The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-05-31

/ Ross jumped from the lookout's
chair to the old man, and the crowd
around Little" Edgar, the dealer
wheeled back.
And my God, John, is that him,
Henry Ashley?" exclaimed the old
man. pointing to Little" Edgar.
Edgar's face had turned to the yel-
! lowish white color of the dust in the
road. His hands dropped from the
check rack and the card box. and the
crowd, as il divining that something
was to happen, kept silent.
why, father" said Ross in a hollow
voice and with face as white as Ed
gar's. you don't mean the man that
took our Esther"
Yes, yes. there he is. Let me at
him. said the old man, struggling to
the table
Are you the man." asked Ross,
turning to Edgar.
Yes" was the reply in a cool, firm
voice.
Ross walked to the bar and return
ed with a gun in each hand. Edgar
had risen from the table and was fac
ing the old man. who was held back
by the crowd. Neither of the men
raised weapon. Ross stopped his
father and, turning to Edgar. said:
You saved my life once and I'll give
you an even show. Come outside
The other man made no reply but
reached under the table and from a
drawer took out two heavily mounted
revolyers. The crowd not knowing
what it was all about, drew back and
then passed between and out into
the street On the other side along
the raised levee were two cottonwood
trees fifteen feet apart, and here the
men took their places. Not word
was exchanged The crowd silent in
anticipation Of fight where death
must be the issue, gathered in a semi
circle. The old man was in the cen
ter, calm and immOvab'e as a statue
La an instant two guns were raised,
two putfs of smoke met in the air IN a
rafting fusillade of shots and when
they melted away Ross was on the
ground and Edgar's right hand was
hanging limp at his side. Edgar took
two steps forward and fell on his
knees with a bullet in his chest as he
was bringing his gun down for the
other mans head There the two men
lay. glaring at each other like pan
theirs.
1t was evident that Ross had been
hit hard at the first fire, for blood was
I nf oh ri h &c
heart. But he was a long way from
being dead As calmly as if shooting
at a mark he reached his left arm out
and throwing his gun over it for rest
and fired twice The first bullet
clipped off Edgar's right ear and the
other was buried in his hip. Edgar
replied by sending bullet through
his partners right wrist and into his
body. A slow exchange Of a half
dozen shots followed without results
for both men were becoming very
weak. Then Edgar stopped firing.
His guns were cleaned out. Ross see
ing one chance, fired the last shot,
without effect.
The two men lay still for an instant
their eyes half blinded by the film of
death, and then started to crawl
through the sand for a closer meeting.
Ross had managed to draw a long,
keen edged knife from his shirt and
Edgar had grasped his revolver by the
barrel to strike the last blow People
who saw the fight say that the jour
ney OF the men seemed to last all the
afternoon. Each man with a helpless
arm and all but dead from loss of
blood, gouged his way along by dig
ging his heels into the heavy sand and
pushing his body. The crowd in
breathless silence moved closer around
to see the end. 1t final lily came. when
the men face down, were within reach
ing distance, Ross gathered his feet
under his body, and, with last des-
perate effort, raised himself and lung
ed with the shining knife for Edgar's
head. The blade fell harmless in the
sand and Ross head dropped At the
same instant Edgar started to raise
his revolver, gasped once and fell
dead,