Even then they suffered a great deal from hunger. They were so weak they had to sit down to sail the vessel. All of them would have died if they had not met another ship, which took them aboard and carried them home.
Long before Uncle Sam had finished the story, the thunder-storm had passed by.
"I hardly noticed it. I was thinking all the time about Henry Hudson," declared Lucy.
"I suppose Hudson never met his old friend John Smith after he got the letter," said Uncle Sam, thoughtfully. Then he went on, "They were both Englishmen, yet those who settled in Virginia with John Smith made a very different home for themselves from those made by the Dutch who followed Henry Hudson.
"The Dutch had their own ways; the English had theirs. The Dutch planted gardens. They raised flocks of sheep, which furnished wool for the women to card and spin. They gave beads and blankets of red wool to their Indian neighbors. They took in return game and beautiful furs. They sent the furs to Holland.
"They got up in the morning at sunrise, and went to bed at sunset. They ate dinner at eleven o'clock in the morning, and tea parties were often given at three in the afternoon.
"They had grand times at Christmas and New Year's, when feasts were spread and everyone dressed in his best clothes.
"It was the Dutchmen who gave Santa Claus to American children. They brought the dear old fellow from Holland along with their chests of linen and pewter dishes."
"Hurrah for the Dutchmen! I say," exclaimed Joe. "Christmas wouldn't be half the fun it is without Santa Claus. Do you know, Uncle Sam, last year was the first time Lucy and I knew he was not a real man. Why, we used to think he came down our chimney every Christmas Eve with his pack of presents. We talked up the chimney to him when we went to bed and told him what we wanted. I know now that you and father and mother are the only Santa Claus."