hing. Is aught
amiss that I can help?"

"Nay, Will, 't is naught, and less than naught. 'T is but a new
knowledge of mine own unworthiness. Sure 'never such a fool as an old
fool' is a good proverb."

"'T is not to a fool that we trust the lives of ten out of our nineteen
men," said Bradford quietly.

"Oh, I can fight well enow," replied the soldier bitterly. "'T is my
trade, and all I'm fit for. Ay, and in my mood to-day I'll be fain to
fight. I only fear this knave Corbitant hath run away."

"If so, he confesses his defeat without the need of bloodshed,"
suggested Bradford. "And at all odds, Standish, our policy is to make
friends by fair means if we may. Remember, if Squanto is not harmed,
Corbitant is not to be touched. If indeed our poor friend is slain, then
have you warrant for Corbitant's head, and the lives of all who helped
to murder Squanto. Thou 'rt too honorable a man and too good a Christian
to let thine own chafed humor interfere with justice."

"I am too well drilled a soldier to disobey orders, Governor," replied
the Captain briefly, and so they parted, nor did Standish and Alden
exchange a sentence that night save barely these,--

"In one word, John, was the answer to my message yes or no?"

"Dear Master, it was no."

"I bade thee answer in one word, and thou hast disobeyed me in using
five."

The next morning brought one of those furious summer storms peculiar to
August, and the little force, loaded with armor, weapons, and knapsacks,
found themselves much distressed by the humid heat. Reaching a sheltered
spot about a mile from Namasket, Standish resolved to remain there until
dark, giving the men opportunity for rest and refreshment, and trusting
to the storm and the night to cover his attack upon a foe ten times his
own number.

As darkness closed in upon the encampment, the captain roused himself
from a soldier's nap, and briefly ordered,--

"Eat what provisions you have left in your knapsacks, men, and empty
your flasks. Then pile and leave both beside this rock. Those of us who
are alive in the morning will subsist upon the enemy. Those who are not
will feel no lack."

Soon after dark the little troop set forth, but Hobomok, deceived by the
darkness and the rain, missed the route, and for three weary hours the
men floundered around in the dripping forest, the guide wisely keeping
out of the captain's reach, until in a gleam of watery moonlight Winslow
recognized a peculiar clump