Powhatan by excessive greed overreaches himself—Smith is allowed to return to the settlement—He finds the colonists, as usual, disturbed by dissensions—Arrives just in time to prevent Ratcliffe and others from deserting—Newport arrives with the “first supply”—The Indians continue to treat Smith as a tribal chief—Fire destroys Jamestown completely—Newport and Smith visit Powhatan—The purple beads “fit only for the use of Kings”—The astute Indian Chief meets his match in Captain John Smith—The settlers are smitten with the gold fever—Captain Newport sails for England with a wonderful cargo.

Had Powhatan been less specific in his demand, or less greedy in his desire, Captain Smith might have found it difficult to agree to his proposal. But, when the Werowance made a point of exacting the “two largest guns and the biggest grindstone” in the fort, Smith had no hesitation in saying that he would permit Powhatan’s messengers to carry away the articles mentioned. This point having been settled to their mutual satisfaction, the Chief detailed twelve men to guide and guard our hero on the road to Jamestown which, being but twelve miles from Werowocomico, they reached by easy marches. The Indian escort was treated with all the kindness Smith could command for them. Each was given a present and they were charged with the delivery of a package to Powhatan, containing a number of the things most highly prized by the savages. When the time for their departure came they asked for the guns and grindstone which they were to carry back to their Chief.

“Certes! They be yours if you can carry them,” replied Smith, pointing, with a quizzical smile, at two demi-culverins each weighing more than four tons and a huge grindstone which four men could hardly raise on edge. The baffled savages looked on these ponderous things with dismay and had to admit that they could not be carried to Werowocomico though the whole tribe came after them. Smith was not willing that his visitors should leave without gaining some impression of the power as well as the size of the ordnance and so he loaded one of the guns with small stones and discharged it into the trees where the icicle-laden boughs were thickest. The smoke and racket that followed filled the Indians with terror and they took their leave hurriedly, doubtless glad that the roaring, fire-spitting monster was not to accompany them.

The great majority of the settlers welcomed Captain Smith, whom they had never expected to see again, with genuine joy. Once more he had arrived just in the nick of time, for the affairs of the colony had been going from bad to worse during his absence and were now on the point of a crisis that, had it not been averted, would have probably effected the ruin of the colony. There had been no improvement in the government. Ratcliffe had become justly unpopular in the presidency and Archer, a pettifogging lawyer and mischief-maker, had been admitted to the Council. Martin, feeble in health and mind, had fallen under the complete domination of the other two and with them and other malcontents had entered into a conspiracy which the return of Captain Smith was just in time to frustrate. He no sooner heard of their plot to sail to England in the pinnace and desert the settlement than he bearded them in the Council room.

“So,” he cried, indignation and contempt showing in every tone and gesture. “So! These be the gallant gentlemen who contended among themselves for leadership of our enterprise! By my halidame! A fine pack of leaders—tufftaffaty humorists rather! Ye mind me of one Falstaffe—a cowardly, gluttonous braggart he—I once saw depicted at the Globe playhouse. Not one of you has hazarded his skin beyond musket-shot of the fort but now, having fattened and reposed yourselves through the winter, ye would return to England and brag of your brave deeds and feats of arms. But—and I mistake not—we shall find a different conclusion for your plot. I hold the King’s commission to maintain the flag of England in this country and whilst my arm and brain serve me that will I do in good faith and count all such as oppose the commands of His Most Gracious Majesty, enemies of the realm and traitors to their country. Take heed then how ye proceed in this matter, for I will see to it that the guns are manned day and night by good and true men with instructions to sink the pinnace at the first show of sinister design.”

With that Smith clapped his hat upon his head and strode out of the Council room.

If the conspirators had entertained any thought of pursuing their project in the face of Captain Smith’s opposition, the ringing shout with which he was greeted by the waiting crowd outside was sufficient to banish it. Word of what was going forward had drawn the settlers to the Council House and much of Smith’s harangue, delivered in a voice strong with anger, had penetrated to them. They were almost to a man in sympathy with him, for the cowardly plotters belonged exclusively to the “gentleman” class among the colonists, men who arrogated to themselves superior privileges and rights whilst unwilling to bear even their share of hardship and toil. These poor creatures should not be considered representative of the gentlemen of England, who in those stirring times produced many of the bravest and most self-sacrificing leaders in the chronicles of Christendom.

The settlers had almost begun to despair of Newport’s return when one day, in early January, he sailed into the river with a well-laden ship and upwards of one hundred new colonists. His appearance put an end to a pretty scheme which the attorney Archer had concocted to encompass Smith’s downfall. Direct from England, with authority superior to that of any man in Jamestown, Newport instituted an inquiry into the government of the colony during his absence and determined that Wingfield and Archer should return with him, to answer to the Company. Scrivener he appointed to the Council and thus assured Smith of one firm ally in that body. Newport had started for America with two vessels. These became separated in mid-ocean and the Phoenix, commanded by Captain Francis Nelson, did not arrive until considerably later.

The relations between the Indians and the colonists now became very friendly, owing to the adoption of Smith by the tribe. After his return to Jamestown, Pocahontas and some of the other women of Werowocomico came to the settlement twice or three times a week laden with provisions, these being Smith’s share, as a chief, of the tribal stores. On these occasions, men would also bring foodstuff to be disposed of in trade. These supplies were very timely, for the settlement had again approached the verge of starvation when Smith returned after his seven weeks of captivity, and Captain Newport’s arrival did not greatly mend that matter, for the larger part of the edible supplies sent from England were upon the tardy vessel. In the barter with the savages, Smith established a scale of exchange based upon the values set by the Indians themselves upon the wares of the foreigners. This was of course fair enough, but his enemies, more than ever jealous of the great influence he evidently enjoyed with the Indians, sought to undermine it by giving them very much more than they asked for their grain and venison. The result was that in a short while a pound of copper would scarce purchase as much as an ounce had secured under Smith’s regulation. The schemers had the satisfaction of seeing Smith fall in the regard of the Indians, who naturally thought that he had been cheating them.

The newcomers were of course a welcome accession to the depleted colony, but they brought misfortune upon it at the outset. They had been little more than a week within the stockade when one of them through carelessness set fire to the house in which he was lodged. The flames spread and in a few short hours all the buildings and even the fortifications were consumed. Nothing could be saved but the clothes upon the men’s backs, and the supplies which Newport had landed went with the rest. In this extremity the settlers must have perished of cold and starvation, or fallen under the arrows of the savages, but for the amicable relations which had been brought about by Captain Smith. As it was, the Indians hastened to bring furs and food to the relief of the miserable white men who were prostrated body and soul by the sudden misfortune. They sat about the ruins of Jamestown, bewailing their lot and praying Captain Newport to carry them home to England. This would have been impossible at the time, even had he a mind to do so, for there was not enough food on the ship to serve such a numerous company as far as the West Indies.

Smith was ashamed at the cowardice of his countrymen and fearful lest their puerile exhibition of weakness should lower them in the estimation of the Indians, many of whom were on hand, for the flames of Jamestown had been plainly visible at Werowocomico. Seconded by Mr. Hunt, Newport, Percy and Scrivener, he went among the whimpering colonists persuading, threatening, cajoling—in short, using any means to make them bestir themselves.

“See yonder dominie, good Master Hunt, how, with exhortation, he hearteneth the afflicted,” he cried seeking to shame them by the exhibition of a good example. “Yet no man among us hath suffered so great loss as he. For not only his chattels and clothes have been destroyed but also his books on which he set more store than upon gold or aught else. Yet hath no moaning or complaint issued from him, but he beareth himself bravely and with composure as becometh a true gentleman and a servant of God.”

These efforts at length moved the settlers to action and, with the aid of the sailors and some Indians who were hired to assist, rude structures were hastily raised in sufficient numbers to afford shelter to all. The work of rebuilding Jamestown in a permanent fashion was necessarily deferred.

Smith now proposed that Newport should pay a visit to Powhatan. During his captivity our hero had taken pains to impress the Chief with an idea of Newport’s importance and power. Indeed, he had addressed himself to this task with such enthusiasm that the savages conceived of Newport as “Captain Smith’s God,” and by that title he was known among them. Taking an escort of forty men, Smith, Newport and Scrivener reached Werowocomico without any mishap and received a warm welcome. Powhatan awaited them in the same “long house” which had been the scene of our hero’s stirring adventure. It was a state occasion, as Smith’s former appearance there had been, and the assemblage presented much the same aspect. But now, in place of scowling faces and angry mutterings, Smith and his companions were met with smiles and cries of friendly greeting. After formal salutations had been exchanged, a great feast was set out in which they all partook. This was followed by dancing, singing, and mimic combats.

Smith’s prime object in suggesting this visit of Newport to the Chief of the Powhatans lay in a hope that it might tend to cement the friendly relations existing between the redmen and the settlers. He was not, however, forgetful of the needs of the settlement, always on the verge of starvation, and proposed to take advantage of the opportunity to secure as much food as possible from the ample stores of Werowocomico. He warned Newport to part with his wares on the best terms obtainable and to show but few things at a time and those with a pretence at reluctance. But Newport’s eagerness to play the part of “big chief” and Powhatan’s shrewdness came near to upsetting Smith’s plans. When Newport had presented a very generous gift to the Werowance, intimating that the rest of the goods were to be disposed of in trade, the wily Powhatan decided to circumvent him by an appeal to his pride.

“It is not seemly,” he said, “that two great Werowances such as you and I should haggle over the details of trade. Lay out your wares then, that I may see them and what pleases me I will take, paying to you a fair price according to my judgment.”

Smith could scarce keep a straight countenance when he heard this naÏve speech of the old chieftain, but his amusement soon gave way to deep concern as he saw the infatuated Newport spread out his entire stock before Powhatan.

Smith had serious cause for apprehension. The influence of the settlers over the Indians and, indeed, their very lives depended upon the copper, glass, beads and similar trifles which the Indians coveted so greedily. If these became cheapened in their eyes, the colonists would have nothing with which to propitiate them, nor with which to pay for the provisions so constantly needed. And here was the reckless Newport permitting Powhatan to help himself on condition of paying what he pleased for what he should take. The rates of exchange set by Smith had already, as we know, been ruinously enhanced in favor of the Indians, and this transaction was calculated to still more greatly raise them. He did not dare to protest, for fear of arousing Powhatan’s anger, but fortunately his quick wit enabled him to save the situation without creating any unpleasantness.

Among the many things displayed for the inspection of the great Werowance, Smith noted some beads of a different tint to any others there. He quietly abstracted the package, taking care that Powhatan should see him do so. When at length the Chief had indicated all the things he wished to retain, he fixed a price on them which, as Smith had anticipated, was not more than one-tenth as much as the Indians had usually paid for such articles. Having settled that business to his entire satisfaction, the greedy Chief turned to Smith and asked to be shown the package which the latter had put aside. Powhatan suspected that it contained something of unusual value and Smith cunningly confirmed this suspicion by pretending the greatest reluctance to exhibit the articles. Presently, however, he showed them, saying:

“These be as you see different in color from all the other beads. They be purple—the royal color in the countries beyond the seas—and fit only for the use of kings.”

Of course Powhatan was consumed with a desire to possess them and equally of course Smith did not readily yield to him. At last the Werowance received the coveted purple beads on the payment of six times as much for them as he had given for all the things secured from Newport. It was immediately decreed that purple beads might only be worn by the Powhatan and his family but Opechancanough was allowed a few as a mark of special favor.

After five days of entertainment and friendly intercourse, the Englishmen returned to the settlement. It was Newport’s intention to load up his vessel with cedar and depart for England as soon as possible. Just at this time, however, a trivial accident gave an entirely new and unfortunate turn to the affairs of the colony. One of the settlers discovered some yellow dust shining in the bottom of a stream near the settlement. Immediately, the whole colony was smitten with the gold-fever. Neglecting all else they gave themselves up to the pursuit of the precious metal. As one of them says: “There was no talk, no hope, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold; such a bruit of gold that one mad fellow, a wag, desired to be buried in the sands lest they should, by their art, make gold of his bones.” The outcome of all this was that, after several weeks delay, Newport sailed away with a ship laden with mica dust.