Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-07-14

"e"i ieiiom your nonor mas nothing t
say IN the matter. | give you my word @
! honor that the whole thing may be ar
ranged without the slightest difficulty"
How" he said, with certain eager
ness, but checked himself Immediately
1T must go on" he repeated; sit is al
settled, l tell you. / don't know VIVA
: you mean about the girl. There was :
quarrel among lot of officers down stairs
l got mixed up in it, like fool; but Their,
was some good fellows among them, anC
! they'll see me through After all" ht
went on, trying to smile, what is duel
Hundreds of men have fought and nc
great harm come Of it."
He broke off as the shivering seized him
again, and the pallor A light dawned OF
me. 1t was fear that held the boy as he
sat there, covering and trembling, before
me; the lad with his fresh complexion
and pretty girls face was a coward; and
as l recognized the fact, something of con.
tempt for him rose in my mind. / had in
those days the brutal stupidity of man
to whom constitutionally, fear is unknown.
had never considered, as | have had oc-
casion to do since, the tricks that vivid
imagination may play with a sensitive
organization, and looked at the trembling
lad before me, with the amount of intelIi.
gence bulldog might have brought to
bear upon the subject. Nevertheless I
laid my hand on his shoulder good-na-
turedly enough
Look here" ! said, giving him a
friendly shake. "Take some more brandy
first, though" got him to swallow an
other mouthful. "Look here, my dear
boy" said, 'you don't like the notion of
lighting, | see. Well, don't give the thing
another thought Go to bed and sleep
soundly: when you wake tomorrow morn
ing you'll find it all arranged"
He shook his head
" 1t can't bet can't be-" he said. He
sprang to his feet and paced the room once
or twice, his hands thrust deep into his
pockets. g You think l am afraid" he
said, standing in front of me and speaking
rapidly. You're right, am afraid, Pm
sick with fear"
He dropped into his chair again, and
| flung out his arms across the table, bury
ing his face in them. In moment he
looked up.
"Pve been afraid all my life," he said,
speaking low and very quickly Il can't
help it. | can't see things any other way.
They used to bully me at school. Once |
shirked something, and the boys" He
broke off "Only one fellow was good to
me-" he went on. He was older than
was, and he made me promise I'd never
shirk a thing through cowardice again;
and never will"
| | looked at him with new sentiment.
"Where is your friend now ?' I asked after
a pause.
He is dead,' he answered Gle was
killed last year, fighting in india"
He buried his face again, and there was
silence for a while. l heard the rain still
falling steadily outside now and then the
candle fickered little in the breath of
night air. At last | spoke.
That is no reaSon--it is no reason at
all, )" said, rising and pacing the room i'll
my turn. "The thing is an absurdity, ]
tell you; no one fights duels in these
days. Why, to begin with, do you even
know what you are about? Can YOU fire
a pistol, if as l suppose, it is with pistols
yau propose to amuse yourselves ~
He answered almost inaudibly. Il can
handle firearms" he said. had to
learn"
L sat down and contemplated him for
moment. Look here" | broke out
again, "the whole thing is nonsense,
sheer nonsense; it can't be allowed to go
on. You've no business my dear boy, to
be coming abroad for your holiday, and
getting yourself entangled in miseries of
this sort. What would your family say
Think of them"
He raised his haggard face. 81 can't
get out of it," he said II can't; not with
out leaving them to say that an English
man shirked, and lost his honor because
he was afraid. And it would be true"
"Oh," l said, ''there are ways of putting
things. Tell them that you've thought
better OF it; that in England we're too
civilized for such barbarious Middle Age
practices; that when man is offensive,
we kick him down stairs and there is an
end Of ii. Anything would be good
enough for set of brutes who would en-
trap lad like you to duel"
| had touched his dignity perhaps. II
was not entrapped," he said, then broke
into a sob. Don't" he cried, ''don't
tempt me. l oughn't to have told you
anything about it, | suppose, but couldn't
help it. | don't want to think of it;
shall get frightened again, and feel can't
face it all. Besides, there's something else
| want to say" He began hurriedly
turning over the papers on the table. ''If
| Pm killed ="
ooh, come" l said, there's no question
here of being killed. Duels are fought
every day abroad, and no one is Bit the
worse. Tomorrow night you'll be laugh
ing at your fears"
81 think shall be killed." he said SIM
ply. 81 began letter to my mother" he
went on quietly enough " / don't know
how to finish it. / think I'll sign it, and
get you to give it to her. I'm glad you're
here. thought there would be no one for
me to speak to again"
He took sheet Of paper with half
filled page and wrote then folding and di-
recting it, put it in his little writing-case
" You will find it there" he said. "And
this portmanteau," he continued, "can go
as it is. There are some things in it for
my little sister Maggie; Eve got them at
different places I've been to; please see
that she has them. And there are some
books for my eldest brother; he likes old
books"
"You have brother ?" inquired.
"Two; they're both older than / am.
Ny father is dead He died in Germany
we were living there at that time. That
is how | come to know German. | wish
didn't"
He sat silent, his head resting on one
hand, the fingers of the other idly tracing
figures on the table; now and then he gave
a shivering sigh. At last he looked up
and spoke.
"Do you-do you" he began in an
uncertain voice. He went on more col
lectedly. Do you believe, you know, in
future life, and all that? Some fellows
don't. They do at home"
Your mother does" l said. Trust
to her."
ayes, she believes" he said, with sigh.
He fumbled in his pocket. and brought
out small New Testament "She gave
me this at school," he said, and told me
to bring it abroad with me. That is her
mark in it."
He opened it and turned over the
leaves, but in a moment laid it down and
passed his hand over his eyes.
" can't see," he said, 1.-The words are
all dazzled. Read me something, won't
you? There, where the mark is"
He pushed the book to me across the
table. 1 took it up. A blue ribbon di-
yided the leaves; the book opened of
Il