[Illustration: _Arlington Spring, scene of the famous “Sheepshearings.”_] “ARLINGTON HOUSE” COMPLETED. After the war, Custis resumed work on his house, and the large center section and great portico were to have been finished in 1817. “A house that any one might see with half an eye,” as Robert E. Lee later described it, could not fail to attract attention, and “Custis’ Folly” is first mentioned by a traveler in 1818. Although the interior was never completed as planned and the rear was left unstuccoed, “Arlington House” was soon considered one of the handsomest residences about Washington. One early writer describes it as “a noble-looking place, having a portico of stately white columns, which, as the mansion stands high, with a back ground of dark woods, forms a beautiful object in the landscape.” THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON KEPT ALIVE AT ARLINGTON. “Arlington House” now became the successor of Mount Vernon as the “Washington Treasury,” as Custis termed it. His collection of Washington relics was the largest in existence, and it filled the halls and rooms of the mansion. The owner of these relics welcomed all who wished to view them, and he never tired of entertaining his guests with tales of his early years at Mount Vernon. Many distinguished men visited Arlington at one time or other—Sam Houston, Daniel Webster, and Andrew Jackson, to name a few. One of the most notable was General Lafayette, who twice was a guest there when he toured the United States in 1824 and 1825. Custis spent much time with the venerable marquis, and used the wealth of reminiscenses he gained from the old soldier to write the delightful _Conversations With Lafayette_, which was published in a local newspaper in 1825. Encouraged by their favorable reception, he then began his own _Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington_, which proved equally popular and were widely reprinted in the newspapers of the period. Even more successful were the dramas Custis wrote at this time, based on heroic episodes in the Nation’s past or on inspiring contemporary achievements. _The Indian Prophecy_ used an incident in Washington’s early life as its theme and established a vogue for Indian plays which lasted over 50 years; while the _Rail Road_ was the first one written on that subject in America. Others dramatized such events as the battle of Baltimore and the launching of a new warship. For 10 years his dramatic pieces were staged from Boston to Charleston and did much to develop a distinctive American drama. [Illustration: _An early view of “Arlington House.”_ From an engraving made about 1845.]