And are offended and hurt, and indignant perhaps, that a woman

Does not respond at once to a love that she never suspected,

Does not attain at a bound the height to which you have been climbing.

This is not right nor just for surely a wo

man's affection

Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for

only the asking.

When one is truly in love, one not only says

it, but shows it.

Had he but waited awhile, had he only showed

that he loved me,

Even this Captain of yours - who knows? at last might have won me,

Old and rough as he is; but now it never

can happen."

Still John Alden went on, unheeding the words of Priscilla,

Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, per

suading, expanding;

Spoke of his courage and skill, and of all his

battles in Flanders,

How with the people of God he had chosen

to suffer affliction;

How, in return for his zeal, they had made him Captain of Plymouth;

He was a gentleman born, could trace his pedigree plainly

Back to Hugh Standish of Duxbury Hall, in

Lancashire, England,

Who was the son of Ralph, and the grandson of Thurston de Standish;

Heir unto vast estates, of which he was

basely defrauded,

Still bore the family arms, and had for his

crest a cock argent

Combed and wattled gules, and all the rest

of the blazon.

He was a man of honor, of noble and gener

ous nature;

Though he was rough, he was kindly; she knew how during the winter

He had attended the sick, with a hand as

gentle as woman's;

Somewhat hasty and hot, he could not deny

it, and headstrong,

Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, and

placable always,

Not to be laughed at and scorned, because

he was little of stature;

For he was great of heart, magnanimous,

courtly, courageous;

Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any woman

in England,

Might be happy and proud to be called the wife of Miles Standish!

But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple and eloquent language,

Quite forgetful of self, and full of the praise

of his rival,

Archly the maiden smiled, and, with eyes overrunning with laughter,

Said, in a tremulous voice, “Why don't you speak for yourself, John ?"