The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1917-05-17

| LUSH UhCh " IL Wueu you are Tree, a.
that poor black slave is doing now.
And for your country, boy" and the
words ratified In his throat, "and for
that hag." and he pointed to the ship.
never dream dream but Of serving
her as she bids you, though the service
carry you through a thousand hells
No matter what happens to you, no
matter who fiatters you or who abuses
you, never look at another flag, never
let night pass but you pray God to
bless that flag. Remember. boy, that
behind all these men you have to do
with. behind officers and government
and people even, there is the country
herself, your country, and that you be-
long to her rs you belong to your own
mother Stand by her, boy. as you
would stand by your mother II those
devils there had got hold Of her to-
dayr'
I was frightened to death by his
calm, hard passion, but l blundered
out that ! would, by all that was holy,
and that l had never thought of doing
anything else. He hardly seemed to
hear me. but he did, almost in a whis-
per; say, "Oh. II anybody had said SO
to Inc when I was Of you age!'
l think 1t was this half confidence Of
his. which / never abused, for l never
told this story till now. which after
ward made us great friends. He was
! very kind to me. When we parted
from him In st. Thomas harbor ut the
end OF our cruise l was more sorry
than l can tell. i was very glad to
meet him again in 1890, and later In life,
when l thought I had some influence
In Washington. l moved heaven and
earth to have him discharged But it
was like getting ghost out OF prison
They pretended there was no such man
| and never was such man They will
say so ut the department now.
There Is story that Nolan met Burr
once on one OF our vessels, when a
party OF Americans came OH board in
the Mediterranean. But this / believe
to be lie; or, rather. it Is a myth. we'll
found, involving a tr, mendous blowing
up with which he sunk Burr-asking
him how he liked to be without a
| country"
After that cruise I never saw Nolan
again. | wrote to him at least twice a
| year. for In that voyage we became even
contidentially intimate; but he never
| wrote to me. The other men tell me
that in those fifteen years he aged very
fast. And now 1t seems the dear old
fellow il dead. He has found q home
Mt last, and II country.
Since writing this I have received
from Danforth. who is on board the
Lcvant. Il letter which gives an ac-
count OF NOlan's last hours. 1t removes
all my doubts about telling this story.
TO understand the first words Of the
letter the nonprofessionnl reader should
remember that after 1917 the position
of every officer who had Nolan in
charge was one OF the greatest deli
cacy. The government had failed to
renew the order OF 1907 regarding him.
What was a man to do? Should he let
him go? What. then, II he were called
to account by the department for vio-
lating the order OF 1907? Should he
keep him? What, then. IL Nolan should
be liberated some day and should bring
an action for false Imprisonment or
kidnapping against every man who had
had him in charge? The secretary al.
ways said, as they so often do at
Washington, that there were no spe-
cial orders to give and that we must
act Oh our own judgment.
Here Is the letter:
Levant, % 2" s. @ 1872 w.
Dear Frcd-I try to find heart and life
| 20 tell YOU that il is all over with dear old
Nolan. 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 staterooni,
a thing 1 never remembered before. He
> had let the doctor come and see him he
lay there. the first time the doctor had
been in the statcroom. and he said he
| should like to see me on, dear do you
rci 3embcr the mysteries We boys used to
| invent about his room in the old Intrepid
| days! We'll. | went in. andthcre. to be
| sui", the poor fellow lay in his berth,
sm'iinS Pleasantly as he gave me his
| hand. but looking very frail ! could not
| hcio a glance round. which showed me
, | what little shrine ne had made Of the
| box H." was lying in. The stars and stripes
| We" tliCrd HD above and around a picture
| or Washington. and he had painted a ma
| lC'lIc eagle. with liShtnings blazing from
ms beak and his foot just ciasping the
, ! Whole globe, which his wings overshad-
| owed The dear old boy saw my glance
al" said. with Al sad smile. Here. you see
| / have country And he pointed to the
foot Of his bed. where | had not seen be-
fore great map OF the United States as
he had drawn 1t from memory and which
he had there to look upon as he lay
| Quaint. queer old names were on IL in
? | large letters. "Oh. Danforth." he said 81
| know | am dying. l cannot get home.
surely you will tell ne something now
| stop. stop! Do not speak till say what
| 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 l.
| There cannot be man who loves the old
| Nag rs J do or prays for II as ! do or
hopes for 1t as | do. There are thirty four
, | stars in II now, Danforth. l thank God
. for that. though do not know what their
names are. There has never been one
| taken away. 1 thank God for that.
Know by that that there has never been
any successful Burr. oh. Danforth Dam
forth" lie sighed out. "tell me-tell me
sonething-tell me everything. Danforth,
| before die
, | lnGham. swear to you that I felt like
n monster that had not told him every
thing before. Danger or no danger, del
icacy or no delicacy, who was | that I