Clarksville evening chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn) 1886-1890, 1888-11-08
THE EYES OF D0UGAN.

A4iPchShuoie DMIler' we uppedrcu LC
be floating In an unfathomable inflnity Of
gray. above, below and on every side
You thought sometimes as the sharp prov
cleft tie mist that it would soon cut
through the wall of fog and would burst
out in sunshine stretch of sea. But al
ways You are disappointed, and the bank
OF clouds still lies upon the sea, dark,
dreary and impenetrable.
A little group of us had taken some
camp stools and crossed the steerage
Nbridge to the forward turtle deck. At
first we chatted gayly together, but it re-.
quires robust temperament to resist the
depressing influences of fog off the
banks Of Newfoundland, and converse
ton dropped
One OF the group was a tall, blonde,
blue eyed German of about 80 years of
age. He spoke English with just the
faintest trace of Teutonic accent, and ap-
peared 20 belong to the class of solid, in
telligent and successful Gcrman-Ameri-
cans SO frequently seen on ocean steam
ers. Some chance remark made by
him suggested the possibility of getting a
story from him. Yielding to the general
demand, he said:
Chin-chin Camp is up in the mountains
across the range from Fort Laramie. At
least 1t was late in the fiftics, for at that
jme myself represented about 1 per
cent. of the entire population. went
to Denver first, and hearing good reports
from Chin-chin struck off up into Wyo-
ming.
Joe Dougan had already been men,
Der of the camp some time when !
reached there. He was strange fellow,
but his most striking popularity did not
attract notice till few nights after my
arrival.
Most of the aristocracy Of tho place
were in the back room of "The Inferno"
q never found out how the proprietor
came across this appropriate namc),
where rude keno apparatus was in full
operation. A number Of tho boys were
seated Mt the little checker board tables.
The marker had just let white marble
drop into his hand from cigar box, which
took the place of the ball, and shouted
the number marked on it. Just as he
F!fned to the board behind him. two men
at ono table simultaneously yelled,
''Keno!"
Then followed cries of THAT was nv
button" you lic!" and vollcy of
oaths; there was u scufflc; the table was
ovcrthrown; the larger Of tho two mon
seized tho other, and almost with the
strength of Hercules, threw him over
his shoulder. One of tho fellows heels
struck the chandelier Of oil lamps, ard
the next instant the room wa3 in dark
ness. The scufflc continued Then above
the confusion, voice cried: My God,
look therel' We did not have to be told
the direction, for there across tho room
glowed and sparEled in the darkness two
cleaning eyes ike balls of liquid fire.
There was something demon like in their
luminous glare. Tho click Of n revolver
lock Nas heard in tho Stiffness which fol-
lowed: but n voice from tho direction Of
tpsc fiery eyes said stcrnly, and with in
ciAye distinctness: drop that gun, I've
got the draw on you"
At That very moment the door into tho
saloon in front opened and n Widening
shaft of light fall across the Egyptian
darkness of the room. Tho marker ran
in with lamp the cleaning eyes faded,
and we saw leaning calmly against the
wall tho burly form of Joe Dougan. A
smile flickorcd about his mouth as he
saw our scared faces; tho point of the re-
yolvcr, which was loosely held in his
right hand, dropped down across his
breast, rs he leaned caYclcssly against
the wall. Soon DouSan put up his re-
volvcr. made his way to the door with |
out word, and disappeared, Tor q week |
we talked Of little else in Chin-chn |
camp hut Joe DouG2n' 9 eyes. He was n |
good natured fellow, and submitted with |
good grace to all sorts Of public demon |
strliogls and investigations. Nearly |
every hight after dark the boys would |
Get him to stand across the street and |
cali out the names Of cards as they wcrc |
drawn from q deck. Then they were
passed il turn to the crowd before the IL
Illuminated saloon, and the kcenncss Of |
Dougan's peculiar cyesight was voCiGcr-
ously applauGed. Occasionally some
skeptic asked the privilege Of drawing
out the cerds, ard would turn the back
toward Dougan, who sat on a doorstep
across the unlightcd street But Joe
would Invariably say, "Turn it round,
We fool. can't see through the card"
Ard again Dougan would shoot ut
mark in the darkness. and often cut the
bulls eye, to TIE edification of specta-
tors, vino tested tho result with dark
lantern. Dougan's skill with the reyol-
vcr was SO greet that Jack Hinton, who
was on closer terms with him than any
other man in camp, to show 1T orce his
friends remarkable eyesight and uner-
ring aim, on one occasion stood up in
the dark with q lighted cigar in his
mouth. which was to be Joe's target.
He cut thc lighted end clean Off, leaving
the Esitlp in Jacks mouth.
Douean was, as l said, very good ma
tured. bat nevertheless he had almost no
intimate friends, beside Jack Hinton,
who was ono Of these broad hearted fell
lows that everybody seemed naturally to
trust and take into confidence. DouSan
Kept by himself when the novelty of his
strange faculty had worn Off and be
could avoid publicity. He was great,