In a very few words Tom told him of his capture of the British brigadier, the ambush, and the prisoner’s cry when he found himself safe with his friends once more.
The general’s keen eyes flashed. “What was he like—your prisoner?” he demanded. “Describe him!” and Tom began to tell what he could remember. But almost at the first word General de Lafayette came to his feet with a spring, and his clinched fist struck the table a blow that made it dance.
“It was he,” came from his lips in almost a shout. “It was the arch-traitor Benedict Arnold himself! He is here with Phillips, and is leaving a trail of rapine behind him.” The marquis clapped Tom on the back, as he continued, regretfully: “My boy, you have escaped fame by a hair’s breadth; by to-night’s work on the road you came within the wink of an eye of writing your name with your sword-point upon the pages of your country’s history!”
CHAPTER XVIII
HOW TOM DEERING RODE WITH WASHINGTON AT YORKTOWN
Tom remained with Lafayette in Virginia for some time.
“Your orders,” the general had said to him, “are to make all speed to General Washington’s camp, are they not?”
“Yes, general,” answered the scout.
“Then, you will make more speed by remaining where you are for a time. To attempt to win your way through the country north of here would be folly at this time—you would lose both your dispatches and your life.”
“But,” protested Tom, “my orders were such as to——”
“Your orders were to deliver the dispatches to General Washington,” spoke Lafayette, quietly. “And if you ride north now, it will be as though you desired the papers to fall into the hands of the enemy.” He smiled at the young scout’s indignant expression. “You love your country’s cause, I feel sure of that; but it is one thing to be brave and another thing to be foolish. Wait; in a few weeks, or days, perhaps, by hard riding and great caution you might get through. But at this time the attempt would be suicide.”