Tenderly covering the body with his blanket, Wacora stooped and kissed the cold brow in silence, registering a vow of vengeance upon his murderers! Nelatu, stunned by the suddenness of the event, hid his face in his hands, and gave way to lamentation and tears. That evening the remains of their chief were interred in a temporary grave, around which the warriors of the tribe, by their own consent now commanded by Wacora, joined in an oath of sure and ample vengeance. Coupled with their oath was the declaration that war and rapine should not cease until the hill was again their own, and the body of their beloved chief laid peacefully beside the bones of his ancestors. That night the red pole was erected in their encampment, and under the glare of pine torches was performed around it the fearful scalp-dances of the tribe. The white sentinels upon the hill saw afar off the fiendlike performance, and, as around echoed in their ears their wild shriek, they turned trembling from the hill, and cursed Elias Rody! CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. WACORA CHOSEN CHIEF. Wacora was unanimously elected war chief of the tribe over which his uncle had long ruled. Nelatu's claims were so slight, his ability so deficient, that not one of the warriors wished to nominate him for the important position. To Wacora the honour was of inestimable value. By its means there was now a hope for the realisation of his long-cherished dream--the redemption of the red-man by the union of all the tribes into one powerful nation. He instantly dispatched messengers to the braves of his own sub-tribe, summoning them to Tampa Bay, to take part in the conflict. He was answered by the speedy arrival of a large and well-armed force, who, mingling with Oluski's people, now became one community. Obedient to his mandate, they continued to preserve an ominously peaceful attitude towards the settlers, who, but for a knowledge to the contrary, might have comforted themselves with a belief that the red men had left the bay. But although unseen, their presence was not unfelt. The news of Oluski's death had spread a feeling of alarm among the white colonists, which the heartless and assumed indifference of Elias Rody and his adherents could not dismiss from their minds. The "governor" seemed to have returned to the courses of his early life. He had for many years been a man of sober habits; but since the building of his new house a change had come over him. He had begun to drink freely, and in the excitement of preparation for the defence of his usurped property, he found a thousand excuses for the indulgence of that appetite so long kept under control. Still another matter gave discomfort to the governor. His son had been for some time missing from the settlement, and in a mysterious manner. His disappearance had a marked effect on his father's temper, and when not cursing himself for the general discomfort he had caused, he cursed the son for adding to it!