Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1899-01-14


lnst of all, the Mronged husband. He
lid what any other man would have,
done in his challenged heyoung,
German to duel with pistols. The
baron, who was unable to explain to his
own satisfaction how he had been cap
tivated by the graces of Mrs. Parker,
found himself in lamentable guam
.ary. A challenge from Mr.. Parker he
well knew was equivalent to death
sentence, or at least very close shave.
Should the Englishman insist on the
duel there was no doubt as to the re-,
suit. He thought the matter over very
carefully, and was suddenly filled with
great concern as TO the effect which
his death would have upon his widowed
mother, and, being desirous above all
things of sparing her. he persuaded two.
of his friends, who happened to be in
1iomburg at the time, to seek out and
try to pacify the offended husband.
Mr.. Parker received the gentlemen
with all the polished politeness of
han of the world. .
Gentlemen" said Mr.. Parker, cold
ly. in French, ~ really fail to under
stand the object of your visit. Surely
the details of this matter have been
discussed at sufficient length! Nothing
more remains to be said"
You are right, sir" replied the elder
of the two ambassadors, "but we have
come trusting to your tenderness of
heart, and we are sure you will not be
able to turn deaf ear to our plea. We
have come to appeal to you, not on be-
half of the baron. but for the sake of his
mother. to whom he is all in all, and
who will certainly die of grief if any
thing happens to her ideal. We ask YOU
to agree to other terms. Would you poi
son and curtail the life of weak wo1p-
an? Think of your own mother"
| Then the speaker explained at length
TO Mr.. Parker that the baron was the
last male representative of his line, the
lest of a famous house, and that the
lumor, even, of the approaching duel
might cause the mothers death.
Mr.. Parker listened with quiet dig
nifty, and when the gentleman closed
with warm appeal to his goodness of
heart. the Englishman rose, and with
out losing any of his dignity, or relax
ing his severity of expression, said:
II will not have the death of the
mother OH my conscience; just give me
time to think of some way out of this.
l will write to you tomorrow"
The two callers took leave, after hav-
ing overwhelmed Mr.. Parker with
words of gratitude for his magnanim-
ity. Their thanks seemed to embarrass
| him for ha hn1I Int,t 1,tc Ioy htc
modestly sought the floor.
Next morning the gentlemen received
the following letter:
Dear Sirs-
you appealed to my sympathy. AS
1 said TO you yesterday, l will not be
guilty of depriving the mother of her
son, and ] do not think that in Hem
burg there could be two opinions as to
what would be the outcome of the duel
which was to have taken place between
the baron and me. l withdraw the
challenge. In return for this expect
the baron to pay over to my orphans
such a sum as he may himself deter
mine. At the same time l take it for
granted that he values his young life
at, at least G1,COO. viii you have the
goodness to make this known to the
baron?
"Finally, gentlemen, I must lay par
ticular stress on the fact that, as
leave uomburg tomorrow morning,
shall have to lay upon you the condi-
ton, as men of honor. to clear up any
misunderstanding which may arise as
to the cause of my having backed out
of the duel. / trust to your fairness to
justify me wherever and whenever you
shall find it necessary or advisable"
On the following day Mr.. Parker re-
ceived from the baron letter of regret
and apology, and check for 91.2O0.
The promise was also made to send
more as soon as the writer should be in
position to do so. The c 200 sent
was all that he had in hand at that mo-
ment.
Mr.. and Mrs. Parker at once left
IIomburg, and on the following day a
new scandal occupied the minds and
wagged the tongues of the visitors
The baron, it is scarcely necessary to
say, speedily quilted lIomburg, as he
had no wish to keep alive the story OF
MS misfortune anu OF MT. IdTkeT
magnanimity. He succeeded, strange
as it may seem, in hiding all knowledge
of the affair from his mother. The
c 1900 with which he had bought his
life was pretty nearly the amount he
had won at the gambling table.
He did not forget lis promise to Mr.
Parker, and few years later, when he
came into possession of his estates, he
sent a check for 300 to the trustees
orphanage of Hamarby, York. Strange
10 say, the letter came back unopened
but the envelope was covered with note:
which gave the following information;
The so-called Parker orphanage al
Hamarby had formerly consisted of G
tumbled-down hovel inhabited by nj
old woman and a cripple, but at the
time of writing nothing but the ruin.
remained, Parker, who was we'll
known swindler, had, two years previ
ouslV cscuDod arrest by flight WIFI