The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-08-22
seen his foeman take it from his mouth. IT,
was Ilnmistakahlr astnnnded

fSam PebloF' exclaimed Blzar, syou use
somewhat you call him-some trick, eh:
By San Jago, I shall load the pistol myself"
''Do so,' said Joe calmly, and as he spoke
he handed over his powder-1ask.
The Spaniard poured out an extra quantity
of powder, and having poured it.into the pisto
he called for the rammer. He then put in the
same ball which he had used before Mean
while, Joe had been loading his own pistol.
Gone moment" uttered Joe, reaching out
his hand. 1.-THE caps are in the butt of your
pistol. Let me get them.'
The fellow passed over his pistol, but he
kept his eyes upon it. Joe opened little sill
yer spring at the end of the butt, and true,
there were some percussion caps there. He
took out two, and having capped his own pistol
he gave it toss into the air, catching it adroit-
ly as it came down, and then handed back the
other to the Spaniard had watched Joe
most carefully, but I saw nothing out Of the
way-and yet he had changed pistols with his
foe! .-o ..-.D... -
Now said he, 'I'll put ball into my
pistol, and then we'll be ready" .-.
He slipped something in, which looked to me
like cartridge, but no one else saw it.
"Now," cried the Spaniard, ''let's see you
hold this in your mouth'' .'
Again they took their stations, and again
they were ready.
"One-two-three!''
And the Spaniard fired first, by aim, Joe
firing into the air as before And again Joe
stepped forward and took the selfsame bullet
from his mouth, and handed it to his antago-
mist! The fellow was completely dumbfound-
ed, and SO were the rest.
'You no fire at mep' gasped the captain.
"Ill fire at you next time said Joe, in a
tone of thunder 'sThus farI have only shown
you that powder and Da]l can have no effect On
me. Twice have you fired at me, with as true
pistol as ever was made, and both times have
/ caught your ball between my teeth, while
have fired in the air. Imeant that you should
live long enough to know that for once in your
life you had seen, if not the old fellow himself
(pointing meaningly downward,) at least one
who is in his employ. The old gentleman will
like the company of a Spanish captain of in
fantry, and III send you along! Come, load
up againn'
But the astonished spaniard did not seem in
clined to do So. A man who swallowed cary
ing-knves as he would sardines, and who caught
pistol-balls between his teeth, was rot exactly
the man for him to deal with. While he was
pondering upon what he had seen, Joe took a
handful Of bullets from his pocket, and began
to toss them rapidly down his throat, and when
these were gone, he picked up half dozen
good sized stones, and sent them after the bull
lets! u.
holy Santa MarieH' "ejasR plated the Span
iard while his eyes seemed Starting from the
sockets, "what man! By my soul It's the
DEVIL"
And as he thus spoke, he turned on his heel
and hurried away from the place, After he
was gone. Joe beckoned for me to give him the
knives. l did SO, and then saw him slip them
up his coat sleeves. When we returned to the
cafe, he approached the keeper.
''You want your knives" he said.
But the poor fellow dared not speak Joe
put his hand to his right ear, and pulled one
of the long knives out. Then, from the left
ear, ne drew the other one! The keeper crossed
himself in terror, and shrank trembling away.
But we finished our wine, and having paid for
it, we turned to 60.
"Here," said Joe, II haven't paid for the
use of the yard yet,'' and as he spoke he threw
down piece of silver upon the counter.
mo! no! no." shrieked the poor fellow. 90
Jesus! don't leave your money here-don't!"
Joe picked it up and went away, laughing.
When we were alone he explained to me the
secret of his pistols. They were pair he had
used IN his 1egerdeman performances, and
such as all wizards use who perform tricks of
catching balls, etc. The main barrel of the
pistol had no connection whatever with the
nipple for the cap, but what appeared to be a
socket for tho in E,,
barrel-to be sure smaller than the other, but
yet as large as the bore of any rifle -pistol-and
with this secret barrel the priming- tube connec
ed. So the apparent barrel of the weapon
might be filled with powder and balls, and no
larm could be done. When Joe first returned
with his pistols, of course he had both these
secret bores loaded with blank charges, and
hen the other loading was for nothing but
effect in appearance. At the second loading,
Zoe had charged the secret barrel of his own
pistol, while the Spaniard had been filing up
he main barrel of his. Then, Of course, it be-
anne necessary to make an exchange, else
5izar would have never got his weapon off. As
oon as Joe got the other pistol into his posses
ion, and made the exchange which we spoke
f at the time, he had only to press smartly
pom secret spring on TIE side of the stock,
nd he had the whole charge, which the other
ad put in, empted into his hand. So he had
ne marked ball to dispose of as he chose.
Ever after that, while we remained in Ma
on, Joe Lattit was an object Of both curiosity
nd dread on shore, for An account, all colored
} suit the exaggerated conceptions of the cafe
aeper, had been spread over the city, and the
ous catholics there wanted nothing to do
ith such man, only to be sure to keep on
is good humored side
..-- --~~~~@~~>->0~~>~-7---s>--.
Professor Trench, in his work on the Eng
'h language, points out a pal pable typogragh-
al error, in the Esd chapter of Mathew.
athew in speaking Of publicans and sinners, {
es the current expression ''they strain at a S
lat and swallow camel" The professor '
Us, this error crept into the edition of 1911 i
ID has held its ground ever since:-"The t.
anslator intended to say, who strain out a p
lat and swallow. camel that being the cor g
ct readingof the original, as appears in Ty- a
sdale's and Grammer's transations, both of L
lich have Strained out 1t was the Gus P
n of the stricter Jews to strain their wine, h
legar and other potables, through linen or e.
uze, lest unawares they should drink down :"