and soon the afflicted father was made acquainted with the fate of his
son. He felt indeed that death--a calm and peaceful death beneath his
own accustomed roof, and with those he dearly loved around him--would
have been a far happier lot for Henrich than that to which he now
feared he might be doomed--than that which, possibly, his darling boy
was at that moment enduring at the hands of his cruel and malignant
enemies.

The thought was maddening. But there was still a hope of saving him by
speed and resolution; and he urged the Sachem to depart instantly. One
moment he gave to visit and endeavor to cheer his wife, who now lay
powerless and weeping in Apannow's lodge; and then he joined the Chief,
who, with Brewster and a band of picked men, were ready to accompany
him. The pastor had already learnt from Edith all that she could tell
relative to the spot where her brother had been captured; and to that
spot the pursuing party hurried, and soon discovered the basket and the
tools that told where the boys had been so rudely interrupted in their
work. Quickly the trodden grass, and the broken branches of the thick
underwood, showed in what direction the boy had been dragged by his
captors; and on the track the Wampanoge warriors followed, like hounds
in the chase. But, alas! the Nausetts had had a fearful start of them;
and little hope existed in the breast of Mooanam that they could
overtake them, in time to avert the dreadful fate that he had feared
for Henrich.

The Sachem was himself an Indian, and he well knew the Indian desire
for retaliation and vengeance. He was, indeed, a man of a mild and
generous nature, and he belonged to a tribe less distinguished by
cruelty than the Nausetts. But still he felt that, according to the
savage code of the natives, blood must atone for blood, and he believed