The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-23


that bind you; force your way out of its
clutches, that will drag you down into
everlasting shame and confusion and hell"
Tom heard the words without much at
tention 10 the idea, for they it another
idea that was slowly forming in his slug
gish mind. He would have TO fight. and
he wanted TO fight. Fight him hard, and
fight him first" is what the words of the
preacher were by the time they penetrated
to Toms cerebral cells. That might not
: be a bad idea. He has me down now be-
cause let him get away with me; get up
| and strike him so hard he'll stay away
| from me; force OF his grip on Molie, and
| send him into everlasting shame and con-
| fusion-and heIT' That was the transla-
ton Of the preachers words back into
an idea that Tom accomplished. The
preacher kept on. still louder and with cy-
| clonic force, as he saw Tom fdget in his
seat:
Let the spirit work it's way into your
| heart and cast out the devil. There is
room for but one see that the one is the
| right one; there is room for only one-fOr
| only one-for only one-and the other must
| go. 1t is hard to dislodge the devil, but it
| is easy when once you make up your mind
| to do it, Do it tonight; do it at once; de-
lays are dangerous, and, oh! how danger
Gus is the delay that loses what is worth
more than money. or crops. or land, or the
| things of the fieshl Do it NOW!'
The preacher had been talking with more
| and more impassioned loudness, and the
| last word fairly made tremor in the walls
| of the building, IS it did in the hearts Of
| the leading members of the church, who
| had punctuated the exhortation literally
| with their own CALCULATIONS. The words
/ were boring into Toms mind, and by the
| time they got there they twisted into:
| Turn myself loose at him and cut out
| the damned devil There's room for only
| one of around Mellie, and I'm going to
| see that it's the right one; only one-only
! one-only one of us can get her. and he's
| got to 60 It's hard to cut him out but
| it's easy enough if I just go at il right.
| I'll do it tonight; I'll do it at once; delays
| are dangerous, and it's mighty dangerous
| when it's about what's worth more to me
than the whole farm. I'll do it right
| NOWr'
The last word came with such force that
it's representative idea in Toms mind lifted
| him to his feet and carried him out the
| door before its initial velocity was lost.
| He had no consciousness of the preacher,
| the sermon. the church, even of Mollie's
| position in the congregation-no perception
| whatever, and only the conception of the
| strategic fact that IL were better TO whip
| Sam Bronson before church was out and
| then take Mollie home than to whip him
after church was out and have Mollie go
home by herself while they were fighting
Tom Rutherford walked over to where
| the young fellows were standing looking
| into the church through the windows; and
| as he approached the group slightly and
! casually rearranged itself. The young man
with the peculiar chin quickly slipped
around the party to be close to Tom.
| and at the same time another fellow with
| a scar on his upper lip moved by
| Bronson and faced Rutherford's ''pardner."
The others separated slightly and all faced
| toward the center, where Bronson stood
blowing into his hands to warm them
| Rutherford walked into the group slowly
and deliberately and with the force of a
| locomotive which seemed to be too graceful
! TO have much power.
He walked past Bronson so that their
| left arms rubbed hard together, swerving
not a hairs BREADTH and apparently being
| destined for the county seat ten miles
away. At the contact Bronson threw out
his crooked elbow into Rutherford's side
with considerable force. Tom bore against
the pressure and with a slight turn of his
whole body brought his right fist over and
down into Bronson's face. Not a word had
been spoken by anybody, and not a sound
was made until the fight was over. But in
Toms head was ringing, "Only one-only
one-only one-see that it's the right one
only one-only one"
And with the cadence of this refrain the
blows were going hard and straight.
Neither knew any fstic science, but both
knew how to hit hard straight from the
shoulder and take what the other gave.
Rutherfords partner, with the peculiar
chin, and Bronson's partner. with the
SCARED lip preserved the balance of power
against each other, and the rest stood as
close as possible TO see which was whip
ping In ten seconds both Rutherford and
Bronson had abandoned boxing, and were
clutched together, wrestling like savages.
Each jabbed the other when opportunity
offered, but the tactics were for fall and
then for the upper man TO pound the head
of the under man at his leisure and TO his
own satisfaction. once Bronson had Tom
nearly down, but by a tremendous effort
Rutherford lifted his adversary clear of
the ground and would have hurled him to
the frozen earth had he not clutched a
fence post. There was little for the others
to see. and little advantage on either side.
apparently Out into the moonlight they
struggled, and back again into the shadow
of the church. Bronson tore himself away
with such an effort that he nearly fell
backward, and in recovering his balance
thrust his hand through a window at the
height of his head. Rutherford had let so
| with one hand, and that one hand now
swung through the air in the trail of a
dim. blush flash of light as it passed
above the window sill. Bronson's knees
bent. his arms fell down, his head went
forward, and he was a mass of darker
shadow on the ground by the time some of
the more muscular members of the church
! militant reached the spot. Tom Ruther-
ford was keeping mis- hand in his side coat
pocket, and five seconds later was riding
| at top speed down the road toward home
! The next morning he met the sheriff al
the edge OF the county seat. and as they
| rode together between the rows of wood
piles toward the Jail he told the officer that
he and Sam were just having a fight. and
he didn't know how Sam came TO get killed
That was the most he ever said about the
occurrence. and when the sherin found