[Footnote 4: See paragraph 22.]


84. A constable is sent to arrest Roger Williams; he escapes to the
woods, and goes to Mount Hope.--But Mr. Williams was not one of the
kind to keep silent. Then the chief men of Boston sent a constable
down to Salem with orders to seize him and send him back to England.
When he heard that the constable was after him, Mr. Williams slipped
quietly out of his house and escaped to the woods.

There was a heavy depth of snow on the ground, but the young man made
up his mind that he would go to his old friend Massasoit, and ask
him to help him in his trouble.

[Illustration: Map showing Roger Williams's route from Salem to
Mount Hope.]

Massasoit lived near Mount Hope, in what is now Rhode Island, about
eighty miles southwest from Salem. There were no roads through the
woods, and it was a long, dreary journey to make on foot, but Mr.
Williams did not hesitate. He took a hatchet to chop fire-wood, a
flint and steel to strike fire with,--for in those days people had
no matches,--and, last of all, a pocket-compass to aid him in finding
his way through the thick forest.

[Illustration: Striking fire with flint and steel. The sparks were
caught on some old, half-burnt rag, and were then blown to a blaze.]

All day he waded wearily on through the deep snow, only stopping now
and then to rest or to look at his compass and make sure that he was