He lifted her from the saddle, and, while the horse dashed madly away, seated the rider safely at the roadside. "Are you injured?" he asked the half-fainting woman. "No." "You are fortunate to escape so narrowly, madam. Do you live at Jamestown?" "I do, sir. You are Sir Albert of the _Despair_, are you not?" asked Dorothe Price. "I am." "I have often heard of you. I thank you for your kind service, sir." "Shall I see you home?" "If not too much trouble." As they walked along the road, he asked: "Are you Mrs. Price?" "I am." "Mr. Hugh Price is your second husband?" "He is." "When did your first husband die?" "Many years ago. He was lost at sea." "Did he leave two children?" "Yes, sir, two," she sighed, and the white-haired stranger; glancing at her face, asked: "Was he a good man?" "Good man! Oh, sir, he was an angel of goodness; but, alas, I never appreciated him, until he was gone. I oft recall that fatal morning when he bade me farewell, when he kissed the baby and left a tear on her cheek. I was happy then!" Tears were now trickling down her cheeks. "Are you happy now?" "Alas, no. I am miserable." "Why?" "My husband is an enemy to my son. Price is a royalist while Robert is a Puritan and a republican." "Is your son with Bacon?" "He is, and Sir William would hang Robert if he could." "He shall not hang him." "If he captures him, who will prevent it?" "I will." They parted at the door, and as the old man went down to his boat, she gazed after him, murmuring: "Heaven surely hath sent us a protector at last." CHAPTER XXI. BURNING OF JAMESTOWN. "At every turn, Morena's dusky height Sustains aloft the battery's iron load, And, far as mortal eye can compass sight, The mountain-howitzer, the broken road, The bristling palisade, the foss o'erflowed, The stationed band, the never-vacant watch, The magazine in rocky durance stand, The holster'd steed beneath the shed of thatch, The ball-piled pyramid, the ever-blazing match." --BYRON. Sir William Berkeley, with the motley crowd of sailors, longshoremen, freed slaves, and such as he could collect, sailed for Jamestown and reached it safely September 7th, 1676. The news of his approach reached Jamestown long before he did, and Colonel Hansford, one of Bacon's youngest and bravest officers, with eight hundred men prepared to resist. A terrible conflict was anticipated, and Sir Albert, on the morning of the expected fight, landed and took Mrs. Price, her daughter and Ester Goffe on board his ship, and dropped down the river a mile or two, to be out of harm's way. These were the first people who had been aboard the wonderful ship _Despair_. Rebecca was charmed and entranced at the display of wealth and splendor on board the vessel. The elegance was marvellous. "You must be very rich," she said to Sir Albert. "This represents but a small part of my possessions."