The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-06-22
WERE TO FIGHT IN THE DARK.

We were in camp on the banks OF
the Brazos river of Texas for the night
says a writer in the New York Sun.
At supper time dispute arose be
tween two men, and before any one
had looked upon it as serious matter
they were facing each other with
knives in their hands. The disputants
We're border men The lie had been
given, and that meant fight. 1t was
simply how they should tight-how to
give the smaller man an equal chance,
Look here" said big Carter, who
had charge of the outfit; ''thar's an
old adobe and we'll hang a blanket at
the door. Wen turn you both loose
in thar and when l fire my revolver
the fun kin begin.'
Nobody said no. He would have
been looked upon as chicken hearted.
The disputants readily rgreed. Had
one of them declined he would have
been branded coward. The frontier
has its laws and customs. Both men
stripped to the waist and each was
armed with a keen bowie knife There
were no threats, no boasting. Each
pulled off his shoes, and Jim, the half
breed, was the first man to pass in af
ter the blanket had been hung up.
That blanket made it midnight dark
ness inside Frank, as We called him,
followed within ten seconds.
''Now boys" said Big Carter, as he
stood at the door, take opposite sides.
Now, git ready. Now, hunt fur each
otherm
At the last word he fired his revol-
yer In the air and the whole crowd
stood in half circle before the door.
Five minutes passed and there was no
sound. Some one whispered that they
were clrcling around the wall in the
darkness. Another five minutes. but
no clash of steel, no vengeful cry, no
shrek of pain aud fury as one of the
murderous knives drank blood.
"Come, boys, don't be afraid of each
otherw cried Big Carter in his i'm.
patience and almost every individual
murmured his applause.
Five minutes more and still no
sound. The scars which those men
had exhibited in the freight were
proofs of their courage The hut was
not large one. One should have
found the other in the first five min
utes.
Boys, they are afraid of each other,m
shouted Big Carter when the watch |
showed they had been inside twenty
minutes. Il reckon we'd jest better
have them out, and"
"Shw interrupted a man who had |
crept close to the door. "All listen.
What's that?"
'Rattlesnakes, by jingo" replied
Carter
"And dozen of 'em?" shouted two
or three others in chorus.
We got a pole and removed the
blanket Then we tied torch to the
pole and thrust it into the hut. Both
men were lying on the floor, their
knives clutched in their hands. Be
tween them, around them, crawling
over them, were dozen or more mon.
ster rattlesnakes. Both had been bit
ten over and over again before their
knives had crossed Jim had entered
first and probably felt the deadly
fangs first. 1t was duel to the death
and he had not cried out. Frank had
followed, to be struck in the same way
out he, too, had maintained silence.
They were past all help when we pull
ed them out Each had been bitten
three or four times. Even the hands
which held the bright -bladed knives,
had been struck as the men sank
down in their tracks. A cry, rush
would have saved both, but
were the fangs of the serpents less
deadly than the knives.
Both game men, and you bet they
wasw said Big Carter, as we filled
up the shallow graves, and that was
all. Next day they seemed to have
been entirely forgotten by everybody.