The monosyllable was full of meaning.
It meant that he thought his labour well bestowed, and that the design
he had in view prospered even beyond his expectations.
What this design was must be already apparent.
He had courted this popularity to enable him to accomplish the dearest
wish of his heart.
After his bland dismissal of Oluski, laden with gifts, he had acquired a
control over his own naturally impetuous temper which astonished
himself.
The refusal of the Seminole chief to give him quiet possession of the
hill was the more annoying because it seemed to close for ever any
further attempt at negotiation.
He understood the Indian character sufficiently to know that they were
unchangeable in their opinions, and seldom, if ever, to be moved from a
resolution once taken.
This tenacity of purpose had, time out of mind, brought ruin and
devastation upon themselves as on those who sought to coerce them, and
Rody ground his teeth with impotent rage when Oluski had announced the
decision of the Indian council.
The Judas smile that succeeded had root in another thought, which the
governor had left out of his mind until the supreme moment of his
defeat.
Hence his changed conduct towards his fellow-settlers.
They became almost to a man believers in him, and ready to do his
bidding.
He did not neglect, in his Machiavelian policy, to insinuate in every
artful way his pet project of possessing the property on which the
Indians were encamped. So artfully, indeed, that in most instances the
idea seemed to have originated in his listener's mind, and by them to
have been suggested to Elias, thus skilfully reversing the true facts of
the case.
This once accomplished the rest was simple.
A general feeling got abroad that the red men were interlopers, and had
no right to usurp a spot so necessary and so useful to the colonists.
This feeling, although not loudly expressed, was very deep, and, in
nearly every instance, sincere.
The few clear-headed and impartial planters who, proof against Rody's
sophistical speeches, were assailed by him in a different manner--by
specious promises of enlarged possessions, or by matter-of-fact appeals
for the advancement of civilisation. If he did not gain their approval,
he, at any rate, made their objections seem narrow-minded and selfish.
Only a few sturdy, honest men held out. These Elias could do nothing
with. They rejected his proposals, laid bare his false arguments, and
laughed at his facts--but as they were a very small minority, they had
little influence.
Ere Rody had accomplished this pacific revolution of opinion, the autumn
had waned, and the winter months--if such a word can be used where there
is no winter--approached, and with it the limit of the term of the
Indians' stay upon the hill.
With the first appearance of cool weather, Oluski and his tribe repacked
their household gods, took their dwellings to pieces, and with their
wives, children, horses, and cattle, quitted their late encampment.
The bare poles again appeared cutting against the clear sky.
The hill was once more uninhabited.
A new sort of activity had sprung into existence upon its table top.
In the place of Indians, with their painted plumes and primitive finery,
the ground was occupied by white men--carpenters and other artisans,
along with their negro attendants.
Piles of prepared lumber, stones, and other building materials strewed
the ground, whilst the busy workmen, black and white, made the air
resonant with their jocund voices.
A finished frame-house soon made its appearance on the spot where the
Indians had but recently dwelt--a large structure, substantially built,
and ornamental in finish.
It belonged to Elias Rody.
He had secured the sanction of the settlers, and they had determined to
support him in his piratical design. Only a very few of them had stood
out against it.
Thus strengthened, he had resolved upon, and had now completed his act
of usurpation.