“Very well. I will not detain you to write a letter. Merely say to the general that fifty thousand dollars will be on its way to him in a swift carriage by the time your message is delivered.”
Seeing that there was no more to be said, Ben saluted the financier, military fashion, and started at a brisk pace for the City Tavern. Within an hour both he and the Porcupine had breakfasted and were in the saddle, headed for Washington’s camp on the upper Delaware.
CHAPTER IV
HOW GOOD NEWS CAME TO TRENTON
The two young riders clung to the western side of the river upon the return journey; it is true that panic, after the disaster at Trenton, had cleared the stations below of the Hessians, but Ben knew that a British army would soon be on its way to attempt to drive Washington back, and he did not feel at all sure that the enemy were not in possession of Burlington and Bordentown once more.
Some distance above Bristol they detected a small party of horsemen on the road ahead, and approached slowly, their pistols ready at hand. But the sharp eyes of Ben Cooper soon made out the party, and he gave a laugh of satisfaction.
“It’s Nat and the two Prentiss boys,” he said. “Out on a scout, I suppose.”
The three youths mentioned had recognized them about the same time, and now came on with shouts of greeting.
“What news?” asked Ben of the most stalwart of the three, a lad with bronzed face and keen eye.
“The army has recrossed the river,” replied Nat Brewster. “The last of them went over early to-day.”
“What of the enemy?” demanded the Porcupine, still fingering his huge pistol.