them all, and kindly persuade them to my will with a lash. They--"

"Hold there!" cried Réné, as he turned towards the sergeant with
flashing eyes. "An thou speakest another word in such strain of those
who have favored us with naught save kindness, I will report thee to
that same lash of which thou pratest so glibly."

The astonished sergeant muttered something by way of apology, but Réné,
not waiting to hear it, hurried away to report to his uncle the result
of his mission to the prisoner, and then to his own quarters to think
over the startling proposal made to him by his friend.

The next morning Has-se had disappeared, and was nowhere to be found.
With a troubled countenance the sergeant of the guard reported to
Laudonniere that he had looked in on the prisoner at midnight, and
found him quietly sleeping. He had visited the room again at sunrise,
and it was empty. The sentinels at the gates, and those who paced the
walls, had been closely questioned, but declared they had seen nobody,
nor had they heard any unusual sound. For his part he believed there
was magic in it, and that some of the old Indian witches had spirited
the prisoner up the chimney, and flown away with him on a broomstick.

Although troubled to find that his prisoners could thus easily escape
from the fort, Laudonniere was relieved that the disposal of Has-se's
fate had thus been taken from his hands. He said to Réné, "I am glad
that thy friend has escaped, though I like not the manner of his going,
and I trust he may come to no harm. I would, however, that we had been
able to send a company, or even one man, with him to this land of the
Alachuas of which he told thee, for mayhap we might thus have obtained
provision; but without a guide, I know not how it could be discovered."