Standish of Standish: A Story of the Pilgrims

by Jane G. Austin

  CHAPTER XVII.

  AN INTERNATIONAL TREATY.

  Priscilla's prophecy proved a true one, for hardly were theone-and-twenty men of the colony assembled around the table in theCommon house to hold a final Council upon their new orders, than youngCooke came rapping at the door to announce that a large body of Indianshad appeared on Watson's Hill, and seemed advancing on the village. TheCouncil once more was hastily broken up, Carver only pausing to say witha glance around the circle,--

  "It is clearly understood that Captain Standish is in full control ofall military proceedings in this community, and we are all bound tofollow his orders without cavil or delay."

  "Ay," responded a score of deep-throated voices lacking that of Myleshimself, who said,--

  "The governor's authority is above that of the commandant unless martiallaw be proclaimed, and I shall be the first man to submit to it."

  "'When gentlefolks meets, compliments passes,'" muttered Billington witha sneer, while Edward Dotey and Edward Lister, nominally servants toStephen Hopkins, but already ruffling with the best, tittered and nudgedeach other as they followed their betters out of the house.

  Now Dame Nature in compounding a leader does not often omit to furnishhim with five extra-keen senses, as well as a certain sixth sensecalled intuition, quickwittedness, or, if you please, instinct; andStandish, born for a leader, was fully furnished forth with all six ofthese videttes, and seldom failed to see, hear, and understand all thatwent on in his vicinity. So did he now, and although his stern visageshowed no shadow of change, he inwardly made the comment,--

  "Hopkins's varlets, eh? Like master, like man. And Billington--wait abit, Master Poacher!"

  "Ah, here is our friend Samoset coming up the hill, and another withhim," remarked Bradford as the little group of authorities paused at thehead of the path leading to the spring and to Watson's Hill.

  "Tisquantum, I'll be bound. He looks to have a certain veneer ofcivilization over his savagery," remarked Winslow, and in another minutethe two savages arrived within speaking distance, and the strangertapping his breast grandiloquently exclaimed,--

  "This is Tisquantum, friend of Englishmen."

  "Tisquantum is welcome, and so is Samoset," replied Carver gravely."Have they brought furs to truck for the white men's goods?"

  But hereupon Squanto, as Tisquantum (He-who-is-angry) was familiarlydesignated, began a long and very flowery harangue, from which thePilgrims gathered that the present was more of a diplomatic andinternational affair than a trading expedition, and that Massasoit, thesachem or chief of all this region, had come in royal progress, attendedby his brother Quadequina and sixty chosen warriors, to greet the whitemen, and to settle upon what terms he would admit them to his territory.

  So soon as the importance of this embassage was made plain, the Pilgrimsprepared to meet the occasion with suitable formalities, and whileSamoset and Squanto refreshed themselves in Stephen Hopkins's house,Standish hastened to put his entire command under arms, excepting theelder, who constituted the reserved force only to be called out in greatemergencies. The military band, composed of four of the well-grown ladsof the colony, Giles Hopkins, Bartholomew Allerton, John Crakstone, andJohn Cooke, was also called out and equipped with its two drums, atrumpet, and a fife, while a house just roofed in and not yet portionedinto rooms, was hastily prepared as an audience chamber by clearing itof litter, and spreading at the upper end a large green rug belonging toEdward Winslow, and various cushions and mats, while a high-backedsettle in the place of honor covered with some scarlet broadcloth cloaksstood ready to receive the king and the governor in equal honor.Everything being thus in readiness, Samoset and Squanto were dispatchedwith a courteous message to the king as the Pilgrims chose to translatethe Indian term of sachem, inviting him to a conference, but the envoys,soon returning, brought an intricate greeting, from which Winslow thediplomatist at last evolved the meaning that Massasoit declined to trusthimself among the white men without adequate hostages for his safety,and desired that one of the principal of the strangers should come tohim while Samoset and Squanto remained in the village.

  "Zounds! And does the barbarian fancy that two of his naked salvagescount as one of our meanest, not to say our principal men!" exclaimedStandish angrily, but Winslow interposed,--

  "If the governor and the brethren consider me as a fit man to answer thedemand I will go and convey what message is decided upon to thispotentate, and if he accepts me will remain as hostage while he visitsthe settlement."

  "Nay, Winslow, I claim the post of danger, if danger there be. It is theright of mine office," exclaimed Standish.

  "Not so, Captain; thy duty is to do us right in a quarrel, mine to keepus out of a quarrel. Each man to his own work, say you not so Governor?"

  "Master Winslow is right, Captain Standish, and furthermore we need yourprotection here, should an attack be made upon the village."

  "I submit, and my good will go with thee, Master Ambassador," repliedStandish cordially; "but be sure if thy skill at keeping the peace failsof saving thy scalp, thou shalt have a royal guard of salvages to escortthee whither thou wilt go."

  "Gramercy for thy courtesy good my Valiant," replied Winslow in the sametone. "But I hope my wit shall avail to save my scalp."

  And a few moments later the courtly Winslow, armed cap-a-pie andcarrying a haversack of gifts at his back, strode down the hill, andacross the brook to a point where a knot of dusky warriors awaited him,and with them passed out of sight, leaving his comrades to an hour ofextreme solicitude and impatience.

  Although out of sight their comrade, however, was in reality close athand, for Massasoit had with Indian cunning selected a spot for theinterview whence himself unseen he could through the branches of theshielding shrubbery overlook the approach from the village, and perceiveany movement upon the side of the other party long before it could bemade effectual. Standing in the middle of a little glade to receiveWinslow, resting lightly upon the strung bow in his right hand,Massasoit presented the ideal figure of an Indian chief, uncorrupted bythe vulgar vices of civilization. Lofty of stature and of mien, hisexpression grave and even haughty, his frame replete with the easystrength of vigorous maturity, he looked, as Winslow decided in thefirst quick glance, more worthy to be the king of red men than James theFirst of England did to be the king of white men.

  For costume the Indian wore buckskin leggings, highly ornamentedmoccasons, a belt with fringe several inches long, and a curious skin,dressed and ornamented upon the inside with elaborate designs, slungover his left shoulder by way of cloak. He also wore a necklace of whitebeads carved from bone, and depending from it at the back of his neck apouch from which as a mark of royal favor he occasionally bestowed alittle tobacco upon his followers, most of whom were provided withpipes. In his carefully dressed hair the chief wore three beautifuleagle-feathers, and his comely face was disfigured by a broad stripe ofdark red or murray-colored paint.

  Removing his hat and bowing courteously before this grave and silentfigure, Winslow unfastened his haversack, and produced two sheath knivesand a copper chain with a glittering pendant which might have been ofjewels, but really was of glass.

  These he laid at one side, and at the other a pocket-knife with abrilliant earring. Finally he set by themselves a parcel of biscuit, alittle pot of butter, and a flask of strong waters. Having arranged allthese matters with great deliberation under the gravely observant eyesof the king, Winslow stood upright and demanded who could speak English.It proving that nobody could, another delay ensued while a _pniese_, oras we might say a noble of the king's suite, was dispatched to thevillage to summon Squanto and to remain as hostage in his place. Duringthe half hour of this exchange, Massasoit remained standing precisely asWinslow had found him with his warriors half hid among the trees asmotionless as himself. Winslow leaning against a great white birch onthe edge of the little glade rested his left hand upon the hilt of hissword, and setting the other upon his hip imitated the immobility of thesa
vages, and in his glistening steel cap and hauberk, his gauntlets andgreaves, his bristling moustache and steady outlook, presented thefitting counterpart to the savage grandeur of Massasoit. It was one ofthose momentary tableaux in which History occasionally foreshadows ordefines her policy, and had an artist been privileged to study the scenehe should have given us a noble picture of this first meeting of thePowers of the Old World and the New.

  Squanto at last returned, and Massasoit for the first time opening hislips said gravely,--

  "Tell the white man he is welcome."

  "Thank your king for his courtesy," replied Winslow bowing toward thechief; "and tell him that my sovereign lord and master King James theFirst of Great Britain salutes him by me, and will be ready to maketerms of peace and amity with him." Waiting a moment for this message tobe delivered the ambassador went on,--

  "And tell him furthermore, that Governor Carver, the chief man of oursettlement, is desirous of seeing him, and of arranging with him termsof alliance and of trade. Our desire is to purchase peltrie of everysort, and we are ready to pay for all that we receive, but it is bestthat the governor and the king should arrange these matters together.Meantime the governor begs your king's acceptance of this little gift,"designating the two knives, the copper chain, and the provisions, "forhis own use; while to his brother the Prince Quadequina he offers thisknife for his pocket,--nay,--for his girdle, and this jewel for his ear.And if the king will now go to the village to confer with our governor,I, who am not ranked the lowest among our company, will remain here assurety until his return."

  This speech having been somewhat lamely and laboriously translated intothe vernacular by Squanto, Winslow wiped his brow and wished that itconsisted with his dignity to throw off his armor and stretch himselfupon the pine needles at his feet, but it evidently did not; and in amoment or two Squanto delivered to him the king's reply that he was verywilling to become an ally of King James, and that he would go into thevillage to meet the governor leaving Winslow as guest of Quadequina, butthat first he was ready to exchange for some very valuable peltrie thearmor and weapons now worn by his guest, and as he observed by the othermen of the colony.

  To this proposition Winslow returned a most decided negative, addingthat among his people no soldier relinquished his weapons except withhis life, which chivalrous boast Squanto after a moment's considerationtranslated,--

  "White man says these things to him all one as red man's scalp-lock tohim," and Massasoit replied by a guttural sound sometimes rendered"Hugh!" although no letters can express it, and its intent is to conveycomprehension, approbation, contempt, or assent, according to theintonation. In the present instance it conveyed approbation mingled withdisappointment, and Massasoit drawing forward his tobacco pouch filledhis pipe, lighted it with a sort of slow match made of bark, and havingdrawn two or three whiffs passed it to Winslow who gravely accepted it.Next the chief tasting the dainties offered him by one of his officersdistributed the remainder among his followers, excepting the flask ofgin, which having cautiously tried he laid aside, evidently notunderstanding it, and unwilling to offend the donor by showing hisdistaste for it. And here let it be said that Massasoit, although helearned to drink the "fire-water" of the white men, never became itsvictim like so many of his brethren.

  These ceremonies over, Winslow, already a little uneasy lest Standishand his musketeers should come to seek him and disturb the harmony hewas endeavoring to establish between this dusky potentate and his ownpeople, suggested to Squanto that the governor would be growingimpatient to receive his guest, and that the day was getting on.

  This hint the interpreter conveyed in his own fashion to the king, whosimply drawing his puma robe a little farther forward, muttered a wordto Quadequina who stood beside him, and moved toward the villagefollowed by about twenty warriors.

  Winslow, somewhat startled by the suddenness of this departure wouldhave followed at least for a few steps, but Quadequina, a younger andhandsomer copy of his brother, stopped him by a single finger laid uponhis breast, and a few guttural sounds which Squanto paused to interpretas a direction that the white man should remain where he was until thereturn of the sachem.

  "Certainly. It is as a hostage that I am here. I would but move to aspot whence I may see the progress of his majesty and his greeting. Tellthe prince that he has my parole not to escape."

  But neither the words nor the spirit of this chivalrous utterance werefamiliar to Squanto, across whose red and yellow and oily countenance agleam of humor shot and was gone, while he gravely reported toQuadequina,--

  "The white man does but place himself to see the head men of his villagefall to the ground before Massasoit and his sachems. He trembles beforeQuadequina and entreats his kindness."

  "Hugh! I think thou liest, Squanto," sententiously replied the youngsachem. "I see no trembling in this warrior's face, nor do I believe hispeople will fall down before Massasoit. Go, and see that thou dost speakmore truly in the sachem's presence, or he will hang thy scalp in hiswigwam to-night."

  Squanto a little depressed at this suggestion, attempted no reply, buthastened after the chief who already was nearing the brook, while fromthe side of the town approached Standish, preceded by drum and fife andfollowed by six musketeers. Arriving first at the dividing line thecaptain halted his men, and summoning Squanto by name, bid him demandthat the twenty followers of the king should leave their bows, arrows,and tomahawks where they now stood and come over unarmed, adding thatthe importance of their hostage might well cover this furtherconcession. Massasoit after gazing for a moment into his opponent's faceconceded the point without parley, and at a sign from him the warriorsthrew their weapons in a pile and followed him unarmed through theshallow ford of the brook. Standish meantime deployed his men into guardof honor so that the chief passed between two lines of men who presentedarms, and closing in behind him escorted him with drum and fife to theunfinished house where he was seated in state at one end of the settle,and his followers upon the cushions at the right hand of the Green Rug,which may be said to have distinguished this meeting as the Cloth ofGold, just a hundred years before, had that of the interview betweenHenry VIII. and Francis I.

  Hardly was the chief seated when the sonorous sounds of the trumpet,well supported by the larger drum, replaced the shriller notes of fifeand small drum, and Governor Carver in full armor and wearing a plumedhat, made his appearance, followed by six more musketeers, the twoguards exhausting pretty nearly the whole available force of the Pilgrimarmy at this time.

  Massasoit rose as the governor approached, and when Carver extended hishand laid his own in it, each potentate saluting the other with apunctilious gravity much to be admired. Carver then seated himself atthe other end of the settle, and turning to Howland, who stood as a sortof Aid at his elbow, he requested some strong waters to be brought thathe and the king might pledge health and amity to each other. Thisrequest having been foreseen was immediately complied with, and a greatsilver loving-cup with two handles and filled with a compound of Hollandgin, sugar, and spice, with a moderate amount of water, was brought andpresented to the governor who tasted decorously, and then passed it tothe sachem, who seizing both handles carried it to his mouth and drankwith an air of stern determination, as one who would not allow personaldistaste to interfere with public obligations. The cup was then passedto the other guests, and replenished more than once until all hadtasted, Squanto remarking to his next neighbor as he handed him thecup,--

  "It is the witch water to make a man brave that I have told you ofdrinking in the house of Slaney in the land of these Englishmen."

  "Hugh! It is like the sun in summer," muttered the neighbor passing iton in his turn.

  "John Howland!" whispered a low voice at the unglazed window near whichthe young man stood, and as he leaned hastily out he nearly bumped headswith pretty Elizabeth Tilley, who laughing said,--

  "Nay, 't is no such great alarm, but Priscilla bade me tell thee to keepan eye upon the governor's loving-cup,
lest some of these wild men stealit."

  "Nay, they have no pockets to hide it in," replied John laughing. "StillI will have an eye to it, for we have none so much silverware in thecolony that we should be willing to spare it."

  The ceremony of welcome over, the business of the meeting began, andMassasoit, albeit a little incommoded by his strange potation, showedhimself both dignified and friendly in his intentions. Carver on hisside was as honorable as he was shrewd, and in the course of an hour thefirst American International Treaty was harmoniously concluded, and somuch to the advantage of both sides, that not only was it sacredlyobserved in the beginning, but nineteen years later, when Massasoit felthis own days drawing to a close, he brought his sons, Alexander andPhilip, to Plymouth, where this "Auncient League and Confederacy" wasformally renewed and ratified before the court then in session.

  Business over, the sachem produced his pipe, filled it, smoked a little,and passed it to the governor, and in this manner it went round theassembly, red men and white together each taking a few whiffs, and whenit was empty returning it to Massasoit, who seemed to be custodian ofthe tribal stock of tobacco.

  Facts are stubborn things and History is sacred, and the scene justdescribed is in all its details simple matter of History, but is it nota singular irony of fate that we who spend our lives in a crusadeagainst strong drink and tobacco must, nevertheless, despair of rivalingthe virtues of these men, who began their solemn covenant with thesavages they had come to Christianize, by giving them gin, and ended itby accepting from them tobacco?

  After the Council came a feast of the simple dainties furnished by thePilgrim commissariat, and after that an informal mingling of the twocompanies, during which the Indians examined and essayed to sound thetrumpet whose notes had so startled them, although the fife had seemedto them only the older brother of the whistles they so often made ofwillow twigs.

  Before Massasoit took leave he requested that Winslow might remain whileQuadequina came to view the wonders of the white man's village, and thisfavor being good-naturedly conceded, the prince, as our Englishmencalled him, soon arrived with a fresh troop of followers, all of whomexpected and received both meat, drink, and attention. But as the sunwas setting Winslow appeared on the other side of the brook, and thesavages were hastily dismissed, except Squanto and Samoset, both ofwhom insisted upon staying, not only for the night, but declared thatthey were ready to leave their own people and remain with the white men,whose way of life they so much approved, and to whom they could be ofmuch use in many ways. Squanto in especial pleaded that this place washis own home, and that he had only left it for the village of theNausets whence Hunt had stolen him, because all his people were dead ofthe plague, and he was afraid of their ghosts. His wigwam had once stoodas he declared at the head of the King's Highway, and the Town Brook washis stewpond for the fish on which he mostly fed. Altogether it wasquite evident that Squanto was rather the host than the guest of thePilgrims, and as such they with grave jest and solemn fun consented toaccept him. As for Samoset, he already had helped himself to the freedomof the town, and these two, with Hobomok, the especial retainer ofStandish, remained the faithful and useful friends of the white menuntil death divided them.