The Daughter of the Chieftain

The mother could not share the buoyancy of her son. She stepped

outside, so as to be beyond the hearing of the little ones.

"Omas has been here; that is his little girl that you hear laughing

with Alice. He has told me the same as you--the Tories and Indians

are coming, and he wants us to flee with him."

"What does he mean by that?" asked the half indignant boy.

"He says they will put us all to death, and if we do not go with

him, we will be killed too."

The handsome face of Benjamin Ripley took on an expression of

scorn, and as he straightened up, he seemed to become several inches

taller.

"He forgets that I am with you! Omas is very kind; but he and his

Tory friends had better look out for themselves. Why, with the men

at the fort, Colonel Butler will have several hundred."

"But they are mostly old men and boys."

"Well," said the high spirited lad, with a twinkle of his fine hazel

eyes, "add up a lot of old men and boys, and the average is the

same number of middle aged men, isn't it? Don't you worry, mother

--things are all right. If Omas comes back, give him our thanks,

and tell him we are not going to sneak off when we are needed at

home."

It was hard to resist the contagion of Ben's hopefulness. The

mother not only loved but respected him as much as she could have

done had he been several years older. He had been her mainstay for

the two years past, during which the father was absent with the

patriot army; and she came to lean upon him more and more, though

her heart sank when Ben began to talk of following his father into

the ranks, to help in the struggle for independence.

She found herself looking upon the situation as Ben did. If so

great danger threatened Wyoming, it would be cowardly for them to

leave their friends to their fate. It was clear all could not find

safety by going, and she would feel she was doing wrong if she gave

no heed to the others.

Ben was tall and strong for his years, and the fact that he had

taken the gun from Colonel Butler to be used in taking care of the

settlement bound the youth in honor to do so.

"It shall be as you say," said the mother; "I cannot be as hopeful

as you, but it is our duty to stay. We will not talk about it before

the children."