fell far beyond any of its former limits. "You see, young gentlemen,"
said the chief with a smile, "that my arm yet retains some portion of my
early vigor." He was then in his fortieth year, and probably in the
fullness of his physical powers. Those powers became rather mellowed
than decayed by time, for "his age was like lusty winter, frosty yet
kindly," and up to his sixty-eighth year he mounted a horse with
surprising agility, and rode with ease and grace. Rickets, the
celebrated equestrian, used to say, "I delight to see the General ride,
and make it a point to fall in with him when I hear he is out on
horseback--his seat is so firm, his management so easy and graceful,
that I, who am an instructor in horsemanship, would go to him and learn
to ride."

In his later day, the General, desirous of riding pleasantly, procured
from the North two horses of a breed for bearing the saddle. They were
well to look at, and pleasantly gaited under the saddle, but also scary,
and therefore unfitted for the service of one who liked to ride quietly
on his farm, occasionally dismounting and walking in his fields to
inspect improvements. From one of these horses the General sustained a
fall--probably the only fall he ever had from a horse in his life. It
was upon a November evening, and he was returning from Alexandria to
Mount Vernon, with three friends and a groom. Having halted a few
moments, he dismounted, and upon rising in his stirrup again, the horse,
alarmed at the glare from a fire near the roadside, sprang from under
his rider, who came heavily to the ground. His friends rushed to give
him assistance, thinking him hurt. But the vigorous old man was upon his
feet again, brushing the dust from his clothes, and after thanking those
who came to his aid, said that he had had a very complete tumble, and
that it was owing to a cause no horseman could well avoid or
control--that he was only poised in his stirrup, and had not yet gained