solemn foreshadowings of the possible result, of the
tremendous risk he was facing. Men do not grow
old by the passing of years so much as by the endurance
of great experiences, and in the few brief days
that were left to Nathan Hale we know really
nothing of his whereabouts, of what risks he ran, of
how often he barely escaped recognition as a spy,
where he slept, of any possible friends whom he
may have encountered, or of any moment when his
very life seemed to hang on the accidental glance
of an enemy's eye.

Finally dawned the 21st of September. Hale
had fully accomplished his mission.

There are conflicting accounts as to what occurred
on the last evening of Nathan Hale's life, some
going into minute details of occurrences that were
assumed to have taken place. One with considerable
plausibility says that, as the time had elapsed
which he had expected to spend among the British
(at the end of which time a boat was to be sent
across the Sound for him), Hale, having finished
his quest, had entered a tavern kept by a certain
widow Chichester. She was a stanch friend of the
Tories, and her house was the constant resort of
Tories and B ritish men and officers. While Hale was
sitting in the tavern, apparently at his ease among
the men there assembled, some one passed him

[[80]]

p079 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p080w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p081

v?