. Wit bought; or, The life and adventures of Robert Merry . dmire the wonderful beautyof the trees that clothed the sides of themountain. The next day we passed by a lofty cliff,called West Point, where old Fort Putnamis situated, and where there is now an aca-demy in which young men receive a militaryeducation. This was a famous place in therevolutionary war. Here was the scene ofBenedict Arnolds treachery. He was in-trusted with the command of this fort byWashington, who had great confidence inhim; but Arnold was a bad man, and hesecretly agreed to give up the fort to theBritish, if they wou
. Wit bought; or, The life and adventures of Robert Merry . dmire the wonderful beautyof the trees that clothed the sides of themountain. The next day we passed by a lofty cliff,called West Point, where old Fort Putnamis situated, and where there is now an aca-demy in which young men receive a militaryeducation. This was a famous place in therevolutionary war. Here was the scene ofBenedict Arnolds treachery. He was in-trusted with the command of this fort byWashington, who had great confidence inhim; but Arnold was a bad man, and hesecretly agreed to give up the fort to theBritish, if they would pay him a large sum ofmoney, and give him a command in theirarmy. Major Andre, a British officer, cameup the river from New York, and met Ar-nold one night to arrange the scheme. On his return, Andre* was captured bysome Americans, and brought before Wash-ington. He was tried as a spy, and, beingconvicted, was sentenced to death, this be-ing according to the usages of war. Andrdwas a fne young officer, and Washington - HO2! cc 3 H — r*» a oo CO § H. Pli MAJOR ANDHE. 113 wished very much to save his life. But thishe could not accomplish consistently withhis duty to his country. Andre was confined at a house in the townof Bedford, next to Salem, and my friendMat Olmsted recollected perfectly well tohave seen him there. He described him asa tall young man, with blue eyes, his hairpowdered white, and wearing a red told me a great many stories abouthim. He said all the people were very sorrythat he should be executed. When he pass-ed along between the files of soldiers to thescaffold, there was scarcely an individualwho did not weep. Tears even rolled downthe rugged cheeks of the soldiers, who hadbeen accustomed to scenes of battle andbloodshed. Andre alone seemed firm and walked erect, and such was his presenceof mind when he ascended the scaffold, thathappening to soil his coat by pressing againstone of the posts, he calmly took out hishandkerchief
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