[Illustration: SAMOSET'S FIRST VISIT TO THE PILGRIMS.] The wonder is that these Pilgrims, ill, hungry, and cold, did not become discouraged, give up their enterprise, and go back to England in the Mayflower. Splendidly courageous indeed they were to pursue their purpose so bravely. Weeks and months they worked and suffered, but they never flinched. They were content and even happy in the consciousness of freedom gained and duty done. They had come to stay--and they stayed. At last the dreary winter wore away. Spring came, bringing the soft south winds and the songs of birds. Busy hands were soon planting and cultivating. The hearts of the Pilgrims were filled with hope. =57. A Kindly Visit from the Indians.=--One day in early spring they were surprised at seeing an Indian march boldly into their settlement, saying, "Welcome, English! Welcome, English!" His name was Samoset. He had learned a little English from fishermen on the coast of Maine. The settlers received him very kindly. After several hours he went away. In a few days he came back with another Indian named Squanto, who had once lived in Plymouth but had been kidnapped and carried to England. Squanto said that Massasoit, the chief of the tribes in the neighborhood, was near by, and that with sixty of his men he would shortly pay a visit to the Pilgrims. The Indian chief soon appeared and was cordially received. He promised to be a good friend to the English, and in return the settlers agreed to treat the Indians kindly. For over fifty years this promise was sacredly kept. Squanto made himself very useful to the Pilgrims. He showed them how to plant maize by first manuring the ground with fish, then putting the kernels and the alewives together in the hill. The grain now first received the name of Indian corn. He also taught the settlers how to catch eels by treading them out of the mud with their feet. Shortly afterwards Squanto came to live with the Pilgrims, and proved himself their firm friend. Sometimes other Indians were hostile. Once a chief named Canonicus, who was an enemy of Massasoit and did not like the Pilgrims, sent to Governor Bradford a bundle of arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. He meant this to be a threat of war. The resolute governor threw the arrows on the ground, filled the snake's skin with powder and bullets, and sent it back to the chief! Canonicus was quick-witted enough to take the hint, and thereafter he let the Pilgrims alone.