ng about their heads in a way that
would not be altogether agreeable. No one with even half his wits
about him would have for a moment thought of defending an unfinished
fort with axes, spades, and augers, against a force of twenty times
their number, backed by cannon and grape-shot. These men had all their
wits about them, and, to prove it, gave up the fort without further
parley; when the French captain marched in, and took formal possession
of the wooden pen in the name of his most Christian majesty, the King
of France; after which, with that gayety and good-humor so often to
be observed among the French people, he invited the young ensign--who,
in the absence of the captain, had been left in the command of the
fort for that day--to dine and drink a glass of wine with him. He then
suffered them all to depart in peace with his good wishes, and with
their spades, carpenter's tools, and axes on their shoulders.

Col. Washington was deeply mortified at this intelligence; but, like
the manly man that he was, he put a bright face on the matter, and, to
keep up the spirits of his men, resolved to push on with the road with
more vigor than ever. And a tremendous undertaking this was, I assure
you. The tallest of trees were to be felled, the hugest of rocks to be
split and removed, the deepest of swamps to be filled, and the
swiftest of mountain torrents bridged over. With such hinderances, you
will not wonder that they made but four miles a day. Now and then, the
soldiers would be obliged to put their shoulders to the wheel, and
help the poor half-famished horses with their heavy wagons up some
rough and rocky steep. Thus over the gloomy mountains, and down the
rugged defiles, and through a dark and lonely valley since called the
Shades of Death, they forced their toilsome way. At last, after many
weary days, they reached the banks of the Youghiogeny,--a romantic
little river that went tumbling down the green hills in many a foaming
waterfall; then, like a frolicsome school-boy nearing school, put on
a demure and sober face, and quietly emptied itself into the more
tranquil Monongahela. Here, to give his worn-out men and horses some
repose after their severe and unceasing labors, Washington ordered a
halt.

Being told by some friendly Indians that the baggage could be carried
down this stream by water, he set out early one morning in a canoe,
with four or five white men, and an Indian for a guide, to see for
himself what t