“Then we ought to get along.”
Soon they were again on the road, but now both on horseback. The surveyor knew the territory well and set such a brisk pace that Dave had to push hard to keep up to him.
“You are a splendid rider,” the boy ventured. “I never saw anybody keep his saddle so well.”
The praise appeared to please Washington. “Yes, I always loved riding,” he made answer. “I used to climb in the saddle when I was five years old. Once we had a fiery colt at home that nobody could manage. I got on his back and rode him.”
“You did!”
“Yes, but it was a costly ride, for the colt got scared and plunged so madly that he burst a blood vessel, and right after the ride he died. After that I let the other colts alone,” concluded Washington.
CHAPTER XII
SURVEYING ALONG THE SHENANDOAH
On the whole Dave found his employer rather companionable, although at times reserved and thoughtful. He soon learned that Washington was a hard worker and that the more difficult the problem to be solved the more the surveyor was interested. Once they were surveying in the midst of a forest, with rough rocks on every side, and the lad felt almost certain that the work must come to a standstill. But Washington kept on as if nothing out of the usual confronted him, and in the end the difficulty appeared to straighten itself out with scarcely an effort.
Dave soon learned how to carry the chains and call out the measurements and how to set the stakes and poles, and this was almost the extent of what he had to do. The weather remained fair, although it was gradually growing colder and he was often glad enough, early in the morning or late in the evening, to don the greatcoat Washington had loaned him.
But if the surveyor was engrossed in his work, he always kept his eyes open and his wits about him, as Dave learned before he had been out a week.