The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1907-07-04
A STRANGE
DUEL
BY CAPT. JAMES WELLS.

-
ready had been there a week, and /
chance. She smiled at him as she
never smiled at me. 1t made me
angry. That was why I challenged
him to duel, with pistols. l thought
he was a coward and that he would
not fight.
"Ah, captain" said he, "let us not
mess up the hacienda with shooting
n another. Let us settle it another
way"
He led me out into the yard where
the had two condors chained to
iron posts. Great birds they were,
with wings that spread perhaps ten
feet. The senior had raised them
from chicks, they told me.
"The birds, captain-they give me
an idea. They never have flown, but
their strong wings will bear them far.
If a basket were fastened to them,
they could lift a man in the air-per-
haps. 1t would be worth trying"
What do you mean?" / asked.
Since you wish a duel to the death,
1cC US IO6S lOl lC-ll1c lOScI W VOyd5S
into the air with the BIRDS"
1t was a foolish idea, but I would
not be bluffed by the Gillian.
"All right, Almaraz," l said.
1t is a queer country down there at
the foot of the Andes. When Inez
and the senior heard about it, instead
of trying to prevent the odd duel be-
tween Alamaraz and myself, they an
couraged it. The neighbors rode in
from nearby h%aciendas, and all the
servants and riders on the rancho
gathered to see the toss the
coin.
Tails" said he. Capt. Wells
age"
Pretty Inez kissed the Chilian good,
by, and I almost wished that I had
lost.
"Adois, dear one," she said. "The
saints and the blessed virgin will save
you"
Almaraz climbed into the wicker
basket which had been harnessed to
the giant birds. The senior unfas-
tened the chain and the condors took
wing.
For an instant it seemed certain
that Almaraz would be upset from the
basket. The birds resented their
close partnership, and SO to 100 feet
in the air he performed like an aero
bat keeping them together. There
were some angry attempts at swoop.
ing on the part of n of them, with
. talons splayed, and quite a bit of con
dor music.
But the bigger of the two was q
steady-minded bird, with it's eye on
the snowy peaks of the Andes in the
west. The rebellious one, after a min
ute's hesitation, saw the point, and
they went rapidly aloft and westward
together. With a superb sweep Of
their wings they rose and rose, sc
near each other hat the tips of theil
pinions seemed to touch.
We leaped upon our horses and gal
loped after them. The horror of il
: was. upon us. I was sorry that 1 hat
challenged my rival. The girl loved
, him, and why should I have been sc
selfish as to interfere with his happi
! ness? l vowed that if he ever came
| down from his mad flight in the heav
, ems 1 would be his friend forever.
, The condors rose tirelessly. The.
were a half mile, a mile high. They
, became two tiny specks in the blue
South American sky. Almaraz looked
like a toy-like a doll. Yet with sub
5 lime nerve he stood upright in the
; basket and guided as best he coult
I his feathered steeds toward the dis
l tant crags.
:. I soon outstripped the others, TO
:, my horse was a thoroughbred. Mil,
: after mile we went, and still I kept il
: sight of the dizzy voyagers. With m.
field glasses, which l put to my eye
now and then, l could see then
plainly.
!, AS the harnessed condors neare'
: the first crag, 1 could see Almara
above me, waving his white handkel
= chief at. me, and l answered him wit
= shouts which he doubtless did no
hear. The. condors clrcled with me-
jestic. grace and. then swooped dow!
= and settled upon the crag--a mer
splinter that pierced the heavens
The basket bumped against the stone
and was still. It seemed almost tina
Almaraz was doomed. He was 1850
. feet above the earth, where no huma
= help could reach him.
= My glasses surveyed him, and l sa,
him wave his handkerchief agar
o Then I saw him take his revolver fro1
. his pocket, and pointing it at the nea:
est bird fired.
I could not hear the sound, but
= saw the puff of white smoke and III
derstood his plan. He had killed tn
v smaller bird. 1t toppled ver towar
Il him. The weight of the dead bfr
! and of the basket was too much fc
the big condor. He chung to the era
for a minute and then dropped off an
10, attempted to fly.
Down the huge evil bird came lik
-. a parachute, beating the air with h
n mighty wings-down, down, down.