As soon as he was gone
the Frenchmen began to prepare to depart also. In a few days all
was ready, and they only waited for a fair wind in order to set
sail. But as they waited, one day, the fort was again thrown into
a state of excitement by the appearance of another fleet of ships.
Again the question was asked, were they friends or foes, Spaniards
or Frenchmen? At length, after hours of sickening suspense, the
question was answered, they were Frenchmen under the command of
Ribaut.
The long-looked-for help had come at last. It had come when it was
no longer looked for, when it was indeed unwelcome to many. For
the colonists had grown utterly weary of that sunlit cruel land,
and they only longed to go home. France with any amount of tyranny
was to be preferred before the freedom and the misery of Florida.
But to abandon the colony was now impossible, for besides supplies
of food the French ships had brought many new colonists. This
time, too, the men had not come alone but had brought their wives
and families with them. Soon the fort which had been so silent and
mournful was filled with sounds of talk and laughter. Again, the
noise of hatchet and hammer resounded through the woods, and the
little forsaken corner of the world awoke once more to life.
__________
Chapter 9 - How the Spaniards Drove the French Out of Florida
Scarcely a week had passed before the new peace and happiness of
the French colony was brought to a cruel end.
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