ousing meeting was held that evening. The
young schoolmaster was one of the speakers.

"Let us march at once," he said, "and never lay down our arms until
we obtain our independence."

The next morning, Hale called his pupils together, "gave them earnest
counsel, prayed with them, and shaking each by the hand," took his
leave, and during the same forenoon marched with his company for
Cambridge.

The young officer from Connecticut took an active part in the siege
of Boston, and soon became captain of his company. Hale's diary is
still preserved, and after all these years it is full of interest. It
seems that he took charge of his men's clothing, rations, and money.
Much of his time he was on picket duty, and took part in many lively
skirmishes with the redcoats. Besides studying military tactics, he
found time to make up wrestling matches, to play football and
checkers, and, on Sundays, to hold religious meetings in barns.

Within a few hours after bidding good-by to General Washington,
Captain Hale, taking with him one of his own trusty soldiers, left
the camp at Harlem, intending at the first opportunity to cross Long
Island Sound. There were so many British guard ships on the watch
{56} that he and his companion found no safe place to cross until
they had reached Norwalk, fifty miles up the Sound on the Connecticut
shore. Here a small sloop was to land Hale on the other side.

Stripping off his uniform, the young captain put on a plain brown
suit of citizen's clothes, and a broad-brimmed hat. Thus attired in
the dress of a schoolmaster, he was landed across the Sound, and
shortly afterwards reached the nearest British camp.

The redcoats received the pretended schoolmaster cordially. A captain
of the dragoons spoke of him long afterwards as a "jolly good
fellow." Hale pretended that he was tired of the "rebel cause," and
that he was in search of a place to teach school.

It would be interesting to know just what the "schoolmaster" did in
the next two weeks. Think of the poor fellow's eagerness to make the
most of his time, drawing plans of the forts, and going rapidly from
one point to another to watch the marching of troops, patrols, and
guards. Think of his sleepless nights, his fearful risk, the
ever-present dread of being recognized by some Tory. All this we know
nothing about, but his brave and tender heart must sometimes have
been sorely tried.

From the midst of all these dangers Hale, unharmed, began