Fired point-blank at my heart by a [Spanish arcabucero].
Had it not been of sheer steel, the forgotten bones of Miles Standish
Would at this moment be mold, in their grave in the [Flemish morasses].”
Thereupon answered John Alden, but looked not up from his writing:
“Truly the breath of the Lord hath slackened the speed of the bullet;
He in his mercy preserved you, to be our shield and our weapon!”
Still the Captain continued, unheeding the words of the stripling:
“See, how bright they are burnished, as if in an arsenal hanging;
That is because I have done it myself, and not left it to others.
Serve yourself, would you be well served, is an excellent adage;