recognized, which was, perhaps, as well; for the house was full of
British spies. Ledyard waited till night. Then he went to her private
apartments and found her reading with the broad-rimmed, horn-framed
spectacles of those days. He took her hands. "Look at me," he said.
One glance was enough. Then he shut the door; and the door remains
shut to the world on what happened there.

That was the end of British soldiering for Ledyard. He never returned
to the marines. He betook himself to Hartford, where he wrote an
account of Cook's voyage. Then he set himself to move heaven and earth
for a ship to explore that unknown coast from New Spain to Alaska.
This was ten years before Robert Gray of Boston had discovered the
Columbia; twenty years before the United States thought of buying
Louisiana, twenty-five years before Lewis and Clark reached the
Pacific. Many influences worked against him. Times were troublous.
The country had not recovered sufficiently from the throes of the
Revolution to think of expanding territory. Individually and
collectively, the nation was desperately poor. As for private sailing
masters, they smiled at Ledyard's enthusiasm. An unclaimed world?
What did they care? Where was the money in a venture to the Pacific?
When Ledyard told how Russia was reaping a yearly harvest of millions
in furs, even his old friend, Captain Deshon, whose boat had {254}
carried him to Plymouth, grew chary of such roseate prospects. It was
characteristic of Ledyard that the harder the difficulties proved, the
harder grew his determination to overcome. He was up against the
impossible, and instead of desisting, gritted his teeth, determined to
smash a breach through the wall of the impossible, or smash himself
trying. For six months he besieged leading men in New York and
Philadelphia, outlining his plans, meeting arguments, giving proofs for
all he said of Pacific wealth, holding conference after conference.
Robert Morris entered enthusiastically into the scheme; but what with
shipmasters' reluctance to embark on such a dangerous voyage and the
general scarcity of funds, the patience of both Ledyard and Morris
became exhausted. Ledyard's savings had meanwhile dwindled down to
$4.27.

In Europe, Cook's voyage was beginning to create a stir. The Russian
government had projected an expedition to the Pacific under Joseph
Billings, Cook's assistant astronomer. These Russian plans aimed at no
less than domi