When the thunder rolled in the sky, they would nod to each other and say: "It is only Henry Hudson and his men playing ninepins with the dwarfs in the caves of the Catskill mountains."
You shall now hear how this queer fancy came into their heads.
After the brave captain had discovered the Hudson River and gone back to Europe, he tried once more to find a short way to India. He thought it best to cross the ocean again, but to sail farther north than he had done on his first voyage to this country.
After he had reached the shores of America, he came into a large bay. The land around him was bare and dreary. The ship was kept all winter in this bay on account of the ice. The sailors suffered very much from the bitter cold. Many of them became sick and died before the spring opened and the ice broke up enough to let the ship move on.
By this time the food was almost gone. The day came when Hudson took the last of the bread and divided it among his crew. He was so sad and hopeless that tears filled his eyes.
The sailors blamed him for bringing them there and were very angry with him. They thought, "We shall all lose our lives through him."
They were not even moved by his tears. When they had eaten the bread, they seized him and put him and some sick sailors into a small boat. Then they sent them adrift in the cold, dreary waters of the great bay.
They were never heard of again. This is all we know of the last days of that very brave Englishman, Captain Henry Hudson.
As for the wicked sailors, some of them met with better fortune than they deserved. Soon after they had treated their captain so badly, birds came flying by. The men shot some of these and saved themselves from starving. After that they had a fight with Indians on the shore and several of the sailors were killed. The others managed to gather a small supply of food with which they started for home.