But to secure what they had won--to be consistently firm--always on their guard and beyond surprise,--were lessons which they were slow to acquire--which they learned at last only under the heaviest penalties of blood.

Marion was one of the few Captains of American militia, that never suffered himself to be taken napping.
* As farm-yards are becoming rare, it may benefit future readers to know that this proverb is almost certainly, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."-- A.

L., 1996 .-- .