book.]


43. Captain Smith is made governor of Jamestown; the gold-diggers;
"Corn, or your life."--More emigrants came over from England, and
Captain Smith was now made governor of Jamestown. Some of the
emigrants found some glittering earth which they thought was gold.
Soon nearly every one was hard at work digging it. Smith laughed at
them; but they insisted on loading a ship with the worthless stuff
and sending it to London. That was the last that was heard of it.

The people had wasted their time digging this shining dirt when they
should have been hoeing their gardens. Soon they began to be in great
want of food. The captain started off with a party of men to buy corn
of the Indians. The Indians contrived a cunning plot to kill the whole
party. Smith luckily found it out; seizing the chief by the hair,
he pressed the muzzle of a pistol against his heart and gave him his
choice,--"Corn, or your life!" He got the corn, and plenty of it.

[Illustration: "CORN, OR YOUR LIFE!"]


44. "He who will not work shall not eat."--Captain Smith then set
part of the men to planting corn, so that they might raise what they
needed. The rest of the settlers he took with him into the woods to
chop down trees and saw them into boards to send to England. Many
tried to escape from this labor; but Smith said, Men who are able
to dig for gold are able to chop; then he made this rule: "He who
will not work shall not eat." Rather than lose his dinner, the laziest
man now took his axe and set off for the woods.