The savages and our people were long in the half-built house, and both
Sarah and I wondered what could be going on to take up so much time,
more especially since we knew that, of the Indians, only Samoset and
Squanto could speak in English. Later we came to understand that this
chief, Massasoit, was making a bargain with the men of Plymouth.
My father called it a treaty, which, so mother explained to me, is the
same as an agreement between two nations.
Massasoit, being the ruler over all the Indians nearby our village,
promised that neither he nor any of his tribe should do any manner of
harm to us of Plymouth; but if any wicked ones did work mischief, they
should be sent to our governor to be punished.
He promised also that if anything was stolen by his people from us, he
would make sure it was sent back, and if, which is by no means likely,
any of us living in Plymouth took from the Indians aught of their
property, our governor should send it straightway to the savages.
[Illustration]
Massasoit said that if any Indians came to fight or kill our people,
he would send some of his men to help us, and if any tried to hurt his
people, our fathers must take sides with him. Both Sarah and I think
this is wrong, for why should Englishmen fight for the savages?
It seems to me much as if the white men should not agree to go to war
with any except those who try to kill us; but father said it was no
more than a fair trade.
All this was agreed to while Elder Brewster's house was so full of
visitors and our people, that they must have been packed together like
herring in a box, and when the bargain, or treaty, had been made, all
the savages, except Samoset and Squanto, marched away.
Soon after Massasoit had gone, his brother, Quadequina, and several
more Indians appeared, and we entertained them also.
It was much like a feast day, to have so many people in this new
village of ours that all the space beneath the trees seemed to be
crowded, and we felt quite lonely when our fathers took up once more
the work of building houses.