The Flamingo Feather

The Flamingo Feather

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Flamingo Feather, by Kirk
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Title: The Flamingo Feather
Author: Kirk Munroe
Release Date: May 2, 2005 [EBook #15746]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
FLAMINGO FEATHER ***

Produced by Al Haines

[Frontispiece: Arrival of Admiral Ribault's Fleet]

THE FLAMINGO FEATHER
BY

KIRK MUNROE

Author of "SNOWSHOES AND SLEDGES," "THE PAINTED
DESERT," "WAKULLA," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON

THE FLAMINGO FEATHER
COPYRIGHT, 1887, BY HARPER & BROTHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY KIRK MUNROE
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
L-Y

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
RÉNÉ DE VEAUX II. A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE III.
CHITTA'S REVENGE IV. HAS-SE IS HELD PRISONER V. THE
ESCAPE OF HAS-SE AND RÉNÉ VI. THE JOURNEY IN SEARCH
OF FOOD VII. CHITTA BECOMES A SEMINOLE VIII. ON THE

TRAIL IX. A TRAP AVOIDED AND FRIENDS DISCOVERED X.
MUTINY AT FORT CAROLINE XI. RÉNÉ'S RETURN XII.
ABANDONING THE FORT XIII. ARRIVAL OF JEAN RIBAULT
XIV. A NIGHT OF TERROR XV. RÉNÉ IN THE HANDS OF HIS
ENEMIES XVI. HAS-SE RECEIVES THE TOKEN XVII. DEATH
OF HAS-SE (THE SUNBEAM) XVIII. THE FRENCH HAVE COME
AGAIN XIX. THE OLD WORLD ONCE MORE

ILLUSTRATIONS
ARRIVAL OF ADMIRAL RIBAULT'S FLEET . . . Frontispiece
RÉNÉ SLIPPED QUICKLY THROUGH THE GATE
"FAREWELL, TA-LAH-LO-KO!"
THE DEATH OF HAS-SE

The Flamingo Feather
CHAPTER I
RÉNÉ DE VEAUX
On a dreary winter's day, early in the year 1564, young Réné de Veaux,
who had just passed his sixteenth birthday, left the dear old chateau
where he had spent his happy and careless boyhood, and started for
Paris. Less than a month before both his noble father and his gentle
mother had been taken from him by a terrible fever that had swept over
the country, and Réné their only child, was left without a relative in the
world except his uncle the Chevalier Réné de Laudonniere, after whom
he was named. In those days of tedious travel it seemed a weary time to
the lonely lad before the messenger who had gone to Paris with a letter
telling his uncle of his sad position could return. When at length he
came again, bringing a kind message that bade him come immediately

to Paris and be a son to his equally lonely uncle, Réné lost no time in
obeying.
He travelled like a young prince, riding a spirited steed, and followed
by a party of servants, mounted and armed to protect him against
robbers and other perils of the way. Behind him rode old François, who
had been his father's valet and was now his sole friend and protector.
The big tears rolled down the boy's cheeks as he turned for a last look
at his home; but as it was shut from view by the trees of the park
surrounding it, he brushed them away resolutely, and turning to his
companion, said,
"Thou hast seen the last of my tears, François, and with them goes my
boyhood; for hereafter I am to be a man, and men know not how to
weep."
"Well spoken, my young master," replied the old servant, greatly
pleased at the brave words of the lad. "Thou art already a man in
feeling, and thine Uncle Laudonniere will presently make thee one in
fact, if the tales that come to us of his valorous deeds be true, and there
is naught to disprove them."
"Tell me of him, François; for though he is my only uncle, I have but
little knowledge of him or his deeds. Of what nature are they?"
"Well, then, he is a mighty navigator, and 'tis but little more than a year
since he returned from the New World, whither he sailed in company
with his Excellency Admiral Jean Ribault. He brings strange tales of
those wonderful lands beyond the sea, and rumor has it that he is
shortly to set forth again for them with a noble company, who will
establish there a sanctuary for our blessed Protestant faith."
The boy's interest was thoroughly aroused by this, and he plied the old
servant with questions concerning his uncle and the New World.
François answered these to the best of his ability, and even drew largely
upon his imagination to aid his glowing descriptions of those distant
lands of which the men of that day held such vague knowledge.

With such talk they beguiled much of the tedious journey, that
occupied a week ere it was