Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-10-17

able rings, and the bunch OF gold seals de.
pending from his fob was unusally heavy and
brilliant. He did not strike me as appearing
particularly warlike; but, nevertheless, after
saluting me, he at once touched upon the OBJ
iect of my visit and before [ had been ten
minutes in his company, had arranged to meet
Ferrand and myself at a certain spot, dear
to duelists of the time, at an early hour next
morning, and to bring Laroquiere with him:
"I don't think We shall need surgeon,
he said to me quite a6ably at parting; "but, if
you please you can bring one. In his last affair
my principal shot his man through the tenn
pies, and he died Immediately. I sincerely
hope, Monsieur, that your friend is as clever" ."
"Confound the fellow !" said to myself,
as l left the house and sought the residence
of my own medical man. Il am afraid poor
Ferrand is not such consummate murderer
as Laroquiere." "
After seeing the surgeon, to whom l brief
ly explained matters, called upon Mrs. Rae.
She was doing her best to comfort her daugh-
ter, who was in the greatest possible distress.
"Are they going to fight p she asked me.
"My dear Alice" said, "they are. | have
done my best to dissuade Paul; but he says,
and am obliged to agree, that he must fight.
Let US hope for the best. He has sure eye
and a steady hand, and he has right on his
side. The other man is scoundrel. And
you must remember that poor Paul is not an
Englishman. If were he, would not fight ::
but as it is, the matter cannot be overlooked,
and indeed everything is arranged"
"You are to be with him ?" said Mrs Rae,
looking as white as sheet.
eyes; they are to meet tomorrow morn
ing 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 pass? But no /; it was so public"
"You can only hope" l said. II will see
you in the morning but now | must 60 back
to him, and see that he gets some sleep"
"Tell him." cried Alice, "that if he is kill
ed shall die. Come here directly it is over.
Come even if be falls; you must tell me about
it. 1 must hear everything" She buried
her face in her hands and 1, escaping from
the unhappy girl, hurried to Paul.
He was still writing, and his hair was in
disorder, and his face pale when he turned to.
ward me. II am no coward" he said, "but
| am saying goodbye to her, for | shall die
to morrow"
MY dear fellow" exclaimed, ''you will
shoot Laroquiere, and be married next month.
You must finish your writing at once and 60
to bed will sleep here tonight, for must
see that you turn out in time to morrow morn
ing 80 be quick as possible"
He wrote another halfhour, addressed the
document to Alice Rae, placed lock of his
hair within it, and after sealing it up, gave it to
me.
"Give that to her," he said, eff Laroquiere
kills me outright-and know he will. If
were not for Alice, declare that should be
quite glad to meet him. Now for bed
He undressed; while lay down on the
sofa in the next room and lit cigar, for |
could not afford to sleep myself. Soon all
was quiet. and stole in to see Paul lying as
quiet as child, with smile Oh his face.
Probably, nay assuredlY.I I passed Q more un:
comfortable night than he did: Only with
the greatest possible difficulty could keep
awake and the hours seemed to linger forev-
er. At last, however, daylight dawned and
| called Ferrand, who woke refreshed and IN
comparatively good spirits After a hurried
breakfast we muffled ourselves up; placed
a flask of brandy, some powder and bullets,
and brace of pistols in my pockets, and we
sailed forth in the cold morning air. Scarce
ly any one was abroad, except few sleepy
watchmen, who seemed to make very shrewd
guesses at the object Of our expedition and
through the silent streets we went for mile
or so, until we reached the meeting place.
Laroquere and Dalaraie were there before
US, and my friend, the surgeon, arrived imme-
diately afterward in his carriage, which walt
ed near at hand. The pistols we're produced
and loaded Laroquiere chose one, and |
gave the other to Paul; and then the two
men took up positions at a distance of twenty
PAGES from each other, and waited for Della.
raie to give the signal to fire.
"Stay! cried the bully, as his second step.
ped back LET the young hound listen to
this. 1 am not triAing with him; shall
shoot him only where he wishes, for am gen.
erous, parbleau!" !"
"If do not kill you," said Paul, quietly,
II prefer to die
"Then 1 shoot him through the heart"
coolly observed Laroquiere. 1T will teach
others not to challenge me-"
There was something to me unspeakably
horrible in the way which these last words
were pronounced. sbuddered and looked at
Paul He smiled at me, and at the same In
slant Dearaie gave the signal.
There was but one report, for Ferrand's pis-
tol flashed in the pan. The poor fellow turn.
ed round toward me with fixed eye and pale
face, and with the name of Alice on his lips,
fell dead. Laroquere, turned on his heel, and
departed quickly in company with Delaraie,
while l aided the surgeon in his brief exami.
nation of Paul's body. Surely enough, the
bullet had passed through his heart. He
must have died almost instantaneously, for
he did not move after he fell, and the last
smile with which he looked at me was still
upon his face. 1t was melancholy business
in every respect. had to break the sad news
to Alice and her mother and the two ladies
were so terribly overcome, that l feared the
shock would have some permanent effect upon
their health For my part, was obliged to
hurry to England as soon as possible, and
Laroouiere, | heard, also got away and re-
maned out of France until the affair had
blown over.
kept up correspondence with Mrs. Rae,
and was glad, after time, to hear from her
that Alice, though still terribly upset, had
learned to look with certain amount of
philosophy upon her misfortune, and had
to some extent recovered her usual spirits.
Meantime I settled down in London, and,
unable to forget my Partisan habits, usually
dned at one of the much frequented taverns
in Fleet street. The Cheshire Cheese, which
was then in much the same state that it is
now, was my favorite haunt and there, as