White came forward to where we stood; I with my heart full to overflowing, and my lady with wet eyes. I was about to part from a noble soul, who had stood by me, undaunted and unafraid, when all others had shrunk from me, and I was torn with sorrow. "If the Indian would leave, it is high time, Sir Thomas," he said; "for in an instant we will make out for the open sea, and his little canoe could not safely float upon the ocean." Margaret had taken a little gold pin from her dress, and held it out to the Indian. "Keep it, Manteo," she said. "Do not forget me. And shouldst thou ever come to England, I shall be proud to entertain thee." I unbuckled my gold-hilted sword from my side, and stepping forward, I fastened it around his waist. "Take this sword," I said in a husky voice, "and when thou drawest it, Manteo, remember to whom it once belonged. Draw it not in an unworthy cause, nor sheath it in a just one; of all who have worn this blade, there has been none nobler and truer than thyself." The chief's bronze face worked with emotion. "Manteo must go," he cried, "or he will forget that he is a warrior, and weep even as a woman. Farewell! May the Great Spirit, who dost watch alike over all, both pale and red skin, guide your footsteps and keep you safe from harm," and with a steady step, he glided over to his canoe and dropped into it. His knife gleamed for an instant upon the line that bound the canoe to the vessel. Released, the little boat fell back, and the great ship rose upon the water and began her outward trip. We stood at the rail, Margaret and I, and watched the boat with the motionless figure in it, until a turn in the island hid him from our view. And so we parted from that true soul forever, bearing with the stoicism of his race his grief at the separation. A nobler type has there never been of a savage and barbarous race, whom its enemies have defamed and maligned. Hospitable, generous, warm-hearted and true, quick to anger, and when aroused never forgetting nor forgiving a foe, but at the same time never betraying a friend, nor forgetting a favor. Many foes of the race would do well to imitate its virtues, while with that knowledge that comes with superior advantages and opportunities they reject its failings. And of that untutored people, none there were who could boast of more of those qualities that go to make up a soldier and a gentleman, than he whom we left behind us that day--Manteo, a chieftain of Roanoke. * * * * * * *