A Little Maid of Old Maine

by Alice Turner Curtis

They had left the rocky stretch behind them and come out to a comparatively smooth pasture. The deep forest lay on their right; to the left was the sloping bank leading to the river. Suddenly Anna stopped short and grasped Rebby’s arm; a second later a deer leaped directly across their path and plunged down the bank, followed by a leaping, panting creature that hardly seemed to touch the ground.

“A bear!” whispered Rebby with frightened eyes.

“Hurry, Rebby,” responded Danna, and the girls, forgetting their tired feet and lame shoulders, sped silently over the open pasture land.

Danna was the first to speak, but it was in a whisper: “We need not fear, Rebby. He was after the deer.”

Rebby made no response. More fully than ever the elder girl realized the peril into which she had led her younger sister. But nevertheless she whispered to herself that it was the only way: the powder and shot were all that could save the settlement from the hands of the enemy.

The girls did not stop again to rest, nor did they speak until they reached the top of a rise of ground from which they could see the first houses of the settlement. The sun was dropping behind the tall pines on the western side of the river, and they could see the Polly and Unity as they lay at anchor in the harbor.

“We are safe now, Danna,” said Rebby thankfully, and the sisters smiled at each other happily.

“Can’t we leave the powder and shot here?” pleaded Danna, twisting the uncomfortable strap into an easier position. “Father would come and get it, and it’s so heavy.”

But Rebby shook her head. “It would not be safe. We must carry it straight home,” she said; so, with a sigh of endurance, Danna started on.

They were now in the broad trail that led straight to the little settlement, and before they reached the first house they saw a tall figure striding toward them. It was Mr. Weston, and in a moment their load of powder and shot was swung over his shoulders, Rebby was clasping one hand and Anna the other, and they were both talking at once, trying to tell him the story of their journey.