Pleased with the praise of her thrift from him whose

praise was the sweetest, Drew from the reel on the table a snowy skein of her

spinning, Thus making answer, meanwhile, to the flattering

phrases of Alden: “Come, you must not be idle; if I am a pattern for

housewives, Show yourself equally worthy of being the model of husbands.

890 Hold this skein on your hands, while I wind it, ready

for knitting; Then who knows but hereafter, when fashions have

changed and the manners, Fathers

may talk to their sons of the good old times of John Alden! !" Thus, with a jest and a laugh, the skein on his hands

she adjusted, He sitting awkwardly there, with his arms extended

before him, She standing graceful, erect, and winding the thread

from his fingers, Sometimes chiding a little his clumsy manner of hold

ing, Sometimes touching his hands, as she disentangled

expertly

895

1

Twist or knot in the yarn, unawares - for how could,

she help it? Sending electrical thrills through every nerve in his

body.

900

Lo! in the midst of this scene, a breathless messen

ger entered, Bringing in hurry and heat the terrible news from the

village. Yes; Miles Standish was dead! an Indian had

brought them the tidings, Slain by a poisoned arrow, shot down in the front of

the battle, Into an ambush beguiled, cut off with the whole of his forces;

905 All the town would be burned, and all the people be

murdered! Such were the tidings of evil that burst on the hearts

of the hearers. Silent and statue-like stood Priscilla, her face looking

backward Still at the face of the speaker, her arms uplifted in

horror; But John Alden, upstarting, as if the barb of the ar

910

Alder

row

Piercing the heart of his friend had struck his own,

and had sundered Once and forever the bonds that held him bound as a

captive, Wild with excess of sensation, the awful delight of

his freedom, Mingled with pain and regret, unconscious of what he

was doing, Clasped, almost with a groan, the motionless form of Priscilla,

915 Pressing her close to his heart, as forever his own,

and exclaiming: « Those whom the Lord hath united, let no man put

them asunder!”

14

Even as rivulets twain, from distant and separate

sources, Seeing each other afar, as they leap from the rocks,

and pursuing Each one its devious path, but drawing nearer and nearer,

920 Rush together at last, at their trysting-place in the

forest; So these lives that had run thus far in separate channels,

Coming in sight of each other, then swerving and

flowing asunder, Parted by barriers strong, but drawing nearer and

nearer, Rushed together at last, and one was lost in the other.

92;

IX

THE WEDDING-DAY

Forth from the curtain of clouds, from the tent of

purple and scarlet, Issued the sun, the great High-Priest, in his garments

resplendent, Holiness unto the Lord, in letters of light, on his fore

head, Round the hem of his robe the golden bells and pome

granates. Blessing the world he came, and the bars of vapor beneath him

930 Gleamed like a grate of brass, and the sea at his feet This was the wedding morn of Priscilla the Puri.

tan maiden. Friends were assembled together; the Elder and

Magistrate also Graced the scene with their presence, and stood like

the Law and the Gospel, One with the sanction of earth and one with the blessing of heaven.

935 Simple and brief was the wedding as that of Ruth

and of Boaz. Softly the youth and the maiden repeated the words

of betrothal, Taking each other for husband and wife in the Magis

trate's presence, After the Puritan way, and the laudable custom of

Holland. Fervently then and devoutly, the excellent Elder of

Plymouth

940