Captain John Smith

by C. H. Forbes-Lindsay

The settlement is reduced to order and industry—The renegade Dutchmen and their friends in the fort—Smith stalks a traitor through the forest—Captures him and brings him back to be hanged—The Chief of the Paspaheghs enters upon a dangerous enterprise—He finds Smith ready to try a conclusion with him—The Indian giant and the Englishman engage in a wrestling match—The bout ends in the discomfiture of the Paspahegh—He cuts “a sorry figure squirming like a toad under a harrow”—He is carried captive to the fort and held for exchange with the traitorous Dutchmen—But Smith’s heart is touched by the appeal of the warriors and he releases the Chief.

The uncompromising attitude of the President had a good effect upon even the worst members of the colony who, even though they were not moved thereby to honest endeavor, were at least restrained by fear from active interference. There was now in the public store enough provision to carry the settlement, with prudent use, over to the time of harvest. Their minds were therefore relieved of what was usually the most pressing anxiety, and they were free to devote their labors to internal improvement. Smith divided the settlers into squads of ten or fifteen, to each of which was assigned a particular duty every day. Six hours a day, with the exception of the Sabbath, were given to work. The remaining time was consumed in pastimes which tended to cheer the spirits whilst preserving the health of the men. Smith himself was constantly on duty and seemed to have a hundred pair of eyes, for nothing escaped his notice. Passing from one group of laborers to another, he directed their work, cheered the weak, praised the industrious, reproved the unhandy and punished the shirkers. Under the new regulations, the erection of public buildings and the construction of fortifications progressed rapidly and at the same time the health and temper of the colonists greatly improved.

Smith was of course ere this fully informed of the defection of the three Dutchmen whom he had sent to Powhatan, but he had yet to learn that these renegados had many sympathizers and some active confederates at Jamestown among the seventy foreigners exported by the company. For some time after the institution of the new regulations, it had been apparent that a clever system of thievery was being carried on in the fort. Arms, ammunition and tools disappeared from time to time and no trace of the offenders could be had. The persons entrusted by Smith with the task of detecting the thieves having utterly failed to discover them, he determined to undertake the matter himself. It was certain that the stolen articles were conveyed out of the fort after dark, and Smith therefore took to spending his nights on watch. At length his vigils were rewarded by the sight of five men scaling the palisades over which they hauled a number of heavy packages. He followed them stealthily. They took the rough road leading from Jamestown to the glass factory, a mile distant, which they reached in about half an hour. As they approached the house, a number of Indians came out to meet them, and among these Smith recognized by his voice a certain Franz, who was painted and bedecked to represent a redskin. Smith lay concealed close at hand during the transfer of the goods and heard the entire conversation of the conspirators. The party from the fort wasted no time in returning, and Smith let them go upon their way without interference. His mind was set on capturing the traitor Franz.

After the Dutchmen had left, the Indians distributed the burden among themselves and set out in the opposite direction. Smith rightly surmised that they would not go far before encamping, and that, knowing that there was no party abroad from the settlement, they would not deem it necessary to maintain a guard when they slept. But he kept well in the rear for fear of alarming them, for the savage is alive to the breaking of a twig or the rustling of a leaf on a still night. Their camp-fire would guide him to them when they stopped.

The band proceeded along the trail for a few miles and then suddenly struck into the depths of the forest, but soon halted and prepared for the night by building a fire. Round this they sat for a while talking and eating dried venison and bread. One by one they stretched themselves out by the blazing wood until at length all were sunk in deep slumber. Smith had crept near before this and had marked the position of Franz who, being more susceptible to cold than his companions, was wrapped in a long fur. For fully an hour after the last man had lain down Smith waited patiently with his eyes fixed on the fur-robed figure of the Dutchman. At last he thought it safe to advance, and gradually stole forward until he stood over the recumbent form of the traitor. It would have been an easy matter to stab the sleeping man to the heart, but, although he richly deserved such a fate, the thought was repugnant to our hero, who preferred, even at the risk of his own life, to make the other captive.

Had Smith attempted to seize Franz, or in any other way to awaken him suddenly, no doubt the man would have alarmed his companions. Smith, therefore, proceeded with calm deliberation to bring his victim gradually to his senses. Kneeling beside him, with a cocked pistol in one hand, he set to brushing his face lightly with a wisp of grass. The sleeping man began to breathe more rapidly as the slight irritation excited him, then he turned restlessly several times and at last slowly opened his eyes upon Smith and the threatening pistol. The Captain’s eyes, readable in the light of the fire, spoke more eloquently than words could have done. Franz realized that death would follow the first sound he should make. In obedience to the signs of his captor he rose quietly and stepped out of the ring of light into the gloom of the surrounding forest. Smith’s hand grasped his hair whilst the pistol was pressed against the nape of his neck. In his character of Indian, Franz had carried no weapons but a bow and arrow and these lay where he had slept, so that he was quite powerless to resist. When they had proceeded cautiously until safely beyond earshot, Smith urged his prisoner forward with all speed and within an hour after his capture had him safely lodged in the jail of the fort.

The proof of this Dutchman’s guilt being so absolute, the jury before whom he was tried found him guilty without hesitation and he was hanged forthwith. It would be interesting to know how the Indians accounted for the complete disappearance of the disguised Dutchman who had lain down to sleep with them. They may have supposed that he had wandered from the camp in the night and lost his way. It is quite as likely, however, that they decided that the god of the English angered at his perfidy had carried him off. Of course it was not long before they learned the truth, but Smith took immediate measures to suppress the illicit dealings that had been carried on between the Indians and the traitors in the fort. A blockhouse was erected at the neck of the peninsula upon which Jamestown stood and neither redman nor white was thereafter permitted to pass it during day or night without giving an account of himself. But the affair of Franz was not the end of the trouble with the foreign settlers, as we shall see.

Shortly after the incident of Franz, the German, or the Dutchman, as the early writers called him, Smith received a message from the Chief of the Paspaheghs, who declared that he was in possession of a number of stolen articles which he desired to return to the white Werowance in person. He proposed that the latter should meet him at a designated place some miles from Jamestown and take over the purloined property. Smith was getting a little tired of these transparent subterfuges, but as they invariably turned to his advantage it seemed to be inadvisable to neglect such an opportunity. Accordingly he went to the appointed place, taking with him a guard of ten men fully armed. There they found the Chief, attended by fifty warriors. He was a man of gigantic stature, being even taller than Opechancanough. Smith wished to come at once to the purpose of the meeting, but the Chief seemed disposed to palaver and consume time. At length he expressed a desire to speak to the Captain privately and apart. To this request Smith acceded and walked aside with the Paspahegh, keeping a sharp lookout the while.

It would seem that this Indian, who had only encountered our hero in his most genial moods, was sufficiently bold and enterprising to venture upon an attempt to dispose of him single handed. The idea may have been suggested to his mind by noticing that Smith, contrary to his custom, was on this occasion armed only with a falchion. No doubt the Paspahegh had a right to rely greatly upon his superior size but had he consulted Opechancanough before entering upon this hazardous undertaking, he might have received some deterrent advice.

The two leaders continued to walk away until they were completely beyond the sight of their followers. Smith had instructed his men not to follow him, feeling confident that as long as he had the Chief within arm’s length he could control the situation, and with that idea he kept close by the Paspahegh’s side. The Indian seemed to find the proximity unsuited to his plans, for he attempted several times to edge away. These attempts were not lost upon Smith who took care to frustrate them, for the Chief carried a bow and arrows which he could not use with effect except at some distance from his intended victim.