r child, but
she could make no impression upon their obdurate hearts.

One Sabbath afternoon, just as the sun was going down, a colonist, Mr.
John Hoar, a man of extraordinary intrepidity of spirit, with a firm
step approached the encampment, guided by two friendly Indians, and
under the very frail protection of a barbarian flag of truce. The
savages, as soon as they saw him, seized their guns, and rushed as if
to kill him. They shot over his head and under his horse, before him
and behind him, seeing how near they could make the bullets whistle by
his ears without hitting him. They dragged him from his horse, pushed
him this way and that way, and treated him with all imaginable
violence without inflicting any bodily harm. This they did to frighten
him; but John Hoar was not a man to be frightened, and the savages
admired his imperturbable courage.

The chiefs built their council fire, and held a long conference with
Mr. Hoar. They then allowed him a short interview with Mrs.
Rowlandson. He brought her messages of affection from her distracted
husband, and cheered her with the hope that her release would
eventually, though not immediately, be obtained. She plead earnestly
with the Indians for permission to return with Mr. Hoar, promising to
send back the price of her ransom; but they declared that she should
not go.

After dinner the Indians made arrangements for one of their most
imposing dances. It was a barbarian cotillon, performed by eight
partners in the presence of admiring hundreds. Queen Wetamoo and her
husband, Quinnapin, were conspicuous in this dance. He was dressed in
a white linen shirt, with a broad border of lace around the skirt. To
this robe silver buttons were profusely attached. He wore white cotton
stockings, with shillings dangling and clinking from the garters. A
turban composed of girdles of wampum ornamented his head, while broad
belts of wampum passed over his shoulders and encircled his waist.

Wetamoo was dressed for the ball in a horseman's coat of coarse,
shaggy cloth. This was beautifully decorated with belts of wampum from
the waist upward. Her arms, from the elbows to the wrist, were clasped
with bracelets. A great profusion of necklaces covered her
well-rounded shoulders and ample bosom. Her ears were laden with
jewels. She wore red stockings and white shoes. Her face was painted a
brilliant crimson, and her hair powdered white as snow. For music the
Indians sang, while one beat ti