The Loyalist: A Story of the American RevolutionBarrett, James Francis
History
The Loyalist: A Story of the American Revolution
Barrett, James Francis
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Fiction
The minute details of the attempted plot had not filtered into
Philadelphia when a demonstration had begun in celebration of its
frustration. Spontaneously and exuberantly the citizens of the city
gathered in the public square and for several hours the joy-making
continued with unabated energy and enthusiasm. Like a flash it seemed
that the full realization of what this news had meant broke like a
rushing tide upon their consciousness. The country had been threatened;
but the danger had been averted.
In a few hours the streets were mad with hundreds of people singing and
shouting and marching in unrestrained glee. Bulletins had been posted in
the public square acquainting the people of the great facts, yet this
did not begin to equal the amount of news which had been relayed from
mouth to mouth and grew in detail and magnitude as it went. Chains,
trays, broken iron were dragged in rattling bundles up and down the
streets amid the laughs and cheers of the mass of humanity that had
swarmed upon the roadways and sidewalks.
Marjorie and her father were among the early arrivals on Market Street.
Little by little items of information came to them as they alternately
talked with their many acquaintances. Out of the many and varied
accounts one or two points had stood out prominently--Arnold had
attempted to surrender the fortress while Washington was lodged there in
the hope that complete disaster would befall the American cause; he had
completed negotiations with the British emissary; who was known as Major
Andre, whom the people of Philadelphia associated with the person of
John Anderson, a frequent visitor of the Arnolds during their stay in
the city; the officer had been taken prisoner by the American forces and
the papers found upon him; while Arnold and his wife had escaped to the
British forces in the city of New York.
When the gayety seemed to have attained its climax, a procession began
to wend its way through the howling crowd. There was no attempt at
regular formation, the multitude trailing along in whatever order seemed
most desirable to them. In the midst of the line of march, two gaunt
figures towered aloft over the heads of the marchers, the one bearing a
placard upon which was scrawled the name "Arnold the traitor," the
other, "Andre the spy." These were carried with great acclaim several
times around the city until the procession rested at the square, where
amid cheers and huzzas they were publicly burned. This seemed to
satisfy the crowd, for they gradually began to disperse. The hour was
late and Marjorie and her father journeyed homewards, passing the
watchman at the corner as he announced the hour, "Eleven o'clock and
Arnold is burned."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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