A DARING ESCAPE
Not until his prison door was again closed, and the footsteps of his
visitors had died away in the distance, did Coacoochee turn from
listening, and stoop to see what it was that Nita had brought him. From
under the forage-bag he first drew a Spanish hunting-knife, beautifully
balanced, and with the keen edge of a razor. It was of dull blue Toledo
steel, and its shapely haft was exquisitely silver-mounted. At sight
of it the young Indian uttered an exclamation of joy, for it was his
own well-tried weapon, endeared by long association, and his unfailing
friend in many a combat with man and beast. It had been his father's
before him, and with it Anstice Boyd had severed the bonds confining
Irwin Douglass, when his life hung by a thread, in the swamp stronghold
of Osceola. She had kept it ever since, awaiting an opportunity to
restore it to its owner, and had now done so, by the hand of Nita
Pacheco.
While Coacoochee gloated over this treasure, his comrade in captivity
pulled aside the bag beneath which it had been concealed, and disclosed
another object of equal value with the precious knife. It was a coil
of rope, slender and finely twisted, but of a proved strength, capable
of supporting the weight of two men.
"Now, Talmeco," cried Coacoochee, in the Indian tongue, "we have
something to live for. Already do I breathe again the free air of the
forest, for want of which I had died ere many days. Now will we show
these dogs of the Iste-hatke that their cunning is no match for that of
the Wildcat. Again shall the war-cry of Coacoochee ring through hammock
and swamp, glade and savanna, and the Iste-hatke shall tremble at its
sound."
"But," said Talmus, "was it not one of the Iste-hatke who brought us
these things? Has my brother won the heart of a pale-faced maiden?"
"Ho, ho!" laughed the young chief. "Are the eyes of Talmeco grown so
dim from long gazing at stone walls that he did not see, through the
dress of the white squaw, the form of Nita Pacheco, daughter of Philip
Emathla, and the beloved of Coacoochee? She it was, and no other, who
found a way to this hole of rats, and brought the means of escape. Let
us hasten, then, to make use of them, that she may not be disappointed."
"How can we?" queried Talmus. "There is but one opening, and it is too
small for the passage of a warrior. A boy could hardly make his way
through it. Besides, it is too high for us to reach, and, even if we
got outside, would we not fall again into the hands of the soldiers?"
"Ho-le-wau-gus, Talmeco!" exclaimed the other. "Is thy man's heart
turned by thy captivity into that of Cho-fee [the rabbit], and art thou
become one who trembles at the sight of his own shadow? Listen, that
thy heart may again become strong. The Wildcat will climb to yonder
opening, and show his brother the way. It is small, but we will make
ourselves smaller. We will go when the Great Spirit has drawn his
blanket over the face of the sky, so that no light may shine from it,
and no man can see us. Is it well?"
"It is well, my brother. Let Coacoochee lead, and Talmus Hadjo will
follow in his steps."
For long hours during the weary days of captivity, had the young chief
lain on his bed of bags, and gazed hopelessly at the single narrow
opening in the wall far above him. He had believed that, if he could
only reach it, he could so reduce his body as to pass through the
aperture. Now he saw a way to reach it. Standing on his comrade's
shoulders, and using his knife, he soon worked its point into a little
crevice between the stones, just above his head. As Talmus could not
support his weight very long at a time, and as there came days of such
frequent interruptions that they dared not work, it was several weeks
before the crevice was so enlarged that it would receive the knife up
to its hilt. Then, by drawing himself up on it, Coacoochee found to
his delight that he could gain the narrow slit piercing the thick wall.
To his dismay, it was barely wide enough to permit his head to pass
through, but not his body.
The prisoners at once decided to starve themselves, and reduce their
flesh by taking medicine. This they did, until they became mere
skeletons, and their keeper began to fear that they would die on his
hands.
In the meantime they cut up many of the bags on which they slept, into
short lengths, which they bound closely, at intervals, about their
slender rope, so as to afford a grasp for their hands. When all was in
readiness, they were obliged to wait many days longer for a cloudless
and moonless night.
At length it came as dark as Erebus, with squalls of rain, and a
fierce wind that howled mournfully about the bastions and through the
embrasures of the old fort. Much to the disgust of the captives, one of
the prison keepers was in an unusually sociable mood that night, and
made repeated visits to their cell, talking and singing, until they
feared they would be compelled to kill him, in order to get rid of his
presence. Finally they pretended to be asleep when he entered, and upon
this he left them for good.
The time for action had arrived; and, taking one end of the rope with
him, Coacoochee, stripped to the skin, save for a breech-cloth,
mounted on his comrade's shoulders, felt for the deeply cut crevice,
thrust his knife into it, and, in another minute, had gained the
embrasure. Here, after first regaining and securing his precious knife,
he made the rope fast, by passing a loop about a projecting ledge, and
leaving only enough inside for his comrade to climb up by, he passed
the remainder through the opening, and let it drop, hoping that it
might be long enough to reach ground at the bottom of the moat.
With great difficulty, the young Indian thrust his head through the
narrow slit. Then, with the sharp stones tearing the skin from his
breast and back, he slowly and painfully forced his body through, being
obliged to go down the rope head foremost, until his feet were clear
of the opening. With each minute of this desperate struggle, it seemed
as though his weakened powers of endurance must yield to the terrible
strain, and that his grasp on the slender rope must relax; in which
case he would have pitched headlong into the yawning depths below.
But the indomitable will that had already aided him so often finally
triumphed over physical weakness, and after a half-hour of struggle,
the young war-chief slid in safety down the line that led to freedom,
and lay panting on the ground, twenty-five feet below the aperture that
had so nearly proved fatal.
Fortunately he lay in the deep angle of a bastion, where the shadows
were blackest, for just then two men, evidently officers, passed close
to him engaged in earnest conversation. He overheard one of them say
that arrangements were perfected for removing all the prisoners on the
morrow to Charleston, South Carolina, where they would be beyond a
possibility of rescue or escape.
So overjoyed was Coacoochee at thus learning of the timeliness of his
venture for liberty that he became filled with fresh vigor, and feeling
a movement of the rope, that he still held in one hand, he instantly
gave the signal that all was well, and the way clear for his comrade to
descend. As he waited in breathless anxiety, he could plainly hear the
struggle that was taking place far above him. At length it ceased, and
in a low, despairing voice Talmus informed him that having forced his
head through the embrasure, he could get no further, nor could he even
draw it back.
"Throw out thy breath, Talmeco, and try again! Throw out thy heart
and soul, if needs be, and tear the flesh from thy body," urged the
young chief, in a voice little above a whisper, but thrilling in its
intensity.
Thus adjured, Talmus Hadjo made one last desperate effort, with such
success that he not only forced his bleeding body through the aperture,
but lost his hold of the rope and came tumbling down the whole
distance.
[Illustration: HADJO LOST HIS HOLD OF THE ROPE AND CAME TUMBLING DOWN
THE WHOLE DISTANCE.]
With a smothered cry of horror, Coacoochee sprang to his side, and,
feeling a faint heart-beat in the stunned and motionless form, dragged
it to a near-by pool of water. This he dashed over the injured man with
such effect that, in a few minutes, his consciousness returned. He was,
however, so injured by his fall as to be unable to walk, and feebly
begged Coacoochee to save himself and leave him to his fate. For answer
the young chief, with an astonishing display of strength, considering
his condition, picked up his helpless friend, slung him across his
back, and thus bore him nearly half a mile, to where the palmetto scrub
afforded temporary concealment.
Daylight was now breaking, and some means must be devised for moving
rapidly. So, depositing his burden on the ground, Coacoochee turned
back to an open field in which he had seen several mules. Hastily
twisting some shredded palmetto leaves into a rude bridle, he had the
good fortune to capture one of the animals, on which he mounted both
himself and his comrade.
For several hours they rode through the trackless pine forest, and at
length reached a travelled road, which it was necessary they should
cross. Before doing so Coacoochee slipped from the mule to assure
himself that no enemy was in sight. He had gone but a few paces, when
the animal, with a loud bray, dashed into the open, and galloped madly
towards a small party of mounted volunteers, who happened to be making
their way towards the city.
The sight of a single naked Indian dashing toward them was too great
a temptation to be resisted. A dozen rifles poured forth their deadly
contents, both the mule and his helpless rider pitched headlong, and
in the death struggle of the animal, the dead face of Talmus Hadjo was
crushed beyond recognition. One of the white men, coolly and as neatly
as though well accustomed to the operation, took the scalp of the
fallen warrior. Then the party rode merrily forward, exchanging coarse
jests concerning the handsome manner in which the redskin had been
potted.
Filled with rage and grief at this loss of his companion, Coacoochee
also hastened from the scene, plunging deep into the recesses of a
near-by hammock and vowing a future but terrible vengeance upon the
cowardly perpetrators of this cold-blooded murder. Living on berries,
roots, and the succulent buds of cabbage palmettoes, sleeping naked on
the bare ground, and slinking from hammock to hammock like a wild beast
who is hunted, the fugitive worked his way southward for three days.
On the evening of the third day he walked into the camp of his own
band on the headwaters of the Tomoka River. By Louis Pacheco and his
warriors the young chief was greeted as one raised from the dead. When,
after they had fed and clothed him, they listened to his wonderful
tale of treacherous capture, long imprisonment, timely escape, and
the cruel death of Talmus Hadjo, they vowed themselves to a fiercer
resistance than ever of the white oppressors.
Within an hour runners were despatched to several bands who were known
to be contemplating surrender, urging them to abandon their intention
and continue the fight to its bitter end. Thus was the conflict which
General Jesup had just declared ended, renewed with a greater fury than
ever, and Coacoochee the Wildcat became the acknowledged leader of his
people.