f rebuke upon the reckless soldier
he continued,--

"And I shall lead our forces to avenge both the death of our servant and
Massasoit's capture, shall I not, brethren? What is your will?"

"Sound policy dictates that if our allies are to respect us, or our
enemies fear us, we should not suffer such an affront as this to pass,"
declared Winslow. "England hath never yet borne that her flag should be
insulted, and we are Englishmen."

"You are right, Winslow," replied Bradford solemnly. "And loth though we
may be to shed the blood of these men, whom we fain would convert to
friends and Christians, it is my mind that in this instance we are bound
to deal with them as with our own children, whom we indeed chastise, but
still with an eye to their own future happiness."

"'Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to them which are exercised thereby,'" quoted the Elder sententiously,
while Standish stood impatiently twisting his moustache, and glancing
around the assembly as if selecting his men.

"And now, having chapter and verse for avenging this affront, let us set
about doing it," exclaimed he as several of the company murmured Amen to
the Elder's approved quotation. But Bradford fixed his steady eyes upon
the soldier's face for a moment before he somewhat coldly asked,--

"How many men do you think it best to take, Captain Standish?"

"Ten. Hopkins, the Surgeon, Winslow, Browne, Howland, Gilbert Winslow,
Billington, Eaton, Dotey, and Lister," replied Standish promptly, and
then with his peculiarly winning smile he added,--

"You see I leave the governor, with Master Allerton his assistant, to
guide the colony, and the elder to pray for our success, and Master
Warren for a councilor, and the rest to carry on our various labors and
protect the weaklings."

"It is a good division it seemeth to me. What say you all, brethren?"
asked the governor still gravely, and one by one each man signified his
assent, only Howland coming close to the captain asked,--

"May not Alden go with us, Captain? He hath a very pretty fashion with
his weapon."

"Am I captain, or art thou, John Howland?" growled the leader, and as
all turned out of the house to prepare for the march in the following
dawn, Bradford laid his hand upon his friend's shoulder and walked along
with him.

"What ails thee, Myles? Thou 'rt sorely chafed at somet