of value to him, and give him cause to welcome my
return with the greater joy."

"Take thou whatever time is necessary for thy business, and I will
await thy pleasure. If it so please thee I will accompany thee and thy
savages to the River of May, and visit once more the ruins of that
stronghold that the Spaniards boasted could not be captured by the half
of France. The ships shall go outside and meet us at the mouth of the
river."

Rene gladly agreed to this proposition, and De Gourges continued:

"As for making greater thy uncle's joy when he again beholds thee, I
doubt if that will be possible; for he will have no eyes nor thoughts
save for thyself. It may be, however, that these same papers will
prove of greatest value to him, for he is in sore straits for want of
evidence to make good certain claims. It is not forth-coming, and he
alleges that it was destroyed by the Spaniards when they captured Fort
Caroline. Be that as it may, he who should be loaded with honors and
riches now suffers obscurity and poverty, and perchance thou art the
very one who will bring him relief."

It only deepened Rene's love for his uncle to learn that he was in
trouble, and increased his desire to hasten to him. Thus it was with
the greatest impatience that he awaited the coming of the daylight,
that should enable them to go in search of the hidden papers.

The next morning Rene and De Gourges were rowed in one of the ship's
boats to the shell mound, where the war-party of Alachuas was encamped.
Here the boat was dismissed, and the French admiral was given a place
in the young chief's own canoe. He was highly delighted with this, to
him, novel mode of travelling, and was also greatly interested in the
grim Indian warriors by whom he was surrounded. Their unmistakable
devotion to their young chief touched him deeply, and he said to Rene,

"I know not if, after all, thou hast not found thy truest happiness in
this wilderness."

That night they encamped at the foot of the very bluff on which Rene
had been captured by the Seminoles. The next morning he and his
new-found friend, accompanied by Yah-chi-la-ne and E-chee, ascended the
river to the fort which had lately been the scene of such thrilling
events. Now, ruined and deserted, it was destined to be forever
abandoned to its own solitude.

Although it filled Rene with sadness to witness this ruin of what had
once been a home to him, and in the building of which he had ta