Ten American Girls From History | Page 4

and send with him warriors to carry the coveted articles.
This the wily Indian ruler promised to do, and in return offered him a
tract of land which he did not own, and from which he intended to push
the settlers if they should take possession of it. And Captain Smith had
no intention of giving either cannon or grindstones to Powhatan, so the
shrewd old savage and the quick-witted Captain were well matched in
diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Powhatan's interest in his white captive became so great
that he gave him the freedom he would have accorded one of his own
subjects, even allowing Pocahontas to hunt with him, and when
evening came she would sit by the great fire and listen to her Captain's
stories of his life told with many a graphic gesture which made them
clear to her even though most of his words were unintelligible.

Then came a day when the captive was led to a cabin in the heart of the
forest and seated on a mat before a smoldering fire to await he knew
not what. Suddenly Powhatan appeared before him, fantastically
dressed, followed by two hundred warriors as weirdly decorated as he
was. Rushing in, they surrounded the frightened Captain, but quickly
dispelled his fears by telling him that they were all his friends and this
was only a ceremony to celebrate his speedy return to Jamestown, for
the purpose of sending back cannon and grindstones to their Chief.
This was good news. The Captain showed hearty appreciation of the
favor, and at once said his farewells. Powhatan, the inscrutable, who
bade him a dignified good-by, repeated his promise to give him the
country of the Capahowsick, which he did not own, and said he should
forever honor him as his own son. Then, with an escort of twelve
Indians, Captain Smith set out for Jamestown, and beside him trudged
Pocahontas, looking as resolute as if she were in truth a forest Princess
escorting her chosen cavalier through the wilderness.
As they picked their way along the rough trail, the Captain told her
such tales of the settlement as he could make clear to her and repeated
some simple English words he had been trying to teach her. As he
talked and as she said over and over the words she had learned,
Pocahontas gripped his arm with rapt interest and longed to follow
where he led. But night was coming on, it was unwise for her to go
beyond the last fork of the trail, and so, reluctantly, she parted from her
new and wonderful friend. But before she left him she darted to the side
of a trusty warrior and gave a passionate command, then started swiftly
back on the long wood path leading to Werewocomoco. The next night
no one could make her laugh or join in the dances around the big fire,
nor did she show any likeness to the light-hearted, romping, singing
little tomboy, ringleader among her playmates. Pocahontas had lost a
comrade, and her childish heart was sore at the loss. But when the
warriors returned from Jamestown she became merry and happy again,
for had the Caucarouse not sent her back strings of beads more
beautiful than any she had ever seen before, such as proved surely that
he had not forgotten her?

The truth of the matter was, that on reaching the colony, Captain Smith
showed the Indians a grindstone and told them to carry it back to
Powhatan, but when they tried to lift it and found its great weight they
were utterly disconcerted. Then the wily Captain showed them a
cannon purposely loaded with stones, and had it discharged among the
icicle-laden trees, which so terrified the savages that they ran away and
refused to take another look at it. Then Captain Smith cleverly
suggested that they carry back trinkets in place of the articles which
were so heavy, and the Indians went happily away without the
promised gifts, but bearing many smaller things, some of which the
Captain was thoughtful enough to suggest be given to Pocahontas as a
slight token of his appreciation of her great service to him.
Little he dreamed, man of the world though he was, that the small
courtesy would mean as much to the Indian maiden as it did, nor could
he know that from that hour the dreams of Pocahontas were all to be
built around the daily life of the pale-faced men in the Jamestown
settlement. Even when she joined her playmates in her favorite games
of Gus-ga-e-sa-ta (deer buttons), or Gus-ka-eh (peach-pit), or
even,--tomboy that she was,--when she turned somersaults with her
favorite brother Nantaquaus and his comrades, she was so far from
being her usual lively self that the boys and girls questioned her about