There was a heavy depth of snow on the ground, but the young man made up his mind that he would go to his old friend Massasoit, and ask him to help him in his trouble.

[Illustration:  Map showing Roger Williams’s route from Salem to Mount Hope.]

Massasoit lived near Mount Hope, in what is now Rhode Island, about eighty miles southwest from Salem.  There were no roads through the woods, and it was a long, dreary journey to make on foot, but Mr. Williams did not hesitate.  He took a hatchet to chop fire-wood, a flint and steel to strike fire with,—­for in those days people had no matches,—­and, last of all, a pocket-compass to aid him in finding his way through the thick forest.

[Illustration:  Striking fire with flint and steel.  The sparks were caught on some old, half-burnt rag, and were then blown to a blaze.]

All day he waded wearily on through the deep snow, only stopping now and then to rest or to look at his compass and make sure that he was going in the right direction.  At night he would gather wood enough to make a little fire to warm himself or to melt some snow for drink.  Then he would cut down a few boughs for a bed, or, if he was lucky enough to find a large, hollow tree, he would creep into that.  There he would fall asleep, while listening to the howling of the wind or to the fiercer howling of the hungry wolves prowling about the woods.

[Illustration:  ROGER WILLIAMS WADING THROUGH THE SNOW.]

At length, after much suffering from cold and want of food, he managed to reach Massasoit’s wigwam.  There the big-hearted Indian chief gave him a warm welcome.  He took him into his poor cabin and kept him till spring—­there was no board bill to pay.  All the Indians liked the young minister, and even Canonicus,[5] that savage chief of a neighboring tribe, who had dared Governor Bradford to fight, said that he “loved him as his own son.”

[Footnote 5:  Canonicus:  see paragraph 70.]

85.  Roger Williams at Seekonk;[6] “What cheer, friend?”—­When the warm days came, in the spring of 1636, Mr. Williams began building a log hut for himself at Seekonk, on the east bank of the Seekonk River.  But he was told that his cabin stood on ground owned by the people of Massachusetts; so he, with a few friends who had joined him, took a canoe and paddled down stream to find a new place to build.

[Illustration:  Map of Rhode Island.]

“What cheer, friend? what cheer?” shouted some Indians who were standing on a rock on the western bank of the river.  That was the Indian way of saying How do you do, and just then Roger Williams was right glad to hear it.  He landed on what is now called “What Cheer Rock,"[7] and had a talk with the red men.  They told him that there was a fine spring of water round the point of land a little further down.  He went there, and liked the spot so much that he decided to stop.  His friend Canonicus owned the land, and he gladly let him have what he needed.  Roger Williams believed that a kind Providence had guided him to this pleasant place, and for this reason he named it PROVIDENCE.