The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-11-21
| CAPTAINS OF
|
BY ROGER POCOCK
Copyright BY BobbaMNrm Company
By ROGER POCOCK

SAC4 VII 11p C&f NALh Z al w
wait upon foul hundred slaves.
One day the pasha found Smith
threshing corn in a barn some three
miles distant from his castle. For
some time he amused himself fiogging
this starved and naked wretch who had
once been the champion Of a Christian
army; but Smith presently caught him
a clip behind the ear with his thresh-
ing bat, beat his brains out. put on
his clothes, mounted his Arab horse,
and fled across the steppes into Chris
tian Russia. Through Russia and Pc
land he made his way to the court of
Prince Sigismund, who gave him a
purse of fifteen thousand ducats. AS
q rich man he Travelled in Germany,
Spain and Morocco, and there made
friends with Captain Merstham, whose
ship lay at Saffee. He was dining on
board one day when a gale drove the
ship to sea, and there fell in with two
Spanish battleships. From noon to
dusk they fought, and In the morning
Captain Merstham said, THE dons
mean to chase us again today. They
shall have some good sport for their
pains"
"Oh, thou old fox" cried Smith,
slapping him on the shoulders. So after
prayers and breakfast the battle began
again, Smith in command of the guns,
and Merstham pledging the Spaniards
in a silver cup of wine, then giving a
dram to the men. Once the enemy man
aged to board the little merchantmen,
but Merstham and Smith touched off a
few bags of powder, blowing away the
forecastle with thirty or forty Span
iards. They set the ship on fire, but
the English put out the flames and still.
refused to parley. So afternoon wore
into evening and evening into night,
when the riddled battleships sheered
off at last, their scuppers running with
blood.
When Captain Smith reached Eng
land he. was twenty-five years old, of
singular strength and beauty, a learned
and most rarely accomplished soldier,
a man Of sanity life with a boys
heart.
Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement, in
Virginia had been wiped out by the red
Indians, so the second expedition to
that country had an adventurous fla
yor that appealed'to Captain Smith.
He gave all that he had to the venture,
but, being somewhat masterful, was
put in irons during the voyage to
America and lanued in deep disgrace.
when every man was needed to work
in the founding of the colony. Had all
the officers of the expedition been
drowned, and most of the members
left behind, the enterprise would have
had some chance of success, for 1t was
mainly an expedition of MASTERS led by
idiots. The few real workers followed
Captain Smith in the digging and the
building, the hunting and trading /;
while the idlers gave advice, and the
leaders o~bstructed the proceedings.
The summer was one of varied inter-
est, attacks by the Indians. pestilence,
famine and squabbles, so that the col
ony would have come to a miserable
end but that Captain Smith contrived
to make friends with the tribes, and
induced them to sell him a supply of
maize.
He was up-country In December
when the sayages managed to scalp
his followers and to take him prisoner.
When they tried to kill him he seemed
only amused, whereas they were terri
fed by feats of magic that made him
seem a god. He was taken to the king
->Powhatan-who received the prison
er in state, gave him a dinner, then
ordered his head to be laid on a block.
and his brains dashed out. But before
the first club crashed down a little In
dian maid ran forward. pushed the ex-
ecutioners aside, taking his head in her
arms. and holding IN so tightly that
she could not be pulled away. So Poca-
hohtas, the kings daughter, pleaded
for the Englishman and saved him.
King Powhatan, with an eye to bust
ness, would now give the prisoner his
liberty, provided that he might send
two messengers with Smith for a brace
of the demi-culverins with which the
white men had defended the bastions
of their fort. So the captain returned
In triumph TO his own people, and glad
~ presented the demi-culverins. At
this the kings messengers were en-
b~arrassed, because the pair of guns
weighed four and a half TONS. More
over, when the weapons were fired to
show their good condition, the Indians
were quite cured Of any wish for cul-
verins, and departed with glass toys
for the king and his family. In return
came Pocahontas with her attendants
laden with provisions for the starving
garrison.
The English leaders we're so grateful
for succor that they charged Captain
Smith with the first thing that entered
their heads, condemned him on general
principles, and would have hanged him.
but that he asked what they would do
for food when he was gone. then
cheered the whole community by put
ting the prominent men in irons and
taking sole command. Every five days
came the Indian princess and her fol-
lowers with a load of provisions for
Captain Smith. The people called her
the Blessed ~Pocahontas, for she saved
them all from dying of starvation.
During the five weeks of his captiv-
ity, Smith had told the Indians fairy
tales about Captain Newport, whose
lens from any direct rays. In such
circumstance the minimum exposure