basis in fact; others that vary
from reports now accepted may yet, with more light gained, be found to
be true.

The second letter sent by Sergeant Hempstead to the _Republican_ deals
with his experience in the army in 1781, when he was one of the victims
of the brutalities inflicted upon the hapless prisoners of war at Fort
Griswold, Groton, Connecticut. The injuries he received there were, as
he tells us, so severe that his own wife, having searched for his body
in the fort among the dead, scanned carefully the face of every wounded
soldier sheltered by pitying neighbors, passing him twice without
recognizing him--he too ill to make any sign--and then resuming her
search among the dead.

Later she found him, and after a time he regained sufficient strength to
be carried to his home. He was, however, incapacitated by his injuries
for service in the field, and was thenceforth able to perform only
duties calling for honest watchfulness rather than personal labor. After
the removal to Missouri the whole family prospered greatly. He settled
on a farm near the city of St. Louis, where he lived many years,
respected by all who knew him. He died in 1831.

(6) _Asher Wright_

Near the place where the Hale family lie buried is another grave
covering the dust of Asher Wright, once Nathan Hale's attendant. He was
so strongly attached to Hale that his tragic death is thought to have
unsettled his mind so that he never was quite himself again, and never
able to earn his own living. For several years after Nathan Hale's death
Wright was not heard of in his early home. Then he came back to
Coventry, bringing with him some of Nathan Hale's effects that he had
doubtless carried with him in his wandering, giving them, on his return,
to Deacon Hale's family.

Asher Wright died in his ninetieth year, having lived all his later days
in his house not far from the Hale home. His pension of ninety-six
dollars a year was so supplemented by the Hale family, and by David Hale
of New York, editor of the _Journal of Commerce_, that his last days
were very comfortable. His grave is marked by a marble headstone giving
his name, age, and former connection with Nathan Hale.

His farm adjoined that of the Hale homestead and has now become a part
of it.

(7) _Elisha Bostwick_

One letter concerning Nathan Hale comes to us with a curious and
interesting history.

Not long ago, while in the city of Washington, a loyal friend and warm
adm