Boys and Girls of Colonial Days Read online

  BIG HAWK'S DECORATION

  "See to it, Preserve, that you win a colored ribbon from theschoolmaster to-day," Mistress Edwards said as she turned from her taskof polishing the pewter platter to look at the boy who stood in thedoorway of the log cabin.

  "THE LOG CABIN WAS BUT A ROUGH HOME"]

  "This is the day, I hear, on which the good-conduct ribbons are givenout for the month, brightly dyed ones for the boys and girls whoselessons have been well learned, and black for the dunces. There is nochance of your coming home to me to-night without a ribbon of merit, isthere?" The Colonial mother crossed the room and put her hands on herlad's shoulder, looking anxiously into his honest brown eyes.

  "No, mother," Preserve answered. "At least I have hopes of winning aribbon. Not once this month have I failed in my sums, and I can read mychapters in the Bible as well as any child in school."

  "That is good!" Mistress Edwards said, pulling the boy's long, darkcloak more closely about him and smoothing the cloth of his tall hat.

  Preserve Edwards was a Puritan lad of many years ago. The log cabin thathe was leaving to walk two miles through the clearing and across thewoods to school was but a rough home. A few straight chairs and a hardsettle, made of logs and standing by the fireplace, a deal table and thefew pewter utensils, were almost the only furnishings of the livingroom. In one corner stood an old musket. Mistress Edwards looked towardit now in fear.

  "Do you come home as soon as school is out, Preserve. I pray you do notlinger on the way to play hare and hounds with the other boys and girlsof the village. Remember, my boy, that your father is away with thehorse these two days to fetch back a piece of linsey-woolsey cloth andsome flour from Boston for me. He is not likely to come home for somedays yet, and I am full of strange dread at what I saw in the cornfieldthis morning."

  "What did you see, mother?" Preserve's eyes opened wide with wonder.

  "It was not so much what I saw, but what it portended for us," MistressEdwards said. "It was only a flash of color, like painted feathers,among the withered stalks of corn. It minded me of Big Hawk's headdress.If he were to find out that we were alone, one helpless woman and a boyof twelve here, I think it would go badly with us."

  Preserve laughed bravely. Then he reached up to kiss his mothergood-bye.

  "It was no more than a red-winged blackbird that you saw," he said, "orperhaps it was a bright tanager. The birds are getting ready to flock,now, for they feel the autumn chill in the air. But I will hurryhome--with my ribbon," Preserve added.

  Then he ran down the little path to the gate in the paling thatsurrounded the cabin, his speller under his arm, and his high-heeled,buckled shoes making the dry leaves scatter as he went.

  It was a long road and a lonely one to the log schoolhouse. Preservetook his way through the cornfield where the dried stalks, rattling inthe cold wind, made him think of the songs that he had heard Big Hawkand his tribe sing the last time they attacked the little Colonialsettlement. That had been some months since, now, and Preserve couldfind no traces of footprints or any other marks of Indians in thecornfield.

  "My mother had a fear for nothing," Preserve said to himself. He wentthrough a bit of woods, next, and pulled a small square of bark from oneof the many birch trees that stood there, so white and still. It was forPreserve to write his sums upon in school, and as he hurried on herepeated his tables over and over to be sure that he knew them well.

  There were log cabins scattered here and there, and from these cameother boys and girls who followed Preserve on the way to school.Deliverance Baxter joined Preserve. She wore a long, scant, gray frock,and her yellow hair was tucked tightly inside a close, white cap. Awhite kerchief was folded neatly around her neck, and she, also, worebig buckles on her black slippers. Her eyes twinkled roguishly, though,as she chatted to Preserve.

  "There is no doubt at all, Preserve, but that you will wear home thelong streamers of red ribbon on your cape this afternoon. I have beenquite as perfect as you in my lessons for the month, but, woe is me, Idid a great wrong yesterday. You know that Master Biddle, ourschoolmaster, has just purchased a new wig from Boston town. The queuein the back is so unusually long and tied with such a large bow that itcaught my eye when I was getting the pile of copy books from behind hisdesk. I know not, Preserve, what witchery was in my fingers, but I tiedMaster Biddle's queue to his chair. When he stood up, why, his wig wasgreatly disarranged; and I must needs stay after school until dusk,sitting on the dunce's stool. I am most sorry, and will never be sowitch-like again. You see I stand small chance of the ribbon, now,Preserve."

  "'I TIED MASTER BIDDLE'S QUEUE TO HIS CHAIR'"]

  The boy laughed, but he took the little girl's hand comfortingly inhis. Reaching in his lunch bag, he took out a red apple and slipped itinto the big pocket that hung at her side.

  "You were always a bit roguish in spite of your Puritan dress and soberliving, Deliverance," he said. "Never mind about the ribbon. If I shouldwin it, why, there is all the more chance of its being yours the nexttime. Here we are! See to it, Deliverance, that you tie no more queuesto-day. Oh, see how finely Master Biddle is dressed for giving out theprizes!" Preserve said as they reached the schoolhouse door and tooktheir places behind the rude desks, built of boards and resting on pegsin the floor.

  Other children were quietly taking their places in the littleschoolroom, the smaller ones perched on hard benches made of logs. Theyall looked in awe at the schoolmaster, who stood on a platform, facingthem. He wore a smart velvet coat with long tails, and inside it couldbe seen a waist coat which was very long and a fine white shirt withstiffly-starched ruffles. His knee breeches were of velvet like hiscoat, and there were silver buckles at the knees as well as on hisshoes. A stiffly-ironed stock was wound about his neck, and worn to keephis head stiff and straight as became the dignity of the times. Aboveall was his white powdered wig, neatly braided in the back.

  Looking at Master Biddle alone was enough to make the children of theColonies sit up very straight and recite their lessons as well as theycould. There was a prayer first, and then the boys and girls recitedtheir reading, spelling, and arithmetic. Their pencils were thickplummets of lead and their copy books were made of foolscap paper, sewedin the shape of books and carefully ruled by hand. At eleven o'clockcame recess, and at the end of the afternoon the awarding of thegood-conduct ribbons.

  "For perfect deportment," Master Biddle announced as he pinned a bow ofblue ribbon to one boy's cape.

  "For poor lessons!" he said, sadly, as he fastened a black bow toanother. Then he held up a red bow with especially long, streaming ends.

  "For perfect deportment, and for perfect lessons," he said, as hefastened the red ribbon bow to Preserve Edward's cape.

  To-day it would seem but a small prize, but in the eyes of these Puritanboys and girls of so many years ago, the bow of ribbon, its streamers ofred gayly flying over the long cape of a boy or the dull linsey-woolseyfrock of a little girl, was a mark of great honor indeed. Ribbons werescarce and high in price in those days. Colors for children were almostforbidden, and for their elders as well. So Preserve walked out of theschool door at the end of the day with his head very high and startedhome as proudly as any soldier wearing a decoration for bravery.

  He did not notice how the dusk was settling down all about him. Thetrees on either side, made dark shadows and there was no sound exceptthe whir of a partridge's wing or the rattle of a falling nut. He didnot hear the soft footfall behind him until Deliverance, breathless andher face white with fear, was upon him. She laid a soft hand on hisshoulder and whispered in his ear:

  "I beg you, Preserve, to let me walk with you. I know that it is not farto my cabin, but all the way through these woods I have heard strangesounds and I fancy, even now, that I see shapes behind the trees andbushes."

  Preserve took the timid little girl's hand and tried to laugh away herfears.

  "So was my mother afraid this morning, at nothing," he said. "She was ofa mind that she saw Indian
s--Oh!" the boy's voice was suddenly hushed.

  Towering in the path in front of the children, like a great forest treedressed in its gorgeous cloak of gaudy autumn leaves, stood the Indianchief, Big Hawk. He wore his war paint and his festival headdress ofhawk's feathers. Slung over his blanket were his bow and a quiver fullof new arrows. It seemed little more than a second before the edges ofthe path and the deep places among the trees on either side were alivewith the Indians of Big Hawk's tribe.

  "HE POINTED TOWARD HIS TRIBE'S CAMPING PLACE"]

  Big Hawk looked at the frightened children, indicating with gestureswhat was his plan. He pushed back the white cap from Deliverance's paleforehead and laid his hand on the little girl's sunny hair. Then hepointed toward his tribe's camping place in the west. He wanted to takeDeliverance there and hold her for a ransom. To Preserve he madegestures showing that he wished him to lead the way to the Edwards'cabin that they might plunder it before going back that night.

  Deliverance clung, crying, to Preserve. He tried to be brave, but it wasa test for a man's courage, and he was only a boy.

  It was a second's thought and a strange whim of a savage that saved thetwo. The wind of the fall blowing through the trees caught the ends ofPreserve's ribbon of honor and sent them, fluttering like tongues offlame, against the dark of the tree trunks. The color caught Big Hawk'seye, and he touched the bow on Preserve's cloak with one hand.

  Quick as a flash a thought came to Preserve. He drew back from BigHawk's touch and put his own hands over the ribbon as if to guard it.

  "Heap big chief!" Preserve's voice rang out, brave and clear. Then,after waiting a second, he unpinned the red bow and held it, high,before Big Hawk's face.

  "Big Hawk, heap bigger chief!" he said, as he went boldly up to theIndian and fastened the ribbon on his blanket. Then he motioned to BigHawk to return to his camp and show the rest of the tribe his newdecoration. A slow smile overspread Big Hawk's painted face. Then heturned and, motioning to his braves to follow him, went silently backthrough the woods, leaving Preserve and Deliverance alone, and safe.

  Deliverance was the first to speak.

  "My heart does beat so fast I can scarcely breathe, Preserve. Oh, butyou are a brave boy! What shall we do now?" the little girl asked.

  "Run!" said Preserve, without a moment's hesitation. "We had best runlike rabbits, Deliverance!"

  Hand in hand, the two scampered along, Preserve helping the little girlover the rough places, until the light from a candle in Deliverance'scabin was in sight. Her father had come home early, and when thechildren told him of their adventure, he set out to warn the rest of thesettlers of the danger so bravely averted, and put them on guard againstthe Indians.

  Preserve went on home, alone. His mother stood in the cabin door,anxious because he was so late.

  "No ribbon? Oh, my lad, why have you disappointed me!" she said when shesaw him.

  "Big Hawk wears my decoration," Preserve said, as he told his story."But I think that Master Biddle would have rather that little MistressDeliverance, for all her witching ways, had his red bow," he finished,laughing.