West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-03-29
THREE CHERRY-STONES.
4 SPOrtiye Company at "a Public Table
The enaltiss or InOPPOrtune ncrri.
Merriment

Nerrinent.
When | was schoolboy, more than
nifty years ago, | remember To have read
story which may have been fiction,
but which was very naturally told and
made deep impression upon mo then.
| will endeavor 10 draw il forth from
the locker of memory, and relate il as
nearly rs | can reCollect
Three young gentlemen, who had fin
ished the most substantial part of their
repast, were lingering over their fruit
and wine, at "A tavern in London, when
man of middle age and middle stature
entered the public room where they were
sitting, seated himself at one end Of
small unoCcupied table, and calling
the waiter, ordered a simple mutton
chop and glass of ale. His appear
ance, at first view, was not likely TO ar
rest the attention of any one. His hair
was beginning to be thin and gray; the
expression of his countenauce was Sc
date, with n slight touch perhaps of
melancholy, and he wore gray surtout,
with standing collar, which manifestly
had seen service, if the wearer had
not-just such thing rs an officer
would bestow upon serving man. He
might be taken, plausibiy enough, for
a country magistrate, or an attorney of
United practice, or a schoolmaster.
He continued TO masticato his chop
and sip his ale in silence, without lift
ing his eyes from the table until a
cherry-stone, sportively snapped from
the thumb and finger of one of the gen
tlemen at the opposite table, struck him
upon his right ear. His eye was i'm
stantly upon the aggressor, and his
ready intelligence gathered from the i'll
suppressed merriment of the party that
this petty impertinence was intentional.
The stranger stopped and picked up
the cherry-stone, and n scarcely per
ceptible smile passed over his features
as he carefully wrapped it up in piece
of paper and placed il in his pocket.
This singular procedure, with their pre-
conceived impressions of their customer,
somewhat elevated as the young gentle
men were by the wine they had par
taken of, capsized their gravity entirely,
and burst Of irresistible laughter pro-
ceeded from the group.
Unmoved by this rudcness, the stran-
ger continued to finish his frugal repast
in quiet, until another cherry-stone,
from the same hand, struck him upon
the right elbow. This also, to the in
finite amusement Of the other party, he
picked from the floor and carefully de-
posted with the first
Amid shouts of laughter a third
cherry-stone was soon after discharged,
which hit him upon the left breast.
This also he very deliberately took
from the floor and deposited with the
other two.
AS he rose and was engaged in paying
Tor his repast, the gayety of these sport
ing gentlemen became slightly subdued.
1t was not easy TO account for this.
Lavater would not have been able to de-
tect the slightest evidence Of irritation
or resentment upon the features Of the
stranger. He seemed a little taller, to
be sure, and the carriage of his head
might have appeared to them rather
more erect. He walked TO the table at
which they were sitting, and, with an
air of dignificd calmness, which is
thousand times more terrible than wrath,
drew card from his pocket and pre-
sented it with perfect ciyilty to the
offender, who could do no less than offer
his own in return.
While the stranger unclosed his sur
tout to take the card from his pocket,
they had glance at the undress-cOat of
a military man. The card disclosed mis-
rank, and brief inquiry at the bar was
sufficient for the rest. He was captain,
whom i'll health and long service had
entitled TO half-pay. In earlier life he
had been engaged in several affairs of
honor, and, in the dialect Of the fancy,
was a dead shot.
The next morning a note arrived at
the aggressor's residence, containing q
challenge in form and one Of the cherry
stones The truth then flashed before
the challenged party-it was the chal-
lenger's intention TO make three bites at
this Cherry-three separate affairs out
Of this unwarrantable frOlic The chal-
lenge was accepted, and the challenged
party, in Difference to the challenger 3
reputed skill with the pistol, had half
decided upon the small-sWOrd but his
friends, who were on the alert, soon dis
covered that the captain, who had risen
by his merit, had, in the earlier days Of
his necessity, gained his bread as an
accomplished instructor in the use Of
that weapon.
They met, and fired alternately, by
lot. The young man had selected this
mode, thinking he might win the first
FIRE; he did-fred and missed his oppo-
nent. The captain leveled his pistol
and fred-the ball passed through the
flap Of the right ear, and grazed the
bone; and, as the wounded man invol-
/ UNFAIRLY put his hand TO the place he
remembered that IL was on the rightear
Of his antagonist that the cherry-stone
had fallen. Here ended the first lesson.
A month had passed His friends cher
ished the hope that they would hear no
more from the captain, when another
nOtea challenge, Of course and an
other Of those accursed cherry.st0nes
arrived, with the captains apology, on
the score Of ill-health, for not sending
il before.
Again they ymet--fred
and the captain, who was unhurt, shat
tered the rightclbow Of his Antagonist
the very point upon which he had been
struck by the cherry-sione and here
I ended the second lesson.
/ There was something awfully impress
/ sive in the UlCdts opcr0ndi and exquisite
/ skill of his antagonist The third
| cherry-stone was still in his possession.
and the aggress0r had not forgotten that
\ 81 had struck the unoGending gentleman
upon the left breast.
a month had passed-another-and
another, Of terrible suspense; but moth