The Pilgrims of New England - Mrs. J. B. Webb
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After a few rather amusing efforts to carry on a communication with his
guests, through the intervention of Samoset, Carver invited them to
table, and again had occasion to admire the readiness and the natural
grace with which they accommodated themselves to customs so new and so
wonderful as those of the white men. When the repast was concluded, the
President led Mooanam and his party round the village, and showed them
everything that was worthy of attention; and so intelligent did he find
them, that he had no difficulty in making them comprehend the use of
many European implements, and many of the inventions and contrivances
of civilized life. With much satisfaction the good pastor, Brewster,
marked the sparkling eyes and speaking countenances of these gentle
savages; for he there hoped he saw encouragement to his ardent hope of
ere long bringing them to a knowledge of the simple and saving truths
of the gospel. With the Governor's permission, he led them to the plain
and unadorned edifice which was the emigrants' place of worship, and
easily made them understand that it was dedicated to the service of the
one Great Spirit who reigns over all; and from thence they were
conducted to the cemetery, and shown, by expressive signs, the insult
that had been offered to the dead by men of their own race. Some war-
like implements that had been picked up after one of the recent
skirmishes were shown to Mooanam and his brother, when they instantly
exclaimed, 'Nausett!' and knitting their brows, and putting themselves
into an attitude of defiance, they plainly intimated that the tribe was
one with which they were at enmity.
They pointed in the direction where the Nausetts dwelt, and seemed to
invite the settlers to join them in assaulting their encampment; but
ignorance of their language, and of their habits prevented the
President from assenting to what appeared to be their earnest wish.
As the sickness that had so long raged in the colony had now nearly
disappeared, and the advance of the season promised soon to open
sources of plentiful provision in the and the fields and streams,
Brewster felt that he could be spared for a time from the settlement;
and he proposed to Mr. Carver that he should return with Mooanam to his
village, and endeavor to acquire such a knowledge of the native
language, as should enable hint to act as an interpreter, and also give
him the means of imparting to the red men the spiritual knowledge that
he so ardently desired to bestow. The Governor willingly consented to
this proposal; and when it was explained to the Indian Chief, he gave
the most cordial and ready assent. The mild yet dignified countenance
of the elder had won his respect and confidence; and he hoped to gain
as great advantages from a more intimate connection with the white men,
as they expected from his alliance and support.
Henrich was now able to leave his couch, and again to join Edith and
his young companions out of doors; but he still looked delicate, and
his former strength and activity had not fully returned. He was,
however, able to walk with the assistance of a crutch that his father
had made for him; and he formed one of the group that followed the
Indians in their procession through the village, and also escorted them
as far as the confines of the wood in whose depths their village lay.
The Chief remarked the boy, and showed sympathy for his lameness, which
he was given to understand was owing to an aggression of the Nausetts;
and his eyes flashed, and his nostrils dilated, and his whole
countenance was changed from its habitual expression of gentle dignity,
to one of fierce hostility. It was evident that, in these Wampanoges,
the settlers had secured allies who would be zealous and persevering in
protecting them from the attacks of their harassing enemies, the
Nausetts; and who would, when the proper time should arrive, assist
them in fleeing the district of such troublesome inhabitants.
The Indians returned to their wigwams, and the elder accompanied them,
and became an inmate of Mooanam's lodge. He soon began to acquire some
knowledge of the language of his host, and also to instruct him and his
wife in many English words and phrases, in which their aptitude to
learn astonished him. A constant communication was kept up between the
Indian village and that of the settlers, and a real regard and esteem
sprang up between them. As the spring advanced, Henrich was able to
throw aside his crutch, and to accompany his father and mother in their
frequent visits to the wigwams, and much of his leisure time was passed
in the company of the young Indians of his own age, whose activity and
address in all their sports and games he admired and emulated. The
presence of his friend Brewster in the Wampanoge village, also gave it
increased attractions in the eyes of Henrich. The good man was still
his friend and preceptor; and with his assistance, he made considerable
progress in the acquirement of the native language, as well as in every
other kind of knowledge that Brewster was able to impart. But all the
elder's instructions were made subservient to that best of all
knowledge--the knowledge of God, and of his revealed Word; and in this
his pupil advanced and grew in a manner that both surprised and
delighted him. The boy's naturally thoughtful character had become
matured during his long and painful illness; and he had learnt to feel
the value of heavenly things, and the comparative littleness of all
'those things which are seen, and are temporal.' He entered warmly
into all the elder's benevolent desires and intentions for the
conversion of the dark heathen among whom their lot was cast; and he
already looked forward to being his assistant in the holy work.
Brewster regarded him as destined to become both a pastor and a zealous
and successful missionary, when he should arrive at a proper age; and
he frequently spoke of him as his own appointed successor in the
spiritual direction of the congregation.
This sacred office Henrich anticipated with pride and satisfaction; for
where could he find a more fitting exercise for his adventurous and
enterprising spirit, and also for his love of the truth, than in
seeking the wild men amid their forests and wildernesses, and winning
them to peace, and happiness, and civilization, by the knowledge of the
all-powerful doctrines of the gospel?
With the Indians he soon became a great favorite; and the readiness
with which he acquired the use of the bow, and learnt to cast the dart,
and wield the light tomahawks that were used by the Indian boys to
practice their young hands, excited their warmest admiration, and made
them prophesy that he would one day become a distinguished Brave. His
skill in hunting and fishing also became considerable; and he learnt
from his copper-colored friends many of their songs and dances, with
which he delighted Edith and Ludovico at home. His new companions did
not draw away his affections from his sister. She was still the object
of his warmest love; and to give her pleasure was the strongest desire
of his heart. In his long rambles with his Indian play-fellows he never
forgot his Edith; and many a stream was crossed, and many a rock was
climbed, to procure flowering plants to deck her garden, and creepers
to clothe the bower which he had formed for her beneath a venerable
walnut-tree that stood within their father's little domain, and at no
great distance from their dwelling.
An attempt had been made, at first, by the colonists to follow the
example of the primitive church at Jerusalem; and to hold the land of
which they had taken possession in common, to be worked by the whole
community, and the produce to be equally divided amongst their families
in due proportion. But this plan was soon abandoned, as quite unsuited
to the habits and manners of these men of Britain; and every family had
a small portion, consisting of an acre each, assigned to it for the
special use and maintenance of its members. The fields in every
allotment had been sown chiefly with grain procured from the friendly
Wampanoges; and for some time past the Nausetts had left them
unmolested.
The knowledge which Brewster soon acquired of the soft and musical
language of the natives enabled him, with the assistance of Samoset,
who still resided among them, to transact all business between them and
his countrymen; and also to become acquainted with the history and
circumstances of these useful allies. He learnt that Mooanam was not
the great Sachem or Sagamore of the whole tribe, but that he was the
eldest son of Masasoyt, the king or chief of the Wampanoges, who
resided at Packanokick, their principal village, which was situated in
the state of Rhode Island, near a mountain called Montaup, at a
considerable distance from Patupet, the native name for New Plymouth.
The means of a still more extended intercourse was about this time
opened to the settlers, by the arrival at New Plymouth of another
Indian, who was already acquainted with the English, and who was also a
much greater proficient in their language than their friend Samoset.
This was no other than Squanto, the man who had been taken prisoner by
Captain Hunt some years previous, and conveyed to England. During his
residence there, he had learnt to make himself understood in the white
man's tongue, and he had also learnt to admire and respect the white
man's character. When, therefore, he had found his way hack to his
native land in a fishing vessel, and was informed by the Wampanoge
Sagamore--whom he visited in his journey to rejoin his own tribe--that
an English settlement had been formed on the shores of Cape Cod Bay, he
determined to visit it. Masasoyt encouraged him in this intention, and
sent him to his son Mooanam, to be introduced to the strangers, and to
assist in forming a permanent alliance with them.
These overtures were joyfully received by the Governor, Mr. Carver, and
he determined to take immediate advantage of this opportunity of adding
to the strength and security of the infant colony. The intended
departure of Samoset also made it very desirable to secure the
friendship and the services of the newcomer Squanto; as,
notwithstanding the progress which Winslow and some others were making
in the Wampanoge language, a native interpreter must long be required,
in order to carry on a mutual intercourse.
An embassy to the great Sagamore was therefore resolved on, with a view
to confirm and strengthen the alliance that had been formed with his
sons: and again Rodolph was selected to accompany Captain Standish as
his aide-de-camp, while Samoset and Squanto were to act as interpreters.
The journey was long, and Maitland was obliged reluctantly to
refuse Henrich's request to attend him. He feared the fatigue of so
many days' travelling on foot would be too much for his son's strength,
and Helen strongly opposed his going. He therefore gave up the much
desired expedition, and endeavored to chase away his feeling of
disappointment by renewed exertions in ornamenting the garden, and
putting the grounds into a state of perfect order, to please his father
on his return.
The expedition was accompanied by the Sagamore's younger son,
Quadequina, who was anxious to introduce the new allies of his tribe to
his father, and to ensure their friendly reception. They reached
Packanokick after a pleasant journey of about forty miles, and were
kindly welcomed by Masasoyt, to whom a messenger had been sent
beforehand to prepare him for their arrival.
The Sagamore was a noble-looking old man, and was treated by his son,
and by all his subjects, with the most profound respect; nor did his
strange costume in any way destroy his kingly appearance. His limbs
were naked, and were curiously painted and oiled, and his neck and arms
were decorated with strings of large white beads composed of polished
bone; while a richly embroidered bag or pouch, containing tobacco, was
suspended at the back of his neck. His coronet of feathers was lofty,
and of the most brilliant colors, and the rest of his dress consisted
of a tunic and moccasins of dressed deer skin, exquisitely worked with
colored grass and porcupine's quills. He willingly and fully ratified
the treaty which had been made by his sons with the white strangers,
whose appearance and manners seemed to prepossess him much in their
favor; and after detaining them for some days in his lodge, and
entertaining him with the greatest hospitality and kindness, he
dismissed them with presents of native manufacture, in return for the
European arms and ornaments which they had offered to his acceptance.
Samoset here left the settlers, and Squanto became henceforth their
faithful friend and useful interpreter.
CHAPTER IV
'In your patience possess ye your souls.' LUKE, xxi 19.
One evening, about the time that Helen began to expect the return of
the embassy from Packanokick, Henrich was unusually busy in the garden,
arranging the flower-beds, and beautifying Edith's bower, in which he
and his sister had planned a little fete to welcome their father home.
Their mother had learnt to feel, that while they were thus employed,
and within the precincts of their own domain, they were safe from every
danger. The Nausetts had not attempted any depredations for an unusual
length of time; and a feeling of security and peace had taken the place
of that constant watchfulness and anxiety, which had long proved so
harassing to the settlers. They began to flatter themselves that their
foes had retired from the neighborhood, and would no more return to
molest them, now that they knew the emigrants to be on such friendly
terms with their powerful rivals, the Wampanoges. But false was this
appearance of security; and vain was every hope that the Nausetts would
forego their designs of vengeance, or cease to devise schemes of
mischief against those by whom they thought themselves injured! They
did not, indeed, continue to attack the settlement openly, for they had
been taught to dread the British fire-arms and the British courage; but
they still continued to lurk in the neighboring forest, and to keep a
vigilant watch over all that took place at the settlement. Often were
the keen eyes of Coubitant and his most trusty followers fixed, with a
malignant gaze, on the dwelling of Rodolph and often were his
movements, and those of his family, carefully noted by these sagacious
savages, when no suspicion of their presence existed in the minds of
the settlers. They would climb by night to the summit of some lofty
tree that overlooked the village, and there remain all day unseen, to
obtain a knowledge of the habits and proceedings of their hated
enemies, and to devise plans for turning this knowledge to account.
The departure of the embassy to Packanokick was, consequently, well
known to Coubitant, and he resolved to take advantage of the absence of
so considerable a part of the British force, to execute, if possible,
his schemes of vengeance. What they were, and how he attempted their
accomplishment, will be presently seen.
Edith's bower looked gay with its spring blossoms and luxuriant
creepers, but Henrich was not quite satisfied with its appearance, and
he wished to place at its entrance a graceful climbing plant which he
had observed during his last walk to the Wampanoge village, and had
neglected to secure it on his return. It had been the desire of his
parents that he should not go into the forest which bordered their
grounds, except in the company of his father or some of his friends;
but the apparent departure of the Nausetts had caused this injunction
to be neglected of late, and he, and even his younger brother and
sister, had frequently strayed, unmolested, a short distance into the
wood, in search of flowers and fruits; and even Helen had ceased to
feel alarm.
'Edith,' said Henrich, on the evening of which we are speaking; 'I
think my father will return tonight, or tomorrow at the farthest; and I
must complete my task before he arrives. Your bower still requires a
few plants to adorn the entrance, and the seats of moss are scarcely
finished. Let us go into the wood, and procure what we want before the
sun sets, and our mother comes out to see what progress we have made.'
'No, Henrich,' replied his sister; 'do not go this evening. I know not
why, but the wood looks dark and gloomy; there is no sunlight on the
path, and the shadows are so deep, that I could fancy every low bush
was a crouching Indian. I cannot go into the wood tonight.'
'You are timid, dear Edith. You never feared to go with me before; and
why should you fear this evening? See, the sun is still high in the
horizon, and the darkness is all in your own fancy. Come and see that
lovely creeper I told you of; and when you have admired it hanging from
the decayed trunk of the old tree that supports it, you shall help me
to remove it to your bower, where it will be the fairest flower that
grows, except the little fairy queen herself.'
Henrich caught his sister's hand, and kissing her playfully, attempted
to draw her from the bower. But she looked sad and anxious, and
replied--
'O, Henrich! do not ask me; my bower is fair enough, and I would not go
as far as that old tree tonight, for all the flowers that grow in the
forest. Stay with me, Henrich, dear. Our mother will join us soon, and
she will be alarmed if you are not here.'
The boy looked at his sister's pensive face with an affectionate smile:
but he was not to be diverted from his scheme.
'Stay here, then, Edith,' he replied; 'and tell my mother that I shall
return in little more than ten minutes. Come, Ludovico,' he added,
calling his little brother, who was always ready to follow where
Henrich led. 'Come, Ludovico, you are not afraid of the shadows. Bring
your basket, and you shall gather moss while I dig up my creeper. When
Edith sees its drooping white flowers, she will forgive me for laughing
at her unusual fears.'
Edith said no more. She was sure that Henrich knew best; and she
silently watched him leave the garden, and enter the shade of the thick
forest, accompanied by her joyous little brother. Were her fears,
indeed, the mere creation of her own young fancy I or were they
occasioned by one of those strange and unaccountable presentiments
which have been felt so frequently as to justify the old proverb,
'Coming events cast their shadow, before them.'
Edith sat on the mossy seat that Henrich had formed in her bower. It
looked towards the wood, and the commanding situation which it
occupied, on a rising ground towards the center of the garden, enabled
her to overlook the green fence that enclosed the grounds, and to watch
the receding forms of her brothers, until they were hidden from her
sight by the winding of the path through the underwood. Still she
gazed, and her heart grew sad; and tears, which she could not check,
rolled down her cheeks. Did she again fancy? and did her tearful eyes
now convert the bushes into the figures of two dark Indians, in the
costume of the dreaded Nausetts? Surely those were human forms that
moved so swiftly and so silently from the dark stem of a gigantic oak,
and crossing the forest path, were instantly again concealed. Edith
wiped her glistening eyes. She held her breath, and feared to move;
but the beating of her young heart was audible. No sound met her
listening ear--no movement again was detected by her straining eye--and
she began to think that her own fears had conjured up those terrible
forms.
But what was that distant cry that sounded from the wood in the
direction in which her brothers had gone? And why does she now behold
Ludovico running wildly, and alone, down the path, with terror depicted
in his countenance?
Edith flew to meet him; but ere she reached him, the dreadful truth was
made known to her by his agonized cry.
'O, my brother! my brother! they have taken him, Edith; they are
dragging him away! They will kill him!' he shrieked aloud, as he threw
himself into Edith's arms, almost choked with the violence of his
feelings, and the speed with which he had fled.
What could Edith do? She dared not leave him, to be carried off,
perhaps, by some other prowling savage, who might still be lingering
near; and she could not carry him home. Slowly she drew him on, while
every moment seemed an hour, that delayed her from giving the alarm,
and sending friends to the rescue of her darling brother.
'O! why did he leave me?' she murmured. 'Why did he go, when I knew
that danger was near?'
As soon as she had brought the panting and terrified Ludovico within
the precincts of the garden, she left him, and ran towards the house,
calling loudly on her mother, who rushed out on hearing her voice of
terror, and was instantly made acquainted with the appalling fact that
had occurred. Who shall tell the agony of her feelings, or describe the
sufferings of that mother's heart, when she knew that her child was in
the power of the savage and relentless enemies of the white men? She
was, indeed, ignorant of the peculiar vengeance that they desired to
wreak on her husband and all his race; but the malevolent character of
the Nausetts had been sufficiently manifested in their repeated and
destructive attacks on the settlement, and their willful desecration of
the graves of the exiles, to awaken the most poignant fears in her
breast. Rodolph, too, was absent, and Brewster was still at the
Wampanoge village; and where should she seek for succor or for counsel!
Hastily calling Janet, who was the only domestic at home, she committed
Ludovico to her care; and taking Edith by the hand, she hurried from
the garden, scarcely knowing whither she bent her steps, but in the
vague hope of meeting some of the settlers returning from their labors
in the fields, and inducing them to go to the rescue of her boy.
Onward she fled along the skirts of the forest, towards the fields of
her husband's friend Winslow, who, she well knew, would aid her with
all his power: but she found him not, and no human being appeared in
sight to listen to her appeal for succor. The sun was setting, and all
had returned to the village. What then could Helen do? To retrace her
steps, and seek her friends and neighbors in their homes, would be to
lose precious moments, on which the life and liberty of her Henrich
might depend. To strike into the depths of the forest, and cross the
belt of wood that divided the settlement from Mooanam's encampment
would be the quickest plan, and probably the most effectual, as her
Wampanoge friends would know far better than the settlers how to follow
in the train of the fugitives, and how either to persuade or to compel
them to release their prisoners. Helen had never dared to enter the
wood, except under the protection of her husband, even in the broad
light of day; and now the gloom of evening was gathering around her,
and the path that led into the wood was obscured by the shadows of the
thick foliage above. Bat where were all her fears and apprehensions?
She was unconscious of such feelings now. The timid woman's heart was
nerved to the occasion, and no danger could now make her shrink.
She turned rapidly into the narrow path, and pursued her way with a
firmness and decision, of which, at any other time, when she was
trusting to the arm and guidance of Rodolph, she would have believed
herself incapable. She knew the direction in which the Indian village
lay, and the slanting rays of the declining sun occasionally penetrated
the thick wood, and cast bright streaks of light on the mossy ground,
and the boles of the giant trees around; but soon they faded away, and
a deep gloom overspread her path.
'Mother,' said the trembling little Edith, as she clung to Helen's
hand, and exerted her utmost strength to keep up with her rapid steps;
'Mother, do you not fear to pass through this forest now? Shall we not
meet more of those dreadful savages who have taken away my brother? Oh,
Henrich! Henrich!' she cried--while tears burst afresh from her eyes at
the recollection of her brother's fate--'why did you venture into this
wood to seek plants for my bower?' and the child sobbed convulsively,
from mingled grief and fear.
'Cease, Edith, cease!' replied the deeply distressed, but now firm and
courageous Helen: 'I fear nothing while I am seeking aid for Henrich.
God will protect us, my child!' she added: and she raised her glistening
eyes to heaven, and gazed, hopefully and trustingly, on one bright star
that shone upon her between the summits of the lofty trees. Her heart
was strengthened by her pious confidence in her heavenly Father. She
remembered also that Edith looked to her for protection; and all
personal fears were absorbed by that generous and elevating feeling of
self-devotion, which is shared even by the lower and weaker animals
when their offspring are in danger. So Helen forgot herself, and felt
strong to guard her child, and strong to seek and obtain aid for him
whose peril was more real and urgent.