Then came the work of thatching the roof, which was done by the
branches of trees, dried grass, or bark. My master put on first
a layer of branches from which the leaves had been stripped, and
over that we laid coarse grass to the depth of six or eight inches,
binding the same down with small saplings running from one side to
the other, to the number of ten on each slope of the roof. To me
was given the task of closing up the crevices between the logs with
mud and grass mixed, and this I did the better because Nathaniel
Peacock worked with me, doing his full share of the labor.
KEEPING HOUSE
When we came ashore from the ships, no one claimed Nathaniel as
servant, and he, burning to be in my company, asked Captain Smith's
permission to enter his employ. My master replied that it had not
been in his mind there should be servants and lords in this new
world of Virginia, where one was supposed to be on the same footing
as another; but if Nathaniel were minded to live under the same
roof with us, and would cheerfully perform his full share of the
labor, it might be as he desired.
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