HOME AGAIN. 265 



CHAPTER XVn 



HOME AGAIN. 



" Be thy intent wicked or charitable, 

 Thou comest in such a questionable shape 



That I will speak to thee." 



HAMLET. 



IF the reader will leave for a short time his hunting 

 acquaintances of the Key, and visit another contemporary 

 camp, he can see, in fancy's eye, one of the chief men 

 that, at the date of our story, controlled the destiny of 

 the Floridas. 



Halleck Tustenuggee was a Mickasukie chief of much 

 repute, as well for Ms bravery and endurance as for his 

 complete knowledge of the resources of his native land, 

 his eloquence and his cunning in all the wiles of Indian 

 diplomacy. Being born of the Mickasukies, the original 

 owners of the soil, and being related by marriage to the 

 principal men of the tribe, he possessed a wide influence 

 that was sustained by his strength and manliness of per- 

 son. Gaily colored quills were plaited in the long black 

 hair that fell from the crown of the head, and his costume 

 was more uniform than that of the savages of the northern 

 tribes, and resembled the hunting-shirt of the frontier 

 hunter. He was six feet two inches in height, and 



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