February 6, 1778, was one of the most glorious of all in Franklin's life. That day the treaties were completed and put upon the tables to sign. The boy of the old Boston writing school did honor to his schoolmaster again. He put his name now after the conditions of the alliance between France and the United States of America. The treaty was celebrated in great pomp at the court. The event was to be publicly announced on March 20, 1778. On that day the envoys were to be presented to the king amid feasts and rejoicings. Would Franklin wear a wig on that great occasion? His locks were gray and thin, for he was seventy-two years old, and his fur cap would not be becoming amid the splendors of Versailles. He ordered one. The hairdresser came with it. He could not fit it upon the philosopher's great head. "It is too small," said Franklin. "Monsieur, it is impossible." "No, monsieur," said the perruquier, "it is not that the wig is too small; it is that your head is too large!" What did Franklin need of a wig? He dressed for the occasion in a plain suit of black velvet, with snowy ruffles and silver buckles. When the chamberlain saw him coming, he hesitated to admit him. Admit a man to the royal presence in his own head alone? But he allowed the philosopher to go on in his velvet, ruffles, and silver buckles, and his independent appearance filled the court with delight. There was another paper that he must now have begun to see in his clear visions. The treaty of alliance would lead to the triumph of the American cause. That end must be followed by a treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States. Would he sign that treaty some day and again honor the old Boston schoolmaster? We shall see. But how did young Lafayette meet his duties in the dark days of America--he whose motto was "Auvergne without a stain?" The day of his test came again at a banquet. It was at York. Let us picture this pivotal scene of his life and of American history. After the triumphs of Gates at Saratoga, Washington became unpopular, and Congress appointed a Board of War, whose object it became to place Lafayette at the head of the Northern army, and thus give him a chance to supersede his chief. The young Frenchman was loyal to Washington, and the motto _Auvergne sans tache_ governed his life. Let us suppose him to meet his trusty old friend Baron de Kalb, the German temperance general, at this critical hour. "Baron de Kalb, we stood together side by side at Metz, and we knelt down together that midsummer night when we first landed on Carolina's sands, and then we rode together across the provinces. These are events that I shall ever love to recall. To-night we stand together again in brotherhood of soul. Baron, the times are dark and grow more perilous, and it may be I now confide in thee for the last time."