ncock house. It was--

"Franklin! Rochambeau! Franklin!"

Jamie the Scotchman echoed the cheer from his lusty lungs.

"Franklin!" he cried, waving his hat, "Franklin now and forever!"

His face beamed. "Only think, Jane, what a friend I used to be to him!
What do you suppose gave his hand such power in these affairs of the
nation?"

"It was his heart, Jamie."

"Yes, yes, Jane, that was it--it was the heart of Franklin--of Ben, and
don't you never forget what a friend I used to be to him."

The coming of Rochambeau, under the influence of the poor tallow
chandler's son, was a re-enforcement that helped to gain the victory of
liberty. When Cornwallis was taken, Jane Mecom heard the Castle thunder
again over the sea; and when Rochambeau came to Boston to prepare for
the re-embarkation of the French army, she saw her brother's hand behind
all these events, and felt like one who in her girlhood had been taken
into the counsels of the gods. Her simple family affairs had become
those of the nation.

She knew the springs of the nation's history, and she loved to recall
the days when her brother was Silence Dogood, which he had never ceased
to be.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

FRANKLIN SIGNS THE TREATY OF PEACE.--HOW GEORGE III RECEIVES THE NEWS.

THE surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown brought the war to an end.
The courier from the army came flying into Philadelphia at night. The
watchman called out, "Past twelve o'clock, and all is well!" "Past one
o'clock, and all is well!" and "Past two o'clock, and Cornwallis is
taken!" The people of the city were in the streets early that morning.
Bells pealed; men saluted each other in the name of "Peace."

Poor George III! He had stubbornly sought to subdue the colonies, and
had honestly believed that he had been divinely appointed to rule them
after his own will. No idea that he had ever been pigheaded and wrong
had ever been driven into his dull brain. His view of his prerogative
was that whatever he thought to be best was best, and they were
ungrateful and stiff-necked people who took a different view, and that
it was his bounden duty to punish such in his colonies for their
obstinacy.

It was November 25th in London--Sunday. A messenger came flying from the
coast to Pall Mall. He was bearing exciting news. On he went through
London until he reached the house of George Germain, Minister of
American Affairs. The messenger handed to Lord George a dispatch. The
minist