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.

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.