the vessel a small Dutch stove and a number of broken
boxes. A fire was soon made, some of the burnt pork was sliced and put
in a pan and fried for the night's meal. But the children sank to rest
soon after getting on board, and lay huddled together on the cabin
floor. After the Captain and his wife had partaken of the meal and
before retiring to rest on the hard boards of the floor, Mrs. Godfrey
read, by the dim light of a candle, the fifty-fourth psalm.
Nothing can better prove the genuineness of a life, the soundness of a
profession, the real character of a man or woman, than those extreme
trials and difficulties of earth, when no friends are near to help and
where no way of escape seems possible. In trials, such as those related
above, the noblest traits of character or the hollowness and rottenness
of a profession are often plainly seen. Five cold winter days and nights
came and passed, yet no relief came to the imprisoned family. They dare
not move out, fearing the Indians would see them and come at night and
murder them. The sixth day Crabtree, who lived some miles distant from
where the Godfreys had resided, having heard of the attack of the
savages and the destruction they had caused, made his way to the scene
of the ruins. He could find no trace of the Godfreys and was returning
by the border of the lake to his log cabin, when he saw the sloop far in
the distance like a speck on the frozen surface of the lake. He hastened
out to where she lay. To his surprise and joy he found out, when nearing
the little craft, signs of life on board. Sparks were issuing from the
cabin. Very soon he was on board. He was met at the companion-way by the
Captain who gave him a thousand welcomes. Crabtree, after a few minutes
rest and conversation, started for his home, eleven miles distant,
promising to return early the next morning with a sledge to assist in
taking the children to his cabin. In the morning he returned, and
Captain Godfrey, his wife, and little ones, left the sloop and went to
Crabtree's. Captain and Mrs. Godfrey and Charlie had to walk the entire
distance over the lake and through the forest to Crabtree's log house.
The man who had rescued them attended to their wants as well as his
circumstances would allow. He kept the distressed family until the month
of May, when the ice in the river broke up. Captain Godfrey then set to
work to fit out the sloop, being determined to leave the place as soon
as possible. T
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