“I have it from the commander here that he has been ordered to arrest every English trader found doing business on the Ohio or near that river.”
“That order would take in me, wouldn’t it?” returned James Morris, with a faint smile. “What do you think of it?”
“Privately I think the French are going beyond their authority. But of course it would not do for me to tell the commander here that. All I can do is to wait for an answer to Governor Dinwiddie’s letter.”
Just then one of the others of the party came up.
“I have had a long talk with one of the Indians here,” he said. “He had been drinking enough to loosen his tongue, and in the course of his talk he let slip that the French are preparing for an expedition against the English early in the summer.”
“That I have already suspected,” answered Washington. “And what is more, they are going to keep us here as long as possible, so that the message I carry will be delayed and our country’s time to prepare for war shortened.”
In this surmise Major Washington was correct, the French commander delayed him upon one pretext or another until his patience was almost exhausted. At the same time the Frenchman entertained the Indians that had come with the English royally and did his best to get the red men to side with the French and desert Washington’s party.
Because of the snow and the roughness of the road, Washington had already sent his horses back to Venango without baggage. He now started for Venango himself by the river, taking several canoes, all laden with men and stores. The weather continued foul and the trip was full of discomfort and peril. Often a boat would strike the rocks or a sand bar, and then the occupants would have to get out and haul the craft along by hand.
“This is the worst yet,” said James Morris. “Were it not for the baggage I would rather walk the whole distance along the trail.”
“I would do that myself,” answered Washington. “But the stores cannot be left behind.”