This is the story of Emmeline Mosher，<br >who， before her fourteenth birthday， was sent from her<br >home on a farm in Maine to support her family by<br >working in a cotton mill in Massachusetts. The year was<br >1839.<br > Fayette， where Emmel~e lived， was then known for<br >its fine dairy cattle， but E~meline s parents had a small<br >farm off~a rocky hillside， ~nd even in good times they<br >had not prospered. This wa~s a period in which business<br >conditions were poor throughout Maine， and for three<br >years Emmeline s father had been unable to find work<br >to supplement the small yield from the farm. Then， the<br >past season， a killing frost had come in June to destroy<br >all their tender seedlings. Now it was only the third<br >week of November， but from the look of their larder<br >they might have been well into winter.<br > There were nine children， and they were hungry all<br >the time. The three-year-old cried to nurse af his<br >mother s breast when the one-and-a-half-year-old was<br >in her arms， but Emmeline s mother didn t get enough<br >food to provide milk for two children. In fact， since the<br >death of her last baby. within hours of its birth， she<br >seemed to have difficulty providing enou<br >Emmeline， the oldest child， would watc<br >what a help it would be if only she could nu<br >most tasks she and her mother worked t<br >for one.<br >ad think<br >hem. At<br >ther like<br ><br >