and explained
matters, resigned my situation, got my salary, secured my valise (which
I had already packed), and was ready to leave in less than half an hour.
My brother (George M. Macdonald), who was also employed on the same
paper as myself, did likewise, and when we were leaving the office our
employer very cordially commended our action and bade us "God speed" on
our journey, at the same time handing us a roll of money "for present
use," as he expressed it, and adding that when the trouble was over
and we were ready to return, our situations would be open for us. Such
generous kindness, and the warm words of appreciation of our services
which accompanied the genial "good-by" of our employer, touched us both
deeply, and have remained in my memory ever since as one of the bright
spots in my life. On our way to the station we met another Canadian
(Thomas Kennedy), whose old home was at Niagara, where he belonged to
No. 1 Company of the 19th Battalion. He was greatly "worked up" when he
saw the Fenian contingent getting ready to start, and when we informed
him of our intentions, he resolutely remarked. "Boys, I'm going home,
too; and as I haven't got time to go down to my boarding-house for my
clothes, I'll go just as I am. We'll be in uniform in Canada to-morrow."
So he came with us. By this time the train was ready to leave, and we
managed to get a double seat in one end of the car. The coach we were in
was soon filled with Fenians, and the vacant seat beside me was taken
by a sturdy-looking fellow who confidentially told us that he was a
Sergeant in a company from Cincinnati, and that a large force of
"the byes" were proceeding to the frontier. From this soldier we got
considerable valuable information as to the strength and composition of
the troops on the train, and also those following, which was carefully
stored in our memories and afterwards duly reported to the Canadian
authorities. Two or three times this Sergeant inquired what company of
Fenians we belonged to, but we artfully managed to evade a direct answer
to his questions, and switched the conversation in another direction.
Had he realized or became aware of the fact that we were Canadians on
our way home to take up arms against him and his comrades, there is no
doubt but that we would have had a very unpleasant experience on that
car. Quite a number of the Fenians on board were under the influence of
liquor, and as they pushed around their bottles of whis