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the white people came, there were no houses in this country but
the little huts of the Syllabify("In-di-ans.", "Indians.") ?>
The Syllabify("In-di-an", "Indian") ?>
houses were made of
bark, or mats, or skins, spread over poles.
Some people came to one part of the country. Others started Syllabify("set-tle-ments", "settlements") ?> in other places. When more people came, some of these Syllabify("set-tle-ments", "settlements") ?> grew into towns. The woods were cut down. Farms were planted. Roads were made. But it took many years for the country to fill with people.
The first white people that came to live in the woods where Boston is now, settled there a long Page(10) ?> time ago. They had a Syllabify("gov-ern-or", "governor") ?> over them. He was a good man, and did much for the people. His name was John Syllabify("Win-throp.", "Winthrop.") ?>
The first thing the people had to do was to cut down the trees. After that they could plant corn. But at first they could not raise Syllabify("any-thing", "anything") ?> to eat. They had brought flour and Syllabify("oat-meal", "oatmeal") ?> from England. But they found that it was not enough to last till they could raise corn on their new ground.
Syllabify("Win-throp", "Winthrop") ?> sent a ship to get more food for them. The ship was gone a long time. The people ate up all their food. They were hungry. They went to the sea-shore, and found clams and mussels. They were glad to get these to eat.
At last they set a day for Syllabify("every-body", "everybody") ?> to fast and pray for food. The Syllabify("gov-ern-or", "governor") ?> had a little flour left. Nearly all of this was made into bread, and put into the oven to bake. He did not know when he would get any more.
Soon after this a poor man came along. His flour was all gone. His bread had all been eaten up. His family were hungry. The Syllabify("gov-ern-or", "governor") ?> gave the poor man the very last flour that he had in the barrel.
Just then a ship was seen. It sailed up toward Boston. It was loaded with food for all the people.
The time for the fast day came. But there was Page(11) ?> now plenty of food. The fast day was turned into a Syllabify("thanks-giving", "thanksgiving") ?> day.
One day a man sent a very cross letter to Syllabify("Gov-ern-or Win-throp. Win-throp", "Governor Winthrop. Winthrop") ?> sent it back to him. He said, "I cannot keep a letter that might make me angry." Then the man that had written the cross letter wrote to Syllabify("Win-throp,", "Winthrop,") ?> "By Syllabify("con-quer-ing", "conquering") ?> yourself, you have Syllabify("con-quered", "conquered") ?> me."