Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-05-16

| tnen. eau only 90 my DeSU.
at is all ask" And then. addressing
the others, she said that, albeit | naturally
| hesitated somewhat to undertake so great
responsibility, had decided, at her press
| ing request, to accept the command, and
| that if | was Loyalty supported she felt
sure the result would be all they could de-
sire. For her own part, she conferred on
me the most ample powers; every measure
which advised must be adopted, every
order gave obeyed.
| This speech was received with applause,
and rather to my surprise, everybody
seemed to be eminently satisfied, whether
merely out of complaisance. or because
began the work of organization at once
and on the spot. The first necessity was a
staff and hardly knew one man from an
other. l decided to appoint the best shark
| fighters as my aids. and select from among
them the superior officers of my army. l
/ knew them to be fearless and resOlute and
thought they would prove apt and intel
Iigent. The result justified my expecta-
| tons.
The next thing was to ascertain upon
| how many men | could count, and | gave
orders for the archer-guard, and every man
| in the neighborhOod between eighteen and
| thirty-fve, sound in wind, limb, and eye
sight, to be mustered in the great square
on the following afternoon.
Then asked whether there were any
maps of the island. Two or three were
! produced, which, though roughly drawn,
were sufficient for my purpose After
studying them carefully, asked Mr. Field
! (whO was the leading member of the adj
miuistration) to send two fishing-boats,
the fastest he could find, to the further end
! they really shared the queens confidence,
/ / could not, of course, determine. But,
after all, did possess some qualifications
/ for the post. mad served both in the vol
unteer artillery and infantry, gone through
! a course of musketry instruction at Hythe,
been brigaded with the regulars, and taken
part in several autumn maneuvers and
sham fights. I had, moreover, given some
attention to strategy and the theory OF
war, and studied the plans of good many
/ battles, ancient and modern. All this
was, of course, not enough to make me
! general, but had SO far the advantage of
( everybody else in the island and as the
enemies we should have to encounter were
/ only half-naked savages, l hoped that l
! WOULD be equal to the occasion.
/ of the island, one by the north. the other
/
! of the enemy and make inquiries, under
strict orders to return with all speed and
report any information which they might
! be able to obtain.
Swift runners were to be dispatched on
/ a similar errand to Weston's, Swamp Is
! land Creek, Wynter's Hill, and elsewhere;
! and a series of relays organized, so that
messages might be forwarded with the
i least possible delay, and, as a matter of
j fact, they were forwarded almost as quick
/ Iy as they could have been by mail-cartS or
/ pOst-horses.
! By the time these dispositions were made
] it was very late, and as nothing more could
! be done until morning, we separated for
! the night.
AS was leaving the hall with Mr.. Field,
! Bolsover, of whom so far | had not taken
! the least notice, put himself in my Wy,
/ and said he wanted a word with me.
! ''Say on" l answered. coldly; for old
! Toms resent conduct had not been at all
to my liking, and l rather suspected him
| of having had a hand in the cutting loose
! of the Diana"
II ak your pardon, Mr.. Erie" he said,
! very humbly: "but if you will let me say
! So have done you wrong. Twas that dis
! appointed with not getting the TREASURED
! had thought of scarce anything else all my
! llfe-I was that disappointed as | was al
most mad. and scarce knew what I was
doing. And blamed You. l thought as
you was somehow in fault, and as you
could have got the treasure for us If you'd
! liked. Well, when was in that humor,
| Mr.. Fame comes to me and says as / had
a better claim to the treasure than any
| body else, and that he would see me right
! ed. believed him; but | can see now as
he only wanted to make a spoon-handle of
me, and may be to do something against
! you and the queen. But he soon found
| out as though | might be fool | wasn't
knaye, and he did his dirty work himself,
| or got somebody else to do it, When the
| DIANA as was thought, broke away from
| her mornings and foundered, my eyes was
! opened, and l knew as | had lost my best
| friend; but it was not till you came back
! that had any idea as Mr.. Fame was not as
! honest as he made out. And now, Mr..
! Erie, will you forgive me, and let by-gones
be by-gones! If You can make any use of
me, am quite willing to serve with you
| agen these niggerS or redskins, or pie
Lads, or whatever they are. Pm a naval
reserve man. and know my gun drill and
| small-arm drill as we'll as anybody"
| took old Toms proffered hand, and as
sured him that should be only too glad
to let by-gones be Oy-gones, that his help
would be invaluable, and that I should
give him an important command.
CHAPTER XXIX.-WYNTER's HILL
Never in my life did | work so hard as
during the next few days and nights, for
wrought eighteen and twenty hours at q
stretch, sleeping as opportunity offered