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R the most mode..
tng pointy o. jpbittal
ion, while he was adjusting me igirth
of his pantaloons, which walking had
discovered not to be exactly right. It
was just fixed to his mind, his foes
becoming a little noisy, and his friends
a little uneasy at his delay, when Billy
called out, with a smile of some mean
ing, “Where’s the bully of the lower
battalion? I’m getting tired of wait
ing.”
“Here he is,” said Bob, lighting, as
it seemed, from the clouds into the
ring, for he had actually bounded clear
of the head of Ransy Sniffle into the
circle. His descent was quite as im
posing as Billy’s entry, and excited
the same feelings, but in opposite bos
oms.
Voices of exultation now rose on his
side.
“Where did he come from?”
“Why,” said one of his seconds (all
having just entered), “we were girting
him up, about a hundred yards out
yonder, when he heard Billy ask for
the Bully; and he fetched a leap over
the courthouse, and went out of sight;
but I told them to come on, they’d find
him here.”
Here the lower battalion burst into
a peal of laughter, mingled with a look
of admiration, which seemed to denote
their entire belief of what they had
heard.
“Boys, widen the ring, so as to give
him room to jump.”
“Oh, my little flying wild-cat, hold
him if you can! and, when you get him
fast, hold lightning next.”
“Ned, what do you think he’s made
of?”
“Steel springs and chicken-hawk,
Bod bless you!”
“Gentlemen,” said one of Bob’s sec
onds, “I understand it is to be a fair
fight; catch as catch can, rough and
tumble; no man touch till one or the
other halloos.”
“That’s the rule,” was the reply from
the other side.
“Are you ready?”
“We are ready.”
“Then blaze away, my game cocks!”
At the word, Bob dashed at his an
tagonist at full speed; and Bill squared
himself to receive him with one of his
most fatal blows. Making his caclula
tion, from Bob’s velocity, of the time
when he would come within striking
distance, he let drive with tremend
ous force. But Bob’s onset was ob
viously planned to avoid this blow; for,
contrary to all expectations, he stopp
ed short just out of arm’s reach, and,
before Billy could recover his balance,
Bob had him “all under-hold.” The
next second, sure enough, “found Bil
ly’s head where his feet ought to be.”
How it was done no one could tell;
but, as if by superhuman power, both
Billy’s feet were thrown full half his
own height in the air, and he came
down with a force that seemed to
shake the earth. As he struck the
ground, commingled shouts, screams,
and yells burst from the lower battal
ion, loud enough to be heard for
miles. “Hurra, my little hornet!”
“Save him!” “Feed him!” “Give him
the Durham physic till his stomach
turns!” Billy was no sooner down than
Bob was on him, and lending him aw
ful blows about the face and breast.
Billy made two efforts to rise by main
strength, but failed. “Lord bless you,
man, don’t try to get up! Lay still and
take it! you bleege to have it!”
Billy now turned his face suddenly
to the ground and rose upon his hands
and knees. Bob jerked up both his
hands and threw him on his face. He
again recovered his late position, of
which Bob endeavored to deprive him
as before; but missing one arm, he
failed, and Billy rose. But he had
scarcely resumed his feet before they
flew up as before, and he came again
to the grounds “No fight, gentlemen I”
criea Bob’s friends; “the m n ean’t
stand up! Bouncing feet are bad
things to fight in!” Hi however,
was this time comrp| light;
for, having thrown if right arm
round Bob’s neck, he OUJ Wed his head
down with him. TansAasp, which
was obstinately maT prevent
ed Bob from getting on him, and they
lay head to head, seeming, for a time,
to do nothing. Presently they rose as
if by mutual consent; and, as they
rose, a shout burst from both batta
lions. “On, my lark!” cried the east,
“has he foxed you?" Do you begin tn
feel him! He’s only beginning to
tight; he ain’t got warm yet.”
“Look yonder!” cried the west;
didn’t I tell you so! He hit the ground
so hard it jarred his nose off. Now
ain’t he a pretty man as he stands?
He shall have my sister Sal just for
his pretty looks. I want to get in the
breed of them sort o’ men, to drive
ugly out of my kinfolks.”
I looked, and saw that Bob had en
tirely lost his left ear, and a large
piece from his left cheek. His right
eye was a little discolored, and the
blood flowed profusely from his
wounds.
Bill presented a hideous spectacle.
About a third of his nose, at the lower
extremity, was bit off, and his face
so swelled and bruised that it was diffi
cult to discover in it anything of the
human visage, much more the fea
tures which he carried into the ring.
They were up only long enough for
me to make the foregoing discoveries,
when down they went again, precisely
as before. They no sooner touched
the ground than Bill relinquished his
hold upon Bob’s neck. In this he seem
ed to all to have forfeited the only
advantage which put him upon an
equality with his adversary. But the
movement was soon explained. Bill
wanted this arm for other purposes than
defense; and he had made arrange
ments whereby he knew that he could
make it answer these purposes; for,
when they rose again he had the mid
dle finger of Bob’s left hand in his
mouth. He was now secure from
Bob’s annoying trips; and he began
to lend his adversary tremendous
blows, every one of which was hailed
by a shout from his friends. “Bul
lets!” “Hos-kicking!” “Thunder!”
“That’ll do for his face; now feel
his short ribs, Billy!”
I now considered the contest set
tled. I deemed it impossible for any
human being to withstand for five
seconds the loss of blood which issued
from Bob’s ear, cheek, nose and fin
ger, accompanied with such blows as
he was receiving. Still he maintained
the conflict, and gave blow for blow
with considerable effect. But the blows
of each became slower and weaker
after the first three or four; and it be
came obvious that Bill wanted the
room which Bob’s finger occupied for
breathing. He would therefore, proba
bly, in a short time, have let it go, had
not Bob anticipated his politeness by
jerking away his hand, and making
him a present of the finger. He now
seized Bill again, and brought him to
his knees, but he recovered. He again
brought him to his knees, and he again
recovered. A third effort, however,
brought him down, and Bob on top of
him. These efforts seemed to exhaust
the little remaining strength of both,
and they lay, Bill undermost and
Bob across his breast, motionless, and
panting for breath. After a short
pause, Bob gathered his hand full of
dirt and sand, and was in the act of
grinding it in his adversary’s eyes,
when Bill cried “Enough!” Language
cannot describe the scene that follow
ed; the shouts, oaths, frantic gestures,
taunts, replies, and little fights, and
therefore I shall not attempt it. The
champions were borne off by their sec
onds and washed; when many a
THE WE. XV JEFFERSONIaJ
bleeding wound and ugly bruise was
discovered on each which no eye had
seen before.
Many had gathered round Bob, and
were in various ways congratulating
and applauding him, when a voice
from the center of the circle cried out,
“Boys, hush and listen to me!” It pro
ceeded from Squire Loggins, who had
made his way to Bob’s side, and had
gathered his face up into one of its
most flattering and intelligible expres
sions. All were obedient to the
squire’s command. “Gentlemen,” con
tinued he, with a most knowing smile,
“is — Sammy —Reynolds— in—this
company—of—gentlemen ?”
“Yes,” said Sam, “here I am.”
“Sammy,” said the squire, winking
to the company, and drawing the head
of his cane to his mouth with an arch
smile as he closed, “I —wish —you —to
tell —cousin —Bobby —and —these—
gentlemen here present — what
—your —Uncle —Tommy said —before
the —sight—began ?”
“Oh! get away, Uncle Tom,” said
Sam, smiling (the squire winked),
“you don’t know nothing about fight
ing.” (The squire winked again.)
“All you know about it is how it’ll be
gin, how it’ll go on, how it’ll end;
that’s all. Cousin Bob, when you going
to fight again, just go to the old man,
and let him tell you all about it. If he
can’t don’t ask nobody else nothing
about it, I tell you.”
The squire’s foresight was compli
mented in many ways by the by-stand
ers; and he retired, advising “the boys
to be at peace, as fighting was a bad
business.”
Durham and Stallings kept their
beds for several weeks, and did not
meet again for two months. When
they met, Billy stepped up to Bob and
offered his hand, saying, “Bobby,
you’ve licked me in a fair fight; but
you wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t
been in the wrong. I oughtn’t to have
treated your wife as I did; and I felt
so through the whole fight, and it sort
o’ cowed me.”
“Well, Billy,” said Bob, “let’s be
friends. Once in the fight, when you
had my finger in your mouth, and was
pealing me in the face and breast, I
was going to halloo; but I thought of
Betsy, and knew the house would be
too hot for me if 1 got whipped when
fighting for her, after always whipping
when I fought for myself.”
“Now that’s what I always love to
see,” said a by-stander. “It’s true I
brought about the fight, but I wouldn’t
have done it if it hadn’t o’ been on ac
count of Miss (Mrs.) Durham. But
dod eternally darn my soul, if I ever
could stand by and see any woman
put upon, much less Miss Durham. If
Bobby hadn’t been there, I’d took it up
myself, be darned if I wouldn’t, even
if I’d got whipped for it. But we’re
all friends now.” The reader need
hardly be told that this was Ransy
Sniffle.
Thanks to the Christian religion, *n
schools, colleges, and benevolent as
sociations, such scenes of barbarism
and cruelty as that which I have just
been describing are now of rare occur
rence, though they may still be occa
sionally met with in some of the new
counties. Wherever they prevail, they
are a disgrace to that community.
The peace officers who countenance
them deserve a place in the peniten
tiary. HALL.
nun
SECTIONAL AND PARTISAN
TOLERANCE.
(From Atlanta Constitution.)
Scoring the blind bigotry that kee|>s
alive sectional intolerance and thatj
can see only evil in men and meas
ures of an opposite political creed,
Thomas E. Watson, speakin? at the
recent convention of the Farmers’
National Union in Atlanta, said;
“ .ay with sectional intolerance !’V<
Wherever a president, whether from
the North or from the ; South, Repub
liean or Democrat, $ X
tion to be your fries. iRAd meet
him half way. Rifey, jßff* believe
that every white m«.n in the South
owes it to the state to say that wr ‘
indorse Theodore Roosevelt, and wilt U
support him. (Long and loud ap
plause.) It would gratify me and it
would strengthen the South if we
could have a rising vote on that. 1
believe that Ben Tillman has allow
ed his personal hatred of the presi
dent to lead him into a false posi
tion ; and the longer he stays in it,
the worse it will be for Ben. But
I believe we owe it to the South to
stand by the men that stand by us,
and Roosevelt today is being bom
barded, is being brow-beaten, is being
abused, because he cleaned out of the
service a gang of roughs, who shot
up the town of Brownsville, and red
dened the streets with of
peaceable citizens. All of Wg|bo <.
believe we should stand by 'ineocmre
Roosevelt rise.”
The Constitution gives its heartiest
indorsement to Mr. Watson’s denun
ciation of sectional intolerance as
well as his plea for a wider
generous viewpoint. -z>
We believe the sentiment,
South breathes the same spirit '
erality. Mr. Watson’s appeal
dressed to the members of the Fabl
ers’ Union from every state in life
section—men who unquestion n
represent ’he inte lect’ al drift of the f
respective communities. When tki
speaker aisked all those who indorsed -
Mr. Roosevelt to rise from their seats,
the audience rose en masse, “and sig»
nified its approval of the president
by long, loud and continued cheers.”
With the testimony of these, its
most competent witnesses, the South
rests its reputation for breadth be
fore the nation. As against their
practical unanimity, there are only
the snarls of an isolated politician or
two, and a few scattered legislative
bodies, who withhold a similar in
dorsement for the amazing reason
that the man involved is of antagonis
tic political faith.
The Constitution sees in this and
other indisputable evidences of a new.
homogeneous national spirit, causa
for the most sincere rejoicing. It
welcomes the disappearance, North
and South, of that concentrated big
otry which puts the seal of disap
proval and distrust on a man and all
his actions, for the high crime of a
different birthplace; or that can stul
tify its own convictions because the
man advocating them may be a mem
ber of the Republican or any other
party.
Men, as measures, should be accept
ed or rejected on their merits, and
not by the blind chance of political or
geographical origin. Tn the discrim
inating cultivation of such a spirit
rests the highest material destinies of
the entire nation, and the evolution
of a solid cohesive national charac
ter.
Any other course can only ham
string national achievement, and sow
vindictiveness and dissension.
R H R
Gen. Bell reports that nearly all the
Cubans now have plenty of work. But
isn’t that just what the Cubans were
trying to keep away from!