ROBERT GREENE.
During the retreat to Valley Forge Jacob and Enoch did not see Seth,
who, as a matter of course, remained with his regiment.
The two boys who had brought the earliest information regarding General
Howe's movements rode the horses taken from the Tory, and, therefore,
were not inconvenienced by the forced march; but they had good
opportunity of learning something concerning a private soldier's duties
and labors which they had never realized before.
"Now you can see that I wasn't such a very big fool because I wanted
to be an officer," Jacob said as they neared the encampment at Valley
Forge. "Look at the privates staggering under a load big enough for a
horse, while those who have commissions ride or walk at their leisure,
with nothing to carry but a sword."
"I didn't laugh at you for _wanting_ to be an officer, but because you
seemed to think it would be easy to perform the duties of one."
"I'm not certain that I shall enlist unless General Lafayette gives us
a better show than the rest have got."
Enoch looked at him in astonishment.
"Do you mean that you hesitate to become a soldier now we are where it
is possible to enlist?"
"That's it exactly. If nothing turns up in our favor, I shall
think twice before signing the rolls," Jacob replied with an air of
complacency, much as if he believed his enlisting would be of the most
vital importance to the cause.
"What will your father say when he learns that you do not care to be a
soldier? He must be here at Valley Forge, and most likely we shall soon
see him."
"When father knows that we are given the cold shoulder after doing the
work we did last night he will think as I do."
"I shall join the company of which Seth is a member, and you had better
do the same thing. Of course we can't stay here in the encampment
unless we enlist."
"Don't be in too much of a hurry to tie yourself down; but wait until
I have seen father."
Enoch would have much preferred to enroll himself as a private in the
Continental army without delay; but Jacob urged him so strongly to
wait at least twenty-four hours that he could not refuse without giving
offense to his comrade.
"What are we to do?" he asked as they rode into the encampment in
advance of the retreating force, being allowed to enter the lines after
explaining who they were, and why they had come.
"You stay near here, while I look for father. He will find us a place
in which to sleep to-night, and supply us with food."
"Shall you be gone long?"
"It doesn't seem likely; but you must stay near here, for I should
never find you if you strayed away. I had no idea there were so many
men in the Continental camp."
"Did you think the army would be composed of Seth, you, and I, and all
three of us holding commissions because by chance we did our duty?"
"Perhaps you won't make sport of me to-morrow at this time, and it may
be you'll learn that I wasn't very far wrong when I said we should be
rewarded for our services."
"We won't discuss that matter again," Enoch replied laughingly,
"otherwise you may not find your father to-day. Don't be gone any
longer than necessary, for it won't be particularly jolly standing
around here holding a horse that ought to have his breakfast."
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Jacob cried as he rode away, and Enoch
turned his attention to the returning troops, finding much to interest
him as the different regiments marched into the encampment, filing to
the right or the left to occupy their old quarters.
He saw Seth as the latter's company came up among the last, and, but
for his promise to Jacob, would have followed in order to learn where
his friend might be found later.
Finally the last of the soldiers arrived; the camp resumed its wonted
air, much as though twenty-five hundred men had not marched out full of
hope, and come back again dispirited, if not disheartened.
One, two, three hours passed, and Jacob was yet absent.
Enoch had about decided to leave his unprofitable station, regardless
of the trouble it might cause Master Ludwick to find him, and seek out
Seth, when he was accosted by a soldier whose face looked familiar, but
whose identity he could not recall.
"So you got into the Continental camp sooner than you expected, eh? It
was a good bit of work you did, but, save for the urgency of the case,
I could wish you had never left town."
"It seems to me I have met you before; but I can't remember where," and
Enoch looked at the man scrutinizingly.
"It isn't strange you should fail to know me in this garb; I was
dressed as a farmer when you saw me last."
"You are the one who talked with us on the day of the carnival!"
"Exactly, and now perhaps you can understand why I am sorry because it
became necessary for you to leave town."
"Yet we couldn't do very much toward helping you in your work."
"What you have done since last evening shows of how much assistance
you might be. Two boys can loiter here or there without exciting the
suspicion which would naturally be aroused if a man was observed doing
the same thing."
"I can't say I'm sorry we came away. It seemed necessary we should do
so----"
"And so it was, my boy. You did just right in getting to Barren Hill at
the earliest possible moment."
"It was Jacob's idea. I do not believe I should have thought of getting
the horses but for him, and he planned the whole affair."
"Yet he is dissatisfied because General Lafayette did not embrace
and kiss him on both cheeks, at the same time making him at least a
colonel, isn't he?"
Enoch laughed heartily, and finally asked curiously:
"How did you know anything about that?"
"It comes natural for me to pry into every one's business, and it may
be I heard you two talking, or read it in Master Ludwick's face. But
why is it you do not expect a rich reward?"
"Because we have simply performed our duty, and when that is done in
behalf of the cause one is rewarded by the knowledge that he has been
of some service."
"It would be better for the cause if more were of your way of
thinking," Greene said in a low tone, and added quickly, "What do you
propose to do now?"
"Enlist."
"In what branch of the service?"
"I would like to be with Seth Graydon, and, if possible, shall join his
company."
"What does Master Ludwick say to that plan?"
"He has gone to consult with his father, and I am waiting here for his
return."
"If he finds old Chris, and complains because he has not been
rewarded, I predict that he will come back with a sore body, for our
baker-general is a true-blooded American even though he was born in
Germany, and will not have any patience with such ideas as his son
entertains. Tell me, Enoch Ball, would you be willing to serve your
country in another way than by becoming a soldier?"
"I would do anything in my power."
"Now more than ever is it necessary we should know all that is being
done in Philadelphia. Clinton is soon to take command of the British
army, and no one can guess what his policy will be. It would not
be safe for Seth Graydon to volunteer for such work, because the
Britishers would hang him off-hand if he ever fell into their clutches;
I'm not certain I could trust Master Ludwick implicitly, but I would
like you for a comrade."
"But I am known in town."
"Not to so many that it would interfere with your doing all that might
be required. If you should return home at once--this very day--it would
not be difficult to persuade suspicious ones that you had never left
the city."
Enoch was almost frightened by the proposition. He understood how
much danger would be attached to such work, and fancied the enemy
knew perfectly well who had carried the first information to General
Lafayette; but yet he replied in as firm a tone as he could assume:
"I am ready to do anything, or go anywhere that is best for the cause."
"It is bravely spoken, my boy. Do not fear that the enemy are looking
for you; I question very much if General Howe or his officers have the
slightest idea that any information was carried to General Lafayette,
save by the country people who saw the forces on the march. Will you be
ready to go back with me this evening?"
"Yes; I only want to see Seth and Jacob a moment, and it is not really
necessary I should do even that, for I could leave word I would soon
come back."
"There is no reason why you shouldn't wait till Master Ludwick returns,
and then I will show you where Seth's regiment is encamped."
Greene seated himself on the ground as if perfectly willing to remain
there any length of time, and after tying the horse's bridle to the
wheel of a cannon Enoch sat down beside the spy.
"How long have you been doing this kind of work?" he asked.
"Playing the spy, do you mean? I began last fall, when our army went
into winter-quarters. There was some fear then that General Howe
might take a notion to stir our folks up at a time when they were
having about all they could do to keep body and soul together, without
thinking of fighting, and I volunteered for the work. It seemed
dangerous at first, as it now does to you; but I soon got over that
idea, and grew to like the task."
"You would be hanged if captured?"
"True, and it is not a pleasant way of going out of the world; but I am
in no more danger of death than if I went into a battle, and some one
must do the work."
"Yet Seth was captured the very first time he tried to give our friends
information."
"That may be accounted for by the fact that he was not a spy; if he had
been he would never have allowed the Continentals to escort him where
he might be seen by the enemy. A man engaged in such business does not
take any unnecessary chances, and is always on the alert lest his true
character be discovered. That which I propose you shall do, however,
is not as dangerous as it now appears, and I am positive you will not
dislike it. Tell me, have you seen nothing since you met the army to
dispel the supposed charm of a soldier's life?"
"I never thought there could be any sport in being a soldier, and what
I have seen is only such as I have believed was the fact. Why is it
that I have not met more officers?"
"Perhaps because Lafayette's advance was not considered an important
movement, and, therefore, he had only his own staff with him. You would
see plenty of generals by staying here a few days, and some of them as
useless as they are gaudy in dress."
"It seems that you are not friendly with all of them," Enoch said with
a smile.
"I am only a private, therefore could not be on intimate terms with the
most humble of them; but I have seen very much, and heard more, since
I began to play the spy, that shakes my faith in some of the officers
under General Washington, and the one I most distrust is he who is next
in rank to the commander-in-chief."
"What do you mean?" and now Enoch's curiosity was excited.
"Hark ye, lad, it is not for me to speak against my superior officer,
whether he be a captain or a general, but if you and I are to work
together you should know it, for I want you to keep your ears open
very wide whenever his name is mentioned, particularly by those who
are enemies to the cause. He it is that I fear more than I do Howe or
Clinton."
"What is his name?"
Greene bent forward that he might whisper in his comrade's ear:
"Charles Lee, senior major-general under our Washington."
"I have heard of him."
"Where?" the spy asked eagerly, as if believing he might hear something
to still further confirm his suspicions.
"I can't say; but perhaps it was no more than the mention of his name
as one of General Washington's officers. Tell me about him."
"As I said before, it does not become a soldier to speak ill of his
superior officer; but you shall hear what the world knows about General
Lee. He was formerly in the British army, and served under Burgoyne in
Portugal, where he was made lieutenant-colonel. He was with Braddock
when that officer was defeated on the banks of the Monongahela, and
with Abercrombie at Ticonderoga. After that he lived for some time
with the Mohawk Indians, and was such a restless, jealous, quarrelsome
man that they gave him the name 'Boiling Water.' He left the king's
service, and came over here in '73, claiming to be in sympathy with
the colonists, and succeeding so well in his pretensions, or his
faith, whichever you choose to call it, that when the Continental army
was organized he received a commission as major-general. That didn't
satisfy him, patriot though he claimed to be, and he demanded that
Congress make good to him any loss he might sustain by reason of having
given up his commission with the British army. In '76 Congress loaned
him thirty thousand dollars, without any security other than his own
name on a bond."
"He got a good price for his services. Why, even General Washington
himself hasn't been given that much!"
"No, nor any part of it, outside of his pay. Now what has Lee done for
the cause? When General Washington was pursued across New Jersey in
'76 by Cornwallis, Lee followed with a heavy force; but although called
upon again and again by the commander-in-chief to strike a blow at the
pursuers, he refused to obey--or neglected to do so, which amounts to
the same thing."
"Why?"
"Perhaps because he hoped some disaster would befall General
Washington, and he be given command of the army. Then, long after
Cornwallis gave up the chase, Lee hung around New Jersey until he found
a chance--that's the way I put it--found a chance to be captured by
a small British scouting party, and was taken prisoner to New York.
He was soon hand in glove with General Howe and his officers, and
there are many of our people who say he told all he knew regarding our
condition and plans. Then came the farce of exchanging him for some
officer we had captured, and only two weeks or less ago he showed his
cloven foot again, according to my way of thinking."
"In what way?"
"The Congress ordered that the oath of allegiance be administered to
the officers here at Valley Forge before the beginning of the campaign,
and Lee was forced to come up with the others. When he and two or
three more had their hands on the Bible, he took his off when General
Washington began to read the oath. The commander waited for him to put
his hand back, and he withdrew it again before the words could be read.
Then General Washington asked what he meant, and he said--these are
the very words as they were told me by one who was there--'As to King
George I am ready enough to absolve myself from all allegiance to him,
but I have some scruples about the Prince of Wales.'"
"What did he mean by that?"
"According to my idea it was only an excuse to get out of taking the
oath, but those present seemed to think it only one of his odd traits,
and passed it over as something not to be remembered. I bear it in
mind, though, and want you to do the same if you are ever where it is
possible to learn anything regarding him."
"But it isn't the duty of a private to watch his superior officers,"
Enoch ventured to suggest.
"It is in this case, for I look on General Charles Lee as a man who
can, and will, if he gets the chance, do more against the cause than
even Howe himself."
Enoch was impressed by what Greene had told him; but he did not believe
it could ever be possible for him to detect an officer, second in rank
only to the commander-in-chief, in treasonable practices. Besides, it
appeared to him a very disgraceful duty to impose upon a boy who was
not yet a soldier, and, perhaps, would have remonstrated, but that
Jacob appeared just at that moment.
Master Ludwick was not looking particularly cheerful, and Greene
whispered as he approached:
"I'll venture to say that old Chris the baker has been giving his son
a lesson on the patriotic idea of expecting a rich reward whenever he
chances to be of service to the cause. Old Chris isn't that sort of a
man."
It seemed very much as if the spy was correct in his guess, for Jacob
had nothing more to say against enlisting, but appeared anxious to know
when Enoch proposed to sign the rolls.
"Have you decided to do so?"
"Yes," was the curt reply.
"To-night?"
"If I don't there won't be much chance of getting rations."
"But I thought you counted on staying with your father?"
"I have changed my mind," Jacob replied as if the subject was not a
pleasant one.
"What have you done with your horse?"
"Father thought he ought to be turned over to the army, and then I
couldn't be accused of stealing him for my own benefit."
"I reckon I'd better do the same thing," Enoch said, trying not to
smile when Greene indulged in an expressive wink. "Where can it be
done?"
"I'll show you the ropes, or, what is better, do the business for you,"
the spy replied. "I reckon you want to see Seth Graydon a spell before
we leave?"
"That is what I would like to do."
"Go in that direction," and Greene pointed to the right, "until you
have passed a lot of cannon; then turn to the left, and you'll be in
the midst of the Jersey boys. I shall find you there, and we'll call on
General Dickinson before starting."
"What did he mean?" Jacob asked as the spy walked away with Mr.
Wharton's steed. "Are you counting on going anywhere?"
Enoch explained to his comrade what it was Greene had proposed, and
concluded by saying:
"We'll have a talk with Seth. If he thinks I can really be of as much
service in the city as here, I shall go."
"And I'll be with you! This enlisting ain't what I've always thought it
was, and if I can get out of camp without father's knowing it, I'll be
all right."
"Without his knowing it? Do you think he would object to your going
back?"
"I don't _think_ anything about it, 'cause I know. There's no need of
telling any one else, Enoch, but he raised an awful row when I talked
about being an officer, and when I said I guessed I wouldn't enlist he
flew into a terrible rage. He acted as if it would just suit him for me
to be marched out somewhere and shot at."
It was with difficulty Enoch could refrain from laughing at the
disconsolate expression on Jacob's face; but he succeeded in checking
his mirth sufficiently to say in a sympathetic tone:
"Of course he doesn't want you shot, Jacob; but you must remember how
much your father has done for the cause, and I suppose it made him
angry when you spoke of being paid for the little we did last night."
"Made him angry? Why, he flew way off, an' I thought one spell that
he was going to flog me. If I can get away when you do, it'll be all
right."
"I have been told that it isn't possible to walk out of a military camp
whenever you choose. You must have a pass, or something of that kind."
"We didn't have any trouble to get in here."
"Not after we told who we were and that we intended to enlist."
"You said that; I didn't."
"Yes; but you came in, and I don't think it will be very easy to get
out again unless your father knows you are going."
"Then I shall stay here as long as I live, except that fellow Greene
would be willing to say I could do a deal of good in the city. Will you
ask him?"
Enoch promised to do as his friend wished, but at the same time he did
not believe the spy would be very eager for this addition to the party.
The boys had been walking during the conversation, and by the time
it was concluded they had passed the artillery park, arriving at that
portion of the encampment where the New Jersey troops were quartered.
Seth was on the lookout for them, and the warmth of his greeting was
particularly pleasing to Master Ludwick, who felt decidedly sore in
mind.