Investigation proved,
however, that the Appalachian was not outdone, for the hero of the
canard accomplished his feat only by taking a Champlain steamer at
Burlington, Vt., and walking deck the entire distance to Rouse's Point!
After passing Concord we advanced through wilder regions where the
swiftly changing views of clustering villages and quiet farm-houses
alternated with wooded slopes and glimpses of pond or river forming a
series of charming pictures. Nature was at her best and the picturesque
hills of New Hampshire were beautiful in all their June finery.
At Penacook the granite monument on Dustin Island was pointed out. In
1697 Hannah Dustin, with her six weeks' old babe and its nurse, were
captured by Indians at Haverhill and brought to the wigwam camp on this
island. The babe was killed before her eyes but the mother planned an
escape. Awaking the nurse and a white lad who had been taken prisoner
also, she took the Indians' own tomahawks and dispatched the men and one
woman. The brave white women then spiked all the cannon save one and
taking the scalps of their victims with them, they embarked on the
Merrimack, then high with the spring floods, and soon reached Haverhill.
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