The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-09-10

of tracts, which he vigorously sdistrib-
uled, and which the boys used to wrap
up dust in. He nearly starved while try
.int to learn to cook his own food, $50 some
Of the bows took hin, in and fed him:. He
tried to persuade tho; boys to stop drink
|. ind, and they good.naturedly laughed.
but when he attempted t.: b rsa i a Is liz
.''litt!e game" which was the only amg1se!.
ment Of the camp the fitonly steady
'aErnlsement, for fights we're short and ir.
regalar-the camp rose Units wrath, and
!he young man hastily rose and went for
his mule '''''' '''s '''''
! But at the time1of which this st OF y
treats, = missionary would have Jared
even worse, for the boys, We're wholly, AZ
sorbed BY \ very unrighteous but still .
very darling pleasure. A pair Of veteran
knifeists, who had fought each other It
sight for almost ten years every time they
met, had again found themselves in rho
same settlement, and Hanney' Is; had the
hgnsr to b th:t particular settlement
many years before discussed with his
neighbor, Billy Bent, the, merits Of two
opposing brands Of mining shovels. I'm
the course of the chat they drank consid.
cradle yillainous whisky, and naturally
resortcd to knives as final arguments:
The matter might have ended here. had
either gained decided. advantage over
the other, but both jyareo skillful, each
inflicted and received So nearly the same
number Of. wounds, that the Wisest' men
in camp were unable to- decide which
whipped. Now. to average Californians
IN the mines this is, q most distressing
state or: affairs; the spectators and
friends of the combatants waste 4 treat
deal Of time, liquor and blood on the
subject, while the contestants themselves
feel unspeakably uneasy. on the neutral
ground between victory and defeat. At
Sonora, where Billy and the Judge had
their first encounter, there was no ver-
dict, so the Judge Indignantly shook the
dust from his feet and went elsewhere.
Soon Billy happened in at the sar:e place.
and set.to occurred at sight, in which
the average WAS rot disarranged. Both
men went about for a month in patched
up condition, and. then Billy roamed of;
to be soon met by the Judge, with the
| usual result. Both men,, were known by
reputation all through the gold regions,
and the advent Of either at any .:gulch,' "
or ''washin','' Was the best advertisement
the saloon-keepers could desire. In the
East, hundreds Of men would have tried
to reason the men out of this .fepd, and
some few would have forcibly separated
them while fighting, but in the diggings
any interference IN such matters is con-
sidered impertinent and deserving of pun.
| ishment.
Hanney's had been fairly excited for a
week, for the Judge had arrived the
week before, and his points had been
carefully scrutinized and weighed, time
and again, by every man in the camp.
There seemed nothing unusua! about him.
He was Of middle size, had long hair and
beard, not unpleasant expression, and
very dirty clothes; he never jumped a
claim, always took his whisky straight,
played as fair a game of poker as the Az.
erage of the boys, and never stole mule
from any one winter than Mexican.
The boys had just about ascertained all
this, and made their ''blind" bets on the
results Of the next fight, when the whole
camp was convulsed with the intelligence
that Billy Bent had also arrived. Work
Immediately ceased, except in the imme.
date vicinity Of the champions, and the
boys stuck close to the Chapel, that be-
ing the spot where the encounter should
naturally take place. Miners throngcd
in from fifty miles around, and nothing
but Especial mule express saved the camp
from the horror of Pcntecost's bar being
inadequate to the demand. Between
''straight bets'' and ''hedging." most Of
the gold dust in camp had been ''put up
for bet is the only California backing of
all opinion. As the men did not seem to
seek each other, the boys had ample time
to grind things down to a fine pint as
the camp concise'y expressed it,, and the
matter had given excuse for dozen mi
nor fights, when order was suddenly re.
stored one afternoon by the entrance of
Billy and his neighbors just as the Judge
and his neighbors were finishing drink.
The boys Immediately and silently
formed ring, on the outer edge Of which
were massed all the men who had been
outside, and who came pouring in like
flies before a shower. No one squatted
or Rugged the wall, for it was understood
that these two men fought only with
knives, so the spectators we're in a state
Of AFFECT safety.
The Judge, after settling for the drinks.
turned, and saw for the first time his enc
my.
Hello, Billy!' said he, pleasantly ':let's
take drink first.''
Billy. who was red-haired man, with
a swapping turtle mouth, but not a vicious.
looking man for all that, briefly replied.
"All risht,'' and these two determined
enemies clinked their glasses with the
unconcern of mere social drinkers.
But after this they proceeded promptly
to business; the Judge, Who was rather
slow on his guard, was the owner of a bad.
ly'cut arm within three minutes by the
barkeepcr's watch, but not until he had
given Billy, who was parrying a thnast,
an ugly cash in his left temple. There
was busy hum during the adjustment
of bets on first blood" and the combat.
ants very considerably RETAINED from
doing serious injury during this temporary
distraction, but within five minutes more
they had exchanged chest wounds, both
too slight to be dangerous. , -.
Betting became furious-each man
fought so splendidly, that the boys were
Wild with delight and enthusiasm. Bets
were rolled back and forth, and when Pen
tecost, by virtue ofhis universally con.
coded authority, commanded silence, there
was great Of finger telegraphy across
the circle, and hcad.shaking in return.
Such exquisite carving had never before
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