A Story of Peace and Good-Will
The children of Easton township liked their wooden meeting-house, although it was made only of rough-hewn logs. To begin with, the logs did not fit quite close together; and, if a boy or a girl happened to be sitting in the corner seat, he or she could often see through a chink right out into the woods. Moreover, open spaces had been left for windows and a door. These would be closed when the next cold weather came; but, at present, the summer air blew in softly, laden with fragrant scents of the flowers and the pine-trees. The children, as they sat in meeting, always hoped that, some fine day, a butterfly might find its way in.
On a bright summer morning in the year 1775, there were traces of anxiety on the faces of many friends. At the head of the meeting sat Friend Zebulun Hoxie, the grandfather of many of the children present. Beside him sat a stranger, Robert Nisbet, who had just arrived. The children did not know why he had come, but they fixed their eyes intently on him when he rose to speak. They liked his kind, open face as soon as they saw it. They liked even better the sound of his rich, clear voice, as he said :-William Penn, founder of the Quaker State of Pennsylvania, receiving his Charter from Charles II"You have done well, dear Friends, to stay on valiantly in your homes when all your neighbours have fled. You did well to ask to be permitted to use your own judgment, to say to the authorities, in all courtesy and charity, " You are clear of us, in that you have warned us," and to stay on in your dwellings, and carry on your accustomed work. I have come on foot through the wilderness country these thirty miles to meet with you to- day, and to bear to you two messages-"The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him," and "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.""Little Dinah Hoxie was thinking, "I do wish a butterfly would come in at the window just for once, or a little bird, with blue, and red, and pink, and yellow feathers. " She turned in her corner seat, and looked through the slit in the wall. Why,there were feathers close outside, red, and yellow, and blue, and pink! But, when she looked again, they had disappeared- nothing was to be seen but a slight trembling of the tree branches in the woods at a little distance.
In the meanwhile, her brother Benjamin was also thinking of what the stranger had said. "He said it was a valiant thing to do to stop on here, when all the neighbours had left. I did not know Friends could do valiant things. I thought only soldiers were valiant. But, if a scouting party really did come, then even a Quaker boy might have a chance to show that he is not necessarily a coward because he does not fight. " Benjamin"s eyes strayed out of the open window. It was very hot and still in the meeting-house. Yet the bushes were trembling. How strange that there should be a breeze there, and not here!
Then gentle Mrs. Hoxie in her turn looked up and saw the same three tall feathers creeping above the sill of the open window-frame. For just one moment, her heart seemed to stand absolutely still. She looked across to where her husband sat-an urgent look. He met her eyes, read them, and followed the direction in which she gazed. Then he too saw the feathers, three, five, seven, nine, all sticking up in a row. Another instant, and a dark-skinned face, an evil face, appeared beneath them, looking over the sill. An Indian chief was looking in, showing his teeth in a cruel grin. In his hand he held a sheaf of arrows, arrows only too ready to fly and kill by day.
All the assembled Friends were aware of his presence by this time, but not one of them moved. Mrs. Hoxie glanced towardsher little daughter, and saw, to her great relief, that Dinah had fallen asleep. Benjamin"s lips were tightly shut; and, with eyes that were unusually bright, he followed every movement of the Indian chief, who, as it seemed, in one bound, and without making the slightest noise, had moved round to the open doorway.
There he stood, the naked, brown figure, in full war paint and feathers, looking with piercing eyes at each man Friend in turn, as if one of them must have the weapons that he sought. But the Friends were entirely unarmed. There was not a gun, or a rifle, or a sword to be found in any of their dwelling-houses, so there could not be any in their peaceful meeting.
A minute later, a dozen other Redskins, equally terrible, stood beside the chief; and the bushes in the distance were quite still. It was Benjamin who found it hard not to tremble now, as he saw thirteen sharp arrows taken from their quivers by thirteen skinny brown hands, and their notches held taut to thirteen bow-strings, all ready to shoot. He saw, too, what the objects were that hung from the strangers" waists. They were scalps- scalps of men and women that the Indians had killed. Yet still the Friends sat on, without stirring, in complete silence.
Only Benjamin, turning his head to look at his grand- father, saw Zebulun Hoxie gazing full at the chief who had first approached. The Indian"s flashing eyes, under the matted black eyebrows, gazed back fiercely beneath his narrow red forehead into the Quaker"s calm blue eyes beneath the high white browand snowy hair. No word was spoken; but, in silence, two powers were measured against each other-the power of hate, and the power of love, for steady friendliness to his strange visitors was written in every line of Zebulun Hoxie"s face.
At length, for some unknown reason, the Indian"s eyes fell. His head, which he had carried high and haughtily, sank towards his breast. Then he signed to his followers : the thirteen arrows were noiselessly replaced in thirteen quivers; the thirteen bows were laid down and rested against the wall; many footsteps, lighter than falling snow, crossed the floor; the Indian chief, unarmed, sat himself down in the nearest seat, with his followers in all their war-paint, but also unarmed, close around him.
The meeting did not stop. The meeting continued- one of the strangest Friends" meetings, surely, that ever was held! The Friends sat in their accustomed quietness, but the Indians sat more quietly than any of them. They seemed strangely at home in the silence, those wild men of the woods.
The slow minutes slipped past. At last, when the accustomed hour of worship was ended, the two Friends at the head of the meeting shook hands solemnly. Then, and not till then, did old Zebulun Hoxie advance to the Indian chief, and, with signs, he invited him and his followers to come to his house close at hand. With signs they accepted. Zebulun put bread and cheese on the table, and invited his guests to help themselves. They did so, thanking him with signs, as they knew no English. Robert Nisbet, however, the visiting Friend, who could speakand understand French, had a conversation with the two chiefs in that language, and this was what the Indians said :-"We surrounded your house, meaning to destroy every living person within it. But, when we saw you sitting with your door open, and without weapons of defence, we had no wish any longer to hurt you. Now we would fight for you, and defend you ourselves from all who wish you ill. "So saying, the chief took a white feather from one of his arrows, and stuck it firmly over the centre of the roof in a peculiar way. "With that white feather above your house, " he said to Robert Nisbet, " your settlement is safe. We Indians are your friends henceforward, and you are ours. "Nothing more was said; and, a few moments later, the strange guests, with their weapons in their hands, had all disappeared as noiselessly as they had come.
General.-Who were the Friends? Who was their great leader in America? How did he treat the Indians? Name the persons of this story. Was Zebulun Hoxie a brave man? What makes you think so? Could his plan be carried out with all armed raiders? Discuss the question. Tell the story as the Indian chief would tell it on his return to the wigwams of the Redskins.
