Year: 1869

consequence De upon your own
head. Put it down, / say" and
the hand of the speaker slowly
and deliberately raised arevolver.
/ 1t was a very anxious moment
for the lookers-on. One of the CON-
batants was a brawny rufian upon
whose face was stamped all the
evil passions of the human race.
Black haired, black bearded,
black eyed and strong enough
was he to have felled an OK with
a single blow Of his fist. The
other was pale, slender, intellect
ual looking young man, boy al
most, with light curls and COM
plexion and blue eyes.


The scene was in the little
town of Washington, on the Bra
zos river in Texas, and the time
midnight.


"Do you know who yer talking
to, boy?' was the coarse and uned-
ucated answer of Luke Benton,
than whom no gambler in the
vicinity was more detested and
feared.


A man to whom land not with
out reason) was imputed every
crime-even that of murder; who
was an unfailing shot with the
pistol and rife and unmatched in
skill with that strictly border
weapon-the bowie knife. A
short residence in that locality
had given him a reputation as a
duelist, for the long grass covered
the forms of two who had fallen
by his hand. Where he came
from no one knew, and he was
particularly reticent above his
former life. Still it was whispered
behind his back, for no one was
foolhardy enough to say it to his
tace-that he was one of the very
few who had escaped from the
terrible justice of "Natchez under
the hill" when the outraged citi-
zens arose in their wrath and took
speedy vengeance In their own
hands. BE that as it might, he
had already earned a name suffi-
GENTLY bad to need no additions,
even where the great majority
of crimes were looked upon light
ly--making Texas in its infancy
the paradise of scoundrels. On
the other hand, his boy antag-
onist was even less known. 1t
was but two days since his arri,
val, and he had come on horse
back and alone. OF his business
he had nothing to say, but his
suave manner, and quiet, gentle
manly department had already
made him friends among the bet
ter portion of the sparse popula-
ton.


Very much to their surprise,
therefore, was it that they had
seen him enter into o contest at
cards with the professional game
ster Benton, confident that he
would either be cheated or bullied
out of his money, in case he was
successful, which was almost be-
yond the range of possibility.


But for two hours the game
had been progressing, the gam
bier getting more apgry at every
deal, and the youth keeping per-
fectly cool and breathing taunt-
ing words, as if his object was still
further to provoke him. If it
was hls purpose to do SO, he was
more than successful, for Benton
had suddenly sprung to his feet
and drawn his heavy knife, with
oaths upon his lips and murder
flashing from his eyes.


"Put down that knife" again
repeated the young man, Mark
Whiteman, as he had given all to
understand his name. "Put it
down. No one but a coward and
a cheat would attempt to use such
fatal arguments in a simple game
of chance"


GER coward |" thundered
Benton with all his wrath aroused.
4By heaven, I'll make yer eat yer
words"


"For fear you do not fully un'
derstand, ! will repeat them. !,


eyer dare not| was hlssed
from the more than tightly CON-