Year: 1867

knew that he had as good 3 right to
settle in the country as any man, and
a better right than the loafers who
seemed opposed to him. In the course
of conversation he informed me further.
that brother Of his would soon be on
hand to help him; in fact, he was only
a day or two behind him, and would
doubtless be up tomorrow. was glad
to know that we were to have such good
neighbors. The day following his ar
rival there was to take place shooting
match-the stake was nice colt-any
party might enter in competition by
paying certain sum Of money, which
went into the pocket of Tom Wright,
who furnished the prize, as we'll as the
whiskey that was consumed on the &C.
casion.


Some curiosity was created among
the crowd that congregated about the
tavern, when it was known that the
new conner, whose name was Ned AL
may, was to be one of the contestants.
The afternoon of the contest was very
pleasant one, and the parties contend
ing for the prize were ten in number,
among them Ned Almay and the man
Sam Slade, who, with Tom Wright
who had reserved a share to himself
were counted the best shots in the dis
trict where they were located.


The target was of the ordinary kind,
a board, with ''bull's eye" very small,
and driven into the ground at distance
of six hundred yards. Tom Wright
opened the ball, making very good
shot, but not hitting the bulls eye in
the centre. He was followed by others
of the shooting party who all made shots
more or less good, until the turn of Sam
Slade, whose bullet, with unerring ac-
curacy, went directly through the cen
tire of the target, beating the shot of
Wright, who was thus far counted first.
Ned Almay had not yet made a trial
of his skill, and when he saw the shot
of Sam Slade he raised his brows slight
ly and turning to me, remarked so that
all present could hear him: "Why don't
they put the cabin up for target T?
The BULLS eye is nearly as big-there
amt boy six years old, where l came
from, that couldn't pelt it in the centre
all day long" Sam Slade turned on
him like an angry bull


"Why in hell don't you fire eff We
kin beat it; guess ye got more brag
than shootin' in ye-git ball in the
centre o. that bulls eye, and ye kin
take that hoss."


And he leaned angrily on his gun
and glanced at Ned, who merely smiled,
saying-''I'll put hole through the
hole you made" and throwing the butt
of his rifle to his shoulder, sighted and
discharged it with the rapidity of light.
There was no mark upon the target
save where the hole made by Slade was
slightly enlarged. the edges more rag
ged than before Ned fired his shot,
"That's miss" cried Slade-''it's a
miss; that bullet never went through"
and he actually glared at our hero, who,
leaning on his rife, glanced contempt
uouslY about him.


The target was examined by Judges
who declared it true shot, thereby
making Ned the winner of the prize
1t was very evident to me that Sam
Slade was an angry man; and from my
knowledge of his character, l foretold
trouble and determined to put Almay
on his guard. did speak to him later
in the day. He only laughed, however,
and said-''He's only big brute. l
don't fear him, but | thank you for your
attention and advice and will abide by
it,


With that Ned Almay left me and
went to work to get out logs to build
a shanty which he proposed to put up
on the land he had selected. The fol-
lowing day Ned's brother came down.
| never saw man like him before or
since. In fact he was the most remark
able fellow l ever did see in personnel.
He was much younger than his brother,
and like him man of remarkable beau
ty. He was very feminine in his ap-
pearance, slender, scarcely above me-
dunn size, with face featured in CHS
eled perfection, and long golden curls
dependent upon his shoulders, and fine
and glossy as the glorious threads that
deck the heads of beautiful women.
His delicate face, however. was stamp
ed with signs of manly resolution, and
the sharp, quick flash of his small blue
eye, and the proud poise of his head,
and the firm, fast manliness of his tread
told of power within that slight form
capable of giving exemplifcations of
hrmness and determination that would
startle even ponderous brute like Sam
Slade.


When this young man came down,
slight as he was, he went Immediately
at work with his brother building the
log shanty where, for time, they pro-
posed to live. and exhibited a strength
and perseverance that were truly Won
derful.


In the evening | went up with
friend to the tavern, and there ssw Sam
Slade with n dozen others IN whom he