out of hearing of the
Heer Governor, beyond the Land Gate at the Broad Way, they took breath
and indulged in a succession of boyish shouts.

"And that doth mean no school, too!" cried young Patem Onderdonk,
flinging his cap in air. "Huzzoy for that, lads; huzzoy for that!"

And the "huzzoys" came with right good-will from every boy of the
group.

Within less than a week the whole complexion of affairs in that little
island city was entirely changed. Both the Massachusetts and the
Maryland claimants ceased, for a time at least, their unfounded
demands. A treaty at Hartford settled the disputed question of
boundary-lines, and the Maryland governor declared "that he had not
intended to meddle with the government of Manhattan." Added to this,
Sewackenamo, chief of the Esopus Indians, came to the fort at New
Amsterdam and "gave the right hand of friendship" to the Heer
Governor, and by the interchange of presents a treaty of peace was
ratified. So, one by one, the troubles of the Heer Governor melted
away, his brow became clear and, "partaking of the universal
satisfaction," so says the historian, "he proclaimed a day of general
thanksgiving."

Thanksgiving in the colonies was a matter of almost yearly occurrence.
Since the first Thanksgiving Day on American shores, when, in 1621,
the Massachusetts colony, at the request of Governor Bradford,
rejoiced, "after a special manner after we had gathered the fruit of
our labours," the observance of days of thanksgiving for mercies and
benefits had been frequent. But the day itself dates still further
back. The States of Holland after establishing their freedom from
Spain had, in the year 1609, celebrated their deliverance from tyranny
"by thanksgiving and hearty prayers," and had thus really first
instituted the custom of an official thanksgiving. And the Dutch
colonists in America followed the customs of the Fatherland quite as
piously and fervently as did the English colonists.

So, when the proclamation of the Heer Governor Stuyvesant for a day of
thanksgiving was made known, in this year of mercies, 1659, all the
townfolk of New Amsterdam made ready to keep it.

But young people are often apt to think that the world moves for them
alone. The boys of this little Dutch town at the mouth of the Hudson
were no different from other boys, and cared less for treaties and
Indians and boundary questions than for their own matters. They,
therefore, concluded that the Heer Governo