The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-08-10
. ,,aoasv ucarang.

NJ errvey NJ the social literature Oh ID
American press for the past few Snsni.
would he complete without SOM sT,,eIi;ng
annn or tho "reminiscences of the dli ta,arS
Saxs wherewith divers supposedly ni,nis
Gentlemen. with " Major or iobcd the
70 ,heir names, have recently en ,hern and
SPARE columns Of csrta,h, she sordid
western Journals. fo,s .:,., shirt of conf
Ic.. 49, l., thssr craven times Hss " . ..as-
hIon .e .1,,a In solder3y bos"i,s .iEi' 'uy
enry W tS verv distant period Wueu pSs
" .u' :. bonor" demanded solhctatnsesso
s eon" ,oney or official prcsermentt 10 appe"se
;,s wrongs or reward It's enWary' oa pei
u.s. Hs The exa.perating electrical changes
maps wv o,snn have an atmospheric mag
VI ;nu for thought Of fierce mortar
nunn,,ntcr and the eXtraNagances OF
bnman passion. AT any rate, personal
rncollections of all sorts Of southern ana
western duels are In fashion just now Win
several branches OF the provincial press.
and the following, which appears "ith3u'
special accredit in several excbanScs' ~
fir sample of the school: a Ma5ol Du
ford. It seems, was one OF the champions Vi
honor who. In the palmy days oil tine
code" enjoyed proud emlnence !ol me
accuracy of aim, and it was his boast that,
anon ONLY one occasion in his popular anu
,,Se(u) life had he ever failed to Kill his nlah
on the sDot. On certain day he was eX
nIajnipg to divers choice spirits, IN note,.
how IL was that the one exception AZ ntT
successful practice had occurred. tnfou.h
a defect in Il bullet, when, TO DIS 'ast usIU,
i>hm.pt, one of the gentlemen staha'nS
within hearing suddenly advanced anu
sltuped him in the lace. Liar saiu tne
smitrr. who was eray-haired man OF pc
cuIiar but by no means truculcDt expires
s On Of cOuntenance.
al. tn. pIoyoci,tiun sufficient, or must
reneut the blow?" For an instant the M
suited and furious duelllst was inclined w
return the seemingly ineXpcable assault,
hrt recovering sell control quickly enough
IN understand that the affront meant &C.
librratc challenge to mortal compat, us |
answer "iou've done more than enough
Name yoIr triend-I don't care what your
name is-a and q friend OF mine snaii cohleI
rr;,n him at once such WAS the style IN
which little affairs Of the kind were reduced
to practical business in those honorable
DAYS. The aged. tace-siapper curly intro,
duccd the gentleman beside whom he had
been standing as the " friend" required,
and with the understanding that the
:. friendly" conference should take place
in an hour from thence, insulted and in
suffer took temporary leave OF each
other. At daybreak on the morning
following the inevitable meeting"
occurred, in retired place which mad
been selected for the purpose, and 1t was
agreed by the seconds that the nring
should continue until one or both the an-
tagonists had fallen. Indignant was the
flush, of Major Buford's cheek when the
stranger made it a condition that both him
self and his foe should be searched before
lighting, to make sure that neither had
adopted any secret protective device but
be submitted with what grace he could
summon, only mutLering to bis second:
"pd kill him after this il he were my own
tatherl" The ground being duly mea-
sured, the men placed, and the question,
.Geptlemen, are you ready ?" asked and
answered, the word was given tire =,
Noticing that his strange enemy did
not seem to he even looking at
him while the dread word was com
ing, the major had resolved to take
his time about firing. His deliberation
was fatal TO him for, at the word, the
strangers shot rang out ~ though IL had
been fired bv the very utterance; ana Blu
ford, firing wildly III the air, fell WrlthIng
upon the turf. "Lcad me to him." SAID
the visitor to his own second and then,
addressing the majors sccond-'' Is he
deadY' The stern answer was. "There
he lcs-you can see for yourself Strug-
Cling to an elbow, the wounded duelist
raised himself partly from the ground and
fixed CHASTITY stare upon his slayer, who
coolly remarked: I" / can see nothing, for l
an totally blind" Then, while angony
and establishment kept the dying man and
his second silent, the old man continued:
"You do not know me, Buford !;
but I have never forgotten you: My
name is Merton. You pursuaded my
ceivcd her with q sham marriage,
and left her to die Of a broken heart. My
only remaining child, my son, yon gave a
meeting to when he demanded il for his Sis
ter's wrongs, and killed hun by your ac-
cursed skill while protecting your cowardly
self with u concealed coat Of mail. Their
moi hcr-nly Witc-was bcrett of her reason
by your dastardly destruction of both our
children, and died in mad.house, Could
have found ou then would have given you
no chance Tor your life but, brave rs you
ALWAYS pretended to be, and coward as you
are, you dreaded aud eludcd me. Yet
knew We should one day meet and | re-
gistcred vow that wheu we did / would
make YOU sacrifice to your own internal
art. For years trained my SELF to become
unerringly expert with the pistol, and
my success was perfect. Then, even while
| hunted for you, coward, blindness
came upon me, like another wrong from
your hand. Instead Of abandoning my
purpose, | took my oath of vengeance
anew and resolved to make hearing
take the place of sight. Again was sue
coSlul. learned TO take aim with ear in-
stead of eye. When heard you answer
'rcady,'-a moment ago, 1 knew rs well
where to point my pistol Us though could
STE you. Besides could hear your breath
ing. You thought to make sure of your
shot by delay, and overrcached yourself"
During this curious address, which was de-
llvered with a cool, pitiless dellberalion.
characterized by no more passion than that
of contemptuous hatred, the lnajor's la.
bored breathing became shorlertlnd shorter,
until ut list he fell back, and all was still.
Dead" whispered the ayenger, Us, taking
his seconds arm, be turned aud walked
lrisureiy OFT the field.