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Rh deliver you from the sachem. Larger matters come first. As for the company I keep, heed it not. Who visits the wolf must wear fur. Trust me, Noawama, as your people do.”

“I do trust you, Straight Arrow. Tell me how goes the war with King Philip?”

“Well and ill. The Narragansetts have joined with him, as have a few of the Nipmucks living to the south, but the Mohegans  have sent warriors to our aid led by Oneko,  son of Uncas. Of late Philip was driven into a swamp beside the Taunton River and,  had the English attacked with skill as well  as bravery and pressed close, he would have  been there and then destroyed. But, seeking to starve him out, they withdrew all but a  few soldiers, and he soon found canoes and  slipped away across the river and into the  Nipmuck country where he daily gathers  more warriors to his cause.”

“It would seem that some one blundered,” mused David.

“Aye,” agreed Pikot grimly. “And the blunder may cost dear, for now Philip no  longer has the sea at his back, but may come  and go as he chooses, with the forests to  lurk in. But it grows late, Noawama, and I