The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-10-08

Ii you WALTZ my dI1uS, you COul0 tti1Q
take them T. replied Smith in voice
sllarp as dapoer, and with lurid smile
that seemed t. scorch the lip on which it
writhed.
Are you mad at me for telling you %
Intercepted Big Pete, apoiogetically.
"I never get mad at dogs but kick
them when they come in my way re-
torted old Jack, brutally.
"Stand up to him, Bloody Pete |!
You're as dead shot as he is r. roared
the crowd, thirsty for the sight of a
duel betwixt two of the most redoubtable
champions in all Missouri.
"Let us fight this minute p shouted
Bloody Pete, fairly beside himself with
rage from the cool, Satanic taunt of his
enemy.
every WE'LL"
'fWhat are your weapons?"
Rife 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. I could hear the miners
all around laying wagers on the result
of the awful issue.
"l'1 bet you ten tons of lead on old
Jackie shoots In the eye p said one
"Ill go it on Bloody Peter cried
another. "He pops them through the
heart p
At last the order was given.
care you readyP Fire-one-two-
three p
With the first ringing tone of the word
" fire." old Jacks pistol exploded, and
his adversary fell dead without pulling a
trigger
Smithwalked up to him and exclaimed
in accents of astonishment, " Well, |
made a blamed bad shot I aimed at
his right eye !"
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 incred-
IDLY quick that he could scarcely be said
to risk any danger, since his foes gencr.
lily dropped down corpses without the
nance Of shot
1t is easy to conceive what fear and
hatred such 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 fred on, by his hearth, in
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 a
ray beyond the strictest biographical
truth.
It 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 a spell more powerful
than airy chain-mal ever forged Of steel,
or than any charm ever brewed in the
fires of Tophet-the magical 5pen of
| fear Brave men trembled to behold
him, and tremulous hands commonly
miss the plainest mark.
"But why did not the community
arise en- G1GSSe and annihilate such a
wretch from the realms of space?"
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. ALI 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: ST 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
of them all. It is not courage, but your
matchless skill, that makes you rush
into so many dangers. In your heart
you fear death like the veriest coward"
Smith retorted, with a scorching
smile: You say that I rely on my
skill, and that in reality I am not drawer
than others. You say also that you are
brave. Now I offer certain method of
settling both questions. I 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-
lnent seemed undecided, but hundred
eyes we're upon him, and he saw
Smiths horsewhip raised to strike if he
refused.
/" / accept" was the gasp1ng 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
n perpendicular wall, many hundred feet
| in height. Old Jack stood on the horri-
bic verge, cool, apparently happy, and
whistling 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 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 strong silk handker-
chief to tie the wrists of the two foes to-
gether, and, advancing toward the fright
full brink. exclaimed aloud
"Now, gentlemen, are you ready?"
81 am" shouted old Jack, in tones that
rung among the hills till they all echoed
again, and Immediately commenced sing
ing a favorite ditty:
Away down in the Cherokee nation,
With pretty little wife and big plantation.
Gen. NJ. shuddered convulsively, and,
looking as if he was about to swoon,
stammered out, Why, gentlemen, this
-this-this is no honorable duel, but
/ downright suicide. We are both certain