A Little Maid of Old Maine

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Little Maid of Old Maine, by Alice Turner Curtis

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Title: A Little Maid of Old Maine
Author: Alice Turner Curtis
Release Date: January 11, 2007 [EBook #20340]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: SHE ADDED WOOD TO THE FIRE]
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A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE
BY ALICE TURNER CURTIS
AUTHOR OF
A LITTLE MAID OF PROVINCE TOWN A LITTLE MAID OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY A LITTLE MAID OF NARRAGANSETT BAY A LITTLE MAID OF BUNKER HILL A LITTLE MAID OF TICONDEROGA A LITTLE MAID OF OLD CONNECTICUT A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA A LITTLE MAID OF OLD NEW YORK A LITTLE MAID OF VIRGINIA
ILLUSTRATED BY ELIZABETH PILSBRY
THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY PHILADELPHIA 1928
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COPYRIGHT 1920 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY
A Little Maid of Old Maine
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INTRODUCTION
"A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE" is a true story of the brave effort of two girls to bring help to a little settlement on the Maine coast at the time of the War of the Revolution. Parson Lyon, the father of Melvina, was a friend and correspondent of Washington, and the capture of the English gunboat by the Machias men is often referred to in history as "The Lexington of the Seas," being the first naval battle after the Lexington encounter.
The story is based on facts, and its readers cannot fail to be interested and touched by the courage and patriotism of Rebecca and Anna Weston as they journeyed through the forest after the powder that was to make possible the conquest of America's foe.
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CONTENTS
I. A LIBERTY POLE 9 II. REBECCA'S SECRET 19 III. MELVINA MAKES DISCOVERIES 33 IV. AT MR. LYON'S 45 V. A BIRTHDAY 57 VI. LUCIA HAS A PLAN 68 VII. "A TRAITOR'S DEED" 79 VIII. "WHITE WITCHES" 90 IX. REBECCA'S VISIT 102 X. AN AFTERNOON WALK 112 XI. AN EXCHANGE OF VISITS 121 XII. WILD HONEY 133 XIII. DOWN THE RIVER 143 XIV. AN UNINVITED GUEST 152 XV. REBBY AND LUCIA 165 XVI. REBBY DECIDES 178 XVII. A PERILOUS JOURNEY 189 XVIII. TRIUMPH 205
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ILLUSTRATIONS
SHE ADDED WOOD TO THE FIRE Frontispiece PAGE "WE'LL WADE OUT TO FLAT ROCK" 34 "BUT WHICH ONE IS TO BE MINE?" 77 HOW LONG THE AFTERNOON SEEMED! 127 A MAN CAME AROUND THE CORNER OF THE HOUSE 175
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A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE
CHAPTER I
A LIBERTY POLE
Anna and Rebecca Weston, carrying a big basket between them, ran along the path that led from their home to the Machias River. It was a pleasant May morning in 1775, and the air was filled with the fragrance of the freshly cut pine logs that had been poled down the river in big rafts to be cut into planks and boards at the big sawmills. The river, unusually full with the spring rains, dashed against its banks as if inviting the little girls to play a game with it. Usually Anna and Rebecca were quite ready to linger at the small coves which crept in so near to the footpath, and sail boats made of pieces of birch-bark, with alder twigs for masts and broad oak leaves for sails. They named these boats Polly and Unity, after the two fine sloops which carried lumber from Machias to Boston and returned with cargoes of provisions for the little settlement.
But this morning the girls hurried along without a thought for such pleasant games. They were both anxious to get to the lumber yard as soon as possible, not only to fill their basket with chips, as their mother had bidden them, but to hear if there were not some news of the Polly, the return of which was anxiously awaited; for provisions were getting scarce in this remote village, and not until the Polly should come sailing into harbor could there be any sugar cakes, or even bread made of wheat flour.
As they hurried along they heard the cheerful whistle of Mr. Worden Foster, the blacksmith, who was just then taking a moment of well-earned leisure in the door of his shop, and stood looking out across the quiet waters of the river and harbor. As the girls came near he nodded pleasantly, but did not stop whistling. People in Machias declared that the blacksmith woke up in the morning whistling, and never stopped except to eat. And, indeed, his little daughter Luretta said that when her father wanted a second helping of anything at the table he would whistle and point toward it with