He had no difficulty in crossing the Sound, since he bore an order
from General Washington which placed at his disposal all the vessels
belonging to Congress. For several days everything appears to have gone
well with him, and there is reason to believe that he passed through the
entire British army without detection or even exciting suspicion.
Finding the British had crossed to New York, he followed them. He made
his way back to Long Island, and nearly reached the point opposite
Norwalk where he had originally landed. Rendered perhaps too bold by
success, he went into a well-known and popular tavern, entered into
conversation with the guests, and made himself very agreeable. The
tradition is that he made himself too agreeable. A man present
suspecting or knowing that he was not the character he had assumed,
quietly left the room, communicated his suspicions to the captain of a
British ship anchored near, who dispatched a boat's crew to capture and
bring on board the agreeable stranger. His true character was
immediately revealed. Drawings of some of the British works, with notes
in Latin, were found hidden in the soles of his shoes. Nor did he
attempt to deceive his captors, and the English captain, lamenting, as
he said, that "so fine a fellow had fallen into his power," sent him to
New York in one of his boats, and with him the fatal proofs that he was
a spy.
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