success in so doing.

"Ha!" exclaimed Chitta, interrupting his chief at this point, "I may,
in that case, be of service to thee, though I am as yet untried in
battle." Then he told Cat-sha a secret that was known to but few of
his people, and which he himself had only discovered by accident. It
was the same that Has-se had declined to confide to Réné when the
latter questioned him as to the manner of his escape from the fort, and
it was indeed a secret of the utmost value to enemies of the white men.

Cat-sha listened attentively, and when Chitta had finished he
exclaimed, "Well done, my young brave! Thy serpent's wisdom is already
proving of value to us. What thou hast just told me makes clear our
plan of attack upon this nest of pale-faces, and removes one of the
chief difficulties in our way. Having this information, I regard the
fort and all that it contains as already in our power. We have only to
bide our time. Well may the white man tremble; for ere many days the
tiger, guided by the serpent, will spring at his throat."

As they talked, their attention was directed to a dark moving mass
floating down the river, close under its bank. Cat-sha soon pronounced
it to be a fleet of canoes filled with people, and they watched them
with eager curiosity.

It was, indeed, the tribe from which Chitta had fled, moving, under the
leadership of their chief, Micco, towards the land of the Alachuas,
where food in abundance awaited them. At the outset of their journey
they kept as close as possible under the river-bank, to avoid
observation from the white men in Fort Caroline, who, they feared,
might oppose their departure if they learned of it. It was not until