The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-30
= - :. 1,vt hrole the silence. which

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I when he at last broke the silence. Whaen
was becoming painiui ana atsaRtceap,e.
lrv." he began. In hoarse, faltcring voice
"for the opinion of the rest ! care very
little. but I like you, and do not wish TO de-
I part leaving YOU under false impression,
You were certainly surprised that orc !,
mot call the sa'apperer to an account is II
mot truep And was not that also the rea-
|! son why Won withdrew from me? You
will observe. Captain, could easily justify
NV conduct on the ground of magnanimitv,
hnt never lie. Had I been in position
70 meet him without any risk on my part.
had my own life been exposed to no dan.
rer, I certainly should not have presented
him with his
| Fairly shocked by such cynical candor, |
| starcd at him. certainly had not expected
| such an avowal from him.
"You look astonished," he continued ;
"hut was forced to act so. had no right
| to expose my life; for six years ago re.
ceived blow in the face, and he who gave
it is still living"
NV establishment increased.
"And did YOU not fight after such an in
suit ?" earnestly asked. "Does IN in
superable obstacle keep you from your enc
"Oh. fought him, and here Is the
proof" He took from the box an cid hlls-
sar cap. which was perforated Just above
on. ATTEND. | belonged to the Cars
own regiment, in which was always ac-
customcd to be first ; and rs then it was
the fashion to buster and bully, 7 was
the greatest in the regiment. Hard
drinking was considered glorious. and l
vanquishcd the mad Dolgourcky. who was
noted for his capacity. Duels took place
every day in our regiment, and I was con-
rerncd in all OF them, either as principal or
second, but our colonel regarded Inc as an
unmitigated evil to the regiment. / was
already reposine proudly on these laurelS,
when young Count was transferred to our
corps. | never saw man more favored by
fortune. Youth, intelligence, and beauty
were united in him, with great wealth.
You can imagine what position he soon
gained in our circle. felt that my throne
was beginning to tottcr. The Count soon
heard my name mentioned everywhere if
the talk was Of Il wild, mad adventure, it
was / who led it ; he became DESTROYS to
make my acquaintance he sought my
friendship; but |, jealous of my personal
rival, in the character Of lion, coldly re-
PEELED him. He took the repulse in good
humor, but /, feeling injured. began to hate
him. This troubled him but little but his
success among my comrades and with the
ladies set me almost wild.
81 sought to fix Il quarrel on him, but he
remained calm, answering my attacks with
still wiltier bon mots, and laughed me
down: and what was worse than all, he
nd all he laughs on his side. AT last, ut
L.. "hich Il nobleman in our neighbour
A bail, w garrison. I could restrain
hood gave to o.: I saw him there
nv hatred no longc,. '" aif the ladies.
again the petted darling on w no,.s. 18th
and especially the lady OF the n""Sei - Il
whom considered myself the faFoIlte. : !,
could stand it no longer. and during quaa-
rifle | whispered brutal Insult In hls ear.
This. indeed, he could not answer Win
,y,tticism. and-hc struck me in tEe lace.
several ladies tainted with terror; they
separated us, and we both left the ball |
room. ,
~ stood at sunrise at the rendezvous
waiting with Impotence my detestcd enc
nv. lie came lettering along with his Sec |
,nds. his sabre dangling from his shoulder, |
and carelessIy eating cherries. The seconds
loaded the weapons and stepped off the
distance. I had the first shot, but my heart
heat 50 violently that / felt no longer GER
tain of my aim. I said that l would foregQ
nv advantage and, as my antagonist dld
not oppose it. lots were drawn, and fortune
declared for him. He took short aim, ana
his ball perforated my cap here, NOW II
was nv turn. | eagerly scanned MS lace
with n hone Of seeing symptoms Of tear-ln
vaini He continued quietly eating his
cherries and shooting the stones towards
me. What is the Use OF killing man.
thought. who cares so little about life: A
wicked thought struck me. l lowered my
ni.tol and cred | fear, Count, that you
are not ready yet to meet your God; as
Won relish voilr breakfast so wonderfully
will wait till you have Finished
"sOh, YOU do not disturb me in the least
Do as YOU please. You have the right to
shoot at me, and you may fire sooner or
later, as YOU please; it is indifferent 10
...D;d YOU hear that ! said. turning to
the seconds. If it * indifferent to the
gentleman whether tire sooner OF later,
then will not shoot to-day.
s.rhe meeting was over. resigned rom
the regiment and came to this place buf
every day have thought of my revenge;
to-day it has come ut last
He drew letter from his pocket, which
evidently hc received in the morning.
81 am informed that certain person
has lately married young and beautiful
woman, with whom he is madly in love.
You suspect who the person is: This very
dav will 20 to him and convince myself
whether he can look death so willingly i'll
the face rs when he ate the Cherries
| With these words, he sprang up and
paced the room with hurried steps, like 4
| tiger in his cage. THE servant announced
| that all was ready. Sylvio pressed my
hand, and sprang to the carriage, which
contained but two pieces Of ba"gagc-hiS
portmantcau and pistol-casc. lie drove of
ut full speed.
Years passed by. l heard no more Of
Svlyio, and had nearly forgotten him. j
| had long quilted the service, which brought
Inc no laurels or promotion, and was living
! ON nv small estate in the Mowhirwischen
department. Although / attended to my
| own affairs, which consumed good deal OF
nv time, / had still many idle hours,
| when | missed the intercourse of my
former life. But what was most diff
| cult to accustom myself to was the
loneliness of The long winter nights.
Up to dinner-time | killed the day
| tolerablv well went oyerthe fields, talked
to nv baillls, inspected the new buildings,
etc: but when the sun went down did not
know what to do with myself. The few
books which had found in the chests and
cupboards had been read through long ago.
I had heard to WEAKNESS the fables and
ehost-stories of my old housekeeper, Kirol-
owa, and the songs Of the peasants made
me sad and so in my moments of despair
| | even resorted to drinking. But that, ILL.,
| fortunately, gave me the headache. and 4
| was also afraid of becoming drunkard-
1 c,ta nf oil 7 had moi orb