the Governor rejected with indignant
scorn, observing that no man's life could be purchased from the
English; and that if he resigned the interpreter into the power of his
native sovereign, it was only because truth and justice required it,
and not from any base motives either of fear or advantage.

Then the messengers approached the wretched man, who stood calmly
awaiting the decision of the Governor; and he saw one of them draw from
his belt the knife that Masasoyt had commanded him to plunge into the
culprit's heart. But Squanto did not tremble. All the native
fortitude, so characteristic of his race, was manifested in this awful
moment; and the bystanders felt a respect for the Pokanokit that he had
never before inspired.

Gladly would each individual have interposed to save him; and
breathlessly they watched the movements of the President, whose signal
was to fix the moment of Squanto's death. Bradford hesitated: the word
trembled on his lips, when suddenly looking towards the sea from the
summit of 'the Burying Hill,' on which the assembly stood, he espied a
shallop bounding over the waves, and advancing directly towards the
shore beneath.

He made this a pretext--certainly, not a very well grounded one--for
delaying the execution of Squanto's sentence; and declared that he
would not give the fatal signal until he had ascertained the object and
the contents of the approaching vessel. This faltering on the part of
the Governor excited great wrath in the messengers of Masasoyt; and,
without any farther parley, they took up their beaver skins, and
departed to their home. Squanto's forfeited life was thus
providentially spared; and the conduct of Bradford was, through
Mooanam's good offices, overlooked b the Sagamore. But that life was
not greatly prolonged. Very soon after this event he was seized with
I virulent fever, while on a short journey with the Governor, and, in
spite of all the care and attention that were bestowed on him, he died,
much regretted by the whole colony.

The boat, whose seasonable approach had been the means of arresting the
fatal stroke, was found to have been sent from some English fishing
vessels, many of which now constantly frequented the shores of New
England. It conveyed to the colony an addition of several able-bodied
men, who were joyfully welcomed by the settlers, as laborers were just
then much wanted, both in the fields and in the increasing town. These
men were sent out by