The Go Ahead Boys and the Mysterious Old House

  CHAPTER XX--THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY

  When John and Grant climbed into their seats in the waiting automobileboth were nearly breathless. Before either of them spoke there cameanother loud burst of laughter from the house of mystery, and a momentlater Fred and George were seen approaching. Both were running butneither apparently had been as greatly alarmed by the occurrences in theold Meeker House as had their two friends.

  "I thought you fellows were not going to run," said Fred as he seatedhimself.

  "We thought the place was being bombarded," explained John. "I noticedthat you didn't stay very long either."

  "We had to come out and find what had made you fellows run so fast,"said George.

  "That's all right," said John. "I'm willing to go back there now if youare."

  Fred hesitated a moment, but as George had now seated himself and thecar was under motion and there was slight prospect of turning back, inhis boldest tones he said, "I'm perfectly willing to go back. I wasn'tscared to-night anyway."

  "Come on, then," said John, rising as he spoke.

  George, however, ignored the conversation and increasing the speed atwhich the car was moving soon left the corner far behind him.

  When the Go Ahead boys arrived at the farmhouse neither John nor Granthad much to say concerning their recent experience. The blinding flashwhich they described had been seen also by their companions, but bothGeorge and Fred declared that they had not been frightened by theunexpected occurrence.

  There was no possibility of denying the fact that John and Grant hadfled much more precipitately than had their companions, although therehad been no great difference in the time of their return to the waitingautomobile.

  For some reason conversation flagged and not many references were madeto the mysteries of the old Meeker House which still were unexplained.

  "To-morrow morning," said George, "you understand that we are to go toMorristown. Are we all going?"

  "We are," replied his friends together.

  "I didn't know but John would like to stay behind and make some furtherinvestigations," laughed George.

  "No, sir. I'm not going to be left this time," explained John. "I wantto see Morristown. I have heard so much about the place that I want tosee it for myself."

  "It's well worth seeing," said George.

  The following morning directly after breakfast, the Go Ahead boys werespeeding swiftly toward the beautiful Jersey town which was to be theirdestination. The ride across the rolling country, with its frequentstreams and hills and villages, was most attractive. Many beautifulhomes, erected by the people of the great city beyond the borders of thestate, added much to the beauty of the scenery.

  However, the enthusiasm of the boys reached its highest point when atlast they arrived at Morristown. The combination of age with the bestthat the thought of modern times could accomplish in the architecture ofthe houses was most impressive. Beautiful homes, many of which hadextensive lawns and shade trees and the many evidences of thrift andprosperity to be seen on every side, were most attractive.

  The first duty of the boys, however, was to visit the garage to whichthey had been directed by George's father. Here, however, again theirefforts proved unavailing. The missing car was not found. An automobileof the same make and concerning which there was some question ofownership was still in the garage, but the Go Ahead boys speedilydecided that they had no claim to its possession.

  "I don't believe we'll ever find the car," said Fred despondently whenthe boys departed from the garage.

  "I guess you have forgotten our name," suggested John. "We are the GoAhead boys, not the Give Up boys."

  "That's all right," spoke up George, "but just now I am going to showyou some of the sights of this old historic town."

  "Did Washington sleep here?" inquired Fred demurely.

  "He lived here for a while," explained George, "but the British tried tofind out whether he was asleep or not. They never found him asleep."

  "Still I suppose he did sleep sometimes."

  "When was he here?" inquired John.

  "Why, don't you know the history of your own country?" spoke up Fred."Washington came here after the battle of Princeton. That winter was ahard one for the little colonial army. People have talked about ValleyForge just as if there wasn't as much suffering at Morristown. I don'tknow why it is that people start on one line and then forget there areany others."

  "He was here twice," explained Grant. "That winter of '77 and '78 andthen too in the winter of '78 and '79."

  "Yes," said George. "The house which is called Washington's Headquartersis where he lived during his second winter. I'm going to take youfirst," he added, "out to Washington Valley. That's where the most ofthe soldiers camped."

  In a brief time the Go Ahead boys gained the summit of the hill fromwhich they were able to look down upon the marvelously beautiful valleybefore them. It was like a great bowl among the hills. The rich andcultivated fields and beautiful homes on the hillsides and the nature ofthe place itself combined to make a most beautiful as well asinteresting picture.

  "It looks almost as if it was built for an army to hide in," said Grant.

  "They were pretty well protected here," explained George. "You see, thehills were as good as forts. Now we'll go back to Washington'sheadquarters," he added, as he turned around and started once more backtoward Morristown.

  Not far from the public square the boys found the famous building. Builtof brick and covered with boards and shingles, its sides painted white,it produced not merely an impression of age, but also of freshness aswell.

  "Then this is where the father of his country stayed, is it?" said Fred."Just look at this picture," he added as he pointed toward the house andthen turned around to George and said, "then look at this. We havefallen from that to this, Washington was the father of his country andG. Washington Sanders is just 'Pop'."

  "That's all right," replied George, joining in the laugh of his friends."I'll admit that Pop isn't the biggest word in the language any morethan Pyg is."

  "Quit this," demanded Grant. "We're going into the old house and youwill have to behave yourselves."

  The visit proved to be most interesting. Many articles that had beenused when Washington was living in the house and many more which hadbeen contributed were on exhibition. Indeed, as the boys passed fromroom to room they became more subdued in their manner, for somehow theknowledge that they were looking upon the same sights that had greetedthe great commander had produced a marked effect. Even the old cannon onthe lawn and the piles of cannon balls had stories of their own.

  The silence, however, was broken when the boys resumed their seats inthe automobile.

  "I wonder why Washington stayed so far away from his army," suggestedJohn.

  "He had a body guard here all the time," explained Grant. "There wereabout two hundred and fifty men stationed here. They used to call themthe life guard."

  "What did they do?" inquired Fred.

  "It was a special guard to protect General Washington. You see the redcoats and Hessians, as I told you, tried a good many times to catchWashington asleep. Sometimes they crossed over from Staten Island andcame up through Springfield, trying to catch the 'old fox' off hisguard. But the people all through the country knew just what to do. Theyhad guns or little cannon mounted on several of the hills and wheneverword came that the redcoats were coming the boys fired one cannon andthat would be heard by other people and the guns on the other hillswould be fired too so that the soldiers at Morristown knew long beforethe British could arrive that they were trying to advance."

  "But they never got him," said Fred gleefully.

  "It wasn't because they didn't try hard enough," laughed George. "Mygrandfather used to tell me that when the soldiers at Morristown heardthe 'old sow,' which was the name of one of the guns, they understoodright away that there was danger of an attack. Everything in the oldhouse was shut up except the windows, and then five of the continentalstook their stand at
every window and were ready to fire upon any onethat came near the place."

  "I would like to have seen Washington," said John thoughtfully.

  "They say," said George, "that he was about as tall as you are, String,but he had some breadth and thickness as well as length. He weighedabout two hundred pounds. All the time he was at Morristown he was veryquiet. I fancy he was worried all the while. That didn't prevent himfrom being very strict with his soldiers, however. He issued an orderthat there should be no gambling or swearing, that nobody should bepermitted to do any stunts on Sunday, and the men who disobeyed didn'tforget the lesson taught them."

  "Why, what did Washington do?" inquired Fred.

  "He had guilty soldiers whipped in the presence of their companies. Aman would be tied up to a tree and then the drummers or fifers wouldhave to lash him. Sometimes they got forty blows, sometimes more. Onetime a soldier who had disobeyed orders about poaching and had stolen apig from a poor farmer was reported to the commander. Washington had himwhipped with more than a double dose. They say that the men did not makeany complaint though, and even when they were going through theperformance every man used to take a lead cartridge between his teethand bite hard on it whenever he was struck a blow."

  "I guess that's one reason why Washington was so popular," suggestedJohn thoughtfully.

  "It's an easy way to become popular," laughed Fred.

  "Never you mind," retorted George. "You know just as well as I do thatno fellow likes a teacher that is not strict. My father says that theman or boy who tries to be popular never is."

  "And your father is dead right too," said Grant quickly, turning to hisfriend.

  "Yes, sir, he's all right," responded John.