A Little Maid of Ticonderoga

This is the story of a little girl whose home was among the Green Mountains of Vermont, then known as "The Wilderness," at the beginning of the American Revolution; and at the time when Ethan Allen and his brave soldiers were on guard to defend their rights. Ethan Allen was the friend of Faith, the heroine of the story, whose earnest wish to be of help is fulfilled. She journeys from her Wilderness home across Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, and spends a winter with her aunt and cousin near Fort Ticonderoga. Here she learns a secret about the fort that is of importance later to Ethan Allen's "Green Mountain Boys."

There are two very interesting bears in this story. Like the earlier volumes of this series, "A Little Maid of Province Town," "A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony," "A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay," and "A Little Maid of Bunker Hill"--the present volume introduces the heroes of American history and tells of famous deeds and places of which all American children should know.

Contents

I. ESTHER AND BRUIN 9 II. FAITH MAKES A PROMISE 22 III. MORE MISCHIEF 33 IV. A NEW PLAN 42 V. KASHAQUA 51 VI. THE JOURNEY 59 VII. NEW FRIENDS 70 VIII. THE SHOEMAKER'S DAUGHTER 81 IX. LOUISE 90 X. THE MAJOR'S DAUGHTERS 100 XI. A DAY OF ADVENTURE 110 XII. SECRETS 119 XIII. LOUISE MAKES A PRESENT 129 XIV. A BIRTHDAY 140 XV. NEW ADVENTURES 150 XVI. LOUISE DISAPPEARS 161 XVII. FAITH AGAIN VISITS THE FORT 172 XVIII. HOME AGAIN 184 XIX. FAITH WRITES A LETTER 194 XX. THE CAPTURE OF THE FORT 208

A Little Maid of Ticonderoga

CHAPTER I

ESTHER AND BRUIN

Faith Carew was ten years old when Esther Eldridge came to visit her. Faith lived in a big comfortable log cabin on one of the sloping hillsides of the Green Mountains. Below the cabin was her father's mill; and to Faith it always seemed as if the mill-stream had a gay little song of its own. She always listened for it when she awoke each morning.

"I wonder if Esther will hear what the brook sings?" thought Faith as she drew on her moccasin slippers and dressed as quickly as she could, for her mother had already called her twice, and Faith had just reached the top of the stairs when the third call of, "Faith! Faith! I shall not keep your porridge hot another instant," sounded from the kitchen.

"I'm coming, mother dear," the little girl called back, and hurried down the stairs, wondering to herself why grown people who could always do exactly as they pleased should think it best to rise before the sun was really up.

"Your father was off to the mill an hour ago," said Mrs. Carew, setting a bowl of steaming porridge on the end of the table beside a narrow window, "so you will have to eat your porridge alone."

Faith sat down at the table, looking out through the open window toward the mill.

"I do hope Esther Eldridge and her father will come to-day," she said. "Do you think they will, mother dear?"

"Yes, child; they will probably arrive before sunset. Your father expected them yesterday. It will be a fine thing for you to have a little girl for a companion. But she is a village child, and may not be happy in the Wilderness," responded Mrs. Carew.

"Why, of course she will like being here! Just think, she has never seen wheat ground into flour! And she can see that in our mill; and she has always walked on real roads, and here she will not even see a road; and I know many pleasant paths where we can walk, and I can tell her the names of different trees and flowers. I'm sure she will think the Wilderness a fine place," said Faith, nodding her head so that her yellow curls seemed to dance about her face.