The Boy Spies of Philadelphia

"It would be better for the cause if more were of your way of thinking," Greene said in a low tone, and added quickly, "What do you propose to do now?"

"Enlist."

"In what branch of the service?"

"I would like to be with Seth Graydon, and, if possible, shall join his company."

"What does Master Ludwick say to that plan?"

"He has gone to consult with his father, and I am waiting here for his return."

"If he finds old Chris, and complains because he has not been rewarded, I predict that he will come back with a sore body, for our baker-general is a true-blooded American even though he was born in Germany, and will not have any patience with such ideas as his son entertains. Tell me, Enoch Ball, would you be willing to serve your country in another way than by becoming a soldier?"

"I would do anything in my power."

"Now more than ever is it necessary we should know all that is being done in Philadelphia. Clinton is soon to take command of the British army, and no one can guess what his policy will be. It would not be safe for Seth Graydon to volunteer for such work, because the Britishers would hang him off-hand if he ever fell into their clutches; I'm not certain I could trust Master Ludwick implicitly, but I would like you for a comrade."

"But I am known in town."

"Not to so many that it would interfere with your doing all that might be required. If you should return home at once – this very day – it would not be difficult to persuade suspicious ones that you had never left the city."

Enoch was almost frightened by the proposition. He understood how much danger would be attached to such work, and fancied the enemy knew perfectly well who had carried the first information to General Lafayette; but yet he replied in as firm a tone as he could assume:

"I am ready to do anything, or go anywhere that is best for the cause."

"It is bravely spoken, my boy. Do not fear that the enemy are looking for you; I question very much if General Howe or his officers have the slightest idea that any information was carried to General Lafayette, save by the country people who saw the forces on the march. Will you be ready to go back with me this evening?"

"Yes; I only want to see Seth and Jacob a moment, and it is not really necessary I should do even that, for I could leave word I would soon come back."

"There is no reason why you shouldn't wait till Master Ludwick returns, and then I will show you where Seth's regiment is encamped."

Greene seated himself on the ground as if perfectly willing to remain there any length of time, and after tying the horse's bridle to the wheel of a cannon Enoch sat down beside the spy.

"How long have you been doing this kind of work?" he asked.

"Playing the spy, do you mean? I began last fall, when our army went into winter-quarters. There was some fear then that General Howe might take a notion to stir our folks up at a time when they were having about all they could do to keep body and soul together, without thinking of fighting, and I volunteered for the work. It seemed dangerous at first, as it now does to you; but I soon got over that idea, and grew to like the task."

"You would be hanged if captured?"

"True, and it is not a pleasant way of going out of the world; but I am in no more danger of death than if I went into a battle, and some one must do the work."

"Yet Seth was captured the very first time he tried to give our friends information."

"That may be accounted for by the fact that he was not a spy; if he had been he would never have allowed the Continentals to escort him where he might be seen by the enemy. A man engaged in such business does not take any unnecessary chances, and is always on the alert lest his true character be discovered. That which I propose you shall do, however, is not as dangerous as it now appears, and I am positive you will not dislike it. Tell me, have you seen nothing since you met the army to dispel the supposed charm of a soldier's life?"

"I never thought there could be any sport in being a soldier, and what I have seen is only such as I have believed was the fact. Why is it that I have not met more officers?"

"Perhaps because Lafayette's advance was not considered an important movement, and, therefore, he had only his own staff with him. You would see plenty of generals by staying here a few days, and some of them as useless as they are gaudy in dress."

"It seems that you are not friendly with all of them," Enoch said with a smile.

"I am only a private, therefore could not be on intimate terms with the most humble of them; but I have seen very much, and heard more, since I began to play the spy, that shakes my faith in some of the officers under General Washington, and the one I most distrust is he who is next in rank to the commander-in-chief."

"What do you mean?" and now Enoch's curiosity was excited.

"Hark ye, lad, it is not for me to speak against my superior officer, whether he be a captain or a general, but if you and I are to work together you should know it, for I want you to keep your ears open very wide whenever his name is mentioned, particularly by those who are enemies to the cause. He it is that I fear more than I do Howe or Clinton."

"What is his name?"

Greene bent forward that he might whisper in his comrade's ear:

"Charles Lee, senior major-general under our Washington."

"I have heard of him."

"Where?" the spy asked eagerly, as if believing he might hear something to still further confirm his suspicions.

"I can't say; but perhaps it was no more than the mention of his name as one of General Washington's officers. Tell me about him."

"As I said before, it does not become a soldier to speak ill of his superior officer; but you shall hear what the world knows about General Lee. He was formerly in the British army, and served under Burgoyne in Portugal, where he was made lieutenant-colonel. He was with Braddock when that officer was defeated on the banks of the Monongahela, and with Abercrombie at Ticonderoga. After that he lived for some time with the Mohawk Indians, and was such a restless, jealous, quarrelsome man that they gave him the name 'Boiling Water.' He left the king's service, and came over here in '73, claiming to be in sympathy with the colonists, and succeeding so well in his pretensions, or his faith, whichever you choose to call it, that when the Continental army was organized he received a commission as major-general. That didn't satisfy him, patriot though he claimed to be, and he demanded that Congress make good to him any loss he might sustain by reason of having given up his commission with the British army. In '76 Congress loaned him thirty thousand dollars, without any security other than his own name on a bond."

"He got a good price for his services. Why, even General Washington himself hasn't been given that much!"

"No, nor any part of it, outside of his pay. Now what has Lee done for the cause? When General Washington was pursued across New Jersey in '76 by Cornwallis, Lee followed with a heavy force; but although called upon again and again by the commander-in-chief to strike a blow at the pursuers, he refused to obey – or neglected to do so, which amounts to the same thing."

"Why?"

"Perhaps because he hoped some disaster would befall General Washington, and he be given command of the army. Then, long after Cornwallis gave up the chase, Lee hung around New Jersey until he found a chance – that's the way I put it – found a chance to be captured by a small British scouting party, and was taken prisoner to New York. He was soon hand in glove with General Howe and his officers, and there are many of our people who say he told all he knew regarding our condition and plans. Then came the farce of exchanging him for some officer we had captured, and only two weeks or less ago he showed his cloven foot again, according to my way of thinking."

"In what way?"

"The Congress ordered that the oath of allegiance be administered to the officers here at Valley Forge before the beginning of the campaign, and Lee was forced to come up with the others. When he and two or three more had their hands on the Bible, he took his off when General Washington began to read the oath. The commander waited for him to put his hand back, and he withdrew it again before the words could be read. Then General Washington asked what he meant, and he said – these are the very words as they were told me by one who was there – 'As to King George I am ready enough to absolve myself from all allegiance to him, but I have some scruples about the Prince of Wales.'"

"What did he mean by that?"

"According to my idea it was only an excuse to get out of taking the oath, but those present seemed to think it only one of his odd traits, and passed it over as something not to be remembered. I bear it in mind, though, and want you to do the same if you are ever where it is possible to learn anything regarding him."

"But it isn't the duty of a private to watch his superior officers," Enoch ventured to suggest.

"It is in this case, for I look on General Charles Lee as a man who can, and will, if he gets the chance, do more against the cause than even Howe himself."

Enoch was impressed by what Greene had told him; but he did not believe it could ever be possible for him to detect an officer, second in rank only to the commander-in-chief, in treasonable practices. Besides, it appeared to him a very disgraceful duty to impose upon a boy who was not yet a soldier, and, perhaps, would have remonstrated, but that Jacob appeared just at that moment.

Master Ludwick was not looking particularly cheerful, and Greene whispered as he approached:

"I'll venture to say that old Chris the baker has been giving his son a lesson on the patriotic idea of expecting a rich reward whenever he chances to be of service to the cause. Old Chris isn't that sort of a man."

It seemed very much as if the spy was correct in his guess, for Jacob had nothing more to say against enlisting, but appeared anxious to know when Enoch proposed to sign the rolls.

"Have you decided to do so?"

"Yes," was the curt reply.

"To-night?"

"If I don't there won't be much chance of getting rations."

"But I thought you counted on staying with your father?"

"I have changed my mind," Jacob replied as if the subject was not a pleasant one.

"What have you done with your horse?"

"Father thought he ought to be turned over to the army, and then I couldn't be accused of stealing him for my own benefit."

"I reckon I'd better do the same thing," Enoch said, trying not to smile when Greene indulged in an expressive wink. "Where can it be done?"

"I'll show you the ropes, or, what is better, do the business for you," the spy replied. "I reckon you want to see Seth Graydon a spell before we leave?"

"That is what I would like to do."

"Go in that direction," and Greene pointed to the right, "until you have passed a lot of cannon; then turn to the left, and you'll be in the midst of the Jersey boys. I shall find you there, and we'll call on General Dickinson before starting."

"What did he mean?" Jacob asked as the spy walked away with Mr. Wharton's steed. "Are you counting on going anywhere?"

Enoch explained to his comrade what it was Greene had proposed, and concluded by saying:

"We'll have a talk with Seth. If he thinks I can really be of as much service in the city as here, I shall go."

"And I'll be with you! This enlisting ain't what I've always thought it was, and if I can get out of camp without father's knowing it, I'll be all right."

"Without his knowing it? Do you think he would object to your going back?"

"I don't think anything about it, 'cause I know. There's no need of telling any one else, Enoch, but he raised an awful row when I talked about being an officer, and when I said I guessed I wouldn't enlist he flew into a terrible rage. He acted as if it would just suit him for me to be marched out somewhere and shot at."

It was with difficulty Enoch could refrain from laughing at the disconsolate expression on Jacob's face; but he succeeded in checking his mirth sufficiently to say in a sympathetic tone:

"Of course he doesn't want you shot, Jacob; but you must remember how much your father has done for the cause, and I suppose it made him angry when you spoke of being paid for the little we did last night."

"Made him angry? Why, he flew way off, an' I thought one spell that he was going to flog me. If I can get away when you do, it'll be all right."

"I have been told that it isn't possible to walk out of a military camp whenever you choose. You must have a pass, or something of that kind."

"We didn't have any trouble to get in here."

"Not after we told who we were and that we intended to enlist."

"You said that; I didn't."

"Yes; but you came in, and I don't think it will be very easy to get out again unless your father knows you are going."

"Then I shall stay here as long as I live, except that fellow Greene would be willing to say I could do a deal of good in the city. Will you ask him?"

Enoch promised to do as his friend wished, but at the same time he did not believe the spy would be very eager for this addition to the party.

The boys had been walking during the conversation, and by the time it was concluded they had passed the artillery park, arriving at that portion of the encampment where the New Jersey troops were quartered.

Seth was on the lookout for them, and the warmth of his greeting was particularly pleasing to Master Ludwick, who felt decidedly sore in mind.