He forgot,
however, that it is never honorable to betray a trust.
It is almost certain that Arnold received a large sum in money
for his treachery. However this may be, there was treason in his
heart when he asked for and received the command at West Point,
and he intended to use his authority to surrender that vital post
to the British. And now on the 18th of September Washington was
riding northeastward into Connecticut, British troops were on
board ships in New York and all was ready. On the 20th of
September the Vulture, sloop of war, sailed up the Hudson from
New York and anchored at Stony Point, a few miles below West
Point. On board the Vulture was the British officer who was
treating with Arnold and who now came to arrange terms with him,
Major John Andre, Clinton's young adjutant general, a man of
attractive personality. Under cover of night Arnold sent off a
boat to bring Andre ashore to a remote thicket of fir trees,
outside the American lines. There the final plans were made. The
British fleet, carrying an army, was to sail up the river. A
heavy chain had been placed across the river at West Point to bar
the way of hostile ships. Under pretense of repairs a link was to
be taken out and replaced by a rope which would break easily.
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