The Osceola times., 1880-11-27
PISTOLS AND CHERRIES.
Russian Of Pouchkine.

Russian OF Pouchkine.
We were stationed in the village Of
-. You know what sort of life is that
of an officer in line regiment in the
morning, drill, the riding school, then
dinner with the commander of the regi-
meit or ut a private re iaurani; in the
evening, punch and cards. At - there
was not a house where rece tons we're
held, and not single TarriageaUle young
lady. We passed all our time with one
another, and in our meetings none were
seen but men in Uniform. Still there
was in the society one man who was not
a soldier. He might have been 35 years
of age, and therefore we looked upon him
as an old man. His experience gave him
considerable authority with us. His
taciturpity. too, and his hsue hty and diff.
fcult temper, and his sarcastic tone made
O great impression on us young men.
Sume my stery seemed to envelope his
existence. Formerly he had served in
hussar regiment, in which, indeed. he
had made some figure; suddenly he had
iven i'm his resignation. nobody knew
why, and had established himself in
poor village, where he lived badly and
spent much money. He went out always
ou foot, in an o frock 'oot, and y ct he
kept open house for all the officers of
our re .iment. To tel the truth, his din
ners consisted of only two or three dish.
es prepared by an old soldier, but The
champagne flowed copiously. Nobody
knew anything about hi fortune or his
condition and nobody dared question hin
on those points. There were books in
his house, chiefly military books. and
novels also. he readily lent hem and
never asked for them again; on the other
hand, he new, r returned the books that
o hers lent him. Ills great occupation
WAS pistol shooting: the walls OF his
chamb,r weie honey-combed with halls!
The only luxury Of the wretched hut in
whi,h he lived was rich collection of
pistols. The skill which lac had acquired
was incredible. and il he had made a bet
10 shoot the button off a cap, no one in
our regiment would have hesitatcd TO
wear the cap. Sometimes our conversa
ion turned upon duels. Silvio, for
call him by this name, never took part
in 1t. When asked if he had ever fought,
he would answer dryly, Yes" but he
never gave the slightest detail, and it
WIS evident that such questions did not
please him. We suppose that some vic
Iim OF lis terrible skill had left weit ht
on bis conscience. Besides, no one
among us ever thought OF suspecting him
OF weakness. There are people whose
exterior alone is sufficient to dispel such
| leas. An unexpect Ell occasion surpri, ed
| us all strangely.
One DAY ten OF the officers were dining
| with Silvio. We drank as Usual, that is
to say enormously. After dinner We
| asked the host to get up faro bank. He
| refused for a lonl time, for he had hard
ly ever played. but al last he sent for
some cards, placed them before him on
| the table fifty ducat-, and sat dow to
| deal. We lat down around him ana the
play began. When he played, Silvio was
in the habit OF maintaining the most
complete silence; he never allowed COM
paints or explanations. II player made
4 mistake he paid him just what was due
or marked 10 his own account what he
had gained. We knew that, and lett him
to manage his bank as he pleased; but
there was among us an officer who had
recently joined the corps. and who from
distraction made wrong bet. Sllvio
took the chalk and made his reckoning
as usual. The officer, feeling sure that
he had made a mistake, began TO protest.
Silv o, always silent, continued to deal
the cards. The officer, losing patience,
took the brush and wiped out what he
though TO be wrong. Silvio took the
chalk and marked il again. WhereuDon
the officer, heated by wine, seized brass
candlestick and flung IL at the head OF
Silyio, who, by a rapid movement, luck
| ily avoided the blow. Great confusion
followed; Silvio rose, pale with rage, and
flashing eyes:
| "My dear SIR" he said, "bc good
enough to 20 away, and thank God that
this scene h,s taken place in my house" "
No one of Us felt any doubt as to the
issue Of the affair, aud we already look. d
upon our new comrade a. a deid man.
| The officer went out saying that he was
| ready to give satisfaction whenever he
might be called upon. The faro contin-
ued few minutes longer, but we saw
that the master of the house was no long
er in the game, and one by one we with.
drew and returned to our quarters.
| The next day at the riding school we
were lust asking whether the poor lieu.
tenant were alive or dead when we Saw
hiIn appear in person We questioned
him. He replied that he had no news
Of Silvio That surprised US. We went
to ste Silvio, and we found him in his
rourt, sending bullet after bullet into an
ace Of hearts nailed up on the door. He
received us ju-t as usual and said moth
ing about the events of the previous
evening. Three days passed and the
lieutenant was still alive. We said in
astonishment, 'Silvio not fight?" Silvio
did not fight, but cortented himself with
a very slight explanation. and the matter
was at an end.
This iorbearance did him much harm
in the eyes Of us young men. Youth
pardons least OF all the want Of holiness,
and in its eyes courage is the first of all
merits ana the excuse OF all defects.
Nevertheless. little by little the whole
matter was torpotten. and Silvio recover
cd his former influence among us.
alone could not reconcile myself to
him. Thanks to my romantic imasina.
ton had attached myself more tnsc
anybody elDe 70 this man whose l.::s was
9 addA - ] had nade ~ - h1sb
RI 1trD - ~ 011<1