E. Boyd Smith

“ Captain John in return gave her beads and trinkets to deck herself, and called her his child, and a firm friendship grew between them. Often she came and went, bringing peace and welcome food, quite at home in the little streets of Jamestown. And Captain John Smith in his writings has said that without her help in times of dire need, and without her influence for peace, the feeble colony must surely have perished, either by famine or by the hands of her savage kindred. Much we owe to the Indian maid who helped so greatly in the early struggles of the founders of this great nation. ”

“ Another time Captain Hawes took the children to Barry's sail loft, where the sails for the new ship were being made. He had already told them something about sailmaking, but knew they would understand better by seeing the real things. The sail loft, like everything connected with ships, proved interesting,—the broad clean floor, the men on their low benches sewing the seams of the heavy canvas, forcing the needles through with the stout leather "palms," instead of thimbles. ”

“ Now Noah was warned that a great flood was to come, which would pour down from the clouds and drown the whole earth. He straightway told his neighbors what was to happen, but they refused to believe, and scoffed at him, and said: “Let it rain. [2] ”
2. BUILDING THE ARK
Then Noah went his way, and set to work to build him a great ship, to be ready for the day of deluge.
And he laid the keel in the pasture fields, among the daisies; while the idlers came to look on and laugh at such folly—a ship for a rainy day! [3]
3. ”

“ He hoped thus to attack the white men while they were unarmed.
But Captain John was too cautious a soldier to agree to this, and answered that, since, as Powhatan had well said, they were all friends, there could be no harm in keeping their guns with them, as the settlers considered them a part of their dress. Then Powhatan planned to surprise them by night. But, just as his trap was well laid, Pocahontas, risking her own life, stole silently through the deep woods in the dark, cold night, to the Captain's tent, and, with tears in her eyes, warned him of his danger, urging him to fly. ”

“ And Noah bade the beasts and birds go forth and seek new homes. And they scattered in every direction to begin life afresh; while Noah’s wife murmured “good riddance,” and vowed that she would never go to sea again.
Then Noah gladly rested from his labors.
And this is the end of the story of Noah’s Ark. ”

“ And now Captain John Smith, who, during all this time, had been on long voyages of exploration and adventure, hearing that Pocahontas had come to England, remembered the old times and all that the little Indian maid had done for him, and so, attended by some friends, he went down to Branford to greet her. When Pocahontas saw him a flood of recollection overcame her, and she was greatly moved. ”

“ The ship was to go on an Eastern voyage. He had often been out there, away off in the China seas, where strange craft came about you: junks with their odd, high sails, their yellow sailors with "pigtails" down their backs, everything so different from our part of the world.
[Pg 45]
BURNED AT SEA
In the evenings, as Captain Hawes sat smoking his pipe, he would tell the children of strange lands he had visited in his voyages, and then suggest that they look up these places in their geographies, and this study, which before was a task, took on a new interest for Bob and Betty. ”

“ At once there was wild confusion of shouting and threatening, many crying, "Kill, kill!" while but few were willing to [Pg 25] spare his life, for the Indians feared the white men, and wished to drive them from the land.
But Pocahontas, as Princess of the tribe, claimed her right, and would not yield them up their victim. Then Powhatan, who ruled them all, raised his hand and stopped their clamor. In sullen silence the angry warriors awaited his decision. For a moment he hesitated, and the fate of Captain John hung wavering in the balance. ”

“ It was all exciting and dangerous work, for sometimes the whale would attack the boat and splinter it to pieces with a blow of his tail, and the men, often badly hurt, be thrown into the sea, and sometimes lost. The dead whale was towed off to the ship, here he was moored to the side, and the body cut up. The great pieces of fat blubber "tried out," that is, melted in pots over the fire on the deck, and the oil run off into barrels and stowed away in the hold.
[Pg 41]
LOADING THE SHIP
Captain Hawes made the children a little toy schooner which they sailed in the coves along the beach. ”

“ POCAHONTAS
Long, long ago, when the Indians owned the land, there lived in Virginia, near the river afterwards called the James, a little girl, the Princess Pocahontas, daughter of the great chief Powhatan.
Pocahontas was her father's favorite child, and the pet of the whole tribe; even the fierce warriors loved her sunny ways.
She was a child of nature, and the birds trusted her and came at her call. She knew their songs, and where they built their nests. So she roamed the woods, and learned the ways of all the wild things, and grew [Pg 5] to be a care-free maiden. ”

“ For now the other beasts and birds, fearing to be left behind, all tried to get in at once, and could not be controlled.
But they did not leave behind their dislikes and ancient feuds. For how could the cats and the mice live together in peace, or how could the fox and the geese agree? ”

“ They live by hunting and fishing. They spear seals from their skin canoes,—"kayaks,"—and fish through holes in the ice. These are the people you hear the explorers tell about when they go on expeditions to the North Pole. Captain Hawes thought they were the strangest people he had ever met. As whalers often put in up in these parts, the Captain and his mates did not have too hard a time, and were picked up by a passing ship and brought home.
[Pg 49]
THE SHIP SAILS AWAY
Summer was passing quickly now, and it would soon be time for the "long vacation" to come to an end. ”

“ But it was a great sight, and it wasn't everybody who had seen a ship being built, they knew that.
On the way home they rowed past sloops with a strange contrivance out on the end of the bowsprit; this Captain Hawes said was called a "pulpit." These boats went sword-fishing, and in the pulpit a man was stationed with lance in hand, while aloft in the rigging a "lookout" sighted the fish. When the boat was near enough, the man with the lance stood ready, and speared the fish as it passed. He promised to show them these big fish the next time a catch was brought in. ”

“ Then Noah took on board in plenty foods of every kind for men and beasts. While the hungry animals inside complained that he should have done this first instead of last.
And then he took his wife and his sons’ wives into the Ark, though Mrs. Noah was loath and rebelled: “For the domestic arrangements,” she said, “are impossible. [14] ”
14. ”

“ About this time they heard that the new ship, now all rigged and with all sails in place, had been taken to the neighboring port and was taking on her cargo for a long voyage. As they wanted to see the ship again, the Captain took them on this little journey to see the work being done at the docks.
Loading a ship is always a strenuous and hurly-burly affair, with much bustle, shouting, hauling, pushing, and pulling. The children, under Patsey's lead, found a good point of vantage on top of some boxes, and watched the work. ”

“ Later, when the settlers were in sore straits for food, for they were improvident, and managed badly, Pocahontas, always generous and friendly, learning of their needs, came with her brother Nantaquaus and her Indians bringing corn, and kept them from starving, while their own was growing. ”

“ Of course you know what whales are, big sea animals, you couldn't call them fish, often sixty or seventy feet long, 'as long as a big house,' huge creatures who lived in the northern or southern seas, though once in a while a stray one had been known to come into the Sound, not far from here. ”

“ He was not at all impressed by the king and his richly dressed nobles, and wondered how they could endure so many clothes, and greatly preferred his own simple dress, made from the skins of the wild beasts of his forests. ”

“ He stayed for some time on this ship, taking part in a sea fight with a Venetian vessel, and received, after the victory, a share of the spoils.
Now, with money again in his pocket, he wandered through Italy, and then crossed over to Styria. Here he joined the army of the Emperor Rudolph and was appointed captain of a company of cavalry, and did good service.
During the siege of the town of Regal, the Turks, who held it, challenged any captain among the besiegers to come out and fight one of their champions. ”