“‘But the melancholy event of the passing away of the gifted and favored young daughter from the home of the Washingtons suddenly bereft the family of joy and gladness. The brother, who had walked hand in hand with his beloved sister in all the years of childhood, was grief-stricken beyond words. The mother, who had tenderly watched and planned over the child of many hopes, found her sole help in prayer and reading of her Bible. And the stepfather, as fond of the children as their own father could have been, found solace in work and study.’” As Mrs. Parke reached this serious part of the history, George sighed loudly. His mother glanced up from the book and he took it for granted that he might speak. “Don’t you think the girls have had their share for this time?—It’s been all love-making and marrying and funerals! Not a word about Indians or about war.” “I was just coming to a part of Washington’s life, where it describes his fifteen years of life on his farm, and his membership on the Virginia House of Burgesses,” ventured Mrs. Parke. “Oh, good gracious! Please don’t give us any more of his quiet life to-day. Look at the way that rain spatters on the windows, and then stop to think how we feel with Washington parading out of a book while he’s planting or hoeing his farm! Give us a fight!” declared George. Every one laughed and Jack seconded his cousin’s plan for a more active story than the one that had just been read. “If you insist upon having war when there was no war, I must skip the fifteen years of quiet life on his estate, to get Washington in the midst of fresh battle scenes,” argued Mrs. Parke. “Why not read us about the Boston Tea Party?” said Anne. “That will satisfy the boys and interest us girls, too,” added Martha. Without further remonstrance, Mrs. Parke turned back to the chapter desired and began reading. “‘During the years between 1765 and 1775, the cry of “Liberty, Property, No Stamps!” sounded from New Hampshire to Georgia. Even when the act—all except the tax on tea—was repealed, the populace concentrated its wrath on tea as the symbol of an intolerable sovereignty which would no longer be endured. “‘It was but a little more than two years from the time of the first whiff of the delightful beverage, to the time when millions of teakettles steamed merrily on millions of hearths, and the consumption of tea reached more than 5,000,000 pounds a year. Tea houses had sprung up like mushrooms all over the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and of the 5,000,000 pounds imported from China, at least 1,500,000 pounds were sent to the American colonies. “‘Tea, in short, formed a harmless luxury indulged in by the thousands who, despite the high price and tax, contrived to have it for a delectable drink of an evening when company had to be entertained. Or again it was enjoyed by many as a beverage not willingly sacrificed.