CHAPTER XV.
SAMOSET.
Once more the freemen of the colony were convened in Council around thewell-scoured table in the principal room of the Common house, become forthe nonce a House of Commons, and Captain Standish was explaining thescheme he had arranged for organizing his little army, when again thesolemnity of the meeting was invaded by shrill cries of alarm and anger,this time, however, in a solo rather than chorus, for goodwifeBillington having taken the field, her more timid sisters were abashedinto silence.
"Thou foul beast, I say begone! Scat! Avaunt! Nay, grin not at me thoudevil straight from hell! Wait but till I fetch a bucket of boilingwater to throw over thee, thou Cheshire cat! I'll soon see how much ofthy nasty color is fast dye"--
"What means this unseemly brawling?" sternly demanded Elder Brewster asStandish ceased speaking, and all eyes involuntarily turned toward thedoor.
"Billington, the voice is that of thy wife. Go, and warn her that wetolerate no common scolds in our midst, and that the cucking-stool andthe pillory"--
But the elder's threats and Billington's shamefaced obedience and thewonder of all who had listened to the outbreak were cut short by astartling apparition upon the threshold; the savages had really come atlast, or at least one of them, for here stood, tall and erect, thesplendid figure of a man, naked except for a waistband of buckskinfringe, his skin of a bright copper color glistening in the morning sun,and forming a rich background for the vari-colored paints with which itwas decorated; his coarse, black hair, cut square above the eyebrows,fell upon his shoulders at the back, and was ornamented by threeeagle-feathers woven into its tresses; in his hand he carried a bownearly as tall as himself, and two arrows; a sharp little hatchet,evidently of European make, was thrust into his girdle, but the keennessof its edge was less than that of the glances with which he watched theslightest movement of the armed men who started to their feet at hisapproach.
The savage was the first to speak, and his utterance has become asclassic as Caesar's "Veni,"--for it was,--
"Welcome!"
As he pronounced it, and looked about him with kindly, if wary eyes, thePilgrims drew a long breath, and the tense anxiety of the moment lapsedinto aspects various as the temperaments of the men.
"What! Do these men speak English, then!" exclaimed Allerton bewildered,while Standish muttered,--
"Look to your side-arms, men. He may mean treachery," and noble Carver,extending his hand, said,--
"Thanks for your courtesy, friend. How know you our language?"
"I am Samoset. I am friend of Englishmen. I come to say welcome."
"Truly 't is a marvel to hear him speak in our own tongue and so gliblytoo. Mark you how he chooses his words as one of some dignity himself,"said Bradford softly, but the quick ears of the savage caught thesubstance of his words, and tapping his broad chest lightly with hisfingers he proudly replied,--
"Samoset, sachem of Monhegan. Samoset do well to many Englishmen in hisown country."
"And where is Monhegan, friend Samoset?" asked Carver pleasantly. "Mightit be this place?"
"This place Patuxet. Monhegan nearer to the sunrise," replied Samosetpointing eastward.
"And how far?"
"Suppose walk, five days; big wind in ship, one day."
"And how camest thou, and when?"
"Ship. Three, four moons ago."
"Ah, then it is not an armed assault upon us," said Carver aside and ina tone of relief.
"Nay, these salvages are more treacherous than a quicksand. Try him withmore questions," suggested Hopkins, the other men murmuring assent,while the Indian glancing with his opaque, black eyes from one toanother showed not how much he understood of what went on about him.
"'In vino veritas,'" suggested Bradford with a smile. "Were it not wellto give him something by way of welcome?"
"Samoset like beer. Much talk make throat dry like brook in summer,"remarked the guest, but whether in response or not no one could say.
"Thou 'rt right, man, and though thy skin's tawny, thy inside is verylike a white man's," exclaimed Standish with a laugh. "John Alden, thouknowest the cupboards of this place passing well; find our friendwherewith to fill yon dry brook-bed of a throat; that is with thegovernor's permission."
"Surely, surely, Captain Standish," replied Carver with gentle alacrity."Your word is enough. And while Alden finds wherewithal to feed andquench his thirst, John Howland shall bring a mantle or cloak from myhouse to throw about him, for it is not seemly that our people shouldsee us entertaining a man stark as he was born."
"'T is well said, Master Carver. I had some such thought myself," saidAllerton rather primly, while Hopkins and Billington exchanged anirreverent grin, and Standish stroked his moustache.
The cloak was brought, and gracefully accepted by Samoset, who evidentlyregarded it as a ceremonial robe of state, designed to mark hisadmittance as an honored guest at the white men's board, and draping ittoga-wise across his shoulder, he sat down to a plentiful repast of coldduck, biscuit, butter, cheese, and a kind of sausage called blackpudding. To these solids was added a comfortable tankard of spirits andwater, from which Samoset at once imbibed a protracted draught.
"Englishman have better drink than poor Indian," remarked he placing thetankard close beside his plate, and seizing a leg of the duck in hishands.
"'T is sure enough that he has been much with white men,--yes, andEnglishmen, too, by the way he takes down his liquor," remarked Hopkins.
"Nay, methinks our Dutch brethren could take down a deep draught, too,and this is their own liquor," said Bradford, while Winslow muttered inCarver's ear,--
"Let not Alden leave the case-bottle within reach of the savage. Enoughwill loosen his tongue, but a little more will bind it."
"True," assented the Governor, nodding to Alden, who quietly replacedthe bottle in the case whence he had taken it. Samoset followed it withlonging eyes, but his own dignity prevented remonstrance except byfinishing the flagon and ostentatiously turning it upside down.
After this, the meal was soon finished, and the conversation resumed,partly by signs and inference, partly by Samoset's limited stock ofEnglish. By one means and the other the Pilgrims presently learned thatMonhegan was a large island near to the mainland in a northeasterlydirection, and a great resort of fishing vessels, mostly English, withwhose masters Samoset, as sachem of the Indians in those parts, had bothtraded and feasted, learning their language, their manners, and, whatwas worse, their habits of strong drink and profanity, neither of whichhowever seemed to have taken any great hold upon him, being reservedrather as accomplishments and proofs that he too had studied men andmanners.
The master of one of these fishing craft some few months previously hadinvited the sachem to accompany him across the bay to Cape Cod, wherethe sailor wished to traffic with the natives, and Samoset had sinceremained in this part of the country visiting Massasoit, sachem of theWampanoags, who with a large party of his warriors was now lying in theforest outside of the settlement, waiting apparently for the result ofSamoset's reconnoissance before he should determine on his own line ofaction.
Farther inquiry elicited the fact that the former inhabitants ofPlymouth, or Patuxet, a people tributary to Massasoit, but living undertheir own sachem, had been totally exterminated by a plague, perhapssmall-pox, which had swept over the country two or three years beforethe landing of the Pilgrims, leaving, so far as Samoset could tell, onlyone man alive; this man seeking refuge among the Nausets, the tribe tothe east of Patuxet, was one of the victims entrapped by Hunt, escapingfrom whom, he lived a long time in England with a merchant of Londonnamed Slaney, who finally sent him in a fishing vessel to Newfoundland,whence he had made his way back to his friends on Cape Cod.
"And this man," demanded Winslow eagerly. "Where is he now? Do ye notperceive, friends, that this is an instrument shaped and fitted to ourhands by the Providence of God, who hath also sent His plague to sweepaway the inhabitants of this spot whither He would lead H
is chosenpeople?"
"Of a truth it seemeth so," replied Carver reverently, while Standishmuttered in his beard,--
"Pity but the salvages had known 't was Providence! 'T would haveconverted them out of hand."
The elder who had his own opinion of the soldier's orthodoxy lookedaskance at the half-heard murmuring, and suddenly demanded,--
"Where, then, is this man? How call you him?"
"Tisquantum he name. English trader across big water call him other foolname. Red man not know it."
"Tisquantum is well enough for a name, but why did he not come hitherwith you, Samoset?"
"Tisquantum much wise. He like see other fox put his paw in trap firstbefore he try it." And as he thus betrayed his comrade's diplomacy thesavage allowed a subtle smile to lighten his eyes, which, with theinstinct that in simple mental organizations is so much surer thanreason, he fixed upon Winslow, who laughed outright as he replied,--
"Wiser than thou, Samoset, me-seemeth. How is it thou wast so much moredaring than thy fellow?"
"Samoset poor fool. He not know enough to be afraid of anything. Notwise like white man and Tisquantum." And the sachem with a superb smilesettled the tomahawk at his girdle, and threw off the folds of hishorseman's cloak. But the grim smile upon most of the faces around theboard showed that the jest had given no offense to men who knew theirown and each other's courage, and the conference presently broke up, thevisitor amusing himself by strolling around the village, discreetlywrapped in his cloak, and taking a malicious delight in encounteringHelen Billington, who never failed to greet him with a fusillade ofsuppressed wrath, to which he listened attentively, as if desirous ofstoring up some of the objurgations for his own future use. As nightfell, and the guest showed no intention of departure, some of the morecautious settlers suggested that he should be put on board the Mayflowerfor safe keeping, a plan which met Samoset's ready approval, for as hesententiously remarked,--
"Captain-man have much strong waters."
But then, as now, he who would navigate Plymouth Harbor must take bothwind and tide into account, and when Samoset with Cooke, Browne, andEaton to row him reached the shallop, they found her high and dry, witha stiff east wind in her teeth. The next plan was to bestow thedangerous guest safely on shore, and this was finally done in the loftof Stephen Hopkins's house, the veteran host grimly promising that heshould not stir so much as a finger-nail but he would know it; and inspite of goodwife Billington's assurance to her sisters that they shouldone and all be murdered in their beds before morning, the sun arose uponthem in peace and safety, and soon after breakfast the Indian wasdismissed with some small gifts, and an agreement that he should comeagain the next day, bringing Squanto, and such others as desired totrade with the white men, and could offer skins of beaver, martin, orother valuable fur.
"Could not they fetch a few ermine and miniver skins while they are atit," suggested Priscilla. "Methinks in this wilderness we women might atleast solace ourselves with the show of royalty, sith we are too farfrom the throne to have our right disputed."
"Who knows but that we may found a new kingdom here in the New World,"replied John Alden playfully. "And where should we find a fittersovereign than Queen Priscilla?"
But Saturday passed over quietly, and it was not until Sunday morningthat the Pilgrims coming out of the Common house after the morningservice met Samoset stalking into the village followed by five othertall fellows, powerful but unarmed, Standish having sternly warnedSamoset that neither he nor his companions must bring any weapon intothe white man's settlement without permission. Much to the relief of thewomen who encountered these guests, it was at once seen that Samoset hadunderstood and communicated the hint involved in lending him a cloak towear during his previous visit, for all were fully dressed in deerskinrobes with leggings fastened to the girdle and disappearing at the anklewithin moccasons of a style very familiar to our eyes, although a greatmarvel to those of the Pilgrims, who, however soon adopted and enjoyedthem highly. Samoset and another savage, who seemed to be his especialassociate, also carried each a finely dressed wild-cat skin as a sort ofshield upon the left arm, and all were profusely decorated with paint,feathers, strings of shells, and one man with the tail of a foxgracefully draped across his forehead. All wore the hair in the cavalierstyle, long upon the shoulders and cut square across the brow, and allwere comely and dignified looking warriors.
The governor, elder, captain, with some other of the principal men,stood still in the open space where the King's Highway crossed TheStreet, and greeted, soberly as befitted the day, yet cordially asbefitted charity and hospitality, their guests, who watched with waryeyes every movement of the hosts whom they hardly trusted, whileSamoset, stepping forward, unrolled a fine mat, or wrapping-rug, in hisarm, and ceremoniously laid two axes and a wedge at the feet ofStandish, saying briefly,--
"The white chief has his own again."
"Our tools. Yes, that is as it should be," replied the captain,"although we may not use them to-day."
"Six hungry guests to divide the dinner with us!" exclaimed Priscilla indismay as she stood at Mistress Brewster's side, her glowing brunettebeauty shining out in contrast with the soft ashen tints of the olderwoman's face.
"Ay 't will put us to our trumps to make ready enough hot victual forall," replied the elder's wife.
"They shall have none of the marchpane thou didst make yestere'en,Priscilla!" expostulated Desire Minter anxiously. "There is no more thanenow for us that be women."
"That will rest as our dear mother says," replied Priscilla smiling intoDame Brewster's face.
"Nay, it needs not the marchpane thou madest so toilsomely to entertainthese salvages to whom our ship-biscuit are a treat," and the elderwoman smiled tenderly back into the glowing face so near her own.
So presently the table in the Common house was spread with what to thered men was a feast of the gods, and they gravely ate enough for twelvemen, evidently carrying out the time-honored policy of Dugald Dalgettyand of the camel, to lay in as there is opportunity provision not onlyfor the present, but the future. Dinner ended, both red and white menassembled in the open space before mentioned, now in Plymouth called theTown Square, and the Indians grouping themselves in the centre beganwhat may be called a dance, although from the gravity of their faces andsolemnity of their movements the elder was seized with a suspicion thatfairly turned him pale.
"Are the heathen creatures practicing their incantations andwarlock-work in our very midst, and on the Lord's Day?" demanded he."Stephen Hopkins, thou knowest their devices, how is it?"
"Nay, Elder," replied Hopkins chuckling in spite of his efforts atSunday sobriety. "It is a feast-dance, a manner of thanksgiving"--
"A sort of grace after meat," suggested Billington in an aside; but theelder heard him, and turning the current of his wrath in that directionexclaimed,--
"Peace, ribald! Thou art worse than the heathen in making sport of holythings."
"I knew not yon antics were holy things, Elder," retorted the recklessjester; but Standish ranging up alongside of him muttered,--
"One word more and thou 'lt deal with me, John Billington," and thoughthe reprobate affected to laugh contemptuously he remained silent.
To the solemn feast-dance succeeded a more lively measure accompaniedwith barbarous sounds intended for singing, and the performance endedwith gestures and pantomime obviously suggesting a treaty of amity andpeace, as indeed Samoset presently interpreted it, closing the scenewith the offer of such skins as the men wore upon their arms, andpromises of more furs in the near future.
But the Sunday-keeping Pilgrims would not enter even into the semblanceof trade upon that day, and, although they could not explain the reasonto the Indians, made them understand that their dances, their singing,and their gifts, which were of course to be repaid, were all impossiblefor them to consider upon that day, and that, in fact, the sooner theywithdrew from the village the better their hosts would be pleased.Adding however the wisdom of the ser
pent to the guilelessness of thedove, they coupled with this dismissal a very earnest invitation for thesavages to return on the morrow and bring more skins, indeed all thatthey could spare, the white men promising to purchase them at a fairprice.
The Indians listened gravely to so much of this harangue as Samosettranslated to them, and the five new-comers at once, and with noceremony of farewell, glided one after the other down the path leadingpast the spring to Watson's Hill, and were no more seen; but Samosetthrowing himself upon the ground pressed his hands upon his stomachmoaning loudly and declaring himself in great agony.
"He has a colic from over-feeding. Give him a dose of strong waters andcapsicum," said the elder compassionately; and Standish with a grimsmile remarked, "Truly the man hath been an apt scholar in the ways ofcivilization. He minds me of a varlet of mine own, whose colics Ieffectually cured after a while by mingling a certain drug with thestrong waters he craved. 'T was better than a sea-voyage for clearinghis stomach."
"Nay, Captain, we'll not deal so harshly with the poor fellow at thebeginning, whatever may come at the end," said the Governor smiling."Howland, get the man his dram, and if he will not go, put him to sleepin Hopkins's house and under his ward."
Standish of Standish: A Story of the Pilgrims Page 16