The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-07-24
The End
OF a Duel
II Came In the
Beginning

By RUTH GRAHAM


During the middle Of 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 vas
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-Bu 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 n no less notable than
a president of the United States.
1t was shortly after the Mexican wal
that Miss Belle Conway went to Ten
nessee from Ohio to take the position
Of governess 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-
tion-and had evinced a superior mind.
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.
Miss Conway was comedy, but not
beautiful. She possessed character.
and it showed itself in her personnel.
Character in her was allied with good
sense. 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
o Girls of her own age were not
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 1t.
Fortunately there was no son of
Colonel Rathbone of an age to fall in
love with the governess. The man
who vas most thrown with her was
Archibald Dabney, who had recently
returned from the University Of Wiz
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
she was northern born and bred. he
was representative Of the best there
was in the south. r..
Mr.. 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 it. 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.
Mr.. Dabney's pleasant intellectual
companionship with Miss Conway re
ceived a sudden shock. A planter.
MARYLAND Carr. a few years older than
Dabney, a 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 yer 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. took another step.
The moment Mr.. Dahney 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 manner to-
ward her changed at once. From an in
tellectual companionship he stepped
into friendliness. and from friendliness
became tender. Indeed. considering the
rate at which his rival was proceeding.
he felt that he had no time to lose.
Both suitors were prevented from
making a declaration ny the fact that
they met with no definite. encourage
ment from the lady. Mr.. Dabney was