LIII.
"Bound in the skin of the great sachem snake,
My brother sent his barbs—but to his foe,
Awanux took the challenge by mistake,
And let his bullets for an answer go;
They deemed the Sachem angry, and did take
Some wise precaution 'gainst a secret blow;
They raise their bulwarks, and their guns they poise;
This was respect to sovereign brave and wise.
LIV.
"No leagues have they with the fierce Maqua made,
Nor with the Pequot hostile is the race;
But if my brothers, for the fight arrayed,
O'er Pokanoket's borders speed their pace,
I dare not say they would forego the aid
Of any tribe that would thy battle face;
Mohegans, Pequots, Tarrateens would fly
To join their force, and swell their battle cry.
LV.
"To these six fragments of the pipe I've spoke;
Take them again, if I have answered well;
But those which tell me that the stem was broke
By the fire-water, and of what befel
Thee upon Haup—of claims thou canst not brook,
Made by those strangers from the nations pale
To these broad forests as their own domain—
These will I ask Awanux to explain.
LVI.
"This fragment tells me that his numbers grow,
That they are spreading fast, from glade to glade;
If the Great Spirit does increase bestow,
Will the wise Sachem that great Power upbraid?
