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

by Irene Elliott Benson; Stella M. Francis

Despite what the men said they were quite worn out from rowing the boat for several miles. So, with the help of a flint and steel, they kindled a big fire, wrapped their blankets around them, and lay down with their feet toward the blaze. By and by they sank into deep, restful sleep, for the air was nipping and cold, and they were well guarded against the chill.

It grieves me to say that neither of them ever awoke. At the end of an hour, while they lay dreaming, the same party of Indians that had attacked the larger boat came upon them, and quickly ended their lives.

Now, I need not remind you that in England, like all other countries governed by a monarch, the eldest son comes to the throne on the death of the ruler. Should King Edward die-and we all hope he will not be called away for a long time to come-the Prince of Wales, who is his eldest son living, would become the sovereign, and in the event of his death, his eldest son would inherit the crown. Such is the rule of descent in Great Britain.

It was not thus with Powhatan, the Emperor of many tribes of red men. The next heir to his throne, if we may call it such, was his eldest brother. If he had had no brothers, the descent would have passed to the sons of Powhatan's sisters. But Powhatan had several brothers, and one was Opecancanough. If he outlived Powhatan and the eldest brother he would become Emperor. I may say that this chief did become ruler, and lived to be nearly a hundred years old.

Opecancanough never liked the English, and he urged Powhatan and his fellow warriors to destroy them before their numbers became too great to be overcome. He was active and had much to do with the enmity the older brother often showed to the settlers. He was the leader of the band which attacked the large boat, when one of the white men was killed and the others had a narrow escape.

Opecancanough was pursuing Captain John Smith. He knew he was the leading man at Jamestown, and that it was more important to slay him than to put twenty other Englishmen out of the way. When he learned of the voyage up the Chickahominy he gathered more than a hundred of his warriors, and secretly followed the boat for many miles, watching for a chance to destroy the crew, but especially to slay Captain Smith. It proves how cunning he was that he did this for many miles without any of the white men learning the fact. The two who exchanged shots with the crew did not belong to his party, though they afterwards joined it.

A strange fact which it is hard to understand, was, that when Captain John Smith and his companions started up the branch of the Chickahominy they were not seen by either the chief or any of his band. The Indians were on the other side of the broad expanse of the water, and were not looking for anything of that nature; but it is singular, indeed, that some of them did not observe the departure of the small craft with its five occupants.

When the barge began working toward shore, Opecancanough believed Smith and his friends were on board. His eagerness to slay them led to a haste in the attack, which was the means of saving all except one man. During the fight the chief discovered that five of the crew, including the Captain, were absent. He must have noticed also, that, the small row boat which had been towed at the stern was gone. These facts told him the truth: Captain Smith had started up stream with four companions, who were already quite distant.

If the chief had made a bad slip in the first case, he now met with a piece of good fortune, due to the fine woodcraft of himself and his warriors. A study of the different outlets of the expanse of water showed where a slight disturbance was caused by the passage of the small boat. These signs became clearer as they pressed along the shore, and left no doubt that they were on the right course. Thus it came about that they arrived at the camp where the two white men lay asleep with no dream of danger. After the fatal halt it remained for the Indians to push on after Captain Smith, who had started to shoot some fowl or game for the supper of himself and friends.

From this point it was necessary to trail the Captain. It was not hard to do so, since he could not go through the forest without leaving the prints of his shoes, which were as easy to follow as if he had been walking over a dusty road. You must remember, too, that he had two companions in the persons of the friendly Indians. I have said that there is no knowing whether they were true to the leader or not. I cannot help doubting the loyalty of one of them, and think you will soon agree with me.