But the men were firm. They made him sit down, his boots were drawn off, and the plans that Ar-nold gave him were brought to light.
Paul-ding looked at them and cried out,
"He is a spy!"
He then asked An-dré where he had got these plans. "From a man at Pine Bridge" he said; "a man whom I did not know."
As he put on his clothes An-dré begged the men to let him go. He would pay them a large sum, and stay with two of the men while one went to New York to get it.
Here Paul-ding broke in, "Keep your gold! We want none of it. Were it ten times as much, you should not stir one step!"
An-dré had to yield to his fate, and was led by the men to our post which was ten or twelve miles off. An-dré rode on horse-back with one man in front, and one at each side.
At noon they came to a farm-house, and those who dwelt there sat at the mid-day meal. The house-wife, whose heart was touched by a sight of An-dré's youth and look of grief, asked him to draw near and take some of the food. Then as she caught sight of his gold-laced coat, the good dame said that she knew it was poor fare for such as he, but it was the best she had.
Poor An-dré shook his head, and said, "Oh, it is all good, but in-deed I can-not eat!"
When the four reached the out-post and Jame-son, who was in charge, saw the plans that had been found on An-dré, he at once saw that they had been drawn up by the hand of Ben-e-dict Ar-nold.