the seashore, and thus saved
themselves from destruction, for Church perceived that it was the
intention of the Indians to surround them. Every one expected death, but
resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Thus hemmed in,
Church had a double duty to perform--that of preserving the spirit of
his followers, several of whom viewed their situation as desperate, and
erecting piles of stone to defend them.

Boats had been appointed to attend the English on this expedition, and
the heroic party looked for relief from this quarter; but, though the
boats appeared, the bullets of the Indians made them preserve a
respectable distance, until Church, in a moment of vexation, cried:

"Be off with you, cowards, and leave us to our fate!" The boats took him
at his word.

The Indians, now encouraged, fought more desperately than before. The
situation of the Englishmen was most forlorn, although as yet not one
had been wounded. Night was coming on, their ammunition was nearly
spent, and the Indians, having taken possession of a stone house on the
hill, fired into the temporary barricade of the English; but at this
moment a sloop hove in sight, and bore down toward the shore. It had two
or three small cannon on board with which it proceeded to knock down the
stone house. The sloop was commanded by a resolute man, Captain Golding,
who effected the embarkation of the company, taking off only two at a
time in a canoe. During the embarkation the Indians who were armed with
muskets and rifles kept up a steady fire from behind trees and stones,
and Church, who was the last to embark, narrowly escaped the balls of
the enemy, one grazing his head, and another lodging in a stake, which
happened to stand just above the centre of his breast.

Captain Church soon after joined a body of English and returned to
Pocasset, and Philip, after a skirmish, retired to the swamps, where for
a time his situation became desperate; but at length he contrived to
elude his besiegers, and fled to the Nipmucks, who received him with a
warmth of welcome quite gratifying to the ambitious chieftain.

The governor of Massachusetts sought to dissuade the Nipmucks from
espousing the cause of Philip; but they could not agree among
themselves, and consented to meet the English commissioners at a place
three miles from Brookfield on a specified day. Captains Hutchinson and
Wheeler were deputized to proceed to the appointed place. With twenty
mounted men and