CHAPTER IV 



forefathers' day 



One does not need to seek the brow of Cole's 

 Hill very early on Forefathers' Day to see the 

 star of morning rise and shine upon Plymouth. 

 It marks the passing of one of the four longest 

 nights of the year, those of the four days before 

 Christmas, a memorable period for all Ameri- 

 cans, for during it the Pilgrim Fathers came to 

 Plymouth. According to the best authorities the 

 exploring party set foot on the famous rock on 

 Monday, Dec. 21 (new style). But the ship her- 

 self did not enter the harbor for five days. Fri- 

 day, the 1 8th, the explorers reached Clark's 

 Island after dark and spent the night most mis- 

 erably, though it was next door to a miracle that 

 they got there alive and no doubt they were 

 thankful for that. How they battled by Mano- 

 met Point in the half gale and high sea, the night 

 already upon them and the harbor unknown to 

 any aboard, their rudder gone and their mast 

 "broken in three places," we know from Brad- 



39 



