The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-05-29
THE DUEL.
Two Rivals Of 'Possum Branch
on the Field Of Honor.

Ananias Picket yellow lived on one
side of the branch and Jerusalem John
son (black), commonly called "Ju,"
lived on the other side. Miss Sophy
Giggles, the color of an UNDERGONE
buckwheat cake, lived about five miles
from the branch, and was the cause of
an undue secretion of bile in both
MAS and 'Ju."
The branch itself is not of sufficient
Importance to be indicated in red colors
ON any map Of these blessed United
States, and yet its local coloring is en-
tertaining enough to warrant its being
taken from the somewhat moldy cup
board Of obscurlty and placed on the
inviting center-table of the present day.
The dark and bloody ground of Ken
lucky, with its expiations on the field
of honor; Blennerhassett's Island. with
its tragic tale of love and dishonor, have
both been embalmed in song and story;
why not 'Possum Branch, with its Had
of wofnan's caprice, mans devotion
and The fearless heroism of fascinated
heartsP The branch itself is dull,
sluggish stream about ten or twelve
feet wide, running through the southern
portion of Linn County. In the East
it might be called a creek. In the
West it might be dignited by the name
OF river. In Florida it is simply a
branch" A branch of what, am
not at this moment prepared to state
1t is lined with live oak, water oak,
cypress, persimmon and some few 9th
er varieties of trees. The county road
goes over it dry-shod, on rustic
bridge, shaky and decrepit, the nucleus
OF any amount of possible and probable
accidents. The water is about ten feet
deep and very dark. No one but a
coroner could possibly find any enjoy
ment looking at it. The lT'idge also
serves as short cut for predatory foxes
seeking through highways and byways
for the succulent chicken, the philo-
sophie turkey and the disciple of GER
tain school of medicine-the duck.
AT times the trees that line this bank
take on vivid beauty. The bamboo
climbs to the tops of the tallest ones
and filings q graceful crown over their
swaying beauty. Scarlet coronals OF
unknown flowers emphasize the fra
grant green, through which the birds
peep out and watch with wide-eyed
wonder the creaking vehicles and
strange figures that pass slowly by
Outbursts of rareSt song can be heard
there through the soft languorous days,
and swift-darting fins, like Grant rays
of light ripple the waters below.
On the east side are a half-dozen or
so of rough log cabins, keeping guard
over a few acres of broken soil; cotton
and potato patches, the garden of long
collards and turnips, the parterre of
sunflowers and oleanders. Each
demesne has its dilapidated chicken
house, its rheumatic shed for the
reflective mule, and its boudoir for
playful swine. The owners and inhab-
itants of these freeholds are happy and
careless negroes, raising enough to eat
and little to sell, basking in the sun
shine, and obeying implicitly the
Seriptural injunction to take no heed to
the morrow.
In little log house, standing on the
very banks of the branch, in crouch
ing attitude, as if Just about leapng
into the waters for a bath, both cleans
ing and sanitary, lived at the time of
which | write, Ananias, one of my
heroes. On the west side of the branch
the scene was almost literally repeated,
with the exception that one of the
houses was of frame, with two rooms
and lean to and laevrt roruy acres of
3"uu attached to it. There lived with
his parents, Jerusalem, my other hero,
until the tiend of jealousy entered his
otherwise placid bosom, and left wreck
and ruin there.
Five miles of was another little settle
ment of the same genus, and here Miss
Sophy, my heroine, helped bake the hoe
cake in the ancestral mansion, and bv
washing for the neighboring planters
families, earned the shekels that went
to purchase articles of feminine adorn-
mont, articles so dear to the average
feminine heart
Ananias was tall and thin, elaborate
ly so as to legs, and the suns of twenty
tive years had enhanced the dingy vel
low OF his complexion. His eyes were
OF the vintage known as ''pop," and the
prematured removal of three front teeth
had not given him weirdly poetical
appearance. Among the intensely black
surroundings, the fairness of his skin
was a drawback, more especially as his
parents, by some strange oversight are
both of the same orthodox color. In
temperament he was somewhat naughty
and passionate, and by his demean or
seemed to be continually protesting
against his environment. Although en-
hrely Ignorant of bellesletters, or, in
fact, OF any letters, he was shrewd and
forehanded, and was in a fair way to
become something of capitalist when
the unlucky collapse of the Freedman's
Bank swept away the bulk of his gar
nered boards. This made him moody
and irritable at times, but did not impair
his ability as cotton picker, which was
something wonderful to behold.
Jerusalem or ''Ju''was short and fat,
and, like my old friend, Hamlet, some
what scant of breath. HIS skin was so
black that SCOT would have made a
white mark upon it. His eyes were
small and twinkling, induces of the good
humor that animated his being. His
bps were large and luscious, like slices
OF ripe mango, and number fourteen
shoe gave hun dignity otherwise i'm
possible to obtain. His speech was slow
and deliberate, indicative Of a mind much
given to inward thoughts, and his ears
were large and hayward, restless with
every emotion that fitted across his ex-
pansive face. AS an only son and pre-
sumptiye heir to much land and some
stock, his presence was always desir-
able one at the little social gatherings
that enliyened each side of the .'branch.
The woman in the case, Miss Sophy
Giggles, was winsome creature of
some nineteen years, voluptuous as 10
ensline, end tasty ~ 10 dress.