The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-08-27

the glass. He relit his candle. When
he saw his visage reflected in the mir
ror, he could hardly recognize himself;
and it seemed as il he had never seen
himself before. His eyes looked enor-
nous, and he was pale-certainly he
was pale, very pale indeed. He stood
there in front of the mirror. He put
out his tongue, as tito certify the state
of his health; and all at once this
thought shot through him like a bull
let:
1.-THE day after tomorrow, at this
very hour, perhaps | shall be deadl"
And his heart began to thump again,
furiously.
''The day after tomorrow / shall,
perhaps be dead. This person here
before me-this Il that / see in that
glass-will be no more. What! Here
/ am; / look at myself; / feel that l
live; and in twenty-four hours ! will
be lying in that bed, dead; with eyes
closed, cold, inanimate, gone from the
world of the living"
He turned to look at the bed; and
distinctly saw himself lying there, un-
der the very same covers he had Just
left. His face had the hollowness of a
dead face; hisshands had the limpness
of hands that will never move again.
Then he became afraid of his bed, and
in order to escape it, he went into his
smoking room. He took q cigar, me-
chemically lighted 1t, and began to
walk up and down again. He felt
cold. He started to ring the bell, in
orderto wakeupth the valet-de -chambre;
but stopped suddenly, ever while his
hand vas raised to grasp the bell
cord.
sHThe servant would see that / am
afraid" And he did not ring. He
made the fire himself. His hands
shook a little, with nervous tremblings
whenever they touched anything. His
mind wandered; his thoughts beganto
fly in confusion, brusque, painful. A
sort of drunkenness came over him,
as if he had been swallowing liquor.
And over and over again he kept ask
ing himself:
"What will become of me?"
His whole body shuddered with
spasmodic quiverings. He rose, and,
going to the window drew aside the cur
tains.
The dawn vas breaking-a summer
dawn. The rosy sky made rosy the
city, the roofs and the walls. A great
glow of soft light enveloped the awak-
ening city, like the caress of the sun
rise; and with its comingthere passed
into the viscountfs heart array ofhope
merry, quick, brutal! What a fool
he was to allow himself to be worried
by fear, before anything at all had
been decided; before his seconds had
seen those of George Lamil; before he
SO much as knew whether he would
have to fight at all. He made his tot
let, dressed, and walked out with a.
firm step.
AS he went along, he kept repeating
to himself:
81 must be energetic-very energetic.
| must prove that / am not a bit
afraid"
His witnesses, the marquis and the
colonel, put themselves at his dis
posal; and, after q hearty shake
hands, they began to discuss the con-
ditions.
The colonel asked:
do you insist upon serious duel?"
The viscount replied:
Every serious"
The marquis asked:
"You wish ~pistols?"
Eyes"
"Well, we leave you free to regulate
the rest"
The viscount articulated in a dry,
jerky voice:
Twenty paces-to fire at the word
Ito fire on the rise, instead of on the
fall; balls to be exchanged until one
or the other be seriously wounded"
The colonel exclaimed, in a tone Of
satisfaction:
"These are excellent conditions.
You shoot well, and all the chances
are in yourfavor."
And they departed on their errand.
The viscount returned home to wait
for their return. His excitement, tenn
porarily appeased, now began to in
crease every minute. He felt all along
his legs and arms, in his chest, a sort
of sinking-a continual quivering; he
found himself utterly unable to remain
quiet in one place, whether sitting or
standing. His mouth felt dry, as if
wholly devoid of saliva, and he clacked
his tongue loudly every once in a while
as if trying to unfasten it from his
palate.
He wished to breakfast, but could
not eat. Then the idea came to him
to take a drink, in order to give him
self courage; and he ordered a d~ecanter
Of brandy brought in, from which he
helped himself to six small glasses, one
after another.
A heat, as of a burn, passedthrough
him followed almost Immediately by