o enrich
themselves with French presents, and get drunk on French whiskey; yet,
for all that, they turned a deaf ear to French promises, and, keeping
their faith unbroken, remained as true as hickory to their friends the
English. Even the Half King, stately and commanding as he was in
council, yielded to the pleasing temptation along with the rest; and,
for the greater part of the time, lay beastly drunk about the fort.
When at last he came to his sober senses, he was not a little
chopfallen upon being somewhat sternly reminded by Major Washington of
the business that had brought him thither, the recollection of which
he had seemingly drowned in his enemy's whiskey. Whereupon, as if to
show that all his threats and promises had been made in good faith, he
went forthwith to the French general, and delivered the grave oration
he had composed for the occasion; at the same time returning the
speech-belt White Thunder had brought, as a sign that all friendly
relations between the French and his people were at an end.

At last, having received the answer to Gov. Dinwiddie's letter, and
looked into matters and things about him as far as he could with
prudence, Major Washington was now anxious to be away from the place
where he had already been detained too long. During his stay, however,
he had been treated with the greatest respect and courtesy by the
accomplished Frenchman, who presented him, upon his departure, with a
large canoe laden with a liberal supply of liquors and provisions,
that lasted him and his men until they reached the Ohio.

To spare the horses as much as possible, Washington had sent them,
with two or three of the men, by land to Venango, a fort about fifteen
miles below; whither he now set out to follow them by water. The
navigation of this little river, owing to its shallows and the masses
of floating ice that here and there blocked up its channel, was
difficult and toilsome in the extreme. Oftentimes, to prevent their
frail canoes from being dashed to pieces against the rocks, would they
be compelled to get out into the cold water for half an hour at a
time, and guide them with their hands down the whirling and rapid
current, and now and then even to carry them and their loads by land
around some foaming cataract to the smoother water below. After an
irksome little voyage, they reached Venango, fully satisfied that to
go further by water was quite out of the question.

XI.

CHRISTMAS IN THE WI