But the elder's threats and Billington's shamefaced obedience and the wonder of all who had listened to the outbreak were cut short by a startling apparition upon the threshold; the savages had really come at last, or at least one of them, for here stood, tall and erect, the splendid figure of a man, naked except for a waistband of buckskin fringe, his skin of a bright copper color glistening in the morning sun, and forming a rich background for the vari-colored paints with which it was decorated; his coarse, black hair, cut square above the eyebrows, fell upon his shoulders at the back, and was ornamented by three eagle-feathers woven into its tresses; in his hand he carried a bow nearly as tall as himself, and two arrows; a sharp little hatchet, evidently of European make, was thrust into his girdle, but the keenness of its edge was less than that of the glances with which he watched the slightest movement of the armed men who started to their feet at his approach. The savage was the first to speak, and his utterance has become as classic as Caesar's "Veni,"--for it was,-- "Welcome!" As he pronounced it, and looked about him with kindly, if wary eyes, the Pilgrims drew a long breath, and the tense anxiety of the moment lapsed into aspects various as the temperaments of the men. "What! Do these men speak English, then!" exclaimed Allerton bewildered, while Standish muttered,-- "Look to your side-arms, men. He may mean treachery," and noble Carver, extending his hand, said,-- "Thanks for your courtesy, friend. How know you our language?" "I am Samoset. I am friend of Englishmen. I come to say welcome." "Truly 't is a marvel to hear him speak in our own tongue and so glibly too. Mark you how he chooses his words as one of some dignity himself," said Bradford softly, but the quick ears of the savage caught the substance of his words, and tapping his broad chest lightly with his fingers he proudly replied,-- "Samoset, sachem of Monhegan. Samoset do well to many Englishmen in his own country." "And where is Monhegan, friend Samoset?" asked Carver pleasantly. "Might it be this place?" "This place Patuxet. Monhegan nearer to the sunrise," replied Samoset pointing eastward. "And how far?" "Suppose walk, five days; big wind in ship, one day." "And how camest thou, and when?" "Ship. Three, four moons ago." "Ah, then it is not an armed assault upon us," said Carver aside and in a tone of relief. "Nay, these salvages are more treacherous than a quicksand. Try him with more questions," suggested Hopkins, the other men murmuring assent, while the Indian glancing with his opaque, black eyes from one to another showed not how much he understood of what went on about him. "'In vino veritas,'" suggested Bradford with a smile. "Were it not well to give him something by way of welcome?" "Samoset like beer. Much talk make throat dry like brook in summer," remarked the guest, but whether in response or not no one could say.