The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-07-21

Register Ofilce, md tho time, tomorrow
bright and early"
"Do you mean To insult us?" This was
said with sternness.
"By no means"
"You cannot be serious"
"Nevor more 10 I'm my lifo. by tho
rules 0f honor the challenged has tho right
~ choose tho weapons and tho time and
place Of nesting. II that not sof'
Certainly"
Every well. Your principal has chal-
lenged mine. All these rights are, OF
course, his, and he IL justified In choosing
the weapons with which be II most fnnil.
lar. The weapon no can use best IN the
pen, and he chooses that. II Bostwick bad
been tho challenged party, be would, OF
course, have named pistols, with which he
IL most familiar, and Weldon would have
been called "a coward, q poltroon, or some.
thing equally bad, II, after sending q
challenge, he had objected to the weapons
chosen by his adversary. Will your prin.
oipai find himself IN any different position
u no decllpes this meeting upon Ike
groundsS think pot. Pens are ~ good
~ pistols and will do as much execution"
Fighting with pensi Prcposterous"
mot quite 80 preposterous as you may
think. Mr.. Weldon has more than inti-
mated that Mr.. Bostwick is no gentleman.
For this he Is challenged to single combat
which is to prove him to DO either gen
tleman or not Surely the most sensible
weapon with which TO do this is the pen.
Pistols won't demonstrate the matter.
Only the pen can do IL. So the pen Is
chosen. In The Register tomorrow morning
my friend stands ready to prove that he Is
q gentleman, and your friend may prove
that be is ono and that gentleman has
the right to insult publicly and without
provocation whomsoever no pleases. De
pend upon 1t you will find this quite as
serious an affair as II pistols had been
used"
~ did not come here to be trifIed with. :"
"There Is no trifling In the matter at all
am In earnest. The Register Is the bat
tlefeld; the time as early tomorrow as
you please. Are you prepared for the meet
ingf'
"No."
"Do you understand the consequences?
"What cOnsequencesf"
"Your principal will be posted as cow
ard before night"
"Are you mad?"
"No. Cool and earnest. We fully I'M.
derstand what we are about"
The officers second was nOnplused. He
was unprepared for such position of af.
fairs.
"I'll see you In the course of an hour, Z"
he said at length, rising.
"Very we'll You will find me here"
"Is all settled?" asked the valiant lieu
tenant as his second came into his room
ut the hotel, where he was impatiently
pacing the floor.
"Settledl No, nor likely to be. I OBJ.
jected to the weapons. and indeed to the
whole arrangements"
OBJECTED to the weapons! And pray
what did he name-a mitrailleuse or q
cannon?"
"No, nor gatling gun, but an internal
pen."
"a what?'
"Why, curse the fellow, pen! You are
to use pens; the place Of meeting, The Reg.
lister; the time, tomorrow morning. He
Is to prove that you are no gentleman,
and you are to prove that you are one and
that gentleman Is at all times privileged
to insult whomsoever he pleascs without
provocation."
"He Is a cOwardly fool.'
"If these terms are not accepted, he
threatens to post you as coward before
night"
"What?"
"You must accept or be posted. Think
Of that!"
The precise terms in which the lieuten
ant swore and the manner in which hi
fumed for the next five minutes need not
be told He was called back to his sober
senses by the question:
"Do you accept the terms of the meet
ingt"
"No, of course not The fellows fool "
"Then you consent to be posted. How'll
that sound9"
"I'n cut off the rascal's ears II he dares
attempt such a thing"
"That won't secure Kittie Brownlow,
the cause Of the contest"
Hang it, mol"
"With pens for weapons, that would be
killing you little too quickly"
"NO doub', but the public won't bear
him out in such an outrage, in such vio-
lation of all the laws of honor"
"By the code of honor the challenged
party has the right to choose the weapons
and the timo and place of meeting"
81 know
anu yOu uTS w ilItCO 0bC man
you have challenged upon the terms he
has proposed. That is all plain and sim
pie enough. The world will understand
that"
"But what's to be doneY"
"You must fight, apologize or be posted.
There is no other alternative. To be post.
ed won't do. The laugh would be toe
strongly against YOU"
"True. What thenS'
"It must be made up some way or an
other"
$50 I think"
"Will you write ar apologyS"
~ don't know. That's too humiliat.
Ing"
"It's the less OF two evils"
So mt last tho valorous lieutenant
thought. When the seconds again met, II
was to agree upon n settlement Of the diff
Guilty. This could only be done by very
humble apology, which was made the next
day.
The young officer left the city little
wiser than when he came. Weldon and
his second said but little Of the matter,
but few choice friends were let into the
secret, and that is how we heard 1t.