The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1890-01-04
a Duel =. r4e rs.th.

A duel which occasloned great sensa'
ton at the time of its occurrence was one
l:etween Henri Delagrave and Alphonse
Riviere, the cause being the success Of
the former in wooing q young lady to
whom they were both attached. Rivlere
insulted his successful rival by slspping
him on the cheek In gambling saloon,
and 1t was agreed that q duel should take
place, In which the life of one shonld be
ended. The details were left to their
seconds to arrange and until they faced
one another upon the field, neither knew
IN what form they were to braye death.
The following morning four men met
in quiet wood. They were Riviere, with
n. Savalle, his second, and Delagrave,
who was accompanied by doctor named
RocQuet. The latter informed the rivals
tina. H. Savalle and himself had arrived
at the decision that in order to secure a
fatal result to one of the principals, it
would be best to leave out the question
of swords or pistols and trust to the more
sure action of a deadly poison. As be
spoke he drew from his pockets little
box, in which lay four black pellets, all
exactly identical in size and shape.
ssIn one of these" he said, II have a
sufficient quantity of prussic acid to cause
the almost instantaneous death of any
one who swallows it. Monsieur Savalle
and will decide by the toss of coin
which of you is to have first choice and
you shall alternately draw and swallow
pill until the poison shows its Effects
While speaking the last words, the doc
tor spun into the air a gllttering gold
piece, and. as it fell, Savalle cried "Tails."
It fell with the head uppermost, and Sa
vale said, '.The first choice ls yours,
Monsieur Dclagrave." The two whose
fate was contained in these innocent look
ing black balls bad shown no sign Of
tire pidation while the doctor explained
the awful preparations that he had made
for the death of one of them; and Della
graves face was perfectly impassive as he
selected and washed down with glass
of claret one of the globules. "And now
M. Rivlers," said the doctor. Riviere ex
tended his hand end took pill, which
he swallowed with as much unconcern as
his opponent. A minute passed, two.
three, and still the duelists stood motion.
less. ut ls your choice again, Monsieur
Delagrave," said the doctor. ''But this
time you must swallow the pill at the
same instant that NJ. Rivirere swallows
the one you leave for him." Delagrave
paused for moment, looking in silence
at the two balls that lay before him. The
closest scrutiny showed not the slightest
difference between them; one was harm
less, but in the other rested the pail of
eternity-the silence and peacs of tina:
sleep which knows no awakening in this
world. With start he drew his eyes
from the box, and putting his finger and
thumb into II, drew forth one of tie re-
naming pills. Riuere took the solitary
one remaining and both men simultane-
ously gulped down their tate. A few
seconds passed without any preceptib,e
movement on the part of either of them,
and then Riviere threw up bis hands and
without sound fell flat upon the grass.
He turned half round, gave one convul
sive shudder. and. az his rival bent over
him, breathed his last. The fair cause of
this awful tragedy was so horrified that
she refused to see Da!agrave again, and
the memory of those few minutes weighed !
so heavily upon him that he followed
R;viere to the grave in few months |
time.