Campfire Girls' Lake Camp; or, Searching for New Adventures

by Irene Elliott Benson; Stella M. Francis

This was true. During the brief moments taken to aim, the canoe had glided off in the gloom, and the keenest scrutiny on the part of both could not locate it. Smith picked his way to the stern, and the two kept watch until well beyond midnight. Then they roused two of their friends, and told them what they had seen, and urged them to unusual vigilance. But, though they obeyed, they discovered nothing to cause alarm, nor were the canoe and its occupants seen or heard of again. It was fair to believe that the warriors, after studying the large boat as best they could in the gloom, agreed that it was too dangerous for them to attack, and went away.

The two succeeding days were marked by toil and discouragement. Only for a brief time did the sail give any help, and there were hours when the oars were useless because of the many obstructions. Three times the crew had to saw their way through the logs and branches, and more than once, after poling hard for a long while, they could not see that they had made any progress. Fortunately the Indians did not disturb them. It was on the second day that a solitary warrior was noticed. He was leaping from log to log on his way across one of the many streams, knowing nothing, as it seemed, of the presence of the strange visitors. Not once did he turn his head, but whisked out of sight the moment his moccasin rested on dry land, as if he had business that would not admit of delay.

Finally, it was seen that the large boat was of no further aid in going up the Chickahominy. Use must be made of the small one trailing at the rear, which had served when they had to chop and saw their way through the obstructions. Smith would have been warranted in turning back and giving his energies to the exploration of other branches of the James, but such was not his nature. He said he would take the two Indians and a couple of his own men with him, and go up the stream as far he could.

The day was so near at its close that he decided not to start until the next morning. The chief thing to be feared was the red men, who were known to roam and hunt through the region. The fact that, after the exchange of shots several days before, they had seen only the single warrior, was good evidence that nothing of the kind threatened; but Captain Smith was not quite satisfied. He sent his friendly red men ashore with orders to scout the woods in every direction for signs of their countrymen, while he urged upon the guards to use sleepless vigilance throughout the night.

The disturbing feature must be borne in mind. Near the spot where the Captain had decided to part company with his companions they had seen an Indian leaping across the logs. What more likely than that he had friends in the neighborhood, whom he had joined shortly after observing the barge, and had told them of his discovery?

What would be done by these warriors? Would they give no attention to the white men, or would they join in a plan for their destruction? These were the questions which Smith could not answer, and which explained why he sent the friendly Indians to land with orders to scour the woods on every hand.

The result quieted the fears of the Captain. His scouts did not come back till late at night when they reported that they had not seen any of their own people, nor a sign of their presence in the vicinity. Furthermore, his men who kept watch on the boat did not discover anything to cause misgiving. This seemed to mean that no danger threatened, and yet it might mean one or two other things that were by no means so pleasant to think upon. The enemies, observing the hunt made for them, would have had little trouble in keeping out of sight. A still darker theory was that the scouts knew that a large number of warriors was in the woods, and possibly reached an understanding with them. Whether this was true or not can never be known, but the fact remains that there was at that very time a large party of red men near by, and the conduct of one of the friendlies some time after makes the theory named reasonable.

The barge was rowed to the middle of a broad expanse of water, where the woods were quite far off in every direction, and the anchor was dropped into the soft bottom. Smith meant to take the two Indians and the same number of his own men with him. His namesake and Bertram asked the privilege of being his companions, but he declined. He had not felt very friendly towards them since the affair with Pocahontas, and in the event of trouble with any of Powhatan's tribes, the presence of the two as his comrades might prove dangerous to himself.

Before leaving he addressed the four who remained in charge of the barge.

"No matter what happens after I am gone, not one of you must go ashore. You cannot do so without working the boat to land, and that is, perhaps, what the red men are waiting for you to do. Stay here till I come back."