The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-06-10
THE DUEL WAS NOT FOUGHT.
Two Men who Thirsted for Each Others
Gore Met Death Together.

Two Men Who Thirsted for Each others
Gore Met Death Together.
We were in camp on the banks of the
BRACES river of Texas for the night.
At supper time dispute arose be-
tween two men, and before anyone had
looked upon it as serious matter they
were facing each other with knives IN
their hands. The disputants were bor-
der men. The lie had been given. and
that m cant fight. It was simply how
they should fght-how to give the
smaller man an equal chance.
look here said Big Carter, who
had charge of the ou tfit, 'thar's an old
adobe. and we'll hang blanket at the
door. Well 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 agreed. Had
one of them declined he would have
been branded a coward. The frontier
has it's laws and customs. Both men
stripped to the waist and each was
armed with keen bowieknife. There
were no threats, no Roasting. Each
pulled off his shoes. and Jim, the half
breed. was the first man to pass in after
the blanket had been hung up. That
blanket made it midnight darkness in
side 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
otherr'
AT the last word he fired his revolver
in the air, and the whole crowd stood
in a half circle before the door. Five
minutes passed, and there was no
sound Some one whispered that they
were cirGling around the wall IN the
darkness Another five minutes, but
no clash of steel, no vengeful cry, no
shrek of pain and fury as one OF the
murderous knives drank blood.
Come. boys, don't be afraid Of each
other cried Big Carter, in his impa-
thence. 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 a
large one One should have found the
other in the first five minutes.
Boys. they are afraid OF each 9th
err shouted big Carter when the watch
showed they had been inside twenty
minutes. 4 reckon we'd jest better
have them out and
'Sh. interrupted a man who had
crept close to the door. All listen.
What's that?'
'Rattlesnakes. by jingo" replied
Carter.
And dozen Of EN-" shouted two
or three others in chorus.
1--WE got 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, crawl
ing over them, were a dozen or
more monster rattlesnakes Both had
been bitten over and over again be-
fore their knives had crossed. jim
had entered first and probab bly, felt the
deadly fangs first. 1t was duel to the
death and he had not cried cut. Frank
had followe ed. to be struck in the same
wav. but he, too. had maintained
silence. They were past all help when
we pulled them out Each had been
bitten three or four times. Even the
hands which held the bright-bladed
had been struck as the men sank down
in their tracks. A cry, rush out
doors, would have saved both. but were
the fangs of the serpents less deadly
than the knives?
. Both game men. and You bet they
was. said Big Carter as he flied up the
shallow graves. and that was all. Next
dav thew seemed to have been entirely
forgotten by everybody" - Chicago
Times