There were a lot of Indian villages in Virginia, and every village had its Chief. But there was only one King. That was Powhatan, and he was the King of all the Algonquin Indians.

"Tell me about these white men," Powhatan said to his brother, Opekankanu. "They are living in my country, and killing my people. I want to see one of them."

The next day Opekankanu went into the forest with two hundred men. They found John Smith's nine men next to their boat by the river. Smith's men were afraid and got out their guns. But Opekankanu's men killed two of them, and the other seven ran away.

Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, heard this. She was thirteen years old. "What are white men, father?" she asked. "Are they white because they are ill?"

Powhatan smiled. "No, little Pocahontas, they aren't ill," he said. "They are a new people from over the sea. Perhaps we can see and talk to a white man soon. My brother is going to find one for us."

John Smith was in the forest with the two Indians. When they heard the noise, they ran back to the boat -- and saw two hundred men, with bows and arrows. Then an arrow hit Smith's leg. He quickly took out his gun, and put a friendly Indian in front of his body.

"King Powhatan wants to see you," said Opekankanu. "Give me your gun."

"No," Smith said at first. But there were two hundred Indians, and he was one man. So he gave them his gun, and went with Opekankanu to Werowocomoco, the village of King Powhatan.

"Why are you in my country, white man?" Powhatan asked. "Where do you come from? Who is your King?"

"What do you want?" he asked. "Don't come near me!"

In the village, everyone came out to see the Englishman. Pocahontas looked at Smith carefully. He was very interesting. He was not very tall, and he had hair on his face. Indian men had no hair on their faces. And his eyes -- his eyes were blue! All the men in her village had brown eyes. She looked at Smith's blue eyes for a long time. They were beautiful, the colour of the sky.

Smith smiled at the little girl, and closed one of his eyes for a second. Pocahontas laughed, and then she smiled back at him.

Smith told him about England, and King James, and Jamestown. It wasn't easy, because he didn't understand Powhatan's language very well, and Powhatan didn't always understand him. "We want to live here, and be your friends, Powhatan," he said. "But this winter the people of Jamestown are hungry, so we need food."

"Oh, father, I like him. He has wonderful blue eyes -- the colour of the sky."

They walked into the forest, and Powhatan asked his daughter, "What do you think about this Englishman, little Pocahontas?"

"Perhaps," Powhatan said. "But let's think first. The English have guns, so we need guns too. I must think carefully about this. Pocahontas, come with me."

Opekankanu was angry. "These Englishmen cannot live here," he said to his brother. "They are taking our land and killing our people with their guns. They want King James of England to be king here, too. They call their town King James's town, and they call our beautiful river King James's river! But what about us? This is our country! We live here, and our fathers and grandfathers lived here before us. We don't want the English, or their King James. We must kill them all now!"

"Give him to me, father?"

"My brother wants to kill him, but I want to know more about these Englishmen first -- and you can help me. I'm going to give him to you, little Pocahontas."

"Yes," Powhatan said. "Bring him here."

They went back to the village. "Are we going to kill this white man now, Powhatan?" Opekankanu asked.

They put John Smith's head on a stone, in front of Powhatan's feet. Then Opekankanu took a big stick, and walked to the stone. Pocahontas looked at her father. He moved his head a little, but did not look at her. Now Opekankanu was next to the stone. John Smith closed his eyes, and waited to die.

Suddenly, he felt warm arms on his face and head. He opened his eyes and saw the face of the young girl, with her beautiful dark eyes.

Angrily, Opekankanu put his stick down.

"Yes. Listen carefully, now. You must do this…"

At first Powhatan said nothing. Then, slowly, he smiled. " Very well, Pocahontas," he said. "You are only thirteen years old, but this white man is not very big. He is a boy with hair on his face. You can have him."

Pocahontas smiled. "Come with me, white man," she said to him. "You are my Englishman now. Come!"

"No, Opekankanu!" she cried. "No! I am the King's daughter, and I say no!" She looked at her father. "Father -- don't kill this man -- please! Give him to me!"