prepared to greet them upon their arrival. When Réné and his uncle,
followed by a company from the ships, landed, they were received with
shouts and extravagant gestures of joy by the friendly Indians, and
conducted by them to the top of a hill upon which Admiral Ribault had set
a pillar of stone engraved with the French coat of arms. They found it
twined with wreaths of flowers, and surrounded by baskets of maize,
quivers of arrows, and many other things that the kindly Indians took
this means of offering to their white friends.

Not far from this point Laudonniere selected the site of his fort, and
work upon it was immediately begun. He named it Fort Caroline, in honor
of King Charles IX of France, and about it he hoped to see in time a
flourishing colony of French Huguenots.

After all the stores and munitions had been landed from the ships, they
sailed for France, leaving the little company of white men the only ones
of their race in all that vast unknown wilderness. As Laudonniere
remained in command of Fort Caroline, Réné de Veaux of course remained
with him, and thus became the hero of the surprising adventures that will
be related in the chapters that follow.




CHAPTER II

A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE

The building of Fort Caroline occupied about three months; and during
this time the friendly Indians willingly aided in the work of preparing