On the mountain : or, Lost and found by Lucy Ellen Guernsey
"On the mountain; or, Lost and found" by Lucy Ellen Guernsey is a didactic children''s novel written in the late 19th century. It centers on Fanny Lilly, a spoiled Boston girl sent to her grandmother’s mountain farm, where her pride, dishonesty, and class snobbery are challenged by firm discipline, a steady farm boy named Willy, and a wild neighbor, Sarah Leyman. The tale blends homely incidents with moral testing, emphasizing truthfulness, humility,
and Christian faith amid small-town gossip and real peril. At the start of the story, Fanny returns from church full of contempt and is firmly checked by her grandmother, leading to a showdown over dinner that ends in tears, bread-and-milk, and a sketch of Fanny’s pampered past and her exile to the farm. Despite warnings, she falls in with Sarah, who helps steal a pie through the milkroom slats; when the theft is discovered, Fanny lies smoothly while Willy is questioned. Conversations reveal Fanny’s startling ignorance (even about the Holy Land), she overeats, falls ill, and then declares she will be “good,” though mostly in appearance. An errand introduces her to kindly Mrs. Cassell, Annie Mercer, and Mr. Brandon, who lends books, while Sarah confronts Fanny about confession and hypocrisy; soon after, Sarah saves Fanny from a loose bull by sacrificing the girl’s red cloak. Fanny remains fearful and evasive as mountain dangers are noted; when Sarah quietly attends a prayer meeting, Fanny slanders her to keep her and her grandmother apart, prompting Willy to rebuke Fanny’s snobbery and deceit as the opening section closes. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
