They had seized it, slipped past the
unsuspecting guard, and thus safely accomplished the first stage of
their difficult undertaking.
As they lay concealed in the thicket, awaiting a later hour of the
night, and for the revellers in the village to seek their lodges,
fortune again favored them. Dense black clouds gradually spread over
the sky, one by one the stars disappeared, the air grew thick and
heavy, until at length, with a blinding flash, a terrific thunder-storm
burst upon the village. Taking advantage of the intense darkness, the
three made their way swiftly, but with every precaution against
discovery, among the now silent lodges until, guided by E-chee, they
reached the rear of the palmetto hut in which Rene was confined.
The lightning revealed to them the motionless figure of a warrior
standing in front of it, and E-chee, lying flat on the wet ground, with
a keen-headed arrow fitted to the string of his bow, was left to watch
him. Upon the slightest alarm being given, the arrow would have found
its way to his heart, and the three, taking Rene with them, would have
attempted a desperate flight. As long, however, as all remained quiet
and they could work undisturbed, they were to try another plan.
While E-chee kept watch, Yah-chi-la-ne and Has-se, with the knives
given them by Rene, attempted to cut an entrance to the hut through the
thick thatch at its rear. Fortunately the rain, which beat upon them
in torrents, prevented any slight sounds they might make from being
heard, and also moistened the palmetto leaves so that they did not
crackle, as they would have done had they been dry.
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