the crouching panther
steals upon her prey, while peal after peal came the frightful cries of
barbaric conflict, the shrieks of the wounded--a wild, victorious shout
blended with a hopeless dying scream.

With a master's touch he played upon their vibrant feelings; not a key
of human emotion he left unsounded fame, pride, hate, love and
death--his song expressed them all.

Thoroughly frenzied, warrior after warrior now began to join him in the
ring; voice after voice caught up the dread refrain which terrorized
the trained soldiery of Europe and filled their imaginations with the
nameless horrors of unrelenting war.

High above the din Tuskahoma lifted now his ferocious battle cry;
advancing upon the blazed sapling he sank his tomahawk deep into the
soft white wood, then moved swiftly out of the circle to his own fire.
This was the act by which he announced his assumption of supreme
authority.

Frantic with excitement the unleashed throng rushed upon this fancied
enemy, and soon but the mangled fragments and the roots marked where it
had stood.

And the forest slumbered and the sentry paced his lonely path.

It is not my purpose to speak in detail of those matters of history
which have been so much better described by men of learning. I would
merely mention in passing such smaller affairs as relate directly to my
own narrative.

Short and sharp was the conflict which, under God, gave our arms the
victory at Pensacola. Swarming over the palisades or boldly tearing
them down, the Choctaws, led by Tuskahoma, swept the Spaniards from
their works. It so happened that Tuskahoma and I mounted the
fortifications together. As I essayed to drop down upon the inside my
sword belt caught upon the top of a picket, leaving me dangling in mid
air, an easy prey to those below had they only noticed my plight.
Tuskahoma paused to sever the belt with his knife, and by this accident
I was first within the Spanish works, sword and pistol in hand. Soon a
hundred were by my side.

The Spanish troops, inured to civilized warfare, could not stand before
these yelling demons, springing here and there elusive as phantoms,
wielding torch and tomahawk with deadly effect.

In the very forefront, shoulder to shoulder, with a laugh and a parry,
a lunge and a jest, fought the Chevalier de la Mora. Merry as a lad at
play, resolute and quick, I could but stop betimes to wonder at the
fellow. Gallant, gay and debonnair, he sang a rippli