The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-01-08
A FIGHT IN
THE CLOUDS
By F. A. mitchell

lnterlaken is a good central point
for tourists to make short trips visit
tg Swiss places of interest. Perhaps
the most interesting of all these trips
is to take Il train at Interlaken for
Grindelwa]d, thence up the steep side
of a mountain to Scheidegg.
When l made this trip the railway
from Scheidegg to the top of the Jung
frau was just begun. In the car as
cending from Grindelwald was a 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 ax indicated that he was
q climber. A Frenchman with a wax
ed mustache and a g0atee proportion
ately small seemed disposed to guy him.
Webster. the American. kept his rem
per. hut. being quicker at repartee, got
the better of him and set the car
laughing ut him. This made the
%l'renchman. 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 Il 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 It pass into something more seri-
GUS. Nevertheless. the affair did pass
into something more serious. The
Frenchman. handing Webster his card.
said:
This is mo- place for an alteration"
OF course that meant n challenge.
but when or where the end Of the at
fair would be reached no n knew.
and few cared. When we reached
Schnidegg l. being a fellow c%ountryman
of Webster's. he called upon me-. ask
ing me to Ga 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 Frenchman's representative.
He Informed me that such IN insult
AS he had received unavenged would
ruin his reputation at home. He could
not afford v e 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 MI to
make the following provisions: One Of
the principals was to go to a point Oh
the road q mile down toward Lauter-
brunnen. the other remaining at Schei-
deggg. 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 so. The road leaving Scheidegg
is not at first steep. and it made little
difference which of the two won the
Scheidegg end.
Du Pierre. who supposed he 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 OH
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 us the
sun was casting its first beams on the
surrounding peaks there was no n
present except the principals. their Sec
onds and a surgeon who was stopping
ut 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 for the duelists to start.
started him on the minute. and he
two men could e each other for near
" the whole distance. When they
we're q quarter Of a mile apart the
Frenchman. hating. took deliberate
aim and fired. The bail fell on the
road some distance from the American.
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 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 l doubt II 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 a hundred feet when Webster
suddenly raised his weapon. Du Pierre
at once raised bis and 6red. Web.
ster lowered his pistol. A spent ball
struck him in the lea. but did no re.
rious damage. @ 4
This ended the fight. for the French
man had used both his shots. while the
American had used neither Of his. and