“What, Marquis, I thought you were wild to meet our general. And here he is and you have not even so much as a look for him.”
Turning, his face alight, the next moment Lafayette was face to face with Washington for the first time, and listening to the calm, steady voice which he was afterward to hear so often in the press of battle.
LAFAYETTE WAS FACE TO FACE
WITH WASHINGTON
Soon there was quite a throng about the two. The fame of the young nobleman, who so loved freedom that he would give up all that most men covet in order that he might cross a sea and strike a blow for a stranger race, was all about the city. For the most part the foreigners who offered themselves were professional soldiers who sought the power and emoluments of rank. But here was one wholly different; he already had rank and fortune; he desired only to serve.
The admiration of Washington was plainly visible; he applauded this youth for his unselfishness; he loved him from the first for his high heart and noble generosity.
But on the outskirts of the throng there was a little group in which no sympathy for the meeting seemed to find a place. In this party Ben saw the cold face of General Mifflin, the vain, handsome countenance of General Gates, and the reckless, selfish one of Colonel Conway. These three gazed at the little scene before them with eyes totally unresponsive; they whispered, exchanged looks of unbelief and smiles which scarcely concealed the sneers behind them. These things alone aroused Ben Cooper’s resentment; but there was a chill at his heart, a feeling of vague fear, as he saw the satisfaction upon the face of the man in the rear of the three. And that man was Master Tobias Hawkins.
CHAPTER X
SHOWS HOW THE FIGHT AT BRANDYWINE WAS
LOST, AND HOW BEN BORE THE TIDINGS TO
PHILADELPHIA
Having made up his mind that nothing could be gained by seeking to draw Washington into a trap, General Howe finally decided upon a plan and embarked his troops. What he would do was a matter for speculation in the American army; every one wondered where the next blow would fall. Thinking that Philadelphia must be the point aimed at, Washington once more crossed the Delaware and took up a position at Germantown. While here the tidings came that the British troop ships had entered Chesapeake Bay, and that Howe’s army would disembark at the head of the Elk River.
At this news the Tories in Philadelphia became overbold, and thinking to put them down by a display of power, Washington on the way southward marched his array through Front and along Chestnut Streets with bands playing and colors flying. There were some twelve thousand of them, while the British, whom they were advancing to check, numbered almost twenty thousand, with powerful artillery.