midnight
Mary is placing it upon the board . '' Dropping a light kiss upon the face lovingly upturned , Priscilla passed into the outer room where upon the great table standing to-day in Pilgrim Hall rested a wooden bowl filled with boiled clams , and beside it a dish of coarse salt and a pewter flagon of water . Only this , no bread , no vegetable , no after course ; but at the head of the table stood the elder , his worn face radiant with gratitude , as , uplifting his voice , he gave thanks to God for that he and his might `` suck of the abundance of the seas and of the treasures hid in the sand . '' After midnight a breeze sprung up , but the master of the Anne cautiously waited for the full tide to float him over the many flats then as now obstructing Plymouth Harbor , and it was not until another sunrise that the travel-worn and over-crowded bark folded her patched sails and dropped her anchor not far from the old anchorage ground of the Mayflower . The governor no longer tried to restrain the enthusiasm of his townsmen ; in fact , he himself helped to drag up the anchor of the pinnace and make her ready for a visit to the stranger . With him went Jonathan Brewster to see if perchance his sisters might be on board ; and Doctor Fuller , and Robert Hicks , and Francis Cooke , and William Palmer , and Master Warren , albeit not fit even for so small an exertion , for every one of these men thought it possible that his wife might be aboard , nor was one of them disappointed , for the Anne , might well have dropped her anchor to the tune of `` Sweethearts and Wives , '' so laden was she with those precious commodities . `` Come Captain ! ''