Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-06-08
FOURTH

er Intentionally added to the difficulty
or delicacy Of the charge Of those who
had him In hold. Accidents would
happen; but they never happened from
his fault. Lieutenant TruxtOn told me
that when Texas was annexed, there
was a careful discussion among the
officers, whether they should get hold
Of NOlan's handsome set OF maps, and
cut Texas out Of It, from the map
Of the world and the map Of Mexico,
The United States had been cut out
when the atlas was bought for him.
But It was voted rightly enough, that
to do this would be virtually to reveal
to him what had happened, or, as
Harry Cole said, to make him think
Old Burr had succeeded. So II was
from no fault of NOlan's that a great
botch happened at my own table, when,
for q short time, I was In command of
the George Washington corvette, on
the South American station. We were
lying In the La Plata, and some of the
officers, who had been on shore, and
had just Joined again, were entertain
ing us with accounts Of their misad-
ventures in riding the half-wild horses
Of Buenos Aires. Nolan was at table,
and was in an unusually bright and
laxative mood. Some story Of a tum-
BILE reminded him Of an adventure Of
his own, when he was catching wild
horses in Texas with his brother Steph-
en-, at a time when he must have been
quite a boy. He told the story with
a good deal Of splrit-so much so, that
the silence which often follows a good
story hung over the table for an in
slant, to be broken by Nolan himself.
For he asked, perfectly unconsciously,
"Pray, what has become Of Texas?
After the Mexicans got their ~independ-
ence, ! thought that province of Texas
would come forward very fast. II is
really n Of the finest regions on
earth; 1t ls the Italy Of this continent.
But / have not see or heard a word
Of Texas for near twenty years."
There were two Texan officers at the
table. The reason he had never heard
Of Texas was that Texas and her af-
fairs had been painfully out Of his
newspapers since Austin began his
settlements; so that, while he read of
Honduras and Tamaulipas, and, till
quite lately, Of California, this virgin
province, In which his brother had
Travelled so far and, I believe, had died,
had ceased to be with him. Walters
and Williams, the two Texas men,
looked grimly at each other, and tried
not to laugh. Edward Morris had his
attention attracted by the third link
in the chain of the captains chan
deller. Watrous was seized with a con-
vulslOn Of s~neezlng. Nolan himself
saw that something was to pay, he did
not know what. And /, as master Of
the feast, had to say:
Texas is out Of the map, Mr.. No
Ian. Have you seen Captain Backs
curious account Of Sir Thomas ROe's
Welcome?"
After that cruise / never saw No
Ian again. l wrote to him at least
twice a year, for in that voyage we
became even confidentially intimate
but he never wrote to me. The other
men tell me that in those fifteen years
he aged very fast, as well he might
Indeed, but that he was still the same
gentle, accomplishing, silent sufferer
that he ever was, bearing as best he
could his self-appOinted punishment,
rather less social, perhaps, with new
men whom he did not know, but more
anxious, apparently, than ever to serve
and befriend and teach the boys, some
OF whom fairly seemed to worship him.
And nov II seems the dear old fellow
is dead. He has found a home at
last, and a country.
Since writing this, and while con-
sidering whether or no / would print
1t, as a warning to the young Of today
Of what 1t is to throw away a country,
l have received from Danforth, who is
on board the Levant, a letter which
gives an account Of NOlan's last hours.
To understand the first words of the
letter, the nonprofesslonal reader
should remember that after 1917 the
position Of every officer who had No
Ian In charge was q Of the greatest
delicacy. The government had failed
to % the order of 1907 regarding
him. What was a man to dor Should
he let him go7 What, then, II he
were called to account by the depart
ment for violating the order Of 1907
Should he keep hlm2 What, then, II
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 charger
/ urged and pressed this upon South
ard, and / have reasUn to think that
other officers did the same thing. But
the secretary always said, as they 80
often do at Washington, that there
were no speciG orders to give, and
that we must act on our own judg-
ment. That means, IF you succeed,
you win be sustained; II you fail, you
viii be disaVowed." Well, as DanfOrth
says, all that Is over now, though /
DO not know but I expose myself to a
criminal prosecution on the evidence
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