16. POCAHONTAS'S WARNING
To carry out his plan the crafty chief proposed to the Captain that, as now they were all friends, he and his party should leave their weapons in the boat. He hoped thus to attack the white men while they were unarmed.
But Captain John was too cautious a soldier to agree to this, and answered that, since, as Powhatan had well said, they were all friends, there could be no harm in keeping their guns with them, as the settlers considered them a part of their dress. Then Powhatan planned to surprise them by night. But, just as his trap was well laid, Pocahontas, risking her own life, stole silently through the deep woods in the dark, cold night, to the Captain's tent, and, with tears in her eyes, warned him of his danger, urging him to fly.
Thus forewarned he was on his guard, and, with his soldiers, beat back his enemies when they came, and even forced them to bring the much needed corn, by threatening to destroy their village.
And so Pocahontas saved Captain John Smith's life for the second time.
17. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH SAILS FOR ENGLAND
Always watchful and brave, Captain John Smith worked zealously to make the colony a success. One day, while returning from treating with the Indians for a new and better site for Jamestown, he was seriously injured by the accidental explosion of a bag of gunpowder in his boat. His clothes were set on fire and he had to throw himself into the river to escape being burned to death.