CHAPTER VI.AT JAMESTOWN
Captain Smith's burst of tempestuous anger was caused, in the first place, by the unpardonable violence shown to the gentle Pocahontas, a girl so young that she was not yet far in her "teens." In the sweetness of her nature she had shown perfect trust in the white men, and, early as it was in the settlement of Virginia, all knew she had no feeling but friendship for the people that had made their homes within the country of her father, the great Powhatan. What a rude awakening was hers! What injury it was likely to do to those who were in sore need of the good will of the powerful tribes around them!
A second cause of the Captain's wrath was the fact, clear to him, that the outrage, apart from its wickedness, was the worst thing possible when viewed as to its results to the white men themselves. Instead of alarming Powhatan and forcing him to help them, it would have the contrary effect. It would add to his ill will, and lead him to measures that otherwise might have beenaverted. (This, as you shall learn, was proved some years later, when Captain Argall stole Pocahontas, and came nigh causing the complete destruction of Jamestown and the settlements.)
Not only that, but the immediate results were sure to be disastrous. It was not to be supposed that Pocahontas was alone thus far from her home. She certainly had friends near at hand, she was already fleeing with her story; she would reach them in a brief while, and they would hasten to punish her enemies.
These thoughts flashed through the mind of Captain Smith, while the victim of his anger was slowly climbing to his feet. He took a step towards his namesake, meaning to strike him to the earth again, but the man shrank away, with no word of protest. The Captain checked himself and said:
"We must hasten to the boat before we are cut off. Come!"
The fellow picked up his hat and gun, and Captain Smith led the way at a rapid stride over the trail and through the dense undergrowth, till they reached the margin of the stream, along which they hurried to the spot where the prow of the craft had been drawn up the bank. He pushed it free and stepped within. Instead of seating himself at the stern, he did so at the bow,so that he faced the shore they were leaving, as did the two who hastily sat down and caught up the oars. The one who was named Smith was nearest the stern, his companion being between him and the Captain, with all three, as has been shown, looking towards the shore they were fast leaving behind them.
"Row hard," said the Captain, "for you have no time to spare."
Neither of the men had spoken a word since the rescue of Pocahontas, and they bent to their oars with the utmost energy. They knew they had done wrong, and naught was left but to obey the command of their leader, which they did with right good will.
The tide was sweeping down stream so fast that the craft took a diagonal position under the impulse of the oar, this being necessary to hold a direct course to the waiting boat in midstream. The three had not reached a point fifty yards from land, when a young Indian warrior dashed through the undergrowth into the open space on the beach. He was Nantaquas, and almost at his side was his sister Pocahontas. He held his long bow, firmly gripped in the middle by his left hand, and had drawn an arrow from the quiver behind his shoulder, which was partly fitted to the string of deer-thong. The girl pointed excitedly to the man Smithwho was rowing, and who was nearer to them than either of the others. She was showing the guilty man to her brother, who had probably asked the question of her.
"Look out!" warned the Captain. "He means to shoot you!"
The endangered fellow was so flustered that he broke the regularity of the strokes of the two, though Jack Bertram strove hard to catch it again. He kept his eye on the young warrior, who rigidly straightened his left arm, with the hand gripping the middle of the long bow, while he drew the feathered arrow to its head, and sighted at the alarmed oarsman.
Captain Smith watched Nantaquas, not allowing the slightest movement to escape him. Suddenly he called:
"Down!"
The other Smith instantly flung himself forward on his face, so that he was hidden by the low gunwale. Bertram, hardly knowing what he did, dodged to one side. The Captain did not stir. He knewhewas in no danger.
At the same moment that the oarsman went down Nantaquas launched his arrow, which came with such swiftness that it made a flickering streak in the sunlight which the eye could hardly follow. Captain Smith caught a glimpse of something like the flittingof a bird's wing, and the missile flashed over the very spot where the intended victim had been sitting an instant before, driven with such unerring aim that, but for his quickness, the arrow would have been buried in his chest.
So great was the power with which the missile was fired that it seemed to dart horizontally outward for nearly a hundred feet beyond the boat before it dipped enough for the point to drop into the water, where it turned rapidly over several times, and the flint-head sank below the surface.
Brief as was the time, the oarsman partly regained his coolness. He raised his head, but instead of drawing upon his oars he dropped them, and reached for the musket at his feet. His companion kept toiling with all his strength.
"Drop that!" thundered Captain Smith. "It would serve you right if you were killed!Use your oars!"
The two men, in their flurry, forgot to hold the boat to the right course, so that it took a more direct one than before. Had this been done from the first, Nantaquas could not have launched his arrow without endangering Captain Smith, since he would have been in the line of aim. At any moment the Captain could have shot Nantaquas, who stood out in the clear view, or either ofhis companions could have done the same, but the leader would not allow it. He sympathized with the "prince," and though he did not care to have the offender slain, he would not permit any injury to be done to Nantaquas.
The youth had fitted another arrow to his bow, and now drew it to the head. The keen eyes of Captain Smith noted every movement. He saw that after drawing his right hand half-way back, Nantaquas held it stationary. He saw that if he fired again, and the man serving as his target dodged, the arrow was likely to strike Captain Smith, unless he was equally quick in eluding it. Moreover, the distance was increasing so fast that every second added to the difficulty of the shot. He knew which man had befriended Pocahontas, and eager as he was to slay the criminal, he must forego that pleasure in order to spare the friend.
Holding the long bow poised for a few seconds, he slowly lowered it, still keeping the notch of the arrow pressed against the string, as if expecting a new chance to present itself. If the boat would turn partially sideways toward him, as at first, he might still bring down his man; but the oarsman had learned wherein their safety lay, and took care to make no mistake.
All this time the boat was moving rapidly,and it was not long before it passed beyond bowshot.
Nantaquas remained standing in full view on the shore, his sister beside him, both watching the receding craft until it came alongside the large one, and the three stepped aboard, leaving the small boat to be towed at the stern. Then brother and sister turned about, and passed from sight in the forest.
A brisk breeze was blowing, and Captain Smith and his companions had hardly joined their friends when the anchor was hoisted, and they were carried at good speed toward Jamestown, which they reached early that afternoon. There they learned that the settlement had passed through a trying experience during the absence of Captain Smith and his party.
Although the Englishmen arrived at the site of Jamestown rather late in the season for planting, and although many of them were too indolent to work, others did what they could to make up for the lost time. In the rich soil, which had been cleared of trees, corn that had been obtained from the Indians was planted, and quickly showed a vigor of growth that promised the best results.
On the day that Captain Smith sailed up the James to make his call of state upon Powhatan, more than twenty men were engaged in planting and cultivating the cornalready put in the ground. Without any warning, and when no one dreamed of danger, the woods near by began raining arrows. They came in bewildering showers, amid the shouts of the Indians, of whom only occasional glimpses were caught, as they flitted from tree to tree, while they used the trunks as shields. The English, stricken with panic, dropped their implements and ran behind the stockades, which had been finished only a short time before. Hurried as was their flight, those who glanced behind them saw one man lying motionless on his face. He was dead, pierced by so many arrows that he looked like a huge porcupine. Nearly all the others had been struck, some of them two or three times; and when they ran panting through the open gate the missiles were still sticking in their bodies and clothing. Actual count showed that seventeen men had been wounded, most of them slightly, though three or four seemed likely to die of their hurts. Happily, however, all recovered.
Instead of leaving, the Indians kept their places in the woods, continually launching their arrows at the settlers. While these were harmless when directed against the stockades, some of the warriors showed great skill in curving them so that they dropped inside the defences. It required keen watchfulnesson the part of the defenders to save themselves from being badly hurt, for, when a sharp-pointed missile comes almost straight downward from a height of more than a hundred feet, it is likely to do fatal damage. The Englishmen could protect themselves from mishaps, but could do little in the way of driving off their assailants while they were so well shielded among the trees.
Matters stood thus when theSarah Constanttook a hand. Dropping a little way down stream, so as to get clear range of the stretch of woods in which their enemies shielded themselves while keeping up their attack, she discharged two of her cannon that were loaded to the muzzle with slugs. It is not likely that any of the warriors were hurt by the missiles, but when they saw large limbs splintered and falling about their heads, and heard the rattle among the leaves and twigs overhead and about them, they were terrified, and scurried off in as headlong a panic as that of the settlers when attacked by the red men.
Not another foe was seen during the day, though there could be no doubt that more than one pair of black eyes were peeping from among the vegetation, the owners, no doubt, wondering as to the nature of the awful weapon that could tear the big branches from the trees. Some time after dark, however,the sentinels heard sounds in the woods near at hand, which showed that their enemies had returned, and, of course, were plotting mischief. The larger vessel, which had held her place after driving off the Indians earlier in the day, now fired another assortment of missiles, and this ended all trouble of that nature for some time to follow. It was the report of this cannon which had travelled up the James to the boat where Captain Smith sat meditatively smoking.
The first attack on Jamestown brought good results. It was clear to all that the settlement must have a vigorous head, and that he must be a military man. Wingfield, as has been shown, had no qualification whatever for the office. He must be displaced, or the colony would go to ruin. Smith was determined on his removal, and as a first step he demanded that a trial by jury should be given himself on the charges made long before, and for which he was still under arrest.
Wingfield refused, and when Smith insisted he replied that he would send him back to England to be tried by the authorities there.
"You will not!" said the angry Captain. "The charter provides for the trial of all such charges in Virginia; it is my right, and I will not be denied it!"
So, against his will, the Governor gave Smith his trial, which was the first one by jury in America; and never did an accused man gain a greater triumph. Every charge brought against him was shown to be false: the witnesses broke down, and those who swore that Captain Smith had plotted to obtain the mastery of the colony were proved to have sworn falsely. He might have been boastful and overbearing at times, but he was unselfish, and always thought of the real interests of those who had crossed the ocean with him to found homes in the New World. Smith was not only declared innocent of the shameful charges, but his chief persecutor, a member of the Council, was ordered to pay a fine of 200 pounds. When this large sum was handed to Smith, he gave it to the colony for the general use. Then all parties partook of the Communion, declared themselves friends, and Smith took his seat as a member of the Council.
He had no wish to be Governor or President, though he knew the day was near when no one else would be able to save the colony. He had a freer hand in certain matters while simply Councillor, and was willing that the people should become tired of Wingfield before he stepped into his shoes.
We cannot dwell upon the miseries of that first summer in Jamestown. The sickness,caused by paying no heed to the laws of health, rapidly grew worse. It looked for a time as if disease would carry off every man. They lay groaning and fever-smitten in their cabins, until no thought was given to the danger from the Indians. Had Powhatan, or any other leader, chosen to attack Jamestown with only a score of warriors, he would have had no trouble in destroying every man. Even Captain Smith, who seemed safe against every disease and weakness, took the fever, but refused to give up, and with the help of a few others he was able to drag out and bury the dead. Among those who passed away were the good Bartholomew Gosnold and Studley, the treasurer.
There remained, however, Wingfield, the corrupt and wicked President, and the one who had been defeated in the trial of Smith. The two were his bitter enemies, and they formed a plot which, if successful, would not only ruin Smith, but would probably destroy the colony itself.