The plan was well laid.  Two patriotic accomplices were found.  One of them was to have a boat in readiness by the river-side.  On the night fixed upon they were to conceal themselves in Arnold’s garden at midnight, seize and gag him when he came out for his nightly walk, and take him by way of the alley, and of unfrequented streets in the vicinity, to the adjoining river-side.  In case of meeting any one and being questioned, it was arranged that they should profess to be carrying a drunken soldier to the guard-house.  Once in the boat, Hoboken could quickly be reached.  Here assistance from Lee’s corps had been arranged for.

[Illustration:  The Benedict Arnold mansion.]

The plot was a promising one.  Champe prepared for it by removing some of the palings between the garden and the alley.  These he replaced in such a way that they could be taken out again without noise.  All being arranged, he wrote to Lee, and told him that on the third night from that date, if all went well, the traitor would be delivered upon the Jersey shore.  He must be present, at an appointed place in the woods at Hoboken, to receive him.

This information gave Lee the greatest satisfaction.  On the night in question he left camp with a small party, taking with him three led horses, for the prisoner and his captors, and at midnight sought the appointed spot.  Here he waited with slowly declining hope.  Hour after hour passed; the gray light of dawn appeared in the east; the sun rose over the waters; yet Champe and his prisoner failed to appear.  Deeply disappointed, Lee led his party back to camp.

The cause of the failure may be told in a few words.  It was a simple one.  The merest chance saved Arnold from the fate which he so richly merited.  This was, that on the very day which Champe had fixed for the execution of his plot, Arnold changed his quarters, his purpose being to attend to the embarkation of an expedition to the south, which was to be under his command.

In a few days Lee received a letter from his agent, telling the cause of failure, and saying that, at present, success was hopeless.  In fact, Champe found himself unexpectedly in an awkward situation.  Arnold’s American legion was to form part of this expedition.  Champe had enlisted in it.  He was caught in a trap of his own setting.  Instead of crossing the Hudson that night, with Arnold as his prisoner, he found himself on board a British transport, with Arnold as his commander.  He was in for the war on the British side; forced to face his fellow-countrymen in the field.

We need not tell the story of Arnold’s expedition to Virginia, with the brutal incidents which history relates concerning it.  It will suffice to say that Champe formed part of it, all his efforts to desert proving fruitless.  It may safely be said that no bullet from his musket reached the American ranks, but he was forced to brave death from the hands of those with whom alone he was in sympathy.