The Captain sat down with the Goodman on the men’s side of the room, while Daniel went to his place among the boys, leaving Nancy and his mother seated with the women on the opposite side.  It is hard to believe that a boy could sit through a sermon two hours long with his friends all about him and such a secret buttoned up inside his jacket without an explosion, but Daniel did it.  He did n’t dare do otherwise, for Gran’ther Wattles ranged up and down the little aisle with his tithing-rod in hand on the lookout for evil-doers.  Once, indeed, during the sermon there was a low rumbling snore, and Daniel was horrified to see Gran’ther Wattles lean over and gently tickle the Captain’s nose with the squirrel-tail.  The Captain woke with a start and sneezed so violently that the boy next Daniel all but tittered outright.  Gran’ther Wattles immediately gave him a smart rap on the head with the knob end of his stick, so it is no wonder that after that Daniel sat with his eyes nearly crossed in his effort to keep them fixed on the minister, though his thoughts were far away ranging Massachusetts Bay with the Lucy Ann of Marblehead.

At last, however, the sermon ended, the final psalm was sung, and after the benediction the minister passed out of the church and the congregation dispersed to eat a bite of brown-bread in the church-yard before assembling again for another two-hour sermon.

The sun was now shining brightly, and, once outside the door, after the first sermon, the Captain wiped his brow as if exhausted, and a few moments later Daniel saw him quietly disappearing in the direction of the river.  He was not of the Cambridge parish, so no discipline could be exercised upon him, but Gran’ther Wattles set him down at once as a dangerous character, and even Goodwife Pepperell shook her head gently when she noted his absence.

[Illustration]

Somehow, although it was a breach of Sabbath decorum to tell it, the great news leaked out during the intermission, and Daniel was the center of interest to every boy in the congregation during the afternoon.  When the second long sermon was over and the exhausted minister had trailed solemnly down the aisle, the equally exhausted people walked sedately to their houses, discussing the sermon as they went.  All that day Daniel kept a tight clutch on his manners, but the moment the sun went down, he heaved a great sigh of relief and turned three somersaults and a handspring behind the cabin to limber himself up after the fearful strain.

[Illustration]

III

ON BOARD THE LUCY ANN

The family rose at daybreak the next morning, tasks were quickly performed, and after breakfast the Goodman read a chapter in the Bible and prayed long and earnestly that God would bless their journey, protect those who were left behind, and bring them all together again in safety.  Then he and Daniel started down the path to the river, with Nancy and her mother, both looking very serious, following after.  The tide was already coming in, and the bay stretched before them a wide sheet of blue water sparkling in the sun.  In the distance they could see the sails of the Lucy Ann being hoisted and Captain Sanders in his small boat rowing rapidly toward the landing-place.