"To the end, my dear Fitz, that you may come to understand there is a time for work and a time for remaining idle; that he who would accomplish something does not set out upon a task which, even before beginning it, he knows to be impossible."
"All of which means what?" Saul demanded, and I understood that the lad's heart was heavy, for within the hour he had been crowded against the wall, and a red-coated captain of the Foot had shaken him soundly because he did not give way to the swaggerers who had come into Virginia to teach us manners.
"All of which means that the time will come when we shall be able to do something to please even your Governor Henry," Pierre said sulkily, and then turned away, himself to take counsel of Uncle 'Rasmus, leaving Saul and me gazing into each other's faces like a couple of simples, until my cousin said with a mirthless laugh:
"I am beginning to believe, Fitz, that little Frenchie has more in his head than ever you or I can hope to find in ours."
It was the first time I had ever heard him suggest that Pierre was wise beyond his years. In fact, he had always looked upon the little fellow as a pleasant companion, and I had believed that I was more than his equal when it came to such tasks as Minute Boys should do. I had set it down in my mind that when the time for real work arrived, if it ever did, it would be Saul and I who would do credit to our town of James.
My Lord Cornwallis did not linger at James Town; but continued on down the river until he was come to Portsmouth, having stopped meanwhile on the way to "give Lafayette a lesson," as some of our Tory neighbors suggested.
Then, as you very well know, it began to appear as if this valiant officer, who represented the king in Virginia, was beginning to get uneasy because the young French general was pressing him rather warmly, and continued what was well nigh a retreat until that first day of September in the year of Grace 1781, when he entered York Town, and immediately began to fortify the settlements of York and Gloucester as if counting to make there a permanent abiding place.
It never occurred to me that my Lord Cornwallis had really beaten a retreat before the Americans, and was now come to where he must have aid from New York or from overseas in order to get out from what was much like a trap, until Uncle 'Rasmus, when we lads were gathered about him in the stable-yard, said, shaking his grey head as he chewed meditatively on a straw:
"It kind 'er 'pears to me, chillun, like as ef dat yere Britisher what's flutterin' 'roun' ober York way wid his hosses, an' his guns, an' his shinin' sword, was heapin' up a sight ob misery for hisself."
"But surely, Uncle 'Rasmus, after the engagement at Green Spring, you can't believe it would be possible for the French general to do him any harm?" Saul cried, surprised by the old negro's words, which seemed much like a prophecy.