The Pilgrims of New England - Mrs. J. B. Webb
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'We will remain,' said Mooanam, 'and to-morrow some of your people
shall go with us to our lakes, and fish in our canoes. The clouds are
rising, and we shall, perhaps, have even better success than we have
met with today. But tell me, my white brother,' he continued--while he
looked inquiringly at Bradford--'tell me why your village is deserted
this evening, and why no sounds of labor met our ears as we passed
through the silent street? This is not the white men's day of rest; and
the white men do not leave their work to sleep or dance, as the red men
too often do. Why, then, are you and your people--even your squaws and
your little ones--assembled here today, and what caused that joyful
song that died away as we came to the foot hill?'
'We have spent the day in fasting and prayer,' replied the President.
'We know that our Great Father has sent this long drought upon us, to
chasten us for our sins: and we have met to humble ourselves before
Him, and implore Him to send us the fruitful showers from heaven,
before our crops are altogether withered in the ground. He alone can
command the clouds to drop fatness; and when He sees that His
punishment has done its appointed work, He surely will take it away.
Even now, while we were making our prayers and supplications unto Him,
and confessing our sins, He has sent a token that He has heard our cry,
and will grant our request. Look at those clouds that are rising over
the western hills, and gradually spreading like a curtain across the
sky. For six weary weeks those clouds have been withheld, and we have
been humbled; and, at times, our faith has well nigh failed. But the
faithfulness of our God never fails; and now we are confident that, ere
long, His blessing will descend upon us.'
Mooanam made no reply; but he gazed intently on the gathering clouds,
and then looked searchingly into Bradford's fine expressive
countenance, as if to be assured that he had heard and understood
aright. Squanto stood beside him; and his aid had been several times
required by both parties, in order to the carrying out the above
discourse: and now the Sachem drew him aside, and conversed earnestly
with him in a low voice. He was making him repeat, in his own tongue,
the words of the white man; and Bradford heard him say to the
interpreter, as he turned away to rejoin him, 'Now we shall see whether
the Great Spirit really hears the prayers of the white men.'
The President understood this remark, and fervently he lifted up his
own heart to the Lord, and prayed that the hopes of His suffering and
trusting people might now be fulfilled; not only for their own relief,
but also that the minds of the dark heathen might be impressed, and
that they might see and feel the power and the goodness of the
Christians' covenant God.
While Mooanam and the Governor were engaged in conversation, the
assembly had dispersed to their own homes; each family carrying with
them their respective portion of the food so liberally offered by their
Indian friends, and eager to partake of the first plentiful meal that
they had enjoyed for several weeks; The hope of coming rain also
cheered the hearts of the Pilgrims; and there was joy and gratitude
throughout the village that evening.
The Sachem and his people were gladly received and entertained in the
dwellings of the Governor and principal inhabitants; and when Mooanam
lay down to rest, he long gazed through the opening in the wooden wall
of the chamber that formed its only window, and watched the heavy
clouds as they sped across the sky, and observed the face of the
glimmering moon, that looked out so calmly and brightly between their
dark moving masses. The soul of the Sachem was deeply impressed; and he
thought of all that Bradford had said to him, and wondered whether the
God of the white men was indeed the God of the Indians also.
CHAPTER XIII.
'It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while
they are yet speaking, I will hear.' ISA. lxv, 24.
Mooanam awoke from his sleep soon after the dawn of day appeared. He
looked up at the open window, and a strange feeling of awe came over
his soul, as he beheld the rain falling gently and steadily from the
dull grey sky. He sprang to his feet, and hurried into the next
apartment, where he found the President and his family already
assembled, and gazing at the descending shower in silent admiration.
The Sachem caught the hands of Bradford in both his own; and while a
tear of deep emotion glistened in his dark eye he exclaimed--
'Now I see that your God loves you. When the red men ask for rain, and
use their conjuring arts to induce the Great Spirit to hear their wild
cries, he gives it, it is true; but he gives it with hail and thunder,
which makes the evil still greater. Your rain is of the right kind; it
will restore the drooping corn. Now we see that your God hears you, and
cares for you.'
The same impression, to a certain degree, was made on all the Indians,
who were taught to regard this seasonable rain as the settlers
themselves regarded it--as a special interposition of Providence for
their relief. And were they wrong in thus looking upon it as an answer
to their prayers, from a prayer-hearing God? And was it vain
superstition that led them to rejoice as much in this proof of the
goodness and benevolence of the God whom they served, and of His
guiding and protecting hand being outstretched for their succor, as in
the prospect of coming plenty that was thus afforded to them? Surely
not. Their faith, and love, and confidence in God were all animated and
strengthened by their conviction that the relief thus seasonably
received came directly from Him who has promised in his faithful Word,
that _'all things,'_ whether joyous or grievous, 'shall work together
for good to them that love Him; to them that are called according to
His purpose.'
So deeply was Hobomak, the Wampanoge interpreter, impressed by this
instance of the pious trust of his white friends in the providence of
their God, and of the protection they enjoyed under His guidance and
government, that he gave himself up to a serious consideration of their
religion and so sincere was his desire for spiritual knowledge, and so
humble and teachable did he show himself, that, after a time, he was
judged fit to be admitted into the pale of the Christian church. He was
baptized as the first fruits of the settlers' efforts to evangelize the
heathen among whom they had cast their lot: and he lived a firm friend
of the white men, and died, after residing many years among them,
'leaving a good-hope that his soul went to rest.'
The welcome rain continued to fall for several hours without
intermission, on the morning that succeeded the Pilgrim's day of prayer
and humiliation; and Mooanam sent his young men home to fish in the
lake, while he remained with his white friends, intending to follow
them in the afternoon, with a party of the settlers, to share their
sport. As the day advanced, the clouds broke, and warm sunshine,
interrupted by frequent refreshing showers, succeeded to the settled
rain of the morning. So favorable, altogether, was the change, that
Winslow gratefully remarks: 'It is difficult to say whether our
withered corn, or our depressed spirits, were most refreshed and
quickened. So great was the benevolence and goodness of our God!'
The Pilgrims had prayed for rain; and when their prayers were granted,
they did not neglect the equally incumbent Christian duty of
thanksgiving. Again the congregation ascended 'the Burying Hill'; and
again their united voices rose to heaven in prayers and songs of
praise. Mooanam formed one of the assembly; and he listened with deep
and reverent attention to the devotions of his friends, frequently
applying to Hobomak, who stood at his side, to explain to him the words
and sentences that he did not comprehend.
The service concluded, and the women and children were descending the
hill by the path that led to the village, leaving the Governor and his
council to discuss some public business, and the other men to arrange
themselves as usual into companies, for the manning of their
fortification and other necessary employments. Just at that moment a
native, attired in the costume and equipments of a Narragansett, was
seen to approach the foot of the hill, bearing a bundle of strange
appearance in his hands. With a quick and decided step he mounted the
height, and glanced fiercely at the females and their children, whom he
passed in the winding path, and who all involuntarily shrank from the
gaze of his piercing and singularly expressive eye. In the breast of
Janet that glance struck a chill of horror; for she had once before
encountered it, and never could she forget or mistake it again. It
seemed that Fingal recognized it also, and knew the evil that it
foreboded. He was bounding down the hill by Edith's side, and, with
expressive looks and actions, inviting the pensive child to join in his
gambols, when the savage approached. Instantly he paused, and took his
stand close to his young mistress, as if to guard her from some
apprehended danger; and, as the red warrior passed, and bent his eye on
Edith, the sagacious creature uttered a low deep growl, and seemed
ready to spring at his throat, if the hand and voice of his young
companion had not restrained him. Fingal was a noble specimen of the
St. Bernard breed of dogs, whose sagacity is such as frequently to
appear like human reason, and his intelligence was not inferior to that
of the best of his race. In this instance it did not mislead him.
The dark warrior strode on without one sign of courtesy, and paused not
until he had entered the group of elders and councilors who stood
around the President, prepared to attend him to the public hall. The
white men made way for him to approach the Governor; and, as he did so,
his keen eye met that of Rodolph Maitland, and instantly kindled with a
deeper fire, and gleamed with an expression of almost diabolical
vengeance, which was seen by Rodolph, and understood by him for he,
too, could not fail to recognize in the Narragansett warrior that same
Coubitant who had fought so well at 'the first encounter,' and who had
afterwards attended the Nausett Chief, Tisquantum, when he and his
people were repulsed in their attack on New Plymouth. It was evident
to Maitland that this savage entertained towards him and his race a
peculiar sentiment of hatred; but the cause of this feeling was unknown
to him.
The idea, however, that Henrich's loss was in some way connected with
this man--or that he could give him some information respecting the
nature of his son's death, and the place where his remains had been
deposited--came forcibly to his mind; and, regardless of the cold
malignant gaze that Coubitant fixed on him, he hastily approached him,
and exclaimed in the Indian tongue--'Surely you are the Nausett warrior
whom I saw with the Sachem of that tribe. If so, you can tell me the
fate of my son--the boy who was carried off, and, I fear, cruelly slain
when Tisquantum and his people retired from these woods. O, tell me how
my boy was murdered, and where his dear remains were laid!'
Rodolph's fine countenance was lighted up with eager animation. A tear
of fond regret and affection glistened in his eye, and he could have
grasped the hand of the swarthy savage, and almost have blessed him, if
he would have told him that his darling Henrich had died by a single
blow, and that his body had been laid unmolested to rest. But Coubitant
drew back, and with a smile of fierce mockery and infernal triumph,
replied briefly--
'Ha! you found his bloody coat then. May your heart's blood soon flow
forth as his did; and may my eyes see your body equally mangled and
defaced!'
At the same moment, he placed the bundle that he carried on the ground
before the President, saying, 'This comes from the Chief of the
Narragansetts!' and, turning away, hastily descended the hill, and was
lost to view among the trees of the skirting wood, before the council
had time to resolve on the course they should pursue respecting his
detention, or Rodolph had recovered the shock that his cruel words had
inflicted.
The curiosity of the Governor and his friends was now directed to the
strange-looking package that lay on the ground. On examination, they
found the envelope to be composed of a dried snakeskin, which was
quickly opened, and disclosed several Indian arrows. Squanto gazed on
these with a significant look; and on being questioned by Bradford as
to the meaning of so singular an offering, he informed him that it was
the native mode of declaring war.
The well-known enmity of the Narragansetts towards the Wampanoges--the
friends and allies of the settlers--rendered this hostile declaration
no surprise to the Governor and his council. But the fact of its being
conveyed by Coubitant, who had so lately, in the character of a
subordinate Narragansett chieftain, subscribed the written
acknowledgement of King James's supremacy, excited no small
astonishment. It was a source, also, of regret, as it proved how little
dependence could be placed in the professions of the natives. To enter
on a war with the numerous and powerful tribe of the Narragansetts, was
likewise far from being desirable in any point of view; for the
Pilgrims were little prepared either to meet such formidable
antagonist's in the field, or to resist the continual attacks and
aggression's that constitute the greatest share of Indian warfare.
A consultation was therefore held as to the best method of replying to
the challenge of the Narragansett Sachem; and it was finally determined
that the most prudent and effectual course would be to show a resolute
appearance, and give no cause to the native's to suppose that they
dreaded their enmity. A bold acceptance of the challenge might, it was
urged both by Squanto and Hobomak, strike terror into the savages, and
deter them from prosecuting their present hostile intentions.
Bradford, therefore, adopted the Indian method of communicating this
reply by expressive signs; and, taking the arrows--which appeared to be
poisoned--from the snakeskin, he placed some gunpowder and balls in the
significant wrapper. He then inquired who among his trusty warrior's
would volunteer to take the packet to the dwelling of Cundincus,[*] the
Chief of the Narragansetts. Several offered their services; and, among
those, none was so eager to be employed as Rodolph Maitland. He felt an
earnest desire to see and speak with Coubitant once more: and no fear
of the personal risk that he might incur in the expedition could deter
him from thus making another attempt to obtain some certain information
respecting his lost son.
[Footnote: Afterwards called by the settlers, 'Canonicus.']
Had the President known how much reason there was to fear that
treachery might be exercised towards Maitland, he would surely not have
suffered him thus to risk his valuable life. Rut he was ignorant of all
the peculiar circumstances that had occurred to show that he was a
special mark for the vengeance of Coubitant: and the confidence he felt
in his courage and ability led him--on this occasion, as on many
others--to select him as his ambassador. Two companions were assigned
to him, and Squanto was desired to attend the party as interpreter.
When Helen heard that her husband was appointed to convey a reply to
the war-like message of the dark savage whom she had met on the hill,
and whose aspect had filled her with terror, she felt an involuntary
dread; and gladly would she have dissuaded him from accepting the
office of ambassador--which she knew not he had so earnestly
solicited--had she not been well aware that all such attempts would be
useless. Rodolph was not a man to shrink from any service that was
required of him for the public good; and least of all from any service
that involved danger and difficulty. He, however, concealed from his
anxious wife the fact that he had recognized in the Narragansett
messenger a deadly and determined foe, knowing how greatly--and perhaps
how justly--her fears would be increased, if she suspected that the
Indian champion was one of those who had planned and executed the
capture of her eldest son.
But Janet had, as we have seen, remembered the swarthy savage, and the
scene with which his countenance was associated in her mind; and when
she had an opportunity of speaking to her master in private, she
implored him to resign the embassy into other hands, and not thus
rashly to encounter a foe, whose public conduct had proved him to be
unworthy of confidence, and whose expression of countenance betokened
both cruelty and treachery. But all her arguments were unavailing.
Maitland had undertaken the charge of the expedition at his own
request; and he would have felt himself dishonored in now declining it
from any personal motives, even had he been, in the least degree,
inclined to do so. On the contrary, his spirit was roused and excited
by the very perils he was conscious he might have to encounter; and his
desire to obtain, and convey to Helen, some intelligence of Henrich--
even if that intelligence should still for ever the doubts end hopes,
that, in spite of every past circumstance, would sometimes arise in his
own heart, and that of his own wife--was so great that nothing could
have turned him from his purpose. He, therefore, desired the faithful
Janet to preserve the same silence on the subject of Coubitant that she
had already so judiciously adopted towards her mistress; and assured
her that he would neglect no precaution that might preserve him from
the treacherous intentions of the Indian, should any such be actually
entertained by him.
The next morning Rodolph started at break of day, to convey the reply
of the Governor to the Narragansett Sachem, whose tribe inhabited the
district now called Rhode Island, lying to the south-west of New
Plymouth. He was accompanied by two friends, and likewise by the
interpreter, Squanto. His faithful dog, Fingal, also showed such a
strong desire to follow his master, that, although it was Maitland's
usual custom to leave him at home as a guard, during any of his
occasional absences, when his services in hunting were not required, he
could not, in this instance, resist his eager pleadings. Helen, also,
assured him that she should feel no apprehension at being deprived of
her usual protector, as no danger was likely to menace her dwelling;
and the increase in the population of the village, from the arrival of
the new settlers, had added an inmate to the family, in the person of
Claude Felton, a stout young laboring man, who had become the useful
assistant of Maitland in his agricultural occupations, and proved a
good and faithful servant.
To his protection and watchful care Rodolph Maitland committed his
little family; and, taking a cheerful farewell of his wife and Edith,
he commenced his journey through the wild and almost trackless woods.
Guided by Squanto, the party reached the village of Cundineus, and were
received into the presence of the Sachem and his nephew Miantonomo, who
shared with him the cares and the dignity of his chieftainship.
With the assistance of the interpreter, Rodolph informed the Chiefs
that he was the bearer of the reply of the mighty strangers to the bold
challenge that had been sent to them on the part of Cundineus and
Miantonomo; and he invited them to open the packet which he laid before
them, in order that they might fully understand the nature of that
reply, and judge whether the subjects of the powerful king of Great
Britain were terrified at the audacity of the red men. Probably Squanto
made some additions of his own to the harangue of the ambassador; for a
very ludicrous change of expression appeared on the countenances of the
savage Chieftains. The looks of fierce defiance with which they had
received the embassy gave way to anxious and timid glances, which they
hastily cast at the ominous snake-skin, while they involuntarily drew
back, as if they feared it would explode, and punish their rash
temerity.
Rodolph saw the effect of Squanto's version of his speech, and resolved
to increase it. He understood enough of the native tongue to perceive
that the interpreter had alluded to the potent and deadly properties of
the contents of the snake-skin, and he desired him to inform the Chiefs
that the musket which he carried in his hand contained a very small
portion of the same substance, and he would give them proof of its
power. He then glanced for a moment into the lofty trees that
surrounded the place of audience, and perceiving a monkey that was
clinging to one of the wide-spreading branches, nod chattering angrily
at the intrusive foreigners, he took a deliberate aim, and in another
instant the creature lay lifeless and motionless on the ground. The
Indians were startled at the report, and amazed at the effect of the
invisible messenger of death. They hastened to examine the dead animal
but one drop of blood issuing from its skull was the only indication
that some missile had pierced its brain; and the veneration of the
Narragansetts and their Chiefs for the prowess of the white men
evidently rose in a great degree.
But there was one among them who did not share the wonder or the awe of
the assembly. He stood silent and motionless, at a little distance from
the group, with his eyes intently fixed on Rodolph's countenance, and a
smile of malignant scorn and triumph on his own dark features. His arms
were folded across his scarred and painted breast, and his right hand
grasped the handle of a long knife that was stuck into his deerskin
belt. The action seemed to be involuntary, and without any present
purpose; for he remained in the same position, unobserved by Rodolph,
until he and his attendants had retired to the hut appointed them by
Cundineus, to rest and refresh themselves, end await the reply of the
Chief.
Rodolph then desired Squanto to make inquiries for Coubitant, and, if
possible, to bring him to the hut. But the sagacious interpreter had
seen and recognized the white man's face; and he earnestly entreated
Maitland not to give him any opportunity of executing the vengeance
which was evidently burning at his heart, and ready to break forth in
some deed of fatal violence. Rodolph's English friends also joined so
warmly in these entreaties that he at length consented that Squanto
should seek the savage, and endeavor to draw from him all the
information that he could give respecting Henrich's death. He did so,
and a long conversation took place that evening, the result of which
was that he assured Rodolph that his son had indeed been murdered in
the wood, as he had always supposed, and that his scalp had been torn
off even before life was extinct, whilst his body had been conveyed to
the next encampment, and burned with many heathen rites, to appease the
troubled spirit of Tisquantum's son Tekoa.
The father shuddered, and turned away to hide the rising tear, as he
listened to this harrowing but false account. He, however, fully
believed it; and felt that, henceforth, it would be vain to cherish any
hope concerning his son, except that blessed hope which is the
privilege of the Christian--the sure and certain hope of meeting
hereafter, in the presence of the God and Savior in whom he had taught
his child to place his trust. He said no more; he did not even question
Squanto as to the cause of his having spent so long a time in
conferring with Coubitant, when all the information he had obtained
amounted merely to the sad assurance that his son had suffered a
dreadful death. Had he done so, the interpreter might have found it
difficult to account for his conduct, as he had professed a strong
dislike to Coubitant, and a distrust of all his motives and actions.
The fact was, that the wily savage had discovered Squanto's love of
importance, and his desire to be supposed to possess the confidence of
the white men, and by flattering his vanity, he had drawn from him all
the information he could give with respect to the strength of the
settlers, and their capability of resisting an attack of the natives.
Squanto took care to exaggerate the numbers and the power of his
employers; but still it appeared to Coubitant, that if he could once
more induce the neighboring tribes to combine and invade their
territory, there was every probability of their being utterly
exterminated and nothing short of this could satisfy the feeling of
hatred that he entertained towards the whole race of the strangers. By
way of exalting the might of the settlers in the minds of the native,
Squanto assured Coubitant that the white men kept the plague, of which
the Indians well knew the desolating effects, imprisoned in a cellar,
where they also stowed, their gunpowder, and that they could let it
loose upon their foes at their pleasure. This strange evidence was
heard also by Miantonomo, whom Coubitant called to join the conference,
as he, knew that he already hated the English; and he desired to
strengthen that feeling to the utmost, for the furtherance of his own
plans.