he high, hard trotter he rode; and so
sore was he made by the jolting he got, that, for a week thereafter,
it was quite as much as he could do to bring his legs together. This
last, by the way, is merely traditional, and must be received by the
little folks with some caution.

Luckily, the White House, the residence of Mrs. Custis, was situated
within a very few miles of Williamsburg; which gave young Washington
many opportunities, during his two-weeks' stay at that place, of
seeing her, and still further cultivating her acquaintance.
Experience, that sage teacher who never spoke to him in vain, had
taught him, that although there are many blessings of this world which
seem to come of their own accord, yet there are a few that never come
except at the asking for; and the chiefest of these is woman's love.
So, resolving to profit by this knowledge, he did precisely what any
wise and reasonable man would have done in his place,--overcame his
troublesome bashfulness, and made the lady an offer of marriage; which
she, precisely as any wise and reasonable woman would have done in her
place, modestly accepted. The business that had called him to
Williamsburg being at last disposed of, Washington took leave of his
intended, after it had been agreed between them to keep up an
interchange of letters until the close of the present campaign, when
they were to be united in the holy bonds of wedlock.

Upon his return to Winchester, he was dismayed to find that the
English generals had taken it into their inexperienced heads to cut a
new road from Raystown to Fort Duquesne by the way of Laurel Hill,
instead of marching there at once by the old Braddock Road, as he
naturally supposed had been their intention from the beginning.
Foreseeing the consequences, he, in an earnest and forcible manner,
hastened to represent to them the difficulties and disadvantages of
such an undertaking. Cold weather would be setting in, he urged, long
before they could cut their way through so many miles of that mountain
wilderness to the point in question; and they would be obliged either
to winter at Laurel Hill, or fall back upon the settlements until
spring. This would give the enemy time to get full intelligence of
their threatened danger, and send to Canada for re-enforcements. Their
Indian allies too, as was their wont, would grow impatient at the long
delay that must needs attend this plan if carried out; and, returning
to their homes in disgust,