Some Three Hundred Years AgoBrewster, Edith Gilman
History
Some Three Hundred Years Ago
Brewster, Edith Gilman
New Hampshire -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Juvenile literature
Suddenly he sat very straight, for there beyond the Narrows he saw a
monstrous thing. Could it be a huge bird with white wings spread? Over
the water it seemed to be coming nearer. Instinctively he slid into a
crevice between the rocks, yet without moving his gaze. Through the
Narrows, under full sail, came the first ship. Nonowit seemed to become a
part of the brown earth as he wriggled back into the undergrowth, never
moving his wide-open eyes from this strange sight.
Then came the rattle of chains and the voices of men. A boat was lowered,
and Nonowit, safe under the cover of the low branches, saw it headed for
his shore. Men with white skin and hair growing on their faces landed on
the very rock on which he had been sitting. Their clothes were unlike any
he had ever seen before, and their speech could not be understood.
Cautiously he backed into the forest until he gained the branches of the
oak in which he had slept. Yet that was unsafe, for the white men looked
up into every tree, breaking the branches and tasting the sap.
In his fright, Nonowit wriggled for safety through the very hole from
which the owl had flown the night before. There from the dark hollows he
watched the white men as they studied each tree. They came at last to the
old oak and shook its branches. When one man even climbed far enough to
look deep into the trunk, Nonowit crouched to the very ground, holding
his breath. The shadows protected him and the men passed on. "Worse than
wolves," thought the boy as he ventured again to his peep-hole. The white
men lingered about for an hour or more, until the imprisoned little
Indian felt that he might never see his people again. He would starve
rather than face such creatures.
At last, there came the sound of oars on the water. Creeping from the
tree, Nonowit pushed aside the low branches to see the boatful of
strangers depart. Suddenly a strong hand was clapped on his shoulder. He
jumped with fear only to find himself in the grasp of his own father.
Nonowit pointed hastily through the thick growth to the river, and the
two watched the English vessel sail up the stream, but history reports
that Martin Pring saw no Indians when he searched the Piscataqua shores
for a sassafras tree, which, he believed, held the "Elixir of Life."
[Illustration]
THE NEW WORLD
Far away on the shores of France, in a little cobbled lane by the water
front, Jacques swung into the rhythm of the Sailor's Hornpipe. Raoul
stood in the doorway of his low-roofed house, with his violin, directing
the tune and swings until he pronounced the dance correctly learned.
Just then three well-dressed gentlemen turned into the narrow way and
passed on to the vessel at the wharf below. The raising of sails and
shouting of orders suggested an immediate start.
Jacques' father hurried around the corner and motioned to his boy. As
Jacques followed, he called back to Raoul, "I'll bring you an Indian
scalp when I come home!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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