The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1917-07-12

own stateroom. he always had state
room, which was where a sentinel, or
somebody on the watch. could see the
door. And whatever else he ate or
drank he ate or drank alone. Some
times when the marines or sailors had
any special jollIfcation. they were per-
mitted to invite "Plaln-Buttons." as
they called him. Then Nolan was sent
wiA some officer, and the men were
forbidden to speak of home while he
WAS there. They called him 'sPlain-
Buttons" because. while he always
chose to wear a regulation army uni
form. he was not permitted to wear
! the army button, for the reason that
it bore either the initials or the In
sigma of the country he had disowned.
I remember. soon after I Joined the
| navy, was on shore with some of the
older officers from our ship and from
the Brandywine, which we had met at
Alexandria. We had leave to make a
party and go up to Cairo and the Pyra-
mids. AS We logged along some CT
the gentlemen fell to talking about No
Ian. and someone told the system
which was adopted from the first about
his books and other reading. AS he
| was almost never permitted to go on
shore. even though the vessel lay in port
for months, his time. at the best.
hung heavy; and everybody was per-
mitted TO lend him books. II they were
not published In America and made no
allusion to 1t. These were common
enough in the old days. when people
In the other hemisphere talked of the
United States as little as we do of
Paraguay. He had almost all the for
eIgn papers that came into the ship.
sooner or later; only somebody must
go over them first. and cut out any
advertisement or stray paragraph that
alluded to America. Right in the
midst OF one of Nnpoleon's battles. or
one OF Canning's speeches, poor Nolan
would find great hole. because on the
back of the page of that paper there
had been an advertisement of packet
for New York, or a scrap from the
presidents message. l say this was
| the first time 1 ever heard Of this plan.
| which afterwards I had enough. and
more than enough. to do with. 1 re-
member 1t, because poor Phillips. who
was Of the party, as soon as the ailu-
| sion to reading was made. told a story
| OF something which happened at the
Cape Of Good Hope on Nolan's nrst
voyage; and 1t Is the only thing ever
| knew OF that voyage. They had
touched at the Cape. and had done the
civil thing with the English admiral
and the fleet. and then. leaving for a
long cruise up the Indian ocean, Phil
| lips had borrowed a lot OF English
books from an officer which, in those
days. as indeed In these. was quite
| windfall. Among them. as the Devil
would order. was the Lay OF the Last
Minstrel" which they had all Of them
| heard of, but which most OF them had
never seen. I think II could not have
been published long. Well. nobody
thought there could be any risk of any
thing national In that. though Phillips
swore old Shaw had cut out the
Tempest" from Shakespeare before
he let Nolan have 1t. because he said.
THE Bermudas ought to be ours and.
by Jove. should be one day" So No
Ian was permitted to Join the circle
| one afternoon when a lot OF them sat
| on deck smoking and reading aloud.
| People do not do such things so often
| now, but when was young we got
rid Of great deal OF time so. Well.
so It happened that In his turn Nolan
| took the book and read TO the others: :
and he read very well. as know. No
body In the circle knew q line of the
| poem, only It was all magic and bor-
/ der chiyalry. and was ten thousand
| years ago. Poor Nolan read steadily
| through the fifth canto, stopped q min
ute and drank something. and then be-
gan. without a thought Of what was
| coming
| Breathes there the man. with soul %
Who never to himself hath said
| 1t seems Impossible to us that any
body ever heard this for the first time !:
but all these fellows did then. and
| poor Nolan himself went on. still un-
consciously or mechanically
| This is my own. my native iandi
Then they all saw something was
to pay; but he expected to get through.
1 suppose. turned q little pale. but
plunged on
Whose heart hath ne'er within him
burned,
\ As home his footsteps he hath turned
| From wandering on a foreign strand;-
II such thero breathe. go. mark him we'll
1 by this time the men were all be-
side themselves. wishing there was any
way to make him turn over two pages !;
but he had not quite presence of mind
| for that; he gagged a little. colored
| crimson, and staggered on:
! For him no minstrel raptures swell;
/ High though his titles, proud his name.
| Isoundiesx hia wealth as Wish can claim.