The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-02-16

minister his chastisenent met us On the
threshold of the latter's sitting-rocEn. He
bore a challenge from De Ia Riviere which he
presented with great poiiteness, and which
Delaplaine Immediately accepted. As tI5
challenged party be had the choice OF
weapons, and lie UnheSitatingly chose pistols.
He requested ne. also, to act as his second
ard Of course accepted, deeply though l
iisapproved and det=sted dueling. as one Of
those barbarisnls not yet wholly swept from
the face of earth.
why did you not choose swords.' 1 asked
after the counts friend had left u.s.
Delaplaine gave n cold lagh. de IA
Riviere is very famous shot, was the reply,
.but he has the repute of being one of the
best swordsmen in France"
The combatants met on the following
morning in small woods near Montmartre.
1t was latter autumn, and the embrowned
leaves glistened with q chilly dewfall. No
breeze stirred, our feet made dreary crack
ling sound rs passed over the noistened
sward De Ia Riviere and his party, who had
come in a different direction, reached the
ground about the same time IS ourselves
My heart felt heavy as lead while / returned
the intensely civil bow which they all gave US
The PAGES were measured Off. Delaplaina
and his opponent took the positions assigned
them. De In Riviere wore an inscrUtable
smile; surely no physical dread lurked behind
it; and yet under the almost sardonic sereu-
ity of that parchment-like face you felt that
depths of guile and craft might slumber
There Were six of US in all-two surgeons. be-
sides the seconds and contestants.
The usual "One-two-three' was to be
slowly counted, and the shots were to be ex-
changed between the first and last of those
numerals. | drew lots with the second of De
la Riviere whether he or / should give the
signals. The lot fell to him. l was after
ward thankful, i'll remembering the circum-
stance, that such proved the case; for do
not know how | could ever have articulated
those necessary words after certain appall-
ing event had occurred.
Amid perfect silence the second now pro
nounced the word
Cone"
Instantly De la Riviere fired He had the
right to do so, and he did. His aim, consider
ing the time he took, was something
marvellous l afterwards learned that
besides his skill with the sword, he was
among the very few really amazing marks
men in Europe.
1t seemed to me that L almost 81 the shot
enter Delaplaine's breast. For a second or
two he visibly reeled, and his lifted arm fell
BY an undoubted trick and yet one which
must win him nothing but a kind of astonished
eulogy hereafter for its superb skilD De lie
Riviere had killed him before his own bullet
had time to speed any deadly or even telling
meSSagei
HORRIBLE I gasped, seeing the livid pallor
on rny friends face, the sudden film over his
ewes, and the faint droop of his eyeIidS.
Two said the second.
As that word fell upon Delaplaine'S fading
seLse it wrought wondroEs effect in him
Tie old fire lcapt from his glance, only with
what struck me Us supernatural flash. His
lip curled, as if in victory and irony mingled.
His right arm, which held the pistol, rose.
Il was not like mere change of countenance,
attitude muscular tension. Il was more like
an actual calling back of the human soul into
the sinking ruin OF the body. And l believe
that it was this; for as afterwards discovered,
the bullet of De In Rivierc had already
passed into his opponents heart. by some
cogency of the will-powcr-that human force
so complex, SO mysterious, SO little under
stood by even the greatest thinkers-Dela-
plaine had summoned reason, vitality, even
skill itself, to his aid for one brief, awful mo-
ment of retaliation and vengeance.
And the summons had been answered.
His pistol sounded. Its report was followed
by kind of ckoked cry from the Frenchman.
Both the duelists fell at the same moment
one shot through the heart, the other through
the brain. And before We could reach either
of them both were dead,
The face OF De n Rivierc " orc sort cf
petrified sheer, as though he had already
made up his mind that by brilliant coup he
had once more killed his man, and wiped
away the degrading stigma of personal az
sault
But Delaplaine's face wore no such sheer.
1t was very peaceful, with merely n touch of
sternness in the closed lips, that seemed 10
say, Il am satisfied" And believe he was
Adapted from Edgar Fawcett in United
Service.