We can visualize the scene--the handsome and elegant Thomas Lee, in his crimson suit and flowing white wig, and the grave and eloquent Indian spokesman, in his equally gorgeous regalia. And the silent Indians, listening and smoking their pipes. For 200 pounds in cash, and 200 pounds in knives, hatchets, kettles, jew's harps, and other "trucke," the Six Nations, said to have been the fiercest and most courageous of all the Indian tribes, finally put their marks on a piece of parchment which said that the white men could have all the country of their ancestors west of the "Great Mountains"--all the land between the Blue Ridge and the Ohio. Thus it was that the red men surrendered their heritage to the white men in the town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1744. [Illustration: _Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord Fairfax, Proprietor of Northern Neck._] _MOUNT VERNON_ George Washington probably liked visiting his brother Austin at Popes Creek, for there he was close to the Potomac where he could sail and fish and go ducking, as wild fowl were plentiful there. He no doubt rode and hunted and enjoyed the countryside just like any other Northern Neck boy. Popes Creek was more luxurious than Ferry Farm. Austin kept a racing stud that he probably raced at the Fredericksburg fairs. His wife owned enough millinery and kid gloves to have been a "rather dashing figure at the races." She had been Anne Aylett, of Westmoreland, a young woman of birth and station. Although George was not destined to receive an English education, as his father and brothers had, he learned, when he visited his brother Lawrence at Hunting Creek, to move in the society of polished gentlemen. The old house at Epsewasson, where George had lived as a child, had either burned or Lawrence had torn it down. Lawrence had built a new home and he called it Mount Vernon, in honor of Admiral Vernon, under whom he had served as captain of marines at Cartagena. Lawrence had married Anne Fairfax, daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, who was a cousin and agent of Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the Northern Neck. Belvoir, not far from Mount Vernon, was the home of the Fairfax family. While he was at Mount Vernon, George visited Belvoir and became friends with William Fairfax, the son of the house, who was seven years his senior. At Belvoir, in 1748, he also met Lord Fairfax. They became friends and hunting companions. Lord Fairfax remained at Belvoir, amusing himself with reading, fishing and fox-hunting, until he moved to his own home, Greenway Court, in 1751. In the spring of 1748 a party of gentlemen were about to start for the South Branch of the Potomac for the purpose of surveying lands for Lord Fairfax. George Washington, then sixteen, and a big lad for his age, was invited to accompany this party.