faith carew was ten years old when esther eldridge came to visit her. faith lived in a big comfortable log cabin on one of the sloping hillsides of the green mountains. below the cabin was her father’s mill; and to faith it always seemed as if the mill-stream had a gay little song of its own. she always listened for it when she awoke each morning.
“i wonder if esther will hear what the brook sings?” thought faith as she drew on her moccasin slippers and dressed as quickly as she could, for her mother had already called her twice, and faith had just reached the top of the stairs when the third call of, “faith! faith! i shall not keep your porridge hot another instant,” sounded from the kitchen.
“i’m coming, mother dear,” the little girl called back, and hurried down the stairs, wondering to herself why grown people who could always do exactly as they pleased should think it best to rise before the sun was really up.
“your father was off to the mill an hour ago,” said mrs. carew, setting a bowl of steaming porridge on the end of the table beside a narrow window, “so you will have to eat your porridge alone.”
faith sat down at the table, looking out through the open window toward the mill.
“i do hope esther eldridge and her father will come to-day,” she said. “do you think they will, mother dear?”
“yes, child; they will probably arrive before sunset. your father expected them yesterday. it will be a fine thing for you to have a little girl for a companion. but she is a village child, and may not be happy in the wilderness,” responded mrs. carew.
“why, of course she will like being here! just think, she has never seen wheat ground into flour! and she can see that in our mill; and she has always walked on real roads, and here she will not even see a road; and i know many pleasant paths where we can walk, and i can tell her the names of different trees and flowers. i’m sure she will think the wilderness a fine place,” said faith, nodding her head so that her yellow curls seemed to dance about her face.
“i hope they make the journey from brandon safely. your father has been told that the indians have been troublesome to the settlers near lake dunmore; and besides that, there are many bears coming out into the clearings these fine autumn days. but mr. eldridge is a good shot, and i am seeking trouble in naming indians or bears. finish your breakfast, faithie, and run to the garden and bring me in the ripest of the pumpkins; for i must make some cakes for our company.”
the carews lived in a log house on a slope of cleared ground running down to the mill-stream. there were no roads, only rough trails, and they had no near neighbors. faith’s father had a large grant of land, a “new hampshire grant,” it was called, which ran toward the eastern shore of lake champlain. faith had no playmates, and when mr. eldridge, of the town of brandon, had sent word that he was coming to see mr. carew on business and would bring his small daughter with him, faith had been overjoyed and had made many plans of what she would do to entertain her visitor.
faith finished her breakfast, and helped her mother clear the table and wash the dishes, and then went up the slope to where a number of fine pumpkins and squashes, growing among the corn, were ripening in the early september sunshine. she looked about carefully, and selected a yellow pumpkin. “this is about as large as my head,” she said aloud, “and i guess it is about the same color,” and she ran back to the house carrying the pumpkin, which mrs. carew set to bake in the brick oven beside the fireplace.
“when it is baked may i fix the shell for a work-basket for esther?” asked faith.
“yes, indeed,” answered mrs. carew smilingly. “your aunt prissy was greatly pleased with the one you gave her when she visited here last autumn.”
“i wish i could go to ticonderoga and visit aunt prissy,” said faith.
“why, so you shall some day. but ’tis a troublesome journey, since one must be set across the strait,” replied her mother.“but look, child! can it be that mr. eldridge has arrived at this early hour?”
“yes, indeed. i see his little girl! look, mother! father has lifted her down from the horse; and mr. eldridge is walking, too! oh, mother! see the fine hat she has on!” and faith ran to the open door to get a better look at the little girl who was walking so slowly up the path to the log house.
in a moment the little girl looked up toward the open door and faith waved her hand.
“she didn’t wave back, mother dear,” exclaimed faith, and then the travelers were close at hand, and mrs. carew was greeting the tall, grave-faced man and welcoming esther.
“my little girl was so tired that we stopped for the night at your neighbor stanley’s house, five miles east,” said mr. eldridge; “and that is why we are in good season this morning.”
while mr. eldridge was speaking esther held fast to her father’s hand, her large black eyes fixed on mrs. carew. faith looked at her admiringly, wishing that her own eyes were black, and that her feet were small like esther’s, and that she had a hat with a wide scarlet ribbon.
“esther, this is faith,” she heard her mother say, “and she will try and make you so happy here that you will wish to stay all winter.”
the two little girls smiled shyly, and esther let go her clasp on her father’s hand and followed mrs. carew into the pleasant kitchen. faith watched her eagerly; she wondered why esther looked about the big room with such a curious expression. “almost as if she did not like it,” thought faith.
the little gray kitten came bouncing out from behind the big wood-box and esther gave a startled exclamation.
“it’s just ‘bounce,’” said faith, picking up the kitten and smoothing its pretty head. “i named it ‘bounce’ because it never seems to walk. it just bounces along.”
esther smiled again, but she did not speak. faith noticed that she was very thin, and that her hands looked almost like little brown shadows.
“are you tired?” she asked, suddenly remembering that she had heard her father say that “mr. eldridge’s little maid was not well, and he thought the change would do her good.”
esther nodded.“yes, i’m always tired,” she answered, sitting down in the low wooden rocker beside the light stand.
“for pity’s sake, child, we must see to it that you are soon as strong and well as faith,” said mrs. carew, untying the broad scarlet ribbon and taking off esther’s hat. she smoothed back the dark hair with a tender hand, remembering that esther’s own mother was not well, and resolving to do her best for this delicate child.
“i think the pumpkin is cooked by this time, faithie. i’ll set it in the window to cool and then you can take out the pulp and i’ll make the cakes,” said mrs. carew.
bounce jumped up in esther’s lap, and faith sat down on the braided rug beside her.
“i’m going to make the pumpkin shell into a work-basket for you,” said faith. “did you ever see a pumpkin-shell work-basket?”
esther shook her head. she did not seem much interested. but she asked eagerly: “are the pumpkin cakes sweet?”
“yes, indeed. you shall have one as soon as they are baked; may she not, mother dear?”
“why, yes; only if esther is not well it may not be wise for her to eat between meals,” responded mrs. carew.
“oh! but i eat cakes whenever i want them,” declared esther, “and i love sweets. i had a fine cake when i left home and i ate it all before we got to lake dunmore.”
mrs. carew thought to herself that she did not wonder esther was always tired and not strong. esther did not say that the “fine cake” had been sent as a gift to faith. but her face flushed a little, and she added, “i meant to bring the cake as a present; but i was hungry.”
“of course you were,” agreed faith quickly. “is not the pumpkin cool enough to cut, mother dear?” asked faith.
“yes,” replied her mother, setting the yellow pumpkin on the table.
“come and see me do it, esther,” said faith, and esther, with a little sigh, left the comfortable chair and came and leaned against the table.
with a sharp knife faith cut a circle about the stem of the pumpkin and took it off, a little round, with the stem in the center. “that will be the work-box cover,” she explained, laying it carefully on a wooden plate. then she removed the seeds and the pulp, putting the pulp in a big yellow bowl, and scraping the inside of the pumpkin shell. “there! now when it dries a bit ’twill be a fine work-box, and it is for you, esther,” she said; but esther was watching mrs. carew, who was beating up eggs with the pumpkin pulp.
“do you put spices in the cakes?” she questioned eagerly. “how long before they will be baked?”
faith stood holding the yellow pumpkin shell, and looking at her visitor wonderingly.
“all she cares about is something to eat,” thought faith, a little scornfully, setting the fine pumpkin shell on the table.
esther’s face brightened as she listened to mrs. carew’s description of pumpkin cakes, and of pumpkin pies sweetened with maple syrup.
“i think i must teach you to cook, esther. i am sure you would soon learn,” said mrs. carew.
“i guess i wouldn’t be strong enough,” responded esther in a listless tone, going back to the rocking-chair, without even a glance at faith’s present.
“come, esther, let’s go down to the mill. i’ll show you the big wheel, and how father raises the water-gate,” suggested faith, who was beginning to think that a visitor was not such a delightful thing, after all.
esther left her chair with a regretful sigh, and followed faith out-of-doors.
“listen!” said faith. “that rippling, singing noise is the brook.”
esther laughed. “you’re funny,” she said. “why should i listen to a noisy old mill-stream?”
“i thought perhaps you’d like to hear it. i do. sometimes, just as i go to sleep, i hear it singing about the stars, and about little foxes who come down to drink, and about birds....” faith stopped suddenly, for esther was laughing; and as faith turned to look at her she realized that esther cared nothing about the music of the stream.
“i do believe you are silly,” esther responded. “do you think your mother will bake the cakes and pies while we are away?”
“yes,” replied faith dully. only that morning she had said to herself how nice it would be to have a girl friend to talk with, but if esther thought she was “silly”—why, of course, she must not talk. “i’ll let her talk,” resolved faith.
for a few moments the two little girls walked on in silence, then esther said suddenly: “does your mother ever let you boil down maple molasses for candy?”
“sometimes,” replied faith.
esther slipped her little brown hand under faith’s arm. “ask her to let us make candy this afternoon. do. tell her it will keep me from being lonesome. for my father will be going to ticonderoga as soon as dinner is over; he will be gone for days. will you ask her, faith?”
“yes, i’ll ask her,” faith answered.
“i know i’m going to have a fine visit,” declared esther, with more interest than she had shown since her arrival. “does your mother ever bake little pies, in saucers, for you?”
“no,” said faith, still resolved to say no more than was necessary.
“oh! doesn’t she? that’s too bad. i wish i had asked her to. then we could play keep-house in the afternoon, and have the pies to eat. will your mother make pies again to-morrow?”
“i don’t know,” said faith.
esther did not care much about the mill. she hardly glanced at the big water-wheel, and was eager to get back to the house. several times she reminded faith of her promise about the maple candy. faith had expected that she and esther would be the best of friends, but the time before dinner seemed very long to both the children.
soon after dinner mr. eldridge went on his way. he left his horse in mr. carew’s care, as he was to walk to the shore of lake champlain and trust to good fortune to find a canoe or boat in which he could cross the narrow strait to ticonderoga. he would not return for a week, and he seemed greatly pleased that his little daughter was so contented to be left with her new friends.
“she is an only child, like your own little maid,” he said to mrs. carew, “and i am glad they are to be friends.”
they all walked down the slope with him, and watched him striding off along the rough path.
“he’s going to fetch me some rock-candy,” said esther as they turned back to the house.
mrs. carew stopped at the mill, and the two little girls went back to the house.
“we’ll make the maple candy now, shan’t we?” said esther, as they reached the kitchen door. “see, the kettle is all clean, and i know where the molasses jug is,” and before faith could remind her that she had not yet asked permission, esther was dragging the heavy jug from the pantry.
“oh, look out, esther. you’ll spill it,” cautioned faith, running to help her.
“no, i won’t. here, help me turn it into the kettle and get it over the fire before your mother comes back,” urged esther, and the two girls lifted the jug and turned the maple syrup into the kettle. “there, that will make a lot of candy,” said esther. “you stir up the fire and put on more wood.”
faith obeyed. she hardly knew what else she could do, although she was sure that her mother would not want them to use all the syrup for candy. as she piled on the wood, she heard a scrambling noise at the door, and a sudden scream from esther: “faith! faith! a bear! a bear!” and looking over her shoulder she saw a big brown bear coming in through the kitchen door.
