Historic Tales, Vol. 1 (of 15) eBook

Charles W. Morris
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 307 pages of information about Historic Tales, Vol. 1 (of 15).

Historic Tales, Vol. 1 (of 15) eBook

Charles W. Morris
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 307 pages of information about Historic Tales, Vol. 1 (of 15).

Champe now found himself in imminent peril of capture.  There had been no response from the galleys to his signals.  The pursuers were close at hand, and pushing forward with shouts of triumph.  Soon they were but a few hundred yards away.  There was but one hope left.  Champe sprang from his horse, flung away the scabbard of his sword, and with the naked blade in his hand ran across the marshy ground before him, leaped into the waters of the bay, and swam lustily for the galleys, calling loudly for help.

A boat had just before left the side of the nearest galley.  As the pursuers reined up their horses by the side of the marsh, the fugitive was hauled in and was swiftly rowed back to the ship.  Middleton, disappointed in his main object, took the horse, cloak, and scabbard of the fugitive and returned with them to camp.

“He has not been killed?” asked Lee, hastily, on seeing these articles.

“No; the rascal gave us the slip.  He is safely on a British galley, and this is all we have to show.”

A few days afterwards Lee received a letter from Champe, in a disguised hand and without signature, transmitted through a secret channel which had been arranged, telling of his success up to this point, and what he proposed to do.

As it appeared, the seeming deserter had been well received in New York.  The sharpness of the pursuit and the orderly-book which he bore seemed satisfactory proofs of his sincerity of purpose.  The captain of the galley sent him to New York, with a letter to Sir Henry Clinton.

Clinton was glad to see him.  For a deserter to come to him from a legion so faithful to the rebel cause as that of Major Lee seemed an evidence that the American side was rapidly weakening.  He questioned Champe closely.  The taciturn deserter answered him briefly, but with such a show of sincerity as to win his confidence.  The interview ended in Clinton’s giving him a couple of guineas, and bidding him to call on General Arnold, who was forming a corps of loyalists and deserters, and who would be glad to have his name on his rolls.  This suggestion hit Champe’s views exactly.  It was what had been calculated upon by Washington in advance.  The seeming deserter called upon Arnold, who received him courteously, and gave him quarters among his recruiting sergeants.  He asked him to join his legion, but Champe declined, saying that if caught by the rebels in this corps he was sure to be hanged.

A few days sufficed the secret agent to lay his plans.  He delivered the letters which had been given him, and made arrangements with one of the parties written to for aid in the proposed abduction of Arnold.  This done, he went to Arnold, told him that he had changed his mind, and agreed to enlist in his legion.  His purpose now was to gain free intercourse with him, that he might learn all that was possible about his habits.

Arnold’s quarters were at No. 3 Broadway.  Back of the house was a garden, which extended towards the water’s edge.  Champe soon learned that it was Arnold’s habit to seek his quarters about midnight, and that before going to bed he always visited the garden.  Adjoining this garden was a dark alley, which led to the street.  In short, all the surroundings and circumstances were adapted to the design, and seemed to promise success.

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Historic Tales, Vol. 1 (of 15) from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.