"We will creep upon the Englishmen and take them by surprise. Then we will kill them."
She was brave as well as good. She did not lose a moment, but hurried away through the dark woods. She did not stop till she reached Jamestown. Then she told of the Indians' plot. She warned Smith to be on his guard. Then she hurried away into the darkness once more.
The white men tried again and again to make friends with Powhatan. They gave him a bedstead, a red cloak, and a wash-basin. They thought he would now be willing to sell them corn.
Not so, however. After he received these presents, the great chief became so proud he would not think of trading with the Englishmen.
They were almost starving when Smith thought of a new plan. He took a box of blue glass beads and showed them to Powhatan. He said:
"These beads are made of the same stuff as the sky itself."
When the chief heard this he longed to have some for his own. What precious things they must be!
"I will sell you a boatload of corn for those beads," he promised.
"You will see by this that Captain Smith did not always tell the truth. It was because of just such deceits as this that the white men afterwards had so much trouble with the Indians," said Uncle Sam.