His light brown hair was drawn back from a broad forehead,
and grayish-blue eyes looked happily and perhaps soberly on the
pleasant Virginia hills and valleys. His face was open and manly, set
off by a square, massive jaw, and a general expression of calmness and
strength. "Fair and florid, big and strong, he was, take him for all
in all, as fine a specimen of his race as could be found in the English
colonies."
It was at this turning point in his career that Washington was
fortunate in finding a friend and protector in Lord Fairfax, whose
daughter was the wife of Lawrence Washington. This distinguished old
veteran, a long-time friend of the Washington family, took a particular
fancy to the young man. They hunted the fox together, and hunted him
hard. In those days fox-hunting was no kid glove and pink tea affair.
It was one of many perilous outdoor sports that frontier Virginia could
afford; and as they hunted, the old English nobleman had opportunity to
learn what sort of stuff this young Virginian was made of. He saw that
here was a union of sturdy qualities upon which he could rely.
Lord Fairfax then owned, by kingly grant, a vast estate stretching
across the Blue Ridge into the untrodden wilderness. Until the estate
was properly surveyed, it would be subject to endless lawsuits.
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