True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young. Page: 73

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HOUSTON AND HOUSTONIANS 73
t'ude on her premises because of the fun it afforded her In
running them off. She looked like a fiend when she had Dick
Fuller hooked up that time, but I am willing to bet she enjoyed
a good laugh all to herself when she began untangling the seat
of his pants from the nails at the end of her pole. She made
It a point never to recognize a boy on the street or to take the
slightest notice that he was on the face of the earth; but let
him crawl over her fence and all that was changed and he found
himself the center of the most ardent and heartfelt attention.
There was no ignoring him then.
FRANK LA MOTT'S STORY.
ES," said Frank La Mott, "I have known some queer
characters in my day, but the queerest I ever ran across
was an old, one-eyed chap that taught school for several
years out west of San Antonio. If I did not know Canon Doyle
never heard of the man I would be tempted to believe that he
had him in mind when he created Sir Niegel. This old fellow
was on the warpath all the time and spent his leisure moments
reading about chivalry, knights errant and all that sort of foolishness.
"The old chap had only one eye, and the way he lost the
missing one was in keeping with everything he did. He belonged
to a cavalry regiment that served on the other side of
the river during the war, and they say he made one of the
best soldiers in his command. I can't swear that the story is
true in every detail, but I have heard it so often that I am
inclined to believe every word of it. Once his regiment was
camped on one side of a big bend in a river and a Yankee regiment
was camped on the other. As a matter of fact, the two
regiments were on the same side of the river, but there was a
big bend in the river, coming down to a narrow neck that made
them appear to be on opposite sides.
"One day a crazy Yank came down to the bank of the river
and rode his horse up and down, waving his hat and making
signs and signals. No one could make out what he was up to
until finally our old chap solved the mystery.
"'That chap is making a def,' he said. 'He wants to run a
tilt for the advancement of his lady love. Don't you see he
holds up one hand and then points up the river? He wants a
private war, and I'm going to give it to him. I ain't got no
lady, but I will stop his advancing his.' So saying he saddled
up his horse, buckled on his six-shooter and motioning to the
Yank to come ahead, he rode off to the big bend in the river.
"The Yank must have been out for what the old man said,
for as s6on as he saw him start he put spurs to his horse and
aimed for the bend, too. They commenced shooting as soon
as they got in range and about the second shot the Yank's
bullet knocked the old chap's eye out. That made him so mad
that he charged down on the Yank, yelling like an Indian and

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Young, Samuel Oliver. True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young., book, 1913; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24646/m1/73/ocr/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

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