for your head if that nigger
gets a lick at it," spoke up a young planter who was in the party.

Then I got mad, and exclaimed:

"I'll bet $500 I can make the nigger squeal."

The mate roared out with laughter; but I put up my money, and so
did the young planter, thinking that I would back out. He only
had $175 in his roll, and he offered to bet that.

"All right; I don't back out. I'll butt the nigger for $175."

The money was soon up in the barkeeper's hands; and then the mate
knew that I meant business, and he put up $25 to make bet the even
$200.

At this juncture the mate called a halt. "Wait till I see if the
nigger will butt with a white man;" and rushing down stairs, the
"image of God cut in ebony" was interviewed.

"I doant like for to butt a white man," he said, "for I'm afraid
I'll kill him, and den dey hang de ole nigger."

But the mate said, "I've just put up $25 on you, and I want to win
it."

"All right; if yer means it, boss, I'll go yer."

At the bar I procured a long string and a ribbon from a cigar bunch,
and started down stairs. Instantly the wildest excitement reigned
on the boat. Two of the deck-hands stood guard at the foot of the
stairs to keep the crowd back, and the hurricane roof and boiler
deck were thronged with an eager and excited crowd. Fastening one
end of the string to the jack-staff and the other to the steps at
about the proper height, the ribbon was tied in the centre of the
string, and the black man and myself stood back five feet on either
side, and at a given signal were to come forward and strike at the
ribbon. Then the passengers said it was a shame to let that nasty
nigger butt that nice white man to death; but as there were no
S. P. C. A. officers aboard, the game went on.

The deck-hands all rolled up their eyes and looked at me as they
would at a corpse. Just before the word ready was given, I asked
the nigger if he had any money to put up on the result, and running
his hand down in his watch-pocket he pulled out a ten-dollar bill.
I covered it, and the planter told the nigger he would give him
$10 more if he downed me. I cocked my eye on the nigger's head,
and saw that it was one of those wedge-shaped cocoanuts so peculiar
to people of African descent; so I inwardly resolved to hit him on
one side of his wedge-shaped cranium. The nigger had his face to
the sun, so that I felt confident that I could hit him pretty near
where I wanted to.

The word