A small crowd had gathered around the saloon watching this stranger with the bad attitude. Some were whispering among themselves, speculating as to what this man was up to. All of them, however, were giving him plenty of room to himself, staying well away. Off to one side, several boys were trying to goad each other into saying something to Black. One boy, about twelve years old, said he would do it if the others paid him a nickel each. They agreed so he walked up to Black and said, “Hey mister, are you really the meanest man this side of the Mississippi?” Black looked at the kid and gestured to him to come closer.

“Come here,” he said. The kid stepped forward. Black then lifted up his leg and kicked the kid square in the chest so that he fell backwards, off the porch, and into the muddy street. “Does that answer your question?” he asked. He then chuckled to himself as the crowd stood there in shock.

One man shouted, “Hey, you can’t do that!”

“Who’s going to stop me?” Black shouted back, laughing again. Then a large, muscular man stepped around the crowd.

“Maybe I will. Let’s see if you can pick on someone a little bigger.” The crowd started getting excited at the prospects of a fight.

“Someone had better get the sheriff,” one man said.

More people started gathering around as word of a fight spread. The mean stranger named Black against Joey Mengel. Joey was the strongest man in town because he was the blacksmith. Swinging a hammer all day and forging metal had built the man into an ox. As he moved forward he took off his shirt. He was a hairy man but you could still see the muscles rippling underneath that furry mat. Black stood up and sized up the man before him. He was built like the anvil he used all day, but was probably slow.

Black had faced many men before and he knew what he could do in a fight. He had boxed some while in school and he knew how to take a punch. Even strong men would go down with one punch if they had never been hit before. And Black could hit. His muscles were lean and strong and fast. Plus, his long reach would be an advantage.
Since Black didn’t know this man he really didn’t want to fight him, but this would shore up his image as a troublemaker.

Black slipped off his gun belt and rolled up his sleeves. He stepped down to the street where the crowd had formed a circle. Many had already placed bets on the outcome, and most had bet on Joey.

The two men raised their fists and were slowly circling each other. Black waited until the late afternoon sun was behind him and temporarily blinding his opponent, and then launched out with a straight punch to the blacksmith’s nose. Joey never even saw it coming and the punch hit him so hard that he almost blacked out. But he quickly shook it off and swung a punch of his own. Black easily stepped out of the way and at the same time crossed with his left. The punch hit Joey across the cheek but the man barely moved. “This might be harder than I thought,” Black surmised. Joey was getting madder as they danced around and he couldn’t land any punches, swing after swing met with air as Black dodged each punch. Changing tactics Joey charged at Black like a bull, catching him by surprise. Both men fell to the ground with Joey straddling Black around his waist. The blacksmith smiled as he thought now he would pound some punches into his face. But Black was ready for him; his experience fighting Indians had prepared him with some wrestling moves. As Joey was about to smash a fist into his face like a hammer landing on an anvil, Black swung his leg up and around the front of his neck. Pushing his leg backwards, it took the blacksmith down with it. Black then rolled over and swung his arm down on the man’s chest with a blow that would have broken some ribs on any other man.

Next Black stood up and was about to kick the man when a deafening shot rang out. Everyone froze in place including Jake Black, standing there with his leg back, ready to swing. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw a man standing several feet away, shotgun smoking from the shot he had fired into the air. “That’s enough, you. I’m Sheriff Adam Murphy and you are under arrest”.