The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-05


"M'sicu will apologize. hope2 may
mention that the lady Is engaged 20 me"
II didn't know 10" said my opponent
Why didn't you tell me before2 Ny dear
fellow, / am most abominahly sorry for
having chartered. You have given me n
pig OF stab. and that ought TO settle
accounts between as. VIII you come and
breakfast with me when We're both tied
up2"
Sir" 1 said. IF you have anything TO
complain of, may hear it2'
Monsieur" he replied. Il think We had
better consider this affair as ended now"
The other duel IN which l took part was
none of my seeking. IL happened last
year In Florida. where my wife and
were spending the winter, and was thrust
upon me in manner little short of muir
derOus.
The beginning was I'm this wise: de-
tected a man cheating at cards. / was
not playing myself but the cheating was
done to swindle a fellow who was my
friend, and, because / saw IT, beyond
shadow of a doubt. called out to him to
stop play. OF course there was "a row,
and if the sharper had not been In mi-
nority OF one there might well have been
shooting. But. as 10 was, the thing was
utterly fragrant: indeed, the man him
self did not attempt 10 deny 1t, and he
went away scattering nothing more dan
gerous than venOmOus wordy threats. We
We're left triumphant pOssessors of the
field, and 1 waxed pedanuc to my friend
over the danger OF playing games OF
chance for coin OF the realm with casual
hotel acquaintances. Three days later
went of into the Everglades alligator
shooting, and for deer also, II l could
come across any.
Now what the spot was like will not
be spoken Of here in detail. Sufficient
to mention that among other things,
/ came upon an orchid which ] imagined
to be new, and all thoughts OF shooting
were, for the time, submerged beneath
the ardor Of the collector. / laid down
L afa.aHH
stem Of a magnolia tree. and began to
feast my eyes upon the trails OF hanging
blossom.
/ suppose 1 must have dawdled there
a fun hour. sketching. measuring. taking
notes, culling specimens, when of a sud-
den something went wisp past the top
Of my head, and then, close to, sounded
the noisy crack Of "a heavy rifle. BY a
sort of useless instinct the first thing
1 did was to start backward and TO duck
my head, the next to stare wildly around
me. A glance showed beyond question
where the bullet had come from. Down
a glade of live oaks, not sixty yards
away, a man was buslly engaged In slip
ping a fresh cartridge into the breech
of a rifle which had gray smoke wreaths
still crawling slowly from its muzzie.
II was the fellow / had exposed for
cheating at cards.
As l gazed. he finished loading and
sharply raised his weapon. l turned
and ran like a frightened dog, zigzag-
and making for the magnolia tree
There / snatched up my own rifle and
darted behind the tree. l stopped and
listened. Not a sound was TO be heard
which rose above the warm hum OF the
insects and the other never-ceaslng
noises of the forest ] could not doubt
that the man was watching me and
waiting for his next opportunity to pick
me off. My gorge rose at the thought
Of him. Brutel If he could fire sitting
shot at an unsuspecting man l knew
what ! had to expect. and what l must
do II my own life was to be saved. ! had
to depend on myself In that solitude the
next human creature might be twenty
miles away.
Thud!
A bullet had struck the tree. and the
noise OF the shot came close upon It's
heels / swung out from behind the trunk
whistled out from beneath the live oaks,
and / was poorer by the loss OF an ear
lobe. My own bullet ratified harmlessly
among the tree twigs. and / STROBE back
to shelter, raging and bleeding.
The passion of murder burned In me
then like torch. The heat of the day
seemed to have passed completely away
The perspra ton which stood on my body
turned cold as an ice douche. Never be-
fore had my thoughts gushed up with
such clearness and strength. II was a
duel to the death between me and the
sharper, and he had drawn first blood,
and l had got to win.
The words seemed floating in the hot
air before me-"killi kill kiln
l had reloaded the Remington, and
stood with ears strained to catch the
slightest sound which told OF my enemy's
moving. Till that moment / had suppos-
ed that his rife was a repeater. Now
another Idea came 10 me- There had been
two reports; one short and sharp, the
other heavier and more noisy. or course,
the thing was clear. He had fired a re-
volver shot first, to draw me from my
cover; had dropped the smallest weapon
the moment he pulled trigger; and had
fired on me with the rife directly |
emerged from cover. The hendish cum
ming of the man made my hate for him
glow in me like draught Of raw spirits.
All idea Of fairness Qf indeed such had
ever occurred to mel was completely
swept away by that time. / would fight
him by his own methods. The only ques-
ton was one of means. AS matter stood,
/ lay ensconced behind the stem of the
magnolia, and, II i stepped out of its
shelter, / should have to take his fire be-
fore l could get in my own. AS a snap
shot ! was very conscious of my own de-
hciencies; from observation l had a high
estimate of his skin.
But a brain working at the pressure
which mine was put to then yields up I'M
expected fruits; and when the idea did
al last come to me / could have sung for
very joy. But there was too much danger
in II to increase the risks unnecessarily
] slung my rifle by its strap across my
shoulder, and turned round and COM
menced to climb the magnolia.
The stem had been split by lightning, or
/ could not have got up without my hands
being seen round the Sides and as II was
the climb TO the first branch was despers
ately hard; but had the strength OF ten
men in me then, and the silent wilyness
of a Seminole, and l gained the cover OF
the foliage without having made a slip
or cracked a twig.
With the caution Of a lynx / made my
way up the ladder of branches, going
higher and higher till there was barely
one layer of the dark green shining leaves
between me and the burning sky above;
and then looked about me tin ! found a
steady seat; and then / unslung the Rem
ington from my shoulders. l brushed the
rustling curtain of leaves softly aside
with the muzzle an. peered out. My enc
my was on his old ground, standing be-
meath the live oaks with his rifle at the
ready. Some indehnable suspicion must
have got hold of him. for at that moment
he looked up.
The reports Of the two rifles rang up
into the heated air simultaneously, but
mine was the better aim. His bullet whis-
tied through the dark green leaves a foot
from my head; mine broke his right Ell
bow joint.
1 reloaded and hailed him. There was
a pool Of black water on the nearer side