Evening journal., 1891-07-20
A DEAD SHOT.

"A DEAD DuOl,
In the summer Of 1874. when Martin G.
Scott was a much Simmer, more dandifed
looking man than he is now, there were
seated at one OF the little round marble
tables before the Cafe Ricci, in the Boule-
ward des Italiens, in Paris, two young
Frenchmen, the cheek Of one Of whom bore
a red mark as II some one had brought his
hand sharply against it. In an inner room
| OF the cafe the person who had done this
was engaged In wiping away from his
shirt front the stains of some red wine
which in his fury the recipient Of the slap
had hurled across the table. The man with
the red cheek was the young Adolphe Fer
rier, the son of the celebrated artist Of that
name. The man with thesoiled shirt front
was Martin g. Scott, Of Mobile, Ala
There had been an exchange OF cards, and
Scott and his friend, George f. Vain
wright, twelve hours later suddenly found
themselves with a large sized, healthy
French quarrel on their hands to be set
tied, as most of those matters are in France,
under the code.
When it came to choice of weapons
Scott had wisely chosen pistols, for, while
he was nOtoriously bad shot, he was
totally ignorant Of the use Of the rapier.
The affair was to come off at Auvergne,
little village distant about nine miles
from Paris, in forty-eight hours time.
The parties were to go out on the early
train.
doubt II Scott was so much cut about
the affair as Wainwright. even though he
fully expected to be killed. Wainwright
kept on blaming himself for having let his
,sAs IA ffah hsa
no child's play They were to fire at twelve
PAGES, and to continue firing until one Of
the parties was disabled.
The more Wainwright thought over the
0 affair the more he realized what an awk-
8 ward job he had upon his hands.
I He lay awake all night at his hotel, re-
/; volving some plan by which they could get
out Of the scrape He had frequently seen
Ferrier practiclng at fashionable pistol
o gallery in the Rue du Capacines He knew
y that he spent the best part OF every evening
9 there in ringing the bell on the target, to
o accomplish which feat as every one knows,
70 it is necessary to hit the bulls eye. Vain
e wright arose early with plan fully thought
G out.
Ie Come he said to Scott, 1--WE haven't toe
b. much time before us. We must 80 down
10 to Maupassant's gallery and get some
practice. You stay here and have some
breakfast. / don't care to eat SO early
e I'll run down there and see il we can't gel
10 the gallery all to ourselves for a couple Of
le hours"
g "That will be pretty costly, won't it''
II hazarded Scott.
lt "Not more than a decent coffin and al
40 the other funeral fixings," replied Vain
a wright with some little sarcasm. IF pos
s. sible / want TO throw those expenses o.
" the other fellow"
v. Wainwright jumped into a cab an,
dashed of to the Gallery Maupassant
sn where for upward of half an hour he re
e mained closeted with its proprietor
~ "It's agreed, then" said Wainwright a
y the conclusion Of the interview. "Now
or then, NJ. Maupassant, there are 250 franc
" down The remainder Of the 500 you &c
in II the duel doesn't come off,"
h, agreed" said the Frenchman, and h
ne sat down and wrote at least twenty letter
on like the following.
th "M. Maupassant requests the pleasure .
ie your company tomorrow afternoon at
ce o'clock TO witness the phenomenal shoe
ar ing OF an American gentleman, who ha
kindly consented to give an exhibition {
his skill at that hour"
OIL While NJ Maupassant was thus engage
az Wainwright put in half an hour maxim
or sundry purchases, returning with thel
ae to the gallery, where the next hour wa
10 profitably employed by him in compan
10 with an ingenious mechanic
re Meantime, as the idea grew upon tl
ho mind Of NJ Maupassant, he chuckled an
he wrote, extending his invitations, until,
.rd one-half Of them were accepted, the que
m tion was, would there be standing room
ar the galleryf
,ro 1--WE must certainly go down and see th
IA American shoot" said NJ. Ferrier's secon
~. "You may flnd some OF his tricks useful
az you at AuvergRe tomorrow"
NJ. Ferrier, whose courage was not OF q
5-oclock- k-in-the-morning kind shiver
slightly, though the weather was decided
warm
an 81 wish that fellow had chosen rapiers
1m he muttered. "These Americans are SUI
Ar devils with the pistol"
IL was o'clock in the afternoon.
loo NJ Maupassant's gallery was crowde
IL, NJ. Ferrier had an excellent seat. He 3
,,5 talking with his friend and second.
~ had been drinking somewhat to keep
courage mp, and his voice could be hea
all over the room. With a FrenchmaI
au- love of gossip, his second had talked free
at of the meeting Of the morrow.
en- AS the American had not yet come
an dozen voices called on Ferrier to step do1
aoo ana Atb some pidcAlle aha NAAtSo N-S W
pany at the same time.
H. Ferrier, who was really good shot, "
lad not little proud Of It, and with such
III ! audience he was not slow to avail hims
rs Of the opportunity thus afforded OF displi
dlv ing his skill
Throwing or his coat he stepped dor
on to the floor Of the gallery. and picki
.ab- up a pistol marked two bulls eyes in raj
,rk, | succession.
hat His third bullet went just above, howe'
nth An inch at least to the right
en- "Your pistol is a little heavy on the tr
per- ger, monsieur" said a voice behind him.
Turning quickly, he recognized Wa
4. wright, who was standing quietly by
smile full Of meaning in his blue eyes,
~ Ferrier, quite disconnected now, fired ags
vas and missed for the second time.
4ei At this moment side door in the gale
Ia opened, and scrupulously attired and no
''n' ing in either hand long dueling pistol