The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1872-09-25
A DUEL IN THE DARK.
by JUDGE ARLINGTON.

AouuA ueVtohhl CSUs NlhhJ SSdIS
ago she supplied the class Of writers
who furnish the substratum for most
of the circulating libraries with plots
dark and dreadful enough to satisfy
even tho present craving for sensation.
The place had been noted from it's
earliest settlement for the belligerent
character of its inhabitants aud the
number and atrocity of the violent
deeds which stained its streets with
the blood Of human hearts.
1t Is not our purpose, however, to
sketch any Of these more celebrated
brute battles, but merely to select,
for the sake Of its mournful moral
alone, solitary tr gedy which was
briefly chroniolsd by tho press of the
day, aud which then faded from the
recollection Of all, save one from
whom tho writer received tho story
in its particularly. She, of course,
could never forget. To the latest
hour Of her exis, enco the wife of the
murdered hero wept at the rominis-
cence,
In the year 1927, young lawyer,
John Thomas, cmigrated from Wor
cester, in Massachusetts,, to the State
of Mississippi.
He was ponr, had recently married
beautiful, accomplished woman, who
had renounced wealthy parents for his
sake, and hence WIS anXions to better
his fortune in as little time as posi-.
blc.' This consideration determined
the legal adventurer to locate at
Vick>bnrg, then considered through
the West as the paradise Of tho bar.
In a very short time the new law
yer had ample reasons to congratn-
late himself on the choice Of his
position. His bland demeauor, stu
dous habits, and more than all, his
eloquencc in debate, won him patron"
age, and ho rose, almost at q single
bound, to the first place in his profess
sion. He was employed in all the
land suits, and in the most of tho still
more numerous and equally lucrative
cases Of homicide, SO that in tho
period of two years after his advent
he had cleared the round sum of thir.
ty thousand dollars. I.ct no scerti-
Cal disciple Of Lord Coke deem this
statement incredible. S. S. Prentiss
realized, cash in hand forty thousand
dollars by his opening speech in
Ficksburg
During his career thus far young
Thomas was remarkable in one re.
spect. lie never went armed, ond
although in tho fieroe and fery
alterations of the forum he
necessarily made some enemies, no
attack had hitherto been ventured on
his person. The athleticism of his
noble form, and the look of invincible
determination in his keen blue eyes
had doubtless warned tho dcSpcradoes
that the Yankee orator, as lie was
generally termed, could hit as hard
blows in the courtyard as ho did in the
court itself. However this may be-
two years elapsed, years too of emf.
nent success, before tho pcaceable
attorney was even insulted. Alas
this halcyon period was doomed to q
change alike sudden and terrible.
There resided at that time in tho
town notorious duelist by the name
of johnson, whose matohlcss prowess
inspired universal fear. He had slain
half dozen foes on the public field
of honor, and rs many in private and
Irregular encounters. All tho mem.
bers of blood club spoke Of Mike
Johnsou's feats with raptuous enthu
siasm. But all good men, all lover:
Of peac>, when, tho brave wretch
passed, turned palo and we're silent.
At the May term Of the District
Court, 1929, the grand jury mastering
extraordinary outrage, returned a
true hill against johnson for the mur
der of William Lee, an inotfensivt
youth whom he had shot down in 1
drunken frolio, under circumstance!
Of peculiar aggravation. Thoma.
was retained by friond of the de
ceased to aid in the prosecution, anc
Notwithstanding tho earnest advice O
his we'll wishers TO tho contrary, ap
pearcd on tho trial OF the cauec, one
Of tho most exciting ever argnod o
the bar Of Vicksburg. On tho las
evening Of tho session aftor adjourn
ment, Thomas rushed into the pres
ence of his wife, with Looks Of sucl
evident agitation as to fill her sou
with overpowering alarm.
"My love, tell me, in the name O.
heaven what has happened 7" sb'
cried, pale as corpse, and shaking
like a leaf in the wind.
"Nothing," answered the husband
thinking to conceal the most fearfu
part Of tho intelligence. "Nothing
ouly tho murderer Mike johnson
after his ocquittal, grossly insulte'
me in the courtyard and knocked