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The young soldier was for some time so completely overwhelmed by the tide of feeling, by resentment for the death of his father, and a burning desire to avenge it, that he was completely unconscious of his terrible situation. At length he recovered and found himself strongly chained to a gun-carriage in the lower part of the ship. From the port-hole near him, he could see the blazing ruins of his father's residence, and amongst the melancholy collection of persons upon the shore, could be distinguished the form of Flora Summers in an attitude of the most appalling wretchedness. But, when he saw the corpse of his father, conveyed from the scene of his massacre to a place of burial near to the dwelling, his feelings were aroused to madness; he furiously endeavoured to burst the chain which bound him, but it defied his efforts, until exhausted and deadened by the weight of his misery, he sunk into a state of utter insensibility. Many hours elapsed ere he recovered; and when he came to a full possession of his senses, he found that he was in the same spot, and from the hoarse bawling of commands above upon deck, and the dashing of the waves against the bow of the vessel, he conjectured that they were under sail, but whither, he knew not. At his side were placed a light and some refreshments, and near to him sat a British soldier, apparently for the purpose of a guard. Edgar's uncomfortable situation forbid all thought of taking any refreshment. He observed, after some short time, that the soldier gazed upon him with an expression of deep feeling, in which pity and sympathy seemed to predominate.

Caught by the man's behaviour, Edgar at length indulged a hope that some information might be obtained as to his destination and fate. He was about to address him for this purpose, when the stranger, as if anticipating his intention, put his finger on his lips and pointed to the farther side of the vessel: Edgar looked, and beheld the indistinct figure of an officer.

The behaviour of the guard in the last instance, inspired our hero with the strongest hopes. He watched the motions of the eve's-dropping officer with the most intense anxiety. At length, to his great relief, he retired, and in a low whisper he enquired of his guard the full nature of his situation. "Unless I `release you," replied the guard, in the same tone, "your fate is sealed." "They do not intend to put me to death,” exclaimed the young soldier. "I know not," said the other, "I rather think to the contrary; but, if you are not hanged, you will be carried to England, or put on board a prison ship, either of which alternatives, Heaven knows, is bad enough." "There is something in your manner," said Edgar, "which prompts me to believe, in spite of circumstances, that you are my friend. For the sake of humanity, my dear fellow, if you can by any means save me from the horrible fate which awaits me, do so. If you can imagine the situation of an only son, whose mother is made a widow by the blow of an enemy; if you can sympathise with one who is torn from a beloved mistress, and from every thing which renders life worthy of enjoyment, you can fully appreciate my situation, and relieve

me from it." "Young man," said the guard, "do you see the uniform which I wear?" Edgar's spirits again sunk to the lowest state of depression. "Know, then," said the soldier, in continuation, "that it covers the body of one who is as great an enemy to the cause which he at present serves, as the most obstinate leader in the American camp." "Then, in the name of honour," exclaimed the young soldier, "Silence," interrupted the` other, in a deep whisper, "you will ruin us both if you speak so loud. Know, then, that if the cause for which I wear this disguise, were known, I would soon feed the fish of this river. Heard you ever, in your travels to the South, of a Sergeant in Lee's Legion by the name of Champ?" "I did,” replied the other. "I think it was but a few months since that it was rumoured through Washington's troop, to which I belonged, that a man by that name had become a traitor, and left the Legion to join the enemy at New-York." "You see that man before. you," replied the soldier. "I did leave the Legion, and join the enemy, but although it was as a deserter, it was not as a traitor." "I know not how to understand you," replied Edgar: "from your words and manner, I am inclined to believe you, but your language and conduct are irreconcileable." "Before I relate the strange circumstances attending my departure from the troop," replied the soldier, "I must see that no one is near; for, if I were overheard, it would be but a short distance for me from hence to the yard arm." So saying, he slowly arose, and walking to the stairs which led up the hatch

way, he listened for some time, but hearing nothing likely to interrupt him, be returned to his seat, and placing the light so as to throw himself and the prisoner in dark shadow, in a tone almost impossible to be heard by any person who might enter, he commenced his narration. "It was during the course of last summer," said the soldier, "when the Legion was stationed in the neighbourhood of New-York, that Major Lee communicated to me the wish of the Commander in Chief that I should undertake a very dangerous enterprize; which was nothing more nor less than going as a deserter from the Legion to New-York, for the purpose of acting with some others in making a prisoner of General Arnold, and thereby saving the life of Major Andre, who was condemned to death as a spy. There were other circumstances related to me, which contained much to urge the necessity of my going. 1 was, as you perhaps know, Sergeant Major to the troop, and my reluctance to leave it in the light of a deserter, was very great; besides, the danger of being caught in the act, was considerable: however, I was willing to go through fire and flood for Major Lee, and when I was furthermore informed that promotion would be the consequence of my attempt, I at once determined upon accepting the proposal.

"It is unnecessary to relate to you the difficulties and dangers attendant upon my escape; it is sufficient to state that my desertion was immediately discovered, and I was closely pursued by a party from my own troop. I was compelled to leave my horse and swim the river, to prevent my pursuers from

putting me to death. A couple of British galleys were lying in the river, and seeing from my situation that I was a deserter, they opened their guns upon my pursuers and compelled them to abandon me. You may readily conceive that my sensations while I was thus flying before my own comrades, in the light of a traitor, and in the momentary expectation of being cut down while I was in reality as true to my cause as ever, were not of a nature in any degree pleasant. But to proceed: I was by my request soon taken to New-York, and by a course of intrigue and manoeuvering, succeeded in procuring unlimited permission to visit the traitor Arnold. I was compelled to enlist in the British service for the purpose of succeeding in my views. This was the severest trial of all; to be compelled to serve with men who were my sworn foes, and against whom every nerve in my body was strung with hatred, was a trial to which I could not easily submit. However, I was to every purpose a British soldier, and in that capacity, made arrangements for carrying the object of my desertion into effect. After a variety of vexatious delays, I at length congratulated myself upon a speedy and brilliant termination of my success. But alas! in the mean time, the gallant young soldier, who was the victim of Arnold's treachery, had been put upon his trial, found guilty, and hung. This was the principal event which my capture of Arnold was designed to prevent; it was the sworn design of my enterprize, and now that I was disappointed in effecting it, was truly galling. I persevered in my

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