At once there was wild confusion of shouting and threatening, many
crying, "Kill, kill!" while but few were willing to 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. Then, to please his
favorite daughter, whom he dearly loved, he decreed that she should have
her will.

"Let Pocahontas keep the stranger as her own, to make her toys," he
said, for Captain John, during the idle days of weary captivity, had
often whittled curious playthings for the little maid.

And thus was Captain John Smith's life saved by the gentle Indian girl,
and with it the Jamestown colony, for without their sturdy and
resourceful leader the settlers would have lost courage and abandoned
the town.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

13. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AGAIN FREE

Now, after much feasting, and with savage rite and ceremony, Powhatan
adopted the Captain into the tribe, and made him a chief, and told him
that he might come and go in safety, as one of them; then gave him
guides to take him back to Jamestown, that the red man and the white
should henceforth be friends, since Pocahontas willed it so.

And Captain John thanked the maiden for the great service she had done
him, and, like a gallant knight of old, bent his knee and kissed her
hand as he bade her good-by.

Once again in Jamestown, he found the colony in disorder and panic. All
were on the point of sailing for home, completely disheartened, for they
thought him dead, and feared the Indians. But again he put life into the
enterprise, and set the faint-hearted to work, freed from the fear of
Indian attack, since Pocahontas stood his friend.

[Illustration]

14. POCAHONTAS BRINGS FOOD TO THE COLONISTS

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. Captain John in return gave her beads and trinkets to deck
herself, and called her his child, and a firm friendship grew