Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-01-22


bean, the penalty of which was death, and
how Haller and [ offered to forfeit our
lives that yours nigh. be. spared. You
forget the day we were lying In the bunch
Of chapparral, surrounded by hordes Of
yelling savagee, and how then and there
we swore eternal fidelity and friendship tc
each othes In the event of our escape
You forget ali these things and call me a
coward But in reply do not call you q
coward No. Colonel Casey you are
not coward; you are brave man and
In your bosom there beats as kind and
true heart as ever beat In the breast Of
man. You have but one great fault, but
that Is an objectionable one, for when in-
der its influence you would kill your best
friend. Colonel Casey, / demand an
apology CT meeting of you Immediately
Gruwell, you have. always been. my. friend
and his, too, | believe. If you are still
the best way to show it is to let bin free. =
p" A pretty way to show my friendship
indeed Jim answered. scornfully AT
| lengthj Gruwell, on condition that thew
would remain quiet for willis, and give
him lime to settle The difficulty, loosened
his hold
Blair" said Casey, in order to make
you quarrel wisn me called you a cow
ard. Here, before the ones that heard me
utter the word, [ fen0hhce it. You are
not coward. That is the only apology ]
shall offer, for | think it is the only apol,
ogy owe you" t--z -.
a" Casey, it would be the happiest hour
Of my life if [ could shake your hand il,
friendship once more. but your apology is
not sufficient to stop the duel"
1t is all | have to offer, and | do not
want to stop the duel0 On the contrary,
burn for it, and ] tell you honestly, that
when we meet, as meet we must, you had
better kill me at the first fire, il you value
your life, or | intend to take that liEe il
It lies III my power to do So"
$50 beit," assented Blair with gioan.
In vain Gruwell and protested, reas-
oned, entreated, threatened and implored.
Both stood as firm in their intention to
tpill each others blood as the strong peaks
hat stood around them, We then en-
deaVored to have the meeting postponed
until the next day, but without success
They suspected that steps would be taken
to stop 1t altogether, and they both .daclars
sd that If pr5tenteo now they would meet
again in secret, and that the consequences
would be more fearful than now; when
| there were two persons TO regulate them
and see that the articles Of the duello
were properly observed. it was agreed
that they should fight.
The preliminaries were soon arranged
| The combatants were to use the revolver,
distance:four yards. They were to stand
back to back, and at a given signal, which
was to be the hrins Of a rigtol; thef werS
10 Wheel and fre away at each other, un-
til one or both had fallen. AT this juno
ture Casey took a strange fancy into bis
head, Nothing would do him but he mus
usesthe disputed pistol in the duel "It
should kill the man." he said who had re-
fused to gissit hp TO him the yightftil
owher." On examination it was ascertain
ed that The bullets OF the other pistsIs
would tit this one, SO it was loaded and
| placed in his hands.
Th6y took their places and were wait
ing for the signal, to begin Their bloody
work. The pistol was fired, and both
wheeled and fred as one man.
| saw the blood squirt from the bosom
of Blair (whose second | was) in a small
dark stream and fall to the ground, but
he did not eeefh TO nQtiUe it. ] cast tftY
s5ea toward Casey. fhe blood was spirit.
/ ing from his left side, aud streaming down
his clothes. lie was reeling, and / saw
he could not keep bis feet much longer
He still continued to fire, but blindly, and
one of his bullets came whistling by in
close proximity to my person. and buried
/ ;t,o h.,,1 L.. l..
firing, but with astonishing GOODNESS and
precision-ev every shot of his told They
had fired five shots each and Aers still
stanaing. Blair's clothes were saturated,
and pool of blood lay before him on the
ground. Casey's clothes were also satur~
ated, and his boots were full and running
over. They are both making ready for
their sixth and last shpt Is it possible
they viii stand Until tne end E? No! Casey
reels, he falls to his knees, and delivers
his last shot while in that position. Blair
had fired and fallen also. [ hurried to
him, while Cruwell supported Casey. I
tore loose his shirt and found the ttotiht;
and saw that although dangerous; it was
Mt. neoessatil@ fatal The bali had been
truly sent, but had struck sotiie hard sub
stance, and glanced diagonally through
the body, just missing the vitals. | hur-
rledly bound part of his shirt around the
wound, and continued my search fer 9th,
ers, but there were none,
then turned my attention to Casey, but
he was past all human aid. His Iife's
lamp had zone cut With tie last bullet
examined the body, however, and found
that every ball had found lodgment there,
four of which were mortal We did al
we could to alleviate the pain of the re
naming sufferer. We made couch Of
grass and leaves and laid hin Oh il, iliBfe
| to await the coming Of the steamer
Gruwell seemed half stuhred at what
had occurred, and stood gazing at Gase5'5
inaninate forti, line one Ii a dream. At
length he said in low voice, as if speak
ing to himself, "Poor Casey, he was a
good companion and q true man, with d
big, warm, impusive heart, and ready
purse to relieve the wants Of his fellows
and he is deado - ...
q Presently the steamer could be heard,
as she groaned and puffed, coming up
against the current, and soon she appear
ed rounding bend in the river we
hailed, and the captain ordered her 10 be
run up the bank and there asked what
was wanted, We told him in as few
words as possible what had happened, and
he all excitement, hurried on shore, and
helped us tc remove them on board. The
elk and the saddles were also put on
board, and after an explanation = tie
whole affair, we went ashore. The Chris
tina went steainlng on her way.
| We were soon in the saddle and head
ing for Hermocillo Rancho, where we AT
rived ahead of the steamer with our mel
ancholly news.
The boat soon arrived and the whole
ranch turned out to receive Blair aud
Casey, for they were hoth very much es,
teemed.
Casey was buried in the graveyard near
! by. But which one of the mounds within
that lnclosure is sacred to his memory no
one can say, for no headstone marks the
place. Blair, after a lingering illness,
arose from his bed a changed man. There