NEW FRIENDS
"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
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 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.
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 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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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 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.