Hale

“ Hale watched her while she munched a striped stick of peppermint. Her crimson bonnet had fallen from her sunlit hair and straight down from it to her bare little foot with its stubbed toe just darkening with dried blood, a sculptor would have loved the rounded slenderness in the curving long lines that shaped her brown throat, her arms and her hands, which were prettily shaped but so very dirty as to the nails, and her dangling bare leg. ”

“ Hale dreaded the last spur before the little Gap was visible, but he hurried up the steep, and when he lifted his apprehensive eyes, the gladness of the earth was as nothing to the sudden joy in his own heart. The big Pine stood majestic, still unscathed, as full of divinity and hope to him as a rainbow in an eastern sky. Hale dropped his reins, lifted one hand to his dizzy head, let his transit to the ground, and started for it on a run. ”

“ The roar gradually became louder, at last culminating in one mighty, reverberating crescendo, like the rolling and booming of continuous thunder, which jarred the earth with its appalling intensity.
As the car neared the top of a slope Don Hale, scarcely able to control his jumping nerves, became a witness to one of the most marvelous and stupendous spectacles which man has ever given to the world. ”

“ But happy as were these college days and home-comings, and rich as were the harvests gleaned in them, the four years in college halls sped swiftly, and in 1773 Enoch Hale and Nathan turned their faces toward the future; the one to a long life and faithful Christian service, the other toward the briefest of mortal days, but to a service whose memory will not end till his college walls shall have crumbled, and the names of all its heroic sons faded from the earth. For even though stones may crumble, influence lives on. ”

“ In the shadows below, it smote the mists into tatters; leaf and bush glittered as though after a heavy rain, and down Hale went under a trembling dew-drenched world and along a tumbling series of water-falls that flashed through tall ferns, blossoming laurel and shining leaves of rhododendron. Once he heard something move below him and then the crackling of brush sounded far to one side of the road. He knew it was a man who would be watching him from a covert and, straightway, to prove his innocence of any hostile or secret purpose, he began to whistle. ”

“ June lost the subtlety in Miss Hale's emphasis, but she fell with instant submission under such gentle authority, and though she could say nothing, her eyes glistened and her lips quivered, and without looking to Hale, she followed his sister out of the room. Hale stood still. He had watched the meeting with apprehension and now, surprised and grateful, he went to Helen's parlour and waited with a hopeful heart. ”

“ Hale passed the night at the tavern, and at dawn went out to look for the expected boat. To his great joy he saw one moving toward the shore, with several men in it. Not doubting they were his friends, he hastened toward the beach, where, as the vessel touched the shore, he was astounded by the sight of a barge bearing British marines. He turned to flee, when a loud voice called, "Surrender or die!" Looking back he saw six men standing erect, with muskets leveled at him. ”

“ This much for the athletic life of Hale in his student days. It was only natural to such a man that whatever he was—friend, student, teacher, or soldier—he should carry zest and earnestness to all his work, even as he carried his manliness, his courtesy, and his unquenchable spirit. ”

“ No doubt he did, Hale thought, keep peace or mischief with or against anybody with that face of his. That was a common type of the bad man, that horseman who had galloped away from the gate—but this old man with his dual face, who preached the Word on Sundays and on other days was a walking arsenal; who dreamed dreams and had visions and slipped through the hills in his mysterious moccasins on errands of mercy or chasing men from vanity, personal enmity or for fun, and still appeared so sane—he was a type that confounded. ”

“ Hale's immediate relatives were graduates of Yale,—a fine illustration of the value those progressive pioneers attached to education.
As a boy Nathan was to his mother what he later became to all who knew him; and the bond between such a mother and such a son must have been very tender and strong. It is a comfort to those who know what such mothers desire for their children, to remember the gladness and hope with which this mother, overworked and dying long before her time, looked forward to the days coming to her children. ”

“ Hale. But if she inherits my grandfather's money--that is, my aunt's share--she has no one to leave it to but me. I am an only child."
"Your mother," said Hale deliberately, "is hard as you say; that is, she is as sensible as I am. If you marry against her will, she will not leave you one farthing of this money, which, after all, may never come into her possession."
"But why should she object to Lesbia?" asked George, "when she meets her and sees how lovely she is----"
"Bah!" Hale looked scornful, "you talk like a fool. As if any woman was ever moved by the beauty of another woman. ”

“ Hale said, “stand aside, Judd!” Bub leaped to the door with a Winchester—his eyes wild and his face white.
“Watch out, men!” Hale called, and as the men raised their guns there was a shriek inside the cabin and June stood at Bub's side, barefooted, her hair tumbled about her shoulders, and her hand clutching the little cross at her throat.
“Stop!” she shrieked. “He isn't here. He's—he's gone!” For a moment a sudden sickness smote Hale's face, then Devil Judd's ruse flashed to him and, wheeling, he sprang to the ground. ”

“ Hale’s literary fame now rests on an anonymous study in the “Atlantic Monthly,” called “The Man without a Country,” a sketch of such absolutely lifelike vigor that I, reading it in camp during the Civil War, accepted it as an absolutely true narrative, until I suddenly came across, in the very midst of it, a phrase so wholly characteristic of its author that I sprang from my seat, exclaiming “Aut Cæsar aut nullus; Edward Hale or nobody.” ”

“ Happily, Nathan Hale's ability to die for his country is but one side of a Yale shield from which gleam the names of hundreds of her sons, who, doubtless as ready to die for their country as he, had they been in his place, have proved their power to live for God and for their native land. Everywhere, in all quarters of the world, the Nathan Hale spirit of unselfish devotion has inspired the sons of Yale to the noblest service they could render; and every man, young or old, who passes the statue of Nathan Hale will realize that hosts have lived lives inspired by the same splendid spirit. ”

“ I love the dear, shy thing; it has blown from the lowlands, and it keeps one’s courage up.”
Something made Hale look full at her, and there were tears clinging to her lashes as if ready to fall and betray her, but at the same moment they came out upon the hilltop and stood looking at the world together. ”

“ A light sense of the propinquity of beauty, of her confidence, of their isolation, of the eloquence of her dark eyes, at first tempted Hale to a reply of simple gallantry; a graver consideration of the same circumstances froze it upon his lips.
“I don't know,” he returned awkwardly.
“Well, I'll tell you,” she said. “You didn't cotton to the Kernel and Rawlins much more than you did to Stanner. They ain't your kind.”
In his embarrassment Hale blundered upon the thought he had honorably avoided.
“Suppose,” he said, with a constrained laugh, “I had stayed to see you.” ”

“ Hadn't Hale taken him as if he were a child and rolled him, as it were, upon a table and flattened and molded and modeled, aye! and made him? What could a woman do with such a man, if he set himself the task of conquering her? Even as Hector stared at the mere portrait he recognized the underlying force that was there, and in his own soul wished he had it, too. Was it not power, after all? And it was only one sign of power in Hale. It seemed possible that in some unknown society this might be the very ideal man. ”

“ Dead almost one hundred and forty years, we still are thrilled by proofs of the splendid manhood henceforth to be so prominent in every remaining day of Hale's brief life. A few letters to friends, a fairly comprehensive diary for a few months, his camp-book, and the recollections of a few of the officers and of his body-servant, give a moderately complete picture of Nathan Hale for a few brief weeks, during which time he had been doing all in his power to perfect himself and the men under him in the duties of soldiers. ”

“ Such connections as this man add even a higher luster to the genealogy of Elizabeth Strong Hale, and lessen our wonder that a son of hers, while hardly more than a boy, could face the duty and calmly accept the responsibility that he felt rested upon him.
As may easily be inferred, the Hale boys, Enoch and Nathan, were not forgotten by their home friends while making honorable records in college, and forming pleasant friendships outside the college walls—then the happy lot of all the best men in college—among the cultured families of what was then a small New England city. ”

“ Even the old half-condescending, half-punctilious gallantry of his greeting of his wife and family was changed, as he introduced his companions with a mingling of familiarity and shyness that was new to him. Did Mrs. Hale regret it, or feel a sense of relief in the absence of his usual seignorial formality? ”

“ And on the instant the racing car slackened speed, and, rolling up to within a few yards of the Red Cross driver, came to an abrupt halt.
"Great Cæsar! I thought it was you, Chase," shouted Don Hale, his face shining with happiness. "Honestly, I was never more glad of anything in my life. But quick—jump in. There isn't a moment to lose. ”

“ It delineates American life so graphically that we feel as if Mr. Hale must have seen every rood of ground he describes, and must have known personally every character he so cleverly depicts. In his hearty fellowship with young people lies his great power. The story is permeated with a spirit of glad-heartedness and elasticity which in this hurried, anxious, money-making age it is most refreshing to meet with in any one out of his teens ”

“ Hale placed individual merit far above party, creed, or class, and by his impartiality and just judgment, living above suspicion or reproach, he won the respect and esteem of all who knew him, and of him might truly be said, as he so often said of others, “the rank is but the guinea’s stamp, the man’s the gowd for a’ that.” ”

“ That night Mr. Hale laid his head down on the pillow on which it never more should stir with life. The servant who entered his room in the morning, received no answer to his speech; drew near the bed, and saw the calm, beautiful face lying white and cold under the ineffaceable seal of death. The attitude was exquisitely easy; there had been no pain—no struggle. The action of the heart must have ceased as he lay down. ”

“ Lady Hale declares he was the very best of men and practically a saint. I suspect her hagiology. I own I have doubts as to what he was behind the curtain. I should like to do the man as he is, or as he was, but I fear I sha'n't be able to do it; Lady Hale will be an obstacle. ”

“ Hale and Margaret knelt by the window-seat—he looking up, she bowed down in humble shame. God was there, close around them, hearing her father’s whispered words. Her father might be a heretic; but had not she, in her despairing doubts not five minutes before, shown herself a far more utter sceptic? She spoke not a word, but stole to bed after her father had left her, like a child ashamed of its fault. If the world was full of perplexing problems she would trust, and only ask to see the one step needful for the hour. ”

“ At any instant the road might be swept by another deadly stream. But Don Hale, whose mental faculties and strength began to return, paying not the slightest heed, started toward the ambulance, often splashing through great pools and puddles. The thunder still rolled and boomed overhead. There were longer intervals, however, between the flashes of lightning and it was not until he arrived quite abreast of the car that the landscape once more sprang into view. ”

“ Edward Everett Hale, a man beloved by every one who knew him, was the son of "a great journalist," Nathan, grandson of Enoch, and therefore grandnephew of Captain Nathan Hale. He, too, had a son Nathan who died in his early manhood. Edward Everett Hale was one of the most commanding and admired of men, with rare endowments as clergyman, author, editor, and patriot. ”

“ Hale’s safe and was killed in the act—”
“By whom?” gasped Mrs. Hale; her face was ashen in color.
“I leave that conundrum to the police,” replied Richards. “It was but a suggestion.”
“Which carries no weight,” retorted John Hale. “This watch isn’t the only thing we have on you, Richards.” He turned to his brother. “What was stolen from your safe on Tuesday night?”
Mrs. Hale’s sudden start was lost on her husband. [Pg 261] Hale looked at Richards queerly, thought a minute, then answered with brevity.
“Ten bonds of the Troy Valve Company belonging to Judith.” ”

“ Don Hale, alert, watchful, with a firm hand on the steering wheel, guided Number Eight slowly out into the roadway. The darkness was so intense that he could not see even the wagons passing directly in front—everything, indeed, was swallowed up in a void of blackness, but he knew by the sounds and the shouts of the drivers that an effort was being made to find a place in the line for the Red Cross car.
And then, just at that instant, there came a vivid flash of lightning. Another storm was approaching. And that particular glare served a good purpose. ”