Major Andre and General Arnold. 29 



of his country ? Ah, Jacob ! I would give my rifle, and that I love 

 nearly as well as my life, that I was at this moment fighting by his 

 side, as I once was when we drove Burgoyne and his army before 

 us like frighted deer." 



" Doubtless, General Arnold is a brave soldier, but " 

 * " Aye, but what?" interrupted the ardent republican. 



" I cannot think him guiltless, and I will never trust the expres- 

 sion of Washington's eye if he does not think as I do " 



A sudden rush towards the door, which had again been thrown 

 open to admit the public, precluded any further observation, and the 

 disputants, borne along by the living stream, entered the court at 

 the moment Washington had risen to deliver the sentence. 



The court was hushed into a profound silence, and every eye was 

 fixed in mute expectation upon the commanding figure of the Pre- 

 sident. A more than usual degree of that disciplined severity, which 

 the character of the times and the nature of the great struggle in 

 which he was vitally engaged had impressed upon his benignant 

 countenance, darkened his brow as he pronounced, in a distinct but 

 mournful voice, the verdict of "Guilty" upon the confounded Ar- 

 nold. Burning with rage and shame, the culprit replied not to the 

 unfeigned regret which Washington expressed for the disgrace of so 

 gallant an officer, nor to the hope he offered him that his future 

 conduct might regain him the lost esteem of his country ; but casting 

 a look of scowling defiance upon his judges, he strode with a firm 

 step and dauntless air through the crowd, that, viewing him only as 

 the hero of Quebec, and dazzled by the lustre of his daring courage 

 and his personal endowments, opened respectfully as he passed from 

 the court. 



But the daring front which villany presents to public observation 

 is often only a mask to conceal 'the writhings of internal anguish 

 and remorse. Arnold returned home, and there in the privacy of 

 his chamber, where no scornful eye could triumph over his fallen 

 state, he abandoned himself to all the transports of despair. He 

 felt himself degraded, shorn of the halo of virtuous fame which had en- 

 circled his name, and which, now that it was lost to him, he prized 

 above every other earthly good. Even the tender endearments of 

 his young and beloved wife failed to sooth the tempest of his soul, 

 her words of consolation fell heedlessly upon his ear, he lay crushed 

 and writhing but impenitent in his guilt. 



At length his wife ventured distantly to hint that a country which had 

 rewarded his services with ignominy, deserved at his hands only 

 eternal hatred and deep vengeance. He listened attentively to her 

 arguments, and though he replied not to them, it was evident that they 

 sank into his mind. It was on one of these occasions, when discours- 

 ing on the ever-galling theme of Arnold's disgrace, and while his wife 

 was insisting more earnestly than usual on the justice of her husband 

 adopting any attainable means of revenge on his enemies, that Ar- 

 nold, who had been gloomily sitting with his face buried between his 

 hands, suddenly raised his head, and looking earnestly in his wife's 

 face said, "Revenge is sweet, but how, Beatrice, can I obtain it? My 

 foes are numerous and powerful " 



