The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1911-06-15
WHERE iE
LEARNED IT
By LOUISE B. CUMMINGS
Copyright by American Pres. Asso-
citation, 1911. IA
& This is a. story Of kentucky nearly

One day q young man dressed not
in'tthe buckskin or llnseyt woolsey of
the times. ;, but in a.. costume that
:smacked rather Of Europe than Amer.
lea, alighted from the coach at tav.
ernsand called for supper and Il room.
It was at the end of the stage route,
and the young man was obliged to
proceed to his home farther south on
horseback. This was the reason! for
his remaining overnight. There was
not much amusement to be found in
such a place, and aft :. supper, hear.
ing the. strains of violin in saloon
across the way. he concluded to walk
over and see what was going on. At
one end of the room was bar. and
at the other was the fiddler. who, sit.
ting on Il. platform Of boards set ON
barrels, was playing 1.-THE Arkansaw
Traveller" There was a story con-
nected with the music, which the i'd
dler told. every now and again stop
ping to go on with the tune. At ta-
bles scattered here and there were
men. most of them in hunting cos
tunes, playing cards. =
At the entrance Of q young man in
civilized dress every one looked up.
The newcomer. being embarrassed.
was about to retreat when one of the
card players called out:- r.!
"Don't so. younker. Yo're the pur.
test. thing we've ever seen in these
parts. Let's have a look at them
Clothes, .,... ... -....-...m.,
"Those Clothes" said the stranger,
'came from long way of. AS soon
as get settled at home Ill probably
go in for the costume of the country"
"Whar did 20 come from, anyway?'
eve been to Germany" :
Germany" exclaimed every one in
the room. They had never before
heard Of any one who talked pure
American coming from across the At
lantic.
. "what war yo' dom thar" asked
one. 49, .
studying"
'Did you 60 from hyar?"
eyes. My father lives in the blue
grass region. My name is Morgan"
"All right, sonny. II 20 hail from
old Kaintuck yo're all right, no mat
ter what kind of a rig yo' got on. My
names speers. Step up and have
somep'n."
Il don't drink anything except beer.
I reckon can't get that here"
"Beer! No. We don't drink nothin'
but pure Kaintuck corn juice down
hyar. Step up and have some O. that"
'Thank you; don't drink whisky"
"Don't know how. eh? Well. well
teach yo'."
"You can't teach me. for I won't
learn"
The speaker reached down between
his shoulder blades and drew forth a
bowie knife a foot long and began to
poke the young man with Its point to-
ward the bar. Several Of the others
protested that the young man should
not be forced to drink what he didn't
wish to drink. Others maintained that
IL there was to be fight he should be
furnished with arms to defend himself.
SIS 1t drink or fight?" asked the man
with the knife.
1T isn't drink" said the other reso-
lutely. .... ...
.'Well. then. it's nght. What weapons
do you like?"
''I'd as soon have knife like the one
you're fourishing as anything. But I
don't wish to fight. I'd much prefer to
60 over to the tavern and let you drink
all the whisky you like" .l6
. '..Give him bowiey' cried bis enemy.
"A. man in the crowd handed Morgan
{, knife Of, the exact length Of that, Of
his antagonist, and be had no, sooner
got bis fingers about sits handle than
bis enemy made dash for him with
hls knife raised high - the air. The
youngster caught 1t on, his oMn; knife.
making q, cash, I'm nhig enemy,s, hand
from which dripped the red blood.
speers unlocked his knife, and made an
under pass. Again the. weapon, was
ceught,oand a. fresh stream ran from
its owners hand Then. followed a
series Of passes by espeers, Morgan
solely on the defensive. A
dozen times he could have, punctured
his enemy, In any part Of the body he
chose, but he refrained. ".e:sa1e,, eaa
The interest in the fight among the
onlookers was intense. The skill of
Morgan won a number to his side.. who
kept calling, SHOWS yo' chance. young
un!" "Let drive!" Finish him" But
Morgan contented himself with block
ing his enemy's thrusts. Finally Nor
gan called to the crowd:
"Do you think this has gone on long
enough?' a.7 s
eyes. Finish It up:"7
"All right" -aa - =. ~
Every one expected to see him plunge
bis knife into speers'abody, but instead
Of that he wedged his so IN blade in
between Speers' fingers and the hilt
Of his knife, gave his own bowie a
ding, and SpeersH weapon went up to
the ceiling and, falling, stoodup in the
0oor on tts point - Gs4sg t,g9ag.-