The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-07-03
The Stolen
Brooch
By DWIGHT NORWOOD

~
past half century in independence, they
have lost in that chivalrous treatment
by men that was formerly prevalent.
In 1850, at a dinner party in Charles
ton. s. c., a lady missed q brooch Of
considerable value. She vas very
much frightened for fear 1t had been
stolen and lost her equanimity. The
host. a Mr.. Du Bots, was much put out
about the affair, declaring that she
must have dropped the brooch. Never
theless a search failed to produce 1t.
Then Du Bots said:
This Is q very serious matter for all
Of us, for me as host especially, for 1t
seems to implicate me In having a
thief among my friends. 1t must be
thrashed out here before we separate.
Will some one kindly suggest a method
Of Investigation"
II propose said a gentleman pres
ent, that we all voluntarily submit to
De searched"
Du Bots asked each guest in turn II
be or she would assent to the PROPOSE
ton, and all expressed themselves as
quite willing to do SO till he came to
Edwin Porcher, a gentleman Of Savan-
nah, Ca, who was visiting Charleston.
"Why do you decline to do your part
at getting to the bottom of this mat
ter?" asked the host.
II decline to answer"
There was a constrained silence for
some time, when Du Bots. who was
much excited. said:
MY friends, l must crave your par
don for introducing this man among
you. l had no Idea he was a thief"
All looked at Porcher, wondering
how he would receive the word thief"
He was unrufled. All rose from the
table, and Porcher. bowling formally.
left the room. Those who remained
discussed the matter. asking Du Bots
about how he anne to be acquainted
with Porcher, for the latter, not being
a resident of Charleston, had not been
known to the guests till introduced by
their host. Du Bots explained that he
had met Porcher at his club, at which
the latter had been put up as a guest
by a member. Porcher appeared to be
a gentleman. Du Bots, desiring to be
courteous to a stranger. had invited
him to dinner.
The party were about to break up
when a negro servant handed the host
a note. Tearing it open. he read it,
knitted his brows, then put it In his
pocket without making any reference
to it. But every one present OWNED
that it had something to do with the
d~isagreeable affair that had happened
during the evening.
While the guests we're bidding the
host adieu he asked m Of them. a Mr..
Fitz Hugh. to remain after the others
had departed. As soon as the two
men were alone Du Bots handed his
friend the note he had received. 1t
ran thus:
Having been invited to your house and
called a thief because 1 did not assent
to the method proposed of clearing up the
matter of the loss of the brooch, 1t seems
to me that as q gentleman-which l claim
to belt is my privilege to demand sat
isfaction from you for the insult offered
me at your own table and in the presence
Of your guests. l would be glad to &C.
cept an apology IL an apology would ex-
0nerate me. but it would not. The only
approach can make to exculpating my
self Is by the code. A common thief
would not likely be SO sensitive to his
please refer me to q friend?
Du Bots and the man to whom he
showed the letter consulted for an
hour. F1tz Hugh held that Du Bots had
not the right to call his guest q thief
simply because he would not consent
to be searched. But since Porcher had
called attention to the fact that an
apology would not remove the EVIL
dence. such as it was, that he had
stolen the brooch. there would be no
use in Offering one. Under the circum-
stances there seemed no way open but
to accept the challenge. though F1tz
Hugh maintained that Porcher's re-
fusal to be searched placed him in the
position Of a thief, and a gentleman
was not called upon under the code to
fight such a person. Du Bots was not
compelled to notice the challenge; but,
on the other hand. Porcher had not
been convicted of the stealing, and
Du Bots felt that he was entitled to
satisfaction. Fitz Hugh met a friend
Of Porcher's. and the terms were ar
ranged-that the principals should
meet the next morning at sunrise.
Now, the real thief. a woman, had
observed the results Of her action and
when Porcher's note came felt SUR 1t
was a challenge. After a bitter strug-
gle with her better nature. at 2 o'clock
in the morning and but a few hours
before the time appointed for the duel
she drove up to where Porcher was
staying and asked to see him.
81 have come to confess" she said.
THE brooch became unfastened from
the owners dress and dropped into a
fold of mine. l saw it fall. A duel is
to take place between yon and Mr..
Du Bots. don't know it, but l am
quite sure Of it. Now that l have con-
fessed. surely this cannot be neces-
sary."