Kashaqua was evidently delighted to see Faith safely at home once more. She had brought a present for her little friend; and after Faith had talked to her mother, and yet, as she declared, had “not begun to tell her” all she had to tell, Kashaqua unrolled a soft bundle and spread out the skin of a black bear cub¹. It was hardly larger than the skin of a good-sized puppy; but the fur was so soft and glossy² that Faith and her mother exclaimed admiringly over its beauty, and Faith said that she would take the greatest care of it. She questioned Kashaqua about “Nooski,” the tame bear which had followed them on their journey to Ticonderoga.  
“Gone!” replied Kashaqua, and had no more to tell of the wild creature that she had tamed, and, suddenly, Kashaqua disappeared in her usual silent fashion without a sign or word of farewell.
 
[Pg 195]Faith was tired, and quite satisfied to rest on the big settle and talk to her mother, while “Bounce,” steady and well-behaved, curled up on the hearth³ rug. Faith told her mother about Louise; about Caroline and Catherine and their mischief⁴, and of the quilting party. She told her about Nathan Beaman, and of the skating on the lake, and how the English soldiers had extinguished the fire and spoiled their fun. But she did not tell her of the evening when she had guided Mr. Phelps up the moonlit lake to the foot of the cliff, and told him how to make his way into the fort. Some time, she resolved, her mother should know all about it; but she still felt that she must keep it a secret.
 
Mrs. Carew asked many questions about the fort.
 
“There is more travel over the trails than ever before,” she told the little girl, “and we hardly know who are our friends. The English are sending their spies everywhere. Be very cautious, Faithie, and say nothing to any stranger that you have ever been near Fort Ticonderoga. This part of the country will not be safe until American soldiers take the place of the English in the fort.”
 
[Pg 196]“Oh, mother dear, I hope they will soon. I wish that I could help take the fort.”
 
“Who knows but you may help in some way, when the right time comes,” her mother responded, smiling at her little daughter’s eagerness. “Now, I am going out to get something for you. Something that you will like very much,” she added, and left Faith alone.
 
Faith closed her eyes, wondering happily what it was that her mother would bring. She thought of the caraway cookies, of the little round pies made of the dried pumpkin⁵, and then a noise at the door made her open her eyes. For an instant she believed that she must be asleep and dreaming, for Esther Eldridge was standing⁷ in the door—Esther grown taller and stronger, with red cheeks and shining eyes.
 
“Yes, it’s really Esther,” Mrs. Carew called over the little girl’s shoulder, and Esther ran toward the settle as Faith started forward to meet her.
 
“Isn’t this a fine surprise?” Esther exclaimed. “I was so afraid you would hear about our living here before you got home.”
 
“Living here?” questioned Faith, looking so puzzled that both Mrs. Carew and Esther laughed aloud.
 
[Pg 197]“Yes! yes, indeed! My father and mother and I,” answered Esther delightedly.
 
“But where? I have been up-stairs, and all over the house and I didn’t see anybody, or anything,” said Faith.
 
“Oh, we live in our own house—a house just like this; or it will be just like this when it is all finished,” and Esther told of her father’s decision to bring his family to the Wilderness⁸ to live. He had purchased a grant of land adjoining that held by Mr. Carew soon after Esther’s visit in September. The timber for the cabin had been cut early in the winter, and the cabin begun, and now it was nearly finished. “We moved last week,” said Esther, “and you can see our house from your back door.”
 
Faith forgot all about being tired and ran to the back door to look. Yes, there it was; the big new cabin, near the path down which Ethan Allen had led her home, when, angry at Esther, she had run off to the woods.
 
“Isn’t it splendid! Oh, Esther, it is the very best thing that ever happened,” Faith declared; “isn’t it, mother dear?”
 
Mrs. Carew was quite ready to agree with her little daughter.[Pg 198] “Good neighbors was the only thing we really lacked,” she agreed, “and perhaps others will come when there is better protection for their safety.”
 
The two little friends had much to tell each other, and when Esther started for home Faith walked with her as far as the mill. From the mill the new cabin could be clearly seen.
 
“Do you remember asking me if I listened to the brook⁹?” Esther asked laughingly, as they stood looking at the dancing waters of the stream. “Well, I know now just what you meant. It’s company, isn’t it?”
 
Then Faith told her of the “Chiming Waters” of Ticonderoga, and of some of the old tales of the lake that her aunt and Nathan had related.
 
“Did you see the English soldiers?” questioned Esther.
 
“Oh, yes.” And Faith described the skating party on the lake that the redcoats had interfered¹⁰ with. “I wish I could see Ethan Allen, as I did that day in September, and tell him all about the fort and the soldiers, and ask him to drive the English away. My father says that Colonel Allen could drive them away,” said Faith.
 
“Of course he could! My father says so, too,” agreed Esther.[Pg 199] “Would it not be a fine thing for us to send him a letter, Faith, and ask him?”
 
“Oh, Esther! That’s just what I thought of. But we ought to do it right away, for more soldiers are coming to the fort, Nathan Beaman says, and then it won’t be so easy,” responded Faith.
 
The two little girls talked earnestly. They both knew of the cave on the rocky slope near Lake Dunmore, and that messages were sometimes left there for the settlers. But Lake Dunmore was a long distance away.
 
“It would take all day to go and get back,” said Esther, “and our mothers would never let us go; you know they wouldn’t.”
 
“One of us ought to go to-morrow,” answered Faith, “but how can we plan it?”
 
“I know! I know!” declared Esther. “I’ll ask your mother if you may come for a visit, and then you’ll go home at night. Some time you can tell her all about it,” concluded Esther as she noticed Faith’s serious and doubtful expression.
 
“And what will you do? Don’t you mean to go with me?” asked Faith.
 
[Pg 200]“Oh, yes! I’ll tell my mother I am going to spend the day with you. Then we’ll start off in good season, and we’ll get home before our mothers miss us,” said Esther.
 
“Faith! Faith!” and Mrs. Carew’s voice sounded through the clear air.
 
“I must run back now. I’ll write the letter to-night and be over near your house as early as I can in the morning,” said Faith.
 
“Hide behind the big pine,” said Esther, and the two friends, greatly excited over their project, separated and ran toward their respective homes.
 
It was not easy for Faith to write the letter, for she would have to ask her mother for the quill¹¹ pen, and the bottle of ink, made from the juice of the pokeberry. But in the early evening, while her mother was busy, Faith secured the quill and ink and a sheet of the treasured paper and wrote her letter:
 
“Dear Mr. Colonel Ethan Allen,” she wrote. “Will you please send the English soldiers away from Fort Ticonderoga? Nathan Beaman, who lives at Shoreham, will show you how to get in. Please send them soon, or more will come.
 
“Respectfully your friend,
 
“Faith Carew.”
 
[Pg 201]She had time to fold and seal the letter with the big stick of red wax, softening¹² the wax before the sit............