It will thus be seen that although Elias Rody had prepared his own bed, and was obliged to lie upon it, it was proving anything but a bed of roses. Had it not been for the presence of his daughter Alice, the new mansion in which he now lived, and for which he might yet have to pay dearly, would have been a perfect pandemonium to him. That amiable girl, by her gentle behaviour, did much to soften the rude, inharmonious elements around her; and the roughest of her father's roystering companions were silent and respectful in her presence. She was like a ministering angel among those who had taken refuge within the stockade. She never seemed to tire of attending upon them or their wants. Her kind sympathetic voice and assiduous care were of inestimable service to the sick, who blessed her in their hearts. Nothing in the meantime had been heard of her brother Warren. Crookleg had also disappeared, although no one particularly missed him. Cris Carrol, the hunter, had not returned to the settlement. In some distant savanna he was no doubt tranquilly passing his time, at peace with all the world. Such was the condition of affairs. The first preparations for strife between the Whites and Indians had been made; and to several other outrages, similar to that committed by Elias Rody, may be traced the causes of that Seminole war which cost the government of the United States some thousands of lives, along with several millions of dollars, to say nought of the reputation of six hitherto distinguished generals. CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. A CONVERSATION BETWEEN COUSINS. The tranquil state of affairs did not last for long. The Indians, eager to revenge Oluski's death, wore impatient of the restraint Wacora would have imposed upon them, and at a council convened for that purpose, they determined to attack the stockade upon the hill. This determination was hastened by several rencontres which had taken place in the outlying districts. A small party of the red men, led by Maracota, had pillaged and destroyed a plantation. Near the bay they had been met by some of the white settlers as they were returning from their work of destruction. In the _melee_ which ensued a number of Indians were killed, while their white adversaries met with little loss. These and some individual cases of contest had worked the red men up to a pitch of savage earnestness that took all Wacora's temporising power to restrain. He knew the character of the people he had to deal with too well to hazard opposition to their will, the more so as his own desire for vengeance was as deep and earnest, but more deadly than theirs. One thought occupied his mind nobler than that of revenge--the regeneration of the Indian race. A chimera it may have been, but still his great ambition. He thus spoke to the assembled chiefs--