Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-10-22
DiSarmed
A Story of a Duel of the
Eighteenth Century.
By T. A. Mitchell.

captain o G~ottschalk," said q
dapper lieutenant of infantry entering
the quarters of the man he addressed.
II am the bearer of a challenge from
Captain Herman"
"IndeedT' replied the nan addressed.
"And how have l offended Captain
Hermann"
"When returning to your quarters to-
day after parade walking beside Cap
tain Herman yon stepped into a pud-
die of water and despatched his newly
polished boots"
THANK you, lieutenant. l will send
my friend, Lieutenant Gotlieb, to you,
with whom you may arrange the terms
of q meeting"
These officers were of he Prussian
army when Frederick the Great was
king. Dueling in those times had be-
come so prevalent among officers of
the army as to aus a considerable
drain among them.
1t is said that on one occasion the
king, hearing that a duel was about to
take place, sent for the principals and
gave them permission to fight, an
nouncing his intention to be present at
the combat When all was ready for
the fray, which was to take place In
the open square before the palace, the
king and courtiers being present, 1t
was noticed by n of the principals
that a gallows had been erected close
at hand.
"What is the gallows for, sire?" ask
ed one of the duelists.
ITO hang the survivor on" replied
his majesty.
The duel did not come off.
But to our story. Captain
Won Gottschalk's arrangements having
been made for a meeting with Captain
Herman for the stigma put upon the
latter by bespattering his boots, he
proceeded the evening before the fray
to call upon his b%etrothed, Frau Cath
crime Won Ballenstein, for the purpose
OF bidding her a goodby that might be
final, for in those days when men
fought duels they fought to kill
Now, had Frau Catherine been one
of those delicate, clinging girls who
would wilt before the announcement
that their lovers were about to risk their
lives Captain Won Gottschalk would not
have admitted that in the morning he
was to meet Captain Herman In dead
ly contest to wipe out the stain he had
put upon the latter's honor, or, rather.
as we could put it today, the stain he
had put on the captains boots. Frau
Catherine, far from being a clinging
vine, was one to cling to. Perhaps had
she lived today she would have been
one of those women who don male at
tire and enlist. She was IN expert
with the sword and had vanquished a
number of men In friendly contest
with the foil. She was afraid of moth
ing. Moreover, she sympathized with
the custom of settling disputes at the
point of the sword and considered the
king very tyrannical In prohibiting
them.
For these reasons Captain o Colt
schalk did not hesitate to tell his
sweetheart that on the morrow he was
to meet a fellow officer In deadly COM
bat. Instead of bemoaning the situa-
ton, she led him to a room that had
been set apart for exercise and, TAX
ing a couple of foils from a rack, hand
ed one of them to her lover and pro-
ceeded to instruct him IN several
strokes of offense md defense which
she had invented and were known only
to herself. Hours were spent in this
way, and when the captain left the
room his chances of success against an
enemy were very largely increased.
This lesson was given In the after
noon, and the captain asked permits
sion to return in the evening for a
that she was tired after so much fenc-
ing and would go to bed early. Be
sides, there was no danger of her lover
being killed, for he had q knowledge of
coups that no other man In the army
possessed. This vas only an excuse.
Catherine had no idea of going to bed
early. She had an especial object re-
curing her attention. She desired to
witness the fray. 1t had occurred to
her to ask her lover to make her one
of his seconds with the understand
ing that she put on the apparel of a
man, but knowing that he would re-
fuse to grant her request she ~refrained.
During the evening Captain Herman
received a note from Frau Won Bal
lenstein requesting him to call upon
her at once and to keep her request a
secret. Herman knew that the lady
was his adversary's betrothed and at
once suspected that she had sent for
him with a view to preventing the
meeting. Nevertheless he went to see
her.
Captain Herman" she said, Gap
tain Won G~ottschalk tells me that you
and he r to meet tomorrow morning
to settle an affair of honor"
I'VE are, and if you prevent it Cap
tain Won Gottschalk will be cut by his
brother 0fHporSo