, he said, he would smoke with them
the pipe of peace, and give to them the presents that the Governor had
sent, as pledges of his friendly intentions.

The moment this invitation had been delivered, Coubitant approached
Wattawamat, and whispered a few words in his ear, to which the
Chieftain gave a sign of acquiescence; and then the Nansett left the
assembly, and disappeared among the trees and bushes that bounded the
plain on every side.

Wattawamat gave no immediate reply to the proposal of the English
Chief; but, as is not unusual with the Indians, kept up a long
discourse, and contrived to lengthen the audience for a considerable
time. Another Indian then approached the Sachem, and again whispered
to him some words that gave him evident satisfaction, for he smiled
grimly, and displayed his fine row of ivory teeth for a moment, as he
nodded approbation to the messenger. Then, resuming his wonted gravity
of demeanor, he replied to Captain Standish that he was satisfied, by
his assurances, of the good faith of the white men, and that he and his
brother Chiefs would avail themselves of his invitation, and meet in
the wigwam a little before sunset; where he hoped so to arrange all the
little disagreements that had occurred between the red men and the
mighty strangers, as to be able to establish between them and all his
countrymen the same friendship and alliance that appeared to exist with
the Wampanoge tribe, whose Chief, he observed, with a slight curl of
his lip, had failed in his promise to attend their meeting that day.

The cause of this favorable decision on the part of Wattawamat was the
report that Coubitant had just sent him of the insignificant force of
the English, which that crafty and swift-footed warrior had contrived
to ascertain, by running round the border of the weed to the place
where Standish's men were at work, and taking an accurate and
unobserved survey of their numbers.

He felt convinced that it would be easy for the Chiefs, and such of
their attendants as might be allowed to follow them to the place of
conference, to overpower and destroy every one of the little band of
whites, and then to prosecute their original intention of carrying fire
and slaughter into both the British settlements. In all this scheme
there was nothing so grateful to the ruthless heart of Coubitant as the
idea of Rodolph's death; and that too, as he trusted, by his own hand.
O, how he panted for the devilish joy of