A Little Maid of Old Maine

								

homes. And if the men are talking of putting up the tree of liberty in
Machias I fear that trouble is near at hand. But be that as it may, our
talking of such matters will not make ready thy father's dinner. Blaze
up the fire with these chips, Anna; and thou, Rebby, spread the table."
Both the girls hastened to obey; but Anna's thoughts were pleasantly
occupied with the morrow's excursion when she would set forth with her
father to discover the "handsome sapling pine tree," which was to be
erected as the emblem of the loyalty of the Machias settlement to
Freedom's call. Anna knew they would follow one of the Indian trails
through the forest, where she would see many a wild bird, and that the
day would be filled with delight.
But Rebecca's thoughts were not so pleasant. Here it was the fifth of
May, and no sign of the Polly, and on the tenth she would be fourteen;
and not a birthday gift could she hope for unless the sloop arrived.
Beside this, the talk of a liberty pole in Machias made her anxious and
unhappy. Only yesterday she had spent the afternoon with her most
particular friend, Lucia Horton, whose father was captain of the
Polly; and Lucia had told Rebecca something of such importance, after
vowing her to secrecy, that this talk of a liberty pole really
frightened her. And the thought that her own father was to select it
brought the danger very near. She wished that Lucia had kept the secret
to herself, and became worried and unhappy.
Rebecca was thinking of these things, and not of spreading the table,
when she went to the cupboard to bring out the pewter plates, and she
quite forgot her errand until her mother called:
"Rebby! Rebby! What are you about in the cupboard?" Then, bringing only
one plate instead of four, she came slowly back to the kitchen.
"What ails the child?" questioned Mrs. Weston sharply. "I declare, I
believe both of my children are losing their wits. Here is Anna making
rhymes and sing-songing her words in strange fashion; and thou, Rebecca,
a girl of nearly fourteen, careless of thy work, and standing before me
on one foot like a heron, staring at naught," and Mrs. Weston hurried to
the pantry for the forgotten dishes.
Anna smiled at her mother's sharp words, for she did not mind being
called a silly girl for rhyming words. "'Tis no harm," thought Anna,
"and my father says 'tis as natural as for the birds to sing;" so she
added more chips to the fire, and thought no more of it.
But Rebecca, who was used to being praised for her good sense and who
was seldom found fault with, had looked at her mother in surprise, and
the pewter plate fell from her hands and went clattering to the floor.
At that moment the door swung open and Mr. Weston entered the kitchen.
"Father! Father!" exclaimed Rebecca, running toward him, "you won't put
up a liberty pole, will you? You won't! Promise you won't, Father!" and