lines of the army. Here he was received by Mrs. Washington and "was entertained with an elegant Dinner, and the music playing the whole Time."

In front of the fireplace there is a small cannon, a fourpounder, from the palmetto fort on Sullivan's Island, in the harbor of Charleston, S. C. After doing service in its defense it was used on a Continental privateer.

Washington's Office.-The chief place of interest in the building is the next room. This was the office of Washington. Here during that trying winter he wrote his reports to Congress and his letters to the Governors, pleading for their help for his starving men. Here came his officers, the Committee from Congress and the countless ones who sought favors from the great commander. Here he learned of the Conway Cabal and of the alliance with France. Here he spent the darkest days of his life and here he saw the dawn of the brightest ones.

In this room should be read the following account which formed part of a letter of Mrs. Washington to Mrs. Lund Washington at Mount Vernon: "The general's headquarters have been made more tolerable by the addition of a log cabin to the house, built to dine in. The apartment for business is only about sixteen feet square, and has a large fireplace. The house is built of stone. The walls are very thick, and below

a deep east window, out of which the general can look upon the encampment, he had a box made, which appears as a part of the casement, with a blind trap-door at top, in which he keeps his valuable papers."

The room is even smaller than she imagined, being only about thirteen feet square. Washington's box for private papers is 101⁄2 inches deep. It is divided into two compartments 91⁄2 inches wide, one 17 inches long and the other 16.

This gives one a very good idea of the preservation of this old house. There is the east window out of which you can look toward the encampment. Washington could see the quarters of the life guard, and beyond them the huts of the Southern troops. The trap-door does not fit as perfectly as it

did in those days, for since then thousands have taken it off and put it back.

A very pretty story is told of how Mrs. Washington came here from Whitemarsh. "On that cold wintry journey to Valley Forge, Mrs. Washington rode behind her husband on a pillion. He was on his powerful bay charger and accompanied by a single aide-de-camp, followed the last remnant of the army that left the encampment at Whitemarsh." All of which is

pure fiction. On the 1st of February, Washington wrote the following to John Parke Custis, his stepson: "Your mamma is not yet arrived, but if she left Mount Vernon on the twentysixth ultimo, as intended, may, I think, be expected every hour. Meade (Richard K. Meade, aide-de-camp to Washington) set off yesterday (as soon as I got notice of her intention) to meet

*That next to the door is the one mentioned.

her. We are in a dreary kind of a place, and uncomfortably provided; for other matters I shall refer you to the bearer, Colonel Fitzgerald (also an aide), who can give you the occurrences of the camp, &c., better than can be related in a letter." Mrs. Washington reached Valley Forge a day or two after this letter was written. In a letter to Mrs. Warren she said: "The general is in camp in what is called the great valley on the Banks of the Schuylkill. Officers and men are chiefly in Hutts, which they say is tolerable comfortable; the army are as healthy as can well be expected in general. The General's apartment is very small; he has had a log cabin built to dine in, which has made our quarters much more tolerable than they were at first."

The only relic of Washington here is a letter. On the walls are pictures of the Commander-in-Chief and his generals, a gun carried throughout the war by Isaac McGlathery, and a sword lost by the Hessians at Brandywine. The old settee was brought from England in 1620, and formerly belonged to Mrs. Ogden, who occupied the house at the time of its purchase by the Memorial Association. The anvil was found near Fort Huntington.

The cupboard contains a number of relics, but the most interesting, on account of its association with the soldiers who were encamped here, is the old powder horn. While the army was starving a few head of cattle were driven into camp, and many of the men wanted the horns for powder horns. Washington decided the matter by selecting a number between 1500 and 2000, and allowing the men to guess it. One guessed correctly, 1776. He and the nine who guessed numbers nearest to this were awarded the horns. Jabez Rockwell was one of these. He made sure of his prize by cutting his name on it, and later added the record of its use. The inscription is as follows:

JABEZ ROCKWELL OF RIDGEBURY
CONN. HIS HORN, MADE IN

CAMP AT VALLEY FORGE

FIRST USED AT MONMOUTH, JUNE 28, 1778
LAST AT YORK TOWN, 1781

The flintlock belongs to the large King George cannon in the grounds of the headquarters.

The Second Floor.-In the hallway on the second floor is "The Chronological Portraiture of Washington, 1772-1778,” prepared by Dr. Julius F. Sachse, and presented by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

The first room has been furnished by Valley Forge Chapter, D. A. R., with an interesting collection of antique furniture. The front room has been furnished in the same manner by Chester County Chapter.

There is no doubt in my mind that this was Mrs. Washington's room, and that General Lee's baggage was deposited in the little room at the end of the hall.

Mrs. Henry Drinker, one of a committee of Friends which sought the release of those confined at Winchester, has left this record of her visit under the date of April 7th: "Arrived at HdQuarters, at about 1⁄2 past one. We requested an audience with the General, and sat with his wife (a sociable, pretty kind of woman), until he came in. A number of officers were there who were very complaisant, Tench Tilghman among ye rest. It was not long before G. Washington came, and discoursed with us freely, but not so long as we could have wished, as dinner was served, to which he invited us. There were 15 Officers, besides ye G. and his wife, Gen. Greene, and Gen. Lee. We had an elegant dinner, which was soon over, when we went out with ye Genls wife, up to her Chamber-and saw no more of him."

This "sociable, pretty kind of woman" shared the burdens of her husband and most nobly seconded his efforts in behalf of the suffering soldiers. Mrs. Westlake, who lived near the headquarters, has left us a graphic picture of her laborious life at Valley Forge. She told Mr. Lossing, "I never in my life knew a woman so busy from early morning until late at night as was Lady Washington, providing comforts for the sick soldiers. Every day, excepting Sunday, the wives of the officers in camp, and sometimes other women, were invited to Mr. Potts' to assist her in knitting socks, patching garments, and making shirts for the poor soldiers, when materials could be

procured. Every fair day she might be seen, with basket in hand, and with a single attendant, going among the huts seeking the keenest and most needy sufferer, and giving all the comforts to them in her power. I sometimes went with her, for I was a stout girl, sixteen years old. On one occasion she went to the hut of a dying sergeant, whose young wife was with him. His case seemed to particularly touch the heart of the good lady, and after she had given him some wholesome food she had prepared with her own hands, she knelt down by his straw pallet and prayed earnestly for him and his wife with her sweet and solemn voice. I shall never forget the scene."

The Garret.-The garret, once so uninteresting, has been completely furnished by Merion Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, which has named the apartment the "Round Window Room." The chapter has published a carefully prepared catalogue of the furnishings, with an account of the owners. The bedstead, once the property of Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, is the property of the Valley Forge Centennial and Memorial Association. The armchair was brought from Wales by Dr. Thomas Wynne, Penn's physician, in 1682. The rocking-chair was owned by Col. Edward Heston, and the portraits were painted by Isaac Heston, a "Revolutionary artificer," of himself and wife. The mahogany washstand, 150 years old, belonged to the mother of Capt. Andrew Geyer, and all the articles are of historic interest.

Descending to the first floor one should pass through the doorway which at the foot of the stairs opens into the passage to the kitchen. At one time this was supposed to be a much later addition, but examination showed that it was a part of the original structure.

The Kitchen.- The kitchen is just what one would imagine should be a part of such a venerable building. In the great fireplace are the cranes, roasters, pots and skillets, and above it on the mantel shelf are candle molds, etc. Adjoining the kitchen is the log pump house, a modern addition. It is