The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-11-06
B,sF. 4. MiToHEL

ately small seemed disposed to guy him.
Webster, the American. kept his tenn
per. but, being quicker at repartee, got
the better Of him and set the q
laughing at him. This made the
Frenchman, whose name was Du
Pierre, angry. and he insulted Webster.
Since they were sitting opposite each
other Webster reached forth his hand
and slapped the others cheek.
Every one expected a fight, but since
We were climbing at IN angle Of some
thing like forty degrees no one relished
the prospect of having one. W. could
not blame Webster for resenting an
insult at the moment rather than hav-
ing it pass into something more seri
ous. Nevertheless, the affair did pass
into something more serious. The
Frenchman. handing Webster his card.
said:
This is no place for an alteration"
OF cOurse that meant a challenge.
but when or where the end Of the af-
fair would be reached no one knew.
and few cared. When we reached
Scheidegg l, being a fellow countryman
of Webster's, he called upon me, ask
ing me to 60 to Du Pierre and make
an effort to settle the matter. Before
doing SO. l learned from a man who had
witnessed the fracas in the car that
the Frenchman was a celebrated Paris
duelist. had therefore very little
hope Of securing an adjustment, and
that hope was extinguished as soon as
l met the F~renchman's representative.
He informed me that such an Insult
as he had received unavenged would
ruin his reputation at home: He could
not afford " to accept an apology.
Webster turned out to be a sheep
raiser in the heart of the Rocky noun
tains and used to high attitudes. He
directed me to accept Du Pierre's chal-
lenge. By the code Webster was en-
titled to the choice of weapons and the
terms of the fight. He directed me to
make the following provisions: One Of
the principals was to 50 to- point on
the road a mile down toward Lauter-
brunnen. the other remaining at Schei-
degg. Each was to be armed with a re.
volver, two chambers loaded. At an
appointed hour they were to advance
and begin firing whenever they chose
to do 10. The road leaving Scheidegg
is not at first steep. and it made little
difference which Of the two won the
Scheidegg end. T.
Du Pierre. who supposed he would
fight under terms to whiehAAe s1hd been,
accustomed. was indignant at such an
innovation. but since l assured him
that Webster would only fight him on
the terms offered he was obliged either
to so back to Paris having had his face
slapped without having wiped out the
insult or accept the situation.
The matter was kept perfectly quiet.
Those who had witnessed the fracas
in the car were tourists and scattered
in all directions. Consequently when
one went out the next morning as the
sun was casting it's hrst beams on the
surrounding peaks there was no n
present except the principals, their sec
onds and a surgeon who was stopping
at one Of the hotels; Du Pierre won
the toss and chose to move out from.
Scheidegg. Two shots were given each
man. and Webster and l went down
the incline for a mile, waiting there
for the time tor the duelists to start.
l started him on the minute, and he
advanced slowly up the road. The
two men could see each other for near.
~ the whole distance. When they
were a quarter of a mile apart the
Frenchman. hating, took deliberate
aim and fred. The ball fell on the
road some distance from the American.
I now saw the meaning of Webster's
tactics. Having lived in a mountain
Gus country. he realized how much
nearer objects appeared through the
air than they yer Du Pierre had
supposed he had his enemy within
range when he was, not. l could see
that he was surprised that his shot had
not taken effect. but l doubt II he
knew the reason. r..,. .
Webster now had two shots to his
enemy's one. but showed no Sign. Of
firing. They continued to advance for
perhaps a hundred feet when Webster
suddenly raised bis weapon. Du Pierre
at once raised his and fred. Web
ster lowered his pistol. A spent ball
struck him in the leg. but did no se-
r1ous damage. b. "a st&4 So >.
This ended the tight, for the French
man had used both his shots. while the
American had used neither Of his. and
the latter had no intention Of shooting
an unarmed enemy. Indeed, he had
planned the affair to result exactly, ~.
It had resulted. Handing his weapon
to me. he walked up the road. lifted his
hat AZ he passed Du Pierre and pro-
ceeded to the station. An hour later.
With his guides. be started for the sum-
nit Of the Jnngfnu and made the
first successful ascent Of that season.
~ for the Frencbman. he went, bach
20 pAriA disgusted with Americans and
what ~ caljef thstt. Yankee ttjekk.