Noon
No morsel of food , no drop of drink , had passed the lips of that wan company since the pittance of the night before , and yet for nine long hours of that fearful day , the air so heated that it hardly fed the lungs , and the sun blazing so pitilessly upon the log structure that a faint odor of parching wood mingled with the torrid air within the Fort , yes , for nine long hours the elder prayed , or preached , or recited aloud the deep abasement of the penitential psalms , and the wail of the prophets , proclaiming , yet deprecating , the wrath of an offended God . In the intervals others spoke ; Doctor Fuller , himself a deacon in the church , and Bradford , whose petition less abject than that of the elder , called confidently for help , upon Him who twice fed a starving multitude , who promised that no petition in His name should go unanswered , who hungering in the wilderness knew the extremity of famine , who cried aloud , I Thirst , who has promised to be with His own in all time till Time shall be no more . Standish , like the statue of a sentinel in bronze , stood at the door leaning upon his snaphance , listening intently to all , and breathing a deep-throated Amen to the governor 's prayer . Noon blazed overhead , and Priscilla , ah , poor white , attenuate Priscilla , crept down the hill to the elder 's house , and gathering a handful of fire-wood warmed some broth made from a rabbit snared by Alden the day before , and silently brought a cup to the mother , who drank it with the tears brimming over her patient , faded eyes . `` I am not worthy to fast with the rest of you . I am an unprofitable servant , '' whispered she handing back the cup and covering her face . `` Oh , mother , mother , do not break my heart , '' cried the girl , whom the smell of food had turned sick and faint .