The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1909-05-19
CHAPTER vi.

As Overton had said. the meeting
was delayed exactly "a hours.
My courage always has an odd way
of disappearing when l am expecting
to use 1t, although l must say. when
have had actual occasion for it 1 have
always found it easily at hand. can
not deny that / was very much fright
ened for Giles on the morning of the
meeting, and, to add to my misery.
heard that Overton was considered
one of the best shots in England.
The dreary breakfast gulped down (;
the postchaise rafting up to the door
i had hoped until the last moment
that it would not come; the humping
along the road in the cool, bright sum-
mer morning; the gruesome, long. mar
row box that lay on the front seat OF
the chaise; the packet of letters which
Giles had given me and which seemed
to weigh hundred tons in my pocket
all these were so many horrors to
haunt the memory forever. But l must
say that, apparently, the misery was
all mine; for never saw Giles Vernon
show SO much as by the flicker of an
eyelash that he was disturbed in any
way
About half way from the meeting
ground we left the highway and turned
into a by-road; and scarcely had we
gone half a mile when we almost
drove into a broken-down chaise, and
standing on the roadside among the
furze bushes were the coachman, the
surgeon-a most bloody-minded man
/ always believed him-Mr. Buxton
and Overton.
Our chaise stopped. and Giles, put
ting his head out of the window, said,
pleasantly: 'Good-morning, gentle
men: you have had an accident. see"
"A bad one" replied Mr.. Buxton,
who saw that their chaise was beyond
help, and who. as he said afterward.
was playing for place in our chaise.
not liking to walk the rest of the dis
lance.
Giles jumped out and so did l, and
the most courteous greetings were ex-
changed.
The two drivers. as experts, ex-
amined the broken chaise, and agreed
there was no patching it up for SER
vice; one wheel was splintered.
Mr.. Buxton looked at Giles mean
ingly. and then at me. and Giles
whispered to me:
Offer to take 'em up. BY Jupiter,
they shall see we are no shirkers.'
Which | did. and. to my amazement,
in a few moments We were all lumber
ing along the road; Overton and Mr..
Buxton on the back seat, and Giles
and I with our backs to the horses.
while the surgeon was alongside the
coachman on the box.
Nothing could exceed the politeness
between the two principals, about the
seats as about everything else. Over
ton was with difficulty persuaded to
take the back seat. Mr.. Buxton seated
himself there without any introduction.
Il hope 1t will never again be my for
tune to negotiate so delicate an affair
as a meeting between gentlemen with
one SO much my superior in rank as
Mr.. Buxton.)
May l ask, Mr.. Overton, IL you pre-
fer the window down or up?" asked
Giles. with great Difference.
Either, dear SIR" responded Over
ton. 81 believe it was up when you
kindly invited us to enter"
True; but you may be sensitive to
the air, and may catch cold"
At which Mr.. Buxton grinned in a
heartless manner. The window re-
manned up.
We were much crowded with the
two pistolcases and the surgeons box
of instruments, which to me appeared
more appalling than the pistols.
At last we reached the spot-a
small. fat place under a sweetly-
blooming hawthorn hedge. with some
verdant oaks at either end.
Giles and Overton were so scrupu-
lous about taking precedence Of each
other in getting out Of the chaise that
/ had strong hopes the day would
pass before they came to a decision;
but Mr.. Buxton finally got out him
self and pulled his man after him.
and then we were soon marking off the
ground. and was feeling that mortal
sickness which had attacked me the
first time was under fire in the Ajax.
Overton won the toss for position.
and at that 1 could have lain down
and wept.
Our men were placed 20 PAGES apart,
with their backs to each other. At
the word "one" they were to turn, adj
vance and fire between the words
two" and three" This seemed to
me the most murderous arrangement 1
had ever heard of.
The stories had so lately heard
about Overton's proficiency with the
pistol made me think, even If he did
not kill Giles Intentionally, he would
attempt some expert trick with the
pistol, which would do the business
equally well. l knew Giles to be a
very poor shot, and concluded that
he, through awkwardness, would prob
ably put an end to Overton. and re-
garded them both as doomed men.
/ shall never forget my feelings as