The furs and stores were provided for in the first story, while in the second there were three rooms in which the traders might live and sleep.
No sooner was the trading post established when Mr. Bradley left with his wife to return to Boston, where important business negotiations had to be attended to by himself. He promised to send John Rawlins, and put Fred and Matthew in charge of the log house.
Agnes was to return to the Boston Colony, but she begged her parents to permit her to remain, and this permission was finally granted. So after a last service, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley left, and the three children remained in the wilderness alone, amply supplied with provisions and articles of trade.
For their traffic Mr. Bradley had purchased a fine, strong boat, in which they could easily reach Hartford whenever they cared to go there. In the barn which was built to the house, stood three horses, accustomed to traveling in the woods, and altogether faithful and reliable.
Fred, who till the arrival of John Rawlins was in charge of everything, at once made preparations to become acquainted with the Indians and to gain their friendship, for on them he depended for furs.
He secured a Pequot Indian boy, from whom he could learn the native language, and he won his confidence and good will by little gifts which he gave him.
The task of learning the language of the Indians was the most important one, and each morning several hours were set aside for that purpose. The work proved itself a very delightful one, for the method was simple.
Each of the three white children had a little notebook into which they would write the words which the Indian boy mentioned to them, and although many mistakes occurred at first which caused a good deal of laughter, they progressed very fast so that in a short time they knew the Indian words for the most important articles.
But also on their expeditions the Indian boy had to serve as teacher, and so he was troubled with perpetual questions which his inquisitive friends asked him. As the Pequot Indians had long associated with the Dutch, not a few Dutch words were added to their vocabulary, though strangely changed by the lips of the Indians.
The visits to the Indians, whether made by boat or on horseback, also proved themselves a source of pleasure. It is true, they did not find them in the same friendly mood as the Mohicans, but since open hostilities had not been declared, there was still a chance to win them over.