Dauntlessly aside she flings

Lifted ax and thirsty knife;
Fondly to his heart she clings
And her bosom guards his life!
In the woods of Powhatan,

Still 'tis told by Indian fires,
How a daughter of their sires
Saved the captive Englishman.

-WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY.

THE HOME OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

THE home life of George Washington is one of the most pleasant aspects of this great man's career. When he married Mrs. Martha Custis, her little son and daughter went with her to live at Mount Vernon. Washington was like a father to them, loving them dearly, sharing their troubles and joys, their study and play.

John Custis was six years old, and Washington soon taught him to love outdoor life.

They rode miles together on horseback over the Virginia hills. The little boy learned to sit his horse well, for his stepfather was a splendid horseman. There were

long canters or gallops, when they rode away to attend to some important business. Then there were the duties of a soldier to be learned, how to ride in

line, wheel his horse and keep in place, ride erect, and halt or advance instantly at a word, as if horse and rider were one.

All this John enjoyed, but he liked best the long hunting trips, when the stately General was as good company as another boy would have been. General Washington taught his young companion how to set traps and snares, how to come up to the game softly that he might not frighten it away, and many other things that are of real interest to a boy.

In his pictures, the Father of our Country always seems to us very grand and solemn; and so we love to think of him enjoying the company of this little

boy. We feel better acquainted with him than we do when we read only of his great deeds as general or as President.

Washington always kept a diary, and one day he wrote in it: "Went a-hunting with Jackey Custis, and catched a fox after three hours' chase. Found it in the creek."

Martha Custis was only four years old when her mother married General Washington. She was a very quiet, ladylike child, dressed like a little woman, her hair done up in rolls and trimmed with ornaments and feathers or ribbons. At that time, all the fine clothes had to be brought from England, and in a long list which General Washington ordered for Martha when she was six years old, we find frocks of lawn and of fine cambric, satin shoes, silver shoebuckles, and a coat made of fashionable silk. We are glad to know that in the same list are two dolls, and a box of gingerbread, toys, and sugar images.

In those days little girls were not given much education; so Martha never went to school, but studied with her mother, worked on her sampler, and practiced on the harpsichord.

Mount Vernon was a grand old plantation. There were wide grounds like great parks, planted with fruit trees and flowers. The house was filled with fine furniture and curiosities new to the children.

There was a long gallery to play in on rainy days, and a high hill running down to the river, where they could race and run, or play in the water.

When the Washington family traveled, they went in a huge chariot drawn by four horses, and with postilions in livery. Little Martha was dressed in satins, and John wore silver shoe-buckles and a colored coat, and his hair was tied with a ribbon. On Sundays when they went to church, as they always did, they rode in a chaise. In those old days the sexton showed people to their seats, and locked them in, for there were doors to the pews. During the service he walked up and down the aisle to see that the children sat quietly and that their elders kept awake.

Martha died when she was sixteen, and not only her family mourned for her, but all the servants on the plantation used to weep when they spoke of her, for she was loved by all.

John was sent to Annapolis to be educated, and afterwards to King's College-now Columbia. He remained in college only three months, then he came home and was married. He still spent much time at Mount Vernon with his wife and the little children who came to them. He became of great use to Washington as aid-de-camp, and died of a fever just as the news of the victory of Yorktown was being carried through the country. His stepfather was

heartbroken at his loss, and when he saw his "dear Jackey" breathe his last, he threw himself on a couch and wept like a child.

Mount Vernon was very lonely now, and General Washington begged Mrs. John Custis for two of her four children to bring up as his own. She finally consented, and two more children, a girl and a boy, came to Mount Vernon to live. These were Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. The latter was familiarly called Washington.

Eleanor was two and a half years old, and not at all like the quiet little girl Martha had been. She did not like to have her hair dressed with ribbons and feathers. She did not like to sew or practice, though her grandfather, as she called him, bought her a new harpsichord, costing a thousand dollars. She was General Washington's favorite companion, and loved to go with him on long rides and walks. Little Washington came in for his share of lessons, but his grandmother tried to make them as light as possible. And so between study and play, these two children whom Washington loved grew up strong and happy, and each lived to be more than three score and ten.

We often read of the first President of the United States as the busy planter, looking after his plantation, the grave general, the wise statesman, or the