In this affair Washington proved himself to be a true son of Adam and brother in our common humanity. He who is too great to be insensible to womanly charms and virtues, and too cold in his nature to love, cannot have an important mission to perform in this world. On his return to Winchester he found that the English officers were discussing the practicability of making a new road to Duquesne, or, at least, from Raystown to Duquesne by the way of Laurel Hill. "Better march thither by the old road which General Braddock constructed," suggested Washington. "His road did not lead him to victory," answered one of the officers naively. "Neither will a new road, if that is all you have to depend upon," remarked Washington. "The difficulties of making a new road through this rough country are so great that such an enterprise should not be undertaken unless it is absolutely necessary." "We came to this country for such business whenever it is necessary," said General Forbes, commander of the expedition. "Exactly; but a new road is not necessary to make this expedition against Duquesne a success." "How is that?" "Because it will consume so much time that winter will be upon us before we can reach the fort. An early movement on the old roads is far more desirable, in my judgment, than a late one on a new road." "But you do not consider that the king's regulars are experienced in such work, and they will not require the time which the provincial troops do to complete such a piece of work." "Perhaps so," replied Washington in a doubtful tone, as if he recalled the old boast of the English generals about the might of their regulars. He had seen enough of these boasted heroes in the former expedition against Duquesne to cause him to decidedly prefer provincial troops. "Besides," continued General Forbes, "the report of General Braddock to his government describes the old road as fearful, in consequence of dense forests, huge rocks, deep morasses, and plunging torrents." "None of these things caused his defeat," remarked Washington in rather a sarcastic vein. "As I understand it," added General Forbes, "there are not so thick woods and huge rocks, nor so perilous swamps and rivers by the proposed new route as there are by the old. Besides, the new road is fifty miles nearer." "The shortest way may prove longer than the longest way if you have the short way to build," was Washington's significant reply. The English officers were bound to have their own way, and they decided to make the new road, in view of which Washington wrote to the Speaker of the Assembly: "If this conduct of our leaders does not flow from superior orders, it must flow from a weakness too gross for me to name. Nothing now but a miracle can bring this campaign to a happy issue." A few days later he wrote: "I believe that all is lost. Our enterprise is ruined, and we shall be stopped this winter at the Laurel Hills."