A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony

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 A LITTLE MAID
 OF
 MASSACHUSETTS
 COLONY

 BY

 ALICE TURNER CURTIS

 AUTHOR OF

 A LITTLE MAID OF PROVINCE TOWN
 A LITTLE MAID OF NARRAGANSETT BAY

 ILLUSTRATED BY WUANITA SMITH

 THE PENN PUBLISHING
 COMPANY PHILADELPHIA
 1915




 COPYRIGHT
 1914 BY
 THE PENN
 PUBLISHING
 COMPANY




[Illustration: "A WONDERFUL THING IS GOING TO HAPPEN"]




Introduction


The first Anne Nelson story was "A Little Maid of Province Town," which
told how the little Cape Cod girl's father went away to fight for the
colonies, how she went to live with the Stoddards, how she escaped
perils from Indians and wolves, made an unexpected trip to Boston, and
carried an important message for the colonial army.

The girls and boys who made acquaintance in that book with Anne and with
Amanda and Amos Cary will be glad to read here how Amos won his heart's
desire,--to go a long voyage from the harbor of Province Town; Anne's
journey with the Indians, her imprisonment in the house in the woods,
and her escape; how she and Rose Freeman discovered "Aunt Anne Rose" on
the happy trip in Boston, and how Anne helped to capture an English
privateer, will hold the attention of young readers, and, incidentally,
show them something of the times and history of Revolutionary days in
New England.




Contents


     I. AMANDA'S MISTAKE                         9
    II. ANNE DECIDES                            22
   III. A NEW FRIEND                            32
    IV. WITH THE MASHPEES                       48
     V. AT BREWSTER                             61
    VI. AMANDA'S CONSCIENCE                     75
   VII. THE BLACK-BEARDED MAN                   88
  VIII. THROUGH THE WINDOW                     104
    IX. LADY DISAPPEARS                        117
     X. AUNT ANNE ROSE                         131
    XI. IN BOSTON                              140
   XII. A WONDERFUL DAY                        149
  XIII. ANNE'S BOOK                            162
   XIV. ANNE AND MILLICENT                     173
    XV. AMOS APPEARS                           184
   XVI. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR                  192
  XVII. THE STRANGE SCHOONER                   204
 XVIII. A GREAT ADVENTURE                      213
   XIX. "HOMEWARD BOUND"                       221




Illustrations


                                                    PAGE

 "A WONDERFUL THING IS GOING TO HAPPEN"
                                          _Frontispiece_

 "SIT THERE AND BE QUIET"                             42

 "YOU CAN GET ON HIS BACK"                           132

 HE HANDED HER A BALL                                177

 "YOU ARE THE BRAVEST GIRL IN THE COLONY"            220




A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony




CHAPTER I

AMANDA'S MISTAKE


"Do you think I might go, Aunt Martha?" There was a pleading note in the
little girl's voice as she stood close by Mrs. Stoddard's chair and
watched her folding the thin blue paper on which Rose Freeman's letter
was written.

"It is a pleasant invitation, surely," replied Mrs. Stoddard, "but the
Freemans have ever been good friends to us; and so Rose is to visit
their kin in Brewster and then journey back to Boston with her father in
his chaise, and she says there will be plenty of room for you. Well!
Well! 'Tis a wonderful journey."

Anne moved uneasily. "But, Aunt Martha, do you forget that she asks if
Uncle Enos cannot bring me to Brewster?"

"Yes, child, I have read the letter, and I doubt not Enos will set you
safe across to Brewster. And your father's vessel will be due in Boston
early in September, and he could bring you safely home to Province Town.
We'll see what Uncle Enos says about sailing across to Brewster," and
Mrs. Stoddard smiled affectionately at Anne's delighted exclamation. It
was two years before that Anne Nelson, whose father's boat had been
seized by an English ship, had come to live with the Stoddards. Her
father had escaped, and, after serving the colonies until after the
battle of Lexington, had returned to Province Town, and was now away on
a fishing cruise. Anne had visited the Freemans the year before, and now
this pleasant invitation for a journey to Boston had been brought by one
of the harbor fishermen, the only way letters came to Province Town. It
was no wonder Anne was eager for permission to go. It would be a three
days' ride from Brewster, and the road would take her through many
pleasant towns and villages. There was not a person in the settlement
who had taken the journey by land. Uncle Enos declared that Province
Town folk who could sail a good boat, with fair winds, to Boston in six
hours were too wise to take such a roundabout route as the land offered.

"But it will be a fine ride for Anne," he agreed.