﻿OLD PONTO. 185 



him. Suddenly he exclaimed, " The Sea ! the Sea !" and pointed 

 out to his companions a large sheet of water, which lay extended be- 

 fore them, and of which they could not see the whole extent, ow- 

 ing to a thickly wooded promontory which shot out far into the 

 bosom of the lake; for lake it proved to be when they had gone 

 round to the other side, and had an unobstructed view. The man 

 was laughed at a good deal, of course, for mistaking a lake for the 

 sea, and the water at that time received the name of Billington Sea, 

 which it retains to this day. It is a very pretty spot, and much fre- 

 quented by the young people of Plymouth for pic-nics, boating par- 

 ties, rides, etc. I have often been there myself, and hope that some 

 time or other each one of my readers may look at this place and the 

 Forefathers' Rock, which is so celebrated as being the place where 

 the Pilgrims first trod, and all the other curiosities of those times with 

 which the place abounds. But if you should ever go there, you can- 

 not fail to wonder when you see this flourishing town, and remem- 

 ber the dreary forest which it was two hundred years ago. 



While the cold weather remained, Henry obeyed his father's injunc- 

 tions to keep always within the settlement, and not to stray off alone 

 into the woods ; for not only was there danger of his being lost, 

 but also of being carried off by Indians, or being devoured by 

 wild beasts. But when the warm summer months came, Henry 

 used occasionally to go. a short distance, with the other children and 

 Ponto, to pick berries and wild fruit ; and as he had always returned 

 safely from these excursions, Mr. Morton had ceased feeling any 

 anxiety about him. 



On one of these occasions, however, when the party of children 

 returned to the settlement, little Henry Morton was not among them. 

 The other children had not perceived his absence until questioned, 

 and then said that he had not been noticed since they left the hill 

 where they had been picking berries, which was about two miles 

 from the settlement. Mr. Morton immediately roused the neighbors, 

 and the search was commenced. But although the party did not 

 return until entirely exhausted with fatigue, no trace of the missing 

 boy could be found, excepting that at about half a mile from the set- 

 tlement one of the men discovered poor Ponto, who, shot through the 

 leg with an Indian arrow, had dragged himself thus near to his 



