The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-10-01

"Let us fight this minute !" shouted
Bloody Pete, fairly beside himself with
rage from the cool, Satanic taunt of his
enemy.
every well"
"What are your weapons?"
"Rihe pistols.
In very short time the two foes were
put in position by their seconds, twelve
steps apart, and stood waiting for the
word which should summon one or both
to Judgment. L could hear the miners
all around laying wagers on the result
of the awful issue.
ell bet you ten tons of lead on old
Jackie shoots in the eye p said one
"Ill go it on Bloody Pete y cried
another. "He pops them through the
heart !"
At last the order was given.
care you ready? Fire-one--two-
three ~
With the first ringing tone of the word
"fire," old Jacks pistol exploded, and
his adversary fell dead without pulling a
trigger
Smith walked up to him and exclaimed,
in accents of establishment, :" Well,
made blamed bad shot l aimed ut
his right eye y
He had hit just one-quarter above the
eye-ball ! In all his other nine duels the
fiend had driven out the center of the
right eyes, and he always fired so incretl-
IDLY quick that he could scarcely be said
10 risk any danger, since his foes gencr.
ally dropped down corpses without the
chance of shot.
1t is easy to conceive what fear and
hatred such a man would necessarily in
spire by his numerous ARRAYS, always
fatal to others, and his astonishing prov
ess, that had the appearance of some di-
abolical witchcraft. Accordingly, he was
waylaid and fired on, by his hearth, III
his bed, at church-always in peril, and
yet he ever escaped without scar
Do not dream, reader, that I am ro-
mancing. Ask any resident of Missouri
and you will find my facts not colored
ray beyond the strictest biographical
truth.
1t was rumored that he wore impene-
trable mail beneath his shirt. Some
whispered that he had bartered his soul
TO the devil for life insurance for GER
tain number of years. But in truth he
owed his safety to spell more powerful
than any chain-mail ever forged of steel,
or than any charm ever brewed in the
fires of Tophet-the magical spell of
fear Brave men trembled to behold
him, and tremulous hands commonly
miss the plainest mark.
"But why did not the community
arise en- nlasSe and annihilate such
u,rafcb from, F1,a rao1,,,o of c,.ooaov
Listen, and hear another phase in that
extraordinary character.
Smith possessed immense wealth, but,
although rich himself, he hated arts
tocracy with an intensity to be accounted
for alone on the supposition of partial
arrangement. All his burning sympa-
thies were with the masses. He was the
benefactor of the poor, the friend of the
feeble, the protector of the oppressed,
and the sworn enemy of tyrants the
world over. Hence he was idolized by
the lower classes, who would go to any
lengths, even to the sacrifice of life, in
his favor. An anecdote, at once terrible
and ludicrous, may be set down here as
an illustration of his bias for the poor.
One day Smith saw Gen. NJ, an opu-
lent and overbearing merchant OF st.
Louis, insult a poor mechanic In the
streets of Herculaneum. The desperate
forthwith assumed the mechanics quar-
rel by challenging the great merchant.
Gen. M. replied 81 am as brave
man as ever breathed Gods air; but the
combat you propose is unequal, for am
almost entirely ignorant of the use of
weapons, while you are perfect master
- oil &c % l,y,f
matchless skill, that makes you rush
into so many dangers. In your heart
you fear death like the veriest coward. "
Smith retorted, with scorching
smile: You say that I rely on my
skill, and that in reality am not drawer
than others. You say also that you are
brave. Now 1 offer certain method of
settling both questions. / challenge
you to go to the top of the cliff by the
grand shot-tower, to have our right hands
tied fast together, and see which of us
two can leap the farthest down hill to-
ward hell ! What do you say to that,
coward ?"
Gen. M. turned pale, and for mo-
ment seemed undecided, but hundred
eyes were upon him, and he saw
Smiths horsewhip raised to strike if he
refused.
Z" accept" was the gasping answer
The seconds were chosen on the spot,
and the parties proceeded to the grand
shot-tower. followed by the whole popu-
lation of the village. The precipice was
perpendicular wall, many hundred feet
in height. Old Jack stood on the horri-
ble verge, cool, apparently happy, and
whistling a merry tune. But Gen. M.
was nervous and agitated, and cast be-
seeching looks toward the crowd of spec
tators, as if hoping to see some mutual
friend step forward to negotiate a COM
promise. Nobody, however, moved or
uttered word, for all held their breath
in horror, and every head swan with
sudden dizziness at the dreadful pros
pect.
Having consulted and arranged pre-
liminaries, one of the seconds pulled
from his pocket o strong silk handker-
chief to tie the wrists of the two foes to-
gether. and, advancing toward the fright
full brink, exclaimed aloud