handkerchief--walked slowly and steadily off, in opposite directions,
counting their steps until each had measured fifty. They both completed
the given number about the same instant, and then they wheeled, each to
aim and fire when he chose. As the distance was great, both paused for
some seconds--long enough for the beholders to flash their eyes from one
to the other, and mark the striking contrast betwixt them. The face of
Colonel Morton was calm and smiling; but the smile it bore had a most
murderous meaning. On the contrary, the countenance of Deaf Smith was
stern and passionless as ever. A side view of his features might have
been mistaken for a profile done in cast iron. The one, too, was
dressed in the richest cloth; the other in smoke-tinted leather. But
that made no difference in Texas then; for the heirs of heroic courage
were all considered peers--the class of inferiors embraced none
but cowards.

Presently two rifles exploded with simultaneous roars. Colonel Morton
gave a prodigious bound upward, and dropped to the earth a corpse! Deaf
Smith stood erect, and immediately began to reload his rifle; and then,
having finished his brief task, he hastened away into the
adjacent forest.

Three days afterward, General Houston, accompanied by Deaf Smith and ten
other men, appeared in Austin, and, without further opposition, removed
the state papers.

The history of the hero of the foregoing anecdote was one of the most
extraordinary ever known in the West. He made his advent in Texas at an
early period, and continued to reside there until his death, which
happened some two years ago; but, although he had many warm personal
friends, no one could ever ascertain either the land of his birth, or a