Produced by Jim Ludwig
TITLE: Three Young Pioneers
BY AUTHOR: John Theodore Mueller
SUBTITLE: A Story of the Early Settlement of Our Country
CONTENTS
CHAPTERS
I. On the Atlantic
II. The New Home
III. A New Brother
IV. A Happy Surprise
V. A Wonderful Journey
VI. The Curse of Greed
VII. In the Throes of War
VIII. Pequot Indians
IX. The Remains of the Log House
X. Capture and Escape
XI. Back Again and Agnes
XII. Agnes' Story and Hartford
XIII. The Victory Over the Pequots
XIV. Christmas at the Trading Post
CHAPTER I
ON THE ATLANTIC
"Come to me, children," said Mrs. Bradley invitingly; "I will be a mother
to you, my darlings. You shall not be a burden to the community, but I
will take care of you myself."
Having said this, she seized the little boy and his sister and pressed
them to her heart, while tears trickled down her full, rosy cheeks.
"Now you little sweethearts," she said soothingly, "you must not be
afraid of me. Let me wipe your tears, and then you will come with me to
my quarters, and I will give you something very, very good to eat. But
by all means don't cry anymore."
The children snuggled up to her and she took them by their hands, away
from the crowd which had frightened them by their curious stares. There
was a sigh of relief when the woman had promised to take care of them,
for all on shipboard were glad that the two orphans had found a
protector.
"God bless thee, Sister Clara," said the minister; "the Lord will reward
thee, after thy goodness, both here and hereafter. Nor will He ever
forsake or leave thee with the extra burden imposed on thee."
"The children are no burden," the woman replied; "but rather a godsend,
for both my husband and I have longed for two little angels like these
long ago. How they will comfort our hearts in those weary hours of
winter when the days are so short and the nights so long! And, please
you, sir, there will be enough for us to eat, for the good Lord has
blessed us abundantly. But I must not delay to attend to them; so
kindly excuse me, I must go."
The minister looked after her with grateful eyes, and then turned to
the men and women standing around him.
"A pious woman she is," he said; "a rich reward will be hers for her
great kindness."
Then the congregation dispersed, each family departing for the cabins
and quarters where they lodged during the long, long voyage over the
Atlantic.
Traveling at that time was not as comfortable as it is now, for the
conversation that we just related took place just three hundred years
ago, to be exact in the year of our Lord 1630.
Since that time many and great changes have taken place in the world,
and should the people of that time rise from their graves, they would
be amazed at the transformation that has taken place.
At that time the voyage across the ocean was slow and dangerous; the
ships were small and propelled by the wind, so that when the weather was
contrary, it took the emigrants a long time to reach America. Usually
the food was poor, and quite often the water gave out, so that the
people on shipboard suffered extremely. At the time of our story there
were many who wished to settle in America, and in consequence the
vessels were usually crowded to the utmost of their capacity. The
result was that sickness spread among the passengers, and many did not
reach the country where they hoped to find liberty of conscience.
Among these was the mother of the two children, of whom we just spoke.
The boy's name was Fred, and he was eight years old; the name of his
sister was Agnes, and she was seven.
They were strong and healthy children, but their frail mother could not
stand the hardships of the voyage. For six years she had lived in
anxiety, for in 1624 her husband had left England to settle in the
plymouth Colony, which the Pilgrims had established in 1620. He was
very sincere in his faith, and rather than stay in good old England and
do what his conscience forbade him, he joined the sturdy emigrants who
left their homes for the Lord's sake, as they were fully convinced.
He arrived safely in Plymouth Colony and at first sent cheering letters
to his wife. But suddenly these ceased, and she worried day and night
over her far-away husband. She toiled diligently, so that her children
did not suffer for lack of bread, but the worry broke her heart, and
when she had saved a little sum of money, enough to pay for her voyage,
she left England and joined the colonists who in ever larger numbers
sought the land of freedom across the sea.
She did not live to set her foot on that strange, unknown land, but the
good Lord called her out of all trouble, and she was buried in the sea.
Fred was old enough to realize what the death of his beloved mother
meant, and Agnes, too, wept bitterly when they took away her mother and
softly and slowly laid her away in the rolling waves.
The little band of emigrants at first worried considerably about what
to do with the children. The majority of them were poor and blessed
with large families so that they did not have any food to spare. Hence
their joy was great when Clara Bradley volunteered to adopt the children
as her own.
She herself was on the way to meet her husband, who two years before, in
1628, had left England with the Puritans to settle in the new territory
granted by the King to the Massachusetts Company. The Puritans, as you
know, differed from the Pilgrims in many respects; in consequence, they
wished to establish their own settlements far enough away from the
Plymouth Colony to avoid misunderstanding and trouble.
As soon as Mr. Bradley had arrived in the new settlement he wrote a long
letter to his wife in which he described the wonderful country in which
he had found a new home. But he begged her to wait for some time until
he had built a house, cleared a small piece of land, and made other
preparations to welcome his young and beautiful wife.
In England Mr. Bradley had been a merchant, and his wife came from a
rich family so that he did not care to burden her with the hardships of
primitive pioneer life. But she was a sensible woman, who was not
afraid to work, and since she loved her husband dearly, she insisted
that she would come and share with him the woe and weal of his life.
When, therefore, in 1630, the Massachusetts Company gave the people in
the Colony the right to govern themselves, and in consequence,
thousands of Puritans were willing to go to America, she would stay in
England no longer, but sold her property, collected her belongings, and
sailed with the first band of emigrants, in whose midst was also John
Winthrop, the new governor.
It was by accident that she met the poor mother with her two little
children, and when she heard her story, she pitied her very much. She,
too, made friends with the children, and later when their mother was
confined to her cabin, she took them on deck and told them many
interesting stories of land and sea, and of kings and queens, and of
the Indians that roved in the forests of their new country.
As she was blessed with sufficient funds, she had richly provided
herself with special and delectable food so that the children received
many a dainty morsel which they had never tasted in their lives.
In this way the children very soon became attached to the strange, fine
lady, who wore such rich clothes and had such winning ways; and while
she could never take the place of their mother, they nevertheless were
comforted when their mother grew so ill that they were not allowed to
see her.
When finally she died, they clung with cordial confidence to their new
friend, who now taught them to call her mother.
At night Mrs. Bradley would point them to the heavens, when the skies
were clear, and told them of the blessedness of their mother who was
now with the holy angels and beheld the glory of the Lord Jesus.
"You see the beautiful stars up there?" she asked them. "Oh, how many
there are! When I was young my mother told me that each was a window
in heaven through which the angels looked to see whether all was well
with God's people. Every time a star twinkled, she said, an angel
looked down, and it was the glory of his face that shone so brightly."
"But is that true?" Fred asked, for he was well instructed, as all
Puritans were, in the Bible. "Our teacher told us that the angels are
ministering Spirits. That is what the Bible says, and we must not add
thereunto." He said it almost sternly and quite reprovingly, for the
Puritans were very religious and followed the Bible closely. Mrs.
Bradley had been raised in a rich home, and although her parents had
joined the Puritans, they remained much more genial than were their
sterner brethren.
"Well, yes," the lady admitted; "perhaps you are right, but isn't it a
good story, nevertheless? I love to think of the stars as being so
many messengers of God watching over me in this poor life. But the
angels are much nearer to us than the stars, and our Lord is still much
nearer than they."
"Is He here on the ocean, too?" asked little Agnes who was a bright
girl and very mature for her age. "It seems to me that we are here all,
all alone with nothing but water around us, and it never ends, never!"
"Yes," said the good woman, "Jesus is here, too, though we cannot see
Him. He is here at our services and prayer meetings, and He is in our
hearts. When we pray, He hears us, and when we sing, our songs rise up
to His throne. Every thought in our heart He knows. So we need not
fear, my dear children."
Then she would kiss them tenderly, and give them a piece of ginger bread
or some other dainty, so that they would forget all their sorrows and
troubles.
On board the ship her solicitude for the children was soon noticed by
everybody, and even Governor Winthrop at times turned to Mrs. Bradley
and spoke to her about the children.
"You are doing very well as a mother, Mrs. Bradley," he teased her;
"the children are very happy under your care, and they are not a whit
sorrowful any more. The Lord bless you for your kindness! It is
cheering to know that we have such pious folk in our company. God
bless us all that His name may be glorified."
Mrs. Bradley blushed deeply when she perceived that her good work was
thus graciously acknowledged. She cared for no praise, and insisted
that the children were only a blessing sent to her by the Lord to
comfort her and assign to her a worthy task.
As often as the emigrants gathered for worship, she was present with
the children, and joined in the singing, for she had a fine, melodious
voice. There was no organ on board the ship, neither did the colonists
have musical instruments. Yet they sang so wondrously that it was a
pleasure to listen to them. The hymns were learned by heart, not only
by the older members, but also by the children, who joined their clear
young voices with those of their fathers and mothers. So also they
learned the Bible, and while not all had copies of that holy Book, the
majority of them knew whole portions by heart; especially the psalms
which they sang every day. Furthermore, there was instruction in the
Catechism each day, so that the children were well occupied, as were
also their elders. For when they were not worshiping God by song and
prayer, they served Him by doing useful work, of which there was much
to do.
The colonists, knowing that they would settle in a primitive country,
had brought plenty of wool, which the women spun into cloth from which
to make garments. At that time there were no readymade clothes.
Everything had to be made at home. This kept the women busy almost all
day, and kept them from brooding over their trials and difficulties.
After all, it was not easy for them to leave their homes and settle in a
new, uncivilized country. There, as they knew, the winters were much
longer and harder; the woods were filled with Indians, who at times were
hostile, and before the soil could be tilled, trees had to be cut down
and stones had to be removed. The future, therefore, was not promising.
The life that awaited them, was not one of ease. Yet they were resolved
to carry out their plan and secure a home in inhospitable America, where
at least they were not persecuted on account of their religious beliefs.
But also the men were busy in various ways. Some of them were skilful
in weaving and spinning, and these helped the women in providing
necessary garments. Very often father and mother with their children
labored at one piece of work, and there was much jollity, as the parents
related many a good story to their children. Others who were skilled in
carpentering, made implements which could be used on the farm, in the
woods, or in the homes. Others again attended to the sick, of whom
there were many at all times, while still others joined in instructing
the young.
In short, each emigrant was given some task to do, and the whole
activity was superintended by Governor Winthrop, who led the men in
wisely employing their time.
He was genial and affable, and even the humblest could go and speak to
him. Though he was still a young man, yet he was like a father to every
one. In spite of storms and many unpleasant things, the voyage was not
altogether dreary, and when the emigrants finally landed, they thanked
God heartily for the innumerable blessings bestowed upon them.
Yet they were glad when land was in sight and when the ship passed out
of the region of tumultuous waves into the quiet and peaceful harbor of
Massachusetts Bay.