The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-08-26

Qay hun3or. and the corks fleN, the
Wine-giassee were filled and eunff3e0
lmore rapidly every momept, and veal
wished the departing one good luck ep
his Journey. He took . friendly leave
of each of his guests, and as Iovas also
about to nay my respects he detained
1 me-. = Beg you to stay, few mo-
ments. I have something to say to
Iyou alone.n e -
1 remained. We sat down in deep
Ibouques. L6yfvi0isi gaiety had disAp-
! peGed, his fsce was desfhly pale, but
his eyes glowed through the cloud OF
he continued for few minutes, when
hs Ut last broke the silence, which was
becomfnG painful, and disagreeable.
BetYeen ~ an explana ton y nee
essary,n he beganip a.hoerse, fdterin&
1 voiCe; 9 for the opinion, of the restII
care very little, but I like you, and I
DO not wish to depart leaving yon un-51
der false jNpge y Y8q p. We're Ger.
tainly Nlrpfl8ed Gat 4 ID otcall that
WaGGeEef tog l1s nat 1snes
And wasnOt t6at also the reason Why
you.withdrew from me? You will OBJ
serve Captain, could easily justify my.
conduct on the ground. Of magnaninas
! ity, but / never He4 Had L been in a
position togmeet him without any risk
en- my part, had my life been exposed
to no danger, i certainly should not
have presented him with his. 80 :
Fairly shocked by such cynical can
dor, / star04 St1iim. I had certainly
not expected such an ayowal from
him.
"You looked astonished,n - he contin-
ued, "but was forced to act so. Thad
ago | [ TscsiSsd a blow dn she face, and
he who gave it is still living"
My astOnishment. increased.
"And did you not fight after such an
insultT, earnestly asked. "Does an
insuperable obstacle keep you from
"Oh?5 fought, him and here is The
proof" He took from a box an old
huzzar cap, which was perforated just
above where the forehead would be
when it was on. "Attend. I belong
to the Cars own regiment, in which
was always accustomed to be first; and
as then it was the fashion to buster and
bully, was the greatest i'm the regi-
ment. Hard drinking was considered
glorious, and | vanquished the mad
DOlgOurcky, who was; noted for his ca
pacity. Duels took place every day in
our regiment, and 4 was concerned in
all of them, either as principal or sec
ond, so that my comrades esteemed me
highly, but our Colonel regarded me as
an unmitigated 'evl to the regiment.
1 was already proudly reposipg on
these laurels, when q young Count was
transferred to our corps. / have never
seen a man more favored by fortune
Yogthf intelligence and beauty, were,
united in him, With great wealth. You
can imagine what a position he soon
gained in our circle, / felt that my
throne was beginning to totter. The
Count soon heard my name mentioned
everywhere ifthe talk was off wild,
mad -sdyenture, twas ! who had led
acquaintance, he sought my friendship;
but l jealous of my presumed rival, in
the chaIacteH 0f 2 hon, coldly rebelled
him. He took the repulse in good hui
NOR, but, I, 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.
/ sought to fix quarrel on him, but he
remained calm, answering my attacks
with still wittier bon naOts, and laughed
me down, and, what was worst of all,
he had all the laughers on his side.
At last at a ball, which a nobleman in
in our heighborhOod gave to our garri-
son, 1 could not restrain my hatred no
longer saw him there again, the
petted darling of all the ladies, and es-
pecially Of the lady Of the house, with
whom considered myself tt e favorite.
I could stand it no longer, and during
a quadrille i whispered brutal insult
in his ear. This, Indeed, ne could not
answer with witticism, and-he struck
me in the face. Several ladies tainted
with terror, they separated us, and we
both left the ballroom.
20 stood at sunrise at the rendezvous
waiting with impatience my detested
enemy. He came lettering along with
his seconds, his sabre dangling from
his shoulder, and carelessly eating cher
ries. The seconds loaded the weapons,
and stepped off the distance. / had
the first shot, but my heart beat so vio-
lsntly that l felt no longer certain of
my aim. Isaid would forego my adj
vantage, and, as my Antagonist did not
oppose it, lots were drawn and fortune
declared for him. He took a short aim |
and his ball perforated my cap here. |
Now it was my turn. / eagerly scan-
ned his face; with a hope of seeing
symptoms of .fear-in vain! He con-
tinued quietly eating his cherries, and |
shooting the stones toward me. This |
self possession embittered me the more. |
What is the use of killing a man, / |
thought, who cares so little about life ? |
A wicked thought struck me. 1 low |
cred my pistol and cried: / fear,
Count, that you are not prepared to
meet your God; as you relish your
breakfast so wonderfully, will wait |
till you have finished ->-5'it
"'Oh, you do not disturb me in tie
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 to ne.f HEE
"'Dfd You hear that p said, turning
to the seconds. lift is Indifferent to |
this gentleman whether / fire sooner or |
later, then / will not shoot to-day
The meeting was over. / resigned |
from the regiment and came to this
place. But every day have thought |
of fmycrevenge; to-day it has come"
He drew a letter from his pocket,
which he had received in the morning. |
"I am Informed that certain person
has lately married young and beauti-
full woman, with whom he Is madly in |
love. You suspect whom the person is? |
This very day / will 60 to him, and |
will convince myself whether he, can
look death so smilingly in the face as
when he ate the cherries"
With these words, he sprang up and
paced the room with hurried steps, like
a tiger i'm his cage. The servant an
that all was ready. Sylvio
pressed my hand and sprang into the
carriage, which contained but two
pieces OF baggage, his portmanteau and
pistolcase. He drove off at full speed.
Years passed by. heard no more of
SylvlO, and bad nearly forgotten him.
l had long quilted the service, which
brought me no laurels or promotion,
and was living on my small estate i'm
the Northwestern department. Al
though I attended to my own affairs,
which consumed a good deal of my
time, / still had many idle hours, when
/ missed the intercourse of my former
life. But what was most difficult to ac-
custom myself to, was the loneliness of
the long winter nights. Up to dinner
time killed the day tolerably well 1
went over the fields, talked with my
baiiifis, Inspected the new buildings,
etc.; but when the sun went down, / |
did not know what to do with myself.
the few books which 1 had found in
The chests and cupboardS had been