166 WELD SPOET8 IN THE SOUTH. 



was one of their natural enemies, the comrade of Nar- 

 vaez, and the countryman of Velasquez, therefore he had 

 permitted this unpardonable sin, and brought down the 

 anger of the Great Spirit on the tribe. 



" Justice is not slow of foot among simple people, and 

 that very evening, while the young mistress of the sol- 

 dier was wrapped in fawn skins, and sewed in palmetto 

 leaves for her long sleep, her lover was brought to trial 

 before the chiefs of the village. 



" The great fire of loblolly pine climbed up in the air, 

 and lit the scene with the whiteness of noon. The bam- 

 boo and grass cottages; the overshadowing cabbage 

 palms, with their colossal trunks and spike leafed crowns; 

 the solemn circle of chiefs, and the background of 

 women and young boys, formed a great picture glow- 

 ing with the colors of Rubens. 



" Ortez stood in the centre, bound to a stake. He 

 appeared the same man as three years before, when he 

 stood in the self-same place. He wore the same steel 

 shirt, the same fierce look of pride; and from his 

 ragged arm, the blood, unnoticed, dropped slowly on the 

 ground; 



" The warriors smoked long and doubtfully ; and when 

 they had done, and the pipe had been lain down before 

 the cacique, they spoke their views with the gravity and 

 sententious eloquence of Roman Fathers. 



" When all had finished, Ortez replied. His words 

 in the Appalachian tongue were broken, though his 

 voice was deep and clear. He recounted his deeds, and 



