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on seeing your good friend General Putnam on the way."
    "I'll see the general soon enough," said Jake, lying back on the bed. Except for his boots and outer coat, he was fully dressed, and had his loaded pistol in his right hand — he hated to be surprised while sleeping.
    "I was hoping you would introduce us."
    "So you can arrange a sale of supplies?"
    "And what would be wrong with that?" asked the Dutchman indignantly. "The Cause is suffering — the condition of the soldiers in this neighborhood is shameful. Surely we must all do our part. Those of us blessed with special gifts for the acquisition of needed supplies would be doing a tremendous disservice to —"
    "Quiet now, I want to catch a few winks of sleep. And try not to snore tonight, will you?"
    "I don't snore, sir," blustered van Clynne, removing his shirt. "I am a Dutchman and a fervent patriot."
    "Who never let profit come between him and his country."
    "Just so, sir, just so, though you meant the words in jest. Enterprise is critical to the survival of our freedom."
    "I'll catch you on the Post Road," said Jake, "and if I miss you I'll just ask after the best beer in the country."
    "You will easily be led astray. And then our arrangement will be forgotten," said van Clynne.
    For perhaps the only time since they had met — many days' worth of severe difficulties and harrowing dangers, to be sure — Jake detected true fear in the Dutchman's voice. Besides his patriotism, van Clynne's strenuous efforts on behalf of the American Cause were motivated by the hope that they might win him the return of his family estate, which had been stolen years before by an English usurper.
    "Don't worry about your property, Claus. I'll make a full report to General Washington on your behalf."
    "The matter is urgent," said van Clynne. "Especially as I intend on marrying."
    "Congratulations," said Jake, closing his eyes firmly. "Now get into bed and be quiet."
    "There is no need, sir, to play the enthusiastic reveler," said van Clynne. "I know you are only trying to find my good side. Besides, we have made no formal announcement of our intentions. Your congratulations are premature."
    "You haven't told Jane yet, in other words."
    "Marriage is a delicate thing to a Dutchman. It proceeds by stages. In any event, it is not the matter presently under discussion. Breaking our partnership at this point would be ill-advised; my services in routing these Tory criminals would be quite invaluable."
    "True," said Jake, changing his tactics if not his posture. He sorely wanted some sleep. "But who would believe a Dutchman, let alone a squire such as yourself, to be a Tory?"
    Van Clynne could find no argument there, nor would Jake let him, as he continued.
    "My success depends entirely on them thinking I am a traitor.Now that is a game I have often played, but yourself—who would believe it?"
    "I convinced Sir William Howe. And your General Bacon."
    Jake made a dismissive spitting noise at the mention of the first general's name, but at the second his reaction was quite different. They had indeed fooled him, but by the thinnest hair on an aging cat's paw.
    "Regardless, I am the officer in charge here. As I have said before—"
    "An expedition has but one commander. I would like to review the election where you were selected," grumbled the Dutchman, picking up the bedcovers in tacit surrender. "The ballot was definitely loaded. This is bad precedent for running a country, believe me, sir. There is need for more Dutchmen among your congress; then we would see what a revolution ought to be."
    Despite his continued complaints or perhaps because of them, van Clynne soon fell fast asleep. Within a half hour his snores could have been confused with the sound of a grist mill taking on rough wheat.
    Jake gathered his rest fitfully. A quirk of nature allowed him to go for several days on barely a few winks, and he rose well before the appointed hour, cleaning and inspecting his single officer's pistol