That officer's reply was brief; his orders were to hold the place and
drive all the English from it. The French avowed their intention of
taking possession of the Ohio. And with this rough answer the messenger
from Virginia had to return through danger and difficulty, across lonely
forest and frozen river, shaping his course by the compass, and camping
at night in the snow by the forest fires.
On his return from this expedition, which he had conducted with an heroic
energy and simplicity, Major Washington was a greater favourite than ever
with the lady of Castlewood. She pointed him out as a model to both of
her sons. "Ah, Harry!" she would say, "think of you, with your
cock-fighting and your racing matches, and the Major away there in the
wilderness, watching the French, and battling with the frozen rivers! Ah,
George! learning may be a very good thing, but I wish my elder son were
doing something in the service of his country!"
Mr. Washington on his return home began at once raising such a regiment
as, with the scanty pay and patronage of the Virginian government, he
could get together, and proposed with the help of these men-of-war to put
a more peremptory veto upon the French invaders than the solitary
ambassador had been enabled to lay. A small force under another officer,
Colonel Trent, had already been despatched to the west, with orders to
fortify themselves so as to be able to resist any attack of the enemy.
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