These directions were carried out. Uncas went to Hartford, received his prisoner, and conducted him to the spot where he had been captured. Hardly had the party arrived, when a Mohegan, directly behind Miantonomah, killed him with a single blow of his tomahawk.
It is only fair to add that historians have never agreed as to the real character of Uncas and Miantonomah. The incidents just related would seem to make Uncas the better of the two, but some think he was simply the more crafty and cunning, and that the Narragansett sachem was innocent of the attempts made against the life of the Mohegan leader, as well as of the charge of urging the Mohawks to join him in a war against the English. It is impossible at this late day to settle the dispute as to the honor of Miantonomah, but we must quote the tribute of Stephen Hopkins, who was governor of Rhode Island for nine years, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence:
"This was the end of Miantonomah, the most potent Indian prince the people of New England had ever any concern with, and this was the reward he received for assisting them seven years before, in their war with the Pequots."
The death of Miantonomah took place in 1643. News of what had been done was sent to Canonicus. He was then an old man, well beyond fourscore, and greatly broken in spirit by the loss of a favorite son. He signed a deed in April, 1644, by which he subjected himself and his lands to King Charles I. of England. He had lost all desire for war, and was in no condition to punish the last sad blow that had been dealt him. He died just before the middle of the seventeenth century, when he must have been nearly or quite ninety years old.
Uncas lived for several years after the close of King Philip's war. He was crafty and treacherous, and the English bore more from him than they would have borne from any one else, because of their wish to hold him as an ally. Despite the halo which some writers have thrown about his memory, it is impossible to believe he was as truthful, high-minded and honorable as many less noted members of his race.
CHAPTER IV
THE UNCROWNING OF A KING
PHILIP'S ADVENTURES AND DEATH