Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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!