ear
to mind it. I had old "Betsy Jane" out and had him covered; then
I said, "Lay away your old pop, and we will go down on deck and
have it out. You are a much larger man than I am, but I will take
a licking from you, if you are man enough to give it to me." We
gave our guns to the barkeeper and started down. I heard some bets
$50 to $25 on the big Arkansas man, so I gave a friend of mine a
roll and told him to take all the odds.

When we got down on deck, the mate made a ring with some barrels,
and said: "No man but the fighters shall get inside the ring."
The big fellow stripped down to his undershirt, and looked like a
young Samson; then the bets ran up $100 to $25. I pulled off my
coat and vest, and stepped inside the ring. We shook hands, and
time was called, the mate acting as referee. He made a lunge; I
dropped my head, and he hit it a terrible blow. Then he got one
in below the belt, and I thought for an instant I would lose my
supper and the fight; but I rallied, and got a good one in on the
side of his neck, which doubled him up like a jackknife; then I
ran in, caught him, and let drive with my head. I struck him
between the eyes, and he fell over as if he had been shot. I took
a seat on one of the barrels, folded my arms, and waited for time
to be called. The mate said: "That will do; this man can't fight
any more." They took him up stairs, and had the barber fix him
up. I was not much the worse for having been in a fight. My friend
handed me all my money, and over $400 besides, that he had taken
in on the result. I treated all hands, and sent some wine, also
the $50 I had won, back to my Arkansas friend. He told the mate
and some of the passengers that he had been in a great many fights,
but that was the first time he was ever whipped. He said he "whipped
himself when he hit my head; but when I gave him that butt, he
thought he had been struck with a bar of iron." He told them they
did not fight that way out where he lived, and he did not think it
was fair. The mate told him everything was fair in a rough-and-
tumble fight. I felt sorry for the big fellow when I saw his face,
for his nose was broken all up. He forgot all about that he was
going to shoot the man that beat him out of his $5,000, for you
see I returned the money that I won from him when I had him caught
again.

MY LITTLE PARTNER.

A man by the name of Dock Chambers was working with me at one time,
and he was like