"One day the great chief came to Plymouth. He liked the white men. Before he went away he promised to be friendly to them. Massasoit kept his word and was a good and true friend to the Pilgrims until he died. "One time news came to Plymouth that Massasoit was very sick. Some of his white friends went to see him. They found him stretched on a rough bed in his little hut. He had a fever. The hut was almost filled with Indians. The medicine men were there. They were making a fearful noise. They thought an evil spirit had taken hold of Massasoit. They were trying to drive it away with the noise. Then the chief would get well. "The Indians have great faith in their medicine men. They are their priests, as well as their doctors. "'That noise is enough to make anyone ill,' said the white men. 'The air in the hut is heavy and very bad because there are so many people in it. Massasoit can never get well at this rate.' "They got the crowd to leave the wigwam. Then they gave the sick chief the proper medicine for his illness. The fever soon left the chief and he believed that his white friends had saved his life. "One day an Indian who did not belong to Massasoit's tribe came into Plymouth. He brought a snake-skin filled with arrows and laid it on the ground. "'What is the meaning of this?' thought the chief men. "'It means war,' said Squanto. 'The Indians who sent it are not your friends.' "The arrows were taken out of the snake-skin. Then it was filled with bullets and sent back to the unfriendly Indians. "This said as plainly as any words: 'If you come to attack us with your arrows, we will shoot you with our bullets.' "When the savages saw the bullets they were afraid. They said, 'Ugh! Ugh!' but they did not dare to touch them. They at once sent the fearful things back to Plymouth. They changed their minds about fighting white people who used firearms." Uncle Sam stopped and looked around. "There's nothing like being brave," he said slowly. "The Pilgrims would not even think of giving up, and that is why they held out against all dangers. You remember I told you that only half of them lived through that first winter. They were very careful not to let the savages know how many of them had died. They were even careful not to make mounds to mark the places where their friends were buried. They thought the Red Men might count the mounds. They would know by that how few of the settlers were left. "As soon as the spring came, corn was planted over the graveyard. The tall stalks were soon waving to and fro, hiding it from sight." "Now the people were very busy. Gardens were planted; fish and lobsters were caught in plenty, and everyone was happy. In the summer wild berries were to be had for the picking, and the gardens which had been planted began to yield nice vegetables. "Then came the beautiful days of the New England autumn. The harvests ripened and fields of corn seemed to cry: