imself was present, and opposed the release of Mrs. Rowlandson; but
even his influence did not overcome the cupidity of the petty chief who
held her. From this circumstance the rock is known as Redemption Rock.
It has been purchased by Senator Hoar, and its southern face now bears
an appropriate inscription to commemorate the release, and the courage
and diplomacy of John Hoar.

THE INSCRIPTION.

"Upon this rock, May 2d, 1676, was made the agreement for the
ransom of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson of Lancaster, between the
Indians and John Hoar of Concord.

"King Philip was with the Indians, but refused his consent."

It was on Pine Hill, a mile or two south of this rock, and at the
eastern base of the mountain, that Robert Keyes cut down the forest, and
made a home for his little family. The spot is picturesque and sightly.
To the north, and seen through the clearing, nestles Lake Wachusett
among its woody banks; while far in the horizon are seen the New
Hampshire hills, and beyond, the blue summits of the White Mountains; to
the east the landscape stretches away, diversified with lake and valley
and woody slope, till it is lost to sight in the dimly distant line of
the misty ocean; to the south is the dome-like knoll of Pine Hill
covered with evergreen trees; and on the west rises the steep acclivity
of Mount Wachusett, while between these two may be seen the hills,
twenty miles away, that divide the waters of the Connecticut from the
streams that supply the Nashua and the Merrimac.

On a sunny afternoon in summer Mr. Keyes and his boys were in the field
some distance from the house, picking up logs and burning them with the
stumps and brush, to enlarge the farm. Around the house were fields of
corn and flax and waving grain. The cows and sheep were browsing in the
edge of the woods. Mrs. Keyes was spinning flax in front of the cabin
door, seated on a low, home-made stool upon the hard and smoothly swept
ground. Within, the neatly kept log cabin had a rough floor strewn with
white sand. On one side of the single large room there was a settee
stuffed with shavings of birch-bark; and a cat lay curled up and dozing
in the sun, which streamed in through the open lattice that took the
place of a window. Around the room were the rough tables and the benches
which used to serve as furniture in such primitive dwellings. Shelves
and cupboards were fastened upon the wall. Dried apples and pumpkins,
pieces of