As the days went rolling onward,
Time disclosed an Indian suitor,
Noble member of New England's
Greatest tribe of warring Indians,
Narragansett born, James Chaugham,
From the confines of Block Island,
Called "The Island of Manisses"
By the Narragansett Indians.
In his veins a little Spanish—
This the legends whisper faintly—
Mingled with the Narragansett
From a Spanish Senorita,
Shipwrecked, Spanish Senorita,
Mother of his honored father,
Rescued from the roaring billows,
On the shore of lone Block Island,
By the Narragansett sannups
And adopted by the chieftain,
As a loved and honored daughter.
Tall and straight and very handsome
Was this Narragansett suitor,
Once a savage from the forest
With a face with paint resplendent,
And a head-dress gay with plumage
Gathered from the feathered inmates
Of the forest dense and dusky.
In the cold and dreary winter,
When the snow was on the hill-sides
And he hunted in the forest,
On his back hung bow and arrow;
On his feet soft shoes of deer-skin
Made a many colored cov'ring,
And the brilliant, shaggy leggings
Made his brawny limbs more graceful,
While his body was protected
By a blanket yellow, blue and crimson.
In the sweet and pleasant spring-time,
Wearing apron soft and pliant,
Bordered round with beaded colors,
On his feet his shoes of deer-skin,
On his head the plumes of eagles,
Traveled softly by the rivers
While his honored father taught him
How to fish with bow and arrow,
How to shoot the flying squirrel,
How to trail the wary roebuck,
How to build a humble dwelling,
Midst the., lonely forest shadows,
How to meet each changing season.
Later lived he in the village,
In a house and not a wigwam,
"Many moons" among the settlers
In the hamlet by the river,
By the mighty Central River,
Where the big canoes were floating
On the Cove beside the village.
Educated, too, this Indian,
In the manner and the customs,
In the language, and the habits
Of the whiteman's way of living,
Dressed in shirt and coat and trousers,
Seemed he hardly from the forest
But as one with habitation
In a home of gentle culture.
14. "MUCH OF WAMPUM, MANY BLANKETS.'
He spoke of life and love and home,
"Much of wampum, many blankets",
Together many years to roam
Safely onward through the seasons.
Chaugham, working in the garden,
Peter Barber's flower garden,
Daily mingled with the servants,
Heard of Peter Barber's order,
And of Molly's daring answer.