saw me he snatched up his
musket.

"Don't be afraid," said I.

"Afraid!" said he; "I should like to see what I am afraid of; but I'll
be on my guard."

"That's right," I replied.

I then told him that I had been taken by the Indians, and they saved my
life because one of their women chose me as her husband, and that I was
anxious to escape from them.

"Well," said he, "I am on board of a schooner at anchor down below in
the river. There are a few of us come on shore to get some venison, and
I have lost my comrades; but I had no idea that the Indians were down
here so close to the English settlements."

"How close are we, then?" said I; "for I know not where I am. This is
certainly not our usual hunting-ground, for I have been led many miles
from it, in pursuit of the animal you have just shot."

"Well, I thought so; for I have been on shore here more than once, and I
have never met with an Indian. You ask how far you are from the
settlement; that I can hardly tell you, because the settlers have spread
out so far; but you are about forty or fifty miles from James Town."

"And what river, then, is your schooner at anchor in?"

"I don't know the name," replied the man; "I'm not sure that it has a
name. We come here for wood and water, because it is quiet, not
inhabited, and no questions asked."

"What are you, then?" inquired I.

"Why, to tell you the truth, we are what are called `Jolly Rovers;' and
if you have a mind to come on board, we can find a berth for you, I dare
say."

"Many thanks," replied I; "but I am not sufficiently fond of the sea,
and I should be of no use," (for by this term of Jolly Rover I knew that
they were pirates).

"That's as you please," replied he; "no harm's done."

"No," replied I; "and I thank you for your kind offer, but I cannot live
long on board of a vessel. Will you now tell me which is the right
track to the English plantations?"

"Why," said he, "they bear right out in that direction; and I dare say,
if you travel five or six leagues, you will fall aboard of some
plantation or another--right in that quarter; follow your nose, old
fellow, and you can't go wrong."

"Many thanks," I replied; "am I likely to meet your companions?--they
may take me for an Indian."

"Not in that direction," replied he; "they were astern of me a long
way."

"Farewell, then, and many thanks," I replied.

"Good-bye, old fellow; and the sooner you rub off that paint, the sooner
you