This is from the autobiography of US Grant, written while he was dying of cancer to generate some $$$ * * * * * * On the evening of the first day out from Goliad we heard the most unearthly howling of wolves, directly in our front. The prairie grass was tall and we could not see the beasts, but the sound indicated that they were near. To my ear it appeared that there must have been enough of them to devour our party, horses and all, at a single meal. The part of Ohio that I hailed from was not thickly settled, but wolves had been driven out long before I left. Benjamin was from Indiana, still less populated, where yet the wolf roamed over the prairies. He understood the nature of the animal and the capacity of a few to make believe there was an unlimited number of them. He kept on toward the noise, unmoved. I followed in his trail, lacking moral courage to turn back and join our sick companion. I have no doubt that if Benjamin had proposed returning to Goliad, I would not only have "seconded the motion" but have suggested that it was very hard-hearted in us to leave Augur sick there in the first place; but Benjamin did not propose turning back. When he did speak it was to ask: "Grant, how many wolves do you think there are in that pack?" Knowing where he was from, and suspecting that he thought I would overestimate the answer, I determined to show my acquaintance with the animal but putting the estimate below what possibly could be correct, and answered: "Oh, about twenty," very indifferently. He smiled and rode on. In a minute or two we close upon them, and before they saw us. There were just /two/ of them. Seated upon their haunches, with their mouths close together, they had made all the noise we had been hearing for the past ten minutes. I have often thought of this incident since when I have heard the noise of a few disappointed politicians who had deserted their associates. There are always more of them before they are counted. Thane Plambeck http://www.plambeck.org/ehome.htm Marc LeBrun wrote:
I haven't followed this thread closely, but I think you are referring to President Grant (he's the dude on the US $50 http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/files/Glossy-face-web.pdf).
Here's a few facts I gathered from the web (among many more--it's worth a surf if you're inclined to this sort of trivia).
Ulysses S. Grant was originally named Hiram Ulysses Grant. His family called him by his middle name Ulysses, or Lyss for short. By the time he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1839, he had been signing his name as "Ulysses H. Grant." Congressman Thomas Hamer, who had been acquainted with the Grant family, mistakenly listed Grant as "Ulysses S. Grant," probably assuming that his middle name was his mother's maiden name, Simpson. Grant didn't bother to correct the error. In time, he accepted U. S. Grant as his true name, insisting that his middle initial stands for "nothing." Grant was generally an average student, but he excelled in mathematics. Upon graduation, Grant had no intention of keeping the military as his career and planned instead on being a professor of mathematics.
Figures. I suppose we should be thankful he didn't choose to call himself something like "What Is the Name of This President?"
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