e
table.)

SWINDON (aghast). Since yesterday!

BURGOYNE. Since two o'clock this morning. Perhaps WE shall be in their
hands before two o'clock to-morrow morning. Have you thought of that?

SWINDON (confidently). As to that, General, the British soldier will
give a good account of himself.

BURGOYNE (bitterly). And therefore, I suppose, sir, the British officer
need not know his business: the British soldier will get him out of all
his blunders with the bayonet. In future, sir, I must ask you to be a
little less generous with the blood of your men, and a little more
generous with your own brains.

SWINDON. I am sorry I cannot pretend to your intellectual eminence,
sir. I can only do my best, and rely on the devotion of my countrymen.

BURGOYNE (suddenly becoming suavely sarcastic). May I ask are you
writing a melodrama, Major Swindon?

SWINDON (flushing). No, sir.

BURGOYNE. What a pity! WHAT a pity! (Dropping his sarcastic tone and
facing him suddenly and seriously) Do you at all realize, sir, that we
have nothing standing between us and destruction but our own bluff and
the sheepishness of these colonists? They are men of the same English
stock as ourselves: six to one of us (repeating it emphatically), six
to one, sir; and nearly half our troops are Hessians, Brunswickers,
German dragoons, and Indians with scalping knives. These are the
countrymen on whose devotion you rely! Suppose the colonists find a
leader! Suppose the news from Springtown should turn out to mean that
they have already found a leader! What shall we do then? Eh?

SWINDON (sullenly). Our duty, sir, I presume.

BURGOYNE (again sarcastic--giving him up as a fool). Quite so, quite
so. Thank you, Major Swindon, thank you. Now you've settled the
question, sir--thrown a flood of light on the situation. What a comfort
to me to feel that I have at my side so devoted and able an officer to
support me in this emergency! I think, sir, it will probably relieve
both our feelings if we proceed to hang this dissenter without further
delay (he strikes the bell), especially as I am debarred by my
principles from the customary military vent for my feelings. (The
sergeant appears.) Bring your man in.

SERGEANT. Yes, sir.

BURGOYNE. And mention to any officer you may meet that the court cannot
wait any longer for him.

SWINDON (keeping his temper with difficulty). The staff is perfectly
ready, sir. They have been waiting your convenience for fully half