Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1918-11-07


Nolan thought he had got his chance.
He had known her at Philadelphia.
and at other places had met her, and
this was . godsend. You could not
talk in contredances, ~ you do In
cOtIliions. or even In the pauses Of
Waiting: but there were chances for
tongues and sounds. ~ well a. for
eyes and bushes. He began with her
travels. and Europe, and vesuvius, and
the French: and then. when they had
worked down, and had that long talk
Ing time at the bottom of the set, he
said boldly. 4 little pale, she said. as
she told me the story, years after:
"And what do you hear from home,
Mrs. Graffy
And that splendid creature looked
through him. Jovel how she must
have looked through him Home II
Mr.. Nolan!!! I thought you were the
man who never wanted to hear of
home again." and she walked directly
up the deck to her husband. and left
poor Nolan alone. as. he always was.
He did not dance again.
l cannot give any history Of him In
order; nobody can now; and. indeed.
am not trying to. These are the ira.
dltions, which sort out, as believe
them, from the myths which have been
told about this man for forty years.
The fellows used to say he was the
'Iron Mask" and poor George Pons
went to his grave In the belief that
this was the author Of "Junius." who
was being punished for his celebrated
libel on Thomas Jefferson. Pons was
A happier story than either of these
have told Is OF the war. That came
along soon after. | have heard this
affair told In three or four ways, and.
! indeed, 1t may have happened more
than once. But which ship 1t was on
| | cannot tell. However, In one, at
least. Of the great frigate duels with
the English. In which the navy was
really baptized. 1t happened that "a
round shot from the enemy entered
one of our ports square. and took right
down the officer Of the gun himself.
| and almost every man of the guns
crew. Now you may say what you
choose about courage. but that is not
nice thing to see. But as the men
who were not killed picked themselves
up, md the surgeons people were car
| rying off the bodies, there appeared
| Nolan, I'm his shirt sleeves, with the
hammer in his hand, and. just as Ii he
had been the officer. told them Off with
authority, who should go to the cock
pit with the wounded men, who should
stay with him. perfectly CHEEKY. and
| with that way which makes men feel
sure all is right and Is going to be
| right. And he finished loading the
gun with his own hands. aimed 1t, and
| hade the men fire. And there he
stayed, captain of that gun. keeping
those fellows In spirits, till the enemy
struck, sitting on the carriage while
| the gun was cooling though he was
| exposed all the time, showing them
| easier ways to handle heavy shot max.
Ing the raw hands laugh at their own
| blunders. and when the gun cooled
| again. getting It loaded and fired twice
as often as any other gun on the ship
The captain walked forward. by way
OF encouraging the men. and Nolan
| touched his hat and said:
| ~ am showing them how we do this
| In the artillery sir
/ And this is part Of the story where
oil the legends agree; that the commo.
dorc snid:
| II see you DO, and I thank You. sir
| and shall never forget this day, sir
ana you never shall. sir"
And after the whole thing was over
and he had the Englishmau's sword
In the midst OF the state aud ceremony
Of the quarterback, he said:
"Where is Mr., Nolan? Ask Mr.. No
Ian to come here
And when Nolan came, the captain
said
Mr. Nolan, we are all very grateful
To you today: you nre one Of us today
you will be named in the dispatches
And thsn the old man took off his
own sword of ceremony, and gave 1t to
| Nolan. and made him put 1t on. The
nam told me this who saw It. Nolan
cried like baby. and we'll he might
| He had not worn n sword since that
internal day at Fort Adams. But al
ways aftorward. on occasions Of cere-
| Mony, he wore that quaint old French
sword Of the cognmodores
The captain ,ltd mention him In the
| dispatches 1t was always said he
| asked that he might be nardoned. lie
| wrote a special letter to the secretary
| or war, But nothing ever came of 1t.
| AS said. that was about the tine
| when they began To ignore the whole
transaction at Washington. and when
Nolan's imprisonment began to carry
itself on because there was nobody to
stop II without any new orders from,
home.
| have heard II said that he was with
Porter when he took possession Of the
| Nukahiwa islands, Not this Porter,
you know, but old Porter. his father,
Essex Porter. that Is, the old Essex
Porter, not this Essex. As an artii-
iery officer, who had seen service In
Nh. k.xsS Fsx,.