Litchfield enquirer., 1874-02-19
fs5isssas THE PISTOL SHOT. From the Russian of Alexander
 SerqueVitch Poushkin.

We were quartered at -. The dai iy routine of an officer in the army Is no unknown. Drills and the ariding-schoo Ill the morning; dinner at the command ants quarters or in Jewish eating-house and cards and punch in the evening, con stltute the days work. There was no SO ciefy at -, nor were there any mar nageable girls; we used to meet at eact others rooms where only men in uniform could be seen.
 I One civilian, however, was admitted
 within our circle. He might have reach Eed the age of five and thirty, and we *therefore, looked upon him as being
 greatly our senior in years. His large ex.
 perlence secured to him a certain amount Of deference, and his usual moroseness,
 ms stern and sarcastic disposition. exer. eised powerful influence over our youth: 1pl 1maginations His past career seemed shrouded in mystery. Though bearing a 1orelgn name, he was apparently Rus s1an. He had served Ut one time in the hussars, and had had even been fortunate n professional advancement; none of us Knew the reason why he had retired from Enc service and taken up his abode in this Wretehed neighborhood, where he lived penurlously, and yet extravagantly; he in- yarlably went out on foot and he was al- ways seen in black surtout the worse for wear, but at the same time he kept open house for all the offices of our regi- ment. Truth to tell, two or three dishes. cooked by an old pensioner, constituted his dinner, but on the other hand. cham paene flowed at his table. His circum- stances and income were unknown. and none of us presumed to ask any questions about either. His only books were works connected with the military service and some novels which he willingly lent, never assl aassslklng to haxe them sm9se etR6fcn ne had Dor rowed. His chief pastime consisted in The walls of his apart ment were we'll riddled and perforated like honey comb. A valuable collection of pistols formed the only luxury of his humble habitation. The degree of per- lection he had attained in this art was in- conceivable, and had he been required to shoot at pear on any one's head not one of our fellows would have hesitated to of- fer himself Our conversation often touched on the subject of dueling Silvio Gas l shall name him) never joined in it.; and when asked whether he had eyer had occasion to fight, would answer drily that he had; but he entered upon no details, and 1t was evident that these and other similar questions were distasteful to him. We concluded that the recollection of some unfortunate victim to this dreadful accomplishment troubled his conscience, the idea of cowardice never even suggest ed itself. There are people whose exte- rior alone sufices to disarm such suspic- ions. An unexpected occurrence dlscon- oerted us all,
 Some ten of us were one day dining with Silvio. We drank as usual!-that Is excesslvely-and after dinner we endeav- ored to prevail upon our host to be the banker in game of faro For some time he persisted in declining for he seldom played, but at length he ordered the cards tosae brought. threw fifty dueats on the table, and commenced 10 deal. We all took our places and the play began. Sal vio was wont to keep the strictest silence upon such occasions, never discussing or explaining anything. If the punter chanc- ed to make mistake he either paid up the balance immediately, or noted the surplus. We were already aware of this, and therefore never interfered. But of our number there was young officer who had lately joined. He took part in the game, and in a fit of absence bent down one corner too many. Sslvio took up the chalk and rectifed the score, as was his custom. The officer, thinking he was mis- taken, began to explain matters. Silvio continued to deal in silence. The officer, losing patience; rubbed out what to him seemed unnecessary. Silvio, taking up the chalk, again marked the score. The officer, excited with wine, and by the game, and the laughter of his comrades. imagined himself cruelty offended, and in his passion, he lifted metal candlestick off the table, and threw it at Silvio, who had barely time to evade the blow. We felt confused. Silvio rose, and, with fire in his eyes, said, "Please to walk out. Sir. and thank your stars that this has hap pened 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- ments longer. but feeling how little our hosts thoughts were in it, we left one by one, and repaired to our quarters, dis cussing the possibility of speedy vacan- cy.
 When we met in the riding-school on the following day we immediately inquir- ed of each other if our poor ensign was still alive. When he himself appeared, we greeted him, putting the same ques- tion! He replied that he had heard noth- ing of Silvio as yet. This surprised us. We went to Silvio, and found him in the yard, sending bullet after bullet into an ace of cards, which he had fixed to the gate. He received us as usual, and did not allude to the events of the preceding evening. Three days elapsed, and the ensign still lived. We asked in astonish- ment: ''Can 1t be possible that Silv1o will not fight?" Silyio did not fight. A very slight explanation 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 ex- cuse least, for they generally consider it the highest of human virtues-0ne that covers multitude of sins? However, lit tie by little, all was forgotten, and Silvio regalned his former influence.
 I alone could not become reconciled to him. Being naturally of romantic turn of mind, I had, more than anybody, at tached myself to the man whose very ex- istence was an enigma, and who appeared to me to be the hero of some mysterious even.s He liked me, at least it was with me alone that he laid aside his usual cut ting, in-natured observations, and con- versed upon various subjects with perfect good nature and rare pleasadtness. But could not, subsequently to that unfortu- nate evening, rid myself of the idea that this honor had been tarnished, and that it was his own doing that the stain had
 not been removed. This thought pre-
 vented my feeling toward him as I had
 hitherto done, and I felt ashamed to look
 upon him. Silvio was far too clever and
 too shrewd not to notice this and to di-
 vine the cause. He appeared hurt, and l
 fanciedI that had more than once detect.
 ed g wish on his part to come to an un- derstanding with me; but I avoided each
 opportunity, and Silyio withdrew. There. fore, only met him in the presence o1 my comrades, and our former intimacy came to an end
 The busy inhabitants of a capital car havn C0nenrfinn %ho r,onr,