He laid his hand on the swinging cradle in which he had put the baby; and then, raising the other hand and looking up, he said in a clear, distinct, and reverent way, “Before you all, my friends, and before my God, I swear I will be faithful to you. I will do to you as I hope and pray I may be done by. I shall remember you, as I want you to remember my laws and wishes, for which we shall have to answer in the day of the great Judgment.”
The men outside shuffled off, while those inside who belonged to the council talked long with the governor. Manteo listened, and admired the white chief’s power and wisdom.
The next day the men, though they had made many threats, one by one signed the laws that were to govern the colony.
Then there came days of busy preparation for the return of the ships to England, and the comfort of those to be left behind. Another baby face appeared, and the happy family of children now numbered five. Mr. Harvey proudly brought his baby to Master Bradford to receive its name,—Elizabeth.
Then came the dreadful day when the ships weighed anchor and passed out of sight, lost forever to those who watched their departure.
When Governor White’s return to England was talked of, the colonists dreaded the time of his leaving; they shrank from even thinking of it, and yet they did not begin to know what his departure meant to them. A handful of people in a great land among savages.
Mrs. Dare grew strong very slowly; had it not been for her baby, it is doubtful whether she ever would have rallied after parting with her father and husband; but that tiny face was a precious treasure, not only to the mother who watched it so lovingly, but also to every one in that little colony. There were few men, even, who did not look in at the door of the little hut some time in the course of every day “to take a look at the baby.” She would allow herself to be picked up by any one, at any time, without a murmur; in fact, the only time she had ever really cried, and then she did it with all her might, was while the governor’s ships were weighing anchor and slowly moving out of sight. Mistress Wilkins said the child was troubled with colic, but there were others who shook their heads and talked about omens and children’s wonderful power of foreseeing dangers or calamities while they were too young to talk, save with angels or spirits. But, be the case what it may, the fact remains that Virginia was an exceptionally good baby, did not cry at all till she was ten days old, and never again to amount to anything. This is perhaps why baby Elizabeth Harvey was not more loved; she was from the first a delicate child, and had more than her share of baby ailments and pains, and she was always crying, or just ready to begin at the slightest provocation. Some people were unkind enough to say that her mother deserved to have such a child, for calling her after the queen; that she would have just such a temper when she was grown up; while Virginia would be placid, sweet, and sunny, like the land of her name and birth.
Virginia was nearly five weeks old when the first change came into her baby life; in fact, this change was destined to affect the whole colony.