The Lily and the Totem; or, The Huguenots in Florida
Page 42
CHAPTER II.
The congratulations of his people were yet resounding in his ears, whenthe savages brought him further intelligence of Frenchmen gathered uponthe borders of that bay which had arrested the progress of the previousdetachment. They were represented to be more numerous than the first,and Melendez did not doubt that they constituted the bulk of Ribault'sforce under the immediate command of that leader. He proceeded toencounter him as he had done the other party, but on this occasion heincreased his own detachment to one hundred and fifty men. These heranged in good order during the night, along the banks of the river,which the Huguenots had begun their preparations to pass. They had beenat work upon the radeau or raft which had been begun by the precedingparty, but their progress had been unsatisfactory, and the prospect ofthe passage, in such a vessel, over such an arm of the sea, was quiteas discouraging as to their predecessors. With the dawn, and when theydiscovered the force of Melendez on the opposite shore, the drumssounded the alarm, the royal standard of France was advanced, and thetroops were ranged in order of battle. Poor Ribault still observed theexternals of the veteran, if only to conceal the real infirmities whichimpaired the moral of his command.
Seeing this display of determination, Melendez, with proper policy,commanded his people to proceed to breakfast without any show ofexcitement or emotion. He himself promenaded the banks of the river,accompanied only by his admiral and two other officers, as indifferentlyas if there had been no person on the opposite side. With this, theclamors of the French tambours ceased--the fifes were allowed to takebreath--and in place of the warlike standard of their country, thecommander of the Huguenots displayed a white flag as sign of peace, andhis trumpets sounded for a parley. A response from the Spanish side ofthe river, in similar spirit, caused one of the Frenchmen to advancewithin speaking distance, upon the raft, who requested that somebodymight be sent them, as their radeau could not contend against thecurrent. A pirogue was finally sent by the Spaniard, which brought overthe sergeant-major of Ribault. This man related briefly the necessitiesand desires of his commander. He was totally ignorant of all that hadtaken place. He had been wrecked, and had lost all his vessels; that hehad with him three hundred and fifty soldiers; that he was desirous ofreaching his fortress, twenty leagues distant; and prayed the assistanceof the Spaniards, to enable him to do so. At the close, he desired toknow with whom he was conferring.
Melendez answered as directly as he had done in the previous instance,when dealing with the first detachment. He did not scruple to add to thenarrative of the capture of La Caroline, and the cruel murder of itsgarrison, the farther history of the party whom he had encountered inthe same place with themselves.
"I have punished all these with death;" he continued; and, still furtherto assure the officer of Ribault of the truth of what he said, he tookhim to the spot where lay in a heap the exposed, the bleached anddecaying bodies of his slaughtered companions. The Frenchman lookedsteadily at the miserable spectacle, and so far commanded his nerves asto betray no emotion. He continued his commission without faltering; andobtained from Melendez a surety in behalf of Ribault, with four or sixof his men, to cross the river for the purpose of conference, with theprivilege of returning to his forces at his leisure. But the adelantadopositively refused to let the Frenchmen have his shallop or bateau. Thepirogue, alone, was at their service. With this, the French generalcould pass the strait without risk; and he was compelled to contenthimself with this. The policy of Melendez was not willing to place anylarger vessel in his power.
Ribault crossed to the conference, accompanied by eight of his officers.They were well received by the adelantado, and a collation spread forthem. He showed them afterwards the bodies of their slain companions.He gave them the full history of the taking of La Caroline, and thetreatment of the garrison, and brought forward the two Frenchmen,claiming to be Catholics, whose lives had been spared when the rest weremassacred. There was something absolutely satanic in the conduct of theSpaniard, by which Ribault was confounded. He was not willing to believethe facts that he could not question.
"Monsieur," said he to Laudonniere, "I will not believe that you designus evil. Our kings are friends and brothers, and in the name of thisalliance between them, I conjure you to furnish us with a vessel forreturning to our country. We have suffered enough in this: we willleave it in your hands entirely. Help us to the means necessary for ourdeparture."
To this Melendez replied in the very same language which he had used tothe preceding detachment:
"Our kings are Catholics both; they hold terms with one another, but notwith heretics. I will make no terms with you. I will hold no bonds withheretics anywhere. You have heard what I have done with your comrades.You hear what has been the fate of La Caroline. You behold the corses ofthose who but a few days ago followed your banner; and now I say to youthat you must yield to my discretion, leaving it to me to do with you asGod shall determine me!"
Aghast and confounded, Ribault declared his purpose to return andconsult with his people. In a case so extreme, particularly as he hadwith him many gentlemen of family, he could not undertake to decidewithout their participation. Melendez approved this determination, andthe general of the French re-crossed the river.
For three hours was the consultation carried on in the camp of ourHuguenots. Ribault fully revealed the terrible history of what hadpassed, of what he had heard and seen in the camp of the Spaniards.The cold and cruel decision of Melendez in their case, as in thatof the previous troops, was unfolded without reserve. There wereno concealments, and, for a time, a dull, deep and dreary silenceoverspread the assembly. But all had not been crushed by misfortuneinto imbecility. There were some noble and fierce spirits whose heartsrose in all their strength of resolution, as they listened to thehorrible narrative and the insolent exaction.
"Better perish a thousand deaths, in the actual conflict with a thousandenemies, than thus submit to perish in cold blood from the stroke of thecowardly assassin!"
Such was the manly resolution of many. Others, again, like Ribault, weredisposed to hope against all experience. The fact that Melendez hadtreated them so civilly, that he had placed food and drink before them,and that his manners were respectful and his tones were mild, wereassumed by them to be conclusive they were not to suffer as theirpredecessors had done.
"They were beguiled with the same arguments," said young AlphonseD'Erlach; "arguments which appealed to their hunger, their thirst, theirexhaustion, and their spiritless hearts--arguments against truth, andcommon sense and their own eyes. He who listens to such arguments willmerit to fall by the hands of the assassin."
We need not pursue the debate which continued for three hours. At theend of this time, Ribault returned to the landing.
"A portion of my people," he said, "but not the greater number, areprepared to surrender themselves to you at discretion."
"They are their own masters," replied Melendez; "they must do as theyplease; to me it is quite indifferent what decision they make."
Ribault continued:
"Those who are thus prepared to yield themselves have instructed me tooffer you twenty thousand ducats for their ransom; but the others willgive even a greater sum, for they include among them many persons ofgreat wealth and family;--nay, they desire further, if you will sufferit, to remain still in the country."
"I shall certainly need some succors," replied Melendez, "in order toexecute properly the commands of the king, my master, which are toconquer the country and to people it, establishing here the HolyEvangel;--and I should grieve to forego any assistance."
This evasive answer was construed by Ribault according to his desires.He requested permission to return and deliberate with his people, inorder to communicate this last response. He readily obtained what heasked, and the night was consumed among the Huguenots in consultation.It brought no unanimity to their counsels.
"I will sooner trust the incarnate devil himself, than this Melendez,"was the resolution of Alphonse D'Erlach
to his elder brother. "Go not,_mon frere_, yield not: the savage Floridian has no heart so utterlystony as that of this Spaniard. I will peril anything with the savage,ere I trust to his doubtful mercy."
And such was the resolve of many others, but it was not that of Ribault.
"What!" exclaimed one of his friendly counsellors--"he has shown you ourslain comrades, butchered under the very arrangement which he accords tous, and yet you trust to him?"
The infatuated leader, broken in spirit, and utterly exhausted in thestruggle with fate, replied:
"That he has freely shown me what he has done, is no proof that hedesigns any such deeds hereafter. His fury is satiated. It is impossiblethat he will commit a like crime of this nature. It is his pride thatwould have us wholly in his power."
"He hath fed on blood until he craves it," cried Alphonse D'Erlach. "Yougo to your death, Monsieur Ribault. The tiger invites you to a banquetwhere the guest brings the repast."
He was unheard, at least by the Huguenot general.
"We will leave this man, my friends," cried Alphonse D'Erlach, thestrong will and great heart naturally rising to command in the momentof extremity. "We will leave this man. _Quem Deus vult perdere priusdementat._ He goes to the sacrifice!"
And when Ribault prepared in the morning to lead his people acrossthe bay, he found but an hundred and fifty of all the force that hecommanded during the previous day. Two hundred had disappeared in thenight under the guidance of D'Erlach.