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Show CHAPTER TWO "January 1632" Sunlight was filtering in the living room less noticeably now that the day was getting on. Occasionally a snapping sound cracked from the coal-burning stove to which a piece of sap-riddled wood had been added. The fragrance and warmth made the room cozy - Seated on the floor on cushions were three young men. The eyes of Joseph and Benjamen were focused on their older brother, Samuel, who was reading to them. Nine year old Samuel had the same lively blue eyes of his father, but with a noticeable irascible nature to match. "Just, spirited," Hannah would defend Samuel when the Reverend would chide him for his unruly tongue. "Too smart for his britches," Elise the housemaid could often be heard mumbling under her breath. Of their six living children, John and Hannah Lathrop judged young Samuel as the most difficult to govern, but often the most easy' to love. Samuel's younger brothers thought it a privilege when Sara read to them, for he read with the expression of a master, notwithstanding his Yorkshire accent. |