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Show 352 Til£ LILY AND THE TOTEM. drew his sword, and made nt the assailant, but the master of tho camp seconded the blow of Ochoa, :md the J;'rcnchmnn was brougl~t to the ground. The sword of d1c Spaniard was planted at Ius throat, and he \'l'fl.S forbidden to speak uudcr pain of death. lie l1ad cried aloud, but had failed to gi\'C tlw alarm, and tl1is pointed suggestion silenced him from f:•rthcr attempts. lie was conduc-ted to ~lclcndcz, who, determined to see nothing but good auguncs, c•·icd out, without caring to hear the report--" ::'!ly friends, God is with us ! W c arc already in possession of the fort." At these words the assault wa.s given. The capti,·c }~rcncbman was slain, as the most easy method of relieving his captors of their charge, and the Spaniards d:u-tcd pcll-m('l1 into the fort, the fierce Adelantado still leading in the charge, with tho cry-" Follow me, comrad(' s, God is for us!" Two .Frenchmen, half-naked, rushed acros.'i his path. One of them he !!lew, and Don Andres Patino tho other. They haU no time allowed them to give the nla.nn ; but just at this moment a soldier of the gardson who was less drowsy than the rest, or more apprehensive of l1is duty, had sauntered forth from the shelter of his quarters and stood upon the ramparts, looking forth in tho direction of a little" sandie knappe," or hill, down which a colum<~. of the Spaniards were rushing in order of battle. This vision brought him to the full possessiOn of all his faculties. He gave the ai dt. guerrr., the signal of battle, but as he wheeled about to procure his weapons, he beheld other detnclnnents of the Spaniards making their way through the unrepaired and undefended breaches in the wall. Still ho cried aloud, c'•en ns he fled, and Laudonnicre started from his slumbers only to hear the startling cry-" To arms ! to arms! The cnerr.y is upon us!" 1'hc warning came too late. The amiable wcakncBI:! which THE FATE OF LA CAROLINE. 353 withdrew the sentinels from the walls because of the weather, was not now to be repaired by any energy or courage. The garrison was aroused, but not permitted to rally or embody t!Jemseh·es. .Mclendrz with his troop had reached the corp~ lit. gardt. quite ns ROOn as Laudonniero. The latter-lntely supposed to ha,·e u~urpnd royal honors-was very soon convinced that tl1e only object before him 'vas the safety of his own lifo. With the first alarm, he eaup:ht up sword and buckler, and rushed valiantly enough iuto the court. But lm only appeared to be made painfully con.~cious tl1at everything \vas lost. His appeals to his soldiers only brought his enemies about him, who butchered his men as they approaeh"d their guns, and who now appeared in numbers on every sidl', iu full possession of the fortress. The magt~zines were nlrcady in their hands, nnd a desperate effort of J.audonniere's artillm·ists to recover them, wns followed only by their own destruction. Tho most vigorous resistance, hand to hand, was made on the southWC'St side of the fort. H ere the Frenchmen opposed th:!msclves with cool and determined courage, to the entrance of the en"my. Hither J .. audonniere hurried, cryin;z aloud to his men in the langua~ e of encouragement, and doing his utmost, by the most bradlong valor, to repair the mischiefs of his feeble rule nod most unhappy remissnes.s of authority. Verily, to those who smv how ,veil ho carded himself in this the moment of his worst de!~pair, the past errors of tho unhappy J~nudonnierc had been forg ivC'n if not forgotten. But the struggle, on the part of any valor, W:lS utterly in ,·ain. The Spaniards had won a footing nlready too seeuro for dispossession. L ed on by Pedro Melendez, with ever and anon his fnnatie war-cry-" God is with us, my comrades," rin.;~ 'ing in their enrs, now thoroughly excited by the earnest of suec~ss which they enjoyed, in overwhelming numbers and. in the full Iilith |
