The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1873-01-02
How I Escaped Being Killed
in a Duel.
ny MARK TWAIN.

II, out l cIaIIH HotHiuS vi t'"ti a. ~
IS merely thrown in TO carry favor
will, the religious element.
After l had reported couple OF
years or the Virginia City (Nevada)
Daily Enterprise, they promoted mt
10 Dc editor.in chlcf-and l lasted
just week by the watch. But l
made an uncomnionly lively new.pa
per while I did last, and when l re
tired | had a duel on my hands, and
three horse whippings promised me.
Tie latter made no attempt to col
lect; however, this history concerns
only the former. It was the old
g flush times" of the silver excite
mont, when the population was won.
wild and mixed: everybody
went armed TO the teeth, and all
sights and insults had TO be atone
Tor with the best article OF blood
Your system could furnish. In the
course of ing editing made trouble
with q Mr.. Lord, editor OF the rival
paper. He flow up about some little
tritle or other that said about him
Il do not remember now what it
was. suppose l called HIM thief,
or body .snatcher, or All idiot, O.
like that. l was obliged
to make the paper readable. and |
could not fail IN my duty to a whole
community of subscribers merely to
save the exaggerated sensiliyeness OF
an Individual. Milford was offend
ed, and replied vigorously in his pa
per. Vigorously means a'grcat deal
when 1t refers to personal editorial
in frontier newspaper. Duel'lng
was all the fashion among the upper
classes in tina, country, and very few
gentlemen would throw away an OPP
portunity OF fighting. 10 kill per.
son in duel caused a man to DO even
more looked up to than to kill two
men IN tho ordinary way. Well, or
there, if you abused a man, and that
man did not like it, you had to eau
him ont and kill him; otherwise yod
would be disgraccd. So | challenged
Mr.. Lord, and | did hopo he would
not accept; but | knew perfectly well
that he did not wait to fight, ard 80
hallenged him in the most violen
i'll cimplacable manner. And then
sat down and suffered and suffered
ill the answer came. All our BOYS
tho cditcrs-were in our Office,
helping me in the dismal business,
md telling about duels, and dlscu.y
ng the code with lot OF aged ruf
ians who had had experience in such
,hings, and altogether there was a
owing interest taken in tie matter,
which made mo unspeakahly uncom-
For,able. The answer camc-Nr.
Lord declined. Our boys were tu.
.ious, and so was lon the sunflee.
l sent him another challenge, and
mother, and aro,hcr; aud the more
re did not want TO fight, the blood
hirstlcr | became. But a, last the
mans tone changed. IIs appeared
o be waking up. 1t was becoming
apparent that he was gong to figh,
ne, after all. | ough, to have known
low it would be-ho was a man VIII,
lever could be depended upon. Our
'oys were exultant. | was not, tho
tried to be.
II was now time 10 go ont and
ractixc. 1t was the custom there to
ght ducls with navy six shooters at
ttcen paces--load and empty till the
anne Tor the funeral was secured
We went to little rsvlno Just out
dc OF town, and borrowed a barn
DOR for target-borrowed it OF a
entlemen who was absent and we
God this barn door up, aud stood
Ill on end against the middle OF il,
represent Lord, and put squash
. top OF the rail 10 represent his
cad. lie was a very tall, lean crea.
ire, the poorest sort Of material Tor
duc'-nothing but a line slot could
etch" linn, and even then ho nigh,
Int your bullet. Exaggoration aside
IL raj! was, Of con. sc, q little too
iii TO represent his body accurately,
IT the squash was all right. If
ere was any intellectual difference
,,ween the squash and his head, it
as III favor OF the squash.
Well, practised and practlsed at
. barn door, and could not hit il;
ID | practised at the rail, ana could
hit that; and l tried hard for the
uash, and could not hit the squash.
would have been entirely dishcart-
led, but that occasionally crippled
10 OF the boys, and that encourage
me TO hope.
At last We began 10 hear plstol.
OTIS near by, in the next rayine.-
g knew what that meant The
her party were out practising, too.
hen | was in tho last degree dis
cssed; tor OF course those people
ouli hear our shots, and they would
nj spies over tho ridge, and the
lies Guild find my barn door with.
1t a wound or scratch, and that
ould simply he the end OF me-ior
course that other man would i'm
e'liatcly become AS bieodthirsty as
was. Jus, at this moment little
I'd, no larger than sparrow, flew
/, and lii on u sage.bush about thir-
PAGES away; and my lutte second
eve ellis, who was matchIess
arksmen with plstol-much bet.
r than / was-snatchcd out his re-
olver, and shot the birds head off /!
e all ran to pick up the game, and
ire enough, just at this moment,
mo OF the other duellists came re.
'nnoitreing over the little ridge
hey IAN to our group TO see what
e matter was; and ,.hen they saw
n hid ord's ao.onI anil.