There were so many helpers that in a wonderfully short time the frame-work was up, the roof boards were on, and a great fireplace had been built into the chimney in the new part of the house.  Also a door had been cut through to connect the new part with the old cabin, which was now to be used for storage and as a stable for Penny and Eliza, and a sleeping-space for Zeb.  When all this was done and the roof on, the neighbors returned to their own tasks, leaving the Pepperells to lay the floors, cover the outside with boards, and do whatever was necessary to finish the house.  It was late in the fall before this was accomplished and the family had settled down to the enjoyment of their new quarters.

One day as Dan and Zeb were bringing in boards to sheathe the room on the inside, they were startled to see two Indians peering out at them from the shelter of the near-by woods.  Dropping the board they were carrying, they ran like deer to the house, and Dan told his father what they had seen.  The Goodman looked thoughtful as he went on with his task of sheathing, and that very evening he worked late building a secret closet between the chimney and the wall.  “It will be a handy place to hide thy preserves,” he said to his wife, “and a refuge should the Indians decide to give us trouble.”  He cut a small square window high up in the outside wall and contrived a spring, hidden in the chimney, to open the door.  When this spring was pressed a hole would suddenly appear in what seemed a solid wall, revealing the well-stored shelves.  This closet was the Goodwife’s special pride, but to Zeb it was a continuous mystery.  At one moment there was the solid wall; the next, without touch of human hands, a door would fly open, giving a tantalizing glimpse of things to eat which he could never touch, for if he came near, the door would close again as mysteriously as it had opened.  Dan loved to tease him with it, and Zeb, fearing magic, would take to his heels whenever this marvel occurred.

One day the Goodman said to his wife:  “Thanksgiving draws near, and surely we have much cause for thankfulness this year, for the Lord hath exceedingly blessed us.  There are yet some things to be done before the day comes, and I wish to meet it with my task finished.  I hear there is a ship in the harbor loaded with English merchandise, and to-morrow I go to Boston, and if thou art so minded, thou canst go with me.”

This put the Goodwife in quite a flutter of excitement, for she had not been away from home except to go to church for many months.  She got out her best gown that very evening, to be sure it was in proper order, and while she got supper gave Nancy and Dan an endless string of directions about their tasks in her absence.

Early the next morning she mounted the pillion behind her husband, and the three children watched their departure, Dan clutching Nimrod, who was determined to go with them, and the Goodwife calling back last instructions to the little group until Penny was well on the road to Charlestown.