The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-29

| ~. certain to carry one with him, he IL vory
new one when be gets q chance, and the iocal
traders Al keep them In stock. l suppose Lead.
gan was about Al! wide.opsn S''I as s fne town pSih ov Sel
was. The boom was q mighty one. and there
was more money there than was really condu-
Give to morality. | stayed there two or three
days longer than. / really needed TO, for / was
intors,ted, and wanted to learn As much aS
One day had just nnished dinner when a
fS.si i : spo %o 70 20 % dSin ,R th Tba aSsei The OF course Ton
introduce yourself in such places when you
seek a friendly acquaintance, and there are no
We chatted for a minute or two, and then the
Granger, whose name a%ftsrward learned was
me II l was not selling hardware. I told him /
was, AND he said no wanted to buy n knife. 1
said I had some knives With me, but only 2,
came TO goS; | hunted the town over, this
that was worth carrying. l thought probably
you might have one or two good ones, and that
Il. SO Il suits me- l still refused, but ho per-
sisted so urgently that finally consented to
chow him what had, thinking that when he
some excuse for refusing to sell 1t. So we went
to my room and looked over my samples.
one that he selected. l had. perhaps. forty
different ones. but he gave only q glance at the
instant. Picking il up ho weighed il in bis
hand. turned it over and over. ran the edge OF it
across the back Of his thumb nail as a barber
scrutinized every fractional part OF tho blade
and hilt, and then. erasping IT firmly swung his
ing Its weight and balance still more carefully.
Then, stepping over To- wooden-bottomed chair.
he drove the 1 blade %s9uarely .hr;9q,gh tho inch:
= remarkable display. OF strength. but nothing
to what followed, for Il was comparatively easy
be pulled out without splitting the wood. Con-
nor. however, put his, left hand on the chair
Then he threw II At n knot In the wooden
partition that separated my room from the next,
fa sie iSt1 sss t IN sn s,'ss,nf fo sqIhs s hyd II , Tbs knot t
distance of at least twelve feet, and he looked at
me with 3 little smile which l didn't at first
"'That's a pretty good ,hrow,,I said. DO
you think soY' no answered indifcrently. and
ton and drew out the knife, still smiling. and
stepping back twelve feet again threw 1t again.
tho rT ..so time anoi ! W. WA had SmS S 7 !. FOR 5r, no hsd struck
IT. closely. and l could, not see but one mark
after he had drawn TIE knife out tho second
the point OF the knife he scratched a rough
circle on the wood about the size OF a mau's
hand. stepping back to where he stood before.
he turned his back to the target, and then, look
ing at It over his tight shoulder, he threw the
knife over Ss his lel! sticking il fairly in the
over his right shoulder. and finally, planting
himself carefully In tho same place, he looked
QuiNhi1 " w uLOullCE, anu lltI. turning
his face directly away. threw the knife over Ills
head, striking the same target and leaving tho
knife All inch deep In the wood.
~ want that knife he said, rather peremp-
torlly. and | want II just 800 WORTH And lie
pulled a $50 greenhack out Of his poke ct and
laid 1t on the table. 1touk the money. thought
IA man who could usen knife like that ought TO
have a good one. And then | was travelling to
make money, and the price was II long one even
for that knife, and IL was the best had. | was
very, sorry, though, before the next day, that
had broken my rule Iot TO sell amp.es.
Men walked in tke milnlp OF tIH tract at
night in Leadville at that time, but tho en-
frances to the bsrrooms and the gambling
safe enough going In or out of them. AS a rule.
l had started out In the evening To see ~ little
at three or four gambling bells before | came 10
one where Black Harry sat playing faro. He
complexion that gave him his nick name.
heard afterward that he had lived II long time
with Indians further West. and ! have no doubt
he learned the use OF the knife among them. He
rat With his left hand toward the door, and |
did not SEQ him at first, rs there were two others
sitting between him and the entrance. AS |
sauntered UP to the table | caught sight OF him.
lie smiled a little and nodded. hut did not
speak. and l stood looking at him for a moment
or two. for no particular reason except that |
knew him.
suddenly ! noticed.that he was watching tho
seemed TO be eyerywherea at once. and though
he was playing steadily. and with fairly good
certain that he saw every motion that anybody
made, anywhere in tho room. excepting. OF
course, right nenlnQ hlm. was naturally IN
terested in this, and presently | noticed that he
was watching u man who WAS Just coming in.
The newcomer was II stout-built. ugly looking
fellow, who looked carefully around as he EN-
tered. and VINO almost Immediately saw Black
Harry lie started Il little. ana then. evidently
thinking that Common DID not see him. as his
head was not turned toward the door. he stepped
carefully To his right TIL he was almost behind
where Conner sat. Still tonnor did not turn
his head. but | could rec HIM watching the other
as he stepped slowly around until he WAS fairly
eyes. Then | saw Conner suddenly look fun at
the dealer with Il question a. plainly EXPRESSED
as IL could have been in words. So | naturally
looked at the dealer,
He gave no sign at first. that | could see. of
even knowing that Conner was in front of him,
but went on dealing as II there was nothing
else in the world to do. Then in an instant his
eyer seemed TO blaze. Tho eye business was as
wonderful to me AS the knife play had been in
the afternoon. When | saw the dealers signal
l looked back at Conner, and in an Instant saw
II tragedy. The newcomer was drawing a re-
volver. and III the same time Connor WAS turn
ing his heal and throwing tho knife / had sold
him. He rose from his chair Rs he threw II,
and the strangers revolver exploded, hut the
bullet went wild. for he sank 10 the floor as he
fired, with the point OF the knife in his brain.
else could speak. i shy Black Harry done Just
right. That wlite-.ivercG cur had sworn To
kill hin on sight. and was shootln' from be-
hind. And. gentlemen, it's none of our business
what the quarrel was about
"A q stranger In tho place | thought IL hest
not to ask questions about what was none of
business" said the drummer. as he throw
away his cigar, but always felt a little uneasy
to think l had taken the price of that knife"