The record-union., 1897-09-29
CAPT. JAYAES' HOT BLOOD.

On the evening of the alarm Of fire at
the florists place, three doors from the
Alfalfa European Hotel, Doc" Horne
told Of his singular experience at q fre
in the town Of Crosbyville.
Let's see-I spent two or three years
in CrobysvilIe, off and on" he began,
'and this must have happened in the
fall Of 81 or the spring Of o. re-
member that l left Crosbyville just
about the time of the Presidential cam
paign, and that was-well, it must have
been about June, 81. No matter; the
Gate doesn't make any difference.
In order that you may understand
this story better I'll have to go back
little. The first time I ever visited IN
Crosbyville I was invited out TO
shooting match We didn't shoot at
glass balls or live pigeons in those days.
We usually put a white square of paper
up against a tree and blazed away at
it with rifles, and, although our fire
arms were Of defective bore, 1 can as
sure you that some Of the best shooting
/ ever saw was at these old-tlme
matches out in the woods However,
that has nothing TO do with the story.
"One Of my friends invited me TO go
to the shooting match, and after 1 got
out there I was asked to enter the con-
test. Well, I went in and happened to
get a rifle that sighted just right for
me, and I won \ man who had been
introduced TO me as Captain Jaynes
made the next highest score. It SEEM
ed TO me that the other contestants took
their defeat good naturedly, but on the
way home my friend told me to look out
for this Captain Jaynes. He was
hot headed Kentuckian, and it seems
that this was the first time he had been
defeated in year or so, and it worried
him a good deal My friend told me
that ne had taken a dislike to me ana
would probably try to pick a quarrel
with me at the first opportunity
Wen, that same afternoon l invited
al the men who had been at the shoot
ing match to come over to the tavern
1t was customary for the winner of the
match to stand treat to the others.
Captain Jaynes came in rather late
while we were all sitting around and
talking. I arose and asked him to join
the party. He bowed very coldly and
said that he was not in the habit Of
drinking with strangers. Well, I was
pretty hOt-blooded in my younger days.
] said: Very well, Captain; I withdraw
the invitation I made the mistake OF
supposing that you would feel at home
in a company of gentlemen I knew
what to expect when I said that. He
started to draw a knife, but before he
could lift it I had hold of him. They
pulled US apart and tried to quiet him,
but he went away raving mad They
all said he would kill me the first time
we met, but he must have cooled down
when he had time to think it over.
saw him often after that-passed him
on the street. He never made a move
but I knew that he hated me and would
be glad of chance to do me an in
jury
The Captains house was right on
the bank of the Green River, and stood
near his mill. It was an old-fashioned
two-story house very broad and well
built, and thickly surrounded by trees.
1t was considered the best house in
Crosbyville. The Captain was the
wealthiest and one of the most promi-
nent citizens of the town. He was a
widower and had two children-a boy
of IA or so and a young lady named
Elizabeth. She was a very beautiful
girl-very charming I had met her
several times, but, of course. had never
become we'll acquainted with her on
account of my standing feud with her
father
'-Wen, to make a long story short.
the whole town was aroused by an
alarm of fire one night, and when we
turned out the Jaynes' mill was one
mass of flames. 1t was an Old-style
structure, with a frame work of heavy
logs, and it made a fearful blaze. The
wind was blowing the flames toward
the house. Every one saw that it was
of no use to try to save the mill, so we
turned in to defend the house-got up
on the roof and passed buckets and put
out wet blankets to catch the sparks,
but it was no use. The men We're
driven off the roof and the water dried
as fast as it was thrown on. All at
once Gre whole side of the house SEEM
ed to spring into a flame. There was
d general shout. and everybody re-
treated to a safe distance. The men,
bers Of the family and the neighbors
had been removing the household
goods. Just as the house caught fire,
and all the men were getting out of it
as fast as they could, I heard Eliza
beth Jaynes cry out: The canary"
Then she ran back into the house, with
every one calling to her to stop.
didn't hesitate a moment, but ran af-
ter She ran through that terrific heat
and dcrse smoke right up the stairway,
and I followed. I caught her by the
arm at the top of the stairs and told
her to come back. She was hysterical
and excited She said she wouldn t
leave until she got the bird. In spite
of all 1 could do she pulled away from
me and ran TO the front room-her bed
room I believe-and felt her way to
where the bird cage was hanging.
Gentlemen, it was never hotter in any
bake oven than it was in that room.
As soon as she got the bird cage I drag
ged her back through the hall. The
smoke was not so thick now, because
the fire had got free draught through
the house and was making a fearful
road and spreading rapidly. When we
reached the stairway the whole lower
end OF II was ablaze. I dragged the
girl away to the front window, but by
that time the whole veranda was on
fire. The crowd outside saw us. and
shouted something couldn't tell
what. I saw that there was no escape
over that burning veranda. When the
people outside began to shout the girl