The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1873-08-15

for the commercial room, and had in :
moment Of fofgetfulness used the in.
digo-bag for towel.
am fond of harmless fun, and I con
TESS 1 fervently wished for few more
arrivals to enjoy it with me. In the
space of a few minutes 1 invented 8
dozen funny things to say; the last was
so rich that l laughed outright. And
so did he.
We sat and looked at each other.
noticed that when I took drink he did
the same. When I Pulled he pulled
If I Moved hand or foot, so did nc.
I could stand it no longer; was
angry, and l said to him
"1 am not to be insulted with i'm.
piinity, sir. Ny names Brown.
represent the house of Rimmocks, sir
there's my card !; stand up like a man,
sir -
My blood was up.
The cadaverous wretch repeated my
very words and actions. and handed me
a card on which was engraved, "De
Trerhens L Co., Wine and Spirit Mer-
chants"
finished my to1dy, took off my coat,
locked the door, and looked him full in
the face.
He finished his toddy, threw of his
coat, went to the door, and put the key
In his pocket! But never for nm in
slant did he take his eyes of me. He
was quite ready for me. He waited for
me. His azure countenance had
changed he looked fiendish.
The noble art Of self-defense formed
feature in my education when at
school, 1 could parry and counter capi-
tally my blow was equal to hundred
and thirty-seven pounds, and 1 could
give the upper cut beautifully but
somehow 1 felt afraid of this fellow, and
looked at him as fiercely as could, in
hope that he would make me an apology.
Nothing of the kind! On the contrary,
his demoniacal scowl grew fercer and
wilder every moment, the redness round
his eyes became more strongly defined.
and his orbs shone with dazzle that
seemed to freeze my blood. 1 would
have given months salary, and ex-
penses to boot, to have been safely any
where else. looked at the window as
the thought rose, and determined to
risk a limb by jumping through it into
the street below. But L must have
passed him. His eyes were upon me,
and 1 gave up the idea as soon as
formed.
had contrived, however, to have the
table between us, and thus We were face
to face. l could not now look him
straight in the eye, as 1 had always been
accustomed to look at man.
I shrank from his terrible stare, and
my blood seemed to gallop as though
every drop in my body had entered for,
and was running on, a steeple-chase
through my veins, with wind-up leap
from my heart to my brain.
To my horror 1 became sensible that
the table was moving with slow but
certain motion toward the side of the
room. -Iheld it with all my strength,
but without avail. My antagonist was
evidently much stronger man than
myself, and had the design of making
for himself fair field on which to ex-
hibit his prowess. I would have pnlled
the bell out by its roots, for help, but
my hands were rivited to the table. I
moved with it against my will /; his ter
rible eyes were upon me.
At last the table touched the wall; my
enemy lifted his hands, and as he did so
found mine were released. Quick as
lightning he sprang at me ! Quick as
lightning remembered 1 had a large
spring g-backed knife in my pocket /; L
thrust my hand in search of it; but l
was already in the grip of vice, re-
ceiving blows that would not have dis
graced mammoth's hammer. was
knocked down; 1 was knocked up; I
was thrown over his head, kicked in
many places at once, jumped upon,
knelt upon my teeth were punched
out, my nose fattened, my neck disloca-
ted, my skull fractured, my ribs smash
ed in, before could even plant one with
my left upon any part of my antagonist.
At length obtained freedom for my
right hand the next minute he was
dead at my feet /! With great difficulty
1 arose, and, drawing the table to its
original position, 1 secreted the body
underneath. Then, with an inexpressi-
BILE feeling of triumph and JOY, wiped
my trusty weapon.
Horror! LIN every chair, on every
table, on the solemn old clock, on row
on the mantel-shelf, were new arrivals
Indigo dealers, all waiting to have a
turn at me!
=
The morning after my arrival at the
"Red Dragon" I found myself in bed,
strapped down. The people of the inn
told me that had been mad the night
before and had fought battle royal