The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-06-26
SURE DEATH FOR BOTH.
A Challenge That Proved the Mild Youni
Tenderfoot Man of Nerve.

A Challenge That Proved the Mild Young
Tenderfoot Man of Nerve.
81 once saw challenge to duel is
sued and accepted, and the time, place
| and weapons nominated. The affair.
however, did net come to any issue"
The speaker was Dan QUINN" the
well-known writer of wild and woolly
western character and dialect stories.
at was in Deadwood, said he, about
eight years ago, and the two men who
were to have been the participants had
been snarling at each other for many
days. One of them was a young, con-
sumptive-looking fellow from some
where east, and, of course, was held in
much contempt by the old-timers- In
some indetnable way. however, many
OF these seemed to have kind of
respect for him. as on one or two occa-
sions he had given evidence that per-
haps, after all, he was not to be laughed
at. He was, to these semi-admirers, an
unknown quantity, and while they
were all anxious for some opportunity
to present itself in which he would
show what he was made of, yet not one
of them cared to furnish the looked-f for
chance
1.-THE man who did the snarling was,
perhaps, the only man in the select
clique that hung around the saloon
where the quarrel finally materialized
who did not believe that the tenderfoot
had any nerve, and he never missed an
opportunity to intimate as much. On
the night in question the two men had
been unusually spiteful, and it was
cinch that there would be trouble be-
fore the daylight broke in.
FINALLY the old-timer made a remark
to the other that there was no mistak-
ing. 1t meant business. The young fell
low heard it, and, without moving a
hand, announced to the other that he
had proposition to make. The crowd
was in the right humor and the boy was
allowed to go on.
''He said that he was a tenderfoot. Hs
was aware of il, he declared, and he
felt sorry, but he also said that if the
other would give him a fair show he
would fight him. Then he made what
was considered a remarkable PROPOSE
ton. He asked his antagonist TO lay
aside his gear. TO make no play, but TO
issue him a challenge to battle royal
He had, he said, conscientious scruples
against being the aggressor in quarrel,
but he was perfectly willing TO do the
square thing when the showdown
came.
"Well, after much parley the big fell
low agreed to. the deal and the chal-
lenge was issued. The boy at once ac-
cepted it, named guns as the weapons,
the place the saloon the time right
then. But his condition under which
the duel was to be fought was the re-
markable part of it. He insisted that
he and his opponent should stand face
to face, with the toes of their right
boots touching. Their guns were to be
in their belts, and at the word they
were to draw and fire. There could be
only one result. II was daring pro-
posal, but whether it was a bluff or not
was never known. The other craw-
fished, bought all the liquor on hand
and apologized. and the outcome of il
was that the men became partners. But
nobody in Deadwood ever intimated
again that the young fellow was lack
ing in nerve. He showed that he had
something about him. Chicago Inter
Ocean.