the arrest was not made at Huntington by the
crew of that ship, but in the city of New York.
The order proves also that, once apprehended, he
made not the slightest attempt at concealment,
nor any effort to escape his doom. The information
gained by Hale's brother Enoch in New York
supports this belief as to his capture.

All that we actually know is, that he was captured
while attempting to make his way back to his
friends, and that this must have been the sharpest
moment in his experience. Before it, he had hopes
of escape; after his capture he knew that his doom
was certain, and his splendid soul adapted itself
quietly and bravely to the inevitable.

That fatal night--the night of the 21st of
September--was in many respects the most terrible
that New York has ever passed through. A
fire had broken out near the docks at two in the
morning, and was spreading with fearful rapidity
toward the upper part of the city, the blaze carried
northward by a strong breeze. It looked at one
time as if nothing could stop the conflagration, and
that the whole city would be destroyed.

For a time the enemy believed that the Americans
had deliberately set fire to their own city in order
to expel the hated British. Later this was found
to be untrue, as the fire proved to have started in a

[[83]]

p082 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p083w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p084

v?