They made no movement to lessen the distance between themselves and the white men.
At length Elias Rody and Oluski stood face to face.
A close observer might have detected signs of fear in the governor"s countenance.
Despite his a.s.sumed boldness of bearing, he found it hard to look into the face of the man he had so cruelly wronged.
It was he, however, who first broke the silence so painful to himself.
"What does Oluski wish to say to me?"
"What is the meaning of this?" asked the chief, pointing to the mansion as he spoke.
"That is my new residence."
"By what right have you built it on this ground?"
"By the right of possession--bought and paid for?"
Oluski started as if a shot had struck him.
"Bought and paid for? Dog of a liar! What do you mean?"
"Only that I have built my house upon land purchased from you. Your memory appears bad, my old Indian friend."
"Purchased from me? When--how?"
"Do you already forget the guns, powder, and valuables I gave you? Fie, fie! you are trying to cheat me! Surely you must remember your bargain!
But if your memory fail you, these gentlemen," here Rody pointed to the settlers, "these gentlemen are prepared to certify to the truth of what I say."
Oluski only groaned.
The audacious treachery of the white man was beyond his simple belief.
Wacora, burning with indignation, spoke for him.
"False wretch, the lie these men are ready to swear to is too monstrous to be believed, even were they upon their oaths! Those gifts were thrust upon my uncle, falsely bestowed as the lands he gave you were falsely claimed for services done to him! Your black heart never conceived a generous thought or a just deed! All was for a treacherous end--the betrayal of this n.o.ble-minded chief, as much your superior as the Deity you profess to worship is above the white man himself! Wacora despises you! Wacora has said it!"
He drew Oluski towards him, and stood erect and proud in the consciousness of right before the trembling usurper and his adherents.
The aged chief had recovered himself while his nephew was speaking.
"What Wacora has said is good, and he only utters my own thoughts. I came here ready to receive atonement for the wrong done me and my people. I now see that there is a darker depth of treachery in you, even than this which has robbed a confiding man of his best-loved possession. I, Oluski, the Seminole, spit at and despise you! I have spoken!"
With a kingly dignity the old chief folded his blanket around him, and leaning on his nephew"s arm, slowly departed from the spot.
Rody and his followers, as if transfixed by the withering contempt with which the Indians had treated, them, suffered the two to depart without molestation.
They now redoubled their watchfulness, stationed additional sentinels around the stockade, and looked after the arms and ammunition, with which they would, no doubt, have to defend the usurped possession.
The small cloud that had been slowly gathering over the settlement was growing dark and portentous. The soft breeze was rapidly rising to a storm.
The people of the settlement, alarmed by the news of the interview between Rody and the Indian chief"s, which spread rapidly among them, hastened to take measures for the safety of their families. The women and children were hurriedly brought in from the outlying plantations, and lodged in temporary abodes within the stockade, whilst provisions in plenty were carried to the same place.
The war signal had sounded, and before long the work of carnage would commence!
CHAPTER TWENTY.
STILL ANOTHER SORROW.
Disappointed and chafed, the two chiefs returned in all haste to the Indian encampment.
But few words had been spoken between them on their way from the hill.
A firm pressure of his uncle"s hand was proof that Wacora, once embarked in the impending contest, would remain faithful to its end.
It needs no speech among true men to establish confidence. Between the two chiefs it was mutual.
As they neared the spot where the tribe had pitched their tents, an unusual excitement was observable. Men and women were conversing in little groups, animated apparently by the receipt of some startling news.
The two chiefs at first imagined that the result of their interview was already known; but on reflection, the impossibility of the thing became apparent to them, and their surprise was extreme.
All at once they saw Nelatu hastening towards them.
The young man seemed ready to drop as if from fatigue. His looks told that he was a prey to the keenest anxiety.
On arriving before the two chiefs, he was for some moments unable to speak.
Words rose to his tongue, but they found no articulate utterance. His lips seemed glued together. Drops of sweat glistened upon his brow.
The father, with a dreadful prescience of new sorrows, trembled at the sight of his son.
"Nelatu," he said, "what anguish awaits me? Of what fresh disaster do you bring the tidings? Speak! speak!"
The young Indian again essayed, but only succeeded in muttering "Sansuta!"
"Sansuta! What of her? Is she dead? Answer me!"
"No; she is not dead. Oh! father be calm--have courage--she is--"
"Speak, boy, or I shall go mad! What of her?"
"She is gone!"
"Gone! Whither?"
"I have sought her everywhere. I only heard of her departure after you left the encampment. Bury your tomahawk in my brain if you will, for I have been the cause."