Page:Sketch of Connecticut, Forty Years Since.djvu/215

 "I have sent for you, Champé, said his commander, to entrust to you an expedition which requires inviolable secrecy."

"The soldier bowed.

"I have chosen you to this confidence, because I have long known your valour, and integrity. I commit to you what may influence your destiny, beyond the power of present calculation. It may secure that promotion which is so dear to a brave man, or it may lead to an untimely grave."

"Again the soldier bowed with an unmoved countenance. But, as the outlines of the mysterious plan were developed, his features confessed the varying interests of wonder, enthusiasm, and distress. He respectfully preserved silence, until his commander had ceased to speak. Then his emotion became extreme. He traversed the tent with hasty strides, and his breathing was thick, and strong as one who approaches convulsion. The bold Champé, who often rode unmoved up to the sabre's edge, trembled, and could scarcely articulate—

"I cannot think of desertion. I would serve my Commander in Chief with the last drop in my veins, and the last breath of my soul. But why does he solicit me to appear as a betrayer of my country?"

"It is indispensable," answered Lee, "that you join the ranks of the enemy, and identify yourself with them. How else can you expect to circumvent the traitor, and bring him to his country's justice? It is the particular