cried, her eyes sparkling in sympathy with
his. "I was just telling cousin Tom I believed the governor had a
mission for you."

"Well, so he has, and I got my papers not ten minutes since. You could
never guess my destination."

"Boston? New York? London?" she questioned, but he shook his head at
each, smiling evermore broadly.

"No, 't is none of those. 'T is Venango."

"Venango?" cried Dorothy. "Where, in heaven's name, may that be?" Nor was
I any the less at a loss.

"'T is a French outpost in the Ohio country," answered Washington, "and
my mission, in brief, is to warn the French off English territory."

Dorothy gazed at him, eyes wide with amazement. There was something in
the speaker's words and look which fired my blood.

"You will need companions, will you not, Major Washington?" I asked.

He smiled in comprehension, as he met my eyes.

"Only two or three, Mr. Stewart. Two or three guides and a few Indians
will be all."

My disappointment must have shown in my face, for he gave me his
hand again.

"I thank you for your offer, Mr. Stewart," he said earnestly. "Believe
me, if it were possible, I should ask no better companion. But do not
despair. I have little hope the French will heed the warning, and 't
will then be a question of arms. In such event, there will be great need
of brave and loyal men, and you will have good opportunity to see the
country beyond the mountains. But I must find my mother, and tell her of
my great good fortune."

I watched him as he strode away, and I fancy there was a new light in my
eyes,--certainly there was a new purpose in my heart. For I had been
often sadly puzzled as to what I should do when once I was out of
college. I had no mind to become an idler at Riverview, but was
determined to win myself a place in the world. Yet when I came to look
about me, I saw small prospect of success. The professions--the law,
medicine, and even the church--were overrun with vagabonds who had
brought them so low that no gentleman could think of earning a
livelihood--much less a place in the world--by them. Trade was equally
out of the question, for there was little trade in the colony, and that
in the hands of sharpers. But Mr. Washington's words had opened a new
vista. What possibilities lay in the profession of arms! And my
resolution was taken in an instant,--I would be a soldier. I said nothing
of my resolve to Dorothy, fearing that she would laugh at me, as she
doubtless wo