248
WATT DISCOVERING THE CONDENSATION
OF STEAM, _Marcus Stone_ 256
SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, INVENTOR OF
THE TELEGRAPH, _From a photograph_ 298
CUTTING THE CANAL AT PANAMA, _Melton Prior_ 338
WINDSOR CASTLE, _G. Montbard_ 364
GORDON ATTACKED BY EL MAHDI'S
ARABS, _W. H. Overend_ 388
CUSTER'S LAST FIGHT, _A. R. Ward_ 394
STANLEY SHOOTING THE RAPIDS OF
THE CONGO, _W. H. Overend_ 400
THOMAS A. EDISON--THE WIZARD OF
MENLO PARK, 406

BENEDICT ARNOLD[1]

[Footnote 1: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]

By EDGAR FAWCETT

(1741-1801)

[Illustration: Benedict Arnold.]

Some of Arnold's biographers have declared that he was a very
vicious boy, and have chiefly illustrated this fact by painting him
as a ruthless robber of birds'-nests. But a great many boys who
began life by robbing birds'-nests have ended it much more
creditably. The astonishing and interesting element in Benedict
Arnold's career was what one might term the anomaly and incongruity
of his treason. Born at Norwich, Conn., in 1741, he was blessed from
his earliest years by wholesome parental influences. The education
which he received was an excellent one, considering his colonial
environment. Tales of his boyish pluck and hardihood cannot be
disputed, while others that record his youthful cruelty are
doubtless the coinings of slander. It is certain that in 1755, when
the conflict known as "the old French war" first broke out, he gave
marked proof of patriotism, though as yet the merest lad. Later, at
the very beginning of the Revolution, he left his thriving business
as a West India merchant in New Haven and headed a company of
volunteers. Before the end of 1775 he had been made a commissioned
colonel by the authorities of Massachusetts, and had marched through
a sally-port, capturing the fortress of Ticonderoga, with tough old
Ethan Allen at his side and 83 "Green Mountain Boys" behind him.
Later, at the siege of Quebec, he behaved with splendid courage.
Through great difficulties and hardships he dauntlessly led his band
to the high-perched and almost impregnable town. Pages might be
filled in telling how toilsome was this campaign