They eluded the vigilance of the Huron, fled at nightfall, with swift feet, towards the Hudson, and in the darkness, shot out upon its bosom, in a light canoe, followed by blood-thirsty pursuers. The strong arm of the young Pequod paddled his beloved one safely to a deep rocky nook near the mouth of the "Winnakee, concealed her there, and with a few friendly Delawares whom he had secured by a shout, he fought, conquered, and drove off" the Huron warriors. The sheltered nook where the maiden lay was a safe harbour for her, and the brave Pequod and his friends joyfully confirmed its title to Apo-keep-siticlc.

Poughkeepsie was settled by the Dutch at the close of the seventeenth century. The first substantial stone building was erected not far from the Winnakee, by Baltus Yan Kleek, in the year 1705, and remained a

THE HUDSON. 189

hundred and thirty years, when it made way for modern improvements. This house, like many others built so early, was pierced with loopholes for musketry, near the roof, that beinp: a necessaiT precaution against attacks by the Indians. It was the scene of stirring events, being for

many years a tavern, and the gathering ^^ ("^iiK^^,.^ ,.

place of the people. "When the old court-house was burned at the outbreak of the revolution, it became the meeting place of the citizens for public purposes. There Ann Lee, the founder of the Shaker church in America, was con-

THE \A> KLEEK HOtSr.

fined, in 1776, on a charge of complicity with the enemies of republicanism. There the legislature of New York, when driven by the torch from Kingston, in 1777, met, and continued during two sessions ; and there many of the members of the State Convention in 1788, to consider the Federal Constitution, found a home during the session.