“an indian woman and a little girl with yellow hair are coming across the road, mother,” declared donald scott, rushing into the sitting-room, where his mother was busy with her sewing.
mrs. scott hastened to the front door. “oh, aunt prissy,” called faith, running as fast as her tired feet could carry her, and hardly seeing the brown-haired little cousin standing by his mother’s side.
aunt prissy welcomed her little niece, whom she had not expected to see for weeks to come, and then turned to thank kashaqua. but the indian woman had disappeared. the bundle containing faith’s clothing lay on the door-step, but there was no trace of her companion. long afterward they discovered that kashaqua had started directly back over the trail, and had reached the carews’ cabin, with her message of [pg 71]faith’s safe arrival at her aunt’s house, early the next morning.
“come in, dear child. you are indeed welcome. your father’s letter reached me but yesterday,” said aunt prissy, putting her arm about faith and leading her into the house. “i know you are tired, and you shall lie down on the settle for a little, and then have your supper and go straight to bed.”
faith was quite ready to agree. as she curled up on the broad sofa her three little cousins came into the room. they came on tiptoe, very quietly, donald leading the two younger boys. their mother had told them that cousin faith was tired after her long journey, and that they must just kiss her and run away.
faith smiled up at the friendly little faces as they bent over to welcome her. “i know i shan’t be lonesome with such dear cousins,” she said, and the boys ran away to their play, quite sure that it was a fine thing to have a girl cousin come from the wilderness to visit them.
faith slept late the next morning, and awoke to hear the sound of rain against the windows. it was a lonesome sound to a little girl so far from her mother and father, and faith was already [pg 72]thinking to herself that this big house, with its shining yellow floors, its white window curtains, and its nearness to a well-traveled road, was a very dreary place compared to her cabin home, when her chamber door opened and in came her aunt prissy, smiling and happy as if a rainy day was just what she had been hoping for.
“we shall have a fine time to-day, faithie dear,” she declared, as she filled the big blue wash-basin with warm water. “there is nothing like a rainy day for a real good time. your uncle philip and the boys are waiting to eat breakfast with you, and i have a great deal to talk over with you; so make haste and come down,” and aunt prissy, with a gay little nod, was gone, leaving faith greatly cheered and wondering what the “good time” would be.
uncle philip scott was waiting at the foot of the stairs. “so here is our little maid from the wilderness! well, it is a fine thing to have a girl in the house,” he declared, leading faith into the dining-room and giving her a seat at the table beside his own. “did you have any adventures coming over the trail?” he asked, after faith had greeted her little cousins.
[pg 73]faith told them of “nooski’s” appearance, greatly to the delight of her boy cousins, who asked if the indian woman had told faith the best way to catch bear cubs and tame them.
“come out to the shop, boys,” said mr. scott as they finished breakfast, “and help me repair the cart, and fix ‘ginger’s’ harness. perhaps cousin faith will come, too, later on in the morning.”
“we’ll see. faithie and i have a good deal to do,” responded mrs. scott.
the boys ran off with their father, chattering gaily, but at the door donald turned and called back: “you’ll come out to the shop, won’t you, cousin faith?”
“if aunt prissy says i may,” answered faith.
“yes; she will come,” added aunt prissy, with her ready smile.
it seemed to faith that aunt prissy was always smiling. “i don’t believe she could be cross,” thought the little girl.
she helped her aunt clear the table and wash the dishes, just as she had helped her mother at home; and as they went back and forth in the pleasant kitchen, with the dancing flames from the fireplace brightening the walls and making [pg 74]the tins shine like silver, faith quite forgot that the rain was pouring down and that she was far from home.
“i am going to begin a dress for you this very day. it is some material i have in the house; a fine blue thibet, and i shall put ruffles on the skirt. that will be your sunday dress,” said aunt priscilla, “and your father wrote me you were to have the best shoes that the shoemaker can make for you. we’ll see about the shoes to-morrow. did you bring your blue beads, faithie? but of course you did. they will be nice to wear with your blue frock. and i mean you to have a warm hood of quilted silk for sunday wear.”
faith drew a long breath as her aunt finished. she wondered what aunt prissy would say if she told her about giving the blue beads to esther eldridge. but in the exciting prospect of so many new and beautiful things she almost forgot the lost beads. she had brought “lady amy,” carefully packed in the stout bundle, and aunt prissy declared that the doll should have a dress and hood of the fine blue thibet.
“when shall i go to school, aunt prissy?” asked faith.
[pg 75]“i think the school begins next week, and you shall be all ready. i mean to make you a good dress of gray and scarlet homespun for school wear,” replied her aunt. “the schoolhouse is but a half-mile walk from here; a fine new cabin, and you and donald may go together. i declare, the rain has stopped. ‘rain before seven, clear before eleven’ is a true saying.”
faith ran to the window and looked out. “yes, indeed. the sky is blue again,” she said.
“you’d best run out to the shop a while now, faithie. i’ll call you when ’tis time,” said her aunt.
faith opened the kitchen door to step out, but closed it quickly, and looked around at her aunt with a startled face. “there’s a little bear right on the door-step,” she whispered.
“a bear! oh, i forgot. you have not seen ‘scotchie,’ our dog,” said aunt prissy. “no wonder you thought he was a bear. but he is a fine fellow, and a good friend. i often wish your dear father had just such a dog,” and she opened the door and called “scotchie! scotchie!”
the big black newfoundland dog came slowly into the room.
[pg 76]“put your hand on his head, faith,” said aunt prissy, “and i’ll tell him who you are, and that he is to take care of you. he went to school with donald all last spring, and we knew he would take care of him. here, ‘scotchie,’ go to the shop with faith,” she concluded.
faith started for the square building on the further side of the yard, and the big dog marched along beside her. donald and little philip came running to meet her.
“i’m going to make you a bow and some arrows, cousin faith,” said donald, pushing open the shop door. “i have a fine piece of ash, just right for a bow, and some deerskin thongs to string it with. i made bows for hugh and philip.”
the workshop seemed a very wonderful place to faith, and she looked at the forge, with its glowing coals, over which her uncle philip was holding a bar of iron, at the long work-bench with its tools, and at the small bench, evidently made for the use of her little cousins.
the boys were eager to show her all their treasures. they had a box full of bright feathers, with which to tip their arrows.
[pg 77]“we’ll show you how to make an arrow, cousin faith,” said donald. “first of all, you must be sure the piece of wood is straight, and has no knots,” and donald selected a narrow strip of wood and held it on a level with his eyes, squinting at its length, just as he had seen his father do. “this is a good straight piece. here, you use my knife, and whittle it down until it’s about as big as your finger. and then i’ll show you how to finish it.”
but before faith had whittled the wood to the required size, they heard the sound of a gaily whistled tune, and donald ran toward the door and called out: “hallo, nathan,” and a tall, pleasant-faced boy of about fifteen years appeared in the doorway. he took off his coonskin cap as he entered.
“good-morning, mr. scott,” he said, and then turned smilingly to speak to the boys.
“faith, this is nathan beaman,” said donald, and the tall boy bowed again, and faith smiled and nodded.
“i’ve been up to the fort to sell a basket of eggs,” explained nathan, turning again to mr. scott.
“you are a great friend of the english soldiers, are you not, nathan?” responded mr. scott.
[pg 78]“no, sir!” the boy answered quickly. “i go to the fort when my errands take me. but i know well enough what those english soldiers are there for; all the shoreham folk know that. i wish the green mountain boys held ticonderoga,” he concluded.
mr. scott rested a friendly hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“best not say that aloud, my boy; but i am glad the redcoats have not made you forget that american settlers have a right to defend their homes.”
“i hear there’s a reward offered for the capture of ethan allen,” said the boy.
mr. scott laughed. “yes, but he’s in small danger. colonel allen may capture the fort instead of being taken a prisoner,” he answered.
nathan now turned toward the children, and donald showed him the bow he was making for his cousin. “i’ll string it for you,” offered nathan; and donald was delighted to have the older boy finish his work, for he was quite sure that anything nathan beaman did was a little better than the work of any other boy.
“who wants to capture colonel allen?” faith asked.
[pg 79]“the ‘yorkers.’ the english,” responded the boy carelessly; “but it can’t be done,” he added. “why, every man who holds a new hampshire grant would defend him. and colonel allen isn’t afraid of the whole english army.”
“i know him. he was at my father’s house just a few weeks ago,” said faith.
“don’t tell anybody,” said nathan. “some of the people at the fort may question you, but you mustn’t let them know that you have ever seen colonel allen.”
donald had been busy sorting out feathers for the new arrows, and now showed nathan a number of bright yellow tips, which the elder boy declared would be just what were needed.
nathan asked faith many questions about her father’s mill, and about ethan allen’s visit. and faith told him of the big bear that had entered their kitchen and eaten the syrup. when mrs. scott called them to dinner she felt that she was well acquainted with the good-natured boy, whom mrs. scott welcomed warmly.
“i believe nathan knows as much about fort ticonderoga as the men who built it,” she [pg 80]said laughingly, “for the soldiers have let him play about there since he was a little boy.”
“and nathan made his own boat, too. the boat he comes over from shoreham in,” said donald. for nathan beaman lived on the further side of the strip of water which separated ticonderoga from the new hampshire grants.
that afternoon faith and her aunt worked on the fine new blue dress. the next day mrs. scott took her little niece to the shoemaker, who measured her feet and promised to have the shoes ready at the end of a week.
as they started for the shoemaker’s mrs. scott said:
“the man who will make your shoes is a great friend of the english soldiers. your uncle thinks that he gathers up information about the american settlers and tells the english officers. do not let him question you as to what your father thinks of american or english rule. for i must leave you there a little while to do an errand at the next house.”
faith began to think that it was rather a serious thing to live near an english fort.
