ter. He gave the scheme the weight of
his influence. Winona, through its councillor, St. A. D. Balcombe, was a
warm advocate of the change, and enough influence was secured to carry
the bill in both houses. It, however, only passed the council by one
majority, eight voting in its favor, and seven against it.

It was at this point in the fight that Rolette proved himself a bold and
successful strategist. He was a friend of St. Paul, and was determined
that the plan should not succeed if it was possible for him to prevent
it. He never calculated chances or hesitated at responsibilities, but
would undertake any desperate measure to carry a point with the same
unreflecting dash and heedlessness of danger that he would plunge his
horse into a herd of buffalo, shooting right and left, trusting to luck
to extricate him. It happened that Joe was chairman of the committee on
enrolled bills of the council, and all bills had to pass through his
hands for enrollment and comparison. On the 27th of February the removal
bill reached him, and he instantly decided that the legislature should
never see it again, so he put it in his pocket and disappeared. He had,
however, foresight enough carefully to deposit the bill in the vault of
Truman M. Smith's bank, in the Fuller House, on the corner of Seventh
and Jackson streets, before his vanishment.

On the 28th Joe did not appear in his seat, and no one seemed to know
anything of his whereabouts. As his absence was prolonged, some of the
advocates of the removal became uneasy, and sent to the enrollment
committee for the bill, but none of them knew anything about it. At this
point Mr. Balcombe offered a resolution, calling on Rolette to report
the bill forthwith, and on his failure to do so, that the next member of
the committee, Mr. Wales, procure another enrolled copy and report it.
He then moved the previous question on his resolution. At this point,
Mr. Setzer, a friend of St. Paul, moved a call of the council, and Mr.
Rolette, being reported absent, the sergeant-at-arms was sent out to
find him, and bring him in.

To comprehend the full bearings of the situation, it should be known
that, under the rules, no business could be transacted while the council
was under a call, and that it required a two-thirds vote to dispense
with the call. As I have said before, the bill was passed in the council
by a vote of eight for and seven against, which was the full vote of the
body; but in the ab