Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1914-12-16
A FIGHT IN
THE CLOUDS
BY r. a. mitchell

interiaken is a good central point
for tourists to make short trips visit
ing Swiss places of interest Perhaps
the most interesting Of all these trips
y to take train at Interlaken for
Grindelwald, thence up the steep side
of mountain to Scheidegg.
When ] NADER this trip the railway
from Scheidegg to the top of the Jung.
frau was just begun. In the car as
cending from Grindelwald was young
American with two guides who was
intending to ascend the Jungfrau from
ScheIdegg. He was a quiet, inof-
fensive fellow, but the fact that he
carried an Ice Ak indicated that he was
climber. A Frenchman with a wax
ed mustache and goatee proportion
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 car
laughing at him. This made the
Frenchman. whose name was Du
Pierre. angry. and he insulted Webster
Since they were sitting opposite each
UthNt "CbetCl htdthtu loi III Ills uduo
and slapped the others cheek
Every one expected fight. but since
we were climbing at an angle OF some
thing like forty degrees no one relished
the prospect Of having one. We could
| not blame Webster for resenting an
insult at the moment rather than hav-
, ing 1t pass into something more seri-
art hulx 10 of otr
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 |, being fellow countryman
of Webster's, he called upon me. ask
! Ing me to go to Du Pierre and make
an effort to settle the matter. Before
doing SO learned from man who had
| witnessed the fracas In the car that
| the Frenchman was celebrated Paris
duelist ! had therefore very little
hope Of securing an adjustment, and
| that hope was extinguished as soon as
l met the Frenchman's representative.
He informed me that such an insult
| as he had received unavenged would
ruin his reputation at home. He could
not afford even to accept an apology.
| Webster turned out to be sheep
raiser in the heart or 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 go to point on
the road mile down toward Lauter-
brunnen. the other remaining at Schei-
degg Each was to be armed with re-
| volver, two chambers loaded At an
! appointed hour they were to advance
and begin firing whenever they chose
to do so The road leaving Scheidegg
is not at first steep. and it made little
! Scheidegg end
! Du Pierre. who supposed be would
| fight under terms to which he had been
accustomed. was indignant at such an
| innovation. but since | assured him
that Webster would only fight him on
the terms offered he was obliged either
| to go 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 its first beams on the
surrounding peaks there was no one
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 ] went down
| the Incline for a mile. waiting there
! for the time for the duelists to start
| - started him on the minute. and he
advanced slowly up the road The
| two men could see each other for near
ly the whole distance. When they
were u quarter hiiiS oPo's t'S
| Frenchman. halting. took deliberate
aim and fred The ball fell on the
! road some distance from the American.
I now saw the meaning Of Websters
tactics. Having lived in mountain
GUS country. he realized how much
nearer objects appeared through the
! air than they were Du Pierre had
supposed he had his enemy within
! range when he was not could see
that he was surprised that his shot had
not taken effect, but I doubt If he
knew the reason
Webster now had two shots to his
enemy's one. but showed no sign OF
firing. They continued to advance for
perhaps hundred feet when Webster
suddenly raised his weapon. Du Pierre
at once raised his and fired Web
| ster lowered his pistol. A spent ball
struck him in the leg. but did no Sc
rious damage
Vaf-Nl