Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1915-06-24
Colonel Bunker
By NJ. QUAD
Copyright, 1915, by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.
By M. QUAD

mel Bunker as he sat looking out of the
window was just thinking Of an
incident in my early career as a duel
list. In fact, sub, when this thing came
On the field of honoh. In the southern
town where | first hung out my shin
gle as q lawyer were dozen gay
bucks of young men, and was one of
them
1--WE were sports, sub. We rode, we
gambled, and we staggered. We talk
ed about our honoh, and we took no
advice from our elders
1T was wonder we kept clear of
the duellO among our own selves, for
we were hotheads. But destiny had
something laid up for US, and at the
proper time we learned what it was.
When a dapper little man dropped into
the town one day and gave his name
as Professor Mayne and explained that
he was something of naturalist we
had no idea that his coat covered des-
tiny.
cit was about a week after the pro-
fessor's arrival, and none of us young
blades had made his acquaintance yet
when six Of us sat on the tavern veran-
da Of a summers evening arranging a
fox hunt, when the stranger appeared
among us, and, looking directly at me,
he asked:
"'May / have the honoh of asking
your name|
81 gave it as Bunker, of cO'se.
Bunker? Bunker? he repeated.
Did you evan spell it with an H?'
"'Suh! Sub! What do you mean?
"'Was the name originally Junkerv
"Egad, sub, the man was deliberately
insulting me!
81 always thought 1 carried things
off very we'll for first time. l raised
my hat handed him my card and turn
ed away. He received it with a bow
and also turned.
'There you were, Suh-there you
were. A duel for sunrise was arranged
for within an hour, and [ was a hero
could a professor of natural his
tory handle a rapier like a young buck
who was always at it?
mo, of co'se not, and I should play
with him. Should / kill or only wound
him? That question could wait and
be settled after the blades had crossed
I The most / had to fear, as my friends
told me and as 1 firmly believed my
self, was that the professor would Ell
ther send an abject apology or sneak
away during the night. He did nei-
Their, however.
eve talked the matter over, and all
the bucks thought I ought to run the
professor through the heart, and thus
at once establish my reputation, but
decided that a wound that would lay
him up about six weeks would do.
"It was only when the word had been
given and our blades had crossed that
l found out l had caught a tartar.
Why, sub, the professor made me look
like Is cents! He disarmed me twice
in ten minutes. He could have killed
me during the next five, but he stayed
his hand.
"At length, after humiliating me for
ed me in the shoulder and was out of
it. l wept bitter tears as the surgeon
dressed my wound. The young bucks
didn't know what to make of it, but
agreed that they must find excuse to
challenge the professor until some one
had landed him.
"Egad, sub, they didn't have to go
hr1n 20 II
them along and laid them at the feet
of those who waited. He stopped Dick
Bascomb on the street and politely said
to him:
"'Suh, nature has made mistake in
your case
"'What do you mean, subj asked
Dick.
"That your nose is screwed on
crooked
"'Suh, you must answer Tor this in
sultr
"'Yours to command
"A second duel, you see. sub. and
with the same weapons I wasn't
there to see, but they told rue that he
made a bigger monkey of Dick Bas-
comb than he did of me. When he
had made. a show of him loQg enough
he gave him the point in the same
shoulder he had me and wa liked away
whistling.
1--WE had a sensation in that town
now and for fifty miles beyond it. The
| professor had made two victims and
was liable to make others, but there
wasn't much feeling against him nor
much sympathy for those who had felt
his steel.
"Joe Beaumont was to be his third.
It was rapiers again. rode to the
grounds to see the duel Joe went at
it from the first like butcher with a
long knife and was disarmed every
other minute. He got so mad that he
cried like boy.
"It was the same old wounded