It was during this winter that John Alden, who is a cooper as well as
Captain Standish's clerk, spent three days in our home, making for
mother two tubs which are fair to look upon, and of such size that
we are no longer troubled on washdays by being forced to throw away
the soapy water in order to rinse the clothes which have already been
cleansed. You may think it strange to hear me speak thus of the waste
of soapy water, because you in Scrooby have of soap an abundance, while
here in this new land we are put to great stress through lack of it.
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It would not be so ill if all the housewives would make a generous
quantity, but there are some among us who are not so industrious as
others, and dislike the labor of making soap. They fail to provide
sufficient for themselves, but depend upon borrowing; thus spending the
stores of those who have looked ahead for the needs of the future.
Well, as I have said, the winter passed, and we were come to the second
summer after making this settlement of Plymouth.
Once more was famine staring us in the face, therefore every man, woman
and child, save those chosen to go fishing, was sent into the fields
for the planting.