The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-03-18
THE DUEL ABOUT MISS MOGENE.

THE DUEL ABOUT MISS IMOGENE.
Miss Imogene De Forest was eighteen
years old, beauty and belle. Girls
OF all kinds, if they live, can be eighteen
years old; but to be beauty and a belle
needs concurrence of favorable cir
cumstances. In Miss Imogene these ia
vorable circumstances were of decided
order. She had lovely face, a grace
full figure, and she was the only child of
the Hon. Lysander De Forest. an ex-
Governor, an ex-senator, and a proba-
BILE foreign minister.
Besides, she had very respectable
private fortune, though young Jefferson
Duval and Captain Milton Fontaine both
averred that was the very least point in
her charms, and not worthy to be named
with her dark eyes and her bewitchinp
smile. Girls of eighteen are not all
wise, and perhaps Miss Imogene be-
heved this; at any rate she looked as if
she believed it; and both Duval and
Fontaine had many hours in which they
certainly firmly believed it. When
wandering in the moonlight under the
orange-trees, or when whirling through
the waltz in some splendid feast, they
were both quite certain that nothing but
Miss lmogene's personal loneliness en-
tered into their dreams concerning her.
Hitherto, though both pretenders to
lmogene' favor, they had preserved the
semblance of friendship. Duval rather
wished to do so; it gave him an honora-
BILE opportunity of watching his rival
chances; and Fontaine was of that order
OF men who like little opposition. He
1ntpnHp6 of 20 l..
to make coup u etat and at once and
forever put poor Duval out of the pain
tul uncertainties of love. For somehow
he regarded his own success as certain.
and If the confident heart wins the fair
lady, and the faint one loses her. he had
some reason for his blissful security.
One lovely evening in the charming
May-for May is charming in Central
Texas-ImOgene was slowly riding
across prairie that was one billowv sea
ofgrass and flowers. Duval was by her
side, reciting Byron in a very touch
ing manner. Imogene had casually
noticed that two horsemen had emerged
from little wood, and were slowly fol-
lowing them; and she had also noticed
that they had passed, at rather closer
quarters than she liked, herd of cattle
feeding. Whether the magnificent bull
leading them was irritated by Duvars
floating scarlet necktie, or by the poe
try, or by motives beyond human com
prehension, is uncertain, but his anger
was positive enough. Believing and
tearing up the ground, he came furious
ly after the lovers Poetry and senti-
ment collapsed, and the first law of
nature promptly asserted itself.
Both put their horses to their utmost
speed, but the prospect was not cheer
ING. In fact, the question was this:
Would the bull or the horses have the
best OF 1t in race over two miles of
open prairie?
"He is gaining on us, Duval, and 1
am turning sick and faint. Oh, what
shall | doP'
Let us separate He cannot follow
both, and perhaps he will select me-"
Suddenly the shouts of the men be-
hind attracted their attention. Imo-
gene glanced fearfully around. The
two hOrsemcn she had noticed were
coming ON at a laundering pace; and
before she could check or turn her
horse, one of them had risen in his
stirrups, and thrown a lasso around the
furious animal. 1t was now evident
that Governor De Forest was one of
these horsemen; the other, who still
held the rope, was quite unknown both
to Duyal and Imogehe.
The Governor quickly dispatched the
bull with his rifle, and then, as the herd
were evidently growing uneasy, the
whole party rode rapidly home. Thanks
and introductions were practically de-
layed, although the stranger knew that
no thanks and no introduction would
ever be more satisfactory to him than
the glance and smile he had received in
the swiftest moment from Imogene.
Duyal was very unhappy. He Won
dered if he had behaved in a cowardly |
The whole affair had been so