Mother's Pack with the Indian Chief

Indians would come and ask for something to eat. Most of the people would shut the door, being afraid, and would not give them anything to eat. But Elijah Hancock's mother was a favorite of theirs because we would ask them in and give them food. She gave the chief, who was very sick, a shirt that belonged to his oldest brother Isaac, to be buried in. So before the Chief died he made an Oath before us all and called his family around, (Elijah's brother Isaac being interpreter) and as the Indians raised their hand to God, they said that they would not kill any of Isaac's family. Phoebe called her family and they all made an Oath that they would not kill any of the Chief's family. A short time after this, in wartime, his mother was ploughing the ground so they could plant a crop, and as Isaac was gone, Jacob and Elijah had to help her. One day the heard the brush crack, then voices came a little closer and they heard an Indian saying loudly, "Isaac's Mother, Isaac's Brother!" and not to kill them. They came out and put their food down and all ate together. The Indians had their war paint on and meant to kill but they spared their lives because they remembered and kept the Oath. The Indians went on a little farther and killed a man so Elijah's family always felt the Indian's Promise and Oath meant a lot to them. Their lives were spared several times by the Oath of the Chief's family. Taken from Elijah and Francis Hancock, by Spencer Palmer