The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-07-27
THE SHOT I'm THE EYE.
A STORY OF FRONTIER LIFE IN TEXAS.

/ iicnC' OF Drawn ana none , tlJGgh tiic
inclination, Just di=covclablo in his
figure, 10 corpulcncy, together With Il
broad, full, good-humorcd face, gave
an air Of sluggishncSS to his energies,
and IN expression of easy >implic-
ity to his temper, which offered Eci
thcr invitati. IL TO gratui,ous ins,i, nor
provocation TO dislike lie was ihe
very impcrsonilicatDn Of inoifcn,iyc
loyal honesty, slumbrrng on IL con
scious strength; and these men, with.
out exactly knowing why, felt some
little disinclinntion to waking him. He
had evidently never been rDu,ad 70 Il
knowledge Of himself, and others felt
Just rs uncertain villa, the knowledge
might bring forth II he did, and were
not especially jealous Of the honor Of
having it specially tested upon their
own persons. SO that Jack Long
might have been left for many day
i'll quiet, even i'll this formidable neigh
borhood, TO cultivate his passion for
Workmanship, at the expense Of the
dumb, wild things aro nd him, but
for an unfortunate displi : le was nc
cidcntaIly to make Off
Happening to fall short OF unlmuni-
ton, he vent one day to tine store
for ii fresh supply. This cabin iogcth-
CT with Ike bluck.miths shop and one
nr two other huts, constituted the
"coiiity town. aid lis powder and
liquor were only to be obtained there,
it WAS the central resort Of the Rcgu-
lators. Jack found them all collected
for great shooting match, in prcpn-
ration for which they were getting
drunk as fast as possible, 10 steady
their nerves. llinch, the Regulator
captain, had always been the hero Of
such occasions; for, in addition to be-
ing first-rate shot, it was known that
it would I've Il dangerous cxcrtion of
skill for any man to beat hiin--for he
wns q furious and vindctivc bully,
and would not fail 10 make person
al affair of it with any ono who should
mortity his vanity by carrying oif the
prize from him. In addition, the
band of scoundrcls lie commanded was
entirely at his service in any extreme,
so that they made fearful odds for II
single mar to contend with.
Everybody else in the county was
aware Of this state of things but Jack
Long, and he either didn't know or
didn't care. After they had fired scv-
cral rounds. Ec went lounging li<tlcss-
ly into the crowd which had gathered
around the target, eXclaiming in ad-
miration over the last brilliant shot of
llinch whicl. was rather triumphantly
the best. The bully was, rs usual,
clustering vchcmrntly, taunting every
one around him, and when hc saw
Jack looking very coolly ut the IA
nous shot, with no grain OF that de-
fcrcntial admiration in his expression
which was demanded, he snatchcd up
the board and thrusting It inSultinrly
close to his face. ronrcd out
Here you Jnck Long Shanks-
look ut that! Take good look
Can you beat it ?" Jack drew back
with II quiet laugh, and said good
humorcdly-
"pshaw! You don't brag on such
shootin' rs that, do your
"Brng on it! Id like to see such II
moon-cyed chap rs you beat itr'
II don't know ms would be very
proud to beat such bunglin' work rs
that"
"Iou don't ! don't you ~ yelled
the fellow, now fairly in rage ut
Jacks coolness. "You'll try it, won't
you? You must try it! You shall
try it. Wc'll see what sort of swell
you are"
ooh, we'll" said Jack, intcrrupting
him us he was proceeding to rave for
quantity. Gus. set III yo.lr E,g,mr.l, It
you want to see me put ball through
every hole you can mnkcw
Perfectly astoundcd at this rash
boarding Of the lion-for it was ditii-
cult to tell whether contempt or sim
plicity dictated Jacks manucr-thc
men set up the board, while he walked
back to tho stand, and carclessly
swinging his heavy rifle from his
shoulder fired, seemingly as quick rs
thought.
"It's trick of minc," said he NOV
ing towards the mark, as he lowered
his gun; II caught it from shootin'
varmcnts in the eyes; always takes
EN- there. It's notion I've got-it's
my fun"
They all ran eagerly TO the target,
and sure enough his ball, which was
larger than Hinch's had passed
through the same hole, widening it!
"He's humbug! It's all accident
tie can't do that again!" shouted the
ruffian, turning pale, till his lips look
ed blue, rs the board was held up.
"I'll bet the ears of buffalo calf
against his, he can't do it again."
eff you mean by that, to bet your
own ears against mine, I'll take you
up" said Jack. laughing, while the
men could not resist joining him.
Hinch glared round him with a fierce,
chafed look, before which those who
knew him best quailed, and with COM
pressed lips silently loaded his gun.
A new target was put up, Mt which,
after long and careful aim, he fred.
The shot was q fine one. The edge of
the ball had just broke the centre
jack, after looking at it, quietly re-
marked:
plumbing out the centre is my fash
ion; III show you kink or two, Cap
tain Hinch, about the clear thing in
shootin'. Give us another board there,
b0ys!"