leader brought this message from the Indian Emperor:

"If you will send back my daughter I will send you five hundred
bushels of corn and be your friend forever. I have no more guns to
return, as the remainder have been lost."

Prompt was the retort:

"Tell your Chief that his daughter will not be restored to him until
our demand has been complied with. We do not believe that the guns
have been lost."

The runner took back the message, and again nothing more was heard
from Powhatan for several months, during which time the colonists
became so deeply attached to the young captive that they dreaded to
think of the settlement without her cheery presence. Especially did
John Rolfe, a young widower, who was by report "an English gentleman
of approved behavior and honest carriage," feel a special interest in
the charming young savage; in fact he fell in love with her, but felt
that he must convert her to the Christian religion before asking her
to become his wife. So he devoted much time to instructing her in the
doctrines of the white man's faith. Pocahontas accepted the new
religion eagerly, and little did John Rolfe guess that to her it was
the religion of Captain John Smith,--a new tie binding her to the man
who she believed had gone forever beyond her sight, but who would be
forever dearest to her loyal heart, untutored girl of the forest
though she was. It is doubtful, too, whether John Rolfe would ever
have made any headway in her affection had she not believed her
beloved Captain to be dead. However that may have been, she became a
convert to Christianity, and John Rolfe asked her to marry him.

When almost a year had gone by with no word from Powhatan, the
colonists were very angry and decided to force the issue. A party in
command of Sir Thomas Dale, who had come from England to be the leader
of the Jamestown settlement, sailed for Werewocomoco, taking
Pocahontas with them, hoping that when Powhatan heard of the presence
of his dearest daughter at his very door he would relent and yield to
their demands.

But Powhatan was not at Werewocomoco. Anticipating just such a visit,
he was in a safe retreat, and his warriors who thronged to the river
bank to meet the white men at once attacked them, and there was lively
skirmishing until two brothers of Pocahontas heard of her arrival.
Hurrying to the river bank, they quelled the turmoil and hastily
paddled out to the ship, where they were soon standing beside their