A Little Maid of Ticonderoga

								

closet. The little wooden box that held the beads was on the middle
shelf. Faith took it up, closed the door, and turned toward Esther.
"Here! This is the best thing I have in all the world, the prettiest
and the dearest. And it is beads. Take them," and she thrust the box
into Esther's eager hands and ran out of the room. She forgot the dead
bear, the wasted syrup, the danger and fright of so short a time ago;
all she could think of was to get away from Esther Eldridge.
She ran across the clearing and along a narrow path that circled
behind the mill into the woods. She ran on and on until she could no
longer hear the sound of the brook, and the path began to grow rocky
and difficult. Then, tired and almost breathless, Faith sat down on a
big rock and looked about her. For a few moments she could think of
nothing but her lost beads, and of the disagreeable visitor. Then
gradually she realized that she had never before been so far along
this rough path. All about her rose huge, towering pines. Looking
ahead the path seemed to end in a dense thicket. She heard the rustle
of some little forest animal as it moved through the vines behind
her, and the call of birds near at hand. Faith began to recall the
happenings of the morning: the excitement of Esther's arrival, the
sudden appearance of the bear in the kitchen doorway, her terror lest
her mother should come before she could be warned; and then, again,
Esther and the loss of her beads. She began to cry. She felt very
tired and unhappy. She felt Esther was to blame for everything, even
for the appearance of the bear. Never before had a bear dared come to
the house. Faith leaned back against a friendly tree with a tired
little sigh. She would rest, and then go home, she thought, and closed
her eyes.
When she awoke, she thought she must still be dreaming; for, standing
a little way down the path, was a tall man leaning on a musket. He
wore a flannel blouse, and his homespun trousers were tucked into high
leathern gaiters.
The man smiled and nodded. "Do not be frightened, little maid," he
said in a friendly voice. "I did not want to leave you here in the
woods until I was sure that you could make your way home. Are you
Miller Carew's little girl?"
"Yes, sir," answered Faith, wondering who this tall, dark-eyed man,
who knew her father, could be, and then adding, "My name is Faith."
The tall man smiled again, and took off his leather cap.
"My name is Ethan Allen," he responded; "it may be that you have heard
your father speak of me."
"Yes, sir! You are a Green Mountain Boy; and you help the settlers to
keep their 'Grants,'" Faith replied quickly; for she had often heard
her father and mother speak of the trouble the settlers were having to
prove their titles to land taken under the "New Hampshire Grants," and
she remembered hearing her father say that Ethan Allen would help any
man defend his rights. She wished that she could tell him all about