he northward. It
also brought a letter, stating that notices had been sent to all the
different settlements, and that the Anne had sailed to windward, to call
in all the fishermen, and to go off to the nearest whaling-ground, in
order to communicate the state of things in the colony to Captain Betts
and his companions, who were out. The Dragon and the Jonas, when last
heard from, were cruising only about a hundred miles to windward of the
group, and it was thought important, on various accounts, that they
should be at once apprised of the arrival of the strangers.

The governor was perfectly satisfied with the report of what had been
done, and this so much the more because it superseded the necessity of
his quitting the Peak, just at the moment. The elevation of the mountain
was of so much use as a look-out, that it was every way desirable to
profit by it, until the time for observing was passed, and that for
action had succeeded, in its stead. Of course, some trusty person was
kept constantly on the Peak, looking out for the strangers, though the
day passed without one of them being seen. Early next morning, however,
a whale-boat arrived from Rancocus, with four stout oarsmen in it. They
had left the station, after dark, and had been pulling up against the
trades most of the intervening time. The news they brought was not only
alarming, but it occasioned a great deal of surprise.

It seemed that the three strange vessels appeared off the point, at
Rancocus Island, early on the morning of the preceding day. It was
supposed that they had run across from the volcano in the darkness,
after having been lost sight of from the Peak. Much prudence was
observed by the colonists, as soon as light let them into the secret of
their having such unknown neighbours. Bigelow happening to be there, and
being now a man of a good deal of consideration with his
fellow-citizens, he assumed the direction of matters. All the women and
children ascended into the mountains, where secret places had long been
provided for such an emergency, by clearing out and rendering two or
three caves habitable, and where food and water were at hand. Thither
most of the light articles of value were also transported. Luckily,
Bigelow had caused all the saws at the mill, to be taken down and
secreted. A saw was an article not to be replaced, short of a voyage to
Europe, even; for in that day saws were not manufactured in America;
nor, indeed, was scarcely any