Wichita daily eagle., 1885-08-20
THEY STRUCK psv DIRT.
4 Dag Fight That Ended la a Precious
Hole In the Groa1i


Hole In the Groa1i
New York Sunl
In tie bar-room of the Niners' Arms. ths
Front stree. hotel patronized chiefly BY
miners bound to and from the mining re-
gions Of the west, were two or three groups
of men drinking and talking over old times
-Remember the parsoa and his boyf'
asked the newcomer.
@Don'e wes- said three or four
-It's nigh on to six months since the par
son moved into shanty ju-t a mile cut Of
EIko II was the dead Of winter. but he was
cheerful. AMI flowed he shouldn't suffer
much while his pie.y lasted 1t was mighty
lonesome for the boy, though to hear
him tell it, until the break up,
when Deacon Holbrook, from Con-
necticut. drove stake joining the
parson's Ths deacon had q b.
called Dick. and he and Bob, the par
sons boy, were 9 whole team Both Of them
had dogs, and each thought his dog c,ula
lick the other one; but. Tn giving it to you
straight, the parson and the deacon watched
them that clo-e that they coul Int get uo a
fight TO save them One day Bob he came
C. me and told me all about it, AMI l told
him we'd put up a j,b On the piety business
Accordingly the Saturday psp.r announcsi
special service for Sunday morning In Bill
Stevens dance hall.
When the hour came, and the parson ami
the deacon wers turning over their hymn
books, Bill and me and two others that I'd
let into the secret was up to tho
parsons ranch arranging the pre-
Gminarie'. We made Q beautiful in
closure with two boards and a wagon
h<1r L. ~ h. eI~
We washed the dog. Bill be coached the
They were both in prime condition. and
when we'd turned them loose it was q glori-
Gus spectacle to SEQ them claw across the
gravel for the center Of the pit The
deacon's pup got the first hold and gave the
other good shake, but he lost it again and
then the two Of them rolled over and over
and riz up on their hind legs and ella wed,
and got down on their knees and dug their
paws into the ground. There was dust afly-
ing Immediately, and it was all we could do
to see which was on top. In fact, it was
such a mighty interesting fight that we
never noticed how time was passing. and be-
fore we knew it the parson and the deacon
rode up on their bronchos
Brethren. BRETHREN says the parson,
what does this mean, Dick, take your dog
home. sir
Maybe you'd better take your dog Of
from him SO he can go home himself said
the deacon, sarcastic like, and he was Just
about right, too. for the parsons dog was
on top a-chawing the others neck scanda-
1ous. That made the parson mad, and he
lowed the deacon had an honery pup. any
how. That was enough for the deacon. He
was beginning to reach for the parson when
Bill Stevens began to yell like
an Apache. The dogs had wal
lowed their way right down into the
ground, and Bill had in a mechanical way
picked up handful of dirt and rubbed i.
between his fingers. and he'd hefted q mug
get. There was rustling thereabouts stak
ing Of claims over the parsons ranch for
few minutes, and when we'd got it all dona
regular We all had enough to take us back
to the states.'
(which lickedi' said the bartender, wiping
his hands on his partially white apron.
The newcomer looked at him reproach-
fully for a moment and then said:
IF you'd been there you'd have know,
we didn't waste no time watching dogs fgh
after they'd struck pay dirt.