marked his last days at Mount Vernon.

In his earlier as well as in later life, his tour of the farms would
average from eight to twelve or fourteen miles a day. He rode upon his
farms entirely unattended, opening his gates, pulling down and putting
up his fences as he passed, visiting his laborers at their work,
inspecting all the operations of his extensive establishment with a
careful eye, directing useful improvements, and superintending them in
their progress.

He usually rode at a moderate pace in passing through his fields. But
when behind time, this most punctual of men would display the
horsemanship of his earlier days, and a hard gallop would bring him up
to time so that the sound of his horse's hoofs and the first dinner bell
would be heard together at a quarter before three.

A story is told that one day an elderly stranger meeting a Revolutionary
worthy out hunting, a long-tried and valued friend of the chief,
accosted him, and asked whether Washington was to be found at the
mansion house, or whether he was off riding over his estate. The friend
answered that he was visiting his farms, and directed the stranger the
road to take, adding, "You will meet, sir, with an old gentleman riding
alone in plain drab clothes, a broad-brimmed white hat, a hickory switch
in his hand, and carrying an umbrella with a long staff, which is
attached to his saddle-bow--that person, sir, is General Washington."

Precisely at a quarter before three the industrious farmer returned,
dressed, and dined at three o'clock. At this meal he ate heartily, but
was not particular in his diet with the exception of fish, of which he
was excessively fond. Touching his liking for fish, and illustrative of