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 ,1 : UNIVERSITY OF N. CAT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 Hpf^i 00012999197 
 
THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 Wilson Annes 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 
 SOCIETIES 
 
THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/littlewashingtonOOroyl 
 

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WITH A WILD SHOUT THE WAR DANCE BEGAN. 
 The Little Washinstons. FroJitispiece, 
 
THE LITTLE 
 WA5HINGTON5 
 
 BY 
 
 LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE POLLY BREWSTER BOOKS, 
 THE GIRL SCOUTS BOOKS, Etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 'vr A'fA *i^ 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 
 PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 
 
 Made in the United States o( America 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 i«E uwvEBSrry of north c^brouna 
 
 AT CHAPEL Hai 
 
Copyright, 1918, by 
 THE PLATT & NOURSE COMPANY 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. George and MAR-i^^HA .... 7 
 
 II. Washington's Homestead Burns Down 24 
 
 III. Punishments and Lessons . . 41 
 
 IV. George Plans a Survey Expedition . 57 
 V. The Surveyors' Camp ... 75 
 
 VI. The First. Taste of Battle ... 92 
 
 VII. How George Applied History . . no 
 
 VIII. Delightful Imprisonment . • . 127 
 
 IX. The Effects of Prison Life . o 142 
 
THE LITTLE 
 
 WASHINGTONS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 GEORGE AND MARTHA 
 
 ^^ AT ^' MARTHA, you can't play 
 
 ^^^ Lady Washington yet, 'cause 
 
 we need you to be mother this 
 
 time!" exclaimed a little boy of about 
 
 eleven years, named George Parke. 
 
 "But, George, when you told us all 
 about this make-believe game, you said 
 I could be Lady Washington, and wear 
 curls and a train to my dress !" disputed 
 the boy's sister Martha, who was about 
 nine and a half years of age. 
 
 "So you can, just as soon as we 
 have played the first part, but we can't 
 have a war and make me a general right 
 off, before we grow up and show our 
 
 7 
 
8 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 country what a fine young man I am^ 
 don't you see?" explained George. 
 
 "Besides, Martha, George Washing- 
 ton didn't marry Martha Custis till af- 
 ter he began to be a soldier, so some one 
 must play his mother, Mrs. Washing- 
 ton, to start with, and you are the only 
 girl here," anxiously added a younger 
 boy of about eight. 
 
 "Well, if I play Mrs. Washington 
 now, what will you be?" questioned 
 Martha. 
 
 "Me? Oh, I can be anything George 
 says, until the time when we go to war 
 and I am Marquis Lafayette," replied 
 John Graham, the little boy who lived 
 next door to the Parkes in the suburbs 
 of Washington, D. C. 
 
 "Well, all right! I s'pose I'll have 
 to," sighed Martha reluctantly; "but it 
 would be more fun to begin right 
 where the general has to leave home to 
 fight and you come over from France 
 to help and Jim Jackson plays Her- 
 cules!" 
 
 "We'll get to that place in a few 
 days, Martha! I'd rather play war and 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 9 
 
 order John and my men about than 
 make believe I'm your oldest son and 
 living in the country — but things have 
 to start at the beginning. You know 
 what mother read to us this morning 
 from Washington's memoirs — he al- 
 ways believed in law and order, so we 
 must act just as he would," explained 
 George. 
 
 "Then you must be very obedient, 
 and do just what I tell you, George, be- 
 cause he was a model son and very 
 respectful to his mother," quickly added 
 Martha, feeling a keen sense of joy in 
 the prospects of making her indepen- 
 dent brother do her bidding. 
 
 "Humph! Washington wasn't home 
 very long, you remember, after he left 
 school to do surveying. So I won't 
 have to be very obedient to you," ar- 
 gued George, with dissatisfaction in 
 his tone. 
 
 "Even so, the real Washington was 
 so dutiful a son that he always wrote 
 letters to tell his mother what he was 
 doing — and he always asked advice on 
 things of importance. That's what you 
 
m THE LITTLE WASHINGTON^ 
 
 must do of me!" declared Martha, lift- 
 ing her head authoritatively. 
 
 "Come on in the house, John — Fm 
 going to get that big book mother read 
 from this morning,'* said George, start- 
 ing for the back porch. 
 
 **rm coming, too, 'cause I want to 
 borrow grandma's lace cap and a pair 
 of specs," crie^ Martha, as she ran 
 close at the boys' heels. 
 
 While the three playmates are in the 
 house, let me tell you what all this plan- 
 ning was about. 
 
 George and Martha Parke were con- 
 nected in a distant way with the Parke 
 and Custis family of long ago. Of 
 course you remember that the father of 
 his country, George Washington, mar- 
 ried the widow Martha Custis, who was 
 later called "Lady Washington"; and 
 that was the subject of the conversation 
 between the children when this story 
 opened. 
 
 George and Martha Parke lived in 
 a lovely house surrounded by ample 
 grounds, a short distance from the cap- 
 ital of the United States — Washington. 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 11 
 
 And in the neighboring house lived a 
 little playmate, John Graham. Then 
 there was a family of cousins, who lived 
 a short distance from the Parkes — ^just 
 near enough to allow the children to 
 run back and forth for visits without 
 the parents worrying over their safety. 
 
 As is customary in many old South- 
 ern families, devoted family servants, 
 descended from slave days, are retained 
 generation after generation. These 
 faithful colored servitors marry into the 
 staffs of their own or neighboring fam- 
 ilies, and the children that are born are 
 educated and trained by the family 
 whom they serve. 
 
 In the Parke household descend- 
 ants of the old slaves could be found. 
 Jenny, the cook, had married the butler 
 of the Graham household, but re- 
 mained with the Parkes while Sam still 
 lived with the Grahams. A little boy, 
 Jim, was the only child of this couple, 
 and he was being seriously considered 
 by the Parke children to play the part 
 of Hercules, the famous cook of the 
 Washington family. Jim was about 
 
12 [THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 seven years old, and owing to the con- 
 stant companionship of his granny, 
 who was the old family nurse of the 
 Parke children, he had acquired much 
 of the interesting dialect peculiar to 
 the old Southern slaves, and still notice- 
 able in genuine descendants of these 
 good, faithful servants. 
 
 About the time this story opens, the 
 Parke and Graham families had but 
 recently returned from their country 
 farms where the summers were spent, 
 and studies and recreation were again 
 resumed by the children. George 
 Washington always was a great favor- 
 ite in American History for the chil- 
 dren since Mrs. Parke began reading a 
 very interesting book of his life to them, 
 and they conceived the idea to pretend 
 the whole story as it progressed day after 
 day. 
 
 Every afternoon was playtime, and 
 the children were free to follow this 
 plan of amusement: Grandma Parke 
 eagerly abetting the suggestion by of- 
 fering bits of lace and silk, a shawl and 
 other properties, to make the game 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 13 
 
 more realistic. As grandma was very 
 proud of her ancestry, she was de- 
 lighted to hear of the "make-believe" 
 general's scheme and at once began 
 planning how she might add to the in- 
 terest by making a cocked hat and cos- 
 tume for George, a dress and other 
 requirements for Martha, and suitable 
 toilettes for Lafayette and Hercules. 
 
 But here come the children, so we 
 must stop talking of their plans until 
 some other time when they are not 
 present. 
 
 "Here, John, you sit down on this 
 cushion, while Martha sits on the lawn 
 chair and makes notes of what we need 
 to do in our game. I'll read from the 
 book so's it'll be all true and right," 
 commanded George, as the three chil- 
 dren reached a group of birches grow- 
 ing at one side of the back lawn. 
 
 George hastily thumbed the pages 
 at the first part of the book and finally 
 found the special page for which he was 
 seeking. 
 
 "Now, here it says: 'George Wash- 
 ington was born at the old homestead 
 
14 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 of Wakefield, in Westmoreland Coun- 
 ty, in Eastern Virginia. He was the 
 oldest child of a family of six children 
 — George, Betty, Samuel, John Augus- 
 tine, Charles, and Mildred. The latter 
 died in infancy.' " 
 
 "Oh, we know all that, George, so 
 don't lose time reading it. We want 
 to start the play!" cried Martha, who 
 felt impatient at being obliged to 
 listen to her brother's expressionless 
 reading. 
 
 "Well, I was only going to say that 
 one day, while good Madam Washing- 
 ton was raking dry grass and stubble 
 in her garden, she thought to burn it, 
 and in this way set fire to her home 
 and burned it down. It says that the 
 servants helped her fight the flames, but 
 only succeeded in saving a few things. 
 Now I thought we could start our fun 
 by having Martha do that. I can be off 
 somewhere on business — just now I am 
 Mary Washington's husband, you 
 know, and John will have to play 
 George, the son. What do you say?" 
 and George watched the growing en- 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 15 
 
 thusiasm in the faces of his audience. 
 
 "O-oh, say, George, can't we go 
 down to the back fence and build a 
 shack or something? Then Martha 
 can really rake the dry weeds and stuff 
 left in the vegetable garden, and when 
 we burn it in a bonfire we can burn the 
 house, too !" exclaimed John, ever ready 
 for mischief. 
 
 "Of course! That is what I expect 
 to do!" returned George, who never ad- 
 mitted that any one ever thought of a 
 brilliant plan that he too had not had 
 the same inspiration. 
 
 "Comx on, Martha — let's hurry!'* 
 urged John, now imbued with the idea 
 of having a big bonfire. 
 
 The three children started off for the 
 extreme end of the property where the 
 high picket fence divided the Parke 
 truck garden from that of the Graham 
 place. They had not gone more than 
 a dozen yards, however, before a shrill 
 whistle came from the area leading 
 from the basement of the house. 
 
 "Whar yuh goin'?" called a picka- 
 ninny eagerly. 
 
16 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Goin' to play Washingtons !'* 
 shouted John. 
 
 "Kin Ah come an' play?" begged 
 the bow-legged little Jim, running as 
 fast as he could across the grass. 
 
 "Oh, say, George, we got to have a 
 servant, you know, to help Madam 
 Washington put out the fire!" ex- 
 claimed John, turning to George. 
 
 At that, George turned and called to 
 Jim, "Yes, I was jus' thinking of send- 
 ing for you to come and play." 
 
 So with a wide grin that showed 
 every glistening white tooth in his 
 large mouth, Jim followed breathless- 
 ly after his young master. 
 
 Arrived at the place that offered such 
 a fine site for their homestead and the 
 destructive fire, the four children stood 
 and looked about, then at each other. 
 
 "There's noffin to burn," remarked 
 Jim grumblingly. 
 
 "Then we'll have to go to work and 
 build something. You see, George 
 Washington would never stop at such 
 trifles!" bragged the youthful George. 
 
 "I know where there's a pile of olH 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 17 
 
 bean-poles our gardener left after tak- 
 ing out the dry vines," ventured John. 
 
 "You do! Where?" exclaimed 
 George and Martha in one voice. 
 
 "Do you s'pose any one wants them 
 again? We've done with them for this 
 year," wondered John, not quite per- 
 suaded. 
 
 " 'Course not ! Bean-poles aren't 
 much account for anything, and every 
 year we get new ones. I'm quite sure 
 — don't we, Martha?" said George, 
 turning to his sister to sponsor this, 
 doubtful act. 
 
 "Where do you keep them, John?" 
 parried Martha, wishing to find out 
 how much risk there might be in trans- 
 ferring them from one side of the fence 
 to the other, before committing herself 
 to the plan. 
 
 "I'll go and get them — if Jim will 
 help — and we won't have to bring 
 them over here. We can build the 
 house right by the fence and Martha 
 can have the fire on this side of the 
 fence in the cornfield here," suggested 
 John. 
 
18 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 Now this was a wonderful idea that 
 George could not claim as original 
 with himself, so he objected to its pos- 
 sible success. 
 
 "Let's build half on your side and 
 half on ours. We can use some of the 
 poles and brush from our garden for 
 this half. If you have most on your 
 side, that can be the house, and ours 
 can be the extension at the back of the 
 homestead, 'cause that is always much 
 smaller." 
 
 "Fine! Come on, Jim, and help me, 
 while George and Martha build their 
 kitchen end," gleefully called John, 
 climbing over the fence as easily as if 
 it were a ladder. 
 
 Jim scrambled after, his bent legs 
 showing fearfully uncertain as he 
 mounted the strong post at a section 
 of the fence. Soon the two were out 
 of sight behind the still standing high 
 corn-stalks, and George with his sis- 
 ter began to collect the brush that had 
 been used for the peas that season. 
 
 After many trips to and from the 
 garden, loaded with tiresome burdens of 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 19 
 
 brush and bean-poles, all four patriotic 
 plotters met again at the fence-post to 
 discuss further developments. 
 
 "Now we've got everything, how are 
 we going to build the house?" queried 
 John. 
 
 "I guess I'll have to go to the tool- 
 house and ger a shovel and some string. 
 We'll have to have string to tie on the 
 roof and sides of the house, you know," 
 ventured George. 
 
 "Ah got a hank o' yarn," offered Jim, 
 taking a snarled bunch of knitting 
 wool from his loose breeches pocket. 
 
 "Good! Here, Martha, you sit down 
 and unravel this tangle while I go to 
 the tool-house. Say, John, why can't 
 you get a shovel and pick, too? We've 
 got to stick those poles in the ground, 
 you know, to tie the brush on after- 
 ward," said George. 
 
 "Why can't we use the fence for a 
 wall and lean the poles up against it 
 from both sides? Then the brush can 
 be stuck in between the poles. What 
 difference will it make whether the 
 house is up straight or leans against 
 
20 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 somethin' as long as it is goin' to burn 
 down?" argued John. 
 
 "If we have a homestead, we're go- 
 ing to have a good one. It will make 
 our sorrow deeper if we lose the home 
 so unexpectedly through the careless- 
 ness of Martha," replied George, 
 which spoke well for his innate desire 
 to do everything well. 
 
 "I wasn't careless at all! It was an 
 accident. The book says: 'Madam 
 Washington was clearing away the 
 trash from her garden when in some 
 way' — ^maybe the wind blew a spark 
 inside a window — 'the homestead 
 caught fire.' Now I won't play if you 
 make me burn it down through care- 
 lessness!" pouted Martha. 
 
 "Oh, don't get cross, Martha! Have 
 it happen any way you like, only let's 
 hurry and build the house or it'll be 
 dark before we have a fire !" cried John 
 impatiently. 
 
 So Martha sat down to do the impos- 
 sible — unravel the snarl of Jim's yarn — 
 and two of the boys ran to the 
 Grahams' barn, while George hurried 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 21 
 
 to his father's shed for the necessary 
 implements with which to work. 
 
 Work as fast and as hard as they 
 could, it took all the rest of the after- 
 noon to dig holes and firmly place 
 enough bean-poles in a square on both 
 sides of the fence to make the walls of 
 the house. Then the roof had to be 
 fastened on. ^ For this, the picket fence 
 provided a splendid resting-place. It 
 was used as the ridge-pole, the bean- 
 poles leaning on it on both sides of the 
 house, and slanting down to the poles 
 of the side-walls. The roof-poles were 
 tied with twine, yarn, manila rope, 
 white string and any other material the 
 boys had found in the barns. 
 
 "Now we're ready for the brush- 
 wood. I wish we had wood to use, 
 it would look so much more real," 
 said George, admiring the frame-work 
 of the homestead to be. 
 
 "Oh, don't waste time wishing that! 
 Come along and work," exclaimed 
 John. 
 
 The brush was stuck in between the 
 poles and placed on the roof, when 
 
22 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 the supper-bell was heard ringing from 
 the back porch. 
 
 "Oh, pshaw! We can't burn the 
 house to-night!" sighed John. 
 
 "I know what! Let's bring some fur- 
 niture here, and Martha can have her 
 dolls and doll furniture to-morrow 
 afternoon. Maybe Jim can get a 
 sprinkling-pot or some pans for us to 
 use in trying to put out the fire. If 
 the dolls are sleeping in the house, and 
 we have to rush in to save their lives, 
 it will make all the more fun. What 
 do you say?" cried George. 
 
 "Just the thing if Martha will do it," 
 added John eagerly. 
 
 "Of course I will, but you must 
 promise to save them all," agreed 
 Martha anxiously. 
 
 "That's just what we intend doing! 
 While Jim saves the furniture, and 
 John runs with water, I will go bravely 
 in and bring out the children safely. 
 Then you all must say how noble I am, 
 and that some day I will be a great 
 hero — see?" 
 
 Evidently John saw, for he sulked 
 
GEORGE AND MARTHA 23 
 
 as he grumbled "good night," feeling 
 envious of the coming hero. And Jim 
 felt very much awed at the tones and 
 manners of his young master, while 
 Martha, her motherly instinct for the 
 dolls' safety uppermost, ran back to the 
 house with fearful forebodings in her 
 breast. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Washington's homestead burns down 
 
 i^^^HILDREN, what is the matter 
 \^ with you to-day? I have tried 
 to hear your lessons all morn- 
 ing, but you persist in mumbling about 
 Washington's boyhood experiences in- 
 stead of reciting correctly the chapter 
 of the Civil War, which I wished you 
 to memorize!" exclaimed Mrs. Parke, 
 as the two scholars sat in her morning- 
 room with school-books opened before 
 them. 
 
 "Mother, it must be the lovely 
 autumn weather that's got into our sys- 
 tem. Could you sit and study when 
 everything was so wonderful out- 
 doors?" said George, looking longing- 
 ly at the back lawn. 
 
 Mrs. Parke laughed, but she re- 
 plied, "I will certainly be glad when 
 the rainy season comes, in October, and| 
 
 24 
 
fTHE HOMESTEAD BURNS 25 
 
 with it your teacher. Then you'll 
 have to attend to school hours instead 
 of wheedling mother into excusing you 
 from lessons because the day is so 
 fine!" 
 
 "Does that mean we may go?" cried 
 Martha eagerly. 
 
 "Yes, for-^this once more. It is al- 
 most luncheon time, anyway," said 
 Mrs. Parke apologetically to herself. 
 
 It was not two moments thereafter 
 that both George and Martha were out 
 of the cheerful room and flying through 
 the hall. 
 
 "Got your dolls?" called George. 
 
 "Yes, and the cradle and bureau with 
 their clothes are on the back porch," 
 responded Martha, as she ran to her 
 room for a gingham bungalow apron 
 that would serve for a long dress, in 
 which to play her part. 
 
 "Leave everything on the porch and 
 we'll hurry through lunch first," or- 
 dered George, as he piled a broken 
 chair, a legless table, and several 
 pieces of broken crockery under the 
 steps of the rear piazza. 
 
26 rHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' 
 
 Luncheon over, the two children 
 crept down the area steps to recon- 
 noiter for Jim. The latter, sitting on 
 a stool eating his bread and milk, lost 
 no time in gobbling the last few spoon- 
 fuls and running after the two beckon- 
 ing tempters. 
 
 "Ise foun' a scrub-pail wid a hole 
 in its bottom, an' mammy give me a 
 leaky quart measure she kep' garden 
 seasonin' in in de pantry. Heah dey 
 am — unner de lilac bushes," whispered 
 Jim, looking timidly over his shoulder 
 for fear his mammy might hear and 
 suspect the awful plot. 
 
 Laden with furniture, fire-apparatus, 
 and children, the three early settlers ran 
 across the grass to the comparative pro- 
 tection of the hedge that bounded the 
 wide pathway to the barns. But once 
 out of sight of the house and the alert 
 kitchen-folk, the three arch-plotters 
 again crossed the grass to avoid the 
 watchful eyes of Mose, the gardener. 
 
 "Ah," sighed George, as they found 
 the newly-built homestead as they had 
 left it the night before. 
 
THE HOMESTEAD BURNS 27 
 
 "It looks kind of queer in daylight !" 
 commented Martha, who had been pic- 
 turing the wonderful building to her- 
 self ever since they left it in the twilight 
 when all things appear better than they 
 do in the glare of the sunshine. 
 
 "Queer! I don't see why!" defended 
 George, who was annoyed at his own 
 silent criticism of the building. 
 
 "It looks jus' lak a brush pig-sty my 
 daddy built fer Grahams' farm, las' 
 yar," ventured Jim. 
 
 Had not a cat-call announced John 
 Graham's approach, it is hard to say 
 what might have happened to weak- 
 kneed little Jim at his daring compari- 
 son. But John came panting to the 
 fence, burdened with various articles, 
 prominent in the medley being a rem- 
 nant of lace curtain. 
 
 "I got this to hang on a window, so 
 we can throw a burning stick in, and 
 ketch the lace on fire !" explained John, 
 taking the old piece of net and holding 
 it at one of the many apertures made 
 by the scarcity of brush covering the 
 poles. 
 
78 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Just the thing!" declared George, as 
 he revelled over an empty scabbard, 
 broken and useless, but fine for a man 
 to use when riding through a forest 
 filled with hostile Indians. 
 
 "An' this old pistol I found on the 
 library wall, is a relic of the Revolu- 
 tion, pa said one day to a visitor. I 
 knew it was just what I could use to 
 warn our neighbors that we need help," 
 explained John. 
 
 "I'd better use the pistol, too, 'cause 
 if you're George Washington when he 
 was a boy, you couldn't handle fire- 
 arms, you know," ventured George, 
 doubtful of the reception his sugges- 
 tion would have. 
 
 "I just guess not! I had to climb up 
 the mantel in the library for it when no 
 one was around, and then hide it un- 
 der my bed-sheet all night, so's I could 
 bring it here to use. Now I'm not go- 
 ing to let you play with it !" cried John 
 emphatically. 
 
 "Oh, all right, then, if you think 
 young Washington acted like that to 
 his father! Why, every one knows he 
 
THE HOMESTEAD BURNS 29 
 
 was so good and obedient that his 
 father said he was a model son," argued 
 George. 
 
 "Well, I'm not George and I got 
 the pistol, so there!" 
 
 "Boys, please stop fussing and let's 
 play! My dolls and furniture are 
 waiting in the homestead," said Mar- 
 tha, as she came from the impromptu 
 home, leaving the children inside wait- 
 ing for the fiery ordeal. 
 
 "Da's what Ah say, too, bo's !" grum- 
 bled Jim, who had great expectations of 
 running madly from the pump near the 
 barn with his pail of water to put out 
 the fire of the burning house. 
 
 "Come along, then," said George, 
 taking a length of twine from the fence 
 to fasten the scabbard about his waist. 
 
 "Now, Martha, you must be in the 
 house when I come up and talk. Jim 
 can be working in the garden and John 
 can be saying good-by before he rides 
 to the town for mail, or somethin'!" 
 directed George. 
 
 "Remember, you must try to save the 
 children and the house, Jim, the min- 
 
30 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 ute you see the fire start. You see, I 
 am very calm and self-possessed, so I 
 won't cry for help or even call 'Fire!' 
 Now don't forget you're a slave, and 
 will do all you can to save the prop- 
 erty," admonished Martha, shaking a 
 finger at the awed Jim. 
 
 "Yas'sam!" gasped Jim, bobbing hig 
 head as he had seen his granddaddy do 
 to the elders of the Parke household. 
 
 Martha crept in under the opening 
 in the bean-poles that was politely 
 termed the "doorway," and then sat 
 down to rock the cradle holding her 
 five dolls. 
 
 Jim was sent to dig and rake in the 
 stubble near the brush house, and 
 young George came up to speak to 
 Madam Washington. Just as he crept 
 inside the place, Martha said: "Oh, 
 dear me! Who remembered to bring a 
 match to start the bonfire in the gar- 
 den?" 
 
 No one had, so John said: "I'll gal- 
 lop on my make-believe horse to the 
 house and see if I can't find some in 
 the hallway." 
 
THE HOMESTEAD BURNS 31 
 
 "Well, then hurry up, or all our fun 
 will be spoilt!" said George. 
 
 While John was absent, Martha ar- 
 ranged the interior of the house, plac- 
 ing the dilapidated articles of furniture 
 in the scant space provided for them, 
 but the cradle holding the dolls she left 
 standing near the fence-post that held 
 up the entire pole building. Had she 
 been more experienced, she would have 
 placed the cradle near the open door 
 where Jim could quickly rescue the 
 children, leaving the furniture for a 
 second trial. 
 
 George and Jim piled up a great heap 
 of dried corn-stalks and pea-vines, also 
 some pole-bean vines dry and brittle 
 and very inflammable. Then John was 
 seen running back along the worn foot- 
 path beside the fence, until he reached 
 the place where the boys generally 
 scaled the dividing line from each 
 other's properties. 
 
 "I got two — all I could find! These 
 were on the stand where the girl must 
 have left them last night, after lighting 
 the hall gas," cried John breathlessly. 
 
32 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Now, all ready — I will say good-by 
 to Madam Washington and leave for 
 the business with the Indians/* said 
 George, as he stopped at the doorway 
 to wave his hand at Martha. 
 
 "Good-by, Mr. Washington — and do 
 come back soon," giggled Martha, 
 watching George leave the homestead 
 and climb on the high fence where he 
 played he was riding a horse away 
 from the farm. 
 
 Now Martha came out and called to 
 Jim, "The children are sleeping, so I 
 will clean up the yard." 
 
 Thus saying, she turned to laugh at 
 John who was waiting behind a tree to 
 see the fun begin. 
 
 She took the rake and cleared up 
 some dry grass and leaves, then sent 
 Jim indoors to pretend he was work- 
 ing in the kitchen. Obedient as usual, 
 Jim did as Martha ordered and sat 
 cross-legged on the ground waiting for 
 other orders. 
 
 Martha struck the match and lit the 
 bonfire, but so swiftly did the fire lick 
 up the dry stubble and leaves that she 
 
THE HOMESTEAD BURNS 33 
 
 could not reach out for a bit of burn- 
 ing wood to fling in at the lace curtain. 
 Instead, great fragments of flaring tin- 
 der blew directly over the brush house, 
 instantly igniting the dry twigs and the 
 corn-stalks that had been placed on the 
 roof. 
 
 "Oh, oh!" screamed Martha, thor- 
 oughly frightened, "save the dolls and 
 the cradle — some one — quick, quick!" 
 
 John stood petrified by the tree, and 
 George, who had jumped from the 
 fence when Martha was ready to light 
 the bonfire, had hidden back of John's 
 corn-bunched stalks, since he was sup- 
 posed to be away. 
 
 "Whar am dey. Miss Marfa?" cried 
 a little coughing voice from under the 
 burning roof. 
 
 "Oh, oh, sakes alive! Jim's in that 
 fire!" screamed Martha, clutching 
 wildly at her hair, and dancing up and 
 down in a frenzy. 
 
 "What — oh, what can we do? Jim! 
 Jim ! can't you come out of that hole?'* 
 yelled John, when he found the door- 
 way had collapsed. 
 
34 THE LITTEE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Fse lookin' fer Miss Marfa's chil- 
 luns! It's so smoky Ah cain't see nuf- 
 fin!" wheezed Jim. 
 
 "Come out — come out! Oh, come 
 but, Jim ! Never mind the dolls !" cried 
 Martha hysterically, running back and 
 forth as near the hot fire as she dared. 
 
 Now George had heard his sister's 
 first terrified call but thought she was 
 pretending, so he laughed to himself at 
 the great fun they were having. But 
 the moment he heard John's distressed 
 yell, he knew something had gone 
 wrong, so he ran out and saw the red- 
 hot fire which was wreathing the home- 
 stead. 
 
 He scrambled over the fence, tearing 
 a great rent in his clothing as he did so, 
 and rushed up in time to hear Martha 
 scream for Jim to come out. Instantly 
 realizing what had taken place, George 
 looked about, but saw no other way to 
 run in and try to save his "slave." 
 
 With not a thought for his own 
 safety, George tore away some of the 
 brush still unignited and forced his way 
 between the bean-poles. Jim stood 
 
THE HOMESTEAD BURNS 35 
 
 holding the dolls tighdy clasped in his 
 arms, coughing violendy and eyes shut 
 tight with the smart of the smoke and 
 heat. 
 
 George grabbed him, and pushing 
 him toward the opening he had forced, 
 shoved the rescuer of "the children" 
 out through the aperture. John, as 
 brave as George, but not with the same 
 presence of mind, rushed up and 
 caught hold of Jim just as he stumbled 
 blindly over a burning pole and would 
 have fallen. 
 
 George managed to get out after Jim, 
 but the brush was already burning, and 
 he singed his hair and hands in trying 
 to ward off falling flares of fire from 
 the roof. 
 
 The dolls' fluffy dresses were burning 
 as John half-dragged Jim out of the 
 danger zone. Martha snatched the 
 burning toys away from Jim's spas- 
 modic hold, and threw them on the 
 ground far enough away to let them 
 burn without risk to anything more 
 valuable. 
 
 George knew enough to smother his 
 
35 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 smoking hair with his coat, which he 
 had quickly pulled off. But his blis- 
 tered hands were so painful that he 
 almost cried out with agony as he man- 
 aged to whip out the creeping fire with 
 his coat, when he saw the menace to the 
 dry corn-field, and possibly to the barn, 
 all filled with hay and fodder for the 
 winter. 
 
 But the children had forgotten that 
 the bean-pole homestead was built 
 about the fence, until they turned from 
 the more urgent needs of keeping the 
 fire from spreading, to behold the 
 picket fence burning along rapidly and 
 shooting sparks at the dry shrubberies 
 and trees near the corner of the bound- 
 ary lines. 
 
 "Run, George, and call Mose to help 
 us!" cried Martha, heart-broken over 
 the loss of her beloved dolls and the 
 awful-looking hands her brother 
 worked with. 
 
 "Let me run — some one take Jim 
 home to have his mammy tie up his 
 face and hands," shouted John, off like 
 a rocket. 
 
THE HOMESTEAD BURNS 37 
 
 George remained alone, still beating 
 with his now shred of a coat, at every 
 shooting flame that tried to get at the 
 dry stubble in the garden. 
 
 But the families of both houses had 
 seen the column of smoke and had 
 heard the excited cries of the children 
 as th^ fire so unexpectedly licked up 
 everything about them, and every one, 
 from the baby to grandma, ran to the 
 scene where the smoke rose. 
 
 With hand-grenades, water buckets, 
 a garden-hose, and every possible 
 device for extinguishing a fire, both 
 families worked and advised until the 
 fence was merely a blackened line of 
 ashes. Several of the fine old trees had 
 suffered severe scorching, and the 
 shrubs were completely destroyed by 
 the fire. 
 
 Besides these casualties, George was 
 badly burned, Jim's woolly pate was 
 crisped so that the short, tight curls 
 came off in his mammy's hand, and 
 John and Martha were burned here and 
 there by flying brands. The family of 
 pet dolls, the cradle and bureau of 
 
38 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 dresses were mere memories for Mar- 
 tha; and to cap the climax, the four 
 would-be actors in history were sternly 
 reproved and punished for days follow- 
 ing, by keeping them apart. 
 
 Mr. Graham found the old horse-pis- 
 tol on the ground behind the tree where 
 John had dropped it in his fright, when 
 Martha screamed for help to save Jim, 
 and he shook his head, murmuring as he 
 did so : 
 
 "I wish I could impress these chil- 
 dren with the danger of playing with 
 firearms and make-believe fires. Of 
 course this antique pistol is not loaded, 
 but they were not aware of that." 
 
 Then Mr. Parke called upon Mr. 
 Graham the night of the fire and had 
 a serious talk with him. 
 
 "Really, Graham, I am at my wits* 
 ends about those children. Why, not 
 only could they have set fire to the 
 barns and other out-houses, but little 
 Jim might have been roasted alive in 
 that brush heap if George hadn't risked 
 his own safety to rescue him." 
 
 "I have been thinking over the cir- 
 
THE HOMESTEAD BURNS 39 
 
 cumstances,Tarke, and I find that tHese 
 children are about the same as we were 
 when we were young, only they play 
 with fire and guns and we played rob- 
 bers and Indians. One is as bad as the 
 other when it comes to danger of life 
 and limb, and at this advanced day, 
 youngsters ought to be taught the haz- 
 ards of such fun. Now, how did John 
 know that gun was safe to play with? 
 Might it not have been loaded or 
 stuffed with an old load that would have 
 exploded accidentally and caused great 
 harm?" 
 
 "Well, I must begin to teach the chil- 
 dren the great risk of playing with 
 matches, or starting bonfires, as both 
 are so dangerous. The only proper 
 place for fire is in a stove or when 
 carefully watched by expert grown-ups. 
 And as for matches! Well, no child 
 ought to be permitted to handle them 
 at all, as they begin to feel too familiar 
 with the treacherous little stick. Just 
 see all the pain and trouble caused by 
 having two stray matches on the hall 
 table," added the other man. 
 
40 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 So the result of the fire "was, that not 
 only did the parents take greater care 
 in teaching the children not to touch 
 matches, firearms, or fire of any kind, 
 but the servants, also, were warned 
 about carelessly leaving anything 
 around that might tempt children to 
 have a "make-believe" fire. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS 
 
 ^^IV/T OTHER, aren't you going to 
 J3(£ let us play the Washingtons 
 any more?" asked George 
 plaintively, while his hands were still 
 bandaged, and the missing eye-brows 
 and hair made his face look very queer 
 and pathetic. 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know what to say 
 to that. If you would but keep within 
 reasonable bounds of your patriotism, 
 there would be no objection to your 
 playing Washington as much as you 
 like, but such capers as playing Madam 
 Washington burning down her home- 
 stead is beyond my endurance! Poor 
 little Jim had nothing to do with the 
 plan, yet he suffered as much as you, 
 by doing exactly as you all advised 
 him," replied Mrs. Parke severely. 
 
 41 
 
42 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Well, I remember father read from 
 the Bible the other evening at prayers, 
 that 'the rain fell on both the just and 
 the unjust,* so what can we do when 
 the Bible tells us that?" questioned 
 Martha. 
 
 Mrs. Parke could not reply to that 
 great stumbling-block of most theolo- 
 gians, so she changed the subject rather 
 abruptly. 
 
 "Now, for to-day, I intend reading 
 of Washington's days directly after his 
 father had passed away. Listen, chil- 
 dren: 
 
 " 'The death of Augustine Washing- 
 ton' — that is George's father, you know, 
 children — 'in 1743, when George was 
 but eleven years old, broke up the 
 happy Wakefield life and left Madam 
 Washington a widow at thirty-five with 
 a family of four sons and one daugh- 
 ter, besides the two sons of her hus- 
 band's first marriage to Jane Butler. 
 
 " 'An earnest, serious, yet delightful 
 boyhood was that of young George 
 Washington. And as he grew older, 
 he passed from the studies at his moth- 
 
PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS 43 
 
 er's knee to those of the old sexton, 
 Master Hobby, and later to the old 
 field-academy near Fredericksburg. 
 
 " 'But Washington never had the 
 benefits of an education such as Jeffer- 
 son and Madison enjoyed. Latin and 
 French were practically unknown to 
 the (Schoolboy, whose bent of mind was 
 thus entirely turned to mathematics 
 and the studies growing out of a sound 
 foundation in this important science of 
 numbers. 
 
 " 'Thus it happened naturally, that 
 Washington should turn to the study of 
 surveying, not only because his family 
 owned such large parcels of ground, 
 jbut because it was most remunerative 
 at that day. 
 
 " Tn the same way, Thomas Jeffer- 
 son, Rogers Clark, and John Adams — 
 not to mention Franklin — directed 
 their early opportunities to surveying, 
 that brings such precision of habits and 
 practice in the study and application 
 of the science of civil engineering.' " 
 
 "Mother, when I am old enough I 
 am going to study that — surveying, you 
 
44 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 know, just as my Washington did!" 
 cried George, as he enthused at that 
 part of Mrs. Parke's reading. 
 
 "I trust you will, son, as it is a won- 
 derful profession. Not only can you 
 become close friends with Nature — her 
 flowers, forests, fields, streams and 
 mountain peaks, but also you can visit 
 great cities, plan the lines of towering 
 structures, examine the space occupied 
 by square or diagonal city 'blocks,' and 
 do many other interesting things that 
 one seldom thinks of in other busi- 
 nesses or professions," replied Mrs. 
 Parke encouragingly. 
 
 "Oh, don't interrupt mother again, 
 George — I want to hear what became 
 of Madam Washington when she was 
 left alone to bring up that large fam- 
 ily," complained Martha. 
 
 "Very well, I will continue. 'Lewis 
 Willis, a cousin and schoolmate of 
 Washington's, was two years younger 
 than the great general. He wrote in 
 his diary, that George generally stood 
 at the board ciphering when the other 
 boys were out playing games. It is 
 
 .1 
 
PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS 45 
 
 also written that this great soldier never 
 had a fight while at school, but was 
 often called upon to arbitrate with 
 other quarrelsome boys. 
 
 " *In this school, where boys and 
 girls alike were taught, Washington 
 learned no rules of civility which he 
 latef wrote in a private book of his own. 
 And the greatest rule of these he con- 
 sidered to be the one that influenced 
 his life and became the lamp that shed 
 light on his future pathway: 
 
 " 'Labor to keep alive in your 
 breast that little spark of celestial fire 
 called conscience. 
 
 " 'Now Lawrence Washington's in- 
 fluence in the family and outside cir- 
 cles, impelled him to select the navy as 
 a profession for his brother George, to 
 whom he was especially devoted. So, 
 when the boy was fourteen, a midship- 
 man's warrant was obtained for him, 
 and every preparation made for his de- 
 parture on the ship which lay at anchor 
 in the Potomac. But Madam Wash- 
 ington's anguish and disapproval of 
 this plan brought a letter from their 
 
46 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 uncle, John Ball, breaking up the ar- 
 rangement, and George obediently fol- 
 lowed his uncle's advice. 
 
 " 'After this, George was brought to 
 the notice of Lord Fairfax, who owned 
 the vast territory westward over the 
 Blue Ridge, unsurveyed and trackless. 
 When the young student was engaged 
 to explore and survey this domain, he 
 took the greatest delight in his figur- 
 ing, planning and surveying. 
 
 " 'When George was sixteen he was 
 surveying at seven pistoles per day. 
 And at hours of rest and recreation, he 
 roamed the primeval forests and ro- 
 manced in dreams. Thus was formed 
 the prologue of "Idylls of the Summer 
 Isles." '" 
 
 "Oh, mother, don't waste any more 
 time reading about the dry things in 
 Washington's life!" objected Martha, 
 at this point in the story. "Tell us 
 something about his love affairs with 
 Martha Custis." 
 
 "Or his wars and fighting," added 
 the boy George. 
 
 "Children, you forget that this is a 
 
PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS 47 
 
 punish reading. I must not read any- 
 thing more exciting to you than these 
 pages intimate, or you will be planning 
 to do likewise, while your faces and 
 hands are still bandaged up from your 
 last experiment," rebuked Mrs. Parke. 
 iTh^ she continued: 
 
 " 'Washington followed the instruc- 
 tion of his io8th rule, which was: 
 "Honor your natural parents though 
 they be poor." And even when he as- 
 sociated intimately with the aristocracy 
 at Lord Fairfax's home, he was most 
 devoted, reverential, and gracious to his 
 mother who was widowed, poor, and 
 ignorant in the ways of the day. 
 
 " 'The rules that influenced the sol- 
 dier's after life were neatly written and 
 carefully preserved in a manuscript 
 book, and among them the following 
 are the ones he favored most, and show 
 the principles upon which Washington 
 built his character: 
 
 " *i. Every action in company 
 ought to be with some sign of respect 
 to those present. 
 
 '2. Be no flatterer. 
 
 (( (. 
 
48 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 <( i. 
 
 *3. Let your countenance be 
 pleasant; but in serious matters, some- 
 what grave. 
 
 " *4. Show not yourself glad at the 
 misfortune of another, though he were 
 your enemy. 
 
 " *5- When you meet with one of 
 greater quality than yourself, stop and 
 retire; especially, if it be at a door, or 
 any strait place, to give way for him 
 to pass. 
 
 " *6. They that are in dignity or 
 in office, have in all places precedency; 
 but whilst they are young they ought 
 to respect those that are their equals in 
 birth, or other qualities, though they 
 have no public charge.' " 
 
 "Oh, dear me!" sounded woefully 
 from George, who sat by the open win- 
 dow, with legs stretched out wearily 
 before him. 
 
 "What is wrong, son?" asked Mrs. 
 Parke, trying to hide a smile. 
 
 "Those dreadful rules again ! I wish 
 the great Washington had never writ- 
 ten them, or had tried to follow his own 
 advice in them!" sighed George, while 
 
[PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS 49 
 
 Martha, also weary of the wholesome 
 mental chastisements, nodded an ener- 
 getic approval of her brother's words. 
 
 "But just think, George, what a won- 
 derful character the New World would 
 have lost if Washington had felt about 
 these rules of conduct as you and Mar- 
 tha do," argued Mrs. Parke. 
 
 "But I say, mother, it is bad enough 
 to have both hands tied up in cotton 
 so's a fellow can't do a thing, without 
 having to listen to the goody-goodness 
 of Washington's boyhood. Can't you 
 read about his wars, or at least about 
 his visits to the Red Men?" begged 
 George. 
 
 "I must complete the reading of this 
 list of rules first, as it is your daily sum 
 of correction for past errors," replied 
 the mother, holding the book up so the 
 two culprits couldn't see the gleam of 
 sympathy in her eyes. 
 
 " *7. It is good manners to prefer 
 them to whom we speak before our- 
 selves; especially, if they be above us, 
 with whom in no sort we ought to 
 begin. 
 
50 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 *' *8. Let your discourse with men 
 of business be short and comprehen- 
 sive. 
 
 " *9. In writing or speaking, give 
 to every person his due title, according 
 to his degree and the custom of the 
 place. 
 
 " *io. Strive not with your supe- 
 riors in argument, but always submit 
 your judgment to others with modesty. 
 
 "*ii. Undertake not to teach your 
 equal in the art he himself professes. 
 It savors to arrogancy. 
 
 " *I2. When a man does all he 
 can, though it succeeds not well, blame 
 not him that did it. 
 
 " '13. Being to advise, or repre- 
 hend any one, consider whether it ought 
 to be done in public or in private, pres- 
 ently or at some other time, in what 
 terms to do it; and in reproving, show 
 no signs of choler, but do it with sweet- 
 ness and mildness.' " 
 
 "There now, mother! We have the 
 great Washington's own advice about 
 this punishment business!" cried Mar- 
 tha, who was pretty well acquainted 
 
PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS 51 
 
 with the rules, so often necessary to be 
 read to the two of them that she knew 
 when this section was read. 
 
 "Yes, indeed, mother. We ought to 
 consider carefully whether this is the 
 right time to reprove Martha and me. 
 I say that if Washington knew of this 
 particular case, he would advise you to 
 defer longer punishment to another 
 time and place," added George eagerly. 
 
 "Ah, my children! hear the follow- 
 ing rule of our Immortal Hero's four- 
 teen: 'Take all admonition thankfully, 
 in what time or place soever given ; but 
 afterward, not being culpable, take a 
 time or place convenient to let him 
 know it that gave it.' " 
 
 "Why, mother, that means you — not 
 us ! It says 'take all admonition thank- 
 fully.' Now Martha and I advised you 
 well, so you ought to be thankful to us, 
 but if you have any explanations to 
 make, try to make an opportunity some- 
 time later to tell us about it,'' said 
 George, rising from the armchair and 
 politely standing to await his mother's 
 exit. 
 
52 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 Mrs. Parke, tremendously amused 
 at the children's interpretation of the 
 "rules," rose also, and, not exactly sure 
 of the best thing to do at that moment, 
 left the room, bowing first to Martha 
 and then to George. 
 
 The children, as taught, made a curt- 
 sey to their mother, and then sat down 
 to look hopelessly at each other. 
 
 "Well, we won't have to listen to 
 those dreadful rules any more to-day!" 
 sighed Martha. 
 
 "Yes, but at what a loss. Mother 
 went with the rules, you see," com- 
 plained George. 
 
 "Well, why did you stand when you 
 did?" asked Martha.^ 
 
 George plumped himself down again 
 in the soft, springy chairseat and 
 frowned at the table. He appeared not 
 to have heard a word of Martha's 
 prompt rebuke. 
 
 Before either could offer any plan 
 for the long, tiresome hours of the af- 
 ternoon, with mother gone to the baby 
 in the nursery, a "hist" came from un- 
 der the wide window opening directly 
 
PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS S3 
 
 over the flowerbeds at the side of the 
 house. 
 
 Martha jumped up to see who it was, 
 but Jim's closely-shaven head bobbed 
 up into sight and a dangerous grin 
 spread across his face, which threat- 
 ened to meet back of his ears at the risk 
 of having the top of his head topple 
 off. 
 
 "Fse got a hunk uv chockerlate cake 
 me mammy gi' me!" 
 
 "O-oh, Jimmy! is it big enough for 
 us, too?" whispered Martha eagerly. 
 
 "Uh-huh! An' I'se got a fine pik- 
 sher book dat shows de general ridin' 
 a hoss — he's all traipsed out wid gol* 
 lace an' an orful big sword slashin' by 
 his side!" the little pickaninny informed 
 his interested audience. 
 
 "Where is it?" asked George, show- 
 ing more animation than he had had all 
 day. 
 
 "Where'd you get it?" asked the cu- 
 rious Martha. 
 
 "Fse got him all right — heah!" and 
 Jim began to struggle with the length 
 of string that was wound about certain 
 
54 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 loose China buttons which were meant 
 to hold the old shirt together. After 
 unwinding the maze so that he could 
 open the doubled-over bosom shirt 
 handed down from his daddy, the two 
 eager faces leaning from the window 
 saw a highly-colored paper book repos- 
 ing against Jim's red flannel shirt. 
 
 "Heah hit is! Ain't them colors jus* 
 too bufool for ennyting? Yer gran'ma 
 gi' hit to me 'cause she said Ah was a 
 good lir boy an' loss ma har fer nuttin'. 
 Gee, Mas'er Garge, Ah'd loose it agin 
 ef Ah had enny more, fer anudder book 
 lak dis!" cried Jim, rolling his eyes 
 back in ecstasy until Martha gasped 
 for fear they would never roll back in 
 place again. 
 
 "Wait a second where you are, Jim 
 — I'm coming out to look at it!" ex- 
 claimed George, jumping from the win- 
 dow-sill and running toward the door^ 
 
 "Me, too, Jim!" cried Martha ex- 
 citedly, following after her brother. 
 
 As there had been no ban placed on 
 the children's going freely in or out 
 as they pleased, they met outside the 
 
PUNISHMENTS AND LESSONS 55 
 
 window, and all three walked over to 
 the lilac bushes, where a rustic bench 
 offered a suitable place to sit and ad- 
 mire the pictures. 
 
 As they walked over the grass 
 George felt it necessary to apologize 
 for taking the time to come out of the 
 natural exit of the house instead of 
 clearing the window-sill and landing on 
 the ground. 
 
 "You see, I can't support myself any- 
 where, 'cause my hands hurt so when 
 I touch anything — that is why I had to 
 walk out on my feet like girls do!" 
 
 The last remark was said so humbly 
 that Martha hadn't the heart to scold 
 him for saying unkind things about 
 girls. 
 
 By crowding closely together, the 
 three could sit on the bench, so Jim 
 was given the middle place, as he held 
 the book that would reveal new deeds 
 of valor and wonders to the two 
 devoted admirers of the famous gen- 
 eral. 
 
 As page after page turned slowly 
 to display the gorgeously tinted pic- 
 
56 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 tures, George formed the beginning of 
 another plan for acting the life of 
 Washington. And Martha sighed as 
 she wished she were Jim, to be the pos- 
 sessor of such a lovely picture-book I 
 
CHAPTER I\^ 
 
 GEORGE PLANS A SURVEY EXPEDITION 
 
 THE pictures in Jim's book lured 
 George's ever-ready fancy to pic- 
 turing an expedition to some 
 vt^oods a few miles from his home, but 
 he had no excuse for this trip other 
 than it would give him practise in sur- 
 veying the lands passed through. But 
 the week following the reading of the 
 rules and precepts from Washington's 
 journal, Mrs. Parke read some very in- 
 teresting data and that was all George 
 needed to construct a plausible esca- 
 pade. 
 
 Mrs. Parke had read: " *At sixteen 
 the precocious lad was sent on an im- 
 portant mission, and the interesting de- 
 tails are set forth in his own writing 
 from the diary he kept systematically. 
 
 " *He went in company with George 
 Fairfax, Esquire, and an expert sur- 
 
 57 
 
58 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 yeyor, over the Blue Ridge mountains 
 to Captain Ashby's place on the Shen- 
 andoah River. 
 
 " 'Sunday they rode up the river, 
 passing through beautiful groves of 
 sugar trees, and over most fertile fields. 
 For some days following, they traveled 
 onward till the river was found to be so 
 high from heavy rains that it was not 
 passable, it being six feet higher than 
 usual. 
 
 " 'After a delay of a few days, and 
 the river not abating, the surveyors 
 swam their horses across the stream and 
 left them at a friend's for pasturage. 
 The party then continued in a canoe 
 up the Maryland side of the river. 
 
 " 'The rain and freshets continued 
 and detained the surveyors at Cresaps. 
 There they were surprised by a party 
 of thirty Indians coming from a battle 
 with but one scalp. The white men 
 gave the Red Men some of their liquor, 
 which made the Indians dance for them 
 in return. 
 
 " 'They cleared a large circle and 
 built a big fire in the middle. They 
 
^ SURVEY EXPEDITION 59 
 
 then sat about it in a ring while one of 
 them made a fine speech, telling his 
 warriors what and how to dance. Then 
 the best dancer of all jumped up and 
 ran about the fire in a very strange 
 manner, the others joining in the dance 
 and following after the leader. To the 
 music of a skin drum and a gourd 
 filled with shot for a rattle, they danced 
 wild and fearful ways.' " 
 
 When Mrs. Parke read this para- 
 graph, George made a mental note for 
 future use. But to the description of 
 how Washington slept on some straw 
 which caught fire, so that the crude 
 mattress had to be thrown into the river, 
 George remained impervious. He 
 thought to himself: "We've had one 
 good fire and that's enough to do for 
 all time." ^ 
 
 When his mother read of the fine wild 
 turkeys shot down or trapped, George 
 made another mental note — not includ- 
 ing a gun, for he had also had enough 
 of lectures about firearms, but trapping 
 was different! 
 
 At the paragraph where the young 
 
60 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 surveyor spoke of the night's camp in a 
 fine meadow where some hay had been 
 stacked up, and the description of how 
 the men cooked supper, and then after 
 spreading out some hay for bedding, 
 enjoyed a well-earned rest, George felt 
 yery deeply interested. 
 
 By the time the swaddling cotton and 
 linen bandages were removed from 
 George's hands, he had another full- 
 fledged plan in mind, all ready and 
 waiting for the opportunity to try it. 
 
 It happened that John Graham was 
 released from strict imprisonment 
 within his home grounds, and given 
 parole of the gardens and lawns back 
 of the house. 
 
 Jim had wandered aimlessly over the 
 entire estate during the days of George's 
 forced quiet withindoors, and during 
 one of these roamings he heard John's 
 whistle and saw the boy running across 
 the garden to meet him at the place 
 where the high picket fence had stood. 
 It was temporarily replaced by a rib- 
 bon wire. 
 
 This offered no obstacle whatever to 
 
!A. SURVEY EXPEDITION 61 
 
 youth, so John was soon over on the 
 Parkes' property asking eagerly for 
 George and Martha. Jim faithfully re- 
 peated the method of punishment, as he 
 had heard it read from the history book 
 each day, as he crouched under the 
 wide window waiting for Mrs. Parke 
 to finish and leave the children alone. 
 
 John listened in wonderment. "I 
 wish I had some one punish me that 
 way — Fd like it." 
 
 "No'm-mm! you wouldn't uther!" 
 retorted Jim, making a very significant 
 sound on the first word. 
 
 "Why?" giggled John. 
 
 "Cuz! Dem rules an' regerlations 
 what dat Washerton said is as bad to 
 recomember as de Proverbs in granny's 
 Good Book!" declared Jim, rolling his 
 eyes upward at mention of the Book 
 that could open the door of Heaven for 
 bad boys. 
 
 "I wish you'd see if any one's about 
 the house — I'd take a chance of seein' 
 George if he was alone!" whispered 
 John, looking about fearfully to see if 
 any one could overhear him. 
 
62 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Ah'd let it go by, John, ef Ah wuz 
 
 yuh ! Lemme tell Garge you'se is wait- 
 
 i in' at de back fence — leastwise whar de 
 
 fence 'ust to be onct !" corrected honest 
 
 Jim. 
 
 "Yeh— do that and hurry up! Til 
 stay around by the shrubs over there 
 for ten minutes anyway," declared 
 John, starting off. 
 
 When Jim approached the window 
 of the room where the two Parke chil- 
 dren were wont to sit and do penance 
 for the fire, he heard Mrs. Parke say: 
 
 "So you will have to be good chil- 
 dren until I come back. Mammy has 
 been given full charge of you, and you 
 must do all you can to make the task 
 light for her.'* 
 
 "Oh, we will, mother! Trust me. 
 I hate to make any work or extra 
 care for mammy, and she will be able 
 to tell you how nice her days were 
 while you were away in Washington," 
 eagerly agreed George and Martha as 
 one voice. In fact, so anxious were 
 they to assure their mother of the care 
 and trouble they would spare the watch- 
 
A SURVEY EXPEDITION 63 
 
 ful mammy that Mrs. Parke won3ered 
 if there could be a deeper meaning un- 
 derlying the consent. 
 
 As Jim heard the door close, and felt 
 assured the lady had gone from the 
 room, he gave his low, peculiar whistle 
 that immediately brought the two dam- 
 aged but almost mended children to the 
 window. 
 
 "John, he am waitin' nigh de bushes 
 war de fiah wuz!" Jim informed his 
 young friends. 
 
 "What for?" countered Martha. 
 
 "Just to visit us, I s'pose — anyway, 
 let's run out and see him for a minute," 
 suggested George. 
 
 Without losing time to go by the 
 roundabout way of the door, both chil- 
 dren leaped from the window — 
 George's hands being healed well 
 enough to use again. 
 
 Jim grinned at the sight of that meet- 
 ing — it was as if three long-lost friends 
 had suddenly found each other again. 
 
 "I've got great news, John!" cried 
 George, as soon as the first greetings 
 were over. 
 
64 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Have you? — so've L I just heard 
 my mother 'phone my father that every- 
 thing was nicely arranged to start to- 
 morrow. She then said that Mrs. Parke 
 would be able to accompany her. Now 
 where do you suppose they are going?" 
 said John. 
 
 "Ha ! That's what I want to tell you. 
 Our folks — that is mother and father — 
 are going to Washington for a week. 
 lYour father and mother are going with 
 'em. You are going to be left in 
 charge of your uncle, who will stay at 
 your house, and we are to be left with 
 our mammy." 
 
 George waited to see the effect of his 
 words on John, but he never expected 
 to see such wild enthusiasm as his 
 friend expressed at the news. 
 
 "Sh-h! Some one'll hear you and 
 then they won't go!" cried Martha 
 fearfully. 
 
 This silenced John more effectively 
 than any other warning could have 
 done. When other explanations had 
 been made, and the four children had 
 sworn each other to secrecy to encour- 
 
A SURVEY EXPEDITION 65 
 
 age George to divulge his plans, he 
 said: 
 
 "I thought it all out while mother 
 was reading about our Washington's 
 experiences in surveying on the moun- 
 tains. Now I know all about some 
 mountains not far from here, and my 
 plan will not only save mammy a lot 
 of care and trouble, but do us a lot of 
 good for future business — I expect to 
 be a surveyor, you know!" 
 
 The other children conceded the ex- 
 pected fame of their future expert with 
 a transit and other instruments, and 
 heard his plan in breathless admiration. 
 
 "You are a general that we're proud 
 of, George," said John. 
 
 "Da's what!" echoed Jim emphati- 
 cally. 
 
 "But Fm afraid it isn't right," ob- 
 jected Martha. 
 
 "Why not? Won't we be helping 
 mammy take care of us?" retorted 
 George, who feared his subjects would 
 also retract. 
 
 "Well — ^maybe — ^but I don't like your 
 plan of staying out," added Martha„ 
 
66 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 who was not as daring and brave as 
 her brother. 
 
 The following morning the parents 
 left, after leaving many admonitions for 
 the guidance of the children and their 
 nurse. 
 
 The elders left at nine o'clock to 
 catch the express train for the capital, 
 and immediately after their departure, 
 Jim crept up from the areaway and 
 gave the secret signal for the brother 
 and sister. 
 
 Even before he had been able to let 
 his lips settle into a natural line again, 
 George and Martha came down the 
 back steps of the porch, and all three 
 ran over to the lilac bushes. 
 
 "Whar's mammy?" whispered Jim 
 hoarsely, for mammy was the hoo-doo 
 of his otherwise free and happy life. 
 His own mammy was too busy in the 
 kitchen cooking for the family to 
 bother much about Jim's method of 
 spending his time, but the elder mammy 
 and granny were usually wide awake to 
 the capers of the little pickaninny. 
 
 "Oh, she's in the nursery puttin' baby 
 
A SURVEY EXPEDITION 67 
 
 to sleep after her bath," responded 
 Martha. 
 
 Jim laughed with relief and said: 
 "Ah got dat bread an* butter from de 
 pantry." 
 
 "And we've got apples, potatoes and 
 some cookies," added George. 
 
 "And I've got the blankets, but they 
 were too heavy to carry all at once, so 
 I brought only one pair," said Martha, 
 displaying a huge roll under the lilac 
 bushes. 
 
 "You two go on with these things, 
 an' I'll go back for the other traps — 
 we've got to have them, you knowj" 
 declared George. 
 
 Martha and Jim hurried along the 
 hedge-bound path well hidden from the 
 windows of the house and barn, and 
 reached the charred trees where John 
 stood wearily waiting. 
 
 "I thought you'd never come! I've 
 been here since the folks left ! I've got 
 the tins and other things," said he. 
 
 "We couldn't come sooner, 'cause 
 your folks stopped for our folks, and 
 they never left till a little while ago — 
 
68 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 did they, Jim?" said Martha, appealing 
 to her companion for confirmation. 
 
 "Da's what!" assented Jim, wagging 
 his erstwhile shiny bald head, which 
 was beginning to show a soft fuzz of 
 newly-grown wool. 
 
 "Well, 'all's well that ends well,'" 
 said John. 
 
 "It isn't ended yet — and I said, re- 
 member, that I am afraid it isn't going 
 to end well !" prophesied Martha. 
 
 "Oh say, Martha, you're a regular 
 Jonah, you are!" said George, coming 
 up in time to overhear his sister's re- 
 marks. 
 
 Martha, fearing that she might be 
 left out of the expedition if she saicj 
 more, remained very quiet while the 
 three boys tied up food and tins in the 
 blankets, and each adventurer took hold 
 of an end of the bundle — there being 
 two rolls of blankets and four carriers. 
 
 They left the smooth road that ran 
 back of the two estates and trudged 
 over a rough country road for half an 
 hour without complaint or rest. Then 
 Jim said: 
 
A SURVEY EXPEDITION 69 
 
 "Ah rickon mah crooked laigs ain't 
 jest as nimble ez your'n, Marse 
 Garge." 
 
 From experience, Jim knew it was 
 always wiser to appeal to George's hu- 
 manitarian side of nature rather than 
 to hint at a desired rest or lunch. 
 
 "Say, don't you two go so fast — ^Jim 
 can't keep up with you, you know!" 
 ordered George, slowing down to keep 
 pace with Martha and the bow-legged 
 boy. 
 
 "How much further on this trail is it, 
 George?" asked John. 
 
 "Oh, not far. I've been hoping some 
 cart would happen along and give us 
 a lift," said the Commander of the 
 Forces. 
 
 "There comes one, but it's the wrong 
 direction," commented Martha, as a 
 buckboard came into sight down the 
 end of the long country road. 
 
 Another half-hour found every one 
 tired and ready for a rest. Also, they 
 were willing to eat up all the food 
 brought for the entire expedition. 
 
 "We'll camp at the first spring of 
 
70 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 water we can find," promised the gen- 
 eral. 
 
 But no spring was found, as they sel- 
 dom bubble up on a muddy road, but 
 seek quiet, secluded nooks where they 
 offer their sweet water to thirsty travel- 
 lers. 
 
 However, when all hope in a near-by 
 spring, and the joy of an immediate 
 camp, was well nigh given up, a farmer 
 drove along, his heavy wagon empty 
 and suggestive of room. 
 
 "Say, mister, will you please give us 
 a ride?" asked George, removing his 
 cap politely. 
 
 "Where be you uns goin'?" asked 
 the smiling farmer. 
 
 "Why, you see, I've got to start my 
 business of surveying some land along 
 here, and these, my friends, want to go 
 with me to see what camp life is like," 
 explained George, manlike. 
 
 "'Course you can have a lift — climb 
 right in," replied the amused farmer. 
 
 So the band of weary wanderers 
 thankfully sat down on the heavy 
 wagon-flooring, and continued to ride 
 
fA SURVEY EXPEDITION 71 
 
 until the farmer turned to ask them 
 where they wished to stop. 
 
 "Guess we'll camp at the first good 
 spring you see," answered George, thus 
 putting on the old man's shoulders the 
 burden of finding water. 
 
 But the farmer merely chuckled 
 again, thinking the four children were 
 out for a picnic, and never dreaming 
 that they were away from home with- 
 out the consent or knowledge of their 
 elders. 
 
 After several miles were covered, the 
 good-natured farmer turned into a nar- 
 row road leading from the main road, 
 and then said to the children: 
 
 "I live up the other way a stretch, but 
 thar is a mighty fine spring of water in 
 the woods, up har a ways. You kin 
 camp and have a good time on that hill, 
 and ef you want milk or any other 
 thing, come to our house fer it — ^we 
 are only a mile away." 
 
 When the wagon stopped by the 
 woods and George, as the general of 
 the party, was directed how to find 
 the spring, they thanked their friend 
 
72 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 and watched as he drove on his way. 
 Then, as a turn of the road hid him 
 from view they resumed their journey 
 to the spring. 
 
 "I wonder what time it is — ^must be 
 'most night!" observed Martha. 
 
 "No, not yet — I can't tell exactly, 
 'cause I haven't my surveying instru- 
 ments, you see. But I guess it is about 
 one o'clock from the position of the 
 sun and shadows," said George, squint- 
 ing up at the sky with a very knowing 
 look. 
 
 The others watched him with great 
 admiration, and John unconsciously 
 humbled the make-believe surveyor's 
 conceit when he added: 
 
 "You're right, George, 'cause it was 
 'most one o'clock by the farmer's big 
 silver watch when he showed it to you, 
 you know." 
 
 "See here, John, you run to the 
 spring and fetch us some water in the 
 tin pail, will you?" quickly said 
 George. 
 
 "Why, you said I was going to be 
 Lord Fairfax on this surveying trip — 
 
A SURVEY EXPEDITION 73 
 
 and I'm sure he never had to carry 
 water," objected John. 
 
 "Well, then, Martha — ^you're a ser- 
 vant right now, you know; you go and 
 get it while I see that the blankets are 
 put away." 
 
 "George, you said I was to be one of 
 the surveyors, so I can't be a servant, 
 too," replied Martha, looking at Jim 
 for the offer to serve. 
 
 "Sure you can ! They all had to work 
 on that trip in the wilds," explained 
 George. 
 
 "Then you can get the water while 
 I hang the blankets on a tree bough to 
 air," responded Martha, tossing her 
 head. 
 
 "Now let's settle this thing right here 
 — I am Washington and in command 
 of this trip," declared George em- 
 phatically. 
 
 "No, sir! Mother read that Lord 
 Fairfax was the head of the expedition, 
 and Washington was only a boy sur- 
 veyor of sixteen. By rights, John ought 
 to take command," argued Martha. 
 
 George made no reply to this, as he 
 
74 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 was not willing to assume any other 
 role than that of Washington, and he 
 rebelled at any one's taking command 
 over him, but finally said to John: 
 
 "You're Lord Fairfax, and I guess he 
 never did anything but have a good 
 time on these trips, so you won't have 
 to boss or work — ^just be Lord Fair- 
 fax." 
 
 "Who is going for the spring 
 water?" wondered Martha. 
 
 "Why, I will, of course! Didn't 
 Washington always settle every dispute 
 in school, and with the crews of men, 
 by arbitration?" retorted George impa- 
 tiently. 
 
 Jim stood humbly listening and 
 watching these preparations, and when 
 George took the pail and started for the 
 water, he offered to help Martha hang 
 the blankets over the limb of a tree. 
 
 Although Lord Fairfax was not sup- 
 posed to work, he felt a keen desire to 
 arrange the supper-table, so he spread 
 out the newspapers and placed the tin 
 cups and food on it before George re- 
 turned with the water. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE surveyor's CAMP 
 
 GEORGE came running back with 
 the pail of water, but at every^ 
 step the water splashed out, so 
 that very little was left for the supper^ 
 when he reached his companions. 
 
 "What do you think! I saw a great 
 big snake!" cried he. 
 
 "Maybe it was a rattler like the one 
 Washington saw on the mountains just 
 before he started for home," ventured 
 Martha. 
 
 "Let's hurry over and kill it — ^where 
 did you see it?" exclaimed John ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 Jim trembled with desire or fear, 
 no one could say, but he said: "My 
 daddy kills 'em wid a stick!" 
 
 Armed with sticks and stones, the 
 four surveyors began a hunt for the 
 reptile which George assured them "was 
 
76 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 'most four feet long and had blazing 
 eyes!" 
 
 Jim took care to be the last in the 
 line, and his eyes not only kept shifting 
 from one side of the trail to the other, 
 but he was also alert to the slightest ac- 
 tion of the leaders. 
 
 Halfway to the spring, Martha saw 
 a tiny green threadlike snake dart 
 across the path, and screamed with' 
 fright. 
 
 At the moment she screamed, how- 
 ever, Jim stopped, bent forward to see 
 what was wrong, and then turning like 
 a flash, was off along the path they had 
 all come. Martha, finding the erst- 
 while Indian warrior taking so fleetly 
 to his heels, turned and followed suit. 
 
 "There it is, John! Kill him— kill 
 him!" shouted George, jumping up 
 and down with excitement while point- 
 ing his stick at the wriggling grass 
 snake. 
 
 "Where? Where is he? I don't see 
 anything!" cried John, looking in the 
 opposite direction to that in which the 
 snake was going. 
 
THE SURVEYOR'S CAMP 77 
 
 When the snake was far enough 
 away to be quite safe for George to 
 fling stones at, John also turned and 
 saw the pretty little caterpillar-eater. 
 
 "That isn't four feet long!" scorned 
 John. 
 
 "It's 'most — ^you can't see the end of 
 his tail in that long grass," disputed 
 George. 
 
 "It isn't more'n eight inches long, 
 and I can see it just as plain as day!" 
 retorted John, flinging the stone he 
 held, but aiming so badly that it fell a 
 yard away. 
 
 The snake slid into a crevice under 
 a rock, and the two disgusted reptile- 
 hunters returned to camp to find that 
 Jim had stumbled over the tin pail, 
 and spilled the remaining water all 
 over his cotton shirt. 
 
 "I told him to take it off and hang it 
 in the sun while he sits behind a tree 
 where we can't see him," explained 
 Martha. 
 
 George had a sudden inspiration. 
 
 "If we only had some feathers, and 
 beads, and a skin belt, Jim could play 
 
78 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 Red Man and dance around a fire I 
 will make." 
 
 "No, yoh won't make no fire fer me 
 t' dance, neider! Ah got scorched one 
 time — no moh!" exclaimed Jim, with 
 vim. 
 
 "We haven't any matches, anyway, 
 and — and — ^we don't want any more 
 bonfires," added Martha. 
 
 "Well then, we'll eat dinner. John, 
 you fetch some water this time while 
 I help Jim hang up the shirt," replied 
 George. 
 
 With an exasperated sigh that Lord 
 Fairfax must carry water, John dragged 
 the pail along the grass and brought 
 water from the spring. 
 
 The four surveyors sat about the 
 newspaper, eating all they had brought 
 from home, then wishing there was 
 more, as they still felt hungry. 
 
 "What are we going to have for sup- 
 per and breakfast?" wondered Martha, 
 as she looked at the raw potatoes. 
 
 "Guess we'll have to hunt up some 
 berries in the woods," replied George. 
 
 "Berries don't grow in September — 
 
THE SURVEYOR'S CAMP 79 
 
 nothing but nuts now," said John, wish- 
 ing he had a shce of cake and a glass 
 of milk as usual. 
 
 "Then we'll have to hunt for an or- 
 chard and find some apples," returned 
 George encouragingly. 
 
 Dinner over, Martha found Jim's 
 shirt was not yet dry, so George pro- 
 posed that he play Indian for them. 
 
 "Ah don' know what dey do," Jim 
 objected. 
 
 "Til show you. We'll be playing 
 camp and you must come from those 
 bushes, bending over and holding your 
 hand to your eyes to see who we are. 
 When you creep up and we hail you, 
 you come right over and exchange wel- 
 comes. We hand you the peace pipe 
 and you sit down with us and tell us all 
 about the war. You must have a scalp- 
 lock hanging at your belt, and this you 
 hold up as you describe the fight. Then 
 you get up and dance, and we can 
 make believe that we join you — al- 
 though Washington and his friends 
 really didn't do that, 'cause there were 
 plenty of Indians to do it," said George. 
 
80 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "I haven't any hair for a scalp-lock," 
 argued Jim, speaking more literally 
 than he dreamed of. 
 
 "I can find something — the rest of 
 you pile up some wood for a make- 
 believe fire, while I get the scalp-lock," 
 commanded George. 
 
 Martha, John and Jim gathered wood 
 and brush and piled it in a heap in the 
 center of a small cleared space, and 
 after a short absence, George returned 
 holding the bunched roots of a skunk- 
 cabbage plant. When the green leaves 
 were broken off, the dangling roots 
 with the dotted soil clinging to them 
 answered as well as anything else for 
 the war-dance. 
 
 Jim tucked the scalp-lock in his rope- 
 belt, and hid behind the bushes. The 
 other three sat down about the heap of 
 wood, and at a signal the Indian crept 
 out, while George rose and looked 
 about at the landscape. 
 
 "Methlnks I hear some crackling of 
 brush, my lord," declared he. 
 
 Martha giggled and John jumped up. 
 *Ah! yonder comes a forest man!" 
 
fTHE SURVEYOR'S CAMP, 81 
 
 cried he, leaning forward to peer at the 
 bushes, 
 
 George turned then, and both boys 
 stood proudly waiting for the Indian 
 to come forward. Martha, too intent 
 on watching the boys, forgot to get up 
 from the grass. 
 
 "What brings my brother to our 
 camp?" asked George, with a grand 
 air. 
 
 "Ah jus' finished scalpin' five thou- 
 sand enemies, Mr. Washerton, an' Ah 
 fought yu'd like t' see de ha'r Ah chopt 
 off!" replied Jim, hop-stepping to the 
 circle. 
 
 "Get up, Martha — can't you see we 
 men don't know what the Indian will 
 do, so we must be ready to fight?" 
 hoarsely whispered George to his sister. 
 
 Martha quickly jumped up with a re- 
 pentant air, and Jim joined the white 
 men at their campfire. John grinned 
 as Jim held out the muddy roots of the 
 cabbage and said : 
 
 "Ah los' mah way affer dat fight, 'cuz 
 Ah had t' run lak fury t' git away from 
 dem fierce enemy. Ah could'en stop t* 
 
82 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 cut no moh scalps off, or Ah'd ben shot 
 full uv arrers. So heah Ah am wid de 
 tropee." 
 
 "We welcome you to our fire, 
 brother, and ask you to dance for us,'* 
 said George, with a serious bow. 
 
 "You forgot the pipe — hurry up and 
 find a pipe, some one!" prompted John, 
 looking about in the ground for a suit- 
 able stick. 
 
 All four sought eagerly until a stick 
 with a notch was found, and this was 
 handed to Jim with explanations. 
 
 "You have to invite us to smoke a 
 'pipe of peace with you before we sit 
 dov/n at the fire." 
 
 Jim had often played Indian with the 
 boys at home, so he took the pipe, puffed 
 several times loudly at the one end, and 
 made his bows to the four winds and 
 the four corners of the earth, then to 
 the Great Spirit; then he passed it to 
 Lord Fairfax. 
 
 John puffed the same way and passed 
 it to George. When the latter had 
 puffed he passed it to Martha, and she 
 puffed and passed it to Jim again. Then 
 
THE SURVEYOR'S CAMP 83 
 
 the pipe was placed upon a spread- 
 out paper (as a substitute for a blan- 
 ket) and the Red Man was ready to 
 dance. 
 
 John banged the bottom of the tin 
 pail for a drum, Martha shook some 
 pebbles in her cup for a rattle, and 
 George and Jim started the war-dance. 
 IWith wild shouts of victory and frantic 
 gestures of the fight, the two warriors 
 went circling about the fire to the music 
 of the tins. 
 
 Not until all were hoarse from shout- 
 ing and laughing, and limbs as well as 
 breath gave out, did the Indians stop to 
 fall upon the grass and roll over in sat- 
 isfaction. 
 
 "That was the best war-dance we 
 iever had," John said. 
 
 "It takes the forest and camp life to 
 make it good," explained George. 
 
 "What now?" asked Martha, who 
 was not as exhausted as the others. 
 
 "I guess we'll have to hunt a bear 
 for steaks, or a buck for venison," sug- 
 gested George, looking for the sun that 
 he might guess the time of day. 
 
84 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 John followed his gaze and suddenly 
 sat up. 
 
 "Oh! look at that dark cloud!'* 
 gasped he. 
 
 ! All four turned eyes upward, and 
 sure enough a heavy bank of clouds 
 ,was fast hiding the blue sky and sun. 
 At the same time, an ominous roll of 
 thunder sounded almost overhead. 
 
 "I'm afraid of the woods when it 
 rains," said Martha, looking anxiously 
 about for some shelter. 
 
 "Pooh! You know that during the 
 long survey trip of Washington's which 
 we are pretending now, it rained so 
 hard that they were soaked lots of times 
 — and that is why they had to ford the 
 river and leave their horses at some 
 farm while they went on up the stream 
 in canoes. This rain will make things 
 more real," exulted George, but he ran 
 for a blanket and began to open it for 
 a cover. 
 
 "Mah shirt hain't dry from dat pail 
 uv water yit. Ah don' wan'ta git all wet 
 inside on dis red flannerl!" complained 
 Jim. 
 
THE SURVEYOR'S CAMP 85 
 
 "I'll tell you what! Let's roll us up 
 in the two blankets and sit under that 
 big oak tree," suggested John, seeing 
 George appropriate one whole blanket 
 for himself. 
 
 "You mustn't sit under a tree in a 
 thunder storm — it's sure to be hit by 
 lightning when you're under it!" cried 
 Martha. 
 
 "Mah mammy says t' find rosin quick 
 and smear yoh-self wid it so's the fury 
 uv de lightnin' don' strike!" warned 
 Jim. 
 
 "That's all bosh — good enough for 
 girls and superstitious folks, but the 
 real thing is that lightning strikes a high 
 point like a tall tree, or is detracted by 
 rosin and stuff in a pine tree. That's 
 why a pine tree is safest in a storm," 
 bragged George. 
 
 The three looked admiringly at the 
 future general, and Martha said to her- 
 self: "Now, I wonder where he read 
 that?" 
 
 Finally, the four hurried surveyors 
 managed to hang the two blankets over 
 a clump of alder-bushes growing near 
 
86 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 the brook, and as the rain began fall- 
 ing, they crept under the canopy thus 
 made, and sat huddled together. 
 
 Flash after flash forked back and 
 forth through the gloom of the woods, 
 while peal after peal of ear-splitting 
 thunder cracked and thundered till the 
 trembling children wished they had 
 never come on Lord Fairfax's survey- 
 ing tour. 
 
 When the storm was at its height, a 
 lurid flash, a deafening roar, and a ter- 
 rific crashing as if the forest were 
 being torn up by the roots, made the 
 campers all scream with one voice. 
 
 At the same time, the blankets, laden 
 with rain-water and sagging gradually 
 in the center so that they bent the wil- 
 lowy bushes over, now fell in on the 
 frightened children, deluging them with 
 the reservoir of water, and causing 
 them to believe that lightning had 
 struck them to the ground. So firm was 
 the belief of each one, that they were 
 all so helpless that not one dared to try 
 and get up and grope about to find the 
 others. 
 
THE SURVEYOR'S CAMP. 87 
 
 Finally George managed to throw off 
 the soaking blanket and look about. 
 The others also sat up and found they 
 were all safe and sound. But the great 
 oak tree that had offered such splendid 
 shelter to the ignorant, was split in half 
 — a part hanging across the boughs of 
 other trees, and part having crashed 
 through many tender young trees to lie 
 on the ground, a great and mighty ob- 
 struction on the trail of the woods. 
 
 "I want to go home," said Martha, 
 with trembling lips. 
 
 Jim had burrowed his head under the 
 blankets again the moment he saw the 
 terrible havoc made by the lightning, 
 and John sat pale-faced watching 
 George. The latter rose bravely to the 
 trial. 
 
 "This is just the sort of thing Wash- 
 ington had to live through to make him 
 the great soldier he was !" 
 
 "Well, I don't care if he did— Fm 
 not Washington, and I never said I 
 wanted to be a surveyor! I just said I 
 would play Lady Washington, or Mar- 
 tha Custis when she was his sweet- 
 
88 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 heart, and I'm going home now!" de- 
 clared Martha. 
 
 "I'm going to see that Martha gets 
 back safe," said John diffidently. 
 
 "Lem'me go wid yoh — Ah'm 'fraid 
 to stay out in dis surwey camp all 
 night!" whined Jim, twisting his head 
 from under the blankets. 
 
 "You shan't! I'm commander, and 
 we must stay to do just like Washing- 
 ton and his companions did on that trip. 
 This thing is just what we wanted to 
 show what stuff we were made of!'^ 
 cried George, trying manfully to be 
 courageous, but his voice showing in 
 its quavering that he too preferred a 
 warm, dry house with comparative 
 safety to this wet, uncertain forest life. 
 
 "I'm Lord Fairfax, and I tell you 
 we won't camp here any longer. I'm 
 going to order my surveyors and ser- 
 vants to start for the Castle — or what- 
 ever place you say Lord Fairfax 
 owned," said John, pulling Jim upon 
 his shaking legs. 
 
 But the plan was not carried out as 
 quickly and easily as Lord Fairfax 
 
THE SURVEYOR'S CAMP 89 
 
 thought possible. First, the soaked 
 blankets were very heavy and unpleas- 
 ant to carry. Second, evening was com- 
 ing on apace, and the children were 
 hungry, wet, and strange in the sur- 
 roundings, so it was difficult to find a 
 way back to the muddy country road. 
 Third, Jim kept looking over his shoul- 
 der for the "hoo-doo" with which his 
 mammy generally frightened him into 
 good bahavior, so that he caught his 
 feet time and again and fell headlong 
 in the grass or bushes. 
 
 After devious wanderings, and many 
 protests against the briars and stubble 
 that caught or tripped them, the four 
 surveyors reached the dark and muddy 
 road. 
 
 "S'pose we go to the farm-house and 
 ask the man to take us home?" sug- 
 gested George, who really felt fearful 
 of traveling an unknown road with 
 three tired, frightened companions. 
 
 "Oh yes, let's!" sighed Martha. 
 
 So they plunged through puddles, 
 over hummocks of mud, and across a! 
 field of early wheat, to reach the place 
 
90 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 >vhere a stream of lamp-light gleamed 
 from a farm-house window. 
 
 The kind-hearted farmer and his 
 wife heard the pitiful tale of "Wash- 
 ington" and "Lord Fairfax" and, being 
 modern farmers with telephone, electric 
 light and other conveniences in the 
 house, they telephoned to the homes of 
 the wayfarers to quiet any anxiety 
 caused by their absence. 
 
 "Your grandma says every one in 
 your house is out hunting for you, and 
 John Graham's father was telegraphed 
 about your being lost. Now they will 
 telephone again to Washington to re- 
 lieve their fears in case the telegram 
 has arrived," said the farmer, coming 
 from the hall where the 'phone was. 
 
 A good hot supper and a warm bed 
 — the wet clothes having been hung 
 about the kitchen fire to dry — soon 
 made the four surveyors feel at peace 
 again, so that George whispered to 
 John, his bed-fellow, that the trip was 
 just like the one Washington and Lord 
 Fairfax had had. 
 
 "All the same, I'll be glad to get 
 
THE SURVEYOR'S CAMP 91 
 
 home again," mumbled John, half 
 asleep. 
 
 "Why, that's just it! Didn't George 
 Washington write in his journal that 
 he was glad to get back home?'^ 
 chuckled George. 
 
 And as George planned further ex- 
 periences in the great Washington's 
 life, John slept the sleep of the care- 
 free Lord Fairfax, while Martha: 
 dreamed she was trailing silk and satin 
 gowns over mud-puddles and briars, 
 and Jim, the Indian, shot unlimited ar- 
 rows and killed scores of warrior ene- 
 mies. 
 
 About the same time, a telegram, a! 
 telephone message, and presentiments; 
 of mischief at home, reached the par- 
 ents of the surveyors, and the follow- 
 ing telegram was wired back to those 
 left in charge of the two houses: 
 
 "Lock them up in a safe upper roonl 
 until we return." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE FIRST TASTE OF BATTLE 
 
 THE Parkes ended their visit to 
 Washington some days earlier 
 than they had at first planned, for 
 they felt uneasy about affairs at home. 
 [When the four "surveyors" were found 
 quite safe and restless at the enforced 
 imprisonment in the house, they felt 
 grateful for that much relief to their 
 fears and presentiments. 
 
 As was customary, Mrs. Parke read 
 again from the book the rules and pre- 
 cepts which were meant to guide and 
 govern the youthful descendants of the 
 illustrious Father of his Country: 
 
 " *I5. Mock not, nor jest at any- 
 thing of importance ; break no jests that 
 are sharp-biting, and if you deliver any- 
 thing that is witty or pleasant, abstain 
 from laughing thereat yourself. 
 
 92 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 93 
 
 " *i6. Wherein you reprove another 
 be unblamable yourself, for example is 
 more prevalent than precepts. 
 
 " '17. Use no reproachful language 
 against any one ; neither curse or revile. 
 
 " *i8. Be not hasty to believe flying 
 reports to the disparagement of any. 
 
 " '19. In your apparel be modest, 
 and endeavor to accommodate nature 
 rather than to procure admiration; keep 
 to the fashion of your equals, such as 
 are civil and orderly with respect to 
 times and places. 
 
 " *20. Play not the peacock, looking 
 everywhere about you to see if you be 
 well decked, if your shoes fit well, if 
 your stockings sit neatly, and clothes 
 handsomely. 
 
 " *2i. Associate yourself with men 
 of good quality, if you esteem your own 
 reputation; for it is better to be alone 
 than in bad company. 
 
 " '22. Let your conversation be 
 without malice or envy, for it is a sign 
 of a tractable and commendable nature; 
 and in all cases of passion, admit rea- 
 son to govern. 
 
94 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 " '23. Utter not frivolous things 
 among grave and learned men; nor 
 very difficult questions or subjects 
 among the ignorant; nor things hard 
 to be believed. 
 
 " '24. Be not immodest in urging 
 your friend to discover a secret. 
 
 " '25. Break not a jest where none 
 takes pleasure in mirth; laugh not 
 aloud, nor at all without occasion. 
 Deride no man's misfortune, though 
 there seem to be some cause.' " 
 
 Mrs. Parke reached this selection 
 when George asked her pardon for in- 
 terrupting the reading. 
 
 "Mother, don't you think it is much 
 better to read a few of such precepts, 
 and let Martha and I ponder them well, 
 instead of filling our thoughts overfull 
 so we can't tell what was read?" 
 
 "If I were sure of your pondering 
 anything worth while, I might feel 
 more inclined to read the few over and 
 over to you, until you had memorized 
 them. But I doubt if you would do 
 it," replied Mrs. Parke, understanding 
 her son's thought. 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 95; 
 
 "OH, I didn't mean for you to repeat 
 and repeat — that would become monot- 
 onous for us all ; wouldn't it, Martha?" 
 said George anxiously. 
 
 "Yes, indeed! Just stop where you 
 were, mother, and give us time to think 
 over what you have read," responded 
 Martha. 
 
 "No, do not stop there, but read some 
 other part of American history," hinted 
 George. 
 
 "I think I will continue the precepts," 
 said Mrs. Parke meaningly, and the 
 two culprits sighed and resigned them- 
 selves as well as they could to the in- 
 evitable. 
 
 " *26. Speak not injurious words, 
 neither in jest nor in earnest; scoff at 
 none, though they give occasion. 
 
 " '27. Be not forward, but friendly 
 and courteous; the first to salute, hear 
 and answer ; and be not pensive when it 
 is time to converse. 
 
 " '28. Detract not from others, 
 neither be excessive in commending. 
 
 " '29. Go not thither, where you 
 know not whether you shall be welcome 
 
96 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 or not. Give not advice without being 
 asked, and when desired do it briefly. 
 
 " *30. Reprehend not the imperfec- 
 tions of others ; for that belongs to par- 
 ents, masters and superiors. 
 
 " '31. Gaze not on the marks or 
 blemishes of others, and ask not how 
 they came. What you may speak in 
 secret to your friend, deliver not before 
 others. 
 
 " '32. When another speaks, be at- 
 tentive yourself, and disturb not the 
 audience. If a man hesitates in his 
 words help him not, nor prompt him 
 without being desired; interrupt him 
 not, nor answer him till his speech be 
 ended. 
 
 " '33. Make no comparisons ; and if 
 any of the company be commended for 
 any brave act of virtue, commend not 
 another for the same. 
 
 " '34. Be not apt to relate news if 
 you know not the truth thereof. In dis- 
 coursing of things you have heard, 
 name not your author always. A secret 
 discover not. 
 
 *35. Undertake not what you can- 
 
 ii i. 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 97 
 
 not perform, but be careful to keep 
 your promise. 
 
 " '36. Speak not evil of the absent, 
 for it is unjust. 
 
 " *37. Set not yourself at the upper 
 end of the table, but if it be your due, 
 or that the master of the house will have 
 it so, contend not lest you should trou- 
 ble the company. 
 
 ** *38. When you speak of God, or 
 His attributes, let it be seriously, in rev- 
 erence. Honor and obey your natural 
 parents, though they be poor. 
 
 " *39. Let your recreations be man- 
 ful, not sinful. 
 
 " *40. Labor to keep alive in your 
 breast that little spark of celestial fire 
 called conscience.' " 
 
 As Mrs. Parke concluded the for- 
 tieth precept, George sat up with an 
 eager expression and Martha heaved a 
 profound sigh of mingled weariness 
 and relief. 
 
 "Now, mother, read the story of the 
 first battle!" cried George. 
 
 "I had better postpone that for the 
 teacher to read. We expect you to start 
 
98 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 regular lessons shortly," replied Mrs. 
 Parke. 
 
 "Oh, but we would rather have you ! 
 You read it so real for us," exclaimed 
 Martha coaxingly. 
 
 "I don't think I will read it now, but 
 I will tell you a short story of it," 
 answered the mother, thoughtfully 
 weighing the possibilities of these two 
 devoted followers of the great general 
 being able to find anything suggestive 
 of more mischief in what she was about 
 to relate. 
 
 Feeling quite sure that her tale would 
 Be harmless, she began: 
 
 "The long-legged, lank, hollow- 
 chested, awkward boy had now grown 
 into a stalwart man, commanding-look- 
 ing, powerful in physique, gracious 
 though dignified, and in fact, as perfect 
 and desirable a leader as could be found 
 the world over at that time. 
 
 "He was a loyal subject of the Eng- 
 lish sovereign, and never dreamed of 
 hostilities against the Crown, but he 
 was, as many other English subjects, a 
 foe to the French — the very nation that 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 99 
 
 later was to become the friend and 
 helper of the colonists. 
 
 "When the French began trespassing 
 on lands that the Crown called its own, 
 it became necessary for Governor Din- 
 widdle to send the ablest man he could 
 find to negotiate with the Indian tribes, 
 and warn the French to refrain from 
 further trespassing on English territory. 
 
 "The man selected for this arduous 
 errand and important mission, was the 
 young surveyor, now twenty-one years 
 of age, who threw off the temptations 
 of social life at his country estates, and 
 all the delights that go with a favorite's 
 career, to serve his colony and people 
 at this momentous period. 
 
 "He combined a profound knowl- 
 edge of Indian craft and cunning, and 
 having heard of the machinations of 
 the French, he started out with an im- 
 pelling determination to succeed in his 
 mission, that carried all obstacles from 
 his pathway. 
 
 "In company with a French interpre- 
 ter, a scout, and four Indian traders and 
 servants, he started out for Ohio to con- 
 
100 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 fer on as delicate a subject as had ever 
 presented itself to a diplomat. 
 
 "After meeting and having council 
 with the sachems of the Indian tribes, 
 Washington secured help from the Red 
 Men in safeguarding their property 
 and their lives against the French In- 
 dians, who had taken up the 'hatchet^ 
 against them. 
 
 "Through marshes, pathless forests, 
 over cliffs, down mountainsides, and 
 surmounting every barrier of progress 
 of the intrepid Commander Washing- 
 ton, the Red Men fought side by side 
 with the white brothers until they 
 reached the vicinity of Fort Duquesne, 
 the French settlement on the site of 
 which now is the great city of Pitts- 
 burg. 
 
 "Here Washington delivered the mes- 
 sage from Dinwiddie, and at the same: 
 time used his apt powers to the utmost 
 to learn the ability and energy of the 
 French, the cunning and customs of 
 the Indians, so that he might know 
 just what would result from his visit to 
 Fort Le Boeuf. 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 101 
 
 "TEe puElicatlon of Washington's 
 reports roused the people to the danger 
 menacing their country, and as the 
 French continued their advance down 
 the Ohio valley, the English realized 
 that it must be stopped. But how? 
 
 "Washington described the lay of the 
 land where the Monongahela and Al- 
 leghany rivers rushed together to form 
 the Ohio, and he recommended the 
 building of a fort at this site which 
 ^ould command the situation, making 
 a veritable key to the West — the vast 
 land where no white man had yet ven- 
 tured. 
 
 "Governor Dinwiddle was quick to 
 grasp the wisdom of the plan, and im- 
 mediately raised and equipped two com- 
 panies, of one hundred men each, 
 Washington to command one, and Wil- 
 liam Trent the other. Orders given 
 said that the men were to proceed at 
 once to the establishment by the *Ohio 
 Company' of a fort, which would be 
 'defensive of the great grants of land 
 ito settlers, but would also act on the 
 'offensive, should any one interfere with 
 
102 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 or resist the performance of the laws 
 and regulations of the English. 
 
 "Washington was not in sole com- 
 mand of this band of 200 picked men, 
 but an Oxford graduate named Colonel 
 Joshua Fry. The young Virginian was 
 second in command. 
 
 "But the expedition failed, Fry dying 
 at Winchester, and Trent's command 
 being surrounded and captured by Con- 
 trecoeur, the French commander at the 
 Forks, then called Duquesne in honor 
 of the governor-general of Canada. 
 
 "This left the supreme command on 
 Washington, now twenty-two years of 
 age. The difficulties of the situation in 
 trackless woods without food or ammu- 
 nition, fordless rivers to cross, almost 
 impassable forests to be hewn for trails, 
 vague rumors of French companies fill- 
 ing the men with alarm of an ambush, 
 show what the young commander had 
 to contend with. 
 
 "Finally, Washington reached the In- 
 dians' camp where the Half-King con- 
 sented to go with the white men to 
 strike the French. After an engage- 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 103 
 
 merit of about fifteen minutes, the 
 French company was beaten. Ten 
 were killed, one wounded and twenty- 
 one prisoners were taken at this battle. 
 
 "After the skirmish, the Half-King 
 sent the Frenchmen's scalps with a 
 hatchet, to all the Indian tribes in 
 union with him. So the Mingoes and 
 Shawanese promised to join in the war. 
 
 "This little skirmish was really the 
 beginning of the war that set Europe 
 on fire. The death of Jumonville 
 brought reinforcements to the garrison 
 at Duquesne, and with the French from 
 Montreal came a large force of In- 
 dians. Commands were given to kill 
 the English anywhere — on soil claimed 
 by the French or on their own territory. 
 
 "From Indian scouts, the French 
 learned of the position held by Wash- 
 ington, and in a short time the two 
 forces met. 
 
 "From the few in numbers, and the 
 poor position held by Washington, sur- 
 rounded as he was on all sides by the 
 superior forces of the French, the Eng- 
 lish were overpowered, and after a par- 
 
104 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 ley, were permitted to retreat with fly- 
 ing colors and beat of drum, while the 
 victors took possession of the place. 
 
 "At the beginning of the attack, the 
 French had killed all the horses, cattle, 
 and living creatures they could find, so 
 that the English had to carry away 
 their wounded on their backs to a place 
 of safety where they were left with a 
 guard, while the rest of the company 
 made forced marches to a place sixty 
 miles distant, where inhabitants could 
 be found to help in the distressful cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 "The bravery and spirit displayed by 
 Colonel Washington and his little band 
 toward the superior forces of the 
 French at Fort Necessity, drew from 
 the burgesses hearty appreciation and 
 a vote of thanks to the gallant young 
 commander who had held out so long 
 against the foe. 
 
 "One excellent purpose this first de- 
 feat of Washington's served: It roused 
 the colonies like an alarm-bell, to the 
 immediate co-operation, combination, 
 and concentration of ways and means 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 105 
 
 to resist the peril now shadowing the 
 western frontier. 
 
 "About this time France was consid- 
 ered irresistible on land, with her i8o,- 
 000 veterans, as England was on the 
 seas, where she had over two hundred 
 warships. So when eighteen French 
 warships started out with 3,000 regu- 
 lars for the mouth of the St. Lawrence 
 in Canada, an English fleet set sail in 
 pursuit to destroy this formidable 
 armada. 
 
 "The fogs off the coast of Newfound- 
 land, however, assisted the French 
 boats to escape with the loss of but 
 three of the fleet. The English were 
 informed of the failure of the enter- 
 prise, and General Braddock was sent 
 with regular troops to fight unseen dan- 
 gers in the New World. By February, 
 1755, the gallant Britishers were landed 
 at Hampton Roads. 
 
 "After a conference of five gover- 
 nors, Braddock was apportioned to the 
 least attractive of all points — Duquesne. 
 No horses or wagons, no food for the 
 army, no arrangements of the necessary 
 
106 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 kind, had been planned for by the col- 
 onists, and Braddock fumed and abused 
 everybody for the lack of preparedness. 
 
 "But Benjamin Franklin secured a 
 hundred and fifty wagons and outfits 
 for the regulars, so that they could 
 move to their destination. Thus the fa- 
 mous Franklin took his well-earned 
 place in the lime-light of the American 
 public. 
 
 "Braddock had heard of Washington 
 and his unusual qualities, and at once 
 invited the young soldier to accompany 
 him in this important mission against 
 the French. 
 
 "Washington was flattered by the let- 
 ter and invitation, and replied at once 
 that he would gladly serve, if he be per- 
 mitted to return should inaction in war 
 warrant it, to look after important busi- 
 ness affairs of his own. 
 
 "Braddock willingly conceded these 
 requests, for he knew the value of an 
 experienced soldier and forester such 
 as the young American was. 
 
 "But spring passed and summer was 
 well on, and still the army had not left 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 107 
 
 Fort Cumberland, the place of assem- 
 bly, one hundred and forty miles from 
 Fort Duquesne. Fifty-two miles be- 
 yond Fort Cumberland lay Fort Neces- 
 sity, only too familiar to Washington 
 as the scene of his capitulation to the 
 French a few months previous. 
 
 "About the middle of June the army 
 began to cleave its difficult pathway 
 through a primeval forest. So arduous 
 was this work, that in ten days the men 
 had but hewn thirty miles from their 
 starting point. As is now known, all 
 this work was a great blunder. The 
 army should have followed Franklin's 
 advice — landed at Philadelphia, ad- 
 vanced westward through the popu- 
 lated fertile country of Pennsylvania^ 
 and finished the campaign in six weeks. 
 As it was, however, it took four and 
 a half months to end the game. 
 
 "At Frazier, seven miles from Du- 
 quesne, the British were unexpectedly 
 attacked by about nine hundred French- 
 men and Indians. At this time Brad- 
 dock had about thirteen hundred men 
 plunging ignorantly into the wilder- 
 
108 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 ness, never dreaming of sending out 
 scouts or skirmishers, although the Vir- 
 ginians were fully aware of the dangers 
 of the advance, and futilely advised 
 the practise in Indian warfare. 
 
 "But it was the mistreatment of the 
 Iroquois Indians that wrought Brad- 
 dock's ruin, for when the forests echoed 
 with the war-cries of the Indians, the 
 forest trees became living columns of 
 fire, and the stately forest aisles were 
 choked with smoke. 
 
 "A thousand gallant British and Vir- 
 ginians lay pierced with bullets, ar- 
 rows, and scalped with tomahawks. 
 Only twenty-three out of the eighty-six 
 officers escaped, while Braddock was 
 shot down when his men began the wild 
 rush backward. 
 
 "Washington, weakened by fever, 
 broken in mind by the fatality, buried 
 the misguided general where the sav- 
 ages could not discover the grave. 
 
 "But it was this second defeat that 
 primed Washington's nerves and Heart 
 against all defeat, and showed him that 
 the hitherto invincible Britain was only 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE 109 
 
 invincible under certain conditions. He 
 began recruiting men, and in May, 
 1756, war was formally declared against 
 France." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 HOW GEORGE APPLIED HISTORY 
 
 DURING the story told by Mrs. 
 Parke, George sat thinking in- 
 tently over the scenes depicted, 
 wishing he had been with the British 
 general and the intrepid Washington 
 through that awesome march and flight 
 in the forest. 
 
 Martha sat listening with intense in- 
 terest to the historical sketch delineated 
 by her mother, and sighed as she heard 
 the story was ended for that day. 
 
 "Now, children, run out to play — 
 but remember to play quietly so that 
 baby will not awaken. And don't play 
 with fire or run away to camp again !" 
 advised Mrs. Parke. 
 
 "No, we won't, mother ; but where is 
 Jim? We haven't seen him for the past 
 
 no 
 
GEORGE APPLIES HISTORY 111 
 
 few days," asked George, who had a 
 plan for play all developed and ready 
 to put to the test. 
 
 "Why, Jim is over at Grahams' visit- 
 ing, but he is expected back this noon, 
 his mammy told me. By the way, did 
 you children know that Mrs. Graham 
 brought John's cousins and aunty back 
 from Washington, and the three chil- 
 dren are now visiting John?" 
 
 "No, are they?" gasped George 
 eagerly. 
 
 "How big are they?" asked Martha. 
 
 "The two boys are seven and twelve, 
 and the girl is about nine. They are 
 yery nice children, but not accustomed 
 to country life as you are," replied Mrs. 
 Parke, opening the door to go out. 
 . "Mother, mayn't we ask them over 
 to play with us?" cried George, quickly 
 following Mrs. Parke from the room. 
 
 "Why, certainly, if Mrs. Graham has 
 no other plans for their amusement. I 
 will 'phone her if you wish." 
 
 So George and Martha stood by their 
 mother's side while she asked, and heard 
 that John and his cousins would be de- 
 
112 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 lighted to spend the afternoon at the 
 Parkes'. 
 
 Mrs. Parke warned the two again 
 about playing in a nice, quiet manner 
 when the visitors arrived, and then she 
 hurried to the nursery to look after 
 baby. 
 
 Before she had turned the corner of 
 the stairway, George was half-way 
 down the basement stairs in search for 
 Jim. He was successful, too, for Jim 
 had returned home to his mammy an 
 hour before, had been made much over 
 in the guise of a large slice of mince 
 pie, and now sat on the stone step of 
 the areaway, pensively digesting his 
 feast. 
 
 "Jinfi, come along! John's cousins 
 are coming over to play with us!" whis- 
 pered George eagerly, watching alertly 
 lest the cook hear or see him beguiling 
 Jim. 
 
 In another moment both boys were 
 up the steps and over the grass to meet 
 Martha, who stood waiting under the 
 lilacs, as usual, the meeting-place for 
 all concerned. 
 
GEORGE APPLIES HISTORY 113 
 
 "Dem Washerton chilluns am a great 
 trouble to der mudder," exclaimed Jim, 
 rolling his eyes backward. 
 
 "Oh, yes! I forgot you were over at 
 John's. Do tell me what they are like," 
 said George. 
 
 "Wall, all Fse kin say, is dat you'se 
 two an' Marse John am angels to dem 
 free from Washerton — ^mah daddy 
 sayed so!" said Jim, with an all-wise 
 air acquired since his travels to the ad- 
 joining estate. 
 
 "Humph! We'll show them some 
 sport they never had in a city!" bragged 
 George, determined not to have three 
 strangers from Washington take the 
 lead in play when he was around. 
 
 A cat-call drew the attention of the 
 .three waiting under the lilac bush, to 
 four running children coming over the 
 lawns from the direction of the high 
 stone wall on the side between Parkes' 
 and Grahams' boundary line. 
 
 "Where'd you come from?" won- 
 dered Martha, keenly eying the city 
 girl. 
 
 "Hoh I George and I could not com- 
 
114 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 pete in climbing and running with Jack 
 and Bob ! And Win keeps up with her 
 brothers!" proudly explained John, then 
 signifying that Win was Winifred, his 
 cousin, while Jack was the oldest, and 
 Bob the youngest boy, of the visiting 
 group. 
 
 "I've got a great plan to play. Just 
 heard all about Washington's first real 
 battle, and it will make great sport if 
 we take sides and play it properly,'* 
 said George, too eager to explain his 
 plans to stop for company's sake. 
 
 "We were just coming over to see 
 what we could do to have some fun,'* 
 said Jack. 
 
 "How shall we play it?" asked Win, 
 showing a readiness to take part in her 
 brothers' fun that quite won Martha's 
 approval. 
 
 "Why, I'm always George Washing- 
 ton, you know — seeing that he was my 
 relative," the latter addition coming 
 from George, as a semi-apology for se- 
 lecting the leading character. 
 
 "Now, one of you boys can be Gen- 
 eral Braddock or the French com- 
 
GEORGE APPLIES HISTORY 115 
 
 mander — ^whichever you like. And the 
 two will choose sides. If the French 
 take Bob the British take John. Then 
 there is Jim for an Indian, and me for 
 Washington. The two girls can be sol- 
 diers, too. What do you say?/' con- 
 cluded George. 
 
 "Great! I'll be the Frenchman and 
 John can be Braddock!" replied Jack 
 instantly. 
 
 "All right, then I'll choose George, 
 and you can have Bob. Jim will have 
 to be fought over to see who wins the 
 Indian, and the girls can choose whom 
 they want to fight with," replied John. 
 
 The next thing was to find suitable 
 uniforms and ammunition. This was 
 a difficult matter, as it necessitated the 
 entering of the old attic of the Parkes* 
 house. And should any adult be prowl- 
 ing about when George and Martha 
 crept up the three flights of colonial 
 stairs, it might interrupt the entire pro- 
 ceeding of the most decisive and cer- 
 tainly the greatest war these country 
 colonists had ever dared to hope for. 
 
 Hence, many were the admonitions 
 
116 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 and advices whispered as they started 
 off, leaving the French and British ar- 
 mies agreed to wait under the side win- 
 dows and catch any equipment that 
 might come flying down from the attic 
 windows. 
 
 George and Martha reached the sec- 
 ond floor landing without meeting any 
 one, but in turning the short hall to 
 mount the third floor stairs, they en- 
 countered Jim's mother coming down. 
 
 "Whar yo' all creepin' lak dat?" de- 
 manded she. 
 
 "Nowhere — only going to the attic to 
 Hunt for some things we want to play 
 with," instantly replied the alert 
 IGeorge. 
 
 "Whar's dat Jim? Got him wid you 
 agin in some more uv yo' tom-foolery?" 
 asked the cook suspiciously. 
 
 "No, Aunt Jenny, we have company 
 and we're all going to play out in the 
 fields," said George, running upstairs 
 to cut short any further catechism. 
 
 Martha followed after her brother 
 and the cook stood looking after them 
 [for some time, but not seeing them re- 
 
GEORGE APPLIES HISTORY; 117 
 
 appear with any doubtful package, she 
 continued on down to her kitchen. 
 
 Naturally, the children would not be 
 carrying packages down the dangerous 
 passageway from attic to battlefield, 
 when they could toss the things out of 
 the window to the grass below. 
 
 To George's great delight, he found 
 a bunch of turkey feathers tied ready 
 for dusters that winter. A great bou- 
 quet of these was tied in a Roman- 
 striped table scarf and dropped from 
 the window. 
 
 "Here's an old brass-buttoned coat 
 that Lewis's grandpa's butler used to 
 wear," whispered Martha, hauling into 
 sight from a massive trunk the faded*' 
 green uniform. 
 
 "What a find! Maybe there's more 
 of 'em!" excitedly suggested George, 
 helping pull the things from the chest. 
 
 They found the coachman's livery 
 complete, with gray beaver hat and 
 cockade. At the very bottom of this 
 mine they also drew out a relic of the 
 Civil War, an old veteran's complete 
 uniform, with its cap and knapsack. 
 
118 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "Oh, how wonderful!" sighed Mar- 
 tha with clasped hands. "George, please 
 promise me that Win and I may dress 
 up too, and not fight in girls' skirts!" 
 
 "Oh, I don't know! Maybe there 
 won't be any uniforms left for you 
 girls." 
 
 "Yes, there will be, too ! I found this 
 chest, and we girls will have first pick 
 out of them or you won't get any!" de- 
 clared Martha defiantly. 
 
 George was so amazed at his sister's 
 attitude, showing him plainly that wo- 
 men of the present day will not be or- 
 dered about by mere males, that he 
 bowed meekly to her commands. 
 
 Everything that could be utilized in 
 the forthcoming battle was sent flying 
 down from the attic windows, and then 
 the two pilferers crept downstairs. 
 
 When they reached the porch not a 
 thing could be seen of either clothing 
 or soldiers, but a careful whistle guided 
 them to the hedge back of the lilac 
 bushes. 
 
 "We'll have great fun with these 
 clothes!" Jack complimented George. 
 
GEORGE APPLIES HISTORY 119 
 
 "I told Martha that Win and she 
 could have first choice of the stuff to 
 dress up in," added George magnani- 
 mously. 
 
 "The girls! Why, they can't fight 
 like we can," objected Bob. 
 
 "All the same they're our uniforms, 
 and I found them!" retorted Martha, 
 handling the items to make her selec- 
 tion. 
 
 "Let me tell you what to do. I'm 
 oldest here," said Jack. "Martha take 
 one article first. Win the next, George 
 the next, me next, John after me, then 
 Bob, and then Jim." 
 
 "Fine ! Hurry up, Martha, and take 
 something," agreed George. 
 
 So Martha, eager to graduate out of 
 girls' skirts, took the coachman's striped 
 knee-breeches. 
 
 "Now, Win, your turn next," said 
 Jack. 
 
 And Winifred, who had beautiful 
 long curls which she detested, chose 
 the cocked hat, under which she tucked 
 her tresses. 
 
 "Now George!" 
 
120 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 Then George selected the brass-but- 
 toned coat of the old veteran's grand- 
 uncle. 
 
 Jack chose the butler's faded coat 
 with brass buttons. John looked the 
 items over and took the coachman's 
 gray beaver hat, Bob the trousers, and 
 then it was Jim's turn. 
 
 True to instinct, Jim chose the striped 
 Roman table scarf. 
 
 "Boys! Just the thing! We'll dress 
 Jim in the scarf and tie a bunch of 
 feathers to his head. I can get some 
 red chalk from the school-room and 
 streak war-paint on his face and chest !'* 
 cried George, with repressed excite- 
 ment. 
 
 "Fine!" "Great!" and "Wonderful !" 
 sounded from the others, but Jim pon- 
 dered this new plan, wondering whether 
 this might mean the unpleasant repeti- 
 tion of a scene like the homestead fire. 
 
 When all the garments were divided, 
 they were apportioned thus: Martha 
 had the breeches and vest of different 
 uniforms ; Winifred, the hat and coat of 
 others; George, the coat and scabbard; 
 
GEORGE APPLIES HISTORY 121 
 
 Jack, the butler's coat and a pair of 
 long white duck trousers; John, the 
 coachman's coat and beaver hat; Bob, 
 the trousers and an odd coat, and Jim 
 the scarf, feathers and a dull, small axe 
 from the wood-cellar, picked up as 
 George ran out of the areaway. 
 
 They were soon arrayed, and no one 
 being willing to go to the house for 
 the red chalk, it was decided to add a 
 few more turkey feathers to his costume 
 and streak his face and neck with 
 grease from the garage supply. 
 
 Down back of the row of poplars 
 near the stone wall — as far from the 
 barns and house as it was possible to 
 go — the contending armies arranged to 
 fight out the war between England and 
 France. 
 
 "You French have to climb that wall 
 and hold the fort on the other side, 
 while we chop through the forest here 
 and get up to fight you away," said 
 John, looking up and down the wall- 
 line for a better suggestion. 
 
 "Ah no, we can't fight that way, 
 Johnnie," argued Jack. "Let's go on 
 
122 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 to the hedge fence and fight through 
 that. Then we can lay traps, shoot 
 through and catch prisoners." 
 
 This brilliant plan was immediately 
 accepted, and the soldiers took their 
 Tespective sides. 
 
 "Which side does Ah b'long to?" 
 asked Jim wistfully. 
 
 "We don't know yet, Jim. You're 
 an Iroquois brave, and we will both 
 try to get you," said George, pushing 
 Jim into the hedge, where he was asked 
 to hide and shoot arrows at both sides. 
 
 The ammunition used was composed 
 of beans, shot from pea-shooters, which 
 every boy carries in his pockets. Jim 
 had an armful of short sticks to throw 
 ■for arrows, and the generals each had 
 a genuine weapon — one the broken 
 sword and the other its scabbard, that 
 came from the chest in the attic. 
 
 That was a fearful battle — shots flew 
 back and forth, stinging the soldiers 
 with the impact of the hard beans; the 
 two generals commanded and counter- 
 manded orders so rapidly and wildly 
 that both sides ran hither and thither 
 
GEORGE APPLIES HISTORY 123 
 
 without obeying any order. Jim, 
 dressed scantily in the long brilliant 
 scarf and plenty of turkey feathers, re- 
 ceived most of the shot, as he was di- 
 rectly on the firing line in the hedge,' 
 until the French commander pulled; 
 him out and had him fight on their, 
 side. ! 
 
 The fine green hedge was fast being 
 demolished by the war, when Jack 
 shouted: "It's time for Braddock to 
 die!" 
 
 I ^ "Well, why don't you send your In- 
 dian over to scalp him?" called George, 
 meantime shooting with such good aim 
 that the bean went right into Jack's 
 opened mouth. 
 
 After sputtering over the shot, Jack 
 sent the Iroquois creeping carefully 
 through a new breach in the fort, and 
 just as General Braddock and Wash- 
 ington decided that Jim was too timid 
 to come over and fight, Martha 
 screamed a warning shout; but it was 
 too late. 
 
 With true savage subtlety of war- 
 fare, Jim brought down the blunt, small 
 
124 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 axe on Braddock's head, wHere the stiff 
 beaver fortunately broke the blow. 
 Even as it vi^as, the British general top- 
 pled over from the onslaught, and had 
 to gasp for a moment to recover his 
 breath. 
 
 A wild shout rent the air as Jim 
 jumped and danced a war-dance, swing- 
 ing his axe and yelling wildly. So un- 
 expected was this part of the pro- 
 gram that the French abandoned 
 their easily-acquired victory and came 
 eagerly through the hedge to watcK 
 Jim's antics. 
 
 "You lay still where you are, Brad- 
 dock," commanded the young Wash- 
 ington. "I've got to bury you before 
 this Indian gets here to scalp you !" 
 
 (Whether John would have received 
 proper burial, or the Iroquois be dis- 
 suaded from scalping his victim, can- 
 not be said, for the gardener and chauf- 
 feur came upon the war scene, having 
 heard the yells of the French when they 
 downed the British general. ^ 
 
 The sight which met their eyes was 
 so funny that both men doubled over^ 
 
' GEORGE 'APPLIES HISTORY 125 
 
 in mirth, and wisHed the families could 
 have witnessed this battle scene. 
 
 Being discovered as they were, the 
 children begged the two amused wit- 
 nesses not to tell any one. Then John 
 was pulled out of the stiff, gray beaver, 
 which had been driven down over his 
 entire face with the blow from the axe, 
 and Jim was ordered back to civilized 
 clothing, much against his inclination, 
 ifor paint, war-bonnet and Roman- 
 stripes suited his tastes exactly. 
 
 The bundles of clothing were rolled 
 together and left in charge of the gar- 
 dener, who agreed to smuggle them 
 back to the attic via the housemaid, his 
 daughter. But his promise was ignored 
 the moment he saw his favorite hedge. 
 
 "Whad* yo' mean by smashin' dat fine 
 haidge lak dat? D'yoh know it tuk us 
 five yeahs t' grow dat same bushes lak 
 dat?" 
 
 "Well, when two nations fight, every- 
 thing goes — they never stop just for 
 houses, lands and hedges!" retorted 
 George. 
 
 "But yo* all destructed more'n forty 
 
126 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 feet uv dis haidge, an' yoh diden have 
 t' use more'n six feet ef yo' had t' fight !"- 
 wailed the poor man. 
 
 Suddenly from the other side of the 
 hedge, came smothered cries and 
 amazed exclamations, as Mrs. Graham 
 and her friend peered at, and then 
 through the well broken-down hedge, 
 and beheld the victorious and van- 
 quished soldiers in all their battle array. 
 
 Immediately there followed a retreat 
 of both armies that spoke well for the 
 immediate future friendship of the ene- 
 mies, for now they had met a common i 
 (Waterloo which would necessitate im-' 
 mediate flight and swiftness to circum-i 
 vent deserved punishment and impris- 
 onment. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 DELIGHTFUL IMPRISONMENT 
 
 MRS. GRAHAM soon reached the 
 Parke house and asked to see the 
 mistress at once. Fearing some- 
 thing had happened to her mischievous 
 children, Mrs. Parke ran downstairs 
 and into, the room where the two ladies 
 awaited her coming. 
 
 "Anything dreadful happen?" cried 
 Mrs. Parke, as soon as she had greeted 
 the ladies. 
 
 "Nothing more than a decisive battle 
 between the British and French. But 
 the scene of the fight is what has hap- 
 pened," said Mrs. Graham, with annoy- 
 ance at the thought of the hedge. 
 
 "What is it? — I haven't heard or seen 
 a thing. The little ones are out play- 
 ing about somewhere with John and 
 
 127 
 
128 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 his cousins," declared Mrs. Parke, still 
 in the dark. 
 
 "Maybe they were, but they are not 
 now. I fancy they are hiding safely 
 somewhere. But let me tell you as much 
 as I know." 
 
 The story of how the two ladies, 
 while walking in the rose-garden, heard 
 shouts and yells coming from the ex- 
 treme end of the property line, and hur- 
 ried over to find the hedge almost hewn 
 and broken to pieces, while Jack, com- 
 manding the French, had just nego- 
 tiated with the gardener for the safe 
 conduct of the uniforms to the attic 
 again, was told to an eager listener. 
 
 At the conclusion of how the soldiers 
 fled indiscriminately, Mrs. Parke cov- 
 ered her face with both hands and 
 laughed till the tears rolled from her 
 eyes. 
 
 "It*s all very well for you to laugh, 
 Kate, but just think of what might have 
 happened if John had not been pro- 
 tected by that stiff beaver hat," said 
 Mrs. Graham angrily. 
 
 "Then I wouldn't have laughed. But 
 
delightful; imprisonment 129 
 
 he was protected, so why conjure up 
 things that might have been?" said Mrs. 
 Parke. 
 
 "Because these children must be 
 taught once for all that in one of their 
 Revolutionary escapades, one of them 
 might be very dangerously injured — 
 perhaps fatally so! John is my son, 
 you know." 
 
 "Yes, as much yours as George is 
 mine, but children are especially pro- 
 tected by an all-seeing Providence. I'd 
 rather have them play in good outdoor 
 exercise, such as these Washington 
 ideas give them, than to have them sulk, 
 or lounge and tease each other about the 
 house or verandas. At least, you will 
 admit that they are never at a loss for 
 something to keep them occupied." 
 
 "Most assuredly not!" sighed Mrs. 
 Graham emphatically. 
 
 "Well, I always punish my two 
 youngsters when they do anything too 
 wild or unexpected, just to keep them 
 within bounds, but I wouldn't think of 
 forbidding them to play Washington 
 to their hearts' content, even if a hedge 
 
130 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS ^ 
 
 is broken down, or some old family; 
 relics are utilized for the game." 
 
 "Well, under the circumstances, I 
 suppose you are willing to pacify the 
 gardener for the damaged hedge, as 
 well as pay for the new one," said Mrs. 
 Graham, smiling feebly at the result of 
 her visit, 
 
 "I will not have much trouble witK 
 the gardener, as he is the sworn ally 
 of those children. As for the hedge, I 
 should think you would rather pay for 
 a broken bush than for a son's broken 
 head," teased Mrs. Parke laughingly. 
 
 So it was decided that each side pay 
 half of the costs, and both mothers 
 punish again the participants in the 
 life of Washington, although it seemed 
 doubtful if the children would ever be 
 cured of the desire to try a new ex- 
 perience. 
 
 The day following the great battle 
 at the hedge, George and Martha were 
 told to remain in the attic as a punish- 
 ment. Now, both thought this a dread- 
 ful hardship, although had they been 
 told not to go near the attic, both would 
 
DELIGHTFUL IMPRISONMENT 131 
 
 certainly have delighted in trying to get 
 as near to it as was possible, without 
 actually breaking their word or being 
 downright disobedient. 
 
 But a fine drizzle began falling about 
 ten o'clock, and as this would have 
 spoiled the day for outdoor fun, George 
 sighed : 
 
 "It's all for the best, Martha! Here' 
 we are in the dry attic with wonderful 
 trunks and chests still to be examined, 
 while the day might have been fine, and 
 made us feel sorry to stay in." 
 
 "Yes, but I wonder what John and 
 the French are doing?" wondered 
 Martha. 
 
 "Jack said they were going back to 
 Washington to-day or to-morrow morn- 
 ing, so I don't s'pose we will see them 
 again." 
 
 Martha went over to the window to 
 look out toward the Grahams' house, 
 which could be seen from their third- 
 floor windows. But no one was to be 
 seen at the Grahams', and she turned 
 to walk away, when she spied an old 
 book-case filled with huge volumes, for- 
 
132 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 merly the library sets of her grand- 
 father Parke. 
 
 While George rummaged about the 
 old chests and trunks, Martha looked 
 over the titles of the old red morocco 
 bindings, and finally called to her 
 brother : 
 
 "George, here's a pictured life of 
 Washington. Help me lift it down — it 
 is so heavy." 
 
 Eager for amusement, George ran 
 over, and together they carried the large 
 tome to the old-fashioned settle by the 
 window, and knelt down before it to 
 look at the pictures. 
 
 After turning over the first pictures 
 in the book, Martha said: "Oh, see! 
 here is one of the battle scenes we 
 fought yesterday. This is the *Battle of 
 Monongahela!'" 
 
 Both children studied the expressions 
 of the savages, as they scalped the luck- 
 less soldiers, and the courage of Wash- 
 ington, who bravely called "Forward!" 
 to his handful of men while a mass of 
 Indians stood ready to scalp every one 
 of them. 
 
DELIGHTFUE IMPRISONMENT 133 
 
 "Say, Martha, aren't you thankful we 
 had a Washington in America?" said 
 George, as his sister turned the page. 
 
 "Yes, indeed! Just think of what 
 would have happened if he had never 
 been born," sighed Martha, with relief 
 that he had. 
 
 "Here's where they are burying Gen- 
 eral Braddock. See the men crying, 
 and some of 'em holding torches in the 
 dark woods so they can see to dig the 
 grave," said George reverently at the 
 awesome sight. 
 
 "The next chapter in the book is all 
 about the Battle of Lake George. See 
 the men in the boats rowing across the 
 lake?" said Martha, turning the page 
 on the death scene that made George 
 act so strangely different from his us- 
 ual independent self. 
 
 "Mother never read us that; s'pose 
 we take turns in reading it to each 
 other while we are shut up here?" ven- 
 tured George. 
 
 "So we will, and maybe we'll show 
 mother that we know more about Wash- 
 ington than she thinks; we do," and 
 
134 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 Martha arranged the cumbersome vol- 
 ume so that it was easier to read from. 
 
 "I'll read first, and then you take 
 your turn," said she. 
 
 " 'The expeditions against Niagara 
 and Crown Point failed, but the fail- 
 ures were not as disastrous as that of 
 Duquesne. The troops of the northern 
 sections assembled at Albany, and Shir- 
 ley took command of the one against 
 Niagara; but many delays caused the 
 men to be held at Albany until the sea- 
 son was well advanced. The army was 
 composed of regiments from New 
 York, New Jersey, New England, and 
 a few Indians. 
 
 " Tn July he began the march for 
 Oswego, but on the way he heard of 
 the dreadful news of Braddock's defeat, 
 and this spread such consternation 
 through the ranks that many men de- 
 serted, while the Indians showed signs 
 of turning to the stronger of the war 
 parties. 
 
 " Tt was late in August that he finally 
 managed to reach Oswego, where he 
 made a strenuous effort to fill up his 
 
DELIGHTFUL IMPRISONMENT 135 
 
 ranks. All the Indians deserted here, 
 and he finally started out for Niagara, 
 but heavy rains and sickness in the 
 ranks caused him to give up this plan. 
 So leaving seven hundred men to gar- 
 rison the fort at Oswego, he started 
 back with the remainder of his army to 
 Albany. 
 
 " 'The army destined for Crown 
 Point consisted of about 5,000 men un- 
 der the command of Johnson. Impa- 
 tient to start the campaign, this com- 
 mander collected equipment and sent it 
 to a place about sixty miles above Al- 
 bany. 
 
 " 'Here a fort was erected, and hav- 
 ing left a few men to garrison it, the 
 others advanced to the southern ex- 
 tremity of Lake George. Here Johnson 
 heard that the enemy was erecting a 
 fort at the opposite end of the lake, 
 about fifteen miles below Crown Point. 
 
 " 'He was about to move against the 
 enemy, thus hoping to reduce the work 
 on the fort before it could be defended, 
 but information caused him to change 
 his plans. 
 
136 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 " *The news was, that Baron DIeskau 
 had arrived in Canada from France 
 with a large army, and with the 
 Canadians and Indians was now ad- 
 vancing rapidly to attack the English 
 settlements. The dire news was sent to 
 the colonies, and Johnson began to for- 
 tify his camp. He secretly conveyed a 
 few cannons from Fort Edward to his 
 camp, and doubling his spies and 
 scouts, awaited attack. 
 
 " 'Dieskau proceeded to Oswego, but 
 hearing of Johnson's advance on 
 Crown Point, he directed operations 
 against him, sure of an easy victory. 
 The Frenchman's contempt for the 
 English was increased when Johnson, 
 through mistaken information, sent 
 forth a thousand men to attack the 
 French, who were said to be advancing 
 incautiously in companies. 
 
 " 'Needless to say that the report had 
 been given out by the French them- 
 selves, and the moment the English 
 were far enough from camp to be 
 trapped, they were surrounded and 
 many were slain; but the greater part 
 
PELIGHTFUL IMPRISONMENT 137 
 
 of the detachment escaped to camp, 
 closely pursued by the victorious 
 French. 
 
 " 'Dieskau had heard that Johnson 
 had no artillery at camp, and confident 
 of victory, he formed his men to ad- 
 vance in true military style, instead of 
 attacking the fort at once. 
 
 " 'Johnson, determined to fight cour- 
 ageously and defend the camp to the 
 last, uncovered the cannons, which so 
 confused the enemy that they fled to the 
 woods, leaving Dieskau's ranks in 
 greater confusion than if a rout had 
 caused it. 
 
 " 'The French regulars, however, 
 stood their ground and opened a brisk 
 fire on the camp, which continued for 
 several hours. 
 
 " 'The engagement lasted until the 
 French were compelled to retire, after 
 the loss of more than i,ooo men, 
 Dieskau being mortally wounded also, 
 and made prisoner. His remaining 
 army, preparing to rest and reform 
 their company, were surprised, attacked 
 and all fled in greatest confusion, leav- 
 
138 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS " 
 
 ing their baggage and equipment be- 
 hind. 
 
 " 'Johnson did not follow up this vic- 
 tory, as it was late in the autumn, and 
 he decided that it was a hazard too great 
 to risk under the conditions. So he 
 built Fort William Henry at the south- 
 ern end of the lake, and leaving 600 
 men to garrison it, disbanded the re- 
 mainder of his army. 
 
 " 'Thus did the three main expedi- 
 tions fail, and at the end of 1755 the 
 French were more firmly planted in 
 North America than ever before. 
 
 " 'Having won so easily the land at 
 Crown Point, and having won other 
 important points, as well as having 
 built or strengthened many forts, the 
 French influenced the vacillating minds 
 of the Indians, who began flocking to 
 their standard. 
 
 " 'But when the French endeavored 
 to encourage the Cherokees to join 
 their side, the attempt only caused this 
 powerful nation to become firmer al- 
 lies of Great Britain, and by a treaty 
 made with the governor of South Car- 
 
DELIGHTFUE IMPRISONMENT 139 
 
 olina, they voluntarily ceded to the king 
 of Great Britain a large portion of their 
 territory. 
 
 " 'The defeat of Braddock and the 
 flight of Dunbar left the frontier of 
 Virginia exposed to the horrors of In- 
 dian warfare. Then the Assembly 
 voted money and men for the protection 
 of the colonists. 
 
 " 'Colonel Washington, being the 
 ablest man in the colony, was appointed 
 commander-in-chief of the Virginia 
 forces. With but a thousand men, some- 
 times not more than seven hundred, the 
 young commander was expected to de- 
 fend a frontier of more than three hun- 
 dred miles in extent, against savages of 
 the crudest type. 
 
 " 'But feeling that no time could be 
 lost, Washington proceeded to inspect 
 the condition of the frontier defences. 
 He made his headquarters at Winches- 
 ter on the 14th of September, 1755, and 
 thence visited the different forts. While 
 on this work, reports came that Indians 
 had attacked and were massacring the 
 settlers of the back settlements. 
 
140 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS ' 
 
 " 'Washington immediately changed 
 his course and hurried to Winchester 
 to induce the terrified people to unite 
 in defending their families. But his 
 commands were of no avail, in the face 
 of the frightful deeds, and the fears of 
 the people, and the enemy fled with 
 their plunder and captives to security 
 afforded them by the guns at Fort Du- 
 quesne. 
 
 " 'The young commander knew that 
 repetitions of such acts could only be 
 stopped by securing the fort of the 
 French on the Ohio. But this was an 
 impossibility, because of few men and 
 no means. And he could not induce 
 the Assembly to increase either, to make 
 it possible to protect the frontier prop- 
 erly.' 
 
 "That's as far as I want to read; now 
 you take a turn," suggested Martha, 
 rising from her knees to make room for 
 George to take her place before the 
 book. 
 
 "Fd rather read about his crossing 
 the Delaware and the big battles in the 
 Revolution," said George, turning the 
 
DELIGHTFUL IMPRISONMENT 141 
 
 pages over and over to find the place 
 he wished. 
 
 "We ought to read right along, and 
 not jump from place to place as you 
 do," objected Martha. 
 
 "Oh, that's all right for school, but 
 when we are going to be amused we 
 ought to find enjoyable ways — not like 
 lessons," replied George. 
 
 A step on the floor outside and a 
 hand at the door-knob dispersed all 
 thought of reading, however, and the 
 two prisoners jumped up to find out 
 who was coming to see them. 
 
 A fuzzy little dark head popped in 
 iat the crack of the door and Jim whis- 
 pered : 
 
 "S-sh! Ah got a bag uv ginger- 
 snaps. Mah mammy guv 'em t' me t' 
 brung up heah fer us all." 
 
 "Oh, goody! goody! Come over by 
 the window and let's eat 'em," said 
 Martha eagerly. 
 
 So the book was forgotten for the 
 time, while Jim regaled his companions 
 with the results of his mammy's splen- 
 did art. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 
 
 WHEN the last crumb of the gin- 
 ger-snaps was gone, the three 
 children jumped up and 
 looked around for a suggestion of en- 
 tertainment. 
 
 "Jim, did you ever see the pictures 
 in this big book?" asked Martha, going 
 to the opened volume of history. 
 
 "No'm, Ah hain't never see'd any- 
 thin' but them pickshers in mah culler 
 book what yer granny guv me." 
 
 "Oh, don't waste time showing Jim 
 that book now — let me show him some 
 of the old war relics In this chest," 
 called George, lifting the lid of the 
 long box. 
 
 The three children admired or 
 laughed at the odd-looking clothes 
 found in the chest, and then Martha 
 raised the lid of an old hair-trunk that 
 
 142 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 143 
 
 stood close to the chest. She had peeped 
 into it the day of the French and Eng- 
 lish battle, but being called to help with 
 the uniforms, had forgotten it again. 
 
 The first thing she found was an old 
 yellow linen slip-cover, spread out so 
 that it covered the entire top of the 
 trunk. But something inside was care- 
 fully pinned up, and a string at the 
 open end tied the contents safely within. 
 
 Martha removed the pins and untied 
 the strings and lifted one side of the 
 linen bag. But whatever was carefully 
 protected by soft paper wrappers with- 
 in, could not be seen without removing 
 the entire package from the old slip- 
 cover. So the* bag was carried to the 
 settle and George helped to slide the 
 package out. 
 
 More pins and strings held the paper 
 about something soft and swishy. 
 
 "Ooh-ah ! isn't it lovely !" sighed Mar- 
 tha, clasping her hands. 
 
 "For a girl — ^ye-es, it is pretty!" 
 George grudged. 
 
 "Ah tink it am de weddin' dress uv 
 some gran'mother," remarked Jim, 
 
144 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 placing his dirty hands behind him to 
 insure their not touching the shimmer- 
 ing, soft silk dress that lay before them. 
 
 "I have an idea!" suddenly exclaimed 
 Martha. 
 
 "What is it?" asked George, looking 
 at her curiously. 
 
 "Won't that make the most beautiful- 
 est dress for Martha Custis to get mar- 
 ried in?" said Martha, in a dramatic 
 manner. 
 
 "Oh!" was all the two boys dared to 
 say at the idea. 
 
 "And I'll wear curls made of long 
 shavings, and a fan — and maybe I can 
 borrow mother's satin evening slippers ! 
 What will you wear at the wedding, 
 George?" said Martha excitedly. 
 
 "I don't know. Let's open this and 
 see how long it will be. You don't 
 want to play getting married to-day, 
 do you?" ventured George. 
 
 "Oh, no ! We have to have you come 
 and visit me and fall in love, and then 
 ask me to marry you, you know," said 
 Martha, with great superiority natural 
 to her sex. 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 145 
 
 "I don't want to go through all 
 that tom-f oolery ! Let's get John over 
 and just play getting married. Jim can 
 get out and run over for John in some 
 way or other. ^Vill you, Jim?" asked 
 George. 
 
 "Ah will ef mah granny don' ketch 
 me runnin' out de areaway," agreed 
 Jim. 
 
 "Say, Martha, why not let Jim down 
 out of the window?" cried George, with 
 sudden inspiration. 
 
 "Oh, fine! How can we do it?" 
 
 "Ah, say! Ah did'en 'gree t' fall 
 down free stories!" objected the scape- 
 goat of the Washington war-parties. 
 
 "Don't be afraid, Jim! ,You won't 
 have to fall if you do as we tell you," 
 consoled George. 
 
 "Yeh! Dat's what yo' all said when 
 Ah played Injun in dat Burdock fight, 
 an' den Ah got a wholloping from bof 
 sides — ^mah mammy an' mah daddy, 
 when dey hearn tell how Ah had t' 
 scalp Burdock t' win de fight fer de; 
 French!" grumbled Jim. 
 
 "Oh, that was different! This is only 
 
,146 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 an easy way for you to get away from, 
 here and look for John, you see," ex- 
 plained George anxiously. 
 
 Martha had been gazing down, and 
 now she turned to say: "We will have 
 to tie rope or strips of sheets together 
 to let him down like firemen do, you 
 know." 
 
 Immediately George began seeking 
 for a rope, and fortunately for the fu- 
 ture experiences of the "Little Wash- 
 ingtons" he found a great coil of rope 
 that was placed near the window to use 
 in case of fire. One end was secured 
 to an iron ring in the beam under the 
 :window casing. 
 
 "Oh, what luck! Just the thing," 
 cried George, as he began unwinding 
 the rope. 
 
 "Here now, Jim, stand over here by 
 the window while we tie you up. And 
 remember — run right over to John's 
 and tell him to come over and play 
 minister for us to get married," said 
 George, as he reached the end of the 
 rope. 
 
 "No, no — ^not to get married so 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 147 
 
 quick! Only to play being your step- 
 son," corrected Martha. 
 
 "How can he be my step-son if you 
 won't get married?/' said George scorn- 
 fully. 
 
 "Ah reckon de ting t' do is fer me 
 t' git John heah an' let yo' all ack what 
 yo' lak afterward," mumbled Jim, with 
 one of his rare spells of brilliancy. 
 
 "Yes, that's the thing to do!" ap- 
 proved Martha. 
 
 George lost no time in tying the rope 
 about Jim's slim little waist, but to make 
 doubly sure that it would not slip, the 
 messenger-to-be begged his companions 
 to wind it about again and again. Thus, 
 when Jim was pronounced ready to de- 
 scend via the aerial route, he looked 
 more like a rope-bound mummy than a 
 live boy. 
 
 "Safe and sure as this floor !" bragged 
 George, admiring his handiwork. 
 
 "Hurry up and let him down or 
 some one will come up and stop us!" 
 warned Martha. 
 
 Between them, George and Martha; 
 dragged the heavy window settle away 
 
,148 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 and Jim crawled out on the sill to look 
 down. 
 
 "Ah wish it war higher up!" sighed 
 he. 
 
 "Higher up! Aren't three stories 
 high enough?" cried George, taken 
 back for once by Jim's courage. 
 
 "Ah means dat Ah wish dat grass 
 war higher up — 'bout free feet under 
 this winder," explained Jim dolefully. 
 
 His two conspirators exchanged 
 glances, and George motioned Martha 
 to act quickly or Jim would bolt. 
 
 Without further preliminaries, Jim 
 was shoved over the window-sill and 
 told to "hold fast" to the rope till his 
 feet touched the ground. Instinctively, 
 the victim clutched at the rope above 
 his head as he felt himself sliding off 
 of the shingled eaves, and it was well 
 he did so at the time. 
 
 Neither one of the plotters had 
 stopped to consider that the rope wound 
 about Jim's body might suddenly un- 
 wind with the weight hanging at its 
 end, thus whirling the boy around and 
 around, and swiftly jerking him up the 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 149 
 
 moment the coil had found its resist- 
 ance by the loop tied about the body. 
 But Jim's hold on the rope above his 
 head prevented any strain from making 
 the rope unwind itself as the weight 
 was lowered. 
 
 George and Martha found that Jim, 
 although light in weight and small of 
 size, was rather heavy when hung from 
 an attic window. The force of gravi- 
 tation from that height added consider- 
 ably to his weight, but the children did 
 not think of this. 
 
 "Gracious, Martha ! Brace your feet 
 against this beam or he'll slip!" cried 
 George, the beads of moisture starting 
 on his forehead. 
 
 "Don't you think he is 'most down?" 
 breathed Martha uncomfortably. 
 
 "I'll hang on to him while you look 
 — be quick about it, though!" ordered 
 George, getting an extra twist of the 
 rope about his wrist and bending back 
 on the rope. 
 
 Martha climbed up on the settle, and 
 looking from the window, she saw Jim 
 try to get a better hold on the rope with 
 
150 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 one hand that was being chafed. He 
 was about opposite the veranda roof 
 at the time. 
 
 As she looked he began gyrating fu- 
 riously, and as he whirled he seemed 
 to drop. Martha screamed frantically, 
 making George pull the harder to hold 
 up the rope — for he feared from the 
 sudden laxity on his end, that the rope 
 had slipped in some manner. 
 
 Even as Martha yelled, Jim came to 
 the end of his whirl, and he was yanked 
 to a halt by the tautness of the rope 
 gripped by George in the attic. From 
 the resistance, he was suddenly stopped 
 within two feet of the ground. The 
 loop tied under his arms had tightened 
 by the jerk upon it, so that he could 
 not move, and could scarcely breathe. 
 
 At the time the rope began to un- 
 wind itself from Jim's body, George 
 was stretched almost flat upon his back 
 with the strain he was bringing on his 
 iend of the rope. George was just go- 
 ing to ease his hold when the laxness 
 suddenly ceased and the yank came, so 
 that he was unceremoniously pulled to 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 151 
 
 the window and had it not been for the 
 wall, he might have been made to fol- 
 low Jim's descent. 
 
 Simultaneously with George's con- 
 tact with the wall, Jim dropped the 
 rest of the way — about two feet from 
 the grass, and sprawled out, face down, 
 on Mother Earth. 
 
 By this time Martha was speechless 
 from fright, and George, while he 
 freed his skinned wrist of the rope, 
 begged for word about Jim, but to no 
 avail. His sister could not utter a 
 sound. 
 
 The moment George saw Jim 
 stretched on the grass, he thought he 
 had fallen, so rushing wildly from the 
 attic, he ran down the stairs, colliding 
 with his grandmother, who called to 
 know "What now?" 
 
 On, on, down to the hall and out of 
 the side door went George, picturing 
 himself in a doomed man's cell — 
 doomed for murder in the first degree. 
 
 As George reached the prostrate boy, 
 Jim discovered he was not dead, but 
 safely reposing on the ground, so he 
 
152 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 dared to open his eyes and take a deep 
 breath. 
 
 "Ah-umm!" sighed Jim, as the sweet 
 fresh air filled his lungs, and his eyes 
 beheld at close range the damp, greeri 
 blades of close-cropped lawn-grass. 
 
 "Jim! Jim! are you dead?" cried! 
 George, on his knees beside the boy. 
 
 "Ya-as, Ah am — an' it's all yo' fault, 
 too !" whimpered Jim, feeling a sudden 
 pity at the thought of himself as a pos- 
 sible angel, leaving his mammy on earth 
 to cry for him. 
 
 "Oh, Jim, forgive me — us, I mean! 
 Martha and I never dreamed you were 
 going to let go like you did!" 
 
 "Ah won't never forgive yo' all, cuz 
 Ah mought hab been killed an' who 
 could save me?" howled the boy. 
 
 George resented this inference. "We 
 didn't do it ! You just went and let go, 
 and then you spun around like we do 
 in the swing when we play flying and 
 twist the swing-ropes all up tight!" 
 
 "Diden yo leg'go your end?" ques- 
 tioned Jim, sitting upright to stare un- 
 believingly. 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 153 
 
 ! 
 
 " 'Course not ! Look at my poor 
 wrists ! Did I let go and wear the skin 
 to the bone — did I?" cried George, 
 holding up his hands to Jim's gaze. 
 
 "Nah — Ah reckon yo' diden — but 
 whad was it?" 
 
 "Yourself, 'cause you let go of the 
 rope when you ought to have gripped 
 it like anything!" 
 
 Before further explanations could be 
 given, Martha, followed by grand- 
 mother with her knitting (she had 
 dropped a whole row of stitches in the 
 excitement), nurse holding the baby at 
 a dangerous angle, mammy with bread- 
 dough clinging to her hands, and 
 mother holding her hat, which she had 
 just removed upon coming indoors, 
 crowded about the two boys — one still 
 tied in the rope. 
 
 Every one saw the rope, followed its 
 length to the top story, and then let 
 their eyes lower again to the two silent 
 boys gazing speechless at each other. 
 
 "What is this?" demanded Mrs. 
 Parke. 
 
 "Jim, what yo' goin' for to dor^ 
 
154 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 Clim' dat house an' git in dat attic 
 whar dem chilluns wuz prisoners?" 
 came from Jim's mammy, with dire 
 meaning in her tones. 
 
 Before any one of the three culprits 
 could open their lips to explain, mammy 
 had Jim out of the coil, and was yank- 
 ing him by the collar of his loose shirt, 
 in the direction of the areaway, there 
 to do penance for trying to climb a 
 rope. 
 
 Mrs. Parke ordered mammy and 
 nurse to take charge of the two children 
 who had broken their pledge to remain 
 all day in the attic. They were re- 
 manded to two separate store-room clos- 
 ets, where no window or rope could 
 offer temptations. Only a high tran- 
 som window for light and air was in 
 these closets. 
 
 As no explanations would be heard, 
 Martha and George, to say nothing of 
 innocent Jim, felt they were cruelly 
 misunderstood. And Jim, as he sat in 
 a corner of the kitchen tied to the 
 wooden stool with a wash-line, wished 
 with all the fervor in his trembling lit- 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 155 
 
 tie body that he had really and truly 
 gone to heaven when the rope let him 
 down to earth. 
 
 "Reckon dat mammy would feel dif- 
 ferent ef Ah wuz climin' dem clouds 
 playin* a lil' harp," whimpered Jim to 
 himself, tears crowding from his round 
 black eyes as he pictured himself thus. 
 
 "Whad dat yo' mumblin' to yo'self in 
 dat cornah?" threatened his mammy. 
 
 "Nuffin ! Ah jes' wishin' Ah'd gone 
 daid dis time, den yo' woulden had no 
 Jimmy t' shake an' tie up to de floor!" 
 wailed he. 
 
 "Sea heah, boy, don' yo' go an' 'dulge 
 dem fool notions er Ah'll hep yo' cry 
 dem away jes as soon as dis bread is 
 bakin'," came ominously from his re- 
 spected parent. So Jim drooped silently 
 in the corner, wondering if his com- 
 panions-in-misery were getting all that 
 he hoped was coming to them. 
 
 But Jim did not hear of their form of 
 punishment until some time later, be- 
 cause other exciting events crowded 
 such past and already forgotten memo- 
 ries from mind. 
 
m THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 That evening at dinner, when the two 
 culprits had been bathed and dressed, 
 and ready to meet their father, and Jim 
 had been treated to bread and molasses 
 before going to bed, Mr. Parke an- 
 nounced wonderful news. 
 
 "Who do you think called me up on» 
 the telephone to-day?" said he, looking 
 at George and Martha. 
 
 "The constable?" gasped George 
 fearfully. 
 
 His father threw back his head and 
 laughed loudly, but Mrs. Parke 
 watched the children with an expres- 
 sion of understanding. 
 
 "Of course not! Have you two been 
 meriting arrest again?" 
 
 "No, but some folks think we have !" 
 said George, sending his mother a pity- 
 ing look. 
 
 "Well, I'm glad you are safe for the 
 time being," laughed Mr. Parke, see- 
 ing the glance. "But this is a fine bit 
 of news for you and Martha." 
 
 No one seemed able to guess the 
 secret, so Mr. Parke had to tell them. 
 
 "My sister and her two children are 
 
EFFECTS OF PRISON LIFE 157 
 
 coming from Philadelphia to spend a 
 few weeks with us — how about it?" 
 
 Before Mr. Parke had quite finished 
 his sentence, George and Martha were 
 up and over at his side, each hugging 
 him from his and her vantage point. 
 Mrs. Parke, too, was mildly enthused, 
 and when one could be heard again, 
 remarked : 
 
 "Oh, I'm so glad, Tom, as those chil- 
 dren were always such models of be- 
 havior ! Now George and Martha will 
 see what quiet, obedient youngsters are 
 like!" 
 
 "Don't be so sure of that, Kate. Sis- 
 ter is now in Washington, and 'phoned 
 me from there. She says that Jack and 
 Anne are all she can manage these 
 days, and she hoped George and Mar- 
 tha would be able to interest them in 
 other things besides pranks and play." 
 
 This desirable news brought the eyes 
 of George and Martha to meet each 
 other, and the latter said in a whisper: 
 "How about that wedding, then?" 
 
 "Just the thing — and the courtship, 
 don't forget that." 
 
158 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 "What is this you're planning now?" 
 asked Mrs. Parke. 
 
 "Oh, just a nice, quiet game," said 
 both children, nodding understandingly 
 at each other. 
 
 "Well, I'm relieved to hear that. We 
 want you to play quiet, polite games 
 with your little cousins when they are 
 here," replied Mr. Parke, with a sigh. 
 
 So the "Little Washingtons" went to 
 bed to dream of all the things they 
 would do when Jack and Anne Davis 
 would be their guests. 
 
 And how they carried out their plans 
 will be told in their next book, called 
 "The Little Washingtons' Relatives." 
 
 THE END 
 
THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 SERIES 
 
 By LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY 
 
 Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated. 
 For Children 6 to 12 Years 
 
 This series presents early American history in a manner 
 that impresses the young readers. Because of George and 
 Martha Washington Parke, two young descendants of the 
 famous General Washington, these stories follow exactly 
 the life of the great American, by means of playing they 
 act the life of the Washingtons, both in battles and in 
 society. 
 
 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS 
 
 Their thrilling battles and expeditions generally end in '* punishment " 
 lessons read by Mrs. Parke from the " Life of Washington/' The culprits 
 listen intently, for this reading generally gives them new ideas for further 
 games of Indian warfare and Colonists' battles. 
 
 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS RELATIVES 
 
 \ The Davis children visit the Parke home and join zealously in the games 
 of playing General Washington. So zealously, in fact, that little Jim 
 almost loses his scalp. 
 
 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' TRAVELS 
 
 ' The children wage a fierce battle upon the roof of a hotel in New York 
 City. Then, visiting the Davis home in Philadelphia, the patriotic Wash^ 
 ingtons vanquish the Hessians on a battle-field in the empty lot back of 
 the Davis property. 
 
 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS AT SCHOOL 
 
 After the school-house battle the Washingtons discover a band of gyp^ 
 sies camping near the back road to their homes and incidentally they secure 
 the stolen horse which the gypsies had taken from the " butter and egg 
 farmer" of the Parkes. 
 
 THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' HOLIDAYS 
 
 They spend a pleasant summer on two adjoining farms in Vermont 
 During the voyage they try to capture a "frigate" but little Jim is caught 
 and about to be punished by the Captain when his confederates hasten in 
 and save him. 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK 
 
LITTLE JACK RABBIT 
 BOOKS 
 
 (Trademark Registered) 
 
 By DAVID CORY 
 
 Author of LITTLE JOURf^EYS TO HAPPYLAND 
 Colored Wrappers With Text Ulustratioais 
 
 A new and unique series about the furred and feathered 
 little people of the wood and meadow. 
 
 Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack 
 Rabbit, who, every morning as soon as he has polished the 
 front door knob and fed the canary, sets out from his little 
 house in the bramble patch to meet his friends in the Shady 
 Forest and Sunny Meadow. And the clever way he es- 
 capes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr. Wicked 
 Weasel and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters. 
 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL 
 
 BROTHERS 
 LITTLE JACK RABMT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN 
 
 BEAR 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF 
 LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK 
 
 Grosset & DuNLAP, Publishers, New York 
 
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