A Little Maid of Ticonderoga

								

toward the mill; she was thinking of what she had heard her father say
to Mr. Eldridge that morning. "Tell Colonel Allen the men of the
Wilderness will be ready whenever he gives the word," Mr. Carew had
said; and Mr. Eldridge had answered that it would not be long. Faith
wondered what her father had meant, and if Colonel Allen would again
visit the mill. She hoped he would, for he had seemed to know all
about the woodland creatures, and had told Faith a wonderful story
about the different months of the year. She thought of it now as she
felt the warmth of the October sunshine.
"October is stirring the fire now," she called to her father, who was
watching her from the door of the mill.
"What do you mean by that, child?" asked her father, smiling down at
Faith's tanned face and bright eyes.
"'Tis what Colonel Allen told me about the months. All twelve, every
one of the year, sit about the fire. And now and then one of them
stirs the fire, and that makes all the world warmer. July and August,
when it is their turn, make it blaze; but the other months do not care
so much about it. But once in a while each month takes its turn,"
answered Faith. "That's what Colonel Allen told me."
"'Tis a good story," said Mr. Carew. "Did your mother tell you that I
have sent word to your Aunt Priscilla about your going to her house as
soon as some trustworthy traveler going to Ticonderoga passes this
way?"
"Yes, father. But I am learning a good deal at home. Mother says I
read as well as she did when she was my age. And I can figure in
fractions, and write neatly. I do not care much about school,"
answered Faith; for to be away from her mother and father all winter
began to seem too great an undertaking.
"Yes, indeed; your mother tells me you learn quickly. But 'tis best
for you to become acquainted with children of your own age. And you
have never seen your cousins. Three boy cousins. Think of that. Why,
your Aunt Prissy says that Donald is nearly as tall as you are; and he
is but eight years old. And Hugh is six, and Philip four. Then there
are neighbor children close at hand. You will play games, and have
parties, and enjoy every day; besides going to school," responded her
father encouragingly.
Then he told her of his own pleasant school days in the far-off
Connecticut village where Grandmother Carew lived; and when Mrs. Carew
called them to dinner Faith had begun to think that it would really be
a fine thing to live with Aunt Priscilla and become acquainted with
her little cousins, and all the pleasant, well-behaved children that
her father described, with whom she would go to school and play games.
"It is nearly time for Kashaqua's yearly visit," said Mrs. Carew. "I
have knit a scarf for her of crimson yarn. She generally comes before
cold weather. Don't let her see your blue beads, Faith."
Faith did not make any answer. Kashaqua was an Indian woman who had
appeared at the cabin every fall and spring ever since the Carews had