THE GOOD KNIGHT AND THE LOST BABY
Joe and Lucy were sitting on Uncle Sam's steps. They were busy making
daisy wreaths.
"We will put a double crown on Uncle Sam's head," Lucy whispered. "Then
we will play he is the king of Spain sending Ponce de Leon to Florida."
The old man heard her. "I shall look quite royal with such a grand
crown," he said with a laugh. "But to-night you had better pretend I am
England's good Queen Bess. She lived long after John Cabot. Let me see!
It was about seventy-five years from then to the time Walter Raleigh
first met her."
"There! I've finished my wreath, so please let me put it on your head.
Then I'll be very still while you talk to us," said Lucy.
"Mine is done, too," cried Joe.
"Oh, Uncle Sam, you look just lovely," exclaimed the little girl,
standing up to admire her friend.
Then she and Joe settled themselves at his feet to hear the story of
Queen Elizabeth and her brave knight:
A long time ago there was a little boy in England named Walter Raleigh.
He was a very beautiful child and as brave as he was handsome.
While he was still very young he left his quiet home in the country and
went to war in other lands. In a few years he came back to England.
Now, however, he was a tall, strong man, as brave and handsome as ever.
One afternoon he dressed himself in rich and beautiful clothes and went
out to walk. He wore a white satin vest, a brown doublet embroidered
with pearls, yellow shoes tied with white satin ribbons and sparkling
with precious stones, and a wide hat trimmed with a long black plume.
His dark hair fell in curls over his shoulders. He was a grand sight,
indeed.
He had not walked far when lo! he saw Queen Elizabeth coming that way.
The ladies of her court were with her. Suddenly the queen stopped. A
pool of muddy water stood in her pathway, for a shower had fallen only
a short time before.
What should she do? The queen stopped to think how she could keep from
wetting her dainty shoes.
No sooner had she done this than Walter Raleigh stepped forward, threw
off his rich cloak, and spread it over the pool. A dry way was thus
made for the queen to pass over.
She turned to the young man and, thanking him, gave him a sweet smile.
Then she went on her way, but she did not forget him. She asked her
ladies his name. When he afterwards appeared at court she was ready to
show him kindness.
She found that Walter Raleigh was not only a true gentleman, but that
he was also brave and wise.
He went to sea in the queen's ships and showed that he was a good
sailor. He fought in battles for his country and proved that he was a
fine soldier. He read many books and wrote beautiful poems. In those
times, or any other times, it would be hard to find a better, braver,
finer gentleman than Walter Raleigh.
For many years the English people had given little thought to America.
When they found John Cabot did not discover a short way to India, they
lost interest in the New World.
Walter Raleigh, however, did not think like the rest of his people.
"O Queen," he said to Elizabeth, "you are a great ruler. But you
could become more powerful still. Why do you not claim some of that
land across the great ocean before Spain seizes all of it? We have
learned from sea captains who have been there lately that it is rich in
beautiful woods and many other good things."
Raleigh hated the Spaniards and had already fought against them in the
wars. He knew they were settled in Mexico, Florida, and the West Indies.
He did not wish them to get hold of the rest of America. Neither he nor
Elizabeth, however, dreamed of the great size of the country.
"I will fit out some ships," the queen answered, "and you may send
people to settle on the land which I will give you in America."
Two ships were made ready. The men who sailed in them did not plan to
settle in America. They went only to look around and find a good place
where settlers could come afterward.
They landed on different islands near the shores of the mainland. It
was farther north than Florida. The air was warm and pleasant. The
explorers found many fine trees of oak and cedar. Grapes and melons,
corn and peas, were plentiful.
The Indians whom they met seemed willing to be friends. They admired
the white skins of their visitors and brought presents to them. The
white men gave them beads and other cheap ornaments.
The Englishmen stayed among them for several weeks. The Indian women
made feasts for their visitors and bathed their feet and washed their
clothes. The time came at last when the white men said:
"We must go back to England and tell about this beautiful country. We
will take home some furs and skins and we will carry a bracelet of
pearls to Walter Raleigh."
How his eyes must have sparkled at the sight of the pearls! They were
as large as peas.
"The Indian women wear such pearls as ornaments," the sailors said.
"The men often go about with reeds in their mouths. Bowls of walnut
shell are fastened to these reeds and filled with the dried leaves of a
strange plant. Then the Indians set the leaves on fire. They suck the
smoke through the reeds and blow it out of their mouths. They seem to
take great pleasure in doing this."
The sailors were speaking of the tobacco plant and the smoking of its
leaves. They had never seen either before.
[Illustration: THE ENGLISH TRADING WITH THE INDIANS]
Elizabeth was much pleased with what she heard. She said:
"This beautiful country shall be called Virginia in honor of myself."
The queen was not married. She sometimes said: "I am wedded to my
country, and that is enough." It was because of this that she was often
spoken of as the "Virgin Queen." She always liked to be called by this
name.
At this time she made Walter Raleigh a knight and that is why he has
always since been called _Sir_ Walter Raleigh.
The next year he sent out one hundred people to settle in Virginia.
They must have been very brave to seek a new home among the Red Men
across the great ocean. They landed on one of the islands which their
people had visited the year before. They set to work at once to make a
home for themselves.
It was not long before some rough houses were built and English
housekeeping was begun in America.
The Indians were not as kind as they were the year before. They were
jealous of the white men. They thought:
"It was well enough for them to visit us, but we do not wish them to
live here."
They had good reasons for not liking the strangers, for the white men
did not treat them wisely.
I will tell you of one thing that happened to make the Indians angry.
When the Englishmen were on an exploring expedition a silver cup was
stolen.
"The Indians have taken it," they cried.
They were so angry they marched to an Indian town near by and burned
it to the ground. The red people of the town fled into the woods, so
no harm was done to them. They were very angry, however, because their
homes were destroyed. They said to one another:
"Let us drive the white strangers from our land. They do us nothing but
harm."
From this time the settlers were not safe. They never knew when the
Indians might attack them. Many of them were sick and longed to go back
to England.
When summer came and an English ship sailed into the harbor, most of
them were glad to get on board and bid good-bye to America.
They carried back with them three things which did not grow in England.
These were Indian corn, white potatoes, and tobacco.
Sir Walter Raleigh planted the potatoes at his home in Ireland. The
people there liked them so much that potatoes were soon growing in
every part of the country. That is why they were afterwards called
"Irish potatoes."
As for the tobacco, Sir Walter became so fond of smoking it that he was
often seen with a pipe in his mouth. Of course, this was then a strange
sight in Europe. The first time the knight's servant saw his master
smoking, he was frightened. He thought Raleigh was on fire. He rushed
forward with a pitcher of water and dashed it over his head. The sudden
bath must have been a surprise, but it probably made the good knight
laugh heartily.
Though the first settlers came back from America, Raleigh thought:
"I will not give up so easily. Virginia is a beautiful country. It will
make a good home. I will try again to make a settlement there."
The very next year he sent out a still larger number of people. There
were men, women and children. When they reached the island where
the first settlers had lived, they found the English fort had been
destroyed. Deer were roaming freely through the deserted village.
They did not lose heart. They set to work and new houses were soon
built. They tried to make friends with the Indians.
At this time a dear little baby was born. She was named Virginia in
honor of the queen and of her parents' new home. She was the first
white child of English people born in this great land of America.
Poor little Virginia Dare! You shall now hear her sad story. Her
grandfather was the governor of the English settlement. After a while
he said to his people:
"I will sail back to England to get help, for the Indians are not
friendly to us."
He was gone a long time—much longer than he expected to be. When he
reached England he found that war was going on, and Raleigh was busy
fighting for his country.
Two ships, however, were loaded with supplies and started to America.
Alas! they had not gone far before they had a fight with the Spaniards
and were obliged to go back to England.
It was three years before Virginia's grandfather was able to cross the
ocean again. What long, anxious years they must have been!
When he reached Virginia there was not one of his people to greet him;
no daughter to meet him with smiles and kisses; no little grandchild to
sit on his knee and put her arms around his neck.
All were gone—the fort, the village, men, women, and children. He
looked about for a sign of what had happened. This only met his eyes:
It was a tree into which these letters had been hurriedly cut:
C-R-O-A-T-A-N
What was the meaning of these letters? Was it to let him know that the
white people could be found among the Croatan Indians? Had they been
made prisoners by that tribe of Red Men? He went to them and to other
tribes in the country around, but he was not able to learn anything
about his lost dear ones. At last he went back to England with a sad
heart.
No one knows to this day whether Virginia Dare was killed by the Red
Men or whether she lived to grow up among their children and learn
their ways and language. She and her people are spoken of to-day as
"The Lost Colony."
When Sir Walter Raleigh heard the sad news he was discouraged. He had
spent all his money and still had no colony. Queen Elizabeth died a few
years after this. King James, who now ruled over England, was not his
friend.
The king kept the brave knight in prison for twelve long years. At last
he ordered the good Sir Walter Raleigh's head to be cut off.
This was the end of that brave Englishman, after a life of good and
noble deeds.