The Mena weekly star., 1907-04-25
DUEL OF KNIFE
 vS. PISTOL

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 ine and several in the group .sthered in the cafe had related ex- sa'n e,onces which directly or indirectly concerned persons of their ac- uau ...orce when Colonel" Pitzer aAt,n iu of Texas entered into the sub lect
 q s'pose you all think man with rnife would have mighty small .,ance against man with gun sad I q dead shot at that-in regular asced-off. .go-at-the-signal encounter, iont you!
 rhere was unanimous chorus of ..sont and the "Colonel' shook his -sav head in knowing sort of way and smiled faintly.
 q thought so, too, until one day ,sw years back, down in the Pecos ,.ley section, where I saw one of ,ho oddest duels reckon was ever so,obt It was between Bob Ander sor and a Mexican known only to us as savior We never bothered much r,tb the last names of greasers in those punching days. Bob and savior never got along any too well
 come trouble over Mexican girl, helieye-but they never came to an oneu rupture, partly, believe, because pob always packed a gun. Whats r,ore he knew how to use that same gun.
 savior had no use for gun. His weapon was a long-bladed knife with heavy handle. It was homemade affair and Savior set heap by it, and how Savior could juggle that knife! He handled it Mexican fashion, of course, the hilt down almost to his finger tips, the blade passing over his wrist The first and little fingers holding the weapon steady, Savior could throw the knife with peculiar Jerk of the forearm and send the point true to the mark every time.
 we were rounding up one day near Toyah when the quarrel between the nair broke out with fresh violence. Ii ended with Bob knocking Savior down. then stepping back and draw ing his gun, ready for the attack he expected; but Savior made no such move. He got up, his lips white and his black eyes blazing. We'll, there was some lively exchange of talk for a few minutes. Savior calling Bob coward for striking an ''unarmed" man. and Bob offering to settle with fists if Savior would drop his knife, agreeing. in turn, to discard his gun But Savior was physically no match for Bob, and he knew 1t. You fight me?' he asked eagerly. You fight me-my knife against your gun? You give me chance to get even? You stand off and shoot--I throw knife yes. you one brave man. You do it, I know and Savior shook with min gled rage and eagerness to meet the man he hated, on what seemed to be equal grounds.
 sft didn't seem quite fair for the greaser--leastways as we figured It. but he was keen for a fight and Bob was fairly begging for chance to do up his enemy. The boss of the outfit, who had kept from mixing up in the matter, now took hand in the game. He said it was only question of time before one or the other man would be killed and the sooner it was over the better.
 Savior dictated the terms of the duel We didn't care much what he asked for because we figured it was a dead open and shut case that he would have bullet in him before he had time to throw h.s knife. Savior stipu- lated that he and Bob were to stand side by side; that Bob should step forward ten paces. gun in hand, but held muzzle down. at arms length. At the end of the ten paces he was to turn and fire, the instant his foot. marking the end of the tenth pace, touched the ground.
 "As Bob stepped out, Savior crouehed down. holding his knife in position to throw. There could be no mistake about the counting. Every time Bob's foot hit the ground chorus of voices called out the mum Der. As his heel touched for the tenth time he raised his gun above his head and whirled about-just in time to catch the blade of the Mexi- cans knife in his throat It was all done so quickly that we scarcely knew what had happened until we say Bob pitch forward on his face and lie still, his undiseharged gun rolling in the grass beside him. After we got our senses a bit, we realized the whole thing. The greaser had watched like cat and the instant Bob's heel hit The turf for the tenth time, he let ny with the knife. It had only a distance of about 25 feet to travel and at went that distance while Bob was raising his gun and swinging around. little reflection showed us that as matter of fact, Savior had a de- cided advantage We didn't say much aoout 1t as we had all been uncon- scious parties to it. but the boss inti mated to Savior that he had better not remain with the outfit any longer 'han he could help and when he went, 10 go far. far away. And Savior did :