ite soldiers followed
their cowardly example. The expedition under Johnson accomplished
something in another direction; but both expeditions failed, so far as
the proposed reduction of Niagara and Crown Point was concerned.

"A fatal mistake!" remarked Washington to Mr. Fairfax. "Such timid
measures are just suited to encourage the enemy."

"It cannot be otherwise," answered Fairfax. "To provide just enough men
to make a good target, and just enough money to pay for shooting them
down, is very poor policy, in my judgment."

"When it comes to actual service," continued Washington, "there will not
be over seven hundred reliable soldiers for fighting. To defend three
hundred and sixty miles of frontier with this small force is next to
impossible. To mass them in one locality will leave other localities
exposed; and to divide them up into squads, and scatter them over the
whole distance, is arranging them for the enemy to readily cut them off
one after another."

"A bloody work, that infuriated savages will enjoy," remarked Mr.
Fairfax. "The more I think of it, the more I shrink from the
contemplation of the horrible butchery that will probably follow this
serious mistake of the government."

"Yet I accept my appointment, lest a refusal be misconstrued," continued
Washington. "But I have served so long with inadequate support by the
government, followed by disasters, that I had hoped for the most liberal
provisions now."

"And they should have been freely granted," added Mr. Fairfax.

"No one can be more sensible of my failures than I am," Washington
remarked with his usual modesty. "If an old proverb will apply to my
case, I shall certainly close with a share of success, for surely no man
ever made a worse beginning than I have. Still, I want a fair chance to
redeem my fortunes if I can."

In September Washington established his headquarters at Winchester,
beyond the Blue Ridge, in the beautiful valley of the Shenandoah. It was
a frontier town, one hundred and forty miles northwest of Richmond. He
found the people of the town under great alarm in consequence of
frequent reports of depredations by French and Indians. The town was
crowded with men, women, and children, who had fled from their homes in
the wilderness to this place for protection, on hearing that the Indians
were on the war-path. Many of these reports were exaggerated, and others
had no foundation in truth. For instance, one morning the report came
t