“I am what I am. Accused of all manner of crimes before I had committed
one, I am like the Wandering Jew.”
In expressing his gratitude for the kindness manifested by the ladies and
the people generally, he said: “It takes a brave man to fight a battle,
but a braver man to treat well a fallen foe.”
Every lady that entered his room he greeted courteously, and as she was
leaving, he would ask her to pray for him and his brother—when James would
chime in, “Not for us, never mind us, but pray for our dear sister.”
To a group of ladies who shrinkingly looked upon the two wounded men, Cole
said: “Ladies, this is a terrible sight.” When one asked him in trembling,
gentle tones, “Do your wounds pain you?” his reply was, “Wounds do not
trouble me, madam; I would as leave die as be a prisoner.”