Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1917-06-14

TO renew the OrQer OF lSO( reBdFulnB
him. What was man to do? Should
he let him 60? What, then, IL he
were called to account by the depart
ment for violating the order Of 1907
Should he keep him? What, then, If
Nolan should be liberated some day,
and should bring an action for false
Imprisonment or kidnapping against ev-
cry man who had had him In charge?
l urged and pressed this upon South
ard, and I have reason to think that
other officers did the same thing. But
the secretary always said, as they so
often do at Washington, that there
were no special orders to give, and
that we must act on our own judg-
ment. That means, IF you succeed,
you will be sustained; If you fail, you
will be disavowed" Well, as DanfOrth
says, all that Is over now, though !
do not know but expose myself to a.
criminal prosecution on the evidence
of the very revelation I am making
Here is the letter:
"Levant, % 2" s. @ 1917 w.
"Dear Fred-I try to find heart and
life to tell you that 1t Is all over with
dear old Nolan. have been with him
on this voyage more than ] ever was,
and can understand wholly now the
way In which you used to speak of the
dear old fellow. ! could see that he
was not strong, but had no idea that
the end was so near. The doctor had
been watching him very carefully, and
yesterday morning came to me and
told me that Nolan was not SO well,
and had not left his staterOom-a
thing | never remember before. He
had let the doctor come and see him as
he lay there, the first time the doctor
had been in the staterOOm, and he said
he should like to see me. Oh, dear!
do you remember the mysteries we
boys used to invent about his room, in
the old Intrepid days? Well, / went
in, and there, to be sure, the poor Eel
low lay in his berth. smiling pleasant
ly as he gave me his hand, but look
ing very frail. i could not help
glance round, which showed me what
little shrine he had made of the box
he was lying In. The stars and stripes
were triced up above and around
picture Of Washington, and he had
painted a majestic eagle, with light
nings blazing from his beak and his
foot lust clasping the whole globe,
which his wings overshadowed. The
dear old boy saw my glance, and said,
with sad smile, Here you see, have
a country' And then he pointed to
the foot of his bed, where l had not
seen before q great map Of the United
States. as he had drawn 1t from men,
ory, and which he had there to look
upon as he lay. Quaint, queer old
names were on it, in large lettersl
Indiana Territory mississippi Ter
ritory,' and Louisiana as I supposed
our fathers learned such things; but
the old fellow had patched in Texas,
too; he had carried his western boun-
Diary all the way to the Pacific, but on
that shore he had defined nothing.
"'Oh, DanfOrth,' he said 4 know ]
am dying. | cannot get home. Sure
~ you will tell me something n0w9
Stop! stop! DO not speak till say
what I am sure you know, that there
is not In this ship, that there Is not
in America-God bless her "a more
loyal man than I. There cannot be a
man who loves the old flag as l do, or
prays for it as ! do, or hopes for 1t as
l do. There are thirty'four stars In
It now, Danforth. I thank God for
that, though do not know what their
names are. There has never been one
taken away; thank God for that. l
know by that that there has never
been any successful Burr. Oh, Dan
forth, Danforth,' he sighed out, how
like wretched nights dream boys
idea Of personal fame or Of separate
sovereignty seems, when one looks
back on it after such life as mine!
But tell me-tell me somethlng-tell
me everything, Danforth, before die'
bingham, I swear to you that felt
like a monster that had not told him
everything before. Danger or no dan,
ger, delicacy or no delicacy, who was
that l should have been acting the
tyrant all this time Sver this dear,
sainted old man, who had years ago
expiated, In his whole manhoOd's life,
the madness of boys treason? Mr..
Nolan said 4 will tell you everything
YOU ask about Only, where shall
teginT
"Oh, the blessed smile that crept
over his white face md he pressed my
hand and said, God bless you! Tell
me their Names he said and ne point
ed to the stars on the flag. The last
l know Is Ohio. My father lived in
Kentucky. But have guessed Mich
igan and Indiana and Missssppi-tha
was where Fort Adams is-they make
twenty. But where are your other
fourteen? You have not cut up any
of the old ones, HOPPER
"Well, that was not a bad text, and
l told him the names, in as good or
der as could, and he bade me take
down his beautiful map and draw them
in as best could with my pencil. He
was wild with delight about Texas,
told me how his brother died there;
he had marked a gold cross where he
supposed his brothers grave was; and
he had guessed at Texas. Then he
was delighted as he saw California
and Oregon-that he said, he had sus-
pected partly, because he had never
been permitted to land on that shore,
though the ships were there so much.
And the men, said he, laughing,
brought off good deal besides furs.'
Then he went back-heavens, how
far-to ask about the Chesapeake, and
what was done to Barron for surren-
ho 10 ho I I'd and NIrhath-