evening was passed in thus indirectly teaching an art, that was so much at
variance with the mandates of his divine master. The chastened soldier,
however, never forgot to close his instruction with a petition
extraordinary, in the customary prayer, that no descendant of his should
ever take life from a being unprepared to die, except in justifiable
defence of his faith, his person, or his lawful rights. It must be
admitted, that a liberal construction of the reserved privileges would
leave sufficient matter, to exercise the subtlety of one subject to any
extraordinary propensity to arms.

Few opportunities were however offered, in their remote situation and
with their peaceful habits, for the practice of a theory that had been
taught in so many lessons. Indian alarms, as they were termed, were not
unfrequent, but, as yet, they had never produced more than terror in the
bosoms of the gentle Ruth and her young offspring. It is true, they had
heard of travellers massacred, and of families separated by captivity,
but, either by a happy fortune, or by more than ordinary prudence in the
settlers who were established along that immediate frontier, the knife
and the tomahawk had as yet been sparingly used in the colony of
Connecticut. A threatening and dangerous struggle with the Dutch, in the
adjoining province of New-Netherlands, had been averted by the foresight
and moderation of the rulers of the new plantations; and though a
warlike and powerful native chief kept the neighboring colonies of
Massachusetts and Rhode-Island in a state of constant watchfulness, from
the cause just mentioned the apprehension of danger was greatly weakened
in the breasts of those so remote as the individuals who composed the
family of our emigrant.

In this quiet manner did years glide by, the surrounding wilderness
slowly retreating from the habitations of the Heathcotes, until they