tell me!" he answered eagerly.

"He said that we could never have won our independence but for God. We
didn't win because British soldiers couldn't fight. We held out for ten
years because we outran them. We ran quicker, covered more ground, got
further into the woods and stayed there longer than any fighters the
British had ever met before. That's why we got the best of them. Our men
who fought and ran away lived to fight another day. General Washington
was always great in retreat. He never fought unless he was ready and
could choose his own field. He waited until his enemies were in snug
quarters drinking and gambling, and then on a dark night, so dark and
cold that some of his own men would freeze to death, he pushed across a
river, fell on them, cut them to pieces and retreated.

"The number of men he commanded was so small he could not face his foes
in the open if he could avoid it. His men were poorly armed, poorly
drilled, half-clothed and half-starved at times. The British troops were
the best drilled and finest fighting men of the world in their day,
armed with good guns, well fed, well clothed, and well paid."

She paused and smiled at the memory of her teacher's narrative.

"What do you suppose happened on one of our battlefields?"

"I dunno--what?"

"When the Red-coats charged, our boys ran at the first crack of a gun.
They ran so well that they all got away except one little fellow who had
a game leg. He stumbled and fell in a hole. A big British soldier raised
a musket to brain him. The little fellow looked up and cried: 'All
right. Kill away, ding ye--ye won't get much!'

"The Britisher laughed, picked him up, brushed his clothes and told him
to go home."

The Boy laughed again and again.

"He was a spunky one anyhow, wasn't he?"

"Yes," the mother nodded, "that's why the Red-coat let him go. And we
never could have endured if God hadn't inspired one man to hold fast
when other hearts had failed."

"And who was he?" the Boy broke in.

"General Washington. At Valley Forge our cause was lost but for him. Our
men were not paid. They could get no clothes, they were freezing and
starving. They quit and went home in hundreds and gave up in despair.
And then, Boy----"

Her voice dropped to a tense whisper:

"General Washington fell on his knees and prayed until he saw the
shining face of God and got his answer. Next day he called his ragged,
hungry men together and said:

"'Soldiers, though al