time they joined hands and formed a new nation, the United States of America.

25. POCAHONTAS LONGS FOR HOME

When Captain John had gone, the thoughts of Pocahontas more than ever turned toward home, and she wearied of the crowded English land, and longed for her native forests again. Daily she gazed from her window toward the west, where lay Virginia, and her early life. And she pined, and thought much of the old days in her native wilds, when into her sunny life came the golden-haired stranger, with his people, and of the great changes that had befallen her and her race through that coming.

She often talked with old Uttamatomakkin of Virginia, and of Captain John, and grew more and more homesick, till her husband became alarmed lest she fall ill from longing, and he tried to hasten their departure. They journeyed down to Gravesend, where their ship was lying, but were compelled to wait while it took on supplies for Jamestown.

At last, however, the good news was brought that the ship was ready. Preparations were quickly made for the long voyage, and the day was set.

26. THE END OF THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS

Though the ship lay ready in the offing, and the sailors had come to convey them on board, and though at last Pocahontas had turned her face toward home, alas! it was not to be. A sudden weakness overcame her, and gently, looking toward the setting sun and Virginia, she quietly fell asleep,—to rest forever in a foreign land.

From her son, who years after returned to the land of his birth, many proud families still trace their descent. As long as Virginia lives her name will be dear to that state. And for us all, who have inherited this great land, this first page of a nation's history, the story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, with its echo of primitive days, its romance and dangers, its daring courage and perseverance, will always mean more than simply a tale of adventure of the little Indian girl and the gallant soldier.