Summary

Chapter 1 is titled “Clearing in the Woods” and is dated October 2, 1780. The author describes the setting, including the blue sky and colorful fall leaves. American soldiers built the gallows as a crowd gathered. A wagon arrived in the evening with a coffin. The hangman arrived. Soldiers arrived with a prisoner in “a spotless officer's uniform” who stopped and turned pale when he saw the gallows. Author Steve Sheinkin ended the chapter by noting that “this is the end of the story” which began years earlier in Norwich, Connecticut, with Benedict Arnold.

Chapter 2 is titled “Benedict Arnold” and is dated January 14, 1741. The Benedict Arnold who is the subject of this story “was the sixth Benedict Arnold.” The first Benedict Arnold settled in Rhode Island in the 1600s where he became governor. The second was not careful with the family money but did serve in...