It was indeed the tender leaf bud of the cabbage-palm, roasted in its own husk, and to Rene it tasted much like roasted chestnuts.

From the shells on the beach he obtained a small quantity of salt, that had been left in them by the evaporated water of some former high tide.  This he wanted for both his fish and his eggs.  Then the two boys sat down to their feast, and ate and laughed and chatted, and enjoyed it so thoroughly that one of them at least thought nothing had ever tasted so good to him before.

After breakfast, as there were no dishes to be washed, and nothing to be packed to carry with them, they were able to resume their journey at once.  Until nearly noon they were hemmed in by the monotonous salt-marshes; then they crossed a wide sheet of open water, and entered the mouth of a wild, dark river that flowed into it from the west.  The rest of that day and most of the next was occupied in the ascent of this river, which ever grew darker and narrower as they neared its source.  They worked incessantly at the paddles, and made such speed that Has-se said they must certainly overtake his people before they reached the land of the Alachuas.

Several times during these two days he ran the canoe ashore at places that his keen vision noted as having been the landing-places of other canoes.  At each of these places he found the ashes and charred sticks that denoted recent camp-fires, and each time after making such a discovery he returned to Rene with a puzzled and thoughtful expression on his face.  His companion noticed this, and finally inquired the cause.

“What troubles thee, my Has-se?” he asked.  “Thy looks betoken a worriment of some kind.  May I not share it with thee?”

For a few minutes Has-se plied his paddle vigorously and in silence; then he said, more as if thinking aloud than in answer to Rene’s question, “Others besides ourselves are in pursuit of my people, and I fear they are enemies.”

“What is thy reason for thus thinking?”

“Because I find that each halting-place of Micco’s band has been carefully examined after their departure.  I have also found the remains of several small but recent camp-fires on opposite sides of the river from theirs, and around them I find the traces of but two men.  One of these men is very large, and he wears moccasins that were never made by my people.  I fear they are enemies.”

“But why should they be enemies?” asked Rene.  “May they not be some of thy band left behind like thyself.  Or may not one of them be of thy tribe, and the other be one of the guests who attended the Feast of Ripe Corn?”

“That is easily answered,” replied the young Indian.  “If they were friends who for some reason had been left behind, and were now anxious to rejoin those whom they follow, they could have done so long since.  Their fires burned at the same time with those of my people, and they have visited Micco’s camps before the ashes of his fires grew cold.  Besides, in each case their own fires were carefully hidden, so that they could not by any chance be seen by those who were in advance of them.”