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.