ut 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
th