separated from the others, and they went to Virginia alone, crossing rivers full of floating ice, on rafts, and undergoing perils and hardships almost incredible.

At last the perilous journey was over, and St. Pierre's letter was delivered to the governor, who at once laid it before his council. The letter was soldierly and courteous in tone and expression. He said it did not become him, as a soldier, to discuss civil matters; that Dinwiddie's letter should. have been sent to the Marquis Du Quesne, then governor of Canada, by whose orders he acted, and whose instructions he should carefully obey, and that the summons of the governor of Virginia to the French to retire immediately could not be complied with.

As the burgesses had been slow to take action, the governor and council determined not to await the tardy actions of the legislative body but proceed at once under general instructions from the king to enlist two hundred men to march to the Ohio River and build two forts there, before the French could descend the stream or its tributaries in the spring.

George Washington was commissioned a lieutenant-colonel and placed in chief command of the troops to be raised. While Governor Dinwiddie was convening the legislature and sending appeals

to the colonies for help, Washington established his headquarters at Alexandria and authorized Captain Trent to enlist men among the traders and frontier settlers.

All the colonies hesitated about voting men or money save North Carolinia, whose assembly patriotically responded at once. The royal governors and colonial assemblies were then wrangling fiercely about the supremacy of parliament and the rights of Americans, which caused, for the time being, a general apathy in regard to foreign matters. The former insisted upon the exclusive right of parliament to fix quotas, direct taxation and disburse moneys through the agents of the crown in the colonies, while the latter insisted on the right to those things themselves. Thus a general jealousy produced dangerous inactivity. While the royal governors and legislatures were quarrelling over their rights, danger was drawing nearer every moment. The warm spring days were coming, when snows and ice would disappear, and then the barks of the French would be seen floating on the placid waters of the "Beautiful River."

Noah Stevens went to Alexandria, where he found his young friend busy recruiting, drilling and preparing for an active campaign. He asked Noah whither he was bound.

"I am on my way to New York," Noah answered.

แ

"To New York?" cried Colonel Washington in amazement. Pray, why are you going to New York, my friend?"

"Do you remember, colonel, when you were a boy, coming to Williamsburg for me to accompany your brother on an expedition against the Indians?"

"I remember," the young colonel answered. "It was a trying ordeal for a boy, as I was, browned by winds and suns, to enter a fashionable ball-room. I am not now much of a society man, for my days have been spent on the frontier; but what could my call six years ago have to do with your going to New York now?"

Noah hesitated a moment before answering, and then began:

You

"Just before the event at Mrs. Wilberforce's, I had met with my fate in the form of a young lady, the most remarkable personage I ever saw. are a practical man, colonel, and, though younger than I, have little or no romance in your soul. You do not know what it is to meet with one who

moves your inmost soul. I cannot say this was a case of love at first sight; it was more like meeting the object of a delightful dream. I wanted to know more of her. Her face was like a painting of childhood. I was suddenly called away. I intended to renew her acquaintance and did so on

my return; but before I had fully satisfied myself, she disappeared, and for six years I did not hear from her; but a few days ago, I learned she was in New York."

"Where has she been?"

"In Europe."

"And but just returned to New York?"

"So I have been informed, and that is the reason I am going to the city."

"Captain Stevens, give over your idea for the present," urged the colonel. "I need your services."

After some persuasion, Captain Stevens was induced to forego his visit to New York and accompany Colonel Washington.

On the recommendation of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, Captain Trent was sent forward with his recruits to construct a fort at the forks of the Ohio, the present site of the city of Pittsburg. Early in April, Lieutenant-Colonel Washington left Alexandria with a small force and proceeded to Wills Creek (now Cumberland), which he reached on the 20th of the same month. On the Monongahela, he was met by a swift runner sent by the friendly chief Half-King, urging the English to come to their assistance. The French had been seen embarking on the Alleghany at Venango, and news of their hostile movements had spread dismay

among all the barbarians friendly to the English. After giving the runner food and a flask of rum, Washington sent him back with a belt, saying:

"Tell Half-King, your friend and brother is coming; be strong and patient.

As the Virginians approached Wills Creek, Washington was met by another runner, who said the French were at the forks. The English had commenced the construction of the fort at the forks, when a large body of French under Captain Contrecoeur drove them away and took possession of the unfinished works. The Virginians hastened back to meet Washington, who, with one hundred and fifty men and three or four pieces of light artillery, was hastening across the mountains. The French completed the fort and named it Du Quesne, in honor of the governor of Canada.

As Colonel Fry had not yet joined the advance, the young lieutenant-colonel assumed the responsibility of pressing forward with his handful of raw recruits, through the rain, with a scant supply of provisions, dragging their light cannon over the wooded hills, felling trees, bridging streams, and making causeways over marshes, even removing great rocks that the main army might march easier, so that, late in May, they stood on the banks of the Youghiogeny forty miles from Fort Du Quesne. Here Washington received a messenger from Half