be done so long as the war hatchet remained unburied between the English and the French Indians.
As soon as the new call came for additional troops to the colonial militia, Dave signified his intention of once more entering the service under his old commander, Colonel Washington. About this he did not hesitate to see Washington personally.
"I'll be glad to have you with us," said Washington, after the youth had explained matters. "I remember how you acted in our other campaign against Fort Duquesne, and I haven't forgotten, Master David, how we shot the bear,"—this with a twinkle in his eye. " Yes, join us by all means if you care to do so." And Dave signed the muster roll that day, as a colonial militiaman, at a salary of tenpence a day,—twopence to be deducted for clothing and other necessaries! This was the regular rate of pay, and for those days was considered quite fair.
It must be confessed that the troops under Colonel Washington formed a motley collection. Many of the best of the pioneers and frontiersmen had grown tired of the delays in the past and now refused to re-enlist, fearful that they would be called on to do nothing but wait around the fort, while the summer harvests at home demanded their attention. Drumming up recruits proved the hardest kind of work, and
