crifice of the lives of
some of his own countrymen, and interfere with their projects of
vengeance on their foes. This was most likely to be the case in the
present instance; for the Governor was excited to great indignation by
the intelligence f this second conspiracy, in which several of the
Chiefs who had signed the treaty with Captain Standish were concerned;
and he immediately summoned the gallant soldier, and the rest of his
council, to deliberate on the best means of defeating it.

It now only wanted three days of the time appointed for the gathering
of the red warriors, and the attack on Wessagussett. No time was,
therefore, to be lost; and it was soon determined that Standish, with a
band of eight men, should march the following morning at day-break, and
come stealthily upon the savages before they could he fully prepared
for the assault. It was a bold--perhaps a rash--measure, for so small a
party to go forth, and encounter the native forces thus combined. But
Standish, though a man of prudence and discretion, was a stranger to
fear; and he and his followers had already learnt the power of order
and discipline, in compensating for any disadvantage of numbers. It
was, therefore, with cheerful confidence that the military force of the
settlement prepared for their march and they plainly showed on what
that confidence was founded, by requesting the prayers of the
congregation for their success.

A great part of the night was, accordingly, spent in prayer; and the
blessing of the God of truth and mercy was solemnly asked upon an
enterprise that the leaders well knew was about to be carried out by
fraud and cruelty.

At sunrise, the soldiers met on 'the Burying Hill,' and the staff of
office was given, with much solemnity, to Captain Standish, by the
pious and venerable Brewster. They had already taken leave of their
wives and families, who did not altogether share the cheerful
exultation displayed by the Puritan warriors; and who were not
permitted to be present at this final ceremony, lest their anxious
fears should disturb the composure of their husbands and fathers.
Notwithstanding this characteristic prohibition, Helen, and her younger
daughter Edith, had ventured to station themselves in the path that led
down 'the Burying Hill,' in the direction in which Standish and his men
were to march, that they might take one more farewell of Rodolph before
he left them on an expedition which, to their minds, seemed