The Lily and the Totem; or, The Huguenots in FloridaSimms, William Gilmore
History
The Lily and the Totem; or, The Huguenots in Florida
Simms, William Gilmore
Florida -- History -- Huguenot colony, 1562-1565 -- Fiction
the captive maiden, I dived deeply under, making my way like an otter,
beneath the water, for the shore. A flight of arrows followed my rising
to take the air, but they were hurriedly delivered, with little aim, and
only one of them grazed my cheek. The mark is still here as thou seest.
Again I dived beneath the water, still swimming shoreward, and when I
next rose into the light and air, I was among the people of the lord of
Calos. They were now assembled along the banks of the lake, as near as
they could go to the enemy, some of them, indeed, having waded waist
deep in their wild fury and desperate defiance. But of what avail were
their weapons or their rage? The maiden, Istakalina, the princess and
the betrothed of Wa-ha-la, was gone. The people of the Sarropee had
borne her off, heeding me little even as they had taken her. She was
already far off, moving towards the centre of the lake, and faint were
the cries which now came from her, though it delighted my poor vain
heart, in that desperate hour, to perceive that, in her last cries, it
was my unhappy name that she uttered. They bore her away to the secret
island where they dwelt, in secure fastnesses; and long and fruitless,
though full of desperation, was the war that followed for her recovery.
But, though I myself fought in this war, as I never have fought before,
yet did I not dare to do battle under the eye, or among the warriors of
the lord of Calos. I fled from his sight and from the reproaches of my
friend, the Mico Wa-ha-la, for, in my soul, I felt how deep had been my
guilt, and my conscience did not dare the encounter with their eyes. I
took refuge with Onathaqua, the father of Istakalina; and when he knew
of the valor with which I strove against the captivity of the maiden, he
forgave me that I lost her through my own imprudence. Of the blind and
selfish passion which prompted that imprudence, he did not dream, and
he so forgave me. Under his lead, I took up arms against the tribes of
Sarropee, and for two years did the war continue, with great slaughter
and distress among the several nations. But, in all our battles, I kept
ever on the northern side of the great lake, and never allowed myself to
join with the warriors of Calos. They but too well conceived my guilt.
The keen eyes of mine escort distinguished my passion, and saw that it
was not ungracious in the sight of Istakalina. Too truly did they report
us to the lord of Calos, and to my friend, the young Mico Wa-ha-la.
Bitter was the reproach which he made me in a last gift which he sent
me, while I dwelt with Onathaqua. It consisted of a single arrow, from
which depended a snake skin, with the warning rattles still hanging
thereto. 'Say to the bearded man,' said the Mico, 'when you give him
this, that it comes from Wa-ha-la. Tell him that his friend sends him
this, in token that he knows how much he hath been wronged. Say to the
bearded man, that Wa-ha-la had but one flower of the forest, and that
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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