Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1853-11-03
The Three Melon Seeds.


been fiction, but which was very nat
urally told, and made deep impression
upon me then. Twill endeavor to draw
it forth from the locker of my memory
and engage beforehand to be very much
indebted to any one who will indicate its
original source.
Three young gentlemen, who had fin
ished the most substantial part of their
repast, were lingering over their fruit
and wine, at an eating-house in London,
when man of middle age and middle
stature entered the public room, where
they were sitting, seated himself at one
end of small unoccupied table, and,
calling the waiter, ordered a simple
mutton chop and glass of ale. His
appearance, at first view, was not likely
to arrest the attention OF any one. His
hair was getting to be thin and gray
the expression of his countenance was
sedate, with slight touch, perhaps, of
melancholy; and he wore gray sur
tout, with a standing collar, which, man.
ifestly, had seen service, if the wearer
had not-just such thing as an officer
would bestow upon his serving man.
He might be taken; plausibly enough,
for a country magistrate or an attorney
of limited practice or schoolmaster.
He continued to masticate his chop,
and sip his ale in silence, without lifting
his eyes from the table, until a melon
seed, sportively snapped from the thumb
and finger of one of the gentlemen at
the opposite table, struck him upon his
right ear. His eye was instantly upon
the aggressor, and his ready intelligence
gathered, from the i'll suppressed merri
ment of the party, that this petty i'm
pertinence was intentional.
The stranger stopped, and picked up
the melon seed, and scarcely per-
ceptible smile passed over his features,
as he carefully wrapped up the seed, in
piece of paper, and placed it in his
pocket. This singular procedure, with
their preconceived impressions of their
customer, somewhat elevated as they
were by the wine they had partaken,
capsized their gravity entirely, and
burst of irresistible laughter proceeded
from the group.
Unmoved BY this rudeness, the stran-
ger continued to finish his frugal repast
in quiet, until another melon seed, from
the same hand, struck him upon the
right elbow. This also, TO the infinite
amusement of the other party, he picked
from the floor, and carefully deposited
with the first
Amidst shouts of laughter, a third
melon seed was soon after discharged,
which hit him in the left breast. This
also he very deliberately took from the
floor, and deposited with the other two.
As he arose, and was engaged in pay
ing for his repast. the gaiety of these
sporting gentlemen became slightly sub
dued. 1t was not easy to account for
this. Lavater would not have been able
to detect the slightest evidence of irri-
tation or resentment upon the features
of the stranger. He seemed little
taller, to be sure, and the carriage of
his head might have appeared to them
rather more erect. He walked to the
table at which they were sitting, and
with that air of dignifed calmness,
which is thousand times more terrible
than wrath, drew a card from his pocket
and presented it with perfect civility to
the offender, who could do no less than
offer his own in return. While the
stranger unclosed his surtout to take
the card from his pocket, they had
glance at the undress coat of a military
man. The card disclosed his rank, and
a brief inquiry at the bar was sufficient
for the rest. He was captain whom
ill-health and long service had entitled
to half-pay. In earlier life he had been
engaged in several affairs of honor, and,
in the dialect of the fancy, was dead
shot.
The next morning a note arrived at
the aggressor's residence, containing
challenge, in form, and one only of the
melon seeds. The truth then flashed
before the challenged party-it was the
intention to make three
bites at this cherry-three separate af-
fairs out of this unwarrantable frolicl-l
The challenge was accepted, and the
party, in Difference to the
challenger's reputed skill with the pistol,
had half decided upon the small sword;
but his friends, who were on the alert,
soon discovered that the captain, who
had risen by his merit, had, in the ear
lier days of his necessity, gained his
bread as an accomplished instructor in
the use of that very weapon.
They met and fred alternately, by lot
the young man had selected this
mode. thinking he might win the first
6re-he did-fred, and missed his op-
ponent. The captain leyelled his pistol
and fred-the ball passed through the
flap of the right ear, and grazed the
bone; and, as the wounded man inyol-
unfairly put his hand to the place, he
remembered that it was on the right ear
of his antagonist that the melon seed
had fallen. Here ended the first les
son. A month had passed. His friends
cherished the hope that he would hear
nothing more from the captain, when
another note-a challenge of course
and another of those accursed melon
seeds arrived, with the captains apollo
gy, on the score of al-health, for not
sending it before.
Again they met-fred Simultaneous |