“He likes to begin to drive,” said Beechnut.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Stuyvesant.
“Why, when there is any driving to be done,” replied Beechnut, “he thinks that he shall like it, and he wants to take a goad stick and begin. But he very soon gets tired of it, and goes away. You seem to have more perseverance. In fact, you seem to have a great deal of perseverance, which I think is very strange, considering that you are a city boy.”
Stuyvesant laughed.
“City boys,” continued Beechnut, “I have always heard said, are good for nothing at all.”
“But you said, a little while ago,” replied Stuyvesant, “that city boys had a great deal of skill.”
“Yes,” said Beechnut, “they are bright enough, but they have generally no steadiness or perseverance. They go from one thing to another, following the whim of the moment. The reason of that is, that living in cities, they are brought up without having any thing to do.”
“They can go of errands,” said Stuyvesant.