sed, and,
dropping their masks, to the horror of Rugsdale, and the agreeable
surprise of Washington, his own brave party, whom he had left in charge
of the barge, stood revealed before him.

"'Seize that traitor!' exclaimed the commander. 'In ten minutes from
this moment let him be a spectacle between the heavens and the earth.'
The wife and daughter clung to his knees in supplication, but an
irrevocable oath had passed his lips that never should treason receive
his forgiveness after that of the miscreant Arnold. 'For my own life,'
he said, while tears rolled down his noble countenance at the agony of
the wife and daughter: 'For my own life I heed not; but the liberty of
my native land--the welfare of millions demand this sacrifice. For the
sake of humanity, I pity him; but my oath is recorded, and now in the
presence of Heaven, I swear I will not forgive him.'

"Like a thunderbolt fell these words upon the wife and daughter. They
sank lifeless into the hands of the domestics, and when they had
recovered to consciousness, Rugsdale had atoned for his treason by the
sacrifice of his life.

"It appears that the Indian girl, who was an especial favourite and
domesticated in the family, had overheard the intentions of Rugsdale to
betray the American General, and other valuable officers, that evening,
into the hands of the British, for which purpose they had been invited
to this 'feast of Judas.' Hating, in her heart, the enemies of America,
who had driven her tribe from their native forests, she resolved to
frustrate the design, and consequently waylaid the steps of Washington,
as we have described, but failing in her noble purpose, she had recourse
to the party left in possession of the boat.

"Scarcely had she given the information, and night closed round, when a
company of British soldiers were discovered making their way rapidly
towards the banks of the Hudson, within a short distance of the spot
where the American party was waiting the return of their commander. Bold
in the cause of liberty, and knowing that immediate action alone could
preserve him, they rushed upon and overpowered them, bound them hand and
foot, placed them with their companions, and sent them to the American
camp at West Point. Having disguised themselves in the habiliments of
the enemy, they proceeded to the house of Rugsdale, where, at the
appointed time and sign made known by the Indian, they opportunely
arrived to the relief of Washington, an