had taken possession of his father's mind, and advised him immediately
to send the faithful and devoted Hobomak to Packanokick, to endeavor to
remove the evil impression, and restore his confidence in the Pilgrim
Fathers. He also convinced both Bradford and his council that the
conspiracy which Squanto had represented as already formed, and only
waiting the concurrence of Masasoyt to be carried into deadly effect,
was as yet in its infancy, and might, by judicious management, be
altogether broken up. The Pokanokit interpreter had greatly
exaggerated, in his report to the Governor, all that he had heard from
Coubitant while at the Narragansett village; and had persuaded him, in
spite of the opinion expressed by Rodolph, to believe not only that he
and his people had been cursed by the Powows, but also that the tribes
to which these satanic conjurors belonged were uniting for the common
purpose of attacking and destroying the British settlement.

All this was done by Squanto, with no serious intention of injuring his
new friends, but from a vain desire to make himself important, and show
the extent of his knowledge and sagacity. His vanity was, however, very
near proving fatal to him: for when the trusty Hobomak had explained to
the Sagamore the real motives and intentions of the settlers towards
the natives, and had convinced him that all the strange and mysterious
stories that Squanto delighted to tell were either pure inventions or
gross exaggerations, a second change was effected in the old Chief's
feelings, and he sent to demand that the faithless interpreter should
be immediately delivered up to him.

The Governor was extremely reluctant to comply with this demand, as he
well knew how cruel and how summary were the judgements of the native
Chiefs; and he, as well as the whole of the colony, felt a regard for
Squanto, notwithstanding his folly and his errors. Nevertheless, the
Pokanokit was a subject of the Sagamore, who had made an express
stipulation in his treaty with the settlers that any of his people, who
might take up their abode in the colony, should be given up to him
whenever he required it; and therefore Bradford felt himself compelled
to abandon Squanto to his fate.

The messengers who accompanied Hobomak on his return to New Plymouth
were loaded with a quantity of valuable beaver-skins, which they laid
in a pile at the Governor's feet, as a bribe to induce him to comply
with Masasoyt's demand. These