delegate to
the first Colonial Congress.

Angus saw that something was afoot and was displeased at Rodney for
not taking him into his confidence. "Where now, Rodney?" he said, as
he sauntered into the Allison yard, where his friend was bidding his
mother good-bye.

"I've got to take quite a long ride on one of Mr. Jefferson's business
matters; I don't quite know how far it will take me."

"You go prepared for trouble," replied Angus with a nod at the butts
of two horse-pistols which could be seen under the flaps of the
holsters.

"Those are some father had with the saddle," replied Rodney.

Angus winked and said no more, though it was evident he would like to
have done so.

"Well, good-bye, Angus, and good-bye, mother. Don't expect me back
till I get here," said Rodney, vaulting into the saddle and riding
away at a furious gallop, his head up and shoulders thrown back and as
full of a sense of his own importance as is permitted to a modest lad,
such as Rodney Allison really was.

Before him lay long stretches of miserable roads, clogged with snow or
mud, a bleak landscape, not to mention many inconveniences which the
travellers through that region were then obliged to endure. But all
things come to an end and so, one crisp morning, the lad reined Ned
into the road leading to Mount Vernon.

Now, those of us who visit the place feel that we approach the shrine
of our country. To Rodney it was a visit to one of the finest
plantations in all the Old Dominion, and its owner was one of the most
influential citizens as well as one of the wealthiest. The general
appearance of the place that morning was much as one now finds it,
save for the evidences then seen of the little army of negroes who
worked on the plantation. The smoke curled lazily up into the frosty
air; the majestic Potomac flowed past between bleak banks on which the
first green of spring had not shown itself. A kinky haired coloured
boy was promptly on hand to hold the horse, and another met him at the
door.

"Talk as little as possible and see everything," was his mother's
parting advice, and he thought of it as he looked about him. On all
sides were evidences of thrift and he felt the atmosphere of home.

How Washington loomed before the lad's eyes on entering the room! Not
that he was unduly long of limb, for, though a giant in stature, he
was perfectly proportioned; but he seemed to fill the room with his
presence. Rodney had wondered how he wo