A Little Maid of Province Town Part 17

"Anne," he said when they met in the Freemans' sitting-room just before dinner, "you can be of great help to your father and to me. But you must be wise and silent. When you walk with Rose this afternoon your father will meet you and hand you a flat package. Thrust it inside your frock, and say nothing of it to Rose, or to any one, and bring it safe to me."

"Yes, indeed, Uncle Enos," the little girl answered. "Am I to ask Rose to walk with me?"

"Yes, toward the South Meeting House," answered Captain Enos, "about an hour before sunset."

"If I keep silent and bring the package safely, will you forgive me for hiding in the boat?" pleaded Anne.

"Indeed I will, child, and take you for a brave girl as well," he replied.

Anne was joyful at the thought of another word from her father, and Rose was quite ready to go for another walk.

They had just turned into King Street when John Nelson met them. Anne wore the pretty cape Rose had given her and her father slipped the packet into her hand without Rose seeing it. She grasped it tightly, and held it under the cape. "Be a good child, Anne, and do whatever Captain Stoddard may bid thee," her father said as he bade her good-bye.

CHAPTER XIV

A CANDY PARTY

The next morning proved warm and pleasant with only a light breeze, but Captain Enos had his sloop ready at an early hour, and when Anne, with Mr.

Freeman and Rose, came down to the wharf he was anxious to start at once.

Anne still wore the blue cape, which Mrs. Freeman had insisted on giving her, and the hat was in a round pasteboard box, which Anne carried carefully, and which was put away in the cabin with Aunt Martha's new shawl and the cloth for Anne's new dress.

As the sloop sailed away from the wharf Anne waved her hand to Rose Freeman until she could no longer see her. Captain Enos watched the little girl anxiously; he was half afraid that Anne might be disappointed because she could not stay with her father, but her face was bright and smiling.

"Where is the packet your father handed you?" Captain Enos questioned eagerly, as soon as his sloop was clear of the wharf.

"I have it pinned safe inside my frock," she answered. "Shall I give it to you now, Uncle Enos?"

"Maybe 'Tis safer with you, Anne," replied the captain. "It may be that some British boat will overhaul us, and question us. I'm doing an errand, Anne, for your father. If this boat is taken and I am made a prisoner, you are to say that you want to go to Newburyport. That and no more. Mayhap they'll set you ash.o.r.e there. Then make your way to Squire Coffin's house as best you may. Give him the packet. Tell him the story, and he'll find a way to reach your father. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Uncle Enos," said Anne very soberly.

"Repeat what I have told you, that I may be sure," said Captain Enos, and Anne obeyed.

"But I do not want to be set ash.o.r.e in a strange place," she said soberly.

"How should I get back to Province Town?"

"You will be taken care of, never fear," responded Captain Enos, "and you'll be doing a good service to the cause of liberty, Anne, if you carry the papers safely. Your Aunt Martha will indeed be proud of you. Remember what I have told you. But I hope to slip in behind Plum Island and make a landing without being seen. The wind is favoring us. You have had a fine visit, Anne?"

"Yes, indeed!" agreed the little girl, "and I have a present for Aunt Martha," she said, as the sloop ran out among the islands. "See, my father gave me this for her," and she held up a gold coin. "Will she not be pleased?"

"But she will be better pleased to have you safe home again," said Captain Enos. "What do you think Amanda Cary will say when she hears of your voyage to Boston and of all the fine things you have seen there? 'Tis not many of the children in Province Town have ever taken such a journey."

"She will think it a better voyage than the one we took to House Point Island," answered Anne. "I have something for Amanda, too. Rose Freeman gave me a package of barley sugar, and I said to myself I would take it home to Amanda."

Captain Enos kept a watchful eye for suspicious looking craft. But his course lay well insh.o.r.e, and he was apparently not noticed by any of the vessels. Before noon he was cruising along the Ipswich sh.o.r.e, and made his landing at Newburyport without having been spoken.

"The worst part of the business is before us," he said to Anne, as he made the boat fast. "If I leave the boat here, I may come back and find no trace of her, but leave her I must, or Squire Coffin will wait in vain for the papers."

"But I can carry them," said Anne. "Tell me where to go, and I'll come straight back and say no word of my errand."

"'Tis the best possible way. Did I not say that you were a wise child!"

declared Captain Enos, his face beaming with delight. "Put on your pretty hat and cape, and follow that lane up to the main road. Then ask for Squire Coffin's house of the first person you meet."

In a few moments Anne was ready to start. As she walked up the lane Captain Enos's eyes followed her anxiously. "I can see no danger in it for the child," he said aloud, and then, sailor fashion, set about putting his boat in order.

"'twill be a cold night, but the cabin will be snug and warm," he thought.

"I'll get out of here before sunset and maybe make Province Town by daybreak."

Anne walked up the pleasant lane. Her feet sank deep in the leaves from the overarching trees, and made a cheerful, crackling sound. She could see the roofs of houses not far away, and as she turned from the lane into a road she met two girls not much larger than herself. They looked at her curiously, and when Anne stopped they smiled in a friendly way.

"Would you please to tell me where I can find Squire Coffin?" Anne asked, feeling very brave and a little important.

"Squire Coffin is my uncle," the larger of the two girls replied. "I'm going there now."

"I have an errand," Anne explained.

"Oh!" responded both the little girls, but Anne could see that they wondered who this strange little girl could be, and what her errand was.

"You may come with us if you want to," Squire Coffin's niece said, and Anne was very glad to walk with these silent little girls, for neither of them spoke again until they stopped in front of a tall, square white house very near the street. As Anne looked up at it she thought that she had never seen so many windows before in one house. "That's Uncle Coffin on the porch," explained his niece.

"Thank you," said Anne, and as the two little girls politely curtseyed she endeavored to imitate them, and with apparent success. Then she went up the stone steps toward the dignified looking gentleman who stood in the doorway.

She held the packet under her cape, and as she came near him she whispered, as Captain Enos had told her to do, "This is from Boston."

"Great George!" he exclaimed grabbing the package, in what seemed a very rude manner to Anne, and putting it quickly in his pocket, "and how came you by it?"

But Anne remembered her promise to keep quiet, and she also remembered that the squire's niece had made the queer little curtsey on saying good-bye. So Anne bobbed very prettily to the squire, and said "good-bye,"

and ran down the steps, leaving the squire standing amazed. It was many weeks before he learned the name of the little maid, and that her home was in Province Town.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THIS IS FROM BOSTON"]

It was an easy matter to find her way back to the lane. There was an orchard just at the corner of the road, and a man was gathering apples.

"Want an apple?" he called.

"Yes, sir," answered Anne, and now, being rather proud of her new accomplishment, she curtseyed very politely.

"Well, well, you are a young lady, miss. Come up to the fence and I'll hand you the apples." Anne obeyed, and the good-natured man gave her two big red-cheeked apples. They seemed very wonderful to the little girl from the sandy sh.o.r.e village, where apples were not often to be seen, and she thanked him delightedly.

Captain Enos was watching for her, and as soon as she was on board he swung the sloop clear of the wharf, ran up his mainsail and headed toward the outer channel. As they looked back at the little wharf they saw a tall man come running down the lane.

"I reckon that's the squire," chuckled Captain Enos.

"Yes, it is," said Anne.