The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-10-13

I considered the code the nroessr rscorlrsa y
Tor a gentleman. ( was then prlcticing
law in my native village. where deemed
myself easily the greatest lawyer il: town,
If not in the State as well 1t was nee
essary to be aggressive, l thought 1
had taken Lord Tfuriow as my model.
and I fanc5ed myself like him. Only
two men stood in my path to eternal
fan,e-one was an old lawyer of our vii
lage. who had always scoffed at my pre-
tensions, and the other was editor of the
village newspaper, who had long ben
my avowed easny.
THE Old LAWYER appeared to take u
kind of fendish dtlight il huIniifating me,
and would rub it in on every occasion
when in court together. at last decided
to endure it no longer, and, selecting what
I considered al unusually Siaring affr3ut,
selected two young fellows in the village
as my advisers. one was said TO be Il
great AUTHORITY on the code ana ! felt
that he wotll be a very desirable second
..,The only point upon winch we differed
WIS as TO whether [ should give my
enemy a chance t. retract- / maintained
The code demanded 1t. but r.y seconiiA
insisted that my enemy was such Il cow
ard that he world do almost anything
~ avoid a fight. and so spoil the FUN
.it was decided that my colleague
s,,o,,Ia convey the challenge, ana. after g.
LENGTHY discussion as to the proper way
~ word II. he was finally dispatched with
-he message to the despised Wilson-for
that was his mans After an absence
of an hour or more he returned TO my
office and reported that he had seen VII
son and delivered the message The
fellow had read it-first with amuse-
unrt. nv friend jim thought; then with
-rear or fear. he could not tell which.
Did you tull him whore to send
reply? asked.
:''of course he. said. And he as good
as kicked me out of the house,.
While we sat there discussing the conf
ing tragedy there came a modest tap at
the door, followed by a woman,s voice
a sweet soft, yet firm tone, requesting
admittance. I hes:ta5cd Il minute ana
then admitted Myra Wilson, daughter OF
my prospective antagonist
81 should like to see you alone, If you
p1ease.' she began in q hesitatIn@ voice,
casting glances toward my companions.
81 bowed politely, although my heart was
flutterins ike a leaf in the WING 80
Wilson was one of the handsomest girls
in the community and to tell the tru,h,
we had once been lovers, but something
had occurred to part us / escorted jim
and his companion into private room
adjoining this and after | had closed the
door turned 10 Miss Wilson, VINO was
standing in the middle of the room. her
small hands cilncned ~ Iiei 'slS'SS CO. ~
big black eyes flashing fire.
Mr. 4 - she began. catching ner
breath while the color flilted through her
checks in dashcs of red, is it true that you
wish TO fight my father-that you have
challenged him TO a duel?
II never felt so mean in my life rs d.d
nj that moment | don't know what said
to the young lady, hut l do know that
she began by upbraiding me for wanting
to fight q man old enough to be my fatn-
or. She ended by saving that il | even as
much as harmed a hair of his head she
would load rhe family shot gun to the
brim and fill me so full of buckshot
that I wouldn't hold Ohio river wafer.
She also said that # I would call at their
house nj once her father would make any
apology due me.
.'Weu. 10 make long Story short,
called upon the old fellow that even
ing and was treated Ike prince They
insisted that / remain for dinner, and af-
ter the meal [ was treated 20 some excel
lent music by Miss Wilson. The father
aeJained me until nearly midnight, and
when | finally tore myself away IL WAS
with the expression of warmesc friendship
and respect on my part, which. was
assured, were mutual (and which had
probably been augmented, as it were, by
the excellent things that flowed from the
Wilson cella).
That's about all there 4-~of it, ex-
cept that | married Miss Wilson. Bal
timore sun.