Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-05-25

O'Dowd, very decidedly. she told
me Pd got chewbercles in my
lungs"
And there was very little doubt
that O'Flaherty was right. A few
wears afterward the fact became fa-
tally evident. Death, and p. M.
examination, put it beyond all ques-
ton. But even if there had been |
no grounds for it, the idea of shoot |
ing a man for such a reason as this |
was absurd.
'My dear fellow" said to
0DOwd, "this must not be allowed |
to go on. / can't consent to act as
your friend in such q case as this. !
1t would be different matter if he'd
given you the lie, or"
"GiVen me the lie!o said ODowd.
ssDidn't he tell me I'd got chewber-
cles, when l haven't anything of
the kind. Isn't thai giving me the
lie, to all intents and purposes Civ
ing me the lie in the throat as deep
as to the lungs, as Shakespeare says,
Ell? Once for all, will you under
take the matter?"
"I'd rather be excused" / said.
every good" said O'Dowd;
'then 1 wish you good morning.
I'll go and call on O'Grady."
O'Grady! The most determined
fire-eater in the empire. If he called
ON O'Grady it would end in a
| fight as certainly as dOomsday. If
l undertook it, we might perhaps
come to some arrangement; so, with
much reluctance, / told Dennis that
| he might command me.
81 knew you'd never spoil sport"
said O'Dowd. "Now, look here,
Morley, you go at once to O'Flaher-
ty; and give him to understand that
l require"
fFor heavens sake, my dear
O'Dowd," said 1, anXiously, "don't
be too hard upon him. Put it as
peaceably as you can"
"Just what Pm going to do" said
i O'DoWd. "YOu 90 to O'Flaherty,
and tell him that | require writ
/ ten apology, which must contain a
confession that he was drunk at the
time of speaking, and declaration
of his full belief that Pve no more
got chewbercles than he has If he
declines to give this, / expect i'm
mediate satisfaction. | can't put it
more peaceably than that, now, can
-"
1 certainly thought it possible, but
! as O'Dowd adhered TO his own.
opinion, that did no good at all. So,
armed with this peaceable message,
/ took my way to O'Flaherty, whom
| found sitting lazily upon a cane
bOttomed chair, and surrounded by
soda-water bottles.
cha! Morley" said he, ode
lighted to see you, upon me con-
science. Will you take peg? No!
You'd better. I've done little else
ever since l got up. Well, yes, |
was a little sprung last night; just
drappie in me ee, as that Scotch fell
low says in his Internal brOgue.
Begad! looking back upon last
nights proceedings, reminds me of
those dissOlving views, where each
picture gets misty and runs into the
next"
81 suppose, then, you have no
very distinct recollection of the peO-
pie you met last night, have you ?"
/ inquired.
"Faith no." said he; "my MEM
DRY might be clearer"
"Well, the fact is, Pm come upon
a very unpleasant mission. You
don't remember meeting O'Dowd,
do you ?''
''It's O'Dowd you meant" said
| O'Flaherty, thoughtfully. "Begad,
then, 1 don't"
"Ah! you did meet him, though,
and he says insulted him greatly"
"And did l insult him ," said
OFlaherty, taking up sOda-water
bottle. "That's mighty curious.
How did 1 do it?
"Well, it seems you said some
thing about his having tubercle of
the lung, and he does not like it.
He's rather touchy about his chest,
you know"
CAY, L know. And did 1 tell him
that ?"
eyes, you told him that he'd got
tubercle, and he took the speech so
much to heart that | am come from
him to say that he expects an apol-
ogy."
"Begad, and were you told to say
that ?''
81 was, indeed, and l am sure,
my dear fellow, you must see how
eXtraVagantly absurd we shall all
make ourselves if this affair proceeds
any further. Every meSs-rOOm in
India will be laughing at the Tuber-
Gle duel. ] am sure you must per-
ceive the truth of this, and the absO-
lutte necessity of putting a stop to it
at once. BY JOve, sir, we shall
never hear the last of it till the day
of our DEATH"
"YOu may say that, indeed" said
! O'Flaherty, laughing. "Faith, it
won't be only O'D0wd who'll be
troubled with chewbercles, will it?"
"NO, that it won't. It's not gen
orally considered an infectious dis
order, but it will infect us, at any
rate" said |.
"Change of air will be the only
thing for u.s." said O'Flaherty.
"Tren, look here, my dear O'Fla-
herty," said, pushing a writing-case
towards him; ''just scratch two or
three lines to say that last night you
were, as you have just said, troubled
with a drappie in your ee; and you
may add-it's as well to do the
thing handsomely while you are
about it-that you have perfect
faith, ha ha perfect faith in the
integrity of O'DOwd's lungs. Come,
what do you say?'
Pop went the soda-water.
"That," said O'Flaherty.
"That! Explain, please"
"That's all the apology that yell
get from me-"
"But, my good sir, if you don't
ap-explain in some way, ODOwd
insists upon fighting"
"And by the blessed st. Patrick"
said OFlaherty, his speech becom-
| ing ten times more Irish than before
at the mention of the national pas
time-''and by the blessed st. Pat
rick, I'll humor his fancy. If it's
foighting he names, I'll fOight him
with all me sowl-with all the
pleasure in life, begad. We can't
fright Tim O'Flaherty into an apol-
ogy by telling him that foighting's
the alternative, l promise ye."
''Fright yOu," said l A; 81 never
dreamed of frightening you. But
reflect for a moment upon the alb
surdity of the whole affair. Come,
old fellow, stretch n point, and save
us from universal ridicule."
uFaith. not ~ said O'FIahertV