Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1856-11-29

half Of these men. that you will behave
yourselves properly while on shore, and not
taste drop Of liquor, you may CO."
| VIII touched his cap again, and in a
minute disappeared down the hatch, while
the officers stood wandering at the implicit
reliance he seemed to have in the powers Of
his bird, yet at the same time confding fully
in the well known shrewdness of the fellow,
which they had often seen put to the test.
| The yawl was lowered, dozen sailors
leaped into it, and swinging round to the
gaugway, sat silently waiting for the officers !;
| bnt knowing smile might have been seen
playing about each mans face, which broke
into cheer as the sturdy boetswain appeared
on the money-rail with his precious bird in "A
sack, and seizing the painter, swung himself
| lightly into the boat.
BY this time the officers had become as
much interested in the proceedings as the
men, and as soon as they were seated, de-
tnanded to see the contents of the bag.
But Will assured them that the bird would
fight so much better if kept in the dark
until the hour of combat, and pleaded so
earnestly against taking him out that they
at last yielded the point, and contented
themselves with listening to an interesting
but entirely fabulous history Of The I'm
known" which the boatswain related with
seriousness that would have done credit to q
funeral sermon.
As they approached the shore he conclu-
ded by saying:
IL have good reason for wishing to pre-
serve my birds secret until the last moment,
and although you will discover it the moment
it is pitt d. | hope your honors will keep your
though yourselves, and not betray us.
sscd all the money we could on
have got a good purse to put
aaol msr, st cock that ever crowed in the
a hts e.. Ting, you can do it with perfect
safet. on this bird, or my names not Will
Glove'; for TIER picayune chickens will
stand no more chance with him than one of
these fellows then selves would with me, and
never saw any three of them yet that
couldn't whip in a free fight"
Having finished this modest assertion, his
eye glanced slightly at his powerful frame, as
if to say, Judge for yourselves y and indeed
IL required little Judgment to perceive that
il the bird resembed his master he would
prove q formidable antagonist, for Wills
clear blue eye, broad forehead, and bright,
handsome countennnce gave promise of more
than ordinary intelligence and resolution.
while his thick, brawny neck and huge arms
looked perfectly capable of performing in a
free fight even more than had just been
claimed for them.
In few minutes the party had landed aud
separated, the officers having gone TO livery
stable TO procure conveyance, and the stall
wsrt form of the boatswain could be seen
rolling up the street at the head Of q body Of
men, whose appearance was such as TO
render them little likely to receive Interrupt
tion from the majority Of peacefully disposed
citizens.
In about half an hour they had reached
the inclosure which contained the pit, and
they soon found themselves in the midst Of u
motley CssembIage, who were chattering and
yelling in q manuer worthy of the gallery Of
third-rute theatre in the United States.
Womsn Of every shade of color, from
ebony to dirty white, were seated around the
outer side of the wall, with tables or trays
displaying oranges, bananas, sugar cane,
alligator pears, mangoes, bellapples, saps-
dioes, and various other tropical fruits,
while men and boys were seen parading about
with every variety of that oflicious bird which
always insists upon announcing the break of
day, when nobody cares about healing it,
The pit was surrounded by q large smphi-
theatre capable of holding an immense mum
Der OF persons, and there, seated upon benches,
raised one above the other, sat the beauty
and chivalry Of the Havana. There
'Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spnke again,
Aud all went merry the marraSe.bel"
but nevertheless old and young, rich and poor,
seemed bent upon enjoying the sport. and the
soft eyes above alluded to seemed quite
willing to divide their iavo:s equally between
their cavaliers and the chickens.
Whenever fine bird was exhibited and
matched against another, the ladies were
iptt ypit yiy bu
men, although their stakes were more mode
rate than the immense sums which some Of
the old Dons displayed upon little tables
around the edge Of the ring, and which they
won and lost with menchalance worthy of u
better cause.
Glover and his companions, on entering the
amphitheatre, took their seats hear the door,
and shortly after the officers of the Ohio
arrived, and obtaining places short distance
from the men, were soon engaged in making
trihng bets with those around them on such
birds rs happened 10 excite their admiration.
Gallant birds they certainly were, and
worthy of all admiration but unless history
| is to be dsbelieved, they were guilty of most
extraordinary snachronsms.
Time, place, and facts were utter disre-
garded in the scenes there enacted, and the
very dead were brought from their graves to
| fight for the amusement of the inconsiderate
spectators.
julius Caesar was there picking a quarrel
with the Duke of Wellington; Plutarch was
strutting about with large red comb in his
head. Lord Byron, with bare legs and steel
spurs, was seen running away from Christie
pher Columbus; and Mark Antony was
heard pronOuncing an extremely Pathological
oration over the dead body of Don Quixotte.
1t is true that the eloquence of this Mr..
Antony was not quite equal to that Of another
of the same name, who once began AL address
by making the unreasonable request that his
friends" ss we'll as the Romans and coun-
trymen." would "lend him their ears !" but
his style was certainly more terSe and laconic
for his preface consisted Of cock a." his
story Of "doOdle," aud the conclusion OF
doc" Such brevity should certainly have
ranked with the "Veni, vindi, yici," of olden
times, and the "SebastOpOl est pris" of our
day. But to return TO our unfortunate bird
who had been covered all this time with
sack-cloth, if not with ashes, and who had
been kept entirely in the dark with regard to
these proceedings. Various contests had
taken place, many . gallant bird had fallen
victim to his bravery, and the interest Of
the audience was beginning to flag, when q
Creole stepped into the ring, and offered to