It was done.

Washington, full of disappointment went back to Mount Vernon. But he
felt more like fighting than ever before.

He was now twenty-two years old.

* * * * *

X.--THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.


In the meanwhile the king of England had heard how the French were
building forts along the Ohio and how they were sending their traders to
the Great Lakes and to the valley of the Mississippi.

"If we allow them to go on in this way, they will soon take all that
vast western country away from us," he said.

And so, the very next winter, he sent over an army under General Edward
Braddock to drive the French out of that part of America and at the same
time teach their Indian friends a lesson.

It was in February, 1755, when General Braddock and his troops went
into camp at Alexandria in Virginia. As Alexandria was only a few miles
from Mount Vernon, Washington rode over to see the fine array and become
acquainted with the officers.

When General Braddock heard that this was the young man who had ventured
so boldly into the Ohio Country, he offered him a place on his staff.