The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-07-10
NUMBER 25.

strange way, stepped out of the real
world into the world of romance, and as
he fought, the charm of heroism fell
upon him, and, like the knights of old,
he felt the strength of glorious 6esper-
auon. All round him the vague spirit
OF dreamland seemed to hover, though
the hideous pictures of skeletons and
cadavers CLEANED real enough in the
glare OF the chandeliers. What inspired
MN most, however, was the knowledge
that he was trying his force with that Of
the greatest duelist in the world and one
that had always killed his man.
There was something more that gave
spirit and courage to Coleman; he was
in some indirect way remembering the
beautiful girl who had appeared at the
door of his room, and he half-imapined
'that he was doing battle for the right to
know more of her. Youth is a mystery
III Itself, and love knows no law of origin
or of progress.i BY some cerebral sleigRt,
some trick of thinking under Thought
so to say, Col6nan was making a love
dream keep time to the ringing strokes
OF his sword. A girl whose name he did
not know, whose voice he had never
heard, was inspiring him as he strained
every nerve.
As the combat proceeded the lockers
on saw that Coleman's play was new TO
the judge, who had great difficulty in
meeting and parrying certain eccentric
movements that invariably ended in a
thrust of lightning quickness. Presently
the judge tore off his mask with his left
hand; he had to do this at the risk of his
life, for he could not breathe freely with
1t on, but his great skill saved him even
then; nay, more, it came near giving him
the victory. As Coleman lunged the
agile creole leaped aside and returned
quickly with wicked thrust that barely
reached his adversary's breast, piercing
1t to the depth of half an inch.
Now the fight took on more of passion
and less of grace, as if the men felt that
1t was to be a test of strength at last
Round and round, back and forth. this
way and that, they leaped and recoiled
and advanced, their faces-one dark and
beautiful as Southern night, the other
fair and magnetic as New England June
day-fixed and staring, the white froth
gathering on their lips.
When the end came it was like moth
ing ever before witnessed in a New
Orleans duel. How it happened not one
of the observers could tell, but the two
men appeared to rush into each others
arms, and then it was seen that each had
run the other through.
That broke the charm. The masked
men sprang forward and separated the
combatants and all began to talk at
once.
CHAPTER V.
Judge Favart dc Caumartin and Hep
worth Coleman were, by order of the
judge himself, taken to the judges man.
sion. where their wounds were examined
by physicians and surgeons quickly sum-
mOned.
Mile. Olympic de Caumartin found her
self nursing two almost dying patients at
the same time. Although she suspected
that this was the result of duel
between her father and the young
stranger, she was not told the secret of
the affair until long afterward.
Strange to say, although the judge
was much the older man and was
wounded much nearer the heart, he re-
covered and was walking about in his
house before Coleman had even taken a
turn for the better. The first thing he
did was to order his daughter to cease
her nursing of the young man.
ut is not proper" he said, 'for a
young girl to be the nurse of a man who
is stranger"
Mile. Olympic blushed scarlet and was
so much confused that she could not find
word to say. 1t had been a great
pleasure to her to wait upon Coleman,
who, though for the greater part of the
time quite insensible of her presence,
seemed to respond better to her care
than to the treatment of the doctors.
She had been having her sweet dream,
was in love with him, indeed, and the
command of her father struck her like a
blow.
Judge Favart de Caumartin suspected
the truth about his daughter, and was
not slow in making up his mind in the
matter He gave strict orders that the
hall between Coleman's rooms and the
rest of the mansion should be kept at all
times locked and barred.
Love laughs at such precautions. Hep
worth Coleman during his cOnvalescence
lay on his back and thought of nobody
but Mile. Olympic, and when at last he
was able to get up he sent for her. 1t so
CHANGED that the judge, having got well
in measure, was gone up to Natchez on
business.
Mile. Olympic did not go to see the
young man, but she wrote him note ex-
planning her fathers wishes.
'But he has never forbidden you to
come to see me when you are able to
walk so far as to the library" she added
very frankly, "and / see no reason why
you should stay away"
When the judge returned it was too
late to interfere, as he soon discovered,
and he had to bow to the inevitable.
The mystery of the adventure with the
masked men in that secret hall has never
been further explained. Judge Favart
de Caumartin would not consent to his
daughters marriage until he had exacted
promise from Coleman that he would
never divulge what he knew.
The truth was that Coleman knew
very little. He tried to discover the blind
alley into which the judge had led him
on that eventful evening, but there was
no such alley to discover. The where
abouts of the mysterious hall cannot be
pointed out to-day, although from that
memorable Tuesday in the spring of
1920 up to the Mardri Gras of 1861, every
anniversary of the Mystic Krewe has
been duly celebrated by fantastic band
bldl dbdCtIbtlH nOul VI lut ulBnL pdfdues
the streets of New Orleans. l do not
refer to the regular carnival societies
these are but playful limitations of .mys-
terry. The genuine Krewe, as weirdly
strange and mysterious as ever, may be
seen only on Royal street, a small band
headed by tall, slender, dark man who
wears an invisible mask and quaint
black velvet cap. Where they come
from nobody has ever been able to dis
cover; who they are is not known even
to the great Rex, the King of the Carni-
val
Hepworth Coleman and Mile. Olympic
de Caumartin were married in due time
and lived ON Royal street all their lives.
Every year on the evening Of Mardi Gras
they were called upon to give dinner to
the Mystic Krewe, thirteen IN number,
who ate in silence with their masks on.
The last of these dinners was in 1850.
That year saw tho twain, who for forty
years has been happy together, laid in
their tomb side by side.
Strangely enough, there is no record
whatever Of Judge Favart de Caumar-
tins death; indeed, there is a tradition
to the effect that he il is who still leads
the Mystic Krewe.-MdU-ice Thomson
IN the San Francisco Sunday Cal.
The day before the Rev. DIR. Breck-
inridge died Of heart disease at Detroit,
during the Presbyterian general assem-