ords to her.

She would befriend his colony, as she had ever done. So she smiled at
Sir Thomas and spoke to those about whom she knew and let them show her
the way to the house that they chose for her use, a few paces from the
Governor's. Mistress Lettice, the wife of one of the gentlemen, who was
to occupy it with her, laid out some of her own garments in case the
Indian maiden should care to change; and Pocahontas, forgetting the
dangers and sadness of the past days, laughed with amusement as she
tried on farthingale and wide skirt.

"They are sending messengers to thy father. King Powhatan," the
Englishwoman said as she showed Pocahontas how to adjust a starched ruff
that scratched her neck so that she made a grimace. "They will tell him
that thou art here, and then surely in his anxiety to see thee again, he
will grant what Sir Thomas desires: that he deliver up our men and the
arms he hath taken and give us three hundred quarters of corn. Perchance
thou wouldst like to send some word of thine own to thy father. If so
be, there is an Indian boy who hath brought fish to trade, and he can
bear it for thee."

"Bring him to me, I pray thee," said Pocahontas, speaking slowly the
unaccustomed English words.

She was looking at herself in the ebony-framed mirror that hung opposite
the door, much interested in her strange appearance, when the Indian boy
entered, following Mistress Lettice. She saw his face in the glass and
recognized him as the son of a Powhatan chief. She turned and faced him,
but knew that he did not recognize her. He looked no further than her
clothes and so believed her an Englishwoman. It was a rare amusement,
she thought, and she watched him eagerly to see his surprise when he
should find out his mistake. She was well rewarded by his puzzled and
astonished expression when she called out to him:

"Little Squirrel!" When she herself had stopped laughing, she added:
"Take this sad message to old Wansutis. Tell her that her son,
Claw-of-the-Eagle, hath met his death bravely and that Pocahontas mourns
him with her."

Then she dismissed the boy. As he walked away she remembered that she
desired him to bear also a special word to Nautauquas, so she started to
run and call him back. But the unaccustomed weight of her clothes and
shoes prevented her and she began to pull them off her even before she
reached the house, crying out:

"Nay, I will not prison myself thus; give me back mine own garments,"
a