Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1917-05-25

spontaneous worship of Vaughan as
the deus eX machina of the occasion.
"Tell them" said Vaughan, well
pleased that l will take them all TO
Cape Palmas."
This did not answer so well. Cape
Palmas was practically as far from
the homes of most of them as New Or
leans or Rio JaneirO was; that is, 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 expedients in most
vOluble language. Vaughan was rath-
er disappointed at this result of his
liberality, 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 our coun-
try, take us to our own house, take
us to our own pickaninnies and our
own women He says he has an old
father and mother, who will die, if
they do not see him. And this one
says he left his people all sick, and
padded down to come and help them,
and 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"
OH Nolan hthof no hos not
heard a word from his home in six
months, while he has been locked up
in an Internal barracoon."
Vaughan always said he grew gray
himself while Nolan struggled through
this Interpretation. I, who did not I'M
derstand anything of the passion in
volved in it, 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:
"Tell them yes, yes; tell them they
shall go to the Mountains of the Moon,
if they will. If l sail the schooner
through the Great White Desert, they
shall go homer
And after some fashion Nolan said
so. And then they all fell to kissing
him again and wanted to rub his nose
with theirs.
p,,f hn could cto ~ ouI
getting Vaughan to say he might go
| 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 if you are ever tempted to say a
word or to do 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
| anu Stnu, anu ldlh dDOuI 1t. Let IL
be nearer and nearer to your thought,
the farther you have to travel from it +;
and rush to it, when you are free, as
that poor black slave is doing now.
And for your country, boy" and the
words ratified in his throat, land for
| 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 thousand hells.
No matter what happens to you, no
matter who flatters 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
belong to her as you belong to your
own mother Stand by her, boy, as
you would stand by your mother, if
those devils there had got hold of her
today"
1 was frightened to death by his
calm, hard passion; but I Numbered
out that | would, by all that was holy,
and that | had never thought of doing
anything else. He hardly seemed to
hear me; but he did, almost in a
whisper say: "Oh, if anybody had
said so to me when l was of your age !"
/ think it was this half-confidence of
his, which l never abused, for | never
told this story till now, which after
ward made us great friends He was
very kind to me. Often he sat up, or
even got up, at night to walk the deck
with me when it was my watch. He
explained to me Il great deal of my
mathematics. He lent me books, and
helped me about my reading. He new
er alluded so directly to his story
again; bnt from one and another Off
Ger | have learned, in thirty years,
what l am telling. When we parted
from him in st. Thomas harbor, at the
end of our cruise, l was more sorry
than l can tell. / was very glad to
meet him again in $780, and later in
life, when l thought l had some in
fluence in Washington, moved heav-
en- and earth to have him discharged.