the
forest, as he might easily have done, he went to Plymouth. There he had
a long talk with the whites. He denied that he had plotted against them.
He showed them that it was against his own interests to have any trouble
with them, and as proof of his good intentions toward them, he offered
to leave his next younger brother with them as a hostage.

He agreed to continue the treaty that his father had made forty years
before. He went further, and acknowledged himself to be a faithful
subject of the King of England, and promised not to make war on any
Indian tribe unless the English first gave their consent.

For several years Philip was grand sachem of the Wampanoags and kept
this treaty with great faithfulness. During this time his duties were
similar to those which his father had had, and his life was uneventful.
He was consulted by the other sachems of the tribe, and his advice was
generally followed by them.

Like his father, the good Massasoit, he was inclined to be conservative;
that is, he did not like to change the established order of things. He
was very much liked by the Indians, who felt that he tried to treat them
all honestly and fairly.

He went to Plymouth very frequently, to visit the whites and to trade
with them. And, likewise, the whites frequently came to Mount Hope to
see him.

The relations between the whites and the Indians were such that it was
perfectly safe for a white man to go anywhere among the Wampanoags
unarmed. This is something that cannot be said of any other Indian tribe
in the colonial days. The Indians, acting under orders from King Philip,
treated the whites honestly and fairly. In fact, there was a feeling of
great friendship between the whites and the Indians.

X. PHILIP'S TROUBLES WITH THE WHITES

Ten years passed by peacefully, except for one little trouble, which
occurred in 1667, six years after Philip became sachem. An Indian told
the people at Plymouth that Philip had said that he wished the Dutch
would beat the English in the war which was then being carried on
between Holland and England.

The Plymouth people were very much surprised at this, and immediately
called Philip to account. But he denied ever making any such statement,
and offered to surrender all his arms to the English in order to show
that he had no hostile designs against them. This satisfied the English.
Everything went on quietly until 1671, when troubles between the two
races finally bega