ksgiving. But now advancing into the midst, his
air of serene authority as much as his uplifted hand imposing silence
upon the merry rebels, who dropped their various implements, and tried
in vain to appear at ease, Bradford looking from one to another quietly
said,--

"I told you this morning that if you made the keeping of Christmas Day
matter of conscience, I should leave you alone until you were better
informed; now, however, I warn you that it goeth against my conscience
as governor of this colony to let idle men play while others work, and
if indeed you find matter of devotion in the day ye shall keep it
quietly and soberly in your housen. There shall be neither reveling nor
gaming in the streets, and that I promise you. Let whosoever owneth
these toys take them away and store them out of sight; and remember,
men, that the Apostle saith, 'If a man will not work neither shall he
eat.'"

Silently and shamefacedly the revelers collected bats and balls, cricket
stools, bars, poles, and iron weights, carrying them each man to his own
house, and in the afternoon the chopping party was augmented by nearly
every one of the new-comers.

CHAPTER XXX.

A SOLDIER'S INSTINCT.

A year and more from that Christmas Day has sped, and again we find
Bradford and Standish with Winslow gathered together at the governor's
house, resting after the labors of the day, smoking the consoling pipe,
and even tasting from time to time the contents of a square case bottle,
which, with a jug of hot water and a basin of sugar were set forth upon
a curious little clawfooted table worth to-day its weight in gold if
only it could have survived.

None of the three look younger than they did when they first stepped
upon the Rock; sun and wind, and winter storm and summer heat have
bronzed their English complexions and deepened the lines about the quiet
steadfast lips and anxious eyes. Already Bradford's shoulders were a
little bowed, partly by the burden of his responsibility, partly by
arduous manual labor, but upon his face had grown the serenity and
somewhat of the impassiveness into which the Egyptians loved to mould
the features of their kings,--that expression which of all others
belongs to a man who uses great power firmly and decisively, and yet
looks upon himself as but a steward, who soon or late shall be called to
render a strict account of his stewardship.

And Winslow, courtly, learned, and fit for lofty emprise, how bore