Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-07-29

Pollock sat down reluctantly. The
house was very quiet; 1t was a hot day
and the air in the room was tense.
Captain said the bic gentleman,
quietly, with his black eyes resting
Kindly on the visitor, Il regret very
much that you have come to me with
this observation-disclosures you have never
IN the world done anything to offend
me-not in the slightest. AS far as
know, you are a gentleman beyond any
question. and worthy of the highest
consideration in all places"
Then, Sir
Please wait! I regret very much
that 1 should have led by a feeling,
which l should prefer not to explain,
into treating you discourteously. A
mar or my & hould have better con-
troll of himself-better manners, II you
VIII. ! should very much prefer to dis
miss this matter. AS I have said, /
have no grievance against you person.
ally. l am perfectly willing to apollo
gize n to meet you in a friendly spir-
1t. To repeat, / have let an old preju-
dice get the better of my good sense. 1
trust this will be satisfactory"
mo- a bit Of 1t. sir snapped Pol
lock, with fresh asperity. IF you
haven anything against me PERSONAL
~. l should like to know what you ara
limiting about so darkly. 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. / trust that it will be
quite enough to say that your name is
one that is associated with an I'M
pleasant incident in my life. 1t doesn't
o at all. 1t was a matter
between your father and myself"
I don't suppose you ever saw my
father in our life. He's been dead hf-
teen years."
Quite that" said the colonel. II
could, from my papers here, give you
the exact date If 1t were important.
our father and I were somewhat ac-
Misunderstanding the Civil War-and
the recollection is unpleasant. 1 beg
you to drop the matter. / am an old
You are mad, you are perfectly
declared Pollock, his voice ring
Ing out in the room. You not only
insult me. but you drag my dead father
into this If you didn't ike
my seeing your nieces, why didn't you
say SO in a straight manly way and
invent a lot of fanciful tales to
back you up? It's wholly possible that
knew my father. He was a man OF
honor! His name is a good one in his
own State. I am proud II 1t. And 1t
ought to count something for me that
am an officer In the army that he
against. ! would warn you, sir,
that my father name Is q sacred thing
TO mel"
Tn sure that is 80. Captain Pol
Iock. And that's why I beg of you to
ar apology and let me alone"
Unless you want 10 be branded as a
lar. you will tell me what this is be-
or I leave the house. There's a place
where a mans age ceases to be his
you, alarm the servants. I'm going
o tell you what this trouble is, and
before I begin I want to apologize for
ioing so. And when ] ffnish-it will
AXE but a moment-I'm going to apol-
,Rtze to you again. I am 50 a old.
Captain Pollock. and I don't remember
hat l aver apologized to any be-
ore. The most comfortable thing a
nan can have 10 a bad memory. NY
Is that I never forget anything.
It was after we had captured Donel-
ION. / had been sent back here to Ma
iona, my home, on an errand to the
3overnor. who was having q time OF
dghting Copperheafs and getting
roops into h field The cid railway
ltation down here was a horrible sight
night h Doneison prisoners were
In. Many OF them were sick
aid out on the f1oor until they could
,e carried to Camp Burnside. which
been turned into . rebel prison.
Il was down looking over the prison
srs when 1 struck a little chap who
q badly used up. He sail his name
was Hamilton. He was a Confederate
private. but evidently . man OF educa-
Ion and breeding. He was on fire with
fever. and the whele situation at the
station was SO forbtdding that 1 got
permission to take him to my fathers
house. That's where Mr.. Cameron
now. The officer in charge Of
he prisoners was . friend Of mine:
and when he let me take Hamilton
AWAY. as a favor, I gave my personal
pledge that he shoulA be delivered at
prison whenever they wanted him.
AT home we took . fancy to Hamil-
ton. He was up and about the house
In q couple Of weeks. I gave him some
90 down into town. Theirs seemed to
be nothing unusual about him. He was
. 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.
Zone day the commandment At the
prison sen . guard to the house to ar
Hamilton. but he had disappeared.
learned then that he was all kinds
Of q bad lot-a dangerous spy who had
been captured at Donelson purely by
accident. but he had turned hts capture
and Illness to good advantage. Mari
ona was the headquarters Of q daring
Of Southern sympathixers. and
had established lines OF COM
with the leaders. There
was . scheme afoot to assassinate the
Governor, and he was to have done the
act. His line of retreat to the Ohio
beer carefully managed.
Hamilton had warning OF the dis
OF the plot-there was q Cop-
perhead behind every loyal man here
In those daysEand got away safely.
But you IAN see that, having vouched
for him and harbored him. / was put
q nice position with the authorities.
! offered to submit to arrest. but they
wouldn't have Il. hi Governor sem
for me and told me p go and md
Hamilton. ~ Z
was captain OF artillery and my
chances OF advancement were good:
hut resigned my commission and
spent = year looking for him. He be-
car1o notorious q . . my. who slipped
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