San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-06-30

had known m well. My seconds would
consider it very natural hat l should re-
move the smoke-Colored spectacles in
order to see my ain unencumbered-the
only person likely to be disconnected by
my action was Ferrari himself. The
more l thought of it the more deter
mined | was 10 do it. l had scarcely
finished dressing when Vincenzo entered
with my my overcoat, and informed me
that the Marquis waited for me, and
that a close carriage was in attendance
at the private door Of the hotel.
Permit me to accompany you, Eccel-
ienza!" pleaded the faithful fellow, with
anxiety in the tone of his voice.
Come then, amico!' l said cheerily.
"If the Marquis makes no objection l
shall not. But you must promise not to
interrupt any Of the proceedings by so
much as an exclamation"
He promised readily, and when l
Joined the Marquis he followed, carry
ing my case of pistols.
ale can be trusted, / suppose?" asked
D'Avencourt, glancing keenly at him
while shaking hands cordially with me.
ITO the death!' l replied, laughingly.
"He will break his heart if he is not al
lowed to bind up my woundsl"
81 see you are in good spirits, Conte,"
remarked Captain Freccia as we took our
seats in the carriage. 1T is always the
way with the man who is in the right.
Ferrari, l fear, is not quite so comforta-
ble."
And he proffGred me a cigar, which |
accepted. Just as we were about to start
H., Fnr 10 ,,dlprJ Of tba hntnl erchnI
towards US, and laying hold of the car
rage dOor-"Eccellenza," he observed
in a confidential whisper, ''of course this
is only a matter of coffee and glorias?
They will be ready for you all on your
return. l know understand !" And
he smiled and nodded a great many
times, and laid his finger knowingly on
the side of his nose. We laughed heart
lily, assuring him that his perspicuity
was wonderful, and he stood on the
broad steps in high good humor, watch
ing us as our vehicle rumbled heavily
away.
"EvidentIy," Remarked, 'he does not
consider a duel as a seriOu affair"
mot he j." replied FreCcia. He has
known of too many sham fights to be
able to understand "a real one. D'Aven-
court knows something about that,
too, though he always kills his man.
But very often it is sufficient to
scratch one another with the sword
point so as to draw a quarter of a drop
of blood, and honour satisfied! Then
the coffee and the glorias are brought,
as suggested by our friend the landlord
1T is a ridiculous age, said the Mar
quis, taking his cigar from his mouth,
and ~complacently surveying his small,
supple white hand, 'thOroughly ridicu-
lous, but l determined it should never
make a fool of me. You see, my dear
COnte, nowadays a duel is very fire.
q~uently decided with swords rather
than pistols, and why? Because cow
ards fancy it is much more difficult to
kill with the sword. But not at all.
Long ago l made up my mind that no
man should continue to live who dared
to insult me. | therefore studied
sword play as an art. And | . assure yOu,
it is a simple matter to kill with the
sword-remarkably simple. My oppo-
nents are ~aStonished at the ease with
which | despatch them"
Freccia laughed. ode Hamal is a pu-
pill of yours, Marquis, is he not?"
Il regret to say. YES. He is marvel
lousy clumsy. | have often earnestly
requested him to eat his sword rather
han handle it so bOoriShly. Yet he
kills his men, too, but in a butCher-lIke
Numerically without grace or refine
ment. l should say he was about on a
par with our two associates, Ferrari's
| seconds"
l reused myself from a reverie into
which | had fallen.
What men are they?" l inquired.
"One calls himself the Capitano Ga
BATH, the other Cavaliere Dursi, at your
service answered FreCCia indifferently.
Good a both, and hard drinkers
filled with stock-phrases, such as our
distinguished dear friend Ferrari,'
wrongs which can only be wiped out by
blood'-all bombaSt and braggadocio!
These fellows would as soon be on one
side as the other"
He resumed his smoking, and we all
three lapsed into silence. The drive
seemed very long, though in reality the
distance was not great. At last we
passed the Casa Ghirlande, a superb
chateau belonging to a distinguished no.
bleman, who in former days had been a
friendly neighbor to me, and then our
vehicle jolted down a gentle declivity
which sloped into a small valley, where
there was a good-sized piece of smooth,
fiat g~reensward. From this spot could
be family discerned the castellated tur-
rets OF my own house, the Villa Romani.
Here we came TO a standstill. Vincenzo
jumped briskly down from his seat be-
side the coachman and assisted US to
alight The carriage then drove off to a
retired corner behind some trees. We
surveyed the ground, and saw
that as yet only ono person
besides ourselves had arrive 4.
This vas the surgeon, a 64pI@
To Be Continued