Standish of Standish: A Story of the Pilgrims

by Jane G. Austin

  CHAPTER XXV.

  A LITTLE DISCIPLINE.

  "And how sped you in your errand, Master Envoy?" inquired Standish as,lighted pipe in hand, he once more seated himself upon the bench outsidehis cabin door to enjoy the sunset hour.

  But at the sudden question John Alden's face flushed deeper than thesunset, and he stammered, "I am so blundering, Master--I told the maidenall you bade me, but--but"--

  "But what, thou stammering idiot!" roared the captain, his serene browsuddenly overcast, and the red surging up to his own brow. "Dost mean tosay the girl flouted the suit of--nay, then, what dost thou mean? Speakout, man, and be not so timorous!"

  "Here is Giles Hopkins!" exclaimed John, as feet were heard running upthe hill, and the captain angrily turned to meet the new-comer,shouting,--

  "Well, what dost thou want, youngster? Is a man never to be rid ofhalf-wit boys in this place!"

  "Please, Captain, the governor desires you to come in haste to a suddenCouncil. The Indians are come in, and methinks"--

  "And who in Beelzebub's name cares what thou thinkst!" shouted thecaptain. "Begone before I box thy malapert ears." And driving the ladbefore him he strode down the hill without another word or look at John,who grinding his heel into the turf muttered,--

  "And now he's angered, and beshrew me if I could not find it in my heartto wish Priscilla had said him yea, rather than nay. It were easier tobear her scorn of me if I knew that he was content. 'T is not so hard tosuffer loss if a dear friend gains by that same loss."

  Meantime Standish striding wrathfully down the hill met Priscilla as shedarted out of the door of the elder's house. At sight of him she stoppedshort, coloring scarlet, and yet her whole face gleaming with a wickedinclination to laugh.

  The captain also hesitated a moment, and then removing his barret capwith a bow whose stately courtesy recalled his lineage he said,--

  "Pardon me, Mistress Molines, for what it seems was undue presumption.May I ask if the Council is convened here or at the Common house?"

  "At the Common house, Captain; but indeed and by my faith I know not"--

  "Pardon if I venture to cut you short, Mistress, but I am summoned inhaste to the Council."

  And with another formal bow the captain hastened on, leaving Priscillabiting her lip and staring after him, half angry, half amused. "Onecould be proud of him--if--if--Oh heart, heart! What is 't thou 'rtclamoring for! Well--at least I can go and make a posset for my deardame, and the rest may wait." And with a sigh and a smile and a blushthe girl turned back to the things of the hour.

  "Now here's a coil, Captain!" exclaimed Bradford as Standish entered thelarge room where about a dozen of the men of the colony were assembledin informal council, while in the midst stood Hobomok, his red skinstreaming with perspiration and stained with travel, while his usuallyimpassive face bore an expression of genuine grief and dismay.

  "What is it? Ha, Hobomok returned alone!"

  "Yes, and with evil tidings," replied the Governor. "He and Squantoreached Namasket early this morning and sought to conceal themselves ina house belonging to Squanto, though now lent to a kinsman. But some onebetrayed them to Corbitant, who was vaporing around the village callingupon the men to rise in revolt against Massasoit and deliver him up tothe Narragansetts, and saying that we white men should all be slain, andalso those who have made alliance with us, for already he had news ofour visit to Nauset, and the contract made with Aspinet, and Canacum,and Iyanough. While yet he raved against Squanto, and Hobomok, andTockamahamon, a traitor told him that the two first were hiding in thevillage, and he swore a great oath by all his gods that they should die,especially Squanto, in whom, said he, the white men will lose theirtongue"--

  "What meant he by that, Governor?" demanded Warren.

  "Why, that he is our interpreter," sharply replied Standish. "What elseshould he mean? What next, Governor?"

  "Next they circumvented Squanto in his cabin, and Corbitant seizing himheld a knife to his throat, mocking and taunting him as is theirfashion, while two fell upon Hobomok, but he being a lusty fellow andquick, broke from them and fled hither so fast as legs could carry him.You see the condition he is in."

  "And left thy comrade to die!" ejaculated Standish looking scornfully atthe Indian, who humbly replied in his own tongue,--

  "Hobomok only one man. Corbitant many men. Squanto perhaps dead, but thewhite man will send a hundred of his enemies to be his servants in theHappy Land. A brave fears not to die, if he may be avenged."

  "Ha! 'T is the savage philosophy, and not a bad one," said Standish, andalthough the elder raised stern eyes of rebuke upon the reckless soldierhe continued,--

  "And I shall lead our forces to avenge both the death of our servant andMassasoit's capture, shall I not, brethren? What is your will?"

  "Sound policy dictates that if our allies are to respect us, or ourenemies fear us, we should not suffer such an affront as this to pass,"declared Winslow. "England hath never yet borne that her flag should beinsulted, and we are Englishmen."

  "You are right, Winslow," replied Bradford solemnly. "And loth though wemay be to shed the blood of these men, whom we fain would convert tofriends and Christians, it is my mind that in this instance we are boundto deal with them as with our own children, whom we indeed chastise, butstill with an eye to their own future happiness."

  "'Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous:nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousnessto them which are exercised thereby,'" quoted the Elder sententiously,while Standish stood impatiently twisting his moustache, and glancingaround the assembly as if selecting his men.

  "And now, having chapter and verse for avenging this affront, let us setabout doing it," exclaimed he as several of the company murmured Amen tothe Elder's approved quotation. But Bradford fixed his steady eyes uponthe soldier's face for a moment before he somewhat coldly asked,--

  "How many men do you think it best to take, Captain Standish?"

  "Ten. Hopkins, the Surgeon, Winslow, Browne, Howland, Gilbert Winslow,Billington, Eaton, Dotey, and Lister," replied Standish promptly, andthen with his peculiarly winning smile he added,--

  "You see I leave the governor, with Master Allerton his assistant, toguide the colony, and the elder to pray for our success, and MasterWarren for a councilor, and the rest to carry on our various labors andprotect the weaklings."

  "It is a good division it seemeth to me. What say you all, brethren?"asked the governor still gravely, and one by one each man signified hisassent, only Howland coming close to the captain asked,--

  "May not Alden go with us, Captain? He hath a very pretty fashion withhis weapon."

  "Am I captain, or art thou, John Howland?" growled the leader, and asall turned out of the house to prepare for the march in the followingdawn, Bradford laid his hand upon his friend's shoulder and walked alongwith him.

  "What ails thee, Myles? Thou 'rt sorely chafed at something. Is aughtamiss that I can help?"

  "Nay, Will, 't is naught, and less than naught. 'T is but a newknowledge of mine own unworthiness. Sure 'never such a fool as an oldfool' is a good proverb."

  "'T is not to a fool that we trust the lives of ten out of our nineteenmen," said Bradford quietly.

  "Oh, I can fight well enow," replied the soldier bitterly. "'T is mytrade, and all I'm fit for. Ay, and in my mood to-day I'll be fain tofight. I only fear this knave Corbitant hath run away."

  "If so, he confesses his defeat without the need of bloodshed,"suggested Bradford. "And at all odds, Standish, our policy is to makefriends by fair means if we may. Remember, if Squanto is not harmed,Corbitant is not to be touched. If indeed our poor friend is slain, thenhave you warrant for Corbitant's head, and the lives of all who helpedto murder Squanto. Thou 'rt too honorable a man and too good a Christianto let thine own chafed humor interfere with justice."

  "I am too well drilled a soldier to disobey orders, Governor," repliedthe Captain briefly, and so they parted, nor d
id Standish and Aldenexchange a sentence that night save barely these,--

  "In one word, John, was the answer to my message yes or no?"

  "Dear Master, it was no."

  "I bade thee answer in one word, and thou hast disobeyed me in usingfive."

  The next morning brought one of those furious summer storms peculiar toAugust, and the little force, loaded with armor, weapons, and knapsacks,found themselves much distressed by the humid heat. Reaching a shelteredspot about a mile from Namasket, Standish resolved to remain there untildark, giving the men opportunity for rest and refreshment, and trustingto the storm and the night to cover his attack upon a foe ten times hisown number.

  As darkness closed in upon the encampment, the captain roused himselffrom a soldier's nap, and briefly ordered,--

  "Eat what provisions you have left in your knapsacks, men, and emptyyour flasks. Then pile and leave both beside this rock. Those of us whoare alive in the morning will subsist upon the enemy. Those who are notwill feel no lack."

  Soon after dark the little troop set forth, but Hobomok, deceived by thedarkness and the rain, missed the route, and for three weary hours themen floundered around in the dripping forest, the guide wisely keepingout of the captain's reach, until in a gleam of watery moonlight Winslowrecognized a peculiar clump of trees which he had noticed upon his latejourney with Hopkins to visit Massasoit; and Hobomok recovering from hisbewilderment led the way as fast as the men could follow him, until inthe edge of a large clearing he paused, and pointing to a detached hutwhispered,--

  "Corbitant sleep there."

  "Now God be praised that there is a chance of fighting rather thanfloundering!" piously exclaimed Standish, and with brief exact phraseshe proceeded to set the battle in array. Eight men were to silentlysurround the house, their pieces ready, and their orders to cut down ifnecessary any who should attempt to escape from the house. Standish andWinslow, followed by Hobomok, marched meantime straight into a hut, andthe captain in a loud voice demanded,--

  "Where is Corbitant? Give him up and no one else shall be harmed!"

  A moment of panic-stricken silence ensued, and then through the darknesswas heard the indefinite rustling sound of living creatures seekingcovertly to escape from an enclosure.

  "Look to it, outside!" shouted Standish. "Let no man pass your guard!Hobomok, tell them that we will harm none if they give up Corbitant andthose who helped him to murder Tisquantum!"

  But the hubbub increased momently, and presently a shout of "Back!Back!" from without was followed by a loud shriek in a woman's voice.

  "Fools!" roared Standish in the native tongue. "Keep still. Stay in thehouse. We hurt none but Corbitant!"

  Yet still the tumult grew; the savages trusting no promises, endeavoredto escape through the various openings of the wigwam, and although thesentinels were as careful as possible, and heartily desirous of avoidingbloodshed, several of the Indians were more or less hurt, while thehalf-grown boys perceiving the immunity of the women from harm, ran fromone door to the other crying out,--

  "Neen squaes! Neen squaes!" (I am a girl! I am a girl!)

  The women also hung around Hobomok, pulling at his hands and clothing,for attention, while they shrieked, "Oh Hobomok, I am thy friend! Thouknowest I am thy friend!"

  Winslow meantime had stirred up the embers of a fire near the doorway ofthe hut, and the flame leaping out cast a wild and fitful glare over thescene, in the midst of which Hobomok, climbing the stout pole in thecentre of the cabin, thrust his head through the smoke-hole at the top,and after emitting a hideous war-whoop shouted the names of Tisquantumand Tockamahamon at the top of his voice, for one of the women hadassured him that the former was alive, and that Corbitant was alreadymany miles on his homeward way.

  Not two minutes had elapsed, when an answering whoop was heard from thecluster of huts forming the village of Namasket, now the town ofMiddleboro', and an irregular stream of warriors, headed by Tisquantumin person, came running toward the beleaguered hut.

  The struggle was now over, for so soon as the _casus belli_ wasdisproved by Squanto's appearance, the capture of Corbitant was nolonger desirable, and Standish ordered his men to sheathe their swordsand release their prisoners. Those who had been wounded by persisting intrying to escape were attended to by Surgeon Fuller, and by Standish'sinvitation returned to Plymouth with their friendly conquerors toreceive a certain amount of petting by way of compensation for theirwounds, although the captain did not fail to point out that if they hadbelieved and obeyed him, they need not have been hurt at all.

  Tisquantum shrewdly flattered at the importance set upon his life by hiswhite friends, seated himself with them around the new-fed fire, andwith much gesticulation and flowery forms of speech related how, by hiscombined prowess and subtlety, he had forced Corbitant to release him,and finally to leave Namasket with his warriors, not, however, withouthideous threats of what should befall that village if it persisted in analliance with the white men, who were soon to be exterminated with alltheir friends.

  "Ha! We will send an embassage to this haughty sachem, with some counterpromises and warnings," exclaimed Standish in hearing this part of thereport; and at the last moment, before the little army with its captivesleft the place upon the following morning, a runner was dispatched tofollow Corbitant, and assure him from The-Sword-of-the-White-Men, asStandish now began to be called among the Indians, that unless Massasoitreturned in safety from the country of the Narragansetts, whither he hadbeen beguiled, the death of the great sachem should be visited uponCorbitant and all his tribe to the uttermost, and that if anything morewas heard of sedition and treachery as preached either among theNamaskets or elsewhere, Corbitant should find that no distance and noconcealment should avail to save him from punishment.

  The message was duly delivered, and so convincing did its terrors,combined with the prompt action of the white men prove, that varioussachems who had hitherto held aloof, even those of the Isles ofCapawack, now called Martha's Vineyard, sent to beg for a treaty ofpeace and mutual support; and in the end Corbitant prayed the kindoffices of Massasoit, now restored to his kingdom, to make hissubmission to the white men.

  But though so fair in outward seeming, this peace was but a hollow one,and one more lesson was needed before the Indians became in very truththe friends and allies of the white men.