f me!" said Anne.

"He knows of everybody who helped even a little bit toward American
independence," said Rose. "Mr. Adams goes back to Philadelphia in
September. 'Twill be a fine thing to write in your book, Anne, that you
have spoken to him," said Rose, "and very likely your father will be
pleased to have you go and stay with Mrs. Pierce. It's so much nearer
Boston than Province Town, and the Pierces have such a pleasant house."

"It's not so pleasant as my Aunt Martha's," declared Anne loyally.

It seemed to Rose that it would be a very fortunate thing for her little
friend to live with Aunt Anne Rose, and she could not understand Anne's
eagerness to return to Province Town.

"May we not walk down to the wharf, Rose?" Anne asked eagerly. "Your
father may have news of the ship."

But Mr. Freeman only shook his head, a little soberly, Anne thought, and
the day passed without any sight or news of the "Yankee Hero."

Anne was not very happy that day. She wondered what would happen to her
father if the English had captured his ship, and wished with all her
heart that she was with Aunt Martha Stoddard. That night she dreamed of
a fairy hid beneath her pillow, and that it whispered to her, "There is
your father! Right beside the bed," and when she awoke the next morning
Anne said to herself, "I feel happy, but I don't know why," and then
decided that a good fairy had visited her. But when she went
down-stairs, there in the front hall stood a dark man smiling as Anne
exclaimed, "My father!"

For the "Yankee Hero" had arrived in the early evening of the previous
night, and John Nelson had lost no time in making his way to Mr.
Freeman's house, hoping for news of Anne. And he had tiptoed into her
room for a look at his little daughter, just as the fairy whispered.

There was so much for Anne to tell him! John Nelson looked very grave
when he heard of Anne's running away in the night.

"But Uncle Enos and Aunt Martha know that I believed they no longer
wanted me," pleaded Anne. "And, oh, father, Aunt Martha said I was not
to go to Brewster and journey to Boston with the Freemans to see you."

Anne had not known that her father could be so stern.

"You might never have been heard from, Anne, starting off like that. I
do not know if Mistress Stoddard will be willing to again take charge of
you," he said.

But after Rose had told him the story of their journey, of Anne's
courage when they believed themselves prisoners