Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-05-22
A DUEL IN A CEN ETERY
Mexican Desparndoes Who VIII XIII
from Pure VicIeusness.


meet me tonight on the cemetery
road, was the purport of a message
received one day recently by Don
Miguel. Faster at Mordeau, from Mel
essa Valadez Faster knew what the
invitation meant. He and Valadez
had quarreled many times over a
love affair, and once before had come
to violence. Valadez had been in
town for several days, and had fire.
quently boosted that he intended to
make hash of Faster. The latter, the
accepted sutton, communicated with
his lady love, who urged him to accept
the challange, and offered to accom-
pany him on his errand. This he at first
refused to assent to, but, finding that
she construed his attitude as one of
cowardice, he reluctantly agreed to
call for her. After dark, the man
and woman, both armed, set out on
the highway. Near the cemetery
gate they encountered Valadez, whose
rage at seeing his rival in possession
of the object of his affections knew
no bounds. There was long parley
as to the method of fighting to be
adopted, which the woman surmlsed
was the result of fear. She finally
became impatient, and tainted the
men with biting words, expressing her
opinion of Valadez particularly in
forcible language. AS her condem-
nation seemed to rest with greater
weight on him than the other, Pas
ter also took up the strain, and, pre-
tending that he had been called out
by craven, took the woman's arm
and urged her to leave with him. She
turned as if to do so, when Valadez
darted forward in frenzy of rage and
buried his knife in her back. She
fell on her face without so much as a
groan, the blade still in her body,
and expired instantly.
The assassin stood watching her for
a moment until Faster appeared TO be
recovering from the stupefaction into
which he had been thrown, then took
to his heels, Faster following, 1t was
a lively race through the cemetery
and out again. Faster shouted def
ance at his fleeing adversary, and
time and again dared him to face him.
Once Valedez disappeared, and Faster
in his rage called on him vehemeHtly
to come out, offering him weapons or
anything that he could ask if he would
but give him an opportunity to wreak
his vengeance. The only answer was
q laugh, which set Faster raving furi-
ously up and down the cemetery and
calling on all the angels and devils to
witness that he was man not afraid
of anything human. Stumbling along
heedlesly over graves and headstones,
he finally fell into a newly-made
grave. The next minute Valadez was
on him. The murderer, under cover
of the darkness, had been following
Faster for some time, in the hope that
he would be able to steal rpon him
unawares and finish him as he had
the wsman. His opportunity came
sooner than he expected. With a
ferocious yell, which woke the echoes
for miles around, Valadez sprang into
the excavation, and before the sur
prised Faster could regain his senses
his adversary had him by the throat
and was dealing him murderoas
blows with a bludgeon which he hao
picked up after losing his knife. Be
lieving he had finished Faster. Vala-
dez left him in the grave and fled to
the mountains Since thea nothing
has been heard from him. The next
day funeral party discovered Faster
lying in the grave unconscious, but
still breathing. He was conveyed to
town, and after his wounds had been
dressed he had lucid spell, in the
course of which he told his story. 1t
is not believed that he can recover, as
there are two fractures of the skull
and several of his ribs are broken.