The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-06-26

, likeness OF myself which I was FOOLS
! enough 70 give him, and has the Il
I science 10 boast Of il, As if-as if ha
D in short - il more Imp1Tt@nc
. might lie attached - il tlaH II TeaIi
I deserve The way -La did that II
= tie bit Of UasnfUlne-s would hav
made her fortune Oh the stage. y o
= are the only man whom can trust I
a check his ilupeTtiuence, iVT all ia
:. rest seem afraid Of him. May I cJuu
! upon you to defend my reputation
= 'SEe took both his nand- N hers
I suppose 10 add emphasis 10 her peLl
: ton , and east her eyes on the ground
= 1t was well that she did, for tier
came over MOntfOrt's face such y loOl
I Of killing contempt as made me Iairi1
= shake. He drew himself up a. ii Ia
could nave tTampled her under hI
t feet, aud from that moment he locke,
. Teslly splendid-just as had seen hin
, look when l chaffed him about being
/, in love with her the morning after the
: ball.
P 81 am at yourservice, -" said he, bow
D ing, with that away he went without
I another word. As for me, 1 stOOC
like = fool for good five minutes be-
fore ! could recOllect myself the whole
} thing took me so aback. This was
= worse than / had ever dreamed of
. All that | ever bargained for was a
; little flare-up between MOntfOrt aud
the Frenchman, which would blow
over and leave all clear again; but
. here was far more serious business.
Whether the De COurcy had got tired
. IL I NT1f1IaraE 81, 10.
her and wanted to get rid OF him, or
Whsther it was only her cOnfounded
vanity that was tickled at the idea of
setting men fighting about her,
can't tell; but Eve always thOug Int
though it seems horrible thing to
say of any woman that she was riled
at MOntfOrt for not bowling down to her
as every one else did, and that she
meant to punish him by getting him
knocked on the head. Look at it which
way / would, it was very bad busi-
ness. Apart from my liking for
Montfort, | couldn't abide the
thought of an Englishmau Icing
killed by the Frenchman, and the
whole town Growing over it, as they'd
be sure to do. And yet how was to
stop il? / and the other two men
were invited that very day to dine
with some Nirginian bigwig ,Fortse-
cue, think his name was, and then
to 90 70 ball that Colonel De COurcy
was giying the same evening; so that
even if they missed each other at one
place, they were sure 10 meet at the
other Altogether, it really seemed
a. If the powers of mischief had con-
triveG it; and l went home feeling
bad all over.
itWell, to FOrtsecue's / went, and
| didn't manage to get near MontfOrG
| till dinner was done; but when We
| turned out to have our smoke III the
garden Ia famous big place, with
| foun.ain in the middle, aud dark
shrubberies all round hung with col
Ored lamps, Just like q scene in Il the
ater), / got hold of him, and drew
| him ntO conversation, meaning at
least to stick by him all the evening,
in case of anything happening, But
| just then, as i'll luck would have il,
who should come staggering past but
| that beast lie Valiant, with his chO-
rus of wOrshipers about him, and, of
course, he must bring out Miss De
COurcy's likeness, and begin Dragging
about t before them all.
"'Thus it is that We Erenchmen
win ele day. said he, in his bOastful
way; every thing is possible to those
who dare! 1t is only those who hang
back that get nothing, like those Eng
| lish towards in the Crlmean
81 jumped up like shot at that, you
may be sure; but MOntfort was before
me. With one stride he was through
the circle, and confronted the French
man, looking him full in the face.
"'Did 1 understand monsieur to
say" asked he, bowling, that the
English are towards y
"'I did, answered the other, look
ing up at him insOlently.
"YOu lie, then y says MOntfOrt, and
gave him slap in the face with his
open hand that echoed all over the
garden like pistOl-shot.
"Then there was row, if you like
Everybody ran forward 1T once,
shouting and screaming. In an in
stant the two had their coats OFF, and
were standing face to face, each with
small sword in his hand, on the bit
of smooth turf beside the fountain. 1t
was evident, rs soon as they began,
that lie Valiant was the better
swOrdsman of the two; and in a few
minutes Gust as / had feared Mont |
fort got thrust the arm, below the |
elbow, that made him drop his weap- |
on. OF course, all lie Naillant's |
chums shouted for joy; but how they !
stared when MOntfOrt cOOlly twisted /
his handkerchief round his right arm, !
drew the knot with his teeth, took up /
his sword in his left hand, and said /
q g,ys..yI.B N,nnnGinrrB
1T was then for the first time, that 4
the Frenchman began tO look dis
turbed; and certainly there was some /
thing awful i'll this dOgged, blood /
thirsty persistency, which no pain or /
danger could shake. Two or three Of |
lie Vaillant's party tried to protest, but /
the others Overruled them, and the /
fight began again. The two faces |
were sight. lie Valiant looked like /
wolf in a trap-full of kind of
frightened fury; MontfOrt's face was
quiet, and cold as marble, but with a .
look of grim satisfaction on it, as if he /
was sure of his man at last. And SO, /
indeed, he was. In those days the I
French schools didn't generally teach |
their men how To meet a left-handed I
attack: and LIE Valiant, who had |
never seen anything of the sort be- |!
fore, was fairly puzzled. His breath |
began to fail; his hand shook and at /
last, as he Overreached himself in ma /
king a thrust, MOntfort sprang in, and ]
his sword went clean through him,
from breast to back. Then picking /
up the miniature, he flung his coat /
loose over his shoulders, and flew out |
of the house like a wild cat. L fol- |
lowed him as hard as / could pet you |.
know couldn't tell what he inight /
do in the mad fit that seemed to be
upon him, and I tell you that i'll al
my life | never had such run. h
never slackened once till he got to
Colonel De Courcy's, where the ball
was Just at its height; and there he
bOlted through the gate, burst into
the ballroom, right through the
midst of the dancers, and rushing up
to where Miss De Courcy was stand
ing, flung the miniature at her feet.
'"Halk of theaters that scene beat
them ALL Everybody seemed turned
to stone, and several ladies tainted
outright, without any one minding
them. And we'll they might. Mont
fort was white as corpse, in spite oil
his hard run; his clothes were alf
splashed with blood; his right arm
hung down at his side: and his face
glared as if he were mad.
"Are you satisfied?" he asked in a
voice as if some one was choking him.
You commanded, and have Obeyed
YOU. Take your likeness (he crushed
| it with his heel as ne spoke, and so
perish every memorial of the woman
who dared to weigh her caprice
against the life of a brave man.
"He looked round upon the cOmpa-
ny-who were standing like statues
as if he could strike them dead upon
the spot, and then vanished into the
darkness like an evil spirit.
/ 81 never saw or heard of him after
I that night; but he had his revenge, If
! that did him any good. Miss DE
COurcy never got over the fright ne
gave her; she fell into a decline and
died eighteen months later; and her
/ father wasn't long in following her
Now, then, what do yoI say to
| hand at ccurtc ~