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persuasion to go to dinner with Mr. Chamberlayne, though assuring his host that his haste must border on rudeness.

Among the guests at Mr. Chamberlayne's was a young and blooming widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, daughter of Mr. John Dandridge, both patrician names. She was a widow of John Park Custis, her husband having died three years before, leaving her with two young children and a large for

tune.

As Washington entered the spacious parlor of Mr. Chamberlayne, he was formally presented by his host to a beautiful little woman, rather below medium size, but extremely well formed, with an agreeable countenance, dark hazel eyes and hair, and those frank, engaging manners so captivating in southern women. The heart of the great American was taken by surprise at sight of the beautiful lady, and for a moment the old confusion, which had proved so fatal in his former courtship, seemed about to overwhelm him; but the captivating widow came to his rescue. She was intelligent as well as brilliant, and knew enough of the art of conversation to discuss matters with which the frontier hero was familiar. She was very much interested in the coming campaign, the marching and manoeuvring of armies, and in a few moments the hero of the Monongahela found himself con

versing with an ease and brilliance which surprised himself. The dinner, which in those days was an earlier meal than at present, seemed all too short. The afternoon passed away like a blissful dream, from which he regretted to awake. Bishop, who had been instructed to have the horses ready soon after dinner, was punctual to his orders, and the horses stood pawing at the gate and champing their bits in impatience; but for once Washington loitered in the path of duty. The horses were at last sent to the barn again, and it was not until next morning that he was once more in the saddle, spurring for Williamsburg. Happily, the White House, the residence of Mrs. Custis, was in New Kent County, at no great distance from that city, so that he had opportunities of visiting her in the intervals of business. His time for courtship, however, was brief. Military duties called him back almost immediately to Winchester; but he feared, should he leave the matter in suspense, some more enterprising rival might supplant him during his absence, as in the case of Miss Philipse at New York. He improved, therefore, his brief opportunity to the utmost. In a word, before they separated, they had mutually plighted their troth, and the marriage was to take place as soon as the campaign against Fort Du Quesne was at an end.

Shortly after his return from the campaign, his

marriage with Mrs. Custis was celebrated, January 6th, 1759, at the White House the residence of the bride, in the good old hospitable style of Virginia, amid a joyous assemblage of relatives and friends. Thus, for a time being, the modern Cincinnatus retired from the field of public action to private life and domestic bliss, with one of the noblest wives the world has ever known.

A few more brief sentences, and the history and romance of this story will be complete. De Levi succeeded Montcalm in command of the French forces. Early in the spring of 1760, Vaudreuil sent him to recover Quebec. He defeated Murray at Sillery, three miles above Quebec, and laid siege to the town. The condition of the English was perilous, when the advance of a British squadron arrived, destroyed the French shipping and forced De Levi to raise the siege, abandoning his artillery and stores and flying with great celerity toward Montreal.

Here the French collected all their available forces for the final struggle. Amherst, though slow, was sure. He moved three armies against Montreal with so much precision that they arrived there almost simultaneously. From every direction the English came in, sweeping the French from Fort Presentation at Oswegatchie Isle aux Noix, so that, within the space of thirty hours,

seventeen thousand English troops had gathered about the doomed city. Vaudreuil saw that resistance was foolish and vain, and on the 8th day of September, 1760, surrendered, and thus all Canada passed under the dominion of Great Britain, with General Gage as military governor and General Murray as commandant at Quebec, with four thousand men. Detroit, alone, remained to be conquered. Major Rogers, with two hundred warriors, was sent to plant the British standard at Detroit. On the shores of Lake Erie, they held a council with Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawas, from whom they gained permission to cross over his country to Detroit. On the 29th of December, 1760, Detroit surrendered, and, while the garrison were made prisoners, the settlers were only required to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown.

The country was now at peace, save in the Carolinia frontiers, where there had been strife with the Indians for years. The Cherokees were the hardiest and most enlightened of the savages. They were peaceable, until they were driven to exasperation by the acts of some Virginia rangers and the treachery of the royal governor of South Carolinia, and, in the spring of 1760, they flew to arms with the tribes of the Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. French emissaries had been at work on the Indians,

and the Cherokees received military stores sent out from Louisiana. The suffering people appealed to Amherst for help, and, early in April, Colonel Montgomery, with six hundred Highlanders and as many Americans, was sent to strike the Cherokees. He was also accompanied by Colonel Grant, who was defeated at Fort Du Quesne.

On the first of June, the English were ready to apply the scourge. They penetrated the beautiful valley of the Keowee on the western borders of Anderson District, in which well-built houses and cultivated fields gave tokens of a semi-civilization. They plundered the towns, cut down the standing corn and drove the Indians, who at first made a stout resistance, into the wooded hills.

Onward the English marched, over the hills and the head-waters of the Savannah, to the valley of the Little Tennessee. Down that valley they marched, compelled to fight almost every inch of the way into the heart of the southern Alleghany mountains. The whole country was aroused, and the patriotism of the Cherokees gave intensity to their

anger.

Montgomery was compelled at last to retrace his steps and left Fort Loudon, which at last fell into the hands of the Indians, who murdered a part of the garrison and scattered the others among the tribes. Montgomery hastened to Charleston, and,

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