It was noon of the 19th when Enoch received the expected summons, and then, to his surprise and delight, Greene entered the house.
"I came with an order from General Arnold," he said in reply to Enoch's eager question, "and you are to carry a message from him to General Dickinson, while I return to the main army."
"Has Washington moved from Valley Forge?"
"Certainly. He started for Coryell's Ferry[F] last night. Day before yesterday Generals Maxwell and Dickinson left camp in order to be ready to harass the enemy during his march, and are now somewhere near the river; but it is impossible to say just at what point they may be found. You are to report to General Arnold at once, and will be furnished by him with a horse and equipment in order to enable you to reach the New Jersey troops. Clinton, so it is reported, left Haddonfield this morning, moving in the direction of Mount Holly, and the general impression is that he intends to pass through New Brunswick. Keep that fact well in mind, for it is somewhere on the west side of his line that you will find General Dickinson, and you must not approach sufficiently near to run the risk of being captured."
"What am I to do after the message has been delivered?" Enoch asked.
"That I cannot say."
"Am I to be allowed to enlist?"
"The order which General Washington gave at Valley Forge is still in force, and you will most likely be considered an aid so long as your services are required—very likely until the army is united. Now I propose to ask your mother for a dinner, although there is no lack of rations in the Continental camp; but it is the last opportunity I shall have for some time of enjoying her extraordinarily good cooking. You must tuck a generous meal under your vest this day, because you won't get another like it for many days to come."
As a matter of course Enoch told his friend of the previous morning's adventures, when he had aided Lord Gordon, and after the story was finished Greene said emphatically:
"It was a good day's work you did, lad, and that is a precious deal more than I would say if you'd helped any other British officer out of town. Gordon, even though he is a lord and an enemy, is an honest kind of a man, and after the spirit he has shown I'd be sorry to see him a prisoner."