Birmingham state herald., 1896-10-25
JOHNNY HEELEY'S NERVE.
New York Letter:

| from New Mexico. at the Hoffman house,
 maybe some of you have heard of John- | ny Neeley? Medley came down to Santa | Fe in thei,old days before the railroads.l | He hailed from St. Louis or Kansas City. | or somewhere up there, and was agent | for something or ether, I've forgotten | what. He was a little chap weighed | about 120. and his face was as smooth aa | a girls, but, say, that fellow was one con- | gealed lump of nerve.
 "The town was tough in those days, and was full of tough men who could shoot 1 and were always looking out for a chance to practice with their weapons. This fel- low Medley was soslittle and was such an innocent-loolsing chap the boys soon
 marked him as a tenderfoot and pre- pared to have fun with him. He was jolly, devil-may-care sort, who loved to gamble, and spent more time at the card table than he did attending to business. "He did not drink, but loved to hang around the saloons and watch the gang. When some of the boys would shoot out the lights he always appeared pleased
 and interested. Medley ignored several insults. and always walked away when one of the bad men of the town tried to pick quarrel with him, so the gang con- cluded that he would not fight and then they were ready to begin their fun. One. night Medley strolled into the White Rose saloon, and sitting down by a small table some distance away from the gang began smoking long black
 Mexican cigar while reading newspa- per that had come down by the last stage. He puffed away at the cigar until half an inch of ashes hung at the end.
 ''The young fellow was tilted back in his chair with the cigar pointing up at an angle of 45 degrees. The ashes made splendid target and big Bob Sweeny cau- tiously drew his gun and gave the boys the wink.
 .There was flash. loud report and the bullet from Bob's pistol fiecked the r-l,A smooth as if he had brushed them away with his finger To the surprise of every one present the young fellow did not jump and yell as they had expected. h. stead he slowly folded the newspaper, laid it down on the table, and then questioning expression on his face. He did not even remove the cigar from his mouth.
 "When he saw the smoking revolver in Sweeney's hand he got up, and walking over toward the table where the gang were seated asked in the mildest sort of tone, Did you shoot at me or my cigar?' "The gang was completely taken aback at the coolness of the fellow. 'T just thought I'd flip the ashes off yer cheroot, young feller, an save you the trouble . replied Sweeny, who still held his revolver.
 "'Thank you very much. just wanted to know what you were shooting at. It.
 
 ings. Have one with mel g
 AS Medley spoke he pulled out another long cigar and handed it to Sweeny. The big fellow held out his hand for the cigar. but he was fairly dazed by the action of the young man. 'l4s.a
 "Then Medley went back to his own ta- | ble and sat down again. As soon as | Sweeny had recovered from his susprise | he winked at the crowd, and putting up | his gun, struck match to light his cf- | gar.
 AS he raised thes-burning match to- l ward his mouth there was sharp report,
 and it was knocked out of his fingers. Quick as lightning Johnny Medley had | darwn a 6-inch derringer and had shot | the match out of Sweenys fingers. Never light a cigar with a match. | The fumes of the sulphur may spoil the | flavor of the weedi Allow me to offer you @ light!' said Medley, stepping over and l extending his lighted cigar with his left | hand.
 Say; Bob sSweenys face was a study. | He let his cigar drop on the table, and with his hands on his knees he just sat | there for a minute and stared at the | young chap.
 Did you do that?' he gasped at last. "'Yes, but meant no offense. Here is lightn .a
 Bob picked up his cigar, but when he
 went to light it the boys saw that his hand was shaking trifie
 He got the cigar burning and then he sat and puffed 1t in silence for five min- utes, at the end of which time he got up, and, glancing at the half burned match lying or, the floor, said Well, I'll be d.! "Sweeny marched up to the bar and took drink without word to the gang. Then he started out To reach the door he had to pass the table where Medley sat
 quietly reading the newspaper. As he
 walked past the young. fellow the big bull
 ly took off his hat and went out at the
 door on tiptoe. Pretty soon the others of
 the gang followed, and before morning
 every man in Santa Fe knew that little
 Johnny Medley was the quickest and best
 shot in the territory, and that his nerve
 was the pure stuff.
 That little shooting match fixed the
 young fellows standing In the society of
 the territory, and the boys did not make
 any further efforts to play jokes on him.
 Medley continued on the even tenor of his
 way, never boasting of anything and
 playing in hard luck most of the time fon
 six months before the boys had a chance
 to see his nerve tested again. He was
 gambling more and more all the time, and
 was usually broke.
 "One day there drifted into the town a
 regular professional bad man. He wore
 his hair long and called himself Arizona
 Jake. His available assets consisted of two revolvers, a knife and a record of
 two murders and three plain killings. Be-
 fore he had been in town many hours he
 let it be known that he was hunting trou-
 ble, and the boys decided that he should
 not be long finding it.
 'It was always believed that Bob
 Sweeny put the stranger up to picking g.
 row with little Johnny Medley but they
 couldn't prove it at the inquest.
 Tt was late at night and Medley was in
 the faro bank playing the high card and
 losing right along as usual. He seemed
 to have faith that his luck would change
 that night and kept close watch of the
 game. He had spent his last dollar for
 chips and had staiked his last stack when
 Arizona Jake entered the place with a
 regular Indian war whoop and fired a
 shot through the roof as a warning that
 he was out for trouble. -,
 Nearly every one in the place got out
 of his way, but Johnny Medley did not
 even look up from the card table. Jake,
 was big, strong fellow, and when he
 caught sight of the little smooth-faced
 chap sitting there playing faro, it seemed
 to set him wild He walked over and,
 catching hold of the back of Neeley's7
 chair, lifted both feet from the floor,
 and then let go. q
 z t-IA |.