Read the excerpt from "Tools of the Spymaster."
The author's main purpose in this excerpt is to
General Clinton,
concerned about what General Howe
O describe a form of code writing using an exam ple.
was planning and doing, made use of a mask to write a
O explain the mistakes of General Howe during the war.
secret message
in a letter to General Burgoyne.
entertain the reader with a humorous story of
miscommunication.
Before writing the letter, Clinton
had placed an hourglass-
for
shaped mask on a piece of paper
and then had formed
argue that using a mask is the best method
the secret message within that shape.
sending secret messages.
The unmasked letter had enough false information in it to
fool any
American who happened to see it. But when
Burgoyne viewed the letter with
the mask, he read
Clinton's view of the
real situation: Howe has made a
bad
move; I don't have enough men to do anything about
it.