CHAPTER I.

A LONG TIME AGO

Now, will my readers be good enough to turn to their map of the United States and look at the state of Virginia, one of the most important members of the Union? You will notice the large inlet called Chesapeake Bay, which reaches far to the northward and divides Maryland into two sections, known as the Eastern and the Western shore. Down near the mouth of this bay you will observe the broad outlet of a large river, the James, named from James I., who succeeded Queen Elizabeth in 1603, and ruled England until his death in 1625. Make a careful study of the lower fifty or hundred miles of the James River, for the incidents I am about to tell you occurred in that section of the country.

At the time I have in mind—the beginning of 1607—there was not a white man in Virginia, nor in any of the present States to the northward. The Spanish had gained a foothold farther to the south, and St. Augustine, Florida, the first permanent white settlement in the United States, had had a feeble existence for more than forty years. Of course, the mountains, lakes, and rivers were the same as they are today; but there were no cities, towns, or villages, only vast stretches of forest and wilderness, where roamed wild animals and wild men or Indians. These people had no horses or cattle. The large herds of wild horses which had already begun to roam over the prairies and plains of the southwest, were the descendants of the droves of the early Spanish explorers, but not an animal of that kind was to be found in Virginia or to the northward.

When the Indians wished to go from one place to another, they did so by means of their canoes, or small birchen boats, if a stream was near; if not, they tramped through the forest. They knew nothing of firearms, but used bows and arrows, spears, tomahawks, and knives, with which they killed bears, deer, buffaloes, and large game. Since they did not know how to forge iron, they made their knives, tomahawks, and spearheads of bone or stone. These wild men were divided into large tribes or families, whose head or ruler was called _chief_, and whom all the others had to obey. His men were called warriors, the women were squaws, and the babies were papooses. The tribes were jealous of one another, and often fought. Generally their captives were put to cruel deaths. Some of the tribes numbered several thousand warriors, and in more than one instance a number of tribes formed a confederacy. The Iroquois, or Six Nations, whose headquarters were in the present State of New York, was the most powerful union of this kind that ever existed among the American Indians.

Although, as I have said there was not an English settlement in America at the opening of 1607, you must not think no attempts had been made to form such colonies. Away up in New England parties of men had landed and tried to makes homes for themselves, but the climate was so rugged, and the hardships they had to face so trying, that they gave up, and those who did not die made haste to get back to Old England again.

The strangest fate of all attended the efforts of Sir Walter Raleigh to plant settlements in America. He sent out several expeditions, the last in 1587. It numbered one hundred and fifty men and women, who, landing on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, began building new homes. There the first child of English parentage was born, her name being Virginia Dare. I am sorry to say these people did not get on well together, but seemed to be quarrelling all the time. Finally, Governor White, who was the head of the colony, sailed for England to bring back help.

When he arrived home a war with Spain was threatened, and he was unable to return to Roanoke until after three years. He was very anxious to rejoin the people, for he had left his daughter among the colonists; but, strange to say, when he landed he was unable to find a single member of the company. He came upon many signs, but not a living man or woman. Sir Walter Raleigh did everything he could to learn their fate, but was never able to gain any certain knowledge. Today one of the strangest and most romantic incidents in the colonial history of the United States is that of the “Lost Colony of Roanoke.” The mystery has never been explained how so many men and women could disappear and leave no trace behind them. But here is a theory which has always seemed reasonable to me:

Among the Indians of that section you will find at the present time quite a number who have light hair and blue eyes. What more probable than that the surviving members of the Lost Colony married among the natives, and that the odd-looking Indians of whom I have spoken are their descendants?

It seems remarkable that more than a hundred years had passed since the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, without seeing the planting of a single permanent English colony on this side of the Atlantic. All this time, too, England laid claim to the whole continent, because of the discoveries of John Cabot and his son Sebastian. Finally, however, in 1606, two great companies were formed for the colonization of America, one in Plymouth and the other in London. The efforts of the Plymouth Company ended in failure, but the other corporation was successful. In the depth of the winter of 1606, three vessels—the _Sarah Constant_, of one hundred tons burden; the _Godspeed_ and the _Discovery_, each of forty tons, started across the Atlantic, under the command of Captain Christopher Newport. They carried one hundred and five men, but no women, and intended to settle at Roanoke Island, where the “lost colony” had disappeared some twenty years before; but they were driven farther north by a storm, and, with no idea of where they were, began hunting for a suitable place for settlement. They sailed into the broad opening of Chesapeake Bay, and were still roving northward when they were pleased with the appearance of a wide river, which flowed into the bay from the mainland on the west. They turned the prows of their little vessels into this stream, carefully studying the shores in their quest for an inviting spot.

It was the radiant month of May, with mild skies and soft breezes, which kept the craft steadily making their way against the gentle current. These hardy men, standing on the decks of their little vessels, and gazing at the shores, after being tossed about for months on the stormy Atlantic, were sure they had never gazed upon anything so beautiful. The banks were exuberant with brilliant wild flowers, whose sweet fragrance was wafted across the smooth waters, while the green hills and mountains in the distance were softened to the most delicate tints against the blue sky. The craft moved so slowly that the calm current made only the faintest rippling against the bows, and the bellying sails being once set, remained as smooth and unruffled as if they were so much painted canvas. All the attention needed was for the man at the helm to hold it steady, so as to keep the boat near the middle of the great stream.

Rich, emerald vegetation and gorgeous flowers were not all that caught the attention of the charmed Englishmen. There were men and women in this new country, descendants of those who had lived there for unknown ages. They were standing motionless on the shores, studying the approaching vessels with much the same emotions that must have come to the natives of San Salvador when they first caught sight of the caravels of Columbus. One party, among whom several women could be seen, stood on a slight eminence, a hundred or more yards back from the stream, as if afraid to come any nearer. The warrior in the middle was fully a head taller than his companions, and was observed to point one hand towards the vessels, as if calling the attention of the others to some peculiar features of the strange craft, the like of which none had ever looked upon before.

On the margin of the river, where there was a natural clearing of an acre or so, another party gathered, including also several women. They were talking and gesticulating, and it would be interesting could we know what they said to one another. When the _Sarah Constant_, which was leading, and a hundred yards in advance of the smaller boats, came opposite this group, two of the warriors were seen to fit arrows to their bowstrings, aim carefully, and let them fly. The feathered missiles could be easily traced as they curved upward in a beautiful parabola, and then darted, head downward, into the clear current, not having traversed half the distance between the land and the ship. The men crowding the decks could well afford to smile at such efforts. Captain Newport suggested that it would be a good thing to fire a volley into the party, as they had done some days before near the mouth of the river when greeted by a shower of arrows.

“No; we should cultivate their good will; we shall have need of their friendship, and must not use our firearms so long as our lives can be saved without doing so.”

This remark, in crisp, decisive tones, was made by a man standing at the prow, with a spy-glass in his hand, which he turned now and then towards the different groups. He was of sturdy build, dressed in the civilian dress of the well-to-do citizen of those times, with a full, sandy beard and a huge military mustache. His face was deeply tanned, he wore a sword at his side, and his countenance showed resolution and firmness. He was not yet thirty years of age, and no one could look at his figure without seeing he possessed unusual strength and hardihood. It was plain that mentally and physically he was above the officers and crew about him.

This man was one of the most remarkable persons connected with the early history of the United States, and the foremost individual in the colonial period of the chief State. He was Captain John Smith, whose great services won him the name of the “Father of Virginia,” and there can be no question that he deserved the honor. That he was a great boaster cannot be denied. Some of the stories he told of his adventures in France, Egypt, Hungary, Turkey, and other countries were true only in his imagination, recent researches having proved this to be the fact. None the less, he was one of the bravest of men, unselfish, enterprising, frank, and far-seeing; and it may as well be said at this point, that the first English colony in America would have perished from the earth but for the wisdom, energy, and self-sacrificing labors of this famous native of Lincolnshire.

The Indians who had launched the useless arrows must have done so as an indication of their feelings towards the white men who had dared to invade their country. Now and then several of the warriors, bolder than their companions, skirted the shore in their canoes, keeping abreast of the vessels, and occasionally venturing for a little way towards them; but they hurriedly withdrew again, as if they had heard something of the terrible weapons which spouted fire and killed without anyone understanding how, since no eye could ever detect the fatal missile. The Indians in their boats, as a rule, kept close to land, so as to be ready to take to flight the instant it became necessary. The result more than once was amusing.

A canoe containing four warriors, after several timid ventures, headed out in the river, as if they intended to board the strange craft. They paddled slower and slower, until when twenty rods or so from land their courage oozed away, and they dared advance no farther. They paused with their long ashen paddles still, ready to dip them into the current at the first sign of danger.

Without any command, the man at the helm pushed the rudder around, so that the bow of the largest ship slowly swung about, and it headed towards the canoe. The moment the occupants of the latter saw the fearful thing bearing down upon them they bent to their work with desperate energy, the craft skimming over the surface like a swallow. Captain Smith, smiling grimly, made a tunnel of one hand, and emitted a roar like that of an angry bull. The noise rolled over the smooth surface with terrifying power. Two of the Indians, in a wild panic, leaped overboard, and dived and swam in a frenzy of panic, while the others outsped them in the headlong haste of their paddling. Then as the panting fellows scrambled out on land, the _Constant_ began laboriously swinging about again, and continued her course steadily up stream, most of the men on board who had witnessed the incident breaking into laughter, which had a strange sound at that time and in that place.

The three vessels had begun their voyage up the James the previous day, so that now, while it was early in the afternoon, they were fully two score mile from the mouth of the noble river.

They were approaching the peninsula where they were to make their final pause, when the attention of all was turned up stream. Captain Smith, in his interest brought his old-fashioned glass to his eye, and scanned the object that had suddenly taken on such interest for all. Around a sweeping bend in the broad river a single canoe shot into sight. The strange fact about it was that the two persons in it who must have discovered the ships the moment they came into their field of vision, did not turn to the right or left, but came straight on, as if heading for the largest boat, which kept in advance of its companions.

Only one of the Indians was swaying his paddle. He dipped the blade first on one side and then on the other, and the sparkling of the water was plainly seen in the bright sunlight, as the graceful craft remained in the middle of the current.

Captain Newport, who also has a glass, came to within a few paces of where Smith was standing, closely studying the object. Although he was jealous of the plain spoken Smith, and had been, indeed, a party to his arrest on an absurd charge, he used a certain friendliness of manner which did not deceive the bluff fellow.

“Those two warriors have more courage than their friend,” remarked Newport.

“There is only _one_ warrior in the canoe,” replied Smith, still keeping the telescope to his eye; “the other is a woman, and——”

He hesitated as if waiting to feel sure before saying anything further.

When Newport had spent another minute or two in studying the boat he said:

“You are right, and the woman is not an old one.”

“She is not a woman, but a girl.”

“Probably the daughter of the warrior.”

“That cannot be, for he is not much more than a boy—at most, he is only a young man.”

“As young as _you_?”

There was sarcasm in the question, and it was marked by a grin, which Smith did not see.

“He is younger in years than I, but not so young in wisdom as Captain Newport.”

This remark was natural to Captain Smith, who had little respect for those in authority when they deserved none. Moreover, the words were spoken in such loud tones that twenty others heard them, and, while they wondered at the boldness of Smith, they admired him the more. Still further, their feeling were the same as his, for Christopher Newport was much less a man in the true meaning of the word than John Smith.