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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 sing

ing 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 answer,

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,

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 hedge-rows 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 churchyard.

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:

I do not condemn you;

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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!"

Thus he delivered his message, the dexterous

writer of letters,

Did not embellish the theme, nor array it in

beautiful phrases,

But came straight to the point, and blurted it

out like a schoolboy;

Even the Captain himself could hardly have

said it more bluntly.

Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla the

Puritan maiden

Looked into Alden's face, her eyes dilated with

wonder,

Feeling his words like a blow, that stunned her and rendered her speechless;

Till at length she exclaimed, interrupting the

ominous silence :

"If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very

eager to wed me,

Why does he not come himself, and take the

trouble to woo me?

If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not

worth the winning!"

Then John Alden began explaining and smooth

ing the matter,

Making it worse as he went, by saying the

Captain was busy,

Had no time for such things; - such things! the words grating harshly

Fell on the ear of Priscilla; and swift as a

flash she made answer:

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