alled out and drawn up in line in the public square of
the town, and Governor Fletcher came before them, full of his
importance. He took out of his pocket the paper which he said gave him
the right to command, and began to read it in a very proud and haughty
manner. But he had not read ten words when Captain Wadsworth told the
drummers to beat their drums, and before you could draw your breath
there was such a rattle and roll of noise that not a word could be
heard.

"Silence!" cried Fletcher. "Stop those drums!" The drums stopped, and he
began to read again.

"Drum!" ordered Wadsworth in a loud tone, and such a noise began that a
giant's voice would have been drowned.

"Silence!" again shouted Fletcher. He was very red in the face by this
time.

"Drum, I say!" roared the captain.

Then he turned to the governor and said, laying his hand on his sword,
"I command these men, Governor Fletcher, and if you interrupt me again I
will make the sun shine through you in a minute." And he looked as if he
meant what he said. All the governor's pomp and consequence were gone,
and his face turned from red to pale. He hastily thrust the paper back
into his pocket, and was not long in leaving Hartford for New York. No
doubt he thought that Connecticut was not a good place for royal
governors.

Suppose I now tell you the story of another royal governor and another
bold captain. This was down in Virginia, but it was long after Captain
Smith was dead and after Virginia had become a large and prosperous
colony.

The king sent there a governor named Berkeley, who acted as if he was
master and all the people were his slaves. They did not like to be
treated this way; but Berkeley had soldiers under his command, and they
were forced to obey. While this was going on the Indians began to murder
the settlers. The governor ought to have stopped them, but he was
afraid to call out the people, and he let the murders go on.

There was a young man named Nathaniel Bacon who asked Governor Berkeley
to let him raise some men to fight the Indians. The governor refused.
But this did not stop brave young Bacon, for he called out a force of
men and drove off the murdering savages.

Governor Berkeley was very angry at this. He said that Bacon was a
traitor and ought to be treated like one, and that the men with him were
rebels. Bacon at once marched with his men against Jamestown, and the
haughty governor ran away as fast as he could.

But whil