looking for the lad in the archway before he became convinced that he
was gone. Even then he considered that Réné was only endeavoring to
tease him by thus slipping away, and muttering something about a boy
being as full of mischief as a monkey, the soldier shouldered his pike
and once more resumed his measured pacings up and down the archway.

At the edge of the forest Réné stopped, drew from his bosom a note that
he had written before leaving his room, and thrust it into the end of a
cleft branch that he stuck into the ground near the end of the bridge.
It was addressed to his Excellency the Chevalier Laudonniere,
Commandant of Fort Caroline, and its contents were as follows:


"MY DEARLY BELOVED UNCLE,--Doubtless I am doing very wrong in thus
leaving the fort and undertaking an important mission without thy
sanction. It would seem, however, that circumstances are peculiarly
favorable to my success in this matter, and I feared lest thou wouldst
forbid the undertaking, out of a tender regard for my youth and
inexperience. I go with the Indian lad Has-se, my friend, to the land
of the Alachuas, on a quest for provisions for the fort. In case of my
success I will return again at the end of a month, or shortly
thereafter. If I fail, and return no more, I still crave thy blessing,
and to be remembered without abatement of the love thou hast ever
extended to me. No person within the fort has aided me in this matter,
nor has any one of thy garrison knowledge of my departure.

"I remain, dear uncle, with sincerest respect and deepest love, thy
nephew,

"RÉNÉ DE VEAUX."