The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-12-05

After seeing the surgeon, to whom
briefly explained matters, I called upon
Mrs. Rae. She was doing her best to
comfort her daughter, who was in the
greatest possible distress. "Are they
going to ight?" she asked me.
"My dear Alice" I said, "they are. !
have done my best to dissuade Paul,
but he says, and I am obliged to agree,
that he must fight. Let US hope for the
best. He has a sure eye and a steady
hand, and he has right on his side. The
other man is a sooundrel. And you
must remember that poor Paul is not an
E%nglishman. If I were he, I would not
fight; but as it is, the matter cannot be
overlooked, and indeed everything is ar
ranged"
"You are to be with him ?" said Mrs.
Rae, looking as white as a sheet.
eyes ; they are to meet tomorrow
morning, and by breakfast time Alice's
suspense will be over. She must bear
up"
"You must prevent the duel" sobbed
the half heart broken girl. "Cannot
Paul let the insult passa But no, it was
80 public"
"You can only hope" I said. 81
will see you in the morning; but now I
must go back to him and see that he gets
some sleep"
"Tell him." cried Alice, "that if he is
killed I shall die. Come here directly
it is Y Come even if he falls; you
must tell me about it. T must hear
everything" She buried her face in he
hands ; and I, escaping from the unr
happy girl, hurried to Paul.
he was still writing, and his hair was
in disorder, and his face pale when he
turned towards me. II am no coward"
he said, "but I am saying goodbye to
her, for I shall die tomorrow
"Myd dear fellow" I exclaimed, "you
will shoot Laroquiere, and be married
next month. You must finish your writ
ing at once and 60 to bed. I will sleep
here tonight, for I must see that you
turn out in time tomorrow morning ; 30
be as quick as possible"
He wrote for another half hour, adj
dressed the document to Alice Rae,
placed a lock Of his hair within it, and
after sealing it up gave it to mt.
"Give that to her." he said, eff La
roquiere kills me outright-and I know
he will. If it we're not for Alice I de-
clare that I should be quite glad to meet
him. Now for bed"
He %undressed. whilst I lay down on
the sofa in the next room and lit a cigar,
for I could not afford to sleep myself.
Soon all was quiet, and I stole in to see
Paul, lying as quiet as a child, with a
smile on his face. Probably, nay, as
suredly, I passed a more uncomfortable
night than he did. Only with the great
est possible difficulty could I keep
awake, and the hours seemed to linger
for ever. At last, however, daylight
dawned, and I called Fearand, who awoke
refreshed and in comparatively good
spirits. After a hurried breakfast we
muf1ed, ourselves up, and sailed forth
in the cold n orning air. Scarcely any
one vas abroad, except a few sleepy
watchmen, who seemed to make very
shrewed guesses at the object of our ex-
petition ; and through the silent streets
we went for a mile or 50, until We reached
the meeting-place.
Laroquiere and Delarie we're there be-
fore US, and my friend, the surgeon, ar
Immediately afterwards in his car
riage, which waited les at hand. The
pistols were produced and loaded. La
roquiere chose one, and I gave the other
to Paul ; and then the two men took up
positions at O distance of twenty PAGES
from each other, and waited for Delaraie
to give the signal to fire.
"Stay !" cried the bully, as his second
back "let the young hound
listen to this. I am not trifing with
him !; I shall shoot him only where he
wishes, for I am generous, parbleu |"
elf I do not kill you," said Paul
quietly, 81 prefer to de-"
"Then I shoot him through the
coolly observed Laroquiere.
cit will teach others not to challenge
me-"
There was something to me u%nspeaka-
bly, horrible in the way in which these
last words were pronounced. I shud-
dered, and looked ct Paul. He smiled
at me, and at the same instant Delarie
gave the signal.
There was but one report for Fer
pistol flashed in the pan. The
poor fellow turned round towards me
with fixed eye and pale face, and with
the name of Alice on his lips fell dead.
Laroquiere turned on his heel and de.
quickly, in company with De-
while I aided the surgeon in his
brief examination of Paul's body. Sure
~ enough, the bullet had passed
through his heart. He must have died
instantaneously for he did not move
he fell, and the last smile which he
had looked at me was still upon his face.
It was q melancholy business in every re-
spect. I had to break the sad news to
Alice and her mother, and the two ladies
were 80 terribly overcome that I feared
the shock would have some permanent
effect upon their health. For my part
T was obliged to hurry to England as
soon as possible ; and Laroquiere, I
heard, also got away, and remained out
of France until the affair had blown
over.
kept up a correspondence with Mrs.
Rae, and was glad after a time to hear
from her that Alice, though still terribly
upset, had learned to look with a certain
amount Of philosophy upon her misfor-
tune, and had to some extent recovered
her usual health, if not her usual spirits.
Meantime I settled down in London,
and unable to forget my Partisan habits,
usually Gined at one of the then much
f%requented taverns in Fleet street. The
Cheshire Cheese, which was then in
much the same state as it is now, was
my favorite haunt and there as months
passed by, I gradually picked up a few
pleasant acquaintance, chief among
whom was an extremely we'll. hammered
young gentleman named Barton, q mar
Of Independent means, good family and
irst-rate education.
One day after he had been dining with
me the conversation turned upon Con.
tinental manners and particularly upon
duelling. AS an illustration of my abb
horrence Of the system I told my com.
panion about Paul's death, a matter in
which Barton appeared much interested.
He asked me q good many questions
about the parties concerned. and after
expressing a remarkably strong opinion
to the effect that Laroquiere was o black
guard, bid me goodnight. I went home
to my rooms in the Temple ; and next
day, on visiting the Cheshire Cheese,
] D,koo III boJ Lott ,ro~l