The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-12-16


Meekly, in voices subdued, the chap
ter was read from the Bible,
Meekly the prayer was begun, but
ended in fervent entreatyl
Then from their houses in haste came
forth the Pilgrims of Plymouth,
Men and women and children, all hur
rying down to the sea Shore
Eager, with fearful eyes, to say lare-
well to the Maynower,
Homeward bound Ger the sea and
leaving them here in the desert.
Foremost among them was Alden.
All night he had lain without
slumber,
Turning and tossing about in the heat
and unrest of his fever.
lie had beheld Miles Standish, who
came back late from the council.
Stalking into the room. and heard him
mutter and murmur,
Sometimes 1t seemed a prayer, and
sometimes Il sounded like swear
ing.
Once he had come TO the bed, and
stood there a moment IN silence;
Then he had turned away, and said;
81 will not wake him;
let him sleep on, It Is best, fer what
is the use Of mere tall.irr!"
Then he extinguished tho light. ard
threw himself down on his pallet.
dressed as he was, and ready to start
at tho 5raek c. the morning.
Covered himself with the clcak he
had worn IN .!J ,a;-pa.Sls ia
F.Gnderc.-
Slept as a solder sleeps in his
bivouac, ready for action.
But with TIE dGya n c"oco: in the
twilight Alden iohe'd til
Put on his corselet OF steel, and all
the rest of his armor. t.tia
Buckle about his waist his trlisty
blade Of Damascus,
Take from the corner his musket, and
so stride out of the chamber
Often the heart Of the youth had
burned and yearned to embrace
him,
Often his lips had essayed to speak,
lmplorlnB Tor pardon;
All the old friendship came back,
with its tender and grateful emo
tlons;
But his pride overmastered the nobler
nature within him.
Pride, and the sense of his wrong,
and the burning fire of the insult.
So he beheld his friend departing in
anger, but spake not,
Saw him go forth to danger, perhaps
to death, and he spake notl
Then he arose from his bed, and
heard what the people were say
ing,
Joined in the talk at the door, with
Stephen and Richard and Gilbert,
1otaed in the morning prayer, and in
the reading Of Scripture,
And, with the others, IN haste went
hurrying down to the sea shore,
Down to the Plymouth Roca, that had
been to their feet as q doorstep
INTO world unknown,-the corner.
stone OF a nation!
TEere with his toat was the Master,
alrea ady q little impatient
Lest he should lose the tide, OF tho
wind might shift to the eastward,
sluare-built, hearty, and strong, with
an odor of ocean about him,
Speaking with this one and that, and
cramming letters and parcels
INTO his pockets capacious, and mes
sages mingled together
Into his narrow brain. till at last he
was wholly bewildered.
Nearer the boat stood Alden, with one
loot placed on the gunwale,
one sun firm on the rock and talking
at times with the sailors,
Seated erect on the thwarts, all ready
and eager for Starting.
He' TOO, was eager to 60 and thus
put an end to his anguish,
thinking to fly from despair, that
swifter than keel is or canvas,
thinking to drown in the sea the
ghost that would rise and pursue
him.
but as no gazed on the crowd, he be-
held the form OF Priscilla
standing detected among them, uncon.
scious Of all that was passing.
Flxed were her eyes upon his, as II
she OWNED his intention.
Flxed with look 50 cad. so reproach-