Then, after a long ride to the north, they came to another fort. The French commandant was here, and he welcomed Washington with a great show of kindness.
Washington gave him the letter which he had brought from the governor of Virginia.
The commandant read it, and two days afterward gave him an answer.
He said that he would forward the letter to the French governor; but as for the Ohio Country, he had been ordered to hold it, and he meant to do so.
Of course Washington could do nothing further. But it was plain to him that the news ought to be carried back to Virginia without delay.
It was now mid-winter. As no horse could travel through the trackless woods at this time of year, he must make his way on foot.
So, with only the woodsman, Gist, he shouldered his rifle and knapsack, and bravely started home.
It was a terrible journey. The ground was covered with snow; the rivers were frozen; there was not even a path through the forest. If Gist had not been so fine a woodsman they would hardly have seen Virginia again.
Once an Indian shot at Washington from behind a tree. Once the brave young man fell into a river, among floating ice, and would have been drowned but for Gist.
At last they reached the house of a trader on the Monongahela River. There they were kindly welcomed, and urged to stay until the weather should grow milder.