“Thank Aggie,” he concluded, “for the message she sent by you.  Give her my love, and don’t let her forget me.”

To the old soldier he wrote a gossipping account of his voyage.

“It was impossible,” he said, “for the news of my discharge to have come at a better moment.  Thirty sailors from the fleet are going with General Braddock’s force, and everyone else is envying their good luck—­I among them.  Now I shall go up, at once, and join the Virginian regiment which is accompanying them.  I shall join that, instead of either of the line regiments, as I can leave when I like.  Besides, if the squire is able to get me a commission, it would have been pleasanter for me to have been fighting here as a volunteer, than as a private in the line.

“By the way, nobody thinks there will be much fighting, so don’t let my mother worry herself about me; but, at any rate, a march through the great forests of this country, with a chance of a brush with the redskins, will be great fun.  Perhaps, by the time it is over, I may get a letter from you saying that I have got my commission.  As I hear there is a chance of a regular war between the French and us out here, the commission may be for a regiment on this side.”

After finishing his letters, and giving them to the ship’s corporal to place in the next post bag, James said goodbye to his messmates, and prepared to go on shore.  The ten men chosen for the expedition were also on the point of starting.  Richard Horton was standing near, in a state of great discontent that he had not been chosen to accompany them in their expedition.  James Walsham stepped up to him, and touched his hat respectfully.

“I wish to thank you, Lieutenant Horton, for your extremely kind letter, telling my friends that I was on board this ship.  It has been the means of my obtaining my discharge at once, instead of having to serve, for many months, before I could send the news home and obtain an answer in return.”

Without another word he turned and, walking to the gangway, took his place in a boat about starting with some sailors for the shore, leaving Richard Horton in a state of fury, with himself, for having been the means of obtaining James’s discharge.  He had already, more than once, felt uncomfortable as he thought of the wording of the letter; and that this indulgence of his spite had had the effect of restoring James’s liberty, rendered him well-nigh mad with rage.

On landing, James Walsham at once disposed of his sailor’s clothes, and purchased a suit similar to those worn by the colonists; then he obtained a passage up the river to Alexandria, where the transports which had brought the troops were still lying.  Here, one of the companies of the Virginia corps was stationed, and James, finding that they were expecting, every day, to be ordered up to Wills Creek, determined to join them at once.

The scene was a busy one.  Stores were being landed from the transports, teamsters were loading up their waggons, officers were superintending the operations, the men of the Virginia corps, who wore no uniform, but were attired in the costume used by hunters and backwoodsmen; namely, a loose hunting shirt, short trousers or breeches, and gaiters; were moving about unconcernedly, while a few of them, musket on shoulder, were on guard over the piles of stores.