III
He awoke with a start.
Just what the hour was, he could not know, for it was intensely dark. He reckoned that it could not be long after midnight, for it seemed as if he had scarcely fallen asleep. But there was a wonderful burst of light to his mind, a complete clarity of thought into which often those do awake who have fallen asleep in a state of great mental conflict. He opened his eyes and, as it were, beheld all that he was about to do; there was also a very vivid memory of his experience of the evening.
He arose hurriedly and struck a light. He seized the letter in search of the momentous something that had dawned upon him with wonderful intensity.
"Company Thirteen," he remarked with deliberate emphasis. "That must be the key."
And seizing a paper he wrote the order of letters which he had copied from the note a few hours before.
HVANLADERIIG
He stopped at the thirteenth, and began a second line immediately under the line he had just written.
AERODIRCUTN
It inserted perfectly when read up and down beginning with the letter "H". He completed the sentence.
HAVE ARNOLD AID RECRUITING
He could not believe his eyes. What did it all mean? What regiment was this? Why should this be sent from a British officer to Peggy Shippen? There were mixed considerations here.
There was a satisfaction, a very great satisfaction, in the knowledge that he was not entirely mistaken in his suspicions concerning Peggy. She was in communication with the British and perhaps had been for some time. This fact in itself was perfectly plain. The proof of it lay in his hand. Whether or not His Excellency was involved in the nefarious work was another question quite. The mere fact of the note being in his possession signified nothing, or if anything, no more than a coincidence. He might have read the note and, at the same time, have been entirely ignorant of the cipher, or he might have received this hidden information from the lips of Peggy herself, who undoubtedly had deciphered it at once.
Yet what was the meaning of it all? There was no new call for volunteers, although, Heaven knows, there was an urgent need for them, the more especially after the severe winter at Valley Forge. Recruits had become exceedingly scarce, many of whom were already deserting to the British army at the rate of over a hundred a month while those who remained were without food or clothing. And when they were paid, they could buy, only with the greatest difficulty, a single bushel of wheat from the fruits of their four month's labor. And did it prove to be true that a new army was about to be recruited, why should the enemy manifest so much interest? The new set of difficulties into which he was now involved were more intricate than ever before.
He extinguished the light and went to bed.
The next day a number of copies of the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury of the issue of July 13, 1778, found their way into the city. They were found to contain the following advertisement:
For the encouragement of all
Gentlemen Volunteers,
Who are willing to serve in his Majesty's Regt. of
Roman Catholic Volunteers,Commanded by
Lieut.—Col. Commandant,
ALFRED CLIFTON
During the present wanton and unnatural Rebellion,
AND NO LONGER,
The sum of FOUR POUNDS,
will be given above the usual Bounty,
A suit of NEW CLOTHES,
And every other necessary to complete a Gentleman soldier.Those who are willing to show their attachment to their King and country by engaging in the above regiment, will call at Captain M'Kennon, at No. 51, in Cherry-street, near the Ship Yards, NEW YORK, or at Major John Lynch, encamped at Yellow-Hook, where they will receive present pay and good quarters.
N. B.—Any person bringing a well-bodied loyal subject to either of the above places, shall receive ONE GUINEA for his trouble.
God Save the King.