The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-06-19

lin seeking TO induce America RI desort
her new ally. Franklin had nromntlv
answered:
II would think the destruction Of
u whole country and the -extirnation
of our people preferable to the infamv
of abandoning our allies. We NAV
lose all but we shall act in good faith .
Here again was a new note in the
history of diplomatic intercourse.
Colonel Irons letter to Margaret
Hare, with part of which the reader
Is familiar, was forwarded by Frank
lin to his friend Jonathan Shipley.
Bishop of ST. Asaph, and by him de-
liyered. Another letter, no less vital
to the full completion of the task OF
these pages was found in the faded
packet. 1t is from General Sir Benia-
min Hare to his wife in London and
is dated at New York, January 10.
1850. This is a part of the letter:
Il have a small house neal the bar
racks with u friend Colonel Ware
and the best of negro slaves and ey-
cry comfort. 1t is now a loyal city,
secure from attack, and, but for the
soldiers, n might think it a provin-
cial English town. This war may last
for years and as the sea is, for a time,
quite safe, l have resolved to ask you
and Margaret to take passage on one
of the first troop ships sailing for
New York, after this reaches you. Our
friend Sir Roger and his regiments will
be sailing in March as I am appraised
by a recent letter. l am, by this post,
requesting him to offer you suitable
accommodations and to give you all
possible assistance. The war would
be over now IL Washington would only
fight. His caution is m%addening. His
army is in a desperate plight, but he
will not come out and meet us in the
open. He continues to lean upon the
strength of the hills. But there are
indications that he will be abandoned
by his own army
Those indications were the letters
of n John Anderson, who described
himself as a prominent officer in the
American army. The letters were writ
lGn " oil IlG4AiS 1lllllOI. 1lCy dShGu
for a command in the British army
and limited at the advantage to be de-
rived from facts, of prime Importance,
in the writer's possession.
Margaret and her mother sailed with
Sir Roger Waite and his regiments on
the tenth of March and arrived in New
York on the twenty-sixth of April.
The month of May, 1880, gave Wash
ington about the worst pinch in his
career. 1t was the pinch of hunger.
Supplies had not arrived. Famine had
entered the camp and begun to threat
en- it's life. Soldiers can get along
without pay but they must have food.
Mutiny broke out among the recruits.
In the midst of this trouble, Lafay-
cite, the handsome French marquis,
then twenty-three years old, arrived
his white horse, after a winter in
Paris, bringing word that a fleet and
army from France were heading across
the sea. This news revived the droop-
ing spirit of the army. Soon boats
began to arrive from down the river
with food from the east. The crisis
passed. In the North a quiet summer
followed. The French fleet with six
thousand men under Rochambeau ar
at Newport, July tenth, and
were Immediately blockaded by the
as was a like expedition fitting
out at Brest. Washington could only
hold to his plan of prudent waiting.
On a clear, warm day, late in July
1880, a handsome coach drawn by -four
crossed Kings Ferry and toiled
up the Highland road. 1t carried Ben
edicr Arnold and his wife and their
baggage. Jack and Solomon passed
and recognized them.
"What does that mean, I wonder?'
Jack queried.
Dun know" Solomon answered.
I'm scared about it," said the young
err scout. II am afraid that this
money seeker has the confidence of
Washington. He has been a good
fighting man. That goes a long way
the chief"
Colonel Irons stopped his horse. Il
I'm of half a mind to go back" he de-
"Why?''
81 didn't tell the general half that
Reed said to me. It was so bitter and
yet l believe it was true. l ought to
have told him. Perhaps l ought now
to go and tell him."
"There's time 'nough," said solomon.
till we cit back. Sometimes I've
thought the chief needed advice but
it's allus turned out that l was the
one that needed it."
The rwo horsemen rode on in 81
lence. 1t was the middle of the after
noon of that memorable July day.
They were bound for the neutral ter
ritory between the American and Brit
ish lines, infested by cowboys" from
the South and "skinners" from the