ile to try and meet
strangers' wiles with wiles of his own.

"Where thinkest thou he can have gone?" asked Waldo. "I like it not.
Smith; mayhap he is e'en now preparing some mischief against us."

"I wish we had not harkened to thee. Captain Smith," said one of the
gentlemen, glancing nervously over his shoulder; "it was a fool's wisdom
to come thus without good yeomen with match-locks to frighten away their
arrows."

"Gentlemen," replied Smith, showing his vexation in his tone, "I tell ye
ye are in no danger if ye do not yourselves bring it about with your
looks of suspicion. Remember that all Werowocomoco is feasting its eyes
upon us, and bear yourselves as Englishmen should."

"Where was it they nearly brained thee, Captain?" queried the fourth.
"And not even thy friend, the little princess, is here to welcome thee.
Doth not her absence cause thee some anxiety?"

It did in truth set John Smith to wondering. He did not fear that any
harm was planned, but Pocahontas's absence was unexpected and he
wondered what its significance might be. He had been looking forward to
seeing his little sister again in her own home and had expected to enjoy
a talk with her which would not be interrupted as their conversations in
Jamestown always were by the many demands upon his time and attention.
Now that he was so much more familiar with her language, it was a
pleasure to discover what a maiden of the forests thought of her own
world and that strange world he had brought to touch hers.

The Indians who had come forward to welcome the white men now pointed to
a small meadow at the edge of the trees. They did not reply to Smith's
questions as to what he was to do there, but knowing that this spot was
sometimes used for special purposes. Smith led the way.

"Whither are we bound. Captain?" asked Andrew Buckler querulously. "It
doth not seem wise to go further off from our boat. If they mean harm to
us we shall have all the longer way to fight through."

"There will be no fighting to be done," declared Smith, not deigning
even to slacken his gait.

But just then loud shrieks came from the woods, and between the trees
dashed out a score or more creatures directly upon them.

[Illustration: Decorative]

CHAPTER XIII

POWHATAN'S CORONATION

The trees grew so close together that it was difficult for the
Englishmen to distinguish in the shadows they cast the figures whirling
between the trunks. Half naked they were