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Show Page 9 "Dough" To the surprise of no one and the delight of everybody, the two papers blasted each other until the inevitable happened. Laird, tiring of the broadsides, wrote an editorial blaming certain staff members for the misguided editorial that started the whole thing. Twain, sensing Laird was now weak and vulnerable, wrote a final editorial rejecting Laird's explanation and suggested that it might be cowardice on Laird's part to pass off the blame. He then challenged Laird to a duel to settle the issue. Twain was not the first man to ever confuse a 'what's the difference' attitude with weakness and he won't be the last. Laird was trying to Let the issue die semi-gracefully, but Twain just had to get in the Last word; and he left Laird only one exit - and the last word for sure. Laird foxed him! To Twain's complete horror, Laird accepted the challenge and named pistols as the weapons. Everybody knew that Twain couldn't hit the side of a barn if he were inside it. Everybody knew that Laird was an expert pistol shot. The two men chose seconds and a date was set for May 12, 1864. Twain was fortunate in only one respect. Steve GiLLis |