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.