coarsely woven scarlet cloth, which brought to me a
+conjecture that here, perhaps, the Queen was throned.
+
+Wherever there was fire burning there must, of necessity, be attendants
+to feed the flame, but I could detect no sign of life, no sign of any
+kind, other than the crackling of the blazing log, and the heavy
+breathing of my companion.  The silence oppressed me.
+
+"Go to the right," I advised at last, nervous from inaction, "I will
+try the left, until we meet again.  Keep close against the wall, and
+move with care."
+
+"'Tis not wholly unlike a visit to hell," he muttered gloomily, "but I
+am weary of lying shivering here."
+
+I watched the fellow creep forward on his knees, his brilliant
+head-covering revealed in the glare like a flame.  Then I took up my
+own part of this work of exploration.  I had compassed half my distance
+amid profound stillness, perceiving nothing strange, and constantly
+feeling more intensely the solemn loneliness of the place, which by
+now, to my awakened imagination, appeared peopled with bloodless
+victims of heathen superstition.  I felt no doubt this was a torture
+chamber; that many a hapless slave, or shrieking captive, had yielded
+up life in agony upon the summit of the gloomy pile, and the haunting
+spectres seemed to grin at me with distorted faces from every crevice
+along the walls.  I was weakly yielding to such weird dreams, when a
+wild, shrill scream rang forth from the darkness in front.  The cry
+contained such note of affright that, for an instant, I connected it
+with the fantasies which thronged my brain.  I stood still, rooted to
+the spot, the blood curdling in my veins, my eyes straining in vain
+effort to pierce the darkness.  Then there arose a roar not unlike that
+of an angry lion; the sound of a fierce struggle; the dull thud of a
+blow, and Cairnes's deep voice boomed forth.
+
+"Ye black-faced villain!  'T is the strength of the righteous you have
+felt this day.  Blessed be the name of the Lord, who hath given me the
+victory!  Lie there in your sins, and no longer affront your Maker."
+
+I sprang eagerly forward, but at my first step came into contact with a
+fleeing figure, which rounded the end of the altar in such blind terror
+as nearly to hurl me from my feet.  I grasped at the floating robe, but
+missed, and the next instant was rushing blindly after the fellow down
+the dark passage toward where the moonlight silvered the outer rocks.
+Fright gave him wings, but desperate determination lightened my feet,
+and I was nearly upon him when the fleeing man rounded the great rock.
+One instant he paused, glancing behind.  What he saw, or imagined he
+saw, I have no means of knowing; perchance some shrieking victim of his
+foul rites risen from the dead.  With one wild, echoing cry, which rang
+in my ears like the scream of a lost soul, he gave a mad leap out into
+the air, and went plunging down to the jagged rocks at the base.  Sick
+and pulseless I drew back.  Trembling in every limb, even in the
+silence which followed I could detect no sound of his body as it struck
+the earth.  I crept to the edge, lying prone upon my face, and looked
+over.  The moonlight ended a hundred feet beneath me; beyond its line
+there was nothing but a black void.  There could be no question as to
+what had occurred--the man was dead.  I made my way back into the cave
+seeking to discover what had befallen the Puritan.  I found him at the
+farther extremity of the great altar, calmly enjoying a quantity of
+cold meat he had discovered.  He was squatting upon the floor, in close
+proximity to the motionless, extended figure of a savage arrayed in the
+black garments of the priesthood.  They formed a picture so startlingly
+grotesque I could but stare in amazement.
+
+"Jerked venison," he explained, glowering up at me, as I came into the
+firelight.  "'T is of a peculiar flavor not altogether to my taste, yet
+not a food to be despised in the wilderness.  Did you lay hands upon
+the heathen who fled?"
+
+"No, he escaped me, but only to leap over the outer rock.  He lies dead
+below.  Have you slain this man?"
+
+He turned the huddled up body over contemptuously with his foot, and I
+perceived the wrinkled countenance of an aged man, the eyes bright, the
+thick hair on his head long and nearly white.  The face, thin and
+emaciated, was so sinister I involuntarily drew back.
+
+"A snake is not so easily killed," he answered in indifference.  "I
+struck but once, and not very hard as I rank blows, yet the fellow has
+not stirred since.  'T is well for him to remain quiet until I finish
+this repast, for I am of a merciful disposition when my carnal
+requirements are properly ministered unto.  Faith, had my eyes not
+fallen on the food I might have got both the fellows."
+
+Paying slight heed to his gossip I bent over the priest, rubbing his
+limbs until the blood began to circulate.  Before the testy sectary had
+ended his munching, the old savage was sitting up, his back propped
+against a rock, the firelight playing over his wrinkled face, as he
+gazed at us, yet dazed and frightened.  This was one whom I had never
+before seen; there was something of distinction about him, both as
+regards face and costume, which instantly convinced me he held high
+rank in the tribe--no doubt the chief priest.  His sharp, black,
+malicious eyes wandered unsteadily from the Puritan to myself, as if he
+sought to regain his scattered senses.  Finally he ventured a single
+word of inquiry:
+
+"_Francais_?"
+
+"No," I answered shortly, speaking deliberately in French, hopeful he
+might know something of the tongue.  "We are not of that people, yet I
+speak the language."
+
+"I glad you not _Francais_," he said brokenly, yet intelligibly, his
+tone gruff, his accent guttural; "but I talk you some in that tongue."
+
+"How come you to speak French?"
+
+His lean face hardened.  As he bent forward, his fingers clinched
+convulsively.  At first I thought he would not answer.
+
+"'T was much time since I learn; when I was young man," he answered
+slowly, recalling the unfamiliar words.  "Then no snow in hair, no lame
+in leg, and my people dwell beside the great river toward the
+sun-rising.  We were a great nation, with slaves to work our land,
+warriors to fight our battles, and priests to make sacrifice.  Then we
+had much of treasure from our fathers."  He bowed his head, mumbling
+indistinctly; then continued, as if talking to himself, after the
+fashion of the aged: "Long time before that there came to our village
+men in canoes, floating down the great river out of the north.  They
+were of white face, and wore shining things on their bodies and heads,
+and bore in their hands that which spouted fire and death.  This was
+before I was born, yet I was told it often of my fathers.  My people
+believed them children of the Sun, because of their white faces and
+light hair; they were made welcome, taken into the house of the altar,
+fed, warmed, and loved.  I know not who they were, or whence they came,
+yet they spoke this tongue, did point at themselves and say
+'_Francais_,' and told of a mighty King away off, and worshipped before
+a cross-piece of wood.  My people knew not what to make of them; yet
+they were not afraid, and treated the strangers with kindness, and
+there was no war between them.  He who seemed their leader had one hard
+hand of metal, and they named him 'Tonty.'  Know you such a man of your
+color?"
+
+"No," I answered, already deeply interested in his simple story.  "That
+was all before my time, nor do I even remember hearing the name till
+now, yet there were Frenchmen upon the great river full a hundred years
+ago, I have been told.  'Twas most likely they who came to your people.
+Did they do harm to your fathers?"
+
+"They passed away in peace," he continued, using the language with
+greater ease as he proceeded, "for we were then strong, and of courage
+in battle; the fire bright on our altars.  Nor did we look again upon
+any white face for so long a time that this visit became no more than a
+tradition among the people.  More and more did the fathers believe this
+Tonty was a visitant from the Sun--many there were who worshipped him
+as a god.  When he left he said he would come again, and with every
+sunrise the eyes of my people were turned in watching up the river.
+Then, when I was but a child, there came to our village canoes from
+below, from the way of the salt water.  They did land, unmolested of
+our people, who supposed Tonty had come back; fair-faced men with
+yellow hair and beards and dressed in shining metal from head to heel.
+I was at the shore with the others when they came, and heard them speak
+in this tongue, and call themselves _Francais_.  Others of that race
+followed, and we welcomed and fed them all, even as our fathers had
+done to Tonty.  Some were warriors with swords, and fire-sticks, but
+with these were also some strange, black-robed men, who sought to tell
+us of another God, greater than the Sun our fathers worshipped.  They
+had pictures, and crosses of wood, and prayed to these as we to the
+Sun.  But we believed not in their God, and tried to drive them away
+from our village when they put out our fires, for they made much
+trouble among our people, so that the priests came to hate them--the
+black-robes.  Some among them went, but one would not go, and so we
+made offering of him in sacrifice to the Sun.  Then we thought we were
+rid of the black-robes, and could again live as we had been taught of
+our fathers."
+
+He stopped speaking, his head bent low on his breast, his eyes on the
+altar name.  I waited without a word.
+
+"But they were of strong heart," he went on at last, never looking at
+me, "and returned again, until finally war arose between my people and
+these white-faced _Francais_.  Many came up the great river from the
+salt water in big boats, and drove us forth from our village, the home
+of our fathers, and gave it up to fire, after killing many warriors.
+We could not fight against their fire-sticks, yet we saved much that we
+valued, and wandered far toward the sunset, bearing along with us the
+bodies of our chiefs, and the sacred fire from our altar.  The
+_Francais_ lost us in the wilderness.  We came to a little river which
+flowed down to greet us from out the sunset.  Here we stopped once
+more, built our village, erecting about it a great wall of earth such
+as our fathers did in those days when we were strong and mighty.  We
+dwelt there in peace for three seasons of sun and cold, having little
+trouble with those tribes that roamed about us, until one day there
+came into our new village another _Francais_, a black-robe.  How he got
+there I know not, but we laid hands upon him,--remembering the
+past,--bound him before our altar-house, and made of him a sacrifice
+unto our god, the Sun.  Yet it was not well.  Even that very night,
+while we worshipped before the fire which had consumed him, there came
+upon us many _Francais_ out from the dark woods, with fire-sticks and
+sharp knives, so that only few of our people escaped, and got away to
+the north.  I was one, bearing ever with me the sacred fire, which I
+was sworn to guard.  We travelled across many rivers, suffering much
+from want, until those who lived wandered to this place, and here set
+up once more our fathers' ancient altars.  'T was thus I learned the
+words of the tongue, this accursed _Francais_, and learned also to hate
+those with white faces and black hearts who speak it."
+
+His voice ceased, and his chin sank wearily upon his breast.  My ear
+caught the heavy breathing of Cairnes, and I turned to mark him lying
+at full length upon the stone floor sound asleep.  Admiring his
+indifference to surroundings, I was yet so deeply engrossed in this
+tale of the old priest as to be myself insensible of fatigue.
+
+"You are indeed of an old race," I said, hoping to make him talk
+further, "if the traditions of your people extend to those first
+Frenchmen who came floating south along the great river."
+
+The old eyes, now scanning my face, gleamed with awakened pride.
+
+"'T is no more than a page out of our history I have related," he
+exclaimed hastily, evidently aroused by my interest.  "We are the
+oldest and greatest people of the earth.  Ay, more; we are children of
+the Sun, and, ages ago, when our fathers were true to their faith and
+their God, there were none who could contend against us.  We had our
+great altars on every hilltop, and our villages were in every valley.
+Our kings ruled from far above the great fresh water down to where the
+salt sea kisses the white sand; our slaves toiled in the fields to
+produce us food, and in the rocks to give us store of metal for the
+chase and war.  It was then the Sun shone warm upon his children, and
+there were none among men who dared to face our warriors in battle.  We
+were masters of all the land we trod; we feared no people, for we were
+blessed of the Sun."
+
+"How came the end?"
+
+"It was a curse upon us--curse because we made mock of the Sun.  The
+sacred fire died out on our altars, while recreant priests slept, and
+so there came upon the nation a breath of pestilence from the sky which
+swept away the people as if by fire.  It has been told to me that our
+dead lay everywhere; that whole villages were destroyed in a single
+night; that those who survived wandered in the woods foodless, until
+only a pitiful remnant of those who were once so powerful lived in that
+tainted air, poisoned by decaying bodies.  Then the surviving slaves
+banded themselves together, fell upon their wandering masters, driving
+and killing, until the few who were left drew together on the banks of
+the great river.  Here, by lighting the sacred fire again, they made
+peace and were saved.  It was there I was born."
+
+I fail utterly to picture the true solemnity of the scene, as the aged
+priest, white-haired and evil-eyed, slowly mumbled it forth in his
+broken, halting French, leaning with his back against the rough stones
+of the great altar, on the summit of which flamed the sacred fire he
+had passed his life in guarding.  'T was like a voice speaking from a
+forgotten past, which looked forth from sunken eyes, and became visible
+in snow-white hair.  A grave yawned to give me a glimpse of all which
+that grave contained--the hopes, the struggles, the death of a once
+powerful tribe.  Yet it all stands forth perfectly clear to my memory
+as I write--the vast black chamber lying in shadow and flame; the dark
+figure of the bulky Puritan outstretched upon the stones at our feet;
+the ghastly, corpse-like face of the savage old priest, whose eyes
+gleamed so fiercely, as he dreamed once again of the vanished glories
+of his race.
+
+"But the woman who now rules over you?" I questioned, waiting vainly
+for him to resume.  "Is she not white?"
+
+He did not answer; apparently he did not hear.
+
+"I ask regarding Queen Naladi--is she also of your people?"
+
+"We are alike children of the Sun," he responded, his tone more sullen.
+"She is of the Sun and was sent to rule; sent by the Sun to lead us
+once again unto our own."
+
+"She told you this?"
+
+"We know it by signs, by the prophecy of our fathers; we were long
+looking for her coming; she was promised us by the Sun.  In the hour of
+deepest need, a woman fair of face with hair of reddish gold, a goddess
+in earthly form, was to be sent to guide us.  She came out of the
+mystery, and we wait her will."
+
+"Then she is not of your race?"
+
+"I have answered--she came to our people from the Sun."
+
+I have not often felt too secure while in any position of danger, but
+this feeble old savage rested so helplessly back against the base of
+the altar, I lost all thought of him as an enemy against whom I needed
+to guard.  Sunk in contemplation of his story, I sat carelessly, my
+head somewhat lowered as I mentally viewed the picture drawn.  Cairnes
+moved uneasily in his sleep, muttering something indistinctly, and I
+turned partially so that I might look at him.  Instantly, with the leap
+of a tiger, the priest hurled himself upon me.  I flung up one arm,
+barely in time to intercept a jagged stone aimed full at my head.  As
+we clinched and went down, the incarnate fiend buried his yellow teeth
+in my hand, and, in spite of his weight of years, I found myself hard
+pressed in a death struggle.  A very demon seemed to possess him; his
+grip was satanic in its hate.  In truth it was Cairnes who seized him
+by the throat, dragging him off me.  He struggled insanely against the
+two of us, until we bound him so securely that nothing except his eyes
+could move.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+PERE ANDRE LAFOSSIER
+
+"You treacherous, white-headed old villain," I exclaimed angrily, "I am
+half inclined to kill you for so savage a trick.  Odds! but my arm
+feels as if it were broken."
+
+The fellow grinned at me, showing his yellow fangs.
+
+"I care not if you kill," he answered, with true Indian stoicism.  "I
+am old, and have served the Sun long.  Kill, but I will not be
+unavenged of my people; for, whether I live or die, it matters
+not--there is no escape for you."
+
+He spoke with such confidence as to stun me.
+
+"No escape?  Why?"
+
+His lips curled with undisguised contempt.
+
+"So my words sting.  Well, they are true, nor am I unwilling to tell
+you.  You are trapped here.  There is no path you can travel, either by
+night or day, unseen of our people.  You have already climbed along the
+only passage leading here, and you dare not go back.  This way you have
+reached the end.  Behind is the village; here the altar of
+sacrifice--choose either, and you die like the _Francais_ dogs you are."
+
+"Who is here to touch us?" I asked derisively.  "There is food in
+plenty; we can wait our chance."
+
+"Ay, you have grace of this day in which to make ready," his wrinkled
+face lighting maliciously.  "When yonder moon becomes round it will be
+the night of sacrifice.  Know you what will happen then?" he licked his
+thin lips greedily.  "I may not be here to see, but it will be the
+same.  Up that path of rocks will swarm all of my race, and what then
+can save you from the altar?  How they will welcome the victims waiting
+their pleasure--white-faced _Francais_."
+
+His old, deeply sunken eyes gleamed so with hatred, I drew
+involuntarily back, my blood chilled with a conviction that he did not
+lie.
+
+"Here?  Do you tell me the tribe comes here?"
+
+"Ay, here, _Francais_,--here to make sacrifice of blood, that they may
+go forth once more, and conquer the land of their fathers."
+
+"'T is your custom to kill slaves?"
+
+"When there be none better, but now we have other victims sent us by
+the Sun, all _Francais_, and you two cooped up here to be added to the
+others.  'T will be a sweet sacrifice, and I should like to live to
+hear your cries for mercy, and drink of the warm blood."
+
+I stared at him, unable to deny our helplessness.
+
+"You would make us believe there is no upper entrance to this accursed
+hole!"
+
+"Seek as you please--there is none.  You are trapped beyond struggle;
+you cannot escape the vengeance of the Sun."
+
+I pointed, still incredulous, toward the great burning log.
+
+"Did you grow yonder tree in this cavern? or was it borne here on the
+back of a slave?"
+
+"It was lowered from above, over the edge of the cliff, by grass ropes."
+
+"I believe you lie," I cried, now thoroughly shaken by his surly
+contempt; but the fellow only leered at me, and I strode across the
+great room, where I might reflect beyond sight of his eyes.  As I
+passed to the other side of the altar I observed a little gray daylight
+flooding the mouth of the cave.  The sight recalled to mind another
+possible danger.
+
+"Cairnes," I called, "it is about the hour of sunrise.  Down in the
+village I have noticed that whenever the sun touches the crest of these
+rocks the priests up here go forth, waving a flame into the air from
+yonder platform.  I fear if it were missed, the savages below would
+come swarming up to discover the cause.  Take a light from the pile,
+and wave it yonder."
+
+The stubborn preacher grimly shook his head.
+
+"Nay," he replied.  "I have borne part enough in their heathen orgies
+already; it will take a lifetime to purge my soul.  I bow down to Baal
+no more."
+
+It was useless to argue with such as he, nor had I spirit to do it.
+
+"Then keep close guard over the priest," I retorted; and, grasping a
+torch from among the burning mass upon the altar, made haste toward the
+outer stone.
+
+My eyes have seldom gazed upon a grander view of nature than that which
+greeted me, as I crept around the great rock, and peered over the edge
+down into that beautiful basin wherein the remnant of the Natchez had
+established their home.  The early sun had not as yet illumined the
+lower levels, and all beneath my dizzy perch remained wrapped in the
+sombre gray of promised dawn; the slightly rolling valley was dotted
+with numerous square-topped huts of yellow straw, surrounded by
+ponderous walls of gray stone or dun-colored earth, and the irregular
+green fields were intersected by a silvery ribbon of running water: the
+whole composed such a fair picture of restful, peaceful beauty, that
+for the moment it held me at the edge in silent contemplation.  It
+appeared impossible that so sweet, secluded a spot could be the
+habitation of savages, vengeful and cruel.  Yet those black, moving
+dots down yonder, clustering in front of the various lodges, I knew
+were naked heathen, blood-thirsty and vindictive.  Now that the
+earliest rays of sunlight were beginning to tinge with gold the crest
+above me, every expectant face in the tribe would be upturned toward my
+perch, wondering at the slightest delay in their morning signal.  My
+eyes becoming accustomed to the distance, could even distinguish those
+faint sparks of light where the priests below gathered before the great
+altar-house to wave back response.  If we would live for even another
+day there must be no failure now.  Nerving myself for the task, I
+stepped forth on to the narrow shelf--no more than the merest black dot
+to the watching eyes beneath--and flung forth the flaming torch in
+fiery welcome to the Sun.  A shrill cry from the throats far below
+reached my ears in the merest thread of sound, yet before I drew back
+from the edge, I witnessed a responsive signal of flame from the mound
+summit, and inferred that no suspicion had been aroused in the minds of
+the guardians of these heathen rites.  Satisfied of our present safety
+I walked back to the great chamber, and beheld the old priest and
+Cairnes glaring angrily at each other, while the latter nursed his leg
+so tenderly as to make me apprehensive of further trouble having arisen
+between them.
+
+"What now, brother Cairnes?" I questioned in some anxiety, noting as I
+came nearer stains of fresh blood on his hose.
+
+"Yonder black-faced cannibal buried his teeth in my calf," he growled
+gloomily.  "Saints of Israel!  I did merely lean over seeking another
+bit of meat, when he fastened on to me in that fashion, and hung there
+like a bull-dog until I choked him loose.  'Tis my vote we kill the
+ungodly man-eater, who has already feasted off your hand and my leg."
+
+The energetic movement of his red head clearly evidenced the sincerity
+of his feelings, yet it was not in my heart to avenge our wrongs upon a
+helpless prisoner.
+
+"No, friend; we are white, not red.  The pain will pass presently, and
+it would not be a Christian act to dispose thus of one bound in our
+hands.  I will give him other food to chew upon, then make fast his
+mouth while we go together and search out the secrets of this hole.  It
+will be best to discover early whether this varlet speaks true or false
+as to the chances of escape.  Hand over here the meat and water."
+
+I endeavored to question the fellow further while he sullenly partook
+of the food offered, but he gave back merely short, uncivil answers,
+and those of little value.  Finally, despairing of learning more from
+such a source, we securely bucked the sullen fool, rolled his body
+close against the wall out of sight of any chance visitant, and then
+made preparation to explore our prison-house and discover for ourselves
+the mystery of this gloomy cave.  The dense blackness showing directly
+ahead seemed to promise an extension of passageway into the rock; so,
+lighting a pine knot at the altar fire, and bidding Cairnes follow me
+closely, I led forward down the narrow tunnel.  The floor was uneven,
+while so irregular and rough appeared roof and walls as to convince me
+this was a natural excavation, probably the run-way for some ancient
+watercourse.  Yet, as I tested the nature of the stone with the point
+of my hunting knife, it proved easily workable with tools, and
+apparently revealed softer material the deeper we progressed into the
+hill.  Slightly beyond the entrance leading from the main chamber,
+several rudely fashioned steps led into a sort of gallery.  This was of
+considerable proportions, elevated perhaps ten or more feet above the
+main floor, its outer parapet formed of loose stones, through the
+chinks of which one might command unseen a wide view of the cavern and
+its altar.  But, to our rather hasty inspection, this gallery contained
+nothing except bare rock, and, after a single curious glance about we
+drew back and moved on cautiously in exploration of the lower tunnel.
+This curved gradually toward the left, and held a rather steep pitch
+downward.  It was not above three feet in width until we had traversed
+fully fifty paces, when it suddenly broadened, and the fitful glare of
+the torch, which I held over my head, flashed back rays of light from
+two horribly gleaming green eyes.  For an instant I believed we had
+invaded the lair of some wild animal, and drew back quickly, my hand on
+the knife hilt.
+
+"Hell's kitchen!" I exclaimed nervously, "but the den has an occupant
+already."
+
+"Ay, and of a kind common enough in these hills, but nothing fit to
+affright a servant of the true God," echoed Cairnes, striding past me.
+"I am not wont to fear heathen idols, Master Benteen, nor will I bear
+back now before those green eyes."
+
+As he spoke he laid rough hand on the thing, and I heard a sharp rattle
+of metal against wood.
+
+"Come hither friend," he called, with a laugh, "'tis no worse than
+another painted devil we are called to face.  Surely it is you who have
+the faint heart now."
+
+"The glow of the torch blinded me to all except the green stones," I
+explained, coming forward and throwing the radiance of the flame full
+upon the hideous object.  "Saint George! 't is of no beauty to my sight
+even now, and, as you say, of small fear to Christian heart.  The
+saints defend us!  What was that?  As I live, I heard English speech!"
+
+He was earnestly engaged in an endeavor to detach a bit of dull metal
+from the throat of the image, and scarcely deigned to glance around.
+
+"Nay, there was no sound other than the chattering of your own tongue.
+This shining thing is gold, I believe."
+
+"Let it be; 't is of small value here.  I tell you I heard a strange
+voice; so hold still and listen."
+
+For a minute or more we waited in almost breathless suspense, no
+unusual sound greeting our ears.  Then the Puritan sniffed disdainfully.
+
+"You grow childish, Master Benteen," he growled roughly, turning back
+to his labor.  "The dark has overstrained your nerves--"
+
+"I bespeak help of de Englishmen for de sake of God!"
+
+There was no mistaking the truth this time--a strange voice was
+speaking broken English almost at our very feet.  Cairnes clattered to
+the floor with a rough exclamation of surprise, while I stared vainly
+at the idol, from which the sound apparently came.
+
+"In Heaven's name, who are you?" I asked earnestly, "and where are you
+who make appeal to us?"
+
+"I am Andre Lafossier, native of France, for two months past a prisoner
+to these savages.  If you are Christian men I beseech assistance."
+
+"Nor do you ask vainly.  Are you behind the wooden image?"
+
+"Ay, in a small room hollowed out from the rock."
+
+"Except for that are you free to aid us in your escape?"
+
+"No, Monsieur; I am lamed in limb, and fastened to the stone by a metal
+band."
+
+A hoarse growl of rage burst from the throat of the Puritan.  "Prophets
+of God!" he roared.  "Surely we are the selected instruments of the
+Lord sent hither for the salvation of this worthy man; we are the
+soldiers of Gideon, the chosen of the Most High."
+
+Before I could lift hand or voice in interference he had braced his
+massive shoulder against the towering figure of wood, and, with a
+mighty heave sent the monster crashing over upon the rock floor,
+himself sprawling beside it as it fell.  As they came down together in
+a cloud of dust, an opening was revealed behind the stone pedestal on
+which the idol had stood.  Torch in hand I instantly crept forward.  I
+found myself in what was little more than the merest cell, yet dimly
+illumined by a single beam of light streaming downward as if
+penetrating through some slight crevice in the rock.  The narrow hole,
+for it was hardly more, was bare of all furnishing; both walls and
+floor were damp, but there were remnants of coarse food and a pannikin
+of water.
+
+Its sole occupant sat cross-legged on the hard floor, bound about the
+waist with a band of metal.  One end of this was attached to the wall
+in such a manner that the prisoner could neither rise to his feet nor
+lie down.  Never have these wandering eyes of mine looked upon a figure
+more pathetic.  For an instant I stood there, swaying upon my feet as
+though from sickness, staring at him incredulously.  His thin, pale,
+effeminate face was rendered wonderfully piteous by the depth of
+suffering so plainly revealed within the great, black, appealing eyes.
+So peculiarly delicate were the features, so slender the fragile form,
+about which a frayed and rusty robe clung loosely, that for a moment I
+actually believed I was looking upon a young girl.  So strong was this
+impression that I drew back, almost abashed.  This slight pause enabled
+Cairnes to regain his feet and press past me.  As his eager glance fell
+upon that slender, crouching figure, I observed how suddenly his eyes
+hardened, his whole expression changed.
+
+"You are a priest of Rome!" he exclaimed harshly, staring down.
+
+The white, girlish face brightened instantly, the two thin hands
+plucking forth from some fold in the tattered robe a small silver
+crucifix.  At sight of this the stern-mouthed Puritan drew sharply
+back, as if he feared contamination from the symbol.
+
+"_Oui, Monsieur_," answered the soft voice, with an odd note of joy in
+it.  "I am of the Society of Jesus."
+
+"'T is plain to see.  What do you here?"
+
+The priest smiled gently, his eyes dimming with tears fixed upon the
+cross.
+
+"'Tis strange question.  Surely Monsieur knoweth little of our Order,
+or he would not need to ask.  We are soldiers of Christ, commissioned
+for war, even to life or death.  We ask nothing but the privilege of
+service, and the command of our superior.  I am named missionary unto
+the savage tribes of this river.  It has been the will of God that I
+suffer in order that through me some souls born into heathendom may
+thus be redeemed from the torments of the damned."
+
+The sectary's rough, gray face reddened until it was nearly the color
+of his hair.
+
+"'Tis false!" he growled, smiting one hand hard upon the other in
+anger.  "You only lead the way straight to hell with your false
+doctrine.  Have you made any converts to the Roman harlot in this
+tribe?"
+
+"Nay, Monsieur, I cannot lay claim to such reward."  His eyes slowly
+uplifted to the face of his questioner.  "Jesu hath not as yet opened
+before my understanding the way which leadeth to their hearts.  I can
+but work, and pray for guidance.  I have only baptised one who was
+dying of a fever, and sprinkled with holy water an infant, unknown to
+its mother.  It is not much, yet I bless the good Mary for the
+salvation of those precious souls."
+
+"Saints of Israel! do you think that mummery saved them?"
+
+"Surely yes, Monsieur; is it not so taught of our Order?"
+
+I shall never forget the look upon Cairnes's face.  At the moment I
+believed him wrestling with temptation to strike the helpless man, so
+irritated was he by these confident words of Romish faith.  Determined
+to prevent discussion, I elbowed him aside, and bent down over the
+fastenings of the Jesuit.
+
+"Enough of this," I said sternly, barely glancing at Cairnes.  "Keep
+the rest of your Puritanical sermonizing for a conventicle.  We have
+here a fellow-Christian to be rescued from the savages; this is no time
+to jangle over creeds."
+
+"A fellow-Christian!  I hold no fellowship with such; he is but an
+emissary of a false religion, a slave to the Evil One."
+
+"Enough, I say," and I rose to my feet fronting him.  "I care little
+which is right in doctrine, you or he.  Here is a man begging aid of us
+in extremity.  Surely the priest has suffered for the sake of Christ,
+regarding whom you speak so freely.  So have done with dogma, and play
+the man a while--press here with your strength on this knife-blade
+until I bend back the metal and set him free."
+
+He yielded, ungraciously enough, to my command, giving so good a turn
+to the steel with his vice-like fingers that in another moment the
+Jesuit was released from the wall.  Slowly and painfully, clinging fast
+to my hand for aid, the man arose and stood before us, swaying wearily,
+his thin lips pressed tightly together as if he would stifle a cry of
+pain.
+
+"Are you suffering?" I asked, greatly moved by the expression of agony
+imprinted on his pallid face.
+
+"It will pass, Monsieur," he answered bravely, trying to smile at me.
+"'Tis strange the spirit of man is so enslaved to the flesh that one
+cannot wholly master a bit of physical pain.  No doubt I am somewhat
+cramped from my long imprisonment, and, perchance, my wounds have not
+rightly healed."
+
+"Are you wounded?  I beg you permit me to attend to that.  I possess
+some small skill in the bandaging and dressing of cuts."
+
+His eyes rested upon me with all the tenderness of a woman.
+
+"I truly thank you, Monsieur, but it is beyond your skill to aid me,
+even were you of the school of Paris.  They be of a savage nature,
+which God alone may beautify."
+
+He slightly lifted his long black robe as he spoke, and may the
+merciful Father forgive the oath which sprang to my lips as I gazed in
+horror at the disfiguration--two fleshless limbs, one without even the
+semblance of a foot, merely a blackened, charred stump rested on the
+rock floor.
+
+"Mother of God!" I sobbed, "it has been burned off!"
+
+"Ay," he returned, in all gentleness, covering the awful sight.  "Yet
+were they gladly given for Christ's sake."
+
+"I doubt that not," gazing in wonder at his girlish face.  "But tell
+me, who were guilty of such fiendish cruelty--the savages of this
+tribe?"
+
+"Two months ago it was done in the valley below, in the village of the
+Natchez," his eyes again upon the crucifix.  "Yet dwell not upon it,
+Monsieur, for it is so little I can hope to do for the glory of God.
+It may be I am not even worthy of martyrdom."
+
+"So the Natchez did that!" the breath hissing between my teeth.  "Where
+was their gentle-hearted Queen?"
+
+"I know not, Monsieur, if they have a Queen.  I saw none exercising
+authority excepting priests of their strange worship.  It was the chief
+priest who held me in the flame."
+
+I crushed back the hot, useless words burning on my lips, and turned to
+look at the Puritan.  We had conversed in English, and he must have
+comprehended every word, yet there was no softening in the glint of his
+hard, gray eyes.
+
+"Hear you the priest's story, sirrah?" I asked, feeling strong
+inclination to vent my spleen on him for such bull-headedness.  "Is he
+not one to honor rather than pick a quarrel with in such place as this?"
+
+"'T is no quarrel I seek, nor am I like to question the fanatical
+courage of a Jesuit.  But I tell you his teaching is false, an outrage
+on the true religion of the saints, and I am of a strain which can
+never companion with any of that black-robed breed.  Call me what ye
+please, Master Benteen, but I am too old a man, too long indoctrined in
+the faith, ever to acknowledge brotherhood with hirelings of the Romish
+church."
+
+"Companion with whom you please," I retorted savagely.  "But I tell you
+this, preacher, and once for all,--you 'll bear yourself like a human
+being to this poor lad while I 'm with you, or else make answer to me.
+Is that plain?  I care nothing for your dogma, or your hair-splitting,
+but I know what fair play is between man and man,--ay, and mean to have
+it here, even if it costs you a split head."
+
+"I beg you will both be at peace, Messieurs," broke in the soft,
+caressing voice at my elbow.  "There can be no cause for comrades
+quarrelling over me.  I am not worthy a ruptured friendship.  Yet I
+fail to understand any occasion for your seeming trouble; has the older
+man some reason to distrust my robe?"
+
+"Reason!  Saint George! 'tis precious little that ever bothers him.
+The fellow is a Puritan preacher--of the same breed as the
+Huguenots--and possesses a head as hard as an oaken plank."
+
+I nearly laughed at the unrestrained expression of aversion which swept
+the girlish face.  An instant the black eyes lost their gentleness, the
+thin fingers clutched the silver cross.
+
+"Mother of God! a heretic! a preacher of that doctrine!  Never before
+have I met his kind, nor do I care now to make close acquaintance.  A
+Puritan!  _Sainte Marie_, have mercy!  Yet surely in such stress as
+this we may for the time overlook our differences in faith, and be as
+men together?  Is it not God's will?  But I know little of conditions.
+Is there some path open for escape from here?  Then will I let this
+Puritan be, save for a prayer to the Virgin."
+
+"I fear there is none, unless you know of some back opening to this
+rock hole."
+
+He shook his head sadly, his gaze still on Cairnes.
+
+"None, Monsieur; the passage endeth here."
+
+"Then the three of us are safely cooped for those savages to work their
+will upon.  No pleasant thought that, yet little good can arise from
+losing hope.  For one, I fight it out, and let others do the praying.
+Let us retrace our way to the big room, where we can hold council in
+more comfort; perchance we may find yet some opening to the upper air.
+Cairnes, lay hold upon the other side, and help to bear back this lamed
+man to the altar."
+
+I doubted greatly his compliance with my order, and determined to
+settle this affair between us without more delay.  But he came forward,
+unwillingly enough and muttering.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+THE TALE OF THE PRIEST
+
+With all possible tenderness we bore the slender form of the helpless
+priest along the dark, crooked passage, until we found a comfortable
+resting-place for him against the altar.
+
+"I thank you much, Messieurs," he said simply, the depth of his
+gratitude apparent in uplifted dark eyes, glistening in the light of
+the fire.  "Members of our Order are more accustomed to blows than
+kindness, so I have no words with which to express thanks for your
+care."
+
+"Think nothing of it," I returned hastily, and then, observing how the
+Puritan drew back from beside him, added, "Master Cairnes, you might
+busy yourself hunting more food--it will be exactly in your line--while
+I attempt to bathe the limbs of the priest, and see what little may be
+done toward alleviating his pain."
+
+The mere thought of eating was sufficient to put the Puritan in good
+humor, and he was soon diligently scouring nooks and corners with scent
+for provender as keen as that of a pointer dog.  I noticed with
+curiosity how the motionless Jesuit followed the movements of his
+hulking figure as he passed back and forth amid the shadows, his dark
+eyes filled with wonder and aversion.
+
+"'Tis truly a strange thing, Monsieur," the latter remarked soberly,
+"to meet with one pretending love for Christ, yet who hateth Mother
+Church, and dares make open mock of Her most holy offices.  Thou didst
+name thy comrade Puritan?"
+
+"Ay, of the same breed as the Huguenots of your country, rebels against
+the Pope."
+
+He made the sign of the Cross.
+
+"The curse of Holy Church is upon them all; they are condemned to
+hell," he exclaimed with fervor.  "A vile pestilence to be stamped out;
+yet it would afford me joy beyond words could I save this man's soul
+from eternal torture, and lead him back into the true faith.  Mother of
+God! what was it moved yonder?"
+
+I glanced quickly about toward where he pointed, seeing the shadowed
+figure of our forgotten prisoner.
+
+"'Tis only one of the savages we have captured and bound.  He guarded
+this altar, ministering to the superstition of the tribe; an old man,
+perchance the very chief priest who held you in the flame."
+
+I anticipated seeing the light of revenge leap into his eyes, but,
+instead, a rush of pity softened them, and before I could extend my
+hand to interfere, he crept across the intervening space, and bent over
+the fellow.
+
+"A most cruel turn on the rope, Monsieur," he exclaimed, busying
+himself at the knot.  "Surely the man will rest easier, and no less
+safely, with back propped against the rock.  Nay, have no fear; I will
+keep him tied fast if that be your wish, yet I seek to relieve his pain
+so I may profitably converse with him upon the needs of his soul."
+
+"With him!  Saint George! he had small enough mercy on you."
+
+"That is of the past, and abideth not in memory," and the white hands
+held up the crucifix into the light.  "He who died on this Cross
+prayed, 'Father forgive, they know not what they do,' and who is Andre
+Lafossier, to be harsher than his Master?"
+
+Not until after he had prayed long and earnestly, holding the silver
+cross ever before the wicked eyes of the unrepentant savage, did he
+permit me to bathe his disfigured limbs, dressing them as best I could
+with what rude materials I found at hand.  Even while I worked he
+seemingly thought nothing of himself, but, oblivious to pain, his face
+was ever turned to the prisoner, his lips moving in petition for his
+soul.  I caught but scattered sentences.
+
+"Oh, Christ, this one--unworthy, yet I beseech Thee--Be merciful, O
+Virgin--out of the wilderness ariseth the voice of Thy servant--purge
+the soul of all past iniquity--yield me this one brand plucked from the
+burning--Thine be the glory forever--let my life be given for this
+soul--this one precious reward for my ministry."
+
+A little later the three of us partook, although largely in silence, of
+the sustaining food which Cairnes furnished in abundance.  Throughout
+the meal I felt it necessary to be ever watchful to prevent the two
+zealots, who were now my comrades, from clashing.  Again and again the
+priest sought to lead the sectary to his way of thinking, but the gray
+face only hardened ominously, his bull voice denouncing bitterly all
+Romish deeds.
+
+"Come, be at peace, you two," I commanded at last, thoroughly tired and
+angry.  "Hold your tongues over those questions, at least while I am
+with you.  Odds!  I care nothing as to your Catholic or Protestant,
+your popes or preachers.  Be done, and bear yourselves like men.  I
+will no longer have you vexing the air with controversy while our very
+lives are hanging by a thread.  There are other things to talk about
+just now.  So, Cairnes, if you cannot bide quietly in our company, then
+stay here alone while I take the Jesuit out into the sunlight, where we
+can hold sensible counsel together."
+
+Leaving the fellow growling to himself over the remnants of the meal, I
+bore the priest along the short passage, until we discovered a secure,
+comfortable resting-place outside, where our eyes could sweep the full
+extent of the wide valley.  It was a quietly beautiful scene at this
+hour, the glow of the sun over all.  We could distinguish gangs of
+slaves toiling in the fields, and a group of warriors, their spears
+glistening, clustered together before the gloomy altar-house.  Yet my
+eyes barely rested upon either scene, for there, close beside the open
+door of the Queen's dwelling, my glance, sharpened by love, perceived
+the movements of a woman's apparel, and from the faint color of it,
+distinguishable, even at that distance in the sun glare, I knew I
+looked once more upon Eloise.  It would be difficult to express in
+prosaic English with what intense relief I realized, through the
+evidence of my own eyes, her continued safety.  It seemed years already
+since our last parting, when she had chosen to remain prisoner in those
+savage hands.  Father of all! how I loved her then; how I yearned to
+have word with her, to read again the silent message of her pure eyes.
+
+The priest was gazing silently far away up the valley.  Busied with my
+own thoughts, forgetting him utterly, I kept my eyes eagerly, hungrily
+upon that single, far-off figure, until, finally, I saw her arise and
+disappear within the open door.  I growled forth a bitter curse,
+observing the cause for retreat--a man and a woman slowly climbing the
+mound together.  There was no doubt in my mind as to the identity of
+the Queen and De Noyan.  Faith! but it would have pleased me then to
+put hand upon the false coxcomb and choke him back to decency and duty.
+The look of it was in my face, no doubt, as I stared down upon them in
+helplessness, for the Jesuit rested his fingers gently upon my arm, as
+though he would restrain my passion.
+
+"There seemeth something below which angers you, my friend," he said
+softly.  "'Tis a battle-light flaming in your eyes."
+
+"'Tis the shame of it all which crazes me," I responded, trembling with
+passion, yet yielding to the influence of his presence.  "You have not
+yet heard the story, so cannot rightly judge our position here."
+
+As briefly as possible I reviewed the adventures of our little party
+since leaving New Orleans, and it was good to observe with what growing
+interest he followed the simple story, interrupting with but few
+questions until I reached the end.  Then his soft hand closed warmly
+over mine, his eyes upon my face.
+
+"It is a brave tale," he said kindly, "one not unworthy the days of
+knighthood.  Yet, good friend, it is scarcely well for you to think
+thus tenderly regarding the wife of another.  'T is against the laws of
+Holy Church, and can only lead to harm and suffering.  But, Mother of
+God!  who am I to pass judgment?--I, who am also guilty of this sin."
+
+He had uplifted his crucifix, sitting with bowed head before it, with
+so sad a face I could not forbear questioning.
+
+"Have you, then, such another tale in your life?"
+
+He did not look at me, yet hesitated not in reply.
+
+"Ay, 'tis true, yet not so pure a one.  I like not to dwell upon it
+even in thought; but you have trusted me, and we are here together as
+men of a common race in face of death.  Perchance our hearts may better
+comprehend each other through such confidences.  Do you care to hear my
+tale?"
+
+"I listen gladly, for in truth I know of nothing better to do," I
+returned uneasily.  "Pish! but I feel as if we were locked in a cell
+awaiting the headsman."
+
+"Yet God can open the doors even as He did for Peter," he said
+solemnly, fastening his eyes on the blue sky.  For a moment neither
+spoke; then the gentle voice took up the story, as if telling it over
+to himself.
+
+"I was not always of the black robe; only six years since I wore the
+blue and gold of a soldier of France in the dragoon regiment of
+Auvergne.  I came of good family, and was even known and trusted of the
+King.  But let that pass.  We were stationed at Saint-Rienes, in the
+south country, as fair a spot, Monsieur, as this world holds, yet
+strangely inhabited by those discontented under the faith of Holy
+Church.  But we rode rough shod over all such in those days, for it was
+the will of the King to crush out heresy.  'Tis a pleasure to see the
+shrinking of a heretic before the wrath of God.  Yet this tale has
+little to do with this service, however I love to dwell upon it.  As I
+said, we were quartered in garrison at Saint-Rienes, and it was there I
+first met Marie Fousard, the girl wife of a Captain in His Majesty's
+Guard.  She was a creature of beauty, Monsieur, with clear cheeks, lips
+of the rose, and great trustful eyes.  I was but a boy then, she not
+much older in years, but with that knowledge of the world and of men
+which enabled her to make poor, blinded fool--her helpless slave for
+evil.  Merciful Mary! how I did worship her!  To me she was as an
+angel; divinity lurked in her smile and found utterance upon her lips.
+I could have died at her word, happy to know it was her pleasure.  Yet,
+as I know now, all the love-making between us was no more than play to
+her; she merely sought to amuse herself with my passion through a dull
+season.  No, not quite all, for back of her smiles lurked a purpose so
+dark, so diabolical, 'twas not strange I failed to fathom it.  'Tis
+hard to associate crime with such young womanhood, to feel that evil
+thoughts lurk behind eyes soft with love and lips breathing tenderness.
+Yet behind the outer angel of Marie Fousard there was a devil
+incarnate.  I was blind, crazed, helpless to resist an evil I failed to
+perceive.  I loved her; in that passion all else was lost.  She had
+confessed love for me; in that was all the heaven I desired.  Little by
+little she fanned within my heart a hatred for the man whose wife she
+was, my comrade in arms.  I cannot relate the details, the stories of
+wrong, the lies, the upbraidings which turned my blood to flame,
+picturing him ever to me as a monster.  Ah, it means much, Monsieur,
+when such things are told with tears, when every sob rings in the ears
+as though crying for vengeance.  I listened, believing it all, until
+deep in my heart hate was born.  Once she showed me her shoulder, the
+white flesh discolored as if by a blow, swearing that he did it.  The
+sight maddened me to action.  I left her to seek him at the inn,
+cursing in my teeth, and caring not what happened, so I killed him.
+What boots now the insult offered which forced him to the field?  I can
+see his face yet, full of wonder at my words, doubting my very sanity;
+yet I saw only her and that bruised shoulder.  I would kill him, and I
+did, running my sword through his body, and gazing down remorselessly
+into his glazing eyes.  What cared I for aught but her?  It was a duel,
+fairly fought, and I was safe from censure.  God! in that hour it never
+came to me that it was foul murder; that I had stricken down an
+innocent man at the word of a harlot."
+
+He stopped, his white face buried in his hands, his slender form
+trembling.  I remained motionless.  With an effort he resumed.
+
+"I went back to her at our trysting-place, intoxicated by my deed,
+confident she would come to my arms in gratitude.  Instead she laughed,
+tore from her face the mask of innocence, called me fool, boasted that
+she had merely used me for her own vile purposes.  I shrank away,
+horrified by my deed, despising her, my love stricken dead.  In that
+moment my life was changed; I cared for nothing except to get away from
+my fellows, to expiate my sin in the sight of God.  I felt no interest
+in what became of her; I neither smiled nor wept, when, three days
+later, she married the prefect of that village.  All was over; the fire
+within me had become ashes."
+
+"But the woman? this Marie Fousard?"
+
+"She went her way, the broad road leading to destruction.  We met never
+again, yet I heard, for there were those eager to tell such things.  A
+year, and the prefect was dead of poison, but, before the gendarmes
+learned the truth, the widow fled by night taking much property.  One
+D'Anse was her paramour, a sub-lieutenant of hussars.  'T is all I
+know; they took ship together at Marseilles.  Mother of Mercy! wherever
+she lives it will be under the spell of the Evil One.  To my heart God
+hath brought peace, but for such as she there can be no peace; she hath
+been damned already."
+
+I know not how long we sat there motionless, our eyes on the sunlit
+valley, our thoughts on past years.  The father ran the beads swiftly
+through his white fingers, his lips moving noiselessly; but I found no
+such help, no such consolation in my struggle.  His story was forever
+ended; mine was not, the very scene beneath bringing home to me anew
+the desperate burden.  Oh, Eloise!  Eloise! what of fate awaited us in
+the coming night shadows?  What sacrifice of mine could bring to you
+life and liberty?  It is one thing to rush headlong into danger; a
+vastly different one to sit awaiting disaster which it is impossible to
+avert.  The desire to act, to attempt something, became an imperative
+passion, and I sprang to my feet.
+
+"Come, _pere_," I broke forth impatiently, "let us get back inside.
+Before we are aware it will be night, and we must learn first if there
+is any chance for escape.  We can dream no longer over the past.  Saint
+George! the present holds sufficient work for us to do."
+
+I bore him back in my arms and left him lying beside the savage priest,
+testing again on him the efficacy of prayer, while Cairnes and I fared
+forth to explore.  We sought long and painfully, trying the walls for
+some concealed opening, groping in the corners, and squirming through
+narrow crevices.  The effort was useless, except to convince us that
+the cavern had but the single entrance.  All we discovered was an
+assortment of odd weapons, war-clubs and stone-tipped spears, collected
+in one corner of the gallery.  Everywhere else were bare walls.
+Feeling like rats in a trap we dragged tired limbs back to the
+altar-room, our sole remaining hope a possible escape down the rocks
+under the early shadows of the night.  This might be accomplished if
+sufficient time were granted us, and if the good Lord guided.  It was a
+hope, a cheer to the spirits of the others, yet in, my own heart I
+counted little upon it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+NIGHT AND THE SAVAGES
+
+The hours of waiting dragged terribly.  We conversed little, all alike
+nervous, irritable under the strain of our desperate situation.  The
+Jesuit was much in prayer; but Cairnes fell asleep and twisted about
+uneasily, his head pillowed on his arm.  I could only pace the rock
+floor, harassed by bitter, useless thoughts.  What a memory picture it
+is!--the great bare cavern, with black interior only partially revealed
+by the gleam of the altar flame; the old savage huddled in his bonds,
+his baleful eyes glowing in the firelight as he watched every movement;
+the slender _pere_ close beside him upon his knees, his frayed black
+gown rendering more conspicuous the rapt, upraised face, his white
+fingers clasping the crucifix; beyond, Cairnes outstretched on the hard
+stone, his bulky figure motionless but for nervous twitching, his red
+hair glaring like a spot of paint.  I rejoiced that the fellow slept,
+for he rasped me with his ceaseless, senseless attacks on the Roman
+Church.  Yet the gentle-voiced priest had tamed his open hatred
+somewhat; so before he lay down the sectary sat long in moody silence
+staring at the other with glinting eyes, as though fit speech failed
+him.
+
+As the sun sank to the horizon I went forth again upon the platform,
+waving a blazing signal torch to the expectant groups below.  The sky
+overhead was blue, but to the north and east, as far as I could see for
+overhanging cliff, great masses of black cloud were showing ominously,
+their ragged edges emitting lightning flashes, although too distant for
+me to distinguish the thunder.  Below, in the valley, the approaching
+storm would not yet be visible; but from my aerie I prayed for a dark
+night, the swift approach of a battle of the elements.
+
+Arousing Cairnes, who was already awake but lying glowering at the
+unconscious priest, I despatched him to the jutting platform, with
+instructions to keep close watch on all movements in the village.  Then
+I busied myself with final preparations for our desperate sortie.  The
+earliest shades of evening would have to be utilized, for then only
+could we hope for a clear path.  Before those wild fanatics swarmed
+upward to their monthly sacrifice, we must traverse that narrow cliff
+path and penetrate the tunnel beyond as far as the underground altar.
+Nowhere between the cave entrance and that spot could I recall any
+place of concealment.  Inspired by this necessity, so soon as darkness
+began to blot the mouth of the cave, I bore the priest that way in my
+arms, although he begged earnestly to be left behind, saying he was a
+useless burden.  The slowly advancing clouds had not yet mounted high
+enough to obscure the moon, but hung densely massed across half the
+sky, low thunder echoing among the rocks, and jagged streaks of
+lightning tearing the gloom asunder.  The burly Puritan lay, a black
+silhouette against the silvered rocks, leaning far over, staring down
+into the void.  As I touched him, he turned his face toward me,
+pointing below with one hand.
+
+"We are securely blocked, Master Benteen," he asserted gruffly.  "A fit
+reward for associating with papists."
+
+"Blocked?" failing to comprehend.  "How?  Are the savages already
+astir?"
+
+"Look for yourself.  See yonder; lights are on the pathway as high as
+the tree-bridge."
+
+I dropped upon my knees, clinging to a bowlder, and peered over.  He
+spoke truth, and my heart rose choking into my throat.  Resembling
+innumerable fireflies tiny flames were gleaming along the entire front
+of the cliff--torches borne by human hands.  Breathless the three of us
+clung there staring down, each realizing the utter futility of our
+efforts at escape, yet none reckless enough to give the thought
+utterance.  The Puritan first found speech.
+
+"The spawn of hell!" he growled savagely, shaking his great fist,
+remembering the indignities of the altar-house.  "Good Lord, deliver us
+from this iniquity; lead us through the waters dry-shod, even as Thou
+didst Thy people of old from the land of Egypt."
+
+"Come," I said, "we must seek whatever hiding-place is within, and
+trust God for it."
+
+The priest looked at me pleadingly, his eyes like stars.
+
+"I would at such an hour you were of my faith, Monsieur."
+
+"I might do worse," I admitted, watching intently the lights on the
+cliff-path, "but it was not the teaching of my childhood.  There is one
+below whose prayers are as yours."
+
+"Madame de Noyan?"
+
+I bowed my head in gesture of reverence.
+
+"Yes, Monsieur, and whatever she loves is not far from my heart.  But
+come, we have scant time for preparation; no, do not endeavor to walk;
+your weight is nothing to my arms."
+
+There was no spot within where, even for a short period, we might hope
+to avoid discovery, except the rock gallery.  Here, crouching behind
+the parapet, we could see without being seen, unless some savage
+chanced to stray that way.  At my order the sullen, psalm-quoting
+preacher dragged the helpless old chief priest after him, and so we
+went groping forward through the darkness of the short passage, until
+we attained the stone steps.  Stumbling blindly upward, our hearts
+throbbing in realization of the peril that was closing us in, we flung
+our bodies flat behind the concealing rocks, peering fearfully forth
+into the great deserted chamber.  Even amid that lonely silence it was
+a sight to chill the heart; and to us, comprehending something of what
+it would soon reveal of savage orgy.  It was like gazing down into the
+mouth of the Pit.  The single touch of color in the drear picture came
+from the crimson drapery hanging over the edge of the raised platform.
+Seeing all this at one glance my anxious eyes sought the deeper gloom
+shrouding the tunnel leading toward the entrance.  As I stared that way
+a sudden flash of fierce lightning illumined it.  So brilliant it burst
+forth from the opaque night, I hid my blinded eyes, every nerve of my
+body quivering.
+
+"Great God!" burst forth Cairnes, his voice so close as to startle me.
+"'T is like the end of the world!"
+
+"Be still," I commanded hastily, pressing him flat, "there they come."
+
+A dozen flaming torches rounded the rock projection the lights
+glistening over the half-naked bodies of the bearers.  Saint Andrew! it
+was a weird sight, one to strike terror to the soul!  With gritted
+teeth, my heart pounding, I looked out upon it.  The leader was a
+priest, black from head to heel, his face showing devilish in the torch
+flare, his coarse hair matted high in horrid resemblance to some wild
+beast.  Behind surged a mob of warriors, women, and children, half-nude
+bodies striped with red and yellow, a malignant demoniacal crew,
+yelling and pushing under the flaming lights, rushing tumultuously
+forward to fling themselves prostrate before the altar.  It seemed they
+would never cease pouring forth from the narrow tunnel, a struggling,
+gesticulating stream.  Behind them lightning played in jagged streaks
+across the little patch of sky, and the black smoke of the torches
+curled upward to the roof.  Their appearance was not human, but that of
+demons incarnate; some ran upon all fours like wolves, gnashing their
+teeth and howling; many yelped in fiendish chorus; others brandished
+weapons aloft in the yellow flame, or lay, writhing like glistening
+snakes on the rock floor.  It was a pandemonium, a babel, an
+unspeakable hell.  To count was impossible, but the great room was
+filled with bodies, and rang with guttural, inarticulate cries.  The
+busily flitting priests stirred up the wood until the blaze leaped
+nearly to the roof, mumbling as they worked, the incessant moaning of
+the tribesmen deepening into a weird chant.  The frenzied singers leapt
+into the air, flinging their limbs about in wild contortion, their
+movements increasing in violence, their grotesquely painted faces
+becoming hellish from awakening passion.  They became brutes, fiends,
+whose only thought was cruelty.  I saw them strike each other with
+stone knives, slashing the flesh till blood ran.  Heartsick and
+trembling, I glanced aside at my companions.  The _pere_ lay clasping
+the stone, his eyes wide with horror, his countenance death-like;
+Cairnes was upon his knees, his great hands gripped, staring straight
+down like some animal crouching for a spring.
+
+It was when I turned back, loathing the sight yet unable to resist
+facing it, that I beheld for the first time those I sought--Eloise, De
+Noyan, and the Queen Naladi.  An instant I blinded my eyes with
+uplifted arm, half believing that the horror had turned my brain, that
+all this was vision.  Yet, as I ventured to look again, they were there
+before me in the flesh--Naladi all in red, a wondrous figure amid that
+spectral glow, tall, straight, with proud, imperious face, crowned by
+the brilliant hair, radiant and sparkling in the flame.  Beside her
+loitered De Noyan, like one who enjoyed a spectacle arranged for his
+pleasure, his face darkening somewhat as though the sight were not
+altogether to his liking, yet debonair and careless, his waxed
+moustaches standing forth conspicuous, his fingers in his waist-belt.
+About the two were ranged a fringe of warriors, their flint-headed
+spears rising an impenetrable wall, while farther behind, separated and
+alone, the light of the fire barely revealing her presence, stood
+Eloise, a savage guard on either side of her.  I caught the outline of
+her face, imprinted with horror, the lips moving as if in supplication;
+then I perceived something else--_her hands were bound_!  Smothering an
+oath, I crept back to the pile of weapons in the corner, gripped a
+war-club, and, returning as silently, thrust a second into the
+unconscious hands of Cairnes.  Our eyes met, the sectary nodding
+grimly, his jaws set like a steel trap.  If need should arise we would
+die fighting like cornered rats.
+
+Their yells reverberating to the vaulted roof, the smoking torches
+gyrating wildly above them, the throng of crazed fanatics were now upon
+their feet, crowding toward the platform, every tongue clamoring in
+incessant demand.  All was confusion, a medley of noise and motion,
+tossing arms, and painted faces.  Finally, I caught a glimpse of
+Naladi's red robe scarcely ten feet away, and behind her the
+countenance of De Noyan, still contemptuously smiling at that shrieking
+rabble.  God! my face burned, my grasp tightened on the club.  Yet I
+lay motionless, knowing well the time of sacrifice was not yet.
+
+The woman stood at the edge of the rock platform, gazing intently down,
+a silent, motionless statue, her red robe sweeping to her feet, and
+below her the crimson drapery; the flaring torches in the hands of her
+barbaric followers cast their light full upon her.  I stared at the
+strange creature, comprehending something of the power of passion such
+as she could exercise over De Noyan, causing him to forget all honor in
+her presence.  Saint Andrew! she was a witch, a hell-cat, whose smile
+was death.  Ay! and she was smiling then, a smile of cruel, unrelenting
+triumph, gazing down upon the howling slaves who should do her
+pleasure.  She knew them well, every superstition, every wild impulse,
+and she played contemptuously on their savagery.  Not fear, but
+command, was stamped upon her features; she ruled by legerdemain, by
+lie and trick, and she stood, the supreme she-devil, the master spirit
+in that raging hell.  It seemed to me my heart would burst as I waited,
+seeing nothing then of Eloise amid the crush, and compelled to gaze on
+that dominant scarlet figure.
+
+[Illustration: The woman gazing intently down, her red robe sweeping to
+her feet; below the flaring torches in the hands of her barbaric
+followers cast their light full upon her.]
+
+The cries of the multitude ceased, and a black-draped priest shouted
+unintelligible words.  Naladi listened, extending one hand.  Then her
+thin lips spoke a single sentence in the sharp tone of command.
+Instantly burst forth a fierce roar of disapproval; war-clubs pounded
+the floor, spears rattled as they were brandished overhead, while above
+the din I caught, again and again, the shriek, "_Francais_!
+_Francais_!"  The Queen shook her head, her fair face darkening, and
+glanced aside into the questioning eyes of De Noyan.  Below them the
+tumult increased, the mass surging forward and staring upward, every
+voice yelping that one term of hate, "_Francais_!"  There was no
+doubting the dread menace--they were demanding French victims for the
+torture of sacrifice; they clamored for white blood with which to
+sprinkle the altar.  I could dimly perceive now a dozen crouching
+slaves against the farther wall, the whites of their eyes showing in
+terror, and--oh, God!--there, to the right of them, alone, except for
+her burly guards, kneeling on the rock floor, with face hidden in her
+hands, was Eloise.  I half rose to my feet, my whole body pulsating
+with agony.  What was to be the ending?  What was that mad woman's
+purpose?  Could she control the fierce blood-lust of those savage
+fanatics?  If she cared to do so, would she dare test her power in so
+desperate a game?  If one must be sacrificed which would she spare, De
+Noyan or his hapless wife?  Looking at her, cold, cynical, lustful, her
+eyes still turned on his face, I felt no doubt.  Let the foul fiend
+choose! by all the gods, Cairnes should brain her where she stood, and,
+Heaven helping me to do the deed, the one I loved should never die by
+torture!
+
+She took her own time for decision, indifferently ignoring the howls of
+rage, her thin lips curling in contemptuous smile, her glance yet upon
+the startled Chevalier.  Laying her hand upon his sleeve, she said in
+French:
+
+"You hear the wolves howl, Monsieur?  They are mad for French blood."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders, staring into her expressionless face, then
+down upon the surging mob below.
+
+"Saint Giles! give them sufficient of something else," he replied,
+striving to pretend indifference, yet with a falter in his voice.  "You
+pledged us safety if we would accompany you here."
+
+"I pledged _you_ safety, Monsieur," she corrected haughtily.  "I gave
+no word of promise as to others.  Yet circumstances have changed.  I
+supposed then we had enough of victims to appease even such blood-lust
+as yelps yonder."
+
+"You mean the preacher and Benteen?"
+
+"Ay; they would suffice, with plenty of slaves for good measure.  But
+now, only two remain from which to choose.  _Sacre_! there are times
+when those dogs break away even from my control, and mock me.  I know
+not now whether one alone will glut their desire, yet I am of a mind to
+try the experiment before the wolves drag me to hell also.  Heard you
+ever such yelping of wild beasts?"
+
+"You would sacrifice me?" his face whitening from horror.  "You would
+give me to the knife and fire?  _Mon Dieu_! is this the end of all your
+vows?"
+
+She smiled, a cold, cruel smile, her eyes burning.
+
+"I did not say you," tauntingly.  "There is another here."
+
+He drew away from her grasp, lips ashen, eyes unbelieving.
+
+"Eloise!  _Mon Dieu_! not Eloise?"
+
+"And if not Eloise, what then, Monsieur?"  The low voice hardened,
+becoming oddly metallic.  "The wolves cry for blood--French blood.  Is
+it your wish to die together?  _Pardi_! if it be between you two, am I
+to have no choice which one I deliver?  Why should you shrink back like
+a baby at first sight of blood?  I thought you a soldier, a man.  Did
+you not tell me you loved her no longer? did you not swear it with your
+lips to mine?"
+
+He made no response, staring at her with eyes full of unbelief, the
+hideous uproar clanging about them in ceaseless volume.  Naladi's face
+flushed with rising anger.
+
+"Yet you do!  _Mon Dieu_, you do!" she panted, the tiger within
+breaking loose.  "Your words were a lie!  Here, look at me," extending
+her arms, the white flesh of her bosom clearly revealed in the parting
+of her drapery.  "Am I such as she? will I shrink like a coward,
+mumbling prayer and fingering rosary?  Am I afraid to work my will?  Am
+I not worth being loved?  Am I the kind you think to play with?  God's
+mercy!  I am minded to throw you both to the beasts.  No, no, not that;
+you dare not front me!  I make my own choice of who shall die and who
+live."  She laughed mockingly.  "Bah!  I know your sort, Monsieur--'tis
+as the wind blows; you love to-day, and forget to-morrow.  Yet I keep
+you for a plaything--I have no use for her.  I care no longer how the
+wolves tear her dainty limbs.  Before this I have tasted vengeance and
+found it sweet."
+
+He shrank before her fury, all conceit and audacity fled, and words
+failed him.  Not even yet could he believe it true, but she permitted
+no recovery.
+
+"You think I lie.  You think I threaten, but dare not act.  You think
+me a soft-hearted fool because I listened to your words of love.  By
+the gods! you shall learn better.  I have heard love words before; none
+ever spoke them to my ears without paying the price of deceit.  _Mon
+Dieu_! and shall you escape?  I can hate as well as love; strike as
+well as caress.  So you played with me, Monsieur? used me to pass a
+dull hour in the wilderness?  _Sacre_! 't is now my chance to sport
+with you.  You forget who I am--I, Naladi, Daughter of the Sun, Queen
+of the Natchez.  Look down! there are hands waiting to rend at my word.
+I will give them the girl-face for their blood-lust.  Seek to stop me
+if you dare!"
+
+Never can I forget the expression on De Noyan's face as he listened.
+Incredulity changed to loathing, then to despair.  As though the woman
+had snatched a mask from off her features he gazed now upon the demon
+soul revealed in all its hideousness.  Instantly all that was
+physically beautiful became loathsome from the foulness within.  He
+endeavored to speak, to protest, but all his recklessness had deserted
+him and he trembled like a leaf.  Already the gesticulating priests,
+thinking themselves cheated of their victims, were half way up the rude
+steps of stone; behind them surged the mob, screaming "_Francais_,"
+their torches waving madly.  Naladi laughed.
+
+"So your nerve fails, Monsieur," she sneered coldly.  "'Tis well it
+does, for you need expect no mercy from me.  I also hate the French."
+
+She turned from him, her arms outspread, the crimson drapery extended
+like wings.  The glare of a hundred torches reflected on her face, and
+her lips spoke one word of stern command.  Every voice ceased its
+howling, every form became motionless, the silence so sudden it was
+painful.  The woman stood above them, dominant; every eye was fastened
+upon her; the priests were prostrate on the stair.  I saw De Noyan
+leaning forward, his teeth clinched, his face death-like.  From wall to
+wall Naladi's gaze wandered; once she looked into his eyes, then down
+again upon the mob of savages.  Like the sharp hiss of a snake a single
+sentence leaped from her thin lips.  The effect was magical.  I
+scarcely realized the transformation, so rapidly was it accomplished.
+Confusion filled the chamber, yet out of the tumult I caught sight of
+Madame being driven toward the altar, her white face full of pleading,
+her hands, now freed, clasping her rosary.  De Noyan must have beheld
+her at the same instant.  With shout of rage he leaped recklessly
+forward, hurled aside the scarlet figure, and, uttering an oath, sprang
+on the parapet.
+
+"By God! you foul fiend of hell!" he screamed madly.  "I 'll fight for
+it; fight like a gentleman of France!"
+
+I leaped to my feet, Cairnes beside me.  Desperate as the chance was,
+we would be with him on that floor, with him smiting to the death.  Yet
+even as he poised for the leap downward the woman's scarlet arms
+struck, and he went over like a stone, crashing into a huddled heap on
+the rock floor.  Naladi laughed, leaning far out to look down, like a
+gloating devil.
+
+"Fight, you poor fool!" she exclaimed in French.  "_Sacre_! who struck
+hardest?"
+
+Sick, trembling like a frightened child, I dragged the dazed Puritan
+down again, crouching behind the stones.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+THE INTERFERENCE OF THE JESUIT
+
+I could look no longer on that hellish scene.  It seemed as if all
+strength, all manhood, had deserted me before the utter helplessness of
+our position.  There was nothing left except useless sacrifice--a
+moment's hopeless struggle, the sole reward death under the war-club or
+by torture.  God knows it was not myself I considered, but Eloise.  It
+was thought of her which so unnerved me, so paralyzed body and mind.
+The Puritan dropped his heavy hand on my shoulder.
+
+"Great Jehovah," he muttered, "look there!"
+
+How he ever made it I know not; how he ever crept on tortured stumps
+down those rude steps, and along the dark, rocky tunnel; how he ever
+succeeded in penetrating unscathed that howling mob of savages--yet
+there, in the very midst of them, fully revealed in the torch glare,
+his pallid, girlish face uplifted, but concealed beneath the shadow of
+his cowl, the silver cross gleaming in the light, beside Eloise, knelt
+the black-robed Jesuit.  Amid the sudden hush of surprise I overheard
+his voice, fearless, calm, unfaltering, as he gave the weeping woman
+sacrament of the Church.  A great brute struck at him; the frail figure
+reeled sideways to the force of the blow, but the words of prayer did
+not cease, nor his grasp on her hand relax.  Rallying from their
+astonishment, the warriors crowded in upon them, and a fanatical priest
+hurled the _pere_ headlong to the floor.  I saw a brandishing of clubs,
+a glitter of spears, yet the poor fellow came erect once more, his arm
+resting for support on the woman's shoulder.  It was all in a flash of
+time, like some swift transformation on the stage we could scarcely
+comprehend.  At the instant a voice spoke, ringing above the babel,
+which ceased suddenly.  I glanced involuntarily toward Naladi.  She
+stood leaning forward, her hands gripping the stone parapet,
+conflicting emotions playing across her face.
+
+As the torches, uplifted, gleamed brighter upon the motionless Queen,
+they revealed a look of perplexity, almost fear, in her cold eyes.
+What held her speechless?  Was it remembrance of another life, when the
+stern word of the Church had been law? or was she merely troubled by so
+mysterious an appearance, her guilty soul swayed by superstitious
+terror?  She was all too strange a riddle for my reading, but some
+occult power held her helpless, silent.  The vengeful cries of her
+savage followers died away into threatening murmurs; the _pere_
+remained motionless, one hand on Eloise's bowed head, his white face
+shadowed by the hood, calmly fronting her who had commanded quiet.
+Slowly he lifted one arm, the loose sleeve lending dignity and power to
+the simple gesture, his white extended hand seeming to have in it the
+authority of command.  A moment, heedless of the scowling, painted
+faces all about, the slight figure stood erect and firm, the dark eyes
+bearing witness to his earnestness, and never wavering from Naladi's
+scornful face.
+
+"Woman," he said calmly, even as I imagine Christ may have spoken of
+old, "release this prisoner, and make thy peace with God."
+
+She endeavored to laugh mockingly, yet only a hollow semblance came
+from between her white lips.  "Pah!" she cried nervously, "you speak
+bravely; pray, who gave you authority to give orders to the Daughter of
+the Sun?"
+
+"One greater than the Sun, woman," he answered.  "I speak to you in the
+name of Jesus of Nazareth, and by authority of the Holy Catholic
+Church."
+
+She leaned yet farther forward, as though seeking to penetrate the
+shadow concealing his face, a perceptible tremor apparent in her voice.
+
+"Who are you?  Answer me!"
+
+"I am called Father Ignatius, a priest of the Order of Jesuits."
+
+"And what do you suppose I care for your Romish orders?  They have no
+power here; a single wave of my hand would condemn you to the place of
+yonder slaves."  Her color rose in the wave of passion, sweeping fear
+aside.  "I have nothing but hatred for your black robe, and your
+interference only intensifies my purpose.  Mark you now what I say; if
+it be the will of my people to put this cringing French woman to the
+torture, I lift not so much as a finger to change her fate.  More,
+because of your insolence I give you also into their hands.  We take no
+orders from the Church of Rome."
+
+"Your people!" the words rang forth with such clearness as almost to
+bring me to my feet.  "You foul fiend of hell, do you think thus to
+impose your vile imposture on me?  I fear neither your power nor the
+cruelty of your savage satellites.  My life is in the hands of my
+Master, who will give me strength to mock your torture.  Two months ago
+I was bound to a stake in the valley below.  Ask these fiends, who do
+your bidding, whether I shrank back in terror, or made outcry as the
+flame ate into my flesh.  Gaze on these stumps blackened by fire, and
+learn how I value your threats.  Peace, woman, and no longer mock the
+faith of your childhood."
+
+"My childhood?  You know nothing of that!"
+
+"Do I not?  Look upon my face, and judge."
+
+He flung back his cowl, and the light fell full upon his countenance.
+Upon the silence broke a sharp cry, in which fear and surprise were
+strangely blended:
+
+"Andre Lafossier!"
+
+"Right, woman; you have not forgotten.  Sunk as you are in shame and
+evil deeds, conscience yet lives and haunts you.  What do I know of
+you?  Enough to justify calling you joint heir with all the fiends of
+hell, unless, like the thief on the Cross, repentance make white your
+black soul.  Yet, 'tis in my heart that yours is the sin against the
+Spirit for which there is no forgiveness.  Nothing in your face tells
+me of an awakening soul.  You are a Queen, you say?  Ay, of evil, of
+devils incarnate.  I would rather be this poor woman bound to the stake
+than you upon a throne.  Do your worst with us, but know that Andre
+Lafossier has nothing for you save disgust; still, as priest of Holy
+Church, I hold open the door of salvation through Jesus Christ."
+
+Evidences of struggle marked Naladi's face, yet by now she had
+outwardly conquered the first shock of recognition, and stood a cold,
+stately statue, with glittering eyes on the slender figure of the
+priest.
+
+"I care as little for your Romish mummery," she said sneeringly, "as I
+do for the senseless rites of these savages.  But I am glad it is you I
+have in my power.  If I am the queen of devils, they serve me well.
+You are to die, Andre Lafossier.  I might have spared you had you kept
+your tongue, but after those words you die.  I shall stand here and
+mock you to the last breath.  You say I have no soul; to-night you
+shall know it true while I laugh at your agony."
+
+She paused as if seeking to mark the effect of her words, but the
+_pere_ merely stooped slightly, whispering some message of comfort into
+the ear of Eloise.  Then he stood erect again.
+
+"As you will, woman; to die for Christ is gain."
+
+The face of Naladi, which had been pale and drawn, flushed, her eyes
+fairly blazing.
+
+"So you dare mock me, you hireling priest!" she hissed.  "'T is not for
+long; I am no snivelling French girl, afraid of blood.  And now I give
+you a taste of my power."
+
+As the words fell from her thin lips, she flung up one hand, exhibiting
+with a peculiar gesture a glittering metallic substance shining in the
+light.  It must have been a signal for unrestrained sacrifice, for it
+was greeted with fierce howls of delight, the savage herd pressing in
+upon the prisoners, so that I lost sight of them an instant in the
+crush.
+
+"Wait, woman!" rose the priest's voice above the uproar.  "I admit your
+power here to take physical life; I expect no mercy from such as you.
+But, if you be not lost to all shame, grant me one favor, Marie
+Fousard."
+
+"What?"
+
+"A moment of time in which I may give absolution to this child of God
+before we die."
+
+"Pish! is that all?  Go on with your fool mummery.  I will hold back
+the savages till that be done, though the sight of it will but anger
+them."
+
+Eloise had sunk down against the altar, with face buried in her hands.
+The _pere_ dropped upon his knees beside her.  About them surged the
+glistening forms of the savages, maddened with blood-lust, but Naladi
+clapped her hands, with voice and gesture bidding them wait her further
+word.  An instant they swayed passionately back and forth, their
+fanatical priests clamoring in opposition to this halting of vengeance.
+Then Naladi shook loose her hair, permitting its wealth to fall in a
+golden-red shower, until it veiled her from head to foot.  The silenced
+crowd stared as if in worship of the supernatural.  I know not what she
+said, uplifting her white arms from out that red-gold canopy, yet I can
+guess.
+
+"Natchez, I dare you to disobey the Daughter of the Sun!"
+
+Swept by a superstition stronger than hate, they flung themselves at
+her feet, prostrating their faces to the rock, grovelling like worms,
+heedless of all except her presence and her supremacy.  She was a
+goddess, one whose will was destruction.  Gazing down upon them,
+conscious of her power, her thin lips smiled in contempt.  'T was so I
+saw her last; so I shall always picture her in memory--a motionless,
+statuesque figure, covered with a veil of red-gold hair, her eyes like
+diamonds, her bare, white arms gleaming, her lips curved in proud
+disdain; a queen of savages, a high priestess of Hell.
+
+The sudden cessation of noise was awesome, uncanny.  It rendered
+manifest the ceaseless roar of thunder without.  Directly in front of
+me yawned the cave entrance, plainly illuminated by vivid lightning.
+Dreadful as was the spectacle, it yielded me a flash of hope--here
+opportunity pointed a path of escape.  With no pause for thought I
+whirled to arouse the Puritan, every nerve a-tingle with desperation.
+His deep-set eyes glowed like two coals, his square jaw projecting like
+that of a fighting bulldog.
+
+"Cairnes," I muttered, almost heedless of what I said in the necessity
+for haste.  "If we could attain the tree-bridge, we might hold the
+devils.  See! the way is clear!  What say you to the trial?  Will you
+bear the priest?"
+
+His grip tightened about the war-club, as he half rose to his feet like
+a maddened bear.
+
+"Saints of Israel! yes," he growled, "the Jesuit is a man."
+
+"Then come!"
+
+With one leap I was upon the floor; almost at the same second he landed
+beside me.  Twice I struck savagely at some obstructing figure, and in
+five strides was at the side of Eloise.  One shrill cry of warning from
+the lips of Naladi echoed through the chamber, and was answered by the
+yell of the warriors.  I was already clasping Eloise against my breast,
+and speeding toward the opening.  Not a savage stood between, and now,
+all hope centred upon the desperate race, I dashed forward down the
+rocky path, rendered hideous by the lightning.  All the fires of hell
+seemed swirling about us, writhing serpents of flame leaping from the
+sky, while fierce crashes of thunder echoed from rock to rock.  I
+scarcely heard or saw.  Below yawned the abyss, black with night; above
+stretched solid, overhanging stone, painted by green and yellow flames.
+I realized nothing except that ribbon of a path, the need of haste, the
+white, upturned face in my arms.  God! was ever such a race as that run
+before?  Did ever men dash headlong over such a path of death?  No one
+need ask how it was done; how speeding feet clung to the narrow rock.
+I know not; I never knew.  Twice I stumbled, sobbing in despair, yet
+ran on like a madman.  Under the glare of the lightning I leaped
+downward where I had crept in climbing; protruding splinters of rock
+tore my clothes, bruised my body; my forehead dripped with
+perspiration, my breath came panting, yet I ran still, her form crushed
+against my breast.  I shudder now in the recollection; then I scarcely
+knew.  Ahead loomed black the tree-bridge; but I recall no shrinking
+fear, only exultation, as I bore down recklessly upon it.  It must be
+crossed, upright, swiftly, with no thought of the yawning depth.  If
+death came we should go down together.
+
+"Eloise, steady me with hand against the cliff," I panted, and stepped
+forth boldly upon the trunk.  My moccasoned feet gripped the rough bark
+firmly, yet I swayed horribly under my burden, as I footed the
+treacherous way.  Again and again I felt myself swaying wildly, yet
+some power held us, until, at last, I stood on solid rock, utterly
+unable to essay another yard.  Panting for breath, my arms yet clasping
+the motionless figure of Eloise, I glanced backward in apprehension.  I
+could perceive Cairnes footing the log, the head of the priest showing
+black and distinct above his broad shoulder; beyond, a medley of dark
+figures appeared to dance dizzily along the cliff face.  I staggered to
+my knees.  With a growl of relief the Puritan dropped his burden.  The
+next instant he had one great shoulder under the tree root.  Heaving
+with all his mighty strength he slowly moved the great trunk, and I saw
+it topple over into the abyss; I saw his burly figure tottering on the
+very brink--then one awful flash lit up the sky, so blinding me that I
+sank face downward on the rock.  The cliff shook as if riven from crest
+to valley, a single peal of thunder reverberating like the report of a
+thousand guns.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD
+
+I may have lost consciousness; I do not know.  That awful glare, the
+thunderous report, the speechless terror of feeling myself a mere pygmy
+in the midst of such tremendous convulsions of nature, shocked me into
+momentary insensibility.  I lay huddled against the rock like a man
+dead, one arm yet clasping the motionless form of Eloise.  Stunned,
+unable to move a muscle, I believed death had overtaken us all; that
+out from the very heavens a bolt had stricken us down.  I struggled
+painfully to arouse myself, every nerve in my body appearing paralyzed.
+At first I could not even see, but light came back gradually to my
+blinded eyes, and I staggered to my feet, slowly adjusting my mind to
+the situation.
+
+I began to understand then what had happened--that deadly bolt had
+smitten the cliff as by the wrath of God, yet I was spared.  I still
+lived, as by a miracle.  I stared across the chasm and up the steep
+ascent beyond, still clearly revealed in the lightning flashes.  It was
+vacant; not a human form stood where those pursuing savages had been.
+A cry burst from my lips as I gazed--a vast, irregular gash showed
+clearly in the cliff face, but where the entrance to the cave had
+yawned was a solid front of rock.  I staggered with the shock, reeling
+on the very edge of the path, and barely saved myself by dropping to my
+knees.  Again I looked, half believing my brain crazed, that I beheld
+visions.  As God guards me, it was true!  Out of the very heavens He
+had struck, sealing those fiends into a living tomb.  Trembling like a
+frightened child, I bowed my face and sobbed as I prayed for mercy.
+
+I know not how long I lay unable for either thought or action.  But at
+last I was upon my knees again, creeping forward to where a black
+figure lay at the very edge of the chasm, one arm dangling over the
+brink.  I drew the inert body back to safety, peering down into the
+white face of the priest.  My touch seemed to arouse him into
+consciousness, his dark eyes staring up into my face.  I helped him to
+sit up and lean back against the wall.  An instant he gazed about
+wildly, like one suddenly awakened from sound sleep, then hid his face
+in his hands.
+
+"The Puritan--" I questioned--"the man who bore you here--what happened
+to him?"
+
+He shuddered, and pointed into the black abyss.
+
+"'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
+his friends,'" he quoted solemnly.
+
+"He went down?"
+
+He bowed his head silently, his fingers searching for his crucifix.  I
+sat staring at him, crushed into helplessness.
+
+In a few moments I felt the pressure of his fingers.
+
+"The Lord hath preserved us as by fire," he said in low, solemn tone,
+"He hath ridden upon the flaming skies in his chariot, accompanied by
+angels and archangels.  'T is ours to bless His holy name."
+
+I gazed into the rapt, boyish face, and said:
+
+"On my knees have I already acknowledged His mercy.  I am not
+ungrateful."
+
+The troubled countenance brightened with a quick smile.
+
+"God is most good," he murmured; "He hath spared us that we may
+continue to honor Him, and do His work.  The woman--does she also live?"
+
+The question brought me instantly to my feet, wondering how I could
+have neglected her so long.  But before I could advance to where she
+lay, she sat partially up, her face turned toward us.
+
+"Eloise," I cried, the heart joy apparent in my voice.  "Good God!  I
+had forgotten."
+
+She held forth her hand, her eyes smiling.
+
+"I hold that not strange," she answered, the soft voice faltering
+slightly.  "I saw you groping like a blind man, yet could neither move
+nor speak.  I lay helpless as if paralyzed.  Tell me what has happened."
+
+I held her hand, falling upon my knees beside her, my eyes searching
+her sweet face.
+
+"A lightning bolt smote the cliff," I explained rapidly, "rending the
+solid rock.  Master Cairnes was hurled headlong into the chasm, and our
+pursuers were swept from the path.  The very mouth of the cavern has
+been forever sealed."
+
+"The cavern?" as if stifled, her eyes opening wide.  "They--they are
+buried alive?"
+
+"I doubt if any lived to know," I answered soberly.  "'T is likely
+those within were crushed to death."
+
+She dropped her face into her hands, sobbing hysterically.  Unable to
+speak, I bowed my head until it touched her shoulder.  The crippled
+priest crept toward us, forgetful of his own pain in the call of duty.
+
+"Daughter," he said tenderly, stroking her brown hair with his slender
+fingers, "to live or die is as Christ wills.  The Lord gave, the Lord
+hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Be of good comfort,
+remembering these words of promise, 'Lo!  I am with you alway, even
+unto the end of the world.'"
+
+She looked up through the mist of her tears, first into his face, then
+into mine.
+
+"I have passed through much," she confessed simply, "yet 'tis not the
+spirit but the body which has become weakened.  Forgive me, both of
+you."
+
+"Brave heart!" I echoed, caring nothing for the presence of the father.
+"No woman ever upbore grievous burden better.  If we rest first, you
+will regain courage to go on."
+
+Both her hands were resting trustfully in my own.
+
+"With you," she acknowledged softly.  "In all confidence with you."
+
+We sat there until the coming of dawn, speaking only seldom, our very
+thoughts holding us silent.  Occasionally I could feel Eloise's hand
+touch mine as if she sought thus to be reassured of my presence, and I
+could distinguish an inarticulate murmur from the priest's lips, as if
+he continually counted his beads in prayer.  The glare of lightning
+gradually ceased, the storm passing away to the westward with distant
+reverberations.  Yet clouds overcast the skies, leaving the early
+morning hours dark and cheerless.  With the first faint glow of day
+lighting the pathway, I stood up, dizzy at viewing the awful abyss
+below our narrow shelf.  We could perceive now more plainly the
+terrific havoc wrought above, but our eyes turned away from it in
+horror.  We must linger there no longer, but press forward with
+whatever of courage remained.
+
+"I must ask you to attempt to walk alone, Eloise," I said regretfully,
+"as I must bear the _pere_, whose limbs are crippled."
+
+Her startled eyes were filled with womanly sympathy.
+
+"Crippled?  Was it done last night in the storm?"
+
+"No, a month ago; he was tortured at the stake in the village below.
+Ever since then he has been held prisoner for sacrifice."
+
+"Do not worry, daughter; my wounds are not worthy your tears," broke in
+the soft voice; "they are but a small part of my debt to Him who
+perished upon the cross.  Yet I think I might manage to walk, Monsieur,
+without assistance.  Surely, with God's help, I can master the pain."
+
+"Make no attempt," I said; "your slight figure will prove no burden to
+me.  It was of Eloise I thought."
+
+"Then do so in that way no longer," she burst forth eagerly.  "I have
+been trouble enough to you, Geoffrey.  I will not consent to remain
+helpless.  See!  I can stand alone--ay, and walk; even this great
+height does not render my head dizzy."
+
+We advanced slowly and cautiously down the path, feeling yet the
+exhaustion of the night.  The way proved less difficult than we
+expected.  The tunnel was by far the hardest portion, as we were
+compelled to grope the entire distance through intense darkness,
+guiding ourselves with hands against the wall.  Having little fear that
+any of the tribe remained to dispute our passage, we conversed freely
+and cheerfully, avoiding all unnecessary reference to the recent
+tragedy.  We emerged from the dark hole somewhat before noon, making
+use of the entrance leading through the altar-house.  The sight of the
+deserted platform reminded us of the Puritan, and as I glanced aside at
+Eloise, her gray eyes were filled with tears.  A fire smouldered on the
+altar, waiting replenishment from hands that would labor no more; and
+we gladly hurried from the gloomy interior to the sunlit slope without.
+
+The desolate, deserted village presented a scene of loneliness
+impossible to describe; not a figure was moving among the huts, no sign
+of life anywhere.  We discovered an abundance of food, and partook of
+it in the open.  Eloise appeared unwilling to accompany me, so I went
+alone to explore the mystery of Naladi's house, leaving her assiduously
+ministering to the needs of the priest.  My search was rewarded by the
+discovery of my lost rifle, with what remained of ammunition, together
+with a variety of feminine garments with which to replace those sadly
+soiled and tattered ones Madame wore.  The desire was in the hearts of
+us all to get away as soon as possible, to put behind us that desolate
+spot, those deserted houses, and the haunting cliff.  The _pere_ had
+constructed, during my absence, a pair of rude crutches for his use;
+and, so soon as Eloise had more becomingly clothed herself, we
+departed, bearing such provisions as we could conveniently carry.  With
+the gun in my possession, I expected no great shortness in the food
+supply.  Madame carried it at first, however, as we made swifter
+progress by my taking the father on my shoulder.  He was no great
+burden, his weight scarcely more than that of a child.
+
+In this manner we tramped steadily forward through the bright sunshine,
+along canals filled with clear, cool water, and across fields no longer
+tilled by slaves, until we discovered the secret path which led forth
+from this death valley.  A moment we paused, glancing back toward the
+village, and up at the frowning front of rock, the tomb of the Natchez.
+Then silently, soberly, as befitted those who had witnessed an act of
+God, we pressed on into the labyrinth, shutting out forever that scene,
+except as a hideous memory.  To me the change was like entering upon a
+new world; I was a prisoner released, breathing once again the clear
+air of hope and manhood.  Burdened as we were, the passage through the
+tangled cedars to where the stream flowed down the canyon proved one of
+severe exertion.  When we finally attained the outer rocks, with the
+sullen roar of the falls just below, I was breathing heavily from
+exhaustion, and a flush had come back into Eloise's pale cheeks.  Very
+gladly I deposited the priest in a position of comfort, and the three
+of us rested in silence, gazing about upon the wilderness scene.  We
+had spoken little to each other regarding the future; under the
+depressing influence of that dread valley we felt incapable of thought,
+our minds yet dazed by the tragic events we had experienced.  Even now
+I constantly saw before me the faces of Cairnes and De Noyan, scarcely
+able to banish their memory long enough to face intelligently the
+requirements of the present.  Yet now it must be done.  The _pere_ sat,
+with crutches lying across his rusty black robe, his girlish features
+softened by a look of infinite peace; Eloise leaned against the rock in
+a posture of weariness, her bosom rising and falling with tumultuous
+breathing.  I recalled to mind the leagues of desolate wilderness yet
+to be traversed.  Possibly I indulged unconsciously in outward
+expression, for the priest gazed across at me.
+
+"The sun is still sufficiently high for considerable travel, my son,"
+he remarked quietly, "and you will require daylight for the earlier
+part of your journey."
+
+"It was upon my mind, but I scarcely knew how best to proceed."
+
+"Possibly my experience may guide you.  The way should not prove unduly
+fatiguing after you pass the falls," with a wave of the hand downward,
+and a slight smile.  "I wandered here alone up that valley, seeking the
+Indian village somewhat blindly, discovering much of interest on the
+way.  Would that my own future path led me through such ease; but 'tis
+mine to go whithersoever the Lord wills.  However, my discoveries will
+be of value.  Slightly below the falls, concealed beneath an
+outcropping rock, you will find several stanch Indian boats.  The
+lightest one will transport safely the two of you, together with what
+provisions you require.  The current runs swiftly, yet a strong,
+skilful hand on the steering oar should bring you through without
+mishap."
+
+We both stared at him, greatly puzzled by his strange speech.  Eloise
+was first to speak in protest.
+
+"What do you mean by two of us?  Do you deem us dastards enough to
+leave you here alone?"
+
+He smiled into her face with the tender smile of a woman, and held up
+his shining silver crucifix.
+
+"Daughter," he said modestly, "my work is not yet done.  Upon this
+symbol I took solemn oath to live and die in faithful service to the
+heathen tribes of this river.  Would you have me retreat in cowardice?
+Would you have me false to the vows of my Order? to the voice of the
+Master?"
+
+"But you are crippled, helpless, in continual pain!"  She crossed
+hastily to him, dropping upon her knees at his side.  "Oh, _pere_, we
+cannot leave you; it would mean death."
+
+His slender fingers stroked her brown hair, his eyes alight with the
+fire of enthusiasm.
+
+"Whether or not I am worthy of martyrdom, God knows.  All I see is my
+plain duty, and the beckoning hand of the bleeding Christ.  Daughter,
+you are a child of the true Church; your pleading should never retard
+the labor of the priesthood.  My suffering is nothing, my life nothing,
+if only through such sacrifice souls may be rescued from the consuming
+flames of hell."
+
+She could not speak, but sobbed, her face hidden.
+
+"Where do you go seeking other tribes?" I asked hoarsely, scarcely
+believing his words.
+
+He arose with difficulty to his feet, holding himself erect on the rude
+crutches.  I noticed now, for the first time, a bag of woven grass
+hanging at his girdle.
+
+"Yonder, Monsieur, to the westward," a new dignity in his manner as he
+pointed up the narrow canyon.  "There are tribes a few days' journey
+away.  I have learned of them, without being told their names.  To
+such, under God, I bear my message of salvation."
+
+"But you will starve on the journey."
+
+"I carry food here," touching the bag.  "It will suffice; if not, there
+are berries and roots in abundance.  My Master has always fed me in the
+wilderness."
+
+What more could I say or do to change his purpose?  It was a girlish
+face fronting me, yet the thin lips were pressed tightly together, the
+dark eyes fearless and resolute.  I laid my hand on Eloise's shoulder.
+
+"It must be as he says," I acknowledged regretfully.  "We can but
+depart."
+
+She arose slowly to her feet, her eyes still sadly pleading.  The
+_pere_ gazed questioningly into both our faces, the rigid lines of his
+mouth softening.
+
+"My daughter," he said, in calm dignity, "we of a desert priesthood are
+ordained unto strange duties, and unusual privileges.  Do you love this
+man?"
+
+A wave of color surged into her cheeks, as she gave one rapid glance
+aside into my face.  Then she answered in all simplicity:
+
+"Yes, _pere_, from childhood."
+
+Resting upon his crutch, he touched her with his hand.
+
+"Yet he who perished yonder was your husband.  How came you thus to
+marry, with your heart elsewhere?"
+
+"It was the desire of my father, and the will of the Church."
+
+He bowed his head, his lips moving in silent prayer for guidance.
+
+"Then the will of the Church hath been done," he said humbly.  "Here in
+the wilderness we perform the will of God, untrammelled by the councils
+of men.  'T is my dispensation to bury the dead, baptize the living,
+and join in marriage those of one heart.  It is not meet that you two
+journey together except with the solemn sanction of Holy Church."
+
+My pulses throbbed, yet I could only look at her, as she stood
+trembling, her eyes downcast, her cheeks burning.
+
+"But--but, _pere_, will it be right?" she faltered faintly.
+
+"Let the dead past bury its dead," he answered gravely.  "I hold it
+right in the name of Christ, from whom I derive authority.  Geoffrey
+Benteen, take within your own the hand of this woman."
+
+'T is but a dream, our standing there together in the sun; a dream,
+those words of the marriage rite spoken by him in the desolation and
+silence of the desert.  We knelt together upon the stones, hand
+clasping hand, while above our bowed heads were uplifted the priest's
+thin, white hands in benediction.  Whether or not in that hour Andre
+Lafossier exceeded his authority I cannot tell.  In heart we were
+joined of God; our union has never been questioned of man.
+
+We stood there watching, longing to prevent the sacrifice, as he moved
+away from us slowly upon his crutches.  It was a pitiful sight, that
+slender figure, in frayed, tattered black robe, going forward alone,
+and in agony, to death or torture.  It was in my heart to cry after
+him, but she understood far better the mighty motive of his sacrifice,
+and restrained me with uplifted hand.  Far up the canyon, he paused a
+moment and glanced back.  The distance already veiled his face, but up
+into the sunlight he lifted the silver crucifix.  Then he
+disappeared--to endure his fate in Christ's name.  Then, hand in hand
+and heart to heart, our voices silent, Eloise and I went down into the
+valley to where the boats lay.  The dead past was behind us; the future
+was our own.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Prisoners of Chance, by Randall Parrish
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