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Rh sachem ordered him stayed, and presently the powwow was making talk with him.

“Great Sachem say what for you speak Niantic man?” he asked. “You know um maybe?”

David hesitated. Then: “I do not know him. Anger caused me to speak.”

“What for you angry with him, David?”

David pointed at the withered heads at his feet. “Those, O Wise Powwow, are the heads of my people. This man Wompatannawa is my enemy. Does not one feel anger at his enemy?”

The medicine man translated the reply to the sachem, and the latter grunted. Then:

“These men say King Philip makes war on the English and everywhere defeats um. Say they run away like foxes before dogs. What you think?”

“I think they lie. Say to the Great Sachem that the English do not run from their enemies. They stand and fight. If they are killed, they are killed. But they do not retreat. Therefore the tale these men have told is false to that extent. And if they lie of one thing, why not of all? Before I was brought here the Nipmucks and the Narragansetts had given their word to the English