Freckles

Freckles is a novel by Gene Stratton Porter about a young adult orphan who finds work, and the beauty of nature, in a job at a lumber camp.

Available online here.

""A Lord-man!" she groaned despairingly. "A Lord-man! Bet my hoecake's scorched! Here I've gone and pledged my word to Freckles I'd find him some decent relatives, that he could be proud of, and now there isn't a chance out of a dozen that he'll have to be ashamed of them after all. It's too mean!" "
 * Abusive Parents: Freckles fears this in his backstory.
 * Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: One villain will not return without being at least half drunk.
 * Alone in a Crowd: How Freckles felt in the orphange.
 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Freckles fears his parents would be this.
 * Aristocrats Are Evil: Angel dreads that she will find bad parents at the end of her quest, because they are aristocrats.


 * Benevolent Boss: McLean
 * Blood on These Hands: One villain objects to murder.
 * Blue Blood: Angel has ancestors that reach back to Plymouth Rock. Freckles turns out to be a.
 * Bound and Gagged: Freckles as prisoner
 * Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: A Luna moth causes Freckles deep frustration at his ignorance, a fit which lasts until it occurs to him that he could learn better.
 * Camp Cook: First person Freckles meets at the lumbering camp.
 * Changeling Fantasy: Inverted
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: How intends to  Freckles.
 * Contrived Coincidence: Angel's finding Freckles's aunt and uncle.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Freckles. He was not only a Door Step Baby but seriously injured at the point at which he was found.
 * Death by Despair: Starts to kill Freckles at one point.
 * Dirty Business: Black Jack realizes this when he thinks he has a chance with Angel.
 * Dirty Coward: Several villains
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Freckles fears pity.
 * Door Step Baby: Freckles's Backstory
 * Dramatic Thunder: Rouses Freckles from his thoughts at one point.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: One villain objects to watching torture. Another objects to the notion of murder.
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: A bribe attempt is made
 * Face Your Fears: Freckles faces down the swamp through his first weeks, and then when he kills a rattlesnake.
 * First Kiss: Angel doesn't quite realize its significance, but Freckles does.
 * Fish Out of Water: Freckles in the Limberlost at first
 * Friend to All Living Things: Freckles.
 * Funetik Aksent: Freckles speaks with an Irish accent despite being born and raised in Chicago.
 * Genius Loci: Freckles takes Angel for this.
 * Ghibli Hills: The Limberlost, at least among those who know it.
 * Good Thing You Can Heal: Angel is convinced she will just heal after a cut.
 * Good Wings, Evil Wings: Freckles ponders it when he finds a feather.
 * Gray Eyes: Freckles
 * Guardian Angel: Angel hails Freckles as this.
 * Hair of Gold: Angel
 * Heartwarming Orphan: Freckles is a bit old for the role but still pulls it off.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Freckles pushes Angel out of the way of a fallen tree and gets hurt himself.
 * Home, Sweet Home: Freckles longs for a place to claim as home.
 * How Dare You Die on Me!
 * I Choose to Stay: Freckles in the end
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Angel
 * In the Blood: Freckles fears this
 * Known Only By Their Nickname: Many characters in Freckles are known solely by nickname, such as Freckles himself and the bird woman.
 * The Lady's Favour: A blue ribbon for Freckles
 * Loners Are Freaks: Mrs. Duncan worries about the effect of solitude on Freckles.
 * The Lost Woods
 * Love At First Sight: Freckles for Angel.
 * Manly Tears: When Lord O'More hears that Angel can tell them about their nephew.
 * Meaningful Rename: Freckles is given a new legal name when he's hired
 * Non-Idle Rich: Freckles is much impressed by them.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Angel before the villains.
 * Orphanage of Fear: Freckles's orphanage was not cruel, but it was not pleasant, either.
 * Orphan's Plot Trinket: Of less sentimental importance to Freckles that usual.
 * Owl Be Damned: The owls' hoots at night are unnerving.
 * Parental Abandonment: Freckles
 * Parental Marriage Veto: Discussed
 * Parental Substitute: Freckles has two, McLean for father and Mrs. Duncan for mother.
 * People of Hair Color: redhaired Irish
 * Post Dramatic Stress Disorder: Freckles, after a fight.
 * Plucky Girl: What seals the Love At First Sight for Freckles is the knowledge that she knows about, and does not fear, the snakes
 * The Promise: Freckles makes one when he realizes he can cure his ignorance.
 * Redheaded Hero: Freckles
 * Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Freckles is a friend to all living things --except snakes.
 * Revenge: Freckles confesses to desiring this.
 * Scars Are Forever: Freckles warns Angel that her cut could scar.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Freckles doesn't recognize the Bird Woman dressed for a party.
 * So Proud of You: McLean of Freckles
 * Suddenly-Suitable Suitor
 * Swamps Are Evil: Subverted and played with
 * They Call Me Mister Tibbs: Angel is struck by Freckles talking of Mr. McLean, after McLean called Freckles his son.
 * They Have the Scent: They try to catch Black Jack with bloodhounds in Freckles
 * Threshold Guardians: The cook tells Freckles the boss won't have a place for him.
 * The Tramp: Freckles looks like this but is truly seeking work.
 * Uncanny Family Resemblance: Freckles to his uncle
 * Vice City: Chicago, where parents might die and no one be able to find out who their children belonged to
 * Youthful Freckles: Guess who?