Winslow had found him with his warriors half hid among the trees as
motionless as himself. Winslow leaning against a great white birch on
the edge of the little glade rested his left hand upon the hilt of his
sword, and setting the other upon his hip imitated the immobility of the
savages, and in his glistening steel cap and hauberk, his gauntlets and
greaves, his bristling moustache and steady outlook, presented the
fitting counterpart to the savage grandeur of Massasoit. It was one of
those momentary tableaux in which History occasionally foreshadows or
defines her policy, and had an artist been privileged to study the scene
he should have given us a noble picture of this first meeting of the
Powers of the Old World and the New.

Squanto at last returned, and Massasoit for the first time opening his
lips said gravely,--

"Tell the white man he is welcome."

"Thank your king for his courtesy," replied Winslow bowing toward the
chief; "and tell him that my sovereign lord and master King James the
First of Great Britain salutes him by me, and will be ready to make
terms of peace and amity with him." Waiting a moment for this message to
be delivered the ambassador went on,--

"And tell him furthermore, that Governor Carver, the chief man of our
settlement, is desirous of seeing him, and of arranging with him terms
of alliance and of trade. Our desire is to purchase peltrie of every
sort, and we are ready to pay for all that we receive, but it is best
that the governor and the king should arrange these matters together.
Meantime the governor begs your king's acceptance of this little gift,"
designating the two knives, the copper chain, and the provisions, "for
his own use; while to his brother the Prince Quadequina he offers this
knife for his pocket,--nay,--for his girdle, and this jewel for his ear.
And if the king will now go to the village to confer with our governor,
I, who am not ranked the lowest among our company, will remain here as
surety until his return."

This speech having been somewhat lamely and laboriously translated into
the vernacular by Squanto, Winslow wiped his brow and wished that it
consisted with his dignity to throw off his armor and stretch himself
upon the pine needles at his feet, but it evidently did not; and in a
moment or two Squanto delivered to him the king's reply that he was very
willing to become an ally of King James, and that he would go into the
village to meet the governor lea