The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-03-13

story of something which happened at
the Cape of Good Hope on Nolan's first
voyage. and it is the only thing 1 ever
knew of uhat voyage. Phillips had
borrowed lot of English books from
an officer. which in those days, as in
| deed in these. was quite a windfall.
Among them, as the devil would order.
was the Lay of the Last Minstrel"
| which they had all of them heard of.
but which most of them had never
seen. think it could not have been
published long Well. nobody thought
there could be any risk of anything ma
uonal in that. so Nolan was permit
ted to join the circle one afternoon
| when lot of them sat on deck smOk
ing and reading aloud. Nolan took the
| book and read to the others. and he
read very WELL as L know. Nobody in
| the circle knew a line of the poem.
only it was all magic and border chiv-
airy and was 10000 years ago. Poor
Nolan read steadily through the fifth
| canto. stopped minute and drank
something and then began. without
thought of what was coming:
"Breathes there the man with soul SO
! dead
| Who never to himself hath said.
".This Is my own. my native landT'
Then they all saw something was to
| pay, but he expected to get through, l
| suppose. turned little pale. but
plunged on:
Whose heart hath ne err within him burned
| AS home his footsteps he hath turned
| From wandering foreign strand?
| If such there breathe. go. mark him WELL"
By this time the men were all beside
themselves. wishing there was any
way to make him turn over two pages
but he had not quite presence of mind
for that He gagged a little. colored
crimson and staggered on:
For him minstrel raptures swell
High though his titles. proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim,
Despite these titles. power and pelf.
The wretch. concentrated all in self
And here the poor fellow choked. could
not go on. but started up, swung the
book into the sea. vanished into his
stateroOm. and. by Jove." said Phil
lips, I'VE did not see him for two
months again. And had to make up
some beggarly story to that English
surgeon why | did not return his Wal
ter Scott to him.
That story shows about the time
when Nolans braggadocio must have
UTOhcH uOWH AT uTSt Luoy SdlQ lie
took a very high tone. considered his
Imprisonment a mere farce. affected to
enjoy the voyage. and all that, but
Phillips said that after be came out of
his stateroom he never was the same
man again. He never read aloud
again unless it was the Bible or Shake
speare or something else he was sure
of. He was always shy afterward
vH<xv, 1T
unless he was spoken to. except to a
very few friends. He lighted up occa-
sionally, but generally he had the nerv-
GUS, tired look of heart wounded
man. 49, .. -e..+=ly
NOlan'S transfer at sea to the War
rem was the first of some twenty such
transfers, which brought MIN sooner
or later into half our best vessels, but
which kept him all his life at least
some hundred miles from the country
he had hoped he might never hear of
again.
1t may have been on that second
cruise-it was once when he was up
the ELECTROMAGNETIC Mrs. Graft,
the celebrated southern beauty of those
days, danced with him. They had
been long time in the bay of Naples.
and the officers were very intimate
in the English feet. and there had been
great festivities. and our men thought
they must give a great ball on board
the ship. They wanted to use Nolan's
stateroom for something, and they hat
ed to do it without asking him to the
ball. so the captain said they might
ask him If they would be responsible
that he did not talk with the wrong
people. who would give him fntelli-
gence." For ladies' they had the fam
lily Of the American consul, one or two
travellers who had ventured so far and
a nice bevy Of English girls and ma
irons, perhaps Lady Hamilton herself
As the dancing wen. ON. Nolan and
our fellows all got at ease. as | said
SO much so that It seemed quite natu- |
raj for him to bow to that splendid |
Mrs. Graf and say:
IL hope you have not forgotten me. |
Miss Rutiedge. Shall I have the hon
or of dancingY'
He did it SO quickly that Shubrick. |
who was by him. could not hinder
him. She laughed and said:
Il am not Miss Rutledge any longer. |
MFR. 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. He said boldly |
a little pale. she said. as she told me !
the story years after:
And what do you hear from home. |
Mrs Graff?"
And that splendid creature looked |