Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-07-07

| troll Of himself-better manners If you
| will I should very much prefer to dis
/ miss this matter. AS I have said,
| nave no grievance against you person
ally. l am perfectly willing TO apollo
gize and to meet you in a friendly spir-
| IT. To repeat, 1 have let an old preju-
dice get the better of my good sense.
trust this viii be satisfactory"
Not bit of it, sir" snapped Pol
lock, with fresh asperity IF you
haven't anything against me personal
| ", should like to know what you are
limiting about so darkIy. Your air is
insufferable! We may as well go to
the bottom Of this now and here. I'm
not a child as 1 have said before!"
My dear sir, I trust that it will be
quite enough to say that your name is
one that is associated with an IN
! pleasant incident in my life. It doesn't
concern you at all. 1t was a matter
! between your father and myself"
Il don't suppose you ever saw my
father in your life He's been dead if
| teen years!"
quite that" said the colonel. 81
could, from my papers here, give you
the exact date If 1t were important.
Your father and I were somewhat ac-
Misunderstanding the Civil War-and
the recollection Is unpleasant. I beg
you to drop the matter 1 am an old
man"
You are mad. you are perfectly
mad" declared Pollock. his voice ring
Ing out in the room. You not only
insult me, but you drag my dead father
into this romance. II you didn't like
my seeing your nieces, why didn't you
say so in a straight manly way and
not invent a lot of fanciful tales to
back you up? It's wholly possible that
you knew my father He was a man of
honor! His name is a good one in his
own State. | am proud of it, And 1t
ought to count something for me that
I am an officer in the army that ne
| fought against. l would warn you, sir,
| that my fathers name is sacred thing
| to mel"
I'm sure that is so, Captain Pol
lock. And that's why 1 beg of you to
accept an apology and let me alone"
Unless W - want to be branded as
liar, you will tell me what this Is be-
for 1 leave the house. There's place
where a mans age ceases to be mis-
protection"
Please be seated, and don't, 1 beg
,
to tell you what this trouble is. and
before I begin I want to apologize for
| doing So And when I fnish-it will
take but a momentum going to apoI-
ogize to you again. I am so years old
Captain Pollock. and I don't remember
that I ever apologized to any one be-
| fore. The most comfortable thing A
man can have is a bad memory. NV
1 4ro, Is that 7
1t was after we had captured Donel-
son. l had been sent back here to Ma
riona. my home, on an errand to the
Governor. who was having a time Of
it, fighting Copperheads and getting
troops into the field. The old railway
station down here was a horrible sight
the night the Donelson prisoners were
brought in. Many of them were sick
and they were taken from the cars and
laid out on the floor until they could
be carried to Camp Burnside which
had been turned into rebel prison.
i was down looking over the prison
ers when l struck a little chap who
was badly used up. He said his name
was Hamilton. He was a Confederate
private, but evidently man of educa-
ton and breeding. He was on fire with
fever, and the whole situation at the
station was so forbdding that l got
permission to take him to my fathers
house. That's where Mr.. Cameron
lives now. The officer in charge Of
the prisoners was a friend OF mine;
and when he let me take Hamilton
away, as q favor. l gave my personal
pledge that he should be delivered at
the prison whenever they wanted him
AT home we took fancy to Hamii-
ton. He was up and about the house
In couple of weeks. l gave him some
OF my civilian clothes so that he could
go down into town. There seemed 10
be nothing unusual about him He was
a forlorn young fellow-a prisoner far
from home, and my father and the rest
of them at the house liked him. We
used to call him our little rebel.
One day the commandant at the
prison sent guard to the house to ar
rest Hamilton, but he had disappeared
We learned then that he was all kinds
of bad lot-a dangerous spy who had
been captured at Donelson purely by
accident. but he had turned his capture
and Illness to good advantage. Mari
ona was the headquarters of daring
band of Southern sympa thizers, and
Hamilton had established lines of COM
munication with the leaders. There
was a scheme afoot to assassinate the
Governor and he was to have done the
act His line of retreat to the Ohio
had been carefully managed.
Hamilton had warning of the dis
covery of the plot-there was a Cop
perhead behind every loyal man here
in those days-and got away safely.
But you can see that, having vouched
for him and harbored him, l was put
in nice position with the authorities.
offered to submit to arrest, but they
wouldn't have it. The Governor sent
for me and told me to go and find
Hamilton.
L was captain OF artillery and my
chances of advancement were good:
but 1 resigned my commission and
spent year looking for him. He be-
came notorious as a spy, who slipped
in and out of our lines with astound-
ing daring. He found out that I was
after him, and we used to exchange
our compliments at long range. As
think of 1t now I got a good deal of fun
out Of the chase, and'-the old man
smiled-'I fancy the other fellow did,
too.
The story is long and 1t wouldn't in
kSreSt YOU never Caught MIN. |
went once into circle Of men in the
Gait House at Louisville where he sat
I thought had him sure. but he jump
ed up and bolted, l following. We had
a mad run for 4 there in the street,
but he got away. He gave me this
and Merriam threw up his hands. The
sleeve and cuff slipped back from his
right arm. showing an old bullet scar
/ on the wrist; and the old gentleman
/ eyed the spot for a moment reflective
| ly.
He gave me that" he said. and
/ smiled. ''Hamilton's real name was
/ PoIlock-your father'-and Merriam
| bent his keen gaze on the young man
! before him. L think I may be par
doned for not caring greatly for the
/ family. That business ruined my ca
! reer in the army. There are g great
many things that might have been diff
/ ferent. if l hadn't seriously compro-