Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1903-11-11


head was sharp, eagle-pointed and
rcd. He carried IL erect and hiI
bright, quick eys Sshone like a dia,
mond. ltSwas;s sthat..eye.gthat gave
JACKIE, fierce appearance!; the calm,
determined stare OF coarage--never-
falling pluck 4that stood there was
what made Icreatures quiver. Col,
Sneed made the following boast
"Jake Killrain can lick any,feathered
beast in this.township. I'll put him
against nybody's. bird"
THE CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
The acceptance;fof Col. Snecd's
ohallengesby Mike O'Ryan came like
a crack of thunder from a clear sky.
The whole countryside was sur
.prised. 1t was the sensation of the
hour. Everybody was asking .sAnd
where did Mike O'Ryan get a chicken
that can wallops Col. Sneed's fighting
rooster 2" AllIthesanswer that Mike
gave was: "Niyer we mind 5. I'll be
there at the proper tonne, and I'll
have foightin' cock .tbat'll sweep
the deck."
The word was put out and it trav-
eled fast 1t crossed out of Provi-
dence sintoIPineyille, Morning Star
and Sharon. townships, and into
Union county and South Carolina.
The crops had been laid by and, the
farmers had nothing ITO. do. The
coming contest swas all. .Ethe. talk.
be in any hurry He sauntered along
with, his sack, and no one, barring
himself, knew what the bag con-
tanned, forj all was. quiet inside.
Some wag cried out: "That's the
deadest rooster that / ever saw.
He's asleep. Wake him up" But
Mike said nothing. He appeared to
be perfectly satisfied with himself
and his "bo. ird."
Mike O'Ryan was the biggest man
in the country. If he brought bird
that could and would whip Jake
Killrain the people stood. ready to
worship him. The old ladies of the
neighborhood were whispering
around among themselves, declaring
that good defeat for Col. Sneed
might stop bis headlong career to-
ward the devil. Every eye was fixed
oniMike. He was being admired by
every man, woman and child for his
nerve. The boys had ambition to be
just like him. When ne went to
church on Sunday the pious commu-
nicants turned to look him over. He
was mighty man, the man that had
accepted Col. Sneed's challenge.
THE DAY AT HAND.
The time and place were fixed /;
the last Saturday in August and the
big grove on Dunn's Knob, near
Six-mile Greek. The,hour was 1890
in the..ssmorning. Long before the
appointed time the crowd began to
gather. Men came as far as twenty
miles. The woods were full of
horses and mules, some tied to the
bodies of the trees and others to
swinging limbs. While the horses
were whinneying and the mules
braying the people discussed the
coming event. The mystery that
surrounded Mike O'Ryan and the
fowl had stirred the quiet citizens of
Providence Township to fever heat.
Col. Sneed himself looked pale and
dubious. He would have crawfshed
if he could have done so.gracefully,
but it was too late. He had to stand
to the rack. Bright and early he
was at the right place. Jake Kill
rain had crowed till he was hoarse.
He seemed to know that something
interesting was going to happen.
Hundreds of people had passed by
his cage to see him. He was in fine
feather and looked every inch the
fighting cock.
o'RYAN NOT IN SIGHT.
The grove was full of all sorts of
folks, but Mike O'Ryan had not
shown up. He had been out of the
community for several days. The
most loyal friends of Col. Sneed
were saying that the Irishman had
flunked, but Mike had friends who
declared that he would be present at
the appointed time. At 1O.15 he
was still absent. The crowd was
looking everywhere for him.
Ten minutes before the time was
up Mike came galloping over the
hill, on Beck, his roam mule, from to-
wards Matthews, carrying sack on
his shoulder. An outburst of ap-
plause greeted him. 1t was "Harrah
for Mike O'Ryan and his fighting
bird" This made the Sneed men
yell: "Come on with your beast !;
Jake Killrain will knock the filling
out,of him."
BY this time the whole hillside
Was alive with q human rnaaa Ahoua