my westward trip I found that the Indians who once dwelt in The
Long House were scattered. Only a tattered remnant remains. Near old
Fort Johnson I saw a squaw sitting in her blanket. Her face was
wrinkled with age and hardship. Her eyes were nearly blind. She held
in her withered hands the ragged, moth eaten tail of a gray wolf. I
asked her why she kept the shabby thing.

"'Because of the hand that gave it,' she answered in English. 'I shall
take it with me to The Happy Hunting-Grounds. When he sees it he will
know me.'

"So quickly the beautiful Little White Birch had faded.

"At Mount Vernon, Washington was as dignified as ever but not so grave.
He almost joked when he spoke of the sculptors and portrait painters
who have been a great bother to him since the war ended.

"'Now no dray horse moves more readily to the thill than I to the
painter's chair," he said.

"When I arrived the family was going in to dinner and they waited until
I could make myself ready to join them. The jocular Light Horse Harry
Lee was there. His anecdotes delighted the great man. I had never
seen G. W. in better humor. A singularly pleasant smile lighted his
whole countenance. I can never forget the gentle note in his voice and
his dignified bearing. It was the same whether he were addressing his
guests or his family. The servants watched him closely. A look seemed
to be enough to indicate his wishes. The faithful Billy was always at
his side. I have never seen a sweeter atmosphere in any home. We sat
an hour at the table after the family had retired from it. In speaking
of his daily life he said:

"'I ride around my farms until it is time to dress for dinner, when I
rarely miss seeing strange faces, come, as they say, out of respect for
me. Perhaps the word curiosity would better describe the cause of it.
The usual time of sitting at table brings me to candle-light when I try
to answer my letters.'

"He had much to say on his favorite theme, viz.: the settling of the
immense interior and bringing its trade to the Atlantic cities.

"I was coughing with a severe cold. He urged me to take some remedies
which he had in the house, but I refused them.

"He went to his office while Lee and I sat down together. The latter
told me of a movement in the army led by Colonel Nichola to make
Washington king of America. He had seen Washington's answer to the
letter of the Colonel. It was as follows:

"'Be assured, sir,