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

I watched him as he strode away, and I fancy there was a new light in my
eyes,--certainly there was a new purpose in my heart. For I had been
often sadly puzzled as to what I should do when once I was out of
college. I had no mind to become an idler at Riverview, but was
determined to win myself a place in the world. Yet when I came to look
about me, I saw small prospect of success. The professions--the law,
medicine, and even the church--were overrun with vagabonds who had
brought them so low that no gentleman could think of earning a
livelihood--much less a place in the world--by them. Trade was equally
out of the question, for there was little trade in the colony, and that
in the hands of sharpers. But Mr. Washington's words had opened a new
vista. What possibilities lay in the profession of arms! And my
resolution was taken in an instant,--I would be a soldier. I said nothing
of my resolve to Dorothy, fearing that she would laugh at me, as she
doubtless would have done, and the remainder of the evening passed very
quickly. Dorothy presented me to Mrs. Washington, a stately and beautiful
lady, who spoke of her son with evident love and pride. He had been
called away, she said, for he had much to do, and thus reminded, I
remembered that it was time for me also to depart. Before I went, I
obtained permission from Mrs. Washington to call and see her next
day,--Dorothy standing by with eyes demurely downcast, as though she did
not know it was she and she only whom I hoped to see.