Montgomery County sentinel., 1890-02-14
A Sensational Duel,

A duel which occasoned great SEN
saton at the time of its occur ,nce was
one between Henri Dolegrave and AL
phonse Riviere the cause being the suc-
cess of the former in wooing q young
lady to whom they were both attached
Riviere insulted his successful rival by
slapping him on the cheek in gaming
saloon, and it was agreed that duel
should take place, in which the life Of
one should be ended The details were
left to their seconds to arrange, and,
until they faced one another upon the
field, neither of the young men knew in
what form they were to brave death.
The following morning four men met
in a quiet woods. They were Riviere.
with NJ Savalle, his second, and Dele.
grave, who was accompanied by doc
tor named Rocquct The latter informed
the rivals that NJ Savale and himself
had arrived at the decision that, in order
to secure fatal result to one of the
principals, it would be best to leave out
of the question swords or pistols and to
trust to the more sure action of deadly
poison. As he spoke he drew from his
pocket a little box, in which lay four
black pellets all exactly identical in size
and shape.
"In one of these" he said, g. have a
sufficient quantity of prussic acid to
cause the almost instantaneous death of
any one who swallows it. Monsieur
Savile 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 doctor spun into the mir
a glittering gold piece, and, as it fell.
Savalle cried, Tails" 1t fell with the
head uppermost, and Savallc said "The
first choice is yours, Monsieur Dele
grave"
The two whose fate was contained in
those innocent-looking black balls had
shown no sign of trepidation while the
doctor explained the awful preparations
that had been made for the death of one
of them, and Delegrave's face was per-
fectly impassive as he selected and wash
ed down with glass Of caret one Of the
globules "And now, M. Riviere," said
said the doctor. Riviere extended bis
hand and took pill, which he swallowed
with rs little appearance of concern as
his opponent. A minute passed, two,
three, aud still the duelists stood motion
less. at is your choice again, M. Dele
grave said the doctor, ''but this time
you must swallow the pill at the same
instant that NJ Riviero swallows the
one you leave for him" Delegrave
paused for moment, looking in silence
at the two balls that lay before him.
Tho closest scrutiny showed not the
slightest difference between them; one
was harmless, but in the other rested
the pail Of eternity y-the silence and
peace Of that sleep which knows no
awakening in this world With start
he drew his eyes from the box and, put
ting his finger and thumb into it, drew
forth one of the remaining pills. Ri
Were took the solitary one remaining
and both men simultaneously gulped
down their fate A few seconds passed
without any perceptible movement on
the part of either Of them and then
Riviere threw up his hands and, with
out sound, fell fiat upon the grass
He turned half round, gave one convul-
sivc shuddcr, and, as his rival bent over
him, breathed his last The fair cause
of this awful tragedy was 80 Mortified
at il that she refused to SEQ Delegrave
again, and tho memory of those few
minutes weighed so heavily upon him
that he followed Rivicre to the grave in
a few months time. - Boston Transcript: