His sufferings were terrible. He never got over the effects of the cold and hunger which he endured on that flight through the Wilderness.
He had made friends among the Indians, with Massasoit and Canonicus. He had most lovingly carried the Gospel to them and their peoples. He had passed many a night with them in their lodges.
And now that he was in want and distress, it was his Indian friends who succoured him.
In the Spring, he had begun to build and plant at Seekonk, when Governor Winslow of Plymouth, in the kindest of spirits, sent him word that Seekonk was within the bounds of Plymouth Colony; and in order that there might be no trouble with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he advised him to move across the water, where he would be as free as the Plymouth folk themselves, adding that then Roger Williams and the Plymouth Folk might be loving neighbours together.
WHAT CHEER!
Providence
Founded 1636
Without bitterness or complaint, Roger Williams prepared immediately to abandon the cabin he had built at Seekonk, and the fields which he had so industriously sown and cultivated.
With five companions who had joined him there, he entered his canoe and dropped down the river, watching the bank for an inviting landing.
On approaching a little cove, friendly voices saluted him. On Slate Rock, Indians were waiting to welcome him.
“What cheer, Netop!” they exclaimed.
It was a salutation, meaning, “How do you do, friend!”