his return
trip to the American lines. He had threaded his way through the
woods, and round all the British camps on Long Island, until he
reached in safety the point where he had first landed. Here he had
{57} planned for a boat to meet him early the next morning, to take
him over to the mainland.

Many a patriotic American boy has thought what he should have done if
he could have exchanged places with Nathan Hale on this evening. Near
by, at a place then called and still called "The Cedars," a woman by
the name of Chichester, and nicknamed "Mother Chick," kept a tavern,
which was the favorite resort of all the Tories in that region. Hale
was sure that nobody would know him in his strange dress, and so he
ventured into the tavern. A number of people were in the barroom. A
few minutes afterwards, a man whose face seemed familiar to Hale
suddenly left the room, and was not seen again.

The pretended schoolmaster spent the night at the tavern.

Early the next morning, the landlady rushed into the barroom, crying
out to her guests, "Look out, boys! there is a strange boat close in
shore!"

The Tories scampered as if the house were on fire.

"That surely is the very boat I'm looking for," thought Hale on
leaving the tavern, and hastened towards the beach, where the boat
had already landed.

A moment more, and the young captain was amazed at the sight of six
British marines, standing erect in the boat, with their muskets aimed
at him. He turned to run, when a loud voice cried out, "Surrender or
die!" He was within close range of their guns. Escape was {58} not
possible. The poor fellow gave himself up. He was taken on board the
British guard ship Halifax, which lay at anchor close by, hidden from
sight by a point of land.

Some have declared that the man who so suddenly left the tavern was a
Tory cousin to Hale, and saw at once through the patriot's disguise;
that, being quite a rascal, he hurried away to get word to the
British camp. There seems to be no good reason, however, to believe
that the fellow was a kinsman.

However this may be, the British captured Captain Hale in disguise.
They stripped him and searched him, and found his drawings and his
notes. These were written in Latin, and had been tucked away between
the soles of his shoes.

"I am sorry that so fine a fellow has fallen into my hands," said the
captain of the guard ship, "but you are my prisoner, and I think a
spy. So to New York you must go!"