Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1918-03-01

guage. The captain thanked him, At
ted out another boat with him, and In
this boat It was my luck to 60.
When We got there. it was such q
scene as you seldom see, and never
want to. Nastiness beyond account,
and chaos run loose in the midst Of the
nastiness. There were not q great
many of the negroes; but by way
OF making what there were understand
that they were free, Vaughan had had
their handouts and anklecufrs knocked
on, and, for convenience sake, was
putting them upon the rascals of the
schooner's crew. The negroes were.
most Of them, out of the hold, and
swarming all round the dirty deck,
with q central throng surrounding
Vaughan and addressing him in every
dialect and patois Of a dialect, from
the Zulu click up to the Partisan Of
Beledeljereed.
As we came on deck, Vaughan
looked down from a hogshead, on
which he had mounted in desperation,
and said:
"For Gods love, is there anybody
who can make these wretches under
stand something? The men gave them
rum, and that did not quiet them. l
knocked that big fellow down twice,
and that did not soothe him. And then
I talked Choctaw to all Of them to-
gether; and I'll be hanged If they I'M
derstood that as well as they under
stood the English"
Nolan said he could speak Por-
tuguese, and one or two flne-looking
Kroomen were dragged out, who, as it
had been found already, had worked
for the Portuguese on the coast at
Fernando Pc.
"Tell them they are Free" said
Vaughan; land tell them that these
rascals are to be hanged as soon as
we can get rope enough"
Nolan explained it In such Portu-
guese as the Kroomen could under
stand, and they in turn to such of the
; negroes as could understand them.
Then there was such yell Of delight,
clinching Of fists, leaping and dancing,
kissing of Nolan's feet, and a general
rush made to the hogshead by way of
spontaneous worship of Vaughan as
the deus ex machina of the occasion.
"Tell Them" said Vaughan, we'll
pleased, "that 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
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 No}an'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-
us to our own pickaninnies and our
own women He says he has an old
J 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, y
| 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 barracOOn."
Vaughan always said he grew gray
! himself while Nolan struggled through
, this Interpretation. I, who did not un-
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 sail the schooner
: through the Great White Desert, they
shall go home"
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 GO
back, he beckoned me down into oul
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 family, with
out a home, and without country
And if you are ever tempted to say q
word or to do a thing that shall put
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 fol