When Uncle Juvinell had finished this part of his story, he paused,
and with a beaming face looked round upon his little circle of
listeners. Two or three of the youngest had long since fallen asleep;
and Master Ned, having heard the story of the little hatchet, had
stolen quietly away to the cabin, just to see how "black daddy" was
getting along with his sled. Having waited till it was finished, he
had, for his own private amusement, taken it to a nice hillside, and
was now coasting on it all alone by the light of a good-humored,
dish-faced moon. The other children had listened with great interest
and attention to the story, and were still sitting with their eyes
bent earnestly on the fire, whose great bright eye had by this time
grown a little red, and was winking in a slow and sleepy way, as if it
were saying, "Well done, Uncle Juvinell,--very well done indeed. I
have been listening very attentively, and quite approve of all you
have said, especially all that about the wooden-legged schoolmaster,
the little hatchet, the sorrel horse, the Indian war-dance, and the
Lowland Beauty, not to mention those wise maxims and wholesome moral
precepts you brought in so aptly. All of it is very fine and very
good, and just to my liking. But I am thinking it is high bed-time for
these little folks."
Uncle Juvinell was much gratified to see how deeply interested the
children were in what he had been telling them; and in a little while
he called upon them to let him know how they all liked it. Laura said
that it was very nice; Ella, that it was charming; Daniel, that it was
quite as interesting as Plutarch's Lives; Willie, that it was even
more so than "Robinson Crusoe;" and Bryce, that it was very good, but
he would have liked it better had Uncle Juvinell told them more about
the Indians. Just then, Master Charlie awoke from a comfortable nap of
an hour or two, having dropped asleep shortly after the sorrel horse
dropped dead; and, to make believe that he had been as wide awake as a
weasel from the very start, began asking such a string of questions as
seemed likely to have no end. After a droll jumbling of Washington
with Jack the Giant-killer, old Lord Fairfax with Bluebeard, poor old
Hobby, the wooden-legged schoolmaster, with the Roving Red Robber, he
at last so far got the better of his sleepy senses as to know what he
would be driving at; when he said, "Uncle Juvinell, did his father let
him keep his little hatchet after he had cut the cherry-tree?"
"History, my little nephew," replied his uncle with a sober
countenance, "does not inform us whether he did or not; but you may be
quite sure that he did, well knowing that a little boy who would
choose rather to take a whipping than tell a lie, or suffer another to
be punished for an offence he had himself committed, would never be
guilty the second time of doing that wherein he had once been
forbidden."
"What became of black Jerry after he turned a somerset in the snow,
and went rolling over and over down the hill?" Charlie went on.
"Jerry, I am happy to say," replied his uncle, "was so won over by the
kindness and noble self-devotion of his brave little master, that he
made up his mind to mend his ways from that very moment; and in a
short time, from having been the worst, became the best behaved
negroling to be found on either side of the Rappahannock, for more
than a hundred miles up and down."
"What is a negroling?" inquired Master Charlie, as if bent on sifting
this matter to the very bottom.
"A negroling," replied Uncle Juvinell with a smile, "is to a
full-grown negro what a gosling is to a full-grown goose. Now, can you
tell me what it is?"
"A gosling negro, I suppose," was Charlie's answer; and then he asked,
"Did old Hobby go on teaching school after little George left him?"
"Of course he did," answered his uncle; "but, you may depend upon it,
he never took another scholar as far as the single rule of three."
Then, winking slyly at two or three of the older children, he
continued: "This worthy schoolmaster lived to the good old age of
ninety-nine; when, feeling that his earthly pilgrimage was drawing to
a close, he for the last time hung up his big cocked hat on the
accustomed peg, and for the last time unscrewed his wooden, leg, and
set it in its accustomed corner; then, like a good Christian, laid him
down to die in peace, giving thanks to Heaven with his last breath
that it had fallen to his lot to teach the great George Washington his
A B C's and the multiplication-table."
This made Master Charlie look very grave and thoughtful, so that he
asked no more questions for the rest of the night.
Then Daniel, the young historian, who, having his mind occupied with
more weighty matters, had been listening with some impatience while
the above confab was going on, begged that his uncle would tell him
what was meant by a midshipman's warrant.
"In the first place, Dannie," said Uncle Juvinell, "for the benefit of
the rest of the children, who are not so well informed upon such
matters as yourself, we must see what a midshipman is. The lowest
officer in the navy, but still several degrees removed from a common
sailor, is a midshipman, who enters a man-of-war as a kind of pupil
to study the art of navigation, and to acquaint himself with other
matters connected with the seafaring life. A man-of-war, you must
know, is the largest vessel, or ship of war, belonging to a nation;
while all the ships fitted out at the public expense, together with
the officers and seamen concerned in their keeping and management,
make up what is called a navy. By navigation, we are to understand the
art by which sailors are taught to conduct ships from one point to
another. Now, a warrant is a writing that gives some one the right to
do a thing or to enjoy it. Thus you see a midshipman's warrant would
have given young Washington the right to go on board a man-of-war,
where, as a kind of pupil, he would have learned the art of
navigation, the management of ships, and many other things necessary
to make a good sailor. The knowledge thus acquired, and the training
to which he must needs have been subjected, would have fitted him in
time to become an officer of the navy, such as a lieutenant or a
captain, and, it may be, even an admiral."
"And what is an admiral?" inquired Willie.
"An admiral," replied Uncle Juvinell, "is the highest officer of the
navy; he is to the armies of the sea what a general is to the armies
of the land, and commands a squadron, or fleet, which, you must know,
is a large number of armed ships, moving and acting in concert
together."
"Does he fight with a sword?" inquired Bryce, who, it must be borne in
mind, was the military young gentleman, who carried a wooden sword of
his own.
"It is unusual," replied his uncle, "for either an admiral or a
general to fight in person; it being their duty to put their armies in
order of battle, and afterwards, during the fight, to control the
movements of the different regiments or divisions by orders carried by
aides to the officers under their command."
"You told us, uncle," said Willie, "that Washington received, along
with the commission of adjutant-general, the rank of major. Now, what
are we to understand by this?"
"A commission," replied his uncle, "is a writing, giving some one the
right or authority to perform the duties of some office, and receive
the pay and honors arising from the same. The duties of an
adjutant-general you have already seen; and the commission received by
young Washington to perform those duties made him equal in rank, not
to a general, but to a major."
"I know you told us, uncle," said Ella, "what is meant by surveying;
but I don't think that I clearly understand it yet."
"I will refer you to your brother Dannie," said Uncle Juvinell; "for
he is looking very wise, as if somebody knew a thing or two, and
could, were he but called upon, greatly enlighten somebody else. Out
with it, Dannie, and let us have it."
"Surveying teaches the measurement of land," Dannie made haste to
answer; "and a surveyor is one who measures land with the help of a
long chain and compass and other instruments. Now, George Washington,
for example"--
"That will do, Daniel," said his uncle, interrupting him: "you have
made it as clear as daylight already; and I dare say your sister
understands you perfectly, without the help of any example."
"Oh, I like to have forgotten one thing!" cried Willie. "Tell us what
is meant by line of march, manoeuvres on the battle-field, throwing
up intrenchments, and the like."
To these points, Uncle Juvinell made answer: "An army, my nephew, is
said to be on the line of march when it is moving from one place to
another. A manoeuvre is an evolution or a movement of an army,
designed to mislead or deceive an enemy, or in some way to gain the
advantage of him. An intrenchment is a breastwork or wall, with a
trench or ditch running along the outside. The breastwork, being
formed of the earth thrown up from the trench, serves as a protection
against the shots of an enemy. The trench being quite as deep as the
breastwork is high, renders it very difficult and dangerous for the
works to be taken by storm; for the enemy must first descend into the
ditch before he can reach and scale the wall,--an attempt always
attended with the greatest peril to those who make it; for they who
defend the works, fighting on top of the walls, have greatly the
advantage of those beneath. Sometimes intrenchments run in straight or
crooked lines, and sometimes enclose an irregular square or circle;
and any piece of ground, or body of men, thus enclosed or fortified,
is said to be intrenched."
"What a pity it is we can never know the name of the Lowland Beauty!"
remarked Miss Laura regretfully; for she was getting to be quite old
enough to be somewhat interested in matters of this kind.
"The name the young surveyor gave her," said Uncle Juvinell, "lends an
interest to this part of his life, which a knowledge of her true name
might never have awakened. Besides this, my dear niece, if you but be
attentive to what I shall relate hereafter, you will learn many things
touching the life and character of his mother Mary and his wife Martha
far more worthy of your remembrance."
The clock struck ten; the fire burned low, and a heavy lid of ashes
hid its great red eye. And now Uncle Juvinell bethought him that it
must indeed be high bed-time for the little folks; and in conclusion
he said, "Now, my dear children, I want you to bear well in mind what
I have told you to-night, that you may be the better prepared for what
I shall tell you to-morrow evening. And hereafter I would have you
write down on your slates, while I go on with my story, whatever you
may find difficult and shall wish to have more fully explained at the
end of each evening's lesson. And now let us sing our evening hymn,
and part for the night."
With that they joined their voices, as was their wont, in a sweet hymn
of praise and thanks to the great Father of us all,--the little folks
carrying the treble, while Uncle Juvinell managed the bass. This duly
done, they came one by one, and kissed their dear old uncle a loving
good-night; then crept to their happy beds to dream till morning of
wooden-legged schoolmasters, little hatchets, wild rides on fiery
untamed horses that were always sorrel, of life in the lonely
wilderness, rambles without end up and down the mountains, and of
skin-clad Indiana leaping and whirling in the war-dance.