“Pray don’t breathe a word of this to a living soul, for I had it privately and in strict confidence. Congress was to make Colonel Conway a brigadier, but General Washington interfered, and said that he thought him an unsafe man and scarcely to be trusted with an important command.”
There was an astonished buzz at this, and then an outbreak of low-voiced chatter. During this Ben was observing Conway; he, too, felt repelled by the man’s swaggering, arrogant manner, though he had not yet overheard a word he said. Suddenly, as he watched he saw a tall man with powerful features approach the Irish-Frenchman; they greeted each other eagerly, and as they did so Ben watched the tall man with eyes full of interested recognition. After a moment or two of watching he turned to Betsy.
“And who is that, so closely engaged with Colonel Conway?”
Betsy glanced at the person indicated.
“That is a gentleman from the South,” she said. “Savannah, I think, is his town; and he has been attracted by the Congress and other things, perhaps, in the city most of the winter. He is a great friend of Samuel Livingstone, the merchant. They have known each other a great while, or at least I think I’ve heard it so said. His name is Tobias Hawkins.”
Ben regarded Tobias Hawkins for a moment more.
“Master Samuel Livingstone vouched for the gentleman, eh?” he said, musingly.
Betsy looked at him in surprise.
“Why, yes,” she said. “And why not, seeing that they are such old friends?”
“Ah, why not, indeed?” said Ben.