Squanto often tells us of a kind of vegetable, or fruit, I am not certain which, that grows in this country, and is called a pumpkin. It must be very fine, if one may judge by his praise of it, and we are looking forward to the time when it shall be possible to know for ourselves. THE WEDDING And now I am to tell you of a marriage in Plymouth which deeply concerned Sarah and me. You may be certain that we made great account of it, although Master Bradford warned us against setting our hearts on the wicked customs of England. I had hoped Elder Brewster would marry the couple, for Sarah and I were deeply interested in them, having seen much of the love-making while we were on board the _Mayflower_. [Illustration] If the bride and groom had been in England, it would have been a time of feasting; but our people here shun such show, therefore did we lose much of merrymaking. Although the bride and groom went to Elder Brewster's house, which has served us as a place for religious meetings, it was Governor Bradford who listened to their vows and declared them to be man and wife, and in less than half an hour the newly-made husband was working in the field, while the wife was making sugar. MAKING MAPLE SUGAR Yes, we have sugar in plenty now, and, strange as it may seem, it comes from the trees. It was Squanto, that true friend of ours, who showed us how to take it from the maples, of which there are scores and scores growing everywhere around us. [Illustration] To get it one has only to make a hole in a maple tree, and put therein a small wooden spigot shaped like a spout, and straight-way, when the first warm weather comes in the spring, the sap of the tree, mounting from the roots to the branches, will run out of the hole through the spout into whatsoever vessels we place beneath. After that we boil it in kettles until it becomes thick like molasses, or yet more, until it is real sugar, after having been poured in pans of birch-bark to cool. It has a certain flavor such as is not to be found in the sugar of England; but answers our purpose so well that it can be used to sweeten the meal made from the corn, or eaten as a dainty. DECORATING THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE You must know that our house is not now as rough on the inside as it would appear from what I first wrote. Father has saved the skins of all the animals he has caught, and prepared them in the same way as do the Indians, which makes the fleshy side look like fine leather. These we have hung on the walls, and they not only serve to keep out the wind, but are really beautiful. With the rough logs and the chinking of clay hidden from view, it is easy to fancy that ours is a real house, such as would be found in England.