A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia

								

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.
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