l injury or insult. On her
arrival in Canada she was sold to a French farmer, by whom she was kindly
treated.

In the mean time her husband made every exertion in his power to
ascertain her fate, and early in the next year learned that she was a
slave in Canada. He immediately set off through the wilderness on foot,
accompanied only by his dog, who drew a small sled, upon which he carried
some provisions for his sustenance, and a bag of snuff, which the
Governor of the Province gave him as a present to the Governor of Canada.
After encountering almost incredible hardships and dangers with a
perseverance which shows how well he appreciated the good qualities of
his stolen helpmate, he reached Montreal and betook himself to the
Governor's residence. Travel-worn, ragged, and wasted with cold and
hunger, he was ushered into the presence of M. Vaudreuil. The courtly
Frenchman civilly received the gift of the bag of snuff, listened to the
poor fellow's story, and put him in a way to redeem his wife without
difficulty. The joy of the latter on seeing her husband in the strange
land of her captivity may well be imagined. They returned by water,
landing at Boston early in the summer.

There is a tradition that this was not the goodwife's first experience of
Indian captivity. The late Dr. Abiel Abbott, in his manuscript of Judith
Whiting's _Recollections of the Indian Wars_, states that she had
previously been a prisoner, probably before her marriage. After her
return she lived quietly at the garrison-house until the summer of the
next year. One bright moonlit-night a party of Indians were seen
silently and cautiously approaching. The only occupants of the garrison
at that time were Bradley, his wife and children, and a servant. The
three adults armed themselves with muskets, and prepared to defend
themselves. Goodwife Bradley, supposing the Indians had come with the
intention of again capturing her, encouraged her husband to fight to the
last, declaring that she had rather die on her own hearth than fall into
their hands. The Indians rushed upon the garrison, and assailed the
thick oaken door, which they forced partly open, when a well-aimed shot
from Goodwife Bradley laid the foremost dead on the threshold. The loss
of their leader so disheartened them that they made a hasty retreat.

The year 1707 passed away without any attack upon the exposed frontier
settlement. A feeling of comparative security succeeded t