paul and mr. weston started off at an early hour the next morning in paul’s canoe to bring home the honey. beside a tub they took with them a number of buckets, for the old stump had a rich store of honey.
it was a time of leisure for the lumbering settlement. the drives of logs had all come down the river and were safely in the booms. the mills could not run as usual, for the conflict with england made it difficult to send lumber to boston. the crops were now planted, so mr. weston, like other men of the settlement, had time for hunting and fishing or for improving their simple homes. some of the men passed a good part of each day lounging around the shores and wharves, looking anxiously down the harbor hoping to see captain jones’ sloops returning with the greatly needed provisions.
rebecca was up in season to see her father153 start, but anna, tired from the adventure of the previous day, had not awakened.
“is the liberty tree safe?” rebby asked a little anxiously, as she helped her mother about the household work that morning.
“why, rebby dear, what harm could befall it?” questioned her mother. “the traitor who set it afloat will not dare cut it down. ’tis a strange thing that, search though they may, no trace can be found of the rascals.”
rebecca’s hands trembled, and she dared not look up. it seemed to the little girl that if her mother should look into her eyes she would at once know that she, rebecca flora weston, who had been born in boston, and whose parents were loyal americans, had committed the dreadful deed. she wished with all her heart that she could tell her mother all that lucia horton had said; but the promise bound her. she could never tell anyone. rebecca knew that she could never be happy again. “not unless i could do some fine thing to help america,” she thought, a little hopelessly; for what could a little girl, in a settlement far away from all the strife, do to help the great cause for which unselfish men were sacrificing everything?154
mrs. weston was troubled about rebecca. “the child has not really been well since her birthday,” she thought, “although i cannot think what the trouble can be.”
“your father says that the honey is really yours, rebby dear,” continued mrs. weston, “and that you may decide how it shall be disposed of.”
“i don’t care,” rebby responded, a little faintly. “only, of course, paul ought to have half, because he helped.”
“yes, of course; but even then your share will be a good quantity,” said mrs. weston. before rebecca could speak anna came running into the room, her brown eyes shining, and her curls, now long enough to dance about her face, falling over her brown cheeks.
as she ate her porridge her mother questioned her about the adventure of the previous day, and for a time rebby forgot her own worries in listening to anna’s account of her journey in the leaking boat, and of her leap to safety.
“it was not mischief, was it, mother, to try and capture trit?” she concluded.
“no, indeed, dear child. who could foresee such an adventure?” replied mrs. weston.155 “and we are all proud that you did so well; that you did not wander into the forest, where you would surely have been lost. i was just asking rebby what use we would make of the honey. of course we want to share it with our neighbors. ’tis rare good fortune to have such a store of sweets.”
“let’s have a honey party,” suggested anna. “could we not, mother?”
“why, that is a splendid idea!” declared mrs. weston. “’twill cheer up the whole settlement to be asked to a party. to be sure i can offer them only honey; but perhaps ’twill take their minds from the polly, and from england’s injustice toward us. rebecca, you and anna shall start out at once and ask the neighbors as far as mr. lyon’s house. that will bring as many as twenty people. and tell each one to bring a cup and spoon, as i have no extra dishes.”
as soon as anna had finished her breakfast the two girls put on their sunbonnets and started on their pleasant errand. the neighbors were to be asked to come the next afternoon for a taste of wild honey, and mrs. weston again cautioned them to be sure and speak of the cup and spoon that each guest was to bring.156
“i wish i could offer them a dish of tea,” thought mrs. weston, and then reproached herself for the thought, for was not the tea tax one of england’s sins against the colonies, and had not loyal women refused to brew a single cup until america gained her rights?
mr. foster was busy in his blacksmith shop. the mill men could be idle, but worden foster hammered busily away day in and day out. his hay-forks were always in demand, and he made many stout locks and keys, as well as door-latches and hooks.
“shall we ask him first?” questioned anna.
“yes,” replied rebecca. “he is our best neighbor, so ’tis right to ask him first.”
rebecca and anna stood in the open doorway for a moment watching the glow of the forge and the bright sparks that sprang from the red bar of iron which mr. foster was shaping into a spearhead.
he nodded toward his little visitors smilingly, and listened with evident pleasure to rebecca’s invitation.
“but you tell me paul is to have a good portion of the honey; ’tis hardly fair we fosters should come,” he replied, and then added157 quickly, “but why not let us have the neighbors, and divide the honey that is left after the party?”
“why, yes, sir; i think that will be a good plan,” responded rebby soberly, “and perhaps luretta will go with us to ask the neighbors.”
mr. foster nodded again, whistling softly to himself, and as the little girls bade him a polite “good-morning” and went on toward his house they could hear his whistle ring above the sound of his hammer.
luretta came running to meet them.
“i was just coming to your house to thank you for trit. oh, anna! you are the bravest girl in the settlement. paul says you are. and to think you caught the rabbit for me.” luretta, quite out of breath, with her arm across anna’s shoulders, looked admiringly at her friend.
“it’s only fair,” anna replied, “because i lost yours.” and then anna had to tell again the story of her capture of trit. luretta listened eagerly. “i do wish i could have been with you, danna,” she said. but anna shook her head. “the boat would have sunk,” she responded soberly.
mrs. foster thought the plan for a honey party an excellent idea, and promised to come in158 good season; and luretta was greatly pleased to go with her friends to invite the neighbors.
“will not lucia horton be pleased when we tell her about the honey?” said anna.
rebecca stopped suddenly. “we are not to ask the hortons,” she announced.
“not ask lucia! why not?” questioned anna, while luretta looked at rebby with wondering eyes.
“no,” rebecca declared firmly. “the hortons have a cupboard filled with jellies, and candied fruits, and jars of syrups, and fine things from the west indies and from far places, and ’tis not fair. we have only the wild bees’ honey, a taste for each neighbor.” rebecca stopped with a little sigh. she had not thought about not asking lucia until anna spoke, but now she realized that, if she could help it, she would never again go to the hortons’ house. rebecca was old enough to realize the difference between loyalty and selfish indecision, and she was sure that the hortons were thinking more of their own comfort than of the good of america.
“but lucia is your best friend,” said anna; “she gave you those beautiful silk mitts on your birthday.”159
rebecca’s face colored. she made no answer. the silk mitts, she resolved, must be given back. probably she would never have another pair; but never mind, if she gave up lucia’s friendship she must give up the mitts.
for a few minutes the little girls walked on in silence, but luretta was eager to talk about trit, and very soon she and anna were talking happily of plans to teach the captured rabbit, and were no longer troubled by rebecca’s decision not to ask the hortons to the honey party. if they thought of it at all it was to agree with rebby: that people with a cupboard full of dainties, when their neighbors had only the coarsest fare, ought not to be asked to share the wild honey.
mrs. lyon welcomed the little girls in a most friendly manner, and anna was made happy when the minister’s wife said that she really believed that anna’s stitches were as tiny and as neatly set as those of melvina herself.
“melvina is out-of-doors,” she continued; “i have decided that she is much stronger to be in the open air a portion of each day, and london has made her a playhouse under the pines behind the house.”
both anna and luretta hoped that mrs. lyon160 would ask them to go and see melvina’s playhouse, but as she did not they said their polite “good-day, mrs. lyon,” curtsied, and followed rebecca down the path.
the invitations had now all been given and accepted, and luretta was eager to get home, urging anna to stop and see trit, who was safe in the same box that had been made for the other rabbits.
“you may both run ahead if you wish,” said rebby with quite a grown-up manner, for she really felt a great deal older than her little sister, “and i will go straight home and tell mother that everybody is coming.”
“everybody except the hortons,” luretta reminded her.
“yes; i meant everyone whom we had asked,” rebby rejoined.
off ran the two younger girls, and rebecca followed more slowly. although she had intended to go directly home she now decided to take the path along the bluff and see for herself that the liberty tree stood safe, defiant of all enemies. rebby’s thoughts were filled with a certain fear that lucia horton might contrive some new plan to make away with this emblem161 of freedom; and she gave an exclamation of satisfaction as she saw the handsome young pine, well braced with rocks and timber supports, standing on the bluff.
“the polly will see it first thing when she comes into harbor,” thought rebby, “and nobody will dare fire on it,” and vaguely comforted by this thought she started on toward home.
mr. weston and paul were just landing their load of honey, and rebecca went down to the shore to tell them of the plan for the honey party, of which they both approved. the tubs and buckets were all carried to the westons’ and safely stored away in the big pantry.
mrs. foster and mrs. weston were talking over arrangements for the next day. mrs. foster had suggested that they should each bake a quantity of “spider-cakes.” “they are thin and crispy, and will relish well with the honey,” she said, and mrs. weston agreed, although both the women realized that by making these cakes they would diminish their household stores of indian meal almost to the danger point. but the polly, with her cargo of wheat flour, sugar, and other necessities, was long overdue; she must162 soon come to their relief, they thought hopefully; and if she failed to arrive why then they must do their best.
“the neighbors need something cheerful to think of,” declared mrs. foster, “and i am sure a taste of honey will cheer us all.”
the next day was clear and warm with a pleasant southerly wind. mr. weston decided to put up some seats under the tall elms, so that the guests could enjoy the spring air. paul was quite ready to help him; they brought planks from the lumber yard, and long before the first visitor arrived the low comfortable seats were ready.
anna and rebby were busy all the morning making small plates of birch-bark, which they stripped from the big logs. these little plates would each hold a square of “spider-cake” and a helping of honey; and as the guests would bring their own cups, to be filled with clear spring water, and their own spoons, the westons felt that all was ready.
rebby and anna both wore their sunday best, but their dresses were carefully covered by their long pinafores. for they would serve each guest, and it would not do that any careless movement163 should send a stream of honey over their best gowns. luretta and melvina would also help, and had been warned to bring pinafores to wear.
there was a pleasant air of excitement all through the little settlement as the people, dressed in their simple best, walked along the path leading to the westons’. the minister and his wife, each holding melvina by the hand, were among the first comers.
“it was a friendly thought to ask your neighbors to share your good fortune,” said mr. lyon as he greeted mrs. weston.
“to tell the truth, ’twas anna who first thought of it,” she responded, and was well pleased when mrs. lyon declared that she was not surprised to hear it, as she considered anna a very thoughtful and generous child.
rebecca had forgotten for the time her own sense of unworthiness, and was smiling happily as friend after friend arrived, when suddenly her smile vanished. for coming up the path in a fine dress of pale yellow muslin and wearing a flower-trimmed hat was lucia horton. no one but rebecca, of course, was surprised to see lucia. it was to be expected that she would be164 a guest at rebecca’s house. anna and luretta did not see lucia’s arrival, but rebby stood quite still, pale and angry, and watched lucia smiling and speaking to the neighbors. then lucia came straight toward rebecca, and, making an ugly face at her, exclaimed:
“who is afraid of you, anyway, rebecca flora weston?”
