The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-08-02

c young man on one side, ovcrbearing con
: lidcnce in his look, with his youthful
C form, full of grace and supplcnoss; ant
opposite him that long figure, half nakct
for his blue shirt was furlcd up from
. his sincwy arm, and his broad scare,
l breast was entirely bare In the ole
$ man, every sincw was like iron wire; hi
whole weight resting on his left hip, The
long arm-on which, in sailor fashion,
red cross, three lilies, and other mark
, were tattoocd-held out before him, ant
the cunning murdcrous gaze rivctcd OF
his adversary.
: Twill be bnt mcrc scratch" sale
one of the three friends to me. I mad,
no reply, but was convinced beforehand
: that my captain, who was an old practi
tioner. would treat the matter more sc.
) riously Young l., whose pcrfumed
coat was lying near, appeared to me to
be already given over to corruption. He
began the attack, advancing quickly
This confirmed me in my opinion for al
though he might be practicod fenccr in
the SCHOOLS this was proof that he could
not frequently have been engaged IN Sc.
rious combat, or he would not have rush.
ed forward so incautiously against an ad
versary whom he did not as yet know
His opponent profitcd by his ardor, and
retired step by step, and at first only
with an occasional ward and half thrust
Young l., getting hotter and hotter
grew flrrcd while every ward of his
adversary proclaimed, by its force and
exactness, the master of the art Of fence.
AT length the young man made lunge.
the captain parried it with a powerful
movement, and, before L. could re-
cover his position, made thrust in re-.
turn, his whole body falling forward as
he did, exactly like q picture at the Aca
deme des Armes-" the hand elevated.
the leg stretched out"-and his sword
went through his antagonist, for nearly
half its length, just under the shoulder
The captain made an almost impcrcopti.
bic turn with his hand, and in an instant
was en- .sntlc l. felt himself
wounded he let his sword fall, while
with his other hand he pressed his side ::
his eyes grew dim, and lie sank into the
arms of his friends. The captain wiped
his sword carefully, gave it to me. and
dressed himself with the most perfect
oomposure. 81 have the honor to wish
you good-morning, gentlemen bad you
not sung yesterday, you would not have
had TO weep to-day" !" and thus saying.
he went toward his boat. Ills the Sc.
vcntccnth he murmurcd; but this was
easy work--a mere grocnhorn from the
fencing schools Of Paris. Twas very
different thing when | had to do with
the old Bonapartst officers, those bri.
gand5 Of the loire" But is quite i'm
possible to translate into another Ian.
guagc the fierce energy of this speech
Arrived at the port, he threw the boat.
man a few pieces of silver, saying
" Here; Potter: here's something for
you"
"Anothcr requiem and mass for
departed sou a: the church Of St. Gen.
evicye--s it not 50, captain But this
Is matter Of course" And soon after
we reached the dwelling of the captain.
The little negro brought US a cold pas.
ty, oysters and two bottles of rim Nlr. (
t"'s. Such walk betimes gives an APP
petite" said the captain gayly. "IIow
strangely things fall out !" he continued.
IN serioas tone. IL have long wished
to draw the crapevail from before that
picture, for You must know | only deem
myself worthy to do so when have sent
some Jacobin or Bonapartst into the !
osser world, to crave pardon from that
murdered angel and SO I went yester-
day to the coiIec-housc with my old |
friend the abbc. whom knew ever
since he was Gcld.prcachcr to the I
Chouans, in the hope Of finding victim |
for the sacrifice among the readers of /
the liberal journals The confounded |
walters, however, betrayed my intention;
and VIXEN | am there, nobody will ask !
for a radical paper. When you appear
cd, my worthy friend, | at first thought
| had found the right man, and | was
impatient-for had been waiting for
more than three hours for reader of /
the National or Of Figaro How |
glad | am that | at once discovered YOU
to be no friend of such Infamous papers
How grieved should l be, if had had
to do with you instead of with that Young
fellow p For my part, was in no
mood even for selffelictations. At that
time | was reckless young fellow, 60
ing through the convcntionalisms of So
ciety without thought but the event
of the morning had mado even me re-
fleet
DO you think he will dio, captain 2"
asked. Is the wound mortal2"
"For certain " he replied, with
slight smile. IL had a knack-of course
for Jacobins and Bonapartist only
when | thrust en- QWalte, to draw out the
sword by an imperceptible movement of
the hand, en- Hercc, or rice rerSa, accord
Ing to circumstances and thus tho blade
turns in the wound-aRd Mat Kills for
the lung is injured, and modification is
sure to follow"
On returning to my hotol, whcro
l. also was staying, met tho ply I
sieian, who had just visited him lie
gave up all hope, Tho captain spoke
truely, for the slight movement Of the
hand and the turn Of the blade had ac. :
complish their aim, and tho lung was in
lured beyond the power of cure. The i
next morning early, l. died. l
went to the captain, who was returning I
home with the able "The abbo has ,
just been to read mass for him." he ,
said ait is benefit which, on such oc- I
casions, | ar willing be should enjoy- {
more, however, from friendship for him, {
than out of pity for the aecurscd soul of ,
q Jacobin, which in my eyes is worth
loss than a dogs But walk in sir"