244 History of Hingham. 



the sermon which they have just heard, while we may be sure all 

 are thankful to return once more to undespoiled homes. Others, 

 who come from a great distance, meet together and eat the frugal 



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luncheon between the morning and afternoon service, while a 

 few, husband and wife, mount pillion fashion the horses which 

 have been awaiting the close of the services under the trees, and 

 ride to their homes. 



As the rich glow of the setting sun crimsons the glassy harbor 

 and turns to gold the fleecy clouds of April, while the shadows 

 creep up from the valleys, the tap-tap and rattle and roll of 

 Steven Lincoln's drum sings the vespers of the Puritans, and 

 the Sabbath is over. Then comes the new watch, who being 

 properly instructed and posted begins his hours of vigil. The 

 garrisons are carefully looked to ; the orders for the night issued. 

 The poor victim of the stocks, if not before released, is now given 

 liberty. The restraints upon the children are relaxed, and during 

 the brief period of twilight secular pursuits are resumed ; the 

 cattle are seen to, the wood brought in, and the wide old-fashioned 

 fireplaces blaze and crackle with the long sticks, while above the 

 kettle hisses and sings and its cover rises and falls and rattles. 

 Here and there the tallow dip assists in its poor faint way ' : the 

 busy housewife ply her evening care," and then an hour later, the 

 low thatched-roof cottages are wrapped in darkness, and the stars 

 shine out upon the town at rest. Only the half-chilled, weary 

 soldier on guard watches for the beacon, or listens for the signal 

 guns which shall call the men of Hingham to the aid of Nan- 

 tasket or Scituate or Weymouth, or awaken them to the defence 

 of their own wives and children and homes. 



What a dreary duty it is, too, this waiting and fearing for the 

 dreaded warwhoop of the Indian in the still and lonesome hours 

 of the night. How the eye grows strained peering into the dark- 

 ness and the ear weary listening, and with what a nervous start 

 each new sound, each before unnoticed shadow is noted by the 

 young sentry moving among the aisles of the great trees on the 

 height overlooking the village ! What a relief, though all too 

 brief, is the visit of Captain Hobart, whose vigilance causes many 

 a restless and wakeful hour in these trying days ; and how doubly 

 appalling seems the solitude as the sound of the Captain's re- 

 treating steps die away in the distance, leaving the long hours until 

 dawn to be counted away alone, before whose coming the sentry's 

 breath shall more than once stop, while he hears the beating of 

 his own heart, at the imagined creeping form of an Indian. 



The defences of Hingham and the preparation for the protection 

 of her inhabitants have already been described. Even in the 

 absence of other evidence, the comparative immunity of the settle- 

 ment from serious loss and the total failure on the part of the 

 Indians, almost constantly lurking in the vicinity, to effect any- 

 thing like a general surprise, would in themselves be strong 



