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diff --git a/22370.txt b/22370.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48b891f --- /dev/null +++ b/22370.txt @@ -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 ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/3/7/22370 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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