fore the rescue must be effected by
cunning and not by mere valor; but take thou careful note of the
locality, and bring again word to me. If there is any chance of
success in attacking it, we will then send forth a war-party that shall
blot from existence this plague-spot."

Gladly did the brave Yah-chi-la-ne set about the execution of this
order; and within an hour he and his war-party of twenty picked braves,
of whom Has-se was the first chosen, were ready to start on their
dangerous mission.

During that hour E-chee, who was to be their guide, had bathed in the
life-giving waters of the spring and eaten a hearty meal; so that he
now felt like a new man, and equal to any amount of fresh hardships and
fatigue.

In the darkness of the early night the little party entered their
canoes, and with lusty strokes of the paddles started swiftly up the
narrow river towards the terrible swamp, and the more terrible scenes
that it concealed.

E-chee occupied the foremost canoe with Yah-chi-la-ne and Has-se; and
as they sped onward he told them at greater length than before of the
tragic events of the past few days, and of the captivity of
Ta-lah-lo-ko.

He also told the story of his own escape, which would doubtless have
interested the Seminoles greatly could they have heard it. Having made
up his mind that if he was to be of service to the young white chief he
must set about it immediately, he had determined to attempt an escape
on the very night of his arrival at the Seminole village. As he knew
that he would not be permitted on any account to pass the guard at the
end of the trail, he conceived a plan that would draw the sentinel from
his post for a few moments, and as soon as darkness came on proceeded
to put it into execution.

He simply procured a billet of heavy water-soaked wood, that would sink
like a stone, and carried it, undiscovered, to a thicket on the edge of
the island near the end of the trail. There he flung his Seminole
head-dress of feathers upon the ground, chanted a few notes of a
death-song, cried out that he was thus about to rejoin his own people,
and threw the billet of wood into the dark waters, where, with a loud
splash, it instantly sank from sight. Then he crept noiselessly from
the spot, and when the sentinel reached the thicket he had gained the
unguarded trail, and, without waiting to listen to the comments upon
his supposed suicide, made off with all speed. He had happily
succeede