xiously inquired into all the particulars, and
ascertained that the Weymouth men had so thoroughly aroused the
contempt as well as the indignation of the neighboring Indians, that
their total massacre was resolved upon. The Indians, however, both
respected and feared the colonists at Plymouth; and, apprehensive that
they might avenge the slaughter of their countrymen, it was resolved,
by a sudden and treacherous assault, to overwhelm them also, so that
not a single Englishman should remain to tell the tale.

With these alarming tidings, Mr. Winslow, with Mr. Hampden and
Hobbomak, left Mount Hope on his return. Corbitant, their
outwardly-reconciled enemy, accompanied them as far as his house in
what is now Swanzey.

"That night," writes Mr. Winslow, "through the earnest
request of Corbitant, we lodged with him at Mattapoiset. On
the way I had much conference with him, so likewise at his
house, he being a notable politician, yet full of merry
jests and squibs, and never better pleased than when the
like are returned upon him. Among other things, he asked me
that, if _he_ were thus dangerously sick, as Massasoit had
been, and should send to Plymouth for medicine, whether the
governor would send it; and if he would, whether I would
come therewith to him. To both which I answered yes; whereat
he gave me many joyful thanks."

"I am surprised," said Corbitant, after a moment's thought, "that two
Englishmen should dare to venture so far into our country alone. Are
you not afraid?"

"Where there is true love," Mr. Winslow replied, "there is no fear."

"But if your love be such," said the wily Indian, "and bear such
fruit, how happens it that when we come to Plymouth, you stand upon
your guard, with the mouth of your pieces pointed toward us?"

"This," replied Mr. Winslow, "is a mark of respect. It is our custom
to receive our best friends in this manner."

Corbitant shook his head, and said, "I do not like such salutations."

Observing that Mr. Winslow, before eating, implored a blessing,
Corbitant desired to know what it meant. Mr. Winslow endeavored to
explain to him some of the primary truths of revealed religion, and
repeated to him the Ten Commandments. Corbitant listened to them very
attentively, and said that he liked them all except the seventh. "It
must be very inconvenient," he said, "for a man to be tied all his
life to one woman, whether she pleases him