“Disappointed again! So it wasn’t our John at all? I tell you, you’ll never see that boy again.�
But Mr. Holden held out his hand to the boy’s mother.
“My dear,� he said, “John is the happiest boy in the Continental Army.�
It took a long time to tell the story of the journey; of his reception at Washington’s headquarters; of his finding the boy; of his growth, improvement, and popularity; of his close adherence to the principles of right and truth which they had taught him; and of the great Commander’s praise of their son. But at last the father said:
“Have I done right in leaving him there?�
“Just right,� said the mother.
John Holden returned to his parents when the war was over and lived to a good old age. And his name may be seen, for the searching, even now, on the books at Washington, as a pensioner of 1776.
ETHAN ALLEN AND THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS[I]
By Washington Irving