But with the air of a man whom nothing can turn from his pur

pose,

Gravely shaking his head, made answer the Captain of Plym

66

outh,

Truly the maxim is good, and I do not mean to gainsay it ;

But we must use it discreetly, and not waste powder for nothing.
Now, as I said before, I was never a maker of phrases.

I can march up to a fortress and summon the place to surrender,
But march up to a woman with such a proposal, I dare not.
I'm not afraid of bullets, nor shot from the mouth of a cannon,
But of a thundering "No !" point-blank from the mouth of a

woman,

That I confess I'm afraid of, nor am I ashamed to confess it !

So you must grant my request, for you are an elegant scholar, Having the graces of speech, and skill in the turning of phrases." Taking the band of his friend, who still was reluctant and doubtful,

Holding it long in his own, and pressing it kindly, he added: “Though I have spoken thus lightly, yet deep is the feeling that

prompts me ;

Surely you cannot refuse what I ask in the name of our friendship!"

Then made answer John Alden : "The name of friendship is sacred;

What you demand in that name, I have not the power to deny you!"

So the strong will prevailed, subduing and moulding the gentler, Friendship prevailed over love, and Alden went on his errand.

III.

THE LOVER'S ERRAND.

So the strong will prevailed, and Alden went on his errand,
Out of the street of the village, and into the paths of the forest,
Into the tranquil woods, where blue-birds and robins were build.
ing

Towns in the populous trees, with hanging gardens of verdure,
Peaceful, aerial cities of joy and affection and freedom.

All around him was calm, but within him commotion and conflict,

Love contending with friendship, and self with each generous

impulse.

To and fro in his breast his thoughts were heaving and dashing, As in a foundering ship, with every roll of the vessel, Washes the bitter sea, the merciless surge of the ocean! "Must I relinquish it all," he cried with a wild lamentation, "Must I relinquish it all, the joy, the hope, the illusion?

Was it for this I have loved, and waited, and worshipped in silence?

Was it for this I have followed the flying feet and the shadow
Over the wintry sea, to the desolate shores of New England ?
Truly the heart is deceitful, and out of its depths of corruption
Rise, like an exhalation, the misty phantoms of passion;
Angels of light they seem, but are only delusions of Satan.1
All is clear to me now; I feel it, I see it distinctly!
This is the hand of the Lord; it is laid upon me in anger,
For I have followed too much the heart's desires and devices,
Worshipping Astaroth 2 blindly, and impious idols of Baal.2
This is the cross I must bear; the sin and the swift retribution."

So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on his errand;

Crossing the brook at the ford, where it brawled over pebble and shallow,

1 The reference is to 2 Cor. xi 14.

Baal and Ashtaroth, the supreme male and female divinities of the Phoenicians and Canaanites.

Gathering still, as he went, the May-flowers blooming around

him,

Fragrant, filling the air with a strange and wonderful sweetness, Children lost in the woods, and covered with leaves in their

slumber.

"Puritan flowers," he said, "and the type of Puritan maidens, Modest and simple and sweet, the very type of Priscilla !

So I will take them to her; to Priscilla the May-flower of Plymouth,

Modest and simple and sweet, as a parting gift will I take them ; Breathing their silent farewells, as they fade and wither and

perish,

Soon to be thrown away as is the heart of the giver."

So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on his errand ; Came to an open space, and saw the disk of the ocean,

Sailless, sombre and cold with the comfortless breath of the east

wind;

Saw the new-built house, and people at work in a meadow ;
Heard, as he drew near the door, the musical voice of Priscilla
Singing the hundreth Psalm, the grand old Puritan anthem,
Music that Luther sang to the sacred words of the Psalmist,
Full of the breath of the Lord, consoling and comforting many.
Then, as he opened the door, he beheld the form of the maiden
Seated beside her wheel, and the carded wool like a snow-drift
Piled at her knee, her white hands feeding the ravenous spindle,
While with her foot on the treadle she guided the wheel in its
motion.

Open wide on her lap lay the well-worn psalm-book of Ainsworth,
Printed in Amsterdam, the words and the music together,
Rough-hewn, angular notes, like stones in the wall of a church-

yard,

Darkened and overhung by the running vine of the verses.

Such was the book from whose pages she sang the old Puritan anthem,

She, the Puritan girl, in the solitude of the forest,

1 The English May-flower, for which the vessel was named is the hawthorn blossom The New England May-flower is the trailing arbutus.

The trailing arbutus blooms underneath the dead leaves. The reference is to the nursery story of the Babes in the Wood.

A spirited description of the musical notation of that day. For specimen of the words, see appendix to introduction.

Making the humble house and the modest apparel of home-spun Beautiful with her beauty, and rich with the wealth of her being! Over him rushed, like a wind that is keen and cold and relentless,

Thoughts of what might have been, and the weight and woe of his errand;

All the dreams that had faded, and all the hopes that had vanished,

All his life henceforth a dreary and tenantless mansion,
Haunted by vain regrets, and pallid, sorrowful faces.

Still he said to himself, and almost fiercely he said it,

"Let not him that putteth his hand to the plough look backwards; '

Though the ploughshare cut through the flowers of life to its fountains,

Though it pass o'er the graves of the dead and the hearths of the

living,

It is the will of the Lord; and his mercy endureth for ever!"

So he entered the house and the hum of the wheel and the singing

Suddenly ceased; for Priscilla, aroused by his step on the threshold,

Rose as he entered, and gave him her hand, in signal of welcome, Saying, "I knew it was you, when I heard your step in the

passage;

For I was thinking of you, as I sat there singing and spinning." Awkward and dumb with delight, that a thought of him had been mingled

Thus in the sacred psalm, that came from the heart of the maiden, Silent before her he stood, and gave her the flowers for an an

swer,

Finding no words for his thought. He remembered that day in the winter,

After the first great snow, when he broke a path from the village,

Reeling and plunging along through the drifts that encumbered

the doorway,

1 Luke ix. 62.

"No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'

Stamping the snow from his feet as he entered the house, and

Priscilla

Laughed at his snowy locks, and gave him a seat by the fireside, Grateful and pleased to know he had thought of her in the

snow-storm.

Had he but spoken then! perhaps not in vain had he spoken;
Now it was all too late; the golden moment had vanished !
So he stood there abashed, and gave her the flowers for an

answer.

Then they sat down and talked of the birds and the beautiful Spring-time,

Talked of their friends at home, and the May Flower that sailed on the morrow.

"I have been thinking all day," said gently the Puritan maiden, "Dreaming all night, and thinking all day, of the hedgerows of England,

They are in blossom now, and the country is all like a garden; Thinking of lanes and fields, and the song of the lark and the linnet,

Seeing the village street, and familiar faces of neighbors
Going about as of old, and stopping to gossip together,

And, at the end of the street, the village church, with the ivy
Climbing the old gray tower, and the quiet graves in the church-

yard.

Kind are the people I live with, and dear to me my religion;
Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself back in Old England.
You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it: I almost
Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so lonely and wretched."

Thereupon answered the youth :-"Indeed I do not condemn

you;

Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in this terrible winter.

Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a stronger to lean on ; So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of marriage Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth!"

1 These birds are practically identified with England.