The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-03-24

SODeInlng staI tiiIiS III A'o h"iN, iiAN''N
smoothness.
"Morgan =" said he, "Pve been a
Democrat all my life. Since / could
vote I've never voted any other ticket.
] believe that Stephen a. Douglas is
the greatest man this country has seen
since Washington. / hate an Abolition
list as old Andy jackson did Nullifier,
but | say that those fellows down there
who have fired upon our flag, are mur-
derers and traitors who deserve to be
hung, and I'd help hang 'em myself"
Morgan's swarthy cheek burned in a
dark crimson; he made a stride toward
Bronson, with doubled fists, and
shrieked.
"If YOU say that those men down
there are murderers and traitors, you
are an internal Abolition liar
Bronson's face grew still whittier. His
body seemed to shrink down upon his
legs, as if all his muscles were closing
and hardening for a struggle. The room
became as still as a church at the IN
slant of beginning prayar. Only the
mufiied beat of the engine In the cellar
far below was heard, and It's dull qulYer
intensified the silence.
Pausing a momentous second as II to
weigh every word, Bronson replied IN
low tone. but which was audible in every
part Of the room:
al do say those fellows are murderers
and traitors, who should be hung, and
anv man in this section who excuses or
defends them is worse than they are"
Drawing back his right fist, Morgan
sprang at him, but Bronson stepped aside
with the quickness OF fash, and as
Morgan passed him he struck the South
erner quick, sharp blow full on his right
ear that felled him as if shot.
The tensely-held breath of each of the
excited lookers-on escaped in a half sigh
at this gratifying but unexpected dea0uc-
Dlent.
Morgan hardly struck the floor till he
sprang to his feet again, almost beside
himself with rage. Rushing to the other
side of the room, where his coat was
hanging. be snatched from its inside
breast pocket long bowie-knife, and
again started for Bronson.
But others were no less quick than he.
Instantly divining his intention when lie
ran to bis coat, some balfdozen of the
compositors sprang to the imposing-stone,
and each seized one of the iron side-sticks
from the chases. These, small at one
end, and large at the other, and of a size
very convenient for welding, were as
formidable weapons even as the bowie,
since a moderate blow from one of them
in strong hand would easily brain a
man.
The printers armed with these inter-
posed themselves between Bronson and
the infuriated Morgan, and their de-
fermined mien was sufficient to cause
the latter to pause.
This gave Old 10 an opportunity to
gather bis scattered wits sufficiently to
assert his foremanship. He mounted the
little dais upon which was his chair and
desk, and which was his seat of empire,
and commanded:
"Stop this Immediately, every one of
you, and 90 to your cases If there's
man says another word or makes a mo-
ton I'll discharge him on the spoil If
you don't mind I'll whistle for the
police! This papers got to be got out,
and | won't have another minute lost
by disturbance!
The discipline of the Neus office
was pretty good; and, besides, the
necessity of "getting the paper out on
time is supreme law to every printers
mind, and about the only one to which
all of them yield instructive and unques-
tioning obedience
Morgan, muttering something about
"settling the matter after the paper
went TO press" turned on his heel,
walked back to his coat, replaced his.
knife, and then went to the wash-basins
to clean the blood from his face. The
others laid the sidesticks back on the
imposing stone, and resumed their places
at tie cases.
The most keenly interested spectator
of the affair was Inky," the "devil
of tie Office. Like most of his class in
daily Offices, he had graduated into his
present position from that Of street news
boy, and he was as noisy, as saucy, and
as keen witted as members of his tribe
invariably are.
He could not have been made any
dirtier without being made larger, be-
cause bis person had already all that
could possibly be made to cling to it.
His uncombed head Of hair resembled
a badly-abused window brush, and he
punctilIously observed the usage of all
devil boys since the days of Faust and
Gutenberg by getting as much ink on
hands, arms, ami lace as a reasonable
effort would daub there.
As is customary with the crowd which
he had just left and the one to which
be now belonged, he fed his hungry
young mind ON such highly-seasoned
food as he could find in the Ciipper, the
Ledger, and other sporting and sen-
sational ralers, and on that style of his
trionic production called. with more ac-
cuTacy than elegance, "the blood-and.