St. Paul daily globe., 1892-09-11

the rest anu seemed to wait III patience
for the moment of being called on.
What are they throwing yonder" l
asked of student near inc. "For the
shot. OF course. but the labor is unnec,,
essary. as Bismarck must fire first, and
sure as thatm I asked III horror. .sThat
lie is; fellow who can take tfs neck of
a champagne bottle at twenty PAGES
may chance to hit q man at fifteen"
''Mo1tke has ft,h cried out one of
those at the table. and the words were
repeated from mouth to mouth until
they reached Bismarck, who shrugged
his shoulders, and merely asked. ''is all
ready" "Stand here, Bismarck" said
: oMoltke's second. as he dropped pebble
in the grass. Moltke was already
placed, and stood erect, his gaze di-
sYected to his antagonist. who never
glance fixed straight in front. "You fire
first, Sir" said Moltke'S friend, and his
voice trembled at the words. ''You may
reserve your fire until l have counted
twenty after the word is given" AS he
spoke he placed the pistol IN Bismarck's
hand, and called out, "Gentlemen. fall
back, fall back. Herr Bismarck, are
you ready?" A nod was the reply, and
scarcely was the word uttered when the
discharge OF pistol was heard. So
rapid was the motion that we never saw
him lift his arm, nor could any one say
what direction the ball had taken. II
knew it. l knew it, muttered Bis
marck's friend, in tones of agony. All
is over with him now. Before minute
elapsed the word to fall back was given,
and | now beheld MOltke standing,
pistol i'll hand, with smile of cool but
determined malice on his feat
ures, while the second repeat
ed the same words over to
him. l turned to look at Bismarck
but he evinced no apparent conscious
ness of what was going on about him.
His eyes, as before. were bent on va
signs OF passion. In an instant the
fearful "now" rang out, and Moltke
slowly raised his arm, and. levellng his
pistol, steadily stood with his eyes bent
on his victim, while the deep voice of
the second slowly repeated ''one-two
-three-four," never was anything
like the terrible suspense of that mo-
ment. 1t seemed as if the very seconds
of human life were measured out
one by one. AS the word ten dropped
from his lips l saw Moltke's hand
shake in his revengeful desire to kill
his man. He waited too long and grew
uOl NOuS lC iCU IT'D al ldll W lllS 0lu6
for few seconds, then, raising it again,
took steady aim, and at the word "nine-
teen," fired. A slight movement of
Bismarck's head at this instant brought
his face full front, and the bullet. which
would have transfiXed his head, now
merely passed along his cheek, tearing
rude flesh wound as it went. A half
cry broke from Moltke-I heard not the
word, but the accent / shall never for
get. 1t was now Bismarck's time, and
as the blood streamed down his
cheek saw his face assume the ex-
preston it used to wear in former days.
and gleam of vengeance made his eye
glow like that Of maniac. 81 am
ready"-''give the word?' cried he in
frantic impatience. But, Moltke's sec
ond fearful Of giving away to such
moment of passion, hesitated, when
Bismarck again called out, ''The word,
sir''-the word!" and the bystanders,
indignant at the appearance of unfair
ness, repeated the cry.
The Word Was Given.
The crowd fell back. and the word
was given. Bismarcksraised his weapon
above his head, then gradually brought
1t down until from the position l Occu-
pied / could see that he aimed for the
heart. His hand was mOtiOnleSs, his
eye, rivetted OH his antagonist, seemed
to fix on one small spot as though his
whole vengeance was to be glutted
there. Never was suspense more dread
full, and l stood breathless in the ex-
pectation of the fatal flash, when, with
a jerk of his arm, he threw up the pistol
and fired above his head, and with
heart-rending cry of "Mein bruder,
mein bruder." rushed into Moltke's
arms, and fell into torrent Of tears.
The scene was trying one, and few
could have witnessed it unmoved. ~
ifo.'Yes," said Bismarck, as we rode
home together, 81 had resolved to kill
him, but when my finger was even on
the trigger. saw look upon his face
that reminded me Of those earlier and
happier days when we had but one
heart and no homeland l felt as if l
was about to become the murderer of
my brOther.'
Need add that the broken friendship
was cemented, and lifelong affection
established between them.