now," responded her mother.

But after a little Mrs. Eldridge told them that a messenger had come
from Bennington, summoning the settlers to Castleton to meet Colonel
Allen. Faith and Esther listened to the story of the far-off battle
of Lexington, in Massachusetts, the news of which had determined the
Green Mountain Boys to make an immediate attack on the fort. These men
were the settlers of the New Hampshire Grants, living long distances
apart, and obliged to travel over rough trails, through deep forests,
across rivers and mountains.

There were no smooth roads or fleet horses to help them on their way;
there was little time for preparation when Allen's summons came; they
had no uniforms, no strains of music; but no truer soldiers ever faced
danger than the Green Mountain Boys.

That night Faith told her mother the story of her adventure in the
fort, when Nathan had rescued her and taken her down the cliff. She
told of the evening in March when she had guided Mr. Phelps along the
moonlit shore of the lake and told him of the entrance to the fort;
and last of all she described her journey with Esther over the trail
to Lake Dunmore, and the letter to Ethan Allen which she had given to
Seth Warner.

Mrs. Carew listened in amazement; but she had no word of blame for
Faith. She realized the dangers the child had so unknowingly faced
with a sense that her little girl had been guarded by a protection
greater than any by which she could have surrounded her; and she
wondered, too, if it were not possible that Faith might not really
have helped in the great undertaking for which her father was ready to
give all that he had to give.

"Mother dear, I despise secrets," Faith whispered, as she finished the
story, "and I mean never to have another one."

Three days later Mr. Carew came swinging across the clearing. He waved
his cap in the air as Faith came running to meet him.

"Ticonderoga is ours," he called, "and the English prisoners are on
their way to Hartford. And so it was you, little maid, who helped
Phelps to a plan of the fort, and told Ethan Allen of young Beaman!"

"Did it help, father? Did it help?" Faith asked eagerly.

"Help? Indeed it did. Young Beaman led the way to the fort, and we
were in without firing a shot. And Colonel Allen and his men hold the
fort," replied Mr. Carew.

He could stay for but a few hours, as he was carrying the news to the
settlements. It was several days before he was at home