TOO MUCH FOR HIM.

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 31, 27 October 1894, Page 7

TOO MUCH FOR HIM.

Some four years before the War of Independence, Putnam offended a haughty regular officer (who looked upon the provincials with contempt), by asserting that the latter were as courageous as the former. The dispute ran high, and at length the scarlet - coated lieutenant ashed scornfully : ‘ Dare you fight a duel with me P £ Yes, at any moment,’ answered the provincial major. ‘ Then I challenge you,’ said the lieutenant ; ‘ choose your weapons.’ 4 Two kegs of gunpowder —one for you and one for me —are the wmapons I chcose,’ said Putnam ; ‘ the time to-morrow morning at sunrise, the distance ten paces. The method, you to sit on one keg and I on the other, and a slow fuse attached to each to be lighted ; and the one who sits longest shall be declared the victor.’ The lieutenant was annoyed, but was compelled to accept the strange conditions. Putnam, was to furnish the kegs of powder and the fuses, and, at the appointed time the next morning, they were at the designated places. The combatants seated themselves, and the fire was applied to the fuses. As it went flashing along, the lieutenant became uneasy, and turned pale, while_the ihhjor sat comp,og^ u an d srnxTrugTn the presence of threatened danger. As the fire drew near the kegs, the lieutenant’s courage failed him, and he arose and fled, while his antagonist, unappalled, remained seated until the fuse was exhausted. The kegs were filled with onions. The lieutenant almost died of chagrin. —Argonaut.