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influential followers, started a cabal to prevent the enterprise resolved upon against the English, and so far succeeded that Villieu had the chagrin of seeing the ardor abate in all. M. de Thury, their missionary, who was working arduously for the success of the Sieur de Villieu's plans, found himself not less embarrassed than Villieu, for he learnt that a minister had been sent to the Fort by the English to teach the little savages to read and write.

Affairs continued in that condition until the ninth, when the relatives of the prisoners and hostages urged that messengers be sent to Boston to learn if the prisoners were actually there. Sieur de Villieu, in order to prevent them from having any interviews or parleys with the English, for fear of seeing all his plans overthrown which would have happened, for the English, on learning his designs, would not have failed to put everything in operation to overthrow them and make peace with the Indians proposed two expedients by which to recover their friends supposed to be at Boston. The first was to go at once and make a strong attack upon the place and force the English to surrender their prisoners in exchange for those that might be captured in the attack. Second, that, in case the attack was not successful, they would assemble those that were in the hands of the savages already, and, with the consent of M. le Comte, give them to the Governor of Boston in exchange for fhe savages he had in his hands. Lastly, he made clear to the Indians that, if they did not proceed in that manner, the English would never restore the prisoners, inasmuch as they had only demanded hostages in order to be assured of their fidelity. They pleaded that this slowness would result in the death of their people. He replied, in order to remove that objection, that he proposed to send a message to the Governor of Boston by the least important of the prisoners which they held stating that the Governor was to treat well all the savages of which he was master if he wished the English prisoners to be well treated.