Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-08-18

quaintances, and even professed friends
with the great mass of people seemed t.
regard him with UNRELIABLE contempt
"Yankee white livered boaster," "pol
troon,n were the sounds most frequently
rung in his ears, especially when neal
the groceries, and there was one ther
on every terrace of the broken hill.
The matter grew worse. About 9
week afterwards, johnson met his vic.
tim in the public square, presented 6
cooked pistol at his heart with one
hand, aud belabored him numerically
with cowhide which he grasped with
the other. Resistance at the moment
was altogether out of the question, foi
the slightest motion would have been
the signal for immediate death. He
thought of Emma and her sweet babe,
and bore the castigation in silence.
After this clients deserted his office,
gentlemen refused to recognize him OF
return his salute in the thoroughfares
of business, or during his morning stroll
ever the hills. Had his touch been con-
tagious, or his breath pestilonce he
could not have been more carefully
Stunned.
Another week passed, and the de-
graded lawyer was in state of mind
bordering on insanity; and yet all the
while he concealed the mental torture
from his affectionate wife. One evening,
in more than common bitter and
gloomy mood, as he walked through
the public square, he was again accosted
by Mike johnson, with his cooked pis-
tol in one hand, and his uplifted cow
hide in the other. The assault was all
the more aggravating as the place was
thronged with spectators.
Coward and villain ~ exclaimed
Johnson, "did I not tell you that l
would cowhide you every week until 1
whipped the courage of man and q gen
tieman into your Yankeo hide?'
81 am not coward" retorted Thorn
as, in a hollow tone,so unearthly fierce
and wild that it caused every hearer to
start. AT the instant his lips were livid
and clenched between his teeth till the
blood ran. His eyes were red as a mad
dogs, and the muscles of his face quiv-
cred; bat his body and limbs seemed to
have the rigidity of marble.
| ''He will fight now,n rung in an eager
whisper through the excited crowd, as
they saw the terrible tokens ofthe fiend
aroused-the fiend which turks, at diff
| ferent depths, in all human natures.
"If you are not a coward, why will
you not fight?" asked the duelist,
somewhat struck, in spite of his thor
ough desperation, hardened in the hot
gore of dozen murders.
~ will fight, if you wish ii" was the
loud ringing answer.
"Then you accept my challenger"
81 do. VIII any one present be so
good as to act as my second?n inquired
the lawyer, sd 1ressing the spectators.
For a minute or two no one spoke, so
great was the dread of the arch duelist,
Mike johnson.
"Will no one in such mass of gener-
ous men be my second?" repeated the
lawyer, in s. louder tone.
81 wilI," said a shrill, trumpet-like
voice, OH the outskirts of the crowd, and
tall, commanding form, with bravery
written on his brow, and eagles eyes
beneath II, made his way to the centre of
the scene of contention, and stood close
fronting Johnson, with smiling glance,
before which the latter for an instant
quailed.
The question "Who is he ? who. is he?
circul tied among the loOkeIs on. But
no one could answer; no one had ever
seen him before, and yet everybody
would have sworn to his courage, so
bold yet tranquil was his bearing.
"Who are youpn inquired the duelist,
recovering his presence of mind.
ga stranger from Texas"
"But will you vouch for your respect
ability?"
81 can give you vouchers sufficient,
replied the stranger, frowning till his
brows looked frightful; ald then stoop-
ing forward he. whispered something in
Johnson's ear, audible alone to him.
1 am satisfied" said the duelist
aloud, and trembling perceptibly.
''Col. Morton, will you serve as my
friend ?"
The; individual last addressed gave
his assent.
Now, let us adjourn to some private
room to arrange the preliminaries," re-
marked the stranger; and the principals
and seconds left the crowd, then increas-
ing every minute, and excited nearly to
madness by the thick crowding events
of the hour.
The meeting took place on the follow
ing night, in a dark room, with the
door looked, and the two seconds on the
outside. The principals were placed In
opposite corners ofthe apartment, which
was twenty feet square, and each was
armed with large bowie knife-no
more. 1t was midnight--a night with
out moon or stars. Black, pitchy clouds
enveloped the sky and a slight mist
rendered the shadows of the earth more
intense. Hence the room where the
duel was about to begin was wrapped in
rayless darkness. The combatants
could not even see the blades of their
own knives.
At first, they both stopped and stealth
lily united and took off their shoes, so as
to make the least possible noise in walk
ing over the floor. The same thought
hnI tr,,nlr than, hofh OF fhn anna time |