in the event of an alarm, and which, at the same time, were frequently
required for the purposes of domestic use. In the centre of the area was
a deep well, so fitted and protected by a wall of stone, as to admit of
water being drawn into the rooms above. The door itself was of massive
hewn timber. The squared logs of the upper stories projected a little
beyond the stone-work of the basement, the second tier of the timbers
containing a few loops out of which missiles might be discharged
downwards, on any assailants that approached nearer than should be deemed
safe for the security of the basement. As has been stated, the two
principal stories were perforated with long narrow slits through the
timber, which answered the double purposes of windows and loop-holes.
Though the apartments were so evidently arranged for defence, the plain
domestic, furniture they contained was suited to the wants of the family,
should they be driven to the building for refuge. There was also an
apartment in the roof, or attic, as already mentioned; but it scarcely
entered into the more important uses of the block-house. Still the
advantage which it received from its elevation was not overlooked. A small
cannon, of a kind once known and much used under the name of grasshoppers,
had been raised to the place, and time had been, when it was rightly
considered as of the last importance to the safety of the inmates of the
dwelling. For some years its muzzle had been seen, by all the straggling
aborigines who visited the valley, frowning through one of those openings
which were now converted into glazed windows; and there is reason to
think, that the reputation which the little piece of ordnance thus
silently obtained, had a powerful agency in so long preserving unmolested
the peace of the valley.

The word unmolested is perhaps too strong. More than one alarm had in fact
occurred, though no positive acts of violence had ever been committed
within the limits which the Puritan claimed as his own. On only one