“Thank you, Laydon; it was very kind of you to remember me. Now that we are alone, I would like to ask you a question. What is the trouble between you and Wingfield?”
His sympathetic tones unlocked the lips of the young carpenter. He poured out the recital of his wrongs at the hand of Wingfield.
“Cheer up, Laydon; things may turn out better than you dream; but keep a watchful eye upon Wingfield. If I read him truly, he is not above doing you a mischief out of pure malice. It is owing to his efforts that I am a prisoner. He and Kendall have filled the men’s minds with suspicion and unkindness toward me.”
About the end of April the colonists started northward along the coast of Florida, where the Spaniard was disputing the territory with the Indian, and steered for the entry to Roanoke Island. But they had not reckoned on the fidelity with which April pays her debts to May, particularly on the sea. A fierce storm, accompanied by its satellites of wind and rain, came rushing out of the Gulf of Mexico, and sent the ships speeding past the “City of Raleigh” like helpless birds scudding before the blast, into the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
There two capes stretched out long protecting arms to break the fury of the sea, and give the frightened voyagers time to collect their scattered senses.
“Let us call the capes Charles and Henry, after our sovereign’s sons,” said Percy. “May they prove as protecting to their subjects when they come to the throne. Yonder is a point of land, too, smiling friendly welcome. Let us spend the night there.”
This proposition met with ready assent, and very soon their camp-fires were burning brightly, the evening meal prepared and speedily devoured by the hungry colonists, who had eaten little since the storm arose.
“What a comfort it is to tread on dry land once more,” said Gosnold, between mouthfuls of food.
“Aye, so it is,” replied Martin. “What says this worthy company to calling this spot Point Comfort? Let’s put it to vote. All in favor say ‘aye,’ those opposed ‘no.’ The ‘ayes’ have it.”
“Master Newport, read the sealed instructions for the government of the colony which were entrusted to you. Let’s hear the conditions under which we are now to live,” said George Percy.