University of Virginia Library

4. CHAPTER IV.
THE COUNCIL OF WAR AT SELOOE.

It was midnight when the assemblage of the Spanish captains
took place in the great council house of the savages of Selooe.
Already, that night, had the place been consecrated by the performance
of a solemn mass in honor of the Holy Spirit. The
purposes of the present gathering were, in the opinion of Melendez,
not less honorable to the Deity. Rude logs strewn about the
building, even as they had been employed by the red-men, furnished
seats for the Spanish officers. They surrounded a great
fire of resinous pine, which now blazed brightly in the centre of
the apartment. In this respect the scene had rather the appearance
of savage rites than of Christian council. In silence,the
nobles of Castile, of Biscay and the Asturias took their places.
Their eyes were vacant, and their hearts were depressed. They
caught nothing of that exulting blaze which lightened up the features
of Melendez.

“Oh! ye of little faith!” he exclaimed, rising in their midst,
“is it thus that ye give acknowlegment to God for the blessings
ye have received at his hands, and for that care of the Guardian
Shepherd, to which ye, thus far, owe your safety? Have ye
already lost the memory of that wondrous sign wrought this day
for your deliverance,—when your eyes beheld a wall of storm and
thunder pass between your captain and his little barques, and the
overwhelming squadron of the heretic Ribault? Was this manifestation
of his guardian providence made for us in vain? Said
it not, plainly as the voice of Heaven might say, that our mission
was not ended—that there was other work to be wrought by our

hands, and that he was with us, to help us in the great achievement
of his purposes. Lo! you now, the very storm, that rages
about us, and beneath the terrors of which ye tremble, is but a
further proof of his guardianship. Under cover of the rages of
the tempest, shall we press on to the complete achievement of our
work. We shall march to the conquest of La Caroline,—we shall
destroy these arch-heretics—these enemies of God, in the very
fortress of their strength—in the very place which they have set
apart, in the vain hope of security, as their home of refuge!”

Audible murmurs here arrested the speaker.

“What is it that ye fear, my children?” continued Melendez.

Then some among them cried out—“What madness is it that
we hear? Shall we, thus enfeebled as we are, with our great ships
speeding to Hispaniola, here, left as we are on the wild shores of
the savage, not yet entrenched, shall we divide our strength, in
the hope to conquer La Caroline, leaving to the heretic Ribault
to fall upon our camp when we depart, to pursue us as we tread
the great forests of the Floridian, and to destroy us between the
power which he brings and that which awaits us at La Caroline?”

“Oh! my brethren! would ye could see with my vision! Ribault
will not trouble our camp, neither will he pursue us in our
absence. He speeds before the terrors of the tempest. He flies
from the destruction which will scarcely suffer him to escape. A
voice cries to me that he already perishes beneath the engulphing
waters of the Mexican sea; or is cast upon the bleak and
treacherous shores and islands which guard the domain of the
Floridian. Even if he should escape these dangers, weeks must pass
before he can return to these waters of Selooe, the heathen empire
of which we have consecrated with the name and confided to the
holy keeping of the blessed St. Augustine! This tempest is no summer

gale, subsiding as rapidly as it begins. It will rage thus for
many days. In that time, encouraged by the Lord, we shall pass
the forest wastes that lie between us and La Caroline. With five
hundred men, and a host of these red warriors, we shall penetrate
in less than four days to the fortress of the heretics—and while
they dream that they sleep securely under the shadows of the
tempest, we shall rush upon their slumbers, and give them to
sleep eternally. My valiant comrades, this is the resolution
which I have taken; but I would hear your counsel. I would
not that ye should not cheerfully adopt the resolve which is assuredly
a dictate from Heaven itself. For, if we destroy not these
heretics, they will destroy us. If we cut off the people of La
Caroline ere Ribault shall return, his fortress is ours, the cannon
of which we shall turn upon him. It is a war a l'outrance between
us. They will give us no quarter: they shall have none.
This tempest gives us the assurance that we shall have no danger
from Ribault, if we seize the precious moments for our enterprise,
when he is vainly striving with the tempests of the deep, and
vainly striving against the winds that bear him away hourly still
farther from the scene of our achievements.”

We need not pursue the deliberations of the Spanish council. It
is enough if we report the result. In the speeches of Melendez,
already made, we see the full force of his argument, which was sound
and sensible, and could only be opposed by the fears of those who
sought to avoid exposure, who dreaded the elements, the unknown
in their condition, and who shrunk from enterprises which promised
nothing but hard blows, and which tasked their hardihood
beyond all their past experience in war. There were arguments and
pleas put in by the over-cautious and the timid, to all of which
the Adelantado listened patiently, but to all of which he opposed

his arguments, based at once upon the obvious policy natural to
their circumstances, and to the equally obvious requisitions of the
Deity, as shown by an interposition in their favor, which they
were all prepared to acknowledge as fervently as Melendez. His
quiet but inflexible will prevailed; the council gradually became
of his mind. The unsatisfied were at least silenced, while those
whom he convinced were clamorous in their plaudits of a scheme
which they ascribed, as Melendez did himself, to the immediate
revelation of Heaven.

“I thank you, noble gentlemen,” were the words of the Adelantado,
as they separated for the night. “That our opinions so
well correspond increases my confidence in our plan. Not that I
had doubts before. I had thy assurance, oh! Lord! that this
adventure had thy heavenly sanction. In te Domine speravi,—let
us never be confounded! And now, my comrades, let us separate.
With the dawn, though the storm rages still, as I hope and believe
it will, we must prepare for this enterprise. We shall choose
five hundred of our best soldiers, carry with us provisions for eight
days, and in that time our work will be done. Our force will be
divided into six companies, each with its flag and captain, and a
select body of pioneers, armed with axes, shall be sent before to
open a pathway through the forest. That we have no guide is a
misfortune; but God will provide so that we fail not. Fortunately
we know in what quarter lies La Caroline—the distance is
known also, and we shall not go wide, if we are only resolved to
seek and to destroy the heretics with firm and valiant hearts,
filled with a proper faith in heaven.”

Even as he concluded, one at the entrance of the council-house
entreated entrance. It proved to be a priest, the Reverend

Father Salvandi, who brought with him a strange man, overgrown
with beard, and partly in the costume of a mariner.

“My son,” said the priest, “here is the very man you want.
This is one Francis Jean, a Frenchman,—once a heretic, but
now, conscious of his errors, and repentant in the hands of Holy
Church. He hath recanted of his sins, and hath come back willingly
to the folds of Christ. He hath fled from La Caroline, from
the cruelties of Laudonniere, the heretic, and will report what he
knows, touching the condition of the Lutheran fortress and the
people thereof.”

“Said I not, my comrades, that God would provide!” cried
Melendez in exultation. “This is the very man whom we want.
What art thou?”—to the Frenchman.

“I was a heretic, my lord,—I am now a Christian. I was
beaten by Laudonniere, and I fled from him, taking off one of his
barques. He hath sworn my life; I would take his. I know the
route to La Caroline. I will show the way to your soldiers.”

“Ah! Laudonniere will hang you, if he gets you into his
power.”

“For that reason, my lord, I would have you get him in
yours.”

“You shall have your wish. The Lord hath indeed spoken!
Your name?”

“Francis Jean!”

“Be faithful—guide my people to this fortress of the heretics,
and you shall be rewarded. But, if treacherous, Francis Jean,
you shall hang to the first tree of the forest!”

“Doubt me not, my lord. I will do you good service!”

“Be it so! My comrades—the Lord hath provided. Señor
Martin de Ochoa, take this man into thy keeping. Do him no

hurt,—let him be well entreated, but let him not escape from thy
sight.”

The Reverend Father Salvandi bestowed his benediction upon
the kneeling circle, and they separated for the night. And still
the storm roared without, and still the rains descended, but the
heart of Melendez rejoiced in the tempest, as it were an angel
sent by Heaven to his succor.