“He would be a trifle astonished to see us here,” said the dragoon with another laugh, in which the big man joined.
“And scarcely pleased, I fancy,” said Hyde.
“Not pleased!” There was incredulity in the other’s voice. “Not pleased to know that you’ve really been a king’s man all along, and not a rebel. Oh, come now.”
Hyde a king’s man! George’s knife fell with a clatter to the floor, so great was his amazement.
“What I say is more likely than not to be a fact,” answered Hyde. “Herbert, it seems, made no real interest with the old gentleman in shifting his colors. I saw that long since. You see,” with a sneer in his voice, “my worthy uncle is one of those who prefer what they call principle to the gaining of victory.”
“Absurd!” growled the burly man. There was a pause, then he continued in another tone: “But it seems to me that you have made your real sympathies known too soon. The rebellion is not yet put down. If you had remained with Washington’s army, you would have——”
“He would have graced the end of a rope,” said Henderson. “And I should have borne him company.”
“Ah! They suspected you, then?”
“They were only waiting to make sure,” said Hyde. “I got wind of a letter written by Tryon to Matthews in which I was referred to—not by name, to be sure, but near enough to be dangerous. That told me that my stay in the American lines was limited.”
“Tryon is an idiot,” commented the dragoon. “How a man can so trust intimate matters to pen and ink is more than I can understand.”