“‘Who are coming this way?’� said I.
“‘Why, our boys, your Honor! Our boys! and the British are right after them!’�
“‘Impossible!’ I cried; but spurring my horse, I found the boy’s words only too true.�
“He is a good boy,� added General Knox, “and invaluable in training raw recruits. If they are homesick he talks kindly with them and cheers them wonderfully with his ardent patriotism.�
The boy just then returned and General Knox added, “Well, what did your men say when you told them you were going home?�
John blushed and answered, “I could not tell them that, your Honor. Father, let me stay another year. Then I shall be thirteen and able to help you more on the farm. You know mother is well, and the war will soon be over.�
What father in Revolutionary times could resist such an appeal?
Washington smiled, and Mr. Holden consented. And after a kind farewell from the Father of his Country, and a loving one from the young fifer, Jonas Holden rode away, saying to himself:
“My boy could not hold a more honored position. I leave him safe in the hands of General Washington—and of God.�
When, after seven more days of horseback riding, Jonas Golden arrived at his own door in Shirley, he was met by his maiden sister with the words: