Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1845-11-29
THE FAST DUEL, OR THE MAN
WHO FIRED TOO QUICK.

--
Some time in the fall Of 80 or 40, the
French In Belle Pouie, then cruising in the
American seas under the command Of the
Prime de JolNvILLE, either for the purpose Of
v~ictuaIin and watering, or giving her officers
and men a short respite from their duties,
dropped her anchor in the beautiful harbor
of Pensacoly. The usual courtesies having
been observed on the part Of the American
men-of-war, towards the friendly stranger,
there commenced n series Of balls and f6tes in
honor of her arrival, and intoken Of her vel
come, which were duly reciprocated by the
gallant FrcnChmin. AT one Of these ft6Gr,
given on board La Belle PouIe, there wac,
amongst many other guests from the city, a
Mrs. ROBINS, a Wonan we'll calculated, from
the elegance OF her person and beauty of her
manners, +. take captive The heart Of a sus.
ceptib1e Fle1chlnan. Aud so it proved-for
the evening was not half spent before Lieu
tenant SoULoN, first officer Of the ship, was
mixing most desperate love to the aforesaid
Mrs. R , who seemed to receive his advances
with inconsiderablc pleasure. From that
time, lieutenant y Julon was the constant Wis
ltor Of Mrs. Robbins, and so devoted was his
attentions, that finally the jealousy Of Mr..
Robbins was aroused, and upon taking bis
wife to task upon The subject, received such
answers to entirely confirm hIm IN bic suspi-
cions. Being determined to discover If there
were any reasons for his alarm, he feigDed ur-
gent and pressing business in New Orleans,
and infofmed his wife that he would probably
be detained from home week. On the
night Of his pretended departure, he returned
10 his house, and, walking to the window
of his wife's room, discovered Lieutenant Sou
ter on his knees before Mrs. Robbins, holding
her hand, and gesticulating with all the We
hemence of an impassloned lover. Restri ! ing
his Indignation, ha walked INTO the r0oln, and
coolly ordered the abashed Lieutenant to
leave tho house, informing him that he should
hear from him in the morning.
On the following morning Maj, RUSH, the
friend Of Robbins, waited on Lieut.. Soulon
with a challenge. It was accepted, and they
were to meet on the same evening, with dou-
ble-barrelled guns at twenty PAGES. Acccr-
dinghy, at the appointed time, they were on
the ground which had been selected. Mr..
Robbins, with his second, Maj. Rush, and
Lieut.. Soulon, with his friend Mr.. BELLoE, to.
gether with four midshiptnen, aud the sur
geon Of the ship. The ground having been
measured, end the parties placed, they were
informed that they were TO fire between the
words one and 4tree'' and that # either par
ty fired before the word 'dne," or after the
word ''three," that the second Of the opposite
party was to shoot down the man 80 firing, Oh
the spot.
Everything having been arranged, Major
Rush (who won the word) asked if they
were ready I and being answered in the affir-
native, gave the word "fiFe !" No sooner
had he said il, and before he could say "One,"
off went both barrels of Robbins gun, and
down dropped Lieut.. Soul0n. Robbins, as
soon as the Lieut.. fell, recollecting" the terms
of the combat and the penalty attached to
shooting before or after the word, dropped his
gun and broke. No sooner had he started,
than every man ON the field, his second
included, took after him, and after running
some hundred yards, caught him, and brought
him back TO the ground.
On being brought back, he protested most
vehementIy against being shot, declaring that
it was altogether an accident that his gun had
gone of, and that moreover he never had
agreed himself to the terms Of the fight. his
Drotestations, however, would not do ; the in
dignant Frenchman swore they would have
his blood-thai justice to their fallen comrade
demanded it at their hands-that he had for
feited his life, and the penalty must be paid.
In accordance with this resolution they placed
Robbins with his back 10 a pine tree, telling
him that they would "step' twenty PAGES.
wheel ndfire. They stepped offthe twenty pa
ces, and wheel to fire, but as they wheeled
Robbins turned the pine and broke again, the
Frenchmen putting after him. This time the
- s.a-z Jonr,rk1 Oahhiva vraa- pEru
ming for his life, and terror lent swiftness to
his feet-but it would not do-they caught
him a second time, and returned with him.
By this time Major Rush, becoming indig
nant at the apparent cowardice of his friend,
told The frenchman that if his principal was
not bold enough TO stand up to bis agreement
and be shot, that he would take his place.
To this Robbins objected, and said that no
man should die for him /; that if any body had
to die he would die himself. He also intima-
ted to Major Rush, that if he cast any more in
situations in regard to his courage be would
knock him down Maj. Rush told him he
had acted like a ID coward, and sure
enough Robbins jumped at him, and was Dig
ging into him tremendously, when Lieut.. Sou
Ion, having recovered from the swoon into
which the reportof Robbins gun had thrown
him, and who had not been touched, arose to
his feet, and taking in the whole matter at a
single glance, took to his heels as hard as he
could put it down, feeling particularly anxious
about that time to be ON board La Belle
Poule.
But fate did not favor him for Robbins
was in the act of getting off Maj. Rush, who
had just haIlooed, when he laid his eyes on
the retreating Lieutenant. Selling a gun
which was lying on the ground, he started az
ter him, a little of the fastest, followed by
Maj. Rush and all the Frenchmen. When
getting within about seventy yards Of the
Lieut., and concluding this was a good time
to "bring'' him, drew a ''bead,' and sure en-
ough ''brought I" On getting up to him. they
found that IN the la I fire Robbins had lodged
ten "ghistlers'' 10 the frenchnan's legs, who
having received sone Iusty kicks from ROB