Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-08-14
EVENING'ST
JOE LATTIr,s puEI.

he'd TO join the ship. aud after some copsnita
! ton, said man was received by the captain a.
sort of steward, he having agreed to worl
for his passage and board, and some slight
consideration besides. His Yiame was Jos
Lattit, and nc was regular specimennf the
strolling Yankee; bat he dressed well, and
was remarkably good looking, though ther,
was In his face peculiar look, which indi.
Gated that he preferred fun to sound sense, a,
low, however, that the fun had some sense II
1t. The moment placed my eyes upon th,
anan, knew that 1 had seen him before, and
when l had an opportunity 70 speak With him
found that be had been Q performer Of les
erdemain and veptriloquism in the United
States, and there i had seen him. He had
travelled through England, France, and par
lof Spain, with his implements Of deception
| and had just brought up at Gibraltar when
our ship came in He brought his whole XII,
on board ia q large chest, which he got per
mission TO stow in his bedroom, where il
would be kept perfectly dry. He had quite a
hands for safe keeping, but he would tell
none of us how much.1 But he was liberal and
open,hearted, and it was not long before the
| crew blessed the hour that brought him on
board for he was the very soul Of wit and
humor --sfrae i1l-t E = a. lg-ll ~ H. 7
At length our ship went to Port Mahon, and
here our Yankee tars were at home. One
Pc uuoi Ling party Vi US went on snore,
ana y zoe Lattit was among our number Joe
was dressed in a perfect shore rig, and ap.
peared a gentleman of consequence. Near the
| middle Of the forenoon, few of US entered n
cafe, and the only occupant beside the keeper
was Spanish of6cer,s evidently an infantry
captain, from his dress We called for wi ne I,
and had it served upon a table next to the one
at which the officer sat, Joe seating himself 90
that his back came against the back of the
Spaniard; but he did not notice, when he sat
down, how close he would be-
pa Our laugh and jest ran high, and Just as Jee
said something more than usually funny. he
threw himself back, and thereby hit the Span
lard with such force as to cause him to spilI n
glass Of wine upon his bosom The fellow
ieaped to his feet, but before Joe could beg
pardon for the unintentional mishap, he COM
menced torrent of eaths and inyeetive, part
~ in Spanish and partly in broken English.
his language was so abusive that Joe s tenn
per was up in a moment,s and instead of ask.
ing pardon as he had intended, he surveyed
the raving man from head to foot and then
said: 2 SO iGiFl4t 1 ~ a2tif4s si' - eI'aI
sti' 60 on, sir. Your language is beautiful
very beautiful, indeed, for. gentleman.'h
uttered the spaniard in Covering passion.
IF | were going to call you, L should call
you Jackass '" calmly aud contemptuously
uttered Joe. - ~ -5.sI . 8S' 60
,a.'" Aha-a7ah - half ,grewled the Spaniard,
rolling his black eyes wildly and furiously.
:. NOW by Santa Maria, you shall answer for
that am genteelman! But you-you-one
ieetle cursed puppy! ,Ah-a-ahU Now YOU
shall fight - =, = - s.: .-.-. - +
Joe would have laughed the matter off, but
he found that the captain was determined to
light, and at length he resolved to aecommo-
date him. The keeper of the cafe called me
to one side, and informed me that the officer
rvas &oir At q -.
notorious duelists in the place-that he was
Away: q quarrels0me when under the influence
OF liquor, and that his companions always icft
MIN alone rather than have a fuss with him. y
Not five minutes before you came In -
added the keeper :. four of his fellow Offices
left him because they saw he was ripe fin a
fuss. 80 you had better get your friend away"
Ipulied Joe away, and ted him all that
had just been told me, but he only smiled,
and assured me that there was nothing to
fear. L felt sure at once, from bis very man
ner,s that he had some safe fun in kis head,
and let him go. sht aa fszl5
My name is Joseph, Latti, sir--a citizen of
the United States, and General Of the Order
Of Sublime Darkness, - said Joe. pompously.
Antonio Bizar Captain in Her Most Oath
lie Majestys seventh regiment of infantry
But your Office, sir? / don't comprehend.p1 4
oh, you would mt know if would tell YOU 1
am simply general of a body of men who
have sold themselves to the gentleman who
ltSrns sinners and hereties down here.n And l
joe pointed most mysteriously down towards
the floor as he spoke. - .'7i = "a 81 %
81 The Spaniard smiled a very bitter sarcastic
smile and whereupon Joe took up two large
knives which lay upon the bar, and tossed
them, one after another down his throat maxi
ing several wTy faces as they took their Pas
sage downward. The fellow hal evidently
never seen any thing Of the kind done before,
for he was astounded - el..'A - i'-i' 7
5tf Now, sir, !" said Joe, making enc. or two
more grimaces, as though he still felt the
knives somewhere in the region of the dis-
phraghrn, you win wait here until go and
bring my pistols, and you shall have satisfae-
ton. Will you waitf' ota le4' IS .cd
L can procure pistols said the officer,
forgetting his astonishment, and coming back
to his anger. L s'.--- = IS "a 10
. sIshaH fight with my own-s If You are a
gentleman you. viii wait here" vr.iifJ.- 4
Joe turned to US and bad US wait for him.
:" Here here o, cTies ." cried the keeper,
awhere be my knivesi" .icis r Al sol
Il u pay you for 'em when I come back, ~
said Joe, and then he beckoned for me 10 |
one from his bosom and the other from his |
sleere-snd told me 70 keep them till he re-
turned. -, .s-..- -. .-.t-.. 4
1t seems thatJoe found boat ready to take
him of TO the ship at once, for he was not gone
9ver three-quarters of an hour, and when he |
came hack he had two superbly mounted pis- |
tolls with him. He loaded them with powder |
in the presence Of the Spaniard, and tben |
banding him a bail, asked him if he would |
mark il SO. he would know it again he |
fellow hesitated at first but al, length he toak |
it with a mad gesture, and bit 'it between lis |
teeth. lli5 I'D - n'ii. = Ea1l 90 liiF /
p Il shall know that, nlnttered the Span \
lard g unless it is battered against, yeur
bones
= q Now you may select your pistol,n said Joe |
? The man took them both, and examined |
them, but he was Satisfied that they were |
both alike, and both good, and he told jos, he.
had no choice. So our steward put the balls |
in and rammed them carefully down "a |
The, whole party now adjourned to wide
court, back of the. cafe, where twelve PAGES
marked of, and then the combatants took I
their stations. / trembled for poor Joe. for Il I
saw not yet how he would make fun of this. |
20 Count =, cried the Spaniard, imprtient y 1
sss 0ne--two-three ~
The Captain fired first, and with a most de- \
liberate aim. Joe fred into the air. Thsn I
the latter walked deliberately up to bis ants 4
4 I'LL - .