The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-12-18

the youngster was Frustrated on his ma
tive soil in front of his black-eyed
inamoratas.
That made them even, and the pos
session of the 10 onzas now depended
on the result of the third match-echar
lanzas, javelin-throwing- exercise
which the six lancer regiments of the
regular army and the use of the hunt
ing-spear among the half-savage Indi-
ans have made very popular in Mexico.
The target was the skull of a goat stuck
on short pole, distance sixty yards.
| By agreement of the seconds the athlete
used short, heavy spear of polished
/ lockwood, while the moZo preferred the
! Government regulation lance, which
| had won him weekly victories on the
| parade-ground at the castillo. Their
] proficiency in the use of these archaic
| implements would have won the ap-
| plause of a Turkestan robber-knight
and thrown Maurice Thompson into
ecstasies.
The mozO's friends were confident of
victory, and even his former rivals, the
soldiers of the garrison, cheered up
roariOusly when he knocked the target
down at the first throw. But the from
tiersman showed that he had not lived
among the Comanches in vain, for at
the end of the first two rounds each
lanzerO had scored one square hit and
one - grace and, when the attendant
chulos returned them their missiles, the
spectators leaped from their seats and
crowded to the front, with utter disre-
gard of civil rights and female privileges.
The ring-master vociferated, girls
clambered on the shoulders of their gal
lants, and even the priests and foreign
residents were in a state of fierce excite
ment. Juanito declined the first throw,
so did his rival; but, before the seconds
had found their dice-bOx, Don Gil had
changed his mind and stepped to the
front, spear in hand, with the sangfroid
of an old stager.
His iavelin touched, but failed to stir,
the target; and the silence became
breathless when the mOzO squared him
self for the decisive throw. He paused
on hearing his name called; his second
had seen his arm tremble, made his way
through the crowd with a bottle OF
aguardiente, and offered him glass per
darle firmeza-to steady himself if his
nerves should be in need of it. But
Juanito, smarting under the sting of his
late defeat, declined the offer with an
impatient gesture, and again poised his
lance. His hand trembled visibly, and
once more his second challenged him,
but before any one could Interfere he
leaned back and let drive.
The lance darted through the air with
an audible whiZz, a little too high, as ii
seemed, but coming down in fiat curve
it struck the jaw bone of the strange
target fair and square. The skull spun
round like a top, and when it fell the
men of Perote rushed upon their cham
piOn like a crew of Sumatra pirates,
snatched him up and dragged him away.
| Regardless of his modest protests, OF
the shower of bouquets and the pOuting
of disappointed lips, they rushed him
off to the rear Of the circus-tent, where
the manager had left a splendid roam
stallion as security for the payment OF
the 10 onzas, and, amid shouts that
were echoed by the cliffs of the Sierra
Madre, they lifted him up and upon the
horse, which, though wild with terror,
could not stir leg in the crowd that
pressed around it in a compact mass.
% Did he like the hOrseP Would he pre-
fer it to the cash?'' The owner valued
it at % onzas, but the collection was
taken up in a minute, and the multitude
surged back, dragging horse and rider
along till they stopped in front of the
i stage, where they surrendered their vic
tim to the mad muchachas.
The population of Perote and Tres
mont6s was crowded together within a
space of forty yards around the stage
in confused mass, all shrieking and
gesticulating like Denny BROKERS, laugh
ing, Dragging and cheering, and shaking
hands with all the friends and relatives
of the victor.
A troop of ragged Indians that had
come from the mountains at the north
ern border of the cOmarca were stand
ing together in the rear rank, and the
enthusiasm of the poor devils gave me
an idea what the rapture of gymnastic
competition must have been in a coun-
try where every male adult was an ath-
lete, at a time when men did not think
it necessary to despise earthly things for
the love of heaven.
The sages of that time inclined to the
view that this world had been created
for its own sake; nay, that it might
just be possible to enjoy Paradise or
this side of the grave; and our system
of ethics takes alarm at the mere men
ton of such heresies; but we have be
gun to rediscover a truth which was
familiar enough to those nature-taugh
heathens, namely: That the highest
moral and physical well-being can not
De attained separately, out must &c
hand-in-hand, like thought and action
or will and force; and l hope that the
time will come when every schOol-hOust
shall have its gymnasium and every vii
lage its arena, for only then can we eel
citrate our recovery from the Satanic
pest, which has turned our proudest for
ests into deserts and our noblest meT
into monks. The ancient Greeks reck
oned their dates from the institution O
the Olympic festivals, and their re-es
tablishment would indeed mark a new
era in the history of a world which ha:
so long forgotten that God is the creator
of our bodies as well as our souls.
What nation will inaugurate that re
vival?-FeljT L. OSt0ald, an Lippincotg'.
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