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 thems