style="font-size:15px;"> In this expedition he goes to his urn; You call me a fool if he ever return.Maj. Andre. The application of this I must take to myself, I suppose. Fie upon you, lady; you need to divert me with merry jokes and a strain of wit peculiar to yourself. You now are pensive, demure, and melancholy. You make me so, too.
Lucinda. Yonder comes Sir Henry. I suppose he has some private business with you. I must retire. [Exit Lucinda. Enter Sir Henry and others
Maj. Andre. How do your Excellencies? Will you please to sit?
Sir Henry. Till you return from this important errand
I am a slave to impatience, Major Andre.
I beg you would this night equip with speed, And on an eagle's wings to Arnold haste. The frigate lies at single anchor ready,
And winds propitious to our purpose blow. But hark ye, friend, and tell the general then That if he can by any means at all,
On any artful, plausible pretence,
So manage matters and with such address
As to entice the great Americ chief,
At that same hour the fort is yielded to us, There to be present on some feigned business, That so we may be master of his person,
Tell him if he does this his pay is double.
Besides ten thousand guineas we have promised,[Pg 58] Ten thousand more with gratitude I'll pay,
And think him cheaply bought. He is the soul, The great upholder of this long contention.
I dread his prudence and his courage more Than all the armies that the Congress raise, Than all the troops or all the ships of France.
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Maj. Andre. Well thought! I shall obey your Excellency. It is a bold and dangerous undertaking,
'Tis hazardous, but not impossible.
To win on this great chief--'tis a bright thought. He'll think himself as safe at West Point Fort
As in the bosom of his spacious camp, And therefore will not hesitate to come Only attended by a score of guards.
The same attempt may seize the fort and him.
Sir Henry. And be precise to fix the time, when we
Must take possession of the citadel. Against the hour that I expect you back
Five thousand troops shall be embarked and ready
To execute whatever plan you fix on.
[Exit Sir Henry. Reenter Lucinda with a handkerchief to her eyes
Maj. Andre. The time is come that is appointed for my departure. It is impossible that even beauty or wit or tears can now withhold me from my purpose. I have promised his Excellency and now to hesitate would prove me to be a coward, one altogether unworthy to be trusted with any business that requires wit and dexterity.
Lucinda. Your resolution is fixed, and I do not desire you to fall from it; only if heaven should so order that any fatal accident befall you, remember the unfortunate Lucinda. She sends her good wishes along[Pg 59] with you, and prays for all imaginable prosperity on every undertaking in which Major Andre bears a part.
Maj. Andre. My thanks to you, my dearest. If a heart so good as thine petition heaven for my safety, I have nothing to fear. Thy prayers are my guardian angels, and will protect me in every danger. My honour calls me and I must go. Give me a parting kiss, my dear. Adieu, adieu.
[He leaves her
Now native courage warm my wavering breast,
And fires of resolution blaze within me, For I must on a dangerous errand go, With secret cunning to deceive the foe,
Whose active souls in dire connections meet, Where one false step my ruin makes complete. Ye guardian powers that still protect the brave, Some pity on distressed Britain have.
By me she seeks some portion to regain
Of her lost empire, tried so oft in vain.
But dreadful scenes before my eyes appear, And dangers thicken as they draw more near. But soft--no dangers can my heart appal,
I have a soul that can despise them all. More than an equal chance for life I see,
But life and death must be the same to me. [Exit
Act III.
Scene I.--Robinson's house. A stormy night. Arnold. Pasquin. Arnold. How looks the weather?
Pasquin. Stormy, sir; very stormy; it blows terrifically and there is heavy rain.
Arnold. Pasquin! Pasquin. Sir.[Pg 60]
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Arnold. Tell the sentries upon duty to-night that I expect a gentleman of my acquaintance here about ten o'clock. When he comes to the outer gate, bid one of them conduct him to my apartment.
Pasquin. Your honour shall be obeyed. [Exit
Arnold (solus). Peace to this gloomy grove that sees me acting
What open daylight would disdain to own. Ye wood, be witness of my dark designs, And shade me o'er, ye lofty eminences; Tremendous gloom, encompass me around
In clouds that wing from Greenland's foggy caves, Plutonian darkness on your pinions bring,
Conceal my base intent from human view, And be the daylight still a stranger to it. Storm on, ye wind, the tempest that ye make In the broad regions of the troubled ether
Is quiet to the tumult of my soul! Departing honour,--take thy last adieu,
'Tis this night's deed that stamps me for a villain. Who comes there?
[Enter Pasquin
Pasquin. Sir, there is a traveller just alighted at Sergeant Jones's quarters, who desires to know whether he can have a little private conference with you, and asked me whether you were alone or no.
Arnold. A traveller? How is he dressed?
Pasquin. He has on a plain suit of blue clothes, a cocked beaver hat and draw boots. He rides a common bay horse, and by his general appearance one would suppose him to be a commissary, or perhaps a quarter-master.
Arnold. How came you to know all these particulars; the night being so dark and stormy?
Pasquin. I had a glimpse of him by means of a[Pg 61] lanthorn we carried out when he got off his horse. Over all, I forgot to mention, he had a fear-naught riding coat.
Arnold. A plain blue suit, you say? Pasquin. Yes.
Arnold. And draw boots? Pasquin. Yes.
Arnold. And wore he sword?
Pasquin. No; he had no sword, that I saw.
Arnold. And what aspect is he? Is he a well-looking
