The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-02

They grunted and nodded, and each picked a rife. Tudor, cartridge belts for rife and pistol strapped around him, rifle in hand, stood impatiently waiting.
 "Come on, hurry up, we're burning daylight" he urged. as Sheldon search ed after extra clips for his automatic pistol.
 Together they passed down the steps and out of the compound to the beach, where they turned their backs to each other, and each proceeded to- ward his destination, their rifles in the hollows of their arms, Tudor walk Ing toward the Berande and Sheldon toward the Balesuna.
 CHAPTER XXII.
 MODERN DUELING.
 ARELY had Sheldon reached the Balesuna, when he heard
 0 the faint report of |. dis
 tant rife and knew 1t was the signal of Tudor, giving notice that he had reached the Berande, turned about, and was coming back. Sheldon fired his rife into the air in answer, and in turn proceeded to ad- vance. He moved as in dream, ab- sent mindedly keeping to the open beach. The thing was so preposterous that he had to struggle to realize 1t, and he reviewed in his mind the con- versation with Tudor, trying to find some clew to the common sense of what he was dong. He did not want to kill Tudor. Because that man had blundered in his love making was no reason that he, Sheldon, should take his life. Then what was it all about? True, the fellow had insulted Joan by his subsequent remarks and been knocked down for it, but because he had knocked him down was no req son that he should now try to kill him.
 In this fashion he covered a quarter of the distance between the two riv- CTS. when it dawned upon him that Tudor was not on the beach at all. Of course not He was advancing, ac- cording to the terms of the agreement, In the shelter of the cocOanut trees. Sheldon promptly swerved to the left to seek similar shelter, when the faint crack of a rife came to his ears, and almost immediately the bullet, strik- ing the hard sand hundred feet be- yond him, ricochetted and whined on- ward in a second flight, convincing him that preposterous and unreal as 1t was, it was, nevertheless, sober fact. 1t had been intended for him. Yet evenF then it was hard to believe.
 Keeping now to the shelter of the trees, he went forward another quar- ter of a mile. If Tudor had advanced with equal speed they should have come together at that point, and Shel- don concluded that the other was cir cling. The difficulty was to locate him. The rows of trees, running at right angles, enabled him to see along only one narrow avenue at time. His enemy might be coming along the next avenue or the next to right or left. He might be hundred feet away or half mile. Sheldon plodded on and de cided that the old stereotyped duel was far simpler and easier than this pro- tracted hide and seek affair. He, too, tried circling, in the hope of cutting the ! others circle: but, without catching a glimpse of him, he finally emerged upon fresh clearing where the young trees, waist high, afforded little shell l ter and less hiding. Just as he emerged, stepping out pace, a rife cracked to | his right, and, though he did not hear | the bullet in passing, the thud of 1t came to his ears when it struck palm | trunk farther on.
 | yo ho c1r ir,<o fIesv oh | the larger trees. Twice he had ex- posed himself and been fired at, while he had failed to catch single glimpse ' of his antagonist. A slow anger be- | gan Co burn in him. It was deucedly unpleasant, he decided. this being pep | pered at, and, nonsensical as it really | was, it was none the less deadly seri- 1 ous. There was no avoiding the is- sue, no firing in the air and getting | over with it, as in the old fashioned duel. This mutual man hunt must keep up until one got the other. And IT one neglected a chance to get the other that increased the others chance to get him. There could be no false sentiment about 1t. Tudor had been a cunning devil when he proposed this sort of duel. Sheldon concluded, as he began to work along cautiously in the direction of the last shot.
 When he arrived at the spot Tudor was gone, and only his footprints re- manned, pointing out the course he had taken into the depths of the planta. ton. Once, ten minutes later, he caught glimpse of Tudor, hundred yards away, crossing the same avenue as himself, but going in the opposite direction. His rife half leaped to his shoulder, but the other was gone More in whim than in hope of result, l grinning to himself as he did so, Shel- don raised his automatic pistol and in two seconds sent eight shots scat. tering through the trees in the direc. tion in which Tudor had disappeared | Wishing he had a shotgun, Sheldon dropped to the ground behind a tree slipped fresh clip up the hollow butt of the pistol. threw a cartridge into the chamber. showed the safety catch into place and reloaded the empty clip
 It was but a short time after that that Tudor tried the same trick on him, the bullets pattering about him