At last, after long deliberation, the Indians decided that, since he had killed one of their tribe, Captain John must die, for this was their law. So they dragged him, bound, before the great chief Powhatan, who sat in mighty state surrounded by his warriors. They stretched the prisoner on the ground with his head on a large stone, to beat out his brains with their cruel clubs. And it seemed as though at last the gallant Captain's time had come. But just as the Indian brave was about to strike, his great war club swinging high in the air, Pocahontas rushed forward and threw herself between him and his victim. With her own body she shielded the Captain from harm, for her heart was moved to pity for the stranger, and she could not bear that he should die. And now aroused, with flashing eyes she waved the executioner back. Then she pleaded with her father that the captive's life be spared. At once there was wild confusion of shouting and threatening, many crying, "Kill, kill!" while but few were willing to spare his life, for the Indians feared the white men, and wished to drive them from the land. But Pocahontas, as Princess of the tribe, claimed her right, and would not yield them up their victim. Then Powhatan, who ruled them all, raised his hand and stopped their clamor. In sullen silence the angry warriors awaited his decision. For a moment he hesitated, and the fate of Captain John hung wavering in the balance. Then, to please his favorite daughter, whom he dearly loved, he decreed that she should have her will. "Let Pocahontas keep the stranger as her own, to make her toys," he said, for Captain John, during the idle days of weary captivity, had often whittled curious playthings for the little maid. And thus was Captain John Smith's life saved by the gentle Indian girl, and with it the Jamestown colony, for without their sturdy and resourceful leader the settlers would have lost courage and abandoned the town. [Illustration] [Illustration] 13. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AGAIN FREE Now, after much feasting, and with savage rite and ceremony, Powhatan adopted the Captain into the tribe, and made him a chief, and told him that he might come and go in safety, as one of them; then gave him guides to take him back to Jamestown, that the red man and the white should henceforth be friends, since Pocahontas willed it so. And Captain John thanked the maiden for the great service she had done him, and, like a gallant knight of old, bent his knee and kissed her hand as he bade her good-by. Once again in Jamestown, he found the colony in disorder and panic. All were on the point of sailing for home, completely disheartened, for they thought him dead, and feared the Indians. But again he put life into the enterprise, and set the faint-hearted to work, freed from the fear of Indian attack, since Pocahontas stood his friend. [Illustration] 14. POCAHONTAS BRINGS FOOD TO THE COLONISTS