As Has-se kept the canoe to its course, never for an instant hesitating as to which way he should turn, they startled from their resting-places myriads of water-fowl and strange birds, that flew away with harsh notes of alarm.  These were answered from the distant forest by the melancholy howlings of wolves and the cries of other night-prowling wild beasts, that sounded very fearful to Rene’s unaccustomed ears.

At length their craft was run ashore at the foot of a small shell mound that formed quite an elevation amid the wide levels of the marshes, and Has-se said they would rest there until sunrise.  After hauling the canoe well up out of the water, he led the way to a small hut, thatched with palmetto-leaves, that stood half-way up the side of the mound.  In it was piled a quantity of long gray moss, that formed a most acceptable bed to the tired boys; and throwing themselves down on it, they were in a few minutes fast asleep.

It seemed to Rene that he had but just fallen asleep when he was awakened by a light touch upon his forehead.  Springing to his feet, he found Has-se standing smiling beside him, and saw that the sun had already risen.  Running down to the beach, he bathed his face in the cool salt-water, used a handful of moss as a towel, and turned to the breakfast that Has-se had spent an hour in preparing.

When Rene saw what a luxurious repast the ingenuity of the young Indian had provided, he opened his eyes wide in astonishment.  He knew that a bag of parched corn and several gourds of fresh water had been brought along, and upon this simple fare he had expected to break his fast.  Now, in addition to the parched corn, he saw fish, oysters, eggs, and a vegetable, all smoking hot, cooked to a nicety, and temptingly spread on some freshly cut palm-leaves.

The fish were mullet, that Has-se had speared from the canoe as they swam in the clear water.  He had cleaned them, wrapped them in fresh, damp leaves, raked aside a portion of the fire that he had kindled when he first arose, buried them in the hot sand beneath it, and covered the spot with live coals.

The oysters had also come from the water, in a great bunch that Has-se had just been able to lift and carry to the fire.  To cook them he had simply placed the entire bunch on the coals, where they had roasted in their shells, which now gaped wide open, offering their contents to be eaten.

The eggs were plover’s eggs, of which Has-se had discovered several nests among the tall marsh grass.  They also had been roasted in the hot sand, from which the fire had been raked one side.

The vegetable puzzled Rene considerably, for he had never seen its like, and knew not what to make of it.  When he asked Has-se what it was, the latter laughed, with the soft, musical laugh, peculiar to his people, and answered,

“Dost thou not know thy namesake, Ta-lah-lo-ko?  It is the leaf bud of a young palm-tree, and with us Indians it takes the place of bread when we have neither a-chee” (the maize) “nor koonti-katki” (the starch-root).