ived on the 14th of September,
1781, just in time. The French fleet sailed up the bay, the American and
French troops came down on the land side, and between them they shut the
British General in the little village of Yorktown, and there they laid
siege to his army.

When they had got pretty close to the town, they had to drive the
British from some redoubts, or walls of earth and stone, behind which
they had planted their cannon. This was done by a party of Americans
under the gallant Lafayette, and a party of French soldiers. They
marched steadily up to the redoubts, and springing over the walls, under
heavy fire, drove the enemy out with their bayonets. It was a brave
assault, and successful, and it was the last hard fighting of the war.
On the 19th of October, Lord Cornwallis, seeing that he could hold out
no longer, surrendered his army prisoners of war. It was a great
victory, and was won with less loss of life than there might have been
if it had been less skillfully fought, for Washington had managed so
quietly and so quickly that he had surrounded Lord Cornwallis with
nearly twice as many troops as the British General had.

After the surrender at Yorktown, Washington returned North, and on his
way stopped at his home at Mount Vernon. He had slept there on his
journey southward, a few weeks before, for the first time in nearly
seven years, and he had found it sadly injured in his absence. During
his second visit, his wife's son, Mr. Custis, died, leaving a son and a
daughter, whom Washington adopted as his own, and tenderly cared for as
long as he lived.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

MAKING MAPLE SUGAR.

When in the early spring-time the snow and ice have been so softened by
the ever-increasing warmth of the sun's rays as to put an end to
coasting, skating, and other winter sports of the North, a new source of
amusement, equally fascinating to the children, is provided. It is
maple-sugar making, with all the delights of life in the camp, or "sugar
bush," as it is more generally called.

When the heat of the sun is sufficient to melt the snow, it is also
powerful enough to send the sweet sap of the rock and sugar maples
rushing through all the delicate bark veins up toward the branches and
twigs. At night, when the sun has set, and the air is full of a nipping
frost, the sap does not run; so, as it must be collected during the
daytime, the boiling is very often done at night.

As the first sap of the seas