, 1889-09-05
SETTLING A FEUD.

l have heard OF more than one refer
ence to the trouble between the Bow
mans and the Jordans, the two families
Of this name living in the same neigh
borhood and being the most prominent
for many miles around. As ] drew near
this neighborhood l began to find parti-
sans, and this bitterness became more
intense. Finally. when only three miles
from Bowman's, whose farm / would
reach first, l came upon a squat" close
beside the highway. with a woman
smoking a corncob pipe on the door sill.
/ was passing with n nod. when she
called out:
"Arter Bowman or Jordon, stranger"
Neither one" ! answered as / came
TO n stop.
Then who might you'un be?"
"'Tm only a traveller"
"Whar' de ye speak FRONT"
1.-The north"
do exclaiml From way up north
And what might you'un be doing down
yere?"
"Oh, l am travelling around n bit
among the farmers to rec how they get
along"
She was smoking the dried leaves OF
some plant, and | presented her with a
new pipe and some regular" tobacco.
The gift highly pleased her, and she gave
me the door step and took a log ard
said:
I'm glad to meet up with you. /
reckoned you might be gwine down yam
to mix in with the fussing. Heard yes
terday that the Jordons had peppered
Dan Williams powerfully bad. Dan
sticks for the Bowmans, ye know"
Can you tell me the cause of the
trouble between the two familiesY'
kin II Wasn't me n the ole man
right thar when it headed outl Sartin,
l kin tell ye. 1t was ut an auction down
by Miller's. Bowman bid on n bureau,
and Jordon bid on the same. Both got
mad and neither would back down, and
the crowd divided of in two parts, and
directly thar was a fuss and the sale
was broke up and everybody got bad
blooded."
How long ago was thatI"
Nigh ten vars, l reckon"
"And has any one been hurtY'
Hurt Why, thar's bin half a dozen
killed and all of twenty hurried. My ole
man has got a hunk of lead in his shout
der on account of it, and mebbe you'un
has noticed this scar On my cheek?"
yes"
well l was a sittin' right whar'
you'un is now one AFTERNOON n year ago,
yam to kill me-"
but why?"
"'Cause he'un was for Bowmans and
we'uns is for ~Jordons."
Don't you think it foolish to keep up
- ,-l;,L ,t,..ol ,1a,,N ,,,,b a
trife?"
Then why don't the Bowmans give
in?"
| had been directed to stop at Bow
mans for the night, and l reached the
farm about 8 O'clock in the afternoon.
A boy 10 years old, who was posted near
the house as a sentinel, gave warning Of
my approach, but as it was seen that
was a stranger my reception vas not
a hostile one, although Mrs. Bowman
and her two girls regarded me with dis
trust for a time. The father and oldest
son were hoeing corn a quarter of a mile
away, and when they came up to the
house at supper time / saw that each had
a shotgun. The family, as q whole, were
far above the average in intellect and
manners, and the first parlor organ / had
seen in a month was in the parlor,
Nothing was said about the Jordons until
after supper, when all of us sat down on
the grass for a smoke and a talk. Then
1 began it myself by saying:
lis it true that n man named Dan
Williams was shot by the Jordans yes
terdayy'
Then you've heard of the Jordons'"
queried Bowman in reply.
"Yes. The trouble between your two
families is known thirty miles away"
"And who do they say is ahead?' asked
the son Tom, as he drew himself up.
They don't say anything about that.
They say you are keeping people away
who would like to settle here and help
clear up the country. They say you
must be queer folks to keep up q quarrel
like this over an old bureau worth two
or three dollars. They say this quarrel
is the reason you haven't got q church
and a school in this neighborhood. They
say you had a store down at the cross
roads, but the owner had to move away
or risk his life. They say you can't get
a shoemaker or blacksmith to settle
around here, because he's got to take one
side OF the other. They say the legisla-
ture ought to pass a law to send one of
you to the Atlantic and the other to the
Pacific ocean"
For one long minute every one of the
group stared hard at me, and not n lip
moved. Then Tom half rose and whis-
pered:
Pap, he'un il fur the Jordons!"
"If that was true, why didn't l pass
on to stop with linn over night" 1 asked.
Tom. he'uns dead sot" perfectly
right. said the old man, after a mo-
ment's thought.
"You have qusrreled and fought, shot.
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