When John and Grant climbed into their seats in the waiting automobile both were nearly breathless. Before either of them spoke there came another loud burst of laughter from the house of mystery, and a moment later Fred and George were seen approaching. Both were running but neither apparently had been as greatly alarmed by the occurrences in the old Meeker House as had their two friends.

“I thought you fellows were not going to run,” said Fred as he seated himself.

“We thought the place was being bombarded,” explained John. “I noticed that you didn’t stay very long either.”

“We had to come out and find what had made you fellows run so fast,” said George.

“That’s all right,” said John. “I’m willing to go back there now if you are.”

Fred hesitated a moment, but as George had now seated himself and the car was under motion and there was slight prospect of turning back, in his boldest tones he said, “I’m perfectly willing to go back. I wasn’t scared to-night anyway.”

“Come on, then,” said John, rising as he spoke.

George, however, ignored the conversation and increasing the speed at which the car was moving soon left the corner far behind him.

When the Go Ahead boys arrived at the farmhouse neither John nor Grant had much to say concerning their recent experience. The blinding flash which they described had been seen also by their companions, but both George and Fred declared that they had not been frightened by the unexpected occurrence.

There was no possibility of denying the fact that John and Grant had fled much more precipitately than had their companions, although there had been no great difference in the time of their return to the waiting automobile.

For some reason conversation flagged and not many references were made to the mysteries of the old Meeker House which still were unexplained.

“To-morrow morning,” said George, “you understand that we are to go to Morristown. Are we all going?”

“We are,” replied his friends together.

“I didn’t know but John would like to stay behind and make some further investigations,” laughed George.

“No, sir. I’m not going to be left this time,” explained John. “I want to see Morristown. I have heard so much about the place that I want to see it for myself.”

“It’s well worth seeing,” said George.

The following morning directly after breakfast, the Go Ahead boys were speeding swiftly toward the beautiful Jersey town which was to be their destination. The ride across the rolling country, with its frequent streams and hills and villages, was most attractive. Many beautiful homes, erected by the people of the great city beyond the borders of the state, added much to the beauty of the scenery.

However, the enthusiasm of the boys reached its highest point when at last they arrived at Morristown. The combination of age with the best that the thought of modern times could accomplish in the architecture of the houses was most impressive. Beautiful homes, many of which had extensive lawns and shade trees and the many evidences of thrift and prosperity to be seen on every side, were most attractive.

The first duty of the boys, however, was to visit the garage to which they had been directed by George’s father. Here, however, again their efforts proved unavailing. The missing car was not found. An automobile of the same make and concerning which there was some question of ownership was still in the garage, but the Go Ahead boys speedily decided that they had no claim to its possession.

“I don’t believe we’ll ever find the car,” said Fred despondently when the boys departed from the garage.

“I guess you have forgotten our name,” suggested John. “We are the Go Ahead boys, not the Give Up boys.”

“That’s all right,” spoke up George, “but just now I am going to show you some of the sights of this old historic town.”

“Did Washington sleep here?” inquired Fred demurely.

“He lived here for a while,” explained George, “but the British tried to find out whether he was asleep or not. They never found him asleep.”

“Still I suppose he did sleep sometimes.”

“When was he here?” inquired John.

“Why, don’t you know the history of your own country?” spoke up Fred. “Washington came here after the battle of Princeton. That winter was a hard one for the little colonial army. People have talked about Valley Forge just as if there wasn’t as much suffering at Morristown. I don’t know why it is that people start on one line and then forget there are any others.”

“He was here twice,” explained Grant. “That winter of ’77 and ’78 and then too in the winter of ’78 and ’79.”

“Yes,” said George. “The house which is called Washington’s Headquarters is where he lived during his second winter. I’m going to take you first,” he added, “out to Washington Valley. That’s where the most of the soldiers camped.”

In a brief time the Go Ahead boys gained the summit of the hill from which they were able to look down upon the marvelously beautiful valley before them. It was like a great bowl among the hills. The rich and cultivated fields and beautiful homes on the hillsides and the nature of the place itself combined to make a most beautiful as well as interesting picture.

“It looks almost as if it was built for an army to hide in,” said Grant.

“They were pretty well protected here,” explained George. “You see, the hills were as good as forts. Now we’ll go back to Washington’s headquarters,” he added, as he turned around and started once more back toward Morristown.

Not far from the public square the boys found the famous building. Built of brick and covered with boards and shingles, its sides painted white, it produced not merely an impression of age, but also of freshness as well.

“Then this is where the father of his country stayed, is it?” said Fred. “Just look at this picture,” he added as he pointed toward the house and then turned around to George and said, “then look at this. We have fallen from that to this, Washington was the father of his country and G. Washington Sanders is just ‘Pop’.”

“That’s all right,” replied George, joining in the laugh of his friends. “I’ll admit that Pop isn’t the biggest word in the language any more than Pyg is.”

“Quit this,” demanded Grant. “We’re going into the old house and you will have to behave yourselves.”

The visit proved to be most interesting. Many articles that had been used when Washington was living in the house and many more which had been contributed were on exhibition. Indeed, as the boys passed from room to room they became more subdued in their manner, for somehow the knowledge that they were looking upon the same sights that had greeted the great commander had produced a marked effect. Even the old cannon on the lawn and the piles of cannon balls had stories of their own.

The silence, however, was broken when the boys resumed their seats in the automobile.

“I wonder why Washington stayed so far away from his army,” suggested John.

“He had a body guard here all the time,” explained Grant. “There were about two hundred and fifty men stationed here. They used to call them the life guard.”

“What did they do?” inquired Fred.

“It was a special guard to protect General Washington. You see the red coats and Hessians, as I told you, tried a good many times to catch Washington asleep. Sometimes they crossed over from Staten Island and came up through Springfield, trying to catch the ‘old fox’ off his guard. But the people all through the country knew just what to do. They had guns or little cannon mounted on several of the hills and whenever word came that the redcoats were coming the boys fired one cannon and that would be heard by other people and the guns on the other hills would be fired too so that the soldiers at Morristown knew long before the British could arrive that they were trying to advance.”

“But they never got him,” said Fred gleefully.

“It wasn’t because they didn’t try hard enough,” laughed George. “My grandfather used to tell me that when the soldiers at Morristown heard the ‘old sow,’ which was the name of one of the guns, they understood right away that there was danger of an attack. Everything in the old house was shut up except the windows, and then five of the continentals took their stand at every window and were ready to fire upon any one that came near the place.”

“I would like to have seen Washington,” said John thoughtfully.

“They say,” said George, “that he was about as tall as you are, String, but he had some breadth and thickness as well as length. He weighed about two hundred pounds. All the time he was at Morristown he was very quiet. I fancy he was worried all the while. That didn’t prevent him from being very strict with his soldiers, however. He issued an order that there should be no gambling or swearing, that nobody should be permitted to do any stunts on Sunday, and the men who disobeyed didn’t forget the lesson taught them.”

“Why, what did Washington do?” inquired Fred.

“He had guilty soldiers whipped in the presence of their companies. A man would be tied up to a tree and then the drummers or fifers would have to lash him. Sometimes they got forty blows, sometimes more. One time a soldier who had disobeyed orders about poaching and had stolen a pig from a poor farmer was reported to the commander. Washington had him whipped with more than a double dose. They say that the men did not make any complaint though, and even when they were going through the performance every man used to take a lead cartridge between his teeth and bite hard on it whenever he was struck a blow.”

“I guess that’s one reason why Washington was so popular,” suggested John thoughtfully.

“It’s an easy way to become popular,” laughed Fred.

“Never you mind,” retorted George. “You know just as well as I do that no fellow likes a teacher that is not strict. My father says that the man or boy who tries to be popular never is.”

“And your father is dead right too,” said Grant quickly, turning to his friend.

“Yes, sir, he’s all right,” responded John.