Page:Sketch of Connecticut, Forty Years Since.djvu/212

 ing that Arnold was absent, whom he expected would have received him at the fortress. Recrossing the Hudson, he went to the General's house, and found Mrs. Arnold in a state of sudden, and violent distraction. Tearing her hair, she could scarcely be restrained by her women, and the two aids-de-camp of her husband, from rushing into the streets. At the sight of Washington, her frenzy was redoubled, with cries of "Depart! depart! thou demon, sent to torment me." Then a horrible suspicion of treason first entered the mind of the Commander in Chief. Soon the circumstances of the traitor's escape were made known, by the men who returned from rowing him on board the Vulture. He had endeavoured to bribe them also to desertion, by promises of promotion, and British gold. Finding them resolute, he forced them to trust their lives to a miserable boat, retaining for his own use, the barge in which they had innocently conveyed him to the enemy. Intelligence arrived of the capture of André, and Washington, inexpressibly afflicted, hastened to the army which, under the command of General Greene, was encamped in the vicinity of Tappan. He immediately summoned to his presence Major Lee, of the celebrated legion of Virginia horse, an intrepid officer, and worthy the confidence of his Chief. When he came, Washington was alone, and writing in his tent. The glimmering light of the lamp displayed a countenance, pale with anxiety and watching. His noble, and commanding appearance seemed to derive new interest from the grief which shaded