The Puritan Twins

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Puritan Twins, The

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.net
Title: The Puritan Twins
Author: Lucy Fitch Perkins
Release Date: September 4, 2005 [EBook #16644]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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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