The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1856-05-31
a 1)estcr,, Storm.
An Arkansas Incident.


There is moral courage which acknowl-
edges no position, so bad. that cool heal
and firm heart cannot find an honorable road
to an cxtrlcation, or at least, point out a
course which if persisted in, will in nine
cases out of ten, COW the bully, and enable
It's possesSor to come off conqucror.
We shall begin therefore with an occur.
renee, the scene Of which, we are pleased to
say,-for it gives US an immense amount of
latitude i'll its narraton-is laid in the once
almost uncivilized territory of Arkansas, and
when We say Arkansas, we mean the Arkan.
sas of the long past, as it used to he in those
good old tines" TO quote from Thorough,
bred frontier men) Of pistol and bowie-knife
sovereignty, wnen every man carried his own
life, and not unfrcqucIltly the lives Of few
Of his neighboTs, in his coat back or breast
pocket, and the regulators" had funny
way Of hanging an unpopular individual first
and then trying him afterwards.
1t was therefore during the existence Of
this highly coinmcndable state of things that
a certain young officer of the army, who had
recently joined his regiment, and whom we
shall, Therefore for convenience sake, call
Lieutenant Ncwcomc, arrived at the close of
very fatiguing days travel in the spring,
when, as the reader may know, an Arkansas
bottom road is happy compound Of .'cor.
duroy" and ''hog wal!ow," at log cabin
hotel, or to call it by it's more appropriate
appcllation, "doggcry," in a certain little
town which shall he nanelcss. Now it SO
happened at the time of our young Lieuten.
ant S VISITOR the "doggcly' was Hob.
sons choice" there being no other place
within twelve or fifteen miles, which could
furnish horse feed and shclter-that this
tavern OF bad repute was favored by the
presence of some half dozen border men,
who, TO do them justice, could not have been
Improved upon in their very peculiar way
And as one at least Of these worthless will
play prominent part in the characteristic
incident which We are about to relate, We NAV
as well sketch him as fair sample of the
lot.
MIR. Jake Chowlcr, was an accomplished,
but Witiiai, somewhat eccentric rascal. He
could cheat his comp anion at .fricndly
game OF poker, and shoot him afterwards, if
iie had the audacity to object to the procedure
WIN as little rcHIorse as he would have
brought downa painter" or drawn q bead
upon bear" In person he was tall, ank
'cver'and-ague- shaken specimen of humanity,
with unkcmpt, towy hair, and most pro.
diglous beard, which looked as if 1t might
nave been permitted to grow from the date
otits iiIst appearance; he had, moreover keen
eyes, deeply sunken, and as restless as an
Indian S; add sharply cut features, low.
rectding forehead, and a sensual mouth, and
you will have a portrait of one of the worst
men who ever made laws TO suit himself,
upon the Arkansas frontier.
AS for his dress. if you he curious in ex-
ternals, imagine coon skin cap worn nearly
upon the back Of the head, loose tobacco
| stained overcOat, much the worse for wear, in
whose side pocket the butt OF a horse pistol
Was distinctly visible, a pair of mud s0cd
pants with riding feathers, and buffalo over
shoes, and you have completed an inventory
of garments which argued quite as un favor
ably for their wearer as did the reckless dis.
sipatcd expression Of the man himself. In
fact, to sum up MIR. Jake Chowler, or as he
preferred calling himself. Pine Knot jake, in
the frwcst possible words. he was the terror
Of the country round; for with him to '.jump
man up" with reason or without reason,
for it matter.d little as to the amount Of pro-
vocation with Jake, was good SPORT" and
to him afterwards the contamination of a
rather amusing affair.
With so peace-breaking disposition, it is
hardly to be wondered at, that "Pine Knot
Chowler" should have made a mental note
Of our young officers quiet entry into the
cabin where, at that particular moment, Mr..
Chowler was enjoying himself by INDUCING
in the INNOCENT relaxation of alternate whis
key drinking, gambling and dancing. or as
the individual in question termed it "break-
in down" for there was white headed old
darkey present who was aiding the revel by
the execution of
THAT good old time
which he ratified Oft upon his violin with a
facility of execution which betokened prac-
ticed hand.
In the mean time, our Lieutenant, who was
still suffering fro m the effects of recent ill.,
ness, had, taken an out-Of. the.way seat near
the stove, where he evinced strong dispo-
stion to avoid any intercourse with the BOr-
derers. 1t may be, too, that the young man
laid himself open to the charge OF quitting
on airs" by ncglccting upon his entrance, to
salute the company either by the customary
good evening gentlemen" or the yet more
Western polite greeting of asking 1.-The crowd
to step up and liquor" at his expense.
None Of which, as We have already intima.
ted, had escaped the keen eye of Mr.. Jake
Chowler. "He didn't like it. He allowed
thatthar dog-gonned city.raised thing in thar
brass bottoms. war putin OH mighty high
falutin ways, an crowdin thar boys heap"
But Pine Knot Jake was not the man to
coniine his indignation to mere words! and
after 'stahdin' It," as he said, until hu-
man couldn't bar it no longer he walked up
to the stranger, and the following dialogue
ensuCd.
Chowler.-(At the same time slapping the
Lieutenant Familiarity upon the back } step
up, boss, An liquor