St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-14
nd looking at the count: 1T was you, .

anu lOOklHS dI tuo cOuHt. IL was YOU,
said |.
Eyes, it was ~ said the count, with
some agitation, land that pierced pict-
ure is souvenir of our last interview"
MY dear, do not tell the story" said
the countess, ''you know it always
makes me ILL.,"
mo" said the count. Monsieur
knows how slapped his friend. and he
must know how he was revehged. l
have been married five years. The first
month of our marriage we passed In
this village. One evening l and the
countess were out riding, when her
horse SHE'D and she jumped to the
ground, throwing her reins to
me, and she walked back to
the house. Upon arriving there |
formed that visitor waited to see me
in the library and that he had refused
| to give his name. / entered the room
and saw man with long beard and
covered with dust seated in corner.
He was close to the fireplace. | halted
| a moment looking at HIM. You don't
know me?' said he, with sinister vlbra
ton in his voice. 'Sylvio?' said l, and |
felt my hair rise and stand on end. 1t
| is my turn to shoot now Are you
ready?' said he. He had pistol at his
belt. / made sign that recognized
| his right, and measuring dozen PAGES
| [ placed myself in the corner. asking
him to fire quickly that my wife might
not haYe time to enter L cannot see,''
| said he; let us have light | ordered
one. and closed the door behind the
servant, took my place, and asked that
| | might not be made to wait long.
! He saw that / counted the sec
onds-I was thinking of her. 1t
was frightful minute. SylviO let his
hand fall. 1T Is too bad that the pistol
| is loaded with ball and not cherry
stone; 1t is so heavy that it tires my
| hand.' Then, after minute that was
| an age to me, he said: Truly this is not
a duel; this is an assassination. am
not in the habit Of shooting at an I'M
armed man. Let us recOmmence.' My
head whirled. / believe that did not
at first consent. However, l remember
that we loaded two pistols, and threw
couple Of pieces Of paper into n1 the cas- as
quette that had pierced. Chance IA
Yored me again: was to shoot first
You are mighty lucky said he. with
smile that L shall never forget. don't
know how it happened, but. instead OF
hitting my adversary, the ball went into
that picture"
| He pointed to the picture, and then
| his face was purple; that of the count
tess was pale, almost livld.
''Sylvio raised his pistol and aimed
again. The expression on his face told
me that should not have long to wait.
| All at once the door opened and Marie
entered, ran to me, and threw herself
upon my shoulder. Her presence made
me cool. l made an effort and laughed.
You ninny,' said l, do you not see that
we are only amusing ourselves? Go
and drink glass of water and return.
| friend of mine.' Monsieur. in the
name of heaven is it true that you are
only amusing yourselves? saiy she, adj
dressing Sylvio. Yes, yes,' said he,
1T is true that we are only playing. 1t
is the custom of the count to play. One
day in playing he boxed my ears an
other day. again playing, he sent a ball
through my casquette; again in playing
| he has missed me for the last
| time. Now it is my turn to
play. Upon saying these words
he aimed at my heart Marie Under
stood all and threw herself at his feet.
'Ah,' said l to myself, are you not
ashamed of yourself9' and, furious,
cried, Look here, monsieur, are you
going to finish this? Are you. going to
olOOls Cd VI uO. NOs ooio OyiNios
why not?' No, 1 am content. I see
your fear, your terror. Twice you have
| Shot at me and twice you have missed
me. You will remember it, and will
leave you with your conscience He
went toward the door to go out; but
stopping upon the threshold he hastily
| took aim and fired, then went out, and
that might not doubt his aim he put
| his ball exactly in the same place with
mine. My wife was gone. The serv-
ants could only look at her with fright"
And thus it was that / learned the
| sequal to that strange story.