The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1905-02-24
nected with the Block House rescue,


made for his own excuse and protec-
{. ton certain remarks relative to the
directions received from til" COM
mander. r. X. Call.
In those days friend fought for
friend, and these invidious remarks
! being addressed to Augustus Aston
| he resented them and in behalf of his
! friend. R. K. Call, sent a challenge
To Leigh Reed. demanding satistac-
ton.
| 1t was a chilly, misty morning; the
sun itself seemed to shrink away
/: from the direfuI scene, AMI men
stood apart in groups, silent and
I; solemn, but neither love or law whis-
pered condemnation Digniiiet and
! quiet self-possession Oh the part Of
the principals hid all emotion, if any
| existed.
Back to back" And the seconds
| murmured their fearful directions,
| and then came the awful order,
| "Wheel!" after the regulated steps,
and then the count, 'One, two,
| three.'' But the seconds, aghast
| counted no more, for Aston had
fired and stood hugging his gun to his
! heart, and Reed, deliberately aiming,
sent the ball through the handle of
the trigger of his opponents gun,
who fell dead before him.
| Even those looking on could not
| account for it. Colonel Reed had
| been regarded as q doomed man, not
| ONLY for his want of skill, but for the
noted reputation of his antagonist as
| shot. Be that SO, there lay the
| first in rigid death. the other un-
| touched and sorrowful. for impulsive-
ly he rushe toward the fallen man.
But. ne was held back, for it did not
seem right that he should put his
| hands on him. Explanations and in
| corporations followed. 1t seemed
! that as Colonel Aston wheeled he
! LOST his balance and did not recover
TO send his tire, and consequently II
: went aimlessly into the air The
! seconds. astoni he'd, ceased to count,
but Reed shot on time. and fatally,
and there was no claim of unfalrness,
as the. seconds forgot to count four.
The family of Colonel Aston were
so confident of his safety that great
feast had been prepared in recogm-
ton OF the occasion, and all friends
were invited to the adjacent home.
knowing what the shock would
prove, messengers were hurried to
carry the unexpected news. The
wife swooned, but the sisters refused
to believe it, and were only con-
WINGED Of the fact when the solemn
procession approached which bore
tors were employed to perform mira
cIes, but they could only place the
fatal bullet in the hands of the dis
tracted sisters, and with impreca-
tions one of them swOre that the
same bullet should avenge the broth
ernow so helpless i'll death.
But subsequently it was claimed
that the established laws of the code
duello had been violated and assassl-
nation was deemed fit for assasina-
ton. This is why Col. Reed died
with his boots on.
And Col. Reed, what of him?
An avenger away in Texas, which
was almost foreign country at that
time. had heard of the duel and call
ed it assassination
He came at once and the first
evening of his arrival on entering
Browns hotel, south of the capitol,
for supper, Willis Aston recognized
Col. Reed at the head of the table
and fired upon him at once, more In
spirit of warning than otherwise.
Again in seemingly the same spirit
he fired upon his carriage within
which he and his wife were driving,