The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1898-12-24
BY R. G. Gopher.

death, and t"r. ha,i talked it over as coolly
as if thr sui SO VAS & bear or deer. Will
liamS took WIN him rifle, revolver, a
knife, 50 eX'', ctrtridgps and some bread
and meat. When ready to go, he shook
hands with the tao White men Of the party,
nodded to the 9th, rs and to us aud said to
Johnson
''In an hour shall reach the far side
and be ready to tnTn back. Sorry the earth
isn't big enough for both of rs, hut We
happen to he built that way. It's fai.
show for hntn, and there'll be nothing 10
kick over"
During the hour allowed him Johuson
cleaned his firearms Oyerhaued his pack
and gave some instructions as to what
should be done with certain interests in
case he did NOS return. When the hour
was up he shock hands with all around,
had a word with the men OF the other
camp, and he was whisting as he hisap-
peared from lew. 1t was at once agreed
between the two camps that there should
be peace, aud each man found something at
which 10 busy himself. The general idea
was that the affdir in the basin would hp
over before noon. hut those who argued
thus male mistake. While both men
meant 20 Kill, either proposed to take any
chance Lite WAS the stake to he PLAYED
Ioy, and tina game was to be drawn out
When Williams had crossed the basin he
turnrd and headed back south, but not on
the trail. He knew johnson too well to
center of the basin on the trail. He entered
! the " Gods on his right and made his way
along through the thngle and over tre
bow iIers with the stealth of an Indian. As
our leader entered the basin he also ent, red
the woods on his right The two men rhus
ua'!e a half circle and were as far away
basin contained about 800 acres of land and
was walled in on every side. The trees
were not large, hut the undergrowth was
very thick, and there were also a yleat
| many powders lying about.
AS Williams circled to the south and
Johnson to the north, each made half
circle before finding the Others trail. Tae
distance covered by this half circle was
ahout two miles and such was the caution
with which the men moved that it VAS
afternoon before they came upon signs "
Each ones plan was now plain TO the other,
aud both at once changed. That is, each
returned over his own trail, or within reach
ing distance Of it, This change simply
prevented a meeting. When one man
reached the north erd Of the trail the other
was back at the south end and it was four
o'clock in the afternoon. Then each took
the trail and held it to a point within 200
feet of the center, and Williams left is for
the woods to his right. Without suspect
ing each others presence they crept care
fully forward until only so feet separated
them. Then wolf dashing out from the
sp,ce between them gave both men the cue
and each man began working for a slot
Johnson had before him three Or four vine
covered powders, and he crept under the
vines and was so well hidden that even the
eyes OF a fox could not have made him out
Half an hour passed, and it was growing
dark in the forest when Williams rose up
alongside tree and began peering about
His uprising was like that of shadow, and
for ten minutes he did not expose finger
as a target. Then he either became I'M
patient or figured that johnson was not at
hand, and his head left the shelter of the
tree to get better look. 1t was too dark
Tor johnson to take accurate ann, and the
bullet meant for Williams passed through
and knocked the cap off his head. In a
second Williams had fired in return, taking
snap shot at the flash, and his bullet tore
through the cloth on Johnson's shoulder.
These were the first and best shots fired
Each man drew away after firing and they
were probably mile and half apart as
they made camp for the night. Had they
been Indians they might have hunted each
other in the darkness, but each lay down to
sleep, feeling as safe as in camp. As the
sun came up the hunt was again on. They
were now east and west Of the trail and
more than a mile apart. They seemed to
locate each other by intuition, and one
moved to the right and the other to the left
to make rear approach At nine clock
in the morning they had simply changed
places It was then that each threw away
portion Of his woodcraft and began q
holder advance. At II o'clock as johnson
crept forward on his hands and knees and
started to lift himself up beside a tree he
came face to face with Williams, who was
about to do the same thing from the oppo-
, site direction. Both sprang up and began
firing. The range was too close, and the
sudden encounter had also upset them.
Each man fired five or six bullets, each had
I ~