"I should have liked to have been there when he offered those blue beads to Powhatan," said Lucy. "He must have been laughing inside when he did it."
"As for me, I like to think of his making those lazy Englishmen do some work," said Uncle Sam, stroking his chin.
The neighbors all said there was no laziness about Uncle Sam, so it is no wonder he spoke as he did.
"Uncle Sam is like John Smith in some ways," the children's father said not long afterwards.
He had come into the back yard where Joe was stretched on the ground with Lucy's arms around his neck.
"We are playing that I am John Smith and Lucy is Pocahontas. She is trying to save my life. Uncle Sam told us all about them." Joe sat up to explain.
"Yes, Uncle Sam is a good deal like John Smith. He is afraid of nothing. He is always busy, and he can turn his hand to anything. One time when he was a boy he was out sailing. The sail was an old one and a sudden gust of wind caught it and tore it badly. Uncle Sam was a long way from home and the sun was already setting. Quick as a thought he took off his shirt, tore it open, and patched the sail with it. That was the very thing John Smith did when he was away from Jamestown on one of his excursions."