The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1893-04-22
A SHOT.
The strengthening Man Relates q West
ern Story.

AooHhS LOS
ern Story.
The strengthening man sat in n
corner of the smoker and hadn't much
to say while the drummer and the west
ern real estate man were telling their
stories. He reused, however, after a
peculiarly peculiar n by the drum
mer.
THAT reminds me" he said, "of some
thing that happened once in a min
ing town in the Rockies, during the
good old times when everything was
new out there. Like every mushroom
municipality, we had among us gam
blers and greenies, toughs and tender
feet One of these tenderfeet was the
most cowardly fellow, in some ways, /
ever saw, and how he had EVER come
to such a place l couldn't I'm
derstand. He was afraid of every
body, and a boy could bulldose
him, but he vas bright-minded,
with a fine turn for business, and
was honest. A pistol was a horror to
him, and he wouldn't take a drink of
whisky under any circumstances, which,
by the way, required considerable cour-
age. In his case it did, at least, as it
afterward turned out, for one day he
refused to drink with the ugliest, most
dangerous man we had. and Il row en-
sued. The tough whipped out a pistol
and would have killed the fellow, but
some one caught his arm, and the other
man went down on his knees and beg
ged for his life. 1t was no good, how
| aunr. fhn 4Arr1 r-,e J-,r1- c-l r-,,
determined to kill him, and, to prevent
an open murder, some one suggested
that they fight it out in the street, and
l revolver vas put into the hands of
the tenderfoot. He didn't know how
TO handle the gun at all, and while one
man showed him what to do, four or
five more held the tough. Then
they We're put at ten PAGES.
and a more abject, sacred specimen 1
could hardly stand up and his pistol
wobbled about as if it swung to a
string. The tough enjoyed it more
than anybody else, for he felt sure of
his victim. After he had watched the
shivering wretch a moment he pulled
up his gun, and at the same time the
tenderfoot pulled his up and tried to
aim it. Then, bang went the tough's
gun and almost simultaneously fol-
lowed the report of the tenderfoot's.
The tough dropped like a shot OK, and
the tenderfoot threw up his right hand
and howled with pain and tear We
rushed up and found the tough dead,
with a bullet through his heart, and
the tenderfoot with his fingers and
hand bruised and bleeding. but not
seriously injured. The bullet from the
tough's pistol had struck the trigger Of
the tenderfoot's and discharged it with
fatal result."o
The strengthening imam had ap-
parently no more to say and his lis
teners looked at each other question.
ingly.
The drummer coughed suspiciously.
MAY / ask" he said, chow it hap
pened' that the tough's bullet didn't
take the tenderfoot's finger off before
it reached the trigger of his pistol?"
Simple enough" replied the strange
looking man frankly; "he didn't have
his finger on the trigger; he had it on
the trigger guard, and he would have
been pulling on it yet, to make the gun
go off. if luck hadn't been against the
tough"
The Strengthening man relapsed
into his former silence and nobody had
the cheek to try to tell any more stories
Detroit Free Press.