Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-04-17
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY.
A Gentleman
Cowboy in Paris

more TO his list or killed. still exists
and will exist as long as dueling is in
fashion. During a recent trip abroad
one of these cases came under my no
tice. Indeed | took an active part In
it.
l was dining one evening ut Paris
cafe with my old friend, Ned Urner Of
st. Louis. when n dapper Frenchman
at a neighboring table suddenly seized
wine glass and threw the contents
i'm Ned's face. Ned jumped for the
man and knocked him down. but when
he arose instead of attacking Ned in
turn. he pulled out n card and threw
il on the table. When asked what
was the cause of his throwing the
wine, lie said that Ned had looked at
him insultingly and had then turned
to me and made some remark about
him. OF course this was mere pre-
text He was a duelist and had select
ell Ned for one of his victims.
Suppose. NJ. Bichot." 1 said-that
was the name on the card-"my friend
declines TO meet you. what then|
81 will be justified in shooting him
down wherever / can find him."
Then you will be guilIotined for
murder"
He shrugged his shoulders as only a
Frenchman can. The shrug and his
expression clearly said. The courts Of
France would never find me guilty in
such 4 case"
concluded that il was best to agree
TO a meeting. hoping to find some way
out Of il before It could take place. l
told NJ. Bichot that would act for my
friend. and he introduced me TO Il COM
panion who acted for him. In order to
gain time | appointed the meeting for
the second instead of the next day
and insisted on pistols for weapons.
Ned could not fence at all and was a
very poor shot. After arranging ev-
erything Ned and l went TO our hotel.
Ned to sleep. for he, was n happy go
lucky sort of fellow that nothing trou-
bled: l TO spend the night thinking ont
a plan to head off the Frenchman.
In the morning l went To the Latin
quarter. where I found an American
art student. Mark Winter. whom !
coached to help me. He was to seek
ont Bichot. secure an Introduction, in
vite him to drink with him and tell
him stories of the cowboys of America
the revolver. He was to mention his
acquaintance with an American gen
tleman. then in Paris. who had lived
a cowboys life. inviting Bichot to a
display of his skill.
All this Winter accomplished very
happily and adroitly. \ cowboy soiree
was arranged for the same afternoon
I'm Winters studio. When the guests
had assembled, Ned walked i'm. was
presented to the company, bowed
TO them and. pretending not to see
Bichot, proceeded to select a revolver
from several on a table. | saw it all
n pinhole i'm n screen. i'll the
center of which l had arranged n tar
get. borrowed from a shooting gallery.
| had my eye on Bichot. who the mo-
ment he saw Ned enter the room turn
ed as white as a sheet. l afterward
learned that the rapier was the duel
lists strong point. and he never used
the pistol when he could help it. Ned
was we'll calculated to play the part
OF n cowboy. l was only afraid he
would Overdo it.
Gentlemen" ne said in bad French,
this room is a very cramped place to
display a proficiency acquired on the
boundless plains of western North
America. but my friend Mr.. Winter
has done his best, and | will in turn
do my best"
As he spoke. revolver in hand. he
took n few steps toward his audience.
with his back to the target. then sud
denly turned and with the rapidity of
lightning emptied it of it's six shots.
Indeed he fired so rapidly that l was
barely able to keep up with him i'm
ringing the bell. / had not been so
reckless as to permit him TO fire ball
well knowing that If | did
| would he n dead man. Besides. he
would have riddled the target and thus
given away the whole scheme.
The next feature was tossing the re-
volver, up. catching it and ringing the
bell without apparently taking aim. l
had kept Ned practicing this feat all
the morning. but he was not proficient
at catching End when doing the feat
for Bichot's b>left very nearly ruined
the whole game by dropping the re-
volver. which exploded on the floor.
The audience jumped. then began to
look for the bullet. With proper pres
ence of mind I took q lead pencil from
my pocket and jabbed hole in the
screen near the floor. This saved us.
Ned repeated the performance. after
which ! made my way through n door
that had been purposely left open and
i'm walking costume entered the room.
Casting my eyes over the assembly,
rested them on NJ. Bichot.
what does this mean?" ] asked
sharply. lis this plan to murder
my principal by taking him I'M
1wares?" i
There was commotion on the part |
Of the spectators. which was not less
ened when 1t came out that duel |
was to come off the next morning be- |
tween one OF their number and the |
American cowboy. On the contrary, |
MI were wild To 500 tho encounter T