"Get the better!" echoed the captain with impetuosity. Then checking
himself, he continued, "No doubt they will. If the French will give us
arms and money, we will drive out the royal troops in six months."
"Well, so I hope we shall soon; and then we shall have a free
government, and we, who fight for it, will get our reward."
"Oh!" cried Lawton, "your claims will be indisputable; while all these
vile Tories who live at home peaceably, to take care of their farms,
will be held in the contempt they merit. You have no farm, I suppose?"
"Not yet--but it will go hard if I do not find one before the peace is
made."
"Right; study your own interests, and you study the interests of your
country; press the point of your own services, and rail at the Tories,
and I'll bet my spurs against a rusty nail that you get to be a county
clerk at least."
"Don't you think Paulding's [Footnote: The author must have intended
some allusion to an individual, which is too local to be understood by
the general reader. Andre, as is well known, was arrested by three
countrymen, who were on the lookout for predatory parties of the enemy;
the principal man of this party was named Paulding. The disinterested
manner in which they refused the offers of their captive is matter of
history.
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