[Footnote 5:  See map in this paragraph.]

[Footnote 6:  Flint and steel:  see picture in paragraph 84.]

128.  Washington at the age of twenty-one; the French in the west; the governor of Virginia sends Washington to see the French commander.—­By the time Washington was twenty-one he had grown to be over six feet in height.  He was straight as an arrow and tough as a whip-lash.  He had keen blue eyes that seemed to look into the very heart of things, and his fist was like a blacksmith’s sledgehammer.  He knew all about the woods, all about Indians, and he could take care of himself anywhere.

At this time the English settlers held the country along the seashore as far back as the Alleghany Mountains.[7] West of those mountains the French from Canada were trying to get possession of the land.  They had made friends with many of the Indians, and they hoped, with their help, to be able to drive out the English and get the whole country for themselves.

In order to hold this land in the west, the French had built several forts[8] south of Lake Erie, and they were getting ready to build some on the Ohio River.  The governor of Virginia was determined to put a stop to this.  He had given young Washington the military title of major;[9] he now sent Major Washington to see the French commander at one of the forts near Lake Erie.  Washington was to tell the Frenchman that he had built his forts on land belonging to the English, and that he and his men must either leave or fight.

Major Washington dressed himself like an Indian, and attended by several friendly Indians and by a white man named Gist,[10] who knew the country well, he set out on his journey through what was called the Great Woods.

The entire distance to the farthest fort and back was about a thousand miles.  Washington could go on horseback part of the way, but there were no regular roads, and he had to climb mountains and swim rivers.  After several weeks’ travel he reached the fort, but the French commander refused to give up the land.  He said that he and his men had come to stay, and that if the English did not like it, they must fight.

[Footnote 7:  Alleghany (Al’le-ga’ni):  see map in paragraph 127. (It is also spelled Allegheny.)]

[Footnote 8:  Forts:  see map in paragraph 127.]

[Footnote 9:  Major (ma’jer):  an officer in the army next above a captain, but below a colonel.]

[Footnote 10:  Gist (Jist).]

129.  The journey back; the Indian guide; how Washington found his way through the woods; the adventure with the raft.—­On the way back, Washington had to leave his horses and come on foot with Gist and an Indian guide sent from the fort.  This Indian guide was in the pay of the French, and he intended to murder Washington in the woods.  One day he shot at him from behind a tree, but luckily did not hit him.  Then Washington and Gist managed to get away from him, and set out to go back to Virginia