The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1863-12-17

figure, but not telling them why 1t had no
lame.
But that is not the story / startad to tell
AS the dance went on, Nolan and our fellows
all got at ease, as | said-so much so, that it
quite natural for him to bow to that
splendid Mis-. Graft and say:
II hope you have not forgotten me, Miss
Rutledge. Shall l have the honor Of dane
ing?
lie did it SO quickly that shubrick, who
was by him, could not hinder HIM. She
laughed, and said
4 am not Miss Rutledge any longer, Mr..
Nolan; but | will dance all the same" just
nodded to Shubrick, as if to say he must leave
Mr.. Nolan to her, and led him off to the place
where the dance was forming.
Nolan thought he had got his chance. He
had known her at Philadelphia, and at other
places had met her, and this was a Godsend.
You could not talk in contra-dances as you
do in c~otillion, or even in the pauses OF waltz
ing but there were chances for tongues and
sounds, as we'll as for eyes and bushes. He
began with her travels, and Europe, and We
suvius, and the French and then, when they
had worked down, and had that long talking
time at the bottom Of the set, he said boldly
Ia little pale, she said, as she told me the
story, years after
''And what do you hear from home, Mrs.
Graft %
And that splendid creature looked through
him. Jove how she must nave looked thr'o
him!
'sHome!! Mr.. Nolan !! l thought you
were the man who never wanted to hear of
home again !"-and she walked directly up
the deck to her husband, and left poor Nolan
alone as he always was. He did not dance
again.
[ cannot give any history of him in order
nobody can now; and, indeed, | am not try
ing to. These are the traditions, which |
sort out, as l believe them, from the myths
which have been told about this man for for
ty years. The lies that AVE been told about
him are legion. The fellows used te say he
was the "Iron Mask p and poor George Pons
went to his grave in the belief that this was
the author of 'tJunius," who was being pun
ished for his celebrated libel on Thomas JEFF
ferson. Pons was not very strong in the his
torical line. A happier story than either of
these | have told is of the war. That came
along soon after. | have heard this affair told
in three or four ways-and, indeed, it may
have happened more than once. But which
ship it was on [ cannot tell. However, in one
at least, of the frigate dueIs with the English,
in which the navy was really baptized, it hap
pened that a round shot from the enemy en-
tered one Of our ports square, and took right
down the officer of the gun himself, and al
most every man of the guns crew. Now you
may say what you choose about courage, but
that is not a nice thing to see. But, as the
men who were not killed picked themselves
II ~ H. ro.ao ,NaOV1n ,-,ro
carrying off the bodies, there appeared Nolan,
in his shirt-sleeves, with the rammer in his
hand, and, Just as if he had been the officer,
told them off with authority-who should go
to the cockpit with the wounded men, who
should stay with him perfectly CHEEKY, and
with that way which makes men feel sure all
is right. And he finished loading the gun
with his own hands, aimed ii, and babe the men
fire. And there stayed, captain OF that gun,
keeping those fellows in spirits, till the enemy
struck sitting on the gun while it was cool
ling, though he was exposed all the time;
showing them easier ways to handle heavy
shot making the raw hands laugh at their
w plumbers and when the gun cooled
again'loaded itand fired twice as often as any
other on the ship. The Captain walked for
ward, by way Of encouraging;the men,, and No
Ian touched his hat and said.
81 am showing them how we do this in the
artillery, sir"
And this is the part of the story where all
the legends agree; that the Commodore
said:
81 see you do, and I thank you, sir; and
shall never forget this day, sir, and you new
CT shall, sir"
And after the whole thing was over, and
he had the Englishman's sword, in the midst
of the state and ceremony Of the quarter deck,
he said =
"Where is Mr.. Nolan? Ask Mr.. Nolan to
CONF here"
And when Nolan came, the Captain said
'Nr. Nolan, we are all very grateful to you
to-day you are one Of us to-day; you will
be named in the dispatches"
And then the old man took off his w
sword Of ceremony, aud gave it to Nolan, and
made him put it on. The old man told me
who saw it. Nolan cried like a baby, and
well he might. lie had not worn a sword
since that internal day of Fort Adams But
always afterwards, on occasions of ceremony,
he wore that quaint old French sword Of the
Commodore's.
The Captain did mention him in the des-
patches. 1t was always said he asked that
he might be pardoned. He wrote a special
letter to the Secretary of War. But nothing
ever came of it. AS | said, that was about
the time when they began to ignore the whole
transaction at Washington, and when Nolan's
imprisonment began to carry itself on because
there was nobody to stop it without any new
orders from home.