The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-06-04
CHAPTER v.

stole In sinister silence out OF the
courtyard of the Hotel d'Orient, at the
same sedate pace and with the same
surreptitious air skulked through the
town, and finally swung eastwards
upon the Route de la Corniche, sud
denly discarding all pretense of docil-
ity and swooping onward with windy
roar, its powerful motor purring like
some gigantic tiger-cat.
1t carried four; at the wheel Cog
gled n1d ennuied operator in shape
less and hideous garments; In the
tonneau It's owner, a middle-aged
French manufacturer with pouched
eyes, liver, lank jaws clean-scraped,
and an expression Of high-minded de-
votion to duty; Captain Won Einem in
uniform; and Colonel O'Rourke.
At the end of an hours run, dis
turbed by one or two absurdly grave
conferences between the seconds, in
appropriate monotones, the mechani-
clan put on the brakes and slowed
down the car, then deity swung it
into a narrow lane, a leafy tunnel
through which it crawled for a min
ute or two ere debouching into
broad and sunlit meadow, walled in by
woodland, conspicuously secluded
To one side and at little distance
second motor-car stood at rest; its
operator had removed the hood and
was tinkering with the motor in a
most matter-of-fact manner. In the
body Of the machine Monsieur lie vi
| comte des Trebes, ostentatiously una
ware Of the advent of the second
party, sat twisting rapier-points to his
moustaches and concentrating his
gaze on infnity. O'Rourke observed
| with malicious delight the nose of the
duelist, much infiamed.
Advancing from his antagonists po-
sition three preternaturally serious
| gentlemen of France in black frock
| coats and STRAIGHTFORWARD silk hats
| waded ankle deep in dripping grass to
meet O'Rourkes representatives.
The two parties met, saluted one an
| other with immense reserve, and re-
tired to a suitable distance to con-
| fer; something which they did word
| lily, with enthusiasm and many pic
| turesque gestures. At first strangely
amicable, the proceedings soon struck
a snag. A serious difference of opin-
| ion arose. ORourke OWNED that the
| conference had gone into executive
session upon the question of weapons.
| He treated himself to secret grin,
having anticipated this trouble.
| The choice of weapons being his,
as the challenged, he had modestly Sc
lected revolvers and had brought with
him a brace of Webleys, burly pieces
of pocket ordnance with short barrels
and cylinders chambered to hold half
dozen AS cartridges. They were not
| pretty, for they had seen service in
their owners hands for a number of
years, but they were undeniably built
for business. And at sight of them
the friends Of the vicomte recoiled in
horror.
Eventually a compromise was ar
| rived at. Monsieur Juilliard stepped
back, saluted. and with Won Einem re-
turned to his principal, his face a
mask of disappointment. AS for him
self, he told O'Rourke, he was DESC
| lated, but the seconds of Monsieur des
| Trebes had positively refused to con-
sent to turning a meeting Of honor
into a massacre. They proposed to
substitute regulation French dueling
| pistols as sanctioned by the Code.
Such as that which Monsieur lie Col
onel O'Rourke might observe in Mon
sieur billiards hand
| O'Rourke blinked and shifted at It.
"Sure," he contended, "'tis a magnify
ing glass / need to make it visible to
me undressed eye. What the divvle
does it carry-a dried pea? What
| d'they think we're here for, If not to
| Stay one another with due ceremony?
| Ask them that. Am I to salve the
vicomte's wounded honor by shifting
him with a spitball? l grant We, tits
| magnificent but it's not pistol"
| Grumbling he allowed himself to
be persuaded. AS he had foreseen and
Yet he had to grumble, partly because
he was the O'Rourke, partly for eff
| feet.
None the less, he consented, and in
| the highest spirits left the car and
| plowed through the lush wet grass
| to the spot selected for the encounter,
In the shadow of the trees near the
eastern border of the meadow Here,
the seconds having tossed for sides,
he took stand at one end of a sixty
foot stretch and, still indecorously
amused, received a loaded pistol from
Won Einem.
Des Trebes confronted him, white
with rage. regretting already
| (O'Rourke made no doubt that he had
not accepted the Webleys. The Irish
mans open contempt maddened the
man.
The seconds retired to a perfectly
| safe distance, Won Einem holding the
watch, one of Des Trebes' seconds a
| handkerchief. The chauffeurs threw
away their cigarettes and sat up, for
| the first time reused out of their pro-
fessional air of blase Indifference
One" cried the German clearly
Des Trebes raised his arm and lev