om New
Jersey."

"So perishes your dream of a duchy!" she exclaimed.

"No. West Point is the most important post on the American side. It is
the connecting link between New England and the rest of the colonies. It
was the prize which Johnny Burgoyne was prevented from obtaining by me.
It commands the Hudson River and opens the way to upper New York and
Canada. It is the most strategic position in America, stored with
immense quantities of ammunition and believed to be impregnable. Without
doubt it is the most critical point in the American line."

"Bah! You need an army. Albemarle had an army. Marlborough had an army.
Of what use is a fortress with a large force still in the field? It's
the army that counts, I tell you. Territory, forts, cities mean nothing.
It's the size of the army that wins the war."

"I know it, but what can I do?"

He conceded the point.

"Insist on your former post," she advised.

He thought awhile and began to whistle softly to himself as he tapped
his finger tips one against the other.

"Listen," she continued. "There is some reason for this transfer at the
eleventh hour. Are you dense enough not to see it? Some one has reached
Washington's ear and whispered a secret. Else that order would never
have been written."

"Washington believes only what is true. Always has he trusted and
defended me from the vilifications of my enemies, knowing that these
reports only emanated from jealous and unscrupulous hearts. My leg has
caused this change of command; I know it."

She looked at him in scorn. She could not believe he could be so simple.

"Your leg! What has your leg to do with it? Once you are astride your
horse you are safe. And don't you think for one minute that Clinton is a
fool. He does not want you. I dare say if the truth were known, he has
no respect for you either. It is your command which is of value to him,
and the more authority you can master, the more valuable you become.
Then you can dictate your own terms instead of bargaining them away."

"It would realize nothing to attempt a protest. A soldier asks no
questions. Whatever I may be, I am still a soldier."

"As you will."

She shrugged her shoulders, and folded her arms.

"West Point it is," she observed, "but General Clinton may reconsider
his proposition. I would not be too sure."

"I am sure he will be satisfied with West Point. With that post he might
easily end the war. Anderson will write me soon again. I te