The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-07-17

The End
OF a Duel
Il Came I'm the
Beginning
By RUTH GRAHAM

during the middle or the last cen
fury, when the old plantation system
was an institution in the southern
states, there were customs which have
now become a thing Of the past.
Among the most notable of these was
settling disputes according to the code
duello.
In the north at the opening Of the
century the sacrifice of n of the
most gifted of American statesmen,
Alexander Hamilton, gave dueling its
quietus. In the south it lasted much
longer. In Tennessee long after the
Hamilton Burr tragedy Andrew Jack
son fought under the code. 1t remain
ed for a girl to show the people Of that
state by a few caustic words how far
the world had gone beyond a custom
advocated by one no less notable than
a president of the United States.
1t was shortly after the Mexican war
that Miss Belle Conway went to Ten
nessee from Ohio to take the position
of g%overness in the family Of Colonel
Rathbone, a retired planter. That was
before it became customary for young
ladies to earn their own living. Miss
Conway had been educated in Connect
northwestern girls and boys usually
went east in those days for an educa-
She had not long returned from school
when her father died, leaving his fam
lily without an income. There was
then a field in the south for teachers.
and northern graduates were sought
after.
beautiful. She possessed character.
and it showed itself in her personnel.
Character in her was allied with good
n She was more self reliant than
most of the southern girls of that day,
whose intellectual and practical facul-
ties were not readily developed under
a system wherein their slightest re-
quirements were attended to by their
servants.
Miss Conway was treated as a mem.
Der of the Rathbone family, and where
they were invited she was invited. She
did not capture those she met as some
dazzling southern beauty would have
done in the north. but from the first
there was Il steady growth in her ia,
or. Girls Of her own age were no
jealous of her; they rather admired
her for the possession of those traits
which they did not possess themselves,
for with them beauty and cOquetry
were more in keeping with their sur
roundings than intellect. AS for the
young men. they saw in her something
| different from that to which they had
been accustomed and were gradually
attracted to it.
Fortunately there was no son. of
Colonel Rathbone Of an age to fall in
love with the gOverness. The man
who was most thrown with her vas
Archibald Dabney. who had recently
| returned from the University Of Vir.
ginia, where he had studied law, rather
with a view to using it in political life
than as a profession. Mr.. Dabney
was just the man to be attracted to
such a girl as Miss Conway. While
SuC was lAOAA WILL anu O1CU, uC
was representative Of the best there
vas in the south.
MI. Dabney found Miss Conway
companionable. He loved to talk with
her-express his opinions to her and
get hers. While he did not realize it
she was magnifying his views on
many subjects. and this is doubtless a
reason why he found her interesting.
for he had that caliber Of brain which
is capable Of development and could
recognize a better position than one he
held and step up on to 1t. Neverthe-
less, as a typical sOutherner born and
bred under the peculiar systems then
in vogue In the south, he could not
step over that gulf of ideas which
separated him from a progressive
north.
MI. Dabney's pleasant intellectual
co~mpanionship with Miss Conway re.
ceived a sudden shock. A planter,
MARYLAND Carr. a few years older than
Dabney, q widOwer who was looking
for a wife. saw her and. benefiting by
the experience of a married man, was
struck with the idea that Miss Conway
was exactly the woman he wanted to
preside W his household. He straight
way began a courtship as a widower
would naturally conduct such an affair.
He did not daily, and he did not make
undue haste: he planted his foot firmly
on each step and. when he considered
it advisable. tool another step:
The moment Mr.. Dabney realized
Mr.. Carr's intentions a great revolution
| sprang up within him. 1t had suddenly
been revealed to him that he could not
spare Miss Conway. His to.
ward her changed at once. From an in.
%tellectual companionship he stepped
into friendliness. and from friendliness
became tender. Indeed. considering the
rate ut which his rival was proceeding.
he felt that he had no time to lose. /.
Both suitOrs were prevented from
making a declaration by the fact that
| they met with no definite encourage
ment from the lady, Mr.. Dabney was
uncertain: Mr.. Carr did not recognize
a sign Indicating an invitation to speak.
-EAa /. AEL