The Red Cloud chief., 1881-04-07


ONE Of the most e~xtrsor8inxry- bits
Of pleasantly" he ever conceived had
. most natural origin. Mr.. A. NJ.
Palmer, OF the Union Square Thea,er,
Mr.. Sothern and Mr.. Lee. the husband
OF Adelaide Nelson, were lunching in
Browns restaurant. when Mr.. Lee. in-
cidentally commenting on the Americas
habit Of carrying q pistol. aired his
knowledge OF what an English swell
would do il \ ruflian assaulted him
raise his hand quietly and knock him
down. Florence CHANGED t. enter the
room. and presently Dan Bryant and
Nelse Seymour braced each other a,
the bar. Sothern whispered to Flor
ence, and almost Immediately what
seemed = fearful row began. In vain
Palmer sought 10 pacify Florence. In
vain Lee e~ndeavored to persuade So;h-
ern 20 quiet. Everybody in the place
became involved. Seymour laid hold
OF Browns carving-knifc and threat
ened murder. All hands yelled. shout
ed and screamed. The place was Bed
lam, and poor Lee. as white as his shirt,
sought the protection Of the bar. Pres
emily peace was restored. The CON-
batants shook hands Wine was Or
dered and Sothern invited one and all
TO dine with him OF the following Sun
day. They did. MI. Sothern presided,
the guest Of the evening. Mr.. Lee.
sitting at the right. Nelse Sey-
mour at the foot Of the table. and
Dan Bryant At the left. The guests
were all in evening dress. The
dinner was q sumptuous and well
seryed; the wines were Of rich
and rare vintages. Hardly . smile
rippled over the face Of any one pres
ent, slthough indeed some remark vas
made when Mr.. Gaylor took from under
his coat a paper battlc-ay-the broad
blade being covered with tinfoil-such
as is usei 10 kin styrants on the stage.
While the soup was Icing served M.
Neil Bryant drew from benesth the
back collar OF his coat a dirk knife, the
blade Of which was over q foot long.
which he so.emnly urclasped and
placed beside his plate. Mr.. Chris
Conner took a s~ix-shOO.er from his
coat-tail pocket and laid II down care
lessly ON the table. Mr.. Lee looked
around in a bewildered way. Nelse
drew a scythe from under the
table and then a pOliceman's club, and
laid them i'm the middle of the board.
At this Mr.. Lee began TO move very un-
and whispered to his friend. Mr..
SOthern:
"Old fellow, what does this mean''
keep quiet" replied Sothern. lit
as 1 have feared. These gentlemen
have been drinking. and they have
quarrcled about a friend Of theirs, a
Mr.. Weymyss Jobson, quite IN eminent
and a very estimable gentle.
man; but ! hope, for our sakes, that
will not attempt to settle their
quarrel here. 1t is dreadful. but /
hope, dear boy, that they will 60 away
and have no row. IL is a fash
ion they have here to settle their dis
putes at q table or whatever they meet.
we a do now is 10 await events"
But there will be murder here. Can
we not notify the police of their inten-
Impossible, my dear fellow" an
'wered SOthern, in q distressing whis-
per. "Were you even to be suspected
oy these men Of attempting to leave the
room, you would be shot like a dog and
10 satisfaction would cver be given
7our relatives in a court of Justice"
By this time Mr.. Lee was thoroughly
and in no mood for tasting
wen the first course "Wha an in
ernal country!' he said in q whisper.
FOR a few moments the regular banquet
business went on, when suddenly a row
rose at the lower end of the table, and
Neil Bryant. springing to his feet.
exclaimed: "WhOever saws
hat the History of the French RevO-
ution.' written by my friend David
yeymyss Jobson, is not as good a book
n every respect as that written by Tom
on the same subject. is a liar.
thief, and il there is any fool
resent who desires to take it up I
m his manr' All the guests rose
lddenly and every n grasp
his weapon. Chris Conner reared,
8 he seized his pistol, ..You are an
Their, Bryant, and by my halidome
ill prove it on your treacherOus body"
hen shots were fired and the room was
He'd with smoke and uproar. Several
I the guests clinched and Struggled,
nd Nelse Seymour. while struggling
cross the table thrust his foot into the
ght quart soup tureen. made a wild
but IA knocked down, and
len fOund it impossible to release his
'Ot from the vessel. Mr.. Lee ran to .
le door, but the conspirators had !.
cked it Billy Florence thrust a long I
1ife into Lees hands and cried out, {
Defend yourself! This is butchery- ,
leer butchcry" Sothern kept saying -;
'ntinuallv to him. keep cool and |
mt get shot! This is awful-a thou {
nd pardOns Il am q stranger in the !
and I had no expectation of l
these demons at n dinner given |
my friendr' The hotel in the mean |
had been alarmed, and the guests
ID walters outside were making fran