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