ferson.

"I believe your experience with the Indians has greatly matured you.
How old are you?"

"I am well on to sixteen, sir."

"In other words," replied his host with a smile, "you are fifteen with
ardent hope of soon being sixteen, and I'll warrant extremely desirous
of active and honourable employment. The colt, too, looks as though he
wanted to exercise his faculties as well."

"Sir, I am very anxious for employment. There is not much I can do at
home this winter. Indeed, the little place will barely afford
existence and I need to earn money."

"What I have in mind will demand discretion and judgment beyond your
years, as well as fidelity to a trust. Of your fidelity I have no
question, and am inclined to believe that, with your intelligence
and the experience you have had, you will be able to meet the
requirements."

"Won't you give me a chance, Mr. Jefferson?" There was pleading in the
boy's eyes and in the tone of his voice.

"Rodney, I will, with your mother's permission. You explain to her,
but tell no one else, that the work will consist in carrying messages
to different parts of the colony. Supervision of the work being done
by the various committees of safety, and quick and reliable
communication between the men taking the lead in this business,
require such service as you will be expected to perform. Nat looks as
though he might be depended on for the quickness, and to you must be
left the discretion. You must have eyes as well as ears and use both
more than the tongue. The employment will not be without slight
danger, for, after a time, our opponents will inevitably discover
what you are doing. Then, in the present unsettled state of things,
the long rides, some of the time at night, will demand courage and
prudence."

"I'm sure mother will consent. There certainly won't be the danger
there was living among the Indians."

The man smiled. "I doubt if your mother would consent to expose you to
those conditions again. I will write to her and you may be the bearer
of the message and plead your cause."

With the letter finally in his pocket, and Nat making use of a free
rein to gallop like the wind, Rodney Allison felt as though he were
entering upon a new world with much more of sunshine and hope than for
a long time he had known. The following week he began his duties by
setting out for Mount Vernon with a message for Colonel Washington,
and another for Richard Henry Lee, who, also, had been a