To accomplish this, he and his followers returned as speedily as they could to the place where their canoes had been left, and under cover of the darkness which came on about that time, moved silently as shadows up the river towards the fort.  When they reached its vicinity a new difficulty presented itself.  They feared to hail the sentries and demand admission lest they should be fired upon, and at the same time draw upon themselves an attack from the savages, who would thus discover their whereabouts.

While they remained undecided as to what plan they should adopt to gain an entrance to the fort, Has-se drew Rene to one side, and in a whisper said,

“Ta-lah-lo-ko, the time has come when I may share with thee the secret of my people.  Since thy blood has flowed for my sake, and thou hast received the sacred Flamingo Feather, I am free to do so.  First pledge thy word never to deliver this secret, even to those of thy own blood, and it shall be made known to thee.”

Rene having satisfied Has-se that the secret should be kept, the latter continued: 

“Know, then, oh my brother, that when my people aided thy people to build this fort of thine, they constructed secretly, and by Micco’s own orders, a passage beneath one of its walls, by which they might at any time obtain access to the fort or escape from it, as they might desire.  It was by this means that the Sunbeam left the fort when thy people would have held him prisoner within it.  It was easy to force a form as slight as mine between the bars of the guard-house window, and once past them I was as free as at this moment.”

Rene was greatly surprised at this disclosure of the weakness of the fort, and not a little troubled to learn of it.  He asked Has-se if the existence of the passage were known to all of his people.

“No,” said Has-se; “to not more than a score of them is the secret known, and they are bound to preserve it as they would their lives.  Thou art the first besides them to whom it has been disclosed.”

“Well,” said Rene, “so long as the passage thou namest exists, we may as well make a use of it.  Do thou show it to me, and I will enter the fort by means of it.  Then will I seek my uncle and inform him of what has taken place.  Thou and the rest shall wait at the water gate, and there deliver the provisions and receive the reward.  After that thou and they are free to return to the land of the Alachuas; but, oh, Has-se!” he added, with a burst of sincere affection, “it grieves me sorely to part from thee, for thou art become to me dearer than a brother!”

Then the two returned to Yah-chi-la-ne, who had been somewhat troubled and aggrieved by their long whisperings, which he was not invited to join.  He was much relieved when Has-se told him that Rene had discovered a safe way of communicating with his people, and readily gave his permission for the two to depart together in a canoe, promising at the same time to await patiently Has-se’s return.