The Flamingo Feather

by Kirk Munroe

  CHAPTER XIII

  ARRIVAL OF JEAN RIBAULT

  As the fugitives from Fort Caroline lay inside the mouth of the Riverof May, awaiting the calming of the great seas that broke in columnsand hills of foam on its bar, and for a favorable wind with which toput out to sea, they attempted to strengthen their crazy vessel andrender her more seaworthy. Already her seams, calked with moss andpitch, had opened in so many places that she leaked badly, and onlyconstant labor at the pumps kept her afloat.

  Laudonniere had no hope of a successful termination of their voyage,and as he shared his fears with Le Moyne and Rene de Veaux, these threefound little consolation in the thought of leaving the river andembarking upon the turbulent sea that promised them only a grave. Theyhad no choice, however, but to go on with the rest; for to remainbehind would be to fall into the hands of the savages, and thus meetwith a more terrible death than that offered by the sea.

  For several days they awaited the opportunity to depart, and at lengthit came. The great waves subsided, the wind blew from the rightquarter, and spreading all their sorry showing of canvas, the littleband of white men carried their vessel over the bar, and putting boldlyout to sea, bade farewell, as they thought forever, to the shores onwhich they had suffered so greatly.

  But other things were in store for them, and their voyage was soonbrought to an end; for, as they were fast losing sight of the land, andit showed only as a low-lying cloud in the west, the ship suddenly rangwith the thrilling cry of "Sail, ho!" All eyes were eagerly turned tothe white speck seen far away to the southward, and its probablecharacter and nationality were anxiously discussed. Many feltconfident that it was one of the ships of Admiral Ribault, bringing thelong-expected reinforcements, but as many more felt certain that it wasa Spanish ship. If it should prove to be the latter they could expectonly death or cruel captivity, for, being Huguenots, they knew that nomercy would be shown them by the Spanish Catholics.

  As they watched the sail with straining eyes it was joined by anotherand another, until they beheld a goodly fleet bearing down upon them.Only constant labor at the pumps kept their own wretched craft fromsinking, as she crept on at a snail's pace compared with the rapidadvance of the on-coming fleet, and those on board of her knew that inany case flight was impossible. Nor were they in a condition to defendthemselves against an attack from even the smallest of the approachingships. Therefore there was nothing left for them to do but pray thatthose who came might prove friends and not enemies.

  At length Laudonniere, whose cot had been brought on deck, pronouncedthat by their rig and general appearance the ships they watched werenot French. Upon this a feeling of dull despair seized upon all whoheard him, for they thought, if not French, they must certainly beSpanish ships.

  In a moment, however, this despair was changed into the wildest joy,for from the mainmast-head of the foremost ship there flew out upon thefreshening breeze, not the cruel yellow banner of Spain, but the braveblood-red ensign of England.

  Shouts of welcome burst from the throats of Laudonniere and his men.They danced about the deck as though crazed by the thoughts of theirgreat deliverance, and most speedily they ran to their own mast-headthe lily banner of France. Its appearance was the signal for a roar ofkindly greeting from the cannon of the leading English ship, which wassoon afterwards hove-to at a distance of less than half a mile fromthem.

  The English fleet proved to be that of the brave Sir John Hawkins, thebluff old sea-king whose very name was a terror to all Spaniards. Hewas on his way back to his own country from one of the famous cruisesto the Spanish Main and the West Indies that were even then making himworld-renowned. He had captured many Spanish ships laden with treasurein gold and silver from the mines of Mexico and Peru, and when helearned of the sad plight of the Chevalier Laudonniere and his people,he promptly offered to give them a ship in which they might safelyundertake a voyage to their own country. Moreover, when he was toldhow slender was their store of provisions, he furnished the ship whichhe was about to give them with a supply of food that would last themfor several months.

  In the name of King Charles IX of France, Laudonniere, who had againassumed command of his little company unquestioned by the mutineers,thanked the brave Englishman for his great kindness to them, andaccepted his generous gifts. Then the English fleet, with a partingsalute from its loud-mouthed cannon, bore away and resumed its homewardvoyage. At the same time the Frenchmen started back for the River ofMay, where, under shelter of the land, they proposed making thetransfer of their property from their own crazy craft to the stout shipwhich they had received from the English admiral. Thus it happenedthat the sunset of that eventful day found them in the very same placefrom which they had so willingly departed that morning, and had neverexpected to see again.

  At this time Laudonniere made another earnest effort to induce his mento return to Fort Caroline, and there await patiently the arrival ofJean Ribault, now that they had a supply of provisions and a good ship,but to no avail.

  Simon, the armorer, expressing the sentiments of all the rest, saveonly Le Moyne and Rene de Veaux, said,

  "What with fightings and fevers, we are in no condition to drive outthe savages who have doubtless ere this entered into full possession ofFort Caroline. If we did regain the fort, what could we do save remainthere until this heaven-sent store of provisions should be exhausted?and then would we not be in as sad a plight as before? No, yourExcellency, let us return to our own land while we may, and not lingerhere longer in the hope of succor which seems likely never to be sent."

  So Laudonniere, having numbers against him, was forced to accept thesituation as he had done before, and the work of transfer from onevessel to the other proceeded rapidly.

  When it was accomplished, and they were ready to start on their secondventure, the elements were again against them, and for a week they wereconfronted by an impassable wall of foam-crested billows, breaking androaring upon the bar in the most tumultuous confusion.

  Late one afternoon, when their patience had become well-nigh exhaustedby this tedious delay, all hearts were thrilled by the report of afleet of ships seen far out at sea, but approaching the land. Ananxious night followed, for again were the members of the little bandtorn with conflicting fears and hopes. Were the ships French, English,or Spanish? Daylight only could bring an answer to the question.

  At length it came, and as the sun rose, its earliest beams fell uponseven tall ships riding easily at anchor outside the bar. From eachwas displayed in the golden light the fair lily banner of France.

  At this glorious sight there was indeed joy on board the ship ofLaudonniere. At last the long-looked-for reinforcements had come.There was no more talk of mutiny, nor of abandoning the country. Nowthe cry was, "Ho for Fort Caroline, and destruction to the savages!"

  Crowding all sail upon their newly acquired ship, and with its gunsfiring salutes of welcome, and banners flung to the breeze from everypoint, they sailed out over the still tumultuous bar to greet thenew-comers from their own land. It was indeed Admiral Jean Ribault andhis fleet of succor for the little colony. On board his flag-ship_Trinity_, a joyful meeting took place between him and his trustedlieutenant, the brave Laudonniere, who, supported by Rene de Veaux andLe Moyne, found strength to carry himself thither.

  The admiral was highly indignant when he heard of the mutiny, and wouldhave punished the mutineers severely had not Laudonniere pleaded forthem, giving their sufferings and their despair of the arrival ofreinforcements as their excuse.

  The closest attention was paid to the tale of the brave deeds of Renede Veaux. At its conclusion the admiral sent for him, and caused himto blush as ruddily as his sun-tanned cheeks would permit, by highlycommending the courage and wisdom he had displayed on his journey tothe land of the Alachuas. In conclusion the admiral said, "Did thyyears warrant it, thou shouldst receive thy knighthood, for never didsquire more worthily earn it. For the future thy welfare and speedypromotion shall be the especial
charge of Jean Ribault."

  For such words as these from such a man, Rene felt that he would gladlyface, single-handed, the whole Seminole band; and for the rest of thatday he conceived himself to be the happiest boy in the world.

  Only one of Admiral Ribault's ships was of such light draught asenabled her to cross the bar, and so this one, with that ofLaudonniere, was obliged to transfer all the newly arrived colonistsand supplies to Fort Caroline. This labor occupied many days, for thethree hundred new colonists had brought with them a vast amount ofprovisions, munitions of war, tools, and articles of every descriptionnecessary for the building and equipping of other forts in the NewWorld, and all this had to be brought in over the bar and carried upthe river.

  When the new-comers first caught sight of the fort they were grievouslydisappointed to see it dismantled and deserted. As they approached itmore closely they obtained a glimpse of a few savages who were stillsearching for plunder within its walls, and from these they gainedtheir first impressions of the inhabitants of the New World.

  Rene was made very happy by the return to the fort, for he said tohimself, "It will soon be time for Micco's people to come again totheir own hunting-grounds. Then I shall again see Has-se, and mayhap Ishall be able to persuade him to go with me some day to France."

  His thoughts were soon to be of other things, for even at this time aterrible storm which had long been gathering was about to burst uponthis little band of Huguenots. Even as they busied themselves sohappily in restoring their fort and planning a settlement that shouldflourish forever as a refuge for the persecuted of their religion, apowerful enemy, and one who was even more cruel than powerful, was onthe way to destroy it and them. Don Pedro Menendez, with a fleet ofthirty-four ships and three thousand troops, had been sent out to theNew World by the King of Spain. He was ordered to take and holdpossession of all the country then known as Florida, which extended asfar north as the English settlement in Virginia, and had no westernlimit. He was to build a fort and found a city; but first of all hewas to discover and destroy the colony of heretics who were reported tohave established themselves within this territory.

  Soon after Ribault's coming the Spanish fleet arrived on the coast, andsailing northward they discovered the French ships, late one afternoon,lying at anchor off the mouth of the River of May. At midnight theytoo came to anchor within hailing distance of the French fleet, and atrumpet was sounded from the deck of the _San Palayo_, the Spanishflag-ship. It was immediately answered from the _Trinity_, and fromthe deck of his own ship Menendez inquired, with great courtesy,

  "Gentlemen, whence comes this fleet?"

  "From France," was the reply.

  "What is its object here?"

  "To bring men and supplies to a fort that the King of France has causedto be built in this country, and to establish many more in his name."

  "Be ye Catholics or heretics?"

  "We be Huguenots, and who be ye who askest these many questions?"

  Then came the bitter answer, "I am Don Pedro Menendez, admiral of thisfleet. It belongs to the King of Spain, his Majesty Don Philip II, andI am come to this country to destroy all heretics found within itslimits, whether upon sea or land. I may not spare one alive, and atbreak of day it is my purpose to capture your ships and kill allheretics they may contain."

  Upon this Ribault and his men interrupted the proud Spaniard withtaunts and jeers, begging him not to wait until morning before puttinghis threat into execution, but to come at once and kill them.

  So greatly did this provoke the Spanish admiral that he ordered hiscaptains to cut the cables of their ships, and make an instant attackupon the French fleet, though the night was intensely dark. He was soenraged that he rushed about the deck of his own ship like a madman,and assisted with his own hands in forwarding the preparations forbattle. In a few minutes the entire Spanish fleet bore down upon thesix French ships; but the crews of these had not been idle, and beforetheir enemies could reach them they too had cut their cables, hoistedsail, and stood out to sea. For the rest of the night the Spaniardschased them, but Ribault's superior seamanship soon placed him at asafe distance from the pursuers, who at daylight gave over the chaseand turned back towards the River of May, intending to make an attackupon Fort Caroline.

  In the meantime word had been sent to the fort by Admiral Ribault ofthe coming of the Spanish fleet, when it was first sighted, andLaudonniere had collected his entire force at the mouth of the river,and planted there a number of heavy guns. Here he proposed to disputethe landing of the enemy, and if possible to prevent his crossing thebar, just inside of which he had anchored his two small vessels, sothat their guns commanded the narrow channel.

  When Menendez returned from his unsuccessful pursuit of Ribault'sships, and saw these warlike preparations, he felt that it would beunwise to attempt to land his troops through the surf, or to force thepassage of the bar, and so he ordered his captains to proceed southwardto the River of Dolphins. When it was reached, the smaller vesselscrossed the bar at its mouth, and came to anchor opposite the Indianvillage of Seloy, where Rene de Veaux had first set foot upon the soilof the New World, and where he had received the name of Ta-lah-lo-ko.

  Here Menendez determined to build his fort, and found a city which hehoped to make the capital of a great and glorious kingdom, and fromwhich he proposed to conduct operations against the Huguenots of FortCaroline. On the day after his arrival he landed with the greatestpomp and ceremony, and claimed possession of the country in the name ofthe King of Spain. As he did so all the cannon of the ships lying inthe river were discharged at once with a mighty roar, which wasanswered by a distant booming from those anchored far out at sea. Atthe same time all the trumpets were sounded, and the air was filledwith the exulting shouts of the soldiers, and with hymns of praisechanted by a great company of priests. At the same moment the greatstag that stood in front of the council-house of the Indians was torndown from the tall pole on which it was uplifted, and the cross wasraised in its place.

  So terrified were the simple-minded Indian inhabitants of the villageby this sacrilege, and the great noise of the rejoicings, that theyknew not which way to turn or flee, until they were seized by thebrutal soldiers, and either killed or set to work with the negro slavesbrought from the West Indies in throwing up fortifications. After thustaking possession of the country, Menendez proclaimed that the newcity, founded upon the smoking blood-stained ruins of the pleasantlittle Indian village of Seloy should be called "San Augustin," whichname it bears to this day, and that the River of Dolphins should bethereafter known as the "San Augustin River."

  When the bewildered chief of the Seloy Indians found that these strangewhite men were about to destroy his village, he made a bitter protestagainst their cruelties; but he was no more regarded than if he hadbeen a barking dog. They would have killed him, but he gatheredtogether a few of his chosen warriors, and with them fled forprotection to his white friend Laudonniere, at Fort Caroline, whichplace he reached the next day.

  He had some difficulty in gaining admittance to the fort, for since itsattack by the Seminoles its garrison were suspicious of all Indians,and had it not been for Rene de Veaux he would have been driven away.Rene happened to be near the gate when the sentinel challenged thenewcomers, and recognizing the good old chief who had been so kind tohim, and whom he knew to be a friend of his uncle, ordered the sentryto admit these Indians, at the same time pledging his own word fortheir good faith.

  When Rene learned the importance of the tidings brought by thesefugitives, he at once conducted the chief to Laudonniere, on whom thefever still retained such a hold as to confine him to his room.

  The poor old chief told his pitiful tale to Laudonniere, and begged hispowerful aid in driving away these wicked white men, who had treatedhim so differently from all others who had landed at his village.Promising to do what he could, Laudonniere at once despatched amessenger down the river to Admiral Ribault, who had returned with hisships and again la
y at anchor beyond the bar.

  In answer came an order for all the fighting men of Fort Caroline tojoin the fleet immediately, as the admiral proposed to sail southwardand attack these impudent Spaniards ere they had time to erectfortifications, or so strengthen their position that to attack it wouldbe useless.

  Then came a time of tremendous bustle and excitement within the fort.There were men hurrying hither and thither gathering their weapons,women and children screaming and crying--for many of these had beenbrought out with the new colonists--and dogs barking.

  Rene de Veaux begged his uncle to permit him to accompany the fightingmen, but Laudonniere said "No," that the order did not include boys,and he could be of greatest service by remaining within the fort.

  So the fighting men marched away to join the fleet, leaving FortCaroline to be defended only by the old, the sick, the women, and thechildren. Besides the commandant and Rene de Veaux, among those whoremained behind were Le Moyne, the artist, and old Simon, the armorer,to whom was given the command of the guard.