The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1853-10-01
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Hog any other two men in the county.
Each, through many hard.fought battle,
had acquired the mastery OF his own bat
tnl'on. bu, they lived on opposite sides OF
the Courthouse, aud IN dilcren, baiialious I,
consequently. they were bat seldom throw n
together. When they met, however, they
we're always friendly indeed, at their frs,
interview, they seemed to conceive a won.
deriul attachment Tor each other, which
rather Increased than diminished ~ they
became better acquainted; so that, but for
the circumstance which am about to men
ton, the question watch had been a thous
aud times asked, Which is the best man.
Billy stations tSallngs) or Bob Dur
ham would probably never have been
answered.
Billy ruled the upper battalion, and Bob
the lower The former treasured six feet
and m inch In his stockings, and, without
a single poInd Of cumb,ous flesh abou,
him, weighed hundred aud eighty The
latter Was na inch shorter than his rival,
and ten pounds lighter, but he was much
the more actlr. OF the two. Ia running
aud Jumping he had but few equals in the
couuty; and m wrestling. not one. In
other respects they were nearly equal Both
were admirable specimens OF human nature
IN rs finest form. Bllly's victories had
been achieved by the tremendous power OF
blows. one OF which had often proved dec
slve OF his battles Bob's, b, his adroi.ness
III bringing his adversary To the ground
his Advantage he had never faded to gain
at the onset, aud, when gained, he never
failed 10 improve II Ia the defeat Of his ad
versary these ta.uts Of difference have
involved the reader IA doubt as tn the
probable issue oi n contest between them.
II Vas not so however. with the Two bat.
tslious Neither had the least dilicult, in
determining the point hy til. most natural
and lrre-stibl" deductions n yriori and
though, toy the ssme course oi reasoning.
they arrived At directly opposite conclusion,
pcilhet felt It's cophj,ncein the least shak en-
b, tbs circumstance The upper battalion
-wotc that Billy oul, wanted one lick ut
him To knock hi, heart, liver. aud light. out
Of hru, and II he got two al him, he'd
knock Ina into cooked hat The lower
battalion tctntied tilnt he would At have
tine 10 double his list before Bob vou /
PIT his head where hl. icrl ought To DE {.
and thni lay the time hc Int the ground,
III" mat would dy oil OF hi, face 80
qu ct, that people " uld lhlnk h MAS shook
"h h, tn" tall These dispute. often led
to the arcbmepiHm al hom,acm. but with
such equality ol success on both SIDES as
20 leave the main question OF success Just
where they found b. They usunl, ended.
however, ~ the co.nwou Wtv. with bet /.
md unuy guatt OF old lapnIca twhi-kV
had u"t then supp.,nted rum were .tahtd
upon tbe issue. >tdl great, '' 'he annoy.
luce OF the curious, Hilly and BOB cuu,iu.
ued 10 be good friends
Now there happened to reside IN the
county Just alluded ,o, n fellow named
Hausy >nilile ssprout of Richmond, who,
la his ealirr dtys. had ted copiou.ly upon
red clay aud hlackberries, ihOs diet bad
given To Esnsy u complexion that corpse
would have ii ,dauncd To own, aud abdomi
nal rotuud,ly thai was quite uupreposs"s.
ling. Long spells OF the fever and sgur.
t,o. IN Rams, b, Youth. hrd eonspired With
ella, and tiackh,uies, to throw him qui'r
out al the order of nature liz shoulders
we're ilcshIes- aud elevated his hesd large
aud Hat his neck slim aud translucent :,
aud his arms, hands, fingers, and feet. were
leuglLrucd out OF all proportion TO the rest
of hi. frame. H.. loA,,, were large aud
lat. limh- small aud AS for flesh, be could
not. with propnetv, he SAID To have any.
Those parts which nature usually supplies
with the most of tins aitlcle--tho calves Of
To" legs, Tor example -presented ~ him the
appearance Of So many we'll drawn hli-trrs
iit, height was Ius' sk icct nothing and
hi> average weight IN blackberry season.
100 pounds. have been thus particular IN
describing hun. Tor the purpose oi showing
what a great matter iltrl" IRE sometimes
kudlclh Thee. WAS nothing on this enfth
which delighted Hausy go much "a n fight
lie never seemed iaitl alive except when
hs was witnessing, iunenting, or talking
abou, ~ fight Then. indeed. his deep
suukcn gray eve assumed something Of n
living fire, aud his tongue acquired a volu
bIhl, that bordsred upon eloqnence Ransy
had been kept Tor more than year ~ the
IN vt tor,urIng suspense AS TO the conipara-
tive manhood OF Billy S,allugs and Bob
Durham. lie had rc.ortcd To all his usual
.xpedi.nis to bring them IL collision. aud
had entirely failed, Tie had faithfully re-
ported to Bob all that had been said b, the
people IN the upper battalion agn him,
aud "hc wassufe Billy Stll'ug- started 1t.
Tie heard Billy say himseltlo jim Brown,
tina, he could whip him, or ang o'hrr man
N has batoii,on snd this he told to- Bob ;
adding bod darn his soul IT he wa. II