Olcott, Frances Jenkins, 1872-1963
"Good Stories for Holidays"
``So they lefte
y
goodly & pleasante citie,'' writes their historian
Bradford, ``which had been ther resting place
near 12 years, but they knew they were pilgrimes
& looked not much on those things, but lift up
their eyes to y Heavens their dearest cuntrie, and
quieted their spirits.''
When, after many vexing days upon the deep,
the pilgrims first sighted the New World, they
were filled with praise and thanksgiving. Going
ashore they fell upon their knees and blessed the
God of Heaven. And after that, whenever they
were delivered from accidents or despair, they
gave God ``solemne thanks and praise.'' Such
were the Pilgrims and such their habit day by
day.
The first winter in the New World was marked
by great suffering and want. Hunger and illness
thinned the little colony, and caused many
graves to be made on the near-by hillside.
The spring of 1621 opened. The seed was sown
in the fields. The colonists cared for it without
ceasing, and watched its growth with anxiety; for
well they knew that their lives depended upon a
full harvest.
The days of spring and summer flew by, and the
autumn came. Never in Holland or England had
the Pilgrims seen the like of the treasures bounteous
Nature now spread before them. The woodlands
were arrayed in gorgeous colors, brown,
crimson, and gold, and swarmed with game of all
kinds, that had been concealed during the summer.
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