rnt from his Indian messenger, of his arrival at the place of
his destination, than they determined to accompany the friendly savage
on his return to Seacomb, and assist their friend and teacher in all
his labors for the formation of an independent settlement.

All this visa cheering and satisfactory; but the trials of this
undaunted man were not over yet. His trusty messenger had brought him
another dispatch, which he had not yet attended to. He now opened it,
and found that it came from the Governor of Plymouth; and contained an
earnest injunction to him to abandon Seacomb, which, he informed him;
was included in their patent, and to remove to the other side of the
river that formed their boundary, where he could be free and
independent, like themselves. 'I accepted his wise counsel as a voice
from God,' wrote Williams: and he' immediately resolved to be guided by
it, and again commence his wanderings.

In a frail Indian canoe, he and his companions rowed up the arm of the
sea, now called the river Seacock. They knew not where to land, or
where again to pitch their tent in the wilderness; but they were soon
guided by the friendly voices of a party of Narragansetts on the
opposite shore. These natives had recognized their friend Williams, and
now shouted out, in broken English, the welcome words, 'What cheer?'
The sound fell like music on the ears of the desolate exiles; and, in
remembrance of the event, the spot of ground where they first landed on
the Narragansett territory received the name of _'What Cheer?'_ which
it still retains. A spring, called _'Williams's Spring,'_ is also
shown by the present inhabitants of this district, in proud and
grateful memory of the spot where the founder of a future free state
first set foot on shore.

The place where the wanderer landed was called by the Indians
Maushasuck; and it was made over to him by the generous Cundincus, as a
free and absolute possession, and also all the land included between
the rivers Pawtucket and Maushasuck.[*] This property he shared equally
with his present comrades, and also with some others who shortly after
joined him from Salem, and made their whole number amount to thirteen.
He did not reserve any advantage to himself, although the land actually
belonged to him alone; but divided it into thirteen equal portions, on
each of which a rude hut was immediately erected. These were soon
improved, and became a rising village, to which Williams gave