“Do you know this person?” he asked.
Tom flushed. “I answer with shame,” said he, “he is my cousin.”
“There,” cried Mark, “did I not say he knew me. Ask him about my likelihood to have valuable information; he can tell you.”
“Silence!” broke in General de Lafayette, angrily.
“He is my cousin,” repeated Tom, steadily. “He is a Tory and was a companion of Clarage, Fannin and Gainey in Carolina.”
“Ah!” Washington’s eyes flashed as he listened. “So he was leagued with those ruffians! Well, that he should now turn traitor is no more than might have been expected.”
“What disposition shall we make of him, general?” inquired Captain Lacey, his hand on Mark Harwood’s shoulder.
“Drive him back to the British lines,” said Washington, briefly.
“No, no,” cried Mark, in sudden panic, “not that! Why, they would have no mercy upon me now; they would shoot me at sight.”
“Take him away,” said de Lafayette, shortly.