least will be paid."

THE KING'S FORT.

Little Peter White was so filled with the pride he took in his older
brother Thomas that he had no thought for himself.

Thomas was just sixteen years old, which was a very important matter that
June of 1666, when King Charles the Second of England ordered the harbors
of the New England colonies fortified.

Although the King's Commissioners had had some trouble with the General
Court, nevertheless, the Governor and Council of Massachusetts had
appointed a committee to visit the New Hampshire settlements and
determine upon the most suitable place for a fort. The eastern point of
Great Island, now known as New Castle, had been the spot selected. The
matter of building had been left to the decision of the townsmen of
Portsmouth.

Now it happened that little Peter was feeding his pet rabbits with
plantain just outside the doors of the town-meeting that afternoon of
June 19th. As the dignified men adjourned from the gathering, they still
discussed the measures adopted for the erection of the fort. Peter's
sharp ears overheard the mystic words "sixteen years." Had not his Thomas
reached that wonderful age? They must be speaking of him. Peter caught
every word that followed, and although the conversation was not about
his Thomas, it was of utmost interest to Peter.

With a white rabbit under one arm and a brown bunny bulging from the
other, Peter ran full tilt down the beaten path to his snug home on the
river bank, where Thomas was weeding the garden.

"Oh, Tom," cried the little fellow excitedly, "you are to help build the
King's Fort at Great Island, because you are sixteen years old." This
surprising news was explained a few minutes later when the boys' father
returned from the meeting.

Eager to learn what was meant, Tom rested on his rake with an inquiring
look in his eyes. Mrs. White, who from within the house had caught
Peter's words, had come to the rose-arbored doorway, while Peter, still
hugging his rabbits, called, "Tell them, father."

"It has been voted," explained Abram White, "that every dweller in this
town, above the age of sixteen years, shall promise a week's work on the
new fort before next October. He must be there from seven in the morning
until six at night and will be paid three shillings a day. The King has
sent eleven guns, six pounders, to defend the fort."

"Just think, Tom, you're to work on the King's fort!" exclaimed little
Peter, fai