Text Leveling System

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

RDQ:	2157	Max Word/Sent	58	Total Words	2725		Diff Words	963
Lex	920	Ave Word/.Sent	11	Hi Freq occurs	1931	70.9%	Hi freq	372	38.6%
AR	5.2	Long Sentences	15.2	Low Freq occurs	255	9.4%	Low freq	207	21.5%

C H A P T E R I
ON A MORNING in mid-April  the brigantine Dolphin 
left the open sea sailed briskly across the Sound 
to the wide mouth of the Connecticut River and into 
Saybrook harbor. Kit Tyler had been on the forecastle 
deck since daybreak standing close to the rail 
staring hungrily at the first sight of land for five weeks.
"There's Connecticut Colony" a voice spoke in 
her ear. "You've come a long way to see it."
She looked up surprised and flattered. On the whole 
long voyage the captain's son had spoken scarcely 
a dozen words to her. She had noticed him often 
his thin wiry figure swinging easily hand over hand 
up the rigging his sandy sun-bleached head bent 
over a coil of rope. Nathaniel Eaton first mate but 
his mother called him Nat. Now seeing him so 
close beside her she was surprised that for all he 
looked so slight the top of her head barely reached 
his shoulder.
"How does it look to you?" he questioned.
Kit hesitated. She didn't want to admit how disappointing 
she found this first glimpse of America. The 
bleak line of shore surrounding the gray harbor was]] 
a disheartening contrast to the shimmering green and 
white that fringed the turquoise bay of Barbados which 
was her home. The earthen wall of the fortification 
that faced the river was bare and ugly and the houses 
beyond were no more than plain wooden boxes.
"Is that Wethersfield?" she inquired instead.
"Oh no Wethersfield is some way up the river. 
This is the port of Saybrook. Home to us Eatons. 
There's my father's shipyard just beyond the dock."
She could just make out the row of unimpressive 
shacks and the flash of raw new lumber. Her smile 
was admiring from pure relief. At least this grim place 
was not her destination and surely the colony at 
Wethersfield would prove more inviting.
"We've made good time this year" Nat went on.
"It's been a fair passage hasn't it?"
"Oh yes" she sparkled. "Though I'm glad now 'tis over."
"Aye" he agreed. "I never know myself which is 
best the setting out or the coming back to harbor. 
Ever been on a ship before?"
"Just the little pinnaces in the islands. I've sailed 
on those all my life."
He nodded. "That's where you learned to keep 
your balance."
So he had noticed! To her pride she had proved 
to be a natural sailor. Certainly she had not spent 
the voyage groaning and retching like some of the 
passengers.
"You're not afraid of the wind and the salt anyway. ]]
At least you haven't spent much time below." 
"Not if I could help it" she laughed. Did he think 
anyone would stay in that stuffy cabin by choice? 
Would she ever have had the courage to sail at all 
had she known before she booked passage that the 
sugar and molasses in the hold had been paid for 
by a load of Connecticut horses and that all the winds 
of the Atlantic could never blow the ship clean of
that unbearable stench? "That's what I minded most 
about the storm" she added "four days shut away
down there with the deadlights up."
"Were you scared?"
"Scared to death. Especially when the ship stood 
right on end and the water leaked under the cabin 
door. But now I wouldn't have missed it for anything. 
'Twas the most exciting thing I ever knew."
His face lighted with admiration but all for the 
ship. "She's a stout one the Dolphin" he said. 
"She's come through many a worse blow than that." 
His eyes dwelt fondly on the topsails.
"What is happening?" Kit asked noting the sudden 
activity along the deck. Four husky sailors in 
blue jackets and bright kerchiefs had hurried forward 
to man the capstan bars. Captain Eaton in his good 
blue coat was shouting orders from the quarterdeck. 
"Are we stopping here?"
"There are passengers to go ashore" Nat explained. 
"And we need food and water for the trip upriver. 
But we've missed the tide and the wind is blowing 
too hard from the west for us to make the landing.]] 
We're going to anchor out here and take the longboat 
in to shore. That means I'd better look to the 
oars." He swung away moving lightly and confidently; 
there was a bounce in his step that matched the 
laughter in his eyes.
With dismay Kit saw the captain's wife among the 
passengers preparing to disembark. Must she say goodbye 
so soon to Mistress Eaton? They had shared the 
bond of being the only two women aboard the Dolphin 
and the older woman had been sociable and kindly. 
Now catching Kit's eye she came hurrying along 
the deck.
"Are you leaving the ship Mistress Eaton?" Kit 
greeted her wistfully.
"Aye didn't I tell you I'd be leaving you at Saybrook? 
But don't look so sad child. 'Tis not far to 
Wethersfield and we'll be meeting again."
"But I thought the Dolphin was your home!" 
"In the wintertime it is when we sail to the West
Indies. But I was born in Saybrook and in the spring 
I get to hankering for my house and garden. Besides 
I'd never let on to my husband but the summer 
trips are tedious just back and forth up and down 
the river. I stay at home and tend my vegetables 
and my spinning like a proper housewife. Then 
come November when he sails for Barbados again 
I'm ready enough to go with him. 'Tis a good life
and one of the best things about it is coming home 
in the springtime."
Kit glanced again at the forbidding shore. She]]
could see nothing about it to put such a twinkle of 
anticipation in anyone's eye. Could there be some 
charm that was not visible from out here in the harbor? 
She spoke on a sudden impulse.
"Would there be room in the boat for me to ride 
to shore with you?" she begged. "I know it's silly 
but there is America so close to me for the first time 
in my life - I can't bear not to set my foot upon 
it!"
"What a child you are Kit" smiled Mrs. Eaton. 
"Sometimes 'tis hard to believe you are sixteen." She 
appealed to her husband. The captain scowled at the 
girl's wind-reddened cheeks and shining eyes and then 
shrugged consent. As Kit gathered her heavy skirts 
about her and clambered down the swaying rope ladder 
the men in the longboat good-naturedly shoved
bundles closer to make room for her. Her 
spirits bobbed like the whitecaps in the harbor as the 
boat pulled away from the black hull of the Dolphin. 
As the prow scraped the landing piles Nat leaped 
ashore and caught the hawser. He reached to help 
his mother then stretched a sure hand to swing Kit 
over the boat's edge.
With a bound she was over the side and had set 
foot on America. She stood taking deep breaths of 
the salt fish-tainted air and looked about for someone 
to share her excitement. She was quite forgotten. A 
throng of men and boys on the wharf had noisily 
closed in on the three Eatons; and she could hear a 
busy catching up of the past months' news. The]]
other passengers had hurried along the wharf to the dirt road beyond. Only three shabbily-dressed women lingered near her and because she could not contain her eagerness Kit smiled and would have spoken but she was abruptly repulsed by their sharply curious eyes. One hand moved guiltily to her tangled brown curls. She must look a sight!  No gloves no cover for her hair and her face rough and red from weeks of salt wind. But how ill-mannered of them to stare so! She pulled up the hood of her scarlet cloak and turned away. Embarrassment was a new sensation for Kit. No one on the island had ever presumed to stare like that at Sir Francis Tyler's granddaughter.
To make matters worse America was behaving strangely underfoot. As she stepped forward the wharf tilted upward and she felt curiously lightheaded. Just in time a hand grasped her elbow.
"Steady there!" a voice warned. "You haven't got your land legs yet." Nat's blue eyes laughed down at her.
"It will wear off in a short time" his mother assured her. "Katherine dear I do hate to let you go on alone. You're sure your aunt will be waiting for you at Wethersfield? They say there's a Goodwife Cruff going aboard and I'll tell her to keep an eye on you." With a quick clasp of Kit's hand she was gone and Nat shouldering her trunk in one easy motion followed her along the narrow dirt road. Which one of those queer little boxlike houses did they call home? Kit  wondered.]]
She turned to watch the sailors stowing provisions into the longboat. She already regretted this impulsive trip ashore. There was no welcome for her at this chill Saybrook landing. She was grateful when at last the captain assembled the return group and she could climb back into the longboat. Four new passengers were embarking for the trip up the river a shabby dour-looking man and wife and their scrawny little girl clutching a wooden toy and a tall angular young man with a pale narrow face and shoulder-length fair hair under a wide-brimmed black hat. Captain Eaton took his place aft without attempting any introduction. The men readied their oars. Then Nathaniel coming back down the road on a run slipped the rope from the mooring and as they pulled away from the wharf leaped nimbly to his place with crew. 
They were halfway across the harbor when a wail of anguish broke from the child. Before anyone could stop her the little girl had flung herself to her knees and teetered dangerously over the edge of the boat. Her mother leaned forward grasped the woolen jumper and jerked her back smacking her down with a sharp cuff.
"Mal The dolly's gone!" the child wailed. "The dolly Grandpa made for met"
Kit could see the little wooden doll its arms sticking stiffly into the air bobbing helplessly in the water a few feet away.
"Shame on you!" the woman scolded.  "After the]]
work he went to. All that fuss for a toy and then the minute you get one you throw it away!"
"I was holding her up to see the ship! Please get her back Ma!  Please! I'll never drop it again!"
The toy was drifting farther and farther from the boat like a useless twig in the current. No one in the boat made a move or paid the slightest attention. Kit could not keep silent.
"Turn back Captain" she ordered impulsively. " 'Twill be an easy thing to catch."
The captain did not even glance in her direction. Kit was not used to being ignored and her temper flared. When a thin whimper from the child was silenced by a vicious cuff her anger boiled over. Without a second's deliberation she acted. Kicking off her buckled shoes and dropping the woolen cloak she plunged headlong over the side of the boat.
The shock of cold totally unexpected almost knocked her senseless. As her head came to the surface she could not catch her breath at all. But after a dazed second she sighted the bobbing piece of wood and instinctively struck out after it in vigorous strokes that set her blood moving again. She had the doll in her hand before her numbed mind realized that there had been a second splash and as she turned back she saw that Nathaniel was in the water beside her thrashing with a clumsy paddling motion. She could not help laughing as she passed him and with a feeling of triumph she beat him to the boat. The captain leaned to drag her back over]]
the side and Nathaniel scrambled in behind her without any assistance.
"Such water!" she gasped. "I never dreamed water could be so cold!"
She shook back her wet hair her cheeks glowing. But her laughter died away at sight of all their faces. Shock and horror and unmistakable anger stared back at her. Even Nathaniel's young face was dark with rage.
"You must be daft" the woman hissed. "To jump into the river and ruin those clothes!"
Kit tossed her head. "Bother the clothes! They'll dry.  Besides I have plenty of others."
"Then you might have a thought for somebody  else!" snapped Nat slapping the water out of his dripping breeches. "These are the only clothes I have."
Kit's eyes flashed. "Why did you jump in anyway? You needn't have bothered."
"You can be sure I wouldn't have" he retorted "had I any idea you could swim."
Her eyes widened. "Swim?" she echoed scornfully. "Why my grandfather taught me to swim as soon as I could walk."
The others stared at her in suspicion. As though she had sprouted a tail and fins right before their eyes. What was the matter with these people? Not another word was uttered as the men pulled harder on their oars. A solid cloud of disapproval settled over the dripping girl more chilling than the April]]
breeze. Her high spirits plunged. She had made herself ridiculous. How many times had her grandfather cautioned her to think before she flew off the handle? She drew her knees and elbows tight under the red cloak and clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering. Water dripped off her matted hair and ran in icy trickles down her neck. Then glancing defiantly from one hostile face to another Kit found a small measure of comfort. The young man in the black hat was looking at her gravely and all at once his lips twisted in spite of himself. A smile filled his eyes with such warmth and sympathy that a lump rose in Kit's throat and she glanced away. Then she saw that the child silently clutching her sodden doll was staring at her with a gaze of pure worship.
Two hours later dressed in a fresh green silk Kit was spreading the wet dress and the woolen cloak to dry on the sun-warmed planking of the deck when her glance was caught by the wide black hat and she looked up to see the new passenger coming toward her.
"If you will give me leave" he said with stiff courtesy removing the hat to reveal a high fine forehead "I would like to introduce myself. I am John Holbrook bound for Wethersfield which I learn is your destination as well."
Kit had not forgotten that comforting smile. "I am Katherine Tyler" she answered forthrightly. "I am on the way to Wethersfield to live with my aunt Mistress Wood."]]
"Is Matthew Wood your uncle then? His name is well known along the river."
"Yes but I have never seen him nor my aunt either. I do not even know very much about her just that she was my mother's sister back in England and that she was very beautiful."
The young man looked puzzled. "I have never met your aunt" he said politely. "I came to look for you now because I felt I should ask your pardon for the way we all behaved toward you this morning. After all it was only a kind thing you meant to do to get the toy back for the child."
"'Twas a very foolish thing I realize now" she admitted. "I am forever doing foolish things. Even so I can't understand why it should make everyone so angry."
He considered this gravely. "You took us aback that is all. We were all sure you would drown before our eyes. It was astonishing to see you swimming."
"But can't you swim?"
He flushed. "I cannot swim a stroke nor could anyone else on this ship I warrant except Nat who was born on the water. Where in England could they have taught you a thing like that?"
"Not England. I was born on Barbados."
 "Barbados!" He stared. "The heathen island in the West Indies?"
" 'Tis no heathen island. 'Tis as civilized as England with a famous town and fine streets and shops]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: No support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: Some difficult words

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Some Long/Complex

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Several Implications

Complexity: Several unrelated ideas

Concepts: Abstract/Complex Social

Chapters

Features

Integral Setting - Historical

Complex plot

Dialect/Accents

Topic

*History

Low Frequency Words

aback	aboard	abruptly	admiration	admiring
aft	anchor	anguish	angular	anticipation
appealed	assembled	assistance	assured	astonishing
boxlike	breeches	brigantine	brimmed	capstan
civilized	clambered	colony	consent	contrast
courage	courtesy	curious	curiously	curls
current	daft	dangerously	deadlights	defiantly
deliberation	destination	disappointing	disapproval	disembark
disheartening	dismay	dour	dwelt	eagerness
earthen	eaton	eatons	echoed	embarking
embarrassment	flattered	flung	flushed	forbidding
forecastle	forthrightly	fortification	fringed	glance
glancing	glimpse	grasped	grateful	groaning
guiltily	hankering	harbor	hawser	headlong
heathen	helplessly	hesitated	horror	hostile
housewife	hull	hungrily	husky	ignored
impulse	impulsive	impulsively	indies	inquired
instinctively	introduce	introduction	islands	jumper
katherine	kerchiefs	kindly	laughter	lightheaded
lightly	lingered	longboat	lumber	mal
mannered	measure	minded	mistress	mooring
motion	nathaniel	naturedly	needn't	nimbly
noisily	noting	numbed	paddling	pardon
passage	passenger	passengers	pinnaces	planking
plunged	presumed	prove	proved	provisions
pure	quarterdeck	questioned	readied	realize
reddened	regretted	repulsed	retching	retorted
reveal	ridiculous	rigging	rough	sailor
sailors	saybrook	scarcely	scarlet	scornfully
scowled	scrambled	scrawny	second's	sensation
senseless	shabbily	shared	shimmering	shouldering
shoved	shrugged	silenced	smacking	sociable
sodden	spite	springtime	sprouted	stench
stiffly	stout	stowing	strangely	surely
surrounding	suspicion	sympathy	tainted	tangled
tedious	teetered	thrashing	throng	tilted
trickles	turquoise	twas	twill	unbearable
underfoot	unexpected	unimpressive	unmistakable	upriver
upward	vicious	vigorous	visible	voyage
wail	warmth	warned	warrant	wethersfield
wharf	whimper	whitecaps	widened	wiry
wistfully	worship