But as he talked with his braves Pocahontas listened.
And when she heard that the great Pale-face Chief whom she loved
so dearly was to be killed, her heart was filled with grief, and
she resolved to save him. So silently she slipped out into the
dark night and, trembling lest she should be discovered, was soon
speeding through the wild lonesome forest towards the Englishmen's
hut. Reaching it in safety she burst in upon them as they sat in
the firelight waiting for the Powhatan to send their supper.
"You must not wait," she cried, "you must go at once. My father
is gathering all his force against you. He will indeed send you a
great feast, but those who bring it have orders to slay you, and
any who escape them he is ready with his braves to slay. Oh, if
you would live you must flee at once," and as she spoke the tears
ran down her cheeks.
The Englishmen were truly grateful to Pocahontas for her warning.
They thanked her warmly, and would have laden her with gifts of
beads and coloured cloth, and such things as the Indians delighted
in, but she would not take them.
"I dare not take such things," she said. "For if my father saw
me with them he would know that I had come here to warn you, and
he would kill me." So with eyes blinded with tears, and her heart
filled with dread, she slipped out of the fire-lit hut, and vanished
into the darkness of the forest as suddenly and silently as she
had come.
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