The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-08-29

RAH - shouted Jeduthun Rice, as the
| tired company of boys reached the crest
| of a hill that overlooked wide eXpanse
/ of the section that embraced portions of
! the towns of Ashford, Wilmington and
| Mansfield. And away in the distance,
7 coming down the Ashford hills, the eX
! cited group saw a long line of vehicles,
/ among them two large coaches and fOurs,
preceded by company of militia, their
| muskets glistening in the sun, OCCASION
! ally strain of martial music reaching
| the erect ears of the Wellington boys.
| Soon they emerged into the highway.
/ And when they came to the turnpike
/ which intercepted it. and made what
/ was known as the Crossroads, " they
found the Presidential party had alight-
| ed, and were resting under the shadow
/ of an immense oak tree near by.
There was quite crowd of people
| gathered about General Washington
and lis party, and at first our rather
YentuTeSOme boys thought it would be
| impossible for them to get sight of
( the great man. But they perseveringly
/ edged their way along, and at last,
reaching the large coach in which the
! General rode. and upon the box of
/ which sat the liveried and pompous ne
! gro driver, bOy-like they edged in under
/ it, and found themselves in the immedi-
ate vicinity of General Washington.
The slight movement that the coach
/ horses made as the boys enscOnced
/ themselves beneath the vehicle, caused
( the General to look around for the
cause of the disturbance, and presently
! he was looking into the sweaty, dusty
faces of these Enthusiastically garlanded
boys.
y quiet smile lighted up the Presi-
/ dents cOuntenance, as he pleasantly
said
''COme out, boys, and let us see what
you are
The boys scrambled out, and, with
admirable presence of mind arranged
themselves alongside of the coach and
removed their hats, while the General
stood in front of them, evidently ANUS
ed at the very queer appearance they
I made. ut the same time pleased with
their respectful attitude
We'll, well, my boys, you must have
been running quite hard in order to see
me, and have, | suppose. bedecked
yourselves with these beautiful autumn
leaves i'll my honor. l bid you a very
good morning"
'-Oh, dear me- = cried little Amos. i'm
pulsively, you are nothing but 8 man
after all, sir
" on are quite right, my fine little
fellow" said the General, laughing.
and doubtless touched by the entire
bOyiSh tribute and, stepping forward
and patting little Amos head, he con-
tinued You are right. and. if l mis-
take not your character | am no more
of man than you will be some day.
That is something for you all toremem-
Der. You who are boys now are soon
to be the men upon whom our country
must depend" p"
The boys bowed and, lodging again
under the great coach. made place for a
party of county magnates who were
approaching.
The Wilmington folks were Mortified
when they beheld the fantastic array OF
runaway boys and the oldest grand
father of them all, who had not known
of the little passage between them and
General Washington, shook his long
cane at them and, in a trembling voice.
said
We viii settle with you. you young
rascals. when YOU get hOme.''
IF you hOrSewhip us to death. sir. g
said Timothy Pearl, in reply, you can't
hep it that we've seen General Wash.
mgtOn. Besides, sir, our parents didn't
say we shouldn't come. They only
thought we wouldn't dare think OF
coming down here, we are SO young
The boys went back into the woods
and across lots as happy as any little
boys could be: and twisting a triumpha
litter of slender saplings, they gaily
bore little Amos on their shoulder,
back to the quiet Wilmington valley
proud of him as the only boy they knew
, of who had been patted ON the head by
General Washington.
This little Amos, who was my hus
bands grandfather, took great pride il
this incident to the day of his death
; and often related it to his grandchildren
Most Of them, as well as some of his OWL
, children now living, viii youch for the
truth of this story and that old oal
tree is yet standing in the locality de
; scribed.