s. The rivers were swollen and full of ice,
making the water-trip extremely dangerous. On Christmas Day, Washington
began his long journey home--nearly a thousand miles through almost
trackless forests. The horses became so tired that he and Christopher
Gist decided to hurry on foot, in advance of the others, to the fork of
the Ohio, leaving their horses to be brought later. They tramped several
days, camping in the forests at night. An Indian met them and offered to
show them a short cut. But he was treacherous and guided them out of
their way and tried to shoot them. They escaped, traveling as fast as
they could all night and all the next day.

At nightfall they came to the Allegheny River, expecting to find it
frozen over, but it was full of floating ice and they had no way to
cross. After working a whole day, with only a small hatchet, they made a
raft. In trying to pole this across the swift current, Washington was
thrown into the water and was nearly drowned, but he managed to get on
the raft again and they reached an island, where they spent the night.
It was so intensely cold that Gist's hands and feet were frozen. The
next morning, they got ashore on the chunks of ice and by suppertime
were in the warm house of a trader named Frazier. In a few days, they
were rested enough to go on to Gist's home, where the Major bade his
companion good-by and went on alone on horseback, through constant snows
and bitter cold.

On the sixteenth of January (1754), Major Washington delivered the
French reply to Governor Dinwiddie. He had been absent almost three
months on his perilous journey, and you can imagine that his mother and
friends were glad to see him safe at home again.

The Governor and the colonists were very proud of the way Washington had
performed his errand. His wisdom in his dealings with the Indians and
the French, his firmness, his courage and daring in the face of peril,
had indeed been marked. He had not only done well what he had been sent
to do, but he had thoroughly examined the French forts and made notes of
the best places for English defenses. From that time, he was trusted
with important duties.

As might have been expected, the reply from the French commandant stated
that the land belonged to French settlers and that they intended to keep
it. It was Washington's opinion that the French intended in the spring
to take possession of the whole country. The Governor of Virginia tried
to interest other