Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/143

Rh heavy chains and cables had been stretched, in the hope that a possible advance of the British fleet might be checked by them; but Robert also knew that the same measures had been employed before nearer New York, and that the British had really paid no more attention to them than if they had been made of paper. As a check to their progress, they had been complete failures.

It was currently reported that the real hope in Washington's mind of being able to prevent the British from going up the Hudson and joining the forces of Burgoyne lay mostly in his attempt to make the redcoats believe that he would fall upon New York if they should withdraw their soldiers. But the British generals were expecting large reinforcements to arrive soon, and in that event they would have a sufficient force under them to leave a part to guard the city and still have a large army to go up the Hudson to Albany or beyond. The need of quick action on the part of the troubled Americans was therefore imperative, and under the influence of the thought Robert Dorlon almost unconsciously increased the speed of the horse he was riding.

And yet in the midst of the anxiety of the young express there came again and again the