I made no request, but I looked suggestively at the British prisoners. The sergeant, who was all for obliging me, took the hint at once. He picked out the very best uniform in the lot, and made the man who wore it exchange it for Chudleigh’s old clothes. Chudleigh, who had been learning wisdom in the last day or two, was considerate enough to keep his mouth shut, and we parted from the sergeant and his troop with many mutual expressions of good will. The uniform did not fit Chudleigh, nor was it that of an officer, but these were minor details to which no attention would be paid in the press of a great campaign.
The matter of the uniform disposed of, we pressed forward with renewed spirit, and soon reached the first sentinels of our army, which we found surrounding that of Burgoyne. It was with great satisfaction that I delivered Chudleigh to my colonel.
The colonel was delighted at the recapture, and praised me with such freedom that I began, to have a budding suspicion that I ought to be commander in chief of the army. However, I made no mention of the suspicion. Instead, I suggested to the colonel that as Chudleigh had escaped once, he might escape again, and it would be well to exchange him for some officer of ours whom the British held.
The colonel took to the idea, and said he would speak to the general about it. In the morning he told me it would be done, and I immediately asked him for the favor of taking Chudleigh into the British camp, saying that as I had been his jailer so much already, I would like to continue in that capacity until the end.
The colonel was in great good humor with me, and he granted the request forthwith. As I left to carry out the business, he said, “The exchange is well enough, but we’ll probably have your man back in a few days.”
In truth it did look rather odd that the British should be exchanging prisoners with us upon what we regarded as the unavoidable eve of their surrender, but they chose to persevere in the idea that we were yet equal enemies. Nevertheless, the coils of our army were steadily tightening around them. All the fords were held by our troops. Our best sharpshooters swept the British camp, and it is no abuse of metaphor to say that Burgoyne’s army was rimmed around by a circle of fire.
I found Chudleigh reposing under a tree, and told him to get up and start with me at once.
“What new expedition is this?” he asked discontentedly. “Can not I be permitted to rest a little? I will not try to escape again?”