Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-03-05
THE PISTOL SHOT.

- commandments quarters or in Jewish
erainp house, and cards and punch in the
evening, constitute the days work. There
vss no society at -----, nor were there
asy manageable girls; we used TO meet
r each others rooms, where only men In
Uniform were 10 be seen.
One civilian, however, was admitteu
Within our circle. He might have reached
Ne age Of fivc-and-fhirty, and we there
fore looked upon him as greatly our senior
in years. His large experience secured 70
MIN q certain amount Of Difference, ana
Ms usnai moroseness, his stern and sar.
castle disposition, exercised q powerful
influence over our youthful imaglnations,
His past career seemed shrOuded in mys-
tcry, Though bearing foreign name he
vas apparently Russian. He had served
- oae time in the Hussars, and had even
hoen fortunate in professional advance
weut. None of US knew the reason why
h had retired from the service and taken
nm his abode in this wretched neighbor.
hood. where he lived penuriously and yet
extrayagantiy. He invariably went out
a foot. and he was always seen IN black
ssrtout the worse for wear, but at the
same time he kept open house for all the
S(Bcers OF our regiment. Truth 10 tel,
tvo ar three dishes. cooked by an old
neosioner. constituted bis dinner, but on
De other hand champagne flowed at his
table
Hrs chief pastime consisted In pistol
prsetice. The walls OF his apartment
were Yiddled and perforated like honey
somh A valuable collection OF pistols
lnsmcd the only luxury OF his humble
Aabitaiion The degree OF perfection he
Asd attained in this art was inconceiva-
Ne. and lad hc required 10 shoot at apear
o any ones head, not one OF our fellows
would have hesitated TO ot!er himself.
Our conversation often touched on the
subject OF dueling. Silvio las | shall
name HIM never Joined In il, and when
,sked whether he had ever had occasion
% light, would answer dryly that he had I;
hat he entered upon no details, and II was
evident that these and similar questions
vcse distasteful TO him. We concluded
usat the recollection of some unfortunate
victim to this dreadful accomplishment
huubled his conscience, the idea of COW
sraice never even suggesting Itself. There
sre people whose exterior alone sufiices TO
di.arm such suspicious. An unexpected
occurrence disconnected us all
some ten Of us were one day dining
with Silvio. We drank as uGual--that Is,
excessively--aad after dinner we en-.
desvored to prevail upon our host to be
TIE banker in game Of faro. For some
time he persisted In declining, for he sell
dom played, but al length he ordered the
cards To be brought, threw fifty ducats on
NE table, and commenced To deal. We
al took our places and the game began
Bilvio was wont 10 keep the strictest 81.
lence upon such occasions, never
DISCUSSING or explaining anything. If
The punter CHANGED 10 make a mistake, he
either paid up the balance Immediately
a. noted the surplus We were already
aware OF this. and therefore never inter
Ssred. But OF our number there was a
Young officer who had lately Joined. He
took par, in the game, and In fit Of alb.
sence bent down one corner too many.
Bilvio took up the chalk and Iectified the
score. as was his custom. The officer,
thinking he was mistaken, began to ex.
plain matters. Silyio continued dealing
h silence. The officer, losing patience,
rubbed out what TO him appeared unnec-
sasary. Silvio, taking up the chalk,
again marked the score. The officer, ex.
cited with wine, and by the game and the
laughter Of his comrades, imagined him
self cruelty offended, and In his passion
he lifted metal candlestick OIL the table
sni threw il at Silvio, who had barely
time 10 evade the blow. We felt confused
BiIvio rose, and with fire In his eyes
said: PLEASE 10 walk out, sir, and thank
yyur stars that this has happened under
my roof
We did not doubt the consequences;
and we looked upon our new comrade as
. dead man. He walked out, declaring
himself ready to answer for the affront in
such manner as the banker might elect
The game was continued for "a few mo-
nents longer, but, feeling how little our
hosts thoughts were in II, we left one by
sne, and repaired to our quarters, discuss.
ing the possibility Of speedy vacancy.
When we met in the riding-school on
she following day we Immediately In
uuired Of each other II our poor ensign
was still alive When he himself APP.
reared, we greeted him, putting the same
question: He replied that he had heard
sothing OF Silvio as yet This surprised
~. We went TO Silvio, and found him In
ti.e yard, sending bullet after bullet into
m ace Of cards, which he had fixed To the
cate. He received us as usual, not allud.
Ing TO the event OF the preceding evening
Three days elapsed, and the ensign still
Kved. We asked in establishment: Can
4 be possible that Silvio will not fights"
SilSie did not fight. A very slight ex.
plsnation satisfied him, and peace was
restored.
Such conduct might have injured him
excessively in the estimation OF youth.
The want of pluck Is what young men
excuse least. for they consider IL the high
ess Of human virtues--one that covers
multitude Of sinsl However, little by
Atile, all was forgotten, and Silvio re.
gained his former influence.
alone could not become reconciled to
rim. Being naturally of romantic turn
sf mind, had, more than anybody, At
lnched myself TO the man whose very OK.
istence was Nm enigma, and who appeared
% me 10 be the hero or some mysterious
event He liked me, at least II was with me
alone that he laid aside his usual cutting,
illnaturcd observations, and that he
converscd upon various subjects with
perfect good nature and rare pleas
sniness. But l could not, subse-
sucnt TO that unfortunate evening,
nd myself OF the idea that his honor had
been furnished, and that II was his own
doing that the stain had not been re-
moved. This thought prevented my feel
- ...~.u.l h;,., 40 T had hithertn done