In his dismay, the frantic priest
Began to grow prophetic;
You'd swore, to see his laboring breast,
He'd taken an emetic.
"I view a future day," said he,
"Brighter than this dark day is;
And you shall see what you shall see,
Ha! ha! one pretty Marquis!
"And he shall come to Paulus Hook,
And great achievements think on;
And make a bow and take a look,
Like Satan over Lincoln.
"And every one around shall glory
To see the Frenchman caper;
And pretty Susan tell the story
In the next Chatham paper."
This solemn prophecy, of course,
Gave all much consolation,
Except to Wayne, who lost his horse
Upon that great occasion.
His horse that carried all his prog,
His military speeches,
His corn-stalk whiskey for his grog,
Blue stockings and brown breeches.
And now I've clos'd my epic strain,
I tremble as I show it,
Lest this same warrior-drover, Wayne,
Should ever catch the poet.
John André.
The last stanza was singularly prophetic. The Americans relied for the defence of the Hudson upon the impregnable position at West Point, to the command of which Benedict Arnold had been appointed in July, 1780. Arnold, one of the most brilliant officers in the army, had been treated with great injustice by Congress, and to revenge himself determined to betray West Point into the hands of the British. He therefore opened communication with Clinton, and on September 21 Major André was sent to confer with the traitor. While returning to the British lines the following night, he was captured by an American outpost, who searched him, discovered the papers giving the details of the plot, and took him back to the American lines, refusing his offers of reward for his release.
BRAVE PAULDING AND THE SPY