The Mysterious Blacksmith—Weston at Plymouth—A Favor—Ingratitude—Continued Famine at Plymouth—The Community of Interest—How it worked—Its Partial Abandonment—Facts brain Plato’s Theory—Bradford’s Argument against the Communal Idea—The Pilgrims rest on Providence—Their Shifts to live—The Drought—The Fast—The Answered Prayer—Rain at last—Habbamak’s Remarks—Five Kernels of Corn—A Package of Home Letters—Pierce’s Patent—He “vomits it up”—Captain Francis West—New Recruits—The “Annie” and the “Little James”—Feeling among the New-comers—Cushman’s Epistle—A Prescient Scribe 193 CHAPTER XVII. The Lading of the “Anne”—Winslow departs for England—Plenty once more—Social Arrangements—Robert Gorges—Birth and Death of Another Colony at Wessagusset—Morrel’s Latin Poem—Prosperity of Plymouth—An Election—The Mishaps of a Fishing Expedition—Preparations for Planting—Winslow’s Return—What he brought—The Purpose and _Animus_ of the London Company of Merchant-adventurers—John Lyford—Circumstances of his Advent—John Oldham—The Pernicious League—Onslaught upon the Pilgrim Government—Wolves in the Sheepfold—The Intercepted Letters—An Explosion—Oldham “tamed”—Lyford’s Trial—The Sentence—Winslow’s _Exposé_ in England and America—Running the Gauntlet—Banishment of Lyford and Oldham—Effect of the Lyford Troubles—Brewster’s Ministry—An Exception to the Indian Doctrine of “Poor Pay, Poor Preach”—Tenets of the Plymouth Church—“Brown Bread and the Gospel is Good fare”—Liberty 205 CHAPTER XVIII. The Pilgrims initiate Measures to buy out the Merchant-adventurers—Standish sails for England on this Errand—His Narrow Escape from Capture by a Turkish Rover—His Partial Success and Return—Sad News—Death of Cushman in England—Death of Robinson at Leyden—Last Hours and Character of the Moses of the Pilgrims 227 CHAPTER XIX.