Father had gone off on a surveying trip for Lord Fairfax. Now John was Man of the House. He was the oldest boy; he must take care of Mother and the younger brothers and sisters. "I'll take the biggest piece of meat," he said at breakfast. "And I'll take the most comfortable seat."

"That isn't fair!" said his sisters.

"If the Man of the House has to work longest and hardest," Mother said, "isn't it only fair for him to have the best?"

John took her hint. Even though the girls said he was just "playing Pa" he tried to work as long and as hard as Father. There was plenty to do on the Marshalls' little upcountry farm in the Virginia foothills. John had to bring water and wood to the log cabin. He must see that the lively youngsters didn't tumble into the creek or stray off into the forest. He had to settle their arguments. He had to look after the pigs and chickens. He must act as host if Colonel George Washington or any other of Father's friends visited the farm. He had to be ready to go down to Licking Creek with a pole and hook any time Mother needed fish for dinner. All that responsibility was fun.

But playing Pa could be an anxious job, too, if a boy found mysterious footprints near the house, heard strange noises in the night. Mother looked uneasy and told John to keep the rifle ready. Was there a dangerous runaway servant outside? Or was it only some animal of the wilderness?

John had many chances in his boyhood to play Pa. Father was a burgess of Fauquier County  John had acted as his messenger on an exciting election day -- and often had to spend weeks in Williamsburg, in Virginia's first political assembly. He worked for liberty and order in Virginia, and unity with the other colonies against English tyranny.

John also believed in these things. When he had grown up and learned Latin, he planned, he would be a lawyer and work for them. But the upcountry boy was to face even greater responsibilities. He was to fight in the Revolution. And later, as a famous Chief Justice, he was to interpret the Constitution, to decide cases in a way that made a strong, united nation of the young America.

Helen Monsell's fine historical stories for the Childhood of Famous Americans Series have introduced Tom Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Dolly Madison, Henry Clay -- figures every young American today should know. John Marshall is another important Virginia hero of our history. The traits of character, the sort of experiences that made him a great man and a great Chief Justice are deftly suggested in this unusual and entertaining juvenile story.

From the dust jacket