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coming home. She had started to Marshall Hall to be joined by Edgar. Would Mrs. Swift keep Mark and let her go?  At Fred's "Yes, Miss Ellie, go on we'll keep Mark, go on. By very great hurrying I caught M & E just below the Capitol. We had a splendid time. It was my first ride on a steamer. It was, well I don't know but a little larger than I expected. The scenery was grand. I was thoroughly captivated with it. Here ran the river upon whose wide bosom we were sailing, with its beautiful green banks and fringe of weeping willows. Far away were the hills, blue in the distance. And there were green hills that were nearer. And there were white sails gleaming far away on the river, and dark sails that made long shadows in the water. The bell tolled, as it always does, when the boat passed Mt. Vernon. The house of Washington is a beautiful place. It was far away and we could only catch a glimpse of the house with its pillars through the trees. A sort of a wide pathway seems to lead from the house to the waters very brink. I shall never forget that glimpse of
Mt. Vernon.

We passed old Fort Washington. Old, so old and weather-beaten! Ivy grows over its walls and hangs from its battlements. Quiet ruled over all. And the,