Back of the schoolhouse rose a round hill, upon which, traditionsaid, had stood in colonial times a block-house, built by thesettlers for defense against the Indians. For the Indians had theidea that the blacks were not settled enough, and used to come nightsto settle--them with a tomahawk. It was called Fort Hill. It wasvery steep on each side, and the river ran close by. It was acharming place in summer, where one could find laurel, andcheckerberries, and sassafras roots, and sit in the cool breeze,looking at the mountains across the river, and listening to themurmur of the Deerfield. The Methodists built a meeting-house thereafterwards, but the hill was so slippery in winter that the agedcould not climb it and the wind raged so fiercely that it blew nearlyall the youthful Methodists away (many of who were afterwards heard ofin the West), and finally the meeting-house itself came down into thevalley, and grew a steeple, and enjoyed itself ever afterwards. Itused to be a notion in New England that a meeting-house ought tostand as near heaven as possible.