Page:Sketch of Connecticut, Forty Years Since.djvu/231

 ed hour, he fancied that he heard the dash of oars, and the watch-word in the voice of Champé. Midnight passed, the dawn gleamed, the morning opened, but no boat appeared.

"Disappointed, and full of apprehension for the safety of his faithful emissary, Lee collected his party, and returned to consult with Washington. Several days of anxiety intervened, ere the arrival of the trusty spy, from whom he learned that a sudden movement of Arnold disconcerted their plan, but a few hours before the time appointed for its execution. He changed his quarters to superintend the embarkation of his troops, who were transferred from their barracks to ships, destinied for some secret expedition. This was afterwards ascertained to be for the shores of Virginia. Thither poor Champé was obliged to accompany the traitor, whose depredations upon his beloved native state he was compelled to witness. There, at the peril of his life, he escaped, and passing through North Carolina, often hiding whole days in thickets, and suffering the severity of famine, he at length joined the army which was in pursuit of Lord Rawdon. Reduced almost to a skeleton, he hastened to Major Lee, and threw himself at his feet, a broken-hearted man. His commander raised him in his arms, and tears flowed over his manly cheeks. Addressing himself to an officer of a noble countenance, who stood intently viewing the scene, he said—

"General Greene, the worth of this man is incalculable.