It will be recalled that Powhatan had several homes. The same was true of Massasoit, though his principal home was at Mount Hope. Governor Bradford had hardly come into office when he sent an agent to Massasoit to confirm the treaty made with Carver, to procure seed corn and to explore the country. Massasoit did as requested, and a piece of better fortune could not have come to New England. Plymouth and her neighbors for a long time were so weak, and their sufferings from disease and hardship so severe, that a union of the Indian confederacies would have swept them from the earth. The feebleness of the colonists could not be hidden from the Indians, but Massasoit checked the enmity of the surrounding tribes, and by uniting with Roger Williams in 1637, the other red men were kept from joining the Pequots in their war against the colonists. Thus more than once, and through many years, this great man really saved the settlements from destruction. There are few American Indians whose fame is not wholly due to their military skill. Many were great orators, and not a few showed noble traits of character. The case of Massasoit, therefore, is the more remarkable, for no man not gifted by nature with fine ability and tact, could have held peace for so long a time among the fierce tribes, not only under his direct rule, but that belonged to the confederacies surrounding his own people. Soon after the signing of the treaty, one of Massasoit's sachems tried to start a rebellion against his sovereign. With the help of the bold Miles Standish, the scheme was brought to naught, and the example of Massasoit led nine other sachems to come to Plymouth and sign a treaty of submission to the English king. [Illustration: MILES STANDISH AND HIS SOLDIERS ENTERING THE INDIAN COUNTRY] In 1623, news reached Plymouth that the great sachem was mortally ill. Governor Bradford sent at once two of his people and a friendly Indian to the chief, who was found near death. No doubt he would have soon passed away, but for the prompt action of his white friends, who gave him cordials and took such measures that he was soon restored to rugged health, and lived many years afterwards. Massasoit was very grateful all his life for this kindness. He told his visitors of a plot that was on foot among the Massachusetts tribe and several others to massacre the English settlers at Wessagusset. He urged that sharp measures be taken against the plotters, and Captain Standish did so with such vigor that the evil men were terrified, many of them killed, and the peril ended. In 1632, Massasoit was set upon by a party of Narragansetts, and fled for his life to an English house near at hand. As soon as news of his danger reached Plymouth, Captain Standish with a small armed force was sent to aid the brave chief in his danger. It did not take the "man that never feared" very long to scatter the Narragansetts and to rescue the good friend of the English from his great danger.