QUARTERS, SOMERVILLE, MASS.]

Lee himself was at this time an object of unfriendly espionage. In a
"separate and secret despatch," Lord Dartmouth instructed General Gage
to have a special eye on the ex-English officer. That Lee had resigned
his claim to emolument in the English army does not seem to have made
his countrymen as clear as it should have done concerning his relation
to their cause.

Meanwhile, General Lee, though sleeping in his wind-swept farmhouse and
watching from its windows the movements of the British, indulged when
opportunity offered in the social pleasures of the other American
officers. Rough and unattractive in appearance,--he seems to have been a
kind of Cyrano de Bergerac, "a tall man, lank and thin, with a huge
nose,"--he had, when he chose, a certain amount of social grace, and was
often extremely entertaining.

Mrs. John Adams, who first met General Lee at an evening party at Major
Mifflin's house in Cambridge, describes him as looking like a "careless,
hardy veteran," who brought to her mind his namesake, Charles XII. "The
elegance of his pen far exceeds that of his person," commented this
acute lady. In further describing this evening spent at Major Mifflin's
home, in the Brattle mansion, Mrs. Adams writes: "General Lee was very
urgent for me to tarry in town, and dine with him and the ladies
present, but I excused myself. The general was determined that I should
not only be acquainted with him, but with his companions, too, and
therefore placed a chair before me, into which he ordered Mr. Spada (his
dog) to mount, and present his paw to me for better acquaintance."[2]
Lee was very fond indeed of dogs, and was constantly attended by one or
more of them, this Spada being a great, shaggy Pomeranian, described by
unbiased critics as looking more like a bear than a harmless canine. In
this connection, it is interesting to know that Lee has expressed
himself very strongly in regard to the affection of men as compared with
the affection of dogs.

This love for dogs was, however, one of the more ornamental of General
Lee's traits. His carelessness in regard to his personal appearance was
famous, and not a few amusing stories are told of the awkward situations
in which this officer's slovenliness involved him. On one of
Washington's journeys, in which Lee accompanied him, the major-general,
upon arriving at the house where they were to dine, went straight to the
kitchen and demanded something