darker.
She began to feel very tired.

"I'm sure Caroline and Catherine will come and find me," she thought,
leaning against the damp wall of the passage. "I'll just rest a
minute, and then I'll call so they will know which way to turn to find
me."

CHAPTER XI

A DAY OF ADVENTURE

"Caroline! Caroline!" called Faith, and the call echoed back to her
astonished ears from the shadowy passage. "I'd better go back! I'm
sure the other was the right way," she finally decided; and very
slowly she retraced her steps, stopping now and then to call the names
of the girls who had deserted her.

It seemed a long time to Faith before she was back to where the big
solid door had blocked the first passage. She was sure now that the
other way would lead her back to the square where she had last seen
her companions. But as she stood looking at the door she could see
that it was not closed. It swung a little, and Faith wondered to
herself if this door, after all, might not open near the entrance so
that she could find her way to the road, and so back to Aunt Prissy.

She could just reach a big iron ring that swung from the center of the
door; and she seized this and pulled with all her might. As the door
slowly opened, letting in the clear October sunlight, Faith heard
steps coming down the passage. The half-opened door nearly hid her
from sight, and she looked back expecting to see either Caroline or
Catherine, and, in the comfort of the hope of seeing them, quite ready
to accept any excuse they might offer. But before she could call out
she heard a voice, which was vaguely familiar, say: "I did leave that
door open. Lucky I came back," and Nathan Beaman, the Shoreham boy,
was close beside her.

When he saw a little girl still grasping the iron ring, he seemed too
surprised to speak.

"I'm lost!" Faith whispered. "I'm so glad you came. Major Young's
little girls asked me to come to the fort, and then ran away and left
me," and Faith told of her endeavors to find her companions.

"Lucky I came back," said Nathan again, but this time his voice had an
angry tone. "It was a mean trick. Those girls----" Then Nathan stopped
suddenly. "Well, they're Tories," he concluded.

"I was afraid it was night," said Faith.

"No, but you might have wandered about in these passageways until you
were tired out. Or you might have fallen from that door. Look out, but
hold close to the door," said Nathan.

Faith came to the doorway and