He had thrown himself with his whole soul into the Virginia life, and he was eager to see the race run.

So were all the others, and even the grave eyes of Tayoga sparkled when he heard of it.
It was broad daylight when he went to bed, but he was up at noon, and in the afternoon he went to the House of Burgesses to hear the governor make a speech to the members on the war and its emergencies.
Dinwiddie, like Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, appreciated the extreme gravity of the crisis, and his address was solemn and weighty.
He told them that the shadow in the north was black and menacing.

The French were an ambitious people, brave, tenacious and skillful.

They had won the friendship of the savages and now they dominated the wilderness.

They would strike heavy blows, but their movements were enveloped in mystery, and none knew where or when the sword would fall.