The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-02-14

On. e them seized hold of deformed
CHARCOAL burner, named Simon, and said,
You aren't the man, are you? You look
INK. ;Iim.''
Leave tao poor fellow alone,'' said
| Mauday, sitting down agaia. IF I'm the
| man you want, don't annoy these others.
What is the matter with your. :"
80 you are La Pointe!' said the RAG
! leader. "You have hidden yourself so
| well for the last twenty years that no
! one could find you. 1t seems that pru-
dence arrives with age, and"
+ what do you want?" exclaimed the old
| tailor, the blood rushing to his face.
| 1"Well, we'll; we want to feel your
pulse said one of them, sneering.
'..Ah, you want to feel my pulse, do
you? You hear that?"i he said, turning
to everybody in the room. 'They want
to feeT my pulse; that's why they came.
You will remember? The provocation
didn't come from my side, but I accept
it," - -" - .:.'.
| Against which of us?.,s asked the big,
| Swordsman. - s-
Against a1l!'' cried Mauday. eyes. you
aave all insulted me and DEFY you al.
| I'll find a couple Of old veterans for my
| witnesses, and we will see one another
again at the Basic gate"
| Putting on his old hat, Mauday went
out without even glance at his perse'
curors. But he was no longer a melan-
choly' old tailor; his eyes flashed hre, and
| he was like wild beast reused up from
long sleep, gritting it's teeth from hum
ger and thirst.
Silence .reigned in the tavern; the
swordsmen had obtained their wish.
| The day for the duel came.
| I shut up the shop and told my wife we
| would take walk. Ten minutes later we
were walking arm in arm toward our lit
tie garden by the Basic gate, glad to
breathe the fresh air of the fields and see
| the trees bursting into bud. AT half-past
4 we were peacefully admiring our vio-
let's and tulips. The sun was gliding
few small clouds that fecked the sky
| above the hilltops the calm freshness OF
springtide breathed over the land. We
| had just found a birds nest in our garden
hedge and Josephine was in raptureS over
! it. But the distressful cries of the mother
! bird, as she flew from branch to branch
over our heads, made us move away from
| the nest.
| AS we moved, I caught the faint sound
Of steel clashing in the distance. But
my wife heard nothing. We entered the
| summerhouse, and I told her to wait
| there while I went to order some slips
| from the gardener who lived up the road.
Then I hurried through the plantation
| whence came the clinking Of the foils.
1t grew louder at each step. Yet imagine
my horror when, peering over the hedge,
I caught sight of a tall form lying pros
trate on the ground. It was that of the
dark faced officer, his mouth full OF
blood, his CLASSY eyes wide open, his SOL
dier's coat lying beside him on the grass.
He was the first to fall.
The others had moved on few PAGES
and were continuing the fight. No one
thought Of the dead. AS 7 drew near,
still hidden by the hedge, I heard sud-
den exclamation:
| ''Ah!'
THAT'S number two!'' hooking voice
exclaimed. Twas Mauday. ,--....--..g-.. -
Looking through the Foliage, I saw an
other PROSTATE body and several figures
bending over it. Mauday in his shirt
lsleeves alone stoodtupright, Wa1t1ngeS$Hlss.
flushed face had an expression of Zero
cious joy, and suddenly he burst out:
Come, come. We can count them
presently. He's dead; that's enough Aet
us have another one; the best of you
The quickest, the most skillful! There,
| that one there" said he, pointing to the
.,ne who had called him a dancing mas
ter. But this one did not seem part1cu-
.arly anxious
.The best way is to cast lots" said ne:
in a tone very different from the one ne
had used in Bibis tavern:
! "Whv," said the old tailor, what do
Won make so much fuss about? You GER
lainly chose me, all six OF you' ana no"
it's my turn to choose you
I NO." said the fencing master, casting
lots is the regular way
"Well, then, hurry up! I'm just warm
and I don't want to catch cold
There was terrible scorn and irony In
the old tailor's voice. His two seconds.
lboth Of them old veterans, looked on COM
pIa &C ntly. The others grouped togetner
ard cast lots, and by chance the lot teH
to the very one whom the talor ny n.y.
chosen. He turned as pale as death ana
slowly drew off his coat.
| "Dutref" cried one of his brother Off
GERS. "be en- your guard: YOU sa" the
kind of thrust he made"
..Hor' nockingly exclaimed old Mandy,
'thcse aren't the only ones: Ihere are
dozens of others In the old Thirty-sec-
ond we used to invent two or three new
TRUSTS every morning before we went
to mass ."
they took up their respective positions
and the foils crossed. The tailor Was
facing any way. AS the tolls came IL. IN
contact, he caught my eye and smile
flitted across his lips. He was pleased
fo- me to witness his skill. - But over
fco-ne with mingled feelings of horror ana
pity. cried out:
"Eather Mauday, don't kill him! He
too. has a mother! A mother who loves
him. as yours loved you. Father Mauday.
for the sake OF your mother' 'aaoe1'1'e
i--:" .-s-s~ 49,. e.. 9 s'-
The foils played lightly in the air with
an o1n1nous. clicking A frown darkened
on the. face OF the old tailor; his jaws
re tightly ,clenched, his eyes gloWen
like Goals of fire. He filled me with terror.
Yet twice, having parted his antagonist
Thrust. he had refused to take the op-
porlunity~ of running him through.E
Finally, he wounded him on the arm
and said brusquely:' -
THAT will do for ycu-don't try IT again
Let that be lesson to you!' ~
! His expression was slightly softer. The
wounded man went off well pleased tc
escape 50 easily, and one of the seconds
| hound up his arm with handkerchie.
AS for Mauday, he was still there wait
ing : - =. : III s :. :
.'well.'' said he, who comes next:
, There's plenty for everybody
THAT is SUFFICIENT; honor is satisfied,
said one of:the officers. = .ss 80.
,.You think so, do you?" replied
the tailor. ''I> might we'll say that
, am. not satisfied, that I don't
leave my regular routine for such
, q triae. I might well say that when FIVE
. or six of you join together to insult an
old man-for /, am an old man-you ought
at least to sustain your insolence to the
end But be off with you. We viii call
# even. Only just remember the old
, | 1,birty-second, and bear in mind that
, those old dogs are still as good as any
!, Of your dandies-their teeth are sharp!
, The swordsmen went off in silence, fol-
: lowed by their seconds. They were furi-
, I Gus. but their rage did not go so far as
. to demand further satisfac tion OF the oio
tailor: they had so grossly slns y ted !,
II The two bodies remained on the ground
and the wounded man went away, leaning
;. m a comrades shoulder. Mauday picked
:. M, HE GOAT nd slipped It on unconcerned.