ress she had made that ere many weeks were
over she would be fit company for the proudest dames in England, and
much more of the same nature; at which the captain smiled, and patting
him on the back, assured him that it mattered not, provided Mistress
Audley and her fair daughter, who were the proudest dames in Virginia,
were content to treat her as their friend.

So Harry Rolfe went back and asked Pocahontas in plain language to
become his bride, to which she willingly consented, telling him to let
her settle the matter with her father. Harry Rolfe looked forward with
no little anxiety to the arrival of the king, who came at length,
attended by fifty warriors; at which the prudent governor, not knowing
how many might be behind, got all the men in the settlement under arms,
as if to do him honour, but secretly keeping a strict watch on his
movements. He was convinced, however, that the king's intentions were
honest, the more so when, after visiting his daughter, he announced that
she had his full permission to marry the English chief, Harry Rolfe. As
Master Hunt, after consulting with the governor, was willing to perform
the ceremony, the marriage took place before Powhattan quitted James
Town, much to the satisfaction of all the colonists. The long harangue
delivered by Powhattan need not be repeated, nor need the replies of the
governor, Captain Smith, and the happy bridegroom. He, being no
sluggard, had built a house for himself, to which he at once took his
bride. Flags were hoisted, guns were fired, and the bell of the church
(hung to the bough of a tree, as there was no steeple yet built) rang
right merrily, and the people shouted till they were hoarse, believing
that from henceforth war with the Indians was at an end, and that they
might go on and prosper in the land.

CHAPTER NINE.

The _Rainbow_ was some time making her way down the river, and we may be
sure that Lettice and Cicely watched her till her white canvas was no
longer to be seen amid the tall trees which lined its banks; and that
Vaughan's eyes, at all events, as he stood on the poop, gazed back till
their figures faded from sight. Roger was too much engaged in the
navigation of the ship to take more now and again than a hurried look
astern: he knew his duty too well to neglect it, even for that; for
there were shoals to be avoided, and sails to be trimmed to catch the
fickle wind.

Hampton Roads were not reached till dark, when the _R