she said,

THE STORY OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING.

"The first settlers of New England were the Pilgrims who came across
the sea from England in the ship Mayfower."

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"Oh, yes," said Harold, "I remember when we went to Plymouth and saw
the Plymouth Rock and the old houses and the monument on the hill."

"Yes," said mamma, "that is where they landed and built their log
houses. I will recite a poem which I learned when I was a girl and
went to school like Margaret."

"The breaking waves dashed high
On a stern and rockbound coast,
And the woods against a stormy sky
Their giant branches tossed;

"And the heavy night hung dark
The hills and waters o'er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On the wild New England shore.

"Not as the conqueror comes,
They, the true-hearted, came,
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet that sings of fame;

"Not as the flying come,
In silence and in fear,--
They shook the depths of the desert gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer.

"Amidst the storm they sang,
And the stars heard and the sea!
And the sounding aisles of the dim wood rang
To the anthem of the free!

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"The ocean eagle soared
From his nest by the white wave's foam,
And the rocking pines of the forest roared--
This was their welcome home!

"There were men with hoary hair
Amidst that pilgrim band--
Why had they come to wither there
Away from their childhood's land?

"There was woman's fearless eye,
Lit by her deep love's truth;
There was manhood's brow, serenely high,
And the fiery heart of youth.

"What sought they thus afar?
Bright jewels of the mine?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?--
They sought a faith's pure shrine.

"Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod!
They have left unstain'd what there they found--
Freedom to worship God!"

"Did they have a very hard time at Plymouth?" said Margaret.

"Yes, my dear," replied mamma, "a very hard time. There were little
children, and they often had to go cold and hungry. After the
Mayflower brought them to Plymouth, it had to sail away again to
England and leave them in the wilderness alone."

"There were Indians, too," said Harold.

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[Illustration]
THRESHING

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by
her kind permission.