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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia, by Alice
+Turner Curtis, Illustrated by Edna Cooke
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
+
+
+Author: Alice Turner Curtis
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 21, 2007  [eBook #22370]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE MAID OF OLD
+PHILADELPHIA***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Roger Frank, Neville Allen, and the Project Gutenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 22370-h.htm or 22370-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/3/7/22370/22370-h/22370-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/3/7/22370/22370-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA
+
+by
+
+ALICE TURNER CURTIS
+
+Author of
+
+  A LITTLE MAID OF PROVINCE TOWN
+  A LITTLE MAID OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY
+  A LITTLE MAID OF NARRAGANSETT BAY
+  A LITTLE MAID OF BUNKER HILL
+  A LITTLE MAID OF TICONDEROGA
+  A LITTLE MAID OF OLD CONNECTICUT
+  A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE
+
+Illustrated by Edna Cooke
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SHE LOOKED UP TO FIND LAFAYETTE SMILING AT HER]
+
+
+
+The Penn Publishing
+Company Philadelphia
+1921
+Copyright
+1919 by
+The Penn
+Publishing
+Company
+
+A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
+
+
+
+Introduction
+
+
+Ruth Pernell and Winifred Merrill lived in Philadelphia. The city had
+been for some time in the hands of General Howe and the British army.
+Ruth's father was with Washington at Valley Forge, and the little girls
+were ardent supporters of the American cause, and admirers of the
+gallant young Frenchman, the Marquis DE Lafayette.
+
+Children in 1778 were much like those of to-day, and Ruth and her
+friends, eager as they were for the war to end successfully, were fond
+of dolls and pets, and games and little plays. Yet they kept their ears
+open, and when Ruth overheard what two British soldiers said she knew
+how to make good use of her knowledge.
+
+In each of the other "Little Maid" books is the story of an American
+girl during the Revolution. The other stories are: "A Little Maid of
+Province Town," "A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony." "A Little Maid
+of Bunker Hill," "A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay," "A Little Maid of
+Ticonderoga," "A Little Maid of Old Connecticut."
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+  I.     HERO IS LOST                                   9
+
+  II.    GILBERT AND LAFAYETTE                         19
+
+  III.   RUTH VISITS GENERAL HOWE                      28
+
+  IV.    AUNT DEBORAH IS SURPRISED                     37
+
+  V.     RUTH DECIDES                                  43
+
+  VI.    A DIFFICULT DAY                               53
+
+  VII.   GILBERT'S PLAY                                62
+
+  VIII.  BETTY RUNS AWAY                               72
+
+  IX.    BETTY'S ADVENTURE                             84
+
+  X.     THE LOST PROGRAMME                            92
+
+  XI.    A LONG ROAD                                  102
+
+  XII.   A LONG RIDE                                  113
+
+  XIII.  HOME AGAIN                                   123
+
+  XIV.   THE CANDY DISAPPEARS                         133
+
+  XV.    A FAIRY STORY                                142
+
+  XVI.   BETTY AND ANNETTE                            151
+
+  XVII.  QUEEN BETTY                                  161
+
+  XVIII. A GREAT RESOLVE                              171
+
+  XIX.   THE VISIT                                    182
+
+  XX.    LAFAYETTE'S VISIT                            193
+
+  XXI.   AT HOME                                      205
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+                                                    PAGE
+
+SHE LOOKED UP TO FIND LAFAYETTE SMILING
+  AT HER                                       _FRONTISPIECE_
+
+"'TIS A LADY COMING TO CALL"                         33
+
+IT WAS A FAVORITE PLAY-HOUSE                         95
+
+"THE FIRST OF MAY IS GARLAND DAY"                   162
+
+THE BIG HORSE TROTTED DOWN THE STREET               190
+
+
+
+
+A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HERO IS LOST
+
+
+"Where do you suppose Hero can be, Aunt Deborah? He isn't anywhere about
+the house, or in the shed or the garden," and Ruth Pernell's voice
+sounded as if she could hardly keep back the tears as she stood in the
+doorway of the pleasant kitchen where Aunt Deborah was at work.
+
+"Do you suppose the British have taken him?" she asked a little
+fearfully; for it was the spring of 1778, when the British troops were
+in Philadelphia, and Ruth was quite sure that every English soldier who
+saw Hero must want him for his own. The dog was her dearest possession.
+On her tenth birthday, nearly a year before, her father had given her
+Hero for a birthday present; and now that her father was with
+Washington's army his gift seemed even more precious to his little
+daughter.
+
+Aunt Deborah looked at Ruth for a moment before she answered, and Ruth
+became conscious that her brown hair was rough and untidy from running
+about the garden in the March wind, that her hands were not clean, and
+that there was an ugly rent in her blue checked apron where it had
+caught on a nail in the shed.
+
+"Was it not yesterday that thee declared Hero was stolen, only to find
+that he had followed Winifred Merrill home? And on Sunday, thee was sure
+he had been killed, because he did not appear the first time thee
+called," responded Aunt Deborah reprovingly. Aunt Deborah was not very
+large, and her smooth round face under the neat cap, such as Quaker
+women wear, was usually smiling and friendly; but it always seemed to
+Ruth that no least bit of dirt or untidiness ever escaped those gray
+eyes.
+
+"Do you suppose he is at Winifred's? I wish she wouldn't let him follow
+her," and Ruth's tone was troubled. Of course Winifred was her dearest
+friend, but Ruth was not willing that Hero should divide his loyalty.
+
+"Very likely," responded Aunt Deborah, "but thee must smooth thy hair,
+wash thy hands and change thy apron before thee goes to inquire; and put
+on thy hat. It is not seemly for a girl to run about the street
+bareheaded."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! Only to go next door!" pleaded Ruth, but Aunt Deborah
+only nodded; so Ruth went to her own room and in a few minutes was back
+tying the broad brown ribbons of her hat under her chin as she ran
+through the kitchen.
+
+"I do hope Mother will come home soon," the little girl thought as she
+went down the front steps to the street; "Aunt Deborah is so fussy."
+
+Mrs. Pernell had been away for a week caring for her sister who lived in
+Germantown, near Philadelphia, and who was ill; and Aunt Deborah Mary
+Farleigh had come in from her home at Barren Hill, twelve miles distant,
+to stay with Ruth during Mrs. Pernell's absence.
+
+As Ruth ran up the steps of her friend's house the front door opened,
+and Winifred appeared.
+
+"Oh, Ruthie! Where are you going?" she asked smilingly.
+
+Winifred was just a month older than Ruth, and they were very nearly the
+same size. They both had blue eyes; but Ruth's hair was of a darker
+brown than Winifred's. They had both attended the same school until Lord
+Cornwallis with his troops entered Philadelphia; since that time each
+little girl had been taught at home.
+
+"Is Hero here?" Ruth asked, hardly noticing her friend's question.
+
+Winifred shook her head.
+
+"Are you _sure_, Winifred? Perhaps he ran in your garden and you didn't
+see him," said Ruth.
+
+"Well, we'll see. We'll call him," Winifred replied, holding the door
+open for Ruth to come in.
+
+The Merrill and Pernell houses were separated by a high brick wall, and
+each house stood near the street with broad gardens on each side as well
+as at the rear.
+
+The two friends went through the house, and out on a narrow porch and
+Ruth called, "Hero! Hero!" but there was no welcoming bark, no sight of
+the brown shepherd dog. They went about the yard calling, and Winifred's
+older brother Gilbert, who was preparing a garden bed near the further
+wall, assured them that the dog had not been there that morning.
+
+"Then he is lost! What shall I do!" said Ruth despairingly. "I do
+believe the English have taken him. Only yesterday, on Second Street,
+when Aunt Deborah and I were coming home, an officer patted him and
+called him a 'fine dog,'" she continued quickly.
+
+Gilbert and Winifred both looked very serious at this statement. Gilbert
+was fourteen years old. He was tall for his age, and thought himself
+quite old enough to be a soldier; but as his father and elder brother
+were both in Washington's army he realized that he must stay at home and
+take care of his mother and Winifred.
+
+"I have a mind to go straight to High Street and tell General Howe,"
+said Ruth, "for I heard my mother say that the English general would not
+permit his soldiers to take what did not belong to them."
+
+Gilbert shook his head soberly.
+
+"That may be true; but you are not sure that your dog has been stolen,"
+he said. "You had best wait a while. Hero may have wandered off and may
+come home safely. I'd not ask any favors of America's enemies," he
+concluded, picking up his spade and turning back to his work.
+
+"It wouldn't be a favor to ask for what belonged to me," Ruth answered
+sharply. But Gilbert's words made her more hopeful; Winifred was sure
+that Gilbert was right, and that Hero would come safely home.
+
+"Come up to my room, Ruthie; Mother has given me her scrap-bag. I can
+have all the pieces of silk and chintz to make things for my dolls, and
+you can pick out something to make your Cecilia a bonnet, and perhaps a
+cape."
+
+"Oh! Truly, Winifred?" responded Ruth, almost forgetting Hero in this
+tempting offer. The two little girls ran up the broad stairway to
+Winifred's room, which was at the back of the house overlooking the
+garden. The two windows had broad window-seats, and on one of these, in
+a small chair, made of stiff pasteboard and covered with a flowered
+chintz, sat "Josephine," Winifred's most treasured doll. Josephine wore
+a very full skirt of crimson silk, a cape of the same material, and on
+her head rested a bonnet of white silk, on the front of which was a tall
+white feather. There were two smaller dolls, and each occupied a chair
+exactly like the one in which Josephine was seated, but neither of them
+was so beautifully dressed.
+
+"I made that bonnet myself," Winifred declared, as Ruth knelled down
+beside the dolls and exclaimed admiringly over Josephine's fine apparel.
+"And that feather is one that came floating into our garden. Gilbert
+says it's an eagle's feather," she continued.
+
+"It is lovely!" Ruth said, "and this window is the nicest place to play
+dolls in all Philadelphia. And these dolls' chairs are splendid. I wish
+I had one for Cecilia."
+
+"Well, why don't you make one? I helped Grandma make these. All you have
+to do is cut the pieces out of cardboard, cover them with cloth, and sew
+them together. I'll help you," said Winifred, as she opened a closet
+door and drew out a brown linen bag.
+
+"This is the scrap-bag. Look, Ruthie;" and she drew out a long strip of
+plaided silk.
+
+"That would make a lovely sash for Cecilia," said Ruth, "but of course
+it would be nice for Josephine," she added quickly, half-afraid that she
+had seemed grasping of Winifred's possessions.
+
+"Josephine doesn't like a sash," said Winifred. "You take it home and
+tell Cecilia it's a present from Aunt Winifred."
+
+Then there was a roll of small pieces of pale blue satin; just right to
+make a bonnet for Ruth's doll.
+
+For some time the little girls played happily with the bright pieces of
+silk, selecting bits for one or the other of the dolls, so that when the
+big clock in the hall struck twelve Ruth jumped up in surprise.
+
+"Oh, Winnie! It's dinner-time! What will Aunt Deborah say to me?" she
+exclaimed, putting on her hat, and gathering up the silk pieces.
+
+"Thank you, Winnie! I must run. Aunt Deborah doesn't like me to be late,
+ever," she said, hurrying toward the stairway.
+
+"Come over to-morrow and I'll help you make a doll's chair; and I hope
+you'll find Hero safe at home," Winifred called after her as Ruth ran
+down the stairs.
+
+At Winifred's words all Ruth's pleasure in the morning's play, in the
+pretty bits of silk for her dolls, and the plan for making the chairs,
+vanished. Hero was lost; she knew he was. With his silky coat, and his
+faithful, soft brown eyes, his eager bark of welcome when his little
+mistress came running into the garden for a game of hide-and-go-seek
+with him.
+
+Aunt Deborah had spread the table for dinner, which was one of Ruth's
+regular duties; and when Ruth came slowly into the room she was just
+bringing in a dish of baked potatoes hot from the oven.
+
+"I didn't find Hero," said Ruth, throwing her little package of silks on
+a chair and then her hat on top of it. "What shall I do, Aunt Deborah?
+What shall I do? I am sure one of those English soldiers has taken him,"
+and now Ruth began to cry.
+
+"Ruth! Stop thy foolish crying. Thy dinner is waiting. Go to thy room
+and make thyself tidy," commanded Aunt Deborah, "and take thy hat and
+package," she added.
+
+Ruth obeyed rather reluctantly. "All Aunt Deborah thinks about is
+keeping 'tidy,'" she whispered rebelliously as she left the room. "I've
+washed my hands three times already to-day. She doesn't care if Hero is
+lost. Probably she's glad, because his paws are dirty."
+
+But Ruth was mistaken; Aunt Deborah had spent an hour that morning in
+going up and down the alley looking for the missing dog, and in a
+careful search of the house and garden. She valued Hero's faithfulness;
+and not even Ruth herself would have been more pleased than Aunt Deborah
+to hear his bark, and see him jump forward from his usual playground in
+the garden.
+
+"Perhaps Hero has wandered off," Aunt Deborah said when Ruth took her
+place at the table, "but he will come back, I doubt not, before
+nightfall."
+
+"If he doesn't I shall go and tell the British General that he must find
+him," declared Ruth, somewhat to Aunt Deborah's amusement; who was quite
+sure that the little girl would not dare to approach General Howe, who
+had comfortably established himself in one of the fine houses on High
+Street.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+GILBERT AND LAFAYETTE
+
+
+Two days passed and there was no tidings of the missing dog; and even
+Aunt Deborah began to fear that they should never see him again. It was
+very difficult for Ruth to attend to the tasks that Aunt Deborah set for
+her; for all she could think of was Hero.
+
+Gilbert Merrill had gone about the city making inquiries, but no one had
+seen Hero, or could tell him anything about Ruth's dog. Aunt Deborah was
+very sorry for her little niece, but she still insisted that Ruth should
+dust the dining-room as carefully each morning as if Hero was safe in
+the yard; that the little girl should knit her stint on the gray wool
+sock, intended for some loyal soldier, and sew for a half hour each
+afternoon.
+
+Ruth dropped stitches in her knitting, for a little blur of tears hid
+her work from sight when she thought that perhaps her dear Hero might
+be hurt, unable to find his way home; or perhaps he was shut up
+somewhere by some cruel person who did not care if he was fed or not.
+
+Aunt Deborah was very patient with the little girl. She picked up the
+dropped stitches in the knitting; and when she found how uneven a seam
+Ruth was stitching she picked out the threads without a word of reproof.
+
+But on the second day, as they sat at work in the little sewing-room at
+the top of the stairs, Ruth threw down her knitting and began to cry.
+
+"I can't knit! I can't do anything until Hero is found. You know I
+can't, Aunt Deborah. And I do wish my mother would come home," she
+sobbed.
+
+Aunt Deborah did not speak for a moment. She had no little girls of her
+own, and she often feared that she might not know what was exactly right
+for her little niece. So she never spoke hastily.
+
+"For thy sake, dear child, I wish that thy mother were here: but it is
+very pleasant for me to have thy company, Ruth," she said in her
+musical, even voice. "Would thee not like to go and play with Winifred?
+But be sure thy hair is smooth."
+
+But Ruth made no reply. She stopped crying, however, and looked up at
+Aunt Deborah.
+
+"Didn't you like Hero?" she asked.
+
+Aunt Deborah knitted on until she came to the last stitch on her needle,
+then she lay down her work, and looked at Ruth with her pleasant smile.
+
+"Indeed, I liked Hero," she said; "but suppose I decided that because he
+was lost I would no longer prepare thy breakfast or dinner? that I would
+not see that thy mother's house was in order. Thee would truly think I
+had but little sense. It does not prove thy liking to cry because thy
+dog is lost; to fix thy thoughts on thy own feelings and leave thy tasks
+for me to do. It does not help bring Hero back. Now, put on thy hat and
+cape and we will walk toward the river. I have an errand to do," and
+Aunt Deborah got up and went to her own room to put on her long gray
+cape and the gray bonnet that she always wore on the street.
+
+She was waiting in the front hall when Ruth came slowly down the stairs.
+She had put on her brown straw hat, whose ribbons tied beneath her
+chin, and the pretty cape of blue cloth; for there was a sharp little
+March wind, although the sun shone brightly. Ruth's face was very sober;
+there were traces of tears on her cheeks. She wished that she had said
+she would rather play with Winifred; but it was too late now.
+
+"We need many things, but I fear 'twill not be easy to purchase either
+good cotton cloth or a package of pepper," Aunt Deborah said as they
+turned on to Second Street. "There was but little in the shops when the
+British came, and of that little they have taken for themselves so there
+is not much left for the people."
+
+"They have taken Hero, I know they have!" Ruth replied. "I wish
+Washington would come and drive the English out."
+
+"Oh! Ho! So here is a small rebel declaring treason right to the face of
+an officer of the King!" and Ruth, surprised and frightened, felt a hand
+on her shoulder, and looked up to find a tall soldier in a red coat with
+shining buttons and bands of gilt looking at her with evident amusement.
+
+"You had best whisper such words as those, young lady," he added
+sternly, and passed on, leaving Ruth and Aunt Deborah standing
+surprised and half-frightened.
+
+"This is an American city," Aunt Deborah announced calmly, as they
+walked on. "These intruders can stay but a time. But they have sharp
+ears, indeed. Does thee know why thy father named thy dog 'Hero'?" she
+continued, looking down at Ruth.
+
+"Oh, yes! Father said 'hero' meant courage and honor; and so it was the
+right name for such a fine dog," Ruth answered quickly. "Aunt Deborah!
+What was that?" she added, stopping short. For she had heard a familiar
+bark.
+
+But Aunt Deborah had heard nothing. They were passing a house where a
+number of soldiers were sitting on the porch smoking.
+
+"I heard Hero bark. He is in that house," Ruth declared, and before Aunt
+Deborah could say a word to prevent such a rash act Ruth had run up the
+steps.
+
+"Have you found a lost dog, if you please?" she asked, half-frightened,
+when she found herself facing two red-faced soldiers who looked at her
+as if she were some wild bird that had flown to the porch. Before they
+could reply Aunt Deborah's hand was on Ruth's arm, and the little girl
+heard her aunt saying: "Thee must pardon the child. She has lost her
+dog, and is greatly troubled. She means no harm."
+
+The younger of the two men stood up and bowed politely, and held his hat
+in his hand until Aunt Deborah had led Ruth back to the street; but
+neither of the men had answered her question.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! What made you? I know Hero is in that house. I heard
+him bark. You spoiled it all," sobbed Ruth, as Aunt Deborah, holding her
+fast by the hand, hurried toward home, quite forgetting the errands she
+wished to do.
+
+Aunt Deborah sighed to herself. She began to fear that Ruth was a
+difficult child; and that perhaps she did not know the right way to deal
+with little girls. But she did not reprove Ruth either for her rash act
+or for speaking with so little regard of Aunt Deborah's authority.
+
+"May I go in and see Winifred?" Ruth asked when they reached home, and
+Aunt Deborah gave her permission.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! I know where Hero is," Ruth declared, as the two friends
+went up to Winifred's room, and she hastened to tell the adventures of
+the walk with Aunt Deborah.
+
+"I am going back after him, Winifred, and you must come with me," she
+concluded.
+
+But Winifred said that her mother was out, and that she must not leave
+the house until her return. She looked at Ruth admiringly.
+
+"I think you were brave, Ruth, to ask those soldiers. But I don't
+believe they would give you back Hero if you do go back. Perhaps they
+would make you a prisoner," she said a little fearfully; and at last
+Ruth reluctantly agreed not to go after the dog that day. The little
+girls decided that the best way would be to go straight to General Howe
+and tell him that one of his soldiers had taken Hero, and was keeping
+him from his rightful owner.
+
+"I'll go to-morrow. But we must not let Aunt Deborah know," said Ruth,
+and Winifred promised to keep the plan a secret.
+
+Now that there seemed a hope of rescuing her dog Ruth was nearly her own
+happy self again. Winifred got out some squares of pasteboard and very
+carefully marked out patterns of the back and sides, as well as for the
+seat, for the dolls' chair. Then she went to find Gilbert to borrow his
+knife with which to cut the cardboard; and before Ruth started for home
+the pieces were all ready to be covered. As the two little friends sat
+in the pleasant window-seat Winifred said: "What do you think, Ruthie!
+Gilbert wants to change his name. He wants us to call him Lafayette!"
+and Winifred laughed, as if she thought the idea very funny.
+
+"Why, I think that is splendid!" Ruth replied, her blue eyes shining at
+the thought of a "Lafayette" next door to her own home. For all the
+children of Philadelphia knew the story of the brave young Frenchman,
+hardly more than a boy himself, who had left all the comforts of his
+Paris home to share the danger and privations of the American soldiers.
+He had visited Philadelphia the previous summer, 1777, soon after his
+arrival in America. Gilbert had seen the handsome young officer, and
+ever since then he had pleaded that he might be called "Lafayette"
+instead of Gilbert.
+
+"If I were a boy I should wish my name 'Lafayette,'" declared Ruth. "I
+wish we could do something for him, don't you, Winifred?"
+
+"Yes; but what could two little girls do for him? Why, he is a hero, and
+a friend of Washington's," Winifred responded. Neither Ruth nor
+Winifred imagined that it would be only a few months before one of them
+would do a great service for the gallant young Frenchman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+RUTH VISITS GENERAL HOWE
+
+
+Aunt Deborah was unusually quiet in her manner toward her little niece
+when Ruth came home with the cardboard ready to be covered. She did not
+ask Ruth to set the table for supper, but began to spread the cloth
+herself.
+
+"I will do that, Aunt Deborah. You know I always do," Ruth said, laying
+down the parts for the dolls' chair, and coming toward the table.
+
+"I will do it. Thou mayst go to thy room, Ruth; I will call thee when
+supper is ready," Aunt Deborah replied, without a glance at the little
+girl.
+
+Ruth felt her face flush uncomfortably as she suddenly recalled the way
+in which she had spoken to Aunt Deborah after her aunt had led her away
+from the porch where the English soldiers were sitting, and where Ruth
+was sure Hero was hidden. She went up the stairs very slowly to her own
+chamber, a small room opening from the large front room where Aunt
+Deborah slept. She sat down near the window, feeling not only ashamed
+but very unhappy.
+
+"If my mother were only here I shouldn't be sent off up-stairs. I don't
+like Aunt Deborah," she exclaimed, and looked up to see her aunt
+standing in the doorway.
+
+For a moment the two looked at each other, and Ruth could see that Aunt
+Deborah was trying very hard to keep back the tears. Then the door
+closed, very softly, and Ruth was again alone.
+
+"Oh, dear," she whispered, "and I promised my mother to do everything I
+could to help Aunt Deborah, and now she heard me say that I don't like
+her," and Ruth leaned her head against the arm of the big chair in which
+she had curled up and began to cry, quite sure that no little girl in
+all Philadelphia had as much reason for unhappiness as herself.
+
+After a little she wiped her eyes, and began to think over her
+misfortunes: First of all, Hero was lost. Then came all the troubles
+that, it seemed to Ruth, Aunt Deborah was to blame for. As she said them
+over to herself they appeared sufficient reasons for her dislike: "She
+is always fussing. Always telling me to brush my hair, or wash my
+hands, or not to soil my dress. And I do believe she is glad that Hero
+is lost, and does not wish me to find him because he brings dirt into
+the house."
+
+As Ruth finished a sudden resolve came into her mind. She would not wait
+for the next day before going to General Howe to tell her story of
+Hero's disappearance, and of being sure that he had been taken by an
+English soldier. She would go at once. If she waited perhaps Aunt
+Deborah would find some way of preventing the carrying out of the plan.
+
+"Perhaps if General Howe thought I was a grown-up lady, or nearly grown
+up, he would pay more attention than to what a little girl might ask,"
+thought Ruth. And then a great idea flashed into her mind: she would
+pretend to be grown up.
+
+"I'll wear Mother's best dress, and do up my hair and wear her bonnet,"
+she decided; and opening her chamber door she ran through Aunt Deborah's
+room to the deep closet where her mother's best dress, a pretty gown of
+russet-colored silk, was hanging. Ruth pulled it down, slipped it on
+over her dress of stout brown gingham, and began to fasten it.
+
+"I didn't know my mother was so big," she thought regretfully, as she
+managed to turn back the long sleeves, and glanced down at the full
+breadths of the skirt which lay in a big waving circle about her feet.
+"I'll have to hold it up as high as I can to walk at all."
+
+In a few minutes the dress was fastened, and she managed to pin up her
+hair; and now she drew out the bandbox containing her mother's best
+bonnet. It was made of a pretty shade of brown velvet, with a wreath of
+delicate green leaves, and strings of pale green ribbon.
+
+Ruth tied the strings firmly under her chin. The bonnet came well down
+over her face, nearly hiding her ears, but the little girl thought this
+was very fortunate, as it would prevent any one discovering who she was,
+if she should happen to meet any friend or acquaintance.
+
+She began to feel hurried and a little afraid that Aunt Deborah might
+call her to supper before she could escape from the house. Holding up
+the brown silk skirt, and stepping very carefully, she made her way down
+the stairs, opened the front door, and with a long breath of relief,
+found herself standing on the front porch.
+
+The late afternoon was already growing shadowy with the approach of
+twilight; and there was no one to be seen on the quiet street as Ruth,
+holding her skirt up in front while the sides and back trailed about her
+on the dirty pavement, walked hurriedly along toward High Street.
+
+"I'll walk more like a grown-up lady when I get near the General's
+house," she resolved. "Won't Winifred be surprised when she knows that
+the English General thought I really was grown up?" and Ruth gave a
+little laugh of delight at the thought of her friend's astonishment,
+quite forgetting all the troubles that had seemed so overpowering an
+hour before.
+
+As she turned into High Street she found herself facing the amused stare
+of two young ladies who were hurrying home from an afternoon walk.
+
+"I suppose they were laughing because I was holding up my skirt,"
+thought Ruth, quite unconscious of her absurd appearance, "but I'll have
+to, for I couldn't walk a step if I didn't," she decided.
+
+[Illustration: "'TIS A LADY COMING TO CALL"]
+
+Two English soldiers were on guard at the entrance of the fine mansion
+that the English General had taken from its rightful owner for his own
+use; and as Ruth, now half afraid to go up the steps, stood looking up
+at them a little fearfully, one of them noticed the queer little figure,
+and, quite forgetting his dignity, chuckled with amusement.
+
+"Look, Dick! Here is a lady admiring our fine uniforms," he said,
+calling his companion's attention to Ruth, whose gown now trailed about
+her, and whose bonnet had slipped to one side.
+
+"'Tis a lady coming to call on the General," responded "Dick," with a
+wink at the first speaker.
+
+"Did you wish to see General Howe, madam?" he continued, looking down at
+Ruth, while his companion chuckled with delight.
+
+"Yes, if you please," Ruth managed to reply, beginning to feel a little
+afraid, and wishing that she had waited until the next day when Winifred
+might have come with her.
+
+"Kindly walk up the steps, madam, and I will announce you to the
+General," continued the young soldier, welcoming the hope of a little
+amusement to break the monotony of his daily duties.
+
+Ruth obeyed, stumbling a little as she reached the top.
+
+"And what name shall I say?" Dick asked, bowing very low.
+
+"Mistress Ruth Dilling ham Pernell, if you please, sir," Ruth replied,
+gaining a little courage, and trying to stand as tall as possible,
+hardly sure if the young soldier was really laughing at her, or if he
+believed her dress to be a proof of at least twenty years of experience.
+
+"'Twill be good sport for the General and his friends. They are just
+sitting down to dinner," "Dick" whispered to the other guard, as he
+swung open the big door and ushered Ruth into the hall, and then led the
+way toward the dining-room.
+
+"What nonsense is this, Dick? We are not rehearsing any play just now,"
+called a gay voice; and Ruth and the young soldier were confronted by a
+tall officer whom Ruth instantly recognized as the same who had called
+her a "rebel" that very afternoon on Second Street.
+
+She became really frightened. Suppose he should remember her, and tell
+General Howe what she had said about Washington driving the English from
+the city? It might be that, just as Winifred had said, and they would
+put her in prison. She wished she were safely at home with Aunt
+Deborah. But "Dick" was speaking to the handsome young officer.
+
+"Ah, now, Major André, 'twill be as good as any comedy you have seen in
+South Street," he declared, "and the General will be well pleased. No
+harm shall come to the child."
+
+"Well, I'll not interfere. This is a dull town at best," responded the
+young officer laughingly, and without another glance at Ruth, he entered
+the dining-room, with a word to the soldier who stood at the door. The
+big door was now swung wide open by two servants in the livery of the
+English General. Just beyond them stood Major André, who bowed very low
+as Ruth entered, and said:
+
+"General Howe, a lady who greatly desires to ask a favor of you," and
+Ruth found herself on the threshold of the beautiful room whose paneled
+walls were brilliantly lighted by many wax candles in silver sconces.
+The table was handsomely spread with fine china, glass and silver; and
+about it were seated a number of English officers.
+
+"More comedy, André!" called a pleasant voice; "kindly bring the lady
+this way," and General Howe rose from his seat at the head of the
+table, and instantly all his guests were on their feet.
+
+Major André held out his hand to Ruth. She well knew that this was the
+proper moment to make her best curtsy, and in spite of the clumsy skirt,
+the bonnet which kept nodding over her face, and the long sleeves that
+had slipped down over her hands, she managed to make a not ungraceful
+curtsy.
+
+There was a little murmur of applause, and Major André smiled kindly
+upon her, and taking her hand led her toward the head of the table with
+as much grace and courtesy as if he were handing Miss Peggy Ship pen
+herself, one of the beauties of the town, to a seat at General Howe's
+dinner table.
+
+"You are a most welcome guest," declared the English General smilingly,
+as Ruth stood before him. "I understand you have a favor to ask of me.
+Whatever it is you may be very sure I will be most happy to grant it,"
+and he smiled down at the queer little figure, quite sure that his young
+officer Major André had planned the whole affair for his amusement.
+
+"If you please, sir, I want my dog," said Ruth falteringly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+AUNT DEBORAH IS SURPRISED
+
+
+Years after, when Ruth was really "grown up," she often recalled the
+wonderful night when she sat at General Howe's dinner-table. For Major
+André had lifted her to a seat beside the General; with a friendly word
+he untied the bonnet-strings and put the bonnet on a side table; and
+Ruth began to think that it was all a dream from which she would soon
+awaken to find herself safely at home. She wondered if it really were
+Ruth Pernell who was answering the General's questions about the missing
+Hero.
+
+"I can do no less than try to find your dog, little maid," he said, "for
+when my own dog wandered away to General Washington's camp, in the
+Germantown fray, the General sent him back to me under the protection of
+a flag of truce; so, as you tell me your father is with Washington, I
+must see to it that Hero is found. That is, if one of my soldiers has so
+far forgotten orders as to have taken him," for the English General
+took every care that his soldiers should do no harm to the residents of
+the city.
+
+Ruth was sure that she knew the very house where she had heard Hero's
+bark; and now that General Howe had promised that a search should be
+made she was eager to go home, and slid out of the chair just as a
+servant set a plate before her.
+
+"I must go home. I--I--ran away," she said a little falteringly, looking
+up at the tall General. "Will you please find Hero the first thing
+to-morrow?"
+
+"Here, André! the young lady wishes to return home," said the General,
+"and see to it that you take her there safely, and that you find the
+lost Hero. And find a better plot for your next comedy," the General
+added, as the young officer came forward.
+
+Ruth wondered what "comedy" meant. She did not know that Major André,
+whose gay good humor and charming manner made him a favorite with all,
+was depended upon to furnish amusement for his brother officers; or that
+they had at first believed that Ruth, stumbling into the dining-room
+dressed as a woman, was the first act of some amusing play of André's
+contriving.
+
+Now that it proved she was only a runaway little girl looking for a lost
+dog they found it amusing that the young officer should have the trouble
+of taking her home.
+
+Ruth could never quite remember the manner in which the General bade her
+good-bye, or if she make her curtsy, or even thanked him for promising
+that Hero should be found.
+
+Major André tied on her bonnet, and opening a door that led to a side
+entrance, led her to the street.
+
+"Now tell me the way, and I'll have you home in a jiffy," he said
+pleasantly.
+
+But it was no easy matter for Ruth to walk as rapidly as her companion;
+she stumbled over the skirt; the strings of her bonnet had slipped so
+that it kept bobbing over her eyes and had to be pushed back; and she
+was now so frightened at the thought of what Aunt Deborah would say that
+she hardly knew in what direction they were going until the young
+officer stopped at her own door and lifted the knocker whose rap was
+sure to bring Aunt Deborah hastening to answer it.
+
+"You will not forget about Hero?" Ruth said as they stood on the steps.
+
+"Indeed, I shall not. Be very sure I will do my best to find your dog. I
+will go to the house on Second Street early to-morrow," responded André,
+and the door swung open and Aunt Deborah, holding a candle in one hand,
+stood looking at them.
+
+"Here is your little girl, madam; she has done no harm, I assure you.
+She did but make a friendly call on General Howe, who sent me to bring
+her safely home," said the young officer, hat in hand, and making his
+best bow.
+
+"I thank thee for bringing the child home, sir," responded Aunt Deborah,
+drawing Ruth firmly over the threshold and closing the door before Major
+André could say another word. The young officer hurried back to the
+General's dinner-table, a little vexed that he had made so much needless
+trouble for himself by introducing the queer little girl to General
+Howe.
+
+"Slip off thy mother's dress at once, before you do it further harm,"
+said Aunt Deborah; and Ruth, not daring to look up, hastened to obey, as
+she stood in the dimly-lit hall.
+
+"I--I--only went to look for Hero," Ruth tried to explain, after a
+moment's silence.
+
+"So thee had to put on thy mother's very best gown; one that she does
+not wear herself save on great occasions," responded Aunt Deborah,
+taking up the silk dress out of which Ruth had just stepped. "It is
+probably ruined. Go straight to bed. Thou art a willful and unruly
+child," she continued, as Ruth started toward the stairway.
+
+Aunt Deborah followed her, the dress over her arm, but she said no more
+until they reached Ruth's chamber.
+
+"I believed thee safe in thy room. When thee did not come to supper I
+thought thee ashamed and sorry, because of the manner in which thou
+spoke to me; so I did not open the door. But no; thee was playing at
+being some one beside thy rightful self; and going to the house of an
+enemy against whom thy father is fighting. I know not what to say to
+thee, Ruth, nor how to make thee realize that thee has brought shame
+upon us," said Aunt Deborah.
+
+Ruth was crying bitterly, and could make no response. Aunt Deborah took
+the candle and left the room, leaving Ruth to find her way into bed in
+the dark. She wished with all her heart that she had not worn her
+mother's silk gown and pretty bonnet. If they really were ruined she
+knew it would be a long time before her mother could replace them; for
+there was no extra money in the little household while America was
+fighting for her rightful liberties.
+
+"None of them, not even General Howe, believed that I was really grown
+up. They were just laughing at me," she thought. "It would have been
+just as well if I had waited, and had asked Aunt Deborah if I might not
+go. Oh, dear! And now I have spoiled Mother's dress."
+
+Ruth was so unhappy that she had quite forgotten that Hero might soon be
+restored to her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+RUTH DECIDES
+
+
+Ruth slept late the next morning, and when she first awoke it was with
+the puzzled feeling of waking from a bad dream. Then slowly she
+remembered the happenings of the previous day.
+
+The spring sunlight filled the room. From a hawthorn tree just below her
+window she could hear a robin singing as if there were nothing but
+sunshine and delight in all the world. And then the big clock in the
+hallway began to strike. "One! two! three! four! five! six! seven!
+eight! _Nine!_" counted the little girl, and with the last stroke she
+was out of bed.
+
+Before she was dressed Aunt Deborah opened the door.
+
+"Good-morning, Ruth," she said pleasantly, quite as if nothing had
+happened on the previous day, and that Ruth had not slept two hours
+later than usual. "I have brought thee thy breakfast; and thee may stay
+in thy room until I call thee," and Aunt Deborah set a small tray on
+the light stand near the window, and before Ruth could make any response
+she had left the room.
+
+Ruth was very hungry. She had no supper on the previous night, and she
+now looked eagerly toward the little tray, which held only, a bowl and
+pitcher. The bowl was nearly full of porridge, and the pitcher of creamy
+milk.
+
+That was all very well; and she ate it all, to the last spoonful. But
+usually there were hot corn muffins and a bit of bacon or an egg to
+follow the porridge, and Ruth was still hungry.
+
+"Perhaps Aunt Deborah forgot," thought Ruth, "but I don't believe she
+did. Perhaps she is only provoked at me for being late for breakfast!"
+
+Ruth shook up her pillows, turned back the blankets of her bed, and then
+went to the window and leaned out. There were two robins now on the top
+branch of the hawthorn, and for a moment she watched them, wondering if
+they were planning to build a nest there. The window overlooked the
+Merrill's' garden; and in a few minutes Ruth saw Gilbert coming along the
+path toward the wall.
+
+"Lafayette! La-fay-Ettie!" she called. Gilbert looked about as if
+puzzled, and Ruth called again. "I'm up-stairs. Gil-Bert!" and at this
+the boy turned and looked up, and waved his hat in response.
+
+"I've found Hero," she called. "Honest! And an English officer is going
+to bring him home this very morning."
+
+"Come on over and tell Winifred," responded Gilbert. "She has something
+to tell you, too. Something fine."
+
+"I can't come over this morning. I----" but before Ruth could say
+another word she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and she was drawn
+into the room and the window closed, and Aunt Deborah was looking at her
+reprovingly.
+
+"Ruth, why did thee think I wanted thee to stay up-stairs this morning?"
+she asked.
+
+Ruth shook her head sullenly. She said to herself that no matter what
+Aunt Deborah might say she would not answer.
+
+"Well, my child, then I must tell thee. I hoped thee would think over
+thy willfulness of yesterday; that thee would realize that thy conduct
+was such as would grieve and shame thy father and mother. Dost thou
+think it a small thing nearly to ruin thy mother's best gown? To go
+dressed as if in a play to the house of an enemy of thy country to ask a
+favor? And before that thee quite forgot thy good manners in rushing up
+the steps of that house on Second Street, and then speaking rudely to
+me, who have no wish but to be kind to thee and help thee be a good
+girl."
+
+While Aunt Deborah was speaking Ruth looked up at her, a little
+frightened and sullen at first; then as she saw that Aunt Deborah's face
+was pale, that she looked as if she had been crying and was nearly ready
+to cry again, the little girl's heart softened, and she ran toward her
+aunt, saying:
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! I am sorry I spoke rudely to you. And when I said I
+did not like you it was only because I was cross and so unhappy about
+Hero. I do like you, truly I do. And, oh! I did not think about General
+Howe being our enemy; or that I would spoil Mother's pretty gown. I only
+thought about Hero." And now Ruth was sobbing, and Aunt Deborah's arm
+was about her.
+
+But for a moment Aunt Deborah made no response; then she said:
+
+"Dear child, thee has given me happiness again. And now let us both do
+our best until thy mother returns. But thee knows that it is right for
+thee to decide if thee should not be punished in some way, so that in
+future thee will remember not to lose thy temper, to remember thy
+manners; and above all not to stoop to deceit to gain thy wishes."
+
+Aunt Deborah smiled happily at her little niece as she finished, as if
+quite sure that Ruth would welcome her suggestion.
+
+Ruth smiled in response. She began to think it would be rather fine to
+decide on her own punishment, and resolved it should be even more severe
+than any Aunt Deborah would inflict.
+
+"Yes, Aunt Deborah, I will stay up-stairs all day. And I will eat only
+porridge for my dinner and supper. I will not call from the window, and
+I will knit; and not even play with Cecilia," she said eagerly.
+
+"Very well, dear child. But beside these things thee must say over to
+thyself the reason for thy punishment. Say to thyself: 'Not again will I
+be rude or unkind, not again will I be thoughtless of my behavior,'"
+said Aunt Deborah approvingly.
+
+There was a loud knock at the front door, and Aunt Deborah hurried away
+to answer it. In a moment Ruth heard a joyous bark.
+
+"It's Hero! It's Hero!" she exclaimed, running toward the door. But with
+her hand on the latch she stopped suddenly. She had promised that she
+would not leave the room that day. She had set her own punishment for
+rudeness, and for the thoughtlessness that had perhaps ruined her
+mother's dress.
+
+"Oh! I wish I hadn't dressed up," she thought, as she turned slowly away
+from the door, thinking of Hero looking wistfully about for his little
+mistress. She knew that Aunt Deborah would be kind to him, but not to
+see Hero after he had been missing so long was a real punishment for the
+little girl, and she went back to the window and stood looking out
+wishing that for a punishment she had thought of something beside
+staying in her room all day.
+
+As she looked out she saw that Gilbert was still in his garden, that
+Winifred was beside him, and that they were both making motions for her
+to open the window.
+
+She shook her head soberly. She could see that Winifred was greatly
+excited about something, and was talking eagerly to her brother. They
+both looked up at Ruth's window and again motioned with waving arms for
+her to open it. After a few moments they seemed to realize that she had,
+for some reason they could not imagine, been forbidden to; and with a
+good-bye signal they both turned and ran toward the house.
+
+"I do wonder what they wanted to tell me," thought Ruth. "Oh, dear! It
+is dreadful to stay up here when Hero is home, and when Winifred and
+Gilbert have a secret." She began to realize that she had set herself no
+light punishment.
+
+"But it wouldn't be a punishment if I were enjoying it," she finally
+decided, and getting the half-finished sock from her knitting bag, she
+drew a small rocking-chair to the center of the room, seated herself and
+began resolutely to knit.
+
+Now and then she could hear sounds from the rooms below; and once Ruth
+dropped her knitting and started toward the door, for she had heard
+Hero's plaintive whine as he waited for admittance. Then had come Aunt
+Deborah's voice calling him away sternly; and Ruth picked up her
+knitting, resolved to keep exactly to her promise. She wondered if Major
+André had sent Hero home in charge of "Dick," the smiling young soldier
+who had spoken to her on General Howe's door-steps. But most of all her
+thoughts centered about Winifred and Gilbert.
+
+She heard the clock strike eleven, and realized that she was very
+hungry; and that an hour was a long time to wait before Aunt Deborah
+would bring her bowl of porridge. A shadow darkened the window, and she
+looked up with startled eyes to see Winifred's face pressed against the
+glass.
+
+Ruth ran to the window. "How did you get up here?" she questioned in
+wonder.
+
+"Open the window, quick!" Winifred responded in an anxious whisper. "The
+ladder wiggles about, and somebody may see me."
+
+Ruth opened the window and Winifred crawled in, and suddenly the ladder
+disappeared.
+
+"It's Gilbert. He promised to take it down as soon as I got in. What is
+the matter, Ruth? Has Aunt Deborah made you stay up-stairs? Did you know
+Hero was home? A soldier brought him." While Winifred talked she looked
+at Ruth anxiously, as if to make sure that nothing had really befallen
+her friend.
+
+Ruth was smiling with delight at her unexpected visitor.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! You were splendid to come up the ladder. I'm staying
+up-stairs to punish myself. I was rude to Aunt Deborah; and last night I
+dressed up in my mother's best dress and went to see General Howe!" Ruth
+answered.
+
+Winifred was too surprised to reply, and Ruth went on telling of her
+sudden decision, and of the adventures that followed, and concluded
+with: "And of course I ought not to have dressed up, and I ought not to
+have run away. So now I am staying up-stairs all day, and all I am to
+have to eat is porridge and milk. I decided it myself," she concluded,
+not a little pleased at the thought.
+
+"Why, Ruth Pernell!" exclaimed Winifred admiringly. "I don't know which
+is the most wonderful, your going to see General Howe, or your deciding
+to punish yourself. Begin at the time you reached the General's house
+and tell me everything up to now."
+
+Ruth was quite ready to do this, and the two little friends seated
+themselves on the window-seat, Winifred listening admiringly while Ruth
+told over the story of the previous night. She had forgotten all about
+punishment; but a noise in the hallway and the sound of the clock
+striking the hour of noon made her stop suddenly in her whispered
+recital. "It's Aunt Deborah! Winifred, hide, quick! Under the bed," she
+said, at the same moment giving Winifred a little push.
+
+Aunt Deborah came in smiling and inauspicious, with a well-filled bowl
+of porridge and a generous pitcher of milk on the tray. It had been a
+happy morning for Aunt Deborah. Hero was safe at home, none the worse
+for his adventures; and, best of all, Ruth of her own accord had
+declared herself to blame, and decided that her faults should be
+punished. It seemed to Aunt Deborah that after this she and her little
+niece would have no more misunderstandings. She thought it a fine thing
+that Ruth wished to stay by herself all that sunny spring day; and she
+was sure it was no light punishment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A DIFFICULT DAY
+
+
+Aunt Deborah did not linger to talk with her little niece, for it was a
+part of her belief that idle talk was unwise. The door had hardly closed
+behind her when Winifred's head appeared from under the chintz valance
+of the bed, and she looked cautiously about.
+
+"Has she gone?" she asked in a cautious whisper.
+
+Ruth nodded, and Winifred now crawled out from her hiding-place.
+
+"I'm glad she didn't see me, Ruth. For when I came to the door this
+morning she said you could not see any one to-day; so I thought you were
+being punished, and I was bound to see you. Oh, Ruth! are you to have
+nothing but porridge?" and Winifred looked at Ruth's tray as if she
+thought such a dinner would be punishment enough for a much greater
+offense.
+
+"I chose it! I said I would eat only porridge," responded Ruth,
+beginning to think that perhaps she had been more severe with herself
+than had been really necessary; and she wondered, with a little
+regretful sigh, if Aunt Deborah was having stewed oysters for dinner;
+for Ruth was sure that nothing could taste better than oysters.
+
+"I had to see you, Ruth; and it was Gilbert who thought of the ladder.
+He has written a play, and you are to take part in it, and so am I,"
+continued Winifred, who had nearly forgotten her own important news in
+listening to Ruth's surprising story.
+
+"'A play'?" echoed Ruth questioningly, hardly understanding her friend's
+meaning.
+
+"Yes! Yes! Don't you know that the English soldiers give plays in the
+Southward Theater? They dress up and make believe, just as you did last
+night," Winifred explained, "and Gilbert's play is like that."
+
+"Then I don't want to," Ruth declared. "It's horrid pretending to be
+somebody besides yourself."
+
+"Oh, Ruth! This isn't like what you did. It's all about Washington and
+Lafayette," Winifred explained eagerly, "and our pony is to be in it,
+and so is Hero. It's splendid; truly it is, Ruth; and Gilbert wants you
+to come and rehearse this afternoon, in our stable. If you are punishing
+yourself you can come if you wish to."
+
+Ruth shook her head.
+
+"No, I can't. Don't you see I can't, Winifred? I promised just as much
+as if somebody else had made me. I'll have to stay in this room all day,
+because I told Aunt Deborah that I would."
+
+Winifred jumped up quickly. "Then I must go right home, for Gilbert said
+that if you couldn't take part we'd try and get Betty Hastings. She's
+older and taller than you, anyway, so she'd look more like Lafayette,"
+she said, moving toward the door.
+
+Betty Hastings lived just around the corner on Chestnut Street. She was
+twelve years old. She was tall for her age, and her hair was brown and
+very curly. She did not often play with the younger girls.
+
+"Lafayette? Was I to be Lafayette in the play?" asked Ruth. "Oh, Winifred!
+Ask Gilbert to wait. I'll come over first thing to-morrow
+morning. You tell him I _have_ to stay up here to-day. Don't ask
+Betty!" she pleaded, and Winifred finally agreed to try and persuade her
+brother to wait until the following morning before asking Betty.
+
+"You see, it's to be a birthday surprise for Mother; and her birthday is
+a week from to-day, so there isn't much time," Winifred explained, as she
+started toward the door.
+
+"Winifred! Where are you going?" Ruth whispered in alarm; and Winifred
+laughed at her friend's surprise to see her about to walk boldly from
+the room.
+
+"I can go down-stairs so your aunt won't know it, and open the front
+door just as easy, and walk right out. She is in the kitchen and won't
+hear me," Winifred answered; and with a warning word to be sure and be
+at the stable at nine o'clock the next morning, the little girl opened
+the door cautiously and disappeared.
+
+After Winifred had gone Ruth ate her porridge. She began to think of
+Gilbert's play, and of the fun it would be to take the part of the brave
+young Frenchman. She walked about the room, looked at Cecilia and the
+half-finished chair, and sighed deeply at the thought that she might be
+rehearsing with Winifred and Gilbert, the pony and Hero, instead of
+staying alone in her room.
+
+At last she remembered her knitting, and took it up rather reluctantly.
+"I do wish I hadn't worn Mother's dress," she thought. And she was
+conscious of a little uncomfortable feeling as to Winifred's visit after
+Aunt Deborah's refusal to admit her.
+
+"But I didn't ask her to come, or help her," she finally decided;
+although she began to wish that her friend had waited to tell her the
+great news until the next day and so avoided deceiving Aunt Deborah.
+
+But at last the long afternoon ended; and when the clock struck six
+there was a joyous bark just outside Ruth's door, and Aunt Deborah
+opened it for Hero to come bounding in. He had so much to tell his
+little mistress, with barks and jumps, and faithful pleading eyes, that
+it was some little time before Aunt Deborah found a chance to speak.
+
+"Thee had best come down to the dining-room and have supper with me.
+There are creamed oysters and toast and a bit of jelly. I think thee
+does not need porridge for another meal to-day," she said smilingly.
+
+"I know I'll remember about Mother's dress. It has been hard to stay up
+here all day," Ruth answered, glad indeed that her time of punishment
+was over.
+
+"But Aunt Deborah doesn't know just how hard it was," she thought as she
+followed her aunt down the stairs, with Hero close beside her, thinking
+over Winifred's great news.
+
+As she took her usual place at the table she was glad that she had not
+taken Winifred's suggestion to shorten her hours of solitude. The
+steaming oysters sent out an appetizing odor, the toast was crisp and
+golden, and the tumbler of amber-colored jelly seemed to reflect the
+light of the candles in their tall brass candlesticks which stood at
+each end of the table.
+
+"I have good news for thee, Ruth," said Aunt Deborah, smiling at her
+across the table. "I have word that thy mother will return early the
+coming week."
+
+Ruth gave an exclamation of delight.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! What a lot of nice things happen all together," she
+said. "You won't go back to Barren Hill when she comes, will you?" For
+Ruth began to realize that, even with her dear mother safe at home once
+more, she would miss the kind aunt who had been so unfailingly patient.
+
+It was evident that Aunt Deborah was greatly pleased. Her brown eyes
+shone, and Ruth suddenly discovered the amazing fact that there was a
+dimple in Aunt Deborah's right cheek.
+
+"'Tis indeed pleasant that thou should wish me to stay; but I fear my
+house at Barren Hill needs its mistress. To-morrow is the first of
+April, and I must see about planting my garden as soon as possible.
+Perhaps thy mother will let thee come for a visit before long," she
+responded. "That is, if the English General will take such a great risk
+as to give a small maid permission to leave the city," for no one could
+leave Philadelphia at that time without a written permission from an
+English officer.
+
+Ruth was quite sure that she should like to visit Barren Hill. She knew
+it was half-way to Valley Forge, where the American soldiers had passed
+a dreary winter, suffering from cold and hunger, while their enemies had
+enjoyed the comforts of American homes in Philadelphia. But now that
+spring had come the American people were more hopeful; they were sure
+their army would soon drive the enemy from the city.
+
+The people of little settlements like Barren Hill managed to carry food
+and clothing to the American soldiers. Aunt Deborah, just before coming
+to Philadelphia, had carried a treasured store of honey to Washington's
+headquarters, as well as clothing and food for Ruth's father.
+
+Although Aunt Deborah was a Quaker she was sure of the righteousness of
+America's war against oppression.
+
+"Perhaps I could see my father if I go to visit you, Aunt Deborah," said
+Ruth hopefully.
+
+But Aunt Deborah could give no assurance as to this. She knew that any
+day might see Washington's army moving from its winter quarters.
+
+"Thee could help me with the garden," she responded. "The bees will soon
+be about their work now; and there are many things in the country for a
+small maid to find pleasure in."
+
+"Did you ever see Lafayette, Aunt Deborah?" Ruth asked.
+
+"Why, child! Did not thy mother tell thee? He stopped at my door one
+day. He was on horseback, and only two soldiers with him. They had
+ridden out from camp to make sure no English spies were about, and he
+stopped to ask for a cup of water. He was pleased to take milk instead.
+Thee shall see the very cup from which he drank, Ruth. It was one of the
+pink luster cups, and I put it apart from the others. Some day thee
+shall have it for thy own," said Aunt Deborah, smiling at Ruth's evident
+delight.
+
+As Ruth listened she resolved that nothing should prevent her from
+visiting Aunt Deborah. Perhaps she might see Lafayette as well as her
+dear father. Perhaps the young Frenchman might again call at Aunt
+Deborah's door, and she, Ruth Pernell, hand him the pink luster cup
+filled with milk.
+
+Aunt Deborah's voice interrupted these pleasant day-dreams.
+
+"Now, Ruth, thee may help me wash the dishes; and we will make sure that
+Hero is safely indoors," she said.
+
+"Yes, indeed. Oh! Aunt Deborah, this has been a splendid day, after
+all," the little girl responded, thinking of Hero safe at home, of
+Winifred's visit, and of the pink luster cup that some day would be her
+own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GILBERT'S PLAY
+
+
+Ruth was up in good season the next morning, and Aunt Deborah was quite
+willing for her little niece to take Hero for a morning call on
+Winifred; and it was not yet nine o'clock when Ruth pushed open the gate
+that led from the alley into the Merrill's' garden.
+
+The stable stood beside this gate, and was some distance from the house.
+Fluff, the pony, had a fine box stall with a window looking into the
+garden. Fluff belonged to Gilbert; but Gilbert had grown so tall that he
+thought the pony too small for his use, and on Winifred's last birthday
+had given her all right and title to the little gray pony, whose thick
+mane and plume-like tail had made the name "Fluff" most appropriate.
+
+The stable was nearly hidden from the house by shrubs and trees, and
+Gilbert and Winifred found it a fine play-house. Ruth often wished that
+there was a stable in her father's garden, and that she had a pony
+exactly like Fluff.
+
+At the sound of Hero's bark Winifred and Gilbert both appeared in the
+doorway of the stable, and close behind them stood Betty Hastings. Ruth
+stood still with a questioning look at Winifred. She was sure that
+Gilbert had asked Betty to take the part of Lafayette, and for a moment
+she was tempted to turn away without a word. But before she could act on
+this impulse there was a chorus of welcoming greetings for her and for
+Hero, and Winifred came running to meet her.
+
+"Betty is going to take the part of Lord Cornwallis!" Winifred
+exclaimed, as she put her arm about Ruth and led her to the stable.
+"Gilbert thinks you were splendid to go straight to General Howe and ask
+for Hero," she added, "and Betty wants to hear just what Major André
+said," so Ruth, instead of finding herself entirely supplanted by Betty,
+as she had for a moment feared, was surrounded by the eager interest and
+attention of the little group. It seemed to Ruth that she had never
+before known how nice Betty Hastings really was. The older girl was
+evidently greatly impressed by the fact that Ruth had sat next to the
+English General at his dinner table.
+
+"I wish I could have been you, Ruth," she declared admiringly.
+
+"It was all right for Ruth to ask for her dog," Gilbert interrupted,
+"but _I_ wouldn't have sat down at General Howe's table. Not much I
+wouldn't."
+
+"But Major André lifted me up. I didn't do it myself," replied Ruth,
+suddenly ashamed that she had entirely forgotten that the English
+officers were her enemies, and had even been rather pleased that no
+other little girl in Philadelphia could say that she had sat at the
+dinner table of the great English General.
+
+"And you are no better than a Tory, Betty Hastings," Gilbert continued,
+looking disapprovingly toward brown-eyed Betty. "You said a little while
+ago that you would rather be Lord Cornwallis than Washington."
+
+"Well, what if I did? I only meant in your play; because the English
+uniform is fine. All scarlet and gold," Betty explained. She was
+smiling, and evidently did not care at all if Gilbert did not approve of
+her. "Come on and tell us what your play is about," she added.
+
+Gilbert's frown vanished. He drew a roll of paper from his pocket; and,
+looking soberly at his companions, said:
+
+"The name of my play is 'America Defeats the Foe.' It is in two acts.
+The first act is Lord Cornwallis, that's you, Betty, on his knees asking
+Washington to spare his life. The second act is Washington and Lafayette
+and their triumphant army, Winifred is the army, marching into
+Philadelphia."
+
+"Um-m," said Betty slowly, "what does Washington say when Lord
+Cornwallis asks him to spare his life?"
+
+"I don't just know yet," Gilbert admitted. "I thought I'd wait until we
+rehearsed."
+
+"You said Fluff and Hero were to have parts," Winifred reminded him, a
+little anxiously.
+
+"What does Lafayette wear?" asked Ruth.
+
+Gilbert's face flushed: "Just like girls, wanting to know everything
+before I've had time to think. But I can tell you one thing, we'll have
+to plan our costumes now."
+
+"Mine is all planned," said Betty; "you know there is an English officer
+lodging at our house, and I'll borrow his scarlet coat."
+
+"My Aunt Deborah has seen Lafayette," Ruth announced proudly, "and I'll
+ask her to tell me just what he wore, and then perhaps I can look just
+like him."
+
+Winifred said nothing. Gilbert had already told her that he meant to
+dress up two broomsticks as American soldiers, and these were to "march"
+on each side of Winifred, with her aid and assistance. She was always
+ready to help Gilbert in all his plans, but she was beginning to think
+that it would be rather a difficult task to be a triumphant army;
+especially as Gilbert had told her that she must cheer for Washington
+and Lafayette when they reached the "State House," whose location he had
+not yet decided on.
+
+"Aren't you going to have any girls or women in your play?" asked Betty,
+apparently not greatly pleased with Gilbert's brief description. "_I_
+think you ought to have Lady Washington in a balcony waving her
+handkerchief, when the victorious army enters Philadelphia. I could be
+Lady Washington, because I'll be all through being Lord Cornwallis in
+the first act," and Betty smiled at her companions as if sure they would
+be greatly pleased by her suggestion.
+
+"Why, yes----" began Gilbert, but before he could say more a wail from
+Winifred made them all look at her in surprise.
+
+"Betty Hastings shan't be everything! If she's going to be Lady
+Washington I won't play. I won't be an army, anyway," she sobbed.
+
+"Oh! I don't care!" said Betty good-humored. "I just happened to think
+of it, that's all. I'd just as soon be the army."
+
+It was finally decided that Winifred should be Lady Washington, and wave
+from the top of the grain-bin when the triumphant army passed. Lafayette
+was to ride on Fluff, and Gilbert said he meant to borrow a horse for
+George Washington. Hero was to follow the army. It was dinner-time
+before all these important questions were settled; and it was agreed
+that they would meet again the next morning for another rehearsal.
+Gilbert promised to have speeches ready for Lafayette and Cornwallis.
+
+"The way it is now nobody has anything to say but Washington," Betty had
+said, and Gilbert had agreed that Cornwallis should at least say, "Spare
+me, noble Washington," while Lafayette could make some response to
+Washington's speech, which Betty thought far too long, thanking the
+young Frenchman for his aid to America.
+
+"I wish Gilbert would let you make up our speeches, Betty," said Ruth,
+looking up at her companion with admiring eyes, as the two girls stopped
+for a moment at Ruth's door. "It wasn't any play at all until you told
+him what to do."
+
+"It will come out all right," responded Betty. "It's the dressing up
+that will be fun. I wish we could get Ned Ferris to play the drum and
+march ahead."
+
+Ruth agreed that a drummer would make it seem more like a triumphant
+army.
+
+"Do you suppose the English officer at your house will really lend you
+his red coat?" questioned Ruth.
+
+Betty laughed. "Of course he will; for he won't know anything about it.
+'Tis his best coat, and hangs in a closet in the passage near his room.
+He wears it only now and then. I shall just borrow it, and then hang it
+back in the closet," declared Betty. "Just as you did your mother's
+dress," she added quickly, as if half-afraid of Ruth's disapproval, and
+with a "good-bye until to-morrow, Lafayette," she ran quickly down the
+street.
+
+Ruth was a little thoughtful as she went into the house. She wished that
+she had told Betty that she was sorry about borrowing her mother's dress
+without permission, and that it would be wiser to ask the soldier to
+lend his coat. Then she remembered that Betty was nearly thirteen, and
+of course must know more than a little girl only just past ten.
+
+Aunt Deborah greeted her smilingly. "I have been brushing thy mother's
+gown, Ruth. 'Twas sadly in need of it, and a tear on the side breadth.
+But I have mended it so well that 'twill hardly be noticed, and sponged
+and pressed the dress until it looks as well as ever," she said.
+
+Ruth's face brightened.
+
+"Oh! I am so glad, Aunt Deborah. Then Mother need not know I wore it, or
+that I went to see General Howe. You will not tell her, will you, Aunt
+Deborah?" said Ruth eagerly.
+
+The smile faded from Aunt Deborah's face, and she turned away from Ruth
+with a little sigh.
+
+"No, I will not tell her, Ruth. But thee will surely do that thyself,"
+she answered.
+
+"But you say the dress looks as well as ever," said Ruth, "and, oh,
+Aunt Deborah! It will make Mother feel so bad to know that I was so
+thoughtless," and Ruth looked pleadingly toward her aunt.
+
+"Thee shall settle the matter for thyself, Ruth. But I hope thee will
+tell thy mother," responded Aunt Deborah. But Ruth made no reply.
+
+In the afternoon Winifred came over, and the two little girls sat down
+on the back porch to talk over Gilbert's play. Winifred said that the
+broomsticks could be dressed up in some blue coverlets, with cocked hats
+made from paper, and Ruth promised to help Winifred make the hats.
+
+"Betty is going to borrow her mother's fine silk cape and bonnet for me
+to wear as Lady Washington," Winifred continued eagerly. "Isn't Betty
+splendid to let me have the very best part of all, and to get so many
+nice things for us to dress up in?"
+
+"Will she ask her mother for the cape and bonnet?" Ruth questioned.
+
+"Of course she will," declared Winifred, "and I have thought of
+something. We can dress Josephine and Cecilia in their best dresses,
+and have them sit beside Lady Washington on the top of the grain box."
+
+Ruth agreed that such a plan would add to the success of Gilbert's play.
+
+"My mother is coming home in a few days," she said when Winifred said
+that she must go home.
+
+"Well, I guess she will be proud when you tell her that you went to
+General Howe and made him find Hero," Winifred replied. For Winifred was
+sure that it had been a very courageous act to face the English General.
+
+"I am not going to tell her a word about it," was Ruth's reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+BETTY RUNS AWAY
+
+
+The days now passed very quickly for Ruth and her friends. Every day
+Betty Hastings, Winifred, Ruth and Gilbert were in the Merrill's' garden
+or stable at work on the costumes for "America Conquers the Foe." Ned
+Ferris, a boy not much older than Ruth, had promised Gilbert to play on
+his drum, and to march at the head of the "army;" he would not need to
+rehearse, so would not come until the day decided on for the play. Ned
+had also offered the loan of his brown pony, a much larger animal than
+Fluff, for "Washington" to ride; and now Gilbert, Winifred and Ruth were
+all sure that the play would be a success. Betty Hastings was not so
+confident. She had begun to fear that it would be no easy matter to
+borrow the scarlet coat without the owner's knowledge: and she was even
+more doubtful in regard to her mother's fine cape and bonnet; but she
+said nothing of this to the others.
+
+If she had known that Gilbert had invited her mother, as well as a
+number of other friends of Mrs. Merrill's, to what he described as "a
+birthday surprise for my mother," Betty would doubtless have given up
+her part; but Gilbert had asked each guest to keep the invitation a
+secret; and it was probable that a surprise was in store for
+"Cornwallis" as well as for Gilbert's mother.
+
+Mrs. Pernell returned home from Germantown on the very morning of Mrs.
+Merrill's birthday, and Ruth was so delighted at her arrival that she
+nearly forgot to ask her mother to come to the play that afternoon, as
+Gilbert had requested. Gilbert had said that he wished Mistress Deborah
+Farleigh would come with Ruth's mother, but added: "It isn't any use to
+ask her, for Quakers don't believe in plays."
+
+"But this is different; I'm sure she will come," Ruth had responded
+eagerly; and had been greatly pleased when Aunt Deborah agreed, saying
+that, "'Twas surely a patriotic lesson that she would like well to
+see."
+
+Mrs. Pernell also praised Gilbert's cleverness, and promised to be ready
+in good season. "Perhaps I had best wear my brown silk to do credit to
+Mrs. Merrill's birthday party," she said, and wondered why Ruth became
+so silent and looked so sober. For a moment Ruth was tempted to tell her
+mother the whole story of her visit to General Howe; but she resisted
+the impulse. "It would spoil everything to make Mother feel bad the very
+day she has come home," the little girl assured herself; but she no
+longer felt light-hearted, and when her mother patted Hero's head, and
+said that she knew he had taken good care of everything in her absence,
+Ruth grew even more serious.
+
+Aunt Deborah was very quiet; but now and then her eyes rested on Ruth a
+little questioningly.
+
+"I suppose Aunt Deborah is thinking I ought to tell Mother," thought
+Ruth, and was glad to hurry away as soon as they finished dinner, saying
+she must be in good season, as Gilbert had set three o'clock as the hour
+for the arrival of his audience.
+
+"You must come in through the alley," Ruth reminded her mother and aunt;
+for Gilbert had decided that the guests were to be a part of the
+surprise for his mother.
+
+Gilbert was arranging seats for the company just inside the door of the
+stable behind a rope stretched from the front to the door of Fluff's
+stall. On the previous day the children had made an excursion to Fair
+Mount, and had brought home a quantity of blossoming boughs of the white
+dogwood, branches of pine, and of flowering elder, and these were used
+to make a background for the seats intended for the guests, to hide a
+part of the grain-bin, from which Lady Washington was to wave, and made
+the stable a very attractive and pleasant place. The guests could look
+through the open door into the garden where blue iris, yellow daffodils
+and purple lilacs were already in bloom.
+
+When Ruth came running to the stable Winifred called out to her from the
+top of the grain-bin: "Look, Ruth! Look!" and Ruth stopped in the
+doorway with an exclamation of surprise. For there was Winifred wearing
+Mrs. Hastings' beautiful blue mantle of rich silk, and a bonnet with
+soft blue plumes, and beside her sat two other figures that, for a
+moment, Ruth believed to be two strange ladies. Then she realized that
+Winifred had "dressed up" bundles of hay in two old gowns of her
+mother's, with their "heads" crowned by wreaths of leaves and flowers.
+
+Winifred laughed delightedly at Ruth's astonishment. "You see, Josephine
+and Cecilia were not tall enough; and of course Lady Washington ought to
+have company," she explained.
+
+Gilbert, dressed in a blue coat, yellow knee-breeches, and with a
+crimson and white scarf pinned across his coat, came to the door. He
+wore a cocked hat, and a wooden sword was fastened at his side, and he
+endeavored to stand as tall as possible.
+
+"Betty is waiting for you behind the lilac bushes," he said, and
+vanished; and Ruth ran off to the bunch of lilacs behind the stable
+where Betty, in a scarlet coat that covered her completely, was holding
+Fluff's bridle-rein, and close by stood Ned Ferris beside his brown
+pony.
+
+"Here is your coat and hat, 'Lafayette,'" said Betty, pointing to a
+bundle, which Ruth hastened to open.
+
+The coat was of blue velvet. It was one that Betty had found in a trunk
+in her mother's attic. There were ruffles of yellowed lace at the
+wrists, and tarnished gilt buttons and braid on the shoulders. This old
+velvet coat had belonged to Betty's grandfather, and was highly valued
+by her father. But Betty had not asked permission to take it.
+
+Ruth tied up her hair and put on the cocked hat that she had helped
+Winifred make; then with Betty's aid she slipped on the velvet coat, and
+with the addition of a wooden sword which Gilbert had made for her she
+was ready for her part in the play.
+
+The guests all arrived in good season, and were escorted to their seats
+by "Washington" himself, who then ran to the house to announce to his
+mother that some friends of hers were in the garden.
+
+Mrs. Merrill, greatly to Gilbert's satisfaction, did not seem to notice
+that he was not dressed as usual, and walked beside him down the garden
+path; as a turn in the path brought them in sight of the stable door
+Gilbert said:
+
+"This is a birthday surprise for you, Mother. It's a play, and here is
+the programme," and he handed her a strip of white paper bordered with
+a row of stars cut from gilt paper. At the top Gilbert had printed:
+
+                 "_AMERICA CONQUERS THE FOE_"
+
+                           _A Play
+                              by
+                       Gilbert Merrill
+                    for Mother's Birthday_
+
+
+                         _ACT FIRST_
+
+                   _Cornwallis Begs For Mercy_
+
+             _Cornwallis                 B. Hastings
+              Washington                 G. Merrill_
+
+
+                         _ACT SECOND_
+
+               _Washington's Triumphant Army Enters
+                         Philadelphia_
+
+             _Washington                 G. Merrill
+              Lafayette                  R. Pernell
+              Lady Washington      Miss Winifred Merrill_
+
+                          _Army Band._
+
+Mrs. Merrill read the programme admiringly.
+
+"It is indeed a wonderful birthday surprise, my dear boy," she said
+smilingly, "and I am proud of you," and she hurried forward to greet and
+welcome her friends, while Gilbert ran to summon "Cornwallis" to be
+ready for the first act.
+
+An old horse-blanket, suspended from the hay-loft in the rear of the
+stable, served as a curtain behind which knelt Betty in the scarlet
+coat. Gilbert now took his place beside her, trying to look stern and
+noble. At Gilbert's whistle Winifred, who was in the hay-loft, was to
+pull up the blanket by the long strings that Gilbert had skilfully
+arranged.
+
+The whistle sounded clearly. Up rose the curtain. There was an approving
+murmur from the audience at the sight of "Cornwallis" on his knees.
+
+"Spare me, noble Washington!" said Betty, but in rather a feeble voice.
+
+Washington's right hand was stretched over the head of his conquered
+foe.
+
+"Arise, Cornwallis. Flee for your life. My army is at hand," responded
+Washington; and Betty, stumbling a little, escaped from the rear door,
+while Washington marched out to meet his army, and the audience
+applauded.
+
+Betty's mother had noticed the red coat, and wondered what English
+soldier had consented to lend it for such a purpose. It did not occur
+to her that Betty had taken it from their lodger's closet.
+
+When Betty had entered the stable by the rear door and knelt according
+to Washington's directions she could hear the murmur of voices.
+
+"Who is with your mother?" she whispered to "Washington," but there had
+been no time to answer, and Betty found herself facing not only
+Gilbert's mother but a dozen other ladies of whom her mother was one;
+and it was a very anxious and troubled Betty who joined the little group
+behind the lilac bushes and, slipping off the red coat, put on an old
+coat and hat belonging to Gilbert's father, and with the dressed up
+broomsticks, took her place behind Fluff as the "Army."
+
+Ned Ferris sounded a measured "rat-a-tat-tat" on his drum and strode
+toward the entrance to the stable, followed by Washington and Lafayette,
+the "Army," and the docile Hero. Lady Washington scrambled from the
+hay-loft to the top of the grain-bin, drew her fine silk mantle about
+her, and smiled graciously down upon the assembled guests. Mrs. Hastings
+looked up at her. "For pity's sake!" her seatmate heard her murmur, "my
+best mantle and bonnet!"
+
+But at that moment came the quick beat of a drum. Washington's pony, a
+little annoyed and nervous, and Fluff, determined to reach his stall as
+quickly as possible, although "Lafayette" endeavored to guide him in the
+appointed course, entered the stable.
+
+"Washington" drew rein beneath the grain-bin and lifted his hat to Lady
+Washington, who leaned forward to wave in response; but unfortunately
+her bonnet strings were not fastened, and the fine bonnet with its blue
+plumes fell from her head and went tumbling down almost on Hero's brown
+head. In a second the dog had seized it, and forgetting his part in the
+procession, jumped this way and that, shaking this new plaything with
+delighted satisfaction.
+
+Mrs. Hastings kept her seat resolutely. It would have been an easy
+matter to have stepped from her seat and rescued the bonnet. But Mrs.
+Hastings knew that such a movement on her part would have brought
+Gilbert's play to an untimely end, and spoiled the pleasure of all the
+guests, as well as of the children who took part. So she did not move,
+even when Hero fled out into the garden with the plumes grasped in his
+teeth. Betty, Ruth and Winifred never forgot that moment, nor the fact
+that Mrs. Hastings had apparently not seen what happened. Even in her
+fright at the results of her "borrowing" Betty Hastings was very proud
+of her mother.
+
+The drummer played on. The two ponies were swung around face to face;
+Washington and Lafayette clasped hands for a moment; then side by side,
+with drum playing, but with a silent army, the little procession
+vanished through the rear door.
+
+Gilbert was delighted with his success. It seemed to him that everything
+had gone very well, and he was especially grateful to Betty Hastings for
+securing the English officer's coat.
+
+But Betty, having seen the ruin of the bonnet, had suddenly realized
+that it was a serious matter to take the belongings of other people
+without their permission; and her first thought was of the officer's
+coat. Whatever happened she must return that coat to the closet from
+which she had taken it as soon as possible. Then she would try and
+explain to her mother that she had not meant any harm should befall the
+borrowed articles. So, grasping the red coat, Betty opened the door into
+the alley and started off as fast as she could go; while Ruth, still
+wearing the fine velvet coat, crouched down behind the lilac bushes, too
+unhappy to care if the play had been a success or not; for as
+"Lafayette" faced the audience she had seen that her mother was wearing
+the brown silk dress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+BETTY'S ADVENTURE
+
+
+"Come, Ruth, Mistress Hastings is waiting for thy fine velvet coat," and
+Ruth looked up to see Aunt Deborah smiling down upon her; and in a
+moment the little girl was clinging to Aunt Deborah's arm, and asking
+anxiously:
+
+"Did Mother find the mended place in her dress? Oh, Aunt Deborah! I do
+wish I had told her all about it!"
+
+"Slip off the coat, dear child, and run and tell her now," said Aunt
+Deborah, and in a moment Ruth was running across the garden to where her
+mother was standing with Mrs. Merrill. Mrs. Pernell smiled down at her
+little daughter, and clasping the warm little hand in her own turned
+toward the gate.
+
+In a moment Ruth was in the midst of her story, and Mrs. Pernell
+listened without a word until Ruth, breathless and almost in tears,
+finished by saying:
+
+"I didn't think it would hurt the dress, Mother! I'm so sorry. And I am
+sorry I didn't tell you the moment you got home."
+
+Ruth felt her hand clasped a little more closely at this; but her mother
+made no response until they were in Ruth's pleasant chamber. Then Mrs.
+Pernell drew her little girl down beside her on the broad window-seat;
+and leaning her head against her mother's shoulder Ruth told of the day
+she had stayed up-stairs as a punishment for her thoughtlessness.
+
+"Mother, you haven't said a word!" Ruth finally exclaimed, looking up
+anxiously. "Are you ashamed of me?"
+
+"Why, I think I am rather proud of my little daughter," was the smiling
+response. "You set your own punishment, and I know you will stop and
+think when next you plan such a masquerade party. My dress, it seems, is
+but little the worse, after all; and Hero is well worth some sacrifice.
+Perhaps if you had not been 'dressed up' you would not have been
+admitted to General Howe's house, and might not have succeeded in
+rescuing Hero," said Mrs. Pernell, stooping down to kiss her little
+girl's flushed cheek.
+
+"Oh, Mother! I do love you," exclaimed the happy child. "I'll never be
+afraid to tell you everything."
+
+"Of course you will tell me everything. That is what mothers are for,"
+rejoined Mrs. Pernell. "And now I will take off my silk gown, and you
+had best smooth your hair and make yourself tidy for supper."
+
+"That sounds like Aunt Deborah," said Ruth laughingly. But as she obeyed
+her mother's suggestion she thought happily that now Mother was at home
+everything was sure to go smoothly.
+
+When Gilbert's play was over Mrs. Hastings, although sadly troubled over
+Betty's "borrowings," and the ruin of her pretty bonnet, complimented
+Gilbert and Winifred on the success of the play; and not until she had
+chatted for a few moments with Mrs. Merrill did she go to rescue her
+valued mantle and the treasured velvet coat. She hoped the English
+officer's coat was none the worse for its part in the play; and, like
+Betty, she hoped to return it before it was missed by its rightful
+owner; for it would be no easy matter to explain why it had been
+borrowed, and she knew its loss would make serious trouble.
+
+She noticed that her mantle was dusty and wrinkled, and that the lace on
+the velvet coat was torn. The scarlet coat, however, was not to be
+found, and Betty had also disappeared.
+
+Deciding that she would find her little daughter and the coat safely at
+home Mrs. Hastings bade her friends good-bye and started for her walk
+home. But she did not find Betty there. Supper time came, and still no
+Betty. A servant was sent to Mrs. Merrill's to inquire for the little
+girl, but came hurrying back with the tidings that Betty had not been
+seen since the end of the play.
+
+Mrs. Merrill now looked through every room, but Betty was not to be
+found. She inquired at the homes of her neighbors, but no one had seen
+the little girl.
+
+The April twilight deepened to dusk; the stars shone out and found Mrs.
+Hastings anxious and troubled, for she could find no trace of Betty.
+
+When Betty ran down the alley she had thought it would be an easy matter
+to reach home with the red coat; but she had forgotten that Philadelphia
+was full of the King's soldiers, and that a bareheaded little girl
+racing down the street with the coat of an English officer over her arm
+would not escape notice; and she had only reached Second Street when a
+passing soldier called to her. His call only made her run the faster,
+and the soldier sped after her. If Betty had stopped at once, told her
+own name and address, and the name of the owner of the coat, the soldier
+would doubtless have taken her directly home and made sure that she had
+told him the truth, and it is probable that her troubles would have been
+at an end. But Betty was now too frightened to think clearly. She did
+not even know the direction in which she ran was straight away from her
+home. The English soldier ran clumsily, and Betty, turning quickly into
+another street, soon distanced him; but only to run straight into
+another soldier, who seized her firmly by both arms, swung her about,
+and without a word marched her down the street.
+
+"Making off with an officer's coat," he said, after what seemed a very
+long time to the frightened girl. "What's your name?"
+
+Betty made no response. She resolved that no one should ever know that
+Betty Hastings had been suspected of such a dreadful thing as taking
+what she had no right to take.
+
+"Won't speak, eh? Well, I'll take you to Captain De Lance and see what
+he has to say to you," said the soldier, and the silent little girl,
+still holding the scarlet coat, was led down one street after another
+until she saw the shining waters of the Schuylkill River before her, and
+the soldier led her up the steps of an old stone house whose garden ran
+down to the river. The soldier was evidently familiar with the house,
+for he pushed open the door and led Betty into a big pleasant room, and
+motioned toward a comfortable chair.
+
+"You can sit there until the captain comes in; and you had best tell me
+your name. 'Twill do you no good to sulk," he said, taking the coat from
+her reluctant grasp. But Betty only set her lips more firmly. She
+resolved not to speak, no matter what might befall her.
+
+"Very well, Miss. I'll leave you to find your tongue," said the soldier,
+laying the coat carefully over a chair and leaving the room. Betty heard
+him turn the key in the lock. She was tired, and leaned back in the
+cushioned chair, hardly realizing what had befallen her. She could hear
+steps now and then outside the door, and every moment expected that it
+would open and the captain of whom the soldier had spoken would appear.
+
+But the room grew shadowy in the deepening twilight and no one came
+near. Betty's thoughts flew homeward to the candle-lit dining-room where
+Dinah, the Hastings' colored servant, would be spreading the table for
+supper, and Betty realized that she was very hungry.
+
+She left her seat and tiptoed toward a long window at the further end of
+the room. The window looked out into the garden, and Betty instantly
+realized that it swung in on hinges and was not fastened, and that it
+would be an easy matter to let herself down to the ground.
+
+"I must take the coat," she thought, and crept back to the chair where
+the scarlet coat lay. In a moment she was back at the window and had
+dropped the coat to the ground; and now, grasping the window sill with
+both hands, she let herself carefully down. Picking up the coat, and
+keeping close in the shadow of the house, Betty made her way until she
+was near the door through which she had entered the house. She went very
+carefully, peering ahead into the shadows, and listening intently for
+any sound that might warn her that her flight had been discovered. But
+she heard no sound, and at last she reached the road.
+
+"It is too dark for any one to know what color the coat is now," she
+thought, as she hurried along.
+
+Betty realized that she was a long distance from home, but she was sure
+that she could soon find her way to some familiar street and then it
+would be an easy matter to reach home. Now and then she passed groups of
+people homeward bound, or English soldiers sauntering along the street,
+and then turning a corner she gave a little exclamation of delight, for
+there, close at hand, were the brick walls of Christ Church, its
+graceful spire rising against the clear April sky. And now home was near
+at hand and Betty quickened her pace. She had almost forgotten her
+mother's ruined bonnet and the fact that she had no excuse to give for
+borrowing the things for Gilbert's play without permission. All she
+could think of was the fact that she was in sight of home. She ran up
+the steps and the door opened as if by magic, and Betty's mother clasped
+her little girl, scarlet coat and all, in her welcoming arms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LOST PROGRAMME
+
+
+The scarlet coat, after being carefully brushed and pressed, was
+returned to its place in the closet; and its owner never knew or
+imagined the part it had taken in Gilbert's play. The soldier who had
+locked Betty into Captain De Lance's room, and returned to find that the
+silent little captive had outwitted him and made her escape, decided
+that it was best to keep the affair to himself, and say nothing about a
+little girl with an officer's coat for which she would not account.
+
+Ruth and Winifred came early the next morning to make sure that Betty
+was safe at home, and listened eagerly to the story of her adventure.
+
+"Do you suppose you could find the way back to the stone house?"
+questioned Ruth.
+
+"Yes, I am sure I could," responded Betty; but she did not suggest, as
+Ruth hoped, that they should all make an excursion to the house by the
+river. In fact, Winifred and Ruth both agreed on their way home that
+Betty seemed very sober. And it was true that Betty was more quiet than
+usual for several days; for she realized that she had had a narrow
+escape from a serious punishment. Nor could she forget the pretty plumed
+bonnet that Hero had so gaily destroyed. The fact that her mother did
+not speak of the bonnet only made Betty the more repentant. She and Ruth
+had both resolved that they would not again take for granted that they
+could use other people's property without permission.
+
+"Aunt Deborah is going home to Barren Hill to-morrow," said Ruth, as she
+and Winifred came near home; "Farmer Withal is to call for her. You
+know he brings in butter and cheese from his farm every Thursday, and
+Aunt Deborah will ride home in his wagon. I wish I were going with her."
+
+"Oh, Ruth Pernell!" said Winifred reproachfully.
+
+"Well, I do. Barren Hill is half-way to Valley Forge, and perhaps I
+could see my father. And, Winifred! One day Lafayette stopped at Aunt
+Deborah's door! Perhaps I might see him; perhaps he might ask me to
+carry a message for him," said Ruth eagerly.
+
+"Little girls can't carry war messages," Winifred rejoined confidently.
+"You are just like Gilbert, always wishing you could do something for
+Lafayette. I don't see why. I would rather help Washington."
+
+"It's because Lafayette came 'way from France," Ruth replied, "and,
+anyway, I am going to Barren Hill. Mother says that I may go next
+month."
+
+"I have thought of something!" Winifred announced. "To-morrow you and I
+will drive out a little way with your aunt. With Fluff, I mean; and Hero
+may go too. I will harness Fluff into the cart, and we will be all ready
+to start at the same time they do."
+
+Ruth agreed that this would be a fine plan, and both the girls were sure
+that Aunt Deborah would be pleased that they wished to go a part of the
+way with her. They decided to take "Josephine" and "Cecilia," as well as
+Hero, with them.
+
+[Illustration: IT WAS A FAVORITE PLAY-HOUSE]
+
+"It will make up to them for not taking part in the play," said
+Winifred. So much had happened during the past week that Ruth had
+entirely forgotten the unfinished chair for Cecilia, but now she spoke
+of it to Winifred.
+
+"I will help you finish it. But let's take our dolls and work into the
+garden; it is too warm to stay in the house," she said, and in a short
+time the two little girls had brought Cecilia and Josephine, as well as
+their sewing bags, to the shade of the wide-spreading maple tree that
+grew in the further corner of the Pernell's' garden. Ruth's father had
+built a low seat around this tree, and it was a favorite play-house for
+the two little friends. Hero followed them, and stretched himself out at
+their feet, quite sure that they were both happier because of his
+presence.
+
+For a little while the girls worked steadily, covering with chintz the
+cardboard pieces that would form the chair.
+
+"I'll put it together," said Winifred, and with skillful fingers she
+fastened the seat, back and arms; and with a triumphant "There!" set it
+down beside Ruth, who looked at it admiringly, and lost no time in
+establishing Cecilia in her new possession.
+
+"Wouldn't it be fine if we could make a sofa, and a table and a little
+bed for each of our dolls?" suggested Ruth.
+
+"We can," declared Winifred, "but I think it would be nicer to have the
+table and bed made of wood. Let's go in your shed and see if we can find
+some nice smooth pieces."
+
+"And Father's tool box is in the shed," said Ruth, as they left their
+dolls in Hero's care and ran across the garden to the shed, whose open
+door faced the big maple.
+
+The shed was nearly square. Beside the wide door there were two windows,
+both looking into the garden, and beneath these was Mr. Pernell's
+work-bench, and a box containing his treasured tools; and on a long
+shelf over the bench were carefully arranged strips and squares of
+polished wood. For in the days of peace Mr. Pernell had used his leisure
+hours in making frames for pictures, a work-box, desk or light-stand;
+and had collected this store of material from many sources. Ruth had
+often played about in the shed while her father was at work, but she had
+no idea of the value of his store of wood.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! Look! This will make a fine table!" she said, standing
+on the work-bench and pulling down a strip of curly maple.
+
+"And here are some dark shiny strips, just the thing for bed-posts!"
+said Winnie, drawing out a slender length of highly polished mahogany.
+In a few minutes the two girls had pulled down a number of strips of
+wood, had opened Mr. Pernell's tool-chest and taken out a number of
+planes, a small saw, gimlets and a hammer.
+
+"But we haven't any patterns," said Winifred. "You know we had a pattern
+for the chair."
+
+"We don't need any pattern for a table. It is just a top and four legs,
+one at each corner," declared Ruth. "We can begin on the table to-day;
+then we can look at sofas and beds and make patterns, if we need to."
+
+"Here is something to measure with," said Winifred, holding up a
+foot-rule. "We can make anything! Oh, Ruth! Instead of making doll
+furniture let's make truly tables, I am sure some of those pieces are
+large enough."
+
+"Winifred, you always think of just the right thing," Ruth responded
+admiringly. "Let's make a table for a present for Betty. She got all
+those nice things for us to dress up in, and we have never made her a
+present."
+
+Winifred nodded approvingly. She was greatly pleased by Ruth's
+admiration, and she thought that Betty would be greatly surprised to
+discover that two girls so much younger than herself could really make a
+table.
+
+"Ruth! Ruth!" called Aunt Deborah from the back porch. "Dinner is ready!"
+
+So the two little girls were obliged to leave their pleasant plans, and,
+after promising to return early that afternoon, Winifred started for
+home while Ruth ran into the house.
+
+"My chair is all finished for Cecilia," she announced as she took her
+seat at the dinner-table, "and Winifred and I are going to make a table
+for Betty."
+
+Mrs. Pernell and Aunt Deborah both smiled their approval, thinking that
+the table for Betty, like Cecilia's chair, was to be made of pasteboard.
+
+"Thee must bring thy doll to Barren Hill," said Aunt Deborah. "There are
+fine places to play in the big barn and in the pine woods, and thy doll
+will be company for thee."
+
+"How soon may I visit Aunt Deborah, Mother?" Ruth asked eagerly. "May I
+not go with Farmer Withal next week?"
+
+"I cannot spare you so soon, Ruthie dear," responded her mother, "and I
+will have to ask permission from the English General for you to leave
+the town. You see they fear even small Americans," she concluded
+laughingly. But before dinner was over it was decided that, if all went
+well, Ruth should go to Barren Hill about the first of May. That seemed
+a long time to Ruth; but she remembered that Betty's table was not even
+begun, and if she and Winifred did decide to make furniture for their
+dolls the three weeks that must pass before her visit to Barren Hill
+would perhaps be none too long a time.
+
+Mrs. Pernell had just left the table when there was a rap at the door,
+and before any one could respond it opened, and there stood Winifred;
+her face was pale and she was evidently frightened.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Pernell! There are two English officers at our house. They
+have come to take Gilbert," she exclaimed, "and they want Ruth too."
+
+"'Take Gilbert'!" echoed Mrs. Pernell. "What has he done? And what do
+they want of Ruth?"
+
+"Oh! It's because of the play. Mother lost the programme we made for
+her. It blew away, and an English soldier found it; and they are going
+to take Ruth too," Winifred finished nearly in tears.
+
+"I will go and speak with these officers," said Aunt Deborah calmly.
+"Thee need not be troubled, Winifred. Thee and Ruth had best come with
+me so they can see how dangerous an enemy they have to arrest," and Aunt
+Deborah smiled so reassuringly that Winifred took courage, and followed
+Aunt Deborah to the door. They were soon in the Merrill's' garden, just
+in time to meet two English soldiers with Gilbert between them coming
+down the steps.
+
+Aunt Deborah went forward smilingly.
+
+"Thee does not mean to take this lad from his home," she said, speaking
+to the elder of the two men. "He has done nothing worthy of thy notice,
+and his mother can ill spare him."
+
+"That may be, madam. But we must obey orders. We have to take G. Merrill
+and R. Pernell to General Howe," the man answered civilly.
+
+"Here is R. Pernell," said Aunt Deborah, her hand resting protestingly
+on Ruth's shoulder. "Surely thee does not mean to take this little
+girl?"
+
+The soldiers seemed somewhat surprised at this, but repeated that they
+must obey orders. Gilbert did not seem at all afraid; he took Ruth by
+the hand, and told her that it was nothing to be alarmed about. Mrs.
+Merrill, Aunt Deborah, Ruth's mother and Winifred kept close to the
+"prisoners" as the little party made its way down the street toward the
+headquarters of the English General.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A LONG ROAD
+
+
+"What is this?" called a pleasant voice, and the two soldiers halted
+instantly and saluted a young officer who blocked their way.
+
+"If thee please, sir, there has been a mistake made," said Aunt Deborah,
+and proceeded to tell the story of the birthday entertainment that the
+children had given for Mrs. Merrill.
+
+The young officer listened gravely.
+
+"As you say, madam, they are but children; but such games find little
+favor among loyal English people," he responded.
+
+"But thee must remember we are Americans," said Aunt Deborah fearlessly.
+The young officer turned and walked beside them. Now and then he smiled
+as if amused by his own thoughts, but he said nothing more until they
+reached the headquarters of the General.
+
+"Wait here a moment," he said, and ran up the steps.
+
+"I shall tell them that Ruth had nothing to do with it, and that I am
+the only one to blame," Gilbert said to Mrs. Pernell. "Of course they
+won't punish any one but me."
+
+Before Mrs. Pernell could reply the young officer appeared at the door,
+and came slowly down the steps.
+
+"Come with me, young sir," he said, resting his hand on Gilbert's
+shoulder. "You may take the little girls home, ladies," he added. "I am
+quite sure they will not prove a danger to England's cause."
+
+"I will wait for my son," said Mrs. Merrill. "I do not suppose you mean
+to detain him long."
+
+"I cannot say as to that, madam; but you are quite welcome to wait. If
+you will come in I will see that you find a comfortable chair," he
+replied courteously.
+
+"I will wait here," said Mrs. Merrill.
+
+"And we will wait also," declared Ruth's mother.
+
+Ruth and Winifred clasped each other's hands as they watched Gilbert
+being led up the steps. They thought their mothers were very brave
+indeed to reply so calmly to an English officer.
+
+Gilbert was absent not more than a half hour, but it seemed much longer
+to the anxious little group. He came down the steps alone, and when his
+mother slipped her hand under one arm while Winifred clasped his other
+hand he smiled and said: "Humph! All they did was laugh and tell me to
+choose a better plot for my next play. They are not soldiers at all.
+Why, they asked me if I would not like to take a part in one of Major
+André's plays."
+
+"What did you say, Gilbert?" questioned Winifred.
+
+"I said '_No_.' And that's all I said. And I did not thank them for the
+offer; and then they laughed more than ever. I wish Washington would
+drive them out of Philadelphia," answered Gilbert, who was a trifle
+disappointed that the Englishmen had not taken his play more seriously.
+He would not have minded if he had been held as a prisoner for a few
+days; it would have made him feel that he had really done something to
+prove his loyalty to the American cause.
+
+But Mrs. Merrill was very glad to have her tall son safely beside her,
+although she was inclined to agree with him that the gay young English
+officers took their duties too lightly. There had been balls at the City
+Tavern every week during the winter, and most of the officers seemed to
+forget that there were dangers in store for them from the American Army
+at Valley Forge.
+
+Gilbert's adventure made Ruth and Winifred completely forget their plan
+to make a table as a present for Betty until late that afternoon; and
+then they decided not to begin it until after Aunt Deborah's departure
+the next day.
+
+"Mother has a table shaped like a heart. We could mark a heart on that
+square piece of dark wood with chalk and then cut it out," suggested
+Winnie. "I am sure Betty would like that better than a plain square
+table."
+
+"Of course she would," agreed Ruth. Neither of the little girls realized
+how hard an undertaking it would be to carve a heart-shaped table top
+from the square piece of mahogany.
+
+Ruth was awake at an early hour the next morning. The April sun shone
+warmly in through her open window; the robins, who had built a nest in
+the hawthorn tree, sang jubilantly as if rejoicing that spring was
+really at hand, and Ruth could hear her mother and Aunt Deborah moving
+about in the lower rooms. It was just the day for a ride in the country.
+
+Ruth was glad that Winifred had thought of so pleasant a plan as driving
+a part of the way with Aunt Deborah. Both the little girls had taken it
+for granted that their mothers would have no objection. Winifred was
+used to driving the pony, and had often taken Ruth with her, but they
+had never been farther than Fair Mount, a pleasant hill just outside the
+town on the Schuylkill River, or along the quiet streets of the town;
+but to-day Winifred had said that they would drive until Aunt Deborah
+should tell them to turn toward home.
+
+Farmer Withal usually arrived in the city at an early hour, delivered
+his produce, then gave the big brown horse an hour or two rest, and was
+ready to start on his return journey directly after dinner.
+
+Aunt Deborah did not keep him waiting, and was at the gate with Mrs.
+Pernell beside her when the round-faced smiling farmer in his long coat
+of heavy blue drilling and his wide-rimmed hat came driving up.
+
+"Where can Ruth be?" her mother said anxiously, as the farmer lifted
+Aunt Deborah's trunk into the back of the wagon and stood waiting to
+help her mount to the high seat.
+
+At that moment the pony carriage drew up behind the wagon with Winnie
+and Ruth smiling and waving their hands at Aunt Deborah.
+
+"We are going a little way with you, Mistress Farleigh," called
+Winifred.
+
+"May I go, Mother?" Ruth added.
+
+Aunt Deborah was evidently greatly pleased that the little girls had
+wished to go a little way with her on her journey home, and Mrs. Pernell
+smiled and nodded her consent, thinking that Ruth would be safely back
+in an hour at the longest, and waving her good-byes as Farmer Withal
+climbed to his seat and the brown horse trotted off, closely followed by
+Fluff.
+
+Down the street they went, turning now into the broader highway and at
+last reaching the river road that led straight to Mat son's Ford, beyond
+which the road led on to Valley Forge.
+
+As they came in sight of the river the big horse stopped, and in a
+moment Fluff was beside the farmer's cart. Aunt Deborah smiled down at
+the little girls.
+
+"'Tis best that thee turn toward home now. And I thank thee both for
+coming so far with me. 'Twill not be long now, Ruth, before I hope to
+see thee at Barren Hill. And thee, Winifred, will be welcome also
+whenever thou canst give me the pleasure of a visit."
+
+Before Aunt Deborah had finished speaking Ruth was out of the pony
+carriage and standing on the step of Farmer Withe's cart holding up a
+package.
+
+"Here is something I made for you, Aunt Deborah," she said. Aunt Deborah
+reached down and received the small carefully wrapped package.
+
+"Thank thee, dear child," she said, and Ruth stood by the roadside and
+waved a good-bye as the brown horse trotted off at a more rapid pace than
+he had traveled through the town.
+
+"I wish we could have gone farther," she said regretfully as she went
+back to her seat beside Winifred.
+
+"Well, we can. We'll turn up that shady road and see where it goes,"
+responded Winifred. "What did you give your aunt?"
+
+"A needle-book. Mother helped me make it. It is of blue flannel, with
+embroidered edges, and shaped like a small book, with Aunt Deborah's
+initials on the cover," said Ruth. "Would it not be pleasant if you
+could visit Aunt Deborah when I do?"
+
+Winifred feared that such a visit would not be possible. But the two
+little friends talked of many things as Fluff trotted along the narrow
+country road, hardly more than a lane, and sheltered by closely growing
+trees. Now and then the road came out into an open space, and there
+would be many violets growing close to the roadside. Then the girls
+sprang from the cart and gathered handfuls of the fragrant blossoms,
+while Fluff nibbled at the grass, or twisted his head to watch his young
+mistress. The wild honeysuckle was also in bloom along a sloping
+pasture, and Ruth was eager to gather it to take home to her mother. She
+climbed up the rough slope, followed by Winifred, and they soon had
+large bunches of the delicate blossoms. From the top of the little hill
+that they had climbed they could see the distant line of the blue river,
+and after roaming about for a time they decided it was time to return to
+Fluff and start for home. The pony whinnied a little impatiently and
+shook his head at them as they approached.
+
+"He thinks we have stayed too long," said Winifred laughingly. "What
+time do you suppose it is, Ruth?"
+
+"Oh! we can't have been away from home more than an hour," said Ruth;
+"but the sky looks cloudy, doesn't it?"
+
+But it was not clouds that made the sky darken, it was the rapidly
+approaching twilight. The tall trees shut out the golden spring
+sunshine; and the afternoon had passed so pleasantly that neither Ruth
+nor Winifred had any idea that evening was close at hand, or that they
+were miles from home in a solitary and unknown road that had seemed to
+grow more narrow as they went on.
+
+"Perhaps we had better turn around now," suggested Winifred a few
+moments after they had gathered the wild honeysuckle. "I told Mother we
+would be home early. Why, what is the matter with Fluff?" she added in a
+startled tone, for the little pony had come to a full stop.
+
+Both the little girls jumped out of the cart and ran to the pony's head,
+which drooped low. Fluff was breathing heavily, and it seemed to
+Winifred as if his slender legs trembled.
+
+"Why, he can't be tired. He had that long rest just now," said Ruth
+anxiously. Neither of them realized that ever since leaving the river
+the road had run steadily up-hill, or that the pony had been traveling
+for a number of hours. Fluff was no longer young, and he had never been
+required to go long distances; and now he could go no further.
+
+"I'll take off his harness," said Winifred quickly. "I hope he isn't
+going to have a fit. Ned Farris's pony has fits." It did not take her
+long to set Fluff free from the pony-cart, and he turned a grateful look
+toward his little mistress, who began to wish there was a brook or
+spring near at hand where the little creature could drink.
+
+Ruth smoothed Fluff's head, and Winifred with a bunch of wayside grass
+rubbed his back and legs.
+
+"He's going to lie down," said Winifred as Fluff moved his head about
+quickly; and in a moment the tired little creature had stretched himself
+at their feet.
+
+"What shall we do? I am sure Fluff can't take us home," exclaimed
+Winifred, "and we can't go and leave him here."
+
+"It can't be very far from home," responded Ruth. "I could go home and
+tell Gilbert, and he would come right back for you with Ned's pony."
+
+"But what could we do with Fluff?" asked Winifred a little despondently.
+"He is too tired to drive home."
+
+"Perhaps he'd be rested enough by that time to go home, if he didn't
+have to pull the cart," said Ruth; "anyway, I do think one of us ought
+to go home or our mothers will think some harm has befallen us. I'll
+stay, if you would rather go."
+
+But Winifred shook her head. She did not wish to leave the pony; neither
+was she pleased at the thought of staying by herself on that lonely
+road. At last, however, they decided that Ruth's plan was the best they
+could think of, and Ruth started.
+
+"I'll hurry all the way, Winifred; and Gilbert will come back as fast as
+he can," she called as she started to run down the hill.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A LONG RIDE
+
+
+"I wish we had brought Hero," thought Ruth regretfully as she hurried
+down the shadowy road, "then he could have come with me for company."
+For at the last moment before leaving home the little girls had decided
+that it was not best to let Hero accompany them. There was not room for
+him in the pony-cart, and for him to race along the streets might well
+mean that he would again disappear; so Ruth had been quite ready to
+leave him at home. But now she would have been very glad to have him
+running along beside her. "Josephine" and "Cecilia" had also been left
+behind; in fact neither Winifred nor Ruth had remembered the dolls until
+after they had said good-bye to Aunt Deborah. And, while Ruth was
+regretting the absence of Hero, Winifred, sitting close beside Fluff,
+was wishing that her beloved Josephine was there to keep her company.
+
+"It would be a great adventure for Josephine," she thought, looking up
+through the overhanging branches of the big oak under which Fluff had
+stopped to rest. For a time she amused herself by braiding the long
+grass and weaving it about green twigs broken from an elder-bush until
+she had made a wide, shallow basket with a handle. Into this she put the
+violets and wild honeysuckle, resolving to take it home as a present to
+her mother. She put it carefully under the seat of the pony-cart, and
+then decided to search for a spring or brook, for she was thirsty.
+
+Fluff showed no signs of wishing to start for home, or even to eat the
+tempting young grass growing near.
+
+"If I find a brook perhaps I can lead him, and then he will get a good
+drink," thought Winifred, crossing the narrow road and pushing aside a
+thick growth of wild shrubs.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, for she had stepped at once on to damp yielding
+moss which covered her low cut slippers and whetted her feet as
+completely as if she had stepped into a brook. Just beyond this moss lay
+a clear little pool of water, evidently fed by springs.
+
+Winifred discovered that the farther, or upper, bank of the pool was dry
+and sandy, and in a few moments she was kneeling beside the clear water
+and drinking thirstily. She then made her way back to the road, breaking
+down branches of the shrubs to make a way for Fluff, who was now on his
+feet looking about as if in search of his little mistress.
+
+"Come on, Fluff," she said coaxingly, grasping the plume-like mane.
+"Come and have a drink." The pony moved forward obediently. He hesitated
+a moment at having to push his way through the undergrowth, but with
+Winifred encouraging and urging him forward he was soon in sight of the
+pool, and then sprang forward so suddenly that his mane slid through
+Winifred's hands and she found herself on her hands and knees while
+Fluff, with his nose in the clear water, was drinking thirstily.
+
+Winifred laughed as she scrambled to her feet. Her shoes and stockings
+were wet and muddy, her pretty blue linen dress was torn, and now she
+realized that her hat was gone, that she must have lost it in pushing
+her way through the undergrowth; but these things seemed of small
+consequence to Winifred just then; for the pony, with his forefeet
+planted firmly in the shallow water, was evidently more himself than he
+had been since he had stopped short under the oak tree.
+
+"I'll lead him back and harness him into the cart and start after Ruth,"
+thought his little mistress happily, "and I do believe it is getting
+dark!" she added aloud, realizing that the woods seemed very shadowy, as
+she made her way toward the pool.
+
+As she came near Fluff he lifted his head from the water, shook himself
+much as a big dog would do, and whinnied with satisfaction. But as
+Winifred approached more closely he gave a little dancing step into the
+water just beyond her reach.
+
+"Oh, Fluff! It isn't any time to play games. We must start for home
+before it is really dark," said Winifred. But Fluff was now rested, and
+free from his harness in a fragrant shadowy wood. He was sure that his
+little mistress must be as ready as himself for a game, so he edged
+along the pool until a clear space opened before him, and then he
+stepped out, and trotted briskly away between the tall trees.
+
+"Fluff! Fluff!" called Winifred, running after him. "Oh! where did he
+go?" for the pony had disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him.
+Winifred ran on until her way was blocked by thickly growing underbrush.
+Then she turned back, but now she could not find the pool. The shadows
+deepened; she could hardly distinguish one tree from another, and there
+was no sound or sign from the gray pony.
+
+"What shall I do?" she said, standing close to the trunk of a pine tree
+that rose straight and tall with wide-spreading branches. She realized
+that she must now be some distance from the road and the big oak tree
+where she had left the pony-cart, and Fluff perhaps was deep in this
+wilderness, unable to make his way back; and, worst of all, night was
+close upon her.
+
+It was indeed a dangerous position for a little girl to be alone in a
+wilderness as Winifred found herself. It was a time when many wild
+beasts still wandered about, often coming near to the outskirts of towns
+and villages. Winifred remembered that only a few weeks earlier a
+catamount had been killed at Fair Mount, and she knew that in the early
+spring bears left the dens where they had slept through the winter, and
+wandered through the woods eating the tender young buds and leaves. She
+crouched closer to the tree as she remembered these things, and then
+suddenly she recalled the words that she had worked on her sampler:
+"There shall no evil befall thee. For he shall give his angels charge
+over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."
+
+Her mother had traced the words, and Winifred had worked them in dull
+blue yarns on the perforated wool cloth. She said them over aloud: "No
+evil befall thee," and was no longer afraid. She did not think now of
+the beasts of the dark wood, but of a kindly presence that would shelter
+her.
+
+"Perhaps Fluff will come and find me," she thought hopefully. "Anyway,
+Ruth will soon be back with Gilbert, and they will call my name, and I
+shall call back," and so comforted and encouraged Winifred sat down on
+the soft pine spills and leaned back against the tall tree. A pair of
+squirrels chattered noisily in the branches; a soft-footed little animal
+sped by almost touching her feet, and she could hear faint calls from
+nesting birds near at hand.
+
+"For he shall give his angels charge over thee," the little girl
+whispered to herself, and soothed and quieted by the spring fragrance of
+the wood her eyes closed.
+
+Ruth, meanwhile, was trudging along the road toward home. She was sure
+that she could find the way without any trouble.
+
+"All I have to do is to turn when I come to the river road and follow it
+straight back to the city, and then any one can tell me how to get
+home," she thought, hopefully. But she began to think she should never
+reach the river road. Her thin shoes were scrubbed and dusty, and she
+wondered what Aunt Deborah would say at her untidy appearance.
+
+Now and then she would quicken her pace and run until she was out of
+breath. She began to understand why Fluff was tired out. Just before she
+reached the river road there was the sound of breaking twigs, and of
+some animal making its way through the woods, and the next moment a deer
+followed by a young fawn sprang into the road directly in front of the
+surprised and startled little girl; but they vanished before Ruth
+realized that they had been within reach of her hand.
+
+"Oh! I wish Winifred could have seen them," she thought. The road now
+hardly showed in the thick dusk. Ruth stumbled often, and began to be
+both hungry and thirsty. She wished she could stop and rest; but the
+thought of Winifred sitting alone under the big oak tree made her
+resolve not to stop until she reached home.
+
+At last she could see an open space ahead, and the dark line of the
+river; and at the same moment she heard the sound of trotting feet on
+the road behind her and a little gray figure ran swiftly by.
+
+"That was Fluff! I know it was Fluff," she exclaimed, and called loudly
+after the pony. But Fluff did not stop; he knew he was headed for home,
+and it was much easier to run along free and unharnessed than to pull a
+cart containing two little girls.
+
+Ruth now hardly knew what to do. Perhaps Winifred might be coming
+closely behind the pony.
+
+"Perhaps I ought to wait and see if she is coming," thought Ruth,
+puzzled and uncertain as to the right course to take. Before she could
+decide she saw the gleam of a lantern, and heard the wheels of a
+carriage coming rapidly over the road, and without a moment's
+hesitation she called out: "Stop! Please stop!" and heard a familiar
+voice respond:
+
+"It's Ruth. It's Ruth." And the light of the lantern showed Gilbert and
+his mother in Ned Farris's pony-cart.
+
+In a moment they were standing in the road beside her, and Ruth was
+telling the story of the woodland road, and of Winifred waiting beside
+the pony-cart under a big oak tree.
+
+"And Fluff just ran by, headed for home," she concluded.
+
+"I thought it was Fluff who raced past us. I was sure it was he," said
+Gilbert.
+
+They were now puzzled what course to take. To leave Winifred alone so
+far from any human habitation was not to be thought of; neither did Mrs.
+Merrill wish Ruth to go on toward home without some one with her.
+
+"Gilbert, you must go home with Ruth, and I will drive on after
+Winifred," she decided. "Mrs. Pernell will be sadly troubled when Fluff
+comes running home and she has no news of her little girl. Go as quickly
+as you can."
+
+Gilbert agreed; but he felt a little defrauded as he and Ruth turned
+toward home. He would have enjoyed going up that dark hillside road,
+where it seemed to him some interesting adventure might befall a
+traveler.
+
+Mrs. Merrill, with the lantern fastened to the front of the cart, drove
+rapidly up the hill, trying to pierce the dusky shadows of the roadside.
+Now and then she called Winifred's name, and listened intently for some
+response, but none came.
+
+At last the light from the lantern showed the pony-carriage in the
+shadow of the big oak tree, and in a moment Mrs. Merrill was on the
+ground beside it. But Winifred was not to be seen. "Winifred!" she
+called over and over, but there was no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOME AGAIN
+
+
+Winifred awakened suddenly. For a moment she looked about with startled
+eyes.
+
+"Winifred! Winifred!"
+
+"That is Mother calling," she exclaimed aloud, springing to her feet,
+and resting one hand against the smooth trunk of the pine tree. For a
+moment she was too surprised and sleepy to respond to the call; then she
+called back, "Mother! I'm in the woods!" at the same time moving slowly
+around to the other side of the big tree.
+
+"Oh! There's a light! And there's the road! And there is Mother!" and
+stumbling and running Winifred appeared in the road only a short
+distance from the flickering light of the lantern.
+
+"Mother! Mother! Did you come all alone?" called Winifred, as her mother
+held her close as if, thought the little girl, "I had been away a long
+time."
+
+"I thought I was way in the deep woods, and I was close to the road all
+the time. But Fluff is lost," she explained, as her mother led her
+toward the cart.
+
+"No, dear; Fluff passed us on our way home, and will probably be safe in
+his stall long before we get back," replied Mrs. Merrill, and as they
+drove through the darkness she told her little daughter of how troubled
+she and Mrs. Pernell had been as the afternoon passed and Winifred and
+Ruth failed to return; of Gilbert borrowing Ned's pony, of meeting Ruth,
+"and I have been here an hour, calling and calling," she concluded.
+
+"How sound asleep I must have been not to hear you," said Winifred
+happily, snuggling closer to her mother's side.
+
+"After Fluff ran off I began to be frightened," she continued. "I
+thought of catamounts and bears; and then I thought of my sampler."
+
+"Your sampler?" repeated Mrs. Merrill, not understanding just what
+Winifred meant.
+
+"Yes, Mother dear! Don't you remember the words you traced on it? 'There
+shall no evil befall thee. For he shall give his angels charge over
+thee, to keep thee in all thy ways,'" repeated the little girl. "I
+kept saying it over and over and I was not afraid."
+
+For a moment Mrs. Merrill did not reply. She stooped and kissed her
+little daughter, and then said: "That was right, dear child."
+
+It was nearly midnight when Mrs. Merrill and Winifred reached home, and
+Gilbert lifted a very sleepy little girl from the pony-cart. "Mrs.
+Pernell and Ruth are here," he said, "and she has some hot broth ready."
+
+Gilbert looked after Ned's pony before following his mother and sister
+into the house. Mrs. Pernell had already prepared his supper and he had
+eaten it with Ruth on reaching home after their long walk; but that
+seemed a long time ago, and he was quite ready to sit down at the
+candle-lit table and join the others. The hot broth, toast and damson
+preserves were very welcome to Winifred and her mother. The little group
+around the table were all too tired to talk much, but they smiled
+happily at one another, rejoicing that they were all safe and at home.
+
+It was decided that Mrs. Pernell and Ruth should stay the remainder of
+the night with the Merrill's.
+
+"Hero will take care of our house," Ruth said confidently, as she and
+her mother entered the pleasant chamber where they were to sleep.
+
+"Mother, you never scold me, do you?" she said, just as Mrs. Pernell
+extinguished the candle, and smiled happily to herself at her mother's
+little laugh.
+
+"Why, Ruthie dear! I should hope not. You know 'scold' is an ugly word.
+There is nothing about it that is fair. It means to 'find fault,' which
+is never quite fair; do you think it is?" and Ruth agreed that "scold"
+had an ugly sound.
+
+"We didn't mean to stay away and to worry you," said Ruth.
+
+"Of course you didn't, dear child. Go to sleep," replied her mother, who
+was thinking to herself that no other little girl was as dear and good
+as her own little daughter. And, strange as it may seem, Mrs. Merrill
+was thinking that very same thing about Winifred.
+
+How much there was for the two little friends to talk about the next
+day! Gilbert and Fluff had started off at an early hour to bring home
+the pony-cart, and early in the afternoon Betty Hastings came to see
+Ruth. She knew nothing about the adventure of the day before, and
+listened eagerly to Ruth and Winifred as they told of the lonely road,
+the coming of darkness, and of the deer and fawn that Ruth had seen.
+
+The two younger girls looked at Betty admiringly as they all sat
+together in Mrs. Pernell's front room. Betty's smooth brown curls under
+her pretty white straw hat, her shining brown eyes and pleasant smile,
+and the pretty dress of blue and white plaid, made her well worth their
+approving glances. Both Ruth and Winifred wondered to themselves why it
+was that Betty's hands were always clean, her hair smooth, and her dress
+always neat and in order. They decided, as they had often done before,
+that it was because Betty was so nearly grown up, nearly thirteen. They
+were quite sure that being tidy and careful was a gift that came with
+years.
+
+Ruth always liked to have Betty come to see her.
+
+"It's just like really being grown up when Betty comes," she had
+explained to her mother, "because we always sit in the front room, and
+never play dolls." So this afternoon when Mrs. Pernell brought in a tray
+with the little silver pitcher and sugar bowl, the luster teapot, and
+the treasured Canton cups and saucers, together with a plate of round
+frosted cakes, and Ruth had the pleasure of giving Betty and Winifred a
+cup of "real tea" she felt herself the most fortunate little girl in
+Philadelphia.
+
+"'Tis not a taxed tea," Mrs. Pernell declared smilingly; for Americans
+had refused to receive any tea on which the Government of Great Britain
+demanded an unlawful tax.
+
+"I came to ask you and Winifred to a May party," said Betty, when she
+was ready to start for home. "My mother says I may invite a dozen girls
+to go Maying to some pleasant place on the river, where we can gather
+flowers, put up a May-pole, and have a picnic lunch. Mother will get
+some one to drive us all out in a big wagon."
+
+Both Ruth and Winifred were delighted at the invitation, and thanked
+Betty. May-day was nearly two weeks distant, but they were glad to have
+so pleasant an invitation. And the front door had hardly closed behind
+their visitor when Ruth exclaimed:
+
+"We must begin on that table right away, Winifred, so that it will
+surely be finished by May-day. I have just remembered that May first is
+Betty's birthday! Her mother always has a party for her."
+
+"So it is!" responded Winifred, as she followed Ruth toward the shed.
+
+There was a piece of chalk in the drawer of the work-bench, and Ruth,
+laying the square of smooth dark wood on the top of a barrel, began to
+mark a large heart, while Winifred stood beside her watching admiringly.
+
+"There!" Ruth exclaimed, as her rather uneven chalk line came to an end.
+"I guess that is enough to go by. We can make the edges smooth with some
+of the tools."
+
+Winifred agreed promptly. "I'll make the legs," she volunteered.
+
+"Be sure and have them all the same length," advised Ruth. "You can take
+this chalk and mark the places where to saw;" and in a few moments
+Winifred with a small sharp saw was endeavoring to cut through the
+strips of hard wood selected for table legs, while Ruth with a sharp
+knife tried in vain to make some impression on the square of mahogany.
+Snap! went the slender knife-blade!
+
+"Oh, Winifred! quick! I've cut off my thumb!" screamed Ruth, as she
+raced past the horrified Winifred and ran into the kitchen calling:
+"Mother! Mother!"
+
+In a moment her mother was beside her; the injured thumb was bathed and
+bandaged, and Ruth was explaining, with Winifred's help, how the
+accident occurred. It was really a deep cut, and it was no wonder that
+the little girl had been frightened.
+
+Mrs. Pennell went to the shed with the little girls, and looked with
+troubled eyes at the cherished pieces of polished wood, and the fine
+tools scattered about the floor.
+
+"We must put all these tools carefully back in the chest, and the wood
+on the shelf just as your father left it. Winifred will help me, for you
+must not use your hand, Ruth," she said.
+
+"But, Mother, we want to make a heart-shaped table for a birthday
+present for Betty," Ruth explained. "Mayn't we use Father's tools?"
+
+"No, my dear. It would have been a very serious thing if you had spoiled
+any of his saws or planes. And those strips and squares of wood are
+valuable. Besides that you and Winifred are not accustomed to the use of
+tools; and you might really have cut off your thumb instead of only
+cutting it," said Mrs. Pennell. "I am to blame that I did not tell you
+how much your dear father valued these tools and wood."
+
+"Oh, Mother! You are never to blame. I ought to have asked you," Ruth
+declared.
+
+"Well, my dear, I really think it would have been wiser. But now we must
+think of something else as a present for Betty. With that hurt thumb,
+Ruth, I am afraid you cannot make her anything," responded her mother,
+leading the way to the seat under the maple tree.
+
+"Now, let us all try and think of something that Betty would like for a
+birthday gift," she continued, as they all sat down. Hero came bounding
+across the yard, and took his usual place at Ruth's feet.
+
+"I know! I know exactly what Betty would like," declared Ruth, "and I am
+sure I could help make it. Candy! She loves candy. Can I not use some of
+your sugar, Mother, to make some heart-shaped sweets?" For Ruth had some
+tiny heart-shaped molds of tin, into which hot candy mixture could be
+turned, and that when cool came out in perfect shapes.
+
+"That will be better than a table," said Winifred eagerly, "and I know
+my mother will give me some sugar for such a purpose. And, Ruth! we can
+make a heart-shaped box of paper to put it in."
+
+Mrs. Pennell listened smilingly as the two little girls made their plan
+for their friend's birthday gift. She promised to give them a portion of
+her scanty store of sugar.
+
+"You will not need to make it for a week to come; and Ruth's thumb will
+be well by that time. You may have the kitchen to yourselves on the last
+day of April," she said.
+
+Ruth quite forgot the ugly cut in her excitement over the proposed
+candy-making.
+
+"I am glad May is only ten days away," she said. "Just think of all that
+is going to happen next month! Betty's birthday picnic, and my visit to
+Aunt Deborah! And perhaps even more than that. Perhaps I shall see
+Lafayette! And perhaps the English will leave Philadelphia."
+
+Both her mother and Winifred laughed at Ruth's eager prophecy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE CANDY DISAPPEARS
+
+
+Gilbert and Winifred often talked to Ruth of their soldier brother, Vinal;
+and she never tired of hearing the story of a midnight visit he
+had made during the previous winter.
+
+He had arrived home late one afternoon, coming up the street as if there
+were not an English soldier in the city, and had stayed the night in his
+own home, departing early the next morning for Valley Forge. It was just
+such an adventure as the children admired, and would have well liked to
+have had some part in.
+
+Gilbert had reluctantly given up the plan of changing his name to
+Lafayette. No one seemed to remember his wish, and after a few weeks he
+no longer reminded Ruth or Winifred.
+
+As the time of Ruth's visit to Barren Hill drew near she made many
+pleasant plans of all she would see and do while at Aunt Deborah's
+square stone house, and recalled all that her aunt had told her of the
+beehives in a sunny corner of the garden, the flocks of chickens, the
+many birds that nested safely in the orchard trees, and the big attic
+that would be such a fine play-house on stormy days. But most of all
+Ruth thought of the fact that Barren Hill was only ten miles distant
+from Valley Forge, and that there might be some way in which she could
+see her father.
+
+"I wish I could find out that the English were going to leave
+Philadelphia, and then I would have good news for Father," she thought.
+"Or if I could carry a fine present for Father to give Lafayette." But
+there seemed little prospect that a little girl like Ruth could be the
+bearer of good news to the troops at Valley Forge, or of a present to
+the gallant young Frenchman.
+
+Ruth's thumb healed in a few days, so that she could help her mother in
+the garden, and do her usual work about the house. Every morning,
+directly after breakfast, was the lesson hour, when Mrs. Pennell and
+Ruth would sit down in the dining-room and, as Ruth had described it to
+Aunt Deborah, "Tell stories."
+
+There were "history" stories, and these Ruth liked best of all. One was
+the story of the first Quaker emigrants who came to Philadelphia in
+three small ships, bringing a friendly letter from the good-natured King
+Charles to the Delaware Indians. She liked to hear how these people
+sailed safely across the Atlantic and came up the Delaware, and first
+found shelter in caves along the river's bank, and then built themselves
+log cabins, and big strong houses.
+
+Then there were stories of the stars, by which sailors steered their
+course at sea, and there were stories of birds and beasts, and a very
+amusing game in which a small girl from Japan and another from China,
+and a little black girl from Africa, each recited the way children were
+taught in those countries.
+
+Mrs. Pennell did not always tell the stories, no, indeed! Often Ruth
+would be asked to tell the story of William Penn, or perhaps to draw a
+little picture of certain constellations. And always there was the
+adding of apples, the dividing of apples into four parts and eight
+parts, which Mrs. Pennell called "Fractions." And after this pleasant
+hour there were the neat stitches to be set in apron, dress, or
+handkerchief.
+
+Nearly every child had regular tasks; they were taught to use their
+hands as well as their eyes and thoughts, and Ruth was very proud that
+she could hemstitch nicely, and "set the heel" of a stocking, and finish
+off its toe.
+
+After Vinal brought the letter from Ruth's father Mrs. Pennell seemed
+more cheerful, and often said that she was sure it would not be many
+months before Philadelphia would be rid of the enemy.
+
+Ruth and Winifred counted the days until the last day of April, when
+they were to make the candy as a present for Betty. The pretty
+heart-shaped box that was to hold it was already finished. Mrs. Pennell
+had helped them make it. She had carefully shaped it from pasteboard,
+and then, with a flour paste, the little girls had covered it carefully
+with some pretty bits of wall-paper. The cover had three tiny hearts cut
+from gilt paper, and Ruth and Winifred were both sure that Betty would
+be much pleased by their gift, especially when she opened it and found
+it full of sweets.
+
+Ruth had just finished her lesson hour on the morning of the day before
+the May-day picnic, when Winifred appeared. She brought a package of
+sugar that her mother had given her as her share for the candy, and the
+two little girls ran to the kitchen, which they were to have quite to
+themselves for their candy-making.
+
+The family cooking was done over the bed of coals in the fireplace, and
+Ruth brought out a saucepan, a big spoon, and some sugar from the
+pantry, and talking happily of the pleasures of the coming day the two
+little friends measured their sugar and set the saucepan over the coals,
+while Ruth, spoon in hand, watched it carefully, while Winifred stood
+close by ready to help.
+
+It was a great event to be permitted to make candy, and both Winifred
+and Ruth decided that it would be a much more acceptable present than a
+table.
+
+In a short time the melted sugar, flavored with rose leaves, was ready
+to be turned into the tiny heart-shaped molds, and set to cool on the
+window ledge.
+
+"Let's go out in the garden," suggested Ruth. "If we stay in here we
+shall keep looking at the candy to see if it is ready to turn out, and
+it will seem forever." So they went out to the seat under the maple
+tree, played with Hero, talked about the May party and the time, now
+near at hand, when Ruth would go to visit Aunt Deborah, and nearly an
+hour passed before they returned to the kitchen.
+
+"Why, where are the molds?" exclaimed Ruth. "Where is the candy?"
+demanded Winifred, and they looked at the vacant window-sill where they
+had left the sweets to cool.
+
+"Mother must have put them in the pantry," said Ruth.
+
+"Of course," Winifred agreed, and the little girls exchanged a smile of
+relief as they both turned toward the pantry.
+
+But the candy was not there.
+
+"I'll run and ask her where she put it," said Ruth, and hurried off to
+find her mother who was busy in one of the upper rooms.
+
+"But I have not been down-stairs, dear child," Mrs. Pennell replied.
+"You do not suppose the molds have fallen out of the window?" she asked,
+and without stopping to answer Ruth ran back to the kitchen, and leaned
+out of the window, but there was no candy to be seen.
+
+"Oh, Ruth! The box is gone, too! Some one must have come in and taken
+it!" said Winifred; and, sure enough, the pretty box had disappeared
+from the table as well as the molds from the window. Both the little
+girls were ready to cry with disappointment.
+
+They knew that each of the other guests would bring Betty a present, and
+they knew also that their mothers could not spare any more sugar for
+candy. Besides this the pretty box was gone, and they had no more bits
+of paper to make another.
+
+"I shan't go to the party," Ruth declared. "And who could have been mean
+enough to take the candy?"
+
+Mrs. Pennell was nearly as troubled as Ruth and Winnie. It was evident
+that some one must have entered the house by the front door, taken the
+candy, and made off while the girls were in the garden. She feared that
+other things must have been taken, but a careful search proved that
+nothing else was missing.
+
+Winifred agreed with Ruth that they did not wish to go to the party
+without a present for Betty. "And now it is too late to even think of
+anything," she said as she started for home, leaving Ruth puzzled and
+unhappy, and wondering to herself if perhaps some ill-natured fairies
+had not made off with the sweets. The more Ruth thought of this the more
+convinced she was that it was what had happened. She remembered hearing
+queer little noises at her window that morning that she had thought were
+made by the birds nesting in the hawthorn. Now she said to herself that
+it must have been fairies coming into the house. "And because I did not
+make them welcome they have taken the candy," she decided, remembering a
+fairy tale that Mrs. Merrill had once told the two girls in which
+children had always welcomed fairies who came tapping at the windows of
+a spring morning, by singing:
+
+
+    "Welcome, fairies good and kind;
+    Come in, come in, and welcome find."
+
+
+In the story the fairies had brought wonderful gifts, but if they had
+not been welcomed they would have taken the children's dearest
+possessions, which could only be recovered by walking around the garden
+just before sunrise and bowing low three times to the lilac, three times
+to a robin, and three times with your eyes shut tight, repeating each
+time:
+
+
+    "Fairies, fairies, here I bow.
+    Will you kindly pardon now
+    That I did not hear or see
+    When you came to visit me?"
+
+
+Ruth was glad that she could remember it.
+
+"I'll get up before sunrise to-morrow morning and do exactly as the
+little girl did in the story when the fairies brought back her silver
+heart, and then probably when I open my eyes there will be the box and
+the candy," thought Ruth.
+
+"Why, of course, it was because the box and the candies were
+heart-shaped," she decided; "that's another reason I'm sure it was
+fairies. It will be splendid if I can get them back. I won't tell
+Winifred until after breakfast to-morrow. Won't she be surprised?"
+
+Mrs. Pennell wondered a little that Ruth was in such good spirits the
+rest of the day, after the disappearance of the candy, and that she was
+so ready to go to bed at an hour earlier than the usual time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A FAIRY STORY
+
+
+When Gilbert took the pan of candy-molds from the open window of Mrs.
+Pennell's kitchen, and, reaching in captured the heart-shaped box from
+the table, his only intention was to keep them just long enough to
+puzzle Ruth and Winifred and then return them. When the girls came back
+to the kitchen he had run into the shed, and set box and pan in the open
+drawer of the work-bench and closed it quickly, and had then gone home
+to attend to some garden work, meaning to come back in an hour at the
+longest; but his mother had sent him on an errand, and it was noon
+before Gilbert remembered the candy; and then Winifred was telling the
+story of its disappearance:
+
+"You wouldn't think any one would be so mean as to take our candy," she
+concluded, and Gilbert felt his face flush uncomfortably, and realized
+that it was going to be very difficult to explain what he had intended
+for a joke to Ruth and Winifred. In some way he must get that candy and
+box back to the place from which he had taken it, or else tell the girls
+what he had done; and this last alternative would be unpleasant. All
+that afternoon he was on the alert for a chance to slip into the
+Pennells' garden, enter the shed and rescue the hidden sweets; but the
+day was warm and pleasant, and Ruth and Winifred with their dolls and
+Hero were out-of-doors playing about in the shade of the maple tree
+until it was too late for Gilbert to carry out his plan; so that he was
+as uneasy and troubled as Ruth or Winifred over the missing candy, and
+not until evening could he think of any way to recover it.
+
+He was just closing the stable for the night when he noticed the shallow
+basket of woven grass and twigs which Winifred had made on the eventful
+afternoon's journey along the river road. The violets and wild
+honeysuckle were now only dried up stems; but the basket looked
+serviceable and attractive. Gilbert smiled as he picked it up. He knew
+now exactly what he would do: he would get up very early the next
+morning, gather daffodils and iris and then take the basket to Mrs.
+Pennell's shed,--take the candy from the molds, fill the box, and
+setting the box in Winifred's grass basket cover it with flowers; then
+he would hang it to the knocker of the Pennells' front door.
+
+"The girls will think the fairies did it for a May-day surprise," he
+chuckled to himself, remembering that Winifred could never quite decide
+about fairies: if there really were such wonderful little people or not.
+
+So Gilbert was up before sunrise the next morning, and with a friendly
+word to Hero, found it an easy matter to enter the shed quietly and take
+the candy and box from the bench drawer. In a few moments he had filled
+the box skilfully without breaking one of the tiny hearts, set it in the
+basket and covered it with the spring blossoms. He was just about to
+leave the shed when he heard a voice, and peering out saw Ruth bowing to
+the lilac tree and saying in a low voice:
+
+
+    "Fairies, fairies, here I bow.
+    Will you kindly pardon now
+    That I did not hear or see
+    When you came to visit me?"
+
+
+"Jiminy! It's that old fairy story Mother tells; and Ruth believes it,"
+thought Gilbert, as he watched Ruth bowing low to a startled robin,
+which flew up to a higher branch in the hawthorn tree. She was so much
+absorbed in what she was doing that she did not hear the stealthy step
+behind her on the soft grass as Gilbert swiftly set down the mold pan
+and the basket, and flew back to the shop. He had just reached its
+shelter when Ruth turned to go back to the house and saw the basket.
+
+She looked at it for a moment as if she could hardly believe her eyes;
+and as she stooped to pick it up Ruth fully expected that basket, pan
+and tin molds would all vanish from sight. But no! They were real; and,
+quite as Ruth expected, the box, filled with candy hearts, was under the
+flowers.
+
+"Oh! what will Winifred say?" she whispered to herself. And then she
+bowed to the lilac tree and to the robin, and said, "Thank you, kind
+fairies. I will always know now that you are true and kind," and then
+Ruth ran into the house to wake up her mother and tell her this
+wonderful story, and show her the basket in proof of the fairies' visit.
+
+Gilbert hurried home. He was delighted with the success of his plan, but
+a little troubled that Ruth should believe so implicitly that fairies
+had first taken and then returned the candy.
+
+Mrs. Pennell listened to Ruth's story and looked at the basket with as
+much wonder and surprise as even Ruth could expect. Although she did not
+deny that fairies had a hand in the return of the candy, she endeavored
+to explain to herself just how it could have occurred. But she
+remembered how much happiness she herself had had as a small girl in
+believing in good fairies, and was quite willing that her own little
+daughter should have the same pleasure.
+
+The Merrills were just sitting down to an early breakfast when Ruth came
+over to tell Winifred that the candy had been found, but she did not
+tell all the story, for she knew Gilbert laughed at fairies.
+
+"I'll tell you all about it on the way to Betty's," she said, for it had
+been arranged that Betty's guests should all meet at her house, where
+the wagons would be in readiness to take them to a favorite picnic
+ground, a green sloping field on the banks of the Schuylkill River,
+where there were groups of wide-spreading elms and where many spring
+flowers grew.
+
+Winifred was so eager to hear about the return of the candy that she
+could hardly wait to finish her breakfast. Ruth had not lingered after
+telling the great news, but had run home to make ready for the picnic.
+
+Gilbert continued to feel uneasy about his part in the fairy story, and
+after Ruth and Winifred had started for the May party he followed his
+mother into the garden and offered to help her transplant the young
+seedlings.
+
+"Mother, do you think there is any harm in believing in fairies?" he
+asked, and before his mother could reply Gilbert was telling her the
+story.
+
+"Ruth seemed more pleased about the fairies than she did to get the
+candy back," he concluded, "and I don't think there is any harm in
+fairies, do you?"
+
+"Why, no, Gilbert! I am always hoping that they really are true,"
+replied his mother smilingly.
+
+"Oh, Mother! You are as bad as Ruth," laughed Gilbert; "but do you think
+I ought to tell Ruth that I hid the candy, and then brought it back?"
+
+"No, not at present. Some time in the future you can tell Ruth about
+it, if you wish, but I think it would be too bad to spoil her pleasure
+to-day. But perhaps you had better ask Mrs. Pennell, and then do
+whatever she thinks best," replied his mother.
+
+The thought of telling Mrs. Pennell of his mischievous act made Gilbert
+rather uncomfortable, but he responded promptly:
+
+"All right, Mother. I'll go now," and ran toward the house to wash his
+hands before presenting himself at Mrs. Pennell's door.
+
+"So that was it. I could not imagine how it happened," said Mrs. Pennell
+when Gilbert had told of hiding the candy, and of meaning to return it
+as a May basket. She agreed with Mrs. Merrill that Ruth could be told
+the facts later on, and did not seem to feel that Gilbert's joke had
+been anything but natural and harmless, so Gilbert returned home with an
+untroubled mind.
+
+Betty had asked her little guests to be at her house at half-past ten
+o'clock, and when Ruth and Winifred came down the street they saw a big
+wagon with two big brown horses standing in front of Betty's house; just
+behind the big wagon was a smaller one which Dinah was helping to load
+with baskets and packages.
+
+"That's the lunch wagon," said Winifred. "Oh, Ruth! I'm sure we are
+going to have a beautiful time. What do you suppose Betty will say when
+you tell her about the fairies?"
+
+"I don't know. But probably she will think she is lucky to have a basket
+made by fairies," responded Ruth, who did not know the story of the
+basket that she carried so carefully.
+
+"I made that basket. Truly I did, Ruth," Winifred declared eagerly.
+
+Ruth's smile vanished. She stood still and looked at Winifred
+accusingly.
+
+"Then I suppose there weren't any fairies at all? If you made the basket
+you probably put the candy in it and set it in my garden for me to find.
+And you let me tell you all about bowing to the lilac tree, and never
+said a word," exclaimed Ruth; "and I suppose you have been laughing at
+me all the time," she concluded, a little choke coming in her throat at
+the thought that her best friend, as well as the fairies, had failed
+her.
+
+Before Winifred could say a word Ruth ran ahead as fast as she could go.
+Betty was on the steps, and a number of the girls who were going on the
+picnic were with her. She greeted Ruth warmly, and when Ruth explained
+that the basket was from Winifred and herself Betty was greatly pleased.
+She was looking at the basket and box admiringly when Winnie appeared.
+
+"Did Ruth tell you that is a fairy present?" she asked eagerly, and at
+the little chorus of laughter and questions, Winifred went on and told
+the story just as Ruth had told it to her, while Ruth stood by looking
+rather sulky and unhappy. The moment Winifred finished Ruth stepped
+forward and said:
+
+"That's a good story, but it isn't true. About the fairies, I mean. Not
+one word of it. And Winifred knows it isn't."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+BETTY AND ANNETTE
+
+
+The girls' laughter ceased, and they looked at Ruth a little
+questioningly as if expecting that she would explain. But it was Betty
+who, slipping her arm around Winifred, said pleasantly: "Well, we are
+all obliged to Winnie for telling us such a beautiful story. And I am
+sure it is just what the fairies would do if they happened to think of
+it."
+
+Winifred looked up at the older girl gratefully, but she felt very
+unhappy. She could not understand why Ruth, her very best friend, should
+have turned against her, and denied the story.
+
+Ruth stood, sulky and silent, and a little ashamed, as the other guests
+arrived; and when Betty declared that it was time to start and led the
+way toward the big wagon, Ruth walked alone and was the last one of
+Betty's guests to climb up to her seat.
+
+There were ten little girls in the party, and Black Jason, Dinah's
+husband, was to drive the team. Mrs. Hastings sat on the back seat
+between Betty and Ruth; the small wagon with the good things for the
+birthday luncheon followed close behind, driven by a friend of Jason's.
+
+The other girls laughed and talked merrily as the big horses trotted
+briskly through the streets leading to the river. But Ruth was silent,
+except when Mrs. Hastings spoke to her; then she answered as pleasantly
+as possible, but she had no pleasure in the ride. Now and then they
+passed groups of English soldiers; and as they turned into the river
+road several red-coated officers on horseback rode past them.
+
+"We wish you a happy May, young ladies," called one of the officers,
+bowing very low as he rode past the wagon filled with happy girls.
+
+There was no response to his polite salutation; for even the children of
+the historic city resented the presence of the English soldiery.
+
+"Mother, sing your May-day song," suggested Betty.
+
+But Mrs. Hastings shook her head laughingly.
+
+"I must save that for our dance round the May-pole," she replied, "and
+we shall soon be at the picnic field now."
+
+The field was very near the place where Ruth and Winifred had turned
+into the hill road, and the May party reached it after not more than an
+hour's ride. Black Jason drove through the field toward the river bank,
+and stopped under a group of tall elms. In a few moments the girls were
+scattered about searching for flowers. Black Jason and his friend
+unloaded the lunch wagon, and then Mrs. Hastings called the girls to
+decide on the best place to erect the May-pole, a fine birch tree that
+Black Jason was now chopping down.
+
+"There are so many good places!" exclaimed Betty, looking about the
+smooth field. "I think this is the best," she decided finally, as, with
+her guests beside her, she stopped near the edge of a wood.
+
+It was just the place for a May-pole, the other girls declared, as they
+looked about; and Black Jason and his friend set up the tall birch tree,
+whose green branches were more beautiful than any decoration that the
+girls could have imagined. While Mrs. Hastings and Betty spread the
+lunch in the shade of the woods, the other girls gathered flowers and
+wove garlands for each other, and talked happily together. Ruth found
+herself seated beside Annette Tennant, a girl about Betty's age.
+
+"I will give you my wreath, and you can give me yours," said the older
+girl. "You are rather young to be asked to this party," she continued,
+looking at Ruth.
+
+"I am nearly eleven," replied Ruth. "Winifred Merrill isn't any older
+than that."
+
+"I noticed there were two little girls," rejoined Annette
+condescendingly. "You mustn't mind if most of us are older. I always
+like children," went on Annette, who was even taller than Betty
+Hastings, and whose yellow hair was braided neatly and wound around her
+head.
+
+Ruth made no reply. She was feeling a little ashamed that she had
+declared Winifred's story to be untrue. Even if Winnie had set the
+basket in the garden and let her go about bowing to trees and birds Ruth
+felt that she herself had been rude and unkind.
+
+"What made that other child tell all that rigmarole about fairies?"
+questioned Annette. "I was glad when you spoke up and said that it was
+not true. Of course we older girls knew she was making it up."
+
+Suddenly Ruth became perfectly sure that Winifred had had nothing to do
+with the discovery of the candy, and that Winifred had really believed
+the fairies had brought it back, using her basket for the purpose.
+
+"Winifred didn't make it up," declared Ruth. "It was exactly as she told
+it. The fairies did take away the candy, and bring it back."
+
+Annette stopped weaving the vines and flowers, and jumped up.
+
+"Well, you are a very funny child. You tell us all that Winifred Merrill
+made up a story, and now you tell me that it was true," she exclaimed
+scornfully. "You need not give me your garland; I don't want it, or
+anything to do with you," and before Ruth could say a word in reply
+Annette had joined a group of the older girls, and was evidently telling
+them her opinion of Ruth Pennell.
+
+Ruth looked down through a blur of tears at the wreath she was making.
+She could hardly see the flowers in her lap.
+
+"I wish I had stayed at home. I hate grown-up girls," she thought
+bitterly, wishing herself in her own garden with Hero and Cecilia for
+playmates.
+
+The sound of Betty's voice calling to her guests that luncheon was ready
+made Ruth look up. She saw the other girls walking toward the shade of
+the tall elms where Mrs. Hastings stood waiting for them. Winifred was
+evidently in high favor; Annette walked on one side and Mary Pierce on
+the other, each with an arm about the pleased but somewhat embarrassed
+Winifred.
+
+"Ruth! Ruthie Pennell! We are all waiting for you," called Betty, and
+Ruth followed the others.
+
+It was evident at once that none of the girls meant to sit beside Ruth
+if it could be avoided. Annette had declared that she believed Ruth to
+be a mischief-maker, and untruthful, and that it was the duty of the
+older girls to "teach her a lesson."
+
+"We must let the child realize that older girls don't approve of such
+things," Annette had said, and the others agreed that the best way to
+express their disapproval was to leave Ruth to herself as much as
+possible.
+
+Winifred was now more puzzled than ever.
+
+When Annette had repeated Ruth's declaration that Winifred's story was
+true, that fairies had returned the candy, she did not know what to
+think.
+
+"I'm sure Ruthie was only fooling," Winifred declared bravely. "I mean
+when she said that I made up the story about the candy. Because it was
+just what she told me."
+
+"Then the child must be taught that we don't like such fooling,"
+responded Annette, with what she felt was a very grown-up and impressive
+manner.
+
+"Sit here, Ruth," said Betty, wondering at the manner of the older
+girls, "and, Winifred, come and sit beside her."
+
+Winifred was quite ready to change her seat as Betty suggested, but
+Annette's hand clasped her arm, and it was Annette who answered: "Winnie
+would rather sit here, beside me."
+
+"All right," responded Betty. "Then I'll have Ruthie for my helper. I
+can always depend on you, Ruth, can't I?" she added, smiling at her
+young friend.
+
+"Always," whispered Ruth, gratefully; and it was she who helped Betty
+serve the other girls with the excellent cold chicken, and bread, and
+butter, the jelly-filled tarts, and squares of molasses gingerbread, so
+that Annette's proposed "lesson" bid fair to be defeated.
+
+"What's the matter, Ruthie?" Betty found a chance to whisper, as they
+sat down together a little way from the larger group.
+
+Ruth told the story eagerly. "I don't know why I thought Winnie had put
+the basket there, or why I was so horrid as to say that she told a
+story," confessed the unhappy little girl. "Do you suppose it really was
+the fairies, Betty?"
+
+Betty looked rather sober for a minute. She was thinking to herself that
+her May-day party bid fair to be a failure unless her guests could
+realize that Ruth had only made a mistake for which she was sorry. She
+blamed Annette more than she did Ruth, feeling sure that Winifred and
+Ruth would have come to a friendly understanding if Annette had not
+interfered.
+
+"I have a plan, Ruthie, that perhaps will make it all right. Will you do
+just what I tell you?"
+
+"Yes, indeed I will," responded Ruth gratefully.
+
+Mrs. Hastings had left the girls to themselves and gone over to the
+May-pole.
+
+"Come here, Winifred," called Betty, and this time Annette made no
+objection, and in a moment Winifred was sitting beside Ruth, and both
+the little girls were thinking that Betty was much nicer than any other
+"grown-up" girl in the party.
+
+"Ruth Pennell is going to tell us a story," announced Betty. "She
+doesn't know if it really is true or not. For a little while she thought
+her best friend had taken the part of a fairy, but afterward she was
+sure she had not. Now, Ruth," and Betty turned smilingly toward her
+little friend, "stand up and tell us all about it; about the making my
+candy, how it disappeared, and what you did to recover it. Then, when
+you have finished, we will take a vote and see how many of us believe in
+fairies."
+
+For a moment Ruth hesitated, but Winifred's friendly smile encouraged
+her and she stood up. She did not look at the group of girls sitting
+about under the trees; she looked straight over their heads at the
+river, and began to speak, beginning her story with the discovery that
+the candy had disappeared. She spoke clearly, and when she finished by
+saying that she was sorry that she had been rude to Winifred, because
+she and Winifred both rather believed in fairies, there was a little
+murmur of approval.
+
+"Now, girls, all those who believe in fairies stand up," said Betty,
+jumping to her feet, and reaching out a hand to the girls beside her,
+and at the same time beginning to sing:
+
+
+"'Here are fields of smiling flowers--
+Come and seek May in her bowers.
+  Catch young May.
+  Make her stay;
+Dance around her bright and gay.'"
+
+
+Nearly all the girls knew the song and joined in singing, as hand in
+hand they ran across the smooth grass toward the May-pole, where Mrs.
+Hastings stood waiting for them. And now Ruth was her happy, smiling
+self again, and Annette was no longer eager to teach "lessons" to the
+younger girls. Annette and Ruth were both conscious, however, that
+Betty, with her frank kindness, had smoothed out their mistakes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+QUEEN BETTY
+
+
+The girls had exchanged their wreaths of flowers as they sat down to
+luncheon, all excepting Ruth and Annette, who wore the ones they had
+made themselves, and they now made a very attractive picture as they all
+formed a ring around the May-pole, singing an old song that their
+mothers had sung when they too were little girls; a May-pole song that
+had been sung in England for hundreds of years.
+
+    "'Round the May-pole, trit, trit, trot.
+    See what a garland we have got:
+      Fine and gay,
+      Trip away.
+    Happy is our New May Day.'"
+
+"Now for choosing the May Queen!" said Mary Pierce, and a little chorus
+of "Betty Hastings! Betty Hastings!" was the response, and Betty
+curtsied very low, and thanked her guests. For "Maids of Honor" she
+chose Ruth and Winifred, whose duties were to walk one on each side of
+the May Queen on her way to her throne, and then kneel beside her until
+she bade them rise.
+
+While the girls had been at luncheon and dancing around the May-pole
+Black Jason and his friend had been busily at work behind some thick
+growing trees near the river.
+
+"All ready, Missie!" he announced, as, hat in hand, and bowing low, he
+came smilingly toward the "Queen of the May."
+
+A little procession formed to follow Jason, who led the way through a
+woodland path to a clearing that opened toward the river. In this
+clearing stood a big rustic chair, Betty's "throne."
+
+Ruth and Winifred handed the Queen to her seat with great ceremony, and
+then one after another the girls approached the throne, curtsying low
+and laying their garlands at Betty's feet. Now they joined hands in a
+little circle and danced around the throne, singing:
+
+    "'The First of May is garland day,
+    And every child should dance and play.
+    Curl your locks as I do mine,
+    And wear your summer gown so fine.'"
+
+[Illustration: "THE FIRST OF MAY IS GARLAND DAY"]
+
+The Queen of the May asks any favor she pleases from the throne, but as
+soon as she leaves the throne her power ceases; so now the group of
+laughing girls stood waiting to hear what the Queen would ask:
+
+    "A wreath and a staff
+    And a cup to quaff,"
+
+demanded Betty smilingly, and away raced her loyal subjects to fulfil
+the royal demand.
+
+It was Annette who brought the wreath of violets; Mary Pierce came with
+a curving branch that Jason had cut from a maple tree and trimmed into a
+staff, while Caroline Fraser brought a cup of cool water from the spring
+under the willow tree.
+
+"We must soon be thinking of home," Mrs. Hastings reminded them, as the
+girls, now flushed and a little tired, seated themselves about the
+throne, from which Betty had descended.
+
+"You have not sung your May-day song, Mother!" Betty reminded her, and
+the girls now gathered about Mrs. Hastings, repeating Betty's request.
+
+"But it isn't really 'my' song; it is an old English May song," Mrs.
+Hastings said.
+
+    "'Spring is coming, Spring is coming,
+      Flowers are coming too;
+    Pansies, lilies, daffodils,
+      Now are coming through.'"
+
+    "'Spring is coming, Spring is coming,
+      All around is fair;
+    Shimmer and quiver on the river
+      Joy is everywhere.'"
+
+As she finished singing Mrs. Hastings curtsied to the happy group, and
+said:
+
+    "I wish you a happy May."
+
+When Black Jason drove the brown horses into the field, and the girls
+took their seats in the wagon, they all declared it was the best May-day
+party they had ever known, and they all thought Betty Hastings was the
+most fortunate of girls that her birthday came on the first day of May.
+
+"How would you and Winifred like to sit with Jason on the front seat,
+Ruth?" asked Mrs. Hastings, and the two little friends smiled at each
+other, and replied that they would like it very much, and so were lifted
+to the high seat beside the good-natured Jason.
+
+"I almost spoiled everything," Ruth whispered to Winifred, "but Betty
+made it come out all right. I like Betty."
+
+"So do I," responded Winifred, and they smiled at each other again, both
+quite sure that they would never again come so near to a quarrel as they
+had that May-day.
+
+As they drove past a square stone house whose gardens sloped down to the
+river, Black Jason pointed toward it with his whip and said: "Dat de
+house where Capitan Delancy live, an' he an' de oder fine English
+soldiers are gettin' up a great party, a kind of show like."
+
+The girls looked well at the house from which Betty had so skilfully
+made her escape on the night following Gilbert's play.
+
+"Are they going to have the party in that house, Jason?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Landy! No, Missie. It's to be out to Master Wharton's fine place in
+Southwark. Folks do say as General Sir Willem Howe be Gwen to leave dis
+place. They certain do say so," and Jason chuckled with satisfaction at
+the thought.
+
+"Then will General Washington and Lafayette come here, Jason?"
+questioned Ruth eagerly.
+
+"I dunno, Missie. But I reckon de English Gwen to have a mighty fine
+party. Deere gwine to have bands o' music in boats on de river. Yam,"
+and Jason chuckled at the thought of all the great preparations that had
+already begun for the most splendid pageant that America had seen, and
+about which the people of Philadelphia were wondering, for the English
+officers were making elaborate plans.
+
+"I wish I could drive two horses," said Ruth, looking a little longingly
+at the reins and whip that Jason so skilfully held in one hand.
+
+"Landy, Missie! Yo' Jes' take hold de reins like dis," responded Jason,
+at the same moment clasping Ruth's hands over the leather reins. "Now
+hole 'em study."
+
+Ruth obeyed Jason's instructions to "look straight ahead, an' hole 'em
+up study," and it was the happiest part of all that happy May-day to be
+driving Jason's brown horses, with the other girls singing and laughing
+on the seats behind her. But as they turned from the river road into the
+town Jason again took the reins. The girls were now carried each to her
+own home, so Winifred and Ruth were set down at the Merrills' door.
+
+"We have had a beautiful time, Betty. We shall always remember _your_
+birthday," declared Ruth, and Winnie repeated the words.
+
+Betty smiled and waved her hand; she realized that her two little
+friends were thanking her for more than their happy May-day.
+
+Hero welcomed Ruth home, and seemed to be trying to tell her something.
+He ran around her, barking and whining.
+
+"What is it, Hero? What is the matter? Where is my mother?" she asked,
+as she pushed open the door of the sitting-room and found it vacant.
+
+"Mother!" she called, running into the dining-room, and then heard her
+mother's voice calling from the kitchen:
+
+"Come out here, Ruthie!"
+
+Ruth stopped in the doorway with an exclamation of surprise.
+
+"Oh, Mother! What is it?" she asked, for Mrs. Pennell was sitting in a
+low chair near the window, with one foot resting on a stool.
+
+"I have sprained my ankle, Ruthie. I slipped coming in from the porch
+about an hour ago, and could just manage to crawl to this chair,"
+replied Mrs. Pennell; "and now you will have to be 'mother' for a time.
+Tie my apron over your dress, and start up the fire, and fill the big
+kettle with water."
+
+Ruth obeyed quickly, and in a few moments had carried out her mother's
+directions, bringing a small wooden tub in which to turn the water when
+it should be heated. She could think of nothing but that her mother must
+be in pain, as she drew off Mrs. Pennell's slipper and stocking, filled
+the tub, and now gently bathed the swollen ankle.
+
+"Remember, Ruthie, dear, when any one has the ill-fortune to sprain
+wrist or ankle, that hot water is the best aid," Mrs. Pennell said, as
+she directed the way in which Ruth should bandage the ankle.
+
+"I am afraid I am going to make a good deal of work for my little girl.
+We must try and send for your Aunt Clara to come as soon as possible,"
+she added.
+
+But Ruth did not mind the work; as she went from pantry to fireplace,
+preparing toast and a dish of hot gruel for her mother her thoughts flew
+away to Aunt Deborah at Barren Hill, to the lustre cup out of which
+Lafayette had drunk, and she realized that she could not go away from
+home now that her mother was lame.
+
+After supper the ankle was bathed again, and now Mrs. Pennell thought it
+best that Ruth should run in and tell Mrs. Merrill of the accident, and
+ask her assistance. For she found herself unable to walk.
+
+Mrs. Merrill came at once, and with her aid Mrs. Pennell was able to
+reach the big sofa in the sitting-room where she was made comfortable
+for the night.
+
+"I will send Gilbert to Germantown early in the morning to fetch your
+sister," said Mrs. Merrill, as she bade her neighbor good-night.
+
+"It is fortunate that Ruth had not started for her visit to Barren
+Hill," she added.
+
+"It is, indeed. I could hardly spare her now," Mrs. Pennell responded.
+
+Ruth listened with a feeling that there would never be any more happy
+days. Her mother was lame; she could not go to Barren Hill, and all her
+plans for visiting her father at Valley Forge, and perhaps seeing the
+brave young Lafayette, must be given up.
+
+As she went slowly up-stairs to bed, she had almost forgotten the happy
+birthday picnic near the river. But she recalled what Black Jason had
+said of the rumor that General Howe was soon to leave Philadelphia. Just
+now, however, that seemed to be of little importance to Ruth. Her last
+waking thought was that she must be sure to get up early, very early,
+the next morning and have hot water ready to bathe the hurt ankle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A GREAT RESOLVE
+
+
+Although Ruth was up in good season the next morning, she had only
+started the kitchen fire when Mrs. Merrill and Gilbert appeared at the
+kitchen door with a basket containing breakfast for Mrs. Pennell and
+Ruth.
+
+Gilbert was all ready to start for his drive to Germantown, and, after a
+few words with Mrs. Pennell, hurried away.
+
+Mrs. Merrill bathed the sprained ankle and helped Ruth's mother to a
+comfortable chair near the window.
+
+"May I not put the little table by your chair, Mother, and have my
+breakfast here with you?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Yes, indeed! That is exactly what I was wishing you to do, my dear,"
+responded Mrs. Pennell; and Ruth ran away to the kitchen and brought in
+the hot corn bread that Mrs. Merrill had brought, the dish of porridge
+and the pot of steaming coffee. Then she drew a chair up opposite her
+mother, and they smiled happily at each other across the small table.
+
+Mrs. Pennell declared that her foot was much better.
+
+"I am sure your Aunt Clara will return with Gilbert," she continued,
+"but even then I am afraid you will have to do a good deal more than
+ever before, Ruthie, dear, for Aunt Clara is not yet fully recovered
+from her illness."
+
+Ruth felt rather proud to know that her mother relied upon her to be of
+so much help, and, for the moment, quite forgot the visit to Barren
+Hill. She told her mother of all the delights of Betty's May-day party,
+and when she carried the breakfast dishes out to the kitchen she was
+almost her happy self again.
+
+Winifred came over and helped Ruth with the household work that morning,
+and early in the afternoon Aunt Clara arrived; who, in spite of Mrs.
+Pennell's fears in regard to her strength, declared herself quite equal
+to taking care of her sister and attending to the work of the house.
+
+Nevertheless Ruth was kept busy for a number of days; she did not go
+very far from her mother's sitting-room, and Mrs. Pennell said that her
+little daughter was "hands and feet" for her lame mother.
+
+Mrs. Pennell's fingers were busy making a dress for Ruth. It was of
+white linen that Aunt Deborah had woven herself, and brought as a
+present to Ruth, and Mrs. Pennell was hemstitching the broad collar and
+dainty cuffs.
+
+"Your Aunt Deborah will be pleased if you have the dress to wear when
+you visit her," said Mrs. Pennell, a few days after her accident, when
+Ruth sat beside her, both busy with their needles.
+
+"But I can't go to Barren Hill, Mother. You couldn't spare me," replied
+Ruth.
+
+"Of course you must go to Barren Hill. Not just at present; but in a
+week or two I shall be hobbling about the house, and your Aunt Clara
+will stay with me while you are away," said Mrs. Pennell.
+
+"Truly? Am I really to go to Barren Hill?" exclaimed Ruth, dropping her
+work, and jumping up from her chair. "Oh! I'm so glad."
+
+Mrs. Pennell looked at her little girl in surprise. She had had no idea
+how much Ruth had counted on this visit, nor with what disappointment
+she had given it up.
+
+"Why, my dear child, you have not said a word about your visit since I
+hurt my ankle. I had not an idea that you wished to go so much," she
+said.
+
+"I didn't wish to go when you couldn't take a step," Ruth declared.
+
+"Well! I think it is almost worth while to have a sprained ankle to find
+out what a good little daughter I have," said her mother. "I feel very
+proud indeed. And now I think you had best put on your hat and go and
+make Betty Hastings an afternoon visit. It is nearly a week since her
+May party."
+
+"I will ask Winifred to go, too," said Ruth eagerly, feeling happier
+than she had since her mother's accident.
+
+"You had best change your dress, dear; put on your blue chambray,"
+suggested her mother, and Ruth ran off to her own room, singing, "Joy is
+everywhere," as gaily as she had sung it when dancing around Betty's
+throne.
+
+In a little while she was back in the sitting-room, all ready for her
+visit. In the pretty blue dress, and wearing a white hat with a blue
+ribbon around the crown, and with her white stockings and low shoes with
+shining silver buckles, Ruth was indeed a little girl of whom any
+mother might be proud.
+
+Winifred was soon ready to accompany her, and the two friends started on
+their walk to see Betty Hastings.
+
+As they came in sight of the Hastings house they both exclaimed in
+surprise. For on the steps was Betty, wearing her best hat, and the tall
+English officer, whose red coat Betty had borrowed for Gilbert's play,
+stood beside her.
+
+"Do you suppose Betty is a prisoner?" whispered Winnie, a little
+fearfully.
+
+"Of course she isn't, all dressed up in her best," replied Ruth, and at
+that moment Betty saw her two friends and waved her hand to them as she
+came down the steps beside the English officer.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! Ruth! I am so glad you came. Now you can go with us to
+Walnut Grove and see the English officers practising for their
+tournament. Captain Harlow says you may go," she exclaimed, running
+forward to meet them.
+
+Before Ruth or Winifred could reply the tall officer was beside Betty,
+and she now introduced him to her friends. Ruth and Winnie curtsied,
+with rather sober faces, and the Englishman bowed politely, and said
+that he should be happy to have Ruth and Winifred accompany them.
+
+The young Englishman had lodged with Mrs. Hastings ever since the
+September day when the English army entered Philadelphia. He had been
+unfailingly kind to all the family, and when he offered to take Betty to
+Walnut Grove to see the preparations already well under way for the
+"Mischianza," as the soldiers named their famous entertainment to be
+given in honor of General Howe, Mrs. Hastings was quite willing for
+Betty to go.
+
+"We shall be home in good season. I am sure your mothers would be
+willing," urged Betty, "and 'twill be a fine sight to-day, since the
+soldiers are to rehearse, as we did for Gilbert's play."
+
+"Let's go, Ruth," Winifred whispered eagerly, and Ruth agreed, but with
+a vague feeling that she ought not to wish to be entertained by the
+amusements of America's enemies.
+
+As they walked on toward Knight's Wharf, at the water edge of Green
+Street, where a boat was waiting to take Captain Harlow and his guests
+down the river to Mr. Wharton's country place, Ruth kept repeating the
+word "tournament" to herself, and wondering what it meant. Betty must
+know, she thought, for she had spoken it so easily. She resolved to ask
+her at the first opportunity.
+
+A rowboat with two sailors was waiting for the captain, and he helped
+the little girls to the comfortable seats, and took his place at the
+tiller, and with a word to the oarsmen the boat moved out from the wharf
+and headed toward Southwark.
+
+"What does 'tournament' mean, Betty?" Ruth whispered.
+
+"Wait and see," laughed Betty.
+
+"Does it mean the same as 'rehearsal'?" persisted Ruth.
+
+"Not exactly," replied Betty, who only that very morning had asked her
+mother the same question. "It really means a make-believe battle," she
+explained, seeing Ruth's look of disappointment. "Men dress up in armor,
+such as soldiers used to wear, and their horses wear shields, and the
+men have long spears, and make-believe attack each other."
+
+"Shall we see that to-day?" Ruth questioned.
+
+But before Betty could answer she realized that Captain Harlow was
+speaking.
+
+"I suppose you all know what the Knights of the days of Chivalry fought
+for?" he was saying, with a friendly smile at the three little American
+girls who were his guests.
+
+"What are 'Knights'?" questioned Winifred.
+
+"Can you answer that, Miss Betty?" asked the captain.
+
+"Mother told me that a knight was a brave soldier, whose king gave him a
+sword, and then said: 'Arise, Sir Knight,'" replied Betty, while Ruth
+and Winifred listened admiringly, thinking their friend Betty must be
+the most clever girl in Philadelphia.
+
+"Well, that is near enough," replied the young officer, "but I will tell
+you that in olden times knights used to have tilts, or tournaments, such
+as we mean to have on the eighteenth of this month. White Knights
+against the Knights of the Blended Rose."
+
+It all sounded very wonderful to the three little girls, and Ruth was
+eager to reach Southwark, fearing that they might miss some part of this
+rehearsal.
+
+The beautiful river was very still that pleasant afternoon in May, and
+the boat moved rapidly along, now and then passing some fishing-craft
+or pleasure boat, and the little girls smiled happily at each other,
+thinking that this indeed was a great adventure.
+
+As the boat drew near the landing place, they could see a number of
+people on the wharf, and one of these Ruth at once recognized as Major
+André, the young officer who had introduced her to General Howe on the
+night when she had gone to demand the return of Hero.
+
+Captain Harlow led the little girls to a bench on the further side of
+Mr. Wharton's beautiful lawn. "Stay here until I come after you," he
+said and hurried away.
+
+The girls looked about admiringly. Just across the lawn from where they
+were sitting men were at work on a pavilion, in which the guests would
+be seated to view the "Mischianza." Soldiers on horseback were riding
+back and forth, and a trumpet call sent them all trotting away, to
+return immediately with long lances and shields on their left arms.
+Forming in two divisions they galloped forward and back, turning so
+quickly that Ruth and Betty both exclaimed, fearful that the riders
+would be thrown.
+
+In a little while Captain Harlow came and took his guests to visit the
+ballroom. From the garden they ascended a short flight of steps, and
+entered a spacious hall, lined with mirrors. Never had the little girls
+seen anything so wonderful. Wherever they looked they saw Betty, Ruth,
+and Winifred all smiling with delight. Captain Harlow called a servant,
+and in a few moments the man returned with a silver tray on which were
+plates of candied fruits, cakes, and glasses of lemonade for his little
+guests.
+
+"It's more wonderful than the May-day party," whispered Winifred.
+
+But Ruth did not hear her. For at that moment two officers had entered
+the room.
+
+"Sir Henry Clinton will arrive to-morrow, and General Howe will soon be
+on his way to England," she heard one of them say.
+
+"'Tis a pity he cannot capture young Lafayette and take him back to
+England with him. King George would give him a royal welcome," responded
+the other.
+
+"There is some such plan afoot," declared the first speaker.
+
+"'Capture Lafayette!'" Ruth whispered the dreadful words over to herself
+and all her delight and pleasure vanished. These men, even the kind
+Captain Harlow, whom the Hastings liked so well, would try their best to
+capture the young French Republican, America's best friend, and take him
+to England a prisoner. Ruth could think of nothing else. She wondered if
+perhaps there was not already some plan by which Lafayette would be
+captured. She was very silent all the remainder of the afternoon, and
+Betty decided that Ruth must be tired.
+
+But they all thanked the captain very politely for their pleasant visit,
+as he helped them from the boat and walked with them to Mrs. Hastings'
+door. Ruth was eager to get home. She meant to ask her mother if she
+might not go to Barren Hill very soon, perhaps to-morrow. It seemed to
+her she could hardly wait that long; for who could tell what the English
+soldiers might do before warning could reach Lafayette?
+
+For Ruth had made a great resolve: she would try to let Lafayette know
+that the English General meant to do his best to take him a prisoner to
+England. Once at Barren Hill Ruth was sure that she could find some way
+to reach Washington's camp and warn the young Frenchman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE VISIT
+
+
+Ruth's mother and aunt listened to her account of her afternoon's
+adventure with interest, but when she had finished her mother said:
+
+"I do not blame you, my dear, for accepting Betty's invitation, but I am
+surprised that Mrs. Hastings should permit an enemy of America's rights
+to become a friend, as it is evident she so regards the young English
+officer who lodges there."
+
+In her heart Ruth agreed with her mother. It seemed disloyal even to
+have accepted Betty's invitation. Nevertheless Ruth was glad that she
+had gone to Southwark; for the conversation she had overheard in regard
+to Lafayette seemed of great importance to the little girl. She did not
+speak to any one of what she had heard the English officers say, but she
+could not explain even to herself why she had not at once told Winnie,
+or why she did not now tell her mother. It seemed to Ruth that it was a
+secret which she could confide only to one person: to Lafayette
+himself.
+
+"May I go to Barren Hill to-morrow, Mother, dear?" she asked earnestly,
+as she bade her mother good-night.
+
+"Why, Ruthie! Of course not! Your things are not ready, and we have not
+sent Aunt Deborah word to have Farmer Withely call for you," replied her
+mother in surprise. "Why are you so anxious to go to-morrow?"
+
+"Oh, Mother! Never mind about my things. And I am sure Farmer Withely
+will take me," urged Ruth.
+
+"But do you think it will be quite fair to Aunt Clara?" said Mrs.
+Pennell gravely. "You know there are many things you can do to help her
+until I am on my feet again. Be patient, Ruthie. You shall go to Barren
+Hill as soon as it is possible."
+
+Ruth was ready to cry with disappointment as she went up-stairs to bed.
+For a moment she had been tempted to tell her mother her reason for
+wanting to go at once to Barren Hill, but she realized that her mother
+might say that a little girl could do nothing to protect a great
+soldier, and forbid her making any attempt to reach the young Frenchman
+only to repeat the careless talk of English soldiers.
+
+"I must do it myself, in some way. I must!" thought Ruth as she prepared
+for bed. She wondered if Aunt Clara would not help her in her plan to go
+to Barren Hill.
+
+Ruth was late to breakfast the next morning, and Aunt Clara wondered a
+little at her sober face, while Mrs. Pennell was troubled, thinking that
+Ruth was brooding over her disappointment in not going to Barren Hill.
+
+The little girl performed her usual household duties; but when her
+mother suggested that she should go and play with Winifred, she shook
+her head.
+
+In the afternoon she went into the yard with Hero and "Cecilia" to the
+seat under the maple tree. Aunt Clara noticed that the little girl sat
+looking across the garden as if her thoughts were far away, neglecting
+Cecilia, and paying no attention to the faithful Hero.
+
+"I am afraid Ruthie is going to be ill," she said to Mrs. Pennell. "She
+has not seemed like herself since she got home from her visit
+yesterday."
+
+Mrs. Pennell was quite sure that Ruth was not ill, but she was troubled
+that her little daughter should be so disappointed and unwilling to
+postpone the visit to Aunt Deborah.
+
+"Her heart is set on going to Barren Hill, and I have told her she must
+wait a while," she explained.
+
+"But why not let her go now?" suggested Aunt Clara. "She is a good and
+helpful child, and deserves the pleasure. I can make her things ready."
+
+It did not take much persuasion for Mrs. Pennell to give her consent,
+and when Ruth came slowly into the sitting-room, in response to Aunt
+Clara's call, her mother said:
+
+"Well, my dear, your Aunt Clara says that you well deserve to start for
+Barren Hill as soon as she can make you ready. So be on the outlook for
+Farmer Withely to-morrow morning, and ask him to call for you on
+Thursday, and to tell Aunt Deborah to expect you."
+
+Ruth's face had brightened as her mother began to speak, but as Mrs.
+Pennell finished she was again almost ready to cry.
+
+"'Thursday'!" she repeated. "That's two whole days to wait! Why can't I
+go to-morrow?" she said anxiously.
+
+Mrs. Pennell looked at Ruth in surprise. Never before had she known her
+little daughter to whine, or seem to want her own way more than anything
+else.
+
+"What is the matter, Ruth? I thought you would be so glad that your Aunt
+Clara had persuaded me to let you go so soon. If you say anything about
+going before Thursday we shall give up the visit altogether," she said.
+
+Ruth hardly knew what to say or do. It seemed to the little girl that
+her delay in starting for Barren Hill meant the possibility of the
+capture of Lafayette. She was tempted to tell her mother the reason for
+wishing to start at once, but she was sure Mrs. Pennell would promptly
+forbid her carrying out her plan to visit Valley Forge.
+
+Ruth managed to thank her mother for permission to go on Thursday, and
+to say that she would be sure and see Farmer Withely and give him the
+message the next morning, and then went back to her seat in the garden.
+She had just taken up Cecilia, when the garden gate was pushed open and
+Winifred came running up the path.
+
+"Gilbert says he is ashamed of me!" declared Winifred, "and of you, and
+of Betty Hastings, for going to Southwark yesterday," and she looked at
+Ruth a little fearfully, as if expecting her friend to be quite overcome
+by Gilbert's disapproval.
+
+"I don't care if he is," was Ruth's surprising reply. "I am glad I went,
+and I always shall be glad. And perhaps some day Gilbert will be glad
+too."
+
+"Why, Ruth Pennell!" exclaimed Winifred.
+
+"You tell him just what I say," insisted Ruth, beginning to feel more
+cheerful at the thought of Gilbert's surprise when he should discover
+that she had saved Lafayette from capture through her visit to
+Southwark. After all, Thursday was only the day after to-morrow, she
+reflected, and the English were too much occupied in their welcome to
+Sir Henry Clinton to start off to capture the young Frenchman. Besides
+that encouraging thought Winifred had brought over a box filled with
+beads. They were wonderful beads--blue, all shades of blue, and
+sparkling red beads, and beads of shining green, and white beads as
+clear as dew-drops.
+
+"You may pick out those you like best," said the generous Winnie,
+"enough to make you a necklace, and one for Cecilia, too," and the two
+little girls were soon happily occupied with the beads, and Ruth forgot
+all about her fears lest her warning should come too late. But when
+Winifred jumped up saying that it was time for her to go home, Ruth
+remembered that she had not told Winnie that she was to go to Barren
+Hill on Thursday.
+
+"Oh, Ruth! Then you won't see all the processions for Captain Harlow's
+entertainment. And he said this morning when I went over to see Betty
+that we could go down again, the very day before it is given," exclaimed
+Winifred.
+
+"I wouldn't go if I were at home," declared Ruth, "but don't you tell
+Gilbert that I said I wouldn't go. You tell him what I said first: 'that
+I am glad I went, and I always shall be glad. And that perhaps some day
+he will be glad too that I went to Southwark.'"
+
+Winifred promised to deliver the message. She did not suppose it had any
+special meaning, but she was sure it would puzzle Gilbert.
+
+The next day was a busy one for Ruth. Farmer Withely promised to call
+for her on Thursday afternoon, and wondered to himself why the little
+girl was so eager to visit Barren Hill. Mrs. Pennell finished the white
+linen dress, while Ruth helped Aunt Clara in the work of the house,
+packed the small leathern trunk, which was to accompany her on her
+journey, and last of all dressed Cecilia in her best, for she had
+decided, at Aunt Clara's suggestion, that Cecilia needed a visit to the
+country.
+
+Mrs. Pennell could now walk a little, and not until Thursday morning did
+Ruth have a single doubt in regard to going away from home. But as the
+time of her departure drew near she kept close beside her mother, and
+when Aunt Clara called that Farmer Withely was driving down the street
+Ruth was suddenly quite sure that she could not go and leave her mother
+behind.
+
+"Oh, Mother! I don't wish to go," she exclaimed, her arms close about
+her mother's neck.
+
+Mrs. Pennell held her close, telling her of the beautiful time she would
+have with Aunt Deborah. "And, who knows! You may see Lafayette himself,"
+she added, knowing how great a hero the young Frenchman seemed to all
+American children, as well as to their elders.
+
+"I shall come home soon," Ruth answered earnestly, and then Aunt Clara
+called that Farmer Withely was waiting, and with one more good-bye kiss
+Ruth ran down the steps, and in a few moments was seated beside the
+farmer, while the big horse trotted down the street.
+
+Aunt Clara had put a box on the wagon seat beside Ruth. "Open it when
+you are half-way to your journey's end," she had said smilingly, and
+Farmer Withely had smiled also, and nodded approvingly, thinking to
+himself that he had no better customers than the Pennell family, and
+being quite sure of the appetizing contents of the box.
+
+As they drove out of the town, past the stone house, and on to the river
+road Ruth pointed out the field, where the May-pole was still standing,
+and told the farmer all the May-day sports and songs.
+
+"Perhaps you could remember some of those songs, Miss Ruth? Now, if you
+could, I should admire to hear them," said Farmer Withely.
+
+[Illustration: THE BIG HORSE TROTTED DOWN THE STREET]
+
+"Yes, indeed! I remember every one," said Ruth, and when she began Mrs.
+Hastings' song, Farmer Withely found that it was one he too used to sing
+as a boy on far-off May-days, and so they sang it together, their voices
+falling pleasantly on the sweet spring air.
+
+Then Ruth ventured to ask if Farmer Withely had ever seen General
+Washington, or, perhaps, young Lafayette?
+
+"Indeed I have. My best gray horse has now the honor of belonging to
+General Washington, and many a cold journey have I taken to carry food
+to the soldiers at Valley Forge," responded Farmer Withely, and he went
+on to tell of the unfaltering courage of the American soldiers through
+the hardships at the camp.
+
+He told of young Lafayette's recent return to Valley Forge from Albany,
+and of his devotion to the American cause. Ruth listened eagerly to all
+he had to tell her, and the miles slipped away behind them, and when
+Farmer Withely pointed toward the old church, which stood near the
+summit of Barren Hill, and said that they had nearly reached their
+journey's end, Ruth declared that it had been a very pleasant journey,
+and Farmer Withely said he would like just such a passenger every day.
+
+Aunt Deborah Farleigh was at the gate to welcome her little niece, and
+then Ruth had to be taken and introduced to the bees, and to see two
+brown calves in the barnyard, and a flock of fine chickens. After that
+it was nearly dusk and supper was ready, and it was not until Ruth took
+her seat at the table that she remembered her real errand to Barren
+Hill.
+
+"Aunt Deborah, the English have not captured Lafayette, have they?" she
+asked earnestly.
+
+For once Aunt Deborah was startled from her usual calmness.
+
+"For pity's sake, child! What dost thou mean?" she responded. "I have
+heard naught of such a thing."
+
+Ruth gave a sigh of relief. "I just wanted to be sure," she replied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+LAFAYETTE'S VISIT
+
+
+The May sun streamed warmly into the big square chamber where Ruth
+slept, and she awoke to the song of birds, and the fragrance of
+blossoming lilacs.
+
+For a few moments she lay quite still, looking wonderingly about the
+room. It seemed a "shining" room to Ruth, with its whitewashed walls,
+and its smooth polished floor, and only a chest of drawers, a
+light-stand and a rush-bottomed chair for furniture.
+
+She got up and dressed slowly, wondering if her mother missed her very
+much, and if Hero would go scratching and whining to her door in search
+of his little mistress. Aunt Deborah's house was much larger than the
+little brick house which was Ruth's home in Philadelphia, and as Ruth
+came slowly down the wide stairs she thought what a fine house it would
+be for little girls to live in; there seemed so much room and so little
+furniture.
+
+Aunt Deborah lived alone, but the Withely farm adjoined hers, and Farmer
+Withely took care of her farm and stock.
+
+"Good-morning, Ruth," said Aunt Deborah with her sunny smile, as her
+little niece came into the big kitchen to find breakfast awaiting her.
+"I trust thy pleasure in being here is as great as mine in having thee.
+And I have great news for thee. Thy dear father came over from Valley
+Forge a week ago, and was sorry enough to find thee not here. And he had
+great tidings for me. He says that France has now joined with America in
+the war against England, and Washington hopes for great aid from so
+powerful an ally."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! Won't my father come again?" responded Ruth. "May I
+not go to Valley Forge to see him?"
+
+"It may be that he will come again," Aunt Deborah replied thoughtfully.
+"And who knows but he may come with Lafayette! For General Washington is
+sending scouting parties about the country to discover the plans of the
+English. So any day we may see the troops of either army come marching
+up the road."
+
+Ruth was almost too excited to eat her breakfast after listening to
+Aunt Deborah's news, and even the sight of the pink lustre cup from
+which Lafayette had drunk seemed of little consequence. If English
+soldiers came marching that way Ruth knew well that their purpose would
+be to capture American scouting parties, and she became more eager than
+ever to go to Valley Forge, and again asked Aunt Deborah if she could
+not go. But Aunt Deborah promptly responded that such a visit was
+impossible.
+
+"Tis a ride of over ten miles, and a ford to cross," she said. "Farmer
+Withely has no spare time at present to take thee; besides that, General
+Washington does not care for visitors."
+
+Ruth looked so disappointed that Aunt Deborah added: "And who knows what
+day Lafayette may ride this way again? It may even be this very morning!
+Take thy doll and walk to the church; from there thou canst see both
+ways. If the English redcoats come along the river road thee must hasten
+back and tell me, so that we may start some one off at once to warn our
+American soldiers."
+
+"Might I go?" asked Ruth.
+
+"How could a small girl like thee cross the Schuylkill?" questioned
+Aunt Deborah. "'Tis most likely I should have to go myself."
+
+Ruth now felt that she could really be of use if she kept watch from the
+top of Barren Hill, and she ran through the garden, and climbed up the
+rough slope to the little square church, from whose steps she could
+watch the quiet road which curved along by the woods to the riverside.
+She thought of Hero, and wished it had been possible to bring him with
+her. "Just for company," she whispered to herself, for she began to feel
+that she was a long way from home.
+
+"Unless Father or Lafayette comes to-day I must go to Valley Forge
+to-morrow," she resolved.
+
+But the day passed without a sign of any advancing troops, and at
+supper-time Ruth was so quiet and sober that Aunt Deborah began to fear
+that her little niece was homesick, and tried to amuse her by telling
+her of a tame squirrel who lived in the wood-shed and had made friends
+with a family of kittens. But the little girl did not seem interested;
+she wanted to know if the water was very deep at Matson's ford, and how
+long it would take to walk to Valley Forge; until Aunt Deborah wondered
+if Ruth really thought such a journey possible for a little girl. She
+recalled the visit Ruth had made to the English General in order to
+rescue Hero, and said to herself that she was sure Ruth would not again
+undertake any plan without asking permission.
+
+"I'll wait until to-morrow," Ruth resolved, as she went to bed that
+night. "I mustn't wait any longer," and comforted by that resolution she
+was soon fast asleep.
+
+She awoke before daylight, to find Aunt Deborah standing beside the bed.
+
+"Get up, my dear child. Lose no time. General Lafayette is below, and I
+am preparing his breakfast," she said.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah!" exclaimed Ruth, sure that this was a dream from
+which she would soon awake.
+
+"Hasten, child, if thou wouldst see him," and Aunt Deborah, candle in
+hand, disappeared from the shadowy room.
+
+Ruth dressed more quickly than ever before, but she did not neglect to
+brush her hair neatly, but not until she opened the kitchen door did she
+realize that the strings to her stout leather shoes were unfastened.
+
+It was broad daylight now, and the morning sunshine was all about the
+Marquis de Lafayette as he looked up with a smiling nod to the little
+girl who stood gazing at him from the doorway.
+
+"If thee please, sir, this is my niece, Ruth Pennell, who has long
+cherished the hope of seeing thee," said Aunt Deborah.
+
+The young Frenchman rose from his seat, and bowed as ceremoniously as if
+Lady Washington herself stood before him.
+
+Ruth could think only of her thick shoes and the wandering strings, as
+she endeavored to make a proper curtsy.
+
+Lafayette was in the uniform of an American officer, and two American
+soldiers were on guard at the open door. The little party had ridden
+over from Valley Forge under cover of the night to discover a
+camping-ground for a body of troops which Lafayette was soon to lead
+toward Philadelphia, for Washington had discovered that Sir Henry
+Clinton had orders to evacuate the city.
+
+"Will you not share my breakfast, Mistress Ruth?" asked the young
+Frenchman, drawing one of the high-backed wooden chairs to the table
+beside his own.
+
+"The child will indeed be honored," replied Aunt Deborah, and almost
+before Ruth could realize the great honor in store for her she found
+herself seated at the table. She looked up to find Lafayette smiling at
+her shy word of thanks.
+
+What a wonderful breakfast for any little girl to have to remember. Ruth
+wished with all her heart that Winifred and Gilbert could see her.
+
+"I have a small daughter of my own in France," said the kind young
+Frenchman, "and I hear that your father is at Valley Forge."
+
+"Yes, sir," responded Ruth faintly, wondering to herself why she did not
+at once tell him what she had heard the English officers at Southwark
+say of General Howe's intention to capture him.
+
+"Well, very soon he will be safe at home," continued Lafayette. And now
+Ruth resolved to speak.
+
+"If you please, sir----" she began, but at that moment Lafayette sprang
+to his feet, and with a word of thanks to Aunt Deborah for her
+hospitality, and a smiling nod to Ruth, he started toward the door,
+saying:
+
+"I have indeed lingered too long. I must lose no time in getting back to
+camp."
+
+But now Ruth was out of her chair in a second; she was no longer in awe
+of the young Frenchman.
+
+"I must tell you. I heard two Englishmen say you were to be captured and
+taken to England," she declared eagerly, running along by his side.
+
+The young man smiled down at the eager, half frightened child.
+
+"Ah, well, _ma chere_, they have been saying that for a long time," he
+responded lightly, "but thou art a kind little maid to warn me; and I
+assure thee I will remember it," and with a word of farewell he hurried
+across the garden, mounted his horse, and in a few moments had vanished
+behind the thick growing trees.
+
+Aunt Deborah and Ruth stood on the garden path listening until they
+could no longer hear the sound of the horses' feet on the hard country
+road. Then Aunt Deborah smiled at Ruth.
+
+"Thee should be a happy girl now, I am sure," she said, "and thee did
+right to tell him what his enemies threaten. Perhaps that was one reason
+thee was so anxious to visit Valley Forge?"
+
+"Oh, yes, Aunt Deborah! If he had not come I should have had to run away
+so he might surely be warned," Ruth responded.
+
+"I would have taken the message myself had need been," said Aunt
+Deborah; "but thee sees that he already knew of their wicked plan. He
+did but smile at such a threat."
+
+A few days after this visit there was great excitement on Barren Hill. A
+troop of American soldiers, the very flower of Washington's army,
+commanded by Lafayette, were in camp on the hill. Farmers were bringing
+buckets of milk and freshly baked bread for the soldiers' breakfast, and
+Ruth could see and hear the bustle of the camps.
+
+At first Mistress Farleigh and Ruth had hoped that Ruth's father might
+be one of the company, but as the day passed and he did not appear at
+the stone house they became sure that he was still at Valley Forge.
+
+Mistress Farleigh had told Ruth not to go to the summit of the hill
+where the troops were camped.
+
+"Thee may walk toward the river, or in the paths at the edge of the
+wood," Aunt Deborah had said, adding that she wished Hero were at
+Barren Hill. "Then thee could go wherever thee pleased."
+
+But that day Ruth was content to play with Cecilia in the pleasant
+garden, hoping until long after sunset that her father might appear.
+
+Neither Aunt Deborah nor Ruth slept well that night, and both were up
+very early in the morning. After their simple breakfast Aunt Deborah
+busied herself with bread making, that she might send hot corn bread to
+the American soldiers.
+
+"And wilt thou not run over to Farmer Withely's and ask Mistress Withely
+for the loan of a covered basket of good size, Ruth," she suggested, and
+Ruth willingly obeyed. The Withely farmhouse was at the further side of
+a broad field, and hidden by a small grove of pine trees. It was a
+pleasant walk in the early morning, and as Ruth ran along she could see
+that the American troops were harnessing their horses, and that it was
+evident some movement was at hand.
+
+"Oh! Perhaps I shall never see Lafayette again, and I did not help him
+after all," she thought.
+
+And now another and more startling sound came to Ruth's ears. Along the
+Ridge road she could hear the sound of horses' feet and the rattle of
+musketry.
+
+"Perhaps it is more American soldiers coming," thought the little girl.
+But she felt vaguely troubled, as she went slowly on. She had just
+entered the little woodland path which led to Farmer Withely's when she
+saw a glimmer of a red coat in the underbrush.
+
+Ruth stopped, and crouched low behind a small tree. She heard low
+voices, and in a moment a laughing voice said:
+
+"We have the fine Frenchman just where we want him. He is preparing his
+men to receive Howe's soldiers on the Ridge road, but he does not dream
+that General Grant with seven thousand troops is coming up in his rear.
+General Howe has invited a dinner party to meet Lafayette to-night in
+Philadelphia."
+
+"'Tis a fine thing to get the Frenchman," came the low response; "we'd
+better move farther up the hill now."
+
+For a moment Ruth hesitated, hardly realizing the importance of what she
+had overheard. Then she turned and ran toward the American encampment,
+where she could see troops of soldiers already moving forward toward
+the Ridge road.
+
+"Oh I suppose I do not get there in time to tell him that there is an
+English army coming behind him," she thought.
+
+Once she stumbled and fell over an unseen root; but at last breathless
+and tired she found herself facing a number of American soldiers, one of
+whom called out:
+
+"Run home, child; you are in danger here."
+
+"Lafayette! Lafayette!" she called wildly. "Tell him there are thousands
+of English soldiers coming up the road behind his army. The road from
+Swedes Ford," called Ruth.
+
+Almost before Ruth finished speaking one of the soldiers had turned his
+horse and galloped away to find his commander, and tell him of this
+unexpected enemy. Ruth turned and hurried home. She had entirely
+forgotten about her errand to Farmer Withely's.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+AT HOME
+
+
+Lafayette had received the startling news and acted upon it without a
+question. He marched his men rapidly toward Matson's Ford, on the lower
+road, and when the British generals came up to Barren Hill they were
+astonished to find that they had only each other to fight. They decided
+not to cross the river, but returned to Philadelphia, much disappointed
+that the Marquis de Lafayette was not their prisoner.
+
+Lafayette likewise marched back to Valley Forge, where he was received
+with great joy.
+
+The soldier who had taken Ruth's message found an opportunity to tell
+Lafayette that the news that had saved his army had been brought by a
+little girl.
+
+"She came running up the hill calling your name, sir. A little girl with
+yellow hair and blue eyes," said the soldier.
+
+"Would you know her if you saw her again?" questioned the young
+Frenchman.
+
+"I should indeed, sir," was the quick reply.
+
+Aunt Deborah had not questioned Ruth when, flushed and tired, she came
+running back to the house on the morning when the Americans had so
+easily made their escape, thanks to Ruth's message, from the
+overwhelming armies of the English. For a number of days Ruth did not
+venture beyond the garden, and when, a week later, her father opened the
+gate and called "Ruth!" she ran to meet him, feeling sure that now
+everything was sure to come right, and that she and her father could
+soon return to Philadelphia.
+
+But Mr. Pennell was not alone; there was a tall smiling soldier just
+behind him, and near the gate a graceful figure on horseback that Ruth
+recognized as Lafayette.
+
+Aunt Deborah came hurrying to welcome Mr. Pennell; the soldier had
+turned back, and was standing beside the mounted officer, who soon
+dismounted and came slowly up the path.
+
+"Lieutenant Pennell, I have to thank your little maid for a very great
+service," he said, as he took Ruth's hand, and smiled down on the
+little girl; and then he told first of Ruth's warning that his capture
+was planned by General Howe, and then of her warning of an advancing
+army against his troops.
+
+"I came this morning that I might thank her for her loyal service to
+America and to me," he said, bending low to kiss the warm little hand
+that rested in his own.
+
+It was indeed a wonderful day for Ruth Pennell.
+
+After Lafayette rode away she told the story to her surprised and
+astonished father, while Aunt Deborah listened as if she could hardly
+believe her own ears.
+
+Lieutenant Pennell had been given a week's furlough, and was quite sure
+that it would be possible for him to visit his home in Philadelphia,
+taking Ruth with him, for the English were leaving the city as rapidly
+as possible.
+
+Later in the day Aunt Deborah told Ruth's father of his little
+daughter's visit to General Howe, and Ruth told of Gilbert's play, and
+of the boys' arrest by the English, of Betty's capture on account of the
+borrowed coat, and of her escape from the house by the river.
+
+"The children of Philadelphia will indeed remember the year of 1778,
+and surely my little daughter can never forget it," responded her
+father.
+
+Ruth was eager to start for home as soon as possible, especially as Aunt
+Deborah said that she must return in midsummer with her mother for a
+longer visit. "And thy friend Winifred must come also," she had added.
+
+Winifred and Gilbert had heard the story of Ruth's warning to the
+American army, for Aunt Deborah had sent a letter to Mrs. Pennell at the
+first opportunity, and Gilbert had at once declared that he would "make
+up a play" about it.
+
+"And we will have it the very day Ruth comes home," he said. "I will be
+Lafayette, and Ruth can be herself."
+
+"And let's ask Betty and all the girls who went to the May party,"
+suggested Winifred.
+
+"And Ned, too, and Mother and Mrs. Pennell," agreed Gilbert. "I tell
+you, it is lucky Ruth went to Barren Hill, and I guess it's lucky you
+girls went to Southwark that day. You see, it put Ruth on the lookout to
+warn Lafayette," he added.
+
+Gilbert's second play proved even a greater success than his first. The
+girls listened admiringly to Winifred's account of Lafayette's thanking
+Ruth, and when the guests had all gone the two little friends went to
+their favorite seat in Ruth's garden under the big maple tree. Hero kept
+very close to his little mistress, as if afraid that she might again
+suddenly disappear.
+
+"Do you remember that day when we began the chair for Cecilia, Ruthie?"
+asked Winifred, "and when you said you wished you could do some great
+service for Lafayette because he had come to help America?"
+
+Ruth nodded, not quite sure of the exact day, but very sure that she had
+always wanted to help the young Frenchman, and wondering what Winifred
+would say next.
+
+"And now you have done him a great service," Winifred continued soberly.
+"And Betty and Annette, and all the girls say that you are a real
+heroine."
+
+"I guess they don't know much about heroines," responded Ruth, but there
+was a pleased smile about her mouth. Of course any little girl whose
+hand had been kissed by Lafayette was a heroine, she thought happily.
+
+
+
+The Stories in this Series are:
+
+A LITTLE MAID OF PROVINCE TOWN
+A LITTLE MAID OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY
+A LITTLE MAID OF NARRAGANSETT BAY
+A LITTLE MAID OF BUNKER HILL
+A LITTLE MAID OF TICONDEROGA
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD CONNECTICUT
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 22370-8.txt or 22370-8.zip *******
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia, by Alice Turner Curtis</title>
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia, by Alice
+Turner Curtis, Illustrated by Edna Cooke</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia</p>
+<p>Author: Alice Turner Curtis</p>
+<p>Release Date: August 21, 2007  [eBook #22370]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Roger Frank, Neville Allen,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="ILLUS_FPC" id="ILLUS_FPC"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-fpc.jpg" width="350" height="497" alt="SHE LOOKED UP TO FIND LAFAYETTE SMILING AT HER" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SHE LOOKED UP TO FIND LAFAYETTE SMILING AT HER</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width:80%" />
+
+<h1><span class="smcap">A Little Maid<br />
+
+of<br />
+
+Old Philadelphia</span></h1>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Alice Turner Curtis</span></h2>
+
+<p style="text-align:center; font-variant:small-caps">
+author of<br />
+<br />
+A Little Maid of Province Town<br />
+A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony<br />
+A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay<br />
+A Little Maid of Bunker Hill<br />
+A Little Maid of Ticonderoga<br />
+A Little Maid of Old Connecticut<br />
+A Little Maid of Old Maine<br />
+</p>
+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:larger'>ILLUSTRATED BY EDNA COOKE</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 90px;"><br />
+<img src="images/illus-emb.jpg" width="90" height="92" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p style="text-align:center; font-size:larger">
+THE PENN PUBLISHING<br />
+COMPANY PHILADELPHIA<br />
+1921<br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width:80%" />
+<p style="text-align:center;">
+COPYRIGHT<br />
+1919 BY<br />
+THE PENN<br />
+PUBLISHING<br />
+COMPANY</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 90px;"><br />
+<img src="images/illus-vrs.png" width="90" height="81" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p style="text-align:center;">
+A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
+</p>
+<hr style="width:80%" />
+
+<div>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span><h2>Introduction</h2>
+</div>
+<p>Ruth Pennell and Winifred Merrill lived in Philadelphia. The city had
+been for some time in the hands of General Howe and the British army.
+Ruth's father was with Washington at Valley Forge, and the little girls
+were ardent supporters of the American cause, and admirers of the
+gallant young Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette.</p>
+
+<p>Children in 1778 were much like those of to-day, and Ruth and her
+friends, eager as they were for the war to end successfully, were fond
+of dolls and pets, and games and little plays. Yet they kept their ears
+open, and when Ruth overheard what two British soldiers said she knew
+how to make good use of her knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>In each of the other "Little Maid" books is the story of an American
+girl during the Revolution. The other stories are: "A Little Maid of
+Province Town," "A Little Maid of Massa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>chusetts Colony."
+"A Little Maid of Bunker Hill," "A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay," "A
+Little Maid of Ticonderoga," "A Little Maid of Old Connecticut."</p>
+<hr style="width:80%" />
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<table summary="CONTENTS" width="80%">
+  <col style="width:10%" />
+  <col style="width:80%" />
+  <col style="width:10%" />
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">I.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Hero is Lost</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">9</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">II.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Gibert and Lafayette</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">19</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">III.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Ruth Visits General Howe</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">28</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">IV</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Aunt Deborah is Surprised</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">37</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">V.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Ruth Decides</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">43</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">VI.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">A Difficult Day</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">53</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">VII.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Gilbert's Play</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">62</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">VIII.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Betty Runs Away</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">72</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">IX.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Betty's Adventure</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">84</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">X.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">The Lost Programme</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">92</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XI.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">A Long Road</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">102</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XII.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">A Long Ride</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">113</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XIII.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Home Again</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">123</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XIV.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">The Candy Disappears</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">133</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XV.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">A Fairy Story</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">142</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XVI.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Betty and Annette</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">151</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XVII.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Queen Betty</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">161</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XVIII.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">A Great Resolve</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">171</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XIX.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">The Visit</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">182</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XX.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">Lafayette's Visit</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">193</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="right">XXI.</td>
+    <td><span class="smcap">At Home</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">205</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr style="width:80%" />
+
+<h2>Illustrations</h2>
+
+<table summary="ILLUSTRATIONS" width="80%">
+  <col style="width:90%" />
+  <col style="width:10%" />
+<tr><td colspan="2" align="right" style="font-size: small;">PAGE</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class="smcap">She Looked Up To Find Lafayette Smiling at Her</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#ILLUS_FPC"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+  </tr>
+
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class="smcap">"'Tis a Lady Coming To Call</span>"</td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#ILLUS_033">33</a></td>
+  </tr>
+
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class="smcap">It Was a Favorite Play-house</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#ILLUS_095">95</a></td>
+  </tr>
+
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class="smcap">"The First of May is Garland Day"</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#ILLUS_162">162</a></td>
+  </tr>
+
+  <tr>
+    <td><span class="smcap">The Big Horse Trotted Down the Street</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#ILLUS_190">190</a></td>
+  </tr>
+
+</table>
+<hr style="width:80%; margin-bottom:3em" />
+<h1>A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia</h1>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>HERO IS LOST</h3></div>
+
+
+<p>"Where do you suppose Hero can be, Aunt Deborah? He isn't anywhere about
+the house, or in the shed or the garden," and Ruth Pennell's voice
+sounded as if she could hardly keep back the tears as she stood in the
+doorway of the pleasant kitchen where Aunt Deborah was at work.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose the British have taken him?" she asked a little
+fearfully; for it was the spring of 1778, when the British troops were
+in Philadelphia, and Ruth was quite sure that every English soldier who
+saw Hero must want him for his own. The dog was her dearest possession.
+On her tenth birthday, nearly a year before, her father had given her
+Hero for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> birthday present; and now that her father was with
+Washington's army his gift seemed even more precious to his little
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah looked at Ruth for a moment before she answered, and Ruth
+became conscious that her brown hair was rough and untidy from running
+about the garden in the March wind, that her hands were not clean, and
+that there was an ugly rent in her blue checked apron where it had
+caught on a nail in the shed.</p>
+
+<p>"Was it not yesterday that thee declared Hero was stolen, only to find
+that he had followed Winifred Merrill home? And on Sunday, thee was sure
+he had been killed, because he did not appear the first time thee
+called," responded Aunt Deborah reprovingly. Aunt Deborah was not very
+large, and her smooth round face under the neat cap, such as Quaker
+women wear, was usually smiling and friendly; but it always seemed to
+Ruth that no least bit of dirt or untidiness ever escaped those gray
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose he is at Winifred's? I wish she wouldn't let him follow
+her," and Ruth's tone was troubled. Of course Winifred was her dearest
+friend, but Ruth was not willing that Hero should divide his loyalty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Very likely," responded Aunt Deborah, "but thee must smooth thy hair,
+wash thy hands and change thy apron before thee goes to inquire; and put
+on thy hat. It is not seemly for a girl to run about the street
+bareheaded."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Deborah! Only to go next door!" pleaded Ruth, but Aunt Deborah
+only nodded; so Ruth went to her own room and in a few minutes was back
+tying the broad brown ribbons of her hat under her chin as she ran
+through the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"I do hope Mother will come home soon," the little girl thought as she
+went down the front steps to the street; "Aunt Deborah is so fussy."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell had been away for a week caring for her sister who lived in
+Germantown, near Philadelphia, and who was ill; and Aunt Deborah Mary
+Farleigh had come in from her home at Barren Hill, twelve miles distant,
+to stay with Ruth during Mrs. Pennell's absence.</p>
+
+<p>As Ruth ran up the steps of her friend's house the front door opened,
+and Winifred appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ruthie! Where are you going?" she asked smilingly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Winifred was just a month older than Ruth, and they were very nearly the
+same size. They both had blue eyes; but Ruth's hair was of a darker
+brown than Winifred's. They had both attended the same school until Lord
+Cornwallis with his troops entered Philadelphia; since that time each
+little girl had been taught at home.</p>
+
+<p>"Is Hero here?" Ruth asked, hardly noticing her friend's question.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you <i>sure</i>, Winifred? Perhaps he ran in your garden and you didn't
+see him," said Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll see. We'll call him," Winifred replied, holding the door
+open for Ruth to come in.</p>
+
+<p>The Merrill and Pennell houses were separated by a high brick wall, and
+each house stood near the street with broad gardens on each side as well
+as at the rear.</p>
+
+<p>The two friends went through the house, and out on a narrow porch and
+Ruth called, "Hero! Hero!" but there was no welcoming bark, no sight of
+the brown shepherd dog. They went about the yard calling, and Winifred's
+older brother Gilbert, who was preparing a garden bed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> near the further
+wall, assured them that the dog had not been there that morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Then he is lost! What shall I do!" said Ruth despairingly. "I do
+believe the English have taken him. Only yesterday, on Second Street,
+when Aunt Deborah and I were coming home, an officer patted him and
+called him a 'fine dog,'" she continued quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert and Winifred both looked very serious at this statement. Gilbert
+was fourteen years old. He was tall for his age, and thought himself
+quite old enough to be a soldier; but as his father and elder brother
+were both in Washington's army he realized that he must stay at home and
+take care of his mother and Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a mind to go straight to High Street and tell General Howe,"
+said Ruth, "for I heard my mother say that the English general would not
+permit his soldiers to take what did not belong to them."</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert shook his head soberly.</p>
+
+<p>"That may be true; but you are not sure that your dog has been stolen,"
+he said. "You had best wait a while. Hero may have wandered off and may
+come home safely. I'd not ask any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> favors of America's enemies," he
+concluded, picking up his spade and turning back to his work.</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't be a favor to ask for what belonged to me," Ruth answered
+sharply. But Gilbert's words made her more hopeful; Winifred was sure
+that Gilbert was right, and that Hero would come safely home.</p>
+
+<p>"Come up to my room, Ruthie; Mother has given me her scrap-bag. I can
+have all the pieces of silk and chintz to make things for my dolls, and
+you can pick out something to make your Cecilia a bonnet, and perhaps a
+cape."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Truly, Winifred?" responded Ruth, almost forgetting Hero in this
+tempting offer. The two little girls ran up the broad stairway to
+Winifred's room, which was at the back of the house overlooking the
+garden. The two windows had broad window-seats, and on one of these, in
+a small chair, made of stiff pasteboard and covered with a flowered
+chintz, sat "Josephine," Winifred's most treasured doll. Josephine wore
+a very full skirt of crimson silk, a cape of the same material, and on
+her head rested a bonnet of white silk, on the front of which was a tall
+white feather. There were two smaller<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> dolls, and each occupied a chair
+exactly like the one in which Josephine was seated, but neither of them
+was so beautifully dressed.</p>
+
+<p>"I made that bonnet myself," Winifred declared, as Ruth kneeled down
+beside the dolls and exclaimed admiringly over Josephine's fine apparel.
+"And that feather is one that came floating into our garden. Gilbert
+says it's an eagle's feather," she continued.</p>
+
+<p>"It is lovely!" Ruth said, "and this window is the nicest place to play
+dolls in all Philadelphia. And these dolls' chairs are splendid. I wish
+I had one for Cecilia."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, why don't you make one? I helped Grandma make these. All you have
+to do is cut the pieces out of cardboard, cover them with cloth, and sew
+them together. I'll help you," said Winifred, as she opened a closet
+door and drew out a brown linen bag.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the scrap-bag. Look, Ruthie;" and she drew out a long strip of
+plaided silk.</p>
+
+<p>"That would make a lovely sash for Cecilia," said Ruth, "but of course
+it would be nice for Josephine," she added quickly, half-afraid that she
+had seemed grasping of Winifred's possessions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Josephine doesn't like a sash," said Winifred. "You take it home and
+tell Cecilia it's a present from Aunt Winifred."</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a roll of small pieces of pale blue satin; just right to
+make a bonnet for Ruth's doll.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the little girls played happily with the bright pieces of
+silk, selecting bits for one or the other of the dolls, so that when the
+big clock in the hall struck twelve Ruth jumped up in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Winnie! It's dinner-time! What will Aunt Deborah say to me?" she
+exclaimed, putting on her hat, and gathering up the silk pieces.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Winnie! I must run. Aunt Deborah doesn't like me to be late,
+ever," she said, hurrying toward the stairway.</p>
+
+<p>"Come over to-morrow and I'll help you make a doll's chair; and I hope
+you'll find Hero safe at home," Winifred called after her as Ruth ran
+down the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>At Winifred's words all Ruth's pleasure in the morning's play, in the
+pretty bits of silk for her dolls, and the plan for making the chairs,
+vanished. Hero was lost; she knew he was. With<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> his silky coat, and his
+faithful, soft brown eyes, his eager bark of welcome when his little
+mistress came running into the garden for a game of hide-and-go-seek
+with him.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah had spread the table for dinner, which was one of Ruth's
+regular duties; and when Ruth came slowly into the room she was just
+bringing in a dish of baked potatoes hot from the oven.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't find Hero," said Ruth, throwing her little package of silks on
+a chair and then her hat on top of it. "What shall I do, Aunt Deborah?
+What shall I do? I am sure one of those English soldiers has taken him,"
+and now Ruth began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruth! Stop thy foolish crying. Thy dinner is waiting. Go to thy room
+and make thyself tidy," commanded Aunt Deborah, "and take thy hat and
+package," she added.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth obeyed rather reluctantly. "All Aunt Deborah thinks about is
+keeping 'tidy,'" she whispered rebelliously as she left the room. "I've
+washed my hands three times already to-day. She doesn't care if Hero is
+lost. Probably she's glad, because his paws are dirty."</p>
+
+<p>But Ruth was mistaken; Aunt Deborah had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> spent an hour that morning in
+going up and down the alley looking for the missing dog, and in a
+careful search of the house and garden. She valued Hero's faithfulness;
+and not even Ruth herself would have been more pleased than Aunt Deborah
+to hear his bark, and see him jump forward from his usual playground in
+the garden.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps Hero has wandered off," Aunt Deborah said when Ruth took her
+place at the table, "but he will come back, I doubt not, before
+nightfall."</p>
+
+<p>"If he doesn't I shall go and tell the British General that he must find
+him," declared Ruth, somewhat to Aunt Deborah's amusement; who was quite
+sure that the little girl would not dare to approach General Howe, who
+had comfortably established himself in one of the fine houses on High
+Street.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>GILBERT AND LAFAYETTE</h3></div>
+
+
+<p>Two days passed and there was no tidings of the missing dog; and even
+Aunt Deborah began to fear that they should never see him again. It was
+very difficult for Ruth to attend to the tasks that Aunt Deborah set for
+her; for all she could think of was Hero.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert Merrill had gone about the city making inquiries, but no one had
+seen Hero, or could tell him anything about Ruth's dog. Aunt Deborah was
+very sorry for her little niece, but she still insisted that Ruth should
+dust the dining-room as carefully each morning as if Hero was safe in
+the yard; that the little girl should knit her stint on the gray wool
+sock, intended for some loyal soldier, and sew for a half hour each
+afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth dropped stitches in her knitting, for a little blur of tears hid
+her work from sight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> when she thought that perhaps her dear Hero might
+be hurt, unable to find his way home; or perhaps he was shut up
+somewhere by some cruel person who did not care if he was fed or not.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah was very patient with the little girl. She picked up the
+dropped stitches in the knitting; and when she found how uneven a seam
+Ruth was stitching she picked out the threads without a word of reproof.</p>
+
+<p>But on the second day, as they sat at work in the little sewing-room at
+the top of the stairs, Ruth threw down her knitting and began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't knit! I can't do anything until Hero is found. You know I
+can't, Aunt Deborah. And I do wish my mother would come home," she
+sobbed.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah did not speak for a moment. She had no little girls of her
+own, and she often feared that she might not know what was exactly right
+for her little niece. So she never spoke hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"For thy sake, dear child, I wish that thy mother were here: but it is
+very pleasant for me to have thy company, Ruth," she said in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> her
+musical, even voice. "Would thee not like to go and play with Winifred?
+But be sure thy hair is smooth."</p>
+
+<p>But Ruth made no reply. She stopped crying, however, and looked up at
+Aunt Deborah.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you like Hero?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah knitted on until she came to the last stitch on her needle,
+then she lay down her work, and looked at Ruth with her pleasant smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I liked Hero," she said; "but suppose I decided that because he
+was lost I would no longer prepare thy breakfast or dinner? that I would
+not see that thy mother's house was in order. Thee would truly think I
+had but little sense. It does not prove thy liking to cry because thy
+dog is lost; to fix thy thoughts on thy own feelings and leave thy tasks
+for me to do. It does not help bring Hero back. Now, put on thy hat and
+cape and we will walk toward the river. I have an errand to do," and
+Aunt Deborah got up and went to her own room to put on her long gray
+cape and the gray bonnet that she always wore on the street.</p>
+
+<p>She was waiting in the front hall when Ruth came slowly down the stairs.
+She had put on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> her brown straw hat, whose ribbons tied beneath her
+chin, and the pretty cape of blue cloth; for there was a sharp little
+March wind, although the sun shone brightly. Ruth's face was very sober;
+there were traces of tears on her cheeks. She wished that she had said
+she would rather play with Winifred; but it was too late now.</p>
+
+<p>"We need many things, but I fear 'twill not be easy to purchase either
+good cotton cloth or a package of pepper," Aunt Deborah said as they
+turned on to Second Street. "There was but little in the shops when the
+British came, and of that little they have taken for themselves so there
+is not much left for the people."</p>
+
+<p>"They have taken Hero, I know they have!" Ruth replied. "I wish
+Washington would come and drive the English out."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Ho! So here is a small rebel declaring treason right to the face of
+an officer of the King!" and Ruth, surprised and frightened, felt a hand
+on her shoulder, and looked up to find a tall soldier in a red coat with
+shining buttons and bands of gilt looking at her with evident amusement.</p>
+
+<p>"You had best whisper such words as those, young lady," he added
+sternly, and passed on,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> leaving Ruth and Aunt Deborah standing
+surprised and half-frightened.</p>
+
+<p>"This is an American city," Aunt Deborah announced calmly, as they
+walked on. "These intruders can stay but a time. But they have sharp
+ears, indeed. Does thee know why thy father named thy dog 'Hero'?" she
+continued, looking down at Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! Father said 'hero' meant courage and honor; and so it was the
+right name for such a fine dog," Ruth answered quickly. "Aunt Deborah!
+What was that?" she added, stopping short. For she had heard a familiar
+bark.</p>
+
+<p>But Aunt Deborah had heard nothing. They were passing a house where a
+number of soldiers were sitting on the porch smoking.</p>
+
+<p>"I heard Hero bark. He is in that house," Ruth declared, and before Aunt
+Deborah could say a word to prevent such a rash act Ruth had run up the
+steps.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you found a lost dog, if you please?" she asked, half-frightened,
+when she found herself facing two red-faced soldiers who looked at her
+as if she were some wild bird that had flown to the porch. Before they
+could reply Aunt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> Deborah's hand was on Ruth's arm, and the little girl
+heard her aunt saying: "Thee must pardon the child. She has lost her
+dog, and is greatly troubled. She means no harm."</p>
+
+<p>The younger of the two men stood up and bowed politely, and held his hat
+in his hand until Aunt Deborah had led Ruth back to the street; but
+neither of the men had answered her question.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Deborah! What made you? I know Hero is in that house. I heard
+him bark. You spoiled it all," sobbed Ruth, as Aunt Deborah, holding her
+fast by the hand, hurried toward home, quite forgetting the errands she
+wished to do.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah sighed to herself. She began to fear that Ruth was a
+difficult child; and that perhaps she did not know the right way to deal
+with little girls. But she did not reprove Ruth either for her rash act
+or for speaking with so little regard of Aunt Deborah's authority.</p>
+
+<p>"May I go in and see Winifred?" Ruth asked when they reached home, and
+Aunt Deborah gave her permission.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Winifred! I know where Hero is," Ruth declared, as the two friends
+went up to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> Winifred's room, and she hastened to tell the adventures of
+the walk with Aunt Deborah.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going back after him, Winifred, and you must come with me," she
+concluded.</p>
+
+<p>But Winifred said that her mother was out, and that she must not leave
+the house until her return. She looked at Ruth admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you were brave, Ruth, to ask those soldiers. But I don't
+believe they would give you back Hero if you do go back. Perhaps they
+would make you a prisoner," she said a little fearfully; and at last
+Ruth reluctantly agreed not to go after the dog that day. The little
+girls decided that the best way would be to go straight to General Howe
+and tell him that one of his soldiers had taken Hero, and was keeping
+him from his rightful owner.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go to-morrow. But we must not let Aunt Deborah know," said Ruth,
+and Winifred promised to keep the plan a secret.</p>
+
+<p>Now that there seemed a hope of rescuing her dog Ruth was nearly her own
+happy self again. Winifred got out some squares of pasteboard and very
+carefully marked out patterns of the back and sides, as well as for the
+seat, for the dolls' chair. Then she went to find Gilbert to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> borrow his
+knife with which to cut the cardboard; and before Ruth started for home
+the pieces were all ready to be covered. As the two little friends sat
+in the pleasant window-seat Winifred said: "What do you think, Ruthie!
+Gilbert wants to change his name. He wants us to call him Lafayette!"
+and Winifred laughed, as if she thought the idea very funny.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I think that is splendid!" Ruth replied, her blue eyes shining at
+the thought of a "Lafayette" next door to her own home. For all the
+children of Philadelphia knew the story of the brave young Frenchman,
+hardly more than a boy himself, who had left all the comforts of his
+Paris home to share the danger and privations of the American soldiers.
+He had visited Philadelphia the previous summer, 1777, soon after his
+arrival in America. Gilbert had seen the handsome young officer, and
+ever since then he had pleaded that he might be called "Lafayette"
+instead of Gilbert.</p>
+
+<p>"If I were a boy I should wish my name 'Lafayette,'" declared Ruth. "I
+wish we could do something for him, don't you, Winifred?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but what could two little girls do for him? Why, he is a hero, and
+a friend of Washington's,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> Winifred responded. Neither Ruth nor
+Winifred imagined that it would be only a few months before one of them
+would do a great service for the gallant young Frenchman.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>RUTH VISITS GENERAL HOWE</h3></div>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah was unusually quiet in her manner toward her little niece
+when Ruth came home with the cardboard ready to be covered. She did not
+ask Ruth to set the table for supper, but began to spread the cloth
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>"I will do that, Aunt Deborah. You know I always do," Ruth said, laying
+down the parts for the dolls' chair, and coming toward the table.</p>
+
+<p>"I will do it. Thou mayst go to thy room, Ruth; I will call thee when
+supper is ready," Aunt Deborah replied, without a glance at the little
+girl.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth felt her face flush uncomfortably as she suddenly recalled the way
+in which she had spoken to Aunt Deborah after her aunt had led her away
+from the porch where the English soldiers were sitting, and where Ruth
+was sure Hero was hidden. She went up the stairs very slowly to her own
+chamber, a small room opening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> from the large front room where Aunt
+Deborah slept. She sat down near the window, feeling not only ashamed
+but very unhappy.</p>
+
+<p>"If my mother were only here I shouldn't be sent off up-stairs. I don't
+like Aunt Deborah," she exclaimed, and looked up to see her aunt
+standing in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment the two looked at each other, and Ruth could see that Aunt
+Deborah was trying very hard to keep back the tears. Then the door
+closed, very softly, and Ruth was again alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear," she whispered, "and I promised my mother to do everything I
+could to help Aunt Deborah, and now she heard me say that I don't like
+her," and Ruth leaned her head against the arm of the big chair in which
+she had curled up and began to cry, quite sure that no little girl in
+all Philadelphia had as much reason for unhappiness as herself.</p>
+
+<p>After a little she wiped her eyes, and began to think over her
+misfortunes: First of all, Hero was lost. Then came all the troubles
+that, it seemed to Ruth, Aunt Deborah was to blame for. As she said them
+over to herself they appeared sufficient reasons for her dislike: "She
+is always fussing. Always telling me to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> brush my hair, or wash my
+hands, or not to soil my dress. And I do believe she is glad that Hero
+is lost, and does not wish me to find him because he brings dirt into
+the house."</p>
+
+<p>As Ruth finished a sudden resolve came into her mind. She would not wait
+for the next day before going to General Howe to tell her story of
+Hero's disappearance, and of being sure that he had been taken by an
+English soldier. She would go at once. If she waited perhaps Aunt
+Deborah would find some way of preventing the carrying out of the plan.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps if General Howe thought I was a grown-up lady, or nearly grown
+up, he would pay more attention than to what a little girl might ask,"
+thought Ruth. And then a great idea flashed into her mind: she would
+pretend to be grown up.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll wear Mother's best dress, and do up my hair and wear her bonnet,"
+she decided; and opening her chamber door she ran through Aunt Deborah's
+room to the deep closet where her mother's best dress, a pretty gown of
+russet-colored silk, was hanging. Ruth pulled it down, slipped it on
+over her dress of stout brown gingham, and began to fasten it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know my mother was so big," she thought regretfully, as she
+managed to turn back the long sleeves, and glanced down at the full
+breadths of the skirt which lay in a big waving circle about her feet.
+"I'll have to hold it up as high as I can to walk at all."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the dress was fastened, and she managed to pin up her
+hair; and now she drew out the bandbox containing her mother's best
+bonnet. It was made of a pretty shade of brown velvet, with a wreath of
+delicate green leaves, and strings of pale green ribbon.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth tied the strings firmly under her chin. The bonnet came well down
+over her face, nearly hiding her ears, but the little girl thought this
+was very fortunate, as it would prevent any one discovering who she was,
+if she should happen to meet any friend or acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>She began to feel hurried and a little afraid that Aunt Deborah might
+call her to supper before she could escape from the house. Holding up
+the brown silk skirt, and stepping very carefully, she made her way down
+the stairs, opened the front door, and with a long breath of relief,
+found herself standing on the front porch.</p>
+
+<p>The late afternoon was already growing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> shadowy with the approach of
+twilight; and there was no one to be seen on the quiet street as Ruth,
+holding her skirt up in front while the sides and back trailed about her
+on the dirty pavement, walked hurriedly along toward High Street.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll walk more like a grown-up lady when I get near the General's
+house," she resolved. "Won't Winifred be surprised when she knows that
+the English General thought I really was grown up?" and Ruth gave a
+little laugh of delight at the thought of her friend's astonishment,
+quite forgetting all the troubles that had seemed so overpowering an
+hour before.</p>
+
+<p>As she turned into High Street she found herself facing the amused stare
+of two young ladies who were hurrying home from an afternoon walk.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose they were laughing because I was holding up my skirt,"
+thought Ruth, quite unconscious of her absurd appearance, "but I'll have
+to, for I couldn't walk a step if I didn't," she decided.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="ILLUS_033" id="ILLUS_033"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-033.jpg" width="350" height="497" alt="&quot;&#39;TIS A LADY COMING TO CALL&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;TIS A LADY COMING TO CALL&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 33]</span>
+Two English soldiers were on guard at the entrance of the fine mansion
+that the English General had taken from its rightful owner for his own
+use; and as Ruth, now half afraid to go up the steps, stood looking up
+at them a little fearfully, one of them noticed the queer little figure,
+and, quite forgetting his dignity, chuckled with amusement.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, Dick! Here is a lady admiring our fine uniforms," he said,
+calling his companion's attention to Ruth, whose gown now trailed about
+her, and whose bonnet had slipped to one side.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis a lady coming to call on the General," responded "Dick," with a
+wink at the first speaker.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you wish to see General Howe, madam?" he continued, looking down at
+Ruth, while his companion chuckled with delight.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if you please," Ruth managed to reply, beginning to feel a little
+afraid, and wishing that she had waited until the next day when Winifred
+might have come with her.</p>
+
+<p>"Kindly walk up the steps, madam, and I will announce you to the
+General," continued the young soldier, welcoming the hope of a little
+amusement to break the monotony of his daily duties.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth obeyed, stumbling a little as she reached the top.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
+"And what name shall I say?" Dick asked, bowing very low.</p>
+
+<p>"Mistress Ruth Dillingham Pennell, if you please, sir," Ruth replied,
+gaining a little courage, and trying to stand as tall as possible,
+hardly sure if the young soldier was really laughing at her, or if he
+believed her dress to be a proof of at least twenty years of experience.</p>
+
+<p>"'Twill be good sport for the General and his friends. They are just
+sitting down to dinner," "Dick" whispered to the other guard, as he
+swung open the big door and ushered Ruth into the hall, and then led the
+way toward the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>"What nonsense is this, Dick? We are not rehearsing any play just now,"
+called a gay voice; and Ruth and the young soldier were confronted by a
+tall officer whom Ruth instantly recognized as the same who had called
+her a "rebel" that very afternoon on Second Street.</p>
+
+<p>She became really frightened. Suppose he should remember her, and tell
+General Howe what she had said about Washington driving the English from
+the city? It might be that, just as Winifred had said, and they would
+put her in prison. She wished she were safely at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> home with Aunt
+Deborah. But "Dick" was speaking to the handsome young officer.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, now, Major Andr&eacute;, 'twill be as good as any comedy you have seen in
+South Street," he declared, "and the General will be well pleased. No
+harm shall come to the child."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll not interfere. This is a dull town at best," responded the
+young officer laughingly, and without another glance at Ruth, he entered
+the dining-room, with a word to the soldier who stood at the door. The
+big door was now swung wide open by two servants in the livery of the
+English General. Just beyond them stood Major Andr&eacute;, who bowed very low
+as Ruth entered, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"General Howe, a lady who greatly desires to ask a favor of you," and
+Ruth found herself on the threshold of the beautiful room whose paneled
+walls were brilliantly lighted by many wax candles in silver sconces.
+The table was handsomely spread with fine china, glass and silver; and
+about it were seated a number of English officers.</p>
+
+<p>"More comedy, Andr&eacute;!" called a pleasant voice; "kindly bring the lady
+this way," and General Howe rose from his seat at the head of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> the
+table, and instantly all his guests were on their feet.</p>
+
+<p>Major Andr&eacute; held out his hand to Ruth. She well knew that this was the
+proper moment to make her best curtsy, and in spite of the clumsy skirt,
+the bonnet which kept nodding over her face, and the long sleeves that
+had slipped down over her hands, she managed to make a not ungraceful
+curtsy.</p>
+
+<p>There was a little murmur of applause, and Major Andr&eacute; smiled kindly
+upon her, and taking her hand led her toward the head of the table with
+as much grace and courtesy as if he were handing Miss Peggy Shippen
+herself, one of the beauties of the town, to a seat at General Howe's
+dinner table.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a most welcome guest," declared the English General smilingly,
+as Ruth stood before him. "I understand you have a favor to ask of me.
+Whatever it is you may be very sure I will be most happy to grant it,"
+and he smiled down at the queer little figure, quite sure that his young
+officer Major Andr&eacute; had planned the whole affair for his amusement.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, sir, I want my dog," said Ruth falteringly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>AUNT DEBORAH IS SURPRISED</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Years after, when Ruth was really "grown up," she often recalled the
+wonderful night when she sat at General Howe's dinner-table. For Major
+Andr&eacute; had lifted her to a seat beside the General; with a friendly word
+he untied the bonnet-strings and put the bonnet on a side table; and
+Ruth began to think that it was all a dream from which she would soon
+awaken to find herself safely at home. She wondered if it really were
+Ruth Pennell who was answering the General's questions about the missing
+Hero.</p>
+
+<p>"I can do no less than try to find your dog, little maid," he said, "for
+when my own dog wandered away to General Washington's camp, in the
+Germantown fray, the General sent him back to me under the protection of
+a flag of truce; so, as you tell me your father is with Washington, I
+must see to it that Hero is found. That is, if one of my soldiers has so
+far forgotten orders as to have taken him," for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> English General
+took every care that his soldiers should do no harm to the residents of
+the city.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was sure that she knew the very house where she had heard Hero's
+bark; and now that General Howe had promised that a search should be
+made she was eager to go home, and slid out of the chair just as a
+servant set a plate before her.</p>
+
+<p>"I must go home. I&mdash;I&mdash;ran away," she said a little falteringly, looking
+up at the tall General. "Will you please find Hero the first thing
+to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Andr&eacute;! the young lady wishes to return home," said the General,
+"and see to it that you take her there safely, and that you find the
+lost Hero. And find a better plot for your next comedy," the General
+added, as the young officer came forward.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth wondered what "comedy" meant. She did not know that Major Andr&eacute;,
+whose gay good humor and charming manner made him a favorite with all,
+was depended upon to furnish amusement for his brother officers; or that
+they had at first believed that Ruth, stumbling into the dining-room
+dressed as a woman, was the first act of some amusing play of Andr&eacute;'s
+contriving.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now that it proved she was only a runaway little girl looking for a lost
+dog they found it amusing that the young officer should have the trouble
+of taking her home.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth could never quite remember the manner in which the General bade her
+good-bye, or if she make her curtsy, or even thanked him for promising
+that Hero should be found.</p>
+
+<p>Major Andr&eacute; tied on her bonnet, and opening a door that led to a side
+entrance, led her to the street.</p>
+
+<p>"Now tell me the way, and I'll have you home in a jiffy," he said
+pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p>But it was no easy matter for Ruth to walk as rapidly as her companion;
+she stumbled over the skirt; the strings of her bonnet had slipped so
+that it kept bobbing over her eyes and had to be pushed back; and she
+was now so frightened at the thought of what Aunt Deborah would say that
+she hardly knew in what direction they were going until the young
+officer stopped at her own door and lifted the knocker whose rap was
+sure to bring Aunt Deborah hastening to answer it.</p>
+
+<p>"You will not forget about Hero?" Ruth said as they stood on the steps.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I shall not. Be very sure I will do my best to find your dog. I
+will go to the house on Second Street early to-morrow," responded Andr&eacute;,
+and the door swung open and Aunt Deborah, holding a candle in one hand,
+stood looking at them.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is your little girl, madam; she has done no harm, I assure you.
+She did but make a friendly call on General Howe, who sent me to bring
+her safely home," said the young officer, hat in hand, and making his
+best bow.</p>
+
+<p>"I thank thee for bringing the child home, sir," responded Aunt Deborah,
+drawing Ruth firmly over the threshold and closing the door before Major
+Andr&eacute; could say another word. The young officer hurried back to the
+General's dinner-table, a little vexed that he had made so much needless
+trouble for himself by introducing the queer little girl to General
+Howe.</p>
+
+<p>"Slip off thy mother's dress at once, before you do it further harm,"
+said Aunt Deborah; and Ruth, not daring to look up, hastened to obey, as
+she stood in the dimly-lit hall.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I&mdash;only went to look for Hero," Ruth tried to explain, after a
+moment's silence.</p>
+
+<p>"So thee had to put on thy mother's very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> best gown; one that she does
+not wear herself save on great occasions," responded Aunt Deborah,
+taking up the silk dress out of which Ruth had just stepped. "It is
+probably ruined. Go straight to bed. Thou art a wilful and unruly
+child," she continued, as Ruth started toward the stairway.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah followed her, the dress over her arm, but she said no more
+until they reached Ruth's chamber.</p>
+
+<p>"I believed thee safe in thy room. When thee did not come to supper I
+thought thee ashamed and sorry, because of the manner in which thou
+spoke to me; so I did not open the door. But no; thee was playing at
+being some one beside thy rightful self; and going to the house of an
+enemy against whom thy father is fighting. I know not what to say to
+thee, Ruth, nor how to make thee realize that thee has brought shame
+upon us," said Aunt Deborah.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was crying bitterly, and could make no response. Aunt Deborah took
+the candle and left the room, leaving Ruth to find her way into bed in
+the dark. She wished with all her heart that she had not worn her
+mother's silk gown and pretty bonnet. If they really<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> were ruined she
+knew it would be a long time before her mother could replace them; for
+there was no extra money in the little household while America was
+fighting for her rightful liberties.</p>
+
+<p>"None of them, not even General Howe, believed that I was really grown
+up. They were just laughing at me," she thought. "It would have been
+just as well if I had waited, and had asked Aunt Deborah if I might not
+go. Oh, dear! And now I have spoiled Mother's dress."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was so unhappy that she had quite forgotten that Hero might soon be
+restored to her.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>RUTH DECIDES</h3></div>
+
+
+<p>Ruth slept late the next morning, and when she first awoke it was with
+the puzzled feeling of waking from a bad dream. Then slowly she
+remembered the happenings of the previous day.</p>
+
+<p>The spring sunlight filled the room. From a hawthorn tree just below her
+window she could hear a robin singing as if there were nothing but
+sunshine and delight in all the world. And then the big clock in the
+hallway began to strike. "One! two! three! four! five! six! seven!
+eight! <i>Nine!</i>" counted the little girl, and with the last stroke she
+was out of bed.</p>
+
+<p>Before she was dressed Aunt Deborah opened the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Ruth," she said pleasantly, quite as if nothing had
+happened on the previous day, and that Ruth had not slept two hours
+later than usual. "I have brought thee thy breakfast; and thee may stay
+in thy room until I call thee," and Aunt Deborah set a small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> tray on
+the light stand near the window, and before Ruth could make any response
+she had left the room.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was very hungry. She had no supper on the previous night, and she
+now looked eagerly toward the little tray, which held only, a bowl and
+pitcher. The bowl was nearly full of porridge, and the pitcher of creamy
+milk.</p>
+
+<p>That was all very well; and she ate it all, to the last spoonful. But
+usually there were hot corn muffins and a bit of bacon or an egg to
+follow the porridge, and Ruth was still hungry.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps Aunt Deborah forgot," thought Ruth, "but I don't believe she
+did. Perhaps she is only provoked at me for being late for breakfast!"</p>
+
+<p>Ruth shook up her pillows, turned back the blankets of her bed, and then
+went to the window and leaned out. There were two robins now on the top
+branch of the hawthorn, and for a moment she watched them, wondering if
+they were planning to build a nest there. The window overlooked the
+Merrills' garden; and in a few minutes Ruth saw Gilbert coming along the
+path toward the wall.</p>
+
+<p>"Lafayette! La-fay-ette!" she called.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> Gilbert looked about as if
+puzzled, and Ruth called again. "I'm up-stairs. Gil-bert!" and at this
+the boy turned and looked up, and waved his hat in response.</p>
+
+<p>"I've found Hero," she called. "Honest! And an English officer is going
+to bring him home this very morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Come on over and tell Winifred," responded Gilbert. "She has something
+to tell you, too. Something fine."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't come over this morning. I&mdash;&mdash;" but before Ruth could say
+another word she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and she was drawn
+into the room and the window closed, and Aunt Deborah was looking at her
+reprovingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruth, why did thee think I wanted thee to stay up-stairs this morning?"
+she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth shook her head sullenly. She said to herself that no matter what
+Aunt Deborah might say she would not answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my child, then I must tell thee. I hoped thee would think over
+thy wilfulness of yesterday; that thee would realize that thy conduct
+was such as would grieve and shame thy father and mother. Dost thou
+think it a small thing nearly to ruin thy mother's best gown?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> To go
+dressed as if in a play to the house of an enemy of thy country to ask a
+favor? And before that thee quite forgot thy good manners in rushing up
+the steps of that house on Second Street, and then speaking rudely to
+me, who have no wish but to be kind to thee and help thee be a good
+girl."</p>
+
+<p>While Aunt Deborah was speaking Ruth looked up at her, a little
+frightened and sullen at first; then as she saw that Aunt Deborah's face
+was pale, that she looked as if she had been crying and was nearly ready
+to cry again, the little girl's heart softened, and she ran toward her
+aunt, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Deborah! I am sorry I spoke rudely to you. And when I said I
+did not like you it was only because I was cross and so unhappy about
+Hero. I do like you, truly I do. And, oh! I did not think about General
+Howe being our enemy; or that I would spoil Mother's pretty gown. I only
+thought about Hero." And now Ruth was sobbing, and Aunt Deborah's arm
+was about her.</p>
+
+<p>But for a moment Aunt Deborah made no response; then she said:</p>
+
+<p>"Dear child, thee has given me happiness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> again. And now let us both do
+our best until thy mother returns. But thee knows that it is right for
+thee to decide if thee should not be punished in some way, so that in
+future thee will remember not to lose thy temper, to remember thy
+manners; and above all not to stoop to deceit to gain thy wishes."</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah smiled happily at her little niece as she finished, as if
+quite sure that Ruth would welcome her suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth smiled in response. She began to think it would be rather fine to
+decide on her own punishment, and resolved it should be even more severe
+than any Aunt Deborah would inflict.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Aunt Deborah, I will stay up-stairs all day. And I will eat only
+porridge for my dinner and supper. I will not call from the window, and
+I will knit; and not even play with Cecilia," she said eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, dear child. But beside these things thee must say over to
+thyself the reason for thy punishment. Say to thyself: 'Not again will I
+be rude or unkind, not again will I be thoughtless of my behavior,'"
+said Aunt Deborah approvingly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was a loud knock at the front door, and Aunt Deborah hurried away
+to answer it. In a moment Ruth heard a joyous bark.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Hero! It's Hero!" she exclaimed, running toward the door. But with
+her hand on the latch she stopped suddenly. She had promised that she
+would not leave the room that day. She had set her own punishment for
+rudeness, and for the thoughtlessness that had perhaps ruined her
+mother's dress.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I wish I hadn't dressed up," she thought, as she turned slowly away
+from the door, thinking of Hero looking wistfully about for his little
+mistress. She knew that Aunt Deborah would be kind to him, but not to
+see Hero after he had been missing so long was a real punishment for the
+little girl, and she went back to the window and stood looking out
+wishing that for a punishment she had thought of something beside
+staying in her room all day.</p>
+
+<p>As she looked out she saw that Gilbert was still in his garden, that
+Winifred was beside him, and that they were both making motions for her
+to open the window.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head soberly. She could see that Winifred was greatly
+excited about something,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> and was talking eagerly to her brother. They
+both looked up at Ruth's window and again motioned with waving arms for
+her to open it. After a few moments they seemed to realize that she had,
+for some reason they could not imagine, been forbidden to; and with a
+good-bye signal they both turned and ran toward the house.</p>
+
+<p>"I do wonder what they wanted to tell me," thought Ruth. "Oh, dear! It
+is dreadful to stay up here when Hero is home, and when Winifred and
+Gilbert have a secret." She began to realize that she had set herself no
+light punishment.</p>
+
+<p>"But it wouldn't be a punishment if I were enjoying it," she finally
+decided, and getting the half-finished sock from her knitting bag, she
+drew a small rocking-chair to the center of the room, seated herself and
+began resolutely to knit.</p>
+
+<p>Now and then she could hear sounds from the rooms below; and once Ruth
+dropped her knitting and started toward the door, for she had heard
+Hero's plaintive whine as he waited for admittance. Then had come Aunt
+Deborah's voice calling him away sternly; and Ruth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> picked up her
+knitting, resolved to keep exactly to her promise. She wondered if Major
+Andr&eacute; had sent Hero home in charge of "Dick," the smiling young soldier
+who had spoken to her on General Howe's door-steps. But most of all her
+thoughts centered about Winifred and Gilbert.</p>
+
+<p>She heard the clock strike eleven, and realized that she was very
+hungry; and that an hour was a long time to wait before Aunt Deborah
+would bring her bowl of porridge. A shadow darkened the window, and she
+looked up with startled eyes to see Winifred's face pressed against the
+glass.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth ran to the window. "How did you get up here?" she questioned in
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"Open the window, quick!" Winifred responded in an anxious whisper. "The
+ladder wiggles about, and somebody may see me."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth opened the window and Winifred crawled in, and suddenly the ladder
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Gilbert. He promised to take it down as soon as I got in. What is
+the matter, Ruth? Has Aunt Deborah made you stay up-stairs? Did you know
+Hero was home? A soldier brought him." While Winifred talked she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> looked
+at Ruth anxiously, as if to make sure that nothing had really befallen
+her friend.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was smiling with delight at her unexpected visitor.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Winifred! You were splendid to come up the ladder. I'm staying
+up-stairs to punish myself. I was rude to Aunt Deborah; and last night I
+dressed up in my mother's best dress and went to see General Howe!" Ruth
+answered.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred was too surprised to reply, and Ruth went on telling of her
+sudden decision, and of the adventures that followed, and concluded
+with: "And of course I ought not to have dressed up, and I ought not to
+have run away. So now I am staying up-stairs all day, and all I am to
+have to eat is porridge and milk. I decided it myself," she concluded,
+not a little pleased at the thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Ruth Pennell!" exclaimed Winifred admiringly. "I don't know which
+is the most wonderful, your going to see General Howe, or your deciding
+to punish yourself. Begin at the time you reached the General's house
+and tell me everything up to now."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was quite ready to do this, and the two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> little friends seated
+themselves on the window-seat, Winifred listening admiringly while Ruth
+told over the story of the previous night. She had forgotten all about
+punishment; but a noise in the hallway and the sound of the clock
+striking the hour of noon made her stop suddenly in her whispered
+recital. "It's Aunt Deborah! Winifred, hide, quick! Under the bed," she
+said, at the same moment giving Winifred a little push.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah came in smiling and unsuspicious, with a well-filled bowl
+of porridge and a generous pitcher of milk on the tray. It had been a
+happy morning for Aunt Deborah. Hero was safe at home, none the worse
+for his adventures; and, best of all, Ruth of her own accord had
+declared herself to blame, and decided that her faults should be
+punished. It seemed to Aunt Deborah that after this she and her little
+niece would have no more misunderstandings. She thought it a fine thing
+that Ruth wished to stay by herself all that sunny spring day; and she
+was sure it was no light punishment.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>A DIFFICULT DAY</h3></div>
+
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah did not linger to talk with her little niece, for it was a
+part of her belief that idle talk was unwise. The door had hardly closed
+behind her when Winifred's head appeared from under the chintz valance
+of the bed, and she looked cautiously about.</p>
+
+<p>"Has she gone?" she asked in a cautious whisper.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth nodded, and Winifred now crawled out from her hiding-place.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad she didn't see me, Ruth. For when I came to the door this
+morning she said you could not see any one to-day; so I thought you were
+being punished, and I was bound to see you. Oh, Ruth! are you to have
+nothing but porridge?" and Winifred looked at Ruth's tray as if she
+thought such a dinner would be punishment enough for a much greater
+offense.</p>
+
+<p>"I chose it! I said I would eat only porridge,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> responded Ruth,
+beginning to think that perhaps she had been more severe with herself
+than had been really necessary; and she wondered, with a little
+regretful sigh, if Aunt Deborah was having stewed oysters for dinner;
+for Ruth was sure that nothing could taste better than oysters.</p>
+
+<p>"I had to see you, Ruth; and it was Gilbert who thought of the ladder.
+He has written a play, and you are to take part in it, and so am I,"
+continued Winifred, who had nearly forgotten her own important news in
+listening to Ruth's surprising story.</p>
+
+<p>"'A play'?" echoed Ruth questioningly, hardly understanding her friend's
+meaning.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes! Yes! Don't you know that the English soldiers give plays in the
+Southwark Theater? They dress up and make believe, just as you did last
+night," Winifred explained, "and Gilbert's play is like that."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I don't want to," Ruth declared. "It's horrid pretending to be
+somebody besides yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ruth! This isn't like what you did. It's all about Washington and
+Lafayette," Winifred explained eagerly, "and our pony is to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> in it,
+and so is Hero. It's splendid; truly it is, Ruth; and Gilbert wants you
+to come and rehearse this afternoon, in our stable. If you are punishing
+yourself you can come if you wish to."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I can't. Don't you see I can't, Winifred? I promised just as much
+as if somebody else had made me. I'll have to stay in this room all day,
+because I told Aunt Deborah that I would."</p>
+
+<p>Winifred jumped up quickly. "Then I must go right home, for Gilbert said
+that if you couldn't take part we'd try and get Betty Hastings. She's
+older and taller than you, anyway, so she'd look more like Lafayette,"
+she said, moving toward the door.</p>
+
+<p>Betty Hastings lived just around the corner on Chestnut Street. She was
+twelve years old. She was tall for her age, and her hair was brown and
+very curly. She did not often play with the younger girls.</p>
+
+<p>"Lafayette? Was I to be Lafayette in the play?" asked Ruth. "Oh, Winifred!
+Ask Gilbert to wait. I'll come over first thing to-morrow
+morning. You tell him I <i>have</i> to stay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> up here to-day. Don't ask
+Betty!" she pleaded, and Winifred finally agreed to try and persuade her
+brother to wait until the following morning before asking Betty.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, it's to be a birthday surprise for Mother; and her birthday is
+a week from to-day, so there isn't much time," Winifred explained, as she
+started toward the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Winifred! Where are you going?" Ruth whispered in alarm; and Winifred
+laughed at her friend's surprise to see her about to walk boldly from
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"I can go down-stairs so your aunt won't know it, and open the front
+door just as easy, and walk right out. She is in the kitchen and won't
+hear me," Winifred answered; and with a warning word to be sure and be
+at the stable at nine o'clock the next morning, the little girl opened
+the door cautiously and disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>After Winifred had gone Ruth ate her porridge. She began to think of
+Gilbert's play, and of the fun it would be to take the part of the brave
+young Frenchman. She walked about the room, looked at Cecilia and the
+half-finished chair, and sighed deeply at the thought that she might be
+rehearsing with Winifred and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> Gilbert, the pony and Hero, instead of
+staying alone in her room.</p>
+
+<p>At last she remembered her knitting, and took it up rather reluctantly.
+"I do wish I hadn't worn Mother's dress," she thought. And she was
+conscious of a little uncomfortable feeling as to Winifred's visit after
+Aunt Deborah's refusal to admit her.</p>
+
+<p>"But I didn't ask her to come, or help her," she finally decided;
+although she began to wish that her friend had waited to tell her the
+great news until the next day and so avoided deceiving Aunt Deborah.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the long afternoon ended; and when the clock struck six
+there was a joyous bark just outside Ruth's door, and Aunt Deborah
+opened it for Hero to come bounding in. He had so much to tell his
+little mistress, with barks and jumps, and faithful pleading eyes, that
+it was some little time before Aunt Deborah found a chance to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Thee had best come down to the dining-room and have supper with me.
+There are creamed oysters and toast and a bit of jelly. I think thee
+does not need porridge for another meal to-day," she said smilingly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I know I'll remember about Mother's dress. It has been hard to stay up
+here all day," Ruth answered, glad indeed that her time of punishment
+was over.</p>
+
+<p>"But Aunt Deborah doesn't know just how hard it was," she thought as she
+followed her aunt down the stairs, with Hero close beside her, thinking
+over Winifred's great news.</p>
+
+<p>As she took her usual place at the table she was glad that she had not
+taken Winifred's suggestion to shorten her hours of solitude. The
+steaming oysters sent out an appetizing odor, the toast was crisp and
+golden, and the tumbler of amber-colored jelly seemed to reflect the
+light of the candles in their tall brass candlesticks which stood at
+each end of the table.</p>
+
+<p>"I have good news for thee, Ruth," said Aunt Deborah, smiling at her
+across the table. "I have word that thy mother will return early the
+coming week."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth gave an exclamation of delight.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Deborah! What a lot of nice things happen all together," she
+said. "You won't go back to Barren Hill when she comes, will you?" For
+Ruth began to realize that, even with her dear mother safe at home once
+more,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> she would miss the kind aunt who had been so unfailingly patient.</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that Aunt Deborah was greatly pleased. Her brown eyes
+shone, and Ruth suddenly discovered the amazing fact that there was a
+dimple in Aunt Deborah's right cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis indeed pleasant that thou should wish me to stay; but I fear my
+house at Barren Hill needs its mistress. To-morrow is the first of
+April, and I must see about planting my garden as soon as possible.
+Perhaps thy mother will let thee come for a visit before long," she
+responded. "That is, if the English General will take such a great risk
+as to give a small maid permission to leave the city," for no one could
+leave Philadelphia at that time without a written permission from an
+English officer.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was quite sure that she should like to visit Barren Hill. She knew
+it was half-way to Valley Forge, where the American soldiers had passed
+a dreary winter, suffering from cold and hunger, while their enemies had
+enjoyed the comforts of American homes in Philadelphia. But now that
+spring had come the American people were more hopeful; they were sure
+their army would soon drive the enemy from the city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The people of little settlements like Barren Hill managed to carry food
+and clothing to the American soldiers. Aunt Deborah, just before coming
+to Philadelphia, had carried a treasured store of honey to Washington's
+headquarters, as well as clothing and food for Ruth's father.</p>
+
+<p>Although Aunt Deborah was a Quaker she was sure of the righteousness of
+America's war against oppression.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I could see my father if I go to visit you, Aunt Deborah," said
+Ruth hopefully.</p>
+
+<p>But Aunt Deborah could give no assurance as to this. She knew that any
+day might see Washington's army moving from its winter quarters.</p>
+
+<p>"Thee could help me with the garden," she responded. "The bees will soon
+be about their work now; and there are many things in the country for a
+small maid to find pleasure in."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever see Lafayette, Aunt Deborah?" Ruth asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, child! Did not thy mother tell thee? He stopped at my door one
+day. He was on horseback, and only two soldiers with him. They had
+ridden out from camp to make sure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> no English spies were about, and he
+stopped to ask for a cup of water. He was pleased to take milk instead.
+Thee shall see the very cup from which he drank, Ruth. It was one of the
+pink lustre cups, and I put it apart from the others. Some day thee
+shall have it for thy own," said Aunt Deborah, smiling at Ruth's evident
+delight.</p>
+
+<p>As Ruth listened she resolved that nothing should prevent her from
+visiting Aunt Deborah. Perhaps she might see Lafayette as well as her
+dear father. Perhaps the young Frenchman might again call at Aunt
+Deborah's door, and she, Ruth Pennell, hand him the pink lustre cup
+filled with milk.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah's voice interrupted these pleasant day-dreams.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Ruth, thee may help me wash the dishes; and we will make sure that
+Hero is safely indoors," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed. Oh! Aunt Deborah, this has been a splendid day, after
+all," the little girl responded, thinking of Hero safe at home, of
+Winifred's visit, and of the pink lustre cup that some day would be her
+own.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>GILBERT'S PLAY</h3></div>
+
+
+<p>Ruth was up in good season the next morning, and Aunt Deborah was quite
+willing for her little niece to take Hero for a morning call on
+Winifred; and it was not yet nine o'clock when Ruth pushed open the gate
+that led from the alley into the Merrills' garden.</p>
+
+<p>The stable stood beside this gate, and was some distance from the house.
+Fluff, the pony, had a fine box stall with a window looking into the
+garden. Fluff belonged to Gilbert; but Gilbert had grown so tall that he
+thought the pony too small for his use, and on Winifred's last birthday
+had given her all right and title to the little gray pony, whose thick
+mane and plume-like tail had made the name "Fluff" most appropriate.</p>
+
+<p>The stable was nearly hidden from the house by shrubs and trees, and
+Gilbert and Winifred found it a fine play-house. Ruth often wished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> that
+there was a stable in her father's garden, and that she had a pony
+exactly like Fluff.</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of Hero's bark Winifred and Gilbert both appeared in the
+doorway of the stable, and close behind them stood Betty Hastings. Ruth
+stood still with a questioning look at Winifred. She was sure that
+Gilbert had asked Betty to take the part of Lafayette, and for a moment
+she was tempted to turn away without a word. But before she could act on
+this impulse there was a chorus of welcoming greetings for her and for
+Hero, and Winifred came running to meet her.</p>
+
+<p>"Betty is going to take the part of Lord Cornwallis!" Winifred
+exclaimed, as she put her arm about Ruth and led her to the stable.
+"Gilbert thinks you were splendid to go straight to General Howe and ask
+for Hero," she added, "and Betty wants to hear just what Major Andr&eacute;
+said," so Ruth, instead of finding herself entirely supplanted by Betty,
+as she had for a moment feared, was surrounded by the eager interest and
+attention of the little group. It seemed to Ruth that she had never
+before known how nice Betty Hastings really was. The older girl was
+evidently greatly impressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> by the fact that Ruth had sat next to the
+English General at his dinner table.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could have been you, Ruth," she declared admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"It was all right for Ruth to ask for her dog," Gilbert interrupted,
+"but <i>I</i> wouldn't have sat down at General Howe's table. Not much I
+wouldn't."</p>
+
+<p>"But Major Andr&eacute; lifted me up. I didn't do it myself," replied Ruth,
+suddenly ashamed that she had entirely forgotten that the English
+officers were her enemies, and had even been rather pleased that no
+other little girl in Philadelphia could say that she had sat at the
+dinner table of the great English General.</p>
+
+<p>"And you are no better than a Tory, Betty Hastings," Gilbert continued,
+looking disapprovingly toward brown-eyed Betty. "You said a little while
+ago that you would rather be Lord Cornwallis than Washington."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what if I did? I only meant in your play; because the English
+uniform is fine. All scarlet and gold," Betty explained. She was
+smiling, and evidently did not care at all if Gilbert did not approve of
+her. "Come on and tell us what your play is about," she added.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Gilbert's frown vanished. He drew a roll of paper from his pocket; and,
+looking soberly at his companions, said:</p>
+
+<p>"The name of my play is 'America Defeats the Foe.' It is in two acts.
+The first act is Lord Cornwallis, that's you, Betty, on his knees asking
+Washington to spare his life. The second act is Washington and Lafayette
+and their triumphant army, Winifred is the army, marching into
+Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<p>"Um-m," said Betty slowly, "what does Washington say when Lord
+Cornwallis asks him to spare his life?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't just know yet," Gilbert admitted. "I thought I'd wait until we
+rehearsed."</p>
+
+<p>"You said Fluff and Hero were to have parts," Winifred reminded him, a
+little anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"What does Lafayette wear?" asked Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert's face flushed: "Just like girls, wanting to know everything
+before I've had time to think. But I can tell you one thing, we'll have
+to plan our costumes now."</p>
+
+<p>"Mine is all planned," said Betty; "you know there is an English officer
+lodging at our house, and I'll borrow his scarlet coat."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"My Aunt Deborah has seen Lafayette," Ruth announced proudly, "and I'll
+ask her to tell me just what he wore, and then perhaps I can look just
+like him."</p>
+
+<p>Winifred said nothing. Gilbert had already told her that he meant to
+dress up two broomsticks as American soldiers, and these were to "march"
+on each side of Winifred, with her aid and assistance. She was always
+ready to help Gilbert in all his plans, but she was beginning to think
+that it would be rather a difficult task to be a triumphant army;
+especially as Gilbert had told her that she must cheer for Washington
+and Lafayette when they reached the "State House," whose location he had
+not yet decided on.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you going to have any girls or women in your play?" asked Betty,
+apparently not greatly pleased with Gilbert's brief description. "<i>I</i>
+think you ought to have Lady Washington in a balcony waving her
+handkerchief, when the victorious army enters Philadelphia. I could be
+Lady Washington, because I'll be all through being Lord Cornwallis in
+the first act," and Betty smiled at her companions as if sure they would
+be greatly pleased by her suggestion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes&mdash;&mdash;" began Gilbert, but before he could say more a wail from
+Winifred made them all look at her in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Betty Hastings shan't be everything! If she's going to be Lady
+Washington I won't play. I won't be an army, anyway," she sobbed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I don't care!" said Betty good-humoredly. "I just happened to think
+of it, that's all. I'd just as soon be the army."</p>
+
+<p>It was finally decided that Winifred should be Lady Washington, and wave
+from the top of the grain-bin when the triumphant army passed. Lafayette
+was to ride on Fluff, and Gilbert said he meant to borrow a horse for
+George Washington. Hero was to follow the army. It was dinner-time
+before all these important questions were settled; and it was agreed
+that they would meet again the next morning for another rehearsal.
+Gilbert promised to have speeches ready for Lafayette and Cornwallis.</p>
+
+<p>"The way it is now nobody has anything to say but Washington," Betty had
+said, and Gilbert had agreed that Cornwallis should at least say, "Spare
+me, noble Washington," while Lafayette could make some response to
+Washington's speech, which Betty thought far too long, thanking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> the
+young Frenchman for his aid to America.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish Gilbert would let you make up our speeches, Betty," said Ruth,
+looking up at her companion with admiring eyes, as the two girls stopped
+for a moment at Ruth's door. "It wasn't any play at all until you told
+him what to do."</p>
+
+<p>"It will come out all right," responded Betty. "It's the dressing up
+that will be fun. I wish we could get Ned Ferris to play the drum and
+march ahead."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth agreed that a drummer would make it seem more like a triumphant
+army.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose the English officer at your house will really lend you
+his red coat?" questioned Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>Betty laughed. "Of course he will; for he won't know anything about it.
+'Tis his best coat, and hangs in a closet in the passage near his room.
+He wears it only now and then. I shall just borrow it, and then hang it
+back in the closet," declared Betty. "Just as you did your mother's
+dress," she added quickly, as if half-afraid of Ruth's disapproval, and
+with a "good-bye until to-morrow, Lafayette," she ran quickly down the
+street.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Ruth was a little thoughtful as she went into the house. She wished that
+she had told Betty that she was sorry about borrowing her mother's dress
+without permission, and that it would be wiser to ask the soldier to
+lend his coat. Then she remembered that Betty was nearly thirteen, and
+of course must know more than a little girl only just past ten.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah greeted her smilingly. "I have been brushing thy mother's
+gown, Ruth. 'Twas sadly in need of it, and a tear on the side breadth.
+But I have mended it so well that 'twill hardly be noticed, and sponged
+and pressed the dress until it looks as well as ever," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth's face brightened.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I am so glad, Aunt Deborah. Then Mother need not know I wore it, or
+that I went to see General Howe. You will not tell her, will you, Aunt
+Deborah?" said Ruth eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>The smile faded from Aunt Deborah's face, and she turned away from Ruth
+with a little sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I will not tell her, Ruth. But thee will surely do that thyself,"
+she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"But you say the dress looks as well as ever,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> said Ruth, "and, oh,
+Aunt Deborah! It will make Mother feel so bad to know that I was so
+thoughtless," and Ruth looked pleadingly toward her aunt.</p>
+
+<p>"Thee shall settle the matter for thyself, Ruth. But I hope thee will
+tell thy mother," responded Aunt Deborah. But Ruth made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon Winifred came over, and the two little girls sat down
+on the back porch to talk over Gilbert's play. Winifred said that the
+broomsticks could be dressed up in some blue coverlets, with cocked hats
+made from paper, and Ruth promised to help Winifred make the hats.</p>
+
+<p>"Betty is going to borrow her mother's fine silk cape and bonnet for me
+to wear as Lady Washington," Winifred continued eagerly. "Isn't Betty
+splendid to let me have the very best part of all, and to get so many
+nice things for us to dress up in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Will she ask her mother for the cape and bonnet?" Ruth questioned.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she will," declared Winifred, "and I have thought of
+something. We can dress Josephine and Cecilia in their best dresses,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> have them sit beside Lady Washington on the top of the grain box."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth agreed that such a plan would add to the success of Gilbert's play.</p>
+
+<p>"My mother is coming home in a few days," she said when Winifred said
+that she must go home.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I guess she will be proud when you tell her that you went to
+General Howe and made him find Hero," Winifred replied. For Winifred was
+sure that it had been a very courageous act to face the English General.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going to tell her a word about it," was Ruth's reply.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>BETTY RUNS AWAY</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The days now passed very quickly for Ruth and her friends. Every day
+Betty Hastings, Winifred, Ruth and Gilbert were in the Merrills' garden
+or stable at work on the costumes for "America Conquers the Foe." Ned
+Ferris, a boy not much older than Ruth, had promised Gilbert to play on
+his drum, and to march at the head of the "army"; he would not need to
+rehearse, so would not come until the day decided on for the play. Ned
+had also offered the loan of his brown pony, a much larger animal than
+Fluff, for "Washington" to ride; and now Gilbert, Winifred and Ruth were
+all sure that the play would be a success. Betty Hastings was not so
+confident. She had begun to fear that it would be no easy matter to
+borrow the scarlet coat without the owner's knowledge:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> and she was even
+more doubtful in regard to her mother's fine cape and bonnet; but she
+said nothing of this to the others.</p>
+
+<p>If she had known that Gilbert had invited her mother, as well as a
+number of other friends of Mrs. Merrill's, to what he described as "a
+birthday surprise for my mother," Betty would doubtless have given up
+her part; but Gilbert had asked each guest to keep the invitation a
+secret; and it was probable that a surprise was in store for
+"Cornwallis" as well as for Gilbert's mother.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell returned home from Germantown on the very morning of Mrs.
+Merrill's birthday, and Ruth was so delighted at her arrival that she
+nearly forgot to ask her mother to come to the play that afternoon, as
+Gilbert had requested. Gilbert had said that he wished Mistress Deborah
+Farleigh would come with Ruth's mother, but added: "It isn't any use to
+ask her, for Quakers don't believe in plays."</p>
+
+<p>"But this is different; I'm sure she will come," Ruth had responded
+eagerly; and had been greatly pleased when Aunt Deborah agreed, saying
+that, "'Twas surely a patriotic lesson that she would like well to
+see."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell also praised Gilbert's cleverness, and promised to be ready
+in good season. "Perhaps I had best wear my brown silk to do credit to
+Mrs. Merrill's birthday party," she said, and wondered why Ruth became
+so silent and looked so sober. For a moment Ruth was tempted to tell her
+mother the whole story of her visit to General Howe; but she resisted
+the impulse. "It would spoil everything to make Mother feel bad the very
+day she has come home," the little girl assured herself; but she no
+longer felt light-hearted, and when her mother patted Hero's head, and
+said that she knew he had taken good care of everything in her absence,
+Ruth grew even more serious.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah was very quiet; but now and then her eyes rested on Ruth a
+little questioningly.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose Aunt Deborah is thinking I ought to tell Mother," thought
+Ruth, and was glad to hurry away as soon as they finished dinner, saying
+she must be in good season, as Gilbert had set three o'clock as the hour
+for the arrival of his audience.</p>
+
+<p>"You must come in through the alley," Ruth reminded her mother and aunt;
+for Gilbert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> had decided that the guests were to be a part of the
+surprise for his mother.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert was arranging seats for the company just inside the door of the
+stable behind a rope stretched from the front to the door of Fluff's
+stall. On the previous day the children had made an excursion to Fair
+Mount, and had brought home a quantity of blossoming boughs of the white
+dogwood, branches of pine, and of flowering elder, and these were used
+to make a background for the seats intended for the guests, to hide a
+part of the grain-bin, from which Lady Washington was to wave, and made
+the stable a very attractive and pleasant place. The guests could look
+through the open door into the garden where blue iris, yellow daffodils
+and purple lilacs were already in bloom.</p>
+
+<p>When Ruth came running to the stable Winifred called out to her from the
+top of the grain-bin: "Look, Ruth! Look!" and Ruth stopped in the
+doorway with an exclamation of surprise. For there was Winifred wearing
+Mrs. Hastings' beautiful blue mantle of rich silk, and a bonnet with
+soft blue plumes, and beside her sat two other figures that, for a
+moment, Ruth believed to be two strange ladies. Then she realized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> that
+Winifred had "dressed up" bundles of hay in two old gowns of her
+mother's, with their "heads" crowned by wreaths of leaves and flowers.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred laughed delightedly at Ruth's astonishment. "You see, Josephine
+and Cecilia were not tall enough; and of course Lady Washington ought to
+have company," she explained.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert, dressed in a blue coat, yellow knee-breeches, and with a
+crimson and white scarf pinned across his coat, came to the door. He
+wore a cocked hat, and a wooden sword was fastened at his side, and he
+endeavored to stand as tall as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Betty is waiting for you behind the lilac bushes," he said, and
+vanished; and Ruth ran off to the bunch of lilacs behind the stable
+where Betty, in a scarlet coat that covered her completely, was holding
+Fluff's bridle-rein, and close by stood Ned Ferris beside his brown
+pony.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is your coat and hat, 'Lafayette,'" said Betty, pointing to a
+bundle, which Ruth hastened to open.</p>
+
+<p>The coat was of blue velvet. It was one that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> Betty had found in a trunk
+in her mother's attic. There were ruffles of yellowed lace at the
+wrists, and tarnished gilt buttons and braid on the shoulders. This old
+velvet coat had belonged to Betty's grandfather, and was highly valued
+by her father. But Betty had not asked permission to take it.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth tied up her hair and put on the cocked hat that she had helped
+Winifred make; then with Betty's aid she slipped on the velvet coat, and
+with the addition of a wooden sword which Gilbert had made for her she
+was ready for her part in the play.</p>
+
+<p>The guests all arrived in good season, and were escorted to their seats
+by "Washington" himself, who then ran to the house to announce to his
+mother that some friends of hers were in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Merrill, greatly to Gilbert's satisfaction, did not seem to notice
+that he was not dressed as usual, and walked beside him down the garden
+path; as a turn in the path brought them in sight of the stable door
+Gilbert said:</p>
+
+<p>"This is a birthday surprise for you, Mother. It's a play, and here is
+the programme," and he handed her a strip of white paper bordered with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+a row of stars cut from gilt paper. At the top Gilbert had printed:</p>
+
+<table summary="Programme for Play" style="margin:auto; font-style:italic; text-align:center; width:20em;">
+
+<tr>
+    <td colspan="2">
+        "AMERICA CONQUERS THE FOE"<br />
+        A Play<br />
+        by<br />
+        Gilbert Merrill<br />
+        for Mother's Birthday
+    </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td colspan="2" style="padding-top:1em">
+        ACT FIRST<br />
+        Cornwallis Begs For Mercy
+    </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td align="left">Cornwallis</td>
+    <td align="right">B. Hastings</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td align="left">Washington</td>
+    <td align="right">G. Merrill</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td colspan="2" style="padding-top:1em">
+        ACT SECOND<br />
+        Washington's Triumphant Army Enters<br />
+        Philadelphia<br />
+    </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td align="left">Washington</td>
+    <td align="right">G. Merrill</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td align="left">Lafayette</td>
+    <td align="right">R. Pennell</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td align="left">Lady Washington</td>
+    <td align="right">Miss Winifred Merrill</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+    <td align="left" style="padding-top:1em">Army<br />Band.</td>
+    <td></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Mrs. Merrill read the programme admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"It is indeed a wonderful birthday surprise, my dear boy," she said
+smilingly, "and I am proud of you," and she hurried forward to greet and
+welcome her friends, while Gilbert ran to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> summon "Cornwallis" to be
+ready for the first act.</p>
+
+<p>An old horse-blanket, suspended from the hay-loft in the rear of the
+stable, served as a curtain behind which knelt Betty in the scarlet
+coat. Gilbert now took his place beside her, trying to look stern and
+noble. At Gilbert's whistle Winifred, who was in the hay-loft, was to
+pull up the blanket by the long strings that Gilbert had skilfully
+arranged.</p>
+
+<p>The whistle sounded clearly. Up rose the curtain. There was an approving
+murmur from the audience at the sight of "Cornwallis" on his knees.</p>
+
+<p>"Spare me, noble Washington!" said Betty, but in rather a feeble voice.</p>
+
+<p>Washington's right hand was stretched over the head of his conquered
+foe.</p>
+
+<p>"Arise, Cornwallis. Flee for your life. My army is at hand," responded
+Washington; and Betty, stumbling a little, escaped from the rear door,
+while Washington marched out to meet his army, and the audience
+applauded.</p>
+
+<p>Betty's mother had noticed the red coat, and wondered what English
+soldier had consented to lend it for such a purpose. It did not occur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+to her that Betty had taken it from their lodger's closet.</p>
+
+<p>When Betty had entered the stable by the rear door and knelt according
+to Washington's directions she could hear the murmur of voices.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is with your mother?" she whispered to "Washington," but there had
+been no time to answer, and Betty found herself facing not only
+Gilbert's mother but a dozen other ladies of whom her mother was one;
+and it was a very anxious and troubled Betty who joined the little group
+behind the lilac bushes and, slipping off the red coat, put on an old
+coat and hat belonging to Gilbert's father, and with the dressed up
+broomsticks, took her place behind Fluff as the "Army."</p>
+
+<p>Ned Ferris sounded a measured "rat-a-tat-tat" on his drum and strode
+toward the entrance to the stable, followed by Washington and Lafayette,
+the "Army," and the docile Hero. Lady Washington scrambled from the
+hay-loft to the top of the grain-bin, drew her fine silk mantle about
+her, and smiled graciously down upon the assembled guests. Mrs. Hastings
+looked up at her. "For pity's sake!" her seatmate heard her murmur, "my
+best mantle and bonnet!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But at that moment came the quick beat of a drum. Washington's pony, a
+little annoyed and nervous, and Fluff, determined to reach his stall as
+quickly as possible, although "Lafayette" endeavored to guide him in the
+appointed course, entered the stable.</p>
+
+<p>"Washington" drew rein beneath the grain-bin and lifted his hat to Lady
+Washington, who leaned forward to wave in response; but unfortunately
+her bonnet strings were not fastened, and the fine bonnet with its blue
+plumes fell from her head and went tumbling down almost on Hero's brown
+head. In a second the dog had seized it, and forgetting his part in the
+procession, jumped this way and that, shaking this new plaything with
+delighted satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hastings kept her seat resolutely. It would have been an easy
+matter to have stepped from her seat and rescued the bonnet. But Mrs.
+Hastings knew that such a movement on her part would have brought
+Gilbert's play to an untimely end, and spoiled the pleasure of all the
+guests, as well as of the children who took part. So she did not move,
+even when Hero fled out into the garden with the plumes grasped in his
+teeth. Betty, Ruth and Winifred never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> forgot that moment, nor the fact
+that Mrs. Hastings had apparently not seen what happened. Even in her
+fright at the results of her "borrowing" Betty Hastings was very proud
+of her mother.</p>
+
+<p>The drummer played on. The two ponies were swung around face to face;
+Washington and Lafayette clasped hands for a moment; then side by side,
+with drum playing, but with a silent army, the little procession
+vanished through the rear door.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert was delighted with his success. It seemed to him that everything
+had gone very well, and he was especially grateful to Betty Hastings for
+securing the English officer's coat.</p>
+
+<p>But Betty, having seen the ruin of the bonnet, had suddenly realized
+that it was a serious matter to take the belongings of other people
+without their permission; and her first thought was of the officer's
+coat. Whatever happened she must return that coat to the closet from
+which she had taken it as soon as possible. Then she would try and
+explain to her mother that she had not meant any harm should befall the
+borrowed articles. So, grasping the red coat, Betty opened the door into
+the alley and started off as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> fast as she could go; while Ruth, still
+wearing the fine velvet coat, crouched down behind the lilac bushes, too
+unhappy to care if the play had been a success or not; for as
+"Lafayette" faced the audience she had seen that her mother was wearing
+the brown silk dress.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>BETTY'S ADVENTURE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Come, Ruth, Mistress Hastings is waiting for thy fine velvet coat," and
+Ruth looked up to see Aunt Deborah smiling down upon her; and in a
+moment the little girl was clinging to Aunt Deborah's arm, and asking
+anxiously:</p>
+
+<p>"Did Mother find the mended place in her dress? Oh, Aunt Deborah! I do
+wish I had told her all about it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Slip off the coat, dear child, and run and tell her now," said Aunt
+Deborah, and in a moment Ruth was running across the garden to where her
+mother was standing with Mrs. Merrill. Mrs. Pennell smiled down at her
+little daughter, and clasping the warm little hand in her own turned
+toward the gate.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Ruth was in the midst of her story, and Mrs. Pennell
+listened without a word until Ruth, breathless and almost in tears,
+finished by saying:</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't think it would hurt the dress,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> Mother! I'm so sorry. And I am
+sorry I didn't tell you the moment you got home."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth felt her hand clasped a little more closely at this; but her mother
+made no response until they were in Ruth's pleasant chamber. Then Mrs.
+Pennell drew her little girl down beside her on the broad window-seat;
+and leaning her head against her mother's shoulder Ruth told of the day
+she had stayed up-stairs as a punishment for her thoughtlessness.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, you haven't said a word!" Ruth finally exclaimed, looking up
+anxiously. "Are you ashamed of me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I think I am rather proud of my little daughter," was the smiling
+response. "You set your own punishment, and I know you will stop and
+think when next you plan such a masquerade party. My dress, it seems, is
+but little the worse, after all; and Hero is well worth some sacrifice.
+Perhaps if you had not been 'dressed up' you would not have been
+admitted to General Howe's house, and might not have succeeded in
+rescuing Hero," said Mrs. Pennell, stooping down to kiss her little
+girl's flushed cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mother! I do love you," exclaimed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> the happy child. "I'll never be
+afraid to tell you everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you will tell me everything. That is what mothers are for,"
+rejoined Mrs. Pennell. "And now I will take off my silk gown, and you
+had best smooth your hair and make yourself tidy for supper."</p>
+
+<p>"That sounds like Aunt Deborah," said Ruth laughingly. But as she obeyed
+her mother's suggestion she thought happily that now Mother was at home
+everything was sure to go smoothly.</p>
+
+<p>When Gilbert's play was over Mrs. Hastings, although sadly troubled over
+Betty's "borrowings," and the ruin of her pretty bonnet, complimented
+Gilbert and Winifred on the success of the play; and not until she had
+chatted for a few moments with Mrs. Merrill did she go to rescue her
+valued mantle and the treasured velvet coat. She hoped the English
+officer's coat was none the worse for its part in the play; and, like
+Betty, she hoped to return it before it was missed by its rightful
+owner; for it would be no easy matter to explain why it had been
+borrowed, and she knew its loss would make serious trouble.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She noticed that her mantle was dusty and wrinkled, and that the lace on
+the velvet coat was torn. The scarlet coat, however, was not to be
+found, and Betty had also disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Deciding that she would find her little daughter and the coat safely at
+home Mrs. Hastings bade her friends good-bye and started for her walk
+home. But she did not find Betty there. Supper time came, and still no
+Betty. A servant was sent to Mrs. Merrill's to inquire for the little
+girl, but came hurrying back with the tidings that Betty had not been
+seen since the end of the play.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Merrill now looked through every room, but Betty was not to be
+found. She inquired at the homes of her neighbors, but no one had seen
+the little girl.</p>
+
+<p>The April twilight deepened to dusk; the stars shone out and found Mrs.
+Hastings anxious and troubled, for she could find no trace of Betty.</p>
+
+<p>When Betty ran down the alley she had thought it would be an easy matter
+to reach home with the red coat; but she had forgotten that Philadelphia
+was full of the King's soldiers, and that a bareheaded little girl
+racing down the street with the coat of an English officer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> over her arm
+would not escape notice; and she had only reached Second Street when a
+passing soldier called to her. His call only made her run the faster,
+and the soldier sped after her. If Betty had stopped at once, told her
+own name and address, and the name of the owner of the coat, the soldier
+would doubtless have taken her directly home and made sure that she had
+told him the truth, and it is probable that her troubles would have been
+at an end. But Betty was now too frightened to think clearly. She did
+not even know the direction in which she ran was straight away from her
+home. The English soldier ran clumsily, and Betty, turning quickly into
+another street, soon distanced him; but only to run straight into
+another soldier, who seized her firmly by both arms, swung her about,
+and without a word marched her down the street.</p>
+
+<p>"Making off with an officer's coat," he said, after what seemed a very
+long time to the frightened girl. "What's your name?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty made no response. She resolved that no one should ever know that
+Betty Hastings had been suspected of such a dreadful thing as taking
+what she had no right to take.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Won't speak, eh? Well, I'll take you to Captain De Lancy and see what
+he has to say to you," said the soldier, and the silent little girl,
+still holding the scarlet coat, was led down one street after another
+until she saw the shining waters of the Schuylkill River before her, and
+the soldier led her up the steps of an old stone house whose garden ran
+down to the river. The soldier was evidently familiar with the house,
+for he pushed open the door and led Betty into a big pleasant room, and
+motioned toward a comfortable chair.</p>
+
+<p>"You can sit there until the captain comes in; and you had best tell me
+your name. 'Twill do you no good to sulk," he said, taking the coat from
+her reluctant grasp. But Betty only set her lips more firmly. She
+resolved not to speak, no matter what might befall her.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Miss. I'll leave you to find your tongue," said the soldier,
+laying the coat carefully over a chair and leaving the room. Betty heard
+him turn the key in the lock. She was tired, and leaned back in the
+cushioned chair, hardly realizing what had befallen her. She could hear
+steps now and then outside the door, and every moment expected that it
+would open<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> and the captain of whom the soldier had spoken would appear.</p>
+
+<p>But the room grew shadowy in the deepening twilight and no one came
+near. Betty's thoughts flew homeward to the candle-lit dining-room where
+Dinah, the Hastings' colored servant, would be spreading the table for
+supper, and Betty realized that she was very hungry.</p>
+
+<p>She left her seat and tiptoed toward a long window at the further end of
+the room. The window looked out into the garden, and Betty instantly
+realized that it swung in on hinges and was not fastened, and that it
+would be an easy matter to let herself down to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"I must take the coat," she thought, and crept back to the chair where
+the scarlet coat lay. In a moment she was back at the window and had
+dropped the coat to the ground; and now, grasping the window sill with
+both hands, she let herself carefully down. Picking up the coat, and
+keeping close in the shadow of the house, Betty made her way until she
+was near the door through which she had entered the house. She went very
+carefully, peering ahead into the shadows, and listening intently for
+any sound that might warn her that her flight had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> been discovered. But
+she heard no sound, and at last she reached the road.</p>
+
+<p>"It is too dark for any one to know what color the coat is now," she
+thought, as she hurried along.</p>
+
+<p>Betty realized that she was a long distance from home, but she was sure
+that she could soon find her way to some familiar street and then it
+would be an easy matter to reach home. Now and then she passed groups of
+people homeward bound, or English soldiers sauntering along the street,
+and then turning a corner she gave a little exclamation of delight, for
+there, close at hand, were the brick walls of Christ Church, its
+graceful spire rising against the clear April sky. And now home was near
+at hand and Betty quickened her pace. She had almost forgotten her
+mother's ruined bonnet and the fact that she had no excuse to give for
+borrowing the things for Gilbert's play without permission. All she
+could think of was the fact that she was in sight of home. She ran up
+the steps and the door opened as if by magic, and Betty's mother clasped
+her little girl, scarlet coat and all, in her welcoming arms.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LOST PROGRAMME</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The scarlet coat, after being carefully brushed and pressed, was
+returned to its place in the closet; and its owner never knew or
+imagined the part it had taken in Gilbert's play. The soldier who had
+locked Betty into Captain De Lancy's room, and returned to find that the
+silent little captive had outwitted him and made her escape, decided
+that it was best to keep the affair to himself, and say nothing about a
+little girl with an officer's coat for which she would not account.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth and Winifred came early the next morning to make sure that Betty
+was safe at home, and listened eagerly to the story of her adventure.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose you could find the way back to the stone house?"
+questioned Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I am sure I could," responded Betty;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> but she did not suggest, as
+Ruth hoped, that they should all make an excursion to the house by the
+river. In fact, Winifred and Ruth both agreed on their way home that
+Betty seemed very sober. And it was true that Betty was more quiet than
+usual for several days; for she realized that she had had a narrow
+escape from a serious punishment. Nor could she forget the pretty plumed
+bonnet that Hero had so gaily destroyed. The fact that her mother did
+not speak of the bonnet only made Betty the more repentant. She and Ruth
+had both resolved that they would not again take for granted that they
+could use other people's property without permission.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Deborah is going home to Barren Hill to-morrow," said Ruth, as she
+and Winifred came near home; "Farmer Withely is to call for her. You
+know he brings in butter and cheese from his farm every Thursday, and
+Aunt Deborah will ride home in his wagon. I wish I were going with her."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ruth Pennell!" said Winifred reproachfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I do. Barren Hill is half-way to Valley Forge, and perhaps I
+could see my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> father. And, Winifred! One day Lafayette stopped at Aunt
+Deborah's door! Perhaps I might see him; perhaps he might ask me to
+carry a message for him," said Ruth eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Little girls can't carry war messages," Winifred rejoined confidently.
+"You are just like Gilbert, always wishing you could do something for
+Lafayette. I don't see why. I would rather help Washington."</p>
+
+<p>"It's because Lafayette came 'way from France," Ruth replied, "and,
+anyway, I am going to Barren Hill. Mother says that I may go next
+month."</p>
+
+<p>"I have thought of something!" Winifred announced. "To-morrow you and I
+will drive out a little way with your aunt. With Fluff, I mean; and Hero
+may go too. I will harness Fluff into the cart, and we will be all ready
+to start at the same time they do."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth agreed that this would be a fine plan, and both the girls were sure
+that Aunt Deborah would be pleased that they wished to go a part of the
+way with her. They decided to take "Josephine" and "Cecilia," as well as
+Hero, with them.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="ILLUS_095" id="ILLUS_095"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-095.jpg" width="350" height="503" alt="&quot;IT WAS A FAVORITE PLAY-HOUSE&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;IT WAS A FAVORITE PLAY-HOUSE&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 95]</span>
+"It will make up to them for not taking part in the play," said
+Winifred. So much had happened during the past week that Ruth had
+entirely forgotten the unfinished chair for Cecilia, but now she spoke
+of it to Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"I will help you finish it. But let's take our dolls and work into the
+garden; it is too warm to stay in the house," she said, and in a short
+time the two little girls had brought Cecilia and Josephine, as well as
+their sewing bags, to the shade of the wide-spreading maple tree that
+grew in the further corner of the Penells' garden. Ruth's father had
+built a low seat around this tree, and it was a favorite play-house for
+the two little friends. Hero followed them, and stretched himself out at
+their feet, quite sure that they were both happier because of his
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>For a little while the girls worked steadily, covering with chintz the
+cardboard pieces that would form the chair.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll put it together," said Winifred, and with skilful fingers she
+fastened the seat, back and arms; and with a triumphant "There!" set it
+down beside Ruth, who looked at it admiringly, and lost no time in
+establishing Cecilia in her new possession.
+
+<span class='pagenum'>
+<a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Wouldn't it be fine if we could make a sofa, and a table and a little
+bed for each of our dolls?" suggested Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"We can," declared Winifred, "but I think it would be nicer to have the
+table and bed made of wood. Let's go in your shed and see if we can find
+some nice smooth pieces."</p>
+
+<p>"And Father's tool box is in the shed," said Ruth, as they left their
+dolls in Hero's care and ran across the garden to the shed, whose open
+door faced the big maple.</p>
+
+<p>The shed was nearly square. Beside the wide door there were two windows,
+both looking into the garden, and beneath these was Mr. Pennell's
+work-bench, and a box containing his treasured tools; and on a long
+shelf over the bench were carefully arranged strips and squares of
+polished wood. For in the days of peace Mr. Pennell had used his leisure
+hours in making frames for pictures, a work-box, desk or light-stand;
+and had collected this store of material from many sources. Ruth had
+often played about in the shed while her father was at work, but she had
+no idea of the value of his store of wood.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Winifred! Look! This will make a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> fine table!" she said, standing
+on the work-bench and pulling down a strip of curly maple.</p>
+
+<p>"And here are some dark shiny strips, just the thing for bed-posts!"
+said Winnie, drawing out a slender length of highly polished mahogany.
+In a few minutes the two girls had pulled down a number of strips of
+wood, had opened Mr. Pennell's tool-chest and taken out a number of
+planes, a small saw, gimlets and a hammer.</p>
+
+<p>"But we haven't any patterns," said Winifred. "You know we had a pattern
+for the chair."</p>
+
+<p>"We don't need any pattern for a table. It is just a top and four legs,
+one at each corner," declared Ruth. "We can begin on the table to-day;
+then we can look at sofas and beds and make patterns, if we need to."</p>
+
+<p>"Here is something to measure with," said Winifred, holding up a
+foot-rule. "We can make anything! Oh, Ruth! Instead of making doll
+furniture let's make truly tables, I am sure some of those pieces are
+large enough."</p>
+
+<p>"Winifred, you always think of just the right thing," Ruth responded
+admiringly. "Let's make a table for a present for Betty. She got all
+those nice things for us to dress up in, and we have never made her a
+present."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Winifred nodded approvingly. She was greatly pleased by Ruth's
+admiration, and she thought that Betty would be greatly surprised to
+discover that two girls so much younger than herself could really make a
+table.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruth! Ruth!" called Aunt Deborah from the back porch. "Dinner is ready!"</p>
+
+<p>So the two little girls were obliged to leave their pleasant plans, and,
+after promising to return early that afternoon, Winifred started for
+home while Ruth ran into the house.</p>
+
+<p>"My chair is all finished for Cecilia," she announced as she took her
+seat at the dinner-table, "and Winifred and I are going to make a table
+for Betty."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell and Aunt Deborah both smiled their approval, thinking that
+the table for Betty, like Cecilia's chair, was to be made of pasteboard.</p>
+
+<p>"Thee must bring thy doll to Barren Hill," said Aunt Deborah. "There are
+fine places to play in the big barn and in the pine woods, and thy doll
+will be company for thee."</p>
+
+<p>"How soon may I visit Aunt Deborah, Mother?" Ruth asked eagerly. "May I
+not go with Farmer Withely next week?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I cannot spare you so soon, Ruthie dear," responded her mother, "and I
+will have to ask permission from the English General for you to leave
+the town. You see they fear even small Americans," she concluded
+laughingly. But before dinner was over it was decided that, if all went
+well, Ruth should go to Barren Hill about the first of May. That seemed
+a long time to Ruth; but she remembered that Betty's table was not even
+begun, and if she and Winifred did decide to make furniture for their
+dolls the three weeks that must pass before her visit to Barren Hill
+would perhaps be none too long a time.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell had just left the table when there was a rap at the door,
+and before any one could respond it opened, and there stood Winifred;
+her face was pale and she was evidently frightened.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mrs. Pennell! There are two English officers at our house. They
+have come to take Gilbert," she exclaimed, "and they want Ruth too."</p>
+
+<p>"'Take Gilbert'!" echoed Mrs. Pennell. "What has he done? And what do
+they want of Ruth?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh! It's because of the play. Mother lost the programme we made for
+her. It blew away, and an English soldier found it; and they are going
+to take Ruth too," Winifred finished nearly in tears.</p>
+
+<p>"I will go and speak with these officers," said Aunt Deborah calmly.
+"Thee need not be troubled, Winifred. Thee and Ruth had best come with
+me so they can see how dangerous an enemy they have to arrest," and Aunt
+Deborah smiled so reassuringly that Winifred took courage, and followed
+Aunt Deborah to the door. They were soon in the Merrills' garden, just
+in time to meet two English soldiers with Gilbert between them coming
+down the steps.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah went forward smilingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Thee does not mean to take this lad from his home," she said, speaking
+to the elder of the two men. "He has done nothing worthy of thy notice,
+and his mother can ill spare him."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be, madam. But we must obey orders. We have to take G. Merrill
+and R. Pennell to General Howe," the man answered civilly.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is R. Pennell," said Aunt Deborah, her hand resting protectingly
+on Ruth's shoulder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> "Surely thee does not mean to take this little
+girl?"</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers seemed somewhat surprised at this, but repeated that they
+must obey orders. Gilbert did not seem at all afraid; he took Ruth by
+the hand, and told her that it was nothing to be alarmed about. Mrs.
+Merrill, Aunt Deborah, Ruth's mother and Winifred kept close to the
+"prisoners" as the little party made its way down the street toward the
+headquarters of the English General.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>A LONG ROAD</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>"What is this?" called a pleasant voice, and the two soldiers halted
+instantly and saluted a young officer who blocked their way.</p>
+
+<p>"If thee please, sir, there has been a mistake made," said Aunt Deborah,
+and proceeded to tell the story of the birthday entertainment that the
+children had given for Mrs. Merrill.</p>
+
+<p>The young officer listened gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"As you say, madam, they are but children; but such games find little
+favor among loyal English people," he responded.</p>
+
+<p>"But thee must remember we are Americans," said Aunt Deborah fearlessly.
+The young officer turned and walked beside them. Now and then he smiled
+as if amused by his own thoughts, but he said nothing more until they
+reached the headquarters of the General.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait here a moment," he said, and ran up the steps.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I shall tell them that Ruth had nothing to do with it, and that I am
+the only one to blame," Gilbert said to Mrs. Pennell. "Of course they
+won't punish any one but me."</p>
+
+<p>Before Mrs. Pennell could reply the young officer appeared at the door,
+and came slowly down the steps.</p>
+
+<p>"Come with me, young sir," he said, resting his hand on Gilbert's
+shoulder. "You may take the little girls home, ladies," he added. "I am
+quite sure they will not prove a danger to England's cause."</p>
+
+<p>"I will wait for my son," said Mrs. Merrill. "I do not suppose you mean
+to detain him long."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot say as to that, madam; but you are quite welcome to wait. If
+you will come in I will see that you find a comfortable chair," he
+replied courteously.</p>
+
+<p>"I will wait here," said Mrs. Merrill.</p>
+
+<p>"And we will wait also," declared Ruth's mother.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth and Winifred clasped each other's hands as they watched Gilbert
+being led up the steps. They thought their mothers were very brave
+indeed to reply so calmly to an English officer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Gilbert was absent not more than a half hour, but it seemed much longer
+to the anxious little group. He came down the steps alone, and when his
+mother slipped her hand under one arm while Winifred clasped his other
+hand he smiled and said: "Humph! All they did was laugh and tell me to
+choose a better plot for my next play. They are not soldiers at all.
+Why, they asked me if I would not like to take a part in one of Major
+Andr&eacute;'s plays."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you say, Gilbert?" questioned Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"I said '<i>No.</i>' And that's all I said. And I did not thank them for the
+offer; and then they laughed more than ever. I wish Washington would
+drive them out of Philadelphia," answered Gilbert, who was a trifle
+disappointed that the Englishmen had not taken his play more seriously.
+He would not have minded if he had been held as a prisoner for a few
+days; it would have made him feel that he had really done something to
+prove his loyalty to the American cause.</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Merrill was very glad to have her tall son safely beside her,
+although she was inclined to agree with him that the gay young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> English
+officers took their duties too lightly. There had been balls at the City
+Tavern every week during the winter, and most of the officers seemed to
+forget that there were dangers in store for them from the American Army
+at Valley Forge.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert's adventure made Ruth and Winifred completely forget their plan
+to make a table as a present for Betty until late that afternoon; and
+then they decided not to begin it until after Aunt Deborah's departure
+the next day.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother has a table shaped like a heart. We could mark a heart on that
+square piece of dark wood with chalk and then cut it out," suggested
+Winnie. "I am sure Betty would like that better than a plain square
+table."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she would," agreed Ruth. Neither of the little girls realized
+how hard an undertaking it would be to carve a heart-shaped table top
+from the square piece of mahogany.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was awake at an early hour the next morning. The April sun shone
+warmly in through her open window; the robins, who had built a nest in
+the hawthorn tree, sang jubilantly as if rejoicing that spring was
+really at hand, and Ruth could hear her mother and Aunt Deborah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> moving
+about in the lower rooms. It was just the day for a ride in the country.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was glad that Winifred had thought of so pleasant a plan as driving
+a part of the way with Aunt Deborah. Both the little girls had taken it
+for granted that their mothers would have no objection. Winifred was
+used to driving the pony, and had often taken Ruth with her, but they
+had never been farther than Fair Mount, a pleasant hill just outside the
+town on the Schuylkill River, or along the quiet streets of the town;
+but to-day Winifred had said that they would drive until Aunt Deborah
+should tell them to turn toward home.</p>
+
+<p>Farmer Withely usually arrived in the city at an early hour, delivered
+his produce, then gave the big brown horse an hour or two rest, and was
+ready to start on his return journey directly after dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah did not keep him waiting, and was at the gate with Mrs.
+Pennell beside her when the round-faced smiling farmer in his long coat
+of heavy blue drilling and his wide-rimmed hat came driving up.</p>
+
+<p>"Where can Ruth be?" her mother said anxiously, as the farmer lifted
+Aunt Deborah's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> trunk into the back of the wagon and stood waiting to
+help her mount to the high seat.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the pony carriage drew up behind the wagon with Winnie
+and Ruth smiling and waving their hands at Aunt Deborah.</p>
+
+<p>"We are going a little way with you, Mistress Farleigh," called
+Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"May I go, Mother?" Ruth added.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah was evidently greatly pleased that the little girls had
+wished to go a little way with her on her journey home, and Mrs. Pennell
+smiled and nodded her consent, thinking that Ruth would be safely back
+in an hour at the longest, and waving her good-byes as Farmer Withely
+climbed to his seat and the brown horse trotted off, closely followed by
+Fluff.</p>
+
+<p>Down the street they went, turning now into the broader highway and at
+last reaching the river road that led straight to Matson's Ford, beyond
+which the road led on to Valley Forge.</p>
+
+<p>As they came in sight of the river the big horse stopped, and in a
+moment Fluff was beside the farmer's cart. Aunt Deborah smiled down at
+the little girls.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis best that thee turn toward home now. And I thank thee both for
+coming so far with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> me. 'Twill not be long now, Ruth, before I hope to
+see thee at Barren Hill. And thee, Winifred, will be welcome also
+whenever thou canst give me the pleasure of a visit."</p>
+
+<p>Before Aunt Deborah had finished speaking Ruth was out of the pony
+carriage and standing on the step of Farmer Withely's cart holding up a
+package.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is something I made for you, Aunt Deborah," she said. Aunt Deborah
+reached down and received the small carefully wrapped package.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank thee, dear child," she said, and Ruth stood by the roadside and
+waved a good-bye as the brown horse trotted off at a more rapid pace than
+he had traveled through the town.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish we could have gone farther," she said regretfully as she went
+back to her seat beside Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we can. We'll turn up that shady road and see where it goes,"
+responded Winifred. "What did you give your aunt?"</p>
+
+<p>"A needle-book. Mother helped me make it. It is of blue flannel, with
+embroidered edges, and shaped like a small book, with Aunt Deborah's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+initials on the cover," said Ruth. "Would it not be pleasant if you
+could visit Aunt Deborah when I do?"</p>
+
+<p>Winifred feared that such a visit would not be possible. But the two
+little friends talked of many things as Fluff trotted along the narrow
+country road, hardly more than a lane, and sheltered by closely growing
+trees. Now and then the road came out into an open space, and there
+would be many violets growing close to the roadside. Then the girls
+sprang from the cart and gathered handfuls of the fragrant blossoms,
+while Fluff nibbled at the grass, or twisted his head to watch his young
+mistress. The wild honeysuckle was also in bloom along a sloping
+pasture, and Ruth was eager to gather it to take home to her mother. She
+climbed up the rough slope, followed by Winifred, and they soon had
+large bunches of the delicate blossoms. From the top of the little hill
+that they had climbed they could see the distant line of the blue river,
+and after roaming about for a time they decided it was time to return to
+Fluff and start for home. The pony whinnied a little impatiently and
+shook his head at them as they approached.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"He thinks we have stayed too long," said Winifred laughingly. "What
+time do you suppose it is, Ruth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! we can't have been away from home more than an hour," said Ruth;
+"but the sky looks cloudy, doesn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>But it was not clouds that made the sky darken, it was the rapidly
+approaching twilight. The tall trees shut out the golden spring
+sunshine; and the afternoon had passed so pleasantly that neither Ruth
+nor Winifred had any idea that evening was close at hand, or that they
+were miles from home in a solitary and unknown road that had seemed to
+grow more narrow as they went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps we had better turn around now," suggested Winifred a few
+moments after they had gathered the wild honeysuckle. "I told Mother we
+would be home early. Why, what is the matter with Fluff?" she added in a
+startled tone, for the little pony had come to a full stop.</p>
+
+<p>Both the little girls jumped out of the cart and ran to the pony's head,
+which drooped low. Fluff was breathing heavily, and it seemed to
+Winifred as if his slender legs trembled.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, he can't be tired. He had that long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> rest just now," said Ruth
+anxiously. Neither of them realized that ever since leaving the river
+the road had run steadily up-hill, or that the pony had been traveling
+for a number of hours. Fluff was no longer young, and he had never been
+required to go long distances; and now he could go no further.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take off his harness," said Winifred quickly. "I hope he isn't
+going to have a fit. Ned Ferris's pony has fits." It did not take her
+long to set Fluff free from the pony-cart, and he turned a grateful look
+toward his little mistress, who began to wish there was a brook or
+spring near at hand where the little creature could drink.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth smoothed Fluff's head, and Winifred with a bunch of wayside grass
+rubbed his back and legs.</p>
+
+<p>"He's going to lie down," said Winifred as Fluff moved his head about
+quickly; and in a moment the tired little creature had stretched himself
+at their feet.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do? I am sure Fluff can't take us home," exclaimed
+Winifred, "and we can't go and leave him here."</p>
+
+<p>"It can't be very far from home," responded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> Ruth. "I could go home and
+tell Gilbert, and he would come right back for you with Ned's pony."</p>
+
+<p>"But what could we do with Fluff?" asked Winifred a little despondently.
+"He is too tired to drive home."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he'd be rested enough by that time to go home, if he didn't
+have to pull the cart," said Ruth; "anyway, I do think one of us ought
+to go home or our mothers will think some harm has befallen us. I'll
+stay, if you would rather go."</p>
+
+<p>But Winifred shook her head. She did not wish to leave the pony; neither
+was she pleased at the thought of staying by herself on that lonely
+road. At last, however, they decided that Ruth's plan was the best they
+could think of, and Ruth started.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll hurry all the way, Winifred; and Gilbert will come back as fast as
+he can," she called as she started to run down the hill.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>A LONG RIDE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>"I wish we had brought Hero," thought Ruth regretfully as she hurried
+down the shadowy road, "then he could have come with me for company."
+For at the last moment before leaving home the little girls had decided
+that it was not best to let Hero accompany them. There was not room for
+him in the pony-cart, and for him to race along the streets might well
+mean that he would again disappear; so Ruth had been quite ready to
+leave him at home. But now she would have been very glad to have him
+running along beside her. "Josephine" and "Cecilia" had also been left
+behind; in fact neither Winifred nor Ruth had remembered the dolls until
+after they had said good-bye to Aunt Deborah. And, while Ruth was
+regretting the absence of Hero, Winifred, sitting close beside Fluff,
+was wishing that her beloved Josephine was there to keep her company.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It would be a great adventure for Josephine," she thought, looking up
+through the overhanging branches of the big oak under which Fluff had
+stopped to rest. For a time she amused herself by braiding the long
+grass and weaving it about green twigs broken from an elder-bush until
+she had made a wide, shallow basket with a handle. Into this she put the
+violets and wild honeysuckle, resolving to take it home as a present to
+her mother. She put it carefully under the seat of the pony-cart, and
+then decided to search for a spring or brook, for she was thirsty.</p>
+
+<p>Fluff showed no signs of wishing to start for home, or even to eat the
+tempting young grass growing near.</p>
+
+<p>"If I find a brook perhaps I can lead him, and then he will get a good
+drink," thought Winifred, crossing the narrow road and pushing aside a
+thick growth of wild shrubs.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" she exclaimed, for she had stepped at once on to damp yielding
+moss which covered her low cut slippers and wetted her feet as
+completely as if she had stepped into a brook. Just beyond this moss lay
+a clear little pool of water, evidently fed by springs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Winifred discovered that the farther, or upper, bank of the pool was dry
+and sandy, and in a few moments she was kneeling beside the clear water
+and drinking thirstily. She then made her way back to the road, breaking
+down branches of the shrubs to make a way for Fluff, who was now on his
+feet looking about as if in search of his little mistress.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, Fluff," she said coaxingly, grasping the plume-like mane.
+"Come and have a drink." The pony moved forward obediently. He hesitated
+a moment at having to push his way through the undergrowth, but with
+Winifred encouraging and urging him forward he was soon in sight of the
+pool, and then sprang forward so suddenly that his mane slid through
+Winifred's hands and she found herself on her hands and knees while
+Fluff, with his nose in the clear water, was drinking thirstily.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred laughed as she scrambled to her feet. Her shoes and stockings
+were wet and muddy, her pretty blue linen dress was torn, and now she
+realized that her hat was gone, that she must have lost it in pushing
+her way through the undergrowth; but these things seemed of small
+consequence to Winifred just then; for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> pony, with his forefeet
+planted firmly in the shallow water, was evidently more himself than he
+had been since he had stopped short under the oak tree.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll lead him back and harness him into the cart and start after Ruth,"
+thought his little mistress happily, "and I do believe it is getting
+dark!" she added aloud, realizing that the woods seemed very shadowy, as
+she made her way toward the pool.</p>
+
+<p>As she came near Fluff he lifted his head from the water, shook himself
+much as a big dog would do, and whinnied with satisfaction. But as
+Winifred approached more closely he gave a little dancing step into the
+water just beyond her reach.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Fluff! It isn't any time to play games. We must start for home
+before it is really dark," said Winifred. But Fluff was now rested, and
+free from his harness in a fragrant shadowy wood. He was sure that his
+little mistress must be as ready as himself for a game, so he edged
+along the pool until a clear space opened before him, and then he
+stepped out, and trotted briskly away between the tall trees.</p>
+
+<p>"Fluff! Fluff!" called Winifred, running<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> after him. "Oh! where did he
+go?" for the pony had disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him.
+Winifred ran on until her way was blocked by thickly growing underbrush.
+Then she turned back, but now she could not find the pool. The shadows
+deepened; she could hardly distinguish one tree from another, and there
+was no sound or sign from the gray pony.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall I do?" she said, standing close to the trunk of a pine tree
+that rose straight and tall with wide-spreading branches. She realized
+that she must now be some distance from the road and the big oak tree
+where she had left the pony-cart, and Fluff perhaps was deep in this
+wilderness, unable to make his way back; and, worst of all, night was
+close upon her.</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed a dangerous position for a little girl to be alone in a
+wilderness as Winifred found herself. It was a time when many wild
+beasts still wandered about, often coming near to the outskirts of towns
+and villages. Winifred remembered that only a few weeks earlier a
+catamount had been killed at Fair Mount, and she knew that in the early
+spring bears left the dens where they had slept through the winter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> and
+wandered through the woods eating the tender young buds and leaves. She
+crouched closer to the tree as she remembered these things, and then
+suddenly she recalled the words that she had worked on her sampler:
+"There shall no evil befall thee. For he shall give his angels charge
+over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."</p>
+
+<p>Her mother had traced the words, and Winifred had worked them in dull
+blue yarns on the perforated wool cloth. She said them over aloud: "No
+evil befall thee," and was no longer afraid. She did not think now of
+the beasts of the dark wood, but of a kindly presence that would shelter
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps Fluff will come and find me," she thought hopefully. "Anyway,
+Ruth will soon be back with Gilbert, and they will call my name, and I
+shall call back," and so comforted and encouraged Winifred sat down on
+the soft pine spills and leaned back against the tall tree. A pair of
+squirrels chattered noisily in the branches; a soft-footed little animal
+sped by almost touching her feet, and she could hear faint calls from
+nesting birds near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"For he shall give his angels charge over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> thee," the little girl
+whispered to herself, and soothed and quieted by the spring fragrance of
+the wood her eyes closed.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth, meanwhile, was trudging along the road toward home. She was sure
+that she could find the way without any trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"All I have to do is to turn when I come to the river road and follow it
+straight back to the city, and then any one can tell me how to get
+home," she thought, hopefully. But she began to think she should never
+reach the river road. Her thin shoes were scrubbed and dusty, and she
+wondered what Aunt Deborah would say at her untidy appearance.</p>
+
+<p>Now and then she would quicken her pace and run until she was out of
+breath. She began to understand why Fluff was tired out. Just before she
+reached the river road there was the sound of breaking twigs, and of
+some animal making its way through the woods, and the next moment a deer
+followed by a young fawn sprang into the road directly in front of the
+surprised and startled little girl; but they vanished before Ruth
+realized that they had been within reach of her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I wish Winifred could have seen them,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> she thought. The road now
+hardly showed in the thick dusk. Ruth stumbled often, and began to be
+both hungry and thirsty. She wished she could stop and rest; but the
+thought of Winifred sitting alone under the big oak tree made her
+resolve not to stop until she reached home.</p>
+
+<p>At last she could see an open space ahead, and the dark line of the
+river; and at the same moment she heard the sound of trotting feet on
+the road behind her and a little gray figure ran swiftly by.</p>
+
+<p>"That was Fluff! I know it was Fluff," she exclaimed, and called loudly
+after the pony. But Fluff did not stop; he knew he was headed for home,
+and it was much easier to run along free and unharnessed than to pull a
+cart containing two little girls.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth now hardly knew what to do. Perhaps Winifred might be coming
+closely behind the pony.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I ought to wait and see if she is coming," thought Ruth,
+puzzled and uncertain as to the right course to take. Before she could
+decide she saw the gleam of a lantern, and heard the wheels of a
+carriage coming rapidly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> over the road, and without a moment's
+hesitation she called out: "Stop! Please stop!" and heard a familiar
+voice respond:</p>
+
+<p>"It's Ruth. It's Ruth." And the light of the lantern showed Gilbert and
+his mother in Ned Ferris's pony-cart.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment they were standing in the road beside her, and Ruth was
+telling the story of the woodland road, and of Winifred waiting beside
+the pony-cart under a big oak tree.</p>
+
+<p>"And Fluff just ran by, headed for home," she concluded.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought it was Fluff who raced past us. I was sure it was he," said
+Gilbert.</p>
+
+<p>They were now puzzled what course to take. To leave Winifred alone so
+far from any human habitation was not to be thought of; neither did Mrs.
+Merrill wish Ruth to go on toward home without some one with her.</p>
+
+<p>"Gilbert, you must go home with Ruth, and I will drive on after
+Winifred," she decided. "Mrs. Pennell will be sadly troubled when Fluff
+comes running home and she has no news of her little girl. Go as quickly
+as you can."</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert agreed; but he felt a little defrauded as he and Ruth turned
+toward home. He would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> have enjoyed going up that dark hillside road,
+where it seemed to him some interesting adventure might befall a
+traveler.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Merrill, with the lantern fastened to the front of the cart, drove
+rapidly up the hill, trying to pierce the dusky shadows of the roadside.
+Now and then she called Winifred's name, and listened intently for some
+response, but none came.</p>
+
+<p>At last the light from the lantern showed the pony-carriage in the
+shadow of the big oak tree, and in a moment Mrs. Merrill was on the
+ground beside it. But Winifred was not to be seen. "Winifred!" she
+called over and over, but there was no reply.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>HOME AGAIN</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Winifred awakened suddenly. For a moment she looked about with startled
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Winifred! Winifred!"</p>
+
+<p>"That is Mother calling," she exclaimed aloud, springing to her feet,
+and resting one hand against the smooth trunk of the pine tree. For a
+moment she was too surprised and sleepy to respond to the call; then she
+called back, "Mother! I'm in the woods!" at the same time moving slowly
+around to the other side of the big tree.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! There's a light! And there's the road! And there is Mother!" and
+stumbling and running Winifred appeared in the road only a short
+distance from the flickering light of the lantern.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother! Mother! Did you come all alone?" called Winifred, as her mother
+held her close as if, thought the little girl, "I had been away a long
+time."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I thought I was way in the deep woods, and I was close to the road all
+the time. But Fluff is lost," she explained, as her mother led her
+toward the cart.</p>
+
+<p>"No, dear; Fluff passed us on our way home, and will probably be safe in
+his stall long before we get back," replied Mrs. Merrill, and as they
+drove through the darkness she told her little daughter of how troubled
+she and Mrs. Pennell had been as the afternoon passed and Winifred and
+Ruth failed to return; of Gilbert borrowing Ned's pony, of meeting Ruth,
+"and I have been here an hour, calling and calling," she concluded.</p>
+
+<p>"How sound asleep I must have been not to hear you," said Winifred
+happily, snuggling closer to her mother's side.</p>
+
+<p>"After Fluff ran off I began to be frightened," she continued. "I
+thought of catamounts and bears; and then I thought of my sampler."</p>
+
+<p>"Your sampler?" repeated Mrs. Merrill, not understanding just what
+Winifred meant.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mother dear! Don't you remember the words you traced on it? 'There
+shall no evil befall thee. For he shall give his angels charge over
+thee, to keep thee in all thy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> ways,'" repeated the little girl. "I
+kept saying it over and over and I was not afraid."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Mrs. Merrill did not reply. She stooped and kissed her
+little daughter, and then said: "That was right, dear child."</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly midnight when Mrs. Merrill and Winifred reached home, and
+Gilbert lifted a very sleepy little girl from the pony-cart. "Mrs.
+Pennell and Ruth are here," he said, "and she has some hot broth ready."</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert looked after Ned's pony before following his mother and sister
+into the house. Mrs. Pennell had already prepared his supper and he had
+eaten it with Ruth on reaching home after their long walk; but that
+seemed a long time ago, and he was quite ready to sit down at the
+candle-lit table and join the others. The hot broth, toast and damson
+preserves were very welcome to Winifred and her mother. The little group
+around the table were all too tired to talk much, but they smiled
+happily at one another, rejoicing that they were all safe and at home.</p>
+
+<p>It was decided that Mrs. Pennell and Ruth should stay the remainder of
+the night with the Merrills.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Hero will take care of our house," Ruth said confidently, as she and
+her mother entered the pleasant chamber where they were to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, you never scold me, do you?" she said, just as Mrs. Pennell
+extinguished the candle, and smiled happily to herself at her mother's
+little laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Ruthie dear! I should hope not. You know 'scold' is an ugly word.
+There is nothing about it that is fair. It means to 'find fault,' which
+is never quite fair; do you think it is?" and Ruth agreed that "scold"
+had an ugly sound.</p>
+
+<p>"We didn't mean to stay away and to worry you," said Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you didn't, dear child. Go to sleep," replied her mother, who
+was thinking to herself that no other little girl was as dear and good
+as her own little daughter. And, strange as it may seem, Mrs. Merrill
+was thinking that very same thing about Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>How much there was for the two little friends to talk about the next
+day! Gilbert and Fluff had started off at an early hour to bring home
+the pony-cart, and early in the afternoon Betty Hastings came to see
+Ruth. She knew nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> about the adventure of the day before, and
+listened eagerly to Ruth and Winifred as they told of the lonely road,
+the coming of darkness, and of the deer and fawn that Ruth had seen.</p>
+
+<p>The two younger girls looked at Betty admiringly as they all sat
+together in Mrs. Pennell's front room. Betty's smooth brown curls under
+her pretty white straw hat, her shining brown eyes and pleasant smile,
+and the pretty dress of blue and white plaid, made her well worth their
+approving glances. Both Ruth and Winifred wondered to themselves why it
+was that Betty's hands were always clean, her hair smooth, and her dress
+always neat and in order. They decided, as they had often done before,
+that it was because Betty was so nearly grown up, nearly thirteen. They
+were quite sure that being tidy and careful was a gift that came with
+years.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth always liked to have Betty come to see her.</p>
+
+<p>"It's just like really being grown up when Betty comes," she had
+explained to her mother, "because we always sit in the front room, and
+never play dolls." So this afternoon when Mrs. Pennell brought in a tray
+with the little silver<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> pitcher and sugar bowl, the lustre teapot, and
+the treasured Canton cups and saucers, together with a plate of round
+frosted cakes, and Ruth had the pleasure of giving Betty and Winifred a
+cup of "real tea" she felt herself the most fortunate little girl in
+Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis not a taxed tea," Mrs. Pennell declared smilingly; for Americans
+had refused to receive any tea on which the Government of Great Britain
+demanded an unlawful tax.</p>
+
+<p>"I came to ask you and Winifred to a May party," said Betty, when she
+was ready to start for home. "My mother says I may invite a dozen girls
+to go Maying to some pleasant place on the river, where we can gather
+flowers, put up a May-pole, and have a picnic lunch. Mother will get
+some one to drive us all out in a big wagon."</p>
+
+<p>Both Ruth and Winifred were delighted at the invitation, and thanked
+Betty. May-day was nearly two weeks distant, but they were glad to have
+so pleasant an invitation. And the front door had hardly closed behind
+their visitor when Ruth exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"We must begin on that table right away, Winifred, so that it will
+surely be finished by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> May-day. I have just remembered that May first is
+Betty's birthday! Her mother always has a party for her."</p>
+
+<p>"So it is!" responded Winifred, as she followed Ruth toward the shed.</p>
+
+<p>There was a piece of chalk in the drawer of the work-bench, and Ruth,
+laying the square of smooth dark wood on the top of a barrel, began to
+mark a large heart, while Winifred stood beside her watching admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" Ruth exclaimed, as her rather uneven chalk line came to an end.
+"I guess that is enough to go by. We can make the edges smooth with some
+of the tools."</p>
+
+<p>Winifred agreed promptly. "I'll make the legs," she volunteered.</p>
+
+<p>"Be sure and have them all the same length," advised Ruth. "You can take
+this chalk and mark the places where to saw;" and in a few moments
+Winifred with a small sharp saw was endeavoring to cut through the
+strips of hard wood selected for table legs, while Ruth with a sharp
+knife tried in vain to make some impression on the square of mahogany.
+Snap! went the slender knife-blade!</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Winifred! quick! I've cut off my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> thumb!" screamed Ruth, as she
+raced past the horrified Winifred and ran into the kitchen calling:
+"Mother! Mother!"</p>
+
+<p>In a moment her mother was beside her; the injured thumb was bathed and
+bandaged, and Ruth was explaining, with Winifred's help, how the
+accident occurred. It was really a deep cut, and it was no wonder that
+the little girl had been frightened.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell went to the shed with the little girls, and looked with
+troubled eyes at the cherished pieces of polished wood, and the fine
+tools scattered about the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"We must put all these tools carefully back in the chest, and the wood
+on the shelf just as your father left it. Winifred will help me, for you
+must not use your hand, Ruth," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"But, Mother, we want to make a heart-shaped table for a birthday
+present for Betty," Ruth explained. "Mayn't we use Father's tools?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, my dear. It would have been a very serious thing if you had spoiled
+any of his saws or planes. And those strips and squares of wood are
+valuable. Besides that you and Winifred are not accustomed to the use of
+tools;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> and you might really have cut off your thumb instead of only
+cutting it," said Mrs. Pennell. "I am to blame that I did not tell you
+how much your dear father valued these tools and wood."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mother! You are never to blame. I ought to have asked you," Ruth
+declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my dear, I really think it would have been wiser. But now we must
+think of something else as a present for Betty. With that hurt thumb,
+Ruth, I am afraid you cannot make her anything," responded her mother,
+leading the way to the seat under the maple tree.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, let us all try and think of something that Betty would like for a
+birthday gift," she continued, as they all sat down. Hero came bounding
+across the yard, and took his usual place at Ruth's feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I know! I know exactly what Betty would like," declared Ruth, "and I am
+sure I could help make it. Candy! She loves candy. Can I not use some of
+your sugar, Mother, to make some heart-shaped sweets?" For Ruth had some
+tiny heart-shaped molds of tin, into which hot candy mixture could be
+turned, and that when cool came out in perfect shapes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That will be better than a table," said Winifred eagerly, "and I know
+my mother will give me some sugar for such a purpose. And, Ruth! we can
+make a heart-shaped box of paper to put it in."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell listened smilingly as the two little girls made their plan
+for their friend's birthday gift. She promised to give them a portion of
+her scanty store of sugar.</p>
+
+<p>"You will not need to make it for a week to come; and Ruth's thumb will
+be well by that time. You may have the kitchen to yourselves on the last
+day of April," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth quite forgot the ugly cut in her excitement over the proposed
+candy-making.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad May is only ten days away," she said. "Just think of all that
+is going to happen next month! Betty's birthday picnic, and my visit to
+Aunt Deborah! And perhaps even more than that. Perhaps I shall see
+Lafayette! And perhaps the English will leave Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<p>Both her mother and Winifred laughed at Ruth's eager prophecy.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CANDY DISAPPEARS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Gilbert and Winifred often talked to Ruth of their soldier brother, Vinal;
+and she never tired of hearing the story of a midnight visit he
+had made during the previous winter.</p>
+
+<p>He had arrived home late one afternoon, coming up the street as if there
+were not an English soldier in the city, and had stayed the night in his
+own home, departing early the next morning for Valley Forge. It was just
+such an adventure as the children admired, and would have well liked to
+have had some part in.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert had reluctantly given up the plan of changing his name to
+Lafayette. No one seemed to remember his wish, and after a few weeks he
+no longer reminded Ruth or Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>As the time of Ruth's visit to Barren Hill drew near she made many
+pleasant plans of all she would see and do while at Aunt Deborah's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+square stone house, and recalled all that her aunt had told her of the
+beehives in a sunny corner of the garden, the flocks of chickens, the
+many birds that nested safely in the orchard trees, and the big attic
+that would be such a fine play-house on stormy days. But most of all
+Ruth thought of the fact that Barren Hill was only ten miles distant
+from Valley Forge, and that there might be some way in which she could
+see her father.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could find out that the English were going to leave
+Philadelphia, and then I would have good news for Father," she thought.
+"Or if I could carry a fine present for Father to give Lafayette." But
+there seemed little prospect that a little girl like Ruth could be the
+bearer of good news to the troops at Valley Forge, or of a present to
+the gallant young Frenchman.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth's thumb healed in a few days, so that she could help her mother in
+the garden, and do her usual work about the house. Every morning,
+directly after breakfast, was the lesson hour, when Mrs. Pennell and
+Ruth would sit down in the dining-room and, as Ruth had described it to
+Aunt Deborah, "Tell stories."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There were "history" stories, and these Ruth liked best of all. One was
+the story of the first Quaker emigrants who came to Philadelphia in
+three small ships, bringing a friendly letter from the good-natured King
+Charles to the Delaware Indians. She liked to hear how these people
+sailed safely across the Atlantic and came up the Delaware, and first
+found shelter in caves along the river's bank, and then built themselves
+log cabins, and big strong houses.</p>
+
+<p>Then there were stories of the stars, by which sailors steered their
+course at sea, and there were stories of birds and beasts, and a very
+amusing game in which a small girl from Japan and another from China,
+and a little black girl from Africa, each recited the way children were
+taught in those countries.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell did not always tell the stories, no, indeed! Often Ruth
+would be asked to tell the story of William Penn, or perhaps to draw a
+little picture of certain constellations. And always there was the
+adding of apples, the dividing of apples into four parts and eight
+parts, which Mrs. Pennell called "Fractions." And after this pleasant
+hour there were the neat stitches to be set in apron, dress, or
+handkerchief.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nearly every child had regular tasks; they were taught to use their
+hands as well as their eyes and thoughts, and Ruth was very proud that
+she could hemstitch nicely, and "set the heel" of a stocking, and finish
+off its toe.</p>
+
+<p>After Vinal brought the letter from Ruth's father Mrs. Pennell seemed
+more cheerful, and often said that she was sure it would not be many
+months before Philadelphia would be rid of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth and Winifred counted the days until the last day of April, when
+they were to make the candy as a present for Betty. The pretty
+heart-shaped box that was to hold it was already finished. Mrs. Pennell
+had helped them make it. She had carefully shaped it from pasteboard,
+and then, with a flour paste, the little girls had covered it carefully
+with some pretty bits of wall-paper. The cover had three tiny hearts cut
+from gilt paper, and Ruth and Winifred were both sure that Betty would
+be much pleased by their gift, especially when she opened it and found
+it full of sweets.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth had just finished her lesson hour on the morning of the day before
+the May-day picnic, when Winifred appeared. She brought a package<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> of
+sugar that her mother had given her as her share for the candy, and the
+two little girls ran to the kitchen, which they were to have quite to
+themselves for their candy-making.</p>
+
+<p>The family cooking was done over the bed of coals in the fireplace, and
+Ruth brought out a saucepan, a big spoon, and some sugar from the
+pantry, and talking happily of the pleasures of the coming day the two
+little friends measured their sugar and set the saucepan over the coals,
+while Ruth, spoon in hand, watched it carefully, while Winifred stood
+close by ready to help.</p>
+
+<p>It was a great event to be permitted to make candy, and both Winifred
+and Ruth decided that it would be a much more acceptable present than a
+table.</p>
+
+<p>In a short time the melted sugar, flavored with rose leaves, was ready
+to be turned into the tiny heart-shaped molds, and set to cool on the
+window ledge.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go out in the garden," suggested Ruth. "If we stay in here we
+shall keep looking at the candy to see if it is ready to turn out, and
+it will seem forever." So they went out to the seat under the maple
+tree, played with Hero, talked about the May party and the time, now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+near at hand, when Ruth would go to visit Aunt Deborah, and nearly an
+hour passed before they returned to the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, where are the molds?" exclaimed Ruth. "Where is the candy?"
+demanded Winifred, and they looked at the vacant window-sill where they
+had left the sweets to cool.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother must have put them in the pantry," said Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," Winifred agreed, and the little girls exchanged a smile of
+relief as they both turned toward the pantry.</p>
+
+<p>But the candy was not there.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll run and ask her where she put it," said Ruth, and hurried off to
+find her mother who was busy in one of the upper rooms.</p>
+
+<p>"But I have not been down-stairs, dear child," Mrs. Pennell replied.
+"You do not suppose the molds have fallen out of the window?" she asked,
+and without stopping to answer Ruth ran back to the kitchen, and leaned
+out of the window, but there was no candy to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ruth! The box is gone, too! Some one must have come in and taken
+it!" said Winifred; and, sure enough, the pretty box had disappeared
+from the table as well as the molds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> from the window. Both the little
+girls were ready to cry with disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>They knew that each of the other guests would bring Betty a present, and
+they knew also that their mothers could not spare any more sugar for
+candy. Besides this the pretty box was gone, and they had no more bits
+of paper to make another.</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't go to the party," Ruth declared. "And who could have been mean
+enough to take the candy?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell was nearly as troubled as Ruth and Winnie. It was evident
+that some one must have entered the house by the front door, taken the
+candy, and made off while the girls were in the garden. She feared that
+other things must have been taken, but a careful search proved that
+nothing else was missing.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred agreed with Ruth that they did not wish to go to the party
+without a present for Betty. "And now it is too late to even think of
+anything," she said as she started for home, leaving Ruth puzzled and
+unhappy, and wondering to herself if perhaps some ill-natured fairies
+had not made off with the sweets. The more Ruth thought of this the more
+convinced she was that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> it was what had happened. She remembered hearing
+queer little noises at her window that morning that she had thought were
+made by the birds nesting in the hawthorn. Now she said to herself that
+it must have been fairies coming into the house. "And because I did not
+make them welcome they have taken the candy," she decided, remembering a
+fairy tale that Mrs. Merrill had once told the two girls in which
+children had always welcomed fairies who came tapping at the windows of
+a spring morning, by singing:</p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"Welcome, fairies good and kind;<br />
+Come in, come in, and welcome find."<br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>In the story the fairies had brought wonderful gifts, but if they had
+not been welcomed they would have taken the children's dearest
+possessions, which could only be recovered by walking around the garden
+just before sunrise and bowing low three times to the lilac, three times
+to a robin, and three times with your eyes shut tight, repeating each
+time:</p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"Fairies, fairies, here I bow.<br />
+Will you kindly pardon now<br />
+That I did not hear or see<br />
+When you came to visit me?"<br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Ruth was glad that she could remember it.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get up before sunrise to-morrow morning and do exactly as the
+little girl did in the story when the fairies brought back her silver
+heart, and then probably when I open my eyes there will be the box and
+the candy," thought Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, of course, it was because the box and the candies were
+heart-shaped," she decided; "that's another reason I'm sure it was
+fairies. It will be splendid if I can get them back. I won't tell
+Winifred until after breakfast to-morrow. Won't she be surprised?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell wondered a little that Ruth was in such good spirits the
+rest of the day, after the disappearance of the candy, and that she was
+so ready to go to bed at an hour earlier than the usual time.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<h3>A FAIRY STORY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When Gilbert took the pan of candy-molds from the open window of Mrs.
+Pennell's kitchen, and, reaching in captured the heart-shaped box from
+the table, his only intention was to keep them just long enough to
+puzzle Ruth and Winifred and then return them. When the girls came back
+to the kitchen he had run into the shed, and set box and pan in the open
+drawer of the work-bench and closed it quickly, and had then gone home
+to attend to some garden work, meaning to come back in an hour at the
+longest; but his mother had sent him on an errand, and it was noon
+before Gilbert remembered the candy; and then Winifred was telling the
+story of its disappearance:</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't think any one would be so mean as to take our candy," she
+concluded, and Gilbert felt his face flush uncomfortably, and realized
+that it was going to be very difficult to explain what he had intended
+for a joke to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> Ruth and Winifred. In some way he must get that candy and
+box back to the place from which he had taken it, or else tell the girls
+what he had done; and this last alternative would be unpleasant. All
+that afternoon he was on the alert for a chance to slip into the
+Pennells' garden, enter the shed and rescue the hidden sweets; but the
+day was warm and pleasant, and Ruth and Winifred with their dolls and
+Hero were out-of-doors playing about in the shade of the maple tree
+until it was too late for Gilbert to carry out his plan; so that he was
+as uneasy and troubled as Ruth or Winifred over the missing candy, and
+not until evening could he think of any way to recover it.</p>
+
+<p>He was just closing the stable for the night when he noticed the shallow
+basket of woven grass and twigs which Winifred had made on the eventful
+afternoon's journey along the river road. The violets and wild
+honeysuckle were now only dried up stems; but the basket looked
+serviceable and attractive. Gilbert smiled as he picked it up. He knew
+now exactly what he would do: he would get up very early the next
+morning, gather daffodils and iris and then take the basket to Mrs.
+Pennell's shed,&mdash;take the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> candy from the molds, fill the box, and
+setting the box in Winifred's grass basket cover it with flowers; then
+he would hang it to the knocker of the Pennells' front door.</p>
+
+<p>"The girls will think the fairies did it for a May-day surprise," he
+chuckled to himself, remembering that Winifred could never quite decide
+about fairies: if there really were such wonderful little people or not.</p>
+
+<p>So Gilbert was up before sunrise the next morning, and with a friendly
+word to Hero, found it an easy matter to enter the shed quietly and take
+the candy and box from the bench drawer. In a few moments he had filled
+the box skilfully without breaking one of the tiny hearts, set it in the
+basket and covered it with the spring blossoms. He was just about to
+leave the shed when he heard a voice, and peering out saw Ruth bowing to
+the lilac tree and saying in a low voice:</p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"Fairies, fairies, here I bow.<br />
+Will you kindly pardon now<br />
+That I did not hear or see<br />
+When you came to visit me?"<br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>"Jiminy! It's that old fairy story Mother tells; and Ruth believes it,"
+thought Gilbert,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> as he watched Ruth bowing low to a startled robin,
+which flew up to a higher branch in the hawthorn tree. She was so much
+absorbed in what she was doing that she did not hear the stealthy step
+behind her on the soft grass as Gilbert swiftly set down the mold pan
+and the basket, and flew back to the shop. He had just reached its
+shelter when Ruth turned to go back to the house and saw the basket.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at it for a moment as if she could hardly believe her eyes;
+and as she stooped to pick it up Ruth fully expected that basket, pan
+and tin molds would all vanish from sight. But no! They were real; and,
+quite as Ruth expected, the box, filled with candy hearts, was under the
+flowers.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! what will Winifred say?" she whispered to herself. And then she
+bowed to the lilac tree and to the robin, and said, "Thank you, kind
+fairies. I will always know now that you are true and kind," and then
+Ruth ran into the house to wake up her mother and tell her this
+wonderful story, and show her the basket in proof of the fairies' visit.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert hurried home. He was delighted with the success of his plan, but
+a little troubled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> that Ruth should believe so implicitly that fairies
+had first taken and then returned the candy.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell listened to Ruth's story and looked at the basket with as
+much wonder and surprise as even Ruth could expect. Although she did not
+deny that fairies had a hand in the return of the candy, she endeavored
+to explain to herself just how it could have occurred. But she
+remembered how much happiness she herself had had as a small girl in
+believing in good fairies, and was quite willing that her own little
+daughter should have the same pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>The Merrills were just sitting down to an early breakfast when Ruth came
+over to tell Winifred that the candy had been found, but she did not
+tell all the story, for she knew Gilbert laughed at fairies.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you all about it on the way to Betty's," she said, for it had
+been arranged that Betty's guests should all meet at her house, where
+the wagons would be in readiness to take them to a favorite picnic
+ground, a green sloping field on the banks of the Schuylkill River,
+where there were groups of wide-spreading elms and where many spring
+flowers grew.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Winifred was so eager to hear about the return of the candy that she
+could hardly wait to finish her breakfast. Ruth had not lingered after
+telling the great news, but had run home to make ready for the picnic.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert continued to feel uneasy about his part in the fairy story, and
+after Ruth and Winifred had started for the May party he followed his
+mother into the garden and offered to help her transplant the young
+seedlings.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, do you think there is any harm in believing in fairies?" he
+asked, and before his mother could reply Gilbert was telling her the
+story.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruth seemed more pleased about the fairies than she did to get the
+candy back," he concluded, "and I don't think there is any harm in
+fairies, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no, Gilbert! I am always hoping that they really are true,"
+replied his mother smilingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mother! You are as bad as Ruth," laughed Gilbert; "but do you think
+I ought to tell Ruth that I hid the candy, and then brought it back?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, not at present. Some time in the future<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> you can tell Ruth about
+it, if you wish, but I think it would be too bad to spoil her pleasure
+to-day. But perhaps you had better ask Mrs. Pennell, and then do
+whatever she thinks best," replied his mother.</p>
+
+<p>The thought of telling Mrs. Pennell of his mischievous act made Gilbert
+rather uncomfortable, but he responded promptly:</p>
+
+<p>"All right, Mother. I'll go now," and ran toward the house to wash his
+hands before presenting himself at Mrs. Pennell's door.</p>
+
+<p>"So that was it. I could not imagine how it happened," said Mrs. Pennell
+when Gilbert had told of hiding the candy, and of meaning to return it
+as a May basket. She agreed with Mrs. Merrill that Ruth could be told
+the facts later on, and did not seem to feel that Gilbert's joke had
+been anything but natural and harmless, so Gilbert returned home with an
+untroubled mind.</p>
+
+<p>Betty had asked her little guests to be at her house at half-past ten
+o'clock, and when Ruth and Winifred came down the street they saw a big
+wagon with two big brown horses standing in front of Betty's house; just
+behind the big wagon was a smaller one which Dinah was helping to load
+with baskets and packages.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That's the lunch wagon," said Winifred. "Oh, Ruth! I'm sure we are
+going to have a beautiful time. What do you suppose Betty will say when
+you tell her about the fairies?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. But probably she will think she is lucky to have a basket
+made by fairies," responded Ruth, who did not know the story of the
+basket that she carried so carefully.</p>
+
+<p>"I made that basket. Truly I did, Ruth," Winifred declared eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth's smile vanished. She stood still and looked at Winifred
+accusingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I suppose there weren't any fairies at all? If you made the basket
+you probably put the candy in it and set it in my garden for me to find.
+And you let me tell you all about bowing to the lilac tree, and never
+said a word," exclaimed Ruth; "and I suppose you have been laughing at
+me all the time," she concluded, a little choke coming in her throat at
+the thought that her best friend, as well as the fairies, had failed
+her.</p>
+
+<p>Before Winifred could say a word Ruth ran ahead as fast as she could go.
+Betty was on the steps, and a number of the girls who were going on the
+picnic were with her. She greeted Ruth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> warmly, and when Ruth explained
+that the basket was from Winifred and herself Betty was greatly pleased.
+She was looking at the basket and box admiringly when Winnie appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Did Ruth tell you that is a fairy present?" she asked eagerly, and at
+the little chorus of laughter and questions, Winifred went on and told
+the story just as Ruth had told it to her, while Ruth stood by looking
+rather sulky and unhappy. The moment Winifred finished Ruth stepped
+forward and said:</p>
+
+<p>"That's a good story, but it isn't true. About the fairies, I mean. Not
+one word of it. And Winifred knows it isn't."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>BETTY AND ANNETTE</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The girls' laughter ceased, and they looked at Ruth a little
+questioningly as if expecting that she would explain. But it was Betty
+who, slipping her arm around Winifred, said pleasantly: "Well, we are
+all obliged to Winnie for telling us such a beautiful story. And I am
+sure it is just what the fairies would do if they happened to think of
+it."</p>
+
+<p>Winifred looked up at the older girl gratefully, but she felt very
+unhappy. She could not understand why Ruth, her very best friend, should
+have turned against her, and denied the story.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth stood, sulky and silent, and a little ashamed, as the other guests
+arrived; and when Betty declared that it was time to start and led the
+way toward the big wagon, Ruth walked alone and was the last one of
+Betty's guests to climb up to her seat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There were ten little girls in the party, and Black Jason, Dinah's
+husband, was to drive the team. Mrs. Hastings sat on the back seat
+between Betty and Ruth; the small wagon with the good things for the
+birthday luncheon followed close behind, driven by a friend of Jason's.</p>
+
+<p>The other girls laughed and talked merrily as the big horses trotted
+briskly through the streets leading to the river. But Ruth was silent,
+except when Mrs. Hastings spoke to her; then she answered as pleasantly
+as possible, but she had no pleasure in the ride. Now and then they
+passed groups of English soldiers; and as they turned into the river
+road several red-coated officers on horseback rode past them.</p>
+
+<p>"We wish you a happy May, young ladies," called one of the officers,
+bowing very low as he rode past the wagon filled with happy girls.</p>
+
+<p>There was no response to his polite salutation; for even the children of
+the historic city resented the presence of the English soldiery.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, sing your May-day song," suggested Betty.</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Hastings shook her head laughingly.</p>
+
+<p>"I must save that for our dance round the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> May-pole," she replied, "and
+we shall soon be at the picnic field now."</p>
+
+<p>The field was very near the place where Ruth and Winifred had turned
+into the hill road, and the May party reached it after not more than an
+hour's ride. Black Jason drove through the field toward the river bank,
+and stopped under a group of tall elms. In a few moments the girls were
+scattered about searching for flowers. Black Jason and his friend
+unloaded the lunch wagon, and then Mrs. Hastings called the girls to
+decide on the best place to erect the May-pole, a fine birch tree that
+Black Jason was now chopping down.</p>
+
+<p>"There are so many good places!" exclaimed Betty, looking about the
+smooth field. "I think this is the best," she decided finally, as, with
+her guests beside her, she stopped near the edge of a wood.</p>
+
+<p>It was just the place for a May-pole, the other girls declared, as they
+looked about; and Black Jason and his friend set up the tall birch tree,
+whose green branches were more beautiful than any decoration that the
+girls could have imagined. While Mrs. Hastings and Betty spread the
+lunch in the shade of the woods, the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> girls gathered flowers and
+wove garlands for each other, and talked happily together. Ruth found
+herself seated beside Annette Tennant, a girl about Betty's age.</p>
+
+<p>"I will give you my wreath, and you can give me yours," said the older
+girl. "You are rather young to be asked to this party," she continued,
+looking at Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"I am nearly eleven," replied Ruth. "Winifred Merrill isn't any older
+than that."</p>
+
+<p>"I noticed there were two little girls," rejoined Annette
+condescendingly. "You mustn't mind if most of us are older. I always
+like children," went on Annette, who was even taller than Betty
+Hastings, and whose yellow hair was braided neatly and wound around her
+head.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth made no reply. She was feeling a little ashamed that she had
+declared Winifred's story to be untrue. Even if Winnie had set the
+basket in the garden and let her go about bowing to trees and birds Ruth
+felt that she herself had been rude and unkind.</p>
+
+<p>"What made that other child tell all that rigmarole about fairies?"
+questioned Annette. "I was glad when you spoke up and said that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> it was
+not true. Of course we older girls knew she was making it up."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ruth became perfectly sure that Winifred had had nothing to do
+with the discovery of the candy, and that Winifred had really believed
+the fairies had brought it back, using her basket for the purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"Winifred didn't make it up," declared Ruth. "It was exactly as she told
+it. The fairies did take away the candy, and bring it back."</p>
+
+<p>Annette stopped weaving the vines and flowers, and jumped up.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you are a very funny child. You tell us all that Winifred Merrill
+made up a story, and now you tell me that it was true," she exclaimed
+scornfully. "You need not give me your garland; I don't want it, or
+anything to do with you," and before Ruth could say a word in reply
+Annette had joined a group of the older girls, and was evidently telling
+them her opinion of Ruth Pennell.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth looked down through a blur of tears at the wreath she was making.
+She could hardly see the flowers in her lap.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had stayed at home. I hate grown-up girls," she thought
+bitterly, wishing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> herself in her own garden with Hero and Cecilia for
+playmates.</p>
+
+<p>The sound of Betty's voice calling to her guests that luncheon was ready
+made Ruth look up. She saw the other girls walking toward the shade of
+the tall elms where Mrs. Hastings stood waiting for them. Winifred was
+evidently in high favor; Annette walked on one side and Mary Pierce on
+the other, each with an arm about the pleased but somewhat embarrassed
+Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruth! Ruthie Pennell! We are all waiting for you," called Betty, and
+Ruth followed the others.</p>
+
+<p>It was evident at once that none of the girls meant to sit beside Ruth
+if it could be avoided. Annette had declared that she believed Ruth to
+be a mischief-maker, and untruthful, and that it was the duty of the
+older girls to "teach her a lesson."</p>
+
+<p>"We must let the child realize that older girls don't approve of such
+things," Annette had said, and the others agreed that the best way to
+express their disapproval was to leave Ruth to herself as much as
+possible.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred was now more puzzled than ever.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When Annette had repeated Ruth's declaration that Winifred's story was
+true, that fairies had returned the candy, she did not know what to
+think.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure Ruthie was only fooling," Winifred declared bravely. "I mean
+when she said that I made up the story about the candy. Because it was
+just what she told me."</p>
+
+<p>"Then the child must be taught that we don't like such fooling,"
+responded Annette, with what she felt was a very grown-up and impressive
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit here, Ruth," said Betty, wondering at the manner of the older
+girls, "and, Winifred, come and sit beside her."</p>
+
+<p>Winifred was quite ready to change her seat as Betty suggested, but
+Annette's hand clasped her arm, and it was Annette who answered: "Winnie
+would rather sit here, beside me."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," responded Betty. "Then I'll have Ruthie for my helper. I
+can always depend on you, Ruth, can't I?" she added, smiling at her
+young friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Always," whispered Ruth, gratefully; and it was she who helped Betty
+serve the other girls with the excellent cold chicken, and bread,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> and
+butter, the jelly-filled tarts, and squares of molasses gingerbread, so
+that Annette's proposed "lesson" bid fair to be defeated.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter, Ruthie?" Betty found a chance to whisper, as they
+sat down together a little way from the larger group.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth told the story eagerly. "I don't know why I thought Winnie had put
+the basket there, or why I was so horrid as to say that she told a
+story," confessed the unhappy little girl. "Do you suppose it really was
+the fairies, Betty?"</p>
+
+<p>Betty looked rather sober for a minute. She was thinking to herself that
+her May-day party bid fair to be a failure unless her guests could
+realize that Ruth had only made a mistake for which she was sorry. She
+blamed Annette more than she did Ruth, feeling sure that Winifred and
+Ruth would have come to a friendly understanding if Annette had not
+interfered.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a plan, Ruthie, that perhaps will make it all right. Will you do
+just what I tell you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed I will," responded Ruth gratefully.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Hastings had left the girls to themselves and gone over to the
+May-pole.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Come here, Winifred," called Betty, and this time Annette made no
+objection, and in a moment Winifred was sitting beside Ruth, and both
+the little girls were thinking that Betty was much nicer than any other
+"grown-up" girl in the party.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruth Pennell is going to tell us a story," announced Betty. "She
+doesn't know if it really is true or not. For a little while she thought
+her best friend had taken the part of a fairy, but afterward she was
+sure she had not. Now, Ruth," and Betty turned smilingly toward her
+little friend, "stand up and tell us all about it; about the making my
+candy, how it disappeared, and what you did to recover it. Then, when
+you have finished, we will take a vote and see how many of us believe in
+fairies."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Ruth hesitated, but Winifred's friendly smile encouraged
+her and she stood up. She did not look at the group of girls sitting
+about under the trees; she looked straight over their heads at the
+river, and began to speak, beginning her story with the discovery that
+the candy had disappeared. She spoke clearly, and when she finished by
+saying that she was sorry that she had been rude to Winifred, because
+she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> and Winifred both rather believed in fairies, there was a little
+murmur of approval.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, girls, all those who believe in fairies stand up," said Betty,
+jumping to her feet, and reaching out a hand to the girls beside her,
+and at the same time beginning to sing:</p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"'Here are fields of smiling flowers&mdash;<br />
+Come and seek May in her bowers.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Catch young May.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Make her stay;</span><br />
+Dance around her bright and gay.'"<br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Nearly all the girls knew the song and joined in singing, as hand in
+hand they ran across the smooth grass toward the May-pole, where Mrs.
+Hastings stood waiting for them. And now Ruth was her happy, smiling
+self again, and Annette was no longer eager to teach "lessons" to the
+younger girls. Annette and Ruth were both conscious, however, that
+Betty, with her frank kindness, had smoothed out their mistakes.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+
+<h3>QUEEN BETTY</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The girls had exchanged their wreaths of flowers as they sat down to
+luncheon, all excepting Ruth and Annette, who wore the ones they had
+made themselves, and they now made a very attractive picture as they all
+formed a ring around the May-pole, singing an old song that their
+mothers had sung when they too were little girls; a May-pole song that
+had been sung in England for hundreds of years.</p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"'Round the May-pole, trit, trit, trot.<br />
+See what a garland we have got:<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fine and gay,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Trip away.</span><br />
+Happy is our New May Day.'"<br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>"Now for choosing the May Queen!" said Mary Pierce, and a little chorus
+of "Betty Hastings! Betty Hastings!" was the response, and Betty
+curtsied very low, and thanked her guests. For "Maids of Honor" she
+chose Ruth and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> Winifred, whose duties were to walk one on each side of
+the May Queen on her way to her throne, and then kneel beside her until
+she bade them rise.</p>
+
+<p>While the girls had been at luncheon and dancing around the May-pole
+Black Jason and his friend had been busily at work behind some thick
+growing trees near the river.</p>
+
+<p>"All ready, Missie!" he announced, as, hat in hand, and bowing low, he
+came smilingly toward the "Queen of the May."</p>
+
+<p>A little procession formed to follow Jason, who led the way through a
+woodland path to a clearing that opened toward the river. In this
+clearing stood a big rustic chair, Betty's "throne."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth and Winifred handed the Queen to her seat with great ceremony, and
+then one after another the girls approached the throne, curtsying low
+and laying their garlands at Betty's feet. Now they joined hands in a
+little circle and danced around the throne, singing:</p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"'The First of May is garland day,<br />
+And every child should dance and play.<br />
+Curl your locks as I do mine,<br />
+And wear your summer gown so fine.'"<br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="ILLUS_162" id="ILLUS_162"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-162.jpg" width="350" height="498" alt="&quot;THE FIRST OF MAY IS GARLAND DAY&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;THE FIRST OF MAY IS GARLAND DAY&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p>
+<p>The Queen of the May asks any favor she pleases from the throne, but as
+soon as she leaves the throne her power ceases; so now the group of
+laughing girls stood waiting to hear what the Queen would ask:</p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"A wreath and a staff<br />
+And a cup to quaff,"<br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>demanded Betty smilingly, and away raced her loyal subjects to fulfil
+the royal demand.</p>
+
+<p>It was Annette who brought the wreath of violets; Mary Pierce came with
+a curving branch that Jason had cut from a maple tree and trimmed into a
+staff, while Caroline Fraser brought a cup of cool water from the spring
+under the willow tree.</p>
+
+<p>"We must soon be thinking of home," Mrs. Hastings reminded them, as the
+girls, now flushed and a little tired, seated themselves about the
+throne, from which Betty had descended.</p>
+
+<p>"You have not sung your May-day song, Mother!" Betty reminded her, and
+the girls now gathered about Mrs. Hastings, repeating Betty's request.</p>
+
+<p>"But it isn't really 'my' song; it is an old English May song," Mrs.
+Hastings said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+
+<table summary="poem">
+<tr><td>
+<p>
+"'Spring is coming, Spring is coming,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Flowers are coming too;</span><br />
+Pansies, lilies, daffodilies,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now are coming through.</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Spring is coming, Spring is coming,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All around is fair;</span><br />
+Shimmer and quiver on the river<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Joy is everywhere.'"</span><br />
+</p>
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>As she finished singing Mrs. Hastings curtsied to the happy group, and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you a happy May."</p>
+
+<p>When Black Jason drove the brown horses into the field, and the girls
+took their seats in the wagon, they all declared it was the best May-day
+party they had ever known, and they all thought Betty Hastings was the
+most fortunate of girls that her birthday came on the first day of May.</p>
+
+<p>"How would you and Winifred like to sit with Jason on the front seat,
+Ruth?" asked Mrs. Hastings, and the two little friends smiled at each
+other, and replied that they would like it very much, and so were lifted
+to the high seat beside the good-natured Jason.</p>
+
+<p>"I almost spoiled everything," Ruth whispered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> to Winifred, "but Betty
+made it come out all right. I like Betty."</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," responded Winifred, and they smiled at each other again, both
+quite sure that they would never again come so near to a quarrel as they
+had that May-day.</p>
+
+<p>As they drove past a square stone house whose gardens sloped down to the
+river, Black Jason pointed toward it with his whip and said: "Dat de
+house where Capt'n Delancy live, an' he an' de oder fine English
+soldiers are gettin' up a great party, a kind of show like."</p>
+
+<p>The girls looked well at the house from which Betty had so skilfully
+made her escape on the night following Gilbert's play.</p>
+
+<p>"Are they going to have the party in that house, Jason?" asked Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Landy! No, Missie. It's to be out to Master Wharton's fine place in
+Southwark. Folks do say as General Sir Willum Howe be gwine to leave dis
+place. They certain do say so," and Jason chuckled with satisfaction at
+the thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Then will General Washington and Lafayette come here, Jason?"
+questioned Ruth eagerly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I dunno, Missie. But I reckon de English gwine to have a mighty fine
+party. Dere gwine to have bands o' music in boats on de river. Yas'm,"
+and Jason chuckled at the thought of all the great preparations that had
+already begun for the most splendid pageant that America had seen, and
+about which the people of Philadelphia were wondering, for the English
+officers were making elaborate plans.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could drive two horses," said Ruth, looking a little longingly
+at the reins and whip that Jason so skilfully held in one hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Landy, Missie! Yo' jes' take hold de reins like dis," responded Jason,
+at the same moment clasping Ruth's hands over the leather reins. "Now
+hole 'em stiddy."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth obeyed Jason's instructions to "look straight ahead, an' hole 'em
+up stiddy," and it was the happiest part of all that happy May-day to be
+driving Jason's brown horses, with the other girls singing and laughing
+on the seats behind her. But as they turned from the river road into the
+town Jason again took the reins. The girls were now carried each to her
+own home, so Winifred and Ruth were set down at the Merrills' door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We have had a beautiful time, Betty. We shall always remember <i>your</i>
+birthday," declared Ruth, and Winnie repeated the words.</p>
+
+<p>Betty smiled and waved her hand; she realized that her two little
+friends were thanking her for more than their happy May-day.</p>
+
+<p>Hero welcomed Ruth home, and seemed to be trying to tell her something.
+He ran around her, barking and whining.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Hero? What is the matter? Where is my mother?" she asked,
+as she pushed open the door of the sitting-room and found it vacant.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother!" she called, running into the dining-room, and then heard her
+mother's voice calling from the kitchen:</p>
+
+<p>"Come out here, Ruthie!"</p>
+
+<p>Ruth stopped in the doorway with an exclamation of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mother! What is it?" she asked, for Mrs. Pennell was sitting in a
+low chair near the window, with one foot resting on a stool.</p>
+
+<p>"I have sprained my ankle, Ruthie. I slipped coming in from the porch
+about an hour ago, and could just manage to crawl to this chair,"
+replied Mrs. Pennell; "and now you will have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> to be 'mother' for a time.
+Tie my apron over your dress, and start up the fire, and fill the big
+kettle with water."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth obeyed quickly, and in a few moments had carried out her mother's
+directions, bringing a small wooden tub in which to turn the water when
+it should be heated. She could think of nothing but that her mother must
+be in pain, as she drew off Mrs. Pennell's slipper and stocking, filled
+the tub, and now gently bathed the swollen ankle.</p>
+
+<p>"Remember, Ruthie, dear, when any one has the ill-fortune to sprain
+wrist or ankle, that hot water is the best aid," Mrs. Pennell said, as
+she directed the way in which Ruth should bandage the ankle.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I am going to make a good deal of work for my little girl.
+We must try and send for your Aunt Clara to come as soon as possible,"
+she added.</p>
+
+<p>But Ruth did not mind the work; as she went from pantry to fireplace,
+preparing toast and a dish of hot gruel for her mother her thoughts flew
+away to Aunt Deborah at Barren Hill, to the lustre cup out of which
+Lafayette had drunk, and she realized that she could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> go away from
+home now that her mother was lame.</p>
+
+<p>After supper the ankle was bathed again, and now Mrs. Pennell thought it
+best that Ruth should run in and tell Mrs. Merrill of the accident, and
+ask her assistance. For she found herself unable to walk.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Merrill came at once, and with her aid Mrs. Pennell was able to
+reach the big sofa in the sitting-room where she was made comfortable
+for the night.</p>
+
+<p>"I will send Gilbert to Germantown early in the morning to fetch your
+sister," said Mrs. Merrill, as she bade her neighbor good-night.</p>
+
+<p>"It is fortunate that Ruth had not started for her visit to Barren
+Hill," she added.</p>
+
+<p>"It is, indeed. I could hardly spare her now," Mrs. Pennell responded.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth listened with a feeling that there would never be any more happy
+days. Her mother was lame; she could not go to Barren Hill, and all her
+plans for visiting her father at Valley Forge, and perhaps seeing the
+brave young Lafayette, must be given up.</p>
+
+<p>As she went slowly up-stairs to bed, she had almost forgotten the happy
+birthday picnic near<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> the river. But she recalled what Black Jason had
+said of the rumor that General Howe was soon to leave Philadelphia. Just
+now, however, that seemed to be of little importance to Ruth. Her last
+waking thought was that she must be sure to get up early, very early,
+the next morning and have hot water ready to bathe the hurt ankle.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>A GREAT RESOLVE</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Although Ruth was up in good season the next morning, she had only
+started the kitchen fire when Mrs. Merrill and Gilbert appeared at the
+kitchen door with a basket containing breakfast for Mrs. Pennell and
+Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>Gilbert was all ready to start for his drive to Germantown, and, after a
+few words with Mrs. Pennell, hurried away.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Merrill bathed the sprained ankle and helped Ruth's mother to a
+comfortable chair near the window.</p>
+
+<p>"May I not put the little table by your chair, Mother, and have my
+breakfast here with you?" asked Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed! That is exactly what I was wishing you to do, my dear,"
+responded Mrs. Pennell; and Ruth ran away to the kitchen and brought in
+the hot corn bread that Mrs. Merrill had brought, the dish of porridge
+and the pot of steaming coffee. Then she drew a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> chair up opposite her
+mother, and they smiled happily at each other across the small table.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell declared that her foot was much better.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure your Aunt Clara will return with Gilbert," she continued,
+"but even then I am afraid you will have to do a good deal more than
+ever before, Ruthie, dear, for Aunt Clara is not yet fully recovered
+from her illness."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth felt rather proud to know that her mother relied upon her to be of
+so much help, and, for the moment, quite forgot the visit to Barren
+Hill. She told her mother of all the delights of Betty's May-day party,
+and when she carried the breakfast dishes out to the kitchen she was
+almost her happy self again.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred came over and helped Ruth with the household work that morning,
+and early in the afternoon Aunt Clara arrived; who, in spite of Mrs.
+Pennell's fears in regard to her strength, declared herself quite equal
+to taking care of her sister and attending to the work of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless Ruth was kept busy for a number of days; she did not go
+very far from her mother's sitting-room, and Mrs. Pennell said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> that her
+little daughter was "hands and feet" for her lame mother.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell's fingers were busy making a dress for Ruth. It was of
+white linen that Aunt Deborah had woven herself, and brought as a
+present to Ruth, and Mrs. Pennell was hemstitching the broad collar and
+dainty cuffs.</p>
+
+<p>"Your Aunt Deborah will be pleased if you have the dress to wear when
+you visit her," said Mrs. Pennell, a few days after her accident, when
+Ruth sat beside her, both busy with their needles.</p>
+
+<p>"But I can't go to Barren Hill, Mother. You couldn't spare me," replied
+Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you must go to Barren Hill. Not just at present; but in a
+week or two I shall be hobbling about the house, and your Aunt Clara
+will stay with me while you are away," said Mrs. Pennell.</p>
+
+<p>"Truly? Am I really to go to Barren Hill?" exclaimed Ruth, dropping her
+work, and jumping up from her chair. "Oh! I'm so glad."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell looked at her little girl in surprise. She had had no idea
+how much Ruth had counted on this visit, nor with what disappointment
+she had given it up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, my dear child, you have not said a word about your visit since I
+hurt my ankle. I had not an idea that you wished to go so much," she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't wish to go when you couldn't take a step," Ruth declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Well! I think it is almost worth while to have a sprained ankle to find
+out what a good little daughter I have," said her mother. "I feel very
+proud indeed. And now I think you had best put on your hat and go and
+make Betty Hastings an afternoon visit. It is nearly a week since her
+May party."</p>
+
+<p>"I will ask Winifred to go, too," said Ruth eagerly, feeling happier
+than she had since her mother's accident.</p>
+
+<p>"You had best change your dress, dear; put on your blue chambray,"
+suggested her mother, and Ruth ran off to her own room, singing, "Joy is
+everywhere," as gaily as she had sung it when dancing around Betty's
+throne.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while she was back in the sitting-room, all ready for her
+visit. In the pretty blue dress, and wearing a white hat with a blue
+ribbon around the crown, and with her white stockings and low shoes with
+shining silver<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> buckles, Ruth was indeed a little girl of whom any
+mother might be proud.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred was soon ready to accompany her, and the two friends started on
+their walk to see Betty Hastings.</p>
+
+<p>As they came in sight of the Hastings house they both exclaimed in
+surprise. For on the steps was Betty, wearing her best hat, and the tall
+English officer, whose red coat Betty had borrowed for Gilbert's play,
+stood beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose Betty is a prisoner?" whispered Winnie, a little
+fearfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she isn't, all dressed up in her best," replied Ruth, and at
+that moment Betty saw her two friends and waved her hand to them as she
+came down the steps beside the English officer.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Winifred! Ruth! I am so glad you came. Now you can go with us to
+Walnut Grove and see the English officers practising for their
+tournament. Captain Harlow says you may go," she exclaimed, running
+forward to meet them.</p>
+
+<p>Before Ruth or Winifred could reply the tall officer was beside Betty,
+and she now introduced him to her friends. Ruth and Winnie curtsied,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+with rather sober faces, and the Englishman bowed politely, and said
+that he should be happy to have Ruth and Winifred accompany them.</p>
+
+<p>The young Englishman had lodged with Mrs. Hastings ever since the
+September day when the English army entered Philadelphia. He had been
+unfailingly kind to all the family, and when he offered to take Betty to
+Walnut Grove to see the preparations already well under way for the
+"Mischianza," as the soldiers named their famous entertainment to be
+given in honor of General Howe, Mrs. Hastings was quite willing for
+Betty to go.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be home in good season. I am sure your mothers would be
+willing," urged Betty, "and 'twill be a fine sight to-day, since the
+soldiers are to rehearse, as we did for Gilbert's play."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go, Ruth," Winifred whispered eagerly, and Ruth agreed, but with
+a vague feeling that she ought not to wish to be entertained by the
+amusements of America's enemies.</p>
+
+<p>As they walked on toward Knight's Wharf, at the water edge of Green
+Street, where a boat was waiting to take Captain Harlow and his guests
+down the river to Mr. Wharton's country place, Ruth kept repeating the
+word "tournament"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> to herself, and wondering what it meant. Betty must
+know, she thought, for she had spoken it so easily. She resolved to ask
+her at the first opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>A rowboat with two sailors was waiting for the captain, and he helped
+the little girls to the comfortable seats, and took his place at the
+tiller, and with a word to the oarsmen the boat moved out from the wharf
+and headed toward Southwark.</p>
+
+<p>"What does 'tournament' mean, Betty?" Ruth whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait and see," laughed Betty.</p>
+
+<p>"Does it mean the same as 'rehearsal'?" persisted Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly," replied Betty, who only that very morning had asked her
+mother the same question. "It really means a make-believe battle," she
+explained, seeing Ruth's look of disappointment. "Men dress up in armor,
+such as soldiers used to wear, and their horses wear shields, and the
+men have long spears, and make-believe attack each other."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we see that to-day?" Ruth questioned.</p>
+
+<p>But before Betty could answer she realized that Captain Harlow was
+speaking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you all know what the Knights of the days of Chivalry fought
+for?" he was saying, with a friendly smile at the three little American
+girls who were his guests.</p>
+
+<p>"What are 'Knights'?" questioned Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you answer that, Miss Betty?" asked the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother told me that a knight was a brave soldier, whose king gave him a
+sword, and then said: 'Arise, Sir Knight,'" replied Betty, while Ruth
+and Winifred listened admiringly, thinking their friend Betty must be
+the most clever girl in Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that is near enough," replied the young officer, "but I will tell
+you that in olden times knights used to have tilts, or tournaments, such
+as we mean to have on the eighteenth of this month. White Knights
+against the Knights of the Blended Rose."</p>
+
+<p>It all sounded very wonderful to the three little girls, and Ruth was
+eager to reach Southwark, fearing that they might miss some part of this
+rehearsal.</p>
+
+<p>The beautiful river was very still that pleasant afternoon in May, and
+the boat moved rapidly along, now and then passing some fishing-craft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+or pleasure boat, and the little girls smiled happily at each other,
+thinking that this indeed was a great adventure.</p>
+
+<p>As the boat drew near the landing place, they could see a number of
+people on the wharf, and one of these Ruth at once recognized as Major
+Andr&eacute;, the young officer who had introduced her to General Howe on the
+night when she had gone to demand the return of Hero.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Harlow led the little girls to a bench on the further side of
+Mr. Wharton's beautiful lawn. "Stay here until I come after you," he
+said and hurried away.</p>
+
+<p>The girls looked about admiringly. Just across the lawn from where they
+were sitting men were at work on a pavilion, in which the guests would
+be seated to view the "Mischianza." Soldiers on horseback were riding
+back and forth, and a trumpet call sent them all trotting away, to
+return immediately with long lances and shields on their left arms.
+Forming in two divisions they galloped forward and back, turning so
+quickly that Ruth and Betty both exclaimed, fearful that the riders
+would be thrown.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while Captain Harlow came and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> took his guests to visit the
+ballroom. From the garden they ascended a short flight of steps, and
+entered a spacious hall, lined with mirrors. Never had the little girls
+seen anything so wonderful. Wherever they looked they saw Betty, Ruth,
+and Winifred all smiling with delight. Captain Harlow called a servant,
+and in a few moments the man returned with a silver tray on which were
+plates of candied fruits, cakes, and glasses of lemonade for his little
+guests.</p>
+
+<p>"It's more wonderful than the May-day party," whispered Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>But Ruth did not hear her. For at that moment two officers had entered
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Henry Clinton will arrive to-morrow, and General Howe will soon be
+on his way to England," she heard one of them say.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis a pity he cannot capture young Lafayette and take him back to
+England with him. King George would give him a royal welcome," responded
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>"There is some such plan afoot," declared the first speaker.</p>
+
+<p>"'Capture Lafayette!'" Ruth whispered the dreadful words over to herself
+and all her delight and pleasure vanished. These men, even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> the kind
+Captain Harlow, whom the Hastings liked so well, would try their best to
+capture the young French Republican, America's best friend, and take him
+to England a prisoner. Ruth could think of nothing else. She wondered if
+perhaps there was not already some plan by which Lafayette would be
+captured. She was very silent all the remainder of the afternoon, and
+Betty decided that Ruth must be tired.</p>
+
+<p>But they all thanked the captain very politely for their pleasant visit,
+as he helped them from the boat and walked with them to Mrs. Hastings'
+door. Ruth was eager to get home. She meant to ask her mother if she
+might not go to Barren Hill very soon, perhaps to-morrow. It seemed to
+her she could hardly wait that long; for who could tell what the English
+soldiers might do before warning could reach Lafayette?</p>
+
+<p>For Ruth had made a great resolve: she would try to let Lafayette know
+that the English General meant to do his best to take him a prisoner to
+England. Once at Barren Hill Ruth was sure that she could find some way
+to reach Washington's camp and warn the young Frenchman.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE VISIT</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Ruth's mother and aunt listened to her account of her afternoon's
+adventure with interest, but when she had finished her mother said:</p>
+
+<p>"I do not blame you, my dear, for accepting Betty's invitation, but I am
+surprised that Mrs. Hastings should permit an enemy of America's rights
+to become a friend, as it is evident she so regards the young English
+officer who lodges there."</p>
+
+<p>In her heart Ruth agreed with her mother. It seemed disloyal even to
+have accepted Betty's invitation. Nevertheless Ruth was glad that she
+had gone to Southwark; for the conversation she had overheard in regard
+to Lafayette seemed of great importance to the little girl. She did not
+speak to any one of what she had heard the English officers say, but she
+could not explain even to herself why she had not at once told Winnie,
+or why she did not now tell her mother. It seemed to Ruth that it was a
+secret which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> she could confide only to one person: to Lafayette
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"May I go to Barren Hill to-morrow, Mother, dear?" she asked earnestly,
+as she bade her mother good-night.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Ruthie! Of course not! Your things are not ready, and we have not
+sent Aunt Deborah word to have Farmer Withely call for you," replied her
+mother in surprise. "Why are you so anxious to go to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mother! Never mind about my things. And I am sure Farmer Withely
+will take me," urged Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"But do you think it will be quite fair to Aunt Clara?" said Mrs.
+Pennell gravely. "You know there are many things you can do to help her
+until I am on my feet again. Be patient, Ruthie. You shall go to Barren
+Hill as soon as it is possible."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was ready to cry with disappointment as she went up-stairs to bed.
+For a moment she had been tempted to tell her mother her reason for
+wanting to go at once to Barren Hill, but she realized that her mother
+might say that a little girl could do nothing to protect a great
+soldier, and forbid her making any attempt to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> reach the young Frenchman
+only to repeat the careless talk of English soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"I must do it myself, in some way. I must!" thought Ruth as she prepared
+for bed. She wondered if Aunt Clara would not help her in her plan to go
+to Barren Hill.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was late to breakfast the next morning, and Aunt Clara wondered a
+little at her sober face, while Mrs. Pennell was troubled, thinking that
+Ruth was brooding over her disappointment in not going to Barren Hill.</p>
+
+<p>The little girl performed her usual household duties; but when her
+mother suggested that she should go and play with Winifred, she shook
+her head.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon she went into the yard with Hero and "Cecilia" to the
+seat under the maple tree. Aunt Clara noticed that the little girl sat
+looking across the garden as if her thoughts were far away, neglecting
+Cecilia, and paying no attention to the faithful Hero.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid Ruthie is going to be ill," she said to Mrs. Pennell. "She
+has not seemed like herself since she got home from her visit
+yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell was quite sure that Ruth was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> not ill, but she was troubled
+that her little daughter should be so disappointed and unwilling to
+postpone the visit to Aunt Deborah.</p>
+
+<p>"Her heart is set on going to Barren Hill, and I have told her she must
+wait a while," she explained.</p>
+
+<p>"But why not let her go now?" suggested Aunt Clara. "She is a good and
+helpful child, and deserves the pleasure. I can make her things ready."</p>
+
+<p>It did not take much persuasion for Mrs. Pennell to give her consent,
+and when Ruth came slowly into the sitting-room, in response to Aunt
+Clara's call, her mother said:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my dear, your Aunt Clara says that you well deserve to start for
+Barren Hill as soon as she can make you ready. So be on the outlook for
+Farmer Withely to-morrow morning, and ask him to call for you on
+Thursday, and to tell Aunt Deborah to expect you."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth's face had brightened as her mother began to speak, but as Mrs.
+Pennell finished she was again almost ready to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"'Thursday'!" she repeated. "That's two whole days to wait! Why can't I
+go to-morrow?" she said anxiously.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell looked at Ruth in surprise. Never before had she known her
+little daughter to whine, or seem to want her own way more than anything
+else.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter, Ruth? I thought you would be so glad that your Aunt
+Clara had persuaded me to let you go so soon. If you say anything about
+going before Thursday we shall give up the visit altogether," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth hardly knew what to say or do. It seemed to the little girl that
+her delay in starting for Barren Hill meant the possibility of the
+capture of Lafayette. She was tempted to tell her mother the reason for
+wishing to start at once, but she was sure Mrs. Pennell would promptly
+forbid her carrying out her plan to visit Valley Forge.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth managed to thank her mother for permission to go on Thursday, and
+to say that she would be sure and see Farmer Withely and give him the
+message the next morning, and then went back to her seat in the garden.
+She had just taken up Cecilia, when the garden gate was pushed open and
+Winifred came running up the path.</p>
+
+<p>"Gilbert says he is ashamed of me!" declared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> Winifred, "and of you, and
+of Betty Hastings, for going to Southwark yesterday," and she looked at
+Ruth a little fearfully, as if expecting her friend to be quite overcome
+by Gilbert's disapproval.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care if he is," was Ruth's surprising reply. "I am glad I went,
+and I always shall be glad. And perhaps some day Gilbert will be glad
+too."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Ruth Pennell!" exclaimed Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"You tell him just what I say," insisted Ruth, beginning to feel more
+cheerful at the thought of Gilbert's surprise when he should discover
+that she had saved Lafayette from capture through her visit to
+Southwark. After all, Thursday was only the day after to-morrow, she
+reflected, and the English were too much occupied in their welcome to
+Sir Henry Clinton to start off to capture the young Frenchman. Besides
+that encouraging thought Winifred had brought over a box filled with
+beads. They were wonderful beads&mdash;blue, all shades of blue, and
+sparkling red beads, and beads of shining green, and white beads as
+clear as dew-drops.</p>
+
+<p>"You may pick out those you like best," said the generous Winnie,
+"enough to make you a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> necklace, and one for Cecilia, too," and the two
+little girls were soon happily occupied with the beads, and Ruth forgot
+all about her fears lest her warning should come too late. But when
+Winifred jumped up saying that it was time for her to go home, Ruth
+remembered that she had not told Winnie that she was to go to Barren
+Hill on Thursday.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ruth! Then you won't see all the processions for Captain Harlow's
+entertainment. And he said this morning when I went over to see Betty
+that we could go down again, the very day before it is given," exclaimed
+Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't go if I were at home," declared Ruth, "but don't you tell
+Gilbert that I said I wouldn't go. You tell him what I said first: 'that
+I am glad I went, and I always shall be glad. And that perhaps some day
+he will be glad too that I went to Southwark.'"</p>
+
+<p>Winifred promised to deliver the message. She did not suppose it had any
+special meaning, but she was sure it would puzzle Gilbert.</p>
+
+<p>The next day was a busy one for Ruth. Farmer Withely promised to call
+for her on Thursday afternoon, and wondered to himself why the little
+girl was so eager to visit Barren<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> Hill. Mrs. Pennell finished the white
+linen dress, while Ruth helped Aunt Clara in the work of the house,
+packed the small leathern trunk, which was to accompany her on her
+journey, and last of all dressed Cecilia in her best, for she had
+decided, at Aunt Clara's suggestion, that Cecilia needed a visit to the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell could now walk a little, and not until Thursday morning did
+Ruth have a single doubt in regard to going away from home. But as the
+time of her departure drew near she kept close beside her mother, and
+when Aunt Clara called that Farmer Withely was driving down the street
+Ruth was suddenly quite sure that she could not go and leave her mother
+behind.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mother! I don't wish to go," she exclaimed, her arms close about
+her mother's neck.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Pennell held her close, telling her of the beautiful time she would
+have with Aunt Deborah. "And, who knows! You may see Lafayette himself,"
+she added, knowing how great a hero the young Frenchman seemed to all
+American children, as well as to their elders.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I shall come home soon," Ruth answered earnestly, and then Aunt Clara
+called that Farmer Withely was waiting, and with one more good-bye kiss
+Ruth ran down the steps, and in a few moments was seated beside the
+farmer, while the big horse trotted down the street.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Clara had put a box on the wagon seat beside Ruth. "Open it when
+you are half-way to your journey's end," she had said smilingly, and
+Farmer Withely had smiled also, and nodded approvingly, thinking to
+himself that he had no better customers than the Pennell family, and
+being quite sure of the appetizing contents of the box.</p>
+
+<p>As they drove out of the town, past the stone house, and on to the river
+road Ruth pointed out the field, where the May-pole was still standing,
+and told the farmer all the May-day sports and songs.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you could remember some of those songs, Miss Ruth? Now, if you
+could, I should admire to hear them," said Farmer Withely.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="ILLUS_190" id="ILLUS_190"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-190.jpg" width="350" height="501" alt="THE BIG HORSE TROTTED DOWN THE STREET" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE BIG HORSE TROTTED DOWN THE STREET</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Yes, indeed! I remember every one," said Ruth, and when she began Mrs.
+Hastings' song, Farmer Withely found that it was one he too used to sing
+as a boy on far-off May-days, and so they sang it together, their voices
+falling pleasantly on the sweet spring air.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ruth ventured to ask if Farmer Withely had ever seen General
+Washington, or, perhaps, young Lafayette?</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I have. My best gray horse has now the honor of belonging to
+General Washington, and many a cold journey have I taken to carry food
+to the soldiers at Valley Forge," responded Farmer Withely, and he went
+on to tell of the unfaltering courage of the American soldiers through
+the hardships at the camp.</p>
+
+<p>He told of young Lafayette's recent return to Valley Forge from Albany,
+and of his devotion to the American cause. Ruth listened eagerly to all
+he had to tell her, and the miles slipped away behind them, and when
+Farmer Withely pointed toward the old church, which stood near the
+summit of Barren Hill, and said that they had nearly reached their
+journey's end, Ruth declared that it had been a very pleasant journey,
+and Farmer Withely said he would like just such a passenger every day.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah Farleigh was at the gate to welcome her little niece, and
+then Ruth had to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> be taken and introduced to the bees, and to see two
+brown calves in the barnyard, and a flock of fine chickens. After that
+it was nearly dusk and supper was ready, and it was not until Ruth took
+her seat at the table that she remembered her real errand to Barren
+Hill.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Deborah, the English have not captured Lafayette, have they?" she
+asked earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>For once Aunt Deborah was startled from her usual calmness.</p>
+
+<p>"For pity's sake, child! What dost thou mean?" she responded. "I have
+heard naught of such a thing."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth gave a sigh of relief. "I just wanted to be sure," she replied.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+
+<h3>LAFAYETTE'S VISIT</h3></div>
+
+
+<p>The May sun streamed warmly into the big square chamber where Ruth
+slept, and she awoke to the song of birds, and the fragrance of
+blossoming lilacs.</p>
+
+<p>For a few moments she lay quite still, looking wonderingly about the
+room. It seemed a "shining" room to Ruth, with its whitewashed walls,
+and its smooth polished floor, and only a chest of drawers, a
+light-stand and a rush-bottomed chair for furniture.</p>
+
+<p>She got up and dressed slowly, wondering if her mother missed her very
+much, and if Hero would go scratching and whining to her door in search
+of his little mistress. Aunt Deborah's house was much larger than the
+little brick house which was Ruth's home in Philadelphia, and as Ruth
+came slowly down the wide stairs she thought what a fine house it would
+be for little girls to live in; there seemed so much room and so little
+furniture.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah lived alone, but the Withely farm adjoined hers, and Farmer
+Withely took care of her farm and stock.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Ruth," said Aunt Deborah with her sunny smile, as her
+little niece came into the big kitchen to find breakfast awaiting her.
+"I trust thy pleasure in being here is as great as mine in having thee.
+And I have great news for thee. Thy dear father came over from Valley
+Forge a week ago, and was sorry enough to find thee not here. And he had
+great tidings for me. He says that France has now joined with America in
+the war against England, and Washington hopes for great aid from so
+powerful an ally."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Deborah! Won't my father come again?" responded Ruth. "May I
+not go to Valley Forge to see him?"</p>
+
+<p>"It may be that he will come again," Aunt Deborah replied thoughtfully.
+"And who knows but he may come with Lafayette! For General Washington is
+sending scouting parties about the country to discover the plans of the
+English. So any day we may see the troops of either army come marching
+up the road."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was almost too excited to eat her breakfast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> after listening to
+Aunt Deborah's news, and even the sight of the pink lustre cup from
+which Lafayette had drunk seemed of little consequence. If English
+soldiers came marching that way Ruth knew well that their purpose would
+be to capture American scouting parties, and she became more eager than
+ever to go to Valley Forge, and again asked Aunt Deborah if she could
+not go. But Aunt Deborah promptly responded that such a visit was
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"Tis a ride of over ten miles, and a ford to cross," she said. "Farmer
+Withely has no spare time at present to take thee; besides that, General
+Washington does not care for visitors."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth looked so disappointed that Aunt Deborah added: "And who knows what
+day Lafayette may ride this way again? It may even be this very morning!
+Take thy doll and walk to the church; from there thou canst see both
+ways. If the English redcoats come along the river road thee must hasten
+back and tell me, so that we may start some one off at once to warn our
+American soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>"Might I go?" asked Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"How could a small girl like thee cross the
+Schuylkill?" questioned
+Aunt Deborah. "'Tis most likely I should have to go myself."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth now felt that she could really be of use if she kept watch from the
+top of Barren Hill, and she ran through the garden, and climbed up the
+rough slope to the little square church, from whose steps she could
+watch the quiet road which curved along by the woods to the riverside.
+She thought of Hero, and wished it had been possible to bring him with
+her. "Just for company," she whispered to herself, for she began to feel
+that she was a long way from home.</p>
+
+<p>"Unless Father or Lafayette comes to-day I must go to Valley Forge
+to-morrow," she resolved.</p>
+
+<p>But the day passed without a sign of any advancing troops, and at
+supper-time Ruth was so quiet and sober that Aunt Deborah began to fear
+that her little niece was homesick, and tried to amuse her by telling
+her of a tame squirrel who lived in the wood-shed and had made friends
+with a family of kittens. But the little girl did not seem interested;
+she wanted to know if the water was very deep at Matson's ford, and how
+long it would take to walk to Valley Forge; until Aunt Deborah wondered
+if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> Ruth really thought such a journey possible for a little girl. She
+recalled the visit Ruth had made to the English General in order to
+rescue Hero, and said to herself that she was sure Ruth would not again
+undertake any plan without asking permission.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll wait until to-morrow," Ruth resolved, as she went to bed that
+night. "I mustn't wait any longer," and comforted by that resolution she
+was soon fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>She awoke before daylight, to find Aunt Deborah standing beside the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"Get up, my dear child. Lose no time. General Lafayette is below, and I
+am preparing his breakfast," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Deborah!" exclaimed Ruth, sure that this was a dream from
+which she would soon awake.</p>
+
+<p>"Hasten, child, if thou wouldst see him," and Aunt Deborah, candle in
+hand, disappeared from the shadowy room.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth dressed more quickly than ever before, but she did not neglect to
+brush her hair neatly, but not until she opened the kitchen door did she
+realize that the strings to her stout leather shoes were unfastened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was broad daylight now, and the morning sunshine was all about the
+Marquis de Lafayette as he looked up with a smiling nod to the little
+girl who stood gazing at him from the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"If thee please, sir, this is my niece, Ruth Pennell, who has long
+cherished the hope of seeing thee," said Aunt Deborah.</p>
+
+<p>The young Frenchman rose from his seat, and bowed as ceremoniously as if
+Lady Washington herself stood before him.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth could think only of her thick shoes and the wandering strings, as
+she endeavored to make a proper curtsy.</p>
+
+<p>Lafayette was in the uniform of an American officer, and two American
+soldiers were on guard at the open door. The little party had ridden
+over from Valley Forge under cover of the night to discover a
+camping-ground for a body of troops which Lafayette was soon to lead
+toward Philadelphia, for Washington had discovered that Sir Henry
+Clinton had orders to evacuate the city.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you not share my breakfast, Mistress Ruth?" asked the young
+Frenchman, drawing one of the high-backed wooden chairs to the table
+beside his own.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The child will indeed be honored," replied Aunt Deborah, and almost
+before Ruth could realize the great honor in store for her she found
+herself seated at the table. She looked up to find Lafayette smiling at
+her shy word of thanks.</p>
+
+<p>What a wonderful breakfast for any little girl to have to remember. Ruth
+wished with all her heart that Winifred and Gilbert could see her.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a small daughter of my own in France," said the kind young
+Frenchman, "and I hear that your father is at Valley Forge."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," responded Ruth faintly, wondering to herself why she did not
+at once tell him what she had heard the English officers at Southwark
+say of General Howe's intention to capture him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, very soon he will be safe at home," continued Lafayette. And now
+Ruth resolved to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please, sir&mdash;&mdash;" she began, but at that moment Lafayette sprang
+to his feet, and with a word of thanks to Aunt Deborah for her
+hospitality, and a smiling nod to Ruth, he started toward the door,
+saying:</p>
+
+<p>"I have indeed lingered too long. I must lose no time in getting back to
+camp."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But now Ruth was out of her chair in a second; she was no longer in awe
+of the young Frenchman.</p>
+
+<p>"I must tell you. I heard two Englishmen say you were to be captured and
+taken to England," she declared eagerly, running along by his side.</p>
+
+<p>The young man smiled down at the eager, half frightened child.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, well, <i>ma chere</i>, they have been saying that for a long time," he
+responded lightly, "but thou art a kind little maid to warn me; and I
+assure thee I will remember it," and with a word of farewell he hurried
+across the garden, mounted his horse, and in a few moments had vanished
+behind the thick growing trees.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah and Ruth stood on the garden path listening until they
+could no longer hear the sound of the horses' feet on the hard country
+road. Then Aunt Deborah smiled at Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"Thee should be a happy girl now, I am sure," she said, "and thee did
+right to tell him what his enemies threaten. Perhaps that was one reason
+thee was so anxious to visit Valley Forge?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, Aunt Deborah! If he had not come I should have had to run away
+so he might surely be warned," Ruth responded.</p>
+
+<p>"I would have taken the message myself had need been," said Aunt
+Deborah; "but thee sees that he already knew of their wicked plan. He
+did but smile at such a threat."</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this visit there was great excitement on Barren Hill. A
+troop of American soldiers, the very flower of Washington's army,
+commanded by Lafayette, were in camp on the hill. Farmers were bringing
+buckets of milk and freshly baked bread for the soldiers' breakfast, and
+Ruth could see and hear the bustle of the camps.</p>
+
+<p>At first Mistress Farleigh and Ruth had hoped that Ruth's father might
+be one of the company, but as the day passed and he did not appear at
+the stone house they became sure that he was still at Valley Forge.</p>
+
+<p>Mistress Farleigh had told Ruth not to go to the summit of the hill
+where the troops were camped.</p>
+
+<p>"Thee may walk toward the river, or in the paths at the edge of the
+wood," Aunt Deborah had said, adding that she wished Hero were at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+Barren Hill. "Then thee could go wherever thee pleased."</p>
+
+<p>But that day Ruth was content to play with Cecilia in the pleasant
+garden, hoping until long after sunset that her father might appear.</p>
+
+<p>Neither Aunt Deborah nor Ruth slept well that night, and both were up
+very early in the morning. After their simple breakfast Aunt Deborah
+busied herself with bread making, that she might send hot corn bread to
+the American soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"And wilt thou not run over to Farmer Withely's and ask Mistress Withely
+for the loan of a covered basket of good size, Ruth," she suggested, and
+Ruth willingly obeyed. The Withely farmhouse was at the further side of
+a broad field, and hidden by a small grove of pine trees. It was a
+pleasant walk in the early morning, and as Ruth ran along she could see
+that the American troops were harnessing their horses, and that it was
+evident some movement was at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Perhaps I shall never see Lafayette again, and I did not help him
+after all," she thought.</p>
+
+<p>And now another and more startling sound<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> came to Ruth's ears. Along the
+Ridge road she could hear the sound of horses' feet and the rattle of
+musketry.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it is more American soldiers coming," thought the little girl.
+But she felt vaguely troubled, as she went slowly on. She had just
+entered the little woodland path which led to Farmer Withely's when she
+saw a glimmer of a red coat in the underbrush.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth stopped, and crouched low behind a small tree. She heard low
+voices, and in a moment a laughing voice said:</p>
+
+<p>"We have the fine Frenchman just where we want him. He is preparing his
+men to receive Howe's soldiers on the Ridge road, but he does not dream
+that General Grant with seven thousand troops is coming up in his rear.
+General Howe has invited a dinner party to meet Lafayette to-night in
+Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis a fine thing to get the Frenchman," came the low response; "we'd
+better move farther up the hill now."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Ruth hesitated, hardly realizing the importance of what she
+had overheard. Then she turned and ran toward the American encampment,
+where she could see troops of soldiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> already moving forward toward
+the Ridge road.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh I suppose I do not get there in time to tell him that there is an
+English army coming behind him," she thought.</p>
+
+<p>Once she stumbled and fell over an unseen root; but at last breathless
+and tired she found herself facing a number of American soldiers, one of
+whom called out:</p>
+
+<p>"Run home, child; you are in danger here."</p>
+
+<p>"Lafayette! Lafayette!" she called wildly. "Tell him there are thousands
+of English soldiers coming up the road behind his army. The road from
+Swedes Ford," called Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>Almost before Ruth finished speaking one of the soldiers had turned his
+horse and galloped away to find his commander, and tell him of this
+unexpected enemy. Ruth turned and hurried home. She had entirely
+forgotten about her errand to Farmer Withely's.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+
+<h3>AT HOME</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Lafayette had received the startling news and acted upon it without a
+question. He marched his men rapidly toward Matson's Ford, on the lower
+road, and when the British generals came up to Barren Hill they were
+astonished to find that they had only each other to fight. They decided
+not to cross the river, but returned to Philadelphia, much disappointed
+that the Marquis de Lafayette was not their prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>Lafayette likewise marched back to Valley Forge, where he was received
+with great joy.</p>
+
+<p>The soldier who had taken Ruth's message found an opportunity to tell
+Lafayette that the news that had saved his army had been brought by a
+little girl.</p>
+
+<p>"She came running up the hill calling your name, sir. A little girl with
+yellow hair and blue eyes," said the soldier.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Would you know her if you saw her again?" questioned the young
+Frenchman.</p>
+
+<p>"I should indeed, sir," was the quick reply.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah had not questioned Ruth when, flushed and tired, she came
+running back to the house on the morning when the Americans had so
+easily made their escape, thanks to Ruth's message, from the
+overwhelming armies of the English. For a number of days Ruth did not
+venture beyond the garden, and when, a week later, her father opened the
+gate and called "Ruth!" she ran to meet him, feeling sure that now
+everything was sure to come right, and that she and her father could
+soon return to Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Pennell was not alone; there was a tall smiling soldier just
+behind him, and near the gate a graceful figure on horseback that Ruth
+recognized as Lafayette.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Deborah came hurrying to welcome Mr. Pennell; the soldier had
+turned back, and was standing beside the mounted officer, who soon
+dismounted and came slowly up the path.</p>
+
+<p>"Lieutenant Pennell, I have to thank your little maid for a very great
+service," he said, as he took Ruth's hand, and smiled down on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+little girl; and then he told first of Ruth's warning that his capture
+was planned by General Howe, and then of her warning of an advancing
+army against his troops.</p>
+
+<p>"I came this morning that I might thank her for her loyal service to
+America and to me," he said, bending low to kiss the warm little hand
+that rested in his own.</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed a wonderful day for Ruth Pennell.</p>
+
+<p>After Lafayette rode away she told the story to her surprised and
+astonished father, while Aunt Deborah listened as if she could hardly
+believe her own ears.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Pennell had been given a week's furlough, and was quite sure
+that it would be possible for him to visit his home in Philadelphia,
+taking Ruth with him, for the English were leaving the city as rapidly
+as possible.</p>
+
+<p>Later in the day Aunt Deborah told Ruth's father of his little
+daughter's visit to General Howe, and Ruth told of Gilbert's play, and
+of the boys' arrest by the English, of Betty's capture on account of the
+borrowed coat, and of her escape from the house by the river.</p>
+
+<p>"The children of Philadelphia will indeed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> remember the year of 1778,
+and surely my little daughter can never forget it," responded her
+father.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth was eager to start for home as soon as possible, especially as Aunt
+Deborah said that she must return in midsummer with her mother for a
+longer visit. "And thy friend Winifred must come also," she had added.</p>
+
+<p>Winifred and Gilbert had heard the story of Ruth's warning to the
+American army, for Aunt Deborah had sent a letter to Mrs. Pennell at the
+first opportunity, and Gilbert had at once declared that he would "make
+up a play" about it.</p>
+
+<p>"And we will have it the very day Ruth comes home," he said. "I will be
+Lafayette, and Ruth can be herself."</p>
+
+<p>"And let's ask Betty and all the girls who went to the May party,"
+suggested Winifred.</p>
+
+<p>"And Ned, too, and Mother and Mrs. Pennell," agreed Gilbert. "I tell
+you, it is lucky Ruth went to Barren Hill, and I guess it's lucky you
+girls went to Southwark that day. You see, it put Ruth on the lookout to
+warn Lafayette," he added.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Gilbert's second play proved even a greater success than his first. The
+girls listened admiringly to Winifred's account of Lafayette's thanking
+Ruth, and when the guests had all gone the two little friends went to
+their favorite seat in Ruth's garden under the big maple tree. Hero kept
+very close to his little mistress, as if afraid that she might again
+suddenly disappear.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember that day when we began the chair for Cecilia, Ruthie?"
+asked Winifred, "and when you said you wished you could do some great
+service for Lafayette because he had come to help America?"</p>
+
+<p>Ruth nodded, not quite sure of the exact day, but very sure that she had
+always wanted to help the young Frenchman, and wondering what Winifred
+would say next.</p>
+
+<p>"And now you have done him a great service," Winifred continued soberly.
+"And Betty and Annette, and all the girls say that you are a real
+heroine."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess they don't know much about heroines," responded Ruth, but there
+was a pleased smile about her mouth. Of course any little girl whose
+hand had been kissed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> by Lafayette was a heroine, she thought happily.</p>
+
+<hr style="width:80%; margin-top:4em" />
+<table style="margin: auto" summary="Advertisement for books"><tr><td style="text-align: center">
+The Stories in this Series are:
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF PROVINCE TOWN</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF NARRAGANSETT BAY</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF BUNKER HILL</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF TICONDEROGA</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF OLD CONNECTICUT</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 22370-h.txt or 22370-h.zip *******</p>
+<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br />
+<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/3/7/22370">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/3/7/22370</a></p>
+<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.</p>
+
+<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
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@@ -0,0 +1,4953 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia, by Alice
+Turner Curtis, Illustrated by Edna Cooke
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
+
+
+Author: Alice Turner Curtis
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 21, 2007  [eBook #22370]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE MAID OF OLD
+PHILADELPHIA***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Roger Frank, Neville Allen, and the Project Gutenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 22370-h.htm or 22370-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/3/7/22370/22370-h/22370-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/3/7/22370/22370-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA
+
+by
+
+ALICE TURNER CURTIS
+
+Author of
+
+  A LITTLE MAID OF PROVINCE TOWN
+  A LITTLE MAID OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY
+  A LITTLE MAID OF NARRAGANSETT BAY
+  A LITTLE MAID OF BUNKER HILL
+  A LITTLE MAID OF TICONDEROGA
+  A LITTLE MAID OF OLD CONNECTICUT
+  A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE
+
+Illustrated by Edna Cooke
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: SHE LOOKED UP TO FIND LAFAYETTE SMILING AT HER]
+
+
+
+The Penn Publishing
+Company Philadelphia
+1921
+Copyright
+1919 by
+The Penn
+Publishing
+Company
+
+A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
+
+
+
+Introduction
+
+
+Ruth Pernell and Winifred Merrill lived in Philadelphia. The city had
+been for some time in the hands of General Howe and the British army.
+Ruth's father was with Washington at Valley Forge, and the little girls
+were ardent supporters of the American cause, and admirers of the
+gallant young Frenchman, the Marquis DE Lafayette.
+
+Children in 1778 were much like those of to-day, and Ruth and her
+friends, eager as they were for the war to end successfully, were fond
+of dolls and pets, and games and little plays. Yet they kept their ears
+open, and when Ruth overheard what two British soldiers said she knew
+how to make good use of her knowledge.
+
+In each of the other "Little Maid" books is the story of an American
+girl during the Revolution. The other stories are: "A Little Maid of
+Province Town," "A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony." "A Little Maid
+of Bunker Hill," "A Little Maid of Narragansett Bay," "A Little Maid of
+Ticonderoga," "A Little Maid of Old Connecticut."
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+  I.     HERO IS LOST                                   9
+
+  II.    GILBERT AND LAFAYETTE                         19
+
+  III.   RUTH VISITS GENERAL HOWE                      28
+
+  IV.    AUNT DEBORAH IS SURPRISED                     37
+
+  V.     RUTH DECIDES                                  43
+
+  VI.    A DIFFICULT DAY                               53
+
+  VII.   GILBERT'S PLAY                                62
+
+  VIII.  BETTY RUNS AWAY                               72
+
+  IX.    BETTY'S ADVENTURE                             84
+
+  X.     THE LOST PROGRAMME                            92
+
+  XI.    A LONG ROAD                                  102
+
+  XII.   A LONG RIDE                                  113
+
+  XIII.  HOME AGAIN                                   123
+
+  XIV.   THE CANDY DISAPPEARS                         133
+
+  XV.    A FAIRY STORY                                142
+
+  XVI.   BETTY AND ANNETTE                            151
+
+  XVII.  QUEEN BETTY                                  161
+
+  XVIII. A GREAT RESOLVE                              171
+
+  XIX.   THE VISIT                                    182
+
+  XX.    LAFAYETTE'S VISIT                            193
+
+  XXI.   AT HOME                                      205
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+                                                    PAGE
+
+SHE LOOKED UP TO FIND LAFAYETTE SMILING
+  AT HER                                       _FRONTISPIECE_
+
+"'TIS A LADY COMING TO CALL"                         33
+
+IT WAS A FAVORITE PLAY-HOUSE                         95
+
+"THE FIRST OF MAY IS GARLAND DAY"                   162
+
+THE BIG HORSE TROTTED DOWN THE STREET               190
+
+
+
+
+A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HERO IS LOST
+
+
+"Where do you suppose Hero can be, Aunt Deborah? He isn't anywhere about
+the house, or in the shed or the garden," and Ruth Pernell's voice
+sounded as if she could hardly keep back the tears as she stood in the
+doorway of the pleasant kitchen where Aunt Deborah was at work.
+
+"Do you suppose the British have taken him?" she asked a little
+fearfully; for it was the spring of 1778, when the British troops were
+in Philadelphia, and Ruth was quite sure that every English soldier who
+saw Hero must want him for his own. The dog was her dearest possession.
+On her tenth birthday, nearly a year before, her father had given her
+Hero for a birthday present; and now that her father was with
+Washington's army his gift seemed even more precious to his little
+daughter.
+
+Aunt Deborah looked at Ruth for a moment before she answered, and Ruth
+became conscious that her brown hair was rough and untidy from running
+about the garden in the March wind, that her hands were not clean, and
+that there was an ugly rent in her blue checked apron where it had
+caught on a nail in the shed.
+
+"Was it not yesterday that thee declared Hero was stolen, only to find
+that he had followed Winifred Merrill home? And on Sunday, thee was sure
+he had been killed, because he did not appear the first time thee
+called," responded Aunt Deborah reprovingly. Aunt Deborah was not very
+large, and her smooth round face under the neat cap, such as Quaker
+women wear, was usually smiling and friendly; but it always seemed to
+Ruth that no least bit of dirt or untidiness ever escaped those gray
+eyes.
+
+"Do you suppose he is at Winifred's? I wish she wouldn't let him follow
+her," and Ruth's tone was troubled. Of course Winifred was her dearest
+friend, but Ruth was not willing that Hero should divide his loyalty.
+
+"Very likely," responded Aunt Deborah, "but thee must smooth thy hair,
+wash thy hands and change thy apron before thee goes to inquire; and put
+on thy hat. It is not seemly for a girl to run about the street
+bareheaded."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! Only to go next door!" pleaded Ruth, but Aunt Deborah
+only nodded; so Ruth went to her own room and in a few minutes was back
+tying the broad brown ribbons of her hat under her chin as she ran
+through the kitchen.
+
+"I do hope Mother will come home soon," the little girl thought as she
+went down the front steps to the street; "Aunt Deborah is so fussy."
+
+Mrs. Pernell had been away for a week caring for her sister who lived in
+Germantown, near Philadelphia, and who was ill; and Aunt Deborah Mary
+Farleigh had come in from her home at Barren Hill, twelve miles distant,
+to stay with Ruth during Mrs. Pernell's absence.
+
+As Ruth ran up the steps of her friend's house the front door opened,
+and Winifred appeared.
+
+"Oh, Ruthie! Where are you going?" she asked smilingly.
+
+Winifred was just a month older than Ruth, and they were very nearly the
+same size. They both had blue eyes; but Ruth's hair was of a darker
+brown than Winifred's. They had both attended the same school until Lord
+Cornwallis with his troops entered Philadelphia; since that time each
+little girl had been taught at home.
+
+"Is Hero here?" Ruth asked, hardly noticing her friend's question.
+
+Winifred shook her head.
+
+"Are you _sure_, Winifred? Perhaps he ran in your garden and you didn't
+see him," said Ruth.
+
+"Well, we'll see. We'll call him," Winifred replied, holding the door
+open for Ruth to come in.
+
+The Merrill and Pernell houses were separated by a high brick wall, and
+each house stood near the street with broad gardens on each side as well
+as at the rear.
+
+The two friends went through the house, and out on a narrow porch and
+Ruth called, "Hero! Hero!" but there was no welcoming bark, no sight of
+the brown shepherd dog. They went about the yard calling, and Winifred's
+older brother Gilbert, who was preparing a garden bed near the further
+wall, assured them that the dog had not been there that morning.
+
+"Then he is lost! What shall I do!" said Ruth despairingly. "I do
+believe the English have taken him. Only yesterday, on Second Street,
+when Aunt Deborah and I were coming home, an officer patted him and
+called him a 'fine dog,'" she continued quickly.
+
+Gilbert and Winifred both looked very serious at this statement. Gilbert
+was fourteen years old. He was tall for his age, and thought himself
+quite old enough to be a soldier; but as his father and elder brother
+were both in Washington's army he realized that he must stay at home and
+take care of his mother and Winifred.
+
+"I have a mind to go straight to High Street and tell General Howe,"
+said Ruth, "for I heard my mother say that the English general would not
+permit his soldiers to take what did not belong to them."
+
+Gilbert shook his head soberly.
+
+"That may be true; but you are not sure that your dog has been stolen,"
+he said. "You had best wait a while. Hero may have wandered off and may
+come home safely. I'd not ask any favors of America's enemies," he
+concluded, picking up his spade and turning back to his work.
+
+"It wouldn't be a favor to ask for what belonged to me," Ruth answered
+sharply. But Gilbert's words made her more hopeful; Winifred was sure
+that Gilbert was right, and that Hero would come safely home.
+
+"Come up to my room, Ruthie; Mother has given me her scrap-bag. I can
+have all the pieces of silk and chintz to make things for my dolls, and
+you can pick out something to make your Cecilia a bonnet, and perhaps a
+cape."
+
+"Oh! Truly, Winifred?" responded Ruth, almost forgetting Hero in this
+tempting offer. The two little girls ran up the broad stairway to
+Winifred's room, which was at the back of the house overlooking the
+garden. The two windows had broad window-seats, and on one of these, in
+a small chair, made of stiff pasteboard and covered with a flowered
+chintz, sat "Josephine," Winifred's most treasured doll. Josephine wore
+a very full skirt of crimson silk, a cape of the same material, and on
+her head rested a bonnet of white silk, on the front of which was a tall
+white feather. There were two smaller dolls, and each occupied a chair
+exactly like the one in which Josephine was seated, but neither of them
+was so beautifully dressed.
+
+"I made that bonnet myself," Winifred declared, as Ruth knelled down
+beside the dolls and exclaimed admiringly over Josephine's fine apparel.
+"And that feather is one that came floating into our garden. Gilbert
+says it's an eagle's feather," she continued.
+
+"It is lovely!" Ruth said, "and this window is the nicest place to play
+dolls in all Philadelphia. And these dolls' chairs are splendid. I wish
+I had one for Cecilia."
+
+"Well, why don't you make one? I helped Grandma make these. All you have
+to do is cut the pieces out of cardboard, cover them with cloth, and sew
+them together. I'll help you," said Winifred, as she opened a closet
+door and drew out a brown linen bag.
+
+"This is the scrap-bag. Look, Ruthie;" and she drew out a long strip of
+plaided silk.
+
+"That would make a lovely sash for Cecilia," said Ruth, "but of course
+it would be nice for Josephine," she added quickly, half-afraid that she
+had seemed grasping of Winifred's possessions.
+
+"Josephine doesn't like a sash," said Winifred. "You take it home and
+tell Cecilia it's a present from Aunt Winifred."
+
+Then there was a roll of small pieces of pale blue satin; just right to
+make a bonnet for Ruth's doll.
+
+For some time the little girls played happily with the bright pieces of
+silk, selecting bits for one or the other of the dolls, so that when the
+big clock in the hall struck twelve Ruth jumped up in surprise.
+
+"Oh, Winnie! It's dinner-time! What will Aunt Deborah say to me?" she
+exclaimed, putting on her hat, and gathering up the silk pieces.
+
+"Thank you, Winnie! I must run. Aunt Deborah doesn't like me to be late,
+ever," she said, hurrying toward the stairway.
+
+"Come over to-morrow and I'll help you make a doll's chair; and I hope
+you'll find Hero safe at home," Winifred called after her as Ruth ran
+down the stairs.
+
+At Winifred's words all Ruth's pleasure in the morning's play, in the
+pretty bits of silk for her dolls, and the plan for making the chairs,
+vanished. Hero was lost; she knew he was. With his silky coat, and his
+faithful, soft brown eyes, his eager bark of welcome when his little
+mistress came running into the garden for a game of hide-and-go-seek
+with him.
+
+Aunt Deborah had spread the table for dinner, which was one of Ruth's
+regular duties; and when Ruth came slowly into the room she was just
+bringing in a dish of baked potatoes hot from the oven.
+
+"I didn't find Hero," said Ruth, throwing her little package of silks on
+a chair and then her hat on top of it. "What shall I do, Aunt Deborah?
+What shall I do? I am sure one of those English soldiers has taken him,"
+and now Ruth began to cry.
+
+"Ruth! Stop thy foolish crying. Thy dinner is waiting. Go to thy room
+and make thyself tidy," commanded Aunt Deborah, "and take thy hat and
+package," she added.
+
+Ruth obeyed rather reluctantly. "All Aunt Deborah thinks about is
+keeping 'tidy,'" she whispered rebelliously as she left the room. "I've
+washed my hands three times already to-day. She doesn't care if Hero is
+lost. Probably she's glad, because his paws are dirty."
+
+But Ruth was mistaken; Aunt Deborah had spent an hour that morning in
+going up and down the alley looking for the missing dog, and in a
+careful search of the house and garden. She valued Hero's faithfulness;
+and not even Ruth herself would have been more pleased than Aunt Deborah
+to hear his bark, and see him jump forward from his usual playground in
+the garden.
+
+"Perhaps Hero has wandered off," Aunt Deborah said when Ruth took her
+place at the table, "but he will come back, I doubt not, before
+nightfall."
+
+"If he doesn't I shall go and tell the British General that he must find
+him," declared Ruth, somewhat to Aunt Deborah's amusement; who was quite
+sure that the little girl would not dare to approach General Howe, who
+had comfortably established himself in one of the fine houses on High
+Street.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+GILBERT AND LAFAYETTE
+
+
+Two days passed and there was no tidings of the missing dog; and even
+Aunt Deborah began to fear that they should never see him again. It was
+very difficult for Ruth to attend to the tasks that Aunt Deborah set for
+her; for all she could think of was Hero.
+
+Gilbert Merrill had gone about the city making inquiries, but no one had
+seen Hero, or could tell him anything about Ruth's dog. Aunt Deborah was
+very sorry for her little niece, but she still insisted that Ruth should
+dust the dining-room as carefully each morning as if Hero was safe in
+the yard; that the little girl should knit her stint on the gray wool
+sock, intended for some loyal soldier, and sew for a half hour each
+afternoon.
+
+Ruth dropped stitches in her knitting, for a little blur of tears hid
+her work from sight when she thought that perhaps her dear Hero might
+be hurt, unable to find his way home; or perhaps he was shut up
+somewhere by some cruel person who did not care if he was fed or not.
+
+Aunt Deborah was very patient with the little girl. She picked up the
+dropped stitches in the knitting; and when she found how uneven a seam
+Ruth was stitching she picked out the threads without a word of reproof.
+
+But on the second day, as they sat at work in the little sewing-room at
+the top of the stairs, Ruth threw down her knitting and began to cry.
+
+"I can't knit! I can't do anything until Hero is found. You know I
+can't, Aunt Deborah. And I do wish my mother would come home," she
+sobbed.
+
+Aunt Deborah did not speak for a moment. She had no little girls of her
+own, and she often feared that she might not know what was exactly right
+for her little niece. So she never spoke hastily.
+
+"For thy sake, dear child, I wish that thy mother were here: but it is
+very pleasant for me to have thy company, Ruth," she said in her
+musical, even voice. "Would thee not like to go and play with Winifred?
+But be sure thy hair is smooth."
+
+But Ruth made no reply. She stopped crying, however, and looked up at
+Aunt Deborah.
+
+"Didn't you like Hero?" she asked.
+
+Aunt Deborah knitted on until she came to the last stitch on her needle,
+then she lay down her work, and looked at Ruth with her pleasant smile.
+
+"Indeed, I liked Hero," she said; "but suppose I decided that because he
+was lost I would no longer prepare thy breakfast or dinner? that I would
+not see that thy mother's house was in order. Thee would truly think I
+had but little sense. It does not prove thy liking to cry because thy
+dog is lost; to fix thy thoughts on thy own feelings and leave thy tasks
+for me to do. It does not help bring Hero back. Now, put on thy hat and
+cape and we will walk toward the river. I have an errand to do," and
+Aunt Deborah got up and went to her own room to put on her long gray
+cape and the gray bonnet that she always wore on the street.
+
+She was waiting in the front hall when Ruth came slowly down the stairs.
+She had put on her brown straw hat, whose ribbons tied beneath her
+chin, and the pretty cape of blue cloth; for there was a sharp little
+March wind, although the sun shone brightly. Ruth's face was very sober;
+there were traces of tears on her cheeks. She wished that she had said
+she would rather play with Winifred; but it was too late now.
+
+"We need many things, but I fear 'twill not be easy to purchase either
+good cotton cloth or a package of pepper," Aunt Deborah said as they
+turned on to Second Street. "There was but little in the shops when the
+British came, and of that little they have taken for themselves so there
+is not much left for the people."
+
+"They have taken Hero, I know they have!" Ruth replied. "I wish
+Washington would come and drive the English out."
+
+"Oh! Ho! So here is a small rebel declaring treason right to the face of
+an officer of the King!" and Ruth, surprised and frightened, felt a hand
+on her shoulder, and looked up to find a tall soldier in a red coat with
+shining buttons and bands of gilt looking at her with evident amusement.
+
+"You had best whisper such words as those, young lady," he added
+sternly, and passed on, leaving Ruth and Aunt Deborah standing
+surprised and half-frightened.
+
+"This is an American city," Aunt Deborah announced calmly, as they
+walked on. "These intruders can stay but a time. But they have sharp
+ears, indeed. Does thee know why thy father named thy dog 'Hero'?" she
+continued, looking down at Ruth.
+
+"Oh, yes! Father said 'hero' meant courage and honor; and so it was the
+right name for such a fine dog," Ruth answered quickly. "Aunt Deborah!
+What was that?" she added, stopping short. For she had heard a familiar
+bark.
+
+But Aunt Deborah had heard nothing. They were passing a house where a
+number of soldiers were sitting on the porch smoking.
+
+"I heard Hero bark. He is in that house," Ruth declared, and before Aunt
+Deborah could say a word to prevent such a rash act Ruth had run up the
+steps.
+
+"Have you found a lost dog, if you please?" she asked, half-frightened,
+when she found herself facing two red-faced soldiers who looked at her
+as if she were some wild bird that had flown to the porch. Before they
+could reply Aunt Deborah's hand was on Ruth's arm, and the little girl
+heard her aunt saying: "Thee must pardon the child. She has lost her
+dog, and is greatly troubled. She means no harm."
+
+The younger of the two men stood up and bowed politely, and held his hat
+in his hand until Aunt Deborah had led Ruth back to the street; but
+neither of the men had answered her question.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! What made you? I know Hero is in that house. I heard
+him bark. You spoiled it all," sobbed Ruth, as Aunt Deborah, holding her
+fast by the hand, hurried toward home, quite forgetting the errands she
+wished to do.
+
+Aunt Deborah sighed to herself. She began to fear that Ruth was a
+difficult child; and that perhaps she did not know the right way to deal
+with little girls. But she did not reprove Ruth either for her rash act
+or for speaking with so little regard of Aunt Deborah's authority.
+
+"May I go in and see Winifred?" Ruth asked when they reached home, and
+Aunt Deborah gave her permission.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! I know where Hero is," Ruth declared, as the two friends
+went up to Winifred's room, and she hastened to tell the adventures of
+the walk with Aunt Deborah.
+
+"I am going back after him, Winifred, and you must come with me," she
+concluded.
+
+But Winifred said that her mother was out, and that she must not leave
+the house until her return. She looked at Ruth admiringly.
+
+"I think you were brave, Ruth, to ask those soldiers. But I don't
+believe they would give you back Hero if you do go back. Perhaps they
+would make you a prisoner," she said a little fearfully; and at last
+Ruth reluctantly agreed not to go after the dog that day. The little
+girls decided that the best way would be to go straight to General Howe
+and tell him that one of his soldiers had taken Hero, and was keeping
+him from his rightful owner.
+
+"I'll go to-morrow. But we must not let Aunt Deborah know," said Ruth,
+and Winifred promised to keep the plan a secret.
+
+Now that there seemed a hope of rescuing her dog Ruth was nearly her own
+happy self again. Winifred got out some squares of pasteboard and very
+carefully marked out patterns of the back and sides, as well as for the
+seat, for the dolls' chair. Then she went to find Gilbert to borrow his
+knife with which to cut the cardboard; and before Ruth started for home
+the pieces were all ready to be covered. As the two little friends sat
+in the pleasant window-seat Winifred said: "What do you think, Ruthie!
+Gilbert wants to change his name. He wants us to call him Lafayette!"
+and Winifred laughed, as if she thought the idea very funny.
+
+"Why, I think that is splendid!" Ruth replied, her blue eyes shining at
+the thought of a "Lafayette" next door to her own home. For all the
+children of Philadelphia knew the story of the brave young Frenchman,
+hardly more than a boy himself, who had left all the comforts of his
+Paris home to share the danger and privations of the American soldiers.
+He had visited Philadelphia the previous summer, 1777, soon after his
+arrival in America. Gilbert had seen the handsome young officer, and
+ever since then he had pleaded that he might be called "Lafayette"
+instead of Gilbert.
+
+"If I were a boy I should wish my name 'Lafayette,'" declared Ruth. "I
+wish we could do something for him, don't you, Winifred?"
+
+"Yes; but what could two little girls do for him? Why, he is a hero, and
+a friend of Washington's," Winifred responded. Neither Ruth nor
+Winifred imagined that it would be only a few months before one of them
+would do a great service for the gallant young Frenchman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+RUTH VISITS GENERAL HOWE
+
+
+Aunt Deborah was unusually quiet in her manner toward her little niece
+when Ruth came home with the cardboard ready to be covered. She did not
+ask Ruth to set the table for supper, but began to spread the cloth
+herself.
+
+"I will do that, Aunt Deborah. You know I always do," Ruth said, laying
+down the parts for the dolls' chair, and coming toward the table.
+
+"I will do it. Thou mayst go to thy room, Ruth; I will call thee when
+supper is ready," Aunt Deborah replied, without a glance at the little
+girl.
+
+Ruth felt her face flush uncomfortably as she suddenly recalled the way
+in which she had spoken to Aunt Deborah after her aunt had led her away
+from the porch where the English soldiers were sitting, and where Ruth
+was sure Hero was hidden. She went up the stairs very slowly to her own
+chamber, a small room opening from the large front room where Aunt
+Deborah slept. She sat down near the window, feeling not only ashamed
+but very unhappy.
+
+"If my mother were only here I shouldn't be sent off up-stairs. I don't
+like Aunt Deborah," she exclaimed, and looked up to see her aunt
+standing in the doorway.
+
+For a moment the two looked at each other, and Ruth could see that Aunt
+Deborah was trying very hard to keep back the tears. Then the door
+closed, very softly, and Ruth was again alone.
+
+"Oh, dear," she whispered, "and I promised my mother to do everything I
+could to help Aunt Deborah, and now she heard me say that I don't like
+her," and Ruth leaned her head against the arm of the big chair in which
+she had curled up and began to cry, quite sure that no little girl in
+all Philadelphia had as much reason for unhappiness as herself.
+
+After a little she wiped her eyes, and began to think over her
+misfortunes: First of all, Hero was lost. Then came all the troubles
+that, it seemed to Ruth, Aunt Deborah was to blame for. As she said them
+over to herself they appeared sufficient reasons for her dislike: "She
+is always fussing. Always telling me to brush my hair, or wash my
+hands, or not to soil my dress. And I do believe she is glad that Hero
+is lost, and does not wish me to find him because he brings dirt into
+the house."
+
+As Ruth finished a sudden resolve came into her mind. She would not wait
+for the next day before going to General Howe to tell her story of
+Hero's disappearance, and of being sure that he had been taken by an
+English soldier. She would go at once. If she waited perhaps Aunt
+Deborah would find some way of preventing the carrying out of the plan.
+
+"Perhaps if General Howe thought I was a grown-up lady, or nearly grown
+up, he would pay more attention than to what a little girl might ask,"
+thought Ruth. And then a great idea flashed into her mind: she would
+pretend to be grown up.
+
+"I'll wear Mother's best dress, and do up my hair and wear her bonnet,"
+she decided; and opening her chamber door she ran through Aunt Deborah's
+room to the deep closet where her mother's best dress, a pretty gown of
+russet-colored silk, was hanging. Ruth pulled it down, slipped it on
+over her dress of stout brown gingham, and began to fasten it.
+
+"I didn't know my mother was so big," she thought regretfully, as she
+managed to turn back the long sleeves, and glanced down at the full
+breadths of the skirt which lay in a big waving circle about her feet.
+"I'll have to hold it up as high as I can to walk at all."
+
+In a few minutes the dress was fastened, and she managed to pin up her
+hair; and now she drew out the bandbox containing her mother's best
+bonnet. It was made of a pretty shade of brown velvet, with a wreath of
+delicate green leaves, and strings of pale green ribbon.
+
+Ruth tied the strings firmly under her chin. The bonnet came well down
+over her face, nearly hiding her ears, but the little girl thought this
+was very fortunate, as it would prevent any one discovering who she was,
+if she should happen to meet any friend or acquaintance.
+
+She began to feel hurried and a little afraid that Aunt Deborah might
+call her to supper before she could escape from the house. Holding up
+the brown silk skirt, and stepping very carefully, she made her way down
+the stairs, opened the front door, and with a long breath of relief,
+found herself standing on the front porch.
+
+The late afternoon was already growing shadowy with the approach of
+twilight; and there was no one to be seen on the quiet street as Ruth,
+holding her skirt up in front while the sides and back trailed about her
+on the dirty pavement, walked hurriedly along toward High Street.
+
+"I'll walk more like a grown-up lady when I get near the General's
+house," she resolved. "Won't Winifred be surprised when she knows that
+the English General thought I really was grown up?" and Ruth gave a
+little laugh of delight at the thought of her friend's astonishment,
+quite forgetting all the troubles that had seemed so overpowering an
+hour before.
+
+As she turned into High Street she found herself facing the amused stare
+of two young ladies who were hurrying home from an afternoon walk.
+
+"I suppose they were laughing because I was holding up my skirt,"
+thought Ruth, quite unconscious of her absurd appearance, "but I'll have
+to, for I couldn't walk a step if I didn't," she decided.
+
+[Illustration: "'TIS A LADY COMING TO CALL"]
+
+Two English soldiers were on guard at the entrance of the fine mansion
+that the English General had taken from its rightful owner for his own
+use; and as Ruth, now half afraid to go up the steps, stood looking up
+at them a little fearfully, one of them noticed the queer little figure,
+and, quite forgetting his dignity, chuckled with amusement.
+
+"Look, Dick! Here is a lady admiring our fine uniforms," he said,
+calling his companion's attention to Ruth, whose gown now trailed about
+her, and whose bonnet had slipped to one side.
+
+"'Tis a lady coming to call on the General," responded "Dick," with a
+wink at the first speaker.
+
+"Did you wish to see General Howe, madam?" he continued, looking down at
+Ruth, while his companion chuckled with delight.
+
+"Yes, if you please," Ruth managed to reply, beginning to feel a little
+afraid, and wishing that she had waited until the next day when Winifred
+might have come with her.
+
+"Kindly walk up the steps, madam, and I will announce you to the
+General," continued the young soldier, welcoming the hope of a little
+amusement to break the monotony of his daily duties.
+
+Ruth obeyed, stumbling a little as she reached the top.
+
+"And what name shall I say?" Dick asked, bowing very low.
+
+"Mistress Ruth Dilling ham Pernell, if you please, sir," Ruth replied,
+gaining a little courage, and trying to stand as tall as possible,
+hardly sure if the young soldier was really laughing at her, or if he
+believed her dress to be a proof of at least twenty years of experience.
+
+"'Twill be good sport for the General and his friends. They are just
+sitting down to dinner," "Dick" whispered to the other guard, as he
+swung open the big door and ushered Ruth into the hall, and then led the
+way toward the dining-room.
+
+"What nonsense is this, Dick? We are not rehearsing any play just now,"
+called a gay voice; and Ruth and the young soldier were confronted by a
+tall officer whom Ruth instantly recognized as the same who had called
+her a "rebel" that very afternoon on Second Street.
+
+She became really frightened. Suppose he should remember her, and tell
+General Howe what she had said about Washington driving the English from
+the city? It might be that, just as Winifred had said, and they would
+put her in prison. She wished she were safely at home with Aunt
+Deborah. But "Dick" was speaking to the handsome young officer.
+
+"Ah, now, Major Andre, 'twill be as good as any comedy you have seen in
+South Street," he declared, "and the General will be well pleased. No
+harm shall come to the child."
+
+"Well, I'll not interfere. This is a dull town at best," responded the
+young officer laughingly, and without another glance at Ruth, he entered
+the dining-room, with a word to the soldier who stood at the door. The
+big door was now swung wide open by two servants in the livery of the
+English General. Just beyond them stood Major Andre, who bowed very low
+as Ruth entered, and said:
+
+"General Howe, a lady who greatly desires to ask a favor of you," and
+Ruth found herself on the threshold of the beautiful room whose paneled
+walls were brilliantly lighted by many wax candles in silver sconces.
+The table was handsomely spread with fine china, glass and silver; and
+about it were seated a number of English officers.
+
+"More comedy, Andre!" called a pleasant voice; "kindly bring the lady
+this way," and General Howe rose from his seat at the head of the
+table, and instantly all his guests were on their feet.
+
+Major Andre held out his hand to Ruth. She well knew that this was the
+proper moment to make her best curtsy, and in spite of the clumsy skirt,
+the bonnet which kept nodding over her face, and the long sleeves that
+had slipped down over her hands, she managed to make a not ungraceful
+curtsy.
+
+There was a little murmur of applause, and Major Andre smiled kindly
+upon her, and taking her hand led her toward the head of the table with
+as much grace and courtesy as if he were handing Miss Peggy Ship pen
+herself, one of the beauties of the town, to a seat at General Howe's
+dinner table.
+
+"You are a most welcome guest," declared the English General smilingly,
+as Ruth stood before him. "I understand you have a favor to ask of me.
+Whatever it is you may be very sure I will be most happy to grant it,"
+and he smiled down at the queer little figure, quite sure that his young
+officer Major Andre had planned the whole affair for his amusement.
+
+"If you please, sir, I want my dog," said Ruth falteringly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+AUNT DEBORAH IS SURPRISED
+
+
+Years after, when Ruth was really "grown up," she often recalled the
+wonderful night when she sat at General Howe's dinner-table. For Major
+Andre had lifted her to a seat beside the General; with a friendly word
+he untied the bonnet-strings and put the bonnet on a side table; and
+Ruth began to think that it was all a dream from which she would soon
+awaken to find herself safely at home. She wondered if it really were
+Ruth Pernell who was answering the General's questions about the missing
+Hero.
+
+"I can do no less than try to find your dog, little maid," he said, "for
+when my own dog wandered away to General Washington's camp, in the
+Germantown fray, the General sent him back to me under the protection of
+a flag of truce; so, as you tell me your father is with Washington, I
+must see to it that Hero is found. That is, if one of my soldiers has so
+far forgotten orders as to have taken him," for the English General
+took every care that his soldiers should do no harm to the residents of
+the city.
+
+Ruth was sure that she knew the very house where she had heard Hero's
+bark; and now that General Howe had promised that a search should be
+made she was eager to go home, and slid out of the chair just as a
+servant set a plate before her.
+
+"I must go home. I--I--ran away," she said a little falteringly, looking
+up at the tall General. "Will you please find Hero the first thing
+to-morrow?"
+
+"Here, Andre! the young lady wishes to return home," said the General,
+"and see to it that you take her there safely, and that you find the
+lost Hero. And find a better plot for your next comedy," the General
+added, as the young officer came forward.
+
+Ruth wondered what "comedy" meant. She did not know that Major Andre,
+whose gay good humor and charming manner made him a favorite with all,
+was depended upon to furnish amusement for his brother officers; or that
+they had at first believed that Ruth, stumbling into the dining-room
+dressed as a woman, was the first act of some amusing play of Andre's
+contriving.
+
+Now that it proved she was only a runaway little girl looking for a lost
+dog they found it amusing that the young officer should have the trouble
+of taking her home.
+
+Ruth could never quite remember the manner in which the General bade her
+good-bye, or if she make her curtsy, or even thanked him for promising
+that Hero should be found.
+
+Major Andre tied on her bonnet, and opening a door that led to a side
+entrance, led her to the street.
+
+"Now tell me the way, and I'll have you home in a jiffy," he said
+pleasantly.
+
+But it was no easy matter for Ruth to walk as rapidly as her companion;
+she stumbled over the skirt; the strings of her bonnet had slipped so
+that it kept bobbing over her eyes and had to be pushed back; and she
+was now so frightened at the thought of what Aunt Deborah would say that
+she hardly knew in what direction they were going until the young
+officer stopped at her own door and lifted the knocker whose rap was
+sure to bring Aunt Deborah hastening to answer it.
+
+"You will not forget about Hero?" Ruth said as they stood on the steps.
+
+"Indeed, I shall not. Be very sure I will do my best to find your dog. I
+will go to the house on Second Street early to-morrow," responded Andre,
+and the door swung open and Aunt Deborah, holding a candle in one hand,
+stood looking at them.
+
+"Here is your little girl, madam; she has done no harm, I assure you.
+She did but make a friendly call on General Howe, who sent me to bring
+her safely home," said the young officer, hat in hand, and making his
+best bow.
+
+"I thank thee for bringing the child home, sir," responded Aunt Deborah,
+drawing Ruth firmly over the threshold and closing the door before Major
+Andre could say another word. The young officer hurried back to the
+General's dinner-table, a little vexed that he had made so much needless
+trouble for himself by introducing the queer little girl to General
+Howe.
+
+"Slip off thy mother's dress at once, before you do it further harm,"
+said Aunt Deborah; and Ruth, not daring to look up, hastened to obey, as
+she stood in the dimly-lit hall.
+
+"I--I--only went to look for Hero," Ruth tried to explain, after a
+moment's silence.
+
+"So thee had to put on thy mother's very best gown; one that she does
+not wear herself save on great occasions," responded Aunt Deborah,
+taking up the silk dress out of which Ruth had just stepped. "It is
+probably ruined. Go straight to bed. Thou art a willful and unruly
+child," she continued, as Ruth started toward the stairway.
+
+Aunt Deborah followed her, the dress over her arm, but she said no more
+until they reached Ruth's chamber.
+
+"I believed thee safe in thy room. When thee did not come to supper I
+thought thee ashamed and sorry, because of the manner in which thou
+spoke to me; so I did not open the door. But no; thee was playing at
+being some one beside thy rightful self; and going to the house of an
+enemy against whom thy father is fighting. I know not what to say to
+thee, Ruth, nor how to make thee realize that thee has brought shame
+upon us," said Aunt Deborah.
+
+Ruth was crying bitterly, and could make no response. Aunt Deborah took
+the candle and left the room, leaving Ruth to find her way into bed in
+the dark. She wished with all her heart that she had not worn her
+mother's silk gown and pretty bonnet. If they really were ruined she
+knew it would be a long time before her mother could replace them; for
+there was no extra money in the little household while America was
+fighting for her rightful liberties.
+
+"None of them, not even General Howe, believed that I was really grown
+up. They were just laughing at me," she thought. "It would have been
+just as well if I had waited, and had asked Aunt Deborah if I might not
+go. Oh, dear! And now I have spoiled Mother's dress."
+
+Ruth was so unhappy that she had quite forgotten that Hero might soon be
+restored to her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+RUTH DECIDES
+
+
+Ruth slept late the next morning, and when she first awoke it was with
+the puzzled feeling of waking from a bad dream. Then slowly she
+remembered the happenings of the previous day.
+
+The spring sunlight filled the room. From a hawthorn tree just below her
+window she could hear a robin singing as if there were nothing but
+sunshine and delight in all the world. And then the big clock in the
+hallway began to strike. "One! two! three! four! five! six! seven!
+eight! _Nine!_" counted the little girl, and with the last stroke she
+was out of bed.
+
+Before she was dressed Aunt Deborah opened the door.
+
+"Good-morning, Ruth," she said pleasantly, quite as if nothing had
+happened on the previous day, and that Ruth had not slept two hours
+later than usual. "I have brought thee thy breakfast; and thee may stay
+in thy room until I call thee," and Aunt Deborah set a small tray on
+the light stand near the window, and before Ruth could make any response
+she had left the room.
+
+Ruth was very hungry. She had no supper on the previous night, and she
+now looked eagerly toward the little tray, which held only, a bowl and
+pitcher. The bowl was nearly full of porridge, and the pitcher of creamy
+milk.
+
+That was all very well; and she ate it all, to the last spoonful. But
+usually there were hot corn muffins and a bit of bacon or an egg to
+follow the porridge, and Ruth was still hungry.
+
+"Perhaps Aunt Deborah forgot," thought Ruth, "but I don't believe she
+did. Perhaps she is only provoked at me for being late for breakfast!"
+
+Ruth shook up her pillows, turned back the blankets of her bed, and then
+went to the window and leaned out. There were two robins now on the top
+branch of the hawthorn, and for a moment she watched them, wondering if
+they were planning to build a nest there. The window overlooked the
+Merrill's' garden; and in a few minutes Ruth saw Gilbert coming along the
+path toward the wall.
+
+"Lafayette! La-fay-Ettie!" she called. Gilbert looked about as if
+puzzled, and Ruth called again. "I'm up-stairs. Gil-Bert!" and at this
+the boy turned and looked up, and waved his hat in response.
+
+"I've found Hero," she called. "Honest! And an English officer is going
+to bring him home this very morning."
+
+"Come on over and tell Winifred," responded Gilbert. "She has something
+to tell you, too. Something fine."
+
+"I can't come over this morning. I----" but before Ruth could say
+another word she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and she was drawn
+into the room and the window closed, and Aunt Deborah was looking at her
+reprovingly.
+
+"Ruth, why did thee think I wanted thee to stay up-stairs this morning?"
+she asked.
+
+Ruth shook her head sullenly. She said to herself that no matter what
+Aunt Deborah might say she would not answer.
+
+"Well, my child, then I must tell thee. I hoped thee would think over
+thy willfulness of yesterday; that thee would realize that thy conduct
+was such as would grieve and shame thy father and mother. Dost thou
+think it a small thing nearly to ruin thy mother's best gown? To go
+dressed as if in a play to the house of an enemy of thy country to ask a
+favor? And before that thee quite forgot thy good manners in rushing up
+the steps of that house on Second Street, and then speaking rudely to
+me, who have no wish but to be kind to thee and help thee be a good
+girl."
+
+While Aunt Deborah was speaking Ruth looked up at her, a little
+frightened and sullen at first; then as she saw that Aunt Deborah's face
+was pale, that she looked as if she had been crying and was nearly ready
+to cry again, the little girl's heart softened, and she ran toward her
+aunt, saying:
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! I am sorry I spoke rudely to you. And when I said I
+did not like you it was only because I was cross and so unhappy about
+Hero. I do like you, truly I do. And, oh! I did not think about General
+Howe being our enemy; or that I would spoil Mother's pretty gown. I only
+thought about Hero." And now Ruth was sobbing, and Aunt Deborah's arm
+was about her.
+
+But for a moment Aunt Deborah made no response; then she said:
+
+"Dear child, thee has given me happiness again. And now let us both do
+our best until thy mother returns. But thee knows that it is right for
+thee to decide if thee should not be punished in some way, so that in
+future thee will remember not to lose thy temper, to remember thy
+manners; and above all not to stoop to deceit to gain thy wishes."
+
+Aunt Deborah smiled happily at her little niece as she finished, as if
+quite sure that Ruth would welcome her suggestion.
+
+Ruth smiled in response. She began to think it would be rather fine to
+decide on her own punishment, and resolved it should be even more severe
+than any Aunt Deborah would inflict.
+
+"Yes, Aunt Deborah, I will stay up-stairs all day. And I will eat only
+porridge for my dinner and supper. I will not call from the window, and
+I will knit; and not even play with Cecilia," she said eagerly.
+
+"Very well, dear child. But beside these things thee must say over to
+thyself the reason for thy punishment. Say to thyself: 'Not again will I
+be rude or unkind, not again will I be thoughtless of my behavior,'"
+said Aunt Deborah approvingly.
+
+There was a loud knock at the front door, and Aunt Deborah hurried away
+to answer it. In a moment Ruth heard a joyous bark.
+
+"It's Hero! It's Hero!" she exclaimed, running toward the door. But with
+her hand on the latch she stopped suddenly. She had promised that she
+would not leave the room that day. She had set her own punishment for
+rudeness, and for the thoughtlessness that had perhaps ruined her
+mother's dress.
+
+"Oh! I wish I hadn't dressed up," she thought, as she turned slowly away
+from the door, thinking of Hero looking wistfully about for his little
+mistress. She knew that Aunt Deborah would be kind to him, but not to
+see Hero after he had been missing so long was a real punishment for the
+little girl, and she went back to the window and stood looking out
+wishing that for a punishment she had thought of something beside
+staying in her room all day.
+
+As she looked out she saw that Gilbert was still in his garden, that
+Winifred was beside him, and that they were both making motions for her
+to open the window.
+
+She shook her head soberly. She could see that Winifred was greatly
+excited about something, and was talking eagerly to her brother. They
+both looked up at Ruth's window and again motioned with waving arms for
+her to open it. After a few moments they seemed to realize that she had,
+for some reason they could not imagine, been forbidden to; and with a
+good-bye signal they both turned and ran toward the house.
+
+"I do wonder what they wanted to tell me," thought Ruth. "Oh, dear! It
+is dreadful to stay up here when Hero is home, and when Winifred and
+Gilbert have a secret." She began to realize that she had set herself no
+light punishment.
+
+"But it wouldn't be a punishment if I were enjoying it," she finally
+decided, and getting the half-finished sock from her knitting bag, she
+drew a small rocking-chair to the center of the room, seated herself and
+began resolutely to knit.
+
+Now and then she could hear sounds from the rooms below; and once Ruth
+dropped her knitting and started toward the door, for she had heard
+Hero's plaintive whine as he waited for admittance. Then had come Aunt
+Deborah's voice calling him away sternly; and Ruth picked up her
+knitting, resolved to keep exactly to her promise. She wondered if Major
+Andre had sent Hero home in charge of "Dick," the smiling young soldier
+who had spoken to her on General Howe's door-steps. But most of all her
+thoughts centered about Winifred and Gilbert.
+
+She heard the clock strike eleven, and realized that she was very
+hungry; and that an hour was a long time to wait before Aunt Deborah
+would bring her bowl of porridge. A shadow darkened the window, and she
+looked up with startled eyes to see Winifred's face pressed against the
+glass.
+
+Ruth ran to the window. "How did you get up here?" she questioned in
+wonder.
+
+"Open the window, quick!" Winifred responded in an anxious whisper. "The
+ladder wiggles about, and somebody may see me."
+
+Ruth opened the window and Winifred crawled in, and suddenly the ladder
+disappeared.
+
+"It's Gilbert. He promised to take it down as soon as I got in. What is
+the matter, Ruth? Has Aunt Deborah made you stay up-stairs? Did you know
+Hero was home? A soldier brought him." While Winifred talked she looked
+at Ruth anxiously, as if to make sure that nothing had really befallen
+her friend.
+
+Ruth was smiling with delight at her unexpected visitor.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! You were splendid to come up the ladder. I'm staying
+up-stairs to punish myself. I was rude to Aunt Deborah; and last night I
+dressed up in my mother's best dress and went to see General Howe!" Ruth
+answered.
+
+Winifred was too surprised to reply, and Ruth went on telling of her
+sudden decision, and of the adventures that followed, and concluded
+with: "And of course I ought not to have dressed up, and I ought not to
+have run away. So now I am staying up-stairs all day, and all I am to
+have to eat is porridge and milk. I decided it myself," she concluded,
+not a little pleased at the thought.
+
+"Why, Ruth Pernell!" exclaimed Winifred admiringly. "I don't know which
+is the most wonderful, your going to see General Howe, or your deciding
+to punish yourself. Begin at the time you reached the General's house
+and tell me everything up to now."
+
+Ruth was quite ready to do this, and the two little friends seated
+themselves on the window-seat, Winifred listening admiringly while Ruth
+told over the story of the previous night. She had forgotten all about
+punishment; but a noise in the hallway and the sound of the clock
+striking the hour of noon made her stop suddenly in her whispered
+recital. "It's Aunt Deborah! Winifred, hide, quick! Under the bed," she
+said, at the same moment giving Winifred a little push.
+
+Aunt Deborah came in smiling and inauspicious, with a well-filled bowl
+of porridge and a generous pitcher of milk on the tray. It had been a
+happy morning for Aunt Deborah. Hero was safe at home, none the worse
+for his adventures; and, best of all, Ruth of her own accord had
+declared herself to blame, and decided that her faults should be
+punished. It seemed to Aunt Deborah that after this she and her little
+niece would have no more misunderstandings. She thought it a fine thing
+that Ruth wished to stay by herself all that sunny spring day; and she
+was sure it was no light punishment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A DIFFICULT DAY
+
+
+Aunt Deborah did not linger to talk with her little niece, for it was a
+part of her belief that idle talk was unwise. The door had hardly closed
+behind her when Winifred's head appeared from under the chintz valance
+of the bed, and she looked cautiously about.
+
+"Has she gone?" she asked in a cautious whisper.
+
+Ruth nodded, and Winifred now crawled out from her hiding-place.
+
+"I'm glad she didn't see me, Ruth. For when I came to the door this
+morning she said you could not see any one to-day; so I thought you were
+being punished, and I was bound to see you. Oh, Ruth! are you to have
+nothing but porridge?" and Winifred looked at Ruth's tray as if she
+thought such a dinner would be punishment enough for a much greater
+offense.
+
+"I chose it! I said I would eat only porridge," responded Ruth,
+beginning to think that perhaps she had been more severe with herself
+than had been really necessary; and she wondered, with a little
+regretful sigh, if Aunt Deborah was having stewed oysters for dinner;
+for Ruth was sure that nothing could taste better than oysters.
+
+"I had to see you, Ruth; and it was Gilbert who thought of the ladder.
+He has written a play, and you are to take part in it, and so am I,"
+continued Winifred, who had nearly forgotten her own important news in
+listening to Ruth's surprising story.
+
+"'A play'?" echoed Ruth questioningly, hardly understanding her friend's
+meaning.
+
+"Yes! Yes! Don't you know that the English soldiers give plays in the
+Southward Theater? They dress up and make believe, just as you did last
+night," Winifred explained, "and Gilbert's play is like that."
+
+"Then I don't want to," Ruth declared. "It's horrid pretending to be
+somebody besides yourself."
+
+"Oh, Ruth! This isn't like what you did. It's all about Washington and
+Lafayette," Winifred explained eagerly, "and our pony is to be in it,
+and so is Hero. It's splendid; truly it is, Ruth; and Gilbert wants you
+to come and rehearse this afternoon, in our stable. If you are punishing
+yourself you can come if you wish to."
+
+Ruth shook her head.
+
+"No, I can't. Don't you see I can't, Winifred? I promised just as much
+as if somebody else had made me. I'll have to stay in this room all day,
+because I told Aunt Deborah that I would."
+
+Winifred jumped up quickly. "Then I must go right home, for Gilbert said
+that if you couldn't take part we'd try and get Betty Hastings. She's
+older and taller than you, anyway, so she'd look more like Lafayette,"
+she said, moving toward the door.
+
+Betty Hastings lived just around the corner on Chestnut Street. She was
+twelve years old. She was tall for her age, and her hair was brown and
+very curly. She did not often play with the younger girls.
+
+"Lafayette? Was I to be Lafayette in the play?" asked Ruth. "Oh, Winifred!
+Ask Gilbert to wait. I'll come over first thing to-morrow
+morning. You tell him I _have_ to stay up here to-day. Don't ask
+Betty!" she pleaded, and Winifred finally agreed to try and persuade her
+brother to wait until the following morning before asking Betty.
+
+"You see, it's to be a birthday surprise for Mother; and her birthday is
+a week from to-day, so there isn't much time," Winifred explained, as she
+started toward the door.
+
+"Winifred! Where are you going?" Ruth whispered in alarm; and Winifred
+laughed at her friend's surprise to see her about to walk boldly from
+the room.
+
+"I can go down-stairs so your aunt won't know it, and open the front
+door just as easy, and walk right out. She is in the kitchen and won't
+hear me," Winifred answered; and with a warning word to be sure and be
+at the stable at nine o'clock the next morning, the little girl opened
+the door cautiously and disappeared.
+
+After Winifred had gone Ruth ate her porridge. She began to think of
+Gilbert's play, and of the fun it would be to take the part of the brave
+young Frenchman. She walked about the room, looked at Cecilia and the
+half-finished chair, and sighed deeply at the thought that she might be
+rehearsing with Winifred and Gilbert, the pony and Hero, instead of
+staying alone in her room.
+
+At last she remembered her knitting, and took it up rather reluctantly.
+"I do wish I hadn't worn Mother's dress," she thought. And she was
+conscious of a little uncomfortable feeling as to Winifred's visit after
+Aunt Deborah's refusal to admit her.
+
+"But I didn't ask her to come, or help her," she finally decided;
+although she began to wish that her friend had waited to tell her the
+great news until the next day and so avoided deceiving Aunt Deborah.
+
+But at last the long afternoon ended; and when the clock struck six
+there was a joyous bark just outside Ruth's door, and Aunt Deborah
+opened it for Hero to come bounding in. He had so much to tell his
+little mistress, with barks and jumps, and faithful pleading eyes, that
+it was some little time before Aunt Deborah found a chance to speak.
+
+"Thee had best come down to the dining-room and have supper with me.
+There are creamed oysters and toast and a bit of jelly. I think thee
+does not need porridge for another meal to-day," she said smilingly.
+
+"I know I'll remember about Mother's dress. It has been hard to stay up
+here all day," Ruth answered, glad indeed that her time of punishment
+was over.
+
+"But Aunt Deborah doesn't know just how hard it was," she thought as she
+followed her aunt down the stairs, with Hero close beside her, thinking
+over Winifred's great news.
+
+As she took her usual place at the table she was glad that she had not
+taken Winifred's suggestion to shorten her hours of solitude. The
+steaming oysters sent out an appetizing odor, the toast was crisp and
+golden, and the tumbler of amber-colored jelly seemed to reflect the
+light of the candles in their tall brass candlesticks which stood at
+each end of the table.
+
+"I have good news for thee, Ruth," said Aunt Deborah, smiling at her
+across the table. "I have word that thy mother will return early the
+coming week."
+
+Ruth gave an exclamation of delight.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! What a lot of nice things happen all together," she
+said. "You won't go back to Barren Hill when she comes, will you?" For
+Ruth began to realize that, even with her dear mother safe at home once
+more, she would miss the kind aunt who had been so unfailingly patient.
+
+It was evident that Aunt Deborah was greatly pleased. Her brown eyes
+shone, and Ruth suddenly discovered the amazing fact that there was a
+dimple in Aunt Deborah's right cheek.
+
+"'Tis indeed pleasant that thou should wish me to stay; but I fear my
+house at Barren Hill needs its mistress. To-morrow is the first of
+April, and I must see about planting my garden as soon as possible.
+Perhaps thy mother will let thee come for a visit before long," she
+responded. "That is, if the English General will take such a great risk
+as to give a small maid permission to leave the city," for no one could
+leave Philadelphia at that time without a written permission from an
+English officer.
+
+Ruth was quite sure that she should like to visit Barren Hill. She knew
+it was half-way to Valley Forge, where the American soldiers had passed
+a dreary winter, suffering from cold and hunger, while their enemies had
+enjoyed the comforts of American homes in Philadelphia. But now that
+spring had come the American people were more hopeful; they were sure
+their army would soon drive the enemy from the city.
+
+The people of little settlements like Barren Hill managed to carry food
+and clothing to the American soldiers. Aunt Deborah, just before coming
+to Philadelphia, had carried a treasured store of honey to Washington's
+headquarters, as well as clothing and food for Ruth's father.
+
+Although Aunt Deborah was a Quaker she was sure of the righteousness of
+America's war against oppression.
+
+"Perhaps I could see my father if I go to visit you, Aunt Deborah," said
+Ruth hopefully.
+
+But Aunt Deborah could give no assurance as to this. She knew that any
+day might see Washington's army moving from its winter quarters.
+
+"Thee could help me with the garden," she responded. "The bees will soon
+be about their work now; and there are many things in the country for a
+small maid to find pleasure in."
+
+"Did you ever see Lafayette, Aunt Deborah?" Ruth asked.
+
+"Why, child! Did not thy mother tell thee? He stopped at my door one
+day. He was on horseback, and only two soldiers with him. They had
+ridden out from camp to make sure no English spies were about, and he
+stopped to ask for a cup of water. He was pleased to take milk instead.
+Thee shall see the very cup from which he drank, Ruth. It was one of the
+pink luster cups, and I put it apart from the others. Some day thee
+shall have it for thy own," said Aunt Deborah, smiling at Ruth's evident
+delight.
+
+As Ruth listened she resolved that nothing should prevent her from
+visiting Aunt Deborah. Perhaps she might see Lafayette as well as her
+dear father. Perhaps the young Frenchman might again call at Aunt
+Deborah's door, and she, Ruth Pernell, hand him the pink luster cup
+filled with milk.
+
+Aunt Deborah's voice interrupted these pleasant day-dreams.
+
+"Now, Ruth, thee may help me wash the dishes; and we will make sure that
+Hero is safely indoors," she said.
+
+"Yes, indeed. Oh! Aunt Deborah, this has been a splendid day, after
+all," the little girl responded, thinking of Hero safe at home, of
+Winifred's visit, and of the pink luster cup that some day would be her
+own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GILBERT'S PLAY
+
+
+Ruth was up in good season the next morning, and Aunt Deborah was quite
+willing for her little niece to take Hero for a morning call on
+Winifred; and it was not yet nine o'clock when Ruth pushed open the gate
+that led from the alley into the Merrill's' garden.
+
+The stable stood beside this gate, and was some distance from the house.
+Fluff, the pony, had a fine box stall with a window looking into the
+garden. Fluff belonged to Gilbert; but Gilbert had grown so tall that he
+thought the pony too small for his use, and on Winifred's last birthday
+had given her all right and title to the little gray pony, whose thick
+mane and plume-like tail had made the name "Fluff" most appropriate.
+
+The stable was nearly hidden from the house by shrubs and trees, and
+Gilbert and Winifred found it a fine play-house. Ruth often wished that
+there was a stable in her father's garden, and that she had a pony
+exactly like Fluff.
+
+At the sound of Hero's bark Winifred and Gilbert both appeared in the
+doorway of the stable, and close behind them stood Betty Hastings. Ruth
+stood still with a questioning look at Winifred. She was sure that
+Gilbert had asked Betty to take the part of Lafayette, and for a moment
+she was tempted to turn away without a word. But before she could act on
+this impulse there was a chorus of welcoming greetings for her and for
+Hero, and Winifred came running to meet her.
+
+"Betty is going to take the part of Lord Cornwallis!" Winifred
+exclaimed, as she put her arm about Ruth and led her to the stable.
+"Gilbert thinks you were splendid to go straight to General Howe and ask
+for Hero," she added, "and Betty wants to hear just what Major Andre
+said," so Ruth, instead of finding herself entirely supplanted by Betty,
+as she had for a moment feared, was surrounded by the eager interest and
+attention of the little group. It seemed to Ruth that she had never
+before known how nice Betty Hastings really was. The older girl was
+evidently greatly impressed by the fact that Ruth had sat next to the
+English General at his dinner table.
+
+"I wish I could have been you, Ruth," she declared admiringly.
+
+"It was all right for Ruth to ask for her dog," Gilbert interrupted,
+"but _I_ wouldn't have sat down at General Howe's table. Not much I
+wouldn't."
+
+"But Major Andre lifted me up. I didn't do it myself," replied Ruth,
+suddenly ashamed that she had entirely forgotten that the English
+officers were her enemies, and had even been rather pleased that no
+other little girl in Philadelphia could say that she had sat at the
+dinner table of the great English General.
+
+"And you are no better than a Tory, Betty Hastings," Gilbert continued,
+looking disapprovingly toward brown-eyed Betty. "You said a little while
+ago that you would rather be Lord Cornwallis than Washington."
+
+"Well, what if I did? I only meant in your play; because the English
+uniform is fine. All scarlet and gold," Betty explained. She was
+smiling, and evidently did not care at all if Gilbert did not approve of
+her. "Come on and tell us what your play is about," she added.
+
+Gilbert's frown vanished. He drew a roll of paper from his pocket; and,
+looking soberly at his companions, said:
+
+"The name of my play is 'America Defeats the Foe.' It is in two acts.
+The first act is Lord Cornwallis, that's you, Betty, on his knees asking
+Washington to spare his life. The second act is Washington and Lafayette
+and their triumphant army, Winifred is the army, marching into
+Philadelphia."
+
+"Um-m," said Betty slowly, "what does Washington say when Lord
+Cornwallis asks him to spare his life?"
+
+"I don't just know yet," Gilbert admitted. "I thought I'd wait until we
+rehearsed."
+
+"You said Fluff and Hero were to have parts," Winifred reminded him, a
+little anxiously.
+
+"What does Lafayette wear?" asked Ruth.
+
+Gilbert's face flushed: "Just like girls, wanting to know everything
+before I've had time to think. But I can tell you one thing, we'll have
+to plan our costumes now."
+
+"Mine is all planned," said Betty; "you know there is an English officer
+lodging at our house, and I'll borrow his scarlet coat."
+
+"My Aunt Deborah has seen Lafayette," Ruth announced proudly, "and I'll
+ask her to tell me just what he wore, and then perhaps I can look just
+like him."
+
+Winifred said nothing. Gilbert had already told her that he meant to
+dress up two broomsticks as American soldiers, and these were to "march"
+on each side of Winifred, with her aid and assistance. She was always
+ready to help Gilbert in all his plans, but she was beginning to think
+that it would be rather a difficult task to be a triumphant army;
+especially as Gilbert had told her that she must cheer for Washington
+and Lafayette when they reached the "State House," whose location he had
+not yet decided on.
+
+"Aren't you going to have any girls or women in your play?" asked Betty,
+apparently not greatly pleased with Gilbert's brief description. "_I_
+think you ought to have Lady Washington in a balcony waving her
+handkerchief, when the victorious army enters Philadelphia. I could be
+Lady Washington, because I'll be all through being Lord Cornwallis in
+the first act," and Betty smiled at her companions as if sure they would
+be greatly pleased by her suggestion.
+
+"Why, yes----" began Gilbert, but before he could say more a wail from
+Winifred made them all look at her in surprise.
+
+"Betty Hastings shan't be everything! If she's going to be Lady
+Washington I won't play. I won't be an army, anyway," she sobbed.
+
+"Oh! I don't care!" said Betty good-humored. "I just happened to think
+of it, that's all. I'd just as soon be the army."
+
+It was finally decided that Winifred should be Lady Washington, and wave
+from the top of the grain-bin when the triumphant army passed. Lafayette
+was to ride on Fluff, and Gilbert said he meant to borrow a horse for
+George Washington. Hero was to follow the army. It was dinner-time
+before all these important questions were settled; and it was agreed
+that they would meet again the next morning for another rehearsal.
+Gilbert promised to have speeches ready for Lafayette and Cornwallis.
+
+"The way it is now nobody has anything to say but Washington," Betty had
+said, and Gilbert had agreed that Cornwallis should at least say, "Spare
+me, noble Washington," while Lafayette could make some response to
+Washington's speech, which Betty thought far too long, thanking the
+young Frenchman for his aid to America.
+
+"I wish Gilbert would let you make up our speeches, Betty," said Ruth,
+looking up at her companion with admiring eyes, as the two girls stopped
+for a moment at Ruth's door. "It wasn't any play at all until you told
+him what to do."
+
+"It will come out all right," responded Betty. "It's the dressing up
+that will be fun. I wish we could get Ned Ferris to play the drum and
+march ahead."
+
+Ruth agreed that a drummer would make it seem more like a triumphant
+army.
+
+"Do you suppose the English officer at your house will really lend you
+his red coat?" questioned Ruth.
+
+Betty laughed. "Of course he will; for he won't know anything about it.
+'Tis his best coat, and hangs in a closet in the passage near his room.
+He wears it only now and then. I shall just borrow it, and then hang it
+back in the closet," declared Betty. "Just as you did your mother's
+dress," she added quickly, as if half-afraid of Ruth's disapproval, and
+with a "good-bye until to-morrow, Lafayette," she ran quickly down the
+street.
+
+Ruth was a little thoughtful as she went into the house. She wished that
+she had told Betty that she was sorry about borrowing her mother's dress
+without permission, and that it would be wiser to ask the soldier to
+lend his coat. Then she remembered that Betty was nearly thirteen, and
+of course must know more than a little girl only just past ten.
+
+Aunt Deborah greeted her smilingly. "I have been brushing thy mother's
+gown, Ruth. 'Twas sadly in need of it, and a tear on the side breadth.
+But I have mended it so well that 'twill hardly be noticed, and sponged
+and pressed the dress until it looks as well as ever," she said.
+
+Ruth's face brightened.
+
+"Oh! I am so glad, Aunt Deborah. Then Mother need not know I wore it, or
+that I went to see General Howe. You will not tell her, will you, Aunt
+Deborah?" said Ruth eagerly.
+
+The smile faded from Aunt Deborah's face, and she turned away from Ruth
+with a little sigh.
+
+"No, I will not tell her, Ruth. But thee will surely do that thyself,"
+she answered.
+
+"But you say the dress looks as well as ever," said Ruth, "and, oh,
+Aunt Deborah! It will make Mother feel so bad to know that I was so
+thoughtless," and Ruth looked pleadingly toward her aunt.
+
+"Thee shall settle the matter for thyself, Ruth. But I hope thee will
+tell thy mother," responded Aunt Deborah. But Ruth made no reply.
+
+In the afternoon Winifred came over, and the two little girls sat down
+on the back porch to talk over Gilbert's play. Winifred said that the
+broomsticks could be dressed up in some blue coverlets, with cocked hats
+made from paper, and Ruth promised to help Winifred make the hats.
+
+"Betty is going to borrow her mother's fine silk cape and bonnet for me
+to wear as Lady Washington," Winifred continued eagerly. "Isn't Betty
+splendid to let me have the very best part of all, and to get so many
+nice things for us to dress up in?"
+
+"Will she ask her mother for the cape and bonnet?" Ruth questioned.
+
+"Of course she will," declared Winifred, "and I have thought of
+something. We can dress Josephine and Cecilia in their best dresses,
+and have them sit beside Lady Washington on the top of the grain box."
+
+Ruth agreed that such a plan would add to the success of Gilbert's play.
+
+"My mother is coming home in a few days," she said when Winifred said
+that she must go home.
+
+"Well, I guess she will be proud when you tell her that you went to
+General Howe and made him find Hero," Winifred replied. For Winifred was
+sure that it had been a very courageous act to face the English General.
+
+"I am not going to tell her a word about it," was Ruth's reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+BETTY RUNS AWAY
+
+
+The days now passed very quickly for Ruth and her friends. Every day
+Betty Hastings, Winifred, Ruth and Gilbert were in the Merrill's' garden
+or stable at work on the costumes for "America Conquers the Foe." Ned
+Ferris, a boy not much older than Ruth, had promised Gilbert to play on
+his drum, and to march at the head of the "army;" he would not need to
+rehearse, so would not come until the day decided on for the play. Ned
+had also offered the loan of his brown pony, a much larger animal than
+Fluff, for "Washington" to ride; and now Gilbert, Winifred and Ruth were
+all sure that the play would be a success. Betty Hastings was not so
+confident. She had begun to fear that it would be no easy matter to
+borrow the scarlet coat without the owner's knowledge: and she was even
+more doubtful in regard to her mother's fine cape and bonnet; but she
+said nothing of this to the others.
+
+If she had known that Gilbert had invited her mother, as well as a
+number of other friends of Mrs. Merrill's, to what he described as "a
+birthday surprise for my mother," Betty would doubtless have given up
+her part; but Gilbert had asked each guest to keep the invitation a
+secret; and it was probable that a surprise was in store for
+"Cornwallis" as well as for Gilbert's mother.
+
+Mrs. Pernell returned home from Germantown on the very morning of Mrs.
+Merrill's birthday, and Ruth was so delighted at her arrival that she
+nearly forgot to ask her mother to come to the play that afternoon, as
+Gilbert had requested. Gilbert had said that he wished Mistress Deborah
+Farleigh would come with Ruth's mother, but added: "It isn't any use to
+ask her, for Quakers don't believe in plays."
+
+"But this is different; I'm sure she will come," Ruth had responded
+eagerly; and had been greatly pleased when Aunt Deborah agreed, saying
+that, "'Twas surely a patriotic lesson that she would like well to
+see."
+
+Mrs. Pernell also praised Gilbert's cleverness, and promised to be ready
+in good season. "Perhaps I had best wear my brown silk to do credit to
+Mrs. Merrill's birthday party," she said, and wondered why Ruth became
+so silent and looked so sober. For a moment Ruth was tempted to tell her
+mother the whole story of her visit to General Howe; but she resisted
+the impulse. "It would spoil everything to make Mother feel bad the very
+day she has come home," the little girl assured herself; but she no
+longer felt light-hearted, and when her mother patted Hero's head, and
+said that she knew he had taken good care of everything in her absence,
+Ruth grew even more serious.
+
+Aunt Deborah was very quiet; but now and then her eyes rested on Ruth a
+little questioningly.
+
+"I suppose Aunt Deborah is thinking I ought to tell Mother," thought
+Ruth, and was glad to hurry away as soon as they finished dinner, saying
+she must be in good season, as Gilbert had set three o'clock as the hour
+for the arrival of his audience.
+
+"You must come in through the alley," Ruth reminded her mother and aunt;
+for Gilbert had decided that the guests were to be a part of the
+surprise for his mother.
+
+Gilbert was arranging seats for the company just inside the door of the
+stable behind a rope stretched from the front to the door of Fluff's
+stall. On the previous day the children had made an excursion to Fair
+Mount, and had brought home a quantity of blossoming boughs of the white
+dogwood, branches of pine, and of flowering elder, and these were used
+to make a background for the seats intended for the guests, to hide a
+part of the grain-bin, from which Lady Washington was to wave, and made
+the stable a very attractive and pleasant place. The guests could look
+through the open door into the garden where blue iris, yellow daffodils
+and purple lilacs were already in bloom.
+
+When Ruth came running to the stable Winifred called out to her from the
+top of the grain-bin: "Look, Ruth! Look!" and Ruth stopped in the
+doorway with an exclamation of surprise. For there was Winifred wearing
+Mrs. Hastings' beautiful blue mantle of rich silk, and a bonnet with
+soft blue plumes, and beside her sat two other figures that, for a
+moment, Ruth believed to be two strange ladies. Then she realized that
+Winifred had "dressed up" bundles of hay in two old gowns of her
+mother's, with their "heads" crowned by wreaths of leaves and flowers.
+
+Winifred laughed delightedly at Ruth's astonishment. "You see, Josephine
+and Cecilia were not tall enough; and of course Lady Washington ought to
+have company," she explained.
+
+Gilbert, dressed in a blue coat, yellow knee-breeches, and with a
+crimson and white scarf pinned across his coat, came to the door. He
+wore a cocked hat, and a wooden sword was fastened at his side, and he
+endeavored to stand as tall as possible.
+
+"Betty is waiting for you behind the lilac bushes," he said, and
+vanished; and Ruth ran off to the bunch of lilacs behind the stable
+where Betty, in a scarlet coat that covered her completely, was holding
+Fluff's bridle-rein, and close by stood Ned Ferris beside his brown
+pony.
+
+"Here is your coat and hat, 'Lafayette,'" said Betty, pointing to a
+bundle, which Ruth hastened to open.
+
+The coat was of blue velvet. It was one that Betty had found in a trunk
+in her mother's attic. There were ruffles of yellowed lace at the
+wrists, and tarnished gilt buttons and braid on the shoulders. This old
+velvet coat had belonged to Betty's grandfather, and was highly valued
+by her father. But Betty had not asked permission to take it.
+
+Ruth tied up her hair and put on the cocked hat that she had helped
+Winifred make; then with Betty's aid she slipped on the velvet coat, and
+with the addition of a wooden sword which Gilbert had made for her she
+was ready for her part in the play.
+
+The guests all arrived in good season, and were escorted to their seats
+by "Washington" himself, who then ran to the house to announce to his
+mother that some friends of hers were in the garden.
+
+Mrs. Merrill, greatly to Gilbert's satisfaction, did not seem to notice
+that he was not dressed as usual, and walked beside him down the garden
+path; as a turn in the path brought them in sight of the stable door
+Gilbert said:
+
+"This is a birthday surprise for you, Mother. It's a play, and here is
+the programme," and he handed her a strip of white paper bordered with
+a row of stars cut from gilt paper. At the top Gilbert had printed:
+
+                 "_AMERICA CONQUERS THE FOE_"
+
+                           _A Play
+                              by
+                       Gilbert Merrill
+                    for Mother's Birthday_
+
+
+                         _ACT FIRST_
+
+                   _Cornwallis Begs For Mercy_
+
+             _Cornwallis                 B. Hastings
+              Washington                 G. Merrill_
+
+
+                         _ACT SECOND_
+
+               _Washington's Triumphant Army Enters
+                         Philadelphia_
+
+             _Washington                 G. Merrill
+              Lafayette                  R. Pernell
+              Lady Washington      Miss Winifred Merrill_
+
+                          _Army Band._
+
+Mrs. Merrill read the programme admiringly.
+
+"It is indeed a wonderful birthday surprise, my dear boy," she said
+smilingly, "and I am proud of you," and she hurried forward to greet and
+welcome her friends, while Gilbert ran to summon "Cornwallis" to be
+ready for the first act.
+
+An old horse-blanket, suspended from the hay-loft in the rear of the
+stable, served as a curtain behind which knelt Betty in the scarlet
+coat. Gilbert now took his place beside her, trying to look stern and
+noble. At Gilbert's whistle Winifred, who was in the hay-loft, was to
+pull up the blanket by the long strings that Gilbert had skilfully
+arranged.
+
+The whistle sounded clearly. Up rose the curtain. There was an approving
+murmur from the audience at the sight of "Cornwallis" on his knees.
+
+"Spare me, noble Washington!" said Betty, but in rather a feeble voice.
+
+Washington's right hand was stretched over the head of his conquered
+foe.
+
+"Arise, Cornwallis. Flee for your life. My army is at hand," responded
+Washington; and Betty, stumbling a little, escaped from the rear door,
+while Washington marched out to meet his army, and the audience
+applauded.
+
+Betty's mother had noticed the red coat, and wondered what English
+soldier had consented to lend it for such a purpose. It did not occur
+to her that Betty had taken it from their lodger's closet.
+
+When Betty had entered the stable by the rear door and knelt according
+to Washington's directions she could hear the murmur of voices.
+
+"Who is with your mother?" she whispered to "Washington," but there had
+been no time to answer, and Betty found herself facing not only
+Gilbert's mother but a dozen other ladies of whom her mother was one;
+and it was a very anxious and troubled Betty who joined the little group
+behind the lilac bushes and, slipping off the red coat, put on an old
+coat and hat belonging to Gilbert's father, and with the dressed up
+broomsticks, took her place behind Fluff as the "Army."
+
+Ned Ferris sounded a measured "rat-a-tat-tat" on his drum and strode
+toward the entrance to the stable, followed by Washington and Lafayette,
+the "Army," and the docile Hero. Lady Washington scrambled from the
+hay-loft to the top of the grain-bin, drew her fine silk mantle about
+her, and smiled graciously down upon the assembled guests. Mrs. Hastings
+looked up at her. "For pity's sake!" her seatmate heard her murmur, "my
+best mantle and bonnet!"
+
+But at that moment came the quick beat of a drum. Washington's pony, a
+little annoyed and nervous, and Fluff, determined to reach his stall as
+quickly as possible, although "Lafayette" endeavored to guide him in the
+appointed course, entered the stable.
+
+"Washington" drew rein beneath the grain-bin and lifted his hat to Lady
+Washington, who leaned forward to wave in response; but unfortunately
+her bonnet strings were not fastened, and the fine bonnet with its blue
+plumes fell from her head and went tumbling down almost on Hero's brown
+head. In a second the dog had seized it, and forgetting his part in the
+procession, jumped this way and that, shaking this new plaything with
+delighted satisfaction.
+
+Mrs. Hastings kept her seat resolutely. It would have been an easy
+matter to have stepped from her seat and rescued the bonnet. But Mrs.
+Hastings knew that such a movement on her part would have brought
+Gilbert's play to an untimely end, and spoiled the pleasure of all the
+guests, as well as of the children who took part. So she did not move,
+even when Hero fled out into the garden with the plumes grasped in his
+teeth. Betty, Ruth and Winifred never forgot that moment, nor the fact
+that Mrs. Hastings had apparently not seen what happened. Even in her
+fright at the results of her "borrowing" Betty Hastings was very proud
+of her mother.
+
+The drummer played on. The two ponies were swung around face to face;
+Washington and Lafayette clasped hands for a moment; then side by side,
+with drum playing, but with a silent army, the little procession
+vanished through the rear door.
+
+Gilbert was delighted with his success. It seemed to him that everything
+had gone very well, and he was especially grateful to Betty Hastings for
+securing the English officer's coat.
+
+But Betty, having seen the ruin of the bonnet, had suddenly realized
+that it was a serious matter to take the belongings of other people
+without their permission; and her first thought was of the officer's
+coat. Whatever happened she must return that coat to the closet from
+which she had taken it as soon as possible. Then she would try and
+explain to her mother that she had not meant any harm should befall the
+borrowed articles. So, grasping the red coat, Betty opened the door into
+the alley and started off as fast as she could go; while Ruth, still
+wearing the fine velvet coat, crouched down behind the lilac bushes, too
+unhappy to care if the play had been a success or not; for as
+"Lafayette" faced the audience she had seen that her mother was wearing
+the brown silk dress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+BETTY'S ADVENTURE
+
+
+"Come, Ruth, Mistress Hastings is waiting for thy fine velvet coat," and
+Ruth looked up to see Aunt Deborah smiling down upon her; and in a
+moment the little girl was clinging to Aunt Deborah's arm, and asking
+anxiously:
+
+"Did Mother find the mended place in her dress? Oh, Aunt Deborah! I do
+wish I had told her all about it!"
+
+"Slip off the coat, dear child, and run and tell her now," said Aunt
+Deborah, and in a moment Ruth was running across the garden to where her
+mother was standing with Mrs. Merrill. Mrs. Pernell smiled down at her
+little daughter, and clasping the warm little hand in her own turned
+toward the gate.
+
+In a moment Ruth was in the midst of her story, and Mrs. Pernell
+listened without a word until Ruth, breathless and almost in tears,
+finished by saying:
+
+"I didn't think it would hurt the dress, Mother! I'm so sorry. And I am
+sorry I didn't tell you the moment you got home."
+
+Ruth felt her hand clasped a little more closely at this; but her mother
+made no response until they were in Ruth's pleasant chamber. Then Mrs.
+Pernell drew her little girl down beside her on the broad window-seat;
+and leaning her head against her mother's shoulder Ruth told of the day
+she had stayed up-stairs as a punishment for her thoughtlessness.
+
+"Mother, you haven't said a word!" Ruth finally exclaimed, looking up
+anxiously. "Are you ashamed of me?"
+
+"Why, I think I am rather proud of my little daughter," was the smiling
+response. "You set your own punishment, and I know you will stop and
+think when next you plan such a masquerade party. My dress, it seems, is
+but little the worse, after all; and Hero is well worth some sacrifice.
+Perhaps if you had not been 'dressed up' you would not have been
+admitted to General Howe's house, and might not have succeeded in
+rescuing Hero," said Mrs. Pernell, stooping down to kiss her little
+girl's flushed cheek.
+
+"Oh, Mother! I do love you," exclaimed the happy child. "I'll never be
+afraid to tell you everything."
+
+"Of course you will tell me everything. That is what mothers are for,"
+rejoined Mrs. Pernell. "And now I will take off my silk gown, and you
+had best smooth your hair and make yourself tidy for supper."
+
+"That sounds like Aunt Deborah," said Ruth laughingly. But as she obeyed
+her mother's suggestion she thought happily that now Mother was at home
+everything was sure to go smoothly.
+
+When Gilbert's play was over Mrs. Hastings, although sadly troubled over
+Betty's "borrowings," and the ruin of her pretty bonnet, complimented
+Gilbert and Winifred on the success of the play; and not until she had
+chatted for a few moments with Mrs. Merrill did she go to rescue her
+valued mantle and the treasured velvet coat. She hoped the English
+officer's coat was none the worse for its part in the play; and, like
+Betty, she hoped to return it before it was missed by its rightful
+owner; for it would be no easy matter to explain why it had been
+borrowed, and she knew its loss would make serious trouble.
+
+She noticed that her mantle was dusty and wrinkled, and that the lace on
+the velvet coat was torn. The scarlet coat, however, was not to be
+found, and Betty had also disappeared.
+
+Deciding that she would find her little daughter and the coat safely at
+home Mrs. Hastings bade her friends good-bye and started for her walk
+home. But she did not find Betty there. Supper time came, and still no
+Betty. A servant was sent to Mrs. Merrill's to inquire for the little
+girl, but came hurrying back with the tidings that Betty had not been
+seen since the end of the play.
+
+Mrs. Merrill now looked through every room, but Betty was not to be
+found. She inquired at the homes of her neighbors, but no one had seen
+the little girl.
+
+The April twilight deepened to dusk; the stars shone out and found Mrs.
+Hastings anxious and troubled, for she could find no trace of Betty.
+
+When Betty ran down the alley she had thought it would be an easy matter
+to reach home with the red coat; but she had forgotten that Philadelphia
+was full of the King's soldiers, and that a bareheaded little girl
+racing down the street with the coat of an English officer over her arm
+would not escape notice; and she had only reached Second Street when a
+passing soldier called to her. His call only made her run the faster,
+and the soldier sped after her. If Betty had stopped at once, told her
+own name and address, and the name of the owner of the coat, the soldier
+would doubtless have taken her directly home and made sure that she had
+told him the truth, and it is probable that her troubles would have been
+at an end. But Betty was now too frightened to think clearly. She did
+not even know the direction in which she ran was straight away from her
+home. The English soldier ran clumsily, and Betty, turning quickly into
+another street, soon distanced him; but only to run straight into
+another soldier, who seized her firmly by both arms, swung her about,
+and without a word marched her down the street.
+
+"Making off with an officer's coat," he said, after what seemed a very
+long time to the frightened girl. "What's your name?"
+
+Betty made no response. She resolved that no one should ever know that
+Betty Hastings had been suspected of such a dreadful thing as taking
+what she had no right to take.
+
+"Won't speak, eh? Well, I'll take you to Captain De Lance and see what
+he has to say to you," said the soldier, and the silent little girl,
+still holding the scarlet coat, was led down one street after another
+until she saw the shining waters of the Schuylkill River before her, and
+the soldier led her up the steps of an old stone house whose garden ran
+down to the river. The soldier was evidently familiar with the house,
+for he pushed open the door and led Betty into a big pleasant room, and
+motioned toward a comfortable chair.
+
+"You can sit there until the captain comes in; and you had best tell me
+your name. 'Twill do you no good to sulk," he said, taking the coat from
+her reluctant grasp. But Betty only set her lips more firmly. She
+resolved not to speak, no matter what might befall her.
+
+"Very well, Miss. I'll leave you to find your tongue," said the soldier,
+laying the coat carefully over a chair and leaving the room. Betty heard
+him turn the key in the lock. She was tired, and leaned back in the
+cushioned chair, hardly realizing what had befallen her. She could hear
+steps now and then outside the door, and every moment expected that it
+would open and the captain of whom the soldier had spoken would appear.
+
+But the room grew shadowy in the deepening twilight and no one came
+near. Betty's thoughts flew homeward to the candle-lit dining-room where
+Dinah, the Hastings' colored servant, would be spreading the table for
+supper, and Betty realized that she was very hungry.
+
+She left her seat and tiptoed toward a long window at the further end of
+the room. The window looked out into the garden, and Betty instantly
+realized that it swung in on hinges and was not fastened, and that it
+would be an easy matter to let herself down to the ground.
+
+"I must take the coat," she thought, and crept back to the chair where
+the scarlet coat lay. In a moment she was back at the window and had
+dropped the coat to the ground; and now, grasping the window sill with
+both hands, she let herself carefully down. Picking up the coat, and
+keeping close in the shadow of the house, Betty made her way until she
+was near the door through which she had entered the house. She went very
+carefully, peering ahead into the shadows, and listening intently for
+any sound that might warn her that her flight had been discovered. But
+she heard no sound, and at last she reached the road.
+
+"It is too dark for any one to know what color the coat is now," she
+thought, as she hurried along.
+
+Betty realized that she was a long distance from home, but she was sure
+that she could soon find her way to some familiar street and then it
+would be an easy matter to reach home. Now and then she passed groups of
+people homeward bound, or English soldiers sauntering along the street,
+and then turning a corner she gave a little exclamation of delight, for
+there, close at hand, were the brick walls of Christ Church, its
+graceful spire rising against the clear April sky. And now home was near
+at hand and Betty quickened her pace. She had almost forgotten her
+mother's ruined bonnet and the fact that she had no excuse to give for
+borrowing the things for Gilbert's play without permission. All she
+could think of was the fact that she was in sight of home. She ran up
+the steps and the door opened as if by magic, and Betty's mother clasped
+her little girl, scarlet coat and all, in her welcoming arms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LOST PROGRAMME
+
+
+The scarlet coat, after being carefully brushed and pressed, was
+returned to its place in the closet; and its owner never knew or
+imagined the part it had taken in Gilbert's play. The soldier who had
+locked Betty into Captain De Lance's room, and returned to find that the
+silent little captive had outwitted him and made her escape, decided
+that it was best to keep the affair to himself, and say nothing about a
+little girl with an officer's coat for which she would not account.
+
+Ruth and Winifred came early the next morning to make sure that Betty
+was safe at home, and listened eagerly to the story of her adventure.
+
+"Do you suppose you could find the way back to the stone house?"
+questioned Ruth.
+
+"Yes, I am sure I could," responded Betty; but she did not suggest, as
+Ruth hoped, that they should all make an excursion to the house by the
+river. In fact, Winifred and Ruth both agreed on their way home that
+Betty seemed very sober. And it was true that Betty was more quiet than
+usual for several days; for she realized that she had had a narrow
+escape from a serious punishment. Nor could she forget the pretty plumed
+bonnet that Hero had so gaily destroyed. The fact that her mother did
+not speak of the bonnet only made Betty the more repentant. She and Ruth
+had both resolved that they would not again take for granted that they
+could use other people's property without permission.
+
+"Aunt Deborah is going home to Barren Hill to-morrow," said Ruth, as she
+and Winifred came near home; "Farmer Withal is to call for her. You
+know he brings in butter and cheese from his farm every Thursday, and
+Aunt Deborah will ride home in his wagon. I wish I were going with her."
+
+"Oh, Ruth Pernell!" said Winifred reproachfully.
+
+"Well, I do. Barren Hill is half-way to Valley Forge, and perhaps I
+could see my father. And, Winifred! One day Lafayette stopped at Aunt
+Deborah's door! Perhaps I might see him; perhaps he might ask me to
+carry a message for him," said Ruth eagerly.
+
+"Little girls can't carry war messages," Winifred rejoined confidently.
+"You are just like Gilbert, always wishing you could do something for
+Lafayette. I don't see why. I would rather help Washington."
+
+"It's because Lafayette came 'way from France," Ruth replied, "and,
+anyway, I am going to Barren Hill. Mother says that I may go next
+month."
+
+"I have thought of something!" Winifred announced. "To-morrow you and I
+will drive out a little way with your aunt. With Fluff, I mean; and Hero
+may go too. I will harness Fluff into the cart, and we will be all ready
+to start at the same time they do."
+
+Ruth agreed that this would be a fine plan, and both the girls were sure
+that Aunt Deborah would be pleased that they wished to go a part of the
+way with her. They decided to take "Josephine" and "Cecilia," as well as
+Hero, with them.
+
+[Illustration: IT WAS A FAVORITE PLAY-HOUSE]
+
+"It will make up to them for not taking part in the play," said
+Winifred. So much had happened during the past week that Ruth had
+entirely forgotten the unfinished chair for Cecilia, but now she spoke
+of it to Winifred.
+
+"I will help you finish it. But let's take our dolls and work into the
+garden; it is too warm to stay in the house," she said, and in a short
+time the two little girls had brought Cecilia and Josephine, as well as
+their sewing bags, to the shade of the wide-spreading maple tree that
+grew in the further corner of the Pernell's' garden. Ruth's father had
+built a low seat around this tree, and it was a favorite play-house for
+the two little friends. Hero followed them, and stretched himself out at
+their feet, quite sure that they were both happier because of his
+presence.
+
+For a little while the girls worked steadily, covering with chintz the
+cardboard pieces that would form the chair.
+
+"I'll put it together," said Winifred, and with skillful fingers she
+fastened the seat, back and arms; and with a triumphant "There!" set it
+down beside Ruth, who looked at it admiringly, and lost no time in
+establishing Cecilia in her new possession.
+
+"Wouldn't it be fine if we could make a sofa, and a table and a little
+bed for each of our dolls?" suggested Ruth.
+
+"We can," declared Winifred, "but I think it would be nicer to have the
+table and bed made of wood. Let's go in your shed and see if we can find
+some nice smooth pieces."
+
+"And Father's tool box is in the shed," said Ruth, as they left their
+dolls in Hero's care and ran across the garden to the shed, whose open
+door faced the big maple.
+
+The shed was nearly square. Beside the wide door there were two windows,
+both looking into the garden, and beneath these was Mr. Pernell's
+work-bench, and a box containing his treasured tools; and on a long
+shelf over the bench were carefully arranged strips and squares of
+polished wood. For in the days of peace Mr. Pernell had used his leisure
+hours in making frames for pictures, a work-box, desk or light-stand;
+and had collected this store of material from many sources. Ruth had
+often played about in the shed while her father was at work, but she had
+no idea of the value of his store of wood.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! Look! This will make a fine table!" she said, standing
+on the work-bench and pulling down a strip of curly maple.
+
+"And here are some dark shiny strips, just the thing for bed-posts!"
+said Winnie, drawing out a slender length of highly polished mahogany.
+In a few minutes the two girls had pulled down a number of strips of
+wood, had opened Mr. Pernell's tool-chest and taken out a number of
+planes, a small saw, gimlets and a hammer.
+
+"But we haven't any patterns," said Winifred. "You know we had a pattern
+for the chair."
+
+"We don't need any pattern for a table. It is just a top and four legs,
+one at each corner," declared Ruth. "We can begin on the table to-day;
+then we can look at sofas and beds and make patterns, if we need to."
+
+"Here is something to measure with," said Winifred, holding up a
+foot-rule. "We can make anything! Oh, Ruth! Instead of making doll
+furniture let's make truly tables, I am sure some of those pieces are
+large enough."
+
+"Winifred, you always think of just the right thing," Ruth responded
+admiringly. "Let's make a table for a present for Betty. She got all
+those nice things for us to dress up in, and we have never made her a
+present."
+
+Winifred nodded approvingly. She was greatly pleased by Ruth's
+admiration, and she thought that Betty would be greatly surprised to
+discover that two girls so much younger than herself could really make a
+table.
+
+"Ruth! Ruth!" called Aunt Deborah from the back porch. "Dinner is ready!"
+
+So the two little girls were obliged to leave their pleasant plans, and,
+after promising to return early that afternoon, Winifred started for
+home while Ruth ran into the house.
+
+"My chair is all finished for Cecilia," she announced as she took her
+seat at the dinner-table, "and Winifred and I are going to make a table
+for Betty."
+
+Mrs. Pernell and Aunt Deborah both smiled their approval, thinking that
+the table for Betty, like Cecilia's chair, was to be made of pasteboard.
+
+"Thee must bring thy doll to Barren Hill," said Aunt Deborah. "There are
+fine places to play in the big barn and in the pine woods, and thy doll
+will be company for thee."
+
+"How soon may I visit Aunt Deborah, Mother?" Ruth asked eagerly. "May I
+not go with Farmer Withal next week?"
+
+"I cannot spare you so soon, Ruthie dear," responded her mother, "and I
+will have to ask permission from the English General for you to leave
+the town. You see they fear even small Americans," she concluded
+laughingly. But before dinner was over it was decided that, if all went
+well, Ruth should go to Barren Hill about the first of May. That seemed
+a long time to Ruth; but she remembered that Betty's table was not even
+begun, and if she and Winifred did decide to make furniture for their
+dolls the three weeks that must pass before her visit to Barren Hill
+would perhaps be none too long a time.
+
+Mrs. Pernell had just left the table when there was a rap at the door,
+and before any one could respond it opened, and there stood Winifred;
+her face was pale and she was evidently frightened.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Pernell! There are two English officers at our house. They
+have come to take Gilbert," she exclaimed, "and they want Ruth too."
+
+"'Take Gilbert'!" echoed Mrs. Pernell. "What has he done? And what do
+they want of Ruth?"
+
+"Oh! It's because of the play. Mother lost the programme we made for
+her. It blew away, and an English soldier found it; and they are going
+to take Ruth too," Winifred finished nearly in tears.
+
+"I will go and speak with these officers," said Aunt Deborah calmly.
+"Thee need not be troubled, Winifred. Thee and Ruth had best come with
+me so they can see how dangerous an enemy they have to arrest," and Aunt
+Deborah smiled so reassuringly that Winifred took courage, and followed
+Aunt Deborah to the door. They were soon in the Merrill's' garden, just
+in time to meet two English soldiers with Gilbert between them coming
+down the steps.
+
+Aunt Deborah went forward smilingly.
+
+"Thee does not mean to take this lad from his home," she said, speaking
+to the elder of the two men. "He has done nothing worthy of thy notice,
+and his mother can ill spare him."
+
+"That may be, madam. But we must obey orders. We have to take G. Merrill
+and R. Pernell to General Howe," the man answered civilly.
+
+"Here is R. Pernell," said Aunt Deborah, her hand resting protestingly
+on Ruth's shoulder. "Surely thee does not mean to take this little
+girl?"
+
+The soldiers seemed somewhat surprised at this, but repeated that they
+must obey orders. Gilbert did not seem at all afraid; he took Ruth by
+the hand, and told her that it was nothing to be alarmed about. Mrs.
+Merrill, Aunt Deborah, Ruth's mother and Winifred kept close to the
+"prisoners" as the little party made its way down the street toward the
+headquarters of the English General.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A LONG ROAD
+
+
+"What is this?" called a pleasant voice, and the two soldiers halted
+instantly and saluted a young officer who blocked their way.
+
+"If thee please, sir, there has been a mistake made," said Aunt Deborah,
+and proceeded to tell the story of the birthday entertainment that the
+children had given for Mrs. Merrill.
+
+The young officer listened gravely.
+
+"As you say, madam, they are but children; but such games find little
+favor among loyal English people," he responded.
+
+"But thee must remember we are Americans," said Aunt Deborah fearlessly.
+The young officer turned and walked beside them. Now and then he smiled
+as if amused by his own thoughts, but he said nothing more until they
+reached the headquarters of the General.
+
+"Wait here a moment," he said, and ran up the steps.
+
+"I shall tell them that Ruth had nothing to do with it, and that I am
+the only one to blame," Gilbert said to Mrs. Pernell. "Of course they
+won't punish any one but me."
+
+Before Mrs. Pernell could reply the young officer appeared at the door,
+and came slowly down the steps.
+
+"Come with me, young sir," he said, resting his hand on Gilbert's
+shoulder. "You may take the little girls home, ladies," he added. "I am
+quite sure they will not prove a danger to England's cause."
+
+"I will wait for my son," said Mrs. Merrill. "I do not suppose you mean
+to detain him long."
+
+"I cannot say as to that, madam; but you are quite welcome to wait. If
+you will come in I will see that you find a comfortable chair," he
+replied courteously.
+
+"I will wait here," said Mrs. Merrill.
+
+"And we will wait also," declared Ruth's mother.
+
+Ruth and Winifred clasped each other's hands as they watched Gilbert
+being led up the steps. They thought their mothers were very brave
+indeed to reply so calmly to an English officer.
+
+Gilbert was absent not more than a half hour, but it seemed much longer
+to the anxious little group. He came down the steps alone, and when his
+mother slipped her hand under one arm while Winifred clasped his other
+hand he smiled and said: "Humph! All they did was laugh and tell me to
+choose a better plot for my next play. They are not soldiers at all.
+Why, they asked me if I would not like to take a part in one of Major
+Andre's plays."
+
+"What did you say, Gilbert?" questioned Winifred.
+
+"I said '_No_.' And that's all I said. And I did not thank them for the
+offer; and then they laughed more than ever. I wish Washington would
+drive them out of Philadelphia," answered Gilbert, who was a trifle
+disappointed that the Englishmen had not taken his play more seriously.
+He would not have minded if he had been held as a prisoner for a few
+days; it would have made him feel that he had really done something to
+prove his loyalty to the American cause.
+
+But Mrs. Merrill was very glad to have her tall son safely beside her,
+although she was inclined to agree with him that the gay young English
+officers took their duties too lightly. There had been balls at the City
+Tavern every week during the winter, and most of the officers seemed to
+forget that there were dangers in store for them from the American Army
+at Valley Forge.
+
+Gilbert's adventure made Ruth and Winifred completely forget their plan
+to make a table as a present for Betty until late that afternoon; and
+then they decided not to begin it until after Aunt Deborah's departure
+the next day.
+
+"Mother has a table shaped like a heart. We could mark a heart on that
+square piece of dark wood with chalk and then cut it out," suggested
+Winnie. "I am sure Betty would like that better than a plain square
+table."
+
+"Of course she would," agreed Ruth. Neither of the little girls realized
+how hard an undertaking it would be to carve a heart-shaped table top
+from the square piece of mahogany.
+
+Ruth was awake at an early hour the next morning. The April sun shone
+warmly in through her open window; the robins, who had built a nest in
+the hawthorn tree, sang jubilantly as if rejoicing that spring was
+really at hand, and Ruth could hear her mother and Aunt Deborah moving
+about in the lower rooms. It was just the day for a ride in the country.
+
+Ruth was glad that Winifred had thought of so pleasant a plan as driving
+a part of the way with Aunt Deborah. Both the little girls had taken it
+for granted that their mothers would have no objection. Winifred was
+used to driving the pony, and had often taken Ruth with her, but they
+had never been farther than Fair Mount, a pleasant hill just outside the
+town on the Schuylkill River, or along the quiet streets of the town;
+but to-day Winifred had said that they would drive until Aunt Deborah
+should tell them to turn toward home.
+
+Farmer Withal usually arrived in the city at an early hour, delivered
+his produce, then gave the big brown horse an hour or two rest, and was
+ready to start on his return journey directly after dinner.
+
+Aunt Deborah did not keep him waiting, and was at the gate with Mrs.
+Pernell beside her when the round-faced smiling farmer in his long coat
+of heavy blue drilling and his wide-rimmed hat came driving up.
+
+"Where can Ruth be?" her mother said anxiously, as the farmer lifted
+Aunt Deborah's trunk into the back of the wagon and stood waiting to
+help her mount to the high seat.
+
+At that moment the pony carriage drew up behind the wagon with Winnie
+and Ruth smiling and waving their hands at Aunt Deborah.
+
+"We are going a little way with you, Mistress Farleigh," called
+Winifred.
+
+"May I go, Mother?" Ruth added.
+
+Aunt Deborah was evidently greatly pleased that the little girls had
+wished to go a little way with her on her journey home, and Mrs. Pernell
+smiled and nodded her consent, thinking that Ruth would be safely back
+in an hour at the longest, and waving her good-byes as Farmer Withal
+climbed to his seat and the brown horse trotted off, closely followed by
+Fluff.
+
+Down the street they went, turning now into the broader highway and at
+last reaching the river road that led straight to Mat son's Ford, beyond
+which the road led on to Valley Forge.
+
+As they came in sight of the river the big horse stopped, and in a
+moment Fluff was beside the farmer's cart. Aunt Deborah smiled down at
+the little girls.
+
+"'Tis best that thee turn toward home now. And I thank thee both for
+coming so far with me. 'Twill not be long now, Ruth, before I hope to
+see thee at Barren Hill. And thee, Winifred, will be welcome also
+whenever thou canst give me the pleasure of a visit."
+
+Before Aunt Deborah had finished speaking Ruth was out of the pony
+carriage and standing on the step of Farmer Withe's cart holding up a
+package.
+
+"Here is something I made for you, Aunt Deborah," she said. Aunt Deborah
+reached down and received the small carefully wrapped package.
+
+"Thank thee, dear child," she said, and Ruth stood by the roadside and
+waved a good-bye as the brown horse trotted off at a more rapid pace than
+he had traveled through the town.
+
+"I wish we could have gone farther," she said regretfully as she went
+back to her seat beside Winifred.
+
+"Well, we can. We'll turn up that shady road and see where it goes,"
+responded Winifred. "What did you give your aunt?"
+
+"A needle-book. Mother helped me make it. It is of blue flannel, with
+embroidered edges, and shaped like a small book, with Aunt Deborah's
+initials on the cover," said Ruth. "Would it not be pleasant if you
+could visit Aunt Deborah when I do?"
+
+Winifred feared that such a visit would not be possible. But the two
+little friends talked of many things as Fluff trotted along the narrow
+country road, hardly more than a lane, and sheltered by closely growing
+trees. Now and then the road came out into an open space, and there
+would be many violets growing close to the roadside. Then the girls
+sprang from the cart and gathered handfuls of the fragrant blossoms,
+while Fluff nibbled at the grass, or twisted his head to watch his young
+mistress. The wild honeysuckle was also in bloom along a sloping
+pasture, and Ruth was eager to gather it to take home to her mother. She
+climbed up the rough slope, followed by Winifred, and they soon had
+large bunches of the delicate blossoms. From the top of the little hill
+that they had climbed they could see the distant line of the blue river,
+and after roaming about for a time they decided it was time to return to
+Fluff and start for home. The pony whinnied a little impatiently and
+shook his head at them as they approached.
+
+"He thinks we have stayed too long," said Winifred laughingly. "What
+time do you suppose it is, Ruth?"
+
+"Oh! we can't have been away from home more than an hour," said Ruth;
+"but the sky looks cloudy, doesn't it?"
+
+But it was not clouds that made the sky darken, it was the rapidly
+approaching twilight. The tall trees shut out the golden spring
+sunshine; and the afternoon had passed so pleasantly that neither Ruth
+nor Winifred had any idea that evening was close at hand, or that they
+were miles from home in a solitary and unknown road that had seemed to
+grow more narrow as they went on.
+
+"Perhaps we had better turn around now," suggested Winifred a few
+moments after they had gathered the wild honeysuckle. "I told Mother we
+would be home early. Why, what is the matter with Fluff?" she added in a
+startled tone, for the little pony had come to a full stop.
+
+Both the little girls jumped out of the cart and ran to the pony's head,
+which drooped low. Fluff was breathing heavily, and it seemed to
+Winifred as if his slender legs trembled.
+
+"Why, he can't be tired. He had that long rest just now," said Ruth
+anxiously. Neither of them realized that ever since leaving the river
+the road had run steadily up-hill, or that the pony had been traveling
+for a number of hours. Fluff was no longer young, and he had never been
+required to go long distances; and now he could go no further.
+
+"I'll take off his harness," said Winifred quickly. "I hope he isn't
+going to have a fit. Ned Farris's pony has fits." It did not take her
+long to set Fluff free from the pony-cart, and he turned a grateful look
+toward his little mistress, who began to wish there was a brook or
+spring near at hand where the little creature could drink.
+
+Ruth smoothed Fluff's head, and Winifred with a bunch of wayside grass
+rubbed his back and legs.
+
+"He's going to lie down," said Winifred as Fluff moved his head about
+quickly; and in a moment the tired little creature had stretched himself
+at their feet.
+
+"What shall we do? I am sure Fluff can't take us home," exclaimed
+Winifred, "and we can't go and leave him here."
+
+"It can't be very far from home," responded Ruth. "I could go home and
+tell Gilbert, and he would come right back for you with Ned's pony."
+
+"But what could we do with Fluff?" asked Winifred a little despondently.
+"He is too tired to drive home."
+
+"Perhaps he'd be rested enough by that time to go home, if he didn't
+have to pull the cart," said Ruth; "anyway, I do think one of us ought
+to go home or our mothers will think some harm has befallen us. I'll
+stay, if you would rather go."
+
+But Winifred shook her head. She did not wish to leave the pony; neither
+was she pleased at the thought of staying by herself on that lonely
+road. At last, however, they decided that Ruth's plan was the best they
+could think of, and Ruth started.
+
+"I'll hurry all the way, Winifred; and Gilbert will come back as fast as
+he can," she called as she started to run down the hill.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A LONG RIDE
+
+
+"I wish we had brought Hero," thought Ruth regretfully as she hurried
+down the shadowy road, "then he could have come with me for company."
+For at the last moment before leaving home the little girls had decided
+that it was not best to let Hero accompany them. There was not room for
+him in the pony-cart, and for him to race along the streets might well
+mean that he would again disappear; so Ruth had been quite ready to
+leave him at home. But now she would have been very glad to have him
+running along beside her. "Josephine" and "Cecilia" had also been left
+behind; in fact neither Winifred nor Ruth had remembered the dolls until
+after they had said good-bye to Aunt Deborah. And, while Ruth was
+regretting the absence of Hero, Winifred, sitting close beside Fluff,
+was wishing that her beloved Josephine was there to keep her company.
+
+"It would be a great adventure for Josephine," she thought, looking up
+through the overhanging branches of the big oak under which Fluff had
+stopped to rest. For a time she amused herself by braiding the long
+grass and weaving it about green twigs broken from an elder-bush until
+she had made a wide, shallow basket with a handle. Into this she put the
+violets and wild honeysuckle, resolving to take it home as a present to
+her mother. She put it carefully under the seat of the pony-cart, and
+then decided to search for a spring or brook, for she was thirsty.
+
+Fluff showed no signs of wishing to start for home, or even to eat the
+tempting young grass growing near.
+
+"If I find a brook perhaps I can lead him, and then he will get a good
+drink," thought Winifred, crossing the narrow road and pushing aside a
+thick growth of wild shrubs.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, for she had stepped at once on to damp yielding
+moss which covered her low cut slippers and whetted her feet as
+completely as if she had stepped into a brook. Just beyond this moss lay
+a clear little pool of water, evidently fed by springs.
+
+Winifred discovered that the farther, or upper, bank of the pool was dry
+and sandy, and in a few moments she was kneeling beside the clear water
+and drinking thirstily. She then made her way back to the road, breaking
+down branches of the shrubs to make a way for Fluff, who was now on his
+feet looking about as if in search of his little mistress.
+
+"Come on, Fluff," she said coaxingly, grasping the plume-like mane.
+"Come and have a drink." The pony moved forward obediently. He hesitated
+a moment at having to push his way through the undergrowth, but with
+Winifred encouraging and urging him forward he was soon in sight of the
+pool, and then sprang forward so suddenly that his mane slid through
+Winifred's hands and she found herself on her hands and knees while
+Fluff, with his nose in the clear water, was drinking thirstily.
+
+Winifred laughed as she scrambled to her feet. Her shoes and stockings
+were wet and muddy, her pretty blue linen dress was torn, and now she
+realized that her hat was gone, that she must have lost it in pushing
+her way through the undergrowth; but these things seemed of small
+consequence to Winifred just then; for the pony, with his forefeet
+planted firmly in the shallow water, was evidently more himself than he
+had been since he had stopped short under the oak tree.
+
+"I'll lead him back and harness him into the cart and start after Ruth,"
+thought his little mistress happily, "and I do believe it is getting
+dark!" she added aloud, realizing that the woods seemed very shadowy, as
+she made her way toward the pool.
+
+As she came near Fluff he lifted his head from the water, shook himself
+much as a big dog would do, and whinnied with satisfaction. But as
+Winifred approached more closely he gave a little dancing step into the
+water just beyond her reach.
+
+"Oh, Fluff! It isn't any time to play games. We must start for home
+before it is really dark," said Winifred. But Fluff was now rested, and
+free from his harness in a fragrant shadowy wood. He was sure that his
+little mistress must be as ready as himself for a game, so he edged
+along the pool until a clear space opened before him, and then he
+stepped out, and trotted briskly away between the tall trees.
+
+"Fluff! Fluff!" called Winifred, running after him. "Oh! where did he
+go?" for the pony had disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him.
+Winifred ran on until her way was blocked by thickly growing underbrush.
+Then she turned back, but now she could not find the pool. The shadows
+deepened; she could hardly distinguish one tree from another, and there
+was no sound or sign from the gray pony.
+
+"What shall I do?" she said, standing close to the trunk of a pine tree
+that rose straight and tall with wide-spreading branches. She realized
+that she must now be some distance from the road and the big oak tree
+where she had left the pony-cart, and Fluff perhaps was deep in this
+wilderness, unable to make his way back; and, worst of all, night was
+close upon her.
+
+It was indeed a dangerous position for a little girl to be alone in a
+wilderness as Winifred found herself. It was a time when many wild
+beasts still wandered about, often coming near to the outskirts of towns
+and villages. Winifred remembered that only a few weeks earlier a
+catamount had been killed at Fair Mount, and she knew that in the early
+spring bears left the dens where they had slept through the winter, and
+wandered through the woods eating the tender young buds and leaves. She
+crouched closer to the tree as she remembered these things, and then
+suddenly she recalled the words that she had worked on her sampler:
+"There shall no evil befall thee. For he shall give his angels charge
+over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."
+
+Her mother had traced the words, and Winifred had worked them in dull
+blue yarns on the perforated wool cloth. She said them over aloud: "No
+evil befall thee," and was no longer afraid. She did not think now of
+the beasts of the dark wood, but of a kindly presence that would shelter
+her.
+
+"Perhaps Fluff will come and find me," she thought hopefully. "Anyway,
+Ruth will soon be back with Gilbert, and they will call my name, and I
+shall call back," and so comforted and encouraged Winifred sat down on
+the soft pine spills and leaned back against the tall tree. A pair of
+squirrels chattered noisily in the branches; a soft-footed little animal
+sped by almost touching her feet, and she could hear faint calls from
+nesting birds near at hand.
+
+"For he shall give his angels charge over thee," the little girl
+whispered to herself, and soothed and quieted by the spring fragrance of
+the wood her eyes closed.
+
+Ruth, meanwhile, was trudging along the road toward home. She was sure
+that she could find the way without any trouble.
+
+"All I have to do is to turn when I come to the river road and follow it
+straight back to the city, and then any one can tell me how to get
+home," she thought, hopefully. But she began to think she should never
+reach the river road. Her thin shoes were scrubbed and dusty, and she
+wondered what Aunt Deborah would say at her untidy appearance.
+
+Now and then she would quicken her pace and run until she was out of
+breath. She began to understand why Fluff was tired out. Just before she
+reached the river road there was the sound of breaking twigs, and of
+some animal making its way through the woods, and the next moment a deer
+followed by a young fawn sprang into the road directly in front of the
+surprised and startled little girl; but they vanished before Ruth
+realized that they had been within reach of her hand.
+
+"Oh! I wish Winifred could have seen them," she thought. The road now
+hardly showed in the thick dusk. Ruth stumbled often, and began to be
+both hungry and thirsty. She wished she could stop and rest; but the
+thought of Winifred sitting alone under the big oak tree made her
+resolve not to stop until she reached home.
+
+At last she could see an open space ahead, and the dark line of the
+river; and at the same moment she heard the sound of trotting feet on
+the road behind her and a little gray figure ran swiftly by.
+
+"That was Fluff! I know it was Fluff," she exclaimed, and called loudly
+after the pony. But Fluff did not stop; he knew he was headed for home,
+and it was much easier to run along free and unharnessed than to pull a
+cart containing two little girls.
+
+Ruth now hardly knew what to do. Perhaps Winifred might be coming
+closely behind the pony.
+
+"Perhaps I ought to wait and see if she is coming," thought Ruth,
+puzzled and uncertain as to the right course to take. Before she could
+decide she saw the gleam of a lantern, and heard the wheels of a
+carriage coming rapidly over the road, and without a moment's
+hesitation she called out: "Stop! Please stop!" and heard a familiar
+voice respond:
+
+"It's Ruth. It's Ruth." And the light of the lantern showed Gilbert and
+his mother in Ned Farris's pony-cart.
+
+In a moment they were standing in the road beside her, and Ruth was
+telling the story of the woodland road, and of Winifred waiting beside
+the pony-cart under a big oak tree.
+
+"And Fluff just ran by, headed for home," she concluded.
+
+"I thought it was Fluff who raced past us. I was sure it was he," said
+Gilbert.
+
+They were now puzzled what course to take. To leave Winifred alone so
+far from any human habitation was not to be thought of; neither did Mrs.
+Merrill wish Ruth to go on toward home without some one with her.
+
+"Gilbert, you must go home with Ruth, and I will drive on after
+Winifred," she decided. "Mrs. Pernell will be sadly troubled when Fluff
+comes running home and she has no news of her little girl. Go as quickly
+as you can."
+
+Gilbert agreed; but he felt a little defrauded as he and Ruth turned
+toward home. He would have enjoyed going up that dark hillside road,
+where it seemed to him some interesting adventure might befall a
+traveler.
+
+Mrs. Merrill, with the lantern fastened to the front of the cart, drove
+rapidly up the hill, trying to pierce the dusky shadows of the roadside.
+Now and then she called Winifred's name, and listened intently for some
+response, but none came.
+
+At last the light from the lantern showed the pony-carriage in the
+shadow of the big oak tree, and in a moment Mrs. Merrill was on the
+ground beside it. But Winifred was not to be seen. "Winifred!" she
+called over and over, but there was no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOME AGAIN
+
+
+Winifred awakened suddenly. For a moment she looked about with startled
+eyes.
+
+"Winifred! Winifred!"
+
+"That is Mother calling," she exclaimed aloud, springing to her feet,
+and resting one hand against the smooth trunk of the pine tree. For a
+moment she was too surprised and sleepy to respond to the call; then she
+called back, "Mother! I'm in the woods!" at the same time moving slowly
+around to the other side of the big tree.
+
+"Oh! There's a light! And there's the road! And there is Mother!" and
+stumbling and running Winifred appeared in the road only a short
+distance from the flickering light of the lantern.
+
+"Mother! Mother! Did you come all alone?" called Winifred, as her mother
+held her close as if, thought the little girl, "I had been away a long
+time."
+
+"I thought I was way in the deep woods, and I was close to the road all
+the time. But Fluff is lost," she explained, as her mother led her
+toward the cart.
+
+"No, dear; Fluff passed us on our way home, and will probably be safe in
+his stall long before we get back," replied Mrs. Merrill, and as they
+drove through the darkness she told her little daughter of how troubled
+she and Mrs. Pernell had been as the afternoon passed and Winifred and
+Ruth failed to return; of Gilbert borrowing Ned's pony, of meeting Ruth,
+"and I have been here an hour, calling and calling," she concluded.
+
+"How sound asleep I must have been not to hear you," said Winifred
+happily, snuggling closer to her mother's side.
+
+"After Fluff ran off I began to be frightened," she continued. "I
+thought of catamounts and bears; and then I thought of my sampler."
+
+"Your sampler?" repeated Mrs. Merrill, not understanding just what
+Winifred meant.
+
+"Yes, Mother dear! Don't you remember the words you traced on it? 'There
+shall no evil befall thee. For he shall give his angels charge over
+thee, to keep thee in all thy ways,'" repeated the little girl. "I
+kept saying it over and over and I was not afraid."
+
+For a moment Mrs. Merrill did not reply. She stooped and kissed her
+little daughter, and then said: "That was right, dear child."
+
+It was nearly midnight when Mrs. Merrill and Winifred reached home, and
+Gilbert lifted a very sleepy little girl from the pony-cart. "Mrs.
+Pernell and Ruth are here," he said, "and she has some hot broth ready."
+
+Gilbert looked after Ned's pony before following his mother and sister
+into the house. Mrs. Pernell had already prepared his supper and he had
+eaten it with Ruth on reaching home after their long walk; but that
+seemed a long time ago, and he was quite ready to sit down at the
+candle-lit table and join the others. The hot broth, toast and damson
+preserves were very welcome to Winifred and her mother. The little group
+around the table were all too tired to talk much, but they smiled
+happily at one another, rejoicing that they were all safe and at home.
+
+It was decided that Mrs. Pernell and Ruth should stay the remainder of
+the night with the Merrill's.
+
+"Hero will take care of our house," Ruth said confidently, as she and
+her mother entered the pleasant chamber where they were to sleep.
+
+"Mother, you never scold me, do you?" she said, just as Mrs. Pernell
+extinguished the candle, and smiled happily to herself at her mother's
+little laugh.
+
+"Why, Ruthie dear! I should hope not. You know 'scold' is an ugly word.
+There is nothing about it that is fair. It means to 'find fault,' which
+is never quite fair; do you think it is?" and Ruth agreed that "scold"
+had an ugly sound.
+
+"We didn't mean to stay away and to worry you," said Ruth.
+
+"Of course you didn't, dear child. Go to sleep," replied her mother, who
+was thinking to herself that no other little girl was as dear and good
+as her own little daughter. And, strange as it may seem, Mrs. Merrill
+was thinking that very same thing about Winifred.
+
+How much there was for the two little friends to talk about the next
+day! Gilbert and Fluff had started off at an early hour to bring home
+the pony-cart, and early in the afternoon Betty Hastings came to see
+Ruth. She knew nothing about the adventure of the day before, and
+listened eagerly to Ruth and Winifred as they told of the lonely road,
+the coming of darkness, and of the deer and fawn that Ruth had seen.
+
+The two younger girls looked at Betty admiringly as they all sat
+together in Mrs. Pernell's front room. Betty's smooth brown curls under
+her pretty white straw hat, her shining brown eyes and pleasant smile,
+and the pretty dress of blue and white plaid, made her well worth their
+approving glances. Both Ruth and Winifred wondered to themselves why it
+was that Betty's hands were always clean, her hair smooth, and her dress
+always neat and in order. They decided, as they had often done before,
+that it was because Betty was so nearly grown up, nearly thirteen. They
+were quite sure that being tidy and careful was a gift that came with
+years.
+
+Ruth always liked to have Betty come to see her.
+
+"It's just like really being grown up when Betty comes," she had
+explained to her mother, "because we always sit in the front room, and
+never play dolls." So this afternoon when Mrs. Pernell brought in a tray
+with the little silver pitcher and sugar bowl, the luster teapot, and
+the treasured Canton cups and saucers, together with a plate of round
+frosted cakes, and Ruth had the pleasure of giving Betty and Winifred a
+cup of "real tea" she felt herself the most fortunate little girl in
+Philadelphia.
+
+"'Tis not a taxed tea," Mrs. Pernell declared smilingly; for Americans
+had refused to receive any tea on which the Government of Great Britain
+demanded an unlawful tax.
+
+"I came to ask you and Winifred to a May party," said Betty, when she
+was ready to start for home. "My mother says I may invite a dozen girls
+to go Maying to some pleasant place on the river, where we can gather
+flowers, put up a May-pole, and have a picnic lunch. Mother will get
+some one to drive us all out in a big wagon."
+
+Both Ruth and Winifred were delighted at the invitation, and thanked
+Betty. May-day was nearly two weeks distant, but they were glad to have
+so pleasant an invitation. And the front door had hardly closed behind
+their visitor when Ruth exclaimed:
+
+"We must begin on that table right away, Winifred, so that it will
+surely be finished by May-day. I have just remembered that May first is
+Betty's birthday! Her mother always has a party for her."
+
+"So it is!" responded Winifred, as she followed Ruth toward the shed.
+
+There was a piece of chalk in the drawer of the work-bench, and Ruth,
+laying the square of smooth dark wood on the top of a barrel, began to
+mark a large heart, while Winifred stood beside her watching admiringly.
+
+"There!" Ruth exclaimed, as her rather uneven chalk line came to an end.
+"I guess that is enough to go by. We can make the edges smooth with some
+of the tools."
+
+Winifred agreed promptly. "I'll make the legs," she volunteered.
+
+"Be sure and have them all the same length," advised Ruth. "You can take
+this chalk and mark the places where to saw;" and in a few moments
+Winifred with a small sharp saw was endeavoring to cut through the
+strips of hard wood selected for table legs, while Ruth with a sharp
+knife tried in vain to make some impression on the square of mahogany.
+Snap! went the slender knife-blade!
+
+"Oh, Winifred! quick! I've cut off my thumb!" screamed Ruth, as she
+raced past the horrified Winifred and ran into the kitchen calling:
+"Mother! Mother!"
+
+In a moment her mother was beside her; the injured thumb was bathed and
+bandaged, and Ruth was explaining, with Winifred's help, how the
+accident occurred. It was really a deep cut, and it was no wonder that
+the little girl had been frightened.
+
+Mrs. Pennell went to the shed with the little girls, and looked with
+troubled eyes at the cherished pieces of polished wood, and the fine
+tools scattered about the floor.
+
+"We must put all these tools carefully back in the chest, and the wood
+on the shelf just as your father left it. Winifred will help me, for you
+must not use your hand, Ruth," she said.
+
+"But, Mother, we want to make a heart-shaped table for a birthday
+present for Betty," Ruth explained. "Mayn't we use Father's tools?"
+
+"No, my dear. It would have been a very serious thing if you had spoiled
+any of his saws or planes. And those strips and squares of wood are
+valuable. Besides that you and Winifred are not accustomed to the use of
+tools; and you might really have cut off your thumb instead of only
+cutting it," said Mrs. Pennell. "I am to blame that I did not tell you
+how much your dear father valued these tools and wood."
+
+"Oh, Mother! You are never to blame. I ought to have asked you," Ruth
+declared.
+
+"Well, my dear, I really think it would have been wiser. But now we must
+think of something else as a present for Betty. With that hurt thumb,
+Ruth, I am afraid you cannot make her anything," responded her mother,
+leading the way to the seat under the maple tree.
+
+"Now, let us all try and think of something that Betty would like for a
+birthday gift," she continued, as they all sat down. Hero came bounding
+across the yard, and took his usual place at Ruth's feet.
+
+"I know! I know exactly what Betty would like," declared Ruth, "and I am
+sure I could help make it. Candy! She loves candy. Can I not use some of
+your sugar, Mother, to make some heart-shaped sweets?" For Ruth had some
+tiny heart-shaped molds of tin, into which hot candy mixture could be
+turned, and that when cool came out in perfect shapes.
+
+"That will be better than a table," said Winifred eagerly, "and I know
+my mother will give me some sugar for such a purpose. And, Ruth! we can
+make a heart-shaped box of paper to put it in."
+
+Mrs. Pennell listened smilingly as the two little girls made their plan
+for their friend's birthday gift. She promised to give them a portion of
+her scanty store of sugar.
+
+"You will not need to make it for a week to come; and Ruth's thumb will
+be well by that time. You may have the kitchen to yourselves on the last
+day of April," she said.
+
+Ruth quite forgot the ugly cut in her excitement over the proposed
+candy-making.
+
+"I am glad May is only ten days away," she said. "Just think of all that
+is going to happen next month! Betty's birthday picnic, and my visit to
+Aunt Deborah! And perhaps even more than that. Perhaps I shall see
+Lafayette! And perhaps the English will leave Philadelphia."
+
+Both her mother and Winifred laughed at Ruth's eager prophecy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE CANDY DISAPPEARS
+
+
+Gilbert and Winifred often talked to Ruth of their soldier brother, Vinal;
+and she never tired of hearing the story of a midnight visit he
+had made during the previous winter.
+
+He had arrived home late one afternoon, coming up the street as if there
+were not an English soldier in the city, and had stayed the night in his
+own home, departing early the next morning for Valley Forge. It was just
+such an adventure as the children admired, and would have well liked to
+have had some part in.
+
+Gilbert had reluctantly given up the plan of changing his name to
+Lafayette. No one seemed to remember his wish, and after a few weeks he
+no longer reminded Ruth or Winifred.
+
+As the time of Ruth's visit to Barren Hill drew near she made many
+pleasant plans of all she would see and do while at Aunt Deborah's
+square stone house, and recalled all that her aunt had told her of the
+beehives in a sunny corner of the garden, the flocks of chickens, the
+many birds that nested safely in the orchard trees, and the big attic
+that would be such a fine play-house on stormy days. But most of all
+Ruth thought of the fact that Barren Hill was only ten miles distant
+from Valley Forge, and that there might be some way in which she could
+see her father.
+
+"I wish I could find out that the English were going to leave
+Philadelphia, and then I would have good news for Father," she thought.
+"Or if I could carry a fine present for Father to give Lafayette." But
+there seemed little prospect that a little girl like Ruth could be the
+bearer of good news to the troops at Valley Forge, or of a present to
+the gallant young Frenchman.
+
+Ruth's thumb healed in a few days, so that she could help her mother in
+the garden, and do her usual work about the house. Every morning,
+directly after breakfast, was the lesson hour, when Mrs. Pennell and
+Ruth would sit down in the dining-room and, as Ruth had described it to
+Aunt Deborah, "Tell stories."
+
+There were "history" stories, and these Ruth liked best of all. One was
+the story of the first Quaker emigrants who came to Philadelphia in
+three small ships, bringing a friendly letter from the good-natured King
+Charles to the Delaware Indians. She liked to hear how these people
+sailed safely across the Atlantic and came up the Delaware, and first
+found shelter in caves along the river's bank, and then built themselves
+log cabins, and big strong houses.
+
+Then there were stories of the stars, by which sailors steered their
+course at sea, and there were stories of birds and beasts, and a very
+amusing game in which a small girl from Japan and another from China,
+and a little black girl from Africa, each recited the way children were
+taught in those countries.
+
+Mrs. Pennell did not always tell the stories, no, indeed! Often Ruth
+would be asked to tell the story of William Penn, or perhaps to draw a
+little picture of certain constellations. And always there was the
+adding of apples, the dividing of apples into four parts and eight
+parts, which Mrs. Pennell called "Fractions." And after this pleasant
+hour there were the neat stitches to be set in apron, dress, or
+handkerchief.
+
+Nearly every child had regular tasks; they were taught to use their
+hands as well as their eyes and thoughts, and Ruth was very proud that
+she could hemstitch nicely, and "set the heel" of a stocking, and finish
+off its toe.
+
+After Vinal brought the letter from Ruth's father Mrs. Pennell seemed
+more cheerful, and often said that she was sure it would not be many
+months before Philadelphia would be rid of the enemy.
+
+Ruth and Winifred counted the days until the last day of April, when
+they were to make the candy as a present for Betty. The pretty
+heart-shaped box that was to hold it was already finished. Mrs. Pennell
+had helped them make it. She had carefully shaped it from pasteboard,
+and then, with a flour paste, the little girls had covered it carefully
+with some pretty bits of wall-paper. The cover had three tiny hearts cut
+from gilt paper, and Ruth and Winifred were both sure that Betty would
+be much pleased by their gift, especially when she opened it and found
+it full of sweets.
+
+Ruth had just finished her lesson hour on the morning of the day before
+the May-day picnic, when Winifred appeared. She brought a package of
+sugar that her mother had given her as her share for the candy, and the
+two little girls ran to the kitchen, which they were to have quite to
+themselves for their candy-making.
+
+The family cooking was done over the bed of coals in the fireplace, and
+Ruth brought out a saucepan, a big spoon, and some sugar from the
+pantry, and talking happily of the pleasures of the coming day the two
+little friends measured their sugar and set the saucepan over the coals,
+while Ruth, spoon in hand, watched it carefully, while Winifred stood
+close by ready to help.
+
+It was a great event to be permitted to make candy, and both Winifred
+and Ruth decided that it would be a much more acceptable present than a
+table.
+
+In a short time the melted sugar, flavored with rose leaves, was ready
+to be turned into the tiny heart-shaped molds, and set to cool on the
+window ledge.
+
+"Let's go out in the garden," suggested Ruth. "If we stay in here we
+shall keep looking at the candy to see if it is ready to turn out, and
+it will seem forever." So they went out to the seat under the maple
+tree, played with Hero, talked about the May party and the time, now
+near at hand, when Ruth would go to visit Aunt Deborah, and nearly an
+hour passed before they returned to the kitchen.
+
+"Why, where are the molds?" exclaimed Ruth. "Where is the candy?"
+demanded Winifred, and they looked at the vacant window-sill where they
+had left the sweets to cool.
+
+"Mother must have put them in the pantry," said Ruth.
+
+"Of course," Winifred agreed, and the little girls exchanged a smile of
+relief as they both turned toward the pantry.
+
+But the candy was not there.
+
+"I'll run and ask her where she put it," said Ruth, and hurried off to
+find her mother who was busy in one of the upper rooms.
+
+"But I have not been down-stairs, dear child," Mrs. Pennell replied.
+"You do not suppose the molds have fallen out of the window?" she asked,
+and without stopping to answer Ruth ran back to the kitchen, and leaned
+out of the window, but there was no candy to be seen.
+
+"Oh, Ruth! The box is gone, too! Some one must have come in and taken
+it!" said Winifred; and, sure enough, the pretty box had disappeared
+from the table as well as the molds from the window. Both the little
+girls were ready to cry with disappointment.
+
+They knew that each of the other guests would bring Betty a present, and
+they knew also that their mothers could not spare any more sugar for
+candy. Besides this the pretty box was gone, and they had no more bits
+of paper to make another.
+
+"I shan't go to the party," Ruth declared. "And who could have been mean
+enough to take the candy?"
+
+Mrs. Pennell was nearly as troubled as Ruth and Winnie. It was evident
+that some one must have entered the house by the front door, taken the
+candy, and made off while the girls were in the garden. She feared that
+other things must have been taken, but a careful search proved that
+nothing else was missing.
+
+Winifred agreed with Ruth that they did not wish to go to the party
+without a present for Betty. "And now it is too late to even think of
+anything," she said as she started for home, leaving Ruth puzzled and
+unhappy, and wondering to herself if perhaps some ill-natured fairies
+had not made off with the sweets. The more Ruth thought of this the more
+convinced she was that it was what had happened. She remembered hearing
+queer little noises at her window that morning that she had thought were
+made by the birds nesting in the hawthorn. Now she said to herself that
+it must have been fairies coming into the house. "And because I did not
+make them welcome they have taken the candy," she decided, remembering a
+fairy tale that Mrs. Merrill had once told the two girls in which
+children had always welcomed fairies who came tapping at the windows of
+a spring morning, by singing:
+
+
+    "Welcome, fairies good and kind;
+    Come in, come in, and welcome find."
+
+
+In the story the fairies had brought wonderful gifts, but if they had
+not been welcomed they would have taken the children's dearest
+possessions, which could only be recovered by walking around the garden
+just before sunrise and bowing low three times to the lilac, three times
+to a robin, and three times with your eyes shut tight, repeating each
+time:
+
+
+    "Fairies, fairies, here I bow.
+    Will you kindly pardon now
+    That I did not hear or see
+    When you came to visit me?"
+
+
+Ruth was glad that she could remember it.
+
+"I'll get up before sunrise to-morrow morning and do exactly as the
+little girl did in the story when the fairies brought back her silver
+heart, and then probably when I open my eyes there will be the box and
+the candy," thought Ruth.
+
+"Why, of course, it was because the box and the candies were
+heart-shaped," she decided; "that's another reason I'm sure it was
+fairies. It will be splendid if I can get them back. I won't tell
+Winifred until after breakfast to-morrow. Won't she be surprised?"
+
+Mrs. Pennell wondered a little that Ruth was in such good spirits the
+rest of the day, after the disappearance of the candy, and that she was
+so ready to go to bed at an hour earlier than the usual time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A FAIRY STORY
+
+
+When Gilbert took the pan of candy-molds from the open window of Mrs.
+Pennell's kitchen, and, reaching in captured the heart-shaped box from
+the table, his only intention was to keep them just long enough to
+puzzle Ruth and Winifred and then return them. When the girls came back
+to the kitchen he had run into the shed, and set box and pan in the open
+drawer of the work-bench and closed it quickly, and had then gone home
+to attend to some garden work, meaning to come back in an hour at the
+longest; but his mother had sent him on an errand, and it was noon
+before Gilbert remembered the candy; and then Winifred was telling the
+story of its disappearance:
+
+"You wouldn't think any one would be so mean as to take our candy," she
+concluded, and Gilbert felt his face flush uncomfortably, and realized
+that it was going to be very difficult to explain what he had intended
+for a joke to Ruth and Winifred. In some way he must get that candy and
+box back to the place from which he had taken it, or else tell the girls
+what he had done; and this last alternative would be unpleasant. All
+that afternoon he was on the alert for a chance to slip into the
+Pennells' garden, enter the shed and rescue the hidden sweets; but the
+day was warm and pleasant, and Ruth and Winifred with their dolls and
+Hero were out-of-doors playing about in the shade of the maple tree
+until it was too late for Gilbert to carry out his plan; so that he was
+as uneasy and troubled as Ruth or Winifred over the missing candy, and
+not until evening could he think of any way to recover it.
+
+He was just closing the stable for the night when he noticed the shallow
+basket of woven grass and twigs which Winifred had made on the eventful
+afternoon's journey along the river road. The violets and wild
+honeysuckle were now only dried up stems; but the basket looked
+serviceable and attractive. Gilbert smiled as he picked it up. He knew
+now exactly what he would do: he would get up very early the next
+morning, gather daffodils and iris and then take the basket to Mrs.
+Pennell's shed,--take the candy from the molds, fill the box, and
+setting the box in Winifred's grass basket cover it with flowers; then
+he would hang it to the knocker of the Pennells' front door.
+
+"The girls will think the fairies did it for a May-day surprise," he
+chuckled to himself, remembering that Winifred could never quite decide
+about fairies: if there really were such wonderful little people or not.
+
+So Gilbert was up before sunrise the next morning, and with a friendly
+word to Hero, found it an easy matter to enter the shed quietly and take
+the candy and box from the bench drawer. In a few moments he had filled
+the box skilfully without breaking one of the tiny hearts, set it in the
+basket and covered it with the spring blossoms. He was just about to
+leave the shed when he heard a voice, and peering out saw Ruth bowing to
+the lilac tree and saying in a low voice:
+
+
+    "Fairies, fairies, here I bow.
+    Will you kindly pardon now
+    That I did not hear or see
+    When you came to visit me?"
+
+
+"Jiminy! It's that old fairy story Mother tells; and Ruth believes it,"
+thought Gilbert, as he watched Ruth bowing low to a startled robin,
+which flew up to a higher branch in the hawthorn tree. She was so much
+absorbed in what she was doing that she did not hear the stealthy step
+behind her on the soft grass as Gilbert swiftly set down the mold pan
+and the basket, and flew back to the shop. He had just reached its
+shelter when Ruth turned to go back to the house and saw the basket.
+
+She looked at it for a moment as if she could hardly believe her eyes;
+and as she stooped to pick it up Ruth fully expected that basket, pan
+and tin molds would all vanish from sight. But no! They were real; and,
+quite as Ruth expected, the box, filled with candy hearts, was under the
+flowers.
+
+"Oh! what will Winifred say?" she whispered to herself. And then she
+bowed to the lilac tree and to the robin, and said, "Thank you, kind
+fairies. I will always know now that you are true and kind," and then
+Ruth ran into the house to wake up her mother and tell her this
+wonderful story, and show her the basket in proof of the fairies' visit.
+
+Gilbert hurried home. He was delighted with the success of his plan, but
+a little troubled that Ruth should believe so implicitly that fairies
+had first taken and then returned the candy.
+
+Mrs. Pennell listened to Ruth's story and looked at the basket with as
+much wonder and surprise as even Ruth could expect. Although she did not
+deny that fairies had a hand in the return of the candy, she endeavored
+to explain to herself just how it could have occurred. But she
+remembered how much happiness she herself had had as a small girl in
+believing in good fairies, and was quite willing that her own little
+daughter should have the same pleasure.
+
+The Merrills were just sitting down to an early breakfast when Ruth came
+over to tell Winifred that the candy had been found, but she did not
+tell all the story, for she knew Gilbert laughed at fairies.
+
+"I'll tell you all about it on the way to Betty's," she said, for it had
+been arranged that Betty's guests should all meet at her house, where
+the wagons would be in readiness to take them to a favorite picnic
+ground, a green sloping field on the banks of the Schuylkill River,
+where there were groups of wide-spreading elms and where many spring
+flowers grew.
+
+Winifred was so eager to hear about the return of the candy that she
+could hardly wait to finish her breakfast. Ruth had not lingered after
+telling the great news, but had run home to make ready for the picnic.
+
+Gilbert continued to feel uneasy about his part in the fairy story, and
+after Ruth and Winifred had started for the May party he followed his
+mother into the garden and offered to help her transplant the young
+seedlings.
+
+"Mother, do you think there is any harm in believing in fairies?" he
+asked, and before his mother could reply Gilbert was telling her the
+story.
+
+"Ruth seemed more pleased about the fairies than she did to get the
+candy back," he concluded, "and I don't think there is any harm in
+fairies, do you?"
+
+"Why, no, Gilbert! I am always hoping that they really are true,"
+replied his mother smilingly.
+
+"Oh, Mother! You are as bad as Ruth," laughed Gilbert; "but do you think
+I ought to tell Ruth that I hid the candy, and then brought it back?"
+
+"No, not at present. Some time in the future you can tell Ruth about
+it, if you wish, but I think it would be too bad to spoil her pleasure
+to-day. But perhaps you had better ask Mrs. Pennell, and then do
+whatever she thinks best," replied his mother.
+
+The thought of telling Mrs. Pennell of his mischievous act made Gilbert
+rather uncomfortable, but he responded promptly:
+
+"All right, Mother. I'll go now," and ran toward the house to wash his
+hands before presenting himself at Mrs. Pennell's door.
+
+"So that was it. I could not imagine how it happened," said Mrs. Pennell
+when Gilbert had told of hiding the candy, and of meaning to return it
+as a May basket. She agreed with Mrs. Merrill that Ruth could be told
+the facts later on, and did not seem to feel that Gilbert's joke had
+been anything but natural and harmless, so Gilbert returned home with an
+untroubled mind.
+
+Betty had asked her little guests to be at her house at half-past ten
+o'clock, and when Ruth and Winifred came down the street they saw a big
+wagon with two big brown horses standing in front of Betty's house; just
+behind the big wagon was a smaller one which Dinah was helping to load
+with baskets and packages.
+
+"That's the lunch wagon," said Winifred. "Oh, Ruth! I'm sure we are
+going to have a beautiful time. What do you suppose Betty will say when
+you tell her about the fairies?"
+
+"I don't know. But probably she will think she is lucky to have a basket
+made by fairies," responded Ruth, who did not know the story of the
+basket that she carried so carefully.
+
+"I made that basket. Truly I did, Ruth," Winifred declared eagerly.
+
+Ruth's smile vanished. She stood still and looked at Winifred
+accusingly.
+
+"Then I suppose there weren't any fairies at all? If you made the basket
+you probably put the candy in it and set it in my garden for me to find.
+And you let me tell you all about bowing to the lilac tree, and never
+said a word," exclaimed Ruth; "and I suppose you have been laughing at
+me all the time," she concluded, a little choke coming in her throat at
+the thought that her best friend, as well as the fairies, had failed
+her.
+
+Before Winifred could say a word Ruth ran ahead as fast as she could go.
+Betty was on the steps, and a number of the girls who were going on the
+picnic were with her. She greeted Ruth warmly, and when Ruth explained
+that the basket was from Winifred and herself Betty was greatly pleased.
+She was looking at the basket and box admiringly when Winnie appeared.
+
+"Did Ruth tell you that is a fairy present?" she asked eagerly, and at
+the little chorus of laughter and questions, Winifred went on and told
+the story just as Ruth had told it to her, while Ruth stood by looking
+rather sulky and unhappy. The moment Winifred finished Ruth stepped
+forward and said:
+
+"That's a good story, but it isn't true. About the fairies, I mean. Not
+one word of it. And Winifred knows it isn't."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+BETTY AND ANNETTE
+
+
+The girls' laughter ceased, and they looked at Ruth a little
+questioningly as if expecting that she would explain. But it was Betty
+who, slipping her arm around Winifred, said pleasantly: "Well, we are
+all obliged to Winnie for telling us such a beautiful story. And I am
+sure it is just what the fairies would do if they happened to think of
+it."
+
+Winifred looked up at the older girl gratefully, but she felt very
+unhappy. She could not understand why Ruth, her very best friend, should
+have turned against her, and denied the story.
+
+Ruth stood, sulky and silent, and a little ashamed, as the other guests
+arrived; and when Betty declared that it was time to start and led the
+way toward the big wagon, Ruth walked alone and was the last one of
+Betty's guests to climb up to her seat.
+
+There were ten little girls in the party, and Black Jason, Dinah's
+husband, was to drive the team. Mrs. Hastings sat on the back seat
+between Betty and Ruth; the small wagon with the good things for the
+birthday luncheon followed close behind, driven by a friend of Jason's.
+
+The other girls laughed and talked merrily as the big horses trotted
+briskly through the streets leading to the river. But Ruth was silent,
+except when Mrs. Hastings spoke to her; then she answered as pleasantly
+as possible, but she had no pleasure in the ride. Now and then they
+passed groups of English soldiers; and as they turned into the river
+road several red-coated officers on horseback rode past them.
+
+"We wish you a happy May, young ladies," called one of the officers,
+bowing very low as he rode past the wagon filled with happy girls.
+
+There was no response to his polite salutation; for even the children of
+the historic city resented the presence of the English soldiery.
+
+"Mother, sing your May-day song," suggested Betty.
+
+But Mrs. Hastings shook her head laughingly.
+
+"I must save that for our dance round the May-pole," she replied, "and
+we shall soon be at the picnic field now."
+
+The field was very near the place where Ruth and Winifred had turned
+into the hill road, and the May party reached it after not more than an
+hour's ride. Black Jason drove through the field toward the river bank,
+and stopped under a group of tall elms. In a few moments the girls were
+scattered about searching for flowers. Black Jason and his friend
+unloaded the lunch wagon, and then Mrs. Hastings called the girls to
+decide on the best place to erect the May-pole, a fine birch tree that
+Black Jason was now chopping down.
+
+"There are so many good places!" exclaimed Betty, looking about the
+smooth field. "I think this is the best," she decided finally, as, with
+her guests beside her, she stopped near the edge of a wood.
+
+It was just the place for a May-pole, the other girls declared, as they
+looked about; and Black Jason and his friend set up the tall birch tree,
+whose green branches were more beautiful than any decoration that the
+girls could have imagined. While Mrs. Hastings and Betty spread the
+lunch in the shade of the woods, the other girls gathered flowers and
+wove garlands for each other, and talked happily together. Ruth found
+herself seated beside Annette Tennant, a girl about Betty's age.
+
+"I will give you my wreath, and you can give me yours," said the older
+girl. "You are rather young to be asked to this party," she continued,
+looking at Ruth.
+
+"I am nearly eleven," replied Ruth. "Winifred Merrill isn't any older
+than that."
+
+"I noticed there were two little girls," rejoined Annette
+condescendingly. "You mustn't mind if most of us are older. I always
+like children," went on Annette, who was even taller than Betty
+Hastings, and whose yellow hair was braided neatly and wound around her
+head.
+
+Ruth made no reply. She was feeling a little ashamed that she had
+declared Winifred's story to be untrue. Even if Winnie had set the
+basket in the garden and let her go about bowing to trees and birds Ruth
+felt that she herself had been rude and unkind.
+
+"What made that other child tell all that rigmarole about fairies?"
+questioned Annette. "I was glad when you spoke up and said that it was
+not true. Of course we older girls knew she was making it up."
+
+Suddenly Ruth became perfectly sure that Winifred had had nothing to do
+with the discovery of the candy, and that Winifred had really believed
+the fairies had brought it back, using her basket for the purpose.
+
+"Winifred didn't make it up," declared Ruth. "It was exactly as she told
+it. The fairies did take away the candy, and bring it back."
+
+Annette stopped weaving the vines and flowers, and jumped up.
+
+"Well, you are a very funny child. You tell us all that Winifred Merrill
+made up a story, and now you tell me that it was true," she exclaimed
+scornfully. "You need not give me your garland; I don't want it, or
+anything to do with you," and before Ruth could say a word in reply
+Annette had joined a group of the older girls, and was evidently telling
+them her opinion of Ruth Pennell.
+
+Ruth looked down through a blur of tears at the wreath she was making.
+She could hardly see the flowers in her lap.
+
+"I wish I had stayed at home. I hate grown-up girls," she thought
+bitterly, wishing herself in her own garden with Hero and Cecilia for
+playmates.
+
+The sound of Betty's voice calling to her guests that luncheon was ready
+made Ruth look up. She saw the other girls walking toward the shade of
+the tall elms where Mrs. Hastings stood waiting for them. Winifred was
+evidently in high favor; Annette walked on one side and Mary Pierce on
+the other, each with an arm about the pleased but somewhat embarrassed
+Winifred.
+
+"Ruth! Ruthie Pennell! We are all waiting for you," called Betty, and
+Ruth followed the others.
+
+It was evident at once that none of the girls meant to sit beside Ruth
+if it could be avoided. Annette had declared that she believed Ruth to
+be a mischief-maker, and untruthful, and that it was the duty of the
+older girls to "teach her a lesson."
+
+"We must let the child realize that older girls don't approve of such
+things," Annette had said, and the others agreed that the best way to
+express their disapproval was to leave Ruth to herself as much as
+possible.
+
+Winifred was now more puzzled than ever.
+
+When Annette had repeated Ruth's declaration that Winifred's story was
+true, that fairies had returned the candy, she did not know what to
+think.
+
+"I'm sure Ruthie was only fooling," Winifred declared bravely. "I mean
+when she said that I made up the story about the candy. Because it was
+just what she told me."
+
+"Then the child must be taught that we don't like such fooling,"
+responded Annette, with what she felt was a very grown-up and impressive
+manner.
+
+"Sit here, Ruth," said Betty, wondering at the manner of the older
+girls, "and, Winifred, come and sit beside her."
+
+Winifred was quite ready to change her seat as Betty suggested, but
+Annette's hand clasped her arm, and it was Annette who answered: "Winnie
+would rather sit here, beside me."
+
+"All right," responded Betty. "Then I'll have Ruthie for my helper. I
+can always depend on you, Ruth, can't I?" she added, smiling at her
+young friend.
+
+"Always," whispered Ruth, gratefully; and it was she who helped Betty
+serve the other girls with the excellent cold chicken, and bread, and
+butter, the jelly-filled tarts, and squares of molasses gingerbread, so
+that Annette's proposed "lesson" bid fair to be defeated.
+
+"What's the matter, Ruthie?" Betty found a chance to whisper, as they
+sat down together a little way from the larger group.
+
+Ruth told the story eagerly. "I don't know why I thought Winnie had put
+the basket there, or why I was so horrid as to say that she told a
+story," confessed the unhappy little girl. "Do you suppose it really was
+the fairies, Betty?"
+
+Betty looked rather sober for a minute. She was thinking to herself that
+her May-day party bid fair to be a failure unless her guests could
+realize that Ruth had only made a mistake for which she was sorry. She
+blamed Annette more than she did Ruth, feeling sure that Winifred and
+Ruth would have come to a friendly understanding if Annette had not
+interfered.
+
+"I have a plan, Ruthie, that perhaps will make it all right. Will you do
+just what I tell you?"
+
+"Yes, indeed I will," responded Ruth gratefully.
+
+Mrs. Hastings had left the girls to themselves and gone over to the
+May-pole.
+
+"Come here, Winifred," called Betty, and this time Annette made no
+objection, and in a moment Winifred was sitting beside Ruth, and both
+the little girls were thinking that Betty was much nicer than any other
+"grown-up" girl in the party.
+
+"Ruth Pennell is going to tell us a story," announced Betty. "She
+doesn't know if it really is true or not. For a little while she thought
+her best friend had taken the part of a fairy, but afterward she was
+sure she had not. Now, Ruth," and Betty turned smilingly toward her
+little friend, "stand up and tell us all about it; about the making my
+candy, how it disappeared, and what you did to recover it. Then, when
+you have finished, we will take a vote and see how many of us believe in
+fairies."
+
+For a moment Ruth hesitated, but Winifred's friendly smile encouraged
+her and she stood up. She did not look at the group of girls sitting
+about under the trees; she looked straight over their heads at the
+river, and began to speak, beginning her story with the discovery that
+the candy had disappeared. She spoke clearly, and when she finished by
+saying that she was sorry that she had been rude to Winifred, because
+she and Winifred both rather believed in fairies, there was a little
+murmur of approval.
+
+"Now, girls, all those who believe in fairies stand up," said Betty,
+jumping to her feet, and reaching out a hand to the girls beside her,
+and at the same time beginning to sing:
+
+
+"'Here are fields of smiling flowers--
+Come and seek May in her bowers.
+  Catch young May.
+  Make her stay;
+Dance around her bright and gay.'"
+
+
+Nearly all the girls knew the song and joined in singing, as hand in
+hand they ran across the smooth grass toward the May-pole, where Mrs.
+Hastings stood waiting for them. And now Ruth was her happy, smiling
+self again, and Annette was no longer eager to teach "lessons" to the
+younger girls. Annette and Ruth were both conscious, however, that
+Betty, with her frank kindness, had smoothed out their mistakes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+QUEEN BETTY
+
+
+The girls had exchanged their wreaths of flowers as they sat down to
+luncheon, all excepting Ruth and Annette, who wore the ones they had
+made themselves, and they now made a very attractive picture as they all
+formed a ring around the May-pole, singing an old song that their
+mothers had sung when they too were little girls; a May-pole song that
+had been sung in England for hundreds of years.
+
+    "'Round the May-pole, trit, trit, trot.
+    See what a garland we have got:
+      Fine and gay,
+      Trip away.
+    Happy is our New May Day.'"
+
+"Now for choosing the May Queen!" said Mary Pierce, and a little chorus
+of "Betty Hastings! Betty Hastings!" was the response, and Betty
+curtsied very low, and thanked her guests. For "Maids of Honor" she
+chose Ruth and Winifred, whose duties were to walk one on each side of
+the May Queen on her way to her throne, and then kneel beside her until
+she bade them rise.
+
+While the girls had been at luncheon and dancing around the May-pole
+Black Jason and his friend had been busily at work behind some thick
+growing trees near the river.
+
+"All ready, Missie!" he announced, as, hat in hand, and bowing low, he
+came smilingly toward the "Queen of the May."
+
+A little procession formed to follow Jason, who led the way through a
+woodland path to a clearing that opened toward the river. In this
+clearing stood a big rustic chair, Betty's "throne."
+
+Ruth and Winifred handed the Queen to her seat with great ceremony, and
+then one after another the girls approached the throne, curtsying low
+and laying their garlands at Betty's feet. Now they joined hands in a
+little circle and danced around the throne, singing:
+
+    "'The First of May is garland day,
+    And every child should dance and play.
+    Curl your locks as I do mine,
+    And wear your summer gown so fine.'"
+
+[Illustration: "THE FIRST OF MAY IS GARLAND DAY"]
+
+The Queen of the May asks any favor she pleases from the throne, but as
+soon as she leaves the throne her power ceases; so now the group of
+laughing girls stood waiting to hear what the Queen would ask:
+
+    "A wreath and a staff
+    And a cup to quaff,"
+
+demanded Betty smilingly, and away raced her loyal subjects to fulfil
+the royal demand.
+
+It was Annette who brought the wreath of violets; Mary Pierce came with
+a curving branch that Jason had cut from a maple tree and trimmed into a
+staff, while Caroline Fraser brought a cup of cool water from the spring
+under the willow tree.
+
+"We must soon be thinking of home," Mrs. Hastings reminded them, as the
+girls, now flushed and a little tired, seated themselves about the
+throne, from which Betty had descended.
+
+"You have not sung your May-day song, Mother!" Betty reminded her, and
+the girls now gathered about Mrs. Hastings, repeating Betty's request.
+
+"But it isn't really 'my' song; it is an old English May song," Mrs.
+Hastings said.
+
+    "'Spring is coming, Spring is coming,
+      Flowers are coming too;
+    Pansies, lilies, daffodils,
+      Now are coming through.'"
+
+    "'Spring is coming, Spring is coming,
+      All around is fair;
+    Shimmer and quiver on the river
+      Joy is everywhere.'"
+
+As she finished singing Mrs. Hastings curtsied to the happy group, and
+said:
+
+    "I wish you a happy May."
+
+When Black Jason drove the brown horses into the field, and the girls
+took their seats in the wagon, they all declared it was the best May-day
+party they had ever known, and they all thought Betty Hastings was the
+most fortunate of girls that her birthday came on the first day of May.
+
+"How would you and Winifred like to sit with Jason on the front seat,
+Ruth?" asked Mrs. Hastings, and the two little friends smiled at each
+other, and replied that they would like it very much, and so were lifted
+to the high seat beside the good-natured Jason.
+
+"I almost spoiled everything," Ruth whispered to Winifred, "but Betty
+made it come out all right. I like Betty."
+
+"So do I," responded Winifred, and they smiled at each other again, both
+quite sure that they would never again come so near to a quarrel as they
+had that May-day.
+
+As they drove past a square stone house whose gardens sloped down to the
+river, Black Jason pointed toward it with his whip and said: "Dat de
+house where Capitan Delancy live, an' he an' de oder fine English
+soldiers are gettin' up a great party, a kind of show like."
+
+The girls looked well at the house from which Betty had so skilfully
+made her escape on the night following Gilbert's play.
+
+"Are they going to have the party in that house, Jason?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Landy! No, Missie. It's to be out to Master Wharton's fine place in
+Southwark. Folks do say as General Sir Willem Howe be Gwen to leave dis
+place. They certain do say so," and Jason chuckled with satisfaction at
+the thought.
+
+"Then will General Washington and Lafayette come here, Jason?"
+questioned Ruth eagerly.
+
+"I dunno, Missie. But I reckon de English Gwen to have a mighty fine
+party. Deere gwine to have bands o' music in boats on de river. Yam,"
+and Jason chuckled at the thought of all the great preparations that had
+already begun for the most splendid pageant that America had seen, and
+about which the people of Philadelphia were wondering, for the English
+officers were making elaborate plans.
+
+"I wish I could drive two horses," said Ruth, looking a little longingly
+at the reins and whip that Jason so skilfully held in one hand.
+
+"Landy, Missie! Yo' Jes' take hold de reins like dis," responded Jason,
+at the same moment clasping Ruth's hands over the leather reins. "Now
+hole 'em study."
+
+Ruth obeyed Jason's instructions to "look straight ahead, an' hole 'em
+up study," and it was the happiest part of all that happy May-day to be
+driving Jason's brown horses, with the other girls singing and laughing
+on the seats behind her. But as they turned from the river road into the
+town Jason again took the reins. The girls were now carried each to her
+own home, so Winifred and Ruth were set down at the Merrills' door.
+
+"We have had a beautiful time, Betty. We shall always remember _your_
+birthday," declared Ruth, and Winnie repeated the words.
+
+Betty smiled and waved her hand; she realized that her two little
+friends were thanking her for more than their happy May-day.
+
+Hero welcomed Ruth home, and seemed to be trying to tell her something.
+He ran around her, barking and whining.
+
+"What is it, Hero? What is the matter? Where is my mother?" she asked,
+as she pushed open the door of the sitting-room and found it vacant.
+
+"Mother!" she called, running into the dining-room, and then heard her
+mother's voice calling from the kitchen:
+
+"Come out here, Ruthie!"
+
+Ruth stopped in the doorway with an exclamation of surprise.
+
+"Oh, Mother! What is it?" she asked, for Mrs. Pennell was sitting in a
+low chair near the window, with one foot resting on a stool.
+
+"I have sprained my ankle, Ruthie. I slipped coming in from the porch
+about an hour ago, and could just manage to crawl to this chair,"
+replied Mrs. Pennell; "and now you will have to be 'mother' for a time.
+Tie my apron over your dress, and start up the fire, and fill the big
+kettle with water."
+
+Ruth obeyed quickly, and in a few moments had carried out her mother's
+directions, bringing a small wooden tub in which to turn the water when
+it should be heated. She could think of nothing but that her mother must
+be in pain, as she drew off Mrs. Pennell's slipper and stocking, filled
+the tub, and now gently bathed the swollen ankle.
+
+"Remember, Ruthie, dear, when any one has the ill-fortune to sprain
+wrist or ankle, that hot water is the best aid," Mrs. Pennell said, as
+she directed the way in which Ruth should bandage the ankle.
+
+"I am afraid I am going to make a good deal of work for my little girl.
+We must try and send for your Aunt Clara to come as soon as possible,"
+she added.
+
+But Ruth did not mind the work; as she went from pantry to fireplace,
+preparing toast and a dish of hot gruel for her mother her thoughts flew
+away to Aunt Deborah at Barren Hill, to the lustre cup out of which
+Lafayette had drunk, and she realized that she could not go away from
+home now that her mother was lame.
+
+After supper the ankle was bathed again, and now Mrs. Pennell thought it
+best that Ruth should run in and tell Mrs. Merrill of the accident, and
+ask her assistance. For she found herself unable to walk.
+
+Mrs. Merrill came at once, and with her aid Mrs. Pennell was able to
+reach the big sofa in the sitting-room where she was made comfortable
+for the night.
+
+"I will send Gilbert to Germantown early in the morning to fetch your
+sister," said Mrs. Merrill, as she bade her neighbor good-night.
+
+"It is fortunate that Ruth had not started for her visit to Barren
+Hill," she added.
+
+"It is, indeed. I could hardly spare her now," Mrs. Pennell responded.
+
+Ruth listened with a feeling that there would never be any more happy
+days. Her mother was lame; she could not go to Barren Hill, and all her
+plans for visiting her father at Valley Forge, and perhaps seeing the
+brave young Lafayette, must be given up.
+
+As she went slowly up-stairs to bed, she had almost forgotten the happy
+birthday picnic near the river. But she recalled what Black Jason had
+said of the rumor that General Howe was soon to leave Philadelphia. Just
+now, however, that seemed to be of little importance to Ruth. Her last
+waking thought was that she must be sure to get up early, very early,
+the next morning and have hot water ready to bathe the hurt ankle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A GREAT RESOLVE
+
+
+Although Ruth was up in good season the next morning, she had only
+started the kitchen fire when Mrs. Merrill and Gilbert appeared at the
+kitchen door with a basket containing breakfast for Mrs. Pennell and
+Ruth.
+
+Gilbert was all ready to start for his drive to Germantown, and, after a
+few words with Mrs. Pennell, hurried away.
+
+Mrs. Merrill bathed the sprained ankle and helped Ruth's mother to a
+comfortable chair near the window.
+
+"May I not put the little table by your chair, Mother, and have my
+breakfast here with you?" asked Ruth.
+
+"Yes, indeed! That is exactly what I was wishing you to do, my dear,"
+responded Mrs. Pennell; and Ruth ran away to the kitchen and brought in
+the hot corn bread that Mrs. Merrill had brought, the dish of porridge
+and the pot of steaming coffee. Then she drew a chair up opposite her
+mother, and they smiled happily at each other across the small table.
+
+Mrs. Pennell declared that her foot was much better.
+
+"I am sure your Aunt Clara will return with Gilbert," she continued,
+"but even then I am afraid you will have to do a good deal more than
+ever before, Ruthie, dear, for Aunt Clara is not yet fully recovered
+from her illness."
+
+Ruth felt rather proud to know that her mother relied upon her to be of
+so much help, and, for the moment, quite forgot the visit to Barren
+Hill. She told her mother of all the delights of Betty's May-day party,
+and when she carried the breakfast dishes out to the kitchen she was
+almost her happy self again.
+
+Winifred came over and helped Ruth with the household work that morning,
+and early in the afternoon Aunt Clara arrived; who, in spite of Mrs.
+Pennell's fears in regard to her strength, declared herself quite equal
+to taking care of her sister and attending to the work of the house.
+
+Nevertheless Ruth was kept busy for a number of days; she did not go
+very far from her mother's sitting-room, and Mrs. Pennell said that her
+little daughter was "hands and feet" for her lame mother.
+
+Mrs. Pennell's fingers were busy making a dress for Ruth. It was of
+white linen that Aunt Deborah had woven herself, and brought as a
+present to Ruth, and Mrs. Pennell was hemstitching the broad collar and
+dainty cuffs.
+
+"Your Aunt Deborah will be pleased if you have the dress to wear when
+you visit her," said Mrs. Pennell, a few days after her accident, when
+Ruth sat beside her, both busy with their needles.
+
+"But I can't go to Barren Hill, Mother. You couldn't spare me," replied
+Ruth.
+
+"Of course you must go to Barren Hill. Not just at present; but in a
+week or two I shall be hobbling about the house, and your Aunt Clara
+will stay with me while you are away," said Mrs. Pennell.
+
+"Truly? Am I really to go to Barren Hill?" exclaimed Ruth, dropping her
+work, and jumping up from her chair. "Oh! I'm so glad."
+
+Mrs. Pennell looked at her little girl in surprise. She had had no idea
+how much Ruth had counted on this visit, nor with what disappointment
+she had given it up.
+
+"Why, my dear child, you have not said a word about your visit since I
+hurt my ankle. I had not an idea that you wished to go so much," she
+said.
+
+"I didn't wish to go when you couldn't take a step," Ruth declared.
+
+"Well! I think it is almost worth while to have a sprained ankle to find
+out what a good little daughter I have," said her mother. "I feel very
+proud indeed. And now I think you had best put on your hat and go and
+make Betty Hastings an afternoon visit. It is nearly a week since her
+May party."
+
+"I will ask Winifred to go, too," said Ruth eagerly, feeling happier
+than she had since her mother's accident.
+
+"You had best change your dress, dear; put on your blue chambray,"
+suggested her mother, and Ruth ran off to her own room, singing, "Joy is
+everywhere," as gaily as she had sung it when dancing around Betty's
+throne.
+
+In a little while she was back in the sitting-room, all ready for her
+visit. In the pretty blue dress, and wearing a white hat with a blue
+ribbon around the crown, and with her white stockings and low shoes with
+shining silver buckles, Ruth was indeed a little girl of whom any
+mother might be proud.
+
+Winifred was soon ready to accompany her, and the two friends started on
+their walk to see Betty Hastings.
+
+As they came in sight of the Hastings house they both exclaimed in
+surprise. For on the steps was Betty, wearing her best hat, and the tall
+English officer, whose red coat Betty had borrowed for Gilbert's play,
+stood beside her.
+
+"Do you suppose Betty is a prisoner?" whispered Winnie, a little
+fearfully.
+
+"Of course she isn't, all dressed up in her best," replied Ruth, and at
+that moment Betty saw her two friends and waved her hand to them as she
+came down the steps beside the English officer.
+
+"Oh, Winifred! Ruth! I am so glad you came. Now you can go with us to
+Walnut Grove and see the English officers practising for their
+tournament. Captain Harlow says you may go," she exclaimed, running
+forward to meet them.
+
+Before Ruth or Winifred could reply the tall officer was beside Betty,
+and she now introduced him to her friends. Ruth and Winnie curtsied,
+with rather sober faces, and the Englishman bowed politely, and said
+that he should be happy to have Ruth and Winifred accompany them.
+
+The young Englishman had lodged with Mrs. Hastings ever since the
+September day when the English army entered Philadelphia. He had been
+unfailingly kind to all the family, and when he offered to take Betty to
+Walnut Grove to see the preparations already well under way for the
+"Mischianza," as the soldiers named their famous entertainment to be
+given in honor of General Howe, Mrs. Hastings was quite willing for
+Betty to go.
+
+"We shall be home in good season. I am sure your mothers would be
+willing," urged Betty, "and 'twill be a fine sight to-day, since the
+soldiers are to rehearse, as we did for Gilbert's play."
+
+"Let's go, Ruth," Winifred whispered eagerly, and Ruth agreed, but with
+a vague feeling that she ought not to wish to be entertained by the
+amusements of America's enemies.
+
+As they walked on toward Knight's Wharf, at the water edge of Green
+Street, where a boat was waiting to take Captain Harlow and his guests
+down the river to Mr. Wharton's country place, Ruth kept repeating the
+word "tournament" to herself, and wondering what it meant. Betty must
+know, she thought, for she had spoken it so easily. She resolved to ask
+her at the first opportunity.
+
+A rowboat with two sailors was waiting for the captain, and he helped
+the little girls to the comfortable seats, and took his place at the
+tiller, and with a word to the oarsmen the boat moved out from the wharf
+and headed toward Southwark.
+
+"What does 'tournament' mean, Betty?" Ruth whispered.
+
+"Wait and see," laughed Betty.
+
+"Does it mean the same as 'rehearsal'?" persisted Ruth.
+
+"Not exactly," replied Betty, who only that very morning had asked her
+mother the same question. "It really means a make-believe battle," she
+explained, seeing Ruth's look of disappointment. "Men dress up in armor,
+such as soldiers used to wear, and their horses wear shields, and the
+men have long spears, and make-believe attack each other."
+
+"Shall we see that to-day?" Ruth questioned.
+
+But before Betty could answer she realized that Captain Harlow was
+speaking.
+
+"I suppose you all know what the Knights of the days of Chivalry fought
+for?" he was saying, with a friendly smile at the three little American
+girls who were his guests.
+
+"What are 'Knights'?" questioned Winifred.
+
+"Can you answer that, Miss Betty?" asked the captain.
+
+"Mother told me that a knight was a brave soldier, whose king gave him a
+sword, and then said: 'Arise, Sir Knight,'" replied Betty, while Ruth
+and Winifred listened admiringly, thinking their friend Betty must be
+the most clever girl in Philadelphia.
+
+"Well, that is near enough," replied the young officer, "but I will tell
+you that in olden times knights used to have tilts, or tournaments, such
+as we mean to have on the eighteenth of this month. White Knights
+against the Knights of the Blended Rose."
+
+It all sounded very wonderful to the three little girls, and Ruth was
+eager to reach Southwark, fearing that they might miss some part of this
+rehearsal.
+
+The beautiful river was very still that pleasant afternoon in May, and
+the boat moved rapidly along, now and then passing some fishing-craft
+or pleasure boat, and the little girls smiled happily at each other,
+thinking that this indeed was a great adventure.
+
+As the boat drew near the landing place, they could see a number of
+people on the wharf, and one of these Ruth at once recognized as Major
+Andre, the young officer who had introduced her to General Howe on the
+night when she had gone to demand the return of Hero.
+
+Captain Harlow led the little girls to a bench on the further side of
+Mr. Wharton's beautiful lawn. "Stay here until I come after you," he
+said and hurried away.
+
+The girls looked about admiringly. Just across the lawn from where they
+were sitting men were at work on a pavilion, in which the guests would
+be seated to view the "Mischianza." Soldiers on horseback were riding
+back and forth, and a trumpet call sent them all trotting away, to
+return immediately with long lances and shields on their left arms.
+Forming in two divisions they galloped forward and back, turning so
+quickly that Ruth and Betty both exclaimed, fearful that the riders
+would be thrown.
+
+In a little while Captain Harlow came and took his guests to visit the
+ballroom. From the garden they ascended a short flight of steps, and
+entered a spacious hall, lined with mirrors. Never had the little girls
+seen anything so wonderful. Wherever they looked they saw Betty, Ruth,
+and Winifred all smiling with delight. Captain Harlow called a servant,
+and in a few moments the man returned with a silver tray on which were
+plates of candied fruits, cakes, and glasses of lemonade for his little
+guests.
+
+"It's more wonderful than the May-day party," whispered Winifred.
+
+But Ruth did not hear her. For at that moment two officers had entered
+the room.
+
+"Sir Henry Clinton will arrive to-morrow, and General Howe will soon be
+on his way to England," she heard one of them say.
+
+"'Tis a pity he cannot capture young Lafayette and take him back to
+England with him. King George would give him a royal welcome," responded
+the other.
+
+"There is some such plan afoot," declared the first speaker.
+
+"'Capture Lafayette!'" Ruth whispered the dreadful words over to herself
+and all her delight and pleasure vanished. These men, even the kind
+Captain Harlow, whom the Hastings liked so well, would try their best to
+capture the young French Republican, America's best friend, and take him
+to England a prisoner. Ruth could think of nothing else. She wondered if
+perhaps there was not already some plan by which Lafayette would be
+captured. She was very silent all the remainder of the afternoon, and
+Betty decided that Ruth must be tired.
+
+But they all thanked the captain very politely for their pleasant visit,
+as he helped them from the boat and walked with them to Mrs. Hastings'
+door. Ruth was eager to get home. She meant to ask her mother if she
+might not go to Barren Hill very soon, perhaps to-morrow. It seemed to
+her she could hardly wait that long; for who could tell what the English
+soldiers might do before warning could reach Lafayette?
+
+For Ruth had made a great resolve: she would try to let Lafayette know
+that the English General meant to do his best to take him a prisoner to
+England. Once at Barren Hill Ruth was sure that she could find some way
+to reach Washington's camp and warn the young Frenchman.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE VISIT
+
+
+Ruth's mother and aunt listened to her account of her afternoon's
+adventure with interest, but when she had finished her mother said:
+
+"I do not blame you, my dear, for accepting Betty's invitation, but I am
+surprised that Mrs. Hastings should permit an enemy of America's rights
+to become a friend, as it is evident she so regards the young English
+officer who lodges there."
+
+In her heart Ruth agreed with her mother. It seemed disloyal even to
+have accepted Betty's invitation. Nevertheless Ruth was glad that she
+had gone to Southwark; for the conversation she had overheard in regard
+to Lafayette seemed of great importance to the little girl. She did not
+speak to any one of what she had heard the English officers say, but she
+could not explain even to herself why she had not at once told Winnie,
+or why she did not now tell her mother. It seemed to Ruth that it was a
+secret which she could confide only to one person: to Lafayette
+himself.
+
+"May I go to Barren Hill to-morrow, Mother, dear?" she asked earnestly,
+as she bade her mother good-night.
+
+"Why, Ruthie! Of course not! Your things are not ready, and we have not
+sent Aunt Deborah word to have Farmer Withely call for you," replied her
+mother in surprise. "Why are you so anxious to go to-morrow?"
+
+"Oh, Mother! Never mind about my things. And I am sure Farmer Withely
+will take me," urged Ruth.
+
+"But do you think it will be quite fair to Aunt Clara?" said Mrs.
+Pennell gravely. "You know there are many things you can do to help her
+until I am on my feet again. Be patient, Ruthie. You shall go to Barren
+Hill as soon as it is possible."
+
+Ruth was ready to cry with disappointment as she went up-stairs to bed.
+For a moment she had been tempted to tell her mother her reason for
+wanting to go at once to Barren Hill, but she realized that her mother
+might say that a little girl could do nothing to protect a great
+soldier, and forbid her making any attempt to reach the young Frenchman
+only to repeat the careless talk of English soldiers.
+
+"I must do it myself, in some way. I must!" thought Ruth as she prepared
+for bed. She wondered if Aunt Clara would not help her in her plan to go
+to Barren Hill.
+
+Ruth was late to breakfast the next morning, and Aunt Clara wondered a
+little at her sober face, while Mrs. Pennell was troubled, thinking that
+Ruth was brooding over her disappointment in not going to Barren Hill.
+
+The little girl performed her usual household duties; but when her
+mother suggested that she should go and play with Winifred, she shook
+her head.
+
+In the afternoon she went into the yard with Hero and "Cecilia" to the
+seat under the maple tree. Aunt Clara noticed that the little girl sat
+looking across the garden as if her thoughts were far away, neglecting
+Cecilia, and paying no attention to the faithful Hero.
+
+"I am afraid Ruthie is going to be ill," she said to Mrs. Pennell. "She
+has not seemed like herself since she got home from her visit
+yesterday."
+
+Mrs. Pennell was quite sure that Ruth was not ill, but she was troubled
+that her little daughter should be so disappointed and unwilling to
+postpone the visit to Aunt Deborah.
+
+"Her heart is set on going to Barren Hill, and I have told her she must
+wait a while," she explained.
+
+"But why not let her go now?" suggested Aunt Clara. "She is a good and
+helpful child, and deserves the pleasure. I can make her things ready."
+
+It did not take much persuasion for Mrs. Pennell to give her consent,
+and when Ruth came slowly into the sitting-room, in response to Aunt
+Clara's call, her mother said:
+
+"Well, my dear, your Aunt Clara says that you well deserve to start for
+Barren Hill as soon as she can make you ready. So be on the outlook for
+Farmer Withely to-morrow morning, and ask him to call for you on
+Thursday, and to tell Aunt Deborah to expect you."
+
+Ruth's face had brightened as her mother began to speak, but as Mrs.
+Pennell finished she was again almost ready to cry.
+
+"'Thursday'!" she repeated. "That's two whole days to wait! Why can't I
+go to-morrow?" she said anxiously.
+
+Mrs. Pennell looked at Ruth in surprise. Never before had she known her
+little daughter to whine, or seem to want her own way more than anything
+else.
+
+"What is the matter, Ruth? I thought you would be so glad that your Aunt
+Clara had persuaded me to let you go so soon. If you say anything about
+going before Thursday we shall give up the visit altogether," she said.
+
+Ruth hardly knew what to say or do. It seemed to the little girl that
+her delay in starting for Barren Hill meant the possibility of the
+capture of Lafayette. She was tempted to tell her mother the reason for
+wishing to start at once, but she was sure Mrs. Pennell would promptly
+forbid her carrying out her plan to visit Valley Forge.
+
+Ruth managed to thank her mother for permission to go on Thursday, and
+to say that she would be sure and see Farmer Withely and give him the
+message the next morning, and then went back to her seat in the garden.
+She had just taken up Cecilia, when the garden gate was pushed open and
+Winifred came running up the path.
+
+"Gilbert says he is ashamed of me!" declared Winifred, "and of you, and
+of Betty Hastings, for going to Southwark yesterday," and she looked at
+Ruth a little fearfully, as if expecting her friend to be quite overcome
+by Gilbert's disapproval.
+
+"I don't care if he is," was Ruth's surprising reply. "I am glad I went,
+and I always shall be glad. And perhaps some day Gilbert will be glad
+too."
+
+"Why, Ruth Pennell!" exclaimed Winifred.
+
+"You tell him just what I say," insisted Ruth, beginning to feel more
+cheerful at the thought of Gilbert's surprise when he should discover
+that she had saved Lafayette from capture through her visit to
+Southwark. After all, Thursday was only the day after to-morrow, she
+reflected, and the English were too much occupied in their welcome to
+Sir Henry Clinton to start off to capture the young Frenchman. Besides
+that encouraging thought Winifred had brought over a box filled with
+beads. They were wonderful beads--blue, all shades of blue, and
+sparkling red beads, and beads of shining green, and white beads as
+clear as dew-drops.
+
+"You may pick out those you like best," said the generous Winnie,
+"enough to make you a necklace, and one for Cecilia, too," and the two
+little girls were soon happily occupied with the beads, and Ruth forgot
+all about her fears lest her warning should come too late. But when
+Winifred jumped up saying that it was time for her to go home, Ruth
+remembered that she had not told Winnie that she was to go to Barren
+Hill on Thursday.
+
+"Oh, Ruth! Then you won't see all the processions for Captain Harlow's
+entertainment. And he said this morning when I went over to see Betty
+that we could go down again, the very day before it is given," exclaimed
+Winifred.
+
+"I wouldn't go if I were at home," declared Ruth, "but don't you tell
+Gilbert that I said I wouldn't go. You tell him what I said first: 'that
+I am glad I went, and I always shall be glad. And that perhaps some day
+he will be glad too that I went to Southwark.'"
+
+Winifred promised to deliver the message. She did not suppose it had any
+special meaning, but she was sure it would puzzle Gilbert.
+
+The next day was a busy one for Ruth. Farmer Withely promised to call
+for her on Thursday afternoon, and wondered to himself why the little
+girl was so eager to visit Barren Hill. Mrs. Pennell finished the white
+linen dress, while Ruth helped Aunt Clara in the work of the house,
+packed the small leathern trunk, which was to accompany her on her
+journey, and last of all dressed Cecilia in her best, for she had
+decided, at Aunt Clara's suggestion, that Cecilia needed a visit to the
+country.
+
+Mrs. Pennell could now walk a little, and not until Thursday morning did
+Ruth have a single doubt in regard to going away from home. But as the
+time of her departure drew near she kept close beside her mother, and
+when Aunt Clara called that Farmer Withely was driving down the street
+Ruth was suddenly quite sure that she could not go and leave her mother
+behind.
+
+"Oh, Mother! I don't wish to go," she exclaimed, her arms close about
+her mother's neck.
+
+Mrs. Pennell held her close, telling her of the beautiful time she would
+have with Aunt Deborah. "And, who knows! You may see Lafayette himself,"
+she added, knowing how great a hero the young Frenchman seemed to all
+American children, as well as to their elders.
+
+"I shall come home soon," Ruth answered earnestly, and then Aunt Clara
+called that Farmer Withely was waiting, and with one more good-bye kiss
+Ruth ran down the steps, and in a few moments was seated beside the
+farmer, while the big horse trotted down the street.
+
+Aunt Clara had put a box on the wagon seat beside Ruth. "Open it when
+you are half-way to your journey's end," she had said smilingly, and
+Farmer Withely had smiled also, and nodded approvingly, thinking to
+himself that he had no better customers than the Pennell family, and
+being quite sure of the appetizing contents of the box.
+
+As they drove out of the town, past the stone house, and on to the river
+road Ruth pointed out the field, where the May-pole was still standing,
+and told the farmer all the May-day sports and songs.
+
+"Perhaps you could remember some of those songs, Miss Ruth? Now, if you
+could, I should admire to hear them," said Farmer Withely.
+
+[Illustration: THE BIG HORSE TROTTED DOWN THE STREET]
+
+"Yes, indeed! I remember every one," said Ruth, and when she began Mrs.
+Hastings' song, Farmer Withely found that it was one he too used to sing
+as a boy on far-off May-days, and so they sang it together, their voices
+falling pleasantly on the sweet spring air.
+
+Then Ruth ventured to ask if Farmer Withely had ever seen General
+Washington, or, perhaps, young Lafayette?
+
+"Indeed I have. My best gray horse has now the honor of belonging to
+General Washington, and many a cold journey have I taken to carry food
+to the soldiers at Valley Forge," responded Farmer Withely, and he went
+on to tell of the unfaltering courage of the American soldiers through
+the hardships at the camp.
+
+He told of young Lafayette's recent return to Valley Forge from Albany,
+and of his devotion to the American cause. Ruth listened eagerly to all
+he had to tell her, and the miles slipped away behind them, and when
+Farmer Withely pointed toward the old church, which stood near the
+summit of Barren Hill, and said that they had nearly reached their
+journey's end, Ruth declared that it had been a very pleasant journey,
+and Farmer Withely said he would like just such a passenger every day.
+
+Aunt Deborah Farleigh was at the gate to welcome her little niece, and
+then Ruth had to be taken and introduced to the bees, and to see two
+brown calves in the barnyard, and a flock of fine chickens. After that
+it was nearly dusk and supper was ready, and it was not until Ruth took
+her seat at the table that she remembered her real errand to Barren
+Hill.
+
+"Aunt Deborah, the English have not captured Lafayette, have they?" she
+asked earnestly.
+
+For once Aunt Deborah was startled from her usual calmness.
+
+"For pity's sake, child! What dost thou mean?" she responded. "I have
+heard naught of such a thing."
+
+Ruth gave a sigh of relief. "I just wanted to be sure," she replied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+LAFAYETTE'S VISIT
+
+
+The May sun streamed warmly into the big square chamber where Ruth
+slept, and she awoke to the song of birds, and the fragrance of
+blossoming lilacs.
+
+For a few moments she lay quite still, looking wonderingly about the
+room. It seemed a "shining" room to Ruth, with its whitewashed walls,
+and its smooth polished floor, and only a chest of drawers, a
+light-stand and a rush-bottomed chair for furniture.
+
+She got up and dressed slowly, wondering if her mother missed her very
+much, and if Hero would go scratching and whining to her door in search
+of his little mistress. Aunt Deborah's house was much larger than the
+little brick house which was Ruth's home in Philadelphia, and as Ruth
+came slowly down the wide stairs she thought what a fine house it would
+be for little girls to live in; there seemed so much room and so little
+furniture.
+
+Aunt Deborah lived alone, but the Withely farm adjoined hers, and Farmer
+Withely took care of her farm and stock.
+
+"Good-morning, Ruth," said Aunt Deborah with her sunny smile, as her
+little niece came into the big kitchen to find breakfast awaiting her.
+"I trust thy pleasure in being here is as great as mine in having thee.
+And I have great news for thee. Thy dear father came over from Valley
+Forge a week ago, and was sorry enough to find thee not here. And he had
+great tidings for me. He says that France has now joined with America in
+the war against England, and Washington hopes for great aid from so
+powerful an ally."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah! Won't my father come again?" responded Ruth. "May I
+not go to Valley Forge to see him?"
+
+"It may be that he will come again," Aunt Deborah replied thoughtfully.
+"And who knows but he may come with Lafayette! For General Washington is
+sending scouting parties about the country to discover the plans of the
+English. So any day we may see the troops of either army come marching
+up the road."
+
+Ruth was almost too excited to eat her breakfast after listening to
+Aunt Deborah's news, and even the sight of the pink lustre cup from
+which Lafayette had drunk seemed of little consequence. If English
+soldiers came marching that way Ruth knew well that their purpose would
+be to capture American scouting parties, and she became more eager than
+ever to go to Valley Forge, and again asked Aunt Deborah if she could
+not go. But Aunt Deborah promptly responded that such a visit was
+impossible.
+
+"Tis a ride of over ten miles, and a ford to cross," she said. "Farmer
+Withely has no spare time at present to take thee; besides that, General
+Washington does not care for visitors."
+
+Ruth looked so disappointed that Aunt Deborah added: "And who knows what
+day Lafayette may ride this way again? It may even be this very morning!
+Take thy doll and walk to the church; from there thou canst see both
+ways. If the English redcoats come along the river road thee must hasten
+back and tell me, so that we may start some one off at once to warn our
+American soldiers."
+
+"Might I go?" asked Ruth.
+
+"How could a small girl like thee cross the Schuylkill?" questioned
+Aunt Deborah. "'Tis most likely I should have to go myself."
+
+Ruth now felt that she could really be of use if she kept watch from the
+top of Barren Hill, and she ran through the garden, and climbed up the
+rough slope to the little square church, from whose steps she could
+watch the quiet road which curved along by the woods to the riverside.
+She thought of Hero, and wished it had been possible to bring him with
+her. "Just for company," she whispered to herself, for she began to feel
+that she was a long way from home.
+
+"Unless Father or Lafayette comes to-day I must go to Valley Forge
+to-morrow," she resolved.
+
+But the day passed without a sign of any advancing troops, and at
+supper-time Ruth was so quiet and sober that Aunt Deborah began to fear
+that her little niece was homesick, and tried to amuse her by telling
+her of a tame squirrel who lived in the wood-shed and had made friends
+with a family of kittens. But the little girl did not seem interested;
+she wanted to know if the water was very deep at Matson's ford, and how
+long it would take to walk to Valley Forge; until Aunt Deborah wondered
+if Ruth really thought such a journey possible for a little girl. She
+recalled the visit Ruth had made to the English General in order to
+rescue Hero, and said to herself that she was sure Ruth would not again
+undertake any plan without asking permission.
+
+"I'll wait until to-morrow," Ruth resolved, as she went to bed that
+night. "I mustn't wait any longer," and comforted by that resolution she
+was soon fast asleep.
+
+She awoke before daylight, to find Aunt Deborah standing beside the bed.
+
+"Get up, my dear child. Lose no time. General Lafayette is below, and I
+am preparing his breakfast," she said.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Deborah!" exclaimed Ruth, sure that this was a dream from
+which she would soon awake.
+
+"Hasten, child, if thou wouldst see him," and Aunt Deborah, candle in
+hand, disappeared from the shadowy room.
+
+Ruth dressed more quickly than ever before, but she did not neglect to
+brush her hair neatly, but not until she opened the kitchen door did she
+realize that the strings to her stout leather shoes were unfastened.
+
+It was broad daylight now, and the morning sunshine was all about the
+Marquis de Lafayette as he looked up with a smiling nod to the little
+girl who stood gazing at him from the doorway.
+
+"If thee please, sir, this is my niece, Ruth Pennell, who has long
+cherished the hope of seeing thee," said Aunt Deborah.
+
+The young Frenchman rose from his seat, and bowed as ceremoniously as if
+Lady Washington herself stood before him.
+
+Ruth could think only of her thick shoes and the wandering strings, as
+she endeavored to make a proper curtsy.
+
+Lafayette was in the uniform of an American officer, and two American
+soldiers were on guard at the open door. The little party had ridden
+over from Valley Forge under cover of the night to discover a
+camping-ground for a body of troops which Lafayette was soon to lead
+toward Philadelphia, for Washington had discovered that Sir Henry
+Clinton had orders to evacuate the city.
+
+"Will you not share my breakfast, Mistress Ruth?" asked the young
+Frenchman, drawing one of the high-backed wooden chairs to the table
+beside his own.
+
+"The child will indeed be honored," replied Aunt Deborah, and almost
+before Ruth could realize the great honor in store for her she found
+herself seated at the table. She looked up to find Lafayette smiling at
+her shy word of thanks.
+
+What a wonderful breakfast for any little girl to have to remember. Ruth
+wished with all her heart that Winifred and Gilbert could see her.
+
+"I have a small daughter of my own in France," said the kind young
+Frenchman, "and I hear that your father is at Valley Forge."
+
+"Yes, sir," responded Ruth faintly, wondering to herself why she did not
+at once tell him what she had heard the English officers at Southwark
+say of General Howe's intention to capture him.
+
+"Well, very soon he will be safe at home," continued Lafayette. And now
+Ruth resolved to speak.
+
+"If you please, sir----" she began, but at that moment Lafayette sprang
+to his feet, and with a word of thanks to Aunt Deborah for her
+hospitality, and a smiling nod to Ruth, he started toward the door,
+saying:
+
+"I have indeed lingered too long. I must lose no time in getting back to
+camp."
+
+But now Ruth was out of her chair in a second; she was no longer in awe
+of the young Frenchman.
+
+"I must tell you. I heard two Englishmen say you were to be captured and
+taken to England," she declared eagerly, running along by his side.
+
+The young man smiled down at the eager, half frightened child.
+
+"Ah, well, _ma chere_, they have been saying that for a long time," he
+responded lightly, "but thou art a kind little maid to warn me; and I
+assure thee I will remember it," and with a word of farewell he hurried
+across the garden, mounted his horse, and in a few moments had vanished
+behind the thick growing trees.
+
+Aunt Deborah and Ruth stood on the garden path listening until they
+could no longer hear the sound of the horses' feet on the hard country
+road. Then Aunt Deborah smiled at Ruth.
+
+"Thee should be a happy girl now, I am sure," she said, "and thee did
+right to tell him what his enemies threaten. Perhaps that was one reason
+thee was so anxious to visit Valley Forge?"
+
+"Oh, yes, Aunt Deborah! If he had not come I should have had to run away
+so he might surely be warned," Ruth responded.
+
+"I would have taken the message myself had need been," said Aunt
+Deborah; "but thee sees that he already knew of their wicked plan. He
+did but smile at such a threat."
+
+A few days after this visit there was great excitement on Barren Hill. A
+troop of American soldiers, the very flower of Washington's army,
+commanded by Lafayette, were in camp on the hill. Farmers were bringing
+buckets of milk and freshly baked bread for the soldiers' breakfast, and
+Ruth could see and hear the bustle of the camps.
+
+At first Mistress Farleigh and Ruth had hoped that Ruth's father might
+be one of the company, but as the day passed and he did not appear at
+the stone house they became sure that he was still at Valley Forge.
+
+Mistress Farleigh had told Ruth not to go to the summit of the hill
+where the troops were camped.
+
+"Thee may walk toward the river, or in the paths at the edge of the
+wood," Aunt Deborah had said, adding that she wished Hero were at
+Barren Hill. "Then thee could go wherever thee pleased."
+
+But that day Ruth was content to play with Cecilia in the pleasant
+garden, hoping until long after sunset that her father might appear.
+
+Neither Aunt Deborah nor Ruth slept well that night, and both were up
+very early in the morning. After their simple breakfast Aunt Deborah
+busied herself with bread making, that she might send hot corn bread to
+the American soldiers.
+
+"And wilt thou not run over to Farmer Withely's and ask Mistress Withely
+for the loan of a covered basket of good size, Ruth," she suggested, and
+Ruth willingly obeyed. The Withely farmhouse was at the further side of
+a broad field, and hidden by a small grove of pine trees. It was a
+pleasant walk in the early morning, and as Ruth ran along she could see
+that the American troops were harnessing their horses, and that it was
+evident some movement was at hand.
+
+"Oh! Perhaps I shall never see Lafayette again, and I did not help him
+after all," she thought.
+
+And now another and more startling sound came to Ruth's ears. Along the
+Ridge road she could hear the sound of horses' feet and the rattle of
+musketry.
+
+"Perhaps it is more American soldiers coming," thought the little girl.
+But she felt vaguely troubled, as she went slowly on. She had just
+entered the little woodland path which led to Farmer Withely's when she
+saw a glimmer of a red coat in the underbrush.
+
+Ruth stopped, and crouched low behind a small tree. She heard low
+voices, and in a moment a laughing voice said:
+
+"We have the fine Frenchman just where we want him. He is preparing his
+men to receive Howe's soldiers on the Ridge road, but he does not dream
+that General Grant with seven thousand troops is coming up in his rear.
+General Howe has invited a dinner party to meet Lafayette to-night in
+Philadelphia."
+
+"'Tis a fine thing to get the Frenchman," came the low response; "we'd
+better move farther up the hill now."
+
+For a moment Ruth hesitated, hardly realizing the importance of what she
+had overheard. Then she turned and ran toward the American encampment,
+where she could see troops of soldiers already moving forward toward
+the Ridge road.
+
+"Oh I suppose I do not get there in time to tell him that there is an
+English army coming behind him," she thought.
+
+Once she stumbled and fell over an unseen root; but at last breathless
+and tired she found herself facing a number of American soldiers, one of
+whom called out:
+
+"Run home, child; you are in danger here."
+
+"Lafayette! Lafayette!" she called wildly. "Tell him there are thousands
+of English soldiers coming up the road behind his army. The road from
+Swedes Ford," called Ruth.
+
+Almost before Ruth finished speaking one of the soldiers had turned his
+horse and galloped away to find his commander, and tell him of this
+unexpected enemy. Ruth turned and hurried home. She had entirely
+forgotten about her errand to Farmer Withely's.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+AT HOME
+
+
+Lafayette had received the startling news and acted upon it without a
+question. He marched his men rapidly toward Matson's Ford, on the lower
+road, and when the British generals came up to Barren Hill they were
+astonished to find that they had only each other to fight. They decided
+not to cross the river, but returned to Philadelphia, much disappointed
+that the Marquis de Lafayette was not their prisoner.
+
+Lafayette likewise marched back to Valley Forge, where he was received
+with great joy.
+
+The soldier who had taken Ruth's message found an opportunity to tell
+Lafayette that the news that had saved his army had been brought by a
+little girl.
+
+"She came running up the hill calling your name, sir. A little girl with
+yellow hair and blue eyes," said the soldier.
+
+"Would you know her if you saw her again?" questioned the young
+Frenchman.
+
+"I should indeed, sir," was the quick reply.
+
+Aunt Deborah had not questioned Ruth when, flushed and tired, she came
+running back to the house on the morning when the Americans had so
+easily made their escape, thanks to Ruth's message, from the
+overwhelming armies of the English. For a number of days Ruth did not
+venture beyond the garden, and when, a week later, her father opened the
+gate and called "Ruth!" she ran to meet him, feeling sure that now
+everything was sure to come right, and that she and her father could
+soon return to Philadelphia.
+
+But Mr. Pennell was not alone; there was a tall smiling soldier just
+behind him, and near the gate a graceful figure on horseback that Ruth
+recognized as Lafayette.
+
+Aunt Deborah came hurrying to welcome Mr. Pennell; the soldier had
+turned back, and was standing beside the mounted officer, who soon
+dismounted and came slowly up the path.
+
+"Lieutenant Pennell, I have to thank your little maid for a very great
+service," he said, as he took Ruth's hand, and smiled down on the
+little girl; and then he told first of Ruth's warning that his capture
+was planned by General Howe, and then of her warning of an advancing
+army against his troops.
+
+"I came this morning that I might thank her for her loyal service to
+America and to me," he said, bending low to kiss the warm little hand
+that rested in his own.
+
+It was indeed a wonderful day for Ruth Pennell.
+
+After Lafayette rode away she told the story to her surprised and
+astonished father, while Aunt Deborah listened as if she could hardly
+believe her own ears.
+
+Lieutenant Pennell had been given a week's furlough, and was quite sure
+that it would be possible for him to visit his home in Philadelphia,
+taking Ruth with him, for the English were leaving the city as rapidly
+as possible.
+
+Later in the day Aunt Deborah told Ruth's father of his little
+daughter's visit to General Howe, and Ruth told of Gilbert's play, and
+of the boys' arrest by the English, of Betty's capture on account of the
+borrowed coat, and of her escape from the house by the river.
+
+"The children of Philadelphia will indeed remember the year of 1778,
+and surely my little daughter can never forget it," responded her
+father.
+
+Ruth was eager to start for home as soon as possible, especially as Aunt
+Deborah said that she must return in midsummer with her mother for a
+longer visit. "And thy friend Winifred must come also," she had added.
+
+Winifred and Gilbert had heard the story of Ruth's warning to the
+American army, for Aunt Deborah had sent a letter to Mrs. Pennell at the
+first opportunity, and Gilbert had at once declared that he would "make
+up a play" about it.
+
+"And we will have it the very day Ruth comes home," he said. "I will be
+Lafayette, and Ruth can be herself."
+
+"And let's ask Betty and all the girls who went to the May party,"
+suggested Winifred.
+
+"And Ned, too, and Mother and Mrs. Pennell," agreed Gilbert. "I tell
+you, it is lucky Ruth went to Barren Hill, and I guess it's lucky you
+girls went to Southwark that day. You see, it put Ruth on the lookout to
+warn Lafayette," he added.
+
+Gilbert's second play proved even a greater success than his first. The
+girls listened admiringly to Winifred's account of Lafayette's thanking
+Ruth, and when the guests had all gone the two little friends went to
+their favorite seat in Ruth's garden under the big maple tree. Hero kept
+very close to his little mistress, as if afraid that she might again
+suddenly disappear.
+
+"Do you remember that day when we began the chair for Cecilia, Ruthie?"
+asked Winifred, "and when you said you wished you could do some great
+service for Lafayette because he had come to help America?"
+
+Ruth nodded, not quite sure of the exact day, but very sure that she had
+always wanted to help the young Frenchman, and wondering what Winifred
+would say next.
+
+"And now you have done him a great service," Winifred continued soberly.
+"And Betty and Annette, and all the girls say that you are a real
+heroine."
+
+"I guess they don't know much about heroines," responded Ruth, but there
+was a pleased smile about her mouth. Of course any little girl whose
+hand had been kissed by Lafayette was a heroine, she thought happily.
+
+
+
+The Stories in this Series are:
+
+A LITTLE MAID OF PROVINCE TOWN
+A LITTLE MAID OF MASSACHUSETTS COLONY
+A LITTLE MAID OF NARRAGANSETT BAY
+A LITTLE MAID OF BUNKER HILL
+A LITTLE MAID OF TICONDEROGA
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD CONNECTICUT
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA
+A LITTLE MAID OF OLD MAINE
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE MAID OF OLD PHILADELPHIA***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 22370.txt or 22370.zip *******
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