CHAPTER XIII
THE VICTORY OVER THE PEQUOTS
The next morning the children had occasion to meet Captain John Mason,that gallant Indian fighter, who was to suppress the Indian uprising.He was a trained soldier, and thoroughly understood the principles ofwarfare, not only among the whites, but also as these could be bestapplied to the Indians.
He was a rough and burly man, though kind to the helpless and weak. Atpresent he was busy with reforming the Colonial methods of defenseagainst the Indians.
So far the white men had failed to meet the Indians successfully becausethey were reluctant to adopt their war methods. The soldiers wereheavily armed, cased in armor, and could therefore not accomplishanything against the red men who were light of foot, and easily gotaway from them. The white men moved slowly, and while they hadredoubtable musketry, the Indians would not stand still, until theiropponents got ready to shoot them. To load, aim, and fire was a tediousbusiness, and the Indians with their swift movements and their reliablebows and arrows had much the advantage over the white troops who reallywere trained to fight only their fellow Europeans.
Captain Mason was anxious to change all this. Much of the heavy armorwas discarded, and many of the fighting habits of the Indians wereadopted. Every day the soldiers, together with the volunteer trappersand settlers, drilled and trained for the fight that would soon takeplace.
That something decisive had to be done to check the Indian outrages, wasclear to all, and every man who could bear a gun was drafted intoservice. From Massachusetts even many volunteers appeared, and theywere gladly received into service by Captain Mason.
Our three young friends found the Captain surrounded by his officers,as soon as he had learned that the children had an important messagefor him.
He delighted in hearing their stories, and when he was told that theIndians were massing their forces in the eastern part of the country,he at once had his plan ready.
"I am still expecting some troops," he said, "but as soon as thesearrive, I shall march out to prevent our foes from getting too nearthe settlements. You boys, of course, will follow me, because youare well acquainted with the country and the ways of the Indians.Besides, you speak the Mohican and Pequot language, and that is wortha great deal. In the meanwhile, you shall be my personal guests, andwhatever you need, shall be given you. You shall eat and sleep in theofficers' tents."
Fred and Matthew at once joined the troops, and drilled with them.Among the soldiers they found many boys, who were not much older thanthey, and so they had good companions, with whom they romped, played,discussed warfare methods, and diverted themselves in a profitablemanner in the few hours of leisure left to them.
Old John Rawlins could, of course, not take part in the work of thesoldiers, but there was nevertheless much for him to do. His recoverywas rapid, and while he still limped somewhat, he was of greatassistance to the quartermaster in distributing and managing thesupplies.
Agnes, who was a born missionary, soon found occasion to exert hertalents. In the fort there were gathered not only men, but also womenand children, and the latter she gathered into little groups andinstructed them in the Bible. For this the mothers were very grateful,for the children now had something worthwhile to do, and quarrels andstrifes were thus obviated. In short, everybody said that the threechildren proved themselves valuable to the inhabitants of the fort inmany ways, and soon the topic of general conversation was nothing elsethan their varied and useful activity.
But the longer John Mason waited, the less could he repress the strongdesire of his men to go and fight the Indians. News arrived every dayof settlers captured and tortured to death, and the blood of thesoldiers boiled with wrath as they heard of this.
So finally when October came, and the ground was frozen and covered withsnow, the troops set out, led by faithful Mohican guides, to attack thePequots in their own village. From a European point of view the armypresented a pitiable appearance, being little more than a rabble of men.But they all burned with a desire to punish the Indians, and every oneof them could handle his gun with precision.
Slowly and carefully the whites proceeded to the Indian village atMystic, where the fierce Pequot chief Sassacus had gathered almost athousand Indians, the majority of whom could fight.
The Indian village was well concealed in a huge swamp, and had not theground been frozen, the white men could never have approached it. Butthe cold winter, of which usually the colonists stood in dread, nowproved their best friend, for they could march over the hard groundwith ease and reach the Indian village in spite of the swamp whichsurrounded it.
One day, at noon, it was reported to Captain Mason that they had almostreached the village of Mystic. The troops were gathered in the thickwoods, in a little valley, which shut them off from the inquisitive eyesof the Pequot scouts. It was a cold, unpleasant day, and a fierce stormwas raging, which drove the sharp, icy flakes into the faces of the menas they moved forward.
Hurriedly John Mason called together his officers and discussed withthem the matter of attack. Both the officers and the men desired to goforward at once, since the Indian village was only about seven milesaway.
"We can make that in two hours," one of the men said; "and there willbe sufficient time left to punish the redskins thoroughly." To thisall seemed to agree.
"And what do you think of the situation?" the Captain asked Fred."Do you think we should attack right now?"
The eyes of all were turned upon the boy with eager expectancy, for notone had expected that so great a fighter as Mason should ask him forhis advice.
Yet he answered briefly and truthfully.
"I would not do it, Captain," Fred said calmly; "if I were in commandof the troops. Your men are worn out by the march, while the Indiansare no doubt ready for an attack. Then, too, if the attack should fail,the night would intervene and disconcert us. My advice would be to givethe troops a thorough rest, start out when darkness has set in, andattack the Pequot village toward the morning. This will not give themany time to gather their forces."
"That advice seems good to me," the Captain says; "I myself entertainedsimilar thoughts. But pray, tell us more of the plan."
"We may start fires," Fred resumed, "since the storm rages and the woodshide the smoke. Also from the Indian village the smoke can not be seen,since it is closed in by trees. So the soldiers can thoroughly rest.When we attack I would supply a number of brave and enterprising menwith burning fire brands. These will proceed to the village and set iton fire. The rest is a matter for all of us who fight."
The plan was adopted, and the march was not resumed until late at night.Just before daybreak the white men surrounded the slumbering village.Due to the severe storm the Indians had not even placed guards aroundthe village, since they did not expect the enemy to attack them.
So it happened that the attack worked out successfully. Fred himselfled those who carried the fire brands, and they succeeded in enteringthe palisaded village and setting it on fire. Eggleston in his "Historyof the United States and Its People" reports the battle, and says: "Inthe war which followed this attack, the whole Pequot tribe was brokenup, and the other Indians were so terrified that New England had peacefor many years after."
All this is true, for Eggleston is a fine historian, who always relatesthe events truthfully and accurately. Yet the matter was not as simpleas all that. In fact, there was much marching and lighting andsuffering, before peace was restored. Fred and Matthew took part in it,until all was ended, and the troops returned to the settlements. Butthey were heartily glad that the fight was over, for war was verydistasteful to them, and their aim in life was not to be good soldiersand kill, but to be useful citizens who could serve both whites andIndians with the more blessed and valuable arts and pursuits of peace.How eager they were to accomplish these, will be learned from the lastchapter of our story, in which we find our three young pioneers back atthe trading post on the Connecticut River.
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bsp; CHAPTER XIV
CHRISTMAS AT THE TRADING POST
Christmas Day is always a day of great joy and blessed peace.
Fred was glad that it could be celebrated in a peaceful manner, the onlyway which becomes this great peace day of the Prince of Peace.
Let us note how Fred with Matthew and Agnes, spent this day inglorifying their Lord.
The log house had been rebuilt, but it was much larger than the old onewhich the Indians had burned. In fact, it was a little fort withpalisades surrounding it, for never again would they find themselveswithout the means of defense in a war with the Indians.
The main building was the trading post proper, which was twice as largeas the old one and could accommodate all the furs and articles of tradewhich the increasing merchant ventures required. South of it on thebank of the river, with a wonderful view to the other side, stood aspacious dwelling house, consisting of two stories, very convenientlybuilt. West of these two buildings stood a school, which Agnes intendedfor the Indian children that would return with their elders to their oldhaunts. In fact, even now some of the tribes had come back, very sorryfor the war in which they had engaged. But not far up the river asettlement of white people had been made, and even now log houses werebeing built for the settlers. Agnes was anxious to have in her schoolalso such white children as would come.
John Rawlins had superintended the erection of the fort, and as he wasclever in making plans, he had done his work well.
"Shall we proceed with our Christmas program?" Agnes asked her brother;"the school is filled with people, and they are becoming impatient."
"No, let us wait," Fred replied; "our friends from Boston must be hereany minute. They started early from Hartford this morning, and I expectthem every moment, for it is almost noon."
To his great joy, he soon heard the barking of dogs, and as thechildren ran forward toward the trail, they heard the hoofs of horsesstamping the hard ground.
"They are coming," Matthew cried.
In a short time the visitors were welcomed by the men, women, andchildren of the trading post. There were Mr. and Mrs. Bradley, whowhere anxious to see the children, a young Puritan pastor, who hadrecently come from England, and to whom the new settlement in the woodswas assigned, and among other great and distinguished men, Captain JohnMason, the hero of Mystic.
The joy of every one was great beyond words, and every one felt liketalking, but Agnes urged them to come to the school, where thecelebration was to take place.
We shall not enter into detail in describing the service, which wasattended alike by white men and Indians. The new pastor preached along and edifying sermon, and then Agnes with her class of little onessang hymns about the little Lord Jesus and His wondrous love. Thoughthe time was short, Agnes and Matthew had drilled the story of thenativity well, and the children answered promptly. The service lastedthree hours. Then each child received a small gift, and the wholecompany was treated royally with a feast that all remembered for a longtime after.
John Rawlins, clever and resourceful, had arranged this in his usualthorough way. For many days before he had sent out his trappers andhunters, and these brought huge supplies of game,---turkeys, ducks,geese, partridges, bears, and what ever else could be found in theConnecticut woods, beautiful to behold and pleasant for food.
When finally the settlers and Indians had left, and darkness shroudedthe woods, the children with their parents, John Rawlins, John Mason,and the new pastor gathered in the large living room of the newdwelling.
Here they related what had happened during the last months, and theyunited once more in giving thanks to the good Lord who doeth allthings well.
They spoke also of the future.
"Now, you children must return to Boston," Mrs. Bradley said, "andnever leave us again; for we miss you so much. The home seems dead tous since you left."
But the children demurred, very respectfully, but firmly.
"We shall always return to Boston and spend a number of weeks with youduring the summer," Agnes said; "but this is our home, and you mustpromise to visit us often."
"And what will you do here?" Mr. Bradley asked.
"I will be a trapper and trader," Fred said proudly, "and will serve youfaithfully und John Rawlins, so that Agnes and Matthew, who are notinterested in this work, may have food and clothing."
"And I will be a school teacher," Agnes said, "and teach all thechildren that come, white or Indian, the blessed story of Jesus,besides other things. It is a noble calling, and one which deservesthat many good children dedicate themselves to it with heart and soul."
"And I," Matthew finally said, "will study theology under our newpastor, until I, too, may preach and teach and win souls for Jesus."
There were tears in the eyes of all, even in those of the roughsoldier John Mason.
"If our young people are thus minded," he said, "we shall have no fearfor the future of our colonies. We shall become a strong and powerfulnation."
"If our young people are thus minded," said old, genial John Rawlins,"we shall have a large city here in the woods some time, with plenty ofhappiness and peace and wealth."
"If you are thus minded," Mrs. Bradley finally said, "I shall die inpeace and thank God eternally for having bestowed upon me such dearchildren. God bless you richly in time and eternity."
"And that is also my prayer," Mr. Bradley joined in, as he gathered hisarms around the children and kissed them.
"Well, well," John Rawlins finally said, when no one knew exactly justwhat to say. "All day long I thought of something which would not comeinto my fool head, because we were so busy and happy. I never forgotit in England, but here my poor head is so addled that I am forgetfulof even the most important thing.
"What is that?" they all asked.
"I forgot to wish you all a merry, merry Christmas," the old servantsaid, as he bowed himself out of the room to go to bed.
The End
Three Young Pioneers Page 13
