s which
might have put Philip upon these motions, nor have heard
that he pretends to have suffered any wrong from us, save
only that we had killed some Indians, and intended to send
for himself for the murder of John Sassamon."

As the people in Swanzey were returning from church on fast-day, a
party of Indians, concealed in a thicket by the road side, fired upon
them, killing one instantly, and severely wounding many others. Two
men who set off in haste for a surgeon were waylaid and murdered. At
the same time, in another part of the town, a house was surrounded by
a band of Indians, and eight more of the colonists were shot. These
awful tidings spread rapidly, causing indescribable alarm. One man,
afraid to remain in his unprotected dwelling, hastily sent his wife
and only son to the house of the Rev. Mr. Miles, which was fortified,
and could be garrisoned. He remained a few moments behind to take some
needful things. The wife had gone but a short distance when she heard
behind her the report of a gun. True to woman's heroic love, she
instantly returned to learn the fate of her husband.

He was lying in his blood on the threshold of his door, and the
savages were ransacking the house. The wretches caught sight of her,
pursued her, killed both her and her son, and took their scalps. In
this terrible state of alarm, the scattered and helpless colonists
fled with their families, as rapidly as they could, to the garrison
house. Two men went from the house to the well for water. They fell,
pierced by bullets. The savages rushed from their concealment, seized
the two still quivering bodies, and dragged them into the forest. They
were afterward found scalped, and with their hands and feet cut off.
Such were the opening acts of the tragedy of blood and woe.

With amazing energy and with great strategetic skill, the warriors of
Philip, guided by his sagacity, plied their work of destruction. It
was their sole, emphatic mission to kill, burn, and destroy. The
savages, flushed with success, were skulking every where. No one could
venture abroad without danger of being shot. Runners were immediately
sent, in consternation, from all the frontier towns, to Plymouth and
Boston, to implore assistance. In three hours after the arrival of the
messenger in Boston, one hundred and twenty men were on the march to
attack Philip at Mount Hope. But the renowned chieftain was too wary
to be caught in the trap of Mount H