It was Elias Macomber who sat at the window, talking with his host on the outside, and we could readily overhear the conversation.
Under ordinary circumstances I hold that an eavesdropper is the meanest kind of a person; but considering all the facts of the case, it seemed just then that it was our duty to learn all we might.
As we came up Jenkins was evidently opposing something which the traitor had said, for when we were in position to listen, Macomber cried sharply:
"I shall watch out for the British fleet, an' board the first vessel that heaves in sight. I reckon I can tell the admiral somethin' which he'll like to hear."
"But, Elias," Jenkins remonstrated, "even though you don't believe in the war, surely you wouldn't do that which might work harm to your neighbors?"
"I'm an Englishman!"
"By comin' here an' settlin' down, you turned into an American, or should have done so. I claim that a man has no right to hold himself an Englishman when he moves into another country to live, never expectin' to go back to the old home. All your interests are here, an' by holdin' true to the United States you are benefitin' yourself."
"That's all rot. I work for what I get here, an' have no man to thank for it."
"But the laws of the country protect you; all the advantages to be had from the town where you live are yours, the same as others, an' when you take them you have no right to do harm to the land which feeds you."
"It's no use tryin' to argue me out of it, Jenkins, for you don't know how I've been treated in Benedict. I'll give the British commander all the information in my possession, an' it's enough to be of importance."