The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-07-29

upset and agitated, and when I sym
pathetically asked for the cause his
lip trembled, tears came to his eyes.
and he came very near weeping. In
the first place, he had come to chal-
lenge, and IN the next he wanted to
explain that owing to an accident to
his right arm he could not use the
rapier. He felt the humiliation to its
uttermost. 1 had the choice of weap-
ons, and he asked me to give way and
name the pistol. 1 cheerfully COM
piled, of course. The commodore was
my dear friend, and I'd rather have
done anything to oblige. l hadn't the
least idea what he was challenging me
for, but in those days it was not con-
sidered good manners to inquire. We
met at the usual hour, and 1 got bull
let through the leg while he got one
through the shoulder. The little affair
did not break our friendship in the
least. 1t was a year later when he
casually mentioned the matter of the
boosters and asked me to forgive him
for doubling me.
There was the case of Majah Bur-
banks, sab. The majah was one Of the
finest fellows 1 ever saw, and there
was simply one deficiency in his char
acter. He was inclined to exaggera-
ton. He also had one physical def
cheney. He could not use the rapier.
Soon after we became acquainted the
majaE took occasion to say to me:
that one Of us will have to challenge
the other. I cannot handle the rapier.
Let US understand in advance that
pistols shall he the weapons
II assented and week later, as we
met on the street one mawning, he
told me that he had just killed twenty
six rattlesnakes in his back yard. 1
believed him and sent the incident
along but within a few hours learned
that he had simply killed a garter
al ~ fW1 t7ea n
something to say about his eXaggera-
ton. He promptly challenged me. AS
a matter of fact, we met on the field
five different times within five years.
He hit me with two bullets, and hit
him with three, and we were the best
OF friends all the time. Not more than
half a dozen times in all have I gone
to the field firmly resolved to kill my
man. These were the occasions when
1 had been so insulted that the public
would have cried out in contempt had
I been soft hearted.
IF you have never stood before
man with a rapier in your hand, look
ing into his eyes and saying to your
self that you would kill him, you have
missed sensation. You know that he
is feeling the same towards you. You
may tremble for a minute when wait
ing for the signal to begin, but when
you get it you are like a rock again.
There is no other situation to compare
with it. Agility, strength. Quickness
OF eyes. dexterity. GOODNESS, calculation
all are brought into play. A battle
offers you 1T least even chances. A
duel offers you just one. You must
kill or be killed. When the rapier
went out the slug-shot came in. I
don't say that gentleman can't be a
gentleman these days, but / do say
that he can no longer fight as a gen.
tleman.
The only drawback to duelling was
that very admirable affair might de-
generate into a burlesque. Take that
little AFFAIR between Captain Shivers
and myself He was also in the law.
and we had just become acquainted
when we sat down one day to a game
Of poker. He began to win from the
start. and he won so steadily that at
length my suspicious became aroused.
I watched him for a while and then
finally said:
Excuse me, captain
What is 1t. colonel?'
"'You have an ace up your sleeve
DO you speak in the Singular
ct do"
"'Then you are wrong and have in
suited me-
"And thereupon what did he do but
produce three aces from his sleeve
end lay them before mel He insisted
that 7 had insulted him by thinking
he had but one ace and challenged me
to meet him. I was in doubt as to
what I ought to do until he touched
my cheek. Then my course was plain.
I accepted and chose pistols. When
we met on the field there were a hun
AraA sDectators. We were stationed