Myles Standish

“ How is it about Captain Standish in these days? Hath he grown meek and mild, and afraid to carry himself after his own mind?"
"Why so tart, Barbara? Because I chid thee for trifling with Allerton?" [Pg 396]
"Nay Myles, I made not yon weary voyage for the sake of quarreling with thee. Well dost thou know, cousin, I would not trifle with any man, and I begged the governor to enforce out of his own mouth the no-say that I worded gently, for truly there is no reason for me to flout the gentleman. ”

“ Terrify him, Myles, as you well know how! They fear you more than all the power of the Bay Colony put together.”
Now the fact remains that so long as Myles Standish lived his was a name to conjure with among the red men; and although, except at Wessagussett, he seldom, if ever, was engaged in actual conflict, or was guilty of their blood, the rumor of his coming was enough to disperse many an angry party, and to restrain many incendiary counsels. Nor was it fear alone, for the savages admired and emulated, yes, and loved the man ”

“ Later another Sir John Standish participated in the battle of Agincourt. While still a youth, Myles entered the English forces on the continent, and after serving in the Netherlands he joined in Leyden the colony that sailed in the “Mayflower” from Plymouth, England, on 16 Sept., 1620. The vessel anchored in the Bay of Cape Cod on 21 Nov., 1620, and on 25 Nov. sixteen armed men, “every one his Musket, Sword, and Corslet, Under the command of Captaine Myles Standish,” were sent ashore for a second exploration. ”

“ I have letters from England”—
“And I too, God save the mark!” growled Standish, who all the evening had worn the face of a thundercloud.
“Ill news, I fear,” said his friend gently.
“Not more ill than one who has known the world for half a century should look for; naught more novel than falsehood, and treachery, and covetousness, and wrong.”
“Nay, friend Myles, nay, my brother; ‘Charity suffereth long and is kind’”—
“Suffereth long, but opens her eyes at last. However, I will not burden you with mine own griefs, Elder ”

“ Hast been chiding him, Myles?" asked Bradford as they followed down the hill.
"Nay," replied the captain. "But like enough he's thwarted at missing the chance of a brush with the redskins to-morrow, and 't is a pity."
"Nay, Myles, look not so pensive on 't," responded the governor laughing. "There are men, believe it if you can, who love the smell of roses better than of blood. To my fancy John Alden—but there, light jesting is surely ill befitting the hour of prayer." ”

“ Goe on, good friends, comfortably, pluck up your spirits, and quitte your selves like men in all your difficulties, that notwithstanding all displeasure and threats of men, yet ye work may goe on you are aboute, and not be neglected."
Myles Standish was sent over in hope of persuading the Merchant Adventurers to hold together, with the aid also of the nominally ruling Council for New England. ”

“ Dame Alice loves her passing well."
"'T is a good wench and a comfortable one," replied Standish well pleased. "Had Rose lived, or had Priscilla said me yea, I had taken Barbara under mine own roof; but now I must wait until she makes her choice of the swains that soon will come a-wooing, and then she and her husband shall come to me."
"Ay," returned Bradford musingly, and checking [Pg 387] upon his lips the smile that danced in his eyes. "Thy plans are ever wisely laid, Myles." ”

“ I have to speak with you," his guardian greeted him; and Miles dropped the wood and wondered what he had done wrong. "Pray you, sir, John Alden told me I might take that fowling piece," he offered his excuses.
"Am I always so severe that you look for naught but chiding from me, Miles?" Master Hopkins said sternly, yet with something half wistful in his tone. "I would but say to you that Captain Standish has long urged me to let you be one of his household, and I have as long withstood him. For all he is a brave gentleman, he is not of the faith in which your father lived. ”

“ Kind are the people I live with, and dear to me, my religion;
Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself back in Old England.
You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it: I almost
Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so lonely and wretched.”
Thereupon answered the youth:—“Indeed I do not condemn you,
Stouter hearts than a woman’s have quailed in this terrible winter.
Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a stronger to lean on;
So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of marriage
Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth!” ”

“ But Francis stiffened up at his greeting and put on a surprising new air of virtue. "I'm forbid to have to do with you, Miles," he announced, with open delight. "Sure, I see not why your father ever need keep you so tenderly from my conversation. Why, you are yourself the worst lad in all the colony; 'twas Captain Standish himself said so to my father."
"I think you are not speaking the truth," Miles answered doggedly; he had a mind to fight Francis for such a story, but very likely if he fought, Master Hopkins would whip him. ”

“ Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together.
Yesterday I was shocked, when I heard you speak of Miles Standish,
Praising his virtues, transforming his very defects into virtues,
Praising his courage and strength, and even his fighting in Flanders,
As if by fighting alone you could win the heart of a woman,
Quite overlooking yourself and the rest, in exalting your hero.
Therefore I spake as I did, by an irresistible impulse.
You will forgive me, I hope, for the sake of the friendship between us,
Which is too true and too sacred to be so easily broken! ”

“ 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! ”

“ For, spite of Standish's cheerful speech, he could see clearly enough that every man in the craft was troubled and longing to reach the endangered settlement.
But the wind blew lightly, in veering flaws, so the [266] shallop must make tedious long tacks, while the hours rolled out. The heat began to go from the air, so Miles was glad to wrap himself in a spare cloak, as the Captain ordered; and the sun, in the west, slipped behind gray clouds. The water darkened, and the twilight had fallen in earnest, when at last the shallop tacked in at the outer entrance of Plymouth Harbor. ”

“ Thus to the young man spake Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth:
“When you have finished your work, I have something important to tell you.
Be not however in haste; I can wait; I shall not be impatient!”
Straightway Alden replied, as he folded the last of his letters,
Pushing his papers aside, and giving respectful attention:
“Speak; for whenever you speak, I am always ready to listen,
Always ready to hear whatever pertains to Miles Standish.”
Thereupon answered the Captain, embarrassed, and culling his phrases:
“’Tis not good for a man to be alone, say the Scriptures. ”

“ Lighter grew their hearts, and Priscilla said very archly:
“Now that our terrible Captain has gone in pursuit of the Indians,
Where he is happier far than he would be commanding a household,
You may speak boldly, and tell me of all that happened between you,
When you returned last night, and said how ungrateful you found me.”
Thereupon answered John Alden, and told her the whole of the story,—
Told her his own despair, and the direful wrath of Miles Standish.
Whereat the maiden smiled, and said between laughing and earnest,
“He is a little chimney, and heated hot in a moment!” ”

“ Standish asked, almost sharply. "There's not an Indian within six league of Plymouth. Don't worry yourself for that, lad; you'll find the village as you left it, and all the women ready to weep over you."
At these first comforting words he had received since he boarded the shallop, Miles plucked up heart and drew closer to Captain Standish. ”

“ Miles, on his good behavior, neither looked at him nor smiled, but fixed his gaze on the men about the table. The sun had now shifted down the sky, so a great bar of light thrust in at the western window. The yellow brightness flecked across Elder Brewster's grizzled head, made Governor Carver's stiff ruff even more dazzlingly white, and gleamed back again from Captain Standish's steel corselet. ”

“ Out in the street the men and boys, and even one or two girls, were hastening toward the bluff above the spring. As they went, a confused talking spread among them, from which Miles learned that yonder, on the great wooded hill across the brook, Indians had been seen,—Indians who brandished their bows and whetted their arrows in defiance. Captain Standish and Master Hopkins and two men from the Mayflower had gone down to cross the brook and parley with them. ”

“ An hour's rest and the food they had been unable to swallow while athirst, so refreshed the Pilgrims that even Allerton resumed the march with fresh courage and pursued it steadily until Billington, suddenly pausing and pointing down at a narrow path intersecting their own, said in a low voice to Standish who came close behind him,—
"Men's feet, not beasts. It will lead belike to a village."
"Ay," responded the captain briefly. "Look well to your weapons men, and light your matches, but let no man fire his piece without command." ”

“ Captain Standish answered, with a quick glance at Miles. "You must get well and run about and do a man's share of the work that's before us, and you'll soon be rid of any heavy thoughts."
Miles sat still in the sunlight, and, reflecting vaguely, called to mind that, if his father and mother both were dead, Mistress Rose Standish, who was all the Captain had, likewise rested yonder on the bluff. Out of the fullness of knowledge the Captain was trying once more to teach him how to bear all bravely, he guessed, so he began stoutly: "Yes, I'm going to be a man, sir. ”

“ For Miles and Dolly, not only would childhood prove hard and laborious, but there would be nothing [157] better to look forward to; as the boy grew to manhood, he could hope only to toil for daily hire on some farmer's land. "Unless he fling away his soul's welfare by going as a mercenary in some iniquitous foreign war," said Master Isaac Allerton; whereat Captain Standish smiled a little behind his beard, but made no answer. ”

“ Because you don't belong in this crowd, that's all. No stable boy does.” He paused to let this sink in.
Gerrity strove hard to keep his temper, and for the moment succeeded. “The Marlinghues said I was a horse-man, and that's what I am. Don't let nobody tell you different. And as far as——”
“Talk, Gerrity, talk!” snapped Clavering. “You were employed in the Marlinghue stables—I know that. An equerry, I believe they call you. Well, call it anything you like. You're a stable boy all the same. I guess the Brook Club board of governors'll have something to say about it when I tell them.” ”

“ As they stood upon the bleak inhospitable shore, shivering in the biting blast, Captain Miles Standish, who had the stoutest heart and also the most jovial temper in the party, said: “Say, you fellows, can’t you stop chattering your teeth and shaking your knees? There don’t any of you look like you wanted to pass resolutions against burning anything just at present. You’re a jolly-looking lot of guys.” ”

“ I hope there'll be cattle come in her; 'tis hard for the babies to have not a drop of milk."
"And no butter," sighed Miles, thinking of himself. "And if they bring oxen, 'twill be easier ploughing, come spring; and there'll be more men to fight—"
"There'll be two more next spring, in any case," Giles interrupted. "Captain Standish says that then Bart Allerton and I shall have muskets of our own and be enrolled in his company." ”

“ Because now I'll have to take care of Trug and Dolly and Solomon."
Captain Standish smiled a little, as he gathered the wet clothes into his arms. "You're a true man already, Miles," he said. "At least, you're a man [104] in the way you group your women-folk with your cattle."
After the Captain had gone behind the house to hang out his wash, Miles rested a time very thoughtful. The sunlight was warm and pleasant, and southward across the harbor the great bluff was dense with evergreen. A brave world, and he was going to do a brave part in it, as his mother had looked for him to do. ”

“ The newcomers were bidden lie that night in the bedroom, since two of them still were weak with seasickness, but Alden and the Captain were to sleep in the living room, so Miles silently elected to stay with them, and he was glad when the chamber door closed behind the strangers.
"So you've a mind to share the floor with us, [322] Miles?" the Captain asked, as he threw off his doublet.
"'Tis like a soldier to sleep where 'tis hard," Miles confessed shyly.
Standish smiled a little. "We'll surely make a fighting man of you, Miles, or you'll make one of yourself. ”

“ And turning into the unfinished house he found Alden watching him with a look of silent friendliness and sympathy more eloquent than words; returning the greeting as mutely and as heartily, Standish would have passed into his own bedroom, but the younger man interposed,—
"Thou 'lt break thy fast, Captain, wilt thou not? All is ready and waiting your coming; some of the bean soup you liked yester even, and some fish"—
"Presently, presently, good John! I would but bathe and refresh myself. Nay, look not so doubt [Pg 103] ingly after me, friend. I am a man, and know a man's devoir." ”