Four Great Americans: Washington, Franklin, Webster, Lincoln | Page 7

George Washington spent so much of his time at Greenway

Court, he still called Mount Vernon his home.
Going down home in the autumn, just before he was twenty years old,
he found matters in a sad state, and greatly changed.
His brother Lawrence was very ill--indeed, he had been ill a long time.
He had tried a trip to England; he had spent a summer at the warm
springs; but all to no purpose. He was losing strength every day.
The sick man dreaded the coming of cold weather. If he could only go
to the warm West Indies before winter set in, perhaps that would
prolong his life. Would George go with him?
No loving brother could refuse a request like that.
The captain of a ship in the West India trade agreed to take them; and
so, while it was still pleasant September, the two Washingtons
embarked for Barbadoes, which, then as now, belonged to the English.
It was the first time that George had ever been outside of his native
land, and it proved to be also the last. He took careful notice of
everything that he saw; and, in the little note-book which he seems to
have always had with him, he wrote a brief account of the trip.
He had not been three weeks at Barbadoes before he was taken down
with the smallpox; and for a month he was very sick. And so his winter
in the West Indies could not have been very pleasant.
In February the two brothers returned home to Mount Vernon.
Lawrence's health had not been bettered by the journey. He was now
very feeble; but he lingered on until July, when he died.
By his will Lawrence Washington left his fine estate of Mount Vernon,
and all the rest of his wealth, to his little daughter. But George was to
be the daughter's guardian; and in case of her death, all her vast
property was to be his own.
And so, before he was quite twenty-one years old, George Washington
was settled at Mount Vernon as the manager of one of the richest
estates in Virginia. The death of his little niece not long afterward made
him the owner of this estate, and, of course, a very wealthy man.
But within a brief time, events occurred which called him away from
his peaceful employments.
* * * * *
VIII.--A PERILOUS JOURNEY.
Early the very next year news was brought to Virginia that the French
were building forts along the Ohio, and making friends with the Indians

there. This of course meant that they intended to keep the English out
of that country.
The governor of Virginia thought that the time had come to speak out
about this matter. He would send a messenger with a letter to these
Frenchmen, telling them that all the land belonged to the English, and
that no trespassing would be allowed.
The first messenger that he sent became alarmed before he was within a
hundred miles of a Frenchman, and went back to say that everything
was as good as lost.
It was very plain that a man with some courage must be chosen for
such an undertaking.
"I will send Major George Washington," said the governor. "He is very
young, but he is the bravest man in the colony."
Now, promptness was one of those traits of character which made
George Washington the great man which he afterward became. And so,
on the very day that he received his appointment he set out for the Ohio
Country.
He took with him three white hunters, two Indians, and a famous
woodsman, whose name was Christopher Gist. A small tent or two, and
such few things as they would need on the journey, were strapped on
the backs of horses.
They pushed through the woods in a northwestwardly direction, and at
last reached a place called Venango, not very far from where Pittsburg
now stands. This was the first outpost of the French; and here
Washington met some of the French officers, and heard them talk about
what they proposed to do.
Then, after a long ride to the north, they came to another fort. The
French commandant was here, and he welcomed Washington with a
great show of kindness.
Washington gave him the letter which he had brought from the
governor of Virginia.
The commandant read it, and two days afterward gave him an answer.
He said that he would forward the letter to the French governor; but as
for the Ohio Country, he had been ordered to hold it, and he meant to
do so.
Of course Washington could do nothing further. But it was plain to him
that the news ought to be carried back to Virginia without delay.

It was now mid-winter.