A Little Maid of Ticonderoga

								

herself, and declared that she did not believe any little girl that
side of Bennington had such a beautiful doll.
"I think your Aunt Priscilla is the best aunt that ever was. She gave
you this lovely doll, and your blue beads----" Esther stopped
suddenly. She had lost the beads, and she did not want to tell Faith.
She had resolved to hunt for them as soon as possible, and give them
back. She was sure she could find them when she could run about again.
Faith did not look at Esther. She wished Esther had not reminded her
of the beads. But Esther had been so grateful for everything that Mrs.
Carew and Faith did for her that they had almost forgotten her
mischief, and were beginning to like their little visitor.
"Yes, my Aunt Prissy is lovely," said Faith. "She is a young aunt. Her
hair is yellow and her eyes are blue; she can run as fast as I can,"
and Faith smiled, remembering the good times she always had when Aunt
Prissy came for a visit to the log cabin. "When I go to visit her I
shall see the fort where the English soldiers are," she added.
"Colonel Ethan Allen could take the fort away from them if he wanted
to; my father said so," boasted Esther; and Faith was quite ready to
agree to this, for it seemed to her that the tall, dark-eyed colonel
could accomplish almost anything.
"How would you and Faithie like to have your supper here by the fire?"
asked Mrs Carew, coming in from the kitchen. "Faith can bring in the
light stand and use her own set of dishes. And I will make you a fine
dish of cream toast."
Both the little girls were delighted at the plan. And Faith ran to
the kitchen and, with her mother's help, brought in the stand and
put it down in front of the settle. She spread a white cloth over
it, and then turned to the closet, from which she had taken the
blue beads, and brought out her treasured tea-set. There was a
round-bodied, squatty teapot with a high handle, a small pitcher,
a round sugar-bowl, two cups and saucers, and two plates. The dishes
were of delicate cream-tinted china covered with crimson roses and
delicate buds and faint green leaves.
One by one Faith brought these treasures to the little table, smiling
with delight at Esther's exclamations of admiration.
"My grandmother who lives in Connecticut sent me these for my last
birthday present," said Faith. "My Grandmother Carew, whom I have
never seen. And they came from across the big salt ocean, from
England."
"To think that a little girl in a log cabin should have such lovely
things!" exclaimed Esther. "I have a silver mug with my name on it,"
she added.
Mrs. Carew brought them in the fine dish of cream toast, and filled
the china teapot with milk so they could play that it was a real
tea-party. There were baked apples to eat with the toast, and although
Esther longed for cake she did not speak of it, and, bolstered up with
cushions, and Faith sitting in a high-backed chair facing her, she