They had missed of the old chief, but had captured his son,
and were taking him to the governor as a hostage for the good faith of
his father. He then proceeded to inform Mr. Ward, that letters had been
received from the governor of the settlements of Good Hoop and Piquag,
in Connecticut, giving timely warning of a most diabolical plot of the
Indians to cut off their white neighbors, root and branch. He pointed
out to the notice of the minister a member of his party as one of the
messengers who had brought this alarming intelligence.
He was a tall, lean man, with straight, lank, sandy hair, cut evenly all
around his narrow forehead, and hanging down so as to remind one of
Smollett's apt similitude of "a pound of candles."
"What news do you bring us of the savages?" inquired Mr. Ward.
"The people have sinned, and the heathen are the instruments whereby the
Lord hath willed to chastise them," said the messenger, with that
peculiar nasal inflection of voice, so characteristic of the "unco'
guid." "The great sachem, Miantonimo, chief of the Narragansetts, hath
plotted to cut off the Lord's people, just after the time of harvest, to
slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children."
"How have ye known this?" asked the minister.
"Even as Paul knew of those who had bound themselves together with a
grievous oath to destroy him.
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