Verily this was a hard blow to the gentlemen of our company, who
prided themselves upon never having done with their hands that
which was useful. One would have thought my master had made this
rule for his own particular pleasure, for straightway those of the
gentlemen who could least hold their tempers in check, gathered in
the tent which Master Wingfield had taken for his own, and there
agreed among themselves that if Captain Smith persisted in such
brutal rule, they would overturn all the authority in the town,
and end by setting the Captain himself in the stocks which William
Laxon was then making. It so chanced that Master Hunt overheard
these threats at the time they were made, and, like a true friend
and good citizen, reported the same to Captain Smith.
Whereupon my master chose a certain number from among those of
the gentlemen who had become convinced that sharp measures were
necessary if we of Jamestown would live throughout the winter,
commanding that they make careful search of every tent, cave, hut
or house in the village, taking therefrom all that was eatable, and
storing it in the log house which had been put up for the common
use.
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