The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-08-16
4 bcat'ly Hearing.

few weeks wouii be complete without
some c"gn!zancc of the reminiAccnccs
Of the dnclling days wherowilh di.
Ncrs supposedly military gentlemen,
with sMajur" or" "Colonc" to their
names, have recently enriched tho
spare columns Of certain southern and
Western journals. Possibly, the
sordid mel camille or vulgar political
split Of common men in these craven
times has tendency to revive in sol
dicry bosoms a memory Of the not
very distant period when personal
"honor" demanded something else
than money or official prcferment to
nppcaso its wrongs or ward its chiv-
airy or perhaps the cxaspcrating
electrical changes of tho season have
an atmospheric magnetism for thought
or fierce mortal encounter and the
cXtravnganccs of human passion. At
any rate, personal rccollcctions of all
sorts Of southern and western ducls
are in fashion just now with several
branches Of the provincial press, and
the following, which appears without
special accrcdit in several exchanges,
is a fair sample Of the school a
Major Buford, it seems, was ono ,of
the champions Of honor who in inc
palmy days Of "lhc code" enjoyed Ia
proud cmincncc for his accuracy of
aim, and it was his boast that upon
only one occasion in his popular and
useful life had he ever failed to kill
his man on the spot. On 2 certain
day he was explaining to divers choice
spirits, in a hotel, how it was that tho
one exception in his successful prac-
tce had occurred, through defeat
in bullet, when, to hisvast astonish-
mcnt, one Of the gcntlemcnt standing
within hearing suddenly advanced
and slapped him in the face. "Liar -
said the smitcr who was gray-haired
man of peculiar but by no means
trucnlent expression Of countcnancc.
els the provocation sufficient, or
must | repeat the blow :" For m
instant the insuitcd and furious duel
list was inclined to return the SEEM
ingly incxplicablc assault: but re.
covering sclf-control quickly enough
to understand that tho affront meant a
deliberate challenge to mortal combat,
his answer: "You've done more
than enough. Name your fricnd-I
don't care what your namo is--nnd
friend If mine shall confer with him
ut once" Such was tho style in which
tile affairs Of the kind we're reduced
to practical business in those houora
bio days. The aged face .slapper
curtly introduced tho gentleman be.
side whom he had been standing as
the "iriend" required, and with the
understanding that the "fricndly"
conference should tako place in an
hour from thence, insulted and in
sultcr took temporary leave of each
other. At daybrcak on tho morning
following tho inevitable ''meeting''
occurred, in retired place which had
been selected for the purpose, and it
was agreed by tho seconds that the
firing should continue until one or
both tho antagonists had fallen. In.
dignant was tho flush Of Major Bu-
fords's cheek when tho stranger made
it a condition that both himself and
his foe should bo searched before
fighting, to make sure that neither
had adopted any secret protective
device but he submitted with what
grace he could summon, only NUT
tcring to his second "'d Kill him
after this if he werc my own father -
The ground being duly measured, the
men placed, and the question, "Gen-
tlcmen, arc you ready :" asked and
answered, the word was given
"iirc " Noticing that his strange
enemy did not seom to be even
looking at him whilo the dread word
was coming, the major had resolved to
take his time about firing. His de-
liberation was fatal to him for, at
the word, the strangers shot rang out
as though it had been fired by the
very utteranco md Buford, firing
wildly in the air, fell writbing upon
the turf. "Load mo to him." said the
visitor to his own second and then
addressing the majors second-"Is
ne dead (" The stern answer was,
There no lics---you can sec for your.
SELL Struggling to an elbow, tho
wounded ducllist raised himself part
ly from the ground and fixed ghast.
ly stare upon his slayer, who coolly ro-
marked 81 can see nothing, for
am totally blind" Then, while
angony and astonishment kept the
dying man and his second silent, tho
old man continued: "You do not
know me, Buford but have never
forgotten you. My name is Merton.
You persuaded my only daughter
from her home, deceived her with a
sham marriage, and left hor to dio Of
broken heart. My only remaining
child, my son, you gave a meeting to
when he demanded It for his sisters
wrongs, and killed him by your ao-
cursed skill while protecting your
eowardly solf with concealed coat Of