In Search of Mademoiselle

At last we sighted a small headland or bluff which rose abruptly from the water where the river narrowed, and under its shadow we could just make out the bastions of Fort Caroline. As we came near we saw a great commotion upon the shore, officers running out of the Fort brandishing their swords; and two of the soldiers began casting loose a gun. Then we knew that they took us for enemies of France. A soldier ran down the beach and fired an arquebus at us, but the ball went skipping along the water and did us no damage. The Admiral, seeing that they did not know us and thinking harm might ensue, hereupon stood up in the pinnace. We saw one of the officers take off his morion and throw it into the air with a shout of joy. Then there was cheering, and we knew they had recognized the Admiral. In a few moments, under the sturdy sweep of the oarsmen, the barges grated upon the pebbly beach and we tumbled out among those assembled there. There was great joy among the young French gentlemen, some of them running to the newcomers and kissing them with great display of friendship upon both cheeks. The cannon, which but a moment before were to have been turned upon us, were fired in salute and the air resounded with glad cries and cheers.

There were many Indians of the tribe of the Chief Satouriona upon the beach. Fine, straight-bodied savages they were, painted in bright colors all over the body and wearing only a breech-clout, and a band around the head. They were most grave of countenance and smiled little; but very friendly, crowding around the Admiral, bowing and touching their heads to the earth, marvelling at the great length of his beard.

I could see that the Fort was erected in a careful manner though sadly out of repair. It was built in the form of a triangle and surrounded by a trench, the side toward the river enclosed with a palisade of planks of timber after the manner in which gabions are made. In the middle was a great court eighteen paces long and upon one side of this, the “corps de garde.” Opposite to it, the living house. Laudonnière, asked us to his lodging-place and gave us a wine fermented from the grape of the country, most soothing to the palate and livening to the vitals.

Under the close questioning of the Admiral, Laudonnière related the events of the past few months, showing the sad straits into which his people had fallen for lack of food and munitions. He told of the mutiny of his men and how he had intended entering two of his smaller vessels and returning to France. The Admiral found that the charges against him were untrue, and offered him a high command. But Captain Laudonnière was disconsolate, saying that his honor had been touched and that he must soon return to France to defend himself against his enemies.

We talked far into the night, Vasseur, Verdier and De Brésac, three lieutenants of the garrison with whom I had much talk, giving me a fair good idea of the country and people. It seemed that Laudonnière had no need to have given up so easily. It was hard to see how, in a country abounding in animals good to eat, in fish and in fruit and corn, they should have been reduced to such distress as they were in. There are beasts of every kind, and Sir John Hawkins has said that there are lions and tigers as well as unicorns, but I saw none of these, though there were crocodiles in great abundance.

Vasseur told me a habit of the natives who when they travel have a kind of herb dried, which they put in an earthen cup and set a-fire. Then they suck the smoke of this through a cane or reed and it has a strange and pleasing effect, satisfying their hunger so that they can live four or five days without meat or drink. Some of the company had come to use this herb and had grown to like it well, though at first it made them much inward discomfort. All of these things are known in England now, for Sir Walter Raleigh hath brought this custom of tobacco smoking into the court.

In the morning the three smaller vessels of the fleet came up, bringing the greater number of the colonists, among them the Sieur de la Notte and his family, and by the end of the day the rest had landed. Rude sheds of cedar stripping were built and a tolerable sheltered place was thus made to house the men until better quarters should be provided. During the first nights the women were given the barracks of the company of Laudonnière, who, for the time being, shared the lot of the newcomers. For Mistress Diane de la Notte nothing was too good, Réné de Laudonnière himself turning over to her and to Madame two rooms of his quarters. After seeing to their comfort I set about to aid in landing the munitions of war. This was safely done by the end of the second day and the new ordnance was mounted upon the battlements which thus commanded the river for a great distance. The shed now gave place to a stronger construction under the bastions and all worked with so great a vigor that new life animated the poor fort which but a few days before had come nigh to being deserted. Never had the prospects of the colony been brighter, and it seemed as if at last Fortune was smiling upon their efforts, which under careful management were about to be crowned with success.

’Tis a strange thing how misfortune doth pursue even when all else in nature seems to smile. It was, I think, at midnight of the fifth day that the first great shadow fell upon the luckless settlement. We were sitting around the council table in the barracks discussing the plans of Laudonnière for the extension of the colony. Ribault sat at the end of the table, his brows knit in deep thought, his hands clasped upon the table and his beard falling down to his lap. He was much perturbed over a report which had come to him that two sails had been sighted far out to sea just as the night was falling. From time to time he would nod to one or the other, but he spoke little. At his right were Laudonnière, Vasseur, Verdier, the Swiss, Arlac, Ottigny, and Satouriona the great Carib chief with whom the Admiral was bent upon making a friendship. At his left were Saint Marie, Yonville and La Grange. Yonville was speaking of the magic mine of gold and silver that La Roquette had found which would yield ten thousand crowns apiece for every colonist and fifteen hundred thousand crowns for the King. The Admiral listened gravely, but he was a practical man and had no such flighty notions as these young gentlemen.

I tired at last of listening to their vaporings and moved to one of the casements where I sat listening and looking out into the night, drinking in the perfumes of the forest which the breezes of the sea were wafting toward me. Outside all was quiet save for the call of a night bird or the cry of some beast of prey as it prowled on its midnight hunt. The rain had fallen so that the odor was almost overpowering, and it was damp out toward the sea, where the clouds hung heavily with but a slight break overhead. There was a glimmer here and there from the water under the bastions. Down near the river’s mouth I fancied I could see the twinkling of the lanthorns upon the Trinity as she swung to the tide; but the ships were almost too far away for that. My thoughts turned to Diane and I wondered —

But as I looked into the distance toward where the ships should lay, there came suddenly two flashes of light, one beside the other, like lightning and yet not to be mistaken. I started, with an exclamation, straining my eyes, my heart beating furiously. Then clear and distinct as though but half a league away there came the sound of cannon shots!

Ribault and his officers sprang to where I stood, breathless, all a-fever with the excitement of the moment. They had not long to wait. For again the flashes came, by twos and threes, and then by broadsides, the echoes coming up the river like the roaring of distant thunder. There was commotion outside and the sentry opened the door crying “The Spaniards! The Spaniards!”

The drums beat to arms and most of the soldiers and the women too rushed out into the courtyard, where they ran hither and thither asking questions which no one could answer. The Admiral commanding silence, mounted with Ottigny and Laudonnière to the battlements where he listened and watched intently for some minutes. He knew the serious import of those sounds and what they might mean to the ships lying out there, under-manned and unprepared for battle. He knew too that the sentry had said the truth when he uttered the fear that was in his own heart. The Spanish fleet had come to Florida!

Ribault came down from the battlements and without more ado ordered all his seamen and officers to the four smaller ships at anchor in the river. To the landing place we ran in great haste, stopping only to seize armor and weapons. In half an hour our little vessels were sailing down toward the mouth of the river. No one of us spoke, but we stood along the bulwarks listening to the sound of the cannon. It was more distant now, and from its direction we knew that the three larger ships were making out to sea. Should we be in time?

In a moment the lookout upon the fore-castle of the Jesus came running aft and reported that there were sounds ahead close inboard. We listened intently and in a moment heard the sound of oars grinding violently in their irons and the swash of a ship’s boat through the water. A voice shouted hoarsely across the water the words “France! France!” Our men stood crooked over the bulwarks, their weapons at their shoulders, trying to pierce the darkness, and soon we could just make out a gray shadow bearing directly upon us. There was great tension as she drew nearer and the gunners blew their torches, ready to blow her out of the water at the first sign the least suspicious. Slowly she drew alongside and we saw that it was a barge of the Trinity. An officer came hastily over the gangway. It was Bachasse, a sub-lieutenant.

Ribault went to him, and the soldiers crowded around.

“Is it the Spaniards?” he asked.

“It is, your Excellency,” replied Bachasse shortly. He was stout and of a brusque manner – as brave a seaman as ever stood his watch.

“They came upon us late this afternoon, in five ships,” he said. “Captain Bourdelais wished me to report that we were not prepared for battle. Half of our crews are at the Fort.” He paused.

“Go on,” said Ribault, sternly. “Tell me all and omit nothing.”

“It was dark before they came upon us in earnest, our men were waiting at their guns. There was a trumpet from the Spanish flagship. Captain Bourdelais answered from the Trinity. We saw lanthorns and a figure upon the great vessel and we heard a strong voice say:

“‘Whence does this fleet come?’

“‘From France,’ Captain Bourdelais replied at once.

“‘What are you doing here?’

“‘We bring soldiers and supplies for a fort which the King of France has built and for many others which he will soon build.’

“‘Are you Catholics or Lutherans?’ said the voice.

“‘We are Lutherans! we are Lutherans! Who are you?’

“‘I am Pedro Menendez, general of the fleet of the King of Spain. At daybreak I will board your ships and every heretic shall die!’

“Then our men broke into laughter and jeering; ‘You are cowards,’ they shouted, ‘come at once.’

“Then they came down upon us. Captain Bourdelais ordered the cables cut, for we were at a disadvantage. All of the ships put to sea. My Captain has sent me to you. They fired upon this boat but we escaped. They are now fighting upon the sea – and this is my report.” When he had finished he bowed and stood silent.

The Admiral stroked his beard. The worst had happened and he saw that it would be war to the death. He told Bachasse to order his men upon deck and to make his boat fast to the stern of the Jesus. Then they came up carrying one who had been killed. So we sailed on down to the mouth of the river.

We saw no more gun-flashes and only now and then could we hear a sound far out to sea which told us where the ships were sailing. I doubted not that it was wise of Captain Bourdelais to slip his cable and run for the open; with a good wind he might escape. By and by we heard no sounds at all.

The Admiral was for going in pursuit of the flying ships, but called a consultation of his officers in the cabin and they advised against it. Fort Caroline would be without vessels or men to protect it, and the Spanish fleet might sail up within range and batter the bastions down. Their counsel at last prevailed, and at dawn the soldiers were landed upon the beach. The Jesus and three other vessels cast anchor in an arm of the sea behind the beach, broadside on, so that the soldiers might be protected by a brave cannon fire. Then the bowmen and arquebusiers dug into the sand, making trenches in which they might find protection from arrows and small pieces.

These were moments of great anxiety. It was not until the sun had mounted well into the sky that some sentinels who had been watching down the beach, reported a sail coming up with the brisk wind. By ten o’clock she was in plain sight and from her great bulk we made her out to be the Spanish flag-ship San Pelayo. She could not have been less than a thousand tons burthen; and came beautifully, sailing outside the outer bar just beyond the range of our long pieces. She wore three yellow streaks along her sides where her gun tiers were, and her sails, crossed with great red stripes and bars, never spilled a cupful as they bellied out into the wind and bore her onward, though she was dipping and pitching in the chop as she went by. Her bulwarks gleamed in the sunlight with the lines of polished helmets; and though I had no spying-glass I fancied that high up near her lanthorns I could make out the Adelantado and by his side the stalwart figure of Diego de Baçan. I bit my lips and hoped they might try to make the entrance of the river.

But they threw the ship up into the wind, where she courtesied disdainfully, and then a scornful puff of smoke came from her side and a shot struck in the first line of surf. She hung there a minute and then squared away down the beach again. The Adelantado was discreet as well as valiant. Late in the afternoon three other sail were sighted, and it was soon seen that they were French. At sunset they were near enough and a boat put off from the Gloire, Captain Cosette himself coming ashore through the surf to make his report. He had followed the Spaniards to San Augustin and had seen that they had landed their stores and negroes and were rapidly entrenching themselves.

Many of these facts have been set forth in the writings of the Captain Laudonnière, and of Challeux the carpenter; and some stories have been written by the Spaniard Barcia and by Mendoza, the priest. Yet it is proper that everything bearing upon the events which are to follow should be known to all Christians, that they may rightly judge between these people and us.

CHAPTER IX.

WE PUT TO SEA

After waiting all night and part of the next day we returned to the Fort, leaving a guard upon the beach, with cannon to assist the ships should they be attacked.

That night there was a council of war. Laudonnière was sick in his bed, so we went to his chamber, standing and sitting at the bedside. There were La Grange, Sainte Marie, Ottigny, Visty, Yonville, De Brésac and others. The Admiral spoke boldly and at some length. He outlined his plan, which was nothing less than an immediate attack by sea upon San Augustin, before the Spaniards had time to well entrench themselves against attack. His eye flashed as he spoke and he was good to see, for there is naught so fine as the light of battle in the eyes of a man of years. The younger men were with him body and heart, for the very boldness of the plan was to their liking.

When he had finished, Laudonnière answered, favoring the plan of remaining at Fort Caroline to fortify it against attack. La Grange and Sainte Marie got upon their feet and spoke briefly to the same effect. They all said that having lived in these parts for nearly two years, they were better qualified to speak of these things; they thought it dangerous to venture upon that coast in the month of September or October, for the storms came with terrible swiftness and devastation.

Ribault reproved them for their timidity, asking whether they were valiant sailor-men of France or dogs of Spaniards? Then he read a letter from Admiral Coligny which he took to be an order to attack this same Admiral Pedro Menendez if he ventured within the dominions of New France. By sea, the distance was short and the route explored. It was the proper strategy. With a sudden blow we would capture or destroy the Spanish ships, and master the troops on shore before their companions upon the sea could arrive.

Laudonnière, having been superseded in his command, had no actual control in the matter, and though the Admiral spoke kindly to him and to the other officers, the orders were at once issued for the expedition. In order that there might be no possibility of miscarriage, the most of the available men of the Fort as well as of the ships were to be taken. Not only were all the officers and soldiers of the new expedition to go but also La Caille, Laudonnière’s sergeant-major, his Ensign – Arlac, De Brésac a friend of La Caille, Ottigny, La Grange and the very pick of his men.

This was little to my liking. With these men gone and Laudonnière ill, the Fort lay practically at the mercy of the enemy, were they Spaniards or Indians. The Sieur de la Notte would come upon the Trinity in spite of all that I could urge, for though not born to the command of men, he had a love for play with the steel and went where he felt his duty strongest.

I could not conceal my fears, even from the Vicomte de la Notte. All that was for me in this world would be left behind in a crumbling fort with no one to defend. Of those to remain, but seventeen men of Laudonnière and nine or ten of Ribault were in condition to bear arms, and some of these were servants, one of them being the Admiral’s cook and two others his dog-boys. There was an old carpenter of threescore named Challeux, two shoemakers, an old cross-bow maker, a player upon the spinet and four valets – a beggarly array of fighting men surely to defend the one hundred and fifty women, children and camp-followers the Admiral would leave behind! I went to him, but he would not listen to me. His mind was made to carry out all these plans, he said; and so I left him. La Grange and Ottigny went to him again; but we saw that it was useless. I then sought Madame and Mademoiselle in their chamber in the living quarters.

We had only a short time, but Mademoiselle and I went out upon the bastion and stood by the breeching of one of the cannon, looking out to sea. The air was close and sultry and not a breath stirred the trees to the back of us or rippled the surface of the river that flowed, deep and sluggish, below. The leaves, half turned in color and wet by a rain-storm during the night, hung sere and motionless. The standard above our heads hung closely about the staff, drooped and faded. The ships in the river were shaking out their sails, which fell heavily and hung from their yards in straight and listless folds to the deck. The men moved down from the Fort to the boats as though they had no joy in the undertaking. There was no gleam upon their breastpieces, for the sun did not shine that morning, and never the rollicking song that means so much to the man-at-arms. I was in no cheerful disposition, and there was a reflection of my mood in the manner of Mademoiselle.

“There is no great danger,” I began, “and we will return within the week. I have asked your father to stay, as he can be of no great service in a culverin fight, or a fight of ships. But he will go.”

“If there is a battle,” she smiled, “it were difficult to keep him where the women and children are. He hath ever given a good account of himself.”

“Yes, Mademoiselle, but he should not go.”

I said it in a tone so convincing that she looked at me to get my meaning. I had not meant to betray my uneasiness to her, but with her woman’s wit she guessed my thought.

“You are thinking of us,” she said quietly.

I did not answer. I looked down at the ground, tapping my boot with my scabbard.

“I know not what it is, Mademoiselle, but my mind is deep in melancholy.”

She looked across to the pine barrens, sighing.

“It is the dying of the year or some movement of the elements,” she replied.

“Yes, doubtless that is it.”

And then we both sat silent again.

“Mademoiselle, you know that Don Diego de Baçan is there,” I said at last, pointing to the southward. “If anything should happen that we do not return so soon as we expect, promise me that you will yourself cause a private watch to be kept at the gates of Fort Caroline. If there are signs of attack, go at once with Madame to the woods. Forgive me, Mademoiselle, for asking you to bear a part of my uneasiness, but there are not many wise heads at Fort Caroline.”

She smiled a little at my eagerness.

“I have no fear of Diego de Baçan, or Menendez de Avilés,” she replied, “but I will do as you wish.” She then took from the breast of her gown a straight dagger, long and fine. As I looked at it a chill went over me and I held up my hands before my eyes.

“Mademoiselle! Mademoiselle!” I cried in anguish.

She held the weapon poised a moment on her finger-tips looking at it strangely, then slowly set it in its sheath and returned it to her breast. I looked her in the eyes and they were calm. I knew that she would do as she meant. She stood straight as any one of Satouriona’s warriors, smiling bravely at me, and I wished that I might take her in my arms and tell her all that I would before we parted. I looked up at her, my hands trembling to touch her, my eyes wide with adoration; and something came over her then that she knew how deep I loved her. For a great tear came to her eye and trickled down upon her cheek. But she brushed it away brusquely with the back of her hand. She thrust her fingers toward me, turning her head away; and I pressed them to my lips, kissing them blindly – blindly many times.

“God bless you, Mademoiselle!” I murmured.

Then I left her. That was the memory of Diane de la Notte I carried out to sea.

We entered pinnaces at about four of the afternoon and put out across the bar for the Trinity, which, swinging wide at her anchorage, rolled upon the glassy water, light as a feather. For the cargo was out of her and she sat high and proud, for all the world like a great swan. There was no air stirring and the surface of the sea was like oil, – I felt again the same ominous foreboding of impending evil. There had been a storm somewhere, for the waves rolled in and burst with a roar upon the beach below us. It was choppy over the bar, but beyond a wetting we got upon the ship safely enough. I liked not the looks of the sky and sea. Overhead the clouds hung dark and heavy, for though ’twas a full hour before sunset the sky was so gloomy that all the lanthorns below were lighted. We could see all around the horizon, for the air was most clear and the blue black line of it came strong against the coppery glow of the heavens to the east and southward. The sand upon the shore gleamed white by contrast against the dark green of the pines beyond, which cut across the sky-line so black that you could see with distinctness each particular needle and spur. The thunder of the surf was loud above the dip and murmur of the ship, and to the southward along the coast as far as the eye could reach the white lines of froth, growing smaller and smaller in the distance, rolled in from the outer bar.

It was no pleasant berth for a ship of our size upon a lee shore. She could not go into any of the rivers as the Pearl and the Jesus could, and I was for putting to sea at once, where in the open we could clew up everything and run for it if a storm were brewing. The Admiral and the Captain Bourdelais were upon the after-castle in conversation and looking at the sky or up the river toward the Fort, where the Captain La Grange, with one of the vessels of Laudonnière, still tarried. It was plain to be seen that they liked the looks of the weather no better than I, for in a little while orders were passed forward to secure everything for sea, and the anchor was hove up to a short cable. Before dark La Grange appeared, and as a light breeze had sprung up, signals were flashed and we put out to sea under all plain sail. As soon as the sheets had been trimmed aft and the course had been set down the coast, I took a lanthorn and lay below decks with one of the midship’s men of the watch to see that all was secure in the hold and cabins.