Some Three Hundred Years Ago | Page 9

up for the loss in the day's fishing. Men and boys set
to work in the moonlight to clean the fish. They then spread them on
the flakes for salting and drying.
Godfrie started a good cargo to the English markets, and each of the
four boys carried the title of Captain for weeks to come.

THE FOREST GARDEN.
It was the spring of 1633. Richard and Samuel had watched the distant
horizon for many days. At last came the shout, "A sail! A sail!"
Later, the Warwick dropped anchor. The boys soon climbed aboard,
and there they found Rebecca Gibbons, an English girl, who had started
with her mother to join her father, Ambrose Gibbons, who was helping
establish the New Hampshire Colony for the Mason grant. John Mason
had given the name because of his home in Hampshire, England.
"Then you are going on to Newichewannock," explained Richard.
"Your father has built a house there for you. At the falls they have a
saw-mill. It is the only one in New England."
Samuel, who had gone ashore, then returned with a package, which he
tucked into Rebecca's hands with a whisper. She secretly hid this
strange parcel as the vessel started.
The Warwick left its passengers and supplies at the Great House on
Strawberry Bank, and continued up the winding Piscataqua, which
seemed endlessly long to Rebecca. At last a final turn brought to sight
the new home, and, best of all, her father, followed by his four helpers,
hurrying down to the shore.
[Illustration]
The house was a substantial one. There were also a barn, other small
buildings, and a fine well, all surrounded by a palisade which protected
the family from wild animals and hostile Indians.
The saw-mill kept a busy hum on the logs, making boards for
immediate use. Many were also to be shipped to England on the
returning vessel. Ambrose Gibbons and his men spent their time
otherwise: in search for useful ores or minerals, or trading for furs to be
sent back to the Laconia Company, who, in turn, kept the colonists
supplied from English stores. Perhaps for these reasons the gardens

were quite neglected, and so Rebecca's strange little parcel proved a
double treasure.
Her spinning done with the spirit of a true pioneer, Rebecca explored
the surrounding woods and soon knew them quite as well as the nooks
and corners of her own dooryard. In one spot there grew a thick
undergrowth, through which she crept and discovered a small clearing
so closely shut in that it would never have been suspected.
"This is the spot for my secret," she declared and began to pull the
grass by the roots. The next day she returned with spade and rake, and
her mysterious package. It was to be a buried treasure, for here she
opened her bundle and planted in various holes the kernels of yellow
Indian corn which Samuel had given her.
"There!" she exclaimed, as she patted the loose earth. "This is to be my
own secret, till I am quite ready to tell. Then I will surprise them."
The home people were too much occupied with their own interests to
give attention to Rebecca's play-time. The Newichewannock Indians,
whose settlement was near by, were camping elsewhere for the summer,
so that no one even guessed the garden, or knew how well it was
growing.
Some struggling grape vines and a few vegetables had been planted
within the palisade, but small attention had been given to them. In fact,
so little gardening had been done that the Autumn brought anxious
days. No English vessel had come in, nor had the grain from Virginia
arrived in Boston, where it was to be ground at the wind-mill and sent
on to Strawberry Bank.
The meal-chest at the Newichewannock home was almost empty, and
except for fish and game the food supply was low. The situation
became serious. Ambrose Gibbons started, one crisp fall morning, for
the Bank, hoping to obtain food of some sort. He took one man with
him, while the other three with their axes started for a distant point to
fell trees, not returning until night.

Rebecca ran off for awhile that afternoon to inspect her garden, which
was now filled with a surprising growth of ripening corn.
"It might be picked at once," she whispered to herself. "But I think I
will leave it for a big surprise. Father may not be able to get us food."
Quite elated over her splendid crop, she hastened back to the house.
She was surprised to find the gate of the palisade open and still more
astonished to see a tall figure in the kitchen.
Her frightened mother was showing the empty meal-chest to a fierce
looking Indian. Rebecca did not then know