"
This exhortation was uttered in a deep and almost unearthly voice, and
with a degree of excitement that was probably increased by the intensity
with which the solitary had lately been brooding over his peculiar
opinions, and the terrible scenes in which he had so recently been an
actor. Philip listened with the high courtesy of an Indian prince.
Unintelligible as was the meaning of the speaker, his countenance betrayed
no gleaming of impatience, his lip no smile of ridicule. On the contrary,
a noble and lofty gravity reigned in every feature; and ignorant as he was
of what the other wished to say, his attentive eye and bending head
expressed every wish to comprehend.
"My pale friend hath spoken very wisely," he said, when the other ceased
to speak. "But he doth not see clearly in these woods; he sits too much in
the shade. His eye is better in a clearing. Metacom is not a fierce beast.
His claws are worn out, his legs are tired with travelling. He cannot jump
far. My pale friend wants to divide the land. Why trouble the Great Spirit
to do his work twice? He gave the Wampanoags their hunting-grounds, and
places on the salt lake to catch their fish and clams, and he did not
forget his children the Narragansetts.
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