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diff --git a/16644.txt b/16644.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..02c9ff4 --- /dev/null +++ b/16644.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3242 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Puritan Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Puritan Twins + +Author: Lucy Fitch Perkins + +Release Date: September 4, 2005 [EBook #16644] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PURITAN TWINS *** + + + + +Produced by Alicia Williams, Lesley Halamek and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE PURITAN TWINS + + By Lucy Fitch Perkins + + ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR + + + + + [Illustration] + + + + + HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + + BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO + + The Riverside Press Cambridge + + By Lucy Fitch Perkins + + * * * * * + +_Geographical Series_ + + THE DUTCH TWINS PRIMER. _Grade I._ + THE DUTCH TWINS. _Grade III._ + THE ESKIMO TWINS. _Grade II._ + THE FILIPINO TWINS. _Grade IV._ + THE JAPANESE TWINS. _Grade IV._ + THE SWISS TWINS. _Grade IV._ + THE IRISH TWINS. _Grade V._ + THE ITALIAN TWINS. _Grades V and VI._ + THE SCOTCH TWINS. _Grades V and VI._ + THE MEXICAN TWINS. _Grade VI._ + THE BELGIAN TWINS. _Grade VI._ + THE FRENCH TWINS. _Grade VII._ + + +_Historical Series_ + + THE CAVE TWINS. _Grade IV._ + THE SPARTAN TWINS. _Grades V-VI._ + THE PURITAN TWINS. _Grades VI-VII._ + + * * * * * + +_Each volume is illustrated by the author_ + + * * * * * + +HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + + +The Riverside Press + +CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS + +PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. + +[Illustration] + +CONTENTS + + I. THE PEPPERELLS AND THE CAPTAIN 3 + + II. TWO DAYS 39 + + III. ON BOARD THE LUCY ANN 63 + + IV. A FOREST TRAIL 87 + + V. THE NEW HOME 113 + + VI. HARVEST HOME 157 + + SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 181 + +[Illustration: map] + + + + +I + +THE PEPPERELLS AND THE CAPTAIN + + +One bright warm noonday in May of the year 1638, Goodwife Pepperell +opened the door of her little log cabin, and, screening her eyes from +the sun with a toilworn hand, looked about in every direction, as +if searching for some one. She was a tall, spare woman, with a firm +mouth, keen blue eyes, and a look of patient endurance in her face, +bred by the stern life of pioneer New England. Far away across the +pasture which sloped southward from the cabin she could see long +meadow grass waving in the breeze, and beyond a thread of blue water +where the Charles River flowed lazily to the sea. Westward there was +also pasture land where sheep were grazing, and in the distance a +glimpse of the thatched roofs of the little village of Cambridge. + +Goodwife Pepperell gazed long and earnestly in this direction, and +then, making a trumpet of her hands, sent a call ringing across the +silent fields. "Nancy! Daniel!" she shouted. + +She was answered only by the tinkle of sheep bells. A shade of anxiety +clouded the blue eyes as she went round to the back of the cabin and +looked toward the dense forest which bounded her vision on the north. +Stout-hearted though she was, Goodwife Pepperell could never forget +the terrors which lay concealed behind that mysterious rampart of +green. Not only were there wolves and deer and many other wild +creatures hidden in its depths, but it sheltered also the perpetual +menace of the Indians. Toward the east, at some distance from the +cabin, corn-fields stretched to salt meadows, and beyond, across the +bay, she could see the three hills of Boston town.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See map.] + +As no answering shout greeted her from this direction either, the +Goodwife stepped quickly toward a hollow stump which stood a short +distance from the cabin. Beside the stump a slender birch tree bent +beneath the weight of a large circular piece of wood hung to its top +by a leather thong. This was the samp-mill, where their corn was +pounded into meal. Seizing the birch tree with her hands, she brought +the wooden pestle down into the hollow stump with a resounding thump. +The birch tree sprang back lifting the block with it and again she +pulled it down and struck the stump another blow, then paused to +listen. This time there was, beside the echo, an answering shout, and +in a few moments two heads appeared above the rows of young corn just +peeping out of the ground, two pairs of lively bare feet came flying +across the garden patch, and a breathless boy and girl stood beside +their mother. + +They were a sturdy pair of twelve-year-olds, the boy an inch or more +taller than his sister, and both with the blue eyes, fair skin, and +rosy cheeks which proclaimed their English blood. There was a gleam of +pride in Goodwife Pepperell's eye as she looked a her children, but +not for the world would she have let them see it; much less would she +have owned it to herself, for she was a Puritan mother, and regarded +pride of any kind as altogether sinful. "Where have you been all the +morning?" she said. "You were nowhere to be seen and the corn is not +yet high enough to hide you." + +"I was hoeing beyond that clump of bushes," said Daniel, pointing to +a group of high blueberries that had been allowed to remain in the +cleared field. + +"And I was keeping away the crows," said Nancy, holding out her wooden +clappers. "Only I fell asleep. It was so warm I just could n't help +it." + +"So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an +armed man," quoted the mother sternly. "Night is the time for sleep. +Go now and eat the porridge I have set for you in your little +porringers, and then go down to the bay with this basket and fill it +with clams. Put a layer of seaweed in the basket first and pack the +clams in that. They will keep alive for some time if you bed them so, +and be sure to bring back the shovel." + +This was a task that suited the Twins much better than either hoeing +corn or scaring crows, and they ran into the house at once, ate their +porridge with more haste than good manners, and dashed joyfully away +across the fields toward the river-mouth, a mile away. They followed a +path across the wide stretch of pasture, where wild blackberry vines +and tall blueberry bushes grew, then through a strip of meadow land, +and at last ran out on the bare stretch of sand and weed left by the +ebb tide toward the narrow channel cut by the clear water of the +Charles. + +Here they set down the basket and began looking about for the little +holes which betray the hiding-places of clams. + +[Illustration] + +"Oh, look, Dan," cried Nancy, stopping to admire the long line of +foot-prints which they had left behind them. "Dost see what a pretty +border we have made? 'T is just like a pattern." She walked along the +edge of the stream with her toes turned well out, leaving a track in +the sand like this: + +[Illustration] + +Then the delightful flat surface tempted her to further exploits. She +picked up a splinter of driftwood and, making a wide flourish, began +to draw a picture. "See," she called rapturously to Dan, "this is +going to be a pig! Here 's his nose, and here 's his curly tail, and +here are his little fat legs." She clapped her hands with admiration. +"Now I shall do something else," she announced as she finished the pig +with a round red pebble stuck in for the eye. "Let me see. What shall +I draw? Oh, I know! A picture of Gran'ther Wattles! Look, Dan." She +made a careful stroke. "Here 's his nose, and here 's his chin. They are +monstrous near together because he has nothing but gums between! And +here 's his long tithing-stick with the squirrel-tail on the end!" + +[Illustration] + +"It doth bear a likeness to him!" admitted Dan, laughing in spite of +himself, "but, sister, thou shouldst not mock him. He is an old man, +and we should pay respect to gray hairs. Father says so." + +"Truly I have as much of respect as he hath of hair," answered naughty +Nancy. "His poll is nearly as bald as an egg." + +"I know the cause of thy displeasure," declared Dan. "Gran'ther +Wattles poked thee for bouncing about during the sermon last Sunday. +But it is unseemly to bounce in the meeting-house, and besides, is he +not the tithing-man? 'T is his duty to see that people behave as they +should." + +"He would mayhap have bounced himself if a bee had been buzzing about +his nose as it did about mine," said Nancy, and, giving a vicious +dab at the pictured features, she drew a bee perched on the end of +Gran'ther Wattles's nose. "Here now are all the gray hairs he hath," +she added, making three little scratches above the ear. + +"Nancy Pepperell!" cried her brother, aghast, "dost thou not remember +what happened to the forty and two children that said 'Go up, thou +bald head' to Elijah? It would be no marvel if bears were to come out +of the woods this moment to eat thee up!" + +[Illustration] + +"'T was n't Elijah, 't was Elisha," Nancy retorted with spirit, "but it +matters little whether 't was one or t' other, for I don't believe two +bears could possibly hold so much, and besides dost thou not think it +a deal worse to cause a bear to eat up forty and two children than to +say 'Go up, thou bald head'?" + +"Nancy!" exclaimed her horrified brother, glancing fearfully toward +the forest and clapping his hand on her mouth to prevent further +impiety, "thou art a wicked, wicked girl! Dost thou not know that the +eye of the Lord is in every place? Without doubt his ear is too, and +He can hear every word thy saucy tongue sayeth. Come, let us rub out +this naughty picture quickly, and mayhap God will take no notice this +time." He ran across Gran'ther Wattles's portrait from brow to chin, +covering it with foot-prints. "Besides," he went on as he trotted back +and forth, "thou hast broken a commandment! Thou hast made a likeness +of something that 's in the earth, and that 's Gran'ther Wattles! Nancy, +thou dost take fearful chances with thy soul." + +Nancy began to look a little anxious as she considered her conduct. +"At any rate," she said defensively, "it is n't a graven image, and I +have neither bowed down to it nor served it! I do try to be good, Dan, +but it seemeth that the devil is ever at my elbow." + +[Illustration] + +"'T is because thou art idle," said Dan, shaking his head as gravely +as Gran'ther Wattles himself. "Busy thyself with the clams, and Satan +will have less chance at thy idle hands, and thy idle tongue too." + +Nancy obediently took hold of the basket which Dan thrust into her +hands, and together they walked for some distance over the sandy +stretches. Suddenly a tiny stream of water spouted up beside Dan's +feet. "Here they be!" he shouted, plunging his shovel into the sand, +"and what big ones!" Nancy surveyed the clams with disfavor. They were +thrusting pale thick muscles out between the lobes of their shells. +"They look as if they were sticking out their tongues at us," said +Nancy as she picked one up gingerly and dropped it into the basket. +"But, Dan, Mother said we were to bed them in seaweed!" + +"I see none here," said Dan, leaning on his shovel and looking about +him. "The tide hath swept everything as clean as a floor." + +"I 'll seek for some while thou art busy with the digging," said Nancy, +glad to escape the duty of picking up the clams, and off she trotted +without another word. The flats, seamed and grooved with channels +where pools of water still lingered, sloped gently down to the lower +level of the bay, and farther out a range of rocks lifted themselves +above the sandy waste. + +[Illustration] + +"I 'll surely find seaweed on the rocks," thought Nancy to herself as +she sped along, and in a few moments she had reached them, had tossed +up the basket, and was climbing their rugged sides. + +"There 's a mort o' seaweed here," she said, nodding her head wisely as +she picked up a long string of kelp; "I can fill my basket in no time +at all." There was no need for haste, she thought, so she sat down +beside a pool of water left in a hollow of the rocks, to explore its +contents. The first thing she found was a group of tiny barnacles, and +for a while she amused herself by washing salt water over them to see +them open their tiny cups of shell. In the pool itself a beautiful +lavender-colored jelly-fish was floating about, and just beyond lay a +star-fish clinging to a bunch of seaweed. She found other treasures +scattered about by the largess of the tide--tiny spiral shells, stones +of all colors, and a horseshoe crab, besides seaweed with pretty +little pods which popped delightfully when she squeezed them with her +fingers. Then she heard the cries of gulls overhead and watched them +as they wheeled and circled between her and the sky. When they flew +out to sea she sat with her hands clasping her knees and gazed across +the bay at the three hills of Boston town. She could see quite plainly +the tall beacon standing like a ship's mast on top of Beacon Hill, and +farther north she strained her eyes to pick out Governor Winthrop's +dwelling from the cluster of houses which straggled up the slope of +Copp's Hill and which made all there was of the city of Boston in that +early day. + +[Illustration] + +For some time she sat there hugging her knees and thinking long, long +thoughts, and it was not until the sound of little waves lapping +against the rocks roused her that she woke from her day dream and +realized with terror that the tide had turned. The channels and lower +levels of the bay were already brimming over, and the water was deep +about the rocks on which she perched. At almost the same moment Dan +had been surprised by a cold wave which washed over his bare feet, +and, turning about, was dismayed to find a sheet of blue water +covering the bay and to see Nancy standing on the topmost rock +shouting "Dan! Dan!" at the top of her lungs. For one astonished +instant he looked at her, then, throwing down his shovel, he plunged +unhesitatingly into the icy bath. And now Nancy, realizing that there +was not a moment to lose if she hoped to reach the shore in safety, +let herself slowly down off the rocks, leaving the basket behind her, +and started toward her brother. + +The water was already so deep in the channels that their progress +toward each other was slow, but they ploughed bravely on, feeling the +bottom carefully at each step lest they sink in some sand-pocket or +hollow washed out by the tide. Some distance away toward Charlestown +a fishing schooner rocked on the deeper water of the bay, and a +fisherman in a small boat, attracted by the shouting, looked up, and, +seeing the two struggling figures, instantly bent to his oars and +started toward them. Though he rowed rapidly, it was some minutes +before he could reach the children, who were now floundering about in +water nearly up to their necks. + +[Illustration] + +"Hold fast to my shoulder, Nancy," he heard Dan cry. "I can float, and +I can swim a little. Keep thy nose above water and let thy feet go +where they will." Nancy, spluttering and gurgling, was trying hard to +follow Dan's directions, when the boat shot alongside, and a cheery +voice cried, "Ahoy, there! Come aboard, you young porpoises!" + +To the children it was like a voice straight from heaven. Dan +immediately helped Nancy to get into the boat, and then she balanced +it while he climbed aboard. + +When they were safely bestowed among the lobster-pots with which the +boat was laden, the man leaned on his oars and eyed them critically. +"Short of sense, ain't ye?" he remarked genially. "Nigh about drownded +that time or I 'm no skipper! If ye ain't bent on destruction ye 'd +better get into dry clothes. Ye 're as wet as a mess of drownded +kittens. Tell me where you live and I 'll take you home." + +He flung a tarpaulin over the shivering figures and tucked it around +them as he scolded. "'T is all my fault," sobbed poor Nancy. "Dan came +in just to get me out." + +"Very commendable of him, I 'm sure," said the stranger, nodding +approvingly at Dan, "and just what he 'd ought to do, and doubtless +you 're worth saving at that, though a hen-headeder young miss I never +see in all my days!" + +"She went to find seaweed to bed the clams," explained Dan, coming to +his sister's defense, "and the tide caught her. Thou art kind indeed +to pick us up, sir." + +"Oh," groaned remorseful Nancy, her teeth chattering, "it 's all +because I 'm such a sinner! I made a likeness of Gran'ther Wattles in +the sand and said dreadful things about the prophet Elijah, or mayhap +'t was Elisha, and Dan said a bear might come to eat me up just like +the forty and two children, and instead of a bear we both were almost +swallowed by the tide!" + +"Well, now," said the stranger, comfortingly, "ye see instead of +sending bears the Lord sent me along to fish ye out, just the same as +He sent the whale to swallow Jonah when he was acting contrary! Looks +like He meant to let ye off with a scare this time. Come now, my lass, +there 's salt water enough aboard and if ye cry into the boat, ye 'll +have to bail her out. Besides," he added whimsically, looking up at +the sky, "there 's another squall coming on, and two at a time is too +many for any sailor. If I 'm to cast you up on the shore same as the +whale, ye 'll have to tell me which way to go, and who ye are." + +"Our father is Josiah Pepperell," answered Dan, "and our house is +almost a mile back from shore near Cambridge." + +"So you 're Josiah Pepperell's children! To be sure, to be sure! Might +have known it. Ye do favor him some," said the fisherman. "Well! well! +The ways of the Lord are surely past finding out! Why, I knew your +father way back in England. He came over here for religion and I came +for fish. Not that I ain't a God-fearing man," he added hastily, +noticing a look of horror on Nancy's face, "but I ain't so pious +as some. I 'm a seafaring man, Captain Sanders of the Lucy Ann, +Marblehead. Ye can see her riding at anchor out there in the bay. I +have n't set eyes on your father since he left Boston and settled in +the back woods up yonder." + +He sent the boat flying through the water with swift, sure strokes +as he talked, and brought it ashore at the first landing-place +they found. Here they drew it up on the bank and, taking out the +lobster-pots, turned it upside down so the rain would not fill it. Two +great green lobsters with goblin-like eyes were hidden away under the +pots, and when the boat was overturned they tumbled out and started at +a lively pace for the water. + +"Hi, there!" shouted the Captain, seizing them by their tails, "where +are your manners? By jolly, I like to forgot ye! Come along now and +take supper with the Pepperells. I invite ye! They 're short of clams +and they 'll be pleased to see ye, or I miss my reckoning." There were +pegs stuck in the scissor-like claws, so the creatures were harmless, +and, swinging along with one kicking vigorously in each hand, the +Captain plunged into the long meadow grass, the children following +close at his heels. + +The clouds grew darker and darker; there was a rumble of thunder, +and streaks of lightning tore great rents in the sky as they hurried +across the open meadow and struck into the pasture land beyond. + +"Head into the wind there and keep going," shouted the Captain as the +children struggled along, impeded by their wet clothing. "It 's from +the north, and we 're pointed straight into it." + +Past bushes waving distractedly in the wind, under the boughs of young +oak trees, over stones and through briars they sped, and at last they +came in sight of the cabin just as the storm broke. Goodwife Pepperell +was standing in the door gazing anxiously toward the river, when they +dashed out of the bushes and, scudding past her, stood dripping on +the hearth-stone. Her husband was just hanging his gun over the +chimney-piece, and the noise of their entrance was drowned out by a +clap of thunder; so when he turned about and saw the three drenched +figures it was no wonder that for an instant he was too surprised to +speak. + +"Well, of all things!" he said at last, holding out his hand to +Captain Sanders. "What in God's providence brings thee here, Thomas? +Thou art welcome indeed. 'T is a long time since I have seen thee." + +"God's providence ye may call it," answered the Captain, shaking the +Goodman's hand as if he were pumping out the hold of a sinking ship, +"and I 'll not gainsay it. The truth is I overhauled these small craft +floundering around in the tide-wash with water over their scuppers 'n' +all but wrecked, so I took 'em in tow and brought 'em ashore!" + +Their mother, meanwhile, had not waited for explanations. Seeing how +chilled they were, she had hurried the children to the loft above +the one room of the cabin and was already giving them a rub-down and +getting out dry clean clothes while they told her their adventure. + +"Thank God you are safe," she said, clasping them both in her arms, +when the tale was told. + +"Thank Captain Sanders as well, Mother," said Daniel. "Had it not been +for him, I doubt if we could have reached the shore." + +"Let this be a lesson to you, then," said the Goodwife, loosening her +clasp and picking up the wet clothing. "You know well about the tide! +Nancy, child, why art thou so wild and reckless? Thou art the cause of +much anxiety." + +At her mother's reproof, gentle though it was, poor Nancy flopped over +on her stomach, and, burying her face in her hands, gave way to tears. + +"It 's all because I am so wicked," she moaned. "My sins are as +scarlet! Oh, Mother, dost think God will cause the lightning to strike +us dead to punish me?" She shuddered with fear as a flash shone +through the chinks of the logs and for an instant lighted the dim +loft. + +Her mother put down the wet clothes and, lifting her little daughter +tenderly in her arms, laid her on her bed. "God maketh the rain to +fall on both the just and the unjust," she said soothingly. "Rest here +while I go down and get supper." + +She covered her warmly with a homespun blanket, and, accompanied by +Dan, made her way down the ladder. She found her husband putting fresh +logs on the fire and stirring the coals to a blaze, while the Captain +hung his coat on the corner of the mantel-shelf to dry. She went up to +him and held out her hand. "Captain Sanders," she said, "but for thee +this might be a desolate household indeed this night." + +The Captain's red face turned a deeper shade, and he fidgeted with +embarrassment, as he took her hand in his great red paw, then dropped +it suddenly as if it were hot. "Oh, stow it, ma'am, stow it," he +begged. "That is, I mean to say--why, by jolly, ma'am, a pirate could +do no less when he see a fine bit of cargo like that going to the +bottom!" + +To the Captain's great relief the lobsters at this moment created a +diversion. He had dropped them on the hearth when he came in, and they +were now clattering briskly about the room, butting into anything that +came in their way in an effort to escape. He made a sudden dash after +them and held them out toward Goodwife Pepperell. + +"Here they be, ma'am," he said. "I 'd saved them for my supper, and I +'d take it kindly if ye 'd cook them for me, and help eat them, too. +It 's raining cats and dogs, and if I was to start out now, I 'd have a +hard time finding the Lucy Ann. Ye can't see a rod ahead of ye in such +a downpour." + +"We shall be glad to have thee stay as long as thou wilt," said the +Goodwife heartily. "Put the lobsters in this while I set the kettle to +boil." She held out a wooden puncheon as she spoke, and the Captain +dropped them in. Then he sat down with Goodman Pepperell on the settle +beside the fireplace, and the two men talked of their boyhood in +England, while she hung the kettle on the crane over the fire and +began to prepare the evening meal. + +"Daniel, sit thee down by the fire and get a good bed of coals ready +while I mix the johnny-cake," she said as she stepped briskly about +the room, and Daniel, nothing loath, drew a stool to the Captain's +side and fed the fire with chips and corn-cobs while he listened with +all his ears to the talk of the two men. + +[Illustration] + +"Well, Thomas, how hast thou prospered since I saw thee last?" asked +Goodman Pepperell. + +"Tolerable, tolerable, Josiah," answered the Captain. "I 've been +mining for sea gold." Daniel wondered what in the world sea gold +might be. "Ye see," he went on, turning to include Daniel in the +conversation, "my father was a sea captain before me, and my gran'ther +too. Why, my gran'ther helped send the Spanish Armada to the bottom +where it belonged. Many and many 's the time I 've heard him tell +about it, and I judge from what he said he must have done most of the +job himself, though I reckon old Cap'n Drake may have helped some." +(Here the Captain chuckled.) "He never came back from his last +voyage,--overhauled by pirates more 'n likely. That was twenty years +ago, and I 've been following the sea myself ever since. I was wrecked +off the Spanish Main on my first voyage, and I 've run afoul of +pirates and come near walking the plank more times than one, I 'm +telling ye, but somehow I always had the luck to get away! And here I +be, safe and sound." + +At this point the lobsters made a commotion in the wooden puncheon, +and the Captain turned his attention to them. "Jest spilin' to get +out, ain't ye?" he inquired genially. "Look here, boy," to Daniel, +"that water's bilin'. Heave 'em in." + +Daniel held his squirming victims over the pot, and not without a +qualm of pity dropped them into the boiling water. Then he ventured to +ask a question. "What is sea gold, Captain Sanders?" + +"Things like them," answered the Captain, jerking his thumb at the +lobsters, which were already beginning to turn a beautiful red color +as they boiled in the pot; "as good gold as any that was ever dug out +of mines ye can get for fish, and there never was such fishing in all +the seas as there is along this coast! My! my! I 've seen schools of +cod off the Cape making a solid floor of fish on the water so ye could +walk on it if ye were so minded, and as for lobsters, I 've caught 'em +that measured six and seven feet long! Farther down the coast there +are oysters so big one of 'em will make a square meal for four or five +people. It 's the truth I 'm telling ye." + +Goodman Pepperell smiled. "Thomas," he said, "thou hast not lost thy +power of narration!" + +Captain Sanders for an instant looked a bit dashed, then he said, +"Well, believe it or not, Josiah, it 's the truth for all that. Why, +talk about the land of Canaan flowin' with milk and honey! This here +water 's just alive with money! Any boy could go out and haul up a +shilling on his own hook any time he liked." + +Daniel, his eyes shining and his lips parted, was just making up his +mind that he would rather be the captain of a fishing-smack than +anything else in the world, since he knew he could n't be a pirate, +when his mother came to the fireplace with a layer of corn-meal dough +spread on a baking-board. She placed the board in a slanting position +against an iron trivet before the glowing bed of coals, and set a pot +of beans in the ashes to warm. "Keep an eye on that johnny-cake," she +said to Daniel, "and don't let it burn." Then she turned away to set +the table. + +[Illustration] + +This task took but little time, for in those days there were few +things to put on it. She spread a snowy cloth of homespun linen on +the plank which served as a table, and laid a knife and spoon at each +place; there were no forks, and for plates only a square of wood with +a shallow depression in the middle. Beside each of these trenchers she +placed a napkin and a mug, and at the Captain's place, as a special +honor, she set a beautiful tankard of wrought silver. It was one of +the few valuable things she had brought with her from her English +home, and it was used only on great occasions. + +When these preparations were complete, she took the lobsters from +the pot, poured the beans into a pewter dish, heaped the golden +johnny-cake high upon a trencher, and, sending Dan to fetch Nancy, +called the men to supper. The storm was over by this time, the last +rays of the setting sun were throwing long shadows over the fields, +and the robins were singing their evening song. The Goodwife stepped +to the window and threw open the wooden shutters. "See," she said. +"There 's a rainbow." + +"The sign of promise," murmured Goodman Pepperell, rising and looking +over his wife's shoulder. + +"Fine day to-morrow," said the Captain. "Maybe I can plant my +lobster-pots after all." + +Nancy, looking pale and a little subdued, crept down the ladder and +took her place with Daniel at the foot of the board. Then they all +stood, while Goodman Pepperell asked a blessing on the food, and +thanked God for his mercy in delivering them from danger and bringing +them together in health and safety to partake of his bounty. + +[Illustration] + + + + +II + +TWO DAYS + + +The grace finished (it was a very long one and the beans were nearly +cold before he said amen), Goodman Pepperell broke open the lobsters +and piled the trenchers with johnny-cake and beans, and the whole +family fell to with a right good will. All but Nancy. She was still a +bit upset and did not feel hungry. + +"Thou hast not told me, Captain, what voyage thou art about to +undertake next," said the Goodman, sucking a lobster-claw with relish. + +The Captain loved to talk quite as well as he loved to eat, but his +mouth was full at this moment, and he paused before replying. "I 'm +getting too old for long voyages, Josiah," he said at last with a +sigh. "Kind o' losing my taste for adventure. Pirates is pretty +plentiful yet, and for all I 'm a sailor I 'd like to die in my bed, +so I have settled at Marblehead. They 're partial to fishermen along +this coast. The town gives 'em land for drying their fish and exempts +'em from military dooty. But I can't stay ashore a great while before +my sea legs begin to hanker for the feel of the deck rolling under +'em, so I 'm doing a coasting trade all up and down the length of +Massachusetts Bay. I keep a parcel of lobster-pots going, some here +and some Plymouth way, and sell them and fish, besides doing a +carrying trade for all the towns along-shore. It 's a tame kind o' +life. There, now," he finished, "that 's all there is to say about me, +and I 'll just take a turn at these beans and give ye a chance to tell +about yourself, Josiah." + +"'T is but a short tale," answered the Goodman, "God hath prospered +me. I have an hundred acres of good farm land along this river, and I +have a cow, and a flock of sheep to keep us in wool for the Good +wife to spin. I have set out apple trees, and there is wood for the +cutting; the forest furnishes game and the sea is stored with food for +our use; but the truth is there is more to do than can be compassed +with one pair of hands. The neighbors help each other with clearing +the land, log-rolling, building walls, and such as that, but if this +country is to be developed we must do more than make a living. There +are a thousand things calling to be done if there were but the men to +do them." + +The Captain skillfully balanced a mouthful of beans on his knife as he +considered the problem. Finally he said, "Well, here 's Dan'el, and, +judging by the way he waded right into the tide after his sister, I +calculate he 'd be a smart boy to have round." + +"He is," said the Goodman, and Daniel blushed to his eyes, for his +father seldom praised him, "but he is not yet equal to a man's work, +and moreover I want him to get some schooling. The Reverend John +Harvard hath promised his library and quite a sum of money to found +a college for the training of ministers right here in Cambridge. The +hand of the Lord hath surely guided us to this place, where he may +receive an education, and it may even be that Daniel will be a +minister, for the Colony sorely needs such." + +"There, now," said the Captain. "Farming ain't such plain sailing; is +it? Have ye thought of getting an Indian slave to help ye?" + +"Truly I have thought of that," said the Goodman, "but they are a +treacherous lot and passing lazy. There was a parcel of Pequot women +and girls brought up from beyond Plymouth way last year after the +uprising. The settlers had killed off all the men and sold the boys in +the Bermudas. I might have bought one of the women but I need a man, +or at least a boy that will grow into one. The Pequots are about all +gone now, but the Narragansetts are none too friendly. They helped +fight the Pequots because they hate them worse than they hate the +English, but they are only biding their time, and some day it 's +likely we shall have trouble with them. Nay, I could never trust an +Indian slave. Roger Williams saith they are wolves with men's brains, +and he speaks the truth." + +"Well, then," said the Captain, "why don't ye get a black? They are +more docile than Indians, and the woods about are not full of their +friends." + +"Aye," agreed the Goodman, "the plan is a good one and well thought +out, but they are hard to come by. There are only a few, even in +Boston." + +"There will soon be more, I 'm thinking," said the Captain. "A ship +was built in Marblehead last year on purpose for the trade. Captain +Pierce is a friend of mine, and he 's due at Providence any time now +with a cargo of blacks from Guinea. Ye could sail down the bay with +me, and there 's a trail across the neck of the Cape to Providence, +where the Desire will come to port. I expect to spend the Sabbath +here, but I lift anchor on Monday. Ye can tell Captain Pierce ye 're a +friend of mine, and 't will do ye no harm." + +[Illustration] + +"Oh, Father," breathed Dan, "may I go, too?" + +The Captain chuckled. "Art struck with the sea fever, son?" he said, +looking down into the boy's eager face. "Well, there 's room aboard. +I might take ye along if so be thy parents are willing and thou art +minded to see a bit of the world." + +Up to this time Goodwife Pepperell had said no word, but now she +spoke. "Are there not dangers enough on land without courting the +dangers of the sea?" she asked. + +Her husband looked at her with gentle disapproval. "Hold thy peace," +he said. "What hath a pioneer lad to do with fear? Moreover, if he +goes I shall be with him." + +Nancy leaned forward and gazed imploringly at the Captain. "Dost thou +not need some one to cook on thy boat?" she gasped. "I know well how +to make johnny-cake and I--" then, seeing her father's stern look and +her mother's distress, she wilted like a flower on its stem and was +silent. The Captain smiled at her. + +"Ye 're a fine cook, I make no doubt," he said genially, "but ye would +n't go and leave Mother here all alone, now, I 'll be bound!" + +"Nay," said Nancy faintly, looking at her mother. + +Then the Goodwife spoke. "It pains me," she said, "to think of +children torn from their parents and sold into slavery, even though +they be but Indians or blacks. I doubt not they have souls like +ourselves." + +"Read thy Bible, Susanna," answered her husband. "Cursed be Canaan. +A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren--thus say the +Scriptures." + +"Well, now," broke in the Captain, "if they have souls, they 've +either got to save 'em or lose 'em as I jedge it; and if they never +have a chance to hear the Plan of Salvation, they 're bound to be lost +anyway. Bringin' 'em over here gives them their only chance to escape +damnation, according to my notion." + +"Hast thou ever brought over a cargo of slaves thyself?" asked the +Goodwife. + +"Nay," admitted the Captain, "but I sailed once on a slaver, and I own +I liked not to see the poor critters when they were lured away. It +seemed they could n't rightly sense that 't was for their eternal +welfare, and I never felt called to set their feet in the way +of Salvation by that means myself. I reckon I 'm not more than +chicken-hearted, if ye come to that." + +The meal was now over, the dusk had deepened as they lingered about +the table, and Goodwife Pepperell rose to light a bayberry candle and +set it on the chimney-piece. + +"Sit ye down by the fire again, while Nancy and I wash the dishes," +she said cordially. + +"Thank ye kindly," said the Captain, "but I must budge along. It 's +near dark, and Timothy--that 's my mate--will be wondering if I 've +been et up by a shark. It 's going to be a clear night after the +storm." + +The children slept so soundly after the adventures of the day that +their mother called them three times from the foot of the ladder in +the early dawn of the following morning without getting any response. +Then she mounted to the loft and shook Daniel gently. "Wake thee," she +said. "'T is long past cock-crow, and Saturday at that." + +Daniel opened his eyes feebly and was off to sleep again at once. +"Daniel," she said, shaking him harder, "thy father is minded to take +thee to Plymouth." + +Before the words were fairly out of her mouth Daniel had popped out of +bed as if he had been shot from a gun. "Oh, Mother," he shouted, "am +I really to go? Shall I go clear to Providence? Doth Captain Sanders +know? When do we start?" + +"Thy father arranged it with the Captain last night," answered his +mother. "He will come for thee in the little boat on Monday morning +and will row thee and thy father to the sloop, which will sail at high +tide. While thy father makes the journey across the Cape thou wilt go +on to Provincetown with the Captain, or mayhap, if visitors are now +permitted in the Colony, my aunt, the Governor's lady, will keep thee +with her until thy father returns. She would like well to see my son, +I know, and I trust thou wilt be a good lad and mind thy manners. +Come, Nancy, child, I need thy help!" Then she disappeared down the +ladder to stir the hasty pudding, which was already bubbling in the +pot. + +When she was gone, Nancy flung herself upon the mattress and buried +her face in the bed-clothes. "Oh, Daniel," she cried, smothering a +sob, "what if the p-p-pirates should get thee?" + +Daniel was at her side in an instant. "Give thyself no concern about +pirates, sister," he said, patting her comfortingly. "I have thought +how to deal with them! I shall stand by the rail with my cutlass in +my hand, and when they seek to board her I will bring down my cutlass +so,"--here he made a terrific sweep with his arm,--"and that will be +the end of them." + +"Oh," breathed Nancy, much impressed, "how brave thou art!" + +"Well," said Daniel modestly, "there 'd be the Captain and father to +help, of course, and, I suppose, the mate too. There will be four of +us men anyway." + +"_Nancy!_--_Daniel!_"--it was their father's voice this time, and the +two children jumped guiltily and began to dress as if the house were +on fire and they had but two minutes to escape. In a surprisingly +short time they were downstairs and attending to their morning tasks. +Nancy, looking very solemn, fed the chickens, and Dan brought water +from the spring, while their father milked the cow; and by six o'clock +their breakfast of hasty pudding and milk had been eaten, prayers were +over, and the whole family was ready for the real work of the day. +There was a great deal of it to do, for nothing but "works of +necessity and mercy" could be performed on the Sabbath, the Sabbath +began at sundown Saturday afternoon, and the travellers were to make +an early start on Monday morning. A fire was built in the brick oven +beside the fireplace, and while it was heating the Goodwife made four +pies and six loaves of brown-bread, and prepared a pot of pork and +beans for baking. + +[Illustration] + +When the coals had been raked out and the oven filled, she washed +clothes for Daniel and his father, while Nancy hurried to finish a +pair of stockings she was knitting for her brother. Daniel himself, +meanwhile, had gone down to the bay to see if he could find the +shovel and the basket. He came home in triumph about noon with both, +and with quite a number of clams beside, which the Goodwife cooked +for their dinner. When they were seated at the table, and the Goodman +had asked the blessing, he leaned back in his chair and surveyed the +ceiling of the cabin. From the rafters there hung long festoons of +dried pumpkin and golden ears of corn. There were also sausages, hams, +and sides of bacon. + +"I doubt not you will fare well while we are gone," he said. "There +is plenty of well-cured meat, and meal enough ground to last for some +time. The planting is done and the corn well hoed; there is wood cut, +and Gran'ther Wattles will call upon you if he knows I am away. I am +leaving the fowling-piece for thee, wife. The musket I shall take with +me." + +"Why must Gran'ther Wattles come?" interrupted Nancy in alarm. "I am +sure Mother and I do not need him." + +"Children should be seen and not heard," said her father. "It is +Gran'ther Wattles's duty to oversee the congregation at home as well +as in the meeting-house." + +Nancy looked at her trencher and said no more, but she thought there +was already enough to bear without having Gran'ther Wattles added to +her troubles. Daniel, meanwhile, had attacked his porringer of clams, +and in his excitement over the journey was gobbling at a fearful rate. +His mother looked at him despairingly. + +"Daniel," she said, "thou art pitching food into thy mouth as if thou +wert shoveling coals into the oven! Take thy elbows off the table and +eat more moderately." Daniel glued his elbows to his side. "Sit up +straight," she went on, "or thou wilt grow up as crooked as a ram's +horn." Daniel immediately sat up as if he had swallowed the poker. +"I wish thee to practice proper manners at home, lest my aunt should +think thee a person of no gentility. Remember thou must not ask for +anything at the table. Wait until it is offered thee, and then do +not stuff it down as if thine eyes had not looked upon food for a +fortnight!" + +"But," protested poor Dan, who was beginning to feel that the journey +might not be all his fancy had painted, "suppose they should n't offer +it?" + +"I do not fear starvation for thee," his mother answered briefly; "and +oh, Daniel, I beg of thee to wash thy hands before going to the table! +The Governor is a proper man and my aunt is very particular." She +paused for breath, and to get more brown-bread for the table. + +When she sat down again, Daniel said, "If you please, I think I 'd +rather go on to Provincetown with the Captain." + +"That must be as we are guided at the time," said his father. + +The busy day passed quickly, and before sunset a fine array of pies +and brown loaves were cooling on the table, the chores were done, and +a Sabbath quiet had settled down over the household, not to be broken +until sunset of the following day. + +When Daniel opened the cabin door the next morning, he was confronted +by a wall of gray mist which shut the landscape entirely from view. +He had hoped to catch a glimpse of the Lucy Ann, in order to assure +himself that he had not merely dreamed the events of the day before, +but nothing could he see, and he began dispirited preparations for +church. They had no clock, and on account of the fog they could not +tell the time by the sun, so the whole family started early to cross +the long stretch of pasture land which lay between them and the +meeting-house in the village. They reached it just as Gran'ther +Wattles, looking very grave and important, came out on the church +steps and beat a solemn tattoo upon a drum to call the people +together. They came from different directions across the fields and +through the one street of the village, looking anxious for fear +they should be late, yet not daring to desecrate the Sabbath by any +appearance of haste. Among the rest, red-faced and short of wind, who +should appear but Captain Sanders? Sabbath decorum forbade any show of +surprise; so Goodman Pepperell and his wife merely bowed gravely, and +the Captain, looking fairly pop-eyed in his effort to keep properly +solemn, nodded in return, and they passed into the meeting-house +together. + +The Captain sat down with the Goodman on the men's side of the room, +while Daniel went to his place among the boys, leaving Nancy and his +mother seated with the women on the opposite side. It is hard to +believe that a boy could sit through a sermon two hours long with his +friends all about him and such a secret buttoned up inside his jacket +without an explosion, but Daniel did it. He did n't dare do otherwise, +for Gran'ther Wattles ranged up and down the little aisle with his +tithing-rod in hand on the lookout for evil-doers. Once, indeed, +during the sermon there was a low rumbling snore, and Daniel was +horrified to see Gran'ther Wattles lean over and gently tickle the +Captain's nose with the squirrel-tail. The Captain woke with a start +and sneezed so violently that the boy next Daniel all but tittered +outright. Gran'ther Wattles immediately gave him a smart rap on the +head with the knob end of his stick, so it is no wonder that after +that Daniel sat with his eyes nearly crossed in his effort to keep +them fixed on the minister, though his thoughts were far away ranging +Massachusetts Bay with the Lucy Ann of Marblehead. + +At last, however, the sermon ended, the final psalm was sung, and +after the benediction the minister passed out of the church and the +congregation dispersed to eat a bite of brown-bread in the church-yard +before assembling again for another two-hour sermon. + +The sun was now shining brightly, and, once outside the door, after +the first sermon, the Captain wiped his brow as if exhausted, and a +few moments later Daniel saw him quietly disappearing in the direction +of the river. He was not of the Cambridge parish, so no discipline +could be exercised upon him, but Gran'ther Wattles set him down at +once as a dangerous character, and even Goodwife Pepperell shook her +head gently when she noted his absence. + +[Illustration] + +Somehow, although it was a breach of Sabbath decorum to tell it, the +great news leaked out during the intermission, and Daniel was the +center of interest to every boy in the congregation during the +afternoon. When the second long sermon was over and the exhausted +minister had trailed solemnly down the aisle, the equally exhausted +people walked sedately to their houses, discussing the sermon as they +went. All that day Daniel kept a tight clutch on his manners, but the +moment the sun went down, he heaved a great sigh of relief and turned +three somersaults and a handspring behind the cabin to limber himself +up after the fearful strain. + +[Illustration] + + + + +III + +ON BOARD THE LUCY ANN + + +The family rose at daybreak the next morning, tasks were quickly +performed, and after breakfast the Goodman read a chapter in the Bible +and prayed long and earnestly that God would bless their journey, +protect those who were left behind, and bring them all together again +in safety. Then he and Daniel started down the path to the river, with +Nancy and her mother, both looking very serious, following after. The +tide was already coming in, and the bay stretched before them a wide +sheet of blue water sparkling in the sun. In the distance they could +see the sails of the Lucy Ann being hoisted and Captain Sanders in his +small boat rowing rapidly toward the landing-place. + +"Ship ahoy!" shouted Daniel, waving his cap as the boat approached. + +"Ahoy, there!" answered the Captain, and in a moment the keel grated +on the sand, and the Goodman turned to his wife and daughter. + +"The Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from the +other," he said reverently, and "Amen!" boomed the Captain. Then there +were kisses and good-byes, and soon Nancy and her mother were alone on +the shore, waving their hands until the boat was a mere speck on the +dancing blue waters. As it neared the Lucy Ann, they went back to the +cabin, and there they watched the white sails gleaming in the sun +until they disappeared around a headland. + +"Come, Nancy," said her mother when the ship was quite out of sight, +"idleness will only make loneliness harder to bear. Here is a task for +thee." She handed her a basket of raw wool. "Take this and card it for +me to spin." + +Nancy hated carding with all her heart, but she rose obediently, +brought the basket to the doorway, and, sitting down in the sunshine, +patiently carded the wool into little wisps ready to be wound on a +spindle and spun into yarn by the mother's skillful hands. + +Meanwhile Daniel was standing on the deck of the Lucy Ann, drinking +in the fresh salt breeze and eagerly watching the shores as the boat +passed between Charlestown and Boston and dropped anchor in the harbor +to set the Captain's lobster-pots. All the wonderful bright day they +sailed past rocky islands and picturesque headlands, with the Captain +at the tiller skillfully keeping the vessel to the course and at the +same time spinning yarns to Daniel and his father about the adventures +which had overtaken him at various points along the coast. At +Governor's Island he had caught a giant lobster. He had been all but +wrecked in a fog off Thompson's Island. + +"Ye see that point of land," he said, waving his hand toward a rocky +promontory extending far out into the bay. "That 's Squantum. Miles +Standish of Plymouth named it that after an Indian that was a good +friend of the Colony in the early days. Well, right off there I was +overhauled by a French privateer once. 'Privateer' is a polite name +for a pirate ship. She was loaded with molasses, indigo, and such from +the West Indies, and I had a cargo of beaver-skins. If it had n't been +that her sailors was mostly roarin' drunk at the time, it 's likely +that would have been the end of Thomas Sanders, skipper, sloop, and +all, but my boat was smaller and quicker than theirs, and, knowing +these waters so well, I was able to give 'em the slip and get out into +open sea; and here I be! Ah, those were the days!" + +The Captain heaved a heavy sigh for the lost joys of youth and was +silent for a moment. Then his eyes twinkled and he began another +story. "One day as we was skirtin' the shores of Martha's Vineyard," +he said, "we were followed by a shark. Now, there 's nothing a sailor +hates worse than a shark; and for good reasons. They 're the pirates +of the deep; that 's what they are. They 'll follow a vessel for days, +snapping up whatever the cook throws out, and hoping somebody 'll +fall overboard to give 'em a full meal. Well, sir, there was a sailor +aboard on that voyage that had a special grudge against sharks. He 'd +been all but et up by one once, and he allowed this was his chance to +get even; so he let out a hook baited with a whole pound of salt pork, +and the shark gobbled it down instanter, hook and all. They hauled him +up the ship's side, and then that sailor let himself down over the +rails by a rope, and cut a hole in the shark's gullet, or whatever +they call the pouch the critter carries his supplies in, and took out +the pork. Then he dropped him back in the water and threw the pork in +after him. Well, sir, believe it or not, that shark sighted the pork +bobbing round in the water; so he swallowed it again. Of course it +dropped right out through the hole in his gullet, and, by jolly! as +long as we could see him that shark was continuing to swallow that +piece of pork over and over again. I don't know as I ever see any +animal get more pleasure out of his rations than that shark got out +of that pound of pork. I believe in bein' kind to dumb critters," he +finished, "and I reckon the shark is about the dumbdest there is. +Anyhow that one surely did die happy." Here the Captain solemnly +winked his eye. + +"What became of the sailor?" asked Dan. + +"That sailor was me," admitted the Captain. "That 's what became of +him, and served him right, too." + +They slept that night on the deck of the sloop, and before light the +next morning Dan was awakened by the groaning of the chain as the +anchor was hauled up, and the flapping of the sails as Timothy hoisted +them to catch a stiff breeze which was blowing from the northeast. +The second day passed like the first. The weather was fine, the winds +favorable, and that evening they rounded Duxbury Point and entered +Plymouth Bay just as the sun sank behind the hills back of the town. + +"Here 's the spot where the Mayflower dropped anchor," said the +Captain, as the sloop approached a strip of sandy beach stretching +like a long finger into the water. "I generally bring the Lucy Ann to +at the same place. She can't go out again till high tide to-morrow, +for the harbor is shallow and we 'd likely run aground; so ye 'll have +the whole morning to spend with your relations, and that 's more than +I 'd want to spend with some of mine, I 'm telling ye," and he roared +with laughter. "Relations is like victuals," he went on. "Some agrees +with ye, and some don't." + +"Our relations are the Bradfords," said Goodman Pepperell with +dignity. + +"And a better man than the Governor never trod shoe-leather," said the +Captain heartily. "He and Captain Standish and Mr. Brewster and Edward +Winslow--why, those four men have piloted this town through more +squalls than would overtake most places in a hundred years! If +anything could kill 'em they would have been under ground years ago. +They 've had starvation and Indians and the plague followin' after 'em +like a school of sharks ever since they dropped anchor here well nigh +on to twenty years ago, and whatever happens they just thank the +Lord as if 't was a special blessing and go right along! By jolly!" +declared the Captain, blowing his nose violently, "they nigh about +beat old Job for patience! 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in +Him,' says old Job, but his troubles was all over after a bit, and he +got rewarded with another full set of wives and children and worldly +goods, so he could see plain as print that righteousness paid. But +these men,--their reward for trouble is just more trouble, fer 's I +can see. They surely do beat all for piety." + +"'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,'" quoted the Goodman. + +"The Lord must be mighty partial to Plymouth, then," answered the +Captain as he brought the sloop gently round the point, "for she +'s been shown enough favor to spile her, according to my way of +thinkin'." + +[Illustration] + +It was too late to go ashore that night, and from the deck Dan watched +the stars come out over the little village, not dreaming that it held +in its humble keeping the brave spirit of a great nation that was to +be. + +When Daniel opened his eyes next morning, his father and the Captain +were already stowing various packages in the small boat, and from the +tiny forecastle came an appetizing smell of frying fish. + +"Here ye be," said the Captain cheerily to Dan, "bright as a new +shilling and ready to eat I 'll be bound. As soon as we 've had a bite +we 'll go ashore. I 've got to row clear over to Duxbury after I do my +errands in Plymouth, but I 'll hunt ye up when I get back. Nobody can +get lost in this town without he goes out of it! I could spot ye from +the deck most anywhere on the map. Then, my lad, if your father says +the word, I 'll bring ye back to the Lucy Ann while he goes across the +neck. Ye 'll get a taste of mackerel-fishing if ye come along o' me. +Ye can make yourself handy on deck and keep a quarter of your own +catch for yourself if you 're lively. A tub of salt fish would be a +tidy present to your mother when you get back home." + +"Oh, I want to go with you," cried Daniel, remembering with terror +what was expected of him in the way of manners should he be invited to +stay at the Governor's. He looked questioningly at his father, but was +answered only by a grave smile, and he knew better than to plead. + +"Here, now," cried the Captain, as Timothy appeared with a big +trencher of smoking fish and corn bread, "tie up to the dock and stow +away some of this cargo in your insides." + +Neither Daniel nor his father needed a second invitation, for the keen +salt air had given them the appetite of wolves, and the breakfast was +soon disposed of according to directions. Then the two followed the +Captain over the side and into the boat, which had been lowered and +was now bobbing about on the choppy waves of the bay. When they were +settled and the boat was properly trimmed, the Captain rowed toward a +small stream of clear water which flowed down from the hills back of +the town, and landed them at the foot of the one little street of the +village. The Captain drew the boat well up on the shore and stowed +letters and parcels in various places about his person, and the three +started up the hill together. They had not gone far, when a childish +voice shouted, "There 's Captain Sanders," and immediately every child +within hearing came tumbling down the hill till they swarmed about him +like flies about a honey-pot. + +[Illustration] + +"Pirates!" cried the Captain, holding up his hands in mock terror. +"I surrender. Come aboard and seize the cargo!" He held open the +capacious pocket which hung from his belt, and immediately half a +dozen small hands plunged into it and came out laden with raisins. + +"Here, now, divide fairly," shouted the Captain. "No pigs!" and with +children clinging to his hands and coat-tails he made a slow progress +up the hill, Daniel and his father following closely in his wake. + +As they were nearing the Common House, two more children caught sight +of him and came racing to meet him. The Captain dived into his +pocket for more raisins and found it empty, but he was equal to the +emergency. "Here, you, Mercy and Joseph Bradford," he cried, "I 've +brought you something I have n't brought to any one else. I 've +brought you a new cousin." The other children had been so absorbed in +their old friend they had scarcely noticed the strangers hitherto, but +now they turned to gaze curiously at Daniel and his father. Joseph and +Mercy were both a little younger than Daniel, and all three were shy, +but no one could stay shy long when the Captain was about, and soon +they were walking along together in the friendliest manner. + +"Where 's thy father, young man?" said the Captain, speaking to +Joseph. "I have a letter for him, and I have brought a relation for +him too." + +"I wish you would bring me a cousin," said one little girl enviously. + +"Well, now," roared the Captain, "think of that! I have a few +relations of my own left over that I 'd be proper glad to parcel out +amongst ye if I 'd only known ye was short, but I have n't got 'em +with me." + +"Father 's in there," said Joseph, pointing to the Common House. "They +'re having a meeting. Elder Brewster 's there, too, and Mr. Winslow +and Captain Standish and Governor Prence." It was evident that some +matter of importance was being discussed, for a little knot of women +had gathered before the door as if waiting for some decision to be +announced. + +They had almost reached the group, when suddenly from the north there +came a low roaring noise, and the earth beneath their feet shook and +trembled so violently that many of the children were thrown to the +ground, while the bundles Goodman Pepperell was carrying for the +Captain flew in every direction. Those who kept their feet at all +reeled and staggered in a strange, wild dance, and every child in the +group screamed with all his might. The women screamed, too, calling +frantically to the children, and the men came pouring out of the door +of the Common House, trying to steady themselves as they were flung +first one way, then another by the heaving ground. It lasted but a few +dreadful moments, and the Captain was the first to recover his speech. + +"There, now," said he, a little breathlessly, "ain't it lucky I had my +sea legs on! 'T wa'n't anything but an earthquake, anyway." + +The instant they could stay on their feet, the children ran to their +mothers, who were also running to them, and in less time than it takes +to tell it the whole village was gathered before the Common House. As +Daniel, with the Captain and his father, joined the stricken company, +Governor Bradford was speaking. He had been Governor of the Colony for +so long that in time of sudden stress the people still turned to him +for counsel though Mr. Prence was really the Governor. + +"Think ye not that the finger of the Lord would direct us by this +visitation?" he said to the white-faced group. "We were met together +in council because some of our number wish to go away from Plymouth to +find broader pastures for their cattle, even as Jacob separated from +Esau with all his flocks and herds. In this I see a sign of God's +displeasure at our removals one from another." + +John Howland now found his voice. "Nay, but," he said, "shall we limit +the bounty of the Lord and say, 'Only here shall He prosper us'?" + +"What say the Scriptures to him who was not content with abundance, +but must tear down his barns to build bigger?" answered the Governor. +"'This night thy soul shall be required of thee.'" + +There was no reply, and the pale faces grew a shade paler as a second +rumble was heard in the distance, the earth again began to tremble, +and a mighty wave, rolling in from the sea, crashed against the shore. +Above the noise of the waters rose the voice of Governor Bradford. "He +looketh upon the earth and it trembleth. He toucheth the hills and +they smoke. The Lord is merciful and gracious. He will not always +chide, neither will He keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with +us after our sins." + +Seeing how frightened the people were, the Captain broke the silence +which fell upon the trembling group after the Governor's words. "Lord +love ye!" he cried heartily. "This wa'n't no earthquake to speak of. +'T wa'n't scarcely equal to an ague chill down in the tropics! They +would n't have no respect for it down there. 'T would n't more than +give 'em an appetite for their victuals." + +His laugh which followed cheered many hearts, and was echoed in faint +smiles on the pale faces of the colonists. Governor Bradford himself +smiled and, turning to the Captain, held out his hand. "Thou art ever +a tonic, Thomas," he said, "and there is always a welcome for thee in +Plymouth and for thy friends, too," he added, turning to the Goodman. + +"Though thou knowest him not, he is haply more thy friend than mine," +said the Captain, pushing the Goodman and Daniel forward to shake +hands with the Governor, "He is married to Mistress Bradford's niece +and his name is Pepperell." + +"Josiah Pepperell, of Cambridge?" said the Governor's lady, coming +forward to welcome him. + +"At your service, madam," answered the Goodman, bowing low, "and this +is my son Daniel." + +Daniel bowed in a manner to make his mother proud of him if she could +have seen him, and then Mercy and Joseph swarmed up, bringing their +older brother William, a lad of fifteen, to meet his new cousin, and +the four children ran away together, all their tongues wagging briskly +about the exciting event of the day. The earthquake had now completely +passed, and the people, roused from their terror, hastened to their +homes to repair such damage as had been done and to continue the +tasks which it had interrupted. Meanwhile the Captain distributed his +letters and parcels, leaving the Governor to become acquainted with +his new relative, learn his errand, and help him on his journey, while +his wife hastened home to prepare a dinner for company. + +It was a wonderful dinner that she set before them. There were +succotash and baked codfish, a good brown loaf, and pies made of +blueberries gathered and dried the summer before. Oh, if only Daniel's +mother could have been there to see his table manners on that +occasion! He sat up as straight as a ramrod, said "please" and "thank +you," ate in the most genteel manner possible, even managing blueberry +pie without disaster, and was altogether such an example of behavior +that Mistress Bradford said before the meal was half over, "Thou +'lt leave the lad with us, Cousin Pepperell, whilst thou art on thy +journey?" + +"I fear to trouble thee," said the Goodman. "And the Captain hath a +purpose to take him to Provincetown and meet me here on my return." + +"The land is mayhap safer than the sea should another earthquake visit +us," said the Governor gravely, "and he will more than earn his keep +if he will but help William with the corn and other tasks. Like +thyself we are in sad need of more hands." + +Daniel looked eagerly at his father, for he already greatly admired +his cousin William and longed to stay with him. Moreover, the +earthquake had somewhat modified his appetite for adventure. + +"His eyes plead," said the Goodman, "and I know it would please his +mother. So by your leave he may stay." + +A whoop of joy from the three young Bradfords was promptly suppressed +by their mother. "For shame!" she said. "Thy cousin Daniel will think +thou hast learned thy manners from the savages. Thou shouldst take a +lesson from his behavior." + +Poor Daniel squirmed on his stool and thought if he must be an example +every moment of his stay he would almost choose being swallowed up by +a tidal wave at sea after all. The matter had been settled, however, +and that very afternoon the Goodman set off on a hired horse, with his +musket across his saddle-bow, and a head full of instructions from +the Governor about the dangers of the road, and houses where he might +spend the nights. + +There was a queer lump in Daniel's throat as he caught the last +glimpse of his father's sturdy back as it disappeared down the forest +trail, and that night, when he went to bed with William in the loft of +the Governor's log house, he thought long and tenderly of his mother +and Nancy. If he had only had a magic mirror such as Beauty had in the +palace of the Beast, he might have looked into it and seen them going +patiently about their daily tasks with nothing to break the monotonous +routine of work except a visit from Gran'ther Wattles, who came to see +if Nancy knew her catechism. The earthquake had been felt there so +very slightly that they did not even know there had been one, until +the Captain stopped on his return voyage the next week to bring them +word of the safe journey to Plymouth. + + + + +IV + +A FOREST TRAIL + + +To Daniel the days of his stay in Plymouth passed quickly. He hoed +corn with his cousin William and pulled weeds in the garden with +Joseph and Mercy, and in the short hours allowed them for play there +was always the sea. They ran races on the sand when the tide was out +and were never tired of searching for the curious things washed ashore +by the waves. One day they gathered driftwood and made a fire on the +shore, hung a kettle over it and cooked their own dinner of lobsters +fresh from the water. Another day William and Daniel went together +in a rowboat nearly to Duxbury, and caught a splendid codfish that +weighed ten pounds. On another wonderful day John Howland took the +two boys hunting with him. It was the first time Daniel had ever been +allowed to carry a gun quite like a man, and he was the proudest lad +in all Plymouth that night when the three hunters returned bringing +with them two fine wild turkeys, and a hare which Daniel had shot. He +loved the grave, wise, kindly Governor and his brave wife, and grew to +know, by sight at least, most of the other people of the town. + +More than ten days passed in this way, and they were beginning to +wonder why the Goodman did not return. The Captain had come back from +Provincetown and had been obliged to go on to Boston without waiting +for him, and there was no knowing when the Lucy Ann would appear again +in Plymouth Harbor. Then one day, as Dan and William were working in +the corn-field, they saw a tired horse with two people on his back +come out of the woods. Daniel took a long look at the riders, then, +throwing down his hoe and shouting, "It 's Father!" tore off at top +speed to meet him. William picked up his hoe and followed at a slower +pace. When he reached the group, Dan was up behind his father on the +pillion with his arms about him, and standing before them on the +ground was a black boy about William's own size and age. He had only a +little ragged clothing on, and what he had seemed to make him uneasy, +perhaps because he had been used to none at all in his native home far +across the sea. His eyes were rolling wildly from one face to another, +and it was plain that he was in a great state of fear. + +"He is but a savage as yet," said Goodman Pepperell. "He was doubtless +roughly handled on the voyage and hath naught but fear and hatred in +his heart. It will take some time to make a Christian of him! Thou +must help in the task, Daniel, for thou art near his age and can +better reach his darkened mind. As yet he understands but one thing. +He can eat like a Christian, or rather like two of them! We must tame +him with food and kindness." + +"What is his name?" asked Daniel, still gazing at the boy with popping +eyes, for never before had he seen a skin so dark. + +[Illustration] + +"Call him Zeb," said his father. + +"Come, Zeb," said William, taking the boy gently by the arm, and +looking compassionately into the black face. "Food!" He shouted the +word at him as if he were deaf, but poor Zeb, completely bewildered +by these strange, meaningless sounds, only shrank away from him and +looked about as if seeking a way of escape. + +Daniel immediately sprang from the pillion and seized Zeb's other arm. +"Yes, Zeb, _food_--_good_," he howled, pointing down his own throat +and rubbing his stomach with an ecstatic expression. It is probable +that poor Zeb understood from this pantomime that he was about to be +eaten alive, for he made a furious effort to get away. The boys held +firmly to his arms, smiling and nodding at him in a manner meant to +be reassuring, but which only convinced the poor black that they +were pleased with the tenderness of his flesh and were enjoying +the prospect of a cannibal feast. With the slave boy between them, +"hanging back and digging in his claws like a cat being pulled by +the tail," as Dan told his mother afterward, they made slow progress +toward the village. + +News of the return spread quickly, and a curious crowd of children +gathered to gaze at Zeb, for many of them had never seen a negro +before in their lives. Goodman Pepperell went at once to the +Governor's house, and when he learned that the Captain had come and +gone, he decided to push on to Boston at once by land. "'T is an +easier journey than the one I have just taken," he said. "There are +settlements along the way, and time passes. I have been gone now +longer than I thought. The farm work waits, and Susanna will fear for +our safety. I must start home as soon as I can return this horse to +the owner and secure another. I would even buy a good mare, for I +stand in need of one on my farm." + +"At least thou must refresh thyself before starting," said the +Governor's wife cordially, and she set about getting dinner at once. + +While his father went with the Governor to make arrangements for the +journey, Daniel and his cousins took charge of Zeb. With Mistress +Bradford's permission they built a fire on the shore and cooked dinner +there for themselves and the black boy, who was more of a show to them +than a whole circus with six clowns would be to us. As he watched the +boys lay the sticks and start the blaze, Zeb's eyes rolled more wildly +than ever. No doubt he thought that he himself was to be roasted over +the coals, and when at last he saw William lay a big fish on the fire +instead, his relief was so great that for the first time he showed a +row of gleaming teeth in a hopeful grin. Daniel brought him a huge +piece of it when the fish was cooked, and from that moment Zeb +regarded him as his friend. + +It was early afternoon before all the preparations were completed and +the little caravan was ready to start on its perilous journey. There +were two horses, and John Howland, who knew the trail well and was +wise in woodcraft, was to go with them as far as Marshfield, where he +knew of a horse that was for sale. Half the town gathered to see them +off. John Howland mounted first, and Daniel was placed on the pillion +behind him. Then Zeb was made to get up behind the Goodman, and off +they started, followed by a volley of farewells and messages from the +group of Plymouth friends left behind. + +For a little distance they followed the shore-line, then, plunging +into the woods, they were soon lost to view. The road was a mere +blazed trail through dense forests, and it was necessary to keep a +sharp lookout lest they lose their way and also because no traveler +was for a moment safe from possible attack by Indians. Hour after hour +they plodded patiently along, sometimes dismounting and walking for a +mile or so to stretch their legs and rest the horses. There was little +chance for talk, because the path was too narrow for them to go side +by side. The day was warm, and if it had not been for slapping the +mosquitoes which buzzed about them in swarms, Daniel would have fallen +asleep sitting in the saddle. In the late afternoon, as they came +out upon an open moor, Daniel was roused by hearing a suppressed +exclamation from John Howland and felt him reach for the pistol which +hung from his belt. His horse pricked up his ears and whinnied, and +the horse on which the Goodman and Zeb were riding answered with a +loud neigh. Daniel peered over John Howland's broad shoulder just in +time to see a large deer disappearing into a thicket of young birches +some distance ahead of them. + +"Oh!" cried Daniel, pounding on John Howland's ribs in his excitement, +"let 's get him!" + +"Not so fast, not so fast," said John in a low voice, pinning with his +elbow the hand that was battering his side. "Let be! Thou hast seen +but half. There was an Indian on the track of that deer. Should we +step in and take his quarry, he might be minded to empty his gun into +us instead! I saw him standing nigh the spot where the trail enters +the wood again yonder, and when he saw us he slipped like a shadow +into the underbrush." + +He stopped his horse, the Goodman came alongside, and the two men +talked together in a low tone. "Shall we go on as if we had not seen +him?" asked the Goodman. John Howland considered. + +"If we turn back, the savage will be persuaded we have seen him and +are afraid," he said. "We must e'en take our chance. It may be he hath +no evil intent, though the road be lonely and travelers few. Whatever +his purpose, it is safer to go on than to stand still," and, +tightening his rein, he boldly urged his horse across the open space. + +Daniel's heart thumped so loudly against his ribs that it sounded to +his ears like a drum-beat as they crossed the clearing and entered the +forest on the other side. They had gone but a short distance into the +woods when they were startled by the report of a gun, and poor Zeb +fell off his horse and lay like one dead in the road. For a moment +they thought he had been shot, and the two men were about to spring to +his rescue, when Zeb scrambled to his feet and began to run like one +possessed. + +"He is but scared to death. Haply he hath never heard a gun go off +before," said John Howland, and, sticking his spurs into his horse, he +gave chase. + +Fleet of foot though he was, Zeb was no match for a horse and was soon +overtaken. + +"'T was but the Indian shooting the deer," said John Howland, laughing +in spite of himself at poor Zeb's wild-eyed terror. "'T is a promise +of safety for the present at least. Nevertheless I like not the look +of it. The red-skin saw us; make no doubt of that; for when I first +beheld him he was peering at us as though to fix our faces in his +mind." + +"I, too, marked how he stared," answered the Goodman, as he seized the +cowering Zeb and swung him again to his seat on the pillion. + +"I have it," he said, stopping short as he was about to mount. "The +savage is without doubt of the Narragansett tribe. He caught a glimpse +of the dark skin of this boy and mistook him for an Indian lad--one of +the hated Pequots, who they thought were either all dead or sold +out of the country. 'T is likely they have no knowledge of other +dark-skinned people than themselves." + +"It may be so," said John Howland, doubtfully, "but 't is as likely +they mistook him for a devil. It once befell that some Indians, +finding a negro astray in the forest, were minded to destroy him by +conjuring, thinking him a demon. To be sure 't is but a year since the +Narragansetts helped the English destroy the Pequot stronghold, and +the few Pequots who were neither killed nor sold they still hold in +subjection. Whatever their idea, it bodes no good either to Zeb or to +us, for their enmity never sleeps." + +Zeb, meantime, sat clutching the pillion and looking from one grave +face to the other as if he knew they were talking of him, and the +Goodman patted his shoulder reassuringly as he mounted again. They +were now nearing a small settlement, and the path widened so the two +horses could walk abreast. + +"Thou 'lt have a special care in the stretch from well beyond Mount +Dagon," said John Howland, "for thou knowest of the notorious Morton, +who founded there the settlement called Merry Mount. It was the +worshipful Endicott who wiped it out. Much trouble hath Morton to +answer for. He hath corrupted the savages, adding his vices to theirs. +He hath also sold them guns and taught them to use them, for which +cause the Indians of this region are more to be feared than any along +the coast. They are drunken, armed, and filled with hate for any whom +they esteem their enemies." + +Daniel's hair fairly stood on end. He had felt prepared for pirates, +but Indians lurking in dark forests were quite another matter! He +wished with all his heart that John Howland were going with them all +the way to Cambridge, but he well knew that could not be. His spirits +rose somewhat as they came in sight of the settlement, and a hearty +supper at the house of Goodman Richards put such life and courage into +his heart that before it was over the Indians were no more to him than +pirates! Then, while his father and John Howland arranged with Goodman +Richards for the purchase of a horse to take them the rest of their +journey, Goodwife Richards stowed Dan away in an attic bed, while Zeb, +worn out with fear and fatigue, slept soundly on the hearth. + +Courage is always highest in the morning, and Daniel felt bold as a +lion the next day, as he and his father bade John Howland and the +Richards family good-bye and, with Zeb, again entered the forest +trail. The two boys walked on ahead, while the Goodman became +acquainted with the new horse, whose name, Goodman Richards had told +him, was Penitence, but which they shortened to Penny. Later, when he +had assured himself that the animal was trustworthy, Goodman Pepperell +put the two boys in the saddle and walked beside them, leading Penny +by the bridle. Taking turns in this way, they went on for some +miles without incident, until Dan almost forgot his fears, and even +Zeb--watching his face and echoing its expression on his own--grew +less and less timid. + +[Illustration] + +They had passed the place which Howland had called Mount Dagon and +which is now known as Wollaston, and had crossed the Neponset River by +a horse bridge and were walking along quite cheerfully, the two boys +at some distance ahead of Penny, when they saw a little way ahead of +them an Indian standing motionless beside the trail. Dan immediately +drew Zeb behind a bush, and when an instant later his father came up, +the Indian disappeared as suddenly as he had come. + +The Goodman looked troubled. "It is the same one we saw yesterday, I +feel sure!" he said. "I like not his following us in this way, Daniel. +I must trust thee even as though thou wert a man. Do thou get upon +the horse's back with Zeb behind thee. I will walk ahead with my gun +ready. Should the savage attack us, do thou speed thy horse like the +wind to the next village, and bring back help. Remember it is thy part +to obey. Three lives may hang on it." + +With his heart pounding like a trip-hammer Dan mounted Penny. Zeb was +placed on the pillion behind him with both arms clutching his waist, +and the Goodman strode ahead, his keen eyes watching in every +direction for any sign of danger. There was not a sound in the forest +except the soft thud of the horse's feet, the cawing of a crow +circling out of sight over the tree-tops, and the shrill cry of a blue +jay. + +"Confound thee, thou marplot, thou busy-body of the wood," muttered +the Goodman to himself as he listened. "Wert thou but a human gossip, +I 'd set thee in the stocks till thou hadst learned to hold thine evil +tongue!" + +But the blue jay only kept up his squawking, passing the news on to +his brethren until the forest rang with word of their approach. + +It did not need the blue jays to tell of their progress, however, for +though no other sound had betrayed their advance, two Indians were +creeping stealthily through the underbrush, keeping pace with the +travelers, and when they had reached a favorable spot in a small +clearing, they suddenly sprang from their hiding-place. With a +blood-curdling cry they leaped forward, and, seizing one of Zeb's +legs, tried to drag him from the horse's back. + +The yells of the Indians were as nothing to those that Zeb then let +loose! The air was fairly split by blood-curdling shrieks, and the +horse, terrified in turn, leaped forward, tearing Zeb from the grasp +of the Indian and almost unseating Dan by the jerk. But Dan dug his +knees into the horse's sides, flung his arms about her neck, and, +holding on for dear life, tore away up the trail with Zeb clinging +like a limpet to his waist. + +Never was a ride like that. Even John Gilpin's was a mild performance +beside it, for Zeb shrieked every minute of the way as they sped +along, with the horse's tail streaming out behind like the tail of a +comet, and the daylight showing between the bouncing boys and Penny's +back at every wild leap. Even if Daniel had not been minded to obey +his father's command, he could not have helped himself, for Penny took +matters into her own four hoofs, and never paused in her wild career +until, covered with foam, she dashed madly into a little hamlet where +the village of Neponset now stands. + +Samuel Kittredge was just starting for the forest with his axe on his +shoulder, when his ears were smitten by the frantic shrieks of Zeb, +and, thinking it must be a wildcat on the edge of the clearing, +he started back to the house for his gun. Before he reached it, +Penitence, with the two boys on her back, came thundering toward him +at full gallop, and stopped at his side. + +"What in tarnation is the matter with ye?" he exclaimed, gazing in +amazement at the strange apparition. "I declare for it, that nigger is +all but scared plumb white! What ails ye?" + +"Indians!" gasped Dan, pointing toward the trail. "My father--quick!" +No more words were needed. Samuel Kittredge dashed into his house, +snatched his gun from the chimney, and, dashing out again, fired it +into the air. Poor Zeb! He slid off over the horse's tail on to the +ground and lay there in a heap, while a knot of men, responding to the +signal of Sam Kittredge's gun, gathered hurriedly before his house and +started at once down the trail. + +"You stay here," said Sam to Dan as he started away. "We 'll be back +soon with your father if the pesky red-skins have n't got him." + +"Or if they have," added another man grimly, and off they went. + +Goodwife Kittredge now took charge of Dan and Zeb, while her son, a +boy of eleven, tied Penny to a tree beside their cabin. Zeb recovered +at once when she offered him a generous slice of brown-bread, but +Dan was too anxious about his father to eat. He stood beside Penny, +rubbing her neck and soothing her, with his eyes constantly on the +trail and his ears eagerly listening for the sound of shots. It seemed +an age, but really was not more than half an hour, before he saw the +men come out of the woods, and, oh joy! his father was with them! + +Leaving Penny nibbling grass, he ran to meet them and threw his arms +about his father's neck, crying, "Oh, dear father, art thou hurt?" + +"Nay; the Lord was merciful," answered the Goodman. "I fired but one +shot, and hit one of the red-skins, I am sure, for they both dived +back into the woods at once. I hid myself in the thick underbrush on +the other side of the trail and waited, thinking perhaps I could creep +along beside it out of sight, but Zeb's roaring must have frighted the +Indians. Doubtless they knew it would rouse the countryside. At any +rate I saw no more of them, and when these Good Samaritans came along +I knew I was safe." + +"The lungs of that blackamoor are worth more to thee than many guns," +laughed Sam Kittredge. "'T is a pity thou couldst not bottle up a few +of his screeches to take with thee when thou goest abroad. They are of +a sort to make a wildcat sick with envy." The men laughed heartily, +and, leaving the Goodman and Daniel with Sam, returned to their +interrupted tasks. + +Goodwife Kittredge insisted on their resting there for the night +before resuming their journey. "You must be proper tired," said she, +with motherly concern, "and if you go on now 't is more than likely +those rascally knaves will follow you like your shadow. You 'll stand +a sight better chance of safety if you make an early start in the +morning." + +"Your horse needs rest, too," added Sam. "I 'll rub her down and give +her a measure of corn when she 's cooled off. Get to bed with the +chickens, and start with the sun, and to-morrow night will find you +safe in your own home again." + +To this plan the travelers gladly agreed. Early next morning, after a +hearty breakfast in the Kittredges' cheerful kitchen they set forth +once more. The roosters in the farmyard were still crowing, and the +air was sweet with the music of robins, orioles, and blackbirds +when they again plunged into the forest trail. All day they plodded +steadily along, delayed by bad roads, and it was not until late that +evening that they at last came in sight of the little house, where +Nancy and her mother slept, little dreaming how near they were to a +happy awakening. When, at last they reached the cabin, the Goodman, +fearing to alarm his wife, stopped on the door-stone and gently called +her name. He had called but once when a shutter was thrown open and +the Goodwife's head was thrust through it. + +"Husband, son!" she cried joyfully. "Nancy!--awake child!--it is thy +father and brother!" and in another moment the door flew open, +and Nancy and her mother flung their arms about the necks of the +wanderers. When the horse had been cared for, they went into the +cabin. Nancy raked the coals from the ashes, the fire blazed up, and +the Goodwife gave them each a drink of hot milk. Zeb blinked sleepily +at the reunited and happy family, as Dan and his father told their +adventures, and when at last they had gone to their beds in the loft +he sank down on a husk mattress which the Goodwife had spread for him +on the floor, and in two minutes was sound asleep. + +[Illustration] + + + + +V + +THE NEW HOME + + +Goodman Pepperell and his wife rose early the next morning, and, +leaving the two children still sleeping; crept down the ladder to the +floor below. There lay Zeb, also sound asleep, with his toes toward +the ashes like a little black Cinderella. The Goodwife's mother heart +was stirred with pity as she looked down at him. Perhaps she imagined +her own boy a captive in a strange land, unable to speak the language, +with no future but slavery and no friends to comfort his loneliness. + +"Poor lad--let him sleep a bit, too," she said to her husband. + +They unbolted the door and stepped out into the sunlight of a perfect +June morning. The dew was still on the grass; robins and bobolinks +were singing merrily in the young apple trees, which, owing to a late, +cold spring, were still in bloom, and the air hummed with the music of +bees' wings. + +The Goodman drew a deep breath as he gazed at the beauty about him. +"'T is good to be at home again," he said to his wife. "And 't is a +goodly land--aye, better even than old England! There 's space here, +room enough to grow." He looked across the river to the hills of +Boston town. "I doubt not we shall live to see a city in place of yon +village," he said; "more ships seek its port daily, and there are +settlements along the whole length of the bay. 'T is a marvel where +the people come from. The Plymouth folk are scattering to the north +and south, and already villages are springing up between Plymouth and +New Amsterdam. God hath prospered us, wife." + +"Praise be to his holy name," said the Goodwife, reverently. "But, +husband," she added, "what shall we do with our increase? Thou hast +brought home a horse and the black lad. The horse can stay out +of doors during the summer, but there is not room for him in the +cow-shed, and the lad cannot sleep always before the fire." + +"I have thought of that," said the Goodman, "and when the crops are in +I purpose to build a larger house." + +"Verily it will be needed," she answered. "The crops grow like weeds +in this new soil. If there were but a place for storage, I could put +away much for winter use that now is wasted. Go thou and look at the +garden, while I uncover the coals and set the kettle to boil." + +"Wait a moment, wife," said the Goodman, "I have somewhat to tell +thee. There is ever a black spot in our sunshine. Though the danger +grows less all the while as the settlements increase, it is still true +that the Indians are ever a menace, and I fear they are over watchful +of us." Then he told her of the attack in the forest. "I have reason +to think the red-skins spied upon us all the way to Boston town," he +finished. "I did not tell Daniel, but twice I saw savages on our trail +after we left Kittredge's. I wounded one in the encounter, and they +will not forget that. I know not why they should plot against the +black boy, unless it is to revenge themselves upon me, but it is +certain they tried to drag him away with them into the woods." The +Goodwife listened with a pale face. + +"'T is well, then, that we have a watchdog added to our possessions," +she said at last. "Gran'ther Wattles's shepherd hath a litter of pups, +and he hath promised one to the children. Nancy hath waited until Dan +came home that he might share the pleasure of getting it with her." + +"She hath a generous heart," said her father, tenderly. "Aye,--she is +a good lass, though headstrong." + +When their mother reached the cabin, she found the Twins up and +dressed and Daniel trying to rouse the sleeping Zeb. "Wake up," he +shouted, giving him a shake. Zeb rolled over with a grunt and opened +his eyes. + +"Take him outdoors while I get breakfast," said the Goodwife. "Mercy +upon me, what shall I do with a blackamoor and a dog both underfoot!" + +"A dog!" cried Daniel. "What dog? Where is he?" + +"Nancy will tell thee," said his mother, and, not able to wait a +moment to hear and tell such wonderful news, the two children rushed +out at once, followed by Zeb. When their mother called the family +to breakfast half an hour later, Zeb had been shown the garden, the +corn-field, the cow-shed, the pig-sty, the straw-stack where eggs were +to be found, the well with its long well-sweep, and the samp-mill. He +had had the sheep pointed out to him, and been introduced to Eliza, +the cow, and allowed to give Penny a measure of corn. The children had +shouted the name of each object to him as they had pointed it out, +and Zeb had shown his white teeth and grinned and nodded a great many +times, as if he understood. + +[Illustration] + +"I know he 's seen eggs before, for he sucked one," Dan told his +mother. Zeb was given his breakfast on the door-stone, and Dan tried +to teach him the use of a spoon, without much success; and afterwards +he was brought in to family prayers. His eyes rolled apprehensively +as he looked from one kneeling figure to another, but, obeying Dan's +gesture, he knelt beside him, and for ten minutes he stuck it out: +then, as the prayer continued to pour in an uninterrupted stream +from the Goodman's lips, he quietly crawled out on all fours and +disappeared through the door. Dan found him afterwards out by the +straw-stack, and as there was a yellow streak on his black face, +concluded he had learned his lesson about the hen's nest altogether +too well. He was given a hoe and taken to the corn-field at once. +Here Daniel showed him just how to cut out the weeds with the hoe and +loosen the earth about the roots of the corn. Zeb nodded and grinned +so cheerfully that, after watching him a few moments, Daniel called +Nancy and they started for Gran'ther Wattles's house in the village to +get the puppy. They had gone but a short distance when Nancy, glancing +around, saw Zeb following them, grinning from ear to ear. + +"No--no--no--go back," bawled Daniel, pointing to the corn-field. Zeb +nodded with the utmost intelligence and followed right along. "Oh, +dear!" groaned Daniel. "I 've taught him to do things by showing how, +and now he thinks he must do _everything_ that I do." + +[Illustration] + +He sat down on a stone and gazed despairingly at Zeb. Zeb promptly sat +down on another stone and beamed at him! In vain Daniel pointed and +shouted, and shook his head. Zeb nodded as cheerfully as ever and +conscientiously imitated Dan's every move. In spite of all they could +do he followed them clear to Gran'ther Wattles's house. + +"Oh, dear!" said Nancy, "it 's just like having your shadow come to +life! You 'll have to work all the time, Dan, or Zeb won't work at +all!" + +Even with the wonderful new puppy in his arms Dan took a gloomy view +of the situation. "I 'm sick of being an example," he said. "I had to +be one at Aunt Bradford's all the time, for she told Mercy and Joseph +to watch how I behaved, and now here 's this crazy blackamoor mocking +everything I do! I guess Father 'll wish he had n't bought him." + +The days that followed were trying ones for everybody. The Goodwife +was nearly distracted trying to house her family and do her work in +such crowded quarters. Zeb followed Dan like a nightmare, and the +Goodman delved early and late to catch up with the work which had +waited for his return. Among other duties there were berries to be +picked in the pasture and dried for winter use, and this task fell to +the children. It was work which Zeb thoroughly enjoyed, but alas, he +ate more than he brought home. On one occasion he ate green fruit +along with the ripe, and spent a noisy night afterward holding on to +his stomach and howling at each new pain. In vain the Goodwife tried +to cure him with a dose of hot pepper tea. Zeb took just enough to +burn his mouth and, finding the cure worse than the disease, roared +more industriously than ever. She was at her wit's end and finally +had to leave him to groan it out alone beside the fire. It was weeks +before he learned to understand the simplest sentences, and meanwhile +poor Dan had to go on being an example. + +Finally one day the Goodman brought home a large saw from Boston, and +he and Dan showed Zeb how to use it. Then day after day Dan and Zeb +sawed together, making boards for the new house, while Nancy brought +her carding or knitting and sat on a stump near by with the puppy at +her feet or nosing about in the bushes. They had named the dog Nimrod, +"because," as Nancy said, "he is surely a mighty hunter before the +Lord, just like Nimrod in the Bible. He sniffs around after field mice +all the time, and if he only sees a cat he barks his head off and +tears after her like lightning!" + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration] + +The summer passed quickly away, with few events to take them outside +the little kingdom of home in which they lived. Twice the Captain +stopped to see them when the Lucy Ann put in at Boston Harbor, and it +was from him they got such news as they had of the world without. By +October, Nimrod had grown to be quite a large dog and was already +useful with the sheep, and Zeb could understand a good deal of what +was said to him, though it was noticeable that he was very dull when +it concerned tasks he did not like. With Dan to guide him he was able +to help shock the corn and pile the pumpkins in golden heaps between +the rows. He could feed the cattle and milk the cow and draw water for +them from the well. While the Goodman and the two boys worked in the +fields gathering the crops, Nancy and her mother dried everything that +could be dried and preserved everything that could be preserved, until +there was a wonderful store of good things for the winter. + +One day when all the rafters were festooned with strings of +crook-necked squashes, onions, and seed corn braided in long ropes by +the husks, the Goodman appeared in the doorway with another load of +seed corn and looked in vain for a place to put it. + +"There is no place," said the Goodwife. "The Lord hath blessed us so +abundantly there is not room to receive it. As it is, I can hardly do +my work without stepping on something. If it is not anything else, it +is sure to be either Zeb or Nimrod. Truly I can no longer clean and +sand my floor properly for the things that are standing about." + +The Goodman sat down on the settle and looked long and earnestly at +the crowded room, whistling softly to himself. Then he rose and went +to the village, and as a result the neighbors gathered the very next +week to help build the new house. They came early in the morning, +the men with axes and saws on their shoulders and the women carrying +cooking-utensils. Then while the men worked in the forest felling +trees, cutting and hauling timbers, and putting them in place, the +women helped the Goodwife make whole battalions of brown loaves and +regiments of pies, beside any number of other good things to eat. +Nancy, Dan, and Zeb ran errands and caught fish and dug clams and +gathered nuts to supply materials for them, and were promptly on hand +when meal time came. + +There were so many helpers that in a wonderfully short time the +frame-work was up, the roof boards were on, and a great fireplace had +been built into the chimney in the new part of the house. Also a door +had been cut through to connect the new part with the old cabin, which +was now to be used for storage and as a stable for Penny and Eliza, +and a sleeping-space for Zeb. When all this was done and the roof on, +the neighbors returned to their own tasks, leaving the Pepperells to +lay the floors, cover the outside with boards, and do whatever was +necessary to finish the house. It was late in the fall before this was +accomplished and the family had settled down to the enjoyment of their +new quarters. + +One day as Dan and Zeb were bringing in boards to sheathe the room on +the inside, they were startled to see two Indians peering out at them +from the shelter of the near-by woods. Dropping the board they were +carrying, they ran like deer to the house, and Dan told his father +what they had seen. The Goodman looked thoughtful as he went on with +his task of sheathing, and that very evening he worked late building +a secret closet between the chimney and the wall. "It will be a handy +place to hide thy preserves," he said to his wife, "and a refuge +should the Indians decide to give us trouble." He cut a small square +window high up in the outside wall and contrived a spring, hidden in +the chimney, to open the door. When this spring was pressed a hole +would suddenly appear in what seemed a solid wall, revealing the +well-stored shelves. This closet was the Goodwife's special pride, but +to Zeb it was a continuous mystery. At one moment there was the solid +wall; the next, without touch of human hands, a door would fly open, +giving a tantalizing glimpse of things to eat which he could never +touch, for if he came near, the door would close again as mysteriously +as it had opened. Dan loved to tease him with it, and Zeb, fearing +magic, would take to his heels whenever this marvel occurred. + +One day the Goodman said to his wife: "Thanksgiving draws near, and +surely we have much cause for thankfulness this year, for the Lord +hath exceedingly blessed us. There are yet some things to be done +before the day comes, and I wish to meet it with my task finished. I +hear there is a ship in the harbor loaded with English merchandise, +and to-morrow I go to Boston, and if thou art so minded, thou canst go +with me." + +This put the Goodwife in quite a flutter of excitement, for she had +not been away from home except to go to church for many months. She +got out her best gown that very evening, to be sure it was in proper +order, and while she got supper gave Nancy and Dan an endless string +of directions about their tasks in her absence. + +Early the next morning she mounted the pillion behind her husband, and +the three children watched their departure, Dan clutching Nimrod, who +was determined to go with them, and the Goodwife calling back last +instructions to the little group until Penny was well on the road to +Charlestown. + +The house seemed strangely lonely without the mother in it, but there +was no time for the children to mope, for there was all the work to +do in their parents' absence. Dan took command at once. "You 'll both +have to mind me now," he said to Nancy and Zeb. "I 'm the man of the +house." + +"If thou 'rt the man of it, I 'm the woman, and thou and Zeb will both +have to do as _I_ say," retorted Nancy, "or else mayhap I 'll get thee +no dinner! Mother said I could make succotash, and thou lov'st that +better than anything. Mother said above all things not to let the fire +go out, for it would be hard to bring a fire-brand all the way from +the village. So do thou bring in a pile of wood and set Zeb to +chopping more." + +[Illustration] + +Dan counted his chances. "Very well," he said at last, with +condescension, "thou art a willful baggage but I 'll give thee thy +way! Only make the big kettle full." + +All that day Nancy bustled importantly about the house, with her +sleeves rolled up and her skirts looped back under her apron in +imitation of her mother. She was better than her word and made +johnny-cake besides the succotash for dinner, and after they had eaten +it said to Dan, "If thou wilt go out to the field and bring in a +pumpkin, I 'll make thee some pies for supper." + +Dan dearly loved pumpkin pie, and in his zeal to carry out the plan +brought in two great yellow globes from the corn-field instead of the +one Nancy had asked for. "Mercy upon us," said Nancy when he appeared, +beaming, with one under each arm, "those would make pies enough for +all Cambridge. Thine eyes hold more than thy stomach." + +"There 's no such thing as too many pies," said Daniel stoutly, "and +if there 's any pumpkin left over, I 'll feed it to the pig." + +"I 'll tell thee what we will do," said Nancy. "We will make a great +surprise for Mother and Father. When they come home they will be tired +and hungry and ready for a grand supper. Do thou and Zeb run down to +the bay and bring back a mess of clams. We 'll have the table all +spread and a bright fire burning to welcome them!" + +Dan agreed to this plan and went out at once to call Zeb. He found him +by the straw-stack with an egg in each hand. "Take them in to Nancy," +commanded Dan, pointing sternly toward the house. Zeb had meant to +dispose of them otherwise, for he had a bottomless appetite for eggs, +but he trotted obediently to the house at Dan's order, and then the +two boys started together for the bay, with Nimrod barking joyfully +and running about them in circles all the way. + +[Illustration] + +The fall days were short, and it was dusk before the evening chores +were done, and Dan came in to the bright kitchen with Zeb and Nimrod +both at his heels, and announced that he had a hole in his stomach as +big as a bushel basket. For answer Nancy pointed to four golden-brown +pies cooling on a shelf, and Dan smacked his lips in anticipation. Zeb +came alongside and, copying Dan, smacked his lips too. + +"Go away, both of you," said Nancy. "You can only look at them now, +for I have everything ready for Father and Mother, and we must n't eat +until they come." + +Dan looked about the room to see what Nancy's surprise might be. It +was a cheerful picture that met his eye. First of all there was Nancy +herself with her neat cap and white apron, putting the finishing +touches to the little feast she had prepared. She had spread the table +with the best linen and decorated it with a bunch of red berries. She +had even brought out the silver tankard from its hiding-place under +the eaves of the loft and placed it beside her father's trencher. The +clams were simmering on the fire, sending out an appetizing smell, and +the brown loaf was cut. The hickory logs snapped and sputtered, and +the flames danced gayly in the fireplace, setting other little flames +dancing in the shining pewter dishes arranged on a dresser across the +room. Nimrod was lying before the fire with his head on his paws, +asleep, and Zeb, squatted down beside him, was rolling his eyes +hungrily in the direction of the pies. + +"I hope they 'll come soon," said Daniel, lifting the cover of the +kettle and sniffing. "If they do not 't is likely they 'll find me as +dead as a salt herring when they get here." + +Nancy laughed and, breaking a slice of brown-bread in two, gave a +piece to each boy. "Take that to stay your stomachs," she said, "and, +for the rest, have patience." + +For a long time they waited, and still there was no sound of hoofs +upon the road. Dusk deepened into darkness, and the harvest moon came +out from behind a cloud and shed a silvery light over the landscape. +Nancy went to the door and gazed toward the road. + +"Dost think, brother, the Indians have waylaid them?" she asked Dan at +last. + +"Nay," answered Dan. "They are likely delayed at the ferry. Should the +ferry-man be at his supper wild horses could not drag him from it, +I 'll be bound. They 'll come presently, never fear, but it will +doubtless grieve them much to see me lying stiff and cold on the +hearth! Nancy, thou takest a fearful chance in denying thy brother +food." + +[Illustration] + +But Nancy only laughed at his woebegone face. "Thou art indeed a +valiant trencher-man," she said. Then, suddenly inspired, she brought +him the extra pumpkin, which she had not used for the pies, set it +before him upon the hearth-stone, and gave him a knife. "Carve thyself +a jack-o'-lantern," she said. "'T will take up thy mind, and make thee +forget thy stomach." Dan took the knife, cut a cap from the top of the +pumpkin, and scooped out the seeds. Then he cut holes for the eyes and +nose, and a fearful gash, bordered with pointed teeth, for the mouth, +and Nancy brought him the stub of a bayberry candle to put inside. Zeb +watched the process with eyes growing wider and wider as the thing +became more and more like some frightful creature of his pagan +imagination. They were just about to light the candle when Nimrod gave +a sharp bark; there was a creaking noise outside, and Nancy, springing +joyfully to her feet, shouted, "They 've come!--they 've come!" She +was halfway to the door, when suddenly she stopped, stiff with fright. + +There, looking in through the open shutter, was the face of an Indian! +Dan and Zeb saw it at the same moment, and Nimrod, barking madly, +rushed forward and leaped at the window. Giving one of his wildcat +shrieks, Zeb instantly went up the ladder to the loft with the agility +of a monkey. The head had bobbed out of sight so quickly that for an +instant Nancy hardly believed her own eyes, but in that instant +Dan had been quick to act. He pressed the catch concealed in the +fireplace, and, springing to his feet, seized Nancy and dragged her +back into the secret closet. They nearly fell over the pumpkin, which +lay directly in their path, and it rolled before them into the closet. + +Once inside, they instantly closed the door, and, with wildly beating +hearts, sank down in the darkness. About a foot above the floor there +was a small knot-hole in the door, which the Goodman had purposely +left for a peep-hole, and to this Dan now glued his eyes. In spite of +Nimrod's frantic barking the house door was quietly opened, and when +the dog flew at the intruder, he was stunned by a blow from the butt +end of a musket, and his senseless body sent flying out of the door by +a kick from a moccasined foot. + +Then two Indians crept stealthily into the room. They were surprised +to find it empty. Where could the children have gone? They prowled +cautiously about, looking under the table and behind everything that +might afford a hiding-place, and, finding no trace of them, turned +their attention in another direction. Dan was already near to bursting +with rage and grief over Nimrod, and now he had the misery of seeing +the larger of the two Indians take his father's musket from the +deer-horn on the chimney-piece, while the other, who already had a +gun, with grunts of satisfaction took the silver tankard from the +table and hid it under his deer-skin jacket. At first they did not +seem to notice the ladder to the loft. Soon, however, they paused +beside it, and after they had exchanged a few grunts the larger Indian +began to mount. It was plain they meant to make a thorough search for +the children who had so miraculously disappeared. + +Dan remembered what his father had said about the Pequots; Nancy, with +sick fear in her heart for Zeb, was shivering in a heap on the floor, +her hands over her eyes, though that was quite unnecessary, since the +closet was pitch dark. Dan found her ear and whispered into it a brief +report of what he had seen. They could now hear the stealthy tread of +moccasined feet above them on the floor of the loft. + +"While they 're upstairs," whispered Dan, "I 'm going to slip out and +get Father's pistol. It 's hanging behind a string of onions, and they +have n't found it." + +"Oh, no!" gasped Nancy. She clung to him, and in trying to get up he +struck the pumpkin, which rolled away toward the outside wall of the +closet. Just then there was a fearful outburst of noise overhead. +There was the sound of something being dragged from under a bed across +the floor, something which clawed and shrieked and fought like a +wildcat. There were grunts and the thump of moccasined feet dancing +about in a lively struggle. + +"Now is my chance," said Dan to himself, and, opening the door +cautiously, he made a dash for the pistol and snatched it from its +hiding-place. As he was leaping back to the closet, he saw the +bayberry candle lying on the hearth, and in that instant a wonderful +idea flashed into his mind. He picked up the candle, lit it from the +flames, and scurried back to his hiding-place just as the legs of an +Indian appeared at the top of the ladder. He shut the door swiftly +behind him, and, giving the candle to Nancy, told her to set it inside +the pumpkin. Crawling to the other end of the closet, Nancy did as she +was bid, while Dan, with his eye at the peep-hole, watched the two +Indians drag poor Zeb between them down the ladder and out the door. + +Eager to see where they went, Dan climbed up to the little window of +the closet and peered out into the night. By the moonlight he could +see the two men dragging Zeb in the direction of the straw-stack. They +were having a hard time of it, for Zeb struggled fiercely, and they +had their guns and the tankard to take care of as well, and in +addition, to Dan's horror, one of them was waving a burning brand +which he had snatched from the fire in passing! Dan trembled so with +excitement that he nearly fell from his perch, but kept his wits about +him. "Give me the pumpkin," he said to Nancy, and when she reached it +up to him, he set the lurid, grinning face in the window. "Now the +pistol," he said, and, sticking the muzzle through the opening beside +the jack-o'-lantern, he fired it into the air. + +The shot was answered by a chorus of yells from the three figures by +the straw-stack. Scared out of their wits by the unexpected shot and +by the frightful apparition which suddenly glared at them out of the +darkness, the Indians took to their heels and ran as only Indians can +run, dragging poor Zeb with them. + +"They 're gone," shouted Dan, dropping to the floor, "but they 've set +the straw-stack afire!" + +[Illustration] + +By the dim light of the jack-o'-lantern grinning in the window, he +found the catch of the door, and the two children burst out of the +closet. Seizing a bucket of water which stood by the hand-basin in +the corner, Dan dashed out of doors, followed by Nancy, whose fear of +Indians was now overmastered by fear of fire. If their beautiful new +house should be burned! She ran to the well-sweep, and while Dan +worked like a demon, stamping on burning straws with his feet, and +pouring water on the spreading flames, she swiftly plunged first one +bucket, then another, into the well and filled Dan's pail as fast as +it was emptied. In spite of these heroic efforts the fire spread. All +they could do was to keep the ground wet about the stack and watch the +flying sparks lest they set fire to the house. Over the lurid scene +the jack-o'-lantern grinned down at them until the candle sputtered +and went out. + +[Illustration] + +The straw-stack was blazing fiercely, lighting the sky with a red +glare, when in the distance they heard the beat of a drum. Gran'ther +Wattles had seen the flames and was rousing the village. Then there +were hoof-beats on the road, and into the fire-light dashed Penny with +the terrified Goodman and his wife on her back. Once they knew their +children were safe, they did not stop for questions, but at once set +to work to help them check the fire, which was now spreading among the +dry leaves. The Goodwife ran for her broom, which she dipped in water +and then beat upon the little flames as they appeared here and there +in the grass. The Goodman mounted to the roof at once, and, with Dan +to fetch water and Nancy to bring up buckets from the well, they +managed to keep it too wet for the flying sparks to set it afire. At +last the neighbors, roused by Gran'ther Wattles's frantic alarm, came +hurrying across the pastures; but the distance was so great that +the flames had died down and the danger was nearly over before they +arrived. + +[Illustration] + +There was now time for explanations, and, surrounded by an eager and +grim-visaged circle, Nancy and Dan told their story. "There 's a brave +lad for you!" cried Stephen Day, when the tale was finished, patting +Dan on the shoulder. "Aye, and a brave lass, too," added another. +Their father and mother said no words of praise, but there was a glow +of pride in their faces as they looked at their children and silently +thanked God for their safety. + +"We can do nothing to-night," said Goodman Pepperell at last, "but, +neighbors, if you are with me, to-morrow we will go into the woods and +see if we can find any trace of the black boy. Doubtless by stealing +him and burning the house they thought to revenge themselves for the +Indian whom I wounded on my way home from Plymouth. They must have +been watching the house, and, seeing us depart this morning, knew well +that they had naught but children to deal with." + +"Aye, but such children!" said Stephen Day, who had been greatly +impressed by the story of the jack-o'-lantern. "We 'll follow them, +indeed, and if we find them"--his jaw shut with a snap and he said no +more. + +[Illustration] + +While the men laid their plans for the morrow, the children and their +mother stole round to the front of the house, and Dan began a search +for Nimrod. He had been neither seen nor heard since the Indian had +given him that fearful blow and thrown him out. They found him lying +a few feet from the house still half stunned, and Dan lifted him +tenderly in his arms, brought him into the house, and laid him down +before the fire, where he had slept so peacefully only one short hour +before. Nimrod licked his hand, and rapped his tail feebly on the +hearthstone. Nancy wept over him, while Dan bathed his wounded head, +and tried to find out if any bones were broken. + +"Poor Nimrod," said the Goodwife, as she set a bowl of milk before the +wounded dog, "thou art a brave soldier. Drink this and soon thou wilt +be wagging thy tail as briskly as ever." + +She stirred the fire and lit the candles, and when the Goodman came in +a few moments later, the little family looked about their new home to +see what damage had been done. Nancy's little feast was a sad wreck. +There were the pies, to be sure, but the table-cloth was awry and the +flowers were tipped over and strewn about the floor, which was +covered with the tracks of muddy feet. In the scuffle with Zeb the +spinning-wheel had been overturned and the settle was lying on its +back on the floor. The room looked as if a hurricane had passed +through it. The Goodman mourned the loss of his gun, and the Goodwife +grieved for her tankard, but all smaller losses were forgotten in +their distress about Zeb. Not only had he cost the Goodman a large sum +of money, but in the weeks he had been with them he had found his own +place in the household, where he would be sadly missed. Worst of all +was their anxiety about his fate at the hands of the Indians. + +"Come," said the Goodwife at last, when they had heard every event of +the day twice over, "we must eat, or we shall have scant courage for +the duties of the morrow. We have none of us tasted food since noon." + +The clams were still simmering gently in the pot, and she gave them +each a porringer of broth, which they ate sitting in a circle about +the hearth-stone. Then she put the room in order, and though her heart +was heavy, tried to talk of the events of their day in Boston as if +nothing had happened. + +[Illustration] + +"We saw Captain Sanders in town," she said to the children. "He hath +brought the Lucy Ann to port with a load of cod for the market and +with fish and game for Thanksgiving. I have his promise that he will +dine with us if God wills. He hath not yet seen our new house. Alas! I +shall have no tankard to set before him; yet, ungrateful that I am, +we are still rich in blessings! 'T is well we have a day set aside to +remind us of them." + +It was very late when at last the excitement had died down enough to +think of sleep. The Goodman went out to make sure there was no fire +left lurking in the grass, and to take a look at the horse and cow. +As he passed the smoking ashes of the straw-stack, his foot struck +something which rang like metal, and in the moonlight something +glistened in the path before him. Stooping, he felt for it, and was +overjoyed to grasp the tankard, which the Indian had lost in the +struggle with Zeb. He carried it in to his wife at once. She seized it +with a cry of joy. + +"'T is a good omen," she said. "Mayhap thou 'lt find thy musket +too." Her husband shook his head gravely. "I 'll have need of one +to-morrow," he said. "'T is well I still have my fowling-piece and my +pistol." Then he called the family together and, kneeling beside the +settle, committed them to God's keeping for the night. + +[Illustration] + + + + +VI + +HARVEST HOME + + +Before daylight the next morning the Goodwife stood in the door of the +new house and watched her husband set forth with the men of Cambridge +to search the forest for Zeb, and to punish his captors if they should +catch them. She had given him a good breakfast and filled his pockets +with bread for the journey, and when the men came from the village, +she cut Nancy's pies and gave them each a generous piece to eat before +starting. There were eight men in the party, all armed. The Goodwife's +lip trembled a little and then moved in prayer as she saw them +disappear into the dark forest. "God grant that they may all return in +safety," she murmured, and then, giving herself a little shake, she +turned back into the house and resolutely set herself at the duties of +the day. + +Nimrod whined and tried to follow his master as the men marched away +with their guns on their shoulders, but, finding himself too weak, lay +down again on the hearth and went to sleep. The Goodwife cleaned the +kitchen, removing the last traces of the intruders, and then began +a patient march back and forth, back and forth, beside the whirling +spinning-wheel. Now that the harvest was over and their food provided +for the winter, her busy hands must spin the yarn and weave the cloth +to keep them warm. Though she had meant to let the children sleep +after the excitement of the previous day, it was still early when they +were awakened by the whir of the wheel and came scuttling down from +the loft as bright-eyed as if the adventures of the night before had +been no more than a bad dream. They helped themselves to hasty pudding +and milk and took a dishful to Nimrod, who was now awake and looking +much more lively, and then their mother set them their tasks for the +day. + +"Nancy," said she, "I gave all thy pies to the men who have gone with +father to hunt for Zeb. To-morrow will be Thanksgiving Day and we +shall need more. The mince pies are already prepared and put away on +the shelves, and thou canst make apple and pumpkin both to set away +beside them in the secret closet." + +"That makes me think," said Daniel, and, touching the secret +spring, he opened the door and rescued the jack-o'-lantern from the +window-sill. + +It was only a wilted and blackened old pumpkin that he brought to his +mother, but she smiled at it and patted the hideous head. "He hath +been a good friend to us, Dan," she said, "e'en as say the Scriptures, +'God hath chosen the weak things of the earth to confound the mighty.' +David went out against Goliath with a sling and a stone, and thou hast +overcome savages with naught but a foolish pumpkin." + +[Illustration] + +Nancy took the grinning head and set it on the chimney-piece. "Dear +old Jacky," she said, "thou shalt come to our Thanksgiving feast. 'T +is no more than thy due since thou hast saved us from the savages." + +"Nay, daughter," said her mother. "That savoreth of idolatry. Give +thy praise unto God, who useth even things which are not to bring to +naught the things that are. 'T is but a pumpkin after all, and will +make an excellent feast for the pig on the morrow. Daniel, go to the +field and bring thy sister a fresh one for the pies and then hasten +to thine own tasks. They wait for thee. While thy father is away +searching for Zeb, thou must do his work as well as thine own." + +"Dost think, Mother, that he will surely bring Zeb back in time for +the feast?" asked Nancy anxiously. + +"Let us pray, nothing doubting," answered the mother. "If it be God's +will, they will return." + +There was a tremor in her voice even as she spoke her brave words, for +she knew well the perils of their search. All day long they worked, +praying as they prepared the feast that they might share it a united +family. Nancy made the pies, and Dan dressed a fowl, while their +mother got ready a pot of beans, made brown-bread to bake in the oven +with the pies, and steamed an Indian pudding. All day they watched the +forest for sign of the returning men. All day they listened for the +sound of guns, but neither sight nor sound rewarded their vigilance. + +[Illustration] + +Dusk came on. The Goodwife set a candle in the window, and when her +other tasks were finished, went back to her spinning. Not a moment was +she idle, nor did she appear to her children to be anxious, but as +she walked back and forth beside her wheel Nancy heard her murmuring, +"Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most +High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall +any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Over and over she said it to +herself, never slacking her work meanwhile. + +The supper which Nancy prepared waited--one hour--two--after Dan had +fed the cattle and brought in the milk, and still there was no sign of +the searching party. + +Suddenly Nimrod, from his place on the hearth, gave a short sharp +bark, and, leaping to the window, stood with his paws on the sill, +peering out into the darkness and whining. Dan was beside him in an +instant. "I see them," he cried joyfully, "a whole parcel of them. +They are just coming out from behind the cow-shed." + +Nancy and her mother reached the window almost at the same moment, and +as the shadowy figures emerged from behind the cow-shed the mother +counted them breathlessly, "One--two--three--four--five--" + +"There 's Father!" shrieked Nancy. + +"He 's carrying something. Oh, dost think it is Zeb?" + +"Six--seven--eight--_nine! ten!_ There are ten men, when but eight set +forth. Praise God, they have all come back!" cried the mother. Turning +swiftly to the fireplace, she snatched from it a brand of burning +pitch pine and, holding it high above her head for a beacon, ran +out to meet them, with Dan, Nancy, and Nimrod all at her heels. The +torch-light shone on stern and weary faces as the men drew near. + +"All 's well, wife," came the voice of the Goodman. + +"Hast found the lad?" she called back to him. + +"Nay--not yet," he answered, "but we think we have his captors. Hold +thy torch nearer and have no fear. The savages cannot hurt thee. +Nancy, Daniel, have you ever seen these faces before?" + +As he spoke he thrust forward two Indians with their hands securely +tied behind them. + +"Oh," shuddered Nancy, "I saw them at the window," and Dan added, +"Aye, 't was this one that kicked Nimrod." Nimrod confirmed his +statement by growling fiercely and snapping at the heels of the taller +of the two Indians. + +"Call off thy dog," said the Goodman sternly, and though Dan felt it +would be no more than fair to allow Nimrod one good bite, considering +all he had suffered, he obediently collared Nimrod and shut him inside +the kitchen. The faces of the Indians were like stone masks as they +stood helpless before their captors with the light of the flaming +torch shining upon them. + +"Go in with thy family, Neighbor Pepperell," said Stephen Day. "There +are enough of us and to spare to guard the savages. Mayhap a night in +the stocks will cool their hot blood and help them to remember what +they have done with the slave lad. If not, the judge will mete out to +them the punishment they deserve." + +"Right willingly will I leave them in your hands," answered the +Goodman, "for truly I am spent." + +Whether the Indians understood their words, or not, they knew well +the meaning of pointed guns, for they marched off toward the village +without even a grunt of protest when Stephen Day gave the word of +command. + +The Goodman was so weary that his wife and children forbore asking +questions until he was a little rested and refreshed. He sank down +upon the settle with Nimrod beside him, and Dan removed his muddy +boots, and brought water for him to wash in, while Nancy and her +mother hastened to put the long-delayed supper on the table. + +"This puts new life into me," declared the father when he had eaten a +few spoonfuls of hotchpot, "and now I 'll tell somewhat of the day's +work. There was no general uprising among the Indians. At least we saw +no evidence of it. 'T is more likely as I feared--they are the same +Indians that followed us from Plymouth, meaning to revenge themselves +upon me for wounding one of them when they set upon us in the forest." + +"But how is it the lad was not with them?" asked his wife. + +"That is a question which as yet hath no answer," replied her husband. +"It may be they have killed him and hidden the body." + +At this fearful thought Nancy shuddered and covered her face with her +hands. + +"It may be," went on the Goodman, "that they passed him on to some +one else to avoid suspicion. At any rate he was not with them, and we +could find no trace. Though the savages undoubtedly know some English, +they refuse to say a word, and so his fate remains a mystery." + +"What further shall you do to find him?" asked the Goodwife. + +"See if we cannot force the Indians to confess, for the first thing," +answered her husband. + +His wife sighed. "I fear no hope lieth in that direction," she said. +"Their faces were like the granite of the hills." + +"What of the gun, Father?" asked Daniel. "Didst thou find it?" + +"Nay," answered his father. "They had it not, and that causes me to +think they have passed it as well as the boy on to others of +their tribe. There is naught to be done now but wait until after +Thanksgiving Day." + +"'T will be but a sad holiday," said the Goodwife. "Though he is but a +blackamoor, the lad hath found a place in my heart, and I grieve that +evil hath befallen him." + +"When I saw thee come out from behind the cow-shed I thought thou +hadst a burden," said Daniel. "I thought it was Zeb--wounded, or +mayhap dead." + +"Aye," answered the Goodman. "I did carry a burden and had like to +forgot it. I dropped it by the door of the cow-shed. Go thou and bring +it in." + +Dan ran out at once and returned a moment later carrying a huge wild +turkey by the legs. His mother rose and felt its breastbone with her +fingers. + +"'T is fine and fat, and young withal," she answered. "'T will make +a brave addition to our feast on the morrow, for, truth to tell, our +preparations have been but half-hearted thus far. Our minds were taken +up with thy danger and fear for the lad." + +"Dwell rather on our deliverance," said her husband. "The Lord hath +not brought us into this wilderness to perish. Let us not murmur, as +did the Children of Israel. The Lord still guides us." + +"Aye, and by a pillar of fire, too," said Nancy, remembering the +straw-stack. + +"And instead of manna he hath sent this turkey," added Dan. + +Supper was now over, and after it was cleared away, and they had had +prayers, the mother sent the rest of the family to bed, while she +busied herself with final preparations for the next day. She plucked +and stuffed the great turkey, first cutting off the long wing-feathers +for hearth-brooms, and set it away on the shelf in the secret closet +along with Nancy's array of pies. It was late when at last she lit her +candle, covered the ashes, and climbed wearily to bed. + +The wind changed in the night and when they looked out next morning +the air was full of great white snow-flakes, and the blackened ruins +of the straw-stack were neatly covered with a mantle of white. + +The family was up betimes, and as they ate their good breakfast of +sausages, johnny-cake, and maple syrup, they sent many a thought +toward poor Zeb, wandering in the forest or perhaps lying dead in its +depths. + +It was a solemn little party that later left the cabin in the care +of Nimrod and started across the glistening fields to attend the +Thanksgiving service in the meeting-house. They were made more solemn +still by the sight of the two Indians sitting with hands and feet +firmly fixed in the stocks, apparently as indifferent to the falling +snow as though they were images of stone. The first snowfall, usually +such a joy to Nancy and Daniel, now only seemed to make them more +miserable, and they were glad to see the sun when they came out of the +meeting-house after the sermon and turned their steps toward home. At +least Zeb would not perish of cold if it continued to shine. They were +just beginning to climb the home hill, when they were surprised to see +Nimrod come bounding to meet them, barking a welcome. + +"How in the world did that dog get out?" said the Goodwife +wonderingly. "I shut him in the kitchen the last thing before we left +the house." + +Leaving their father and mother to follow at a slower pace, Nancy +and Dan tore up the hill and threw open the kitchen door. There, +comfortably dozing on the settle by the fire, sat the Captain! At his +feet lay Zeb--also sound asleep with the wreckage of several blackened +eggs strewn round him on the hearth-stone! The Captain woke with a +start as the children burst into the room and for an instant stood +staring in amazement and delight at the scene before them. Zeb, +utterly worn out, slept on, and the Captain, as usual, was the first +to find his tongue. + +"Well, well," he shouted, rubbing his nose to a bright red to wake +himself up, "here ye be! And mighty lucky, too, for I 'm hungry enough +to eat a bear alive. If I could have found out where ye hide your +supplies, I might have busted 'em open to save myself and this poor +lad from starvation. He appeared nigh as hungry as I be, but he knew +better how to help himself. He found these eggs cooked out there in +the ashes of the straw-stack, and all but et 'em shells and all. Never +even offered me a bite! Don't ye ever feed him?" + +Before the children could get in a word edgewise their father and +mother, followed by Nimrod, came in, and, what with the dog barking, +the children screaming explanations to the Captain, and their own +astonished exclamations, there was such a babel of noise that at last +Zeb woke up, too, and stared about him like one dazed. Nimrod jumped +on him and licked his face, and Zeb put his arms around the dog as if +glad to find so cordial a welcome. The Captain stared from one face to +another, quite unable to make head or tail of the situation. + +[Illustration] + +"Well, by jolly!" he shouted at last, "what ails ye all? Ye act like a +parcel of lunatics!" + +The Goodman commanded silence, and briefly told the whole story to the +Captain. + +"Where did you find the lad?" he asked, when he had finished. + +"He was here when I came," said the Captain. "Settin' on the +hearth-stone eatin' them eggs as if he had n't seen food fer a +se'nnight and never expected to see any again. The dog busted out of +the house when I came in, and as I could n't get any word out of the +lad, I just set down by the fire and took forty winks. It was too late +for meeting, and besides I reckoned I could sleep better here." He +finished with his jolly laugh. + +Zeb, meanwhile, sat hugging the dog and rolling his eyes from one face +to another as if in utter bewilderment. Perhaps he wondered if the +Captain meant to capture him, too, for life must have seemed to the +poor black boy just a series of efforts to escape being carried off to +some place where he did not wish to go, by people whom he had never +seen before. The Goodman at last sat down before Zeb on the settle and +tried to get from him some account of what had happened in the forest. +But Zeb was totally unable to tell his story. His few words of English +were inadequate to the recital of the terrors of the past twenty-four +hours. + +"Let the lad be," said the Goodwife at last. "He 's safe, praise God, +and we shall just have to wait to find out how he managed to escape +from the savages and make his way back here." She went to the secret +closet and brought out a huge piece of pumpkin pie. Zeb's eyes gleamed +as he seized it. "He must n't eat too much at once," said she. "As +nearly as I can make out by the shells, he 's had six eggs already. +That will do for a time. Dan, build a fire in the fireplace in the old +kitchen. There 's warm water in the kettle, and do thou see that Zeb +takes a bath. He is crusted with mud. He must have wallowed in it. +Nancy and I will get dinner the while." + +Dan beckoned to Zeb, and the two boys disappeared. Zeb had never +bathed before except in the ocean, and the new process did not please +him. "I believe he wished he 'd stayed with the Indians," said Dan when +he appeared an hour later followed by a well-polished but somewhat +embittered Zeb. "I 've just about taken his skin off and I 'm all worn +out. Oh, Mother, is n't dinner almost ready?" + +"Almost," said his mother, as she opened the oven door to take a peep +at the turkey, which had been cooking since early morning. "It only +needs browning before the fire while I make the gravy." + +The table was already spread, and Nancy was at that very moment giving +an extra polish to the tankard before placing it beside the Captain's +trencher. The spiced drink to fill it was already mulling beside the +fire with a huge kettle of vegetables steaming beside it. The closet +door was open, giving a tantalizing glimpse of glories to come. + +"So there 's where ye keep 'em," observed the Captain, regarding the +pies with open admiration. "'T is a sight to make a man thankful for +the room in his hold. By jolly, it 'll take careful loading to stow +this dinner away proper!" + +He called Nancy to his side and opened the bulging leather pocket +which hung from his belt. "Feel in there," he said. "I brought along +something to fill in the chinks." + +Nancy thrust in her hand, and brought it out filled with raisins. "I +got 'em off a ship just in from the Indies," explained the Captain. +Raisins were a great luxury in the wilderness, and the delighted Nancy +hastened to find a dish and to place them beside the pies. + +"All ready," said the mother at last. "Come to dinner." + +There was no need of a second invitation, and the response to the +summons looked like a stampede. The Goodman and his wife took their +places at the head of the table with the Captain on one side and the +children on the other, and because it was Thanksgiving, and because he +had had such a hard day and night, and most of all because he was so +clean, Zeb was allowed a place at the foot of the board. + +The Goodman asked a blessing and then heaped the trenchers high with +what he called the bounty of the Lord. There was only one cloud on +Dan's sunshine during the meal. On account of Zeb, who when in doubt +still faithfully imitated him, he was obliged to be an example all +through the dinner. Even with such a model to copy, Zeb had great +trouble with his spoon and showed a regrettable tendency to feed +himself with both hands at once. + +The turkey was a wonder of tenderness, the vegetables done to a turn, +the Indian pudding much better than its name, and as for the pies, the +Captain declared they were "fit to be et by the angels and most too +good for a sinner like him." + +Beside each plate the Goodwife had placed a few kernels of corn, and +at the end of the feast, when the Goodman rose to return thanks, he +took them in his hand. + +"In the midst of plenty," he said to his children, "let us not forget +the struggles of the past and what we owe to the pioneers who first +adventured into this wilderness and made a path for those of us who +have followed them. Though they nearly perished of hunger and cold +in the beginning, they failed not in faith. When they had but a few +kernels of corn to eat, they still gave thanks, choosing like Daniel +to live on pulse with a good conscience rather than to eat from a +king's table. As the Lord prospered Daniel, so hath he prospered us." + +Then they all stood with folded hands and bent heads, while he gave +thanks for the abundant harvest and prayed that they might be guided +to use every blessing to the honor and glory of God. And the Captain +said, "Amen." + +[Illustration] + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS + + +THE PURITAN TWINS will admirably supplement the study of +American history and geography in grades 6 and 7. The nation-wide +revival of interest in all that concerns the Pilgrim Fathers, begun at +the time of the Tercentenary in 1920, will continue for many years. + +Whether children are able to trace their ancestry back to the little +band that crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower, or whether they trace +it to voyagers of a less remote period--and the other volumes in the +Twins Series are closely linked with many of these later ones--their +interest in the days of the forefathers of our country should be the +same; for these early settlers gave to America the spirit of liberty, +a respect for law and organized government, and a standard of clean +living and right thinking which it is our duty to preserve and to pass +on to coming generations. + +The best suggestions to teachers consist of brief and helpful +references to authoritative books that will give an accurate picture +of the early days of our country in the making and of the Pilgrim +country as it is to-day. Properly presented to pupils, the material +gleaned from these books will help them to form a more definite idea +of what every American should do to preserve intact the national peace +and prosperity which is their heritage. + +In the following list, titles marked with an asterisk contain material +which can be understandingly read by the pupils themselves. It will be +better to have the teacher read to the class from the others. + + +READINGS IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT + +*Tappan's _Elementary History of Our Country_, Chapters 4 to 9 +inclusive. These deal with the whole period of colonization. + +Thwaites and Kendall's _History of the United States for Schools_. +Chapters 3 to 9 inclusive. This is a more advanced book which +amplifies the story. There are valuable suggestions for reading in +standard literature. + +Guitteau's _Preparing for Citizenship_. Chapter 19 is of great +inspirational value. + +*Webster's _Americanization and Citizenship_. The following paragraphs +set forth American ideals in their origin and development: 44, 52, 53, +54, 55, 63, 73, 117-121. + +*Tappan's _Our European Ancestors_. Chapters 16-20 inclusive. These +describe the European rivalries which influenced the colonization of +America. + +*Tappan's _Little Book of Our Flag_. Particularly chapters 1 and 2 +respectively, "The Flags that Brought the Colonists," and "The Pine +Tree Flag and Others." + +Griffis's _Young People's History of the Pilgrims_. The conditions +which led to the sailing of the Pilgrims are clearly sketched and +emphasis is laid on the viewpoint of the Pilgrim boys and girls. + +*Griffis's _The Pilgrims in Their Three Homes: England, Holland, and +America_. The life of the Pilgrims in church and school, at work and +play, including their flight and refuge, is fully described. + +*Tappan's _American Hero Stories_. Five stories center around the +colonists, of whom, of course, Miles Standish is one. + +*Tappan's _Letters from Colonial Children_. These letters give an idea +of life in representative American colonies seen through a child's +eyes. They present a vivid and historically accurate picture of the +times. + +*Hawthorne's _Grandfather's Chair_. These stories have never grown old +or tiresome to children--and probably never will. No stories ever +gave a better introduction to our history from the settlement of New +England to the War for Independence. + +*Deming and Bemis's _Stories of Patriotism_. A series of stirring +tales of patriotic deeds by Americans from the time of the Colonists +to the present. + +*Bemis's _The Patriotic Reader_. The selections cover the history of +our country from the discovery of America to our entrance into the +Great War. They give one a familiarity with literature--new and +old--that presents the highest ideals of freedom and justice. + +*Longfellow's _Courtship of Miles Standish_. A well annotated edition +is published in the Riverside Literature Series. + +Jane G. Austin's _The Old Colony Stories_. These novels, dealing with +the early settlers of Plymouth, have taken their place among the +American classics, and their combination of romantic interest, real +literary quality, and historical accuracy has won for them wide +popularity. The titles alone bring before the mind a vision of the +most famous colonists: _Betty Alden_, _A Nameless Nobleman_, _Standish +of Standish_, _Dr. LeBaron and his Daughters_, _David Alden's Daughter +and Other Stories_. + +Fiske's _The Beginnings of New England_. This is one of the most +readable of the authoritative histories. + + +READINGS IN GEOGRAPHY + +Edwards's _The Old Coast Road_. The South Shore road from Boston to +Plymouth is one of the most historic roads in the country. Starting +from Boston, Miss Edwards guides her readers through Dorchester +Heights, Milton and the Blue Hills, Quincy with its Shipbuilding, +Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, the Scituate Shore, Marshfield, the +Home of Daniel Webster, Duxbury and Kingston. She concludes with an +informing chapter on Plymouth. + +Edwards's _Cape Cod, New and Old_. Delightful essays on the +Cape--brief, entertaining, and containing precisely those facts which +every reader wants to know. + + +DRAMATIZATIONS + +*Longfellow's _Courtship of Miles Standish_. Dramatized. This is +equipped with suggestions for stage settings, properties and costumes. + +*Austin's _Standish of Standish_. Dramatized. Historically true +portrayals of character and atmosphere. There are suggestions for +costumes and other details of acting. + +Baker's _The Pilgrim Spirit_. This book contains the words spoken +by the characters in the various episodes comprising the Pageant +presented at Plymouth, Massachusetts, during the summer of 1921. It +re-creates in masterly fashion the atmosphere of old colony times. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Puritan Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PURITAN TWINS *** + +***** This file should be named 16644.txt or 16644.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/4/16644/ + +Produced by Alicia Williams, Lesley Halamek and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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