As the Scout Master stopped again, he found the boys listening with breathless interest, and he guessed that many of them were following the explorations of Washington in imagination.
"This next paragraph," he said, "reminds me of some of our own experiences on a hike. Listen: 'My companions and I,' wrote Washington in his journal on April eighth of that year, 'camped in the woods; and after we had pitched our tent and made a large fire we pulled out our knapsacks to recruit ourselves. Every one was his own cook. Our spits were forked sticks, our plates were large chips. As for dishes, we had none.'"
"I shall read only two more brief paragraphs:"
"'Washington's success as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax called the attention of the Virginia authorities to him and to the unusual accuracy of his surveys. As a consequence, he was appointed public surveyor, deriving a discipline therefrom which was of great service to him in his later career. By making him an able civil engineer, it laid the foundation of his future eminence in a military capacity. And by making him known to the principal landholders of the State, it led to his appointment, at the age of nineteen, to the office of adjutant-general, with the rank of major. This gave him the charge of a district, with the duty of exercising the militia, inspecting their arms, and superintending their discipline.'"
"That is all, boys," concluded the Scout Master, rising and closing the volume. "But as we take up our course in surveying, with the additional interest of its geological significance, we may like to remember that we are following in the footsteps of no less a man than George Washington!"
CHAPTER XIII
THE RESULT OF THE SURVEYS
Promptly at nine o'clock on the following Monday morning, a clean-cut, well-knit, strong-featured young man stood before an eager-faced group of khaki-clad scouts in Pioneer Camp.
The businesslike attitude of the young instructor, Ransom Thayer, was reflected in the appearance of the boys; and from the first crisp greeting of Mr. Thayer to his curt dismissal an hour and a half later, the interest and attention of his auditors never wavered.
His first lesson emphasized the historical phase of geology; and as he talked and pointed here and there in illustration, it seemed to the boys that every stone and boulder and pebble and overhanging cliff responded with the story of its life. This crevice, that oblique angle, this smooth indentation, that rough mass,—-each marking had its significant meaning to the enthusiastic leader.