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
found themselves in the possession of as many of the comforts of life as
their utter seclusion from the rest of the world could give them reason
to expect.
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