Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-06-01

rush made to the hoeshead By way Of
spontaneous worship Of Vaughan ~
the deus ex machina Of the occasion.
TELL them" said Vaughan, well
pleased. "that I win take them an to
Cape Palmas."
This did not answer 30 wen. Cape
Palmas was practically az far from
the homes Of most Of them a. New Or
leans or Rio Janelro was; that Il. they
would be eternally separated from
home there. And their interpreters, as
We could understand, instantly said,
"Ah, non Palmas," and began to pro
pose infinite other ~expedientB In most
voluble language. Vaughan WIS., rath-
er disappointed at this result Of his
l~iberality, and asked Nolan eagerly
what they said. The drops stood on
poor Nolan's white forehead as he
hushed the men down, and said:
HE says, Not Palmas' He says,
Take us home, take us TO q eoun-
try, take us to our wi house. take
US to our own pickaninnles and our
own women He says he has an old
father and mother. who will die, II
they do not see him. And this one
says he left his people ell sick, and
padded down to come and help them,
end that these devils caught him In
the bay just in sight Of home, and
that he has never seen anybody from
home since then. And this one says"
choked out Nolan, that he has not
heard a word from his home in six
months, while he has been locked up
In an internal ~barraeCOn."
Vaughan always said he grew gray
himself while Nolan struggled through
this Interpretation. /, who did not I'M
derstand anything Of the passion In
volVed In Il, saw that the very ele-
ments were melting with fervent heat,
and that something was to pay some
where. Even the negroes themselves
stopped bowling as they saw NOlan's
agony, and Vaughan's almost equal
agony Of sympathy. As quick as he
could get words, he said:
'TeIl them yes, yes; tell them they
shall 60 to the Mountains Of the Noon,
II they will. II / sail the schooner
through the Great White Desert, they
shall go homel"
And after some fashion Nolan said
so. And then they all fell to kissing
him again and wanted to rub his nose
with theirs.
But he could not stand It long; and
getting Vaughan to say he might 60
back, he beckoned me down into our
boat. As we lay back In the stern
sheets and the men gave way, he said
to me: "Youngster, let that show you
what It is to be without a family, with
out a home, and without a country,
And II you are ever tempted to say a
word or to do a thing that shall put
a bar between you and your family,
your home, and your country, pray
God In his mercy to take you that In
slant home to his own heaven. Stick
by your family, boy: forget you have
a self, while you do everything for
them. Think Of your home, boy; write
and send, and talk about It. Let II
be nearer and nearer to your thought,
the farther you have to travel from Il
and rush to 1t, when you are free, az
that poor black slave Is doing now,
And for your country, boy" and the
words ratified In his throat, "and fol-
that flag" and he pointed to the ship
"never dream a dream but Of serving
her as she bids you, though the serv'
ice carry you through a thousand bells
No matter what happens to you, nc
matter who hatters you or who abuses
you, never look at another nag, never
let a night pass but you pray God t
bless that flag. Remember, boy, tina
behind all these men you have to d.
with, behind officers, and government
and people even, there is the countr!
herself, your country, and that yoI
belong to her as you belong to you
own mother. Stand by her, boy, Al
you would stand by your mother,
those devils there had got hold Of he
tOdayp
1 was frightened to death by hi
calm, hard passion; but I blundere'
out that I would, by all that was holy
and that / had never thought Of dOlnI
r anything else. He hardly seemed +
/, hear me; but he did, almost in
whisper, say: "Oh, II anybody haI
I said so to me when I was Of your age !
y 1 think It was this half-confdence o
! his, which l never abused, for / neve
told this story till now, which afteI
. ward made us great friends. He wa
very kind to me. Often he sat up, o
e even got up, at night to walk the dec
with me when 1t was my watch. II
q explained to me a great deal Of m
mathematics. He lent me books, an
3 helped me about my reading. He ne'
. er alluded so directly to his EtOr
n again; bnt from n and another oH
I Ger / have learned, In thirty year
what I am telling. When we parte
q from him In ST. Thomas harbOr, at tn
o end of our cruise, / was more SORT
!, than / can tell. I was very glad I
meet him again in 1880; and later !
' life, when I thought / had some II
Nmaunn In WaahfuUknn 4 mnwaH hnaI