Then reverently he gave her back into the Indian’s keeping.
Forth stalked Manteo into the sunlight with the little Virginia held close in his arms, and went straightway to the bedside of Eleanor Dare.
“I have brought you the little papoose. The Great Spirit has bound us together, and dear shall she be to Manteo as the ruddy drops of his heart.”
But all was not well with the “City of Raleigh.” Food and supplies which the country did not as yet produce were needed. Some one must go back to the mother country for them. When it came to selecting a proper person no one wished to go. One and all they urged Governor White to go as the one most fitting to represent their needs, to take the task upon himself. He too was unwilling to leave.
“Men will say that with fair words I have enticed you to this land, and now in your need desert you and leave you to face the enmity of the Indians.”
But the pleadings of the colony finally prevailed, and with a heavy heart he consented to go.
“Keep strict watch and ward while I am gone. I do not like the sullen look of Winginia and his Catawbas. It is but a few weeks since George Howe’s mangled body was found some two miles distant. Winginia took his life in revenge of the cruel treatment of Ralph Lane’s men. If you abandon this settlement, as we have purposed doing, carve the name of your destination upon a tree or post. If danger threatens, place a cross above the name.”
He kissed his daughter, and taking the little Virginia in his arms, gave the child his blessing.
Standing on the beach with her baby at her breast, Eleanor Dare waved a last farewell to the father whom she was never to see again.