The Puritan Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins
page 22 of 95 (23%)
page 22 of 95 (23%)
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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 |
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