Read the excerpt from "Tools of the Spymaster." Both the British and the Americans frequently used horseback riders to carry mes
sages, and both sides tried to capture the riders and get the messages. The rider who lost one of Washington's important messages was Tallmadge himself. It happened when Tallmadge and some of his men were attacked by British troops near the Connecticut–New York border. Tallmadge escaped unharmed but lost a saddlebag full of secret papers. Luckily, Tallmadge's code did not fall into British hands. But among the papers was a letter from Washington in which he carelessly gave the name and address of an agent, George Higday, saying that he was a man who would probably "convey intelligence to me." Higday was arrested, but he had managed to destroy all evidence of spying. That move probably saved him from hanging. What evidence in the excerpt suggests that being a spy for the Americans could be deadly?
In the excerpt, the evidence which suggests that being a spy for the American could be deadly is: 'That move probably saved him from hanging.'
George Higday was not killed by the British because he had already destroyed any evidence of being a spy. if spies were caught and identified as such, they were usually hanged.
George Washington was a spymaster and coordinated operations in order to gather intelligence about the moves of the British Army. He was known as agent 711 and recruited military and civilians to help fight for the American freedom.
There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, 'It is just as I feared! Two Owls and a Hen, Four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard!
